The Decaying World

The year 3808.

The Taixu Federation Council was dissolved. Its councilors left one after another, vanishing without a trace.

The Emperor of the Hongyin Empire abdicated, and the great vassal kings mysteriously disappeared. The nation descended into civil war.

To the astonishment of the people, the once-lofty Fog People began to depart, go missing, or even vanish mysteriously, all within a few short months.

The resulting power vacuum spurred countless ambitious individuals to make their move and vie for control.

Thus, the era of the Fog People’s rule came to a definitive end.

The Blood Ancestors ascended to the stage of the supreme.

Black Cloud, Qingfei Mountain.

Outside the Daoist academy, a handsome man in a wide-sleeved white robe, his long hair tied up high, was being led by a Qingfeng Daoist Disciple to the courtyard entrance.

He looked up at the plaque hanging over the courtyard: "Formless Court".

"This is...?"

"The Daoist Master wrote it himself, not long ago," the guiding Disciple whispered.

"When you see the Daoist Master, you must be respectful. Answer what you are asked, and do not speak carelessly."

"Yes, I understand," the man said with a solemn nod.

One after the other, they pushed open the gate and entered, but they didn’t proceed further. Instead, they stood by the courtyard wall, gazing at a formidable figure seated cross-legged under a pear tree.

The figure was tall and powerfully built; even a simple white robe couldn’t conceal his immense, vigorous presence.

He simply sat there on the ground, and with every breath he took, pale blue motes of light swirled around him before quietly entering his mouth and nose.

Sensing their arrival, the figure slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of bright, black eyes, as tranquil as those of an ordinary person.

"Gongsun Wuhan?"

"Yes, this junior," the man replied, hurrying forward. He knelt on both knees and kowtowed earnestly. "Wuhan greets the Daoist Master."

"Has Xinlian left as well?" Although Lin Hui had expected this, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow that another decent friend was gone.

"Yes... My ancestor departed yesterday evening," Gongsun Wuhan replied quickly. "Before she left, she asked this junior to relay a message to you. She said... ’All good things must come to an end. Please take care of yourself.’"

"..." Lin Hui said nothing.

In essence, Xie Chang’an, Zhang Yao, and Gongsun Xinlian leaving Black Cloud City was tantamount to them giving up their last chance at survival.

No, perhaps that chance had been gone for a long time. Their lifespans were too long; they had lived for too long.

Even if the decay was shared between them, the absolute limit of their lifespans was something they could no longer resist. If not for their complementary Evil Energy, they would have likely vanished completely long ago, just like the other Fog People.

In just a few short months, three familiar friends had departed, perhaps never to be seen again.

Lin Hui closed his eyes again, sighing inwardly.

’At my level, there are truly very, very few people I can open my heart to and speak with as an equal.’

The departure of the three City Lords made his number of friends all the more pitiful.

’Thinking about it, I can’t even name a single person I can have a quiet, casual chat with...’

Those around him either revered him or feared him.

"You are too old, and your potential is limited. I will not accept you, and you shouldn’t have come here," Lin Hui said softly, his focus returning. "From now on, as you manage the affairs of Black Cloud, you may seek the Daoist academy’s assistance if you face a major crisis."

"Yes! Thank you, Daoist Master." Gongsun Wuhan kowtowed respectfully once more.

Although he was disappointed at not being accepted into the Daoist academy, obtaining its direct support was more than enough to secure his position as the City Lord of Black Cloud City.

Otherwise, as a mere ordinary Blood Ancestor, even one with decent aptitude who stood out in the Gongsun family, he would have no way of intimidating the many other ambitious Blood Ancestors from various families.

Gongsun Wuhan retreated respectfully and soon sent a large pile of various gifts.

But due to the world’s new limitations, many Treasure Medicines had lost their former efficacy, degenerating into lesser-grade remedies.

While these remedies were still extraordinarily effective for ordinary people and even potent for most Martial Artists, they were meaningless to Lin Hui.

The evolution of his formations was now complete, and he had already used up most of the Treasure Medicines he had. There wasn’t much left.

Only the strange, pointed horn given to him by the Duke of Purgatory remained unused.

After everyone had left, he slowly rose and glanced up at the sky.

SWOOSH!

His figure vanished abruptly, crossing a vast distance in an instant to reappear on the top floor of the Moon Tower, which monitored the Inner City.

This floor was now completely empty. Black Cloud’s grand formation had degenerated for the most part, with only a basic protective formation barely functioning.

The monitoring components of the formation had also degraded. According to Ouyang Yining, the core energy crystals had degenerated, and with no suitable replacements found, most of the formation’s surveillance functions had to be abandoned.

And so, this Moon Tower had gradually become just an ordinary residential tower.

The top-floor hall was now empty, but the three pillars of milky-white crystal still stood in their original spots.

That was where the three Alliance Leaders of the Three-Islands Alliance were sealed.

Lin Hui had been observing the changes in the three of them to gauge the changes in the current environment.

The last time he came was two weeks ago. Back then, though the three from the Three-Islands Alliance couldn’t move, their Hearts and Spirits could still barely communicate. The moment he made contact, they would unleash a torrent of curses, their emotions wildly fluctuating.

But this time...

Lin Hui walked to one of the crystal pillars and knocked on its surface.

KNOCK. KNOCK.

No response.

He peered through the crystal.

It was blurry inside; it seemed the person within was no longer visible...

He then sent out his Heart and Spirit to make contact, but he couldn’t sense any individual within either.

CRACKLE.

Suddenly, with a soft sound, the crystal pillar Lin Hui had knocked on crumbled, dissolving into countless shattered crystals that faded and disappeared.

He paused, then looked at the other two crystal pillars. The same thing was happening to them; they were silently crumbling, shattering, and dissolving into motes of light until nothing remained.

"Dead?"

He withdrew his hand.

Gazing at the empty hall, he turned, flew out of the Moon Tower, and descended.

Passing through the sea of clouds and mist, the bustling scene of Black Cloud’s Inner City was revealed below.

Countless skyscrapers rose from the ground, interspersed with large, bizarrely shaped buildings.

Immensely wide streets and lanes crisscrossed to form a vast white network, connecting all the buildings.

On the streets, Tiger People, Lion-men, Lizardmen, Sparrow People, and Elephant People interacted, lived, and traded freely, as if there were no barriers between them.

There were even gigantic Elephant People and even larger giant toads, towering tens of meters tall, carrying large quantities of sacked goods and traveling in lanes designated specifically for colossal creatures.

There were far fewer Moth Cars in the air, replaced by dense throngs of Blood Ancestors and Martial Artists constantly zipping across the sky.

Without the Fog People to suppress everything, bloodlines had also degenerated considerably. The power gap between the strongest Blood Ancestors and Martial Artists had shrunk a great deal.

The most direct result was that far more Martial Artists were now seen moving about freely on the streets than before.

The number of Original Bloods had dwindled even further.

Lin Hui thought for a moment and understood the reason why.

Suddenly, his eyes flickered. With a flash, he vanished from mid-air, avoiding several Blood Ancestors in Moth Cars who had seen him and were trying to approach to pay their respects.

In the next instant, he appeared in a somewhat dark alley.

Deep in the alley, two small figures were cautiously rummaging through the trash bins in the corner.

These square trash bins were made entirely of stone and were very heavy—impossible for an ordinary person to move. Normally, dedicated Martial Artists in charge of the city’s sanitation were responsible for moving them.

In Black Cloud City, learning Martial Arts had become an ingrained part of the subconscious of nearly every ordinary family.

Learn Martial Arts, test into a martial academy, advance level by level, then become an apprentice to a powerful expert—this was a well-established path for advancement.

Meanwhile, Martial Artists with poorer aptitude became the cogs that kept the city running day-to-day.

Some were fast and suited for delivering messages and goods.

Some were strong and suited for hauling heavy objects, unloading cargo, and constructing buildings.

Some were tough and thick-skinned, suited for hunting, sparring, and acting as meat shields.

Still others cultivated Martial Arts that granted them a special kind of Inner Strength, allowing them to join industries like materials production and fine processing.

Coming back to his senses, Lin Hui looked at the two small figures rummaging through the trash and sighed.

"Sha Ye?" he asked aloud.

The shorter of the two figures suddenly shuddered and turned to run.

But in the next moment, she was frozen in place. No matter how wildly her little legs scrambled, she couldn’t move an inch.

"I’m not! I don’t know any Sha Ye!" Sha Ye cried out.

Her face was grimy, and she was dressed in a patched-up set of gray clothes. There were even tears in her arms and legs that the patches couldn’t cover, revealing glimpses of fair, delicate skin underneath.

"Do you remember me?" Lin Hui walked closer, standing right in front of her. "Years ago, at the Tu Yue Moon Tower, you helped me."

Hearing this, Sha Ye finally stopped struggling and looked up to examine Lin Hui’s face carefully.

"It’s you!" she exclaimed in recognition. "Lin...!"

But in the next instant, the other girl beside her clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Keep your voice down! Don’t let anyone hear you!"

"I know, I know... Mmph mmph!" Sha Ye mumbled indistinctly, struggling.

Her friend finally let go and turned to stare warily at Lin Hui.

"You may look the same, but too many people disguise themselves as *him* these days. There’s no way to be sure if you’re the real one..."

They had previously been swindled out of all their possessions by a group of impostors, which was how they’d ended up reduced to scavenging through trash cans to survive.

"If I am real, would you be willing to come back with me?" Lin Hui asked, looking at Sha Ye.

This little Original Blood sprout who had once helped him in Tuyue had long since lost her initial innocence. Those big, bright red eyes, once like molten lava, had now faded to an ordinary black.

Come to think of it, because of Tuyue’s fall, their Original Blood bloodline had degenerated. But in turn, they had adapted to the physical changes earlier than other Original Bloods and were thus less affected.

"Of course I’m willing!" Sha Ye blurted out before her friend could cover her mouth again. "I don’t care who you are! If you can give me three full meals a day, I promise I’ll bear your children!"

"Shut up! The last time you tried that line, they saw right through you, and we both got a beating because of it!!" Her friend, An Ling, slapped a hand on her head, trying to shut her up.

Lin Hui smiled. It seemed that although the two were living a hard life, their physical and mental states were still decent.

He didn’t bother explaining further. With a wave of his hand, he summoned a gentle breeze that swept the two of them into the air.

Back on Qingfei Mountain.

He left the two with Li Yuanyuan to be settled in and examined. To his surprise, they actually had some aptitude and were suitable for cultivating the Martial Arts of the Qingfeng Daoist Sect.

He had Li Yuanyuan take them under her personal guidance. Old acquaintances were growing fewer and fewer these days. If he hadn’t run into them, it would be one thing, but since he had, it was only right to lend a helping hand.

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