Chapter 349 – Northern Cultivator: How Do We Fight This?

“???”

Mu Lin’s suddenly dismembered body did not bring the swordsman joy; instead, it startled him greatly.

He simply couldn’t believe that Mu Lin was so weak as to be instantly killed by his sudden attack.

“Could it be a Clone?”

Just as he was wildly speculating and about to survey his surroundings—

“Rip!”

His movements froze stiff.

Not long after he tore Mu Lin apart with his own Disintegration Eye, a terrifying force of disintegration abruptly descended upon him.

“This is… my own attack?”

“When?”

“Why?”

At this moment, the swordsman was filled with countless questions.

Only, he had no chance to seek answers.

Although Mu Lin’s counterattack was not a full one hundred percent reflection…

The swordsman’s condition was also far from good. The Disintegration Eye had been tearing his body apart all along.

Previously, he had used his own Mana and some sealing techniques as adhesives to keep his body roughly intact.

But now, the sudden force of disintegration directly shattered the balance of his body.

Thus, unsurprisingly, his body instantly disintegrated into pieces.

“Rip!”

In fact, because the source of the disintegration force lay within him, his body shattered even more thoroughly than Mu Lin’s.

“A pity. I told you it would be better to surrender.”

The last glimmer in the swordsman’s eyes was of Mu Lin’s dismembered body reforming into one.

Only, while Mu Lin could return, the Blind Swordsman lacked such an ability.

“…”

“…”

“…”

With a single glance, in a mere instant, the Blind Swordsman—who had been evenly matched with Xue Ying—died just like that. This scene plunged the entire arena into utter silence.

Even the Southern Aristocracy made not a single sound.

They knew Mu Lin was strong, but they never imagined he was this formidable.

The shock Mu Lin brought was too terrifying; for over a dozen breaths, not a sound was heard in the arena.

Only after more than a dozen breaths did earth-shattering cheers erupt around the martial grounds.

“I knew it, I knew it!”

“Lord Mu Lin is truly invincible!”

“Hahaha, let’s see you act arrogant, let’s see you act presumptuous—regretting it now, aren’t you?”

“Hey, you Northern savages, it’s still not too late to surrender now. If you keep fighting, you’ll just keep dying…”

Mu Lin’s victory—and a crushing one at that—sent the Southern Aristocracy into a frenzy of cheers. They wanted to vent the Resentment they had felt under the Northern Aristocracy’s suppression.

In contrast to the Southern Aristocracy, the Northern Prodigies wore grave expressions.

To be honest, at this moment, they truly felt some regret.

Even Iron Tower and Qing had not expected Mu Lin to be as powerful as the Southern Aristocracy claimed, without a hint of exaggeration.

If possible, they would have made a different choice back then.

Only, there is no medicine for regret in this world.

Having already made an enemy of Mu Lin, they had no way to retreat—the soldiers of the Northern Wastelands were still waiting for them to bring back vast resources.

Thus, even though they feared Mu Lin, these people still had to step forward.

After exchanging glances, they began discussing Mu Lin’s abilities.

“Did any of you see clearly how he attacked?”

This, at least, was easy to discern.

“It should be a substitute-death or counterattack-type ability. The Blind Swordsman was killed by his own attack.”

Qing: “So, which of you is confident you can withstand it?”

These words left many in silence.

A near-total rebound damage is not something everyone can withstand.

More crucially, these Northern Prodigies recalled the previous accounts from Southern scholars.

“Lord Mu Lin possesses an Undying Body, and even managed to exhaust the Evil God’s son to death through his substitution ability…”

Having a Cultivation Level at the Gang Sha Sorcerer tier yet being able to die a hundred times without perishing—this matter was so exaggerated and outrageous that few Northern scholars were willing to believe it before.

They had thought it was an exaggerated boast, a puffery from the Southern Aristocracy.

But now, they no longer think so.

If Mu Lin truly possesses such an ability, it means that to defeat him, one would have to kill him a hundred times.

Yet, due to his rebound ability, killing Mu Lin a hundred times is equivalent to committing suicide a hundred times… This is simply unwinnable.

At this moment, many Northern Prodigies feel that this is not an ability that should exist at the Gang Sha Sorcerer level.

In fact, they guessed correctly on one point: the Grandmaster-level Substitute Paper Figure is indeed not a realm attainable by a Gang Sha-level Spell Master. Normally, this is a Spell possessed by those at the peak of Mortal Shedding or even Earth Immortals.

For Mu Lin to use it now is a clear case of overwhelming superiority.

However, the current situation is a North-South rivalry, not a simple contest. Naturally, there is no fairness to speak of—whatever abilities one has, they are used.

Previously, they had been quite unrestrained in using Forbidden Power.

Moreover, even in a fair contest, external aids are prohibited, but Spell proficiency, by any measure, does not fall under the category of external aids.

After a moment of silence, a Northern scholar with a unique temperament finally stepped forward.

“Rebound damage is also a form of Calamity. He can be left to me to deal with.”

Hearing this, the others breathed a sigh of relief, but Qing, the leader, refused to let him take the field.

“We cannot do this, Luo Chen. You are the final trump card of the youth division. If you are defeated, our youth division’s battle will be a complete failure. This would allow the Southern Aristocracy to recover nearly half of the situation. At that point, our entire operation would be a total failure.”

The entire Great Spirit Imperial Dynasty has always known that the North is more martial and powerful than the South.

Because of this, if the Northern Aristocracy only achieves a partial victory, they will not be able to change anything.

Only a complete victory can achieve what the Northern Aristocracy desires.

To achieve a complete victory, both the youth and young adult divisions must win.

The young adult division already holds an overwhelming advantage, but in the youth division, Mu Lin’s presence stands like a mountain blocking their path. Without fully understanding Mu Lin’s capabilities, they dare not let their strongest fighter, Luo Chen, the Child of Mars, take the field.

The cost of failure is something they cannot bear.

After stopping Luo Chen, Qing bowed deeply to the remaining Northern youths and said, “On behalf of the Northern generals and aristocracy, I request that you take the field. At the very least, we must uncover Mu Lin’s true capabilities.”

Upon hearing these words, some hesitated, while others fearlessly declared, “Don’t worry, leave it to me. And there’s no need to be pessimistic—I don’t believe his Spell is invincible. Wait for good news.”

“Whoosh…”

This time, the person who leaped onto the Arena was a gloomy youth who resembled a snake. His eyes were like snake pupils, and small snakes even slithered out from his skin.

Moreover, his hands had transformed into two long snakes, one gray and one crimson.

However, more striking than his serpentine appearance were the warty bumps covering his entire body.

The numerous warty bumps could even trigger trypophobia, giving the young man before him an extremely ugly and repulsive appearance.

Of course, beyond the disgust, what he conveyed was danger.

‘He actually makes me feel a hint of danger. His Forbidden Power must be quite formidable.’

As Mu Lin pondered this, the pressure from the opposite side intensified.

The overwhelming pressure forced him, like the Blind Swordsman before, to go all out from the start.

“Hiss…”

With a hiss, the hideously ugly figure completely transformed into a massive, ferocious Serpentman.

In the next moment, “pop,” “pop,” “pop”—accompanied by countless pustules and warts bursting open—a cloud of red-and-gray poison mist surged toward Mu Lin.

As expected, just like before, Mu Lin did not dodge but merely held his breath.

With Mu Lin offering no resistance, the poison mist enveloped his body, quickly causing it to decay.

His internal organs aged, his cells deteriorated, and wrinkles and white hair appeared on his face.

What made Mu Lin raise an eyebrow even more was that a venomous serpent-like force charged toward his Divine Soul, corroding it.

This erosion not only dissolved his Divine Soul’s power but also made his Divine Soul stiff and slow to react.

Mu Lin’s frown was sensed by the Serpentman, who consequently laughed.

“Noticed it, have you? But it’s too late. My Forbidden Power is poison, with two abilities: one is the Body Decay Poison, which at its peak advances to the Five Decays of Heaven and Man.”

“The other is the Divine Soul Poison, which slows a person’s reactions and dissolves their Divine Soul… Ugh!”

As he spoke, he grunted in pain.

Clearly, the death substitution ability had activated, and he too was affected by the poison.

However, compared to the Blind Swordsman, he fared better. The poison’s backlash did not kill him; he withstood the counterattack, though over a dozen more warty bumps appeared on his body.

Unharmed, he laughed heartily.

“Hahaha, I knew your ability wasn’t invincible!”

Having declared victory, he walked toward Mu Lin and said, “You’re too arrogant.”

“You know, my body wasn’t originally that of a serpent. To resist this terrifying poison, I willingly transformed into this warty serpent. Though this body is ugly and twisted, it has extremely high poison resistance.”

“With this body, especially these warty bumps, my poison can’t harm me… which means your counterattack ability is useless.”

“Of course, even without the counterattack, you must have other abilities. If you weren’t so arrogant, we’d still have a fierce battle ahead. But you’re too reckless, daring not to resist my poison. You’re digging your own grave. You must feel it already—your Divine Soul is numb, stiff, unable to do anyth—”

“You talk too much.”

The chattering Serpentman Tao Bin was still speaking, but Mu Lin was growing impatient.

His fluent speech left Serpentman Tao Bin stunned.

“How can you still speak?”

Of course, Mu Lin could speak. Any poison that ignores dosage is just a sham.

Though Serpentman Tao Bin’s Divine Soul Poison was potent, it was far from enough to corrode Mu Lin’s profound Divine Soul.

Moreover, Mu Lin had refined Gang Qi, causing his Divine Soul to undergo a transformation.

Now, whether it was the Aurora Gang Sha or the Primordial Chaos Yuan Gang, both could cleanse the poison.

Of course, there was no need to say any of this to the Serpentman before him.

At the same time, Mu Lin, growing somewhat impatient, was ready to bring this battle to a complete end.

“You actually resisted my poison. You truly are formidable. But without the ability to reflect damage, your power is largely crippled…”

Unlike the Blind Swordsman, this Cultivator was rather talkative. However, before he could finish, Serpentman Tao Bin froze.

He saw Mu Lin condense a peculiar force.

That force was immensely dense, giving Serpentman Tao Bin the sensation of standing before towering mountains.

But what made his eyes widen in disbelief was that Mu Lin did not use this force against his enemy. Instead, he directly applied it to himself.

“Hum!”

As the force enveloped his body, Mu Lin’s flesh directly turned yellow, petrifying.

The petrification property of the Central Wuji Sha was affixed by Mu Lin to his own person.

“?!?!”

At first, Serpentman Tao Bin was utterly bewildered by this act of self-harm.

But soon, he discovered to his horror that as Mu Lin’s body petrified, his own body was also turning to stone.

“?!?!”

“Wait… your damage reflection isn’t limited to my attacks? Any injury inflicted upon you is transferred to me?”

“Damn it! How can there be such a shameless ability?!”

Mu Lin’s ability made Serpentman Tao Bin’s scalp tingle.

If you claimed to have an Undying Body, requiring a hundred kills to defeat you, he could tolerate that.

He could also tolerate the damage reflection ability, believing his own resistance to poison was stronger than Mu Lin’s, allowing for a war of attrition.

But now, if you harm yourself in other ways, I suffer the same injuries? Serpentman Tao Bin genuinely had no idea how to fight this battle.

Not only was he dumbfounded, but the Foreign Races and demonic monsters observing this battle were also left in a daze.

(End of Chapter)