Chapter 278
278 Anning 2
Chapter 278 278 Anning II
"Master, a special infectious disease called 'Aphasia' has appeared in the martial arts academy where Xiao Liu is studying. According to our investigation, we suspect that an organization called the Mingxin Society is secretly spreading it. What do you think?" Suddenly, Li Yuanyuan's voice entered Lin Hui's ears through the wind chimes.
"Mingxin Society? What's its background?" Lin Hui withdrew his gaze and closed his eyes slightly.
"I don't know. This organization is extremely mysterious, and it has directly targeted the marginal members of the three major original blood families. This has already aroused the vigilance of the original blood families, and the investigation has already begun," Li Yuanyuan replied.
"Directly targeting the three major original blood families?" Lin Hui was taken aback. This was quite audacious; clearly, the Mingxin Society had considerable backing.
After all, who would believe someone who dares to head straight for the original blood families under the three city lords as soon as they appear doesn't have some background or strength?
"Lord Dao, how should we respond?" Li Yuanyuan asked softly.
"Ignore them, as long as they don't affect us." He likes these mysterious forces that pop up all the time.
Just like the Duke of Purgatory and the Queen of Extreme Cold back then, they fought fiercely with the Federation for five years. The fact that the guy became stronger the more he was injured caused many powerful Mist People in the past to suffer.
Fortunately, he couldn't kill the Fog People, and the Fog People couldn't kill him either. After more than three years of fierce fighting, the two sides finally decided to give most of the Tu Yue region to the spheres of influence of Purgatory and Extreme Cold.
The Federation was initially unwilling to accept this decision, but after suffering more than ten defeats in a row, with each of the Fog People being blown up dozens of times, they had no choice but to announce it.
Of course, those who could be easily mobilized by the inner court to fight were just ordinary people of average strength. The truly powerful ones, like top city lords such as Xie Chang'an, were simply obedient to orders but not to commands.
The inner court has suffered many humiliating losses and would not invite trouble by mobilizing a fog warrior of Xie Chang'an's caliber to fight.
Duke of Purgatory seemed to know his limits, stopping short of taking action. After occupying these territories, he surprisingly changed Purgatory's usual aggressive style and simply remained still.
Meanwhile, the Frozen Heaven continued its rapid expansion in another direction, soon clashing with the Hongyin Empire. The battle raged for four years, resulting in mutual destruction. The Frozen Heaven Queen was ultimately defeated by three Mist People dispatched by Hongyin, forcing her to resurrect from the Frozen Heaven. Her remaining monsters fled in disarray back to the Sealed Gate. The territory she had occupied was completely annexed by the Hongyin Empire.
The Hongyin Empire also suffered considerable losses; it is said that two Mist People were also slowly worn down to death by the Queen's power before she left.
This series of battles made the news of Lin Hui's previous encounter with the Duke of Purgatory seem unremarkable.
Regaining his composure, Lin Hui pondered for a moment.
"How's Xia Si doing lately?"
“Her strength has improved again. At a gathering half a month ago, she had a verbal altercation with Elder Su Yaping, and the two fought at sea. Elder Su seemed to have been injured when they returned. Now, apart from you, I'm afraid no one can control Senior Sister Xia,” Li Yuanyuan explained.
"Interesting. Even Su Yaping is no match for him now?" Lin Hui became somewhat interested.
It's important to know that Su Yaping is not at the same level as she was five years ago. In the past five years, with the blessing of the Dharma Seal, everyone in Qingfeng Dao has made great progress. Su Yaping already had a very high foundation, and now her strength far surpasses what she was back then. Blood Ancestors like Han Sanmian probably wouldn't last long in front of her now. However, because Blood Ancestors have extremely strong regenerative abilities, Lin Hui cannot predict the outcome of a prolonged battle.
The only thing he was certain of was that Su Yaping's aura was stronger than Han Sanmian's back then. As for her exact limits, that would only be known after they fought.
After all, many insights, secret techniques, and relics can provide an incalculable level of improvement.
"Master, I don't understand why you would allow Senior Sister Xia to stay in the sect and absorb the essence of my Qingfeng Dao to strengthen herself, even though you know she harbors rebellious intentions? Isn't this harmful to you?" Li Yuanyuan couldn't help but ask, puzzled.
"It is precisely because she still considers herself a part of Qingfengdao that I tolerate and accept her," Lin Hui replied with a smile.
Li Yuanyuan paused slightly, seemingly lost in thought.
"Alright, go back and rest," Lin Hui instructed.
"I am already taking a bath and am drying myself now. Does the Daoist Master need me to come and serve him in bed?" Li Yuanyuan replied solemnly.
“...One by one…” Lin Hui was speechless and turned off the wind chime.
Five years have passed, and there has been no news from Liu Xiao, causing the disciples, followers, and subordinates around him to start trying all sorts of strange and inappropriate ways to seduce him.
It's almost instinctive for people in this world to attach themselves to the strong, and many even take pride in it. So Liu Xiao not only didn't reject it, but even deliberately gave him opportunities.
When Lin Hui and Gongsun Xinlian chatted, they often fell silent.
Because Gongsun Xinlian was in the same situation, exactly like him. In fact, she was even more outrageous, surrounded by a plethora of handsome men of all styles.
Because this person is the city lord, and has been single for thousands of years.
What's even more terrifying lately is that, due to the lack of progress, some forces have come to suspect that the Third City Lord may have some unusual sexual fetish. In recent years, they have started sending some imposing beasts and monsters with well-developed genitals to her side, whether there's a reason or not.
This made Lin Hui feel a sense of shared misfortune towards him.
While Lin Hui was still worrying about daily trivial matters.
The Crystal Sea, tens of thousands of miles away from Qingfeng Taoist Academy.
An endless ocean composed of countless tiny white crystals ripples gently in the breeze.
The high temperatures, exceeding 300 rings (over 1000 degrees Celsius), meant that no passing ships dared to linger for long; they had to activate cooling artifact arrays while passing through quickly.
Such a harsh environment has also made this place a free place for many high-level experts to move around at will.
Hundreds of meters above the Crystal Sea, a transparent cyclone carried a slender young woman, who floated and stood upright.
The girl had a simple high ponytail, a curvaceous figure, and wore a simple, pure white, fitted swordsman's outfit. A wide, dark green ribbon around her waist made her already fair skin appear even whiter.
The girl had a beautiful face with clear and defined features, but her eyes were a cold and gloomy silver-gray.
Her beautiful eyes were filled with impatience. Her hand rested on the black longsword at her waist, and she looked down at the turbulent crystal sea below. "Speak quickly if you have something to say, or shut up! What urgent matter requires me to come out in person? Don't you know that if that guy finds out, we'll both be in deep trouble!"
“Miss Xia, please don’t be angry. Do you still remember why you agreed to join us three years ago?” A gentle and refined male face slowly emerged from the countless crystals in the seawater.
The face was entirely composed of white crystals, with dimensions measured in meters. It was clearly formed by some kind of ability or technique, and was not the real body.
"Crystal Island has indeed been a great help to me, allowing me to forge a path I never dared to imagine before. What? Now you have something new to help me become stronger?" Xia Si suddenly became interested. A gray glint flashed in her eyes.
"We've given you everything on the island that could help you. However, we have a new member with us this time, and perhaps he has something you need," the crystalline face whispered.
"Oh? A new member? What's his background? Why are you so arrogant?" Xia Si raised an eyebrow.
"It's quite a coincidence, that person's name has the same surname as yours," the crystalline face replied gently.
"Speak," Xia Si said impatiently.
"Her name is Xia Ziyi, and she is said to have come from Biqiu, the royal city of the inner court."
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Three more days have passed in the blink of an eye.
Lin Xiaoliu went to school as usual and spent her days playing and practicing with her best friend Xu Yaya. She thought everything would return to normal and peaceful.
However, on the afternoon of the third day, when she and Xu Yaya walked out of the school gate together, they unexpectedly saw the purple-robed man they had seen before.
It's the same mangrove forest as last time.
This time, the man in the purple robe was smiling and talking to another short-haired boy.
What struck Lin Xiaoliu as particularly special was the unique aura of the short-haired boy. He had a slightly pale complexion, appeared to be around thirteen or fourteen years old, and had a faint red vertical line between his eyebrows.
She recognized him; he was Song Yunhui from Class 9. He was said to be an orphan, raised by his mother alone.
"What's wrong, Xiao Liu?" Xu Yaya, who was standing next to her, noticed that her friend had suddenly stopped and looked at her curiously.
"Can't you see it? Over there." Lin Xiaoliu gestured with her lips toward the mangrove forest.
Following her directions, Xu Yaya looked in that direction, but there was nothing in the mangrove forest.
"There's nothing there? What's wrong?"
Lin Xiaoliu fell silent for a moment. She immediately guessed that it was her damned super-strong senses that had worked again.
Just like every time she met her third brother, the feeling she had was not one of happiness and joy, but rather one of fear and repression.
Her third brother, whose aura was as vast as the sky, was the person she least wanted to get close to until now.
Each time you get close, your body will randomly experience various specific reactions such as twitching, fear, trembling, and pain.
Now, she glanced at the groups of teachers and students passing by, and not a single one of them seemed as drawn to the two people in the mangroves as she was.
Some people even passed by the two people less than ten meters away from the mangroves, acting as if they hadn't seen them at all, chatting and laughing as they left.
This eerie scene sent a chill down her spine.
"It's nothing, let's go." With unease in her heart, Lin Xiaoliu pulled her friend along and continued walking towards home.
But after walking a few steps, she couldn't help but turn back and quickly glance at the mangrove forest.
That one glance made Lin Xiaoliu freeze in place.
"What's wrong with Xiaoliu?" Xu Yaya asked again, puzzled.
puff.
The next moment, she saw Lin Xiaoliu suddenly break free from her hand and rush towards the mangrove forest at full speed.
"stop!!"
Lin Xiaoliu's voice echoed around like a pebble thrown into a lake, drawing the attention of everyone nearby.
In the mangrove forest, the purple-robed man's right hand was almost touching Song Yunhui's forehead when he was startled by the shout.
Turning back, he glanced at Lin Xiaoliu and the other person who were running towards him at top speed, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes.
Immediately, he withdrew his hand, took a step back as if nothing had happened, and his figure vanished silently like smoke.
Song Yunhui was left lying limply on the ground, unconscious.
(End of this chapter)