Decaying World

Chapter 58 058 Identity Two (Leader Johannes Vanderberg)
"We've collected enough data, we can stop now."

"Then I'll go and deal with the traces."

"Be careful."

"rest assured."

One of them responded, took a step forward, and suddenly dissolved silently, turning into a ball of gray liquid that flew towards the few people still fighting inside the temple.

As they got closer, the liquid rapidly dispersed into countless gray, sand-like worms, which swarmed towards Black Feather Tiger and the three martial artists at the Inner Strength Realm.

Several terrified screams followed.

Everything is calm.

The gray worm flew back to its original spot, reformed into a tall humanoid figure, and bowed slightly to the other person.

"It's all sorted out, and the new product tastes good."

"That's good, let's go."

The other person glanced casually in a certain direction in the distance, then turned around, his body suddenly disintegrated into countless black sand particles, which landed and disappeared.

The man looked in that direction and then his body decomposed, turning into dust and dissolving into the earth.

After the two left, a middle-aged man with a gloomy expression emerged from the pile of broken walls and ruins.

"It's them again. Qinghe Sect! They were the ones who stole the replica Longevity Wheel before. What are these people trying to do? Have they gone mad?"

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Hongqu Temple disappeared, supposedly destroyed by a monster from the fog zone. Moreover, in order to kill the fog zone monster, the town government reportedly joined forces with the New Martial Alliance, dispatching many masters, but still paid the price of three dead and one injured before finally killing it.

Lin House.

At noon, in the central garden of the mansion.

Lin Shunhe stood respectfully before a white-haired man wearing a black mask.

"The basic plan has been laid out. You have a good business sense. I thought this operation would result in a lot of losses, but I didn't expect you to be able to make so many moves with these funds. Very good," the black-faced, white-haired man praised, his voice aged.

"It's all thanks to your trust, sir. Otherwise, no matter how capable I am, I would lack the funds and be unable to make a difference," Lin Shunhe said humbly.

"Hehe. Merit is merit, and what's yours is yours. Don't worry, I can tolerate that much. You deserve a lot of credit for successfully avoiding Amamiya's search this time. Tell me, what do you want?" the dark-faced man said gently.

"Your subordinate," Lin Shunhe paused, "I want a quota for my son, Lin Hui."

"There's nothing we can do about that." The dark-faced man shook his head slightly. "You can get the summoning quota; with your merits this time, it's enough. But the quota can't be given to your son; it can only be used by you personally. This is a strict rule within the sect."

"May I ask?"

"Even immediate family members could leak information. He's not you, understand?" the dark-faced man prompted.

Lin Shunhe fell silent. But if he were to become a summoner, his age would be far too conspicuous. Moreover, given his qualifications, the probability of him succeeding was extremely low.

After thinking for a moment, he asked again.

"Then, may I ask, sir, what method is there to ensure that your subordinates also have sufficient power to protect themselves? Recently, some forces in the inner city have started experimenting in the outer city, capturing people. If I am unfortunately selected, it may delay the important mission assigned by the organization."

The dark-faced man pondered for a moment.

"At your age, if you want to gain enough power to protect yourself, unless you obtain a replica of an evil weapon or a replica of an insect manual, which might allow you to rise to the top in one step, you can only rely on external things."

"Imitations of evil weapons and insect scriptures? What are those?" Lin Shunhe asked in surprise.

"Do you know the origins of the Fog People?" the black-faced man asked in a deep voice.

"I don't know. There's no record of this outside." Lin Shunhe shook his head.

“Yes, no records dare to mention them.” The black-faced man sighed. “Because the Fog People never cultivated themselves, they didn’t work hard step by step, nor did they study diligently, research, and perfect themselves to achieve their ultimate form. They all ascended to the heavens in one step. After touching the Evil Weapon Insect Codex and enduring the initial fusion, they became invincible and immortal Fog People.”

"The same is true of the Primal Blood Nobles who were born from the Mist People. They are born strong, born noble, and nearly immortal. Such innate abilities make countless people tremble, and also make countless people jealous and covet them."

"Thus, the imitation of the Evil Weapon Insect Codex began. A peerless genius found the original cause of the Evil Weapon Insect Codex from the deepest part of the fog zone, then imitated it, and finally painstakingly found the method to manufacture imitations." The black-faced man paused, then continued. "Our Tu Yue recently produced an imitation—a replica of the Longevity Wheel. At the time, it attracted a lot of attention from various forces, and the aftershocks of the fighting in the inner city spread, which also caused the rumors of the ghost that broke into your gate earlier."

"So, what do you mean by saying all this in such detail?" Lin Shunhe hesitated, unsure of his guess.

"Yes, just as you guessed, there are indeed replicas of evil weapons within the organization. However, because the materials are extremely rare and the production is extremely difficult, you will need to make more contributions to obtain them," the black-faced man replied.

Lin Shunhe's eyes flickered, and hope rose in his heart.

He knew very well that the man in front of him had guided him to join the organization when he was at his lowest point, and from the time they met until now, the man had never said a word of falsehood.

If they say they can exchange it, then they definitely can.

"What kind of merit would be required?"

"Make full use of your talents. If you can extend the industry to most of the outer towns, and even connect with the three major inner cities, then the organization can obtain enough support funds from you, and your contribution will be more than enough," the dark-faced man laughed. "After all, this is equivalent to you taking only a sum of money and creating a large area of ​​highly profitable and high-quality industry in the outer city out of thin air."

"Understood, sir." Lin Shunhe nodded.

"That's good. But you're right, these are turbulent times. Here, take this for self-defense." The dark-faced man tossed a dark, round ball into his hand.

The surface of the sphere is engraved with a dark purple daffodil pattern.

"This is a hallucinogenic sphere. Throw it out when you encounter danger. It will automatically explode two meters away from you, releasing a large amount of hallucinogenic smoke. Only those who have attained a high level of spiritual awareness are immune. Furthermore, this is a signature item of the organization; if exposed, all three major cities will hunt you down. You must use it with extreme caution," the black-faced man warned.

"Thank you, sir!"
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time flies.

More than half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Lin Hui's internal strength progressed far beyond his expectations; he could clearly feel several new internal force lines appearing in his body almost every day.

If things continue like this, it's estimated that in less than two months, he will be able to break through the first level of the Inner Strength Realm and accumulate enough Inner Strength to cover his limbs.

According to their teacher Mingde's records, it took them, the Ming generation of apprentices, four years to complete this step.

Their internal strength developed rapidly, and the Qingfeng Sword Sect was also developing well on the other side.

More and more elderly people are joining, and now there are more than 20 people. Firstly, their fees are cheap, and secondly, word spreads from person to person. The training effect of the Perfect Seven-Section Fast Sword Slow Version, although it cannot temper the body, is many times faster than other training methods.

Some elderly men who experienced positive results from the exercise felt noticeably lighter and walked with a spring in their step, so they went back and spread the word.

As a result, more and more people are coming. If it weren't for the terrible incident at Hongqu Temple, which is relatively close by, even more people would probably be coming.

Many elderly people even moved into Qingfeng Temple, where Weiwei and Lin Hui, along with three others, kept watch, making it safer than their own homes. Xiao Hu also brought his parents over to help with chores, and Weiwei paid them a small monthly salary, so the whole family benefited from it.

Lin Hui wasn't idle either; he went to the fog area of ​​Shiqiao Town again and, after entering the Inner Strength Realm, began hunting tree scorpions once more.

He doesn't plan to reveal his entry into the Inner Strength Realm for the time being. His progress is far too fast; most people take three years to break through, but he succeeded in just two months.

If this gets out, it will attract a lot of attention.

So he planned to delay until two years later before showing his work. Although it wouldn't be three years, it would still be within a reasonable range.

Fog area in Shiqiao Town.

The enormous, four-meter-tall tree scorpion, still clad in black armor, looked down at Lin Hui from its vantage point.

hiss!
It waved its pincers, its small black eyes constantly darting around, staring intently at the sword in Lin Hui's hand.

It sensed a slight danger emanating from that sword.

"Although it can't be applied directly to the sword, covering it with both hands, approaching the first level, is sufficient."

Lin Hui slowly raised his sword.

The perfect version of the Qingfeng Sword is the first time it has been used in actual combat after its speed has been amplified by internal force.

"In theory, the faster the speed, the stronger the cutting and piercing force. When the speed reaches a sufficient level, there is nothing in the world that cannot be pierced."

He narrowed his eyes slightly, and streams of internal energy flowed continuously from his abdomen into his hands.

"wind."

call!
In an instant, Lin Hui brandished his longsword, and a gentle breeze suddenly arose around him, blowing towards the tree scorpion.

hiss!
Just then, the tree scorpion slammed its right pincer down on him. It seemed to sense something was wrong and knew it couldn't let the opponent finish his sword move.

The huge black pincers slammed down, and such a strike should have created a strong gust of wind.

Strangely, the airflow was blowing in the opposite direction towards the tree scorpion.

The airflow grew stronger and stronger, but Lin Hui remained standing still, making no movement, waving his sword, or moving a step; he simply stood there.

But the invisible airflow kept increasing, constantly blowing and surging towards the tree scorpion.

The giant black pincers slammed down fiercely, defying the strong wind, and struck Lin Hui squarely on the forehead.

However, the interference and obstruction of the strong winds still reduced the tree scorpion's original strength by 30%.

The giant black pincers were getting closer and bigger, until they were right in front of them.

'Feathering. '

Lin Hui suddenly bowed, and his arms flashed with a white light for a moment.

Clang!
There was a flash of silver light.

A clear silver line ran straight across the tree scorpion's massive body from left to right.

Everything came to a standstill.

The tree scorpion's massive body stiffened and lay motionless on the ground, lifeless.

On its side, on its originally hard black carapace, there was a clear, deep gash, from which blackish-red blood was constantly oozing out.

Behind him, Lin Hui gently shook the blood off his sword, then swept the blade horizontally and felt a tiny nick.

'After greatly increasing sword speed with internal energy, and then further amplifying it with the Feather Transformation technique, the effect is indeed terrifying. However, without the protection of internal energy on the blade, a slightly inferior weapon would likely shatter in a single blow.'

With a sigh, he turned back to look at the tree scorpion's corpse and walked straight toward the giant scorpion tail.

Regardless, from this day forward, his strength has surpassed that of his teacher, and perhaps even that of Baohe Daoren, reaching the true pinnacle of Qingfeng Temple.

Every step he takes from here on out will be a step in creating a new history for Qingfeng Temple.

(End of this chapter)