Decaying World

Chapter 71 071 Devouring Three

"Yes, let's exchange ideas, let's exchange ideas together. My Yi Dao Sect has a total of five disciples, all of whom are elites. If Sect Leader Lin is willing to merge with the sect and accept them, and promises to provide the same benefits and resources as everyone else, then the Yi Dao Sect will be merged immediately!!"

Xue Meng could tell that he didn't care about the sect's legacy, but mainly wanted to find a good home for his disciples.

He's getting old, his physical strength is declining, and his power is waning. If he doesn't find a good match soon, he might not have the confidence to face a genius like Lin Hui in the future.

"How's the body tempering going?" Lin Hui nodded and asked.

“They’re all at the limit of body tempering! I have no other disciples, I’ve given all my resources to them, and I’ve only trained five!” Xue Meng said in a deep voice.

“Alright! Let’s go back to headquarters together, brother, to discuss the details and allocate resources and monthly stipends,” Lin Hui said.

Having a master with the sixth level of internal strength as his master, and having him as the main figure in the sect, is undoubtedly a great thing.

Of course, if he hadn't been strong enough, he probably would have been taken down on the spot and his sect's businesses would have been swallowed up.

That's reality. If you don't have enough strength, you're just meat on someone else's plate, waiting to be bitten when they're hungry.

After taking Xue Meng, the leader of the Yi Dao Sect, back with him, Lin Hui immediately began discussing techniques for using internal energy and details on breakthroughs.

After writing a letter to his disciples, Xue Meng carefully explained his past experiences to Lin Hui.

He also understood to some extent why Lin Hui was able to create such an exaggerated speed technique. People who are obsessed with martial arts cannot be judged by ordinary standards.

This is the classic image Lin Hui wants to create for the outside world. It lays the foundation for him to break through to the Inner Strength Realm ahead of schedule in the future.

Just a few days after the Black Dragon Gate changed hands, it immediately merged with the Intent Blade Sect, with the Qingfeng Sword Sect as the main lineage, unifying everything.

This commotion has sparked far more discussion than before.

It should be noted that the Yi Dao Sect is no small or insignificant sect. Among the many martial artists who came from Xingdao, Xue Meng's strength can be considered to be in the upper-middle range. If he were to unleash his secret techniques with all his might, even top figures like the Hundred Flowers Sect Master would not dare to underestimate him.

Even such a master of internal energy was incorporated into the Qingfeng Sword Sect.

No, the Qingfeng Sword Sect has now decisively changed its name to Qingfeng Temple.

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a month later
"Sect Leader, isn't our Guan character a bit too small?"

At the entrance of the Black Dragon Gate headquarters, Lin Hui smiled as he listened to Xue Meng muttering to himself while staring at the plaque.

Xue Meng is good in every other way: he has rich experience in martial arts, is cautious, and knows when to advance and retreat. But he has one flaw.

That's just being a chatterbox.

This old man couldn't help but talk all the time. Even if no one paid attention to him, he could talk to himself, asking and answering his own questions. He was practically a distant relative of the Lionman and a model of the talking tribe.

"Let's stabilize the current scale first. The unification of our three factions has already made some forces uneasy. Let's stop all actions for now, everyone should rest and recuperate, and not cause any trouble."

“That’s true. This merger actually crossed a line in the New Martial Alliance. The New Martial Alliance has a clear rule that large sects are not allowed to merge with small sects at will. This time it was a special case. The sect leader used the excuse that the Black Dragon Sect broke the rules first, and the merger was successfully completed by skirting the edge.” Xue Meng nodded, paused, and continued, “But the merger of our two sects is different. It will still have a significant impact. Fortunately, my Yi Dao Sect only has a few people, so the commotion is small, but it definitely can’t continue. I estimate that the New Martial Alliance will send someone to investigate the situation in the next few days.”

"What kind of organization is the New Martial Alliance? Has Elder Xue had any contact with it?" Lin Hui asked casually as he looked at the newly hung plaque and walked back to the training ground.

"A small portion of the new Martial Alliance consists of members from the original Tu Yue Martial Alliance, while the rest are all from Xing Dao. The strongest in the entire alliance are the Golden Hong Sect and the Free and Unfettered Pavilion. The Golden Hong Sect is a native Tu Yue sect, while the Free and Unfettered Pavilion was founded by Zhou Tian, ​​a master from Xing Dao. I don't know the specifics. After all, we're not on the same level and wouldn't fit into the same circle. The Zhou Tian martial artists are far stronger, even their lifespans are significantly longer than ours. Outside the Fog Zone, they're practically a different species," Xue Meng replied.

"I've heard that when one's external martial arts skills are practiced to the point of being internalized, that's the limit. There's no way to go any further. Has Elder Xue heard of such a saying?" Lin Hui asked softly, looking at the many disciples who were practicing their skills in neat rows.

“That’s true.” Xue Meng sighed. “It sounds good to start from the outside and work from the inside, but in reality, external martial arts training often damages the body. When you’re young and your Qi and blood are full, you don’t feel it, but when you really need to sort out the details of the damage, you will find that the damage accumulated before has become a mountain blocking your breakthrough of the Qi circulation.”

As for the inability to break through, there are many reasons. For example, the external energy network is not precise enough, filtering out too many impurities. There are too many hidden injuries in the body's venous blood vessels, causing leaks everywhere. And most importantly, the Zhou Tian (circulation of Qi) requires a very high level of mental cultivation, which external martial arts practitioners generally don't delve into. By the time they need to cultivate, it's already too late.

“Cultivating one’s mind.” Lin Hui pondered these words.

In recent days, during his conversations with Xue Meng, he had heard the other mention this more than once, but even Xue Meng didn't know how to proceed, saying that this aspect had always been the most important secret passed down within the inner martial arts sects. It was usually passed down orally and not recorded in books, so even the secret manuals could not be found.

Left with no other choice, Lin Hui continued to temper his body and cultivate his internal energy.

The perfect version of the Qingfeng Sword was still powerful. In just one month, he easily broke through to the second level of the Inner Force Realm and began to strive for the third level.

Meanwhile, with the continuous supply of essence powder and spirit mushroom, the evolution time of the blood seal was greatly shortened.

Now that the disciples of the three sects have been merged into one, Qingfeng Temple's influence is much greater than before, and it is vaguely resembling its former heyday.

Although there are fewer experts at the Inner Strength Realm, their quality is high.

Xue Meng is much stronger than Baohe Daoren.

The two gave brief instructions on the cultivation of the top-ranked disciples, and then entered the Song residence. The entire Song residence was completely converted by Lin Hui into a training and accommodation facility for the disciples and students.

He himself also lives here, treating this place as his new base.

After all, this place was much larger than Qingfeng Temple, and the location was also much better. Not long after entering, the newly arrived kitchen staff brought in tea, and Wang Hongshi hurried in. Accompanying him was Chen Sui, the former senior disciple of Qingfeng Temple. The two of them somehow got together and seemed to hit it off quite well.

"Sect Leader, Elders, the New Martial Alliance has sent people!" Wang Hongshi said in a deep voice, clasping his hands in greeting. "They are waiting in the reception room now, saying they want to have a good talk with you two about the merger of sects."

"Who is it? The New Martial Alliance has two leaders, a leader and a deputy leader, and nine elders, who are also the heads of the participating martial arts schools. Even someone with Song Zhanlong's strength is just an ordinary member. Although sending someone is a big deal, its influence is limited to a few surrounding towns. To the New Martial Alliance, it's a trivial matter. I guess it's just an ordinary envoy, right?" Xue Meng asked in a deep voice.

"That man, who calls himself Qianyangzi, brought two disciples. He should be the master of the Inner Strength Realm, and he did indeed say that he was an envoy," Wang Hongshi nodded in affirmation.

"That makes things simple. It seems the New Martial Alliance is too lazy to bother with such a trivial matter. If it weren't for the faction merger being so sensitive, they probably wouldn't even send anyone. We'll have to wait until the end of the year to collect our money before we can see the envoy," Xue Meng said with a smile.

"I'll go take a look," Lin Hui nodded.

Since he was an envoy from the New Martial Alliance, he dared not be negligent. He immediately flashed away, leaving behind a series of afterimages, and rushed out of the tea pavilion to the reception room.

As soon as I stepped into the hall, I heard an old voice introducing the background of the Black Dragon Gate.

In front of a mural on the left side of the hall, a tall old man dressed in a dark green brocade robe is explaining the characteristics of the Black Dragon Sect's martial arts and Song Zhanlong's past background to two young disciples.

"Speaking of which, Song Zhanlong didn't learn the Black Dragon Claw from Xingdao City. Instead, he mastered martial arts in a more distant city and returned to his hometown to establish his own sect. Later, due to the chaos in Xingdao, many martial artists fled the city and scattered. He eventually came to Tuyue, but he never expected to die here."

The speaker turned around, his sharp, piercing gaze meeting Lin Hui's as he entered the room.

Before this, Lin Hui had never seen a person's gaze be so sharp as to sting his eyes like a searchlight.

And at this moment, he witnessed it.

The blinding gaze made him involuntarily pause, stopping at the doorway.

The next moment, he forced himself to step forward, bracing himself against the gazes, and crossed the threshold.

"You must be Senior Qianyangzi, the envoy of the New Martial Alliance?" Lin Hui greeted him with a gentle smile.

"Just as the rumors say, Sect Leader Lin is very young," Qian Yangzi said, looking Lin Hui up and down with some emotion.

"That's right, I am Qian Yangzi. I have been entrusted by the alliance to come here to investigate Qingfeng Temple and send a mission."

He paused and looked at Lin Hui.

"Sect Leader Lin, do you have any intention of continuing to merge with the surrounding martial arts schools and sects?"

"Of course not." Lin Hui waved his hand and laughed. "Actually, I haven't even broken through to the Inner Strength Realm yet. The current situation is all thanks to Brother Xue Meng of the Yi Dao Sect for his righteous help. Brother Xue Meng and I hit it off immediately. Although it seems like we've merged sects, it's actually because Brother Xue Meng is planning to retire somewhere else and doesn't want to get involved in things yet."

At this point, Lin Hui sighed, looking like he had gotten a good deal.

"Then it's alright." Qian Yangzi said easily. "By the way, since you've taken on the responsibilities of the Black Dragon Gate and the Intent Blade Sect, then pay this year's alliance fee. Those two sects still owe you money."

"Alliance fee, how much is required?" Lin Hui's heart skipped a beat.

"Not much, 300,000 for each family, 600,000 for both families together," Qian Yangzi said with a smile. "By the way, do you have any conflicts with the Hundred Flowers Sect?"

"No, what do you mean by that, senior?" Lin Hui asked in surprise.

"That's right. When I came here, I heard several martial arts schools in the alliance chatting about the Wanyao Manor. As you know, most of the medicines needed by the dozen or so towns around here are traded from Wanyao Manor and its subordinate forces."

However, the Hundred Flowers Sect intends to completely monopolize the import and export of medicinal herbs in this area. If they succeed, they will have complete control over the medicinal herbs in this region. If you want to buy herbs, you will have no choice but to obtain them through them as a secondary supplier.

Qianyangzi clearly had goodwill towards Lin Hui, otherwise she wouldn't have brought this up at all.

"Wanyao Manor." Lin Hui's expression darkened, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared.

This relates to how he consumed Ganoderma lucidum.

"Thank you for the reminder, senior. This matter is of great importance, and I need to verify it immediately. I cannot accompany you. Please forgive me."

He shrewdly took out a large gold note from his sleeve and handed it over.

The ticket price is 100,000 coins.

This made Qian Yangzi nod slightly, and he calmly accepted the gold note and put it away.

"It's alright, important matters come first. Please proceed, Sect Leader Lin."

Lin Hui left quickly, instructing two female disciples to greet him properly, while he went to the mansion and asked someone to summon Wang Hongshi, Chen Sui, Huang Shan, Qiu Yiren, and others.

The other experts from the Ruyi Blade Sect were also in the sect, but they were not trusted enough, so Lin Hui did not plan to use them for the time being. On the contrary, he knew the people in front of him very well, so he should make the best use of them.

(End of this chapter)