Chapter 259
, Story 1
Chapter 259, Story 259 (Happy New Year everyone!)
Just as Lin Hui was immersed in the joy of his breakthrough.
Beyond the dark clouds lies the Jade Sea.
In the vast sea area where he had fought Tu Yue before.
At this moment, a fleet of merchant ships, which were capturing slaves, moved slowly on the undulating sea, like a line of black fish.
On one of the merchant ships, Captain Xia Xingtao, sporting a full beard, stroked his chin in confusion as he looked out through the crystal window in front of the captain's cabin.
"This is the third time I've passed through this area recently. I don't know why, but it seems like the waves are much bigger here than before. Do you feel the same way, Aina?"
He turned his head to look at the first mate, Aina.
“Same here.” Aina had dark skin, short black hair, and wore only a simple purple short-sleeved dress. She was adorned with sparkling ruby chains around her neck, hands, and feet.
With her sweet looks, petite figure, and considerable strength, she has always been the object of admiration for many on the ship.
“Not only that, I’ve also noticed that there are far fewer monsters in this area than before. Sea fish are almost nowhere to be seen,” Aina added.
"It seems something must have happened to cause this change," Captain Xia Xingtao said thoughtfully.
"Wait!" Aina suddenly frowned. "Did you hear any faint singing?"
"Singing?" Xia Xingtao frowned and listened carefully.
Surprisingly, a faint, mournful song could actually be heard.
The singing was sung by a woman, sometimes faint, sometimes present, as if it were drifting from a very far place.
Click.
Just then, a faint cracking sound came from the bottom of the ship.
"Oh no! The hull is cracked!! Something has damaged the bottom of the ship!!" Captain Xia Xingtao was extremely familiar with this sound, and his expression immediately changed drastically. He immediately dispatched manpower to carry out emergency repairs.
But it was too late.
Before long, the entire ship sank silently into the sea and disappeared.
Not only that, the other nearby ships also sank rapidly, as if they were being grabbed and pulled from below the water by giant hands.
In no time, the entire fleet had vanished, leaving only a few eerie blue-black cracks in the seawater that flashed by and disappeared.
*
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*
Several days later.
Inside the Taisu Wuyuan.
Lin Hui stood with his hands behind his back, watching the rows of students practicing swordsmanship with focused concentration, and nodded slightly.
These students' abilities are visibly improving.
One by one, the previous students transferred out, and then the more qualified students transferred in; this is what makes things better.
However, one thing he didn't expect was that Fan Lingxi was one of the three students he had planned to take in.
He finally had some free time to check on the situation, and what he saw shocked him.
This guy actually managed to develop some skill.
Inside the martial arts academy, Lin Hui looked at Fan Lingxi among the students, remaining outwardly calm but inwardly feeling a strange sense of unease.
The Qingfeng Sword Technique was still the same sword technique, but the feeling that Fan Lingxi had practiced it had a strange and distorted quality.
Standing in front of the student formation, Lin Hui stared at Fan Lingxi, watching her wield her longsword with practiced precision.
But what he was really looking at wasn't the person practicing swordsmanship, but a distorted blue-purple vortex floating less than a meter behind Fan Lingxi in mid-air.
There was a faint sense of familiarity emanating from the vortex.
Lin Hui immediately recalled the polluting force he had encountered before when he was in extreme cold.
How did Fan Lingxi get involved with extreme cold weather?
He had no way of knowing this, but judging from the behavior of the people around him, it seemed that no one could sense what was hidden within him.
Lin Hui didn't believe that only Tu Yue had a teleportation portal to the extreme cold; Hei Yun must have one too.
'Forget it, whatever, I no longer need Fan Lingxi's connections and background. I'll just treat her as a normal disciple and teach her. What secrets she holds are none of my business.'
Composing himself, Lin Hui instructed his students while simultaneously organizing the second level of the Saint of Annihilation's cultivation.
The Saint Form of Annihilation is the result of cultivating the second level, Ming Er, of the Star Breath Sword Manual.
To cultivate, one must first kill ninety-nine different races of life.
Logically, this requirement should be easy to meet; it can be accomplished simply by killing ninety-nine different creatures.
If you just randomly bombard a large area in the wild, you might be able to collect ninety-nine species.
But Lin Hui needed to consider the same problem as with the Saint of Life form: would the strength of the life forms killed affect the final Saint of Annihilation form's power?
Judging from the memories he received, the answer seems to be yes.
'It seems that every life that must be killed must be carefully selected.'
Lin Hui reached out unconsciously and grabbed a wisp of invisible air in his hand.
This is not ordinary airflow; it is pure oxygen that he extracted and isolated from the air.
Since successfully condensing the Saint of Life form, he can now freely manipulate all air currents within a one-kilometer radius.
In order to hone this ability, he applied it to high-speed battles against the Mistmen.
Lin Hui also began practicing single-component gas extraction every day.
Pure oxygen can significantly increase the combustion speed and power, and also increase the reaction speed of dust explosions.
It can certainly be used to enhance combat capabilities at certain times.
Just as he was pondering where to begin his training in the Saint of Annihilation form, a pale blue wind chime slowly materialized on his shoulder. The palm-sized chime swayed, producing a crisp sound, and then a voice that only Lin Hui could hear emanated from it.
“Master, after the effects of the True Body spread, many people came seeking to join the Dao. We had politely declined those who came before, but this time someone has come, and we don’t know what to do. Do you think we should come and see for ourselves before making a decision?” Su Yaping said.
"Who?" Lin Hui frowned slightly.
"A fog-man who calls himself Pang Jiu."
None of the three city lords have made up their minds to enter the Dao. They say they are considering it, but there is still no news. They have probably given up.
At this time, a fog-man suddenly appears, saying he wants to join the Qingfeng Dao? This seems more like a guy the three city lords found to test his abilities.
"Invite him to meet in the sea outside Red Stone Beach." The Mistmen are the highest class in this world. It would be a great thing if a Mistman could join the Clear Wind Path, but if this Mistman has other intentions, then it might not be so good.
“Yes, that’s right. This mistman was injured. He said that most of his evil mist had been devoured, and now only a little is left to maintain his basic existence. His strength is far inferior to that of an ordinary mistman, which may be the key reason why he was willing to come and try.” Su Yaping analyzed.
"No rush, let me take a look first," Lin Hui said calmly.
“There’s another piece of news, about Tu Yue,” Su Yaping said.
"explain."
"Yes, Tu Yue has recently experienced a large-scale upheaval. The Gate of Purgatory has been the site of numerous large-scale battles, ultimately failing to close. Tu Yue and Xie Jun, the two Mist People, were forced to retreat to Xingdao. A large portion of Tu Yue's population has also retreated to Xingdao city. The three Mist People are working together to resist the pollution and alienation caused by the Gate of Purgatory."
Purgatory
Unexpectedly, the first place to fall was Purgatory.
Lin Hui sighed inwardly. Even a city lord like Tu Yue, a Wuren, was forced to abandon the city and retreat to Xingdaoheliu to defend it. This showed that the situation there must have been extremely bad.
"Any news from anyone else?"
"Yes, the Qingfeng Dao disciples over there have already used the Baihai Merchant Alliance's fleet to head this way. Also..." Su Yaping paused here.
"Tell me everything else, including any other news," Lin Hui said impatiently.
"It was your disciple, Tao Xuehai, who died in battle under the siege of Tu Yue's Black Army. His son, Tao Changsheng, is now on the ship coming to Heiyun."
Lin Hui was taken aback.
Tao Xuehai is dead?
A sense of bewilderment suddenly flashed through his mind.
A familiar person is gone just like that, just like my old friend Xue Meng.
He died just like that.
He remembered that the last time he saw Tao Xuehai, he had promised to take care of his son Tao Changsheng, and it seemed like only a short time had passed.
And now.
"Master Dao, are you alright?" Su Yaping asked cautiously.
"It's nothing. It's just a little regrettable." Lin Hui's right hand unconsciously gripped the hilt of the Ruyi sword at his waist.
Tu Yue, he made a mental note of this debt.
"But aside from that, there is some good news." Su Yaping changed the subject, "Senior Sister Xia Si is about to break through the Gale Sword Technique, what do you think?"
After the Gale Sword Technique, the disciples within the sect had only heard of the Typhoon Sword Technique, but none of them had actually practiced it.
Because most of them haven't even finished practicing the Gale Sword Technique, and most of them don't even have the qualifications to practice it.
Not to mention typhoons.
Xia Si, however, was an exception.
After receiving the Zhengde Dharma Seal from Lin Hui without discrimination, Xia Si's already exaggerated cultivation speed reached a new level. The Zhengde Dharma Seal accelerated the effect of comprehension cultivation by fifty percent, allowing Xia Si to begin a period of rapid progress.
Now, he has even mastered the Gale Sword Technique.
"Just let her come over when she has time." Lin Hui was generous in passing on the rest of the sword techniques. The Typhoon Sword Technique was far more difficult than the Gale Sword Technique, and he wasn't sure if Xia Si could master it, since she didn't have a blood seal to directly infuse her cultivation memories.
"Yes." Xia Si's voice rang out directly from the wind chimes.
For some reason, Xia Si's voice seemed different from before, as if her mood had become somewhat low.
Lin Hui didn't ask why; he figured he'd find out when he met the person later.
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Dark clouds overhead.
Above the sea of mist, the chariot pulled by the ghost-faced dragon soared through the clouds, bathed in golden sunlight.
The car did not go directly to the three floating mountain peaks, but stopped a few kilometers away from them.
The beaded chain in the carriage automatically separated.
Song Feishi put down her pipe, stood up gracefully, and walked out of the carriage step by step.
"Sisi, wait for me nearby. Once we've caught the person, head back immediately," she casually instructed.
"Yes, ma'am," Sisi, who was driving, replied with her head bowed.
Song Feishi tied up her long, flowing black hair with one hand and leaned down to look at the sea of fog below.
Her eyes glowed with a pure golden light, as if they could see through the thick sea of fog and onto the landscape below.
Soon, her eyes lit up, and she was about to fly in that direction.
Swish!
Suddenly, a burly figure appeared in front of her.
The figure had an ordinary appearance, a square face, short and messy hair, and wore a black bodysuit that barely covered his vitals. Beneath the armor were strong, brown muscles covered with various black markings.
What is most eye-catching is the large, black, burning sword that this person is carrying on his back.
The longsword resembled a blade entirely composed of pitch-black flames, constantly distorting the surrounding void.
"Fourth Prince, this is not your Shiying City. Have you thought about the consequences if you want to harm my people?" The burly man smiled and spoke in a rather lazy tone.
But the contents of the document made Song Feishi's eyes narrow.
(End of this chapter)