Chapter 103 – Blessed by Humanity's Power: Ghost Messengers and Yin Soldiers!

This transformation of the Taiyin Life-Nurturing Qi was merely an evolution from the second realm toward the third, not a major leap like advancing from the third realm to the fourth realm of a Master.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, Mu Lin’s transformation would have ended here.

But an unexpected event occurred.

This anomaly originated from Mu Lin’s mana.

As is well known, Mu Lin’s mana attribute is not the ordinary Taiyin Life-Nurturing Qi—the Year-End Paper possesses special power, his Substitute Paper Figure can cultivate, and under Master Meng Rui’s guidance, Mu Lin placed the Substitute Paper Figure within the Year-End Paper.

The combination of these unique circumstances resulted in Mu Lin’s Life-Nurturing Qi gaining an additional trace of Year-End Power.

This power is exceptionally peculiar and profound, and in theory, it should be beyond Mu Lin’s current realm to study.

Under normal conditions, Mu Lin indeed would have been unable to uncover anything.

But now, he was not in a normal state. In this moment of enlightenment, his thoughts were a hundred times more active, with inspirations continuously emerging. At this time, Mu Lin’s Divine Soul and comprehension were comparable to those of a Spell Master above the Feathered Scholar level. Consequently, Mu Lin gained a slight qualification to glimpse into the Year-End Power.

However, even with this qualification, successfully comprehending it remained an immensely difficult task.

Fortunately, Mu Lin’s foundation extended beyond this.

The Taiyin Life-Nurturing Qi from the Paper Crafting Scripture is closely interconnected with another cultivation method, Mindscape – Sky Burial City.

Both share the same origin and maintain a deep connection.

Moreover, Mindscape – Sky Burial City had long been elevated by Mu Lin to the third realm, Expert level.

Within this third realm of expertise, his cultivation had already progressed halfway.

Simultaneously, relying on his past life’s experiences, knowledge, and some imaginative ideas, Mu Lin’s Mindscape was entirely different from that of ordinary Paper Artisans.

If anyone could enter Mu Lin’s Mindscape, they would see that although everything within it was gray and gave off a sinister, eerie feeling,

beyond the anomalous terror, Mu Lin’s Mindscape also carried a hint of… majesty.

This change occurred because, as his cultivation progressed, Mu Lin’s Mindscape had undergone a significant transformation.

First, due to the cultivation progress of Mindscape – Sky Burial City having surpassed the halfway point, Mu Lin’s Mindscape had expanded somewhat.

What was originally a single mansion had now transformed into an entire street.

Second, the core of Mu Lin’s Mindscape had also changed.

Through his visualization, that large mansion had evolved from an ordinary residence into a solemn and terrifying—City God Temple, a Netherworld City God Temple!

Mu Lin had always harbored an idea: to transform Mindscape – Sky Burial City into Mindscape – Fengdu City.

Although his insufficient cultivation level and strength prevented him from fully altering it now, some preparations could be made in advance.

Constructing a City God Temple within his Mindscape was the first step Mu Lin had taken.

As is well known, the City God is both a deity and a ghost. In Mu Lin’s view, the City God’s allegiance lies not with the Celestial Court but rather as a subordinate dispatched by the Netherworld to the Mortal Realm.

After all, most City Gods are appointed from among deceased humans, and after death, all humans are destined to descend to the Netherworld.

The City God’s duties also reveal its inclination—the City God’s authority includes managing the household registries of the deceased and the living, protecting the peace of the local land, recording the merits, faults, good, and evil deeds of the city’s inhabitants. Additionally, the City God commands ghost soldiers, capable of guiding departed souls, capturing Malevolent Ghosts, and restraining evil spirits.

Among these functions, aside from protecting the local land’s peace—which falls under the purview of the Earth God—all others are responsibilities of the Netherworld.

Mu Lin, who was preparing to transform Sky Burial City into Fengdu, began with the City God.

Naturally, Mu Lin’s reforms were merely superficial.

A true City God possesses many Authorities, such as the Judge’s Eye that sees through people’s hearts, a secondary Book of Life and Death that records the good and evil of the city’s inhabitants. Moreover, the City God is a variant of the local earth god, innately capable of Sensing the terrain and the changes in Spiritual Energy within its protected area.

Mu Lin knew none of these things, and thus, his City God Temple had no City God.

Furthermore, as the ruler of a region, a City God commands Day and Night Patrol Gods, Civil and Military Judges, and numerous Ghost Messengers and Yin Soldiers.

Although Mu Lin dispatched all the Yellow Turban Warriors to the City God Temple and appointed the Yaksha as the commanding general, like the City God, this too was just a facade.

—True Ghost Messengers possess Soul-Binding Chains, which are highly effective against Malevolent Ghosts and wandering spirits, while Mu Lin’s Yellow Turban Warriors were merely Yellow Turban Warriors, devoid of any special functions.

Thus, Mu Lin said his City God Temple was merely a facade.

Mu Lin was aware of this but could do nothing about it. According to his original plan, he intended to study more cultivation knowledge and Spells in the future, gradually constructing the functions of the underworld City God.

However, before he could take action, an unexpected event occurred.

When the Taiyin Life-Nurturing Scripture advanced, the Year-End Power within Mu Lin’s Taiyin Life-Nurturing Qi unexpectedly connected with the City God.

This connection caused the Year-End Power to reveal some of its essence.

With his transcendent thinking in a state of enlightenment, Mu Lin seized this opportunity. He grasped some of the essence of the Year-End Power and gained a superficial understanding of it.

  ”… ruins, tombs, centuries-old, millennia-old…”

“… Year-End Paper, or rather, the essence of Year-End Power is not Yin energy, but—history…”

“… tombs are built by people; birth, aging, illness, and death—this is a human life… a tomb represents a person’s death, and also represents everything about that person…”

“… tombs are not only for ordinary people; the wealthy, the powerful, even dynasties come to an end and die—tombs are monuments…”

“… tombs and ruins record the fall of dynasties; numerous tombs and ruins constitute Year-End Power, and the essence of Year-End Power is the history of humanity that has passed, the history of civilization…”

“… Heavenly Dao, Earthly Dao, Human Dao… the history of human civilization is the power of the Human Dao…”

The Year-End Power born from tombs and ruins was extended by Mu Lin’s transcendent thinking to human civilization, history, and the power of the Human Dao.

Additionally, he understood that birth, aging, illness, and death are part of the natural cycle of the Heavenly Dao and an indispensable part of the Human Dao.

“Only with death can there be new life and transformation; human society can develop in a spiral. A society without birth or death would become rigid…”

Understanding that death belongs to the Heavenly Dao and is an indispensable part of the Human Dao, Mu Lin also realized why Master Meng Rui had said that the Paper Artisan Lineage was inauspicious yet would never be extinguished.

Birth, aging, illness, and death are unavoidable in the Human Dao. The Paper Artisan, or the Yin Eight Gates, deeply connected with death, thus represent an aspect of the power of the Human Dao. As such, they will be passed down through generations as human society develops.

“No, Paper Artisans are not immortal. All things change; only change itself is constant.”

“Human civilization develops in a spiral of death and rebirth. As the Human Dao evolves, the forms of death also change accordingly. If the Yin Eight Gates cannot adapt to the transformations of the Human Dao, they too will gradually decline… But that is too distant, irrelevant to my current self…”

Understanding that the essence of Year-End Power is human history, a facet of the Human Dao’s strength, seemed to offer no benefit to Mu Lin?

Yet, the reality was otherwise. Some wildly imaginative discussions from his past life, combined with his recent comprehension of the Human Dao’s power, led Mu Lin to realize that the Human Dao’s strength is the aggregate of all human civilization’s activities—whether life and death, exploration, reform, or transformation… All these actions belong to the Human Dao’s power and collectively constitute it.

This Human Dao power, in turn, shelters the Human Race.

Since survival and reproduction are humanity’s foremost pursuits, any action that enables humans to survive and multiply will also receive the support of the Human Dao’s power.

Of course, the Human Dao’s power is not an omniscient and omnipotent deity. Often, only a few fortunate individuals receive its favor, becoming heroes who lead humanity forward.

These individuals are the natural children of destiny.

Beyond these innate fortunate ones, there are two other ways to gain the favor of the Human Dao’s power: one is by saving a region and becoming a hero, or by establishing a nation and protecting an area. Such heroes and kings are also favored by the Human Dao’s power.

Mu Lin now belonged to a third category. Through extraordinary insight and a medium (Year-End Power), he had connected with the Human Dao’s power.

In simpler terms, Mu Lin’s actions amounted to finding a backdoor.

Of course, establishing a connection did not guarantee Mu Lin would be favored by the Human Dao’s power. He needed to have commendable qualities to catch its attention.

And coincidentally, Mu Lin indeed possessed something that could improve human survival and development.

The construction plans for the City God and Fengdu!

As is well known, Evil Aberrations are humanity’s great enemies, capable of threatening human survival.

Thus, any entity capable of inflicting harm upon Evil Aberrations is blessed by the Human Dao’s power.

And the so-called City Gods and Hell are precisely the nemeses of Evil Aberrations, malevolent spirits, and demonic monsters—specialized in dealing with them.

Capturing ghosts, seizing souls, and maintaining the balance of the Yin-Yang Realms—isn’t that the duty of the Netherworld?

Of course, Mu Lin currently only had plans. His knowledge and abilities were insufficient to transform these plans into tangible capabilities.

But while Mu Lin lacked the ability, the Human Dao possessed it.

And by any measure, the emergence of City Gods and the realization of the Netherworld would be an excellent development for the Human Dao.

This would balance the Yin-Yang Realms, allowing humanity, threatened by Evil Aberrations, to better reproduce and develop.

Consequently, Mu Lin’s plans were recognized by the Human Dao’s power, and he, like a legendary child of destiny, was blessed by it.

This special blessing caused Mu Lin’s already hundredfold-enhanced insight to surge once more, allowing him to comprehend new concepts.

“…Human Dao power, destiny, dynasties, Netherworld agents…”

As a tidal wave of information swept through Mu Lin’s mind, blessed by the Human Dao’s power, he instantly grasped countless pieces of knowledge.

Simultaneously, the Mindscape within his Sea of Consciousness underwent dramatic changes.

The grand underworld City God Temple had become even more imposing. The Yellow Turban Warrior, whom Mu Lin had forcibly assigned there, had also exchanged his yellow cloth garments for a set of black official robes.

They now wore a set of chains, and the official robes on their chests bore a large character for “constable,” while on their backs was a terrifying character for “ghost.”

(End of Chapter)