The Decaying World-Chapter 142 - 133: Gaze 1

"I’ve long heard that Qingfeng Temple produced a formidable Invisible Sword user who dominates the surrounding area. I never expected to meet the man himself here."

A man shouldered his machete, squinting as he sized up Lin Hui.

"Why don’t you go? I hear he’s fast, and I’m not good against that type."

He tilted his head toward the other man.

"Alright, enough crap. Let’s make our move and don’t let him escape. So what if he’s fast? With *that thing* here, where could he possibly run?" the other man said impatiently. "We’ve dealt with martial arts gym masters like him before."

"Alright then, I’ll just..." THWIP!

A flash of blood-red light, and the speaker’s head flew high into the air, a casual smile still on his face.

In his final moments of vision, he saw the expression on his companion’s face shift from surprise to shock, then to terror, as the man turned to flee.

But in the next instant, the blood-red light flashed again.

Lin Hui appeared behind him, a bead of blood sliding off his blade to drip onto the ground.

With a gruesome SPLAT, the companion’s entire body split in two from top to bottom.

The pure white glow of his Inner Strength shattered like a soap bubble.

BOOM!!

On either side, two High-level Purple Crystal Elements exploded violently. Apparently, Lin Hui had dispatched the other two elements first before finishing off this man.

’The commotion is too loud. It might attract more trouble. I have to end this quickly.’ Lin Hui’s gaze sharpened.

Flicking the blood from his sword, he looked up toward the depths of the cave.

’Time to get a little arrogant...’

He held his sword horizontally before him and closed his eyes. A wind began to stir around him, growing faster and stronger.

The WHOOSHING airflow created a strange, whistling sound within the cave.

BOOM!!

In an instant, Lin Hui erupted forward in a violent gale, charging straight into the deeper mouth of the cave.

At his current level of Body Tempering, he didn’t even need the Gale Sword or the Qingfeng Sword to unleash terrifying speed and airflow. With just the Nine-Section Swift Sword, his Inner Strength could produce the same killing power as a full-force attack with his Qingfeng Sword once did.

Speed!

In that moment, terrifying speed blurred everything around Lin Hui.

He paid no mind to what appeared or might appear before him.

His high-acuity dynamic vision, enhanced by Body Tempering, meant he only needed to swing his sword, again and again.

With Inner Strength coating his blade, there were only two kinds of things in his sight:

Those that could be cut, and those that could not. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

SWISH! SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!!!

Down the deep, dark tunnels, an invisible shadow cloaked in a gale crashed through one cavern after another at a furious speed.

The Purple Crystal Elements wandering inside were bisected and exploded violently before they could even see what was approaching.

Some of the living guards stationed there only felt a gust of wind blow past before they lost consciousness forever.

It mattered not if they were ordinary people or had Inner Strength.

THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!

Flowers of blood bloomed continuously within the cave.

Twenty.

Fifty.

Ninety!

More and more people and Purple Crystal Elements fell dead, as if spontaneously disintegrating.

「Fifteen seconds later.」

The underground passage finally came to an end.

Inside a vast, hollow cavern stood a black metal statue over twenty meters tall.

The statue depicted a woman in light robes, sitting cross-legged with her palms together. However, her face had no mouth or nose—only a dense mass of countless purple eyes of varying sizes.

BANG!

The entrance to the tunnel was blasted open by a powerful explosion, spewing out clouds of dirt and rubble.

As the dust spread, several people kneeling before the sculpture looked up and toward the commotion.

"What’s going on? Hasn’t the intruder been dealt with yet?"

The leader, a man in a black robe, stood up. A glimpse of exquisite silver armor could be seen beneath his robes.

The man’s face was pale, his eyes were red, and his lips were bloodless, as if he were recovering from a serious illness with massive blood loss.

"It seems so. An Yu, you go take care of him. Try not to make too much of a scene and disturb our Lord," the man said, looking to a companion who had also risen to her feet.

"Yes. It should take about two minutes. I’ll need to clean up the aftermath and the bloodstains." The companion nodded, pulling back the hood of her black robe to reveal a similarly pale, bloodless face.

It was a red-haired girl, no older than her teens.

She slowly drew the sabre from her waist, then her movements abruptly accelerated, and she vanished from her spot.

CLANG!

A sharp ringing sound suddenly erupted from the breached tunnel entrance not far away.

The girl, sabre in hand, immediately blocked Lin Hui as he charged through the entrance. Their blades clashed like lightning, creating fine lines of white light produced by their Inner Strength.

Both had coated their weapons in Inner Strength. The girl’s Inner Strength seemed endless; every slash consumed a huge amount of it to forcibly accelerate her blade, allowing her to keep up with and even briefly suppress Lin Hui’s Sword Speed.

「A few seconds later.」

Lin Hui suddenly retreated, watching the girl, whose expression had also subtly changed, with a look of interest.

"Circulation?" He recognized her realm. This fighting style, flinging about Inner Strength like it was free, was a clear sign of the Circulation Realm.

But compared to Li Chi, the first Circulation Martial Artist he had fought, this girl’s style was more extreme and far more lethal.

Li Chi’s attacks had seemed grand in scale, but in the eyes of a true expert, all that dense, chaotic Inner Strength was as easy to dispel as soap bubbles and carried no real threat.

In contrast, the girl’s method of using explosive bursts of Inner Strength to accelerate her attacks packed a much stronger punch.

"You don’t seem to be," the girl said, narrowing her eyes at Lin Hui. "Your Inner Strength can’t cycle continuously. You dare to trespass in these ruins without being in the Circulation Realm? Are you looking to die?"

"Who are you people? A warrior in the Circulation Realm, skulking around underground like this." This was only the second time Lin Hui had fought a Circulation Martial Artist under such circumstances, so he was willing to give her a moment to explain.

After all, a martial artist of this level would be considered mid-tier even in the Inner City.

Most importantly, he needed to get to the bottom of this "gaze of the Fog Spirit."

"You don’t even know who we are, yet you dare to come here and kill our people!?" the girl exclaimed in astonishment.

"Do I need to know who you are?" Lin Hui retorted. Though his hood and mask hid his expression, his tone made it clear he couldn’t care less.

"You’ve got guts. We are the Secret Gold Hall, a branch of the Qinghe Sect in the Outer City. This is a new mining site we discovered. I am Vice Hall Master An Yu, and you..."

"What is the Fog Spirit’s gaze?" Lin Hui suddenly interrupted.

"What gaze?" The girl was taken aback.

"Never mind. It seems you don’t know." Lin Hui raised his sword, instantly assuming the opening stance of the Qingfeng Swordsmanship.

’Special Effect: Feathering.’

The next second, a gale howled as his figure blurred. Moving at a terrifying speed several times faster than before, he flashed across the distance between them and sliced his sword across the girl’s neck.

The barrier of Circulation Internal Power shattered. The girl’s head flew high, a trace of shock still lingering on her face.

Even in death, she couldn’t comprehend why his speed had suddenly surged so dramatically. It was as if he were a completely different person from moments before.

"Stop!" the black-robed leader finally roared in shock and fury, but it was too late.

Lin Hui’s figure became a blur of wind, instantly passing through the several black-robed figures in front of the Divine Statue. Bursts of blood erupted on either side of him.

In his eyes, anyone below the Circulation Realm was as meaningless as a roadside decoration.

Until his final sword stroke, which he casually directed at the black-robed man.

CLANG!

Only then was the blade caught on the spot by a large hand.

"You bastard, you’re dead!!" the man raged. A blinding white light erupted from his body, and at the same time, a formless yet familiar destructive power suddenly enveloped Lin Hui from all directions.

Void Power!!

’This guy is an Upper-Tier Summoner!?’ Lin Hui’s figure flashed several dozen meters away, dodging the Void Power. He flicked the blood from his sword and stared at his opponent.

"They’re all dead. What’s the point of being so angry?"

"Which clan are you from!? How dare you ruin my Qinghe Sect’s branch hall!" The man took a deep breath, suppressing his rage. Judging by the speed Lin Hui had just displayed, even if he used his full strength, he wouldn’t be able to take him down unless he could somehow restrict that speed.

The sheer difficulty of his opponent forced him to cool his temper.

"I discovered this place first. You seized my spot, and now you’re asking who I am?"

Lin Hui chuckled. "Let’s not talk about that. I’ll ask you, what is the Fog Spirit’s gaze?"

"The gaze? You’re being watched!?" The man froze, then his face lit up with glee. "You’re finished! Hahahaha! Once the Fog Spirit notices you, you can’t escape no matter where you run..."

"You’re a bit noisy," Lin Hui said with a frown. "How do I remove it?"

"Remove it? It’s removed when you’re dead! Get it, you idiot!" the man roared with laughter. His laugh was tinged with a neurotic, crazed edge, as if he were having a fit.

"You don’t know, or you won’t say?" Lin Hui frowned.

"Just die!! Hahahaha!!" The man suddenly threw his arms wide. The Void Power instantly formed a thin line that shot toward Lin Hui like a bolt of lightning.

Void Power was indestructible. Not even Inner Strength could block it; it could only be worn down.

Lin Hui had no intention of taking it head-on, but as he dodged the attack, he abruptly felt something was wrong.

His speed had decreased!

Special Effect Feathering was still active, and the explosive power of the Perfect Clear Wind Sword was undeniable, yet his speed had dropped—and not by a small amount.

It had fallen by at least half, if not more!

It was as if some invisible mire surrounded him, forcibly slowing his every move.

At this very moment, text from the Blood Seal flashed and vanished at the bottom of his vision.

’Alert: You are under the gaze of the Fog Spirit. Your speed is impaired.’

’It’s really coming after me!?’ A chill ran through Lin Hui’s heart.

This bizarre gaze had appeared the moment he entered the cave, and now it was forcibly reducing his Body Technique’s speed!

"Since you’re not willing to talk, then die!"

He held back no longer, raising his sword horizontally.

"Wind!"

He initiated the opening stance of the Gale Swordsmanship, and the surrounding airflow erupted.

A violent wind, with him at its center, began to blow madly in all directions.

If the gale at the initial stages of Body Tempering could only blow a few light objects off a table,

then now, with his Body Tempering at the Eighth Grade and approaching the Ninth Grade, the gale Lin Hui unleashed was strong enough to pin down and send tumbling away anything not bolted down.

With him at the center, every piece of debris within a hundred-meter radius was blown flat against the cave walls, unable to move.

The currents slammed into the walls, spinning and circulating to form twisting vortexes that howled aloud.

"What kind of Martial Arts is this!?" The black-robed Hall Master’s expression changed. His opponent clearly wasn’t in the Circulation Realm, nor did he have the aura of a Summoner, but this display of power...

Just to remain standing in place, he had to constantly consume Inner Strength to stabilize himself.

In this state, any attack he made would inevitably be distorted and thrown off-target by the immense force of the wind.

SHING!

In the next instant, a phantom-like figure flashed past behind him.

At the same time, a bloody gash appeared on the Hall Master’s chest.

He had tried his best to defend himself, but his Circulation Inner Strength was slashed apart and his armor was cut open. Only the powerful body of an Upper-Rank Summoner prevented the wound from being deeper.

As for his Void Power, he hadn’t even caught a glimpse of his target, striking only empty air.

"You...!?"

’He’s faster than before! A lot faster!!? What’s going on!? What is with this guy!?’

This terrifying sense of pressure made the Hall Master involuntarily think of the Priests within his sect.

But this man wasn’t even a Summoner...

SHING!

The next instant, another bloody gash appeared on his back. His wildly swung Void Power, once again, only hit empty air, leaving a deep scar on the cave wall.

Immediately after, SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING!

A series of bloody gashes frequently appeared all over his body.

Just over ten seconds later,

With a final roar of impotent fury,

the Hall Master’s head flew high into the air, his eyes wide with disbelief. It fell before the Divine Statue, spilling blood across the ground.