The Decaying World-Chapter 117 - 110: Reputation II

But... after unleashing only half of his frosty aura, Chen Hushan suddenly realized he couldn’t find Chen Sui anymore!

The sparks on his body vanished at the same time.

But the lurking sense of crisis didn’t fade; instead, it grew even stronger!

’Wait!’

Suddenly, Chen Hushan snapped to his senses and whipped his head around.

Just in time to see a brilliant silver light flash into existence.

SHINK!!

The silver light closed in at high speed, instantly breaking through his Inner Strength barrier and carving a gruesome, bloody gash across Chen Hushan’s chest.

"Wait! We surrender!" Chen Hushan roared, his heart pounding with terror.

SHINK!

A silver Longsword now hovered precisely before his forehead, wielded by none other than Chen Sui.

Sweat beaded on his brow, and his expression was grim, yet his eyes betrayed a hint of irrepressible, pleasant surprise!

"We surrender! We admit we’re beaten!" Chen Hushan backed away a few steps. Seeing that his own team members were also being defeated one by one by their opponents, he didn’t dare utter another threat.

"Go! Everyone, go!"

He retreated a few more steps at a run, and seeing that Chen Sui had no intention of pursuing him, he finally turned and fled in disgrace.

Watching their bedraggled figures retreat, Chen Sui let out a sharp sigh of relief. He loosened his grip on his right hand, which he had held so tightly that the webbing between his thumb and forefinger had started to tear.

’Even the old version of the Qingfeng Sword, combined with the Secret Technique of Light Body, can be this powerful...!’ He took a deep breath, his scalp tingling.

It was only now, by truly applying what he had learned in actual combat, that he could appreciate just how formidable Qingfeng Temple’s Martial Arts had become.

In the past, Qingfeng Temple couldn’t even guarantee a victory against peers from the Baihua Sect or Flying Cloud Fist, let alone confronting one of the Three Sects and Six Gangs like the Chi Mi Bang.

But now, using a Secret Technique, he had actually defeated an Inner Strength expert from the Three Sects and Six Gangs of the Inner City—an Inner Power Martial Artist whose Cultivation was significantly higher than his own!

This meant that at the same level, Qingfeng Temple’s Martial Arts were definitely much stronger than those of the Chi Mi Bang!

Chen Sui came back to his senses and saw the looks of disbelief on his teammates’ faces. Clearly, none of them had expected him to be so strong.

He had often won fights in the Outer City before, but never with such a stark contrast in power.

This time, however, his opponent was from the Chi Mi Bang, one of the Inner City’s Three Sects and Six Gangs!

To be able to win against such an adversary was almost unbelievable.

"How interesting."

A gentle male voice spoke, reaching everyone’s ears.

The dozen or so people shivered and quickly turned toward the sound.

In the dense woods not far away, a figure in red had appeared at some unknown point.

The newcomer had a plain, ordinary face, but he carried a sharp, commanding, and upright presence.

More importantly, the character for "Chi" was clearly embroidered on the cuff of his outer robe.

He was an expert from the Chi Mi Bang!

Chen Sui’s pupils contracted instantly as he recognized the symbolic character.

"Hall Master Yuan! You’re finally here! They stole the Purple Crystal we worked so hard to find in the ruins and even threatened us, saying this is Qingfeng Temple’s territory. They said if any of us dared to report them, we wouldn’t make it out of this area alive!"

Chen Hushan, who hadn’t gotten far, immediately shouted this, his expression exaggerated and his voice shrill.

"Purple Crystal?" The man in red’s gaze naturally fell on the bag of Purple Crystal that Chen Sui and the others were protecting.

The date-sized Purple Crystals shimmered with a faint fluorescence under the light, looking quite beautiful.

"Interesting. A mere Outer City sect dares to threaten an exploration team from my Chi Mi Bang... It seems the Three Sects and Six Gangs have been inactive in the Outer City for so long that everyone has forgotten what Extreme Martial Arts are, what the Three Sects and Six Gangs stand for!" The red-robed man’s figure flickered. As light as a falling leaf, he flew closer, landing about ten meters in front of Chen Sui and his group.

"Senior, please wait!" Seeing the situation turn dire, Huang Shan, who was beside Chen Sui, suddenly shouted.

"Our Qingfeng Temple’s Observatory Master, Lin Hui, has deep ties with the Inner City’s Liu Family. The Wang Family also has a stake in many of our temple’s enterprises. If the Chi Mi Bang wishes to purchase Purple Crystal, you can discuss it in detail with the Wang and Liu Families in the Inner City!"

Seeing that things were going south, she immediately started name-dropping powerful connections to bluff her way out.

"The Wang and Liu Families? Do you have tokens from them?" the man in red asked, his eyes narrowing as his voice deepened.

"This...!" Huang Shan was at a loss. The tokens were all with their Observatory Master; how could mere subordinates like them possibly carry such things?

"You dare to lie to me!?" Seeing her hesitation, the red-robed man’s expression changed. He immediately thrust out his right hand, and a transparent tiger’s claw materialized out of thin air more than ten meters away, descending upon Chen Sui’s group.

The claw was exquisitely detailed, even the tiger stripes on its surface clearly visible. It was over five meters long and four meters wide, like a transparent giant tiger swiping its paw down at them.

But to his surprise, his strike missed every single one of them.

The group from Qingfeng Temple instantly executed their Body Techniques. Moving with incredible speed, they scattered like birds in the blink of an eye, disappearing from their original spot along with the Purple Crystal.

BOOM!

The tiger’s claw slammed into the ground, gouging out a trapezoidal crater more than four meters wide.

’So fast!?’ A flicker of shock crossed the red-robed man’s eyes, the one called Hall Master Yuan. This was completely unexpected.

He rarely paid attention to the Outer City. He would usually just come out to meet the exploration team and then head back, having no interest in a desolate place like the Outer City.

He had encountered robbers from the Outer City trying to steal relics from the Fog Area before, but he had always crushed them with a single, casual move.

This time, however, things seemed different...

’It seems there’s something to these Qingfeng Temple Martial Arts.’

’The Wang Family, the Liu Family...’

If before he thought they were just bluffing and falsely claiming connections, now he was beginning to believe them.

An ordinary martial arts hall in the Outer City wouldn’t possess such a swift Body Technique.

As his thoughts raced, he looked at Chen Sui’s group, who had reassembled nearby. He said nothing more; caution had gained the upper hand.

He shot a look at Chen Hushan’s exploration team.

"Withdraw," he ordered via voice transmission.

"But Hall Master... that Purple Crystal is valuable..." Chen Hushan tried to argue.

"I said withdraw. Do you not understand!?" Hall Master Yuan’s eyes turned cold, and layers of white light from his Inner Strength began to ripple around his right hand.

"...Yes, sir."

Chen Hushan was reluctant, but he could only lower his head and lead his team to retreat.

Hall Master Yuan exhaled, turned, took a step, and prepared to execute his Body Technique.

"!"

Suddenly, a face appeared right in front of him.

The face was less than two meters away!

For anyone, this was well within their personal space.

Close enough to touch just by raising a hand. For an Inner Power Martial Artist, this was practically face-to-face!

"Since you’re here, why the rush to leave?"

The newcomer looked up slightly, revealing a fair, ordinary face that nonetheless possessed an indescribable sense of harmony.

Hall Master Yuan retreated at top speed, putting distance between them, but the shock of having someone appear in his face like that was deeply seared into his mind. His heart hammered in his chest, his blood surged, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Who... are you!?" He knew very well that with his level of perception, it should be impossible for someone to get this close without him noticing.

For this person to get so near, he must be anything but simple!

"You’ve already attacked the exploration team under my command, yet you don’t know who I am?"

The newcomer slowly drew his sword, and an invisible breeze rippled out around him.

"Observatory Master!"

"The Observatory Master is here!"

"It’s the Observatory Master! You’re all dead! Haha!"

The members of Chen Sui’s exploration team instantly recognized the newcomer.

Ever since the battle with the Baihua Sect, everyone at Qingfeng Temple had gained a clear understanding of the strength of their new Observatory Master, Lin Hui.

His combat prowess was far beyond that of a Martial Artist at Inner Power Perfection.

The subsequent battle with the Flying Stone Sect had undoubtedly confirmed this.

At this moment, seeing Lin Hui appear, everyone, including Chen Sui, let out a huge sigh of relief in their hearts.

They knew that as long as the Observatory Master was here, nothing was a problem anymore.

"Qingfeng Temple’s Observatory Master?" Hall Master Yuan stared intently at the man before him, trying to gauge his strength.

But no matter how he looked, he couldn’t see any trace of Circulation.

Nor did he detect the unique aura of a Summoner.

"You want to fight me?" he asked in a low voice.

"Are you at the Circulation stage?" Lin Hui didn’t answer, asking a question of his own instead.

"I’m... almost there..." Hall Master Yuan’s eyes narrowed. "Why do you ask? At my current rate, I’ll successfully break through in three years at most!"

"Yes, so you still have a sliver of a chance to live. Instead of..."

CLANG!

In an instant, a brilliant silver light drew a thin line through the air and vanished.

Lin Hui’s figure instantly appeared behind Hall Master Yuan, and he slowly sheathed his sword.

"So what gives you the right to speak to me?"

Behind him, a huge gash had been opened across Hall Master Yuan’s chest at some point.

Blood gushed out as if it were free, dyeing the ground red.

A mass of internal organs spilled out from the wound in his abdomen, and he desperately tried to stuff them back in with both hands.

With a WHOOSH, not daring to utter a single word in reply, he turned and fled into the distance.

The sword strike hadn’t killed him, but it had shattered his Inner Strength, crippled his qi and blood, and injured at least eighty percent of his internal organs.

It would take him years of recuperation to even think about returning to normal! And even if he recovered, it was uncertain whether his Inner Strength Cultivation could ever return to its current breakthrough point.

Seeing this, both exploration teams fell silent.

But in the next second, the Qingfeng Temple side erupted in cheers. Everyone shouted at the top of their lungs, releasing their pent-up tension and fear.

As for the Chi Mi Bang’s team, every one of them was ashen-faced. They turned and fled with Chen Hushan without a sound.

But they hadn’t run far before three white-haired old men blocked their path.

Xue Meng, leading two of the martial hall’s Elders, intercepted the team.

As a master at the Sixth Layer of Inner Strength, he now enjoyed good food, good drink, and unlimited Elixirs. His condition was more than just a notch better than when he had first joined.

Without any nonsense, he glanced at Lin Hui and saw a hint of killing intent in his eyes.

He immediately waved his hand.

"Time to clean house, you two."

The three of them attacked together. Against the exhausted exploration team members, it was basically one move, one kill.

Only their leader, Chen Hushan, could put up some resistance, but he only lasted half a minute against Xue Meng before his right leg was severed by a heavy slash, and he collapsed, unable to get up.

"You’re insane! We’re the Chi Mi Bang! An exploration team from the Chi Mi Bang! You dare to kill me!? Aren’t you afraid of being hunted down by our gang!?" Even at the end, he was still clinging to the illusion of his affiliation with the Three Sects and Six Gangs.

’It’s precisely because you’re from the Chi Mi Bang that we have to be thorough... you idiot.’

Xue Meng’s blade suddenly accelerated, viciously severing Chen Hushan’s head and sending it flying. Only then did he finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Is this really alright?" he asked, turning his head to look at the approaching Lin Hui.

"It’s fine. The Chi Mi Bang won’t fall out with me over a few ordinary Inner Power Martial Artists," Lin Hui said with a smile. "Although I don’t like it, I have to admit that a powerful background is a very useful thing to have."

’My older sister is a newly promoted Priest, and my older brother is a veteran Priest. With the powerful Wang Family clan backing me, the Chi Mi Bang, despite its size, is only on the same level as the Wang and Liu Families.’

’They would never clash with a Priest-Level power over a few mere Inner Power Martial Artists.’

’If that were the case, the Three Sects and Six Gangs wouldn’t have survived for so long.’

’After all, any conflict brings losses. Constant conflict would eventually exhaust their foundations.’

"So that’s why you didn’t kill that Hall Master Yuan, but only severely wounded him?" Xue Meng nodded in understanding.

"Correct. A Martial Artist on the verge of reaching Circulation is still quite valuable, so I let him go. Also, I need someone to carry the reputation of my Qingfeng Temple into the Inner City. Otherwise, if everyone keeps coming to pick a fight, won’t I be busy to death?" Lin Hui chuckled.

Turning around, he looked at Chen Sui and the others as they approached.

"Everything is alright now."

A peaceful smile on his face, he opened his arms.

"Welcome back. No matter what you’ve been through, you are safe now."

As soon as he said this, the eyes of Chen Sui and the others welled up with hot tears.

They weren’t tears of gratitude, but of lingering fear.

If Lin Hui had arrived even a moment later, he would have only been able to collect their corpses.