Chapter 228 – Heavenly Auspicious Signs

Sudden enlightenment, also known as the Unity of Heaven and Man, is not solely about Mu Lin himself.

During sudden enlightenment, Mu Lin’s spiritual frequency connects with heaven and earth, allowing him to perceive the natural world and draw power and knowledge from the great source of the universe.

Thus, each time he experiences sudden enlightenment, Mu Lin gains immeasurable insights.

However, his current ability of Stabilize, while capable of recording and fixing his body’s past states, can only affect himself and cannot influence heaven and earth.

This means that when Mu Lin enters a state of sudden enlightenment, it becomes a one-sided effort—he alone must generate light and power.

In such a state, Mu Lin’s capacity for insight is inevitably greatly diminished.

What troubles him even more is that previously, when he was in harmony with heaven and earth, his consumption was replenished by the great source of the universe.

But now, all of Mu Lin’s consumption must be borne by himself.

With his thoughts accelerated a hundredfold, his mental energy is heavily drained, making it impossible for him to sustain active sudden enlightenment for even a minute.

“…Poor effectiveness and limited time—my current sudden enlightenment is completely incomparable to the true Unity of Heaven and Man.”

Thinking this, Mu Lin felt some disappointment, though not overwhelmingly so.

While being unable to fully replicate the state is not ideal, the hundredfold acceleration grants him a “superbrain,” making both ordinary insights and breaking through bottlenecks infinitely easier.

Moreover, the superbrain is not limited to cultivation; in times of crisis, Mu Lin can accelerate his Divine Soul a hundredfold to strategize.

“Of course, the most crucial aspect is that I can enter the superbrain state at any time, and as time passes, my Divine Soul will grow stronger. There is a chance for the superbrain to evolve into the Unity of Heaven and Man.”

…

Aside from sudden enlightenment, Mu Lin also tested other aspects of his Fixation ability.

For instance, he can now record and store three of his own states, and his maximum daily Refresh frequency is four times.

“Four lives—not bad at all.”

Naturally, Mu Lin used the first state to record his optimal condition.

The second state recorded his “sudden enlightenment” state, granting him the superbrain ability.

But what to fix with the third state remained undecided.

“Overlimit burst is indeed useful, but since I can activate it temporarily, recording it feels somewhat wasteful.”

“Still, if not overlimit, what else can I record?”

After some contemplation, Mu Lin suddenly thought of something, his eyes lighting up.

“Wait… If I can record and fix sudden enlightenment, what about the state when merging with the Seven-Colored Antler? Can I record that?”

Although Mu Lin has now transformed into a Second-Class Spirit Root, there is no doubt that this state pales in comparison to that of the Seven-Colored Deer, a celestial auspicious being.

In terms of Spirit Root, Mu Lin at that time likely possessed a first-class or even transcendent Spirit Root.

“Under normal circumstances, such an experience can only be had once in a lifetime. But I am not ordinary—Stabilize means stillness, eternity.”

“A single experience can be fixed into permanence!”

With this thought, Mu Lin immediately closed his eyes, recalling and fixing the state of merging with the Seven-Colored Antler.

After careful effort, Mu Lin succeeded—the state of merging with the Seven-Colored Antler was recorded and fixed.

“Next, I need to see its consumption. If it’s low, I might even be able to keep this state active as a permanent passive. At that point, I’d essentially have a first-grade, or even a supreme-grade Spirit Root from a different perspective.”

“Hmm, and I’ll name this state the Seven-Colored Auspicious Body.”

“Hum…”

Under Mu Lin’s will, the unseen laws of the world were stirred. From an external view, the character “Stabilize” (Heaven and Earth Root) between Mu Lin’s eyebrows suddenly radiated a seven-colored glow.

The light first flickered at his forehead, but soon it spread throughout his body. Within moments, Mu Lin’s entire being was suffused with a seven-colored luminescence.

Simultaneously, the sensation of merging with the heavens and earth, of being embraced by the world, once again filled Mu Lin’s body and mind.

This warm, comfortable experience left him somewhat intoxicated.

However, soon after, a bitter expression appeared on Mu Lin’s face.

“The Seven-Colored Auspicious Body is excellent, but it consumes Mana…”

It must be said that Mana truly is the foundation of a Qi Refiner.

After this realization, Mu Lin understood that activating the Seven-Colored Auspicious Body under normal circumstances would be a net loss for him.

Fortunately, it wasn’t entirely useless.

If he activated it while consuming rare resources, his absorption efficiency could increase severalfold.

Or, if he activated it during combat, the first-grade or even supreme-grade talent would allow him to mobilize more Spiritual Energy from the world.

…

Although there were some regrets, regardless, this Spirit Root transformation had brought Mu Lin immense gains.

After the Spirit Root transformation, for the next two or three days, Mu Lin didn’t wander around. Instead, he stayed near the Tower of Time, quietly cultivating.

This dedicated cultivation led to significant progress in his strength.

Currently, Mu Lin’s Mana Cultivation had reached the peak of the Spirit Pool stage.

His physical strength had advanced to the Spirit Sea (early stage).

His Divine Soul and Zhong Kui Dharma Image were even more astonishing, leaping directly to the Sha Refinement level. It’s worth noting that Sha Refinement is a stage where one can be respectfully addressed as a Spell Master.

Such rapid progress left Yuan Ce, Chu Hongxuan, Yan Zhanpeng, and other members of noble families, wealthy clans, and influential figures somewhat stunned when they saw Mu Lin again.

Even Dongfang Ya, who had seen Mu Lin not long ago, couldn’t help but twitch at the corner of her eye.

“Your progress is a bit too exaggerated, isn’t it!”

In response, Mu Lin shrugged and said, “It is indeed a bit fast, but it’s quite reasonable. You should know that my Clone can assist in cultivation. Plus, the Jade Lake Dao Academy has the Tower of Time. With both combined, my cultivation time and efficiency aren’t just two or three days—it’s equivalent to one or two months of cultivation.”

“Secondly, I exchanged the Clone Cultivation True Intent Diagram for many resources: an eight-hundred-year Life Fruit, Six Yin Spirit Nurturing Water, Clear Spirit Qi Replenishing Pills… So many treasures—this is a treatment even Chu Hongxuan and Yan Zhanpeng can’t enjoy.”

“With all these treasures consumed at once, such progress is perfectly normal.”

Hearing this, Dongfang Ya… wasn’t convinced. Instead, her expression grew even more exasperated.

“Normal? Do you think I’m foolish? If sheer resources and time alone could create a powerhouse, there wouldn’t be so many spoiled young masters in this world… You, do you even have bottlenecks?”

Bottlenecks in Cultivation Methods—this is the eternal pain of noble family disciples.

They lacked neither resources nor time. Unfortunately, the cultivation of a Qi Refiner could not succeed through resources alone.

It also required comprehension—insight into heaven and earth, and even one’s own temperament.

Coincidentally, with the Proficiency Panel, Mu Lin was strongest in this aspect.

Thus, what troubled Mu Lin was never the breakthrough in cultivation methods, but the accumulation of mana.

In the past, this had been the biggest thing holding Mu Lin back.

However, with the emergence of abilities such as Spirit Root transformation, Substitute Paper Figure, Tower of Time, Seven-Colored Auspicious Body, Fixation… and so on, Mu Lin had already filled these shortcomings.

In fact, the existence of vast resources had even turned this aspect into an advantage for him.

With no more weaknesses, the Proficiency Panel’s ability of “once mastered, forever mastered” could be fully utilized.

The result was that the speed of Mu Lin’s strength improvement was nothing short of terrifying.

Of course, Mu Lin didn’t mention this. Faced with Dongfang Ya’s confusion, he just smiled sheepishly and said, “Maybe I’m just lucky.”

Such a perfunctory response made Dongfang Ya purse her lips, but she didn’t press further and casually replied, “Let’s just assume so… Be careful during the next assessment.”

“I will.”

Indeed, the second round—also the final round—of the Southeast Region joint assessment had begun.

This was also why Mu Lin had come out and once again encountered Chu Hongxuan, Yan Zhanpeng, and other members of the Aristocratic Families.

Upon seeing them, Mu Lin merely glanced over and paid no further attention.

However, while he didn’t concern himself with Yan Zhanpeng and the others, everyone else was closely watching him.

Upon discovering that his strength had expanded to such an extent in just a few days, their eyes filled with envy and jealousy, as well as boundless fervor.

What they envied and were jealous of was naturally Mu Lin’s rapid growth in strength. Their fervor stemmed from their belief that the reason for Mu Lin’s explosive increase in power was the Clone combined with the Tower of Time.

“The Tower of Time is right here at Jade Lake Dao Academy. As long as you spend Academy Points, you can use it.”

“As for the Clone cultivation technique, Mu Lin has already made it public. This also means that we can achieve such explosive growth in strength too!”

Realizing this, whether they were from noble families or ordinary wealthy backgrounds, their hearts burned with fervor.

Among them, Yan Zhanpeng and Yuan Ce were especially fervent.

They had already witnessed the Clone Cultivation True Intent Diagram and had begun cultivating it.

Although no one had succeeded in cultivating it yet, a promising future awaited them.

…

Seeing Mu Lin’s explosive increase in strength, some were excited, some were expectant, and others were extremely anxious.

Chu Hongxuan was one of those who was extremely anxious.

Yan Yunyu was fully implementing purchase restrictions and quantity limits, which meant that even if he had Spirit Stones, he couldn’t view it.

Under these circumstances, how could he not be anxious?

“No, I must buy the Clone Cultivation True Intent Diagram. Otherwise, not only will I fall behind Mu Lin, but Yuan Ce and Yan Zhanpeng will also completely surpass me!”

“But what should I do?”

Endless distress filled Chu Hongxuan’s heart.

Similarly troubled was… Tian Yun of the Feather Clan.

With her time-related abilities, she had originally looked down on everything with arrogance. Only Xue Ying, who possessed the Demon Blade Spirit Tool, could earn her special regard.

Although she had been killed once by Mu Lin.

That incident had been due to special circumstances, and she hadn’t fully exerted her strength at the time.

Thus, she was not convinced by Mu Lin, and even thought about confronting him in this assessment, decisively killing him to wash away the humiliation of her previous defeat.

However, her plan was well-laid, but she never expected that even before entering the Tower of Illusory Heavens, Mu Lin had created the Clone Cultivation True Intent Diagram.

This True Intent Diagram was something she coveted as well.

But even Chu Hongxuan, a Prodigy of the Human Race, couldn’t buy it from Yan Yunyu, let alone her, a member of the Foreign Races.

If that were all, Tian Yun wouldn’t be troubled.

Having this diagram would be best, but without it, she didn’t care—she was confident that with her time talent, even if Mu Lin could cultivate with clones, he wouldn’t surpass her.

Yet while she didn’t care, her clansmen, and even the Clan Elders, cared deeply—this was a Treasure that could enhance the clan’s foundation.

Because of this, a Clan Elder of the Feather Clan specifically instructed her not to provoke Mu Lin.

Moreover, that Clan Elder even hinted at other matters.

Thinking of this, Tian Yun’s gaze suddenly sharpened. After glaring fiercely at Mu Lin, she immediately shook her head and said, “Impossible. Even if I die, I will never…”

(End of Chapter)