Chapter 199 – Final Assessment: Blood Moon Calamity

Yuan Ce could not be certain whether the scattered and then reunited humans were still his companions.

This situation, where everything was shrouded in suspicion, caused the cooperation between demonic monsters and humans to fall apart, leaving Yuan Ce feeling utterly frustrated.

With strength but nowhere to apply it, he even shouted into the void:

“Mu Lin, come out! If you have the guts, face me head-on!”

Naturally, Mu Lin paid no heed to such calls. He simply manipulated, lured, or drove the demons, monsters, and Anomaly Evil in the city toward Chu Hongxuan and his group.

From a bird’s-eye view, it seemed as though a giant hand had enveloped the illusory city conjured by the City of Illusions. Countless threads descended from this hand, connecting to the demonic monsters and evil spirits within the city.

Once linked by these threads, the demons and monsters moved like puppets, manipulated by the giant hand to gather and slaughter in specific areas.

This slaughter continuously squeezed the living space of Chu Hongxuan and his companions while also steadily reducing the numbers of the demons and monsters.

Soon, some astute individuals discerned Mu Lin’s intentions.

“The Anomalies aren’t just hunting humans; they’re also fighting and devouring each other. Even the demonic monsters often encounter their natural enemies… Mu Lin isn’t just eliminating the Disciples of Jade Lake Dao Academy; he’s wiping out all the Anomalies in the city.”

“What is he trying to achieve with this?”

“What else? He’s preparing to clear the entire city. Don’t forget, his confrontation with Chu Hongxuan is merely personal. The Tower of Illusory Heavens’ assessment is based on points earned by slaying demonic monsters. Mu Lin intends to sweep the entire city clean of demons and monsters in one fell swoop!”

These words left many stunned, but soon someone exclaimed in astonishment:

“Hiss… Could he actually succeed?”

“If he does, it would be monumental. I recall that in the Tower of Illusory Heavens’ assessment, the strength of the demons and monsters far surpasses that of humans.”

Hearing this, someone immediately nodded in agreement: “Exactly. The Dao Palace aims to shatter the pride of these Prodigy Disciples, making them understand that demons and monsters are terrifying and must never be taken lightly. For this reason, during every Southern Eastern Region Joint Examination, the Dao Palace deliberately humbles them by ensuring the demons and monsters vastly outmatch the humans.”

“Because of this, no one has ever fully passed the assessment to date. The best achievement was someone using a special ability to hide and evade the pursuit of demons and monsters for seven days.”

“If Mu Lin succeeds, regardless of how he does it, he will be the most outstanding Disciple in the Southeast Region in nearly a century.”

Some marveled, while others recognized the immense practical value in Mu Lin’s actions.

“Manipulating Anomalies and luring demonic monsters into mutual slaughter—this isn’t just an illusory fantasy. In reality, such tactics are feasible.”

“This also means that if a calamity truly ravages a city, Mu Lin alone could resolve it.”

“And in the process, he wouldn’t even need to expend human resources… Mu Lin truly could match an entire army.”

Such exceptional performance not only astonished ordinary nobles and wealthy individuals but also caught the attention of the City Lord of Jade Lake City, who was also the Prefect of Jade Province. His eyes gleamed as he watched Mu Lin.

“This young man has strategic value… Do everything possible to keep him in Jade Province.”

“Yes, Prefect.”

Some were amazed by Mu Lin’s performance, while others were drenched in cold sweat.

This person was naturally the headmaster of Jade Lake Dao Academy.

Mu Lin’s ruthless slaughter had completely trampled the face of Jade Lake Dao Academy underfoot.

What made it even more unbearable for him was that Mu Lin only targeted the Jade Lake disciples who had attacked him, while he not only refrained from harming other humans—such as those from Qianyang Dao Palace, Longyou Dao Palace, and Heshan Academy—but even assisted them on several occasions.

If this continued, the assessment would likely end with Mu Lin in first place, other disciples taking second, third, and fourth, while Jade Lake Dao Academy’s disciples would be left in last place.

This was not a scenario the headmaster of Jade Lake Dao Academy wished to see.

With abundant resources and having gathered the most outstanding disciples from the Southeast Region, yet ending up last in the Southern Eastern Region Joint Examination—such a result was something he could never justify.

Soon, he discovered something else that made his blood boil. Since he had not been specifically instructed otherwise, Mu Lin not only refrained from targeting humans but also did not specifically target the foreign races who had come for the exchange.

—Mu Lin was no madman, nor was he a demonic monster whose mind had been eroded by slaughter or hatred. He would not kill indiscriminately without reason.

He understood the principle that having more friends meant more paths.

However, his actions also meant the headmaster of Jade Lake Dao Academy’s mission had failed—and this was a political mission.

If before, whether he could retain his position as headmaster after Jade Lake Dao Palace placed last was still uncertain, now, with the failure of this political task, he could be certain he would face reckoning.

Unwilling to fall to such a fate, the headmaster of Jade Lake Dao Palace began to think.

And soon, he truly found a way.

“Go, activate the Blood Moon ahead of schedule.”

“Headmaster, to what level should it be activated?”

“Full moon!”

After all, this assessment was being held at Jade Lake Dao Palace, and Jade Lake Dao Academy had some degree of control over it.

The so-called Blood Moon was Jade Lake Dao Academy’s method of increasing the difficulty.

In Jade Lake Dao Palace’s original design, the initial Cloud City only had demonic fiends causing chaos.

But as time passed, the Blood Moon would hang in the sky, amplifying the power of the demonic fiends and evil spirits.

Initially, only a corner of the Blood Moon would appear.

But the longer time passed, the more of the Blood Moon would manifest. On the seventh night, the Blood Moon would become completely full.

At that time, the entire Cloud City would descend into a terrifying, boundless hell—the most difficult day of the assessment.

Now, to suppress Mu Lin, the headmaster of Jade Lake Dao Palace had brought the Blood Moon forward.

“Hum…”

The power of the Blood Moon was indeed extraordinary.

When the moon reached its zenith, a bloody mist enveloped the entire city.

Sensing the anomaly, Mu Lin instinctively glanced at the sky, looking for the source of the change—and that was when he was struck.

“Ugh…”

The moment he gazed directly at the Blood Moon, Mu Lin felt an overwhelming torrent of information flood into his mind.

In this world, information also held power. The vast influx of information into Mu Lin’s mind immediately sought to twist his will and corrupt his divine soul.

Fortunately, Mu Lin’s divine soul was not weak.

“Boom!”

When danger was detected, the flame of the Vow-Power Heart Lamp erupted as if provoked, blazing fiercely.

It must be said that the Vow-Power Heart Lamp ignited by arrogance indeed has the drawback of making Mu Lin’s temperament haughty, but this conviction is truly courageous.

‘I want the heavens to no longer obscure my sight, the earth to no longer bury my heart, all living beings to understand my will, and all Buddhas to vanish into thin air!’

The proud and unyielding will allowed the distorted power invading Mu Lin’s Divine Soul and Sea of Consciousness, despite its high level, to be met head-on by the flames of the Vow-Power Heart Lamp.

Even if it were shattered, Mu Lin’s belief would not yield; instead, it showed a tendency to grow stronger and more courageous the more he fought.

“You cannot corrupt me!”

“I will ultimately become the strongest. For now, you have merely walked further than I have, but before long, I will surpass you!”

The Blood Moon’s message was to distort Mu Lin’s Divine Soul, making him worship and believe in the Blood Moon.

But how could Mu Lin, who firmly believed his future would be greater than that of the Blood Moon, worship another? This unyielding conviction amplified the power of the Vow-Power Heart Lamp.

In the end, Mu Lin relied on the Vow-Power Heart Lamp to resist the distorting force in his soul.

However, after resisting it, Mu Lin no longer gazed directly at the Blood Moon.

He was not foolish; he clearly understood that while his future might surpass the Blood Moon’s greatness, at present, the Blood Moon was indeed stronger. Lowering his head now was no disgrace.

Moreover, he had no time to contend with the Blood Moon any longer.

Mu Lin’s soul was powerful, with extremely high resistance, which allowed him to withstand the Blood Moon’s distortion and corruption even while gazing directly at it.

But his physical body lacked such strength.

And the Blood Moon’s corruption did not only distort the Divine Soul—it also caused physical mutations.

In just this short while, Mu Lin discovered that, unbeknownst to him, several large, blood-red eyeballs had appeared on his body, rolling around incessantly.

In addition, tentacles were faintly emerging within his flesh.

And Mu Lin’s troubles did not end there.

The majestic Blood Moon hung in the sky, visible to all the demons and monsters in Cloud City.

Upon seeing the Blood Moon and bathing in its blood moon radiance, they naturally mutated as well.

The demonic monsters became more bloodthirsty and cruel, and also grew stronger.

Beyond living creatures, ordinary objects like stones and wood grew flesh, blood, hands, and feet under the illumination of the blood moon radiance.

Even Mu Lin’s Paper Figures were transforming into living humans.

What troubled Mu Lin was that as the Blood Moon monsters grew stronger, they also spiraled completely out of control.

“…The plan has failed.”

With the Paper Figures out of control, Mu Lin lost his sense of touch, and thus he could no longer manipulate the demons and monsters to turn on each other or to besiege Chu Hongxuan, Yuan Ce, and the others.

But soon, he realized it was no longer necessary.

The terrifying Blood Moon disaster, along with the monsters that had evolved and mutated in the blood moon radiance, did not spare Chu Hongxuan and his group. Instead, they slaughtered everything indiscriminately.

Yuan Ce and the others were also severely affected.

“What a pity. I originally hoped to use their hands to clear out all the monsters in the city.”

(End of Chapter)