The Decaying World-Chapter 53 - 48: Thoughts 4

The independent training model essentially followed a master teaching five or six apprentices. This model wasn’t profitable on a large scale and had low resource requirements, so it posed no threat to the martial arts hall system. As a result, they were no longer targeted by the Xingdiao Martial Arts Halls.

Since they were no longer considered a martial arts hall, Mingde stopped relying on tuition as his main source of income. Whenever he was short on cash, he would take on part-time work for Wang Yun’s Wang Family as hired muscle. After all, he was an Inner Power Realm expert. Even if the Qingfeng Sword was a bit weak, he was a bona fide Inner Power Realm expert, so earning enough to cover his meals was a piece of cake.

Many more students left, until the only ones still seriously practicing their swordsmanship were Lin Hui, Xiaohu, and Xiaopang. When the others saw that Weiwei rarely came to teach anymore, their initial enthusiasm quickly faded, and they all withdrew.

In the end, only six or seven people remained, casually treating sword practice as a form of physical exercise, yet they somehow managed to stick with it.

Thus, the true Qingfeng Sword Sect was, in fact, down to just four members: Lin Hui, Weiwei, Xiaohu, and Xiaopang.

Wang Yun also returned to her family and no longer visited often.

As time went on.

The Black Mist Stage quietly passed, and the season turned to summer.

The evolution of Lin Hui’s Qingfeng Sword was now nearly halfway complete. His Body Tempering, moreover, had reached the Ninth Grade Peak.

This meant he had finally reached the limits of the Seven-Section Quick Sword. For the next step, he would have to wait for his Qingfeng Swordsmanship to evolve before he could use it to temper his body.

And because of the Black Mist Stage, Lin Hui hadn’t been to the Fog Area to hunt for materials in a long time. He had been using up his old stockpile.

But regardless, he persisted daily, continuing his sword practice come rain or shine. Gradually, his parents came to see it as simple physical exercise and no longer tried to talk him out of it as they had before.

The New Martial Alliance, formed after the establishment of the Xingdiao Martial Arts Halls, had completely stabilized the entire martial arts market in Tuyue.

The environment also grew rapidly stable and peaceful. All the martial arts halls established extremely clear boundaries, no longer engaging in the overt and covert struggles of the past, as all interests were now sharply delineated.

As a result, the entire market became completely rigid. Seeing no more hope, Mingde and Weiwei rarely practiced their swords anymore. When they occasionally passed the training grounds and saw Lin Hui still at it, they assumed he was just treating it as exercise, not with the same seriousness as before.

「In the blink of an eye, it was August.」

「Qingfeng Sword Sect Training Grounds.」

Lin Hui led Xiaohu and Xiaopang, all of them gently swinging their longswords. Their movements were graceful and eye-catching, like a wellness routine.

Since giving up the martial arts hall business, the Qingfeng Sword Sect had recently, by sheer coincidence, made waves in the market for elderly wellness exercises.

It all started when Lin Hui was teaching Xiaohu and Xiaopang. The perfected version of the Seven-Section Quick Sword he used, with its graceful postures and unhurried movements, had attracted two old men who came to the old site of the Qingfeng Temple to relax.

The old men grew interested and tried to learn it, and they were instantly hooked. When they got home, they discovered their health had improved, and some of their old ailments had lessened considerably.

So, the elderly spread the word among themselves. Five or six more people came at once, and they unexpectedly built a reputation for the Qingfeng Sword Sect’s "elderly wellness class."

Many of these seniors were from wealthy families. And with the Outer City District becoming increasingly peaceful and stable, they had no interest in the exhausting rigors of true martial arts. However, the perfected version of the Qingfeng Sword Sect’s Seven-Section Quick Sword—the slow-paced version modified for demonstrating to Xiaohu—was exactly to their liking.

On the training grounds, after demonstrating the routine three times and answering the two old men’s questions about details in their posture, Lin Hui walked over to Weiwei, who was standing off to the side.

"Senior Sister, I thought you went with Wang Yun to pick up stock. What brings you here?" Lin Hui asked softly, grabbing a towel from a wooden rack to wipe away his sweat.

These days, Weiwei and her master, Mingde, were making a living primarily as semi-official retainers for the Wang Family. Weiwei served as Wang Yun’s bodyguard, while Master Mingde would step in and lend his strength when needed, basically backing up his disciple.

After all, an Inner Power Realm expert was more than enough to handle the Wang Family’s affairs. Besides, it wasn’t as if the Wang Family only had one such expert for support; it was just that Wang Yun’s branch of the family didn’t have one of their own.

"I just got back. I’m taking a break. You’re still at it, huh? In a couple of days, Yun is taking me to Lushan Lake for a social gathering. Do you want to go? She bought tickets for all of us," Weiwei said softly.

As his senior sister, she had watched Lin Hui silently persist in practicing the Qingfeng Swordsmanship without missing a single day. Regardless of what anyone else thought, such perseverance had gradually improved her impression of him.

Although she didn’t approve of his methods, she still respected anyone with that kind of determination.

This was especially true now that the Qingfeng Sword Sect had turned into a so-called "wellness class," forging a new path and unexpectedly creating a sliver of hope.

It was just that this sliver of hope wasn’t what she and her father had been looking for.

"The social gathering at Lushan Lake? What’s it for?" Lin Hui asked.

"It’s for networking and seeing if you can find someone you fancy," Weiwei said with a smile. "You’re nineteen. Besides practicing Martial Arts all day, isn’t there any girl you like?"

"Sword practice already takes up most of my time. I don’t have the spare energy to look after someone else," Lin Hui said, shaking his head.

"Alright, I figured as much," Weiwei sighed.

"However, in a few days, I might actually have to go out for a bit," Lin Hui said, suddenly changing the subject.

"Go out? Where to?" Weiwei asked, surprised.

"The Black Mist has cleared, so it’s a good time to go gather some materials," Lin Hui replied.

"You’re going to the Fog Area? Be careful. There’s no need to take such a risk now, is there?" Weiwei frowned.

"It’ll be fine. Actually, my dad needs an escort for one of his shipments," Lin Hui replied.

Recently, his father, Lin Shunhe, had opened another two branch stores, expanding at an extremely rapid pace.

He had also brought in two powerful shareholders, establishing connections in both official and underworld circles. Business was absolutely booming.

This was partly due to the modern business ideas Lin Hui occasionally gave his father, such as membership cards, point-based rewards, and raffles.

But the key was still his father’s business acumen. Lin Shunhe was highly profitable, very capable, and had an extremely accurate read on the market.

"Your family is really something..." Weiwei had also heard about the changes in Lin Hui’s family; they were truly changing by the day.

They were already opening branch stores in other towns and had even started some new "United Supermarket" model that was extremely popular.

Just two years ago, she had watched the Lin family fall from grace into an ordinary life, and now, in the blink of an eye, Lin Hui was about to become a rich heir again.

Speaking of his father, Lin Hui was speechless. He had only casually thrown out a few suggestions, and as a result, the family’s monthly income had skyrocketed from around ten thousand to over two hundred thousand, and possibly even more.

His father’s general store had been quickly converted into a supermarket. Expanding operations on a massive scale and relying on shrewd tactics and a powerful grasp of the market, the new Lin Family’s Mountain and River Supermarket had already established a good reputation in several surrounding towns.

And the network of connections, relationships, and backing his father, Lin Shunhe, had drawn in was becoming more and more substantial.

It was a blessing in disguise. After his initial downfall, he had reflected long and hard, learning many lessons that he was now putting to good use.

Not long ago, when Lin Hui was home, his mother told him that his father had spent a great deal of money on lavish gifts to pay another visit to his former benefactor, finally regaining the man’s forgiveness.

He had even secured his partnership once more.

The Mountain and River Supermarket was set to continue its expansion.

Lin Hui himself was a bit dazed. He felt that before he could even process what was happening, he had inexplicably become a rich heir. The whole thing left him a bit speechless.

"Speaking of which, are you really not considering switching to the Yuan Mountain Sword?" Weiwei’s question pulled Lin Hui from his thoughts.

The Yuan Mountain Sword was a special, defense-oriented swordsmanship she had found elsewhere. This art also originated from an Outer Strength expert who had come from Xingdiao.

"No need. My talent is limited, and so are my time and energy. Practicing this is enough for me. Besides, my family’s situation isn’t what it used to be. The last time I went home, my dad had even hired two experts to guard our courtyard," Lin Hui said.

"I heard about them. The Steel Fist brothers, right? They’re also from Xingdiao, and both are Outer Strength experts at the Body Tempering Limit. They specialize in a Combined Attack Technique and are very powerful. If it weren’t for their age, they probably wouldn’t have left Xingdiao to scrape by in the Outer City," Weiwei nodded.

"My dad has been trying to convince me to go back and learn the business from him, too. He says I’ve trained enough and that money is what really matters. He can just spend some cash to hire experts at the Body Tempering Limit for protection. There’s no need for me to suffer through arduous training every day," Lin Hui said with a sigh of resignation. "But I’ve gotten used to it. I don’t want to just give it up."

"If your dad is so rich, why are you still running off to hunt for materials?" Weiwei asked, confused.

"His money is his. Mine is my own," Lin Hui answered.

"You’re his only son, aren’t you? What’s his will be yours eventually, won’t it?"

"My dad is still young. How he uses his money is his business. Perhaps I’ll inherit it in the future, but only after I’ve inherited it will that money be mine. For now, it has nothing to do with me." Lin Hui drew a very clear distinction.

"You’re a strange one," Weiwei said, shaking her head.

"Perhaps..." Lin Hui smiled. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Anyway, let’s not talk about that. But there is something you should watch out for. A lot of people from the Baihua Sect have shown up recently. It looks like they’re searching for something in the Fog Area behind us. If you run into them, make sure to keep your distance," Weiwei warned.

"Okay, I will," Lin Hui nodded.

’Baihua Sect?’

He silently recalled the two people he had killed in the Fog Area. They had borne the unique markings of the Baihua Sect.

It seemed the Baihua Sect had finally realized they couldn’t find their members and had followed the trail all the way here.

"There’s one more thing you need to be careful about. The Inner City recently sent out a new expedition team, led by someone from the Rain Palace named You Ying. If—and I mean *if*—she brings people to the temple to ask questions, you must remain absolutely deferential. Do not show a single shred of disrespect!" Weiwei’s face paled slightly as she spoke of this person.

"Is she that powerful?" Lin Hui frowned.

"She’s a Summoner from the Inner City—incredibly powerful, and known for being extremely cruel. She’ll kill or cripple people over the slightest displeasure. Of course, it would be best to avoid her entirely," said Weiwei.

"Thanks for the warning," Lin Hui nodded.

"Alright, since you’re not going, I’ll be off. I have a feeling that this time, I might really find my Mr. Right!" Weiwei gave a charming smile, then turned and quickly departed.

After she had walked some distance away, Xiaohu, who had been standing off to the side, couldn’t help but speak up.

"Senior Brother, why don’t you get together with Senior Sister Weiwei? I think you two are a really good match."

"Kids shouldn’t be thinking about such things," Lin Hui said, patting Xiaohu on the head.

His master had brought it up to him once. Back then, he had felt a slight stirring whenever he saw his senior sister, but after realizing she wasn’t interested, the feeling faded.

Now, his daily pleasure was checking on the progress of his Blood Seal’s evolution.

He looked forward to completing the perfected version of the Qingfeng Swordsmanship, undergoing a Second-Time Body Tempering, and seeing if he could break through into the Inner Power Realm in one fell swoop.

Only after truly reaching one’s own physical limit during Body Tempering was it possible to go from outer to inner, spontaneously generating Inner Strength.

But this was not a guarantee; many people reached the Body Tempering Limit without ever producing Inner Strength.

In Lin Hui’s mind, only by reaching the Inner Power Realm would he truly possess the slightest ability to protect himself here in the Outer City.