Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 273 - 266 Outside the Game - Part Two

Chapter 273: Chapter 266 Outside the Game - Part Two

The high-temperature airflow, mingling with the fierce wind, spread in all directions, as the massive yellow bird confronted the figure, and the surrounding environment grew increasingly harsh.

Trees quickly ignited, the wildfire spreading gradually, with half of the sky ablaze with red flames. The air around them also became dry and distorted, even starting to blur.

The members of the Mysterious Shadow Cult stood frozen in place, afraid to move.

The leader, Fu, turned pale, sweat streaming down his cheeks and nose as if the line had broken.

"It’s... nearby Wuchen Mountain and Snake Cave... this yellow bird... is the ancient ancestor of the Snake Cave!"

He spoke as quietly as possible, passing the message.

"We can’t stay here for long! The Snake Cave Ancestor is confronting a powerful enemy. We’re too close; even the shockwaves could kill us!"

The rest of the cult members fared even worse, with some unable to hold their weapons steady. The ferocious wind was so fierce that if they didn’t cling on tightly, they couldn’t even open their eyes.

"Retreat!"

The members of the Mysterious Shadow Cult began to slowly retreat, moving laboriously deeper into the woods.

The chaotic winds formed by the high-temperature airflow were too strong; they found moving difficult and did not dare make any significant movements. At that moment, the standoff was still occurring, and the figure just now had implied a desire to clear the area; if they drew their attention...

Zhao Ke, holding Si Jue Fairy, was also drenched in sweat. Fortunately, the cultivation poured into him was still present. Although he hadn’t yet mastered the hundred years of cultivation from the Northern Spear King, the external stimulation had inadvertently activated it, slowly forming a heat-insulating barrier around them, protecting both from the scorching heat.

The leader of the Mysterious Shadow Cult took one last look at Zhao Ke.

He knew that Zhao Ke’s earlier call of "adoptive father" had been blurted out in panic. Perhaps even Zhao Ke himself did not anticipate being caught up in such unexpected trouble. They had all but pushed him into a hopeless situation, yet this unforeseen event emerged. The young man’s fate was indeed strong.

But Chao Ke was anxious in his heart.

"This is the end. I thought there was a chance to escape."

He gave a bitter smile.

While he could temporarily protect himself, the wild wind around him was so powerful that he couldn’t move away. He could only wait for the conflict between the two to end.

Ding!!!

Suddenly, a sharp sword sound rang out, completely different from before.

Taking the position of that person as its center, the circle of burning trees around exploded violently, followed by an invisible soundwave, like ripples on water, spreading out in all directions.

It was like an invisible wall of air, which blasted everything outwards with a tremendous force.

From above, one could see the ring of red flames in the forest suddenly compressing and expanding, striking outwards like a stone thrown into a pond.

The Mysterious Shadow Cult members hadn’t retreated far when they were overtaken by the wave of flames.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!!

A succession of unexpected impacts sounded, instantly claiming the lives of several weakly cultivated cult members. They were blasted away, ignited, and rolled on the ground screaming in agony until they turned to charcoal within a few breaths.

Leader Fu braced his spear in front of him, its shaft constantly emitting a faint white glow, neutralizing the surging fire. Even so, he was knocked into the air and violently smashed into a burning tree.

With a crash that scattered embers, he fell to the ground.

The Four Great Spear Spirits also suffered. One was not careful enough, couldn’t dodge in time, ignited instantly, and was burned alive on the ground.

The remaining three managed to block the impact by working together but were left pale as death, spitting blood, retreating several steps and collapsing on the ground, unable to move.

If another blow like the previous one struck, they would be doomed.

Amidst the fiery windstorm,

Lin Xin leaped into the air, twisting his body and drawing a right-angle trajectory in mid-air before snapping onto the rocky edge of a cliff nearby. The cliff had a protruding stone spike just big enough for one person, and he balanced precariously upon it as if standing on the tip of a needle.

In his hands, the Red Flower Sword burned as if it were the sword of a fire god.

The Snake Cave Master hovered in the air before him, its huge eyes staring intently at him.

"Demon Path spiritual energy... Who exactly are you!?"

The brief skirmish had already alerted him to the fact that the person before him was far more troublesome than he had imagined. He was beginning to regret his brash actions.

Now, a deep scorch mark adorned his claw, a reminder of the mark left by their recent clash.

Lin Xin raised his longsword, his body slowly levitating.

"Does it matter who I am?"

He smiled faintly, and having reached the Foundation Establishment Stage, this was his first time fully unleashing his power.

The Dragon King’s Foundation Establishment Stage was inherently powerful. Hua Yunu had once been able to face off directly against those at the Golden Core Stage, and now he had also achieved the Dragon King’s Foundation. Coupled with a physical condition far more robust than Hua Yunu’s and his self-created Red Flower Sword Path, which most suited him, this was an excellent opportunity to test his might!

Flicking the sword blade gently, a chime-like sound spread far and wide, evoking a stirring, overwhelming sensation in the listener’s heart.

He gently flew up into the air,

Surrounded by blood-red spiritual energy, Lin Xin was lifted effortlessly, a characteristic of the Foundation Establishment Stage. The Red Flower Sword emitted a dense sense of sorrow, with the long-unused Red Flower Sword Intent unfolding silently.

The sound of chimes grew louder and more widespread.

"Think you’re the only one with divine skills?"

The Snake Cave Master, seeing him gathering strength, suddenly inhaled sharply.

"Swallow the Heavens!"

A violent vortex of air appeared at his mouth.

Soon, countless streams converged, forming a gaping whirlwind in the sky.

Everything, trees, ash, stones, and soil, were pulled into the terrifying suction, flying towards the whirlwind.

Lin Xin, bearing the brunt, felt the strongest pull.

His feet slammed into the ground, securing his stance as he resisted being drawn in.

Countless streams of wind and fire energy were being sucked in by the Snake Cave Master, pulling in every loose and floating object in the entire midair surrounding him with a voracious force.

Lin Xin’s body surged with a blood-like spiritual energy, churning crazily as if it had reached a level of terrifying vibration that had never been seen before, yet it did not explode.

His eyes turned redder and more otherworldly by the moment, as if they were coated with a layer of blood-red film.

A mysterious crimson talisman mark silently emerged on his forehead.

The Red Flower Sword also vibrated at an exceedingly high frequency, as if unwilling to be suppressed.

The devouring currents grew larger and stronger.

And Lin Xin applied more and more force in suppressing his spiritual energy.

The sound of wind chimes in the air grew louder and more piercingly urgent.

Crack...

Suddenly, a thin crack appeared on the cliff where Lin Xin was standing.

He abruptly raised his head, his eyes blazing with bloodlust.

"Divine Shadow!!"

The sound of the wind chimes came to an abrupt halt. Lin Xin vanished in an instant.

The cliff fractured, shrinking rapidly and heading straight into the gaping maw of the Snake Cave Master.

But at the same time, five shadows of Lin Xin emerged around him.

Each shadow held the sword in a different stance, all blades aimed directly at the giant bird’s beak.

Shiiii!!! Shii-shii-shii-shii!!!

The piercing sound of swords reverberated again.

The five shadows one by one pierced through the Snake Cave Master’s body and then slowly disappeared.

The Snake Cave Master was too late to react, his body rigid, only to be pierced through one after another.

When the last sword shadow penetrated his chest, his massive body burst open with a blood hole, plummeting downwards.

With a thunderous crash, sparks flew, dust billowed, trees broke apart and a large area of the ground was flattened.

Lin Xin’s figure slowly emerged from behind the massive corpse. The Red Flower Sword in his hand gleamed demonically red, reflecting firelight onto his face, giving him an eerily crazed appearance.

Fires raged around him, filling the air with the smell of blood and the searing scent of burning.

Lin Xin searched the Snake Cave Master’s body and found a black token. Other than that, there was nothing.

Then he turned and walked toward another direction where there were people.

His pace didn’t seem fast, but in the blink of an eye, he crossed a distance of dozens of meters and arrived in front of the members of the Mysterious Shadow Cult.

Zhao Ke, holding the increasingly weak and heavily injured Fairy Si Jue, stared with sweaty brow at the slowly approaching Lin Xin, unsure if the sweat was from heat or fright.

"Hey... h-heh... Esteemed hero... congratulations on your success in slaying the demon... That big bird is about to die, right?" he said with a forced smile, attempting to ingratiate himself.

"You have a familiar scent on you..." Lin Xin murmured softly. Suddenly, he realized something, "About to die? Isn’t it already dead?"

Zhao Ke was also stunned.

"That big bird clearly still had breath in it, no?"

Lin Xin swiftly turned around, but he was too late to react.

With a thunderous sound, a huge yellow claw grabbed him fiercely, its sharp talons making fifteen slashing cuts in an instant, each one producing a hissing, piercing sound on his body.

With a bang.

Lin Xin was violently thrown deep into the forest, crashing into a nearby mountain wall and creating a hole whose depth was unknown. A mass of rocks fell, blocking the entrance of the hole.

The bloodied Snake Cave Master stood up, the blood hole in his chest visibly healing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

"It has been a very, very long time since I’ve been injured this severely."

He breathed somewhat laboriously.

"Hit by my full-power Destroy Sparrow Claw, let’s see if you don’t die!"

He glared hatefully at the mountain wall Lin Xin was blasted into.

"Kid, you’ve got sharp senses, don’t you!"

The Snake Cave Master turned to Zhao Ke, who had a crestfallen expression, and spoke in a chilling voice.

Zhao Ke, holding the now unconscious Fairy Si Jue from excessive blood loss, felt like he wanted to die. He had reminded the other party that the monster wasn’t dead to curry favor with that man, but in a blink of an eye, the tables had turned.

"Ancestor..."

Boom!

Rocks were hurled forcefully in all directions. The entrance of the cave exploded outwards, and Lin Xin’s figure walked out from the hole.

His left shoulder was a blur of flesh and blood with claw marks etched across, but that was all; the rest of his body was unharmed. The full force attack of the Snake Cave Master had only caused such minor damage.

"You’re not dead yet..."

Snake Cave Master turned around, his expression extremely grave.

The surrounding air turned even hotter, and it seemed as if the source of all the heat was emanating from Lin Xin’s body. Through the torn places in his clothes, one could faintly see red talisman lines slowly lighting up.

"Die? Just from these wounds?"

Lin Xin moved his shoulder, clicking it back into place with a crack as it had been dislocated by the impact. Immediately, his shoulder began to heal at a visibly rapid rate, even faster than that of the Snake Cave Master.

"Another monster!"

Zhao Ke and the others were horrified to see this and felt even more bitter. The clash between these two had already caused such a commotion; continuing the fight would probably mean no one other than themselves would make it out alive...(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, we welcome you to vote for it on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)