Night fell. Lin Hui stood alone in the center of his inner room, a private cabin assigned to him after he became an Official Disciple.
The room was large enough for him to practice his swordsmanship without worrying about space.
Lin Hui held the Black Sword given to him by Mingde, his full attention focused on the red text that appeared in his vision, a product of the Blood Seal.
As he concentrated, information regarding the Seven-Section Quick Sword quickly materialized.
'Seven-Section Quick Sword: A fundamental training method and Basic Sword Technique of Qingfeng Temple. Prerequisite for the Nine-Section Swift Sword. Evolvable Branches: 2.'
'Current Status: Perfection.'
'After reaching a certain stage of Body Tempering with the Perfection realm, a special effect can be activated—Light Body. This special effect is currently ready for activation.'
"Light Body... I thought this special effect was gone. Looks like it's still here after all."
Lin Hui took a breath and mentally confirmed the activation.
WHOOSH.
In an instant, he felt his entire body lighten. This wasn't the illusion of agility that came after Body Tempering; his body genuinely felt as if it had shed a great deal of weight.
He raised his sword and executed the Nine-Section Swift Sword.
A torrent of sound erupted as his blade tore through the air. His Sword Technique was now more than twice as fast as it was normally!
The sword's shadow was almost completely invisible. While his Body Tempering had already made the blade a blur during practice, at least before, one could still make out his form through the afterimages.
But now, the afterimages had solidified into a solid curtain, enveloping him completely.
He had never seen anyone with such exaggerated speed, not even during the previous disciple competitions.
While speed didn't equate to absolute power, greater speed certainly meant greater strength.
Lin Hui carefully recalled the earlier matches between the Official Disciples. Aside from the increased speed from their Body Technique, which was enhanced by Body Tempering, they didn't seem to have any special effects that gave them such an explosive boost.
Otherwise, it would have been impossible to hide their abilities so well.
He estimated that with the Light Body Effect active, his speed could probably only be matched by his Eldest Senior Brother and Eldest Senior Sister when they launched their own swordsmanship attacks.
"What a powerful effect..."
Of course, if he were to actually face his Eldest Senior Brother, he would be no match. His Nine-Section Swift Sword was a mess, and he didn't know a single technique from the Qingfeng Sword.
But this speed alone was enough to dominate seventy or eighty percent of the Official Disciples.
However, after just a short while, Lin Hui felt his heart race and a wave of mental exhaustion wash over him.
'It seems the special effect has a high cost. I can't keep it active all the time; I can only use it at critical moments.'
'My physical constitution limits how long I can maintain the effect. I need to learn the Qingfeng Swordsmanship as soon as possible. The Nine-Section Swift Sword is the offensive killing technique that follows the Seven-Section Quick Sword, but the Qingfeng Swordsmanship is a complete system that includes both Body Tempering and combat techniques. Its Body Tempering effect is an advancement of the Seven-Section Quick Sword's.'
Having set his goal, Lin Hui refocused and immersed himself in his Body Tempering practice, his concentration absolute.
Inside the room, under the faint yellow light, the shadow of his swinging sword flickered rapidly.
Outside, within the gray fog, long, strange, snake-like shadows could be faintly seen slithering about, letting out hissing cries.
Before long, he finished ten repetitions of his Body Tempering practice. Lin Hui quickly regulated his breathing, extinguished the lamp, and lay down to rest.
He glanced out the window, where the hazy moonlight revealed long, slender, serpentine shadows climbing the outer walls like giant vines.
The only thing holding all of this back was a small, purplish-black stone hanging on the inner wall. It was a Jade Talisman he had requested from the Inner City Rain Palace.
To think that such a small object alone could ward off those bizarre, grotesque monsters from the Fog Area.
Lin Hui didn't understand it. Every time he looked at the small Jade Talisman, a sense of inexplicable unease crept into his heart.
'What if... what if one day, the Jade Talisman suddenly stops working? What then?' The thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
This wasn't the first time he'd had such a thought, but there was nothing to be done. Besides the Jade Talisman, there was no other way for a living person to survive a night in the fog.
At least, he had never heard of anyone who could.
HUFF...
With a soft sigh, Lin Hui forced himself to close his eyes and rest.
「The next day.」
He packed his belongings, ate breakfast, and resumed his sword practice. The newly learned Nine-Section Swift Sword still required a great deal of time to master.
Its style was completely different from the preceding Seven-Section Quick Sword; one could even say it was the opposite.
If the Seven-Section Quick Sword was like the compression of a spring, then the Nine-Section Swift Sword was the violent release of that same spring.
The intensity of that instantaneous burst was directly related to the mastery of the Seven-Section Quick Sword.
Lin Hui went through his Body Tempering routine again and again, completing his ten daily repetitions and his Nine-Section Swift Sword practice by morning. After lunch at noon, he continued practicing the Nine-Section Swift Sword, but by his third repetition, several onlookers had gathered to the side.
The onlookers seemed to be a small group of three. Their leader was none other than Chen Chong, the very same person who had previously clashed with Chen Zhishen.
He and his two followers were squinting at Lin Hui's practice, their eyes glinting, their intentions unclear.
SWISH.
Lin Hui abruptly stopped his sword and looked at the three of them.
"Is there something I can help you with, Senior Brothers?"
"Not really. Just came to see what makes our newly promoted Junior Brother so capable that he, like me, was chosen for the patrol team. After all, they're only picking five people from the entire outer court." Chen Chong smiled, his tone passive-aggressive.
"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you, Senior Brother. I got in through my connection with Master Mingde, not through my own abilities," Lin Hui replied earnestly.
"Uh..."
Chen Chong was taken aback by his unabashed honesty. He stared at Lin Hui, momentarily at a loss for words.
He had originally planned to mock Lin Hui's weakness as someone who got in through connections. But the guy just came right out and said it: 'I'm weak and only got in because of who I know, so please bear with me, Senior Brother.'
This left him with no opening.
"I've seen thick-skinned people before, but I've never met a Junior Brother quite as... clever as you." Chen Chong felt he might have underestimated Lin Hui. He was speechless.
"Is there anything else you'd like to say, Senior Brother?" Lin Hui asked coolly.
"Well..." Chen Chong was about to speak again, but in the distance, Daoist Mingde began clapping to gather everyone.
"Those of you departing tomorrow, come over and prepare. Get familiar with your teammates first." Daoist Mingde had a Daoist Child cordon off an area for the squad to assemble.
Before long, all five of them were there: Eldest Senior Brother Chen Sui, the two geniuses Huang Shan and Qiu Yiren, and then the two who got in through connections, Chen Chong and Lin Hui.
Everyone quickly gathered and stood before Daoist Mingde.
"I've gathered you all here so you can familiarize yourselves with your teammates' general strength. This will allow for proper role assignment at critical moments and maximize the squad's effectiveness," Mingde said.
"So we're just gonna fight. Simple enough," Chen Chong said bluntly. This wasn't his first time on such a cushy assignment, so he knew the ropes.
"Unlike the last patrol, we have three newcomers this time: Huang Shan, Qiu Yiren, and Lin Hui. So, the three of you will be the main focus of today's assessment. Chen Chong, you'll be the one to test them. Your strength is just right for it," Mingde said bluntly.
Chen Chong nodded, drew his sword, and stepped into the open space.
He had been at Qingfeng Temple for five years. His current strength ranked him thirteenth in the outer court—not high, not low, making him the perfect benchmark to measure the three newcomers against.
"I'm ready. Who's first?" Chen Chong's gaze swept over the three of them before quickly landing on Huang Shan.
He'd had his eye on this girl for a while but had never been able to get his hands on her, even earning a warning from Mingde for his trouble. Now, during the sparring match, his eyes roamed over Huang Shan's pert bottom, and he felt that old itch again.
"You asked for it!" Enraged by his disgusting stare, Huang Shan immediately drew her sword and stepped out to face him.
The two pointed their wooden swords diagonally at the ground, their eyes met, and they quickly entered a state of readiness.
An indiscernible aura of pressure formed and clashed between them.
"Begin!" Mingde ordered.
SWISH! Two whooshes of displaced air erupted at the same time.
Both had undergone Body Tempering and were using the Nine-Section Swift Sword. They met speed with speed, their two wooden swords clashing in an instant with a sharp crack.
CLANG!
They passed by each other, planted their feet again, and turned back with a diagonal slash.
This was Looking Back at the Moon, a killing blow from the Nine-Section Swift Sword.
It was best suited for a surprise attack after an unsuccessful exchange, but unfortunately, both of them had the same idea. Their swords clashed once more with a sharp crack.
In this second collision, Chen Chong was clearly a bit stronger. His power overwhelmed Huang Shan, who had only recently started Body Tempering, and he easily pushed her back.
But Huang Shan lived up to her reputation as a genius. Her comprehension and application of swordsmanship were clearly superior to Chen Chong's.
She used the momentum to circle around, retreat, and turn sideways. Her wooden sword coiled like a venomous snake, swiftly stabbing at Chen Chong's waist from the other side.
The move caught Chen Chong, who was preparing to press his advantage, completely off guard. He had intended to attack, but now, with his waist exposed, he could only hastily change his technique to block the wooden sword.
The two exchanged blows, their offense and defense shifting rapidly. In just a few seconds, more than ten techniques had been exchanged with blinding speed.
Lin Hui stood to the side, watching the battle with Qiu Yiren and Chen Sui.
"It looks like Junior Brother Chen won't be able to hold onto his thirteenth rank for much longer. Junior Sister Huang has improved a great deal since last time," Chen Sui said calmly. His strength was the greatest among all the disciples, and he was the one in the temple closest in power to the Ming Generation.
He had long ago mastered the Qingfeng Sword and was already pursuing a realm of swordsmanship beyond mere techniques. His insight was naturally on a different level from that of ordinary disciples.
To be precise, the top three—he himself, Second Senior Brother Zhao Jiang'an, and Third Senior Sister Mu Qiaozhi—had already formed a completely separate tier from all the other outer court disciples.
The three of them had long been on the path of pursuing the *realm* of the Qingfeng Sword, not just mastering its techniques.
Even in Body Tempering, they had nearly reached the physical limits of what the Qingfeng Sword's method could offer. After all, the three had been at Qingfeng Temple for many years and were all exceptionally talented. The time they had spent training was simply incomparable to the others.
"Senior Brother, you think Junior Sister Huang will win?" Lin Hui asked softly.
"It depends on their performance. Junior Brother Chen is stronger, and while Junior Sister Huang is ranked higher with greater speed and comprehension, her performance is inconsistent. In terms of presence, they're evenly matched, with a very small gap between them," Chen Sui commented.
Just then, the two in the center of the field had already exchanged over a hundred techniques. Chen Chong was clearly running out of stamina, while Huang Shan remained as agile as ever.
Just as Chen Chong took a step, his wooden sword a fraction of a second too slow, Huang Shan seized the momentary opening. She lunged forward, her sword striking Chen Chong squarely on the left shoulder.
THWACK.
Chen Chong fell backward with a cry of pain.
"Alright, Huang Shan wins. I have a rough understanding of your skill levels now. Chen Chong still hasn't improved—same as always. Huang Shan has improved a lot. Not bad," Mingde said calmly, his gaze shifting to Qiu Yiren and Lin Hui.
"You two are up."
Lin Hui and Qiu Yiren stepped forward, raised their wooden swords, and saluted each other with a fist-and-palm bow.
This was Lin Hui's first formal sparring match, and he was somewhat nervous. But then he remembered his Nine-Section Swift Sword was a complete mess, as he had only been practicing it for a few days. It wouldn't matter if he performed poorly, so he gradually began to relax.
He looked at Qiu Yiren across from him and saw that she was a little nervous too.
"Begin!" Mingde ordered.
Both of them simultaneously thrust at each other's torsos. This was the Thousand Mountains Stab from the Nine-Section Swift Sword.
Though the technique was the same, Lin Hui's was clearly off the mark, not quite standard.
This caused his opening move to be unstable. Qiu Yiren changed her technique to a downward chop, easily striking his hand and making his palm tremble, almost causing him to drop his wooden sword.
In just a few seconds, the two exchanged blows, their wooden swords clashing repeatedly. A moment later, with a WHOOSH, his wooden sword was flicked from his hand, flying into the crowd of outer court disciples watching for sport, where it was snatched out of the air.
"Junior Brother Lin, your sword." The person who caught it chuckled and casually tossed it back to Lin Hui.
Lin Hui quickly caught it, his face flushing red. He gave a wry smile and a fist-and-palm salute to the person who returned it, then turned and offered another salute to Qiu Yiren.
"Thank you for going easy on me, Junior Sister." He had joined the sect before she did, so it was normal for him to call her Junior Sister.
"You're not even familiar with the Nine-Section Swift Sword..." Qiu Yiren said, a little exasperated, but she didn't know what else to say.