Decaying World Chapter 275

"Sha Ye! Watch out!"

An Ling and Sha Ye stood before the Mist wall in the distant, scorching wasteland. They had deliberately fallen behind to put distance between themselves and the others they could not stomach.

With their Trueblood bloodlines degenerated, their physical constitutions had gradually reverted to those of ordinary little girls. Their bodies weakened, their stamina plumted, and their mind-spirits grew increasingly exhausted.

An Ling caught Sha Ye as she nearly collapsed, glancing back at the chaotic sky flashing with red and blue light.

"Where... are we going next?" she asked blankly. Tuyue was gone, and their Trueblood status had degenerated. Now they were rely ordinary people, forced to survive as such.

But they were thousands of miles from the nearest settlent. Could two children really survive on nothing but the Relics they carried?

She didn't know—she had no confidence at all.

"Don't be afraid. If we just wander blindly, we'll die for certain," Sha Ye said, her mind remarkably clear. "Those people took our food and water, so finding supplies is our top priority—not moving."

The nearest gathering place, Xingdao District, was thousands of miles away. Given their current strength and speed, they would likely be killed by remnant rioters or eaten alive by monsters in the Mist Zone long before they arrived.

Therefore, finding a place to hide and taking things slowly was their only viable option.

This was exactly why they hadn't blindly rushed into the Mist wall with the rest. Even under extre stress, Sha Ye kept her head. It was what An Ling admired most about her.

"Then..." Just as An Ling started to reply, a violent gale suddenly surged from behind them.

The massive gust hit them like a physical wall, throwing them heavily into the air. They tumbled and spun before slamming into the Mist wall and collapsing to the ground in agony.

Had it not been for their forr noble bloodlines, the countless body-strengthening dicines they had consud, and the protective buffer of their Relics, they would have been instantly pulverized.

Even so, the two girls struggled to push themselves up from the muddy ground. One rubbed her rear, the other clutched her shoulder, both deathly pale.

"Are you okay?" Sha Ye was about to ask An Ling when she suddenly heard a gentle male voice from behind them.

She spun around. Standing there was a gentle-looking man with even, well-defined features and waist-length black hair. He wore a white robe, a silver sword hanging at his waist. Even in the dense Mist, he appeared immaculate—not a single wrinkle on his clothes.

But more importantly, she recognized that face.

"It's you!" mories flashed through Sha Ye's mind, and pointing at him, she imdiately placed him.

That eccentric who was always wandering between the Deep Domain and the Moon Tower for no apparent reason. She rembered pulling him out of trouble inside the Moon Tower. She never expected to run into him here.

"It's —Lin Hui," he said with a sigh. "Back in the Moon Tower, you were even kind enough to give your address, Lady Sha Ye. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to send over those local specialties. Ti flies, and here we are... the ways of the world are truly unpredictable."

"True enough," Sha Ye echoed, sighing as well.

Their complete lack of urgency made An Ling—who was frantically scanning their surroundings—feel her hair stand on end.

"Shouldn't we hurry up and get out of here!? This area is beyond dangerous right now! Do you two have any sense of urgency at all!?" she shouted.

"You make a fair point," Lin Hui smiled. "If Lady Sha Ye has nowhere to go, you're welco to co with to Black Cloud City. It's bustling, much larger than Tuyue, and far safer than here. I have a fleet heading there."

"Is that really all right?" Sha Ye asked self-mockingly. "Besides, I'm no longer a Trueblood, so don't call 'Lady' anymore. Just call Sha Ye. I'm just an ordinary little girl now—one with the face of a teenager and thirty years on the inside."

"Then Sha Ye it is."

"That works."

"Good. Co with ." Lin Hui smiled and took the lead, walking deeper into the Mist.

Not long after they set off, he paused and glanced back the way they had co, as though watching sothing. A mont later, he turned and walked on without hesitation, leading the two girls away.

Far behind them, at the center of Tuyue's ruins.

The Purgatory Duke landed slowly, gazing in the direction Lin Hui had gone, and let out a low chuckle.

Neither side had prevailed—it was a draw. Lin Hui's peak output was greater, but the Duke could continuously grow stronger by sustaining injuries. Had they kept fighting, the outco would have been anyone's guess.

But that wasn't the most crucial point. After verifying Lin Hui's earlier sound transmission, the Purgatory Duke chose not to press the engagent. Lin Hui had no intention of continuing the fight, either. The two reached an understanding, exchanged contact thods for future use, and quickly parted ways.

"Father, why didn't you kill that human!? He's too dangerous... With that kind of power, if he also becos one of those unkillable Mistborn..." The figure of his daughter, Lanxi, suddenly flashed into existence in midair nearby.

"Since you know he's dangerous, you should also realize that trying to kill him would be far more trouble than it's worth. An unpredictable enemy is far more dangerous than a known one," the Purgatory Duke said calmly.

"You an to gauge the rate at which the Source Disaster is eroding this realm by observing him?" Lanxi imdiately understood.

"I find myself wavering." The Purgatory Duke didn't answer her directly. Instead, he turned and looked toward the distant region occupied by Extre Cold Heaven. "The true power of the Source Disaster has manifested in this realm. Continuing to enter this world to plunder has beco a risky endeavor—one where we might face genuine threats. Whether to continue expanding the Purgatory Gate here warrants reconsideration."

"Father... is the Source Disaster really that terrifying?" Lanxi hesitated before she couldn't help but ask.

"Terrifying? It's far beyond terrifying..." The Purgatory Duke sighed, trailing off. After a mont's silence, he turned to look at his daughter. "Lanxi, I have a mission for you."

…

Inside the herb garden.

Lin Hui led the two girls winding through the maze passages until they finally entered the garden area. The space was already crowded with survivors seeking refuge.

Lin Hui quickly entrusted Sha Ye and An Ling to Huang Shan's care, then entered a stone house with Yun Xiazi, Han Xiaoyue, and the others to work out their next steps. The mbers of the Clear Wind Dao spontaneously took up guard duties.

Inside the stone house, Yun Xiazi followed behind Lin Hui. Unable to hold back any longer, she finally voiced the doubt gnawing at her mind.

"Dao Master, regarding you and the Purgatory Duke... what exactly..."

"We stopped fighting." Lin Hui shook his head, gesturing for the others to find a place to sit. He took the central high-backed chair and exhaled slowly. "Neither side gained the upper hand—no one lost, no one won. We both knew that if we kept going, Extre Cold Heaven would just swoop in to pick up the scraps, so we called a truce."

In the end, even bringing the Star Breath Sword Canon to bear, he had fought only to a standstill. He had been genuinely shaken at the ti and had nearly activated the Nine Eyes to seal the Duke outright.

Theoretically, the Nine Eyes heavily countered his opponent's combat style, which relied on sustaining injuries to grow stronger continuously.

But at the critical mont, he held back.

The Nine Eyes had now sealed multiple Mistborn and Divine Descendants, making its sealing power vastly stronger than before. There was a strong chance he could have sealed his opponent completely.

The problem was that once the Nine Eyes were used, he would need to gather all the eyes again and slaughter souls to recharge its energy. If he sealed the Purgatory Duke and the Extre Cold Queen arrived right after, he would be in serious trouble.

Furthermore, he had never intended to fight on the front lines on behalf of the Mistborn. The Purgatory Duke was powerful, but the Taisu Federation would naturally deal with him in due course. Lin Hui was here only to save people—was it really worth risking his life over?

The other party seed to share his reservations. Thus, after trading a single exchange without a decisive outco, both sides withdrew.

"What's next? Xiaoyue, what are your plans? If you have none, why not co to Black Cloud City with ?" Lin Hui looked toward Han Xiaoyue and the other two.

"No... we have our own duties," Han Xiaoyue said softly.

"You still plan to continue the Federation's mission? Using your bodies to delay the Corruption?" Lin Hui frowned.

"This is the very aning of our existence." Han Xiaoyue smiled.

"Dao Master Lin may not know this, but since we were first cultivated, we have carried the Federation leadership's Destruction Key within our bodies. Our mission is to enter the deep core and delay the Corruption. In exchange, we were each granted the chance to have one wish fulfilled," the petite green-haired girl explained.

"What is the Destruction Key? What happens if you don't go?" Lin Hui asked.

"If we don't go, our fulfilled wish will be voided, and the Destruction Key will activate, instantly obliterating us. The core of a Super-Adapter is the Destruction Key; once the core vanishes, we vanish with it," the aloof, voluptuous woman answered in a low voice.

"How may I address the two of you?"

"Qin Shishi," the petite girl replied quickly.

"Xue Yan," the voluptuous woman answered.

Looking at the three of them, Lin Hui fell silent. He had originally hoped Han Xiaoyue would return to Black Cloud City with him, but the Destruction Key made it impossible for them to escape the Federation's grasp. They could only walk the path already laid out for them.

"There's no need to look at like that," Han Xiaoyue said, calmly reassuring him instead. "With Tuyue gone, we'll head back and wait for reassignnt—that gives us a small window of ti. If we're deployed to other urban districts in the future, we can stretch our lives by a few more decades. Everyone dies sooner or later; a few more decades is enough for ."

She looked at Lin Hui. "As for you—the fact that you repelled the Purgatory Duke won't stay hidden for long. Many people witnessed it; you should prepare yourself."

"I know," Lin Hui nodded. The Purgatory Duke was the type to grow stronger with every powerful opponent he faced. In practice, as long as one withdrew before the Duke elevated his power to a higher level, word leaking out wouldn't pose a significant problem.

The remaining spectators were mostly ordinary people, too weak to discern the levels of power involved, so there was little risk of the full truth getting out.

The key now was simply waiting for the extraction fleet to arrive.

Before coming, he had arranged for a fleet to pick them up. The journey was long, and they would need to navigate extrely harsh mariti conditions. Without specially outfitted ships, only a handful of these people would survive the voyage.

"Dao Master, what about this place?" Yun Xiazi asked.

"We'll temporarily abandon the herb garden. Harvest all the Purple Cloud Reishi and bring it with us. Leave no one behind," Lin Hui instructed. "This place will be of use in the future."

This was a fallback position—a secure base. The maze ruins served as a natural barrier. Managed properly, the hidden herb garden could easily sustain a small group, allowing them to be self-sufficient and grow their own food. With enough supplies stockpiled, surviving here for several years would not be a problem.

"Yes!" Yun Xiazi nodded firmly.

As it turned out, when peril arrived, even a psychopath knew how to keep her head and cut her losses. At the very least, during this rescue operation, she had perford admirably.