Decaying World

Chapter 19 019 Patrol 1 (Xie Yao, Fire Fox Alliance Leader)

As night fell, Lin Hui stood alone in the center of the inner room, the small hut he was assigned after becoming a formal disciple.

The room is large enough that you can practice swordsmanship without worrying about not having enough space.

Holding the black sword given to him by Mingde, Lin Hui focused all his attention on the red words in the Blood Seal.

As his attention focused, information about the Seven-Section Quick Sword quickly surfaced.

'Seven-Section Quick Sword: Basic training method of Qingfeng Temple, fundamental swordsmanship. A prerequisite for Nine-Section Quick Sword. Evolutionary branch: 2.'

Current status: Successful.

'After tempering your body to a certain stage at the Perfect Realm, the special effect—Lightness of Body—can be activated. This effect is currently active.'

"Lightness. I thought the special effect was gone, but it seems it's still there."

Lin Hui took a breath, confirming in his mind that the special effect would be activated.

laugh.

In an instant, he suddenly felt his whole body lighten. It wasn't the illusion that came with body tempering, but rather that his body really felt much lighter all of a sudden.

He drew his sword and unleashed a nine-section swift sword technique.

A whooshing sound suddenly exploded out; his sword technique at this moment was more than twice as fast as normal!
The sword shadow was almost completely invisible. Although he had previously been unable to see the sword shadow due to body tempering while practicing swordsmanship, he could at least see him through the afterimage.

At this moment, the shadow had completely transformed into a curtain, enveloping him completely.

He had never seen anyone move at such an exaggerated speed, not even in the previous disciple competitions.

While speed does not represent absolute strength, high speed certainly indicates high strength.

Lin Hui carefully recalled the previous competition among the formal disciples. Apart from the improved movement speed due to body tempering, they did not seem to have any special explosive improvement.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible to hide it so well in the first place.

He estimated that after using the lightness effect, his speed would be comparable only to that of his senior brothers and sisters when they launched their sword attacks.

"Such a powerful effect"

Of course, if he were to actually face off against his senior brother, given his terrible skills with the Nine-Section Quick Sword and his complete inability to use the Qingfeng Sword, he would definitely lose.

But this speed alone is enough to easily defeat 70-80% of the formal disciples.

But after a short while, Lin Hui suddenly felt his heart racing and his mind exhausted.

'It seems the special effects consume a lot of resources and can't be kept on all the time; they should only be used in crucial moments.'

"Physical limitations mean the special effects can't be active for long. I still need to learn the Qingfeng Sword Technique as soon as possible. The Nine-Section Quick Sword is an offensive and killing move of the Seven-Section Quick Sword, while the Qingfeng Sword Technique is a complete set of sword techniques that includes both body tempering and offensive capabilities. Body tempering is an advancement of the Seven-Section Quick Sword."

Having set his goal, Lin Hui continued to immerse himself in body tempering cultivation, focusing all his attention on it.

Inside the room, the light was dim and yellow, and the shadow of him wielding his sword flickered rapidly under the light.

Outside, in the gray fog, a long, eerie shadow, like a snake, could be seen crawling silently, hissing.

Before long, after completing ten rounds of body tempering exercises, Lin Hui quickly regulated his breathing, then turned off the lights and lay down to rest.

His gaze swept across the window and he saw long, thin snake shadows reflected in the hazy moonlight outside, climbing like giant vines.

What blocked all of this was nothing more than a small, purplish-black stone hanging on the wall inside the house. It was a jade talisman obtained from the Rain Palace in the inner city.

With just this small piece, it can keep out those strange and eerie fog monsters outside.

Lin Hui didn't understand. Looking at the small jade talisman, he always felt a strange unease.

'What if, just one day, the jade talisman suddenly becomes ineffective?' This thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

This wasn't the first time such a thought had crossed my mind, but there was nothing I could do. Aside from the jade talisman, there was no other way to allow the living to survive in the night's mist.

He had never heard of such a person before.

call.
With a soft sigh, Lin Hui forced himself to close his eyes and rest.

Day two.

He packed his luggage, ate breakfast, and then continued practicing his sword. He still needed a lot of time to familiarize himself with the newly learned nine-section fast sword technique.

This is a move with a completely different style from the previous seven sections of fast swordplay; it can be said to be the opposite style.

If the first seven sections of the swift sword are like the compression of a spring, then the nine sections of the swift sword are the violent release of that compressed spring.

The intensity of that burst of power was closely related to the Seven-Section Quick Sword.

Lin Hui tempered his body again and again, completing ten rounds of body tempering and the practice of the Nine-Section Quick Sword by the end of the morning. After lunch, he continued to practice the Nine-Section Quick Sword, but after only the third round, several more people came to watch.

The bystanders appeared to be a small group of three, led by Chen Chong, who had previously clashed with Chen Zhishen.

He and his two henchmen were squinting at Lin Hui's practice, their eyes gleaming, their intentions unknown.

brush.

Lin Hui abruptly sheathed his sword and looked at the three of them.

"Do you three senior brothers have something to discuss?"

"It's nothing, I just came to see what merit my newly promoted junior brother has to be selected for the patrol team like me. After all, there are only five people needed for the entire front yard." Chen Chong smiled, his tone sarcastic.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, senior brother. I got in through connections with Master Mingde, not through my own abilities," Lin Hui replied earnestly.

Forehead.
Chen Chong was taken aback by his undisguised frankness and stared at him for a moment, unsure of how to respond.

He originally intended to mock the other party's weakness, which was attributed to connections. However, the other party retorted directly: "I got in through connections, I'm very weak, please bear with me, senior."

He was at a loss.

"I've seen shameless people, but I've never seen anyone as clever as my junior brother," Chen Chong said speechlessly, realizing he might have underestimated Lin Hui before.

"Is there anything else you'd like to say, Senior Brother?" Lin Hui asked calmly. "Well..." Chen Chong was about to speak when Daoist Mingde, who was not far away, began clapping his hands to gather everyone together.

"Those departing tomorrow, come and prepare. Everyone in your small groups should get to know each other first." Master Mingde had his young disciples set up a separate area as the meeting point for the groups.

Before long, there were five people in total: the eldest brother Chen Sui, the two geniuses Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren, and then the two people with connections, Chen Chong and Lin Hui.

Everyone quickly gathered and stood in front of Master Mingde.

“I’ve gathered everyone here so that you can get to know each other’s general strengths and abilities, so that you can make proper arrangements and responses at critical moments and maximize the team’s strength,” Mingde said.

"It's just a matter of starting the fight, that's easy," Chen Chong said directly. This wasn't his first time taking on such a lucrative assignment, so he was naturally quite familiar with it.

“Since the last inspection, there are three new recruits: Huang Shan, Qiu Yiren, and Lin Hui. So the main targets of this assessment are the three of you. Chen Chong, you'll be the one to be tested. Your strength is just right,” Mingde said bluntly.

Chen Chong nodded, drew his sword, and stepped out to stand in the open space.

He has been at Qingfeng Temple for five years. Currently, his strength ranks thirteenth in the front courtyard, neither high nor low, making him a good benchmark for comparing the three newcomers.

"I'm ready, who wants to go first?" Chen Chong's gaze swept over the three of them, then quickly landed on Huang Shan.

He'd been eyeing this girl for a while, wanting to get his hands on her but unable to, and had even been warned by Mingde for it. Now, during the competition, his gaze swept over Huang Shan's pert little buttocks, and his heart started to itch again.

"You asked for it!" Huang Shan was enraged by his disgusting gaze, so he immediately drew his sword and stepped forward to stand opposite him.

The two men pointed their wooden swords diagonally at the ground, their eyes met, and they quickly got into position.

An inexplicable aura lingered between the two.

"Begin!" Mingde commanded.

With a whoosh, two sharp sounds of air being torn apart erupted simultaneously.

Both were body tempering practitioners and both wielded nine-section fast swords. At this moment, they used speed to fight speed, and the two wooden swords collided and clashed in an instant, producing a crisp sound.

Boom!
The two passed each other, then stepped back onto the ground and slashed diagonally with their swords.

This is a killing move from the Nine-Section Quick Sword technique, "Looking Back at the Moon".

It would be best to turn around and launch a sneak attack after a fruitless duel, but unfortunately, the two had the same idea, and the two swords clashed again, making a crisp sound.

In this second collision, Chen Chongqiang was clearly stronger. His strength overwhelmed Huang Shan, who had only recently undergone body tempering, and he easily pushed him away.

But Huang Shan truly lived up to his reputation as a genius; his understanding and application of swordsmanship were clearly superior to Chen Chong's.

She swiftly circled around, retreated, and turned to the side. Her wooden sword, like a venomous snake, curved and swiftly stabbed towards Chen Chong's waist from the other side.

This attack threw Chen Chong, who was preparing to press his advantage, into a panic. He had intended to attack, but because his waist was unprotected, he could only hastily change his move to parry the wooden sword.

The two exchanged blows, switching between offense and defense, and in just a few seconds they had gone through more than ten moves, their speed was swift.

Lin Hui stood aside, watching the battle with Qiu Yiren and Chen Sui.

"It looks like Junior Brother Chen's thirteenth disciple won't be able to keep his position for long. Junior Sister Huang has improved a lot since last time," Chen Sui said calmly. He was the strongest among all the disciples and the one in the sect closest to the Ming generation.

Qingfeng Sword was already incredibly proficient, and he had begun to pursue a higher level of swordsmanship beyond mere techniques. His vision was naturally on a different level from that of ordinary disciples.

To be precise, he, his second senior brother Zhao Jiang'an, and his third senior sister, who is also the eldest senior sister Mu Qiaozhi, have formed a complete gap with all the other front-court disciples.

The three of them had long since embarked on the path of pursuing the realm of Qingfeng Sword, rather than simply mastering sword techniques.

Even with body tempering, the tempering technique of the Qingfeng Sword, they had almost reached the limit their bodies could withstand. After all, the three of them had been in Qingfeng Temple for many years and were all exceptionally talented. Their cultivation time was simply unmatched by others.

"Does Senior Brother think Junior Sister Huang will win?" Lin Hui asked softly.

"Judging from their performance, Junior Brother Chen is stronger, while Junior Sister Huang, although ranked higher, is faster and has better comprehension, but her performance is inconsistent. In terms of momentum, the two are about the same, with very little difference," Chen Sui commented.

Just then, the two had exchanged more than a hundred moves. Chen Chong was clearly running out of energy, while Huang Shan remained agile.

Just as Chen Chong took a step and his wooden sword was slightly slower in its attack, Huang Shan seized the momentary opening and thrust his sword into Chen Chong's left shoulder.

Poof.

Chen Chong fell backward with a cry of pain.

"Alright, Huang Shan wins. I have a pretty good understanding of your levels. Chen Chong hasn't improved at all, as usual. Huang Shan has improved a lot, not bad." Mingde said calmly, then looked at Qiu Yiren and Lin Hui beside him.

"You two go."

Lin Huiqiu and Yiren stepped forward, raised their wooden swords, and bowed to each other with clasped hands.

This was Lin Hui's first formal sparring match, and he was somewhat nervous. However, thinking about how terrible his nine-section fast sword technique was and how he had only practiced for a few days, he figured it didn't matter if he performed poorly, and he gradually relaxed.

He looked at Qiu Yiren across from him and noticed that she was also a little nervous.

"Begin!" Mingde commanded.

The two simultaneously thrust at each other's torso. This is the Thousand Mountain Thrust, a technique from the Nine-Section Quick Sword.

Although the moves were the same, Lin Hui's were noticeably different from the standard sword techniques.

This caused him to lose his balance from the start, and Qiu Yiren easily struck him with a downward slash, making his hand tremble and almost causing him to drop the wooden sword.

In just a few seconds, the two exchanged blows, their wooden swords clashing repeatedly, and Lin Hui was quickly forced to retreat.

Followed by.

With a whoosh, the wooden sword in his hand was flicked away and flew into the crowd of disciples watching the commotion in the front yard, where it was caught in mid-air.

"Junior Brother Lin, here's your sword." The man chuckled and tossed it back to Lin Hui.

Lin Hui quickly caught it, his face flushed, and with a wry smile, he clasped his hands in a fist salute to the other person, and then clasped his hands in a fist salute to Qiu Yiren.

"Thank you for showing mercy, junior sister." He had entered the sect before her, so it was normal for him to address her as junior sister.

"You're not even familiar with this nine-section sword," Qiu Yiren said helplessly, unsure of what to say.

(End of this chapter)