Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 180 - 173: Promotion - Part 1

Chapter 180: Chapter 173: Promotion - Part 1

The Heart Eye Sword Path had evolved to channel all of one’s strength, unleashing a burst of Spiritual Energy that created an immense, needle-like propulsion in an instant. It would be injected into the enemy’s body and then detonated. This was the Heart Technique, one of the deadly moves Lin Xin had devised on his own.

Since the Heart Eye Sword Path was a part of the Sword Dao, it naturally had its own unique moves. The Heart Technique was one of them.

After exiting the building, Lin Xin looked up and saw the sky densely covered with a red light membrane that kept shaking. There was a silver light shining beyond the membrane, clearly indicating that a monk army from the mainstream sects was continuously attacking the Formation.

The surrounding area was filled with unceasing shouts of killing. The loose cultivators who surged in were fighting intensely with the remaining retainers of the Taoists, most of whom were low-level cultivators. Only occasionally would a master like the old Taoist from earlier appear, but it was futile. Among the loose cultivators were also highly ruthless experts like Lin Xin. The Taoists were almost totally overwhelmed.

Just after a brief look at the sky, his figure suddenly retreated. The spot where he had been standing exploded as a half-human, half-fish creature burst from beneath the floor, wielding a steel trident and clad in scale armor, appearing like the legendary fish demon.

Shh! A Sword Qi slashed through, and the fish demon was cut in half, its body flashing past Lin Xin’s void shadow.

Lin Xin moved swiftly through the Taoist pavilion. He quickly left the pavilion and headed towards another location. Fish demons emerged from the ground and as he streaked past them, they were instantly immobilized and then split into two halves in a moment, creating an extreme bloodshed.

Boom!

Suddenly, there was a violent tremor above his head. A red figure like a cannonball fiercely descended from the sky and smashed into the ground below, causing the earth to quake and several Taoist pavilions to collapse directly, dust billowing everywhere.

The transparent shockwaves rippled out slowly like ripples, affecting all Taoists and loose cultivators in the vicinity who were violently spewing blood and blown away, severely wounded in an instant.

Chirp!

A shrill cry, like that of a bird, came from a core Taoist pavilion to the right front of Lin Xin.

He leaped up, his body briefly airborne, looking forward.

In that direction, a red glow enveloped a young girl dancing slowly in the nude, her eyes faintly glowing red, seemingly exuding the aura of demons.

Hanging on the girl’s chest was a small delicate ornament, completely jade-green but emitting a piercing red blood light.

Around her, several loose cultivators were engaged in combat, seemingly fighting for the red light in the middle.

"The Jade Blood Demoness Pearl is mine!"

A cluster of white clouds shot up from a distance, flying high, completely ignoring the various loose cultivators and Taoists below, and rushed towards the girl.

"Chi Lingjun, are you reneging on your word!?" another voice suddenly shouted. Another cloud of mist flew in, following closely behind.

"Since when did I, Chi Lingjun, ever promise to give up the Jade Blood Demoness Pearl to you?" laughter emanated from the white clouds.

A thought struck Lin Xin, and he soared toward that location. Along the way, all the Taoists he encountered were effortlessly sliced apart, much like cutting down wheat.

"Kong Ling, Heaven Valley, go!" a steady female voice called out from a distance.

Suddenly, a length of white silk flew from a great distance, heading straight for the white clouds where Chi Lingjun was located.

"Fairy Snow, you!!" A mix of shock and anger came from within the clouds.

The white silk suddenly accelerated and extended as if thousands of meters long, directly brushing into the cloud and seemingly binding something.

"Snow Demon, you mustn’t go too far!" Chi Lingjun roared angrily from within the cloud.

"Hahaha! The Jade Blood Demoness Pearl is mine!" Suddenly, a white figure lunged towards the center of the blood light, reaching vehemently for the girl within the blood light.

That was a sleazy old man with a small mustache, clad in a wide white robe. His entire body was almost only as big as the robe, practically wrapped up inside it. As he flew, he resembled a large white bat, his clothes rustling.

The old man was about to reach the demoness when he suddenly noticed a red-robed Taoist stepping out from behind her. That Taoist had dark red face, pitch-black eyes without pupils or whites, and opened his mouth to spit out something.

Shh!

A red line shot out—it was, astonishingly, a blood-colored flying dagger that hit the old man’s face at lightning speed.

Clang!

A flash of blue light crossed the old man’s face, and he managed to block the flying dagger with difficulty.

"Little Taoist seeking death!"

Enraged, he flung his sleeve, and suddenly a large amount of white powder flew towards the other party, enveloping him like a cloud.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that it was actually a large swarm of white flying ants. In moments, the Taoist was overwhelmed and pinned to the ground, screaming continuously.

"Thank you, senior, for your assistance, hahahaha!" Suddenly, a young cultivator sporting a red headband flashed through the blood light and swiftly flew out, immediately making the Jade Blood Demoness Pearl disappear, transforming into a small blood-red bead in his hand. Shaped like a pigeon egg, it was completely round and emanating blood light.

The man laughed heartily, extremely fast, turning around to bolt away. The old man grew pale with anger, a stifled breath stuck in his chest, yet just then, having just summoned his magic artifact, he was too exhausted to give chase.

The escaping man was immensely pleased, but as he turned his head, he saw a middle-aged scholar standing in front of him somehow. The man was dressed in scholar’s clothing and armed with dual swords, looking tranquil.

"Daoist friend, it seems we are fated. Why not sit down and discuss the matters of the wind, flowers, snow, and moon?"

Lin Xin smiled slightly, speaking warmly.

"Screw your wind!" The man’s expression changed, and he quickly torqued his body, leaving several afterimages in his original spot as he rapidly shot into the air and flew in another direction.

Shh!

A bright sword light suddenly lit up in midair.

The man’s eyes widened as he was abruptly sliced in half from the waist and crashed down from midair.

Lin Xin, having reappeared in front of him, was slowly sheathing his sword.

"You!" The man couldn’t finish his words when he suddenly felt a severe pain in his body. Looking down, he realized that his lower body had been cleanly severed, spilling blood and entrails all over the ground.

He looked back at Lin Xin, only to see the other casually holding the Jade Blood Demoness Pearl he had just obtained, carefully inspecting it.

"You scoundrel!" Another thunderous shout resounded.

In front of and behind Lin Xin, two clouds of mist surged again, one of which was again Chi Lingjun, and the other revealed the face of another white-browed Taoist within it.

"Hand over the Treasure Bead, and we’ll spare your life!"

Lin Xin let out a loud laugh, his figure suddenly disappearing, so fast that even the two of them were left wide-eyed and speechless, unable to react. In the blink of an eye, they saw him dash out dozens of meters, almost disappearing into the depths of the Taoist hall.

"Chase!"

The two clouds of mist hurriedly pursued him.

Along the way, they raced past various Taoist halls. Some Taoists attempted to block them, those of weaker strength couldn’t even discern the speed of the three chasers, and those of stronger strength couldn’t react quickly enough — all they saw was the trio fleeting and vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Far away on the other side, a series of red lights burst forth, the sounds of magical artifacts clashing were incessant, accompanied by the eerie and intense music of strings and bamboo flutes.

Lin Xin avoided that direction and headed straight towards a building resembling the Scripture Pavilion.

The pavilion already had many Taoists and loose cultivators fighting fiercely; amidst the chaotic crowd, Lin Xin plunged straight forward, causing many to fall over. Almost all the Taoists encountered were cut down by his Cross Slash, easily slaughtered as he moved with high velocity.

Instantly appearing in front of the pavilion, he looked up at the red glowing ripples of the Formation surrounding the building.

He held the Red Flower Sword.

Cling!

The sound of the sword was clear. A burst of red light appeared, and the red Formation naturally had a horizontal cut made in it, just enough for one person to enter.

Lin Xin’s figure flickered, and he instantly swept through. The cut in the Formation quickly repaired itself.

The two clouds of mist arrived behind him, crashing fiercely into the Formation.

Bang bang!

In the midst of violent vibrations, the Formation wobbled but showed no sign of collapsing.

"This man is actually also proficient in Formations!?" An astonished voice came from the mist.

"Stay here, no matter what, he has to come out eventually!"

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

Lin Xin rushed into the pavilion where a large number of two-faced Taoists inside looked at him in panic, scrambling backward while continuously screaming in terror.

Lin Xin ignored them and glanced over the rows and rows of jade slips and volumes in the pavilion. He directly overlooked the low-level volumes, as there were too many belonging to the Shu Family here, and he couldn’t take them all out in time, limited by the capacity of his Storage Bag.

His figure moved swiftly, appearing directly in front of a bookshelf at the innermost part, which only held three sets of purple-red Jade Ruyi-shaped jade slips, filled with lots of indecipherable script.

He promptly collected the three jade slips and headed directly to the second floor.

The second floor also had a similar bookshelf at the top, where three jade slips were placed. He quickly collected them and then headed to the third floor.

The bookshelf on the third floor had only a few, containing even fewer volumes, merely over a dozen, all of which were swiftly cleared out by Lin Xin.

He touched his Storage Bag, which was nearly full, so he was no longer in a hurry. Instead, he walked around the top floor of the pavilion, stepping out onto the balcony to look out.

"Ah!" Several Taoists in red robes with golden threads rushed out from somewhere in the pavilion, yelling as they dived towards his back, each holding a curved dagger emanating red smoke. The blades were glowing with Sword Qi, clearly not of an ordinary level.

Lin Xin didn’t even glance back; the Red Flower Sword unsheathed automatically, swirling into a red line, looping around and passing through several Taoists.

Puff puff!

In a series of explosions, these Taoists hadn’t run halfway when their bodies burst open, dissolving into clouds of blood and falling to the ground. Their daggers also rapidly darkened and faded.

Lin Xin stood on the balcony of the pavilion, the Red Flower Sword swirling around him like a protective guardian, continually circling as it danced around him.

The red pavilion was just a tiny corner among a swarm of Taoist halls; all around was densely packed with fierce combats and struggles.

Over many ferocious fights overhead, a layer of red film grew increasingly thinner and fainter. At that time, the red-skirted Taoist was gathering dozens of companions in the clouds, battling back and forth with monks like Pudu Sheng.

Two monks fighting were particularly terrifying. They flew in mid-air, using no Magical Artifacts but engaged in bare-knuckled brawling, exchange after exchange, each punch solidly landing, with every hit visibly sending out massive shockwaves.

Just as Lin Xin was about to withdraw his gaze, he suddenly heard a light cry, a bizarre owl-like sound from the distant sky.

He looked towards the distant clouds, only to see a bizarre creature with the upper body of a man and the long, silver serpentine lower body, with disheveled black hair, razor-sharp teeth, and strong muscles, slithering towards this location.

"It’s Huadun Zi!" Pudu Sheng in the sky suddenly turned extremely pale.

Boom!

Just then, the ground below the complex of Taoist halls cracked open, and a giant white fish-headed person emerged, his figure over ten meters tall, head like a fish, the rest of his body that of a strong man. He shook off the soil and debris on his body.

Ao!

The fish-headed man bellowed, emitting a foul fishy smell from his body.

His round, bulging fish eyes unwaveringly focused on Pudu Sheng and two other high-level Elemental Energy Realm experts in mid-air, eyes flashing with ferocity.

"Retreat!"

Pudu Sheng roared. Seeing the fish-headed man emerge, he had completely abandoned the encirclement mission. With the sudden appearance of two Elemental Energy Realm Demon Kings joining the fray, this had become something he could no longer handle.

The two Elemental Energy Realm cultivators, each holding a Black and White Law Sword, surrounded by black and white dual energies, swept through swathes of fish-lipped Taoist cultivators continuously. But with the great number of opponents, and now the appearance of two comparable monsters backing them, they could only retreat helplessly. (To be continued. If you like this work, we invite you to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)