Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 549 - 543

Chapter 549: 543

Yue’er was the childhood nickname they had given Lin Xin.

Duan Bo nodded slightly.

"However, under the guise of visiting the young master, it would be best for the lady to give them a few pointers. Some people need regular chastening, or else they might become too presumptuous,"

"I understand." Yuan Wanqing, being Lin Hao’s wife, was naturally no pushover.

She handed the little Lin Xin to a maid beside her.

"Let the young master bask in the sun a bit, then take him back to the room," she instructed.

"Yes," the maid hurriedly complied, taking Lin Xin.

Only then did Yuan Wanqing leave in a hurry with Duan Bo.

Scanning the area with his spiritual power, Lin Xin was immediately able to see two elderly men dressed in black courteously speaking with Yuan Wanqing in the front courtyard.

In their eyes, however, there was a clear trace of arrogance and ambition, signaling that they were unwilling to be subordinate to others.

From a distance, Lin Xin couldn’t be bothered with what they were saying but quickened his own circulation of the Zhengyang cultivation technique instead.

His current attributes were at an average of around six points each. If he exerted a bit more effort, he feared he could easily break free from the maid’s embrace.

By Lin Xin’s estimations, these maids’ physical conditions were averaging just over two points, which was decent for ordinary people, but very weak compared to him.

Over the past few months, he hadn’t wasted time, thoroughly mastering the local script, language, and some basic geographical knowledge.

He also compared and figured out the general level of physical condition of the average person here.

He originally thought that this place was the Mortal Realm, where Heaven and Earth’s Elemental Energy is violently yang, to the point that even now, he dared not come into contact with Elemental Energy lightly.

Hence, he presumed that the villains here would be quite robust.

Contrary to his expectations, the physical conditions of the people here were not only weak but even inferior to the common folk of the Underworld, averaging between 0.5 to 1.

Therefore, these maids with an average of two points were considered experts among ordinary people. To the people here, his average of six points made him nothing short of a monster!

Fortunately, the qi-blood power of the Zhengyang technique was highly concealable, typically contained within the bone marrow. Using some secret blood-concealing techniques he knew, he kept himself as inconspicuous as possible to avoid attracting undue attention with his exaggerated presence.

Lin Xin struggled to move his arms and stretched them out to exercise a bit.

He enlarged his frame and stretched out towards the sun, assuming a posture that seemed slightly awkward.

While this pose might look bizarre for an adult, it was unremarkable for Lin Xin’s infant body.

Once in position, he circulated his mental method, beginning to mobilize his Qi-Blood, causing it to vibrate slowly throughout his body at a certain frequency and rhythm.

He naturally progressed to the Second Layer quite quickly.

Lin Xin just felt a sudden numbness in his bones, and immediately his entire body seemed to weigh much more.

The maid carrying him felt a sudden heaviness in her arms and nearly dropped him.

Frightened, she let out a cry and quickly called another maid over to help.

Together, they managed to stabilize Lin Xin once more.

On the Second Layer of the Zhengyang technique, the Qi-Blood began to inflate slowly, changing frequency every few hours, twice daily. It could fortify and enhance the Qi-Blood supply throughout the body naturally.

And as the total quantity of Qi-Blood increased, so too did his overall weight significantly.

Having silently advanced to the Second Layer of the Zhengyang technique, Lin Xin sneakily glanced at his attribute panel.

’Lin Sherie: Offensive 12.1, Defense 12.1, Evasion 12, Constitution 12. Free Attribute Points: 32871.’

Seeing the long string of over thirty thousand Free Attribute Points, Lin Xin also felt a sense of security.

"From the First Layer to the Second Layer, the attributes indeed doubled, reaching twelve points. It seems that the Zhengyang technique really lives up to its reputation," Lin Xin mused.

He vaguely sensed a rich and mellow Qi-Blood emerging continuously from within his marrow, distinct from the Qi-Blood he had before. It was much denser and quickly supplanted the previous Qi-Blood.

But at this moment, Lin Xin distinctly felt his body nearly bursting with an expanding sensation. Obviously, the pure Zhengyang technique could not match the unlimited enhancements provided by attribute points.

Having too much Qi-Blood increased at once, his bodily functions were somewhat overwhelmed. It was already beyond what his age could endure.

Each age has its limits regarding the quality of one’s foundation. It’s like a loose structure that cannot sustain too much weight.

Hence, the excessively powerful blood-generating ability of the Zhengyang technique also imposed a considerable burden on Lin Xin’s current physical condition.

With a sigh in his heart, he reduced the Qi-Blood flow speed and decreased the density of its release as much as possible.

He kept the Zhengyang technique suppressed in an inactively stable state.

Every lifeform has innate potential and differentiation in quality due to different races.

No matter how strong an ant becomes, it remains an ant without the chance to break through its innate limits; consuming more nutrients only makes it a slightly stronger ant and not a human. That is the concept of innate potential.

No matter how weak a lion is, it is still a lion. Even in a frail state, it can crush an insect with one slap.

This too is innate potential.

The family into which Lin Xin was reborn had only an ordinary bloodline with no exceptional innate qualities. What he had was the same as any other ordinary person.

Thus, reaching this level with the Zhengyang technique was his limit. He had no plans to use attribute points to enhance himself for the time being; being so young, if there were too many anomalies, it would inevitably draw the attention of extraordinary individuals.

Moreover, he would not repeat his past life’s mistake of relying solely on attribute points to improve himself.

He was not in any crisis this time, and it was a good opportunity to slowly cultivate the human world’s system to achieve the balance of Yin Yang. Attribute points, when sufficient, could be saved for reducing the time spent in cultivation accumulation, since some cultivation techniques would require hundreds or even thousands of years of painstaking practice in the later stages—that was when attribute points would come into play.

Twelve points in evasion quickly concealed all fluctuations of Qi-Blood, returning to normal.

And Lin Xin’s body was clearly getting stronger under the nourishment of powerful Qi-Blood, his development would gradually speed up.

Yuan Wanqing returned soon.

But she did not come back alone, she had brought with her a frail and beautiful woman in a white dress.

The woman was also holding a baby in her arms, who was crying loudly at the moment, unable to be soothed no matter what.

"Let Shizaki be the young master’s playmate," the woman in the white dress said respectfully to Yuan Wanqing.

"Have you decided?" Yuan Wanqing frowned. "Yue’er doesn’t have the qualifications of Secret Blood."

"It’s alright... I just hope Shizaki can grow up safe and sound, nothing more," the woman shook her head.

Yuan Wanqing sighed and gently took the inconsolably crying infant.

"Lin Shizaki... that is indeed a more pleasant-sounding name than the one my family member chose."

The woman in the white dress smiled, then spoke in another language, saying something Lin Xin could not understand. Yuan Wanqing also quickly switched to this language and chatted with her.

After talking for a while, they parted ways. The woman in the white dress was sad throughout.

The woman left, but the baby remained, to be taken care of by a maid.

Yuan Wanqing lost the desire to continue walking and said a few words to Uncle Duan.

It was only through their conversation that Lin Xin learned that the child was from a branch family. It seemed due to some problem or other, the parents had to entrust their child to the main family to avoid complex whirlpools.

From that day on, Lin Shizaki, who was five months older and nearly one year old, started living together with Lin Xin.

The two children’s beds were laid out side by side in one room.

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

A year passed in the blink of an eye.

A child’s time always flies by extremely fast.

Lin Xin was already capable of running around the yard in split-bottom pants.

Little Lin Shizaki, although older, was actually shorter than him and constantly had a runny nose; he would follow slowly behind, but could never catch up.

"Young master! Young master! Slow down!"

Several maids chased frantically from behind, but Lin Xin, indifferent, scampered off, his speed surprisingly fast even in his split-bottom pants.

Next to the attic lay a small forest with a strong barrier around it, so the entire forest was safe without any threats.

Once Lin Xin discovered this forest, he always loved running and dashing about inside.

He was proficient in Pill Medicine Study; all things could become medicinal, so he remembered the effects of a vast number of countless medicinal herbs and minerals.

In his eyes, this forest could allow him to speculate the differences in Elemental Energy between the Mortal Realm and the Underworld by comparing with the herbs, and thus gradually correct his cultivation technique to make it more suitable for this environment.

After all, many kinds of herbs grow by absorbing Heaven and Earth’s Elemental Energy.

Thus, at the age of one, Lin Xin started running about by himself, often climbing over the walls to pluck flowers and plants outside when no one was paying attention, causing immense headaches.

"Young master... slow down... slow down..."

"Be careful not to fall...!"

A group of maids closely pursued, but they could never catch up with Lin Xin who had already turned the corner.

Plucking a Su Yuan grass effortlessly, he tossed it into his small bamboo basket, and Lin Xin continued running towards the next target.

He climbed a large tree, quickly reaching a fork in the trunk, and picked a pink mushroom, placing it into his basket.

Hiss...

A large black python slowly crawled over from the other side of the trunk, sticking its tongue out at Lin Xin.

"Hmm?!" Lin Xin glared, and the python shivered all over, turning tail and running away at breakneck speed.

Even now as a small child, the terrifying aura of the Demon Lord remained, naturally something a mere python could not confront directly.

Looking away, Lin Xin continued to search for the next material.

This family was very strange.

Apart from his nominal father Lin Hao, whose aura was profound and elusive, the rest of them, including his sister Lin Yaoyang, were ordinary experts who had not yet reached Foundation Establishment. The strongest among them was Uncle Duan, whose body flowed with dense Qi-Blood, possibly possessing average attributes around twenty points, but that was all; they couldn’t sense the use of spiritual power at all.

It was strange.

The aura on Lin Hao even gave Lin Xin a somewhat wary feeling, yet the others were as weak as grasshoppers next to a tiger, completely incomparable.

"Could it be because of a seal?"

He had suspected as much for some time now but had yet to confirm it.

This was only a random family, and yet he encountered something that caused him apprehension. The Mortal Realm was indeed no ordinary place.

Because of this, Lin Xin became even more cautious.