The sword tip was steady, not harming the black ant in the slightest. At that same moment, a wisp of transparent airflow, identical to the one from before, shot out from Lin Hui's finger. It instantly traveled along the blade, plunging into the black ant's back from the very tip.
CLICK.
The black ant went still again.
After one second, it scrambled away in terror.
'Huh? This works too?' Surprised, Lin Hui once again pointed his sword at a black beetle nearby.
The beetle raised its huge pincers, about to resist, but froze the instant the sword tip touched it.
A second later, it turned in fright and fled, disappearing into the grass.
'It even works through a weapon... That greatly expands its applications. Even though it only lasts a second, as long as I touch them, one second is enough for even the weakest disciple of Qingfeng Temple to make two moves! That's enough to decide a fight!'
Lin Hui was overjoyed.
This move, Sealed Array Poison, seemed to paralyze opponents with a toxic gas at its core, but in reality, it was already showing hints of being a supernatural phenomenon.
At least, in his past life combined with this one, he had never heard of a poison gas that could travel through a solid, non-porous metal longsword, and at such a speed.
Overjoyed, Lin Hui tried it several more times, letting all the small insects in the surrounding grass experience what it meant to be frozen still.
Not until more than ten minutes later did he sheathe his sword and leisurely return to the Daoist Temple.
This way, in addition to the Light Body Effect, he now had another hidden finishing move.
Next, he had to consider what to evolve with his Blood Seal. He couldn't let it sit idle and go to waste.
After eating in the dining hall, Lin Hui lay on the bed in his room, deep in thought.
Unconsciously, his thoughts drifted back to the scenes of ordinary, real civilian life he had witnessed while on patrol in town.
The reality of it all was built upon those seemingly fragile, pocket-sized Black Purple Jade Talismans.
'Wait, the Jade Talismans!?'
Lin Hui shot up, his gaze immediately locking onto the jade talisman stone hanging on the back of his door.
'What if I evolve the Jade Talisman?'
He immediately scrambled out of bed and grabbed the purplish-black stone on the back of the door.
'Unknown Jade: Can disperse the night mist and repel mist creatures. A highly specialized creation. Creator unknown. Evolvable Paths: 1.'
Lin Hui quickly opened the evolvable path.
'1—Peace Stone: Can disperse the mist over a large area.
Resources Required: 1 Unknown Jade, 1 drop of insect blood, 20 years of stored stamina.
Time Required: 20 years.'
The moment Lin Hui saw "20 years," he let go of the Jade Talisman, feeling helpless. And that "insect blood"—he had no idea what that was.
'It seems improving my body's overall stamina is the only way to go...'
He sighed and looked out the window. A strange impulse stirred within him.
'Wait, since my true burst of speed now surpasses Senior Brother and the others, why don't I try getting close to the mist myself?'
'If I can touch even a wisp of the mist, maybe I can analyze it with the Blood Seal and get some clues.'
'But before that, I should find someone who's been in the mist and ask them about it.'
As far as Lin Hui knew, at Qingfeng Temple, his Senior Brother, the masters of the Ming Generation, and even the Observatory Master had all entered the mist. The Government Office also organized teams of skilled individuals to explore the mist every year.
The thought excited him. He had just gained the benefits of the Sealing Array from an insect egg. If he could get his hands on more good things, perhaps...
But then he thought about his own rapidly improving Body Tempering grade.
'No rush... no rush. I'll have a much better chance after I've maxed out my Body Tempering, pushed my speed to its limit, improved my standing within the temple, and gathered enough information about the mist.'
Suppressing the impulse, Lin Hui calmed his mind and, holding his Qinghe Sword, began practicing the Nine-Section Swift Sword again.
This time, he didn't hesitate and directly used the Blood Seal to evolve the Nine-Section Swift Sword.
'Nine-Section Swift Sword: An advanced version of the Seven-Section Quick Sword. One of Qingfeng Temple's practical swordsmanship styles. Evolvable Paths: 2.'
This time, instead of evolving it move by move, Lin Hui tried to evolve the entire swordsmanship style at once.
He opened the evolvable paths.
'1—Perfected Nine-Section Swift Sword.'
'2—Qingfeng Swordsmanship.'
The evolution options were just as he had expected. Without hesitation, Lin Hui chose the first one.
The required resources and time immediately popped up.
'Resources Required: 1 metal longsword, nine months of stored stamina.
Time Required: Nine months.'
'It's shorter again!' Lin Hui was overjoyed at the sight.
Previously, each move of the Seven-Section Quick Sword had required fifty days to evolve. Now, with the Nine-Section Swift Sword having nine moves, a nine-month evolution time meant it was down to just one month per move.
'Persistently training my body really is effective!' A deep sense of satisfaction welled up in Lin Hui's heart.
'Many outer court disciples study the Nine-Section Swift Sword for years without ever mastering it. I only need nine months to master it completely—the perfected version, no less. I'm so much stronger than the average outer court disciple. However, geniuses like Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren only took two months to master it. Compared to them, I'm still much slower.'
Lin Hui silently warned himself not to get complacent. He suspected the shortened time might also be because his daily diligent practice had already given him a considerable level of proficiency with the Nine-Section Swift Sword.
Lin Hui quickly confirmed his choice and began the evolution of the new swordsmanship. The Blood Seal on the back of his hand changed from a diamond back into a circle.
Light Body, Sealing, and now the evolution of the Nine-Section Swift Sword. This triple gain made it impossible for him to calm down for a while, so he immediately returned to his room to rest and quiet his mind.
Time passed day by day. The air grew colder, and the weather grew gloomier.
The disappearances in the Outer City continued to occur frequently.
While Lin Hui practiced his swordsmanship in Qingfeng Temple, he unknowingly advanced another grade in Body Tempering, reaching the Third-Grade Level.
This was already approaching Chen Chong's Fourth Grade, as well as the Fourth Grade of Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren. As it turned out, those two geniuses had also broken through recently, reaching the Fourth-Grade level.
However, even though he had improved, no one knew of his progress since there were no sparring competitions or rankings for the time being.
The disappearances in the Outer City, however, made him a little worried, so he took two days off to go home and visit his parents.
*
*
*
「Xinyu Town — The Shunhe Family Home」
"Dad, Mom, I'm back."
Lin Hui pushed open the courtyard gate and saw Yao Shan gathering clothes in the yard. He quickly went over to help.
"What are you doing back!? Your break hasn't started yet, has it?" Yao Shan was startled to see him.
"I just wanted to come home and see you all," Lin Hui replied casually. "Where's Dad?"
"He's out watching the shop. We opened a small grocery store now. We mostly sell wild game, grains, oils, and miscellaneous goods. The income is pretty good." Yao Shan smiled as she said this.
"Come on, let's go take a look." Lin Hui glanced at the sky, already pulling his mother toward the gate.
Unable to refuse him, Yao Shan had no choice but to put down what she was doing and lead the way to the little shop.
The two of them talked as they walked.
"You know, we've had a lot of help recently from that guy from the Mu Hua Bang. He and his sister are always hanging around our shop, and they stopped collecting protection fees. Whenever there's a little trouble, they even step in to solve it. If you see them, remember to thank them," Yao Shan instructed.
"Okay, I will. By the way, Mom, have you heard about the disappearances everyone's been talking about lately?" Lin Hui asked quickly.
"Of course, I have. How could I not? When your father first heard about the first disappearance, his face went pale with fright," Yao Shan sighed. "But he went out later and asked some of his old contacts. He calmed down after that. The truth is, these disappearances happen every year. It's just that we used to live far from here, so we never mentioned it to you. What your father was initially worried about was that this area is near the slums on the outermost ring, which is where the disappearances happen most often."
"They happen every year..." Lin Hui's earlier speculation became clearer in his mind.
Before long, the two made their way into town. Following the rows of small shops along the street, they soon found the little store his father, Lin Shunhe, had opened—the Mountain and River Grocery Store.
The storefront was very small, only wide enough for three people to enter side-by-side. It was only five or six meters deep and crammed full of goods.
Lin Shunhe was sitting on a chair by the entrance, holding a small book and leisurely reading its pages.
Hearing footsteps, he glanced over, thinking it was a customer. But as the figures drew closer, a joyful smile spread across his face.
"Ah Hui, what are you doing back?"
"I missed home, so I came back to visit."
Lin Hui smiled and sat down. After briefly asking his parents how things were, he quickly changed the subject to the disappearances.
"I only managed to find out whether we were safe or not. If you want to know more details, there's an invitation here. You can go check it out." Lin Shunhe got up and pulled a simple, black paper invitation from behind the counter.
"Your older cousin sent it. It's specifically for you."
"My eldest cousin?" Lin Hui was taken aback.
"Of course. Who else but her would remember you?" Lin Shunhe said with a laugh. "She's organized a small gathering herself. She heard you were helping with patrols in town and had entered the outer court of Qingfeng Temple, so she sent this for you too."
"What kind of people are going to this gathering?" Lin Hui asked.
"This is a small get-together your cousin is holding in her own name. The people going are all her close personal friends. The fact that she's letting you go too probably means she wants to give you a leg up. If you want to find out more information, she's in the Shayue Sect and has now received the Summoning. She's a very sought-after figure in these parts. Any friends she's willing to acknowledge will definitely be of great benefit to you. If you can befriend one or two of them, it would be a huge boon!" Lin Shunhe said seriously. "I was originally going to deliver this to you at the temple in a couple of days, but since you've come back, you might as well take it and go yourself."
"Are you saying the disappearances are related to the Inner City? So my cousin might know something?" Lin Hui asked thoughtfully.
"I didn't say that, it's just a guess. In any case, you and Hongzhen have a good relationship. She's clearly trying to help you out, so don't let her good intentions go to waste," Lin Shunhe reminded him.
"I know, Dad." Lin Hui picked up the invitation. A line of small text was written on it: *Cyan Ink Tower, Heaven and Earth Private Room. January 11th, 10 AM. Your presence is requested.*
"Also, I heard that Lin Hongyu from the Zong Family is getting engaged to a scion of the Chen Family. They're making a big, festive deal out of it. Someone even came to invite us, but I turned them down." When Lin Shunhe mentioned Lin Hongyu, his tone immediately cooled.
"Engaged?" Lin Hui chuckled but said nothing more, simply tucking the invitation into his robes.