Chapter 368 – Would Mu Lin Dare Kill Me?!

Since the ∞ character was comprehended from the Ouroboros Sword, both share the same origin, and their abilities are naturally quite similar—both involve infinite cycles, differing only in their forms of expression.

The Ouroboros Sword primarily creates domains, while the ∞ character is more flexible, applicable in various places and situations.

Such as with Spells.

Previously, when Mu Lin cast a Spell and it was dispersed by someone, it would simply end.

But now, with the infinite cycle incorporated, even if his Spell is dispersed, it will automatically gather Spiritual Energy and reform the Spell through cycling.

This reformation isn’t just once or twice, but a full nine times.

Similarly, the injuries Mu Lin inflicts on others can also be imbued with the infinite cycle principle, causing the injuries to take effect repeatedly, around nine times.

Of course, for Mu Lin, the best application of the infinite cycle principle is on himself.

The Crimson Holy Grail granted Mu Lin Rebirth From Blood Drop, so the infinite cycle’s ability to restore injuries didn’t particularly catch his attention.

What astonished Mu Lin was that time loops also fall under the category of infinite cycles.

“Or rather, time loops are one of the most common manifestations of the Ouroboros. Many curved, looping timelines are either created by the Ouroboros or contain its principles.”

In Mu Lin’s case, the time loop manifests as his ability to connect his past self with his present self.

With the present Mu Lin as the head and the past Mu Lin as the tail, and due to the Ouroboros’s nature of constantly devouring itself and growing, Mu Lin’s past and present selves gain the possibility of contact.

The benefits this brings are, first, he can have his past self die in his place.

“Another life-saving ability… Paper Substitute, Fixation Refresh (Source Rune – Stabilize), Rebirth From Blood Drop (Crimson Holy Grail), the divide between mortal and divine, and now substitution by the past self. It feels like I’m harder to kill than an Earth Immortal now.”

To be honest, threatening the North-South Clans and playing both sides in the North-South War to continuously extort benefits carries some risks for Mu Lin.

Although Mu Lin acts with great discretion, there’s no guarantee someone won’t become enraged and deliver a fatal blow.

But looking at his various life-saving abilities, Mu Lin only wants to say one thing.

“So what if I take a little risk? Who can actually kill me?”

“Even if you could kill me, how many times could you do it?”

Life emboldens the timid. With nearly a thousand “resurrection coins,” Mu Lin naturally becomes more aggressive in his actions.

…

Having the past self die in his place is the first ability of the infinite cycle.

The second is Mana stacking.

With head and tail connected, Mu Lin’s past and present selves are linked and can be considered as one person.

And since they are the same person, sharing the same origin, Mu Lin can naturally draw upon and use the Mana from his past self.

In other words, Mu Lin now has a backup Mana pool.

“It’s a pity my understanding of time and the infinite cycle principle of the Ouroboros isn’t deep enough. Currently, I can’t connect to the future, and I can only link to one past self. If I could link to several more, my Mana would multiply several times over.”

“If I could link to over a hundred past selves, my Mana would be boundless.”

Although he hasn’t reached that point yet, it remains a promising future, and thus, Mu Lin feels a surge of excitement.

While feeling excited, Mu Lin still harbored some regret regarding the ∞ symbol.

The reason for this wasn’t that Mu Lin was ungrateful, but rather because the essence of Ouroboros was truly powerful.

The ultimate realm of Ouroboros, the supreme creator god, not only symbolized infinite cycles but also signified—infinite expansion.

Yes, it meant boundlessness, endlessness, and limitless growth.

In the context of a world, this symbolism meant that the head-to-tail Ouroboros could not only allow the world to form its own cycle but also enable it to expand continuously, endlessly.

For an individual, it meant breaking through one’s own limits and achieving perpetual, limitless improvement.

A concrete representation of this was Saitama from One-Punch Man.

With his limiter released, he could continuously break through, becoming stronger with every passing moment.

This kind of improvement allowed him to defeat any enemy with a single punch, to the point where he wished his opponents wouldn’t die too quickly.

If Mu Lin had comprehended the essence of Ouroboros’s infinite expansion and engraved it upon himself, he too would have been like Saitama, with strength that grew endlessly.

Unfortunately, while Mu Lin had some understanding of infinite cycles, infinite expansion and boundlessness were truly beyond his grasp.

Thus, his ∞ symbol lacked this particular ability.

“Forget it, one must be content. Infinite cycles are already powerful enough…”

Though he said this, it still took Mu Lin a long time to calm his emotions.

However, while Mu Lin was finding peace, there were others in Yuzhou City filled with rage and terror.

“Damn it! What’s wrong with those Aristocratic Families? I was targeting Mu Lin—what does it have to do with you? Why are you going all out like this?”

“Is he your father or something?”

In a room, someone was cursing loudly.

If Mu Lin were here, he would have recognized from the words that the person cursing was the mastermind behind the assassination attempt on him.

Unfortunately, there was no “if”—Mu Lin wasn’t there.

Fortunately, as the dominant forces in the Southeast Region, the Aristocratic Families had their capabilities.

Previously, some had watched coldly, others had sat back to enjoy the show, and some had even secretly obstructed the investigation, allowing the mastermind to remain at large. But now, under Mu Lin’s pressure, everyone had joined forces, and the Noble Clans’ resources were fully mobilized. In a short time, they had uncovered some leads.

It wouldn’t be long before they tracked down the true culprit, which was precisely why the person in the room was so furious and cursing.

While he was fuming, the others in the room hadn’t lost their composure.

At that moment, one of them spoke up: “Young Master, we should leave. They’re about to trace us.”

“Leaving would only make things worse. If we leave without reason, they’ll immediately pinpoint me. Then, I’ll truly be finished.”

After saying this, he clung to a sliver of hope and asked, “Can we contact the Southern Aristocracy and ask them not to intervene, to stay out of it like before?”

This made an elderly man in the shadows shake his head:

“It’s difficult. Mu Lin is leveraging his currently irreplaceable position to force the North-South Clans to act. Given how crucial Mu Lin is now, they don’t dare not comply.”

“Damn it!”

Unable to reverse the situation, he erupted into curses once more.

At the same time, he angrily exclaimed, “Mu Lin is so arrogant! Doesn’t he fear retaliation afterward? It’s true that both the North-South Clans need him now, but what about after the north-south conflict ends? With such coercion, isn’t he worried at all?”

‘Indeed, there is no need for worry. No one will retaliate against him.’

‘Especially after this incident, even fewer will dare to provoke or seek revenge against him.’

This was the view of another elder in the room.

Having lived for many years, he clearly understood that even the Aristocratic Families mostly sought to befriend, rather than suppress, peerless prodigies.

Of course, once they became enemies, they would spare no effort.

But the trouble with Mu Lin was that he was not without backing. The existence of the Yan-Chu Families prevented other Aristocratic Families from bullying him as a senior oppressing a junior.

What was even more frustrating was that Mu Lin… was incredibly difficult to kill.

His ability to preserve his life was too formidable. In the Tomb of the Grave Lord, Mu Lin’s hundred deaths not only shattered the morale of the Evil God Scion, Nest, but also made many others give up on targeting him.

Such a monstrous talent—hard to kill, possessing hidden cards, and destined to become a powerhouse—truly had few who dared to offend him.

Well, now we must add the labels of being extremely vengeful and ruthless in his methods.

—Forcing the North-South Clans to act by leveraging his undeniable importance was precisely a manifestation of the latter two traits.

To be honest, faced with such a monstrous talent who was hard to kill, impossible to crush, and would bring endless trouble once made an enemy, the Aristocratic Families, even if angry or resentful, would choose… to endure.

Which Aristocratic Family that had survived to this day had not endured humiliation or bowed their heads? They understood forbearance—they just didn’t practice it toward ordinary people.

In fact, after this incident, they would still seek to befriend Mu Lin.

When Aristocratic Families befriended others, what they valued was always interest, not emotion.

Of course, the elder would not share his thoughts with his Young Master. He merely said calmly, “Young Master, it’s time to leave.”

“I won’t leave. Even if that bastard Mu Lin finds me, so what? Does he dare to kill me?”

These were his angry words, but he had the confidence to say them.

He believed that even if his attempt to assassinate Mu Lin yielded no results, Mu Lin could do nothing to him because of his father’s influence.

It was with this mindset that he had acted.

What he didn’t expect was that, after hearing his words, the elder who had been following him remained silent for a moment before speaking up: “He dares. If he kills you, whether he hides in the north or goes to the Imperial City of Great Spirit, the prince will be powerless.”

“…”

The mastermind left, fleeing overnight.

Mu Lin remained completely unaware of this and didn’t care. With his extreme vengefulness, he was prepared to pursue his enemy wherever he fled.

At this moment, after comprehending the mysteries of the Ouroboros Sword, he continued merging Gang Sha, expanding his Secret Realm world… Hell.

With the ongoing Gang Sha Fusion, Mu Lin was now only one day away from Mortal Shedding.

“Tomorrow night, I will fully advance to Mortal Shedding!”

Mu Lin held great expectations for this advancement, feeling a sense of freedom akin to “birds soaring high in the sky, fish leaping freely in the vast sea.”

The reason for this was that, after comparing his various abilities, Mu Lin realized that after advancing to Mortal Shedding, he had an extremely high probability of being invincible among Mortal Shedding cultivators.

As for Earth Immortals, he might not necessarily be able to kill them, but as long as he acted cautiously, it would be extremely difficult for them to completely crush him.

His formidable defensive capabilities and hundreds of resurrection tokens were no joke.

In this era, with Celestial Masters absent and Earth Immortals finding it hard to kill him, it meant Mu Lin could afford to act more boldly.

“No, I can’t get reckless yet. Earth Immortals are only said to have difficulty killing me, not that they definitely can’t.”

“Not to mention, Celestial Masters are merely preoccupied with more important matters, not gone for good.”

“And then there are the Aristocratic Families. Having existed for thousands of years, each family must have its hidden depths. If I truly anger them, there’s still a possibility I could fall.”

Taking a deep breath, Mu Lin calmed his excited emotions.

However, although advancing to Mortal Shedding didn’t make him invincible and still left him vulnerable to death, by then, he was no longer someone who could be killed by just any small fry.

And this greatly increased Mu Lin’s sense of security.

(End of Chapter)