Chapter 135 – Yin-Yang Transformation: Life and Death in Opposition

“What… do you mean?”

After glancing at Mu Lin and realizing he genuinely hadn’t grasped it, Yan Yunyu said with some difficulty, “For us ‘ordinary people’ without talent in arrays, the time we spend learning arrays is never measured in days, but in years.”

When she uttered the word “ordinary,” Yan Yunyu’s tone carried a noticeable weight. Clearly, even though she wanted to curry favor with Mu Lin, she felt somewhat offended by his self-description as “ordinary.”

“Uh…”

His words made Mu Lin begin to understand, but before he could fully process it, Chu Lingluo beside him delivered the final blow.

“Sister Yan, you’re mistaken. Arrays are inherently difficult to learn. The North Star Purple Tenuity Array involves the cosmos and stars—it’s an Earth Grade Supreme array. The Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array is even more complex, relating to yin-yang, life-death, and illusion-destruction—it’s a Heaven Grade array. For ordinary people like us, even if we train diligently for a lifetime, we might not even qualify to begin learning it.”

“Brother Mu, forget about fifteen days to a month. If you have the confidence to even begin learning it, you’d already surpass ninety-nine percent of Formation Masters.”

These words finally cleared the fog for Mu Lin.

He remembered—not everyone had a Proficiency Panel that guaranteed rewards for effort.

With the assistance of the Proficiency Panel, Mu Lin never worried about being unable to learn something; it was only a matter of how much time it would take.

For others, however, training for months or even years without being able to even begin was commonplace among Qi Refiners.

Compared to them, Mu Lin’s ability to master whatever he studied was already a monstrous feat.

For such a person to call himself “ordinary,” it was no wonder Dongfang Ya, Yan Yunyu, and the others wore such complicated expressions.

“Ahem…”

Realizing he had unintentionally flaunted his abilities, Mu Lin felt somewhat awkward. Fortunately, Yan Yunyu stepped forward at that moment and introduced Ji Xue to him, using her presence to break the awkward atmosphere.

“Welcome, welcome. Thank you for joining us. Let’s work hard together from now on…”

“Mhm.”

After chatting for a bit, everyone noticed Mu Lin’s exhaustion. As a result, they didn’t linger and soon took their leave.

As for Mu Lin… he had originally planned to rest.

But with the cultivation method now in hand, he couldn’t suppress his curiosity. He pressed the Jade Scroll to his forehead and skimmed through the information about the method.

Then, he discovered that this was an array centered around the Yin-Yang Duality.

Most arrays were connected to concepts like Duality, Triad, Four Symbols, Five Elements, Six Harmonies, Seven Stars, Eight Trigrams, Nine Palaces, and so on.

For example, the North Star Purple Tenuity Array he had learned was closely related to the Seven Stars, while the Celestial Fortress Array was a variation of the Nine Palaces.

The Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array, on the other hand, was an array that could be set up by just two people.

Of course, fewer people didn’t mean the array was easier to master.

As Yan Yunyu had said, the Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array involved the transformation of yin and yang, the interplay of existence and nothingness, and the opposition of life and death—making it extremely abstruse and difficult to comprehend.

Then, Mu Lin realized that mastering this method, from the basics to proficiency, seemed… to pose no difficulty for him.

“The opposition of life and death, with a mutual connection… Aren’t I and the Paper Figure the opposition of life and death?”

“As for the connection, the Substitute Paper Figure can bear eighty percent of my injuries. That kind of connection is definitely deep enough…”

After pondering this for a while, Mu Lin was astonished to discover that although the Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array was indeed more difficult, due to his accumulated understanding of the opposition between life and death, his speed in cultivating this method might actually be faster than that of the North Star Purple Tenuity Array.

“What is this? Just when you think there’s no way out, another village appears amid the willows and flowers?”

Feeling that he could form the array and driven by curiosity, Mu Lin did not rest immediately. Instead, he summoned a Substitute Paper Figure.

Then, taking himself as the yang and the Substitute Paper Figure as the yin, he began the process of setting up the array.

The first attempt… naturally ended in failure.

The opposition between life and death was not so easily grasped, and the first layer of the Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array was “Twilight,” representing the transition between day and night.

Once this array was successfully deployed, Mu Lin could use it to alter the celestial phenomena within a certain area, turning day into night or night into day.

Night was yin, day was yang—this alternation between day and night was a manifestation of the transformation between yin and yang.

At the same time, such changes in celestial phenomena were extremely useful to Mu Lin. After all, although his Paper Figures had become Netherworld Soldiers, sunlight still had some effect on them.

Conversely, the dense yin energy at night would also enhance his Netherworld Soldiers.

“Directly altering celestial phenomena to create an environment favorable for combat is much more convenient than using Black Mist to obscure things, but it is also far more profound…”

As Mu Lin marveled at this, the Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array was recorded into his Proficiency Panel—although his first attempt did not succeed in setting up the array, the attempt counted as effective training. As a result, the array was incorporated into the management of the Proficiency Panel.

At the same time, Mu Lin had just attempted the opposition between life and death, which in the Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array was considered an advanced application (Expert at the 3rd Realm). This attempt allowed Mu Lin to gain a full 11 points of proficiency in one go.

“The proficiency gain is quite fast. It’s just a pity that, as a Heaven Grade array, its proficiency cap is also very high.”

  【Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array, 1st Realm Novice (11/3300)】

The proficiency required just to reach the Novice stage was 3,300 points. As for how much was needed for Skilled, Expert, or even Master, Mu Lin hardly dared to imagine.

“I can only hope its power lives up to expectations.”

With a sigh, the utterly exhausted Mu Lin went to rest.

……

After several hours of deep sleep, the refreshed Mu Lin began drawing the Mighty Jiao Dragon – Adamantine Force Talisman Array. He needed to create some powerful Paper Figures to prepare for Master Meng Rui’s assessment.

“Speaking of which, in terms of status, I’m only slightly below Master Meng Rui, and my ability to earn Spirit Stones has improved as well. It seems I don’t really need to participate in the assessment anymore.”

After some thought, Mu Lin realized that the assessment was indeed no longer necessary for him. Direct purchase had become a viable option.

But in the end, he still decided to participate in the assessment.

As for the reason, naturally, it was to save money.

“I lack many resources, so I should save wherever I can.”

……

Drawing talismans, cultivating—for the next day or so, Mu Lin kept himself busy and fulfilled.

Soon enough, the day of Master Meng Rui’s assessment arrived.

Carrying his talisman arrays, Mu Lin arrived early.

Then, he noticed that Master Meng Rui’s courtyard was quite lively today.

Aside from Disciples, some middle-aged individuals had also come.

Some were parents of Master Meng Rui’s Students, while others were from wealthy families.

After a moment’s thought, he understood the reason why Master Meng Rui had invited these people—it was an exhibition.

“Master Meng Rui organized this competition for the students not only to motivate them to improve but also to showcase their progress to their parents and others. This is to let others know that studying Puppetry Art under her is worth the Spirit Stones, with the hope of attracting more children from prominent families to learn from her.”

“If we think further ahead, there’s also the idea of displaying puppets and then selling them.”

Watching the coming and going of young masters and misses from prominent families, Mu Lin pondered many things in that moment.

However, just as he was deep in thought, Mu Lin suddenly felt a series of hostile gazes fixed upon him.

Turning his head, he discovered that those radiating hostility and staring at him were Master Meng Rui’s students—his classmates.

“What’s going on? I haven’t provoked them… Even if they know I’m here for the competition, there’s no need for everyone to stare at me like that, right?”

The sheer hostility in their gazes left Mu Lin slightly puzzled.

And just as he was feeling bewildered, Qiao Huihui, who came from a relatively better family background among the group, walked over.

Looking at Mu Lin, she said with a cold expression, “You’re Mu Lin, right? The one who looks down on our Puppetry Art.”

“Uh, I don’t look down on it…”

Faced with Mu Lin’s instinctive rebuttal, Qiao Huihui sneered.

“Hmph, dare to do it but not own up to it? Master Meng Rui already told us that back then, you were brimming with confidence, treating first place in this assessment as if it were already in your pocket.”

These words left Mu Lin silent, and even more unable to refute them.

Back when he learned the price of the Starlight Paper Figure from Master Meng Rui, Mu Lin’s first thought was indeed to win it for free through this competition.

And at that time, just as Qiao Huihui said, he had regarded first place as a sure thing.

Such an attitude stemmed from Mu Lin’s confidence in his own abilities.

However, while he thought this way, others would not see it the same.

In their eyes, Mu Lin, a student who had been absent for over a month, showing up and expecting to take first place, was a blatant display of looking down on them and the art of puppetry.

Under such circumstances, it was only natural for Meng Rui and her students to harbor hostility toward Mu Lin.

As Mu Lin remained silent, Qiao Huihui spoke with a somewhat haughty expression, “So you admit it? Hmph, I’ll make you understand that Puppetry Art is no trivial skill to be underestimated…”

Qiao Huihui wanted to say more, but before she could finish, Mu Lin, now unrestrained, spoke up.

“You’re right, Puppetry Art is no trivial skill. However, what I look down on isn’t Puppetry Art—it’s all of you.”

(End of Chapter)