Chapter 28
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Chapter 28: Substitute Paper Figure
The altar could inscribe spells. Its three layers corresponded to Mu Lin’s spirit cultivation, meaning he could etch three spells onto it.
The altar’s second function was amplification. Daoists and Qi Practitioners often used ritual platforms, and this altar was a variant. By expending more magical power, Mu Lin could boost his spell power through the altar. Three layers meant he could amplify spells by ninety percent.
However, orthodox sects’ altars differed slightly from Mu Lin’s.
“As an ancient sect, paper folders align more with shamanism than Daoism. Altars, meant to honor heaven and spirits, excel at amplifying spells like summoning gods, beckoning ghosts, curses, or blessings… Elemental spells gain lesser boosts.”
Beyond inscribing and amplifying, the altar could summon. This tied to the origin power of Mind Image · City of Heaven’s Funeral. The small courtyard within Mu Lin’s spirit could summon the power of Heaven’s Funeral onto himself.
As a reflection of Mind Image · City of Heaven’s Funeral, his Spiritual Roots also channeled this eerie force. The difference lay in where it was summoned: invoking it in the sea of consciousness tainted his soul, while summoning it in the dantian’s energy sea corrupted his magical power and body.
“No wonder many Yin Eight Sect cultivators end up neither human nor ghost.”
Recalling the grim fate of paper folder elders, Mu Lin vowed never to summon Heaven’s Funeral’s power unless life hung in the balance. The sole exception existed because Burial Power, while perilous, offered unmatched strength. Faced with death, he’d still use it—after all,
“Burial Power threatens the future, but death leaves no future at all.”
Thus, Burial Power remained Mu Lin’s desperate last resort.
…
With his dantian opened and Spiritual Roots solidified, Mu Lin’s Hard Practice finally bore fruit. At this stage, Qi Practitioners truly transcended mortals. Many even dismissed the earlier realms of sensing and drawing in energy, viewing awakening as cultivation’s true start.
Mu Lin cared little for such debates. His Spiritual Roots weren’t just the altar—the humanoid figure atop it mattered equally. This form, condensed from the Great Yin Living Scripture, bore a plain name: Substitute Paper Figure.
As a substitute, its uses varied. Through the paper figure, Mu Lin could mislead foes or deflect spells. Yet if these were its only traits, it wouldn’t deserve being the core spell of a top-tier Earth-level cultivation method like the Great Yin Living Scripture.
Substitutes, illusions, and clones were common across disciplines. Even the Paper Folding Secret Manual included a basic paper figure substitute technique. Such mediocrity would shame the Great Yin Living Scripture.
But Mu Lin’s Substitute Paper Figure wasn’t ordinary. Most clones relied on illusions, easily seen through by soul-strong foes or specialized spells. Others targeting the soul’s essence could bypass illusions entirely.
Mu Lin’s substitute had no such weakness. Crafted from meridian maps, vital blood, and his soul’s essence, it mirrored his aura perfectly. Ordinary spells couldn’t distinguish it from his true body. Beyond deception, it offered Mu Lin two more advantages.
One feature of the Substitute Paper Figure was that it could be summoned through the Paper Figure Technique. As a projection formed from Mu Lin’s Three Treasures of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, it retained nearly half of his capabilities. Once manifested, Mu Lin could temporarily join forces with it for a brief two-against-one assault.
"The drawbacks are clear. My total mana reserves remain limited. Summoning it splits my magic power evenly between us."
"Moreover, the Substitute Paper Figure lacks independent consciousness, requiring my divided attention to control."
Despite these limitations, the psychological impact of facing a lone fighter versus coordinated attackers differed completely.
Crucially, as a substitute, Mu Lin could command it to fight recklessly or even self-destruct to create openings for his true body.
Overall, this proved remarkably useful.
Yet the Substitute Paper Figure’s most vital feature remained its core function – the reason it served as foundational spellwork for the Great Yin Living Scripture, a top-tier Earth-level cultivation method.
This ultimate feature was called Injury Transfer!
Being a projection of his vital energies, Mu Lin could redirect wounds, curses, and all negative conditions from his own body to the Substitute Paper Figure through their intrinsic connection.
Eager to test this, Mu Lin immediately made an experimental cut on his forearm with a paper knife.
The blade bit into flesh. When blood welled up, he halted the action and focused inward. His consciousness dove into the dantian, observing the ritual altar where the Substitute Paper Figure stood intact.
As Mu Lin concentrated, the wound on his arm began fading while identical damage appeared on the paper figure. Yet only thirty percent of the injury transferred.
"My proficiency remains insufficient!"
A spell’s effectiveness depended not only on its grade, but also the caster’s proficiency, cultivation stage, and mana investment. Even supreme techniques showed limited power when executed with low skill and inadequate energy.
The Substitute Paper Figure, though matching the Great Yin Living Scripture’s top-tier Earth-level status, currently operated at mere Level 2 Proficiency. Its true potential remained locked.
Mu Lin soon discovered more limitations. The injury transfer had strict capacity limits. While curses and wounds could be offloaded to ordinary paper figures through origami channeling – as demonstrated when he transferred the substitute’s injury to a disposable paper construct that subsequently burned away – this process left energy deficits.
Though the Substitute Paper Figure’s magical composition allowed gradual mana-based recovery, this took time. Sustained severe injuries could overwhelm the system, reducing the paper avatar to scraps.
"Still, its power shines through," Mu Lin mused. "The decoy’s realism, tactical advantage in numbers, and damage redirection all prove invaluable. Especially against curses – far deadlier than mere wounds. Redirecting hexes to the substitute before offloading them via paper channeling? Priceless."
Pe551
Thanks for the chapter!(＾3＾♪