The Decaying World

The identity of the explorer was now certain: it was the Tianxin Gang’s King of Benevolence—Yuanhe.

If Lin Hui had only given a cursory glance before and failed to recognize the man’s true identity, then after careful observation now, he knew who the King of Benevolence truly was. He also understood why Yuanhe had to go to the Court Abyss—his other half lay dormant there. If he failed to retrieve it, he risked developing a fractured personality sooner or later.

Moreover, his maximum lifespan had also been drastically reduced.

This was the fundamental reason he had used the name of the Tianxin Gang’s King of Benevolence to rapidly unite all possible allies.

Lin Hui floated without moving. Around him, the sky darkened and brightened, then darkened again.

Like a statue, he remained rooted to his spot, perfectly still.

Directly below, the masters of the Tianxin Gang began to be mobilized and assembled.

The Tianxin Gang’s first wave of reconnaissance had begun.

Lin Hui observed a group of masters, specialists in preliminary intelligence and reconnaissance, being dispatched.

He hadn’t left, and was constantly monitoring the Tianxin Gang’s activities below.

Within a radius of several hundred kilometers, he could perceive every detail at will. It was merely a question of whether he chose to.

Yuanhe’s power was now on par with that of the Fog People. He had grown with incredible speed, yet this was apparently just a fraction of his true strength. The bulk of his power had entered the Court Abyss to face its challenges, only to vanish.

No wonder he was unwilling to submit to anyone.

Lin Hui watched quietly, waiting.

More than three months passed. Finally, a host of powerful auras began to converge on the Tianxin Gang.

Numerous experts from all over arrived in Tianchong, their numbers exceeding a thousand.

The weakest among them were at the Palace Master level, while the strongest were peak Blood Ancestors, or even former Fog People who had since regressed in power.

Among the truly powerful, there were also three others: Xia Si, Su Yaping, and Fan Lingxi. Lin Hui was surprised the Tianxin Gang had managed to rope them in as well.

Besides them, Lin Hui detected several others whose life auras were of a similar essential quality.

One was from a race he was somewhat familiar with—the Sparrow People.

A Sparrow Person in a wide-brimmed bamboo hat and white cloak stood atop the mast of a rapidly approaching freighter. His figure was perfectly still, a Longsword hanging at his waist.

He cut the figure of a peerless swordsman.

Another was a tall Half-giant from the Divine Alliance, a Divine Scion with a third golden eye on his forehead known as the Copper God.

The fellow stood five meters tall, his skin like cast bronze, hard and metallic.

After deliberating in Tianchong for several days, these individuals finally bid farewell to their friends and formed the ultimate team, bound for the Court Abyss to explore and vanquish all that lay within.

Then, Tianchong City activated its colossal formation.

A vast, ethereal purple light surged skyward, drawing upon the power of all present and funneling it into Yuanhe and his small group.

In an instant, their power was elevated to a level that made even Lin Hui take notice.

’This doesn’t seem like an ordinary infusion...’

Just as Lin Hui was observing carefully, a low voice drifted over from a distance to his right.

The voice seemed to be muttering to itself, unaware that Lin Hui was also present.

Lin Hui looked up, his gaze sweeping across the area.

He had noticed the person approaching but had dismissed them as a passerby. He hadn’t expected this fellow was also here to observe.

His objective was quite clear.

On the distant sea of fog, a scruffy, white-haired old man held a wine gourd in one hand and rubbed his large, red nose with the other. His bleary old eyes were fixed on the scene below.

The man was dressed no differently from a common street beggar, but the very fact that he could fly so high meant his strength was at least that of a Blood Ancestor.

Lin Hui glanced at the figures of several Blood Ancestors who had just flown past below. None of them had detected the old man, which clearly meant his ability to conceal his aura surpassed theirs.

As for his exact level of power, the man concealed it so well that one would have to see him in action to find out.

’That’s not right... I could’ve sworn I felt someone’s presence over here...’ The old man was now looking left and right in Lin Hui’s direction, as if he had truly found a trace of something.

This took Lin Hui by surprise.

Aside from that undying lot like Taishang Bailu, this was the first person he had encountered since the Limitation who could sense his presence.

He could now manipulate the surrounding air currents with ease, distorting his own aura to conceal his presence.

Yet this man had somehow detected him.

Deciding it was no longer worth the effort to hide, he dropped his concealment and simply materialized in front of the man.

"Are you looking for me?"

!? The old man, startled by the figure that had abruptly materialized so close, tumbled backward a dozen times before managing to stabilize himself.

He then stared at Lin Hui as if he had seen a ghost.

"So close!? You were this close to me the whole time!?"

"..." Lin Hui didn’t deign to answer such a pointless question. He simply waited for the man to answer his.

"Forget it. I’m a magnanimous old man; I won’t bicker with you," the old man muttered, consoling himself. He then sized Lin Hui up, his brow furrowed in thought.

"And who might you be, esteemed master? I am Du Qiankun of Wanhe!"

"Never heard of you." Lin Hui instantly lost interest. He had passed through the Wanhe Empire before and had never heard of any Du Qiankun.

’Clearly just some nameless nobody with a bit of power.’

"Sigh... True enough. This old man has always kept a low profile, so it’s normal for a junior like you not to have heard of me. But since you’re also here to observe the Tianxin Gang, you must be like me, planning to trail them to the Court Abyss in secret, right?" Du Qiankun had guessed Lin Hui’s intentions instantly.

"Yes," Lin Hui replied succinctly.

"That’s the spirit!" The old man slapped his thigh. "Me too! I’ve been waiting to make a move on that Court Abyss for over a hundred years. I was about to go when that Martial Saint made his attempt, but he was too quick. By the time I got here, he was already gone. This time, I came early and laid low, and now I’ve finally caught a fresh attempt in the making." The old man mumbled, but his gaze pierced through the clouds and mist, landing squarely on a middle-aged woman below who had just joined the group.

The woman, named Zhang Feng, was a top master from the Wanhe Empire. Among those heading to the Court Abyss with Yuanhe’s group, she was the only Pharmacist, and her Blood Heart ability was restorative in nature.

The woman was plain in appearance, with dark skin and a disposition as unyielding as bedrock. Her attire was a far cry from the mature, glamorous Xia Si.

But the old man’s gaze never once left her.

Watching him, a flicker of association sparked in Lin Hui’s mind. ’Du Qiankun...’

’He seemed to recall something.’

’In the historical records of the Wanhe Empire, among its many emperors, the previous one’s surname seemed to be Du.’

’The system there was different from other places. It was the kind where the great powers would fight every so often, and whoever won would become the Upper Rank.’

’The Upper Rank only ruled their own territory. It was a united empire in name only; in practice, unless there was a crisis, all the clans were autonomous.’

"Are you from the Wanhe imperial clan?" Lin Hui asked, the thought occurring to him.

"Heh heh... you figured it out..." The old man retracted his gaze and grinned.

Just as he was about to speak, his expression suddenly turned serious. He froze, turning his head to look into the distance.

Another concealed aura was approaching.

The newcomer was a woman clad in a golden dragon robe and wearing a Pearl Curtain Imperial Crown. She carried a massive Horse-Cutting Saber, her demeanor cold and stunning, her killing intent overwhelming.

"Qi Jue of the Divine Alliance?! You’re here too!?" The old man, Du Qiankun, recognized the newcomer at once, his face falling slightly.

"If you can be here, old man Du, why can’t I?" The woman showed no surprise at seeing an old acquaintance. Instead, her gaze fell upon Lin Hui, who stood nearby in his white robes.

She searched her memory but couldn’t seem to place Lin Hui’s identity.

Though the name Daoist Master Qingfeng was well-known, Lin Hui’s own features were unremarkable for a Daoist Master.

He was the strange sort whose features, despite being perfectly harmonious, somehow projected an air of utter ordinariness.

Furthermore, all of Daoist Qingfeng’s followers wore white robes and carried swords, an attire many others had taken to imitating.

This left even fewer unique characteristics by which to identify him.

"And you are...?" the woman asked, her voice deep.

"A nobody," Lin Hui replied, unwilling to waste words.

"Since you’re unwilling to speak of it, it seems we all have the same idea. We absolutely cannot allow that Imperial Lock to impose another Limitation. A third Limitation would undoubtedly affect all of us," Qi Jue of the Divine Alliance said coldly.

"Indeed. I imagine quite a few people are planning to head to the Court Abyss in secret this time. If we hadn’t pushed things along from behind the scenes, a mere group like the Tianxin Gang could never have gathered so many masters so quickly. The core issue is that everyone is afraid," the old man, Du Qiankun, nodded in deep agreement.

"Meeting like this is destiny. Since the three of us have met by chance, why not travel together?" he then suggested.

"You and I have fought for centuries, and now that your end is near, you want to just wipe the slate clean? Pretend nothing ever happened? There’s no such easy way out in this world," Qi Jue said icily. Then she glanced at Lin Hui, turned, and vanished into the distant sky.

Clearly, she had no intention of traveling with anyone.

"That woman... still as stubborn and sour as ever," Du Qiankun sighed. He then looked at Lin Hui. "Looks like it’s just the two of us now. What’s your family name, little brother?"

"...Lin," Lin Hui replied, then suddenly shot off into the distance.

Du Qiankun froze for a second. He sensed that Lin Hui was flying in the exact direction of the Tianxin Gang’s departing team below.

He hurriedly gave chase.

Without any great fanfare, after the colossal formation had gathered its power, Yuanhe led a hand-picked team of top-tier experts toward the Imperial City’s Court Abyss to complete the third challenge to break the Limitation!

There was no grand army, only a lone boat carrying seven people, speeding toward the Imperial City.

Along the way, they all focused on attuning their conditions and synchronizing their teamwork.

Meanwhile, far behind and high above them in the misty clouds, another hidden contingent of experts secretly followed, intending to act as the situation dictated as they all headed toward the Imperial City.

Lin Hui floated along at a leisurely pace. The old man had caught up and now followed beside him, chattering away incessantly about the various troubles he faced during his many years presiding over the Wanhe Empire.

It was as if the man hadn’t spoken to another soul in years; his desire to unload was overwhelming. He spouted an endless stream of nonsense, somehow managing to veer off into unrelated tangents at every possible moment.

From this torrent of nonsense, however, Lin Hui learned that he was indeed the ancient patriarch of the Wanhe Empire from six hundred years ago, hailed as the strongest of its many emperors. He was also the biological father of Zhang Feng, the woman from Wanhe on the boat below.

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