Chapter 278 – Breakthrough: Spell Master

“The so-called Grave Lord Inheritance is actually a Divine Tomb?!”

Mu Lin was in shock, and Ji Hongyu also nodded with a dazed expression.

“This matter truly caught everyone off guard. It was only due to unusual movements from the Evil God’s side that we learned the reason… Many Evil God Scions have come this time, and there are even genuine Evil God Scions among them. To confront them and also to obtain the legacy of the Deity, numerous Prodigies from the Daoist Sect and descendants of Aristocratic Families have arrived.”

“More members of the Demonic Sect have also come.”

“Since the current trend is to resist the descent of Alien Realm Evil Gods, the Daoist and Demonic Sects, along with the Aristocratic Families, have temporarily formed an alliance, jointly excluding all outsiders.”

“Therefore, the Daoist and Demonic Sects are no longer enemies. Outsiders—whether they are Demons and Monsters, Evil God followers, or believers—are now the true adversaries.”

Setting aside disputes and uniting against external deities was not a wrong move, and Mu Lin agreed with it.

However, at this moment, Mu Lin felt somewhat troubled—not because he had to cooperate with members of the Demonic Sect, but because of the divine ruins and his own weakness.

“What a pity. Such a great opportunity as the divine ruins is right before me, yet I can hardly compete for it this time.”

Having just withstood a blow from a Mortal Shedding Adept, Mu Lin should have been at the peak of his glory. Yet, here he was, claiming to be weak—a truly peculiar situation.

Nevertheless, Mu Lin genuinely believed this.

The reason for his thinking was as follows:

In Jade Province, at the Jade Lake Dao Academy, outside the Tower of Time, Mu Lin’s Main Body opened his eyes.

As soon as his eyes opened, a concerned voice sounded beside him.

“Brother Mu, I’ve brought resources for stabilizing and nurturing your foundation. Here are Earth Marrow Elixir, Six Yang Ginseng Soup, Heavenly Yang Foundation Nurturing Pills…”

One by one, resources and supplies were placed before Mu Lin by Yan Yunyu.

None of these items were cheap. For instance, the Six Yang Ginseng Soup was brewed using six-hundred-year-old angelica, six-hundred-year-old ganoderma, six-hundred-year-old ginseng, along with six-hundred-year-old black-bone chicken, old turtle, deer antler, and countless supplementary ingredients, all simmered together.

Moreover, this simmering process lasted six months.

With numerous blood- and qi-replenishing medicinal herbs and the careful preparation of a spiritual meal chef, this pot of broth was brimming with boundless vitality.

An ordinary person wouldn’t even dare drink it; just smelling it would cause bleeding from all seven orifices and a half-month coma—a sign of excessive nourishment.

The Earth Marrow Elixir, aside from the soup, was also extraordinary. Ordinary Earth Marrow liquid could improve a person’s constitution.

Earth Marrow Elixir, however, was refined by condensing the essence of a hundred drops of Earth Marrow into one, and even then, it was barely achievable.

A single drop of this elixir was worth at least a hundred thousand Spirit Stones, and even that fell into the category of being priceless and unobtainable.

If it weren’t for the high demand for Mu Lin’s Clone Cultivation True Intent Diagram, even with his outstanding talent and close relationships with Yan Yunyu and Chu Lingluo, he would never have obtained such an elixir.

Now, with so many resources gathered, Mu Lin naturally intended to accomplish something significant—he was about to break through.

From the Spirit Sea Realm, he was going to break through to the Sha Refinement Realm.

Yes, Mu Lin’s Main Body was only now breaking through from Spirit Sea to Sha Refinement.

And such a rapid cultivation speed left Yan Yunyu, Chu Lingluo, Dongfang Ya, Master Meng Rui, and Si Ye… deeply concerned.

“Mu Lin, are you sure you don’t want to reconsider? Your progress has been too fast lately.”

The first to speak was Dongfang Ya, followed by Yan Yunyu, who clenched her hands tightly and said with some concern, “Yes, Brother Mu, maybe we should wait a bit longer.”

Even Si Ye, Chu Lingluo’s mother, tried to persuade Mu Lin.

“Ahem, Mu Lin, although I don’t know why, you really don’t need to be in such a hurry. Your current cultivation speed is already the fastest among your peers. Even Xue Ying has only just reached this stage.”

“After being persuaded by the Ge Family, Xue Ying has decided to stabilize her cultivation for a month. You could do the same.”

Everyone was advising Mu Lin to slow down and take it steady.

The reason for this was that Mu Lin’s rate of improvement had genuinely alarmed them.

It’s important to remember one thing: Mu Lin had only been cultivating for about half a year.

Admittedly, early-stage breakthroughs were fast, but not as fast as Mu Lin’s pace.

What were the cultivation levels of his peers now?

Those who entered Anping Dao Palace at the same time as him, with Third-Class Spirit Roots like his, had only recently completed their Hundred-Day Spirit Awakening and were lingering in the Spirit Awakening Mid or Late Stage.

Zong Xiu, the chubby boy and Mu Lin’s first friend, was currently at Spirit Awakening Perfection… With his Second-Class Spirit Root, he was preparing to break through from Spirit Awakening to Gushing Spring.

Ji Xue, the top Prodigy of Anping Dao Palace and a holder of a First-Class Spirit Root, was at the Gushing Spring Mid to Late Stage.

Yan Zhanpeng, the Prodigy of Jade Lake Dao Academy who had always sought to compete with Mu Lin, was at the Spirit Pool Stage.

Xue Ying and Tian Yun—one was a suitable wielder of the Demonic Blade Relic (a Spirit Tool) and could level up through killing, while the other possessed a time-based talent, allowing her future self to manifest in the present.

Even with such extraordinary abilities, their current strength was only at the Spirit Sea Mid to Late Stage.

Moreover, due to their rapid advancement, they needed a considerable amount of time to consolidate their foundations before attempting to break through to Sha Refinement.

These were the cultivation levels of everyone else. As for Mu Lin, he was simply incomprehensible.

During the Hundred-Day Spirit Awakening period, Mu Lin was fast but still within reason.

Upon entering the Formal Class, although his cultivation speed increased significantly, it was somewhat understandable given the early support from Chu Lingluo and the later all-out assistance from Yan Yunyu.

But after entering Jade Lake Dao Academy, Mu Lin’s cultivation progress became unstoppable.

In just one or two months, Mu Lin advanced from Gushing Spring to Spirit Pool, and then to Spirit Sea.

Now, he was about to break through from Spirit Sea to Sha Refinement—a speed that transcended the ordinary.

Si Ye’s attitude also reflected how shocking Mu Lin’s cultivation speed was.

Having witnessed many prodigies, she had looked down on Mu Lin during his time at Anping Dao Palace, believing he was unworthy of her daughter back then.

When Mu Lin emerged at Jade Lake Dao Academy, she was only surprised by his combat abilities, still considering his cultivation level ordinary.

But now, seeing Mu Lin’s cultivation speed, she felt somewhat uneasy.

“It’s too fast…”

Everyone was advising him, but Mu Lin… did not agree.

Firstly, because the Divine Ruins were about to open, and Mu Lin had no time to wait.

Secondly, the breakthrough from Spirit Sea to Sha Refinement was difficult for others, but for Mu Lin, it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Not to mention his cultivation method realm was exceptionally high, having long since transcended the bottlenecks from Spirit Sea to Sha Refinement.

Just one point alone made Mu Lin fearless… his City God Clone had long surpassed Sha Refinement, even surpassing Gang Condensation.

With such experience, Sha Refinement and Gang Condensation held no secrets for Mu Lin.

While pondering, Mu Lin calmly said:

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. I won’t gamble with my own future.”

As he spoke, Mu Lin began preparations for his breakthrough.

A crimson figure carrying a longsword on its back and a gourd at its waist emerged from Mu Lin’s body—Dharma Image Zhong Kui.

Pulling open the gourd stopper, he collected most of the resources gathered by Yan Yunyu, Si Ye, and Meng Rui into the gourd.

Mu Lin’s main body could not digest so many resources in a short time.

Therefore, he needed Zhong Kui’s Crimson Wine Gourd to absorb and refine them, allowing Mu Lin to directly draw upon Zhong Kui’s mana to replenish himself during the breakthrough.

As for only taking most of them, Mu Lin needed some resources to consolidate his foundation and nurture his vitality.

The refining process took Mu Lin several hours. Once everything was ready, Mu Lin closed his eyes, activated the Transcendence Trait, unleashed the over-limit burst of the Jiao Dragon Body, and invoked the power of the Sky-Scraping Spell – Emperor of the Purple Tenuity, Sky-Scraping Spell – City God…

The enhancement of these various abilities caused Mu Lin’s physical body, mana, and Divine Soul Realm to soar rapidly.

Of course, such enhancements were temporary; after the burst, Mu Lin would return to his normal state.

In fact, due to the extreme burst, his condition would become extremely weak.

But that was under normal circumstances.

“Hum!”

As Mu Lin willed it, the Source Rune ‘Stabilize’ appeared on his forehead and, under his will, sought to fix his current state as the norm.

This approach was like building a tall tower without laying a foundation—adding floors out of thin air.

Such a castle in the air, by common reasoning, could not succeed.

Fortunately, Mu Lin had prepared a large amount of resources for consolidating his foundation and nurturing his vitality.

“Gulp…”

The moment the fixation began, Mu Lin swallowed all the remaining resources into his body.

These foundation-consolidating and vitality-nurturing resources acted like basic building materials, making Mu Lin’s castle in the air no longer an illusion. However: “Not enough! The current energy is too little; even the framework isn’t fully built!”

Thinking this, Mu Lin turned his gaze to the Dharma Image – Zhong Kui.

“Splash…”

As Mu Lin willed it, Dharma Image Zhong Kui’s Crimson Wine Gourd opened, and a stream of cool liquid flew out, quickly flowing into Mu Lin’s body.

This was liquefied mana refined by Zhong Kui using the Crimson Wine Gourd.

Moreover, this mana was not only from what Yan Yunyu had brought this time; over the past few days, the Crimson Wine Gourd had also been refining resources, and it had been doing so inside the Tower of Time.

The extended duration and abundant resources meant the Crimson Wine Gourd contained a vast amount of mana.

More importantly, the Dharma Image was Mu Lin’s Avatar, and the mana it refined shared the same origin as Mu Lin’s, allowing him to absorb it without any hindrance.

Thus, visibly, Mu Lin’s aura—which had risen due to the fixation but had become unstable as a result—gradually solidified.

The versatile mana allowed the castle in the air Mu Lin was building to gradually gain a foundation.

“It really succeeded.”

This scene was one that Dongfang Ya and Si Ye had witnessed several times before, yet each viewing still left them in awe.

“This cultivation method… makes me feel like all my past arduous training was completely unnecessary!”

“…”

Si Ye and the others had no rebuttal to this.

Watching Mu Lin’s advancement, then thinking of their own daily meditation and nightly rigorous cultivation—only managing to progress a single step after prolonged effort, while Mu Lin advanced hundreds, even thousands of steps with just one Fixation—nearly shattered their Dao hearts.

“Huff… I can’t compare myself to Mu Lin. He’s a monster, a prodigy… Cultivation is a personal journey; one shouldn’t compare with others…”

After repeating this to herself for a long while, Si Ye’s mindset gradually stabilized.

Then, with just a slight turn of her head, her composure was on the verge of crumbling again.

Beside her was her daughter, Chu Lingluo.

Through dual cultivation and the influence of the Manjusaka, her innocent and adorable daughter had also advanced to the Spirit Sea (having just broken through).

And because Chu Lingluo hadn’t kept it from her, Si Ye knew clearly that the Spirit Sea was not the limit of the Manjusaka—Gang Sha Unity was.

In other words, Chu Lingluo would face no bottlenecks whatsoever until she reached Gang Sha Unity.

As long as her Mana increased and her body and Divine Soul adapted, her Cultivation Level would soar unimpeded.

“No, Gang Sha Unity isn’t even Lingluo’s limit. Mu Lin only obtained the Other Shore Flower a little over a month ago, and in such a short time, he’s already elevated it to the Gang Sha Unity realm. Once Lingluo adapts, Mu Lin’s Manjusaka will inevitably advance even higher. Correspondingly, Lingluo, whose foundation is built upon the Manjusaka, will see her own ceiling and Cultivation Level rise along with it…”

“Lingluo… could she truly surpass me in such a short time?”

There was no doubt that Si Ye loved her daughter dearly and wished only the best for her.

Yet, thinking of her own relentless day-and-night toil, exhausting every ounce of effort for the sake of cultivation…

While her daughter’s temperament was innocent and naive, her personality pure and lovely, her abilities… still pure.

And yet, this naive girl was advancing faster and reaching higher limits than she was, leaving Si Ye utterly weary and filled with a sense of boundless emptiness.

“What was the point of all those years of exhausting effort?”

…

Setting aside the weary Si Ye, Mu Lin, who was using Fixation to elevate his own realm, suddenly felt a sense of completion at a certain moment.

The instant this feeling emerged, Mu Lin knew with delight that he had successfully advanced.

And with his successful breakthrough to Sha Refinement, a series of transformations began to manifest within him.

(End of Chapter)