Chapter 350
by fanqienovelChapter 350: Mu Lin: You’re That Happy About Blocking My Basic Move?
In the demon beast gathering area, the black fierce tiger’s eye twitched as it watched Mu Lin’s display. A deep disgust churned within it—this ability was terrifying to witness.
What chilled it more was knowing Mu Lin had used this very power to exhaust a descendant of evil gods to death.
Turning to the surrounding Demon Race members, it sneered:
“Now you see the problem? You can’t touch him. Any wound you deal reflects back on yourselves.”
“He’s got a hundred lives to burn. How many can you spare?”
These words made many young Demon Race prodigies frown. Youthful arrogance thrived here, embodied by the saying “newborn calves fear no tigers.” Before seeing Mu Lin firsthand, they’d clung to their pride despite hearing of his strength, convinced they could best him.
A black bull demon and a blazing battle ape from the tribe had been especially eager, certain no one surpassed their raw power and combat skills. But witnessing Mu Lin’s battlefield performance shattered their confidence—he’d abandoned brute force entirely, now wielding rule-based powers that left them helpless.
Meanwhile, Tu Su, the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, writhed with venomous regret. As a knowledgeable princess of Qingqiu Kingdom, she recognized Mu Lin’s ability wasn’t unique or unbeatable.
“His power ties to causality,” she muttered. “Peak Sword Intent could sever those threads. My Illusion Ability, pushed to its limit, could twist the causality or trick it into latching onto illusions shaped like me…”
She’d found multiple counters to his reflective substitution—but all required reaching Grandmaster-level mastery in specific skills. Against opponents of equal realm, Mu Lin’s trick wouldn’t be a dimensional strike—just another tool in the clash.
Yet reaching Grandmaster status? Simple in theory, impossible for most. Even achieving basic mastery demanded rare opportunities and talent, let alone the synthesis of myriad teachings into one’s own path required for Grandmastery—a feat seen once in millions.
What truly stunned Tu Su was Mu Lin’s age. Why did people imagine Grandmasters as venerable elders? Because attaining that rank normally required decades of studying others’ methods, absorbing countless truths to forge original techniques.
Grandmasters earned their aura of depth through time—until Mu Lin. Here stood a youth who’d broken all conventions, reaching Grandmaster-level essence as a teenager. Such monstrous talent…
“If he’s already grasped Grandmaster mysteries this young,” she whispered, “give him a few more years… Could he become an Earth Immortal before thirty-three?”
True regret gripped her. In this world where personal power ruled all, Mu Lin needed no armies or lands. Becoming an Earth Master would guarantee him influence. As a Heavenly Master, he’d sway the fate of entire regions and mid-sized races.
This potential already dwarfed that of most human race princes.
“What a pity…”
……
Tu Su, who had reassessed Mu Lin’s potential, was filled with regret.
The other members of the Demon Race frowned, their heads aching as they pondered how to counter Mu Lin’s abilities to kill him swiftly in future clashes.
The northern aristocrats, already locked in battle with Mu Lin, had no time to strategize. Facing him left them utterly helpless.
“Tao Bin will lose. He can’t withstand that petrifying force…”
Snake Man Tao Bin stood no chance. The Central Earth Evil’s Unchanging nature made it nearly unbeatable in defense.
When this trait ran wild, even petrification carried the Unchanging property—untreatable by ordinary means. This was why high-level resources were so hard to Refine: injuries from them rarely healed.
But none of this terrified Tao Bin as much as the sheer scale of Mu Lin’s Central Earth Evil. It felt endless, like an ocean.
“Buzz!”
Wave after wave of petrifying energy smashed through his defenses, overwhelming in their sheer quantity.
Even the forbidden poison he’d dreaded was petrified and sealed by the relentless force.
His defeat was inevitable.
Thankfully, Mu Lin held some respect for the northern aristocrats—they’d long defended humanity against demons and monsters on the front lines.
So he petrified Tao Bin but spared his life.
“Why pick a fight with me?” Mu Lin muttered coolly. “Next.”
While he wouldn’t sacrifice his own reputation for them, he’d let these northern geniuses live. But he still planned to defeat every last one.
The northern youths sighed in relief when they saw Tao Bin alive. Yet despair gripped them as they stared at Mu Lin dominating the arena.
His reflective substitution ability was broken at this stage.
Any attack he absorbed with his body, transferred via a paper figure, and reflected back. Worse, he could do this over a hundred times.
They couldn’t survive even two fatal wounds. How could they fight?
But this battle wasn’t just about them—it represented the billions of North Wilderness citizens. They couldn’t afford to lose.
So they kept charging at Mu Lin, testing his limits with every tactic.
“Your power isn’t unbeatable!” declared the next challenger. Instead of attacking directly, he summoned wolf and eagle spirits, ordering the totemic beings to strike.
“Using summons to absorb the reflected damage? Clever…”
The probing actions of the northern aristocrats caught the attention of the Tiger Demon clan.
They had the innate ability to create vengeful spirits from those they devoured. If the northern aristocrats could attack Mu Lin using summons, they too could use these spirits against him…
But before they could finish this thought, they sighed in disappointment.
The cultivator had failed.
Even when summons attacked Mu Lin, his counter-damage ability reflected injuries back onto their summoners.
…
Some tried summoning techniques, others piled on defensive measures, while a few attempted elemental transformation to reduce vulnerabilities against Mu Lin’s counter-damage.
All attempts failed. No matter the method, attackers always suffered reflected damage, plunging many into despair.
Even demons and monsters began regarding Mu Lin with fearful respect.
"He reflects all attacks! Even self-inflicted wounds get transferred to us. Damn! How does this power exist?"
"This ability alone isn’t special – mutual destruction isn’t rare. What’s terrifying is his immortality. Without his hundred substitution lives, he wouldn’t dare use this mutually destructive power recklessly."
"We’re doomed. With Mu Lin around, our future looks bleak."
The other tribes weren’t foolish. Though the southern human race had allied with them against northern people, they knew southern aristocrats’ rise would endanger them too. This realization bred anxiety.
Some optimistic demons remained. "Don’t panic. Our elders aren’t threatened by his mutual destruction combined with substitution."
"Fool! The elders could kill him now, but do you think he’ll stay this weak? His true terror lies in growth speed – he’s only seventeen with one year of cultivation!"
…
Mu Lin’s overwhelming power worried many tribes. Some elders even contemplated eliminating him preemptively.
But such thinkers were few. While Earth Immortals could kill Mu Lin, his hundred substitution lives made this difficult and time-consuming.
Moreover, Mu Lin had strong human backing – the Chu family, Yan family, and Demon Exorcism Division would all protect him. If he held out long enough, human experts would surely rescue him.
"Unkillable unless a Demon Emperor or Celestial Master intervenes. But such actions would mean full-scale tribal war – nobody dares risk that."
Unable to kill Mu Lin or halt his growth, the demons and monsters had to consider future strategies. They concluded befriending him while weak, like human powerful clans do, was their best option.
"With established goodwill, even a powerful Mu Lin wouldn’t attack us casually."
Eyes lit up across demon ranks as they considered alliance methods. Most quickly settled on the ancient, reliable solution – marriage alliances.
Action followed swiftly. From the Feather Tribe came suggestions for Tian Yun to deepen her connection with Mu Lin.
The Tiger Demon clan also had members ask Li Jingjing, the White Tiger about her thoughts on Mu Lin.
"Eh? What about Mu Lin? He’s strong, but this young lady won’t lose. When I fully mature, I definitely won’t be weaker than him."
…
Mu Lin’s overwhelming power made many feel they couldn’t fight him. Yet the northern aristocrats hadn’t given up yet. They kept fighting Mu Lin stubbornly.
To be fair, these people had great battle instincts. After multiple defeats, they actually discovered a way to deal with Mu Lin’s substitution counter-damage through their losses.
"Causality," explained Qing, a northern scholar, his eyes shining as he remembered past battles. "Mu Lin’s substitution isn’t unconditional. You need existing causal ties to become his substitution target."
"Since we always attacked first before, that created causal connections – that’s why we got hurt by his counter-damage. But if we don’t attack at all, his substitution ability can’t link to us."
Hearing this, many northern cultivators felt hopeful.
But soon someone worried: "How can we win without attacking?"
"Right! We can’t just stand there taking his hits!"
Qing smiled at their doubts. "Relax. Mu Lin doesn’t truly understand causality deeply."
"Though I don’t know how he gained causal powers at this stage, everyone knows causality’s mysterious and hard to master. Even Celestial Masters only scratch its surface."
"So I’m certain he can’t control causal threads freely. If we don’t attack first, any causal links from his attacks would be weak."
"Then we can attack freely."
Qing’s reasoning… was right.
If Mu Lin attacked first and enemies counterattacked, his substitution power would weaken dramatically.
Even if Mu Lin injured himself to death, enemies might only get minor scratches.
This way, even dying 300-500 times couldn’t help Mu Lin defeat them.
…
Finding this solution boosted the northern youths’ morale.
The next challenger confidently faced Mu Lin without attacking.
Mu Lin raised an eyebrow. "Not attacking?"
His question instead of immediate action made the youth more confident.
"See! We were right! Your counter-damage needs us to attack first!"
"Haha! We found your secret technique’s weakness! If I don’t attack, you can’t touch me!"
Mu Lin glanced at him calmly. "You’re half-right. The counter-damage does need your attack to create causality. But…"
He looked puzzled. "Why think breaking my substitution means I’m helpless? This isn’t my trump card – just a basic move."
"Eh???"
"Basic move?"
"No way! This unbeatable skill is basic?!"
While the northern aristocrats cheered at finding the weakness, Mu Lin’s words caused uproar.
Nobody wanted to believe his near-invincible substitution was just an ordinary attack.