The Decaying World

CRACK...

Lin Hui strained, a terrifying power attempting to break free from the strange restraint.

But this solidifying force was far greater than he had imagined.

And from the look on Iron Buddha’s face, this power didn’t seem to be coming from him at all; he showed no signs of strain as Lin Hui exerted his own strength.

While he was trying to break free, Iron Buddha began rapidly absorbing the golden light from the formation at his feet, covering his body in it. In an instant, his entire being turned into something akin to forged gold, shimmering brilliantly.

"Let me show you what the Heavenly Dao truly is!"

He roared, his body striking a strange pose, like one seen on a statue of an Arhat.

One hand formed a vertical palm, the other a fist. He spun, sweeping the back of his fist toward the side of Lin Hui’s neck.

The blow didn’t look like it could generate much force, but what came with Iron Buddha’s strike wasn’t just his fist. There was also an invisible spatial spike covering it.

This spatial spike was invisible, yet it was like a solid object. Space distorted wherever it passed.

The effect of the punch before it even arrived was enough for Lin Hui to know that the body of this life alone could not possibly withstand it.

He sighed internally. Suddenly, a flash of white light erupted from behind him.

WHOOSH!

A pure white, translucent form of himself shot out from his back. The immense shockwave from its emergence tore through the surroundings, creating a sharp, ripping sound.

The white light flashed past, instantly slamming into the center of Iron Buddha’s body and passing straight through him.

PFFT.

Iron Buddha stood stunned, his punching posture frozen. He made no further movements.

Two seconds later...

Two lines of blood slowly appeared on his left and right arms, starting from the shoulder joints.

With a dull thud, his entire body crumpled to its knees. His legs had been severed cleanly at the kneecaps, with nothing left behind.

"You... Why... are you unharmed?!" Iron Buddha struggled to keep his eyes open. Streams of pure golden energy escaped from his wounds, only to be madly absorbed by purple tentacles that appeared in the space around him.

Lin Hui watched as one of the holy forms that had flown from his body was also absorbed by the tentacles until it dissipated, before re-forming inside him once more.

"Luck, perhaps?"

He didn’t tell the truth. Instead, he lifted a hand, and a layer of translucent crystal rapidly spread upward from below, sealing Iron Buddha within.

Later, he planned to build a special repository for all his sealed opponents and store them together.

That way, he could go in and check on them whenever he needed, to interrogate them for specific information.

For some reason, the thought of a future desolate, empty hall filled with row after row of densely packed crystal pillars, all neatly arranged and evenly spaced, each one containing a former opponent with a unique form and expression...

...the very thought of this scene filled Lin Hui’s heart with a strange sense of comfort.

With a loud CRACK, Iron Buddha’s body suddenly flared with golden light. At the center of his chest, a dazzling golden orb was frantically releasing immense golden flames and intense heat.

As the flames drew near, even before they made contact, Lin Hui felt a strange sense of incongruity.

These flames didn’t seem to be physically hot; rather, they created a sensation of intense heat within one’s Heart and Spirit.

This was evident from the fact that the floor of the underground palace beneath the flames remained completely unharmed.

Using the power of these burning flames, Iron Buddha actually managed to forcefully break free from the Celestial Father Seal’s containment for the first time.

This made Lin Hui’s eyes widen slightly.

"Heart Like the Wisdom King!" Iron Buddha roared, the sound transmitted directly through a tremor in the Heart and Spirit.

The arms and legs that had been severed from his body now instantly re-formed into three pairs of golden limbs.

Golden Buddhist seals flew and spun rapidly around him in mid-air.

"Die!"

In an instant, Iron Buddha vanished and reappeared directly in front of Lin Hui, his six arms suddenly grabbing for Lin Hui’s shoulders.

This was far faster than the Red Sand Temple’s Earth Immortal. It was as if he hadn’t moved at all, but had simply jumped from one point to another.

It was point-to-point teleportation.

BZZZT!!

The surrounding ground sank violently. The six arms pressed down, forcing the entire underground palace dozens of meters deeper into the earth.

But this immense force seemed to have no effect on Lin Hui. He remained standing in place, his eyes suddenly flashing with countless star-like silver specks of light.

Then, unbelievably, he naturally lifted his hand as if the solidifying spatial lock didn’t exist.

He extended his index finger.

And gently tapped toward the center of Iron Buddha’s brow.

His movement was so gentle, as if no force was hindering him at all. It was just a simple lift of his hand.

CRACK.

Suddenly, in the darkness of the underground palace, a young and delicate face slowly emerged from the shadows cast by the golden light.

"Ma... Master...?"

It was a young monk. He seemed to be related to Iron Buddha by blood. He was wearing a simple, grayish-white monk’s robe and holding a bowl of freshly brewed medicinal soup, which exuded a strong herbal scent.

PFFT.

He could only watch, wide-eyed, as that index finger gently tapped the center of Iron Buddha’s brow, and then, just like that, pierced deep into his skull like a sharp sword, entering his brain cavity!

"...No... This can’t be...!"

The young monk’s voice trembled as he stumbled back a few steps, the medicinal soup in his hands crashing to the ground.

"Go...!!" Iron Buddha, now aware of the young monk’s arrival, struggled to shout.

"Go!! Yun Xiu!!"

"Master...!"

"Just go!!"

Iron Buddha grabbed Lin Hui’s arm. His six arms strained with all their might, his entire body glowing with an ever-brighter golden light.

But no matter how much strength he used, he couldn’t fight against Lin Hui, who had now tapped into the power of his true body.

Having now cultivated the Great Yin Yang Time Reversal Sword Technique to the Perfection of the Second Layer, his body and Heart and Spirit were countless times stronger than when he first arrived in this world.

Furthermore, he didn’t need to worry about consuming Star Power and could freely use his Cultivation to amplify his strength. The difference between them was like heaven and earth.

SHHCK.

Lin Hui withdrew his index finger. A patch of pearly white crystal began to spread out from the bloody hole in Iron Buddha’s brow.

This time, he had started the seal from deep within the man’s brain. There shouldn’t be any more problems.

A Heavenly Immortal’s life force was extremely strong—he had just verified that. After merging with that golden Magical Treasure, his opponent’s power had increased dramatically, and he could instantly regenerate severed limbs.

That being the case, he would just seal him in crystal from the brain outward.

He watched as Iron Buddha was finally enveloped in layers of crystal, unable to move.

His gaze shifted to the young monk.

"Do you know what the meaning of life is?" he asked softly.

"...?!" The young monk trembled all over, his face streaked with tears, as he stared blankly at Iron Buddha, who was now sealed in a crystal pillar.

SHIING!

The next instant, a golden light from the underground formation suddenly flared up, enveloping the boy. It flashed upward and vanished.

Lin Hui didn’t give chase. He just stood there quietly.

"It seems you’ve found your own meaning..."

In truth, there was no deep-seated hatred between him and Iron Buddha. It was simply that he wanted a scout for the Celestial Court, and Iron Buddha was unwilling. At the same time, Iron Buddha had his own designs on him. Neither of them was a good person.

It was just that from the young monk’s perspective, perhaps he was the irredeemable villain.

Gazing in the direction the boy had fled, Lin Hui suddenly had an epiphany.

’So... the meaning of life is sometimes set in motion by others...’

A sudden breeze blew through the underground palace, and both the man and the crystal disappeared without a sound.

*

*

*

「The Western Heaven.」

"I’ve lost my way... the way of existence... Why... Why do none of you ever seem to be lost?"

"I... I don’t know!!" a terrified female voice shrieked. "Let go! Let go of me!!"

PFFT.

Golden divine blood splattered across the white jade flagstones.

The green-eyed man gently pulled the unconscious Queen of the Gods, Fula, toward him, then grabbed the back of her head and pressed it against the center of his chest.

A horrifying scene unfolded.

The unconscious and severely wounded queen’s entire head began to melt, merging into his chest.

HSSS...

In just a few seconds, the second-ranked deity of the entire Western Heaven—Queen Fula, the powerful goddess of marriage and procreation—was completely absorbed into his body and vanished.

"No confusion, no regrets... Why... Why can’t I be like that, no matter what I do...?"

The man dropped the dress in his hand and wandered blankly toward the next hiding place of the gods.

At this very moment, in the mortal realm...

According to the intelligence provided by the Renyi Court, the closest Heavenly Immortal faction to the Iron Buddha Temple was not one of the other two great Buddhist temples, but the Slender Cloud Pavilion.

This all-female sect, which had successfully escaped the Jiuan Uprising and survived the turbulent years, now had no ground to grow within the country. They merged with some of the witches from the Esindocini nation who remained in the country and rebuilt the Slender Cloud Pavilion in a small, nearby foreign country called Meian.

The straight-line distance from the Iron Buddha Temple to the country of Meian was less than two hundred kilometers.

After tapping into the power of his true body, Lin Hui spent only about ten minutes using his Heart and Spirit to sweep the area and directly locate Yao Ying of the Slender Cloud Pavilion.

The two of them were actually still in contact. Because of their medicinal supply arrangement, Yao Ying had received a great deal of gold from Lin Hui.

After the establishment of the New Republic, she even sent someone to deliver her specific contact address, and the two frequently corresponded by letter.

Now that Lin Hui had come to her door, Yao Ying was quite happy to receive and entertain him.

The two met in a private club on the most prosperous commercial street in the area.

"Connect to the Celestial Court?!" Hearing Lin Hui’s demand, Yao Ying, who considered herself to have seen it all, was startled.

"Only our Supreme elder is qualified to contact the Celestial Court. Senior Lin, you should be aware of how dangerous the Celestial Court is right now. Isn’t making such a request a bit too reckless...?"

"This is not a request," Lin Hui said, picking up his tea. "It’s a demand."

"Senior Lin... you are indeed powerful, but my Slender Cloud Pavilion is no pushover. If you think we’re easy to bully after the calamities we’ve been through, then you’ve gravely miscalculated." Yao Ying’s brow furrowed. She stood up, her tone hostile.

"The Slender Cloud Pavilion has done its fair share of forcing good people into prostitution and kidnapping innocents. Otherwise, why would you have needed to flee here to put down new roots?" Lin Hui said flatly. "Out of respect for our many years of cooperation, I’ll give you three minutes to consider."

"You!!" Yao Ying’s expression changed drastically, and she was about to lash out. Suddenly, she felt an extremely heavy pressure crashing down on her.

BANG!!

As if struck head-on by an immense, invisible force, she was instantly sent flying backward, smashing into the thick concrete wall by the window.

She knew Lin Hui was strong, but she had never realized he was *this* strong.

With just a thought, with just simple pressure from his Heart and Spirit, he could conjure an invisible force and send her flying!

At this moment, she felt as if she were submerged in extremely thick mud. Every movement, even trying to speak, was incredibly difficult.

The layers of terrifying pressure spreading out from him left her without even the strength to pull herself out of the wall.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!