Chapter 149
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Chapter 149: Cycle of Life and Death, Level 2 Proficiency!
Mu Lin’s overwhelming victory most impacted Dongfang Ya. During recent days while resting in her office, noble families from Anping City kept approaching her repeatedly.
"Is Teacher Dongfang available? Another visitor has come."
The teacher who spoke was filled with envy, while Dongfang Ya merely felt burdened.
"Sigh…"
After exhaling deeply, Dongfang Ya went out to converse with the visitor.
Some time later, she returned clutching bundles of gifts she couldn’t return.
This sight made a nearby colleague inquire,
"Another family wanting their child to become your disciple?"
"Indeed."
Dongfang Ya’s confirmation stirred greater curiosity among the surrounding staff.
"Xia Ya, what magic did you perform to attract so many aspiring students? Can you share your secret?"
Hearing this, Dongfang Ya showed mixed emotions as she explained, "The credit isn’t mine – it’s Mu Lin. Days ago, he single-handedly defeated nineteen opponents in public combat."
"He took such drastic action because they’d insulted me."
"His fierce loyalty and remarkable skills made the noble families believe I’m responsible for his prowess. Now they all want me to teach their children."
"Truthfully, I did nothing. This is entirely Mu Lin’s doing. Moreover, I can’t handle more students – the Formal Class already exhausts me."
Her expression blended weariness from constant interruptions with pride in her pupil’s achievements.
Other teachers listened with growing jealousy. While Dongfang Ya complained about limited capacity, her colleagues would gladly accept such students – especially since noble families offered valuable resources and connections.
"Blast it! Why don’t I have such star pupils?"
Among the envious crowd, none suffered more regret than Teacher Ma. When Mu Lin first manifested the domain of Heaven’s Funeral, he’d already lamented missing a golden opportunity.
Back then, he’d consoled himself that Mu Lin’s growth would take years, offering no immediate benefits to staff.
Yet within days, Dongfang Ya began receiving lavish gifts and social connections from powerful families – everything Teacher Ma desperately desired.
What stung most was knowing these privileges could have been his. Hadn’t he been Mu Lin’s first instructor?
"Curse my indecision! Why did I doubt his potential…"
…
Unaware of Teacher Ma’s anguish, Mu Lin focused on examining the shifting patterns within his Cycle of Life and Death.
Cycle of Life and Death (Heaven Tier Low Quality), Level 2 Proficiency (1/9300), Features: Obscure Light
After days of intense cultivation, Mu Lin achieved a deep connection between life and death by using the Substitute Paper Figure to represent death while he embodied life. This resonated perfectly with the essence of the Cycle of Life and Death, accelerating his mastery of the technique.
In mere days, he elevated this formation to Level 2.
He could now activate the formation using his own body as yang and the paper figure as yin, causing the sky’s illumination to shift between light and darkness across an area.
Simply put, he could turn daytime into nighttime or vice versa within a localized region.
At first glance, this seemed unremarkable.
Many cultivation methods could alter day and night cycles.
Even Mu Lin’s black fog could blot out sunlight, plunging the surroundings into darkness.
Yet the Cycle of Life and Death held unique advantages.
First, the day-night shift was merely the first level – more formidable powers would emerge with deeper practice.
Second and most crucially, Mu Lin realized the surface-level day-night change masked the formation’s true core: Yin and Yang Transformation.
The technique manipulated natural phenomena through yin-yang interplay rather than raw force.
As all things balance yin and yang – neither existing in isolation – so too did day (yang) and night (yin) form complementary halves.
When successfully deployed:
– During daylight, Mu Lin could use himself (yang anchor) to convert day into night using solar energy
– During nighttime, the Substitute Paper Figure (yin anchor) enabled reversal using lunar energy
This approach conserved energy dramatically. Like converting water to ice and back, the elements themselves weren’t consumed – only transformation energy was spent. While still requiring magic power, this proved infinitely easier than conjuring elements from nothing.
Moreover, the Cycle’s transformations resisted reversal. Unlike his black fog that wind could scatter or light spells dispel, the formation’s changes proved far more durable.
"Through this formation, I convert yang energy into yin," Mu Lin reasoned. "Light spells and fire techniques are yang-based – releasing them just fuels further conversion. Only overwhelming force exceeding the formation’s natural energy could break it… but anyone that powerful would defeat me regardless."
After comprehending these traits, Mu Lin murmured:
"The irreversible nature alone justifies this Heaven Tier formation’s reputation."
He prepared to resume training when Yan Yunyu arrived.
"Mu brother, Master Meng Rui sent word – your materials are ready."
"So soon?!"
The materials referred to star paper.
No, it should now be called the Star Paper of the Year-End Noble.
Thanks to Master Meng Rui’s generosity, Mu Lin had added not just the star attribute but also year-end and noble properties to the paper.
He took this batch of paper extremely seriously.
With it, Mu Lin could finally deploy his Northern Ziwei Seven Star Formation.
But that wasn’t the only reason he refused to abandon this paper.
His paper figures couldn’t handle more formations.
After obtaining several formations from Master Meng Rui, Mu Lin had tried piling all of them onto a single paper figure to fully arm it.
It didn’t work.
Ordinary paper had limited capacity, and the magical energy inside the paper figures was scarce.
This made it impossible for Mu Lin to carve Speed, Vajra Strength, Giant Spirit, and Sky-High Technique Spell all at once.
He could only etch a few, and through this, he realized why master-level talismans were so prized.
“No wonder master-level talisman masters are revered. Even though basic talismans are nine times weaker, you’d think stacking nine regular ones could match a single master-level talisman.”
“But that’s impossible. Even puppets don’t have enough space for nine talismans, let alone the energy to power them.”
“And if you compare a puppet with nine ordinary talismans to one with nine master-level ones? The difference would be staggering…”
While Puppet Masters struggled with that, Mu Lin’s problem was simpler: regular paper could barely hold one or two talismans, and activating them drained magical energy.
He had two solutions.
First, upgrade the paper figures’ composition with external materials and add an Energy Core.
But this would turn them into costly puppets, losing their disposable nature—something Mu Lin disliked.
His second idea was internal.
“If I carve talismans onto the imaginary forms of Yin soldiers and ghost officials in my Mind Image world, then infuse them with extra energy when summoning… They’d naturally wield Vajra Strength, Speed, and Giant Spirit.”
“Their forms have limits, and summoning them eats more energy—but at least it’s resource-efficient.”
Facing this choice, Mu Lin—being practical—decided to take both.
He’d keep cheap paper figures for everyday use while crafting elite ones using the Star Paper of the Year-End Noble as his hidden trump cards.
That’s why this paper mattered so much.
