Decaying World

Chapter 112

"What kind of idea is that? Wipe that smile off your face;

it makes me want to hit you." Lin Hui felt his hair stand on end.

Wang Yueheng grinned. "I know someone on my end who’s also constantly being badgered to marry. She’s just as annoyed by it as you are. As I see it, you two might as well make a pair. Fake an engagement to deal with the pressure, and later, when you actually want to marry someone of your own choice, you can separate. What do you think?"

"Shut up. Let's fight first."

Lin Hui kicked his stool away, stood up, and drew his sword.

"Heh, you think I'm afraid of you?! Last time, I told you I was going easy on you. I still have a killing move I haven't used!" Angered, Wang Yueheng stood up as well.

"To the Wild Wind Plains." Lin Hui's figure flashed, vanishing from the spot.

Wang Yueheng followed close behind.

…

Ten minutes later.

Lin Hui reappeared inside the pavilion, sheathing his sword and sitting cross-legged to pour himself tea.Behind him, Wang Yueheng—face bruised, swollen, and sporting one eye larger than the other—shuffled back to his cushion and sat down in silence.

Silence stretched between them.

"I’m looking out for you, and you actually beat me?" Wang Yueheng said weakly.

"You call that looking out for me? That look on your face was so treacherous you couldn't even hide it." Lin Hui glanced at him.

"I was just afraid you wouldn't agree." Wang Yueheng shot him a resentful look. "That person's situation is a bit complicated. She's a close friend of my older sister and has been single for a long time. She’s sick of these matchmakers, but unfortunately, they come in an endless stream—it's unbearable."

"If that's the situation, why did you have that look on your face?" Lin Hui questioned.

"Mainly because she's a little bit older." Wang Yueheng pinched his fingers to indicate a tiny amount.

"Are you sure this will work?" Lin Hui asked.

"Absolutely. You're my good friend. Plus, your big brother is Liu Wujun. I wouldn't dare scam you even if I scammed everyone else!" Wang Yueheng said hurriedly.

"Then let's try it later. Being constantly nagged about marriage is indeed annoying." Lin Hui nodded.

He could tell Wang Yueheng was hiding something, but it didn't matter. As long as his strength improved rapidly, nothing was a problem.

Based on Wang Yueheng's description, he guessed the woman was likely a noble daughter from the Inner City with an extraordinary family background who was similarly annoyed by marriage arrangements. If the two sides hit it off, they could indeed use each other to deal with these troublesome matters.

"Don't worry. I wouldn't mention this to anyone else. It's only because you are upright, live a clean private life, and are wholeheartedly dedicated to the ascetic cultivation of martial arts that I'm willing to pull this string. She is the same;

much like you, she is interested only in cultivation and nothing else," Wang Yueheng explained.

"Alright then. Arrange a place to meet later. If there are no issues, let's settle it." Lin Hui nodded. It was just a title anyway, and he had no intention of clinging to her for status.

With the Purple Crystal accelerating his speed and his Body Tempering nearing another breakthrough, his surging power gave him absolute confidence.

If he were to fight Li Chi of the Flying Stone Sect now, he doubted the man could withstand a hundred moves.

The Wild Wind Sword Technique didn't just boost speed through Body Tempering;

it provided a comprehensive enhancement—strength, reaction time, physical durability, and sword velocity.

Such a comprehensive improvement brought a massive elevation in absolute lethality. Moreover, the most critical point was this:

His Internal Force had reached the Perfected Sixth Layer. With Internal Force covering the blade, the lethality of focusing force on a single point had increased drastically.

Saying Li Chi could last a hundred moves was already a generous estimate.

Just now, sparring with Wang Yueheng in a tentative bit of play, he had easily beaten the man into a pig's head using the flat of his sword covered in Internal Force. This re-established the fundamental status of who was the boss between the two.

"Alright, then it's settled!" Wang Yueheng stood up. "I'll go back and arrange a time immediately. Don't back out when the time comes."

"Don't worry, I won't," Lin Hui said calmly.

After seeing Wang Yueheng off, he continued to take the Purple Crystal to the Wild Wind Plains for bitter training.

….

Meanwhile, inside the Clear Wind Temple, the payouts and compensation began for the exploration team members who had died in the Ruins.

Large amounts of silver money were paid out, causing the Clear Wind Temple's benevolent reputation to spread. It should be known that while other exploration teams also offered compensation, it was never this generous.

With a wave of his hand, Lin Hui ordered everyone to be paid double the standard rate. He had plenty of money now anyway, so he didn't lack this small amount.

Whether it was the tuition fees submitted by students, the profits from major industries, or the dividends from the Hundred Flowers Sect, his current income had reached an exaggerated figure of nearly eight million a month. And this was just his pure personal income, after deducting sect expenses and the shares given to other factions.

Time passed.

Unknowingly, three months went by.

Spring arrived. The sound of insects grew more frequent, the temperature gradually rose, and the farmland around the town began to sprout patches of green. The flocks of birds flying through the air were also significantly more numerous than before.

Every day when Lin Hui went out to practice his sword, he saw people entering and exiting the temples housing strange child statues. He didn't know if they were worshipping or doing something else.

He sent someone to investigate and learned they were sacrificing to a Mist God named White Child.

The White Child was a statue discovered in a ruins site within the mist zone. Later, someone accidentally discovered that worshipping it would yield a certain degree of good luck, and gradually, it began to receive incense offerings.

However, this incense was relatively unstable. Only when people were unlucky and needed to turn their fortunes around would they run over to offer a prayer or two.

The many White Child temples around the town were leftovers from a specific period. Back then... when the Outer City was abandoned, everyone, in despair, tried every possible method to save themselves.

By mid-April, Lin Hui had exhausted his share of Purple Crystal and successfully broke through to the Seventh Rank of Body Tempering using the Wild Wind Sword Technique.

And the special effect belonging to the Wild Wind Sword Technique finally began to reveal its extraordinary nature.

Wild Wind Plains.

Lin Hui stood with his back against a hill, holding his sword with both hands, carefully sensing the changes occurring on the surface of his body.

The special effect that could only be obtained after the Ninth Rank—the Wild Wind Sword Technique’s Surrounding Wind —was already showing preliminary traces.

Wisps of invisible, transparent wind circled him, forming a protective layer.

It's not just protection. I can clearly perceive any disturbance from any direction. As long as I activate the special effect, any attack targeting me from the surroundings will automatically trigger a reaction in the Surrounding Wind layer, alerting me to prepare defenses in advance... Lin Hui summarized the experience in his heart.

Moreover...

He raised his sword and gently stabbed toward the palm of his other hand.

Invisibly, the sword tip was strangely deflected by a force, grazing past the edge of his palm and plunging into the ground, where it stood motionless.

"This is automatic force unloading. The effect isn't bad;

it should be very useful against ranged attacks. I just don't know how strong the limit is. I'll test it again when I get the complete version of the special effect after the Ninth Rank."

Stopping the test, Lin Hui opened the Blood Seal and glanced at the current remaining evolution time.

7 years and 7 months.

It was a pity he had no more Spirit-Enriching Reishi ... The thought of visiting the Myriad Medicine Villa again rose in his mind.

Lin Hui had asked Wang Yueheng to help look for it before, but there was still no news, and he didn't know what the situation was. That guy talked big but acted incredibly slow.

Among that pile of aphrodisiacs, not a single one had an effect comparable to the Spirit-Enriching Reishi.

After finishing his sword practice, he leisurely returned to the Lin Manor. He sat with his family and held the crawling Lin Xiaoliu for a while. Just as he was about to return to the Clear Wind Temple to cultivate, his father, Lin Shunhe, suddenly stopped him.

"By the way, Ah Hui, you're not getting any younger... Dad has a business partner whose daughter is gentle, generous, and understanding. Her appearance is also top-tier, and she teaches at an academy. Why don't you set a time for the two of you to meet?"

"I... I don't have the mind for this right now," Lin Hui said, exasperated. Here it was again, here it was again;

this was already the fourth time this month. "And teaching at an academy? Do we even have an academy in the Outer City?"

"We do. I asked you if you wanted to go before, and you said no, absolutely refused to go. That place is relatively expensive;

ordinary families can't afford it," his father said, nodding.

"Then what's the point of introducing a teacher to a martial artist like me? We'd have absolutely nothing to talk about," Lin Hui said.

"Isn't that so she can teach the child at home after you have a baby?" Lin Shunhe said as a matter of course.

"..."

"Don't be annoyed. You take so much medicine now, yet there isn't a woman by your side. People are spreading rumors... asking if you prefer men," Lin Shunhe said helplessly.

"Who said that?" Lin Hui gripped his sword hilt.

"Too many people." Lin Shunhe glared at him. "You're unwilling to do this and unwilling to do that, but sooner or later, you have to carry on the family line. Your mother and I only have you as our only son."

"No rush. It will happen sooner or later. I just don't have the mind for it right now." Lin Hui hoped to muddle through.

"You brat..." Lin Shunhe wanted to say more, but his vision blurred, and his son was already gone.

"Brother... Brother..."

On the ground, Lin Xiaoliu, chewing on a gum pacifier, called out. Seeing Lin Hui was gone, her little mouth turned down, ready to cry.

Startled, Lin Shunhe quickly went over and picked her up to comfort her.

On the other side, having left the Lin Manor, Lin Hui looked toward the sky.

Through the gray mist, the bright sunlight above was faintly visible.

Purple Iris Crystal is hard to get right now. I'll check the Myriad Medicine Villa one last time, then head into the Inner City to see if I can acquire medicine similar to the Spirit-Enriching Reishi.

Relying on others was ultimately too slow.

Regarding the Inner City, although he had been there a few times, he still held a strong curiosity. After all, his visits had been limited to the Outer Ring;

he had never entered the legendary Core Zone , the Moon Tower District.

Returning quickly to the Clear Wind Temple, he organized some information and posted a High Mission to go to the Myriad Medicine Villa to collect Spirit-Enriching Reishi—the more, the better.

Then he gathered information on the Inner City, spreading out the map of the Inner City's nearby Outer Ring that he had copied from the Wang family, and determined his target location for this trip.

His goal for entering the Inner City this time was clear: to find medicines or pill formulas that could replace the Spirit-Enriching Reishi through channels other than the Wang family.

Wang Yueheng wouldn't give him pill formulas. If he could find formulas himself and diversify his medicines, then find a precious medicine similar to the Spirit-Enriching Reishi, his progress would presumably be even faster.

To be honest, he felt Wang Yueheng was stringing him along;

for channels regarding Inner City pills, he was currently dependent on the Wang family. He had felt this way ever since the refusal to sell pill formulas last time. That was why he initiated this Inner City operation.

However, not long after he organized the map...

News came from Wang Yueheng. The woman in the same situation as him had agreed to meet. The time was set for the day after tomorrow. To accommodate him, the location was the Jixiang Residence , an Inner City restaurant near the South Ninth Gate.

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