Chapter 130 – Purchasing the North Star Purple Tenuity Array

“Wailing… wailing…”

Cries filled the sky, Ghost Money littered the ground. As the power of Sky Burial City was channeled forth, the phantom image of Sky Burial City summoned by Mu Lin using a hundred Yin Soldiers as the array’s foundation grew increasingly solid and powerful. Yet, at the same time, it also became more dangerous and more anomalous.

As the core of the grand array, Mu Lin could clearly sense that under the corruption of Sky Burial Power, his originally majestic and solemn Sky Burial City gradually bore the marks of decay from the passage of time, along with traces of spreading bloodstains.

Some broken armor and weapons abruptly appeared within Sky Burial City.

Unfathomable weeping echoed through the city, further dampening spirits, inducing depression, and stirring a desire to seek death.

Even more, anomalous, ominous illusory ‘human’ figures suddenly manifested within Sky Burial City.

It could be said that as the power of Sky Burial City was channeled, an aura of anomaly, death, decay, and silent ill omen permeated the air.

However, though the phantom city that channeled Sky Burial City’s power had become somewhat ominous and anomalous, ultimately, control over this city remained firmly in Mu Lin’s grasp.

—As a high-level and highly corrosive force, Sky Burial Power naturally had no intention of sparing Mu Lin.

Yet, all the power that invaded Mu Lin’s Main Body was absorbed by him, refined, and dominated by the Dominion Flame of his Vow-Power Heart Lamp.

Within the Celestial Fortress Array, Mu Lin was the core, and the one hundred and eight Yin Soldiers were the pillars. The ominous power of Sky Burial City also invaded the Yin Soldiers’ bodies along their connections.

However, Mu Lin’s Yin Soldiers were not ordinary either. As a formal divine army recognized by the Human Dao and possessing official status, they inherently possessed resistance to all external evils. They could also withstand the corrupting power of the Land of Sky Burial to some extent.

Though, as time passed, their armor gradually decayed, and their faces became increasingly anomalous.

“Three minutes… within three minutes, neither the Netherworld Soldiers nor I myself will be affected.”

“From three to seven minutes, my Netherworld Soldiers will become ominous, but they will still be under my control.”

“From seven to thirteen minutes, the Netherworld Soldiers will be mostly corrupted, and their actions will no longer be under my control.”

“However, at this point, I still retain some connection with them. By force, I can still summon them back to the Mindscape and use the flame of the Vow-Power Heart Lamp to refine their corruption.”

“But after thirteen minutes, the Netherworld Soldiers will be completely corrupted. At that point, even I will be unable to recall them.”

Having clarified the power of the Netherworld Soldiers, Mu Lin also examined himself. He then discovered that possessing abilities such as the Transcendence Trait, Vow-Power Heart Lamp, City God Status, Jiao Dragon Body… and so on, granted him substantial resistance. Not to mention ten minutes, even an hour would not result in his complete corruption.

Simultaneously, Mu Lin realized that the descent of Sky Burial Power, for him who had deployed the Celestial Fortress Array, was both a danger and a benefit.

Take the first benefit—reduced consumption.

After the anomalous, ominous power of the Land of Sky Burial descended, it actively maintained the existence of Sky Burial City, significantly reducing Mu Lin’s consumption.

This reduction could even exceed half.

Thus, Mu Lin could have the Yin Soldiers form the array to engage the enemy, while he himself could free his hands to attack the foe.

The second benefit, danger.

The anomalous and ominous power of the Land of Sky Burial would alter the environment around Mu Lin, making it extremely dangerous and terrifying.

This danger and ominousness were not solely directed at Mu Lin; enemies within it would also be tainted by this ominous force.

Especially since Mu Lin had a certain degree of control over his Yin Soldiers. Even if they were corrupted by the anomalous power, he could still command them for a period of time. During this time, the Yin Soldiers, though eroded by the decaying power of the ominous force, were also strengthened, becoming a nightmare for his enemies.

This was the might of a domain.

“Boom!”

While Mu Lin was exploring the illusory Sky Burial City, a flash of light erupted, and the Sky Burial City he had summoned collapsed in about three minutes.

This was not because Mu Lin had actively dispelled it, but because the resonance frequency of the Yin Soldiers and Ghost Messengers was insufficient. In his first attempt, he had only barely managed to summon the illusory Sky Burial City.

However, as the Yin Soldiers and Ghost Messengers were tainted by the aura of the Land of Sky Burial, their differing auras caused the resonance frequency to become insufficient.

Without resonance, they could no longer maintain a close connection with the Sky Burial City in Mu Lin’s Mindscape, and the illusory Sky Burial City naturally collapsed.

Nevertheless, although the Sky Burial City had collapsed, it revealed one thing to Mu Lin: the path he was walking was correct.

By having the Netherworld Soldiers form an array and connecting it to his Divine Soul, he could manifest the Sky Burial City from his Sea of Consciousness into the physical world through the array.

The illusory Sky Burial City in the physical world would, due to this special connection, establish a link with the actual city in the Land of Sky Burial, thereby channeling anomalous power. This would greatly enhance Mu Lin’s lethality.

“If I can summon the Sky Burial City, then true soldiers would not summon nameless citadels but rather powerful and renowned fortresses or great cities, each possessing unique powers.”

Using arrays to commune with heaven and earth, connecting to ancient times, and summoning famous and special fortresses or great cities—this was the true essence of the Celestial Fortress Array.

Having grasped the core principles and being able to practice in advance, Mu Lin’s progress in the Celestial Fortress Array cultivation method naturally soared once again.

…

“It would naturally be impossible to master the Celestial Fortress Array to the third realm of expertise in a single night.”

“But if one knows that the Yin Soldiers and Ghost Messengers share the same origin, this solves the difficulty of entering the Celestial Fortress Array.”

“The Substitute Paper Figure and the Paper Figure Curse solve the problem of Mana transmission.”

“Finally, the Sky Burial City solves the problem of manifesting the citadel. Since most of the key aspects of this military array have been learned in advance or resolved through other methods, mastering the Celestial Fortress Array overnight is not so remarkable.”

This is the principle of mastering one method to understand ten thousand others.

“Or rather, with a wealth of knowledge, one can draw parallels and learn other things rapidly.”

After this reflection, Mu Lin’s Main Body rested for a while, while his Clone continued to drill with the military array.

Thus, when dawn broke, Mu Lin headed straight for Master Meng Rui’s courtyard.

As he walked, he pondered something.

…

“Speaking of which, since I could quickly master the Celestial Fortress Array and become an expert overnight, what about the North Star Purple Tenuity Array? Could I rapidly advance it to a high realm?”

After careful consideration, Mu Lin thought it impossible.

He was well aware of his current situation—his talent in arrays was not exceptional. The reason he could quickly learn the Celestial Fortress Array was because his previous cultivation method had laid a solid foundation for it.

As for the North Star Purple Tenuity Array, it…

“Since this array requires seven people, the first step must be to connect my energy with the Substitute Paper Figure. That should be fairly easy.”

“But after that, it’s different. The North Star Purple Tenuity Array involves the starry sky and the power of the stars, and I have no background in that.”

While pondering, Mu Lin hurried toward Master Meng Rui’s location and soon arrived at her residence.

As before, many people were practicing puppetry here, with quite a few gathered in small groups.

After a glance, Mu Lin was surprised to find that Luo Shan, who had treated everyone on the first day with rather clever tactics, was not the leader among them.

Instead, Qin Yuan, the only inner sect disciple, was the center of attention. The wealthy young lady Qiao Huihui and Weng Ya, who genuinely loved puppetry, were both gathered around Qin Yuan.

There were also some unfamiliar faces speaking with Qin Yuan.

‘There are some differences too. Weng Ya seems to like Qin Yuan, while Qiao Huihui… appears somewhat unconvinced by him?’

Since it had nothing to do with him, Mu Lin only glanced briefly before averting his gaze.

However, he did not get to see Master Meng Rui directly.

In the corridor leading to the backyard, he was stopped.

“Foolish mortal, how dare you… Oh, it’s you.”

Being young still had its advantages. Upon noticing that Mu Lin was now the same age as them, the puppet twins Flower and Butterfly treated him a bit more kindly.

Nevertheless, they strictly followed their master’s orders, firmly blocking Mu Lin’s path and preventing him from proceeding.

Seeing this, Mu Lin did not force his way through. Instead, he spoke plainly, “I have some business with Master Meng Rui—to purchase an array.”

“You’ve earned money? Wait a moment, I’ll go and inform her.”

Soon, Flower, one of the twins, ran into the inner room, while Butterfly stayed outside.

Left with no choice, Mu Lin could only wait.

During his wait, Luo Shan glanced at Mu Lin a few times before walking over with a look of uncertainty.

“Is that… Brother Mu?”

“It’s me.”

Luo Shan: “Your body…?”

“It became younger due to issues with my cultivation method.”

“I see…”

Since he was only here to buy the North Star Purple Tenuity Array and planned to leave immediately after, Mu Lin intended to deal with Luo Shan casually.

However, Luo Shan’s next words made Mu Lin raise an eyebrow.

“Are you here to participate in the assessment too?”

“What assessment?”

“The assessment competition set by Master Meng Rui. Don’t you know about it?”

“I really don’t…”

Bored from waiting, Mu Lin chatted with Luo Shan a bit more.

Then, he learned that to test the disciples’ progress, Master Meng Rui had allocated some resources to organize an internal assessment competition. The winner would receive certain rewards.

To be honest, upon first hearing this, Mu Lin was quite surprised. In his view, due to the extreme costliness of puppetry, Master Meng Rui was very short on money.

Because of this, Mu Lin had only ever seen her amassing wealth and never imagined she would be willing to part with any.

But soon, he understood the reason behind her willingness to spend.

‘The best way to earn money has never been to hoard every penny. Without giving, there can be no gain.’

“Even as a Puppet Master, Meng Rui must train a few outstanding Students to ensure the children of wealthy families willingly pay the tuition fees to join. Therefore, she will put some effort into teaching us and even organize assessment competitions to motivate us to improve.”

After understanding the reason, Mu Lin had little interest in this assessment.

At Master Meng Rui’s place, what Mu Lin wanted most was the North Star Purple Tenuity Array, but now, he had already obtained it.

With no desires or demands, he naturally had no interest in participating in any assessment.

While Mu Lin was lost in thought, Flower, who had gone in to report, soon returned and asked Mu Lin to enter.

Seeing this, Mu Lin immediately bid farewell to Luo Shan.

As usual, Master Meng Rui still appeared alluring. Not daring to look too much, he stated his purpose and handed over the letter given to him by Teacher Dongfang Ya.

After glancing at it briefly, Meng Rui turned her gaze toward Mu Lin, her eyes showing a hint of surprise.

(End of Chapter)