Chapter 227 |
On the plains of the Mist Zone, Lin Hui descended slowly, Su Yaping and Yun Xiazi close behind. The crowd below had noticed their approach long before they touched down.
Members of the Lin family climbed out of their carriages and gathered a short distance away, all eyes fixed on Lin Hui. Further back, the Clear Wind Dao's disciples watched from a distance, caught between fervent admiration and barely concealed unease.
Elder Du and the Lin family guards kept their distance, too awed to approach. Powerhouses of this caliber were the stuff of legend; not one of them had ever seen such a person in the flesh.
Yet everyone present understood one thing without it needing to be said: from this day forward, the Lin family's name would become legend in Xinyu Town.
"Ah Hui..." Surrounded by countless gazes, Lin Shunhe struggled to find the right words. He studied Lin Hui carefully, and only after satisfying himself that this was indeed his own son did he exhale quietly.
Given the staggering gap in strength, he had genuinely feared some ancient monster had taken root inside his son's skin.
But the familiar mannerisms were all there. This was still the same person; his son was still his son. The brat had just played his cards extraordinarily close to the chest.
"What do we do now?" Lin Shunhe asked, his voice low. With his son's true strength now fully in the open, the authority to lead naturally fell to Lin Hui.
Lin Hui looked around, meeting the eyes that were all turned toward him. As his gaze swept the crowd, he spotted his older stepsister, Liu Xiao. She looked as though she wanted to say something, but couldn't bring herself to. The moment their eyes met, her face went inexplicably red, and she dropped her gaze and looked away.
We'll proceed with the plan you laid out earlier, Dad, Lin Hui sent via sound transmission, his tone unhurried. What happened here doesn't change much.
"Alright! I'll follow your lead," Lin Shunhe agreed with a nod. He quickly rallied the group and gave the order to move out.
The convoy set off again. This time, Lin Hui, the Lin family party, and the Clear Wind Dao's top ten disciples came together, the two groups merging into one.
Little Lin Xiaoliu burrowed deeper into Liu Shenglan's arms. She stole a glance at Su Yaping, then at Lin Hui, then buried her face without a word—determined to stay hidden.
She wasn't the only one. Everyone in the group had been caught inside Su Yaping's Void Force field earlier. The suffocating terror of being unable to draw breath was still fresh, and it had planted a deep-seated wariness.
I'm here now, so there's no need to hover. Go and see to your own matters, Lin Hui transmitted to Su Yaping and Yun Xiazi after noticing the group's discomfort.
The two recognized the awkwardness themselves. They exchanged a nod, said their goodbyes, and withdrew to the convoy's outer perimeter to serve as escorts.
They hadn't been moving long—just as the atmosphere was beginning to settle—when two figures came up fast from behind.
"Master!" Xia Si flashed to the right side of Lin Hui's carriage, pulling someone along. "This one says he wants to surrender and join us." She pointed at the thick-necked, bearded man with a black saber strapped to his back.
"Excellency! I am Yan Jinghong, Saber Hall Master of the Tuyue Diocese in the Wanhua Sect's invasion force. Having witnessed Your Excellency's supreme strength, majestic bearing, and unrivaled power, I am wholly convinced to forsake the darkness and follow the light! From this day forward, I will stand at your side through every trial and pursue the ultimate extreme of the martial dao. I beg Your Excellency to take me in!"
Yan Jinghong. Lin Hui studied the red-eyed, powerfully built man. A man who couldn't even get past little Xia Si was, in his estimation, entirely negligible.
"Follow Xia Si for now. We'll see how you perform," Lin Hui said. "The Wanhua Sect—how many experts did they bring this time?"
"Twelve Divine Officers, five High Divine Officers, and one Palace Master. The remaining troops number around two hundred, so it isn't a large force. The true main force is the Heavenly Wild Goose Army of the Hongyin Empire. We aren't clear on their strategic objectives, but they dispatched seven generals. Together, in formation, they can rival a Marshal. Their overall strength is formidable."
"How strong is a general?" Lin Shunhe couldn't help but cut in. "And a Marshal—how do they compare to the High Divine Officers and Palace Masters of the Inner City's Moon Tower?"
"The Hongyin Empire doesn't use the classification of Divine Officer, High Divine Officer, or Palace Master," Yan Jinghong explained. "They measure strength through military ranks. The title of general covers a wide range—the weakest are comparable to Divine Officers and Circulation Realm experts, while the strongest rival High Divine Officers and Palace Masters. The gap within that rank is enormous. As for Marshals... they are equivalent to Blood Ancestors. If anything, it's said they far surpass an ordinary Blood Ancestor. They are monstrous."
The man with the black saber paused. "In the two historical city-massacre events, Hongyin Marshals waited until the Mistborn of those Taisu Federation cities had been drawn away, then single-handedly slaughtered the populace and razed the land. After that, all major cities were required to station no fewer than double-digit Blood Ancestors to maintain the Federation Array—the only formation capable of standing against a Marshal."
Lin Hui noted the Marshal rank carefully. It was clearly a formidable tier bridging the gap between Blood Ancestor and Mistborn. The intelligence was worth keeping. As for Yan Jinghong's loyalty—time would tell.
For now, the most pressing task was to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the battlefield. He had just killed a Blood Ancestor; the Tuyue Inner City undoubtedly had methods to detect the fallout. Clearing himself of any suspicion came first.
The convoy pushed on, but this time the pervasive panic was gone. With Palace Master-level powerhouses like Lin Hui and Su Yaping holding the line, the creatures of the Mist Zone were little more threatening than strays. Any beast they encountered was swept aside like a light breeze.
Strangely enough, after more than a dozen kilometers through terrain that should have been crawling with monsters, they didn't encounter a single one.
Inside the carriage, Lin Hui sat quietly, watching his father while the wheels clattered out their steady rhythm.
After a long silence, Lin Shunhe sighed. "Is there... nothing you want to say to me?"
"I figured out my cultivation on my own and consumed anomalous creations from the Mist Zone to push past my limits," Lin Hui said, his expression perfectly composed. "But I knew that drawing attention would only invite disaster. I was worried someone might try to refine me into a human pill, so I put everything into my cultivation and kept my strength buried. Honestly, I didn't even know what level I'd reached. What exactly is it you want me to say?"
"...Your story is absolutely airtight," Lin Shunhe said, rendered somewhat speechless. "Not a crack anywhere."
"And what about you?" Lin Hui turned it back on him. "Where did your sudden power come from? A middle-aged man who never cultivated a day in the first half of his life, no aptitude for The Call—and then you're airborne and trading blows with Divine Officers. Shouldn't you explain that?"
"I fused with an Imitation Evil Weapon, that's all. I joined a faction, made a few modest contributions, and ended up like this. You know I can't stand trouble, and I'm terrified of dying, so whenever I can hide, I hide. And it lets me save the day when it actually matters. Didn't it just work out perfectly?" Lin Shunhe's reasoning was equally airtight.
The two looked at each other, then both sighed.
"Fine. Neither of us will pry further," Lin Shunhe said. "Going forward—do you still plan to return to Tuyue?"
With his strength now exposed before so many eyes, concealing it on their return would be impossible. He would inevitably enter the sights of the Blood Ancestors. And once one of those man-eating monsters fixed its gaze on you, conflict was only a matter of time. This was the fundamental reason that, outside of the Elders, virtually no Blood Ancestor-level powerhouses chose to live in the urban districts. Powerhouses weren't foolish. Why linger on the city's edges, waiting to be cornered and devoured?
At this point, both father and son understood what their options were: submit to the Inner City and serve as dogs for the Trueblood Nobles—and standing rations for future Blood Ancestors—or leave.
"The way I see it now, leaving is the only choice," Lin Hui said with a sigh. "The world is unpredictable... it moves people whether they want to be moved or not."
"There's no other way. The core of your Clear Wind Dao is all here right now," Lin Shunhe said. "Go and ask them. Those who are willing to follow, we bring. Those who want to stay, we send back now. It needs to be handled cleanly."
"Mm. But Dad—since you're planning to bring this many people all the way to Black Cloud, you must have made arrangements, right?" Lin Hui asked.
"Naturally. When have you ever known me not to have a backup plan?" Lin Shunhe's expression was perfectly composed. "Over by the Jade Sea, I've arranged for an old contact from Black Cloud to receive us—a large merchant caravan from their side. But they don't know our actual background; as far as they're concerned, we're an ordinary Internal Force martial arts family. So when we meet them, be mindful of that and don't give yourself away. We'll wait until we've reached Black Cloud and put down solid roots before revealing our strength gradually. That's the safest approach. Arriving at your level of power right from the outset would cause too great a shock and invite a fierce backlash. At your level, keeping a low profile isn't just advisable—it's practically essential."
"Understood," Lin Hui said with a nod.
"One more thing," Lin Shunhe added. "Black Cloud is vastly more powerful and prosperous than Tuyue—one of the three wealthiest cities in the entire Federation. Its Inner City Moon Tower and the density of its powerhouses are on a different scale entirely. And because they've been fighting the Hongyin Empire year-round, I'd wager their military could crush several Tuyues without exerting much effort. So don't let what you've gained here go to your head. Do not look down on them."
"Don't worry, Dad. I didn't cultivate to lord over people. I only want the freedom to live as I see fit. That's all," Lin Hui said, smiling.
"Good. It seems the two of us are cut from the same cloth—both easy-going and both committed to keeping a low profile. If the world weren't so dangerous and chaotic, who would want to live this carefully? Sigh..." Lin Shunhe let out another sigh.
Father and son talked for a long while after that, working through past events and trading information. Viewing the upheavals that had rocked Tuyue from each other's hidden vantage points turned out to yield a surprising number of new insights.
The convoy traveled another two hours until the sky began to dim.
They found a suitable mountain col and made camp. The pre-prepared isolation tents were unrolled and quickly assembled into a simple, enclosed shelter against the rock face.
With Tranquil Incense burning and guards rotating through their watches, the night passed without incident.
Early the next morning, Lin Hui gathered the Clear Wind Dao disciples. He laid out his decision to leave Tuyue for Black Cloud and asked who among them was willing to follow.
"Black Cloud?!" Wang Hongshi and the rest of the top ten were visibly shaken. A decision this sweeping, arriving this suddenly, had caught everyone completely off guard.
Black Cloud wasn't a neighboring town. The distance from Tuyue was staggering.
"Dao Master—how long is the journey? How do we even get there?" Wang Hongshi asked, giving voice to what was on everyone's mind.
They had finally bound themselves to a formidable Dao Master, a bright future seemingly guaranteed. And now, to suddenly uproot their lives and travel to the far end of the world—that was a hard thing to swallow.
The vast majority of their families and friends were still in Tuyue. Asking them to abandon everything and start from nothing in Black Cloud was no small request at all.