Decaying World

Chapter 178 178 Future 2

The inner city, the royal family.

Inside the largest black fortress at the center, in the tallest circular hall.

Han Xiaoyue stepped inside and looked at the Wang family patriarch who was sitting cross-legged and floating in the air, cultivating.

"Xiao Wang, please collect the portraits of the most beautiful women in the area and send them to my residence as portraits made from her personal belongings. Thank you."

"This, senior, is it the most beautiful? What standard is used? Everyone's subjective standard is different, and the degree of beauty is also different." The Wang family patriarch was cultivating when he suddenly heard this request. His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly landed and stood firm, tentatively looking at Han Xiaoyue.

"I've forgotten what I used to look like, but I must be the best I can be in the future. As for the standards..." Han Xiaoyue touched the other half of her skull-like face, recalling the feminine style surrounding Lin Hui. "Perfect proportions, leaning towards a pure and innocent look."

“Give me three days, and I will definitely finish!” the Wang family patriarch said quickly.

"Okay." Han Xiaoyue nodded, turned around and walked out of the hall.

Before long, she pinched something in her hand, and her figure instantly disintegrated like a feather.

After everyone had completely left, the Wang family patriarch wiped the sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fortunately, she rarely makes requests, so this time it was relatively simple."

"Grandfather, does Sister Yue want to return to her original form?" Wang Yueting's tall figure walked out from a side door.

"Yes, it should be. Your features are also perfectly proportioned. Don't rush off later. Send me a portrait as part of my belongings." The Wang family patriarch glanced at his granddaughter and instructed her.

"But what if we rashly break the seal? Could something go wrong? Like what happened last time?" Wang Yueting frowned.

"No, even among their group, Senior Han is in the strongest tier. Moreover, what she does is none of the others' business," the Wang family patriarch said, shaking his head.

"Sigh." Wang Yueting suddenly felt that it would be better not to go home at all, and to stay outside. It was much more comfortable. When she came back, she had to be mindful of other people's attitudes.

"By the way, where's Yueheng?" Grandfather asked again. "Wasn't the whole point of protecting him to receive Senior Han Xiaoyue? Where has he gone now?"

“He was seriously injured last time and hasn’t fully recovered; he’s still lying down,” Wang Yueting said helplessly.

"Just let the injury heal; he won't die. Get him up first, and focus on receiving Senior Yue. Find out what happened," Grandfather instructed.

"Okay," Wang Yueting nodded helplessly, knowing that this was an order rather than a request.

After all, not everyone can appease a terrifying monster like Han Xiaoyue. According to the records, before Wang Yueheng, dozens of waiters had performed the same task, and all of them were devoured by Han when she was unhappy, leaving no trace of their bodies.

From this perspective, Wang Yueheng is quite talented.

“However, recently Senior Han Xiaoyue went to Qingfeng Temple and met with Lin Hui. She made this request as soon as she came back. Could it be that she really likes Lin Hui?” Wang Yueting guessed.

"Really?!" Grandfather Wang's face immediately showed astonishment. That terrifying monster could actually like other people?

“I’m just guessing,” Wang Yueting said.

"Lin Hui, I really don't know what kind of person would be chosen by Senior Han," Grandfather Wang said insincerely.

Being targeted by such a monster, Lin Hui might live the rest of his life in fear and dread. After all, living together, it was too easy to accidentally anger Senior Han and be eaten.
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Fog-filled area, Yuhai.

The vast, jade-green sea surface undulates with waves.

Sunlight shone through the mist and fell on the sea, reflecting patches of tiny green phosphorescence.

On the cliffs near the Jade Sea in the Bone-Eroding Plain.

Han Xiaoyue's figure quietly appeared and stood still.

This is a quiet place she likes to come to when she is feeling uneasy. Whenever she is troubled, she comes here to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery of Yuhai.

Although there was fog on the sea, it was much lighter than the fog on land.

hiss.

Suddenly, the silver-trimmed white veil on her body dissolved silently, revealing her flawless, milky-white skin underneath.

The next second, her entire body swelled and grew larger rapidly.

Not only that, her entire body rapidly transformed, resembling a cluster of fleshy grapes that were quickly sprouting new granules.

The skin began to change color, from white to gray, and then to pitch black.

Its body also rapidly expanded from a human shape, growing to tens of meters tall, transforming into a huge, irregular black mass of flesh.

The mass of flesh pressed down, causing the cliff below to crack and creak, and many pebbles fell into the jade sea.

At its very center, a fair and delicately beautiful face was set like a mask. It was Han Xiaoyue.

However, this face lacked the skull-like other half, and a black bone crown had naturally formed on its head.

With a whoosh.

The enormous mass of flesh transformed again, becoming a black whale that plunged off the cliff and crashed into the Jade Sea.

Large waves were stirred up and pushed aside.

Han Xiaoyue swam swiftly through the seawater, her tail swaying freely. Any sea creatures that couldn't avoid her in time were bitten and devoured the moment they touched her, their black, serrated mouths suddenly appearing on her body.

As Han Xiaoyue continued to devour, her body grew larger and harder.
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Amethyst Ruins.

Lin Hui stood quietly outside the Blackwood Cave.

Before receiving the resources from the Good Heart Sect, he took advantage of his free time to visit the Amethyst Ruins.

He reached out and pressed his hand against the surface of the cave entrance, intending to go inside.

Suddenly, a flash of red light appeared in his eyes.

At this moment, the infernal flames within his body stirred slightly.

Since his last trip to the Bone-Eroding Plains to clear out the Hellfire creatures, he had gradually discerned what kind of anomalies corresponded to what kind of situation. 'In this current state... there are powerful Hellfire creatures nearby?' Lin Hui placed his right hand on the hilt of his Ruyi Sword. His left fingertip lightly tapped the wooden door.

The door opened silently inwards.

It's obvious that the door doesn't open inwards, but with absolute power, nothing is impossible.

Inside the dim ruins, the walls were covered with red vein-like patterns of light.

The ground was covered with lava pools of varying sizes, all emitting wisps of black smoke. The scarlet lava bubbled, jumped, and boiled.

The intense heat burst out the moment the door was opened.

Between the lava pools, one after another, humanoid, one-eyed monsters whose bodies were made of purplish-red crystals hunched over, all looked toward the entrance.

Lin Hui never expected this to happen.

Where is the promised Amethyst Ruins?

These amethyst elements were clearly incinerated and appeared to be in very serious condition.

He slowly walked into the cave.

In an attempt to find traces of amethyst ore.

However, the rough amethyst ore that could be vaguely seen on the ground and walls had completely disappeared.

All that remained was boiling crimson magma and the thick, infernal aura in the air.

"Was it my unintentional internal energy aura that polluted this place?" Lin Hui frowned.

But something doesn't feel right. The traces he left in other places are similar to this one. Why haven't other places changed so much?

He had clearly done his best to conceal the aura of purgatory.
Bang, bang, bang!
At this moment, deep inside the cave, a purplish-red, one-eyed elemental being resembling a Tyrannosaurus Rex suddenly burst out of the darkness and roared at Lin Hui.

Roar! !

The enormous monster, which was over ten meters tall, had only run halfway when it crashed into the cave ceiling at the entrance, causing the rocks to shatter and scatter like raindrops.

"Shut up!"

Roar! ! !
As an even more immense aura of purgatory exploded, countless dark red purgatory flames emerged behind Lin Hui, coalescing into a humanoid monster phantom clad in ferocious, spiked lava armor.

The phantom emitted an exaggerated aura several times more ferocious than the one-eyed elemental body, roaring and instantly suffocating its opponent, who retreated repeatedly.

Lin Hui was recalling the possible triggers that led to everything that was happening before his eyes.

Suddenly interrupted, a nameless anger rose in his heart, and a bright red light suddenly shone in his eyes as he looked up at the one-eyed elemental being.

His hand instinctively gripped the hilt of the Ruyi Sword, but then abruptly stopped.

'I can't kill anymore. If I keep devouring them, I won't be able to maintain my normal human form.'

Reason forcefully suppressed his violent urge to kill.

Seeing the one-eyed elemental being opposite him whose aura was faintly approaching that of a high priest, Lin Hui suppressed the red light in his eyes, and instead, the nine eyes on his shoulders lit up with a bright green light.

Before he could activate the Nine Eyes, he suddenly saw a hint of fear flash in the eyes of the one-eyed elemental being.

The next instant, this massive, one-eyed elemental creature turned and ran, fleeing into the depths of the cave.

Lin Hui paused for a moment, then slowly drew his sword, his figure flashing as he rushed into the depths of the cave.

Before long, they arrived at the spacious stone hall where they had killed the Qinghe Sect expert.

The broken fragments of the statue remain in place, while a large lava lake has formed around them. Apart from the central area containing the statue fragments, there is nowhere else to land.

Lin Hui scanned the area but did not find the one-eyed elemental body. Instead, he discovered a dark red ball of light floating in the center of the ruins of the statue fragments.

The ball of light twisted and wriggled, seemingly trying to deform and stretch into the shape of a door.

Looking at the ball of light, Lin Hui felt an inexplicable surge of closeness.

'That is the passage to your homeland, the node through which you can return to your mother's embrace. Protect it, unite it, open it, and you will obtain the Mark of the Lord of Purgatory. Forge your own immortality!'

A piece of information that appeared out of nowhere suddenly flowed into Lin Hui's mind and kept repeating itself.

His brows were furrowed.
Knowing that it was the aura of purgatory that was causing the trouble, he immediately channeled his inner strength into his body, while simultaneously drawing upon the airflow of the Typhoon Sword Technique to create a powerful, swirling wind.

The message faded away very quickly, clearly indicating that it had been interfered with.

'Open the gates of purgatory? Am I crazy? To destroy the world?' Lin Hui's figure flashed, lightning crossing the lava lake, and he arrived in front of the ball of light.

"Come. Condense it. Activate it." As they drew closer, the message resurfaced, even subtly transforming into a whisper, echoing in Lin Hui's ears.

"You're too noisy."

He raised the Ruyi scepter, its tip pointing towards the ball of light.

"Seal the Spirit!"

Hiss hiss hiss hiss!
In an instant, nine beams of azure light shot out, transforming into nine semi-transparent phantoms of monsters in the misty area.

Nine illusory figures danced around the ball of light, instantly transforming into nine emerald ribbons that wrapped and enveloped the ball of light layer by layer.

Soon, after a shrill scream, the unformed Gate of Purgatory was completely pulled into the second crystal by Nine Eyes.

Everything quieted down.

'It actually has consciousness! This must be an unformed Gate of Purgatory, right? According to the Blood Seal's instructions, Sealing Spirit can only seal sentient beings. So, it seems that the voice we just heard was caused by this Gate of Purgatory.'

The fact that a door that was not even fully formed could generate consciousness made Lin Hui even more certain that he must not open the gates of purgatory lightly, unless he really wanted to destroy the world one day.

(End of this chapter)