The Decaying World-Chapter 87 - 82: Clash 2

"What’s going on!?" Wang Yueheng’s eyes narrowed, and he stopped pinching the pill in his hand. Mind-Control Worms were expensive and rare; if Lin Hui weren’t valuable enough, he wouldn’t have bothered taking one out to use on him.

Most importantly, a Mind-Control Worm could only be used on a target who was immobilized and had lost all ability to resist.

If a worm was accidentally killed and he failed to control his target, the loss would be immense.

What he couldn’t fathom, however, was what kind of trump card a mere Inner Power Martial Artist could possibly have to resist the control of Upper-Rank Void Power.

’Among Inner Strength users, only those at the Circulation realm can counter Void Power. Could it be...?’ Wang Yueheng glanced around, suspecting a Circulation Master was lying in ambush nearby.

But he had acted with extreme speed, coming over personally the moment he received the news.

It was unlikely any other power could have been faster, especially since he had received his intelligence directly from the Baihua Sect.

’Don’t tell me the Baihua Sect has an informant from another great family!? The Liu Family!?’

Wang Yueheng grew nervous.

He was worried that if he released the Mind-Control Worm, the hidden master would destroy it instantly.

’Screw it...!’ He put away the Mind-Control Worm, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes. ’I’ll just cripple him!’

He immediately unleashed his Void Power. The vast, formless energy instantly solidified, ceased its rotation, and formed a new, cube-like seal that bore down on Lin Hui.

And in the very instant the Void Power pressed down,

the Longsword in the hand of Lin Hui, who should have been completely immobilized, trembled.

HUMMM...

A nearly inaudible hum radiated out from him.

His lips barely moved. "Wind."

SHING!

With the ring of the blade,

a violently distorted ring of energy erupted outward from Lin Hui as its epicenter.

A gale—a ferocious tempest far beyond anything Wang Yueheng had ever witnessed—surged outward indiscriminately in all directions.

The compressed force of the wind pushed back against the Void Power, causing it to stall for a split second.

BOOM!

In the next moment, the Void Power crashed down, smashing through Lin Hui’s figure—only to hit an afterimage.

As a deep crater exploded in the ground,

Lin Hui solidified over ten meters away, right beside Wang Yueheng. His Longsword swept out, flashing past the side of Wang Yueheng’s neck.

SKREEE.

The tip of the sword scraped across his neck, kicking up a trail of sparks.

’What the hell!?’ Wang Yueheng was thoroughly alarmed and hastily switched his Void Power into a vortex to try and capture his opponent.

But he only caught another afterimage.

TCHH!

The next instant, another trail of sparks flew from the other side of his neck.

His Inner Strength barrier had been broken by that strike!

’No, his speed is insane!! Much faster than before!! What’s happening!?’ Wang Yueheng was well aware of his own Cultivation. His Inner Strength barrier was at Sixth Layer Perfection, a level second only to the Circulation realm. And although he cultivated a speed-type Inner Strength to make up for his Summoning Ability’s lack of a fast Body Technique, his defense shouldn’t have been broken so quickly!

’How could a common Longsword with no Inner Strength break my barrier with speed alone!?’

Wang Yueheng stumbled back again and again, whipping his head from side to side, trying to catch sight of Lin Hui’s terrifyingly fast figure.

But all he could hear was the howling of the violent gale around him.

He couldn’t see a person at all.

There were only constant bursts of golden sparks erupting on his body.

SKREEE!

Another spark erupted. This time, it wasn’t just his Inner Strength barrier that broke; for the first time in a long while, even his durable Summoner’s body felt a pang of pain.

"This guy!! What kind of monster is he!!?" A chill ran down Wang Yueheng’s spine.

’He had actually been hurt... by an Inner Power Martial Artist with a common Longsword!?’

’This isn’t how Circulation Martial Artists fight! They just rely on their vast reserves of Inner Strength to brute-force a battle of attrition against Void Power!!’

TCHH!

Another spark flashed. The clothes on Wang Yueheng’s chest were slashed open, and the pearl necklace he wore underneath snapped, scattering pearls across the ground.

And in the center of his chest, a fine cut appeared on his silvery skin.

Pain!

He actually felt pain!!

Panic began to well up in Wang Yueheng’s heart.

He kept retreating, flinging his Void Power about wildly, but he simply couldn’t catch Lin Hui in his high-speed state.

This only deepened his panic.

’What do I do, what do I do, what do I do!?’

Wang Yueheng’s mind raced, desperately searching for a solution, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t find a way out of this predicament.

His opponent didn’t need to confront the Void Power head-on. A single burst of force was enough to stall it for an instant, and that instant was all he needed to escape its range at high speed.

Wang Yueheng had never even heard of such a fighting style! Whether in the Inner City or the Outer City, he had never seen anyone counter Void Power like this before!

The thought suddenly surfaced in his mind: ’He’s not planning to just wear me down to death, is he!?’

Wang Yueheng knew his own limits. He could maintain his Void Power for ten minutes at most, after which he would enter a weakened state. At that point, he would have to rely on his physical durability as a Summoner and his Inner Strength to hold on.

Without his Void Power, he wasn’t sure if he could still pose a threat to his opponent.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Wang Yueheng’s mind. ’No... that’s not right. This is just a spar, not a life-or-death battle! He has no reason to kill me!’

’Even though I just tried to use a Mind-Control Worm and get rough, he doesn’t know that. He must still think this is just a spar. All I have to do is clear the air! It’s all a misunderstanding!!’

Wang Yueheng had finally found a solution.

By now, his robes had been shredded to rags, and his exposed upper body was covered in bloody cuts.

"Enough! You can’t maintain such an explosive output for long, can you? Why don’t we call it a draw?! At most, you can inflict a few scratches on me, and these wounds will heal in a day. At the same time, I can’t catch you at your current speed. Calling it a draw is more than fair!"

Suppressing his panic and steadying his nerves, Wang Yueheng shouted.

TCHH!

The instant his voice fell,

a sword slash flashed past his face and struck a hill more than ten meters behind him.

BOOM!

A deep crater several meters wide blasted open in the hillside, sending dirt flying everywhere. The power of the strike was nearly on par with the display of Void Power just moments ago.

Lin Hui’s figure slowly materialized at the edge of the crater on the hill. He sheathed his sword and turned around.

He fixed his gaze on Wang Yueheng, his expression cold and his eyes profound.

One second.

Two seconds.

Suddenly, his face thawed into a smile.

"Impressive. That burst of power was from a top-tier Secret Technique I created myself. The toll it takes is immense, and I’ll need to take some Healing Medicine afterward. I truly can’t sustain it. This is just a spar between us; there’s no need to continue. If we keep fighting, we might get genuinely angry and ruin the harmony."

"Right, we mustn’t ruin the harmony!" Wang Yueheng nodded eagerly. "Brother Lin, your strength is extraordinary. I’ve never in my life witnessed such a fast Body Technique. This trip outside the city has truly been an eye-opener. I never imagined such a terrifyingly fast form of Martial Arts existed in this world! It’s true what they say: there’s always someone better out there!"

"Brother Wang, you’re too kind," Lin Hui said with a smile.

’I was careless and got trapped just now,’ he thought. ’I had no choice but to unleash Gale Swordsmanship. By using its unique method of circulating Inner Strength to accelerate, drawing on external forces to manifest a gale, I was able to repel the Void Power for an instant.’

’And once Gale Swordsmanship was activated and stacked with Special Effect Feathering, the result was obvious.’

’Gale Swordsmanship is the type of technique that grows faster and more powerful the more it’s used, and its energy consumption is minimal.’

’If it really came down to a battle of attrition, I feel like I could keep the Special Effects active for an entire day!’

But, just as Wang Yueheng had said, this was only a spar. Although he suspected that Wang Yueheng’s intentions had turned malicious, and had even sensed a hint of killing intent midway through, as long as it wasn’t brought out into the open or acted upon, there was no point in saying anything.

’Still, this exchange demonstrated that Upper-Tier Summoners are even more troublesome than I had anticipated....’

’The Inner Strength barrier, the Summoner’s physique, the Void Power... they truly are hard to kill.’

’Even when I unleashed Gale Swordsmanship, I only managed to break through his Inner Strength and leave a few small wounds.’

’And they were shallow wounds, less than a centimeter deep.’

’If not for this guy’s weak mentality—or rather, his psychological issues—I’m afraid I would have had to grind him down for a very long time before getting a chance to kill him.’

’And that’s assuming he didn’t have any other trump cards.’

’But that’s impossible. Even an Elder from the Baihua Sect had a last-resort, single-use burst item. Father got a protective sigil from You Ying, not to mention a whole pile of Protective Jade Pendants.’

’There’s no way these young masters from the great families of the Inner City don’t have life-saving treasures on them....’

"Having witnessed Brother Lin’s ultimate technique today, this trip has been well worth it. Shall we part ways here?" By this point, Wang Yueheng’s clothes had been completely shredded, leaving him shirtless and covered in bloody gashes. He cut a pathetic figure and was naturally anxious to go back and find something to cover himself with.

"Very well. But about that matter of cooperation you mentioned, Brother Wang..." Lin Hui brought up again.

Although he had just wanted to kill Wang Yueheng, and Wang Yueheng had clearly harbored ill will toward him, that didn’t have to prevent a potential partnership between them.

This was, after all, the first Upper-Tier Summoner he had encountered on his own.

"Cooperation?" Wang Yueheng was stunned. Looking at Lin Hui’s sincere expression, it seemed the man genuinely intended to partner with him.

Cooperation....

At that moment, his heart skipped a beat.

If he had initially looked down on Lin Hui, coming here only with the thought of laying a trap for the Liu Family siblings while earning himself some extra income, ...then after that battle, he now felt that having a partner like Lin Hui could be very promising indeed....

’With Lin Hui’s current strength, he’s likely unrivaled in the Outer City. With power like that, if I add my family’s backing into the mix, I might really be able to push out my other relatives and monopolize the resources for myself!’

’More importantly, Lin Hui is so strong that even I couldn’t take him down. Anyone else who tries will probably have a tough time as well....’

’But if that’s the case, what leverage do I have to get Qingfeng Temple to cooperate? This guy is incredibly strong, the power of his Secret Technique is absurd, and if you can’t beat him, he’s too fast to catch....’

Wang Yueheng fell into deep thought.

A few seconds later, he suddenly looked up.

Benefits!

Only with sufficient benefits could he tie Lin Hui to his side.

If before, he had only come to "cooperate" with malicious intent, now he genuinely intended to raise the stakes and partner with Lin Hui!

’If I can really get a Martial Artist like this on my side, the seventeen or eighteen towns in this part of the Outer City will be under my de facto control for many years to come. Even if people from the New Martial Alliance show up, they won’t be able to interfere.’

"Brother Lin, regarding our partnership, I am personally very willing. I have a few channels in the Inner City. If you need resources, Treasure Medicines, or even relics and exotic creations, we can discuss it."

He paused for a moment.

"I heard you’re collecting Yun Lingzhi? I gathered over a dozen stalks a while ago to use in medicine. Please, take them as a greeting gift, Brother Lin. As the saying goes, we wouldn’t know each other if we hadn’t fought. A hero like you, Brother Lin, is destined to become famous in the Outer City. It’s only a matter of time before you have a place within the New Martial Alliance as well."

His expression was now utterly sincere, because it had just occurred to him that if Lin Hui were to cooperate with another family, his own family’s profit channels in the Outer City would likely be finished....

So, no matter what, he had to tie this man to his side!

As soon as this idea took hold, he was no longer in a hurry to leave.