Liu Xiao’s escape was merely a temporary emotional outburst. By the next morning, everyone acted as if nothing had happened.

Lin Hui went to the sea to train early in the morning. Nowadays, he practiced his Swordsmanship almost exclusively by the sea, as the commotion he caused was simply too great.

After finishing his basic Typhoon Swordsmanship practice, he would return to the city to continue his training in the Star Breath Sword Manual.

The Pulse of Life accumulated very slowly. After experimenting with various types of pulses, Lin Hui discovered that species with stronger life force yielded the most Pulse of Life.

However, such strong life-force species were rare, hard to find, and rarely presented him with opportunities where they were naturally injured.

After all, since their life force was so strong, they would heal on their own after getting hurt, with no need for his redemptive aid.

And if he were to cripple them himself, that would violate the conditions for obtaining the Pulse of Life.

So, Lin Hui could only resort to grinding out his progress by focusing on the variety of species.

According to the Blood Seal’s prompt, as long as he completed the redemption of ninety-nine different types of species, he would obtain the Pulse of Life and comprehend the first level of the Star Breath Sword Manual.

Time passed, little by little.

The ripples from Lin Hui and Liu Xiao’s wedding gradually subsided.

Through slow control and adjustment of the pace of life, his days returned to the tranquility and peace he had always dreamed of.

No pressure, no constraints.

The people of the Clear Wind Daoist Monastery all had their own paths to follow. Lin Xiaoliu also successfully enrolled in the Inner City martial academy, beginning her journey of study.

And the Black Cloud City Lord, Xie Chang’an, was a man of his word. Two weeks later, Liu Wu Jun appeared at the Lin Mansion’s gate, completely bewildered, and was welcomed inside by the long-waiting Liu Shenglan, Lin Shunhe, and the others.

Black Cloud had arranged a lateral transfer for Liu Wu Jun to the Rain Palace, giving him a sinecure here so he could be looked after.

Because Black Cloud’s resources were far more abundant than Tuyue’s, even in a sinecure, the cultivation resources Liu Wu Jun enjoyed surpassed what he had in Tuyue. This allowed him to adapt quickly to his new life after a brief period of confusion.

「In the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed.」

「Inside the Clear Wind Daoist Monastery.」

Lin Hui sat cross-legged opposite his brother-in-law, Liu Wu Jun. The two were brewing tea and chatting idly under the pear tree in the courtyard. They had both just finished their daily training and were taking a short break.

"I never would have guessed... never..." Liu Wu Jun said, his hands tucked together inside his sleeves, looking at Lin Hui with a sense of helplessness.

"One day, I just blinked, and my whole world had changed. Then someone told me I’d been moved from Tuyue to Black Cloud. Seriously, it felt like a dream. Then someone else told me that you, my little brother-in-law, were so powerful that you’d gotten the Black Cloud City Lord himself to request my transfer, allowing me to safely cross two great seas to reach Black Cloud City..."

"Brother-in-law, since it’s already come to this, how about some shrimp?" Lin Hui picked up a dried shrimp, and with a jolt of Internal Strength, the shell disintegrated, leaving only the light red, dried meat perfectly intact in his hand.

"Hmph... Let’s not talk about it. I really don’t know how you train... Sigh. So, what are your plans now? Are you settling down in Black Cloud for good?" Liu Wu Jun sighed.

"Where else would I go? It’s stable and peaceful here, with abundant resources. We’re looked after by three City Lords, and life is good. I can even get occasional news from Tuyue, making it convenient for you and the others to ask about your friends and teachers. With so many of my conditions met, where else could I run?" Lin Hui retorted, popping the dried shrimp into his mouth.

"That’s true. But, before I was brought over, I was actually involved in a secret operation with the Rain Palace. And speaking of which, this matter has something to do with you too, Ah Hui," Liu Wu Jun said.

"Oh?" Lin Hui raised an eyebrow. ’How could a law-abiding Outer City Martial Arts Master like me possibly be connected to a secret Rain Palace operation?’

"Do you remember Han Xiaoyue?" Liu Wu Jun continued.

"...Her? What about her?" Lin Hui’s hand, holding a second dried shrimp, paused slightly.

His parting with Han Xiaoyue before he left had, in effect, signified a change in their relationship.

From the faint hint of ambiguity before, they had become quiet, peaceful friends—fellow travelers on the same path.

The twenty-year pact they had made back then... neither Lin Hui nor Han Xiaoyue knew if it could ever be fulfilled in the future.

So, when they said their goodbyes, they both treated it as their final parting.

He never expected to hear news of Han Xiaoyue now from his brother-in-law’s lips.

"Ah Hui, you... you must have encountered cases of the Corruption’s aberration by now, right?" Liu Wu Jun said gravely.

"Yes..." Lin Hui’s gaze turned cold as he recalled Xue Meng’s death back at the Clear Wind Daoist Monastery.

"Then let me tell you, the Corruption is constantly accelerating. It’s getting faster and faster," Liu Wu Jun continued.

"Faster? What do you mean?" Numerous theories flashed through Lin Hui’s mind. His gaze sharpened, fixing on his brother-in-law as he waited for an answer.

"Literally what it means. The Corruption has always existed, from ancient times until now. But we, the Shayue Sect, have actually found a way to temporarily slow the rate of Corruption within a certain area. You should know this method. It is..."

"Sharing the burden?" Lin Hui voiced.

"No, it’s counteracting." Liu Wu Jun shook his head. "Sharing the burden is just gathering more new lives together to help powerful individuals delay their own Corruption. It’s a Dharma Gate that only benefits the powerful, one that sacrifices the lower classes for the sake of the middle and upper classes. But that method is extremely dependent on new life force. That’s why Tuyue has the Wheel of Longevity, and Xingdiao wages wars everywhere to snatch people. And it’s why Black Cloud uses prosperity, stability, and a massive amount of resources to attract people."

"I understand," Lin Hui nodded.

"But have you ever thought about the true lower class? What is their fate?" Liu Wu Jun asked again.

"...To await the Corruption," Lin Hui said softly.

"Yes. They can only watch helplessly as they succumb to the Corruption. Publicly, many claim it’s caused by Wanfu Meat, but actually... I participated in that operation and have also spoken with many comrades from other city districts. In the end, I discovered a secret." Liu Wu Jun picked up a cup of tea and drained it in one gulp.

"I discovered that in the cities of many other regions, the lower classes are all the same. They all suffer from blood-eye and blood-body transformations. Some of them don’t even have Wanfu Meat, yet it still happens. Why?"

"...Are you saying the idea that Wanfu Meat causes the Corruption’s aberration is actually false?" Lin Hui frowned.

"No, not necessarily false. It might indeed have that effect, but the true root of the Corruption probably isn’t Wanfu Meat. The substance likely only acts as an accelerant," Liu Wu Jun said grimly.

"..." Lin Hui fell silent.

"Sigh... you might think I’m making a mountain out of a molehill. Everyone has to die someday, and there’s not much difference between dying from Corruption and dying of old age. Look at all the elderly people in the city district. Some are in their seventies or eighties, and even at that age, they haven’t been Corrupted. It suggests the limit of the Corruption’s aberration is close to an ordinary person’s natural lifespan. We shouldn’t really care whether we die of old age or of Corruption," Liu Wu Jun lamented.

"So, what is it you’re trying to say, Brother-in-law?" Lin Hui put down the dried shrimp, his expression growing solemn. He seemed to have picked up on something.

"I’m trying to say, Ah Hui, have you ever thought..." Liu Wu Jun paused, as if trying to organize his thoughts on how to phrase it best.

"Have you ever thought about changing this seemingly normal, yet abnormal, state of affairs?"

"Why change it?" Lin Hui asked. "As long as my family and friends are safe, I don’t care. All things in this world have their own natural course of development, coordination, and balance. I have neither the ability nor the determination to change the grand tide of things."

"But we’ve now discovered that the rate of Corruption is accelerating," Liu Wu Jun said quickly.

"Accelerating?"

"Yes. In fact, the signs appeared a long time ago. That’s why many benevolent and ambitious individuals in the middle and upper classes have been monitoring the Corruption. As far back as a thousand years ago, a senior from my Shayue Sect compiled a report from information gathered across various regions and submitted it to the Federation. The Federation took it very seriously and, as a result, established a special executive agency in conjunction with the Shayue Sect—the Blood Tide Association." Liu Wu Jun paused here and looked at Lin Hui.

"Brother-in-law, you... you joined this Blood Tide Association?" Lin Hui finally understood. ’My brother-in-law is here on a recruitment drive.’

"I’ve been a member of the Blood Tide Association from the beginning, since the day I became my master’s disciple," Liu Wu Jun replied. "The Blood Tide Association is responsible for cultivating Super Adaptables. Using the Super Adaptables’ terrifying regenerative power and immense life force, we counteract the acceleration of Corruption within a certain range at fixed cyclical points. That is the purpose for which the Blood Tide Association was founded."

"And then?" Lin Hui wasn’t entirely convinced by this story. ’Claiming credit for slowing a grand trend... is there any proof?’

"Then, a few years ago, a Super Adaptable who was supposed to be counteracting the accelerated Corruption near Tuyue was killed by a single palm strike from the City Lord of Tu Yue during an unexpected riot. And so... the Corruption in that region was left unchecked. Before I left, a senior in the Association had already calculated that the maximum lifespan before succumbing to Corruption in the last year or two has plummeted from eighty-five to eighty, and it’s still dropping fast," Liu Wu Jun said.

Before Lin Hui could ask, he continued.

"To contain this situation, Han Xiaoyue, as the leader of this team of Super Adaptables, decided to push forward the next Super Adaptable to fill the Corruption’s deep core in the Tuyue City District. The original plan was one every ten years, but because of the last one’s death, all the Super Adaptables have had to move up in the queue."

"What does this have to do with Han Xiaoyue?" Lin Hui asked. Although he had already faintly guessed at a possibility, he still voiced the question.

"Han Xiaoyue was originally scheduled to fill the deep core in thirty years. But now, with one Super Adaptable gone, her turn has moved up to twenty years from now. And that’s only because she’s the captain of this four-person team and has supervisory duties, so she’s the last to go," Liu Wu Jun sighed. "The fate of those who fill the deep core is to become a consumable. They fight alone against the boundless erosion of the Corruption in the deep core until their regenerative power is completely overwhelmed and they dissipate. In the end, they turn to dust. After their Corruption aberration in the deep core, they don’t become Blood-Eye or Blood-Body monsters; they are directly and completely reduced to ash, vanishing entirely."

Lin Hui said no more.

’Halt the regional Corruption by filling a deep core?’

He had never imagined that Han Xiaoyue was actually the leader of a team dispatched by the Federation to carry out such a suicide mission.

No wonder her status had always felt strange. She was so powerful, yet the Tuyue Inner City always treated her as if she were invisible.

No matter what she did, she could be ignored, be forgiven, as if she were a bystander completely removed from it all.

Now that he had learned the truth from his brother-in-law, everything connected.