Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 531 - 525 Demon Sect Eight

Chapter 531: Chapter 525 Demon Sect Eight

For the following ninety years, Lin Xin always focused on consolidating and digesting these memory fragments, not daring to take action recklessly.

That is, he strengthened himself through the Demon Talisman Seeds tributed by the ancient beast tribes.

Or he would go to the Outer Regions to slaughter the creatures there on a large scale, especially those with low intelligence but vast Essential Blood, to absorb and transform the Lord’s Power and strengthen himself.

However, in the last ten years of those ninety, he no longer dared to absorb any more Lord’s Power; instead, he ordered all creatures bound by Soul Pacts to quietly refine themselves and rest, not to act rashly unless necessary.

This was the key to his maintaining silence over the years.

The pain every night had almost become normal for him. Aside from minor changes in personality, everything else was relatively normal.

The biggest benefit of rest and recuperation was his complete mastery over the entire power of the Yuan Dou Demon Sect.

The four great True Monarchs, the other dozen or so Elders, and the thousands of Dao Seeking cultivators - such a formidable force was distributed across the vast area governed by the Yuan Dou Demon Sect.

Overseeing the power structures of the Central, Western, Northern, and Eastern Prefectures.

Over the years, he found several ancient beast tribes, and together with the parts controlled by the Demon Sect, he merged them, adding around two hundred or more Attribute Points to his account each year.

In these ninety-plus years, apart from the added Attributes, he had also gradually accumulated over eighteen thousand Terror Points.

But these Attributes, he dared not add any more.

He simply kept all of them as Free Attributes, not daring to move them.

Not for any other reason, but because he faintly felt the whole world seemed to increasingly start rejecting him.

After raising all his Attributes to 5000 points each, he perceived everything around him had undergone an inexplicable change.

For him, the world was no longer simply a world, but resembled a free game comprising grossly pixelated images unbearable to watch.

He looked up at the inner walls of the forbidden palace.

Blurry, coarse, the gaps between each brick, and each Rune, so wide it seemed ants could run through them.

He felt as if he was living in a shabby house constructed from foam debris.

He even had to breathe carefully, fearing that a careless breath, a tad too strong, would destroy the palace.

And this, was the most powerful Formation Talisman array he was capable of setting up now.

It was only now that he truly comprehended the cruel nature of that fragile world within his Innate Divine Ability.

Apart from Golden Core Cultivators, no cultivator could directly face and regard his presence anymore.

For those below the level of Golden Core, looking at his face for too long would backfire on their soul, causing blood to spurt and resulting in severe injuries—a common reaction when normal conversation was no longer feasible.

Because their brains and Divine Senses could no longer directly engage with the immense aura emitted by Lin Xin’s existence.

The traces of Taoist Intent naturally emitted by his presence were too massive and abundant for ordinary minds to withstand.

"I’m finally beginning to understand what the Red Spine Sect Leader was after, what it was all about..."

Lin Xin sat on the Sect Master’s throne.

With an average of five thousand points in Attributes, he was much more formidable than he had been at the time of the battle at Funiu Mountain.

Back then, only his attack and Defense had broken through four thousand points, and he had stepped into that realm where the world stood still.

But now, with an average of five thousand points, his Physique and Evasion had caught up.

He was beginning to lose control over the size of his own body.

His original height of one meter eighty-nine had grown dramatically over the decades, and he was now over four meters tall.

And this was without condensing his Sacred Body into its normal state.

The ninth layer of the Yuan Dou Demonic Technique, he had not yet begun to advance because he had a feeling that once he stepped into the Ninth Layer, his entire being would undergo an earth-shattering transformation. He might even be forced to leave this world at any moment.

Achieving the Body of an Ancient Demon God was not an easy feat...

As he was meditating, a set of footsteps slowly approached within the palace.

Those able to come here were at least at the Golden Core Layer and naturally wouldn’t make a sound easily. Therefore, the audible footsteps now were clearly out of respect for the master of this place.

The footsteps came slowly toward the depths of the Demon Palace, near Lin Xin’s position, illuminated by the red Demonic Flames on both sides, revealing the figure of the visitor.

It was Bai Suozi.

She walked with a cane, her face full of wrinkles, clearly aged, yet her eyes still showed sharpness, without any signs of decline.

"Sect Master...have you already reached this realm?"

Her eyes were complicated as she looked at Lin Xin’s enormous form, and she seemed somewhat lost for a moment.

"It seems you also understand this level," Lin Xin said softly, his voice low yet still making the ground shake as if it were trembling. Despite using the weakest force he could, it almost overwhelmed the structure of the Primitive Demon Palace.

"Ever since I reached this realm thirty years ago, I dare not act lightly."

Bai Suozi came back to her senses and nodded slightly.

"There must be a solution, otherwise how could Huang Yuerong, with her strength, and Hero Yuan move around so freely?"

"I understand naturally, I just haven’t found it yet," Lin Xin nodded slightly. "Moreover, the Taoist Venerable of the Sky Cloud Dao is the same as me, not daring to act rashly, lest he accidentally breaks through the realm and leaves."

Lin Xin lamented.

"For now, I can only walk the lands through my incarnations."

"Let’s not talk about that, I believe the Sect Master will be able to comprehend a solution sooner or later," Bai Suozi said seriously. "I have come to borrow something from the Sect Master."

"Oh?"

Lin Xin raised his eyebrows slightly.

"What is it?"

Bai Suozi paused her cane.

"Society Cloud Cauldron."

Lin Xin narrowed his eyes and pondered for a moment.

Slightly raising his hand, the void in front of him twisted, forming a transparent vortex from which a tall middle-aged man slowly emerged.

The man had a refined appearance and an extraordinary temperament, with an underlying scholarly aura, seemingly just an ordinary school teacher.

"The spirit of the Society Cloud Cauldron is unextinguished, suppressed by me at the bottom of the Yunxiu River," the man said, casting a spot of spiritual light into Bai Suozi’s hand with a flick of his wrist.

"Master Uncle can retrieve it himself."

Bai Suozi caught the spiritual light, looked at it, and nodded.

"Thank you, Sect Master. Additionally, your father has reached the year of his heavenly fate..." She did not continue.

"Let’s go see him," he finally sighed and said in a low voice.

As a cultivator, she had seen much of joy and sorrow, separation and reunion, the wax and wane of life, but this was all part of the inevitable path in the pursuit of longevity.

Even among fellow sect disciples and brothers, some would inevitably fall behind, some would perish. In the end, one would be left alone.

Lin Xin lapsed into silence.

The incarnation suddenly dissipated, turning into countless wisps of black smoke and vanishing.

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

In the southern prefecture, Spirit Heart Villa.

Lin Xin’s father, Lin Zhiwen, lay reclining on a bed, surrounded by a great number of women and children. Around them were clusters of middle-aged men and women, as well as some gray-haired elders of the villa.

An old cultivator with an ethereal Taoist presence sat by the bed, lifting his hand from Lin Zhiwen’s pulse.

"The time has come, his heavenly fate and lifespan have reached their limit, there’s nothing that can be done."

He sighed, his expression one of helplessness.

A common man, merely with some inner qi, and that too forcefully produced by blood pills.

And yet he had lived for almost two hundred years, more than a hundred for certain.

Such a lifespan could be considered joyously long anywhere.

But Lin Zhiwen’s identity was different.

He was the current Lord of the Southern Prefecture, the Sect Master of the Yuan Dou Demon Sect, Master of the Pinesword Sword Sect, and the father of Lin Xin, the True Monarch of Yuan Dou.

Such a person of overwhelming power and authority would naturally have his immediate family members treated with the highest regard.

In this small room, any one of these people could shake countless others with a stomp of their foot once outside.

But here, many had expressions of deep sorrow. And even those unrelated to the old master were feigning tears and a sad demeanor.

Their reasons for such actions were solely for the sake of that one person watching.

Lin Zhen was also in the room, not just him, but Lin Luo and Lin Duan, the siblings, Nan Shunqing, and the direct bloodlines of their respective branch families.

Lin Zhen’s own five sons and eleven grandsons, eight granddaughters.

The husband of Lin Duan, their three sons, two grandsons.

Nan Shunqing, now reincarnated, had people from the Sima Family here as well, with the Sima Family Head and his two daughters, Nan Shunqing’s sisters in this life, Sima Qing and Sima Kongyan.

Not only them, but the room couldn’t fit so many people. Outside in the courtyard were the Great Elders and the leaders of the Yuan Dou Demon Sect.

Mingxin the True Monarch, Dugu Lin of the Pinesword Sword Sect, and others.

Nearly everyone who had even the slightest relationship with Lin Xin, or was connected in some way, had come.

Outside the courtyard, an even greater throng of people had gathered, crowding the exterior of the villa, from where one could faintly hear a sea of mournful cries.

This was not pretense; many forces were parasitic on Lin Zhiwen’s connections, and his death would mean the severing of these people’s source of wealth and livelihood. A major decline in their influence was common. How could they, then, not be distressed?

Dugu Lin stood in the courtyard, shaking her head slightly. She had also become much more mature and enchanting, no longer as sharply edged as she once was, and now radiated a calm and serene beauty.

"After all these years, Nan Shunqing has also broken through to the Dao Seeking level, stepping into the realm of Yuan Jing. The Lin Family has branched out even further, now with over a thousand clan members.

Lin Xin, however, seems to appear less and less. Could it be that his cultivation has led him to neglect even his family?"

Yu Kai sighed deeply.

"I’ve always felt that the Sect Master is hiding some troubles, but I could never discern what they could be. With his character, he would not miss such an occasion to see his father for the last time."

Dugu Lin looked toward the people in the room.

Her gaze swept over Lin Zhen’s face.

"His and Xiao Lingling’s son is here. I wonder if An Ying will come."

"Perhaps she is already here. With so many magic artifacts, who can tell which one she is?" Yu Kai shook his head.

Just at that moment, sudden footsteps ran from the distant courtyard exterior.

Bang!

The outer door was abruptly knocked open.

"No... no good!! The Old Madam is also at her end!!!"

A young servant shouted urgently, barely catching his breath.

The crowd was initially stunned, falling silent, then a tumultuous noise erupted.

A portion of the people immediately rushed out, heading toward the courtyard where the Old Madam was staying. A portion remained, unable to hide their tears.

Some wailed loudly, some bowed their heads in silence, others embraced each other and wiped away tears.

Yu Kai was taken aback for a moment and then prepared to turn and fly out with Dugu Lin.

Suddenly, the air tensed sharply.

A wisp of black smoke descended from the sky and gently landed in front of Lin Zhiwen’s sickbed, coalescing into a tall, scholarly-looking middle-aged man.

Clad in a black robe and wearing a tall hat, bearing five magic swords on his back, it was none other than the ruler of the Southern Prefecture, the True Monarch of Yuan Dou, Lin Xin.