Chapter 170:

On the other end of the connection, the transmission ceased.

Long Ji stood at the edge of a cliff in a canyon where the wind howled. He put away the token and looked at a woman wearing a white tiger mask who was focused on practicing her fist arts nearby.

"It is arranged. The mission for the Xingdao District branch... With that guy leading the team, the difficulty shouldn't be too great. What do you think of this 'Four Faces' person's strength?"

"Judging from his last battle record, single-handedly wiping out two branches of the Clear River Sect is already impressive enough. He should be at the very peak of the Circulation Realm. What really interests me is how exactly this person trains his strength. It's only been a few years… even that True Disciple of the Nine Dreams Sect isn't this fast." The woman in the white tiger mask stopped practicing and sighed.

"Indeed. Do you think it’s possible he’s using an Imitation?" Long Ji asked hesitantly.

"How is that possible? How could the Nine Dreams Sect Master allow their own disciple to throw away all future potential for the sake of temporary strength?" The white tiger–masked woman shook her head.

"Then don’t dwell on it. As long as we’re sure he’s joining us sincerely, that’s enough. This official mission will be his proof of allegiance. Once he kills that person, even if he only played a part, there’s no way the Taisu administration will ever tolerate him again. At that point, we can entrust him with more," Long Ji said coolly.

"True. If he’s one of us, then the stronger he is, the better. Besides, his father is also a pillar of our branch hall. Looked at this way, the Lin family is still quite trustworthy." The white tiger–masked woman smiled.

"If this goes smoothly, I also plan to apply to open Spring Return Hall’s trading privileges for him. The limit will be set according to my standard," Long Ji said.

"I’d wager he’ll still be buying aphrodisiacs. There are plenty of low-level ones, but there really isn’t much stock for the high-end items. Things like Purple Cloud Reishi are already brushing up against the upper limit. After all, those with truly great power generally don’t need drugs for enhancement," the woman in the white tiger mask said, sounding somewhat speechless.

In these times, she had never heard of a strongman who needed aphrodisiacs to enjoy themselves. In the upper circles, sexual pursuits focused less on the endurance granted by drugs and more on sensitivity. Even if the duration was short, as long as the intensity was high enough, it was equally popular. Several Trueblood Nobles in Tuyue were exactly like this.

"Forget it. Maybe he just likes that style. Or perhaps his cultivation technique just happens to require it," Long Ji guessed.

When the two thought of the nickname Lin Hui had spread outside, they felt a wave of strangeness in their hearts.

"Great Aphrodisiac Formless Sword"—this kind of nickname was something only Lin Hui could bear. Compared to the initial, monotonous "Formless Sword," this nickname was much more distinctive and unforgettable.

…

Just as Lin Hui began preparing for his upcoming long journey, the Clear River Sect and the Mystic Eagle Sect were already fighting inextricably in the Outer City and parts of the Inner City.

The Mystic Eagle Sect clearly had other intelligence channels and soon found the location of the Clear River Sect's true headquarters. After pinning down the location, the Mystic Eagle Sect gathered a large number of experts, set up formations for a sneak attack, and successfully took out the protective Relic array on the perimeter of the Clear River Sect headquarters.

Then came a brutal slaughter.

The Mystic Eagle Sect had previously held a cooperative relationship with the Clear River Sect. No one expected Xue Ying to strike so ruthlessly against a former partner.

The slaughter ended in less than half a day. Because both sides had powerful forces backing them, the official Pacification Corps of the Inner City only received the order to clear the field a full half-hour after the fighting had already ceased.

It was already the next morning when Lin Hui received the letter from his Big Brother in the Rain Palace.

"It's a bit strange. Before, Xue Ying relied on the Clear River Sect to complete her revenge. Why would she turn around and attack her former collaborators as soon as she came back?" He closed the letter and looked at Mingxia, who was carefully pondering the Clear Wind Sword nearby.

"Because the reason Xue Ying was heavily injured in that last battle was that she was backstabbed by the Clear River Sect," Mingxia replied in a casual tone.

"...Is Xue Ying that strong?" Lin Hui was somewhat astonished.

"Of course she's strong. She hasn't just broken through to Luminous Extreme; she has also mastered several special Relics. When these Relics are combined, they form a system of abilities that is very nasty. The reason she can roam around constantly without fear of being captured or killed is entirely due to this set of Relic combinations," Mingxia explained slowly as she sheathed the sword and exhaled.

"Relying on Relics? Can that work? Can it contend with the likes of Palace Masters and Truebloods in the Inner City?" Lin Hui was a bit skeptical.

"Why not? Strength doesn't distinguish between sources. As long as you can produce battle results, what does it matter if it's a Relic?" Mingxia said.

"Alright... By the way, I'm going on a long trip in a few days. Could you watch over the temple for me?" Lin Hui said casually.

"Sure. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon anyway. This sword technique of yours is simply superb… If I don’t figure it out, I won’t be able to sleep at night!" Mingxia wasn’t even acting anymore. As she spoke, she naturally slipped into treating herself as Yun Xiazi.

This made Lin Hui suspect that her identity as "Yun Xiazi’s daughter" was fake. She was Yun Xiazi herself, disguising her age to come here as an apprentice. As for changing her appearance, that was far too simple for a Grandmaster of the Luminous Extreme. Any number of modification drugs or cultivation methods could easily achieve it.

Watching Mingxia still obsessing over the perfected Clear Wind Sword, Lin Hui shook his head internally. If she needed this long to study the perfected Clear Wind Sword, then when it came to the Wild Wind Sword, wouldn't she need to research it for years?

Leaving the Clear Wind Temple, Lin Hui routinely headed toward the Wild Wind Plains, preparing to complete today's cultivation on schedule.

But just as he arrived at his usual sword training spot, the faint sound of fighting drifted from the distance. He frowned, worried that the fighting might affect his cultivation here. Fortunately, the sounds of battle gradually moved away, receding until they disappeared completely. Only then did he settle down and prioritize cultivating the False Enactment Art, which focused on stillness.

Soon, a completely black figure appeared on the plain ahead, like a human shape wrapped in a vast cloak. Its head was lowered, its features indistinct. It vaguely resembled someone Lin Hui knew, but when he tried to pin it down, no specific face came to mind.

This was the Void Terror Spirit, condensed by the False Enactment Art.

It was a manifestation of all the fears buried deep in Lin Hui’s heart, so every movement could easily stir up pain and terror in his mind. Defeating it once would temper his will and mind-spirit, strengthening them by a small degree.

…

Meanwhile, at the place where the sounds of fighting Lin Hui had noticed, originated.

On the gray-black plain, at the foot of the mist wall, three figures were currently crossing paths at extreme speed.

Fierce winds howled, sweeping through the surroundings. One of the figures wore full purple-black armor and held a sword of the same purple-black material. The blade was inscribed with mysterious symbols that emitted a faint purple light.

It was Tao Xuehai, who had been preparing to go to Lin Hui's place to say goodbye and deliver the medicine he had just found.

This final farewell, unexpectedly, had turned into a targeted encirclement and kill. People from the Clear River Sect who were watching the Clear Wind Temple discovered him and thus mobilized experts to begin hunting him down.

The Clear River Sect experts who came were two white-haired old men wearing black masks. Although their faces were covered, Tao Xuehai could still guess that they definitely came from the Three Sects and Six Associations of the Inner City. They were incumbent Elders, Three Harmonies Grandmasters.

That thick aura of decay was exactly the same as the ones he had seen before. Such people couldn't stay in the Outer City for long; their bodies relied entirely on the Inner City to recuperate and survive. Correspondingly, the longer they lived, naturally, the stronger their internal power became.

He didn't know how the Clear River Sect had found these experts. Three Harmonies Grandmasters were absolute high-level figures even within the Three Sects and Six Associations. Why would they run out to besiege him, a member of the Mystic Eagle Sect?

Bang!

The two figures suddenly crossed paths, striking simultaneously from the left and right at Tao Xuehai.

The terrifying power unique to a Three Harmonies Grandmaster, accompanied by massive Internal Force, crashed into his body at that moment.

Tao Xuehai roared in pain, and his body exploded with a boom, transforming into countless black flying insects that scattered and fled in all directions.

He didn't run toward the town. Theoretically, if he ran toward the town, it would definitely attract more variables to participate, causing the opponents to hold back for fear of consequences and possibly retreat. But considering that his master's Clear Wind Temple was in the town, Tao Xuehai gritted his teeth and dispersed his body, using the ability of the Insect Canon to fly at full speed toward the Mist Zone.

"It's an Imitation Insect Canon! Use the Spirit Mountain Fist to pin him!" one old man said in a deep voice.

"I'll do it!" The other man drew a circle with both hands, his whole body's Internal Force continuously condensing into a transparent form resembling a water ball.

Boom!

In the next instant, he pushed his hands forward. The massive sphere of Internal Force exploded, turning into an ocean wave that washed over the rapidly scattering black Insect Mist.

"Done. Our mission is complete. We must return immediately. If we stay too long, our bodies might not be able to handle it." After throwing the punch, the old man spoke in a deep voice, turned around, and left toward the Inner City at extreme speed.

The other man took out a silver ball and gently crushed it, then ignored the fleeing Tao Xuehai and departed together with his companion.

Tao Xuehai, who had not flown very far into the Mist Zone, was still somewhat puzzled as to why the people behind him hadn't chased after him.

He wasn’t too worried about anything happening to him. As a fusion host of an Imitation Insect Canon, he might not be able to defeat those two old Grandmasters, but with the Insect Canon’s power, he wasn’t going to die no matter what.

Even a Grandmaster couldn’t completely destroy his Insect Canon body. If he was heavily injured, he only needed to disperse and regroup. As long as even a wisp of Insect Mist as thin as a hair remained, it could rapidly absorb unknown forces from the surroundings and recondense into a complete form.

This was the power of the Insect Canon. Even an imitation possessed terrifying regenerative abilities. This was precisely why Imitation Evil Weapons and Imitation Insect Canons were so sought after—and so bitterly fought over.

Apart from their own kind, no one could truly kill a host fused with an Evil Weapon or Insect Canon. This applied equally to imitation fusion hosts.

From the discovery of the first Evil Weapon and Insect Canon by humanity, not a single one of these things had ever died. Their fusion hosts only suffered trauma and lost consciousness when eroded by their own kind. This was also why the strongest Call system followed a path focused on consciousness and spirit. Because this was the system passed down by the original Mistborn, and also because the material power inherent in Evil Weapons and Insect Canons was already invincible enough.

Evil Weapons and Insect Canons could guarantee immortality on a material level, so the only thing that could be extinguished was the Mistborn's consciousness. Thus, consciousness became the only weakness.

The massive Spirit Mountain Fist instantly eroded more than half of Tao Xuehai's Insect Mist body, but he didn't mind. After flying into the Mist Zone, he found a place without monsters to land and began to rapidly recover his body, recondensing his whole form.

It was just that only after condensing his body and standing up did he realize something was wrong.

Turning around to look, a slender figure with a pale complexion had appeared under the withered tree behind him at some unknown time. The aura permeating the other party was extremely similar to his current aura.

“Protector of the Mystic Eagle Sect, Profound Mystic Sword Wuhai? I didn’t expect that just by keeping an eye on the Clear Wind Temple, I’d stumble into such a bonus…”

The newcomer had skin as pale as paper, a bare scalp, and a lean, wiry frame. His upper body was naked, while his lower body was clad only in a pair of wide black trousers that hung like a battle skirt.

"Clear River Sect Vice Sect Master... Black Fiend, Cao Xianzhong...!" Tao Xuehai's face looked grim.

This wasn't just because the opponent's strength far exceeded his own, being a strongman on the same level as the Mystic Eagle Sect's Vice Sect Master, but also because the aura on the opponent's body was also the aura of an Imitation Evil Weapon or Insect Canon...

This meant the opponent could severely suppress his Insect Mist regeneration.