Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 347 - 340: Traveling One

Chapter 347: Chapter 340: Traveling One

The Silver Phoenix Axe whirled upwards, smashing fiercely toward the ground next to the Red Saint Ming.

Boom!

The ground cracked open, and several black and red vines flew out, spinning in mid-air before falling to the ground. The severed ends oozed a liquid resembling fresh blood.

Outside Situ Mountain at that moment, Lin Xin rose from the ground and appeared in mid-air, then swiftly flew away with the little Jade Fox at full speed.

However, just as he expected, the Silver Phoenix Axe did not follow.

The Red Spine Sect was aligned against the Demon Path protector, and if that person chased after him over the unfair death of an enemy, disregarding the life and death of his friends, then he’d truly be a naive fool.

Intense air currents whooshed past his ears.

The Protective Aura around Lin Xin couldn’t fully shield them both, it was elongated into an ellipse by the rapid winds.

Within the black Protective Aura, Lin Xin’s face showed a subtle abnormality.

Half black, half red, and constantly emitting a faint, subtle vibration sound that seemed to come from within him.

His body was enveloped in a substantial amount of Demonic Qi, sounding like water rushing continuously.

"Master!?" The little Jade Fox’s face turned somewhat pale. Just earlier, while she was waiting, she had seen bursts of streaming light and flames suddenly exploding on Snow Peak below, along with the condensation of a huge black-haired arm. Such divine skills far surpassed the realm she belonged to.

Seeing her master in such an abnormal state now, seemingly having been gravely injured, she immediately became anxious.

This fellow had never left the Jade Fox Clan and always engaged in secluded cultivation practice. Finally finding a master who didn’t seem to have any ulterior motives toward her—though they had formed a contract, he had taken no improper actions. This was considered a very fortunate opportunity within the Jade Fox Clan.

If something had happened just after such a short time, then...

"I’m fine," Lin Xin managed to say in a strained voice. "Keep a lookout around us. We need to find a more secluded spot. I need to retreat."

"Okay!"

The pair, wrapped in black streaming light, swiftly shot toward the distance.

Lin Xin was well aware that if his previous friction with the Red Spine Sect was minor and his identity still unknown, now he really had made a great enemy.

A Dao Seeking peak-level expert, killed just like that by him, was equivalent to the Flower Deity Xi from the South Prefecture, a Daoist Master vital to any sect’s core strength, capable of starting a sect on their own.

Though they were already enemy factions, he was now alone, having escaped the surveillance of the Yuan Dou Demon Sect, and thus lacked corresponding protection.

Gliding through Snow Mountains like a shooting star, as they descended, the temperature beneath became milder, and the ground gradually turned into a green and yellow woodland.

They quickly located a yellow maple forest to land in.

The forest clearly had an owner, for no sooner had they landed than they sensed a potent Demon Race aura rushing toward them. However, when this aura came within a kilometer, it abruptly halted, carefully sensed the presence here, and then fled into the distance even faster than it had approached.

Clearly, it had been frightened by Lin Xin’s aura.

"Cough, cough...." Lin Xin coughed violently, his face still half black, half red.

He coughed up not phlegm, but handfuls of dry, black sand with not a trace of moisture.

This black sand fell to the ground and began to move around him, resembling countless black bugs.

With more black sand coughed out, Lin Xin was gradually completely surrounded by it.

Soon, the sand began climbing up Lin Xin’s clothing. In just the time it took to brew a pot of tea, Lin Xin was entirely wrapped up tightly in black sand, which continued to thicken, gradually forming a massive oval shape.

Liu Cheng, the little Jade Fox, could only stand by helplessly and anxiously.

"Protect me for thirty days," Lin Xin’s voice emerged, reaching only her ears.

The little Jade Fox finally breathed a sigh of relief. She took out the Array Plate Lin Xin had given her and began to set it up all around.

Suddenly, a medium-sized hidden defense Formation unfolded. Spirit Jade released Spiritual Energy, enveloping an area of several hundred meters. To an outsider looking in from outside the Formation, the scenery would seem unchanged, no little Jade Fox or black cocoon in sight—just an open space.

Thirty days, for an Foundation Establishment Cultivator like the little Jade Fox, passed in just a few days.

She was extremely tense every day, keeping watch everywhere, fearing someone might discover something amiss here, and taking care of smaller troubles with her pinnacle Foundation Establishment cultivation.

Soon the time Lin Xin instructed also arrived, the little Jade Fox eventually decided to close her eyes and engage in cultivation practice to wait. On the thirtieth day, she slowly opened her eyes, coming out of her meditation. She looked toward the large black cocoon.

Sure enough, the surface of the cocoon had unexpectedly developed some cracks.

Crack.

The cracks suddenly widened, and something inside seemed to be trying to break out.

Swoosh!

Suddenly, a pristine white arm broke through, faintly marked with fine black Demon Patterns, but these patterns were rapidly fading.

"Master!" The little Jade Fox finally took a long breath of relief.

With her master having regained consciousness, her task was also considered complete.

With a swish, the entire black cocoon was torn apart from the inside, and Lin Xin, clad in a black robe, sat cross-legged within, his body’s black Demon Patterns rapidly fading away.

"The breakthrough of the Yuan Dou Demonic Technique is indeed peculiar. I must expel the demonic sand and completely seal myself off, cutting off the Five Qi."

He glanced at the realm of his cultivation technique at that moment.

’Yuan Dou Demonic Technique—Second Layer, Primitive Demon Body Extension Period (1%).’

"Extension period... Although I have no idea what that entails, as long as my strength increases, it’s good."

He raised his hand and felt his body, which seemed reborn.

After killing Chi Shengming, he made the final breakthrough in the Yuan Dou Demonic Technique and successfully entered the Second Layer.

After all, for the previous layers, all he needed was to absorb enough demonic qi, and he already had ample life-and-death battle experience.

Upon entering the Second Layer of the Demonic Arts, he found that his attributes had once again changed.

All other attributes remained unchanged, but his lethality had increased once more, rising from 77 to 82, a direct increase of five points.

His attributes had been balanced, but now this increase made Lin Xin start to feel a subtle soreness and pain in his chest.

Cough cough!

He couldn’t help but start coughing again; his heart was overtaxed, causing his cardiopulmonary function to lag, thus inducing coughs.

"Master! Are you alright?!" The little Jade Fox quickly came over, worriedly asking. She was terrified that something might happen to Lin Xin; with their master-servant spiritual link, she would not live if Lin Xin died.

"It’s nothing..." Lin Xin raised his hand and said faintly, "Just damage to the lung meridian. It’s unavoidable that the target encountered unexpected issues this time. Right now, it’s a time of great chaos. If everything were going smoothly, that would actually be strange."

"What should we do next??" The little Jade Fox asked, somewhat worriedly.

"Go to the next spot."

Lin Xin said indifferently.

He stretched out his hand and threw out a transparent crystal card. The card exploded, turning into a small clump of bright, twinkling white mist. From the mist emerged a palm-sized paper scroll.

Grasping the scroll, Lin Xin gently unfurled it, revealing a map-like painting that clearly depicted the entire terrain of Central Prefecture.

Moreover, scattered across different areas of the map were spots marked in various shades of red, some marked with numbers and others not.

This was the special magic artifact given to him by Luo Xin’er on the road later, the Mother-Child Yin Soul Map.

This map consisted of two scrolls, one in Lin Xin’s hand and the other in Luo Xin’er’s. The two could synchronize any content written on them, even if separated by thousands of mountains and rivers, making it easy to pass messages.

The cost of this magic artifact was considerable. Even for a great sect like the Taoist Qing, there were fewer than five pairs. Luo Xin’er just happened to have good luck in acquiring one pair. By giving it directly to Lin Xin, she also aimed to gain his trust. Additionally, this map had another function—it could be used to ask Luo Xin’er questions at any time and obtain intelligence on the targets.

"Apart from the Venerable Demon Arm, it would be better to find a new spot to hunt. After killing Chi Shengming, we probably need to be cautious about the Red Spine Sect."

Lin Xin carefully examined the map. To the left of Situ Mountain lay the territory of the Red Spine Sect, a pale red area on the map, while to the right was a pale white area, clearly representing the Daoist Alliance.

Around the Venerable Demon Arm, apart from him, there were just three other red dots.

These three dots each represented someone possessing a Demon Talisman Seed.

Scanning these three points once more, Lin Xin’s eyes flickered, and he quickly made a decision.

"Let’s go here."

He lightly touched the largest red dot in the vicinity—Tiancheng, Rui Shi.

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

Tiancheng, one of the thirteen most flourishing cities of the Red Spine Sect. The city was divided into twelve districts, each named after the other cities within the Sect.

Tiancheng was personally overseen by the Ji Tian Sect, one of the large Demonic Sects that had initially pledged allegiance to the Red Spine Sect, boasting two Yuan Jing old ancestors and sixteen Daoist Masters, including three who were renowned on the Xiu Ling List. It was truly a gathering of talents.

At that moment in Tiancheng, within the Jade Screen district.

Lin Xin, accompanied by the little Jade Fox, leisurely squeezed through the crowd, taking in the bustling and lively sights of Tiancheng at a leisurely pace.

"I heard that this Jade Screen district is just one of the twelve districts of Tiancheng. Just looking at its size, it stretches as far as the eye can see—this isn’t just a city, it’s bigger than some counties!" the little Jade Fox, unworldly, quietly admired.

Dressed in a tight-fitting black dress, black jade earrings, and a pearl necklace, the little Jade Fox’s skin appeared snow-white and silky smooth. In the bright sunlight, her skin reflected a dazzling white light.

With her slender figure and ********, her appearance was both charming and pure. Being among the top beauties of the famously beautiful Jade Fox Clan, she had attracted the gazes of numerous wealthy young masters and rakes along the way.

Although Lin Xin was also handsome and of extraordinary temperament at the moment, by comparison, he fell far short in appearance compared to the little Jade Fox.

The two of them were disguised as a wealthy young master and his maid. Lin Xin held a black paper fan, waving it back and forth.

Along the way, they occasionally stopped to watch the performers amidst the crowd, and sometimes they visited street-side shops to look at crafts and various sundries.

Lin Xin was indeed curious to see how well Tiancheng had developed amidst these mountainous surroundings, infested with demons, so he was quite relaxed.

After walking for half an hour, they were still moving very slowly.

Reaching a corner, they turned and suddenly saw a bunch of shop flags on the street ahead, among them a distinctly different colored flag.

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