Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 173 - 166: Conclusion

Chapter 173: Chapter 166: Conclusion

"Didn’t Master always want to be with Villa Master Lin? Why not go to him now to bury the hatchet?" A young girl couldn’t help but whisper. "What good does it do to sit alone in misery?"

"Shut up!" An Ying suddenly shouted fiercely, "What do you know?!"

"A broken mirror, once shattered, is shattered. I, An Ying, am not so low as to stoop and pick it up. Let’s end this matter here, no more talk of it."

"But Master..." Another girl wanted to say something else.

Cough, cough!

Suddenly, An Ying coughed violently, black blood spilling from the corner of her mouth, frightening her to the point that she dared not speak any further.

Constantly battling and getting injured without sufficient spiritual medicine for healing, the sequelae left from past years still had not healed. In this world, many things required a price to be paid.

**************************

Xiao Lingling had passed away, and Spirit Heart Villa hung white silks for a hundred days in mourning.

Lin Xin had no time to manage the manor’s affairs; instead, it was Lin Duan who actively cooperated with Lin Xinyuan, taking over the manor’s duties, while external martial strength was upheld by Nan Shunqing and Radiant Sun Sect.

At this time, the manor’s influence was enormous; the Sword Sect was intricately connected internally, the Loose Cultivators outside formed strong bonds, the four great young masters were unfathomably strong, and Nan Shunqing’s talent was too terrifying; even Lin Xin did not know how far he had come in these eight years.

All that was known was that for any situation that couldn’t be settled, even if it involved Qi Cultivators, his involvement would definitely resolve it.

With Xiao Lingling’s death, Lin Xin became disheartened, already contemplating retirement. He wanted to let everything go and find An Ying, but found his hallucinations growing more severe...

******************

Red Leaf Forest.

The carriage slowly emerged, and Lin Xin leapt out, landing on the ground amidst the Redwood Forest, his eyes catching sight of that stack of Demon Talisman Seeds thrust into the soil.

"Here again..."

The drinking burly man had not yet arrived; a woman in white squatted on one side, amusing herself with a small twig on the ground, seeming to tease little ants.

"You, you’ve come again..." the woman looked up, casually glancing at him, "Sword Intent? Interesting..."

Lin Xin remained expressionless, yet a chill ran through his heart. He had no mood for idle talk and simply drew the Red Flower Sword, taking slow steps towards the exterior of the Red Leaf Forest.

"Young man, do you want to know what the ultimate endpoint of this ghostly domain is?" the woman suddenly spoke in a strange tone, as if asking, yet seemingly mocking, but it was more like talking to herself, seemingly not too concerned whether he heard or not.

"Do you want to know how to escape this ghostly domain?"

Lin Xin naturally heard her. His expression flickered slightly, and he stopped walking.

"I have asked you so many times before, haven’t you never answered?"

The woman in white was staring at his back.

"If you truly want to know... you can go to a place called Lion’s Plain..."

"Lion’s Plain?" Lin Xin turned back, fixing his gaze on her.

"That place is the home of the despairing... the despairing... you have that potential... heh heh... heh heh heh..." The woman said a few words and then started to laugh neurotically.

Lin Xin stood not far from her, listened for a while, and, assuring she had nothing else to say, leapt out of the Red Leaf Forest.

Outside the forest was a sloping hillside, the glittering sunlight bathing the grassy hillside, where weeds grew thickly, and in the midst, one could dimly see scattered bleached bones.

This time entering, Lin Xin faintly felt that Yin Mantuo had undergone some unknowable change since the last time Xiao Lingling had left. He could not determine it but could estimate the direction of Yin Mantuo’s changes. This time he might have been close to reaching the tipping point of its complete transformation.

Since enhancing the Red Flower Sword, Yin Mantuo’s evolution had accelerated significantly, without needing Attributes points, and seemed to have a strong pace of improvement. The wide-ranging extermination Formation engraved on the Red Flower Sword also significantly increased Yin Mantuo’s efficiency in absorbing blood nourishment.

Heading down the hillside, not far away, several two-faced men flew towards him, all hovering on Magic Artifacts, giving him cold stares from a distance.

His heart skipped a beat. Lin Xin quickly dashed away, several Foundation Establishment Stage arriving at the same time, evidently having him already registered on their tracking list. His presence could be sensed through some kind of Magic Artifact the moment he appeared.

In the past, he always disguised himself and snuck in, targeting weak two-faced men to assassinate, but now...

Sss!

A lotus-like brilliance suddenly lit up beneath his feet. Lin Xin’s footing shifted, narrowly dodging the lotus.

He leapt up, Spiritual Energy surged like a tidal wave within him, and his body transformed into a red streak, disappearing in a flash through the air, his speed not inferior to the flying, pursuing Foundation Establishment Stage two-faced men.

One of the flyers, expressionless with a White Jade Sword strapped on his back and a black cloche hat, gave off an unmatched sharp aura.

Seeing the lotus white light ineffective, he snorted coldly, exchanged a few words with the others, and then slowly drew the White Jade Sword from his back.

With a crisp sound, suddenly a brilliant white light burst forth, as if a white sun had appeared in the sky.

The man’s White Jade Sword suddenly exploded in his hands, transforming into a round sun disc from which myriad white threads shot out.

Covering the sky and earth, the white threads flew towards Lin Xin at an incredibly fast speed.

Lin Xin’s expression slightly changed, his movement speed was actually far slower than the pursuing speed of these white threads, so he had to turn around and counterattack.

He drew his Talisman Sword and swiftly flew backward.

Boom!

Sparks flew in all directions, a great mass of yellow and red flames burst forth, and from its center, a cluster of white flames shot straight at the man behind him who was at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

The man’s expression turned curious; he seemed quite astonished by the white flames. Large bundles of white threads condensed in front of him into clumps resembling thread bundles, colliding with the white fire, eradicating each other and vanishing simultaneously.

"Troublesome..." Lin Xin also felt a headache coming. His strongest offensive measure was none other than the white flames formed by stacking the Mortal Fire Formations, although this flame hadn’t reached the three levels of heaven, earth, and man, its temperature was already extremely high, not something ordinary cultivators could withstand, but the opponent seemed to resolve it with ease. This sent a chill through him.

In his frenzied run, a small stream appeared ahead, he didn’t even glance as he fiercely jumped into the water. Behind him, countless white threads chased like relentless maggots, their speed much faster than his movement speed.

Just as he jumped into the water, he saw the white threads were less than a meter away from him.

"Go!"

His Red Flower Sword unsheathed, a trail of black Sword Qi suddenly shot out, slicing through the middle of the white threads.

Crack Crack Crack, countless lines broke apart; his black Sword Qi was surprisingly powerful.

Lin Xin then remembered he had already reached the level of Sword Intent. His Sword Intent was effective against attacks from the Foundation Establishment Stage as well.

"Sword Intent level boosts the power of Sword Qi this much?" He swung his sword continuously, feeling the white threads were easily severed one by one. He was also somewhat surprised.

Floating in the water, Lin Xin saw from beneath the surface that the man leapt down, a large bundle of white threads supporting him as he hovered above the creek, staring at him from a distance.

Seeing Lin Xin effortlessly cutting through the white threads with his Sword Qi, astonishment appeared again on the man’s face, much more intense this time.

The man’s lips moved slightly as if he said something, but Lin Xin couldn’t understand it.

Upon recognizing this issue, the man closed his mouth, pondered for a moment, then rotated his head by 180 degrees, switching to a stern and indifferent face.

"So all Sword Intent masters are like turtles, only daring to hide in the water and not daring to come out?"

He said mockingly, speaking in a language Lin Xin could understand.

"You can actually speak?" Lin Xin also communicated by sending voice transmissions, replying directly in his language.

"If there are people among you aliens who can speak our language, why can’t there be people from us who can speak yours?" the man said softly. He looked to be about thirty-something in age, but considering his cultivation, he was definitely not just in his thirties.

He looked back at several Foundation Establishment Stagers behind him, waved his hand, telling them to move further away before looking back at the creek again.

"Come out, I can assure you I won’t attack. Originally, I intended to hunt you, but seeing your Sword Intent, I’d like to make a deal with you."

"A deal?" Lin Xin also felt curious. They and these ancestral residents of the UFO’s middle plains were deadly enemies. To these residents, each of them was a blood-stained executioner, but now, this resident was seeking cooperation?

"Yes, a deal." The man spoke calmly. "I’ve been selecting carefully for days and haven’t found a suitable person until today. With your speed and cultivation, you could successfully escape after completing the deal. So, after much consideration, the most suitable person is you."

Lin Xin slightly narrowed his eyes.

"What kind of deal do you want?"

"Are you close to the Red Leaf Sword Master?" the man suddenly changed the subject.

"Red Leaf Sword Master?" Lin Xin frowned. "I don’t know him."

"That’s the owner of the Red Leaf Forest. It’s unlikely to freely enter the Red Leaf Forest for so long without being recognized by him," the man frowned and said, "Forget about it, your movement technique is fast, and you are clean in disposing of spoils, so I choose to cooperate with you."

"What kind of cooperation are you proposing?" Lin Xin continued to ask.

"Help me, kill a person."

"Then what would be my benefit?" Lin Xin asked immediately upon hearing this, understanding he might be embroiled in some power struggle. He also inquired impassively, as he would absolutely not take on a job without benefits. After all, having to plot and execute the killing of a person with a background in the Foundation Establishment Stage and considerable status would undoubtedly make him a target for relentless pursuits. If he believed any differently, even he wouldn’t believe it.

Thus, if he were to accept this job, he had to secure substantial benefits.

"Also, if your level of cultivation in the Foundation Establishment Stage is such that you can’t make a move, then my modest cultivation..."

"No worries, it’s because your cultivation is low that you won’t easily arouse suspicion. Although your cultivation may be inadequate, your strength is indeed good," the man sneered. "As for benefits, before the job is done, I can give you three pieces of the Demon Talisman Seed, which your kind most desires."

"Only three?" Lin Xin chuckled lightly, slowly emerging from the creek.

"Then how many do you want?" the man’s face darkened. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)