The Decaying World-Chapter 36 - 31: Change (Part 1)

The snow fell heavier and heavier...

Inside Mingde’s room, Daoist Mingde was gone. Only his daughter, Weiwei, and the three other disciples were gathered together.

The four of them were silent. No one had expected something like this to happen so suddenly.

"What should we do now?"

Wang Yun asked in a low voice, her brow tightly furrowed.

"Let’s wait for Master to return before we discuss it," Deng Mingchao replied softly. "A matter this serious depends on the Observatory Master’s condition."

"If the Observatory Master..." Wang Yun trailed off, but everyone knew what she meant.

"..." Lin Hui said nothing, simply walking to a corner and closing his eyes to rest his mind.

It wasn’t their place to make decisions on such a grave matter. As disciples, the only thing they could do was wait.

Soon, more than half an hour had passed, and the sky outside began to darken.

Daoist Mingde’s figure finally appeared outside the house. His face was weary, his Daoist robes were stained with specks of blood in places, and he looked vaguely distracted.

Entering the courtyard, Mingde kicked away two old hens that had run up to his feet and pushed open the door.

"The Observatory Master is in critical condition. He won’t be waking up anytime soon. From now on, the three of us will manage the temple’s affairs together. But my opinion differs greatly from the other two..."

"So what’s the situation now, Dad?" Weiwei asked bluntly.

"The talks broke down. We had an argument. Everyone has their own ideas, so we’ve decided to just go our separate ways," Mingde said helplessly, shaking his head.

"What do you mean? The Observatory Master just fell into a coma and you’re already going your separate ways?" Weiwei was shocked. ’Isn’t this happening a little too fast?’

It wasn’t just her; the other three disciples’ expressions also shifted slightly. At this speed, this so-called ’going their separate ways’ was probably premeditated.

Otherwise, the other two wouldn’t have made such a quick decision.

"I was wrong about Mingxiu and Mingchen. Those traitors!" Mingde gritted his teeth and slammed his palm against the wall, leaving a deep palm seal.

"Then, Master, what do we do next...?" Wang Yun asked.

"We’ll wait and see how things develop. We’ll stick to our previous routine and respond to changes by not changing," Mingde said in a low, serious voice.

With the Observatory Master severely injured and in a coma, the many troubles he had previously held at bay would now take this opportunity to come knocking.

Therefore, the coming days might be the most dangerous period for Qingfeng Temple. The one silver lining was that nearly all the martial arts hall powers in the entire Outer City District had been challenged and defeated, putting everyone on the same starting line. No one was better off than anyone else.

After deciding on their course of action, the group saw that it was getting late and had no choice but to disperse.

In the days that followed, Lin Hui continued to diligently practice the Nine-Section Swift Sword according to his routine. He constantly sought guidance from Daoist Mingde and occasionally sparred with his fellow disciples.

As a result, his proficiency increased faster and faster.

「In the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed.」

Ever since Daoist Baohe was severely injured, news spread that the main forces of the major Outer Family martial arts halls throughout the Outer City had also been seriously wounded by experts from the Xingdiao City District.

Immediately after, new martial arts halls, in the style of the Xingdiao City District, sprang up like mushrooms after a spring rain in the various towns.

They not only severely wounded the top masters of the original martial arts halls, but also snatched various collaborative projects with the Government Office from their hands, reaping huge profits.

This further worsened the environment for the local martial arts halls and was simultaneously digging up their very foundations.

Meanwhile, at Qingfeng Temple, after some disciples learned that the challenger, Song Zhanlong, had also opened a Martial Arts Sect called the Black Dragon Sect, a portion of the new disciples who had just joined began to quietly withdraw and transfer to the Black Dragon Sect.

Day by day, time passed, and more and more disciples left Qingfeng Temple. Many had originally come to supplement their training with the Qingfeng Temple’s Body Technique to increase their speed. Now that they saw that the stronger Song Zhanlong could completely counter this body technique, they instantly lost any intention of continuing their practice.

After all, even the strongest, Daoist Baohe, was no match for Song Zhanlong, unable to last more than a few exchanges. This meant that the future development of Qingfeng Temple’s Martial Arts was far inferior to that of the Black Dragon Sect.

Everyone who practiced martial arts did so to become stronger. Now that they saw no hope, the number of departing disciples began to grow.

In just over a month, a full third of the disciples had left, transferring to the Martial Arts Sects established by Martial Artists from the Xingdiao City District.

Lin Hui’s resolve also wavered slightly, but Daoist Mingde had been nothing but good to him, so even if he was shaken, he had no intention of switching to another sect.

As for his Martial Arts, he wasn’t worried about future development. After all, his initial goal wasn’t to be stronger, but to be faster. Otherwise, he could have just gone directly to Feiyun Hall.

「The third month.」

Qingfeng Temple was sparsely populated, the grounds desolate and quiet.

Lin Hui followed Daoist Mingde, walking silently along the edge of the front courtyard’s training ground. They trod on the slightly thick snow, both speechless.

"Zhao Jiang’an and Mu Qiaozhi have left," Daoist Mingde finally said after a long silence, his voice bitter. "They’ve switched to the stronger Black Dragon Sect and taken Song Zhanlong as their master."

"Master, you don’t need to worry about me. No matter what, I will not betray your trust," Lin Hui sincerely pledged.

"Don’t be like that. Don’t let a debt of gratitude affect your future. If things really don’t work out here, you should choose a better path for yourself and switch to another sect. There’s no need to hang yourself from a single tree. You’re still young," Mingde sighed.

"I understand," Lin Hui replied, but in his heart, he had no thought of leaving whatsoever.

"Sigh... By now, you’ve basically mastered the Nine-Section Swift Sword, haven’t you?" Mingde asked.

He stopped and turned to look at Lin Hui.

"Yes," Lin Hui nodded respectfully.

"It’s about time. I called you out today because I plan to take you on a real hunt in the fog," said Mingde. "Each of my other disciples has been taken on a solo hunt in the fog by me. Since we live surrounded by the fog, we naturally cannot separate ourselves from it."

"How did Senior Sister Wang, Senior Brother Deng, and Sister Weiwei do?" Lin Hui asked curiously.

"Weiwei was so scared she had nightmares for a week. Wang Yun and Deng Mingchao’s performances were passable. They tangled with two ordinary Mysterious Beasts for a long time. Although they didn’t manage to kill them, it was still a decent showing," Mingde paused. "The main purpose of taking you on a solo hunt is to familiarize you with the procedures and precautions for entering and exiting the fog. This way, your safety can be maximized in the future when you have no choice but to enter the Fog Area."

"I understand," Lin Hui nodded.

The two of them walked more than halfway around the Daoist Temple, arriving at the rear. They passed through a small grove and followed a path deeper in.

Before long, they arrived at the boundary line of the Fog Area.

Daoist Mingde held his longsword, lightly drawing the silver blade and pointing it diagonally at the ground.

"The Mysterious Beasts of the Fog Area are divided into five levels: Harmless Level, Invasion Level, Dangerous Level, High-Risk Level, and Destruction Level."

"It’s easy to judge them by their names," Lin Hui said thoughtfully.

"Yes. Most of the ones we encounter at the edge of the Fog Area are actually Harmless Level. They may look large, but they can only threaten ordinary people. To people like us, they are completely harmless." Daoist Mingde stood before the tall gray wall of fog, slowly took out an amber piece of Ning Xiang, and gently lit a corner of it with a fire starter.

Then, holding the Ning Xiang in one hand and his sword in the other, he slowly walked toward the Fog Area.

"Keep up."

Hearing this, Lin Hui quickly followed close behind.

He looked around curiously. The moment the Ning Xiang came into contact with the fog, it miraculously opened up a spherical space more than ten meters in diameter.

Within this space, all the fog was forcibly pushed out by an invisible force.

The two of them seemed to be inside a transparent sphere, rolling forward step by step.

Underfoot was barren, uneven black earth where not even a blade of grass grew.

Around them, tall black shadows, at least three meters high, constantly flashed within the fog.

WHOOSH.

A humanoid black shadow flitted past over Lin Hui’s head, making his hair stand on end and causing him to stop in his tracks.

"Don’t worry, it’s just a Harmless-Level Half-giant," Daoist Mingde said calmly from ahead.

"Yes." Lin Hui nodded.

The two continued walking for a short while until finally, a small wooden cabin appeared in front of Daoist Mingde.

The cabin was grayish-black and surrounded by a small fence of white thorns.

Daoist Mingde approached, opened the gate in the fence, and walked inside with practiced ease.

"This is a temporary resting spot I built in the Fog Area. If you get tired from your hunting training, you can come here to restock on temporary supplies and catch your breath. There’s a Jade Talisman I acquired from the Rain Palace hanging inside. Generally, monsters of Invasion Level and below won’t dare to approach."

"Okay," Lin Hui nodded.

"Next, let’s find a Mysterious Beast for you to practice on." After leading Lin Hui on a quick tour of the cabin, Daoist Mingde went outside again to begin the official training.

"Go on. I’ll wait for you here. Within fifteen minutes, find a Mysterious Beast, try to hunt it, and bring back a part of its body. If you do that, you’ll have successfully passed the trial." Daoist Mingde handed the Ning Xiang to Lin Hui, then pushed open the cabin door and went inside.

"I’ll be waiting for you in here."

"...Yes." Lin Hui fell silent, watching his master go inside, lock the door from the other side, and then stand at the window to wave at him.

He composed himself, glanced at the Ning Xiang in his hand, and carefully tucked it into his sash pouch.

The Ning Xiang was quite miraculous. After being lit, there was no open flame, yet it continuously emitted a stream of white smoke.

After confirming the Ning Xiang’s effect was stable, Lin Hui drew his Qinghe Sword, stuck the scabbard into the soil inside the cabin’s fence, then focused his mind and slowly walked out into the Fog Area.

The gray, hazy fog seemed to represent all that was unknown, and it quickly enveloped and submerged him from all sides.

Lin Hui glanced at the Blood Seal information prompt at the bottom of his vision.

’Nine-Section Swift Sword: Time remaining for evolution—May 19th.’

More than three months had passed, but the total nine-month evolution time didn’t seem to have decreased at all.

This disappointed Lin Hui a little, but he quickly reined in his thoughts, focused his attention, and scanned his surroundings, remaining vigilant.

Time ticked by.

「Before long.」

Wooo...

A strange whimpering sound drifted from the left, faint and intermittent.

The sound grew closer and closer.

FWUMP!

In an instant, a gray shadow pounced from behind!

It was a slender, humanoid monster with smooth, strangely grayish-white skin.

Its head had no facial features, only a single sharp, black horn on top.

The monster’s pounce instantly triggered Lin Hui’s already taut nerves.

He raised his hand and swung his sword in an upward slash behind him, unconsciously unleashing his full strength.

SHIING!

The sharp blade slashed across the humanoid monster’s chest first, striking a shower of sparks.

’I can’t damage it?!’

Lin Hui’s heart tightened. He hurriedly sidestepped, precisely dodging the creature’s pounce.

"That kind of monster is called a Faceless Person. Its skin is as hard as iron. To deal with it, you need to find its ’zhaomen’, its weak point," his master Mingde’s voice drifted over from a distance.

"The zhaomen of a Faceless Person is usually its horn. Cutting off the horn will kill it completely. Be careful, the claws on its limbs contain a paralyzing toxin. If you’re injured, your body technique’s agility will rapidly decrease," Daoist Mingde continued. "You’re quite lucky. The Faceless People are on the upper end of the Harmless Level. They’re a Mysterious Beast that really tests one’s body technique and precision. Normally, in our sect, only those at Sixth Grade Body Tempering or above can handle one. You can treat this as a test."