The Decaying World

So, Lin Hui decided to simply fill the void with Star Power, using it as the true internal driving force for the Pine Wind Swordsmanship.

But he soon discovered another problem. The Star Power was fine as long as it remained within his true soul. However, once he mobilized it, letting it enter this body to circulate and be stored like Inner Strength, it immediately began to dissipate rapidly.

Previously, he had been using Star Power to strengthen his body and improve his aptitude. He basically used it as soon as he summoned it, so he hadn’t really noticed this issue.

Now that he was truly trying to use it as a substitute for Inner Strength, the problem became immediately apparent.

Considering the situation at the Pine Wind Sword Dojo, along with the other martial arts, saber, and sword dojos in Xidong City...

Lin Hui had a faint feeling that this world might be an extreme one, restricted to the utmost limit by some kind of confining measure.

Even Inner Strength wasn’t allowed to exist. He had tried using various Cultivation Techniques from the uninhabited world to condense and weave a web of Inner Strength, but there was never the slightest trace of it.

It was only because his Star Power was converted from the endless Wind Disaster Source Power that he could use it to strengthen himself and improve his aptitude.

SWISH!

Lin Hui casually sheathed his sword. Although it was still a Wooden Sword, it was much more refined than the crude one from three years ago. It even had a proper scabbard for protection.

Today, his routine was the same as always: practicing his swordsmanship on the surface while performing Star Power Body Tempering. He studied literature at the academy in the morning and practiced his sword at the dojo in the afternoon. This had been his basic schedule for a long time.

Because his schedule was so tight, he hadn’t had much contact with the others at the sword dojo over the years. His only real interactions were with Xiao Shishi, the dojo master’s daughter—the buck-toothed girl nicknamed Erhei.

The rest of his time was spent immersed in his own Cultivation.

As the effects of his Body Tempering began to show, he was truly starting to appreciate the benefits of good aptitude.

Although this body couldn’t cultivate Inner Strength or True Power, his Heart and Spirit could be trained.

Therefore, he also practiced a Divine Decision Cultivation Technique for the Heart and Spirit.

During his many years as the Deputy City Lord of Black Cloud City, he had collected complete sets of various Divine Decisions. After some consideration, he chose the one he was most familiar with as a transitional and experimental technique: the Jiuhua Divine Decision.

This was a Divine Decision from the Rain Palace, one that Liu Xiao and Liu Wu Jun had also practiced, so he was very familiar with its various cultivation details.

Lin Hui took the parts that tempered the Heart and Spirit and used them to continue training and strengthening his own. His Heart and Spirit was fundamentally propped up purely by his Special Effects.

The effect of the Demon Fragrance could increase his Mental Power by one standard unit every day, but this enhancement didn’t grant him perfect control.

Thus, training his control had become the weakness he now needed to address. That was why he had chosen to practice a Divine Decision.

Aside from that, he spent most of his time practicing the Great Yin Yang Time Reversal Sword Technique. The Cultivation of this Sword technique was not dependent on the environment at all; it only relied on one’s own self-enhancement.

As long as he had Star Power, cultivating the Sword technique only required finding a Time String to begin.

’As for how to find a Time String...’

CRACK.

CRACK. CRACK.

Suddenly, the crisp sound of slapping interrupted Lin Hui’s thoughts.

He glanced toward the area beyond the wall to the right of the training ground. Outside was an unmarked graveyard, overgrown with weeds and swarming with mosquitoes. Few people ever went there.

But now...

"I won’t do it again! I won’t do it again!" a faint cry suddenly came from beyond the wall.

Lin Hui frowned slightly, recognizing the voice.

It was Wu Anning, the tallest and largest female student in the training ground.

The girl was tall and large, but quite pretty. She had entered the training ground as a crude martial artist, but because of her timid, submissive nature, she was often bullied by the other students.

Lin Hui had seen it happen a few times. Unable to watch, he had warned them once. But after seeing that Wu Anning was still just as cowardly, he stopped intervening.

He wasn’t some saint who had to help someone countless times after helping them once.

The root of the problem was that Wu Anning herself was too soft-tempered.

The sounds he heard now seemed to be slaps to the face, mixed with the thud of a club striking flesh.

Lin Hui couldn’t be bothered to interfere and was about to leave.

"Da Niu, get on her! Ruin her!" a hushed female voice suddenly came from beyond the wall.

"What are you doing!? What are you doing!?" Wu Anning’s struggles and shouts immediately followed.

Lin Hui’s expression remained unchanged as he walked out of the training ground and followed the wall to the source of the sound.

In a small patch of dirt between the unmarked graveyard and the wall, a clearing had been artificially created, free of weeds.

Wu Anning’s clothes had been torn to shreds. She was naked, cowering in a corner, covering her private parts as tears streamed down her face.

Her wheat-colored skin was covered in bloody welts left by a club.

And the one leading the group bullying her was none other than the dojo master’s daughter, Xiao Shishi.

When she saw Lin Hui approaching, Xiao Shishi panicked and quickly dropped the club in her hand.

"Lin Hui, you... what are you doing here!?" she stammered, taking two steps back.

"All of you, scram," Lin Hui said.

"But..." Xiao Shishi tried to say more. A single glance from Lin Hui, however, sent a chill down her spine. She couldn’t utter another word. She could only lower her head, call to the other three students from the sword dojo, and hurry away.

Soon, the backs of the four disappeared into the tall grass, leaving only Lin Hui and the weeping Wu Anning, her head bowed low.

"Get dressed," Lin Hui said.

Crying, Wu Anning hurried to pick up her shredded clothes. But after putting them all back on, they only covered her lower body, failing to hide the magnificent curves of her upper half.

Lin Hui took off his outer jacket and tossed it to her.

Although he was only eight, he was already built like a thirteen or fourteen-year-old. Combined with his years of training, he was strong and robust, giving him an intimidating presence. His jacket was just big enough to cover the equally large Wu Anning.

"Your Swordsmanship is better than theirs, and you’re bigger than them. Why didn’t you fight back?" Lin Hui asked.

"I... I..." Wu Anning’s eyes were red as she quickly put on the jacket.

"Speak. I need to go home soon," Lin Hui said, glancing at the sky with a hint of impatience.

"Guo... Guo Xudong was peeping on me while I was changing... Miss Xiao found out... She said she’d rip my face apart... She..." Wu Anning started to cry again as she spoke.

"I asked you why you didn’t fight back," Lin Hui said with a frown.

"I... I didn’t dare... My little brother... They said if I fought back, they’d go get my little brother and force him to eat... eat Redstone..." Wu Anning trembled, her voice a timid whisper.

Redstone Powder, or Redstone for short, was an addictive drug extracted from a plant called Redstone Grass.

Lin Hui was speechless. This world was truly...

"Go home," he said, waving his hand dismissively and turning to leave.

Seeing this, Wu Anning started crying again. She quickly knelt and kowtowed lightly in his direction, repeatedly murmuring, "Thank you, thank you."

Lin Hui didn’t stop, walking along the street toward his family’s courtyard home.

The people selling themselves on the street had been replaced by a new group. Now, they were selling their sons and daughters, kneeling on the ground with simple wooden planks inscribed with prices in sloppy charcoal writing.

The prices were all very low. It was clear they were selling their children just to give them a bite to eat—a hope of survival.

When he reached his front door, he could hear his dad, Lin Xiangnan, in a heated discussion with someone inside.

"We’ve had three straight years of disasters! The higher-ups aren’t providing any relief, and now they’re adding an extra levy for military grain? Are they trying to starve all the common people to death?"

"It’s worse than that. I heard the collection order from above was for two million kilograms of rice and grain, but by the time it got down to the local level, someone had added to it, turning it into three million. That’s an extra burden of a full million kilograms! The farmers in the countryside can barely survive as it is. If this continues, even the city will face famine this year!" The other person was also a man, not young, his voice low and full of worry.

"Despicable!" Lin Xiangnan slammed his palm on the table.

"I came from Huaizhong, and what I saw along the way... In the countryside, people are trading their children to eat them. Nine out of ten homes are empty, and the roadsides are littered with piles of white bones. The living I saw all had swollen faces with dried blood around their mouths and noses. It’s a living hell! These damned warlords, for their own selfish interests..."

"Watch what you say!" Lin Xiangnan quickly reminded him. "Regardless, you must count me in for this joint operation!"

"No, you can’t. You’re different from the rest of us. You have a family, a child. If you go, what will happen to them? You’re currently a private tutor for Commander Xu’s family. Not only can you ensure your family’s stability, but you can also gather a lot of secret information for our brothers and sisters. That is your greater purpose! Xiangnan, you must not act on impulse! Your family needs you, and everyone in the association needs you too!" the man urged with sincere emotion.

"Sigh!" Lin Xiangnan let out a long, reluctant sigh, his voice trailing off. He had clearly been convinced.

"Dad, I’m back," Lin Hui called out, deliberately making his footsteps loud.

There was a pause from inside, then Lin Xiangnan’s voice quickly replied.

"There’s pumpkin and millet congee in the kitchen. Go get a bowl. Your mother went out to buy goods for the New Year. We have to go to your maternal grandfather’s place today to celebrate early. You should hurry up and pack your things, we’ll be leaving in a bit."

"Got it," Lin Hui replied.

He had actually known for years that his father in this life had joined a youth organization, something like a national salvation society. He just pretended not to know or understand.

After all, his goal was to find the cause of the mutation at the source of the decay.

He had gathered some clues from his intelligence gathering and observations over the past few years. Now that he had some leads, he naturally paid less attention to other matters.

In any case, as long as nothing happened, it was fine. If they did run into danger, he could just step in and forcefully protect his family’s safety.

As Lin Hui entered the inner courtyard, he brushed past a middle-aged man wearing a long gray robe and a long black scarf.

The man gave him a friendly smile.

Lin Hui nodded back but didn’t greet him.

He walked over to Lin Xiangnan.

"Besides clothes, what else do I need to pack for the trip?"

"What about the gifts? Have you prepared gifts for your grandpa and grandma?" Lin Xiangnan, having just composed himself, asked irritably.

"Got it," Lin Hui nodded.

"Oh, right. That uncle who just left—don’t tell anyone you saw him. Just pretend you never saw him," Lin Xiangnan quickly instructed.

"Fine."

"And remember to be quiet on this trip. Don’t make your grandpa and the others angry. Something strange has been happening at their shop recently. They’ve been trying to deal with it for a long time without success, so they’re at their wits’ end right now," Lin Xiangnan added.

"Understood."

"Sigh..." Seeing how sensible his son was, Lin Xiangnan couldn’t help but feel a pang of fear for his own impulsiveness just now. ’If I had really gone...’

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