Chapter 403 – East Sea King: Go, Mu Lin! I Believe You're Human!

The panic of the Dragon Palace Aquatic Tribe instinctively led the East Sea King to believe that Mu Lin had made his move.

Upon discovering this situation, he was not angered but instead let out a long sigh of relief, feeling a sense of “it finally happened.”

Afterward, he calmly sat back and watched how the Dragon Palace would respond.

Holding such an attitude, and even not minding if the Dragon Clan suffered a major setback, it was clear that the earlier attitude of the Dragon Palace Aquatic Tribe had angered him.

…

Just like the East Sea King, the Dragon King Ao Huan and the Dragon Prince Ao Yi also believed that Mu Lin had made his move.

However, neither of them was anxious, nor did they realize the severity of the situation.

The Dragon King Ao Huan even spoke to the East Sea King with a somewhat pleased tone: “I thought Mu Lin was afraid of our Dragon Palace and intended to hide like a coward. If he had fled, I would have found it difficult to fulfill your agreement.”

“But since he has emerged, everything becomes easier. Hah, I take back my earlier words—Mu Lin does possess some courage, but he is also reckless, impulsive, and utterly foolish.”

“He simply does not understand the magnitude of the power he has offended.”

Ao Huan’s attitude made the East Sea King raise an eyebrow. While he wanted Mu Lin dead, the arrogance of the Dragon Palace Aquatic Tribe also left him dissatisfied.

In the end, however, he did not rebuke them but instead offered a reminder:

“Do not underestimate him. Mu Lin is not easy to deal with.”

Before Ao Huan could respond to this, the voice of the Dragon Prince Ao Yi rang out.

Compared to Ao Huan, Ao Yi was younger, and as a result, he was more arrogant, with a stronger tone of defiance in his words.

“Hah, not easy to deal with—that’s only for you. Do not compare yourselves to our Dragon Palace. To our Dragon Clan, that so-called Mu Lin is nothing but an ant. In a fair, head-on confrontation without trickery, Mu Lin might not even be my match.”

“Ahem, Ao Yi, do not be too complacent. Although our Dragon Clan is strong, some prodigies of the Human Race are still worth noting… Also, show more respect to the East Sea King.”

“…Understood.”

As they conversed, the panicked aquatic tribe member arrived before the group.

Looking at the Dragon King Ao Huan and the Dragon Prince Ao Yi, the aquatic tribe member hesitated, too afraid to immediately report the information he had obtained.

This scene prompted Ao Huan to snort coldly, his expression displeased as he said:

“Tell me what Mu Lin has done. Whatever you say, I will pardon you.”

“Thank you for your grace, Dragon King.”

Relieved by the promise of pardon, the aquatic tribe member took a deep breath and began recounting Mu Lin’s actions one by one.

“Your Majesty, just as we entered the city, Mu Lin also made his move. However, he did not act in Skysea City, nor did he target our procession. Instead, he dealt with a qiu dragon lord who had been entrenched within the East Sea Kingdom. Moreover, Mu Lin’s methods were extremely cruel—he flayed and dismembered that qiu dragon lord…”

“Bang!”

The moment the words “flayed and dismembered” were uttered, the expressions of Ao Huan and Ao Yi immediately changed. Such actions treated them as mere beasts, representing the greatest insult to their Dragon Clan.

Ao Yi: “That bastard! How dare he!”

Ao Huan: “Mu Lin, you truly are as arrogant as they say. But you should not have provoked our Dragon Clan. I will make you understand the consequences of offending us.”

“I will extract your soul and make it suffer in the endless sea abyss for ten thousand years!”

Furious and feeling justified, Ao Huan surged with mana all over his body and was about to go out to kill Mu Lin.

However, he did not get far, as the East Sea King stopped him.

“What are you doing!”

Ignoring Ao Huan’s furious, almost murderous expression—since he himself had not suffered significant losses—the East Sea King calmly said, “Don’t rush. It won’t be too late to act after hearing the whole story… Although Mu Lin acts arrogantly and domineeringly, he is not truly foolish or reckless. There’s likely a trick here.”

After slightly calming Ao Huan, the East Sea King, having thought of something, turned his gaze to the Aquatic Tribe member before him and said quietly, “Tell me one thing: when that hornless dragon clashed with Mu Lin, who struck first?”

“…It was the hornless dragon who struck first, but that lord had a reason. That bastard Mu Lin, in front of everyone, dared to say that he found the Dragon Clan unremarkable, just like… just like…”

“Speak!”

Seeing the Aquatic Tribe member hesitate again, Ao Huan, already enraged, let out a furious roar.

The roar startled the Aquatic Tribe member so much that his Divine Soul nearly leaped out.

Knowing Ao Huan was truly angry, the Aquatic Tribe member dared not delay and immediately spilled everything he knew.

“Yes, Dragon King.”

“That Mu Lin, he said… he said the Dragon Clan is like a long worm, nothing special, and there’s nothing to fear about them…”

“Boom!”

The Dragon Clan is arrogant, considering themselves superior and viewing all other beings as lowly creatures.

In such a context, Mu Lin calling the Dragon Clan “long worms” was undoubtedly another insult to them, akin to plucking their reverse scales, igniting their fury.

At this moment, boundless rage surged in the eyes of Ao Yi and Ao Huan.

From their reactions, the East Sea King understood that, provoked by Mu Lin like this, that hornless dragon must have been seething with anger and attacked Mu Lin.

What followed was even simpler.

That hornless dragon was no match for Mu Lin, and as a result, he was flayed and skinned by Mu Lin, treated like a mere beast.

“By doing this, he is further provoking the Dragon Clan. More importantly, with such provocation, the Dragon Clan… cannot send Ao Huan to deal with him.”

Thinking this, the East Sea King once again felt how troublesome Mu Lin was.

First, it must be clarified that the Human Race and the Dragon Clan have always been in conflict, competing for interests and engaging in battles.

However, as the two dominant powers on land and in the sea, the Human Race and the Dragon Clan are like China/the former Soviet Union and the Beacon Country in a previous life—both exercise great restraint toward each other.

They do not easily provoke war, for as the two strongest powers, a direct confrontation between them could trigger a world war.

And such a war would benefit neither side.

If they cannot fight on a large scale, they can only engage in smaller conflicts. In the previous life, this took the form of trade wars, propaganda wars, and proxy wars through third parties.

In this world, it manifests as individual versus individual, Prodigy versus Prodigy battles.

The most important rule in such battles is that opponents must be of the same rank; the strong cannot bully the weak.

Yet Mu Lin’s killing of the qiu dragon, though akin to a slaughter—and even after slaying it, he proceeded to extract its tendons and strip its bones—still could not deny one fact: what Mu Lin engaged in was a duel between equals.

This meant that as an elder, Ao Huan could not intervene.

Even if he dared to step in, someone would stop him.

In his previous life, if someone in China had managed to make Beacon Country suffer a major setback, that person would have been treated and hailed as a hero.

Mu Lin’s decisive killing of the qiu dragon also greatly boosted the prestige of the Human Race. Under such circumstances, there were undoubtedly Human Race powerhouses who favored Mu Lin.

If Ao Huan dared to bully the weak by taking action, some supremacist Human Race powerhouses would not hesitate to strike back at him.

These considerations were not only on the mind of the East Sea King but also occurred to Ao Huan, causing his expression to shift between gloom and uncertainty.

Clearly, he too had realized how troublesome Mu Lin was.

Of course, regarding Mu Lin’s brutal killing of the qiu dragon, the Dragon Palace Aquatic Tribe was not without means of retaliation.

Blood feuds and retributive justice were recognized in this world. If they could not endure it, some members of the Dragon Clan or Aquatic Tribe could challenge Mu Lin under the pretext of avenging the qiu dragon.

Even the Dragon Clan could launch an attack against Mu Lin on the grounds that he had insulted them.

However, such challenges had to follow one rule: retribution in kind—meaning Mortal Shedding against Mortal Shedding, Gang Sha against Gang Sha.

Only in such “fair” battles would the higher-ups of both the Human Race and Dragon Clan refrain from intervening, allowing them to fight to the death on their own.

Having reasoned this far, the East Sea King had already grasped the full picture.

“So, Mu Lin’s plan is to confine his battles with the Dragon Palace Aquatic Tribe to the same tier… This is troublesome.”

Having fought Mu Lin several times and witnessed him turn the entire East Sea Kingdom upside down, the East Sea King, while harboring intense hatred for him, also acknowledged Mu Lin’s strength.

Even though the Dragon Clan, as a near-immortal golden race, possessed formidable abilities in all aspects and commanded countless Aquatic Tribes, enabling them to deploy aquatic forces in battle, the East Sea King still did not believe that the prodigies of the Dragon Clan or Aquatic Tribe could be a match for Mu Lin.

Your greatest adversary is often the one who knows you best—the East Sea King had long regarded Mu Lin as the foremost Prodigy of the Human Race in this era.

If not for the immense pressure Mu Lin exerted, he would not have drawn the Dragon Palace and the Evil God Scion into the fray.

But now, he realized that even after bringing these two major forces into play, he still could not do anything to Mu Lin…

“Wait, this is now a conflict between the Dragon Palace Aquatic Tribe and Mu Lin. The ones with the headache should be the Dragon Palace Aquatic Tribe. My conflict with Mu Lin is already one step removed.”

At this thought, the East Sea King felt a sudden clarity.

Freed from psychological burdens and now able to watch the tigers fight from the safety of the mountain, he even stirred the pot further, asking provocatively: “After extracting the dragon’s tendons and skinning that qiu dragon, Mu Lin probably didn’t just let it go, did he? What else did he say?”

Truly, your greatest adversary knows you best.

The East Sea King understood perfectly well that Mu Lin, who repaid every slight, would never act so simply or stop at just killing one person. There were undoubtedly other schemes Mu Lin had set in motion.

And indeed, there were.

“Mu Lin, that Mu Lin also said…”

“The Dragon Clan is a golden race, a near-immortal clan? I find them rather unremarkable. This long worm didn’t even have what it takes to satisfy me.”

“What’s the matter? Dissatisfied, unwilling to acknowledge it? If that’s the case, then go back and tell the Dragon Clan: if you’re not convinced, come challenge me. I’ll be right here in Water Moon City, ready to welcome any of you to battle at any time.”

“Heh, I hope your Dragon Clan doesn’t disappoint me—let me have some real fun.”

“If you don’t come, I’ll deliver this Worm Tablet straight to your Dragon Palace…”

“Boom!”

Before the scene projected by the Aquatic Tribe member through the water mirror technique could finish playing, terrifying killing intent and baleful qi erupted from Ao Huan and Ao Yi.

This sight once again frightened the Aquatic Tribe member into kneeling on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly as he tried to defend himself.

“Dragon King, these weren’t my words—they were spoken by that bastard Mu Lin! Moreover, Mu Lin said all this publicly and is indeed carving the Worm Tablet out of stone… This matter will inevitably spread throughout the world sooner or later.”

“Heh heh…”

Hearing the phrase “spread throughout the world,” the East Sea King couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly, feeling rather uncharitable.

He realized one thing: this incident had blown up. Even if only for the sake of face, the Dragon Palace would have to respond—and with the strongest possible response.

Only in this way could they salvage the Dragon Palace’s dignity and authority.

However, while the Dragon Clan cared about face, so did the Human Race.

Humans were a dominant power, and the Dragon Clan was also a dominant power. The two had long-standing disputes and friction—they were enemies who both cooperated and opposed each other.

In such a situation, anyone who could inflict losses on the other side and severely damage their reputation would become a racial hero.

This was akin to Huo Qubing, who achieved legendary feats in the northern campaigns.

Such heroes were widely admired by many humans, and the Human Race’s leadership had to protect them—they could be killed by their own kind, but not bullied and slaughtered by foreign races through overpowering force.

Otherwise, morale would collapse, and it would become difficult to lead the Human Race.

With both major powers locked in a struggle yet unwilling to tear apart all pretense, if the Dragon Palace wanted to restore its dignity, the only option was a duel between peers of the same level.

However, Mu Lin had already established his reputation as the top human.

The East Sea King did not believe that any among the Dragon Palace’s Aquatic Tribe youth could face Mu Lin head-on.

Thinking this, the East Sea King immediately feigned righteous indignation as he addressed Ao Huan and Ao Yi of the Dragon Palace: “That Mu Lin is so arrogant, so insolent—he even regards your Dragon Clan as mere worms. Such behavior would anger even the Buddha. I believe you cannot tolerate it, nor should you.”

“Ao Huan, send your clansmen into action. Let Mu Lin witness the greatness of the Dragon Clan.”

“Ao Yi, haven’t you always looked down on Mu Lin, dismissed him as nothing more than a despicable coward?”

“Now, your chance to prove yourself has come. I believe you can definitely defeat Mu Lin and beat him into a dead dog.”

“When do you plan to fight? What preparations do you need? I’ll arrange everything for you immediately!”

Although he thought the younger generation of the Dragon Palace’s Aquatic Tribe stood no chance against Mu Lin, the East Sea King didn’t care.

He hadn’t invited the Dragon Palace here to grovel before them like some lackey, treating the Dragon Clan as superiors.

The East Sea King had invited them solely for his own ambitions—to mitigate the losses caused by Mu Lin and, more importantly, to restrain the local Noble Clans within the kingdom.

He had never held any reverence for the Dragon Palace; instead, he viewed them with a utilitarian mindset and remained constantly vigilant.

Of course, the Dragon Clan felt the same way about him.

Since it was a matter of exploitation, the current situation had little to do with him. Instead, it could make his two ‘enemies’ fight each other.

In such circumstances, the East Sea King was naturally happy to fan the flames, continuously adding fuel to the fire.

“Fight, fight! The fiercer, the better!”

“Dragon Palace, Mu Lin is slapping your face. You absolutely cannot tolerate this!”

“Mu Lin, I believe you are the strongest among the younger generation of the Human Race. Keep it up—it would be best if you wiped out the entire younger generation of the Dragon Palace!”

(End of Chapter)