The Decaying World

Master Yunxia surveyed his surroundings, taking in the signs of the altered terrain at a glance.

"Someone suddenly came up and asked me if I had taken a disciple in the Outer City. It’s strange—a very strange question, really. The Inner City is overflowing with talented, high-aptitude individuals; no one would go to the Outer City to recruit a disciple. For anyone else, it would be impossible. But for me? It’s certainly a possibility. I’m just that kind of willful person."

"...And you are... may I ask your identity...?" Lin Hui’s tone grew slightly more cautious.

"What’s the use of an identity?" Master Yunxia retorted. "When you have enough strength, an identity comes naturally. So... can you tell me how you perfected and created those forms of swordsmanship?"

An ordinary Martial Artist might look at the Seven-Section Quick Sword and Nine-Section Swift Sword and think they were just so-so. While the perfected versions were indeed much stronger, their power was still limited.

But Master Yunxia was different. As a pinnacle figure in the field of Martial Arts in Tuyue City, he could see at a glance the complexity and difficulty—or rather, the terror—behind these two Martial Arts.

Master Yunxia knew that he himself was incapable of refining and optimizing two ordinary Outer Strength Martial Arts to such a degree.

The amount of work involved was simply immense.

That was why he had been willing to wait so long just to meet Lin Hui, the creator, in person.

"I just felt that some parts were a little disharmonious, so I slowly adjusted them based on feeling," Lin Hui replied calmly. He obviously couldn’t reveal the existence of the Blood Seal, so this was the only answer he could give.

"Feeling? That’s not a bad answer. Back in the day, I also felt something was off, and that’s why I took it upon myself to create my own Martial Arts." Unexpectedly, Master Yunxia actually accepted this explanation.

Then, his gaze fell upon the Ruyi Sword in Lin Hui’s hand.

Just as the Good Heart Sect had said, there was something very wrong with that sword. It was incredibly sharp. He had never seen that kind of material in any city district before.

"Can you teach me Qingfeng Temple’s swordsmanship?" he suddenly asked with another smile. "I can allow you to use my name and become my disciple."

"...Aren’t you a little too full of yourself?" A trace of displeasure appeared on Lin Hui’s face. Although he didn’t know who this person was, hearing such arrogant words right after meeting him was a bit of a turn-off.

"Want to fight? You can try drawing your sword and striking me," Master Yunxia said with a smile. "I’ll just stand right here. I won’t dodge or move."

"..."

Lin Hui had just suppressed his Purgatory Aura. The Inner Strength in his body was like boiling magma, ready to leak its corrupting aura at the slightest lapse in concentration. How could he dare to make a move so recklessly?

At this moment, he himself didn’t know how much stronger he had become. After all, his strength and constitution had always been enhanced by Special Effects and swordsmanship. The Body Tempering he’d undergone also served to increase his efficiency in channeling external, unknown powers.

The improvement to his fundamental attributes hadn’t actually been that great; he only started seeing some gains after beginning the Qingfeng Swordsmanship.

In essence, the truly rapid improvement came from the Gale Swordsmanship. But that was just a secondary enhancement that came along with improvements in other areas; it didn’t contribute much on its own.

But now, the devouring slaughter of his Purgatory Transformation had caused his strength and recovery to skyrocket in just a few short days.

Although he hadn’t tested it yet, he roughly estimated at least a five-fold increase in power.

Aside from all that, he was also carrying a trump card like the Nine Eyes. He had already tested the power of the Spirit-Sealing Array, and it was ridiculously strong. It had perfectly sealed the Wailing Giant, a Fog Area monster that even the High Priest could only fend off, and that was with the array at its previous strength.

And now, the spirit he had sealed inside for the second time was a huge step up from the first. He had specifically sought out peak high-risk Purgatory Transformation spirits to charge the Nine Eyes.

On top of that, he had even added the spirit of the previous Wailing Giant...

"Are you worried?" Master Yunxia raised an eyebrow. "Worried about hurting me? Or worried about exposing something?" He had actually guessed what Lin Hui was thinking.

"My current state is a bit... special," Lin Hui did not deny.

"Interesting... You’re much more interesting than I imagined... I’m very interested in your Martial Arts. How about this: let’s make an equal trade. You teach me one of your Martial Arts, and I’ll teach you one of mine. How does that sound?" Master Yunxia said with a smile.

"I have enough Martial Arts to practice, I don’t need any more. As for teaching you... join my Qingfeng Temple, and you will naturally be taught," Lin Hui said calmly.

"You want me to join your sect???" Master Yunxia was stunned, as if he had heard something utterly unbelievable.

"You could have your descendants join my Qingfeng Temple," Lin Hui suggested.

"I’ve never married and have no children; I have no descendants," Master Yunxia laughed. "Interesting. I can see you have a strong backer, but it doesn’t matter. I, Yunxia, don’t care about the trash opinions of the outside world. You just wait!"

SWOOSH!

The next moment, he vanished from the spot, leaving no trace of his presence.

Lin Hui could only faintly glimpse a blurry shadow speeding into the distance, its form impossible to make out.

He was horrified, realizing that man was likely some old monster from the Inner City.

’When did I attract the attention of a monster of this level? Could it be... the other faction the Good Heart Sect mentioned was watching me?’

Standing there, he composed himself. When Master Yunxia didn’t return, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and turned back toward Qingfeng Temple.

But after taking only a few steps, he stopped.

’My strength has increased dramatically, the Nine Eyes is fully charged, and I have the Purgatory Transformation at my disposal. Why should I keep waiting passively for others to make a move before I counter?’

He gripped the Ruyi Sword Handle, the vast, surging energy in his heart like a fire with nowhere to go.

’Threats should be eliminated at the root...’

The surging flames of energy caused a faint red light to flash in the depths of Lin Hui’s eyes.

But after just a few seconds, he came to his senses and forcibly suppressed the surge within him.

’It’s really starting to affect me... No, I must strengthen my Heart and Spirit cultivation. The Illusionary Performance Technique’s progress is still too slow...’

His daily cultivation of the Illusionary Performance Technique made him feel his will and Heart and Spirit growing stronger, but the pace of this improvement was far slower than that of his other Martial Arts.

This Dharma Gate was a cumulative form of Martial Arts that required long-term, consistent practice to show results.

Its prototype came from a preparatory cultivation technique for training Summoners. It was the same for them; they had to start cultivating slowly from a very young age and could only attempt the Summoning ritual after several years.

Suppressing the impulse in his heart, Lin Hui knew it wasn’t the time to reveal his hand. The Qinghe Sect was a threat. If he had intelligence on them, he would dare to go to their doorstep and kill them. But right now, he didn’t even know their location. There was nowhere to go and swing his sword. Attacking blindly would only expose himself and be meaningless.

The Illusionary Performance Technique, the Typhoon Swordsmanship... they all needed time... He was still young... There was no rush...

Gripping his sword hilt, Lin Hui glanced at the sky, and with another SWOOSH, he vanished on the spot.

*

*

*

After dealing with the Purgatory Transformation Race, the surrounding Outer City and Fog Area became much more peaceful.

Lin Hui also returned to his previous life of arduous, day-after-day cultivation.

Time flew by.

「A year passed in the blink of an eye...」

All was calm at Qingfeng Temple. New disciples continuously broke through to the Inner Power Realm. Among the top ten, only two were not yet Inner Power Martial Artists; the other eight had all made the breakthrough.

The power of the Qingfeng Swordsmanship’s Body Tempering was beginning to show.

Meanwhile, in their daily interactions with neighboring factions, the disciples ranked below the top ten consistently demonstrated far greater combat prowess than Qingfeng Temple disciples of the past, whether in occasional spars or brawls fought for honor.

Over the course of that year, Qingfeng Temple’s reputation gradually spread beyond its immediate surroundings to towns farther away.

As for Lin Hui, after contacting Dragon Maiden, he officially received a silver token representing his status. Engraved on it was his codename: Four-Sides.

After joining, his first three familiarization missions were simple. One had him help settle special personnel from the Outer City, while another tasked him with collecting some relatively hard-to-find prescriptions and Elixir Recipes.

Lin Hui completed them one by one and finally entered the phase of waiting for official missions.

It was during this period of waiting that the siblings, Lin Wuhai and Lin Wuyue, brought up the idea of leaving.

Within the banquet hall of Qingfeng Temple’s rear residence, Lin Hui frowned slightly as he looked at Lin Wuhai and Lin Wuyue, who were kneeling on one knee with determined expressions.

"You’re still young. Why would you have such an idea? If you leave now, where will you go? What will you do? If the Qinghe Sect finds you again, how will you handle it? Have you thought all this through?"

"Master, we have," Lin Wuhai replied in a low voice. "The feud with my parents’ killers is one I cannot live under the same sky with. I have now completed Body Tempering with the Qingfeng Swordsmanship and successfully mastered two Secret Techniques. My strength is unlikely to increase any further in the short term. If I stay at the temple, I don’t know how many years it will take to reach the next stage. Rather than suffer in slow agony, my sister and I would rather venture into the Fog Area and try our luck. My ancestors once left a marker deep within the Fog Area, above the Jade Sea. It leads to a hidden family treasury. That was the source of my parents’ confidence when they dared to lead everyone away... a pity..."

Lin Wuhai spoke with complete candor, ignoring his sister’s tugging at his side as he revealed everything about the family treasury.

"So, you’re saying your family treasury contains something that can make you stronger quickly, and that’s why you intend to risk going there?" Lin Hui understood.

"Exactly," Lin Wuhai nodded.

"What about the Gale Swordsmanship? You’re giving up on it?" Lin Hui asked with a frown.

"This disciple... my aptitude is dull..." As soon as this was mentioned, a look of helplessness crossed Lin Wuhai’s face.

After completing his Body Tempering with the Qingfeng Swordsmanship, his Body Technique and speed had improved immensely. Combined with his Circulation Internal Power, his strength was even comparable to his sister’s, an Upper-Tier Summoner.

But when he started cultivating the Gale Swordsmanship... the pain and hardship began...

The Gale Swordsmanship relies on weaving a special net to attract external, mystical power and transform it into a gale.

The problem was that his net was woven from other Martial Arts. Even though he had finished Body Tempering with the Qingfeng Swordsmanship, it had only improved parts of the net’s structure.

Cultivating the Gale Swordsmanship on this foundation was incredibly difficult.

After trying for over a month and constantly getting injured every few days, Lin Wuhai had no choice but to give up.

"Since you’ve made up your mind, I won’t stop you." Lin Hui sighed. He took a money pouch from his waist and tossed it over.

"Go buy what you need for the road. Also, if you run into danger in the future and have nowhere else to go, remember to come back to Qingfeng Temple. As long as I’m here, I can guarantee your safety for a time."

Lin Wuhai caught the pouch. THUD! THUD! THUD! He kowtowed three times, his forehead hitting the floor with audible thumps.

"Thank you, Master!"

His sister beside him also kowtowed lightly.

"Thank you, Observatory Master, for taking us in for over a year. If the Tao Family is ever restored, we will never forget your kindness!"

Lin Hui waved his hand and turned away, not watching them leave.

He had originally planned to train Tao Xuehai into a Core Disciple. Alas, the paths of life are always unpredictable...

A moment later, he sighed again. When he turned back around, the two of them were gone.