Decaying World

Chapter 128

"Alright, alright, enough with the nonsense." Lin Hui awkwardly cut off the praise;

being lavished with compliments to his face made him rather uncomfortable.

"Okay... This disciple was truly speaking from his feelings, not flattering. Everything I said came from the bottom of my heart!" Tao Xuehai said sincerely.

"...Fine. I never said I didn't believe you. Just explain," Lin Hui said, exasperated.

"Yes." Tao Xuehai nodded. He didn't ask why his master, who clearly had relatives who were Divine Officers or High Divine Officers, didn't ask them instead. He simply explained straightforwardly.

"In the Called One system, the Divine Officer represents a major leap, a massive qualitative change. Compared to the levels before it, there is a fundamental and immense gap.

"If we say that High-Tier Called Ones have awakened Void Force and reached a level of near-invincibility, then Divine Officers have completely integrated Void Force into themselves, reaching a state where it follows their heart and is unleashed at will. Unlike the massive consumption required for High-Tier Called Ones to use Void Force, Divine Officers consume nothing when using it."

"Consume nothing!?" Lin Hui narrowed his eyes instantly.

"Correct. At the Divine Officer level, Void Force has become an instinct, just like ordinary people reaching out a hand or lifting a foot;

it is commonplace. In fact, Void Force is no longer the main factor for them," Tao Xuehai continued. "At this level, what they truly cultivate is another power derived from the foundation of Void Force—Divine Force."

"Divine Force?"

"Exactly. Divine Force is the abbreviation for Spirit Void Force. The reason Divine Officers are called 'Divine' Officers comes from this." A solemn expression appeared on Tao Xuehai's face. "Compared to the physical invincibility of Void Force, the function of Divine Force does not act directly upon the enemy's body, but constructs the Divine Officer's own mind-spirit killing moves. These moves cause no physical damage to flesh and blood, but instead attack the mind and consciousness."These types of moves can easily manipulate ordinary people, influence them, and forcibly control them to do the Officer's bidding. They can even crush a person's consciousness, leaving them in a catatonic state, unable to ever wake up."

Tao Xuehai paused at this point.

"Of course, a Divine Officer's Divine Force moves are all ultimate killing techniques that consume a massive amount of energy. Generally, they aren't used often, and certainly not against ordinary people. But there is no doubt that the lethality of these Divine Force moves is terrifying. Some can even completely change a person's thoughts, making them go from one extreme to another."

"Manipulating consciousness?" Lin Hui felt a chill in his heart. He hadn't expected Divine Officers to reach such a height.

No wonder his so-called older sister, Liu Xiao—a Divine Officer—spoke to everyone with a tone like she was looking at trash.

Seen in this light, the fact that his older brother, Liu Wujun, had been able to speak and communicate with him in such a gentle manner earlier showed excellent self-restraint.

"Yes, theoretically, Divine Officers can indeed manipulate consciousness. Therefore, battles between Divine Officers are primarily decided through clashes of the mind-spirit. In battles at this level, the injuries sustained by the loser almost always take a very, very long time to heal. Because those aren't injuries to the physical body, but severe trauma to the consciousness," Tao Xuehai nodded.

"So that's how it is..." Lin Hui nodded, finally understanding the inner workings.

"That is why this disciple dares to say I can challenge the Circulation Realm, but I dare not challenge a Divine Officer. On one hand, the Circulation Realm is a tier weaker than a Divine Officer. On the other hand, once a Divine Officer gets worked up in a fight... as you know, with the side effects of Extreme Martial Arts and the Called One system, their mental state is prone to unstable outbursts. If I were beaten into an idiot or a lunatic, I'd truly be ruined," Tao Xuehai said with a bitter smile.

"Then what about a High Divine Officer?" Lin Hui asked further.

"A High Divine Officer involves the cultivation of a Divine Method. It is said that they can forcibly alter the mental instincts of certain targets within a short period. Divine Methods and Divine Arts—the techniques cultivated by these officers—are secret arts that target the foundation of the mind-spirit. This disciple once saw my uncle, a High Divine Officer, attack and kill a wanted Minor Three Harmonies Grandmaster on the street," Tao Xuehai recalled.

"At that time, the fugitive had already rushed into the crowd and was about to channel his art to cause mass casualties. But my uncle attacked instantly. There was no obvious fluctuation of power, yet he immediately caused the fugitive to bizarrely change the direction of his channeled attack toward the sky.

"I watched that man unleash over a hundred moves in a row in the sky. His face was filled with confusion, bewilderment, and a frantic intent to twist the direction of his attacks, but no matter how he moved, he would only strike toward mid-air. The crowd was packed densely around him, only ten or so meters away, yet he couldn't hurt a single one."

"...Forcibly changing a person's perception and instincts?" Lin Hui's eyes grew grave. He simulated what he would do if he encountered such an attack.

The answer was: if he couldn't resist a move that altered instincts, once it hit and took effect, no matter how fast he was, he wouldn't be able to escape death.

"Yes. In the end, my uncle slowly walked over and exploded that man's head with a single palm strike. A Minor Three Harmonies Grandmaster who had cultivated for over a hundred years was gone just like that. This was a huge blow to me, as I had only just started practicing martial arts at the time. It took a long time to get over it." Tao Xuehai sighed. "But fortunately, Master, you have thought of a solution!"

His eyes quickly turned bright again.

"?" Lin Hui looked blank. What solution did he think of? Why didn't he know about it?

"Master must have also realized that as long as my speed is fast enough that even Divine Arts and Divine Methods cannot hit me, then these types of moves will have no chance to take effect. In this way, one will surely stand in an invincible position!" Tao Xuehai said in a deep voice.

"...Uh, I... hadn't actually thought of it that way," Lin Hui said honestly.

"Master's biggest problem is that you are too humble. The Perfected Version of the Clear Wind Sword is already so tyrannical;

I wonder what level of power the Wild Wind Sword Technique will reach. I wonder, after this disciple succeeds in Body Tempering, can I follow Master to cultivate the Wild Wind Sword Technique?" Tao Xuehai climbed up the pole.

"We'll see when the time comes. The difficulty of the Wild Wind Sword Technique is dozens of times that of the Clear Wind Sword Perfected Version, perhaps even more..." Lin Hui sighed.

"Yes." Tao Xuehai lowered his head and said no more.

"By the way, Master, when I went home earlier, I mentioned taking you as my teacher. My family objected somewhat. Later, someone might come to the temple to check the situation. If you encounter them, please notify me immediately, and I will handle everything." He was clearly worried his family might speak rudely to his teacher.

"Don't worry, I won't easily get physical with them," Lin Hui replied. The Tao family might be even more powerful than the Wang family;

naturally, he wouldn't go looking for trouble if nothing was wrong.

"That is good. This puts my mind at ease." Tao Xuehai breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.

The two exchanged a bit more about life in the Inner City. It wasn't until nearly time for the afternoon meal that Lin Hui had Tao Xuehai get up and leave.

Without pausing, he quickly returned home once, intending to find Liu Xiao to ask about the situation with the Divine Officers. It would be best if he could spar a bit to feel the effects and lethality of Divine Force.

But unfortunately, Liu Xiao had long since been transferred to preside over a distant area of the Inner City and was rarely at home. As for his eldest brother, Liu Wujun, he spent most of his time cultivating in the Rain Palace of the Shayue Sect. He was a genius, one of the top ten candidates heavily cultivated by the Rain Palace, with too many interest groups investing in him, so most of his energy and time could not be spent at home.

Big Brother cultivates in his spare time now, and when he's free, he goes to beat up the Wanhua Sect. This was the reply given by his Second Mother.

Helpless, Lin Hui could only shelve the matter temporarily and wait for an opportunity.

From Tao Xuehai's words, he felt that Divine Officers were indeed too dangerous. Directly attacking a person's consciousness and mind-spirit... if one didn't have equivalent defensive means, it was truly possible to fall victim to a sneak attack.

Just then, there was a reply regarding the Seal Insect task he had ordered people to post.

Several days later...

Lin Hui was in the pharmacy, looking at the white porcelain plate placed before him.

Piled in the plate were exactly twenty pale green caterpillars.

"You aren't seeing things. These look like ordinary cabbage worms, but they are actually the Seal Insects that have some fame in the Mist Zone. If you want Seal Insect eggs, you only need to wait for them to develop for a while and lay eggs," Apothecary Chen Meng explained from the side.

"How do these things seal stuff?" Lin Hui looked at the slowly wriggling green worms in the plate and asked in confusion.

"Don't look down on them because they're small. These insects are a powerful swarm capable of sealing Mist Zone creatures." Chen Meng smiled. "When facing an invasion by hostile creatures, they will gather in a group and spit silk at high speed. The silk they spit is extremely tough—fire can't burn it, blades can't cut it. Like countless ropes, they can wrap up some Mist Zone insect-type creatures in just a few moments. Afterward, they will inject a toxin into the wrapped cocoon. This softens and shrinks the target. Finally, they lay eggs inside the cocoon. The egg sacs will automatically wrap around the Mist Zone creature, transforming it into a Seal Insect Egg."

"Of course, this kind of sealing cannot target individuals whose body size is too much larger than theirs. Generally, it only targets other insect swarms." Chen Meng had obviously done her homework beforehand, answering fluently and naturally.

"So that's how it is..." Lin Hui nodded.

Staring at the Seal Insects, he gently picked one up with wooden chopsticks, carefully examining the big green worm that was about the length and thickness of a finger.

He was recalling how he had learned the Sealing Toxin Array back then...

The pattern!

Right, back then, I mastered the evolved Sealing Toxin Array from the patterns on the dead insect eggs via the Blood Seal... Looking at it this way, the sealing patterns on living Seal Insects should be even more complete and powerful!

"Alright, I'll take one. You help me look after these for now, and I'll deal with them later," he instructed, turning and walking quickly out of the pharmacy.

Flashing back to the study, Lin Hui placed the Seal Insect on the tabletop, watching this fellow wriggle and crawl about. It seemed no different from an ordinary green worm. It didn't look like a relatively dangerous Mist Zone insect at all.

He reached out his hand and gently touched the Seal Insect.

Instantly, notification information from the Blood Seal popped up in his field of vision.

Below the image of the Seal Insect, a black dotted line extended out, pointing to lines of text information.

[Seal Insect: Mist Zone creature. Due to its low danger level, it cannot be classified. Through silk-spitting and sealing toxins, it can forcibly seal hostile creatures many times larger than itself, thereby achieving the goal of predation and feeding.]

[Evolvable Branches: 4]

Without hesitation, Lin Hui quickly clicked open the branches.

[1 — Spirit-Sealing Array.]

[2 — Evil-Sealing Array.]

[3 — Fire-Sealing Array.]

[4 — Life-Sealing Array.]

It was different from last time!

Lin Hui narrowed his eyes. He remembered last time it was Demon-Sealing, Evil-Sealing, and the like. This time, only Evil-Sealing remained;

the rest were all different.

It seems that because my constitution is different now, and the daily energy I can provide is far higher than before, the evolvable branches are also different.

Lin Hui could understand. He immediately clicked open the branches to examine them one by one.

[1 — Spirit-Sealing Array: Originating from a mysterious ruin, a formation capable of sealing the spiritual consciousness of living beings. Creatures sealed will fall into a sleep-like state, losing consciousness while the body remains alive.]

[Sealing Activation Condition: Mind Intent Internal Force Spirit accumulated to full Nine Eyes, allowing for one remote activation. (Nine Eyes: After mastering the Spirit-Sealing Array, nine emerald-green insect-eye-like crystals will grow on a certain part of the shoulders. These are the charging markers for the array.)]

[Sealing Duration: Nine hundred years.]

[Tip: This is a secret art created by a Grand Elder of a certain great cultivation sect. Due to its explosive nature, once the array is activated, it cannot be reversed. The sealing effect must last for a full nine hundred years before release. Even the user cannot lift it. Please confirm the target repeatedly before use.]

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