Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 552 - 546: Running Thunder Sword Part One

Chapter 552: Chapter 546: Running Thunder Sword Part One

Lin Xin stood at the back of the crowd, hiding himself among a group of children, listening quietly to the instructor’s words.

The children around him were only a few years old, speaking in young and naive voices, and naturally, he had nothing to chat with them about.

Lin Youke, however, stood next to him, occasionally poking him with her finger to chat with him, which Lin Xin naturally ignored.

The chubby boy beside them was staring at the two of them with envious eyes, his gaze towards Lin Youke clearly a bit longing.

"Is that the young master?"

In the distance on the viewing platform, several adults passed by, looking towards the training field.

One of them was a dark-skinned man with a tall and slender figure, adorned with a silver-patterned head ornament, smiling slightly as he looked at Lin Xin.

Accompanying him was Lin Xin’s sister, Lin Yaoyang.

"Indeed, Your Highness has seen the truth. Today is the day my younger brother officially starts training in swordsmanship," Lin Yaoyang said with a smile that lacked her usual carefree demeanor at home, subtly tinged with caution and a forced smile.

The man with the head ornament smiled gently.

"Yaoyang, with your exceptional aptitude and being a natural bloodline bearer, even if your younger brother is just an ordinary bloodline, he must be quite extraordinary, right?" he said.

"I do hope he will achieve something, but unfortunately..." Lin Yaoyang responded with a forced smile.

In her heart, she was extremely wary of this prince.

After all, he was the biggest opponent of the Zhushi Meeting, the foremost disciple of the Sect Master of Cloud Heaven Sect, Yun Kai, and also the Crown Prince of the Qiushi Imperial Clan.

The Imperial Clan had always viewed the Zhushi Meeting with covetous eyes, particularly the Cloud Heaven Sect, which had recently been drawing closer and seized the chance to nibble away at the Zhushi Meeting’s influence.

As one of the strongest representatives among the great families, the Lin Family naturally became a primary focus of attention and contact for the rival.

Crown Prince Yun Kai had a profound level of cultivation and was hailed as the third-ranked top genius of the Cloud Heaven Sect. His visit to the Lin family clan this time certainly had a purpose.

The two stood on the viewing platform’s corridor, glanced at the activities in the training field for a while, and then quickly left.

After all, they were teaching the heritage swordsmanship of the Lin Family, the One Hundred and Eight Forms of the Rushing Thunder Sword, and such sessions, where knowledge was transmitted, could not allow outsiders to witness and risk the leakage of the techniques.

Even though they were teaching only the basic First Layer.

Lin Yaoyang, accompanying Crown Prince Yun Kai as they left, was seen only as a silhouette by Lin Xin from within the crowd.

"Is that Lin Yaoyang? What is she doing here? Didn’t they say she’s accompanying a distinguished guest?" Lin Xin thought to himself but quickly refocused his attention on the instructor.

"...Alright, enough chatter, today you have all been gathered here primarily to test your aptitudes," the instructor said loudly.

"As for the test method, it will be demonstrated by your senior sister, Lin Shuhong."

Walking leisurely to the instructor’s side was a girl in red robes. She wasn’t very beautiful, but the weapons on her chest were notably prominent and seemed to nearly burst the seams of her tight-fitting clothes.

"Hello, younger clan brothers and sisters, I’ll be demonstrating the testing method for everyone," she said with a smile, retrieving a small, black cylindrical bottle with a faint blue symbol etched on its surface, its use unclear.

"This is called a Thunder Bottle," she lifted the bottle high, shaking it from side to side, and immediately there was a crackling sound from inside, like firecrackers.

"It contains the most fundamental Thunder Energy. This Thunder Energy isn’t the same as the common Thunder Elemental Energy people talk about but is the unique Yin Yang Thunder Energy of our Lin Family. It is the trace of lightning generated from the friction between the yin and yang energies of heaven and earth.

The method of testing is also very simple; each of you will come forward, place your hand over the mouth of the bottle, and see how much Thunder Energy you can absorb," she explained.

The instructor added from the side.

"Those who absorb more will have better aptitudes, and those who absorb less are considered to have poorer aptitudes. It’s that simple."

With the method given, all the children started to line up and take turns testing their aptitudes.

"First up, Lin Jiahua."

A little boy ran excitedly to the front, placing his hand on the mouth of the bottle.

Hum.

The bottle emitted a faint blue light.

"First Level, average aptitude," the instructor nodded in approval, a normal result.

The little boy was immediately excited, running off shouting and calling as his family members were already waiting outside, quickly coming over to embrace the child.

"Next up, Lin Kai."

The second boy stepped forward, and the emitted blue light was extremely faint, almost nonexistent.

"Zero Level, Lower Class..." the instructor shook his head slightly.

The hope in the boy’s eyes quickly diminished, and as he walked away, he was consoled by his family. Barely a few steps away, loud crying erupted as the boy burst into tears.

The atmosphere suddenly tensed up.

Everyone was anxious, worried about their own aptitudes adversely affecting their life paths. Children from great families are inevitably more mature than those from average families.

Lin Youke and the chubby boy also showed signs of nervousness in their eyes from time to time.

Lin Xin waited patiently, watching as the line of children in front of him dwindled. Among them, two Second Level talents emerged, bringing smiles to the faces of the instructor and the senior sister.

Soon, it was Lin Xin’s turn.

He stepped forward and gently placed his hand on the bottle.

Hum!

The bottle shone brightly with blue light.

"This is First Level..." the instructor began to speak but was cut off abruptly.

Suddenly, the blue light shifted to purple.

"Second Level!"

The instructor and his companion were both pleasantly surprised.

Lin Xin gripped the bottle, as his body’s blood surged powerfully. The strength of this body was naturally far beyond those of the small children. The Thunder Energy, cold and tingling, didn’t even require active directing from him; once it made contact, it rushed towards him eagerly.

He estimated his own rate of absorption; the bottle seemed to have an endless supply of Thunder Energy. Even now, it felt as if his body had only absorbed half and he still had the capacity to continue.

"Forget it, hold back and only use about fifty percent of your strength."

He reigned in his thoughts.

Lin Xin once again released the tension in his palms, and the Thunder Energy immediately surged wildly.

Buzz!!

The Purple Light suddenly brightened enormously, appearing to be a shade of purple so deep it was almost black.

"Third Level!!" The instructor and the senior sister both had their mouths wide open, unable to react for a moment.

"Indeed... worthy of being the young master of the main family!"

A flicker of envy flashed through the senior sister Lin Shuhong’s eyes.

In the family, it was normal to have First Level Thunder Energy Aptitude, which indicated a pretty good affinity with Thunder Energy.

The average genius would have Second Level aptitude, and the three categories of high, middle, and low within the Second Level covered almost all the clan members within the family.

As for Third Level...

The Lin Family hadn’t seen a Third Level aptitude in hundreds of years.

Such an aptitude, although far from that of a Secret Blood bearer, could already be called a true rarity among ordinary people.

"Is that sufficient?" Lin Xin asked indifferently.

"Yes, it is..." The instructor pursed his lips and spoke softly.

Lin Xin walked down and quietly waited for the other people to complete their tests.

The chubby boy clenched his fists; he was sweating all over as he stepped forward, clearly very nervous. He kept glancing over at Lin Xin, obviously wanting to compare his results with Lin’s.

Regrettably, he only had Upper First Level. It was not bad, but still too far from Lin Xin.

The chubby boy came down feeling disappointed.

Then it was Lin Youke’s turn.

The young girl appeared to be smiling naturally, but her overly precise steps betrayed her inner nervousness.

A blue light appeared, Lower First Level.

She belonged to the most common range.

Lin Youke came down with a look of utter disappointment, only to be stopped by the little chubby boy who, inexplicably elated, was consoling her with babbling comfort.

"Big brother Yue..."

Lin Youke intended to walk over to Lin Xin.

"Next. Lin Shizaki."

But she was immediately distracted by the instructor’s voice.

Lin Shizaki, wasn’t that the young girl who had already moved in to live with big brother Yue!?

Lin Youke suddenly puffed out her cheeks, turning her attention to the testing area.

"Definitely Zero Level! Zero Level! Zero Level!" she muttered under her breath.

The blue light intensified, then quickly transformed into a purple light.

"Second Level Low!"

Lin Shizaki waved her hand proudly at Lin Xin, clearly satisfied with her aptitude.

Lin Xin’s expression remained unchanged as he turned and walked back to his original place.

He saw this life’s mother, Yuan Wanqing, at the edge of the training field, with Uncle Duan accompanying her, gently waving at him.

He nodded in response towards that direction.

Aptitude of those without Secret Blood, no matter how good, was just that - at most, it would cause some surprise among everyone, and nothing more.

Soon all the children were called back and continued to begin the next step.

The Rushing Thunder Sword, when it comes to it, is less of swordsmanship and more of a Sword Decree.

After a brief introduction by the instructor, Lin Xin understood the potency of this sword technique.

The one hundred and eight forms are actually a hundred and eight layers.

The First Layer that the instructor taught involved absorbing Yin Yang Thunder Energy during rainy days and forming Thunder Talismans within the body. After forming a hundred and eight Thunder Talismans and tempering the body to a certain strength, a Thunder Chart is completed, achieving the First Layer.

The Second Layer follows a similar process but with the formation of Thunder Talismans of different structures, which are more difficult and advanced.

Only after forming one hundred and eight types of Thunder Talismans and creating the corresponding Thunder Charts is it considered Great Achievement.

However, the complete mastery of the Rushing Thunder Sword is merely a legend. The highest practitioner in the history of the Lin Family only cultivated up to the seventieth form.

The subsequent forms seemed imperfect, more like a creator’s speculative imagination.

The ancestor discovered after thorough investigation that this cultivation technique was actually incomplete; even the creator had only reached the Seventieth Layer, and before he could practice further, his life reached its end.

Of course, these were things Lin Xin learned from the family archives; the Rushing Thunder Sword, in reality, only had seventy layers, with each layer allowing one to learn a form of the Thunder Sword, where the sword strike would be accompanied by thunderous bursts, greatly enhancing speed and strength.

But Lin Xin was aware that though the Rushing Thunder Sword was powerful, it was still only a Decree-level technique. In the realm of humans, if not at the level of Dao, it was merely a sword technique of the Mortal World.

He easily memorized the key points of the sword technique narrated by the instructor, as well as the positions and moves required for practice.

This concluded the aptitude test.

He would return the next day to check on the progress of everyone’s practice, which would ultimately determine the ranking of these young ones.

Lin Xin followed his mother Yuan Wanqing and Uncle Duan back home.

Lin Shizaki excitedly rattled on about fun times with her friends, while Yuan Wanqing listened with a gentle smile.

Lin Xin simply followed expressionlessly behind them.

Uncle Duan noticed the stark difference in personality between the two children and sighed inwardly.

He preferred Lin Xin’s calm and steady demeanor over Lin Shizaki, but it was a pity that Lin Xin lacked Secret Blood.

Without Secret Blood, even if one’s aptitude for the Rushing Thunder Sword was excellent, they still couldn’t inherit the family’s power, and after the succession ceremony, there would be a gap as vast as between heaven and earth.