Decaying World

Chapter 137

Chapter 137

If one wanted to quickly expose the hidden truth within an organization, what would be the best way to go about it?

Lin Hui didn't know. In both his previous life and this one, he’d been an ordinary citizen with decent morals. Faced with a situation like this, he was anything but a professional.

It's a good thing I’ve disguised my identity.

As he gripped his sword, the surrounding wind grew increasingly violent, swirling and raging around him. He looked up at the sprawling complex ahead.

Shua!

His figure vanished as he crashed into the mountain forest, accompanied by a formless, roaring gale.

Leaves were shredded in droves, soil churned, and crushed stones flew sideways. Wherever he passed, a clear, semicircular trench appeared in the earth. The trench extended in a straight line, rushing at extreme speed toward the New Martial Alliance's Yuanshan Branch.

He wasn't intentionally destroying the terrain; he had simply stopped restraining the wild wind that naturally lingered around him.

Rumble...

Amidst a low rumble, a distinct semicircular trench—dozens of meters in diameter—rushed toward the branch's mountain gate, accompanied by the howling wind.

Inside the trench, Lin Hui’s figure was wrapped in wind, visible only as a vague, distorted humanoid shape. The violent airflow distorted the light, blurring not only his face but the very outline of his body. His entire being seemed shrouded in a fuzzy filter.

At the mountain-shaped gate, several branch martial artists on guard stopped what they were doing, dumbfounded, staring blankly at the rapidly approaching gale.

"What... what is that!?" One man's tobacco pipe fell from his mouth.

"It looks... like a person!?"

"Is someone storming the gate!?"

"Quick, sound the ala—!"

Shua!

Before the words were finished, a mass of violent airflow rushed past them. The massive airflow carried such exaggerated pressure that they could only duck and cover their eyes, shielding them from the stinging wind.

When they looked up a second later, the surroundings were a mess. Large patches of sod had been flipped over, saplings were snapped by the wind, and the mountain-shaped archway gave a crisp crack before slowly tilting and collapsing.

"Who goes there!?"

An expert rushed out from the side, but before he could react, he felt a wild wind sweep past him. He lost his balance. By the time he recovered, the scene before him was in shambles, leaving only a semicircular trench stretching into the distance.

Amidst the rumbling vibrations, Lin Hui didn't swerve at all; he charged straight to the end. Only when the slope became too steep did he leap up, exploding into the air with a thunderous boom.

Like a jet, a trail of white vapor blasted out behind him as he rushed toward Mu Shanqing and the other two on the terrace. Since he sensed something was wrong, he decided to capture the people in charge first.

The three on the terrace looked like the leaders. Plus, that old man in the lead had already issued him an invitation.

"The gall!" Deputy Minister Ding Chengying was the first to act.

Circulating her Internal Force, blinding rays of white light clung to the curved saber on her back.

Clang!

In an instant, a bright moon saber shadow shot out, slashing down in an arc toward Lin Hui. The saber shadow was fierce and sharp, flawlessly white and incredibly solid. Compared to Xue Meng's saber light, this was a fully maxed-out version.

But... it was too slow.

Relative to Lin Hui, it was simply too slow.

Shua!

The saber shadow missed. Ding Chengying's lips parted slightly, and she hurriedly swung her saber again in an attempt to recover, but it was too late.

A mass of white vapor wrapped around Lin Hui as he crashed onto the terrace, pouncing toward the three of them. Carrying violent airflow and imposing momentum, the entire terrace seemed to tremble under the manic wind force.

The wind howled, carrying faint vibrations that sounded like thunder.

At this moment, Lin Hui slashed his sword horizontally, resembling a terrifying beast wrapped in wind, pouncing with ferocity! The wild wind surrounding him distorted and deformed, surging out in two streams like bared fangs, attempting to swallow the three of them whole from both sides!

"Retreat!" Zhao Dong shouted sternly. The moment his colleague attacked, he sensed something was wrong. Acting decisively, he stepped forward and struck out with a palm.

His silent palm was instantly covered in Internal Force, turning silver-gray as it pierced through the wild wind to strike the incoming Lin Hui.

This was a head-on collision; there was no evasion, only power.

Boom!!!

Ghost Hand Zhao Dong felt something was wrong the moment his hand touched the outer layer of the wild wind. The massive wind force forcibly weakened the power of his strike, layer by layer. The further forward he pushed, the more his power was reduced.

By the time the actual collision occurred, his Internal Force and physical strength were less than thirty percent of what they were when he launched the strike.

This wild wind didn’t just weaken him once—it did so again and again, in relentless layers. It tugged and tore at him from every direction, over and over. The longer he remained within it, the more savagely it stripped away his strength.

Zhao Dong looked as if he’d seen a ghost. By the time he realized something was wrong, it was already too late.

Just then, a tall figure interposed himself in the gap in front of him. The long sword on the figure's back rang out. Countless butterflies of white light appeared out of thin air, dancing gracefully within the wild wind as they fluttered toward Lin Hui.

Clang clang clang clang!!!

In a split second, the butterflies and the steel sword collided countless times, each impact spraying a shower of sparks. The sparks mingled in the wild wind, dyeing the entire air vortex a faint gold.

Butterfly Shadow Sword!?

Both Ding Chengying and Zhao Dong recognized the arrival. It was none other than Minister Mu Shanqing! That move was the signature technique that had made him famous—Butterfly Shadow Cut.

As the thought flashed past, the sound of collision came to an abrupt halt. The wild wind subsided slightly, and the two figures separated, landing on opposite edges of the terrace.

Standing on the precarious edge, neither paid attention to their footing. Instead, their gazes were locked tightly on each other.

"Nice speed." Lin Hui rested his sword diagonally against the ground. The 1.6-meter-long steel sword anchored itself easily.

“I built my reputation on sword speed, but you… your speed is astonishing as well.” Mu Shanqing’s voice was low and steady. “State your name. To come here and challenge us, you must be after fame or profit. Hiding your head and showing your tail—what kind of martial hero behaves like that?”

"My name is... Four Faces." Lin Hui suddenly thought of the four masks he wore to hide his head shape and decided to use the characteristic as a codename.

"Heh... It seems you won't accept my goodwill." Mu Shanqing smiled faintly. "Originally, asking you to identify yourself was to avoid killing the wrong person. But since you refuse to declare yourself, this old man can only treat you as an intruder and forcibly kill you!"

"Are all of you from the Clear River Sect this arrogant?" Lin Hui smiled.

"Arrogant?" Mu Shanqing raised his hand, signaling the surrounding branch members who had rushed over not to approach. "Everyone, back off. I will handle this person!"

He gripped his sword with one hand. The clothes on his upper body instantly tore apart, fragments scattering in the air. His robust muscles expanded rapidly, growing larger and turning a faint silver.

Most critically, all the Internal Force in his body began to rapidly contract and condense, pressing back inside. Massive amounts of Internal Force continuously squeezed his physique, causing his entire person to glow, emitting a soft white light like a bulb.

This was different from the glow of ordinary Internal Force martial artists, who only had a dim layer of light covering the surface. But Mu Shanqing was glowing from the inside out, radiating a clean white light.

"On the path of the martial Dao, young man, you are still far behind!" Mu Shanqing sneered. Suddenly, his expression froze. "Wait, what did you just say? Clear River Sect!? What Clear River Sect!?"

"Still pretending with me?" Lin Hui frowned, scanning left and right. Through the wild wind, the surrounding branch martial artists all looked puzzled and confused.

It seemed they really didn't know.

“Clear River Sect scum are hiding here. As the Minister, are you telling me you truly know nothing about it?” he demanded.

"What proof do you have? Anyone can spout nonsense. The point is, how can you prove there are Clear River Sect members here?!" Mu Shanqing said coldly.

Lin Hui was left speechless; he really couldn't prove it. He couldn't exactly say he just felt it, could he? And he didn't want to reveal that he had triangulated the range and direction through the Mist God's Gaze. He had tested it a few times before and discovered that the Mist God's Gaze was unknown to the vast majority of Clear River Sect members.

In fact, as long as he didn't say anything, the Clear River Sect members probably wouldn't be able to detect the anomaly on him. To date, only one person had actively discovered this—Han Xiaoyue.

"Speak! Since you suspect there are Clear River Sect members here, then produce your evidence! Otherwise, don't blame me for reporting to the government and inviting the Pacification Corps to uphold justice!" Mu Shanqing's voice rose higher and higher.

“I have no proof, but I can track down something crucial to the Clear River Sect. Do you dare come investigate it with me?” Lin Hui shot back, raising his voice as well.

"Preposterous! You, an inexplicable intruder, show up and demand that this old man cooperate with you on some nonsense task. Do you really think everyone is as bored as you!?"

Mu Shanqing naturally couldn't gamble on this. What if this 'Four Faces' really had a strange method to find the key evidence? If that happened, he would truly be finished. Seeing Lin Hui so certain, killing intent and a sense of crisis rapidly rose in his heart.

What if this guy really has a way to find our flaws... No! I must resolve this to prevent future trouble!

"Cheng Ying, Zhao Dong. Didn't you two keep asking me if I had broken through to the Grandmaster Realm?" Mu Shanqing suddenly changed the subject, his voice low. "Today, I will show you."

Whoosh!

His entire body suddenly expanded again. Internal Force squeezed out, seeping through his pores in high concentration to form a suit of pure white, skin-tight armor. The armor had a rugged design, covered in decorative fangs and spikes to increase lethality. His head was also completely enclosed, revealing only a white mechanism similar to a honeycomb respirator mask.

“The Grandmaster Realm lies in the ‘enshrouding body.’ Before this level, Internal Force can only coat the body’s surface, forming a thin layer of armor. But once one reaches the Three Harmonies Grandmaster stage, skin, flesh, bone, and blood all merge seamlessly with Internal Force. Every part of the body becomes indistinguishable from it, and overall strength soars—far surpassing anyone below the Three Harmonies Realm.”

Mu Shanqing had hidden his strength for many years. Now that he could finally release it all at once, the stagnation in his heart cleared, and he felt liberated. Seeing the shocked expressions of the people around him and his two old colleagues, the satisfaction in his heart reached its peak.

"'So, a Grandmaster is just Internal Force completely merging with oneself, drastically improving physical constitution?' Lin Hui was the first to speak up.

"You have some knowledge." Mu Shanqing looked at him in surprise. "Knowing I've broken through to Grandmaster, you still dare to stay and fight? Courageous, indeed. You don't think that display just now will add even a sliver of a chance to your victory against this old man, do you?"

"Naturally not. I was just curious what exactly the Grandmaster Realm was. But looking at it now, it seems like it's just this," Lin Hui said flatly.

He had deliberately waited for the man to speak, not interrupting with an attack, precisely because he wanted to see what level a Grandmaster was. But looking at it now, it seemed to be just so-so—equivalent to a much stronger Song Zhanlong