The Decaying World-Chapter 147 - 137: Strength, Part 1

If you wanted to quickly uncover the hidden truth within an organization, what would be the best way to do it?

Lin Hui didn’t know. After all, in both his past life and this one, he had been an ordinary person of good character.

When it came to this sort of thing, he was no professional.

’Good thing I’m in disguise right now.’

He gripped his sword as the wind around him intensified, swirling and raging.

He looked up at the large cluster of buildings ahead.

SWOOSH!

His figure vanished, and he charged into the mountain forest with an invisible, roaring gale.

Leaves were ripped from their branches in droves, soil was churned up, and gravel flew everywhere. In his wake, a distinct, semi-cylindrical trench was carved into the ground.

The trench shot straight forward, rushing toward the New Martial Alliance’s Yuan Mountain Branch.

He wasn’t intentionally destroying the terrain; he had simply stopped restraining the gale that naturally swirled around him.

RUMBLE...

Amidst a faint tremor, a clear, semi-cylindrical trench tens of meters in diameter, accompanied by a howling gale, charged toward the New Martial Alliance branch’s mountain gate.

Within the trench, Lin Hui’s figure was enveloped by the wind, only vaguely visible as a blurry, distorted human shape.

The excessively violent airflow distorted the light, making it impossible to see not only his face but even the outline of his body. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

His entire person seemed to be shrouded in a blurry filter.

At the mountain-shaped gate, several Martial Artists from the branch guard stopped what they were doing, their mouths agape as they stared dumbfounded at the rapidly approaching gale.

"What... what is that!?" The pipe a man had in his mouth fell to the ground without him noticing.

"I think... it’s a person!?"

"Is someone challenging the sect!??"

"Sound the alarm—!" SWOOSH! Before he could finish, a violent burst of air shot between the two men. The immense airflow brought with it an incredible pressure, forcing them to duck their heads and shield their stinging eyes.

When they looked up a second later, the area was in shambles.

Large patches of turf had been ripped up, and smaller trees had been snapped by the wind. The mountain-shaped branch archway let out a sharp CRACK, then slowly tilted, broke, and toppled over.

"Who’s there!?"

An expert rushed out from the side, but before he could react, a gale swept past him, throwing him off balance. By the time he recovered, he was met with a scene of devastation, with only a trench stretching from the distance to his feet.

Amidst the rumbling tremors,

Lin Hui charged straight ahead without deviating, all the way to the end.

Only when the slope became too steep did he leap into the air, creating a deafening sonic boom.

A trail of white vapor, like that of a jet, erupted behind him as he shot toward Mukai Kei and the other two on the terrace.

Since he’d realized something was wrong, the best course of action was to take down the person in charge here as quickly as possible.

The three people on the terrace looked like the leaders.

Furthermore, the old man leading them had already issued him an invitation.

"How dare you!" Deputy Leader Ding Chengying was the first to act.

Her Circulation Internal Power surged, and a dazzling white light coated the Curved Saber on her back.

CLANG!

In an instant, the phantom of a Bright Moon Blade flew out, slashing down toward Lin Hui in a wide arc.

The blade’s phantom was sharp, flawless, and incredibly solid. Compared to Xue Meng’s blade light, it was an extremely enhanced version.

But...

It was too slow.

Too slow compared to Lin Hui.

SWOOSH!

The blade phantom missed. Ding Chengying’s mouth fell slightly open, and she hastily swung her blade again to compensate, but it was too late.

Wrapped in a cloud of white vapor, Lin Hui crashed onto the terrace and lunged at the three of them.

He brought with him a violent airflow and a terrifying aura, making the entire terrace seem to tremble and shake under the force of the manic wind.

The wind howled, carrying a faint, thunder-like vibration.

Lin Hui slashed his sword horizontally, looking like a terrifying beast enveloped in wind, pouncing ferociously!

The gale swirling around him twisted and split into two torrents, surging out like a pair of fangs trying to swallow the three of them whole!

"Back!" Zhao Dong roared. The moment his old friend had struck, he had sensed something was wrong. Making a split-second decision, he stepped forward and threw a palm strike.

His silent palm, instantly coated in Inner Strength, turned a silvery gray as it pierced through the gale, striking toward the charging Lin Hui.

This was a head-on collision. No dodging, only power.

BOOM!!!

The moment Ghost Hand Zhao Dong’s hand touched the outer layer of the gale, he knew something was wrong.

The immense force of the wind forcefully weakened his strike, layer by layer.

The farther forward he pushed, the more his power was sapped.

By the time he made actual contact,

His Inner Strength and power had been reduced to less than thirty percent of their initial force.

Because this damn gale didn’t just weaken him once!!

It was layered, tugging at him madly again and again from all directions. The longer he was inside it, the more severely he was weakened!

An expression of utter shock appeared on Zhao Dong’s face, as if he’d seen a ghost. By the time he realized his mistake, it was too late.

But just then, a tall figure suddenly inserted himself into the space before him.

The Longsword on the figure’s back rang with a clear hum. Countless butterflies of white light materialized out of thin air, dancing in the gale as they fluttered toward Lin Hui.

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!!!

In a flash, the butterflies and the steel sword collided an unknowable number of times, each impact sending sparks flying.

The sparks mingled with the gale, tinting the entire cyclone a faint gold.

The Butterfly Shadow Sword!?

Ding Chengying and Zhao Dong both recognized who had arrived.

It was the branch leader, Mukai Kei!

The move just now was his signature Sword Technique, the one that made him famous—the Butterfly Shadow Cut.

The instant the thought crossed their minds, the sound of collisions came to an abrupt halt.

The gale subsided slightly, and the two figures separated, landing on opposite edges of the terrace.

Standing precariously on the edge, where they could fall at any moment, neither paid any mind to their footing. Instead, their gazes were locked firmly on each other.

"Not bad speed," Lin Hui said, gently setting his sword diagonally on the ground beside him. The 1.6-meter-long steel sword was easily balanced with a casual placement.

"I made my name with my Sword Speed. But you... for you to be this fast as well..." Mukai Kei said in a low voice. "State your name. Those who dare to cause trouble at our doorstep do so for either fame or fortune. What kind of hero hides his face?"

"My name... is Four-Sides." Lin Hui suddenly thought of the four masks he wore to hide his head shape and simply gave a codename based on that feature.

"Heh heh... it seems you’ve rejected my goodwill," Mukai Kei chuckled. "I only asked you to identify yourself to avoid killing the wrong person. But since you refuse, I’ll have no choice but to treat you as an intruder and cut you down!"

"Are all you Qinghe Sect people this arrogant?" Lin Hui laughed.

"Arrogant?" Mukai Kei raised a hand, signaling the branch members who were rushing over not to approach.

"Stay back, all of you! I’ll handle him!"

He gripped his sword with one hand, and the robe on his upper body instantly tore apart, scattering into fragments.

His powerful muscles rapidly swelled, expanding and turning a faint silver.

Most critically, all the Inner Strength in his body began to rapidly contract, condense, and compress back inside him. The massive amount of Inner Strength continuously squeezed his body, making him seem to glow with a soft, white light, like a light bulb.

This was different from the glow of an ordinary Inner Power Martial Artist, who would only have a low-intensity light covering their surface.

But Mukai Kei was now emitting a pure white light from the inside out, just like a light bulb.

"On the path of the Martial Dao, young man, you still have a long way to go!" Mukai Kei sneered, but then his expression froze. "Wait, what did you just say? Qinghe Sect!? What Qinghe Sect!?"

"Still playing dumb with me?" Lin Hui frowned. He glanced around and saw, through the swirling wind, that the approaching branch Martial Artists all wore confused and puzzled expressions.

It seemed they genuinely didn’t know.

"There are wicked people from the Qinghe Sect hidden here. As the branch leader, how could you not know??" he spoke again.

"What proof do you have? Anyone can make baseless accusations. The point is, how can you prove there are Qinghe Sect Members here?!" Mukai Kei said coldly.

Lin Hui was speechless. He really couldn’t prove it.

He couldn’t just say he felt it, could he? Besides, he didn’t want to reveal that he had pinpointed the location by reverse-tracking the Fog Spirit’s gaze. He had tested it a few times before and discovered that the vast majority of Qinghe Sect Members were unaware of this gaze.

As long as he didn’t mention it himself, the Qinghe Sect Members might not even be able to detect the abnormality about him.

So far, only one person had discovered it on their own—Han Xiaoyue.

"Speak up! If you suspect there are Qinghe Sect Members here, then present your evidence! Otherwise, don’t blame me for reporting this to the Government Office and asking the Peacekeeping Army to uphold justice!" Mukai Kei’s voice grew louder.

"I don’t have evidence, but I can pinpoint the location of something very important within the Qinghe Sect! Do you dare to investigate it with me!?" Lin Hui raised his voice as well.

"Absurd! You’re a random intruder who shows up and expects me to cooperate with you on some nonsensical quest? Do you really think everyone is as idle as you!?" Mukai Kei certainly wasn’t going to take that gamble. If this "Four-Sides" really did have some strange method to find the crucial evidence, it would be a disaster.

Seeing how certain Lin Hui sounded, a sense of crisis and killing intent quickly rose in his heart.

’What if this guy really does have a way to find our weakness... No! I must eliminate him to prevent future trouble!’

"Cheng Ying, Zhao Dong, weren’t you two always asking me if I had broken through to the Grandmaster realm?"

Mukai Kei suddenly changed the subject, his voice low.

"Today, I’ll let you see for yourselves."

PFFT.

His entire body suddenly expanded again. His Inner Strength compressed, seeping out through his pores in high concentration to form a suit of pure white, form-fitting armor over his skin.

The armor was crudely styled, covered in fang-like spikes designed to increase its lethality. His head was also completely enclosed, leaving only a white, honeycomb-like respirator mask visible.

"The Grandmaster realm is about total coverage. Before this, Inner Strength can only form a thin layer of armor on the body’s surface. But upon reaching the level of a Triple Harmony Grandmaster, flesh, bone, and blood—everything becomes one with Inner Strength. Your entire body’s strength skyrockets! It’s far beyond anything below the Triple Harmony level!"

Mukai Kei had hidden his true strength for many years. Now that he could finally unleash it, the pent-up frustration in his heart was completely washed away, replaced by a sense of liberation.

Seeing the shocked expressions on the faces of the people around him and his two old colleagues behind him, the feeling of satisfaction in his heart peaked.

"So, a Grandmaster is someone whose Inner Strength has completely fused with their body, drastically enhancing their physical attributes?" Across from him, Lin Hui was surprisingly the first to ask a question.

"You have some knowledge," Mukai Kei said, glancing at him with surprise. "Since you know I’ve broken through to Grandmaster, you dare to stay and fight? Commendable courage. You don’t really think that little spectacle you put on just now gives you a better chance of winning against me, do you?"

"Of course not. I was just curious about what the Grandmaster realm really entailed. But now that I’ve seen it, it seems to be just this," Lin Hui said calmly.

He had deliberately let the other man speak without interrupting, because he also wanted to see what level a Grandmaster was at.

But from the looks of it, this was all there was to it. It was equivalent to a much-stronger Song Zhanlong.