Chapter 377 – First Clash: Bomb Man

Standing within the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, Mu Lin showed not a trace of fear. Instead, he conversed with Ji Yu as if nothing were amiss. This attitude of utter disregard for their arrangements not only infuriated Ji Yu but also angered the surrounding Mortal Shedding cultivators, who were provoked by Mu Lin’s dismissiveness.

Thus, they spoke up.

“Mu Lin, you are far too arrogant, and you fail to understand your own predicament.”

“Hmph, falling into a trap yet still daring to speak of the prince—truly ignorant of life and death.”

“Why waste words on him? Take action, capture him first. Let’s see if his mouth remains so stubborn once he’s seized!”

“Hum!”

As the nine Mortal Shedding cultivators exerted their strength together, combined with the Arrays and the power of the soul-suppressing Spirit Tool, Mu Lin’s soul spirit was immediately suppressed, rendered immobile.

At this moment, a look of terror finally appeared on Mu Lin’s face, and his mouth opened as if he wanted to say something.

However, under the influence of the soul-suppressing array and the soul-suppressing Spirit Tool, he was unable to utter a single word.

Yet his expression brought a wave of amusement to the Mortal Shedding cultivators in the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion.

Especially Ji Yu. Protected by his Jade Pendant amulet, he arrogantly approached Mu Lin, his face twisted with malice, and sneered, “Bastard, why aren’t you acting so arrogant now? Keep up your insolence!”

As he spoke, he raised a hand and delivered a fierce slap across Mu Lin’s face.

“Smack!”

The slap, infused with Mana, immediately split Mu Lin’s face open, and a mixture of blood and teeth sprayed from his mouth.

This scene delighted Ji Yu even more. Leaning closer to Mu Lin, he spoke with malicious intent, “You lowly scum, remember this well: daring to offend this Young Master will not only cost you your life but also the lives of your family, friends, and loved ones.”

“Oh, right, I recall you have two wives, don’t you? Hahaha, after you die, they will be handed over to this Young Master for my enjoyment.”

“I’ll take good care of them… hahaha…”

In front of Mu Lin, Ji Yu spewed venomous words, aiming to shatter Mu Lin’s mental defenses and vent the resentment he had accumulated over these past days.

However, while he was freely venting his resentment, the surrounding Mortal Shedding cultivators noticed something amiss.

“Wait, Young Master Ji Yu, please stop. This doesn’t seem to be… Mu Lin!”

“Not Mu Lin? How is that possible? I’d recognize this wretch’s face even if it were reduced to ashes…”

Ji Yu, convinced of his victory, had been hurling insults freely.

But halfway through his tirade, his voice trailed off.

He looked at the ‘Mu Lin’ he had just slapped so fiercely and realized that, after the blow, Mu Lin’s face had split open.

However, while blood seeped from the cracked face, what lay beneath was mostly paper, returned to its original form.

Well… up to this point, there was nothing particularly unusual.

Even Ji Yu knew that the one sent to assassinate him must have been a Paper Substitute.

So, it was normal for ‘Mu Lin’s’ face to turn into paper.

What horrified and surprised him was that the Paper Figure Mu Lin was not hollow. As the paper shattered, a pitiful yet eerily familiar face appeared before Ji Yu.

“This is… Hu Feng? How is it you!”

The youth before him was someone Ji Yu recognized and knew all too well.

He was Ji Yu’s best friend, and even more so, his cousin… The Hu Family was Ji Yu’s maternal clan, and Hu Feng was one of the most outstanding Prodigies of this generation in the Hu Family.

At this moment, the shattered Paper Figure revealed Hu Feng’s body, leaving Ji Yu momentarily stunned.

In contrast, the other Mortal Shedding Cultivators, being less familiar with Hu Feng, were not as shocked. They quickly pieced together what had happened.

“Damn it, we’ve been tricked!”

“Watch out, Young Master Ji Yu, get away!”

“Roar!”

Before their eyes, Hu Feng’s body swelled, distorted, and rapidly transformed into a ferocious Scarlet demon.

In the final moments of the transformation, Hu Feng’s face—the one that had been slapped—and his mouth opened and closed several times, emitting a plea for help toward Ji Yu.

“Third Brother, save me…”

He was begging, but unfortunately, neither Ji Yu nor the Mortal Shedding Cultivators present had anticipated that Mu Lin would not come himself, instead sending someone else in his place.

Even more unexpected was that Mu Lin had a method to turn a person into a Scarlet demon.

Thus, they were utterly powerless to save Hu Feng, forced to watch helplessly as his body underwent aberration. Soon, a mindless Scarlet demon stood before them, roaring as it charged to attack.

“Roar!”

Having burned through everything, Hu Feng’s strength was still considerable. What was even more terrifying was that, in his complete frenzy, Hu Feng showed no fear of life or death.

On the other hand, the Mortal Shedding Cultivators from the East Sea King’s Manor, constrained by Ji Yu’s orders, were hesitant and restrained.

“Don’t kill him, subdue him first!”

This command placed many restrictions on the cultivators in the room. Fortunately, they outnumbered him, had higher Cultivation Levels, and were aided by Arrays. Soon, they managed to suppress Hu Feng.

However, before they could show any relief, the aura within Hu Feng’s body began to fluctuate violently, like a powder keg about to explode.

What made the cultivators in the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion freeze in fear was the sudden emergence of an extremely dangerous sensation in their hearts.

“Look out!”

“Boom!”

Before they could fully evade, a massive explosion erupted within the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion.

Hu Feng—had self-destructed.

His self-destruction not only unleashed the impact of Mana explosion but also released an extremely dangerous, forbidden Blackwater from his body, splattering in all directions.

“Hiss!”

“Ah!!”

The forbidden Blackwater possessed the ability to corrode everything.

Of course, Ji Yu was, after all, the son of the East Sea King. Knowing he was targeted for assassination, the East Sea King had provided him with powerful protective talismans, allowing him to withstand the Blackwater’s corrosion completely.

However, while he could resist it, the others were not so fortunate.

Three Mortal Shedding Cultivators were splashed with the Blackwater.

Such an attack plunged them into agonized screams.

“Bastard!”

Looking at the chaotic state of the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion and the self-destructed Hu Feng, Ji Yu’s mood felt as if he had plummeted from Heaven to Hell.

This stark contrast drove him into a furious rage.

He could not accept his own failure.

“What exactly happened?”

He demanded answers from his subordinates, and soon, someone responded.

It was Advisor Xun. He had not participated in the earlier battle, instead observing from the rear. Thus, he had avoided any attacks and had discerned some of the situation.

“Young Master, that Mu Lin must have realized this place was a trap, which is why he never came. Instead, he used some method to ambush Young Master Hu Feng, created a layer of disguise with a paper figure, and employed some technique to control him…”

Advisor Xun’s words… were entirely correct.

Mu Lin was no fool. Knowing that Ji Yu’s location was a trap, he naturally wouldn’t leap straight into it.

Thus, after arriving at Skysea City and investigating Ji Yu’s whereabouts, Mu Lin did not act rashly. Instead, he continued to probe into Ji Yu’s personal connections and those close to him.

This was actually quite easy to investigate—mainly because Mu Lin possessed the Other Shore Flower.

With the memory-reading ability of the Other Shore Flower, Mu Lin didn’t need much effort to learn who Ji Yu was close to, and even discovered his maternal clan and how many outstanding figures it had.

Once everything was uncovered, what followed was simple.

Thanks to the presence-concealing ability of the Da Luo Vast Heaven Qi, Mu Lin quickly approached Hu Feng. Then, with just a single glance exchanged between them, the Life-Death Illusion-Destruction ability of the Other Shore Flower activated, and Mu Lin took control of Hu Feng.

—Mu Lin had already reached Mortal Shedding, and was even at a high stage within it. In contrast, Hu Feng was only at the Gang Sha cultivation level.

With a higher realm facing a lower one, coupled with Mu Lin’s outrageously solid foundation, it was only natural that he could easily subdue Hu Feng.

“Come to think of it, this is my first time fighting a cultivator of a lower realm.”

In the past, Mu Lin had always fought those with higher cultivation levels than himself—those kinds of challenging battles. High-stakes matches, each one fought with great difficulty.

This feeling of “fishing in a pond” was a first for Mu Lin, and all he could say was, it felt really damn good.

After subduing Hu Feng with a single glance, Mu Lin proceeded to create a puppet.

He did not attach his consciousness to Hu Feng’s body, as that would have been no different from sending a paper figure himself.

What Mu Lin did was use the Life-Death Illusion-Destruction ability to weave an illusion for Hu Feng… a hypnotic illusion where Hu Feng believed he was Mu Lin.

Outside the illusion, Mu Lin also left a drop of Crimson Demon Blood in Hu Feng’s heart and sealed some Black River Water within him.

With these manipulations, a “bomb person” was easily created.

…

Although Advisor Xun had not witnessed Mu Lin’s actions firsthand, he had deduced the general idea.

However, even after deducing everything, he found himself somewhat helpless.

After all, Mu Lin had only hypnotized Hu Feng and created an illusion—his main body had never come.

And because of this, they were unable to gather any information about Mu Lin.

In the end, they could only sigh and report to Ji Yu, informing him that the plan had failed.

Having been fooled without even catching a single hair of Mu Lin, and losing a close friend in the process, only deepened the resentment in Ji Yu’s heart.

“That bastard, I want him dead! I will definitely make him die! The humiliation he has brought me will not end so easily.”

“You’re right, this is not the end—it’s only the beginning!”

Just as Ji Yu was raging, a cold, eerie voice once again sounded from outside the door.

What made Ji Yu’s pupils contract was that this time, the person appearing before him did not use a paper figure as a disguise. Instead, he stood directly in front of him.

And so, he clearly saw that the one speaking coldly was his own uncle.

At this moment, his uncle was staring at him with a gaze as if looking at a mortal enemy.

Clearly, yet another of Ji Yu’s relatives had been taken control of by Mu Lin.

Watching his own uncle approach, Ji Yu’s eyes turned bloodshot, veins bulging with rage.

“You bastard, how dare you, how dare you…”

The continuous suffering of his family members drove Ji Yu’s resentment to its peak, leaving him so enraged he could barely speak coherently.

In contrast, Ji Yu’s uncle, who had been hypnotized into becoming ‘Mu Lin,’ remained utterly calm and detached.

Spreading his hands, he spoke quietly:

“Why the anger? Wasn’t it you who started this conflict? I’m merely responding to your declaration of war, retaliating against you justifiably.”

“Moreover, you once threatened to target my friends and family. What I’m doing now is exactly what you envisioned and boasted about. This should be within your expectations.”

At this point, ‘Mu Lin’s’ voice suddenly turned icy, and a cruel, mocking smile crept onto his face.

“Or are you just a child who never grew up, naively believing that war only kills enemies and won’t affect you or those around you?”

“Hahaha, you bastard, don’t be so naive. War means death. If you dare start a war, you’d better be prepared to die yourself—or even see your entire family perish.”

“Remember this situation well, engrave this feeling in your heart—just as you said, this is only the beginning!”

“Next, you’ll experience more. Your friends will die, your uncle will die, and you and your family will all die.”

“Boom!”

(End of Chapter)