Decaying World

Chapter 59 059 Identity Three (Thank you, Alliance Leader, for raising me on demon food)

With his internal energy breakthrough, Lin Hui's sword speed increased significantly. He didn't waste any time. Since he had come all this way, he simply hunted two more tree scorpions. This time, he didn't kill them completely; he just cut off their tails and took them back with him.

Firstly, the scorpion's tail has a weak point that is easy to cut off; secondly, killing it completely would cause too much damage to the Qinghe Sword.

Although he is not short of money now with his father's support, and his senior health classes are thriving, he has long had the Qinghe Sword with him and has developed feelings for it.

I witnessed his growth from his weakest point.

As evening approached, he dragged the scorpion by its tail and piled them together. He then rented a small hut in Shiqiao Town, hung up a jade talisman to block out the fog, and waited for the next day to arrive.

As night fell, a gray fog enveloped the outside, and whispers that sounded like human voices could be heard from time to time.

Lin Hui sat cross-legged on the bed, looking at the slightly swaying hanging jade talisman, and couldn't help but recall his conversation with his teacher in the inner city.

'This jade talisman can actually be remotely controlled. What do the people in the inner city take the outer city for?'

It would have been better if he hadn't known before, but now that he knows the truth, he can't help but look at the jade talisman whenever his eyes fall on it, fearing that it might suddenly become ineffective at any moment.

He didn't know how long it had been, but the drowsiness became too much to suppress, and he slowly closed his eyes and drifted into a light sleep.

Alone outside, with three scorpion tails dragged to his side, he dared not sleep soundly, and simply sat there until dawn.

After daybreak, the pharmaceutical merchants who had previously agreed to meet with the supplier will come to transport the goods.

And just as he was resting peacefully.

As dawn broke, in the foggy area of ​​Shiqiao Town, a hastily assembled three-person hunting team, fully equipped, cautiously entered the foggy area where the tree scorpions were located.

All three were dressed in light brown and black leather armor, carrying large waist bags and backpacks. The person in the middle held a fragrant incense stick, and wisps of fragrance wafted up, opening up a spherical cavity around them.

As they ventured deeper, the three skillfully navigated past the warning signs and entered the tree scorpion's territory.

There are usually many tree scorpions in this area, but this time it took quite a while to encounter one.

All three were at the Inner Strength Realm; one provided defense, another distracted and diverted the scorpion's attention, and the last one launched the final attack. They repeatedly struck the weakest point at the base of the tree scorpion's tail.

More than ten minutes later, the tree scorpion finally collapsed.

"This scorpion's shell is relatively intact, so it can fetch a good price. The scorpion's tail is also in good condition, not too damaged. The whole thing should be worth over 300,000, right?" the burly man with the crew cut leading the group said wearily.

He was in charge of defense. Even with his superhuman strength and internal energy, he couldn't withstand two hits from a giant monster like the tree scorpion in a row. He needed someone to help him restrain it and give him a break.

"It should be fine. If we get another one, we can rest and recuperate for a while when we get back." The one holding the reins was a woman with long red hair, a pretty face, and a thin scar on her forehead.

"Have you noticed? There seem to be other people hunting tree scorpions lately. Apart from the Hundred Flowers Sect, who can break through the scorpion's carapace, there doesn't seem to be any other experts around here who can break through the tree scorpion's carapace, right?" The last person squatted down in confusion, examining the ground, and found deep marks left behind that were not left by them.

"Tree scorpions are basically the most valuable monsters in the fog area outside the ruins. Although they are a bit difficult to kill, the monsters above them are gangs, which are even more troublesome. It's normal for other expert teams to hunt them." The burly man with the crew cut said dismissively.

“No. This hunting party may only have one person,” the last person said in a deep voice.

"Alone?!" The burly man and the red-haired woman both paled slightly. "Could it be You Ying?" They knew that You Ying from the inner city had recently been investigating the disappearance of the previous expedition team.

With such protection, who, apart from those who have been inspired, could stand up to the tree scorpion head-on?
“It’s not the same style. Actually, I noticed some clues last time, but I only suspected it and wasn’t sure. But this time, I can confirm that this person didn’t just wear down the tree scorpion by brute force, but ended the battle in a very short time,” the last person said softly.

The burly man and the red-haired woman stared at each other in bewilderment.

"Hunting tree scorpions by himself? That strength is probably close to that of a high-level Summoner. Even the top offensive experts of the Hundred Flowers Sect would need two people working together to do that, right?"

“No matter what, we have to be careful if we encounter them.” The last person nodded. “After all, there is some order in the city, but in this foggy area, killing someone over a disagreement is common.”

The other two nodded, their mood becoming heavy.

If the lone hunter continues to hunt in this spot, they will likely be forced to choose another location.

A skilled individual capable of quickly killing a tree scorpion is beyond their reach. For experts, numbers and grouping together are often of little use.

*
*
*
Two days later, at Qingfeng Temple.

Lin Hui walked slowly across the training ground, checking on the mastery of the seven-section fast sword among a group of elderly students.

After confirming that he had practiced the slower version without much trouble, he walked to another secluded training area, where Xiao Hu and Weiwei were practicing swordsmanship.

Lin Hui carefully observed Xiao Hu's condition, and suddenly his eyes lit up.

"Little Tiger, you've reached the third level of Body Tempering?"

"Yes, Master, I only managed to break through yesterday by sheer luck," Xiao Hu replied earnestly, sheathing his sword and standing quietly.

"Not bad, very good." Lin Hui nodded approvingly. "It seems that my improved Seven-Section Quick Sword is indeed better tempered than before."

“I’ve reached the eighth rank too. Indeed, the tempering speed of the perfected seven-section quick sword is much faster than before.” Weiwei walked over and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

She was too lazy to practice at first, but because she was teaching, she learned the perfect version of the seven-section fast sword. Unexpectedly, the effect was surprisingly good, so she has been practicing it ever since.

She had never actually tempered her body to its limit, let alone undergone a second tempering with the Qingfeng Sword Technique. Before, everything was fine because her father, an expert in internal energy, protected her. But now that her father had run away, she could only rely on herself. She couldn't very well rely on Lin Hui, a complete stranger, could she?
She's my senior, she can't bring herself to do that.

“Very good. Since the results are good, we can consider recruiting a few more talented disciples to expand the sword sect. With just the few of us, we often can’t keep up with the workload,” Lin Hui said in a low voice.

"Ah Hui, you mean, we want to go back to the Martial Alliance?" Weiwei was taken aback, frowning. "With our current strength, isn't going back now too much?"

“There’s no need to go back.” Lin Hui shook his head. “Now that we’ve left the martial arts circle, there’s no need to compete with others anymore. We’re just looking for a few people to expand the sword sect’s organizational capacity. If they have good aptitude, their tuition can be waived, which will broaden our selection pool.”

“If tuition is free, quite a few people will come,” Weiwei nodded in agreement. “Thinking about it, this place has almost become a senior activity center lately. These old men and women bring their friends and family in droves, chartering a bus to come all at once. During their breaks, they go to the front yard to play cards, chess, and take a nap. Don’t you think we should try to control this?”

"You can handle this as you see fit. Who's in charge of the medicinal herb fields now?" Lin Hui asked.

“Nobody does it anymore, nobody knows how, it’s been lying there abandoned for a while,” Vivi replied.

"Then let's hire herbalists to help, and learn a little ourselves, so we don't end up knowing nothing after they leave," Lin Hui said in a deep voice.

"clear."

"We also need to hire some helpers and cooks. With more people, we can't do all the miscellaneous tasks ourselves."

“But that would be too big, and it might attract attention,” Vivi frowned.

“It’s fine if we don’t get involved in the martial arts school circle. We can’t let them try to take over the senior citizen class market too, can we?” Lin Hui replied.

*
*
*
Black Dragon Gate.

In front of the three-story pavilion with a square roof, on the spacious open ground, hundreds of disciples stood densely packed together, divided into three formations, practicing claw techniques.

As the sect leader, Song Zhanlong sat motionless at the top, slowly sipping a cup of tea.

Standing beside him were the three strongest disciples of the Black Dragon Sect.

Senior Brother Wang Hongshi, Second Senior Brother Chen Yuan, Third Senior Sister Mu Qiaozhi.

Originally, Zhao Jiang'an, the second disciple of Qingfeng Temple, also became a disciple of Song Zhanlong. However, due to his long hours dealing with business, his progress in Black Dragon Claw gradually fell behind Mu Qiaozhi.

Now, Mu Qiaozhi has replaced Zhao Jiang'an and become the true third member of the Black Dragon Gate.

"Speaking of which, Qingfeng Temple seems to be doing quite well these days?" Song Zhanlong said softly. "Does anyone know anything about the situation there?"

The three remained silent for a moment, until Chen Yuan, who was second, finally spoke up.

"Junior Sister Mu and Junior Brother Zhao came from over there, so they should know more about this situation, right?"

Mu Qiaozhi's expression changed slightly. Since arriving at the Black Dragon Gate, Song Zhanlong's temper had become much more difficult to deal with than that of Baohe Daoist. He would slap her if things didn't go her way. In addition, he had strong hard skills and was one of the top experts in the internal energy realm. When he got angry, a single slap from him could make disciples like them, who were at the limit of body tempering, recover from their injuries for a long time.

This sect leader originally came from Xingdao, and his fear of local families was far less than that of Baohe, who had been rooted there for many years. If things got really bad, he could run away at any time.

This also caused all the disciples in the sect to be somewhat afraid of him.

When the topic turned to her, Mu Qiaozhi lowered her head slightly and spoke.

"The three Ming-generation masters of Qingfeng Temple have all left, leaving only a few former front-court disciples. They have set up a so-called health and wellness class, but they no longer teach martial arts. They only teach the elderly how to maintain their health and exercise."

"So you're still practicing? The sound even reached me. Looks like business is good." Song Zhanlong lightly tapped the armrest with his metal claws, making a crisp sound.

"Perhaps, but they're all old men. Qingfeng Temple can never rise again," Mu Qiaozhi replied.

“They’re all from Qingfeng Temple. If they can teach, can’t you teach too?” Song Zhanlong clearly didn’t want to let go of even this small profit. “Third brother, go and kick Qingfeng Temple out again. Shut them down, drive them out, and take over that territory. Although the location is a bit remote, it’ll be a good branch for our Black Dragon Gate in the future.”

Mu Qiaozhi's expression changed slightly. Not daring to refuse, she clasped her hands in a fist and said.

"Yes."

"Go ahead, the new martial arts alliance ranking is about to be held. This ranking will determine the future resource and position allocation for each martial arts school, and may even connect with the three sects and six gangs in the inner city. Your master needs to prepare well, and you all need to work hard and achieve good rankings in both the sect leader battle and the disciple battle." Song Zhanlong said in a deep voice.

"Yes!"

The three of them answered in unison.

Like the previous martial alliances, the new martial alliance follows the model of internal ranking battles and cooperative inner city battles.

Top-ranked martial arts schools can acquire considerable hidden rights, which bring influence, various industries, resources, and profits.

It can be said that as long as the ranking is high enough, the rewards will be plentiful. Money, power, and cultivation resources all require channels, especially some special medicines that can only be used by those at the Inner Strength Realm. These medicines can only be manufactured in the Inner City, and without channels and quotas, you simply cannot buy them even if you have money.

This will also lead to the stronger the rankings in the Martial Alliance becoming, so in this first major competition ranking of the new Martial Alliance, Song Zhanlong is determined to push forward.

After the event ended, Mu Qiaozhi quickly left, went back to her room to prepare her weapons and equipment.

(End of this chapter)