Decaying World-Chapter 19

Night had fallen. Lin Hui stood alone in the center of the inner room—a solitary hut allocated to him after becoming a formal disciple.
The room was spacious enough that practicing swordplay wouldn't be hindered by cramped quarters.
Gripping the black sword gifted by Mingde, Lin Hui focused his entire attention on the crimson text of the Blood Seal floating in his vision.
As his concentration peaked, information regarding the Seven-Section Swift Sword surged to the surface.
[Seven-Section Swift Sword: Clear Wind Temple Basic Training Method, Basic Sword Technique. Prerequisite for Nine-Section Swift Sword. Evolvable Branches: 2.]
[Current Status: Perfection.]
[After tempering the body to a certain stage with the Perfection Realm, a special effect can be activated—Lightness. Current effect—activatable.]
"Lightness... I thought this effect was gone, but it seems it's still here."
Lin Hui took a deep breath and mentally confirmed the activation.
Hiss.
In an instant, he felt his entire body lighten violently. It wasn't the illusion of lightness brought by Body Tempering, but a tangible sensation—his physical weight had practically vanished.
He raised his sword and executed the Nine-Section Swift Sword.
Whoosh!
A barrage of breaking wind sounds exploded. His sword moves at this moment were more than double his normal speed.
The sword shadow was almost invisible. Previously, his sword practice had been blurry due to Body Tempering, but one could still see him through the afterimages.
But now, the shadows had transformed into a solid curtain, wrapping him tightly within.
Such speed—even in the previous disciple duels, he hadn't seen anyone this exaggerated.
Though speed didn't equate to absolute strength, if the speed was fast enough, the strength was inevitably formidable.
Lin Hui carefully recalled the duels of the formal disciples. Aside from the movement speed brought by Body Tempering, they didn't seem to possess any explosive special effect boosts.
Otherwise, they couldn't have hidden it so well back then.
He estimated that after using the Lightness effect, his speed would likely rival that of the First Senior Brother and First Senior Sister when they unleashed their full sword offensives.
"Such a potent effect..."
Of course, if he were to truly face off against the First Senior Brother, considering his Nine-Section Swift Sword was a mess and he knew not a single move of the Clear Wind Sword Technique, he would certainly lose.
But this speed alone was enough to crush seventy or eighty percent of the formal disciples.
However, after only a short while, Lin Hui felt his heart rate accelerate and his spirit weary.
'It seems the consumption of this special effect is considerable. I can't keep it active constantly—only for critical moments.'
'The limits of my physique determine that the effect cannot be sustained for long. I still need to learn the Clear Wind Sword Technique as soon as possible. The Nine-Section Swift Sword is the killing technique of the Seven-Section Swift Sword, while the Clear Wind Sword Technique is a complete set containing both tempering and killing methods. Its tempering effect is the advancement of the Seven-Section Swift Sword.'
Target confirmed, Lin Hui immersed himself in Body Tempering cultivation once more, fully focused.
Inside the room, the lamplight was dim and yellow. His shadow, cast by the waving sword, flickered rapidly under the glow.
Outside, in the gray mist, vague elongated shadows crawled quietly like snakes, emitting faint hissing sounds.
Before long, ten repetitions of tempering were complete. Lin Hui quickly regulated his breath, extinguished the lamp, and lay down to rest.
His gaze swept over the window. The hazy moonlight filtering through revealed slender snake shadows climbing over the exterior, resembling giant vines.
And the only thing blocking all of this was a small purple-black stone hanging on the interior wall—the jade talisman sought from the Rain Palace in the Inner City.
Relying solely on such a tiny object to block those grotesque, weird monsters of the mist zone outside...
Lin Hui couldn't understand it. Looking at the small jade talisman, he often felt an inexplicable unease.
'What if... what if one day, the jade talisman suddenly fails? What then?'
The thought flashed through his mind abruptly.
It wasn't the first time this thought had occurred, but there was no solution. Apart from the jade talisman, there was no way for a living person to survive the fog of the night.
At least, he had never heard of anyone who could.
Phew...
Sighing softly, Lin Hui forced himself to close his eyes and enter repose.
….
The next day.
He packed his luggage, ate breakfast, and continued practicing the sword. The newly learned Nine-Section Swift Sword still required a massive amount of time to familiarize with.
This technique was a completely different style from the Seven-Section Swift Sword—one could almost say they were opposites.
If the Seven-Section Swift Sword was like the compression of a spring, then the Nine-Section Swift Sword was the violent release of that compressed spring.
The intensity of that momentary outburst was closely linked to the Seven-Section Swift Sword.
Lin Hui tempered his body again and again. In one morning, he completed the day's ten repetitions of tempering and Nine-Section Swift Sword practice. After lunch at noon, he continued practicing the Nine-Section Swift Sword, but he had only reached the third repetition when several people appeared nearby to spectate.
The onlookers seemed to be a small clique of three. The leader was none other than Chen Chong, who had conflicted with Chen Zhishen previously.
He and his two lackeys were squinting at Lin Hui's practice, eyes flickering, plotting who-knows-what.
Swish.
Lin Hui abruptly retracted his sword and looked at the three.
"Do the three Senior Brothers have business?"
"Nothing much—just came to see what ability the newly promoted Junior Brother has to be selected for the patrol team alongside me. After all, the entire Front Courtyard only has five spots." Chen Chong smiled, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
"I've disappointed Senior Brother. I walked the path of Daoist Mingde's connections. I didn't rely on my own ability," Lin Hui replied earnestly.
Uh...
Chen Chong was choked by this unabashed honesty. He stared at him for a moment, unsure how to respond.
He had planned to target the weak point of being a connection hire to mock him. But the opponent simply said to his face:
I came in through connections, I am weak, please bear with me, Senior Brother.
He was out of moves.
"I've seen thick skin before, but never any as remarkable as Junior Brother's..." Chen Chong felt he might have underestimated Lin Hui before and spoke, speechless.
"Does Senior Brother have anything else to say?" Lin Hui asked calmly.
"Well..." Chen Chong wanted to speak, but not far away, Daoist Mingde began clapping his hands to gather everyone.
"Those departing tomorrow, come over and prepare. Get familiar with your teammates," Daoist Mingde ordered the young Daoist attendants to cordon off a separate area as a meeting point for the squad.
Before long, a total of five people gathered: First Senior Brother Chen Sui, the two geniuses Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren, and the two connection hires, Chen Chong and Lin Hui.
Everyone assembled quickly, standing before Daoist Mingde.
"I've called you here to let you familiarize yourselves with the general strength of your teammates, so that at critical moments, we can allocate responses appropriately and maximize the squad's power," Mingde said.
"Just fighting, right? Simple," Chen Chong said directly. It wasn't his first time participating in such a lucrative assignment—he knew the ropes.
"Compared to the last patrol, there are three newcomers this time: Huang Shan, Qiu Yiren, and Lin Hui. So the main subjects of observation are you three. Chen Chong, you test them. Your strength is just right," Mingde said unceremoniously.
Chen Chong nodded, drew his sword, and walked into the open space.
He had been at Clear Wind Temple for five years. His strength ranked thirteenth in the Front Courtyard—neither high nor low, perfect as a standard reference to benchmark the three newcomers.
"I'm ready. Who's first?" Chen Chong's gaze swept over the three before settling rapidly on Huang Shan.
He had been eyeing this girl for a while. He wanted to get his hands on her but couldn't, and had even been warned by Mingde because of it. Now, given the chance to spar, his eyes swept back and forth over Huang Shan's perky buttocks, his heart itching again.
"You asked for it!" Huang Shan, enraged by his disgusting gaze, immediately drew her sword and stepped out to stand opposite him.
Their wooden swords pointed obliquely at the ground. Eyes locked, they quickly entered a combat state.
A trace of inexplicable momentum confronted and intertwined between them.
"Begin!" Mingde commanded.
Whoosh!
Two sounds of breaking wind exploded simultaneously.
Both had achieved Body Tempering, and both used the Nine-Section Swift Sword. Fighting speed with speed, the two wooden swords clashed in an instant, emitting a crisp crack.
Bam!
They crossed past each other, stomped the ground, turned back, and slashed diagonally.
This was Looking Back at the Moon, a killing move within the Nine-Section Swift Sword.
It was best suited for a surprise attack after a fruitless clash. Unfortunately, both had the same idea, resulting in another collision of swords and a crisp sound.
This second collision showed Chen Chong was clearly stronger. His power overwhelmed Huang Shan, who hadn't been tempered for long, easily pushing her back.
But Huang Shan lived up to her reputation as a genius—her comprehension and application of sword techniques were clearly superior to Chen Chong's.
She followed the momentum to wind around, retreat, and turn sideways. Her wooden sword, like a venomous snake, curved and stabbed rapidly toward Chen Chong's waist from the other side.
This move caught Chen Chong, who was preparing to press his advantage, off guard. He had intended to attack, but with his waist undefended, he could only hastily change moves to block the wooden sword.
The two went back and forth, offense and defense shifting. In just a few seconds, they exchanged over ten moves, their speed blistering.
Lin Hui stood to the side, watching alongside Qiu Yiren and Chen Sui.
"Senior Brother Chen's thirteenth rank won't be held much longer. Junior Sister Huang's progress is far greater than last time," Chen Sui said calmly. His strength was the highest among all disciples, and he was the strongman closest to the 'Ming' generation in the temple.
His Clear Wind Sword Technique was already incredibly pure, and he had begun to pursue the realm of swordsmanship beyond mere moves. His vision was naturally on a different level from ordinary disciples.
Specifically, the top three—him, Second Senior Brother Zhao Jiang'an, and Third Senior Sister (First Senior Sister) Mu Qiaozhi—had formed a complete disconnect from all the disciples behind them.
The three of them had long walked the path of pursuing the realm of the Clear Wind Sword, rather than simply mastering sword moves.
Even regarding Body Tempering—the tempering of the Clear Wind Sword—they had cultivated to the limits their bodies could withstand. After all, the three had been at Clear Wind Temple for many years and were exceptionally talented. Their cultivation time was simply not something others could compare to.
"Senior Brother thinks Junior Sister Huang will win?" Lin Hui asked softly.
"Depends on performance. Junior Brother Chen has greater strength. Junior Sister Huang has higher speed and comprehension, and her moves are more agile. Their momentum is evenly matched—the gap is minimal," Chen Sui critiqued.
Just then, the two in the field had exchanged over a hundred moves. Chen Chong was clearly running out of stamina, while Huang Shan remained agile.
Just as Chen Chong took a step and his wooden sword's attack slowed by a hair, Huang Shan seized that momentary flaw exposed by the delay. She stabbed instantly, her sword dotting ruthlessly onto Chen Chong's left shoulder.
With a thud.
Chen Chong fell backward, crying out in pain.
"Enough. Huang Shan wins. I have a rough understanding of your levels. Chen Chong hasn't improved—same as before. Huang Shan has improved greatly. Not bad," Mingde said calmly, his gaze shifting to Qiu Yiren and Lin Hui.
"You two, go up."
Lin Hui and Qiu Yiren stepped forward, raising their wooden swords and bowing to each other in greeting.
This was Lin Hui's first formal combat spar. He was somewhat nervous. But thinking of his disastrous Nine-Section Swift Sword, which he'd practiced for only a few days, he realized it didn't matter if he performed poorly. He slowly relaxed.
He looked at Qiu Yiren opposite him and found she was also somewhat nervous.
"Begin!" Mingde commanded.
Both stabbed toward the other's torso simultaneously. This was the Thousand Mountain Thorn of the Nine-Section Swift Sword.
Though the moves were the same, Lin Hui's clearly deviated from the sword track, appearing substandard.
This caused his initial exertion of force to be unstable. Qiu Yiren changed moves with a downward chop, easily striking his hand so it trembled, nearly causing him to drop the wooden sword.
In just a few seconds, amidst the clacking of wooden swords, Lin Hui was suppressed and forced to retreat continuously.
Then—
Whoosh.
The wooden sword in his hand was flicked into the air, flying out to land among the crowd of Front Courtyard disciples watching the commotion. Someone caught it mid-air.
"Junior Brother Lin, your sword." The person laughed, tossing it back to Lin Hui casually.
Lin Hui caught it hurriedly, his face flushing red. He bowed to the person with a bitter smile, then bowed to Qiu Yiren.
"Many thanks for Junior Sister's mercy." He had entered the gate before her, so calling her Junior Sister was normal.
"You aren't even familiar with the Nine-Section Swift Sword..." Qiu Yiren was somewhat exasperated, unsure what to say.