The Decaying World

’In the end, it all comes down to the Blood Seal... I should release it sooner. It would be best to continue my cultivation only after the appraisal is complete and I’ve confirmed there are no hidden dangers.’

Lin Hui formed a plan.

’Regardless, I’ll bring this group under my command first.’

A speck of white light once again appeared on his fingertip. He immediately flew down and walked toward the Abbot and the others.

Soon, Juehui and the other five had turned over a new leaf, their very beings reformed. Their eyes were all much clearer than before.

Lin Hui finally came to stand before Faming, who had watched the entire scene unfold.

Faming was now completely sealed within the crystal, lying motionless on the ground.

His eyes filled with sorrow as he watched his disciples and their descendants get brainwashed.

Only when the white-glowing fingertip pointed gently in his direction did he once again send a telepathic message.

"It’s useless. My golden body is indestructible, and my primordial spirit is fused with the earth. I am immune to such methods."

Surprised, Lin Hui still pointed at him through the crystal.

It was true. There was no effect at all.

Logically, the crystal seal of the Celestial Father Seal shouldn’t obstruct the transmission of one’s Heart and Spirit, so telepathic conversation should be possible.

But right now, when his Heart and Spirit passed through, it was like facing a huge, unyielding stone. He couldn’t find any purchase on the old monk’s golden body at all.

This finally gave Lin Hui a sense that this world was indeed a higher tier than the last one.

At least in the former Fog People World, no other type of powerhouse could resist the mind-control techniques of the Fog People.

The Fog People reigned supreme, ruling all living beings in the mortal world by relying on these techniques and the Divine Decision.

’However,’ he thought, ’if the essence of the auras of the Magical Treasures here is derived from the Insect Scripture, then immunity to these kinds of techniques would be normal.’

After all, while Faming’s method of merging with a Magical Treasure wasn’t as absolute as that of the Fog People, he maintained much more control.

In truth, the Fog People’s power was based primarily on the Evil Soldier Insect Scripture; they relied completely on their Magical Treasures.

Here, however, Faming merely borrowed the power of his Magical Treasure to strengthen his own Cultivation. The disparity between the two approaches was immediately obvious.

In comparison, the Fog People seemed to just recklessly wield the power of the Evil Soldier Insect Scripture, whereas Faming used the Scripture’s power more efficiently, evolving himself to a high degree and concentrating its might.

"Sir, what is your ultimate goal in doing all this?" Faming sighed. "My Red Sand Temple is just an ordinary Buddhist temple struggling to survive... We can’t compare to great temples like Iron Buddha or Golden Lake."

"No special purpose," Lin Hui replied bluntly. "I’m just curious. I want to understand what level the Netherworld and the Celestial Court are on, and what Realm a Heavenly Immortal truly represents."

"Heavenly Immortal..." The old monk fell silent, the sorrow on his face deepening.

"What is it? Do you know something?" Lin Hui signaled for Juehui and the others to leave and pacify the other monks who were gathering outside. He remained alone with Faming to talk in the dilapidated main hall.

"Actually... for many years, numerous Cultivators, both domestic and foreign, have been unable to contact the Celestial Court," Faming said in a low voice. "As for the Netherworld, only some of its fixed, automated mechanisms still respond. The actual deities of the Netherworld haven’t truly appeared in over a hundred years..."

"But wasn’t it said that summons were rejected during the last great war? If there was a rejection, doesn’t that mean someone is still there?" Lin Hui asked, frowning.

"That was just the public explanation. In truth... when we tried to make contact, both the Netherworld and the Celestial Court were completely empty... There was no response at all," Faming whispered.

"What in the world is going on?" Lin Hui felt he was getting closer to the truth.

"Later, some grandmasters from major sects, great powers with heaven-defying Cultivation who could achieve the status of a Heavenly Immortal even in the mortal world, used their magic to send projections of their spirits up into the Netherworld to investigate. They discovered that the Netherworld had long since fallen into chaos. Various ghost emperors had carved up their own territories, partitioning the Netherworld. As soon as souls arrived, they were either devoured or forcibly conscripted into ghost armies." Faming paused before continuing.

"And the Celestial Court..."

"What about the Celestial Court?" Lin Hui pressed.

"As for the Celestial Court... every great power who sent a spirit projection there died vomiting blood that very same day. The signs before death were identical for all of them: their entire Cultivation would inexplicably vanish, leaving only an empty shell. They would vomit every drop of blood in their body and wither away. Ever since then, the great Heavenly Immortals have suffered grievous casualties. They either went into seclusion, ignoring worldly affairs, or fled overseas, never to return."

’So it’s the leaders of these larger factions who know more of the hidden truths...’

Lin Hui nodded in understanding.

"Without the protection of the Celestial Court and the Netherworld, we suffered terrible casualties in the successive wars that followed, beaten back again and again by the foreign Holy Spirits. As it stands, only Qiankun Temple and Great Golden Cloud Temple are managing to hold on, using the few immortal artifacts and Golden Talismans granted by the Celestial Court in the past to make the Holy Spirit Mage Association hesitate. Otherwise... the entire cultivation world of our Republic would have been overturned long ago."

’They sent up a spirit projection and all died vomiting blood...?’ Lin Hui had originally planned on trying this method himself, but now it seemed far too dangerous.

’In that case, how am I supposed to investigate the root cause of the rot and mutation in this place?’

’Could it be that physical ascension is the only way?’

"Yes, there were no exceptions," Faming affirmed.

’This is tricky... very tricky.’

Lin Hui hadn’t expected that even the highest echelons of the cultivation world didn’t know the actual situation in the Celestial Court.

’Then who else could know the truth about what’s up there?’

An idea quickly flashed through his mind—the Renyi Court!

’Since the Renyi Court claims to oppose the Celestial Court, they must know some of the truth.’

He immediately mentioned the Renyi Court and asked the old monk if he knew anything about it.

"The Renyi Court... Many have investigated this faction, but no one knows who its leader is. It is said, however, that they are in collusion with various warlords, local powers, and prominent clans across the country. Their actions are a mix of righteous and evil, making it hard to judge their alignment. They seem to be a very chaotic and powerful organization," Faming answered.

After saying all this, he looked at Lin Hui with a hint of expectation.

"There is no killing intent in your eyes, Sir. It seems I was correct in my judgment. I wonder, when will I be able to emerge and move freely again?"

"When you truly harbor no more hostility toward me in your heart... this seal will undo itself." Lin Hui grabbed the crystal with one hand. With a single thought, a window behind them flew open.

WHOOSH.

He and the crystal vanished from the spot simultaneously.

*

*

*

After hiding Faming somewhere underground, Lin Hui returned to the inn arranged by the organizers of the martial arts exchange and regrouped with the others.

For the next few days, while participating in what felt like a child’s game of a Martial Dao exchange between ordinary Martial Artists, he also ordered the Red Sand Temple monks to go everywhere and buy up aphrodisiacs. The other task, the assassination of the Jueshui warlord, was also easily completed by the Red Sand Temple monks.

This was a given. After all, even the warlord’s own guards were their men, making the assassination effortless.

Throughout the three-day exchange, Lin Hui frantically gathered aphrodisiacs to speed up the evolution of his Blood Seal.

His reasoning was simple. Since it was dangerous to even glimpse into the Celestial Court, relying on the Blood Seal’s appraisal ability was currently the safest approach.

Therefore, unlocking the Blood Seal’s evolution was his top priority. Moreover, the Destruction Eye, which the Blood Seal was currently evolving, possessed an undying property: so long as his eyes remained, his life would not end. This would drastically increase his chances of survival. The simplest method would be to gouge out his eyes before entering the Celestial Court, leave them in a safe place, and then ascend.

If he were to die in the Celestial Court, his eyes would regenerate his body.

With a life-saving measure and the Blood Seal’s appraisal ability secured, uncovering the truth would become much easier.

While Lin Hui was preoccupied, Wu Anning and Xie Tieniu stole the show at the exchange.

More than a dozen martial arts dojos, sects, and schools from both the northern and southern martial worlds sent disciples to the stage to spar and exchange techniques.

As a result, Wu Anning from the Pine Wind Sword Hall went up and won nine matches in a row. It was only after Lin Hui, giving face to the organizers, had him step down to show some humility.

Lin Hui found the exchange boring, but Wu Anning and Xie Tieniu were thrilled, even earning the title "Pine Wind Twins."

Liu Xuezhen, however, was the happiest of all. She had her fill of the excitement and spent her days trailing after Lin Hui, one moment bringing him delicious food and drinks, the next fussing over his well-being. Anyone could see she was falling deeper and deeper for him.

Just as it was time for them to leave, the mission was complete, and the promised reward from the Renyi Court—Light Soul Water—was delivered.

Three years’ worth of Light Soul Water, combined with a portion of the treasured aphrodisiacs from the Red Sand Temple’s inventory.

In total, they shortened Lin Hui’s evolution time by about 260 years.

The time needed for the Destruction Eye dropped from over 1,300 years to just 1,080.

His condition after consuming such a large quantity of medicine in one go allowed the old monk Faming, who had been speaking with Lin Hui frequently, to notice something unusual.

"If you require these kinds of Yang-aspected Treasure Medicines, Sir, there is a place that has a large stock."

「In the dead of night, deep underground in a Red Sand Temple branch outside Liujiang City.」

Lin Hui and Faming were chatting idly.

"Are you trying to stir up trouble again, old monk?" A few braised geese lay before Lin Hui. He casually tore off a piece with one hand and popped it into his mouth, not even bothering to spit out the bones. He simply crushed flesh and bone together and swallowed them down as if the bones were seasoning.

"I have long since detached myself from worldly matters and no longer hold any grudges against you, Sir. How could I possibly be stirring up trouble?" Faming said, his expression serene.

This sent Lin Hui into a fit of laughter. He pointed at the monk and sneered.

"Do you have any idea what the nature of my seal is? If you truly held no more hatred for me, I wouldn’t need to do a thing. The crystal would shatter on its own!"

Faming fell silent, unsure if Lin Hui was telling the truth.

So, he chose not to answer at all.

"How about this," Lin Hui said, changing the subject. "If you help me find a large quantity of these Treasure Medicines, I’ll consider letting you out."

"Truly?"

"Of course."

"When it comes to these kinds of Treasure Medicines, there is only one place in the world that has them in abundance." A faint smile touched Faming’s lips.

"Where?"

"Xianyun Pavilion."

"Where is it?" Lin Hui didn’t care that the monk was obviously trying to lead him into trouble. "If I go there and don’t find any medicine, I’ll come back and annihilate the Red Sand Temple’s entire lineage."

"A monk does not lie. Xianyun Pavilion is the nation’s largest and most powerful sect specializing in Yin-Yang dual cultivation," Faming replied. "They’ve even teamed up with the foreign Witch’s Council to establish a women’s sports university. You could say they’re the most successful sect in the country."

"....So it’s a brothel," Lin Hui said with dawning comprehension.

"Yin-Yang dual cultivation is one of the great Daos of heaven and earth. Why must you judge it by man-made morals, Sir? Righteousness and evil, good and bad, all reside within one’s heart. What is righteous one moment can be evil the next." The old monk certainly had a way with words.

"Then why don’t you try being righteous for me? My seal will release the moment you stop hating me. If you were truly righteous, you’d be magnanimous. You’d let go of your resentment, and the seal would naturally break," Lin Hui laughed.

"You’re joking again, Sir. How could such a profound Magic be undone so trivially?" Faming simply didn’t believe him.

Lin Hui shook his head. ’This old monk is so sanctimonious on the surface, but in reality, he’s incredibly narrow-minded... So what if I brainwashed a few of his disciples and grand-disciples?’

’He presents himself as a leader, yet he can’t even stomach sacrificing a few of his underlings. This act of his is nothing but a joke.’

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