The Decaying World-Chapter 138 - 129: Disturbance, Part 1

The power of the first Spirit-Sealing Array stunned Lin Hui.

A single use lasted for nine hundred years... ’Looks like the accumulation period will be incredibly long.’

With a flicker of thought, Lin Hui checked the requirements.

’Required Resources: Five years’ worth of stored energy, five years’ worth of stored Heart and Spirit.

Required Time: Eleven years.’

’Only eleven years?!’

He was astonished.

Such a powerful ability required so little time. It made him even more suspicious about potential drawbacks.

He let out a breath and continued reading.

’2—Evil-Sealing Array...’

The description was the same as before—an array for sealing away evil energy—but the duration had also changed to nine hundred years.

The third, the Fire-Sealing Array, was similar: an array to seal flames. The duration was the same.

But the final one, the Life-Sealing Array...

’4—Life-Sealing Array: The ultimate Secret Technique of the Celestial Eagle Sect. It can draw upon a mysterious power to forcefully seal any living being, transforming it into a Life Ball that follows the caster. However, it cannot seal the target’s consciousness. This technique has extremely low consumption and a very short recovery period. It can be activated upon contact within one meter of the target.

Sealing Duration: Ten thousand years.

Note: This Secret Technique has almost no recovery period. It requires only a minuscule amount of Inner Strength and Heart and Spirit, and its activation is extremely fast. The only restriction is that the target must have been defeated head-on by the user. But all things must find balance. Why else would the Celestial Eagle Sect, master of such a powerful Secret Technique, have vanished without a trace from the endless cosmos? The more this technique is used, the stronger the mysterious power it draws...

Required Resources: One year’s worth of stored energy, one year’s worth of stored Heart and Spirit.

Required Time: Two years.’

’Isn’t this just an enhanced version of the Sealing Array?’ Lin Hui immediately recognized what made the fourth option, the Life-Sealing Array, so special.

The original Sealing Array had been the same: few resources, little time, and a powerful effect, but with a very obvious drawback.

For the earlier Sealed Array Poison, the drawback was that it required physical contact, and the sealing duration was extremely short—only one second.

This one, however, was slightly different. The side effect wasn’t the duration but the possibility of attracting some special, mysterious power...

’Even so, it’s still an incredibly powerful ace up my sleeve. I can use it anytime, sealing someone for ten thousand years with a single move. Ten thousand years... isn’t that basically forever?’ Lin Hui calculated.

He glanced at the first option, the Spirit-Sealing Array. It seemed much more conventional. The fourth one, the Life-Sealing Array, was stronger, but it required defeating the target head-on first.

Both were sealing techniques, but the Spirit-Sealing Array was safer, as the sealed being’s consciousness would also fall into a deep slumber.

The Life-Sealing Array was different. After being sealed into a Life Ball, the description didn’t mention that the target would fall asleep or lose consciousness. Clearly, the technique lacked that function.

This could create hidden dangers.

After all, many abilities could probably be activated purely through one’s consciousness.

Lin Hui weighed the pros and cons of both options.

’Which one do I need right now? Which one will enhance my current skillset and improve my overall strength? Especially when facing a Priest’s Mental Attack techniques...’

In the end, his gaze settled back on the Spirit-Sealing Array.

’The Spirit-Sealing Array can seal consciousness. Although the accumulation might take a long time, once activated, it doesn’t have the prerequisite of defeating the target. It would completely close the loophole of an opponent activating an ability with their consciousness.’

He checked the requirements again.

It required a total of eleven years. With the Illusory Dragon Lotuses he had on hand, he should be able to complete the evolution quickly.

He paused for a moment, then hesitated no longer. To deal with the Priest’s future Mental Attack techniques, this kind of preparation was essential.

The Spirit-Sealing Array could be activated from a distance, making it much safer. It was truly a formidable offensive tool.

’Wait... what I need most right now should be a defense against Mental Attacks...’

Just as he was about to select the Spirit-Sealing Array, a thought flashed through his mind, and he paused again.

’Defense... protection... I should be able to evolve that from some defensive equipment, or defensive Martial Arts Techniques and Secret Techniques.’

After shelving the Spirit-Sealing Array as a potential future evolution, Lin Hui quickly gathered items related to protecting and influencing one’s Heart and Spirit.

At his command, Ding Ning worked with a few other disciples and soon brought a row of items, laying them out on the study floor.

After sending everyone out, Lin Hui looked at the row of items on the floor.

From left to right, the first category consisted of medicines for calming the mind and spirit, including both finished Elixirs and raw ingredients. There were about a dozen bottles and jars of various sizes, each carefully affixed with an explanatory label by Ding Ning.

These were all obtained through the Wang Family and Baihua Sect, backup medicines that had been stored long-term in the warehouse. Most were used by sect members to regulate their moods and relieve stress, so their effects were very weak.

The second category, next to the calming medicines, was a set of heavy metal armor in black, silver, and white, including a helmet, greaves, and vambraces.

The third category was incense and lamp oil. These had effects similar to the first category, but were less potent. They were typically used for daily relaxation, calming the spirit, and soothing one’s Mental Realm.

The fourth category was books, which recorded various tips and methods for calming the spirit and strengthening one’s Mental Realm. Most were excerpts from various Martial Arts Secret Manuals. Tao Xuehai had heard what Lin Hui was doing and provided these voluntarily.

Lin Hui pondered for a moment, then reached out, touching the items in each category one by one.

After a quick screening with his Blood Seal, only three items remained. These were the only ones that, according to the Blood Seal’s appraisal, truly possessed any protective effect for the Heart and Spirit.

A small jar of grayish-brown lamp oil and two small booklets.

The label on the lamp oil read: Divine Image Oil (Calming lamp oil for internal use by the Shayue Sect).

A product of the Shayue Sect’s Rain Palace. Truly impressive. Among the entire pile of medicines and oils, the Blood Seal identified it as the only one with a genuine protective effect for the Heart and Spirit.

As for the other two booklets, one was the Phantom Shock Technique, which originated from a school of Inner Power Martial Arts.

The other was the Bright Light Technique, from a Summoning Cultivation Technique.

A Summoning Cultivation Technique was a prerequisite technique used to train prospective Summoners. Its purpose was to train ordinary people until they gradually met the basic requirements to awaken the ability of Summoning.

The fact that Tao Xuehai could get his hands on something this good made Lin Hui all the more wary of his family background.

Clearly, the Tao Family was not in the same league as families like the Wang Family from near the Outer City.

’Protection for my Heart and Spirit, so I can’t be affected. And on top of that, the Spirit-Sealing Array, which can be activated instantly to lock down a target and render them unconscious, completely stripping them of their ability to resist. With these, the Priest shouldn’t be much of a problem.’

He reached out and lightly touched the lamp oil.

This bottle of so-called Divine Image Oil had only two evolutionary branches.

’1—Divine Calming Oil.’

’2—Enhanced Divine Image Oil.’ 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

The latter was self-explanatory; it enhanced the inherent calming effects of the Divine Image Oil, which wasn’t very useful for Lin Hui’s needs.

The former, Divine Calming Oil, had a rather interesting description.

’Divine Calming Oil: A single-use item. When lit, a mysterious Lamp Spirit will manifest within your Heart and Spirit. The Lamp Spirit can guard the safety of your Heart and Spirit, but will disperse on its own once its power is consumed.

Note: It seems you can make one wish to this Lamp Spirit from the Mysterious World. It will disperse on its own after the wish is made, but whether the wish can be granted, and how it might be granted, are things you should probably consider carefully beforehand.’

The Divine Calming Oil only required one year’s worth of resources and time. Clearly, single-use items were cheap.

A single-use item from the Rain Palace would, after evolution, just become a higher-grade single-use item. That was all. And the part about making a wish just screamed "trap."

Lin Hui returned his focus to the two Dharma Gates.

The Phantom Shock Technique and the Bright Light Technique.

The two were very straightforward. The training method for the former involved constantly visualizing and experiencing things that terrified him, then repeatedly replaying those memories to overcome and defeat those fears. This would achieve the effect of strengthening his Heart and Spirit.

The Bright Light Technique, on the other hand, was just constant self-hypnosis. Every day, you had to recite a personal scripture bragging about yourself. According to the description, it was full of things like: "I am the strongest! I am the greatest! I am fearless! I am invincible! If I want it, I can do anything!"

It was basically just a collection of self-hypnosis and auto-suggestion techniques from his past life.

After reading it, Lin Hui had to sigh. ’All roads lead to Rome, I guess.’ No matter the world, the same kinds of things always ended up being similar.

In the end, he decided to focus on the Phantom Shock Technique and evolve it into the Illusionary Performance Technique.

’Illusionary Performance Technique: An enhanced version evolved from the Phantom Shock Technique. It is fused with a tempering Dharma Gate from a Daoist Sect in a Mysterious World. It can gather all the elements that you fear and dread, coalescing them into a Void Shocking Spirit. By repeatedly defeating this spirit, you can strengthen your own Heart and Spirit, enhancing its resilience and defensive capabilities.’

This Dharma Gate was a proper, orthodox training method, unlike the Bright Light Technique, which was essentially just self-hypnosis and self-deception.

Although, he had to admit, self-deception taken to its extreme would probably be incredibly powerful.

But Lin Hui didn’t like that kind of path.

He preferred a more grounded approach, taking solid, steady steps.

He had confirmed his enhancement targets.

There were two in total: the Illusionary Performance Technique and the Spirit-Sealing Array. One for offense, one for defense—a perfect balance that would round out his countermeasures against the Priest and any similar future threats.

Without delay, Lin Hui took out an Illusory Dragon Lotus and began enhancing the Phantom Shock Technique first. A solid defense would protect him from things like sneak attacks and increase his margin for error.

This technique required significant resources and time, but Lin Hui considered it worthwhile.

After confirming the evolution, he began consuming the Illusory Dragon Lotuses one by one, letting them dissolve in his mouth as time passed.

Soon, the evolution of the Phantom Shock Technique was complete. The small booklet transformed into a brand-new, square, yellow-covered book, its surface printed with the three words: Illusionary Performance Technique.

Without pausing, Lin Hui moved on to evolve the Spirit-Sealing Array.

Based on the description, he judged that an accumulative Secret Technique like the Spirit-Sealing Array would likely be far more powerful than he anticipated. This perfectly suited his plan to lie low and accumulate power over the long term, waiting for a critical moment to erupt and turn the tables.

After all, he just wanted to live a peaceful life. A restless, chaotic Secret Technique that required constant fighting to sustain itself didn’t suit him.

The Illusory Dragon Lotuses were consumed one after another. Before long, even after he had swallowed the very last one, there was still a little bit of evolution time remaining.

The Illusionary Performance Technique had used up more Illusory Dragon Lotuses than expected, leaving him short on what he needed to complete the Spirit-Sealing Array.

Fortunately, to cover the remaining time, Lin Hui took a Black Emperor Pill and followed it with the aphrodisiac elixir Tao Xuehai had given him. Only then did he manage to barely shorten the remaining time to zero.

By now, it was the middle of the night.

A thick fog had rolled in outside.

Lin Hui hadn’t even eaten dinner. He sat cross-legged on the floor of his study, a flash of red light glinting in his eyes.

He looked at the Illusionary Performance Technique manual before him and the notification for the Spirit-Sealing Array that had appeared in his field of vision.

He let out a long sigh of relief.

’Finally, it’s done.’

As he stood up, Lin Hui suddenly felt weak, and his head swam.

He knew it was from taking too many elixirs.

Fortunately, a single circulation of his Inner Strength—the one carrying the Purgatory Aura—seemed to have the effect of dissolving toxins. After circulating it several dozen times, he finally suppressed the dizzy spell.

’After my Purgatory Internal Power devoured that goat, it strengthened my constitution. But all that did was raise my tolerance for elixirs. If I take too many, I still can’t handle it.’

He had actually hit his limit for elixirs earlier in the day. It was only after taking the Black Emperor Pill and adding Tao Xuehai’s aphrodisiac on top of that that he’d pushed his body to its absolute limit once more.

’Perhaps... if I go into the Fog Area and use Purgatory Transformation on some creatures, then kill and devour them, I could enhance my constitution. That would further raise my tolerance for elixirs...’

The thought surfaced in Lin Hui’s mind.

But for now, the more important task was to test out the Spirit-Sealing Array and the Illusionary Performance Technique.

He was just about to pick up the Illusionary Performance Technique booklet.

BOOM!!

A tremendous roar, like a thunderclap exploding low to the ground.

The entire house shook violently.

Everything in the room was shaken loose or knocked over. The doors and windows rattled violently, and dust rained down from the walls, ceiling, and beams.

A few moments later, a pained, bestial howl echoed from outside, seeming to drift over from the direction of the Inner City.