Chapter 379 – The Furious East Sea King; The Regretful Xun Family Cultivator

“If I were to take action against Mu Lin, would he retaliate? Would it cause significant losses to my family/sect?”

The moment this question arose in their hearts, the Elders of the Water Moon Sect, the Wei Family, and the Golden God Sect found the answer.

“He would!”

“If I were to act, Mu Lin would certainly dare to retaliate… He isn’t even afraid of the East Sea King, who controls an entire nation, let alone us, who are merely Aristocratic Families and slightly larger sects.”

The instant they realized this, they also began to consider whether they would suffer losses if Mu Lin were to retaliate.

The answer to this question was quickly estimated as well.

“There would be losses, immense losses… We cannot withdraw all our clan members back into the family estate.”

It must be understood that while Aristocratic Families wield great power, they also have numerous clan members and servants, all of whom require resources to sustain.

Mines, Spirit Fields, shops… To ensure sufficient funds for their families, the various Aristocratic Families have established extensive and widespread industries.

All these places require people to oversee them.

Temporarily shut them down? Hah, not to mention where the resources for the clan members would come from after closing, there’s one thing that makes them dare not shut down—other families would not just stand by and watch. If you dare to shut down today, tomorrow, your business will be taken over by others.

Thus, in ancient times, sealing off a sect was never just a matter of words; it meant bleeding and cutting flesh, abandoning over ninety percent of one’s interests.

But if they do not seal off their family estates and continue to remain scattered, few would be able to withstand Mu Lin’s retaliation.

What made matters worse for them was that because they were the ones who first bullied the weak, no matter how ruthlessly Mu Lin retaliated, people from other places would not pity them. Instead, they would say they deserved it and gleefully watch the spectacle from the sidelines.

If given the chance, they might even not hesitate to join in and kick them while they were down.

Such a scenario of heavy losses was not what they wanted.

Because of this, the Wei Family, the Golden God Sect, and the Water Moon Sect were now in a difficult position.

They were somewhat reluctant to accept the East Sea King’s command to take action against Mu Lin.

“Mu Lin is too ruthless and acts without restraint. Dealing with him would cause us too great a loss.”

“Clan members would die tragically, our reputation would suffer, and most importantly, Mu Lin is not someone we provoked. Killing him brings us no benefit at all… We cannot engage in a losing business.”

“I have seven sons, nine daughters, and countless grandchildren… Isn’t it better to enjoy life peacefully? Why should I get involved in this matter… One misstep could lead to the extermination of my entire family.”

Since Mu Lin had no direct conflict with them, rashly taking action against him would bring nothing but harm and no benefit. Thus, the Water Moon Sect and the Golden God Sect had no desire to act.

No, it wasn’t just harm without benefit. Before Mu Lin revealed his ruthless methods, whether it was the Golden God Sect, the Water Moon Sect, or the Wei Family, they all believed that dealing with Mu Lin posed no danger to them.

Moreover, although they had no direct benefits, they could gain the favor of the East Sea King.

‘By merely dealing with an insignificant nobody, we can earn the goodwill of the East Sea King. It’s worth it!’

Considering this, they had come here. This was also why the Golden God Sect Elder had explicitly stated earlier that Mu Lin could be left to them to deal with.

However, Mu Lin’s act of exterminating a family was like a bucket of cold water poured directly over their heads, making these people realize that dealing with Mu Lin would not come without a price.

If you dared to provoke him, you had to be prepared for the entire family to be wiped out.

It could only be said that people are inherently stubborn. Without personally sensing the threat, they would not speak to you kindly.

But once you overturned the table and had the ability to harm them, they suddenly became reasonable.

At this moment, the Golden God Sect, the Water Moon Sect, and the Wei Family were eager to reason with Mu Lin, to tell him they would not take action.

Unfortunately, in the world of the jianghu, one’s actions are not always their own.

Sometimes, it’s not that you don’t want to act—it’s that you cannot avoid acting.

…

When news of Mu Lin’s extermination of a family arrived, the observing Elder of the Golden God Sect was lost in thought, while the few Mortal Shedding Cultivators who had taken action against Mu Lin turned pale with grief and… filled with deep regret.

They somewhat regretted getting involved in this matter.

However, in this vast room, aside from them, there was also the East Sea King.

Compared to the others, the East Sea King harbored little sorrow. Instead, he was filled with rage—the rage of having his face slapped.

Born a prince and having ascended to his position through cunning means, his temperament was exceedingly arrogant.

Even in this turbulent era, he felt no fear. Instead, like Mu Lin, he saw it as an opportunity—a chance to ascend to the throne and become the ruler of the Nine Provinces.

With such ambition and ruling over a kingdom, the East Sea King always considered himself superior and looked down upon everyone else.

But now, this lofty figure had been humiliated.

Slapped hard across the face by a nobody like Mu Lin.

Faced with such an event, how could he not be enraged?

“Good! Good! Good! Such lawlessness, such disregard for ruler and father—what a fine job you’ve done, you rebel!”

After ‘praising’ Mu Lin, the East Sea King’s fierce gaze suddenly turned toward the Wei Family, the Water Moon Sect, the Golden God Sect, and… Advisor Xun.

At the same time, a cold, eerie voice echoed in the room.

“The King must not be insulted!”

“Before the sun rises tomorrow, I want you to find all of Mu Lin’s Clones in Skysea City and either arrest or kill them all.”

It was not a request but a domineering command.

Hearing such an order, the Elders of the Water Moon Sect and the Golden God Sect felt bitter in their hearts.

The latter hesitated for a moment but still offered advice to the East Sea King: “Your Highness, the Five Directions Divine Inquiry requires some time to prepare…”

This was an attempt to delay, but unfortunately, his words were cut off before he could finish.

“That is your problem. I want Mu Lin in Skysea City dealt with before the sun rises tomorrow… don’t make me repeat myself a third time.”

Feeling the East Sea King’s furious and dangerous gaze, and considering that the East Sea King’s power was immense while Mu Lin was weak, the Elders of the Golden God Sect and the Water Moon Sect ultimately nodded in agreement.

Compared to them, the Wei Family agreed even more quickly.

In fact, they believed that while this operation carried risks, it might also be an opportunity.

‘That reckless brat has enraged His Highness, but at the same time, if we contribute greatly to resolving this matter, our Wei Family will surely be regarded as a trusted confidant by His Highness. This is an excellent opportunity.’

With this mindset, the Wei Family agreed without hesitation.

“Your Highness, please rest assured. When the master is humiliated, the servant must die. No matter what, I will capture Mu Lin and make him kneel to beg for your forgiveness!”

“Hmm, you may go.”

Thus, after the failure of the trap plan, the East Sea King’s second attempt to capture Mu Lin also began.

However, before even leaving the East Sea King’s Manor, the Golden God Sect and Water Moon Sect Elders, who were preparing to carry out the plan, found their moods growing increasingly foul.

Another servant came running in from outside.

After stopping him to inquire, they learned with a chill in their hearts that after the first extermination operation, Mu Lin had not stopped but continued to attack those who dared to participate in this affair.

Moreover, because the other Mortal Shedding cultivator forces were extremely weak, they had already been mostly wiped out in the first extermination operation.

This time, those Mu Lin eliminated were primarily—members of the Xun Family.

Yes, precisely the clansmen of Advisor Xun.

Apart from the Prodigy, dozens of stewards, housekeepers, and Xun Family youths were attacked and killed.

By the time Advisor Xun returned to his own family, the number of deceased Xun Family cultivators had already exceeded a hundred.

“Bastard, look at the mess you’ve made!”

So many clansmen, and all of them elite members, had died tragically due to Mu Lin’s attacks. For the Xun Family, this was a crippling loss.

Faced with this situation, the Xun Family clansmen naturally hated Mu Lin to the core.

But besides that, they were also filled with dissatisfaction and resentment toward the source of their family’s misfortune—Xun Zhi.

“Waaah… give me back my son’s life!”

“If it weren’t for you, if it weren’t for you meddling, how could my husband have died…”

“Waaah… Yu’er, my Yu’er…”

The clansmen’s curses and their hate-filled gazes left Xun Zhi somewhat dazed.

Clearly, he had not expected that acting against Mu Lin for the East Sea King would cause such severe losses to his own family.

To be honest, Xun Zhi now regretted it. Had he known the consequences, he would never have stepped forward.

But it must be said that Xun Zhi, who could remain by the East Sea King’s side, still possessed some ability—this current disaster occurred because he hadn’t anticipated Mu Lin would be so powerful and act so ruthlessly.

Even so, he was not defeated or despondent. Instead, he quickly said, “This time, I was wrong. I didn’t expect Mu Lin to be so strong. But blaming me is utterly useless. What we must do is find a way to survive this calamity.”

“Survive what? The younger generation is almost completely wiped out. Our Xun Family is nearly finished. Even if we don’t perish at the hands of that bastard Mu Lin, with our lack of successors, we won’t survive the other families kicking us while we’re down…”

“Exactly, our family can’t afford to lose any more people. How about we seal our mountain gate and withdraw from this affair?”

These were the voices of those who still had children. They had been thoroughly frightened and were somewhat afraid to confront Mu Lin.

However, before their proposal could be finished, Xun Zhi interrupted.

“If we continue fighting Mu Lin, we won’t be finished. But if we surrender, then we truly are finished… Our current plight stems from serving His Highness. Even if only as a gesture to attract talent, His Highness will not stand idly by and watch us fall completely. Otherwise, if we decline, other families, fearing a similar fate, will no longer dare to serve the East Sea King.”

“But if we surrender, Mu Lin might not attack us, but the East Sea King’s wrath is something our Xun Family cannot bear. At that point, we would truly be finished.”

At this, Xun Zhi’s tone grew resolute: “As long as we kill Mu Lin, everything will improve.”

His words held some logic, but the others refused to listen:

“But how do we kill him? He’s too terrifying.”

“No, he’s not terrifying. With the Prince’s Residence’s resources, we can kill him. We just need to hold out a little longer.”

“We can’t hold out. If Mu Lin continues his attacks, none of our Xun Family members below Mortal Shedding will survive… No, even Mortal Shedding Cultivators might not make it.”

The panicked words made Xun Zhi’s brow furrow tightly.

At the same time, he was deeply puzzled: “What exactly is going on with our Xun Family? I admit Mu Lin is incredibly talented, but he’s only just entered Mortal Shedding, right? And what he’s sent here is likely just a Clone, not his Main Body. With such limited strength, how could he locate and kill over a hundred of our Xun Family’s elite members in such a short time?”

…

How did Mu Lin manage to kill so many people in such a short time?

This question puzzled not only Xun Zhi but also the cultivators of the Golden God Sect, the Wei Family, and the Water Moon Sect, who were investigating with all their might.

—At the East Sea King’s Manor, the Water Moon Sect, the Golden God Sect, and the Wei Family believed that Mu Lin was no match for the East Sea King and would ultimately be killed by him, which led them to accept the East Sea King’s task.

However, the decision was made by the Elders at the time. Upon returning to their families and sects, they still needed to deliberate.

Well, the reason they convened meetings was also related to the significant losses Mu Lin could inflict on them. Otherwise, for a minor figure, they would simply think, “Attack if you must, what can you do to me?”

Unfortunately, Mu Lin was not weak. Killing him would invite brutal retaliation and revenge.

Thus, while the cultivators of the Water Moon Sect and the Golden God Sect deliberated on whether to assist the East Sea King, they also dispatched people to investigate Mu Lin’s movements and methods of killing.

This served two purposes: first, to assess whether the East Sea King’s friendship was worth their full support, and second, to prepare for defense. Since most people in the East Sea Kingdom believed the East Sea King was stronger, they were inclined to help him. In such a situation, it was necessary to uncover Mu Lin’s methods in advance.

This would allow them to prepare defenses beforehand, making it easier to neutralize Mu Lin’s retaliation.

However, after their investigation, they were horrified to discover that something was amiss.

The unrestrained Mu Lin had caused far greater losses than they had anticipated.

The Xun Family’s cultivators—not just the younger generation but even the prime-aged members—were nearly wiped out by Mu Lin.

“What’s going on? How did he kill so many people in such a short time?”

(End of Chapter)