"Many thanks for the one million," Lin Hui smiled.
"You...!" The woman was furious and was about to retort.
"Either pay up or die." Lin Hui's grip on his sword hilt tightened slightly.
"You..." The woman's heart trembled. Meeting his gaze, she wanted desperately to ask, On what grounds!? She had only been watching from the outside and hadn't even gone in.
But she didn't dare utter those words.
This guy in front of her, this junior, was too fast and had a fearless attitude completely unlike Baohe's. Coupled with his mysterious family background and seeming backing from Inner City forces...
"I... don't have that much money on me." After a moment, the middle-aged woman lowered her head.
"Then pay with items," Lin Hui said bluntly.
The woman fumbled around on her person for a while and finally produced two items as collateral, handing them to Lin Hui.
One was a pale yellow crystal she had received as her share from hunting monsters in the mist zone with others. The other was an exquisite dagger, extremely sharp, a superior weapon comparable to the Clear River Sword.
Having collected the items, Lin Hui let her leave, then turned and walked toward a ready-made clothing shop not far away.
Inside the shop, a white-haired old man in a long gray robe saw this and immediately pulled his granddaughter along, bowing his head and turning to leave.
"Grandpa... why are we leaving suddenly? Aren't we going to check out the Black Dragon Gate?" The granddaughter was a beautiful young girl of fifteen or sixteen in a long green dress, her waist slender enough to be gripped with one hand. She asked in confusion.
"Not looking, not looking anymore. One look costs a million; we can't afford it. This old man's coffin money is barely that much. That brat is too fast, faster even than Baohe was back in the day. Not just his movement technique, but his sword draw is even faster!" The old man lowered his voice.
Not just him, but numerous leaders of factions watching secretly from the surroundings were now leaving one after another, afraid that if they were a bit slow, they would be blocked by Lin Hui and asked for money.
Before long, the originally bustling exterior of the Black Dragon Gate headquarters became much more deserted.
Only then did Lin Hui turn around, preparing to return.
But he had only taken a few steps when a voice suddenly drilled into his ears from an unknown location.
"Sect Master Lin, you are very arrogant to dare monopolize such a big, fatty piece of meat as the Black Dragon Gate. But the Clear Wind Sword Sect has many members now. Aren't you afraid your disciples will get ambushed and die outside?" The voice was eccentric and strangled, clearly trying to disguise its tone and timbre.
"Then let them die. Keeping useless people in the Sword Sect is a waste of spots anyway," Lin Hui said indifferently.
The other party choked, momentarily at a loss for words.
"Anything else? I happen to be very free right now, so you can finish saying everything at once," Lin Hui continued.
"Good. Then let's see if Sect Master Lin truly doesn't care if his sect members die!" The voice seemed provoked and turned stern.
"Found you!"
In the next instant, Lin Hui spun around violently, trailing a string of afterimages as he lunged straight for a corner of a wall not far away.
A figure in a yellow robe and conical hat was standing there, back against the wall.
Hearing the commotion, the figure in the conical hat reacted with surprising speed. Moving only slightly slower than Lin Hui, they sprinted away, darting into an alley to escape.
One chased, one fled. The person in front constantly turned and exploited gaps, skillfully avoiding running in a straight line to prevent being quickly overtaken.
By turning corners and exploiting gaps in unfamiliar environments with many obstacles, the pursuer would have to spend mental effort judging if there were ambushes, forcing them to decelerate and pause.
This effectively slowed Lin Hui down.
During this chase, Lin Hui actually learned this trick from the opponent. If he ever encountered someone faster than himself in the future, he could use this tactic.
Amidst the chase, the two unknowingly moved far away from the Black Dragon headquarters, arriving at a spacious open area surrounded by farmland, windmills, and mills.
The figure in the conical hat leaped up, landed lightly on a field ridge, and turned to face Lin Hui.
"Young man, you aren't the only one with very fast movement techniques. Although my movement is a notch slower, it is sufficient to capture and hold your sword."
The figure removed the conical hat, revealing a face full of wrinkles and bitterness.
"Although your sword is fast, you have no Internal Force. Once you fail to open up a significant gap, it is extremely easy to be caught in one move and fall into a state of Internal Force confrontation. At that time, you will die without a doubt."
"Well said. And who are you?" Lin Hui knew that many monsters and demons would pop up on this trip, eyeing the fat meat of the Black Dragon Gate and also weighing him, the new Sect Master, to see if he was qualified to inherit Song Zhanlong's existing assets.
But he hadn't expected an old fellow whose movement technique was only slightly slower than his own to actually appear.
With legs amplified by Internal Force, this person's explosive speed was only a hair slower than his.
This was already very exaggerated.
One had to know that his current movement technique was based on the original Clear Wind Sword's two Body Tempering stages, with its speed forcibly elevated by two levels thanks to the perfected sword technique.
The perfected Seven-Section Swift Sword and the perfected Clear Wind Sword Technique—these two sets of sword techniques each made his conventional sword speed and movement fully twenty percent faster than the original Daoist Baohe of the Clear Wind Temple.
The Clear Wind Sword was already famous for speed in the area. For him to enhance it by another twenty percent on that foundation was a terrifying level.
After all, he was comparing Body Tempering against Internal Force—two completely different realms.
And once Internal Force was utilized...
"This old man is Xue Meng, Sect Master of the Intent Blade Sect. Young man, you are making too many enemies now, which is detrimental to operating assets in the future. The assets left by the Black Dragon Gate are bloated and complex. Why not cooperate with my Intent Blade Sect? This old man will help you withstand some of the pressure, and we split the monthly profits fifty-fifty. How about it?" The man with the conical hat said in a deep voice.
"That's a good idea. Intent Blade Sect... I've heard of it. It's a new sect in the New Martial Alliance, right? Coming from Xingdao, rootless duckweed... my assets here can help you put down roots, right?" Lin Hui smiled.
"How about this? Why don't you merge your Intent Blade Sect into my Clear Wind Sword Sect instead? Profits, assets—we'll all be one family, so naturally, there won't be any need to distinguish between yours and mine."
"Interesting. Arrogant enough."
Surprisingly, the old man didn't get angry. Instead, there was a hint of being moved by the idea.
"I watched your engagement just now. You are indeed fast. But without breaking through to the Internal Force Realm, it is ultimately an illusion that collapses at the first touch. So, if you want my Intent Blade Sect to join, we'll have to see if you, Sect Master Lin, have enough skill!"
As soon as the words fell, he lunged forward. The blade in his hand flashed white, swinging out a curtain of blade shadows that slashed toward Lin Hui.
The speed of this blade was only a hair slower than Lin Hui's.
Just as he said, without a generational gap in speed, one couldn't perfectly dodge the opponent's offensive. Once touched or entangled, falling into Internal Force erosion, Lin Hui would undoubtedly lose.
Being able to extend Internal Force onto a weapon—this was an expert of the 6th Layer!
Lin Hui dared not be careless. The opponent's Internal Force was vigorous; it was best not to touch it. Immediately, he retreated repeatedly, dodging and observing the opponent's patterns.
Ten moves passed.
Twenty moves passed.
He dared not draw his sword unless he activated the Featherweight Ascension special effect. But the opponent was extremely fast and had vigorous Internal Force. Even with Featherweight Ascension active, he couldn't guarantee his sword would absolutely avoid the erosion of the extended Internal Force.
After all, vigorous Internal Force meant he needed at least dozens of strikes to break the surface with a point and penetrate the barrier.
This number of sword strikes naturally couldn't be tracked by slower opponents, but against a fast one like this Internal Force Realm expert before him, it was quite dangerous and extremely easy to fall into a state of Internal Force confrontation.
On the field ridge, on the dirt path only a meter wide, the two advanced and retreated. The blade light turned into sheets of white waterfalls, rushing toward Lin Hui endlessly.
Seeing the blade light drawing closer and Lin Hui gradually failing to dodge in time, about to be struck...
"Is this all Sect Master Lin has? This won't be enough to make this old man join and merge sects!" Xue Meng of the Intent Blade Sect laughed loudly.
"I just wanted to observe your strength a bit more, old brother." Sensing the opponent's blade speed slowing down with no intent to harm, Lin Hui felt his goodwill and replied with a smile.
"But next, Sect Master Xue, be careful. Through comprehending my sect's martial arts, I created a secret technique rooted in the Clear Wind Sword. Once activated, my speed might become a bit faster. If I'm not careful, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold back."
"Oh? Then I must learn from it!" Xue Meng's eyes lit up.
"Watch out!" With a thought, Lin Hui instantly activated Featherweight Ascension.
Chi!!
In that instant, the sword at his waist was unsheathed like lightning.
The blade vanished, turning into bursts of phantom images. Like a clear breeze, it pierced and sliced with a terrifying speed twice as fast as before.
Ding ding ding ding!
Instantly, the Clear River Sword sparked a large shower of fire against Xue Meng's body.
That was the result of the extreme collision between the Internal Force barrier and the sword tip.
This speed was too fast, simply too fast. Let alone extending Internal Force to erode it, even trying to see it clearly was an extremely difficult task for Xue Meng.
He had anticipated it would be fast, but he hadn't expected it to be this fast!
You call this a 'bit' faster!?
This is several times faster!!
In an instant, the situation between the two reversed. From Lin Hui retreating, it became Xue Meng retreating, completely changing direction.
Xue Meng's face was twisted; he was thoroughly battered into bewilderment.
He couldn't see clearly. He only felt the sword shadows opposite him were like the clear breeze—pervasive, impossible to capture. It truly lived up to the name of the Clear Wind Sword!
Retreat, retreat, retreat!
Not knowing how far he had retreated, Xue Meng stepped off the field ridge, lost his balance, and stepped into the paddy. Even though his foot was covered in mud, he had no energy to care.
Because the sword shadows before his eyes were too fast and too dense, causing his Internal Force barrier to be consumed at an extremely rapid rate.
Calculating by this speed, in at most ten minutes, his Internal Force would be exhausted, and he would be ground down by the opponent.
Although he still had secret techniques to explode with power, there was no deep hatred between them. There was no need to use such body-harming ultimate weapons. So, after trying several methods without being able to reverse the decline, Xue Meng simply yelled out.
"I surrender! No more fighting, no more!"
He was over seventy years old. Once he used a secret technique, he could indeed significantly increase his speed and Internal Force for a short time, but that would also shorten his lifespan to a certain extent.
He was someone meant for retirement and wellness. Leaving Xingdao earlier was also to find a stable and peaceful environment to avoid fighting too much and harming his body.
If it was just going to be the same old thing here, then why did he come to Tuyue?
Shua.
The instant his shout rang out, the clear breeze raised by the sword shadows stopped abruptly.
Lin Hui's figure appeared several meters in front of him. With a faint smile, he sheathed his sword.
"You let me win."
"Merge sects. That secret technique of yours is too exaggerated—we must merge!" Xue Meng gasped.
"We can exchange martial arts with each other." Lin Hui smiled, seeing that the opponent also had unused trump cards. Aside from him, no one could learn Featherweight Ascension, but with his Blood Seal aptitude, learning other martial arts would be devoid of difficulty—a breeze.
No matter how you looked at it, this was a huge profit.