The Decaying World-Chapter 130 - 122: Getting Acquainted, Part 2

"Master, please accept this disciple’s obeisance!" Tao Xuehai slid to his knees so quickly, and the action was so unexpected.

Lin Hui barely even noticed before Tao Xuehai was on the ground, audibly knocking his head against the floor.

By the time Lin Hui snapped out of it, the kid had already finished.

"...I wasn’t planning on taking any disciples... but never mind..." He sighed.

Lin Hui suddenly felt mentally exhausted.

’But I did want a head disciple to be the public face of the temple, and Tao Xuehai might just be a perfect fit.’

He had originally planned to accept a disciple in his master’s stead, pass on the Swordsmanship, and be done with it. Instead, he had ended up taking a disciple of his own.

"Get up. I will now teach you the Perfect Clear Wind Sword. This Swordsmanship..." Lin Hui didn’t hold back and immediately began explaining the essentials of the Perfect Clear Wind Sword.

He was also quite curious to see how well Tao Xuehai could master the Perfect Clear Wind Sword.

The guy’s aptitude for cultivation was exceptionally high, he trained like a madman, and he was supported by vast amounts of Treasure Medicine. If it weren’t for his congenital defect, he likely would have already become a Priest within the Summoning System.

To this day, no one in all of Qingfeng Temple had managed to cultivate the Perfect Clear Wind Sword to even half of his own level of mastery.

This was because the Perfect Swordsmanship had been created to be a perfect fit for him. Lin Hui couldn’t modify it, however, because the swordsmanship evolved by the Blood Seal was simply too perfect.

And he couldn’t possibly ruin such a Perfect Swordsmanship for the sake of any single person’s training.

The lesson was soon over. Tao Xuehai eagerly practiced the form a few times and quickly mastered all the Techniques.

What shocked Lin Hui was that although the young man still couldn’t master the Swordsmanship perfectly, unlike everyone else, Tao Xuehai was already able to manifest a fraction of its perfect essence when he practiced.

It was like a weaker version of the perfect Sword Technique, yet it could achieve roughly seventy to eighty percent of the effect of Lin Hui’s own performance.

This was already an incredible feat.

And he had only just started learning. After completing the second stage of Body Tempering from the perfect version of the Qingfeng Swordsmanship, there was no telling what heights this guy could reach.

’He’s already at Inner Power Perfection. After switching his cultivation path, he might actually be able to replicate some of the power of my own Perfect Swordsmanship...’

At this thought, Lin Hui’s attitude toward Tao Xuehai shifted from his previous indifference to genuine attentiveness.

’This kid is a true, peerless genius!!’

’As expected of someone from an Inner City Great Clan—a bloodline refined through numerous screenings for talent.’

After teaching him the Swordsmanship, Lin Hui sent Tao Xuehai away.

He knew full well it wouldn’t be long before the kid came running back to exchange for more Martial Arts.

After all, the more perfectly one mastered the Swordsmanship, the faster and more effective their Body Tempering would be.

At that point, he would have to consider whether or not to teach the Gale Sword.

It wasn’t that he was being selfish; the Gale Sword was far more difficult than the perfect version of the Qingfeng Sword. If not for the infusion from his Blood Seal, it might have taken him many years just to master the fundamentals.

Let alone truly cultivating it.

Moreover, the Gale Sword was his core Martial Art. It would be rash to teach it before Tao Xuehai demonstrated a true sense of belonging and sincerity toward Qingfeng Temple.

Fortunately, these worries didn’t trouble Lin Hui for more than a few days. Soon enough, people from the Inner City’s Inspectorate arrived again.

Dai Enran personally led the group, bringing seventeen or eighteen young members to Qingfeng Temple to advance their training in speed and Body Technique.

That Hong Ling was true to their word. They paid the fee directly, making everyone an Outer Disciple of Qingfeng Temple so they could learn the Perfect Seven-Section Swift Sword.

After this Swordsmanship was perfected, its Body Tempering process had a massive impact on physical speed.

It could be said that the speed of Qingfeng Temple’s disciples, so much greater than that of other schools, was fundamentally based on this Martial Art.

At first, the members Dai Enran brought with him were all experts who practiced the Dual Cultivation of Summoning and Incarnation in addition to Inner Strength. They were dismissive of the claims Dai Enran had made to get them to come and study.

They all just went through the motions with a casual attitude, believing Dai Enran’s claims to be an exaggeration.

But after a few weeks, once they experienced the effects for themselves, their attitudes changed dramatically. They became much more serious and respectful when facing Wang Hongshi, the one responsible for teaching them.

That’s right—Lin Hui didn’t teach them himself. He had built this power base to serve his own life, not to be a servant to it. Of course he wasn’t going to personally teach this group of people.

At this moment, he was escorting Han Xiaoyue, who had just arrived from the Inner City, back to the Lin Mansion.

He had summoned Han Xiaoyue by letter for this very purpose: to deal with his father’s demand to "bring someone home for a look."

’Once he got past this hurdle, he probably wouldn’t be bothered by so many messy matchmaking affairs interfering with his cultivation.’

*

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「Lin Mansion.」

It was noon, just past the lunchtime hour.

Lin Hui and Han Xiaoyue stepped down from the horse carriage and walked slowly toward his father, Lin Shunhe, and a crowd of people already waiting by a side entrance.

Lin Shunhe, Yao Shan, and his Second Mother, Liu Shenglan, were all there. It seemed they were all curious to see what kind of young woman Lin Hui would choose to marry.

It wasn’t just them; even Elder Du and several of his disciples, the guards, and the steward had come out to sneak glances. A quick look revealed a disorderly crowd.

"Sorry... my family is a bit curious." Lin Hui said, looking somewhat embarrassed at the scene.

"It’s fine. Isn’t the whole point of my visit for your family to see me?" Han Xiaoyue wore a face veil and a conical hat. She was dressed in a light-blue robe patterned with plum blossoms, cinched by a silver ribbon at her waist. Over it, she had draped a layer of translucent, lace-trimmed white gauze. Her black hair reached her waist, her chest was full, her waist and hips slender and shapely. With such a curvaceous figure, she was undoubtedly a beauty, even without seeing her face.

This made Lin Shunhe and his wives, who were sizing her up from afar, nod in silent approval.

Lin Hui led her over quickly and greeted the three of them, bowing respectfully to each in turn.

"Quickly, come inside, it’s cool out here. Miss Han, please walk with me. Since this is our first meeting, let’s have a little chat. The moment I saw you, I felt as if we were old friends. An air like yours is not something an ordinary family could nurture..." Liu Shenglan took the initiative, stepping forward and taking Han Xiaoyue’s hand with a smile.