Little Hu and Little Fatty came over to pay their respects before departing with the others.
Only then did Lin Hui tighten his grip on his longsword, closing his eyes to prepare himself to sense the power of the Boundless Wind Trend.
The first move was originally called Formless Wind Trend. Now, after evolution, it had become Boundless Wind Trend. Its power had undoubtedly increased; what he needed to see now was by how much.
Shua!
His right hand abruptly tightened around the hilt. Instantly, over a dozen afterimages of the blade scattered out, spreading like a fan before rapidly collapsing together to form a large, silver flower bud drooping downward.
In the next instant, the flower bud detonated.
With a sharp chi, a speck of cold light sprayed from the center, stabbing ruthlessly into the ground.
A sword hole, half a meter deep and exactly as wide as the blade, appeared in the earth.
It looked as if a physical sword had been thrust diagonally into the soil.
He touched the edge of the sword hole in the ground. It was smooth and warm.
'Perhaps the effect manifests in other aspects. I'll check again after evolving the full set.'
He didn't hesitate, continuing to let the Blood Seal evolve the second move of the Clear Wind Sword Technique.
It still required five days.
After closing the Blood Seal interface, Lin Hui gripped his sword, intending to practice for a while longer before going to eat.
But barely two minutes later, a hurried figure entered through the back door of the Daoist temple.
It was Weiwei.
"Junior Brother, Dad is calling for you!" Weiwei's expression was composed, but a trace of unconcealable anxiety lingered between her brows.
"Okay!"
Lin Hui spotted the clue. His heart tightened, and he quickly followed her out of the Daoist temple, rushing toward Mingde's small courtyard.
Entering the yard and pushing open the door to the main hall, he didn't see his teacher.
"This way." Weiwei turned and walked straight into the inner room.
Lin Hui hurriedly followed. As soon as the two entered, they saw Daoist Mingde half-lying on the bed.
His face was pale. His right shoulder and arm were bandaged in thick white cotton cloth, with traces of fine blood still seeping through in places.
"Master! You are...!?" Lin Hui's heart sank. He rushed over in a few steps, half-kneeling by the bed to check the situation.
"It's nothing, just a minor injury." Mingde waved his hand, refusing the examination. "Don't be scared by your Senior Sister. It's just a flesh wound. The other party isn't any better off than me."
Speaking of this, a trace of smug laughter actually appeared on his face.
But soon, the smile was replaced by worry.
"I called you here mainly to tell you that the trip in a few days is canceled. No need to go for now."
"Dad, is the trouble on your end resolved?" Beside him, Weiwei instantly revealed a look of pleasant surprise.
"Eh? What did I tell you? Forgot already?" Seeing his daughter speaking without a filter, Mingde scolded her immediately.
"Yes..." Weiwei glanced at Lin Hui, knowing she had misspoken, and quickly lowered her head.
Since the collapse of Clear Wind Temple, her temperament had become much more restrained than before, no longer so arrogant.
"Alright, Weiwei, you go out first. I have words to speak with Lin Hui alone," Mingde said.
"Fine..." Weiwei glanced at Lin Hui, turned helplessly, and walked out, gently closing the door behind her.
Instantly, only the master and disciple remained in the inner room.
Waiting until the footsteps faded away, Mingde lowered his head and coughed a few times.
"Ah Hui... this time, I really have to thank you for perfecting the Nine-Section Swift Sword. If I had performed with my previous strength, I'm afraid I really wouldn't have come back."
He sighed. His old rival, Liu Sitao, hadn't come alone to seek revenge; another group lurked quietly in the background, following along.
This time, the danger was real. Thankfully, the opposition underestimated his strength, allowing him to make full use of his speed. If not for that...
"The pity is, I still lost." A trace of melancholy appeared on Mingde's face. "Even with the perfected and improved sword technique, I still lost."
"What did Master lose on?" Lin Hui wasn't disappointed, merely asking calmly.
He had heard rumors of people coming for revenge long ago, so he wasn't surprised by his master's earlier decision.
What made him curious was that his master, having obtained the Perfected Nine-Section Swift Sword and raised his strength by a tier, had still lost. That meant the opponent's strength clearly exceeded the original Clear Wind Temple by a large margin.
"This actually has nothing to do with you; you've done well enough. This is the congenital limitation of our sect's sword technique... The Clear Wind Sword itself is inferior to the opponent in terms of Body Tempering and power, so the quality of Internal Force cultivated is also inferior. This is a comprehensive, all-around gap, unrelated to you... I lost with full conviction," Mingde sighed.
"Then Teacher, where exactly does our Clear Wind Temple martial arts fall short? Do you have any feelings on this?" Lin Hui frowned.
"We lack a sufficiently domineering weapon to break the opponent's defense. Our sword technique places too much emphasis on ethereal speed while neglecting weight, impact, and other tangible killing power. And the Body Tempering effect of the Clear Wind Sword is relatively archaic; it has long failed to keep up with the times, completely outclassed by the experts from Xingdao."
Mingde sat up a little higher.
"The potential of the Clear Wind Sword ends with me. Senior Brother Baohe was only slightly stronger than the current me in terms of experience and swordplay; in reality, we were on the same level."
Speaking to this point, Mingde's gaze fell involuntarily upon Lin Hui.
Regarding Lin Hui, his heart was actually quite complicated. This disciple's comprehension was exaggeratedly high; he could perfect the Nine-Section Swift Sword just by practicing alone. Who's to say he couldn't take the Clear Wind Sword Technique to a higher level in the future?
But was it really worth letting such talent continue to waste away here with him?
After all, no matter how perfected the Clear Wind Sword Technique became, its power was capped. At best, it was top-tier among External Styles. Although rising from mid-tier to top-tier was already impressive, compared to the Internal Force martial arts of the Inner City, the gap remained immense.
If he could send him into the Three Sects and Six Gangs... with his talent, perhaps he really could soar to the heavens?
"Master?" Seeing his teacher staring at him in a daze, Lin Hui couldn't help but call out softly a few times.
"Nothing." Mingde came back to his senses. Unfortunately, with his current status and network, his connections in the Inner City were useless.
Time and fate; there was nothing to be done.
"Ah Hui, what are your plans for the future?" he asked softly.
"No plans. Just want to practice the sword properly," Lin Hui answered honestly.
He didn't know how to walk the path ahead either; he would just rely on the Blood Seal to evolve continuously.
"Do you still want to enter the Inner City?" Mingde asked.
"Not really," Lin Hui recounted the matter of the Feather Blood.
"That... The competition in the Inner City is greater than outside. People inside aren't necessarily happier than those outside. Although it's safe, the pressure is also greater." Mingde smiled. "So some people choose to leave directly and head to other districts."
"Master, are other districts different from ours?" Lin Hui asked.
"I don't know; I haven't been either." Mingde shook his head. "Take the Black Cloud District, for example. To get there, you need to go to Xingdao first, take a boat for four days from there to Moen Wharf, and then transfer to a carriage for a week before reaching that place. Legend says the Black Cloud District is a very peaceful place, where everything is stable. It is the most prosperous and powerful district in the entire Taisu North."
"Too far..." Lin Hui frowned.
"Yes, too far. The journey is fraught with countless dangers. Ordinary people have no money to go; the rich dare not go. Only a very few who are wealthy, powerful, and unafraid of death dare to travel there." Mingde laughed. "So, for this lifetime of ours, let's just stay honestly in Tuyue. The Inner City is too cutthroat. Let's just create a safe zone for ourselves in the Outer City. As long as our strength reaches a certain level, we can actually live quite well."
Speaking of this, Mingde looked at Lin Hui with increasingly gentle eyes.
He thought to himself that Weiwei wasn't young anymore. Although she was a bit older than Ah Hui, the older girls knew how to take care of people. With Ah Hui's talent and comprehension, if he and Weiwei had a few children, perhaps in the future, his lineage could rebuild Clear Wind Temple and expand it to its peak.
Thinking of this, the more Mingde looked at Lin Hui, the more pleasing he found him.
Talented, strong, values gratitude and righteousness. Although his appearance was a bit ordinary, it didn't matter—strength was a form of charm.
As long as he could persuade Weiwei to take the initiative, this Lin Hui—who had never experienced romance—would likely agree to the marriage without much hesitation...
Mingde was a man without great ambition. To live his own life in the Outer City with peace of mind, stability, and comfort was enough. If Lin Hui and Weiwei could marry and give birth to a bunch of fat grandsons, that would be even better...
"Ah Hui, what do you think of Weiwei?" Suddenly, Mingde blurted out the question.
"Uh..." Lin Hui's mind flashed with Weiwei's voluptuous figure—ample bosom, perky buttocks, long legs, and a pretty face. She wasn't much worse than the internet celebrities he had seen online in his previous life.
The key point was that her figure was all real—no photoshop involved.
"Senior Sister has changed a lot. She's quite good." He thought for a moment and answered earnestly.
"That's good." Mingde revealed a kindly smile. He had harbored a sliver of intention to pair his daughter with Lin Hui before, and now that the greatest crisis was resolved, this thought became even stronger.
With Ah Hui's talent and Weiwei's looks, when his descendants grew strong in the future, it wasn't impossible to achieve the status of a new great clan in the Outer City.
"Alright, you go. Call your Senior Sister in for me," Mingde said.
"Yes. Master, please rest more and take care of your body." Lin Hui nodded, offered a reminder, and turned to leave.
Not long after, Weiwei was called in. She closed the door and looked at her old father in confusion.
"What is it, Dad?"
"Come here. I ask you... what do you think of this young lad, Ah Hui?" Mingde lowered his voice and asked.
"Huh?" Seeing that familiar expression on her dad's face—the same one he wore every time he introduced her to a potential partner in the past—Weiwei understood instantly.
"The age gap between Ah Hui and me is too big. It's not appropriate, right? I'm twenty-three! He's only eighteen, isn't he?"
"What are you afraid of? Be proactive. Treat him like a younger brother and take care of him for a few years, and he'll mature," Mingde said unconcernedly.
"But..." Weiwei recalled Lin Hui's face in her mind, looking troubled. "But he really isn't good-looking..." She liked handsome, sunny types. Lin Hui was not only unhandsome, but his temperament was also slightly gloomy. He really wasn't her type. One could even say the gap was a bit large.
"What use are good looks? Character and talent are what matter!" Mingde said solemnly.
"No way. The moment I think about having to face that face every day for decades to come, my heart just... can't get over that hurdle. I dress up and exercise my body every day just to find someone good-looking. Otherwise, haven't I dressed up in vain?" Weiwei argued plausibly.
"You?!" Mingde felt a tightness in his chest, unable to speak for a moment.
"Alright, Dad, rest well. I'm going back first." Seeing this, Weiwei slipped away quickly.