Chapter 48: Thoughts IV

The “loose cultivation inheritance” model basically involved a master leading five or six disciples. This model didn’t generate large-scale profits and had low resource demands, so it posed no threat to the martial arts hall system. Consequently, it was no longer targeted by the martial arts halls from Xingdao.

Since it wasn’t a proper martial arts hall anymore, Mingde no longer relied on tuition as his main income. When he ran out of money, he would go to Wang Yun’s Wang family to work part-time as a hired hand. After all, he was in the Internal Force Realm. Even if the Clear Wind Sword was a bit weak, his realm was genuine, so earning money for food was a breeze.

Many students scattered. The only ones seriously practicing the sword were Lin Hui, Xiaohu, and Little Fatty—just the three of them. When the others saw that Vivi rarely came to teach, their initial enthusiasm quickly faded, and they left one by one.

In the end, only six or seven remained, casually treating sword practice as physical exercise, barely sticking with it.

Thus, the true Clear Wind Sword Sect consisted of only four people: Lin Hui, Vivi, Xiaohu, and Little Fatty.

Wang Yun had returned to her family and didn’t come often.

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Time passed.

The Black Mist period quietly ended, and the season shifted to summer.

Lin Hui’s Clear Wind Sword evolution was nearly halfway complete. His Body Tempering had reached the peak of the Ninth Rank.

This meant he had finally reached the limit of the Seven-Section Quick Sword. For the next step, he had to wait for the Clear Wind Sword Style to evolve before he could use it for Body Tempering.

Because of the Black Mist period, Lin Hui hadn’t gone to the Mist Zone to hunt materials for a long time, relying on his old savings.

But regardless, he persisted every day, practicing the sword through wind, sun, and rain. This gradually made his parents view his practice as mere physical exercise, so they stopped trying to dissuade him as they had before.

Since the establishment of the Xingdao martial arts halls, the newly formed Martial Alliance had completely stabilized the entire martial arts market in Tuyue.

The environment rapidly became stable and peaceful. The various martial arts halls established extremely clear boundaries; instead of the open strife and veiled struggles of the past, interests were divided clearly.

Consequently, the entire market completely solidified. Seeing no hope, Mingde and Vivi rarely practiced anymore. When they occasionally passed the training ground and saw Lin Hui still persisting, they also assumed he was practicing for fitness rather than out of the initial seriousness.

In the blink of an eye, it was August.

Clear Wind Sword Sect Training Ground.

Lin Hui led Xiaohu and Little Fatty in gently waving their longswords. Their movements were graceful, resembling calisthenics, which attracted attention.

After giving up the martial arts hall business, the Clear Wind Sword Sect had recently and accidentally made a splash in the elderly health market.

Because Lin Hui used the Perfected Seven-Section Quick Sword when teaching Xiaohu and Little Fatty—which possessed graceful postures and an unhurried pace—it attracted two old men who had come to the former site of the Clear Wind Taoist Temple to relax.

The old men got interested and tried learning it. The results were unstoppable. Upon returning home, they found their physical condition improved and some old aches and pains alleviated.

So, the old men and women spread the word among themselves. Five or six came at once, actually making a name for the Clear Wind Sword Sect’s Elderly Health Class.

Most of these elderly people were well-off. With the Outer City becoming more peaceful, if asked to truly practice martial arts, they couldn’t handle the fatigue. However, the modified, slow-motion version of the Perfected Seven-Section Quick Sword that Lin Hui demonstrated for Xiaohu suited them perfectly.

On the training ground, after demonstrating three times and answering questions about posture details for two old men, Lin Hui walked toward Vivi nearby.

“Senior Sister, didn’t you go out to restock goods with Senior Sister Wang Yun? How do you have time to come here?” Lin Hui asked softly, grabbing a towel from the wooden rack to wipe his sweat.

Currently, Vivi and Master Mingde mainly followed the Wang family, living as semi-guest elders. Vivi guarded Wang Yun, and Master Mingde would step in to help fight when the Wang family needed it, acting as an anchor for his disciple.

After all, as an Internal Force Realm expert, handling the Wang family’s affairs was no problem. Although the Wang family had other Internal Force experts, Wang Yun’s specific branch did not.

“Just got back, I’m on break. You’re still practicing? Sister Yun wants to take me to Lushan Lake in two days to attend the Lushan Gathering. Do you want to go? She bought spots for all of us,” Vivi said softly.

As his senior sister, she had watched Lin Hui silently persist in practicing the Clear Wind Sword Style without missing a day, regardless of the rumors outside. This perseverance gradually gave her a better impression of Lin Hui.

Although she didn’t subscribe to his behavior, she respected people with such perseverance.

Especially since the Clear Wind Sword Sect had turned into this so-called health class; finding a new path actually created a glimmer of hope.

It just wasn’t the hope she and her father had wanted.

“The gathering at Lushan Lake? What is it for?” Lin Hui asked.

“To make connections and see if you meet someone you like,” Vivi smiled. “You’re nineteen now. Aside from practicing martial arts every day, isn’t there a girl you like?”

“Sword practice already takes up a lot of my time; I have no spare energy to take care of someone else,” Lin Hui shook his head.

“Alright, I knew it,” Vivi sighed.

“However, in a few days, I might actually need to go out for a bit,” Lin Hui suddenly changed the subject.

“Go out? Where?” Vivi was stunned.

“The Black Mist has dispersed. It’s a good time to go find some materials,” Lin Hui replied.

“You’re going to the Mist Zone? Be careful. Is it necessary to take such risks now?” Vivi frowned.

“It’s fine. Actually, my dad needs manpower to protect a shipment,” Lin Hui replied.

During this time, his father, Lin Shunhe, had opened two more branch stores, expanding extremely fast.

He had also brought in two powerful shareholders. With connections in both official circles and the gray underground, business was booming.

Although this was partly due to the modern business ideas Lin Hui occasionally gave his father—like membership cards, point redemption, and lucky draws—the key was still Lin Shunhe’s high profitability, strong ability, and extremely accurate judgment of the market.

“Your family is really…” Vivi had also heard about the changes in Lin Hui’s family; it was truly different every day.

Now they were opening branches in other towns and had started some new “joint supermarket” model that was very popular.

Watching Lin Hui, who was from a fallen ordinary family just two years ago, turn into a rich second-generation heir in the blink of an eye was astounding.

Speaking of his dad, Lin Hui was also speechless. He had just casually offered a few suggestions, and as a result, the family income ballooned from ten thousand qian a month to over two hundred thousand, possibly even more.

His father’s grocery store quickly transformed into a supermarket model, spreading out extensively. Relying on flexible tactics and strong market grasp, the new Lin Family Mountain River Supermarket had established a good reputation in several surrounding towns.

And the network, relationships, and background Lin Shunhe pulled together became increasingly substantial.

It was a blessing in disguise; he had reflected hard and summarized many lessons after his fall back then, and now he was using them all.

Not long ago, when Lin Hui went home, he heard his mother say that his father had spent a huge price buying heavy gifts to visit that “noble person” again, obtaining their forgiveness and re-securing their franchise affiliation.

Next, the Mountain River Supermarket would continue to expand.

Lin Hui himself was a bit dazed, especially the feeling of inexplicably becoming a rich kid before he could even react; it was somewhat speechless.

“Speaking of which, do you really not want to consider switching to the Yuanshan Sword?” Vivi’s question pulled Lin Hui back from his thoughts.

The Yuanshan Sword was a special defensive sword style she had found elsewhere, also passed down by an external kung fu expert from Xingdao.

“No need. My talent is limited, my energy and time are limited; practicing this is enough. Besides, my family isn’t what it used to be. Last time I went back, my dad had actually hired two experts to guard the courtyard,” Lin Hui said.

“I heard about that. The Steel Fist Brothers, right? Also from Xingdao, both peak Body Tempering external experts. They specialize in combined attacks and are very strong. If they weren’t getting old, they probably wouldn’t have come to mix in the Outer City,” Vivi nodded.

“My dad also advised me to go back and learn business with him, saying practicing martial arts to this point is about enough. Money is the key; he can hire peak Body Tempering experts to guard the surroundings just by spending money. There’s really no need for me to suffer through bitter practice every day,” Lin Hui said helplessly. “But I think I’m used to practicing, and I don’t want to just give it up.”

“If your dad is rich, why do you still run off to hunt for materials?” Vivi asked, puzzled.

“His money is his; mine is mine,” Lin Hui replied.

“Aren’t you the only son? Isn’t his yours?”

“My dad is still young; how he uses it is his business. Maybe I’ll inherit it later, but that money only becomes mine after I inherit it. Right now, it has nothing to do with me,” Lin Hui distinguished very clearly.

“You really are a weird person,” Vivi shook her head.

“Perhaps,” Lin Hui smiled.

“Forget it, let’s not talk about this. But there’s something you should pay attention to. Recently, quite a few people from the Hundred Flowers Gate have come, appearing to search for something in the Mist Zone behind us. If you run into them, remember to stay far away,” Vivi warned.

“Mm, understood,” Lin Hui nodded.

Hundred Flowers Gate?

He silently recalled the two people he had killed in the Mist Zone before. They had custom markings of the Hundred Flowers Gate on them.

It seemed the Hundred Flowers Gate finally realized they couldn’t find the people and had traced the clues here.

“There’s another thing you need to be careful about. The Inner City recently sent out a new exploration team led by someone from the Rain Palace named Yu Ying. If, and I mean if, she brings people to the temple to ask about the situation, you must maintain absolute respect. Do not show even a shred of disrespect!” Vivi’s face went a bit pale when mentioning this person.

“Is this person very strong?” Lin Hui frowned.

“An Inner City Summoner. Very strong, and extremely cruel. She kills or cripples people at the slightest displeasure. Of course, it’s best if you can avoid her in advance,” Vivi said.

“Thanks for the reminder,” Lin Hui nodded.

“Alright, since you’re not going, I’m off. I have a premonition that this time I might really find my Mr. Right!” Vivi gave a charming smile, turned, and walked away quickly.

Once she was far away, Xiaohu couldn’t help but speak up.

“Senior Brother, why don’t you get together with Senior Sister Vivi? I feel you two are a really good match.”

“Kids shouldn’t always think about these things.” Lin Hui patted Xiaohu’s head.

His master had mentioned it to him before. Originally, seeing his Senior Sister caused a ripple in his heart, but after realizing she had no such interest, the feeling faded.

Now, his daily joy was watching the progress of the blood-red mark’s evolution.

He looked forward to the completion of the Perfected Clear Wind Sword Style, wondering if the secondary Body Tempering would allow him to step into the Internal Force Realm in one go.

Only after Body Tempering truly reached one’s limit was it possible for internal force to generate spontaneously from the outside in.

But this wasn’t guaranteed; many people reached the limit of Body Tempering but never produced internal force.

In Lin Hui’s heart, only by reaching the Internal Force Realm could he truly have a shred of power to protect himself in this Outer City.

(End of Chapter)