Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 434 - 428: The Struggle 1

Chapter 434: Chapter 428: The Struggle 1

"My own path...indeed." Lin Xin’s expression became stunned, and he became somewhat absentminded.

The tea water on the table was slowly steaming up, turning into white mist and disappearing without a trace in a few moments.

When he regained his senses and looked again, he couldn’t see anything anymore.

"Now, by integrating Formation Talisman, Sword Intent, and Attributes, the three major components, I can form a unique Ultimate Kill technique unmatched by anyone, whether it is the Heart Eye Sword Path or the Red Flower Sword Path. Isn’t this the path that belongs solely to me?"

"So where is my own path, the path of my Nascent Soul?"

"The power of the Underworld belongs to the ultimate Yin, so perhaps I need to neutralize the power of the Underworld first to see the future clearly."

He had a vague premonition that when he truly rid himself of the power of the Underworld, that would be the day he was qualified to step into the realm of Yuan Jing.

The Red Leaf Sword Master was no longer there.

He got up to pay the bill and walked out of the shop. Outside, a gentle breeze blew across his face from left to right, but there was a hint of serene harmony.

A few children with ox horn buns were chasing a little girl who had stolen an embroidered purse not far away. The children’s playful laughter was a bit noisy, but it didn’t feel irritating at all.

He left the shop and strolled aimlessly along the streets of the small town.

Walking on the uneven stone road, some of the stones had even been damaged and compressed by something heavy, exposing the yellow soil beneath.

To his right, shops were lined up, some open, with sleepy shop assistants yawning, lazily bathed in the midday sun.

Other shops had notices posted on them, stating how many days they would be closed.

Dressed in the ordinary attire of a Confucian scholar, he walked by, indistinguishable from the students who occasionally passed by on the road.

"Such leisure... If I weren’t in this era, I might not realize that this place is actually the Underworld, threatened by danger everywhere..." Lin Xin remarked.

He arrived at a structure that seemed to be a tavern, a tea house, or perhaps a private residence, a black lacquered two-story building.

On the balcony upstairs, a gentleman in black was quietly speaking to a woman, occasionally looking down to enjoy the street scene below.

Their soft laughter faintly drifted down.

Lin Xin stopped in front of a notice board at the alleyway next to the small building and paused there.

The notice board was plastered with a myriad of notifications and announcements from nearby.

’On May 1st, the Seven Emotions Sword Sect will expel Exotic Beasts south of the city, and a curfew will be imposed throughout the city.’

’On the afternoon of May 20th, Wanxi Sha is recruiting laborers for archaeological digs, with generous compensation.’

’No. 321 Lan Hua Street for sale, price negotiable, interested parties may contact Spring Birth Building.’

’Sale of a steed, price negotiable, location Spring Birth Building.’

’Tomorrow a Silver Level caravan will pass by; those who obstruct will be killed without mercy.’

’Recruiting a manager for a dyeing workshop, generous compensation.’

The notices were layered on top of each other, some even overlapping.

Lin Xin stood there unaware, not even knowing why he was inexplicably standing and looking at these unrelated notices for so long.

"Before going home, let’s buy some osmanthus cake!"

A father and son passed by him, the chubby son riding on his father’s neck, tugging at the cloth strip on his bun.

"I want chestnut cake!" the son said in a milky voice.

"Didn’t you just have chestnut cake yesterday?"

"I want it!"

"Alright, alright... we’ll buy chestnut cake."

The father and son slowly walked away, and Lin Xin slightly turned his face, watching the father and son dressed in washed-out white clothes, feeling surprisingly calm inside.

"This gentleman, is there something wrong with this notice? You have been standing here for an hour already," suddenly a wholesome male voice came from the second floor of the black building.

Lin Xin looked up and saw the gentleman in black from earlier.

He was smiling kindly at him, clearly addressing him.

The woman who was previously with him was no longer there, only he stood on the balcony alone.

"There’s nothing wrong," Lin Xin shook his head and said indifferently.

But the gentleman in black just smiled and didn’t stop because of his cool demeanor.

"If the gentleman doesn’t mind, how about coming upstairs for a drink?" he offered.

Lin Xin’s usually serene eyes suddenly stirred slightly.

His attire was no different from that of ordinary Confucian scholars, and to most people, he looked no different from ordinary people because he constantly activated the Concealment Formation.

Apart from his extraordinary demeanor, there was nothing else remarkable about him. Yet the other party had actively invited him.

This indeed piqued his interest.

After a brief pause, Lin Xin met the eyes of the gentleman in black, those pure enthused eyes.

"Okay."

He walked towards the entrance of the small building.

Inside was empty, the main door wide open, unattended. He went up the stairs to the second floor and saw at a glance the feast that had just been laid out and yet to be cleared.

The gentleman in black was standing by the bed, with a servant wiping and cleaning a low table in front of him.

"Please, have a seat," he said.

Lin Xin walked over and sat across from him.

Once seated, the servant brought drinks and dishes, and soon the table was fully set.

"Seeing the gentleman’s poise as you stood in front of the notice, were you looking for a job?" the gentleman in black asked with a smile.

Lin Xin shook his head, picked up a cup of wine, and gently sipped it.

"You furrow your brows slightly, my friend, perhaps you are facing some indecisive matter?" the man in black asked again.

"No."

Lin Xin softly replied.

"If it’s not a matter of indecision, then why the frown?" The gentleman lifted the wine cup and drank it all. "Let’s not talk about it. Drink!"

He simply wanted someone to drink with, nothing more.

Song Yuanchao had extensive connections everywhere, with friends and brothers all across the Four Seas. In this city of Lu, he had earned a reputation for being incredibly loyal, and to outsiders, he seemed capable of finding solutions to anything that came his way.

Yet at this moment, he too had an unsolvable issue, just like anyone else.

Both of them harbored their own thoughts, neither speaking, just drinking persistently.

Bottle after bottle, without interruption.

Neither spoke, just drank.

The sky gradually dimmed, the setting sun cast a red glow through the windows of the small building, falling on the food in the middle of the table, making the green vegetables look even more vibrant.

"Drink...."

Song Yuanchao was already drunk. But he kept urging Lin Xin to drink vigorously.

Setting the wine jar down, Lin Xin casually wiped the wine from his mouth.

"You are drunk."

"Am I drunk?"

Song Yuanchao’s eyes were blurry.

"Yes, you are drunk," Lin Xin affirmed.

"Life is but a dream, drunk or sober, what is the difference?" Song Yuanchao chuckled lightly. "Perhaps it’s better to be drunk."

"Maybe so," Lin Xin could tell that the other was also troubled by something.

He suddenly recalled that the Red Leaf Sword Master had tasked him with severing a connection with the powers of the Underworld, and in doing so, he must take on another consequence.

"Cause and effect, what really are they?"

Unintentionally, he voiced his thoughts softly.

"Where there’s cause there’s effect; one is the seed, the other the fruit. Plant the seed and it bears fruit. Isn’t that cause and effect?"

Song Yuanchao slurred laughingly; although drunk, his words were clear—a rarity among drunkards who couldn’t even speak properly.

"Then what is it to end cause and effect?" Lin Xin asked casually, his expression serene as he glanced at him.

"To end? From the beginning to the end, to let the given cause bear the intended fruit, isn’t that finishing everything? Buddha’s teachings say: ’When causes and conditions meet, the effects are within one’s own heart.’"

Song Yuanchao’s laughter had a hint of madness.

"Ending cause and effect is merely settling one’s own heart, that’s all. When you believe it’s ended, then it has ended."

"Your perspective is quite novel," Lin Xin’s eyes moved slightly, he seriously considered the person before him for the first time, although the other had no cultivation strength, his words offered a unique insight.

"There is a Dao in the world, and there is a Dao in my heart. Where my heart is not fulfilled, there is desire. By my heart’s measure of the world, there must come a day of great Peace and Ease," Song Yuanchao shook his head as if he was lamenting or perhaps speaking of a certain hope.

"A day of great Ease... Maybe," Lin Xin turned his head, looking down from the second floor at the bustling street below as some shops began to close for the evening.

A few officials’ sedans leisurely passed by, followed by some men carrying vegetables.

"Our sitting here together drinking, isn’t this also a cause and effect? I called you over first, that’s a cause, the rare alignment of our moods is also a cause, and our meeting here and now is likewise a cause, with the ultimate effect being our drinking together now. That is the effect."

Song Yuanchao seemed to be a believer in Buddhism, his eyes foggy yet his logic clear, never straying from Buddhist principals.

"Then what is the Path of Extreme Yang?" Lin Xin asked randomly.

"The Path of Extreme Yang, in Buddhist terms, there are Path of Utmost Sturdiness, Path of Origin," Song Yuanchao smiled and picked up another wine jar, removing the seal.

"The purest thing in the world is the burst of light that appears in endless darkness. I read many scriptures and Daoist texts in my youth, and though I couldn’t step into the cultivation world I yearned for, I realized some truths on my own."

"What truths?"

Lin Xin actually had his answer, but he was still somewhat puzzled—in fact, he just wanted to hear it said aloud.

"Extreme Yang and Extreme Yin, just like the Taiji Diagram, only in the darkest and most painful times can the purest desire for beauty and peace be stimulated."

"It can also plunge one permanently into Abyssal Hell," Lin Xin interjected lightly.

"Yes, all in the heart," Song Yuanchao chuckled softly.

Thump.

His head fell directly onto the dish in front of Lin Xin, motionless.

Picking up the wine jar, Lin Xin finished it in one gulp and looked at Song Yuanchao in front of him.

"Knowing the answer already, yet just lacking the resolve to decide, needing others to say it out loud. Heh..."

He stood up and set the wine jar down.

"Since we’ve met, our drinking together is the cause, so let me give you an effect," he said as he flicked his fingers, causing a small black Pill Bottle to appear in his palm.

’Five Senses Pill’—the clear inscription read.

It could enhance one’s sensitivity to Inner Qi for a short period while the medicine’s power would also boost the Essence Qi and Qi-Blood of the individual—a superior modified version of the Blood Pill.

It was also one of the Miscellaneous Pills he had casually refined while in the Underworld.

It was able to bring an ordinary person into the cultivation phase of Inner Qi, similar to the effects of the Blood Pills he had refined many years ago. The side effects were fewer, but the results might still fail.

"It’s up to your fate,"

Throwing the pill into the other’s sleeve, Lin Xin slowly descended the stairs, walking towards the city gate without any further hesitation.