The Decaying World

’Destruction Eye: The supreme sacred eye of the Holy Night Sect. According to its sacred teachings, all things are illusory; only one’s own eye is real. The eye possesses a special ability: when open, all things are made manifest; when closed, all things return to illusion.

Traits: Never Blinking (requires no rest and can be used continuously), Sight Without Light (can perceive all things without any light source), Eternal (will not wear down with the passage of time), Illusory Rebirth (stores the user’s current state upon closing the eyes. Upon opening, the user can choose to restore themselves to this saved state. No cost. Usable once per day.)’

’All those years of evolution were worth it.’ Lin Hui marveled. His personal safety had just increased dramatically.

Most importantly, the Destruction Eye was a systemic ability that could be passed down along with a Dharma Seal. It was an ability inherited through the Holy Night Sect’s lineage, starting from the original Eye of Life, then the Immortal Sacred Eye, and now this.

It could be distributed to others for their use, though any of these distributed Destruction Eyes would remain under Lin Hui’s control and could be reclaimed at any time.

’Now that my safety is guaranteed, it’s time to focus on the Celestial Father Seal and evolve it...’ The Celestial Father Seal was already conflicting with the path he intended to walk.

This Seal Technique was incredibly useful. Its greatest strength was its convenience for initial accumulation; one only needed to widely disseminate the Dharma Gates they had created, and a multitude of geniuses would help them cultivate.

That was the primary advantage of the Celestial Father Seal. The disadvantage, however, was its vow of non-killing.

You couldn’t kill, only seal. While the resulting sealing crystals were reasonably strong, they were inadequate against higher-level experts.

Therefore, Lin Hui, who no longer needed this kind of initial accumulation, had no choice but to replace it.

Standing in the center of the third floor, he slowly walked to the transparent purple, floor-to-ceiling window and gazed out at the hazy purple mist.

Without hesitation, he immediately called up the information on the Celestial Father Seal from his Blood Seal.

His consciousness locked on, confirming his intent to begin the evolution.

HISS...

The information about the Celestial Father Seal on the Blood Seal quickly blurred. This evolution seemed fundamentally different from the previous ones.

Previously, after an ability finished evolving, a list of potential evolutionary branches would appear directly after it.

But not the Celestial Father Seal.

The moment Lin Hui decided to evolve it, all its informational data blurred.

"Have you truly made your decision?"

A grand, yet gentle, male voice suddenly echoed in Lin Hui’s ears.

A chill ran through Lin Hui, and he looked up.

Through the crystal window, he could see a faint, soft white light silently and swiftly illuminating the space above the thick purple mist.

Within the white light, the face of a colossal man was faintly visible.

It was... the Celestial Father, the Eternal Life Sect Leader!

Though he had never seen him before, Lin Hui instantly recognized him in his consciousness.

"I have." Lin Hui nodded slightly. The other being held no ill will toward him; after all, he was still the man’s successor. There was no conflict between them.

So, he wasn’t worried about the man making any move against him.

"Then... I wish you good luck." The Celestial Father sighed as his giant face slowly faded away.

The fact that he had appeared at all was a testament to how highly he regarded Lin Hui’s compatibility with his teachings.

Since Lin Hui was insistent on choosing another path, he would naturally not force the issue.

It was just a shame that, from this point on, their fated connection was severed.

Watching him depart, Lin Hui let out a long breath. He looked at the Blood Seal again.

At the bottom of his vision, new lines of text describing the Celestial Father Seal had appeared.

The only difference was that this time, at the very end, an evolutionary branch had appeared.

He immediately selected the branch.

SWOOSH.

Rows of new options shot out—five in total.

’1—Extinction Seal: Annihilates existence, purging the past and future. The only way to destroy a high-energy being is to utterly erase every trace of it. This technique originates from the Supreme Secret Institute of the Yunxiang Empire, a Secret Technique specifically created to target highly resilient, immortal beings.’

’2—Myriad Heart Seal: The supreme Secret Technique of the Divine Purification Sect. Can purify oneself to the absolute limit, dispelling all evil and corruption. Its Energy Level is extremely high and can be used against those at the Breaking Realm level. Has been used to directly purify large-scale, multi-dimensional contaminations of Heart-Poison.’

’3—Brahma Seal: The myriad phenomena of the heavens are all one. The strongest Secret Technique of the Brahma Sect. It can refine and merge all things into a single seal. This seal can contain anything and be used for both attack and defense. Its strength is determined by the things refined within it. Note: Powerful members of the Brahma Sect still exist in the world. Please conceal your aura when using this technique.’

’4—Nine-Stabilizing Azure Float Formation: Can stabilize the polluting Power of Calamity, sealing it as the formation’s power and converting it into nine different types of forces. The categories for these nine forces can be set by the user. This formation is a Secret Technique created by the Xuanming Celestial Venerable in his youth. It was with this formation that he accumulated the first pot of gold in his cultivation journey and began his rise to prominence.’

’5—Longevity Spirit-Stealing Technique: At the cost of one’s own lifespan, one can reverse fate and seize control over all things, tangible and intangible. If your lifespan is infinite, you can roam the universe with infinite freedom.’

The first four options didn’t particularly move Lin Hui, but the last one...

Longevity Spirit-Stealing Technique. These Seal Decisions, having evolved from the Celestial Father Seal, were definitively considered by the Blood Seal to be superior. And as for this Longevity Spirit-Stealing Technique... although it consumed lifespan, the description that it could seize control of *anything* made Lin Hui’s heart skip a beat.

After a moment of thought, he opened the detailed description.

’Longevity Spirit-Stealing Technique: The supreme masterpiece of the vast Longevity Empire, which once ruled a boundless world. To combat the encroachment of numerous Calamities upon its worlds, the empire gathered countless experts, pooled all its resources, exhausted all its wisdom, and experimentally created this incredibly complex Magic Technique.

In theory, this Magic Technique could indeed seize the Power of Calamity for one’s own use. However, there were three major difficulties that ultimately caused the empire’s project to fail.

First: The Magic Technique is extremely difficult to master. The requirements are incredibly high, demanding simultaneous mastery of hundreds of runic energy languages from different civilizations.

Second: The seized Power of Calamity lost its innate purity, making it inferior to the original, natural Power of Calamity. The effect was poor, and it could not be improved upon.

Third: The Magic Technique consumes an exorbitant amount of lifespan, meaning no one could practice it aside from a few special races. It could only serve as a secondary option for a handful of experts. However, those experts who possessed infinite lifespans already had access to many similar Secret Techniques, rendering this one largely pointless.

Required Resources: 30,000 years of reserved stamina, 10,000 years of reserved Heart and Spirit.

Required Time: 30,000 years.’

’This Secret Technique...!’

Lin Hui was tempted.

He was truly tempted!

’The Longevity Empire failed, but that doesn’t mean the Blood Seal will. If I can use this Secret Technique as a starting point and evolve it further, maybe I can create the exact Magic Technique I’m envisioning.’

The description made it clear: the Longevity Empire was unwilling to be consumed by Calamity. They had huge ambitions to master the infinitely vast Power of Calamity and make it their own. But in the end, they failed.

This was, in essence, one of the core tenets of the Fusion Sect. When faced with the Power of Calamity, many experts and peerless geniuses believed they were different. They thought others failed simply because they were foolish. ’If it were me,’ they thought, ’I could surely turn Calamity to my own advantage and achieve the supreme Dao.’

Unfortunately...

Lin Hui was well aware that, in this moment, he was no different from those peerless geniuses. But... knowing and doing were two different things. There were some paths he would walk regardless.

He wasn’t too concerned about the massive lifespan cost of this Secret Technique.

Lifespan, in essence, was simply the accumulated wear and tear on one’s body and mind.

From birth until the very end, the body and mind were constantly worn down until they finally ceased to function.

This period of time was what living beings called a lifespan.

But now, with the Destruction Eye, his eyes were no longer subject to the ravages of time. In a way, this already granted him a form of infinite lifespan.

In truth, most experts beyond the Breaking Realm level had their own methods for bypassing the limitation of lifespan.

The only problem was that the Power of Calamity seized by this Secret Technique was weaker than the original.

’But maybe I can evolve it multiple times with the Blood Seal later. If I can really forge a new path...’

Lin Hui took a deep breath. No longer hesitating, he immediately selected the final option for evolution.

’Evolve the Longevity Spirit-Stealing Technique?’ The Blood Seal’s query appeared.

’Yes!’

HISS.

The next instant, the information on the Blood Seal blurred before quickly coming back into focus.

’Longevity Spirit-Stealing Technique: Time remaining: 29,999 years.’

This time, it didn’t even bother displaying the months and days.

Lin Hui paid it no mind. Looking at the new text on the Blood Seal, his heart suddenly filled with hope once more.

The persistence of the Wind Calamity, the seemingly hopeless future offered by the Fusion Sect—all of it had been piling immense pressure on him.

But now, that pressure seemed to have found a new outlet.

He had actually considered abandoning this path and this direction to follow the routes of the other two factions.

The Resistance Faction’s Star Power was incredibly potent, and the Evasion Faction’s path—finding a peaceful place to live out one’s days—was also a fine choice.

But he refused to believe it!

Refused to believe that he couldn’t forge a new path on his own!

Evasion was just another word for giving up.

He had no idea where to even start with the Resistance Faction. He had already traveled some distance down the Fusion Sect’s path. He had the most experience with the Wind Calamity, so he couldn’t completely abandon this direction to walk a path he knew nothing about.

The Star Breath Sword Manual was indeed powerful, but it ultimately relied on borrowed power. The essence of Star Power was still just transformed Wind Disaster Energy.

If he was going to overcome the Wind Calamity, it was best to tackle it at the source. The best way was to use the Blood Seal’s ability to perfect and evolve a flawed, theoretical Cultivation Technique.

That was how he could maximize the Blood Seal’s potential.

Having set the new evolutionary path for the Blood Seal, Lin Hui’s mood stabilized considerably. He descended from the third floor and returned to the first.

"You... you seem different again!?" Fusheng stared at Lin Hui, his expression a mixture of shock and suspicion.

"Senior, you have sharp eyes," Lin Hui said with a smile, looking at the crystalline pillar that encased the man.

He suddenly reached out and tapped lightly on its surface.

The Great Yin Yang Time Reversal Sword Technique activated instantly.

DING!

A clear, musical note, like that of a zither, rang out.

With a CRASH, the crystalline pillar suddenly shattered.

Although the Celestial Father Seal had begun to evolve, its effects hadn’t vanished.

He was still the inheritor of this Seal Technique. The Eternal Life Sect Leader’s departure had simply withdrawn the sliver of his own powerful Source Power from it.

Thus, the crystalline pillar had become an empty shell. A light tap was all it took to shatter it.

"Well done! Thanks so much, that thing’s finally gone. Phew... So, what are you planning to do next?" Freed from his seal, Fusheng was in high spirits. He stretched his limbs and looked amiably at Lin Hui. "Want some friendly advice?"

"I plan to find some powerful treasures that can boost my stamina," Lin Hui answered honestly.

"Boost your stamina, eh...? Essentially, stamina is just your body’s stored power—the power you consume when you act. Given your current state, shouldn’t your stamina be infinite? Do you really need to boost it?" Fusheng was confused.

Lin Hui himself found it a bit strange as well. ’If that’s the case,’ he wondered, ’then what is it that the Blood Seal truly requires?’

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