535 Evolution I

"Xu Lingfei? Do you remember me?"

Lin Hui looked at the other person and tried to communicate with them.

But in return, he received a bright, pale blue claw mark.

Swish!

The claw marks swept across the afterimage where Lin Hui had stood, tearing a dark rift in the air.

The spatial tearing within this courtyard is extremely difficult, far more so than the outside world. At least when Lin Hui first arrived here, he was unable to tear through space to travel and jump.

But now... after Xu Lingfei's mutation, he could unleash a destructive force far exceeding his previous attacks with just a casual flick of his wrist.

It's clear that the power amplified by this mutation is truly terrifying.

Roar!

Xu Lingfei roared, quickly closing in and wildly waving her hands without any strategy.

Blue claw marks rained down on Lin Hui like a storm.

These claw-like shadows likely contain some secret techniques she was once skilled in; their speed sometimes appears slow, but accelerates in the next instant to reach the target. Sometimes they appear fast, but suddenly turn halfway to strike other parts of the body.

Lin Hui was initially caught off guard and was hit a few times, but he quickly Light Body using his superior speed.

Ultimately, his current cultivation level is at the Dao Integration stage, and his mastery of cultivation techniques, sword skills, and secret arts far surpasses that of his opponent, so it's normal for a huge gap to appear in actual combat. For a moment, all that could be seen where the two clashed was a constantly flashing ball of blue light.

That was a sphere of light entirely constructed from the claw marks left by Xu Lingfei.

A strike of tens of millions per second seems unmatched in the material world, but in Lin Hui's eyes at this moment, it can only be described as "good".

A few minutes later, Xu Lingfei began to repeat her attack. It wasn't the chaotic claw marks she'd described, but rather the varying speeds they produced. "Indeed very fast, very powerful, and most importantly, completely without weakness. No matter how many times it kills its opponent, it will quickly recover and return. This kind of monster is truly the best henchman for the Source Disaster."

After completing his assessment, Lin Hui abruptly retreated, dodging Xu Lingfei's attack range.

He also possessed Wind Disaster- related Disaster Energy and was considered a member of the Fusion Faction, so once he was out of the warning range, he no longer attracted Xu Lingfei's attacks.

If it were an outsider without the Wind Disaster attributes, it would be a fight to the death.

Maintaining a certain distance, Lin Hui looked at Xu Lingfei at this moment.

"The Flash Extreme Seal previously restored Black Elder's sanity, so let's try it now..." If the Flash Extreme Seal truly has such a powerful effect, then he plans to pour all his resources into this area.

Because there are simply too many powerful Fusionist within the Source Disaster, if we could pull out a batch of them...

In addition, he also needs the Flash Extreme Seal to improve the efficiency of his own cultivation techniques.

Coming to his senses, Lin Hui took a breath and looked across at the other side.

"Xu Lingfei, now I ask you, are you willing to join my Clear Jade Mountain? If you are, I might have a way to save you this once." After transmitting this message three times, he suddenly pointed a finger with his right hand.

His index finger flashed in front of Xu Lingfei's face in an instant, and taking advantage of the difference in their speed, he gently tapped her between the eyebrows.

puff.

A beam of colorful light suddenly enveloped Xu Lingfei, and inside the beam, countless tadpole-sized characters spun rapidly.

After a few seconds, the beam of light dissipated, revealing Xu Lingfei standing there blankly.

Her eyes slowly regained some of their light from the fog.

But the abnormality on his body did not subside. He still had that strange, mutated form.

"I... I...!!" She looked at Lin Hui, then looked down at her hands, noticing the ugly and bizarre tumors on her skin. "Congratulations, my test worked. Your cognition has recovered somewhat," Lin Hui transmitted his voice.

... Xu Lingfei remained silent, then squatted down, stroking the small tumors covering her body, a complex expression on her face. Having lived for so many years, she had long since passed the point of being willing to die for her appearance, but...

"Since you've already rejected me, why go to such great lengths to bring me back?" she asked softly.

"I just wanted to do a test. I'll give you a hand seal I created, but I don't know if it will work," Lin Hui said. "Originally, this hand seal only works if you're willing to become my disciple. But it actually worked just now. It seems your consciousness didn't completely disappear just now?"... Yes... I did retain a tiny bit of consciousness and vaguely heard your voice transmission."Xu Lingfei lowered her head, looking at her mutated body.

"So, you don't like normal things, you prefer this kind of extreme stuff? That's why you deliberately waited for me to become like this."

... Lin Hui really wanted to pry open this thing's head and see what was inside.

"You're wrong. I don't like your type at all. Okay, the situation is this: if you leave me, you'll quickly revert to your old self. Without my secret techniques, you'll only be able to continue wandering as a monster. So..."

"I had no choice, didn't I? I'm going to be your dog anyway. What do you want me to do?" Xu Lingfei said with a wry smile.

"You can't go back to the sect anymore. You'll continue living in this outer area from now on. I'll contact you here if anything happens. The mark we exchanged is no longer usable, so..." Lin Hui passed on the Wind Chime Secret Technique to the other party. This was a group effect evolved from the Blood Seal within Clear Jade Mountain, and could only be practiced by members of Clear Jade Mountain.

"With such thorough preparations, it seems you have other plans..." Xu Lingfei guessed.

"It's just taking precautions. Also, news of your mutation has already spread within the sect, so be careful to avoid detection and keep it hidden," Lin Hui instructed. He also wanted to test how long the cognitive recovery provided by the Flash Extreme Seal could sustain Xu Lingfei.

"Good."

After the exchange, Lin Hui teleported away.

Xu Lingfei was left alone, standing blankly on the surrounding plain, surrounded by mutants just like the ones she had encountered before.

With a rip, she simply removed her tattered clothes, and naked, she walked step by step into the depths of the plain.

She needed to abandon everything belonging to the Thunder King Sect to avoid being tracked down, and then find a place to build her own hidden base. After returning to the Thunder King Sect from the black hole, Lin Hui floated in mid-air, looking at the vast and boundless sect square.

The three main entrances are clearly distinct, forming three giant gates located at three different points in the square.

The Upper Splendor Division was rather deserted, with few people coming and going.

The Cloud Thunder Division was of medium size, and the streaks of light flying in and out mostly carried a clear bloody stench and appeared irritable and hurried.

The Heart Gathering Division had the largest number of people, so densely packed that it was like a bustling market.

Enter the Three Departments from here; inside are the various branch halls.

Looking at this scene, Lin Hui suddenly felt a strange feeling.

It was as if these Fusionist within the sect were still escapists hiding inside the sect, huddling together for warmth, and refusing to come out.

Even after becoming Fusionist and entering this Heartless Belt, they still rebuilt their own organizational structures that were not much different from those outside. In doing so, they maintained their former lifestyles, as if they had never become Fusionist at all.

Little did they know that the courtyard in the Heartless Belt area was only a small part, a tiny section within the Stagnant Storm zone.

"... It's nothing more than another utopia that Fusionist desires." Lin Hui concluded in his heart.

He flew back to the Guangxin Hall and returned to the alchemy furnace. He then went back to his courtyard and began his seclusion, no longer venturing out.

About a week later, he left the sect again and went to the outside world to contact Xu Lingfei.

It was confirmed that she was still intact, retained her consciousness, and her body had recovered significantly. She at least looked like a normal person now.

This indicates that the mutated nature of the Wind Disaster was indeed initiated by the spirits and other entities.

Once the soul was restored, everything else followed suit.

Conversely, Xu Lingfei's strength also weakened compared to before. The boost from the mutation disappeared once again.

Having confirmed these two points, Lin Hui returned to the courtyard.

"Since the Flash Extreme Seal is effective, then directly evolving it will obviously be of great benefit to my cultivation, as well as to expanding my power and gathering resources."

Having made his decision, he immediately began to adjust his state, activating the Devil Incense, with Wind Energy surrounding him to shield and isolate him from external perception.

Currently, his cultivation of the Supreme Heavenly Directorate Art, which enhances his divine soul, is slow, and the Sentient Fangsheng Art, which modifies the memories of Fusionist, is also ridiculously slow. If the Flash Extreme Seal could evolve to have the special effect of accelerating cultivation, it would solve his biggest urgent problem.

As for sword techniques, their current strength is sufficient for the time being. Lin Hui's attitude towards offensive sword techniques has always been that they are good enough, and he doesn't spend too much energy and time on them. They are merely protective methods, and the core is to quickly improve one's realm and level. Five more Fate Reversal are enough. Having determined his direction, he sat cross-legged in the courtyard, focusing his attention on the Flash Extreme Seal.

"Flash Extreme Seal: The Supreme Seal Technique of the Nine-Bend Heavenly Splendor Pavilion..." Skipping over a bunch of introductions, he went straight to the end.

Evolvable branch: 3.

"Only three... it seems to be an extremely complete and top-tier secret technique." Lin Hui nodded inwardly and continued to explore the branches.

Three directions were immediately displayed.

"1. Infinite Flash Extreme Seal: A special seal technique evolved from the Flash Extreme Seal, which can be used on the same target once every hundred years, restoring everything to its original amplified state."

This is used to prevent a decline in performance; it refreshes your performance once every hundred years, keeping you at your peak forever.

Lin Hui understood.

"2. True Knowledge Seal: The purpose of enhancing intelligence is to solve problems, obtain correct answers, and make precise responses. This seal method is based on the evolution and deduction of the Flash Extreme Seal, and can directly obtain the required answer after use. The consumption of each use depends on the difficulty of the problem."

This... is interesting, but these aren't the effects Lin Hui wants. The effects do seem tempting, but the answers are often not singular, nor are they always fixed. Moreover, changing the model means that other Fusionist won't be able to supplement their understanding, which is the biggest loss.

Lin Hui dismissed that idea and went straight to the last one.

"3. Aurora Seal Art: Based on the Flash Extreme Seal, it greatly enhances the subject's overall intelligence. Each use can only last for ten seconds, and there must be a one-year interval between uses."

The third option lacks any specific description of the increase, but Lin Hui couldn't find any other suitable choices; the other two were unsuitable.

He immediately selected the third option.

Soon, a more detailed explanation emerged.

Resources consumed: 10 million in reserve energy. 10 million in reserve mental energy.

Time consumed: Ten million years.

Seeing this outrageous consumption, Lin Hui was too lazy to complain and started absorbing directly.

Following the pattern of the Blood Seal, the more it consumes, the stronger its effect becomes, so he wasn't worried about ending up with something useless.