Decaying World

Chapter 26 026 Unexpected Events Part 2

With a heavy heart, Lin Hui went home to tell his parents about the situation. The next day, he went to the clinic again, but still couldn't find anyone. So he had no choice but to return to Qingfeng Temple.

Before leaving, he slipped some money to a pharmacist at the clinic, asking him to send a message to Qingfeng Temple to inform him if there was any news.

Afterwards, he packed his bags and returned to Qingfeng Temple.

During this time, he also went to see two friends introduced by his cousin, but both of them lived in the inner city. Although they had a contact point in the outer city, Lin Hui had sent a letter but had not yet received a response.

Lin Hui suspected that the two men might have been attacked and injured together that night.

Back at Qingfeng Temple, he tried his best to calm his mind and resumed his monotonous life of rigorous swordsmanship training.

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In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

Winter has truly arrived, and sparse snowflakes are scattered obliquely in the wind, painting the roof of Qingfeng Temple with a layer of pure white.

As the year draws to a close, the annual celebration of Yuan Dong is about to begin.

The Tuyue people have a long-standing tradition of celebrating the harvest and looking forward to the future at the end of the year. The Yuan Dong Festival is one such festival.

The Taoist temple is also preparing to hold its annual internal competition to determine the ranking of its disciples and their New Year's prizes.

There's only one day left until the Lunar New Year.

Lin Hui pushed open the door and walked out of his room. He saw that many people outside had already hung a kind of black paper flower under the eaves of various houses. It was one of the most commonly used decorations for festivals.

He lived in one of the side rooms on one side of the front courtyard, along with more than a dozen other front courtyard disciples. Everyone lived here.

At this moment, the other disciples in the front courtyard, just like him, also came out one after another. When they saw that the Taoist temple was beginning to prepare for decoration, their faces softened.

Lin Hui noticed that from this position, he could see that there were many students from the back courtyard helping with the work in the front courtyard and outside the main hall.

The young Taoist disciples were in charge of directing and arranging things, while the Taoists in charge of logistics had already set up something resembling a fighting arena in the front yard.

Thick fences were erected, and gray tarpaulins were set up to provide shelter from the wind, rain, and snow.

Lin Hui didn't see Mingde and the other two. He took a few steps and looked around. Then he saw Mingde and Mingchen sitting cross-legged on a corner of the Taoist temple roof, drinking and bragging with wine bags.

He silently picked up his sword and went straight to the outside of the Taoist temple, where he found a corner and began practicing his swordsmanship every day.

To this day, his Seven-Section Quick Sword tempering has been successfully upgraded to the fourth rank.

That means they're already on the same level as Huang Shan and the others. The perfect version of the Seven-Section Quick Sword is undoubtedly stronger than the others in terms of body tempering effects.

Lin Hui clearly felt that his control and precision in swordsmanship were improving naturally.

At the same time, he became more and more skilled in using the lightness effect, stabilizing it at a rhythm of one use followed by a two-second interval. As long as he maintained this rhythm, he could unleash unlimited bursts of power.

The sealing poison was also being integrated into the actual sword technique more and more smoothly. The sealing poison took effect in one second and had a two-second interval, which was exactly the same as the lightness effect. This allowed Lin Hui to integrate it into the rhythm of the burst effect with great smoothness.

He named this sudden, light-body-and-sealing move "Stealth Strike".

The reason was that when this move was unleashed, the speed was so fast that even he himself couldn't see the exact speed of the sword shadow.

Standing in the familiar spot under the shade of a tree, Lin Hui slowly began practicing the Seven-Section Fast Sword for body tempering.

He practiced ten times in a row, flawlessly, and the body tempering was complete. Then came the Nine-Section Quick Sword Technique. Unbeknownst to him, several young disciples had gathered around him not far away.

They were captivated by Lin Hui's perfect swordplay and couldn't help but stop and watch.

"This senior brother's swordsmanship seems to be more impressive than the other senior brothers and sisters in the front courtyard."

"Indeed, it feels more precise, and every move feels like it should be this way."

"I feel the same way. It looks very stable and accurate, without a single flaw."

"Does anyone know this senior brother's name?"

"It's Senior Brother Lin Hui, who was promoted just a few months ago. I knew Chen Zhishen before, and he and Senior Brother Lin Hui have a good relationship. I've heard him talk about it."

"Didn't Senior Brother Lin Hui just get promoted? What's wrong?"

"Shh, he's stopped. Don't talk about others in front of him."

Lin Hui slowly sheathed his sword. It wasn't that he was disturbed by the people around him; with his current concentration, the noise around him had no effect on his state.

The real reason was that he saw two people approaching him from afar.

The two men were of different heights, one tall and one short. The taller one was none other than Chen Zhishen, whom they hadn't seen in a long time.

He was holding the hand of a young man who looked somewhat like him, and they were walking briskly toward Lin Hui.

Even when they were still more than ten meters apart, Chen Zhishen called out loudly with a smile.

"Ahui! Looks like you're doing well. Have you missed me?"

Lin Hui's expression was strange, sensing that this guy was clearly living a comfortable life. The Chen Zhishen who used to be full of bitterness and resentment would never have said such a thing.

"Thinking of you my ass! Did you eat feed and blow air? You've gotten so fat so fast??"

He noticed that the other person's chin was almost sculpted into two lines, and he had gained at least thirty pounds since leaving Qingfeng Temple.

"How can you talk like that?" Chen Zhishen's smile froze. "It's because Senior Brother Zhao provides such good benefits, and his life is so leisurely. He drinks a little wine every day, goes out to play a few rounds of dice, and occasionally goes on missions. He's living the good life."

"Then why did you come here?" Lin Hui was speechless. Looking at his out-of-shape figure, he knew that this guy's swordsmanship had definitely been neglected.

“My nephew also paid to enter the Taoist temple, so I brought him here to take a look. For my sake, how about you lend a hand if I really need anything?” Chen Zhishen skillfully tossed a silver note over his hand.

Lin Hui reached out and caught it precisely, glancing at it – a thousand coins.

"Alright, it's a friend's price, but don't bother me unless it's absolutely necessary."

He doesn't even have enough time for his own cultivation, so if someone comes to him with trivial matters, he definitely won't do it.

"Of course." Chen Zhishen nodded with a smile, then led the boy closer and gave him a hard slap on the back of the head. "Come on, call me Uncle! From now on, he's your Uncle Lin. If you encounter any difficulties at Qingfeng Temple and can't contact me, just look for your Uncle Lin, understand?"

"Hello, Uncle Lin." The young man was a bit simple-minded, but he had the kind of honesty and simplicity that was unique to farmers.

"Hmm, what's your name? I'll let someone I know know about it later," Lin Hui nodded, his expression softening.

“His name is Chen Jiahu, his nickname is Xiaohu, you can call him Ahu if you want. Feel free to ask him to do any chores, he's a strong guy at home, a first-rate worker,” Chen Zhishen said with a smile.

"Alright, I need someone to run errands for me." Lin Hui nodded with a smile.

Looking at Xiao Hu, he couldn't help but think of his cousin Lin Hongzhen, who had brought him to meet her friend a while ago, but his cousin still hadn't woken up.

He wrote to his uncle a few days ago and was told that she was still in a coma. The church had given up on her and sent her home. It is said that Lin Hongzhen's physical injuries have healed, but she suffered a head injury and it is unknown when she will regain consciousness.

Amamiya has spent a lot of resources and money on treatment; they've already done everything they could to reach this point.

Whether he will wake up or not depends entirely on fate.

Thinking of this, Lin Hui's smile faded unconsciously. Recalling his past interactions with his cousin, he felt a pang of sadness.

Seeing his expression, Chen Zhishen's smile vanished, and he asked in a deep voice, "Is it about the Qingmo Tower incident last month? I've heard about it too."

Xinyu Town is so small that the Lin family's affairs had already spread far and wide, to the point that Chen Zhishen, who had been paying close attention to the Lin family, had also heard about them in the neighboring town.

"As Senior Brother Zhao also said, this matter is a hurdle for the Lin family, but didn't you and the Lin family's main branch sever ties a long time ago?"

"The injured guy and I are on good terms," ​​Lin Hui replied. "Things can change anything, let's not talk about that. Want to stay and watch the fight later?"

"A grand competition? Of course, that's what we're here for." Chen Zhishen smiled.

"You just said you were coming to see me and bringing your nephew to pay respects at the mountain temple?"

"Can't you even understand polite conversation?"

The two smiled again and entered the main hall together.

The main hall of Qingfeng Temple is spacious, and disciples are already registering and leading outsiders to watch the battle.

Amidst the bustling crowd, the registration area was filled with returning disciples, a few family members, and invited guests from other martial arts schools.

At a glance, there were no fewer than a hundred people.

After accompanying Chen Zhishen to register, Chen took his nephew to visit other acquaintances, while Lin Hui returned to his room to recuperate and prepare for the start of the competition.

This time, he reached the fourth level of Body Tempering and planned to show it off a little to improve his position in Qingfeng Temple.

In his view, concealing one's strength only requires hiding one's trump cards; true strength doesn't need to be hidden, and only by revealing it can one gain more resources and preferential treatment.

By utilizing more resources to achieve greater growth, and then continuing the cycle to create a snowball effect, this is the fastest way to grow and expand.

As long as it's not too eye-catching or attracts too much attention, it's fine.

After the morning preparations were completed, all the disciples were summoned and solemnly paid homage to the patriarch of Qingfeng Pavilion. They lit the large incense in the cauldron on the training ground, struck the gongs set up around the temple, and finally lit the pile of firewood outside the temple. The fire and smoke shot into the sky.

On the newly erected arena, a young female Taoist nun, dressed in a snow-white Taoist robe with two pigtails, held black paper flowers in her hands and sang a song celebrating the Winter Solstice Festival.

The effect of children's a cappella singing is clear and melodious, as if it can cleanse the soul.

After the first song, a theatrical troupe specially invited by the Taoist temple took to the stage to perform acrobatics and other plays, creating a lively atmosphere with gongs and drums.

The commotion lasted for more than an hour. At noon, lunch was served, and the crowd filled the training ground with tables and chairs around the arena, with a continuous stream of food being served.

The long-absent senior brother Chen Sui, second senior brother Zhao Jiang'an, and senior sister Mu Qiaozhi all appeared at the scene.

Master Baohe offered wine and blessings to everyone for the New Year, and the people returned the gesture.

After a feast, the main competition finally began.

Mingde Daoist's young disciple, Huishen, went on stage to recite the specific rules of the competition. After the competition, there would be exchange matches with guests from other martial arts schools.

The surrounding tables and chairs were quickly removed and replaced with wooden trapezoidal viewing platforms, which were moved over and neatly arranged around the arena.

The Taoists in the logistics department prepared sets of standard white Taoist uniforms as uniform attire for the competition.

All the disciples in the front courtyard received their robes and went back to change.

After more than ten minutes, all the preparations were completed.

clang.

With the sound of a gong, the competition officially began.

Lin Hui stood below the stage, sword in hand, calculating the ranking he could achieve this time. If he could squeeze into the top ten, he would be able to get a lot of jobs that were much better than before.

Qingfeng Temple also provides extra resources to the top ten elite disciples, with substantial monthly subsidies.

In theory, the top ten disciples represent the face of Qingfeng Temple and are frequently sent out to exchange and spar with other martial arts schools. That's why resources must be spent to help them grow.

The top ten elites also mean that they have transcended the category of ordinary disciples and have the potential to cultivate the Qingfeng Sword and reach the ninth level of Body Tempering in the future.

The next step after reaching the ninth level of Body Tempering is to become a renowned master like a Daoist of the Ming generation.

Even the elites of the three inner cities need to be careful at this level, because it already represents the strength of someone on the same level.

In fact, Lin Hui had inquired with Daoist Mingde about the levels above the ninth grade of body tempering.

Mingde's answer was simple—from the outside in, generate hidden power from within.

Lin Hui's immediate goal was to reach the Inner Strength Realm. He felt that reaching the Inner Strength Realm might give him some ability to protect himself.

(End of this chapter)