Chapter 5
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Chapter 5: Mind Image · City of Heaven’s Funeral
“Successful awakening?”
When Mu Lin first heard this, he felt only envy, not shock.
Zong Xiu seemed displeased by his calm reaction and sighed. “Brother Mu, you’ve truly forgotten much. Surely you don’t think she’d already been drawing in energy, just one step away from awakening?”
“Wasn’t she?”
“Of course not! I don’t know if cultivators trained young in the past, but since the Bloody Moon’s rise, anyone daring to sense spiritual energy before sixteen undergoes mutations inside their body.”
“Because of this and the Taoist Palace’s rules, even students with cultivator relatives avoid sensing energy. Half a day ago, Ji Xue was an ordinary person like us—just slightly more knowledgeable.”
“Yet in half a day, she sensed energy, drew it in, and awakened!”
“I have the best-suited cultivation method and family resources, yet I’ll still need ten to twenty days!”
Zong Xiu’s eyes burned with jealousy as he spoke.
Mu Lin finally understood why his original self hadn’t cultivated despite having a Qi Practitioner grandfather. He sighed.
“You only need ten days? I’d be content to start within a hundred.”
Hearing Mu Lin’s bitterness, Zong Xiu coughed awkwardly. “Ahem, your talent isn’t terrible… You’ll manage in fifty or sixty days…”
After exchanging a few more words, Mu Lin returned to his seat, closed his eyes, and began sorting through his memories.
The classroom fell silent as others, shaken by Ji Xue’s success, threw themselves into training.
…
After the time it takes a stick of incense to burn, Mu Lin finished organizing his knowledge—and froze.
The Paper Folding Secret Manual demanded three things: spirit, energy, and technique. To achieve a perfect awakening now, he needed to merge energy and spirit.
Energy meant Yin energy. The manual’s ultimate goal was life-creating energy, achieved by refining Yin energy into Yang, then uniting both. If paper figures were puppet robots, energy served as their power source. But autonomy required a “mind”—hence spirit cultivation to grant them temporary intelligence.
The Great Yin Living Scripture would let him refine unique Yin energy, while Mind Image · City of Heaven’s Funeral strengthened his spirit. Combined with paper magic techniques, these formed the complete manual.
Yet something was missing. Essence, Qi, and Spirit—the Three Flowers—were humanity’s treasures. The manual covered only energy and spirit, lacking essence cultivation. But this made sense: the Paper Folding Secret Manual was merely a top-tier Earth-level method, flawed and unorthodox, far from Heavenly perfection.
This was also why Mu Lin chose the Black Water Mystic Serpent’s Transformation Technique in the Taoist Palace’s Scripture Pavilion.
It would compensate for his final weakness, allowing his Three Flowers of Essence, Qi, and Spirit to reach completion.
Yet at this thought, Mu Lin’s expression turned bitter.
“Is the old man overestimating me? Cultivating the Great Yin Living Scripture, Mind Image · City of Heaven’s Funeral, and the Black Water Mystic Serpent’s Transformation Technique simultaneously might forge a near-perfect foundation for me—but does he think I’m some prodigy?”
Mu Lin sensed trouble, but soon froze as a realization struck him.
“Wait… Maybe he doesn’t believe in me at all. Instead, he plans to shoulder the burden himself. His frantic rushing between cities—could he be scrambling to earn enough resources to prop up my foundation?”
After pondering, Mu Lin felt 80% certain this was the case.
A parent’s heart knows no bounds. Across all worlds, they yearn for their children’s success.
Yet fate is fickle. None can predict whether tomorrow or calamity arrives first.
The old man never imagined that while he toiled, Mu Lin—safe in the prefectural city—would meet disaster.
To heal Mu Lin’s wounded spirit, the old man spent most of his savings. Thus, all preparations he’d made for Mu Chen crumbled.
His sole comfort lay in the Paper Folding Secret Manual’s records: the Great Yin Living Scripture required only nightly cultivation under moonlight, while Mind Image · City of Heaven’s Funeral demanded nothing but closed-eyed visualization.
Only the Black Water Mystic Serpent’s Transformation Technique was resource-heavy, but the hundred-odd Spirit Stones provided would suffice for foundational training.
“Two methods cost nothing, and Grandpa supports the third. A perfect foundation is possible… But mastering all three in a hundred days? Unlikely. I’ll try anyway. If overwhelmed, I’ll focus on one to achieve awakening quickly.”
With daylight ruling out moon cultivation and lacking the Serpent’s vital blood, Mu Lin closed his eyes to visualize Mind Image · City of Heaven’s Funeral without hesitation.
The City of Heaven’s Funeral had no fixed form. The method required imagining a colossal underworld metropolis—stern palaces housing soldiers, steeds, dwellings, cranes, and armaments.
This connected to the secret technique of paper magic. To breathe temporary consciousness into paper figures, one must visualize specific mental states while exhaling.
Yet on-the-spot visualization drained time and energy. Even Earth Master Qi Practitioners struggled to conjure complex forms swiftly.
Thus, the technique’s creators devised a solution: pre-visualize a gargantuan city containing every possible element. This template would draw from daily mental reserves rather than battle focus.
When fighting, Mu Lin need only summon pre-built elements from his mind, conserving crucial effort.
“The final goal is a full city with palaces. For now, start small—weapons, paper cranes, maybe people…”
Mu Lin chose… a sword.
Simpler than armor, cranes, horses, or human forms, the blade took just five attempts to materialize.
“Qi determines a paper figure’s power. Spirit defines its potential. This method requires serious cultivation…”
After a day of setbacks, the easy success with the sword lifted Mu Lin’s mood.
But before relief could settle, strange words flickered before him:
[Mind Image · City of Heaven’s Funeral, Level 1 Entry (1/108)]
“???”
“What’s this?”
Pe551
Hell yeah system!