Decaying World

Chapter 232 Black Clouds Part 232

Early January.

Qingfeng Taoist Temple in Xinque Town.

More than ten days have passed since the Qingfeng Dao group arrived at Black Cloud.

As evening fell, all the disciples who had gone out to sea returned and gathered at Lin Hui's place to summarize their gains over the past period.

"This voyage was very profitable. We caught over a hundred sea pearls, more than 10,000 catties of third-grade sea fish, and also obtained a marine relic, although it's a very common blue conch used to determine wind direction. The total income is approximately between six and eight million coins," Su Yaping summarized.

"With Senior Su's strength, he naturally gained a great deal. We were just there to make up the numbers," Wang Hongshi said with a wry smile.

"With such huge profits, you should be careful. Money is a powerful motivator, and it will surely attract envious people," Lin Hui warned.

“Master, why don’t you come and work with us? Staying at that martial arts academy, you only make so much money a month, it’s not enough at all,” Xia Si suggested.

“There’s no need,” Lin Hui smiled. “Money can be earned anytime if you’re willing. The key is the ability and background to protect that income.”

“You’re right, so I’ve already gone to the corresponding mountain to pay my respects. I’ve also sent half of the money there,” Wang Hongshi said in a deep voice.

“Very good, everything on my end is almost back on track. Next, we should slowly move up the ranks. The Martial Academy has a very high ceiling and great potential for future development, but we can’t rush things.” Lin Hui had already found out the advancement levels of the Martial Academy in the past few days.

He is currently only an assistant teacher; the next level up is class teacher, then head class teacher, and then vice dean/dean.

At the level of head instructor, the income from the study tour centers outside the academies becomes incredibly high. Each student's tuition is one million yuan per year. And the head instructors of the five academies each have fifty or sixty students at their respective study tour centers. This all depends on how strong the students' exam results are.

In Heiyun, the relationship between students and teachers actually extends to all walks of life, and has basically formed various schools of thought and academic cliques of different sizes.

"Our goal is to ensure that our profits are self-sufficient, then to establish a stable environment so we can focus on our cultivation. Everything else serves this purpose," Lin Hui said.

He looked up at the hazy, full moon in the night sky.

"No matter where we are, we will get together every now and then. Qingfengdao will not add any new members for the time being, and will only focus on the current sixty-six people."

"Does the Dao Master mean we should go behind the scenes? Transform from an open organization into a clandestine, secret agency?" Su Yaping asked in a deep voice. He quickly embraced his new identity, even before learning the inherited martial arts, he already identified himself as a member of the Qingfeng Dao.

"Yes. There are still too many complicated and redundant tasks on the surface, and they are too conspicuous. Why not switch to behind-the-scenes work?" Lin Hui nodded.

"Then, the operating costs," Wang Hongshi asked hesitantly.

"It's self-financing, with no organizational address, no extraneous personnel, no daily social interactions, just occasional gatherings with minimal expenses. I'll cover it all," Lin Hui said with a smile.

“How could that be? We’ll take care of it. How could we let the Dao Lord spend money?” Wang Hongshi said hurriedly.

The others quickly chimed in to agree.

"Everyone, remember this: your allegiance to Qingfeng Sect and your sincerity towards our sect determine whether the magic seals you receive are effective. Therefore, every now and then, when we gather, we need to show whether the magic seals on our bodies are still intact," Lin Hui said.

"Yes! I will obey the Dao Lord's command," Wang Hongshi replied hastily.

The others followed suit.

"That's settled then. We'll gather once a year at this time." Lin Hui turned around. "If there's nothing else, you may leave."

After confirming the future schedule for the gatherings, everyone took their leave.

Lin Hui was left alone, standing in the courtyard with his eyes closed, calculating the precious medicine he still had.

Without the support of powerful alchemists, the supply of Black Emperor Pills was cut off while on the ship, and the evolution time of the Blood Seal had to be endured patiently. The previous super-fast progress, where one month could equal eight months, was no longer possible.

Now we're back to a snail's pace, with each month feeling like an eternity.

The sudden and drastic change made Lin Hui feel very uncomfortable.

"We need to increase profits as soon as possible and rebuild the drug procurement and refining chain. I have the formulas, and I can refine the pills myself. The main issues are profits, distribution channels, procurement, equipment, and facilities. Otherwise, with the consumption of drugs like the Black Emperor Pill, my savings won't last long."

Soon, a simple yet complete plan emerged in Lin Hui's mind.

He possesses the special effect of alchemy, so making money is actually quite easy for him.

Special Effect: Harmony (Your success rate in refining elixirs will increase by 30%.)

This is a special effect that he developed when he was refining medicine. Now it can come in very handy.

But he wanted more than just money.

Back in his room, Lin Hui sorted out the remaining precious herbs, including 14 Ziyunzhi and 21 Yunlingzhi. The herb garden near the maze ruins had only just been established, and it would take at least five years for the herbs to grow normally. Each harvest would yield sixty herbs every five years.

This speed is the effect after the Blood Seal has evolved, and it cost him a lot of Purple Cloud Mushrooms. But now it seems...
'Growing your own food is definitely not as good as buying or robbing.'

With a sigh, Lin Hui gave up all hope for his seed.

After some thought, he decided to continue evolving conceptual things like hand seals. Now, he realized that only these kinds of things could move freely anytime, anywhere without any restrictions.

'Now that the magic seals enhance strength, there's no point in continuing to strengthen that aspect; it might discourage disciples from making progress. It's better to evolve other areas, such as support abilities or long-distance communication techniques.'

While internal force transmission is currently effective, it becomes completely ineffective once a certain distance is exceeded.

If there were a secret long-distance communication method for Qingfengdao's own use, that would be so much more convenient.

Once this is settled, it's time to further evolve the Star Breath Sword Manual.

*
*
*
Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, a year has passed since Lin Hui entered the Martial Arts Academy.

Lin Hui successfully tempered his body using the Typhoon Sword Technique, reaching the ninth-grade limit, and quietly acquired the "Slight Flash" special effect. Although Lin Hui himself felt nothing, activating the "Slight Flash" effect seemed to make no difference. He couldn't yet discover the purpose of this special effect.

Besides this, the Blood Seal, a unique communication technique or group effect specific to Qingfeng Dao, has also evolved.

It was named Wind Chime because of the power of the wind disaster.

It is named so because each time the secret technique is used, it automatically forms a semi-transparent, illusory wind chime with internal force, producing a crisp sound.

After passing on the secret technique to all the core members, Lin Hui resumed his dull and monotonous life, just like Tu Yue had.

Daily routines consist of teaching, spiritual practice, purchasing medicine, and refining elixirs, repeating this cycle endlessly.

Through this repetition, a network belonging to Qingfeng Road gradually spread evenly around Xinque Town.

Many disciples found their own way and quickly integrated into the local community.

The people did not completely follow Lin Hui's instructions, and still voluntarily contributed a small portion of their income each month as the core operating expenses of Qingfengdao.

Over the course of a year, Lin Hui gradually became familiar with and found the local channels for purchasing medicines in the inner city, got acquainted with the process, and gradually stabilized his life rhythm.

The breakthrough in his Typhoon Sword Technique greatly enhanced his mental state, and a faint, colorful light began to appear between his brows.

As everything progressed smoothly, an opportunity that Lin Hui had been waiting for finally arrived.

*
*
*
Inside the fifth courtyard of Taisu Wuyuan.

Lin Hui packed up his teaching documents, got up and left the office, walking down the third-floor corridor.

Most of his colleagues and teachers who passed by nodded slightly to him as a greeting.

Over the course of the year, Lin Hui became familiar with almost all the teachers in the institute. After confirming that the inner city of Black Cloud was relatively normal, he decisively decided to begin the next phase of his plan.

As Lin Hui walked down the corridor, his expression remained calm, only nodding and smiling slightly when he encountered colleagues.

"Whether it's securing access to precious medicines, protecting my disciples' businesses, or maintaining a low profile for my cultivation, all require sufficient backing and influence. I have the strength, but the influence needs to ensure that killing my opponents won't attract the attention of even larger powers. These are all essential."

As for how to acquire power, cultivating it yourself is too slow; it's better to borrow it directly.

As for how to borrow it.

Lin Hui looked down at the training ground below, where three young students, led by their head instructor, were watching the other students demonstrate the standard Smoke and Cloud Seven Forms.

These three students are the ones with the strongest backgrounds from the Five Academies.

Of the three people, two were girls and one was a boy, all around fifteen or sixteen years old. At that age, they didn't even have internal energy, which meant they were either extremely poor in aptitude or completely unmotivated and didn't work hard.

"Lord, the information has been gathered." Princess Li Yuanyuan of the Shadowhound Clan quietly appeared behind Lin Hui and transmitted her voice through a wind chime.

"Tell me about it." Lin Hui stopped in his tracks, pretending to admire the scenery, and stood by the railing on the third floor, looking towards the training ground.

"These three are Xie Rongsheng, Fan Lingxi, and Zhu Fei. All three come from noble families, but none of them have achieved much success. Xie Rongsheng is extremely unambitious, lazy, and only likes to enjoy life. He is also dull-witted and of average talent."

"What about the other two?"

"Fan Lingxi was abandoned by her family because of her poor appearance and figure, her congenital deformity that was difficult to repair, and her lack of talent. She was left to fend for herself at this marginal martial arts academy."

"Consort Zhu is a bit different. It is said that she was too promiscuous in the Moon Tower, which aroused the jealousy of many members of the original blood family. They fought and brawled, seriously injuring several people and causing her to have several abortions. Her family couldn't stand the trouble, so they abandoned her here."

Li Yuanyuan was clearly adept at gathering intelligence; from receiving the instructions to obtaining detailed information, she completed the entire process in just one month.

"Very good. How accurate is the intelligence?" Lin Hui asked telepathically.

"At least 60% authentic," Li Yuanyuan said seriously.

She watched Lin Hui's retreating figure, somewhat hesitant.

"Master, these three seem like hopeless, abandoned individuals. They bully other students at every turn, and their character isn't very good. Isn't your choice of them a bit too arbitrary? Especially Xie Rongsheng, he himself isn't motivated, no matter how much others try to force him to improve, he won't eat it."

"Let me correct you on one point: as long as you're human, there's no one who can't strive for improvement." A hint of a smile flashed in Lin Hui's eyes.

The reason he's not ambitious now is simply because he hasn't encountered a significant setback yet.

"You mean, we first create a blow, and then reappear to redeem them?" Li Yuanyuan guessed.

"Why should we redeem them? Just give them a sliver of hope. What does it matter to me whether we redeem them or not?" Lin Hui said. "I just need them to obey."

"This disciple does not understand," Li Yuanyuan said, bowing her head.

"They were abandoned, and there must be a burning desire to rise up suppressed within them. All I need to do is make them feel that they are the protagonists, that they are the core of the story. As for power and strength, the fact that they didn't gain them before is simply because their destiny hadn't yet begun to turn."

Lin Hui paused, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"And now, I am that destiny."

These three were pawns he had cultivated, ready to be discarded at any time. He would keep them when he needed them, and push them out and destroy them when he didn't.

Therefore, all you need to do is secretly contact the three of them without revealing your own identity. Just let the three of them show a little bit of their strength, and then simply borrow their resources.

To achieve all this, given the effectiveness of the hand seals, is actually quite easy. The difference lies in the fact that as long as you withdraw the hand seals when you no longer need the opponent, you can instantly bring them to rock bottom.

Of course, if one of the three could suddenly realize his mistake and start working hard from then on, then it wouldn't be impossible to truly bring him into the sect.

(End of this chapter)