Thoughts IV (Thanks to Alliance Leader Scarlet Flowing Light)

Independent lineages generally operated on a model where a master took on five or six disciples. This model could not be scaled up for profit and required few resources, so it posed no threat to the martial academy system. As a result, Xingdao's martial academies no longer targeted them.

Since it was no longer a martial academy, Mingde no longer relied on tuition fees as his main source of income. Whenever he ran short of money, he would take on part-time work lending the Wang Family a hand in fights. After all, he was in the Inner Strength Realm. Even if his Clear Sword was somewhat weak, he was still a genuine Inner Strength Realm martial artist. Earning enough for meals was effortless.

Quite a few more students drifted away, leaving only Lin Hui, Xiao Hu, and Little Fat to seriously practice the sword. Seeing that Wei Wei rarely came to teach anymore, the others' initial enthusiasm quickly faded, and they all left.

In the end, only six or seven remained. They treated sword practice as casual exercise, yet somehow managed to keep at it.

By then, the true Clear Sword Sect consisted of only four people: Lin Hui, Wei Wei, Xiao Hu, and Little Fat.

Wang Yun had also returned to her family and no longer came often.

As time passed, the black mist season quietly came to an end, and summer arrived.

Lin Hui's Clear Sword evolution was nearly halfway complete. His Body Tempering had also reached the peak of the ninth grade.

This meant he had finally reached the end of the Seven Section Fast Sword. His next step could only come after the Clear Sword Technique evolved, allowing him to use the Clear Sword for Body Tempering.

And because of the black mist season, Lin Hui had not gone to the Mist Zone to hunt materials in a long time. He had been living off his old savings.

But no matter what, he persisted every day. Wind or sun, rain or shine, he continued practicing his sword. Gradually, his parents came to see sword practice as merely exercise and no longer tried to dissuade him as they had before.

Ever since Xingdao Martial Academy was established, the New Martial Alliance it formed had completely stabilized Tuyue's martial arts market.

The environment swiftly became peaceful and secure. The various martial academies drew exceptionally clear boundaries between themselves, no longer openly and covertly competing as they once had. Profits were divided with absolute clarity.

As a result, the entire market became completely fixed in place. Mingde and Wei Wei could no longer see any hope, and they rarely practiced swordsmanship anymore. Occasionally, when they passed the training grounds and saw Lin Hui still persisting, they merely thought he was practicing for exercise, rather than taking it as seriously as he had at the beginning.

In the blink of an eye, August arrived.

At the Clear Sword Sect's training grounds, Lin Hui led Xiao Hu and Little Fat as they gently swung their longswords. Like a health exercise routine, their movements were graceful and eye-catching.

Ever since they had given up the martial academy business, the Clear Sword Sect had unexpectedly caused a stir in the elderly health exercise market not long ago.

When Lin Hui taught Xiao Hu and Little Fat, he used the perfected version of the Seven Section Fast Sword. Its posture was graceful and its movements unhurried, drawing the attention of two elderly men who had come to the former site of Qingfeng Temple to clear their heads.

The old men became interested and tried learning it. The result was like opening the floodgates. Once they went home, they discovered that their health had improved and many of their old aches and pains had eased considerably.

So the elderly men and women spread the word among themselves. Five or six came all at once, and the Clear Sword Sect's elderly health class actually gained a reputation.

Most of these elderly people came from well-off families. Moreover, the Outer City had become increasingly peaceful and stable lately. They could not bear the hardship of truly practicing martial arts, but the slow-paced version of the perfected Seven Section Fast Sword, modified for demonstrations to Xiao Hu, suited them perfectly.

After demonstrating three times on the training grounds, Lin Hui answered two old men's questions about the finer points of their stances, then walked toward Wei Wei nearby.

"Senior Sister, weren't you out with Senior Sister Wang Yun buying stock? How do you have time to come here?" Lin Hui asked softly, tugging a towel from the wooden rack and wiping away his sweat.

Wei Wei and her master Mingde now mainly made their living by following the Wang Family as semi-retainers. Wei Wei protected Wang Yun, while Mingde would step in to lend a hand in a fight whenever the Wang Family needed it, helping his disciple hold the fort.

After all, an Inner Strength Realm expert was more than capable of handling the Wang Family's affairs. Besides, the Wang Family had more than one Inner Strength Realm martial artist supporting them. It was only Wang Yun's branch that lacked one.

"I just got back. I'm on leave. You're still practicing? In a few days, Sister Yun is taking me to Deer Mountain Lake for the Deer Mountain Gathering. Are you going? She bought spots for all of us," Wei Wei said softly.

As his senior sister, she had watched Lin Hui silently persist in cultivating the Clear Sword Technique, never missing a single day. No matter how people outside judged it, such perseverance gradually gave her a better impression of him.

Though she did not approve of what he was doing, she still held respect for someone with such determination.

Especially now that the Clear Sword Sect had become this so-called health class. They had taken a different path and somehow found a glimmer of hope.

It was simply not the kind of hope she and her father wanted.

"A gathering at Deer Mountain Lake? What do people do there?" Lin Hui asked.

"Make connections and see if you meet someone you fancy," Wei Wei said with a smile. "You're nineteen now. Other than practicing martial arts every day, isn't there any girl you like?"

"Practicing swordsmanship already takes up a great deal of my time. I don't have the energy to look after anyone else," Lin Hui said, shaking his head.

"All right. I knew it," Wei Wei sighed.

"But in a few days, I may really need to head out somewhere," Lin Hui suddenly changed the subject.

"Head out? Where?" Wei Wei froze.

"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. There's no need to take such a risk now, is there?" Wei Wei frowned.

"It's fine. Actually, my Old Man needs people to guard a shipment," Lin Hui replied.

Recently, Old Man Lin Shunhe had opened another two branch stores, expanding at an astonishing pace.

He had even brought in two shareholders with clout. He had connections both in official circles and the underworld, and his business was flourishing like blazing fire.

Part of the reason was the modern business ideas Lin Hui occasionally offered his Old Man—membership cards, reward points, prize draws, and the like.

But the key was still that Old Man Lin Shunhe was highly capable at business, earned substantial profits, and possessed an exceptionally accurate eye for the market.

"Your family really is..." Wei Wei had also heard about the changes in Lin Hui's family. They were changing with each passing day.

They had already opened branch stores in other towns and even come up with some new joint supermarket model that was extremely popular.

Two years ago, Lin Hui's family had clearly fallen into being an ordinary household. Yet in the blink of an eye, he was about to become a rich second-generation heir again.

Speaking of his Old Man, Lin Hui was speechless too. He had only casually offered a few suggestions, yet his family's monthly income had rapidly swelled from around ten thousand to over two hundred thousand—perhaps even more.

Old Man's general store swiftly shifted to a supermarket model, expanding on a large scale. With flexible methods and a formidable grasp of the market, the new Lin Family Rivers and Mountains Supermarket had already built a fine reputation across several nearby towns.

And the connections, relationships, and backing Old Man Lin Shunhe had brought in from behind the scenes were growing ever more substantial.

A blessing in disguise—after his downfall, he had racked his brains and drawn countless lessons from the experience. Now, they were all coming into use.

Not long ago, when Lin Hui returned home, he heard from his mother that Old Man had paid a tremendous price, prepared lavish gifts, and visited that benefactor again, earning the person's forgiveness.

He had also regained that person's support.

Next, Rivers and Mountains Supermarket would continue to expand.

Lin Hui himself was still somewhat dazed. Especially since, before he had even realized what was happening, he had gone home and somehow become a rich second-generation heir. The feeling was rather speechless.

"Come to think of it, have you really no intention of switching to the Origin Mountain Sword?" Senior Sister Wei Wei's voice pulled Lin Hui from his thoughts.

The Origin Mountain Sword was another special sword art she had found, one focused primarily on defense. This sword art had likewise been passed down by an external martial arts expert from Xingdao.

"No need. My talent is limited, and so are my time and energy. Training like this is enough. Besides, my family isn't what it used to be anymore. The last time I went home, my father had actually hired two experts to guard the residence," Lin Hui said.

"I heard. The Steel Fist Brothers, right? They came from Xingdao too, and they're both external martial arts experts at the peak of Body Tempering. They excel at joint combat techniques and are extremely strong. If they weren't getting on in years, they probably wouldn't have come all the way from Xingdao to scrape by in the Outer City." Senior Sister Wei Wei nodded.

"My father tried to persuade me too. He wanted me to go home and learn business with him. He says I've trained martial arts to this point, and that's enough. Money is what matters—he can casually spend some and hire Body Tempering peak experts to protect the place. There's really no need for me to keep grinding away in bitter training every day." Lin Hui spoke helplessly. "But I've gotten used to training. I don't want to give it up just like that."

"Your father has money, so why are you still going out to hunt materials?" Senior Sister Wei Wei asked in confusion.

"His money is his. Mine is mine," Lin Hui replied.

"You're his only son, aren't you? Won't his be yours anyway?"

"My father is still young. How he spends it is his own business. Maybe I'll inherit it someday, but only after I inherit it will that money count as mine. Right now, it has nothing to do with me." Lin Hui drew a clear line between the two.

"You really are a strange person." Senior Sister Wei Wei shook her head.

"Maybe..." Lin Hui smiled.

"Forget it, let's not talk about that. But there's something you should watch out for. Quite a few people from the Hundred Flowers Sect have arrived recently. They seem to be searching for something in the Mist Zone behind us. If you run into them, remember to stay far away," Senior Sister Wei Wei warned.

"Mm, got it." Lin Hui nodded.

The Hundred Flowers Sect?

Two people he had killed in the Mist Zone earlier silently surfaced in his mind. They had borne the Hundred Flowers Sect's custom-made markings.

Now it seemed that the Hundred Flowers Sect had finally realized those people could not be found, followed the trail like vines along a melon stem, and traced it here.

"There's something else you need to be careful about. The Inner City recently sent out a new expedition team. The leader is someone from Yugong named You Ying. If—if, and I mean if—she brings people to the temple to ask about the situation, you must remain absolutely respectful. Do not show even the slightest shred of disrespect!" At the mention of this person, Senior Sister Wei Wei's face turned somewhat pale.

"She's that strong?" Lin Hui frowned.

"An Inner City Summoned, extremely strong—and exceptionally brutal. If things don't go her way even slightly, she kills or cripples people. Of course, it would be best if you could avoid her in advance," Senior Sister Wei Wei said.

"Thanks for the warning." Lin Hui nodded.

"Alright, since you're not going, I'm off. I have a feeling that this time, I might really find my destined man!" Senior Sister Wei Wei gave a seductive smile, turned, and strode away.

After she had gone far enough, Xiao Hu at last could not help speaking.

"Senior Brother, why aren't you with Senior Sister Wei Wei? I think you two are really a perfect match."

"Kids shouldn't always be thinking about things like that." Lin Hui patted Xiao Hu's head.

His master had mentioned it to him before. When he first saw Senior Sister Wei Wei, his heart had stirred a little, but after realizing she had no such intentions, those feelings had faded.

Now, his daily enjoyment was simply checking how far the Blood Seal had evolved.

He looked forward to seeing whether, once the perfect version of the Clear Sword Technique was complete, his second Body Tempering would allow him to step into the Inner Strength Realm in one stroke.

Only after Body Tempering truly reached one's own limits was it possible for strength to arise from within, producing inner strength.

But that was not guaranteed. Many people reached the limits of Body Tempering and still failed to produce inner strength.

In Lin Hui's heart, only upon reaching the Inner Strength Realm could he truly be said to possess a thread of strength to protect himself in this Outer City.