Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 300 - 293: The Challenge, Part 2

Chapter 300: Chapter 293: The Challenge, Part 2

"It’s over."

The observers below, including Daoist Master Que Yue, all saw the outcome.

"Each time one seeks introspection in the Way of the Sword, one summons divine skills far beyond ordinary techniques. These divine skills are usually far stronger than those at the peak of the Golden Core stage. Therefore, in the late phase of Golden Core cultivation, there are actually three more steps, corresponding to three moments of introspection," Que Yue shook his head and said, "This is also why some Daoist Masters can obtain strength far surpassing cultivators of the same level. When the cultivation base is not significantly different, the terrifying divine skills obtained from introspection are the key."

"Teacher has explained so much, but how strong can the divine skills obtained from introspection be?" The youth with the qin on his back still didn’t have a concrete standard for comparison.

"How strong?" Que Yue frowned slightly. "If we’re talking about power, some double it, some are tens of times that of their normal state, and some can even reach the power of the Scenic Level, which is the Nascent Soul stage."

This remark made the youth’s tongue wag in astonishment.

"Scenic Level sounds a bit exaggerated," laughed a Daoist Master nearby.

"It’s not an exaggeration. Some weaker beings of the Scenic Level, with their unstable Spiritual Realm, truly might not be as powerful as the divine skills born from the third introspection."

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

The yellow dust slowly dissipated, and a figure appeared before everyone’s eyes.

Lin Xin’s arms and legs, all the skin and flesh, had been severely corroded away to reveal a ghastly sight of white bone.

Yet eerily, the flesh on his body was regenerating at a visibly rapid pace.

In just a few moments, his hands and feet had completely returned to their original state.

A dense sense of sorrow spread out from him in all directions.

"Sword Intent?"

Heaven’s Will Saber remained composed, his blade also emitting a trace of concentrated Sword Intent.

"You’re still alive. Your body is indeed sturdy enough." He lifted his saber, "Then. Let’s go again..."

Whoosh!

All at once, Lin Xin’s body burst into blood-red flames, and his blood-like Spiritual Energy began to roll violently as if about to overflow from his body.

A whirlwind of Spiritual Energy formed a spiritual pressure storm that spread rapidly in all directions, making the robes of Heaven’s Will Saber flutter loudly.

"The gap in cultivation cannot be bridged, give it up."

By this time, Heaven’s Will Saber had discerned Lin Xin’s true condition; his opponent was actually a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage. Being a Qi Cultivator himself, he had noticed the subtle signs after several interactions.

A new special vibration emanated from him, and a ring of transparent runes slowly spread out behind him, rippling like water.

"Asking Huangquan!"

His blade was once again lifted high and slowly traced a semicircle downward.

The tip of his saber drew an icy, crystal-like purple-black trail in the air.

Boom.

A giant, dark yellow hand emerged from behind Lin Xin in a blink of an eye to grasp him.

"Divine Shadow!"

Lin Xin’s voice suddenly rang out.

The giant hand violently grasped at nothing.

Heaven’s Will Saber’s pupils shrank, and his blade instantly split into dozens of sabers, shooting out in every direction.

From a distance, it looked like a porcupine bristling with blades, and in an instant, numerous silver spikes opened around him.

Just as he unleashed his blades, Lin Xin’s figure suddenly appeared behind him, perfectly impaled by the saber’s thrust.

Pu!

Blood splattered; Lin Xin’s body was pierced straight through. But he showed no hint of distress as his blade continued to ruthlessly stab towards Heaven’s Will Saber’s back.

"Qilin!"

Hot, plasma-like flames suddenly burst forth, and with a huge propelling force, the Red Flower Sword fiercely stabbed into the Protective Aura on Heaven’s Will Saber’s back.

"Escape!" Heaven’s Will Saber felt the danger and was about to initiate his Escape Skill to flee.

"Spirit Lock!"

But unexpectedly, golden Runes and chains had risen all around at some point, all resulting from the golden sparks scattered during their fight. The golden chains had already been lying in ambush in the air; they now suddenly activated, quickly trapping Heaven’s Will Saber at the center.

The golden chains locked the Spiritual Energy in the air, blurring Heaven’s Will Saber’s shape, but then he became solid again.

His!

The tip of the Red Flower Sword suddenly burst forth with a blood-red beast head, smashing through several layers of Heaven’s Will Saber’s Protective Aura, igniting him completely.

With a thunderous explosion, a ball of blood-colored flame detonated in mid-air, and Heaven’s Will Saber plummeted like a shell, creating a huge crater upon impact.

The surrounding trees and rocks were all coated with plasma flames, burning intensely.

"Sect Master!!"

"Father!"

The members of the Heavenly Dao Sect below immediately felt their hearts seize with anxiety. Du Xianxian clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white, biting her lip so hard she bled without realizing it.

Lin Xin was suspended in midair, his body tattered, almost perforated with more than a dozen holes, none smaller than the width of a palm.

But eerily, his flesh was still healing and regenerating rapidly.

The essence of flesh stored within the immense "Wansha Gong" practice was now quickly nourishing him, repairing his severe injuries.

He felt as if his body was no longer the one he was born with, but rather something beyond human, as his organs, even when damaged, could still regenerate so rapidly.

The terrifying regenerative power of the Dragon King’s Dao foundation was indeed powerful, combined with the dreadful essence of flesh stored in the "Wansha Gong", in just a dozen breaths, most of his wounds had healed significantly.

"This move... is called Qilin, right?" Below, Heaven’s Will Saber slowly floated up, a wound on his lower back continuously oozing blood.

His complexion was ghostly pale, he gasped for breath, and his eyes were faintly unfocused.

That was a Qi Cultivator in his purest form: once his Protective Aura was breached, his physical body, being inherently weak, could not withstand a single blow.

He, himself, had refined his Protective Aura with the best celestial treasures he could find, which was far superior to cultivators of the same level.

But despite being close, the opponent’s strike fell just short of completely breaking through. The final tremors from the blow also caused severe damage to his physical body.

"Can you still fight?" Lin Xin’s body had fully recovered by now. He looked down from on high, overseeing his opponent.

"I..." Heaven’s Will Saber coughed up blood with great effort. "I have one last move. If you can withstand it, then you win!"

"One last move?" Lin Xin had by now grasped the strength of his opponent—which was indeed formidable.

He had no assurance of withstanding that move, Asking Huangquan, so he could only bear it head-on.

The result was that he suffered severe injuries; had it not been for the foundation of the Dragon King and his own incredibly strong physique barely holding up, and had it not been for the essence of flesh and blood swiftly recovering, perhaps the outcome of this battle would still be undecided.

That was why, at the last moment, he took the blow directly, unleashing the Qilin from close range with all his might, focusing all the power onto Heaven’s Will Saber alone.

In the end, he managed to break through the Protective Aura and severely injured his opponent.

The result proved that he was right.

Heaven’s Will Saber’s body was far weaker than his own; thus, despite actually being stronger than Lin Xin, the victor would still be Lin Xin.

Lin Xin’s body was aflame with crimson fire, and the last bit of external injury on his body had also been completely healed, vanishing without a trace.

"I have created my own Heaven’s Will Dual Sabers. The first is called Asking Huangquan." Heaven’s Will Saber straightened up his body, speaking earnestly. "The second move, is one which I have created myself and have never used before."

He raised his saber blade upright.

His expression gradually turned extremely solemn.

Lin Xin concentrated his attention and could suddenly see that the blade in his hand began to slowly twist and ripple as if it were a snake moving left and right continuously.

"Go!"

With an awkward yell from Heaven’s Will Saber, the blade in his hand completely melted, turning into a white smoke that drifted into the air and outright vanished from sight.

"The second move, Dissipate into Clouds!"

Heaven’s Will Saber’s expression was cold and stern as he tightly focused on Lin Xin.

Everything around was dead silent as if nothing could be sensed.

Lin Xin seemed to feel something, his expression slightly changing as he abruptly vanished from his spot.

He reappeared behind Heaven’s Will Saber, thrusting out with his sword.

Blood-colored flames surged violently, slamming hard against the Protective Aura.

But at the same time, a long saber suddenly protruded from within Lin Xin’s body.

The blade had pierced through from his lower abdomen, trailing a stream of blood. Unbeknownst to when, the smoke formed by the saber blade had penetrated his body and was now rampantly causing destruction inside!

Lin Xin let out a muffled grunt, and then the Red Flower Sword fiercely pierced through the Protective Aura.

After the previous breakthrough, Heaven’s Will Saber’s Protective Aura had weakened too much, so the resistance now was nearly negligible.

The blade of the Red Flower Sword penetrated through his lower abdomen; the two collided helplessly and fell heavily downward.

With a loud thud, they crashed into the deep pit below, where the earlier smashed pit was still burning intensely.

The people from the Heavenly Dao Sect could no longer contain themselves and rushed over one after another.

"Protect the Sect Master!!!"

The calls of the disciples and experts resonated, with groups rushing towards the bottom of the pit.

The Vice Sect Leader, an old man, was the same, producing a precious lamp in his hand and tossing it towards the deep pit from afar.

"Light up!"

Immediately, a yellow light fell and covered the entire sky above the deep pit. The dust scattered, and the rubble and dust were quickly separated, revealing the bottom of the pit.

Lin Xin and Heaven’s Will Saber were both impaled by each other’s swords; blood and Spiritual Qi were crazily twisting and churning as if they were tangible liquids.

Lin Xin’s entire face was diagonally split with a crack that stretched from his forehead to his chin, through which one could almost see the white of his bones.

His hand-held Red Flower Sword was thrust straight into Heaven’s Will Saber’s body, seemingly alive, rabidly devouring the Essential Blood and soul of Heaven’s Will Saber’s body.

"Sect Master!!" The disciples immediately dove down.

Heaven’s Will Saber’s lips parted, but he could no longer utter a word. His expression was wooden as he fixed his gaze on the nearby Lin Xin.

Boom!

A loud explosion erupted, and his entire body suddenly burst apart, with vast Spiritual Qi turning into a violent storm that exploded outward, blowing all the Heavenly Dao Sect disciples who leaped in away.

"Hasten!"

The Vice Sect Leader bit the tip of his tongue, spraying out a mouthful of heart’s blood that turned into a blood-red bird in midair and shot straight into the precious lamp in the sky.

The lamp emitted a large amount of light, trying to suppress the explosion of Spiritual Qi below. However, it was futile. The light that had just been released hadn’t traveled a few meters before it was dispersed by the fearsome Spiritual Qi Storm.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, his spirit heavily wounded.

In the center of the Spiritual Qi Storm, Lin Xin stood alone at the bottom of the pit, spitting out mouthfuls of blood. He was at his limit, having just used the explosion of Heaven’s Will Saber’s cultivation as a method to repel the Heavenly Dao Sect experts. But the Spiritual Qi Storm would not last long, and he needed to leave quickly.

He had not expected Heaven’s Will Saber to be so powerful.

"It seems that I have been too accustomed to smooth sailing... Coming here directly without sufficient investigation..."

Shick!

A silver-white blade suddenly emerged from his chest.

"It’s still there!" The power of the move Dissipate into Clouds was still lingering!

Bearing the severe pain, he quickly absorbed the Essence Blood of the vast Wan Sha Gong, then searched around in the pit, quickly finding a blue-black rhombus-shaped crystal.

This was clearly a remnant storage item from Heaven’s Will Saber.

"Storage Crystal. This is it!" With two blades sticking out of his body, Lin Xin picked up the crystal and swiftly rose into the air, flying out of the pit.

But his injuries were too severe, causing his speed to diminish drastically and preventing him from escaping as quickly as before.

Just as he was about to fly out of the great pit and out of the Spiritual Qi Storm’s outer wall, he abruptly halted.

Outside the Spiritual Qi Storm, he could clearly sense several fearsome fluctuations of energy that were no less powerful than those of Heaven’s Will Saber’s.(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)