Chapter 373 – The Mighty Candle Dragon Body: Noble Families' Regrets

To prevent the Prodigy from falling, Ji Hongyu flew with great urgency.

In almost the blink of an eye, she arrived at the source of the celestial and terrestrial anomaly.

Then, she saw a long serpent of profound black hue, coiled together like a mountain range.

“?! !”

The serpent’s colossal size exerted immense pressure on Ji Hongyu.

What shocked her even more was the serpent’s elevated rank; its body was suffused with countless mysterious and profound principles.

Merely gazing upon it caused the hairs all over Ji Hongyu’s body to stand on end instantly, and a chill rose from her tailbone to her heart.

“Danger!”

“This giant serpent has the power to kill me!”

Extreme oppression and imposing presence, along with the unique Sensing ability of a Cultivator, all signaled the terrifying danger of the serpent before her, urging Ji Hongyu to distance herself quickly.

Unfortunately, despite feeling some fear in her heart, Ji Hongyu did not flee. Instead, with a furious roar, she courageously charged forward.

“Wretched beast, how dare you run rampant here!”

“Screech!”

Amidst her angry shout, a giant flaming arrow, resembling a phoenix, shot fiercely toward Mu Lin.

“Boom!”

The giant arrow struck the serpent’s body, finally causing the colossal creature to stir.

The serpent’s head turned back, looking at the tiny speck that had attacked it.

This gaze deepened the chill in Ji Hongyu’s heart even further.

In fact, an extreme sense of death made her Divine Soul and body feel as if they were freezing.

—Modeled after the God of Zhong Mountain and the Candle Dragon holding a candle, the Dharma Image Candle Dragon crafted by Mu Lin possessed even more divine and wondrous eyes. Apart from darkness and light, Life-Death Illusion also flowed within Mu Lin’s eyes. This caused anyone who met his gaze to risk soul loss and physical decay with the slightest carelessness.

Fortunately, Ji Hongyu’s strength was considerable, and Mu Lin had no intention of killing her.

Upon realizing that the one attacking him was Ji Hongyu, Mu Lin immediately closed his eyes, plunging the world into darkness.

Simultaneously, a voice filled with astonishment echoed in the pitch-black darkness.

“Commander Ji, why are you attacking me?”

“……”

Mu Lin’s inquiry did not receive an immediate response. Only after a long while did a distorted, almost moan-like voice emerge from the darkness.

“You weren’t assassinated? The current anomaly is your doing? You’ve advanced to Mortal Shedding?”

Ji Hongyu came from a prestigious family with extensive knowledge, and her discernment was sharp. Thus, she quickly grasped Mu Lin’s current situation.

She also understood that the anomaly in Yuzhou City was entirely caused by Mu Lin’s advancement.

Yet, precisely because she understood everything, she was even more astonished.

She had witnessed others advancing to Mortal Shedding before; she had even experienced the transformation of Mortal Shedding herself and knew the state of this realm.

However, while other Mortal Shedding advancements had their commotions, the strongest, like Luo Chen, had Dharma Images reaching only a hundred meters at most during their initial advancement, with an influence range of merely a few kilometers.

And this was already considered a peerless Prodigy.

As for someone like Mu Lin, whose anomaly enveloped a super city and altered celestial phenomena while still in the process of advancing—she had not only never seen such a thing but had never even heard of it.

“Are you sure you’re not advancing to Earth Immortal?”

She was shocked and terrified. Meanwhile, prompted by Ji Hongyu, Mu Lin also realized that the commotion of his advancement was somewhat excessive.

Sensing this, Mu Lin coughed awkwardly and said, “Sorry, I made a bit too much of a commotion.”

After apologizing, Mu Lin also answered Ji Hongyu’s question: “As you know, compared to other cultivators, I’ve cultivated a bit more Gang Qi and Baleful Qi, and my foundation is a bit more solid than others. Because of this, my advancement to Mortal Shedding has brought me a bit more improvement than others.”

Hearing these words, Ji Hongyu’s eyelids twitched slightly, and her expression turned utterly speechless:

“You’re not just a bit stronger.”

Although she said this, she didn’t press further. Instead, she instructed Mu Lin to continue his advancement, while she would handle the others who had rushed over.

It must be said that the human race is quite complex—there are those who care only for profit and act with treachery, but there are also no shortage of good people who uphold justice.

And Ji Hongyu, though her methods may be somewhat brash, undoubtedly belongs to the group that hopes for a better future for the world and for the Great Spirit Imperial Dynasty.

With her blocking the way, Mu Lin indeed faced much less interference.

However, not wanting others to pry into his secrets, Mu Lin still took some measures to conceal himself.

This wasn’t difficult. Having transformed into a Candle Dragon and gained the ability to bring daylight by opening his eyes and night by closing them, Mu Lin found it very easy to hide himself.

Simply by closing his eyes, he could plunge the world into darkness.

And this darkness was no ordinary darkness.

Places too far away were beyond his control, but around himself, the darkness surrounding Mu Lin was like a black hole or an abyss.

Even if some possessed special eye powers or spiritual detection skills, they couldn’t penetrate this darkness or catch a glimpse of Mu Lin’s figure.

Forcing their gaze upon it would instead give them the illusion of their souls being dragged into an endless abyss.

Thus, within this chaotic darkness, Mu Lin continued to contemplate the changes within himself.

…

Although Mu Lin concealed his massive, mountain-like form within the darkness and somewhat masked the imposing aura after his advancement, there was no helping it.

After transforming into a Candle Dragon, Mu Lin was no longer a perfect golden creation in terms of rank but a mythical creature of a higher level.

Such a high-ranking existence, merely by standing upon the earth, could influence the surrounding environment and cause changes in the world—this is also a characteristic of Earth Immortals. Only those who can permanently affect the ecology of a place are considered Earth Immortals.

And although Mu Lin had not yet broken through to the Earth Immortal realm, he already possessed a trace of its characteristics.

More crucially, due to the fusion of numerous high-level cultivation methods and over a hundred instances of Gang Sha Fusion, many of Mu Lin’s abilities surpassed even those of Earth Immortals.

Coupled with his first breakthrough and inability to perfectly control his own powers, it was inevitable that his aura would leak, causing celestial phenomena to continue appearing one after another within Yuzhou City.

Then, even more people rushed over.

“What’s going on? Which senior is being so playful?”

“This location… could it be that Mu Lin has been attacked again?”

“Make him stop! Do you know how many spirit stones it costs to activate the City Defense Array?”

The people who arrived, not knowing the reason, had all sorts of thoughts in their minds.

However, regardless of what they originally thought, upon arriving at the Jade Lake Dao Academy and learning that all these celestial phenomena were caused by Mu Lin’s advancement, their expressions all turned to—shock and disbelief.

“Impossible!”

“What kind of joke is this? Such celestial phenomena transformations couldn’t even be achieved by someone at the Mortal Shedding Pinnacle going all out! And now you’re telling me this is the anomaly of Gang Sha Sorcerer Mu Lin advancing to Mortal Shedding? Are you in your right mind?”

“Exactly! If Mu Lin could accomplish such terrifying feats upon first entering Mortal Shedding, what about when he reaches Mortal Shedding Pinnacle? Don’t tell me he could then challenge an Earth Immortal!”

The impact of the current heaven and earth transformation was too exaggerated and terrifying. By common sense, this simply couldn’t be something Mu Lin could create, which was why many refused to believe Ji Hongyu’s words and explanation.

Just as everyone was shaking their heads, unwilling to accept this reality, a dry, raspy voice suddenly spoke up.

“You’re right. Such celestial phenomena transformations indeed aren’t something ordinary Mortal Shedding cultivators can achieve. Even those at Mortal Shedding Pinnacle would find it extremely difficult… but this is Mu Lin we’re talking about!”

“Mu Lin, who has cultivated hundreds of portions of Gang Qi and Baleful Qi!”

“…”

‘That’s Mu Lin!’

These words acted like a silencing curse, instantly plunging the scene into complete stillness.

Now, their normal worldview told them that what lay before them couldn’t possibly be the work of a Mortal Shedding cultivator.

Yet Mu Lin’s past history of accomplishing countless unbelievable feats forced them to acknowledge that just because ordinary Mortal Shedding cultivators couldn’t do it didn’t mean Mu Lin couldn’t.

“Indeed, that’s Mu Lin. What ordinary people can’t achieve doesn’t mean he can’t…”

After accepting this, their moods didn’t improve; instead, they grew even more complicated.

“To cause such celestial changes immediately upon entering Mortal Shedding… sigh. Compared to him, my Mortal Shedding cultivation feels like a complete joke.”

“Don’t just talk about you. I’ve been in Mortal Shedding for a hundred years, but sensing Mu Lin’s aura makes my body and mind tremble with fear… He’s already stronger than me now.”

Some felt bitter, others sighed with emotion, while still others kept lamenting endlessly.

“What a pity! Ah, such a great pity!”

“Pity about what?”

“Of course, pity that we missed the opportunity to befriend him. When the East Sea King clashed with Mu Lin, I thought Mu Lin was doomed to suffer misfortune, so I chose to stand by and watch coldly. But now… this situation is truly hard to predict.”

“…”

These words once again silenced the scene.

Then came continuous sighs of regret.

Having personally witnessed the imposing might Mu Lin displayed after advancing to Mortal Shedding, no one believed Mu Lin would die easily.

Of course, they also didn’t think the current Mu Lin could overthrow the East Sea King.

But compared to the East Sea King, Mu Lin was young enough, his potential not yet fully unleashed, which made many view him more favorably.

…

Having missed this excellent opportunity to get closer to Mu Lin, many people lamented.

And those sighing endlessly weren’t just ordinary members of the Human Race; Foreign Races and demonic monsters were also sighing constantly.

Take the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon Tu Su, for example. Just half a day ago, upon learning Mu Lin had offended the East Sea King, she had lamented that Mu Lin only had talent but no backing, making him completely unsuitable as her ideal husband.

But now, seeing Mu Lin’s imposing presence and feeling the stirring in her heart, no matter how much she valued influence, she had to admit that Mu Lin alone was more powerful than many factions.

What made her even more unwilling was realizing that Mu Lin was outstanding enough—more suitable to be her husband than human princes or even the Demon Tiger Prince among the Demon Race.

But now, she could look upon Mu Lin, yet Mu Lin was already beyond her reach.

Similarly shaken were the guests from the Dragon Clan.

As the perfect golden race, born immortals, and True Dragons from birth, Ao Yi and Ao Xuan looked down upon all humans and demonic monsters.

Even the previous Mu Lin had not been worthy of their attention.

But now, feeling Mu Lin’s stronger presence and higher status than their own, for the first time, they felt fear and a sense of being suppressed.

It was the suppression of a superior over an inferior.

And this ignited boundless fury in the eyes of the inherently arrogant Ao Yi.

“What a joke! How can you suppress me? I am the most perfect!”

“Roar!”

Holding this thought, Ao Yi let out a dragon’s roar, unleashing his own presence and allowing the awe-inspiring dragon’s might to fill the heavens and earth.

This dragon’s roar also caught Mu Lin’s attention, and he instinctively glanced over.

Then, with that single glare from Mu Lin, Ao Yi’s dragon roar instantly ceased.

Under Mu Lin’s gaze, Ao Yi felt an intense aura of death corroding his body and mind—so overwhelming that it seemed to freeze his very Divine Soul.

This icy chill in his soul left him unable to move, and he dared not even try.

Fortunately, Mu Lin, in the midst of his advancement, did not pay him much attention. After just a glance, Mu Lin shifted his gaze away.

Yet, though Mu Lin’s gaze had moved on, Ao Yi’s arrogance was shattered in an instant.

Ignoring him, Mu Lin continued his advancement.

As various laws and countless runes imprinted themselves onto his elongated form, his Candle Dragon body was fully forged.

Of course, Mu Lin’s current Candle Dragon form was still in its infancy.

A truly mature Candle Dragon existed only once in the world, and could only be one. When its eyes closed, it was not merely a region that fell into darkness—the entire world was affected by the Candle Dragon.

Its eyes opening brought daylight to the heavens and earth; its eyes closing plunged the world into darkness.

Its breath divided the seasons of heaven and earth. This was the Candle Dragon—the complete Candle Dragon.

Compared to such a great deity, the current Mu Lin was nothing more than a small serpent.

Lost in reflection, Mu Lin’s aura began to recede.

Noticing this, the group of Mortal Shedding Adepts who had come to observe let out a collective sigh of relief.

“It’s finally over.”

With this thought, they all stepped forward, ready to congratulate Mu Lin on his advancement.

Even though they knew it was too late, they still hoped to forge a closer connection with him.

However, after taking just one step forward, their movements froze.

The oppressive presence of Mu Lin’s high-ranking Candle Dragon form and the overwhelming pressure had indeed vanished.

But an even more profound and terrifying aura, one that stripped them of control over their own lives, began to permeate the heavens and earth.

“There’s more?”

“Was that not even his complete Dharma Image? What a joke!”

(End of Chapter)