Chapter 142 – Fusion Transformation: Match Over

From Master Meng Rui’s words, Mu Lin sensed that she held him in high regard, even more so than Dongfang Ya.

And this was normal. First, as Master Meng Rui had said, Dongfang Ya treated all students in the class with gentleness, and because of this, she couldn’t devote all her attention to Mu Lin.

Second, Dongfang Ya was an orthodox cultivator who believed that all great power should reside within oneself.

Although she marveled at Mu Lin channeling the Sky Burial Power to form a Dharma Domain, she didn’t truly approve of it and was even somewhat concerned.

Master Meng Rui was different. Puppets could be considered external aids, and as someone who specialized in puppetry, she never saw relying on external forces as a bad thing.

Thus, her reaction to Mu Lin invoking the Sky Burial Power was full of admiration.

With differing perspectives, her attitude toward Mu Lin naturally differed as well.

In fact, even in this short time, she had already thought of how to utilize the dangerous method of the Sky Burial Domain.

“If Mu Lin were my disciple, I would teach him the method for crafting Substitute Puppets and the art of consciousness transfer. Then, after invoking the Sky Burial Power, he could withdraw at any time. In this way, the extreme Sky Burial Domain would no longer be a mutually destructive ultimate move but a Mystical Art that could be used regularly.”

…

Apart from this, there were two other reasons she valued Mu Lin. One was that their studies and practices were quite similar.

Paper Figures could be considered a type of puppet. If Mu Lin became her disciple, he could fully inherit her legacy.

The last reason was quite pragmatic. After seeing Mu Lin’s abilities, she clearly knew that Mu Lin was bound to rise and gain great renown.

Once such a Mu Lin became her disciple, he would be a living advertisement, making her future recruitment efforts infinitely easier.

Fame, profit, extraordinary and compatible talent—along with the fact that although Mu Lin had previously confronted her, it wasn’t for his own sake but for Dongfang Ya, who had shown him kindness—standing up to her, a puppet master, for his benefactor, though it displeased her somewhat, also demonstrated Mu Lin’s loyalty and sense of gratitude.

With outstanding talent and a grateful heart, it was quite reasonable for Master Meng Rui to be moved by such a Mu Lin.

She was moved, but after snapping out of his daze, Mu Lin felt hesitant.

Becoming a disciple certainly had its benefits, but if Master Meng Rui and Dongfang Ya were to clash, Mu Lin would be caught in the middle, which would be awkward.

Unwilling to end up in such a situation, he could only say, “Thank you for your regard, Master, but I need to consider it.”

“Planning to ask Dongfang Ya about it?”

At this, Master Meng Rui wasn’t angry but smiled and said:

“Go ahead and ask. With her personality, she’ll definitely tell you to agree.”

“…”

Mu Lin couldn’t refute this. If this matter was beneficial to him, the likelihood of Dongfang Ya urging him to agree was quite high.

…

Master Meng Rui’s unexpected decision temporarily turned her and Mu Lin from adversaries into allies.

Well, this was also related to Mu Lin displaying exceptional talent.

As he often said before—once you demonstrate great strength, you’ll find the world to be a beautiful place, with everyone treating you kindly.

Although Mu Lin wasn’t yet powerful, his potential was already evident. Because of this, many people treated him with kindness.

After reconciling, Mu Lin originally thought the final battle wouldn’t need to be fought.

To his surprise, Qin Yuan still stepped forward, and Master Meng Rui didn’t stop him.

After a moment’s thought, Mu Lin understood her reason for doing this.

Screening.

Mu Lin was valued by her, and Qin Yuan was also valued by her. Although Mu Lin did not know the extent of this person’s talent, being personally rescued by Master Meng Rui meant he was undoubtedly formidable.

When two peerless prodigies came together, deciding whom to focus on cultivating became a dilemma for Master Meng Rui.

In such a situation, having the two face off in a battle, allowing them to determine the outcome themselves, became the best choice.

“Junior Brother Mu, please advise.”

“Please.”

Although they were competitors, Qin Yuan was quite courteous toward him. In such circumstances, Mu Lin naturally would not be rude. After exchanging a bow, they amiably summoned their puppets.

Since the opponent only summoned one, Mu Lin also retained only the Yaksha of the Judge’s Burial.

Seeing this, Qin Yuan on the other side did not seize the opportunity to attack. After hesitating for a moment, he spoke up: “I have only crafted one puppet, while you have dozens of paper figures. Having you use only one seems somewhat unfair. You can summon a few more, as long as it does not exceed nine.”

The other party was still somewhat thin-skinned. He had reasons he must win, but he also did not want to bully others excessively. Thus, Qin Yuan chose to let Mu Lin summon a few more paper figures to make the duel slightly fairer.

Limiting the number to nine was because he and Zuo Li had discerned that Mu Lin’s Celestial Fortress Array required nine paper figures to deploy.

This proposal made Mu Lin glance at him a few more times, but he did not comply.

“No need. Though it may sound arrogant, to deal with you, Burial alone is sufficient.”

“Be careful.”

With Mu Lin’s warning, “Whoosh!” the bluish-black Yaksha of Burial charged toward the opponent’s puppet as swift as the wind.

Faced with the Yaksha of Burial that arrived before him in nearly the blink of an eye, Qin Yuan showed no fear.

He had confidence in his puppet.

And his puppet was indeed somewhat special—it was a Buddha floating in mid-air.

The Buddha was entirely crafted from glazed material, seated in a lotus position, with a steel wheel suspended behind it. Moreover, the most unique feature of this Buddha was its six arms.

The lower four arms were empty, while the uppermost pair of hands each cradled a flame.

“Whoosh!”

Facing the Yaksha of Burial thrusting with its spear, as Qin Yuan willed it, one pair of hands among the Buddha puppet’s six clasped together.

“Hum…”

After the Buddha puppet’s palms joined, golden patterns lit up across its body.

These patterns first appeared on the Buddha itself before spreading into the air.

Under the illumination of the golden patterns, a golden shield enveloped both the Buddha and Qin Yuan, protecting them.

“Immovable Vajra Barrier Mantra!”

“Boom!”

The moment the barrier formed, the spear-wielding Yaksha of Burial struck the Adamantine barrier with a powerful thrust.

Empowered by the Jiao Dragon, this strike carried the force of several thousand pounds.

Under that terrifying might, the air itself was shattered, and Qin Yuan’s Adamantine barrier cracked with a loud crash.

This scene made Qin Yuan raise an eyebrow.

“So strong!”

“But it’s over now!”

“Mu Lin, you are indeed powerful, but too arrogant…”

As Qin Yuan spoke, one pair of hands of the Six-Armed Glazed Buddha continued to maintain the Immovable Vajra Seal, while the other pair, cradling flames, formed the Great Radiance Seal.

“Hum!”

The moment this seal took shape, the flames held aloft by the Six-Armed Glazed Buddha suddenly plunged into its chest.

“Boom!”

This flame caused the patterns on the Six-Armed Glazed Buddha to abruptly change from gold to crimson red.

As the patterns transformed, the protective barrier also shifted dramatically, with scorching flames erupting from its surface.

Once the flames appeared, they surged outward like solar flares, erupting with immense force.

“Rumble…”

Caught off guard, the Burial Yaksha was engulfed in the flames.

Seeing this, Qin Yuan’s face lit up with joy.

“Mu Lin, you’ve lost. Paper Figures are ultimately not Puppets—their material is inherently flawed and vulnerable to fire. Moreover, the cultivation you practice relies on Yin and evil energy, which is countered by my radiant flames.”

“You are strong, but under this double suppression…”

Believing victory was assured, Qin Yuan began explaining the reasons for Mu Lin’s defeat. However, before he could finish, his expression turned grave.

The Burial Yaksha, ignited by the radiant flames and transformed into a blazing torch, was not instantly reduced to ashes.

In fact, the flames surrounding it seemed to have no effect at all.

With a thrust of its spear, its attacks rained down upon Qin Yuan like a violent storm.

“Boom!” “Crash!”

Under its relentless assault, Qin Yuan’s Immovable Vajra King · Adamantine Body barrier was on the verge of collapse in the blink of an eye.

This sight startled Qin Yuan.

While the Burial Yaksha’s formidable attacks were within his expectations, what left him incredulous was: “Why do the radiant flames have no effect on your Paper Figure?”

As the saying goes, special advantages outweigh all else, and countering trumps divinity.

He couldn’t understand why the Burial Yaksha, doubly countered by fire against Paper Figures and radiant flames against Yin and evil energy, remained unscathed.

To this, Mu Lin could only say, “Yin and evil? Let me introduce you to officially sanctioned Yin Soldiers—my Yin Soldiers are recognized by the Human Dao.”

Not only were they impervious to flames, but even Thunder, which repels all evil, could only withstand a few strikes from his Yin Soldiers.

As for fire countering Paper Figures, that was indeed true. The inherent limitations of the material meant most Paper Figures couldn’t withstand supernatural flames.

However, the Paper Artisans of the Yin Eight Gates were well aware of their own weaknesses.

His grandfather, that old Paper Artisan, had specifically instructed Mu Lin to choose the Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art from the Dao Palace Library precisely to guard against this.

‘If it were a normal Paper Figure in a normal battle, I would first summon an all-encompassing Black Mist to set the stage.’

‘The Black Mist would block out the sunlight, and its moisture-laden nature would weaken the power of supernatural flames, even extinguishing them entirely.’

‘Moreover, the Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art could also address the physical frailty of Paper Artisans. With these three benefits combined, my grandfather truly went to great lengths when he had me choose the Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art.’

Of course, that was the combat approach of a normal Paper Artisan. For Mu Lin, his Yin Soldiers were unafraid of sunlight, making such preparations unnecessary.

As for flames, the Jiao Dragon, capable of summoning wind and rain, was inscribed on the Paper Figure. Mere flames were powerless against it.

With counters rendered useless and special advantages ineffective, and the Burial Yaksha proving exceptionally powerful, Qin Yuan soon found himself in grave danger.

This scene also filled Zuo Li below with anxiety.

As for why Zuo Li was the most anxious when Qin Yuan was on the verge of defeat, the reason was simple:

“Impossible, this can’t be happening! The leader’s prophecy cannot be wrong. This time, Qin Yuan was supposed to take first place!”

“A trump card, right! Qin Yuan still has a trump card!”

Unwilling to believe their leader could be wrong, he stared intently at Qin Yuan, wanting to see him unleash his ultimate move.

And Qin Yuan… truly had an ultimate move.

“Merge, transform!”

Seeing that the Adamantine Body barrier could not stop the Burial Yaksha, and unwilling to accept defeat, Qin Yuan immediately activated his bloodline talent.

The activation of this talent caused him to resonate strangely with his Six-Armed Glazed Buddha, and then, a scene that astonished Mu Lin unfolded.

The six-armed Buddha crafted from glazed material actually merged with him in a flash of white light.

After the fusion, it remained six-armed, but a clearly more agile and powerful puppet Buddha appeared before Mu Lin.

The combined strength finally allowed Qin Yuan to contend with the Burial Yaksha.

“Immovable Adamantine!”

“Fire Realm Protection!”

With Qin Yuan’s furious roar, his body suddenly turned golden, and then, raging flames enveloped his entire form like a divine robe.

Cloaked in flames, he charged toward the Burial Yaksha.

“Roar!”

“Kill!”

“Boom, boom, boom…”

One empowered by twin dragons, the other ablaze from head to toe—their battle was extraordinarily fierce.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, they fought from the ground to the sky, and from the sky back to the ground.

In their intense clash, flames surged wildly, dragon roars echoed continuously, the ground cracked in countless places, and was then burned into a glazed state.

Seeing Qin Yuan, ablaze and resembling a Flame Wisdom King, Mu Lin finally understood why Master Meng Rui held him in such high regard.

That merging and transforming bloodline talent indeed provided a significant boost to a Puppet Master.

The puppet’s body granted the Puppet Master unparalleled defense, while the Puppet Master’s soul allowed the puppet to unleash a variety of immensely powerful Spells.

As now, in the midst of the fierce battle, Qin Yuan was chanting the Immovable Wisdom King Fire Realm Mantra, causing countless flames to emerge from the Void, burning toward the Burial Yaksha.

Moreover, some flames even coalesced into the forms of fire lions and fire wolves, assisting Qin Yuan in the fight.

It could be said that the combination of the two completely eliminated the Puppet Master’s inherent weakness of a frail Main Body—through merging, the Main Body even became Qin Yuan’s strongest point.

‘I just don’t know if he can only merge with one or if multiple merges are possible…’

Though inwardly impressed, Mu Lin felt no urgency at all, nor did he believe he would lose.

The reason for this was that he still had several trump cards yet to reveal.

For instance, one ability Mu Lin was eager to try—Heroic Spirit Summoning.

This was a Heaven Grade trait derived from the Taiyin Life-Nurturing Scripture after absorbing and fusing with the Year-End Power, and further evolved through the power of the Human Dao. It allowed Mu Lin to summon the heroic spirits of the deceased to possess Paper Figures, elevating their status and strength.

Admittedly, this Mystical Art required a bloodline as a medium, and Paper Figures lacked bloodlines. Moreover, Mu Lin had no outstanding ancestors within the past century.

But while Paper Figures and Mu Lin lacked bloodlines, others possessed them.

Not to mention the blood he had collected from Yan Yunyu and Chu Lingluo, one point alone was enough for Mu Lin to unleash the special effects of this Cultivation Method.

—He had once absorbed and refined Jiao Dragon Essence Blood.

Due to the absorption and refinement, that Evil Jiao could be considered connected to Mu Lin.

What made it even more perfect was that the Jiao Dragon was dead, and its death was recent. This meant Mu Lin didn’t need to pull someone from the distant past, and his consumption was therefore extremely minimal.

“The Yaksha of Burial carries my essence blood, and my blood contains Jiao Dragon Essence Blood. Therefore, using this trace of bloodline as a guide, I can summon the soul spirit projection of that Evil Jiao and attach it to the Paper Figure.”

Although he hadn’t used it yet, Mu Lin had an intuitive sense that summoning this Evil Jiao’s soul spirit would increase the power of the Mighty Jiao Dragon – Adamantine Force Talisman Array on the Yaksha of Burial by at least tenfold.

With such a trump card in hand, how could Mu Lin possibly be in a hurry?

However, despite feeling somewhat eager to try, he ultimately refrained.

‘This is my ultimate move prepared for the Southern Eastern Region Joint Examination… Although I am confident in securing a top-three position, the Qi Refiners of Jade Lake Dao Academy are indeed extraordinary. To avoid an unexpected defeat, it’s better to keep an extra trick up my sleeve.’

Even without using the Heroic Spirit Summoning, Mu Lin had many techniques at his disposal. For instance, right now, he was cheating by employing the Celestial Fortress Array.

—The Celestial Fortress Array, based on the Nine Palaces, indeed required nine individuals to form the array.

But after advancing to Expert level and gaining a touch of Master characteristics, Mu Lin no longer needed nine people to manifest it simultaneously.

As it stood, he had six Substitute Paper Figures within his body and secretly activated two more in his sleeves—in their Paper Figure form, without expanding them.

6 + 2, plus the Yaksha of Burial, allowed Mu Lin to release a concealed Celestial Fortress Array.

Of course, this time, he didn’t use the Celestial Rampart’s blocking, the Citadel’s suppression, nor did he summon the Sky Burial Domain.

Yet, even with just the most basic connection of qi and shared damage distribution, Qin Yuan was suffering immensely.

“Bang!”

“Damn it, why is your defense so high!”

Qin Yuan couldn’t understand why his attacks on the Yaksha of Burial felt like sinking into a bottomless pit, dealing no damage at all.

The Paper Figure before him was completely indestructible, an unbreakable sticky rice cake, and gave him a sense of infinite Mana.

In contrast, after being relentlessly pummeled by the Yaksha of Burial, Qin Yuan’s crystalline body had cracked.

“Kill! I refuse to believe you can’t be killed!”

Being held back by just a single Paper Figure while giving his all created such a vast gap that Qin Yuan, filled with grief and indignation, broke down emotionally.

Thus, ashamed and angered, he abandoned defense and, risking injury, fiercely exchanged a blow with the Yaksha of Burial.

“Bang!”

“Crack!”

With one arm shattered, Qin Yuan’s all-out strike finally breached the Yaksha of Burial’s defense, landing on its chest.

Although Qin Yuan could sense that nearly half of his force had vanished into thin air during the attack.

Nevertheless, he had still pierced through the Yaksha of Burial’s defense, leaving a charred palm print on its chest.

However, before Qin Yuan could rejoice, he stared blankly as the charred palm print faded away at a visible rate.

“…Monster…”

That utterly unkillable sight completely shattered Qin Yuan’s mentality, draining his fighting spirit—after all, this was merely a contest.

But what the despondent Qin Yuan failed to notice was that Mu Lin also raised an eyebrow.

After transformation and fusion, Qin Yuan’s strength was still considerable. Despite most of his successive attacks being diverted by Mu Lin using the Celestial Fortress Array.

Consequently, the Substitute Paper Figures bearing the damage for the Yaksha of Burial had already sustained cracks from enduring too many assaults.

“That was close. If this happened a few more times… I’d have to use my other Substitute Paper Figures.”

Six Substitute Paper Figures—six lives. Quite valuable indeed.

Of course, the fact that Qin Yuan managed to shatter one Substitute Paper Figure already demonstrated his formidable strength.

Moreover, even the Main Body of the Burial Yaksha had sustained considerable injuries.

As for why its injuries had receded, it was due to the reverse application of the Substitute Paper Figure.

Reality isn’t a game, and various talents and traits are far from rigid game skills.

Through insight and understanding of his abilities, Mu Lin could attempt things beyond the descriptions of his skills.

Just now, by applying the principle that injuries to his own body could be transferred to the Substitute Paper Figure, he had also transferred the injuries sustained by the Burial Yaksha to the Substitute Paper Figure.

“The Burial Yaksha is an extension of my body—it is formed from my essence, energy, and spirit, combined with some other elements… Its composition shares half of my essence. Therefore, the Substitute Paper Figure is also connected to it. With focused concentration, I can transfer its injuries to the Substitute Paper Figure as well… Although, since Substitute Paper Figures are more important than ordinary Paper Figures, I would rarely do this under normal circumstances.”

As for the difference between transferring attacks with the Celestial Fortress Array and transferring injuries with the Substitute Paper Figure, one involves diverting and sharing ongoing attacks, while the other involves transferring injuries already sustained by the body. Clearly, the latter is more difficult.

…

The indestructible, unbreakable Burial Yaksha completely shattered Qin Yuan’s fighting spirit as he approached his limits. Consequently, Mu Lin ultimately secured victory in this assessment.

Such a victory, especially a crushing one, left the onlookers gazing at him with extremely complex expressions.

Among them were astonishment, admiration, praise, fear, and even some wariness.

But among all, the ones with the most complicated expressions were undoubtedly—the Puppet Twins Flower and Butterfly.

PS: Since it’s hard to split, I’m posting two chapters together.

(End of Chapter)