The Decaying World

"What... what in the world just happened!?"

In a distant church.

The leaders of the Heavenly Immortal factions had lost all their monitoring methods the moment Lin Hui unleashed the Breath of the Stars.

The vast, dark, starry sky that covered everything had completely cut off the flow of any non-stellar energy.

The terrifying stellar energy descending from between the stars possessed the same boundless, mighty characteristics as the Wind Disaster Power.

It originated from the stars and was converted from Disaster Energy; it was the star clusters’ most powerful weapon against Disaster Energy.

At this very moment, streaks of starlight rained down, shining directly on the Heaven-Reaching Tower.

It illuminated that small area in a swathe of silver-white.

It looked like a giant, silver-white pillar of light descending from the heavens.

Before anyone could guess the battle’s outcome, the starlight dissipated and the darkness receded.

It was as if everything that had just happened was merely an illusion.

"Is it over?? Who... who won!?" Master Jade Coin asked hesitantly.

"There was no clear winner. The formation was destroyed. The one from above didn’t come down, and the one from here couldn’t get up." Mackenzie’s sensory measures, arranged around the formation, were still somewhat useful. After all, this was territory his side had managed for years, so he knew a bit more than the others.

"So now... what should we do?" someone couldn’t help but ask in a low voice.

The question was naturally directed to the last remaining leaders of the East and West.

Mackenzie and Master Jade Coin exchanged a look, both sighing inwardly.

"Fortunately, we chose to be upfront from the beginning. Otherwise, with Infinite Wind’s temper, everyone here might have been turned into crystal pillars," Mackenzie said.

"The problem now is, where did he go!?" Master Jade Coin formed a Seal Decision, but he couldn’t sense Lin Hui’s whereabouts at all.

Meanwhile, in the city outside, countless ordinary people had stepped out of their homes because of the recent celestial spectacle of the star-filled sky.

Many believed that the brief period of darkness was some kind of special omen. Some thought the end of the world was imminent. Others believed it was a revelation of the future, a sign from the gods, but they had no idea that all the gods were already dead.

The area of effect for Lin Hui’s killing blow was so vast that far more mortals witnessed this confrontation than any before.

It had reached the point where it could no longer be concealed.

And so, one after another, official explanations for the astronomical phenomenon were released.

*

*

*

At that moment, Lin Hui had already flown high into the world’s atmosphere.

Above the boundless sea of clouds, he slowly drew his sword.

SHING!

The next instant, he sliced his blade horizontally, cutting a bright blue rift directly into space.

Within the rift was an endless, churning torrent of blue airflow.

It was the Wind Disaster Power.

In truth, he was very reluctant to seek out Qimei again. It wasn’t that Qimei treated him badly, but that the man had long been alienated by the Wind Disaster Energy, and his Heart and Spirit now gave Lin Hui an inexplicable sense of eeriness.

But this time, he had to find out the truth about his opponent.

And to prevent the Heaven Realm from reconnecting with the mortal world and causing even greater problems, the only right path was to completely destroy the other side.

If it were just a matter of getting answers, he could have easily asked Fusheng for help. But... this wasn’t just about getting answers.

At this thought, Lin Hui’s gaze toward the rift slowly calmed.

He took a step forward and gently entered the rift.

HISS.

The surrounding sea of clouds and sky was instantly replaced by a torrent of bright blue airflow.

Lin Hui had only just entered when he looked back at the rift. It was still there, and had even widened slightly.

’I have to be quick, or the rift will grow too large for even me to repair.’ He had once developed a sealing Secret Technique specifically for the Wind Calamity, but it was only effective on small-scale rifts. If this one grew any larger, it would be useless.

At that point, this world might end up being destroyed by his own hand first.

He set a rough time limit for himself in his mind, then unleashed his Body Technique, swimming forward through this endless sea of Wind Disaster Energy.

Following the connection from the mark Qimei had given him, Lin Hui protected himself with the Wind of Surrounding. This control over a power of the same origin made him feel like a fish in water. Not only was he unharmed within the Wind Disaster Energy, but his body’s affinity with the Wind Calamity actually grew stronger.

But this increasing affinity was not without a price... Once it reached a certain level, he, like Qimei, would never be able to leave the Wind Calamity, destined to become a part of it.

Before long, after unleashing his Body Technique at full speed, a magnificent and towering complex of blue crystal buildings faintly appeared high above in front of Lin Hui.

The complex looked as if it were built from blue crystal. The structures were mostly sharp like mountains, as if jagged peaks had been moved, stacked together, and then had cavities of various sizes hollowed out of them.

A giant ring of silver metal encircled the perimeter of the building complex.

The ring rotated slowly, with a few shuttle-shaped ships docked sparsely on it, apparently for entry and exit.

Lin Hui had just gotten close, still several hundred kilometers from the complex, when a hearty laugh echoed in his ears.

"Good disciple, I knew you would come looking for me! To build the great enterprise of the Jiuxiao Sect with your master!"

Qimei’s voice was transmitted directly to Lin Hui through some unknown channel, as if he were speaking right next to him.

Lin Hui slowed his Body Technique and saw a streak of blue-black light shoot out from the distant complex. It instantly arrived at his feet, transforming into a straight path.

It was clearly some kind of guiding mechanism.

He did not refuse. He stepped onto it and accelerated inward.

Before long, he passed through the ring and past the sharp, crystalline buildings, arriving at an oval, blue-gold platform floating in the innermost area.

Qimei was dressed in magnificent blue robes, wearing a blue-gold crown adorned with a jade lotus. A three-headed white fox with an ethereal, flickering body rested on his shoulder.

One of the white fox’s heads was grooming its fur, another was talking, and the third was yawning.

Besides Qimei, there was also a woman sitting on the platform. She had deathly pale skin and wore a magnificent, dark red long dress that resembled a wedding gown, complete with a golden crown on her black hair.

The woman had her back to Lin Hui, kneeling on the ground with a straight back. Her figure was curvaceous and her posture was elegant.

But as she heard the sound and slowly turned her head, all that elegance came to an abrupt end.

The woman’s face was a hollowed-out, bloody cavity.

The hole was bottomless. Spatially, the bloody pit should have only been as deep as her cranial cavity.

But in reality, the pit seemed to connect to another, completely unknown realm, completely defying the laws of space.

Through the walls of the cavity, a few ferocious black insects could occasionally be seen flashing past.

"Lin Hui greets you, Teacher." Lin Hui formally performed a Jiuxiao Sect salute toward him.

"No need for formalities. Come, come. In order to rebuild Jiuxiao, your master specially sought out a friend who still remains in this world—Lady Hei Yin. She comes from the Black Calamity Central Realm. You can just call her Sister Yin," Qimei said heartily.

Clearly, rebuilding the Sect, along with seeing his friend and disciple again, had put him in a much better mood than before.

Now that his memories had returned, he was rational, no different from an ordinary person.

But Lin Hui hadn’t forgotten for a moment that this man could become abnormal at any time due to the influence of Disaster Energy.

’Black Calamity? Lady Hei Yin?’

Lin Hui’s heart tightened. He turned slightly and gave her the salute of a junior.

"Lin Hui greets you, Sister Yin."

"..." The other party did not answer, merely nodding slightly.

"Disciple, you must have run into trouble again to come here?" Qimei was old and shrewd; he naturally saw through Lin Hui’s purpose and smiled.

His eyes flickered with a faintly dazzling, colorful light, making it seem impossible to discern any emotional fluctuations within them.

"Indeed." Lin Hui didn’t hide it. "While correcting the world’s operation, I unexpectedly discovered another Calamity Fusionist. I have never seen the Calamity behind this person, so I returned to ask for your help in identifying it, Teacher."

"Tell me about it," Qimei said with a smile.

Lin Hui immediately described the sensations he felt when he fought Xue Shi.

He even transmitted these feelings to Qimei directly through a simulation in his Heart and Spirit.

This was the most convenient aspect of Heart and Spirit communication; one could directly convey one’s own feelings and sensations with minimal loss.

No words or visual conversions were necessary.

"This is... the Desolate Calamity?" Qimei’s eyes widened slightly, as if he had seen something quite unexpected.

"Hei Yin, you take a look too." The colorful light in his eyes flashed, and he transmitted the intangible sensation to Lady Hei Yin beside him.

Hei Yin nodded slightly and perceived it.

Then, she seemed to answer Qimei in a way that Lin Hui could not perceive.

"It is the Desolate Calamity. This thing is quite rare." After receiving confirmation, Qimei also nodded affirmatively and looked at Lin Hui.

"May I ask, Teacher, what is the Desolate Calamity?" Lin Hui quickly asked.

"The Desolate Calamity is actually another name for the Calamity of Chaos. This Calamity is formless, shapeless, and pervasive. Its destructive power is far less immediate than other Calamities, but it is extremely insidious," Qimei said. "This is because it doesn’t destroy things head-on. Instead, it influences you from within, causing you to collapse internally, destroyed by internal strife without even realizing it."

"I see. Does that mean the problems with the previous cycle of decay in my world were also caused by this Calamity?" Lin Hui directly posed the question.

The Qimei of now seemed increasingly normal, making him feel like he truly had a teacher.

Although he knew very well that this lucidity was bought by sacrificing and devouring the consciousness of an entire world’s living beings.

"It’s possible," Qimei nodded. "So, you came here wanting your master to take action and deal with this Calamity’s Fusionist?"

Now that his sanity had returned, how could he not see what Lin Hui was thinking?

"I did have that thought, but you are not my hired muscle, Teacher. How could I trouble you to eliminate an enemy over such a small matter? I only hope that after opening the Calamity Gate, we can accelerate the deployment of high-level derivatives to the Heaven Realm on the other side," Lin Hui said seriously.

"You think the slow trickle of low-level monsters at the beginning of the Calamity Gate is too slow, so you want your master to just send the big ones over directly?" Qimei laughed. "Of course, that’s fine. The Calamity monsters are endless, immortal, indestructible, and infinitely resurrecting anyway. But you’ve finally figured it out, haven’t you? You’ve sensed that something is wrong with you."

"You mean...?" Lin Hui’s heart clenched.

"There’s a problem with the Cultivation Technique you practice. It’s very powerful, but it severs too much. On top of that, as a Disaster Energy Fusionist—though to a far lesser degree than your master—you are still affected by the assimilation that causes you to forget your reason. With these two factors combined, if you don’t solve it, I’m afraid that in a few hundred years, you’ll completely turn into a mindless monster, just like the ones outside," Qimei said, his smile fading as his expression turned solemn.

"May I ask, Teacher, is there a solution!?" Lin Hui had indeed felt that something was wrong.

While he had felt a lack of interest in life before, it had never been this extreme.

Now, awakened to the fact by Qimei, a chill seeped down his spine.

"Of course there’s a method. There are solutions for both your Cultivation Technique and the loss of reason. It just depends on whether you want to use them."

An enigmatic smile once again appeared on Qimei’s face.

"Teacher, you mean..." Lin Hui instantly guessed what he was implying, and his expression grew complicated.

"Correct. It’s just as you think. The price, any price, can be shifted... As long as you destroy enough matter and living beings on behalf of the Calamities behind us, the restorative feedback you receive will be greater," Qimei said with a smile.

"Destroy..." Lin Hui fell silent.

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