Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 448 - 442: Severing 1

Chapter 448: Chapter 442: Severing 1

"Rise!!!"

All of a sudden, Hongye and the other two let out a fierce shout in unison.

Ding ding ding ding.....

Countless sword blades abruptly connected, swirling around the four individuals at breakneck speed, condensing into an overwhelmingly massive silver moon.

The moment the moon took shape, a colossal silver phoenix burst forth from its center, charging viciously toward the gaping maw below.

There was no deafening collision, only shrill, deranged laughter filled the entire sky.

Seizing the moment when the phoenix and the gaping maw were locked in stalemate, the three alongside Hongye simultaneously struck down with their swords toward the chains at Lin Xin’s feet.

Three blindingly bright silver sword blades struck with pinpoint accuracy at the exact same spot on the chains binding Lin Xin’s feet, and even at the very same, minutely delicate point!

Clang!!!

With a snap, faint cracks slowly began to surface on the chains.

Lin Xin looked down at his feet, a sense of complete and thorough relief suddenly flooding his entire being.

He lifted his foot and gently shook it.

With a crisp clattering sound, the dark chains completely broke, scattering into countless black fragments that flew off.

"Remember our agreement," Hongye’s voice slowly resounded in his ears.

Lin Xin forcefully opened his eyes, still seated cross-legged on the deck, bathed in moonlight that cascaded down like silver sand upon him.

However, Hongye was nowhere to be seen across from him.

Besides him on the entire deck, there was no other.

"Broken?"

He lifted his hand and observed his wrist, where the skin was smooth and unmarked. Although the will of the Netherworld was not visible on his wrist, to so easily and completely sever it made him feel an indescribable sense of disbelief.

He circulated his energy to inspect his body and found that the power of the Netherworld within him remained, as did the mark of the lordship, but that initial, faint connection with the Netherworld was utterly severed.

"It broke off this easily?"

Lin Xin still couldn’t quite believe it; he knew that Hongye helped him partly with the intent of using him as an experiment, but never did he expect the Netherworld’s will to be so simply severed midway through the process.

"Perhaps Senior Hongye had been preparing for quite a long time," he thought.

He stood up.

Feeling lighter than he ever had, the flow of his spiritual energy was more seamless than even before he entered the Netherworld.

"Truly... refreshing..." Lin Xin muttered as he laughed lowly, completely unaware that his long hair had slowly loosened and fallen back, changing from blackish-red to a dark red the color of fresh blood right before his eyes!

Hum!!

A huge space whale glided slowly past on the right, curiously observing the Void Ship, seemingly unaccustomed to seeing such a strangely shaped, large vessel.

Chi!!

A streak of crimson sword light burst forth abruptly from the ship. Like a red thread, it fiercely bisected the space whale in the middle.

With a thud, the giant body of the space whale suddenly stiffened and then burst open with a roaring explosion, turning into a sky filled with blood and flesh that scattered everywhere.

The Void Ship too seemed to be showered in a torrential blood rain.

Upon the space whale’s death, a red orb of light abruptly shot out from its core, like a firefly rushing towards Lin Xin, who inhaled it with one breath, directly swallowing it into his body.

"Is this the power of the lordship mark?"

Lin Xin carefully sensed the power within him—the Duonic Qi that had burgeoned following the space whale’s demise felt similar to the Netherworld Force but even more intense and pure.

This force, like a living thing, wildly yearned to break into the maelstrom of his Demonic Qi,

specifically the core of his Demonic Arts, the Yuan Dou Demonic Technique’s stellar core.

Advancing the Yuan Dou Demonic Technique hinged on refining his Taoist Intent, grasping thousands of ways of the heart, to achieve the unity of a thousand hearts.

But now, following the slaughter of the space whale, this power, upon entering his body, brought with it not just the whale’s essence, spirit, and divine power but also seemed to mingle with faint, unique strands of different energies.

These appeared to be the vague fragments of the space whale’s memory.

Lin Xin stood on the deck of the ship, behind him were Zhao Ke and others who had been startled and had come out to check the commotion, a few bold sailors too peeked out to survey the scene, but they were blocked by Yin Mantuo.

He paid no attention to these mouse-like individuals behind him. Instead, he gave orders for his three subordinates to guard him and immediately dove into the depths of his consciousness to closely investigate the power feedback from the slaughter reflected in the lordship mark.

Especially the memory fragments from the space whale.

Surreptitiously, even he hadn’t noticed that within him, a flame was burning, ever since the will of the Netherworld had been entirely severed; he truly was no longer influenced by the will of the Netherworld.

But be it Hongye or other Sword Masters, none had foreseen one critical point.

That is, the severance of the Netherworld’s will seemed too easy.

So easy that it was as if the Netherworld conspired to let them succeed effortlessly.

Caught in his excitement, Lin Xin hadn’t realized this yet. He hadn’t even noticed that his hair had completely turned red.

Or perhaps he had noticed, but simply thought it was a benign aftereffect.

Bathed in moonlight.

Lin Xin stood on the deck for over an hour before he gradually calmed the ecstasy within him. He could feel that his will was more perfected and complete than it had ever been.

The strength and memory fragments of the space whale brought to him by the lordship mark, unable to break into the stellar core of his Demonic Qi and merge with it, could only accumulate inside the mark at his chest.

He felt he could delve into his consciousness at any moment to examine those memory fragments.

"Something’s not quite right; it all seems too easy," he eventually began to vaguely sense.

With furrowed brows, Lin Xin quickly and thoroughly checked over his entire body, leaving no stone unturned.

Yet everything was clearly just as it had always been except for the feedback force from killing the space whale, which was much more substantial than before; there were no other changes.

"The returns from slaughter have increased; it should be because after severing the link with the Netherworld, the part that would have normally transferred into the Netherworld stayed with me. Now I must bear the burden of integrating this myself. Senior Hongye mentioned this before. Such power is a burden to cultivators like us who seek to purify the great Tao, and indeed, a solution is needed," he concluded.

Power is not necessarily better when it’s more plentiful and diverse.

Lin Xin’s consciousness sank into the Lord’s seal, feeling the memory fragments of the Void Whale, continuously pondering countermeasures in his heart.

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

Ding!

At an unknown mountain range, on a black platform resembling a chessboard, sat a young member of the Demon Race, his body covered in black fur.

His face showed pain as crisp, pleasant cracking sounds continually emanated from his body, as if strings were breaking one after another within him.

As the breaking sounds grew more frequent, a trace of joy gradually appeared on his face.

"It’s over."

When the last faint sound spread, the youth suddenly opened his eyes. A flash of red light in his eyes disappeared in an instant.

"I... am free?"

He seemed somewhat incredulous.

"Lord Qiushui... am I really free?"

He muttered softly.

"Yes." A semi-transparent female silhouette slowly materialized in front of him, standing quietly.

"Don’t forget the causal promise you made to me," said the woman with a cold expression.

"I won’t." The youth lifted his head and replied earnestly. "I..."

But before he could finish speaking, his expression suddenly changed.

Slap!

The young man clutched his head fiercely. Veins bulged rapidly across his face.

"Pain... what... what’s happening! The pain is unbearable!!!"

He trembled, his body’s Essence Qi chaotically fluctuating without any pattern.

With a thud, the youth collapsed to the ground, unable to stand steady, pain whitening his eyes and convulsions seizing his body.

"I... Lord Qiushui...!"

All of a sudden, the youth reached out to the woman, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

Boom!

His head exploded outright.

The female figure stood in place, her outstretched hand still hanging in mid-air, attempting to help but already too late.

Brain matter and blood splattered at her feet, rendering the platform ghastly in the extreme.

Her pupils contracted, and she stood still, at a loss for reaction.

"This... what is this?!"

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

At the same time.

Within a world in the Netherworld Estate.

A gigantic humanoid with a bear’s head, clutching his head in agony, struggled before Red Sword, then with a bang, his head exploded, turning into a spray of blood.

Red Sword’s pupils constricted as she bit her lips, her complexion faintly wooden.

In the estate of another idyllic world within the Netherworld Estate.

Another top expert’s head burst open with a boom.

In countless worlds, with different candidates.

In just a few short hours, Red Sword, Sword Master Qiushui, and others, after completing the experiment, had quickly selected thousands of people. Out of them, more than thirty completely disconnected successfully. However, after disconnecting, ninety percent of these people’s heads burst open and they died.

The only survivors were three people, who lived peacefully, plus the first test subject, Lin Xin, making it four.

Among the countless avatars they had chosen to sever from the Netherworld Estate’s will, only four out of a thousand people succeeded.

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

Netherworld Sea

Below, the endless black ocean continued to be consumed by the huge maw of the Netherworld Estate.

But those who were suspended in midair, bound by red chains—three of them—were now silent.

"Did we fail?"

Sword Master Qiushui asked somberly.

"Not quite, we succeeded with four people," Red Sword replied slowly.

"The will of the Netherworld Estate left a trap in their minds. Indeed, they can successfully escape control, but every three hours, they must endure unbearable, immense pain. Both their soul and body get scorched by the dire fire of the abyss. Even if they survive, life is worse than death," Qiushui said with a bitter voice.

"Moreover, if they can’t endure the pain, if their will gives up or they fall unconscious, they will die instantly. Their spirit and body will be annihilated."

A cryptic and aged voice also emerged from the third person, who was shrouded in grey mist.

"We need to improve the method of detachment," Red Sword said in silence, speaking softly.

"What about those four test subjects that held on?" Qiushui countered.

"We’ll leave that to their fate. Whether they live or die is up to destiny," Red Sword sighed.

"No hope for them; even if they can hold on for a while, they will eventually go mad, either unable to bear the pain or killed while enduring it. That is the only outcome," the third person answered gravely.

"We considered everything, but we overlooked this one thing," Qiushui sighed and disappeared in a flash.

Red Sword glanced at the giant mouth of the Netherworld Estate below, let out a light sigh, and also vanished.

The last person remained. Quietly watching the Netherworld Sea below, silent, it was uncertain what was on his mind.