The Decaying World

Inside Qingfeng Temple.

Lin Hui examined the newly evolved steel sword in his hand. More precisely, it was labeled as a "special composite steel sword." The description on the Blood Seal now read:

’Special Composite Steel Sword—Forged and perfected from the materials of a special Stellar Battleship. Its hardness can withstand the rigors of conventional interstellar travel without damage. 3 evolutionary branches available.’

’Huh? It can evolve further?’

Out of idle curiosity, Lin Hui quickly tapped to take a look.

’1—Interstellar Battle Sword.’

’2—Sub-Vacuum Black Scale Sword.’

’3—Original Immortal Sword.’

’Alright, alright... Just from the names, I can tell these are evolutions I can’t afford.’

Lin Hui casually opened one to check. As expected, the minimum requirement started at fifty years...

’In those fifty years, I could probably strengthen my Cultivation Technique to an unimaginable level.’

He picked up the Ruyi Sword and gave it a casual swing.

SWISH.

The blade skimmed across the courtyard ground, silently and effortlessly leaving a sharp incision.

Lin Hui then pointed the sword tip down at the ground and let its own weight carry it.

PUFF.

With a soft sound, the Ruyi Sword sank easily into the stone slab purely from its own weight, stopping only when it was buried to the middle of its blade.

’Truly a Divine Sword!’ Lin Hui was delighted. ’With this sharpness, combined with its durability, if I ever run into another Triple Harmony Grandmaster with a turtle shell-like defense, I could probably finish him in just one or two strikes.’

The Ruyi Sword was still the same as before, able to retract and extend freely. It could be as short as one meter or as long as over 1.6 meters. The blade was a bit wider than before, its silver edge tinged with a faint grayish-black.

Retracting Ruyi, Lin Hui reined in his delight and turned his attention back to evolving his new swordsmanship.

’Typhoon Swordsmanship: Deduced from Gale Swordsmanship...’ He skipped the rest of the long-winded introduction and focused on the final evolutionary branches.

’...3 evolutionary branches available.’

’1—Star Breath Sword Manual.’

’2—Great Tornado Sword Technique.’

’3—Sun Wind Divine Sword.’

"..."

Looking at these simple, direct, and powerful evolution names, Lin Hui suddenly felt that the Martial Arts evolved by the Blood Seal might have very obvious identifying features...

He first checked the time requirements for each, lest he get his hopes up only to be disappointed by a ridiculously long wait.

Not too bad. All three Cultivation Techniques required a little over fifty years.

’Hmm, fifty years. Not too long... my ass!’

Lin Hui’s grip on Ruyi tightened slightly.

Fifty years!?!?

He had just spent so long evolving Typhoon Swordsmanship, which only took a little over ten years, and now he was suddenly hit with a fifty-year requirement... more than three times what it was before!

Lin Hui felt his blood pressure spike.

Although he had expected it to take a long time, he never thought it would be *this* long...

After several deep breaths, he finally managed to calm his racing blood pressure and turned to read the descriptions of the three swordsmanship styles.

’1—Star Breath Sword Manual: Sense the breath of the planet and transform it into a domain of atmospheric control. An evolution based on Typhoon Swordsmanship, this versatile sword technique grants mastery over most forms of flowing gases.’

’2—Great Tornado Sword Technique: Based on Typhoon Swordsmanship, this evolution can conjure massive tornadoes. Its destructive power is astonishing, but its consumption is high.’

’3—Sun Wind Divine Sword: A swordsmanship style that draws its power from scorching solar particles. When used, it can burn all hostiles within a thousand meters, inflicting searing damage. A swing of the sword can carry a temperature of a thousand degrees, and its ultimate move, Solar Starburst, can imbue the blade with a temperature as high as one hundred thousand degrees. Its explosive power is extremely high, but its sustainability depends on the amount of accumulated solar particles.’

Looking at the three options, Lin Hui immediately ruled out the Sun Wind Divine Sword. The reason was simple.

Whether in the Fog Area or the No-Fog Zone, you could rarely see the sun. A swordsmanship style like this was clearly heavily reliant on the sun, and its cultivation progress in this environment would be extremely slow.

Next was the Great Tornado Sword Technique. It seemed pretty good, but Lin Hui was concerned about the words "consumption is high." He had an instinctive aversion to Martial Arts that consumed a lot of energy and lacked sustainability.

After all, in this world, endurance was what really mattered.

’So, the more moderate Star Breath Sword Manual, with its plain description, is the most practical choice. It’s highly versatile and has no obvious flaws.’

He hesitated no longer and directly selected the first option: Star Breath Sword Manual.

Soon, the new evolution option appeared.

’Star Breath Sword Manual—Time remaining: 54 years, 11 months, and 29 days.’

Almost fifty-five years...

Sighing, Lin Hui closed the Blood Seal interface, not wanting to look at it anymore.

His disciple had just presented him with a new box of Illusory Dragon Lotuses, which he would have to use on this immediately. One box could shave off nearly twenty years; it was truly a divine medicine.

Without hesitation, he quickly retrieved the Illusory Dragon Lotuses from his study. It was better to use this stuff sooner rather than later. Leaving it out made him constantly worry about it being stolen.

For three consecutive days, Lin Hui remained in seclusion, consuming the medicine in his room.

It wasn’t until the morning of the fourth day that he had completely consumed all the Illusory Dragon Lotuses.

The remaining time for the Star Breath Sword Manual had now become: 36 years, 1 month, and 14 days. It had been reduced by over 18 years.

But this was the limit.

After more than three days in seclusion, he opened the door and came out of his study. He first took a bath, then checked on his disciples’ cultivation progress. Recently, the top ten within the temple had been improving rapidly, and there was hope for a new Inner Power Martial Artist to emerge.

This caught Lin Hui’s attention.

In the afternoon, he would go to the Lin Mansion to see Lin Xiaoliu and his parents, exchange a few words with his second mother, and then return to Qingfeng Temple. This had been Lin Hui’s routine for a long time.

But today seemed a little different.

On his way back from the Lin Mansion, Lin Hui had just set off and hadn’t gone far when he sensed something was wrong.

Someone was tailing him from a distance.

It was worth noting that his Body Technique speed, though not at its maximum, was still beyond what an ordinary master could match.

For someone to be able to trail him from afar without being shaken off was quite unusual.

A thought flashed through his mind. Lin Hui abruptly rounded a corner and charged back toward his pursuer.

The person was momentarily stunned, then immediately changed direction as well, rushing toward the outskirts of the city.

This was exactly what Lin Hui wanted.

He had no desire to fight within the city. If the commotion was too great, it could easily destroy buildings and cause unnecessary damage.

One chasing the other, the two of them rushed to the outskirts and stopped in an area near the Fog Wall.

They were surrounded by a dense bamboo forest. Lin Hui landed lightly on the bank of a stream, his eyes fixed on a masked person over ten meters away.

This person was dressed in a black robe and wore a white mask. The edge of the robe was adorned with three fine silver threads.

"Who are you? Why are you following me?" Lin Hui stared at him.

The silver-lined, black-robed man said nothing, simply drawing two wavy daggers from his back.

BANG!

In that instant, with an explosive sound, his figure flickered. His speed increased several-fold, and he appeared before Lin Hui in a flash, his twin blades slashing toward his throat in two streaks of silver light.

The vaguely familiar scene instantly reminded Lin Hui of the woman he had encountered in the Purple Crystal Ruins.

That person had also used a massive burst of Inner Strength to forcibly accelerate, achieving a tremendous burst of speed for a short time.

’This kind of Secret Technique must be very damaging to the body, but it certainly achieves the goal of drastically increasing one’s explosive speed for a short period.’

CLANG.

He casually raised his hand, drawing Ruyi in an instant to block vertically.

The clash of blade and sword sent a shower of sparks flying.

The next moment, before the black-robed man could change his move, his curved sabers snapped in half with a SCHLICK. The upper halves went spinning into the distance, disappearing deep into the bamboo forest.

The black-robed man was clearly stunned for a moment. In a battle between masters, a single instant of hesitation is a fatal opening.

In that single instant, a silver light flashed before his eyes again.

It was a silver sword gleam that swept toward him like a gale, flawless, like a pure metallic vortex that completely captivated his Heart and Spirit.

SCHLICK.

Ruyi passed effortlessly through the black-robed man’s neck, sending his head flying high and splattering blood on the ground.

Lin Hui’s figure appeared behind him. He held his sword horizontally to inspect the blade and found it was not stained with a single drop of blood.

’A good sword!’

He marveled inwardly. The enhanced Ruyi was a world apart from what it was before. ’That person must have been a Circulation Martial Artist, yet I finished him off with just a single strike.’

For that strike, he had only used the Perfect Clear Wind Sword. Although the opponent’s shock from his weapon breaking and the slight distraction caused by the Perfect Clear Wind Sword played a part...

...at the end of the day, it was all a chain reaction caused by the new Ruyi Sword.

A Circulation-level turtle shell was practically nothing before the Ruyi Sword’s sharpness...

’A Circulation Master can’t be a nobody.’ Lin Hui sheathed his sword and walked closer. He used his Inner Strength to stir up a gust of air, flipping the mask off the severed head.

Beneath the mask was a kind-faced old man with graying hair.

He searched the body but found nothing to indicate the man’s identity. In the end, he could only drag the corpse to the Fog Area and toss it in as food for the monsters.

"Friend, you’re quite skilled at this." Just as he finished cleaning up the scene and was about to return to Qingfeng Temple, Lin Hui noticed a black-robed man with a golden thread standing where he had just disposed of the body by the Fog Wall. He had appeared there at some unknown time.

This person also wore a mask, the same kind as the man who had just died: a pale, blank, oval mask, like a goose egg.

"Here for revenge?" Lin Hui couldn’t be bothered to ask more. He had already offended plenty of factions. He just needed to confirm if they were here for revenge. If yes, he would kill them. If no, he would leave.

"No, no, no... The one who just died was merely one of our outer members, an expendable pawn we control. A pseudo-Circulation Master, forcibly raised with special drugs," the gold-lined, black-robed man said calmly.

"And? You want to fight?" Lin Hui gripped his sword hilt, ready to kill the moment the man said yes.

"Lin Hui, you were the one behind the Purple Crystal Ruins, weren’t you?" the black-robed, gold-lined man changed the subject. "And the Inner City New Martial Alliance Branch, that was you too? Right?"

Though phrased as questions, his tone was one of absolute certainty.

"Why would you do such a thing? The Qinghe Sect has no quarrel with you, does it?"

"I don’t know what you’re talking about." Of course, Lin Hui wasn’t about to admit anything. He slowly began to draw his sword.

"You’ve got some nerve, daring to move against us. You managed to slip through the cracks during a few of our major operations. But... now that we’ve confirmed it’s you," the gold-lined man’s hands also began to glow with white light, his black robe stirring without any wind.

"Did you think you could still escape?"

Another identical gold-lined, black-robed man had appeared behind Lin Hui.

One had three threads and the other had one. Positioned in front and behind, they had Lin Hui completely trapped.

"It’s very strange. You’re an Inner Power Martial Artist, and your family background is completely clean and traceable. How did you get this strong?" the one-thread man who had appeared last asked in confusion.

"He probably has some secret. Let’s not worry about it. We got lucky, catching the real culprit on our first try. When we get back, the two lords will definitely reward us handsomely. If we report this achievement, we might even get a chance to try for another breakthrough in our lifetime," the three-thread man said with a laugh.