Chapter 72
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Chapter 72: Enlightenment, Substitute Paper Figure’s Proficiency Soars
After settling the rewards for Mu Lin, the teachers departed. They’d rushed over earlier fearing an invasion, but now they walked back leisurely. As they left, some gossiped about Dongfang Ya.
Some criticized her for overstepping: “Mu Lin and Ji Xue aren’t your true disciples—just students with a nominal connection. Why go to such lengths for them?” Others praised her integrity: “They say a calamity-level evil once passed through her hometown, killing everyone. She survived only because a righteous demon slayer shielded her… That’s likely why she cares so deeply for younger generations.”
Whether they admired or disapproved, faint envy lingered in their eyes. Clearly, they too wished they’d had such a devoted teacher in their youth.
The teachers also debated whether Mu Lin could keep his top rank at Anping Taoist Palace. Most agreed he couldn’t. Their reasoning wasn’t personal—just logical.
“However he outshone those prodigies to claim first place, magical cultivation is the foundation for us Qi Practitioners. The further you progress, the more critical it becomes.”
“Exactly. At the drawing in energy and awakening stages, novices haven’t fully built their spell systems. Defeating higher-level opponents is common—awakening-stage cultivators beating Spring Fountain experts isn’t rare. But surpassing levels beyond Spring Fountain? Nearly impossible.”
“…Whatever tricks Mu Lin has, once Ji Xue and the others reach Spring Fountain, his odds will plummet. If they advance to Spirit Pool? He’ll stand no chance.”
Mu Lin knew nothing of these discussions, but he’d long felt the difficulty of improving his cultivation. He’d devised two solutions. The first was conventional: pills.
Among the Arts of Cultivation, alchemists top all electives because pills boost cultivation. Rare ones can even break bottlenecks. But pills carry side effects, and potent ones cost fortunes. Poor Mu Lin had to treat this as a backup plan.
His true hope lay in the Great Yin Living Scripture’s core ability—the Substitute Paper Figure.
“One person’s cultivation is slow—but what about three? Five?”
“Though my Substitute Paper Figure lacks meridians and can’t cycle energy to generate power now…”
“It’s already at the third realm. The fourth realm means mastery—a qualitative leap for any cultivation method. Once I reach it, I’m 80% certain the figure can absorb moonlight to condense power for me.”
Acting immediately, Mu Lin returned to his quarters and stabbed himself.
“Sssk—”
Pain seared through him, yet his Substitute Paper Figure’s proficiency surged anew.
What Mu Lin didn’t expect was that after a dozen stabs, his spell—the Paper Figure Curse—had gained two or three points of proficiency without any practice.
"Huh? Why… Wait, Substitute Paper Figure and Paper Figure Curse—these two spells are actually related."
"They both use paper figures to connect with people."
"The difference is, Paper Figure Curse links to others while Substitute Paper Figure links to myself."
"Paper Figure Curse transfers injuries from paper figures to human bodies."
"Substitute Paper Figure moves injuries from my body to the paper figure…"
The more he thought, the more Mu Lin realized their similarity. This connection awakened his spiritual awareness, making him instinctively modify his Substitute Paper Figure.
"Paper Figure Curse uses true names, vital blood, and birth dates to link people… My Substitute Paper Figure has my vital blood and spiritual energy, but not my name."
"Maybe I should carve my true name and birth date onto it."
"Buzz…"
As Mu Lin concentrated, the Substitute Paper Figure in his dantian suddenly changed. Sharp strokes etched characters onto it—first his name, then his birth date.
"Boom!"
With his true name and birth date engraved, Mu Lin immediately felt a stronger bond with the paper figure. Checking his proficiency panel confirmed this wasn’t imagination:
【Substitute Paper Figure (Inherent Spell), Level 3 Mastery (4909/8100), Traits: Clone Illusion (Two Clones), Injury Transfer (50%)】
"4909 proficiency? It was just over 1000 earlier! That flash of insight gave me 3000-4000 points!"
The sudden leap stunned Mu Lin. Now he understood why all Qi Practitioners sought enlightenment—one moment of clarity could equal months of Hard Practice. Even with his rapid progress from the proficiency panel, this saved him two months:
"With this, I’ll advance in a month instead of three… Still takes a whole month though."
He sighed. The slow progress stemmed from limited Vitality of the Living in his body—each damaged paper figure required this energy for repair, severely restricting daily practice.
"Power… This shortage chains me."
No wonder teachers said power was fundamental. Mu Lin’s frown deepened as he wrestled with this limitation.
Chu Lingluo noticed his expression. "Brother Mu, what’s wrong?"
"Nothing…"
"Hmph!" She sat upright, fists clenching. "Don’t treat me like a child! We’re teammates—we help each other!"
"Ah… Sorry." Mu Lin rubbed his neck. "I see you as a younger sister, not a kid."
Unseen by him, Chu Lingluo froze momentarily, fingers tightening around her sleeve.
After apologizing, Mu Lin explained his power shortage issue, not expecting solutions. But wealth spoke:
"Low power? Wait a moment."
