Decaying World

Chapter 73 073 Cooperation Part 1
At this moment, the small private room, which was originally only meant for four or five people, suddenly crammed in seven or eight people.

A group of attractive young women, all dressed in white and wearing white gloves, surrounded Lin Hui in the middle.

"Does Sect Leader Lin think that once we enter Baishan Town, there will be some commotion that my Hundred Flowers Sect is unaware of? Why not come in openly and honestly from the front? I will definitely lead my people to line the way to welcome you." The alluring woman said in a seductive voice, her words carrying a double meaning.

"Then there's no need." Lin Hui picked up the teacup, circulated his internal energy, and spat out the tea he was sipping. Now that he realized something was wrong, he naturally wouldn't touch anything here.

Judging from the looks of it, this Manager Hu Zhen has long been a part of the Hundred Flowers Sect. Back then, Song Zhanlong probably knew that it was indeed asking too much of a man to rely on Hu Zhen alone to monitor the Hundred Flowers Sect in Baishan Town.

Perhaps back then, Song Zhanlong pretended not to know and barely maintained his relationship with the Hundred Flowers Sect.

It wasn't until Lin Hui arrived that the tacit understanding between the two sides was truly broken.

Standing up, Lin Hui's gaze fell on the alluring woman in the blue dress who was slightly shorter than him.

"Do you have a name?"

"Elder Xiang Ying of the Hundred Flowers Sect, what brings you here, Sect Leader?" The alluring woman gestured for the person outside to close the door, then sat down opposite Lin Hui.

"I wouldn't presume to offer my instruction, but I've heard that the Hundred Flowers Palm of the Hundred Flowers Sect is extremely powerful in attacking targets, so I came to see for myself," Lin Hui said with a smile.

"Sect Leader, you jest. Come to think of it, the Black Dragon Sect, which is affiliated with your sect, also has conflicts with my Hundred Flowers Sect, and the Qingfeng Sword Sect also had conflicts with the Black Dragon Sect. There aren't that many points of contention between us. It's unreasonable for the Sect Leader to be so angry. Why don't we sit down and talk? Perhaps cooperation is more beneficial than conflict between us," Xiang Ying said with a smile.

"Oh? How do we cooperate?" Lin Hui hadn't expected the other party to be so adept at using both soft and hard tactics, and to be so flexible in their approach.

"That depends on why Sect Leader Lin came." Xiang Ying crossed her legs slightly and leaned back in her chair.

"Why have we come? Naturally, it's for the Wanyao Manor," Lin Hui said frankly. "I've heard that the Baihua Sect plans to monopolize the medicinal herb business in our area. I imagine that besides us, other forces have also come to inquire, right?"

"That's true." Xiang Ying's face showed an expression of certainty.

At this moment, the sound of singing came from outside, accompanied by erhu and pipa, the music was light and cheerful and the singing was crisp.

"In fact, before the sect leader made this decision, he had anticipated such a big reaction. Therefore, in response to Sect Leader Lin's intentions, we have prepared a method of cooperation to jointly determine the rules of the region."

"Oh? How do we agree to this?" Lin Hui was already preparing to make a move, but he didn't expect that this was a trap deliberately set by the Hundred Flowers Sect, a grand scheme that seemed to be designed to create a stir similar to that of the Martial Alliance.

The real purpose of acquiring all the medicinal herbs is not to cover up the truth, but to attract surrounding forces with demand to come and negotiate.

“Qingfeng Temple’s current power is even stronger than Black Dragon Gate’s. We can form a purchasing alliance for the medicinal herbs needed by the sect, and negotiate prices with Wanyao Manor based on a sufficiently large demand. In this way, if the purchase quantity is sufficient, even if we don’t go through Wanyao Manor, we can negotiate prices with Qunxiang Valley, which is further away, without much problem. The cost of the journey can be spread out with a large enough quantity, so the price difference won’t be much,” Xiang Ying said softly.

"So, I misunderstood the Hundred Flowers Sect after all? Your move was entirely to put pressure on the Myriad Medicines Manor and force them to renegotiate the price?" Lin Hui asked in surprise.

"That's right. Sect Leader Lin probably hasn't paid attention to the price adjustments at Wanyao Manor over the past ten years. The prices have been rising year by year. In the last two years, the cost of medicines for our Baihua Sect has increased by nearly half compared to when they first arrived, which is why we had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure," Xiang Ying sighed.

"I see." Lin Hui nodded in understanding. "Then why not just send someone to deliver the invitation directly, instead of using this method?"

"Otherwise, how can we know who is qualified to cooperate with my Hundred Flowers Sect? Cooperation always requires some kind of test, right?" Xiang Ying smiled.

"A test?" Lin Hui laughed. "Then what qualifications does your Hundred Flowers Sect have to cooperate with me? Why don't I go to Ten Thousand Medicines Manor myself to discuss it?"

"Because we use a lot of medicine!" Xiang Ying puffed out his chest proudly. "Based on the average purchase volume, our consumption of medicinal materials is more than double that of the Black Dragon Gate and Qingfeng Sword combined! Every month, the music halls and art galleries under our command consume more than half of the total demand for contraceptive and energy-enhancing powders in more than ten surrounding towns!"

Lin Hui was speechless. So the Hundred Flowers Sect was a sex trade, offering contraception and aphrodisiacs; no wonder they used so many drugs.
Well, he has nothing to say about that; he really can't compare.

Seeing that a fight was about to turn into a business cooperation, he was somewhat unwilling. After all, he came here to test the other party's strength. If they were strong, he would find an opportunity to launch a sneak attack and cripple them. If they were weak, he would directly wipe out the resistance forces at the higher levels.

After all, if he wanted to eliminate future troubles, the Hundred Flowers Sect had always been on his list. To subdue the entire sect, he needed to achieve some impressive results to convince anyone.

Unexpectedly, the atmosphere eased after only a few words from the other party.

This won't do; we have to find a reason to take action!
As thoughts raced through his mind, Lin Hui recalled the two Hundred Flowers Sect women who had died by his sword back then. In the misty area, those two had been so arrogant and domineering. Who would have thought that the Hundred Flowers Sect members would be so polite now?
Just as he remembered this, he heard Xiang Ying speak again from across the room.

"To be honest, we weren't this polite to each other before, but later, because of the bad atmosphere among our disciples, we frequently encountered conflicts outside, resulting in the deaths and injuries of many people. We even lost a core disciple and an Inner Strength Realm elder in the Fog Zone. Since then, the sect leader has carried out a complete reform from top to bottom, and the original atmosphere has been swept away."

With a sigh, Xiang Ying changed the subject.

"We have also been paying attention to Qingfeng Temple. The main medicinal materials you need are for wrist care medicine for the Qingfeng Sword Seven-Section Quick Sword and Nine-Section Quick Sword, with body tempering medicine as a supplement. Now that the sects have merged, we would like to ask Sect Leader Lin to add any additional medicines you require," Xiang Ying said softly.

"But the reason I came here in person, aside from the issue of medicinal herbs, is to test the power of the Hundred Flowers Palm of the Hundred Flowers Sect. When you're out doing business and making deals, you have to consider whether your partners are qualified to be on equal footing with you."

Lin Hui narrowed his eyes, his words carrying a hint of aggressiveness.

"Sect Leader Lin is quite arrogant. He defeated a few experts in the Inner Force Realm without even entering it, so he thinks that all Inner Force Realm experts in the world are so easily defeated. Isn't that overestimating himself?" Having said that much, Xiang Ying finally couldn't beat around the bush anymore.

"I am naturally aware that there are many experts in the Inner Strength Realm, far beyond my imagination, but I haven't encountered one yet," Lin Hui laughed. "Perhaps I'm just unlucky, and the Inner Strength Realm experts I've encountered are all relatively weak?"

"Very well, it seems that Sect Leader Lin came here on purpose to stir up trouble." Xiang Ying's smile faded.

"I'm a very simple person." Lin Hui gripped his sword with one hand. "I like to talk to people of equal strength. If you're too weak to suppress the sound of me practicing my sword, then I'm sorry, why would I use words when I can solve something with a single sword strike?"

“Fine.” Xiang Ying’s face turned grim. “Then let me see just how fast Sect Leader Lin’s Qingfeng Quick Sword really is!” The word “quick” had barely left his lips when it seemed that a fight was finally about to break out.

Suddenly, a cold shout cut between the two.

"Stop! It's a misunderstanding!"

A white figure rushed into the private room and reached out to block Xiang Ying.

She could stop Xiang Ying, but she couldn't stop Lin Hui.

Clang!
With a clear ringing sound, Lin Hui drew his sword.

He had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time, and now that he had seized the opportunity, he acted decisively!

As for the person who tried to stop him, he didn't know them. If she just told him to stop, wouldn't he, as the head of Qingfeng Temple, lose face?
Since we care about saving face, let's just cut it together!

The Qinghe Sword suddenly turned into a phantom image, then into a gentle breeze, blowing towards the two people in front of it.

At such close range and in such a small space, even without using internal energy or special effects, the speed of Lin Hui's sword strike, even without using internal force or special effects, is already extremely terrifying.

As soon as the sword rang out, Xiang Ying and the white figure were enveloped in a flash of white light, their bodies protected by internal energy.

A burst of sparks erupted as the Qinghe Sword's terrifying speed sent sparks flying from the two men.

The two tried to channel their internal energy to counterattack, but the sword retreated as soon as it touched them, moving too fast for them to continue channeling their energy. The attack was abruptly interrupted.

Even a tiny bit of internal force transmitted upwards is useless, and cannot interrupt the opponent's sword speed at all.

Ding ding ding ding! !
The continuous, terrifying sword shadows transformed into a sword wind, enveloping the three-meter radius around the two individuals.

Within this area, tables and chairs shattered with a loud crash, chopped into pieces, and scattered all over the ground. Many parts of the two people's clothes that were not covered by internal force were also cut up and torn apart, leaving them in a sorry state.

Left with no other choice, the two hurriedly lunged forward at Lin Hui, trying to forcefully interrupt his attack. If this continued, their internal energy barriers would be completely exhausted in no time.

The two, one on the left and one on the right, worked together seamlessly and pounced on Lin Hui from both sides simultaneously.

They all used their right hand to strike, their palms a dark purple color, faintly emitting a fragrance.

This is the Bewitching Incense Technique, also known as the Bewitching Incense Palm. It is another martial art of the Hundred Flowers Sect besides the Hundred Flowers Palm. Once touched, anyone without poison resistance will instantly fall to the ground unconscious, as if under the influence of a bewitching incense.

At this moment, the two of them used their internal energy together to withstand the sword wind and lunged at Lin Hui.

Even before you get close, you can faintly smell a sweet fragrance.

Lin Hui hadn't expected the two of them to attack him so coordinatedly, but it didn't matter. He was fast enough, and as long as he didn't get hit, taking down one or two of them was just a matter of time.

As for the problem of limited space and a large number of people making it difficult to perform movement techniques.

It's also easy to solve.

In a flash, he sheathed his sword, his figure as elusive as a ghost. He grabbed the nearest female disciple in white and shoved her toward the two in front of him.

Although he mainly focused on sword speed and movement techniques rather than strength training, he was still a second-time body temperer, making him much stronger than the woman. With a push, he immediately blocked the two women's attack.

"careful!"

"Flash!"

Amidst gasps of alarm, the woman who had been pushed out was struck by two palm prints, sending her flying backward, coughing up blood and falling unconscious.

Before Xiang Ying and the white figure could react, Lin Hui pushed out two more female disciples to block them.

He was fast, and his movements and eyesight were very precise. His pushes were quite clear, and he just managed to block the pursuit of the two people behind him.

This forced the two men to injure three people, and in their anger, they had no choice but to rush out of the private room and expand the area.

But he had just rushed out the door.

Just as Xiang Ying was about to search for Lin Hui's location, she saw a bright silver light ahead. A sword sound far surpassing the previous one exploded out instantly.

laugh! !

The internal force barrier was breached, and Xiang Ying was struck as if by lightning. He flew backward and crashed hard into the door behind him, breaking the door open before falling to the ground.

A straight sword scar had appeared diagonally on his chest.

Blood seemed to finally react at this moment, gushing out rapidly from the sword wound.

(End of this chapter)