The Decaying World

Chapter 195: Chapter 185: Original Blood 1

"Speaking of which, I got another assignment recently. That new Profound Eagle Sect has been stirring up trouble and seeking revenge, slaughtering several small and mid-sized families in the Inner City. It got to the point where even the Black Army was alerted. The Peacekeeping Army couldn’t handle it, so the Black Army has started to take over. The night before last, they finally cornered that woman, Xue Ying, in the Central District. The Sect Leaders of the Three Sects led the team, and an expert at the Blood Ancestor Level—a rank above Palace Master—personally took action. With the help of a Relic Array from Extreme Desire Heaven, they finally managed to cripple her." Hong Ling drained his tea and started to chat casually.

"I led a team to guard the perimeter and watched the battle inside shake the very earth. The small lake that used to be there was completely vaporized, leaving a crater hundreds of meters deep. You should have seen it. The dead of night was lit up as bright as day—it was insane. The sky was filled with the glowing red, fleshy vines of the Wheel of Longevity, just like the sun at dusk."

"That scene sounds unbelievable," Lin Hui said, captivated, as he poured him another cup.

"Of course. Above the Three Sects Supreme is our Original Blood’s Blood Ancestor Level, which is considered a realm of its own. There are fewer than ten of those titans in all of the Original Blood, and they’re never disturbed by ordinary matters. The main issue was that not long ago, while wiping out a family, Xue Ying accidentally killed one of this titan’s Original Blood granddaughters... And that’s when he got furious. He immediately deployed a sealed set of relics to locate, capture, and intercept her—all in one smooth operation. He crippled Xue Ying within a week." As Hong Ling spoke, he couldn’t help but puff out his chest with pride, as if even a mere underling like him shared in the glory when speaking of the Original Blood’s Blood Ancestor titans.

Lin Hui listened, feeling a sense of wonder. He had never even witnessed the power of a Palace Master, let alone anything beyond. Although he had crossed paths with a Vice Palace Master of the Rain Palace in Xingdiao City, they had never truly fought.

And that was only a Vice Palace Master.

’Above the Palace Masters, according to what Hong Ling was saying, there’s still the Blood Ancestor tier of the Original Blood Nobility. I can’t even imagine what kind of level that is...’

But hearing that something had happened to Xue Ying, he couldn’t help but think of Tao Xuehai, the disciple who had joined her ranks. ’If the Profound Eagle Sect is in trouble, then Tao Xuehai...’

At this thought, a flicker of worry crossed Lin Hui’s eyes.

Although they hadn’t known each other long, he had grown genuinely fond of the boy, Tao Xuehai, and didn’t want to see him come to any harm.

*

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*

「Fog Area. Inside a deep, underground palace.」

Ning Xiang slowly opened up a relatively stable, circular cavity.

Inside the cavity, a group of people surrounded a woman in a blue robe, their expressions filled with sorrow.

The woman’s chest was caved in, her face etched with sorrow, her vacant eyes staring out at the swirling fog beyond the clearing.

A faint blue light flickered in the depths of her eyes, as if a vast, unknown energy still surged within her.

But everyone knew this was an illusion.

A distinct aura of decay was emanating from the woman.

It was a faint scent, tinged with rot and blood.

This scent told everyone that their Sect Leader, Xue Ying of the Profound Eagle Sect, was walking the final steps of her path.

"All my life, I’ve devoted myself to centuries of bitter cultivation to avenge a great wrong, yet I never expected to fall because of a simple accident."

Xue Ying tilted her head slightly, looking at the three people standing closest to her.

"I’m not going to make it," freewebnøvel.com

she said quietly.

"After I’m gone, the relic, the Heavenly Heart Chain, will be inherited by Xie Xinlan. The God-Serving Spear goes to Chen Ji, and the Origin Dragon Shield to Shangguan Zi’Er."

After bequeathing the three most important relic sets, her gaze shifted, landing on the few people standing behind the trio.

These were the ones who had risked life and limb to save her, fighting desperately to intercept their pursuers.

"Zhao Lingguan, Feng Zhu, Tao Xuehai. You are the most talented, have the greatest potential, and are also the most loyal members of my sect. After I am gone, the Profound Eagle Palace shall be jointly managed by the three of you."

The Profound Eagle Palace was her greatest trump card aside from the relic sets, and the true reason she had been able to cultivate to her current realm in just a few hundred years. freёwebnovel.com

It was an extremely special underground palace, incredibly durable, and it possessed a formidable ability: it could absorb mysterious external energies and condense them into a special mark on its master. This mark could greatly amplify the master’s strength and also grant a one-time, complete, full-body recovery.

The injuries these three had sustained were all from trying to save her. Now, two of them were crippled and one’s foundation was completely destroyed. Thus, no one objected to Xue Ying dividing mastery of the Profound Eagle Palace into three parts for them.

"The Profound Eagle Palace can purge all of your latent injuries, but only once. After you use it, you three must work diligently to manage the Profound Eagle Sect well and wait for an opportunity for revenge... Do not... disappoint me..."

Xue Ying slowly closed her eyes and abruptly slapped her own forehead.

BANG!!

With a deafening bang, a blue light like a clap of thunder erupted from her mouth, nose, and ears, striking the six people present like lightning.

At this very moment, the entirety of her Power was being evenly distributed among the six people most loyal to her.

"Sect Leader!!"

Everyone cried out in anguish, falling to their knees.

Tao Xuehai was among them. He did not cry; his eyes were merely resolute. Unlike the others, he hadn’t been with the sect for long. He was receiving this power transmission because his sister had died fighting in the rearguard, and also because his own aptitude and potential were extremely high, marking him as a prime candidate.

Although he was new to the sect, he shared the same hatred as Xue Ying—a hatred for the Inner City Moon Tower of Tuyue.

Therefore, he was actually the one least likely to betray them.

As he felt the violent changes wracking his body, the imitation Evil Soldier integrated within him was forcibly squeezed out by a superior power.

A mysterious, ancient palace located in endless darkness surfaced in his mind.

With the frantic influx of Xue Ying’s centuries of Power, Tao Xuehai’s aura also began to soar.

In the blink of an eye, he broke through the Small Three Harmonies realm and charged toward the Great Three Harmonies.

The essence of the Small and Great Three Harmonies was the trinity of body, mind, and power. After the fusion of these three—body, mind, and external force—one could use that external force to constantly wash over and temper their own body, achieving a state of significant self-reinforcement.

Right now, Xue Ying was using her own Power to forcibly push him into this realm, which was like using an external force to temporarily envelop him and throw him a great distance forward.

If he failed to stabilize this new state, he would soon regress, and the power transmission would be wasted.

But if he managed to stabilize it, he wouldn’t just absorb Xue Ying’s Power; he could advance even further from that foundation, superimposing his own insights and achieving a meteoric rise.

This was why Xue Ying chose to transfer her Power only to those with sufficiently high aptitude and comprehension.

Because if their aptitude and comprehension were lacking, the power transfer would be a useless waste. They wouldn’t be able to retain her Power.

As the power transfer continued.

The auras of the six individuals soared wildly, forcing the other sect members on the periphery to fall back.

Several minutes later.

The six terrifying auras slowly subsided.

Xue Ying’s body, now a desiccated husk, silently crumbled to dust and vanished completely.

Meanwhile, the six were wreathed in arcs of blue electricity. Each of them had been forcibly elevated by an entire realm, and their injuries were completely healed.

"Everyone, from this day forward, the Profound Eagle Sect will be under our joint leadership. In accordance with our Sect Leader’s final wish, we shall be known as the Six Prodigies of Profound Eagle. Let us not fail her!"

The leader of the group, Xie Xinlan, turned around, her voice trembling as tears streamed silently from her beautiful eyes.

"Yes!"

The other five responded in unison, kneeling and kowtowing toward the spot where Xue Ying had vanished.

*

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「November 10th.」

In the end, Lin Hui couldn’t resist Hong Ling’s invitation. Partly to satisfy his own curiosity, he set off with Hong Ling to visit the Moon Tower in the Inner City’s Core Area as a guest.

After some testing, he confirmed that Hong Ling couldn’t detect the Purgatory flames on him, nor could he sense them on the many disciples of Qingfeng Temple.

The influence of Purgatory Transformation was actually not that significant on the other members of Qingfeng Temple. It was far from reaching the level of a full Purgatory Transformation.

Since Hong Ling hadn’t noticed a thing when he visited, Lin Hui now had a rough idea of the level of sensitivity to Purgatory’s power possessed by this Original Blood, a Priest-level expert and a department head in the Inspectorate.

In truth, as long as the true characteristics of Purgatory Transformation didn’t manifest, the contamination was extremely subtle. Outwardly, it just manifested as a slightly shorter temper, a bit more strength, and faster recovery. The latter two could easily be passed off as progress in one’s Martial Arts.

The proof was that he had previously approached the Moon Tower alone, without the suppressing power of the Extreme Cold Heaven, and his Purgatory power hadn’t been detected.

The only uncertainty was whether the Moon Tower had any kind of detection arrays for Purgatory power inside.

But after indirectly questioning Hong Ling, he received a negative answer.

Apparently, in the Inner City’s Core Area, influenced by the atmosphere of the Extreme Desire Heaven, it was common to see people copulating publicly all over the Moon Tower. There had been cases where surveillance arrays were used for voyeurism. After the messy affairs between several major figures were spied on and exposed, the arrays were furiously dismantled and destroyed by the masses. Now, the place was back to its most primitive state.

There were no security checks of any kind. The Original Blood weren’t afraid of troublemakers; with the combined power of Extreme Desire Heaven and the Taixu Origin Disk, anyone who came had to obediently abide by the local rules.

After confirming that there wouldn’t be any problems and that they were only going to the lower and middle-level entertainment and residential areas of the Moon Tower, Lin Hui thought it over and decided to accept the invitation.

And this time, he wouldn’t have to run there on foot.

Hong Ling led him directly to a remote section of the city wall in the Inner City’s Outer Ring.

Here, a hundred meters up from the ground, a square alcove had been carved into the wall.

Inside the alcove were several Moth Cars, temporarily parked under guard.

After they boarded the Hong family’s Moth Car, Hong Ling introduced his sister, Hong Lingxiang, to Lin Hui.

"This is my sister, Lingxiang. She’s definitely older than you, of course, so you can just call her Xiang. She’s currently in charge of liaison duties at the Foreign Affairs Office—basically, she handles all the miscellaneous work related to trade and communication with other city districts," Hong Ling said, enthusiastically introducing the two.

"And this is Observatory Master Lin Hui of Qingfeng Temple, the one I told you about. His sworn brother is the recently famous Commander Liu, Liu Wu Jun. Observatory Master Lin’s own skills are impressive, and his Body Technique is especially swift. Even you might not be able to keep up with him."

Hong Lingxiang nodded, her attitude cold.

"Hello. I have some business to take care of, so I’m going to rest for a bit on the way there. Please, make yourselves comfortable."

"Okay." Lin Hui could tell she didn’t think much of him. ’But then again,’ he thought, ’she’s Original Blood. An innate sense of superiority is only normal.’

Hong Lingxiang was indeed just as the rumors claimed: there were no unattractive people among the Original Blood. She had white hair, white eyebrows, and a delicate face. She looked a bit fierce, but it came across more as an icy, aloof beauty.

Aside from a somewhat lacking figure, her overall proportions were quite harmonious.

"Ah, don’t take it personally," Hong Ling said with a helpless sigh. "My sister had her heart broken before, and now she’s cold and indifferent to everyone. Besides, you have no idea what it’s like. As Original Blood, especially for those of us whose lineage isn’t too diluted, we have to constantly fend off all sorts of treacherous schemes. So many people approach us with ulterior motives, hoping to get their hands on our bloodline or swindle us emotionally. It’s exhausting... sigh..."

Lin Hui thought about it and had to agree. ’It’s true,’ he mused. ’If an ordinary person married an Original Blood and got lucky enough to produce a high-quality Original Blood child, their entire life would instantly be elevated by countless tiers. They’d leap to the very apex of Tuyue society.’

’Faced with such a huge temptation, it was inevitable that countless people would harbor ulterior motives and try to scheme their way into the life of an Original Blood.’

"Hold on tight," Hong Ling said. "You can check out the scenery on the way. You’ve probably never entered the Moon Tower from up high, right? Well, today you’ll get to experience it."

Hong Ling moved to the very front, grabbed one of the moth’s long, slender antennae, and gave it a gentle tug.

"Up."

The Moth Car crawled forward a short distance, then lunged out of the alcove. It beat its wings against the wind, ascending at high speed.

An invisible barrier enveloped the three of them, shielding them from the powerful winds.