Black Cloud, New Magpie Town.

In the afternoon, on Redstone Beach outside of town.

Lin Hui strolled leisurely onto the pale red, rocky shore.

From a distance, he could see that the girl, Fan Lingxi, was already crouching on the beach, waiting for him. He had no idea how long she’d been there.

As soon as she saw Lin Hui appear, Fan Lingxi quickly stood up, tossed aside the stone in her hand, and hurried over to greet him.

"Teacher Lin!" Her pale blue eyes were filled with intense anticipation. "You said..."

"I always keep my word," Lin Hui said with a nod.

"But before that, I want you to demonstrate the physical assessment Dharma Gate I taught you all one more time," Lin Hui said solemnly.

"Yes."

Fan Lingxi meticulously performed the sword dance again. This time, she was even more focused, and her movements were flawless.

She believed she had done her absolute best.

But in Lin Hui’s eyes, the girl truly had no talent. Although all her movements were correct, they were extremely rigid and completely lacked any sense of fluidity.

This meant that when Fan Lingxi practiced these moves, she did so without any personal understanding.

One had to understand that even though these moves were just something Lin Hui had thrown together, they still possessed some characteristics of Perfect Swordsmanship.

The Perfect Clear Wind Sword, in particular, naturally had a certain ability to charm the Heart and Spirit.

But with Fan Lingxi...

Of course, talent or no talent, the formalities still had to be observed.

Lin Hui still planned to use this silly kid to quickly build up the complete network and background for the Qingfeng Path, thereby completing his grand cycle.

After watching Fan Lingxi finish her earnest practice, Lin Hui quickly put on a shocked expression and applauded lightly.

"Good... I never thought... I never thought you could actually reach this level so quickly..." Lin Hui took a deep breath, his face showing sincere admiration.

"Excellent! In that case, I can now truly pass on to you a complete new Martial Arts discipline for testing. Let me be clear up front: I don’t know what effects this new Martial Arts will have on you once you cultivate it. The only thing I can guarantee is that it is not affected by your current aptitude for Summoning or traditional Martial Arts. Instead, it has its own separate evaluation criteria. And by those separate criteria, you... are without a doubt, of the highest aptitude!"

Lin Hui’s words made Fan Lingxi’s eyes gradually light up, and her face filled with anticipation.

As soon as Lin Hui finished speaking, she bowed deeply.

"Please, Teacher, teach me!"

"One does not teach such techniques lightly... But you... sigh." Lin Hui feigned a conflicted expression.

Just as Fan Lingxi was about to offer more money or some other form of payment, she saw Lin Hui pause for a moment before speaking again.

"Well, your aptitude is simply too perfect for the new Martial Arts standards, so..."

"I am willing to pay! Is one hundred thousand a month enough!?" Fan Lingxi asked quickly.

"I don’t need your money. The new Martial Arts has very few initial costs. This isn’t a matter of money," Lin Hui said, waving his hand dismissively.

"Teacher..." Hearing this, most of the anxiety in Fan Lingxi’s heart dissipated.

She had been scammed before, and most of the time, it was about money.

But the Teacher Lin before her was not only an official instructor at the martial academy, he also wasn’t planning to charge her tuition...

After all, other teachers would charge substantial tutoring fees for private lessons.

But Teacher Lin actually...

"Teacher Lin, you are sacrificing your personal time to teach me exclusively. If I don’t offer some form of compensation, I would feel too embarrassed to accept your guidance!" Fan Lingxi pleaded earnestly. "How about this: I am willing to pay a fee of two hundred thousand a month for your lessons. Please don’t refuse!"

She bowed deeply and formally to Lin Hui.

’This kid is rather interesting.’

Lin Hui’s interest was piqued. On the surface, two hundred thousand a month seemed like a lot. In reality, it was calculated month by month, and tutoring fees were typically paid at the end of the month.

This meant that if the new Martial Arts didn’t show any results within the first month, the moment Fan Lingxi was certain she’d been scammed, she could cut her losses without paying a single cent.

But if the new Martial Arts was effective, her gesture would be seen as a sign of deep respect for her teacher—the teacher refusing payment, but the student insisting on showing her gratitude. It would even earn her a fine reputation if word got out.

If it were a teacher who truly cared about money, they probably would have already accepted.

But Lin Hui’s goal had nothing to do with money. He waved his hand.

"We can talk about money later. Let’s first see if you can even succeed in cultivating the new Martial Arts. The assessment is just an assessment. Since many aspects of this new Martial Arts have never been tested, we’ll have to see the actual effects step by step as you practice."

His nonchalant attitude made Fan Lingxi respect him even more.

Soon, Lin Hui began to meticulously teach Fan Lingxi the modified version of the Qingfeng Swordsmanship on Redstone Beach.

This Swordsmanship looked far from perfect, only slightly stronger than the original Qingfeng Swordsmanship. All things considered, it was just an ordinary, slightly more powerful Martial Arts Swordsmanship. At its peak, one would only reach the level of an Inner Strength Martial Artist.

"This Martial Arts may seem unremarkable on the surface, but if you practice it diligently every day, once you reach the threshold and undergo a qualitative change, you will experience a tremendous, earth-shattering improvement," Lin Hui instructed after teaching her, adding a serious warning. "So, remember to practice diligently every day when you go back, until the Swordsmanship becomes second nature. Only then should you come find me again."

"Yes!" Fan Lingxi replied with solemnity.

Soon, after learning the Swordsmanship, she left, running off in high spirits.

At the same time, Lin Hui sensed a certain guardian who had been monitoring them from a distance also depart.

A child of a powerful family like Fan Lingxi, even if her family was currently out of favor, would surely have protectors following her in secret at all times.

He had naturally anticipated this; it was all part of his calculations.

Once Fan Lingxi had mastered the Swordsmanship and came to find him again, he could justifiably guide her to join the Qingfeng Path and then bestow upon her a new Dharma Seal.

The Righteous Body was too obvious, its changes impossible to conceal. But the Righteous Heart and Zhengde were completely different, extremely discreet, and had never been bestowed on anyone before.

Especially Zhengde...

It was a Special Effect that enhanced cultivation comprehension in every aspect. If he placed it on Fan Lingxi, even a mediocre person could be forcibly enhanced into a genius!

When the effects manifested later, the girl Fan Lingxi would become completely loyal to the Qingfeng Path.

Lin Hui had also secretly applied the Zhengde Dharma Seal to his Core Disciples, like Wang Hongshi, Li Yuanyuan, and Xia Si. Before leaving, he had even applied it to Tao Xuehai and the others.

This Dharma Seal was extremely subtle. Whether it was applied or not was entirely up to Lin Hui; his disciples couldn’t detect it at all. They would only feel that they were suddenly in excellent condition, their various cultivation practices accelerating significantly.

’Fan Lingxi’s situation needs some time to develop. Now, it’s time to work on the evolution of the Star Breath Sword Manual. The previous choices... which one should I pick...’

Lin Hui summoned the Blood Seal again, examining the new evolution branches he had looked at before.

He had checked the subsequent paths before and had been hesitating ever since.

Now, after teaching Fan Lingxi, he slowly made up his mind. He opened the evolvable branches at the bottom of the Star Breath Sword Manual interface: 3.

This meant that the Star Breath Sword Manual could evolve in three different directions.

’1—Great Yin Yang Time Reversal Sword Technique.’

’2—Circulation Spirit Fighting Sword Manual.’

’3—Star Grave Sword Manual.’

Lin Hui had carefully examined these three paths.

The Great Yin Yang Time Reversal Sword Technique followed the path of self-enhancement from the Star Breath Sword Manual. It infinitely strengthened the user, borrowing all external power to elevate one’s neural reaction speed to an unimaginably terrifying state. This path was derived from the Star Breath Sword Manual’s ability to absorb external forces to enhance one’s own speed.

This Sword technique was said to be so fast that it could even produce the terrifying effect of reversing time.

Lin Hui had no comment on this for the time being. It wasn’t that he disbelieved the Blood Seal’s description, but that the other two paths were equally tempting.

The second one.

’Circulation Spirit Fighting Sword Manual: Based on the Star Breath Sword Manual and combined with the legendary Circulation Star Fighting Formation, this is a special Martial Arts that uses star spirits as swords, summoning them to attack. The stars in the heavens are numerous, and different star spirits have different effects, making this Swordsmanship suitable for the vast majority of hostile environments.’

The Circulation Star Fighting Formation.

Lin Hui was very familiar with this, and it was the key reason for his hesitation. In terms of sheer versatility, this second option was maxed out. If he mastered it, he could summon star spirits anywhere he went. Lin Hui didn’t doubt the value of the Blood Seal’s description.

This world was filled with decaying fog and all sorts of dangerous monsters. Without the No-Fog Zones, it was nearly impossible to sustain oneself with survival resources.

A versatile Martial Arts would definitely make exploring the outside world much, much easier.

The third one.

’3—Star Grave Sword Manual.’

The description for this Martial Arts path was simple and brutal.

’This technique aims to destroy stars. It draws upon the Breath of the Stars to counter stellar pulsations, making it a powerful Swordsmanship that greatly enhances destructive range.’

This was purely a star-destroying Martial Arts.

Coincidentally, Lin Hui sometimes had the idea of destroying all the monsters in the Fog Areas and rebuilding the ecosystem.

If he could just gather the entire Human Race in one place, destroy everything else with a single sword strike, and rebuild civilization, things would probably be much more stable than they were now.

This pure, large-scale destructive power was what made it so hard for Lin Hui to decide.

’Forget it. I haven’t even mastered the Star Breath Sword Manual yet. I must be crazy to be thinking so far ahead.’ Shaking his head inwardly, Lin Hui hesitated no longer and chose the first option: the Great Yin Yang Time Reversal Sword Technique.

He could compensate for the lack of the second option’s versatile abilities by using the Blood Seal to evolve some minor Secret Techniques or small relics.

But the terrifying speed of the first option, so fast it could even reverse time, was something no Outer Martial technique could replace.

As for the third option, the displays of power from the Fog People in this world suggested there was no shortage of such large-scale attack methods.

But in terms of super speed, Lin Hui had yet to meet anyone faster than himself.

Continuing to enhance his own advantage was the core competitive edge that would guarantee victory.

After confirming the first option,

The Blood Seal soon provided the information on evolution requirements.

’Great Yin Yang Time Reversal Sword Technique—Resources required for evolution: 150 years of stored energy, 150 years of stored Heart and Spirit. Time required: 200 years.’

There were no special conditions, just time—an incredibly long evolution time...

Lin Hui sighed but said nothing. The time required for the other two options was even longer, both over 300 years.

This was also part of the reason he chose the first one.

’Blood Seal, you’ll be out of commission for a long time again...’ With a sigh, Lin Hui confirmed the Blood Seal’s prompt to begin the evolution.

Soon, the blood-colored patterns on the back of his hand quickly contracted and converged.

The new evolution had officially begun.

After making this difficult choice, Lin Hui didn’t leave right away. Instead, he started to wander around Redstone Beach.

The reason Redstone Beach had "Red" in its name was mainly due to a type of small crab found there called the Red Date Crab.

Every year during the breeding season, vast numbers of Red Date Crabs would crawl onto the beach to lay their eggs. The juvenile crabs were only the size of a fingernail, or even smaller. They would cover the entire beach in a dense swarm, dyeing it red and giving the place its name.

With his hands behind his back, Lin Hui walked toward the pale green sea. It was somewhat similar to the Jade Sea—the water was also green, but it wasn’t the same emerald green, just a faint, pale shade.

And because there was also a Fog Wall over the sea’s surface, there was no endless ocean vista. It didn’t look expansive at all.

Lin Hui wandered for a while on the rugged, red beach.

Soon, under a fist-sized black rock, he found some Red Date Crabs laying eggs.

He crouched down and reached out to move the black rock that was covering the Red Date Crabs.

This type of miniature sea crab was similar to an ordinary crab, except its color was pale red, and its two eyes glowed with a faint green light.

Lin Hui casually picked one up to examine it.