Free Web NovelChapter 229: Chapter 218: Invitation 4
"Master, this isn’t just the Profound Eagle Sect acting alone. We wouldn’t be nearly enough by ourselves. But... this time, it’s a joint surprise attack by multiple factions. We discovered a perfect opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime chance... so this is going to be brutal... You must not get caught up in it," Tao Xuehai said in a low voice.
"I have no connection to the Chen Family. You can rest assured on that point." Lin Hui nodded, accepting his apprentice’s good intentions.
"Good. This is the Treasure Medicine I’ve gathered this time. Please accept it, Master." With a sweep of his hand, Tao Xuehai made a long, black stone box appear on the ground.
"Thanks. Once this is over, you should stop. This has gotten too big. How will you get out of it later?" Lin Hui sighed. "I’ve prepared a Secret Medicine for you here. It can restore the lifespan you’ve lost. There’s still hope to fix this."
"A... Secret Medicine!?" A tremor went through Tao Xuehai’s eyes.
He knew exactly how precious a life-extending Secret Medicine was. He never imagined his master would have prepared such an astonishingly valuable, top-tier Treasure Medicine for him....
But he still shook his head.
"Master, my biggest problem isn’t the loss of lifespan. It’s the mutation that comes with it...."
He gently removed his mask, revealing his face.
His once-handsome features were now covered in scars, bloody gashes, and sunken pits.
What unsettled Lin Hui the most was the faint, familiar aura that naturally emanated from Tao Xuehai after he took off the mask.
It was...
"Decay!?" he blurted out, his expression changing drastically.
"Yes.... Master, even if the loss of lifespan could be fixed, I’ve used the Secret Technique for too long. The erosion has gone on for too long. I... I can’t turn back now...."
He was dying.
He could feel his body rapidly decaying and mutating, changing into one of the monsters from the Fog Area.
The more severe the decay, the more terrifyingly his power grew.
The surrounding fog was once what he dreaded most, but now, as long as it was near, he had practically infinite stamina, spirit, and regenerative ability.
"...." Lin Hui felt this aura and was suddenly at a loss for words.
Decay was the one thing he was powerless against.
He had recently tried to use his wind Disaster Power to purge the Decay.
But the decayed and mutated test subjects he had found would instantly explode like bubbles the moment his wind Disaster Power entered them.
The moment the power of Decay and the wind Disaster Power came into contact, they produced an extremely violent reaction.
The two simply cancelled each other out.
They were neutralized.
Lin Hui had originally thought that after the power of Decay was neutralized, the person left behind would recover.
But unfortunately, after several experiments, the result was always the same: the moment the Decay was neutralized, the afflicted person would disintegrate along with it.
His wind Disaster Power was indeed extremely potent.
But the way the power of Decay integrated itself, and its vileness, had also left a deep impression on Lin Hui.
"Master, may I ask a favor of you?" Tao Xuehai spoke again.
"Go on," Lin Hui said gravely.
"My branch of the Tao Family ends with me. So, I made all the necessary arrangements long before this operation was planned." He paused, then continued. "I have a son named Tao Changsheng. If anything should happen to me, I hope you can raise him, Master... Just let him live a quiet, peaceful life as an ordinary person."
"I can...." Lin Hui nodded. "Just bring him to me when the time comes."
"Master, this kindness... I can never repay it...." Tao Xuehai knelt gently and kowtowed to Lin Hui once more.
A light breeze blew past.
The next moment, he vanished with the wind.
Leaving Lin Hui alone, his heart heavy, staring at the spot where the other had vanished, unmoving for a long time.
’Is there really no way to change the outcome of this Decay?’
Returning to Qingfeng Temple, Lin Hui waited for the incident Tao had mentioned to occur.
He didn’t have to wait long. A few days into his cultivation, he felt the ground tremble during breakfast one morning.
He and the others hurried to an open area and looked toward the direction of the tremors.
High up on the great white walls of the Inner City, a massive, scorched-black hole had appeared at some point.
A large amount of debris was still falling from the edges of the hole.
Thick black smoke billowed from within, mixing with the surrounding fog.
"Daoist Master! What do we do now!?" Wang Hongshi and the other top ten core members rushed over and gathered around Lin Hui.
"Pack your bags. Be ready to dismiss the disciples at a moment’s notice. Tell them it’s a three-day holiday," Lin Hui said quickly. Connecting this to Tao Xuehai’s earlier warning, he guessed that the Profound Eagle Sect’s plan against the Chen Family had begun.
He just hadn’t expected the Profound Eagle Sect to cause such a huge commotion.
’The Outer City is becoming more and more unsafe... This is a good opportunity to relocate everyone.’
A thought flashed through Lin Hui’s mind.
’But not all disciples are suited to move to the labyrinth base with me. I can escort them there, but coming back, or even just leaving, is impossible without sufficient strength. The labyrinth base is destined to be a secret, internal outpost for Qingfeng Temple. Only a very few of the strongest disciples will be qualified to come and go. People like Xia Si and Tao Xuehai.’
The others received the order. Although they didn’t understand why seeing a single large hole meant they had to disperse the disciples and go home to pack, out of their long-standing trust in Lin Hui, everyone believed him unconditionally and acted quickly.
Lin Hui also rushed back to the Lin Mansion, where he found his father, Lin Shunhe, and others already packing.
"I was just sending someone to inform you! It’s good you’re here. We can leave together!" A large crowd followed Lin Shunhe, most of whom were various guards and bodyguards. Among them were two whose auras were so strong they had reached the Priest Level.
Lin Hui’s eyelid twitched. He didn’t ask how his old man got the news so quickly, but instead joined everyone in directing the Lin Mansion’s evacuation.
BOOM!!
Just then, more massive explosions erupted from the distant white wall, near the edge of the giant hole.
Tiny figures flitted about near the hole like birds, crashing into one another.
Evidently, the Inner City’s experts were fighting the invaders.
Lin Hui tried to sense the situation carefully to judge the state of the battle, but it was too far away. His perception couldn’t cover that distance, so he had to give up.
Besides the battle at the hole, Lin Hui also sensed familiar auras secretly spreading in the distance, near the South Nine Gates.
’Purgatory?!! How could it be here!??’ His expression faltered. ’I clearly cleansed all the Purgatory Aura myself, didn’t I? How can this be!?’
’No! This aura... it’s completely different from the one I released before. Although it’s also Purgatory Aura, this one is far more tyrannical and chaotic than mine was!’
Sensing the unfamiliarity of that aura, a suspicion suddenly arose in Lin Hui’s heart.
’Could it be...!?’
His figure flickered, and he flew to the top of the Lin Mansion’s tallest tower.
Then he looked out at his surroundings.
As expected, most of the common people around were still unaware of what was happening, looking lost and confused. A few of the larger, wealthier families were also packing, but they were much slower.
At this time, many of the great families that were on good terms with the Lin Mansion had gathered at the gate, discussing plans to evacuate with the Lin Mansion’s caravan.
As for where to evacuate to, there was no consensus yet.
BOOM!
Another tremendous roar came from the Inner City’s white walls in the distance.
This time, he couldn’t see a new hole, only feel the sound and the slight tremor in the ground.
He estimated that another similar hole had been blown in a more distant section of the wall.
Lin Hui instantly understood. The battle here in Xinyu Town was likely just a small corner of the conflict. This attack was on an unprecedented scale.
The Profound Eagle Sect alone certainly couldn’t have managed this.
"Master, please evacuate as soon as possible. The allied forces are also attacking the periphery. I am responsible for some of the defenses here and will have my men go easy on you." At that moment, Tao Xuehai’s voice quietly reached him.
This was an internal sound transmission, a Secret Technique known as Thousand-Mile Line.
The voice was imperceptible, yet it could travel over vast distances.
"Alright!" Lin Hui replied.
The situation was chaotic. For the attackers to act so brazenly, the combat power they had organized must far exceed his imagination.
No matter how strong his hidden power was, he had no desire to shield those disgusting Original Blood Nobility of the Inner City from disaster.
He immediately leaped from the tower and led the people of the Lin Mansion toward the city gates.
Soon, on the outskirts of Xinyu Town, the groups from Qingfeng Temple and the Lin Mansion converged.
Liu Shenglan had also met up with the experts from Rain Palace, sent by Liu Wu Jun from the Inner City, to protect everyone.
They were joined by the other major families from the area who had decided to follow along, forming an even larger procession.
The group now numbered four to five hundred people. They swarmed out of the town in a vast, chaotic throng, like ants rushing toward the Fog Wall of the Fog Area.
「Atop a teahouse in Xinyu Town.」
Tao Xuehai, wearing a black hawk mask, watched from afar as the group from the Lin Mansion and Qingfeng Temple successfully evacuated. Only then did he withdraw his gaze and turn to the man in the pure white mask beside him.
The man was burly, his mask completely blank, a stark white. Standing on the rooftop, he naturally exuded a sharp, heroic aura of absolute self-confidence. His presence was incredibly strong.
"My people have safely evacuated. The envoy may proceed with the next phase of the plan," Tao Xuehai said gravely.
"The Profound Eagle Sect truly lives up to its reputation. They say that among the Six Prodigies, the sixth is the strongest and has the best repute. It seems the rumors were true." The white-masked man smiled. "Don’t forget this favor."
"I won’t," Tao Xuehai said gravely. "Our preliminary mission is complete. What about your follow-up plan?"
"Don’t be hasty. The Gate of Purgatory has been successfully dealt with. The Gate of Extreme Cold is still tied up. With the main forces of Hong Yin making a move this time, we are merely providing support. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us. The chance of success is extremely high," the white-masked man said with a laugh.
He glanced at Tao Xuehai.
Truthfully, he hadn’t wanted to grant him this favor. Evacuating so many people had caused a long delay, and if it jeopardized the entire operation, he would share the blame.
But he couldn’t refuse, because after a simple spar, he had discovered he truly couldn’t defeat the man.
That’s right. He, a High Priest of the Wanhua Sect, couldn’t defeat one of the so-called Six Prodigies from the Profound Eagle Sect, a man who had only risen to prominence a few years ago.
The man’s speed was too great, his power too explosive. His own Void Power couldn’t land a hit, leaving him to take a passive beating.
In less than thirty moves, he had been put at an absolute disadvantage, unable to even catch a glimpse of his opponent’s shadow. He could only concede defeat.
"Hm? It seems some people from my sect are pursuing the group you evacuated," the man said, suddenly noticing something.
Tao Xuehai sensed it too.
The Wanhua Sect was a massive organization with numerous factions and cliques. It had many experts, as the sect was not confined to Tuyue alone.
The action in Tuyue this time was because the local branch of the Wanhua Sect had been brutally suppressed, enraging the main sect.
So they had mobilized experts and allied with several other powers to attack the Tuyue Inner City. This operation was massive. The participants even included top-tier powerhouses from the forefront of the Hongyin Empire, there to deal with the Blood Ancestors of the Inner City Moon Tower.
’Of all the people to chase, they chose my master’s group....’ A cold smirk touched the corners of Tao Xuehai’s mouth. He paid no mind to those who were courting death.
Thanks to the affair with Liu Wu Jun, quite a few people in the Wanhua Sect held a grudge against Lin Hui and Qingfeng Temple. It was only natural that they would give chase.
WHOOO!!
At that moment, in mid-air, a dense swarm of Moth Cars beat their wings and glided down, emerging from the misty clouds high above and flying over Tao Xuehai and the other man’s heads.
On one of the Moth Cars, a burly man stood tall. He was clad in animal skins, his face painted with red markings, and he held a horn as thick as a bucket, forcefully blowing a charge.
