Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 523 - 517 Desolate Vault 10

Chapter 523: Chapter 517 Desolate Vault 10

This was a habit he had developed many years ago.

Although Pine Forest Swordsmanship was fundamental, it was the cornerstone of the entire Pine Forest Sword Sect and contained deep insights into the Sword Dao.

Every time he practiced, he gained new insights from it.

"Ancestor Master."

Suddenly, a cold female voice came from behind him.

Yu Kai slowly ceased his movements and turned around to look.

Fairy Yuzhu and Dugu Lin stood together, quietly waiting on a nearby clearing. Both were cool and celestial, one icy and the other vibrant, which together created an inexplicable feeling of the stars and moon shining together.

"Ancestor Master, do you know when the Sect Master will return?" Fairy Yuzhu asked calmly.

Yu Kai frowned, "The Sect Master said it might be as quick as a year or as long as ten years when he left. What’s wrong? You can report directly to the Acting Sect Master if there’s anything urgent."

He knew that Fairy Yuzhu, his disciple, wouldn’t suddenly find him and interrupt his sword practice for no trivial matter.

"It was the Acting Sect Master who instructed us to come and inquire," Dugu Lin hurriedly said.

"Above the territory of Great Song, a Void Ship from the Central Prefecture is fast approaching our Pine Forest Mountain Gate. It seems that the visitors harbinger ill intentions."

"A Void Ship?" Yu Kai thought for a moment, "Is there any sect emblem?"

"No," Dugu Lin shook her head. "And even after sending someone to warn them, they didn’t respond and continued to approach."

"It’s precisely because the Sect Master is away that they dare to provoke us, knowing well that our sect is stable, guarded by the Mountain Protection Array, and with myself personally overseeing it, it really seems that their intentions are not good, and good intentions wouldn’t bring them here."

Yu Kai stroked his beard.

"Issue another warning. If they do not change course, go ask Feixius for assistance."

"Understood."

Fairy Yuzhu and Dugu Lin both nodded, preparing to leave.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, another white light shot into Dugu Lin’s hands, and upon checking it, her expression changed.

"That Void Ship has accelerated and is directly heading toward the sect gate, it’ll be here in half an hour!"

"Half an hour? Wasn’t there still two days left initially?" Fairy Yuzhu was startled.

"It’s too fast! It’s several times faster than any ship from my Southern Prefecture! Such speed isn’t something ordinary forces can achieve. It must be the Central Prefecture!" Dugu Lin said with a cold voice.

Yu Kai also frowned, feeling an ominous premonition.

"Activate the Mountain Protection Array immediately."

"Yes!"

A monk quickly took out a message talisman to relay the orders.

Dugu Lin and Fairy Yuzhu both glanced at Yu Kai.

"The only likely ones to take action against us would be the Tian Yun Daoist sect; it seems trouble is indeed looming," Yu Kai sighed.

"You head down first and disperse all disciples with cultivation lower than Foundation Establishment, and the rest should blend into the Great Formation and refrain from going out!"

"Understood!"

The two hurriedly flew up into the sky, heading towards the foot of the mountain.

Hum!!

Suddenly, a giant black vortex burst open above the sect headquarters, growing larger and darker.

From its center, a silvery-white shuttle-shaped Void Ship slowly emerged.

This ship, which was only about several dozen meters long and ten meters wide, had sails in various sizes affixed to it. The hull was patterned with numerous runes all related to defense and speed.

Just calculating the amount of energy consumption needed for this array of runes made it clear why the ship was so fast.

The energy consumed by this ship alone was probably equivalent to ten other ships combined. Given its smaller size and resulting lower resistance, naturally, its speed was much faster.

"Enemy attack!!"

The Mountain Protection Array swiftly unfolded, and countless longswords rose into the sky, hovering in mid-air, tips pointing upward, rotating slowly.

The Void Ship merely hovered a little outside the formation, neither advancing nor retreating.

"Hahaha!!"

Amidst laughter, a handsome man in white robes appeared at the bow, looking down.

"Is the one below Mingxin Yu Kai?"

Yu Kai’s expression darkened as the other party directly identified him by name upon arrival, clearly knowing in advance that he was overseeing the sect.

"Guests are welcome, but unwarranted intrusions into the Pine Forest Mountain Gate implies you’re not here with good intentions," Yu Kai sent out his voice, its echoes trembling so that the entire mountain could hear it.

The man smiled slightly, and a beautiful Daoist nun in green robes appeared beside him.

"I am Hong Gui, currently an elder in charge at Tian Yun Taoist, and this is Princess Qing, the Fourth from Yuqing Dao," he introduced their identities, then continued.

"Yu Kai, True Monarch, your sect is under the control of a devil. The Taoist Venerable has specially ordered us to come to your aid. Where is the Red Flower Sword Devil now?"

Yu Kai remained unmoved. To claim in front of him that the Sect Master of Pine Forest was a devil was akin to a slap in the face; Tian Yun Taoist really thought too highly of itself.

But since the other party knew he wielded the Sky-Piercing Pine Patterned Sword and still dared to come to accuse, they must have some trump cards.

He wasn’t in a hurry; he would stall as long as possible.

"I know nothing of any Red Flower Sword Devil; here we have only our sect’s Sect Leader Lin Xin."

"My Daoist friend is deep in it and cannot extricate himself. That devil really has formidable powers, even able to control the mind and soul of a True Monarch," Hong Gui said sorrowfully, slowly shaking his head.

"What exactly do you want to do? Stop the pretense and quit beating around the bush!" Dugu Lin couldn’t help but shout.

Hong Gui smiled slightly.

"It’s a pity that the devil is not here, so we’ll have to eradicate all remnants first," he said, cupping his hands towards Princess Qing with a smile.

"Please make your move, Your Highness."

The Fourth Qing Maiden snorted coldly and flew out, her hand casting a cyan-green lightning bolt that thunderously smashed down towards the formation.

The lightning was as thick as an arm and a vivid cyan-green, twisting and turning with astonishing speed, piercing through most of the formation and ferociously bombing the inner side of the Fifth Layer.

Normally, one would have to break through the outer four layers before reaching this level, yet with a wave of her hand, this maiden bypassed the first four layers and struck directly at the innermost Fifth Layer.

Boom!

The formation shook violently as the cyan-green lightning instantly broke through the Fifth Layer of the formation. It was only slightly weakened and continued its straight shot towards Yu Kai.

"Subdue!"

Yu Kai uttered a mantra and stepped forward, drawing his sword to meet the attack.

Clang!

The space shattered, and suddenly, a round burst of darkness exploded in front of him, revealing the Illusory Sea within.

"Is it really a True Monarch!" The last thought flashed through Yu Kai’s mind as he sent Dugu Lin and Fairy Yuzhu far down the mountain with a backhanded push, only to blink and see the Fourth Qing Maiden teleport in front of him. The two exchanged blows in a flash of lightning, directly entering the Illusory Sea.

The spatial rift quickly sealed itself.

Soon, everything returned to calm, as if nothing had happened at all.

Hong Gui watched the situation unfold with a faint smile. An endless stream of low-level disciples emerged from within the Pine Forest Sect, continuously strengthening the Mountain Protection Array to an extremely formidable level.

He didn’t move, nor did he need to.

Merely floating in mid-air, he could clearly feel that at least several Yuan Jing auras had already locked onto him.

Unfortunately, completely breaking through the Pine Forest Sword Sect was not his goal. So he remained motionless, just floating on the void ship.

"Found it."

A calm voice entered his ears.

"In the forest on the peak of the Formation Hall Mountain. I’ll be right back."

"Be careful, Daoist," Hong Gui said with a smile.

A whirlwind of invisible force suddenly vanished beside him, shooting off into the distance.

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

In a small forest on Formation Hall Mountain.

An Ying was sitting cross-legged on a large bluestone, quietly watching the stream flowing in front of her.

She had switched to the Return to Origin Method, and with Lin Xin dissolving her original cultivation and aiding her, rebuilding her strength was unusually easy. She had also entered the Foundation Establishment stage by now.

Foundation Establishment was not difficult for her since she had already grasped her own Taoist Intent, and with Lin Xin providing a large supply of heavenly treasures, it naturally went smoothly.

But the road ahead was increasingly difficult — normally, after Foundation Establishment, each step forward required decades of accumulation and settlement.

So, more than a decade had passed, and she was still stuck in the early stages of Foundation Establishment.

On the opposite side of the creek, a middle-aged couple was also sitting cross-legged, unmistakably the You Xuan and Ji Lu couple.

"This Clear Stream Heart Method is indeed miraculous. If it weren’t for the Sect Master’s guidance, we might never have uncovered its mysteries," Ji Lu said gravely.

You Xuan nodded but then shook her head.

"Although this mental method is extraordinary, the Sect Master mentioned that this method is linked to our bottleneck for breakthrough. I’ve watched the stream for so long, how come I still can’t see anything? Is it the legendary Taoist Intent of water’s gentle nature overcoming everything?"

An Ying shook her head.

"It won’t be that simple..."

Ding!

Suddenly, a crisp cracking sound chimed simultaneously from their waists.

All three of them took out the object, only to see that the Sect’s warning jade pendant had shattered.

"Sect emergency, let’s go!"

Ji Lu was the first to rise, his hand forming a sword technique. Instantly, a magic artifact sword flew out from behind him, lifting him from below his feet, preparing to soar into the air.

"Fall!"

Suddenly, a low shout came from the woods.

Just as Ji Lu took off, he felt a sudden heaviness under his feet, and the magic artifact sword suddenly fell down, buzzing and vibrating, unable to fly.

"Who!"

An Ying and You Xuan both became vigilant, drawing their swords.

A black-robed, masked figure slowly walked out from the woods and stood before the three of them.

His eyes were like two dark, formless whirlpools without pupils, drawing in their gazes with just one look, rendering them unable to break free.

"Are you An Ying, Ji Lu, and You Xuan?" the black-robed figure coldly asked.

"Who are you....!?" An Ying forcefully closed her eyes, struggled to break free from the pull, and said harshly.

"What a pity, what a pity..." the black-robed figure sighed as if with regret.

In a flash, he appeared right in front of An Ying, his hand reaching toward her neck.

But his hand seemed as if it was very far from An Ying, always just that bit too short to reach her.

"As expected, you were prepared." The figure expressed delight rather than surprise, his palm suddenly stretching forth. His fingers instantly extended and swelled in length, spanning the distance and fiercely grasping towards An Ying.

Suddenly, he heard a sigh from behind.

The black-robed figure’s expression drastically changed, his hand not retreating but advancing, fiercely grabbing An Ying’s neck.

Pff!

An Ying’s entire body suddenly burst apart, turning into countless red threads scattered on the ground. Like maggots, these threads quickly wriggled and merged, rapidly coalescing into a new figure.

The black-robed figure’s pupils suddenly narrowed, his feet’s escape light flashed, and he transformed into a black line rushing towards the heavens.