Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 221 - 214 Kill

Chapter 221: Chapter 214 Kill

The volcano was high, with a gray-white platform in the middle like a solar corona. From the outside, looking towards the platform, there seemed to be a shining blue stone pillar standing erect.

However, surrounding the platform was a circle of blackness, made up of countless black bugs, continuously flying around the platform.

Lin Xin had tried several times to go up and have a look, but he was pushed back each time by an immense invisible force.

The place was too mysterious and strange, and he dared not attack it head-on to see if he could break through the surrounding layer. He had to give up.

Continuing to climb up the stone steps, he speeded up, and after about more than ten minutes, he finally reached the top of the volcano.

At the top was a large bowl-shaped volcanic crater. Standing at the edge, illuminated by red light, he was as inconspicuous as an ant, just like the numerous stones beside him.

Walking around the rim of the crater, he saw some mummified bodies; some of them lay on their sides on the ground, letting the high-temperature surface smoke their bodies, yet emitting unintelligible laughter.

Some climbed up from other stone steps and then, without even a glance at Lin Xin who was close at hand, jumped straight into the volcano.

Others were kneeling on the ground, sadly covering their faces and crying, but no tears could be seen flowing down.

Seeing plenty of these, Lin Xin no longer paid too much attention to the mummified bodies. Beside the glaringly bright crater, there was a small enclave of ancient, dilapidated buildings, surrounded by walls, which seemed to have been a courtyard originally.

The inside was a mass of rocks fused together by solidified lava.

Curious, he walked into this small courtyard where gray-black spiky vines were everywhere.

"Heh...hehehe...."

Suddenly, a somewhat neurotic male voice floated out from a corner of the courtyard.

"Another one... another one trying to save themselves... newcomer....."

Lin Xin was startled; he initially thought it was another senseless mummified body laughing, but unexpectedly, the other party spoke in the language of the "Asura."

Following the direction of the voice, he quickly found where the man was.

Behind the tallest broken wall in the courtyard, among the chaotic stones, floated a large mass resembling a human figure.

The shadow floated there, resembling a human in a long robe, only its height was over four meters, level with the broken wall.

Its lower hem seemed to constantly devour and absorb the black particles of the Void around it, replenishing itself.

The entire body had no facial features, no details visible, resembling a shadow of a person reflected on the wall by firelight, somewhat distorted, only an outline.

Lin Xin stood in front of it and looked up.

"Who are you?" he asked in the language of the "Asura."

"Me?" The humanoid shadow seemed to hear something surprisingly humorous, "You’re asking who I am??"

It chuckled deeply.

"I, like you... am just a desperate one who came here seeking salvation...."

"A desperate one?" Lin Xin, finally finding someone here with a sense of consciousness, quickly organized a slew of questions in his mind, intending to get them all cleared up.

"Yes..." the humanoid shadow replied deeply, "We call all lives that come here holding on to their last hope... searching for salvation... the ’desperate ones’...."

"Someone told me that if I found this place, I would find a way to escape the ’Illusion.’" Lin Xin asked directly, stating his purpose for this visit.

"Hehe... hehehehehe..... Escape? A method?" The shadow laughed neurotically again.

"Another failure... a lie spread by failures... everyone seeing this place as their last hope...."

"Is there no way then?" Lin Xin’s heart sank, his voice also becoming somber.

"No way?...." The humanoid shadow suddenly quieted down, "No... no no no.... of course, of course, there is!"

"Then how will you tell me?" Lin Xin asked lowly. Everything here made him feel incredibly eerie, unlike any other realms he had traversed in Asura, where everywhere seemed filled with despair, death, and unease.

"I don’t need anything... I need nothing...." the shadow bent down, its head nearing Lin Xin, although just a shape resembling a head. But Lin Xin could still feel that it seemed to be scrutinizing him carefully.

"Tell me... your name." The shadow whispered softly, "I want to... whisper it to you, just to you alone...." It seemed to be whispering.

"Red Flower." Lin Xin said offhand.

"Red Flower? I, the Asura.... I have already forgotten how many years I’ve been here, too long... too long too long.... so long that even my memory is failing... I’m not sure if my method still works... but you can try it...." The shadow spoke softly in a sweet, hoarse, yet viscous voice.

"What method?" Lin Xin’s hand was always on the Red Flower Sword. As the shadow approached, he was ready to draw his sword and fight at any moment.

"Hey.... hehehehe....!!" The shadow suddenly backed away, returned to its original posture, and emitted an unintelligible laugh.

"Do you know?"

It suddenly appeared next to Lin Xin’s ear like a flash of lightning and quietly said.

"Asura... is alive....."

"Have you noticed that in Asura, slaughtering no longer gives a quick increase in cultivation?"

"Have you noticed that in the outer world, you can also kill for enough improvement?"

"Have you noticed that relying solely on the slaughter in Asura can no longer keep up with the pace of strengthening the ’Illusion’?"

Every question pierced Lin Xin’s heart like a ruthless sword, his heart continuously constricting, his pupils suddenly shrinking to pinpoints.

"What should I... do!?" He suppressed the urge to act impulsively and asked in a deep voice.

"Kill... just kill..." the humanoid shadow with the Asura’s strange laugh began, "Endless killing... The Underworld needs endless nourishment... from different worlds, from different times... everything... everything...."

As he spoke, the entire shadow gradually quieted down, and there were no more sounds.

"Kill? Kill what, and where?" Lin Xin wanted to know more, but he realized that the other party had already gone completely silent.

"Are you still there?"

No response.

"Do you have any wishes that you need me to fulfill?"

"Or is there something you want to obtain?"

"What method can help you escape from here?"

With each attempt to probe, each attempt to lure, the humanoid shadow did not respond at all.

Lin Xin eventually just sat down cross-legged on the spot, waiting. This humanoid shadow with the Asura, definitely knew almost all the secrets. If he could not gather enough information from him, it would be truly difficult to come here again.

This wait turned into several days, he recorded it on the time plate he had brought; a total of five days had passed, the humanoid shadow, no matter how much he called, gave no response whatsoever.

Eventually, he tried to touch the other party, but it was like an illusion; he could not touch it at all. It was as if it was merely a shadow, a light floating in mid-air.

Left with no other choice, he had to return the way he came, accelerating down the mountain using his Qinggong.

Passing by the middle of the mountain, the circle of black bugs was still swirling around the coronae, seemingly tireless.

Lin Xin took a distant look and continued to follow the original path he had taken.

No danger, no killing intent, no sunlight, and no hope.

His heart felt vaguely empty, yet he could not figure out what was missing.

Before long, he arrived back at the place where the mummies were worshipping the bonfire.

"What exactly is this place?"

"Is the Underworld alive?"

"Slaughter? Constant slaughter, if it’s not referring to killing within the Underworld, then it must be somewhere else...."

"Perhaps it refers to killing on the surface, in the Mortal Realm?" He stood in front of the fire, turning back to look towards the brightly glowing volcanic summit in the distance.

He faintly recalled, feeling indeed that slaughtering in the Mortal Realm enhanced him much faster than slaughtering inside the Underworld. The illusions seemed to have lessened a lot as well.

"Underworld, is this inciting us to slaughter in our own world to provide it nutrients?" Lin Xin had a faint suspicion in his heart.

Crossing past the bonfire, he left the town and quickly returned to the Lava Lake, to the area where the Array Plate and the Demon Talisman Seed were located.

"Can I still come here?" He turned his head, gazing at the volcano, feeling somewhat unwilling to leave just like that.

He had come here to find a way to escape the illusion, but now, he had only learned from a strange shadow’s existence that he could try resolving issues through slaughter.

Without reason, without a foundation, he could not fully choose to believe the other party.

Disabling the Formation, he watched the Short Space Flower gradually reveal itself, its petals enclosing a pitch-black tunnel entrance, which was the way back.

"I wonder if the Demon Talisman Seed can be used here."

Suddenly inspired, he took out a Demon Talisman Seed and gently infused it with Spiritual Energy.

Hiss...

A subtle trembling sound emanated from the Demon Talisman Seed, and within seconds, the entire metallic Demon Talisman Seed suddenly burst into flames, a bright red fire burning fiercely in Lin Xin’s hand, yet no heat spread out at all. It was as if it wasn’t fire at all.

"This...!?" He tried to activate the Array Plate to drive away the flames, but to no avail; the bright red fire seemed like Mortal Fire, yet it had none of the characteristics of a flame.

A Demon Talisman Seed was quickly consumed by the fire, completely vaporized.

The light of the fire slowly went out.

Lin Xin, feeling a sense of loss, withdrew his hand, knowing there was no way to summon the carriage. After all, he turned around, resolutely walking towards the Short Space Flower.

Standing directly under the tunnel entrance, he looked up and softly said,

"Two-Faced Kingdom."

Hiss...

A strong suction force suddenly pulled Lin Xin up sharply, and with a whoosh, the whole person was swallowed by the flower in one gulp.

The Short Space Flower burped like a person, the entire plant quickly turning black, withering and collapsing, within a few breaths, turning into a puddle of dead plant debris.

Lin Xin returned to the black intestinal tunnel, twisting and turning as he flew forward. Looking back, he saw the walls of the tunnel turn pitch black the moment he flew past, completely darkening.(To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to recommend tickets and monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)