Chapter 305 – Prince Liang: Can Mu Lin Win?

Mu Lin’s appearance did not bring excitement to the crowd; instead, many shook their heads and sighed.

Clearly, they did not hold high hopes for Mu Lin, nor did they believe he could defeat Scarlet Son – Nest.

From a rational perspective, the current Mu Lin indeed should not be a match for Scarlet Son.

What realm is Mu Lin in now? Gang Condensation.

And Scarlet Son on the other side? Mortal Shedding!

Even though Scarlet Son is suppressed by the Death Tombstone, with the Crimson Holy Grail, a sacred artifact, his strength remains at the Mortal Shedding level—this is evident from how he alone can steadily suppress the combined efforts of Jade Daoist, Drunken Wanderer, and Mingling Zi.

It can be said that Scarlet Son’s realm is a full two levels higher than Mu Lin’s Gang Condensation, and this includes the major leap from the Gang Sha Realm to the Mortal Shedding Realm.

Thus, Scarlet Son in the Mortal Shedding Realm fighting Mu Lin could potentially take on a thousand opponents alone.

Do not think this is an exaggeration—the gap between higher and lower realms is indeed this vast. Normal attacks from the Gang Condensation Realm might not even break the opponent’s defense. Against such an impenetrable foe, no matter how many come, the opponent would have no fear.

All these unfavorable circumstances made those outside completely disbelieve in Mu Lin’s victory, which was why they shook their heads and sighed.

As for Scarlet Son on the other side… he did not believe he would lose either.

“Oh, another one here to die. Let me see who it is… Hmm? It’s you?”

The other side recognized Mu Lin as well—not only him, but his companion, the Evil God Scion – Shadow, also knew Mu Lin.

“So it’s you, that human bastard who ruined many of our plans… Hahaha, good! Good! Good! I never thought we’d have such a harvest in the end. Nest, kill him.”

“Don’t command me!”

The sudden roar was unexpected by Shadow Son, and his expression darkened slightly.

However, sensing Scarlet Son’s immense aura, he ultimately said nothing, only calmly stating, “You are stronger now, so you have the final say. But I still suggest you kill him. This person has angered several High Priests and even true half-god scions.”

“I will kill him, but not because of your command. Killing him is my own will…”

“Yes, yes, you’re right. It’s your own will…”

“Step, step, step…”

While the two Evil God Scions conversed, Mu Lin naturally did not remain idle. A patch of Black Mist suddenly expanded behind him, and from within, an army clad in heavy armor and wearing ghostly masks emerged solemnly and murderously.

—The Black Mist was formed by the vaporization of Black River Water. Due to the teleportation properties of Black River Water, vaporization also allowed for teleportation.

At the same time, because the Earth Veins of Heartcage City were of high quality, even though Mu Lin only controlled a small portion, the power he could manipulate far exceeded what he had in Ping’an Ancient County.

Moreover, the Beiwei Army could be driven by the power of Yin Veins.

Thus, the number of Beiwei Army soldiers Mu Lin summoned this time was particularly large.

“Step, step, step…”

From the gloomy, murky, and taboo-filled Black Mist, the Beiwei Army poured out endlessly. Throughout this process, not a single one of them spoke or uttered a word.

The solemn and murderous atmosphere filled the surrounding air with a palpable sense of killing intent.

Sensing this formidable presence, Scarlet Son – Nest merely sneered in disdain.

“Dao soldiers? Hah, trying to play this trick in front of me, you really don’t know how to write the word ‘death’!”

“Buzz, buzz, buzz…”

As he spoke, he shook his body, and countless droplets of blood flew out from within him.

The moment these blood droplets left his body, they began to wriggle and grow rapidly, as if alive.

Soon, Scarlet Son – Nest had created numerous demonic monsters emitting a scarlet glow.

There were mosquitoes, wolf monsters, creatures with wolf heads and human bodies, creatures with bull heads and human bodies, as well as some Serpentmen, lizardmen, and even small giants resembling Malevolent Ghosts.

In almost the blink of an eye, he had produced thousands of scarlet demonic monsters.

“See this? This is an army, these are Dao soldiers… Huh?!”

Having created a powerful army of demonic Dao soldiers, Scarlet Son – Nest was originally excited and thrilled.

Confident of victory, he even boasted to Mu Lin—hoping to see fear and terror on Mu Lin’s face.

However, when he turned to look at Mu Lin’s direction, Mu Lin’s expression remained utterly calm. Instead, it was Scarlet Son – Nest whose triumphant demeanor shifted to one of subtle frustration.

—His gaze toward Mu Lin had changed from initial disdain to one of seriousness and confusion.

The reason for this was the nearly thousand Beiwei Army soldiers clad in black armor, forming a battle formation in front of Mu Lin.

The cold, murderous atmosphere and the terrifying ghost masks were enough to send a slight chill down even his spine.

But that was not the main issue. What he couldn’t comprehend was how Mu Lin, a mere Cultivator in the Gang Condensation Realm, could summon nearly a thousand Beiwei Army soldiers in one go—and the number was still continuously increasing.

“This is impossible. The Mana of Gang Condensation is limited. With your strength, summoning three hundred Yin Soldiers would already be a stroke of luck. Over a thousand? How can you possibly manage that?”

He couldn’t understand.

Equally baffled were the Clan Elders of the Aristocratic Families outside, as well as Prince Liang.

“What’s going on? How can Mu Lin summon so many Yin Soldiers with his Cultivation Level?”

“This doesn’t make sense…”

According to the common knowledge of this world, Mana is the foundation of everything.

No matter how powerful an ability is, it requires Mana to execute. This is why Qi Refiners revere realms—higher realms not only grant Cultivators more Mana but also Mana of higher quality.

In the eyes of Prince Liang and the others, no matter how strong Mu Lin’s abilities were, his insufficient Mana and low-quality Mana would prevent him from breaking through Scarlet Son’s defenses, let alone sustaining a prolonged battle. Thus, they saw no hope for Mu Lin’s victory.

But now, Mu Lin’s situation left them utterly stunned.

“One thousand, one thousand three hundred, one thousand eight hundred, two thousand four hundred… And there are still more? How many soldiers can he summon?”

“Goodness, with this number and quality of soldiers, even Gang Sha Unity wouldn’t be able to withstand it. How is he doing this?”

“Gang Sha Unity? You’re giving them too much credit. To sustain an army like this, at least Mortal Shedding would be required…”

The continuously emerging Beiwei Army soldiers had already formed several battle formations.

Their silent, imposing presence sparked discussions among the Clan Elders of the Aristocratic Families outside, as well as Prince Liang and the others.

At this moment, their faces were no longer filled with despair. The sheer number of Beiwei Army soldiers had given them a glimmer of hope for victory.

At the same time, someone remembered something and quickly spoke up: “I recall now, when Mu Lin was in Ping’an Ancient County, he once summoned three thousand Beiwei Army soldiers and with them, managed to block a strike from a Mortal Shedding Adept.”

“That time? I’ve heard of it too, but it’s said that he was able to summon three thousand Beiwei Army soldiers back then because of the Earth Veins in Ping’an Ancient County. Now, he has entered the Grave Lord’s Realm. The Earth Veins there… could he have gained control over them?”

“Impossible. The Grave Lord’s Realm is filled with Arrays everywhere, Formation Runes all around, and overflowing with Forbidden Power and Evil God Resentment. Such Earth Veins would not be easy to control…”

“No, no, it’s possible. Mu Lin not only has high Cultivation Level and Mana, but his skill in Arrays is also top-tier. His Beiwei Army once merged to summon the Jade Gate Pass of Cangshan. To summon something like that from a Historical Projection—that’s something only the most elite Array Masters can achieve. With his abilities, it’s possible he could break through some of the Grave Lord’s Arrays.”

Through the discussion, they gradually found a reasonable explanation for Mu Lin summoning the Beiwei Army. In a way, they weren’t entirely wrong—Mu Lin did rely on his knowledge of Arrays to reach the Formation Core and gain some degree of control over it.

Of course, there was much more they didn’t know.

But at this moment, the Clan Elders of the Aristocratic Families outside, along with Prince Liang, could no longer dwell on these details.

They made a delightful discovery—Mu Lin, leveraging the advantage of the Earth Veins, might truly be able to hold back Scarlet Son – Nest.

Staring intently at the confrontation in the projection, Prince Liang, who was the most nervous and anxious, turned to his loyal Uncle Fu and asked, “Can Mu Lin… win?”

‘He will win…’

Although Uncle Fu very much wanted to comfort Prince Liang with those words, considering that the Mortal Shedding Realm not only involved profound Mana but also numerous transformative talents, he could only say, “Even if he cannot achieve victory, Mu Lin can still hold off Scarlet Son – Nest for a considerable amount of time. That time will be enough for the Prodigies of our Jade Province to rush over from outside.”

“Sigh… that will do.”

Holding off but not achieving victory—this was the view held by Uncle Fu, Prince Liang, and the Clan Elders of the Aristocratic Families.

This wasn’t because they looked down on Mu Lin or lacked confidence in him, but because the Mortal Shedding Realm was indeed worlds apart from the realms before it. It was the beginning of transformation from a cocoon into a butterfly, from human to something beyond.

If it weren’t for the fact that Scarlet Son was currently suppressed by the Death Tombstone and unable to exert his full strength, none of them would have believed Mu Lin qualified to hold him off.

And Scarlet Son – Nest… was even more confident.

“Summoning so many Yin Soldiers—impressive strength, but still insufficient. No matter how many ants there are, they are still ants. You cannot stop me!”

“Wail!!”

Just as before, Scarlet Son – Nest began with a Banshee’s Wail, letting endless screams resound through Heartcage City.

This soul-rending wail was also the best killing move against Cultivators who were numerous but weak in strength.

After all, it was a wide-range sonic attack.

Moreover, the Banshee’s Wail was nearly impossible to block or defend against; one could only rely on Divine Soul strength to withstand it. And this was precisely where weaker Cultivators were most vulnerable.

“Yin Soldiers are souls, most afraid of soul attacks. With this strike, I might even wipe them all out…”

Scarlet Son envisioned a beautiful outcome, but the result defied his expectations.

“Boom!”

As the banshee’s wail echoed, the Beiwei Army under Mu Lin’s command simultaneously grounded their weapons, linking their auras together through this unified action.

The faintly connected arrays, auras, and their unwavering will to fight to the death pulled a tragic and desolate fortress from the Historical Projection.

The Jade Gate Pass of Cangshan!

With the protection of this fortress and the shared spirit of the Beiwei Army, they managed to survive this crisis unscathed.

No, not just unscathed.

“Boom!”

After withstanding the banshee’s wail, the Beiwei Army stepped forward in unison, unleashing a chilling battle cry.

“Kill!”

“Hum…”

This thunderous roar coalesced into a wave of killing intent, surging back toward the banshee’s wailing head.

“Wail!”

This counterattack caused the banshee’s head to shriek even more miserably.

This time, however, it was no longer just an attack but a cry of genuine agony.

(End of Chapter)