Chapter 426 – Mu Lin: "No Matter—I'll Handle It."

Integrating the Fire Crow bloodline, Pang Yang’s first transformation was a significant increase in physical fitness.

Sunfire is supremely yang and unyielding, beyond what ordinary bodies can endure. Moreover, Solar Flame possesses the ability to temper the body. Consequently, the physical forms of the Golden Crow lineage are among the finest in the world.

In terms of pure physicality, even the True Dragon falls slightly short.

As derivative followers of the Golden Crow, Fire Crows are influenced by it and also possess immensely powerful bodies. Now, this formidable physique was bestowed upon Pang Yang by Mu Lin.

The second transformation was that Pang Yang gained the ability to fly due to his wings.

As is well known, in any form of warfare, the importance of air superiority is undeniable.

An air force that can fly is inherently more esteemed than ground or naval forces. Even in retreat, Pang Yang could now escape more swiftly.

The third transformation was the core ability of the God of Vengeance—the Flame of Retribution.

A flame born from hatred, its power is exceptionally terrifying, with the characteristic of being difficult to extinguish once ignited.

Even Lin Shan, a Cultivator at the Sha Refinement Stage, dared not let this flame touch him.

With these three traits combined, the result was that Pang Yang, who was once ordinary at best and somewhat fierce due to hatred, now leaped to become an elite soldier of the Agricultural Militia, qualifying to become a squad leader.

More crucially, it was wartime. The Agricultural Militia was constantly battling demonic monsters, and the number of casualties was countless.

In such a war, every bit of strength increased their chances of survival.

As for Pang Yang, it wasn’t just a slight increase in strength. After receiving the gift of the God of Vengeance, his power had multiplied several times over.

In such circumstances, who wouldn’t covet it? Who wouldn’t be moved?

Thus, the other soldiers of the Agricultural Militia, unwilling to die, eagerly sought to curry favor with Pang Yang, asking him for the secret to becoming a Vengeful Wraith.

To this, Pang Yang… did not refuse to answer.

With his wife and parents dead, all he desired now was vengeance.

The stronger the Agricultural Militia became, the greater his hope for revenge. Therefore, he selflessly shared all his experiences in obtaining the Flame of Retribution with his comrades.

As a result, over the following days, the entire Agricultural Militia camp underwent some changes.

Countless soldiers, eyes reddened, dwelled on sorrowful memories and enemies they hated with gnashing teeth.

They hoped to gain the favor of the God of Vengeance through this method.

And Mu Lin… was exceedingly generous in granting them the Vengeance Flames.

His reason for doing so was simple: Zhang Hetian was nearing the end of his life, and the Agricultural Militia would ultimately be inherited by Mu Lin.

Thus, enhancing the combat power of the Agricultural Militia soldiers meant strengthening Mu Lin’s own forces.

When it came to his own soldiers, Mu Lin was naturally not stingy.

Additionally, Mu Lin needed the Agricultural Militia to serve as a Wedge to correct Wu Chen’s temperament and assist it in refining the world’s Resentment.

Since the power of human faith contains some of the believers’ emotions, for Mu Lin, these seven emotions and six desires were impurities—Incense Poison.

But for Wu Chen, it was different. Born from Resentment and Death Qi, it lacked rational temperament, driven only by a mad desire to retaliate against and destroy everything.

Previously, Mu Lin had controlled Wu Chen using the Seed of Tyrannical Divine Sense.

But now, he discovered that the residual poison in Incense Offerings could actually make Wu Chen slightly more ‘normal’.

Although this normality was the God of Vengeance imagined by the Agricultural Militia, not its true nature.

Yet Wu Chen’s true nature was that of a madman, a demonic lunatic devoid of reason. Being tainted by the power of faith was, surprisingly, a good thing for him.

“But caution is still needed. The wedge I seek is someone who, despite harboring deep-seated hatred, directs their rage solely at enemies rather than indiscriminately slaughtering innocents. The latter would only worsen Wu Chen’s madness.”

Such individuals were actually quite easy to find.

Alternatively, when transmitting power, Mu Lin would leave behind a warning:

“The power I bestow shall only be used against humanity’s enemies. Should you wield it recklessly, you shall be condemned to Avici Hell, enduring daily torment as the Fire of Vengeance consumes your flesh and refines your soul.”

This threat proved highly effective.

Even those originally harboring malicious intent, upon sensing the venomous Fire of Vengeance within them, dared not act recklessly.

…

Using human faith to correct Wu Chen’s temperament, shaping a new, rational human… divinity.

This was one of the reasons Mu Lin spread the Flame of Retribution.

The second reason was his desire to refine the resentment and baleful qi permeating the world.

In this realm, the resentment in the world was nearly limitless; the true challenge lay in absorbing and refining it.

Previously, Mu Lin could only manipulate Wu Chen’s body to refine it himself.

But now, having scattered thousands of sparks, he had thousands of helpers.

They could assist Mu Lin in absorbing and refining together.

Although, during their lifetimes, those Flames of Retribution were wielded by the humans themselves.

But humans are ultimately mortal.

Upon their death—whether in battle or from old age—those Flames of Retribution would return to Wu Chen’s body.

Under such circumstances, Mu Lin naturally hoped for as many recipients of the ‘sparks’ as possible.

…

Relying on the Death Wraith Golden Crow, Mu Lin gained another group of subordinates and trained yet another special and powerful army for Tianshi City’s Agricultural Militia.

With Mu Lin’s arrival, the situation in Tianshi City grew increasingly better.

The abundant supplies brought by Ji Lingsha eliminated the risk of starvation for the people outside.

Chu Lingluo’s Dream Pacification Power gradually dispelled the unease in everyone’s hearts, stabilizing their emotions more and more.

And the special army created by Mu Lin and Yan Yunyu enhanced the combat strength of Tianshi City’s Agricultural Militia.

During this process, Xue Ying was not idle either.

Mu Lin brought her and Chu Lingluo together, proposing an idea for them to create a Blood Prison Illusion Realm.

Upon entering the Blood Prison Illusion Realm, the Agricultural Militia or other warriors would experience countless battles.

These battles included humans fighting monsters, as well as humans slaughtering each other.

Although this was merely an illusion realm crafted by Chu Lingluo using the Other Shore Flower Sea, and no matter how many battles they experienced, the Agricultural Militia’s cultivation levels would not increase in the slightest.

While cultivation could not grow, sword techniques, blade skills, combat experience, and the like could rapidly improve through slaughter.

This further strengthened the Agricultural Militia’s combat power, made the Lord of the Blood Prison, Xue Ying, known to all, and further elevated Chu Lingluo’s reputation as the Dream Lord.

…

The Agricultural Militia and the women under Mu Lin’s command grew stronger.

And Mu Lin himself progressed even faster.

Because his foundation was the True Spirit Karma Diagram encompassing the Underworld Pantheon, the growth in Yan Yunyu and the others’ strength directly translated into Mu Lin’s own increase in power.

More importantly, the millions of people inside and outside Tianshi City, facing life-and-death crises, were extremely devout toward Mu Lin.

This allowed King Yama, who absorbed the power of faith, to grow stronger with each passing day.

His claim of advancing to Earth Immortal within three months was no joke, nor was it an empty boast.

Given three months, he truly could advance to Earth Immortal.

And because such power was within reach, Mu Lin had no desire to stir up trouble, focusing solely on cultivation.

Unfortunately, while the tree may desire stillness, the wind refuses to cease.

Mu Lin wished to cultivate in peace, steadily increasing his strength, but the demonic monsters and evil spirits would not sit idly by and allow the Agricultural Militia to develop.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

On this day, while Mu Lin was still cultivating, urgent alarm bells rang out across Tianshi City.

Not long after the bells sounded, someone came to summon Mu Lin to a meeting.

When he arrived at the conference room, he found that Zhang Hemiao, Sheng Cang, and Ji Mao had already gathered, all with furrowed brows.

“What happened?”

“The demonic monsters and evil spirits—primarily the apostles of the Mother of Nest Worms—are driving hordes of insects to launch a large-scale assault against us.”

“Currently, thirteen of our eighteen outlying subsidiary settlements have sent requests for aid.”

Hearing this, Mu Lin narrowed his eyes.

“Because I killed so many parasitic worms, they’re panicking?”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Hemiao first nodded, then shook her head. “That’s part of it, but not the only reason… The Insect Apostle is more intent on forcing my great-grandfather to take action.”

“Huh? Force Celestial Master Hetian to act? Why…”

Before he could finish, Mu Lin understood the reason.

Due to the fierce battle with the Evil God, Zhang Hetian had suffered severe, irreparable injuries.

If not for this, he would not have rushed to the Southeast Region to find Mu Lin as his successor.

Nevertheless, he was still a Celestial Master, and neither the Northern Lands nor the Great Spirit Imperial Dynasty would allow a Celestial Master to die in vain, as that would weaken the strength of the Human Race.

Thus, they provided Celestial Master Hetian with a large quantity of precious medicines.

Unfortunately, the power of the Evil God was too terrifying. Even with ample medicine, he could only sustain his life, unable to fully recover.

Although recovery was impossible, the medicines still had an effect: they kept Celestial Master Hetian alive and preserved his strength for one final, desperate struggle.

Even if it could only be his last battle, it was still a Celestial Master-level force.

And because he was on the brink of death, his final struggle would be a fight to the death, burning everything without regard for the cost.

Such a fearless, desperate battle truly posed a threat to apostles of the same rank.

Therefore, no peer dared to confront Celestial Master Hetian head-on, as he had nothing left to lose.

Yet they desperately wanted Zhang Hetian dead. Thus, sending subordinates to continuously harass Tianshi City, thereby forcing Zhang Hetian to act, became a common tactic for those demonic monsters and evil spirits.

As a result, the territory of Tianshi City and the Agricultural Militia had been shrinking repeatedly.

Having figured all this out, Mu Lin naturally shared Zhang Hemiao’s reluctance to let Celestial Master Hetian take action.

As long as he did not act, no matter how poor his condition, Tianshi City possessed a nuclear deterrent that made the apostles wary.

But if he were gone, Tianshi City and the Agricultural Militia would likely be utterly finished.

Collecting his thoughts, Mu Lin turned to Zhang Hemiao and asked, “So, you’re considering how to carry out the rescue.”

“Yes…”

After nodding, Zhang Hemiao’s expression turned sorrowful, tinged with helplessness. “But there are too many enemies, and they’re too powerful. We can’t rescue everyone. We’re trying to decide who to save and who to evacuate.”

Although it was called an evacuation, with the Demonic Fiends surrounding them, most of those stationed outside couldn’t possibly make it back.

The majority would end up buried in the bellies of insects, which was why Zhang Hemiao and Sheng Cang looked so grim.

They had been hesitating for a long time, unable to make a decision.

Just as she was caught between grief and indecision, Mu Lin spoke up.

“I have no intention of abandoning my subordinates. We’ll save them all.”

“Huh?”

His words left Zhang Hemiao momentarily stunned.

But soon, she reminded him, “I already said, the enemies are numerous and strong. Our Agricultural Militia isn’t powerful enough.”

Hearing this, Mu Lin laughed—a wild, arrogant laugh.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll take care of it.”

(End of Chapter)