Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 538 - 532: Secrets 3

Chapter 538: Chapter 532: Secrets 3

Lin Xin had come here to inquire about the Underworld in detail.

"My first question is about the Underworld," he said straightforwardly.

His pain had been growing heavier. In the last great battle, under his command, countless cultivators and soldiery had been slaughtered. Although there weren’t many Integration with Yuan Jing, the sheer number had added tens of thousands of Free Attributes to his tally.

The Righteous Soul Pearl had finally lost its efficacy, and although the Evil Soul Orb absorbed and converted ninety percent, he only needed to bear ten percent of the Lord’s Power.

But such was the formidable Devouring Power of the Underworld Lord that this ten percent of the Lord’s Power comprised the soul of life, Essence Qi, and even the Life Fire mark and memories.

This had accumulated into his greatest hidden danger—his mind was overloaded with too many and too large memory fragments, potentially bursting at any moment, leading to him being blown to bits and lapsing into mental chaos.

The Secret Techniques Lin Xin acquired had enabled him to control his own aura fluctuations after reaching an average of six thousand Attributes.

If he were to strengthen much more, he would ultimately be forced to Break Through the Realm and leave.

Thus, he had kept the remaining Attributes and immediately came looking for Shan Lu, hoping to find a remedy.

"I want to know what exactly the Underworld is," he asked.

Upon hearing this, a flicker of an unusual shade flashed in Shan Lu’s eyes.

"The Underworld..." He pondered for a moment.

"In the Primordial Ancient Times, Evil Gods caused chaos. Heavenly Venerable, Demon Gods, and Demon Lords each dominated a region, battling fiercely with the Evil Gods."

He organized his thoughts before continuing.

"No one knows what the Underworld really is. Since my childhood, I have heard the great demons mention the Underworld, with divine rumors saying it is a world without light."

"What do you mean by ’without light’?" Lin Xin asked calmly.

Shan Lu sighed.

"No light, no hope, no vitality. Back then, the entire Underworld was a mess, and the Underworld was already known to be an exceptionally evil entity among the deities. It is said that many Evil Gods frequently traveled in and out. But at that time, the Underworld was not the same as it is now. It was just a world with a normal evil point."

"Even you don’t know its details?" Lin Xin frowned.

"Indeed, I do not know," Shan Lu shook his head, "It has existed for many tens of thousands of years and has always been like this from ancient times until now."

He paused and looked at Lin Xin.

"Is there anything else you would like to ask?"

Lin Xin exhaled, somewhat disappointed. But since even Shan Lu didn’t know, it seemed highly improbable to learn anything further.

He gathered his thoughts,

"I also want to know about the relationship between the Mortal Realm and the Underworld or rather, how many worlds there are in total in this universe."

He had traveled to many worlds through the Underworld but had never known what kind of structure these worlds formed.

Shan Lu responded promptly to this question.

"The Mortal Realm is situated above the Illusory Sea. When their lives end, their souls pass through a place called Reincarnation and enter our Underworld, then are born as one of the Underworld. After their demise in the Underworld, they reincarnate back to the Mortal Realm. They cycle between these two realms."

Shan Lu glanced at Lin Xin.

"To the Mortal Realm, we are extremely powerful demonic shadows, and to us, the Mortal Realm is a vast furnace of intense Yang energy. Moreover, if you want to know more about the Underworld, you might visit the Mortal Realm, which was the main battlefield in the Primordial Ancient Times and should hold many clues left behind."

"Reincarnation, huh?" Lin Xin furrowed his brow, beginning to grasp the connections.

"My third question," he finally spoke.

"How can one reincarnate into the human world?"

Shan Lu was momentarily taken aback.

He then smiled and replied,

"You just need to go to the Space Between Life and Death and enter the Cycle. The Cycle is omnipresent and all-encompassing, only when you are on the brink of death can you come closest to it."

"On the brink of death..." Lin Xin mused thoughtfully.

"The Mortal Realm is vast, very vast... and likewise, it has countless corresponding worlds. True Monarch, you too can travel to other worlds to investigate through the Illusory Sea," Shan Lu said somberly.

Lin Xin nodded slightly.

He had not explored other worlds, also worried about accidentally entering another place and being unable to return.

Originally, he thought he could use certain contracts here, like the Artifact Spirit Contract, as coordinate anchors to return to the Underworld.

But a later experiment made him realize it was not that simple—his contract coordinates simply could not penetrate world barriers.

As Lin Xin left where Shan Lu was, various complex thoughts continued to swirl in his mind.

It seemed he had learned something yet knew nothing at all.

Hovering outside the Shape-shifting Cave marsh, he randomly chose a direction and flew away.

Aimlessly, Lin Xin continually shuttled over the vast expanse of pine forests.

Occasionally, he could see towns below being crossed over.

In some towns, when they sensed someone passing overhead, cultivators would rise into the sky only to see Lin Xin’s distant figure, catching nothing.

If reincarnation were real, then was Xiao Lingling also in the Mortal Realm, having undergone reincarnation as well?

And when he first came to this world, entering this body, could Earth also be one of the Mortal Worlds connected to this Underworld?

Question after question flickered in his mind, yet there were no answers.

Unawares, he had arrived above a lake as emerald as jade.

Gently descending, he stood by the lake’s edge, alone, staring at the rippling water. Flecks of sunlight danced across the surface, reflecting onto his face.

He stood there for several hours.

The sky gradually darkened. This place was a desolate wilderness; occasionally, he could see a few hares fuzzily running to the water’s edge.

Lin Xin’s dodge points at six thousand and other attributes were advancing side by side. The benefit was that although his strength was growing increasingly formidable, his ability to conceal his aura kept pace, still cloaking the increasingly powerful aura emanating from him.

These small animals didn’t even feel the presence of someone nearby and drank the water without a care.

A leopard, spotted, was stealthily approaching from the side, attempting to prey on these naive hares.

Neither the rabbits nor the leopard managed to notice Lin Xin so close at hand.

"The Human World...." Lin Xin sighed deeply.

"Who are you, standing by my little lake?!" Suddenly, a somewhat frightened female voice came from behind him.

Lin Xin slowly turned around and saw a slender young woman holding a delicate wooden basin, staring at him with some panic.

"You...." Somehow, he felt that this woman looked familiar.

The woman, dressed in a yellow long dress, looked petite and cute, her long hair cascading down, with a small bell trembling at her hairline, tinkling softly.

She stared at Lin Xin with eyes wide open, yet couldn’t help but have her eyes slightly redden.

"You are human, I thought you were some kind of demon or ghost, scared me to death."

Lin Xin smiled. Somehow, standing next to this girl, he felt a slight sense of peace.

It was different from An Ying. Initially, it was she who was strong and he who was weak; now it had shifted to him being strong and An Ying weak, yet they didn’t know how to get along.

Over the years, Lin Xin had subtly felt that he and An Ying weren’t as compatible as he had imagined.

She was too strong-willed, always fighting tooth and nail for everything. She never wanted to rely on Lin Xin’s power.

But this result made her even more weary.

Over the years, aside from chatting and dining with Lin Xin, the two of them had no other interaction.

Thinking back, Lin Xin also felt slightly guilty.

Seeing the girl before him, compared to An Ying, he suddenly remembered why he felt she looked familiar.

"Lingling...."

He unconsciously called out.

The girl was slightly startled, then spoke.

"What did you call me? Did you mistake me for someone else?"

The girl before him, though her character and temperament were vastly different from Xiao Lingling, still possessed a faint aura very much like Xiao Lingling’s.

"What are you doing here alone?" she asked softly. "There are many demons and spirits here. My sect set up a barrier nearby, ordinary people can’t enter at all; how did you get in?"

She was curious.

"Just walked in."

Lin Xin subtly felt something was amiss, but observing the familiar aura of the girl before him, he couldn’t help but think of the long-deceased Xiao Lingling.

And thinking of Xiao Lingling, he then thought of An Ying, who had been waiting for him for so many years.

Even transformed into an Artifact Spirit, An Ying still had the limit of a soul, having once been human, and even suffered many hidden injuries, causing her cultivation to grow slowly.

Every time Lin Xin cleansed her ’essence and marrow,’ he could feel her spiritual sense and spiritual body continuously weakening.

At this moment, looking at the girl with the familiar aura, he suddenly couldn’t help but miss An Ying.

"I should marry her when I return...." He didn’t want to let her down anymore.

After so many years, An Ying had been waiting for him for so long after he had brought her over; it was finally time to give her an answer.

"Little girl," he slowly revealed a gentle smile. "What is your name? How did you end up in such a dangerous place?"

The girl, seeing his handsome face smiling at her, blushed instantly and couldn’t help but back away two steps.

"I... my name is Xiao Lingling, I’ve lived here for many years."

Xiao Lingling?!

The smile on Lin Xin’s face suddenly paused.

It was impossible for such a coincidence to exist in the world!

He tensed, suddenly feeling something amiss behind him, and turned around.

A beam of pure white light descended from the sky, slowly landing in the center of the lake. A formidable aura of a Yin Extreme True Monarch billowed out, blowing a dense fog of miasma in all directions.

Within the beam of light, a beautiful and gentle woman appeared, her demeanor tender, her gaze profound, yet carrying a hint of compassionate tranquility.

"Yang Xuan Nu...."

Lin Xin’s pupils contracted, instantly recognizing her identity.

The supreme lord of Jade Pure Dao, one of the Yin Yang Twin Xuan Nus, ranked third on the Heavenly List, the person before him was clearly Yang Xuan Nu.

"Yuan Dou True Monarch...."

Yang Xuan Nu’s demeanor revealed a smile as if she had been waiting for a long time.

"Perhaps I should address you as Mother of Yuan Dou, for being able to cultivate Yuan Dou Demonic Technique to the unprecedented pinnacle of the Ninth Layer, such dazzling talent is probably the first in the demons’ dao for a million years."