Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 344 - 337: Testing the Sword VI

Chapter 344: Chapter 337: Testing the Sword VI

"Could it also be like the Flowing Clouds Blade Intent, not fully perfected, and because it is incomplete, it is like this?"

A moment later, Lin Xin could find no other reason, so he gave up.

Just as he was about to fly away, he suddenly heard a whooshing sound. The little Jade Fox, who had just flown away, had come back.

She quickly landed behind him.

"Senior, please wait!"

Lin Xin was slightly startled and glanced at her.

"Why have you come back?"

The little Jade Fox looked disheartened.

"Junior, junior has nowhere else to go...."

Lin Xin thought for a moment and knew her words were true.

Once the Jade Fox Clan transformed, each one was a top beauty, greatly favored by human demons, with many being captured to become female slaves. The Jade Fox King could only barely protect his people, and now that he had killed this sole umbrella of protection, along with the old Demon King lured here by the Jade Fox King, the Jade Fox Clan was left without support.

The result was self-evident.

The little Jade Fox showed a helpless expression, revealing a pink gem in her hand.

"Junior had not flown far when she received a clan warning talisman that had been previously blocked. The Jade Fox Clan is no more...."

Lin Xin looked at the gem, stretched out his hand, and drew it over to grasp it.

Inside was a short clip.

A clump of pink pavilions and pagodas completely collapsed under some great force, turning into ruins.

Besides some surviving walls decorated with beautiful paintings of demon foxes, no trace of the Jade Foxes could be seen anywhere. The surviving members had vanished without a trace.

Putting down the gem, Lin Xin looked over at the little Jade Fox.

"You don’t seem very upset?"

"Why should I be upset?" the little Jade Fox shook her head, "That’s because senior doesn’t know the rules of my tribe. The Jade Fox King sheltered us so that we could tirelessly cultivate, only to transform sooner and reach higher cultivation levels, and then be sold for a good price."

"A good price?"

"Yes," the little Jade Fox cautiously observed Lin Xin’s expression, "If there is a suitable comparison, then our Jade Fox Clan is akin to a brothel or music hall in the Demon Race, some sell skills, others sell themselves. Some are also bought by other demons to serve as playthings."

She paused, "Actually, not just our branch, but most other fox tribes are in the same situation. Our clan, even if at the same realm, is not as strong as other demons, so we can only follow a path of dependency."

"That’s understandable," Lin Xin said indifferently. "So what do you mean by coming back now?"

The little Jade Fox looked somewhat hesitant.

"Junior... junior is still a virgin... now she has nowhere to go. She begs senior to take her in."

She instantly knelt down.

Lin Xin immediately understood her meaning.

A Jade Fox without backing is considered exotic merchandise outside; even though she is one of the highest in cultivation at the Foundation Establishment Stage, close to breaking through the Alchemy Dao.

But, without any support, lacking experience living outside, it would be difficult for her to survive alone. The best outcome would be to find a new shelter to depend on, for others to exploit.

Since she had to find someone to depend on either way, why not choose him, who could even take down a late-stage Golden Core terrifying Demon King?

During the time they spent together, she had already sensed that Lin Xin was genuinely disinterested in her body; his reason for capturing her was merely because she had the highest cultivation among them. That was all.

Initially, she thought Lin Xin desired her for her beauty, but it now seemed that was not the case.

The little Jade Fox felt uneasy.

The reason she had high cultivation was merely that she was the most beautiful and pure, and the Jade Fox King had heaped abundant resources on her to raise her cultivation value, so she could be sold for an even higher price.

But her talent was not really that great.

"So you’re saying, you have no attachment to the Jade Fox Clan?" Lin Xin scrutinized her eyes, not detecting a trace of hatred, only anxiety about whether he would take her in.

"Yes. Junior was also captured by the Jade Fox King," the little Jade Fox quickly replied.

Lin Xin sensed no negative aura of hatred emanating from this little one. As a Demonic Cultivator, even one of the most formidable with a Demon Body,

all Demonic Bodies can easily sense various negative emotions since these also count as a kind of energy, which can be collected to create magical artifacts or the like.

"What is your name?" Lin Xin thought it over, indeed needing someone to attend to him at his side. This person couldn’t be from the Yuan Dou Demon Sect, and this little one seemed just right.

Considering her age, after awakening her intellect and transforming, it hasn’t been more than ten years. In the Demon Race, age is generally only counted after transformation since prior to that they act on instinct, scarcely aware, much like innate fetuses knowing nothing. Only after transforming and awakening their intellect can they truly be considered sentient beings.

So, this little Jade Fox was in fact just a kid under ten years old.

"My family name is Liu, and my given name is Cheng," the little Jade Fox hurriedly answered when she sensed an opportunity. "You may call me Chengcheng, as everyone did back in my tribe."

"Liu Cheng, Chengcheng," Lin Xin stretched out his hand and retrieved a triangular Talisman Paper from his Storage Bag at his waist. The Talisman Paper was pitch black, with a golden vertical pupil painted on its back.

"There are some things I’ll lay out in advance for you to consider. This is a Soul Pact. If you are willing, you can bond with it through your own blood, but if you’re unwilling, I won’t force you. I need people by my side who are absolutely loyal."

Lin Xin tossed the Talisman Paper in front of Liu Cheng, speaking indifferently.

Liu Cheng recognized the Soul Pact. It might be somewhat unfamiliar to other demons, but to her Jade Fox clan, it was nothing new.

This thing was essentially a master-servant contract, and once signed, the master could, with a mere thought, inflict excruciating agony on the servant, akin to the severest of punishments.

Even if desired, the master only needed one thought to severely injure the servant, leaving them lifeless in an instant.

Life and death were no longer in one’s own hands; from then on, both body and mind belonged entirely to the master.

However, there was a benefit to this pact: such Talisman Papers were extremely precious, generally requiring a Master Level Formation Talisman expert to inscribe, hence they were very expensive in the market.

Because this contract was so expensive, it naturally meant that the signer would consider the servant to be of great importance.

Once signed, as one of the highest-level contracts, although the servant would die with the master and live with the master, because a portion of the soul merged with the master’s, the master’s advancements could to some extent elevate the servant as well. Though this uplift was more an illusion, a façade of borrowing the master’s strength.

Liu Cheng had once seen a sister forced to sign this contract. She indeed gained strength as her master advanced, but because cultivation in higher realms required ever greater purity, the soul’s essence from another’s power imprint was nearly indelible.

Therefore, later on, that sister remained stuck at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Stage, without any progress. Her combat power indeed increased outstandingly, far exceeding the scope of the Foundation Establishment Stage. But if the master wished, he could instantly reclaim that extra surge of power.

Kneeling on the ground, she hesitated as she looked at the Soul Pact before her.

The terms were indeed a bit harsh.

She was not necessarily reliant on him, nor was it that she couldn’t survive without him. Although her own innate limitations stopped her from reaching higher realms, losing her personal freedom seemed more significant by comparison.

But for some reason, her intuition told her to sign this unimaginably harsh contract...

Lin Xin, seeing her hesitate, understood her quandary. Although he only needed a attendant by his side to manage mundane tasks like clothing, food, shelter, and transportation, due to the many secrets he harbored and not wanting to involve the Yuan Dou Demon Sect inadvertently, a high-level control and secrecy pact was naturally a must.

This pact had even been modified by his now Master Level skills, making it stricter than the usual Soul Pacts.

Also, he used it partly to intimidate her, testing how resolute she was about following him.

A few moments later, the little fox was still hesitating. It seemed she would not sign.

Lin Xin chuckled, extending his hand toward the Talisman Paper.

"I’ll sign!" Just as the Talisman Paper began to lift off, it was suddenly seized by the little fox’s hand.

She quickly bit her tongue, dabbed some blood with her finger, and smeared it on the top of the Talisman Paper.

Whoosh!

The Talisman Paper spontaneously combusted, emitting a bright white light that shot towards the little fox’s forehead.

She relaxed her mind and body, allowing the light to penetrate into her brain.

The burning flame of the Talisman Paper instantly moved in front of Lin Xin, similarly emitting a black beam of light that directly hit Lin Xin’s forehead.

He felt his soul tremble instantly as a faint alien soul entity, cautious as a firefly, tiptoed toward him.

Allowing the other to attach itself to the outer surface of his soul, he regained his senses and then looked at the little fox again.

He could clearly sense that he might control her every move at any time.

It was like controlling a character in a video game, where a light joystick movement meant she could be directed without any resistance.

This was his first time signing a Soul Pact. Unlike with Yin Mantuo, which was a control pact used for summoned beings, this was with a humanoid entity.

"It seems it’s settled, you just get used to it. We still have to travel; be ready to leave at any moment," Lin Xin said indifferently, leaving the disoriented little fox with those words before turning and walking away.

The little fox, also signing a pact for the first time, felt her mind a mess, having just separated a sliver of her soul and attached it to Lin Xin, which made her feel somewhat unaccustomed.

Hearing this, she hurriedly got up.

Moments later, a dark cloud rose into the sky and flew off towards the distance.

The next destination was Situ Mountain, selected by Lin Xin from the information provided by Luo Xin’er.

There were no fewer than nineteen Demon Talisman Seeds. Though the distance from here was great, it was worth the journey for Lin Xin.

The dark cloud passed over several towns and a vast grassland, with white Snow Peaks faintly appearing in the distance.

The air grew increasingly thin and cold.

The food and water in Lin Xin’s Storage Bag were exceptionally plentiful. This Storage Bag, distributed as standard configuration to the Crown Prince by the Yuan Dou Demon Sect, represented both his status and provided ample space in a top-quality magical artifact.

The space inside was as large as a small mountain. While it couldn’t hold living things, it had no other restrictions.