The corners of Chen Xin's mouth curled up.
The circulation of Soul Power within him did not falter in the slightest. He continued sitting there quietly cross-legged, using himself as a test subject for Lin Xing to experiment with his new skill.
Seeing that this move had no effect, Lin Xing changed his approach, abandoning the water ring's binding effect altogether.
Since Chen Xin offered no resistance whatsoever, the water ring dissolved, and all the water flowed into his body.
Lin Xing summoned the Splendor of Tranquil Waters with a wave of his hand, and the blue gemstone on it emitted a dazzling blue radiance.
Chen Xin's Soul Power faltered for an instant. Although it was only an instant, perhaps not even a second, Lin Xing had indeed managed to impede his opponent's Soul Power.
Although Chen Xin had not resisted at all, Lin Xing was satisfied to have achieved this much.
Chen Xin was Level 96, after all. Although he was merely sitting there circulating his Soul Power, not even bothering to defend himself, Lin Xing had still managed to make it falter for an instant despite the absolute disparity in the quality of their Soul Power. That was enough.
At the very least, this move should have a significant effect on anyone no more than thirty levels above him.
Of course, that was only possible with the help of the Splendor of Tranquil Waters.
"Thank you for willingly cooperating, Teacher."
Chen Xin finally opened his closed eyes.
"Very good. Leaving aside those at higher levels, almost no one at your own level could truly evade that move."
"You really are a genius through and through."
"Naturally. A hundred generations have never seen a prodigy like me; ten thousand years could scarcely produce my better."
Lin Xing accepted Chen Xin's praise quite naturally, taking the opportunity to gild his own face a little.
"'A hundred generations have never seen a prodigy like me; ten thousand years could scarcely produce my better.' Well said."
"You really aren't the least bit modest, brat."
Lin Xing merely smiled at that. Generally speaking, he was never modest with his own people. Only when facing strangers would he show an appropriate degree of modesty out of courtesy.
"With talent like yours, I do have a path that would suit you very well as you are now."
"What path?"
Lin Xing asked curiously.
"Intent."
Chen Xin said only that one word.
"Intent?"
Lin Xing still did not understand.
"Do you know about Slaughter City?"
Rather than rushing to explain, Chen Xin first offered the name of a place.
"I do. I've heard it's a prison for Evil Soul Masters. Basically, no one who goes in ever comes out."
"Do you want me to go to Slaughter City, Teacher?"
"No."
Chen Xin shook his head.
"It's far too dangerous there. For you as you are now, it would be no different from hell."
"What I mean is that it isn't impossible to leave Slaughter City. Very few people have come out, that's all. But once you do come out of there, you can acquire a new ability."
"It's called Divine Slaughter's Domain."
"In essence, it's killing intent given tangible form. It also enhances your combat strength to a certain extent, and when used to its fullest, it can even serve as an offensive Soul Skill."
"However, you need to understand that apart from Divine Slaughter's Domain, whose essence is killing intent made tangible, almost all other domains are born from Martial Souls."
"Although they bear some resemblance to intent, they are fundamentally different."
"Do you want me to follow the path of intent, Teacher?"
Chen Xin nodded.
"That's right."
"Watch as I demonstrate it for you."
As he spoke, the Soul Power around Chen Xin trembled gently, shaking quite a few leaves loose from a large tree in the distance.
Immediately afterward, very faint white currents flowed from Chen Xin's body. They were not Soul Power, but seemed to be something invisible and intangible.
Chen Xin merely glanced at the leaves drifting through the air over there.
Without any fluctuation of Soul Power, all the leaves, along with the large tree, were sliced clean through.
There truly had not been any fluctuation of Soul Power. At least, Lin Xing had sensed no energy response of any kind.
"This is my sword intent."
Lin Xing grew thoughtful. He knew about Divine Slaughter's Domain, but Chen Xin could actually display intent to this degree too?
On closer thought, though, it was quite reasonable. He was Sword Douluo, after all. Although this was the Douluo Continent, a relatively bizarre place, Sword Douluo being able to wield sword intent... yes, that was perfectly reasonable.
"Have you never been to Slaughter City, Teacher?"
"With your strength, getting out of there shouldn't be difficult."
Chen Xin shook his head at that.
"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect can't do without me. If I leave for too long, trouble will arise with just that old bag of bones watching over the sect."
"I see..."
"Then, Teacher, could you release your intent fully so I can sense it in detail?"
"Of course."
Chen Xin nodded. Numerous white currents emerged from his body, constantly swirling around him and Lin Xing.
Lin Xing sat down cross-legged. Don't ask why. If asked, it was because he looked cooler that way.
Lin Xing closed his eyes and began sensing it carefully. He could not detect any tangible energy fluctuations. This was indeed not Soul Power.
A person consisted of three parts: body, spirit, and intent.
In other words, the physical body, the soul, and the will.
Intent really was difficult to describe, and difficult to sense, because it truly could neither be seen nor touched, and naturally could not be felt either.
Only someone like Chen Xin could project his own intent outward, allowing Lin Xing to briefly see its form.
Lin Xing frowned, summoned the Splendor of Tranquil Waters, and planted it in the ground before him, then silently continued trying to sense it.
Time slowly passed...
Half an hour soon went by, and the people in camp gradually woke up. Apart from Ning Rongrong, Chen Xin, and Lin Xing, the dozen or so others were all guards.
"Grandpa Sword, what are you doing?"
Ning Rongrong rubbed her eyes as she walked out of the tent, looking thoroughly half-asleep.
For the first time, Chen Xin did not respond to Ning Rongrong. Maintaining the outward projection of his intent for a prolonged period was already difficult. Having to control it so it would not injure a weakling like Lin Xing made it even harder.
So Chen Xin merely waved his hand.
Ning Rongrong knew nothing about any of that. All she saw was that her Grandpa Sword had actually ignored her!
But after looking at the situation over there, she was sensible enough not to approach and disturb them. She was merely a little unhappy, not stupid.
Fortunately, Chen Xin's half-hour maintenance of his sword intent had produced some results.
"That's enough, Teacher. You can withdraw your intent now."
At that, Chen Xin immediately stopped maintaining his projected intent. Then, with a beckoning gesture, he lifted Ning Rongrong from the distance with his Soul Power and brought her straight into his arms.
"Did you sleep well last night, Rongrong?"
"Did you miss Grandpa Sword after not seeing him all night?"
The corners of Lin Xing's mouth inevitably twitched. This old man... was hard to sum up in a few words.
Shaking his head, Lin Xing reached out and pulled the Splendor of Tranquil Waters from the ground.
In fact, he had not managed to sense anything just now. Continuing would have been pointless, so he had tried using the Splendor of Tranquil Waters to capture and store some of Chen Xin's intent.
To his surprise, it had actually worked.
He planned to study this intent slowly when he had time. There was no point in dragging things out any longer right now.