The Decaying World

Fortunately, Li Yuanyuan didn’t linger on the subject. Instead, she changed the topic.

"Master Yunxia and Su Yaping, as you instructed, are waiting outside."

"Mm, have them come in," Lin Hui nodded.

After this long period of observation, he had finally determined that the two were ready to be taught the next Seal Technique.

After all, he had previously only granted them the three common Seal Techniques.

Righteous Body, Zhengxin, and Zhengde.

With just these, both of their strengths had already far surpassed their former selves. Now, it was time to grant them the final Seal Technique.

Lin Hui didn’t plan on granting the Qingyuan Body to everyone. Only the few strongest could fully unleash the power of this Seal Technique. If ordinary disciples obtained it, they wouldn’t be able to sustain it for long, and overuse might even lead to rapid assimilation by Disaster Energy.

Soon, Li Yuanyuan withdrew, and Su Yaping and Master Yunxia entered the courtyard, one after the other.

Old Su was the same as ever, his expression calm, always looking like he had everything under control. Life after arriving at Black Cloud had been comfortable, and he’d even put on some weight.

Master Yunxia, on the other hand, was still in her white dress with gold trim. Her black hair fell to her waist, her beautiful eyes sparkled, and her face was as pure as if she knew nothing of the world’s evils.

It was clear she had now decided to remain in her female form and not change back. She had obviously made up her mind to stick with Lin Hui.

After entering, they each bowed to Lin Hui.

"What are your orders, Daoist Master?" Su Yaping asked softly.

"If you want me to warm your bed, Daoist Master, you need only ask. Anytime, anywhere," Master Yunxia said, her voice bewitching as she licked her lips.

Ignoring Yunxia’s nonsense, Lin Hui turned to face the two of them.

"Times are changing, and war is frequent. The Qingfeng Dao’s current strength is proving insufficient. So, after careful consideration, I’ve decided to formally bestow upon you two the sect’s most dangerous—and most powerful—Seal Technique."

Hearing this, both of them tensed. They knew the heights of Lin Hui’s power, so for him to rate a Seal Technique so highly, one could only imagine how terrifying its might must be.

"Please grant us the technique, Daoist Master!" they exclaimed, bowing in unison.

"Once this technique is passed down, your power may instantly increase several times over, perhaps even more. But this surge of power does not come without a price. When you activate this Seal Technique..." Lin Hui then carefully explained the drawbacks of the Qingyuan Body.

When they heard they could be eroded by an unknown corrupting power even greater than that of Purgatory and the Extreme Cold, the expressions on both of their faces changed.

But neither of them hesitated, still pleading for Lin Hui to impart the Seal Technique.

Lin Hui glanced toward a spot to their right, then nodded with a smile.

"Then, approach me one by one. Focus your mind and hold your breath."

He raised his hand, and a faint blue light glowed at the tip of his index finger.

*

*

*

Outside the courtyard, Song Feishi stood motionless behind a wall, her brow tightly furrowed. She was dressed in a white, waist-cinching dress.

For some reason, she felt that the atmosphere at the Daoist academy had become more unsettling lately during her observations of Pang Jiu and Lin Hui.

Like the children of the Original Blood families, she was now considered an outer disciple of the Qingfeng Dao.

Ever since she discovered that Pang Jiu’s condition began to recover after he started practicing swordsmanship and obtained the True Body Seal, she had paid increasing attention to the special Martial Arts taught within the Qingfeng Dao—the Seal Techniques.

Five years of observation and information gathering from multiple sources had allowed her to confirm it completely: the True Body Seal truly had no side effects.

Zhengde could indeed enhance one’s aptitude for Martial Arts. There were no concrete examples for Zhengxin yet, but tests had shown it had some amplifying effect on one’s Heart and Spirit.

She had tried to secretly investigate the internal state of disciples who had obtained the Seal Techniques, but she still came up with nothing.

And during her investigation, she was even more astonished to discover that the amplification from the Seal Techniques seemed to disregard one’s Realm of power entirely.

This made her interest in Lin Hui grow even stronger.

Seeing Su Yaping and Master Yunxia enter the courtyard now, a flicker of curiosity crossed her mind. In her years at the Qingfeng Dao, she had rarely seen Lin Hui take anyone out with him. This time, not only did he go out and return with a pile of chests, but he had also summoned these two top disciples of the Qingfeng Dao for a meeting.

Clearly, he was planning something big.

But even if he was planning something big, Master Yunxia and Su Yaping were still too weak. They weren’t even Fog People. To her, anyone below the level of a Fog Person was an ant. Only Lin Hui, who could fight against Fog People, was worthy of her attention.

She immediately made up her mind. After the two of them finished their meeting and came out, she would find an opportunity to probe them a little. That should be enough to figure out what secrets were discussed.

Finding a random spot, she pretended to be in meditative comprehension of Martial Arts, leaning against a wall with her eyes closed.

Such Qingfeng Dao disciples were a common sight here. The perfect version of the Qingfeng Sword had extremely high requirements for comprehension. The subsequent Gale Swordsmanship, which Lin Hui had also made available for learning via exchange, demanded even greater comprehension. Thus, one could often see people suddenly start practicing their sword forms or stand in closed-eye meditation while walking.

She thought she might have to wait a long time, but only a few minutes passed.

The courtyard gate opened slowly.

A figure slowly walked out. It was Su Yaping.

He walked with his head down, looking somewhat tired, completely oblivious to whether anyone was around.

Song Feishi opened her eyes and looked toward Su Yaping.

’No change. It seems he just assigned them some minor but important tasks,’ she guessed to herself.

Squinting, she turned to leave.

’That’s not right!’

Suddenly, it hit her. She whipped her head back around to look at Su Yaping.

’What’s going on!?’

’His body... Where’s his Mental Power? His Circulating True Power!?’ Su Yaping was a Mingji Martial Artist, possessing incomparably immense True Power. This was something she had tested long ago.

As for her testing method, she had simply needed to disguise her identity and launch a stealthy probe attack.

She had been very clear on Su Yaping’s strength before. When she tested him five years ago, he should have been at the level of a mid-tier Blood Ancestor.

Only five years had passed. For a Martial Artist like him, with a lifespan of centuries, his power shouldn’t have changed so drastically.

But at this very moment, what shook Song Feishi was that no matter how she tried to sense him, even with her power as an Emperor Blood Fog Person, she couldn’t detect a single trace of power within his body.

Involuntarily, she took a step forward, just in time to see the other person emerge from the courtyard—Master Yunxia.

"I think... I feel someone watching me?" Master Yunxia’s voice, carrying an aftertaste of seduction and excitement, drifted out from the doorway.

She stepped gracefully out of the shadows, her beautiful eyes actually glowing with a faint blue light in the darkness.

"I feel it too, but it’s fine. The Daoist Master is here," Su Yaping said with a slight smile.

He gently reached up and lifted a strand of his long hair. Looking closely, one could see a faint hint of blue shimmering within it.

"Care for a drink?" he asked, looking at Master Yunxia.

"I’d be delighted," Master Yunxia laughed.

SWISH!

In an instant, the two of them vanished.

This speed was more than twice as fast as their previous Body Techniques!

Caught off guard, Song Feishi’s vision blurred for a moment, and she failed to track their direction of departure. Just as she was about to extend her Heart and Spirit to pursue them and figure out what was going on...

"Since you’re curious, why not come in for a chat?"

An incredibly familiar male voice suddenly spoke from less than two feet behind her.

Song Feishi went numb. A subtle tremor she hadn’t felt in centuries shot up from her tailbone to the crown of her head.

Her body’s instincts, the Evil Soldier within her, screamed warnings at this moment.

Her skin tightened, and her muscles tensed. Her Heart and Spirit unconsciously contracted, solidifying on the surface of her skin to form the strongest possible defense.

She turned her head stiffly. Her Heart and Spirit sensed nothing behind her.

But her eyes clearly saw him—Lin Hui, who had appeared at some unknown time, was floating silently less than three feet behind her.

His white robes billowed, his long hair fanned out, and his expression was gentle and smiling. But the sight of his hand resting on the Ruyi Sword Handle at his waist made her go numb and sent a chill down her spine.

’A mere mortal who isn’t even a Fog Person...!?’ A surge of immense shame at her body’s reaction rose in Song Feishi’s heart.

She forcefully suppressed her instincts and the Evil Soldier.

"When... did you discover me?"

"Just now. After all, just as you were thinking, I’m only an ordinary mortal," Lin Hui said with a faint smile.

"..." Song Feishi was silent.

"Come with me. Five years is long enough for you to have learned everything you needed to know," Lin Hui said, brushing past her and walking toward the courtyard.

Song Feishi no longer dared to underestimate him. To be able to appear behind her so silently—this level of Body Technique was far beyond her previous estimations.

She steadied her nerves, quickened her pace to follow him, and entered the courtyard.

*

*

*

Above the Jade Sea, the scope of the raging storm was growing ever larger.

SWISH!

A white figure instantly appeared before the storm, high above the sea’s surface.

The white figure was dressed as a scholar, holding a folding fan. His expression was grave as he surveyed his surroundings.

"Third Sister’s aura has completely vanished..."

To be able to capture Third Sister in such a short time, the perpetrator’s strength was absolutely not something he could contend with alone. Although he was stronger than her, he knew he couldn’t defeat and abduct her in under two hours.

WHOOSH!

Suddenly, several black figures shot out from the sea below.

One of them floated up to a position below and in front of him, cupping his hands in a salute.

"Second City Lord, we’ve found residual traces of the Third City Lord’s Descent of the Heart God in the sea! The agitated state of the algae and fish is a perfect match for the manifestation of the Third City Lord’s Evil Energy!"

"It seems this is the place." Zhang Yao nodded. His third sister’s Evil Energy was proliferation, a type of Evil Energy whose traces could usually only be detected by observing the living things in the environment.

"Continue to expand the search area."

"Yes, sir!"

Zhang Yao was worried, but through a relic that held a special connection between the three siblings, he knew his third sister was still alive and safe for the time being. However, the hidden mastermind who had lured away his eldest brother and trapped his sister was sure to make another move.

In the city, there was the increasingly suspicious Qingfeng Dao, and the aggressive and rapidly growing Bright Heart Association.

This made him feel a sense of anxiety he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

For this search, to avoid a repeat of what happened to his sister, he had not only brought his most powerful, last-resort relic, but also his personal guard of Blood Ancestors.

By combining the relic’s power with his Blood Ancestor guards in a formation, he could temporarily elevate his strength to a level approaching his eldest brother’s.

Just as he was pondering which factions might be responsible, Zhang Yao suddenly spun around, his gaze fixed on the sky to the right of the distant storm.

There, a massive warship made of pure white crystal was slowly materializing out of thin air.

Atop the warship, a figure he knew all too well, one etched deep in his memory, stood silently on the prow.

"A-Yao." A deep, resonant voice crossed thousands of meters and sounded directly in Zhang Yao’s mind.

"It’s been a thousand years, and you’re still so cautious."

Zhang Yao’s expression changed drastically. Even in mid-air, he unconsciously retreated several steps. His entire body tensed, his pupils contracted, and his face turned deathly pale.

"Father... King...!?"