Free Web NovelChapter 274: Chapter 261: Story 3
Seeing that the crowd had quieted down,
Lin Hui continued, "The reason the Jiuxiao Sect is so powerful doesn’t actually stem from its Martial Arts, the Nine Heavens Divine Wind Technique. The true source of its strength is the four great Dharma Seals it commands. Even their Martial Arts were developed by the founder, who gained enlightenment from the first and most powerful of those Dharma Seals."
He sorted through the memories in his mind, picking out the most classic and representative of the sect’s founders to elaborate on.
Throughout the history of the Jiuxiao Sect, thirteen terrifyingly powerful individuals were born, each with the strength to destroy worlds. In their respective worlds, these thirteen also made outstanding contributions to world peace.
For this, they were known as the Thirteen Founders of Jiuxiao.
"Speaking of Dharma Seals, my Clearwind Dao inherits its legacy from the Jiuxiao Sect, so we are essentially a successor sect. Though I have never met the founders of Jiuxiao, I have long admired their Seal Techniques. So today, I’d like to introduce you to one of our sect’s most distinctive founders." Lin Hui knew that to convince the Fog People to join the Clearwind Dao in earnest, he had to build momentum. Borrowing the prestige of the Jiuxiao Sect was the first step of his plan.
Seeing the curious and skeptical gazes of the crowd, he continued.
"This founder’s true name was Yan Xiao, his courtesy name Jinping, and his title was the True Monarch of Seven Destructions. He had a short temper but a strong sense of justice, which often led to misunderstandings. He was quick to act, and on seven separate occasions, he only realized he’d misunderstood the situation after he had already wiped out the entire clan. Afterward, he took a great oath never to kill again."
"That founder was too hard on himself. Wiping out a clan seven times would only kill a few dozen, maybe a hundred people. To tie his own hands over that seems rather unwise..." the little girl with twin pigtails spoke up again.
"Er... well..." Lin Hui hesitated for a moment before deciding to tell the truth. "Actually, when the True Monarch of Seven Destructions wiped out a ’clan,’ he didn’t mean a family clan. He meant a race... The smallest of those races numbered in the tens of billions... The larger ones even had..." Lin Hui trailed off, not mentioning the hundreds of billions spread across several planets.
After all, the concept of planets hadn’t been heard of in this world, so they might not have understood even if he explained it.
Tens of billions?!!
The crowd fell silent.
Wasn’t this brag a little too much?
They had all been listening as if it were just a story, but hearing about the annihilation of tens of billions of lives at once made it seem completely unbelievable. It was too exaggerated.
Next, Lin Hui, unconcerned with their inner thoughts, continued to recount some of the True Monarch of Seven Destructions’ physical characteristics, details about his life, and short anecdotes from his past.
Because he was one of the Thirteen Founders, almost every Disciple of the Jiuxiao Sect had to memorize the events of his life.
But storytelling was one thing. When he got to the part where the True Monarch of Seven Destructions, enraged by the murder of his direct disciple, struck from tens of thousands of miles away and sank a massive mountain range covering millions of square kilometers...
...nearly everyone dismissed it as pure boasting.
"Alright, whether you believe it or not, the deeds of the True Monarch of Seven Destructions are what they are. The traces he left behind still exist, and perhaps one day we will have the chance to see them for ourselves. But for now, the assessment can officially begin. Everyone, please follow me into the courtyard."
Lin Hui smiled and stood up, motioning for everyone to head into the courtyard.
Most of the people filed out through the side door into the courtyard. But Lin Hui soon noticed that the red-dressed, golden-eyed girl who had asked a question earlier was now staring blankly at him.
"What’s wrong?" he asked Song Feishi gently.
Song Feishi didn’t speak, her gaze fixed dazedly on Lin Hui—no... to be precise, on what was behind him.
Lin Hui turned around but found nothing there.
He turned back, tucking the incident away in his mind without asking any more questions.
Song Feishi also snapped out of it, returning to normal. Having lived for tens of thousands of years, her Heart and Spirit were not so easily thrown into disarray.
It was just that the scene behind Lin Hui was so abnormal that even she couldn’t discern the details of the problem.
That was why she had been momentarily stunned.
Regardless, after less than half a day of contact, she had already discovered an anomaly she had never encountered before. This time, Song Feishi knew she had come to the right place.
Even with her vast experience, she couldn’t explain or determine what was happening behind Lin Hui.
Just as Xie Chang’an had said, he was different.
Thinking of this, Song Feishi replied.
"It’s nothing. I think my eyes were just playing tricks on me."
"That’s good. Have you been too tired from your daily cultivation? You should get some good rest later," Lin Hui said soothingly.
"Yes," Song Feishi nodded in response.
At that moment, she couldn’t resist looking up at what was behind Lin Hui again.
In her golden pupils, countless dense blue threads were radiating out from behind Lin Hui.
All these threads carried a terrifying, heart-palpitating aura of destruction. They were now slowly and steadily weaving together to form a four-meter-tall, white-haired old man in a green robe.
The old man’s eyes shone with a brilliant light like a galaxy, and on his back, he carried a narrow blade formed from seven-colored light. His blurry figure flickered from time to time, as if he had a bad signal.
He was slowly and laboriously lowering his head to look at Lin Hui, who stood before him.
At this point, Lin Hui also sensed that something was wrong.
The smile on his face quickly vanished. He scanned his surroundings with his Heart and Spirit but couldn’t sense anything.
But the feeling that something was amiss still lingered in his mind.
He immediately called up the Blood Seal.
No matter the problem, as long as the Blood Seal was present and could detect it, it would be flagged without exception.
So far, he had never encountered anything that could evade the Blood Seal’s detection.
But one look made Lin Hui’s heart lurch, and he nearly lost control of his expression.
’Warning: Speaking his true name has attracted the attention of the True Monarch of Seven Destructions. Many powerful experts of the Jiuxiao Sect have not all perished. Some possess the ability to attack across worlds. Please speak and act with caution to avoid unforeseen consequences.’
"...I was just bullshitting!!" Lin Hui hadn’t cursed in a long time, but at this moment, he really, truly wanted to.
To think that just running his mouth could cause such a commotion... He thought he had already overestimated the founders of the Jiuxiao Sect as much as possible, but he never expected this...
Quickly dismissing the Blood Seal, Lin Hui was filled with complex emotions. He recalled how an earlier moment of enlightenment had allowed the Blood Seal to connect to the distant world of the Jiuxiao Sect. That naturally meant that the powerful experts of the Jiuxiao Sect could potentially trace that connection back to him.
’After all,’ he thought, ’thinking about it now, it’s questionable whether my Qingyuan Seal was truly derived and evolved by the Blood Seal.’
’It might have been swiped straight from their sect...’
The mere thought of this possibility made Lin Hui’s scalp tingle. If it was stolen, then when the experts from the Jiuxiao Sect tracked him down, they would surely take action against the Clearwind Dao...
’This is a completely random disaster.’ His interest in the new recruits’ assessment instantly evaporated.
Compared to this minor matter, the business with the Jiuxiao Sect was far more serious.
Next, Lin Hui handed over the main arrangements to Wang Hongshi, letting him handle all the miscellaneous tasks while he himself carefully checked the details of his physical condition.
Soon, the assessment began. One by one, the new initiates stepped forward to receive the bestowal of the seal from Lin Hui.
After three consecutive failures, the fourth person—the girl with the twin pigtails—unexpectedly became the first to be acknowledged by the Dharma Seal.
With a sharp RIIIP—
Before everyone’s shocked eyes, the little girl’s muscles bulged, and she shot up into a muscular giant with twin pigtails, well over seven feet tall.
".....!!!"
Everyone stared, dumbfounded, as the pigtail-wearing giant let out a startled cry and covered their vitals.
Fortunately, the moment her clothes tore, Lin Hui waved his hand, sending a large robe flying to cover her.
He was clearly prepared for this.
"The power... It’s so strong!!" The pigtail-wearing giant clutched the robe, a look of utter shock on their face as they felt the wild power surging within.
"Did you see that? This is our sect’s most mysterious and powerful ability: the Dharma Seal. It is an otherworldly inheritance from the Jiuxiao Sect. As long as you truly accept yourself as a member of the Clearwind Dao, you can obtain such a power enhancement..." Wang Hongshi then calmly walked out, stripped off his outer shirt and pants, and with a sharp cry, his body also swelled into an equally tall, muscular giant.
"This form can increase our overall physical constitution by half. But based on our tests, the comprehensive boost in actual combat is three to four times greater. After all, speed, strength, durability, and reflexes all fall under the scope of physical enhancement, so the combined effect is quite exaggerated."
The new recruits were all stunned.
What kind of terrifying Dharma Seal was this, that it could boost one’s combat power three- or four-fold just by accepting it?
It wasn’t just them; even the Fourth Princess, Song Feishi, was shaken.
This Clearwind Dao, which she had previously seen as a gaudy sect that relied on boasts to attract Disciples...
...she was now discovering, after some real contact, that its methods were quite mysterious.
And there was the mysterious apparition of the old man she had seen earlier. Though it had since vanished, it had left a deep impression on her.
Furthermore, the specific effects of this Dharma Seal reminded her of the top-tier Secret Techniques and relics treasured by the Federation.
Items that could enhance one’s strength three- or four-fold were not rare, but they all came at a cost.
Unlike this one here...
Soon, in a strange silence filled with unspoken shock,
...one by one, the new recruits who had accepted the Clearwind Dao in their hearts successfully received the Dharma Seal.
Soon it was the third to last person’s turn: Song Feishi.
She stepped forward slowly. Her enchanting figure and golden eyes had already drawn the quiet attention of many.
Seeing her step up, everyone secretly hoped she would pass.
After all, cultivating alongside a beautiful junior or senior sister was a pleasant-to-the-eyes experience.
Song Feishi walked up to Lin Hui. The aura-concealing disguise she wore was an effect from a top-tier set of treasured relics from the Federation. Logically, she shouldn’t have been worried about him seeing through her.
But after the two shocks she had just experienced, Song Feishi was now a little unsure if Lin Hui could see through her concealment.
Fortunately, Lin Hui’s expression remained unchanged. His gaze was gentle as he reached out, his index finger moving to lightly touch the spot between her eyebrows.
"Join us. Regardless of your past or present, in the future, you are a Disciple of the Clearwind Dao. After joining, you must abide by the basic sect rules. First, you must respect the master and the Dao. Second, you must not harm fellow disciples. Third, you must not bully the weak. Fourth, you must not kill the innocent wantonly. Fifth, you must not leak the sect’s Cultivation Techniques to outsiders..."
After listening for a while, Song Feishi suddenly realized that these sect rules were missing a clause that many sects and factions had: to stand united against common enemies.
She quickly voiced her confusion.
