The Decaying World-Chapter 98 - 93: Response, Part 1

"Isn’t killing people why I came?" Lin Hui gave him a quizzical look. "Whether I like it or not, whether I hate it or not, none of this is by my choice."

"In that case... Observatory Master Lin, I was wondering, could this man be handed over to my Golden Crow Sect for... handling?" Wu Shihan of the New Martial Alliance, who had been watching for a long time, forced himself to step forward.

He could see that Bai Feihan’s heart and spirit were broken. If the fight continued, he would certainly die. It was a rare opportunity.

’If I could recruit an expert from Xingdiao as an inside man, it would definitely...’

Wu Shihan’s voice trailed off. Under Lin Hui’s gaze, he finally felt the same pressure the other four had experienced.

It was the kind of bone-chilling terror that made your hair stand on end just from being watched, the constant fear that your opponent could strike from any angle at any moment.

From his initial intention to help, to being left dumbfounded, and finally to being utterly terrified—the entire process for Wu Shihan took less than two minutes.

In other words, within two minutes, three of the four Inner Strength masters were dead, leaving only Bai Feihan.

This unbelievable combat record didn’t just stun Wang Hongshi, Chen Sui, and the others on the sidelines; even he, a man of vast experience, felt his mouth go dry, not daring to breathe too loudly by the end.

’Four Inner Strength masters, and two of them were at the Perfection stage! They were all top-tier Martial Artists of the Outer City, on the same level as him!’

’Is this the terror of a top-tier speed-type expert?’

"My apologies," Lin Hui finally replied.

"When I left the temple, I said I would kill enough people to ensure no one would ever dare to provoke Qingfeng Temple again. So, I’m afraid I can’t oblige."

"Of... of course... Please, be my guest..." Wu Shihan’s scalp tingled with fear. Not daring to say more, he quickly retreated.

At this moment, Bai Feihan seemed to understand his future, his fate.

He gave a bitter smile.

"I chose the wrong person, the wrong place... But if you want to kill me... be prepared to trade your life for..."

PSHFFT!

In the next instant, the Inner Strength protecting his throat was pierced.

Immediately after, his Inner Strength dissipated. A bloody line appeared on his throat, and he never had the chance to speak the rest of his words.

"I don’t enjoy killing. Every strike of my sword is a negation of a person’s decades of hard cultivation."

Lin Hui retracted his sword and wiped the blood on the man’s clothes.

"Therefore, all of this is your fault."

Walking past the corpse, his white robes seemed to merge with the snowy ground, still unstained by a single speck of dust. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Only after he had left did Wang Hongshi and the others snap out of their daze, as if waking from a dream.

Chen Sui slapped Wang Hongshi on the back, signaling for him to follow.

Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren reacted quickly and began to take the bodies, just as Lin Hui had instructed them on the way here.

Looting them was one thing, but the key was to use the corpses to deter their enemies. This time, Qingfeng Temple had to carve out a bloody peace.

They had to kill until anyone who thought of moving against Qingfeng Temple would immediately recall this day’s battle.

"Holy hell...!" Huang Shan whispered, his face a mask of uncontrollable shock. He grabbed the corpse’s head while looking at Qiu Yiren, who was dragging it by the legs.

"Four Inner Power Realm masters... The entire old Qingfeng Temple put together was only about that strong... and he wiped them out in minutes!?"

"It means that in a matter of minutes, the Observatory Master annihilated the equivalent of the old Qingfeng Temple," Qiu Yiren said in a low voice. Her eyes, filled with admiration, followed Lin Hui as he began to inspect fresh tracks in the wind and snow ahead.

At this very moment, she couldn’t help but recall the images of Lin Hui training crazily, day and night.

No matter the time of day, the Observatory Master always seemed to be immersed in his cultivation, without a single moment of entertainment or waste.

Even geniuses like them, who enjoyed cultivating, would eventually feel bored, listless, and restless after training for too long.

But the Observatory Master seemed to have endured it all.

"Let’s go," Huang Shan urged.

"Right." Qiu Yiren came back to her senses and helped carry the body forward.

Chen Sui and Wang Hongshi had already moved the other bodies, piling them up in front of the Black Dragon Pharmacy.

Only then did men from the Government Office arrive, fashionably late, and begin questioning Wang Hongshi about the situation.

It was obvious they didn’t want to deal with this mess. Not only was Fu’an Town a remote and unimportant place, but the incredible power displayed by top Outer City factions like the Flying Stone Sect and Qingfeng Temple was far beyond their ability to handle.

When encountering cases like this, they mostly just turned a blind eye.

"I see... So you just happened to find these bodies in a corner? And you don’t know their identities? I understand. Alright, the report is written. Sorry to have taken up your time."

"Not at all. It’s our honor to cooperate with the Government Office’s investigation," Wang Hongshi replied with a smile.

Meanwhile, Lin Hui had followed the traces of Xue Meng’s earlier fight all the way to the edge of Fu’an Town, outside the fence of a pig farm.

The pig farm was also covered by a large canopy, with transparent curtains hanging around it, made of some unknown plastic-like material.

There was a large hole in one of the curtains. Not a single pig was left inside, only a mess of frozen, muddy hoofprints.

Lin Hui, sword in hand, flashed through the hole, passed through the pig farm, and emerged out the back.

The first thing that met his eyes behind the farm was a colossal Fog Wall, soaring into the clouds.

’So he likely entered the Fog Area? That makes sense. Besides the Fog Area, there’s nowhere else he could have escaped the Flying Stone Sect’s pursuit.’

’Even on the brink of death, Bai Feihan never thought to threaten me with Xue Meng. Clearly, they hadn’t captured him, so the idea never even crossed their minds.’

Thus, Lin Hui deduced that the Flying Stone Sect had likely lost Xue Meng’s trail. Following the tracks here had indeed revealed the truth.

Gazing at the deep, gray-white Fog Wall, Lin Hui fell silent for a moment before turning to leave.

He knew it would be impossible to find Xue Meng by rushing in recklessly. The Fog Area was too vast, with too many variables, far beyond what the No-Fog Zone could compare to.

Although people had categorized the monsters of the Fog Area into several tiers, in reality, there were many more creatures that people had likely never encountered, which appeared from time to time.

It was precisely because new types of monsters were constantly emerging that it was impossible to catalog them by type or species; instead, they were classified only by danger level.

「Back at the Black Dragon Pharmacy.」

Wang Hongshi and the others had already completed their preparations.

"Observatory Master, we’ve found out the Flying Stone Sect’s exact location, and we’ve hired a daring guide. Also, Senior Wu Shihan left a while ago. He said he would visit you at Qingfeng Temple when he has time, but I suspect he might still be watching from the shadows," Wang Hongshi reported.

"Well done," Lin Hui nodded. Just as he was about to have someone lead the way, he suddenly noticed a sturdy young boy following behind Wang Hongshi.

The boy was a little over ten years old, with bright, intelligent eyes. He wore brown cotton clothes and trousers, with a black wind-proof robe lined with a rat-fur collar. He looked at Lin Hui with eyes full of adoration.

"Who is he?"

"To answer the Observatory Master, I was just about to tell you," Chen Sui said with a fist and palm salute. After personally witnessing Lin Hui slaughter the four Inner Power Realm masters, he no longer dared to be as familiar with him as before; his feelings were now more fear than respect.

"This child’s name is Zhao Zunli. He said that after watching the Observatory Master fight, he was inspired and hopes to be accepted as your disciple to learn Swordsmanship."

"I am not taking disciples. If he wants to learn the sword, he should first join Qingfeng Temple and start with the basics," Lin Hui said coldly.

’I barely have enough time for my own Body Tempering and Inner Strength cultivation. Where would I find the energy to teach others?’

’Occasionally sparing some energy to guide the Inner Sect Disciples already takes all my effort.’

"But I’m a genius!" the boy blurted out anxiously.

But just as he finished speaking, he saw that Wang Hongshi and Lin Hui were gone. Perhaps they had already left the moment the first word escaped his lips.

"Geniuses don’t get left behind in the Outer City instead of going to the Inner City," Chen Sui said, patting the boy’s shoulder.

"You’ve got admirable courage, but you still have to start from the basics. Zhao Zunli, I know you. You’re the famous martial arts fanatic of this town."

"Sigh... but I really am a genius," Zhao Zunli said, looking at Chen Sui. Seeing that Chen Sui didn’t take him seriously either, he felt a bit discouraged.

"Don’t worry, if you’re truly a genius, it will show soon after you join Qingfeng Temple. By the way, if you’re such a genius, why didn’t you join one of the Three Sects and Six Gangs before?" Chen Sui asked, puzzled.

"I... I have no talent for Inner Strength... All my talent is in comprehending techniques..." Zhao Zunli said helplessly.

"How does that count as a genius?" Chen Sui chuckled. "A real genius is someone like our Observatory Master. In just a few years since joining, before the age of twenty, he broke through the limits of Outer Strength to step into the realm of Inner Strength. He even comprehended a Secret Technique on his own and perfected our sect’s Swordsmanship, raising it to an unprecedented level. Now that he is the Observatory Master, we all firmly believe he will lead Qingfeng Temple to heights it has never reached before!"

As he spoke, a look of yearning appeared on his own face.

Listening beside him, Zhao Zunli’s face showed the exact same expression.

At the same time, across the street, the chubby proprietor of the dry goods shop watched this scene, his fists clenched tightly.

’Did you see that!? The Invisible Sword! Truly worthy of being called the Invisible Sword! My gods. It only took a few minutes, and all four of them are gone, not a single one left!?’

After the great battle, the people from Qingfeng Temple took the lead in hunting down the remaining lackeys of the Flying Stone Sect to interrogate them for information.

They killed them right after the questioning, an act of sheer ruthlessness.

If other bystanders had seen this, they might have been terrified. But the chubby man knew the whole story from beginning to end. He knew Qingfeng Temple was just delivering an eye for an eye, and far from being afraid, he felt an exhilarating sense of satisfaction!

"The Flying Stone Sect took a huge loss this time!" The Martial Artist with the strange weapon on his back had run back to the shop’s entrance to watch the spectacle.

"Losing four Inner Power Realm masters in a row, it’d be strange if it wasn’t a huge loss. That old dog Li Chi is probably hopping mad," replied a woman on the other side. She wore a bamboo hat with a white veil, carried twin sabers on her back, and had a graceful figure.

The two of them were clearly acquainted.

"Everyone was drawn over to watch the show this time. We all thought Qingfeng Temple was going to get the short end of the stick, but who knew it’d be a complete reversal. Now I wonder what this Observatory Master Lin plans to do next," the Martial Artist with the strange weapon mused.

"Does that even need to be said? He’s definitely going to take the fight to the Flying Stone Sect!" a passerby couldn’t help but exclaim.

"Li Chi of the Flying Stone Sect is a Circulation expert from Xingdiao. It’ll be difficult for someone in the Inner Power Realm to make a move against him... The gap is too wide, like a normal person trying to fight a Summoning," the Martial Artist with the strange weapon said, shaking his head.

"Circulation? What kind of realm is that?" the chubby man asked curiously.

"Above Inner Strength is Circulation," the Martial Artist with the strange weapon answered. "In the Outer City, that’s the pinnacle of power. Even in the Inner City, they’re considered mid-tier, not weaklings."

"Does being at the Circulation Realm mean you’ll definitely beat someone with Inner Strength?" the chubby man asked again.

"Not necessarily. Circulation is just the next level above Inner Strength. In a real fight, victory isn’t decided just by who has the higher realm. You have to look at overall strength, things like experience, the characteristics of their Martial Arts, strategy, the environment, and so on. It’s just that Circulation is naturally a big step up from Inner Strength," the woman in the veiled bamboo hat interjected.

"So has anyone ever pulled off an upset like that before?" someone asked.

"Yes, but it’s very, very rare." The woman in the hat nodded. "I heard from my master that the most recent example was over forty years ago: Shangguan Chong of the Illusionary Blade. He was able to kill a Circulation expert while still in the Inner Power Realm. He was a saber user with terrifying explosive power. He later founded the Illusionary Sect, but it seems that because he pushed his explosive power too far, he accumulated too many hidden injuries and passed away before he was fifty. After he died, the Illusionary Sect was wiped out overnight, presumably by old enemies."

"We’ll just have to see if Qingfeng Temple becomes the next Illusionary Sect..." the Martial Artist with the strange weapon said softly.