Fu Chunxing stared at the Qingfeng Temple disciples speeding toward them from a distance, his gaze fixed on the short girl at the very front.

"It’s the woman at the very front. Her strength is terrifying. I don’t recognize her Martial Arts, and I’m not even sure if she’s a Summoner. I just saw from a distance as she took out everyone else I brought with me in a single move..." As he spoke, his hands clenched into fists, his expression tense.

"It doesn’t matter. Qingfeng Temple’s Lin Hui is well-connected; she’s probably hired help from who knows where. But no matter how strong one mercenary is, there’s a limit. Masters at the Grand Priest Level are all known entities; every spot is filled. A new one won’t just pop up out of nowhere. Therefore, any master Liu Wu Jun’s faction could possibly hire is already on our radar." A deep male voice emanated from the man in the tin-can armor beside him.

"What is your plan, sir?" Fu Chunxing asked in a low voice.

"We’ll deal with them directly. The time I have is limited. It’s only because Jiang Zhixia’s side is completely focused on the main Su and Liu families that they haven’t considered we’d get involved. But after we make our move, it’ll be impossible to cover our tracks. Launching a surprise attack after this will be much, much harder," the man in the tin-can armor said calmly.

"So... we must capture Liu Xiao this time. Compared to anyone else, the people who truly matter to Liu Wu Jun are his mother and this Liu Xiao." He paused, his hand resting on the hilt of the massive, single-edged blade on his back.

"Sir, after this is over, what should I do?" Fu Chunxing asked hurriedly.

"Your identity will inevitably be exposed after this. When the time comes, you’ll retreat from Tuyue with me," the armored man replied.

"Yes... By then, with Liu Xiao gone and a pile of people from Carefree Pavilion dead, Liu Wu Jun will hate the main Liu Family and the Su Family to the bone. The animosity between them will escalate, and they’ll be too busy fighting each other to look into the details." Fu Chunxing smiled.

"Alright, go wait on the perimeter," the armored man said, raising a hand. "I’ll resolve this within one minute. Everyone, get ready."

Behind him, two mysterious figures dressed entirely in black, their faces covered and wearing bamboo hats, also stepped forward.

"...I wish you a swift victory, sir." Fu Chunxing bowed his head and performed a somewhat peculiar salute.

If anyone familiar with it had been present, they would have recognized the gesture as an internal salute of the Wanhua Sect.

’Just two ordinary Priests. Even if one of them is hiding some strength, it’s all useless in the face of an absolute gap in cultivation realms.’ The armored man chuckled, then flickered, appearing first to block the path of the Qingfeng Temple group.

"Xie Yunsheng of Hongfei Gate, here to witness the ultimate arts of Qingfeng Temple!"

*

*

*

「Qingfeng Temple, Rear Courtyard.」

Lin Hui watched the second group of disciples step forward. This time, it was Li Yuanyuan.

He hadn’t expected that, besides Wang Hongshi, the second person to step forward without a second thought would be this princess of the Shadowhound Clan, a girl of mixed, non-human heritage.

"Li Yuanyuan greets the Observatory Master. This disciple has been immersed in her Martial Cultivation within the temple, free from distractions. I have nothing to fear. I am not afraid of anything I’ve done being made public!" Li Yuanyuan had a voluptuous and fiery figure, yet her appearance was quite cold, creating a great visual contrast. Because of this, she had always been quite popular in the temple.

As she stepped forward now, she immediately drew the gazes of a whole crowd of male disciples.

Mingxia, who was just watching the show, could tell at a glance that Li Yuanyuan was not of pure Human Race stock. After clicking her tongue twice, she didn’t say anything, just watched with great interest to see what Lin Hui planned to do.

"Good." Lin Hui reached out and gently tapped a finger in the air, half a meter in front of Li Yuanyuan.

The Blood Seal’s appraisal quickly appeared.

’Li Yuanyuan: Current Eldest Princess of the Shadowhound Clan, 19 years old, disciple of Qingfeng Temple. Martial Arts practiced...’

Li Yuanyuan’s information showed nothing unusual, no different from what Lin Hui already knew. But at the end, under the available evolution branches, it had, for the first time ever, given two optional paths.

He was slightly curious, but still didn’t click on them.

’If I wanted absolutely loyal subordinates, I could just choose other targets. There’s no need to use my own disciples, especially in a way that sacrifices their potential.’

"That’s enough. In your daily cultivation, pay attention to balancing work and rest. Pushing yourself too hard is bad for your longevity." With that final piece of advice, Lin Hui let her pass.

"Next."

Huang Shan stepped forward voluntarily.

"I’ll go."

Beside her, Xiaohu had also stepped out, but seeing Huang Shan, he respectfully stepped back to let his senior sister go first.

Lin Hui paid it no mind and began checking them one by one according to their order in the line.

Time passed slowly. In the line, Xue Yanshuo saw that his turn was approaching, and he grew increasingly nervous.

Fortunately, his own Divine Decision had a miraculous effect when it came to hypnotizing himself. He suppressed the fluttering in his heart and waited quietly.

"Xie Lin, step out of line. Go stand over to the left." Lin Hui suddenly waved a female disciple over.

The female disciple named Xie Lin froze. Deep down, she truly felt no sense of belonging to Qingfeng Temple; she had just paid money to learn martial arts. For someone like her, who came from a Summoner Clan, a martial arts school like Qingfeng Temple was beneath her notice.

This place was just a stepping stone for her.

It was just that she had never shown any of this on the surface. In the temple, she had always played the part of a harmless, exceptionally well-behaved, and pretty female disciple. She never thought...

"Observatory Master, is there something this disciple has done wrong, or...?"

As the first person to be called out, Xie Lin felt a little indignant.

"You haven’t done anything terribly wrong, you just don’t have a strong sense of belonging to our temple. That’s all. I am about to pass on a powerful Secret Technique that is truly unique to our temple, and it is limited only to those with a sufficiently strong sense of belonging. Those like you, who will leave sooner or later, are not included," Lin Hui said simply.

The moment he mentioned a Secret Technique, everyone’s eyes lit up, especially Mingxia’s, who was squatting on the wall and listening in.

When Xie Lin heard this, her indignation instantly turned to amusement.

’A mere martial arts school, no matter how strong, is pulling this "Secret Technique" nonsense and using the same loyalty-screening methods as the Inner City Great Clans? Isn’t that just a complete joke?’

She immediately cupped her fists in a salute to Lin Hui.

"If there’s nothing for this disciple, may I leave?"

"You may," Lin Hui nodded faintly.

After Xie Lin left, two more people were quickly singled out. One of them was Xue Yanshuo.

"Like Xie Lin, the two of you don’t need to come back anymore," Lin Hui instructed.

"What? Observatory Master, this!?"

"Observatory Master, this disciple has never had any thought of betraying the temple!"

"Out." Lin Hui’s brow furrowed slightly.

The two wanted to plead further, but an invisible gust of wind was forced into their mouths, leaving them unable to speak.

In the end, they could only walk away dejectedly.

"Wait. Xue Yanshuo, stay behind." Lin Hui’s voice suddenly rang out again.

Even though his Divine Decision was active, Xue Yanshuo’s heart couldn’t help but leap when he heard that.

He had recently leaked a great deal of Qingfeng Temple’s internal intelligence and sold it. He hadn’t reported this to his superiors in the Inner City; it was purely for his own personal gain.

Now that Lin Hui had called him out, his heart leaped into his throat.

It was only because his body was under the control of his Divine Decision, forcibly maintaining a stable state and showing no openings, that he didn’t already...

"You’re the one who leaked the temple’s intelligence, aren’t you?" Lin Hui’s voice followed.

Xue Yanshuo’s expression changed. He instantly shot into the air, activating his Body Technique and fleeing toward the outer wall.

He had the Cultivation of a Priest. Combined with his training in Qingfeng Temple’s Body Technique, his speed was a notch faster than that of an ordinary Priest.

Therefore, he was confident that no one present could stop him.

The next second.

A streak of blood flashed past.

Mingxia appeared before him, waving with a smile and swiping with her index finger.

While still in mid-air, Xue Yanshuo fell to the ground like a kite cut in two. One half of his body struggled and twitched a few times before finally going still.

"Trying to run after betraying the temple? Where do you get the nerve?" Mingxia laughed.

Blood splattered all over the ground, stunning the disciples, whose moods had been relatively relaxed just a moment ago.

They had originally thought that this whole affair wouldn’t have any serious consequences.

But they never expected...

Lin Hui glanced at Mingxia and nodded.

He quickly finished appraising the last few people, confirming there was no one else present who was likely to betray the temple.

Finally, his gaze fell on Mingxia.

"Mingxia, what about you?"

Mingxia was Master Yunxia. She would absolutely never feel any loyalty toward the so-called Qingfeng Temple, so... his purpose in asking was to get her to leave of her own accord.

"A sense of belonging and loyalty to Qingfeng Temple... If the Secret Technique you’re imparting is strong enough, Observatory Master, then it’s not entirely out of the question for me..."

"Not this time," Lin Hui interrupted before she could finish. "This Secret Technique doesn’t depend on my verbal acknowledgment. You must genuinely accept Qingfeng Temple from the bottom of your heart and see yourself as a part of it to be able to cultivate and obtain it. This is an inherent property of the technique itself."

’An inherent property of the Secret Technique itself?!’

When he said this, Mingxia’s eyes shone even brighter.

She had practiced countless Martial Arts but had never heard of one so miraculous.

"I don’t believe you!"

"You don’t have to believe me. In light of the great contribution you made earlier, I can allow you to watch from the side." Lin Hui prepared to bestow the seal.

Righteous Body, Righteous Virtue, Righteous Mind—of the three seals, he planned to bestow Righteous Body first. This was the first seal, and its effects on one’s strength could be seen immediately.

It directly increased all-around physical attributes by fifty percent. This boost was enough to cause any Qingfeng Temple disciple’s combat ability to skyrocket.

This wasn’t a simple fifty-percent increase in speed; there were synergistic effects. Righteous Body might seem like a fifty-percent boost, but in reality, the final result could be a several-fold increase in overall combat power.

"First, Wang Hongshi. Come forward and stand before me." After speaking, Lin Hui no longer looked at Mingxia, his gaze falling instead on Wang Hongshi.

"Yes, sir!" Wang Hongshi nodded and stepped forward solemnly.

The next second, a cool finger gently touched the spot between his eyebrows.

"In my name as the Observatory Master of Qingfeng Temple, starting today, I bestow upon you the temple’s Dharma Seal—Righteous Body."

HISS!

The next moment, the tip of Lin Hui’s finger lit up with a brilliant, blinding white light.

The light appeared out of nowhere. It was not Inner Strength, nor was it Void Power, nor was it even one of the countless void energies from outside the Web.

Mingxia confirmed this point immediately.

She had never felt the aura of such power outside the Web.

At this moment, even she was staring wide-eyed, not daring to blink.

Not to mention the other Core Disciples of Qingfeng Temple present. Huang Shan, Li Yuanyuan, Qiu Yiren, and all the others had their gazes completely captivated by this point of white light.

But in the next moment, their attention was drawn to Wang Hongshi, who was now enveloped in the white light.