Decaying World

Chapter 122

Chapter 122

Decaying World

"Master, please accept this disciple's bow!"

Tao Xuehai dropped to his knees with a slide—the movement was so fast it was entirely unexpected. Lin Hui barely registered the action before the other party was already pounding his head on the ground in a kowtow. By the time he came to his senses, the brat had already finished.

"...I hadn't planned on accepting disciples... oh, forget it." He sighed.

Lin Hui suddenly felt a bit mentally exhausted. However, he did want a Head Disciple to act as a front, and perhaps Tao Xuehai was the right fit. He had originally planned to accept a disciple on behalf of his own master, teach the sword technique, and be done with it, but it had turned into him accepting the disciple personally.

"Get up. I will now transmit the Perfected Clear Wind Sword Technique to you. This technique..." Lin Hui wasn't stingy and immediately began explaining the essentials of the art.

He was quite curious to see to what degree Tao Xuehai could master the Perfected Clear Wind Sword Technique.

This guy possessed exceptionally high perception, was a cultivation fanatic, and had the support of massive amounts of precious medicinal resources. If not for his congenital defect, he would likely have reached the level of a Divine Officer had he walked the path of the Call.

Up until now, in the entire Clear Wind Sword Sect, not a single person had been able to cultivate the Perfected Clear Wind Sword Technique to even half of Lin Hui's standard.

This was because the Perfected Sword Technique was created to fit him. Lin Hui couldn't modify it because the sword technique evolved by the Blood Seal was too perfect. Nor could he possibly destroy this perfect technique just to accommodate someone else's cultivation.

The transmission was completed very quickly. Tao Xuehai couldn't wait; he practiced it a few times and immediately grasped all the moves.

What shocked Lin Hui was that, although this guy still couldn't perfectly master the technique, compared to others, Tao Xuehai could already demonstrate a few points of that perfect flavor. It was a weakened version of the perfect sword moves, possessing about seventy or eighty percent of the effect of Lin Hui performing it personally.

This was already very exaggerated.

One had to know this was just the beginning. Later, after completing the second stage of Body Tempering with the perfected version of the Clear Wind Sword Technique, who knew what heights this guy could reach?

He was originally at the perfection of the Internal Force Realm; after switching cultivation paths, perhaps he could truly replicate part of the power of the perfect sword technique...

Thinking of this, Lin Hui's attitude toward Tao Xuehai changed from careless to somewhat attentive.

This is a true peerless genius!

He was worthy of being from a great clan of the Inner City, possessing a bloodline that had undergone numerous aptitude screenings.

After teaching the sword technique, Lin Hui chased Tao Xuehai back. He knew very well that it wouldn't be long before this brat ran back to him to exchange for more martial arts. After all, the more perfectly the sword technique was mastered, the faster and stronger the Body Tempering would be.

At that time, he would need to consider whether to teach the Wild Wind Sword Technique.

It wasn't that he was hoarding secrets, but the difficulty of the Wild Wind Sword Technique far exceeded the perfected version of the Clear Wind Sword Technique. If not for the Blood Seal, even Lin Hui might have spent many years just to get started—let alone cultivating it to a high level.

Moreover, as his core martial art, it wasn't wise to teach the Wild Wind Sword Technique rashly before the other party showed a sense of belonging and sincerity to the Clear Wind Sword Sect.

Fortunately, these troubles didn't plague Lin Hui for long. Soon, people from the Inner City's Inspectorate Division arrived.

Dai Enran led the team personally, bringing seventeen or eighteen young members to the Clear Wind Sword Sect to improve their movement speed.

That Hong Ling had kept her word, paying directly and letting everyone become peripheral disciples of the sect to learn the perfected Seven-Section Swift Sword.

After this sword technique was perfected, its Body Tempering influence on speed was immense. It could be said that the core reason Clear Wind disciples were so much faster than other sects lay in this martial art.

At first, the members brought by Dai Enran were all experts cultivating both Internal Force and the Call. They disapproved of Dai Enran's explanation for bringing them here, holding the attitude of just "learning casually to deal with it," thinking Dai Enran's claims were too exaggerated.

As a result, a few weeks later, after experiencing the effects, their attitudes changed drastically one by one. When facing Wang Hongshi, who was responsible for teaching them, they became much more serious and respectful.

Naturally, Lin Hui didn't teach them himself. He established this force to serve his life, not for him to serve the force, so he wouldn't teach this group personally.

At this moment, he was taking Han Xiaoyue, who had just arrived from the Inner City, back toward the Lin Manor.

He had written a letter to summon Han Xiaoyue for this trip solely to satisfy his old dad's request to "bring her home for a look." As long as he passed this hurdle, there probably wouldn't be so many messy matchmaking matters affecting his cultivation in the future.

…

Lin Manor.

It was noon, just past lunchtime.

Lin Hui got off the carriage with Han Xiaoyue and walked slowly toward the group led by his father, Lin Shunhe, who was already waiting at the side entrance.

Lin Shunhe, Yao Shan, and his Second Mother, Liu Shenglan, had all arrived. It seemed they were all curious about what kind of girl Lin Hui had found to marry. Not just them—even Elder Du and his few disciples, the nursing home guards, and the butler all ran out to steal glances. At a glance, it was a chaotic pile of people.

"Sorry... my family is a bit curious," Lin Hui said, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"It doesn't matter. Didn't I come just for your family to see?"

Han Xiaoyue wore a veil and a conical hat, a plum-blossom light blue long robe, a silver silk ribbon around her waist, and a layer of semi-transparent white lace gauze draped over the outside. Her black hair reached her waist, her chest was high, her waist and hips were slender and rounded, and her curves were bountiful. Even without looking at her face, she could indeed be counted as a beauty.

This made the couple, Lin Shunhe and Yao Shan, as well as Liu Shenglan, nod in their hearts as they sized her up from afar.

Lin Hui led her over quickly and greeted the three elders one by one.

"Quick, come in. It's cold outside. Miss Han, walk with me. It's our first time meeting; let's chat. I felt like we were old friends the moment I saw you. This temperament isn't something an ordinary family can raise..." Liu Shenglan took the initiative to step forward, holding Han Xiaoyue's hand and smiling.

"Second Mother flatters me," Han Xiaoyue smiled politely.

The two walked alone to the side and entered the door. Lin Hui walked with his parents, and the two sides naturally separated into a front and back team.

Along the way, Liu Shenglan carefully beat around the bush to inquire about Han Xiaoyue's private situation, family status, what relatives she had, her own qualities, and so on. She was from a great clan of the Inner City and was most familiar with the Trueblood Nobles. She also had some understanding of marginal groups like Han Xiaoyue, whose Trueblood was about to disappear completely, so it was most appropriate for her to handle this task.

Lin Hui held his baby sister, Lin Xiaoliu, and listened to his parents asking about his progress with Han Xiaoyue, if she was pregnant, how many kids they wanted, what names to pick in the future...

He listened with a face full of exasperation.

After much tossing and turning, more than four hours later, Han Xiaoyue was arranged into the courtyard loft where Lin Hui lived. They didn't share a room, but they were in the same small courtyard.

The three elders only left satisfied to discuss amongst themselves after inquiring about the situation clearly. They told Han Xiaoyue and Lin Hui to rest quickly and even sent a lot of body-replenishing soup.

This made Lin Hui laugh and cry; it was somewhat awkward. He and Han Xiaoyue had just met and didn't have much deep understanding at all, yet it was directly arranged like this...

"Sorry, my parents are too anxious."

Inside the courtyard, Lin Hui explained helplessly to Han Xiaoyue.

"It doesn't matter. This situation was within my expectations," Han Xiaoyue said, her eyes calm. "What surprised me, though, is that they are very open-minded about my appearance."

"En, I explained to them repeatedly that I don't care, so they were relieved. After all, I'm the one getting married, and you weren't born with your face like this," Lin Hui said.

The two walked up the stone steps of the loft. Lin Hui opened the door and went in first.

"I used this place to refine medicine for a period of time before, so there's definitely still some medicinal smell. If you mind, you can move to the wing room on the side."

"It's fine. It's just a place to stay," Han Xiaoyue said calmly.

She seemed forever so composed, unperturbed, as if nothing could scare or startle her.

"Then what about your luggage? Change of clothes?" Lin Hui turned back.

From the moment they met, he saw that she hadn't brought anything, just coming over in the clothes she was wearing.

"Can't I sleep like this?" Han Xiaoyue asked in confusion.

"It would be uncomfortable to sleep without changing clothes, right?" Lin Hui blinked.

"It doesn't matter. I always replace sleep with cultivation," Han Xiaoyue answered without changing her expression.

"...Is the Inner City so... cutthroat?" Lin Hui was speechless.

"Cutthroat?"

"Meaning competition is fierce, everyone chasing each other."

"That's not it. The Inner City is very idle. The higher up, the idler, because the improvement brought by cultivation is too weak, while the strength amplification brought by Trueblood concentration crushes everything. So there aren't many who truly cultivate bitterly." Han Xiaoyue shook her head slightly.

"Then you..."

"I'm used to it."

It could be seen that she had a very difficult past. Otherwise, even if an Inner City Trueblood had a bloodline thin to the extreme, they couldn't have developed such a difficult habit. And the injury on her face... it certainly couldn't have been self-inflicted disfigurement.

Lin Hui suddenly had nothing to say.

He could only lower his head and silently help organize the bedding, but since the maid had already prepared it properly, he didn't have anything to do for a moment.

He prepared to turn and leave.

But just as he turned, he saw Han Xiaoyue carelessly pull open the collar of her long robe and take out two books from her bosom.

"..."

So the two bountiful curves I saw just now were basically padding?

Lin Hui was speechless again. He thought Han Xiaoyue wouldn't care about others' views.

"No place to put them," Han Xiaoyue explained seriously. "I don't like holding things in my hands."

"Understood, understood." Lin Hui's eyes swept over the titles of the books she had removed.

Brief History of Taisu, Chronicles of Lin Sha

.

This Lin Sha again. Speaking of which, at first Lin Hui thought Lin Sha was related to the Shayue Sect, so he had asked Eldest Sister Liu Xiao about it. Liu Xiao replied that this person wasn't from the Shayue Sect, and she hadn't heard of a famous person with this name in history—at least she hadn't heard of it.

Seeing Han Xiaoyue carrying this book again at this time, he felt curious.

"Speaking of which, the book you're reading is a biography, right? This Lin Sha, who exactly is she? Can you talk about it?" he inquired.

"It's normal that you haven't heard of her." Han Xiaoyue replied calmly, turning to sit on the bed. "She is someone I like very much, someone I admire. But she actually isn't famous."

"...Can one publish a biography without being famous?" Lin Hui didn't understand. This world wasn't the information age of his previous life; publishing books was quite inconvenient.

"Because this is a book I published for her personally," Han Xiaoyue answered.

"..." Lin Hui heard a thick, inexplicable emotion in this sentence.

"I don't want her efforts to end up unknown to a single person. So, this is the only thing I can do for her." Han Xiaoyue continued. She raised her head and gazed at Lin Hui. "Do you want to listen? Her story?"

"You tell it..." Lin Hui pulled over a stool and sat down.

He had always been curious about Han Xiaoyue. According to the background investigated by his dad, she seemed very simple, and her record was very clean, but in actual interaction, he always felt she hid too many things.

"I ask you, if there is a matter where you know clearly that no matter how you try, how you struggle, how you risk your life, you cannot change the destined outcome... would you still try?" Han Xiaoyue asked.

"Why not? I enjoy the process of trying. Besides, if I don't try, who knows if the matter can't be changed? This is an inevitable process of trial and error," Lin Hui replied.

"Then, if attempting this matter once requires you to bet most of your life's time, would you still be willing?" Han Xiaoyue pressed.

"This... I'm afraid I wouldn't be willing." Lin Hui shook his head. "My life isn't long; naturally, I must place my time on more worthwhile matters."

"Lin Sha wasn't like this." Han Xiaoyue shook her head. She gently pulled over the thin quilt and covered her legs.

"She was a top-tier genius... but different from the normal genius growth path, she and dozens of other geniuses were selected together, participated in special training, nurturing, and cruel competition. Finally, through a long century of growth, she walked to the peak of life. And then..."

Pausing, she lowered her brow.

"Then, like the other dozens of people... because of failure, she died silently in an unknown corner..."

"She wasn't anything amazing, nor did she accomplish that difficult task, but I didn't want her to just vanish in time with nothing left. So I wrote this book for her..."

"Then now I know of her. So the thing you wanted to do has had an effect," Lin Hui replied.

"Yes... many times, I feel that I am actually a... person with good luck..." Han Xiaoyue inexplicably popped out such a sentence, then lowered her head and made no more sound.

Seeing this, Lin Hui's intention to hear the story also faded. He immediately stopped disturbing her, quietly went out, and closed the door, letting her rest alone.

Become a Pledge Member to read chapters in advance.

Join our Discord community to explore exclusive visuals and connect with fellow readers.

Please leave a 5-star rating on Novel Updates!

[Index]

[Next Chapter]