Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 280 - 273: On the Road

Chapter 280: Chapter 273: On the Road

He planned to wait just a bit longer until the little chubby girl returned, and then he would bid her farewell.

"But, Brother Lin, is there a specific destination you have in mind? A place you wish to visit?" Wang Jin thought for a moment, then asked. "I’m acquainted with a few famous doctors in Lin’an who could potentially help..."

"There’s no need to trouble yourself, Brother Wang," Lin Xin declined. "I’ve seen countless medical experts regarding my illness, but they all say the same thing. I’ve long understood the root of the problem. It’s not a matter of medicine."

"It’s not about medicine..." Wang Jin sensed there was more to it, and since Lin Xin was reluctant to elaborate, he did not press further.

The two of them changed the subject and started talking about other matters.

Lin Xin and Wang Jin had met six months ago during a tour mission, where Lin Xin was assigned to escort the little chubby girl into the Outer Regions for a mission.

Happening to be the strongest cultivator on that mission, Wang Jin tested Lin Xin briefly and found that not only was he powerful, but their personalities also meshed well, which gradually led to a friendship.

After chatting with Wang Jin for a while, Lin Xin followed his usual routine, disembarking the ship and returning to his small tower where he resided.

The little chubby girl was already waiting for him in the tower, along with two companions who had gradually become close friends through recent missions, supporting each other.

"What’s the matter? You’re back so early. Did you need something from me or did you forget something?"

Ma Jingxuan greeted Lin Xin with a respectful bow.

"Red Master, aren’t you planning to stay a bit longer?" There was a hint of yearning in her eyes.

Although it had only been a year, during the toughest of their initial missions, it was Lin Xin who had dramatically turned the tide and kept her out of trouble. With a different guardian, it likely wouldn’t have been possible to achieve the same results.

Several crucial interventions had significantly increased Ma Jingxuan’s trust in Lin Xin.

"There’s no helping it, my condition is getting worse. I was severely wounded by a demonic cultivator, and as you can see, my entire skin is now afflicted. If I don’t address it soon, it might be too late..." Lin Xin spoke candidly.

"Even with Red Master’s cultivation, it cannot be expelled..." another person worriedly said. "Xuanxuan, this is beyond our ability to help."

Ma Jingxuan’s expression darkened. Although she had managed to complete many missions independently by now, and Lin Xin no longer needed to be by her side, he remained her greatest source of support, an assurance she believed she couldn’t find in anyone else.

Her father was always busy with public duties, her mother hardly had time to see her, but Lin Xin had been with her throughout the year.

But seeing the dire state of the Red Master, it was clear his issues needed to be addressed first.

"I understand. To ask Red Master to stay would be too selfish of me, but it’s just... it’s just hard to bear..." she said helplessly.

"There’s no feast that doesn’t come to an end," Lin Xin gently patted her head and said softly. "You cannot always depend on someone else’s wings; if you want to soar high, you must flap your own wings and fly alone."

"Disciple understands," Ma Jingxuan nodded solemnly.

"It is the same with both relationships and cultivation," Lin Xin smiled. "Come with me."

He then led them up to the second floor of the tower.

"Our meeting was fate, and with your pure heart, you’ll surely achieve great things. Do not let romantic attachments hold you back," Lin Xin entered a small study where he usually practiced.

He pulled out an item from his storage bag; it was a scroll written with many characters, the ink clearly fresh.

He handed the scroll to Ma Jingxuan.

"Consider this the last decree I bestow upon you."

Ma Jingxuan slowly accepted it, and saw that it densely covered the sword techniques of the Kunlin Sword Sect she practiced daily, with many errors clearly pointed out.

At a glance, she saw mistakes she hadn’t noticed but found difficult to correct.

Flipping through, she saw that it was all about such issues, even clearly detailing how to advance to the next stage of cultivation.

How much effort would it have taken to so thoroughly understand the Kunlin Sword Sect’s techniques and forms?

"Red Master!" She was moved and looked up, only to find that the figure before her had vanished in the blink of an eye.

"I have noted the key points of your decree in the scroll. Follow it and correct each point, and you will find success. Our fate has reached its end; this is our farewell."

A faint ethereal voice drifted from afar, softly entering her ears.

Ma Jingxuan’s eyes reddened slightly as she carefully clasped the scroll, folding it gently and placing it in her innermost pocket.

One could say that Lin Xin was truly her first teacher. Unlike the sect instructors who trained batches of students, Lin Xin provided one-on-one guidance, tailoring his instructions and unique methods to her specific needs.

It was largely due to Lin Xin that she had progressed so quickly into an extraordinary level of sword heart.

She had thought perhaps when the time came, she might be able to persuade him to stay longer, but this outcome was inevitable.

"Don’t be sad, Xuanxuan. With Red Master’s cultivation, if we diligently practice cultivation, we are bound to meet him again one day!" another companion comforted her. "Cultivation is a lengthy pursuit, fraught with hardships; we should worry more about ourselves, for the path is uneven and life and death unpredictable."

Ma Jingxuan nodded slightly.

"I understand. I can only repay the Red Master’s kindness later."

Her eyes showed a resolute expression.

"The Red Master must be no ordinary cultivator. Being his disciple for a year, I have already been fortunate enough, and dare not ask for more."

"Since the Red Master left you the booklet at the end, he clearly has expectations for you. Don’t let down his old man’s earnest intentions," her companion said softly.

"I will!" Ma Jingxuan’s eyes showed a solemn expression.

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

Standing alone at the bow, Lin Xin watched as the reeds ahead gradually drew closer, a flock of ducks quacking their way out, and a small boat carrying fishermen also rushed deeper in.

Leaving the Kunlin Sword Sect, he headed straight for the direction of the new Eastern Division.

There one could take an airship to the distant Western Extreme Land—Naxi.

Naxi is a large province in the minutest details of the Central Prefecture. Due to its remote distance, it nominally pledges allegiance but has always remained independent. The region is complex with many dark cultivator sects finding the best hiding spots there. But due to its poor resources, ordinary cultivator sects are unwilling to wade into these muddy waters.

Standing at the bow, he tightened his clothes as the autumn wind blew into his collar, feeling slightly chilly. Though he was not cold, he instinctively pulled at his collar.

The fisherman behind him hummed a tune, seemingly in some dialect that was also somewhat difficult to understand, but the melody was quite pleasant.

At this moment, the setting sun reflected a shade of orange on the water’s surface.

"It’s a pity... I still haven’t found out the origin of that power called ’Yin’." He gently took out a silver-white, small mouse-like object and played with it in his hands.

"The Red Leaf Sword Master gave this to me. I don’t know what it’s for, but he told me to consume it when my condition is severe, as it can delay the condition," he said.

He frowned slightly. Over the days, he had carefully studied this little thing. It looked quite like metal, devoid of any spiritual energy or other power fluctuations, just like a real little mouse model.

Now, as his corruption worsened, he recalled that this object was a relief item given to him by the Red Leaf Sword Master. However, regarding many things inside the sect, he ultimately did not dare to fully trust. Even though Red Hua and he had no conflicts of interest, after all, his condition differed from others who entered the sect.

Pocketing the little mouse, Lin Xin took out the Green Fish Lamp. The light inside had long since disappeared completely, dimmed down, indistinguishable from an ordinary little gem.

As he pondered slightly, suddenly, a series of shouts of killing came from the shore ahead.

"Red Spine Sect has arrived! All magic retreat!!"

A bright voice spread from afar in mid-air.

"What audacity!" Lin Xin gazed toward the direction from which the voice came.

On the distant shore, among a cluster of gray, pointed buildings, a group of people in gray clothes were being encircled by the Red Spine Sect’s people in white. Amidst the shouts of battle, they continuously tried to break out, but to no avail. Every attempt to break free was met with bloody resistance.

A huge white dragon-shaped Void Shadow suppressed the space above the pointed buildings, causing a large area below to be surrounded by a halo of white mist.

Passing carts and boats were numerous nearby, but hearing the name of the Red Spine Sect, they sped away as if escaping disaster. Among them, not a few were of low rank cultivators.

If it weren’t for Lin Xin’s inability to casually use spiritual energy, he would have used a magic artifact to travel or accelerated flying. It was unlikely he would have encountered such accidents otherwise.

"Red Spine Sect has arrived! All magic retreat!!" The people from the Red Spine Sect on the shore shouted loudly again.

A few wary gazes fixed on Lin Xin, filled with warning.

"Isn’t this the territory of the Seven Kills Sect?!" came a woman with a sword on her back from a small boat following Lin Xin, looking stunned toward the shore.

"Has the Seven Kills Sect also been purged? Could Yuan Qiuque really be dead?"

Talking voices emerged from a carriage on the distant shore.

Lin Xin, with his keen senses, also heard clearly.

"The three top Heavenly List experts of the Red Spine Sect, besides the Sect Leader of the Red Spine Sect, who ranks first on the Heavenly List, the other two are also more than what ordinary sects can handle."

"The Heavenly List only has ten people, representing the strongest in the Central Prefecture. The Red Spine Sect alone occupies three spots, and the strength of the Sect Leader is even rumored to have transcended the Heavenly List, becoming the strongest Demon Sect Master in history! Now, only the Nine Linked Towers can contend against him."

"How did the Seven Kills Sect provoke the Red Spine Sect?"

"It’s said to be because they refused to join..."

"How preposterous! Must they kill if one doesn’t join? Isn’t that too tyrannical!?"

"That’s the way of the Demon Path, survival of the fittest, unlike the Righteous Path. Alas, thankfully, there is an Imperial Clan to suppress them. Otherwise, the Red Spine Sect...."

Lin Xin did not listen further. The discussions of passersby and other cultivators had already given him a rough understanding of the situation here.

As the small boat passed by the shore where the slaughter was happening, he saw in that cluster of buildings the last few of the old, weak, women, and children being chopped down one by one by the people of the Red Spine Sect. Even infants still in swaddling clothes were not spared, and blood flowed all over the ground, uncollected by any demon cultivators, seemingly left there to demonstrate their power.

After completely killing the last living beings, the people of the Red Spine Sect moved into the buildings to search, and from time to time, faint cries of children being killed could still be heard, clearly the hiding survivors being exterminated.

..(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes, monthly tickets, and show your support, your encouragement is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)