Chapter 311 – Harvest: Blood Echo

“Hum!”

As the Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array unfolded, the sky darkened.

Under the shroud of darkness, the Beiwei Army formed their battle formations, the Other Shore Flower Sea bloomed in full force, and the Black River Water wove into formation runes.

Through Mu Lin’s integration, these myriad forces converged into a Yin-Yang Millstone.

This great Yin-Yang Millstone resonated and amplified with the small millstone inside Zhong Kui’s Crimson Wine Gourd. Ultimately, an array designed to refine a Deity was unleashed by Mu Lin.

“Crack…”

Beneath this Yin-Yang Millstone, the first to be ground to dust was the Scarlet Son’s own power.

Even though he had achieved Mortal Shedding, his strength was utterly pulverized under the Yin-Yang Millstone—his spiritual will, Mana, and physical form were all ground into fragments.

Subsequently, Yin and Yang separated, causing its useful aspects to rise and condense into Pure Qi.

The useless dregs settled at the bottom of the gourd, awaiting Mu Lin’s disposal.

This scene perfectly embodied the profound principle of Pangu’s creation of heaven and earth: the pure Qi ascends, while the turbid Qi descends.

“If this gourd continues to evolve into a Spirit Treasure or even a Dao Treasure, it truly might form its own world.”

As the saying goes: vast is the cosmos within a sleeve, long are the days and months within a pot… “sleeve” and “pot” can also be replaced with “gourd.”

Of course, refining the Merit Treasure Gourd into a small world is a matter for the future. At this moment, what Mu Lin wished to grind away more was the Scarlet Overlord.

Beneath the Yin-Yang Millstone, the Scarlet Son was easily obliterated, but the Scarlet Overlord was different.

“Crack…”

His essence was too high. Even with Mu Lin driving the Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array—a power representing Yin and Yang—to rotate continuously, he could not be ground into powder.

Even the lowest-level Divine Blood could not be shattered by Mu Lin.

—No, not that it couldn’t be shattered, but rather that its aggregation could not be prevented, nor could it be transformed.

No matter how many times it was ground, the blood would reunite like flowing water; the power of Yin and Yang could not transform it.

And this was the lowest-level power. As for the Divinity, it was like a radiant glow—no matter how the Yin-Yang Millstone turned, it remained unaffected.

Fortunately, although Divinity was eternal and indestructible, the consciousness within it was not.

“There is the concept of ‘generational change’ among deities, which refers to the fall of a god while the Divine Position (Divinity) remains, allowing successors to inherit it.”

“From this, it can be seen that as long as the world endures, the Divine Position (Divinity) representing the world’s authority, and the Divinity itself, will not perish. However, the consciousness residing within can perish over time or due to enemies.”

“This is also the reason why Incense Offerings Are Poisonous… Incense offerings cannot corrupt the Divine Position (Divinity) or Divinity itself, but they can corrupt and alter the consciousness within the Divinity.”

When one’s nature is altered, am I… still me?

This is why many powerful beings are unwilling to involve themselves with incense offerings—they truly are poisonous.

Of course, this is still far removed from Mu Lin and not something he concerns himself with.

At this moment, Mu Lin’s primary focus was whether the power of the Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array could grind away the consciousness within the Divinity.

To his relief… it could.

Although the process was slow, over time, the consciousness within the Divinity was gradually being worn away.

Hmm… this was also related to the fact that the Scarlet Overlord’s main consciousness had been sealed by the Grave Lord.

What Mu Lin was grinding away now was merely a wisp of the Scarlet Overlord’s consciousness.

And because it was only a wisp, after reviving, the Scarlet Overlord would often be confused and act only on instinct.

“Unable to exert your full strength, your defeat is somewhat humiliating, but your misfortune is my greatest fortune… I shall inherit everything of yours.”

Thinking this, after confirming that the consciousness within the Divine Blood had been completely extinguished with no lingering threats, Mu Lin… once again burned it with the Vow Power Heart Flame and the Flames of Arrogance.

Incidentally, possessing the courage to slay a deity and actually succeeding in killing a ‘Deity,’ Mu Lin’s actions were undoubtedly the greatest blasphemy and act of ‘Arrogance’ in the eyes of the world.

This behavior also provided endless nourishment for Mu Lin’s Arrogance Heart Flame.

Thus, even though his Arrogance Heart Flame had only recently advanced, it was now on the verge of advancing once again.

“Among my many Heaven-Rank Techniques, it will likely be the first to reach the Grandmaster level.”

While marveling at this, Mu Lin used the Arrogance Heart Flame to burn the Divine Blood of the Scarlet Overlord, intending to dominate and refine it to eliminate any hidden dangers.

Then, Mu Lin discovered that there truly was a hidden danger within the Divine Blood—an extremely faint trace of the Scarlet Overlord’s consciousness was attached to it.

Once fused and allowed to grow, this trace of consciousness within the Divine Blood would also strengthen.

“No wonder during the battle, Nest suddenly transformed from the Scarlet Son into the Scarlet Overlord… the backup plans for a deity’s revival are far too numerous.”

Though somewhat disgusted, fortunately, the Vow Power Heart Flame, which was on the verge of breaking through to the Heaven Grade, did not disappoint Mu Lin.

After burning with full force for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, this faint trace of consciousness was finally refined by the Vow Power Heart Flame.

Then, Mu Lin discovered he had an unexpected gain.

For the current Mu Lin, everything about a deity was beneficial.

His Divine Blood could bring about transformation, his Divine Power was practically omnipotent for Mu Lin, Divinity could make one’s spirit eternal and indestructible, and Divinity could elevate one to the heavens in a single step.

Even a mere image or a True Name could grant some power enhancement through engraving, imitation, or recitation.

Moreover, a True Name alone could serve as a core incantation in certain rituals.

Thus, there were rumors in the world that deities could not be gazed upon directly, as doing so would inevitably drive one mad.

But there were also legends that gazing upon them could grant power and knowledge.

Now, the consciousness within the Divine Blood was indeed a trouble for Mu Lin, but after refining it, he gained some knowledge.

Knowledge called 【Blood Echo】.

“In the teachings of the Scarlet Overlord, blood is the source of all life. Thus, blood can carry everything, transmit everything, and corrupt everything.”

“Based on this core principle, the Scarlet Overlord could create or transform Blood Descendants through blood, or convert everything about others into blood, gaining their power by consuming it.”

“Additionally, blood could carry information, analyzing and understanding the essence of others—primarily Sacred Beasts, Divine Beasts, and Demonic Monsters—and then transforming it into templates to apply to oneself. This was why the Scarlet Overlord could assume countless forms during battle… Wait, isn’t this just knowledge of genetics and heredity?”

Human cells contain genes, and thus, through cloning and cultivation, a new life could be created.

Although the Scarlet Overlord lacked scientific knowledge in this area, through the Life Authority, he accomplished feats no less impressive than cloning technology, even surpassing it in some aspects.

By obtaining the blood of others, he could analyze their genes and templates, then alter his own genes to transform himself into those Sacred Beasts or Divine Beasts.

“Such formidable power… With this ability, why would I need to slowly evolve from snake to flood dragon, then from flood dragon to dragon? Just by obtaining a single drop of True Dragon blood, I could analyze it and directly apply the template, gaining the power of a True Dragon!”

Such an ability was undoubtedly immensely powerful.

Unfortunately, such a powerful ability would inevitably require greater consciousness to bear it, and the consciousness of the Scarlet Overlord that Mu Lin had obliterated was not overwhelmingly strong.

Therefore, what Mu Lin had obtained now was not such a comprehensive ability.

The so-called Blood Echo was an ability related to the instincts of living beings.

Creatures possess instincts—some fish are born knowing how to swim, infants are born knowing how to breathe… Through training, humans can also develop muscle memory.

According to the Scarlet Overlord’s theory, blood can carry everything. Thus, Blood Echo could use blood to replicate the muscle instincts of others onto oneself.

“Somewhat useful, but unfortunately, it’s not the highest-level Blood Remembrance… Echo can only replicate trained instincts. However, any Cultivation Method, once practiced to Master Grade or higher, cannot be achieved through mere training alone—it requires personal understanding and insight. This is something Blood Echo cannot touch upon.”

“In contrast, Blood Remembrance can replicate the insights of others, allowing one to experience and comprehend them as if personally immersed…”

Not having obtained the higher-level Blood Remembrance made Mu Lin sigh, but soon he remembered that he possessed the Proficiency Panel. Through training, he was not without the opportunity to evolve Blood Echo.

…

The faint consciousness of the Deity contained a wealth of information. Besides Blood Echo, Mu Lin also learned the uses of Divine Blood.

Setting aside other aspects, what Mu Lin valued most was the application of Divine Blood in Mortal Shedding—activating the physical body.

To speak of activation, one must first understand how Mortal Shedding is carried out.

According to the cultivation practices of this world, in the early stages, Mu Lin and others would Sense Spiritual Energy, draw it into their bodies, and open their dantians—this was the so-called Daoist Novice Three Realms.

After Spirit Awakening, they would continuously expand their dantians, making them larger and filling them with more Spiritual Energy—the Spell Master Three Realms.

When the dantian reached its limit and the quality of Mana was refined, they would draw external Gang Qi and Baleful Qi to temper their souls and bodies, allowing them to undergo further transformation—the Gang Sha Three Realms.

As for the Mortal Shedding realm, it involved discarding the body that could no longer advance and transforming into a stronger existence.

This step was about improving one’s foundation.

At this stage, some would maintain a human form, transforming themselves into Tyrant Bodies or Sacred Bodies.

Some would transform into elemental bodies, gaining the power to manipulate elements more easily.

Some would modify their bodies, turning themselves into Divine Beasts or demonic monsters… acquiring the innate talents of those Divine Beasts.

Others would transform their bodies in the direction of Deities.

Different Cultivation Methods led to different directions of Mortal Shedding.

However, one thing was universally known:

Mortal Shedding was not easy.

Shedding the mortal shell and becoming non-human—this step sounded simple, but how could one’s organs truly transform?

According to the Cultivation Methods, some would infuse elemental power into their bodies.

Some would absorb the blood of demonic monsters, directly altering their own genes.

Others might seek power by touching Taboo Power.

But all these changes carry risks; if not handled properly, one’s organs could be scorched, destroyed, or aberrantly transformed into bizarre forms.

If the transformation fails or results in a form unsuitable for oneself, those Cultivators either suffer greatly diminished strength and potential.

Or turn into aberrations.

Moreover, some Cultivators even face life-threatening dangers during the process of transforming into Mortal Shedding.

In short, this step of Mortal Shedding has trapped countless individuals.

Divine Blood, or rather the Divine Blood of the Scarlet Overlord, eliminates most of the difficulties in this step.

After fusing with Divine Blood, Mu Lin’s body would become like clay, malleable at will.

If he chooses the Cultivation Path of demonic monster transformation, Divine Blood can also devour the blood of demonic monsters, allowing Mu Lin to rapidly complete his metamorphosis.

“So, as long as I accumulate enough blood in advance and fuse with Divine Blood, I can quickly become Mortal Shedding… just like Scarlet Son?”

The prospect of Mortal Shedding being within reach was still quite appealing to Mu Lin.

As for the issue of an ugly appearance, it wasn’t a problem.

At the time, Scarlet Son was under immense pressure.

Thus, it needed to transform quickly to gain combat power, unable to undergo gradual modifications.

But in a stable environment, Mu Lin could use Divine Blood to fuse with the blood of other demonic monsters, then slowly discard the dross, extract the essence, and gradually sculpt his Divine Form.

“Just like shaping into ancient divine beings—dragon-headed human body, with snakes hanging from the ears, wings on the back, patterns or a third eye…”

(End of Chapter)