One had to know that Body Tempering meant becoming completely different from ordinary people.
It meant faster speed, a stronger constitution, and greater strength.
Even though the Clear Wind Temple's martial arts focused primarily on speed, they would simultaneously enhance other attributes by a small margin.
This brought about a series of changes.
Among the three branches, the recent students of the Clear Wind Temple had witnessed four successive cases of Body Tempering breakthroughs, enabling them to become formal disciples.
There was even an old man from the Clear Wind Sword Sect Elderly Wellness Class, over sixty years of age, who had managed to succeed in Body Tempering through a stroke of luck after learning the Perfected Seven-Section Swift Sword. It was simply a miracle.
"Chen Sui, Huang Shan, Qiu Yiren. You all reached the limit of Body Tempering long ago. It is time to learn the Clear Wind Sword. Did your previous master teach you the full set?" Lin Hui asked.
"He did, but we couldn't grasp the Force Nodes, and our Body Tempering progress was slow. It was too difficult to generate Internal Force," Chen Sui replied.
At this moment, he seemed to think of something, his eyes brightening slightly as he looked at Lin Hui.
Lin Hui's talent as the Temple Master was of a caliber rarely seen in the entire history of the Clear Wind Temple. They had discussed it privately and agreed that, apart from the founding patriarch, Lin Hui was the strongest among them.
Judging from the news that had leaked from the battle at the Hundred Flowers Sect, they were unanimous in their certainty that Lin Hui had absolutely broken through to the Internal Force Realm. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to fight back and forth against Xue Meng and so many Internal Force experts of the Hundred Flowers Sect.
Now that Lin Hui was bringing this up again, his objective was self-evident.
On the other side, Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren's eyes also lit up.
They had heard as soon as they returned that after Lin Hui took over the position of Temple Master, he had perfected all three original sword sets of the Clear Wind Sword.
There were even preparations to hold a martial arts celebration.
Bringing this up now—could it be that he finally intended to formally teach them the perfected sword techniques?
Sure enough.
Lin Hui stood up.
"Very well. The final step of generating Internal Force is indeed difficult; perhaps your foundations were unstable. I will teach you the perfected and elevated Seven-Section Swift Sword and Nine-Section Swift Sword. Once you have made up for the deficits in your foundation, come find me to learn the perfected Clear Wind Sword."
"Remember, the better your foundation in these first two sword techniques, the faster the Clear Wind Sword will temper your body to generate Internal Force. Do not be eager for quick success and instant benefits; sink your heart into it and quietly experience the differences within."
His own generation of Internal Force had been natural and effortless, proving that the perfected sword techniques helped break through to the Internal Force Realm far beyond imagination.
Currently, the sect lacked Internal Force Realm experts to hold the fort, so he planned to cultivate his own.
He would cultivate some himself, then go out to recruit a few helpers for an alliance to bolster the numbers; that should be sufficient.
It would be best to recruit unaffiliated Internal Force experts. Otherwise, merging sects and the like was too troublesome and would attract the attention of the New Martial Alliance in the Inner City.
"Additionally, regarding the selection of people to enter the Inner City for The Call training—has that been publicized?" Lin Hui asked again.
"It has spread. Many surrounding families are very interested and have sent people to inquire about the details." Wang Hongshi glanced enviously at Chen Sui and the others, suppressing his own desire to switch to the Clear Wind Sword, and answered respectfully.
"Accept them all first. After selection, bring them into the Clear Wind Temple to observe their character. Once we confirm there are no issues, then send them to the Inner City. Slots for The Call are precious; we cannot give them directly to outsiders coming in. We must prioritize selecting from our own people first." Lin Hui pondered for a moment. "How about this: establish a contribution system within the temple. Completing a Common Mission is one point, a Medium Mission is two points, and a High Mission is three points. The top three with the highest Contribution Score will obtain the slots for The Call and be sent to the Inner City for training."
"But wouldn't that mean only the strong within the sect can be selected, rather than those with good aptitude? Will that affect them after entering the city?" Wang Hongshi asked in confusion. "Other families prioritize aptitude, and if they are older, the chances of a successful Call might be very low..."
"If someone has good aptitude but no sense of belonging to my Clear Wind Temple, what use is it for me to train them?" Lin Hui retorted. "If they aren't our people, their aptitude is irrelevant to us, no matter how good it is."
"...Understood." Wang Hongshi nodded.
"That's settled. Draft a proposal for recording Contribution Scores for me later. How to determine mission difficulty, who records the scores—these tasks will require assigning additional personnel. You can select some of the older members who are past their prime and have exhausted their potential, but have a strong sense of belonging to the Clear Wind Temple," Lin Hui said.
"But Temple Master, now that the three branches have merged, the people from the Black Dragon Gate were gathered temporarily to begin with. The Intent Blade Sect only has a few people, so there's no sense of belonging to speak of. The original people of the Clear Wind Temple have all run off. The ones standing here are the only 'old members' with a strong sense of belonging... You see, the importance of this Contribution Score is extremely high. How to arrange it, supervise it, and record it—it would be better for you to make the decision."
Wang Hongshi's face showed a look of difficulty.
This was a sticking point.
Lin Hui was also somewhat stuck.
This matter involved the future development of the force. Investigating missions required personal involvement and consumed a lot of time and energy; recording also required running around everywhere.
If he let Chen Sui and the other two do it, it would consume too much of their time and affect their cultivation.
The loss would outweigh the gain.
This required a group of people with a strong sense of belonging, plenty of time, sufficient energy, and relative fairness to be responsible for the Contribution Scores.
Suddenly, Xue Meng's old face flashed through Lin Hui's mind. That old man definitely had plenty of time, and his sense of belonging was passable. As long as Lin Hui himself was fine, Xue Meng could retire in peace, and his disciples could develop smoothly, so it shouldn't be a big problem.
As for energy, there was no need to mention it. An Internal Force expert at the Perfection stage could slap a vigorous young man flying with one hand. He could wander around all day without worrying about getting sleepy.
A pity. If Master and the others were here, it would be fine... He sighed softly.
After some discussion, Lin Hui personally took the floor and demonstrated the perfected versions of the Seven-Section Swift Sword and the Nine-Section Swift Sword.
As trail after trail of afterimages flashed and vanished, the terrifying speed of the sword techniques he demonstrated caused the wind to howl and air currents to surge throughout the entire great hall.
Seeing this scene, Wang Hongshi and the other original Black Dragon Gate disciples mostly changed their expressions slightly, their hearts wavering.
The Black Dragon Gate Master was dead. Whether the Black Dragon Claw at the Internal Force Realm could block the Clear Wind Sword at the Internal Force Realm—no one dared to say for sure nowadays.
After all, Lin Hui and Song Zhanlong had never fought, but Daoist Baohe and Song Zhanlong had fought, and in the end, Baohe died from heavy injuries.
Song Zhanlong had been unharmed.
If Song Zhanlong were still around, they naturally wouldn't hesitate. But now, there was no one left to guide the Black Dragon Claw at the Internal Force Realm...
After hesitating for several minutes, Wang Hongshi's expression turned resolute. He carefully observed the sword technique Lin Hui was demonstrating and decided to switch cultivation paths.
His talent was surpassing, and his comprehension was extremely high; previously, he had been the Eldest Disciple whom Song Zhanlong regarded highly.
Now that he had started to switch, his mind settled. As he learned the sword technique, he watched three times before memorizing the entire Seven-Section Swift Sword.
With his existing strength at the limit of Body Tempering, he only needed to temper his body slightly to enhance his speed to pass this step. He could directly learn the Nine-Section Swift Sword used for killing, and then proceed to the Clear Wind Sword's second Body Tempering.
When that time came, stacking the Clear Wind Sword's speed on top of the Black Dragon Claw's limit strength... even if he wasted a little time, what he would gain would be a terrifying doubling of strength.
Of course, the premise was that he could finish learning it in a short time. Otherwise, if he consumed time and energy while aging, the possibility of breaking through to Internal Force would be lower. The loss would outweigh the gain.
Following Wang Hongshi's decision, the other original Black Dragon Gate disciples also made up their minds one after another and began to carefully learn the sword technique.
Lin Hui watched this, feeling gratified in his heart. He had always been satisfied with Wang Hongshi.
This man was a true genius. Not only was his cultivation talent surpassing, but his handling of people and management of affairs within the sect were all organized and orderly, saving Lin Hui from worrying in the slightest.
Perhaps this was related to Song Zhanlong's model. Song Zhanlong was also a lone wolf who didn't manage affairs; these matters and chores naturally fell onto Wang Hongshi.
After repeated instruction in the great hall, Lin Hui confirmed that everyone had mastered the basic sword moves. Then, he took out the Fundamental Diagram for everyone to view and gain insights.
This was to prepare in advance for the Clear Wind Sword later.
After all, the essence of the Clear Wind Sword was actually the aggregation and fusion of the first two sword techniques.
….
While Lin Hui was cultivating and teaching others sword techniques within the sect.
Fu'an Town.
In front of the Black Dragon Apothecary.
A dusty gray wooden carriage slowly came to a stop, parking in the open space beside the apothecary's door.
On the side of the carriage's gray cabin were two large black characters: Clear · Intent (Qīng · Yì).
This represented the Intent Blade Branch of the Clear Wind Temple.
The rest of the Black Dragon Gate used Clear · Dragon (Qīng · Lóng) to distinguish themselves.
The carriage door slid open, and three burly, powerful men carrying sabers on their backs jumped down.
Following the three men, an old man with white hair and a distressed face walked down with his hands behind his back.
The old man wore a white robe that was sleek and fitted. His hair was bound with a snake-skin band, and a black, thick-backed saber hung at his waist. A large character for "Intent" was carved into the side of the pitch-black scabbard.
"Is this the shop where the incident happened?" The old man was Xue Meng, who had come all the way from the Black Dragon Gate—no, the Clear Wind Temple headquarters.
"Yes, Elder Xue." The shopkeeper of the apothecary, who had been waiting for a long time, finally ran out from a corner. But even as he came out, he held a book up to cover his face with his sleeve, terrified of being targeted by someone.
"I am the shopkeeper of this apothecary, Wang Sanfu. I returned to wait immediately after receiving the news."
Xue Meng looked at the deserted apothecary.
The wooden door planks used to close the shop had been forcibly smashed. It seemed someone had hurled a heavy object inside, smashing through the door planks from the center and creating a large hole.
Judging from the edges of the hole, it should be a human shape.
Xue Meng instantly simulated a mental image of a person being hit hard and flying backward to crash through the door planks.
Ignoring the shopkeeper, he entered alone through the broken hole first.
Inside was a counter shaped like the character 'Hui' (回).
On the brown wooden counter, there were gashes where the wood had been smashed by palms.
It looked like the battle had been fierce.
"Huang Haiyin wasn't defeated in a single blow. He exchanged at least dozens of moves with that person. In the end, he was outmatched, struck directly in the chest by a palm, and lost the power to resist before his limbs were crushed."
Xue Meng carefully inspected the traces and quickly concluded.
"Master, what do we do now? How can we find this group of people?" one of his disciples asked in a low voice from the side.
"Since we are here, they will show their faces soon. Otherwise, they wouldn't have just injured him without killing him, deliberately provoking us by sending him back to headquarters," Xue Meng said.
"Then we just wait here?"
"Bring a stool and wait outside. People will come eventually." Xue Meng's face was calm.
Soon, the four of them found three stools and one chair and placed them outside the apothecary.
The chair was for the Master, and the three of them sat on the stools to show respect.
Then, they waited quietly.
Wind and snow drifted down. Before long, a thin layer of white covered their bodies.