Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 541 - 535 Preparation 2

Chapter 541: Chapter 535 Preparation 2

"How strong?" Yang Xuan Nu shook her head, "In the Underworld, the rules of heaven and earth are only a part of the Yin aspect within the Three Realms, and not complete. Even if we reach the pinnacle, which is the strongest Polar Region, it is only equivalent to their Ghost Immortal level. The space of the Underworld, being incomplete, is fragile and vulnerable. Hence, if one wishes to advance further, one can only break through the realm and ascend."

"Ghost Immortal....."

Lin Xin knew of this realm, he had come across this level in many books.

Ghost Immortal is a cultivation realm equivalent to that of Human Immortal and Demon Immortal.

Above that, there are levels like Heavenly Immortal and Golden Immortal.

From this perspective, if the Human Race really has levels such as Heavenly Immortal and Golden Immortal, and if they do not abide by the rules and ascend, it would indeed be very dangerous.

"Then why do we always have so many outsiders descending to the Lower Realm in our Underworld?"

He asked again.

Yang Xuan Nu replied earnestly.

"It is precisely because the rules of the Underworld are incomplete that there are many loopholes to exploit, which is why during the ancient god wars, many Evil Gods and Demon God Heavenly Venerates perished and slumbered here. The many relics they left behind contain traces of primordial times, which is why they attract numerous outsiders to explore the Lower Realm."

"But didn’t you say that the rules here are incomplete? How can they accommodate Evil Gods and Demon God Heavenly Venerates?" Lin Xin frowned, finding the statement obviously contradictory.

Yang Xuan Nu smiled.

"Incomplete rules of heaven and earth mean that a complete and perfect system of cultivation practice cannot be nurtured. However, entities with complete structural systems can enter the Underworld without issues. Instead, because of loopholes in the spatial rules, it is easier for them to hide deeper in the fabric of time and space, unnoticed."

She then smiled bitterly.

"Remember what Huang Yuerong once said. Our Underworld’s space and time have been drilled through with countless holes like a moth-eaten fabric, like a giant rock riddled with insignificant tunnels and caves. It is the secrets hidden in these caves and tunnels that are the main reason why powerhouses from other realms descend to this place."

Lin Xin nodded slightly.

He now had a preliminary understanding of the entire Underworld.

The chaos of all sorts of worlds, the strange and eerie phenomena, and the vast and boundless Outer Regions with countless different races – all of this originated from the countless relics left behind from the wars of primordial ancient times.

If even space and time have been dug into countless voids and tunnels, it goes without saying what the originally normal land would look like in such chaos.

"Master Yuan thought hard for a long time, but ultimately couldn’t break the limitations of the missing space-time rules, and in the end, had to lead Huang Yuerong away to a certain realm to break through the realm and ascend together," Yang Xuan Nu continued to spill the beans.

"Only a few of us in the Underworld knew about this."

"What’s the difference between breaking through the realm to ascend and reincarnation?"

Lin Xin continued to ask.

"You must have read the ’Vast Encyclopaedia of Spirit Cleaning,’ yes? It is just as recorded there," Yang Xuan Nu replied with a smile.

Lin Xin suddenly understood.

He had read a lot about the narratives and records between breaking through the realm to ascend and reincarnation – they are mostly diverse opinions with no consensus.

Now that Yang Xuan Nu pointed it out, he immediately understood the process.

Breaking through the realm to ascend allows one to retain one’s strength to the greatest extent, with no loss whatsoever, but after entering the Human Race territory, one needs to constantly resist the pervasive erosion of Yang Qi in the world and also avoid being detected by powerful beings on patrol.

As for reincarnation, although it also allows one to retain most of the strength to a certain extent, there’s no guarantee of what race one might be reborn into.

And there’s also the danger of washing away the memory soul imprints.

The Shattered Wheel Hall, which is specifically responsible for cleansing and crushing souls before reshaping them, represents the power of an entire realm and is an unstoppable mighty force.

To avoid it is as difficult as ascending to heaven.

For several consecutive months, Lin Xin engaged in a question-and-answer session with Yang Xuan Nu in the Yuan Dou Demon Palace, continuously clarifying various details about reincarnation.

The Underworld was no longer a place to stay for long, and if he wanted to advance further without wasting time, his only choice was to leave and head to the Human Race territory.

In the end, he still decided to try it out and see which option would be more suitable.

The advantage of reincarnation is that it is legitimate, not rejected by heaven and earth, unnoticed by powerful beings, and extremely safe.

Meanwhile, breaking through the realm to ascend is akin to being an undocumented stowaway, lacking identity verification, and only able to hide and seek.

Therefore, Lin Xin decided to first try reincarnation, to go to the Human Race territory through the cycle of reincarnation.

He sat in the Yuan Dou Demon Palace and, with one command, the enormous strength of the Demon Sect and the Central Prefecture immediately began to operate at full capacity.

Countless precious treasures and materials flowed into Wu Ding Mountain like water.

Those who follow me will prosper, those who oppose me will perish!

Lin Xin enforced ruthless measures and, should there be any resisters, executed them.

After severing ties with the Yuqing Taoist Palace, the Righteous Path was weak, and everywhere was tentative, daring not to make any moves.

The Heavenly Cloud Taoist Honor and the great Demon Venerable even directly hid their palaces somewhere unknown to avoid oppression by the Demon Sect.

The Red Spine Sect also disappeared from sight, simply retreating to the Northern Prefecture territory, hunkering down to defend one place.

Sect after Sect was continuously crushed and subdued by the armies of the Demon Sect, and the strength of the Yuan Dou Demon Sect, without anyone noticing, grew bigger and stronger like a snowball.

Time flew by and, before one knew it, thirty years had passed. The last prince of the Dynasty perished in a small fishing village, and the entire grand Dynasty completely collapsed,

Lin Xin’s forces unified the three prefectures, centered around the Central Prefecture, exerting a radiating rule over the Eastern and Central Prefectures.

With the Yuan Dou Demon Sect intimidating the world and the year of the extermination of the Dynasty imperial lineage established as Yuan Mo’s first year,

the territories of the Human Race returned to peace.

Under the rule of the Demon Sect, Yang Xuan Nu appeared, devoting herself to serving the Demon, showing compassion for the people, running about everywhere, preventing massacres by the Demon Sect in various places, and was revered by everyone.

Later the Demon Lord had a grand wedding and married An Ying, but they were unable to produce heirs. Eventually, everything slowly got back on track.

Without war, there was no longer conflict, slaughter, or sacrifice.

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

Golden Jade Sect.

The Phoenix Immortal Forest was one of the most famous sights of the Golden Jade Sect. The forest was dense with luxuriant branches and leaves, but what was most peculiar was that whenever the wind blew through, the pale red sea of trees would make a sound like the cries of a phoenix, astonishing all who heard it.

The Golden Jade Sect had become one of the subsidiary factions of the Yuan Dou Demon Sect several decades ago and had since abolished its territorial boundaries with other sects.

The Phoenix Immortal Forest was no longer exclusive to the Golden Jade Sect; nowadays, many cultivators would come from afar just to behold its beauty.

With the Underworld pacified and the world at peace, most cultivators no longer engaged in incessant, frantic cultivation to fend off threats from the Outer Regions. Instead, they gradually developed a variety of leisure and entertainment activities.

By a winding stream in the Phoenix Immortal Forest.

Lin Xin stood at the bank, watching the small fish swim back and forth as pebbles and leaves were swept down by the stream to downstream.

"Is Big Brother still thinking about Yang Xuan Nu?"

Behind him, An Ying came out and stood beside him.

Decades had passed, and although An Ying, as the Artifact Spirit of the Yuan Xiang Fan, had combined with the Soul-escape Technique, she was ultimately still a human soul.

Through the nearly hundred years, her temples too had become frosted with white, for she was near the end of her lifespan, unable to break through in her cultivation.

"Her motive was clear, she traded her freedom for my peace," Lin Xin said indifferently, "She merged with a fragment of Lingling’s soul, ensuring I couldn’t kill her. Using this as a shackle, she pacified the hidden dangers within me with the Yuqing Taoist Scripture, in exchange for my tranquility. Indeed, she managed to do it."

An Ying’s expression was serene, yet a trace of sorrow flickered in her eyes.

"Even if she managed, she must have paid a great price, exhausting herself immensely, right?"

"Yes," he sighed.

"Burning her own cultivation to help me suppress the side effects of my affliction, reaching such an extent, I couldn’t bring myself to completely eliminate her."

Over the years, Yang Xuan Nu had burned her own cultivation as the price to activate the Yuqing Taoist Scripture, neutralizing and shattering the countless memory fragments in his mind, to alleviate his pain.

The cost was that in just a few decades, her cultivation realm had plummeted from the Polar Region to the level of a True Monarch.

Lin Xin was aware of it.

The destruction of the Yuqing Taoist Palace had subdued the other Polar Region powerhouses.

Yang Xuan Nu herself hadn’t last many rounds.

The Yuan Dou Demonic Technique at the Ninth Layer had reached a monstrous level of enhancement to one’s Demonic Qi and physical fitness.

Lin Xin even suspected that even if Huang Yuerong came in person, he might not necessarily lose.

Unfortunately, the grand path of the Underworld, for which countless people had gone to great lengths, had reached its end for him. To advance further, he had to leave this shattered space and travel to the more intact Human Realm.

In preparation for reincarnation, he had prepared for thirty years, simulating countless possible scenarios he might encounter. He prepared massive amounts of various treasures, pills, and magic artifacts.

It was only with the combined effort of the entire Human Race of the Underworld that he had a shred of assurance.

This was also because he had pushed his physical body to the limit that he calculated such a probability.

"I’ve heard that once all lives in the Underworld perish, they will go to the Human Realm to reincarnate," An Ying said softly, "I wonder if an existence like me will have that opportunity after I fade away."

"Of course, you will," Lin Xin replied softly.

Over the years, he had watched as one after another of the seniors from the manor passed away—some because they could not break through in their cultivation and reached their end, others died during investigations into threats from the Outer Regions, their deaths mysterious and unclear.

There were also those who went insane from cultivation practice, perishing in self-immolation.

Now, even An Ying was nearing her end.

And his own son, Lin Zhen, had already become an old man with white hair. He had not been able to break through to the Golden Core stage, unable to maintain his youthful appearance, and standing next to Lin Xin, they looked like the roles of father and son were reversed.

How many people were left in this world who could accompany him to the end?

Lin Xin, despite trying his best to help friends and family, could only watch helplessly as they dwindled and disappeared one by one.

"It’s my fault that your life turned out this way," Lin Xin sighed softly, "If it hadn’t been for me, you wouldn’t have ended up in this state."

An Ying shook her head.

"It was my own choice, and it has nothing to do with you. I just wonder what will happen to those two little ones after I’m gone."

The two baby girls she had adopted had now reached Foundation Establishment Cultivation, embarking on the path she once couldn’t tread.

"Don’t worry, Qing’er will take care of everything," Lin Xin said with a smile. Suddenly, he reached out and touched An Ying’s forehead.

Ding!

A crisp sound rang out.

Confusion flickered in An Ying’s eyes, but she quickly understood what had just transpired.

"This is...?"

"At the last moment, run this secret technique with all your strength. Perhaps it can preserve your soul," Lin Xin said gravely.

He reached out and gently pinched An Ying’s cheek.

"Go now, I’ll follow shortly after," he said.

With a smile, An Ying nodded slightly.