Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 403 - 397: Hunter II

Chapter 403: Chapter 397: Hunter II

Boom!!!

Blood-colored flames shot into the sky. He opened his eyes to find that, without knowing when, he had hit the carriage that had fallen beside him.

The demonic qi formed a Demonic Sword that pierced straight into it, triggering bright red demonic flames.

The carriage burned madly in the fierce demonic fire, then gradually became translucent, and finally vanished rapidly, without leaving a single remnant behind.

"What is this...?"

What Lin Xin found weird was that after the disappearance of the carriage, a dense red mist rushed towards him at high speed.

That familiar feeling was just like the times he absorbed Demon Talisman Seeds.

Without any hesitation, he directly inhaled the mist through his nostrils.

Free Attribute Points also surged wildly, breaking a hundred in the blink of an eye, until reaching one hundred and fifty points, before slowly calming down.

"What in the world is this...!"

Lin Xin was shaken. This was the first thing he had encountered, other than Demon Talisman Seeds, from which he could absorb Attribute Points.

Although he had no idea how he managed to absorb them.

"As the Demon Talisman Seed is an object offered in sacrifice to the Demon God and is formed by the gathering of Essence Qi, this means that similar products might also be consumed by me. Something that is also formed by the gathering of Essence Qi and is offered in sacrifice to the Demon God..."

Lin Xin speculated from this aspect.

While the unexpected gain of over a hundred Attribute Points pleased him, if he could figure out the key reason behind it, then... the next time he encountered this, he might be able to seize the opportunity more easily.

With the carriage gone, there were no other traces nearby. Only some bits of broken tokens and the like remained.

Lin Xin was preparing to leave. Suddenly, the sound of a galloping horse came from not far away.

Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw a white winged horse in mid-air, flapping its wings and diving towards him.

Riding on the back of the flying horse were a young man and a young woman, both carrying Longswords. It was rare to encounter Sword Cultivators.

"Please wait a moment!"

Seeing Lin Xin about to leave, the male rider quickly spoke out.

"Oh? A son of the secluded manor?" Lin Xin’s mind stirred slightly, as the person approaching had a special bloody scent about them similar to his own, as well as the scent of Demon Talisman Seeds.

It was a clear sign of being a son of the secluded manor. A cultivator from the Central Prefecture could not possibly accumulate such a massive and terrifying essence of blood.

"What do you want?"

Lin Xin stood his ground and turned to face the other.

The flying horse landed, and both of them dismounted to walk toward Lin Xin.

"Just now, flames shot up into the sky here, there must have been a Secret Treasure born. Presumably, you were the first to arrive at this place."

The man spoke coolly.

"This place falls under the jurisdiction of my Shunxing Sect. It would be best for you to hand over the item. Let’s avoid any unpleasantness."

He had sharp qi emanating from his hand, clearly ready to take action at any moment.

"Shunxing Sect?"

Lin Xin grinned, Demonic Qi gathering in his hand, ready to move.

"Stop!"

Suddenly, a group of people flew over from afar, bringing with them strands of white light, and slowly landed on the edge of the large pit surrounding Lin Xin.

Leading the group were a pair of young siblings. The brother was clad in armor and had sustained multiple wounds with visible traces of blood.

The sister was pale, her shoulder wrapped in a bandage glowing with green light, clearly injured, but her eyes still held a sharp gleam.

"Clearly, this land belongs to my Tianxing Sect. If the Shunxing Sect will target us, just come directly at us. Why trouble a passerby?"

"Kongzhu Ming, what are you talking about?" The winged horse rider laughed. "After all, your sect will soon merge into ours, and sooner or later we’ll be one family. Isn’t my assistance in inspecting strangers on behalf of your sect a bit too courteous?"

"Who the hell is one family with you!" A cultivator from the group couldn’t help but curse out loud.

"Moreover, regarding heavenly materials and earthly treasures, those with the ability should keep them. If there is a treasure here, I am willing to share a portion with the two of you," said the winged horse rider, unfazed.

"This is the domain of my Tianxing Sect. We do not welcome you. It would be best to leave quickly."

The wounded woman spoke with a cold voice.

The rider’s eyes flickered, glancing at Lin Xin.

"Consider yourself lucky, I’ll spare you today."

After saying that, he cupped his hands towards the pair, then got back on the horse and rapidly left.

Lin Xin had an odd expression, but did not immediately act. He was subtly attracted by the aura of the people who arrived later. Thoughts raced through his mind, and in the end, he refrained from attacking the retreating son of the secluded manor.

"Are you alright, my friend?"

The injured man looked towards Lin Xin.

"Evil Shadows often appear here. If you have nothing else to do, it’s best to leave this mountainous area quickly."

The man advised kindly.

"Evil Shadows?" Lin Xin was intrigued. This was the first time he had heard of such a thing. With the breadth of his knowledge, he had never encountered it before. If it was like that carriage from earlier...

His heart suddenly twitched.

"May I ask what exactly an ’evil shadow’ is?" he inquired, while allocating the 150-plus Attributes points he had just acquired, all into his damage and constitution.

Absolute recovery ability and body structure are necessary to sustain absolute speed and strength!

This was what he believed to be the fastest way to enhance himself.

"Evil shadow refers to the strange images that frequently appear around here. Anyone who gets too close will inexplicably have their Essential Blood and soul sucked away. As for what it exactly is, we’re not sure, but some speculate that it might be the residual power of an ancient Evil God that once appeared in this place," the injured woman explained as she took over the conversation.

"Even Fourth Grade cultivators can only flee in defeat when encountering an evil shadow. My friend, you should leave quickly to avoid trouble from the guy earlier."

Lin Xin saw that both their intentions were good and felt somewhat odd, so he asked.

"Don’t you want to ask whether I really obtained any treasures?"

"Treasures?" Both of them laughed.

Not just the two of them, the others who came along also chuckled.

"My friend, what you don’t know is that outsiders might think that there are treasures here, and with the frequent strange phenomena, they tend to connect the two. But the truth is..." The injured man didn’t finish his sentence, just shook his head with a wry smile.

"This matter concerns our two major sects, and we don’t want to drag an outsider like you into it..."

Woo...

Suddenly, a desolate horn sound came from the distance. The call of the horn was long and deep, as if some giant beast was mourning lowly.

Upon hearing the sound, the expressions on the faces of the injured siblings changed slightly.

"The seal is about to be activated. I’m afraid you won’t be able to leave."

"Why?" Lin Xin asked, puzzled.

The injured man looked towards the distant sky and began to chuckle bitterly.

"It’s too late, my friend. You should follow me for now, otherwise it’s not a place for humans to stay come nighttime."

Lin Xin’s gaze flickered slightly; he too could sense that something was not quite right.

The sky, which was bright just moments ago, was now darkening at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Additionally, the wind carried the gradually sharpening cries of distress, and his Evasion Attribute was picking up faint but sharp malice and threat from all directions.

"Then I’ll trouble you." He kept his expression unchanged and cupped his hands towards the two.

"How should I address you, my friend? We are all one family here. My surname is Kongzhu; you can call me Kongzhu Ming," said the injured man as he introduced himself and then turned to fly in the direction from which they came.

"Just call me Red Blossom," Lin Xin responded casually and quickly followed.

"Red Blossom brother, this is my sister, Kongzhu Jing," Kongzhu Ming introduced. Meanwhile, Kongzhu Jing was arranging a formation mid-air with the rest of the group, seemingly on guard for something from the outside.

After exchanging brief introductions, Lin Xin posed as a passerby who happened to enter this area, inquiring about local information. Some of his questions seemed naïve, but this allayed the suspicions of the two siblings, and the atmosphere grew more relaxed.

The group flew about a hundred meters into the air and began to accelerate, but oddly enough, the sky continued to darken, and the afternoon sunlight suddenly turned black. Only slender threads of golden light could still be seen shining in from the distant horizon.

Lin Xin, flanked by the two, soon looked down to see a dark mountain city situated amidst the mountain range below.

Their group was heading straight for the mountain city.

Kongzhu Ming kept a careful eye on the surroundings as he flew, as if to stay vigilant at all times.

At the same time, he softly explained to Lin Xin.

"Brother Red Blossom may not know, but this place is different from conventional regions; it’s an independent space. Since no Sun Spring guards it, at night when Yang Power weakens, all sorts of sinister dangers emerge incessantly. The explosion crater you encountered earlier, if I’m not mistaken, should be caused by this kind of phenomenon," Kongzhu Ming sighed softly.

"My clan has been living here for a long time; we can only do what we are capable of, beyond that we truly are powerless."

He continued to address Lin Xin.

"When you get to the Manor, you must not speak; look and listen more, speak less."

Lin Xin nodded to show he understood, though what he was really thinking was known to none.

"Brother is being too serious. As long as Brother Red Blossom does not wander off and stays in the Manor until dawn, you can leave safely," Kongzhu Jing approached and said with a smile.

This woman was indeed peculiar, clad in light green Armor that covered only her chest and the sensitive parts of her lower body; the rest of her skin was scarcely concealed. Her fair and delicate complexion, along with her beautiful face and a hint of slyness, gave her a unique charm.

"Understood," Lin Xin nodded earnestly.

The group dove toward the mountain city and gradually slowed down.

When about a hundred meters away from the mountain city, Kongzhu Ming produced a white Token, instantly creating ripples in the air and revealing a dark round hole.

The entire group shot rapidly into the hole.

Following the others, Lin Xin flew into the black hole. After a brief shudder, his vision suddenly brightened.

Boom!!!

The moment he entered, he opened his eyes to see a burst of blinding white fire explode in the air.

All around were sounds of combat.

The calmness that the mountain city had shown was completely an illusion; inside another space, groups clad in Green Armor rose to the sky, clashing with others covered in blood, fighting individually in a free-for-all.

Despite the well-trained appearance of those in Green Armor, they were still unable to counter the frenzied attacks of what seemed to be Loose Cultivators.

"So many sons of the secret realms?!" Lin Xin thought, his perception now far surpassing that of other cultivators at the same level. Just the horrific enhancement provided by his Evasion Attribute alone brought his sensitivity to an almost abnormal extent.

"Indeed... it’s here..." He allowed a trace of joy to flash across his eyes.