Chapter 171

Clang!

Boom!

A faint tremor traveled through the ground from a distance.

Lin Hui frowned deeply. If these people wanted to fight, they should have gone further away. It wasn’t the first time his sword practice had been disturbed, but usually, a little persuasion was enough to solve the problem.

After a few instances, everyone became clear about whose territory this was, so naturally, there were fewer nuisances.

But it had only been quiet for a short while, and now someone else was being tactless.

He gripped his sword, intending to go over and educate them, but the commotion suddenly quieted down. Silence returned.

He stopped, waited for a dozen breaths, and after confirming there was no movement, he resumed his Body Tempering with peace of mind.

Holding a Purple Crystal in one hand and his sword in the other, he moved slowly.

The Body Tempering moves of the Typhoon Sword Technique varied at each stage. Most looked more like a slow dance than sword practice. They appeared flashy and impractical—filled with an inexplicable beauty, yet seemingly useless for actual combat.

Only Lin Hui knew that while practicing, he could trigger a massive typhoon phenomenon around him at any moment.

Nowadays, he could suppress the typhoon special effects to a minimum, achieving the Body Tempering effect without causing too much commotion.

Holding the sword horizontally, his long black hair was blown by the circling airflow, dancing constantly to the left.

After practicing this technique so much, he faintly had the illusion that he was merging into the wind—born from the wind, and destined to die into the wind.

All things moved with the wind.

That inexplicable sensation caused Lin Hui to slowly close his eyes. His body became increasingly indistinct in the wind, flickering in and out of sight.

Unknowingly, a notification from the Blood Seal flashed across the bottom of his vision.

[Typhoon Sword Technique has improved. Current Body Tempering: Fourth Rank.]

The instant the prompt flashed, Lin Hui’s entire body trembled.

A massive, unknown power surged in from the infinite void outside the Web, rushing into his body.

That power was as manic and violent as the wind, rampaging through his body, attempting to destroy everything.

However, Lin Hui’s constitution, enhanced by Purgatory, possessed terrifying regeneration and durability.

Purgatory-ization itself enhanced his strength and recovery, and such power demanded a body sturdy enough to bear it. As a result, his current constitution was far superior to what it had been before his transformation.

It just so happened that this stage of the Typhoon Sword Technique’s Body Tempering—according to the original information infusion—was a dangerous hurdle.

The Typhoon Sword Technique did not simply tug on the planet’s rotational force. Instead, it used an unknown power to indirectly reinforce both the Web and the self, then leveraged that power to pry at the planet’s rotation, thereby triggering the typhoon phenomenon.

As Lin Hui broke through again, his strength and recovery received another massive boost.

'This Body Tempering… the further it goes, the more exponential the improvement. I really don't know what level of power it will reach at the final Ninth Rank…' Opening his eyes, Lin Hui sighed with emotion.

The power of the Typhoon Sword Technique was even more exaggerated than he had anticipated. If the Typhoon Sword Technique was this exaggerated, he wondered just how formidable the subsequent Star Breath Sword Canon would be. Just thinking about it made him look forward to it.

'In terms of pure destructive power, I can already see the path ahead; there is no need to worry. What is lacking now is perfection in other areas. True strength should have no weaknesses.'

Lin Hui mentally organized his entire plan.

'Resistance to various damage types needs to be raised. And poison—I need the Blood Seal to evolve a corresponding resistance item or cultivation method. Daily diet also requires special attention; I’ll see if the Blood Seal can evolve a solution for that. Relying too heavily on external food supplies is ultimately a hidden danger… And finally, the most important thing: defense against Night Mist and the Mist God.'

The Mist God's negative effect—halving his speed—left a deep impression on Lin Hui even now.

So, if he found the opportunity, he definitely had to resolve all such issues.

He closed his eyes, sensing the flow of the wind, constantly pondering how to best evolve the Blood Seal.

…

Inside the Mist Zone.

The right side of Tao Xuehai's body was largely missing. From his shoulder to his right arm and leg, including part of his abdomen, it was as if a giant beast had bitten off half of him, leaving a gaping void.

There was no blood at the wound, only fine, black, worm-like mist rolling and surging.

Yet, despite this, his left hand still tightly gripped his sword.

"You want to kill me? Even the Jade Sea Natural Disaster back then couldn’t do it—what do you amount to?!"

Tao Xuehai’s face was as pale as death as he held his sword horizontally.

"Wind!"

Whoosh!

Wild wind howled, sweeping up the surrounding mist into a vortex.

With a poof, Tao Xuehai flickered and vanished, transforming into black Insect Mist and blending into the surrounding fog.

Only that long sword, wrapped in the wind force, spun rapidly and shot out.

Shua!

A sword flashed.

Tao Xuehai’s body was reconstructed behind Black Fiend. Holding the sword, he stumbled forward a few steps before crashing to one knee with a thud.

Wah.

He lowered his head and vomited a large mouthful of blood.

His body was trembling—fearing, terrified, and wailing.

But the wind continued to sound, as if encouraging him, supporting him to stand once more.

"Good speed. Faster than me. But so what?" Black Fiend’s indifferent voice came from behind.

The words sounded distant. The opponent was also an Insect Canon fuser who could directly gnaw on and devour his body—a foe who could truly kill him.

Strength greater than his, constitution greater than his, Internal Force greater than his, mind-spirit greater than his.

Only speed. Only wind.

Tao Xuehai closed his eyes.

The single thing in which he surpassed the opponent was movement technique—the movement born from the wind.

He could hear Black Fiend’s cultivation aura shifting rapidly behind him, brewing the next strike.

He could feel his body’s instincts trembling in terror, frantically urging him to flee.

He could feel his consciousness turning hazy and frail, on the verge of giving up.

At that moment, the scene of his Master teaching him the Wild Wind Sword Technique flashed unbidden through his mind.

"Do you know what wind is?" His Master’s voice seemed to ring in his ears again.

"Is it the blowing air?"

"No… wind is flow. It is the flow of breath. When cultivating the Wild Wind Sword Technique, what you must contemplate is why it flows."

Lin Hui’s cool, solemn voice echoed in his ears.

"It is not for itself, but for you. Where your heart turns, there lies the pole of the airflow."

"Wind is not a dead thing; it is your heart mirroring the atmosphere."

Heart mirroring the atmosphere…

In that instant, Tao Xuehai felt as if time had slowed.

The surrounding mist crawled, unbearably slow. The wind seemed to vanish, leaving no trace at all.

The Wild Wind Sword Technique, cultivated only to the Second Rank of Body Tempering, seemed to undergo a subtle transformation.

His mind-spirit suddenly formed a faint connection with the surrounding mist.

Half-kneeling on the ground, Tao Xuehai unconsciously closed his eyes.

"Wind…" he murmured.

The airflow around him, which had seemed utterly stagnant, began—laboriously—to move again.

It was like quicksand: obscure, heavy, and difficult to grasp.

"Wind." Tao Xuehai spoke again.

The surrounding airflow began to accelerate, as if responding to his summons, faster and faster.

"Wind!!"

He stood up, sword held horizontally, and shouted aloud.

Whoosh!!

The howling wild wind responded to him.

Shua!

Black Fiend's fist punched empty air from behind him, hitting only an afterimage.

Black Fiend's expression changed slightly. He turned abruptly and punched.

Boom!

The fist slammed head-on into a silver long sword that had abruptly appeared.

The long sword flew back, melted into the mist, and vanished. In the next instant, it reappeared on the right, slashing at Black Fiend's neck.

With a clang, sparks flew.

Black Fiend's expression grew solemn. He punched out rapidly again, but his fist missed once more.

Clang clang clang clang!!!

In the next instant, a dazzling array of sparks exploded continuously over his body like golden-red fireworks.

The long sword slashed down frantically from every angle.

"Your speed is so much faster than before?! What technique is this??" Black Fiend retreated repeatedly, his expression stern.

"A technique that can kill you!" Tao Xuehai shouted sharply, flashing to stab from behind again.

But this time, Black Fiend shifted slightly, clamping the sword tip under his armpit and twisting violently.

Crack.

The sword blade snapped, flying off and embedding itself in the distant mist.

Using the rotational force, Black Fiend turned and punched Tao Xuehai squarely in the chest.

The latter lost his balance; unable to evade, he dissolved his body with difficulty, turning into Insect Mist.

Poof!

A large chunk of the black Insect Mist was blown away by the fist.

The remainder rapidly condensed into Tao Xuehai’s form, half-kneeling and panting nearby.

"A breakthrough in the heat of battle. Your speed and movement have indeed jumped a level. You truly are a genius of the Sword Dao. I’ll give you a chance: leave the Mystic Eagle Sect and come to my Clear River Sect. Your treatment and status can be even higher and better than what you have now. How about it?" Black Fiend said in a deep voice.

"…The hatred of a clan extermination is irreconcilable…" Tao Xuehai struggled to stand.

He had known from the start that the true enemy who wiped out his family and killed his kin was not those stray dogs of the small and medium Inner City families, nor was it the Clear River Sect, for the Clear River Sect was merely acting on orders.

Only one power could exterminate so many great clans, including the Tao family, in such a short time.

That was—the Moon Tower.

"Stubborn!" Black Fiend's face darkened. "Do you think that little skill of yours can struggle before me?"

"Wind!" Tao Xuehai called out again.

The surrounding wind accelerated once more, helping him leap up and vanish.

But in the next instant, he was punched out of the airflow, flying backward.

This time, it wasn’t that the wind wasn’t fast enough, but that his body could no longer support it, and his speed had slowed.

The violent wind brought extreme speed, but it also placed a massive load on his body.

In his normal state, it would be fine; a body fused with the Insect Canon could regenerate rapidly, making the load negligible.

But a large portion of his Insect Mist had already been devoured by a similar opponent, and he was heavily injured.

The massive gap.

It lay like a chasm between him and Black Fiend.

It was not something a brief moment of comprehension and a leap in skill could bridge.

After being knocked flying again, Tao Xuehai gripped his broken sword and slammed heavily onto the ground. But in the next moment, he rolled and stood up again, his expression ferocious.

"Wind!" he shouted. The wild wind howled, responding to him tirelessly.

Faster wind blew.

Carrying him as he charged toward Black Fiend.

Clang!

Once again, he failed to break the defense and was knocked flying in futility, crashing to the ground.