Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 447 - 441: Crossing 4

Chapter 447: Chapter 441: Crossing 4

In this tilted world, at night, countless clouds above would form into a colossal, funnel-shaped vortex.

Gazing into the depths of the vortex, one could only see an endless expanse, with a small black dot at the far end, as if it stretched to infinity.

The Golden Armor beetle Keke Sai was flying on the right side of the ship. The massive white serpent was also on the right, wrapped in faint clouds, showing signs of transforming into a dragon, as legends often describe.

"Because you have the Sand Time Demon Embryo with you, the moment of severance can be advanced, and the stability and safety are greatly ensured. The success rate should be very high," Duan Wei explained carefully.

"So, the purple egg I brought from the Sand Time Divine Palace is still very useful to me?" Lin Xin asked through the Mental Link.

"Indeed," Duan Wei paused, "Because of the Demon Embryo, there’s been a fundamental and subtle change in the space-time rules around you, which is more conducive to us blocking the arrival of the message from the Yinfu will first. This could increase the success rate by thirty percent."

"That’s pretty good," Lin Xin took a deep breath. At this juncture, if he could truly break free from Yinfu’s control, the biggest problem he’d faced since arriving at this world would be completely gone.

From then on, the sky would be high and birds would fly, the sea vast for fish to leap; this life would be utterly free.

"What about Senior Hongye?" he asked softly.

"She’s already preparing," Duan Wei said respectfully. "Let’s hope that everything goes well..."

"Let’s hope so."

Lin Xin nodded his head.

The two fell silent, simply waiting for the final moment to arrive.

Lin Xin sat cross-legged on the deck, waiting while reminiscing the scenes he had experienced in this world ever since his arrival.

From a not-so-ordinary person, he had gradually grown until now, becoming a top expert on par with Yuan Jing.

The multitude of moments he had lived seemed to play back in front of his eyes like a passing cloud of smoke.

"What would happen if this fails?"

Lin Xin suddenly asked.

"You would die." Duan Wei did not speak, instead the voice of Hongye came forth.

Her form slowly materialized in front of Lin Xin, appearing translucent; she too sat down cross-legged, with a longsword that arched slightly resting on her knees. The laid sword gleamed with a pale silver moonlight as if it were not a sword but the moon that had descended to the mortal world.

"Are you ready?" Hongye asked with a calm gaze fixed on Lin Xin.

"Almost," Lin Xin replied with a smile. "Either way, the outcome isn’t really in my hands, is it?"

Hongye did not respond, but took off her gourd and took a gentle sip.

"There are countless Great Ways in this world, who can truly know what Cultivation Practice is for?"

"Cultivation Practice is just Cultivation Practice, for the sake of living better," Lin Xin replied casually.

This had always been his greatest wish. To put it bluntly, he was a rather extremely indifferent person. From his initial entry into the Yinfu to his departure from his hometown; from the death of Xiao Lingling to now, having no attachments and being utterly alone.

In truth, from the beginning to the end, he had been struggling just to live well.

"To live, is it that you don’t want to die so much?" Hongye asked with a smile.

"I don’t know, but who wants to die?" Lin Xin didn’t know how else to answer.

"You’re wrong, I wish to die," Hongye said softly, looking up at the sky. "It’s a pity no one can kill me. Except myself."

"Umm..." Lin Xin really wanted to praise her; her words were so full of dominance. He was curious whether Huang Yuerong was stronger or she was.

"Do you know Huang Yuerong?" He finally couldn’t help but ask.

"Of course," Hongye laughed unexpectedly, "the person who bore countless calamities without perishing, the strongest of your world. When you reach our level, your very existence occupies a part of the world’s natural laws. With mastery over time and space, nothing can really be hidden."

"What do you mean? Is it about Integration?" Lin Xin inquired further.

"You may come to understand if you ever reach this level," said Hongye indifferently, "but the hope is slim; your talent isn’t that great."

"So, are you stronger, or is he?" Lin Xin continued to ask.

"Never met him, but no life can kill me," Hongye chuckled. "Does that answer satisfy you?"

"It’s okay. Just curious," Lin Xin said casually.

Hongye shook her head, lightly tossing something that automatically flew in front of Lin Xin.

"Take this, after the severance, the Lord’s Mark given to you by the Yinfu will continuously cause side effects. As soon as you take a life, it will devour power and produce the Lord’s Power, and without the Yinfu to digest it, you’ll have to find a way on your own to dissolve this force."

Gripping what seemed like an ordinary dead branch, if it had not come from the hands of Hongye, Lin Xin might have thought someone was joking maliciously with him.

"This thing can help you channel and dissipate the Lord’s Power. Don’t lose it," Hongye advised.

"Should we start now?" Lin Xin looked around. It was almost the agreed time.

Nodding, Hongye’s expression became more serious.

Extending her hand, she lightly tapped a point in front of her.

Shh.

A flash of black light, and suddenly everything around them came to a halt.

Everything, the Void Ship, beetle, serpent, clouds, sky, all turned gray in an instant. Devoid of any color.

Time seemed to have stopped completely.

Only Lin Xin and Hongye were sitting opposite each other.

"Do you see?" Hongye spoke softly.

Lin Xin was slightly startled; following her gaze, he looked down at his chest.

To his shock, he found his body had unexpectedly become translucent like Hongye’s.

Inside his chest cavity, a pitch-black sphere formed by countless black bugs was slowly floating.

The sphere seemed to be composed of countless fly-like insects, emanating a faint black aura, while at its core, a pale green light seemed to faintly pierce through, making it mysterious and eerie.

"What is this?" Lin Xin asked in a low voice.

Hongye smiled but did not answer.

He raised the Longsword from his knee, and thrust it straight toward Lin Xin’s chest with force.

Shick!

The moonlight-like blade easily penetrated Lin Xin’s chest as if meeting no resistance at all.

Lin Xin didn’t feel any pain. He just stared at the Longsword that had pierced his body, watching it as gently as a scalpel, completely excavating out the black sphere along with flesh and bone.

"This is the Will of the Nether." Hongye pinched the black sphere and only then softly answered.

"And it was extracted just like that?"

"Yes." Hongye nodded, "Extracting it is easy, but preventing it from returning to you is the hard part."

"What do you mean?" Lin Xin was puzzled.

"The Will of the Nether itself is controlled by the glance of the Nether’s own body. I can temporarily sever the qi essence that it has cast upon you, but I cannot stop it from continuing to pay attention to you, control you, and affect you. So, the key to severing it is to make the Nether stop paying attention to you."

Hongye lightly squeezed, bursting the black sphere in his hand.

"There’s only one way to do that."

"What is it?" Lin Xin, for some reason, felt a tightness in his chest.

"That is..." Hongye suddenly smiled slightly at him. "To kill you!"

Shick!!

As the words fell, the moonlight-like blade pierced Lin Xin’s body again.

This time, it was no longer his chest but... right between his eyebrows!

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

"Where... is this place?"

Black petals slowly fell from the sky.

Lin Xin was suspended in mid-air, above him were endless, densely packed clouds.

Beneath him was an endless black ocean, and in the middle of that ocean was a huge pair of pitch-black lips.

Catching a black petal in his hand, Lin Xin watched in horror as the petal melted in his palm into a small puddle of black blood.

"This is the place that Hongye brought me to before," he recalled.

Suddenly, his vision shook, and he quickly looked up, only to see that all around him had appeared many different types of people and creatures, seemingly out of nowhere.

Most of them gazed at him with madness in their eyes, filled with resentment, longing, pain, jealousy...

And all these people had one thing in common.

That was that their feet were shackled by dark, lusterless chains.

The chains rattled.

Lin Xin suddenly looked down to find his own feet also bound by a chain, making noise with his movements.

And the other end of the chain was connected to the enormous pair of black lips far below.

"Are you ready?" Hongye’s voice suddenly appeared behind him.

Lin Xin turned sharply, looking behind him.

Hongye still had that drunken appearance, only his body was also bound by chains.

Not black, but blood-red, and strikingly conspicuous among all the chains.

"Almost there."

Two other voices responded at the same time.

Lin Xin surveyed his surroundings, and only then did he notice that there were also two figures, bound by red chains, floating on either side of him.

They were both enshrouded in gray mist, so much so that not even their size could be seen; only the red chains were unmistakably visible, extremely eye-catching.

Along with Hongye, the two formed a triangular formation around him.

"This is an attempt; if successful, it means this path is viable." One of the gray figures spoke softly.

"It won’t fail," Hongye said with a smile.

He gently reached out his hand. In an instant, countless terrifying silver blades appeared around them.

The multitude of blades orbited around Lin Xin and the three, whirling like a storm.

Boom!!

In an instant, the giant mouth at the center of the black ocean below burst forth from the surface, its lips ominously puckered as if a child pouting, approaching the four individuals.

Hee hee hee...

The enormous, sharp laughter made Lin Xin shudder, leaving him utterly powerless.

He could only watch as the incomparable giant mouth below rapidly approached.

The black lips grew longer and taller, as if clay stretching out from the ocean’s surface, extending while emitting a terrifying sharp laugh, and ferociously bit toward the four.

It seemed intent on devouring everything, including the countless silver blades surrounding them.