The Decaying World

"Warn him about what?" Liu Xiao smiled. "Too many people need him. I’m just one unremarkable person among them. I can lean on him from time to time, but if I started relying on him for everything, I wouldn’t be myself anymore. I have too much pride for that."

No matter what, she had her own pride. Being by the side of a prodigy like Lin Hui, who shone like a blazing sun, completely overshadowed her own light, but it wasn’t enough to make her abandon who she was.

Liu Wu Jun looked at the faint redness in his sister’s eyes and said nothing.

He suddenly had a glimmer of understanding as to why Weiwei’s death had occurred.

The lives of Lin Hui and Liu Xiao were essentially two separate threads. Sometimes they drew close and intertwined, but the vicissitudes of life meant they would inevitably drift apart. They couldn’t be bound together forever.

Now, Lin Hui stood far too high. Everything he saw, everything he touched, was far beyond what they could ever imagine.

His sister had been distressed and frustrated, but now... it seemed she had come to terms with it.

"I actually thought about it once," Liu Xiao continued. "About pulling him down to my level, so we could just be a pair of carefree, ordinary Martial Artists. But I couldn’t do it."

"I couldn’t be that selfish. And I realized that, apart from a physical connection, we had nothing in common to talk about." Liu Xiao gave a bitter smile. "It even got to the point where the gap in our physical strength was so great that even that part..."

Liu Wu Jun remained silent.

He had suspected as much. It explained why Liu Xiao had previously taken the initiative to help find other women for Lin Hui to marry alongside her.

’What a pity...’

"Maybe Ah Hui has a way..." he said in a low voice. "Qingfei Mountain can isolate most of the Haiming pollution. This decay... perhaps it can handle that too..."

"If there were a way, Ah Hui wouldn’t have stood by and watched Master Mingde succumb to decay. Brother, don’t kid yourself," Liu Xiao said softly. "I’m not afraid to die. Besides, I’m already very content with the life I have. Look at all those people out there. They don’t even get the chance to suffer from decay... they just die senseless deaths in the Haiming pollution..."

Liu Wu Jun opened his mouth to speak, but he suddenly froze and turned around.

A tall figure had appeared in the courtyard at some point.

He stood, sighed, and walked toward the figure.

"Ah Hui..."

"I heard everything." Lin Hui’s brow was furrowed. "Big Brother, you should head back for now. I need to talk with Xiao Xiao."

"Alright." Liu Wu Jun nodded.

’The signs of decay are still faint.’ He looked at his increasingly mysterious and inscrutable brother-in-law, feeling that the man was omnipotent. ’Perhaps he really can find a way to delay this for my sister.’

He immediately executed his Body Technique and left the courtyard.

In an instant, only Lin Hui and Liu Xiao remained in the vast courtyard.

The joy Lin Hui felt from his recent increase in strength was completely extinguished by the sudden news of Liu Xiao’s decay.

His expression was grave as he walked over and sat down opposite Liu Xiao.

"Give me your hand."

Liu Xiao smiled at him and extended her right hand.

She watched as he took her hand and began to carefully examine her condition.

The Lin Hui she knew was always composed and self-assured, either smiling or serious, but never flustered.

But right now, she could faintly see a trace of it in his eyes.

"I’m fine. It’s just a tiny, tiny sign."

Lin Hui didn’t answer. He just held Liu Xiao’s hand, his gaze fixed on the information from the Blood Seal appearing at the bottom of his vision.

’Decay Aura: The antithesis of all life in the Decay Realm. For every decay in the world, a rebirth occurs in balance. The two are intertwined and entangled, two sides of the same whole. It is one of the natural Laws of heaven and earth. Evolvable Branches: 0.’

Lin Hui stared at the bright red lines of text, silent.

He had never seen this kind of information when detecting decay before. But now, here it was.

Clearly, as the essence of his Cultivation had sublimated and he had grown stronger, he could provide enough energy to the Blood Seal for it to analyze new information.

However, the information it analyzed offered him no solution.

Looking at Liu Xiao’s calm, pretty face, he closed his eyes. Countless methods and pathways flashed through his mind.

A moment later.

"When did it start?" he asked, opening his eyes.

"Back when there were heavy casualties in the Outer City. Maybe because I was weak, or for some other reason, I got infected with the Haiming pollution. I didn’t tell anyone, though. I quietly quit my job and came back to Qingfei Mountain to rest. I didn’t expect it, but I actually recovered," Liu Xiao said with a smile.

"I thought everything was fine. What a shame... the Haiming pollution was gone, but the decay arrived."

"The city’s decay apportionment—did they register a slot for you in the Moon Tower?" Lin Hui asked grimly.

"They did, but the apportionment is based purely on one’s Cultivation and Realm. The higher your Cultivation, the larger your share of the decay quota," Liu Xiao nodded.

Lin Hui released her hand. He could clearly tell that Liu Xiao’s physical condition was terrible. She was so weak, it was almost unbelievable for a Priest of her level.

He stood up, a plan already forming in his mind.

"Don’t be afraid. I’ll make other arrangements."

"Okay... but really, it’s fine. Everyone has to die eventually. I’ve already been much, much luckier than most," Liu Xiao said with a smile.

"..." Lin Hui rose, reached out, and gently pulled her into his arms.

He had noticed her constitution weakening before and had instructed her to practice the Martial Arts of the Qingfeng Dao to strengthen her body. The trouble was, her condition worsened even faster whenever she practiced them.

So he told her to focus on recuperating and taking care of her body, and even had Gongsun Xinlian help find various Solid Medicines for her.

But even so, Liu Xiao’s health continued to decline.

Finally, Lin Hui discovered that the deterioration would stop as long as they didn’t sleep together. Only then did he realize the cause of the problem.

He had thought that if he controlled himself, Liu Xiao would slowly recover. But... it now seemed that not even the various Solid Medicines could stabilize her condition.

’But, thankfully, the Blood Seal is idle. It should be able to work out a solution.’

Holding Liu Xiao tightly against him, Lin Hui took a deep breath.

"Don’t worry. You’re going to be okay."

"Mm..." Liu Xiao’s eyelids fluttered, a hint of drowsiness in her eyes.

She had been sleeping longer and longer recently. It was a sure sign that the decay was starting.

Realizing this, Lin Hui moved swiftly. He carried Liu Xiao to the bedroom, removed her outer robes, and tucked her into bed.

He instructed Li Yuanyuan to watch over her carefully.

Only then did he leave the courtyard, soaring into the sky until he was above the very highest point of the floating island of Qingfei Mountain.

’It’s time to deploy the Nine Heavens Thunderous Sound formation I evolved earlier.’

’Perhaps the effects of the Nine Heavens Thunderous Sound formation can counteract the corrosion of decay.’

He looked down at the vast expanse of Qingfei Mountain.

The entire floating island was shaped like a giant gyroscope, white on top and gray below. In the air around it, dense silver formation patterns pulsed, now bright, now dim.

Lin Hui quickly sent out a notification to adjust the formation via Wind Chime.

He hovered high in the air, waiting. After a moment, he saw large groups of people flying down from the floating island, temporarily evacuating the area.

Only then did he open his hand, his fingers spread as if to grasp Qingfei Mountain from afar.

’Evolve into the Nine Heavens Thunderous Sound Formation?’ The prompt from the Blood Seal appeared in his mind.

’Yes!’

Lin Hui clenched his fist.

VMMMM!!

Instantly, fluorescent blue rifts of varying sizes materialized in the air all around Qingfei Mountain.

Some of the rifts were eye-shaped, others were simple holes, and still others were irregular polygons, straight lines, or arcs. They looked like the random scribbles of a child.

The next moment, a torrent of pale blue, translucent, fluorescent energy surged madly from every rift.

Countless streams of blue energy immediately submerged the entire of Qingfei Mountain.

Dozens of blue energy streams of varying thickness, each like a beam of light, shot straight into Qingfei Mountain. Then, in the air above the island, they abruptly exploded and dissipated.

At the same time, the ground of Qingfei Mountain began to glow, covered in a dense, intricate pattern of blue and gold.

BOOM!!

The next moment.

Above Qingfei Mountain, the countless streams of blue energy converged, forming a colossal blue tornado that stretched from the island all the way to the heavens!

The tornado stretched from Qingfei Mountain high into the sky, its rapidly spinning currents causing everything in the vicinity to begin to slowly revolve with it.

Strangely, however, the island of Qingfei Mountain itself remained perfectly calm and peaceful, completely unaffected.

Even though the vast collection of buildings was situated directly beneath the vortex.

Lin Hui stared at the massive, sudden tornado, and in his Heart and Spirit, he faintly sensed a trace of Qimei’s aura.

’I knew it...’ But since this entity had already targeted him, running away wouldn’t solve anything.

’I can only face it head-on!’

’Formation evolution complete.’ The prompt from the Blood Seal slowly materialized.

Lin Hui snapped back to reality and was the first to fly up toward the massive tornado.

’Nine Heavens Thunderous Sound.’ He could clearly sense that this massive blue tornado was the core of the formation, designed to amplify his power and suppress his enemies.

The formation was clearly powerful, but its sheer presence was just as immense.

It was second only to the Haiming rift not far overhead.

Clearly, he was going to have a lot of explaining to do. On the bright side, talking more with Zhang Yao and the others might help him find a cure for Liu Xiao’s decay.

*

*

*

「July.」

The Extreme Cold pollution erupted in multiple locations across the Taixu Federation. Led by a massive army formation under King Jing, it swiftly conquered nearly a third of the Federation’s territory.

With the Haiming pollution and the spread of the Extreme Cold, most of the Taixu Federation’s territory had fallen. But strangely, in the face of this crisis, the Federation’s Inner Court remained completely silent. It was as if, after the Speaker made a single appearance, they had given up entirely.

「In an ancient abyss near the outskirts of the Inner Court.」

Pitch-black mountains stretched into the distance like crouching behemoths.

Above the center of the mountain range.

A massive, grayish-white stone sphere, thousands of kilometers in diameter, hung suspended in the air.

The sphere was hollow, its surface pockmarked with openings of various sizes.

Through the openings, one could see desolate, scattered bands of grayish-white rock and debris.

These bands of debris moved like circular tracks on a turntable. Some even held dilapidated buildings, ruined ships, and crumbling towers.

They all revolved around a dark red sphere at the very center, like satellites following a fixed orbit, never drawing closer or drifting farther away.

At the absolute center.

Countless patterns, symbols, characters, and graphics of unknown meaning flickered across the surface of that central sphere, changing at every moment, never once repeating.

"That is the largest Void Core in the Federation... Blood Hill."

On a dark mountain peak below the stone sphere.

A tall man, dressed in exquisite, ice-blue filigree armor, stared up at the giant stone sphere in the sky.

Behind him, a host of tall figures, each radiating an ice-blue, freezing aura, hovered in the air.

Behind them all, a giant, blue, gyroscope-like floating island was slowly approaching the stone sphere in the sky.

"Your Highness... must we truly act now? If we were to wait a little longer, might it not be..."

A woman with blue hair and golden eyes spoke hesitantly from the back.

"Are you afraid?" The blue-armored man at the front turned, revealing a bizarre face covered in blue and black markings.

"Your subordinate... is merely..."

Before the woman could finish, she was horrified to feel her body begin to stiffen. Starting from her feet, a sheet of blue crystal rapidly encased her, rendering her immobile.

"No...!!!"

In moments, she was completely frozen into a block of ice, which then shattered with a loud CRACK and dissipated into the air.

"Don’t worry. Li is protected by the Insect Scripture; she will not die," the blue-armored man said coolly, looking at his other, now-terrified subordinates. "She has merely been banished to the world of Extreme Cold Heaven for a time. When the dust settles, I will release her."

The others no longer dared to show any hesitation, bowing their heads low.

"Begin." The blue-armored man raised his hand. "Open the Extreme Cold Rift! We will use it to destroy this Void Core!!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

The crowd scattered, circling the floating island. They began to release a large number of pre-prepared, polluted formation relics.

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