Chapter 46: Thoughts II

After Xiaohu and Little Fatty came over to pay their respects, they also left.

Only then did Lin Hui grip his longsword tightly, closing his eyes to prepare himself to feel the power of Boundless Wind Direction.

The first move was originally called Formless Wind Direction. Now, after evolution, it had become Boundless Wind Direction. Its power had undoubtedly increased; what he wanted to see now was by how much.

Swish!

Suddenly, he gripped the sword in his right hand, instantly dispersing over a dozen afterimages of the blade. They spread out like a fan and then quickly closed together, forming a large silver flower bud hanging upside down.

In the next instant, the flower bud exploded abruptly.

With a chii sound, a cold light shot from the center, fiercely piercing into the ground.

A sword hole half a meter deep appeared on the ground, its width and narrowness matching the blade.

It looked as if it had been caused by a sword stabbing diagonally downward.

‘It doesn’t seem much different from before?‘ Lin Hui frowned slightly, squatting down to observe carefully.

He touched the edge of the sword hole on the ground; it was smooth and warm.

‘Perhaps the effect is manifested in other aspects. I’ll check again after evolving the full set.‘

He didn’t hesitate and continued to let the blood-red mark evolve the second move of the Clear Wind Sword Style.

It still took five days.

After closing the blood-red mark, Lin Hui gripped his sword, preparing to practice a bit more before going to eat.

But barely two minutes after he started, a hurried figure entered through the rear gate of the temple.

It was Vivi!

“Junior Brother, Father is calling for you over there!” Vivi’s expression was normal, but an unconcealable anxiety showed between her brows.

“Okay!”

Lin Hui noticed the clue, his heart tightening. He quickly followed her out of the temple, rushing toward Mingde’s small courtyard.

Entering the courtyard and pushing open the door to the main hall, they didn’t see the teacher.

“This way.” Vivi turned and actually went straight into the inner room.

Lin Hui quickly followed. As soon as the two entered, they saw Daoist Mingde half-lying on the bed.

His face was pale, and his right shoulder and arm were bandaged with thick white cotton cloth, with traces of blood remaining in some places.

“Master! You are…!?” Lin Hui’s heart sank. He rushed over in a few steps, half-kneeling by the bed to check his condition.

“It’s nothing, just a minor injury.” Mingde waved his hand, refusing the examination. “Don’t be scared by your Senior Sister. It’s just a flesh wound. The other party isn’t much better off than me.”

Speaking of this, a trace of smugness actually appeared on his face.

But soon, the smile was replaced by worry.

“I called you here mainly to tell you that the trip in a few days is canceled. No need to go for now.”

“Dad, is the trouble on your end resolved?” Vivi beside him immediately showed a look of surprise.

“Hey? What did I tell you? Forgot already?” Mingde scolded immediately upon seeing his daughter speaking without restraint.

“Yes…” Vivi glanced at Lin Hui beside her, realizing she had misspoken, and quickly lowered her head.

Since the collapse of the Clear Wind Taoist Temple, her temper had become much more restrained than before, not as arrogant.

“Alright, Vivi, you go out first. I have something to say to Lin Hui alone,” Mingde said.

“Fine…” Vivi glanced at Lin Hui, turned around helplessly, and gently closed the door behind her.

Immediately, only the master and disciple remained in the inner room.

Waiting until the footsteps faded away, Mingde lowered his head and coughed a few times.

“Ah Hui… this time, it’s all thanks to you perfecting the Nine-Section Quick Sword. If I had performed with my previous strength this time, I’m afraid I really wouldn’t have come back.”

He sighed. His old rival Liu Sitao had brought people for revenge, and it wasn’t just one wave; others had quietly followed behind.

This time was truly perilous. Fortunately, the opponents underestimated his strength, giving him the chance to fully utilize his speed. Otherwise…

“Unfortunately, I still lost.” A trace of melancholy appeared on Mingde’s face. “Even with the improved and perfected sword technique, I still lost.”

“What did Master lose on?” Lin Hui wasn’t disappointed, merely asking calmly.

He had long heard rumors of people coming for revenge, so he wasn’t surprised by his master’s earlier decision.

What made him curious was that his master had obtained the Perfected Version of the Nine-Section Quick Sword, raising his strength by a level, yet he still lost. This meant the opponent’s strength clearly exceeded the original Clear Wind Taoist Temple by a large margin.

“This actually has nothing to do with you. You’ve done well enough. This is the inherent limitation of our sect’s sword style… The Clear Wind Sword itself is inferior to the opponent in Body Tempering and power, so the quality of the internal force cultivated is also inferior. This is an overall, comprehensive gap, unrelated to you… I lost convincingly,” Mingde sighed.

“Then Teacher, where exactly is the martial arts of our Clear Wind Taoist Temple lacking? Do you have any feelings about it?” Lin Hui frowned.

“Lacking in a sufficiently dominant weapon to break the opponent’s defense. Lacking because our sword style emphasizes lightness and speed too much, neglecting solid lethality like weight and impact. Lacking because the Body Tempering effect of the Clear Wind Sword is relatively archaic, long unable to keep up with the times, completely defeated by the experts from Xingdao.”

Mingde sat up a bit higher.

“The upper limit of the Clear Wind Sword is right here with me. Senior Brother Baohe is only slightly stronger than the current me in experience and sword technique; we are actually at the same level.”

Speaking of this, Mingde’s gaze involuntarily fell on Lin Hui.

Regarding Lin Hui, his feelings were actually quite complicated. This disciple’s comprehension was exaggeratedly high; he could perfect the Nine-Section Quick Sword just by practicing on his own. Maybe in the future, he could take the Clear Wind Sword Style to a higher level.

But with such talent, was it really worth it for him to continue wasting time here?

After all, no matter how perfected the Clear Wind Sword Style became, its power would at most be there. At best, it would be an upper-level external kung fu. From medium to upper-level was already remarkable, but compared to those internal martial arts in the Inner City, the gap was still immense.

If he could send him into the Three Sects and Six Gangs… with his talent, maybe he could truly soar to the skies?

“Master?” Seeing his teacher staring at him in a daze, Lin Hui couldn’t help calling out softly a few times.

“Nothing.” Mingde came back to his senses. Unfortunately, with his current status and connections, his relationships in the Inner City were useless.

Time and fate; there was nothing he could do.

“Ah Hui, what are your plans for the future?” he asked softly.

“No plans, just want to practice sword properly,” Lin Hui answered honestly.

He himself didn’t know how to walk the path ahead; anyway, relying on the blood-red mark to constantly evolve was the way.

“Do you still want to enter the Inner City?” Mingde asked.

“Not so much anymore…” Lin Hui mentioned the matter of Feather Blood.

“Ah, that. The competition in the Inner City is already greater than outside. Those inside aren’t necessarily happier than those outside. Although it’s safe, the pressure is also greater,” Mingde laughed. “So some people choose to leave directly and go to other urban districts.”

“Master, are other urban districts different from here?” Lin Hui asked.

“I don’t know; I haven’t been either.” Mingde shook his head. “Take the Black Cloud District, for example. To get there, you need to go to Xingdao first, take a boat for four days from there to Mo’en Pier, then transfer to a carriage for a week to reach that place. Legend has it that the Black Cloud District is a very peaceful place where everything is very stable. It is the most prosperous and powerful urban district in the entire northern Taisu region.”

“Too far…” Lin Hui frowned.

“Yes, too far. Countless dangers along the way. Ordinary people don’t have the money to go; rich people don’t dare to go. Only a very few wealthy and powerful people who aren’t afraid of death dare to travel there,” Mingde laughed. “So, in this lifetime, let’s just honestly stay in Tuyue. The Inner City is too competitive (rat race). We’ll make a safe zone for ourselves in the Outer City. As long as our strength reaches a certain level, we can actually live quite well…”

Speaking of this, Mingde looked at Lin Hui with increasingly gentle eyes.

He thought that Vivi wasn’t getting any younger. Although she was older than Ah Hui, older girls were actually better at taking care of people. With Ah Hui’s talent and comprehension, if he and Vivi had a few more children, maybe his branch could rebuild the Clear Wind Taoist Temple in the future and grow it to its peak.

Thinking of this, Mingde found Lin Hui more and more pleasing to the eye.

Talented, strong, valuing gratitude and loyalty. Although his appearance was a bit ordinary, it didn’t matter; strength was also a kind of charm.

As long as he persuaded Vivi to be a bit more proactive, this little guy Lin Hui, who hadn’t seen much of the world, would probably agree to the marriage easily…

Mingde was a person without great ambition. Being able to live his own life in the Outer City with peace of mind—stable and comfortable—was enough. If Lin Hui and Vivi could marry smoothly and have a bunch of chubby boys, that would be even better…

“Ah Hui, what do you think of Vivi?” Suddenly, Mingde blurted out a question.

“Uh…” Lin Hui’s mind flashed with Vivi’s full figure—big chest, perky butt, long legs, pretty face. She wasn’t much worse than the internet celebrities he saw online in his past life.

The key point was that her figure was all real, not photoshopped at all.

“Senior Sister has changed a lot. She’s quite good,” he thought for a moment and answered seriously.

“That’s good.” Mingde revealed a kind smile. He originally had a slight intention of pairing his daughter with Lin Hui. Now that the biggest crisis was resolved, this thought became stronger.

With Ah Hui’s talent and Vivi’s beauty, as his descendants continued to grow, they might establish a new major clan in the Outer City.

“Alright, you go. Call your Senior Sister in for me,” Mingde said.

“Yes, Master, rest more and take care of your body.” Lin Hui nodded, gave a reminder, and turned to leave.

Before long, Vivi was called in. She closed the door and looked at her father in confusion.

“What is it, Dad?”

“Come here. I want to ask you… what do you think of Ah Hui?” Mingde lowered his voice and asked.

“Huh?” Seeing her father’s familiar expression—the same one he had every time he introduced her to a potential partner in the past.

Vivi understood instantly.

“The age gap between Ah Hui and me is too big; it’s not appropriate, right? I’m already twenty-three! He’s only eighteen, right?”

“What are you afraid of? Be a bit proactive, take care of him like a younger brother for a few years, and he’ll mature,” Mingde said indifferently.

“But…” Vivi’s mind flashed with Lin Hui’s face, looking troubled. “But he really isn’t good-looking…” She liked handsome, sunny types. Lin Hui wasn’t only not handsome, but his temperament was also slightly gloomy. He really wasn’t her type. One could even say the gap was a bit large.

“What use is good looks? Good character and good talent are enough!” Mingde said solemnly.

“I can’t do it. When I think about having to face that face every day for decades, my heart just… can’t get over this hurdle. I dress up and exercise my body every day; isn’t it because I want to find a good-looking one? Otherwise, wouldn’t I be dressing up in vain?” Vivi argued plausibly.

“You?!” Mingde felt a tightness in his chest and was speechless for a moment.

“Alright, Dad, you rest well. I’m going back first.” Seeing this, Vivi quickly slipped away.

(End of Chapter)