Chapter 267 – Dragon Riding My Face—How Can I Lose!

The merit Mu Lin spoke of was not the merit of the Heavenly Dao.

Heaven and earth are not benevolent; they treat all things as straw dogs.

For the Heavenly Dao, which gathers all spirituality, it is indifferent to good and evil, and even to human distinctions.

Under the Azure Heaven, whether human, beast, good, evil, ocean, or mountain… all are part of the Heavenly Dao, treated equally.

Thus, whether a Demonic Cultivator kills people or Mu Lin kills evildoers, neither counts as merit to heaven and earth.

In fact, in certain situations, Demonic Cultivators could even be considered meritorious to heaven and earth.

For example, when there are too many cultivators and the world’s spiritual energy cannot sustain them, Demonic Cultivators are no longer evil; cultivators fighting among themselves becomes a kind of good.

Without Demonic Cultivators, the Heavenly Dao might even actively trigger various calamities to reduce the number of cultivators.

“Even the Netherworld’s merit to heaven and earth lies in maintaining the balance of the Yin-Yang Realms, not in persuading people to do good.”

“The latter is the achievement of the Human Dao, earning the merit of incense offerings from humanity.”

Compared to the merit of the Heavenly Dao, the merit of incense offerings from humanity is naturally slightly inferior.

But no matter how inferior, it is still a powerful energy, and the most suitable energy for the Divine Path.

Thus, after absorbing and digesting this merit power, the strength of Mu Lin’s City God Dharma Image soared rapidly.

The rapid proliferation of Manjusaka and the explosive growth of the City God Dharma Image’s strength made Mu Lin look at Demonic Cultivators in a different light.

“Waste? Garbage?”

“Living Demonic Cultivators are indeed waste, scum deserving of death ten thousand times over, but dead Demonic Cultivators are good people!”

Thinking this, Mu Lin dispatched his Yin Soldiers and Ghost Messengers even more urgently, capturing more and more Demonic Cultivators.

Such grand actions also turned the situation for Demonic Cultivators in Ping’an Ancient Town from reckless arrogance to peril at every turn.

Now, the entire Ping’an Ancient Town was filled with Netherworld Soldiers and dangers everywhere.

Even Mu Lin, caught up in the fervor of the hunt, sent people to guard the gates of Ping’an Ancient Town, capturing any Demonic Cultivator who entered immediately.

One, two, three… ten, seventeen… thirty-three… fifty-nine… one hundred six… three hundred thirty-six…

In a short time, Mu Lin had captured a full three to five hundred people.

Such large-scale actions earned Mu Lin a great reward.

But because of this, his behavior thoroughly enraged the Demonic Cultivators.

…

When Mu Lin mobilized due to deaths in the city, the Demonic Sect paid no attention, even watching with a mocking attitude.

When the first person was captured, they felt wronged and thought Mu Lin was disregarding all laws.

When Mu Lin captured the third, fifth, or tenth person, some began to sense trouble and restrained their actions.

When over a hundred people were captured and taken into the Netherworld Law Domain, the Demonic Cultivators who realized something was amiss gradually gathered together.

Their meeting place was Ping’an Ancient Street, and thus, Mu Lin’s actions became known to Lord Seventh Bai and Zombie King Wu.

Upon learning that Mu Lin was capturing Demonic Cultivators on a large scale, Lord Seventh Bai and the others initially refused to believe it and were utterly perplexed.

“What did you say? ‘Lin Qiu’ is capturing Demonic Cultivators on a large scale and has already caught over three hundred people?”

“How is that possible?”

“I know ‘Lin Qiu’ is arrogant, but no matter what, he couldn’t be arrogant to this extent, could he?”

“Exactly, the Grave Lord Inheritance is about to commence, and more and more external demonic cultivators are arriving. ‘Lin Qiu’s’ strength will ultimately be no match for the demonic cultivators. In such a situation, if he lies low, there’s still a sliver of hope he won’t be targeted by the Demonic Sects. But by making large-scale arrests, he’s provoking public outrage, forcing the demonic cultivators to unite. Could Lin Qiu really be that foolish?”

No matter how they thought about it, they couldn’t understand the reason behind ‘Lin Qiu’s’ actions, nor could they fathom who gave him the courage to act so boldly.

Not only were they perplexed, but even Ji Hongyu, who had been observing the battle from the sky, was left dumbfounded by Mu Lin’s actions.

“Kid, what are you doing!”

If possible, Ji Hongyu would have rushed to Mu Lin’s side and given him a stern scolding.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t.

With the Grave Lord Inheritance about to open, not only had ordinary demonic cultivators arrived, but some powerful figures from the Demonic Sects had also come.

Among them were the Six Desires Demonic Sect, the Star Moon Sect, the Yin-Yang Joyous Union Sect, the Seven Killings Demonic Sect, the Nether Ghost Sect…

Although many powerful figures from the Demonic Sects had arrived, first of all, these individuals were rivals themselves and unlikely to unite. Secondly, the Grave Lord Inheritance had strict restrictions, allowing only youths under eighteen to enter.

For these two reasons, coupled with Ji Hongyu’s formidable background, when she proposed that “the inheritance should be contested by the younger generation themselves,” many of the powerful figures from the Demonic Sects gave her face and refrained from interfering.

However, surveillance was mutual. While she kept a close watch on the powerful figures from the Demonic Sects, they were also monitoring her, preventing her from acting freely.

Thus, she could only watch helplessly as Mu Lin made large-scale arrests of demonic cultivators, inciting public outrage.

What infuriated her even more was that while she was worrying about Mu Lin’s safety, sarcastic remarks began to echo beside her.

“Miss Ji, your Demon Suppression Division is truly domineering. Arresting indiscriminately without distinguishing friend from foe—do you regard the Grave Lord Inheritance as your own personal possession?”

The first to speak was Li Jingjing of the Yin-Yang Joyous Union Sect, who was quite skilled at sarcasm.

After her, a faint, eerie voice chimed in:

“To not fear our Demonic Sects uniting in the slightest… Hah, it seems we’ve kept too low a profile for too long, to the point where we’re seen as rats in the gutter, utterly disregarded.”

This was from someone of the Nether Ghost Sect. This sect had suffered the most under the Demon Suppression Division’s suppression, and their hatred for it ran deepest. Thus, the old ghosts of the Nether Ghost Sect were doing everything they could to stir up everyone’s anger.

“Miss Ji, let me congratulate you in advance…”

The last to speak was someone from the Six Desires Demonic Sect, her voice also tinged with mockery.

…

Clearly, none of the powerful figures from the Demonic Sects in the sky believed that Mu Lin, having provoked public outrage, would come to any good end.

In their view, being eliminated would be a favorable outcome for Mu Lin. If he wasn’t careful, he might even perish here.

And the people of the Demon Suppression Division in Ping’an Ancient Street would also be caught in the crossfire, slaughtered to the last.

What happened next only delighted them further.

Under Mu Lin’s coercion, the demonic sect rogue cultivators gathered in Ping’an Ancient Street and soon agreed to join forces.

“Everyone, let’s unite. You’ve all seen the attitude of ‘Lin Qiu’ from the Demon Suppression Division. He looks down on us, with no intention of coexisting peacefully—he only wants to kill us all.”

“If we don’t unite and resist, our only outcomes will be being picked off one by one or fleeing from Ping’an Ancient Town.”

“Are you willing to give up the Grave Lord Inheritance, slink away in disgrace, and let ‘Lin Qiu’ monopolize it all?”

“Of course not!”

“Damn it, my grandson was captured by him. We absolutely cannot let him go.”

“It’s said that the resources accumulated in Ping’an Ancient Town over the years have been plundered by ‘Lin Qiu.’ Now, his place is overflowing with spiritual materials and resources…”

At this point, almost everyone’s killing intent was stirred up.

…

To be honest, being insulted and disrespected by Mu Lin meant little to the Demonic Sect cultivators. Most of the time, Demonic Sect rogue cultivators and low-level disciples were hunted by the Demon Suppression Division and righteous sects, so they had little face to begin with.

Losing relatives and friends also meant little, as familial bonds were inherently weak in the Demonic Sect.

But Mu Lin’s stance of driving everyone away and monopolizing the Grave Lord Inheritance was what they couldn’t tolerate.

Benefits—this was what Demonic Sect cultivators truly valued.

And when they learned that most of the resources in Ping’an Ancient Street had been seized by Mu Lin, their eyes gleamed with greed.

Of course, aside from the reasons above, what made them willing to take action was the realization that they outnumbered Mu Lin and that he was ‘weak.’

Like a child carrying gold through a bustling market, this made the killing intent in their hearts impossible to suppress.

And what happened next made them even more eager.

The people of Ping’an Ancient Street… had arrived.

In terms of hatred for Mu Lin, the people of Ping’an Ancient Street were no less than the Demonic Sect cultivators—in fact, they surpassed them.

However, their younger generation was no match for Mu Lin, which was why they had held back.

Originally, they planned to settle the score with Mu Lin when the Demonic Sect’s prodigies, such as the Holy Son or Evil God Scion, arrived.

But even they hadn’t expected ‘Lin Qiu’ to be so reckless.

“Heaven’s wrath can be forgiven, but self-inflicted calamity cannot be spared. Offending us wasn’t enough—you even dared to provoke all the Demonic Sects. Lin Qiu, you’re digging your own grave.”

“Hahaha, indeed, to make someone perish, you must first drive them mad. Offending so many people, Lin Qiu, you’re doomed.”

“You killed so many of my clansmen and insulted us like this. Lin Qiu, arrogance has blinded you. Today is your day of reckoning!”

…

The gathering of numerous Demonic Sect rogue cultivators made them feel they held the advantage.

With the people of Ping’an Ancient Street joining, they believed their advantage had grown even greater.

In fact, at this point, the assembled Demonic Sect disciples and the people of Ping’an Ancient Street couldn’t even imagine how they could lose.

“One thousand against one—no matter how strong Lin Qiu is, he can’t possibly defeat us.”

“The advantage is ours.”

“Damn it, hurry up! Although Lin Qiu seized many treasures, there are even more of us. If we’re late, we’ll get nothing.”

The overwhelming advantage even led some Demonic Sect members to start thinking about how to divide the spoils in advance.

Eager to secure more benefits, someone charged ahead toward Mu Lin’s location.

“Whoosh…”

One person moved, and many Demonic Cultivators followed suit.

“Woo woo woo…”

Nearly a thousand demonic cultivators stirred their mana and moved out together, turning the sky a murky gray with their collective power. Countless resentful souls and malevolent ghosts wailed between heaven and earth.

Such a terrifying display thoroughly alarmed Ji Hongyu.

(End of Chapter)