Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 665 - 660: Ruined Tomb IV

Chapter 665: Chapter 660: Ruined Tomb IV

Murong Jun at Lin Xin’s side also smiled at him.

"Other than being a bit naive, my brother is indeed extraordinary in the Five Elements Talisman Path. If Brother Lin is satisfied with the Soundproof Talisman, we can offer more at one Contribution Point each. There are also many other kinds of Talisman Papers available, which are highly effective against demon spirits of the Yin class, and the prices are negotiable," she said.

"Little sister...."

Zeng Zuo helplessly tugged at her sleeve.

Lin Xin smiled.

"If I need it, I will certainly patronize your business."

"This is our Messaging Flying Sword. Keep it safe, Brother Xin," Murong Jun insisted, ignoring the others and directly handing a platinum-colored small sword to Lin Xin.

"If you have any new products, just leave your address and the time message on the Flying Sword, and we will have someone deliver them to your doorstep," she said, her business acumen showing.

Lin Xin didn’t underestimate the two of them. Within the Fifth Rank, purebloods are extremely rare, and ninety-nine percent of people are hardworking ascetics.

To become a Fifth Rank Human Immortal, unless one’s fate is defying the heavens, most possess their own proudest transcendent skill to rely on.

He examined the Talisman Paper in his hand. Although it did not contain as strong techniques as miniature arrays, the arrangement of the Talisman Formations was extremely simple and efficient, and there were many rune symbols he had never seen before.

In the Underworld, his Talisman Path was considered good, but here in the Mortal Realm, he had already encountered completely unfamiliar rune systems many times, so he didn’t dare to underestimate the Formation Talisman Masters here.

This Golden Talisman was strange indeed; holding it in hand immediately reduced his irritation.

For him, the dead wind and ominous melodies could induce irritability. If it were other cultivators of the same level, unless they practiced Body Cultivation, their physical constitution would only be about one to two thousand points, similar to Yuan Jing’s.

At such a level, if they encountered the deathly wind and melodies that could penetrate the Protective Aura, it wouldn’t be merely irritability that troubled them. Their hidden desires and rage could be triggered, turning them red-eyed and inclined to attack their teammates, which was not uncommon.

Therefore, others didn’t dare to resist it as he did and instead used spells to neutralize it.

The group continued to fly rapidly through the Tentacle Forest, with countless tentacles brushing past them, as if traversing a forest of black vines.

Ah!

Suddenly, a series of urgent screams came from ahead.

"What’s that noise?!" Yuan Xia Shanren’s expression changed slightly. Those who came here to explore, even the least powerful among them, were Fourth or Fifth Rank. Although few in number, each of them was formidable.

If something really happened, and others were unable to cope, it would be troublesome for them too.

Although the group heard the sound and was alert, they did not slow down at all.

On the Resentful Spirit River with numerous perils, the correct choice was to cross the river surface as quickly as possible.

Soon, the five people saw that two unknown cultivators touched by a wisp of black gas with white eyes had their essential blood drained in the blink of an eye, turning from living humans into skeletons in an instant.

"It’s Fate Demon Resentment Gas!!!"

Yuan Xia Shanren’s face went pale when he saw it.

"Move fast! You die if you touch that thing!"

Murong Jun, Zeng Zhuo, and the others also saw the tragic state of those two cultivators. Fearing for their lives, they quickly avoided the black gas and accelerated forward.

Fortunately, the black gas seemed to lack consciousness, drifting aimlessly with the wind, only occasionally twitching and changing direction.

Having narrowly passed by the black gas with white eyes, Lin Xin felt something strange.

The closer he got to the black gas, the more warm and comfortable he felt.

"What is this...?"

He suddenly discovered, to his surprise, that his Free Attributes column had inexplicably increased by two points.

From the previous 521, it had risen to 523.

Since he had just used up a large number of attribute points and hadn’t been hunting Void demon spirits on a large scale in recent years, he could easily confirm the increase in attribute points.

If merely being close to it could enhance Free Attributes... what about direct contact?....

Lin Xin’s expression remained unchanged, but his mind was pondering.

"Such strong resentment!"

Zeng Zhuo next to him couldn’t help but exclaim.

The Golden Talisman in his hand had lost its luster, without a hint of its original golden shine.

"I have it on me too!" Murong Jun said with some solemnity.

She extended her left arm, and there was a small section dyed black, turning her snow-white skin into a wooden-like texture.

"You can slowly dispel it with cultivation. We were just too close, but we didn’t make direct contact," Zeng Zuo said gravely.

Lu Qiaoqiao and Yuan Xia Shanren also discovered black spots on their bodies and were shocked.

"This Fate Demon Resentment Gas is truly formidable, worthy of being the resentment left by the Demon God King’s avatar over many years. I had heard that after Song Danhao unlocked the Ruined Tomb, he retracted the Demon God King’s avatar that had been left here, but the resentment gas was left behind. I didn’t expect it to be so malicious!" Yuan Xia Shanren sighed.

With his cultivation in motion, the black spots on his body quickly disappeared, turning into black gas dispersed into the air.

Lu Qiaoqiao was doing the same; with their exceptional cultivation, though they didn’t show their full strength, Lin Xin could roughly guess that they were at least of the Second Level of the Fifth Rank, Transcendental Realm, or even higher.

After flying away from the Fate Demon Resentment Gas, Lin Xin couldn’t resist looking back at the black gas with eyes. Among the five, he was the only one without any black spots, plus the inexplicable Free Attributes that had been transformed on his body.

He had a vague guess in his heart.

"We must be careful, many places within the Ruined Tomb contain Fate Demon Resentment Gas, and if we are not careful, it’s certain death," Yuan Xia Shanren warned.

The others, still feeling the aftereffects, nodded in agreement.

After flying for more than ten breaths, they finally saw a similar black riverbank in front.

Deep on the riverbank, there was a dark red fortress shaped like a volcano, with a large black wall surrounding it.

Outside the walls was a large field of gray-white tombstones, with red sparks drifting around.

The surroundings were enveloped in silence; the cultivators’ team that had previously crossed the river had disappeared without a trace.

After several teams on the Resentful Spirit River were divided by the Tentacle Forest, it was nearly impossible to follow any single team completely.

Twisting and turning at high speed, it took only moments for direction to become muddled.

Yuan Xia Mountain-dweller gently pressed down on the cloud beneath him, descending to the riverbank.

"Fellow Daoists, the place we are heading to is deep within this fortress, at the bottom of a spring."

Crack!

The sky was pitch-black, streaked with blood-red lightning, and a musty damp stench floated in the air.

The group was surrounded by darkness, illuminated only by the lentil-sized flame in Yuan Xia Mountain-dweller’s hand, which flickered casting a faint yellow light.

The crowd glanced towards the fortress.

The dark red fortress, as if smeared with fresh blood, was cloaked in a nauseating, sticky black blood hue. The fortress had the shape of a volcano with two auxiliary towers, their windows facing the group wide open.

Out of the pitch-black windows, gray-white curtains were being pulled out by the wind and flapping continuously.

"This is a place that regular exploration teams rarely venture to. It’s a remote location within Ruined Tomb. The trouble we might encounter is not small, so everyone should be extra careful," urged Yuan Xia Mountain-dweller.

"The outer ring is a Corpse Cultivation Ground, with at least Third-Rank and Fourth-Rank Yaksha Zombies," whispered Zeng Zhuo softly.

"I’ll take the left, you take the right," said Murong Jun in a low voice.

"Sure," agreed Zeng Zhuo.

"Such meager tricks. Do we really need to be so cautious in a place with such weak energy?" Lu Qiaoqiao showed no fear and took the lead towards the fortress.

The others tacitly agreed to let her lead the way. On this journey, everyone had noticed Lu Qiaoqiao’s temperament and chose not to care too much about it.

Lin Xin walked at the rear as everyone proceeded towards the fortress at an unhurried pace.

After passing the riverbank, they quickly stepped onto the graveyard.

Hehe...

Suddenly, a tombstone at the front of the team began to twist and melt, rapidly growing arms and legs, and its center split into a gaping maw as it advanced toward the group.

"It’s a Guardian Tombstone!" exclaimed Zeng Zhuo.

"Hurry up, these tombstone creatures are gregarious!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth when dozens of tombstones in the surrounding burial ground started to shake loose at the same time, melting and sprouting limbs, rising from the earth.

Whoosh!

A flash of pristine Sword Light appeared and disappeared in an instant.

Lu Qiaoqiao, wielding a white longsword that bore faint white flames akin to Lin Xin’s Purifying Fire, advanced.

But the effect was completely different.

A tombstone that she cleaved in two split apart and fell into countless pieces with the sound of collapsing rubble.

A ball of green soul fire shot out from inside the tombstone and entered the blade of Lu Qiaoqiao’s sword, seemingly plunging into a bottomless pit, without the slightest disturbance.

Her sword light flickered continuously, and in the blink of an eye, she had slain seven or eight Guardian Tombstones. The stream of green soul fires that continued to enter her sword blade was like entering a black hole, with no reaction whatsoever.

"It’s the Yin Refining Slaughter Soul Sword!" Lin Xin immediately recognized the foundation of the Swordsmanship that Lu Qiaoqiao was using.

The Yin Refining Slaughter Soul Sword was one of the most cruel and venomous famous Swordsmanship techniques among the Righteous Path.

It could imprison the souls of any living being killed by the sword within its blade, slowly refining them to nourish the sword itself.

This Swordsmanship technique could quickly cultivate the ferocity and power of the weapon and enhance its grade, but because it was harmful to the heavenly order, many cultivators abandoned its use.

Unexpectedly, Lu Qiaoqiao wielded it with great proficiency, although it was unknown what Realm she had reached.

If her Realm was extremely high, it was feared that the number of souls consumed would not be less than hundreds of thousands...

With her clearing the path ahead, the tombstone creatures couldn’t get close and were instantly slain by her sword.

The Zeng siblings occasionally took action, lighting Talisman Paper, isolating the surrounding death qi.

Yuan Xia Mountain-dweller would occasionally strike with a gust of yellow qi, accurately hitting slightly distorted areas in the air.

With every strike, the group felt they were getting a bit closer to the fortress.

Lin Xin, on the other hand, took out a small Array Plate and held it in his hand, ready for defense.

It was a Protective Formation he had refined himself, capable of enveloping everything within a five-meter radius in a silver Protective Shield composed of Runes.

Without any fancy design, it was the most concise Protective Shield, able to shield against any attack up to the Fourth Rank three times.

For Lin Xin, such Array Plate refinement was effortless; he brought it out now merely for show.

The group quickly passed through the graveyard and reached the fortress’ main gate.

Through the iron gate at the entrance, one could see a small circular pond inside, with gray-white skeletons and congealed blood plasma scattered at the bottom.

On both sides of the main gate, within the iron fence, stood four dark metallic centaur sculptures of long-haired, beautiful female centaurs.

The sculptures were somewhat old, but their exquisite craftsmanship was still evident, as lifelike as living beings.