Decaying World

Chapter 144, Chain 144 (Thanks to Alliance Leader Gu Xin)

"So, it turns out you were the one sent this time to investigate, brother?"

Inside the courtyard of Qingfeng Temple's residence.

Lin Hui and Liu Wujun sat facing each other, cooking hot pot and having lunch together.

"It's a good opportunity to rest and recuperate for a while. Besides, this is the area I'm most familiar with; it's practically my territory," Liu Wujun said with a smile, picking up a piece of pig's blood with his chopsticks, dipping it in the seasoning, and putting it in his mouth.

“Now that I have your help in the search, solving this problem is much easier for me than for others,” he explained.

"I have indeed observed some traces of pollution," Lin Hui said calmly, his expression remaining unchanged.

The key to this matter was how to get the eldest brother to give a satisfactory result, so after thinking for a moment, he decided to blame the pollution on the night fog.

As long as those above believe that the pollution will not continue to expand or worsen, the problem can be solved.

"As far as I know, subtle anomalies have been appearing in the surrounding towns since the last fog. On the night of the fog, I encountered an individual whose description was very similar to the monster the cleanup team encountered this time. I quickly killed it without giving it much thought, but I never expected..."

He immediately recounted the situation of the hell goat to Liu Wujun.

"So, perhaps the problem is caused by the night fog moving from somewhere unknown," Liu Wujun said, frowning as he ate and pondered for a moment.

"Then it's not a big problem. The monsters brought by the night fog are all kinds of strange and anything can happen, but most of them are one-off events and won't last. It will be fine once things stabilize after a while."

"Indeed." Lin Hui nodded. "So, how does Big Brother plan to explain this?"

"Reassess the situation of the surrounding ruins, determine if the pollution will spread, and then issue a report. Ultimately, this pollution isn't particularly severe; it was just that the cleanup team misjudged the situation and made a mistake in the mixing ratio, leading to the incident. I only need to ensure that the upper and lower limits of the pollution don't exceed the appropriate range," Liu Wujun replied.

Clearly, the inner city already had considerable experience in handling similar matters.

This relieved Lin Hui.

After the meal, he took the opportunity to raise his questions about the High Priest with Liu Wujun.

"The High Priest is actually somewhat disconnected from the priests and those below him. In essence, from the initial initiation to the priest, and then to the High Priest, it is basically a linear path of growth, all aimed at interfering with and strengthening control over the mind and consciousness."

Standing in the courtyard, Liu Wujun drew a Qingfeng Temple standard longsword given to him by Lin Hui.

"This relates to interference at the cognitive level, and that's where the High Priest's power lies. For example, my Nine Heavens Divine Art is renowned for interfering with an opponent's judgment of direction. The stronger the skill, the stronger this interference becomes. Would you like to experience it for yourself?"

He smiled and looked at Lin Hui.

Lin Hui hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"If possible, I would really like to see it for myself."

"Then watch closely." Liu Wujun's face twisted slightly, and a black scale flashed across his skin between his brows.

Swish.

He casually swung his sword at Lin Hui.

The two were several meters apart. This sword strike had no internal force or feigned strength, so it should have absolutely no effect on Lin Hui.

But in that instant when the sword blade fell...

Lin Hui sensed something was wrong.

He paused, then took a step forward, but strangely, he estimated that he could take just one meter of stride when he took that step.

But after actually taking the step, he discovered that he had a problem with his sense of distance.

His steps were less than a meter long.

This is a very subtle difference. It might not seem like a big deal to the average person; isn't it normal for the stride length to vary every day when walking?
But for a swordsman like Lin Hui, who practices diligently every day, the precise control over distance and force is extremely important.

He took a step forward, then a step back.

This time, he estimated the distance to be one meter, but the distance he actually covered was still less than he had predicted, less than one meter.

“It seems you sensed it,” Liu Wujun said with a smile, sheathing his sword. “I temporarily affected your perception of distance. When you thought you had reached the target distance, you were actually just a little short. This kind of influence is one of the simplest applications. If you can master the Nine Hua Divine Skill to its fullest extent, it can even directly reverse your perception of the overall direction.”

Feeling the change in perceived distance, Lin Hui felt a little uneasy.

He had expected the High Priest to be strong, but he hadn't imagined he'd be strong in this aspect.

Once he falls for this tactic, no matter how fast he is, he probably won't be able to avoid being defeated and killed.

"Is there any way to deal with this?" he asked in a low voice.

"Aren't you cultivating a secret technique to temper your mind and strengthen your consciousness? That's how you deal with it. The stronger your mind, the less effect these kinds of influences have on you. Besides that, there's another type of super-adaptor who can also easily handle it," Liu Wujun explained.

"Overfitter?"

"Yes, also known as Absolute Primal Beings. These people are absolute monsters. When faced with a High Priest's mental attack, they don't defend or dodge, but adapt to the change at an extremely fast speed." Liu Wujun's face showed a hint of fear when he mentioned Absolute Primal Beings. "Their adaptation speed is so fast that it's almost an instant; they get used to your attack. Therefore, the difficulty of dealing with Absolute Primal Beings is a major headache for all High Priests. If the Summoning Priest system is about constantly strengthening the mind, then Absolute Primal Beings are about the crazy enhancement of the physical body. Any attack can quickly evolve a way to deal with them, greatly reducing the damage they receive, and they can even convert the damage into nourishment for themselves, strengthening themselves in return."

Lin Hui felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this; he couldn't believe such a monster existed in the world.

"Don't worry, the inner city will hold it up even if the sky falls. There's no use in you, an internal energy martial artist, worrying too much." Liu Wujun laughed. "Even these absolute original beings have weaknesses. As long as you unleash enough power in a short period of time, giving them no time to adapt and evolve, you can kill them instantly."

"The world is so big, there are truly all sorts of wonders," Lin Hui remarked.

"That's true. Speaking of which, you're not young anymore. Why don't you hurry up and have a few children?" Liu Wujun also started urging them to have children.

Lin Hui was getting a headache from hearing this, so he quickly changed the subject.

After finally managing to get through the birthing issue, they sent their eldest brother back to the Lin family home to rest.

Back at Qingfeng Temple, Lin Hui took out the steel sword that had been evolved earlier.

Today also happens to be the end of the Blood Seal evolution. With the support of various medications, and without consuming one-time-use precious medicines such as the Spirit Mushroom and the Illusionary Dragon Lotus, he can now achieve in one month what it would take to complete six months of Blood Seal evolution.

This is the result of the substantial financial resources provided by Qingfeng Temple.

Now that the steel sword has evolved, it's time to continue evolving new techniques.

After mastering the Typhoon Sword Technique, even higher-level techniques will undoubtedly require an extremely long time to complete. Lin Hui was already mentally prepared for this.

And at this moment.

Inside the amethyst ruins in the foggy area.

Two tall figures, one in black and one in white, appeared at the entrance of the ruins.

The two men were dressed in long robes and wore smooth white masks. The masks were blank, without facial features, patterns, or even openings for eyes.

Upon opening the door, the two entered the ruins one after the other, only to be met by two amethyst elemental monsters that were slowly drifting towards them.

These old woman-like monsters, with diamond-shaped heads and only one slit eye, did not attack the two people upon encountering them. Instead, they paused for a moment and then casually walked away in another direction, as if they regarded the two as their own kind.

Soon they entered the depths of the ruins, where a colossal statue, cut into countless pieces, stood before them.

Beside the statue, two masked figures in black robes had been waiting for some time.

The two men were dressed and wore the same style as the black-and-white men, except that they had several gold lines embroidered on their cuffs.

"Your subordinate greets Lord Black and White Blade."

The man in the black robe with gold thread bowed to the two who entered.

"We were just passing by. Since something happened at this branch, have you found out which force was responsible?"

The white-robed figure within the black and white sword spoke.

“We can only determine that the assassin is a master swordsman. Their strength should not be from the Summoning School, as we did not find any traces of damage from the Void Force,” one of the men in the black robe with gold threads quickly replied.

"So that's the inner city martial arts system? The Three Sects and Six Gangs? No, the Six Gangs don't have many experts like this, so it must be the Three Sects," the white-robed man speculated.

"It should be. The three sects rely on strength, while the six gangs rely on their background and influence. A martial arts master who can easily kill a branch hall master must be at least a Grandmaster of the Three Harmonies level," the man in the black robe with gold thread replied respectfully.

“The Three Sects. Strange. We have always kept to ourselves and the Three Sects. Why would they suddenly come and kill our branch? Speaking of which, the branch in the inner city was also taken down by a swordsman. The eyewitness said that he was wearing four masks and dressed in black.”

"What about the cultivation technique? Let's try to deduce something from the technique?" The black-robed figure in the black and white sword, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up.

"The technique is also strange. None of the three sects have a speed-style swordsman of similar level. I've met Mushan Qing from the inner city branch. That kid has good talent. Three years ago, he was already able to fight against a priest within the sect without injury. I never expected him to die at the hands of an unknown person," the white-robed man replied.

"Are there any renowned speed-based martial artists nearby?" the black-robed man asked.

"According to what my subordinates have gathered, there isn't a single martial artist of the Speed ​​Stream type who could pose a threat to the two branch masters," the man in the black robe with gold thread quickly replied.

"However, according to many eyewitness accounts, on the day of the incident at the inner city branch, the assailant's sword-wielding would generate a strong airflow. This characteristic is quite similar to the fighting style of Lin Hui, the abbot of Qingfeng Temple in nearby Xinyu Town, known as the Invisible Sword. We are planning to conduct an in-depth investigation into this person. But because Amamiya Yuanmingdian is standing behind this person, therefore..."

"Qingfeng Temple? What is Lin Hui's strength?" asked the white-robed figure in the black and white sword.

"His internal energy is perfected; it is said that he can fight against Zhou Tian."

"Then what's the point of investigating? Do you really think someone with that kind of strength can kill so many branch hall masters by himself? Or even take down Mu Shanqing, a master of extreme martial arts?" the white-robed man said impatiently.

"Yes, sir, you are right. Then why don't we just send someone to kill him? Better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free," the man in the black robe with gold thread tentatively asked.

“Killing him won’t work. Liu Wujun is nearby. Since his style is similar, we can send someone to test him.” The white-robed man nodded. “Although it’s unlikely to be him, it’s possible that he has another expert behind him who’s setting up a plan. We must be on guard.”

"Alright, I'll arrange for men to be dispatched immediately. This invisible sword can rival Zhou Tian's abilities, and its speed and movement are extremely fast. We must be fully prepared. I will personally lie in ambush nearby to ensure that nothing goes wrong."

(End of this chapter)