Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 199 - 192: Encampment Part 2

Chapter 199: Chapter 192: Encampment Part 2

Along the way, Lin Xin occasionally looked up at each of those giant fruits.

He faintly sensed the Red Flower Sword vibrating and thrilling. Yin Mantuo seemed to be extremely interested in these fruits, continually conveying a sense of greed.

Because of this, he had to run spiritual energy to firmly suppress it.

Faintly, he felt that this place seemed to be of great help to him. The air subtly filled with a rich scent of vitality, but it wasn’t normal vitality—rather, it was a distorted, withering, about to rot type of vitality.

A group of people cautiously advanced along the branches.

They hadn’t gone far when a giant black eagle with a body over ten meters long suddenly darted out from the leaves.

The giant eagle spread its wings, breaking a swath of fine branches and leaves, and swooped toward the group from afar.

Screech!!

A sharp cry.

From afar, Lin Xin could only see a dark shadow that shot toward them fast as clouds, with the giant eagle’s wings spanning over twenty meters, casting a shadow big enough to envelop over a dozen people under it.

Its feathers gleamed with a metallic luster, each over a meter long, and as it flapped its wings, the giant eagle viciously dove toward Hua Yunu at the forefront of the team to grab her.

"Go,"

With a slap on her waist, a platinum sword light suddenly shot out from Hua Yunu, circled around the giant eagle, and instantly made a hissing noise of friction as if cutting through metal.

The body of the giant eagle was instantly severed into two halves, with large feathers scattering and falling. They fell beside Hua Yunu, surprisingly showing not a single drop of blood.

Ding!

A feather smashed straight down in front of Lin Xin, piercing the surface of the branch.

He bent down to grasp the feather, slightly exerted force, and pulled it out from the branch.

The entire feather was like a black metallic shield, exceptionally heavy to hold in his hand.

"Just ordinary fine iron." After scrutinizing it, he somewhat disappointedly shook his head.

"This is a common Iron Feather Eagle, although it can grow to a large size," Dugu Lin casually said. "But its strength is ordinary."

Nodding slightly, Lin Xin tossed the feather away, watching as surrounding cultivators intercepted the flying fragmented feathers.

After the Iron Feather Eagle, some were injured by the splashing feathers, and the team’s pace immediately slowed down. After walking less than a few miles, Hua Yunu found a cross-shaped tree fork clearing and began to set up camp, erect tents, and build wooden houses.

It was always dim under the shade of the trees, impossible to distinguish day from night. It was unknowable what time it was.

Tents were quickly erected, forming a patch of gray and white on the tree forks.

Using this site as a base, Hua Yunu assigned tasks, having each major area be responsible for guarding different directions.

The several Foundation Establishment cultivators gathered together in a tent to discuss, with faint fluctuations of spiritual energy emanating from inside.

Threads of transparent, invisible breath like flowing water flew out of the tent, silently following the branches in all directions.

Lin Xin guessed they were using formations to probe for the exact location of the insect master.

Afterward, it was calm for three consecutive days, during which he sat alone in his tent, resting and practicing.

Until the fourth day.

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

Thump thump thump.

"Enter,"

Lin Xin didn’t even open his eyes, still inhaling and exhaling spiritual energy, with strands of white breath continuously gathering from the air around him, turning pure white and entering his nostrils.

By the Qi Refinement stage, although there is no limitation on physique, the practice was limited by the collection of external spiritual energy.

Qi refinement, extracting the natural energy from the outside world, incorporating it into oneself—when to extract and what to extract were all essential.

Most Qi Cultivators gathered the energy of the morning glow because it was the easiest to adopt and the easiest to absorb and utilize the vitality.

Upon hearing the sound, the white breath from his nostrils suddenly dispersed, reverting to its normal state.

The tent door opened. Although it was called a tent, it was actually built using large tree branches and leaves available on site.

Dongyue came in with a hesitant expression.

"Big brother."

"Where did you go earlier? I didn’t see you at all in the team," Lin Xin asked with surprise as he opened his eyes.

"I left the team alone earlier." Dongyue didn’t beat around the bush and sat down in front of Lin Xin.

"How did you guys end up here? This isn’t exactly a benign place; I usually walk around it."

"Just a mission," Lin Xin didn’t mind since he just had to follow arrangements. "But you managed to catch up with us."

"I’m too familiar with this place. Riding that silly little elephant up here is too simple."

Dongyue picked up a bottle of wine from a newly carved small table and poured himself a drink.

Sigh...

He let out a long breath.

"What are you sighing for?" Lin Xin came out of his cultivation state.

"Just feeling a bit troubled," Dongyue said softly. "Would you join me for a few drinks?"

Lin Xin recalled the matters mentioned earlier. He had a vague understanding.

"Sure."

Without saying another word, he also took a cup out of the storage bag and poured himself a drink.

The two clinked glasses lightly and downed the contents in one gulp.

Glass after glass... Dongyue did not say much, just kept drinking. Lin Xin just kept getting out alcohol until after more than ten bottles were taken out and the storage bag was empty, he stopped.

Putting down his glass, Lin Xin wasn’t drunk, but he saw that Dongyue was completely sloshed in front of him.

"To get drunk on fruit wine like this, you’re really the first...." He understood that Dongyue was actually heart-drunk, just wanting to be drunk.

"Big brother.... do you know about the Myriad Poisons Body?" Dongyue mumbled softly, leaning on the table.

"Myriad Poisons Body?"

Without waiting for Lin Xin to say more, Dongyue started talking by himself.

"I was born with the Myriad Poisons Body... even stronger than the Spirit Gathering Physique by three parts, but I was... I was poisoned by someone... turned into the Myriad Poisons Body... destroyed my foundation... haha..."

"The sect monitored me, but did not deal with me...because my parents were heroes of the sect... but those in power were their opponents...."

Lin Xin’s expression shifted, but he remained silent. He began to understand why Dongyue held such a special status in the sect.

"They ruined my foundation, prevented me from cultivating... let me live freely, but never out of their sight... to show how merciful they are..." Dongyue’s eyes were blurry.

"I finally... grasped the chance to escape.... The old farmer who saved me, his whole family was accidentally poisoned to death by my physique, and a passing cultivator who helped me was innocently implicated by those tracking me... Everyone who had contact with me... burp... met with bad ends...." As Dongyue spoke, a fierce hatred flashed across his face.

"Until I met Jing’er.... She’s the only one who touched my blood.... and wasn’t poisoned to death by me." As Dongyue spoke, a tenderness suddenly appeared on his face.

Lin Xin’s fingers caressed the glass, listening quietly.

"She saved me, taught me how to train my body, taught me how to use my Myriad Poisons Body as strength...." Dongyue’s voice grew softer and softer.

"She is a Bug Master?" Lin Xin suddenly said.

Dongyue’s voice abruptly stopped.

For a moment, only the breathing of the two could be heard in the wooden cabin.

After a silence, Lin Xin already knew the answer.

"I’m not sure if there’s real affection between you two. But I must remind you that you haven’t been together for long, right? Do you really understand her? With your racial differences, she spends her whole year accompanied by disgusting bugs, can you accept that?"

Lin Xin set down the glass.

"You’ll face too many obstacles between you. When she mindlessly slaughters the Human Race, which side will you stand on? She must also have friends and kin; do you really think you can be accepted if you insert yourself into the picture?"

"I know."

Dongyue’s fist, resting on the table, unconsciously tightened more and more.

"Besides, how do you know that she saved you not just to use you?" Lin Xin’s final remark once again silenced Dongyue.

Yes, he still hadn’t figured out why Jing’er had coincidentally found him at his most difficult moment.

Lin Xin exhaled softly.

"Leave, if it weren’t for using you, I can’t figure out why she would find and specifically save you."

Dongyue had nothing to say.

After a long while, he suddenly spoke softly.

"I.. will consider it carefully."

Lin Xin nodded.

"I suspect the person by your side is the Bug Master we are looking for, so, if you decide, you can notify us at any time."

Dongyue did not respond. Instead, he stood up, his expression blank, and walked out of the cabin.

"If you have doubts, you can secretly check to see what she does when she’s not with you." Lin Xin waved his hand and sent something flying out the door that was never closed.

It was a brownish-yellow disc, densely engraved with numerous formation symbols. The center was embedded with three black-red crystals.

"This is the Spiritual Heart Disc, conceal your spirit fluctuations and you can hide all your aura."

Dongyue caught it in one swift movement, and without turning back, took a leap down, jumping off the edge of the tree branch.

Feeling he had left, Lin Xin also sighed, looking at the empty wine bottles on the floor, unsure what to say.

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

In the following days,

Hua Yunu and Dugu Lin, along with several Foundation Establishment Cultivators, each left to investigate, occasionally returning for supplies, marked by signs of skirmish on their bodies.

But they did not call upon other Qi Cultivators and internal experts.

Instead, they only had the rest of the people remain stationed on site.

Lin Xin and a few other experts proficient in formation talismans were especially well-protected.

Teams were organized to patrol the surrounding areas, clearing any potential threats.

Having nothing better to do, Lin Xin simply started discussing the Nine Heavens and Earth Extinguishing Great Law with Lin Luo, a cultivation technique similar to an extreme self-mutilation forbidden method.

It consumed one’s essential blood and burned it, unleashing terrifying lethal power in a short time. The reason it’s called Nine Heavens and Earth Extinguishing Great Law is that once this decree is used, in the following nine days, one’s cultivation level and strength skyrocket, peaking on the ninth day, then abruptly falling into a state of complete loss of cultivation, requiring over a year to recover and leaving many hidden injuries.

Lin Xin, with far superior knowledge and vision than before, carefully studied it and actually discovered a small trick for Lin Luo. It could be counted as a minor secret technique.

Within a day, it could nearly double the strength, but afterward, cultivation would be cut in half, needing seven days to recover. It could be used by Lin Luo for a short burst of power.

This small secret technique required a micro-sized formation to be inscribed on the body, and the use of a vocal command to activate it.

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