Decaying World Chapter 285:

Two days later.

In the northern reaches of Black Cloud, a fleet of forty ocean-going cargo ships filed into Yusha Port, guided by a small pilot boat.

Scores of laborers from clans such as the Bull-n and Horse-n had already assembled on the docks, ready to unload. Behind them, trading-house managers stood beside large cargo wagons—half from races with a natural talent for comrce, like the Tiger-n, and the rest mixed-blood Goat-n who still bore vestigial horns.

In a district like Black Cloud, where pure-blooded humans dominated, these were the lower and middle classes of the Outer City. That non-humans could find work here at all was testant to the city's relative tolerance.

Thud, thud, thud.

To a rhythm of heavy footsteps, Half-Giants in gray vests—each back embroidered with the characters for "Hundred Seas"—moved into position along the edge of the wharf, carrying coils of heavy rope as they waited to handle the incoming cargo.

These Half-Giants resembled ordinary humans, only vastly larger—the shortest standing four ters tall, the tallest over six. Their skin was a dull gray, their heads cropped close or shaved entirely, and they wore sturdy hard-leather boots and gray leather gloves. Thick grayish-black towels hung around their necks.

A loose group of twenty-odd occupied a stretch of the quay.

"My goodness—I could never have expected Dao Master Lin to collect the goods in person. You honor ."

On one side of the wharf, a pipe-smoking giant toad had just blown a smoke ring when it flinched. It quickly tossed the pipe to an assistant and hopped forward a few paces to prostrate itself before an approaching group.

The toad stood a full four ters tall and three ters wide, its green, warty skin dressed in a golden riding jacket inlaid with gems and pearls. As it prostrated itself, a servile smile spread across its face—comical, given the size.

"I've been waiting on this dicine," Lin Hui said, leading the group with an easy smile. "Since I had a free afternoon, I ca to collect it myself." Su Yaping, Wang Hongshi, and the others followed close behind.

"Soon, soon. It's going through inspection right now. Please, follow ." The giant toad bead and straightened, leading them forward.

His na was Mo Xinghai—a human na. Born into the Giant Toad Clan, he had founded the Green Mountain Chamber of Comrce within his clan a century ago, later joining the Hundred Seas rchant Alliance. By now, the chamber had grown enormously, ranking among the top ten fleets operating in Black Cloud's waters.

When Lin Hui first ca to Black Cloud, he had dealt with Mo Xinghai's chamber for dicine. Pleased with that arrangent, he had later hired Green Mountain ships when he traveled to Tuyue to collect his people. By now, they were old partners.

Mo Xinghai was scrupulously reliable and kept secrets absolutely. Once he agreed to a deal, he delivered—regardless of how circumstances shifted. It was the foundation of everything he had built.

Mo Xinghai led Lin Hui's group to a black cargo ship that had just docked and signaled the crew. Monts later, a heavily bearded man in a gray-blue robe ca down the gangway. He murmured sothing to Mo Xinghai, and a second gangway was quickly assembled and lowered.

Once both gangways were secured, burly n in gray riding jackets shouldered black wooden crates over two ters long and walked them steadily down to the dock. On the shore, the Half-Giants stepped forward one by one, receiving the crates and loading them into the wagons.

"Your cargo is particularly valuable, so it was stowed deeper in the hold," Mo Xinghai leaned in and said quietly. "Once this cover shipnt is cleared, yours will be next. Please bear with us."

"Fine," Lin Hui said with a nod. "I've long been curious—why not use Internal Force martial artists for this? It would be far faster." It was true; if they projected their Internal Force, the unloading speed would be vastly improved.

"Cost," Mo Xinghai said with a low chuckle. "This isn't an easy business to profit in. Half-Giants are a fraction of the price of Internal Force martial artists, and they have strong poison resistance—you can hire a whole crew just by tossing them sea beast at at one tael per jin. Switch to Internal Force martial artists, and the appearance fee alone runs a thousand taels a head, before you even get to piece rates."

Lin Hui ntally compared the rates to those in Tuyue. Internal Force martial artists there had never earned so fast.

Before long, the large crates were cleared, and slightly smaller jade stone boxes began coming down.

"The seams of these boxes are sealed with a special transparent gelatin rendered from the outer hide of a sea whale called the Lost Whale," Mo Xinghai explained. "The seal is exceptionally durable—good for a thousand years—and impervious to both water and fire. The boxes themselves are carved from Blue Shadow Stone, which naturally maintains a low temperature and draws out excess moisture."

A jade stone box was brought forward. Mo Xinghai took a small knife from an assistant, channeled his Void Force along the blade, and cut along the seam.

Click.

The box sprang open to reveal rows of blue-gold, coral-like dicinal herbs nested inside.

"This is the premium Gold Jade Coral you ordered—three to five tis the potency of Purple Cloud Reishi. I trust it ets your expectations." Mo Xinghai transmitted via voice projection.

Lin Hui nodded. With a gesture, a palm-length fragnt of coral flew into his hand. He examined it carefully and gave a satisfied nod.

"What's the total quantity?"

"One thousand, three hundred and forty-two jin—roughly three boxes. One Blood per ten jin," Mo Xinghai chuckled.

Lin Hui nodded and glanced at Wang Hongshi. Wang Hongshi stepped forward, produced Black Cloud Bank withdrawal notes, and handed them over.

"There's one more thing," Mo Xinghai leaned in and transmitted, with a trace of mystery. "Soone asked to pass you sothing." He turned and issued a brief instruction; monts later, a smaller black tal box was brought over.

"They asked to give this to you, and to wait until you're back before opening it. Consider it an apology for what happened in Tuyue."

Lin Hui glanced at the box. Sothing at his waist grew faintly warm. Understanding its origin at once, he gave a nod and had soone take it.

"By the way, Dao Master Lin—the outside world has grown turbulent. Wars are breaking out all over. I wonder if the Clear Wind Dao is still open to disciples from the Outer City?" Mo Xinghai transmitted quietly. "I should ntion—it's the patriarch's youngest son. His aptitude is exceptional. He respects his elders and takes the Dao seriously. As for tuition and resources, my patriarch is willing to sponsor the Clear Wind Dao with ten thousand Blood in materials each year."

"I'm not taking outsiders at the mont. But given your request, Old Mo, I'll open two spots. He won't be my personal disciple—he'll apprentice under one of mine," Lin Hui said easily.

In Black Cloud City, anyone with even passing knowledge of Lin Hui and the Clear Wind Dao was scrambling to place their children or relatives in the sect. He couldn't take them all, but this was a useful way to weave himself into the local power structure, so he permitted his personal disciples to accept apprentices of their own.

He was already stretched thin. Between instructing his personal disciples—Su Yaping, Tao Changsheng, Yun Xiazi, and Xia Si—and occasionally guiding Lin Xiaoliu, there was barely any ti left. His own cultivation had already taken a back seat; taking on outsiders was out of the question.

That said, the Giant Toad Clan patriarch Mo Xinghai ntioned was a Federation city lord at the Mistborn rank. They had never t, but showing him so courtesy would open another channel for acquiring herbs.

Mo Xinghai received this with mild disappointnt but understood.

The handover completed quickly, and Lin Hui's group transported the Gold Jade Coral back to the Clear Wind Dao.

Lin Hui dismissed everyone, keeping only the tal box. He set it in the courtyard and raised a shield of Disaster Energy over the area.

Over ti, the environnt inside the Clear Wind Dao Academy had grown increasingly hazardous. Though the Wind Disaster rift had been sealed, it continued to leak minuscule traces of disaster force into the surrounding area.

This had recently accelerated cultivation for many of the academy's disciples—everyone reported their Internal Force advancing far more quickly than before, and the energy they refined felt considerably denser.

With his mind-spirit as strong as it was, Lin Hui's passive perception extended for kiloters. These changes had not escaped him.

But he could do nothing about it. He had tried every approach; none had worked. The rift resisted a complete seal.

He was placing his hopes on this batch of top-tier Gold Jade Coral from Tianchong City. His plan was to fully release the Blood Seal from its evolutionary constraints, then find a way to close the Wind Disaster rift once and for all. This was partly why he had co to the docks himself—he had, in fact, dispatched Su Yaping to escort the cargo well before it entered port.

Now alone, Lin Hui turned his attention to the black tal box, a thought stirring at the back of his mind.

Whoosh.

An invisible current of Wind Force worked the lock open and lifted the lid.

The interior was lined with soft, fine black velvet. Curled up in the middle of it was a slender woman wearing a white fox mask.

She wore nothing at all. Her figure was slight but full-curved, and her skin was pale enough to glow against the dark velvet. She appeared unconscious, motionless except for the steady rise and fall of her breath.

A piece of pale yellow parchnt lay across her thigh, covered in fine writing. It floated gently upward and settled into Lin Hui's hand, unfolding on its own.

A brief glance was enough to grasp the full picture. The gift was an apology from Black Face of the Benevolent Heart Sect. The woman was Fox—the sa sect operative he had worked alongside back in Tuyue.

The letter explained precisely how Fox had been captured and why she was now being sent as a peace offering. At the ti, Fox had tried to pass intelligence about him to the Extre Desire Heaven in Tuyue, hoping to earn favor by arranging for a Blood Ancestor to devour him. With Tuyue destroyed and the Truebloods degenerated, Fox's strength had fallen sharply. Stripped of any value to the sect, she had been boxed up and shipped over as a goodwill gesture.

"What use is she to ?" Lin Hui shook his head with a quiet laugh.

He had consud too many aphrodisiacs in his ti; the price of his growing reputation was that everyone assud he was a libertine. Only those closest to him knew he was, at heart, an ascetic who walked the Dao.

As he looked at Fox's body, he briefly considered dissolving her with his power and being done with it—but as his Disaster Energy stirred, he stopped.

A thought struck him. For soone with a degenerated Trueblood bloodline—if he could determine precisely how the Evil Weapon had triggered that degeneration, might he reverse-engineer the path to evolution? The woman still held research value.

Lin Hui closed the lid with a gesture and summoned Li Yuanyuan through the Wind Chi to temporarily detain their new guest.

Going forward—whether investigating the Night Mist, the shadows, or the Wind Disaster rift—he would need test subjects of considerable strength. As a practitioner of a Divine thod, Fox should still command a Divine Officer's level of power even with her Trueblood degeneration. She was too useful to discard.

Li Yuanyuan ca, took the box away, and returned a short while later.

"Dao Master, if you enjoy that sort of thing, this subordinate would be happy to strip naked and wait in a box tonight."

Lin Hui was speechless. He turned to find Li Yuanyuan's face completely composed—cold and elegant as ever, the punchline delivered without a flicker. She knew him well enough to know it would land, and that was exactly why she had said it.

"Find yourself a boyfriend to say these things to," he sighed.

"Dao Master," Li Yuanyuan said, matter-of-fact, "what sort of reputation do you suppose we female disciples have—those of us willing to take up permanent residence in this Academy—in the eyes of outsiders?"

"..." Lin Hui had nothing to say to that.