Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 232 - 225 Departure Part One

Chapter 232: Chapter 225 Departure Part One

"Delusional reality?" Lin Xin was puzzled.

"What do you mean..."

"Weren’t you the one who just barely survived an episode?" said Red Leaf Sword Master indifferently.

He glanced at the densely scattered models and numbers on the ground. Although he didn’t understand their meaning, he could roughly figure out these symbols were the tools Lin Xin used for analysis.

"I want to know, how could you have so easily gone through the first delusional reality."

Lin Xin understood what he meant but was immediately stunned. Was that supposed to be easy?

"I was paralyzed, unable to move, close to being severely injured and on the brink of death, being hunted by enemies. And you say it was easy for me?"

"For others, it’s not ’almost severe injury and death,’ but actual severe injury and death. Many people die during the first delusional reality... a lot of them..." Red Leaf Sword Master became a bit lost again, his pupils dilating and contracting more frequently.

"What exactly happens? Can you tell me the actual situation others experience?" Lin Xin asked.

Red Leaf Sword Master fell silent. Then, with a wave of his hand,

a red, circular water mirror suddenly appeared between the two of them.

In the mirror, a young man dressed like a wealthy son, wielding a sword with an expressionless face, stabbed himself repeatedly, creating gaping holes in his body. Blood gushed out, yet he seemed completely unaware, not showing even the slightest sign of pain.

The image abruptly changed to another, this time a woman in a yellow outfit.

She held a small knife, a flying dagger-like blade, and repeatedly cut her own throat gently. Blood poured out as she opened wounds in her skin without any change in expression. Soon, her throat split open, air hissed out of her windpipe, and she fell dead to the ground, continuously cutting into her own throat until her last breath.

Then the picture shifted again, to an old woman in red clothes, sitting in front of a vanity mirror, using a fine embroidery needle to prick her own right eye over and over. Blood and vitreous fluid trickled down from her eye, yet she showed no sign of feeling anything.

Red Leaf Sword Master waved his hand, and the water mirror disappeared.

Lin Xin said nothing and simply sat down to reflect in silence.

"This is a delusional reality," Red Leaf Sword Master said softly. "Do you know what it feels like to not be able to distinguish between reality and illusion?"

Lin Xin remained silent.

He suddenly recalled the red vortex he had seen before, as if he was trapped in a sea of blood, unable to breathe, feeling suffocated.

He had struggled to break free and even ended up attacking some red shadows. Now, he realized those red figures might have been innocent people caught in the fray.

"Feelings will go wrong, emotions will too. Nothing can be trusted, not even oneself. This is the essence of delusional reality... Do you understand?" Red Leaf Sword Master said softly, before turning and leaving.

Lin Xin sat beside the extinguished fire, watching the wisps of smoke, feeling inexplicably moved.

Lost in thought for a while, he finally came back to himself.

"I must find it," he murmured, then delved back into the process of finding a way to counter the power of the Ghost Mansion.

After a long time, he came to his senses, holding the Demon Talisman Seed and gently, very slowly infused it with a strand of spiritual energy.

Hiss!

A carriage suddenly materialized behind him.

As he boarded the carriage, he glanced at Red Leaf Sword Master, who was standing expressionless in front of a waterfall, his hands clasped behind his back, seemingly lost in thought.

The carriage door closed slowly, and Lin Xin looked at the mummified corpse sitting next to him.

This fellow was robed, sleeves fluttering, covering almost all parts of his body.

"Did you die because of the reality delusion as well?"

Lin Xin sighed and took a seat, sitting quietly and resting. He had barely recovered his spiritual energy, but after this incident, he didn’t dare to use it carelessly anymore.

If the reality delusion was as strong as Red Leaf Sword Master had said, and it became stronger each time, then he really might not be able to stay close to his loved ones in the future. Otherwise, the consequences could be irreversible.

"If you survive the delusional reality three times, you may head to the Western Extreme Land..." Suddenly, as the carriage was about to set off, Red Leaf Sword Master’s voice faintly penetrated from outside.

Lin Xin’s breath hitched.

"Western Extreme Land..."

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

"Flower Deity Xi, have you come here intending to start a war?"

Above Spirit Heart Villa, three massive bubbles of spiritual energy in three different colors collided with force.

Inside the white bubble was Flower Deity Xi, black for Ceramic King, and blue for an old man with white hair; the three of them faced off against each other within the confines of their spiritual energy.

Other Daoist Masters surrounded them in mid-air, spiritual energy and magic artifacts soaring into the sky, ready to strike Flower Deity Xi in the white bubble at any moment.

"Where is Lin Xin? Who is Lin Xin?" Flower Deity Xi’s expression was indifferent, as if not taking the crowd before her seriously.

"The Villa Master is out and has not yet returned; if Flower Deity has any matters, we can convey them on your behalf," said the crowd.

Lin Xinyuan looked up at the Flower God Xi, protected by the crowd below the Formation, and shouted loudly.

"Not here?" Flower God Xi frowned and grasped the hilt of his knife on his waist.

He looked around and saw circles of Daoist Masters surrounding himself, as if facing a great enemy, while further away, circles upon circles of Spirit Heart Villa disciples and Qi Cultivators formed defensive groups enveloping the area.

Looking down from above, it seemed as if concentric circles of white expanded endlessly from small to large.

Rings of faint white Spiritual Energy continuously gathered, swirling in the midair like mist.

"Two Golden Cores at Perfection?" He glanced at Porcelain King and the white-haired elder opposite him, "Where is Autumn Leaf Daoist?"

"He will show himself when it’s time," Porcelain King also stared intently at Flower God Xi with a solemn face. Suddenly, his expression drastically changed.

"You... You’re about to make a breakthrough... Just a hair’s breadth away, and you could transform your Golden Core into a Nascent Soul...!!"

"To form the Saint Infant is an opportunity not to be missed, did you actually suppress the chance to leave seclusion? Coming out of seclusion at this time, aren’t you afraid you’ll never manage to form the Nascent Soul?"

The white-haired elder’s expression also changed, seemingly a mix of regret and envy.

Flower God Xi looked at him disdainfully.

"Whether Lin Xin is here or not, three days from now, at the peak of Que Yao Mountain, have him come to meet the appointment; if he doesn’t come, everyone from Spirit Heart Villa will end up as they are before my eyes."

He raised his hand, palm erect like a blade.

"Jinling under the full moon."

With a gentle press of his hand downward.

Porcelain King and the white-haired elder took action at the same time to intercept, their raging black and blue Spiritual Energy transforming into a blade and a thrust, crisscrossing to block Flower God Xi.

Without a sound or motion,

The bicolor Spiritual Energy suddenly interwove and passed through, as if it hadn’t touched anything at all, piercing through the illusory space from the side.

Both of their expressions changed at once.

At the very center of the Manor, the ground collapsed thunderously, revealing a terrifying gash hundreds of meters long, embedded right in the center, from bottom to top.

Shhh! Shshshshsh....!

Amidst the miscellaneous sounds of ripping fabric, one after another Spirit Heart Villa disciple was cleaved in two.

Blood splattered, buildings were sliced open, the earth cracked, rocks flew, and some who couldn’t dodge in time were smashed to death on the spot.

From above, Spirit Heart Villa looked like a gigantic, long white object cleaved in half by a single cut through the middle.

The tallest white building in the center also got split in half by the blade, dividing into two parts.

Lin Zhen, Lin Luo, and others had ashen faces as they stared at the sky.

All the Golden Core Daoist Masters had incredibly ugly expressions but were also frightened by the opponent’s blade. Their magic artifacts were unable to lock onto the opponent at all, as if that entire space were just air. The magic artifacts couldn’t even attack; if they attacked rashly, they wouldn’t only deplete their strength but could also collide with each other, causing a massive conflict of forces among themselves.

"So a Divine Weapon Level magic artifact’s power is only this..." Porcelain King’s pupils constricted, his blade ignored all obstructions, touching the realm of spatial Techniques, a realm that only those at the Nascent Soul Level could dabble in.

No matter what, with this strike from Flower God Xi, it already signified he had the formidable strength to kill those at his own level at will.

"If it were me..." he said begrudgingly.

"Don’t act rashly!" The white-haired elder suddenly shook his head and transmitted his voice, "Porcelain King must not act impulsively. As long as Lin Xin is not here, not everyone here will die, and if the opponent still wants to use them to threaten Lin Xin, he will certainly not truly kill anyone."

"Three days later," Flower God Xi left these words indifferently and turned to fly away. His body flickered sharply and he appeared directly outside the Formation, beyond the encirclement of everyone, moving through as if unimpeded by anyone.

The dozens of Daoist Masters surrounding him seemed utterly ineffective.

The Qi Cultivators like Huang Shan stood within the lower Formation, looking up at the sky full of cultivators.

"If they really made full efforts, even if Flower God Xi couldn’t stop them, he wouldn’t have been able to easily strike out with that blade."

Huang Shan said coldly.

"They are just hired experts; if the opposing side were truly desperate, what we can offer is still not enough." Lin Xinyuan sneered, "This is the power brought by interests compared to power that is wholly one’s own. If it’s not truly yours, it ultimately isn’t."

"If the Grand Elder Brother were here..." Lin Luo clenched his fist by the side, his eyes reddening, as this blade claimed the most lives from his Radiant Sun Sect elites. Among them was even a partner he often worked closely with. But none could evade that blade; all were cut in two.

Flower God Xi flew far away, soon vanishing into the horizon.

All the Daoist Masters seemed somewhat unable to face the Villa, and with the fixed remuneration for their daily contract already in hand, they began to take their leave one by one.

Porcelain King and the white-haired elder also had a slight flush on their faces as they bid farewell and left. In an instant, the entire Villa was left with only a handful of people.

Autumn Leaf Daoist emerged from a corner, his expression unchanged.

"Daoist, no need for words; we understand." Lin Xinyuan’s expression was wooden; the succession of Daoist Masters quitting left her physically and mentally exhausted. "You have done your best." With too many people resigning, she seemed to be speaking out of habit.

Autumn Leaf Daoist did not speak. His complexion turned a bit white as a trickle of blood oozed from his eyes. He evaporated the blood with his Spiritual Energy; it was an injury sustained earlier from Flower God Xi’s severe blow.

"Flower God Xi has reached the step of transforming his Golden Core into a Nascent Soul, just one step away. He’s entered the realm of Dao relating to the cosmos, and no matter how many of us there are, we are meaningless against him; from the start to the end, he only has to face one person and can calmly break through us one by one. This is why all the Daoist Masters have retreated one after another." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)