Decaying World

Retracting his gaze, Lin Hui looked at the three Evolvable Branches at the bottom of his field of view.

The Hell Startling Wind Sword Technique has corrupting power, easily attracting extra attention beyond my current level. Not suitable.

The Arcane Wind Elemental Sword focuses on area-of-effect damage and has enormous consumption. The key issue is that sitting still in a place with strong winds for so long is hard to achieve. Here, one must get up at night to find a shelter to isolate the mist, and thirteen days involve too many variables.

Finally, he cast his gaze upon the Typhoon Sword Technique.

This was the only one suitable—clean, corruption-free, environmentally friendly, and possessing great power. Most importantly, the evolution condition was simple.

It only required two seven-year periods, totaling fourteen years.

I have medicine to take in combination, which can shorten the time to one-quarter. Plus, with the remaining thirteen Spirit-Enriching Reishi, each reducing the time by three months, that's over three years. Calculating like this: fourteen years, first consume the Spirit-Enriching Reishi to reduce it by over three years, then slowly take the medicine in combination. I should be able to complete all the evolution within three years.

This is the limit; it can't be shortened any further... Lin Hui sighed. He turned to head back.

Suddenly, his body stiffened, and he paused in place.

Behind him, to the right of the hill, a quiet figure wearing a silver goat mask had appeared at some unknown time. The figure's build was similar to his, with a long saber at his waist. He was dressed in a black leather trench coat left open to reveal robust pectoral muscles and a tuft of golden chest hair fluttering in the wind like a golden-red scarf.

"Friend, did I disturb you?" the goat-masked man asked softly. "I just happened to pass by and heard you sigh, so curiosity arose, and I stopped to see the reason."

"That reason is very far-fetched," Lin Hui said calmly.

"I'm just finding an excuse; just listen to it." The goat-masked man laughed, his voice hearty. He sounded like a young man.

"Does Your Excellency have business with me?" Lin Hui stared at the stranger, seemingly guessing his intention.

"Let me introduce myself. I am Fang Tiancheng, from the Inner City Fang family. The Fang family is a great clan within the government. Many clan members hold important positions in the government," the goat-masked man introduced himself.

"So, Brother Fang is also here to seek cooperation with me?" Lin Hui asked.

"Exactly. However, looking at it now, it seems I came a bit late," Fang Tiancheng laughed, not disappointed in the least. He took off his mask, revealing a handsome, sunny, and cheerful face.

"You don't seem to care at all?" Lin Hui was somewhat curious.

"Yeah, failing to cooperate is the family's loss; what does it have to do with me personally? Anyway, I get a fixed benefit fee for making this trip," Fang Tiancheng laughed.

"True... it's still better for you, Inner City people. You don't have to worry about anything, don't have to live in fear every day..." Lin Hui said.

"What are you saying?" Fang Tiancheng was speechless. "Your persecution complex is a bit off. Although the Outer City is a bit dangerous, it's not as exaggerated as you say, is it?"

"Mist monsters, night mist, missing person cases every year—is this not dangerous enough?" Lin Hui smiled.

"Have you seen it with your own eyes?" Fang Tiancheng asked back.

"..." This question made Lin Hui stun for a moment.

Seeing this, Fang Tiancheng continued, "I think you've been bitterly cultivating too much and are out of touch with the lives of ordinary people. If the Outer City were truly that dangerous, how did you grow up? How did the people around you, your friends, companions, grow up all these years?"

"..." This question truly stumped Lin Hui.

"Temple Master Lin, you don't actually understand the lives of Outer City people. Perhaps you once did, but the current you is no longer who you were back then," Fang Tiancheng replied. "However, although we can't sign an agreement, we can try private cooperation. Temple Master Lin's movement technique is indeed outstanding."

"How shall we cooperate?"

At this moment, Lin Hui directly confirmed the evolution of the Typhoon Sword Technique on the Blood Seal. The text instantly disappeared, and only then did he look fully at Fang Tiancheng.

"Very simple..." Fang Tiancheng quickly described a plan much inferior to the proposal given by Wang Yueheng.

Lin Hui had no objections. Money was just a number to him; as long as he could buy enough medicine, it was fine. Now with his old man making money, their family fortune was raking in gold every day; he didn't need to worry about it at all.

After confirming the new cooperation model with Fang Tiancheng, Lin Hui kept recalling the words the man had said when they first met.

Returning to the mansion, he stayed behind closed doors, eating the Spirit-Enriching Reishi one by one. Aside from eating, drinking, and relieving himself, he spent all his time in secluded cultivation of Internal Force, gnawing on the Spirit-Enriching Reishi.

For two consecutive weeks, Lin Hui did not take a single step out the door until he had eaten all the Spirit-Enriching Reishi, eating until he wanted to vomit at the sight of them.

But the benefits also manifested.

The fourteen years required for the Typhoon Sword Technique were reduced to ten years and five months right from the start.

Then, Lin Hui began his daily routine of taking medicine.

During this period, he could basically move freely. Now that the urgent danger was gone and his opponents were sensible enough to become collaborators, the Clear Wind Sword Sect officially possessed quotas to send people into the Inner City.

Lin Hui simply took advantage of the gap while preparing for the celebration to go home first, visiting his mother, father, and Second Mother.

Then, after finishing his Body Tempering and Internal Force cultivation, he recalled what Fang Tiancheng had said earlier. His heart could never quite settle.