The upheaval at home and the conflict between Chen Zhishen and Chen Chong stoked Lin Hui's hunger for personal power, sharpening it to a keener edge than ever before.
Mingde's protection could only last so long. Though Chen Zhishen was the current troublemaker, Lin Hui couldn't guarantee he wouldn't face similar ordeals in the future. If he didn't prepare now...
After the incident with Chen Chong, Lin Hui kept an even lower profile. He plunged into silent, grinding sword practice every day. His physical stamina crept upward, and at last, the evolution of the fifth move reached completion.
One move had taken two months. Adding the initial month of introduction, he'd now spent over half a year at the Clear Wind Temple.
During this half-year, he hadn't dared to relax for even a moment. And now, results hovered just within reach.
Inside the drill grounds, Lin Hui held a wooden sword, standing among the other students practicing their routines. He looked entirely unremarkable. Yet if one were to look closely, one'd discover a vast gulf between his movements and those of the people around him.
The moves were the same—everyone was clearly practicing the Seven-Section Swift Sword. But Lin Hui's first five moves conveyed a sense of austere, unforgiving structure, as if every stroke and every line were the standard, flawless answer.
It was only when he reached the sixth and seventh moves that this sense of perfection abruptly collapsed, reverting to mere proficiency.
Though proficiency wasn't bad—months of grinding practice had given Lin Hui a deep understanding of the final two moves—compared to the first five, the gap yawned like an abyss.
The slender wooden sword in Lin Hui's hand cut through the air with practiced ease. Though this was merely a training method, it radiated an inexplicable, coiled menace.
Unfortunately, no one around him noticed these changes. The Seven-Section Swift Sword was a body-tempering sword technique that geniuses could master by identifying all Force Nodes within a few weeks. Lin Hui had practiced for nearly a year and still hadn't thoroughly mastered it. Based on this alone, no one would care how perfect or beautiful his swordplay looked.
Just as Lin Hui was practicing the sixth move, geniuses like Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren had already mastered half the Nine-Section Swift Sword and could unleash its power in actual combat.
Swish, swish.
Not long after, Lin Hui finished another repetition. He pulled the towel from his neck and wiped the sweat away.
From a corner of the drill grounds, the faint sound of weeping drifted over.
The old students of the Daoist temple were leaving.
Lin Hui gazed into the distance, spotting a group of five. They were all burly, hardened men, carrying bindles in their hands. Their eyes brimmed with tears; some trembled as they knelt and kowtowed in the direction of the main hall.
"They're all old-timers who practiced for three years but never fully mastered the Force Nodes of the Seven-Section Swift Sword," Chen Zhishen whispered, approaching from the side. "Maybe a lot of us will end up just like them..."
"Which move have you reached?" Lin Hui asked.
"Fifth. I found that the earlier moves feed into the later ones—I've grasped the Force Nodes," Chen Zhishen replied.
"That's decent. I'm at the sixth," Lin Hui answered calmly.
"..." Chen Zhishen smiled bitterly. "I've thought a lot lately. First Ah Hua, then Xie Li. To be honest, I see it clearly now—they're actually more clear-eyed than I imagined. Everyone just wants to climb higher. Ah Hua's with Chen Chong now. A few days ago, people from the temple saw her bringing food to him. She doesn't practice martial arts here anymore."
"As long as you understand." Lin Hui nodded. "In this world, if you want to live well, don't you have to scramble upward however you can?"
If he didn't have the Blood Seal, maybe he, too, would do whatever it took to climb. That was why he didn't resent Xie Li back then—it was simply human nature.
"A-Hui," Chen Zhishen said again. "Once I master the Seven-Section Swift Sword, I plan to leave."
"..." Lin Hui paused, watching the kowtowing senior student in the distance stand, change into a guard's uniform, and leave with the person who had come to collect him.
For a moment, he said nothing.
"No matter how well I practice, I'll just end up as a guard or a thug for someone... My family can't support my studies anymore," Chen Zhishen continued. "Only after fully mastering the Seven-Section Swift Sword will I be considered a formal disciple of Clear Wind Temple. With that status, I can get a position at the town government office or attach my name to some wealthy household. After all, an external martial artist who's achieved body tempering is far stronger than an ordinary person, even with just a few simple moves. The income should be decent."
"That's the goal for most disciples here. The temple cooperates with many wealthy households. The Mu family, the Zhong family—they all have ties," he went on.
"Are you resigned to that?" Lin Hui asked.
"Heh... I trained like a madman. But so what?" Chen Zhishen gave a bitter laugh. "Do you know what it feels like to train until you're coughing up blood? If not for the healing medicine you gave me back then, I might not have recovered half a dozen times. I might've died early in some corner of the training grounds..."
Lin Hui fell silent.
He listened as Chen Zhishen rambled on about the hardships of his training, feelings tangled and indescribable.
He was only two moves—the sixth and seventh—away from completely mastering the perfect, flawless version of the Seven-Section Swift Sword. Calculating the time, it would take about four more months. Such speed, in the eyes of others, could only be called utterly mediocre. The future outcome would, at best, be working as a high-level guard for someone else.
But only Lin Hui knew... he was different.
By the time he snapped out of his thoughts, Chen Zhishen had already left.
People began trickling out of the drill grounds. It was nearing noon—time to head to the cafeteria.
Suddenly, a ripple of commotion came from the distance.
Lin Hui sheathed his sword and followed the crowd. He saw a large group of students parting to form a path, staring with curious eyes at a tall youth walking slowly into the cafeteria behind the Temple Master.
The youth had an unfamiliar face, handsome features, and skin so pale it seemed bloodless.
Most striking were his eyes.
They were not the round pupils of a human, but a pair of amber, vertical slit pupils patterned like a reptile's.
From a distance, they looked cold and inhuman.
"That person's eyes... why do they have that pattern? I've never seen anyone with eyes like that..."
Whispers rippled through the crowd.
"Keep it down—that's a strongman from the Python Clan, here to visit the Temple Master!"
"Python Clan? That's not human?"
"Rumor has it they're a non-humanoid race capable of transforming into giant pythons. One of the few exotic races that communicate and trade with us."
Lin Hui watched the youth with equal curiosity. Judging by the interaction between him and the Temple Master, the two were obviously old acquaintances. The youth appeared young, but his age was certainly not just in his teens.
"The Python Clan... are they here to investigate the clan member who went missing earlier?" Not far away, First Senior Brother Chen Sui stood with Daoist Mingchen, asking in a low voice.
"Likely. The previous door-breaching ghost case injured many innocents. The Inner City won't be able to suppress it that easily. It's not just the Python Clan—people from other districts have arrived as well," Mingchen confirmed with a nod. "But this has nothing to do with us. Just practice your sword properly. If you can reach the third realm of the Clear Wind Sword sooner, my Clear Wind Temple will have a successor."
"Disciple will do his best." Chen Sui looked troubled and lowered his head slightly.
Once the Temple Master and the Python Clan member sat down to eat, the others took their seats one after another. Having seen the novelty, everyone realized the Python Clan member ate the same food and spoke the same language as them. Aside from the different eyes, everything else was identical. The freshness quickly faded, and the cafeteria rapidly returned to its usual clamor of people scrambling for food.
Lin Hui withdrew his gaze, found a corner to sit in, and waited for the meal distribution.
The Python Clan youth came quickly and left quickly. Soon, the Daoist temple returned to its former stillness.
Time slipped by, and the evolution of the sixth move crept toward completion.
The anticipation in Lin Hui's heart was ground down to an ever-deepening calm by the long wait.
Early in the morning, he rose on time, drew water, washed up, and checked if his Jade Talisman was intact. If it wasn't, he had to go to the temple's logistics Daoist to get a replacement.
After washing and eating breakfast, he was about to start the new day's practice when he suddenly received a notice from a young Daoist attendant: someone from his family had arrived.
Lin Hui found it strange. His parents hadn't visited the Daoist temple since the incident. To run over suddenly without notice now... he feared something had happened again.
But seeing that the young Daoist attendant's expression and tone were calm, he relaxed slightly.
He followed the boy toward the main gate. Before long, he saw his father, Lin Shunhe, waiting outside.
Beside him stood a hunchbacked old man with grizzled white hair, holding the hand of a girl in a white skirt who had a cold, detached air.
The three stood together. Hearing footsteps, they looked over in unison.
"This is your son? Looks aside, his temperament is quite steady. Working as an Assistant Ledger-Keeper in Clear Wind Temple now... that's stable," the hunchbacked elder said, looking Lin Hui up and down. He appeared somewhat satisfied.
"Indeed. If our two families settle this, I'll prepare a family endowment of one hundred thousand coins for the two of them to start their own household later," Lin Shunhe said with a smile.
"That's not bad. I didn't expect you, old fellow, to still scrape together such a fortune after the incident. Impressive!" The hunchbacked elder looked at Lin Shunhe in surprise.
"Sigh... it's a long story." Lin Shunhe shook his head and sighed, about to elaborate.
Suddenly, the cold girl who had been standing quietly turned to leave without a word after glancing Lin Hui over.
"Huan'er?" The hunchbacked elder hurriedly called out. "What's wrong!?"
"Nothing. I just don't feel well and don't want to tour the Clear Wind Temple anymore. Father, let's go back," the white-skirted girl said calmly, stopping in her tracks.
She knew clearly that her father and Lin Shunhe were close friends. Now that Uncle Lin's family had met with disaster, the families who had previously come to propose matches were avoiding them like the plague.
Only her father, keeping his promise, had come to settle the engagement with Lin Shunhe.
Her father was demonstrating the virtue of keeping one's word. But what about her?
To fulfill her father's integrity, must she trade her lifelong marriage for it?
The more the girl thought about it, the more bitter she felt.
"Huan'er!" The hunchbacked elder saw that his daughter didn't like Lin Hui and immediately went up to pull her aside for a quiet talk.
But no matter how he coaxed her, the girl only shook her head. Enraged, the old man raised his hand, wanting to strike her. Lin Shunhe, watching from the side, quickly blocked the motion.
"It hasn't come to that, Old Brother Guan!" Lin Shunhe sighed. He looked at his son standing before him, then at the Guan family's beautiful, aloof daughter. Before the incident, with his connections and wealth far surpassing the other party's, this marriage would have been more than suitable.
But now, looking solely at his son's circumstances, he really wasn't good enough for her.
"Sigh... Since Huan'er doesn't fancy my A-Hui, let's drop the matter today. Treat today as A-Hui showing you around the Clear Wind Temple. Without an insider, you really can't get in to visit this place."
"Forget the tour. Sigh, what a mess..." The hunchbacked elder sighed. "It's a pity. Consider it my Huan'er's lack of fortune, to have no fate with your A-Hui."
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