Chapter 381 – Mu Lin: Sigh, Still Haven't Killed Enough…

“Alas, it seems I haven’t killed enough people. The intimidation I’ve instilled in the aristocratic families of Skysea City is still insufficient.”

“They don’t respect me. They’d rather offend me to the death than risk even slightly provoking the East Sea King.”

The one sighing like this was naturally Mu Lin. He wasn’t foolish, nor would he endure humiliation until being struck in the face before retaliating.

Using the Paper Figure Secret Art, Mu Lin had always maintained clones to surveil the East Sea King’s Manor, observing the cultivators coming and going.

Here, one must mention the formidable combination of Grandmaster-level Origami, Painting, Xuanhuang Qi, and Da Luo Vast Heaven Qi.

Grandmaster-level Origami provided the skeleton for Mu Lin’s disguises, Painting gave them lifelike faces, and the profound Xuanhuang Qi—capable of generating all things—served as filler, imbuing the paper figures with the aura of living people.

Nowadays, as long as Mu Lin’s paper figures outside weren’t shattered or forced to unleash abilities beyond their limits, ordinary cultivators—even those at the Mortal Shedding stage, or Earth Immortals not specialized in perception—couldn’t detect anything amiss. They would simply believe them to be True Persons.

Then there was the Da Luo Vast Heaven Qi.

This ability rendered Mu Lin’s presence nearly nonexistent.

With an aura already akin to an ordinary person and an extremely low presence, Mu Lin was easily overlooked by others.

Hmm… Beyond these abilities, Mu Lin also possessed the Other Shore Flower. This flower, capable of peering into memories and transforming auras, allowed Mu Lin to disguise himself as others, further enhancing his covert operations.

…

When the Golden God Sect emerged from the East Sea King’s Manor, Mu Lin noticed them and followed them into the sect’s interior.

Subsequently, Mu Lin also observed that the Golden God Sect was summoning its managers and core disciples back to the sect on a large scale and had dispatched people to activate the protective formation.

By this point, Mu Lin fully understood: the Golden God Sect didn’t respect him. They believed offending him to the death was preferable to incurring the East Sea King’s displeasure.

Witnessing this, Mu Lin naturally showed no courtesy.

Immediately, he contacted his clones outside, having over a dozen of them transform into Golden God Sect disciples or pets to infiltrate the sect.

Simultaneously, Mu Lin launched his attack.

The method he employed was the Other Shore Flower—since entering the East Sea Kingdom, Mu Lin had realized one thing: the Other Shore Flower wasn’t very effective in assaults or high-stakes confrontations.

Although it contained the four profound principles of ‘Life-Death Illusion,’ Mu Lin’s Other Shore Flower had the highest compatibility with Illusion Art.

And as is well known, for illusions to take effect, it depends not only on one’s own mastery of illusion but also on the enemy’s Divine Soul strength and willpower.

Yet most powerful individuals possess steadfast Dao hearts and tenacious wills.

Take Luo Chen, for example. When they were of the same rank, Mu Lin’s illusion abilities could hardly affect him.

However, while illusions aren’t very effective against the strong, they work exceptionally well against the weak.

Especially when combined with Eye Technique and the Paper Substitute technique, they become virtually impossible to guard against.

Disguised as acquaintances or various pets, Mu Lin looked around everywhere, making eye contact with others who hardly ever remained vigilant.

—When some cats, dogs, or familiar faces anxiously glance around due to the tense atmosphere, would you suspect anything?

No, you wouldn’t. In the grand hall, many people were looking around and whispering among themselves.

Then, with just a single glance, the enemy’s consciousness would be influenced by Mu Lin.

What even Mu Lin himself found excessive was that after making eye contact, he could plant a seed in the other’s heart through telepathy—the seed of the Other Shore Flower.

This eerie flower could absorb the essence, energy, and spirit of others to grow.

Of course, the loss of Qi and Blood and the weakening of the Divine Soul would also alert those cultivators to something amiss.

But that was under normal circumstances. Mu Lin’s Other Shore Flower, having fused with Divinity, could influence memories, causing people to subconsciously overlook such anomalies.

The infusion of Da Luo Vast Heaven Qi further empowered the Other Shore Flower—shrouded by this energy, the seeds planted in others’ hearts became hazy and enveloped in a layer of white mist.

This mist rendered the Other Shore Flower utterly devoid of presence.

Even when cultivators performed internal inspection, they would subconsciously ignore these abnormalities.

Thus, the absorption by the Other Shore Flower went completely unnoticed by these cultivators.

And so, relying on these various covert methods, Mu Lin contaminated all the core disciples of the Golden God Sect.

“No wonder Aizen became the great boss of the Soul Society and remained hidden for hundreds of years… silently contaminating so many people without anyone sensing the slightest abnormality—the power of Illusion Art is truly terrifying when used to crush the weak.”

With such thoughts in mind, Mu Lin compared his own Illusion Art abilities to Aizen’s while continuing to contaminate others.

Of course, at this point, the core disciples of the Golden God Sect had only been implanted with the Other Shore Flower, their minds contaminated, but they were not yet dead and could still be saved.

As long as the Golden God Sect did not involve itself in the war between him and the East Sea King, Mu Lin was willing to spare them and remove the Other Shore Flower from their hearts.

Unfortunately, the Sect Leader and many Elders of the Golden God Sect failed to appreciate Mu Lin’s well-intentioned efforts.

“Mu Lin!”

“How dare you infiltrate the Golden God Sect! You have some nerve!”

“Boom!”

They discovered Mu Lin’s intrusion and roared in fury.

Along with the roar came an overwhelming pressure that suddenly bore down upon Mu Lin.

“Crack, crack!”

Under that terrifying pressure, Mu Lin felt as if a great mountain were pressing down on him. It was as though he had sunk into an endless deep sea, surrounded on all sides by surging, intense pressure.

The pressure, immense as towering mountains, caused Mu Lin’s Paper Figure body to creak and crack, directly splitting apart.

At the same time, with his body fractured, Mu Lin was like a mosquito trapped in amber, utterly unable to move.

  This feeling of being rejected and restrained by the entire world caused Mu Lin’s pupils to sharply contract.

“This sensation… an Earth Immortal’s Domain, and one fully expanded at that… Indeed, an Earth Immortal within their Domain is not someone I can easily deal with.”

The term Earth Immortal not only signifies vast supernatural powers and being a Terrestrial Immortal, but their advancement is also genuinely connected to the earth.

The progression of cultivators begins with refining essence into Qi, followed by cultivating Gang and Sha Qi—but whether refining essence into Qi or absorbing Gang and Sha Qi into the body, both involve using the power of heaven and earth to complete oneself.

Nourishing the ‘person’ with all things in heaven and earth is the core of a cultivator’s path.

In general, cultivators are like great thieves, constantly stealing power from heaven and earth.

It was the same during Spirit Awakening, the same as a Gang Sha Sorcerer, and even as an Earth Immortal, it remained unchanged.

Of course, at this stage, what an Earth Immortal steals is no longer Spiritual Energy, but rather seeks to replace the will of heaven with their own heart, seizing control over a region.

Well, to put it more favorably, it is the cultivator merging their body with heaven and earth.

More naturally, to advance from Mortal Shedding to Earth Immortal, the heaven and earth the cultivator merges with must not be an ordinary region, as that cannot support the cultivator’s advancement and ascension.

What the cultivator must merge with is a Blessed Land, a Fortunate Land, or a Grotto-Heaven Secret Realm, and—forbidden lands.

Because the heaven and earth they merge with differ, the power of Earth Immortals also varies. For this reason, the Great Spirit Imperial Dynasty specifically categorized them into two titles: one is Earth Master, who merge only with ordinary Blessed Lands and find it difficult to exert the full power of an Earth Immortal in other regions.

The other is Earth Immortal, who merge with powerful Fortunate Lands or Grotto-Heaven Secret Realms… Since the entrances to Grotto-Heaven Secret Realms can be relocated, such Earth Immortals can exert their full power anywhere.

At the same time, whether Earth Masters or Earth Immortals, there is potential for further advancement. When they fully comprehend the laws of heaven and earth reflected in their minds, they can ascend to become Celestial Masters, and that opens up an entirely new realm.

Of course, all of this was far beyond Mu Lin’s reach, and at the moment, he did not dwell on it too much.

…

As the Sect Leader of the Golden God Sect unfurled his Earth Immortal Domain, Mu Lin immediately understood that this Sect Leader’s mind reflected a level of Blessed Land or Fortunate Land. If he were too far from the Golden God Sect, his power would weaken.

However, at this moment, he was within the Golden God Sect, the very place where the Sect Leader’s power was at its peak.

The characteristic of weakening with distance was not evident at all.

Thus, as soon as his Domain was unleashed, Mu Lin realized that his Gang Sha Sorcerer-level Paper Substitute was completely unable to withstand it.

The gap of two major realms was too vast. Without the Sect Leader even needing to act, the mere pressure of the Domain caused Mu Lin’s Paper Substitute to continuously crack.

Of course, the loss of a few substitutes was not something Mu Lin paid much attention to.

At this moment, he struggled to turn his head and cast his gaze toward the entrance of the hall. There, several figures were rushing in from outside, their faces filled with anger and lingering fear.

“Traitor, barging into our Golden God Sect, I knew you were up to no good.”

“Hmph, did you think our Golden God Sect is like the Xun Family? With the Sect Leader here, you won’t be allowed to act recklessly!”

“Hahaha, we were just wondering how to capture you, and here you are, delivering yourself to us. Good! Good! Good! This credit will be claimed by our Golden God Sect.”

Seeing that their disciples were safe and sound, and that Mu Lin was immobilized by the pressure of their Sect Leader’s Domain, the Elders of the Golden God Sect all breathed a sigh of relief and spoke up with laughter.

They were laughing, but Mu Lin’s expression remained utterly calm.

Gazing at the overwhelmingly powerful Sect Leader of the Golden God Sect, who seemed like an incarnation of heaven and earth, Mu Lin spoke quietly.

“Judging by your attitude, you intend to assist the East Sea King in dealing with me? I strongly advise you to reconsider carefully. This is a war. Once you make the wrong decision, your entire Golden God Sect could be wiped out, and your disciples, families, and children could all meet a tragic end.”

“Don’t let yourself regret it.”

“Hmph, don’t boast. The one who should regret is you. You shouldn’t have provoked the East Sea King, and you shouldn’t have come to our Golden God Sect. Our disciples and family members will all be safe. On the contrary, you are finished. Your power is utterly insignificant. What you relied on before was merely hiding your head and tail, being elusive and unpredictable. But you cannot escape forever. As long as we capture a trace of your aura, we can lock onto your main body and annihilate your divine soul from thousands of miles away.”

“And now, we have caught you!”

The one speaking at this moment was an Elder of the Golden God Sect. As he spoke, he took out a Soul Sealing Stone, preparing to imprison Mu Lin’s soul.

As for the Sect Leader of the Golden God Sect, he truly lived up to the name of Earth Immortal. Even though all the Other Shore Flowers seemed illusory, planted in the hearts of others, he still sensed something amiss.

However, the Da Luo Vast Heaven Qi and the level of divinity were too high. Their concealment meant he only detected some irregularities without knowing the specific situation.

Perhaps he believed that with him present, he could neutralize and ignore any counterattack from Mu Lin.

Therefore, he did not stop the actions of the Elder under him, instead watching as he approached Mu Lin with the Soul Sealing Stone.

This made Mu Lin sigh.

“What a pity. You made the wrong decision. Remember, your disciples and followers all died because of you.”

“Hmph, I told you, don’t boast. You can’t kill anyone. The disciples of our Golden God Sect will be fine. I will protect them well. You are the one at death’s door…”

The Elder, who had long defected to the East Sea King and was closely associated with him, wanted to say something. But before he could finish, a faint, sorrowful voice sounded beside him.

The voice came from the most outstanding Prodigy of his clan, who was also his most beloved grandson.

Previously, whenever his grandson saw him, his voice was always filled with joy and affection. And he, too, doted on his grandson immensely.

In fact, part of the reason he worked so hard against Mu Lin this time was to earn resources to pave the way for his grandson.

He had planned well, but now, the voice his grandson emitted was devoid of the previous affection, joy, and pride.

Instead, it was filled with deep resentment, hatred, and… despair.

“Grandpa, sob sob, didn’t you say you would protect us? Why didn’t you protect us properly? We… are already dead!”

“?! !”

(End of Chapter)