Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 911 - 906 Starlight in the Darkness Part Two

Chapter 911: Chapter 906 Starlight in the Darkness Part Two

The remnant memories within the corpse of Song Ri Valley Master were slowly being inherited by Lin Xin at this moment.

Had it been someone else, memories of another Heavenly Venerable, perhaps he would have managed without any issues, easily digesting them.

But Song Ri Valley Master was a Taoist Ancestor.

And he was a Taoist Ancestor who had survived many great tribulations, with a lifespan calculated in tens of millions of years.

Even if it was only a small portion of his memories, the total amount still far exceeded Lin Xin’s mere thousand years of memories.

It was as if Lin Xin’s original memories were a cup of sugar water, while the remnant memories of Song Ri Valley Master were a pool of clear water.

Now the situation was that his cup of sugar water was being flooded by a pool of clear water.

If measures were not taken, his entire soul imprint could be thoroughly washed and flushed by the surging pool.

He would become, in a way, a rebirth of the Song Ri Valley Master.

Or, a monster reborn with the memory and personality of the Song Ri Valley Master.

The corpse of the Taoist Ancestor brought Lin Xin terrifyingly increased power.

But with it came an enormous price that had to be paid.

In the Abyssal Void, Lin Xin clutched his head tightly. He frantically thought about how to counter the memory wash of the Song Ri Valley Master.

Yet countless thoughts flashed by, and he still couldn’t find a way to resist the memory wash.

"No...!"

Lin Xin held his head and cried out in anguish.

In the distant Abyssal Void, several pure white octopus-like monsters quietly approached.

These were twisted creatures nourished by the Taoist Ancestor’s corpse for more than a year. Originally, they were among the few lucky survivors of the great tribulation, but after being nourished by the white substance from the Taoist Ancestor’s corpse, they again became strong.

Now, realizing the corpse was gone, these creatures, unwilling to give up, rushed towards the central area.

"The Water of Power... where is it, who destroyed the Water of Power!!?"

The three white giant octopuses roared, their sizes even larger than Lin Xin, at tens of thousands of Spirit Mile gigantic.

Their bodies emanated immense pressure, enough to destroy planets.

Lin Xin was already suffering from a splitting headache. Upon hearing the sound, he suddenly turned his head and saw the approaching monsters.

Without thinking, he raised his hand and pointed.

Whoosh!!

An energy beam of light red instantly fired out.

There were no skills, no runes, no need to mobilize the natural universe.

Just that one point.

A burst of pure high-energy condensed beam, carrying a destructive aura, shot toward the three giant octopuses.

Crack, crack, crack!

Three crisp sounds followed as the three creatures were easily pierced into a skewer.

Boom!

All the octopuses exploded, their fragments burned with white flame, and in a blink of an eye, were completely gone as if they had never appeared in this world.

Lin Xin seemed to feel a slight relief from his pain. His heart was filled with a fear that hadn’t surfaced in a long time.

Originally, he could easily suppress it, but he didn’t; instead, he let it develop naturally, swell, and grow bigger.

The Supreme Jiuyue Divine Wind Sword technique began to spin madly. He was trying to use the crisis and the threat of death to comprehend the Fourth Sword, Sword of Fear.

"No skills needed, no runes, no formation."

Lin Xin’s soul flickered, trembling.

"Rune Arrays, skills, and Taoist Intents are all to mobilize the power of the universe, to invoke greater power. It’s a form of borrowing strength.

As a Taoist Ancestor, one is self-contained, inherently part of the universe’s power, and becomes the subject others seek to borrow power from."

He seemed to understand somewhat the significance of beings like the Taoist Ancestor.

"Even if I want to borrow power, being a Taoist Ancestor, self-contained integration, represents part of the rules of the dark universe, its nature extremely extreme, something that the Immortal Realm cannot achieve. They themselves in their respective rules are already the strongest existence."

"So the war between Taoist Ancestors mainly relies not on skills, but on pure power.

The greater the innate power they represent, the stronger the Taoist Ancestor is."

But even understanding this, Song Ri Valley Master’s memories continued to wash over his own memories.

Countless information and torrents surged and collided within his soul.

The fear in Lin Xin’s heart grew stronger and larger.

"No... no... won’t..."

He muttered, eyes filled with madness.

"I won’t die... I won’t!!"

"People always die, you are no exception."

A voice spoke softly in his ear.

"But I won’t die here." Lin Xin’s face twisted.

"No one can kill me, not even myself! No way!!"

"You have gone mad..." the voice carried a hint of pity. "No one is undying, not even a Taoist Ancestor."

"So what, I won’t die... won’t... won’t... absolutely!!!"

Lin Xin couldn’t hear anything anymore.

His heart filled with surging fear.

"Even if you live, so what?" the voice continued. "Power, wealth, strength, beauty, whatever you want, as long as you beckon with your hand.

Why do you live? Why do you want to be undying?"

"For...." Lin Xin closed his eyes, as countless scenes and memories flashed across his mind in an instant.

"For.... freedom....."

Yes....

Since he came to this world, he had never truly grasped his destiny.

Nether Court, Evil God, Green Lake Mountain.

He walked this path, always trying to live peacefully, to pursue true freedom and security, free from all restraints.

This thought had formed an obsession a long time ago. It was deeply engraved in his mind during his countless struggles between life and death.

All his desires, everything.

All gathered into the only goal of ’Living Freely’.

This goal encompassed everything he wanted.

Completing the cause and effect, trying to escape the Nether Court, seeking greater strength, even wanting to return to the Earth before his crossing, his hometown.

All of this was encompassed in the goal of living freely.

At this moment, the Supreme Jiuyue Divine Wind Sword technique’s seal was operating, absorbing and devouring all the fear in Lin Xin, who was on the verge of collapse, compressing it.

Gradually, a twisted eyeball formed by the emotion of fear appeared deep within Lin Xin’s soul.

The Fourth Sword, Sword of Fear, first requires power of fear that is strong and pure enough.

But not the kind that follows a hysterical emotion, rather the power constantly teetering on the edge of maximum emotion.

Fear on the brink of collapse.

Time flowed by.

Lin Xin silently floated in the abyss. No one disturbed him, and no one could disturb him.

One year....

Two years....

Ten years...

A hundred years....

In the blink of an eye, five hundred years passed....

Perhaps no intelligent life could endure such prolonged fear and maintain calm at the moment of deepest fear.

But Lin Xin did it.

While keeping his inner fear at its peak, he operated the Supreme Elder Jiuyue Divine Wind Sword.

The sword technique devoured the power of fear, coalescing the fourth sword, Sword of Fear.

Any normal intelligent being could hardly imagine the feeling of existing in an extreme state of fear and panic for five hundred years.

Such was Lin Xin at this moment.

A normal human might need only a few days, weeks, or months in their most fearful state before their mind collapses, turning into madness.

But he did not.

In those five hundred years, he hovered near the brink of collapse countless times.

But he managed to pull back every time with effort.

The sword technique devoured fear for five hundred years until it finally took form and ceased its devouring.

"Is it over....."

Lin Xin opened his eyes, letting out a painful yet somehow satisfied sigh.

He opened his mouth.

A blood-smeared eyeball, filled with fear, pain, and avoidance, slowly floated out from his mouth.

The eyeball fell into his palm.

Poof!

The entire eyeball suddenly burst and scattered, transforming into a cloud of blood-colored mist.

When the mist cleared, Lin Xin held in his hand a long, slender blood-red blade, akin to a scimitar.

At the center of the hilt, a blood-colored eyeball filled with agony and terror was embedded, constantly turning and moving, threaded with veins, incredibly alive.

"Is this the Sword of Fear?"

Lin Xin carefully inspected and scrutinized the blade in his hand.

"Fear represents evasion and counterattack. Hence, the ability of this Sword of Fear is evasion and counterattack....."

He held the longsword up high, a gleam of fierce madness flashing in his eyes.

Swish!

The blade abruptly flipped over and stabbed towards the center of his brow.

Lin Xin watched intently as the sword tip pierced into his brow, yet it seemed to encounter nothing at all.

It was as though his body was completely a void, untouchable.

The entire blade of the Sword of Fear impaled into his body, yet did not touch anything substantial, as if penetrating into another space.

"Absolute void, just like the Sword of Rage, a thrice absolute immunity to attack damage.

That represents evasion."

Lin Xin muttered softly.

He turned the longsword horizontally again.

The back of the blade had three metal spikes, arranged like arrow fletchings on the left side of the blade.

At this moment, one spike was slowly disappearing.

"Three spikes, indicating the ability to evade three attacks. When the third attack ends, the Sword of Fear shatters, unleashing the power of counterattack...."

Lin Xin lightly wiped the blade, transforming it back into the eyeball, clutched in his hand.

"The instant the sword shatters, it can unleash a power impact equivalent to the combined strength of the previous three attacks received.

This is counterattack....."

"In fear, if evasion is impossible, then it must burst forth." In an instant, Lin Xin realized the best state and timing for using the Sword of Fear.

When confronted with an unbeatable enemy, absorbing the force of three attacks from the opponent to unleash a counterattack capable of at least injuring the foe even if not killing them.

Aside from these, what intrigued him more was the natural change in his cultivation upon successfully condensing the Sword of Fear.

The Supreme Elder Jiuyue Divine Wind Sword itself was a formidable sword technique capable of upliftment alongside one’s cultivation.

"The world is fair."

Lin Xin calmly placed the eyeball back into his mouth and swallowed it again.

"Whatever is gained must be paid for, at least as much or even more."

"So, if I desire freedom..... how can I achieve it?"

"What is freedom?"

"It means living without any constraints."

"Then what are constraints?"

"They are people, emotions, love, hatred!"

"If these were absent, would the world still have constraints?"

"Perhaps yes, perhaps no."

"Even if there were no living beings, there would be laws, natural laws that are still constraints."

"Rules....." Lin Xin’s arms hung by his sides, his eyes lowered.

"Rules, born from existence.... If existence itself were absent, could it mean freedom?"

No one answered.

After a long time, a low murmuring voice slowly arose.

"Yes.... without existence, without need to live, without need to think, eternal chaos is the closest thread to freedom...."

He raised his head, Lin Xin’s eyes filled with an indescribable distortion and madness.

"Therefore, only a world where I alone exist is the right world...."

Swoosh!!

In the blink of an eye, he vanished from the spot.