Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 82 Danger Looms

Chapter 82: Chapter 82 Danger Looms

Unexpectedly, as Lin Xin offered the bone shard, Xiao Lingling did not take it, instead staring at herself somewhat astonished.

"Lin... Brother Lin, I’m not... I’m not..."

"Take it quickly, isn’t this what you’re here for? What are you hesitating for! Stop wasting my time!" Lin Xin was becoming rather impatient.

The footsteps from behind were drawing nearer, and Lin Xin decisively stuffed the bone shard into Xiao Lingling’s arms before turning and leaving.

Holding the bone shard, Xiao Lingling, for some reason, felt her eyes moisten.

"Brother Lin... is this how you see me?"

By this time, Lin Xin could no longer hear her, his figure swiftly disappearing around the corner of the passage.

Xiao Lingling stood alone in the corridor, and before long, a man and a woman arrived from behind— it was the Peng Yan couple they had encountered earlier on the stone bridge of the underground river.

"Little girl, where’s that boy?" Peng Yan immediately spotted the lonely figure of Xiao Lingling by the side of the corridor, "He’s not with you?"

Xiao Lingling closed her eyes, holding back the tears, then turned around with a seductively charming smile on her face.

"Oh, it’s Brother Peng and Sister Peng. Brother Lin just now heard some noise up ahead and seemed to have urgent matters to attend to, so he rushed forward alone. He asked me to wait here for a moment. Someone will come to meet me shortly."

Peng Yan’s eyes darted around, exchanging a look with the woman.

They had indeed seen the dead Song Jing in the tunnel; although there were many disciples in the sect, they recognized Song Jing who was ranked notably high. As an Innate Seventh Layer expert, his death in such a place was not something they could believe was the work of that boy they had just met.

"Seeing the traces of the fierce fight, perhaps some monster and Song Jing were both injured, and that boy saw an opportunity to follow," his wife guessed quietly at his side.

Peng Yan’s eyes lit up at once.

"Very possible."

Looking back at Xiao Lingling, they noticed that she seemed to have overheard their conversation, her face changing slightly as if their speculation had hit the mark.

"It must be so!" Peng Yan laughed aloud, "Let’s hurry and pursue."

"The two of you, please hurry! Brother Lin can’t hold out for long alone, but if you can get there in time, perhaps you can join forces and reap the rewards together. Otherwise, if you delay, the situation may change, and others might take the treasures!" Xiao Lingling, with her mind racing, urged them eagerly with a tender voice.

The two were about to take action when they heard this, but now they hesitated once more.

"You’re so eager for us to pursue; is there a problem?" Peng Yan’s wife narrowed her eyes menacingly.

"How could that be? Sister is just worried about Brother... Maybe by joining forces, they could turn strife into alliance and let bygones be bygones..." Xiao Lingling’s eyes shifted away, feigning a slightly unnatural demeanor.

The more she behaved this way, the more suspicious the Peng couple grew—they were both very distrustful people. Initially planning to accelerate their pursuit, but seeing Xiao Lingling’s behavior, they suddenly dared not chase at full speed.

"We’ll follow at a measured pace behind... There might be something that little boy is hiding," Peng Yan murmured at a volume only the two of them could hear.

The middle-aged woman gave a slight nod of agreement.

Having decided, they didn’t give Xiao Lingling another glance and headed towards the deeper parts of the passage, though at a much slower pace than before.

Xiao Lingling watched them from behind, a slight sigh of relief in her eyes.

"Brother Lin..." She looked down the corridor where Lin Xin had disappeared and couldn’t help but murmur softly.

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

Lin Xin walked for a while, replenishing his Inner Qi on one hand and checking the contents of Song Jing’s skin pouch on the other.

Jade Money, Gold Leaves, a bottle of black porcelain elixir with the red characters ’Qi Transforming Elixir’ written on its surface.

"Qi Transforming Elixir? No wonder Song Jing wasn’t worried about running out of Inner Qi and casually using his ultimate moves. He had this stuff." Lin Xin quickly opened it to find only three black, round pills inside. He examined one and it seemed normal, similar to the Qi Transforming Elixirs he had heard about, so he simply tilted his head back and swallowed it.

Once the elixir entered his stomach, before long, a gentle and long stream of Inner Qi slowly spread from his stomach.

Lin Xin quickly began to guide this elixir-derived Inner Qi, channeling it into his chest and converting it into Postnatal Inner Qi.

An Innate expert also utilizes Postnatal Inner Qi in actual combat and would not resort to their painstakingly accumulated Innate Inner Qi unless pushed into a life-or-death corner. Though Innate Inner Qi is much more powerful than Postnatal, once used, accumulating it again is extremely slow. It is the true foundation of an Innate expert; using even a little is losing a lot.

Lin Xin was also inwardly grateful.

If it weren’t for his last burst of speed being too quick, not giving Song Jing time to react, had Song Jing been driven to desperation and used his Innate Inner Qi, even several of him would not be enough to withstand Song Jing’s blows.

An Innate expert driven to use their Innate Qi could unleash a strength surpassing their own level by one to two levels. With Song Jing’s level, it was possible to reach even the explosive power of the Ninth Layer Great Perfection in an instant.

"An Innate expert pressured into a corner has the means to risk it all... No wonder they hold a higher status among the Postnatal inner disciples." Lin Xin had a moment of realization.

After safely storing the Qi Transforming Elixir, he rummaged through the pouch again and found a leather mask and a small scroll of yellow paper containing a letter.

As he hurried along, he took out the yellow paper letter and unfolded it for a closer look.

’Capture a transformed monster, half a jin of silver-haired horse-man’s black ash, one jin and eight liang of crow water. He Tianhe is bound to go to the heart of the cave to besiege the Witch of the Red Mansion. It is the task assigned to him by his teacher. Song Jing, you go first to deal with Lin Xin, and then join the others. If you can....’ The words that follow were torn off, and it remains a mystery why Song Jing did not destroy this letter completely.

"He Tianhe...." Lin Xin put away the letter, it was clear that there was someone behind Song Jing and the others directing the overall situation, targeting this person named He Tianhe.

He had once vaguely heard Dongyue mention that among the four young talents of Tingjian Valley, there was one with the surname He. He was a top genius similar to the Dugu siblings, somewhat arrogant and never condescending to join forces with others.

"Since he’s an enemy of Song Jing and the others, then he’s likely to be on the side of Master Ji Lu and our faction."

Lin Xin made his judgment.

"It seems in their eyes, I’m just a pawn that can be easily dealt with."

He couldn’t help but sneer to himself.

"And that Witch of the Red Mansion. No idea which demon from where that is, actually appearing in the Trial Cave."

The passage up ahead was becoming more and more spacious. Lin Xin sprinted forward; under the restoration of the Qi Transforming Elixir, his Inner Qi had recovered to about half of its full strength. He decided to stop, with the Solar Yang Talisman Sword in hand, half of his Inner Qi was enough to protect himself. He was not afraid of a half-Innate expert.

Traces of fights gradually appeared on the floor of the passage, and black bloodstains were scattered all over the walls and ground, not yet completely dry. Clearly, he was close to the battlefield ahead.

Lin Xin did not dare to go any further, so he sat down cross-legged on the spot and took another Qi Transforming Elixir, having used two out of the total three. He began a local meditation to adjust his Inner Qi. At this point, with Song Jing dealt with and enough bone fragments obtained, his purpose of entering the cave for the trial was fulfilled.

Further ahead appeared to undoubtedly be on the level of an Innate expert battle. Lin Xin was already thinking of withdrawing. His fight with Song Jing had been daring enough, utilizing the Solar Yang Talisman Sword’s explosion, covering up the traces of the Luminous Talisman Sword’s blast. It was already a risk, and if the Shu Family found out, the matter of the Shu Luoyi could also be exposed.

Now that he had used the Sword Qi Talisman and one of the Luminous Talisman Swords, facing a Seventh Layer expert like Song Jing was so strenuous, so confronting the Eighth Layer and Ninth Layer experts was definitely beyond his current capabilities.

"Best to quit while I’m ahead." Though he hadn’t been able to find Kong Yuhui and Cheng Ruofei, Lin Xin was already feeling the urge to leave.

This cave was astonishingly large; continuing to roam could take an indeterminable amount of time. Perhaps he might not meet Kong Yuhui and the others until the trial was completely over.

Thinking this, he decided to wait for the pursuers behind him to catch up and then see what the situation was.

Remembering the mask of Song Jing, he took it out again and toyed with it in his hand.

Suddenly, his expression changed slightly, and he inspected the mask closely, turned inside out, revealing that the back of the mask was covered with many fine Formation Patterns.

"Is this... a Magic Artifact?" He was surprised. A mask as a Magic Artifact, but what could it be used for?

He thought for a moment, then gently put the mask on his face.

In the dim light from the cave walls, he pulled out a bronze mirror from his bag to check his reflection.

The reflection showed a cold and arrogant young man with a completely unfamiliar face.

Lin Xin tried to inject a trace of Inner Qi into the mask, but there was no response. Clearly, the mask was a Heart Blood Sacrificial Refinement Magic Artifact by Song Jing; it would be wishful thinking for anyone else to operate it smoothly in a short period.

"Could it be that... Song Jing intended to impersonate someone to frame others? Or is this his other identity?"

Lin Xin carefully observed himself in the mirror, barely able to tell that he was wearing a mask. This leather mask was so delicate and lifelike, it was almost like a second layer of skin.

At this moment, footsteps gradually approached from behind.

Soon, two figures in black martial outfits caught up from behind the passage. It was the couple Peng Yan.

Lin Xin was about to rise with his sword to confront the enemy when, to his surprise, both of their expressions changed dramatically upon seeing him.

"He... He Tianhe!!" Peng Yan’s voice trembled with fear.

His wife turned pale as well, quickly stepping back, as if she had seen some fearsome monster.

"He Tianhe?" Lin Xin was startled for a moment, then realized that the mask he was wearing was of He Tianhe’s.

"Brother He.... How... how come you are here?" Peng Yan forced a smile, but his body was inching backward, clearly planning an escape.

Lin Xin’s heart stirred, not expecting He Tianhe’s deterrence to be so formidable.

Seeing that Lin Xin was silent, Peng Yan and his wife grew even more uneasy.

"Brother He, my older brother... he had no choice.... Please, noble one, forgive the ignorance of the lesser...." Peng Yan’s forehead was beaded with cold sweat.

Lin Xin’s heart moved, adopting an indifferent look, reached for the hilt of the Solar Yang Talisman Sword on his back, and slowly stood up.

The couple turned even paler with fear.

"Brother He! Brother! Please spare us a way to live! This is all the bone fragments we’ve collected, we’ll give them all to you! All of them!"

They hastily threw all the bone fragments they had onto the ground. It seemed their older brother had offended He Tianhe in some way, and the sight of this face was like a mouse facing a cat to them.

Lin Xin looked at the bone fragments on the ground, then stood up. The couple had shown killing intent towards him just moments before, and it would be easy to kill them now without anyone knowing. Yet, as he barely drew the Talisman Sword by an inch, a faint sound of voices came from the passage behind. It seemed like many people were rushing towards them.