Chapter 207 – Bai Zhi Can't Believe It

If he could fix the state of surpassing limits as the norm, Mu Lin’s strength would no longer improve step by step, but could soar to the Spirit Sea in one go, and then surge to Sha Refinement in another.

This kind of stacking could even continue infinitely.

Just imagining such a leapfrogging, stage-by-stage advancement made Mu Lin’s heart surge with excitement.

However, he also understood that achieving such a feat would undoubtedly be extremely difficult.

“But it’s worth a try. Even though failure is highly likely, what if it succeeds?”

Contemplating enlightenment during battle was absolutely taboo. Fortunately, Mu Lin had already paralyzed the Earth Dragon.

The final cleanup didn’t require Mu Lin to act personally either. Yuan Ce, who had self-ignited and transformed into a flaming figure, completely set the severely injured Earth Dragon ablaze.

Afterward, this Prodigy with a Pure Yang Body turned his gaze toward Mu Lin.

“Thank you for your assistance, brother. May I ask who you all are?”

“Mu Lin.”

“…”

These two simple words caused Yuan Ce’s expression to freeze momentarily. However, his reaction wasn’t one of utter disbelief.

He believed he knew Mu Lin’s secret—the Clone Cultivation True Intent Diagram.

Because he knew of this divine skill that could increase cultivation speed, he could somewhat comprehend the achievements and accomplishments Mu Lin had attained.

Nevertheless, it was inevitable that while understanding Mu Lin’s strength, he also placed even greater importance on the Clone Cultivation True Intent Diagram.

“If a commoner disciple possessing this cultivation method can improve his strength at a rate dozens of times faster, what about me? If I master it and receive my family’s full support, could I enhance my cultivation speed a hundredfold?”

This delusion in his heart ignited a fervent gleam in his eyes, making him wish he could leave immediately to cultivate the clone technique.

But in the end, he didn’t do so… If he could quickly master the Clone Cultivation True Intent Diagram, he truly wouldn’t mind skipping the assessment. However, having browsed through it once, he clearly understood how profound and difficult it was to cultivate. Thus, he still had to continue with this assessment.

While pondering the Clone Cultivation True Intent Diagram, Yuan Ce spoke up:

“Thank you for your support, Brother Mu. Also, you’ve won this assessment. Right now, you are indeed stronger.”

Having learned of Mu Lin’s secret and harboring desires related to him, Yuan Ce conceded defeat quite readily.

However, while he could accept that the formidable person before him was Mu Lin, the Fox Spirit Bai Zhi beside him found it hard to accept.

“Mu Lin? How is this possible!”

She couldn’t comprehend how a commoner disciple could improve so rapidly and become so powerful.

What made her even more unwilling to accept was that such a promising talent had slipped through her fingers and was instead noticed by the mermaid.

This also meant that in this recruitment effort, she had lost, and lost decisively.

Although the two of them hadn’t made a bet, and it seemed like Fox Spirit Bai Zhi’s failure had no consequences, she knew very well that her defeat had significant implications. In this world where great power resides within individuals, investing in prodigies was no trivial matter—it was something that could influence the future of an entire race.

‘Impossible, how could there be such a commoner disciple…’

Bai Zhi muttered to herself, unwilling to believe it. As for Mu Lin, he paid no attention to her whatsoever.

People don’t care about ants beneath their feet.

Taking out a paper figure and casually folding it a few times, Mu Lin created a Paper Monster.

He casually tossed the Paper Monster onto Yuan Ce’s body, and a Paper Monster suit concealed Yuan Ce from view.

Saving people to the very end, his subordinates were also disguised by Mu Lin using paper figures.

Thus, in the blink of an eye, human presence vanished from this place, leaving only the silhouettes of monsters behind.

Seeing this, Yuan Ce finally understood why Mu Lin and the others could stroll leisurely here. This paper figure disguise was truly marvelous.

“To be honest, Brother Mu, if it weren’t for the mismatch in attributes, I would have considered learning the Paper Crafting Secret Art. Your ability is far too versatile.”

Such praise made Mu Lin respond modestly.

“Brother Yuan, you flatter me too much. Your Pure Yang Body is truly enviable. Under this Blood Moon, even I would be contaminated, yet you, Brother Yuan, remain completely unaffected.”

Yuan Ce: “The Pure Yang Body indeed makes me impervious to all evils, but it also makes me like a firefly in the night—utterly incapable of hiding myself and despised by all monsters. If I hadn’t met you, Brother Mu, I wouldn’t have lasted even the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.”

At this point, Yuan Ce paused before continuing, “Speaking of which, Brother Mu, what should we do now? Find a place to hide and wait for the assessment to end?”

“No, we save people first. In this time of crisis, I intend to rescue everyone and preserve the strength of our human race.”

These words left Yuan Ce momentarily stunned, but he soon clasped his hands and said, “Brother Mu, your righteousness is commendable.”

“Ahem, you praise me too much, too much.”

Yuan Ce’s look of deep respect made Mu Lin quite uncomfortable. He knew perfectly well that his motivation for saving people had never been benevolence, but rather profit.

If the Aristocratic Families outside hadn’t offered a high price, he wouldn’t have cared about the lives of the Jade Lake Dao Academy Disciples.

Of course, Yan Yunyu’s contact with the Vice-Dean of Jade Lake was conducted in secret, and Mu Lin had no intention of revealing this matter now.

…

After chatting idly for a while longer, Mu Lin led Yuan Ce and the others, swaggering through the streets as they searched for scattered humans.

This process wasn’t particularly troublesome.

Although the blood mist obscured vision and even blocked Divine Sense detection, one factor made their search remarkably easy.

The pervasive blood mist caused everything to become active, with Blood Fiends lurking everywhere.

This blood-colored hell made it impossible for most people to hide, forcing them to flee in disarray or engage in desperate battles with demonic monsters.

Such battles inevitably produced intense commotion. Thus, by simply following the sounds, Mu Lin and his group could locate and rescue people.

“Saving people is quite different from playing hide-and-seek, after all.”

Of course, once they found someone, Mu Lin and the others still had to fight.

The demonic monsters wouldn’t abandon food right before their eyes, nor would they retreat immediately upon seeing Mu Lin’s group.

Whenever the two sides met, a fierce battle ensued.

Moreover, during these fights, Yuan Ce couldn’t even intervene… His Pure Yang aura in this blood-colored hell truly resembled a firefly—its mere appearance would attract countless Demons and Monsters, which even gave Mu Lin a headache.

Fortunately, the word “Stabilize” was incredibly powerful. Without assistance, Mu Lin could still forcefully eliminate the monsters.

“Fast-moving, Anomaly-ability monsters get their bodies Stabilized.”

“Large-bodied, Qi and Blood-abundant monsters get their souls Stabilized.”

Relying on these two techniques, all monsters along the way were swept clean by Mu Lin.

At the same time, while gathering people, Mu Lin discovered another ingenious use of “Stabilize.”

The erosion and contamination of the blood mist were everywhere. Yuan Ce possessed the Pure Yang Flame, and Mu Lin could rely on his powerful Divine Soul to resist it, but while they could manage, others could not.

Especially for some Qi Refiners who were being pursued by demonic monsters—they had no spare energy to guard against the blood mist.

Thus, after Mu Lin rescued some of these Qi Refiners, he discovered that most of them were in a dire state, teetering on the brink of losing control.

In such circumstances, even Yuan Ce’s Pure Yang Flame was of little use—when the contamination was severe, the blood mist had already completely fused with the Qi Refiners’ bodies.

If Yuan Ce used the Pure Yang Flame to burn it away, he could indeed eliminate the blood mist, but the bodies of those Qi Refiners would also be incinerated along with it.

And without their bodies, these Qi Refiners would die on the spot.

“They cannot be saved.”

Severe contamination left Yuan Ce helpless, but Mu Lin, after attempting to use Stabilize, found that he could Fixate the state of the Qi Refiners.

Although this Fixation could not eliminate the contamination within them, it could prevent their condition from worsening further.

“This Stabilize is truly miraculous. It’s a pity that in the interplay between stillness and motion, motion is the dominant force… Motion is the form of existence and inherent property of matter, encompassing all changes and processes in the universe.”

“If I could fully comprehend the mysteries of motion, I would, in a way, understand everything in the universe.”

“Even if I could only grasp it partially, I could perform reverse motion, allowing these people before me to return to their pure human forms.”

(End of Chapter)