Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 516 - 510 Desolate Vault 3

Chapter 516: Chapter 510 Desolate Vault 3

The trial ground was an entrance near the cliff of Black Mountain, guarded by two statues of creatures that seemed to be neither cat nor dog, squatting in front of its gates.

The ground was inlaid with black pearls the size of dragon’s eyes, and from time to time, a blue light flickered across the ground, spreading deep into the entrance.

The blue light illuminated the darkness inside the cave again and again before quickly disappearing.

You could vaguely see many sharp white stalactites hanging all over the inside. There seemed to be many mysterious silhouettes sculpted on both sides as well.

"This is the place of the trial,"

Deputy City Lord Ye Zifeng stopped at the entrance and said.

"Your Highness, the trial requires you to enter and stay for three full days and nights."

"Stay for three full days and nights?" Lin Xin slightly squinted his eyes. "Is it that simple? What’s inside?"

Ye Zifeng shook his head.

"We do not know either, Your Highness. This trial has been passed down since ancient times. Even Elder Yuan Jing, if he lacks the strength and enters, it’s a path to certain death. It’s said to be related to the key of the Thousand Prison City’s prison formation. Even though I am the Deputy City Lord, I am not very clear about it."

Nan Shunqing coldly said,

"Isn’t this an extremely solid enclosed space? What if the teacher goes in, and someone activates the Mountain Protection Array outside to seal the entrance? Who can guarantee fairness and safety in the trial?"

He was asking what Lin Xin also wanted to ask.

The formation on this patch of ground was not merely a sealing array but actually connected to another special space through a fifth-grade formation. Such a formation, if one traverses too far accidentally, it might take countless years to return.

Even though he was deeply versed in the Formation Talisman Path, he still dared not engage with it lightly.

Standing in front of the entrance, he also halted and did not advance.

Ye Zifeng couldn’t help but smile bitterly, unsure of how to answer.

Duan Chizi stood silently on the side. She and True Monarch Huang Yuan were closer; she felt additionally unfamiliar with this junior brother she hadn’t interacted with much. Naturally, she hoped Lin Xin would simply turn around and leave.

The group thus stood frozen at the entrance to the trial ground.

Lin Xin stood with his hands behind his back, silent, merely slightly squinting at the formation at the gateway, his thoughts unknown.

The others knew his mood was somewhat extreme, fluctuating greatly, and did not dare to make a noise. No one knew the content of the trial inside, so their cautious hesitation was understandable. Hence, everyone simply waited quietly.

After a while, half an hour had passed.

A black line shot from the distance in the sky.

With a whoosh, it landed on the ground behind them.

"Not long since we parted, yet junior brother’s strength has greatly advanced. Congratulations!"

The newcomer’s voice was charming. She wore a tight black dress that covered only a third of her thighs and seemed to reveal mysteries with just a slightest gust of wind.

Her figure was curvaceous, and her appearance was delicately exotic, bewitchingly so. It was none other than the Great Princess Quan Sheying, whom Lin Xin had met before.

"Greetings, Your Highness the Great Princess!"

Ye Zifeng led everyone in hastily paying their respects.

Quan Sheying’s gaze directly fell on Lin Xin, a trace of heat surfacing in her eyes. She gracefully walked towards him.

"What’s the matter? Are you hesitant about entering the trial?"

Lin Xin smiled, glancing at her.

"I must enter, of course, but how can we ensure that outsiders won’t control and lock down this trial ground?"

Quan Sheying laughed. "That’s simple. This formation can only be controlled by a very few. The rest are ancient formations designed by our founder to draw power from the Demon God. Junior brother, being a grandmaster of the Formation Talisman Path, can convert it to his control, can’t he? That would remove all doubts."

Yuan Dou Demon Sect did not have grandmaster-level Formation Talisman Masters, which Lin Xin knew.

The resources and materials needed for the Formation Talisman Path were horrifying; to reach a grandmaster level, it required a supply of massive resources accumulated over thousands of years. It was only possible to develop one with a combination of vast resources and a genius talent safely growing to maturity. If Lin Xin didn’t have Skill Manifestation, which allowed him to perfectly replicate his first success endlessly and conserve massive resources,

he wouldn’t have even dared to dream of reaching grandmaster level with his initial qualifications.

Hearing Quan Sheying’s words, Duan Chizi’s expression subtly changed.

"Eldest senior sister’s words are inappropriate. This second trial includes testing one’s courage; outsiders should not intervene. Are you intending to reveal insider information and cause the trial to fail?"

"Junior sister, you speak too gravely." Quan Sheying merely smiled, her white **** barely visible through her black dress.

"In the competition within the sect, such a hint, if it could influence success or failure, would indeed make the Sect Master position far too easy to obtain."

Duan Chizi coldly watched her, wordless.

Quan Sheying was equally unyielding.

The confrontation between the two women was inexplicable and did not seem as harmonious as rumors suggested.

Lin Xin stood by, the only one present who could interject. The rest either lacked the cultivation level or the status to speak.

"Has teacher ever entered this trial?" he asked quietly.

"Of course," Duan Chizi nodded.

"Was there someone controlling the formation then?"

"Certainly!"

"Who?"

"It was City Lord Yin Pengzi."

"I don’t have a capable formation controller I trust, and I doubt those present, but I still wish to enter the formation. What would you advise me to do?" Lin Xin said indifferently.

Duan Chizi paused, examining Lin Xin more closely.

"Master Bai Suozi has always been at odds with the teacher. Having competed and lost the position of Sect Master, perhaps you could request she control the formation."

"No need for that," Lin Xin said with a smile, lightly touching a point in the formation on the ground with his finger.

Hiss!

Invisible finger force struck out, instantly cracking the ground formation with a tiny trace.

Silently, the formation rapidly dimmed, the originally flickering blue light also vanished in an instant, and the entire ground turned into an ordinary rune-patterned carving without further use.

"I will control the formation for now, no objections, right?"

Lin Xin looked for a long while, his goal was to decipher this formation.

With his Grandmaster level in Formation Path, slightly modifying and taking control of this large formation was also within his capabilities.

The Yuan Dou Demon Sect lacked an Array Master capable of controlling ancient formations. If they were afraid to enter under such circumstances, their true capability would be revealed.

"Please, Junior Brother," Duan Chizi’s pupils slightly constricted, but she replied calmly.

What shocked her was that even though this thousand-year ancient formation was not the original grand formation designed by the founding ancestor of the sect, the part in the Trial Ground was still part of the ancient formation. He was able to swiftly find the method of control and seize partial authority so quickly.

Such a level of mastery in Formation Talisman Path was indeed terrifying.

If all fifth-grade Masters were this formidable, wouldn’t the Mountain Protection Arrays of the various sects and major schools be virtually useless?!

Lin Xin pointed out the key points of the formation, nodded, and strode toward the cave entrance.

Though the formation was disabled, upon entering the black hole, it only took moments before he felt disoriented, as if everything was turning upside down, and he was instantly twisted and transmitted to another place.

"It’s indeed a transmission!"

Lin Xin felt reassured.

Only after the transmission completed did he start to survey his surroundings.

He had only entered about ten meters into the cave before finding himself suspended above an extremely vast black plain.

Beneath was an endless, flat wasteland with no trees, lakes, streams, or even grass.

Only pitch-black soil.

In the sky, numerous thread-like long black tendrils floated and danced about, occupying almost all the surrounding sky’s field of view.

Some of these black lines were very short, only a few meters long, while others were extremely long, easily hundreds or thousands of meters, not a few in number.

And occasionally, they would even wriggle slightly, arching up or crawling through the air like living worms.

It was as if green worms were crawling on solid ground.

"Is this the content of the trial? To stay for three days and three nights?"

Lin Xin was on alert, knowing that if it was merely about staying for a duration, there must be unknown, mysterious dangers here; otherwise, the trial content wouldn’t just be about staying for a set time.

Sure enough!

In an instant, from above the sky, a long black line tens of thousands of meters in length dove down thunderously.

That black line seemed to have a specific target, flying straight towards Lin Xin.

Its speed was incredibly fast, covering dozens of miles in a blink of an eye.

Lin Xin’s eyebrows twitched slightly. He ran his Demonic Arts, and the Desolate Vault shadow emerged behind him, fiercely concentrating a Sword Light and striking toward the black line.

Clang!

Amidst the metallic clash,

the black line remained unfazed, merely vibrating slightly without any pause, and continued to rush straight towards Lin Xin.

"Interesting!"

Knowing that even fifty percent of his power could not stop its momentum, Lin Xin realized he couldn’t confront it head-on.

He dodged to the side, and his high Evasion Attribute of two thousand points allowed his ability to foresee danger to be incredibly powerful. Even among the Divine Beast Bloodline in Yuan Jing, it was rare for someone to have such a miraculous ability.

The black line barely missed him, continuing its fierce trajectory towards the distance.

Hiss!

Suddenly, Lin Xin’s expression changed as he spotted something on the surface of the black line and instantly dodged to the left.

A segment of the black line’s head pierced right through the spot where he had just been, seeming to penetrate through space itself and emerge directly!

"What is this...!!?"

He dodged to the right again as another segment of the black line pierced through space, shooting out from his former position.

For a time, he continuously dodged as the black line’s speed was terrifyingly fast, almost as if it was weaving through space like breathing, piercing the spatial rules in the surrounding area full of holes.

Its speed was like lightning, hardly pausing before continuing to weave through immediately after.

Now that Lin Xin recognized what it was, he no longer intended to make direct contact.

"Jiuqu Worm! To think that this place still contains a demonic insect from the Primordial Ancient Times that has long been extinct!"

"But... the Jiuqu Worm can freely travel through space, consuming yin energy. How could there still be Formation Patterns appearing on its body? Those patterns are clearly engraved postnatally..."

Lin Xin was puzzled.

His figure moved like lightning, constantly shifting just inches away from the Jiuqu Worm’s attacks each time.

His intricacy in dodging was not inferior to the top level movement techniques.

He knew the troubles with this kind of worm.

Its body was extremely strong, capable of freely gnawing through space to create voids for traversal, feeding on the most yin energies.

The most crucial part was that this kind of worm, after the formation of the Desolate Vault Demon Body, must be introduced into the body, acting as a parasite, consuming impurities in the Demon Body, and transforming them into a special substance that further nourishes and perfects the Demon Body to ascend to higher levels.