Chapter 149 – Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array: Second Realm Proficiency!

Mu Lin’s overwhelming victory had the greatest impact on Dongfang Ya. Over the past two or three days, while resting in the office, she was approached one after another by prominent noble families from Anping City.

“Is Teacher Dongfang here? Someone else has come to see you.”

The teacher who spoke was filled with endless envy, while Dongfang Ya herself only found it troublesome.

“Sigh…”

With a sigh, Dongfang Ya stepped out and conversed with the visitor for a while.

Only after some time did she return to the office, carrying a pile of gifts she simply couldn’t refuse.

This scene prompted a nearby teacher to ask, “Another family wanting their child to become your disciple?”

“Yes.”

Dongfang Ya’s affirmative answer only heightened the curiosity of those around her.

“Xiao Ya, what exactly did you do to attract so many people seeking to become your disciples? Teach me, won’t you?”

Hearing this question, Dongfang Ya sighed slightly but also spoke with a hint of pride. “It wasn’t anything I did—it was Mu Lin. A few days ago, he went out and defeated nineteen opponents single-handedly. Moreover, the reason he took such a strong stance was because someone insulted me. His respect for me and his actions led the noble families in the city to believe that Mu Lin’s exceptional performance was due to my guidance. That’s why they all came seeking discipleship.”

“But I truly didn’t do anything. All the credit goes to Mu Lin. Besides, I can’t teach so many students—the ones in the Formal Class are already enough of a headache.”

As she spoke, Dongfang Ya’s expression showed annoyance at the disturbance but also pride in her outstanding student.

Upon hearing this, the other teachers were filled with envy.

While Dongfang Ya felt she couldn’t handle more students and had no time to teach others, the other teachers were more than willing—especially since those students came from noble families who could provide abundant resources, making the prospect even more appealing.

“Damn it, I’m so envious! Why don’t I have a student like that?”

Some were envious, while others were filled with deep regret.

Naturally, this person was Ma Daoren. When Mu Lin caused the Sky Burial Domain to descend, he had already regretted it, realizing he had missed a great opportunity. At the time, he could still console himself by thinking that Mu Lin’s rise would take a long time, and as a teacher, he might not necessarily benefit from it.

Little did he expect that, before he could finish comforting himself, Dongfang Ya had already reaped the rewards—the resources sent by the noble families were something he coveted as well.

What pained Ma Daoren even more was that the noble families didn’t just offer resources—they also represented valuable connections. If he wanted to advance further or obtain rare treasures, he would need guidance, and the noble families were the best candidates for that.

All of this, he could have easily obtained before, but now, it was all gone.

“Damn it, why did I hesitate back then…”

…

Mu Lin was unaware of Ma Daoren’s regret. At that moment, he was observing the changes in his Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array.

[Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array (Heaven Grade, Lower Tier), 2nd Realm Proficiency (1/9300), Trait: Twilight]

After several days of arduous cultivation, with himself representing life and the Substitute Paper Figure representing death, Mu Lin’s connection between life and death was deeply intertwined. This aligned perfectly with the essence of the Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array, allowing his Cultivation Method to progress rapidly.

In a short time, he had already elevated this Array to the 2nd Realm.

At this moment, he could already use his main body as yang and the paper figure as yin to activate this array, causing the sky in the surrounding area to alternate between yin and yang.

In simpler terms, he could make an area shift from day to night, or from night to day.

At first glance, such an ability might not seem particularly impressive.

Many cultivation methods can achieve the swapping of day and night in an area.

For example, Mu Lin’s black mist could block sunlight, plunging the world back into darkness.

However, Mu Lin’s Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array truly had its unique aspects.

First, the alternation of day and night was only the first layer of this cultivation method. As one progressed in cultivation, more terrifying abilities would manifest.

Second, and most importantly, Mu Lin discovered that the alternation of day and night was merely the surface ability of this cultivation method. Its core lay in the transformation of yin and yang.

The principle behind its ability to alter the heavens and earth relied on the conversion of yin and yang, not brute force.

As is well known, solitary yin cannot give birth, solitary yang cannot grow; all things bear yin and embrace yang… Yin and yang are never purely opposing forces but rather mutually generative and restraining.

This manifests in day and night as day representing yang and night representing yin.

If the array is successfully deployed, while in daylight, Mu Lin can use the yang array point (himself) as the foundation, harnessing the power of daylight to perform yin-yang conversion, turning day into night.

Similarly, in the darkness of night, Mu Lin can also use the yin array point (the substitute paper figure) as the foundation, borrowing the power of night to perform yin-yang transformation.

The advantage of this approach is that the consumption is extremely minimal—borrowing the power of heaven and earth for conversion is like turning water into ice and then ice back into water. In this process, the ice and water are not consumed; what Mu Lin expends is merely the force of conversion.

Although this still requires mana expenditure, it is infinitely easier than conjuring ice or water out of thin air.

Furthermore, the yin-yang conversion of the Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array is difficult to reverse.

Mu Lin’s black mist could also obscure the sun, plunging the surroundings into pitch darkness.

However, his black mist could be dispersed by the wind or dispelled by spells of light, fire, or solar attributes.

But reversing the yin-yang transformation of the Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array is far more challenging.

“I rely on the array to convert yang power into yin. Great Illumination spells, fire spells, lighting spells… these are all yang-based powers. Once released, I can use the array’s power to convert them.”

“In such a scenario, no matter how many lighting spells are cast, they cannot dispel the surrounding darkness… unless the power is great enough to exceed the array’s capacity.”

“But the array harnesses the power of heaven and earth, which surpasses my own strength. Breaking the array is nearly impossible for ordinary individuals, and those capable of forcibly breaking it are undoubtedly beyond my match. There’s no need to dwell on that…”

…

After understanding the characteristics of the Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array, Mu Lin sighed in admiration:

“Difficult to reverse—just this aspect alone makes it worthwhile. This array truly lives up to its Heaven Grade reputation.”

After his moment of reflection, Mu Lin originally intended to continue his cultivation. However, Yan Yunyu’s arrival made him abandon this plan.

“Brother Mu, Master Meng Rui sent someone to find you. She said the materials you requested have been prepared.”

“So soon?!”

The so-called materials were naturally the star paper.

No, it should now be called Star-Twilight Marquis Paper.

Thanks to Master Meng Rui’s generosity, Mu Lin was able to imbue the paper with the attributes of Year-End and Marquis in addition to its Stellar Attribute.

At the same time, Mu Lin placed great importance on this batch of paper.

Not to mention that with this paper, Mu Lin’s North Pole Purple Star Seven-Star Array could finally be deployed.

Even just another point made him unwilling to part with this paper.

—His Paper Figures could no longer bear additional arrays.

After obtaining several arrays from Master Meng Rui, the eager Mu Lin naturally thought of attaching all these arrays to his Paper Figures at once, fully arming them.

However, Mu Lin soon discovered that this wouldn’t work.

Ordinary paper had limited carrying capacity, and the Mana within the Paper Figures was also limited.

This made it impossible for Mu Lin to inscribe all the spells—Divine Speed, Adamantine Force, Giant Spirit, and Sky-Scraping Spell—onto them.

He could only inscribe a very limited number. By this point, Mu Lin also understood the value of Master Grade Talismans.

“No wonder Master Grade Talisman Masters hold such high status. Although unsublimated Master Grade Talismans are only nine times stronger than ordinary ones, making it seem possible to match their power by stacking ordinary talismans, this is simply unrealistic. Even Puppets don’t have enough space to bear so many ordinary talismans, not to mention the ninefold energy consumption.”

“More importantly, the difference between a Puppet inscribed with nine ordinary talismans and one inscribed with nine Master Grade Talismans would be unimaginably vast…”

Of course, that was a concern for Puppet Masters. Mu Lin’s current problem was that ordinary paper could barely bear one or two talismans, and activating them also consumed Mana.

To address this, Mu Lin had two approaches.

One was to rely on external means: changing the material of the Paper Figures and installing an energy core.

However, doing so would turn the Paper Figures into true Puppets, completely losing their unique characteristics. While Mu Lin didn’t particularly care about uniqueness, what made him reluctant was that this would significantly increase the cost of the Paper Figures, making them no longer expendable items to be discarded at will.

Fortunately, he also had an internal approach.

“Inscribe talismans onto the fantasy forms of Netherworld Soldiers within the Mindscape, then imbue them with more Mana during exhalation. This way, the summoned Netherworld Soldiers would come with Adamantine Force, Divine Speed, and Giant Spirit…”

“Although the fantasy forms also have limits, and summoning them would require more Mana, at least it wouldn’t consume vast resources.”

One approach sought external means, the other internal. As an adult, Mu Lin naturally chose—both!

He had no intention of abandoning the power of external means, nor could he give up the affordability of Paper Figures.

In the end, he planned to create a batch of elite Paper Figures as his trump card.

For ordinary times, he would use regular Paper Figures in battle.

Because he wanted elite units, the Star-Twilight Marquis Paper became extremely important.

(End of Chapter)