Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 398 - 392 The Path to Ultimate Strength VII

Chapter 398: Chapter 392 The Path to Ultimate Strength VII

Kun Ji tucked away his arrow and gazed in that direction, Lin Xin’s aura fading as swiftly as a snuffed-out lamp.

"Thus, everything is finished."

From the distant sky, an arrow suddenly flew back, landing steadily on the string of the Golden Swallow Bow.

Kun Ji picked up the Golden Phoenix Fight and examined it.

"It turned out to be a fine treasure, seemingly of the Fifth Grade level. Not bad, not bad at all."

A smile spread across his face as a yellow light engulfed his feet and quickly ascended, enveloping him completely before he vanished in an instant.

Normally, he should have gone over to examine the body, but to avoid suspicion and prevent the Yuan Dou Demon Sect from doubting,

he not only refrained from using his own Yuan Jing to kill, but he also used the Golden Swallow Bow, which leaves no trace and can mimic any cultivation technique, to completely finish off his opponent.

If not for that, he would never have allowed Lin Xin to escape such a distance.

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

Several days later...

The pond where Lin Xin was located suddenly began churning with bubbles and swirling currents.

It seemed as if something was boiling beneath the water.

Splash.

Suddenly, a pale arm stretched out of the water, gripping fiercely onto the stones at the edge.

The current parted as a young man with dripping hair and drenched clothes struggled to climb out of the water.

His face was deathly pale, devoid of any hint of blood, and his eyes bulged as if swollen like those of a certain type of fish.

"Sure enough... sure enough..." Lin Xin used both hands to slowly crawl onto the rocks at the shore until his whole body emerged from the pond, a sight so horrifying it could scare the soul out of anyone who saw it.

What climbed out of the water was only half of Lin Xin’s body. From his waist down, everything was missing, his body severed at the waist.

As he moved, the wound at his waist slowly oozed traces of blood into the water.

"It was really close... I almost died..." Lin Xin looked at his lower body. Any other cultivator would have likely died from blood loss quickly, but not him.

The terrifying attributes he had added earlier played a huge role.

"That last explosion... If my body hadn’t been so formidable, I might have been blasted into pieces rather than merely being severed in two."

Shivering with residual fear, Lin Xin touched the severed area of his waist. It seemed as if countless tiny flesh filaments were rapidly squirming and wildly growing new flesh.

He took out some broken elixir bottles from his storage ring, opened them, and poured a handful of pills into his mouth, rapidly stuffing them in.

After emptying several bottles quickly, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, leaned back on the shore, his body slowly radiating a faint bloody red light, and began his cultivation.

Half an hour passed, and as the medicine dispersed, the new lower half of Lin Xin’s body finally began to regrow.

In just over half an hour, it grew back to his thighs.

"Massive Pond!"

Lin Xin whispered sharply, and immediately a Bloody Rune Mark appeared behind him, pulsating as if it were flowing with vast amounts of fresh plasma.

Then he threw out a Concealment Array Plate and began to meditate with his eyes closed.

The Bloody Rune Mark swooshed, releasing copious amounts of fresh plasma, which burrowed into Lin Xin’s mouth and nose.

With the influx of fresh plasma, the already abnormally fast healing wound became even more furious, speeding up more than twice as fast.

In less than an hour, Lin Xin’s entire lower body had regrown.

His originally pale face also gradually regained some color.

After donning a new black robe and a fresh set of Armor, activated with defensive Runes, he finally let out a slight sigh of relief.

Facing Yuan Jing, he hadn’t even had a chance to resist; he was defeated in an instant, his body blasted into two pieces. In the end, all he could do was feign death to trick the other party into leaving.

This experience profoundly taught him the great divide between Yuan Jing-level cultivators and those below.

Although currently among the top tiers at the Dao Seeking level, he was still no match for his opponent, as trivial as an ant easily crushed underfoot while walking.

"Heavenly Cloud Path... Old Man Hong Gui... very well!" Having recovered, Lin Xin’s eyes shimmered with a hint of murderous intent. At this point, it wasn’t about whether he could hide or not, but rather that his adversary openly recognized him and still aimed to put him to death.

"Now, my first step should be to return to the Yuan Dou Demon Sect, but if I do, I’ll likely lose any chance to venture out alone for several years, let alone gather Demon Talisman Seeds or slaughter powerful beings to enhance my cultivation."

Indeed, he now harbored intentions of mad slaughter to boost his strength.

At this point, once those peculiar silver rat fruits were consumed, there would be no such opportunity to enhance his cultivation again.

"For the Yuan Dou Demonic Technique to reach Yuan Jing in a short span, I need a long time to comprehend Taoist Intent and amass over a thousand varieties; currently, I have just over a hundred, which is too early. It seems I must continue to accumulate attributes."

He understood clearly.

"To reach the level to contend against Yuan Jing, I need to be at least ten times stronger than I am now!"

He roughly estimated. Moreover, this might not even have been the true strength of his adversary, who simply used a treasure to deliver a long-range blow, resulting in his utter defeat.

If his opponent exerted his real strength, or even his trump cards.

The gap was despairingly vast!

"Where can I acquire a massive amount of attribute points in the shortest time?"

Lin Xin’s mind quickly flashed to two places.

One, find the Primordial Ancient Demon Race.

Two, find enough Evil God Primordial Embryos!

"Perhaps I can also plunder other sons of the hidden prefectures, as long as I find the gathering point of the sons of the hidden prefectures...."

The feeling of being crushed by others was truly unbearable....

He had almost really died.

Licking his lips, Lin Xin stood up from the water’s edge. He stored the giant ray’s Blood Talisman behind him. The Yuan Dou Demonic Arts had merged all the Cultivation Techniques, so this Blood Talisman could not be further cultivated, only used bit by bit. It must be conserved.

With a wave of his hand, a refreshing spell swept over his body, shaking off all the filth and stains, making him feel fresh and clean again.

"Tianyun Dao...." This was the first time, the first time Lin Xin deeply remembered this name.

Glancing around, he could already see fierce Demon Beasts attracted by the smell and running towards him.

"This place is not suitable to stay for long."

He motioned towards the pond, levitating his own severed half of the body, which then instantly incinerated, shattered into a cloud of blood-red smoke, and he inhaled it through his nostrils.

Then, with a flash of his figure, he swiftly dashed towards the distance and soon disappeared without a trace.

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

The Third Crown Prince was assassinated, and his whereabouts have been unknown since then, leaving his life or death uncertain.

This news somehow started spreading among all the major powers.

The Yuan Dou Demon Sect quickly deployed personnel to investigate. Fortunately, the life lamps within the sect were still lit, and the Second Princess, Duan Chizi, personally took charge of this matter, heading to investigate Lin Xin’s ’site of demise.’

But in terms of the surging situation where numerous small and medium sects were being annexed, this was merely a minor ripple in a large wave.

It caused a small ripple, which was quickly submerged and merged by other waves.

There was new activity at the Sand Time Divine Palace, this grand focal location was where all forces concentrated their attention.

A team of experts finally stepped out of the Divine Palace for the first time.

But each of them were gravely wounded, not far from death. Among these experts were those of the Third Grade, the Fourth Grade, and even Fifth Grade Yuan Jing elders, but none escaped their inevitable fate.

They all died of exhaustion several days after leaving the Divine Palace, and before they died, they unanimously left a message.

’The Demon God is about to resurrect.’

This message had just been released when it was overshadowed by an even more shocking news.

The Sect Leader of Red Spine Sect, Huang Yuerong, clashed with a Yuanjing elder from the Celestial Alliance who went to rescue Yuan Qiuque. The battle resulted in five deaths and one injury.

Five of the strongest Yuan Jing True Monarchs fell at the same time, the heavens and earth mourned, and within a thousand miles, blood rained down, the earth cracked open, the air was filled with poisonous smoke, making it uninhabitable.

Yuan Qiuque was also gravely injured and fled far away.

Although Huang Yuerong killed many True Monarchs, she too suffered internal injuries and had to temporarily retreat from Red Spine Sect headquarters to recover.

This was a loss for both sides.

But undoubtedly, the Celestial Alliance suffered far heavier blows, with five nearly leader-level True Monarchs all falling, which made the already slightly weaker Celestial Alliance even more troubled.

Among the fallen five, two were from Jade Clear Dao, one from Tianyun Dao, one from the Shape-shifting Cave, and one from the Xian Sha Alliance.

Jade Clear Dao suffered the greatest loss, their influence was significantly squeezed by Red Spine Sect, shrinking a large area.

This battle essentially depleted both sides of the Suppressing Level elders still remaining in the outside world. And in doing so, the Central Prefecture rarely welcomed a brief and complete peace.

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

Tianyun Dao Headquarters.

Celestial Garments Daoist Palace.

Hong Gui, an elderly man, slowly walked in a corner of the Daoist Palace’s medicinal garden, supported by a young, graceful beautiful girl, appearing like an ordinary elder.

"Lin Xin is not dead," he said lightly, looking at a water mirror floating in front of him.

"Impossible, hit by my Myriad Transformations Technique, his body was blasted to pieces, he must be dead," a Silver chaotic surface on the water mirror, but a distorted voice came through from the other side.

"My people in the Yuan Dou Demon Sect saw that his Life-Soul Lamp is still lit," Hong Gui did not argue, he merely stated a fact.

"How could that be...." disbelief trickled through the water mirror. "Does he have some sort of life-replacing magical artifact?"

"Only that could be possible. Please continue to handle this," Hong Gui’s eyes flashed with a deep murderous intent.

"Alright, I made a promise, I will resolve it completely," responded the voice from the other side after a silence.

The water mirror cracked, breaking into ice crystals and dispersing.

Hong Gui’s eyelids drooped, and he slowly walked to a brightly blooming patch of yellow flowers.

"Anyone who touches that thing must die, if we let him live, I fear we won’t be able to continue to deter other powers," he said softly.

"Does Ancestor mean to use that power again?" the girl asked softly.

"No need, if that side makes a move, Xian Sha Alliance will definitely act since it’s equivalent to being slapped in the face. If they don’t respond, then there’s no need for them to maintain any alliance," Hong Gui saw clearly, but Tianyun Dao, despite being gradually weaker lately, was still a top force led by a champion of the Heavenly List.