"What is this...?" Lin Xin reached out and picked up the small bell.
The tinkling sound imdiately spread from the bell, clear and euphonious, yet with a subtle ethereal quality.
"The Hundred Flowers Bell, a good item I acquired years ago when I annihilated a Heretic Sect. Its power is diocre, but it excels because it consus very little energy and works silently and inconspicuously, catching people off guard." Pudu Sheng smiled, "Most importantly, the owner of this bell was also a cultivator of musical cultivation techniques. It seems to hide so secrets."
"You’ve thoughtfully rembered." Lin Xin truly hadn’t expected Pudu Sheng to still rember him. Their old friendship still existed, and he was slightly moved.
"We supported each other at the beginning to build such a foundation; naturally, our relationship is different," Pudu Sheng remarked sentintally.
Spiritual Energy slowly flowed into the bell, and Lin Xin imdiately felt a stream of cold energy settle within the bell, as if he breathed in a special kind of flower fragrance.
Ting tang...
The sound of the bell echoed continuously within the palace, while runes of white light erged on the surrounding walls, defending against the invisible impact of the sound.
"Is this its greatest effect?" Lin Xin increased the speed of Spiritual Energy input to its maximum, imdiately intensifying the fragrance emitted by the bell and the sound slowly growing denser, as if many sounds were spreading simultaneously.
But if you were to talk about actual combat effectiveness, it seed far too weak. The bell’s greatest effect was rely to affect the minds of cultivators of the sa level; it lacked any real attack power.
For so reason, however, Lin Xin felt that the bell was not as simple as it appeared.
It seed that sothing wasn’t fully activated.
"This thing seems quite intriguing." He casually tied the bell to the hilt of the Red Flower Sword.
"As long as you like it," Pudu Sheng smiled, "I’ve consulted a few State Preceptors. This thing is not as simple as it looks. You might want to study it carefully."
"Yeah." Lin Xin nodded, "Staying here for half a month won’t be a problem, right?"
"Feel free, just treat it like your own ho," Pudu Sheng imdiately chuckled.
The friendship between the two over so many years indeed made this no big deal.
"Co, let toast you first." He lifted his tea as a respectful gesture to Lin Xin.
After drinking tea instead of wine, Lin Xin was led by a maid to rest.
Pudu Sheng watched Lin Xin leave and a long sigh echoed through the palace after a while.
"Your Majesty, the ssage you sent to this old monk earlier was...?"
A vague void shadow appeared in front of him, seemingly an old monk wearing a hat, but his body wasn’t solid, rather in so indescribably blurry state.
"Master... that stranger has appeared."
"Oh?!" The old monk suddenly perked up. "Your Majesty, did you, as I instructed, give him that item?" he asked anxiously.
"I’ve given it to him," Pudu Sheng nodded, "He still treats as a friend, unfortunately..." his expression slightly somber.
"Your Majesty need not feel this way. For the great cause of empire, necessary sacrifices are inevitable. If that stranger knew that he could sacrifice himself for your grand sche, becoming a glorious Chapter recorded in the history books, he would surely feel grateful and honored," the old monk consoled.
"I don’t care about those. I only hope, Master, that you will swiftly handle it and try not to damage his core when taking control. If we can’t bring the item back to his country, that would be troubleso," Pudu Sheng solemnly advised.
"This monk understands," the fuzzy old monk nodded slightly, then turned and walked towards the palace gates.
"Your Majesty, just wait for good news from this old monk."
After the mysterious old monk left, Pudu Sheng’s expression turned complex.
"Don’t bla ..." he murmured, "such a necessary exchange channel, completely dependent on your will, is far too disadvantageous for ..."
Since Lin Xin mysteriously vanished years ago, his situation had grown exceptionally difficult without absolute financial backing. Upon contemplating this, he resolved to find a way to completely obtain this miraculous trade route. Thus, he approached Wan Nian, the Master of the Lockheart Sect.
Thus, all the arrangents at this mont. The bell was not any war trophy acquired from annihilation, but rather, a special talisman for embedding a spy into the soul, made from the Lockheart Sect’s Control Heart Bell handed down by Master Wan Nian.
*********************
Outside the gate, Lin Xin, led by a maid, headed towards the side palace.
He fiddled with the mysterious bell he had just received. His expression was complex.
"Pudu Sheng..."
Removing the bell from the sword handle, he looked at the maid in front, whose cold-faced reflection was smiling back at him.
Shick!
A flash of blood.
A stream of Sword Light shot from Lin Xin’s fingertips, piercing through the maid’s neck.
Hiss... the blood, as if alive, gathered towards Lin Xin’s position.
Then it entered a blood-colored rune that appeared before him.
"Perfect for the Gathering Spirit of my Giant Mageline Technique," he said calmly, watching the maid rapidly shrivel as all her Essential Blood was absorbed into the Demonic Arts rune.
The palace was eerily empty, not a guard in sight, only a distant lamp shining on patrol.
Lin Xin held the bell, pinching its interior to keep it from making a sound.
"Pudu Sheng, you ultimately couldn’t contain your own ambition."
With his sharp senses, he had long since sensed sothing amiss.
And the mont he touched the bell, a subtle chill energy attempted to penetrate his skin, but his strong bodily resistance slowed it considerably. Lin Xin imdiately detected the issue and resisted it.
In the cold and silent palace, even the lamp light of the last maid gradually vanished. In the deathly silence, as if the vast palace complex had only him standing in the corridor. Looking ahead and behind, endless rows of stone columns and tiles stretched out.
"Too bad..." Lin Xin casually threw the bell, wrapping it with force as it slowly flew off.
Simultaneously, his hand slowly grasped the handle of the Red Flower Sword, his gaze locked on the bell’s location.
"Benefactor...."
Suddenly, a blurry void shadow appeared behind him out of nowhere.
"That is a strange secret treasure laboriously collected for you by the king. If it’s not to be used, why plan to destroy it?"
The void shadow was faintly emitting white light, its figure gleaming brightly, conspicuously resembling an old monk wearing a bamboo hat.
"Who are you?" Lin Xin did not turn around, yet he felt a mysterious force locking onto him, ready to lash out like a storm at the slightest movent.
The old monk gently pressed his palms together towards him.
"I am Wan Nian, a loyal subject under the king’s command."
"Wan Nian?" Lin Xin slowly turned around to face him directly. "Did Pudu Sheng send you?"
The old monk smiled. "The king still can’t bear to be harsh with you. All of this was my own decision."
"I guess he must want you to control my mind, to fully master the control of this trade resource channel, right?" Lin Xin said calmly.
"The benefactor sees clearly," Wan Nian said, smiling and bowing with his head lowered.
"Unfortunately..." Lin Xin also began to smile, but it was tinged with a hint of lancholy and helplessness.
"Unfortunately what?" asked Wan Nian, puzzled.
"Unfortunately... I originally didn’t want to..."
With a booming noise, the ground where Wan Nian was standing shattered explosively, and a massive bloody mouth bit viciously upwards with incredible speed.
Wan Nian was startled and leaped upward.
But dozens of black and red vines had already shot out from the ground, winding towards him in mid-air.
"Lin!"
In the face of peril, Wan Nian uttered a mantra, transforming into a solid, spotted sound wave that radiated outwards, dispelling the encircling vines.
Imdiately, the force of the dozens of vines was nullified, drooping limply as he seized the chance to fly forward.
But suddenly, dozens more vines wrapped around his legs, pulling his body harshly in mid-air.
Yin Mantuo erged from the ground, its gaping maw horrific, looking greedily at Wan Nian in mid-air, emitting a sticky salivating sound.
"Zhen!"
Wan Nian switched to another mantra, generating a much larger shock, but this ti it was ineffective.
The vines clung firmly to his legs without letting go, pulling down fiercely.
Lin Xin watched him being abruptly pulled into the crimson, serrated mouth of Yin Mantuo. Along with him, a multitude of bricks and soil were swallowed.
Essences of his soul slowly entered through his skin, funneling into the Return to Origin vortex within.
Yin Mantuo chewed satisfyingly, emitting sounds similar to those of an animal.
Its body, unrecognized, had grown to over six ters tall, surrounded by countless dense vines that blocked the sun, making it impossible to discern their number.
"It seems he truly has lost power," Lin Xin muttered, shaking his head slightly. This much disturbance, yet no guards or masters from the palace intervened—clearly, Pudu Sheng no longer held power as before."
"Let’s go, Yin Mantuo."
With a casual command, Lin Xin turned to leave.
"Benefactor."
Just as he turned, his pupils shrank, for right in front of him stood another Wan Nian, his figure blurred and sowhat translucent, identical to the one from before.
Wan Nian smiled, bending his head slightly in greeting.
Hiss... The sword light shone brightly, a red line starkly delineating itself in the night, brutally piercing through Wan Nian’s chest.
"Benefactor, why bother with this?"
Instantly, several more Wan Nians slowly approached from a distance.
More and more Wan Nians gradually erged from both sides of the palace, all performing the sa actions and resembling each other perfectly in posture, expressions, and voice.
Lin Xin’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"Wan Nian, Wan Nian, so it is... "
The number of Master Wan Nians erging around him continued to increase. In just a few breaths, over a hundred Wan Nians had surrounded him and Yin Mantuo in the center, forming a vast encirclent.
"Born into life, we face nine sufferings and hardships, naturally compassionate, granting us the right to silence and choice," all of the Wan Nians spoke simultaneously, their deanor serene. The vibrating voices made Lin Xin feel slightly numb all over.
"Forgetfulness, unconsciousness, illusions, death—these are where the four great nirvanas lie. All beings suffer, and can instinctively use these four laws to endure these hardships."
"Swallow him, Yin Mantuo!"
Lin Xin’s eyes turned cold.
The enormous flower vine suddenly burst forth, sturdy as tal, and fiercely lunged at every Wan Nian around.
"Lin!"
All the Wan Nians simultaneously uttered the mantra.
The massive sound wave suddenly converged, the air distorted, the ground shook, and the palace walls showed slight cracks.
(To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to vote for it at Qidian (qidian). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian to continue reading.)
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