The Decaying World

This Nine-Life Lock was a one-time use ability that consumed the Fog Emperor’s own nine avatars. It completely locked onto Lin Hui, neutralizing all his abilities related to revival, recovery, and regeneration.

"Stars." At that moment, Lin Hui spread his arms, his Dual Swords in hand.

Four Sacred Forms of Wind suddenly burst from his body, each one simultaneously executing a Sword Technique.

Life, Death, Heaven, Earth.

In an instant, the four Sacred Forms merged into one and fused into Lin Hui’s body.

Everything in existence slowed down at this moment.

Above their heads, innumerable silver-blue stars emerged, twinkling like a myriad of blinking eyes.

SHHHH-SHHHH-SHHHH-SHHHH!!

A dense rain of innumerable star-like lights fell from the sky, blanketing a vast area around the Fog Emperor and Lin Hui.

"This...!?" The Fog Emperor struggled to move, only to find that no matter how hard he fought, he couldn’t escape the terrifying, immense force pinning him in place.

He was horrified. ’According to the intel on Lin Hui, he’s never used a Sword Technique like this.’

’This unprecedented, alien power... it’s not Disaster Energy. It’s some kind of magnificent, vast power of the stars!’

’No!!’

’That... isn’t a physical entity!!’

’It’s...’

The Fog Emperor’s eyes snapped wide open.

The next moment, it was as if he could see innumerable stars releasing their splendor across the universe. All that light converged, forming a terrifyingly majestic pillar of light the size of a planet, which then came crashing down.

BOOM!!!

An endless tide of silver-blue Star Power completely submerged him.

CRACK.

Lin Hui slowly retracted his swords.

All the Star Power vanished. Not far in front of him, the Fog Emperor’s body was slowly disintegrating and dissipating.

In truth, the essence of Breath of the Stars was as a non-physical, soul-focused killing blow.

Its destructive power manifested primarily in the soul and Heart and Spirit; its physical aspect was actually weaker than the standard four forms.

’So...’

SHLICK!

The next instant, a Horse-Cutting Saber slashed diagonally across his torso.

Blood splattered out.

Lin Hui’s eyes widened. He retreated at top speed, dodging the second slash that followed.

His senses rapidly tracked and locked onto the source of the attack.

There, a new Fog Emperor had appeared.

This Fog Emperor showed no trace of anger on his face. Instead, his expression was utterly frigid. He wielded a white Emperor Lock, completely different from the last, and closed in at extreme speed.

"Heaven’s Hate Nine Slashes!"

The Emperor Lock in his hand split into nine, its power amplified ninefold as it locked down the space around Lin Hui.

At the Breaking Realm level, abilities that relied on rapid movement through space were severely hampered. When space itself was being distorted and torn apart, even evasion and teleportation were significantly slowed.

At this moment, Lin Hui felt those restrictions firsthand.

The space was warped and fluctuating violently, making it impossible for him to properly execute his Body Technique.

"Who are you!?" he demanded in a low voice, continuously parrying and dodging.

"He was the Wrath Body. I am the Ruthless Body," the Fog Emperor said coolly. "If you can defeat me, you will then face my true self."

Compared to his previous incarnation, his current strength—both power and speed—was at least four times greater.

’I thought with my power amplification, I’d definitely be able to suppress him this time.’

But to the Fog Emperor’s surprise, as his own power increased, so too did Lin Hui’s speed and strength.

"Interesting..." Lin Hui smiled. "You still have time to play these avatar games with me? In a little while, you’ll be forced to watch your own home world be utterly destroyed."

The extensive wounds on his body healed and vanished at incredible speed under the restorative power of his Undying Sacred Eye.

The Fog Emperor remained expressionless, but the power behind the Slicing Blade in his hand grew stronger.

Blow after blow at the Breaking Realm level forced Lin Hui to continuously retreat and evade.

Unlike Emperor Lock and the others, who needed their full power just to reach the Breaking Realm, the Fog Emperor’s current strength was such that a single, casual slash could rip open massive cracks in space.

At this Realm, their battle was no longer about simple metrics like speed and power.

It was their various special abilities and killing blows that were the true deciding factors.

The Fog Emperor’s power now surpassed Lin Hui’s, but his speed couldn’t keep up. Thus, he had no choice but to lock down and disrupt the surrounding space to restrict Lin Hui’s movement.

So Lin Hui simply stopped trying to move. He directly activated the Micro-flash Special Effect, combining it with the Star Power of the Wind of Surrounding to simultaneously dodge and withstand the attacks.

An occasional backhanded sword strike from him could still draw blood and force the Fog Emperor to retreat.

At their level, their physical fortitude had long surpassed the comprehension of people like Yuanhe. As Emperor Lock had said before, even if they stood still and offered no resistance, an attacker without Breaking Realm-level strength couldn’t even breach their passive defenses, let alone wound them.

With the space around them disrupted, both of their speed and power were forcibly capped at a certain limit.

One relied on continuous amplification from his Cultivation and enhancements from various Special Effects.

The other relied on the stacking amplification he received after the death of his Wrath Body.

Caught in this torrent of power, and with neither able to find a weakness to quickly defeat the other, the two entered a temporary stalemate.

*

*

*

「On the surface, in the Imperial City.」

Rumbling tremors shook the entire Imperial City. Massive ripples spread outward from the edges of the city’s landmass.

A flood of people streamed out of the city. The powerful flew from the rooftops, soaring away.

Ordinary people on horseback or in carriages crammed together, trickling slowly through the city exits.

The Three Greats, responsible for internal administration, coordinated with the Government Office. They didn’t manage the crowds right away; instead, they first evacuated their own families’ wealth and important members, fleeing the Imperial City.

Yuanhe and the others rushed out from underground.

The first thing they saw upon looking up was the square patch of sky visible from the courtyard, which had now faintly turned a pale blue.

The surrounding pavilions were cold, empty, and deserted.

Clearly, a signal had been given long ago. People had fled their homes and workplaces, escaping toward the safety of the distance.

"What do we do now!?"

Xiao Jinghan hovered in mid-air, beating his wings, and looked at Yuanhe, the last one to emerge.

"The fallout from this could be immense..." Yuanhe said, recalling the scene of the Daoist Master facing the abyssal vortex.

The battle between him and the Fog Emperor would not end simply. They were two of the most powerful experts in the world; he couldn’t even imagine what their fight to the death would look like.

"This is the battle that will decide the fate of the world!" Xia Si said grimly. She took a breath, about to say more, when her expression suddenly changed. She reached out and grabbed at the empty air.

A few wisps of a blue-black, hair-like current of air materialized in her palm.

"What is this!?" Her expression changed as she carefully examined the wisps of air.

"It’s wind!" Su Yaping, who was beside her, also recognized the source of the current, and her face fell.

"The Daoist Master... opened the passage to that place!!"

They had all gained the Qingyuan Body through their Cultivation of the Seal Technique, and so had all come into contact with Wind Disaster Energy to some degree.

So now, they naturally recognized the essence of this current at a single glance.

It was a current of infinitely diluted Wind Disaster Power...

The others now emerged from underground one by one. This time, at least half their number had fallen down below.

As for the outcome of the battle, if not for Daoist Master Qingfeng intervening at the end, they all might have been left behind in that underground place.

And through all this, the only one who had actually achieved his goal was Yuanhe.

He had successfully reclaimed his evil half, and though only fragments remained, he had still made his true self whole.

It could be said that he was the only one who had accomplished his objective this time.

"Should we... flee?" Yuanhe asked softly.

"If the passage to that place has truly been opened, what good would fleeing do?" Xia Si said. "The only thing we can do is wait."

Having dealt with Hui Jing for years, she understood the dangers of Calamity contamination better than anyone.

If Fan Lingxi were here, she would likely feel the same way.

But at this moment, they suddenly felt unsure of who they should be rooting for.

Because if the Daoist Master won, the Wind Calamity would be unleashed, and perhaps most of the world would be destroyed anyway.

If the Fog Emperor won, at worst he would just set another limit, and the world would be re-stabilized. Perhaps far fewer places and people would be affected...

*

*

*

「Within the Home World of Decay.」

A boundless torrent of mingled blue and purple filled every gap between heaven and earth.

Lin Hui spread his arms and once again called upon the stars.

A sky full of starlight appeared above his head. As the stars shone, their light rained down. A sword of the soul, formed from the convergence of countless stars and accompanied by their brilliant flash, slammed into the Fog Emperor as he tried to dodge.

It was a Swordsmanship technique that focused purely on soul attacks; it was impossible to dodge and could only be endured head-on.

Meanwhile, affected by his home world’s growing weakness, the Disaster Energy within his body was plummeting.

The source of his Disaster Energy was the continuous supply from his Home World of Decay.

And now, the entire Home World of Decay was rapidly weakening under the assault of the immense Wind Calamity.

Vast amounts of the Power of Decay were being broken down and neutralized by the Wind Disaster Power.

Qimei’s power was locked in a constant struggle against another, equally immense power fluctuation in the Void.

But it was clear that as time passed, Qimei’s power grew ever stronger as the Wind Calamity consumed and broke down its opposition. The other power, in turn, waned as Qimei’s waxed, growing ever weaker.

Perhaps their Realms were similar in level, but the fundamental order of the Wind Calamity was higher than that of Decay. Therefore, the outcome had been decided from the very beginning.

It was the third time.

The Fog Emperor’s body materialized once more. This time, it was truly his main body.

But the power boost he received was pitifully weak, as he was unable to absorb enough Disaster Energy from his decaying world.

In contrast, the Wind Disaster Energy surrounding Lin Hui grew ever denser and more powerful.

This time, the Fog Emperor didn’t attack. He panted heavily, gripping his blade with both hands and staring daggers at Lin Hui.

He was already being suppressed and constrained by the surrounding Wind Disaster Energy.

’If I keep fighting, there’s no way I can win.’

"You’ve won..." he said, his voice laced with unconcealed hatred and resentment. "But you will gain nothing."

"I never wanted to gain anything in the first place," Lin Hui said calmly. "It’s enough to let everything fade away with the wind."

"Hehehe..." The Fog Emperor sneered. "Someone like you... you’ll become a second version of me sooner or later!"

"And when that time comes, I can’t imagine who could possibly defeat you!"

CRASH.

Suddenly, the space of the entire Home World of Decay shattered like a mirror.

It wasn’t just the space around them. This time, in the distance, and even further beyond—the sky, the earth, everywhere their Heart and Spirit could reach—all of space shattered in perfect synchrony.

The purple aura of decay, which had been struggling to hold on, finally dissipated completely, submerged by the blue Wind Disaster Power.

An endless wave of blue washed over the Fog Emperor’s body, rapidly breaking him down into fine, blue particles.

"Loneliness breeds fear... Fear grows into disgust and anger... Hehehehe... I’ll be waiting for you... waiting for the day you become me..." With that, the Fog Emperor’s final body completely disintegrated and vanished.

Lin Hui watched it all unfold without a word.

He slowly turned to face the blue-robed old man who had appeared behind him at some unknown point.

"Are you happy?" Qimei asked. The crazed look he’d worn when he first appeared was completely gone, replaced by a calm, profound, and reserved expression.

"I don’t know," Lin Hui replied.

Now that the Fog Emperor was dead, the problem Lin Hui had to face was no longer the forces of decay, but how to deal with Qimei and the Wind Calamity he himself had unleashed.

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