Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 249 - 242 Central Prefecture Central

Chapter 249: Chapter 242 Central Prefecture Central

Xin Zi’s speed was astonishingly fast, reaching Lin Xin in less than a second, being as large as his entire body.

Gazing at the rapidly enlarging red talisman.

Lin Xin slightly turned his body, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Red Flower Chorusing."

As his hand moved the sword, a streak of red lightning shot out, twisting several times midair before piercing into the side of the red talisman.

Lin Xin’s figure also appeared immediately to the right side of Xin Zi’s attack, lightly tapping his foot.

"Flash Spirit!"

He vanished abruptly, reappearing on the back of the huge lizard.

Holding the longsword upside down, he thrust downward.

Schwick!!

The Red Flower Sword plunged straight into the back of the huge lizard.

"Yin Mantuo."

After invoking the spirit with a call.

The blade of the Red Flower Sword quickly lit up, inside the body of the huge lizard where no one could see.

Suddenly, a ball of vines filled with spikes burst from the tip of the sword, spreading countless tendrils and branches that fiercely embedded their spiky roots into the body of the huge lizard.

In an instant, Yin Mantuo took root inside the huge lizard.

A massive amount of essence madly flowed into the Red Flower Sword, then it was refined and converted into pure essence flowing into Lin Xin’s body.

He held the hilt of the sword with one hand, unmoving on the back of the wildly screaming and struggling huge lizard.

Aoh...!!

The purple lizard struggled fiercely, thrashing its body trying to throw him off, but it was futile; in just less than a dozen breaths of time, the entire purple lizard became slower and weaker.

Bang!

Ultimately, the huge lizard completely transformed into numerous purple streams of air, scattering and vanishing.

The struggle and air currents kicked up a lot of dust, obscuring the view of everyone else. No one saw Lin Xin after absorbing the huge lizard, his skin filling out at a terrifying and rapid pace.

From his previously somewhat skeletal appearance, he quickly returned to his normal human form.

Gently landing on the ground, Lin Xin sheathed the Red Flower Sword back into its scabbard as a great amount of essence continued to flow into his body.

"Blood Beasts are furious essences of heaven and earth congealed, living perpetually, but almost no human sect on the surface can utilize their essence. Unexpectedly, You Fu can refine and purify it..."

He distinctly felt that the absorption from Yin Mantuo was largely feedback from the essence provided by You Fu. The part it absorbed on its own was only a small fraction.

As the air currents and dust slowly dissipated, Lin Xin was about to walk towards the caravan.

Buzz...

Suddenly a buzzing noise assaulted his ears, and his head felt faint. His body swayed, and he almost lost balance and fell to the ground.

"What’s happening!" He struggled to stabilize himself, remaining in place.

The Bluefish Lamp on his chest started to emit an incredible amount of heat again.

He stretched out his hand to touch the Bluefish Lamp, but unintentionally saw that the back of his right hand had already turned into that kind of grayish-white skin pattern similar to a corpse’s blotches.

On some parts of the hand, the skin had even started to rot slowly, revealing the greyish-white muscle tissue beneath.

"What is this....!!?"

He reached out with his left hand to gently touch the skin, slowly rolling up his sleeve.

Hiss...

The moment he rolled up the sleeve, he gasped sharply.

All he saw was that his entire right arm was completely covered with corpse blotches and patterns. Rotten areas were connected one after another, some severe areas had even begun to stink.

But touching them, he felt no pain at all, only a series of numbing sensations, as if it no longer belonged to him. Lin Xin then took out the Bluefish Lamp hidden in his chest.

The tiny gem’s surface, marked by symbols that slightly twisted, seemed to exhibit a hint of Buddhism.

A faint, luminescent green light shone on Lin Xin’s face, where he distinctly felt a touch of pain in the numb areas of his body.

"Could it be... the power of the Aqua Lantern and the power of the dark mansion are actually opposing each other?!" He suddenly realized, feeling a surge of joy. He quickly squeezed the Aqua Lantern, using its green light to illuminate the rotting areas.

Surely, wherever the green light reached, the rotting parts distinctly felt a trace of pain, as if normal nerves were being restored.

"After achieving the Dragon King foundation, I should have extremely strong self-healing abilities. It shouldn’t be like this according to logic."

Realizing the effectiveness of the Aqua Lantern, Lin Xin felt relieved, yet puzzled and somewhat burdened.

The power of the dark mansion, as it seemed now, was not only an illusion but also this abnormal rot.

He suddenly thought of the undead he had seen in the Lion Plain, who, unaware of fatigue or pain, endlessly repeated their actions like despairing, mindless drowning victims, as if their movements were desperate struggles during drowning.

Wasn’t their body just like his, rotting to the extreme?

"If that’s the case, why can’t I resist this corruption even after achieving the Dragon King foundation and substantially enhancing my physique?" A vague idea formed in his mind.

"Perhaps... perhaps this degree of condition is already the result of delaying resistance after improving my physique...."

If this idea were true, then the severity of the dark mansion’s rot was far beyond his expectations.

Covering the rotting parts of his body, he approached the people in the caravan.

"Everything is settled, when do we continue the journey?"

Ma Yuan approached with an excited expression on his face.

"We leave first thing tomorrow morning! Let’s quickly pack up and prepare food!"

"Okay!"

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

Central Prefecture border—Hua Drum Town.

Hua Drum Town is famous for making a special type of leather drum that can mimic the roar of a Blood Beast, deterring surrounding dangerous creatures and protecting human settlements.

Central Prefecture is vast and rich, far surpassing the southern prefecture several times over, where respective countries represent their own faction’s interests and engage in deadly conflicts.

Here, not only are there Qi Cultivators, but there are also followers of the Demon Path, creatures from the Outer Regions, and even forces from heretical cults and unknown foreigners partaking in the complex power struggle.

The mix of powers, the complexity of personnel far surpass that of the southern prefecture.

In this area, Heavenly Cloud Path is a colossal force, though it is just one of many. It represents only the pinnacle of one branch of Qi Cultivators, while other major powers are comparable.

Hua Drum Town is situated in a border zone, a mixed area outside of anyone’s control, seemingly a buffer zone naturally created as a compromise amongst the conflicts; this place is filled with all sorts of people, mostly fortune seekers bound for the Yang Path.

Lin Xin and his group arrived in Hua Drum Town in the late evening. Long queues lined the gateway leading to the Yang Path.

"A toll fee, one Jade Money for ten people."

The guard at the entrance of the Yang Path tilted his chin up, glanced casually at Ma Yuan, Ma Qiuqiu, and their group—seeing their ragged and woeful appearance, his disdain was evident.

"One Jade Money for ten people?!" Ma Yuan, hearing this, a flicker of surprise crossed his face, "Sir, wasn’t it one for twenty people before...?"

"It’s increased now. Pay up if you want to pass, otherwise roll back where you came from!" the guard said unceremoniously, "Hurry up! There’s a line waiting."

Ma Yuan quickly put on a forced smile. Bearing the sting, he paid three Jade Money, as now, their group had barely more than ten people left.

Ma Qiuqiu also bowed her head, obviously not her first time encountering such circumstances.

Lin Xin could tell that the guard possessed substantial external cultivation, indicating that the levels here were indeed much higher than those of the southern prefecture; even a gatekeeper had such capabilities.

Walking towards the back of the line, he began to look around the town.

A man in the group, visiting Central Prefecture for the first time, whispered,

"So this is Central Prefecture, huh? Doesn’t seem much different from the southern prefecture, does it?"

"There’s not much difference, only that there are many more adept fighters here. The forces are more powerful, and the order is stricter," another person explained quietly.

"Why, if there are many more skilled fighters here, is the order better? Shouldn’t it be more chaotic?" someone asked softly.

"Because there are so many skilled fighters, the collective strength they form provides greater control and deterrence. Besides, many forces here also have the ability to temporally rewind events," Ma Qiuqiu regained her composure and explained this to the few, seeming to speak to the others but obviously intending Lin Xin to hear.

"So the system here is more rigorous, the legal framework far stronger than the south. It’s easy to inadvertently make a mistake and offend a taboo."

Lin Xin caught her hint and smiled faintly. Indeed, there were many skilled fighters; in just a short time, he had already spotted five internal cultivation masters. Although they were not Innate yet, keep in mind this was just a border zone of Central Prefecture, a lagging region. The developed areas could only be presumed to be even more so.

Ma Qiuqiu’s eyes shifted. "If sir has no other immediate plans, why not stay with us at my family’s home here for a while? Get to know the customs and people here before considering your next steps."

"Aren’t you planning to go back?" Lin Xin asked casually as he followed the group along the town streets.

"We will go back, but the losses were too heavy this time; it’s impossible to gather the funds needed to return any time soon," Ma Qiuqiu sighed.

Lin Xin understood; Ma Yuan and his daughter probably saw him as a powerful fugitive, changing his identity to flee the fierce masters of the southern prefecture, which is why they never inquired about his real name. After all, "Red Flower" clearly sounded like a pseudonym or a code name.

Indeed, who would travel to Central Prefecture without a local contact or via the long journey through the Yang Path?

Such a skilled person, meanwhile, was also the best candidate to cosy up to. (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.)