With his breakthrough to Internal Force and the massive surge in sword speed that accompanied it, Lin Hui didn't waste time. Since he had already made the rare trip, he hunted two more Tree Scorpions.
This time, however, he didn't kill them outright; he merely severed their tails to take back.
Firstly, the tail was where their weakness lay, making it easy to sever. Secondly, killing them outright caused too much damage to the Clear River Sword. Although he didn't lack money now, thanks to his father's support—and the booming business of the elderly wellness class—the Clear River Sword had been with him for a long time, and he had developed a sentimental attachment to it.
It had witnessed his journey of growth, step by step, from his weakest moments to now.
As evening approached, he dragged the scorpion tails into a pile, rented a small temporary hut in Shiqiao Town, hung up his Jade Talisman to isolate the mist, and waited for the arrival of the next day.
At night, gray mist permeated the outdoors, and whispering voices that sounded eerily human drifted through the air from time to time.
Lin Hui sat cross-legged on the bed, watching the swaying Jade Talisman. He couldn't help but recall the conversation he once had with his teacher in the Inner City.
‘This Jade Talisman... can actually be remotely controlled to turn on and off... What exactly do the people of the Inner City take the Outer City for?’
It was fine when he didn't know, but now that he knew the truth, every time his gaze touched the Jade Talisman, he couldn't help but stare at it, terrified that it might suddenly fail in the next moment.
Alone in the wild, with three scorpion tails dragged to his side, he dared not sleep. He simply sat there until dawn broke.
Once it was light, the medicine merchants he had negotiated with previously would come to transport the goods.
While he rested peacefully, others were on the move.
Just as the sky began to lighten, a temporary hunting team of three, fully equipped, cautiously entered the Tree Scorpion habitat within the mist zone of Shiqiao Town.
All three wore lightweight brown and black leather armor and carried large waist packs and backpacks. The person in the middle held a stick of Tranquil Incense; wisps of fragrant smoke rose, propping open a spherical cavity around them.
As they ventured deeper, the three familiarly passed the warning signs and entered the Tree Scorpion's range of activity.
Usually, there were many Tree Scorpions in this area, but this time, they walked for quite a while before encountering one.
All three were in the Internal Force Realm. One defended, one distracted and drew attention, and the last acted as the armor-breaker, repeatedly smashing the weakest point at the connection of the Tree Scorpion's tail.
After a full ten minutes or so, a Tree Scorpion finally crashed to the ground.
"The scorpion carapace is relatively complete this time; it can sell for a good price. The tail is not bad either, not too damaged. Can the whole thing fetch thirty thousand?" The flat-topped, burly man leading the team asked exhaustedly.
He was responsible for defense. Facing a colossal monster like the Tree Scorpion, even with his innate superhuman strength stacked with Internal Force, he couldn't tank two consecutive hits. He needed someone to coordinate and distract the beast to give him a buffer.
"Should be possible. One more, and we can go back and rest for a while." The distractor was a woman with long red hair and a fair face, marred only by a thin scar on her forehead.
"But have you noticed? Other peers must have been hunting Tree Scorpions recently. Apart from the Hundred Flowers Sect, who have armor-breaking capabilities, there don't seem to be any other experts nearby capable of breaking the Tree Scorpion's carapace, right?" The last person crouched down in confusion, inspecting the ground. He found deep traces remaining on the earth that were not left by them.
"The Tree Scorpion is basically the most valuable mist monster outside the ruins. Although it's a bit hard to kill, going any higher means facing pack monsters, which are even more troublesome. It's normal for other expert squads to hunt them," the flat-topped man dismissed.
"No... this hunting squad... likely consists of only one person," the last person said in a deep voice.
"One person?!" The expressions of the burly man and the red-haired woman changed slightly. "Could it be You Ying?"
You Ying of the Inner City had been investigating the case of the missing exploration team recently. They knew about this. With the Tree Scorpion's defense, who but a Called One could clash with it head-on?
"The style doesn't match... Actually, I noticed traces last time too, but I only had a vague suspicion then and couldn't be sure. This time, though, I can confirm it: this person didn't grind the Tree Scorpion down in a head-on fight. They finished the battle in a very short time," the last person said softly.
The burly man and the red-haired woman looked at each other.
"Hunting a Tree Scorpion alone? With that strength, they must be approaching the level of a High-tier Called One, right? Even the top armor-breaking experts of the Hundred Flowers Sect need two people working together to achieve that, don't they?"
"Regardless, if we encounter them, we must be careful," the last person nodded. "After all, there is at least some order within the city, but here in the mist zone, killing over a single disagreement is a common occurrence."
The other two nodded, their moods turning heavy.
If that lone wolf hunter continued to hunt here at a fixed point, they might be forced to choose another location. An expert capable of solo-killing a Tree Scorpion quickly was not someone they could contend with. Against true experts, numbers and grouping up were often useless.
….
Two days later. Clear Wind Sword Sect.
Lin Hui walked slowly across the drill grounds, checking the mastery of the Seven-Section Swift Sword among a group of elderly students.
Confirming there were no major issues with their practice of the slow-motion version, he walked to a separately cordoned-off training area on the other side. Here, Little Hu and Weiwei were practicing sword techniques.
Lin Hui carefully observed Little Hu's state, and his eyes suddenly lit up.
"Little Hu, have you reached the 3rd Rank of Body Tempering?"
"Yes, Master. I was lucky enough to break through yesterday," Little Hu answered earnestly, retracting his sword and standing still.
"Good, very good," Lin Hui nodded in praise. "It seems my perfected Seven-Section Swift Sword is indeed better for Body Tempering than the previous version."
"I'm at the 8th Rank too. The perfected Seven-Section Swift Sword really is much faster for tempering than before." Weiwei approached from the side, wiping sweat from her forehead.
Originally, she had been too lazy to practice, but because she had to teach, she learned the Perfected Version along with them. Unexpectedly, the results were surprisingly good, so she kept practicing.
She had actually never tempered her body to the limit, let alone achieved the second Body Tempering of the Clear Wind Sword Technique.
Previously, with her father—an Internal Force expert—protecting her, everything was fine. But now that her father had run off, the only person she could rely on was herself. She couldn't rely on Lin Hui forever, could she? They weren't family. She was the Senior Sister; she couldn't lose face like that.
"Very good. Since the effect is good, we can consider recruiting a few disciples with decent aptitude to expand the Sword Sect's organization. Relying just on a few of us, we often can't handle the workload," Lin Hui said in a low voice.
"Ah Hui, do you mean we should return to the New Martial Alliance?" Weiwei paused, frowning. "With our current strength, isn't going back now a bit too..."
"No need to go back," Lin Hui shook his head. "Since we've already left the martial hall circle, there's no need to go back and fight with people. I simply want to find a few hands to expand the Sword Sect's organizational capacity. If their aptitude is good, tuition can be fully waived. That way, we can expand our range of choices."
"If tuition is fully waived, quite a few people will come," Weiwei nodded in agreement. "Come to think of it, our place is practically becoming an activity center for the elderly recently. These grandpas and grandmas call their friends, chartering cars to come in groups. During breaks, they go to the empty space in the courtyard to play cards, chess, and nap... Don't you think we should control it?"
"You can handle that aspect as you see fit. Who is responsible for the medicinal field in the back now?" Lin Hui asked.
"No one. No one knows how to tend it. It's been lying fallow for a while," Weiwei replied.
"Then hire herb farmers to help. We should learn a bit ourselves, too. We can't be helpless if people leave," Lin Hui said in a deep voice.
"Understood."
"Also, hire some helpers and cooking aunties. With more people, we can't do all the miscellaneous chores ourselves."
"But that would increase the scale significantly. It might attract attention," Weiwei frowned.
"As long as we don't enter the martial hall circle, it should be fine. Surely they won't try to snatch this elderly class market from us, too?" Lin Hui replied.
….
Black Dragon Gate.
In front of a three-story pavilion with a four-sided roof, on a wide open space, hundreds of disciples stood densely packed, divided into three formations practicing claw techniques.
Song Zhanlong, as the Sect Master, sat motionless at the very top, slowly drinking tea from a cup in his hand.
Standing beside him were the three strongest disciples of the current Black Dragon Gate: Eldest Senior Brother Wang Hongshi, Second Senior Brother Chen Yuan, and Third Senior Sister Mu Qiaozhi.
Originally, Zhao Jiang'an, the former Second Senior Brother of Clear Wind Temple, had also joined Song Zhanlong's sect. However, because he spent long periods handling business, his progress in the Black Dragon Claw was gradually surpassed by Mu Qiaozhi over time.
Now, Mu Qiaozhi had replaced Zhao Jiang'an, becoming the true number three of the Black Dragon Gate.
"Speaking of which, the current Clear Wind Sword Sect seems to be developing quite well?" Song Zhanlong said softly. "Does anyone know the situation over there?"
The three fell silent for a moment before Chen Yuan, the second disciple, spoke up.
"Junior Sister Mu and Junior Brother Zhao came from there. They should know the situation better, right?"
Mu Qiaozhi's expression changed slightly. Since coming to the Black Dragon Gate, she found Song Zhanlong's temper much harder to deal with than Daoist Baohe's. He would slap people at the slightest displeasure. Coupled with his formidable Hard-Body Discipline—ranking among the top experts even in the Internal Force Realm—when he got angry, a casual palm strike could leave disciples like them, who were at the limit of Body Tempering, nursing injuries for a long time.
This Sect Master had come from Xingdao and was far less wary of local Called families than the deeply rooted Baohe. If things went south, he could run away at any time.
This caused all the disciples in the sect to fear him somewhat.
Hearing the topic shift to herself, Mu Qiaozhi lowered her head slightly and spoke.
"The three 'Ming' generation experts of Clear Wind Temple have all left. Only a few former Front Courtyard disciples remain. They've opened a so-called 'wellness class' and don't teach martial arts anymore—just teaching the elderly to preserve health and exercise."
"So they are still practicing? The sound has reached my ears, so business must be good," Song Zhanlong tapped his metal claw lightly on the armrest, making a crisp sound.
"Perhaps. But it's just a bunch of old men. The Clear Wind Sword Sect can't possibly rise again," Mu Qiaozhi replied.
"They came from Clear Wind Temple. If they can teach, can't you teach too?" Song Zhanlong clearly didn't want to let even this bit of profit slip away. "Number Three, go kick the Clear Wind Sword Sect again. Shut them down, drive the people away, and take that piece of territory. Although the location is a bit remote, it will be good as a branch point for our Black Dragon Gate in the future."
Mu Qiaozhi's expression changed slightly. She dared not refuse and clasped her fists.
"Yes."
"Go. The New Martial Alliance ranking is about to be held. This ranking determines the resource and position allocation for major martial halls in the future, and there's even a possibility of connecting with the Three Sects and Six Gangs of the Inner City. As your teacher, I must prepare thoroughly. You must also work hard; we must achieve good rankings in both the Sect Master Battle and the Disciple Battle," Song Zhanlong said in a deep voice.
"Yes!"
The three responded in unison.
The New Martial Alliance, like the previous Martial Alliance, followed the model of internal ranking battles and cooperation with the Inner City.
Top-ranking martial halls could obtain considerable invisible rights. Rights brought influence, which brought various industries, resources, and profits.
It could be said that the higher the ranking, the more things one obtained. Money, power, cultivation resources—all these required channels. Especially for special drugs usable only in the Internal Force Realm, only the Inner City could manufacture them. Without channels and quotas, money couldn't buy them.
This would also cause the strong in the Martial Alliance rankings to become stronger. Therefore, for this first Grand Competition ranking of the New Martial Alliance, Song Zhanlong was determined to charge forward with all his might.
After the gathering dispersed, Mu Qiaozhi left quickly, returning to her room to prepare her weapons and equipment.