Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 478 - 472: Dark Sun 7

Chapter 478: Chapter 472: Dark Sun 7

"I have reasons I cannot ignore, for in this world shrouded in darkness, where there is no light of day, there always needs to be some who stand up."

Lin Xin naturally would not say that his goal was to consolidate the Sword Sect, scavenge for Demon Talisman Seeds, and unearth the truth about the mysterious Yu Mansion.

Although the Radiant Sun Sect was developing rapidly at the moment, it was still just a minor faction limited to the Great Song and its surrounding areas. The Shadowlight, an assassin and intelligence platform structure, had been established well, but was still far from the level he had initially wanted. That was why he was eager to quickly integrate resources.

Yu Kai gazed at him in silence for a while.

In the past, long, long ago, he too had seen such a look in someone’s eyes.

It was not ambition, not desire, but more of a pure purity. Doing so just to achieve a goal, and nothing more.

He did not know how Lin Xin had managed to reach such heights in just a few years.

Perhaps after the birthday banquet, some might speculate about the secret treasure, possession by another entity or a peerless inheritance, or some other reason.

But he could see that Lin Xin showed no signs of being demonically possessed. On the contrary, his physical body was incredibly robust.

Although he was only at the threshold of the Void Realm, his true strength was likely the strongest among all Sword Hall practitioners at the present stage. Unstoppable by anyone.

"The world is vast. The Sky-Piercing Pine Patterned Sword can be given to you..."

"No."

Lin Xin suddenly interrupted him with a smile.

"You misunderstand, Daoist Master. The Sky-Piercing Pine Patterned Sword is best held by you. That is not my goal."

Enhancing physical resistance, lessening pain, uncovering the truth of Yu Mansion, and resolving the karma with the Red Leaf Sword Master—these were what he truly sought.

All else was merely a means to the process, nothing more.

Pain could be diluted by constantly enhancing his bodily attributes.

Thus, finding enough attribute points was his first step. Demon Talisman Seeds were the best due to their speed, and using slaughter to convert to the Lord’s Power was not objectionable to him. He did not disdain it.

Everything was just to mitigate the severe pain he suffered every night.

Consolidating forces and building the secret Radiant Sun Sect and the Shadowlight assassin and intelligence platform was to better collect and summarize all sorts of information about Yu Mansion.

Zhao Ke, whom the Hua Family had asked him to protect, died, turned into a Righteous Soul Pearl for his own use. He remembered this favor as well.

Accordingly, he would certainly raise Ye Qingchang’s child well, as he owed it to Zhao Ke.

The Righteous Soul Pearl was too beneficial—so much so that he only needed to engage in slaughter to continue growing stronger.

"You don’t want it?" Daoist Master Mingxin was slightly startled before quickly clarifying his thoughts.

Indeed, Lin Xin was the closest force to his lineage, and to exert the power of the Sky-Piercing Pine Patterned Sword, it was best wielded by someone who practiced Sword Hall’s cultivation techniques.

While Lin Xin’s strength was formidable, his spiritual energy had already been transformed into some unknown special type of demonic qi, naturally preventing him from doing so.

Therefore, there really was no need for him to keep the Sky-Piercing Pine Patterned Sword in his palms.

"I have stated my purpose for coming here; it was never about the Sky-Piercing Pine Patterned Sword," Lin Xin repeated once more.

"Divine weapons are good, but one’s own self is the foundation. Regardless of how good a divine weapon is, it is still an external object at the end of the day."

Upon hearing these words, Daoist Master Mingxin’s eyes brightened.

He had not expected Lin Xin to say such a thing; not just anyone could so casually disregard a sixth-grade divine weapon.

"I understand," responded Yu Kai with a slight nod.

The two exchanged their conditions and viewpoints once more.

About an hour later, Lin Xin left the cliffside, leaving Yu Kai’s place of seclusion, to clean up the aftermath.

The Sword Hall had faced a major calamity at this birthday banquet, with the Plum Blossom Sect, Vermilion Bird Holy Court, Wind-Riding Sect, and Golden Jade Sect losing no less than four well-known and well-respected Yuan Jing elders. And that didn’t account for the Yuan Jing from places like Void Sword Cave and experts from the Red Spine Sect of Central Prefecture who had quietly come.

This massive event was enough to be recorded in the annals of history for Southern Prefecture.

Originally, the Yuan Jing of Southern Prefecture were already in a transitional period, sustaining heavy casualties in the recent Demonic Mother eradication battle. This disaster only added salt to the wounds.

After this battle, the number of remaining Yuan Jing in Southern Prefecture could be counted on one hand. The Golden Jade Sect was slightly better off, with one survivor. The Plum Blossom Sect lost its last Plum Blossom Celestial Maiden and had no more Yuan Jing to anchor it, teetering on the brink.

With the fall of Daoist Master Dongxie from the Wind-Riding Sect, there was no longer a Yuan Jing in charge; had it not been for the sixth-grade divine Wind-Riding Drum combined with the great formation to suppress it, the sect’s mountain gate would likely have been overtaken by lesser factions.

The Four Sects were greatly weakened by this battle.

The Vermilion Bird Holy Court also lost a Shang Yang Daoist Master, and with the loss of another elder in the Demonic Mother battle, the casualties were severe.

For thousands of years, the Yuan Jing elders had been at peace and the transition was smooth, but this change was so sudden and followed so swiftly that it caught everyone off guard.

The situation changed dramatically in an instant.

Lin Xin’s life history—from birth to his rise—was quickly unearthed by people.

At not even fifty years old, he had already reached the pinnacle of the cultivation world of Southern Prefecture. He was soon hailed as the strongest prodigy in the history of Southern Prefecture.

Lin Xin swiftly took over the entire Sword Hall, with all six halls falling under his direct control. As Kong Xie of the Sword Hall was killed, he promoted another Golden Core peak Daoist Master to be the hall master.

The rest remained as before. The entire region’s powers were divided into three areas, managed respectively by Dugu Lin, Clear Night Daoist Master, and Fairy Yuzhu.

All three were disciples of Daoist Master Mingxin and had long been famous, so there was no real pushback.

However, dividing the Great Song State into three parts immediately caused numerous entrenched powers to become dissatisfied. Without exception, powers within the sect’s reach that had been courted by other sects began to flee and rebel.

Lin Xin continually dispatched large numbers of experts to suppress them.

What surprised many was that despite only having the foundation of Spirit Heart Villa, he somehow summoned dozens of experts, each with cultivation at least at the Golden Core Realm, to quell the rebellions in various places.

These dissident forces, resentful that their interests had been split, were extinguished remarkably fast.

The bloody name of Lin Xin spread throughout every corner of Southern Prefecture with each act of slaughter.

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

Half a month later.

The cold and serene general headquarters of the Pine Forest Sect.

Formation Hall Peak, Maze Palace.

Lin Xingao sat on the main seat of the throne, looking down,

At the densely packed rows of martial experts from the Sword Sect standing in the green Daoist Palace below. At the moment, they were all practicing meditation and looking with their mind’s eye.

An elderly Golden Core Daoist Master stood up, reporting in a low voice the battle situation conveyed back by the Message Talisman from afar.

"Flying Swallow Taoist Master, who went to the border, has already intercepted the traitor forces that defected to the Void Sword Cave. However, the loss was somewhat great. Several stewards sustained severe injuries. Elder Huang from Huang Family Manor’s private hoarding of the Thundering Sword was the root cause of the mishap."

"The Thundering Sword?" Another Golden Core Daoist Master, the Sword Hall Master, frowned and said, "It seems that the Golden Jade Sect is really involved."

"The Thundering Sword, advanced through the methods of the Golden Jade Sect’s thunder elixirs—many have long been coveting our Great Song."

"Not just the Golden Jade Sect, the Red Building, Star Calamity Hall, and Void Sword Cave all have slowly infiltrated their forces into our Sect’s territory. I have reported this multiple times before, but to no avail."

A helpless Golden Core elder stepped forward and said.

Lin Xin sat in the seat, his fingers lightly tapping on the armrest.

"Let Fairy Yuzhu thoroughly investigate this matter."

"Understood." Fairy Yuzhu stepped forward, nodding in agreement.

"Also, regarding the Demon Talisman Seeds I need, how goes the collection?"

Lin Xin asked about the issue that concerned him most.

"Formation Hall has found about one hundred and sixty."

"Sword Hall has around three hundred and seventy."

"Elixir Hall has not collected any."

"Miscellaneous Hall....."

The six halls and three major regional leaders one after another stepped forward to report their collection status.

In total, the Pine Forest Sword Sect had found approximately six hundred Demon Talisman Seeds.

The Radiant Sun Sect soon sent a report as well, finding over five hundred Demon Talisman Seeds specially collected over the years.

Altogether, there were more than eleven hundred seeds.

This delighted Lin Xin immediately.

He ordered the gathered Demon Talisman Seeds to be collected and brought to the Sect Master’s secret room where he practiced cultivation.

Lin Xin was about to order the meeting adjourned.

"An envoy from the Golden Jade Sect has come to discuss terms of peace."

A message flew in from outside the grand hall, caught by a message boy who read it aloud.

"The Golden Jade Sect?" Lin Xin pondered for a moment. "For now, let’s ignore it. Let’s stabilize the internal affairs of our territory first, and deal with other matters gradually."

"We will heed the Daoist Master’s decree."

The crowd responded one after another.

After the meeting was adjourned, Lin Xin left the great hall and met the waiting red-robed twins backstage.

"Where’s Hua Shenxi?" he asked casually.

"Already caught and taken to the place the Lord ordered. He seems to have something to say, regarding Nan Shunqing."

The twin’s faces showed discontent; if it were not for Hua Shenxi’s leverage with a significant secret, they would have devoured this Golden Core Dao Seeking cultivator who had injured their true forms long ago.

But the Lord’s matters were pressing. Upon learning the news related to Nan Shunqing, the two spared no laxity; though they were demons from the Outer Regions with little wits, they were not so foolish as to be incapable of thought. They were merely forthright and loathed to use their minds.

"Qing’er?" Lin Xin’s eyes flickered, and his expression changed, a glint of joy flashing in his eyes.

"Take me there."

"Yes."

The two led Lin Xin away from backstage, taking several turns on a trail in Formation Hall Mountain. All three moved extremely fast, and in just a moment they arrived at a black prison halfway up Formation Hall Peak.

"We greet the Sect Master!" The disciples guarding the prison quickly knelt on one knee upon seeing Lin Xin.

The Foundation Establishment stewards in charge also swiftly flew out. Seeing this scene, their expressions changed, and they greeted Lin Xin with a bow.

"No need for formalities, I am here to see Hua Shenxi of the Hua Family," Lin Xin said offhand.

"Please allow us to guide you, Daoist Master."

The steward in charge of the prison, a middle-aged cultivator with a face full of wrinkles appearing to be in his fifties or sixties, was trembling with fear and respect, wary of any wrong etiquette that might anger Lin Xin.

By now, not only within the entire Pine Forest Sword Sect but also among the other Three Sects and many factions of the Central Prefecture, intelligence laid out on tables indicated that Lin Xin was actually a formidable fiend of the Yuan Jing level.

A butcher of people and annihilator of lineages as naturally as breathing and drinking water.

Having just ascended to the position of Sect Master, he had killed tens of thousands, eradicated families and clans, and was ruthless even towards other major sect relations within half a month.

In a short time, the influence of the Pine Forest Sword Sect rapidly expanded, and nearby countries’ territories were silently swallowed up by the Great Song.

A mass murderer with overbearing power, that is the true portrayal of Lin Xin in the present Pine Forest Sword Sect.

With Elder Taikun in seclusion for healing, Daoist Master Mingxin supporting him from behind, and the fact that he himself had survived attacks by multiple Yuan Jing beings without dying, he was indeed a top tyrant.

Facing such a fearsome powerhouse, everyone was terrified and extremely cautious.