Decaying World

Chapter 221 221 The War Begins

Fog-covered area, Yanshan ruins.

Whoosh!
A sharp, piercing sound exploded, and as the sound waves spread, a white meteor pierced through the mist and crashed down on the remnants of what was once Tianzhan Cliff.

Bang!
The ground shook, creating a bowl-shaped crater tens of meters in diameter.

Cracks radiated outwards, resembling a spider web.

In the center of the dent, Lin Hui swiftly pulled out the Ruyi.

Most of the blood had already been drawn away while it was still in mid-air.

At this moment, Su Yaping clutched the huge bloody hole in her waist with a contorted expression, her sky-blue eyes filled with fanaticism.

"Is this your true strength?!"

"Are these your last words?" Lin Hui replied in the same tone, lifting the Ruyi and gently wiping away the bloodstains on it with one hand.

If a sword is fast enough, it can remain unstained by blood, but having been soaked in the opponent's blood for so long, it inevitably became tainted with some filth.

"Don't misunderstand, I have already defected from Xingdao City and am only temporarily joining the Wanhua Sect. My purpose is to come and find you!" Su Yaping shrank back slightly, feeling that if she didn't quickly reveal her purpose, she might be killed.

He's already experienced the taste of being chopped up for his foul mouth.

Although this was one of his goals, only after confirming that the other party was indeed the path he had been searching for could he proceed with the next step of his plan.

But if you're too slow and annoy the big shot in front of you, then you'd be unjustly killed.

"Looking for me? Why?" Lin Hui was taken aback.

"I want to exchange a piece of information for your guidance on the path of martial arts!" Su Yaping said in a deep voice.

Before Lin Hui could reply, he continued to explain.

"I have endured a hundred years of hardship in Xingdao, and now I have reached the ultimate level of pure martial arts—Grandmaster Mingji. You see, I didn't even activate my final martial state just now; this is my sincerity!"

"Oh?" Lin Hui paused slightly. "How did you know I had reached a higher place?"

“I can sense that you haven’t fused with the replica of the Evil Weapon Insect Codex, nor are you an original bloodline or a Summoner. A Summoner can only reach the Palace Master realm at most, while the highest level of martial arts is the Mingji realm. These are the limits of two different paths,” Su Yaping said earnestly.

"Inspiration and martial arts are two major systems. The former requires some talent, while the latter can be cultivated by anyone. But at the peak, the Palace Master and Mingji have actually reached the end, with no further path ahead. After that, only after the original blood awakens the evil energy can one step onto the higher realm of Blood Ancestor."

"So you think that even though I'm not a member of the original bloodline aristocracy and haven't fused with the Evil Weapon Insect Codex, I can still easily suppress you, so you conclude that I've reached a new level?" Lin Hui laughed.

"Isn't that right? Otherwise, none of the other palace masters or Mingji could have defeated their opponents of the same level so easily. Theoretically, at our level, we should at least have to probe each other and figure out each other's weaknesses before we can find an opportunity to strike and decide the outcome. But you can't even think about doing that in less than a few hours," Su Yaping said seriously.

“I understand what you mean,” Lin Hui smiled. “But how can you be sure that I’m not killing you, but taking you in and passing on my knowledge to you?”

"Because I brought you crucial intelligence! News that will be of great help to you." Su Yaping's expression was solemn.

"What news?"

“Someone is trying to harm you. It’s an elder from the Tai Su Yuan Pan inside the Tu Yue Yue Tower!” Su Yaping said quickly.

"An elder? Who!?" Although Lin Hui had expected it, he was still slightly shocked when he heard the news.

"Judge Tu Yue—Han Sanmian!!"

*
*
*
In the inner city of Tuyue, atop the towering, pure white moon tower that reaches into the clouds.

The fog stretched across the sea, and the sunlight was dazzling.

One of the moon towers is located high up.

In the luxurious platinum-colored single-level building, a slender figure with white hair gradually materialized in mid-air, transforming from ethereal to real.

The figure landed lightly, the feet clad in white and gold-patterned boots landing firmly on the mirror-like brick floor with a crisp patter.

The ground reflected the person's figure and appearance.

It was none other than the handsome white-haired man who had stopped the fox from submitting the list of the Benevolent Cult in the Heaven of Extreme Desire.

His face was flawless, every inch of his skin seemed to be in the most perfect proportion and position.

His hair was also pure white, like snow, without a single blemish or blemish.

A pair of slightly dark eyes, with specks of white-gold burning in the center of the pupils.

Between his eyebrows shone a luminous crystal, a sign that all elders possessed, representing the materialization of their spirit.

"My lord, fighting has already begun in the outer ring. The attackers are mainly from the Hongyin Empire, and are generals belonging to the Tianyan Army. It has also been discovered that the Wanhua Sect, Shanxin Sect, Xuanying Sect, Baitong Sect and other forces are assisting them."

At this moment, a burly human figure dressed in full black armor was already waiting in the room. He stepped forward, knelt down, and reported.

"How did the Prefect arrange things?" Judge Han Sanmian asked casually, showing no sign of panic or alarm.

"The Prefect has already gone to Jiyutian to inquire about the situation there. Both the Anmin Army and the Black Army are in Jiyutian's hands, so how to deal with them depends on what they say," the burly figure said in a deep voice.

“That’s true. Most of the managers here are just sent from elsewhere. The real locals are from Jiyutian.” Han Sanmian nodded.

"What does Your Excellency mean? Please enlighten me so that I may return and report to the Prefect," the burly man asked.

"I'm just a judge. You can come to me for imprisonment and trials, but I don't handle direct confrontations," Han Sanmian said with a smile.

His meaning was clear: there was obviously a problem with this matter, and Jiyutian could definitely handle it, so there was no need to drag a non-combatant like him into the fray.

"Understood, I'll take my leave." The burly, black-armored humanoid nodded, then vanished in a flash.

The empty single-level apartment was suddenly left with only Han Sanmian.

He had long been used to being alone.

He had no servants or maids; his simplicity was almost unlike that of the Blood Ancestor, or a powerful figure living at the top of the Moon Tower.

With a wave of his hand, he unleashed a vast expanse of white internal energy, clearing away all the surrounding space. After sweeping away the impurities in the air, the abundant internal energy transformed into specks of light, scattering across the ground and completely turning this single-story building, covering an area of ​​tens of thousands of square meters, into a field of white light.

In this way, the entire flat floor was completely filled with only his own internal energy, eliminating any possibility of surveillance by other forces.

After doing all this, Han Sanmian took out a golden sphere from his sleeve and tossed it forward.

The golden ball suddenly floated up into the air, and cracks of white light appeared on its surface.

Looking at the gaps, Han Sanmian's calm smile gradually disappeared, replaced by a slight frown.

"Xiao De," he called softly.

"Here." An aged voice came from somewhere and echoed beside him.

"Ancestor, what are your orders?" Xiao De asked respectfully.

As the only descendant he brought from his family, Han De was also the core link through which he controlled many subordinate forces in Tu Yue.

What is the current situation in Xinyu Town outside the city? What is the state of Qingfeng Temple?

"Reporting to the Ancestor, Xinyu Town has basically fallen. Qingfeng Temple, along with the Lin family mansion that you previously paid attention to, has retreated towards the fog zone."

Are there any pursuers?

"Yes, several experts from the Wanhua Sect went after them. But none of them were at the Palace Master level," Han De replied.

Clearly, his intelligence was relatively slow, and news of Su Yaping did not arrive in time.

"That's good," Han Sanmian nodded slightly.

"Ancestor, you see, the situation isn't good right now. Should we retreat from Tu Yue's side?"

"Not for now. They won't cause any major trouble. Not a single marshal from Hongyin has come, which means they're just testing the waters," Han Sanmian replied. "However, the small fruit at Qingfeng Temple in the outer city is ready to be consumed."

"Understood, Xiao De will arrange it right away."

"A 15-minute block is enough."

"Yes."

Disconnecting the telepathic communication, Han Sanmian put away the floating golden ball, smiled slightly, and drew the surrounding white light and internal energy back into his body.

He then took a step forward and disappeared into the air.

The next second, he appeared directly in the sky above the sea of ​​fog a thousand meters away, and his whole body plummeted straight down into the boundless sea of ​​fog.

In another flash, he reappeared a thousand meters away, piercing through the sea of ​​fog and entering the skies above the inner city.

He repeated this process, and soon he crossed the inner city and arrived at the outer city.

After passing the empty headquarters of Qingfeng Temple, he took off and flew towards the foggy area outside the city.

Wherever he went, the crowds below who saw his figure all thought he was just a large bird flying extremely fast.

At this time, many experts from the Anmin Army and the Black Army had already been dispatched within the city and were engaged in fierce battles with the invading Wanhua Sect, Hongyin Empire army generals, and others.

The internal force and the illusory force collided and exploded, the white light spots and the illusory force twisted and distorted, wantonly destroying large areas of buildings in the outer city.

The civilians had already scattered and fled, and those who couldn't escape hid in cellars, awaiting their fate. If their houses collapsed and they were crushed to death underground, no sound would be heard.

At this moment, the entire outer city area resembled a ghost town.

On the streets, the Anmin Army in black armor and the Tianyan Army of the Hongyin Empire in blue armor were engaged in battle.

Anmin's army was clearly in retreat, suffering heavy casualties.

The generals fought each other in pairs, forming circular vortexes that divided the battlefield into sections.

In the sky, under Hongyin's manipulation, the moth carts also flew and tore at Tuyue's moth cart, scattering moth powder everywhere, and every now and then, one moth cart after another fell down severely injured.

Han Sanmian casually scanned the sky and, not finding the Qingfeng Temple group, took out the golden ball again and tossed it gently.

The golden sphere floated in the air, and once again cracked open with white light.

Soon, Han Sanmian seemed to glean something from the gap, immediately put away the golden ball, turned around and flew towards a certain direction in the fog area.

puff.

Piercing through the fog, he flew straight ahead, this time without flashing around, instead flying at top speed.

He had only flown less than ten kilometers when his gaze suddenly darkened, his body stopped, and he hovered in mid-air, sensing an incredibly strong aura rising from the ground and moving forward.

The direction that this aura was heading was exactly the direction he was going.

At this moment, he sensed the other party, and the owner of that aura also sensed him and stopped as well.

The fog quickly dissipated between the two. A hundred meters apart, one above the other, they instantly saw each other clearly.

"You are!? The one from the Nine Dreams Sect?" Han Sanmian frowned slightly the moment he saw the other person, recognizing his identity.

Yunxiazi, the Supreme Elder of the Nine Dreams Sect, is arguably the first person publicly recognized below the Blood Ancestor.

This guy is willing to pay any price for power. He's considered a minor celebrity in the Moon Tower.

Yunxiazi was on her way to Qingfengdao when she unexpectedly encountered Elder Han Sanmian, who flew in from the sky.

A sense of foreboding immediately rose in her heart.

"Why isn't Elder Han staying at Taisu Plain to fight against foreign enemies? What is he doing in this desolate, foggy area?"

(End of this chapter)