Decaying World Chapter 269

The rewards from this encounter are enough to finalize the Blood Seal's evolution of the Grand Yin-Yang Ti Reversal Sword Art. Once it's complete, I'll need to settle on a new evolutionary goal. The Mistborn's undying nature is an enormous problem; by contrast, soone with an ordinary human physique like mine is simply too fragile, too lacking in endurance. I still need to evolve a special secret art to shore up my stamina and the survivability of those around .

The unkillable Mistborn had caused Lin Hui considerable distress. Although he didn't yet know exactly why the Longevity Wheel had ultimately abandoned Tuyue, he couldn't pin his hopes on speculation until he confird whether the Star Breath Sword Canon was responsible. He had to prepare proactively.

During the war, Lin Hui had witnessed the Mist God's aura-stacking at firsthand—an absolute headache to deal with.

If I could create sothing like that for myself and the mbers of the Clear Wind Dao to use together...

And then there are arrays. Battlefield arrays offer too strong a protective layer for weaker allies; I must develop them going forward. If I could generate a localized field that absolutely suppresses anyone who enters—combined with a high-defense array capable of blocking both ranged and lee attacks...

Lin Hui recalled that in the mythological stories from his past life, there were always special domains: cursed lands, death lands, blessed lands. Areas that imposed powerful, indiscriminate effects on anyone who stepped inside.

He planned to see whether the Blood Seal could produce sothing of that nature.

As for everything else—he had already gathered the pulsation of destruction. All that remained now was to still his mind and carefully comprehend the Sacred Form. The next step, the pulsation of heaven, required governing the sky and atmosphere. He had absolutely no idea how to accomplish that, even on a small scale.

Setting these thoughts aside, Lin Hui stood, left instructions for Li Yuanyuan, and vanished from the Clear Wind Dao Academy, heading straight for the Third Mountain.

There was still one deeply troubling question he needed to resolve: whether he could continue operating in Black Cloud City at all going forward.

The surrounding scenery blurred and shifted, then snapped back into clarity.

When he stopped, he was already standing outside the circular array at the peak of the Third Mountain.

"City Lord Gongsun—it's Lin Hui. I have an important matter to discuss."

He had deliberately waited until the three City Lords had finished distributing the spoils of war and settled their affairs. The crowds that had milled about earlier were gone. Gongsun Xinlian sat cross-legged within the array, visibly spent. Her severed arm had already grown back. Dressed in a pure white gown, her black hair pinned high, she wore the austere composure of soone untouched by the mortal world.

"Co in and speak. There is no need for formality between you and the three of us." A faint smile crossed her face.

"Yes." Lin Hui remained perfectly courteous. He knew the strength of these three far surpassed Tuyue's—to have held the Federation's borderline for so many years and built Black Cloud City into what it was, they unquestionably held more than a few hidden trump cards.

He walked slowly into the array, stopped a few ters from Gongsun Xinlian, and sat down cross-legged.

"Third City Lord, I wish to ask: under what circumstances does an Evil Weapon or Insect Canon detach from a Mistborn?"

"Detach?" Gongsun Xinlian raised an eyebrow. "Generally, only two situations."

She seed to guess where he was heading.

"First: when we approach the limits of Corruption, the Evil Weapon and Insect Canon will detach on their own. Second: when the true Evil Mist is devoured and transferred past a certain threshold, they will also actively detach."

Lin Hui considered for a mont, then decided against concealing anything. He told her about Tuyue's bid for revenge.

Since Li Hanzhang and Hong Lingxiao had witnessed the aftermath, concealnt would be pointless. He simply adjusted his phrasing—claiming that just as Tuyue was preparing to attack, her Evil Weapon had begun to detach on its own, followed almost imdiately by her body undergoing rapid Corruption. The other Mistborn, Xie Jun, had been frightened into flight. And so Lin Hui had survived and returned quickly.

"Tuyue is dead!?" Gongsun Xinlian was struck speechless.

Silence fell completely.

She closed her eyes and remained that way for a long ti before speaking again.

"...She must have had too much power drained by Purgatory and Extre Cold Heaven... The Corruption was no longer being shared among the city's residents... so it accelerated..."

"I see. Can you be certain she is truly dead?" Lin Hui asked quietly.

"...The detachnt of an Evil Weapon cannot be faked. Xie Jun will spread the news soon enough. Our circle is only so large—when the ti cos, we will know whether it's true or false." A pause. "Honestly? I hope that woman is dead and gone."

By the end, her tone had turned sharp with old resentnt.

"Then I am relieved," Lin Hui exhaled.

He asked a few more casual questions about Black Cloud's losses during the war, then took his leave.

As he departed, he caught a glimpse of Gongsun Xinlian's face—a complex tangle of resentnt and sothing that looked almost like bewildernt.

Tuyue could not be killed by her peers; she was a Federation City Lord. For years, Gongsun Xinlian had been able to suppress Tuyue District only on the surface. And yet this thorny problem had resolved itself in the brief ti since Lin Hui's arrival. Tuyue City was gone. Tuyue was dead.

Once a Mistborn died, the Trueblood Nobles they had bred would find their Evil Energy rapidly degenerating and fading, leaving them as ordinary people. Their cultivation would remain—but without Evil Energy, and having already outlived any normal human lifespan many tis over, a mass outbreak of Corruption was now all but inevitable.

Ning Yue... Did you see that? That woman is finally gone. Inferior to in every way, worse than in every aspect. So on what grounds? On what grounds did you choose her?

That familiar, handso face surfaced again in Gongsun Xinlian's mind. In truth, she had always known where she fell short.

For years, she had secretly emulated Tuyue—loathing her, yet envying her all the sa.

She closed her eyes. Inexplicably, she felt lighter than she had in a very long ti.

…

After obtaining confirmation, Lin Hui released so of the weight pressing on his heart—only for his concern to shift at once to Tuyue's forr territory. With Tuyue dead, her Truebloods would inevitably degenerate. Without a Blood Ancestor and without Trueblood support, and facing the ever-present threat of Purgatory and Extre Cold Heaven across the sea, what would beco of his herb garden?

I need to go check on it personally. After turning the matter over, Lin Hui decided he had to visit the ruins of Tuyue—to confirm the safety of his herb garden and the people he cared about.

The situation in Black Cloud had essentially stabilized.

I'll let the Blood Seal finish its evolution first. With its appraisal, I'll have a better guarantee of safety.

The death of a Mistborn City Lord carried cascading consequences. The chain reaction alone would plunge a vast region into turmoil.

He packed quickly, inford the three City Lords, and opted not to take a dedicated Moth Carriage—choosing instead to make the return to Tuyue alone, at full speed. At his current level of agility, he could sustain a Mistborn's Super Divine Speed throughout the journey. At that pace, without losing his way, a voyage that had once taken over half a year would now take only half a month. That was faster than a Moth Carriage, and far more flexible. Traveling alone also ant acting without restraint—the better choice by every asure.

Early the next morning, Lin Hui inford the Lin Manor—specifically his wife Liu Xiao and eldest brother Liu Wujun, both of whom had friends and ntors back in Tuyue. He wrote down the nas of everyone they were worried about.

He then paid his respects to his parents before returning to the Clear Wind Dao Academy.

Two days of secluded cultivation passed.

After he consud more than half of the Divine Blood Tea, the Blood Seal completed its evolution.

The following day, a phantom shot upward from the Clear Wind Dao Academy and disappeared into the distance, toward Tuyue.

The mbers of the Clear Wind Dao Academy watched in silence, offering quiet prayers for their sect master's safe return.

anwhile, the Fourth Princess, Song Feishi, paid Lin Hui's departure no attention at all. Her focus lay entirely on observing the cultivation of the newest arrival—the crippled Mistborn, Pang Jiu.

The perfect version of the Clear Wind Sword Technique.

Since joining the Clear Wind Dao Academy, Pang Jiu had not wasted a single mont. Studying and drilling with single-minded diligence, he drew on his formidable martial foundation to breeze through the first two sword techniques and advance to the perfect version of the Clear Wind Sword Technique.

It was that sword technique that completely altered his perception of the Clear Wind Dao Academy.

Not only his—but Song Feishi's as well, and that of the three Black Cloud City Lords who had been watching from afar.

In truth, everyone involved—Lin Hui and the four Mistborn alike—understood perfectly well that Pang Jiu was nothing more than a test subject, sent to probe for hidden traps. Lin Hui had given him no special treatnt whatsoever, instructing him as he would any ordinary disciple and making him start from the absolute basics, wholly indifferent to his identity as a Mistborn.

It was precisely this indifference that allowed the observers to notice the subtle anomalies that erged as Pang Jiu practiced the perfect version.

The Clear Wind Sword Technique was the starting point—the foundation from which Internal Force wove the Web. It was also the exact point where the martial path of the old Clear Wind Temple and the current Clear Wind Dao had diverged completely into two separate roads.

The flawless, quietly srizing quality of the perfect version allowed all four of them to glimpse sothing entirely different—a path wholly unlike anything in conventional martial arts.

For a stretch of ti, Song Feishi and the three City Lords said nothing, each turning the technique's profound underpinnings over in their minds.

Just as Yun Xiazi had once done.

…

Above the Jade Sea.

The white mist was so dense it obscured everything beyond arm's reach.

The air was thick with the sour, briny reek of seawater.

Lin Hui flew rapidly forward, following the map obtained from the Moon Tower. Under the passive influence of the Star Breath Sword Canon, the surrounding mist and water vapor parted of their own accord, eliminating all friction and drag. Like a translucent shuttle, he tore silently through the dense mist at extre speed.

Once his bearing was confird, Lin Hui spared a sliver of attention for the Blood Seal.

The Grand Yin-Yang Ti Reversal Sword Art had just completed its evolution, flooding him with a vast current of related cultivation experience and mories—as it always did. The art was built entirely on the path of extre speed. Because it inherited from previous extre-speed sword techniques, it simultaneously delivered a massive enhancent to Lin Hui's physical velocity. He couldn't speak for other Mistborn, but asured against the Stray Mistborn and Tuyue, his speed had already surpassed their Super Divine Speed by a considerable margin.

But that wasn't the heart of the matter. The real prize was the wealth of information the Grand Yin-Yang Ti Reversal Sword Art had brought with it.

The Grand Yin-Yang Ti Reversal Sword Art is divided into nine layers. Each layer requires washing away one layer of one's own spiritual burden, until the rift of ti itself distorts.

Spiritual burden encompasses the innate and acquired weights carried by body and mind alike—flesh, blood, bone, viscera, and the seven emotions and six desires all fall under this category.

Sever everything. Illuminate the true self. All of the past is nothing but illusion...

Lin Hui found himself unsettled. If a person severed every one of the seven emotions and six desires—would anything human remain?