Chapter 498 – Some People Are Alive, Yet Already Dead

“Your Majesty, may I inquire as to the reason for your visit to our clan’s territory? If you have any commands, the Dongfang Clan will spare no effort.”

Ordinary people could not perceive Mu Lin’s cultivation level, but as a half-step Celestial Master and the ancestor of the Dongfang Clan, she could easily sense it.

Upon learning that Mu Lin was a True God, she treated him with utmost reverence.

This was only natural, for both Deities and True Lords were eternal and immortal.

Such powerful beings stood above entire races.

Moreover, it was humanity that needed the protection of True Lords and Celestial Deities, not the other way around.

With eternal lifespans, overwhelming strength, and authority akin to the Heaven and Earth Laws, such True Lords and Celestial Deities stood at the very pinnacle of the world, revered and admired by all.

Given this, the ancestor of the Dongfang Clan naturally dared not offend him.

Unfortunately, the Dongfang Clan had already deeply offended Mu Lin.

“Commands? Hah, I wouldn’t dare. It would be enough if you didn’t try to hunt me down.”

Once his identity as a Deity was revealed and he knew they wouldn’t dare act against him, Mu Lin no longer wished to stay.

After casting a cold glance at the cultivators of the Dongfang Clan, he rose and flew away.

—He did not kill anyone from the Dongfang Clan, as they were, after all, Dongfang Ya’s clansmen, relatives, and friends. Killing them outright would not be appropriate.

Moreover, Mu Lin believed that sometimes, living could be more agonizing than death.

At that moment, many cultivators of the Dongfang Clan, their defenses shattered by the revelation of Mu Lin’s identity, were already in turmoil.

“Your Majesty… Mu Lin is a True God?!”

“How is that possible? I’ve heard of him—he’s only been cultivating for a few years!”

“It’s a lie, it must be a lie… How could there be such a young True God in this world… Hahaha, you can’t fool me…”

Out of fear, many members of the Dongfang Clan refused to believe what they were witnessing.

However, they soon had no choice but to accept it.

Their Seventh Ancestor, Dongfang Fanmeng, unleashed her aura.

“Boom!”

In harmony with the heavens, even though the spiritual power in her current body was limited, she still exerted a pressure upon the crowd as if the sky itself were collapsing.

Under this pressure, many immediately regained their senses or were forced to the ground.

After revealing her might, Dongfang Fanmeng spoke with a stern voice.

“Tell me, how did you manage to offend a True God?”

Worried that her clansmen might conceal the truth, she added with utmost seriousness, “Speak the truth, without a single omission… If that True God were to take action, our entire Dongfang Clan would be utterly doomed.”

“I have some acquaintance with a True Lord. By swallowing my pride, I might still be able to ask that True Lord to mediate. But you must tell the truth. Otherwise, we would offend not one, but two True Lords!”

Her severity frightened everyone present. Faced with the threat of annihilation, the Clan Head of the Dongfang Clan finally stepped forward with a sigh and recounted the entire story.

Upon learning that this True God, Mu Lin, had been taught by a young girl from their Dongfang Clan, and that Mu Lin was on extremely good terms with that direct descendant of theirs—even willing to help them withstand attacks from the forbidden zone and lift the curse upon them for Dongfang Ya’s sake—the gravity of the situation became all too clear.

But in the end, they looked down on others and did not choose this decision. Instead, they used Mu Lin’s master, the only direct descendant of the Eastern Family connected to him, as a human pillar and sacrificed her to themselves, allowing themselves to descend.

“You… you… all of you… cough…”

Upon learning the whole story, Dongfang Fanmeng was so enraged that her vision darkened, and she actually spat out a mouthful of blood.

To make a Celestial Master so angry that she vomited blood and could barely stand—this shows just how much of a “surprise” the descendants of the Dongfang Clan had brought her.

“You… you all are truly something!”

“To look down on even a True God, to sacrifice the master who protected him in his youth… cough… you… you’ve done well!”

With a bitter laugh, she finally fainted.

The blow was too great.

With a True Lord as their backing, the Dongfang Clan could have not only shaken off their curse and reemerged but also expanded their influence after restoring their former glory.

Even she herself might have lived a second life.

This was an extraordinary opportunity that comes once in thousands of years, but now… it was gone.

Because of the foolishness of her clansmen, it was gone just like that.

Under such circumstances, how could Dongfang Fanmeng not be furious and resentful?

And when she learned that her body was actually Dongfang Ya’s, she felt too ashamed to live. This was also why she fainted instead of resisting—in her extreme anger, she simply wanted to see nothing and feel nothing.

Having missed this tremendous opportunity, Dongfang Fanmeng was filled with rage.

The rest of the Dongfang Clan were also stunned, overwhelmed with regret.

These people were not foolish; they understood the deterrence of a True God and how wonderful their lives would be under a True God’s protection.

Unfortunately, after today’s events, everything that was once within reach was now gone.

To be honest, if they had never had the chance to approach a Deity, the Dongfang Clan might not have felt so miserable.

But the opportunity had come to them, so close they could almost touch it, only to be pushed away by their own hands. This was truly agonizing.

People always struggle to accept what they have lost.

Overwhelmed by regret, some began to ramble incessantly, like Xianglin’s wife.

“A Deity… how could Mu Lin become a Celestial Deity? He’s so young…”

“This can’t be true, I don’t believe it…”

“A Deity… hahaha… we pushed away a Deity who was ready to protect us and offended him… hahaha…”

“Bastard! It’s all your fault! I said we could find someone else as the human pillar, it didn’t have to be Miss Ya. It’s all because of you that our Dongfang Clan has fallen to this state!”

“Get lost! It was indeed my suggestion to use Dongfang Ya as the human pillar, but didn’t you agree when it came to the vote?”

Unable to accept this cruel reality and the immense disparity, some in the Dongfang Clan were consumed by endless regret, while others gnashed their teeth and blamed each other.

Just as Mu Lin had said, sometimes, living is more painful than being killed outright.

It was foreseeable that from then on, the Dongfang Clan would live in endless regret, with accumulated remorse gnawing at their bodies and minds like a venomous snake day after day.

Moreover, the stronger Mu Lin’s power and the higher his status, the greater the benefits his followers would gain, and the deeper the Dongfang Clan’s regret would become.

Mu Lin was well aware of all this, but he did not stop it. Instead, he was quite pleased with the situation.

Even a few days later, he personally added fuel to the fire.

A piece of news spread from the Southeast Region throughout the world. While this news set the world ablaze with excitement, it also caused someone in the valley of the Dongfang Clan to collapse in rage once more, spitting blood.

(End of Chapter)