Eternal Swordmaster

Lin Xin also felt for the first time that there were some miscalculations in his plan this time, with too many mistakes, he hadn't expected the Long-Eared Tiger to be this huge. He originally thought that these ancient people might have been exaggerating a bit, guessing it was just an average tiger, but he didn't expect it to be such a size.

He quickly ignited a bonfire with flint on the spot and then returned to the base of the tree to lift An Ying down.

The two of them rested by the side of the Long-Eared Tiger that had been tied up.

Lin Xin used rope to tie the Long-Eared Tiger to a thick tree, and by now, the blood flowing from its wound attracted many mosquitoes, flies, and other flying insects, which looked quite disgusting.

"Senior brother, what do we do now?" An Ying lay weakly beside the fire pile, where Lin Xin had given him an anti-inflammatory pill to take, made mainly from natural antibiotics like dandelions; his wound was also disinfected and should not be a big problem.

It was just a bit disfigured…

Looking at the wound on An Ying's neck, he felt somewhat guilty.

Thinking back to the urgency of the moment, there was no time for him to use any complicated techniques, there was no time for complex moves, only the most primitive, fastest, and fiercest sword technique possessed the lethal power.

He had just examined the Long-Eared Tiger's belly, where indeed there was a thin wound, but it was clamped shut by strong muscles, with not much blood flowing out.

Still not strong enough... nor fast enough...

"You rest well, with the bonfire here, other wild beasts won't dare to come," Lin Xin reassured her, coming back to his senses.

"Mhm…" An Ying nodded obediently and fell into a deep sleep, exhausted.

Lin Xin sat cross-legged by the fire, striving to make the fire burn brighter, as the woods felt somewhat chill. Even though it was still sunny outside, it didn't feel warm here.

Watching An Ying slowly fall asleep, Lin Xin took out the prepared medicine pouch and picked out a red one. He opened it and spread a large circle of it around the bonfire before tucking it away.

This was an insect-repellent powder, an essential to ward off poisonous insects in the woods; without it, it would be extremely dangerous.

The small pouch of medicinal powder was worth three taels of silver, which is roughly three thousand Renminbi; this time, half was used up in one go.

"Really extravagant," Lin Xin muttered to himself as he returned to the fire to treat his wounds with homemade alcohol. His injuries were not severe, mainly minor scrapes sustained while running, but they still caused him to grit his teeth in pain.

Then looking at An Ying's bloodied wounds, on his back, arms, legs, neck, almost everywhere, he resolved to properly compensate the guy later.

After applying the medicine, the Long-Eared Tiger finally came to as the effect of the medicine wore off. It seemed to regain consciousness and began grunting.

Howl…

Its whole body was tied to the tree, positioned as if hugging the tree, its tail also securely bound, leaving no room for movement.

The Long-Eared Tiger roared in an attempt to break free, but in vain; the ropes were too thick, and there were many rounds of them, not even leaving any slack for it to exert force.

Lin Xin went over, holding An Ying's sword which was obviously of much better quality, it seemed that the favoring uncle, Bo Yunzi, had gifted it specifically to An Ying.

He weighed it; the longsword was about one meter in length and weighed over five jin.

Hisss!

A sword slashed fiercely on the Long-Eared Tiger's forelimb, and the seemingly soft golden fur actually made a crisp noise when cut, resistance feeding back through the blade into Lin Xin's hand.

He gripped the sword with both hands and exerted all his strength.

The Long-Eared Tiger wailed in pain for a long time before he managed to open a cut.

Blood slowly flowed from the wound, wetting and reddening a patch of fur beneath, dripping onto the ground.

Lin Xin quickly held a prepared hide bag underneath to catch the blood, collecting for about half a minute before he staunched the Long-Eared Tiger's bleeding.

After spreading some insect-repellent powder around, he took out a water bag and washed the blood away from the edge of the wound. Once disinfected, he covered it with a layer of prepared gauze, thereby finishing treating the Long-Eared Tiger's injury.

Returning to the bonfire, Lin Xin quickly took out a medicine pill. Looking at the black medicine pill, he tried his best to control himself, not thinking about the disgusting things in it, nor the possibility of still-alive spider eggs or parasites.

Closing his eyes, he threw the Return to Origin Pill into his mouth and swallowed hard with a gulp of blood.

Gurgle…

A taste of rust filled his mouth... The blood was very thick, with a texture like a milkshake. However, it was mixed with a strong stench.

Gurgle…

He took another gulp, swallowing down the not yet fully consumed Return to Origin Pill.

"Since Uncle Bo Yunzi gave me this prescription, there must be a chance of success!" Lin Xin was determined at that moment.

Bo Yunzi had clearly placed the small booklet deliberately under his Secret Technique, which was obviously intended for him.

After all, Bo Yunzi had no reason to harm him.

Lin Xin stuffed the water bag aside and sat on the dry leaves, quietly feeling the sensation after consuming the pill.

Shortly after, a scorching hot stream emanated from his stomach, feeling as if a kettle was boiling inside his belly, Lin Xin couldn't help but clutch his stomach and curl up.

"Could it be poisoning?" He began to panic a bit.

But the changes in the attributes panel in front of him quickly dismissed this speculation.

The original attributes were "Damage—2, Defense—1, Evasion—1, Constitution—1."

But at this moment, a faint upward arrow icon appeared next to the constitution attribute.

"It's effective!"

A thrill of joy surged through Lin Xin's heart, knowing he had hope. Although his stomach churned tumultuously, scalding to the point of excruciating pain. As long as there was an effect, it was the result of his junior sister and himself risking their lives, and it absolutely could not be wasted.

For several days, Lin Xin and An Ying stayed put. When hungry, they ate their dry food, and when thirsty, they found water nearby. Thankfully, An Ying recovered quickly, and by the second day, she was able to move freely about. Although she was injured, it was merely a case of excessive blood loss, and her joints were unharmed.

After she woke up, she led Lin Xin to a stream from which they often fetched water. Afterwards, one of them guarded the Long-Eared Tiger while the other made a trip back to the dojo to fetch some items for washing and changing.

Lin Xin kept taking the Return to Origin Pill and gradually felt his body undergoing a special kind of change.

By the fifth day, the Long-Eared Tiger, bled and tormented, became as thin as a rack of bones and listlessly tied to a tree. Its cries turned into groans.

And Lin Xin finally reached the most crucial moment.

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

The sky was clear, void of clouds.

Red Pine City resembled a grey-white square block, neatly placed in the exact center, surrounded by a ring of dark green mountains.

The city gates bustled with merchants, farmers, and carts coming and going continuously. Around the city, one could see expansive, cultivated green rice fields with farmers toiling away in the fields.

A few figures dressed in green and wearing bamboo hats slowly walked up a grey-white mountain cliff a distance from Red Pine City. Standing on the edge of the cliff, they looked towards Red Pine City down below.

"How have things been these past few days?" the person in the front wearing a bamboo hat asked in a low voice. It was a man's voice, not very old.

"Guarded heavily, the Shu Family, city guards, and even two people from the Plum Blossom Sect are here," a woman in a bamboo hat behind him replied. "But they'll probably withdraw in the next few days. The Lin Family is only a local tycoon; they can't afford such expenses for long."

"Heard they have a son who is also from the internal martial arts?"

"Doesn't seem like it. He's said to be the eldest disciple of the Red Pine Sect, but with two Retainers here this time, it shouldn't be a problem," the woman in a bamboo hat spoke softly.

"Right, it isn't easy to run into an expert from the internal martial arts," the man paused for a moment. He then took a copper incense burner, about the size of a fist with a simple exterior and devoid of any patterns, except for the top densely covered with honeycomb-like small holes. White smoke continuously wafted out from it.

"The Ning Xiang is almost used up. Let's enter the city first, and make our move once they retract."

"What's the plan for the operation?"

"According to the sect's rules, spare no one."

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

In the dense forest

Lin Xin sat cross-legged on the ground, his eyes tightly shut, with his skin faintly suffused with blood-red, as if engorged. Upon closer inspection, these red spots were actually a large amount of blood oozing out of his pores.

An Ying kept watch beside him, anxiously. Seeing Lin Xin's condition, she knew it was a critical moment and didn't dare to disturb him.

Smoke from the campfire rose slowly, drifting through the tree canopy and dispersing softly.

As time ticked away, Lin Xin's muscles started to twitch slightly.

Following the recording method in the Return to Origin Secret Technique and under An Ying's personal guidance, he focused all his attention on the region around his heart.

He imagined all of his body's strength and energy gathering there continuously, forming a swirling sphere.

A hot stream, produced by taking the Return to Origin Pill, had completely condensed into a ball at his heart region, bulging like a lump on his skin.

Periodically, Lin Xin would rhythmically prod the surface of the sphere with his mind, imagining his consciousness turning into a needle, sharp and pointed, fiercely piercing the sphere.

With every stab, the sphere would release a large amount of heat, dispersing throughout his body, and then be gathered back to his heart region by Lin Xin's will.

This cycle had been going on for over an hour.

Lin Xin's initial excitement gradually turned to exhaustion, but he persisted. These were the conditions that An Ying had risked her life to create for him, and he could not let them be in vain.

Hiss…

Suddenly, a sound akin to a leak hissed into his ears.

Lin Xin's spirits lifted, his bloodshot eyes opened, and he glanced at the lump at his heart region, which was rapidly subsiding, and the heat in his body began to fade away.

"I've succeeded!!" A wave of immense joy welled up in his heart.

He immediately saw a new icon slowly appearing on the attribute bar in his vision below.

It was a pale red circle with a Taiji symbol. The instant his gaze moved over it, a piece of information entered his mind.

'Minor Return to Origin Technique—First Layer. (Damage+1, Constitution+1)'

What astonished him the most was that, upon entering the First Layer of the Minor Return to Origin Technique, there appeared four yellow plus signs next to each of the four attributes in the attribute bar.

"This is...?! Can I allocate points?" Lin Xin felt as ecstatic as if he had won the lottery, unable to contain his excitement.