Chapter 159 – Heaven's Will Thunder: Soul Materialization

“?!?!”

“What’s going on?”

“His injuries have vanished.”

“So bizarre, such a formidable ability…”

The sudden disappearance of Mu Lin’s injuries left the Disciples of Jade Lake Dao Academy utterly astonished.

For the first time, they acknowledged Mu Lin’s strength.

“To become the champion in an external Dao Palace and have the determination to compete for the top three—he truly has some skills.”

“That move was impressive, no wonder he caught the attention of two noble ladies.”

While marveling and praising, the Disciples of Jade Lake Dao Academy still hadn’t grasped the severity of the situation.

Believing Mu Lin could only recover once, they confidently remarked after their admiration, “A decent ability, but relying on this alone to compete for the top three is nothing but wishful thinking.”

“Brother Lin is right. Even if he can recover perfectly, what does it matter? The prodigies of our Dao Palace can defeat him once, and they can do it again.”

“He poses no threat.”

Confidence in their own prodigies kept the Disciples of Jade Lake Dao Academy largely optimistic even after witnessing Mu Lin’s ability.

They never considered the possibility of their prodigies losing, nor did they believe Mu Lin could surpass the fifth place.

Lin Qi and Hua Xingyu felt the same way.

Unconcerned and viewing Mu Lin as either an honor or someone easily manageable, neither feared facing him in battle.

In fact, they even competed for the right to lead the team against Mu Lin.

This eagerness to confront him was a clear reflection of their indifference.

The only slight difference was that Hua Xingyu, who had been all smiles earlier, now wore a frown, while Lin Qi beamed with delight.

“Brother Hua, it seems I’ve won this round.”

This time, it was Hua Xingyu who was left speechless. After a long pause, he sighed and said, “I miscalculated. Who would have thought Mu Lin, who primarily cultivates the Paper Crafting Scripture, would also dabble in body refinement techniques? Isn’t he afraid of spreading himself too thin?”

“Hahaha, whether he can multitask is Mu Lin’s own concern. But for now, I am the winner.”

Having secured Mu Lin as an honor, Lin Qi was immensely proud, feeling as though he had accomplished a great feat.

His smug attitude infuriated Hua Xingyu, but in the end, Hua Xingyu maintained his composure and said, “I concede defeat. Congratulations, Brother Lin.”

“Hahaha, you’re too kind.”

Victorious and brimming with confidence, Lin Qi turned his gaze toward Mu Lin.

Since Mu Lin had helped him secure this win, Lin Qi felt rather generous and even cheered him on.

“Keep moving forward, Mu Lin. Show me your limits!”

…

Mu Lin didn’t hear Lin Qi’s cheers, but he was indeed advancing steadily.

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”

After passing the thirty-meter mark, Thunder fell like rain.

The further he went, the denser the Lightning became, and its power grew increasingly terrifying.

By the thirty-six-meter mark, the intense Thunder was no longer ordinary Lightning but carried the vast and boundless might of the heavens.

“Boom!”

With the will of the heavens imbued within it, the Thunder in the Majestic Thunder Pool not only harmed the body but also shook the soul.

—When the Majestic Divine Thunder struck Mu Lin, his scales shattered, his body was pierced, stimulated, and even scorched by the electric currents.

Meanwhile, in Mu Lin’s Sea of Consciousness and Mindscape, Lightning descended with a deafening roar.

“Rumble!”

The sudden, explosive thunderclaps would cause Mu Lin’s Mindscape to tremble and sway, giving him a sense of shaking and imminent collapse, while the lightning within the thunder radiance possessed the power to annihilate everything.

“Boom!”

Amidst the thunder radiance, countless buildings Mu Lin had visualized and condensed were shattered, and even a corner of the City God’s grand hall was struck and collapsed into ruins. Moreover, many of the phantoms Mu Lin had visualized were pulverized into nothingness by the Majestic Thunder.

All of this made Mu Lin feel the terror of the Majestic Thunder.

Yet there were also aspects that brought him pleasant surprises.

Thunder is the pivot and authority of heaven; it not only possesses a destructive aspect but also harbors the power of creation and vitality.

Especially since the Majestic Thunder Pool before him had been transformed by the True Lord through great supernatural powers, causing the thunder within the pool to be composed more than half of this creative, life-giving energy.

Thus, while Mu Lin’s body was indeed being destroyed, each time it was ravaged, the thunder of creation and vitality would nourish his body, making him stronger and more robust.

This was true for his physical body, and so it was for Mu Lin’s Divine Soul as well.

In fact, the gains for his Divine Soul were even greater than those for his physical body.

Closing his eyes to look inward, Mu Lin discovered that the thunder, carrying the vast majesty of heaven, had indeed swept away many of the phantoms in his Mindscape, leaving a large portion of it empty.

However, within that voided area, there remained some shimmering points of light.

Upon careful perception, Mu Lin was pleasantly surprised to find that these were solidified soul light.

“Solidified soul light… Could it be that thunder can transform the phantoms I visualize from the ethereal into the substantial?”

“Hiss…”

The sight before him made Mu Lin gasp in astonishment, and boundless ecstasy surged from the depths of his heart.

The benefits of solidification were immense. Firstly, once the phantoms were solidified and yang-ized, that soul light would no longer fear sunlight or lightning—and this was merely the least of the advantages.

The key was that after the visualized phantoms were solidified, they would no longer require Mu Lin to expend mental energy to sustain them. Instead, they could, in turn, supply soul energy to Mu Lin’s Divine Soul.

—In the past, Mu Lin’s Mindscape might have seemed lively, but most of it was illusory fantasy. Even the solidified visualized objects still relied on Mu Lin’s mind and spirit for their existence.

The only two exceptions in the entire Mindscape were the City God Dharma Image and the Little Girl Who Sold Matches.

The former was recognized by the will of the Human Dao, a rare and fortuitous encounter.

The latter was an Anomalous force that had invaded Mu Lin’s Mindscape from the Celestial Burial Forbidden Land. Although it was a substantial power, it carried hidden dangers, forcing Mu Lin to divert his attention to suppress it.

Because everything in the Mindscape depended on Mu Lin’s soul, he could not arbitrarily increase the number of visualized objects. The size of his Mindscape was closely tied to the strength of his own Divine Soul.

But now, after the baptism of thunder, with the visualized objects transforming from illusory to substantial, everything was different.

As substantial existences, the visualized objects constructed around these soul light points could exist independently of Mu Lin’s Divine Soul and could even cultivate.

Even more wonderful was that, because they were formed from Mu Lin’s thoughts, this soul light had a close connection with his Divine Soul. Their strength would, in turn, enhance Mu Lin’s Divine Soul.

“To be specific, my Divine Soul has transformed from a single-core processor into a dual-core… no, that’s not quite right. The current Mindscape still revolves around my Divine Soul as its core. If my Divine Soul is likened to the sun, those solidified soul-lights are like faint stars.”

“However, although starlight is faint, there are never just one or two stars. The thoughts I have differentiated within my Mindscape also number in the thousands and tens of thousands. If all these thoughts undergo baptism by Thunder, transforming from illusion into substance, then the support for my Mindscape will no longer rely on a single dragon bone propping up the sky alone. Instead, it will be the dragon bone plus countless crossbeams—these numerous supporting points will allow my Mindscape to expand boundlessly, just like a true world!”

The beautiful future made it difficult for Mu Lin to suppress the smile on his face.

However, closing his eyes to look inward caused Mu Lin to halt his steps involuntarily. This, in turn, led the group of Dao Palace Disciples observing Mu Lin’s attempt to cross the Thunder Pool to misjudge him once again.

In particular, the Disciples of Jade Lake Dao Academy knew that upon reaching the 36-meter mark, the Thunder within the Thunder Pool would gain divine empowerment, capable of inflicting not only physical damage but also a soul-shaking effect.

Protecting the soul is always more challenging than protecting the physical body. Therefore, many Disciples believed that Mu Lin had stopped because his soul had been injured by the Thunder.

But was that truly the case?

(End of Chapter)