The Decaying World

"You or me?" One Golden Thread asked.

"What’s there to talk about? We attack together and make it quick. Crap, he’s running!"

Three Golden Threads’s tone suddenly grew urgent. Lin Hui had already vanished from sight.

His expression changed, and he shot toward the Fog Wall.

Through his sensory perception, he could feel Lin Hui’s Inner Strength signature plunging into the Fog Area at a jaw-dropping speed.

Behind him, the slightly slower One Golden Thread also grew anxious. Seeing the credit for the kill about to slip away, he hurriedly followed at full speed.

One after the other, they chased Lin Hui into the Fog Area.

Both were extremely fast, covering several hundred meters in just a few seconds. But not long after entering the fog, they stopped almost simultaneously.

"Wait. The kid is luring us into an uninhabited zone."

"What should we do?"

"Report to our two superiors. We shouldn’t act rashly. This guy kills Circulation-level experts in two strikes. We might not be able to kill him. Besides, his family and relatives are all in town. He can run, but his temple can’t." Three Golden Threads was quite rational.

The two quickly took a cylindrical black object from their waist pouches and, with a soft...

SHH!

A silver light flashed.

A bright sword slash bloomed in the fog, precisely striking the objects from their hands.

"Fuck!!"

The two scattered and retreated at the same time, but it was too late.

The fog ahead was abruptly split in two by a silver sword light. The slender beam, like a thread, slashed across their chests at extreme speed.

The Sword Speed was so fast that even though they saw it, their bodies couldn’t react in time.

They only had time to channel their Void Power and strike forward.

Unexpectedly, their Void Power hit nothing. The sword light dispersed, and a new silver gleam chopped down from above, aimed right at Three Golden Threads’s head.

The true strength of a Priest was on full display at this moment. Even if their speed couldn’t keep up, as long as their eyes and thoughts could, they feared no sneak attack.

BOOM!!

This time, the sword light and Void Power finally collided head-on.

The sword light instantly dissipated, revealing the long, narrow Ruyi Steel Sword within.

Lin Hui was right behind the steel sword, his robes fluttering as he descended, swooping down for the kill.

After a one-second stalemate between the incredibly sturdy Ruyi Sword and the Void Power, the two forces violently repelled each other. Lin Hui used the momentum to flicker away, disappearing into the fog.

Meanwhile, Three Golden Threads rapidly retreated to stabilize himself.

Fast!

Too fast.

’In that last moment, if I’d been even a fraction of a second slower, I would have been cut down by that sword.’

He didn’t want to bet on whether his powerful Summoned body, reinforced with Circulation Internal Power, could block the other’s longsword.

’And what kind of weapon was that? To think it could clash head-on with Void Power!? Could it be...?!’ Suddenly, a terrifying guess surfaced in his mind.

"This is bad! What if it’s that faction...!" A chill went down Three Golden Threads’s spine, and he hurriedly sent a telepathic message to his companion.

"Fall back! It might be the Good Heart Sect!"

"What!?" One Golden Thread’s body trembled.

But before he could recover, another silent, silver blade of light flew at him from the side.

PFFT!

He hadn’t noticed this one. The silver light instantly broke through his Circulation Internal Power and made contact with his robes and skin.

The Sealed Poison activated instantly.

One Golden Thread was about to circulate his power but was horrified to find he couldn’t move. He could only desperately channel his Void Power to strike back.

Unexpectedly, the sword light flickered like an illusion, suddenly reappearing at another spot on his waist.

CRACK!

With a crisp sound like shattering glass, something One Golden Thread was wearing broke. He jolted as if waking from a dream, an invisible force forcibly restoring his mobility.

Immediately, the Void Power all over his body erupted into a Stagnation Force Field, which exploded outward.

WHOOSH!!

In an instant, everything within a fifty-meter radius was frozen in place.

"Let’s see how you..." PFFT!

A sword light flashed across his face.

One Golden Thread’s body stiffened again, unable to move. Just like Song Zhanlong before him, his eyeballs were sliced into quarters.

The next second, he opened his mouth and screamed. The Void Power around him formed into threads, sweeping wildly in all directions like countless invisible hairs, dicing everything into innumerable fragments.

Not far away, Three Golden Threads, who had been about to approach and check the situation, was caught in the crossfire. He grunted as the blast hit him, shattering his Circulation Internal Power and leaving bloody gashes on his skin.

"Are you fucking crazy?! You hit me!!" Three Golden Threads roared, completely oblivious to Lin Hui, who was silently holding his sword horizontally in the fog behind him, his eyes glowing faintly red.

Just as Three Golden Threads’s Circulation Internal Power was shattered by his companion, Lin Hui’s Inner Strength began to circulate at full speed. He activated his Special Effects, pushed his Power to its absolute limit, and prepared to strike.

’If I kill them, what if the Qinghe Sect just sends someone stronger?’

A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

’But if I don’t kill them, they already know who I am. If this goes on... and my true strength is exposed, it’ll probably cause a lot of trouble.’

An Inner Power Martial Artist—and one who cultivated from the outside in, no less—who could leap so many levels to become strong enough to kill a Priest.

The hidden reasons behind such a case would surely attract the greed and covetousness of many.

’It seems there’s only one way...’ Just as Lin Hui was thinking about how to frame someone else...

A vaguely familiar figure abruptly appeared at Three Golden Threads’s side.

The person wore a silver Evil Dragon Mask and white robes. They silently reached out and placed a hand on Three Golden Threads’s left temple.

SHH!

In the next instant, Three Golden Threads simply vanished!

It was as if he had never been there at all.

Not only that, but behind One Golden Thread, a man wearing a Silver Rhino Mask had also appeared.

In the same manner, the man easily made One Golden Thread disappear as well.

In the fog, the Dragon Mask and the Rhino Mask turned to look at Lin Hui at the same time.

"Long time no see, Observatory Master Qingfeng."

The Dragon Mask greeted him with a hint of a smile.

"You haven’t used that Hei Yu I gave you even once..." the Dragon Mask sighed.

Lin Hui subconsciously touched the Hei Yu hanging at his waist, recalling the other person’s identity.

It was Dragon Maiden, the one who called herself a member of the Good Heart Sect.

"Those two, what happened to them?" he asked in a low voice.

"They’re probably deep inside some monster’s nest right now. They won’t be getting out anytime soon. Don’t worry, we’ll clean up the rest for you. From start to finish, this will have nothing to do with you," Dragon Maiden said with a laugh.

"What is your objective?" Lin Hui asked again.

"We’ve been observing you for a long time, Observatory Master Lin Hui. You were born to be one of us. Because you are fated to clash with the Inner City Moon Tower. The Moon Tower’s Extreme Desire Heaven will not spare any outsiders like you," Dragon Maiden continued.

"What do you mean!?" Sensing no malice from her, Lin Hui slowly lowered his Ruyi Sword.

"If we were to simply explain the hidden meaning, you wouldn’t believe it. Only after you see it with your own eyes and experience it for yourself will you understand what I just said," Dragon Maiden’s tone grew more serene.

"So, you’re saying that sooner or later, I’ll be targeted by the Inner City Moon Tower, which naturally puts me on the same side as you. In that case, I want to ask, what is the Moon Tower, and what are its objectives?" Lin Hui said gravely.

"You can go see for yourself," Dragon Maiden said.

"What should I see? And how?" Lin Hui pressed.

"Go and see the paths of other cultivators who also don’t eat Wanfu Meat. See their fates," Dragon Maiden replied. "I believe you’ll find your answer."

"Let’s go," the Silver Rhino Mask said gruffly from the side.

"Alright." Dragon Maiden nodded and turned to leave.

"Then what is your objective!?" Lin Hui asked one last time.

"For freedom," Dragon Maiden replied without looking back.

The two of them ran several hundred meters through the fog before slowing down.

"Hurry, hurry! Don’t let those two from the Qinghe Sect get away!" Dragon Maiden rounded a corner and dashed in another direction.

"Then why were you putting on such an act just now?" the Silver Rhino Mask said, speechless.

"Wasn’t I just setting the mood? The atmosphere was just right; I couldn’t resist playing the part."

"You’ve been observing Lin Hui for so long. Is it because you think he has great potential?"

"If I’m not mistaken, he’s likely a pawn secretly being cultivated in the Outer City by some major power. Look at the sword in his hand—its material is something no ordinary faction could forge. Then there are his Martial Arts. Their quality is so high that not even a Priest from the Qinghe Sect can handle him. So, I speculate he might be a top-tier genius personally trained by a Sect Leader from one of the Three Sects," Dragon Maiden answered.

"So you quickly dragged me out here to make a goodwill gesture?" The Rhino Mask realized.

"Exactly. If we waited until his identity was truly exposed, there’d be no place for us in this. By acting now, we can still offer a little help. It gives us a foothold, you get it?" Dragon Maiden said with resignation.

"What about the Qinghe Sect?"

"Black and White Blade himself won’t dare to investigate with a big fuss. With his men gone, the most he can do is suspect. What can he do? Liu Wu Jun is right there; they won’t dare make a move," Dragon Maiden laughed. "And Liu Wu Jun is Lin Hui’s big brother... Don’t you think roping him in kills two birds with one stone?"

"Brilliant... You’re truly brilliant!" The Rhino Mask immediately gave a thumbs-up.

"Then why did you even tell him how to investigate?" he suddenly thought of another question.

"Because Liu Wu Jun can’t advance. The legitimate eldest son of the Liu Family won’t allow him to become too prominent. It didn’t work last time, but there will be a next time, and a time after that. By starting with Lin Hui, we might have a chance to bring him over in the future. It would be a terrible waste for such a top-tier genius to fall," Dragon Maiden sighed.

*

*

*

「On the other side.」

Lin Hui exited the Fog Area, his mind racing as he replayed what had just happened.

’Looks like I need to be more careful. This time, I was too careless in my daily life and got exposed after a simple probe.’

After formulating a contingency plan in his mind in case a similar situation arose again, Lin Hui’s thoughts returned to what Dragon Maiden had said before she left.

’Observe the cultivators who don’t eat Wanfu Meat...?’

For some reason, he suddenly thought of his master, Mingde, and the former Inner Strength masters of Qingfeng Temple who had left Xinyu Town.

’Tomorrow, I’ll go to the Moon Tower and see if what Dragon Maiden said is true. This so-called Moon Tower... what exactly is it?’