Chapter 53: Exploration I

Time passed, and the seasons cycled.

Ever since Yu Ying’s team passed through the Clear Wind Sword Sect and nearly caused a tragedy, Mingde cut back on his drinking trips. He often stayed on the roof of the Daoist temple, gazing at the hazy sun beyond the mist.

Vivi, on the other hand, fully dedicated herself to the elderly training class with Xiaohu and Little Fatty, turning it into a legitimate career and starting to make money.

Because the Perfected Version of the Seven-Section Quick Sword was refined by Lin Hui, she insisted on giving him a twenty percent share of the income. After declining several times to no avail, Lin Hui eventually accepted it.

He busied himself daily with taking medicine and constantly pushing the evolution progress of the Clear Wind Sword.

With the continuous supply of Total Essence Powder from his father, combined with the materials he hunted himself, dose after dose of medicine rapidly shortened the evolution time of his Blood Seal.

In the blink of an eye, another three months passed. Finally, the Clear Wind Sword completed its evolution.

Lin Mansion, Martial Arts Field.

Standing in the square martial arts field, Lin Hui listened to the voice of Lin Clan Leader, Lin Chaoyi, coming from the central courtyard outside. That humble, pleading tone made him frown slightly.

This was already the sixth time Lin Chaoyi had come to the Lin Mansion.

At first, his father wouldn’t even let him in the door. Later, it was his Eldest Uncle—Lin Hongzhen’s father—who personally pleaded for him, which finally softened the situation slightly.

After that, Lin Chaoyi learned his lesson. Every time he came, he brought Lin Hongzhen’s father along. Lin Shunhe felt embarrassed to drive his brother away, so he had to let them in.

“Ding Ning, pack up. I’m going out,” Lin Hui ordered in a deep voice.

“Yes,” Ding Ning responded quickly from not far away. “Does the Young Master need the carriage?”

“No need.”

Lin Hui gripped his sword, gave it a gentle flick, and casually executed a move of the Clear Wind Sword Style.

In an instant, the eighty-one moves of the Perfected Clear Wind Sword Style flooded into his mind like a torrent.

The Clear Wind Sword Style he had practiced before—every move and stance—was corrected and perfected in this moment. Move after move was fine-tuned to the degree that best suited his own body shape and constitution.

So, this Perfected Version is actually the most perfect version based on me personally? No wonder Master couldn’t achieve the optimal effect when he learned my Perfected Seven-Section Quick Sword before. It turns out this is fine-tuned according to my own physique and mental state.

Lin Hui instantly understood.

At this moment, the text of the Blood Seal appeared before his eyes, displaying information about the Clear Wind Sword Style.

Clear Wind Sword Style (Perfected Version) — The fundamental sword art of the Clear Wind Sword Sect. Possesses relatively strong Body Tempering effects and a certain probability of generating Internal Force. This method was perfected by generations of Clear Wind Temple Masters and subsequently fully evolved by you.

Evolvable Branches: 1

It seems I have no choice.

Lin Hui thought he would be very excited after completing the evolution of the Clear Wind Sword Style, but when the Blood Seal actually revealed the completion message, he was unexpectedly calm.

He felt anticipation, but even more so, a sense of satisfaction that came from natural progression.

After working hard for so long, the fruit had finally fallen from the tree. This feeling was incredibly logical and natural.

Chii.

As he mentally clicked, the item for the evolution branch opened instantly.

1 — Wild Wind Sword Style (A powerful sword art deduced from the Clear Wind Sword Style. It uses special flowing internal force as the main method of attack. Drawing the sword can whip up wild gales.)

“…” Lin Hui looked speechlessly at the blood-colored text.

Changing from Clear Wind to Wild Wind… wasn’t this name a bit too sloppy?

But the Blood Seal had already given the path, and he could only choose to trust it. After all, the martial arts he had evolved before had never disappointed him.

Clicking on the Wild Wind Sword Style, the required resources and time popped up.

Wild Wind Sword Style

Required Resources: 3 years of stored energy.

Required Time: 3 years.

That long… Lin Hui frowned.

If not for the medicine helping to shorten the time, he worried he might have given up waiting that long and switched to evolving something else.

Standing in the center of the martial arts field, he stared at the evolution option for the Wild Wind Sword Style. He paused, then slowly lifted his sword and began to personally attempt Body Tempering with the Clear Wind Sword.

Amidst the swish swish of the blade cutting through the air, he clearly felt that he knew every force point of the sword technique like the back of his hand, grasping them perfectly. It felt as if the sword technique was cooperating with him; he only needed to raise his hand casually, swing the sword casually, and it would be in the most perfect state.

It was as if this set of the Perfected Clear Wind Sword Style had become his instinct.

This incredibly harmonious state made him involuntarily immersed for a while.

Unknowingly, he executed the sword moves one after another, performing them ten times in a row. A warm current suddenly gushed out from his heart, flowing through his entire body.

Lin Hui felt as if his whole person was soaked in a hot spring, incredibly comfortable.

Is this Secondary Body Tempering?

He could clearly feel his body becoming lighter, and his thinking and eyesight seemed to have been washed by clear water, becoming incredibly sharp.

Lin Hui didn’t snap back to reality until Ding Ning returned.

“Young Master, everything is ready. You can change your clothes now,” Ding Ning said softly.

“Understood.” Lin Hui nodded, sheathed his sword, walked along the edge of the martial arts field, and headed toward his bedroom.

On the way, he saw a wooden cage placed on the corridor in front of his bedroom. Inside the cage were five orange-yellow chicks.

The chicks were scrambling for rice bran to eat, chirping chaotically.

“Young Master, these are the chicks you ordered me to buy,” Ding Ning said softly from behind.

“Mm.” Lin Hui nodded. He planned to do a test.

Approaching the chicken coop, he squatted down, reached out to open the cage door, and grabbed the fattest chick.

Ignoring the chick’s desperate struggles and chirping, he silently invoked the Blood Seal in his mind.

Evolve Local Chicken Chick?

The dark red text of the Blood Seal quickly surfaced in his lower field of vision.

Local Chicken Chick: A small chicken bought from the farmer’s market by Ding Ning of the Lin Mansion. Healthy body, delicious meat, currently somewhat terrified.

Evolvable Branches: 3.

As expected! Lin Hui’s heart skipped a beat. Because of inertial thinking, he had never tried using the Blood Seal on living things before. This time, on a whim, he had Ding Ning buy a living creature to test, and unexpectedly, it actually worked.

Three evolution branches.

He quickly clicked to view them.

1 — Purgatory Bird Chick.

2 — Cold Seal Bird Chick.

3 — Phoenix Chicken Chick.

Looking at these three branches, Lin Hui’s eyes widened, somewhat shocked. Just from the names, the potential of these three branches was very strong.

He didn’t hesitate to click on the third branch first.

3 — Phoenix Chicken Chick: A rooster chick carrying a trace of the Phoenix bloodline. Upon reaching adulthood, it can gain special abilities: immune to some low-intensity fire. Strength significantly increased, recovery significantly increased.

Required Resources: 2 years of stored energy, 10 catties of Wutong (Parasol Tree) soil.

Required Time: 3 years.

Note: Living evolution requires ensuring the target does not generate strong resistance consciousness. After evolution is complete, the living entity will automatically be subordinate to the Blood Seal fuser and cannot betray.

Lin Hui exhaled and released his hand; the text before his eyes disappeared as well.

Now it was clear what changes would occur when the Blood Seal faced a living creature.

Gathering his thoughts, he still didn’t choose to evolve the Clear Wind Sword Style into the Wild Wind Sword Style immediately. Instead, after changing his clothes, he left the Lin Mansion alone with his sword, walking toward the road in town that led to the Inner City.

Now that the Perfected Clear Wind Sword was complete, he needed to use it for Body Tempering to generate Internal Force. This would take time, so he wasn’t in a hurry. He planned to clarify all the risks ahead before bitterly cultivating Internal Force, to decide if he should evolve something else before evolving the sword technique.

Regarding Internal Force, naturally, he went to find his master, Mingde. At this moment, Mingde was drinking with friends in a restaurant near the Inner City.

Lin Hui walked along the main road of the town. Unconsciously, he used the footwork of the Clear Wind Sword Style, making his speed much faster than the average person.

Before long, passing through the central district, he arrived at a five-story restaurant clinging closely to the massive white Inner City wall.

The outer wall of the restaurant was pure white, seemingly integrated with the city wall. A flagpole over ten meters high stood outside, flying a banner: Good Luck Restaurant – Xinyu Branch.

There was also a small courtyard outside the restaurant, enclosed by a white wall. Several staff members stood at the courtyard entrance handing out flyers.

Lin Hui walked over, entered the courtyard along with several young people who were chatting as they went in, and passed through the main door.

Inside was a cacophony of noise from drinking and bragging, with faint music drifting from the private rooms.

Lin Hui scanned the crowded first-floor hall. Square tables were packed with Outer City people drinking and eating.

His gaze swept around and soon found his master, Mingde, at a table near the corner.

The old man was sitting and drinking with Huang Shangying, the steward of the Illusion Restaurant—the same old friend of Mingde who had bought materials from Lin Hui before.

Sharing the table with the two were a well-behaved-looking girl with bangs and another man in blue clothes, speaking in low voices.

Clearly, these two young people were with Huang Shangying.

Lin Hui walked over slowly, standing at an angle where his teacher could see him.

“Master,” he greeted in a deep voice.

“Hui, why are you here?” Mingde looked up and immediately smiled.

“Have you eaten? Your Uncle Huang is treating today; sit down and have a meal!” He waved his hand, trying to find a seat, but there were no empty spots nearby at the moment.

“No need, Master. I came to ask for advice on something.” Lin Hui glanced at Huang Shangying. “Lin Hui pays respects to Uncle Huang.”

“It’s you. Lin Hui, right? A promising young man.” Huang Shangying still had some impression of Lin Hui. “Is your father the Boss Lin of the Joint Supermarket?”

“Exactly,” Lin Hui nodded.

“That’s impressive. The Joint Supermarket business is quite large; it’s not inferior to our Illusion Restaurant.” Huang Shangying’s words vaguely caught the attention of the two young people talking nearby.

Over the past year, the stir caused by the Joint Supermarket was much larger than Lin Hui imagined. As young people accepting new things, they were naturally well-informed.

Learning that it was actually Lin Hui’s father who founded it, their gaze toward him instantly changed.

A desire to get acquainted appeared in their eyes, but since there was no introduction, they couldn’t interrupt the elders speaking and could only wait for an opportunity.

The girl with bangs also intentionally or unintentionally puffed out her chest, trying to highlight her figure’s advantages as much as possible.

Mingde and Huang Shangying exchanged a few more words here, asked Lin Hui to wait for a moment, and then got up to take their leave, showing absolutely no intention of introducing the young people to each other.

Only after Mingde and Lin Hui stood up and left did Huang Shangying look at the two young people. Seeing their confusion, he smiled.

“Don’t blame me for not introducing you. That Lin Hui has a profound background. His father is the big boss who connected with Lord Yu Ying of the Rain Palace not long ago. A figure who can have direct contact with a High-tier Summoner and remain safe and sound is not someone you can reach.”

(End of Chapter)