Decaying World

Chapter 87 087 Testing the Sword I
Understanding can shorten the evolution time of the Blood Seal.

This was something Lin Hui had never noticed before.

To meet this condition, firstly, there must be a project that is evolving, and secondly, one must, at the very moment of evolution, gain insights into the relevant content of the project.

These are actually very demanding conditions, since there's no standard.

Coincidentally, Lin Hui had just met both of these conditions.

He stood there stunned for a long time, repeatedly confirming that the evolution time of the blood seal had indeed been reduced, and he was overjoyed.

He turned around and quickly headed towards the Black Dragon Gate of Qingfeng Temple.

If that works, could he gain insights and understanding from other perspectives and proactively shorten the evolution time?

For example, thinking about other sword techniques, such as the Typhoon Sword Technique, although it is called a typhoon, the experience and reflection on the sword techniques may also bring inspiration and insights, and shorten the time again.

While Lin Hui was spending his days tempering his body, practicing his internal strength, reading and studying, repeating this routine...

More than half a month later.

"Abbot! Abbot! Something terrible has happened!! Senior Brother Huang! Senior Brother Huang has been crippled!"

Lin Hui, who was cultivating his internal energy, was suddenly interrupted by a series of urgent knocks on the door.

He opened his eyes, feeling his internal energy cultivation had reached the third level, and frowned slightly.

With a swift movement, he opened the door and saw a white-robed disciple waiting anxiously outside, his face filled with fear and sweat.

"What about people?"

"Senior Brother Chen and the others have already gone to check the situation outside the gate!"

Lin Hui nodded, then suddenly appeared out of the study and crossed the corridor.

Then it took off directly into the air, flew over the wall, walked in a straight line, and landed in the Black Dragon Gate training ground.

By this time, a considerable number of disciples had already gathered on the training ground.

Some who were practicing martial arts, and others who weren't practicing and were preparing to eat, all gathered together.

Upon seeing Lin Hui approaching, everyone immediately made way for him.

"The abbot has arrived!"

"Make way! The abbot must be here! There might still be hope!"

"This is terrible! Who could be so cruel?!"

One by one, subtle sounds reached Lin Hui's ears.

He glanced around and saw that Wang Hongshi, Chen Sui, and Xue Meng from the Yi Dao Sect were all there.

Upon seeing him arrive, Xue Meng's expression turned serious, and he gestured for the people around him to step back.

"Huang Haiyin is the one who went to Fu'an Town to deal with the troubles at the pharmacy. He accepted the mission beforehand, and the reward was 200,000 coins. You personally issued the mission. Now, take a look for yourself."

He sighed and moved aside.

Lin Hui's face was ashen. He stepped forward, walked closer, and looked down.

In the middle of the crowd, on a stretcher covered with a white sheet, lay a weak man with a face as pale as paper and black blood clots around his mouth and chin.

The man had a deep depression in his chest and his limbs were abnormally twisted.

Lin Hui reached out and grabbed an arm; it was limp and powerless.

He then examined the rest of the limbs.

"His limbs were crushed with heavy force, his tendons were severed, but his internal organs were intact. Only his sternum was broken from the front, but strangely it did not pierce his heart."

"Very strong control!" Xue Meng nodded, his expression grave. "To achieve this, extremely precise control is required. Moreover, Huang Haiyin is a master of the seventh-grade Black Dragon Claw body tempering technique. His hard skills make him impervious to ordinary people, even if they were to be tempered in the same way, he could certainly escape if he couldn't win. But..."

He didn't say the rest, but Lin Hui already understood what he meant.

"Killing someone is just a matter of a head falling to the ground. Their meaning is very clear." Lin Hui thought coldly, glancing around at the crowd. "This is a demonstration."

“That’s right, it was a deliberate provocation against our Qingfeng Temple!” Xue Meng nodded in agreement. “To be able to survive such an injury, it’s clearly meant to be a show for us.”

Lin Hui let out a breath, looked at Huang Haiyin's pained yet hopeful eyes, and stood up.

Has the pharmacist arrived?

"They've arrived. I've already examined them," Chen Meng said respectfully as she stepped forward. "Given the condition of the limbs and surrounding area, it's basically impossible to reattach them. They've been crushed into extremely fine pieces. However, a simple replacement surgery can be performed in the inner city to replace the shattered and damaged parts with certain special materials from outside the city to replace the human bones. But that would require a large sum of money."

"How much?" Lin Hui asked.

“About a million,” Chen Meng replied. “The three major clans in the inner city and many other large families can perform this surgery, and their average price is around that amount.”

"He was injured on duty. The temple will cover 80% of the costs, and he will have to bear the rest himself. How do we find someone to help him?" Lin Hui asked again.

“All three major pharmacies have their own pharmacies, and they advertise them publicly. You can just apply at the corresponding point.” Chen Meng was clearly very familiar with these things.

"Notify his family." Lin Hui looked around, and when he said he would bear 80% of the burden, the disciples around him all trembled.

These days, medical expenses are so high, and the sect is actually willing to cover the majority of them. This is something that ordinary forces can't do, let alone dare to do. For a moment, the surrounding people quieted down a lot. Regardless of whether it was a show or not, Lin Hui's statement was at least very popular.

Many people suddenly felt a much stronger sense of belonging to Qingfeng Temple.

"Who was the first to find him? How did he get back?" Lin Hui asked with a serious expression.

"it's me!"

A tall female disciple with pigtails raised her hand; it was Luo Qianshui.

She squeezed through the crowd, a few grains of rice still clinging to her lips, as if she had just rushed over from eating and hadn't even had time to wipe her mouth.

"I was just about to go out for a treat when I saw two skinny men carrying him running over. They said their caravan found him on the way, found his identity token on Senior Brother Huang, and then delivered it to the address on it."

"Where is the person who gave them away?" Lin Hui asked.

“They were from a merchant caravan in town, people from Huang’s Restaurant. I gave them some money and sent them off,” Chen Sui said from the side.

"Was Huang Haiyin able to speak before?"

"No, he can only sob. His tongue and throat are probably injured too," Chen Sui replied. "He's at the seventh level of Black Dragon Claw Body Tempering, which is considered quite strong within the sect. Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to take on this mission. I just didn't expect..."

"Do we still have any people in Fu'an Town regarding this matter?" Lin Hui asked again.

"They're gone. The person was seriously injured, but the rest escaped. Does the abbot mean to call all the escapees over?" Chen Sui seemed to understand.

"Let's treat Huang Haiyin's injuries first, so he can at least speak. Chen Meng, you handle this, is there a problem?" Lin Hui looked at the pharmacist.

These days, pharmacists not only need to dispense medicine, but also work as doctors, so they are quite experienced.

"Okay, I still need to purchase some wound medicine."

"All expenses can be paid within the temple. Isn't this the kind of time to use the money we earn?" Lin Hui waved his hand without hesitation.

Soon, Huang Haiyin was sent down to receive treatment.

Lin Hui, Xue Meng, Chen Sui, Wang Hongshi, and Chen Xiangzhi, the eldest disciple of the Yi Dao Sect's branch, gathered together for a small meeting in the hall.

“Even Huang Haiyin’s strength was enough to be so severely injured. Going there alone will definitely not be enough to resolve this matter. We need to find out who our opponent is and who is targeting our Qingfeng Temple.”

Lin Hui said calmly, his gaze sweeping over Xue Meng.

"Mr. Xue, you are very experienced, could you share your thoughts?"

"It's very simple. This is a provocation against us. The fact that they attacked first, and with such force, shows that they are very confident in their strength. So, sending more people over with piecemeal tactics is pointless. Abbot, you need to stay at headquarters. The main base of Qingfeng Temple is here, and we can't move it lightly. If it gets destroyed, it will ruin our reputation and brand. So this time, I will lead the team to handle this matter."

Xue Meng stroked his beard, a hint of heroic spirit appearing on his troubled face. After all, he only looked troubled; his heart wasn't truly troubled.

"With Elder Xue's intervention, this matter is guaranteed to be foolproof," Lin Hui nodded. He couldn't speak for others, but Xue Meng—that old fellow had held back quite a bit when they fought before; he was already a master of perfect internal energy in his normal state. Looking at the surrounding dozen or so towns, apart from Ou Tianrong, the leader of the Hundred Flowers Sect, no one else could compare to him.

"There's no time to lose. I'll set off with my men immediately. This time, my Yi Dao Sect will handle everything. Rest assured, Master, once we find the mastermind, we'll crush their limbs and return them to the sect in their original form!"

Xue Meng said solemnly.

"Okay! Be careful!" Lin Hui nodded.

A moment later, Xue Meng led his three disciples out quickly, boarded the carriage that Lin Hui had purchased for Qingfeng Temple, and headed straight for Fu'an Town.

After Xue Meng left, Lin Hui sat alone in the main hall. After thinking for a moment, he called over a guard disciple who was not far away and asked him to fetch paper and pen. He then wrote a letter to Ou Tianrong of the Hundred Flowers Sect to inquire about the situation.

In terms of intelligence, the Hundred Flowers Sect is far superior to them.

Now that we're on their side, we should make full use of our advantages.

After sending a disciple to deliver the message, Lin Hui finally calmed down and began to think about the unexpected incident and its impact.

'There are still too few capable people,' he thought to himself. With only Xue Meng present, and too few at the Inner Strength Realm, it was unrealistic to expect Elder Xue to intervene every time something happened.

Thinking of this, he ordered someone to summon Wang Hongshi, Chen Sui, and the other top ten disciples.

The current top ten of Qingfeng Temple are divided into three factions, resulting in each member refusing to acknowledge the others. Also, because no internal competition has ever been held, there is no consensus on who is stronger.

When Lin Hui called for the top ten, all the top ten members from the other two factions, excluding the Yi Dao Sect, rushed in.

While it's called the top ten, most of them are actually former Black Dragon Sect disciples. Only Chen Sui, Huang Shan, and Qiu Yiren from Qingfeng Temple made it in. As for Zhao Jiang'an, he's long since fallen behind.

Soon, a group of more than ten people stood in two rows in the lobby.

"The Huang Haiyin incident has been a wake-up call for me. The skill levels of the disciples within the sect are unclear, making it difficult to assign them missions externally. Therefore, I plan to hold a small internal competition to determine the top ten from each of the three branches. From now on, these top ten positions will receive preferential resource allocation, serving as the face of the sect and a defense against external troubles."

Lin Hui gave the instructions.

"Yes!" the crowd clasped their hands in unison, their eyes gleaming with fighting spirit.

If the previous top ten from the Black Dragon Gate didn't generate much interest, then the current top ten from the Qingfeng Temple are a completely different story.

Lin Hui, the abbot, is incredibly generous in his actions, and coupled with his self-created Perfect Seven-Section Swift Sword, his body tempering speed is extremely fast. Among the disciples who joined Qingfeng Temple later, some have already reached the first rank in body tempering using the Perfect Seven-Section Swift Sword in just a few months.

This was unimaginable before.

(End of this chapter)