Chapter 262 – Mu Lin: Who Dares Accuse This Official in Court?

“Hmph, not only did he beat my grandson and bully my people, but now he’s even sent troops to attack. That bastard clearly doesn’t give a damn about us at all.”

“Let’s go! I want to see just who gave him the courage to dare treat us like this!”

With a sinister glare, Lord Seventh Bai of the coffin shop immediately led a group of people out of the secret chamber.

Though night had fallen, Ping’an Ancient Street was bustling with activity.

Or rather, nighttime was when the Yin Eight Gates were most active.

However, in the past, the liveliness of Ping’an Ancient Street came from the crowds trading and negotiating.

Now, this liveliness was chaos and uproar.

Two groups were engaged in a fierce battle on Ping’an Ancient Street.

To be honest, when they first emerged, Lord Seventh Bai, Third Master Hu, Thousand Faces, and Zombie King Wu didn’t care much about Mu Lin or the Demon Suppression Division’s army.

Even upon hearing that Mu Lin had brought troops to attack, they remained unconcerned.

The reason for this was that they knew while the Demon Suppression Division was large and powerful, the Myriad Regions were even vaster. As a result, the number of demon suppression officers stationed in each town was actually quite limited—too many would be unsustainable, after all, as demon suppression officers required salaries and allowances.

Besides their scarcity, most demon suppression officers in towns and small cities weren’t particularly strong.

Just as truly talented individuals in the previous world tended to gather in major cities, the same was true in this world. Those content to remain in small towns were mostly mediocre.

With few in number and mediocre in strength, most Demon Suppression Divisions had to ally with local gentry and influential families to maintain stability in their regions.

This situation was also why Ping’an Ancient Street could grow and thrive without fearing the Demon Suppression Division.

But that was in the past.

“Huh?!”

Emerging from the coffin shop’s secret chamber, Lord Seventh Bai and Third Master Hu were shocked to discover that their workers and managers were being slaughtered by an army that seemed like demons.

This was no exaggeration—the soldiers charging on horseback through Ping’an Ancient Street were truly terrifying.

Their faces were covered with fierce ghost masks, their bodies clad in pitch-black iron armor, and dark black mist swirled around them. Wrapped entirely in black iron armor, they resembled malevolent ghosts crawling out of hell. Even standing still, they exuded an endless sense of intimidation.

In addition to their elite equipment and terrifying appearance, these pitch-black imperial guards also possessed skilled combat techniques and formidable strength.

At this moment, the more than eight hundred black-armored imperial guards each had a cultivation level of at least the Spirit Pool Realm, with over a dozen squad leaders at the Spirit Sea Realm.

The commander of the eight-hundred-strong battalion was even a general at the Sha Refinement Realm.

Following orders without question, fighting in silence, and advancing swiftly yet quietly, they surged forward like black death or a black tide, sweeping away everything in their path.

Faced with such an imperial guard, both Zombie King Wu and Thousand Faces frowned deeply.

They were somewhat afraid of this iron-armored imperial guard.

‘Damn it, this army shouldn’t be here at all—it should be stationed at the border!’

‘And even at the border, this would be considered an elite iron-armored force!’

The feeling of fear wasn’t limited to Zombie King Wu; Thousand Faces and the others shared it as well.

At this moment, the leaders of Ping’an Ancient Street were all somewhat terrified of fighting ‘Lin Qiu.’

Unfortunately, Mu Lin had already come knocking at their door, and it wasn’t up to them whether they wanted to engage in battle or not.

“Stop!”

Thus, with no other choice, Lord Seventh Bai of the coffin shop finally unleashed his aura and Domain, pressing down toward the Beiwei Army.

“Boom!”

Lord Seventh Bai’s Domain plunged the world into darkness and gloom, accompanied by an oppressive sensation.

It was as if Mu Lin and his eight hundred Beiwei soldiers had been sealed inside a coffin.

Such a peculiar Domain made ‘Lin Qiu’ raise an eyebrow.

“Quite interesting.”

Interesting—that was ‘Lin Qiu’s’ assessment.

And for Mu Lin, the only feeling this Domain evoked was indeed interest.

The next moment, as the eight hundred Beiwei soldiers linked their energies and shuddered in unison, a majestic, mountain-like aura erupted with a “boom,” shattering Lord Seventh Bai’s Domain into fragments.

After crushing the enemy’s Domain, the Beiwei Army’s Domain did not recede but continued to expand.

“Rumble…”

Soon, nearly half of Ping’an Ancient Street was enveloped within the Beiwei Army’s Domain.

Under the pressure of this Domain, everyone within its range felt as if a mountain were bearing down on them, making it difficult to breathe and their bodies heavy.

Even their Mana and magical abilities became sluggish and nearly impossible to summon.

This sight deepened the dread in Lord Seventh Bai’s heart.

“A military formation! This is actually an elite force with a military formation! Damn it, an army like this should be fighting to the death on the frontier! Why have they come here?”

Lord Seventh Bai couldn’t understand it, and he wasn’t the only one puzzled. In the air, Ji Hongyu, who had been secretly watching the spectacle, was also stunned, her small mouth agape.

“What in the world? Doesn’t Mu Lin lack any family backing? Where did this ferocious army come from?”

“Could it be from the Chu Family or the Yan Family?”

“But that doesn’t make sense either. The Chu Family’s elite forces are the Divine Wood Guards, and the Yan Family… they only have mercenaries. A disciplined army like this is something they could never cultivate!”

The more she observed, the more astonished Ji Hongyu became.

As the legitimate daughter of the Prince’s Residence, she understood military forces, but it was precisely because she understood that she felt such awe.

In fact, Ji Hongyu even felt that, with equal numbers and Cultivation Levels, neither the elite forces of the Chu Family nor those of the Yan Family would be a match for this black-armored imperial guard before her.

She wasn’t even confident whether her own family’s imperial guard could contend with this ferocious, wolf-like army.

Yet, this only deepened her confusion.

“Where on earth did they come from?!”

Ji Hongyu was frantic, and in her frenzy, seeing that Mu Lin could summon such an invincible iron army, her evaluation of him rose once again.

She even had a peculiar thought.

“Wait, I remember the Commander-in-Chief didn’t think highly of Mu Lin, believing his cultivation time was too short to compete with the Demonic Sect, the Yin Eight Gates, and demonic monster Cultivators for the Grave Lord Inheritance.”

“But with this imperial guard’s assistance, can Mu Lin really not win?”

Alone, even she thought Mu Lin couldn’t seize the Grave Lord Inheritance. The gap between cultivating for a few months and cultivating for years was indeed immeasurable.

But with these eight hundred ferocious imperial guards, everything changed.

…

As the black-armored imperial guard’s Domain pressed down on everything, everyone was in shock. As for Mu Lin… he was somewhat intoxicated and delighted by the might of his Beiwei Army.

“The City God is truly formidable within his own Dharma Domain!”

Indeed, Mu Lin clearly understood that the reason he could wield such might was not solely due to his own strength, but also because of the Divine Position of the City God.

Without the support of the Earth Veins and Human Dao Fortune within the City God’s Domain, even if Mu Lin exhausted all his efforts and methods, he could only summon a hundred Beiwei Army soldiers.

Moreover, summoning these hundred-plus Beiwei Army soldiers would consume most of his Mana, leaving him unable to cast other Spells.

The power of a military formation is closely tied to its numbers. A hundred Beiwei Army soldiers naturally couldn’t compare to eight hundred.

“Compared to the Immortal Path, the Divine Path may have its constraints, but it is not without advantages.”

While Mu Lin was lost in thought, the Beiwei Army, with their Malevolent Ghost masks and clad in iron armor, continued to advance like mountains and tides, unstoppable.

Wherever the Beiwei Army formation pointed, everything was swept away and reduced to nothing.

This scene twisted the faces of Lord Seventh Bai and the others, prompting them to activate their hidden contingencies.

It must be said that this branch of the Yin Eight Gates had some tricks up their sleeves to have occupied Ping’an Ancient Street for so long.

As these old-timers activated their contingencies, one after another, Zombies crawled out from underground.

Countless Wraiths and Malevolent Ghosts swirled in the air.

In addition, some peculiar Mystic Treasures were also activated and deployed to counter Mu Lin’s Beiwei Army.

For instance, Lord Seventh Bai’s Coffin, empowered by this Mystic Treasure, suddenly elevated the strength of his Domain by a level, allowing it to contend with the Beiwei Army formation.

With the military formations locked in confrontation and thousands of Zombies and Malevolent Ghosts surrounding them, Lord Seventh Bai and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, the leader clad in a Shroud glared fiercely at Mu Lin and said, “Lin Qiu, Commander Lin, do you truly intend to fight us to the death over Ping’an Ancient Street?”

This made Mu Lin laugh dismissively.

“You overestimate yourselves. In our clash, the fish will die, but the net will not break.”

“Hmph.”

Mu Lin’s words also made Lord Seventh Bai laugh—a laugh of anger.

“You really look down on us!”

At this point, Lord Seventh Bai’s expression suddenly turned ferocious:

“Lin Qiu, I admit you are strong, but do you really think you can single-handedly oppose all of us in Ping’an Ancient Street, against our entire force?”

As he spoke, Lord Seventh Bai, Zombie King Wu, and the others all took a step forward together.

Seeing this, Mu Lin showed no fear. Instead, he smiled and said, “You dare to make a move?”

“Why wouldn’t we dare?”

Halfway through his sentence, Lord Seventh Bai seemed to remember something and snorted coldly, “Deputy Commander Ji did say earlier that we old-timers shouldn’t interfere in the Grave Lord Inheritance, but the current battle isn’t about competing for the Grave Lord Inheritance. It’s you bullying Ping’an Ancient Street…”

“No, this is a fight for the Grave Lord Inheritance.”

“I told you, he isn’t. None of our young men are participating in this assessment…”

“Right, our family doesn’t have anyone either…”

Faced with Mu Lin’s claim, someone stepped forward, trying to reason with him.

However, before they could finish, Mu Lin cut them off.

“Your opinions don’t matter. If our Demon Suppression Division says it is, then it is. Even if it isn’t, it must be!”

At this point, Mu Lin even smiled slightly, spreading his hands as he said, “Of course, you can object, you can appeal to the authorities or file a complaint with our Demon Suppression Division. I assure you, once you enter the Demon Suppression Division, my superiors and elders will give you a fair and impartial trial.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

These words left everyone on Ping’an Ancient Street completely speechless.

(End of Chapter)