The Decaying World

「Qingfeng Temple.」

Xiaohu led Master Yunxia slowly down a corridor bordering the training grounds, gesturing as he introduced the place.

"This is the area inside our temple where disciples practice their Martial Arts. It’s not huge, but most people only come to the temple when they need guidance on weekdays. The rest of the time, they choose their own favorite spots to train, so it’s generally big enough. If you decide to join, this is where you’ll be."

"The grounds are nice, and the people’s morale and spirit are high," Master Yunxia said with a nod and a smile.

"Of course! Our Qingfeng Temple is the strongest martial arts hall in all the surrounding towns! And our Observatory Master is the greatest Swordsmanship expert in the entire Outer City District! He’s known as the Invisible Sword!" Xiaohu’s admiration for Lin Hui was written all over his face.

"Impressive, very impressive. But what about Qingfeng Temple’s previous masters? Why let someone so young become the Observatory Master? I’ve seen that other martial arts halls are all led by older individuals," Master Yunxia asked with a gentle smile, his hands clasped behind his back.

"I’m not sure about that. One day, the old elders of Qingfeng Temple just... fled overnight. Only a few people were left, and they struggled to keep things going. The only reason the temple didn’t die out is because our current Observatory Master painstakingly propped it up and stabilized the situation," Xiaohu said, hesitating.

"I see."

Master Yunxia asked no more questions. As they walked past the training grounds, his gaze swept over the area, pausing for a moment when he saw a group of disciples practicing the Perfect Seven-Section Quick Sword.

"This Swordsmanship... it seems a bit different from the styles of other martial arts halls?" he couldn’t help but ask.

In that brief instant, he had compared it to the countless swordsmanship styles he had seen over hundreds of years, yet none were as strange as the Seven-Section Quick Sword.

Compared to the more powerful Martial Arts of the Inner City, the Perfect Seven-Section Quick Sword had absolutely no side effects. It was like a gentleman who strictly adhered to a moral code, never allowing the process of its cultivation to harm the practitioner.

In contrast, the current Martial Arts of both the Inner and Outer Cities were singularly focused on exchanging the smallest possible cost for powerful combat effectiveness.

"You can tell? Our Observatory Master perfected and recreated all of the temple’s previous Swordsmanship techniques himself. I’m surprised; you’ve got a good eye," Xiaohu said with a proud smile.

Master Yunxia said no more, instead following Xiaohu to see the central courtyard, the corridors, the disciples’ living quarters, and the pharmacy that supplied Elixirs.

Soon, they returned to the edge of the training grounds.

This time, Master Yunxia’s eyes fell upon two disciples practicing the Nine-Section Swift Sword.

The Nine-Section Swift Sword was a technique used by Low-tier disciples for combat and practical application. Lin Hui had perfected this as well, making it countless times more powerful than the original version.

Most importantly, starting with the perfected version of the Nine-Section Swift Sword, Qingfeng Temple’s Swordsmanship began to possess a strange Mental Traction Force.

The better you practiced it, the stronger this traction force became. This power even worked on animals.

"That... what Swordsmanship is that?" Master Yunxia had seen that there was something special about it. The smile on his face slowly faded, replaced by a hint of curiosity, a tremor of shock, and... joy.

Yes, this path of constantly perfecting the Martial Arts themselves was a world apart from Extreme Martial Arts, and the shock it gave him was immense.

He had never imagined that after being perfected, a martial art could naturally produce such a wondrous feeling, such a miraculous ability.

"That’s the Nine-Section Swift Sword, another Dharma Gate perfected by the Observatory Master. Its strikes are as swift as lightning, and its explosive power is immense. But most importantly, the Martial Arts of our Qingfeng Temple don’t harm the body. Don’t be fooled by its incredible burst power; no one has ever been injured by their own explosive force while training it." Having now broken into the top ten disciples himself, Xiaohu’s words carried more weight than before.

The only reason he was guiding Master Yunxia and explaining things was because he was desperate for Contribution Points. This task of guiding a new visitor and introducing the temple counted as a low-level mission if done for three days.

"I see... Then what about Qingfeng Temple’s strongest technique, the Qingfeng Swordsmanship?" Master Yunxia asked softly.

He had come out this time purely on a whim. He hadn’t looked at any information; he had just rushed straight over.

He preferred this direct, primitive method—to see with his own eyes, to feel, to touch, to perceive. It was the only way to avoid being deceived or wasting his time.

"The Qingfeng Sword? That’s a core martial art. It’s not usually demonstrated here. Disciples who learn it find their own places to practice; they don’t often come here to train. That’s because the tempering process of the perfected Qingfeng Swordsmanship causes quite a commotion, naturally stirring the air currents. If beginners or those who aren’t proficient enough practice together in a group, they’re bound to interfere with each other."

Xiaohu said with a smile.

"Of course, there’s another reason. A while back, the Observatory Master took a liking to practicing in the woods and on the Gale Plain, so the Official Disciples also started finding their own preferred places with the right atmosphere to train."

"How wonderful..." Master Yunxia smiled again.

"It is, isn’t it? Well, that’s about all there is to say. So, miss, when are you thinking of signing up? I can get you a discount! And with looks like yours, if you really join, the male disciples will absolutely welcome you with open arms!"

Xiaohu chuckled. He had already noticed that as he gave his tour, furtive glances from male disciples on the training grounds were constantly darting in their direction.

All of those gazes were fixed on the girl who called herself Yunxia.

"Hmm... Let me see. Also, I’m not a ’miss.’ I’m a man," Yun Xizi corrected him with a smile.

"Huh??" Xiaohu froze for a second. He quickly scrutinized the details and, upon spotting Yunxia’s Adam’s apple, his expression turned strange.

The person’s voice was androgynous, his features were more beautiful than a girl’s, and his aura possessed an indescribable beauty...

’How can this be...?’

But in this day and age, you could find all sorts of people. He recovered after the initial shock.

"Sorry... I didn’t notice," he apologized hastily.

"It’s fine. You’re a good kid. I’m not offended." Master Yunxia’s gaze shifted away from him. "I happen to be a very magnanimous person."

"Uh... thanks, then." Xiaohu felt the other man’s tone was a bit odd, but he didn’t dwell on it.

He led the man to the reception hall, had someone bring a cup of tea, and fetched the temple’s schedule and fee list for him to review.

But no matter how much he hinted, Yunxia just wouldn’t go through with the registration.

This left him feeling a bit helpless, so he had no choice but to arrange for another student to take his place.

After he went to take care of some things and returned, he found that Yunxia was still there!

Moreover, the student on reception duty told him that this guest had just been sitting in the hall drinking tea—he’d already had six cups. He wouldn’t leave, just sat there with a gentle smile, watching the students practice on the training grounds outside.

Halfway through, he even asked why there were old men and women practicing Martial Arts at the temple.

After being told that these people were practicing for health and well-being, he seemed even less inclined to leave...

Xiaohu was at a loss for words.

Seeing that it was almost afternoon, he wondered if there was some way to get the man to make his intentions clear...

But time ticked by, and the sky outside began to dim. Yunxia was still sitting right where he was, as steady as a mountain. He even asked the student attending to him for some of the temple’s snacks.

It had to be said, good looks really made a difference. Without a second thought, the student immediately brought out his own private stash of high-end pastries, all just to coax a smile from the beautiful man.

When Xiaohu saw the fancy pastries on the table, he instantly understood what had happened and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel and walked over, just about to ask the man what his plans were.

Suddenly, a wave of suppressed cheers came from the temple gate.

"The Observatory Master is back!"

"Greetings, Observatory Master!"

"The Observatory Master feels even stronger!"

"Observatory Master, could you offer some guidance on what’s wrong with my combat Body Technique!?"

A dense jumble of overlapping shouts merged into a boisterous welcome.

A warmth spread through Xiaohu’s chest. He quickly rushed to the entrance and looked out.

He saw his master, Lin Hui, holding a Longsword and dressed in white Formal Clothing, walking slowly through the gate.

Compared to before, Lin Hui’s hair seemed a bit longer and his aura had also changed slightly. No wonder some disciples were shouting that he’d grown stronger.

The main thing was that before, Lin Hui’s eyes were simply sharp, but now they were narrower and more piercing, as if his entire eyes had been stretched longer and larger.

This subtle change had also somewhat enhanced Lin Hui’s handsome features.

However, this enhancement gave off a strange, intimidating feeling, as if staring at him for a few seconds too long would make him draw his sword and cut you down.

Xiaohu only managed two glances before he didn’t dare to look directly at him, quickly lowering his head to avoid his gaze.

At that moment, Master Yunxia also rose slowly to his feet, his beautiful eyes instantly locking onto Lin Hui as he entered.

Coincidentally, the first thing Lin Hui’s gaze fixed on after entering was Master Yunxia.

For a brief moment, both of them paused.

"Friend, are you from the Inner City?" The moment Lin Hui saw Yunxia, he felt the man was like a massive black hole, ceaselessly devouring all the ambient energy around him.

This person emitted no aura whatsoever.

This was extremely strange.

After all, every living being, to a greater or lesser extent, emits various forms of radiation.

Humans have thermal and electrical radiation. It’s faint, but everyone has it.

And for a martial artist at Lin Hui’s level, with extremely keen perception, he should have been perfectly able to sense the subtle aura of the person at this distance.

Yet, the instant he walked in and saw Master Yunxia, his heart clenched. He knew something was wrong.

He now used a low-pitched voice transmission to confirm the other party’s identity and purpose. Because of his elder brother’s background with the Rain Palace, he wasn’t particularly intimidated.

He was merely curious about the purpose of his visit.

"The Invisible Sword, Lin Hui?" Master Yunxia asked back via voice transmission. "Let’s go somewhere else."

"Alright." Lin Hui’s figure flickered and vanished from the crowd.

Master Yunxia also flickered suddenly, disappearing in an instant before the astonished eyes of Xiaohu and the others.

「Gale Plain.」

A howling gale blew ceaselessly all year round.

Lin Hui and Master Yunxia’s figures flickered, appearing on this dim plain that had been scoured almost completely flat by sword practice.

For thousands of meters around, there wasn’t a single piece of gravel. All the original rubble had been blown far away by Lin Hui’s sword training.

The saying "big rocks turned into small ones, and small ones into nothing" perfectly described the transformation of this place.

Because it was so smooth and the ground so level, the place sometimes even attracted tourists and couples looking for a place to relax.

The two now stood facing each other.

Lin Hui narrowed his eyes, sizing the other man up.

"Please state your purpose. Forgive my bluntness, but we’ve never met, have we? With an appearance as striking as yours, I’m certain I would never forget you if we had."

"Indeed, we have not," Master Yunxia smiled. "I simply took a sudden interest and came to see Qingfeng Temple."