Eternal Swordmaster

As time went on, more and more Formation Talismans appeared on the Longsword's blade. The intensely generated temperature also kept rising. Lin Xin wasn't satisfied after inscribing one side; he flipped it over and continued until both sides were completely covered, with no space left to contain any Formation Talismans. Only then he wiped the sweat from his forehead and stopped.

The world outside the window was already brightly lit, with the faint sounds of birds chirping from the nearby mountains and forests.

Lin Xin's eyes were bloodshot after staying up the entire night. He took hold of the Longsword in his hand, and this previously ordinary blade was now densely covered with small Solar Yang Formation Talismans. The yellow talismans had almost turned the entire blade yellow.

"I wonder what its power is like..." Lin Xin couldn't help but think of channeling his Inner Qi to test it, but then he remembered that just last night, adding less than six talismans caused the black cloth to catch fire. He quickly restrained himself, no wonder the Solar Yang Formation is divided into five flags—it's to decrease the temperature.

"Now there must be at least three hundred on this sword blade! If I'm not careful and cause too big a commotion, that would be troublesome..." Lin Xin thought for a moment and then sheathed the Longsword back into its scabbard.

Now that the Formation Talismans had cooled down, they wouldn't have any effect without Inner Qi input.

"The Solar Yang Formation was originally used to control the temperature of an area. Now, I've concentrated hundreds of talismans, equivalent to sixty sets of Solar Yang Formation condensed into such a small area on a sword. If I channel Inner Qi into it, the power..." Lin Xin was somewhat looking forward to it.

Thinking for a while inside the stone house, he could not sit still and rested a bit.

Eventually, he could not resist, walked over, and drew the sword from its scabbard, gripping the hilt.

Focusing his mind and calming his breath, he tried hard to control his Internal Energy Core and only input a tiny bit of Inner Qi, about one percent of the total, flowing it into the blade through the hilt.

A Inner Qi finer than a strand of hair penetrated directly into the blade.

Whoosh!!

Suddenly, the entire blade turned red all at once, like a red-hot iron, showing a dark red color. The surrounding air instantly distorted, and a large wave of heat surged out, struck the surrounding walls, and quickly blew back, drying the air so much that Lin Xin could barely open his eyes.

"Impressive!" He quickly cut off the Inner Qi flow, and the Longsword gradually dimmed, returning to normal. But the entire stone house was already thoroughly warm, with the temperature having risen by at least ten degrees.

He was both startled and pleased—startled that he almost set the whole house on fire, and pleased that such a small amount of Inner Qi caused such a significant change. It was clear that this time, the integration of the array tool was truly a success.

"This ability of mine, applied to the Formation Path, is ridiculously powerful..." he exclaimed sincerely. "It's only because I can draw Formation Talismans without expending much mental energy that I would dare to inscribe so many talismans on a single weapon. After all, these things have a limited usage, they are consumables. Moreover, maybe I'm the only one with the ability to continue inscribing so many talismans onto metal without being hindered by increasing difficulty."

Solar Yang Formation Talismans, once drawn using the basic method, can last for fifteen uses according to the material's endurance limit. Each time, in an environment of around seventy degrees Celcius, it can last for one month.

But now that there are so many talismans grouped together, the material's endurance is likely to be significantly reduced due to the high temperature. It's uncertain how many times it can be used now.

"I should use it as little as possible if not necessary. It's better to keep it as an ace up my sleeve. But I can't use this sword carelessly..." After some thought, Lin Xin, who had previously made a set of Solar Yang Formation, decided to take it out for sale. Then another thought crossed his mind.

"I've just started and I'm already able to create formations. If this got out, it would definitely attract attention, so I must be careful and low-key. Once I have the power to protect myself, I'll slowly reveal my talents as if it were natural," he mused, now fully aware of his special abilities' formidable nature. Such a talent, if revealed, would surely bring endless trouble.

Next, he heated up the soup he had made earlier and made do with it for his meal. Then he collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.

He slept until the afternoon before slowly waking up. Looking out the window, the sun was almost setting. The pale red sunlight rested on the windowsill.

"It's time to take on tasks. Otherwise, my Qi-Blood progression will be affected. That Zheng Xiuqin and her people wouldn't just simply increase their Qi-Blood; those beans might have other effects too. Moreover, if I continue at my current pace and just cultivate properly here, it's likely I won't even reach the Qi Refinement Realm."

Lin Xin looked at the progress of his current Return to Origin technique.

'Offense—3, Defense—1, Evasion—1, Constitution—1.'

'Return to Origin technique—First Layer. (Completion 3%) (Offense +1, Constitution +1)'

"Just three percent, too slow... Even the First Layer is this slow. I need to find a way to speed it up."

Getting up from the bed, he fetched water from the tank to wash up while planning what to do next.

"It seems if I want to enhance my cultivation level, I need to find a better stone house or seek external forces to accelerate my progress. I'll go take on some tasks and earn some Jade Money first," he reasoned.

He quickly got ready and headed out towards the task stone wall.

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

Half a month later...

Under the dimming yellow sunset, three white carriages with silver linings slowly made their way towards the setting sun. Six splendid horses uniformly struck the ground with their hooves.

On either side of the dirt-covered carriage road, there was nothing but overgrown weeds, a good half-person tall.

As the carriages advanced, the road ahead gradually revealed a cluster of somewhat dilapidated white buildings. Some shattered walls and broken remains also started to appear along the road.

With a hiss, a yellow shadow dashed out from beneath a broken white wall on the right and disappeared into the deep grass.

The carriage drivers looked unusually tense, repeatedly glancing left and right—so much so that even their whip-cracking to drive the horses appeared gentle, as if afraid of disturbing something.

The distant white buildings gradually came closer, the houses lay abandoned in clusters, overrun with vines and trees, seemingly long devoid of human presence.

Caw, caw...

A few crows stood on the wall of a courtyard, cawing loudly, their red eyes peering in this direction.

"We're here. This is the place," called out a man in a white robe with the air of a noble son as he leaped from the first carriage. He had long hair tied up with a red jade, sharp brows, and fine skin, but his eyes conveyed a chill.

Soon after, the other two carriages opened their doors, and several people descended.

A woman in a blue long dress with a white veil over her face approached the man, carrying a Treasured Sword upside down in her hand.

"Big Brother Kong, is this the town mentioned in the task?"

The woman had a slender figure, with her full, rounded legs sheathed in black stockings that resembled carved long socks, glimpses of which peeked through the side slits of her skirt, and she wore long, semi-transparent white gloves on her forearms.

"Yes, we've been traveling for nearly half a month, and we've finally arrived," the man with the surname Kong nodded, speaking indifferently.

The rest of the group had converged at this time as well, consisting of two young women and three men, all seemingly younger than twenty-five and looking quite youthful.

One of the men, also dressed as a scholar with a longsword strapped to his back, had a delicate appearance and seemed less distinguished than the man with the surname Kong. Moreover, his longsword was wrapped in layers of black cloth, as if it shouldn't be exposed to light.

"Shi Family brothers, Jiang Yue'er, Cheng Ruofei, and Lin Xin," the man with the surname Kong turned, casting a glance at the others. "According to the agreement for this task, I am the leader for this mission. You don't have any objections, do you?"

"Of course not," the elder brother from the Shi Family, Shi Lei, sneered coldly, "but if you issue some death-warrant orders, don't expect us to comply."

"What are you talking about? How could Big Brother Kong be that kind of person? You can't accommodate others because you are narrow-minded and think everyone is like you?" Jiang Yue'er retorted, not holding back.

"Yue'er, say less..." The woman in green beside her, Cheng Ruofei, gently advised.

"I have no objections."

Lin Xin replied indifferently, standing apart from the group.

The woman with the veiled face smiled gently as well.

"Same here."

Lin Xin glanced at her; she was called Ouyang Qing, a somewhat advanced practitioner of the "Return to Origin" Second Layer, just like the man with the surname Kong, Kong Yuhui. Though both were newcomers of only a few years, they had some experience with tasks.

These two were also the team leaders for this mission.

"It looks like everyone is fine with it," Kong Yuhui said, ignoring Shi Lei's sneer and continuing, "According to the task schedule, we have to wait another five days before the Yin Blood Birds appear. To not miss a single one, we'll need to prepare thoroughly."

"So you mean to say, we came early to stay in this abandoned town for five days?" Ouyang Qing furrowed her brows slightly.

"Yes," Kong Yuhui nodded, "I had planned for some extra time in case of any unexpected delay on the road, but fortunately, we encountered none, so the extra time means we stay here for five days."

"Is the food prepared?" Ouyang Qing asked.

"The last whole carriage is full of it. We just need to find water nearby," Kong Yuhui instructed the coachmen to ride the horses back with two of the carriages, leaving one with the group to enter the town.

The group began to prepare their equipment as well.

Lin Xin, meanwhile, lifted his gaze towards the distant town.

A vast expanse of grey-white empty houses stood quietly on the grassy plains, uninhabited, with black gaping windows and broken doors scattered about. A faint howling could be heard in the wind.

He sniffed, smelling the faint mustiness mixed with scents of grass and trees.

All set, one of the Shi Family brothers and Lin Xin led the horses, pulling a carriage toward the town.

The other three coachmen left quickly as if their backsides were on fire with two of the carriages.

"I've arranged for them to come back for us in seven days," Kong Yuhui said, walking in front of the group. "Looking at this place, there might be some unclean things around. Did you bring the purifying water?"

"We did," "I brought it," they replied in unison.

Kong Yuhui said no more.

The group of seven slowly walked into the town, heading down the main road.

On both sides, the white-walled houses and empty dwellings receded slowly, covered in moss, vines, and overgrown weeds wherever they could take root.

They quickly found a large estate.

Black roof tiles, walls turned white and yellowed.

Passing through the main gate, there was a pond overgrown with green algae, surrounded by a mock hill and a grove of small trees encapsulating the pond.

Through the gaps between the underbrush and trees, the tranquil and gloomy opposite side of the estate and its dark corridors became partially visible.

"Let's settle here," Kong Yuhui chose this house.

No one objected as they brought the carriage inside.

"Pick a room to stay in for yourselves, preferably not too far apart. I'm going to check the location mentioned in the task," Kong Yuhui instructed.

"Big Brother Kong, I'll come with you," Jiang Yue'er quickly volunteered.

"Fine."

The two soon left the estate, disappearing outside the gate.

The remaining five were not idle. They swiftly picked out rooms, and fortunately, the estate was well-maintained with no significant damage, so everyone chose rooms close to one another.