Chapter 96 – The Wondrous Effect of Year-End Paper: 15x Cultivation Speed

The Adamantine Force cultivation method was inscribed within a one-time-use jade scroll.

While comprehending the information, Mu Lin also discovered that this jade scroll contained a contract stipulating that he must not transmit the cultivation method to others.

This was only to be expected. After signing it, Mu Lin finally saw the contents of the Adamantine Force.

Then, he realized that this was an external enhancement cultivation method capable of bestowing an Adamantine Body and unparalleled Divine Power upon puppets.

Well, that wasn’t particularly remarkable—Adamantine Talismans and Divine Power Talismans could achieve the same.

However, for Adamantine Force to be regarded as a secret transmission by a puppetry master like Meng Rui, even if it was an elementary secret transmission, it still had its unique aspects.

First, Adamantine Force integrated the abilities of the Adamantine Talisman and the Divine Power Talisman, with traces of array techniques evident.

Therefore, inscribing one [Adamantine Force] was equivalent to simultaneously inscribing both an Adamantine Talisman and a Divine Power Talisman. Moreover, with the enhancement of the array patterns, the power of Adamantine Force was 1.5 times that of ordinary Adamantine Talismans and Divine Power Talismans!

Even just the basic enhancement made Adamantine Force quite extraordinary.

But the most crucial aspect of Adamantine Force as a secret method was not this.

Whether it was the Adamantine Talisman or the Divine Power Talisman, although they could take effect simply by being attached to the body or a puppet, they could only be used once. Using them again would be a waste.

Adamantine Force, however, was different—it could be stacked, and stacked in the same area, allowing puppets to have spare space for inscribing other talismans or arrays.

Mu Lin’s paper figures needed this even more, as compared to large-sized puppets, his paper figures were much smaller.

“However, stacking requires proficiency. According to the jade scroll, the 1st Realm is considered barely entry-level. At this stage, even if I succeed in inscribing it, I can only unleash 50% of [Adamantine Force]’s power. More critically, when inscribing, I have an 80% chance of failure.”

“The 2nd Realm is considered proficient. At this realm, I have a 50% chance of failure when inscribing. However, once I complete the inscription at this realm, I can fully unleash the power of Adamantine Force.”

“The 3rd Realm is considered expert. Due to specializing in Adamantine Force, I have an 80% probability of success when inscribing. Simultaneously, I can also attempt to stack Adamantine Force, up to three layers, tripling the power of Adamantine Force on the original basis.”

“However, the stacking process is extremely intricate. When inscribing only one layer, I have an 80% success rate. When inscribing the second layer, the success rate drops to 30%.”

“For the third layer of stacking, the success rate is less than 10%…”

It must be said that although Adamantine Force was powerful, fully unleashing its potential was no easy task.

Sighing, Mu Lin returned to the classroom in the courtyard. Originally, he had planned to practice drawing first to improve his proficiency.

But soon, he discovered an awkward issue: he had neither a talisman brush nor talisman ink.

“Another expense for buying them.”

After sighing, Mu Lin gritted his teeth and simply went out directly.

He even intended not to come to this courtyard for a while.

Mu Lin had already sensed the general intentions of Meng Rui, the puppetry master. Practicing Puppetry Art required a lot of spirit stones, which made her, like Mu Lin before, focus most of her time on spirit stones.

With spirit stones, she would provide dedicated guidance, customization, and even teach secret methods.

Without spirit stones, everything was off the table.

Knowing this, and with few Spirit Stones to his name, Mu Lin realized he wouldn’t learn much by staying here. It was better to return home, save up Spirit Stones, and come back later to purchase the secret techniques directly.

…

After leaving the Puppet Master’s residence, Mu Lin didn’t head straight back to the Dao Palace. Instead, he went to the Four Seas Pavilion and inquired with the attendants there about Year-End Paper, Talisman Brushes, and talisman ink.

After asking around, Mu Lin was dismayed to discover something.

With the Spirit Stones he had earned from selling his Paper-Folding Artworks, he could barely afford some talisman ink and a few sheets of hundred-year-old Year-End Paper.

But Talisman Brushes were a different matter—they were Magical Artifacts, and no Magical Artifact cost less than 300 to 500 Spirit Stones.

Slightly better Talisman Brushes could even sell for thousands, or even tens of thousands of Spirit Stones.

“I’m so poor…”

With a sigh, Mu Lin reluctantly bought some talisman ink and Year-End Paper, his heart aching with every purchase. As for the Talisman Brush…

“I’ll have to find another way…”

Returning to his courtyard in the Dao Palace with the Year-End Paper, Mu Lin first folded a few Paper Figures.

The faces of these Paper Figures naturally resembled his own.

As the Paper Figures took shape, Mu Lin blew gently on them.

With a soft “whoosh,” the Paper Figures came to life.

Instead of having the substitutes cultivate right away, Mu Lin first transferred his consciousness into one of them.

“Hmm…”

Soon, his Divine Soul had taken residence within the Paper Figure. After a brief moment of adjustment, Mu Lin noticed the difference between ordinary paper and Year-End Paper.

When inhabiting ordinary paper, his Divine Soul would either feel a chilling cold or a scorching heat, rarely experiencing true comfort.

But now, he felt a warmth akin to returning home.

Moreover, the Year-End Paper possessed a Mysterious Power that slowed the consumption of life energy and even enhanced the Paper Figure’s strength.

“Thirty percent!”

After careful observation, Mu Lin found that using Year-End Paper increased the overall strength of his Paper Figures by thirty percent.

After cultivating for a while using the Paper Figure’s body, Mu Lin also discovered that Year-End Paper provided a boost to cultivation.

The special power within the paper made refining Moonlight Dew much easier for him.

“If I go all out, my current cultivation speed is 1.5 times faster than normal!”

This rate was already quite impressive, but what mattered more was that the Year-End Paper he was using now was only a hundred years old.

If he used thousand-year-old Year-End Paper, his efficiency could double again.

However, this thought only lingered in his mind for a moment before he dismissed it.

Not to mention thousand-year-old paper, even hundred-year-old paper might be too costly for him to use regularly.

The power within the Year-End Paper wasn’t permanent. Mu Lin could sense that whether the Paper Figure was fighting or cultivating, it continuously consumed this special power.

Once the power was exhausted, the Year-End Paper would become ordinary paper.

This meant that, for Mu Lin, the paper was a consumable item, and he would need to purchase it regularly…

“Now I finally understand why, among the four essential elements for Qi Refiners—wealth, companionship, methods, and location—wealth is ranked first.”

…

Troubled by his lack of wealth, Mu Lin arrived at the Dao Palace Training Ground the next day with a gloomy expression.

His demeanor caught Chu Lingluo’s attention, and she kept glancing his way. However, over the past few days, whenever she and Yan Yunyu had disagreements, Mu Lin had consistently sided with Yan Yunyu. This behavior had left her filled with Resentment.

Because of this, although Mu Lin’s emotions concerned her, her own mix of anger and resentment prevented her from asking about it.

Instead, it was Yan Yunyu who took the initiative to inquire.

“Young Master Mu, are you encountering some problem?”

Her question, of course, was not answered truthfully by Mu Lin.

“It’s nothing.”

This response was not what Yan Yunyu wanted. What made her even more anxious was that after she joined Mu Lin’s team, everyone else had been challenging the tower one after another.

Even her former subordinate Zhou Liang had gathered a group of people and cleared the fourth floor of the Tower of Illusory Heavens.

Ji Xue, the top student in the class, had even achieved an “Excellent” rating and was advancing toward the fifth floor of the Tower of Illusory Heavens.

While everyone else was making progress, Mu Lin’s team, in contrast, had not challenged the tower even once.

Mu Lin spent every day cultivating, cultivating, and cultivating some more.

In recent days, he had even become almost invisible.

This situation made Yan Yunyu utterly anxious.

She had joined Mu Lin’s team to accomplish serious matters, not to genuinely compete with Chu Lingluo for favor.

‘I’m not that foolish woman, actually developing feelings for someone from a humble background. How ridiculous.’

Anxious, Yan Yunyu watched as Mu Lin was about to close his eyes and cultivate again, seemingly indifferent to everything, and felt completely helpless.

This, in turn, shifted her mindset.

‘This can’t go on any longer.’

For the sake of her Cultivation Method, her future, and her prospects, she looked directly at Mu Lin and spoke bluntly.

“I want you to continue the Tower Challenge, help me become the top in the class, and then, hand the honor of first place to me.”

These words finally interrupted Mu Lin’s cultivation. However, the look he gave Yan Yunyu was utterly speechless.

“It’s daytime now. Please save your dreams for nighttime.”

(End of Chapter)