The Decaying World

At this moment, Lin Hui wore a gentle smile, his expression placid. He even spoke as if making casual small talk.

But in truth, threads of hidden killing intent had already locked onto Bai Lu.

A strange, cryptic light flashed in Bai Lu’s eyes.

"That’s easy enough."

He reached out and tapped lightly on the table beside him.

DONG.

In that instant, a transparent ripple spread out from the point of impact.

The ripple expanded far faster than the speed of sound. It shot out from the Divine Palace at a stunning velocity, vanishing in a flash as it blanketed the entire host of gods across a radius of several thousand kilometers.

All the Fog Spirits and their divine descendants, who had been anxious, agitated, and chaotic, swiftly grew quiet under the wave’s influence.

It was as if a part of every god’s emotions had been forcefully extracted and erased in that single moment.

The terror of this move wasn’t just clear to Lin Hui; it made Divine Sound’s and Cloud Cleansing’s scalps tingle with fear.

This was a massive divine faction. Boosted by the Dharma Seals, there were now over thirty Medium Divine Powers on par with their former selves. Yet, in this single moment, they were all instantly pacified.

What kind of outrageous power was this?!

Lin Hui’s performance had already been terrifying enough, but the abilities displayed by this mysterious Bai Lu were even more monstrous!

The two gods cursed their luck inwardly, knowing that this time, their doom was truly sealed.

’With these two monsters around, who knows what new lows our fates will sink to...’

"A very interesting power..." Lin Hui nodded. ’At least I didn’t just run into a bunch of trash this time.’

The power Bai Lu had revealed was a cut above even the post-breakthrough Lei Ming. This was already beyond the classification of Great Divine Power.

From the looks of it, Bai Lu still seemed to have power to spare, which made Lin Hui extremely curious about the true extent of his capabilities.

As if sensing his curiosity, Bai Lu quickly lowered his head in humility.

"I’ve done my utmost and can only manage this much. Is the Daoist Master satisfied?"

"Satisfied." Seeing him proactively yield, Lin Hui didn’t press the issue. The current state of the Divine Palace was enough to achieve his initial goal.

Next up was the second step of his plan... finding medicine!

That’s right.

The whole reason he had made such a grand display and gathered so many Fog Spirits and their descendants was to find as many aphrodisiac Treasure Medicines as possible before Haiming’s corruption could destroy them!

That was his true goal.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have needed to bring in those divine descendants, who could be wiped out in droves with a single sword strike.

Even with the boost from the Seal Technique, these descendants had no potential for growth.

This was because the advancement of Fog Spirit descendants didn’t rely on their own cultivation, but on the number of believers in their territory and the efficiency of converting faith into Divine Power. So, even if they practiced Martial Arts like the Typhoon Swordsmanship, they couldn’t possibly grow stronger.

Their power system determined it.

The internal strife among the gods was suppressed in just half a day. Everything was just as Lin Hui had said; he didn’t stop anyone who wished to leave.

But after confirming that leaving truly meant losing the Seal Technique Secret Method, the remaining Fog Spirits and their descendants hesitated.

One after another, they chose to stay. This heartfelt decision, coupled with the fate of Lei Ming and the other gods, further solidified their resolve to follow the Qingfeng Dao.

「Three days later.」

The Zhenlong Divine Palace was completely stabilized. Aside from a few paranoid basket cases who left, the other ninety percent of the Fog Spirits and their descendants fully submitted to Lin Hui, supporting him as the new Palace Master of the Divine Palace.

Then, an order to collect medicinal herbs was issued from the Divine Palace.

Lin Hui sat enthroned in the Divine Palace as his subordinate Fog Spirit descendants fanned out in all directions, scavenging for any Treasure Medicine they could find and transporting it back.

Compared to the Fog People, they controlled far larger territories, so the wild herbs in their domains were naturally more varied and rarer.

But due to a lack of systematic cultivation, the quantity of Treasure Medicine they could gather was not large.

The advantage was that these Treasure Medicines were truly, truly ancient!

In just five short days, a stream of Treasure Medicines, the youngest of which were at least a thousand years old, was delivered into Lin Hui’s hands.

He received ten stalks of thousand-year-old Illusory Dragon Lotus, something he hadn’t seen in a long time.

Twenty flowers of three-thousand-year-old Purple Cloud Ganoderma arrived in one go.

And over a hundred ten-thousand-year-old Yun Lingzhi were transported over.

There were also small quantities of even rarer aphrodisiacs, like Jiushen Grass. This herb’s medicinal power was extremely rich; it took ten thousand years to grow just one inch. The ones they found this time were a full five inches tall!

A single stalk of this Jiushen Grass was comparable to over a hundred Purple Cloud Ganodermas.

The ceaseless return of aphrodisiac Treasure Medicines gave Lin Hui his first true taste of what "vast lands and abundant resources" really meant.

Compared to a major trading hub like Black Cloud, the only issue with the Fog Spirits’ territories was that their subjects had no awareness of cultivation and carelessly destroyed Treasure Medicines. Otherwise, the amount gathered would have been hundreds of times greater than what Black Cloud could offer!

It could be said that from birth until now, he had never fought such a well-supplied war.

A massive, almost endless supply of Treasure Medicine—all sorts of herbs that had accumulated for who knows how many millennia—was converging on him at a frantic pace.

The transport of Treasure Medicine only slowed after all the surrounding islands and sea territories had been swept clean.

Even so, the amount of Treasure Medicine Lin Hui had accumulated had reached a terrifying level.

It was more than he could use. Far, far more!

He decided to shut himself away completely. After sending someone to quietly let his family know he was safe, he remained in the Divine Palace, focusing entirely on consuming medicine and cultivating.

On the very first day of his seclusion, he advanced the progress of the Nine Heavens Thunderous Sound until only a dozen or so years remained.

And this was with him deliberately slowing his consumption rate, worried that he wouldn’t be able to absorb the medicinal power fast enough and it would go to waste.

「Early the next morning.」

In the largest bedchamber deep within the Divine Palace.

Lin Hui sat cross-legged in the center of the ancient, opulent, platinum-gold hall. The medicinal fragrance around him was so thick it was almost tangible, forming a pale green, smoke-like substance that swirled slowly around the Yun Lingzhi in his hand.

This was a Yun Lingzhi that was at least twenty thousand years old. Based on his comparisons of the potency of the medicines he’d consumed, the efficacy of these Treasure Medicines seemed to increase significantly with every thousand years of age. As for the exact increase, there was no fixed amount; it was purely determined by how many nutrients the herb absorbed during its growth.

Different environments meant that even herbs of the same age could have medicinal powers that were worlds apart.

The age of a Yun Lingzhi was mainly determined by the fine, serrated marks on its edge; the more marks, the older it was.

Regardless, its potency was definitely far, far stronger than that of an ordinary Yun Lingzhi.

Lin Hui looked at the final twelve years of evolution time for the Blood Seal in his vision and sighed with emotion.

He still had over thirty more Yun Lingzhi like this one, and hundreds more that were under ten thousand years old, not even counting the other Treasure Medicines...

’I can’t finish it all. I simply can’t!’

’Nine Heavens Thunderous Sound... let me see just how powerful you truly are!’

Without further hesitation, he shoved the Yun Lingzhi into his mouth, bit down, chewed, and swallowed.

A massive, scorching torrent surged down his throat and into his stomach, then transformed into fiery little serpents that spread throughout his limbs.

The medicinal power was so terrifying that, by Lin Hui’s estimation, a single bite would instantly burn an ordinary person to a desiccated husk, killing them on the spot.

For an ordinary person, a Yun Lingzhi with such potency could no longer be considered a Treasure Medicine, but a deadly poison.

As the medicinal power continued to spread.

The Blood Seal’s information in Lin Hui’s vision began to flash rapidly.

The progress bar for the Nine Heavens Thunderous Sound decreased at lightning speed.

One second...

Two seconds...

Five seconds!

CHING.

In an instant, a clear chime, like the ring of a sword, brushed past his ear.

’Nine Heavens Thunderous Sound evolution complete. Activate now?’

’No.’ Lin Hui chose not to activate it.

This was a direct evolution of the great formation on Qingfei Mountain. He wasn’t even in Black Cloud right now; if the formation’s activation triggered some unforeseen negative consequence, it would be a huge problem.

It would be better to wait until he returned and could personally oversee its activation.

The completion of this formation’s evolution would essentially lay the foundation for Qingfei Mountain’s top-tier defensive array.

In the future, even if Haiming’s corruption intensified, they would have the confidence to resist it.

The only remaining trouble was the infestation of the Wind Calamity...

But...

Lin Hui turned his head to glance at the crates of Treasure Medicine stacked in the corner of the bedchamber.

These herbs, the youngest of which were a thousand years old, were his greatest source of confidence!

Now that he could use Treasure Medicine freely, with the Fog Spirits and their vast territories serving as his greatest suppliers, Lin Hui finally felt he had the resources to test the limits of the Blood Seal, something he had always wanted to do.

’Before, I didn’t have enough medicine and was afraid of waste,’ Lin Hui mused. ’But now, with such a massive quantity of Treasure Medicine, it’s time to evolve a true trump card, something that can turn the tables on anything...’

What could truly reverse a desperate situation?

An extremely powerful relic or treasure?

’No... if the evolution is too powerful, the relic or treasure would likely require a correspondingly greater cost to use. Besides, the Blood Seal’s evolutions are too unpredictable. If I create something that causes too much of a stir, the trouble it attracts could be significant.’

He wasn’t so blindly confident as to think he was invincible.

The waters of this world ran very, very deep.

Putting aside everything else, just look at the Duke of Purgatory not far away. That guy’s trait of getting stronger the more he’s injured had a striking similarity to Great City Lord Xie Chang’an.

And if the Duke of Purgatory was already that strong, there was no way he was the only powerhouse in Purgatory...

Then there was the Extreme Cold Heaven, the world of Hui Jing, and others... not to mention the native Power of Decay. He refused to believe that the power it had shown so far was all it had, considering it could repel so many forces of corruption. There had to be a larger, hidden undercurrent yet to be revealed.

’So... no rush... no rush.’

Coming back to his senses.

Lin Hui suddenly realized what he needed most urgently.

’First, I’ll evolve things like the Dharma Seal to their limit. Special Effects from this kind of Secret Technique can strengthen both myself and my subordinates, quickly test loyalty, and draw people into my camp.’

’Besides, no matter how strong I become alone, I can’t possibly stand guard over my family every second of every day. I still need subordinates to protect and support them.’

Having made his decision, he began to focus his Heart and Spirit, concentrating the Blood Seal’s evolutionary target on the four great Dharma Seals of the current Qingfeng Dao.

But all he got were options to evolve each Dharma Seal individually. He paused, recalling the previous method of evolution.

Previously, the evolution of the Seal Technique had come from evolving the entire Qingfeng Dao, which had required fifty years.

Now, Lin Hui started over, once again setting the target as the evolution of the entire Sect.

’Jiuxiao Qingfeng Dao: A Martial Arts Sect founded by Lin Hui, inheriting the Seal Technique of the Jiuxiao Sect. Proficient in Martial Arts: Perfected Qingfeng Swordsmanship, Gale Swordsmanship...’

The rest was all a description of the Qingfeng Dao.

Lin Hui skipped right past it and looked at the end.

’...Available Evolution Branches: 6.’

’There it is!’

His spirits lifted. Perhaps this evolution would give him a chance to get rid of the trouble from the Jiuxiao Sect’s True Monarch of Seven Destructions.

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