Chapter 117 – What Did I Do to Deserve Such Disrespect?

Fixing Seven Po was Mu Lin’s lethal curse technique. As for his ability to quickly create paper figures of his enemies, as a Curse Master, Mu Lin no longer required a true name, blood, birth date, or even clothing or hair to curse someone.

With just a wisp of aura, Mu Lin could cast a curse upon others.

Previously, when the paper figures lured malevolent ghosts throughout the city and sealed them away, the enemy’s aura had already been collected by Mu Lin. While manipulating malevolent ghosts, it was inevitable that traces of the mastermind’s aura would cling to them, much like how Mu Lin’s paper figures carried his own information.

Although the mastermind detonated the seals within the malevolent ghosts’ divine souls, causing them to disperse, their aura remained. By collecting these traces, Mu Lin could naturally proceed with the curse.

“With just a wisp of aura, one can curse others from a distance. Cursers are truly terrifying—no wonder so many people fear them… Wait, it’s not cursers who are feared, but Curse Masters. Not everyone can ascend to Curse Master as swiftly as I did…”

[Paper Figure Curse, 4th Realm Master Grade (713/33000)]

[Characteristics]

[① Reduced Requirements: With just a wisp of aura, you can curse others. The more information you gather, the deeper the connection between your paper figure and the enemy.]

[② Deepened Connection: Master-grade Curse Art allows you to reflect 50% to 80% of the curse onto enemies of the same or lower level. Those stronger than you can resist with mana and resilience, and some methods can completely nullify the curse’s effects.]

[③ Fixing Seven Po: Uses the enemy’s Seven Po—Corpse Dog, Ambush Arrow, Sparrow Yin, Devouring Thief, Non-Poison, Filth Removal, and Stinking Lung—as a curse method. Each Po fixed inflicts effects on the enemy. Fixing all Seven Po causes the enemy’s body to completely collapse. However, the Seven Po are difficult to locate and even harder to fix. Each Po fixed requires time to re-establish the connection.]

Just as the Seven-Arrow Book of the Nailed Head requires a full twenty-one days of worship, the more powerful the curse technique, the more intricate and complex it becomes.

This is unavoidable. Powerful curse techniques are designed to target individuals of immense strength, and such individuals possess various means to guard against covert attacks.

These include spells to protect the divine soul and body, flawless forms, sword intent that severs all, purification, existence and nothingness… Some powerful beings can even reverse the curse’s connection to eliminate the caster.

To penetrate these defenses, formidable curse techniques must delve into the Three Hun and Seven Po of the human body, as well as other fundamental aspects.

Due to the profound nature of what they involve, these curse techniques require elaborate rituals for execution.

Mu Lin’s Fixing Seven Po operates at this level.

Incidentally, in the Proficiency Panel, the characteristics of Paper Figure Curse are listed only as “Reduced Requirements,” “Deepened Connection,” and “Fixing Seven Po.”

The subsequent explanations were added by Mu Lin himself based on his own testing.

…

The ritual requirements meant that Fixing Seven Po required intervals between each step. Coupled with the enemy being one tier stronger than him, Mu Lin could only fix one of the Seven Po per hour.

Hmm… During the process of deepening the connection, Mu Lin needed to continuously channel mana and divine soul.

To address this, Mu Lin employed Substitute Paper Figures to shoulder the burden.

Consequently, his own time was freed up.

Feeling somewhat at ease, Mu Lin shifted his attention to Wan Yangyu at the Quanshi Tavern.

At this moment, these people could no longer sit still.

When Mu Lin claimed he could remotely curse the mastermind behind the scenes, Wan Yangyu and the others… chose to believe him.

Then, with the intention of stopping Mu Lin, they were dismayed to realize that if they continued sitting there, they could only watch helplessly as Mu Lin completed his task.

Unwilling to let that happen, Wan Yangyu immediately stood up, planning to seek opportunities outside. This, in turn, made Mu Lin smile.

“You want to leave?”

“Well, Brother Mu doesn’t need our protection here. In that case, we’ll take a stroll around the city and see if we can kill a few Malevolent Ghosts.”

To this, Mu Lin did not explicitly refuse. He nodded and said, “Then go ahead, but be careful. The waters in Quanshi City run deep.”

“I’ll be cautious.”

“That’s good. Oh, and Miss Xiaolu, be careful when going down the stairs. They’re a bit slippery.”

These words darkened the face of the young woman named Xiaolu.

“There’s no need for you to remind me of that. After all, I am a Qi Refiner. Something like slipping and falling due to a slippery surface could never happen to me… thud…”

Feeling that Mu Lin was looking down on her, Xiaolu spoke angrily.

Then, as she turned her head to talk to Mu Lin, her foot slipped, and she fell to the ground.

“?!?”

“Xiaolu?”

Xiaolu’s sudden fall startled her teammates. Instinctively, they gathered around her, ready to help her up.

But someone realized something and turned to look at Mu Lin.

“Was this your doing?”

Faced with Wan Yangyu’s inquiry, Mu Lin shrugged and said, “Don’t wrong a good person. I did warn you—the ground is slippery, so be careful.”

“Bastard! If it weren’t for you, how could Xiaolu have fallen for no reason? She’s a Cultivator, not an ordinary… ah… mmm…”

The angry man cursed furiously, but halfway through his outburst, he covered his mouth and let out a muffled cry of pain.

At this moment, Mu Lin’s gaze turned cold.

“It seems Cai Tian’s lesson wasn’t enough, or perhaps I’ve been too kind, allowing you to disrespect me even now.”

“…We don’t disrespect you, but just now, you were the one who made the first move.”

“Haha.”

Wan Yangyu’s suppressed anger made Mu Lin laugh.

“I know you are Prodigies from the Qianyang Dao Palace. I also know we are competitors, and I know you entered the Illusion Realm of the Tower of Illusory Heavens’ fifth floor to obstruct me.”

“For this, I gave you a chance. Stay in the Quanshi Tavern, and I’ll act as if nothing happened.”

“But you showed me no respect at all. You ignored my goodwill, only wanting to oppose me and obstruct my task. Now, you even tell me that I made the first move.”

At this point, Mu Lin’s tone suddenly turned icy:

“Are you sure I made the first move?”

“…”

These words left Wan Yangyu speechless.

Only then did he realize that when they followed Mu Lin into the Tower of Illusory Heavens, they had declared themselves his enemies. Therefore, within the tower, anything Mu Lin did to them was justified.

“You’re right. I was mistaken.”

With that, Wan Yangyu assumed a combat stance.

Since things had been laid bare, he no longer dwelled on it and instead prepared to go all out against Mu Lin.

However, before he could make a move, an elegant voice sounded from the side.

“Young Master Wan, if I were you, I wouldn’t act rashly. Your girlfriend is in great pain right now.”

“Moreover, we aren’t necessarily enemies.”

The sudden voice made Wan Yangyu turn his head, and he saw that it was Yan Yunyu who had spoken.

Yet, he did not agree with her words.

“The Great Dao must be contested. The top spots in the Southeast Joint Examination are limited. You are unwilling to give them up, and so are we. Thus, a battle between us is inevitable.”

“Hehe…”

Hearing this, Yan Yunyu chuckled softly. Then, she raised a slender finger and gently shook it.

“Young Master Wan, you’ve misunderstood one thing. It’s true that the Great Dao must be contested, and the spots in the Southeast Joint Examination are indeed limited, but we are different.”

At this point, Yan Yunyu’s tone suddenly shifted to one of pride.

“You are competing for the top five, while we are competing for the top three!”

“?!?”

“Top three!”

“You intend to compete with the Jade Lake Dao Academy!!”

As soon as Yan Yunyu uttered the words “top three,” Wan Yangyu and his companions were instantly shocked.

Not only were they astonished, but even the Dao Palace instructor Dongfang Ya and Qi Qiu widened their eyes in surprise upon hearing this.

It took a while before Qi Qiu regained his composure. His expression as he looked at Dongfang Ya became somewhat complex and inscrutable.

“I underestimated you. I never imagined that your ambitions were so great, Instructor Dongfang Ya. Top three, heh…”

Mu Lin, or rather, Yan Yunyu’s ambition, was something Dongfang Ya was also hearing for the first time. Like Qi Qiu, she was momentarily stunned by this revelation.

Though somewhat dazed, she instinctively retorted in response to Qi Qiu’s mocking tone.

“What’s wrong with aiming for the top three? Do you think Mu Lin and the others have no chance at all?”

“…”

These words left Qi Qiu silent.

Having observed through projections for a long time, even though he harbored hostility toward Mu Lin, he had to admit that Mu Lin’s abilities were indeed bizarre and unpredictable.

With such capabilities, he truly had the qualifications to compete for the top three.

…

Due to Mu Lin’s series of performances, Instructor Qi Qiu outside the arena had already acknowledged his strength.

If even an observer like him recognized it, then as Mu Lin’s main opponents, Wan Yangyu and his companions understood even more clearly the terror of facing him.

Bizarre and unpredictable abilities, sudden and unexpected attacks, and an immense Divine Soul… all of this made Wan Yangyu, who was opposing Mu Lin, feel as if he had sunk into an unfathomable abyss.

The overwhelming pressure was suffocating like a deep-sea trench, and the ever-looming attacks made him feel as if he were being watched by a predator in the darkness, leaving him unable to relax for even a moment.

It could be said that opposing Mu Lin weighed on him like a mountain.

Thus, when he heard that Mu Lin aimed for the top three, Wan Yangyu’s first reaction was not mockery but a sigh of relief.

“Hah…”

After unconsciously exhaling, Wan Yangyu was momentarily taken aback. But soon, he realized with a bitter smile that he had lost the will to contend with Mu Lin.

“You’re right. Since you aim for the top three, you’ll only compete with the Jade Lake Dao Academy. We are not enemies.”

“Hehe, it seems Young Master Wan has come around. In that case, please wait here for a moment. And, Young Master Wan, there’s no need to be disheartened—our strength benefits you as well… If we join forces, we may not be able to snatch anything from the Jade Lake Dao Academy, but eliminating Longyou and Heshan Academy should be quite easy. By then, neither your Anping nor our Qianyang will end up last.”

Through conversation, Yan Yunyu effortlessly dispelled Wan Yangyu and his companions’ hostility, turning them into her allies. This scene left Mu Lin, hidden underground, quite astonished.

“I never expected you to have such ability… No, I should say, as expected of you.”

Only now did Mu Lin recall that Yan Yunyu was not merely his subordinate.

She might not be kind-hearted and was rather scheming, but her capabilities were undeniable.

If he hadn’t risen to prominence, and without that series of coincidental events, Yan Yunyu could have become a major force in the class, rivaling Ji Xue, relying on her methods and resources.

While Mu Lin was marveling, Yan Yunyu didn’t bask in the praise.

Though she appeared proud and aloof before Wan Yangyu, she was obedient and clingy in front of Mu Lin.

Holding onto Mu Lin’s arm, she said shyly:

“Brother Mu, please don’t tease me. Words are incredibly feeble; no matter how eloquently I speak, I could never make Wan Yangyu and the others submit.”

“It was your strength, Brother Mu Lin, that conquered them and made them obedient.”

“What I did was merely provide them with a ladder, giving them a way to save face.”

Such flattery was quite pleasing to Mu Lin, but soon, he had no time to dwell on it.

The second hour had arrived, and he could drive in the second Coffin Nail. This time, Mu Lin didn’t target the second of the Seven Po—Ambush Arrow—of the mastermind behind Quanshi City. Instead, he nailed the fourth Po, Devouring Thief.

“Thud!”

Because the connection between the Paper Figure and the mastermind had grown extremely deep, when Mu Lin drove in the Coffin Nail, it felt as if he were nailing it into a human body.

Even the Paper Figure offered some resistance—the old man’s attempt at self-preservation.

Fortunately, Mu Lin’s Coffin Nail was no ordinary object. As a projection of a Top-Grade Artifact, even if Mu Lin couldn’t replicate its full power, one or two-tenths of its might were enough to pierce the enemy’s Po.

“Thud…”

As the Coffin Nail was driven deep, the enemy’s Devouring Thief Po was nailed shut.

What disappointed Mu Lin was that the struggle between the Coffin Nail and the enemy’s instinct caused the aura on the Paper Figure to dissipate significantly. This forced Mu Lin to use the curse ritual again to deepen the connection between the Paper Figure and the old man.

Moreover, since the Seven Po were deeply hidden within the human body, and the Demonic Qi within the old man instinctively resisted this connection, it would take Mu Lin at least an hour to relocate the enemy’s Seven Po.

While Mu Lin was lamenting this, far away, as the Coffin Nail was driven in, the mastermind tormented by headaches felt another wave of alertness in his mind.

At the same time, he once again hallucinated the sound of a nail being driven into flesh, followed by intense pain.

“Hiss…”

The physical pain was something the old man could endure, but what troubled him was that, with the nail driven in, another peculiar torment arose.

This time, it wasn’t a headache, but he inexplicably felt a wave of physical weakness.

This is normal, as the Devouring Thief governs a person’s immune system.

With the Devouring Thief nailed shut, the old man’s immune system was instantly crippled for the most part.

If Mu Lin were to attack with poison at this moment, even low-level toxins could still affect the old man—such is the terror of having one’s Seven Po nailed shut.

It is a fundamental, root-level damage to the physical body.

Of course, Mu Lin chose to nail shut the enemy’s Devouring Thief rather than other Po positions not because he intended to use poison against the mastermind behind the scenes, but for another purpose.

As is widely known, Demonic Qi, Yin Qi, Blood Fiend Qi… the Mana cultivated through unorthodox methods mostly carries extremely strong corrosive properties and is highly unfriendly to the human body.

However, the human body possesses remarkable adaptability and evolutionary capabilities. When cultivating Demonic Qi, Yin Qi, or Blood Fiend Qi, due to prolonged exposure to these corrosive forms of Mana, the physical bodies of Demonic Cultivators also strengthen accordingly, developing strong resistance to these corrosive energies.

Because of this adaptability and evolutionary nature, some even utilize this principle in their Cultivation Methods. Legendary techniques like the Hundred Poisons Golden Body or the Ten Thousand Poisons Golden Body involve stimulating the physical body with toxins, thereby continuously strengthening it and granting immunity to most toxins in the world.

The mastermind behind Quanshi City raises Malevolent Ghosts and nurtures evil spirits; the Mana he cultivates is naturally not of the righteous path.

Although his physical body has been tempered and adapted to this kind of Mana, what if his immune system suddenly fails?

And the old man soon provided Mu Lin with the answer. With a “pfft” sound, not long after his Devouring Thief Po position was nailed shut, blood sprayed from his mouth.

Simultaneously, his expression turned one of extreme shock.

“Why is my Mana raging out of control… No, it’s not the Mana raging—it’s that my body can no longer withstand the Mana…”

(End of Chapter)