Decaying World

Chapter 191, Radiation 191

Early on the morning of the 12rd.

Lin Hui went to the food court with Hong Ling again. After the meal, Wang Yue also came again, bringing a boy named Xie Shengsheng to accompany Lin Hui for the meal.

This was Lin Hui's last meal before leaving the inner city.

The group moved to another shop and sat around a large, red wooden round table.

In the center of the table, a small pine tree is slowly sprouting and growing.

The pine tree trunk branches out, growing green pine needles, and at the ends of the needles naturally grow white fruits of varying sizes.

"This is our main dish for today. Eat up! This fruit is a dessert made with flour and pine nuts. It tastes quite good," Hong Ling said warmly as the host.

"It's really not easy to get a meal from Minister Hong." Wang Yue's black clothes had faded, revealing her original appearance. She was a short-haired girl with a boyish look, and her appearance was both heroic and beautiful. In fact, there were very few unattractive girls in the inner city of Moon Tower.

Xie Shengsheng, who came with her as a friend, must have been in a romantic relationship with her. The two sat very close together, each holding hands under the table, which looked rather nauseating.

"What are you talking about? We're close, you can come and freeload anytime you want," Hong Ling said with a smile.

"I wouldn't dare," Wang Yue said, her voice tinged with lingering fear. "Your mother, Elder Hong, is too intimidating. I don't even dare to go near your house. Last time, Elder Hong saw me from afar and I was almost lured into participating in the event."

Hong Lingxiang whispered to Lin Hui, explaining why Wang Yue dared not.

Because their mother, Hong Yuanlao, was a high-ranking official in the Heavenly Court of Extreme Desire, she was bisexual and would not stop until she had completely exhausted people's desires.

"Furthermore, as elders, my mother and the others have a monthly quota for deaths in Bliss, which corresponds to people in the core area of ​​the Inner City Moon Tower," Hong Lingxiang sighed.

"The inner city?" Lin Hui was taken aback. "What about the outer city?"

"The outer city... The outer city is just for maintaining basic order. Hasn't it always been neglected? They can arrest people arbitrarily if they want to." Hong Lingxiang was also taken aback and asked in return.

"Aren't the lives of people from the outer city also lives?" Lin Hui frowned and transmitted his voice.

“Xiao Hui, your thinking is actually flawed. The outer city is just a region, and most of the people there are expelled from the inner city and vagrants from other districts, so their background is inherently problematic. Besides, flowers that grow from mud can be beautiful too. You are no longer a mud person from the outer city. Don't underestimate yourself,” Hong Lingxiang said earnestly.

Lin Hui was speechless.

“From the moment you entered the Inner Strength Realm, you were no longer an ordinary person. You and they just happened to live in the same area; there is a natural and enormous gap and disparity between you. You and we are on the same level, not them,” Hong Lingxiang said earnestly again.

"I understand what you mean." Lin Hui sighed, coming back to his senses, and no longer wanted to discuss the topic.

At this moment, Hong Ling was discussing the strength of the Blood Ancestor that they had witnessed with Wang Yue and Xie Shengsheng.

“I witnessed it with my own eyes this time. After the Blood Ancestor used Blood Heart Devouring, the loss in between should be around 30%. This percentage should be quite accurate. It's not much different from the 20% that has been circulating for a long time. In other words, the Blood Ancestor can absorb and increase power at a limit of about twice his own strength each year,” Hong Ling said seriously.

"That's terrifying too. The key question is, where will the Blood Ancestor find so many enemies who can devour and replenish their Blood Heart? The Fog Zone? And this kind of growth will also be constrained by the limits of their own will, right?" Wang Yue said softly.

"That's why the higher-ups place such importance on mind and will. Especially for us of the original bloodline, as long as our will and mind keep up, once we reach the level of Blood Ancestor, the amount of power we can obtain is almost limitless," Hong Ling exclaimed.

"Fighting against decay and strengthening oneself—where doesn't one need to use their mental will? That's normal. So, how strong do you think the fourteen Blood Ancestors are this time, with their ultimate power?" Xie Shengsheng asked curiously.

"It's hard to say what the limit is. After all, at that level, no one would reveal their full strength for no reason. Everyone would hold back a few tricks."

"But in their normal performance, the Blood Ancestors aren't known for large-scale attacks. Area-of-effect damage is meaningless to them. They possess extreme speed, superhuman strength, and an absolute fortress-like physique clad in Void Force Divine Armor. You can't break through their Void Force; you don't even have the right to touch their skin." Hong Ling said seriously, combining what he had just witnessed.

"Then where did that several hundred-meter-deep pit you mentioned come from?" Xie Shengsheng pressed.

"That was collateral damage caused by the aftershocks of the battle. In reality, even with our high-altitude observation from the moth-shaped observation tower, we would need to be at least tens of kilometers away to be barely safe. Otherwise, we would be hit by the aftershocks and die a horrible death," Hong Ling said helplessly.

"What are you talking about? The Blood Ancestor's level of strength?" Lin Hui asked curiously.

"Yes." Wang Yue nodded.

"Don't you Moon Tower people know that you've never seen them make a move before?" Lin Hui asked curiously.

“I have seen them, of course, but the strength of the Blood Ancestors isn’t fixed,” Wang Yue explained. “What do you mean?” Lin Hui became interested; he was most interested in matters of strength and realm.

The main issue is that he had absolutely no benchmarks to follow regarding the path he was taking. Therefore, he had been paying close attention to this aspect of covert intelligence.

“That’s how it is, let me explain,” Hong Ling interjected. “The Blood Ancestor realm, which is above the Palace Master realm, is actually a level unique to the original bloodline. Those who are not of the original bloodline do not have this realm. Reaching the Palace Master realm is already the limit. After that, one can only strengthen oneself by fusing and imitating the Evil Weapon Insect Codex, strengthening the combination of martial arts one has cultivated, or searching for powerful relics. All of these actually require establishing a force to search everywhere.”

He paused for a moment, then continued.

"The core of the Blood Ancestor is something called the Blood Heart. This thing requires the original blood nobles to purify and condense their entire bloodline. The success rate is extremely low, and failure means certain death. Therefore, there have always only been a limited number of Blood Ancestors. In our Tu Yue, the number is probably no more than twenty. On the surface, only the elders of the Extreme Desire Heaven and the Primordial Plain are Blood Ancestors, which adds up to ten, such as my mother. There should be many noble family heads hiding their strength in secret, so we guess there are no more than twenty."

"Many people actually know about this realm. Everyone has studied it thoroughly in order to break through to the Blood Ancestor realm. After the Blood Ancestor condenses the Blood Heart, it does not actually improve his strength at all, because the Blood Heart has no ability to directly enhance strength. It has only one ability, which is to devour."

"Devour?" Lin Hui's heart skipped a beat, and he had a vague guess.

“That’s right. After defeating their opponents, they can devour everything from the opponent’s collapsed mind. This includes both mental and physical strength. This also means that the upper limit of the Blood Ancestors’ strength depends entirely on how many powerful enemies they have defeated. So just how strong the Blood Ancestors are is an unknown; only they themselves know their true limit,” Hong Ling explained.

“In theory, the Blood Ancestors’ power actually comes from the highest-ranking Mistman City Lords,” Wang Yue added from the side. “The Blood Ancestors devour their opponents after defeating them. The Mistmen, on the other hand, spread out a range of mist rain; those who cannot withstand the erosion of the mist rain will become part of the Mistmen’s power. The two are essentially the same.”

"..." This was the first time Lin Hui had heard of the power of the Mist People. He had always thought that the Mist People were just top-tier powerhouses with extremely large ranges and immense power.

But the people at the table told him otherwise. The Mist People are the ultimate force capable of growth; their strength depends entirely on the amount of power they absorb.

Suddenly, Lin Hui thought of the sealed fortresses guarded by the Black Army. So, it seemed these fortresses only sealed, rather than completely destroyed, the various gates leading to other dimensions—was this to provide the Mist People with a continuous source of power to devour?
This is similar to the wind disaster affinity he just acquired.

After dinner, Lin Hui picked up the moth cart that Hou Xihan had given him, which belonged to him, at the moth cart parking area.

It was a huge moth, entirely black, with two gray-white eye patterns on its back.

"What a fine moth!" Hong Ling looked at the moth cart with a hint of envy in his eyes. Compared to it, his own moth cart was clearly a level lower.

"Sister Han is indeed generous, worthy of being a big shot in the Tai Su Original Disc. You're in luck now, one of these Moth Chariots on the market costs at least tens of thousands of HP."

"So expensive!?" Lin Hui was gently stroking the smooth wings of the moth when he heard this and was immediately startled.

"Of course it's expensive, otherwise why would Sister Han say it in front of so many people? For a big shot like them, it's a relatively formal gift." Hong Lingxiang also looked on with envy.

At her age, she still had to share a moth cart with her brother, and it was even a level lower than the one in front of her.

"Then I owe you a considerable favor," Lin Hui said in a deep voice.

"Don't worry, Sister Han's level is just casting a wide net, betting on your future, or more precisely, your brother's future. If your brother rises to a position of power in the Rain Palace in the future, and if his teacher can advance further, he will be able to enter the Tai Su Yuan Pan and be at the same level as Sister Han."

"The value of this gift today is well worth it," Hong Lingxiang said with a smile.

From these words, Lin Hui realized that his elder brother Liu Wujun had considerable potential and was likely highly regarded by those above. Even more highly regarded was his brother's teacher, Jiang Zhixia, the deputy palace master of the Rain Palace. Jiang Zhixia was likely a part-time position held by a former noble, and had room for advancement, possibly entering the Tai Su Yuan Pan, one of the highest institutions, in the future.

Sitting in the new moth car, under the guidance of several people, Lin Hui held the two moth antennae with both hands for the first time, completing the first recognition of the master procedure.

“You can keep Moth Chariot at the nearest flight stop in the outer city. This guy needs a lot of food, about several hundred catties of meat, fruits and vegetables every day. There are special breeders at the flight stop. You just need to pay them. It’ll cost about 400,000 silver a month,” Hong Ling said.

"Thank you very much for your hospitality, Brother Hong." Lin Hui clasped his hands in a fist salute to the other party and boarded the carriage. He then bowed to the others one by one.

Lin Hui thanked everyone for seeing him off, and said he hoped they would get together again sometime.

“Alright. Be careful on the road. You’re considered someone with status in the Moon Tower now, you’ve registered before, so you can come and go as you please from now on. The Anmin Army won’t stop you, don’t worry,” Hong Ling said with a smile.

"Okay, thank you." Lin Hui nodded, smiled, patted the moth carp, and grasped its antennae to imagine the direction and destination it was heading towards.

The black moth immediately began to crawl forward, and soon it leaped over the edge of the moon tower, flapping its wings and gliding away.

Around him, near noon, similar moth-like vehicles flew and soared above the sea of ​​fog.

(End of this chapter)