Chapter 277:
The news of the Purgatory and Extreme Cold invasion sent considerable waves through Black Cloud in the wake of Lin Hui's return, then traveled onward to reach Biqiu, the Royal City of the Federation's Inner Court.
The Inner Court responded furiously, mobilizing vast numbers of the Black Army from urban districts across the federation while dispatching wave after wave of Mistborn from its own ranks.
In response, the Hongyin Empire suspended its small-scale skirmishes with the Taisu Federation, simultaneously pushing troops forward in a probing assault against the Extreme Cold Heaven's polluted border regions.
The divine pantheon clustered around the Mist Gods near Black Cloud immediately pulled back. The previous battle seemed to have thoroughly exhausted their accumulated power, forcing them into a period of rest and recovery.
In this climate, Lin Hui used every aphrodisiac he could procure. Pushing through his growing tolerance, he rapidly shortened the Blood Seal's evolution time from two hundred years down to one hundred and fourteen—slashing nearly half the required time in one burst. The cost, however, was that he had swept the market clean of any high-grade aphrodisiacs potent enough to work on him.
If he wanted more, he would have to wait for a new harvest cycle or for the transport fleets to scale up their acquisitions.
Left with no other option, Lin Hui entered secluded cultivation to deepen his grasp of the Sacred Form of Destruction. As time passed, his combat achievements in Tuyue were gradually eclipsed by the torrent of incoming battle reports detailing the clashes between Extreme Cold Heaven and the Federation army. Explosive dispatches covering events far more momentous than his own were broadcast continuously across every district through Federation special bulletins, amplified by Black Cloud's propaganda department until they consumed the attention of everyone from the City Lords down to the commonfolk.
And so, at last, he returned to the quiet life he had always wanted.
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