The Decaying World-Chapter 63 - 58: Identity 2

"We’ve collected enough data. We can end this."

"Then I’ll go take care of the traces."

"Be careful."

"Don’t worry."

One of them responded, took a step forward, and suddenly dissolved without a sound. He turned into a mass of gray liquid that shot toward the few people still fighting inside the temple.

As it drew near, the liquid rapidly dispersed into countless sand-like gray insects, swarming toward the Black Feathered Tiger and the three Inner Power Realm Martial Artists.

A few terrified screams rang out.

Then all was quiet.

The gray insects flew back to their original spot and re-formed into a tall, human figure. It bowed slightly to the other person.

"All cleaned up. The new product has a nice flavor."

"Good. Let’s go."

The other person glanced nonchalantly toward a certain direction in the distance, then turned. His body abruptly disintegrated into countless black sand particles, which vanished as they hit the ground.

The remaining person glanced in the same direction before his body also disintegrated, turning into gray sand that dissolved into the earth.

After the two had left, a middle-aged man with a grim expression emerged from a large pile of rubble.

"It’s them again... the Qinghe Sect...! They were the ones who stole the replica Wheel of Longevity, too. What on earth are these people trying to do? Have they gone mad?"

*

*

*

Hongqu Temple had vanished. Rumor had it that a monster from the Fog Area had broken in and completely destroyed it. To corner and kill that monster, the town’s Government Office had supposedly joined forces with the New Martial Alliance, deploying several high-level masters. In the end, it still cost them three lives and one serious injury to finally kill it.

Lin Mansion.

At noon, in the mansion’s central garden, Lin Shunhe stood with a respectful expression, bowing before a white-haired man in a jet-black mask.

"The basic groundwork has been laid. You have a good head for business. I thought this operation would incur significant losses, but I didn’t expect you to do so much with these funds. Very good," the black-masked, white-haired man said appreciatively, his voice aged.

"It is all thanks to your trust, My Lord. Otherwise, no matter how capable I was, I would have lacked the funds to accomplish anything," Lin Shunhe said humbly.

"Heh heh... Credit is credit. What’s yours is yours. Don’t worry, I’m magnanimous enough for that. You played a huge part in successfully evading the Rain Palace’s search this time. So, tell me, what do you want?" the black-masked man said gently.

"This subordinate..." Lin Shunhe paused. "I would like a spot for Summoning... for my son, Lin Hui."

"That’s not possible." The black-masked man shook his head slightly. "You can have a spot for Summoning. Your contribution this time is more than enough for that. But the spot cannot be given to your son; only you can use it. This is a strict rule within our organization."

"If I may ask..."

"Even immediate family can leak secrets. He is not you, understand?" the black-masked man prompted.

Lin Shunhe fell silent. ’If I were to become a Summoner myself, I would be far too conspicuous at my age. Besides, with my aptitude, the probability of success is just too low.’

After some thought, he asked again.

"Then, if I may ask, My Lord, is there any way for this subordinate to gain enough power to protect himself? Recently, some factions from the Inner City have started experimenting in the Outer City again, capturing people. If I’m unlucky enough to be chosen, I’m afraid it would delay the important tasks assigned by the organization."

The black-masked man pondered for a moment.

"At your age, to gain enough power to protect yourself... unless you can get your hands on a replica Evil Soldier or a replica Insect Scripture and achieve a meteoric rise, you can only rely on external objects."

"A replica Evil Soldier or a replica Insect Scripture? What are those?" Lin Shunhe asked in surprise.

"Do you know the origin of the Fog People?" the black-masked man asked in a low voice.

"I do not... There are no records of it in the outside world." Lin Shunhe shook his head.

"Indeed. No records dare to mention them." The black-masked man sighed. "That’s because the Fog People never came to be through cultivation. They didn’t achieve it through step-by-step effort, nor through diligent study, research, and self-perfection. They... they all achieved it in a single step. After coming into contact with the Evil Soldier Insect Scripture and surviving the initial fusion, they became the invincible and immortal Fog People."

"It’s the same way the Fog People gave rise to the Original Blood Nobility. They are born powerful, born noble, and are nearly immortal. Such innate abilities make countless people tremble in fear, while countless others are consumed by envy and desire."

"Thus, the replication of the Evil Soldier Insect Scripture began. An unparalleled genius ventured into the deepest parts of the Fog Area, discovered the original reason for the scripture’s formation, and then imitated it. Finally, with great difficulty, they found a Dharma Gate for creating replicas." The black-masked man paused, then continued. "Our Tuyue recently produced one such replica—the replica Wheel of Longevity. It attracted contention from many factions. The battles over it in the Inner City sent out ripples that even caused the rumors of the Gate-Breaking Ghost you heard about here."

"So, for you to tell me all this, in such detail... does that mean...?" Lin Shunhe hesitated, not daring to be sure of his guess.

"Yes. Just as you’ve guessed, the organization does indeed possess replica Evil Soldiers. However, because the materials are extremely rare and the manufacturing process is incredibly difficult, you will need to make greater contributions to obtain one," the black-masked man replied.

Lin Shunhe’s eyes flickered as hope bloomed in his heart.

He knew very well that this lord before him had brought him into the organization during his lowest point. From the day they met until now, the man had never spoken a single untrue word.

If he said it could be exchanged for, then it definitely could be.

"Then what kind of contribution is needed to...?"

"Make full use of your talents. If you can extend your businesses to cover most of the Outer City towns, and even establish connections with The Three Greats of the Inner City, then the organization will be able to acquire sufficient financial support from you. Your contribution would be nearly enough by then," the black-masked man said with a laugh. "After all, it would be as if you took a single sum of money and built a vast network of highly profitable, quality businesses in the Outer City out of thin air."

"This subordinate understands," Lin Shunhe nodded.

"Good. However, you were right to bring it up. These are troubled times. Take this for self-defense for now." The black-masked man raised his hand and tossed out a dark, round ball.

The surface of the ball was engraved with the pattern of a dark purple daffodil.

"This is a Mind Confusing Ball. If you encounter danger, throw it. It will automatically explode two meters away from you, releasing a large amount of hallucinogenic, mind-confusing smoke. No one below the level of an Upper-Tier Summoner is immune. Also, this item is a signature product of our organization. If it’s exposed, The Three Greats will hunt you down. You must be extremely careful when using it," the black-masked man warned,

"Thank you, My Lord!"

*

*

*

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month had gone by.

Lin Hui’s progress with his Inner Strength far exceeded his imagination. He could clearly feel several new strands of Inner Strength forming inside him almost every day.

At this rate, it probably wouldn’t even take two months for him to break through the First Layer of the Inner Power Realm and accumulate enough Inner Strength to cover his four limbs.

According to his teacher Mingde’s records, this was a step that had taken his martial brothers of the Ming Generation four years to achieve.

While his Inner Strength was developing rapidly, the Qingfeng Sword Sect was also doing well.

More and more elderly men and women were joining. By now, their numbers had reached over twenty. Firstly, the fees were cheap. Secondly, word was spreading. The training effects of the slowed-down version of the Perfect Seven-Section Swift Sword, while not enough for Body Tempering, were many times faster than other exercise methods.

Some of the old men who saw results clearly felt their bodies become lighter and had a new spring in their step, so they went back and spread the word enthusiastically.

As a result, more and more people were drawn to the sect. If not for the terrible incident at the nearby Hongqu Temple, even more people would have likely come.

Many of the elderly men and women even decided to live at the Qingfeng Temple. With Weiwei and Lin Hui’s group of four on guard, it was safer than their own homes. Xiaohu also brought his parents over to help with odd jobs, and Weiwei paid them a small monthly salary, so his whole family benefited.

Lin Hui, meanwhile, wasn’t idle. After entering the Inner Power Realm, he once again headed to the Shiqiao Town Fog Area to hunt Tree Scorpions.

He didn’t plan on revealing that he had stepped into the Inner Power Realm just yet. His progress was simply too fast. Most people took three years to break through; he had done it in two months.

If word got out, it would attract far too much attention.

So he planned to hold off and only reveal it after two years. While not three years, it would still be within a reasonable timeframe.

Shiqiao Town Fog Area.

A massive, four-meter-tall Tree Scorpion, still clad in its Black Armor, looked down imperiously at Lin Hui.

HISS!

It brandished its pincers, its small black eyes darting about, fixed on the sword in Lin Hui’s hand.

From that sword, it faintly sensed a slight danger.

’Although I can’t cover the sword with it, covering my hands is almost at the level of the First Layer. That’s enough...’

Lin Hui slowly raised his sword.

The perfect version of the Qingfeng Sword. This was his first real battle after using Inner Strength to boost his Sword Speed.

’Theoretically, the faster the speed, the stronger the cutting and piercing power. When speed reaches a sufficient level, there’s nothing in the world that can’t be pierced.’

He narrowed his eyes as streams of Inner Strength flowed continuously from his abdomen into his hands.

"Wind."

WHOOSH!

In that instant, the Longsword in Lin Hui’s hand trembled. A light breeze swirled up out of nowhere, originating from him and blowing toward the Tree Scorpion.

HISS!

Just then, the Tree Scorpion slammed its right pincer down at him. It seemed to have sensed something was wrong and decided it absolutely could not let him complete his Sword Technique.

The huge black pincer smashed down from above. Such a heavy strike should have created a powerful gust of wind.

But strangely, the airflow was actually blowing in the opposite direction, toward the Tree Scorpion.

The current grew stronger and stronger. Lin Hui was standing perfectly still—no movement, no swing of his sword, not a single step—just standing there.

Yet the invisible airflow continued to intensify, surging toward the Tree Scorpion.

The giant black pincer smashed down fiercely, pushing against the strong wind, aiming straight for Lin Hui’s forehead.

But the interference and resistance from the strong wind still reduced the Tree Scorpion’s original force by thirty percent.

The black pincer loomed closer and larger, right before his eyes.

’Feathering.’

Lin Hui suddenly bent his body, and his arms flashed with white light for an instant. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

CLANG!

A flash of silver light.

A clear silver line shot from left to right, straight across the Tree Scorpion’s massive body.

Everything came to a standstill.

The Tree Scorpion’s massive body froze, then toppled stiffly to the ground, its life gone.

On its side, on its once-hard black carapace, a deep and clear bloody gash constantly oozed blackish-red blood.

Behind it, Lin Hui gently flicked the blood from his sword. He ran his fingers along the flat of the blade and felt a tiny nick.

’After greatly boosting Sword Speed with Inner Strength and then stacking the amplification from Feathering, the effect is truly terrifying. But without Inner Strength to protect the blade, a lesser weapon would probably have shattered in a single strike.’

With a sigh, he turned to look at the Tree Scorpion’s corpse and walked straight toward its giant Scorpion Tail.

Regardless, from this day forward, his strength had completely surpassed that of his teacher, and perhaps even that of Daoist Baohe. He had reached the true pinnacle of the Qingfeng Temple.

From now on, every step he took forward would be to create a new history for the Qingfeng Temple.