Chapter 104 – Cultivation Method Upgrade: Another Heaven-Rank Technique!

The blessing of the Human Dao’s power made the Ghost Messengers Mu Lin imagined become real.

Even in the City God’s grand hall, a figure in official robes now stood.

Without a doubt, the face of this figure was Mu Lin’s.

In just a few breaths, the City God’s form fully materialized. Then, to Mu Lin’s regret, the Human Dao’s blessing upon him temporarily faded away.

—Having a good plan does not guarantee success.

The Human Dao’s power is not truly omniscient and omnipotent. Therefore, for the protection of humanity, the Human Dao’s power adopts a strategy of casting a wide net to catch more fish.

For outstanding individuals among humans, it invests a bit of fortune and power. If, after receiving this investment, the so-called “child of destiny” becomes ordinary, the Human Dao’s power will no longer pay attention.

Only those Prodigies and heroes who continue to shine and genuinely help humanity thrive after being noticed by the Human Dao’s power will receive its sustained attention.

The legends of the Netherworld are from a previous life; this world has none.

Thus, the Human Dao’s power cannot determine that Mu Lin’s Netherworld plan will inevitably succeed, so it will only cast a brief glance upon him.

“What a pity. If the Human Dao’s power had continued to focus on me, I would have become the legendary child of destiny, and even falling off a cliff to find treasures could have happened to me.”

“But it’s not bad now…”

Although the Human Dao’s power only focused on Mu Lin for a short while, its overwhelmingly grand power still brought about earth-shaking changes to his situation in that brief time.

First, his Cultivation Methods. After being refined by the Human Dao’s power, Mu Lin’s Taiyin Life-Nurturing Scripture and Mindscape – Sky Burial City both advanced from Earth Grade High Rank to Heavenly Grade Cultivation Methods.

【Mindscape – Sky Burial City (City God) (Heaven Grade Mid Rank), 3rd Realm Expert (13,900/108,000), Traits: Solidification, Soul Spirit Manifestation, Sky Burial Power, City God (County City God) (Not Yet Inaugurated)】

【Taiyin Life-Nurturing Scripture, 3rd Realm Expert (1/81,000) (Heaven Grade Low Rank), Traits: Spirit Awakening, Spirit Foundation (Lord of the Underworld Sacrifice), Substitute Paper Figure, Yin-Yang Harmony (First Stage), Mana Liquefaction, Spirit Communication (Ancestral Heroic Souls)】

After the Cultivation Methods changed, Mu Lin first examined the Taiyin Life-Nurturing Scripture.

“Although I underwent a Mana breakthrough, because the construction of the Netherworld is entirely within the Mindscape, the result is that Mindscape – Sky Burial City advanced to Heaven Grade Mid Rank, while the Taiyin Life-Nurturing Scripture only reached Heaven Grade Low Rank.”

Since both are part of Mu Lin’s power, he could accept this.

At the same time, Mu Lin also noticed that although the Cultivation Methods advanced, traits like Spirit Awakening, Substitute Paper Figure, Yin-Yang Harmony, and Mana Liquefaction were all original functions of the Taiyin Life-Nurturing Scripture.

The change in Cultivation Methods only gave Mu Lin an additional Spirit Communication ability and transformed his Spirit Foundation from Sky Burial White Paper Sacrifice to—Lord of the Underworld Sacrifice.

“In my subconscious, the Lord of Mount Tai, or the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak, is a great deity who governs the Authority over life and death. As my path shifted toward Hell, I subconsciously began to worship Him.”

Of course, this world has no Mount Tai or the so-called Benevolent and Sacred Emperor of Heaven, so there is no “Mount Tai” before “Lord of the Underworld.”

What Mu Lin worships is not a true great deity but a symbolic representation.

The downside of such worship is that Mu Lin cannot invoke higher-level power.

——When the Spirit Foundation was the Sky Burial White Paper Sacrifice, Mu Lin had a desperate gambit. At the most critical moment, he could summon the power of Sky Burial City to possess him, allowing himself to be infected by Forbidden Power.

Although, after doing this, Mu Lin would most likely die, but before death, he could take someone down with him.

Now, that ultimate move is gone.

However, while the transformation of the Spirit Foundation has its drawbacks, it also has its benefits. Since the position of Lord of the Underworld is temporarily vacant, Mu Lin can grow into a Lord of the Underworld.

At the same time, although the authority of the Lord of the Underworld is high, the power of the Human Dao is not low either.

Moreover, Mu Lin’s Lord Altar was constructed with the assistance of the Human Dao’s power aiding his subconscious, granting his altar a trace of the power of that great deity.

If the Eastern Peak Emperor Lord truly existed, without His consent, Mu Lin would never be able to condense such authority. Attempting to condense it secretly would only result in his destruction.

Even if that great deity consented, Mu Lin would be bound for life.

But now, with the position of Lord of the Underworld vacant and Mu Lin having condensed the power of its authority, he can wield a trace of that authority’s power.

——Only a tiny bit of power, and from now on, if Mu Lin wishes to obtain the Authority of the Lord of the Underworld again, he must gather it bit by bit himself. It is not as if his growth will automatically enhance the Lord’s Authority.

However, condensing the authority of the Lord of the Underworld is essentially impossible for Mu Lin at this moment.

“The reason I was able to condense a trace of authority power this time was due to the assistance of the Human Dao’s power. Next time, there won’t be such good fortune…”

Shaking his head, Mu Lin continued reading.

The trait 【Spirit Channeling – Ancestral Soul】 is the manifestation of this trace of authority.

The so-called Spirit Channeling allows Mu Lin to borrow the authority and power of the Lord of the Underworld, using blood and the Spirit Foundation – Lord Altar as the foundation to conduct a grand Ritual.

If this Ritual succeeds, Mu Lin can summon the souls of deceased ancestors to possess him.

This is a supernatural trait involving life and death, history, and civilization—it could even be called a divine ability. Without the assistance of the Human Dao’s power and their extreme compatibility, he would never have been able to condense it.

Now, this move has become one of Mu Lin’s strongest trump cards.

  “If I were in my previous life, and that life was a world of fantasy and immortal cultivation, without a doubt, I would summon famous generals like Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Xiang Yu. Unfortunately, this is not my previous life, and I cannot summon these heroic souls.”

“I can only summon those from this world, and I must use blood as a catalyst… Speaking of which, are there any great deities among my ancestors in this body that I could summon?”

“Better forget it…”

The summoning of Spirit Channeling – Ancestral Soul is not unlimited. The more ancient and powerful the soul, the more Mana it consumes. In the past few hundred years, Mu Lin’s family has only produced one Cultivator—his grandfather—who is still alive and cannot be summoned.

Although, even if he were dead, summoning him wouldn’t be cost-effective.

As for more distant ancestors, Mu Lin cannot summon them yet.

After finishing with Spirit Channeling, Mu Lin turned his attention to Mindscape – Sky Burial City.

Its improvement was even greater than that of the Taiyin Life-Nurturing Scripture, and all the traits it condensed were related to the City God.

At this point, Mu Lin is already half a City God. He possesses all the abilities of a City God, such as seeing through people’s hearts, examining the lives of the deceased with the auxiliary life-and-death ledger, and even establishing an office to recruit Ghost Messengers, Yin Soldiers, and Civil and Military Judges.

Having obtained the divine office, Mu Lin was still only half a City God. This was because besides being a deity of the Netherworld, the City God was also subject to the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Dao and even the Human Dao.

At this moment, Mu Lin did not know the state of the Heavenly Dao, but the Human Dao truly existed.

Therefore, for Mu Lin to unleash the true power of a City God, he needed to gain official recognition from the government—that is, the imperial court must confer upon him the title of City God for a specific region using national fortune, build a temple for him, and cast a golden statue.

Only then could Mu Lin control the power of a region, borrow the national fortune and the power of the Human Dao for cultivation, and also absorb human faith.

Of course, the Great Spirit Imperial Dynasty would essentially never do this. Even if they were willing, Mu Lin would not agree.

Accepting the imperial court’s conferral would bind him to the state. If the national fortune flourished, he could endure, but if it declined, Mu Lin would suffer greatly.

Moreover, besides the national fortune, after becoming a City God, Mu Lin would also be subject to the control of high-ranking officials in the court, which was not what he desired.

“After all, this is only the first attempt, and my knowledge is insufficient. The grade of the Mindscape was forcibly elevated by the power of the Human Dao. As a result, the current Mindscape – Sky Burial – City God Art has many shortcomings.”

“However, since I can transform the Mindscape – Sky Burial City into the Mindscape – Sky Burial – City God Art, I can continue to make changes in the future, shifting the City God toward Fengdu. At that time, these hidden flaws will disappear.”

“As for now… although the City God has shortcomings, its abilities are still very useful.”

Without the imperial court’s conferral using national fortune, Mu Lin could not become a true City God at present.

But he had ultimately obtained a divine office, one recognized by the power of the Human Dao. Coupled with the versatility of Mana, if he spared no expense on Mana, Mu Lin could temporarily gain the power of a City God. With sufficient Mana, he could even manifest the Netherworld City God Domain in reality temporarily.

Of course, truly doing so would consume an unimaginable amount of Mana.

In addition, within the Mindscape, Mu Lin could expend Divine Soul power to transform Yellow Turban Warriors into Ghost Messengers and Yin Soldiers.

“As a County City God, I can transform thirty-six Ghost Messengers and seventy-two Yin Soldiers, totaling one hundred and eight individuals, along with two Civil and Military Judges… If I were to assume the office of City God, I could directly transform deceased souls into Ghost Messengers and Yin Soldiers. Then, relying on national fortune and the power of Earth Veins, I could sustain the one hundred and eight soldiers externally, allowing them to cultivate using national fortune and faith power.”

“Unfortunately, for now, I can only visualize them myself. Without official recognition, I can only nurture Ghost Soldiers and Yin Messengers within the Mindscape. To use them, I must expend Mana to summon them.”

It must be said that not being a true City God made many things inconvenient for Mu Lin.

But compared to before, Mu Lin still gained immense benefits.

Previously, the Paper Figures summoned by Mu Lin were essentially classified as Yin Spirits or Evil Spirits, highly vulnerable to Thunder, fire, and solar power—this was also why the Yin Eight Gates were considered a second-rate faction, and the secret arts of the Paper Artisan Lineage only reached Earth Grade High Rank.

Now, with Yellow Turban Warriors transitioning into Ghost Soldiers and Yin Messengers, to put it in common terms, his Paper Figures had been “organized” and successfully passed the “civil service exam,” securing a stable position.

Recognized by the power of the Human Dao, they would no longer be suppressed by Thunder, solar power, or Dragon Vein energy.

Aside from this, Mu Lin’s Ghost Messengers and Yin Soldiers now possessed exclusive magical artifacts—Soul-Binding Chains, which were highly effective in suppressing wandering spirits and malevolent ghosts.

Paper Figures were considered Mu Lin’s core method. Transformed from the Yin Spirit·Yellow Turban Warrior into woven Ghost Messengers and Yin Soldiers, Mu Lin’s strength naturally surged as a result.

Not to mention, he also had the Civil and Military Judges.

Thinking of this, Mu Lin immediately summoned his Civil and Military Judges. Without further meditation, he directly called over the Little Girl Who Sold Matches and the Burial Yaksha.

Making them kneel, Mu Lin’s Divine Soul possessed the City God statue. With his hand pressing on the City God’s seal, he spoke with immense authority.

“By decree: Govern the world with civility, quell chaos with martial might…”

As Mu Lin chanted, the divine power of the City God descended upon the Little Girl and the Yaksha.

Soon, a book appeared in the Little Girl’s hands. She was transformed by Mu Lin into the Civil Judge, gaining the ability to observe the lives of the deceased.

The Yaksha, meanwhile, became the Military Judge, clad in black official robes, with a long chain appearing on its body.

(End of Chapter)