Decaying World Chapter 278

"Dao Master. A special infectious disease known as Soul Loss Syndro has broken out at Xiaoliu's martial academy. Our investigations suggest an organization called the Mingxin Society is secretly spreading it. What are your thoughts?" Li Yuanyuan's voice reached Lin Hui through the Wind Chi.

"The Mingxin Society? What's their background?" Lin Hui withdrew his gaze and let his eyes fall shut.

"Unknown. The organization is incredibly secretive. Their very first move was to target the fringe descendants of the three great Trueblood Noble families. This has already drawn the Truebloods' attention, and investigations have been underway for so ti," Li Yuanyuan replied.

"Going straight for the three great Trueblood Noble families from the start?" Lin Hui was taken aback. That took real nerve—the Mingxin Society clearly had solid backing.

After all, who would dare go straight for the Trueblood Noble families under the three great City Lords without the strength and backing to match?

"Dao Master, how should we respond?" Li Yuanyuan asked softly.

"Ignore them, as long as it doesn't involve us." He had a certain fondness for these shadowy factions that materialized from nowhere.

Much like the Purgatory Duke and the Extre Cold Queen, who had been locked in fierce battles with the Federation for the past five years. The Duke's ability to grow stronger with every wound had cost many powerful Mistborn dearly.

Fortunately, neither side could truly kill the other. After three bitter years of war, both parties finally agreed to cede more than half of the Tuyue region to the spheres of influence of Purgatory and Extre Cold Heaven.

The Federation had been reluctant to yield. But after more than ten consecutive defeats and watching their deployed Mistborn get blown apart ti and again, they had no choice but to accept the terms.

Of course, the Mistborn of the Inner Court could readily mobilize were only so strong. Truly formidable figures—top-tier City Lords like Xie Chang'an—might acknowledge a summons, but they absolutely refused to take orders.

The Inner Court had suffered enough embarrassnts and wasn't about to invite another by trying to mobilize soone of Xie Chang'an's caliber.

The Purgatory Duke also knew when to stop. After claiming his territories, he surprised everyone by abandoning Purgatory's usual aggression and focusing instead on consolidating his position rather than pressing further.

Extre Cold Heaven, on the other hand, continued to expand rapidly in another direction, soon clashing with Hongyin. After four years of fighting, both sides had taken heavy losses. The Extre Cold Queen was overwheld by the joint efforts of three Mistborn dispatched by Hongyin and was forced to revive once more within Extre Cold Heaven. The monsters that survived under her command fled in disarray back to the sealing gate, and the Hongyin Empire absorbed all their occupied territories.

The Hongyin Empire also paid dearly; it was said that before the Queen was driven back, she had ground two of their Mistborn into nothing.

Against the backdrop of these devastating battles, the news of Lin Hui once fighting the Purgatory Duke and walking away unscathed seed almost mundane by comparison.

Withdrawing his mind-spirit, Lin Hui paused in thought.

"What is the recent situation with Xia Si?"

"Her strength has broken through again. Half a month ago, at a gathering, she got into a quarrel with Elder Su Yaping. The two took it out to sea, and when they returned, Elder Su was clearly nursing injuries... At this point, aside from you, I doubt anyone can keep Senior Sister Xia in check," Li Yuanyuan explained.

"Interesting. Even Su Yaping is no longer her match?" Lin Hui was sowhat intrigued.

Su Yaping was no longer the man he had been five years ago. In that ti, with the comprehension boost from the law seal bolstering everyone in the Clear Wind Dao, all of them had co far. Su Yaping's natural foundation was exceptionally high, and his current strength dwarfed what it had once been. A Blood Ancestor like Han Sanmian would likely not last long against him now—though given how formidable a Blood Ancestor's regenerative abilities were, Lin Hui couldn't predict the outco if it turned into a war of attrition.

What he could say with certainty was that Su Yaping's aura now surpassed Han Sanmian's at the ti. His true ceiling, however, could only be asured in actual combat.

After all, the degree to which comprehensions, secret arts, and Relics could elevate a cultivator was far too vast to quantify.

"Dao Master, this subordinate cannot understand sothing. Why do you allow Senior Sister Xia to remain in the sect when you know she harbors rebellious intentions? She is absorbing the essence of the Clear Wind Dao to grow ever stronger—isn't that a danger to you?" Li Yuanyuan couldn't help but ask.

"It's precisely because she still considers herself part of the Clear Wind Dao that I keep her," Lin Hui answered with a smile.

Li Yuanyuan went still for a mont, a thoughtful expression crossing her face.

"All right, go rest," Lin Hui said.

"This subordinate has already bathed and is currently drying off. Does the Dao Master require to attend to his bed?" Li Yuanyuan replied with perfect solemnity.

"...Every single one of you..." Lin Hui, rendered speechless, cut the Wind Chi.

Five years had passed, and with things between him and Liu Xiao going nowhere, the disciples, sect mbers, and subordinates around him had all begun making their own advances in various ways.

Aligning oneself with the strong was a universal instinct in this world, and many wore it as a point of pride. Liu Xiao not only did not object—she actively created openings for him at every turn.

Whenever they chatted about it, Lin Hui and Gongsun Xinlian would inevitably share a look of mutual exasperation.

Gongsun Xinlian was in the exact sa boat—worse, in fact. At any given mont, she could reach out and pluck a handso suitor of any variety from thin air.

After all, she was a City Lord and had been single for thousands of years...

The most alarming developnt was that, given the prolonged lack of progress, certain factions had begun to suspect the Third City Lord harbored particular tastes. In recent years, they had taken to gifting her ferocious, imposing monsters with notably well-endowed lower bodies...

Lin Hui found himself deeply sympathizing with her predicant.

While Lin Hui was still fretting over these daily trivialities...

Tens of thousands of miles away from the Clear Wind Dao Academy, out in the waters of the Crystal Sea.

A vast expanse of densely packed, pure white crystals stretched in every direction, its surface stirring with faint waves in the breeze. The temperature exceeded three hundred Rings, and any passing ships dared not linger—they were forced to activate temperature-reducing Relic arrays and push through as quickly as possible.

Such an inhospitable environnt made it a natural sanctuary for powerful experts to move about unchallenged.

Hundreds of ters above the Crystal Sea, a transparent cyclone held a slender young woman aloft.

Her hair was pulled back in a simple high ponytail, her figure trim and shapely. She wore a tailored pure-white swordswoman's outfit, a wide dark-green silk ribbon cinched at her waist that threw her fair complexion into sharp relief.

Her features were striking and sharp, but her eyes were a cold, brooding silver-gray—and at that mont, they were filled with impatience. She kept one hand resting on the black sword at her waist, gazing down from her elevated vantage at the churning crystal waves below.

"If you have sothing to say, say it! What was so urgent that I had to co in person? If that man finds out, neither of us will be able to answer for it."

"Miss Xia, there is no need for that temper. Do you recall why you agreed to join us three years ago?" From among the countless crystals in the seawater, a gentle, elegant male face rose slowly to the surface.

The face was fashioned entirely from white crystals, spanning tens of ters across—clearly a projection of so ability or cultivation thod, not his true form.

"Huanjing Island has given no small amount of help—allowed to walk a path I wouldn't have dared imagine before. Do you have sothing new that can make stronger?" A flash of gray lit Xia Si's eyes as her interest sharpened at once.

"Well... we have already exhausted every resource on the island that could be of use to you. However, a new mber has recently joined our ranks. Perhaps he will have what you need..." the crystalline face said, lowering its voice.

"Oh? A new mber? What's his background, that you speak of him with such confidence?" Xia Si raised an eyebrow.

"It's quite a coincidence, actually. He shares your surna," the crystalline face answered gently.

"Spit it out," Xia Si said impatiently.

"His na is Xia Ziyi, and rumor has it he hails from the Inner Court's Royal City, Biqiu."

…

In the blink of an eye, another three days passed.

Lin Xiaoliu fell back into her routine, spending each day in school playing and cultivating alongside her best friend, Xu Yaya. Inseparable as ever, both girls assud life would settle back into its familiar quiet.

But on the afternoon of the third day, as she and Xu Yaya walked out through the school gates, Lin Xiaoliu spotted the purple-robed man from before.

He stood in the sa mangrove forest as before.

This ti, the purple-robed man was smiling and talking to a short-haired boy. What struck Lin Xiaoliu as strange was the boy's unusual aura. He looked about thirteen or fourteen, his face slightly pale, with a faint red vertical mark between his brows.

She recognized him—it was Song Yunhui from Class Nine. Rumor had it that he was an orphan, raised entirely by his single mother.

"What's wrong, Xiaoliu?" Xu Yaya felt her friend stop and turned to look at her curiously.

"Can't you see them? Over there." Lin Xiaoliu pursed her lips and gestured toward the mangroves.

Xu Yaya followed her gaze, but the mangrove forest was empty to her eyes.

"..." Lin Xiaoliu instantly fell silent. She imdiately guessed that her damn super-strong perception had activated again.

Just as whenever she was near her third brother, this perception brought her no joy—only fear and a suffocating weight pressing down on her.

Her third brother, whose aura felt boundless as the sky itself, was the one person she least wanted to be near. Whenever she ca close, her body would seize up without warning—twitching, shaking, terror and pain flooding through her all at once.

She glanced around at the teachers and students moving past—not one of them seed to notice the two figures in the mangrove forest. So even passed just outside the treeline, within ten ters, chatting and laughing without a flicker of awareness.

This bizarre scene sent a faint chill creeping into her heart.

"It's nothing. Let's go." With the unease still sitting in her chest, Lin Xiaoliu pulled her friend forward and headed for ho.

But after only a few steps, she couldn't help one last look back at the mangroves.

That single glance froze her in place.

"Xiaoliu, what's wrong?" Xu Yaya asked again.

In the next instant, Lin Xiaoliu wrenched free of her grip and sprinted toward the mangroves at full speed.

"Stop!!"

Her cry cut through the air like a stone thrown into still water, instantly drawing every eye in the vicinity.

anwhile, in the mangrove forest, the purple-robed man's right hand hovered a hair's breadth from Song Yunhui's forehead. The shout startled him into stillness.

He turned and took in Lin Xiaoliu and her friend racing toward him, surprise flickering through his eyes.

He withdrew his hand, and without so much as a change in expression, his figure dissolved silently into the air like smoke.

Leaving only Song Yunhui, who crumpled to the ground, limp and unconscious.