Decaying World

Chapter 37 037 Measurement 1 (Thanks to HelloKiss, the Alliance Leader)

In the backyard of the Taoist temple, on the grounds.

Lin Hui held the Qinghe Sword, calmly and steadily practicing the nine-section fast sword technique.

To apply it in actual combat, it must be perfectly suited to one's physical condition. This is not enough; it is also necessary to understand the timing and rhythm of sword moves.

He has completed his daily seven-section quick sword tempering practice. The next step is to prepare for the perfect nine-section quick sword that will soon be evolved.

Once the evolution is complete, you must immediately integrate it into your actual combat rhythm.

It was noon, and besides him practicing his sword, there were about ten other people not far away. They were all new students, and under Weiwei's guidance, they were crookedly holding wooden sticks and learning to practice the Seven-Section Fast Sword.

This is the foundation of Qingfeng Temple's martial arts, but unfortunately, while Weiwei is indeed trying her best to teach, the students are either inattentive, their gazes frequently sweeping over her sensitive waist and hips, and some are even chatting and laughing quietly.

Vivi was dressed in a black fitted leather outfit, her long hair flowing over her shoulders, revealing her curves. She bit her cherry lips tightly and didn't say a word, intending to sheathe her sword and leave after teaching.

Her only thought now is to help her father keep this last shred of a business afloat. Let people look; it doesn't matter if they look a few more times. If people watch, more students will come.

Soon, she finished teaching a set of sword techniques, sheathed her sword, gave a few final instructions, glanced at Lin Hui who was focused on practicing his sword in the corner, sighed inwardly, left the area, and headed home outside the Taoist temple.

Anyway, she knew very well that these beginners would go home after finishing the teaching demonstration class and practicing casually.

Compared to the scene of many disciples diligently cultivating in the past, the news that the Black Dragon Gate easily defeated the martial arts of Qingfeng Temple has already spread throughout the surrounding towns thanks to the propaganda of those with ulterior motives.

The wealthy families and merchants who had previously cooperated with Qingfeng Temple have also quietly terminated their contracts and turned to cooperate with stronger martial arts schools and martial arts practitioners in the outer city.

With a soft sigh, Weiwei herself had long lost confidence in Qingfeng Temple's martial arts. Just a few days ago, she had encountered an elite disciple from an outer city martial arts school, a suitor she had once defeated. Now, the other party had easily defeated her in just over ten moves.

This made her feel ashamed and indignant, and she began to have great doubts about the swordsmanship she had practiced diligently for more than ten years.

Is it really necessary to stake everything on the Qingfeng Sword?

With this question in mind, Weiwei's figure quietly disappeared through the back gate of the Taoist temple.

The remaining trainees laughed and joked as they packed up their things and dispersed.

They've gotten used to this rhythm since they started learning these past few days.

Soon, in less than ten minutes, only four people remained in the backcourt.

Wang Yun stood aside, watching Lin Hui who was still practicing hard, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes.

She slowly walked over, stood aside, and watched quietly.

He spoke softly when Lin Hui paused for a moment.

"Junior Brother Lin, why are you still so serious?"

"One must be serious about doing things, otherwise it would be a waste of time, wouldn't it?" Lin Hui turned to look at his fellow disciple.

"Is it worth continuing to invest time and energy in this?" Wang Yun asked softly.

"Where is Senior Sister? They've all left, why don't you leave? Do you think it's worth it to stay and continue cultivating?" Lin Hui asked rhetorically.

"Me?" Wang Yun smiled. "I only practice martial arts to improve my health, not to make money, not for fighting, but only for speed and agility. Besides, I've been here for many years, and starting over would be too costly, so I don't want to move. However..."

She paused.

"Many of my family's guards have gone to the Black Dragon Gate. Their needs are different, so their purposes are naturally different as well."

“What my senior sister said is exactly what I meant,” Lin Hui said calmly. “My goal in learning martial arts has always been speed.”

"Really? No wonder." Wang Yun suddenly realized.

With another sigh, she asked no more questions, said goodbye, and turned to pack up and leave.

At this point, only two other players remained on the field.

One of them was Chen Jiahu.

The farm boy that Chen Zhishen brought was still practicing fast swordplay diligently, just like Lin Hui.

Lin Hui had been watching him for several days and found that the boy was not affected by the rumors and gossip outside and continued to practice diligently every day.

Not only that, he also seems to have gotten a friend to train with him.

After Lin Hui finished maintaining the sword, he was about to leave when he saw Chen Jiahu and his friend finish practicing their swordsmanship. After saying goodbye, they also planned to leave.

He paused for a moment, a question rising in his mind.

"Little Tiger".

"Uncle Lin? What's wrong? Is there something you need?" Xiao Hu asked, puzzled.

"Why are you still willing to stay?" Lin Hui asked directly. "Haven't you heard the rumors circulating outside?"

"I heard about it," Xiao Hu nodded. "But since you haven't left, Uncle Lin, I won't leave either. My uncle told me to stay with you."

"Follow me?" Lin Hui was taken aback. Looking at the other person's simple and honest face, he remained silent for a moment.

"You just believe me?"

“Uncle Lin is so strong, there must be a reason why he’s not leaving. I’m not smart, I always make the wrong choices. I was thinking, since my uncle told me to follow you, I won’t think about anything else and just follow you. Someone as strong as you must have made a better choice than me.” Xiao Hu answered honestly. “…” Lin Hui was speechless.

Xiao Hu wasn't actually a formal disciple; he was still a student and had only been a disciple for a short time.

Some time ago, after the Taoist temple was split into three, he came and joined the Mingde branch.

Unexpectedly, the reason was because of himself.

Lin Hui sighed and looked at the other person.

This person had a face full of freckles, was slightly overweight, and had an unremarkable appearance with a somewhat dark complexion. However, his clothes and appearance suggested that he came from a well-off family; he was a chubby boy.

"And you? What's your name? Why did you stay?"

"Brother Lin, my name is Huang Shenggen. Xiao Hu helped me; we're brothers. If he doesn't leave, I won't leave either." The chubby boy's answer was even more sincere. "Good brother, we share both good times and bad!"

"That's very ambitious." Lin Hui nodded unconsciously.

The rise and fall of Qingfeng Temple made him see how fragile so-called affection can be. Now, the little fat boy's words and choices have shown him that perhaps affection is not fragile, but simply does not exist between certain people.

"Senior Brother Lin, can we practice swordsmanship with you? Senior Sister Weiwei and the Taoist priest only teach once and then leave. There are many things we can't understand at all," Xiao Hu couldn't help but ask.

"If I'm here, you can come and see for yourselves," Lin Hui agreed.

Anyway, he tempers his body quickly, and he spends most of his spare time fusing the Nine-Section Quick Sword into his instincts.

"Thank you, senior brother!"

The two were overjoyed and quickly bowed in greeting.

After chatting, the three of them went to the cafeteria for a meal. The chef who prepared the dishes was the same one as before, but the proportion of meat in the dishes he scooped out for them was much less than before.

Lin Hui glanced at the plate of food in front of him and sighed inwardly. Weiwei was in charge of logistics, and with their income plummeting, cutting back on meals was to be expected.

Fortunately, there was still plenty of whole grain rice. The three of them stuffed themselves with rice and then returned to their lodgings to rest.

Xiao Hu and his companion had returned to the communal dormitory, but now, with fewer people, the rooms had been converted into spacious and comfortable single rooms. Their living conditions had improved considerably.

Lin Hui still lives in his single room, and he's been allocated a small courtyard. That's one of the advantages of having fewer people.

On his way back, he happened to run into Mingde Daoist, who was sitting on the roof of the Taoist temple, drinking with his head tilted back.

Mingde's face was flushed, and his eyes were unfocused. It was unclear how long he had been sitting on the roof.

Lin Hui didn't disturb him, but quietly went back to his room to rest and wait for the afternoon's sword practice.

Time passes day by day.

With the complete defeat of Qingfeng Temple, the situation in Xinyu Town is now a foregone conclusion.

Many of Qingfeng Temple's original business collaborations have shifted to the Black Dragon Gate. This is evident from the defection of its elite disciples. Powerful families like the Mu and Zhao clans mostly rely on representative disciples like Mu Qiaozhi and Zhao Jiang'an for their collaborations.

On the surface, it was just the transfer of a few disciples, but in reality, they represented a large number of related cooperation contracts and employment.

The only consolation was that the Zhao and Mu families hadn't expelled all their former hired disciples; instead, they had brought them into the Black Dragon Gate's temporary training program for retraining.

Lin Hui learned of this news from a letter from Chen Zhishen.

"Now, the Black Dragon Sect no longer considers Qingfeng Temple as an opponent, but has turned its attention to the Hundred Flowers Sect, which poses a greater threat and is also expanding," Chen Zhishen wrote in the letter.

"The Hundred Flowers Sect is also a newly established martial arts school founded by martial artists from the outer city. After defeating the Flying Cloud Fist, they absorbed the original resources and connections, and also have designs on the Black Dragon Sect. It's not unexpected for the two sides to fight. But, Ah Hui, are you sure you really want to fight to the death at Qingfeng Temple? It's really unnecessary. The town government just released a list of candidates for the emergency response team. Did you see it? This whole batch is from the Black Dragon Sect."

Lin Hui put the letter away, his expression calm.

He was naturally aware of the changes in the emergency braking team, as the government's notice had been delivered the day before yesterday, announcing the termination of the contract with this side.

The contract was originally for one year, but now Qingfeng Temple is completely unreasonable, and you can't reason with them based on the contract. Getting any compensation for early termination would be considered good.

This is clearly the Black Dragon Gate's doing.

The previous demonstrations by Mu Qiaozhi and others were just a reminder. Those who still didn't know when to switch sides, like Lin Hui, would naturally face contract termination.

"Junior brother, I'll find a way to help you find a new one to terminate the contract. Don't worry, although it might be a little worse than before, it won't be as bad as you thought," Weiwei said softly from the side, her face somewhat embarrassed.

With Qingfeng Temple's income plummeting, it's naturally not enough to maintain the original meals and medicinal cuisine.

Many of the expensive jewelry she had worn were now gone, and her attire was much simpler than before, consisting of just a simple gray fitted long dress.

She also helped deliver Chen Zhishen's letter this time. The person who used to deliver the letters had been laid off with pay cuts.

"Senior sister, there's no need for that. I don't care about this expense," Lin Hui replied. "Now that the family business is doing well, I spend very little myself, so it's fine."

"Junior brother." Weiwei opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know how to begin.

After a long silence, she could only clasp her hands in a fist salute, turn around, and quietly leave.

If she had some doubts about her father's decision before, now, in such a difficult situation, Lin Hui and Wang Yun's friendship made her admire and understand even more the meaning of her father's words: there are always some things in this world that cannot be measured by money.

(End of this chapter)