Chapter 53 – Subduing the Little Match Girl

The sound of claws scraping against chains and a coffin echoed in Mu Lin’s room.

Outside, the giant dog and serpent reflected by the firelight went berserk, charging into the civilian house like mad.

However, Mu Lin’s Yellow Turban Warriors were no pushovers either. Six of them, each with the strength of an ox, fought fiercely together. After an intense struggle, they ultimately crushed both the giant dog and the serpent.

“Hiss…”

Once defeated, they dissipated into wisps of green smoke, vanishing without a trace.

Thus, only the Little Girl remained imprisoned within Mu Lin’s civilian house.

“Boom!”

The flames blazed fiercely, continuously refining the Little Girl, branding her with the mark of domination.

In his heart, Mu Lin thought with fierce determination:

‘So what if it’s a Malevolent Ghost from the Land of Sky Burial? As long as I can grow stronger, my Mindscape can transform into the Fengdu Hell. So-called Malevolent Ghosts are nothing more than the lowest-ranking prison guards in Hell!’

This delusion was not born of mere arrogance. Mu Lin believed that with the Proficiency Panel and his past life’s experiences, he truly could forge the Mindscape – Sky Burial City into the Mindscape – Fengdu Hell.

Now, this arrogance (confidence) transformed into a surge of willpower, fueling the Arrogance Heart Lamp and causing its flames to burn even more fiercely.

“Boom!”

Under the relentless refinement of the blazing flames, the struggles of the Little Girl sealed within the coffin grew weaker and weaker.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, her struggles had nearly ceased. Through the refinement process, Mu Lin also gained a portion of her information.

“This is indeed the Little Match Girl from my imagination, but corrupted by the Burying Heaven Power, it has become a twisted fairy tale. Originally, the Little Girl’s matchlight represented happiness, warmth, love, and beauty.”

“However, after being corrupted by the Sky Burial Power, her matches transformed into a dark fairy tale, capable of using others’ negative emotions as fuel to attack them.”

“The first match ignited the indifference in my heart, which manifested as falling snow and ice, capable of freezing both body and Divine Soul.”

“The second match ignited the darkness in my heart… Because I possess the worldview from my past life, my heart isn’t particularly dark, so the power of the Black Mist wasn’t strong.”

“The third match ignited the greed in my heart. The giant dog was the Avatar of greed.”

“The fourth match ignited the arrogance in my heart… This is my strongest conviction, which is why the serpent reflected by the match was exceptionally powerful.”

“The fifth match ignited the… fear in my heart. Because I felt not a shred of fear toward the Little Match Girl, the light of the final match was particularly weak.”

Indeed, from beginning to end, Mu Lin had never feared the Little Match Girl. He didn’t even regret summoning the descent of the Burying Heaven Power.

This was partly because Mu Lin clearly understood that the outside world was fraught with danger, teeming with Evil Aberrations everywhere. It wasn’t a matter of whether he wanted to avoid them or not—he couldn’t.

—He wasn’t like Chu Lingluo, who could be exempted from military service.

Encountering them early and gaining experience and strength to deal with them was, in fact, a good thing for Mu Lin.

The other reason was Dongfang Ya.

“I am not alone.”

Mu Lin hadn’t forgotten that he was a Disciple of the Dao Palace, a Student of Dongfang Ya. He had someone above him.

Well, that last sentence was a joke.

But from their interactions so far, Mu Lin had also gained a clear understanding of Dongfang Ya’s character.

Thus, he could be certain that he was truly in danger. Whether out of duty (not allowing evil aberrations to run amok in the Dao Palace) or out of kindness, Teacher Dongfang Ya would not ignore his plea for help.

With a Spell Master, or even an Adept, as his backer, Mu Lin felt as steady as an old dog, not a hint of panic in his heart.

“The feeling of having connections up high is truly wonderful.”

Amid Mu Lin’s sigh, the Little Match Girl was completely refined by him.

“Bang!”

As the coffin lid opened, the little girl with a flame mark on her forehead reappeared before Mu Lin.

At this moment, she still gave off an eerie, terrifying aura.

But in front of Mu Lin, she was remarkably docile.

However, Mu Lin had no mood to pay attention to the little girl now. After fully refining her, he had glimpsed her essence.

What raised Mu Lin’s eyebrows was that this was actually an external manifestation of an anomaly’s power.

“I remember that compared to demonic monsters and evil spirits, the greatest characteristic of anomalies is—immortality.”

“They are like cancer of the world, or perhaps rules themselves; no matter what, they cannot be completely killed.”

What relieved Mu Lin was that while anomalies could not be killed, they could be sealed, or even controlled.

Moreover, most anomalies lacked intelligence, acting only on instinct, which also meant they could only become disasters, unable to fully become masters of the world.

What made Mu Lin even more relieved was that what entered his mindscape was only a tiny wisp of the anomaly’s power, not its main body.

“Thank goodness.”

Discovering that the danger he faced was not that high, Mu Lin let out a sigh of relief.

But soon, he sighed again.

The fact that immortal anomalies were wandering aimlessly in the Land of Sky Burial was something Mu Lin had not expected, and it also meant that linking to the Land of Sky Burial in the future would become extremely dangerous for him.

“I’ll have to be more careful from now on.”

After sighing, Mu Lin examined the little girl’s body and, finding no other hidden dangers, bound her with chains and sealed her back in the coffin.

Then, opening his eyes, Mu Lin made a decision.

“Next, I need to incorporate the Paper Figure Soul Seal Art into my cultivation sequence and raise its priority a bit.”

“Because anomalies are immortal, sealing arts are essential in this world.”

…

“Young Master Mu, are you alright? Should I go find the teacher?”

The first thing that met Mu Lin’s eyes upon opening them was Chu Lingluo’s worried face.

She was also a backup plan Mu Lin had prepared. Although he was confident that if he encountered danger, Dongfang Ya would not leave him to die, this ultimately concerned his own life. Therefore, Mu Lin did not take any chances. When testing the anomaly castle, he specifically called Chu Lingluo over and asked her to seek the teacher’s help if anything happened to him.

—A request from a noble young lady of a prominent family carried far more weight than his own.

Even if Teacher Dongfang Ya was not particularly kind-hearted, she would still give Chu Lingluo some face.

Fortunately, the worst-case scenario did not occur. He had resolved the crisis in his mindscape on his own, without even needing to trouble the teacher.

Rubbing his head, Mu Lin spoke to Chu Lingluo, “No need to call her. I’m fine now. And thank you.”

“You’re welcome, I didn’t do much.”

While waving her hand, Chu Lingluo cast the Spring Return Art, Purification Art, and Vitality Art—these three spells—upon Mu Lin, restoring his injuries, spirit, and energy.

What made Mu Lin raise his eyebrows was that compared to a few days ago, the power of Chu Lingluo’s mystical arts had improved once more.

This rate of progress was only slightly inferior to Mu Lin’s own.

‘Is it because of her exceptional talent, or is it due to her pure heart?’

As Mu Lin pondered this, he praised Chu Lingluo.

Then, he realized he had guessed completely wrong.

Chu Lingluo’s rapid progress in mystical arts cultivation was partly due to her talent and her pure heart, but more importantly—it was resources.

(End of Chapter)