Chapter 252 – The Strongest King

The ability of Tyrannical Divine Sense is excellent, but after careful consideration, Mu Lin decided not to choose it.

He is not a martial artist or a Sword Cultivator, but a Paper Artisan who lurks in the shadows and strikes from behind. Most of his methods for confronting enemies involve curses and Paper Figures, with his Main Body never appearing.

In such circumstances, there are few opportunities to use Tyrannical Divine Sense.

Moreover, the difficulty of healing injuries holds little significance for Mu Lin.

After all, whether it is Curse Art or the erosion and corruption of Anomalies, such afflictions are not easily cleansed.

Although the damage inflicted by these attacks may not be as overwhelmingly forceful as Tyrannical Divine Sense, their effects are not far apart.

…

Having rejected Tyrannical Divine Sense, Mu Lin’s thoughts continued to wander, and soon, another path of “Invincible Arrogance” came to his mind.

This time, he walked the path of kingship.

As for why invincibility and arrogance could be linked to kingship, it stemmed from an inspiration from his past life.

‘All living beings believe in those stronger than themselves. Without such blind following, they cannot survive. Then, those who are believed in, to escape this heavy pressure, seek even stronger superiors. Those standing above, in turn, seek even stronger beings they can believe in. Thus, the strongest king is born, and thus, the god of all beings is born… And I am the strongest.’

‘I acknowledge, I permit, I bear all burdens!’

The final statement spoke of responsibility, and Mu Lin had always believed that rights and responsibilities were equal. Since he was prepared to bear all burdens, he naturally possessed the qualification to rule over everything.

“Hum!”

The will to bear all burdens and the desire to rule over everything merged, slowly giving birth to a unique trait within Mu Lin’s Divine Soul.

If Mu Lin were the strongest among humans or in the world, then, prepared to bear all burdens and desiring to rule over everything, he would become the symbol of humanity, much like the Emperor seated upon the Golden Throne in the world of Warhammer.

Unfortunately, he was not the strongest among humans, nor was he the strongest in the world.

This also meant that Mu Lin’s burden-bearing was diminished, and diminished multiple times over.

Fortunately, Mu Lin’s Divine Soul was not weak. He also commanded numerous subordinates and had sealed away Hundred Ghosts using Soul Sealing Art.

Moreover, his mind held the concept of the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade. In the end, after a complex process of mutual fusion, the trait of Mu Lin’s Vow-Power Heart Lamp raced toward the direction of the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade.

“The so-called Hundred Ghosts Night Parade in Japan is not merely over a hundred ghosts acting chaotically together, but rather, it has a clear leader—the supreme commander.”

“At the same time, the battles of the Hundred Ghosts are not fought in a scattered manner. They can, through special means, gather their own power onto the supreme commander, amplifying the commander’s strength…”

“…I will ultimately become the strongest, and since I am willing to bear all burdens, it is only reasonable for my subjects below to lend me their power and die for me…”

Holding such thoughts, the trait Mu Lin ultimately obtained was both the King’s Domain and could also be called the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade.

Willing to bear all burdens and shoulder all responsibilities, he could gather the power of all his subordinates onto himself.

The more subordinates he had, the stronger Mu Lin, as the “king,” would become.

Moreover, through this gathering, Mu Lin could even utilize some of his subordinates’ skills.

Thinking this through, Mu Lin immediately confirmed that he had done the right thing by sealing the Hundred Ghosts.

“Being able to gather the power of the Hundred Ghosts into one body and even use their abilities—even if I can’t unleash the full potential of their skills when using them indirectly—this is still incredibly powerful.”

“Now, my Hundred Ghosts Night Parade is finally no longer just for show, but a terrifying Anomaly tale that will make the world tremble at its mention!”

…

When the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade was obtained by Mu Lin, his advancement was completely concluded.

However, that the Master Grade trait of the Vow-Power Heart Lamp could be so practical and powerful was something Mu Lin hadn’t anticipated.

But upon careful reflection, Mu Lin realized it wasn’t the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade that was powerful—it was he himself.

“If I only possessed the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade, this trait wouldn’t actually be considered strong. After all, for this ability to be effective, I need numerous subordinates.”

Without the Soul Sealing Art, without the Mindscape – Sky Burial City, without the King’s Year-End Paper, without the ability to seal the Hundred Ghosts or create numerous Netherworld Soldiers, this ability of Mu Lin’s would essentially be useless.

It was Mu Lin’s own strength that allowed this ability to shine.

Moreover, Mu Lin’s Hundred Ghosts Night Parade wasn’t limitless.

To forge iron, one must be strong oneself. Although Mu Lin could recruit (seal) many subordinates, his own capacity to bear them was extremely limited.

“With over a hundred Anomalies, relying on my powerful physique, Transcendence Trait, and the Source Rune ‘Stabilize,’ I can barely maintain my body, preventing the power from tearing me apart.”

“But any more, and I wouldn’t be able to withstand it.”

…

Despite these various limitations, Mu Lin was still mostly excited about obtaining the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade.

Especially being able to use the various abilities of his subordinates, which kept Mu Lin happily experimenting for several days.

“Ahem…”

As Mu Lin let out a cough that sounded as if his throat were hoarse, an aura of decay, rot, plague, and death immediately descended upon his surroundings.

Under this terrifying power, everything around Mu Lin began to rot and die.

Even the Spiritual Energy and the earth seemed to lose their vitality, becoming weak and decayed.

Moreover, a faint, nauseating stench began to emanate from the air and the ground.

“Ahem… this ability is a bit too dangerous. If I were to use it in a city, just walking around once would be enough to wipe out all the inhabitants.”

“Even worse, if no one cleans it up, the land I pass through would be contaminated into a plague-ridden area. Any person or animal that walks through it would become infected.”

Such an ability could be called a weapon of despair. Mu Lin even began to wonder whether the source of this plague Anomaly had been deliberately introduced into the Sky Burial City by humans—it was simply too dangerous.

Thinking this, Mu Lin immediately withdrew all the Anomaly aura he had released back into his body.

Then, he couldn’t help but cough again.

  The power of Anomalies harms both others and oneself. Even though Mu Lin refined it using the Vow Power Heart Flame, this Forbidden Power remained extremely dangerous.

Every time he used it, this power inflicted significant erosion on Mu Lin’s body.

Fortunately, Mu Lin had the Substitute Paper Figure. With a single thought, he transferred all the erosion and contamination he suffered onto the Paper Figure, restoring himself to perfect condition.

However, as a result, that Substitute Paper Figure of his was naturally destroyed.

“Anomaly abilities really shouldn’t be used too often.”

Though he said this, in the following days, Mu Lin continued to use the powers of anomalies such as the Weeping Ghost, the Knocking Ghost, and the Invisible Ghost…

Of course, Mu Lin wasn’t just playing around when using these abilities; he was also testing the limits of the power he could borrow.

After a series of experiments, Mu Lin indeed discovered something that brought him immense joy.

As a king, he could not only command and utilize the Netherworld Soldiers, Dharma Image Zhong Kui, and the powers of the Hundred Ghosts after refining them—he could also borrow the abilities of Chu Lingluo and Yan Yunyu!

To be honest, when he first discovered this, Mu Lin was quite astonished.

“Is this even possible?”

But soon, he recalled that in his previous life, the Great General of Yokai in the Eastern Islands—their Night Parade of a Hundred Demons—did not rely on summoning creatures for power.

Instead, they sought out demonic monsters and malevolent ghosts one by one, subduing them through force.

“If they could conquer a host of demons and monsters, then it shouldn’t be strange for me to have Yan Yunyu and Chu Lingluo submit to me.”

In any case, having comprehended the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, Mu Lin could now borrow the powers of Yan Yunyu and Chu Lingluo. This made him even more concerned about their strength improvement.

There was no other way—their abilities were of great help to Mu Lin.

Chu Lingluo, for instance, possessed the Azure Emperor Scripture, which was astonishingly powerful in healing, recovery, and vitality.

Yan Yunyu was even more remarkable.

Attaching herself to Mu Lin had brought Yan Yunyu into the spotlight, allowing her to accumulate a great deal of fortune.

But as a Prodigy, Mu Lin had amassed even more fortune.

After all, he had publicly defeated numerous prodigies of the Jade Lake Dao Academy and even slain several Divine Servants.

Moreover, he had independently comprehended the Clone Cultivation True Intent Diagram.

Each of these feats drew countless eyes to Mu Lin, with many convinced he would become a powerful, top-tier expert.

Even the Human Dao’s will had favored Mu Lin on several occasions.

Under such circumstances, Mu Lin’s fortune was naturally exceptionally dense.

Previously, however, this fortune was invisible and intangible to Mu Lin, leaving him no choice but to let it be.

But after borrowing Yan Yunyu’s power, everything changed.

“Hum…”

As Yan Yunyu’s power merged with his own, Mu Lin focused his thoughts slightly, and his eyes emitted a faint white light.

Looking up in this state, Mu Lin saw a cloud of auspicious energy above his head, tinged with purple amidst blue.

This sight made Mu Lin raise an eyebrow, slightly dissatisfied. “Only blue with a hint of purple? That’s so low—what grade of fortune is this?”

Naturally, he was asking Yan Yunyu.

However, upon hearing his dissatisfaction, Yan Yunyu’s expression turned rather complicated. “Brother Mu, fortune tinged with purple amidst blue is already quite high—it’s at the level of a prince or noble’s descendant.”

To help Mu Lin understand just how strong his fortune was, Yan Yunyu explained the grading of fortune to him in detail.

“In the mortal world, fortune is generally represented by seven colors: red, orange, purple, blue, green, white, and gray.

“Among these, gray is the lowest grade. Those with fortune of this level are usually refugees, the sick or weak, beggars, or impoverished families. In short, gray isn’t even ordinary—it often signifies a high risk of death.

“White is the level of ordinary people. Those with fortune of this grade typically own a few acres of poor land, barely enough to feed themselves, or work as apprentices or servants in the city.”

“Above white fortune is green. Those with such fortune, mostly wealthy merchants, county town officials, or small squad leaders in the military. Low-level martial artists and Qi Refiners also mostly fall into this rank.”

“And green fortune is also the limit most ordinary people can reach.”

At this point, Yan Yunyu paused before continuing:

“Blue-grade fortune is already extremely rare. Most descendants of aristocratic families are mostly green with hints of blue; only the main family line possesses pure blue.”

“As for purple, even among royal and noble families, only the legitimate heirs can attain it. High-ranking provincial officials and Mortal Shedding Adepts are also at this level.”

“Brother Mu, for you to nurture a wisp of purple fortune at this stage is already exceedingly rare.”

After speaking, Yan Yunyu displayed her own fortune, and Mu Lin noticed that hers was merely deep blue.

However, there was also a slight difference between their fortunes.

Mu Lin’s fortune resembled clouds in the sky, mostly still and unmoving.

Yan Yunyu’s, on the other hand, burned like raging flames.

After a moment’s thought, Mu Lin understood the reason for the difference in their fortunes.

“Are you using a fortune-related secret technique?”

“Yes, my Yan Family’s secret technique allows me to burn fortune to increase cultivation efficiency or comprehension. Brother Mu, you could do the same.”

Upon hearing this, Mu Lin immediately shook his head: “Better not. My cultivation speed is already sufficient. Tell me about other uses of fortune in your Yan Family.”

(End of Chapter)