The Decaying World

The sea east of Black Cloud.

A shuttle-shaped sea vessel, crafted from pure white bone, cut silently and swiftly across the sea’s surface, approaching a giant island in the distance.

Only one person stood aboard the vessel. Dressed in white with a sword at his side, his waist-length hair flowed behind him as he stood at the bow, gazing into the wind at the scenery ahead.

MOOOO....!!

Suddenly, to the right of the ship, a pitch-black behemoth several dozen meters long emerged from the water.

The behemoth had the upper body of a shark and the lower body of a giant python. Its back was covered in a dense patch of festering pustules. As it drew near, it emanated a faint blue halo that enveloped its entire body.

That halo emanated the aura of Void Power.

This was a wild Sea Beast of at least the Priest Level.

Among Sea Beasts, the use of Void Power was similar to its use by the Human Race. Those capable of wielding a small amount of it were at the Upper-Rank Summoning level. However, one that could envelop its entire body in Void Power, consuming it at will, was undoubtedly at the Priest Realm.

No, monsters do not have Cultivation Realms; instead, they are classified by high-risk levels.

The Sea Beast’s commotion pulled Lin Hui’s Heart and Spirit back from his Cultivation.

’Six hours already. Time for lunch.’

He looked up at the sky to check the time.

On this trip, his first priority was to head straight for the nearest branch of the Wanhua Sect that had been discovered in an investigation. Two Fogman Island Masters happened to be stationed nearby, so he could capture them and destroy the sect at the same time.

"It seems we are fated to meet, Daoist Master Lin. I did not expect we would run into each other here."

Atop the giant beast’s head, a handsome man in blue robes, holding a jade flute, smiled and rose to his feet, looking over.

Rings of translucent light continuously spread out from beneath the man. They were the unique enhancement halos, a Special Effect exclusive to Fog Spirits.

"You were waiting specifically for me?" Lin Hui asked in surprise.

"Indeed. After so many years, we finally have Daoist Master Lin venturing out. It truly wasn’t easy," the man said with a smile.

’Waiting over a decade for him to come out just once... This Lin Hui is even lazier than us Fog Spirits.’

"As it happens, I wanted to see you as well," Lin Hui said seriously. "The world is in turmoil, with pollution and natural disasters appearing frequently. Even if our positions are opposed, an opportunity for cooperation has arisen."

"You are correct," the man nodded. "It seems our two sides have naturally reached a consensus. In that case, please follow me."

"Lead the way," Lin Hui smiled.

’Although the other party is a Fog Spirit, I believe that with my earnest persuasion, he will surely understand that in the future, the only way to find a sliver of hope amidst the many disasters is to join my Qingfeng Dao.’

’Of course, if he refuses to listen, then I’ll have to make him regret spurning a heaven-sent opportunity.’

"This way, please." The man steered the giant beast, turning to the right and suddenly accelerating.

A gentle breeze enveloped Lin Hui’s sea vessel, and he accelerated to follow.

After sailing like this for several minutes, a large section of the sea ahead soon began to rise slowly.

A massive, dark green sea turtle, at least several hundred meters long and wide, slowly rose from the ocean.

The sea turtle wore a necklace made of giant, white bone skulls, and its thick limbs were covered in black scales. A black, pointed tower was built upon its shell, from which one could faintly see flickering lights and shadowy figures, and hear the sound of music.

"Daoist Master Qingfeng, I have long heard of your great name. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am the Great One, Cloud Cleansing of Spirit Mountain, the fourth seat of the Zhenlong God Group." The giant turtle looked down at Lin Hui, its voice transmitted directly into his mind via a vibration of his Heart and Spirit.

"I have come this time to invite you to seriously consider joining our god group. You must have heard about the future state of the world. The Haiming are in turmoil. We are not like those traitors from Minglan who foolishly try to join the Haiming and betray our own realm. Our Zhenlong God Group is composed of Fog Spirits who wish to protect their own territories and resist the Sea Roar Federation."

"My Qingfeng Dao is short on people. Would you like to join my sect? If you sincerely seek to learn, you can receive a Dharma Seal that will increase your physical constitution by half. At the same time, your Heart and Spirit’s defenses and your aptitude for comprehension will also be boosted by fifty percent. Furthermore, there is an exclusive Secret Technique that can instantly restore you to perfect condition, no matter how severe your injuries," Lin Hui said with sincerity.

"This... We are Fog Spirits. We’ve heard of the Qingfeng Dao’s Secret Techniques, of course, but can we Fog Spirits use them?" the giant turtle hesitated.

"Of course. My sect’s doctrine is to not discriminate by type or race, only by sincerity of heart," Lin Hui said seriously.

"Talk is cheap!" the giant turtle said directly.

"Wait, Great One, you are part of our Zhenlong God Group..." Seeing things were going south, the man on the giant beast’s back grew anxious and quickly spoke up.

"If we can also use Daoist Master Qingfeng’s Secret Techniques, then what’s the difference between us joining him and him joining us?" The giant turtle’s thinking was clearly very flexible.

Hearing this, Lin Hui clapped lightly, a smile on his face.

"The Great One truly lives with great clarity. In the coming age, the strong will only get stronger. Making the most of our own advantages is what we should all be doing."

"But..." The man on the giant beast’s face paled. ’If the other three Great Ones find out that not only did I fail to persuade Daoist Master Qingfeng, but I also lost the Fourth Great One to him, then...’

"I have a Secret Technique that can allow you to recover from any injury in times of crisis with absolutely no side effects. All you have to do is join my Qingfeng Dao, dedicate yourself to martial arts, and strengthen the sect. I ask for nothing else. Are you willing?" At that moment, Lin Hui’s voice also reached his ears.

The man on the giant beast froze. He thought about it carefully and found himself wavering as well.

Compared to Fog People, the greatest weakness of Fog Spirits was actually their self-healing ability.

The recovery speed of Fog Spirits was far inferior to that of Fog People, precisely because accumulating Divine Power took too much time.

To restore their divine bodies, only those with immense divine power could afford to use it for recovery. Ordinary Fog Spirits couldn’t bear to waste Divine Power so casually.

If there was a Secret Technique that could replace the use of Divine Power for restoring their divine bodies, it would be an incredible way for them to conserve Divine Power.

"Are... are you serious?" he asked hesitantly.

The moment the words left his mouth, he felt they were inappropriate, so he quickly added another sentence.

"I actually intend to test the effect for my Great One. Don’t get the wrong idea!"

"Of course." Lin Hui hadn’t expected these Fog Spirits to be so simple and honest.

’Of course, to be swayed by just a few of my words right after meeting... it’s clear this so-called Zhenlong God Group is just a loose alliance of Fog Spirits cobbled together to make up the numbers.’

"How do we try it?" the giant turtle asked from the side. It had an old wound, one inflicted by a powerful Fog Person three hundred years ago, that still hadn’t healed. If the Secret Technique Lin Hui mentioned was truly effective, then joining the Qingfeng Dao was no big deal.

’Besides, he never said we could only join one organization.’

"It’s very simple..." Lin Hui smiled and raised his hand. "As long as you sincerely wish to join my Qingfeng Dao and become one of its members, you will be able to pass the verification of the Dharma Seal Secret Technique."

The next moment, a faint white light quickly lit up on his fingertip.

"I’ll go first!" the man on the giant beast’s back said decisively.

Lin Hui didn’t mind. His figure flickered, and he suddenly appeared a meter in front of the man, pressing his fingertip to the space between his eyebrows.

A few minutes later...

Beside Lin Hui’s little white boat, there was now a giant sea turtle and a Fog Spirit man standing on the back of a strange behemoth.

Standing on the boat’s deck, Lin Hui had a slightly unnatural expression.

It wasn’t that the two Fog Spirits had failed; it was that they had succeeded far too smoothly.

It had all seemed to come too easily.

He had originally planned to use force if negotiations failed, but the moment they heard his terms, they had immediately switched sides without a second thought.

Especially the giant turtle—its stance was so flexible that it showed not a hint of hesitation.

There was no epic battle, no anger, no resistance as he had expected. Instead, the giant turtle was now leading them to its god group’s headquarters, planning to pull in the first, second, and third in command as well.

After experiencing the terrifyingly overpowered Secret Technique, both the giant turtle and the man on the behemoth bowed down and acknowledged Lin Hui as their Daoist Master without a second thought.

In their eyes, the Qingfeng Dao’s Secret Technique was absurdly strong, yet its restrictions were pitifully weak. A Sect like that was practically a free handout.

Not only that, but as the giant turtle led the way, new god-descendants would frequently approach at high speed, only to be enthusiastically persuaded by the turtle and the man on the Sea Beast to join the Qingfeng Daoist Sect.

After witnessing the terrifying effects of the Secret Technique, all of them shamelessly bowed their heads in allegiance.

This greatly changed Lin Hui’s perception of the Fog Spirits and their god-descendants.

This group, it seemed, didn’t care much for face, only for immediate benefits. And perhaps because they spent their years with the simple-minded monsters of the Fog Areas, the Fog Spirits’ way of thinking was generally quite straightforward. They might have sudden, neurotic outbursts, but on the whole, they were fairly stable.

And so, two hours later.

Lin Hui’s group had expanded from three people to over a dozen—no, to be precise, it was five Fog Spirits and fourteen god-descendants.

There was no need for threats or violence. He only needed the previous joiners to demonstrate the Secret Technique’s Dharma Seal, and a crowd of Fog Spirits and god-descendants would rush forward in a frenzy.

"Great One Cloud Cleansing, I’m getting the feeling that you Fog Spirits are like..." By the four-hour mark, even more god-descendants and Fog Spirits who had gotten the news arrived even faster. Although they were all weaker Fog Spirits, their sheer numbers were overwhelming.

In just four hours, nine Fog Spirits and twenty-four god-descendants had arrived!

This finally made Lin Hui unable to hold back from asking.

"You can just call me Cloud Cleansing, Daoist Master," the giant turtle said respectfully. "The situation is indeed as you see it. To be honest, life in the outer seas has been very difficult recently. The Sea Roar Power is spreading its pollution everywhere, and many god-descendants have been affected and undergone deep-sea transformation. Everyone is constantly worried about the future. With large numbers of our subjects on our territory undergoing this deep-sea transformation, even our sources of Divine Power have dwindled."

It paused.

"And just when we needed it, you arrived. This Eye of Life Secret Technique is the perfect solution to our urgent problem! The methods for healing and restoring our divine bodies that our god group has been researching for three years—your one Secret Technique has completely solved it all!"

"This..." Lin Hui had indeed guessed at the beginning that his Secret Technique would be very popular, but he never expected it to be to this extent...

"In any case, since you’re already here, Daoist Master, why not just integrate everyone? We’ll all have to face the Sea Roar Federation together in the future anyway, right?" Cloud Cleansing said with a laugh.

Lin Hui was speechless.

He could see it now. This group of Fog Spirits and god-descendants was just trying to coax him along and take advantage of him.

Perhaps they didn’t really believe that the Secret Technique would stop working the moment their hearts strayed from the Qingfeng Dao.

What they wanted was to trick him into spreading the Secret Technique first. The reason they were still being polite was that they thought he might have even better Secret Techniques.

Realizing this, Lin Hui didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Although the process had been completely nonsensical, the result at least matched his expectations.

And so, he followed the group to the Zhenlong God Group’s location with a clear conscience.

Along the way, the originally small group was expanding at a rapid pace as the god-descendant Fog Spirits continuously sent out messages, spreading the word.

Everyone soon heard that a fool from the Human Race had come from Black Cloud. All you had to do was "hypnotize" yourself into joining his so-called Qingfeng Dao, and he would foolishly hand over an incredibly precious healing Secret Technique and a body-strengthening Secret Technique.

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