Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 462 - 456: Soul Pearl Part One

Chapter 462: Chapter 456: Soul Pearl Part One

"Brother Lin," Zhao Ke turned around, his expression serious as he faced Lin Xin. His eyes gradually took on a hint of green, and his gaze, bolstered by the Secret Treasure, ascended to an indescribable mystical level.

Looking at Lin Xin now, he saw a mass of roiling black Qi entrenched at his brow, bizarre and inexplicable.

"What are you trying to say?" Lin Xin withdrew his hand and turned to look at the distant sky again.

"You think I’ve gone mad with power? You want to use the power of the Secret Treasure to purge the demonic nature?"

His tone sounded somewhat strange.

Carefully considering, the power of the Nether Prefecture indeed accounted as a type of demonic power. However, he was curious how Zhao Ke, with his extremely feeble strength, planned to purge the Lord’s Power from his body.

"Brother, you have saved me from peril many times. If there were any other way, I would not choose this, but...."

Zhao Ke sighed and also walked to Lin Xin’s side, standing shoulder to shoulder with him, looking into the distance.

"Since entering the Central Prefecture, my actions have not necessarily been about good or evil, but they have clearly defined debts and grudges."

He raised his right hand, and a purple bead in his palm faintly glowed with fluorescence.

"If there really were no other way...."

Zhao Ke turned his head and looked at his wife, Ye Qingchang.

"Qingchang, from now on, you’ll need to take good care of yourself."

"Husband..." Ye Qingchang covered her mouth, but tears still uncontrollably streamed down her face.

Zhao Ke’s figure gradually became translucent and ghostlike.

The purple sphere in his hand emitted an increasingly bright light, and countless colorful Qi flew out from the sphere, surrounding Lin Xin.

At this moment, Lin Xin’s face briefly lost its smile, and he reached out to lightly grab at Zhao Ke.

With this claw, his Demonic Qi surged rampantly. Although it appeared slow, the force wasted no energy, compressing all the air within several meters around Zhao Ke.

Hissss!!

Just as the claw was about to reach.

In an instant, Zhao Ke’s entire person dispersed, turning into numerous colorful lights flying from all directions toward Lin Xin.

"Brother Lin, wake up...." A sigh slowly spread through the air.

Lin Xin’s expression slightly changed; even he was somewhat unable to see clearly what was happening. He wondered what Zhao Ke was trying to achieve with this move.

He observed the colorful lights flying around him; each beam was only as thick as a finger, yet they emitted an energy fluctuation that even made his heart palpitate.

Boom!!

In an instant, a blinding white light exploded around Lin Xin as the center.

The surrounding crowd was forcefully blown back, their faces filled with shock.

Soon the light dissipated.

Lin Xin still stood in his original place, his gaze complex, but his eyes fell on a fist-sized white bead floating in front of him.

The bead was somewhat eerie, clearly surrounded by the demonic aura of a Yuan Jing demon cultivator like Lin Xin, yet it continuously radiated pure white Spiritual Light.

The light was soft and uniform, surprisingly not counteracting Lin Xin’s demonic cultivation but instead weaving tenaciously into it, blending together.

"So this was your plan?" Lin Xin’s expression was unreadable, as he gently grasped the white bead.

"Merging own Essence Qi and Soul into one, incorporating into the Secret Treasure to drive the Supreme Force and condense into a precious treasure, to help purify my spirit and will."

He gently caressed the white bead.

"For the sake of righteousness..." he sighed deeply, but hadn’t expected Zhao Ke to suddenly decide to sacrifice everything, even his soul, recalling his many past deeds, his mind was also enormously complex.

Zhao Ke could travel thousands of miles from the far polar regions to Central Prefecture just for the sake of fulfilling his teacher’s last wish.

At crucial moments, to save his life, he shamelessly called him godfather.

Even when he could not take care of himself, he saved Ye Qingchang, who had once confronted him with a sword.

Until now, even sacrificing himself to repay past kindnesses, to achieve for others.

This was a man who, for the sake of a promise, could give up his self-respect, and even everything.

So even though he was weak, Lin Xin still gave him the highest respect.

Hiss....

A gigantic character for "righteousness" slowly surfaced within the white bead, clear and distinct.

Under the illumination of the white light of the bead, the red at the corners of Lin Xin’s eyes gradually receded a great deal, and the blood-colored hair at his back also seemed to fade a bit.

His spirit platform had never been as clear and lively as at this moment. Between his brows, there was no longer the distortion of malice as before.

Lin Xin quickly realized after a moment of recollection that this was caused by the Secret Treasure transformed by Zhao Ke.

At this time, the Demonic Qi and Lord’s Power within him were continuously being transformed by this white bead into a type of extremely pure Strange Force.

"Since it is formed by a righteous hero, let this Secret Treasure be called the Righteous Soul Pearl."

Seeing Lin Xin appear to have returned to a calm and normal state, Captain Zhou Aifa and other crew members also heavily sighed in relief.

Ye Qingchang gently bowed down, her body trembling, tears falling like broken pearls onto the deck.

Lin Xiaoyu also ultimately stood by with a gloomy expression, stepping forward to comfort.

The Evil Soul Orb that Lin Xin had first obtained was also lightly pressed by him, and a gigantic character for "evil" surfaced within.

"If there is good, there must be evil; from now on, you shall be known as the Evil Soul Orb."

He looked at Ye Qingchang, who was kneeling on the deck, also sighing in his heart.

At this point, he also understood the statement made by the Red Leaf Sword Master about Zhao Ke’s Secret Treasure being helpful to him.

But he had not expected it would come at the sacrifice of Zhao Ke himself.

He sighed, his mood becoming surprisingly serene under the illumination of the white light.

He walked over and gently supported Ye Qingchang.

"Zhao Ke transformed himself into a treasure to help me regain clarity; from now on, you are my younger sister. Don’t worry, I will take good care of you...."

He hadn’t finished speaking when his expression suddenly changed.

"Did the younger sister experience a pregnancy scare?"

At this moment, Ye Qingchang, unaware of when it started, was looking down and clutching her stomach, with cold sweat on her forehead.

"It hurts so much..."

Lin Xiaoyu also came to her senses a bit but, as a sheltered young woman, she had never witnessed such scenes and was somewhat at a loss.

"Let me help."

Lin Xin, with his extensive knowledge of ancient and modern texts, naturally included medical skills, albeit not very advanced, but sufficient to handle minor illnesses.

He reached out and touched Ye Qingchang’s forehead, and a gentle stream of white Essence Qi immediately flowed into it.

Ye Qingchang fainted slowly, but her complexion had visibly improved.

"What did you do to her!?" Lin Xiaoyu hastily supported Ye Qingchang, staring at Lin Xin warily.

"It was merely a pregnancy scare; I helped her stabilize it," Lin Xin stated indifferently as he stood up.

The death of Zhao Ke, although twisted by pain at this moment, also stirred some emotions within him.

Since falling into the underworld, he thought there was nothing in this world worthy of his attention, but this unexpected encounter caused ripples in his calm heart.

"Uh... this, Lord Lin... rest assured, we will definitely take good care of Madame Zhao."

Zhou Aifa hesitated then, observing and carefully approaching to speak.

Lin Xin glanced at them, seeing everyone so timid; he knew their thoughts like the back of his hand, understanding that they were only trying to save their own lives.

Trying to survive is nothing to be ashamed of, but leveraging others’ sacrifices for their gains, that annoyed him.

"Zhao Ke is dead, what are you still living for?"

His voice was low, but the words he uttered sent shivers down Zhou Aifa and the others.

The group had just started to think about fleeing.

Lin Xin suddenly waved his sleeve, releasing a swath of black Demonic Qi with lightning speed, enveloping all the crew including captain Zhou Aifa.

Plop!

A spray of blood splattered, and the ten or so people present exploded directly into a cloud of blood and flesh. They didn’t even have time to scream before they were all killed.

Ye Qingchang, still unconscious, was unharmed, but Lin Xiaoyu, the only one still conscious, felt a chill in her heart.

This man, viewing human life as nothing, had regained his senses thanks to Zhao Ke; otherwise, they likely wouldn’t have made it to the Central Prefecture before being massacred on board.

"Take her down to rest."

Lin Xin spoke indifferently.

Lin Xiaoyu’s face was pale; just as she was about to speak, she suddenly felt a chill behind her.

"Yes!"

A stern voice responded from behind her.

She quickly turned around, only to see a strange woman in a tight white suit kneeling on the ground with respect.

More and more monsters under this devil’s command...

She recognized the woman; it was a saintess from a small tribe recently subdued by Lin Xin’s subordinate, the Golden Armor Keke Sai. She had not expected her to be brought onboard to serve as a servant.

Lin Xiaoyu supported Ye Qingchang as they went to rest, and the demon woman followed.

The deck was empty except for Lin Xin standing alone, with two fist-sized beads floating beside him, one purple and one white, inscribed with the characters for "evil" and "righteous," respectively, bobbing strangely.

Lin Xin walked to the bow, and the two beads automatically followed by his side.

He casually cast a Taoist Art, and the two beads slowly disappeared into the air.

Taking a deep breath, Zhao Ke’s unexpected action had indeed helped him a lot by returning him to clarity.

The Evil Soul Orb and Righteous Soul Pearl continuously intertwined and transformed, refusing to yield to each other, and with a slight adjustment on his part, a delicate balance was naturally formed.

"Zhao Ke, Zhao Ke..."

Feeling emotional, Lin Xin sighed deeply, looking into the distance.

At this moment, he looked no different from an ordinary person. If not at the Yuan Jing Level, no one could see his cultivation.

It had been just four years since he left the Central Prefecture, less than five years to jump from the Foundation Establishment to the Yuan Jing Level. Even now, he felt as if he was living a lifetime apart.

"You’ve shown me such great kindness, I will take care of your matters from now on," Lin Xin inwardly sighed.

If he continued to be as twisted as before, he would ultimately fall into the Demon Path and lose his true self, never advancing an inch.

And yet, Zhao Ke had used his own life and even his soul to awaken him.

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

Central Prefecture, on the border of the Great Song.

On the side of a bustling street, inside a tavern.

Lin Xin, along with Lin Xiaoyu, Ye Qingchang, and Keke Sai, sat at a table near the window.

The waiter continuously brought dishes full of color, fragrance, and flavor to the table.

The tavern, named Hua Shuang, was finely crafted with the environment and even the chopsticks bearing the engraved words "Hua Shuang."

The dishes brought forth were fragrant.

It had been several years since Lin Xin returned to the Central Prefecture, and seeing these simple familiar dishes again, his appetite was stimulated, and he began to eat heartily.

The others, Lin Xiaoyu found the strong flavors of this place a bit hard to get used to and was picking at her food.

Ye Qingchang, grieving Zhao Ke, couldn’t eat or sleep well and sat staring into space.

The few from Keke Sai, being transformed monsters, merely ate symbolically alongside Lin Xin, but their expressions were odd, clearly not used to the food.