Decaying World

Chapter 57 057 Identity One (Leader Johannes Vanderberg)

After calming down for a while, Lin Hui carefully sensed the state of his internal energy.

He was very curious about this peculiar power that could enhance defense and improve the overall physique.

He stretched out his hand, stared intently at his palm, and channeled a wisp of internal energy into his fingertips.

In the morning light, a sliver of white light slowly appeared on the fingertips.

The white light was weak and faint, yet clear as mist, firmly covering the fingertips.

Lin Hui touched it with his other hand. It felt soft and firm, with a warm sensation. He pressed down hard, but no matter what he did, he couldn't touch the fingertips in between.

The thought flashed through his mind: 'It's like a kind of extremely strong adhesive.'

Then, he swung his hand forward, trying to release his internal energy, but there was no reaction; the internal energy was stuck to his hand like glue.

Withdrawing his inner energy, Lin Hui glanced at Xiao Hu, who was teaching the old men and women again on the training ground in the distance.

"Little Tiger, I'm going inside to rest for a bit. If you need anything, come find me in the study in the main hall."

"Yes, Master," Xiao Hu replied from afar.

He and Little Fatty have officially become Lin Hui's disciples, serving as nominal students.

To be honest, in the small and insignificant Qingfeng Sword Sect, the fact that Xiao Hu and his companion were able to steadfastly follow Lin Hui and not run away is already a testament to their excellent character.

The reason he only accepted disciples on a nominal basis was that Lin Hui himself was worried about delaying others. Before he was certain that the Perfect Qingfeng Sword Technique could significantly improve the strength of ordinary people, he would not accept any real disciples.

In this way, if things really don't work out in the future, Xiaohu can quickly find another job.

Instead of being suspected and ostracized by other sects because of his status as a true disciple.

Xiao Hu is currently practicing the Seven-Section Fast Sword and undergoing a body tempering process. With the aid of drugs, he has managed to temper his body to the second rank with great difficulty.

Little Fatty is of the highest rank.

After giving his instructions, Lin Hui entered the main hall, went into the small study on the right, and searched through the rows of bookshelves.

These books were miscellaneous collections accumulated by Qingfeng Temple over the years. Those related to martial arts and of some value were either sold off by Mingchen and Mingxiu or taken away. The rest were unwanted.

Lin Hui came in because Mingde had left a book about internal energy that he had written not long ago before he left.

This is basic knowledge for Lin Hui to read after breaking through to the Inner Force Realm. Originally, Mingde planned to write it a few years later, since breaking through to the Inner Force Realm takes a long time, at least two or three years.

Unexpectedly, Lin Hui broke through his internal energy barrier in just the second month. He didn't need to temper his body twice to reach the limit. He simply used his sword technique to quickly generate internal energy, which was incredibly easy.

After lighting the oil lamp, Lin Hui rummaged through the bookshelf for a while, and soon pulled out a gray scroll, untied the thin rope, and gently unfolded it.

Lines of small characters from Master Mingde appeared.

"Inner Strength Realm: Because the quality and strength of inner strength cultivated through various martial arts differ greatly, the power gap at this level widens rapidly. Remember, never judge strength solely by the level of inner strength. Sometimes, even those newly entering the inner strength realm can demonstrate the combat effectiveness of someone in the late stages; do not be careless."

The above is a passage left by Mingde.

The following is a detailed breakdown of the internal force realm.

"Internal strength realms are collectively referred to as 'internal schools' in the outside world. Unlike the nine grades of external body tempering, internal schools are divided into six levels, from one to six. Each level is more powerful and robust than the last, with the difference in internal strength between each level being at least twice that of the previous one—a comprehensive difference in quality. Furthermore, due to differences in physique and the internal energy network formed by the body, the amount of internal energy each person can absorb varies. Therefore, internal strength realms are only effective for oneself and can only serve as a rough measure of one's internal strength development. In actual combat, results in battle are the determining factor."

"After reaching the sixth level of Inner Strength, a few geniuses can enter the Zhou Tian realm before their bodies decline at the age of sixty. If the sixth level of Inner Strength corresponds to the lower to middle level of a Summoner, then the Zhou Tian realm corresponds to the upper level. The strength of an upper-level Summoner, whether in the inner or outer city, can be considered that of a powerful individual. And this is the limit of my Qingfeng Sword."

"The highest realm our founder reached was the Zhou Tian realm. It's impossible for me to reach that level, but Ah Hui, if you're lucky enough to enter the Inner Strength realm before you're twenty, you might have a chance to reach the Zhou Tian realm before you're sixty. At that time..."

Mingde didn't finish writing the rest; he only left a long ink mark.

Lin Hui sighed softly, feeling the cool internal energy lines within his body. He understood why the perfect version of the Qingfeng Sword had no special effects; the incredibly fast internal energy generation effect had already surpassed all special effects.

Below that, the file records the distinguishing characteristics of each level of the six levels of internal strength.

Specifically, internal energy will gradually expand from initially being used only by the limbs, to gradually covering the entire body, then extending to weapons and equipment, until finally reaching the sixth level of the body and the limit of the weaving net.

The internal energy completely filled the body and the web, making it impossible to absorb any more; this is the sixth level of internal martial arts.

Lin Hui carefully memorized the contents of each layer before gently putting the file back in its original place.

He walked out of the study and came to the center of the main hall. Looking at the nameless statue that was missing most of its body, he sighed.

In fact, after entering the inner city, he fell into an unusual state of confusion.

Life in the inner city was safe and pleasant. Apart from the Featherblood, people didn't need to worry about any trouble. As long as they didn't cause trouble, the Summoners and nobles wouldn't kill people indiscriminately. They mostly lived in the central ring and core area, which were separated from the common people. It was a completely different world from ordinary people.

The high and mighty original blood nobles, on the other hand, always lived at the top of the Thousand-Layer Moon Tower, and rarely even touched the earth.

'The outer city is just a dark corner that has been abandoned,' Lin Hui thought to himself with a heartfelt emotion.

He walked to the window of the main hall and looked out at the drill ground through the long, vertical window.

On the training ground, Xiao Hu was handing out hot towels to a group of elderly students to wipe their sweat, while Xiao Pang was leading a donkey cart, bringing a bunch of snacks and treats to replenish everyone's energy after their workout.

The service was truly exceptional.

"The outer city is precarious; one's safety depends on others. If one day they offend someone from the inner city, their entire family might mysteriously disappear overnight."

'In the inner city, everyone has to buy enough Feather Blood, otherwise they can only work for the three major powers and try to obtain permits and identity documents. Before that, they also have to spend a lot of money to buy a house.' Thinking of this, Lin Hui naturally felt a surge of irritation.

He utterly detested this kind of development where everything was planned out in advance, and the inner city's entry into the three major cities, or becoming a place where the wealthy could purchase large quantities of Feather Blood, were both unavoidable paths.

There's not much else we can do for the time being, so we just have to endure it.

'Is this really how it's going to proceed, step by step? Even if I reach the Internal Energy Realm, so what? Even among the higher-level Summoners, there are still quite a few in the inner city… What exactly is going on with this world?'

Hey!
Just then, a furious roar of a beast could be faintly heard from afar outside the Taoist temple.

The roar echoed continuously, growing louder as it approached, causing the main hall of the Taoist temple to shed dust slightly.

Lin Hui rushed out of the main hall, leaped up, and climbed up a large tree by the training ground to gaze into the distance.

To the west of the Taoist temple, a thick plume of black smoke rose into the sky, and the faint sounds of weapons clashing could be heard.

'That direction should be the direction that Amamiya Yuying led the team to.' Lin Hui had been paying close attention to this investigation team from the inner city. After they found their guide, they left through the North Wind Forest Road and returned to the city every few days.

At this point, they must have clashed with a powerful monster in the fog.

The roar lasted for several minutes before it stopped.

The old men and women in the training ground were also terrified. They stopped practicing their swordsmanship and ran out of the Taoist temple to check the situation.

They breathed a sigh of relief when they heard the noise subside, and began to speculate and discuss the situation all at once.

Xiao Hu and Xiao Pang came to Lin Hui's side.

"teacher"

"It's alright, I'll go check on the situation. You all stay here and wait, make sure the gate is closed and locked, and wait for me to come back."

Lin Hui gave the order in a deep voice.

"Yes!"

"Ahui, shall I go?" Weiwei also came out from the corner at this moment.

"It's nothing." Lin Hui shook his head, quickly pushed open the door, and ran towards the direction from which the sound came.

As his body tempering deepened, his running speed was now almost seven or eight meters per step, and he could cover twenty meters in the blink of an eye.

Leaving Qingfeng Temple, we passed through the surrounding woodlands, and then came vast expanses of lush, green rice paddies.

Square plots of farmland stretched as far as the eye could see.

Lin Hui sped up and ran forward for half a minute.

Soon, a cluster of collapsed buildings came into his view.

It was a dusty, gray temple, with half of the Hongqu Temple plaque lying on the ground outside. The plaque had a black background and red characters, and it looked quite imposing.

At this point, only half remained.

Lin Hui of 'Hongqu Temple' knew about this newly opened martial arts school, which was also established in conjunction with the Black Dragon Gate. The school's master was also an expert in the Inner Strength Realm. He hadn't expected it.
From afar, he could see pools of blood among the collapsed temple bricks, and severed arms and legs were scattered everywhere.

In the innermost hall of the temple, a huge black tiger with black wings was fighting with three figures wielding long weapons.

The walls and floor of the main hall were constantly being hit, and it looked like they were about to crack and collapse.

Looking into the distance, Lin Hui saw that the three were gradually gaining the upper hand, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Judging from the dense white light covering the three people, they were clearly all experts in the Inner Strength Realm.

'Since that's the case, I don't need to intervene. I've only just broken through to the inner strength stage; even if I did intervene, it wouldn't make any difference to the battle.'

The internal energy he had just generated could only cover his fingertips and was not enough to protect his entire body.

Without using any trump cards, you can't even break through the monster's defenses. I already tested it on the tree scorpions in the fog area last time.

Thinking of this, Lin Hui quickly retreated and returned towards Qingfeng Temple.

There are three people surrounding and killing us, it's not a big problem.

That monster destroyed the entire Red Melody Temple, which shows how powerful it was. Naturally, he wouldn't take the risk unless necessary.

Just as he was leaving quickly.

On the other side of Hongqu Temple, on a slope, two tall figures draped in gray robes, their heads completely covered, were watching the battle inside the temple.

'A little creature approached, then ran away,' someone whispered. 'Should we lure it in to join the test?'

“No need. Three internal energy realm martial artists are enough. We have a general idea of ​​Black Feather Tiger’s strength. Three internal energy realm martial artists are the limit,” another person said softly.

"But won't word get out?" the first person warned.

“This black-feathered tiger was a half-finished product, an experimental item destined to be abandoned. Clean it up carefully so it won’t attract Chen Xunhai’s attention,” the other person said calmly.

"understood."

(End of this chapter)