Decaying World

Two hours later. In another village on the Bone-Corroding Plains.

A tall, black-furred wild bull covered in pustules let out a furious low roar at Lin Hui, aiming the three horns on its head—which burned with dark red flames—toward him.

Moo!

The wild bull’s muscles were knotted all over its body, its eyes were blood-red, and its mouth and nose constantly sprayed specks of red sparks. Wherever its four hooves stepped, they left behind smoking, scorched marks.

This is a truly Purgatory-ized Tri-Horned Barbarian Bull—a gatekeeper of the High-Threat level.

Holding Ruyi, Lin Hui looked past the Tri-Horned Barbarian Bull in front of him and gazed into the village.

He discovered more Purgatory-ized Tri-Horned Barbarian Bulls roaming inside. As for where the original inhabitants of this village had gone, the answer was self-evident.

The black, Purgatory-ized Tri-Horned Barbarian Bulls, standing over two meters tall and five meters long, looked like moving tanks. Occasionally, when they crashed into stone houses, they easily smashed them to rubble.

Let's end this quickly. There are three Purgatory-polluted groups I can locate in total. I hope the other one hasn't had any issues and is still there.

Lin Hui waved the tip of his sword and walked slowly toward the Barbarian Bull. After Purgatory-ization, recovery and strength are massively enhanced, so... killing them in one blow is the best choice.

Chi!

In the next instant, he had already brushed past the Tri-Horned Barbarian Bull.

Whoosh!

The entire Barbarian Bull was suddenly split in two, igniting into a massive blaze of dark red flames. The flames shot out, chasing after Lin Hui and sinking into his back.

Then came the next one.

Chi chi chi chi!

After a continuous series of flashing slashes, the Tri-Horned Barbarian Bulls crashed to the ground one after another, turning into dark red torches before burning to black ash.

The Purgatory fire produced by the burning gathered endlessly onto Lin Hui, causing raging Purgatory flames to ignite on his body surface as well. But this fire did not burn his clothes; like a phantom, it merely burned and danced around his body.

This feeling... is wonderful.

After the last Tri-Horned Barbarian Bull fell, Lin Hui felt the changes occurring in his body.

His strength was increasing drastically, his spirit and energy were becoming more abundant, and his consciousness was becoming sharper. It felt as if an endless desire was surging within him—clearly a desire to vent his excessively vigorous energy.

Interesting. Is this the excessive vigor brought about by drastically enhanced recovery? No wonder creatures become incredibly irritable after Purgatory-ization. It’s purely caused by having too much energy, right?

Standing on the outskirts of the village, Lin Hui touched his forehead. Fortunately, he hadn't grown sharp horns like the Purgatory Goats or the Barbarian Bulls.

He touched his ears again; they were faintly becoming pointed. Distinct bright red patterns appeared on the skin of his hands and body. The patterns looked like flakes of burning flames, forming a sharp contrast with his original fair skin.

Aside from that, there were no other changes.

Hmm? My hair has grown longer? Lin Hui suddenly noticed that his long hair seemed longer than before.

He touched it; his black hair now reached almost to his waist. Before, it was only on his upper back—it had grown at least a dozen centimeters.

It must be the accelerated metabolism brought about by the excessive recovery. Burning... a recovery speed that accelerates like burning; it truly lives up to the name.

Suddenly, he realized that Purgatory-ization was essentially an extreme state formed by pushing a creature’s recovery ability to its limit. Excessive regeneration brought overwhelming strength, surging impulses, hyperactive metabolism, and a cascade of other changes.

Shua!

In the next instant, he disappeared from his spot, rushing toward the third Purgatory pollution point. The Purgatory flames on his body quickly dimmed and extinguished, dissipating completely as he forcibly suppressed them.

…

Half an hour later.

In a black stone forest, amidst pale green acidic mud, dense crowds of humanoid monsters wrapped in black bandages charged toward Lin Hui from all directions.

Hiss!!

These monsters had only a single eye on their faces—ferocious and dark red. Scalding pus constantly dripped from their bodies, and Purgatory flames burned in a shallow layer on their backs, emitting wisps of black smoke that smelled of sulfur.

"Wind."

Lin Hui raised his sword. Invisible, violent air currents revolved around him at high speed.

Shua!

In an instant, his figure flashed behind the one-eyed bandage monsters like a jump in space—strike, then flash again.

One sword, one kill.

The one-eyed bandage monsters were split in two from top to bottom, turning into dark red torches as they screamed and burned. Before long, the entire group of over thirty monsters had all turned into torches.

Balls of dark red Purgatory fire flew toward Lin Hui like thousands of birds returning to their nests, merging into his body and disappearing.

This was the essence of the speed style. Once an opponent failed to keep up with the pace or lacked proper countermeasures, even a small gap in strength didn’t matter—the battle would end in an instant, sometimes with a single killing blow.

In a fight to the death, being caught in a single opening meant the difference between life and death.

And the speed flow was the fastest at catching openings.

Clusters of Purgatory fire continued to pour into Lin Hui.

His stature began to grow taller and larger. His eyebrows and eyes slowly stretched, becoming long and narrow, flushing red. The corners of his eyes even became somewhat sharp, giving off a razor-like sharpness.

His head of black hair grew longer and longer, reaching his thighs. Thick and dense, it floated in the wind like a large mass of black flame, complementing the Purgatory firelight.

The most conspicuous change was his eyes.

Within his eyes, the original black and white had turned into a clear dark red. Black patterns resembling flames even emerged on his pupils. From a distance, his entire eyes glowed with a striking red light, dark and mysterious.

That's about enough. If I continue, I won't be able to control the Purgatory-aura... Lin Hui gently touched the back of his head. There were faint protrusions there—hard, sharp points, like horns trying to grow.

This made his scalp itch, and realizing this, he decisively stopped his slaughter of the Purgatory creatures.

For this condition to appear even while I’m constantly suppressing and restraining it means my control can no longer contain the Purgatory fire… I have to stop for now, or the physical and mental changes from Purgatory-ization might distort my worldview or even alter my personality…

He sensibly stopped the absorption. Looking at the black ash covering the ground, he sheathed his sword.

At this moment, he felt light as a feather when walking. He didn't know how much his strength had increased, and the same went for his recovery. It felt as if he could swing his sword endlessly without rest.

The Nine Eyes had long been replenished. Everything was ready. The objectives of this trip were all accomplished, and it was time to go back and properly digest the effects brought by absorbing too much Purgatory fire.

Lin Hui slowly turned around, lifted his foot, and stepped down.

Hiss.

Suddenly, faint black smoke rose from the ground.

He paused and looked down, only to see that the smoke was coming from the ground he had stepped on.

It seems I really need to tighten my control a bit before I go back…

The growth of his Purgatory power was far too rapid… This feeling was on a completely different level from bitter cultivation.

Growing stronger just by killing—compared to years of arduous training, this cheat-like method of advancement was a fatal temptation.

Is this the allure of Purgatory? Once someone truly becomes accustomed to this way of growing stronger, they may never return to their original resolve.

But he could also sense that if he truly prioritized becoming stronger this way, the final result would inevitably be his mind-spirit being completely dominated by Purgatory power, becoming a slaughter machine, a destruction machine utterly devoid of reason.

Bang.

In a moment of distraction, the ground beneath Lin Hui's foot suddenly collapsed into a pit the size of a washbasin.

He helplessly lifted his foot, wrapping his body in air currents to assist in controlling his strength. Only then did he try to walk forward step by step, like a baby learning to walk.

…

Outside Clear Wind Temple.

The two old men, the Black and White Sabers, sat bored on the third floor of a restaurant, looking through the window toward the temple opposite.

"He still hasn't returned..." The Black Saber's old man picked up the fried soybeans in front of him, dipping them in soy sauce and eating them listlessly.

"It's only the first day, what's the rush?" The White Saber old man lifted his butt and let out a fart, then looked at his brother with satisfaction to confirm he hadn't been discovered, before taking another sip of tea.

Just as he lowered his head to drink the tea, Pfft!

Suddenly, an inexplicable aura surged into the range of his perception.

The instant he sensed it, the White Saber lost control and sprayed the tea in his mouth all over the table. Even the side dishes were completely ruined by the mixture of tea and saliva.

But the Black Saber had no time to care about that. He had sensed it as well.

He raised his head and looked solemnly at his brother sitting opposite him.

“Just now… what was that!?”

“...” The White Saber didn’t reply. He merely turned his head to the side, staring through the window at the entrance of Clear Wind Temple, his eyes incomparably grave.

At this moment, a pure-looking woman in brocade robes stood at the main gate.

The woman had snow-white skin and wore long robes embroidered with exquisite gold patterns. With a bound waist and broad shoulders, she seemed to be wearing men's clothing. Her ink-black long hair hung behind her, with a gold hair ribbon faintly visible in the middle.

If it were just this, the two wouldn't be so grave. The key was the character faintly visible on the woman's long hair ribbon: Dream.

"We should retreat..." The Black Saber didn't dare move a muscle on his face, transmitting his voice via Internal Force.

He slowly stood up. But just as his butt left the seat, his hand was immediately pinned down by the White Saber.

"Don't move! That old monster can sense any abnormal movement within ten kilometers at any moment! Steady your heartbeat, don't focus on him! Keep doing exactly what we were doing before," the White Saber warned, transmitting his voice with grave urgency. "The moment anything changes—or rather, the moment his appearance causes any disturbance—he will notice it!"

"But staying here is even more dangerous!" The Black Saber ground his teeth.

"Listen to me! Have you forgotten how Little Ling'er's parents died?!" the White Saber snapped, reminding him sternly.

The Black Saber fell silent.

The death of their daughter and son-in-law had always been the greatest pain in their hearts. If not for that, they wouldn't have joined the Clear River Sect at such an old age, given their cultivation level...

The two sensed that terrifying aura slowly walking into Clear Wind Temple, the fear in their hearts growing thicker and thicker.

Only when that person entered the main gate and began a tour under the guidance of a disciple did they struggle to stabilize their physical state. They stood up, paid the bill, and slowly walked out of the restaurant, heading toward the end of the street.

They maintained this state for over a thousand meters before daring to accelerate slightly. Then faster, and faster... until they rushed into the Mist Zone without looking back, vanishing from sight.

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