Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 362 - 355 Taoist Canon Four

Chapter 362: Chapter 355 Taoist Canon Four

"This is... the premonitory feeling brought on by evasion..."

Lin Xin was very familiar with this premonition; many times in the wild, it would trigger the sensation to appear.

At first, he wasn’t quite used to it, but as time passed, he slowly adapted to it.

"Could it be the Demon Talisman Seed?"

He quickly closed his eyes, and the sensing secret technique unfolded rapidly, soon covering the entire summit of Snow Mountain with his sensory abilities.

Tiny specks of faint red light lit up within the dark sensory field of view, like little red lamps in the darkness.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a bright spot appeared before Lin Xin’s eyes, as a red flame burst into being in the darkness!

This was the first strange phenomenon that had appeared since he had started using this secret technique!

Generally, even for dark golden Demon Talisman Seeds, it was just a big clump of red light, only brighter than normal.

But there had never been a phenomenon like a fire.

His heart gave a slight jolt as he tried to identify the direction of the flame. It was neither the location of the three encampments nor was it where the protective arrays were located; it was actually outside the array, midway up the mountain.

"Interesting..." Opening his eyes, he grabbed a handful of Demon Talisman Seeds and tossed them into the fire.

Whoosh!

The flames leaped high instantly, and the Demon Talisman Seeds inside burned like fat, quickly melting away. Then they turned into wisps of red mist that flew out and entered Lin Xin’s mouth and nose.

Free Attribute Points soared from 0, quickly reaching 21 points.

He reached out again, grabbing another string of Demon Talisman Seeds and threw them into the fire.

The blaze shot up over three meters, and the roaring fire seemed to expand several times its original size.

A large amount of red mist flew out and drilled into Lin Xin’s mouth and nose.

Free Attribute Points climbed from 21 points, in just a moment they reached 25 points. Then 30, 35, 40, 47, 51.

At 51, that was the number of all normal Demon Talisman Seeds.

Lin Xin flipped his hand again and produced two pale golden and one dark golden Demon Talisman Seeds.

At the same time, a stream of Demonic Qi was injected into the Mortal Fire Formation beneath the bonfire.

Immediately, the flames grew even more intense.

This was also a pattern he had discovered. The more intense the flame, the faster it could accelerate the melting process of the Demon Talisman Seeds.

He threw the last two pale golden and one dark golden seeds into the fire.

They only persisted for less than half a minute before the three unusual Demon Talisman Seeds melted, turning into a stream of dark red mist that flew out and was directly inhaled by Lin Xin through his nostrils.

Hiss...

The moment the last wisp of red mist was completely absorbed into his body, he shook violently.

A surge of chaotic images abruptly emerged from the mist and drilled into his mind.

"Father! Please bless me to safely overcome this calamity."

"Demon God above, please ensure my son has a smooth competition."

"If condensing this Demon Talisman Seed can heal my father’s illness, no matter how bitter or difficult, I am willing!"

Voices echoed back like a looped recording, over and over.

Lin Xin’s eyelids twitched, feeling as if his head was suddenly filled with a plethora of information and images.

With the circulation of Demonic Qi, he quickly stabilized the somewhat chaotic Qi-Blood in his brain, and in a short while, he had sorted it all out.

What surged into his mind were the past lives of three different demons.

One demon from the Demon Race condensed the Demon Talisman Seed to transform during tribulation.

A father who painstakingly condensed the Demon Talisman Seed for his son to join the Sect.

A young demon from the Demon Race who condensed the dark golden Demon Talisman Seed amid difficulties to cure his ailing father.

Lin Xin seemed to have formed a slight connection with all three demons.

This was a very peculiar feeling.

Lin Xin closed his eyes, and it was as if three tiny points of light like ants appeared before him. Touching any one of them felt like directly connecting with those three demons.

"What is this..."

He furrowed his brows slightly.

He seemed to have some guess in his heart.

The secret of the Demon Talisman Seed might only be known by ancient beings, and those ancient beings were elusive.

Lin Xin had also wanted to inquire about the situation from the Red Leaf Sword Master many times, but he never found the opportunity.

So, he had no choice but to explore on his own.

In the end, the Demon Talisman Seed was related to the ancient ritual of sacrificing to the Demon God. It certainly had some connection to the Demon God.

And without exception, the Demon Gods only existed in ancient times, leaving behind only scant records. Now, the only traces left were those mythological records, which had no reference value.

As these images burst into his mind,

His Free Attribute Points also skyrocketed. They increased by forty points in a flash.

"It seems that each pale golden is worth ten points, while the dark golden is twenty points."

Lin Xin estimated in his mind.

After absorbing the Demon Talisman Seeds, he clearly felt the connection with those three demons remained, rather than disappearing as usual after absorbing the mist without any other anomalies.

"Could it be that it will last for a while before disappearing?"

Lin Xin speculated, momentarily putting the thought aside.

The previous 51 points, combined with the latter 40 points, add up to 91 points in total.

All the attributes accumulated over this period were all here.

"The previous individual enhancements have proven that a single increase in attributes could likely lead to hidden dangers and imbalances in the body.

It seems that I must also supplement the other parts to achieve balanced development; that’s the true path to power,"

He had a plan in mind for some time. Now, even though he had so many attribute points, he dared not, like before, throw them all into offensive power.

He glanced at his current status.

’Offense——82, Defense——19, Evasion——5, Physique——30, Free Attributes 91.’

An offensive power of 82 points, when unleashed, was sufficient to match the killing strength of the mid-Golden Core Stage.

This was the level determined by comparing the pure physical strength and speed, without considering Demonic Qi or Spiritual Energy.

"If I want to develop evenly, all other attributes must be elevated to match the level of the offense."

Lin Xin’s gaze turned to the physique; the burden produced by the offensive power was too great, and the trickiest part was the physique.

Moreover, the physique seemed to determine the lifespan of the body. Therefore, it was inevitable to enhance this first.

The physique was currently at 30 points.

With a thought, his gaze lingered on it for a while.

Soon, the free attributes began to decrease, and the physique attribute started to increase rapidly.

30...40...50...70...82.

Upon reaching 82, Lin Xin quickly stopped, stabilizing at this figure.

He instantly expended 52 points of free attributes, leaving only 39.

"Next is defense."

With defense at 19 points, Lin Xin did not hesitate and poured the attributes into it at once.

19...21...31...51...58.

At 58 points, all the free attributes were used up.

Lin Xin closed his eyes to sense the monumental changes happening within his body. Somehow, he felt as if he had just heaved a profound sigh of relief, as if he had narrowly avoided some inexplicable crisis or danger.

In the Yuan Dou Demonic Technique, there was a universal outline for the stages of Body Cultivation Techniques, along with records from other methods like the Nine Morning Melody.

Lin Xin had a rough idea in his mind. The more formidable the physical body was cultivated, the more it would confine the soul and mind within, unifying them with the body.

If the physical body sustained damage, the spirit would also be harmed.

Yet such a body would grow increasingly terrifying beyond the imagination of ordinary people as it progressed further.

"The realm of the physical body can be roughly divided into five ranks according to the Yuan Dou Demonic Technique, the Nine Morning Melody, and other Body Cultivation Techniques. My current level, with a physique raised to 82 points, should be comparable to the full recovery speed of a mid-Golden Core Stage demon based solely on physique."

"And with defense reaching 58 points, by comparison, 50 points would mark the entry into the Golden Core Stage. It’s quite impressive to be able to withstand and be immune to attacks from the early stage of the Golden Core. That’s pretty good,"

He took a moment to reacquaint himself with the situation of his body.

This transformation would need a little more time to take full effect, and that was without utilizing Demonic Qi, Spiritual Energy, Formation Talismans, or other abilities—just purely physical confrontation with other cultivators.

If he layered on Demonic Qi, the power would likely jump up to another freakish level.

"I need more Demon Talisman Seeds." Standing up, Lin Xin sensed that mysterious fire still within the range of his secret technique detection and felt an urge stirring within him.

"This should be a good test of how strong I really am now," he thought.

He lightly placed his hand on the Red Flower Sword, then with a slight leap, he jumped into the air, causing a faint ripple to splash out.

He vanished from the spot as if a phantom, shooting out towards the residence’s window.

A massive sense of divine consciousness suddenly swept across, landing directly on the rapidly moving Lin Xin. After pausing briefly, it quickly retracted and shrank toward a secret chamber in the residence.

It was clear that Guan Mingyue had realized Lin Xin was leaving and released his divine consciousness to check.

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

At the waist of the mountain.

In the desolate, uninhabited wintry forest, a burly man dressed in a tiger-skin coat and hat was waiting beside the pine trees, huffing into the air.

At noon, the snow’s glare was somewhat blinding, causing the man to squint slightly.

"You’ve been waiting long."

Suddenly behind the pine tree he stood against, a plump, opulent noblewoman emerged, her face full of wealth.

This noblewoman wore a strand of pearls around her neck, each as large as a fingernail, and her fingers were laden with various color gemstone rings, making her appear no different from a newly rich.

But upon her appearance, the man in tiger skin instantly bowed respectfully.

"I greet the Envoy," he said.

"Dispense with the formalities," the noblewoman replied indifferently, continually pinching the flesh around her necklace with one hand, while the other hand flexed her fingers, her gaze falling on them as if admiring the gemstone rings she wore.

"Have you brought the goods?"

"Of course, this batch is of fine quality; I even encountered a good item," said the man in tiger skin, smiling in an attempt to please her.

"You know the rules, right? After the deal is done, collect your reward down the mountain," the noblewoman said casually.

"I am aware, very aware," the burly man nodded and bowed profusely. He then took down something like prey from his back and handed it to the noblewoman.

She didn’t seem to mind the dirt, grabbing it straight away, not a glance at it but only weighed it in her hand.

"Alright, you may leave."

"Yes, yes," the man said.

He quickly bowed and then retreated some distance, cautiously looking left and right. Seeing no one else, he sped off into the snow, quickly disappearing into the snowy mountainside.

However, the noblewoman stood still, the corners of her mouth barely moving, revealing a hint of a cold smile.

"Friend, since you are here, why not show yourself and we can have a face-to-face chat?"