Chapter 277
277 Anning 1
Chapter 277 277 An Ning I
At the end of 3794, the invasion of the extreme cold of Purgatory caused quite a stir in the Black Cloud after Lin Hui's return.
At the same time, the message was relayed to Biqiu, the royal capital of the Federal Inner Court.
The inner court was furious and began mobilizing large numbers of Black Army troops from various districts, while streams of fog-shrouded figures were continuously driven out of the inner court.
As a result, the Hongyin Empire suspended its small-scale skirmishes with Taisu and simultaneously dispatched troops to launch probing attacks on the nearby extremely cold and polluted areas.
The Mist Gods near the dark clouds shrank even further. It was as if the previous battle had completely exhausted all their accumulated power, and they were now entering a period of rest and recuperation.
Under such circumstances, Lin Hui used up all the aphrodisiacs he could get his hands on and quickly, despite the drug resistance, shortened the evolution time of the Blood Seal from two hundred years to 114 years, reducing it by nearly half. As a result, he almost wiped out all the high-end aphrodisiacs on the market that were effective against him.
If we want more, we'll have to wait for the new harvest cycle, or for the transport fleet to increase its purchasing scale.
Left with no other choice, Lin Hui could only cultivate in seclusion and comprehend the Saint Form of Annihilation. As time went by, his achievements in Tu Yue were gradually overshadowed by the new battle reports from the distant Purgatory Extreme Cold Heaven and the Federation army.
One after another, even more sensational news stories than his were continuously broadcast to various cities through the Federation's special publications, and then widely publicized by the Black Cloud Propaganda Department, attracting the attention of everyone from the city lord to the common people.
And so he finally returned to the peaceful life he had always dreamed of.
Five years later.
The Thirteenth Branch of Tai Su Martial Arts Academy.
"Hurry, Xiaoliu, hurry up! If you're too slow, you'll miss it! We finally managed to time it perfectly!"
Amidst the crowded throng of students leaving the martial arts academy, Lin Xiaoliu was pulled along by her best friend Xu Yaya as they raced towards the outer city gate, employing the newly learned Mysterious Footwork technique.
Xu Yaya is round and chubby. Because of her cultivation technique, she has gained weight and looks like a little brown bear, so she is nicknamed "Bear Girl" in her class.
Behind her, Lin Xiaoliu's figure was beginning to take shape. At only ten years old, she had already grown to be about the same size as other children of thirteen or fourteen. She had fair skin, an innocent look, and a pair of large, watery eyes that always looked like a pitiful rabbit about to close its eyes and scream at any moment.
It was precisely because of this that the tomboyish Xu Yaya always liked to stand in front of her and act as a boy to protect her.
"But... I'm already very fast, but my footwork isn't as good as yours. Slow down, please." Lin Xiaoliu was already panting from exhaustion.
The Thirteenth Branch is a well-known large compound in the inner city. The area of the compound alone is so large that it would take more than an hour to run from one end to the other.
The two had already been training and practicing for a long time, which had greatly reduced their physical strength. Now, with the sprinting all the way, Lin Xiaoliu was finding it hard to keep up.
"This is the last event of the Lantern Festival. If we're any slower, we'll really miss it. We need to make sure we get home before dark! Hurry up!" Xu Yaya was extremely anxious.
Lin Xiaoliu's little hand ached from being pulled so hard, and she was feeling a bit helpless when suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a corner in the distance.
There was a small, shaded grove of red trees on the right side of the martial arts academy. Under the shade of the trees, a male classmate who had taken large classes with him was angrily talking to a tall man wearing an elaborate purple robe.
Lin Xiaoliu frowned slightly, her gaze unconsciously shifting from the boy to the man in the purple robe.
As she grew older, her various talents gradually became apparent in the Black Cloud Inner City. Her martial arts talent was average, as was her Summoner talent. Apart from her strong perception, she didn't have any other advantages in the class. Even her looks and figure were only average.
After all, this is the inner city martial arts academy, completely different from the outer city. In the outer city, she was considered to have very good aptitude, but here, young men and women of similar talent could be found everywhere. The same goes for her looks and figure.
But it is precisely because of this that she has worked hard to develop her strengths and made her perception even more acute.
Upon seeing the man in purple robes, she felt an involuntary sense of unease.
"Don't get distracted, we're getting on the carriage!" Xu Yaya's voice interrupted her from her reverie.
"Ah, oh!" Before Lin Xiaoliu could react, she was pulled into the giant black car that had stopped on the road outside.
After some effort, the two successfully saw the sea lantern festival on the beach and bought some seafood and dried meat, which they ate on their way home.
Inside the Lin residence, while everyone was eating together, the adults chatted as usual about some interesting news circulating in the city recently.
When the older men get together, they always like to talk about the battle reports from the front lines of Purgatory and Extreme Cold, and analyze the battle situation.
The older women would discuss new clothing styles, armor designs, and which brand of weaponry had the best-looking designs.
For some reason, Lin Xiaoliu would always unconsciously recall the purple-robed man she saw after school.
Nothing happened that night. The next morning, she took a carriage to school. As soon as she entered the classroom, she heard her classmates talking in hushed tones, most of them looking somewhat nervous.
"Xiao Liu, something terrible happened last night!" At this moment, Xu Yaya approached from a corner and pulled her aside, whispering.
"What important matter?"
“A boy in our grade suddenly fell into a coma yesterday and we couldn’t wake him up no matter what we did. According to the pharmacist we called, it seems he has a disease called aphasia!” Xu Yaya said mysteriously.
"Aphasia? Who got it?" For some reason, the image of the purple-robed man she had seen yesterday flashed through Lin Xiaoliu's mind.
"It's Zhang Jingfei from Class One!"
"It's him?" Lin Xiaoliu was stunned. Wasn't this the name of the boy she saw under the mangrove trees last night?
Her brows furrowed slightly involuntarily, sensing that something was amiss.
But after thinking about it carefully, she couldn't figure out what was wrong. She had only heard of Zhang Jingfei's name. After all, the Zhang family was one of the three major families in the inner city. Even if he was just a member of a marginal bloodline, he was still a member of a top family. There were several people like him in her class. Everyone was warned as soon as they entered school not to provoke him.
"It's said that this disease is contagious, and the college has already started arranging unified testing," Xu Yaya said in a low voice.
Lin Xiaoliu nodded slightly and said nothing more, though she still felt somewhat uneasy.
*
*
Qingfeng Taoist Temple.
Lin Hui sat cross-legged in the courtyard, looking up at the slowly flowing night mist through the transparent crystal-reinforced skylight.
In the night fog, occasionally, pale white figures with contorted limbs would silently press their faces tightly against the sky, peering inside.
These humanoid figures had contorted expressions of pain, were naked, and had no male or female characteristics. They were like primordial beings in a state of undifferentiated chaos, with empty and dark eyes.
"Ahui, it's so late, why aren't you resting yet?" Liu Xiao, wearing an outer robe, walked out of the bedroom and came to his side to ask softly.
"I couldn't sleep, so I came out to check out the night fog." Lin Hui smiled, gently put his arm around Liu Xiao's waist, and made her sit down next to him.
How's work lately?
"It's alright. There isn't much work at the Wishing Hall in Amamiya. We mainly receive ordinary people who come to pray for blessings or confide in us," Liu Xiao said simply.
"Speaking of which, I've never been able to figure out what god the Rain Palace worships. Could it be some powerful mist god?" Lin Hui still remembered the eight-armed, faceless statue he saw when he first entered the Rain Palace.
The statue was faceless, and its eight-armed form was somewhat similar to the Mingji form in his memory.
“Of course it’s not the Mist God.” Liu Xiao smiled and explained, “The Amamiya Divine Codex records the origin of everything in this world, including the Evil Weapon Insect Codex and everything else, all of which originate from a being called Xiao. Compared to the Mist God, this one has never shown himself, and no one knows if he really exists. However, everyone believes that Xiao represents hope, and when he appears, all dangers and difficulties will be resolved.”
“That’s true. In this hopeless world, hope is what everyone wants.” Lin Hui nodded.
He gazed at the night mist above, gently stroking Liu Xiao's waist. This was the life he had always loved.
Peaceful and serene, he spends his days cultivating and exploring martial arts, collecting old and new medicinal herbs, and teaching his disciples and younger generations. In the evenings, he enjoys various forms of entertainment with Liu Xiao.
Everything was so beautiful.
Aside from Liu Xiao, who seems to be getting weaker and weaker lately, I don't know why.
Her complexion started to worsen, and she seemed to lose her energy. She was constantly feeling sleepy.
Another thing is that, for five years, they have shown no signs of getting pregnant.
He had grasped some of the insights into the Saint of Death form, and the enhancement of the Saint of Life form was nearing its end. His overall physical attributes had been greatly enhanced once again, to the point that even standing still, the abilities of a Grand Priest were completely ineffective against him, whether it was a physical attack or a mental attack. Without activating the surrounding wind, Lin Hui's physical strength had reached an extremely terrifying level. His strength, defense, recovery, and resistance were all more than ten times what they were five years ago.
He named this change the Holy Breath Body, the Star Breath Sword Codex Body caused by the Holy Form, or simply the Holy Breath Body.
Then this is used as an advanced version of the Qingyuan Dharma Body.
Despite a significant increase in strength, the issue of reproduction seems even more difficult than either of these, and there's still no clue how to resolve it.
"Let's not talk about that. Speaking of which, some strange infectious diseases have recently appeared in the city. Tell the people from Qingfeng Road to avoid going to crowded places unless necessary, to prevent them from being infected. The specific transmission mechanism is still unclear," Liu Xiao reminded them.
"Yes, thanks for reminding me." Lin Hui nodded.
"A verbal reminder to me not to!" Liu Xiaomei's eyes flickered, a hint of allure in her smile.
"You," Lin Hui said helplessly, reaching out and gently pointing forward.
The moment his fingertips touched Liu Xiao's arm, a strong, tingling sensation spread throughout his body, as if he had been electrocuted.
The next second, Liu Xiao let out a soft moan of pleasure, turned around and ran away.
"You cheated again!!" she shouted, then stormed into the bedroom and disappeared.
"Both bad at the game and love to play." Lin Hui shook his head speechlessly. He glanced at the blood seal.
The Eye of Life has 50 years left. This is the result of his efforts over the past five years in collecting various resources and medicines and accelerating the process.
'It'll be soon, it'll be soon.'
Everything seemed perfect and peaceful. But recently, Xia Si appeared to be secretly plotting something unsettling.
Since awakening her memories, Xia Si has become a completely different person, or rather, she has not become a different person, but rather has reverted to her original true nature.
According to the verification of the seal, she still acknowledges her identity as a disciple of Qingfeng Dao, but she still covets Lin Hui's position as sect leader and harbors rebellious thoughts at any time.
Especially since this guy recently broke through again. Without learning the Typhoon Sword Technique, he actually pushed and strengthened the Gale Sword Technique to a level that Lin Hui could never have imagined.
Having combined that immense, limitless power capable of turning everything to ashes, Lin Hui was currently unsure of the true extent of Xia Si's strength.
Once one is tainted by this kind of polluting power, then the specific level of cultivation loses its precise measurement meaning.
Because most polluting forces have the characteristic of being extremely powerful and rapidly increasing in intensity.
However, with the four great seal techniques at his disposal and the Nine-Eyed Seal stacked on top of them, Lin Hui believed he could easily suppress Xia Si.
(End of this chapter)