The Decaying World

Inside the Zhenlong Divine Palace.

A faint blue, translucent, intangible barrier held all the lightning and black annihilation particles at bay, preventing them from advancing an inch.

The flashing lightning illuminated Leiming’s three terrified faces.

"You...!!? What kind of monster are you!!?"

ZING.

The soft sound echoed.

The lightning vanished, and so did the blue barrier.

In an instant, everything returned to its initial, quiet state.

However, Leiming now stood several steps back from where he had been, having unconsciously given up the chair.

’The chair... is still intact!?’

Everyone’s pupils contracted. Only now did they realize that the terrifying clash hadn’t even destroyed this ordinary chair, made of a metal alloy and supported by coral.

This implied a terrifyingly precise control of power between the two.

Not a single trace had leaked out; a perfect counter that neutralized every ounce of the opponent’s strength...

’Such horrifying control...’

TAP.

Lin Hui stepped forward, slowly sat down in the chair, and reached out to gently stroke the smooth armrest, which was carved with reliefs of a dragon and phoenix.

His Ruyi Longsword was casually leaned against his leg, as if he had no need to draw it in vigilance.

At that very moment, not far behind him, Leiming’s eyes hardened. Standing his ground, he once again gathered purple-black lightning around his arms.

But in the next instant, he shuddered. The lightning dissipated, and his divine form rapidly shrank back to its original height.

"My power...!?" He could clearly feel that the Realm he had just broken through to had instantly degraded back to his previous level of a powerful Divine Power.

Not only that, but the modifications to his left eye from the Eye of Life were also rapidly fading. That strange life force was receding as quickly as a tide.

It wasn’t just him. Among the other four gods present, Huangque and Divine Sound wore extremely ugly expressions. The auras on their bodies had also unknowingly degraded back to their original levels.

"I warned you all, but none of you would listen. Well, now the worst has happened." Bailu lowered his head, a faint, hidden smile touching his lips.

"It was all a misunderstanding, really. Big Brother Leiming and Huangque only erred because they were frightened by the rumors circulating outside." Divine Sound spoke up, trying to save face for them. "Even Fog People can make mistakes, let alone us desolate gods. Considering we acted rashly and impulsively without knowing the full story, why not give Big Brother and Huangque another chance, Daoist Master? We need all the help we can get right now. If you punish them too harshly, we’ll be at a disadvantage when we have to face Haiming."

She, Bailu, and Cloud Cleansing hadn’t experienced a degradation in their Realms. With a sincere expression, she looked at Lin Hui and spoke in a low voice.

Lin Hui swept his gaze over the gods and instantly saw through their little game.

’They’re playing good cop, bad cop. If their test had succeeded and they’d gotten the source of the Secret Technique, that would have been ideal. Since it failed, the price is just a slap on the wrist, which is within their acceptable limits.’

However, Lin Hui’s original intention had only been to subdue these gods as a temporary, transitional fighting force.

They were meant to buy time for the core combatants of the Qingfeng Dao to develop and mature.

The ones he truly valued were people like Master Yunxia and Su Yaping. Their talent for the Martial Dao was extremely high, allowing them to advance further with techniques like the Gale Swordsmanship and Typhoon Swordsmanship.

Looking at the gods before him, Lin Hui suddenly felt his interest waning.

"I am considering... your value."

The five gods present all froze, a sudden sense of foreboding rising in their hearts.

Huangque took a step forward.

"Daoist Master... what is the meaning of this!?"

"You... are too weak."

Lin Hui said this with a placid expression, lightly tapping his fingers.

"Weak yet unaware, arrogant and ignorant... Perhaps it would be more fitting to kill you all and turn you into sustenance for my own growth."

In his Qingyuan Body state, his Wind of Surrounding and his Ruyi Sword could grow continuously stronger with each kill he made. It was just that he had never been a bloodthirsty person, so he rarely used this hidden Special Effect.

In essence, he believed this was a reward from the Wind Disaster Energy, encouraging him to use the Wind Disaster Power more often to corrupt the world.

As soon as these words were spoken,

the five gods fell silent.

Leiming’s fists clenched, lightning flickering over his body. He was clearly suppressing the rage in his heart.

Huangque’s pretty face was icy, and the flames engulfing her body burned ever more intensely, nearly melting the ground beneath her feet. This was a leakage of power she couldn’t precisely control.

Cloud Cleansing and Divine Sound were calmer, but their expressions were grave, and they quietly took a step back.

Only Bailu remained where he was, his expression serene, his thoughts unreadable.

"Lin Hui... I admit, my previous assessment of you was too low." Leiming’s voice was deep as he took a sharp breath.

"But if you think that we Fog Spirits are this weak, then you are sorely mistaken..."

He raised one hand above his head, fingers spread wide.

"I’ll give you one last chance..."

His six eyes stared intently at Lin Hui, a chilling killing intent emanating from them.

"Hand over the source of the Secret Technique!"

"What are you using to speak to me?" Lin Hui watched him. "Fear?"

"You!!?" Leiming could finally restrain himself no longer. All three of his heads opened their mouths, purple lightning flashing rapidly within. In an extremely short time, they gathered three terrifyingly powerful beams of purple-black light.

"Divine Kingdom!!" he suddenly roared.

"Fall back!!" The expressions of the other four gods changed drastically. They retreated frantically, rushing toward the outer edges of the divine palace.

But it was already too late.

The three beams of purple-black lightning shot out from Leiming’s mouths. They twisted and intertwined, then instantly exploded, forming a membrane of purple-black lightning that enveloped everything in the vicinity at the speed of light.

But when this terrifying curtain of lightning reached Lin Hui’s position, it bizarrely froze, stopping dead in mid-air.

"You!!?" Leiming’s expression changed dramatically. He had never seen something so bizarre. Even among other Fog People and those with imperial blood, he had never heard of anyone who could forcefully refuse the descent of a Divine Kingdom.

They could only forcibly resist a Divine Kingdom with the Descent of the Heart God.

Inside a Divine Kingdom, although it consumed a massive amount of Divine Power, a Fog Spirit could control all the extended rules related to their Divine Position. Their divine might would be enhanced by at least one full Realm.

But now...

He looked at Lin Hui, who remained seated and hadn’t even bothered to stand up. The fear in his heart finally overwhelmed the last shred of his anger.

He retreated step by step, his body trembling like that of an ordinary mortal.

"AHHH!!" He abruptly turned, transformed into a streak of lightning, and shot toward the outside of the divine palace at extreme speed.

But.

SHIICK.

In the next instant, his body went rigid. He dropped out of his lightning form, his back to the hall, frozen in a striding posture, completely motionless.

With a sickening squelch, Leiming’s large, three-headed, nine-tailed body was split in two down the middle. The two halves slid diagonally apart and fell to the ground.

"Your speed is inferior to the Fog People, your recovery is inferior to the Fog People, and even your minds are far lacking... Aside from your large numbers, you’re practically useless..." Lin Hui sighed.

"No, wait!!"

At that moment, Huangque seemed to sense something. She cried out in alarm and tried to flee the divine palace at top speed.

But it was too late.

SHIICK!

In the next instant, her body froze in mid-air, completely still.

CRASH. A dense web of sword marks appeared all over her skin. Her entire body was sliced into dozens of pieces that scattered across the floor.

She hadn’t even summoned her Divine Kingdom before it was all over.

The remaining two, Divine Sound and Cloud Cleansing, were covered in sweat, their faces filled with terror. They were still frozen in the posture they’d taken to escape Leiming’s Divine Kingdom.

Seeing this, the two gods didn’t dare to move a muscle, remaining rigid on the spot.

Fast!

Too fast!!

They hadn’t even seen what happened. Their divine senses had only perceived a blurry flash of lightning.

And it was over.

Lin Hui hadn’t moved an inch. Only his Ruyi Longsword had blurred for an instant.

"Do you want to try?" His gaze shifted, landing on Bailu, who hadn’t moved this whole time.

"The Daoist Master’s strength far surpasses this old one’s. There is no need." Bailu smiled and spoke in a placid tone.

Seeing his expression, Lin Hui suddenly paused.

"Interesting. You’re observing me?"

"I wouldn’t dare. This old one is just an ordinary Fog Spirit whose Divine Power is nearly depleted. How would I dare to rashly observe the Daoist Master’s divine form? You misunderstand." Bailu smiled and bowed his head, showing his submission.

Lin Hui chuckled, no longer bothering with what this being truly was.

He had already keenly sensed that this fellow was not a Fog Spirit at all. As for what he was, that was unknown.

"From now on, you will follow me."

"As you command." Bailu nodded obediently.

Lin Hui paid him no more mind, instead sweeping his gaze over Divine Sound and Cloud Cleansing, who were still in their original positions.

THUMP.

Without a word, the two gods dropped to their knees and kowtowed.

"We are willing to submit!"

The Seal Technique on their bodies hadn’t faded. Clearly, they were completely different from Leiming and Huangque.

"You can still maintain the Secret Technique I bestowed upon you?" Lin Hui’s interest was piqued. ’These Fog Spirits... to say they’re stupid—ones like Leiming really are stupid.’

’But to say they’re smart... they just pulled a stunt like betraying the sect.’

’And now, just as I was about to give up on this group of Fog Spirits, the Seal Technique on their bodies still remains. This is interesting. How did they do it?’

Lin Hui had always been an inquisitive person. Rather than guessing wildly, he might as well just ask.

Hearing his question,

Divine Sound and Cloud Cleansing exchanged a glance, their spirits communicating in an instant. Cloud Cleansing took the lead and spoke.

"In response to the Daoist Master, we did, in fact, try to persuade Leiming and Huangque earlier, but they wouldn’t change their minds. So, in our hearts, we were resistant to causing a conflict with you. Furthermore, we never intended to leave the Qingfeng Dao—that includes Leiming and Huangque. They felt the same way."

"Because... because... we actually felt that since the Qingfeng Dao’s Secret Technique and Dharma Seal have already gathered such immense momentum, why not just go with the flow and establish the strongest divine faction? An opportunity to build a power of this scale is once in a thousand years. If we miss it, we might not get another chance..."

Heh.

Lin Hui understood now.

’So these divine envoys really planned to continue operating under the name of the Qingfeng Dao. Then, as long as they got the source of the Dharma Seal from me, they could logically become the leaders of this enormous divine collective.’

’That would be a much larger organization than their previous Zhenlong Divine Palace.’

’I thought these Fog Spirits were stupid before. It seems I underestimated them a little.’

"From the sound of it, they actually hold the Qingfeng Dao in high regard," Bailu said leisurely from the side.

"Indeed." Lin Hui sighed, clapping his hands together gently in regret. "If I had known, I would have given Leiming more of a chance..."

"Let’s not dwell on the past. Daoist Master, how do you plan to deal with the gods and their scions waiting outside for news?" Bailu looked at him.

"Those who wish to stay may stay. Those who don’t are free to leave," Lin Hui said. "I’m not a bloodthirsty person. Why the test?"

"The Daoist Master is magnanimous." Bailu smiled and cupped his fist.

"However, things are getting a little chaotic outside. The deaths of Leiming and Huangque have caused quite a stir. Bailu, in your opinion, how should this be resolved?" Lin Hui looked at him.

This was a test to see if he was capable enough to remain by his side.

If he wasn’t, and was just putting on an act, then the next second could be his last.

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