Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 229 - 222: Aftermath Part 2

Chapter 229: Chapter 222: Aftermath Part 2

Hua Xixi was seated in a small valley near Spirit Heart Villa, without his sedan, nor the Foundation Establishment beauties to carry it for him.

He sat alone, his white clothes whiter than snow.

"Eighteen Golden Core Daoist Masters?" He looked at the handwriting on the slip of paper, a hint of coldness flickering at the corners of his mouth.

"Led by Autumn Leaf Daoist, there are two others with mysterious identities. Initially suspected to also be in the late Golden Core stage." The information was displayed exceptionally clearly.

Swish!

In the blink of an eye, the figure of a white-clothed woman kneeling on one knee appeared behind him.

"My lord, the formation is not yet fully laid out, yet someone has already breached it. It is someone from inside the manor; their speed was too fast, we couldn’t stop them," the woman spoke softly.

"Someone from inside the manor?" Hua Xixi paused slightly, "Too fast?"

"Yes, almost reaching the pinnacle of Foundation Establishment in speed," the woman nodded.

"Do you know which direction?" Hua Xixi was never a reckless person. He might choose his targets at random, but once he had decided, he would go all out, whether it was preparation, in-progress intelligence, or eventually taking action. He would arrange everything in advance, always sufficiently prepared, never rushing forward impulsively.

This was why he had grown from an ordinary genius to his current state at the pinnacle of the late Golden Core stage, soon breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

When facing an enemy, no matter how weak, he would follow his own principles—investigate, prepare, plan, and act—without underestimating or overlooking anything.

"Since that person could achieve such high speed, perhaps they are a Daoist Master who left the manor. If we can stop them, maybe we can get more information about the inside from them."

Hua Xixi was never a boastful person; even a Daoist Master, unless someone of Autumn Leaf Daoist’s calibre, was seen as just an ordinary character he could easily handle.

Even if it were Autumn Leaf Daoist taking action, what of it? In his eyes, he was merely a slightly stronger underling, nothing more.

The title of True Monarch wasn’t merely bestowed at random, but represented a certain level of invincibility within the same realm.

He could even challenge those beyond his level and not necessarily lose. Anyone who was bestowed with the title of True Monarch was a freak beyond ordinary people’s imaginations.

"The general direction is correct, and that person left noticeable traces behind. It should be easy to follow."

The woman nodded.

"Then let’s go," Hua Xixi got up, took a long look at the manor, then turned and left.

His movement technique was peculiar—one step out, as if the ground suddenly emerged a transparent vortex; the vortex shattered, emitting a massive rebound force, propelling him forward as smoothly as flowing water. His speed was also incredibly fast, encountering no obstructions even in the forest.

Just a few blinks later, Hua Xixi had vanished into the dense forest, and the kneeling woman slowly stood up, then burst apart with a ’poof,’ turning out to be just an illusory shadow.

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

"Blood...." Lin Xin stared blankly at the blood on his hands; it had been a full moment since he started spitting blood, and he still maintained the same posture.

Unable to mobilize his Spiritual Energy, he was essentially just a normal human at this time, and the illusions’ impact seemed to involve some unknown principle.

He couldn’t remember how he had suddenly fallen into the illusion, nor how he had arrived here; he couldn’t recall anything in between, only barely remembering he seemed to have killed a few twisted red shadows randomly.

But it was of no use; those red shadows continued to appear incessantly.

Lying stiffly in the undergrowth, Lin Xin struggled to recall everything that happened previously, but it was like trying to grasp a dream—almost recalling it, yet unable to hold on.

Hiss... Hiss... Hiss...

It seemed to be the sound of the wind, yet also more like the footsteps of someone slowly approaching. Lin Xin suddenly held his breath and listened intently.

At this moment, his Spiritual Energy was turbulent and unusable. If he encountered any cultivator with bad intentions, an accident might occur.

Quietly clutching a Demon Talisman Seed in his palm, he was prepared to squeeze out a trace of Inner Qi at any moment, inject it into the Demon Talisman Seed, and take himself away.

This time, perhaps the Two-Faced Kingdom would actually be his best refuge. That is, if he could make it in time.

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

Hua Xixi slowly walked through the forest, each of his steps like walking on the surface of the water, continuously stirring up ripples and vortices beneath his feet, as if he were a deity on a divine journey.

"Mimic," he extended his index finger and gently tapped in mid-air.

Suddenly, a transparent flower slowly emerged in front of him, blooming, with the transparent flower at its center, sending out rings of minute waves. The waves spread out very slowly, diffusing over the surrounding trees and bushes, gradually revealing a faint red trail weaving through the forest.

Hua Xixi’s eyes faintly showed two different golden symbols, visible in his field of vision.

On the ground of the forest and on the tree trunks, there were residual faint red trails extending from behind him all the way to the front.

"This is the place," he spoke softly.

Continuing in the direction of the red line, every step he took could cover more than ten meters.

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

Lin Xin lay in the undergrowth, with the stream slowly flowing beside him.

The footsteps were getting closer and closer; he could already vaguely feel the other party coming straight toward his location.

Now that his Spiritual Energy was boiling over and unusable, lacking any release of energy fluctuations, naturally, those tracking spells also couldn’t lock onto his precise location.

As the footsteps approached, Lin Xin’s heart also tensely rose; at this moment, he was essentially equivalent to a normal person—although physically much stronger, his inability to make any significant movements made him no different from an ordinary person.

If he were discovered by a master of the manor, it might be alright, but if discovered by external enemies...

"I can no longer stay at the Manor," he had already made up his mind.

Once caught in an illusion, he posed a threat to the people around the Manor, and nobody knew when

he might explode or fall into delusion.

And once he suppressed the illusion, if he didn’t vent recklessly...

Suddenly, Lin Xin seemed to have realized a key point.

"Suppressing illusions...not killing wantonly...venting...could this be the reason why my spiritual energy is uncontrollably damaged mysteriously this time?"

Snap.

Suddenly, the footsteps stopped as if starting to search the surroundings.

Through the cracks in the bushes, Lin Xin faintly saw a man in white standing in the woods, looking around in this direction.

The man had no aura whatsoever, just a faint chill, as if he were an ordinary person

unable to discern his realm, or perhaps he had no realm at all.

All of a sudden, the man seemed to notice Lin Xin’s gaze and swept his eyes over this way.

In an instant, Lin Xin was caught off guard and met his gaze squarely.

Hua Yunu was first startled, his hand slowly moving to the hilt at his waist.

Clang!!

"Hua Yunu!"

In the blink of an eye, a dazzling white light burst from the woods, emitting a twisted sword light like a snake, pouncing toward Hua Yunu.

The sword light was extremely long, appearing from afar like a pale white ribbon, soft yet slightly sharp.

The sword light was about to touch the clothes when Hua Yunu, expression unchanged, flicked his index finger, and a transparent blade gang like an iron chain stretched across a river blocked in front of him, just in time to stop the incoming sword light.

The transparent blade gang collided with the sword light, making countless dense sounds of metal clashing like raindrops.

White sparks sprayed, Hua Yunu’s robes fluttered, and he stood still, only looking up at another spot in the woods from afar.

There, a figure slowly emerged, dressed in green robes, a hat on his head, wearing two sheaths at his waist, one long and one short. One carved with the sun, and one carved with the moon.

"Daoist Qiuye..."

Hua Yunu’s expression unchanged, called out the opponent’s name.

The opponent was a top expert in the Golden Core Stage like him, maybe not his match,

but while he could easily defeat the opponent, killing him would be difficult.

The most distinct feature of the Golden Core Stage was the extremely mysterious and tricky escape skills, and a golden core expert proficient in escape skills,

if not blocked by formations, was nearly impossible to kill.

If Hua Yunu had reached the Golden Core Stage, with his Flower Light Escape Technique, even if Lin Xin had twice as many Daoist Masters around him, they shouldn’t think of killing him.

It could be said that reaching the Golden Core Stage meant having a significant guarantee of life, provided one was cautious enough.

"A defeated subordinate, yet you dare to show your face?"

Hua Yunu said unceremoniously.

Daoist Qiuye didn’t reply, only pressing down his hat. One hand clasped the hilt of the sun-engraved blade at his waist.

"You want to fight me?" Hua Yunu was slightly surprised, "Within thirty moves you will surely lose, within a hundred moves you will surely die."

"I know," Daoist Qiuye’s voice was unnaturally calm. "But if you think I’m still the same as I was back then, today this place will be where your body is buried."

"A sword is established with honesty, a blade inquires. How many times have you asked?" Hua Yunu’s face showed a look of scorn.

"Three times," Daoist Qiuye replied calmly.

Hua Yunu seemed slightly startled.

"Three times? You can’t possibly..."

Before he could finish, his vision suddenly brightened with countless intense white lights, a white sword light unexpectedly appeared in front of him.

"Myriad Laws Heavenly Realm Blade!"

Daoist Qiuye drew both blades simultaneously, the blade tips piercing the void, directly emerging from the tree trunk by Hua Yunu’s side, the sword light dazzling, as if exploding a swath of white light.

Boom!!!

White light touched every object, whether trees or stones or soil, and everything burst open,

shooting outward.

Hua Yunu’s body was surrounded by a perfect tetrahedral blade gang wall, standing within the defense it formed, he quietly watched the slashing sword light surrounding him, ignoring the blinding white light affecting his vision, even though everything around was white,

his eyes still reflected the figure of Daoist Qiuye opposite him.

"Shadow Dance Blade."

From behind Daoist Qiuye, a black shadow also suddenly flew out, forming a sharp and silent blade edge, swiftly slashing toward his waist.

The protective sword light and the shadow blade collided, Daoist Qiuye seemed prepared, the tips of several blades of grass on the ground suddenly burst out with sword light, shooting upward, blocking the shadow blade.

The two blades clashed, the shadow blade was knocked askew, deviating from the intended direction and slashing toward another side.

Whoosh!

The shadow blade dispersed forward, spreading into a large swath of shadow covering the forest, silently persisting for several seconds, gradually disappearing.

The once lush trees had completely vanished, turning into vast patches of smooth, flat ground.

The two men didn’t stop at all.

A series of white sword lights twisted out from tree trunks, blades of grass, stones, continuously bursting forth, slashing toward Hua Yunu.

And a series of shadow blades continuously flew out from behind Daoist Qiuye, slashing toward his back.

The two were still tens of meters apart, yet they stood there, continuously exchanging blows, blades striking and then directly entering the void and disappearing.

This was a battle between top experts of the Golden Core Stage.

The spot where Lin Xin lay was deliberately controlled by Daoist Qiuye so as not to be affected.

This allowed him to witness this battle, which was not widespread, but far more perilous than his and Hua Yunu’s decisive fight. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to qidian.com to vote and recommend tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)