Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 310 - 303: Test (Part 2)

Chapter 310: Chapter 303: Test (Part 2)

Groggily, eyes fluttered open.

A wave of unprecedented fatigue surged from his heart, leaving his body sore and limp, devoid of any strength to move.

Lin Xin’s vision slowly shifted from blurred to clear.

Before him was a black ceiling and walls etched with mysterious symbols.

He felt himself lying on a very soft, large bed.

He tried to move his arm slightly.

Crack!

A crisp sound echoed, as if his arm hadn’t moved for years, rigid to the extreme. Even bending it was strenuous.

The rest of his body was the same, powerless to move, completely stiff.

With a slight movement, a series of crackling sounds followed.

"You’re awake?" came a frail, feminine voice from a corner of the room.

Lin Xin turned his face, hearing a crack from his neck and feeling his whole head shake.

He saw that he was in a black metal room, square in shape, not big, but exquisitely decorated, with all kinds of furniture. Thick black carpets lined the floor and the walls.

Embedded in the walls at intervals were small silver peacocks with their heads raised and mouths holding a white-light emitting treasure bead. This was the room’s source of light.

The voice had come from a corner of the room. A young, naked girl was timidly looking at Lin Xin.

Lin Xin opened his mouth to speak, but his throat seemed to have been burnt by something, and he could not make a sound.

The girl had pale skin and was beautiful, with a sense of ethereal grace. Black hair cascaded down to her chest and abdomen. She had a beauty and aura detached from worldly matters.

"Young master... you still have to face the test of the Demon Liquid Pool. So... if there is any order, just tell this servant," she said, her voice full of reverence and caution.

Lin Xin frowned and glanced at her. Once his consciousness became completely clear, he quickly tried to summon the Spiritual Energy within his body.

But strangely, the inside was hollow, let alone Spiritual Energy, not even the slightest trace of Inner Qi could be found.

"Indeed, it has been restricted."

He realized and slowly sat up from the bed.

With a series of crackling sounds, all the bones in his body made a sharp, clear sound simultaneously. Not only did his heart skip a beat, but the naked girl also covered her mouth and shrank into the corner, her body trembling.

There was a purple-red jade pedestal by the bed, with a jade slate on top, inscribed with some characters.

Lin Xin picked it up and glanced at it. He couldn’t understand the characters at all, and had no idea what language it was, but the moment he picked it up, a cool female voice penetrated his mind, ringing directly inside his brain.

"Next, you will undergo a more intense enhancement test in the Demon Liquid Pool. As you are not allowed to leave, to prevent mental oppression, your room will be stocked with a member of the opposite sex as an outlet tool according to tradition. After every enhancement test, the outlet tool will be automatically collected and completely destroyed. There’s no need to be frugal, please vent all negative emotions onto the tool to the fullest. Otherwise, you might die."

The woman’s voice was calm, indifferent, like an emotionless, cold robot.

Lin Xin frowned, scanning the room’s surroundings.

There was no door in the room, no place to leave at all.

As for the outlet tool, he involuntarily looked towards the naked girl.

Just above the corner where the girl was huddled, the wall was clearly inscribed with a line of small characters, seemingly written in the Central Prefecture script.

"Outlet Breeding Human, Age of Growth: Four years. Fixed collection and destruction time: Average every six months."

He abruptly paused, took a closer look at the girl, and saw that she was trembling all over, her body curled up like a cat.

Most importantly, he noticed at a glance that the girl’s bone age indeed did not exceed five years. Moreover, her skin and hair all seemed to possess the fresh vitality of tender grass.

This meant that a pretty girl almost as tall as an adult could actually be under five years old.

This suddenly reminded him of certain biochemical cloning technologies. It was unexpected to find a similar technology in this world.

The girl kneeled facing him; her face turned pale from fear, but still she kowtowed and timidly said,

"Please do not pity me."

Lin Xin took a deep breath, stood up from the bed, and looked around. The square room had neither windows nor any sign of an exit; it contained only the bed, furniture, decorations, and the naked girl.

As for venting in that way, he was disinterested in doing it amidst the possibility of being watched.

Besides, despite the time that had passed, he couldn’t forget the two romances of his past. Whether it was An Ying or Xiao Lingling, both were etched in his heart.

He turned around the room, carefully observing every corner.

There was no trace of an entrance or exit. He had no idea how he even arrived there.

Eventually, he simply sat down on the bed to rest quietly.

Time slowly passed, and Lin Xin fell into a drowsy sleep without knowing for how long.

When he woke again, he was in a green, thick pool.

The surrounding fluid emitted a horrifying smell, akin to that of stinky socks, nearly suffocating him. Moreover, the liquid brought a strong burning sensation, tearing and charring his skin and muscles, causing extreme pain until they numbed.

Through a hazy vision, he saw Huang Yuan, the True Monarch, standing quietly by the side of the pool, watching him.

There wasn’t a single person in sight.

This time, he endured for a good while before he finally passed out.

When he woke up again, he was back in the same room where he started.

The girl with nothing on was already up and sitting in the room, gently wiping his body as he lay on the bed.

The warm, damp towel felt pleasantly warm and comfortable against his skin.

"Does that feel better?" the girl asked softly.

"Much better." Lin Xin took a deep breath and replied quietly.

The girl quietly continued to wipe down his chest.

Neither of them spoke again, just sitting and lying there quietly.

The wiping was soon over. The girl did not seem to mind the sensitive parts, carefully cleaning Lin Xin and frequently changing the towel.

This time, Lin Xin had been thoroughly soaked, his muscles and skin completely deteriorated, and this time, recovery was very slow.

So, there was no romantic atmosphere while the girl was wiping him down; he was covered in blood, with most of his skin rotted away, revealing the red muscles underneath.

Most notably, the muscles and skin were constantly wriggling and growing upwards, like a pile of red and white worms.

At such a time, any hint of intimacy would not be normal interest, but perversion.

In the following ten days or so, Lin Xin was thrown into the Demon Liquid Pool several times in succession.

The concentration of the demon liquid was higher each time, so even though his body was continuously developing new resistances, he still ended up corroded and in a terrible state each time, as if he had been splashed with aqua regia.

It was always the ethereal girl who would wipe the wounds on his body, handling the countless rotten flesh and ulcerated skin surfaces very well.

After some time, he came to understand that this girl was indeed just created as a one-time use tool.

She didn’t even have a name, and aside from this room, she knew nothing else and had been nowhere else.

From the moment she was born and became conscious, she had always stayed in this room.

Out of pity, Lin Xin gave her a name, Lin Xi, taking his own surname.

As days passed, everything he had was removed from him. He had no Storage Bag, no Array Plates created by Formation Talismans, no Talisman Paper, and he couldn’t even use Spiritual Energy. He could only honestly accept the corrosion of the Demon Liquid Pool time after time.

Without consuming that miraculous fruit that looked like a silver mouse, he was always worried that over time he would be completely eroded by the power of the underworld and fall back into delusion and decay.

However, weirdly enough, he hadn’t consumed that kind of fruit for what felt like several months, and still, not the slightest signs of illusion or delusion emerged.

It seemed that the power of the Demon Liquid Pool, combined with the power of True Monarch Huang Yuan, had completely suppressed the force of the underworld.

After realizing this, he accepted the transformation of the Demon Liquid Pool with even more peace of mind.

Although each immersion was excruciating, compared to the entanglement and agony of the power of the underworld and living on the edge of life and death all day, such a life was obviously much simpler and more relaxing.

Unknowingly and after countless immersions, the soaks in the Demon Liquid Pool gradually started to have less and less of a concrete effect on Lin Xin’s body.

As the number of immersions increased, he began to feel less and less skin ulceration, and his body becoming more robust. Unlike the feeling of increased attribute points, he felt as if his body was becoming a solid block of iron stone. It seemed as if all the superfluous things inside were being eroded away and expelled.

About half a year passed in this manner.

Finally, he saw True Monarch Huang Yuan again, the one who initially captured him.

When he was finally able to stay conscious in the Demon Liquid Pool, True Monarch Huang Yuan suddenly reappeared at the edge of the pool.

In the beginning, he often came to watch, but later he hardly showed up.

Until now, when half a year had passed, he came once again.

"It seems you’re adapting quite well?" True Monarch Huang Yuan looked at Lin Xin’s body, floating on the surface of the Demon Liquid Pool, with satisfaction.

"Is this how you always take disciples, True Monarch?" Lin Xin forced a smile.

"Isn’t there always a test in accepting disciples? I’m just testing you," True Monarch Huang Yuan replied casually.

"It’s not over yet. I need to pass three trials for my Yuan Dou Demonic Technique. Only then can I form a basic Primitive Demon Body. Although your physical quality is strong now, it’s still not stronger than those of the Demon Race with Divine Beast bloodlines. Do you understand why I specifically value you?" He seemed to suddenly become talkative and continued.

"I don’t know," Lin Xin answered honestly.

True Monarch Huang Yuan chuckled with a hee-hee.

"In my sect, I already have two Direct Disciples: one excels in combat, and the other in the Alchemy Dao. But I lack one who is proficient in the Talisman Dao. Not long ago, many things happened, which made me deeply realize how painful it is to not have a high-level assistant in the Talisman Dao. So..."

Lin Xin immediately understood.

In simple terms, this old man had been tricked regarding the Talisman Dao and, after reflecting on his pain, decided to find and cultivate a disciple skilled in that area to cover his weaknesses.

"Furthermore, I’m getting old, and up until now, I haven’t found an official successor who can inherit my thousands of years cultivation of the Yuan Dou Demonic Technique," True Monarch Huang Yuan said, his tone becoming slightly melancholic.

"Neither your eldest martial sister nor your second martial sister have any hope of cultivating the Demonic Arts to the level needed to suppress the Sect to that extent. So, I’m still looking for a successor everywhere. Combining the two reasons, do you realize how lucky you are? If you survive, you may have the opportunity to inherit my cultivation of thousands of years. It may not be possible for you to roam invincible, but to dominate a territory is still no problem," True Monarch Huang Yuan said, spreading his arms and adopting a generous pose.

Lin Xin blinked. He wasn’t tempted by the future sketched out by True Monarch.

"That’s assuming I can survive what you call the three trials."

True Monarch Huang Yuan withdrew his hands.

"You’re right. It seems that you have initially passed the first trial now." (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to qidian.com to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)