Decaying World

Chapter 217 Invitation Three

Xia Si left.

Lin Hui remained where he was, not leaving. After waiting for a while...

At that moment, a figure in black suddenly appeared in front of him from a distance and knelt on one knee.

"Teacher." The person who came was Tao Xuehai, who had been waiting for a while.

"Your aura has grown stronger again," Lin Hui glanced at him, his expression slightly grim. He knew very well what it meant that his strength had increased so significantly in such a short time.

“Teacher, time waits for no one,” Tao Xuehai said calmly.

"Alright, you should know what you're doing. I called you here today to teach you a special secret technique that all core disciples of our sect possess. It's called the True Body Seal." Lin Hui explained the effects of the True Body Seal, and Tao Xuehai's eyes lit up, his breathing immediately becoming rapid.

It instantly increased overall physical strength by half with virtually no side effects.

If these words hadn't come from Lin Hui's mouth, he would definitely have thought the other person was a liar.

But at this moment, recalling the appearance of Xia Si he had just seen, he immediately believed in his heart that this seal technique truly existed.

"Disciple, what do you need me to do?"

"You don't need to do anything. The only limitation of this seal technique is that you must have a sense of identification with Qingfeng Temple and with me from the bottom of your heart, and recognize that you are also a member of Qingfeng Temple. Only in this way can you obtain the power of the seal technique," Lin Hui said calmly.

"I have no problem!" Tao Xuehai said solemnly, bowing his head.

Lin Hui didn't waste any words and reached out to touch his forehead.

Suddenly, a flash of white light appeared, and a mark symbol flashed by.

In less than a second, Tao Xuehai's body swelled rapidly, his muscles bulged, and veins appeared on his skin.

In the blink of an eye, he grew into a burly little giant of two and a half meters.

"This power!!!" Tao Xuehai felt the sensation within his body in disbelief.

The situation he sensed was much worse than he had imagined.

"Go back and get used to it," Lin Hui said, turning around.

"Your disciple obeys. Thank you for your guidance, Master." Tao Xuehai bowed again.

When Lin Hui turned around, the other person had already disappeared.

'Now that everything is settled, it's time to deal with the base matters.'

Lin Hui estimated the value of the new precious medicine he had acquired, and Tao Xuehai had sent some more, in addition to what he had left over from before.

There are currently 26 Ziyunzhi flowers remaining, while Yunlingzhi has returned to 53 flowers.

'That should be enough for the evolution herb garden.'

But there's one more thing to take care of before we can get started.

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Lin Hongzhen's home.

My cousin has been in a coma for several years, and her once strong body has become skin and bones.

Every day, he relied on his maids to wipe his body to ensure that no growths would develop on it.

Lin Hui's figure quietly appeared in the room where Lin Hongzhen was unconscious.

In the brightly lit room, he reached out and gently touched Lin Hongzhen's forehead.

Blood Seal Identification Initiated.

Lin Hongzhen: A human, daughter of the eldest branch of the Lin family, who has been in a coma for many years due to a head injury. She is in a weak state.

Cultivation techniques: Nine Hua Divine Technique, Ethereal Mind Method, Body Strengthening Exercise.

Evolvable branch: 2'

Lin Hui was not surprised, and instead took out another bottle of medicine specifically for treating head injuries—Baoning Pill.

The blood seal changed direction and included Baoning Pill.

The only and best solution Lin Hui could think of was to develop a drug to treat brain trauma, thereby indirectly curing his eldest sister.

More than ten minutes later, Lin Hui disappeared from the room.

Lin Hongzhen, lying on the bed, moved her throat a few times and her eyelids trembled slightly, finally showing a slight sign of improvement.

Xia Si joined the Rain Palace, and Lin Hui also taught Yunxiazi the Gale Sword Technique.

With everything settled, Qingfeng Temple returned to its previous quiet and peaceful atmosphere.

After a series of purges targeting the Wanhua Sect, the eldest brother's faction gradually quieted down.

Liu Xiao returned to the Rain Palace to assume his post, and Liu Wujun also returned to his teacher's side, seemingly busy with something.

Lin Hui, on the other hand, devoted himself wholeheartedly to the construction of the new base.

Inside the labyrinthine ruins, he continuously moved various kinds of dry food and supplies that were easy to store into the maze.

Then, through certain channels, they purchased a condensation device specifically designed to collect moisture from the air.

After the Blood Seal evolved, it successfully integrated this crude canned pipe system into the maze base with only a small amount of precious medicine, making it a base system that could generate some condensate water every day.

Then Lin Hui consulted some architectural experts in the inner city and manually modified the sewage system in the garrison area.

Finally, after all the other miscellaneous tasks were completed, he officially began burying the Purple Snow Jade in the designated underground location.

Then, the designated medicines and solutions are applied, and the plantation of Ganoderma lucidum is awaited to be completed.

According to the medicinal herb experts in the inner city, the construction of the Ziyunzhi (紫云芝) medicinal garden requires at least a year of waiting, in addition to the necessary medicines, to ensure that the Ziyunzhi successfully takes root underground, becomes active, and enters a reproductive state.

Lin Hui wasn't in a hurry. The garden was built, the foundation was laid. He could wait a year for the herb garden to be completed, then use the blood seal to evolve it. The future would be promising then!
During this year-long wait, he didn't let the Blood Seal sit idle. Instead, he had it try to evolve various aphrodisiacs that could boost energy.

Unfortunately, all they got were longevity-extending drugs that took an extremely long time to develop. Aphrodisiacs evolved directly into longevity-extending drugs, and the evolution process often took decades.

If one's lifespan were nearing its end, it could be extended, but that's not the case now.

So he only evolved one copy, leaving it for Tao Xuehai as insurance.

Time passed little by little.

In the blink of an eye, another year has passed.
Qingfeng Temple's influence has expanded once again. Due to the conferment of the seal and the presence of Xia Si, Qingfeng Temple's influence is now showing signs of becoming a new martial alliance.

Despite being just a large martial arts school outside the city, its sphere of influence has expanded in all directions due to the rapid growth in the strength of its disciples.

The third path of internal strength cultivation belonging to Qingfeng Temple also became known to everyone after Xia Si became famous.

In the midst of this peaceful life, Lin Hui's Typhoon Sword Technique finally reached the eighth level of Body Tempering.

With only one level remaining, I will be able to perfect the Typhoon Sword Technique and begin cultivating the Planetary Breath Sword Manual.

And it was at this time...

The new round of talent search for mentors went awry during the city assessment.

The council hall inside Qingfeng Temple.

“Normally, all the potential recruits from the outer city who are selected to enter the three major inner city districts are gathered together for a preliminary assessment to determine if there is any fraud in the outer city,” Wang Hongshi said solemnly, reporting to Lin Hui on the main seat.

"But this time, among these geniuses in the assessment, there was a hidden assassin who killed all the assessment officials sent by the three major powers in a very short time. Then, using the officials' tokens, he alerted the three major powers, attracting new reinforcements, and wiped out all the powerful people who came to provide support."

Wang Hongshi let out a breath, his face showing disbelief.

"This chain of events resulted in the deaths of nearly forty people in one fell swoop. Among them were five Grand Priests and twenty-two Priests! They wiped out almost half of the combat departments of the three major powers! The three major powers now only have one or two Grand Priests left in their high-end combat force, and above them are the Deputy Palace Masters and Palace Masters. The number of Grand Priests in the middle has almost been wiped out! In recent years, the number of Priests has dwindled to only one-third of what it used to be!"

"According to the latest investigation report, this attack was premeditated, and the planning began more than a year ago. The people involved in the communications, the tokens, the participating geniuses, and even the Anmin Army responsible for maintaining basic security all had people planted by a clandestine force."

"The Moon Tower is furious at such heavy losses. At the same time, it urgently needs to replenish its mid-level combat power, so a new round of selection has begun. The opportunity has also come for the high priests outside the three major ones."

"It's a real mess," Lin Hui sighed.

Throughout the year, Blood Seal systematically evolved various life cycle systems within the numerous labyrinth ruins.

They have now basically achieved an internal cycle for water use and crop cultivation.

This was largely thanks to the experts he consulted with the Shanxin Sect. The Shanxin Sect had experience in this area, and their guidance was a great help to him.

The most crucial element is still the medicinal herb garden.

The herb garden of Ziyunzhi has finally been successfully built after consuming most of the precious herbs, and has also undergone considerable improvement and evolution.

This led Lin Hui to increasingly shift his daily focus to the maze.

“The current absence of high-ranking priests and priests will inevitably lead to a decline in public order, increased unrest, and a rise in crime rates throughout the inner city,” Wang Hongshi said, frowning.

“A chain reaction has already started in the outer urban areas. Recently, many wealthy families from various towns have moved to Xinyu Town. Under the protection of our Qingfeng Temple, land and housing prices in the surrounding area have risen sharply,” Chen Sui said in a deep voice.

“My family owns many properties, and I even made a small profit from them,” Chen Xiangzhi, one of the ten core disciples, said with a smile.

"My family business has made quite a bit of money, but prices have been rising sharply lately," Xiao Hu added with a laugh.

Compared to before, he is much more mature and taller now, and he no longer looks as naive as he once was.

"It seems everyone is alright, that's good. Now, I have something to announce." Lin Hui smiled, amplifying his voice with his inner force so everyone could hear him clearly.

Lin Hui only spoke after everyone's attention had been focused on him.

"Starting tomorrow, Qingfeng Temple will be renamed Qingfeng Dao. Using the word 'temple' again is somewhat impractical. We already have dozens of branches and more than fifty internal energy martial artists. A single Qingfeng Temple would easily lead to confusion in the division of duties. Therefore, we are renaming it. All Qingfeng Temples in various locations will be under the name of Qingfeng Dao. Qingfeng Dao will have one Dao Master, who will be the original Temple Master. The other positions will remain basically the same. Only the title at headquarters will be changed from 'temple' to 'dao'."

“That’s true. We’ve had this problem for a long time. We need to clearly distinguish between what’s primary and what’s secondary.” The man in yellow was the first to agree and nod.

Now, within Qingfeng Temple, those who have real influence are no longer the elders, but rather the top ten core disciples.

This is the main change that has occurred since the battle that Xia Si exposed last time.

That time, most of the elders who participated in the team ran away out of fear of death, so since then, the position of elder in the sect has had little say.

On the contrary, the top ten gained immense strength after receiving their seals and directly participated in the management of sect affairs.

In just one year, ten small strongholds have gradually taken shape. The ten disciples are jokingly referred to as the ten true disciples, and each has gathered a considerable number of people and businesses under their command.

After a discussion, everyone dispersed and left. Lin Hui returned to his mansion in the backyard. After checking on Lin Xiaoliu's progress in sword practice, he went to the small garden alone.

A figure in black robes had been waiting in the garden for a long time.

The figure turned around, revealing a black metal eagle mask on its face.

"Teacher, you seem even stronger now, it's been a few months since I last saw you," Tao Xuehai's voice came from under the mask.

“You said last time that you were going to do something big, and I heard that it really is something big,” Lin Hui sighed.

Looking at his increasingly gloomy disciple, he had watched him grow from a sunny, confident, and proud young man to the sinister and repressive one he was now.

Life is unpredictable; perhaps this is what it means to be like this.

"That's not enough, Master. I've come here to warn you that you should not approach the Chen family recently. You must not get close to anyone from the Chen family," Tao Xuehai said softly.

"You're going to attack the Chen family?!" Lin Hui narrowed his eyes. "Tell me the truth, what level of power can you mobilize? You actually dare to attack the Chen family directly?"

(End of this chapter)