Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 80 Intentions Part 2 (Please Vote and Bookmark)

Chapter 80: Chapter 80 Intentions Part 2 (Please Vote and Bookmark)

"An amulet?"

Lin Xin’s heart fluttered slightly. Could it be something with a special ability?

"Then, thank you, Lingling," he said with a gentle smile, "but the matter earlier can’t be resolved with just an apology. If something were to happen..."

"Yes, yes, I know, dear Brother Lin Xin!" Xiao Lingling answered with a light laugh, looking down at Lin Xin as the firelight cast upon her face, which for a moment seemed beguilingly attractive.

Lin Xin’s heart stirred slightly, but he looked away.

"I will take good care of it. Thank you, Lingling."

Xiao Lingling returned to her spot and lay down, watching Lin Xin from across the fire. As the flames flickered, she saw Lin Xin sitting steadily and gradually fell into a peaceful sleep.

Lin Xin stood up and glanced at Xiao Lingling.

"Could this woman really have fallen for me?" he pondered to himself. He quietly stood up, took out the pouch, and walked out of the recess to a tunnel where Xiao Lingling couldn’t see him.

He examined the pouch over and over. There were no runes, nor was there any trace of unusual powers.

"Could it be something like blood activation?"

He immediately dismissed the idea. Xiao Lingling was just an ordinary first layer disciple, unlikely to possess such precious treasure.

After checking and checking again, it was clearly just an ordinary pouch.

Lin Xin was suddenly annoyed.

"Is Xiao Lingling playing me or what?"

"Could she really have genuine feelings for me?" He considered her past actions and started to doubt.

But then he remembered how she looked when he first encountered Xiao Lingling, her readiness to use her body for a cause.

He felt disgusted.

"Genuine feelings? Heh..." He chuckled coldly and casually tossed the pouch aside, "Maybe there’s some other trick within it meant to calculate against me. A woman’s words can’t be entirely trusted. Giving me a useless pouch for no reason..."

The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. If Xiao Lingling had been bought by those he offended, even the slightest possibility could mean danger. After all, he had made quite a few enemies and had to be cautious.

He carelessly threw the pouch into a stone crevice and turned back to the fireside, quickly forgetting the matter.

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

In the icy blue underground tunnel.

After traveling together for a few more days, they had just eaten and set out when they faintly heard the sounds of a fierce fight ahead.

Lin Xin drew his sword and told Xiao Lingling to wait in the recess while he, strapping on his talisman sword, went ahead alone.

A hundred meters ahead, he saw three horsemen with black fur being effortlessly killed by two tall figures.

"Lin Xin?"

Suddenly one of them saw him and let out a low call.

"Zheng Xiuqin?" Lin Xin was surprised to encounter Zheng Xiuqin here. He had sought her out for revenge but had not been able to find her and had only picked on a few of her subordinates. Thinking she had not sought revenge, he forgot about the matter. He hadn’t expected to run into her here.

"Cao Zhonglin, help me kill him!" No sooner had Zheng Xiuqin recognized him than she turned and commanded the other person sharply.

The man, his face covered in black beard yet with a slender build, was wielding dual swords. Hearing the command, his eyes turned to Lin Xin, and a subtle trace of ferocity gleamed in them.

"He’s not of the Innate Realm, right? Can’t you take care of him yourself?" the man said in a deep voice.

"I need to concentrate on regaining my inner strength," Zheng Xiuqin replied coldly. "My brother was seriously injured by this man, and he’s still bedridden, which has set back his cultivation. Since we’ve encountered him here, let’s not allow him to leave alive."

"Fine."

Cao Zhonglin struck his dual swords together, creating a clear, ringing sound that indicated they were no common iron.

Lin Xin kept his composure and cautiously drew his longsword.

"Zheng Xiuqin, we don’t have a mortal grudge, do we? Isn’t this too much?" he said, trying to negotiate without revealing his trump card too early.

"Too much?" Zheng Xiuqin’s expression unchanged, "Considering you’ve made it this far, you must have quite a few bone shards, and together with our previous clashes, that’s enough reason."

Lin Xin’s brows furrowed tightly, seeing she was resolute. Without further words, he pointed the tip of his sword to the ground.

"Ha!"

Cao Zhonglin bellowed as his dual swords spun like whirlwinds, sprinting from ten meters away, charging at him.

Not making a sound, Lin Xin shook his sword, channelling his inner strength into a direct stab from above.

The dual swords clashed harshly with the sword tip, ringing out with a ’ding’. To his surprise, they were evenly matched. Both stepped back after the clash of weapons.

Cao Zhonglin was slightly taken aback, not expecting Lin Xin to also possess Innate Cultivation.

"He’s reached the Innate Realm already?" Zheng Xiuqin was also shocked, finding it unbelievable. She had paid a great price and put in tremendous effort to reach the Innate Realm.

And here was a junior who had been in the sect for only a year catching up to her so rapidly, his one year’s worth of progress matching the years of accumulation and the hardship and restraint she had endured.

Her grip on the hilt of her sword tightened. A flash of jealousy crossed her heart.

Seizing the moment of the opponent’s hesitation, Lin Xin stepped forward and launched a cross slash at his shoulder.

This was no special technique, just the basic use of imbuing inner qi, because ultimate techniques from swordsmanship couldn’t be used lightly. They consumed too much inner qi and would leave him vulnerable if they missed.

Lin Xin had been unaware of this before, often lacking in explosive power after a few moves due to insufficient inner qi. Following exchanges with the likes of Huang Shan and others, as well as battles with the horsemen, he had gradually adopted proper combat techniques without relying on talisman swords or artifacts.

Cao Zhonglin blocked the cross slash with one sword, while the other’s blade vibrated, stabbing directly at Lin Xin’s chest.

Neither used their ultimate moves, just basic sword techniques in continual combat. Lin Xin, having sparred with Huang Shan and others, and fought horsemen, had developed his own style and experience. As he maneuvered, he occasionally used the four swords on his back to block the opponent’s attacks.

Thus, even though Cao Zhonglin was experienced, he was unable to defeat Lin Xin immediately.

The two fought intensely for a moment, and Cao Zhonglin’s heart had grown slightly impatient, his dual swords suddenly glowing with a faint light, becoming much lighter in an instant.

"Take this!"

He roared explosively.

The swords, which had slowed down, suddenly accelerated greatly, thrusting straight toward Lin Xin’s abdomen.

Clang!

Lin Xin swiftly parried with his sword to block, the opponent’s speed was too fast, but thankfully he anticipated it and narrowly blocked the strike.

Crack. Among the cacophony,

he retreated several steps, raising his longsword in hand, the blade covered with innumerable cracks.

Whoosh.

The sword shattered into countless pieces, scattering on the ground.

"Interesting." Lin Xin looked at the remnants of his broken sword with a grim expression, then glared at Cao Zhonglin and Zheng Xiuqin as they slowly approached.

"Seems like you’re planning to attack together now?"

"Since we’ve started fighting, we certainly won’t hold back," Cao Zhonglin said with a smile, "you can’t run away."

A cold sneer formed at the corner of Lin Xin’s mouth, and he said no more.

His right hand slowly grasped the Solar Yang Talisman Sword behind his back, inch by inch drawing it out.

"Attack!" Zheng Xiuqin gave a low shout, and two Innates erupted simultaneously.

From slow to fast, both of them simultaneously caused their swords to emit a white light, their already swift sword speed doubling in an instant.

Three blades, with a slightly dazzling white light, lunged like lightning toward Lin Xin’s chest.

Hiss... The tips of the swords neared as they cut through the air!

Lin Xin abruptly bent over and ducked, his Talisman Sword drawn from his back.

"Inner Yang Energy!"

Boom!!!

A red firelight, like an explosion, instantly burst into a ring of fire amongst the trio.

The flames scattered, and the blinding light temporarily enshrouded the figures of the three, obscuring visibility for a while.

The cave shook violently, with a great amount of flames and sparks exploding against the surrounding cave walls and being extinguished by the ice there.

The bright light persisted for several seconds before it slowly faded.

Zheng Xiuqin and Cao Zhonglin, facing Lin Xin, had been blasted several meters away by the immense explosive fire ring.

Both still held their sword-striking pose, but deep, dark scorch marks were left under their feet where they were pushed back by the explosive power.

Lin Xin was also somewhat surprised. It was his first time using the Solar Yang Talisman Sword in the Innate Realm, and he hadn’t expected the power to be so immense—somewhat akin to the explosive power of the Luminous Talisman Sword.

"Is this... a Talisman Sword!?" Cao Zhonglin, knowledgeable and experienced, immediately recognized what Lin Xin had just used. He coughed a few times, gasping with difficulty, evidently injured internally.

"Inner Yang Energy combined with the Yang Charm Sword... So, it’s a Magic Artifact!"

Zheng Xiuqin, seeing the situation turning dire, turned and swiftly retreated backwards.

"The power of the Yang Charm Sword is too great, retreat!"

Cao Zhonglin wasted no time as well, turning to run.

"Think you can hit and run? There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world," Lin Xin scoffed coldly.

He took out two Luminous Talisman Stones and threw them with a flick of his hand.

He pursued closely, the Solar Yang Talisman Sword in his hand lit up with red runes once more.

The Luminous Talisman Stones caught up with the two and exploded in front of them, blocking their path.

Lin Xin caught up from behind, swinging a horizontal Cross Slash. The intense flames transformed into a crimson fire dragon, sweeping over the pair. The flames were about to engulf them in an instant.

Suddenly, he turned and parried with his sword.

Ding.

The Talisman Sword perfectly blocked a slender Golden Needle aimed at his back.

"Who is it!"

He stood firm after deflecting the needle, turning to look back the way he had come.

A figure slowly approached from the darkness.

"Interesting, truly interesting, you even have a Yang Charm Sword, the Elder has really treated you well...." Song Jing’s voice emerged from the darkness.

He walked forward with a smile on his face, sword in hand.

"As per our agreement, I’ve come for you, Junior Brother Lin Xin," Song Jing said, the dim blue moss glow casting a cold, reflective light on his cheeks.

"So, it’s you, Senior Brother Song." Lin Xin didn’t even glance at Zheng Xiuqin and Cao Zhonglin, who were fleeing in a sorry state behind him, his eyes narrowed as he stared at Song Jing, his expression unfazed.

"You’re here to kill me too, are you?"

Song Jing’s gaze first fell on the Solar Yang Talisman Sword in his hand, then moved to the three other swords wrapped in black cloth on his back.

Three more, huh...

A hint of seriousness and wariness flashed across his face.

"What do you think?" he said, as a translucent film of light slowly emerged in front of him.

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