Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 309 - 302 Test Part One

Chapter 309: Chapter 302 Test Part One

Pfft!

By the edge of a greenish pool, True Monarch Huang Yuan flung Lin Xin into the water with one hand, creating a splash in all directions. A weird, pungent smell immediately permeated the air, as if the pool, soaked repeatedly with countless pairs of stinky socks, eagerly surged into Lin Xin’s clenched mouth and ears.

This was a strange sensation, almost like being smothered by a huge pile of foul-smelling socks, making breathing nearly impossible.

"This is the Demon Liquid Pool for cultivating our Yuan Dou Demonic Technique, my good disciple. I believe you can endure it just like your senior sisters did!"

True Monarch Huang Yuan looked on with a smile at Lin Xin who was struggling continuously in the pool.

The pool water splashed, but every droplet of the greenish liquid that was splashed out would automatically, as if alive, flow back into the pool from other places.

"Although this pool is not comparable to the Heavenly Fate Pool of the Jade Pure Dao, it is still quite extraordinary. It took me over six hundred years of hard work, gathering countless rare herbs and various odd treasures, to finally forge this small pool. If you, my disciple, can successfully absorb it, the benefits for you will be indescribable."

As True Monarch spoke, a black fox-like youth stood shivering to the side, his body restrained by something, unable to move, as if he were a puppet.

"True Monarch, the Demon Liquid Catalytic Furnace can be started now."

A tall man with a black mask walked slowly to the edge of the pool. His eyes were like those of a hawk, sharp and intense, wearing a white robe and a white hood, leaving only part of his face visible which suggested that he was a handsome man.

"Hurry, hurry up. This level of difficulty is just a piece of cake for my disciple," declared True Monarch Huang Yuan with a wave of his hand.

The man glanced at Lin Xin in the pool, his eyelids twitching, feeling his scalp tingle.

"Understood."

He quickly turned and left.

In the pool, Lin Xin’s skin was boiling away, this was hardly a piece of cake...

He dared not get too close to the Demon Liquid Pool. The water could devour the blood and flesh of living beings. Not just them, but even ordinary Daoist Masters would dissolve in a few breaths without their protective Divine Skills if they fell in.

In the secret chamber, as the man left, the pool water began to boil vigorously.

Bubbling, the bubbles surfaced and popped, sending up large amounts of foul-smelling gas with Lin Xin at the center.

Lin Xin’s face was boiling away, skin peeling in chunks from all over his body, and some areas of muscle had boiled open, revealing the contours of the cooked muscles beneath.

He opened his mouth wide but couldn’t scream out; because his vocal cords were still being suppressed by True Monarch Huang Yuan’s power, he was unable to make a sound and was simultaneously corroded badly by the high temperature and the pool liquid.

Fortunately, his strong constitution allowed him to regenerate and heal continuously as long as it wasn’t destroyed immediately.

While the pool water continued to erode his flesh, an almost infinite amount of energy crazily surged in, being absorbed into the internal organs, and then serving as nutrients to regenerate a new body.

But the agony of being boiled alive, coupled with the rapid internal growth and unbearably itchy sensation, was almost too much to bear, even for Lin Xin who had endured various torments in the Ghost Mansion before. His mind was like a taut steel wire, ready to snap at any moment.

He vaguely seemed to hear True Monarch Huang Yuan say something by the poolside, but he couldn’t remember what it was, as his consciousness progressively blurred into chaos.

Unconsciously, he slowly passed out, completely unresponsive.

The Demon Liquid Pool continued to boil furiously, tossing Lin Xin’s body to the surface and then tossing it back down, out of sight.

After an unknown amount of time, a strange, chilling aura began to permeate the pool.

"Hmm?"

True Monarch Huang Yuan’s brow furrowed as he reached out to grab the aura, squeezed it into a ball in his palm, and sniffed it.

"This is... the Ghost Mansion?"

Surprise and suspicion appeared on his face.

"This youngster is actually a son of the Ghost Mansion?"

"Ghost Mansion? What are you talking about, teacher?"

A tall woman in black clothing slowly walked into the secret chamber. She wore gold gloves on her hands, dressed entirely in black, and faint black mist trailed behind her, leaving a bit of black fog wherever she went, mysterious and eerie.

The woman wore a mask, revealing only one eye, with the rest of her face completely covered, not a bit of skin showing.

"Your future junior brother here turns out to be a son of the Ghost Mansion. This was somewhat unexpected," True Monarch Huang Yuan said with a frown.

The woman was unconcerned; a new junior brother was just talk. The teacher often captured various so-called new junior brothers, but none had truly joined them in the last hundred years, as those supposed junior brothers had all died during the trials of cultivating the Yuan Dou Demonic Technique.

So, to her, it was just something to listen to. She really didn’t consider the one in the pool as a junior brother.

"Sons of the Ghost Mansion, I’ve seen these people before. Their strength increases astonishingly fast, but they also only ever reach the perfection of the Golden Core, unable to seek the Dao. The strongest among them was a person named Yuan Zhen. Many years ago, I fought with him. His actual combat ability reached the early stage of the Nascent Soul, but that was about it."

"What happened afterwards?" True Monarch Huang Yuan asked casually.

"Afterwards, I killed that group of people," the woman said indifferently. "At that time, my Yuan Dou Sect required vast amounts of chilling energy, so I obtained a lot from them, which helped me get past a hurdle."

Huang Yuan, the True Monarch, frowned slightly.

"The offspring of the Shadow Mansion indeed possess strong regenerative power, but it cannot compare to the innate regenerative physique. Postnatal cultivation and innate constitution are completely different. If this lad really is the offspring of the Shadow Mansion, then that’s somewhat disappointing," he muttered.

"That group of people did feel quite mysterious. Like epiphyllum flowers, they emerge rapidly and wither just as quickly. I suggest that Master shouldn’t waste your efforts," the woman suggested offhandedly.

"I have indeed come into contact with the will of the Shadow Mansion before. Interestingly enough, it seems to be alive. It lurks within the crevices of the world, surviving by devouring different worldly energies and is capable of linking and freely traveling between different worlds. The offspring of the Shadow Mansion appear to be the channels and tools it uses to consume the energies of other worlds," Huang Yuan, the True Monarch, said with a furrowed brow, "This means these tool channels are actually small tentacles of the Shadow Mansion’s own flesh; easy to regrow if one is cut off. This also explains why they lack vital points and have such formidable regenerative power."

"If Master is well aware of this, then why....?" the woman asked, puzzled.

"I didn’t know he was the offspring of the Shadow Mansion before. However...."

Boom!

Before he could finish his sentence, a cloud of mist suddenly exploded in the pool, and right at the center where Lin Xin was tumbling, a burst of green mist rocketed to the surface and exploded into the air.

A great deal of chilling energy drifted out.

"What is this...?" Both Huang Yuan, the True Monarch, and his companion were startled by the sudden explosion.

"The aura of the Shadow Mansion is being expelled!!" the woman with the revealed blue eye exclaimed, her eyes widening.

"There must be some treasure inside him aiding him! Otherwise, my pool’s fluid couldn’t possibly be this effective!" Huang Yuan, the True Monarch, quickly deduced the reason.

In the pool, nearly all of Lin Xin’s skin and muscles had been corroded away, his abdomen exposed some faintly pulsing organs, upon which one could faintly discern strands of faint silver threads constantly flowing and threading through.

"There is an alien force inside him assisting in suppressing and expelling the power of the Shadow Mansion!" Huang Yuan, the True Monarch, said intently. "It looks like the other party’s cultivation is not inferior to mine! This is at the cost of sacrificing their own refined cultivation to protect his soul and life flame! Truly a grand gesture, a grand gesture indeed!!"

"At least five hundred years of cultivation will be consumed!" the woman remarked with amazement.

Strangely enough, once the faint silver started appearing on Lin Xin’s exposed organs, the water in the pool no longer churned, but instead began to calm down.

Lin Xin, having fainted, occasionally tumbled and rocked up and down in the water.

Huang Yuan, the True Monarch and his companion grew silent for a while, watching his body swiftly self-repair. Clearly, after such a period of time, the water in the pool was no longer much effective on him.

After he overcame the initial stimulation, the rest was all benefit.

"This regeneration rate is no longer the effect of the Shadow Mansion’s power," Huang Yuan, the True Monarch, said shaking his head.

"If he can completely pass through Master’s three trials, perhaps the power of the Shadow Mansion within him will be completely cleansed. After all, he seems to have not been deeply trapped for long, and moreover, there is a great person sacrificing their cultivation to sustain him," the woman stated seriously.

"Perhaps... but the Shadow Mansion is mysterious and unfathomable, and its origin is even more unknown," Huang Yuan, the True Monarch, replied shaking his head. "Enough of this; what are you here for?"

"This Cave Heaven Divine Talisman seems not as useful as we imagined; it is actually incomplete," the woman said with some difficulty.

"I sent it to you as soon as I got my hands on it. What’s the problem?"

"There were some complaints from Sui Xiang Jun of our alliance about our actions. He thinks it could affect the unity within the alliance."

"What complaints can he have, just ignore him. That old undying is merely grumbling," Huang Yuan, the True Monarch, said impatiently. "That so-called Heavenly Dao Sect has long been slated for cleanup; this time it’s just finding an excuse."

"Also, Huang Quan Jun’s side has all preparations ready, just waiting to take action."

"You are responsible for coordinating the support. Be careful, the Red Spine Sect is not so easily dealt with. Let that group of people from Jade Purity Dao and Heavenly Cloud Dao rush to the front, we’ll stay back," Huang Yuan openly expressed his wariness of the Red Spine Sect.

"Has Master ever seen that Huang Yuerong?" the woman furrowed her brow. "Could it be that Master’s Yuan Dou Demonic Technique also..."

"It’s hard to say... I’ve only glimpsed him from afar, we haven’t clashed directly, but just from the aura, I know that man is definitely the strongest opponent I’ve faced in my life! In actual combat... if I join forces with the other two Monarchs, we might be able to fight him..." Huang Yuan, the True Monarch, said solemnly, "Alright, don’t worry about this matter. With Xuan Nu Yuan Qiuque taking the lead, we are not the primary targets."

The woman also revealed a shocked expression and fell silent for a good while, slowly regaining her composure.

"...Alright then. Since Master has no other orders, then I will...."

"Adapt to circumstances, with your strength, as long as you don’t encounter True Monarch level enemies, you should be able to retreat safely," he instructed.

"The disciple understands."

"Good, go on with your duties."

"Yes."

The woman suddenly burrowed into the ground and disappeared without a trace.

Only Huang Yuan, the True Monarch, remained, quietly watching Lin Xin soaking in the pool.

As for the Black Fox youth, he had already fainted on the spot the moment the woman appeared. Some things were not meant for his ears. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)