Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 73: Sword Listening Trial - Part One

Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Sword Listening Trial - Part One

The sky was gloomy and dark, with massive, heavy clouds that seemed as if they could crush down at any moment.

The dismal land below was filled with continuous hills, the ground barren of vegetation, composed only of black rocks and mixed soil.

Some areas were piled up with debris of unknown materials, whether wood or metal, scattered about.

Crack.

A black boot accidentally stepped on a metal fragment, emitting a crisp sound as it broke the fragment in half.

Quietly, a procession of people dressed in black, resembling centipedes, slowly crawled over a hill toward a distant cluster of dilapidated building ruins.

In the group of people in black, each carried a longsword or a bundle, draped in black raincoats, heads bowed in silence, rushing towards their destination.

Among them, the one in the middle slightly turned his head to the right, revealing half of his pale jaw.

A flash of lightning occurred, and this person slightly lifted the corner of his raincoat to reveal a somewhat scholarly, delicate face—it was none other than Lin Xin, who had left the sect not long ago.

"Stop!"

Suddenly, a command came from the front of the procession, in the robust voice of a middle-aged man.

The entire group quickly halted.

"Remove the coats."

Everyone hastily ripped off their black raincoats.

Lin Xin also quickly tore off his raincoat, revealing the black outfit he wore underneath.

"Do you think?", muttered one disciple quietly, "that this Sword Listening Conference is really calling us up in the middle of the night, making us travel by boat for three days and nights, to hold it in such a broken place?"

"It’s not too bad, I guess. The seniors who attended before said that the biennial Sword Listening Conference is usually held in a different underground cave for trials, it’s just that this time we’ve traveled a bit further than usual," someone else chimed in.

"Our group is actually among the better ones; there are others who had to travel by land, tsk tsk, who knows how long they had to endure the exhaustion from the journey."

"They didn’t travel the same way as us?"

"There are a few other groups too, entering from different entrances."

Lin Xin listened thoughtfully, quietly folding his raincoat and securing it before stuffing it into his backpack. He had asked a tailor to design this backpack for him, similar to the mountaineering bags he used to use; it was very sturdy and had a large capacity.

By now, a month had passed since he had acquired his magic artifact, and there had been no news from the Sword Listening Conference until a few nights ago. Suddenly, someone came in the middle of the night, woke all the registered disciples, and led them straight on their journey.

If not for the confirmed practices shared by his senior fellow disciples and the sect elders, plus the formidable strength of their leader and explanations from those who had participated before, probably no one would have followed a stranger so abruptly leaving the sect.

Lin Xin had just hastily packed his things and then followed the group, boarding a large ship, each person was provided with a black raincoat, and they drifted along thereafter.

They passed several towns and vast uninhabited wastelands; it took three days to arrive at this desolate, eerie and dead place.

"Everyone, get ready." The leader’s voice came again. "Move forward."

The voice broke Lin Xin’s reverie. After walking a bit further, he looked up to see the group had entered an area resembling a town ruin, surrounded by broken walls and remnants, all bizarrely constructed from black stone.

The group slowed their pace, wandering through the ruins of the town.

Hiss... Someone suddenly let out a sharp intake of breath.

Lin Xin followed the sound and was slightly startled.

Behind a section of broken wall to the right of the group stood a cross-shaped wooden rack, on which was tied a decaying black corpse.

The corpse had its mouth open, its skin rotted away, exposing the black muscle patterns underneath, one eye reduced to an empty black cavity, its legs missing from the knees down, whereabouts unknown.

"This is flaying... torture..." someone whispered next to Lin Xin. She lifted her head, revealing a somewhat flirtatious and pale face.

"Miss Xiao, in such a rarely visited place, the presence of flayers undoubtedly suggests a high probability of demonic cultivators from the Demonic Sect. I wonder why our sect chose this place for the trials?" another person leaned over and spoke in a low voice, his face filled with concern.

"I have no idea," Xiao Lingling shook her head, her eyes also reflecting worry as she glanced at Lin Xin. "Brother Lin, have you ever encountered demonic cultivators? Do you know anything about them?"

Lin Xin shook his head.

"I’ve only been in the sect for less than a year like you, now only at the Second Layer of cultivation; there’s no time to delve into reading additional materials. The tasks for cultivation practice alone are overwhelming. As for the demonic cultivators, I’ve had no opportunity to meet any," Lin Xin spoke, his thoughts drifting to Mu Luozi who had died by his hands.

His advancement to the Third Layer and reaching Innate status was known only to a few people, and since he was always a loner in the sect, even if he had joined tasks later, the teammates who knew of his abilities had all died. Thus, only a few higher-ups were aware of his true cultivation level.

The Cave Sword Listening Conference was open to participants of any cultivation level; although it would be difficult to hide Innate cultivation, among the many disciples who were not well-informed, he could still achieve the element of surprise and conserve as much combat power as possible.

Therefore, he simply used a Concealment Formation to hide his aura, and it seemed to work well as even Xiao Lingling could not discern it.

"We’re just too low in the hierarchy, it’s a pity we can’t push into those seniors’ circle; we just have to stick together," another person came over and said.

These were friends who had a great personal relationship with Xiao Lingling, all males, clearly drawn by her charm as potential suitors.

"It’s a pity... If we were still in the gang, we could march with the experts of the gang." someone lamented reluctantly.

"It’s useless, since we’ve already left the Spirit Beads Gang, stop talking so dishearteningly. With Brother Guang here, if we stick together, we’re not without a fighting chance." Xiao Lingling’s eyes twinkled as she smiled warmly at a tall man standing to her left front.

"Ling’er, don’t worry. With me here, I will definitely keep you safe." Brother Guang confidently smiled, appearing calm and collected.

"We’ve arrived." A voice came from ahead at this moment.

The entire team immediately stopped, having already passed more than ten wooden racks with skinned corpses. The atmosphere of the team was also slightly solemn, with everyone on high alert.

Lin Xin looked forward, seeing directly in front of the team a half-collapsed stone cottage, devoid of a door, pitch-dark without a single ray of light. Chilly winds whistled intermittently.

The leader of the team was a gaunt old man with a goatee, clad entirely in black, with three blood-red scars on his right cheek, giving him a fierce appearance.

"I am Yuan Xiong, the Supervisor of this entrance. A Guardian of the entrance who is a Foundation Establishment Steward will soon arrive. Mind your manners," he declared.

"Yes." The team responded in a scattered fashion.

Yuan Xiong slightly shook his head, seemingly disappointed with the team’s discipline. The entire team just stood there in the ruins, waiting.

Some people even began to practice their Inner Qi, while others silently checked to make sure there were no issues with their preparedness.

Others were forming close bonds, starting to form small groups and alliances.

Those in gangs formed their own groups, and the solo practitioners also formed small teams; hence, the whole team of forty or fifty people split into six groups.

The Spirit Beads Gang and the Poison Gang each had leaders coaxing people to their sides, the rest of the four groups were made up of individuals.

Lin Xin walked to one side, preparing to act independently. Others with similar plans either appeared aloof or were silently waiting.

"Brother Lin, why don’t you join us? It would be more convenient to look out for one another," Xiao Lingling came over and whispered.

"Join you?" Lin Xin was about to decline, as he had planned to meet Kong Yuhui and Cheng Ruofei. However, just as he was about to speak, he felt as though someone in the shadows was secretly watching him.

Upon further thought, before meeting up with the two, he decided to stick with Xiao Lingling and others to avoid encountering danger and prematurely revealing his strength. When he met up with Kong Yuhui and others, he could just leave the group.

"That’s fine, but I’ve arranged to meet some friends and will have to leave the group to join them later," he forewarned.

"No problem." Xiao Lingling was just an ordinary First Layer disciple, unaware of Lin Xin’s accomplishments during this period, as those matters were secret.

"You can fully leave by yourself later. Having one more person now is still an extra pair of eyes to watch out," she reasoned. What she valued was that like Brother Guang, Lin Xin was also a Second Layer Inner Family expert. Although the difference between the First and Second Layers wasn’t huge, it represented a considerable amount of combat power.

In this group of low-level disciples, the only standout individuals were those few Second Layer and Third Layer experts. The Third Layers were in the Spirit Beads Gang and Poison Gang, one on each side, acting as leaders.

The Second Layers were the most formidable after that. Only five individuals were at that level, and Brother Guang was one of them.

In such a low-level group, where everyone else was inferior, Brother Guang naturally had his confidence inflated a bit.

Seeing Xiao Lingling being so accommodating and enthusiastic towards Lin Xin, he coughed, a flash of dissatisfaction in his eyes, about to speak.

Flap flap...

Suddenly, a dark shadow flew over everyone’s heads, accompanied by the sound of huge flapping wings.

Amidst the clanging sounds, everyone was startled and quickly drew their swords.

"Stop! It’s Brother Ouyang from the Sect!" Yuan Xiong shouted loudly.

The disciples then all relaxed.

Lin Xin did the same. When that dark mass flew over their heads, the sudden massive wind and pressure made it hard even for him with his Innate Cultivation to breathe. He, too, was startled, not to mention the other low-level cultivation disciples.

Upon hearing Yuan Xiong’s voice, he quickly looked ahead.

The dark mass was gradually landing next to Yuan Xiong, turning out to be a white dove as tall as two stories.

The giant white dove had dark red eyes and snow-white feathers without a single speck of another color. It quietly crouched on the ground, still as can be.

It was as if a regular white dove had been magnified countless times, those dark red eyes staring at the group, giving off a chilling vibe.

A middle-aged woman in white clothes, blind in one eye, was riding on the back of the dove. Instead of carrying a longsword, she held a wine gourd in her hand, drinking from it while coldly scanning the entire team.

"I am the guardian of this entrance. You don’t need to know who I am, just understand the rules of this trial. Whoever first collects twenty Blood Beast skulls and then leaves the cave alive will pass the trial."

"Of course, the more skulls you get, the higher your rank."

She finished speaking and, ignoring the reaction below, continued to drink her wine, closing her eyes to rest.

Yuan Xiong grinned, gave the woman a nod of respect, then turned to face the group.

"There are four exits; you can choose any to leave. Remember, the rule is to gather skulls within a month and come out alive. I don’t want to see fratricide or fellow disciples killing each other. Inside, a silver Blood Beast skull counts as ten normal skulls, and a transparent skull counts as ten silver skulls."