Chapter 160 – Heroic Ancestral Souls Through Spirit Communication!

“Compared to the physical body, defending the soul is indeed more challenging… but my strongest aspect is my Divine Soul!”

Different cultivation methods meant that Mu Lin’s Three Treasures of Essence were not synchronized. Among them, his mana cultivation was at the Gushing Spring Late Stage.

His physical strength was at the Gushing Spring Mid Stage.

Neither of these aspects was particularly weak for Mu Lin, but due to innate limitations, he was not outstanding compared to true prodigies.

However, his Divine Soul was different. A broad perspective and a well-rounded worldview made his Divine Soul inherently stronger than that of ordinary people, and the advancement of his cultivation method further widened this gap.

Combining all these factors, Mu Lin’s current soul cultivation had reached the Spirit Sea Realm, comparable to Xue Ying’s dominance in mana cultivation. And it must be noted, she was someone who could enhance her cultivation through slaughter.

“I have my own cheat… so it’s fine.”

His exceptionally strong Divine Soul meant that the Majestic Divine Thunder had an effect on Mu Lin—it could shake his Mindscape and annihilate his visualized creations.

However, this effect had its limits. The vastness of his Mindscape meant that the soul-shaking divine thunder would need to strike at least thirty to fifty times before Mu Lin’s Mindscape would completely collapse.

And this was without even considering the City God Dharma Image.

As Mu Lin’s current core consciousness and a recognized righteous deity of the Human Dao, the City God Dharma Image could independently withstand twenty to thirty thunder strikes.

Combined, even if Mu Lin only endured attacks without retaliating, he could remain in the Majestic Thunder Pool for quite some time.

Of course, Mu Lin did not do this.

Noticing that the quality of the thunder increased the further he went, after closing his eyes to inspect his inner self for a moment, Mu Lin continued forward.

Then, after walking just over three meters, he couldn’t help but stop.

—His Divine Soul could withstand the thunder strikes, but his physical body could not.

Fortunately, he had the divine skill Substitute Paper Figure.

With a “swish,” as a paper figure burned to ashes, all of Mu Lin’s injuries vanished once again.

Returning to his peak condition, Mu Lin, with a calm mindset, continued advancing toward the center of the Majestic Thunder Pool.

However, while he remained calm, the disciples beside the Thunder Pool were greatly startled by his actions.

“What?!”

“There’s still more?!”

“His injuries completely disappeared—in battle, this is no less than having an extra life. Such a powerful move, and he can use it repeatedly… Hey, isn’t this cheating?!”

The Substitute Paper Figure, which could almost completely transfer injuries, left the disciples of Jade Lake Dao Palace in shock.

This was not their fault—a Master Grade Substitute Paper Figure was indeed somewhat exaggerated for them at this stage.

After all, normally, mastering a mystical art to the Master Grade, especially a core one, would take at least twenty to thirty years of effort. Even for prodigies with decent comprehension, starting from scratch would require seven or eight years.

In comparison, Mu Lin mastering a mystical art to the Master Grade in just a few months was truly unfair.

Even more terrifying was that, thanks to the creativity from his past life, Mu Lin not only mastered the mystical art to the Master Grade but also made it stronger than the standard version.

Faced with someone like him, how could the disciples of Jade Lake Dao Academy not be shocked?

And soon, these disciples realized they had expressed their astonishment too early.

The second complete recovery was still not Mu Lin’s limit.

Walking within the Thunder Pool, Mu Lin soon unleashed his third, fourth, and fifth paper figures.

The repeated scenes of going from battered and bruised to fully recovered left the Jade Lake Dao Academy disciples utterly numb, with most of them listing Mu Lin as someone not to be provoked.

They weren’t foolish; they clearly understood what Mu Lin’s complete recovery (injury transfer) represented in combat.

It meant extra lives.

“This guy is practically unkillable.”

“Five times, plus his main body—that’s six lives. To deal with him, you’d have to kill him in one strike, or else take him down six times!”

“No, no, with that terrifying recovery ability, I doubt even crushing his head or heart in one blow would finish him off…”

“What a monster…”

The injury transfer of the Master Grade Paper Figure completely stunned the Jade Lake Dao Academy disciples.

Among them, Lin Qi was the most shocked and anxious.

Just minutes ago, he had been delighted about defeating Hua Xingyu and gaining the lead in dealing with Mu Lin’s team.

At that time, he saw handling Mu Lin as an easy achievement.

So pleased was he that he even cheered Mu Lin on.

But now, he wanted to slap his past self.

This change in mindset came because Mu Lin’s bizarre abilities left him without certainty of victory.

Especially as, under the injury transfer of the Substitute Paper Figures, Mu Lin advanced farther and farther, gradually nearing his captain’s limit range, which only heightened his anxiety.

“No wonder he dared to aim for the top three—he really has some tricks up his sleeve.”

Fortunately, what relieved him was that, in the end, even with five Paper Figures combined, Mu Lin still didn’t cross the 49-meter limit, stopping instead at 48 meters.

“Phew…”

This sight made Lin Qi, who had broken out in nervous sweat, let out a long sigh of relief.

Immediately after, he clenched his fists, his face regaining a confident expression.

“Good, he’s still not as strong as the boss. And even though his team includes noble ladies, their high status doesn’t equate to strength. In a team battle, we can win!”

On his side, Lin Qi believed that although the process might be somewhat perilous, his team still held a significant advantage.

Just as he was thinking this, Mu Lin in the Majestic Thunder Pool also realized that, in his current state, he had reached his limit.

But upon sensing this, Mu Lin didn’t retreat; instead, he prepared to press forward.

Of course, he wasn’t acting recklessly, because:

“48 meters is indeed my current limit, but my states aren’t limited to the ordinary form. There’s also the Spirit Channeling – Ancestral Soul form and the Overlimit – Divine Descent form!”

With this in mind, Mu Lin immediately activated the trait he had obtained but never used before—Spirit Channeling – Ancestral Soul!

“Hum!”

As this ability activated, the Spirit Foundation Lord Altar within Mu Lin’s dantian immediately emitted a faint, ghostly glow.

An ancient power of time’s passage flowed atop the altar.

Simultaneously, a drop of essence blood appeared on the altar.

It was Mu Lin’s blood, refined with Jiao Dragon Blood.

“With blood as the offering…”

As Mu Lin prayed, a massive surge of time’s passage power, like a tidal wave, flowed toward the essence blood placed on the altar.

Following it were the living Mana from within Mu Lin’s body and the fragmented Authority power he had gained upon advancing.

Using his essence blood as a guide and the Spirit Communication Authority imbued with the power of twilight time to connect life and death, space and time, Mu Lin slowly sensed the source of his essence blood—the Evil Jiao that had been slain by a Human Dao grandmaster during its water-crossing ritual.

“Roar!”

The moment Mu Lin saw the Evil Jiao, the Jiao Dragon also saw him.

Then, relying on their bloodline connection and the Spirit Communication Authority, Mu Lin summoned a wisp of the Evil Jiao’s Soul Thought from ancient times… well, from over a hundred years ago, to the present.

“Boom!”

As soon as the Evil Jiao Soul Imprint descended, it unleashed a vast and mighty power.

Under that terrifying might, even the thunderous roars of the Majestic Thunder Pool ceased for several breaths.

At the same time, in the outside world, a massive phantom of the Evil Jiao manifested around Mu Lin’s body.

The enormous Evil Jiao coiled once before diving back into Mu Lin’s body. Then, his aura began to soar as if riding a rocket, climbing steadily.

Gushing Spring Late Stage, peak of Gushing Spring Late Stage, Spirit Pool, Spirit Pool Mid Stage, Spirit Pool Late Stage…

(End of Chapter)