The Decaying World-Chapter 137 - 128: Evolution 2

"Alright, alright, enough of the flattery." Lin Hui awkwardly cut him off. Being praised so excessively to his face was still a bit uncomfortable.

"Fine... I was truly speaking from the heart, Master. It wasn’t flattery. Everything I said was sincere!" Tao Xuehai said earnestly.

"...Alright, I believe you. Just go on." Lin Hui was speechless.

"Yes." Tao Xuehai nodded. He didn’t question why his master, who clearly had Priests and High Priests in his own family, didn’t just ask them. Instead, he began his explanation readily.

"Within the Summoning System, becoming a Priest is a massive leap, a qualitative transformation. Compared to the preceding tiers, the difference is fundamental and immense."

"If an Upper-Tier Summoner has awakened Void Power and reached an unstoppable level, then a Priest has completely integrated Void Power into their very being, able to wield it at will. And unlike the immense drain it is for an Upper-Tier Summoner, a Priest consumes no Void Power when using it."

"No consumption!?" Lin Hui’s eyes narrowed.

"That’s right. At the Priest level, Void Power becomes instinctual, as natural as lifting a hand or taking a step. In fact, for them, Void Power is no longer the primary focus," Tao Xuehai continued. "At this level, what they truly cultivate is another power derived from Void Power—Divine Power."

"Divine Power?"

"Exactly. Divine Power is short for ’Spiritual Void Power,’ which is also where the title ’Priest’ comes from." Tao Xuehai’s expression turned grave. "Compared to the unstoppable force of Void Power, Divine Power doesn’t directly affect an opponent’s physical body. Instead, it’s used to construct the Priest’s own lethal techniques that target the Heart and Spirit. These techniques inflict no physical harm, but are attacks on one’s consciousness and spirit."

"These techniques can easily manipulate and influence ordinary people, forcing them to do whatever the Priest desires. They can even shatter a person’s consciousness, leaving them in a catatonic state from which they can never awaken."

He paused for a moment.

"Of course, a Priest’s Divine Power techniques are their ultimate killing moves, and using them is incredibly draining. They aren’t used casually, and certainly not on ordinary people. But make no mistake, the destructive potential of these techniques is terrifying. Some can even completely alter a person’s ideology, pushing them from one extreme to the other."

’Manipulating consciousness?’ A chill went down Lin Hui’s spine. He never imagined Priests had reached such a level.

No wonder that so-called sister of his, Liu Xiao, looked down on everyone as if they were trash. She was a Priest, after all.

In that light, the fact that Liu Wu Jun had been able to speak to him so gently before was a testament to his exceptional self-restraint.

"Yes, in theory, Priests can indeed manipulate consciousness. That’s why battles between Priests are primarily decided by a clash of their Heart and Spirit. And in a fight at this level, the loser’s injuries take an incredibly long time to heal. These aren’t physical wounds, but grievous trauma to the consciousness," Tao Xuehai confirmed with a nod.

"I see..." Lin Hui nodded, finally understanding the inner workings of it all.

"That’s why I dare say I could challenge someone at the Circulation realm, but never a Priest. For one, Circulation is a tier below Priest. For another, if a Priest gets carried away in a fight... well, you know the side effects of Extreme Martial Arts and the Summoning System. Their minds can easily become unstable. If I were turned into a drooling idiot, I’d be completely finished," Tao Xuehai said with a bitter smile.

"What about High Priests?" Lin Hui asked.

"High Priests cultivate Divine Decision. It’s said they can forcibly alter a target’s core instincts in a short amount of time. Divine Decision, Divine Skills... the Cultivation Techniques these Priests practice are all Secret Techniques that target the very foundation of one’s Heart and Spirit. I once saw my uncle, who is a High Priest, kill a fugitive Triple Harmony Grandmaster on the street," Tao Xuehai recalled.

"The fugitive had just rushed into a crowd and was about to unleash an attack that would have caused massive casualties. But my uncle acted instantly. With no obvious fluctuation of power, he somehow made the fugitive bizarrely redirect his attack toward the sky."

"I watched as the man unleashed over a hundred moves at the empty sky. His face was a mask of confusion and bewilderment, a desperate struggle to correct his aim, but no matter what he did, his attacks only flew into the air. The dense crowd was just ten-odd meters away, yet he couldn’t harm a single person."

"...Forcibly changing a person’s perception and instincts?" Lin Hui’s expression grew heavy. He tried to simulate how he would counter such an attack.

The answer was clear: if he couldn’t resist a technique that altered his instincts, then once it hit, his speed wouldn’t matter. Death would be inevitable.

"Yes. In the end, my uncle calmly walked over and shattered the man’s head with a single palm strike. A Little Sanhe Grandmaster with over a century of cultivation, gone just like that. I had only just started my Martial Arts training then, and the shock of it stayed with me for a long time." Tao Xuehai sighed. "But thankfully, you’ve already thought of a solution, Master!"

His eyes lit up again.

"?" Lin Hui looked completely baffled. ’What solution was he talking about? This was news to me.’

"You must have realized it too, Master! As long as I’m fast enough, even Divine Skills and Divine Decisions won’t be able to hit me. If they can’t hit me, their effects can’t trigger. In that way, I’ll be invincible!" Tao Xuehai declared solemnly.

"...Uh, I wasn’t actually thinking that..." Lin Hui admitted honestly.

"Your greatest fault, Master, is your modesty. The perfected Qingfeng Sword is already so formidable; I can’t even imagine how powerful the Gale Swordsmanship must be. I wonder... after I succeed in Body Tempering, would I be allowed to study the Gale Swordsmanship under you?" Tao Xuehai asked, pushing his luck.

"We’ll see when the time comes. The Gale Swordsmanship is dozens of times more difficult than the perfected Qingfeng Sword, maybe even more..." Lin Hui sighed.

"Understood." Tao Xuehai lowered his head and said no more.

"Oh, right, Master. When I went home, I told my family I had become your disciple. They were... somewhat opposed. They might send someone to the temple to check on things. If you happen to run into them, please let me know immediately. I’ll handle everything." He was clearly worried his family members would be disrespectful to his master.

"Don’t worry. I won’t be quick to start a fight with them," Lin Hui replied. The Tao Family might be even more of a headache than the Wang Family; he had no intention of stirring up trouble for no reason.

"That’s good. Then I can rest easy." Tao Xuehai sighed in relief and nodded.

The two chatted a bit more about life in the Inner City until late afternoon, when Lin Hui finally sent Tao Xuehai on his way.

Without pausing, he immediately headed home, intending to ask Liu Xiao about Priests. Ideally, he wanted to spar with her to get a direct feel for the effects and lethality of Divine Power.

Unfortunately, Liu Xiao had been dispatched long ago to preside over a distant area of the Inner City and hadn’t been home in a while. As for his brother, Liu Wu Jun, he spent most of his time cultivating in the Shayue Sect’s Rain Palace. He was a genius, one of the top ten prospects the Rain Palace was heavily invested in, and backed by more powerful benefactors than one could count. It was impossible for him to spend much time or energy at home.

According to his stepmother, his brother now spent his free time either cultivating or fighting the Wanhua Sect.

Left with no other choice, Lin Hui could only put the matter aside and wait for another opportunity.

From what Tao Xuehai had said, he sensed that Priests were truly dangerous. They directly attacked a person’s consciousness and Heart and Spirit. Without a comparable defense, he could easily fall victim to a surprise attack.

Just then, he received a response to the request he had put out for Sealed Insect Eggs.

「Several days later...」

Inside the pharmacy, Lin Hui stared at the white porcelain plate set before him.

Piled on the plate were exactly twenty pale green worms.

"Your eyes don’t deceive you. They might look like common cabbage worms, but they’re actually the rather famous Sealing Worms from the Fog Area. You wanted Sealed Insect Eggs, and you’ll have them once these mature and lay their eggs," Pharmacist Chen Meng explained from the side.

"These things... how do they seal anything?" Lin Hui asked, puzzled, as he watched the green worms squirming slowly on the plate.

"Don’t let their size fool you; this swarm is a powerhouse capable of sealing creatures from the Fog Area." Chen Meng smiled. "When faced with a hostile creature, they swarm together and rapidly spit silk. The silk is incredibly tough—it won’t burn and can’t be cut. Like countless ropes, it can bind other Fog Area insects in moments. After cocooning their target, they inject it with a toxin that softens and shrinks it. Finally, they lay their eggs inside the cocoon. The egg sacs envelop the creature, and that’s how you get a Sealed Insect Egg."

"Of course, this sealing method doesn’t work on creatures that are too much larger than they are. They generally only target other insect species." Chen Meng had clearly done her homework, as her answer was smooth and natural.

"I see..." Lin Hui nodded.

He gazed at the Sealing Worms, then gently picked one up with a pair of wooden chopsticks. He carefully examined the large green worm, which was about the length and thickness of a finger.

He tried to recall how he had learned the poison-sealing array formation in the first place...

’The patterns!’

’That’s right! Back then, I used the Blood Seal to master an evolved poison-sealing array from the patterns on a dead insect egg... If that’s the case, the sealing patterns on a living Sealing Worm should be even more complete and powerful!’

"Alright, I’ll take one to examine. Please look after the rest for me. I’ll deal with them later," he instructed, then turned and strode quickly out of the pharmacy.

Rushing back to his study, Lin Hui placed the Sealing Worm on his desk and watched it squirm and crawl about. It seemed no different from an ordinary green worm, nothing like the dangerous insects one would expect to find in the Fog Area.

He reached out and gently touched the Sealing Worm.

Instantly, a notification from the Blood Seal popped up in his vision.

Below an image of the Sealing Worm, a black dotted line extended toward several lines of text.

’Sealing Worm: A creature from the Fog Area. Danger level too low to be rated. By spitting silk and using a Sealed Poison, it can forcefully seal hostile creatures many times its own size for the purpose of predation and consumption.’

’Evolvable Branches: 4.’

Without hesitation, Lin Hui quickly opened the branches.

’1—Spirit-Sealing Array.’

’2—Evil-Sealing Array.’

’3—Fire-Sealing Array.’

’4—Life-Sealing Array.’

They were different from last time! 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Lin Hui’s eyes narrowed. He remembered last time the options were something like Demon-Sealing and Evil-Sealing. This time, only the Evil-Sealing Array remained; the others were all new.

’It seems my constitution has changed. The daily stamina I can provide now is far greater than before, so the available evolution branches are different as well.’

Lin Hui understood. He immediately began examining the branches one by one.

’1—Spirit-Sealing Array: Originating from a mysterious ruin, this array can seal a creature’s spiritual consciousness. A sealed creature will fall into a deep, sleep-like state, losing consciousness while its body remains alive.

Activation Condition: When your Heart and Spirit, Inner Strength, and spiritual essence have accumulated to fill the Nine Eyes, it can be activated once from a distance. (Nine Eyes: After mastering the Spirit-Sealing Array, nine turquoise, insect-eye-like crystals will grow on your shoulder. These serve as the array’s charge indicators.)

Sealing Duration: Nine hundred years.

Hint: This is a Secret Technique created by a certain Cultivation Grand Supreme. Due to his fiery temper, once the array is activated, it is irreversible. The seal will last for the full nine hundred years before it can be released. The user cannot deactivate it either. Please be absolutely certain of your target before use.’