Decaying World
The conversation with his son went surprisingly smoothly. Lin Shunhe left the attic with a trace of pride, a trace of worry, and a trace of relief in his heart.
Walking through the enclosed corridor back to his room, he looked at the hazy mist outside the newly installed glass windows and suddenly spoke.
"Elder Du, what do you think of Ah Hui now?"
The black-clothed old man who had been following behind him slowly straightened his back.
"Young Master Hui is a man of deep thought."
No other evaluation, just that single sentence. But Lin Shunhe knew that, given Elder Du's personality, such a comment was already high praise.
After a moment of silence, he spoke again.
"Actually, in terms of martial arts, Ah Hui's form is already set. I am unwilling for him to continue down that path. Cultivating external martial arts like the Clear Wind Sword to the peak is the limit. Yet even at that peak, one is no match for an Internal Force expert. The Six Layers of Internal Force become harder with each step. Not to mention, the Inner City holds many experts who have reached the Circulation Realm. Ah Hui has no chance to start cultivating Internal Force from scratch. Since the limit of external skill is capped there, he might as well learn business management from me. When the organization bestows an Imitation Evil Weapon in the future, he can bridge the gap in martial power in a single stroke..."
"Master is unaware, but even after fusing with an Imitation Evil Weapon, one still needs to accumulate combat experience. It is not a bad thing to let Young Master Hui play around for now," Elder Du said calmly. "The Outer City happens to have many External Style experts; it is good for tempering his combat experience."
"Sigh..." Lin Shunhe exhaled. He had already received a promise from the higher-up, Lord Black Face; the review of his merits had officially begun.
Since their last conversation, he had moved swiftly to expand the business and had successfully established a connection with a Divine Officer from the Rain Palace—one of the three great families of the Inner City.
A Divine Officer was a powerful individual, a High-Tier Called One or higher, who usually resided only in the Moon Tower District and rarely went out.
If not for his help in finding a precious mist-zone herb for one of the officer's favorite children, coupled with the Inner City connections of his newly wedded wife, Liu Shenglan of the Liu family, he likely would never have bridged this gap.
Because of this, Lord Black Face predicted that his evaluation this time would likely go very smoothly. Whether it was the Inner City Liu family or the Rain Palace Divine Officer, he had perfectly satisfied the organization's mission requirements.
His business had expanded to branches in more than half the surrounding towns, ensuring that every town involved hosted a Shanhe United Supermarket.
Profits rolled in like a river of gold, endless and bountiful.
At the same time, because the United Supermarket required a large staff for oversight, it facilitated the organization's continuous insertion of agents into both the Outer and Inner Cities.
Someone had already proposed establishing his operation as a separate Hall, to serve as the organization's chapter in Tuyue.
"The audit and evaluation will take about a month. With Master's qualifications, success is certain. You need only consider which Imitation Evil Weapon will be assigned. After fusion, it will be much easier for Master to secure the next one for Young Master Hui," Elder Du said earnestly.
"True. Before that, please help me keep an eye on Ah Hui."
"Mn. Although this old man failed the fusion, my constitution has undergone a qualitative change. Dealing with most high-level members of the New Martial Alliance will be no problem," Elder Du said calmly, uttering words of considerable arrogance.
"Hearing Elder Du say that puts my mind at ease." Lin Shunhe nodded with satisfaction.
Passing through the corridor, the two parted ways. Lin Shunhe returned to his bedroom to find his wife, Yao Shan, hand-sewing a piece of white fur.
"How many times have I said it? Don't do these things yourself. Just let the servants handle it," he said reproachfully, stepping forward to gently take the fur from her.
"Isn't it because I have nothing to do? Being idle is just being idle; the life of a grand madam is quite boring," Yao Shan replied with a smile, not angry that the fur was taken away.
"It's getting dark; don't strain your eyes." Lin Shunhe took off his outer robe and hung it on the wooden rack along with the fur.
"I had a chat with Ah Hui today. Wasn't he always at the Clear Wind Temple before? Guess what he's been up to these past two days?"
"Did he break through in his sword training?" Yao Shan paused and guessed.
"No... He took his sword and ran to the entrance of someone else's martial hall, challenging the hall in front of over a hundred people!" Lin Shunhe sat down heavily and slapped his thigh.
"Ah?" Yao Shan was startled. "He... how did he get so bold??! What if he got hurt!?"
"Heh, not only did your son not get hurt, but he also swallowed up their entire martial hall!" Lin Shunhe laughed.
"...This...!" Yao Shan looked at her husband's slightly smug expression and immediately realized he had just come to brag.
But wasn't his son also her son? What was there to be so smug about? Just because he found out a little earlier?
"That's good then... I haven't chatted with Ah Hui in a while. He's completely focused on martial arts now and only comes home once a week. I barely see his face," Yao Shan sighed.
"I'll talk to him later. You can also go visit him if you have nothing to do; his courtyard isn't far," Lin Shunhe said.
"That's true... Children always grow up. They can't always revolve around their parents, or they'll never achieve anything." Yao Shan understood. No one in this world achieves great things by hovering around their parents.
Inside the attic.
Lin Hui looked at the two boxes on the table before him. He gently reached out and opened one, removing the Spirit-Enriching Reishi. He bit off a small piece from the edge and chewed slowly.
Earlier at the Black Dragon Gate headquarters, he had confirmed via testing that the medicinal potency of this herb was intense. Just a tiny bit could reduce his evolution time by three days. It was extremely potent and couldn't be consumed too quickly.
Otherwise, his stomach wouldn't be able to absorb it. Diarrhea would be a minor issue; wasting the medicinal efficacy would be the real tragedy.
Therefore, he had to consume these two precious herbs as fast as possible within the limits of his digestion.
That night, he did nothing but slowly drink water and chew the two Spirit-Enriching Reishis, swallowing them dry.
As he continuously digested and absorbed them, the evolution time for the Wild Wind Sword Technique in his vision rapidly decreased from nearly two years.
After finishing the first one, the time was reduced by over three months.
After finishing the second one, it was reduced by another three months.
In total, in just one night, the time was reduced by over half a year, shrinking the remaining time for the Wild Wind Sword Technique to one year and one hundred thirty-odd days.
This lifted Lin Hui's spirits. Early the next morning, he went to the Black Dragon Gate headquarters again and found Chen Yuan, who was organizing the supply channels.
"The channel for the Spirit-Enriching Reishi? It is indeed still there. There are three more stalks that Master Song pre-ordered; they should be delivered soon," Chen Yuan answered.
"Do you know where the Medicine Men harvest them?" Lin Hui asked in a deep voice.
"It should be somewhere very deep in the mist zone," Chen Yuan replied cautiously. "You know as well, the mist zone is vast—far, far larger than our Tuyue District. Boundless. As for the specific location, I really don't know."
"This is a secret passed down through generations of Medicine Men. The family of Medicine Men that Master Song connected with is no pushover either. They are the leading clan in their local town, holding the title of 'Myriad Medicine Villa'. Their strength is no weaker than our Black Dragon Gate or Clear Wind Sword Sect," Wang Hongshi explained gravely from the side.
Lin Hui nodded.
Indeed, anyone capable of harvesting such precious medicine must possess considerable martial power. Coupled with the fact that precious medicine brings quick money, it would be strange if their family fortune wasn't substantial. With strength, money, and medicine, they only needed a few more children to become a significant local power.
"Send someone over to keep an eye on things," he instructed.
"Yes. However, Sect Master, regarding the Black Dragon Gate branch, the members are divided into two categories: disciples and students.
"Disciples are supported by the sect and have completely detached themselves from production to practice martial arts. Students simply pay money to enter and learn. Generally, we assign disciples to instruct them, and we need to pay those disciples a monthly stipend. Now that some of the disciples who left have returned, do you think... should we still accept them?" Wang Hongshi asked.
"Accept those at the Body Tempering stage. We don't want the rest," Lin Hui said casually.
After making things clear, he took the secret manual of the Black Dragon Claw and entered the Song Manor, finding a pavilion in the center of the empty estate to sit down and read through it carefully.
Black Dragon Claw, originally named Black Dragon Art, was created by the Perfected Black Dragon of the Feiqing District. The technique requires one to first soak the entire body in a special medicinal liquid to thicken the skin daily, making it as tough as cowhide.
Afterward, one uses the external body forging method to hammer all parts of the body, combined with the Internal Forging Method—taking internal medicine and using the Black Dragon Chant secret technique to temper the organs.
Ultimately, one can achieve a state where both inside and outside are like dragon skin: incomparably tough and impervious to sword and spear.
This technique begins Body Tempering with the initial forging method. Three ranks of Body Tempering constitute one Layer. The limit of nine ranks can reach three Layers. One can repeatedly undergo Body Tempering three times, totaling nine ranks.
Upon Great Accomplishment, one can proceed from the outside in, generating Internal Force and entering the Internal Style.
The sole Fatal Gate is the eyes, which must be strictly defended against enemies.
Additionally, because this technique follows the Extreme Path, after completing the first nine ranks of Body Tempering, one will suffer from the symptom of 'Burning Lust'.
Temperament will become irritable and prone to anger. This is a disharmony between heart and kidneys, requiring harmonizing methods to soothe...
Reading this, Lin Hui confirmed his previous suspicion. The Black Dragon Claw was indeed an Extreme Martial Art.
Just looking at the defensive power of this technique—reaching such a level that even Daoist Baohe, an Internal Force expert who could extend his force into his weapon (indicating at least the Sixth Layer), couldn't penetrate Song Zhanlong's defense—showed how exaggerated it was.
Repeatedly tempering the body three times... The Clear Wind Sword Sect only tempers the body twice. No wonder the Black Dragon Claw is so formidable. Lin Hui quickly flipped through the booklet and sighed.
I originally planned to start practicing it simultaneously, but this side effect is a bit troublesome. I'll wait until the Wild Wind Sword Technique finishes evolving. Anyway, with the medicine speeding things up, it probably won't take long...
He reckoned that if not for meeting him, the Clear Wind Sword Sect might really never have had a chance to turn things around. After all, the difference between second Body Tempering and third Body Tempering was obvious.
The Black Dragon Gate lived up to its origins in the Xingdao District; the Black Dragon Claw was not only an Extreme Martial Art but also involved triple Body Tempering, its intensity exceeding the Clear Wind Sword by far more than a notch.
Putting away the secret manual, Lin Hui stood up and began his daily routine of second Body Tempering. Although the Perfected Version of the Clear Wind Sword Technique capped at second Body Tempering, it had its advantages.
That was the early generation of Internal Force.
Especially with the Perfected Version, the speed of Internal Force generation was accumulating rapidly, at a rate of almost three to five threads per day.
Moreover, as the threads of Internal Force accumulated, Lin Hui could vaguely feel that this force within his body was quietly influencing his physique. It faintly emitted a subtle power—whether particles, radiation, or a force field, he didn't know—that acted upon every part of his body.
Lin Hui clearly felt that since stepping into the Internal Force Realm, his senses had become sharper. His vision, hearing, smell, and other senses were much more acute than before.
And, more crucially, he seemed able to perceive that layer of subtle, transparent web woven outside his body.
The External Web was the root of filtering and absorbing external power to convert it into Internal Force.
Previously, he could only roughly perceive the existence of the web through indirect means. But recently, he could faintly feel the web floating around his body, as if it were woven from countless threads extending from within him.
After continuous Body Tempering reached his limit for the session, Lin Hui felt his body stop generating Internal Force threads and ceased practice.
He sat cross-legged in the pavilion to rest for a while. Just as he was planning to contemplate the secrets of the Black Dragon Claw further, a disciple trotted in and reported with a bow.
"Sect Master, three former Front Courtyard disciples of the Clear Wind Sword Sect have come to visit. Would you like to see them?"