Chapter 194 – Mastering the Bizarre!

“Let’s go, we’ll also seek refuge with the Human Race.”

The departure of the Demon Fox Bai Zhi further unraveled the Alien Alliance.

Of course, in the end, this alliance did not completely collapse; some Foreign Races still insisted on opposing humanity.

Setting aside the latter, when the Demon Fox Bai Zhi arrived, it was precisely the moment Yuan Ce and the others had completely crushed the Eerie Stage.

Unfortunately, eliminating a major foe did not bring joy to Yuan Ce and his companions. Just as they had anticipated, the moment the Paper Anomaly – Wusheng vanished, several more obscure auras were detected by Yuan Ce’s subordinates.

Unsurprisingly, all the locations of those Paper Figures were places densely packed with Anomalies and gatherings of demonic monsters.

Though Chu Hongxuan and the others were powerful, they could not possibly fight their way through each one individually.

Just as they were grappling with this headache, Bai Zhi arrived.

Bai Zhi was not disappointed by Yuan Ce’s setbacks; instead, she felt somewhat pleased.

‘Lord Yuan Ce has not yet fully matured, after all. It’s normal for there to be some shortcomings.’

‘And precisely because they are not strong now, we have the opportunity to seek refuge and prove ourselves. Those supreme experts would have no need for us.’

Having settled on her target through contemplation, she went directly to Yuan Ce’s side and spoke to him gently: “My lord, I possess a mystical art most adept at tracking and tracing. Using this method, we will undoubtedly locate that petty coward Mu Lin, who only knows how to hide and conceal himself.”

Since Mu Lin and his companions were enemies of Yuan Ce’s group, Bai Zhi deliberately condemned Mu Lin to curry favor.

But then something unexpected happened. Upon hearing Mu Lin referred to as a petty coward, Yuan Ce did not appear pleased. Instead, he frowned and said, “Let’s refrain from using such derogatory terms in the future. Though Mu Lin is my opponent, I greatly respect his strength. He is a formidable adversary, and the strong should not be insulted.”

“…Your lordship is truly magnanimous.”

At this moment, the Fox Spirit Bai Zhi was somewhat taken aback but had not yet sensed anything amiss, merely assuming that Yuan Ce genuinely possessed a broad-minded nature.

After offering some flattering words, she proceeded to cast her tracking and tracing spell under everyone’s watchful eyes.

This mystical art was called—Fox Immortal Guidance.

“Hum…”

As the Fox Spirit Bai Zhi released this spell, a special and hazy aura emanated from her entire being.

Had Mu Lin been present, he would have recognized that this aura resembled that of his own City God. Clearly, Fox Immortal Guidance was also a deity-possession type of mystical art.

And the Demon Fox Clan, too, had a ‘Fox Immortal.’

However, unlike the awe-inspiring and stern City God, the possession by the ‘Fox Immortal’ did not make Bai Zhi appear more majestic. Instead, her aura became more elusive and secretive.

Evidently, the Fox Immortal worshipped by the Demon Fox Clan was not of the same type as the City God who governed a territory. He/She was more skilled in concealment, evasion, and Illusion Art.

Yet, while the Fox Immortal had areas where it fell short compared to Mu Lin’s City God, it also surpassed him in certain aspects—Mu Lin’s City God had only recently come into being and had not been officially enshrined. Though not a wild deity, it was not yet an orthodox deity either.

In contrast, the Demon Fox Clan had been venerating the Fox Immortal for thousands of years.

The devotion of an entire clan had endowed the Fox Immortal with Mana far beyond human imagination. Even though Bai Zhi had only summoned a wisp of the Fox Immortal’s divine might, his/her power remained exceptionally formidable.

With ease, Bai Zhi managed to trace Mu Lin’s whereabouts from the unseen realms.

“Found him!”

Here, Fox Spirit Bai Zhi’s eyes lit up brightly, while beside her, Chu Hongxuan and the others watched with curiosity as Bai Zhi’s aura underwent a dramatic transformation.

“Fox Spirit, is this the heritage of the Demon Fox Clan? It looks quite mysterious.”

“That’s inevitable. No Foreign Race that has survived to this day is simple. Moreover, strictly speaking, the Demon Fox Clan isn’t weak. They’re just not as dominant as humans or as noble as tiger demons, but among Foreign Races and demonic monsters, they are still an upper-tier race.”

As Yuan Ce and the others communicated via voice transmission, Bai Zhi had already withdrawn from the state of Deity possession. However, a faint spiritual glow still shimmered on her forehead, guiding her toward Mu Lin’s direction.

After the possession ended, she didn’t immediately set off to pursue Mu Lin. Instead, she pointed toward the Merfolk team and said with a playful smile, “My lords, those are Foreign Races who have pledged allegiance to Mu Lin. Though I don’t know why they joined him, they are undoubtedly his people. We can start by eliminating them.”

Bai Zhi said this partly out of opportunistic revenge. The Merfolk and the Demon Fox Clan had always been rivals, and she didn’t mind taking the chance to wipe out the Merfolk team.

Moreover, she believed that the humans, who had been tricked by Mu Lin and were now seething with anger, would have no qualms about taking action.

Not only did she think this way, but the Merfolk in the distance felt the same. As soon as they noticed the situation here, their expressions changed drastically, and they immediately fled into the distance.

“That wretch… hurry, let’s go!”

Watching Baili Xiuling flee in panic, Bai Zhi’s expression grew even more gleeful, and she felt that her choice had been the right one.

‘Indeed, choices are the most important thing for us. Choosing a good master allows us to enjoy endless glory and wealth, while you lot will only live in constant fear and anxiety.’

Bai Zhi was delighted, but soon, something astonishing happened again.

Upon hearing her words, Yuan Ce did not give chase. Instead, he frowned and said, “Ignore them for now. Let’s find Mu Lin first.”

“Huh? Why? They might intervene midway. Just now, they were shamelessly discussing how to team up with others to deal with you, my lords…”

Why? Naturally, it was because he didn’t want to provoke Mu Lin to the extreme.

Yuan Ce had always been fixated on Mu Lin’s Clone Cultivation True Intent Diagram. In the Tower of Illusory Heavens assessment, the two were competitors, so taking action against Mu Lin was understandable.

However, attacking Mu Lin’s subordinates—especially those who were insignificant—would only serve to annoy him.

Such an action, which offered little benefit and would only sour Mu Lin’s mood, was something Yuan Ce naturally wished to avoid.

Of course, he had no intention of revealing his thoughts about the Clone Cultivation True Intent Diagram or his inner calculations.

In response to Bai Zhi’s confusion, he merely said calmly, “I don’t want to complicate matters. Mu Lin is strong, and he might very well detect our pursuit. If we don’t hurry, he could disappear again.”

After speaking, without giving Bai Zhi a chance to ask further questions, he firmly commanded, “Tell me Mu Lin’s location.”

“…Yes.”

Under the Fox Spirit’s guidance, the group from Jade Lake Dao Academy set off in a grand procession toward Mu Lin’s direction.

  Watching the group head straight for Mu Lin’s Main Body, the Cultivators observing from outside shook their heads in regret.

“He couldn’t hide forever after all.”

“Mu Lin did his best, but Jade Lake Dao Academy is simply too strong.”

“Indeed, one person against an entire academy, with the help of foreign races—no matter what, he cannot succeed.”

“What a pity…”

No matter how one looked at it, those outside could see no chance of victory for Mu Lin in this confrontation.

However, since he was the one being ganged up on, no one considered him weak; instead, they felt a sense of regret.

But while those outside were lamenting, what about Mu Lin himself?

Through the paper cranes and paper rats scattered along the way, as well as some wandering paper anomalies, Mu Lin had also seen that the disciples of the Jade Lake Dao Palace were heading straight toward his main body.

Yet, upon realizing this, Mu Lin did not panic as many might have imagined. Instead, he felt only a hint of regret.

“After all, I can’t avoid it any longer. But now, I no longer need to hide!”

With this thought, Mu Lin’s main body remained hidden within the Nether Spirit Coffin, moving about freely.

This scene was also detected by Fox Spirit Bai Zhi.

Immediately, she reported to Yuan Ce, “Sir, Mu Lin’s main body has realized he’s been discovered. He’s moving quickly now.”

“Hahaha, he’s panicking too.”

“Let’s go.”

“Finally, we’ve found him. After wasting so much of our time, we must give him a proper welcome later.”

Not everyone was aware of the Clone Cultivation True Intent Diagram, and as a result, few among the human faction held any respect for Mu Lin. Upon learning that they could locate him, those who had been simmering with frustration grew visibly excited.

However, just as they were rejoicing, a sudden change occurred.

“Hum…”

Beside them, mist surged toward them like a tide.

In the blink of an eye, the disciples of the Jade Lake Dao Academy were completely enveloped in a sky full of black mist, while shadowy ghostly figures stared intently at them from within the fog.

This abrupt turn of events left the Jade Lake Dao Academy disciples bewildered.

“What’s going on? Did we trigger the evil spirit’s killing mechanism?”

“But that can’t be right. We’re still far from this anomaly…”

“Stay calm, everyone. Mere evil spirits—we can clear them out quickly.”

“Ge Liu, divine the anomaly’s killing rules!”

“Yes, Captain.”

In this supernatural world, human experts no longer need to sacrifice lives to uncover an anomaly’s killing mechanism. Instead, they can directly divine it through prophecy.

Not only humans possess such abilities; the fox immortals of the Demon Fox Clan can also answer the questions of fox spirits.

Of course, this method is not always successful. Many anomalies can shield themselves from celestial detection.

Some powerful anomalies can even corrupt diviners in return.

Fortunately, through years of dealing with such threats, diviners have evolved. They no longer directly prophesy anomalies but instead divine how the dead in a certain area perished. By analyzing these deaths, they can indirectly deduce the anomaly’s killing mechanism.

At this moment, Ge Liu was using this method to divine, and he truly succeeded in uncovering the killing mechanism of the black mist anomaly.

“It’s fear. This black mist induces fear within us, then uses that fear as a source to create a monster.”

“The greater the fear, the stronger the monster becomes, and it can intervene in reality to hunt us down. But if our fear is minimal, the monster remains nothing more than an illusory reflection, unable to affect reality.”

“So that’s it, suppressing fear? That’s simple.”

“This Anomaly ability seems rather useless. We Qi Refiners have the Calming Heart Mantra, we’re almost never affected by fea… AHH!!”

Having found a method, some people began to look down on the Black Mist. However, before they could finish speaking, someone let out a shrill scream.

Someone had been attacked by a monster.

At this moment, the disciples of Jade Lake Dao Academy still hadn’t realized the severity of the situation. When their teammate was attacked, they weren’t afraid—instead, they wanted to mock him.

“Can’t even control your own fear, Yan Yu? What’s wrong with you?”

“Hahaha, exactly! Did you go to the brothel last night and now your legs are weak?”

“I’m not afraid…”

“Hahaha, stop making excuses. If you weren’t afraid, why would the monster attack you?”

“That’s right, why would it only attack you and not me… No!”

“Wait, I’m not afraid either!”

“I’m being attacked too.”

“Wrong, it’s all wrong! Even if we’re not afraid in our hearts, this monster will still attack us!”

(End of Chapter)