The Decaying World

Unfortunately, before Lin Hui could even set out on his planned trip to the royal capital, he received news of internal turmoil within Black Cloud.

This time, it had nothing to do with the three rival Original Blood families from before. Rather, they were fighting amongst themselves.

The Xie and Zhang Families, rivals of the Gongsun Family, were dissatisfied with the latter’s candidate ascending to the position of City Lord. They each sent a group of elders to visit the Qingfeng Dao and air their grievances.

Lin Hui didn’t just consider Gongsun Wuhen, but also examined the candidates put forth by the other two families.

But the other two candidates were a real piece of work. A few casual questions were all it took to see their problematic inclinations.

One planned to implement a law-of-the-jungle system after taking office, where the strong would devour talented but weaker individuals to solidify their own power.

This was clearly a young Blood Ancestor who had been stifled for too long.

The other planned to enact a policy of expansion upon taking office. He wanted to annex surrounding lands and seas on a massive scale, seizing more resources so that "everyone could get a bigger piece of the pie" and feel more prosperous.

But when Lin Hui asked how he planned to expand and whether he knew what challenges he would face, the man became evasive. It was clear his platform was just something he’d fabricated on the spot to win support. It was also worth noting that this candidate was not a Blood Ancestor, but a Martial Artist. His Martial Arts Realm was nothing special; he was just handsome and happened to practice the Martial Arts of the Qingfeng Dao.

By now, the number of people in the city practicing the Martial Arts of the Qingfeng Dao had surpassed several million. The Qingfeng Dao only handled their instruction, not the management of their daily lives. They simply continued the old rules, gathering together at regular intervals.

Many martial arts practitioners would leave to find their own livelihood after making some initial progress. A lot of these people had once lived comfortable lives, but after the environment deteriorated, they had to work hard just to afford the daily expenses of their training.

There was no shortage of people like Sha Ye who, in their naivete, not only failed to make money but ended up getting scammed. After all, most of them had been the pampered young masters and ladies of wealthy families. With the environment’s decline and their families’ fall from grace, they were forced to rely on themselves, making them perfect targets for scammers—more money than sense.

After assessing the caliber of the two candidates, Lin Hui still chose Gongsun Wuhen for the position of City Lord.

Amidst this delay, Lin Xiaoliu unexpectedly got pregnant. She and Tao Changsheng quickly married, and as her older brother, Lin Hui naturally had to attend and help with the preparations.

In the blink of an eye, more than a month passed.

Just as he was getting ready to depart again...

Gongsun Wuhen’s succession ceremony for City Lord was about to begin, and he came to request Lin Hui’s blessing.

Heimian from the Good Heart Sect arrived in Black Cloud City after an arduous journey by sea, bringing with him the last surviving descendant of the late Sect Hierarch.

「At the foot of Qingfei Mountain.」

Heimian, accompanied by a skinny boy with a black sack over his head, slowly climbed down from an ox-cart.

Heimian was covered in dust from his travels, his clothes plain and simple. He looked nothing like the expert from the Good Heart Sect he once was.

He looked no different from an ordinary old farmer one might see on the side of the road.

The boy, despite the sack on his head, was miraculously unaffected. He walked in a straight line without stumbling, and after getting off the cart, he looked left and right as if he could truly see his surroundings through the fabric.

"Yuanhe, this is Qingfei Mountain in Black Cloud," Heimian explained softly. "It is also the location of the Qingfeng Dao Academy, which you will soon be joining."

The boy looked from side to side, his gaze soon locking onto the sky above Qingfei Mountain, where an immense, pale blue tornado stretched from the earth to the heavens.

The tornado had already seemed incredible from afar; seeing it up close, one could truly appreciate its unimaginably vast size.

Countless streams of blue energy spun at high speed within it. With a diameter of several hundred meters, it hovered over everyone’s heads. ’How was it formed? And why has it persisted for so long?’

"It’s magnificent..." Yuanhe said in awe. "No wonder you went against everyone’s objections and insisted I come here to train."

"Indeed," Heimian sighed. "In the world today, aside from leaving the country altogether, there are very few places left where you can train and grow up in peace. This is one of them."

"Do you think that... Lord Daoist Master Qingfeng will see any potential in me?" Yuanhe asked softly.

"Your innate talent is exceptional, and your comprehension is second to none," Heimian said encouragingly. "Even if the Daoist Master pays you no mind, I am certain you can carve out a safe place for yourself here. I have always believed in that."

"Thank you. You always try to comfort me like this, Heimian," Yuanhe said with a sigh of resignation. "But I’d rather hear the truth."

"The truth... is..." Heimian paused, looking up at the floating Qingfei Mountain above them.

’The truth is, you most likely won’t receive any special treatment, but that’s actually a good thing for you. Because... the people here in the Qingfeng Dao are all...’ He held his tongue, not daring to continue.

One had to remember that powerful experts could release their Heart and Spirit, allowing them to perceive the slightest disturbance within a radius of several kilometers.

Although no one would dare to casually monitor everyone with their Heart and Spirit in a place like this, an occasional sweep was still possible.

It would be disastrous if he were overheard.

"Let’s go." Heimian led Yuanhe toward the dedicated Moth Car station that provided transport to Qingfei Mountain.

As they walked, they saw people wearing swords everywhere. Faint, gentle currents of air swirled around each of them—clearly, they were all practitioners of the Qingfei Mountain school of Martial Arts.

The two paid their fare, boarded a Moth Car, and flew up to Qingfei Mountain, arriving at a dock on its periphery.

As soon as they disembarked, they gave their names and were led by a male disciple to the training ground for the Basic Sword Technique.

To avoid disrupting the daily training of the Core Disciples, Qingfei Mountain had set aside a large, separate area specifically for teaching the widely practiced basic Swordsmanship.

Su Yaping was in charge of instruction there and had also erected a total of nine stone tablets inscribed with Sword techniques on the grounds.

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