Decaying World

Chapter 121 First Encounter (Thank you for suddenly forgetting the name of the Alliance Leader)
On the 15th.

Qingfengguan Mansion Garden.

Lin Hui held an unfolded pale yellow letter in one hand and read it carefully.

"I've run into some issues here. Someone tried to set me up with someone else, but I refused. I used your token, which might attract some troublemakers, so please be careful. Also, everything's fine here. If you need anything, just write to me. I'll come over briefly to help you with the pressure at home." —Han Xiaoyue

This is a letter from the inner city. It was only delivered this morning, and Lin Hui only started reading it now after finishing his sword practice. He doesn't care about the potential consequences that Han Xiaoyue mentioned.

The letter now serves as a reminder that he needs to take care of things back home.

Otherwise, you might not have time to focus on your spiritual practice in the future.

Lin Hui put away the letter, walked slowly out of the garden, crossed the passageway, and entered the drill ground in front of Qingfeng Temple.

The few disciples were still practicing their swordsmanship in the training ground.

As he approached, many people subconsciously slowed down and looked at him with distraction.

Lin Hui waved his hand, signaling everyone to concentrate. He glanced around to make sure there were no major problems, then exchanged a few words with Wang Hongshi, who was in charge of supervision, before turning to leave.

He didn't care about the potential troublemakers mentioned in Han Xiaoyue's letter.

By now, Lin Hui himself was no longer clear about the extent of his own strength.

Because he almost never fought with all his might.

The body tempering of the Gale Sword Technique is not simply about increasing speed, but about improving everything. Now, he is about to break through to the eighth rank, and both his strength and speed are far greater than when he first started tempering his body with the Gale Sword Technique.

In terms of strength alone, it's several times greater. In terms of speed alone, it's about 70-80% greater.

However, when the two are combined, Lin Hui's limited mathematical and physical knowledge makes it impossible for him to calculate accurately.

All he knew was that, in his current state, defeating someone like Wang Yueheng, whose inner strength was at its peak and who held a high position, was as easy as beating a grandson.

But Wang Yueheng could have easily won even before he had tempered his body with the Gale Force, let alone now, as she could easily defeat him with her internal energy covering her longsword.

"A specific comparison is still needed. Not knowing one's own strength level can negatively impact one's chances when facing an opponent."

Lin Hui sighed inwardly.

But that's the reality. Strength and skill level are just for show. When it really comes down to it, everyone has some trump card or ultimate move. Only in a life-or-death struggle can you truly see who the winner is.

'Only those with a vastly different level of cultivation can clearly determine the strength and outcome of a battle.'

Lin Hui walked to the gate of Qingfeng Temple, stopped and looked at the small stalls of Qingfeng Temple at the entrance that were promoting enrollment, and the students who were busy explaining to passers-by how good Qingfeng martial arts were.

He suddenly had a very strange feeling.

A sense of peace and tranquility made him not want to move a single hair; he just wanted to stand there quietly, feeling and observing.

'Isn't this the life I've always been pursuing?'

Lin Hui seemed to have realized something.

'Isn't this the feeling of peace and tranquility I've been searching for?'

'So, when did I unintentionally achieve this situation? And what enabled me to reach the effect I originally intended?'

Lin Hui unconsciously clenched his fist.

It's about strength.

Strength gives me the confidence to dominate everything; I desire it, and it is delivered to me. I desire peace, and peace appears. I desire battle, and nothing can stop me from drawing my sword.

Lin Hui had never before deeply felt the decisive influence of power on his life.

If he hadn't been powerful, he would have been taken away by the Inspectorate of the Inner City some time ago.

If he lacks strength, he might suffer a crushing defeat when he fights Wang Yueheng. His fate remains unknown.

Without his power, Qingfeng Temple could not possibly rise again.

Perhaps only perfect power and perfect mastery can create a life that perfectly suits one's desires.

The insights Lin Hui gained flowed like water, influencing the circulation of his internal energy.

Click.

Suddenly, a crisp sound, which only he could hear, flashed by.

A barely perceptible breeze stirred and swirled around him.

A gentle breeze surrounded him, seemingly possessing some kind of vitality, turning, drifting, and blowing invisibly.

Lin Hui closed his eyes, then opened them again.

The next second, all the internal energy in his body began to boil and surge like flames, rapidly being consumed and spreading throughout his body.

A portion of his internal energy was drawn in by a large amount of mysterious, unknown energy from the woven fabric of his skin. This energy permeated his body, causing his cells to change rapidly, his metabolism to accelerate dramatically, and old cells to be eliminated and replaced by new, stronger, and more resilient cells.

A few minutes later.

The subtle air currents around Lin Hui dissipated completely.

He loosened his clenched fist, flashed past the gate, returned to the Qingfeng Temple's council hall, and sat back down in the grand master's chair.

At that moment, he clearly sensed that the eighth level of the Gale Sword Technique had quietly arrived just a moment ago.

Next, only the final ninth rank remains. Then the tempering of the Gale Sword will be completely complete.

Just as he was reveling in the all-round improvement that the eighth rank brought to his body.

At the entrance of the council chamber, a tall, slender figure with broad shoulders slowly entered, stood in the middle of the carpet, and looked at Lin Hui.

"Tao Xuehai?" Lin Hui's eyes flashed as he recognized the person who entered. "Is there something you need?"

Tao Xuehai has only been a beginner for a short time, yet he has already learned and mastered all the free martial arts. He should be tempering his body now, so what's the meaning of him coming here?
"Reporting to the Abbot, this disciple has come to exchange for a new martial art, the Perfect Gentle Breeze Sword Technique," Tao Xuehai said in a deep voice.

"You've completed the tempering of your perfect seven-section fast sword?" Lin Hui was taken aback.

"Yes, my family does have some wealth, but since my comprehension is not as good as the abbot's, I could only mobilize some resources to help strengthen my body. I completed the body tempering the night before last," Tao Xuehai said modestly.

"At night." Lin Hui paused for a moment. How long had this guy been a disciple? A month?
Is the body tempering complete?

Is he a genius or am I?

Oh right, I wasn't a genius to begin with.
Suddenly, Lin Hui realized what was happening.

'I just tried hard enough.' Thinking this, he looked at Tao Xuehai.

"How did you temper your body? Can you tell me? Such a fast speed might cause you some problems."

"Yes." Tao Xuehai nodded respectfully. "It's like this: because of the special properties of my internal energy, coupled with the consumption of the family's precious medicine, the Illusionary Dragon Lotus, I haven't slept since the day I entered the sect, spending all my time cultivating every day."

"Wait a minute, what kind of precious medicine is the Illusionary Dragon Lotus?" Lin Hui asked himself, having a share in Hundred Flowers Manor, having been to Hundred Spirits Residence in the inner city, having close ties with the Herbalist King family, and having even studied pharmacology classics on his own, how come he had never even heard of this precious medicine before in the first sentence?

"Oh, this is a precious medicine from a distant foggy region. Its main function is to comprehensively replenish all the energy, essence, and spirit consumed by cultivators. It's not generally available on the market," Tao Xuehai explained.

"How much?" Lin Hui asked.

"This can't be bought with gold tickets; you can only use feather blood. Feather blood costs about thirty-five units per plant. You take one plant at a time," Tao Xuehai answered frankly.

"..." Lin Hui subconsciously thought of the twenty feather bloods that his father had sponsored. He thought it was a lot, and in reality it was. Twenty feather bloods could be exchanged for a lot of good equipment in the inner city.

But this kid in front of me eats thirty-five feathers of blood every day.
"Why aren't you sleeping?" Lin Hui couldn't help but ask.

"Because I want to cultivate! I can't wait to learn the sword technique the Abbot displayed that day. Now, the deeper I study, the more I feel the Abbot's unparalleled comprehension and inspiration! On the day you perfected such a powerful and flawless sword technique, I was utterly convinced of my defeat!" Tao Xuehai said sincerely. "Now I clearly realize that the Abbot may not have even used one percent of his strength that day..."

"Alright, alright, so what? Even if you train tirelessly without sleep, this time is still too short, isn't it?" Lin Hui interrupted immediately when he saw that the other party was starting to become a fanboy.

"That's right. I also took a family-inherited miraculous talisman pill. This pill can greatly accelerate the circulation of essence, energy, and spirit throughout the body, greatly improving reaction speed and making one hour feel like three or four hours."

"..." Lin Hui didn't want to hear what he was going to say next. He used to think that he had already figured out the difference in resources between the inner city and the outer city. It was just that rare and precious medicines would become more common, and there would be more prescriptions with stronger effects. That was all.

But now, he truly saw a glimpse of the terrifying true strength of the inner city's powerful clans in Tao Xuehai.

"In other words, by taking medication and consuming resources, you can make one day feel like three or four days?" Lin Hui concluded.

“Ah, is that so? That’s right. And because it’s a full-on body tempering session, the efficiency and speed are much higher than intermittent body tempering, so it’s normal that it’s faster.” Tao Xuehai said matter-of-factly.

Lin Hui really wanted to curse at this moment.

The difference between the inner and outer cities is vividly and cruelly portrayed in Tao Xuehai's life.

No wonder the geniuses in the inner city reached the rank of High Priest at such a young age, while those in the outer city could only reach the peak of internal energy.

This is not just a difference in qualifications, but also a difference in the availability of valuable resources, which widens the gap.

"Alright, if you want to learn the Perfect Qingfeng Sword, you must join the core sect. Have you thought this through?" Lin Huiping pondered for a moment, then looked at the other party.

The Perfect Qingfeng Sword and its secret techniques are exclusive skills of the Qingfeng Sect, passed down only to true core disciples. Once learned, one becomes part of the Qingfeng Sect's core membership and cannot easily leave.

So he needs to find out.

“Of course, to be honest, I have a congenital deficiency in spiritual inspiration, so I can’t follow the path of spiritual inspiration and can only pursue one martial art to the end. But no matter how hard I practiced since I was a child, I could not find the martial art that I longed for and liked the most. Until that time when I fought with the abbot.” Tao Xuehai looked at Lin Hui with a look of enlightenment and solemn reverence.

"From that day on, I knew this was the path I wanted to take! This was the path I wanted to walk in the future!!"

Lin Hui was speechless for a moment, just about to speak.

Suddenly, he saw Tao Xuehai kneel down and kowtow to him several times in a flash.

Puff puff puff puff!
Due to the excessive speed, a large hole was instantly punched in the carpet, and small dents were also made in the floor tiles.

(End of this chapter)