Chapter 318 – The True Spirit Karma Diagram of the Netherworld

The Heavenly Dao and Human Dao possess an instinctive nature, bestowing favor upon those who benefit them.

The Netherworld Palace established by Mu Lin undoubtedly benefits the continuation of the Human Dao, especially in these perilous and turbulent times when evil spirits frequently emerge.

Its core principle—maintaining the balance between the Yin-Yang Realms—also benefits the world. Consequently, the Heavenly Dao has also shown favor to Mu Lin.

With both the Heavenly Dao and Human Dao jointly focusing their attention, the Book of Life and Death that Mu Lin had just condensed erupted with a dazzling radiance.

“Hum!!”

When the light faded, Mu Lin was astonished to discover that the Book of Life and Death in his hand had already become a top-grade Merit Mystic Treasure, only a hair’s breadth away from being a Spirit Tool.

“This is a huge gain. With this copy of the Book of Life and Death, I can now bestow Fated Death even upon Mortal Shedding Adepts!”

Of course, Mu Lin can bestow Fated Death upon Mortal Shedding Adepts, but whether he can truly cause their demise depends entirely on their respective capabilities.

After all, while Mu Lin possesses a top-grade Mystic Treasure and the Book of Life and Death (copy), other Mortal Shedding Adepts were also prodigies in their youth, equipped with Master Grade or even Grandmaster Level Spells.

Determining whether the Book of Life and Death is stronger or weaker than them requires a confrontation to ascertain the outcome.

However, regardless of whether victory is assured, one thing is certain—Mu Lin now possesses a lethal move capable of targeting Mortal Shedding Adepts.

Yet, the immensely powerful Book of Life and Death is only a part of Mu Lin’s gains from this sudden enlightenment—and even this is considered a relatively minor portion.

The greatest harvest from this enlightenment was the fusion and integration of his various Cultivation Methods into a unified whole.

Thinking this, Mu Lin opened his Attribute Panel and discovered that it had become much simpler.

Most of the previously listed Cultivation Methods had now vanished, leaving only one entry: [Netherworld Palace – True Spirit Karma Diagram].

Although the names of those Cultivation Methods had disappeared, their characteristics were largely preserved.

Now, Mu Lin could use the God-Monarch Summoning Art to nurture his spirit, employ the Book of Life and Death for curses, and his Mindscape – Sky Burial City remained intact as well.

“Everything remains the same, yet everything has changed.”

Contemplating this, Mu Lin turned his gaze to the Netherworld Palace – True Spirit Karma Diagram.

This diagram clearly recorded the path Mu Lin had taken and the path he would tread in the future.

Within this diagram were several tiers and three hundred and sixty-five Divine Positions. Some of these positions were illuminated, while others remained indistinct and blurred.

Shifting his focus, Mu Lin began examining the diagram from the bottom upward.

“In the True Spirit Karma Diagram, the lowest tier consists of Netherworld Soldiers. They form the foundation of the Netherworld Palace, which makes perfect sense.”

“Slightly above them are Yaksha Generals, Civil and Military Judges (under the County City God), and Netherworld Soldier Commanders.”

“The third tier from the bottom comprises the County City God… This already corresponds to the Gang Sha Sorcerers of the Daoist Sect.”

“Above that are the Civil and Military Judges (Netherworld), the Province City God, and Ink Jiao – Hebo also belongs to this tier, which corresponds to Mortal Shedding Adepts… Hmm?!”

After consolidating and fusing his Cultivation Methods, Mu Lin was startled to discover that the strength of many of his subordinates had advanced by one tier.

For instance, the former Military Judge Zhong Kui now had an upper limit equivalent to a Mortal Shedding Adept…

“Not quite. It seems Military Judge Zhong Kui’s upper limit was originally at the Mortal Shedding Adept level, as evidenced by the mid-grade Mystic Treasure, the Crimson Wine Gourd. Previously, my own strength was too low to fully unleash his power, making him appear weak. Now, he has simply returned to his original realm.”

After careful consideration, Mu Lin realized that Zhong Kui truly belonged at the Mortal Shedding Adept level, and the same applied to Civil Judge Cui Yu.

As for Ink Jiao – Hebo, its evaluation was inflated by the Black River Water. If it could fully control the Black River Water, its Cultivation Level should also be that of a Mortal Shedding Adept.

Through this line of thought, Mu Lin discovered something: he no longer needed to continue deducing Cultivation Methods.

As long as he fused Gang Qi and achieved Gang Sha Unity, he could then overlay any form within the Netherworld Palace·True Spirit Karma Diagram. In this way, he could advance to Mortal Shedding and become an Adept.

“Mortal Shedding requires shedding the mortal shell and condensing a Divine Form. Whether it’s Zhong Kui, Cui Yu, or Ink Jiao – Hebo, they all count as Divine Forms. Condensing such a Divine Form to become a Mortal Shedding expert is a perfectly normal practice.”

“Most ordinary Cultivators, and even Prodigies, do exactly this… their Dharma Forms are not significantly stronger than Zhong Kui or Cui Yu.”

Of course, Mu Lin would not take this path.

“While feasible, this is undoubtedly the approach with the smallest returns. A Prodigy should accomplish what ordinary people cannot. When I undergo Mortal Shedding, I must condense the position of King Yama and the power of the Candle Dragon.”

Although, after condensing them, Mu Lin would be completely unable to unleash the full strength of the Candle Dragon or King Yama.

But he could condense a juvenile Candle Dragon, or a ‘lite version’ of King Yama, and then fully realize their power when he reaches the Earth Immortal stage.

Thinking this, Mu Lin shook his head and chuckled wryly:

“However, according to my cultivation path, even at the Earth Immortal stage, I likely won’t be able to fully unleash the majesty of King Yama. It might only be at the Celestial Master level that I can completely manifest King Yama’s might.”

“Furthermore, by that time, the upper limits of my Civil and Military Judges will no longer be just Mortal Shedding Adepts.”

…

Mu Lin’s Zhong Kui was originally a Mortal Shedding Adept. Earlier, he had merely unleashed Zhong Kui’s potential, not truly elevated his rank.

But just because it’s not possible now doesn’t mean it won’t be in the future.

Strictly speaking, the path Mu Lin is currently walking is not following a pre-existing road, but forging his own.

Moreover, Mu Lin is still in the process of creating his method.

Since he is creating a method, in the coming period, besides improving his own strength, Mu Lin will also study various schools of thought, gathering their strengths.

Then, he will fuse those essential parts into his Netherworld Palace·True Spirit Karma Diagram—just as he previously fused the Twilight Illusion Life-Death Array, the Taiyin Life-Nurturing Scripture, the Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art, and even the position of City God, along with Paper Figure Curse techniques, into the True Spirit Karma Diagram.

This continuous learning and continuous fusion will cause the rank of the True Spirit Karma Diagram to rise higher and higher.

Until finally, Mu Lin will reach the realm of the Emperor of the Underworld, the Great Emperor of Lidu, or even surpass it.

Besides raising the upper limit, the integration of numerous Cultivation Methods will also enhance the base attributes of the various ‘Deities’ within the Karma Diagram, and even allow them to advance.

Just like Mu Lin’s Zhong Kui, the current Zhong Kui indeed has an upper limit of only Mortal Shedding Adept. However, if Mu Lin obtains other demon-slaying abilities or devouring powers and then merges them into Zhong Kui, he has the opportunity to elevate the Seven-Star Demon Slayer Sword or the Crimson Wine Gourd to the level of Spirit Tools.

At that time, Zhong Kui, wielding these two treasures, could potentially break through his upper limit and advance to the fifth level of the True Spirit Karma Diagram, which is the level of Earth Master.

The same principle applies to Lord Cui of the Underworld and Ink Jiao – Hebo.

In fact, Mu Lin is already working on the transformation and upgrade of Ink Jiao – Hebo—as long as the latter undergoes ancestral reversion and becomes a True Dragon, he will be a true Nether River Dragon Lord. At that point, he could rank at the fifth or even sixth level of the True Spirit Karma Diagram (counting from the bottom up).

“So, besides improving my own strength, what I need to do next is to continuously learn new Cultivation Methods and Mystical Arts, integrate them into the True Spirit Karma Diagram, and enhance its foundation?”

After reviewing the True Spirit Karma Diagram once more, Mu Lin realized he could do this, but it wasn’t strictly necessary.

The reason for this is related to the still-unformed King Yama position.

Thinking this, Mu Lin looked at the fifth tier of the True Spirit Karma Diagram, the level above the Civil and Military Judges and the Province City God.

There, the position of King Yama had not yet fully coalesced, but a rudimentary form already existed.

This rudimentary form was formed by the convergence of numerous abilities, including the Sky-Scraping Spell – Blank Divinity, which served as the foundation to bear everything… Incidentally, the other Divine Positions on the True Spirit Karma Diagram also used the Sky-Scraping Spell – Blank Divinity as the medium for imprinting.

Of course, this process also incorporated the ability of Source Rune – Stabilize.

The yet-to-be-fully-born King Yama position was particularly special. Besides the Sky-Scraping Spell – Blank Divinity, numerous other powers converged upon the King Yama position, such as the City God’s judgment, Lord Cui’s Book of Life and Death, and even the power of the Other Shore Flower Sea—all gathered upon King Yama.

In addition to these, there was one ability that formed the absolute core of the King Yama Divine Position: the Vow Power Heart Flame, which triggered the fusion of Cultivation Methods and allowed Mu Lin to obtain the True Spirit Karma Diagram.

That heart flame, blazing like the sun, was imprinted at the very core of the King Yama Divine Position, inseparably fused with it.

And as is well known, the Vow Power Heart Flame, nurtured by arrogance, possesses the ability to command and dominate all things.

The Royal Crown derived from the Master Grade further allowed Mu Lin to gather the power of his subordinates upon himself and even dominate their strength.

Now, all these abilities were fused into the King Yama Divine Position.

Then, Mu Lin discovered he had gained a rather shameless ability—he could refine, command, and dominate Malevolent Ghosts, demonic monsters, or other monstrous beings using the Vow Power Heart Flame, then fill them into the True Spirit Karma Diagram.

This way, Mu Lin didn’t need to personally condense all 365 Divine Positions himself.

He could occupy the most crucial positions, while the others could be filled by other beings, using them like beasts of burden.

“This seems similar to Buddhism in the Journey to the West. A certain cross-worshipping religion also likes to demote conquered pagan deities to Demons.”

Just like Baal-Zebub, who was the god-king of the Canaanites, also the sun god, god of agriculture, god of abundance, god of thunder… After the Canaanites were defeated, this god-king also became the chief of Solomon’s seventy-two Demons.

To be honest, this ability was quite shameless, but it had to be said that having such a shameless ability fall into one’s own hands was truly comforting.

Soon, Mu Lin discovered that he possessed something that could be refined and integrated into the True Spirit Karma Diagram—the Crimson Holy Grail.

Although this was an artifact, not a defeated person, the Hell was not limited to only humans or Deities who could attain Divine Positions.

The Ghost Gate, the Nostalgia Terrace, the Naihe Bridge, the Underworld, the cycle of reincarnation, Hell… these were not human either, yet that did not prevent them from becoming part of Hell’s power.

“Moreover, the Crimson Holy Grail is not human, but isn’t that even better? This way, it eliminates any possibility of rebellion… Perhaps, using a heretical Divine Artifact to fill the True Spirit Diagram, rather than a person, is the best approach.”

“Besides, I happen to have numerous Clones. I can easily separate a Substitute Paper Figure and merge it with the Crimson Holy Grail, making it the master of the Holy Grail.”

The more Mu Lin thought about it, the more he felt that artifacts were far more useful.

By now, Mu Lin was even contemplating what Divine Position to assign to the Crimson Holy Grail.

“Lord of Scarlet? Deity of Scarlet? Lord of the Blood Prison… No, it could occupy Blood River’s position.”

“And the scarlet monsters it creates could perfectly serve as Asuras within the Blood River. Asuras belong to the Netherworld and are part of the True Spirit Karma Diagram—there’s no issue with that.”

(End of Chapter)