The Decaying World

Chapter 270: Chapter 257: Stud Type 1

A million li from Black Cloud, amidst a boundless black sea.

White fog suffused the air. A crimson flame, releasing immense heat and light, streaked across the sky, flying straight toward Black Cloud City.

The flame resembled a meteor—no, perhaps it could be considered a falling star.

Its light was blindingly brilliant. Wherever it passed, all the fog was temporarily dispersed, instantly clearing the area for several thousand meters.

Within the crimson light was an ancient, black, luxurious carriage pulled by six flood dragons.

The flood dragons pulling the carriage were no ordinary Fog Area monsters, but Ghost-Faced Flood Dragons, their faces twisted and covered with countless golden eyes.

In the Outer Fog Area beyond the Boundary Wall, this type of monster was an undisputed apex predator, a divine descendant from the bloodline of the Sun King, a fallen Fog Spirit.

Yet now, these divine bloodline descendants, comparable to top-tier Blood Ancestors, were reduced to pulling a carriage.

Inside the carriage, black beaded curtains swayed in the breeze, faintly revealing a figure lounging lazily within.

SWISH.

The beaded curtains were pushed aside, revealing the face of the person inside.

Cold and regal, her pure golden eyes held an innate air of superiority. The figure was leaning against a soft couch inside the carriage. With black hair and pale skin, her curvaceous figure was exceptionally striking.

In one hand, she held a pure white smoking pipe. She took a light puff, exhaling a translucent, grayish-white cloud of smoke.

The smoke shrouded her face, lingering for a long time.

"Where are we, Sisi?" the figure asked softly.

"Your Highness, we’ve reached the Black Scale Sea. We slowed down a bit to avoid the more troublesome solidification period. We’ll be entering the sea right during the melting period," replied the driver, who was also a woman. She wore a form-fitting, violet-black suit and a black face mask, revealing only a pair of beautiful, amethyst-like eyes. Her long, single ponytail swayed in the wind behind her, giving her a sharp and valiant air.

The woman on the couch sighed.

"So we’re almost there. Black Cloud may be the fourth largest city in the Federation, but isn’t its location a bit too remote?"

"You are right, Your Highness," Sisi agreed.

The woman sat up. Her long, dark red dress was styled like a qipao, with high slits on both sides. Within the slits, a pair of long, shapely legs clad in black pantyhose were crossed elegantly.

"If Father Emperor wasn’t so focused on exploring the night fog and paid more attention to the council, we wouldn’t have had to travel so far. We could have just jumped over through a void. So troublesome."

"You are right, Your Highness," Sisi said again.

"Sisi, you’re the best. No matter what I say, you’re the only one who agrees with me from the bottom of your heart."

"That’s because Your Highness has already gotten rid of everyone who disagrees with you," Sisi replied bluntly.

"You’re right... That’s how the world is. As long as you eliminate those who oppose you, the whole world becomes what you want it to be," the woman said with a smile. She took another puff from her pipe, letting the grayish-white smoke shroud her face once more.

"I hope this trip isn’t for nothing. The so-called ’geniuses’ I sought out before all turned out to be useless. If the one this time is also useless after I’ve come so far, then this whole long journey will have been a waste."

"You are right, Your Highness," Sisi responded again.

"I hope Xie Chang’an knows what’s good for him and cooperates. Otherwise... I won’t be as easy to deal with as I was before." The woman lay back on the couch, her golden eyes slowly closing.

*

*

*

After returning from the floating mountain peak, Lin Hui immediately packed his things and set off for Eagleman Island.

He had asked another instructor to cover his classes at the Martial Arts Academy. He held great expectations for the harvest from this Pulse of Life.

Cultivating the Star Breath Sword Manual, given his current conditions, would definitely allow his strength to rise by another huge leap.

The more he understood the truth of this world, the more he was thankful that he had chosen this path of cultivation—single-minded and straightforward.

If not for this choice, the Lin Family might have suffered heavy casualties during the Tuyue incident, worn down by one tribulation after another, just like his former disciple’s family, the Tao Family.

He went outside the city and boarded the exclusive Moth Car that Ouyang Yining and the others had waiting.

As before, his hundred-strong Black Army personal guard accompanied him.

"My Lord, following your previous instructions, we have already applied for and acquired the relevant relics that may be needed on Eagleman Island."

Above the Jade Sea, inside the Moth Car, Ouyang Yining, dressed in a simple, silver-white three-point armor, stepped forward and gently draped a black cape embroidered with the Black Cloud emblem over Lin Hui’s shoulders.

This was a leader’s cape, a mark of rank that typically only one person in a team could wear. It allowed outsiders to identify the leader at a glance.

Lin Hui didn’t refuse, merely pinching the cape’s material.

"Is this... a relic?"

"Indeed," Ouyang Yining nodded. "This is a special relic called the Unifying Breath Cape. It can combine all of our strength and attach it to you. It’s one of the essential basic relics for a commander."

Lin Hui focused on the feeling. He could indeed sense a minuscule amount of aura clinging to him. He felt lighter, and a transparent protective layer had formed over his skin.

The hundred-plus Black Army personal guards were all in the Circulation Realm. They were elite experts, hand-picked for their skill.

Their strength was naturally of little use compared to Lin Hui’s, but when the power of over a hundred people was gathered, it could still provide a decent layer of tough protection.

"Of course, our strength is nothing compared to yours, My Lord. Even when combined, it’s far from enough. But this relic’s greatest function isn’t power aggregation, but the dispersion of senses," Ouyang Yining explained, puffing out her chest slightly. "Once our auras are linked with yours, My Lord, as we spread out, any person or thing we sense can be relayed to you as a simple signal through our aura."

"What’s the range?" Lin Hui walked to the front of the Moth Car, grabbed the moth’s two antennae, and began to transmit the command to set off.

"The range is very long. The maximum is one hundred thousand kilometers," Ouyang Yining replied.

Lin Hui nodded. That range was certainly enough. In fact, he had yet to discover any long-range communication devices in this world. Generally, powerful individuals just transmitted their voices, each one acting as a mobile base station.

This Unifying Breath Cape now partially compensated for that deficiency.

"All right, let’s set off." Lin Hui was getting impatient. ’The Pulse of Life... an area as large as Eagleman Island will definitely have plenty of pulses for me to harvest...’

"Yes, My Lord." Ouyang Yining nodded and began transmitting the departure orders to the others.

Just then, Lin Hui suddenly realized something was wrong.

"Has my personal guard been changed out?" he asked with a frown. When he first arrived, he had glanced at everyone, observing the Black Army soldiers on their Moth Cars, and felt something was off. Now that he focused and took a closer look, it felt even stranger.

"Yes, quite a few have been replaced," Ouyang Yining nodded. "Rest assured, My Lord, this was approved by the three City Lords. After this change, the roster will be finalized and there will be no further alterations."

"My personal guard. Shouldn’t their replacement require an application to me?" Lin Hui said in a low voice.

"My apologies, My Lord. Because the Black Army personal guard was only temporarily assigned to you, we were not in control of transfers and other miscellaneous affairs. It was only this morning that the Great Commander of the Black Army, Milos, formally transferred ownership of all the guards to you. This sort of thing will not happen again," Ouyang Yining said seriously.

"I don’t care about the ownership issue. What I care about is, why have all my Black Army personal guards been replaced with women?!"

Lin Hui stared blankly at the young, beautiful, and curvaceous female Black Army soldiers in the Moth Cars.

"It couldn’t be helped." Ouyang Yining’s expression grew slightly exasperated. "They are almost all from the bloodline families of the three Great City Lords. This subordinate was in no position to refuse, so..."

"..." Lin Hui understood instantly. He could have forcefully refused anyone else, but when it came to the three City Lords, he had no grounds to do so.

"Oh, and things have been coordinated with Lady Liu Xiao. She is more than happy for us to serve you, to share her burden, and to add to the Lin Family bloodline. Lastly, do you have any other questions, My Lord?" Ouyang Yining asked quickly.

"No more. Let’s go," Lin Hui was speechless.

He never expected that the first problem he’d face after revealing his combat prowess would be this.

He was surrounded by a large group of people who were constantly trying to turn him into a stud horse to pass on his superior, special bloodline.

Just imagine: the offspring born from combining the City Lords’ Fog People Original Blood with his own bloodline...

Even Lin Hui himself couldn’t be sure what kind of ridiculously monstrous genius would be born.

The fleet of Moth Cars ascended rapidly, flying toward Eagleman Island.

Because the journey was long, Ouyang Yining spent the trip inside the Moth Car practicing a stretching form of Martial Arts that resembled yoga.

Since this Martial Art required constant stretching, her curvaceous parts were constantly swaying around next to Lin Hui.

Because she was only wearing three-point armor—just three palm-sized pieces of metal—some of her stretching movements left nothing to the imagination.

Lin Hui suspected she was doing it on purpose. ’She must have heard about my reputation for liking aphrodisiacs and is deliberately trying to tempt me.’

Feeling helpless, he simply sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to cultivate his Inner Strength.

Now that his Typhoon Swordsmanship had reached Perfection, his Body Tempering was constantly evolving. The Wind Disaster Power could now flow into his body continuously in fine, hair-like streams even under normal conditions.

The amount wasn’t large, but it was persistent. Unbeknownst to Lin Hui, this power had already transformed his Inner Strength into a blue, fluorescent energy that resembled Inner Strength, but in reality, he had no idea what the hell it was.

By the time he realized it, what was done was done.

Fortunately, in terms of application, this power handled no differently than his previous Inner Strength.

So, after a period of research, he recorded the power’s various attributes—its general strength, transformations, and properties—and named it Disaster Energy.

Before long, the Moth Car’s wings ignited, and it turned into a fiery meteor, crossing through a void.

Soon, the massive silhouette of Eagleman Island appeared ahead.

On the enormous, continent-like island, dense swarms of misshapen, grayish-white monsters with a metallic texture were currently locked in a deadly struggle with crowds of people.

The ground was littered with countless craters of all sizes left from the fighting, as well as the corpses of Eaglemen and various monsters.

In the sky, Eaglemen armed with spears were fighting against massive, grayish-white monsters that resembled jellyfish.

"Would you like this subordinate to introduce you to the monster species attacking Eagleman Island?" Ouyang Yining’s voice came from behind.

"Are there any Blood Ancestor-level monsters?"

"None have been observed so far."

"Then there’s no need," Lin Hui sighed. "Go inform the Eaglemen. Have them distinguish friend from foe. Tell them my name and purpose, and have them cooperate by dispersing when necessary to avoid being killed by me by mistake."

"Yes, My Lord." Ouyang Yining responded solemnly. She threw on a white, gold-trimmed outer robe, leaped from the Moth Car, and flew straight toward a small group of Eaglemen fighting in the sky.