Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 245 - 238 Dao Part 2

Chapter 245: Chapter 238 Dao Part 2

The white ox flicked its tail nonchalantly and let out a joyful sound. It lowered its head and licked up a large portion of insects from the ground, chewing them vigorously.

The third sword clang lasted the longest, enduring for more than ten breaths, and still vibrated slightly.

The swarm of insects, countless as a black cloud, perished rapidly, soon leaving a thick carpet of corpses on the ground around, on the ox carriages, and on the body of the white ox.

Inside the room, Lin Xin slowly lowered the Red Flower Sword, his expression slightly changed.

"The ’Jiuchen Qu’ Fifth Layer Jade Resonance, is indeed powerful...."

Just now, he had unwittingly broken through to the fifth layer of ’Jiuchen Qu’.

This ancient cultivation technique, which he obtained from the Two-Faced Kingdom, was one of his cultivation decrees practiced alongside the Bell Sound Technique, mainly used for actual combat.

When he previously confronted the Furious Hero with the Sound Technique, he had used this particular cultivation technique.

Targeting different biological structures, he employed sound wave attacks that caused minimal harm to human bodies but were lethal to those insects.

Each layer of the ’Jiuchen Qu’ actually represented an enhancement in controlling sound frequencies. As it elevated, it was actually accompanied by a continuous improvement in self-awareness.

With the spiritual energy churning and circulating, Lin Xin was just about to adjust his breathing slowly.

Hiss...

Suddenly, an immense, invisible essence surged into his body.

It seemed to gush from the void around him, rootless and sourceless, yet carrying traces of blood and a hint of murderous intent.

"Is this Essence of Life!?" Lin Xin was shocked, knowing that the special abilities of the Hidden Mansion were acting up again.

Once life was taken, as long as the life extinguished was of sufficient quality, he could then extract the essence of life and soul.

Moreover, slaughtering on land provided a faster enhancement than inside the Hidden Mansion.

However, Lin Xin could never have imagined that merely exterminating a swarm of bugs, which were highly susceptible to his attacks, could also trigger such an immense surge of essence.

Vast amounts of essence continued to violently flood into his body through his skin.

Lin Xin immediately sat cross-legged and closed his eyes, beginning to refine and absorb the forcibly injected essence. If he couldn’t assimilate it, the essence would remain in his body and become a burden.

But he was already at 99% progress in the ninth layer of Qi Cultivation. The Return to Origin core had reached its saturation point and could no longer accommodate any more essence.

Unfortunately, regardless of Lin Xin’s reluctance, the essence from the outside still force-fed into his body incessantly, as if there were a massive, unrivaled force outside pressing the essence in.

A large amount of essence gathered in the Return to Origin vortex between his chest and abdomen, gradually condensing into tiny, transparent granules, like salt crystals, forming under extreme pressure due to the inability to absorb them.

Yet, this was still not enough to resolve the issue.

Lin Xin’s skin surface became increasingly red, and tiny blood lines gradually appeared on his body. Veins popped up on his forehead and neck, his body swelled, and he looked as if he could explode at any moment.

Hum....

Suddenly, the Red Flower Sword stirred automatically without any wind, emitting a faint hum and floated up, hovering in front of Lin Xin.

Opening his mouth, Lin Xin exhaled a faint red mist from his nostrils and mouth, drifting towards the Red Flower Sword.

The continuous red mist between the man and the sword faintly contained many white particles.

The ceaseless flow of red mist entered the Red Flower Sword, making the sword’s body more solid and profound.

Lin Xin’s slightly pained expression also gradually eased, but he continued sitting cross-legged without waking.

The almost endless essence still surged into him, not quite reaching the level of absorbing the gigantic fruits from before but far exceeding the essence absorbed during usual slaughters.

The vibration of the sword’s body grew stronger and more buzzing, eventually producing a faint sound. This sound came without any physical strike and did not spread outward but was directed solely at Lin Xin.

The vibrating sounds seemed to carry countless cries and screams, as well as whispers, but only propagated within a very small area around Lin Xin.

The red lines on Lin Xin’s skin gradually faded, and his veins no longer protruded.

Though he still hadn’t opened his eyes, his consciousness was clear. A question that he had never deeply considered before resurfaced in his mind.

"To achieve Foundation Establishment, people on earth must form a Dao Foundation. Forming a Dao Foundation requires the Sun Spring to completely change one’s Innates and gain a further essence.

However, it has never been heard that anyone in the Hidden Mansion used the Sun Spring to advance beyond. They all cultivate alone. So, how did they surpass the Foundation Establishment stage?"

A myriad of speculations flickered through Lin Xin’s mind. He now faintly sensed, with the frenzy of insect essence from the outside pouring into him, and the continuous essence exchange with his magic sword while absorbing it, his cultivation had reached an impasse.

Upon observing his own condition again, Lin Xin was initially shocked but then overjoyed.

His physical attributes, after practicing ’Jiuchen Qu,’ had for the first time, outside of attribute points, received enhancement.

Each attribute had increased by one point.

The original attributes were:

Damage — 16, Defense — 15, Evasion — 1, Physique — 9.

And now they have become.

Damage — 17, Defense — 16, Evasion — 2, Physique — 10.

"Legend has it that the Nine Morning Tune is one of the top Body Refining Techniques of the Two-Faced Kingdom. I have practiced it for so many years and never felt any significant effect on body strengthening. It seems now it must be because my body had already surpassed the lower levels of what the Nine Morning Tune could enhance. Now that I’ve reached the Fifth Layer, I’ve finally caught up to my inherently robust physique."

Realizing this truth, Lin Xin felt a slight relief in his heart.

He had been practicing the Nine Morning Tune all along, and aside from mastering the music to an abnormal level that it could be used for attacks, he had never felt it helped much in body refinement—despite its reputation as one of the finest Body Refining Techniques.

Now it appears that just at the Fifth Layer, it had caught up with the physical quality he had been constantly enhancing through the Demon Talisman Seed.

In an instant, Lin Xin felt inspired, and many thoughts flashed through his mind.

Just now, the Red Flower Sword had automatically sensed danger to his body and vibrated protectively on its own, creating a faint vibration only produced when practicing the Nine Morning Tune and the Bell Sound Technique.

The vibration was natural, with the sound waves not dispersing but concentrating on his body, slowly strengthening his physical condition.

Recollecting the entire process, he seemed to understand where he had gone wrong before.

"So the reason I always felt the Demon Talisman Seed was insufficient is that I was using it in the wrong way...." he suddenly realized.

"Just because I have no cultivation talents on the surface doesn’t mean I don’t have any within the techniques of the Shadow Mansion. And to practice Body Refining Techniques, one does not need a particular physique, just perceptiveness and persevering determination."

"My perceptiveness is largely influenced by my thoughts and abilities. It should be considered strong, so actually it’s perfectly fine to follow the path of body refinement."

"Body refinement can enhance one’s physical state in all aspects. Unlike earth-bound cultivators who only know how to utilize external objects, making their own progress extremely slow, if they lose Spiritual Energy, they are useless. Just like the three men just now. Without Spiritual Energy, I am confident that I could kill them in one strike."

"And the Demon Talisman Seed should be used to break through when I hit a bottleneck in body refinement, not as a regular means of enhancement. Techniques should be primary, the Demon Talisman Seed secondary. This is the Righteous Path!"

His doubts cleared all at once, his mind becoming clear and transparent.

Sitting cross-legged in the room.

He no longer cared about the foundational techniques of the surface but fully immersed himself in the Nine Morning Tune and the Bell Sound Technique, letting the Return to Origin evolve as it would, without his control.

Rather, he wholeheartedly merged into these two Decrees.

If the Heart Eye Sword Path was a battle-integrated Technique he had created, then the Return to Origin was like the engine for the Heart Eye Sword Path, the source of power.

But now he no longer focused on the Return to Origin, but instead concentrated fully on the Body Refining Techniques, the Nine Morning Tune and the Bell Sound Technique, effectively swapping the source of power from Spiritual Energy to body strengthening, prioritizing his body. He walked the complete path of the Shadow Mansion, with Spiritual Energy merely as a secondary practice.

"In the Shadow Mansion, although there are people who use magic artifacts and Spiritual Energy, they primarily focus on their physique."

Once this was clear in his mind, Lin Xin revisited the entire content of the Nine Morning Tune.

After the Fifth Layer known as Jade Resonance, next comes the Sixth Layer, Fire Life.

This layer coincides perfectly with his expertise in Flame Formation Talismans.

Fire Life, Fire Life, all life stems from that core flame of life deep within the soul. It’s continuous, sustaining itself by burning.

The goal of the Nine Morning Tune at this layer is to use sound vibrations to target the deepest flames of life, slowly and consistently altering the frequency of one’s own inner flame, fundamentally changing the essence of one’s life, achieving longevity. This step could essentially be considered as reshaping life itself.

"And if I remember correctly, a strong physique can also greatly resist illusions."

He became even more convinced of the importance of body refinement.

Lin Xin began to carefully ponder the aspect of Fire Life at this layer.

Now that he had reached the Fifth Layer, Jade Resonance, his physique was stronger than before. According to the Decree, it would continue to progressively enhance the practitioner’s physique over time.

But starting from this layer, each subsequent layer of the Nine Morning Tune would take longer and longer to break through.

Even in the Shadow Mansion, according to Lin Xin’s understanding, compared to the surfaced realm, experts at the Jade Resonance level were akin to a massive bottleneck similar to Foundation Establishment Cultivators, passing which would lead to a completely different realm.

Recalling all his years of experiences in the Two-Faced Kingdom.

Lin Xin roughly made a comparison.

At the Fifth Layer of the Nine Morning Tune, without any special trump cards, the actual combat strength should be not much different from that of the Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators of the surface.

The only difference is one relies on physical combat skills, while the other depends on Spiritual Qi and magic artifacts.

Running a simulated battle, at a similar level of skill, both are of a comparable level.

"My Qilin can greatly amplify my physical state and damage, if my body is enhanced, it should reduce the damage Qilin inflicts on me. It might even turn it into a common trump card."

With his thoughts turning, Lin Xin slowly immersed himself in the cultivation of body refinement.(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to qidian.com to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets, your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)