Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 572 - 567 Support 1

Chapter 572: Chapter 567 Support 1

The entrance to the canyon grew ever closer.

The rapid sound of hooves soon attracted the attention of the Lin Family clansmen engaged in intense battle.

Before they could react, they saw a white figure flash by in front of their eyes.

A rider on a chestnut steed charged into the pack of demon spirits.

These creatures, black all over and covered in what looked like sludge, hardly had time to make out who was coming at them before a red light flashed, tracing an alluring red trajectory with its intricate continuations.

Squelch, squelch!

The horse reared up, and in an instant, all the black humanoid demon spirits around it stiffened, unmoving, after being crossed by that red light.

With a series of wet thuds, a swath of them fell to the ground.

Lin Xin rode, Red Flower Sword in hand, his expression icy cool. He turned his steed around and charged towards the large demon spirit fighting the branch Family Head.

Wherever he went, all demon spirits were easily bisected by a single stroke of his sword.

Nearly no one saw how he drew his sword.

A glint of joy flashed in Lin Shaonan’s eyes as he poured even more frenetic strength into pressing the large demon spirit.

His swordsmanship was not the Rushing Thunder Sword Technique, but rather a set of Bright Light Sword Technique he had found and collected himself, which when wielded, was like a white, bright ribbon swirling around him, hence the name.

The Bright Light Sword had been used several times previously to no avail in suppressing his opponent, but now, seeing the Red Sword Knight approaching, the large demon spirit showed signs of panic, attempting to break free several times.

"Haha! Thinking of running? Not so easy!"

Lin Shaonan roared wildly, fearlessly spinning with his great sword, whirling into a series of linked, revolving slashes.

Whooshing sounds emanated from around him as rings of white sword light, like circular fan blades, brightened and dimmed in succession, resembling ribbons.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

Despite its formidable power, the large demon spirit couldn’t withstand Lin Shaonan in full barrage, its body emanating green smoke as it hastily tried to retreat, aiming for a complete escape.

Tss!

Its expression suddenly froze.

The pitch-black humanoid creature stiffened on the spot, standing dumbfounded. Slowly, it reached a claw towards its chest, but ultimately it failed to do so.

With a boom, the large demon spirit fell forward, its chest cavity thoroughly blasted open, revealing Lin Xin’s indifferent face behind it.

"I am Lin Sherie of the main family. Everyone, heed my command and slay all the demon spirits here."

Lin Xin commanded coldly, his voice carrying directly into the ears of the hundreds present.

Lin Youke and other reinforcements joined the battle.

A notable feature of the Rushing Thunder Sword Technique was that, even if the combatants were closely matched, a life and death struggle could still be resolved in an instant.

With the support of everyone, the originally balanced battle quickly tipped in their favor.

"The head of the family!"

"The master from the main family has come!"

"The large demon spirit is dead!"

"Damn it! It’s finally over! A bit later, and we might not have held on."

A group of branch family clansmen breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Among the hundreds present, aside from Lin Shaonan who was an expert of over fifty layers, the others were only at the level of the twenty-odd layers of Running Thunder Sword, with agile enough movements, but without the terrain advantage, they would have struggled with their black longswords, barely more substantial than hardened wood, against even common demon spirits.

Seeing Lin Xin and his party carve out a clearing upon their arrival, everyone within found renewed vigour to burst forth with all their might.

From a distance, Lin Shaonan glanced at Lin Xin, cupping one hand in the other before his chest as a sign of respect, then turned to support others.

With the large demon spirit dead, the rest lost interest in the fight and quickly retreated.

Lin Youke and Lin Jiaheng chased and hacked for a while, leaving several bodies behind before turning back to approach this way.

"Father, it’s only the young master Lin Sherie from the main family, sent by the Family Head to specifically support us," Lin Youke explained rapidly.

Lin Shaonan was familiar with the name of young master Sherie.

His expression changed at that moment as he gave a fist salute to Lin Xin.

"Thank you, young master Sherie, for your support. Without you, we would have had a much longer battle to resolve this fight," he said.

"There’s no need for thanks. Have these demon spirits been increasing recently?" Lin Xin sheathed his sword and spoke in a deep tone.

"Yes, they started appearing in small numbers, just like normal, but later on, they began to increase in density, and suddenly, a large demon spirit emerged," a middle-aged man next to Lin Shaonan interjected.

"This is my left..." Lin Shaonan started.

"I’m not interested in who he is. Now tell me, where is the nearest nest of these demon spirits?" Lin Xin interrupted bluntly, which was quite impolite, but Lin Shaonan endured it.

The large demon spirit he had been previously entangled with had been no match for a few swings from this gentleman; he hadn’t even used the Running Thunder Sword, and all had ended. While there was an element of surprise, it also demonstrated.

The strength of young master Sherie was not to be underestimated!

"Thirty li north from here, there’s a series of small waterfalls inside a cave," Lin Shaonan answered promptly.

"Let’s go!"

Lin Xin mounted his horse and spoke to the group of young members from the main family who had come with him.

"My lord, we have come a long way. Might we not let everyone rest a while before..." Lin Jiaheng, the chubby, hesitated, yet he made no move.

Lin Youke’s mind raced, and she was the first to follow closely behind Lin Xin, turning back to mount her horse.

"Young Master Sherie has ordered we pursue the demon spirit into the depths of the gorge,"

she said hurriedly.

The few others who had been hesitating also quickly got on their horses.

Lin Shaonan narrowed his eyes slightly.

The title of Young Master Sherie had only recently started to spread within the main family, mainly because of the commotion during the inheritance ceremony that made his name known.

Most within the Zhushi Assembly knew by now: The Lin main family had a genius young master whose actions were decisive and strength formidable.

As the brother of the current family head, although Lin Sherie lacked the Secret Blood, he was still the first among the main family’s non-secret blood younger generation.

Now, it appeared he indeed possessed considerable authority, with even his own daughter, Lin Youke, responding immediately to his call.

Remembering the sword light he had seen earlier, Lin Shaonan’s eyes narrowed even further.

"Is the young master planning to pursue the demon spirit now? Why not dismount and rest first, sharpening the ax will not delay the work of cutting wood..."

He hadn’t finished speaking when he saw Lin Xin turn his horse around and take the lead towards the depths of the gorge, with Lin Youke and merely four other young riders closely following him.

Roar!!

As the six of them passed by a corner of the garrison, suddenly one man violently lunged forward, attacking Lin Xin’s warhorse with his sword.

The man’s face was contorted, and he let out a roar utterly unlike any human sound.

Thick black hair sprouted all over his body as his features swelled and twisted grotesquely. During the pounce, his body visibly bulked up at a speed visible to the naked eye.

His speed was extremely fast, so much so that even a few members from the branches skilled in the Rushing Thunder Sword Technique beside him couldn’t react in time. They just watched as he lunged at Lin Xin’s warhorse, his eyes blood-red.

"It’s a transformation! Pin him down!!" By the time he was nearly upon Lin Xin, the rest finally cried out in alarm.

"He’s been infected by a demon spirit, we must act quickly..."

Whoosh!!

A member from one of the branches hadn’t finished speaking when they saw the transformed individual, from head to toe, neatly cleaved into two halves, falling to the left and right.

The sturdy chainmail he wore offered no resistance at all and was sliced cleanly in two along with him.

On horseback, Lin Xin’s expression was cold as he returned his sword to its sheath.

"Let’s go!"

He spurred his horse forward into the depths of the gorge.

Behind him, Lin Youke and the others fell silent for a moment before quickly catching up.

But in the end, only those five followed Lin Xin. Most of the others hesitated, and they could only see the backs of Lin Xin and his party of six growing distant.

It was already too late to follow.

Lin Shaonan had not expected Lin Xin to be so ruthless.

"There was still a chance to save him from the transformation..."

His trusted aide couldn’t help but sigh at his side.

"What a ruthless heart, what a fierce hand!" Lin Shaonan looked around; all the family members’ faces were pale, their chests heaving.

To transform was a strange mutation that occurred when a human was tainted by the polluted spiritual energy from a demon spirit. It rapidly eroded the human body’s structure, and if one managed to endure it, there was a chance to save their life.

But if they could not endure, the ultimate result was turning into a new demon spirit.

But Lin Shaonan knew he couldn’t, nor did he have the power to stop it.

Lin Sherie was a powerful expert sent to assist the main family, and it seemed his strength was beyond Lin Shaonan’s ability to contend with.

Had the family’s Secret Blood members been there, it might have been another story, or if he had not yet decayed in his Secret Blood powers, he might have been able to rival him, but now...

"Young Master Sherie has entered the gorge to exterminate demon spirits; we will regroup here and wait for further orders," he announced loudly.

"As the Family Head commands!"

Several leaders responded loudly and then began to direct the others present to clean up the battlefield.

Lin Shaonan, however, gazed in the direction where Lin Xin had departed.

"This Young Master Sherie, his strength is probably only matchable by those Secret Blood members or the elder family heads. Truly befitting of the family’s number one genius!"

"It’s just unknown whether the Demon-slaying Sword Lin Shizaki can suppress his influence," the aide remarked somewhat bluntly. "This man’s disposition is cold and unapproachable, definitely not as charismatic as the great Demon-slaying Sword."

Lin Shizaki, the current highest skilled among the Lin Family’s Secret Blood holders, could be regarded as the face of the entire family.

Alongside the Phantom Demon Sword of the Ling Family, the Azure Dragon of the Ruyi from the Kong family, and the Duanqing Long from the Duanqing Family, they were known as the four young leading figures of the Zhushi Assembly.

"Winning hearts...?" Lin Shaonan shook his head slightly, seemingly deep in thought.

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

"Evil fiends and foul spirits, all must be vanquished!"

Lin Xin rode high atop his horse, looking down upon several demon spirits kneeling and begging for mercy, their bodies and heads separating in an instant, blood spraying everywhere.

Only he could see within his own private channel, several points of green light shot rapidly into the void next to him, absorbed by the Sacred Body hidden on his backhand. Then, using the Evil Soul Orb and the Soul Refining Formation he had previously devised, it was turned into the purest soul power, absorbed into the Sacred Body and transformed into Free Attribute Points.

From slaying the large demon spirit earlier to now cutting his way through, at least a hundred demon spirits had met their deaths under his sword. His gains had also been considerable.

A single Foundation Establishment-level big demon spirit could provide him with one Free Attribute Point. As for these lesser demon spirits, at least twenty or thirty were needed to secure one point.

Although not much, the number of demon spirits was exceedingly vast.