Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 294 - 287: Challenge – Part 1

Chapter 294: Chapter 287: Challenge – Part 1

The trouble with Kun Cave is that it grants the person who holds the key the ability to swiftly shift positions, allowing them to enter Cave Heaven from any location within an extremely short amount of time. Once an ambush fails, they may become cautious, thus increasing the difficulty.

Moreover, once they hide in Cave Heaven, finding them again would be as difficult as reaching the sky.

"Sir could consider it more, once we’re in the county town, it might not be so easy. Even a spot in my family’s quota is not always available," Rong Wan said with a smile.

Lin Xin nodded slightly without saying anything.

Rong Wan then turned to walk towards her companions. After exchanging a few words with Li Guanglu and the others who had just woken up, she instructed her servants to pack up and prepare for departure.

Lin Xin also tidyed up his robes and stood up to leave the dilapidated temple.

Outside, the sky was clear and a brilliant blue, the air was refreshingly crisp following the rain. A slightly cool breeze greeted his face.

Lin Xin roughly recalled the map, without intending to join Rong Wan’s noble family quota, although Cave Heaven was indeed a bit of a hassle. But as long as he was careful, there should be no problems. He was merely gathering some extra intelligence from them, nothing more.

Ignoring the group of young nobles still packing their belongings behind him, he followed the mountain path down, seemingly taking leisurely steps, but his figure moved with indescribable quickness, crossing tens of meters in the blink of an eye.

Soon, he could see a small town speckled with grey and black at the foot of the mountain, an open county town without walls.

"I’ve arrived."

Lin Xin stopped, faintly hearing the clear mountain songs of the woodcutters.

The surrounding forests were deep and shadowy, and even though the sunlight was warm, waves of chilly air attacked from within the trees.

"Who’s there!"

Suddenly, he stopped abruptly, his gaze fixed on the base of a tree in the forest.

A puff of white smoke rose up.

An imposing man in glittering silver armor appeared on the spot, holding a Square Sky Halberd, and staring coldly at Lin Xin.

"Foreign cultivator, this is Heavenly Dao Sect territory. You must comply with the local laws and your name must be recorded in the register."

"Record in the register?" It was the first time Lin Xin had heard about such a requirement. Previously, entering the domain of a Sect was done without much fuss, but this time, something had come up requiring him to register.

"Who are you?"

"I am the guardian of this land," the man in silver armor said coldly. Then he stopped talking, just staring at Lin Xin as if he wouldn’t leave until Lin Xin was marked.

Lin Xin also closely observed the man, scrutinizing him for a long while, then his eyes suddenly revealed a peculiar expression.

Walking slowly forward, his right hand suddenly lashed out, and five sharp, pale-red Sword Qi shot out rapidly.

Shh!

The Sword Qi hit the silver armored man, sparking off him with a clang.

"How dare you!"

The figure raised his Square Sky Halberd and attacked Lin Xin.

The halberd shone with a cold light, constantly attempting to strike at Lin Xin’s head.

Lin Xin smiled slightly, then suddenly leaped back, retreating dozens of meters to his initial position.

The silver armored man immediately froze. A puff of smoke rose, and he returned to the spot where he had first appeared.

Lin Xin walked a few steps forward.

"Foreign cultivator, this is Heavenly Dao Sect territory. You must comply with the local laws and your name must be recorded in the register."

The man in silver armor once again looked at him and declared loudly.

"As expected," Lin Xin revealed an understanding expression.

This thing wasn’t a living person at all but more like a virtual mechanism similar to a program. It had no intelligence and was rather low-level, its capability being merely basic vigilance.

"It should be a reactive defense mechanism programmed with Runes." As someone nearly at Master Level in Formation Talismans, Lin Xin immediately recognized the benefits of such a defense mechanism.

"Interesting! This Heavenly Dao Sect, my trip here was indeed not in vain!"

He suddenly had an intense desire to obtain this mechanism, to understand its creation and operating principles so he could establish his own system.

"Normally, an average cultivator wouldn’t be able to handle it. Without a Master Level expertise, they could never unravel it. It seems to be a good thing figured out from Cave Heaven."

Now, he was even more interested in the Heaven’s Will Saber.

With a flash of his figure, he rushed down the mountain at full speed. Instantly, he passed by the side of the silver armored man, who had no time to react.

Based on the fluctuations during their brief interaction, the man was at most at the ordinary Innate level.

After leaving him behind, Lin Xin directly descended to the foot of the mountain, where he found a cleared pathway for carriages, with herb gatherers walking back with their baskets.

His figure flashed, and he suddenly appeared on the road behind the herb gatherer.

"Old man."

The herb gatherer shuddered, startled by the sudden voice, and immediately turned around, relaxing slightly when he saw Lin Xin dressed like a Jianghu traveller.

"Young master, what do you need this old man for?"

"I plan to head to Pigeon Cave in the area, does the old man know the way?" Lin Xin asked gently.

"Pigeon Cave? That place is quite distant. From here it’s to the east, more than thirty miles away, on a bare stone mountain with many large and small pigeon egg-shaped caves," the old man said, relieved to be asked for directions, and promptly explained.

Lin Xin further inquired about the location of the Heavenly Dao Sect’s Mountain Gate. Originally not expecting an ordinary man to know any specific information, he was surprised that the herb gatherer seemed to know the Heavenly Dao Sect like the back of his hand, listing all sorts of recent activities.

"Don’t look at me, young master; I’ve passed my ninetieth year, but when it comes to physical strength, I’m truly no worse than the average strong youth! It’s all thanks to practicing a simple breathing technique that originated from the Heavenly Dao Sect," the old man said proudly.

The Heavenly Dao Sect wasn’t very well regarded from the outside, and this old man clearly didn’t know much about that. However, it seemed like the sect had a strong reputation locally and was even regarded quite benevolently.

Lin Xin carefully inquired about the location of the Heavenly Dao Sect’s mountain gate, claiming he wished to pay his respects and that he was a fellow disciple from Naxi.

The old man decisively and cheerfully gave him the address.

After bidding farewell to the old man, Lin Xin set out in the direction he had been given and headed straight toward a ravine on the side of the county town. That was where the Heavenly Dao Sect was located.

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

Three tall and tidy mountain gate arches stood side by side at the top of a long flight of hundreds of stone steps.

The stone steps led down to a dark blue corner that seemed deep and serene. Further down, one could see a crescent-shaped manor standing beside a small, emerald lake.

"Who goes there!"

Four white-robed disciples drew their curved swords and stared down a black-robed figure who had suddenly appeared at the entrance of the mountain gate.

This person had an extraordinary bearing, subdued and imposing, with long hair tied back and a well-built, evenly proportioned body. However, he wore a strange silver mask on his face. The mask was expressionless, with a vertical pupil in the center of the forehead, resembling the mythical Three-Eyes Divine Monarch.

"This place is a crucial area of the Heavenly Dao Sect; unrelated personnel must not linger. Please leave at once!" one of the disciples guarding the gate said sternly.

After roughly sensing the other’s aura, which seemed to be that of an ordinary person, the disciple’s tone softened.

"To inquire about discipleship, please go to our Shaoshan branch. The Guest Elders’ meeting is in Pigeon Cave. For family and friend visits, please go to Bai Yun Mountain to submit an application."

"Interesting."

The man in the mask was actually Lin Xin, who had changed his attire and had used a Concealment Array Plate he had crafted on the fly to directly locate the mountain gate of the Heavenly Dao Sect, intending to go up and investigate.

He glanced at the four characters inscribed on the mountain gate archway.

’Heaven Rewards the Diligent’

The calligraphy was bold and strong, with strokes that were rugged yet contained an immense vigor, standing firm and seemingly possessed of a spirit that dominated the landscape.

"Excellent penmanship! If these words were written by Heaven’s Will Saber, then I need to reassess his cultivation level," Lin Xin thought to himself.

He suddenly exerted force under his feet, transforming into a red blur and charging straight at the mountain gate.

The disciples guarding the gate were caught off guard and drew their swords in an attempt to stop him, but to no avail; the red blur turned into a red line and instantly reached them.

Boom!

Suddenly, a layer of defense, like a water film, appeared between the three arches, firmly blocking Lin Xin.

Sword Intent flashed.

That semi-transparent layer of defense shattered instantly, emitting a grating tearing sound like a ripped fabric.

"How audacious!"

"Someone is breaching the mountain!"

The disciples reacted differently; one of them shouted in alarm, took out a signal talisman and lit it; it shot into the sky, exploding into a blaze of light as piercing as blood to the eye.

The other disciples shouted as they rushed toward Lin Xin, who had been momentarily stopped.

But their weapons found only air, and by the time their blades struck, the red line had already shot out dozens of meters, heading towards the curve in the steps below.

"Apparent as Daytime!" came a sweet shout, and a green blur flashed; a female cultivator slashed diagonally toward Lin Xin’s waist with her saber, her speed actually kept up with him.

Even though her complexion was bloodshot and there was a slight trace of blood at the corner of her mouth, her breath extremely unstable, she ultimately managed to match Lin Xin’s pace.

Lin Xin, however, paid no attention to her and continued rushing towards the manor below.

As her saber touched his waist, layers of Protective Aura surfaced, blocking the strike.

The woman’s face changed drastically; before she could prepare to withdraw her saber, a fierce backlash surged towards her.

Bang!

She was sent flying backward, crashing far into the woods, with only a sound of crashing resonating through the air.

Lin Xin had only been testing the waters and had not attacked to kill; he had merely used the rebound of the Protective Aura to throw her aside.

In just a few moments, he had covered the distance of a few hundred meters and landed in front of the manor’s entrance.

Already, throngs of disciples were pouring out, with several strong auras soaring into the sky, flying towards him. They were obviously the Intent-Level masters of the Heavenly Dao Sect.

No sooner had he steadied himself than about a dozen people rushed at him, wielding their blades savagely toward Lin Xin’s neck, waist, and back.

"Form the array!"

A stern shout came from mid-air as two white-haired elders flew in; one of them held a black giant saber several meters long, while the other held a small silver-white Flying Dagger, both glaring at Lin Xin with intent.

"To intrude upon the Sect’s crucial grounds, death!"

As soon as the words fell, a burst of overwhelming force exploded from within the encirclement of the surrounding people.

Boom!

Everyone was blown away, revealing Lin Xin holding the curved saber below. The saber was seemingly taken from the others around him.

The blade was tinged with a faint scent of blood, indicating the identity of a Demonic Cultivator.

"Take this!"

Suddenly an invisible Flying Dagger appeared above Lin Xin’s head, falling straight down.

Lin Xin reflexively turned and struck with his saber. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

This chapter is updated by freew(e)bnovel.(c)om