Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 356 - 349 Travel 10

Chapter 356: Chapter 349 Travel 10

"It must be the Sun Spring?!" Lin Xin’s brow furrowed instantly.

"Exactly," Guan Mingyue said with a smile. "Moreover, the Sun Spring also has different levels. Generally, they are divided into four grades: one-eye, two-eye, three-eye, and finally, the source of all Sun Springs—the Nether River."

"The Nether River?!" Lin Xin was shocked. The Sun Spring was apparently related to Yang energy, so how did it connect to the Nether River?

And what was the relationship or difference between this Nether River and the one from the mythologies that had long circulated on Earth in his previous life?

There was also what the Red Leaf Sword Master had mentioned before—the terms "Youfu" and "Yinfu"—which were actually collectively known as the Underworld.

The Underworld... the Nether River...

Vaguely, he felt that there must be some mysterious connection between them.

Guan Mingyue, however, did not concern herself with the turmoil in his heart but continued.

"Once the Myriad Laws Hall accepts one’s own Taoist Intent, one can use the Nether River to foster and incubate the Yuan Baby, achieving the highest-level Nascent Soul."

"Does nurturing the Yuan Baby require constantly soaking in the Sun Spring?" asked Lin Xin.

"No. It only requires entering the Sun Spring to wash oneself periodically. The Sun Spring has the effect of purifying the dust and Heart Demons. It’s also a source of life energy, so even if you don’t need to, washing in it can keep the Yuan Baby free of dust and in the best state of power. This is extremely useful for True Monarchs who often venture into the Outer Regions. The Crown Prince will understand after his promotion," Guan Mingyue explained.

Lin Xin fell silent for a moment; it seemed that the Myriad Laws Hall was something he could not afford to miss. The highest-grade Nether River to nurture the Yuan Baby. No wonder everyone was willing to have their own Taoist Intent enter the Myriad Laws Hall.

He was also aware that the potency and potential of Yuan Babies nurtured by Sun Springs of different grades varied.

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

The Outer Regions.

The sky was rolling and twisting, with giant human faces appearing in the red clouds from time to time.

Under the glow of the red light, rivers that resembled blood slowly intertwined and flowed across the land below. Between them were yellow soil and sand dunes, devoid of any green vitality.

Between the red clouds and the ground, a huge black disc slowly turned in the high sky, hovering in the swirling winds.

The disc was engraved with a countless number of Rune Arrays and on top, coiled a white beast that looked similar to but wasn’t quite a dragon. The creature measured thousands of kilometers in length, scaleless, with a triangular head, and its body was coiled perfectly atop the disc, fitting just right.

Inside the disc, there was a sealed black chamber.

Daoist Master Huang Yuan sat cross-legged in midair in the chamber, with a Moon Blade weapon slowly rotating in front of him. At the center of the Moon Blade, a large rune kept lighting up with purple-red fluorescence.

Shh!

Suddenly, a red light shot out from the rune at the center of the Moon Blade, striking him squarely between the eyebrows.

"Oh? That kid has comprehended other Taoist Intents so quickly?"

Huang Yuan slowly opened his eyes, a flash of surprise in his pupils.

"And it’s not just one kind, this comprehension..."

He carefully read the message conveyed by the Dao Techniques.

"It hasn’t even been two years, yet he’s managed to understand several different Taoist Intents."

After reading the message, even as a True Monarch, when he first began to comprehend other Taoist Intents, it had also taken him at least two years to understand the first or second one.

Amidst his amazement, he was reminded once again of the fate determined for this child when he was tested.

A deep sense of regret then filled his gaze.

"What a pity... such an exceptional comprehension. If only his innate talent could keep up, he might even surpass Xiao Ying, or it wouldn’t be impossible to reach my own level. What a pity..."

"Still feeling regretful about that new disciple of yours?" A calm male voice came from another part of the disc.

"Yes, his innate talent is not sufficient. Although he later used dragon bones to mend it and attained the foundation of Dragon King, reversing some of it, after all, it still wasn’t a top-level talent, only above average. In light of his level of comprehension, it’s too much of a pity," Huang Yuan explained nonchalantly, not surprised by the voice’s questioning.

"What do you plan to do about it?" the voice asked again.

"Everything as usual. No matter how high his comprehension is, he ultimately can’t break through that one barrier. His destiny is already set," Huang Yuan shook his head.

"So you haven’t given up on finding that kind of talent and plan to continue searching?"

"Of course," Huang Yuan nodded.

"You really like to go to great lengths," the voice muttered, then fell completely silent.

Huang Yuan also slowly closed his eyes as the whole disc returned to calm.

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

Without reaching Yuan Jing, one remains but an ant.

Ever since Lin Xin had Guan Mingyue as a companion, in order to truly witness the power of the Yuan Jing level, he asked to spar with him to get a sense of it.

Regrettably, Guan Mingyue only made a move once, and even that time didn’t count as a formal move; it was merely a gentle press with his hand.

In an instant, the sky darkened, and Lin Xin was plunged into complete darkness, all connections with his surroundings severed, as if all things in the world became his enemies in an instant. He could see his own Red Flower Sword, frozen stiff in mid-air, unable to move, completely at the mercy of others.

Later he learned that every Yuan Jing’s domain was different, and each Yuan Jing wielded entirely different rules within their domain.

The rule he possessed was hostility. Within his domain, all things would face hostility from everything within, including the spiritual energy in the air and other forces.

So when he swung the Red Flower Sword, he couldn’t complete the motion, it halted midair.

That was because all the power within the domain was obstructing his every move.

According to what Guan Mingyue had said, if he wished, he could even make all forces obstruct the beating of his heart.

For Yuan Jing, other cultivators who lacked a protective domain were like ordinary people with no power to resist. Once the domain was spread out, everything was in vain.

Only now did Lin Xin fully realize this point.

With Guan Mingyue’s protection, Lin Xin no longer feared the pursuit of the Red Spine Sect as much and headed towards the location of the grand Daoist convention.

En route, he moved slowly, challenging different cultivator sects he encountered to sword-fights to comprehend their Daoist Intent.

The venue for the Taoist Palace was located in a giant city at the border near the Outer Regions’ sun barrier—Sun City.

Traveling to Sun City, even at Lin Xin’s speed and flying at full pace, would take at least two months to arrive. It was an extremely long distance.

Therefore, naturally, along the way, countless sects and members of the Demon Race were encountered.

While comprehending Daoist Intent and making his way, the Daoist Intents he frequently encountered were relatively simple and straightforward, not complicated. Generally, it took only three to five days to fully grasp them, as long as he kept observing them, and then it would just be a matter of luck to succeed once. After that, he could quickly grasp the essence of that Daoist Intent through Skill Manifestation.

This method of mastery, even for Guan Mingyue as an old ancestor of Yuan Jing, was dumbfounding, and he had no idea how to explain it.

Eventually, he turned a blind eye to it; after all, compared to Lin Xin, he had expended who knows how much effort and made sacrifices to master a single Daoist Intent.

What he didn’t know was that the more Daoist Intents one comprehended, the easier it became to discover the patterns and commonalities among them, leading to an ever faster speed of mastering Daoist Intents.

Unless he encountered a completely new one he had never seen before, with Lin Xin’s accumulation at this time, he could grasp most Daoist Intents in a very short time.

Additionally, this also had to do with the fact that all the sects he encountered were small. Top-notch cultivation techniques passed down in large sects produced extremely complex Daoist Intents, which were not so easily and quickly comprehended by Lin Xin.

It was like solving problems: common Daoist Intents were akin to basic arithmetic operations. After many repetitions, one naturally becomes proficient, requiring very little time.

However, Daoist Intents from top-notch cultivation technique legacies were like advanced mathematics; no matter how many basic operations one does, when faced with functions and integrals, if you can’t solve it, you just can’t solve it.

That was the situation Lin Xin found himself in now.

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

In a forest at night.

A campfire burned, emitting wisps of white smoke.

Lin Xin sat by the fire, while the Jade Fox carefully handled some pastry ingredients. Guan Mingyue was not with them; he usually remained hidden, trailing behind from afar without revealing himself.

After all, both Lin Xin and Guan Mingyue needed some distance and space to keep their secrets. At their level, who didn’t have some fortuitous encounters and secrets? Otherwise, they couldn’t have reached such heights.

So the Jade Fox had been unaware for over four months that she had a Yuan Jing old ancestor protecting her closely all this while.

Lin Xin was applying a special nurturing oil to the Red Flower Sword.

Magic Artifacts refined with Heart Blood Sacrificial Refinement didn’t require maintenance, but this nurturing oil was different—it could strengthen the bond between the Artifact and its owner.

It was a fine product brought out from the Yuan Dou Demon Sect.

Suddenly, a light cold breeze brushed by.

Lin Xin, who was polishing the sword, paused. The Jade Fox looked around with suspicion.

"Master, there’s some movement."

Lin Xin sheathed the sword and stood up.

Looking towards the depths of the dense forest, he saw shadows in the darkness, a large dark mass of figures staggering toward him.

As they drew closer, the figures’ true forms became fully apparent.

They turned out to be zombies, some missing hands or legs, and others without heads.

Most of the zombies had skin that was mostly rotted away and were deathly pale. Their bodies were riddled with festering wounds, and some had black bugs crawling in and out of their nostrils and ears.

"Looks like they’ve all died within the past year. Chengcheng, go take care of it."

Lin Xin glanced at the zombies and sat back down, casually instructing.

"Understood!"

The Jade Fox eyed the horde of zombies, numbering around a hundred. Although she had always lived among the Fox Tribe, she had encountered such beings before and dealt with them multiple times.

"With so many..." Zombies were too dirty, she didn’t plan to use her Heart Blood Sacrificially Refined Magic Artifact, nor did she want to employ Daoist Techniques. Instead, she took out a stack of Yellow Talismans from her storage ring and tossed them out.

The Yan Talismans fluttered in the air like living creatures, charging towards the group of zombies.

Each Talisman attached itself to a zombie, which then collapsed thunderously to the ground.

In a short while, over a hundred fell, but to her dismay, more zombies appeared in the back.

She took out another large stack of Talismans and scattered them without even looking.

The zombies fell in heaps, but even more came continuously from behind.

Lin Xin watched this unfold, a flash of puzzlement in his eyes. Last time in the cave, it had been the same; those unexplained ghosts suddenly came to surround him. Now it was happening again.