Chapter 309 – The City God Manifests: Commanding Judgment

In his previous life, Mu Lin came from a godless nation, and a great man had once said: “Fighting against heaven brings boundless joy, fighting against earth brings boundless joy, fighting against people brings boundless joy.”

Even if Mu Lin had only grasped a sliver of this spirit—unyielding in any environment, battling heaven and earth—it was enough to strip him of any reverence for deities.

“So-called Deities are merely higher-order beings. What they can achieve, I can too.”

Holding this belief, Mu Lin, unburdened by fear, felt a blazing battle intent ignite in his eyes.

This unwavering resolve to face a Deity head-on, even to the point of deicide, caused the flames of arrogance within his Sea of Consciousness to erupt once more.

“Boom!”

The flames—exploding, raging, and burning wildly—even broke free from the confines of his Sea of Consciousness, manifesting above his head and behind his back.

The flames above his head wove themselves into a crown, while the flames billowing behind him, seen from a distance, resembled fiery wings sprouting from his back.

“This form and circumstance are somewhat reminiscent of Lucifer in the West.”

“Both embody arrogance, both stand in opposition to the divine… No, I am not like that Morning Star. He defied the Holy Son, not the Deity.”

“More importantly, he was defeated, while I am not.”

“Boom!”

As Mu Lin pondered, the flames spread from his body to his Beiwei Army.

This spread of the flames of arrogance was not without purpose. While the fire consumed the bodies of the Beiwei Army, it also elevated them to their utmost limits, unleashing unimaginable power.

Simultaneously, the crown’s flames greatly enhanced their mental resistance, allowing them to ignore all external influences.

With this explosive surge in strength, if they were to face the Scarlet Son from before, Mu Lin might not even need to intervene—his Beiwei Army alone could surround and kill him.

Unfortunately, what they could handle was only the previous Scarlet Son. The being before them now, though its aura had weakened and the Beiwei Army had gained another boost in power, was still no match for this Scarlet Overlord.

“Swish!”

His speed was too fast, his combat skills too refined.

Grandmaster-level combat techniques meant that even with their drastically increased strength, the Beiwei Army could not withstand a single blow from him.

Moreover, in the midst of battle, the Scarlet Overlord relied on instinct to continuously adapt, grow, and evolve.

Seeing this, Mu Lin immediately understood that he had to intervene; relying solely on the Beiwei Army would not be enough to subdue him.

And so, for the first time, Mu Lin unleashed all his means.

“Hum!”

With a single thought from Mu Lin, a sacred and majestic figure materialized behind him.

As this figure appeared, a unique structure began to project continuously alongside it.

It resembled a government office but was far more solemn and imposing—the City God Temple.

With the City God Temple manifesting, the projection behind Mu Lin could only be one thing: yes, giving it his all, Mu Lin had projected his strongest divine form—the City God.

Upon appearing, the City God did not step forward to fight. As the City God, it represented the authority of divine rule, not the brute force of a warrior.

Thus, its method of combat was rather peculiar.

“Bang!”

“Silence!”

Seated on the official chair, the City God’s divine form slammed the magistrate’s gavel and uttered a single command: “Silence!”

As his voice rang out and the gavel struck the table, a ripple spread outward from the gavel, undulating through the surrounding space.

When this ripple swept across the sky, the Scarlet Overlord, who had been locked in relentless combat with the Beiwei Army, truly stilled for an instant.

His body stiffened abruptly, and the aura surrounding him dimmed, as if silenced by something.

This was the might of the City God.

Fused with a specific region, he could not leave freely and would suffer a significant loss of strength if separated from that place.

Yet, in return, he could harness the power of heaven and earth within his domain to suppress his enemies.

Now, the Scarlet Overlord’s stiffness was the external manifestation of being suppressed by this power of heaven and earth.

Of course, the City God alone could not Stabilize the Scarlet Overlord—this entity’s rank was far too high. What truly rendered him immobile was the combined effect of the City God Domain’s suppression, the Source Rune ‘Stabilize,’ and the Divinity·Silence.

Only the union of these three forces managed to suppress the Scarlet Overlord, causing his aura to wane.

However, as a few crimson forbidden runes flickered, the Scarlet Overlord regained his ability to move.

Simultaneously, his three-headed, six-armed form began to evolve once more.

His main body remained unchanged, but a pair of dark golden cicada wings emerged from his back, greatly enhancing his power.

From those wings, Mu Lin sensed a hint of the might of space and time.

‘Adaptation, evolution—no matter what kind of attack he faces, he can evolve a corresponding form to counter it… The Scarlet Overlord’s abilities are too formidable.’

The only thing Mu Lin felt grateful for was that the Scarlet Overlord was not at his peak. Not only was his consciousness not fully restored, but his energy was also extremely scarce—and evolution required energy… vast amounts of it.

Thus, instead of instinctively evolving into a legendary Divine Beast or a king of Demonic Monsters, he could only make minor adjustments and repairs.

“But we cannot delay any longer. His consciousness is recovering, and he is actively absorbing the surrounding energy to replenish himself. He doesn’t even need to recover much—if he merely returns to the Mortal Shedding stage, I will stand no chance of victory.”

With this thought, Mu Lin’s gaze sharpened, and he bellowed once more.

“Audacious villain! You have scorned the order of this court and disrupted its dignity. You shall suffer the torment of shackles and bonds. Moreover, you have committed countless murders, plundered and seized by force—your crimes are unforgivable. You shall face the penalty of decapitation, the punishment of ten thousand arrows piercing your heart, the torture of branding, the agony of the boiling oil cauldron, the torment of dismemberment by five horses, the suffering of death by a thousand cuts…”

Like a magistrate presiding over a trial, the lofty City God recounted the crimes of the Scarlet Son and imposed a multitude of punishments.

This pronouncement was not without purpose, nor was it merely to claim the moral high ground.

As the City God, Mu Lin now possessed the divine authority to pass judgment. As his verdict took effect, the energy between heaven and earth transformed according to his decree, materializing into various Torture Devices that were applied one by one to the Scarlet Son’s body.

First, shackles appeared out of thin air, binding the Scarlet Son’s form.

Then, searing hot branding irons and bronze pillars materialized around him, inflicting the torture of branding.

Following that came the punishment of death by a thousand cuts, the agony of the boiling oil cauldron… Each penalty was executed in turn, causing the Scarlet Son’s recently heightened aura to plummet once more.

Its body had become tattered and broken from the various punishments.

But what made Mu Lin narrow his eyes was that despite enduring all these tortures and being sliced a thousand times, Scarlet Son was only injured, not dead.

His regenerative ability was too strong.

In fact, as time passed, he was even adapting to these punishments.

“Troublesome…”

Mu Lin felt a headache coming on and was somewhat dissatisfied with his previous offensive.

However, the aristocratic families outside were utterly dumbfounded by Mu Lin’s performance.

“He… he actually suppressed Scarlet Overlord…”

“Are deities this weak?”

“Weak, my foot! Scarlet Overlord isn’t even in his complete state right now. He might not have recovered even a ten-thousandth of his consciousness…”

“No, I don’t think it has anything to do with Scarlet Overlord. It’s just that Mu Lin is too strong. In this state, he has the aura of a Mortal Shedding Adept, and he can even mobilize the power of heaven and earth… Has he really only cultivated for half a year?”

“…”

This question left many speechless.

Half a year, Mortal Shedding Adept—such a cultivation speed made many feel that all their years of cultivation had been wasted.

Some were mentally broken, but others felt a slight sense of relief.

“There’s hope. Looking at Mu Lin’s performance, maybe he can quell the crisis of the evil god’s revival?”

“It’s really possible…”

…

Just as those outside were marveling and Mu Lin was frowning in dissatisfaction with his own performance—

Thump

Crack!

Sensing the threat to his life, Scarlet Son suddenly erupted through the beating of his heart.

This outburst allowed Scarlet Son to break free from his shackles. Then, with a stomp on the ground, he transformed into a streak of blood-red light, lunging fiercely toward Mu Lin.

Clearly, even with only instinctual awareness, he knew who posed the greatest threat to him in the vicinity.

However, Mu Lin paid no mind to this sudden assault.

His Beiwei Army was no pushover. The moment Scarlet Son broke free from his shackles, hundreds of Beiwei soldiers formed a military formation, blocking Scarlet Son’s path.

Moreover, to protect Mu Lin, the projection of the Jade Gate Pass of Cangshan overlapped with the City God Temple, allowing Mu Lin’s City God to also receive the protection of this formidable pass.

Thus, Mu Lin’s safety was assured.

“You can’t break through, and you certainly can’t kill me.”

Squelch!

Just as Mu Lin was thinking this, Scarlet Son appeared beside him without warning. Caught off guard, Mu Lin was stabbed through the heart with a long saber, his head severed, and his body split in two—or rather, into six pieces, given his six arms.

It wasn’t until the moment of his death that Mu Lin noticed the faint vibration of the cicada wings on Scarlet Son’s back, with traces of spatial power lingering on them.

[Space Blink]

Those dark golden cicada wings not only allowed him to break free from the suppression of heaven and earth and increase his speed but also contained the ability of Space Blink, enabling him to traverse vast distances and appear directly beside Mu Lin.

To be honest, Mu Lin truly hadn’t anticipated this attack, nor had he prepared for it.

Being ambushed to death was completely outside Mu Lin’s plans.

If this were an ordinary cultivator, such a surprise attack would have been enough to kill them outright.

It must be said that people’s fear of evil gods is not without reason.

Fortunately, Mu Lin was no ordinary man.

Advancing the Substitute Paper Figure to Grandmaster granted Mu Lin countless opportunities for trial and error, as well as chances to start over.

Just as now, Scarlet Son’s ambush was indeed sudden, but in the next moment, Mu Lin’s injuries were completely transferred away.

In fact, because Scarlet Son killed too swiftly, Mu Lin only needed a single Paper Figure to transfer all his injuries away.

(End of Chapter)