Decaying World-Chapter 51

The former site of Clear Wind Temple.
In the area belonging to the Sword Sect, a group of elderly men and women moved slowly, wooden swords in hand. They followed Little Hu, who led them in practicing the slow-motion version of the Seven-Section Swift Sword to exercise their bodies.
This perfected version, refined by Lin Hui, possessed significant health benefits for the elderly, even without mastering the Force Nodes.
Although it was difficult to learn, they could take it one move at a time, learning steadily before moving to the next. These elderly folks had little else, but they had plenty of time.
In the afternoon, outside the Clear Wind Sword Sect grounds.
Lin Hui's father, Lin Shunhe, led two newly hired, burly guards toward the courtyard where Lin Hui lived within the Sword Sect.
The two guards each carried a large bundle of All-Essence Powder on their backs, all pre-packaged in yellow paper bags.
"It's just ahead. One more building to the left—yes, yes, look at the doorplate. The one with the character 'Hui' on it is the one..."
Lin Shunhe directed the two men to the courtyard gate and knocked.
No movement inside.
"Could Ah Hui have gone out?" He looked left and right, trying to find someone to ask. But on the nearby drill grounds, there was only a group of elderly people practicing swords and a teaching disciple busy with them. Aside from that, no one else was visible.
Just as Lin Shunhe planned to go to Mingde's residence to ask about the situation—
Suddenly, from the open main gate of the Sword Sect not far away, a group of tall figures dressed in plain, pure white robes strode in.
The white robes fit their bodies snugly, clearly highlighting the contours of the powerful physiques beneath.
Most eye-catching were their heights. The normal elderly people here, and even Little Hu and Little Fatty of the Clear Wind Sword Sect, were at most around 1.8 meters tall. But in this group, the shortest was over two meters, and the tallest among them approached three meters.
That was a strong woman with snow-white skin. Her head was adorned with three thick braids standing up like three black horns.
She rolled her shoulders, moving her arms—a single arm was as thick as an adult's waist. Her pair of green eyes scanned the grounds continuously.
"Is this the Clear Wind Temple? The martial hall closest to the North Wind Forest Road?" the woman asked coldly.
A burly man behind her bowed and stepped forward.
"Answering the Lady: it is. If you wish to inquire about the specific conditions of the Forest Road in recent years, the people here should know best."
"Call someone out," the three-meter-tall woman said impatiently. "Within thirty breaths, if you can't produce someone, I'll hold you accountable."
"Yes!" The burly man shuddered all over. He hurriedly retreated, scanned the surroundings rapidly, and then charged straight toward the bewildered Little Hu.
Pu!
Running up to Little Hu, he grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground.
"Kid, where is the person in charge here?! Call your master out immediately! Lord You Ying of the Rain Palace has arrived personally; come out and pay respects at once!"
"My... my master... went out, I don't know..."
At this moment, the only people in the entire Sword Sect were Little Hu and Little Fatty, along with a few temporarily recruited ordinary laborers. Mingde had gone drinking, Weiwei was at the fair, Wang Yun rarely came, and Lin Hui had gone to another town to hunt for materials. For a moment, Little Hu and Little Fatty had essentially become the people in charge.
Being grabbed by the collar, Little Hu felt the oppressive weight of the man's immense blood and Qi pressing down on him. He instantly lost his nerve. He tried to struggle tentatively, but finding the opponent's strength far exceeded his own, he dared not move again.
"No one? Impossible! You can't be the only one in charge of this place, right? Where are the others? Where are the adults!? Call them out!" The burly man was getting anxious.
"I... I..." Little Hu's brain couldn't react in time; he was somewhat stupefied.
Seeing his befuddled expression, the burly man's gaze swept over the group of cowering old men and women. These people were not fools; hearing the name of the Rain Palace, even the most disgruntled instantly fell silent.
"Damn it! Useless trash!" the burly man snarled, hoisting Little Hu high into the air, his face twisting with anger. If he failed to complete his task, he would be disposed of when his time was up. He was already the seventh temporary guard to serve at You Ying's side this month.
The previous six had either died or lost their minds.
With this thought, his anxiety mounted, and his grip tightened on Little Hu's neck until the boy could barely breathe. All the while, the man’s eyes darted urgently, scanning for anyone who might actually be in charge.
….
Shiqiao Town Mist Zone.
Lin Hui stared at the gigantic Tree Scorpion before him, activating the Featherweight Ascension special effect without a sound.
His body, at the limit of Body Tempering, bowed slightly as he gripped his sword.
Chi!
In an instant, he vanished from his spot, transforming into a breeze. Unleashing the Clear Wind Sword Technique, he circled the Tree Scorpion, stabbing wildly.
Sparks flew constantly as the Clear River Sword collided with the Tree Scorpion's shell.
Ding ding ding ding.
Amidst the scattering sparks, Lin Hui searched for the Tree Scorpion's potential weaknesses.
Joint gaps, abdomen, eyes, mouthparts—he tried every possible spot, but it seemed useless. Everything was blocked by a hard, impenetrable membrane.
The Clear River Sword felt as if it were constantly stabbing a metal model. His hand was numb from the recoil, yet he still couldn't find the Tree Scorpion's weakness.
Amidst the clangor, Lin Hui finally understood how Daoist Baohe felt when he faced Song Zhanlong, the Sect Master of the Black Dragon Gate.
Flawless, impregnable, defense completely unbreakable.
'No wonder Tree Scorpion Tail is so scarce. One tail provides the quantity for ten doses, yet there's still barely any stock on the market. Turns out this thing is this hard to kill.'
Thinking of this, Lin Hui hesitated no longer. The Sealing Array Toxin, which he had never used before, quietly coiled around the tip of the Clear River Sword.
With the next sword, he abruptly circled to the rear of the Tree Scorpion, stabbing directly at its posterior excretory vent.
It just so happened that the Tree Scorpion held its tail high, preparing to fire another poison needle, exposing the excretory vent beneath.
Pu!
This sword strike also failed to penetrate. The hard shell bordering the excretory vent was surprisingly tough; he couldn't break the defense at all.
This made Lin Hui realize that, without the enhancement of Internal Force, relying solely on speed and the sharpness of the sword, it was unlikely he could kill a mist zone monster of the Tree Scorpion's level.
But the purpose of this strike wasn't to kill the opponent, but to test the Sealing Array Toxin.
Ka.
The sword tip slammed ruthlessly against the excretory vent. Invisible sealing toxin was instantly injected into the scorpion's body.
A formless force caused the Tree Scorpion's massive body to freeze violently, remaining motionless.
It lasted for a full second.
Only then did the Tree Scorpion begin to move again. However, after being startled by the sealing toxin, its attitude had changed—gone was its former fearlessness. Panic overtook the creature as it realized it couldn't land a single blow on Lin Hui. In a flustered attempt to escape, the Tree Scorpion turned and fled deeper into the mist.
Two seconds later, its flight was intercepted by Lin Hui again.
Clang!
With a crisp sound, the Tree Scorpion's massive body, over four meters tall, froze in place once more, unable to move.
Seizing this time, Lin Hui accelerated madly, searching everywhere on its body for the weakest point.
Finally, after consecutively freezing the creature four times, he found a weakness that wasn't quite a weakness.
—A curved brown pattern at the connection between the Tree Scorpion's tail and body.
That pattern was protected by a hard shell like the rest, but when immobile, the shell here was much thinner than elsewhere.
Lin Hui dodged constantly to find openings. After stabbing this spot over thirty times in succession.
Crack.
With a crisp sound, the entire tail of the Tree Scorpion was severed, cut in two.
The intense pain made the tailless Tree Scorpion even more terrified. It fled frantically toward the deep mist, vanishing quickly into the haze, never to be seen again.
Left behind on the ground was the material Lin Hui wanted for the All-Essence Powder—the Tree Scorpion Tail.
'Consumed a full half-hour... too hard to kill...'
He stepped forward and picked up the hefty, massive scorpion tail. The tail was over five meters long, covered in a black shiny hard shell, with a black-red poison needle at the tip. It was exaggeratedly large.
'But fortunately, I succeeded.' The difficult process of breaking its defense made Lin Hui crave the second Body Tempering of the Clear Wind Sword Technique even more. If he could generate Internal Force, killing the Tree Scorpion wouldn't be this difficult...
This arduous material gathering quickly beat down the slight arrogance he had felt after killing the two people from the Hundred Flowers Sect.
He couldn't even kill a single Tree Scorpion—severing its tail took his full effort. Let alone dealing with a high-defense martial artist of the Internal Force Realm like Song Zhanlong of the Black Dragon Gate.
Looking at it now, Song Zhanlong's defense was definitely far superior to the Tree Scorpion's. Temple Master Baohe couldn't even pierce him with a precious sword infused with Internal Force; the intensity was evident.
"Internal Force, Internal Force. It still comes down to Internal Force..." Lin Hui sighed, dragging the scorpion tail, which weighed at least several dozen
jin (1 jin ~ 0.5 kg)
, and turned back the way he came.
This single tail was enough for at least ten portions of All-Essence Powder.
….
Clear Wind Sword Sect Drill Grounds.
Creak...
Amidst the subtle sound of fabric straining, Little Hu was held high by the burly man. He struggled, slapping and grabbing at the man's arm, but the disparity in strength was too great; it was futile.
As his face turned redder, Little Hu's struggles became more violent. As time passed, his breathing was clearly severely obstructed.
It looked like he wasn't going to make it.
"Brother, your grip is much too tight. If you choke the child like that, even if he knows the answer, he won't be able to speak, will he?"
At this moment, Lin Shunhe, accompanied by his two guards, called out loudly with a smile from not far away.
"What? You want to stick your neck out!? Do you know where the adult here is? Or are you the adult in charge here!?" The burly man counted the time, getting increasingly anxious.
"Naturally, I am not, but if you wish to inquire about the recent conditions of the nearby North Wind Forest Road, this humble one knows a thing or two. Please put this little brother down first," Lin Shunhe said quickly.
Hearing this, the burly man's expression relaxed. He threw Little Hu aside, his figure flashing. He actually brought out a string of afterimages, abruptly crossing a distance of over ten meters to appear instantly in front of Lin Shunhe.
Had Mingde seen this movement speed, he would have been greatly shocked.
Because this movement speed was already comparable to a practitioner of the Clear Wind Sword Technique in the Internal Force Realm.
And this man was merely a temporary guard beside You Ying, who could be discarded at any time.
Pu.
The burly man grabbed Lin Shunhe, lifting him up, then turned and rushed back toward You Ying at extreme speed.
The two returned to the original spot, stopping in front of You Ying.
Their heights—one at two meters, the other at one meter seven—compared to the nearly three-meter You Ying, were simply like children to an adult; laughably miniature.
But after being put down, Lin Shunhe showed no sign of cowering. Instead, he looked up calmly at You Ying.
"Lord, regarding the North Wind Forest Road, I know the situation within the mist-free zone. But for outside the mist zone, you must find the merchant caravans that frequently pass through. As far as I know, the caravans of Zhao's Dry Goods travel this road most frequently. You can seek them out to inquire about the details."
"You go find the person." You Ying looked at him calmly. "From here to the town, I give you one
shichen
."
"...One
shichen
... is a bit tight..."
"If you can't do it, you die. My patience lasts only one
shichen
," You Ying interrupted.
Lin Shunhe's heart went cold. He had only stepped forward to save Little Hu because he couldn't watch him be killed, but he hadn't expected this 'Lord' to be even more brutal.
"This... this humble one will try his best!"
Seeing the icy look in her eyes, having read countless people, he instantly saw that she was truly a high-ranking figure from the Inner City who meant what she said.
If he failed, his life and death truly hung on her whim.
He had contacted such people before, just none as direct as the one before him.
But the key to this matter lay not only in his travel time to town, but also in the chance that the person in charge at Zhao's Dry Goods might not be there... that would be huge trouble.
He had to gamble on luck.
A trace of cold sweat seeped from his back, but Lin Shunhe's expression remained calm and unmoved. He quickly waved to his two guards, signaling them to come over.
Giving clear instructions on whom to find and which locations to check, he promised heavy rewards. The guards' eyes lit up instantly; after memorizing the instructions, they took off running, sprinting wildly toward the town.