Chapter 265 – The Expanding City God Domain

The group from Ping’an Ancient Street focused their main efforts for revenge on the upcoming demons and monsters, hoping to use other powerful outsiders to bring down ‘Lin Qiu’.

Thus, for the following period, they completely laid low, quietly awaiting the arrival of other disciples from the Demonic Sect.

Mu Lin was quite pleased to see this.

Having taken in so many mystic treasures and spirit veins all at once, he also needed some time to sort through and adapt to them.

His City God Domain also required a period for construction.

…

“Rumble…”

If anyone could enter Mu Lin’s City God Domain, they would see that the area of Yin Earth within his domain had now expanded to about a hundred acres.

At the very center and core of the Netherworld Law Domain was still the Lord Altar.

Standing ninety-nine feet tall, it was filled with a sense of sacredness and reverence.

However, the Lord Altar was no longer exposed to the outside. A grand hall now completely concealed it, and Mu Lin’s City God Dharma Image clone sat high within the hall.

Apart from the City God Hall, using the soul-nourishing wood and grave soil provided by Ping’an Ancient Street, Mu Lin had also built a massive prison.

Well, ‘provided by Ping’an Ancient Street’ was Mu Lin’s way of putting it. In the eyes of Lord Seventh Bai and the others, ‘Lin Qiu’ was a despicable robber who had brazenly taken the treasures they had nurtured within the Yin Vein.

The loss of those resources deepened their hatred for Mu Lin even further.

Naturally, Mu Lin didn’t care in the slightest.

Especially after discovering that among the things nurtured in the Yin Vein, many were resentful souls and malevolent ghosts actively created by the Yin Eight Gates. Any psychological burden Mu Lin might have had about going to war with the group from Ping’an Ancient Street vanished completely.

“Those beasts deserve to die.”

…

As for the malevolent ghosts created by the Yin Eight Gates, Mu Lin did not completely disperse them all. Instead, using the authority of the City God, he transformed a portion of the wraiths into ghost soldiers and prison guards, keeping them busy within the Netherworld Law Domain.

The addition of thousands of resentful souls and malevolent ghosts brought some liveliness to Mu Lin’s previously silent Netherworld Law Domain.

However, despite the large number of ghost soldiers and prison guards, the most powerful and terrifying force in Mu Lin’s hands was still the Beiwei Army.

Blessed with the legends of the Human Race and being experts in battle formations, their power grew more terrifying the greater their numbers.

Currently, the number of Beiwei Army soldiers Mu Lin could summon had reached two thousand four hundred, and it was continuously increasing.

With so many soldiers forming their battle array, even Mu Lin’s City God true form, let alone the Dharma Image Zhong Kui, would not be their match.

“It’s a pity that the more of them there are, the more energy they consume. If not for the support of the Yin Vein, and the exceptional quality of the Yin Vein in Ping’an Ancient Town, I would have absolutely no way of summoning so many Beiwei soldiers.”

The awe-inspiring might of the Beiwei Army truly gave Mu Lin the power to control Ping’an Ancient Town.

Beyond the army and the ghost soldiers, the environment of the Netherworld Law Domain had also undergone a great transformation.

Originally, Mu Lin’s Netherworld only had a gray sky, barren Yin Earth, and some solemn, majestic black-gray buildings.

But now, a river flowed through the land of his Netherworld—this was the manifestation of the Yin Vein within the Netherworld Law Domain.

And beside the river, vibrant red flowers bloomed beautifully.

These were Manjusaka. After obtaining the Netherworld Law Domain, Mu Lin was finally able to plant them.

For Mu Lin, these flowers of the other shore were both an embellishment and a line of defense for protecting his Netherworld Law Domain.

Anyone who intrudes into the Netherworld will be bewitched by the sea of flowers formed by the Manjusaka.

Once their will falters, they will forever sink into the Illusion Realm, their mana, flesh, and soul all absorbed by the Manjusaka, becoming nourishment for their growth.

“Prison, jailers, the Nether River, and the ground covered in Manjusaka—this already carries the flavor of Hell.”

Looking at his flourishing Netherworld Law Domain, Mu Lin was immensely satisfied.

While he was busy, outside, Ping’an Ancient Town gradually descended into chaos.

This wasn’t due to Lord Seventh Bai and his ilk causing trouble; consumed by their intense hatred for Mu Lin, they only sought a single, decisive strike.

Thus, before the Demonic Sect Saint and the Evil God Scion arrived, they were capable of biding their time.

What stirred chaos in Ping’an Ancient Town were ordinary Demonic Sect disciples, rogue Cultivators, and some demonic monsters and Yin Eight Gates practitioners who had arrived.

With the Grave Lord Inheritance about to awaken, more and more people arrived seeking benefits.

Although these individuals understood they had no chance of obtaining the Grave Lord’s core inheritance, they still had opportunities to gain scattered benefits left behind.

Given the vast difference in cultivation realms between the Grave Lord and them, even these scattered benefits could bring them immeasurable gains.

Thus, many flocked to Ping’an Ancient Town.

With an increasing number of Qi Refiners, especially those from the notoriously evil Demonic Sect, rogue Cultivators, and Yin Eight Gates disciples, chaos in Ping’an Ancient Town was inevitable.

After all, claiming that all members of the Demonic Sect in the world are evil is clearly biased, but if nine out of ten were executed, countless villains would undoubtedly be spared.

…

“Wuwu… spare my child, I beg you, spare him… he’s still so young… I’m willing to die in his place…”

In an ordinary residence, the family of five had been decimated. The male head of the household lay dead, his eyes wide with rage, and even in death, his gaze held boundless hatred.

Beside him, two children had also been brutally killed.

At that moment, a figure in black robes gazed with delight at the last infant in the room.

It was a baby only six months old. Looking at it, the black-robed man seemed to behold a precious Treasure.

“Hahaha, my fortune has arrived! A fire-attribute infant—my Five Ghost Infants are about to complete their ritual refinement!”

Learning that his strength was about to increase filled the black-robed man with joy. As for the tragically slain family and the weeping woman beside them, they were of no concern to him.

A group of lowly mortals—how could they disturb his state of mind!

At the same time, the reason the black-robed man hadn’t killed the woman wasn’t out of mercy but rather:

“Hey, old ghost, if you don’t kill this annoying woman, I’ll grind her bones to dust. Her weeping and wailing are too irritating.”

These words prompted a sinister voice to respond from the side.

“Not enough… her resentment isn’t strong enough yet. The Resentful Soul I’m refining thrives on hatred—the stronger, the better… Once you kill her last child, that resentment should suffice.”

“You… I’ll never let you go, even as a ghost!”

Knowing her child had no chance of survival filled the woman’s heart with intense hatred. Yet, such hatred didn’t frighten the Demonic Sect practitioner; instead, it delighted him, and he laughed joyfully:

“Hahaha, that’s it! That’s the resentment I want!”

“As for haunting us even as a ghost, hehe… even if you become a ghost, you won’t escape our grasp…”

Such tragic scenes weren’t limited to this residence alone; elsewhere, similar tragedies unfolded.

Some families were slaughtered, young girls violated, children’s livers extracted while they still lived, and infants directly used for alchemical concoctions.

Such cruel acts defined the Demonic Sect.

The so-called unrestrained Demonic Sect consisted, nine times out of ten, of beasts unworthy of being called human.

Their arrival turned Ping’an Ancient Town into a living hell.

Of course, amidst the chaos engulfing Ping’an Ancient Town, some harbored concerns.

“Is it really alright for us to act so recklessly? There’s still the Demon Suppression Division here. I heard the Demon Suppression Commander stationed here is an extremely formidable figure. Would he just let us run wild?”

Such words made some more cautious and restrained in their actions, but most dismissed them with contempt.

“What can the Demon Suppression Division do? Right now, we Demonic Sect members outnumber them and hold greater strength.”

“If the Demon Suppression Division stays quiet, fine. But once they make a move, there will surely be Black List members—or those seeking to join the Black List—who’ll eagerly slaughter the Demon Suppression Division.”

“That’s true…”

The so-called Black List was the Demon Suppression Division’s wanted list for Demonic Sect members and other evildoers.

Originally intended as a deterrent, it had become ineffective because most on the Black List were cunning and difficult to kill.

The Demonic Sect worshipped strength and took pleasure in seeing the imperial court and the Demon Suppression Division humiliated. As a result, notorious figures on the Black List were often revered within the Demonic Sect, gaining immense prestige.

Since fame and profit were desires shared by all humans—Demonic Sect members being no exception—many evildoers sought to earn a place on the Black List by committing grand atrocities.

Annihilating a Demon Suppression Division branch was undoubtedly the quickest path onto the Black List.

…

Many Demonic Sect members believed that with the Grave Lord Inheritance about to open, their numbers in the town were swelling, and their strength was surpassing that of the Demon Suppression Division.

It was the Demon Suppression Division who should fear them, not the other way around.

Thus, these Demonic Sect members grew increasingly brazen in their actions.

Aside from sheer fearlessness, some, though inwardly wary, also believed in safety in numbers—that the Demon Suppression Division couldn’t possibly catch them all.

“Kekeke, many are taking advantage of the chaos. As long as we conceal our identities and act discreetly, who’ll know we killed someone? Refined a soul?”

“Hehe, Third Brother is right. Without evidence, what grounds do they have to arrest me?”

This mentality of “safety in numbers” plunged Ping’an Ancient Town deeper into turmoil.

However, these Demonic Sect members, thinking this way, clearly overlooked one thing:

Laws only bound those who obeyed them.

The Demonic Sect naturally disregarded the law, hence their unrestrained slaughter of ordinary people and their heedless actions.

Unfortunately for them, Mu Lin was no law-abiding citizen either.

(End of Chapter)