Chapter 232 – Mu Lin: Your Domain Is Strong? Too Bad, I Have One Too!

“What are you doing!”

The friendly fire from his own teammates nearly drove the Assistant Priest mad with rage.

But just as he was fuming, with a “swish,” the cultists who had been attacking the skeletons and deadwood all turned their heads, their eyes fixed intently on him.

This bizarre scene dispelled the anger in the Assistant Priest’s heart, replacing it with boundless fear.

He already sensed that something was wrong.

And indeed… that was the case.

“Die!”

“Humans, all become fertilizer.”

“Attack with full force…”

Amidst the shouts, the cultists all turned their weapons on their own leader, striking with ruthless and merciless ferocity.

“Boom!”

A barrage of attacks and curses sent the Assistant Priest fleeing in panic.

“You’re all insane, completely insane!”

He raged, his heart filled with terror.

But in his frantic escape, he failed to notice that the attacking cultists all had a red glow in their eyes.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that the red light faintly coalesced into a bewitchingly beautiful red flower.

Without a doubt, this was Lycoris.

Having already identified the enemy, Mu Lin naturally did not remain idle.

While his Netherworld Soldiers were felling the deadwood, Mu Lin’s main body was also busy folding paper figures and casting curses on the exposed cultists.

This time, Mu Lin did not use Nailing Seven Po. Instead, he planted the Underworld Spider Lily within the minds of his enemies.

Because Mu Lin was strong and his enemies weak, he easily succeeded in cursing most of the cultists.

The reason these cultists were now attacking the Assistant Priest was that their five senses had been distorted by the illusion ability of Manjusaka.

“Now sink into the boundless Hell and perish, all of you!”

“Boom!”

With a single thought from Mu Lin, the cultists launched a suicidal charge toward the Assistant Priest, the deadwood, and the skeletons.

…

For Mu Lin, the rebellion of the cultists was ultimately a minor matter, not diverting much of his attention.

Currently, his main focus was on the front lines of the battlefield.

Under the control of the deadwood, countless skeletons had clashed with Mu Lin’s Netherworld Soldiers.

Yet, after just a brief encounter, they were utterly crushed by the Netherworld Soldiers.

It wasn’t that they were weak, but rather that Mu Lin was too strong.

In recent days, he had not slackened in enhancing his Netherworld Soldiers.

Among the many clones that had entered the Time Tower, some were cultivating, while others were tirelessly painting Adamantine Force Talisman Arrays, Swiftness Talisman Arrays, and Giant Spirit Talisman Arrays onto the paper figures.

Moreover, with the abundance of resources at his disposal, Mu Lin had significantly upgraded the material of his paper figures.

Now, most of the paper figure vessels for his Netherworld Soldiers were made of Year-End Marquis Paper.

Each sheet of such paper could bear three talisman arrays.

Coupled with Mu Lin’s exceptional painting ability, every talisman array was of Master Grade, allowing the array’s power to stack up to nine layers.

All of this combined meant that Mu Lin’s paper figures were each immensely powerful and impervious to weapons (Adamantine Force), capable of darting and running at incredible speeds (Swiftness), and when faced with formidable enemies, they could swiftly transform into small giants to crush their foes (Giant Spirit Talisman Array).

Such terrifying strength meant that Mu Lin’s paper figures were no longer known for their eeriness but instead resembled Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals.

In the end, the endless skeletons were brutally cut down by Mu Lin’s Netherworld Soldiers.

After crushing the enemies with the force of thunder, the small giants who had activated the Giant Spirit Arrays once again raised their axes and hacked at the deadwood.

“Crack!” “Crack!” “Crack!”…

With each swing felling one tree, soon, this vast Withered Wood Forest was cleared of another large swath by Mu Lin.

By this point, the Assistant Priest was filled with regret, his guts twisting in despair.

Yet, just as he teetered on the brink of hopelessness and the Netherworld Soldiers marched forward, at a certain moment—”Hum!”—a terrifying ripple suddenly emanated from the very center of the Withered Wood Forest.

Sensing this ripple, the Assistant Priest’s heart first leapt with joy.

“The Servants of the Gods have awakened!”

However, this elation lasted only an instant before fear once again washed over his face.

“It’s over. The ritual is not yet complete, yet the Servants of the Gods have awakened. My mission has failed. The Servant will never spare me.”

At this thought, his gaze turned fierce once more.

“It’s all your fault. If not for you, how could my mission have failed? Even if I die, I’ll drag you down with me.”

“No, you’re already doomed. The Servant of the Gods will not let you go!”

He harbored extreme hatred for Mu Lin, believing that Mu Lin stood no chance of resisting the Servant of the Gods.

And indeed, the awakened monstrosity was terrifying.

“Hum!”

Originally, the deadwood in the Withered Wood Forest, though possessing strange abilities, mostly acted independently. But the moment the entity at the forest’s center awakened, instantly, these deadwood trees were linked together.

A single tree cannot form a forest, but many trees together can. As these numerous trees subtly merged, their abilities multiplied severalfold in an instant.

“Rustle, rustle…”

Mu Lin could feel that the swaying branches of the deadwood were now capable of shaking his Celestial Rampart Citadel.

If not for Mu Lin’s Paper Figure army also being linked together through arrays, at this moment, all his Paper Figures would have been hung on the trees, slowly dying.

“A formidable enemy!”

As Mu Lin thought this, the Withered Wood Forest unleashed its power once again.

Amidst the turning of the trees, Mu Lin first felt the sky darken. When light returned, he was astonished to find himself transported to the very center of the Withered Wood Forest.

There, a deadwood tree over ninety meters tall stood like a small mountain between heaven and earth.

Not only was this central deadwood enormous, but it also bore countless corpses and skeletons hanging from its branches. Upon closer inspection, Mu Lin grimly realized that among the skeletons suspended from the tree were some monsters tainted by Anomalies.

“Can it even suppress Anomalies?”

While Mu Lin was observing the Corpse Tree, the colossal tree was also staring back at him.

Upon realizing it had awakened prematurely, the Corpse Tree was furious. However, it soon recognized Mu Lin’s strength and potential, which gave rise to other thoughts.

“Mortal, you dare offend the great Lord of Desolation? You shall suffer the punishment of celestial burial, devoured daily by flocks of crows. Your soul shall also hang from this tree, never to find peace for all eternity!”

“But I am merciful and willing to grant you an opportunity. Submit to me, become my slave…”

“Boom!”

It intended to say more, but before it could finish, a massive bolt of thunder descended from the sky, striking the very top of the Corpse Tree with immense force.

Simultaneously, Mu Lin’s contemptuous voice rang out.

“To demand my submission, are you even worthy? A mongrel like you isn’t even fit to be my dog!”

“?!?!”

Mu Lin’s outrageously arrogant words left both the Corpse Tree and the Assistant Priest utterly stunned.

The latter had even feared that Mu Lin might submit, leaving him without a chance for revenge.

The Corpse Tree had also considered the possibility that Mu Lin might refuse out of unwillingness to betray humanity.

Yet neither of them had expected Mu Lin to look down on them so utterly.

Yes, it was contempt, disdain—as if they were rats in a sewer or ants in a garbage bin.

This deep-seated scorn left the Corpse Tree, which prided itself as one of the Divine People and looked down arrogantly upon mortals, momentarily speechless. When it finally snapped out of its shock, what remained in its eyes was boundless fury.

“Mongrel, how dare you insult me like this? I will have you dead!”

“Boom!”

Thoroughly enraged, the Corpse Tree held nothing back.

And its attack was indeed extraordinary.

As a harsh, terrifying ripple emanated from it, faintly connecting with the surrounding deadwood, Mu Lin noticed that everything touched by this ripple was gradually withering.

Though there were no plants in this place, sparing Mu Lin the sight of countless flowers and trees withering to death, the ripple emitted by the enemy affected more than just flora. Even the earth and soil gradually lost their vitality.

The oxygen and spiritual energy in the air grew stagnant.

But the greatest impact was on people. Mu Lin and his Netherworld Soldiers were relatively unaffected, as they were not truly human. Though the withering effect still touched them, he could withstand it.

However, Lin Qi and Fox Spirit Bai Zhi, who had followed him inside, were suffering immensely.

Their life force was diminishing, and their mana was gradually stagnating.

Witnessing the terrifying scene of everything withering away, Bai Zhi smiled bitterly and said, “So it’s a Domain… My lord, your provocation has gone too far.”

“Provocation? No, I meant every word I said.”

With that, Mu Lin ignored Bai Zhi and turned his gaze to his surroundings.

He soon realized that, aside from causing everything to wither, the Corpse Tree’s Domain also had the ability to suppress and absorb all anomalous energies.

Under the influence of this Withering Domain, the movements of Mu Lin’s Netherworld Soldiers gradually stiffened.

—The Year-End Paper of Nobility contained a trace of temporal power and was not afraid of the Withering Domain, but the living energy within the Paper Figures was affected by it, gradually stagnating.

Moreover, the Withering Domain also drained the living energy from the Netherworld Soldiers.

Without this energy source, Mu Lin’s Paper Figures were severely restricted in their movements.

‘This Domain is quite impressive—suppression, absorption, withering… With so many attributes, no wonder it could hang anomaly-infected monsters on its branches.’

‘Such a Domain, combined with these countless deadwood trees, could suppress thousands of ghosts if used properly.’

As Mu Lin observed his surroundings with interest, the Corpse Tree, having fully unleashed its Domain, spoke again in its haughty voice.

“See? This is my power, mortal. Remember this—it is you who are the ant!”

The Corpse Tree was trying to reclaim its dignity, and its words made Mu Lin laugh.

“You’re proud of this? You think you’re impressive?”

“Hmph, isn’t that obvious, human? Do you know what you’re facing? This is a Domain, a Domain where might and pressure govern all. Within the Domain, everything, absolutely everything, falls under the control of the Servants of the Gods.”

“You can feel it too, can’t you? The heavens and earth are rejecting you, the surrounding Spiritual Energy no longer allows you to absorb it freely—you’re finished!”

This time, it was the Assistant Priest among the Cultists who spoke. To atone for his sins and avoid retaliation afterward, he was doing his utmost to praise the Corpse Tree and the power of the Domain.

Of course, as he spoke, he also wanted to see Mu Lin panicked and terrified.

Whether it was the earlier disruption of his mission or the belittlement and mockery just now, the Assistant Priest harbored extreme hatred toward Mu Lin.

Thus, he wanted to witness Mu Lin’s distress.

Unfortunately, he was disappointed. Upon learning of the Domain’s might and sensing the formidable power of the withering Domain, Mu Lin’s face showed neither panic nor fear—only indifference.

This attitude left the Cultist’s Assistant Priest utterly frustrated: “Bastard, I said this is a Domain! Do you even understand how powerful a Domain is?”

Hearing this, Mu Lin nodded:

“A Domain—that ability is indeed quite strong.”

Before the Assistant Priest could show any delight on his face, Mu Lin’s expression suddenly turned grave, and his gaze grew profoundly deep.

“But you don’t think only you have a Domain, do you?”

“???”

These words left the Assistant Priest stunned, and an inconceivable thought emerged in his mind.

“This attitude… Could it be that he also has a Domain?”

“Impossible, absolutely impossible! He isn’t even at the Spirit Sea level—how could he possibly wield such a great power as a Domain?”

(End of Chapter)