Decaying World-Chapter 20

"That's how it is for the newly promoted... after all, I've only been learning the sword for a few days," Lin Hui said helplessly.
"Alright, alright. He is the descendant of a friend of mine. He came in through my connections. The government office also added a quota out of respect for me. It doesn't take up the temple's allocation," Daoist Mingde clapped his hands and explained. "I have a general idea of your strength. Chen Sui, go instruct Yiren. Let everyone see the gap."
"Yes." First Senior Brother Chen Sui nodded, drew his sword, and walked forward, stopping opposite Qiu Yiren and clasping his fists.
"Junior Sister, be careful."
"Please enlighten me, First Senior Brother." Qiu Yiren nodded, raising her sword and staring intently at him.
But—
A crisp
chi
sound.
She didn't even see how the person disappeared before the wooden sword in her hand was forcibly knocked flying by a tremendous force.
The wooden sword whistled and spun in mid-air, only to be instantly snatched by a large hand extending out, holding the hilt and freezing it in place.
"Conceded." Chen Sui's gaze was calm as he looked at the somewhat dazed Qiu Yiren.
One move.
He defeated the so-called genius swordswoman in one move.
"See that?" Mingde supplemented from the side. "At a level like Chen Sui's, one has reached the peak of the External Styles. Body Tempering is at its limit. The gap between him and other External Style peaks lies only in the comprehension of moves and the grasping of timing and state."
"Perfected One, how many External Style experts like First Senior Brother are there in the other martial halls, gangs, and sects?" Huang Shan, having recovered some stamina, asked curiously.
"The government once created an assessment level for the External Nine Ranks. This is classified purely by the level of Body Tempering. It doesn't represent specific combat power—comprehension of moves and such cannot be judged. You can use it as a rough reference," Mingde explained. "Chen Sui, Zhao Jiang'an, and Mu Qiaozhi—the three of them are at the 9th Rank of External Style Body Tempering intensity. Their bodies have reached the extreme. As for you four... Chen Chong is roughly at the 4th Rank level. Huang Shan is 3rd Rank, Qiu Yiren is 3rd Rank. Lin Hui only broke through a few days ago—judging by his movement speed, he should be only 1st Rank."
"How is this rank divided?" Huang Shan continued to ask.
"Very simple. Look closely. When our Nine-Section Swift Sword is used in actual combat, it involuntarily leaves subtle residual shadows of the sword swing. One rank equals one afterimage flashing past. It's very clear. Other martial arts have different methods of judgment. But regardless, you four, if you meet a speed-type expert who can instantly leave nine afterimages, don't be stupid—just turn and run."
He paused, then continued: "Of course, not all martial arts classify ranks by speed afterimages. For specific judgments, listen to your First Senior Brother. He will inform you how to act based on the opponent's threat level."
Several of them looked toward Chen Sui, who shrugged and nodded.
After eating together in the afternoon, everyone returned to rest.
…..
Early the next morning, just as the mist dispersed, Mingde led the five out of the Daoist temple, heading toward the Xinyu Town government office.
An hour later, the five, led by Chen Sui, changed into uniforms and began their formal patrol work.
As Mingde had said, this patrol was mainly focused on minor cases and petty thieves.
Lin Hui patrolled with them for an hour, rested three times in between, and acted once to catch a petty thief stealing a money pouch. There were no other gains.
Right until the end, they encountered no other problems and returned to their designated quarters to rest safely.
The quarters were a small building arranged by the government office, with personnel responsible for food and drink.
The group completed the first day of basic patrol just like that.
Then came the second day, the third day...
….
Xinyu Town Streets.
Passersby came and went. Cargo carts constantly turned from the main road into the backyards of various shops. Farmers carried vegetables and rice to the roadside, setting up stalls and hawking their wares.
Lin Hui and Qiu Yiren walked together, dressed in gray-white combat attire. Tied at their waists were patrol tokens issued by the government, also white.
Both wore long leather boots and face-covering masks—masks that were also white. Suspended at their waists were their respective weapons—real iron longswords.
At this moment, the two walked leisurely along the street, dodging mud splashes from vehicles, patrolling casually and somewhat boredly.
"This job is good, and all, but honestly, it's a bit too boring." Qiu Yiren yawned sleepily.
She was a girl who cared about her image, but after patrolling for so long, the monotony set in, and she couldn't help but break character to relax.
"True. At first, I really thought there were mist monsters, but it turns out..." Lin Hui agreed.
These days, he was diligently practicing the Nine-Section Swift Sword. Instead of working through the full routine as before, he practiced move by move.
With this focused training, his proficiency soared. Without even activating the special effect, his speed now reached about the 3rd or 4th Rank among Body Tempering disciples, comparable to Huang Shan and the others—extremely fast. If he activated the Lightness effect, he estimated he could unleash a burst of movement sword speed that, for a short time, would surpass the First Senior Brother and his peers.
However, having speed without a strong sword technique meant he likely still couldn't defeat the First Senior Brother in a true fight. The difference in speed would allow him to disengage from a battle quickly, achieving a draw. This was the key reason he chose Clear Wind Temple.
"I wonder how First Senior Brother is doing. He took Huang Shan and Chen Chong with him," Qiu Yiren sighed. She wanted to check the other side, but her teammate here wasn't even familiar with the Nine-Section Swift Sword, so she had to take the lead. Naturally, the main force couldn't just wander off and slack; otherwise, Lin Hui would be in trouble if she left.
The two strolled past shop after shop. This was the central district of Xinyu Town, lined with small, tightly packed stores bustling with business.
Due to the thick morning and evening mist, townspeople had to fit all their shopping and work into the daylight hours, making the flow of pedestrians brisk and purposeful.
"It should be fine. Although many people from other districts have come recently, they're all experts entering the Inner City. That has nothing to do with towns like ours on the Outer City fringe. If—"
Lin Hui was about to continue when suddenly, not far ahead, a muffled bang erupted from the second floor of a two-story gray-white restaurant. A person crashed through the window, falling heavily from the upper floor.
"Motherfucker! You dare deceive me!?" A rough male voice roared, followed by the violent clashing of weapons.
"Something's happened." Qiu Yiren instantly became excited. This job was too boring—finally, something fresh.
She gripped her sword and rushed toward the restaurant without a shred of hesitation.
Lin Hui glanced at the restaurant's name—Wanjia Restaurant.
Resigned, he followed quickly.
As patrol auxiliaries, they had to stabilize the situation before the real patrol officers arrived.
They had encountered petty thieves before, but those were weaklings—ordinary people dropped in two moves.
But listening to the commotion this time, it seemed different. Lin Hui secretly raised his guard.
The two quickly ascended the restaurant, identified themselves, and were immediately led to the second floor by a panicked waiter.
As soon as they went up, they saw two burly men wielding weapons, fighting viciously.
One was a bald man in cloth clothes, wielding a thick wooden staff wrapped in iron strips. He seemed to be using a staff technique with decent momentum.
The other wore a gray robe and a black belt, had a full beard, and gripped a white single-backed saber with both hands. He was fighting head-to-head without retreating an inch.
Qiu Yiren went upstairs, observed for two moves, and quickly made a judgment.
"Both are ordinary martial artists without Body Tempering. One for each."
"Alright." Lin Hui responded.
Before his voice fell, he saw Qiu Yiren flash forward, stabbing into the center of the two with a speed a cut above theirs.
Swish, swish.
Two sword shadows stabbed toward the vitals of both men, respectively.
Attacking both simultaneously forced them to withdraw and defend.
"Who goes there!?"
"Government Patrol! Both of you, stop!" Qiu Yiren shouted. Her longsword circled again, easily pinning the bearded man in place, forcing him to parry hastily.
The difference in movement techniques was immense. Speed and execution were in completely different leagues. The bearded man swung powerfully but hit nothing but air. In the blink of an eye, several sword cuts appeared on his body. Terrified and sweating cold sweat, he shouted that he wasn't fighting anymore.
On the other side, Lin Hui intercepted the baldy who wanted to flee.
"Friend, don't be in a hurry to leave. Best if we don't have to fight."
"I ain't a monk! I..." The baldy didn't finish speaking before suddenly rushing toward the stairwell.
But how could his movement speed compare to the tempered Lin Hui?
In just a few steps, Lin Hui blocked his path again.
The baldy moved again but was blocked immediately.
After repeating this a few times, the baldy was helpless.
"I didn't want to fight either, but that guy was bullying people! He tried to forcefully buy the old mountain ginseng I had! I got so angry that I threw his servant out."
"Don't tell me this. Tell the officers when they get here later." Lin Hui remained unmoved.
While watching the baldy, he scanned the surroundings.
There were still some bold diners watching the fun in the restaurant, as well as waiters. Among them, several carried weapons and needed special attention to prevent trouble.
But having patrolled for so long, he generally understood the situation.
The proportion of tempered martial artists appearing on the street was very low. They had patrolled for so many days and only met two, both from nearby martial halls. After exchanging names and identities and offering a few words of persuasion, matters were resolved.
This was the so-called sophistication of this world—face was mutual. This area was the Clear Wind Temple's patrol zone, so the other party gave Clear Wind Temple face. And when the Clear Wind Temple people had trouble in their zones, they would reciprocate by not causing difficulties or trouble.
Lin Hui originally thought that patrolling meant meeting experts and participating in more actual combat. But these days, it seemed it ultimately came down to human relations... which made him rather resigned.
Currently, he was proficient in the execution of the two killing moves of the Nine-Section Swift Sword. His Body Tempering was progressing rapidly—one day of training for him was equivalent to three days for an ordinary disciple, or a day and a half for a genius like Huang Shan.
And his efficiency was higher. Others needed two hours of tempering to reach their limit—he only needed ten repetitions, taking less than half an hour.
This gave him a massive amount of time to practice other things.
"I knew you lot were all in cahoots!" Opposite him, the baldy became anxious after being intercepted several times, his eyes turning faintly red.
He roared, sweeping his wooden staff toward Lin Hui. But before the move could be fully executed, he heard the strange sound of sword light. A pain shot through the hand holding the staff, and unable to grip the weapon, it fell to the ground.
"Well done!" On the other side, the bearded man shouted, his tone joyous.
"You guys, hold him down! That guy robbed my old mountain ginseng!" Beside him, three black-clothed servants holding short knives and small shields rushed upstairs at some point. They were fully armed.
"Bullshit!! That's mine!!" Hearing this, the baldy was furious. He immediately went to pick up his wooden staff.
"Everyone, stop!" Qiu Yiren shouted from the side.
But neither side listened. It looked like they were about to fight again.
She acted again immediately. Sword light flashed—using the Nine-Section Swift Sword against these ordinary servants was a complete crush.
These servants were just strong and physically fit, knowing a little simple saberplay. They were knocked to the ground in a few moves.
"We are Clear Wind Temple Patrol Auxiliaries! If you move again, you are disrespecting Clear Wind Temple!" Qiu Yiren shouted.
Lin Hui also struck the Baldy with his sword a few times, the tip hovering before his face.
"Clear Wind Temple's face naturally must be given. I am Duan Xinde of the Flying Cloud Martial Hall. Senior Sister, could you move your sword away from my brother?"
At this time, three more white-clad men and women came up into the restaurant.
One of them had sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, standing 1.8 meters tall. Wearing silver-black metal armguards on both arms, his aura was impressive. He locked eyes with Qiu Yiren, who was controlling the bearded man, at a glance.
"Flying Cloud Martial Hall?!" Qiu Yiren's eyes flashed. The Hallmaster of Flying Cloud Martial Hall was even stronger than her own Daoist Baohe, which made her lack confidence when facing them.
"Tempered disciple? Sword technique is barely passable. Hand that man to us, and you can scram." The man spoke again. "Also, I said—move your sword away from my brother!"
With a bang, the man attacked brazenly, punching straight at Qiu Yiren's chest.
Though the speed of his punch was inferior to Clear Wind Temple's movement techniques, it wasn't far off.
On the other side, the remaining two locked their eyes on Lin Hui, glaring like tigers stalking prey, ready to strike at any moment.