Decaying World

Chapter 118, Lesson 118 (Thank you, Alliance Leader Long Qi)

Qingfeng Temple.

"Tao Xuehai, a wandering cultivator, challenges Lin Hui, the Abbot of Qingfeng Temple, the Invisible Sword. I humbly request the Abbot's guidance. These three Concentrating Heart Crimson Sun Pills will be given to Qingfeng Temple as a prize, regardless of whether the Abbot wins or loses."

On the training ground, a man in a dark blue cloak, carrying a curved sword and followed by a group of medicine boys, remained calm and composed despite being surrounded by hundreds of people from Qingfeng Temple. He declared that he would challenge Lin Hui.

Many disciples gathered around to watch the spectacle. Since Lin Hui had demonstrated his strength several times, the reputation of his Invisible Sword had become increasingly renowned, spreading throughout the surrounding outer city.

As a result, more and more challengers have emerged.

Many of them were up-and-coming martial artists trying to gain fame by riding on the coattails of the Invisible Sword, while a few were truly talented. To show goodwill, they would even present Lin Hui with precious aphrodisiacs as a prize, according to his preferences.

As a result, Lin Hui's Invisible Sword gradually became known among some people as the Invisible Aphrodisiac Sword.

At this moment, Tao Xuehai issued a challenge, which immediately attracted many disciples who were already bored to gather around.

"What is your cultivation level? How dare you challenge our sect's abbot? Don't you know that even a Zhou Tian martial artist can only fight our abbot to a draw?" a loud-voiced female disciple said.

"My master is also at the peak of his inner strength. He traveled from a distant town, hoping to break through the pressure of the trial to achieve his goal!" Tao Xuehai didn't speak, but the boy behind him said loudly and proudly.

Internal energy perfected!?
After this announcement, everyone quieted down considerably.

Regardless, only Xue Meng in the entire Qingfeng Temple could reach such a level.

It's definitely not something they can joke about.

After reporting his cultivation level, Tao Xuehai closed his eyes to rest and stood quietly in the middle of the training ground, waiting.

Meanwhile, some of the surrounding disciples had already gone to report to Lin Hui.

Chen Sui, Wang Hongshi, and others were also in the crowd, watching this person.

"What do you think the Abbot's strength is now? This person knows that the Abbot and Zhou Tian are evenly matched, yet he still dares to come and challenge him. He must have something to rely on," Chen Sui said in a deep voice.

"It should be comparable to the Zhou Tian level. This person wants to break through, but doesn't dare to seek the Zhou Tian level. He came to the abbot instead. He must have seen this point. It's not the Zhou Tian level, but comparable to the Zhou Tian level. It's perfect for a martial artist like him who needs pressure but doesn't want to be crushed to hone himself," Wang Hongshi said in a low voice.

"The key is, this guy is quite young," Huang Shan said, squinting. As a genius herself, she was sensitive to age. She could tell at a glance that Tao Xuehai seemed rather young.

“He’s young. I’d guess he’s no more than thirty.” Zhao Jiang’an, the former second senior brother of Qingfeng Temple who had been out of the public eye for a long time, suddenly spoke up in a low voice.

He had been hiding at home for a long time, but seeing that Qingfeng Temple was getting stronger and stronger, he finally couldn't resist the persuasion of the elders in his family and came to Qingfeng Temple to admit his mistakes to Lin Hui, thus returning to his sect.

"You've guessed way too much. My master just turned twenty this year." The boy carrying the medicine actually overheard their conversation and turned around to say loudly.

Just turned twenty?!?

These words immediately made everyone's hearts skip a beat.

Others have tried to challenge him before, but none of them were nearly as exaggerated as this person's.

A mere twenty-year-old with the sixth level of internal energy at its peak!? What does that even mean? It's almost on par with the aptitude of Liu Wujun and his sister.

Back then, Liu Xiao broke through to the peak of internal energy at the age of twenty, and it took him several years to break through the cycle of internal energy. Now, Tao Xuehai is doing the same thing. What does this mean? Everyone who knows a little about the ins and outs felt a chill.

Swish.

Suddenly, Xue Meng appeared on the training ground and looked at Tao Xuehai. His brows were furrowed.

"If you wish to challenge the Abbot, you will first have to get past this old man."

As the current face and last resort of Qingfeng Temple, Lin Hui would be too cheap if just anyone could challenge him, and Lin Hui himself would also be annoyed.

Therefore, it was necessary for him, as the person blocking the door, to step forward and conduct a screening.

He had defeated many challengers before, but this time, Xue Meng looked at Tao Xuehai and felt unsure.

“Yes. I am also aware of Senior Xue Meng, the second most important figure in Qingfeng Temple,” Tao Xuehai said with a gentle smile.

"Make way! Leave some space to avoid accidental injury." Xue Meng waved his hand, signaling everyone to move to a safe distance.

As everyone retreated, a circular area was left untouched for the two to fight.

Xue Meng and Tao Xuehai stepped forward, facing each other, one drawing his sword and the other his saber.

Tao Xuehai frowned when he saw that Xue Meng had also drawn his sword.

"Senior Xue Meng founded the Creative Sword School, and his swordsmanship is outstanding. What do you think?"

"That was before I met the Abbot. Now I have long since abandoned the sword and learned the sword, following the Abbot on the path of enlightenment," Xue Meng said in a deep voice. He didn't care at all that he was decades older than Lin Hui.

But his attitude earned him Tao Xuehai's respect.

The two men, weapons in hand, faced each other for several breaths.

"Senior, please be careful. The martial art I practice is called the Nine Manifestations of Clouds and Mist. It involves the alternation of reality and illusion, and every move is a deadly strike. It is extremely dangerous," Tao Xuehai explained earnestly.

"You must also be careful. The sword technique I use is the perfected Qingfeng Sword after the abbot perfected it. Its moves have extremely strong explosive power," Xue Meng replied, returning the favor.

After a few more seconds of silence.

Tao Xuehai suddenly took a step forward.

puff!
Suddenly, a cloud of white mist exploded around him, enveloping Xue Meng within a radius of more than ten meters.

For a moment, the people on the outside couldn't see what was happening inside; they could only hear the rapid clanging of countless swords clashing.

Clearly, both players relied on speed, and their pace was extremely fast.

About ten breaths later, a muffled groan suddenly rang out.

Xue Mengfei retreated, emerging from the mist, and landed at the edge of the training ground, where he stood still.

There was a tiny, bloody gash on the wrist of his right hand, where he was holding the sword.

His face was grim, and he stared at Tao Xuehai, who was slowly emerging from the mist, with suspicion and uncertainty.

"No wonder you dared to challenge the Abbot; with such swift swordsmanship, you must be from the inner city, right?"

“This is indeed the ultimate martial art.” Tao Xuehai nodded with a smile.

Only the inner city possesses such formidable swordsmanship, capable of rivaling even the perfect Qingfeng Sword.

Clearly, this guy is probably some kind of martial arts fanatic, and he just happened to find Qingfeng Temple to challenge him. "I lost, thank you for your mercy," Xue Meng said with difficulty after a moment of silence.

“Now, I should be qualified to challenge the Abbot, right?” Tao Xuehai smiled.

“Of course,” Xue Meng said dryly.

"The Abbot has arrived!!"

"Make way!"

"Look, the abbot seems to look better than before. I wonder if I'm just imagining things!"

"Why do I feel like the abbot's aura is even stronger than before!?"

I feel the same way.

The disciples, students, and even elders all made way for them.

At the end of the crowd, Lin Hui, holding a black longsword, walked calmly towards them.

He wasn't in a good mood. This person's challenge had interfered with his practice of the Body Tempering Gale Sword Technique, but the other party had defeated Xue Meng and even politely offered him aphrodisiac pills first.

Therefore, in any case, he still had to treat people with courtesy and step in to deal with the situation.

'I still need to train a disciple who can handle things.' This thought arose in his mind at this moment.

He walked up to Xue Meng and Tao Xuehai, stopping about seven or eight meters away, and glanced at the injury on Xue Meng's hand.

"Mr. Xue, you've worked hard. Go and rest now."

"Okay." Xue Meng felt reassured, and a smile appeared on his face when he saw Lin Hui come out.

Instead of taking a full rest, he slipped away to the side of the crowd and watched the battle with a few disciples.

Everyone firmly believed that Lin Hui could win; the only questions were how and by what means.

Lin Hui sized up Tao Xuehai.

This person had a medium-sized face with a slightly heroic air, without a trace of effeminacy. Underneath the cloak he wore a tight-fitting purple-black outfit.

There's a saying circulating in Tu Yue: to tell a man's background, status, and position, the first thing to look at is his belt.

For ordinary people, belts were usually made of cloth or straw, while those with a bit more money used pigskin belts.

Better quality leather is made from tanned cowhide, deerskin, rabbit fur, mink fur, etc., with cowhide being the most common.

The most important part of a belt, the belt hook, further highlights the difference in men's aesthetic sense and wealth status.

Tao Xuehai's belt was a crimson cowhide belt, with a monster-shaped belt hook made of gold-inlaid black jade that resembled a bat.

A jade pendant, a money pouch, a dart pouch, and a medicine pouch were also hanging from the side and back of the leather belt. Each item was exquisitely patterned, clearly indicating that the person came from an ordinary family.

Lin Hui remembered that Wang Yueheng's belt was not as exquisite and elaborate as this person's.

To know Wang Yueheng's status, one must know she is a superior being!

The person before them was the one who had reached the pinnacle of internal energy cultivation.

“Actually, challenging me won’t help you at all,” Lin Hui said softly after sizing him up.

"Why?" Tao Xuehai's smile faded, he gripped his knife with both hands, bowed, lowered his head, and assumed a fighting stance.

“Because,” Lin Hui paused, “if you can’t suppress me in terms of pure cultivation, then you will inevitably be forced into a duel with me, searching for each other’s weaknesses.”

"So?" Tao Xuehai frowned.

Lin Hui stared at him, said nothing more, picked up his sword, and turned to leave.

"Wait!!" Tao Xuehai was startled, then shouted loudly and chased after them.

But he had only taken one step with his right foot.

puff!
A faint cracking sound came from his hair.

The hair crown that held his hair up instantly split in two, causing his long hair to scatter and fly backwards in a strong gust of air.

"!!!?" Tao Xuehai was dumbfounded.

Xue Meng was also stunned.

Not only them, but even the hundreds of eyes around them couldn't see clearly when Lin Hui drew his sword or when he returned to his original position.

This sword strike went completely unnoticed by anyone!
Standing there blankly for a moment, Tao Xuehai watched Lin Hui's retreating figure, his expression constantly shifting and twisting.

He watched as the person was about to disappear completely from his sight.

He quickly caught up with them.

"I want to learn! What kind of swordsmanship is this? Abbot Lin!?"

He couldn't recall any details or outlines of that sword strike.

It was as if his hair ornament had split open by itself, leaving an incredibly smooth and neat cut.

That sword strike overturned his understanding and concepts of all martial arts since he began practicing!
So, martial arts can be developed in this way!?

In that instant, the astonishment and confusion in Tao Xuehai's eyes transformed into fervor, an unparalleled fervor.

"I don't want to teach. If you really want to learn, you can sign up for the temple yourself," Lin Hui said after a pause, without turning his head.

"Register?! This kind of swordsmanship, would the abbot really teach it to everyone in the abbot?" Tao Xuehai was dumbfounded again.

Shouldn't such a rapid sword technique be kept secret and passed down as a martial art from generation to generation?
how
"My swordsmanship is perfect. No one can match it except me. Even if word gets out, no one will be able to reach my level," Lin Hui said casually. "Do you think I'm afraid that someone will learn my swordsmanship and surpass me?"

He glanced back at the other person, then vanished in a flash.

Tao Xuehai stood there, watching such a movement technique, which he couldn't even quite make out, making his fervor grow stronger.

"As expected, my trip out of the city was the right one!!"

(End of this chapter)