Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 509 - 503: Surging Fury 8

Chapter 509: Chapter 503: Surging Fury 8

This cousin of hers didn’t have a very good relationship with their family, but he was quite caring towards Sima Kongyan. After all, as a Golden Core Cultivator, his status and identity were there, no matter which prefecture he was in, he was a top-notch elite.

Because of the strained relationship, they were not too saddened by the event, the only one who seemed somewhat despondent was Sima Kongyan.

She had harbored feelings for this handsome and talented cousin with profound cultivation practice, but now, looking at the blob of blood and flesh, all her emotions evaporated.

It was a complete accident, and the murderer couldn’t even be pursued.

She held back her emotions, her face turning from green to pale, and her eyes were slightly moist.

"Sigh...." Nan Shunqing sighed helplessly once again.

"Alright. Come with your master to the Yuan Dou Demon Sect," Lin Xin said, looking at Nan Shunqing, completely ignoring the other two.

"Then please ask the two sisters to go home and inform our parents, Nanjiu will choose a day to return home, as for whether to hold an official apprenticeship ceremony...."

Nan Shunqing looked towards Lin Xin again.

Lin Xin thought for a moment and nodded his head.

After all, he was now recognized as the young master of the Sima Family, and it was necessary to hold an apprenticeship ceremony again unless he wanted to completely sever ties with the family of this lifetime.

"On a chosen day, your son will return home to formally take you as my master, please tell our parents not to worry," Nan Shunqing finished speaking, then carefully gave a detailed reminder to the two sisters, making sure all his necessary messages were entrusted.

Lin Xin took out a Mirroring Stone, injected a thread of Demonic Qi into it to confirm his identity and strength, and then gathered a clump of demonic clouds to carry the two Sima sisters out of the Forbidden Land, instantly using an Escape Skill to transport them dozens of miles away.

In the blink of an eye, only the master and disciple were left on the spot.

Lin Xin looked around, waved his sleeve, and inscribed a line of large characters on the ground.

"The murderer, Yuan Mo from the Yuan Dou Demon Sect."

With a loud laugh, he spread a mass of black Qi, enveloping both himself and Nan Shunqing, disappearing from the spot in an instant.

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

Central Prefecture, the main city of the Yuan Dou Demon Sect, Chao Tian City.

In a luxurious tavern.

Red lacquer tables and chairs, the first and second floors bustling with people, filled with noise and excitement.

In an open space on the first floor, a woman holding a pipa, partly concealing her face, plucked and sang softly, accompanied by an elderly man playing the erhu; around them were tables of people drinking and making merry.

At this moment, near the second-floor staircase, a handsome man in a black robe was leading a young child, slowly walking up.

The man had black hair that fell over his shoulders, smooth and lustrous as silk, and his features were refined and exquisite, like a carved piece of jade. The only discordant note was the intense killing intent between his brows.

Killing intent is something that ordinary people might not notice, feeling only that this man seemed a bit ferocious.

But those with even a little experience in Jianghu confrontations could tell at a glance that the killing intent in this man’s eyes was so intense that it was almost unbearable to look directly at him.

If someone were to gather Spiritual Energy in their eyes, awakening their sights, they would see that this man was constantly surrounded by a thick, blood-red viscous aura, reminiscent of blood plasma. Only someone who had killed an untellable number of people could have condensed such a terrifying presence, one which many old demons would likely find horrifying.

"Teacher, why do we have to come to such a place? I remember you never used to frequent such places, did you?"

The child, only a few years old, spoke with unnerving maturity and a very adult tone, adorably precocious.

"We came here to find the person we’re looking for," the man said with a smile, casually.

"The person we’re looking for?" the child asked, puzzled.

This duo was Lin Xin and company, who had left the Forbidden Land. Without much delay, they used their Escape Skill directly to the Yuan Dou Demon Sect’s territory in Central Prefecture.

Lin Xin’s Yuan Dou Demonic Technique had reached the Seventh Layer; the Sixth Layer was already the peak of Solidification. Yet the Seventh Layer had not seen a breakthrough into Integration. He still needed some kind of catalyst in between.

After more than a decade of pondering and hard practice, he had thought that there was a problem with his Cultivation Technique, drawing in Star Force each day at a terrifying rate, with one day equivalent to a year of others’ cultivation practice. The Star Force almost filled his body to the point where it hinted at transformation into a Star Spirit.

Had his constitution not been incredibly strong, far beyond that of even the greatest demons, he might have been transformed by the Mother Star’s Star Force and Star Spirit.

Yet, he still hadn’t broken through to Integration.

It was only after an accidental discovery that he realized he had not achieved Integration not because of a flaw in his technique, but rather because he was lacking one critical element.

Demon God Blood.

Among the advanced demonic arts he had collected, nearly all that reached the Yuan Jing Layer needed the blood of a Primordial Ancient Demon God as a catalyst, helping cultivators to reforge their physical bodies, to reconstruct a Demon God’s body.

Only with this critical catalyst could the Desolate Vault Demon Body truly coalesce.

For the Yuan Dou Demonic Technique that sought to congeal the three cores of blood, spirit, and Essence, Lin Xin needed to form the Core of Qi after the Seventh Layer, and this required the Demon God Blood.

However, having been away from the Yuan Dou Demon Sect for a long time, he had trouble locating a contact. So he simply brought Nan Shunqing to this tavern.

The Pure Elegance Pavilion, a place that offered not only fine liquor but, for an extra price, other kinds of special services.

Having ascended to the second floor, the two found themselves a table in the hall, sat down, and ordered some dishes and drinks.

"It’s my first time in Central Prefecture," Nan Shunqing said, looking around. The other diners on the second floor were much like those in Nan Prefecture, except for the more orderly dress and the larger number of people in fine clothes; there weren’t any significant differences.

"If you stay long enough, you’ll find that the Underworld isn’t much different anywhere you go. Central Prefecture simply has a few more top cultivators than Nan Prefecture. The struggles here are just a bit more intense, that’s all," Lin Xin explained with a smile.

"When I was diligently cultivating, I once came across a hidden community living together, just like here, where mortals and cultivators mingled, not segregated like in the Southern Prefecture. Now that I think about it, it’s our Southern Prefecture that seems more abnormal," Nan Shunqing said as he shook his head.

"It’s a pity, it would have been nice if I could have traveled to the Central Prefecture earlier," he lamented.

Snicker.

Just as he finished speaking, he heard a young girl’s laughing at the next table.

It was because his last sentence was a little louder, allowing the others at the table to overhear, which they found amusing.

"Daddy, this man is so adorable. He’s several years younger than me, likely still sucking on his mother’s teat in his swaddling clothes, and yet he keeps going on about ’the past’?"

Nan Shunqing turned to look, only to see a man with a small mustache sitting at a table in the corner to the left. Dressed in the robust attire of those from Jianghu and carrying a cyan longsword, he was accompanied by a little girl with sheep horn braids.

The little girl was carved from ivory, her appearance extraordinarily cute—it was she who had spoken.

"Don’t talk nonsense. When you’re away from home, laughing at others indiscriminately is not proper. Didn’t I teach you this principle before?" the mustachioed man said sternly.

Nan Shunqing gave a wry smile and shook his head, glancing at Lin Xin. He just shrugged his shoulders.

Having died once, he was no longer as sharp-edged as before, naturally not about to squabble with a little girl.

Earlier, because he lacked the power of cultivation, he couldn’t speak using mental transmission, so when he talked to Lin Xin, they didn’t conceal anything and spoke directly and openly.

Otherwise, the little girl wouldn’t have been able to overhear.

"Hey, why are you laughing? Did I say something wrong?"

But the little girl didn’t take her father’s scolding to heart. Rather than that, seeing Nan Shunqing’s bitter smile, she felt like she was making a monkey out of him and immediately pursed her small lips in anger.

The middle-aged man hurriedly stood up and gave a formal bow to Lin Xin. "I apologize for the lack of discipline at home. Please forgive us. Forgive us."

Lin Xin waved his hand dismissively and glanced at the girl. He noticed she had tender and lovely features, delicate and dignified, almost doll-like in her privileged pride. If she grew up without mishap, she would undoubtedly become a rare beauty.

"Children are ignorant," he sighed softly, reminded of his own disciple Lin Duan. When she was young, she was just as adorable as this girl. If not for the poison of the Green Divine, she would probably already have reached Foundation Establishment cultivation by now.

This time upon returning, he also saw Lin Duan, who in her youth was quite beautiful. Even with the Manor’s Spirit Gathering Array slowing down aging, and countless Spiritual Medicines delaying the poison, Lin Duan was no longer youthful, having become a woman in her thirties, her potential long since gone.

Although his own cultivation had improved tremendously, the poison had penetrated too deeply into her five viscera, almost becoming one with her body, indistinguishable. Even now, he was unable to do anything about it.

"Master, are you thinking about Duan again?" Nan Shunqing could see what was on his mind.

"Her poisoning is too severe... I can’t do anything," Lin Xin shook his head.

"The Central Prefecture is stronger than the Southern Prefecture, perhaps you can find a powerful healer there," Nan Shunqing comforted him.

"Perhaps," Lin Xin replied, lacking confidence. Lin Duan was a regret in his heart. For over a decade, he had sent people to seek possible solutions, but even the Golden Jade Sect, with its expertise in Alchemical Medicine, was unable to do anything, even after consulting with medical saints from the Central Prefecture, they were still helpless.

The people who came all said that it was already a miracle for Lin Duan to have lived for so long, and to ask for more was simply wishful thinking.

"Humph, a pair of braggarts."

The little girl’s voice came again from nearby.

The middle-aged man looked at Lin Xin with a wry smile mixed with tears. Although that was what he himself thought, such thoughts should not be so openly expressed.

He hurriedly gave a bitter smile and bowed apologetically to Lin Xin again.

"Yun’er!" he said sternly, turning his head to glare at his daughter.

"Big talk, empty talk—anyway, I’m not wrong!" The little girl turned her face away, completely ignoring her father.

"You!" The middle-aged man raised his hand in anger as if he wanted to hit her, but his hand stayed in mid-air, unable to come down.

"Go ahead, hit me! If you do, just pretend you never had a daughter! After all, you’ve already killed my mother!" the little girl said recklessly, daring to say anything.

"Yun’er!" the man’s voice suddenly rose.

"Over here!!" Suddenly, outside the tavern, a series of shouting voices were heard, with the sound of rapid footsteps approaching.

"Qingxiu Sect is doing an investigation, please stand back if you’re irrelevant."

A loud voice exploded in the tavern, brazen and uninhibited. The resonant sound reverberated, causing the tableware to buzz slightly, showing an exceedingly profound cultivation of Inner Strength.

Hearing the voice, the middle-aged man’s face changed dramatically, scooping up his daughter, he looked toward the staircase, his eyes filled with tension, as he began to look for possible ways to escape.

The little girl, however, seemed oblivious and kept pushing against the man, shouting and yelling.

"Let go of me! Let go! Who told you to kill my mother! Bad daddy, bad daddy!!"

"Shh....!" The man quickly signaled her to be quiet and not make a fuss.

But the little girl continued to struggle unreasonably, paying no attention to anything else.

"They’re on the second floor!" The people outside immediately discerned where the noise was coming from.

"Seize them!"

The diners upstairs promptly stood up and silently departed, nobody wanting to become involved with Jianghu vendettas, especially if it involved Qingxiu Sect, the largest nearby sect. No one would wantlessly court trouble.