Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 733 - 728 Method II

Chapter 733: Chapter 728 Method II

Clang.

The wine cup fell to the ground.

Dragon Serpent sat upright, feeling his strength rapidly draining from his entire body.

He mustered all his strength to stay seated properly on the long couch, with his hands resting on his knees and his eyes lowered.

Just as he was when he first merged with the Dragon Serpent Realm and ascended to the throne.

This was his last dignity as the Realm Master.

The lights of the inner sanctum, which were arranged in two long rows, also began to sway gently.

"Farewell... my everything..."

He finally closed his eyes gently, a look of serenity crossing Dragon Serpent’s face. He remained seated, looking from afar as if he had fallen asleep.

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

Lin Xin walked slowly through the inner sanctum, a place he seldom visited.

Firstly, there were often many traps and seals of formations inside, which made entering and exiting extremely troublesome.

Secondly, it was the bedchamber where his master’s wife, who had also passed away, used to live; it belonged to the inner rooms, into which men, other than her husband, should not intrude unless necessary.

This was a matter of etiquette.

As a disciple, he naturally adhered to it.

It was only because he hadn’t found Dragon Serpent Honored Master in the front hall that he asked Blood Dragon and Dao Soldier, and learned that the master had gone to rest in the inner sanctum.

Given the urgency of the situation, he could no longer care about these protocols and headed directly into the inner sanctum through the passage.

Twisting and turning along the way, it took Lin Xin quite some time to navigate the inner sanctum.

Everywhere he looked were dark corridors and passages, walls adorned with torches burning an eternal Spiritual Fire, all steeped in silence.

Even the Dao Soldiers were few and far between.

"What’s going on?"

A bad premonition began to loom in Lin Xin’s heart.

Normally, as soon as they arrived, Dragon Serpent Honored Master, with his abilities, would instantly detect his disciple’s presence and meet him in the front hall.

There had never been a time like now, so out of the ordinary.

But considering the Honored Master’s severe injuries and poisoning, his extreme weakness, it was understandable if he did not sense them.

Upon this thought, Lin Xin calmed down again.

After passing through another long corridor, he turned a corner and saw a broad bedroom-like chamber directly ahead.

The furniture in the room—the tables, chairs, wooden bed—were all a light yellow, giving off a sense of warmth.

Two sheets of white paper were placed on the table, each held down by a jade paperweight.

With a slight frown, Lin Xin stepped forward and gently lifted one of the white papers. Written on the top surface were the characters "Lieshan," clearly a message left for him.

He unfolded the letter gently, and with small, clear handwriting, it read:

"At the end of the inner sanctum, take the Earthfire Nine Spirit Beads and leave with them overnight. Remember, you must not reveal them to anyone. I am gone, and from now on, it will be up to you..."

Suddenly, Lin Xin’s eyes widened, and a surge of indescribable agitation burst forth in his heart.

"No! Honored Master!!"

He dropped the letter, his figure flashed like lightning, and he appeared in front of another door leading out of the room, as if he had teleported.

Boom!

The door was directly smashed to pieces, breaking into countless fragments.

In the vast and cold inner sanctum, Dragon Serpent sat regally on the couch, his eyes tightly shut, no longer making a sound.

"No!!"

Lin Xin appeared instantly beside Dragon Serpent, placing his hand on the master’s shoulder, and a surge of Taiqing water gushed out, flowing into Dragon Serpent’s body.

Inside, it was empty, as if the building was deserted, devoid of any True Yuan.

For the first time, Lin Xin’s eyes moistened, and with a shake of his large sleeve, a silver Array Plate flew out, from which four clusters of bath-fire essence shot forth.

He pried open Dragon Serpent’s mouth, controlled the bath-fire essence to dive in, and then closed it again.

Boom!

Dragon Serpent’s entire body suddenly ignited, resembling a giant torch. His body was shrouded in red with hints of white and gold, a strange and extraordinary flame.

"No!!!"

Lin Xin slapped Dragon Serpent’s chest fiercely, and torrents of his True Yuan surged out, starting to circulate along Dragon Serpent’s meridians, stimulating and helping restore the body.

But the body was already cold, and the black toxic energy from behind him no longer appeared; a Vermilion Pearl lay scattered on the ground.

"Again!!"

Lin Xin stuffed the second cluster of bath-fire essence into Dragon Serpent’s mouth.

Then came the third!

The fourth!!

All the bath-fire essence was crammed into Dragon Serpent’s mouth at once, and with the aid of Lin Xin’s own True Yuan, the absorption and refinement accelerated, integrating into Dragon Serpent’s body.

The scorching bath-fire essence was hot, but it could not harm the body.

This was the Life Fire, the source of life, where the vitality of a world resides.

Time passed, little by little.

Lin Xin’s expression grew increasingly pale.

Had it failed?

A sense of complete despair fell over his heart.

Looking at the Poison Wine Cup on the ground, he quickly pieced together the cause and effect: the Honored Master had actually committed suicide.

He understood that if he did not die, his two disciples would never leave him.

Rather than have all three of them die together, it was better for him to go first and save his two disciples.

"Master..."

Lin Xin finally couldn’t hold back the tears, which slid down his cheeks.

For so many years.

How many years had it been since he had last shed tears?

Having reached such a level in his cultivation practice, he had gone through too many emotions and desires. He thought he had long since lost the ability to cry.

But for some reason, at this moment, he felt as if a massive boulder was pressing down on his chest, a sour sensation rising from the depths of his heart to his eyes.

Thump!!!

Suddenly, the Dragon Serpent spat out a pool of black blood.

The power of the Life Fire surged, burning even more fiercely.

"I... I’m not dead?!" His voice was faint as he slowly opened his eyes, wearing a look of pale confusion.

The first thing he saw was Lin Xin with tears streaming down his face and the Life Fire burning around him.

"Life Fire!!? The Array Plate!!"

He was immediately shocked.

But very soon, he could no longer utter another word.

Four portions of Life Fire rushed into him, when originally the slimmest chance he had left for survival would have been enough with just one flame.

It was just that the effect was a bit delayed, which scared Lin Xin into stuffing it all into him at once.

Now, memories related to life from countless small worlds, memories of different realms, swarmed into the Dragon Serpent’s soul.

This was not a capacity that a Fifth Rank or even dozens or hundreds of Fifth Ranks could compare with.

This was the memory of life of an entire world.

The sheer volume instantly caused the Dragon Serpent’s soul to swell and cracks to form as if it could explode at any moment.

Luckily, his Soul Life Fire was already extremely faint and weak.

Through the emerging cracks, ample Life Fire overflowed, starting a comprehensive transformation of his soul.

Such a weakened Soul Body actually facilitated the alteration by Life Fire, encountering less resistance.

Lin Xin was overjoyed and swiftly backed away to a safe distance, carefully sensing and observing his master’s changes.

He seemed to understand that he had been too hasty, causing some trouble.

The Dragon Serpent carefully perceived the nurturing of the force of life as it was born and grew, experiencing the most primal memories of life, death, and Yin Yang.

Strand by strand, the purest and deepest life energy began to be nurtured anew within his Soul Body.

Hum!!

In an instant, a circle of transparent ripples spread fiercely from the Dragon Serpent as its center.

The ground slowly exuded White Light, which, resembling the surface of a lake or pond, astonishingly gave birth to white lotuses one by one.

"This is... the Earth Purity White Lotus?!" Lin Xin’s breath hitched—this was a phenomenon associated with gods and buddhas from legends.

More and more white lotuses formed on the ground, locking all the fluctuations and breaths that the Dragon Serpent released within this inner hall, preventing any leakage.

The Dragon Serpent’s body slowly levitated.

Golden flames burst frantically from his seven apertures.

Hiss!!

In an instant, all the phenomena abruptly converged, raging towards the Dragon Serpent’s body and being voraciously sucked in.

White lotuses, White Light, ripples, and even the flames, everything, as if twisted by some force, thunderously got sucked into the Dragon Serpent’s mouth and vanished.

Everything once again became completely serene.

The Dragon Serpent’s body slowly descended, his eyes tightly shut. There was no further movement.

Lin Xin carefully waited for a while, but seeing no response,

"Honored Master?"

he called out quietly, tentatively.

The Dragon Serpent slowly opened his eyes, extended his hand, and gently spread it open.

A pure white seed in his palm sprouted, rooted, and grew, sprouting green leaves and a bud, which then softly opened to reveal a delicate white flower.

"It’s all right... It’s all right..."

He gently looked towards Lin Xin not far away, his eyes filled with tranquility.

"Everything is all right..."

An indescribable and ineffable aura slowly emanated from him.

A faint golden halo appeared behind his head, the natural occurrence of Spiritual Light.

The Primordial Spirit Holy Light, unique to the Heavenly Venerable.

"Honored Master, could it be that you...?!" A thought emerged in Lin Xin’s heart, his eyes widening as he looked at the Dragon Serpent.

"Thanks to your Life Fire, your master has realized the nurturing of the great path of life and death, Yin Yang, and soon I will reach the realm of the Heavenly Venerable!"

The Dragon Serpent smiled and nodded.

He stood up and slowly approached Lin Xin. In his eyes, there was satisfaction and gratitude; had it not been for Lin Xin’s final arrival, infusing him with four bulbs of Life Fire, this turn of events would have truly been impossible.

Such a treasure as Life Fire was hard to come by even for Lieshan, who had just stepped into the Earth Immortal realm. One could imagine how much sacrifice and fortune acquiring it must entail.

Yet Lin Xin had given it all to him without hesitation. The enormity of this gesture deeply moved the Dragon Serpent’s heart.

Having such a disciple was indeed a great fortune!

He inwardly exclaimed with emotion.

"It’s just that, the Life Fire has made you suffer..."

He extended his hand and gently touched Lin Xin’s face, his True Yuan revolving, evaporating and dissipating the tears.

Lin Xin slowly closed his eyes and bowed his head, heaving a deep sigh of relief.

"As long as the Honored Master is fine!"

Hiss...

An extraordinary fluctuation suddenly spread into his body.

The injury that was previously caused by forcibly tearing the Array Plate, now seemed to be naturally healing due to this fluctuation.

"This is...?!" A jolt went through Lin Xin’s heart.

In just a brief moment, all his injuries completely healed, and even the lingering hidden injuries in his body disappeared without a trace.

The Dragon Serpent let go of his hand. That inexplicable ethereal aura also gradually disappeared.

"Thanks to your Life Fire, not only has your master’s injury fully recovered, I have also comprehended the key crux of the Heavenly Venerable’s path. It is a blessing in disguise.

However, we must keep this matter to ourselves for now."

He earnestly instructed.