Change I

The snow fell ever harder...

Inside Mingde's room, Daoist Mingde was nowhere to be seen. Only his daughter Wei Wei and the other three disciples had gathered together.

All four were silent. None of them had expected something like this to happen so suddenly.

"What should we do now?"

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Wang Yun frowned tightly and asked in a low voice.

"We should wait until Master returns before discussing it. This is a major matter—we still need to see how things stand with the temple master," Deng Mingchao replied softly.

"If the temple master..." Wang Yun did not finish, but everyone knew what she meant.

"..." Lin Hui said nothing. He merely walked into a corner and closed his eyes to rest.

A matter of this magnitude was not for them to decide. As disciples, the only thing they could do was wait.

Soon, more than half an hour had passed, and the sky outside gradually darkened.

Daoist Mingde finally appeared outside the room. He looked exhausted, with flecks of blood staining parts of his Daoist robe. His expression was faintly absent-minded, as though his soul had wandered elsewhere.

Upon entering the courtyard, Mingde kicked aside two old hens that ran up to his feet, then pushed open the door and entered.

"The temple master is in critical condition. He will not regain consciousness anytime soon. From now on, affairs within the temple will be jointly overseen by the three of us. But my differences with those two are considerable..."

"So what is the situation now, Father?" Wei Wei asked bluntly.

"The talks fell apart. We had an argument. Everyone has their own ideas, so we decided to each do our own thing," Mingde said, shaking his head helplessly.

"What does that mean? The temple master has only just fallen unconscious, and they're already going their separate ways?" Wei Wei was stunned. Wasn't that far too fast?

It was not only her. The expressions of the other three also shifted slightly. For them to split apart so quickly, this so-called going their separate ways had likely been premeditated.

Otherwise, the other two would not have made their decision so swiftly.

"I truly misjudged Ming Xiu and Ming Chen—those bastards who eat from the house while helping outsiders!" Mingde gritted his teeth and slapped the wall, leaving a deep palm print behind.

"Then, Master, what should we do next..." Wang Yun asked.

"Watch how things develop. We will continue as before, using constancy to meet ten thousand changes," Mingde said gravely.

With the temple master severely injured and unconscious, the many troubles he had previously kept at bay would seize this chance to come knocking.

The coming days might well be Qingfeng Temple's most dangerous period. Fortunately, nearly every martial hall and external-school force throughout the Outer City had been challenged and beaten down. In that regard, everyone was back at the same starting line—no one was better off than anyone else.

After deciding how they would respond going forward, the group saw that night was drawing near and had no choice but to depart separately.

Over the following days, Lin Hui continued painstakingly practicing the Nine Section Fast Sword according to the original routine. At the same time, he constantly sought guidance from Mingde, and occasionally sparred with his fellow disciples.

His rate of improvement grew faster and faster.

In the blink of an eye, more than a month passed.

Since Daoist Baohe had been seriously wounded, news had spread from the major martial halls and external-school forces across the Outer City that their main experts had been badly injured by Outer City masters.

Immediately afterward, new martial halls in the Outer City style sprang up in every town like bamboo shoots after rain.

Not only had they severely wounded the leading experts of the existing martial halls, they had also snatched away the various cooperative projects those halls had previously held with the yamen, securing enormous profits.

This further worsened the soil in which the local martial halls survived, while also digging at their foundations.

As for Qingfeng Temple, after some disciples learned that the challenger Song Zhanlong had also founded a Martial Dao sect called the Black Dragon Gate, some of the newer disciples began quietly withdrawing and transferring to the Black Dragon Gate.

Day after day passed.

More and more disciples left Qingfeng Temple. Many had originally come to study Qingfeng Temple's movement techniques alongside their own arts, hoping to increase their speed. Now that they had discovered the even stronger Song Zhanlong completely countered the movement techniques here, they immediately lost any intention of continuing their training.

After all, even the strongest, Daoist Baohe, could not last more than a few exchanges against Song Zhanlong. That meant Qingfeng Temple's martial arts had far less potential for future development than the Black Dragon Gate's.

Everyone practiced martial arts to pursue greater strength. Now that they could see no hope, the number of disciples leaving continued to grow.

In barely over a month, a full third of the disciples had left, transferring to Martial Dao sects founded by Martial Artists from Xingdao City.

Lin Hui was somewhat shaken as well, but Daoist Mingde had treated him too well. So even if he wavered, he had no plans to transfer elsewhere.

As for martial arts, he was not worried about his future development. His goal from the very beginning had not been to become stronger, but to become faster. Otherwise, he could have gone straight to Feiyun Hall.

March.

There were few people left in Qingfeng Temple, and its grounds were bleak and desolate.

Following Daoist Mingde, Lin Hui quietly walked along the edge of the training ground in the front courtyard. Their feet crunched through the slightly thick snow, and neither spoke.

"Zhao Jiang'an and Mu Qiao Zhi have left." After a long while, Mingde finally spoke hoarsely. "They transferred to the stronger Black Dragon Gate and took Song Zhanlong as their master."

"Master need not worry about this disciple. No matter what happens, this disciple will never betray trust and abandon righteousness," Lin Hui promised sincerely.

"There is no need for that. Do not let gratitude affect your future. If things truly do not work out here, choose the better option and transfer to another school. There is no need to hang yourself from a single tree. You are still young," Mingde sighed.

"This disciple understands," Lin Hui answered, though he had no intention whatsoever of transferring elsewhere.

"Ah... By now, you have basically mastered the Nine Section Fast Sword, haven't you?" Mingde asked.

After stopping, he turned to look at Lin Hui.

"Yes." Lin Hui nodded respectfully.

"That's about enough. I called you out today because I intend to take you on a real Mist hunt," Mingde said. "There are three disciples under me. I've taken each of the others on a Mist hunt alone once. Surrounded by the Mist as we are, we naturally cannot stay apart from it."

"How did Senior Sister Wang, Senior Brother Deng, and Sister Wei Wei perform?" Lin Hui asked curiously.

"Wei Wei was so frightened that she went home and had nightmares for a week. Wang Yun and Deng Mingchao did passably. They tangled with two ordinary mist beasts for quite a while. Though they didn't manage to kill them, it was still decent enough." Mingde paused. "The main purpose of taking you hunting alone is to familiarize you with the process and precautions for entering and leaving the Mist. That way, when you have no choice but to enter or leave the Mist Zone in the future, your safety can be guaranteed to the greatest extent."

"This disciple understands." Lin Hui nodded.

The two circled around most of the Taoist temple and arrived at the rear. Passing through a small grove, they followed the path deeper inside.

Before long, they reached the boundary of the Mist Zone.

Mingde gripped his longsword and gently drew out its silver blade, angling it toward the ground.

"Mist Zone beasts are divided into five ranks: Harmless, Harassment, Dangerous, High-Risk, and Destruction."

"The names make them easy enough to judge," Lin Hui said thoughtfully.

"Yes. Most of what we encounter along the edge of the Mist Zone is actually Harmless Grade. They may look huge, but they can only threaten ordinary people. They are completely harmless to the likes of us." Standing before the gray high wall formed by mist, Mingde slowly took out an amber-colored Ning Xiang and used a fire striker to light one corner of it.

Then, holding the Ning Xiang in one hand and his sword in the other, he slowly approached the Mist Zone.

"Follow me."

Hearing this, Lin Hui hurried after him.

He curiously looked around. The moment the Ning Xiang touched the mist, it magically opened up a spherical space more than ten meters in diameter.

Within that space, all mist was forcibly squeezed away by an invisible force.

The two of them seemed to be inside a transparent sphere, rolling forward step by step.

Beneath their feet was uneven black earth, where not a blade of grass grew.

Towering black shadows, each at least three meters tall, constantly flickered through the surrounding mist.

Whoosh.

A humanoid black shadow swept over Lin Hui's head, making every hair on his body stand on end. He could not help stopping in his tracks.

"Don't worry. It's only a Harmless Grade Half-Giant," Mingde said calmly from ahead.

"Yes."

Lin Hui nodded.

The two continued forward for a little while longer. Finally, a modest wooden cabin appeared ahead of Mingde.

The cabin was entirely gray-black, surrounded by a ring of delicate white thorn fencing.

Mingde approached it, opened the fence, and walked inside with practiced ease.

"This is a temporary rest point I established in the Mist Zone. When you are tired from hunting and training, you can come here to replenish supplies and rest for a breather. Inside hangs a Jade Talisman Yugong obtained. Ordinary Harassment Grade monsters and below generally do not dare approach."

"Alright." Lin Hui nodded.

"Next, find a mist beast and get some practice." After taking Lin Hui inside for a look around, Mingde went back out and began the formal training.

"Go on. I'll wait here. Within fifteen minutes, find a mist beast, attempt to hunt it, and bring back part of its body. Then you'll have passed the training." Mingde handed the Ning Xiang to Lin Hui, then pushed open the door and entered the cabin himself.

"I'll wait here."

"...Yes." Lin Hui fell silent as he watched his teacher enter, lock the door behind him, then stand by the window and wave at him.

He steadied himself, glanced at the Ning Xiang in his hand, and carefully tucked it into his waist pouch.

This Ning Xiang was truly miraculous. Once lit, it had no open flame, yet it continuously gave off white smoke.

After confirming that the Ning Xiang's effect had not been affected, Lin Hui drew the Clear River Sword, stuck its sheath into the soil within the cabin's fence, then focused his mind and slowly walked toward the Mist Zone outside.

The gray, murky mist seemed to embody all that was unknown, swiftly engulfing him from every direction.

Lin Hui glanced at the Blood Seal prompt at the bottom of his vision.

Nine Section Fast Sword: Time remaining until evolution — May 19.

More than three months had already passed, yet the total evolution time of nine months did not seem to have decreased in the slightest.

That disappointed Lin Hui somewhat, but he quickly gathered his thoughts and focused on scanning his surroundings, remaining vigilant at all times.

Time passed bit by bit.

Before long—

Ooo...

A strange whimper drifted over from the left, faint and indistinct.

The sound gradually drew nearer, closer and closer.

Thud!

In an instant, a gray shadow pounced down from behind him!

It was a slender humanoid monster, its skin smooth and a strange grayish white.

Its head had no features at all. Only a sharp black horn protruded from the top of its head.

That pounce instantly set off the nerves Lin Hui had long held taut.

He raised his sword and flicked it upward behind him, every ounce of strength in his body unconsciously erupting at once.

Screech!

The sharp blade slashed viciously across the humanoid monster's chest first, throwing up a trail of sparks.

It didn't hurt it?!

Lin Hui's heart tightened. He hurriedly twisted aside, narrowly and precisely avoiding its pounce.

"That kind of monster is called a Faceless Man. The skin all over its body is hard as iron. To deal with it, you need to find its weak point," Mingde's voice drifted over from afar.

"A Faceless Man's weak point is usually the single horn atop its head. Sever the horn, and you can kill it completely. Be careful—the claws on all four limbs contain an anesthetic toxin. Once you're injured, your agility will rapidly decline." Mingde continued, "You're quite lucky. Among harmless-grade creatures, Faceless Men rank near the top. They are bewildering beasts that greatly test one's footwork and precision of vision. Normally, only those above the sixth grade of Body Tempering in our sect can handle one. You can treat this as an exam."