Chapter 373

Chapter 373: The Mighty Body of Zhu Long, The Aristocrats’ Regret

To prevent young talents from falling, Ji Hongyu flew at breakneck speed.

Within mere moments, she reached the origin point of the celestial phenomena.

There she saw it – a dark serpentine form coiled like a mountain range, its scales gleaming mysteriously.

“?!!”

The serpent’s colossal size pressed down on Ji Hongyu like physical weight.

What shocked her more was its divine rank, its body swirling with profound mysteries.

Just looking at it made every hair on Ji Hongyu’s body stand rigid. An icy chill crept from her tailbone to her heart.

“Deadly.”

“This thing could erase me!”

The crushing pressure and cultivator’s intuition screamed at her to flee. Yet despite her terror, Ji Hongyu stood her ground. With battle cry, she launched herself forward.

“Filthy beast! How dare you run wild here!”

“Burn!”

Her furious shout accompanied a phoenix-shaped fire arrow that streaked toward Mu Lin.

BOOM!

The flaming projectile struck true, finally provoking movement from the mountain-sized serpent.

The creature turned its massive head, fixing eyes upon its tiny attacker.

That gaze froze Ji Hongyu’s blood.

Pure Death Energy seeped into her bones, threatening to shatter both body and soul.

—Using the deity of Mount Zhong and the mythic Zhu Long as Templates, Mu Lin’s manifestation possessed eyes beyond mortal comprehension. Within those orbs swirled not just light and dark, but the very cycles of Life and Death Illusion. A single careless glance could destroy both spirit and flesh.

Fortunately, Ji Hongyu held strong. More importantly, Mu Lin meant no harm.

Recognizing his attacker, Mu Lin snapped his eyes shut. Darkness swallowed the world.

Through the sightless void came his baffled voice:

“Commander Ji? Why strike at me?”

“…”

Only after long silence came her strained reply, words twisting through the blackness:

“No assassination attempt? You caused this celestial disturbance? You achieved Transformation advancement?”

Her noble upbringing and sharp eyes soon pieced together the truth – the upheaval shaking Yuzhou City stemmed entirely from Mu Lin’s breakthrough.

This realization only deepened her shock. She’d witnessed Transformation advancements before. Had undergone one herself. Yet this…

However, while other Transformation advancements caused some commotion, the strongest among them—like Luo Chen during his first advancement—had manifestations that only reached a hundred meters in size, affecting mere kilometers around. Even these were already called unparalleled geniuses.

As for Mu Lin, whose advancement process alone shrouded an entire supercity in celestial phenomena and distorted the skies… Ji Hongyu had never witnessed or even heard of such a thing.

"Are you certain you’re not becoming an Earth Immortal?"

Shocked and terrified, she stared as Mu Lin finally noticed the excessive scale of his advancement after her reminder. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "My apologies. This got a bit too loud."

He then explained, "You know I trained with more essence and high-level resources than others. My foundation’s sturdier, so the Transformation affects me… more noticeably."

Ji Hongyu’s eye twitched. "Noticeable? This isn’t just noticeable."

Still, she didn’t pry further, instead urging him to continue while she dealt with approaching onlookers.

Humans were complicated—greedy schemers existed alongside righteous souls. Though hot-tempered, Ji Hongyu genuinely wanted the Great Spirit Dynasty to prosper. Her interference shielded Mu Lin from distractions.

Not wanting to reveal his secrets, Mu Lin cloaked himself. Transforming into Zhu Long gave him simple hiding methods—closing his eyes plunged the surroundings into unnatural darkness.

This wasn’t ordinary night. While distant areas remained unaffected, the void around Mu Lin resembled a light-devouring abyss. Even those with special vision or mental probes couldn’t pierce it. Attempting to peer inside risked feeling one’s soul dragged into endless depths.

Within this self-made darkness, Mu Lin focused on understanding his changes.

…

Though he hid his mountainous form and suppressed his aura, becoming Zhu Long elevated his rank beyond perfect golden constructs to mythical-tier existence. Such beings passively altered their surroundings just by existing—a trait of Earth Immortals who sustainably reshape regions.

Mu Lin hadn’t reached Earth Immortal yet, but displayed hints of it. Worse, his merged high-level cultivation methods and hundredfold high-level resources granted abilities surpassing even Earth Immortals. Combined with his imperfect control during this first breakthrough, his leaking aura kept triggering celestial phenomena across Yuzhou City.

More people rushed toward the disturbance.

"What’s going on? Which senior is causing this mess?"

"Is this another attack targeting Mu Lin?"

"Stop him! Do you know how many Spirit Stones the city-wide formation burns hourly?!"

The people who arrived had mixed thoughts, unsure of the reason behind the disturbance. Yet upon learning at Yuhu Academy that these celestial phenomena stemmed from Mu Lin’s Transformation advancement, their faces paled with shock and disbelief.

"Impossible!"

"You’re joking! Even a peak Transformation cultivator couldn’t cause such celestial shifts! And you claim this was triggered by a combining Essence and Evil realm advancement? Have you lost your mind?"

"Exactly! If Mu Lin can do this upon entering Transformation, what happens when he reaches its peak? Will he challenge an Earth Immortal next?"

The celestial phenomena were too overwhelming. By common sense, this surpassed Mu Lin’s capabilities, leaving many skeptical of Ji Hongyu’s explanation.

As the crowd shook their heads in denial, a raspy voice cut through:

"You’re right—no ordinary Transformation cultivator could cause this, not even at the peak… but this is Mu Lin!"

"The one who mastered hundreds of essence types!"

’That’s Mu Lin!’

The words fell like a silencing spell.

Their logic insisted this feat defied the limits of Transformation. Yet Mu Lin’s history of defying expectations forced them to reconsider.

"True… ordinary rules don’t apply to him."

Acceptance brought no comfort, only bitter complexity.

"To alter celestial phenomena upon entering Transformation… My own Cultivation feels worthless compared to his."

"I’ve cultivated Transformation for a century, yet his mere aura terrifies me. He’s already stronger."

Some lamented, others sighed.

"What a waste! Such a wasted opportunity!"

"What opportunity?"

"We could’ve allied with him! When the East Sea King clashed with Mu Lin, I stayed neutral, expecting his downfall. Now… who can predict the outcome?"

Silence gripped the crowd again, followed by waves of regret.

Witnessing Mu Lin’s post-advancement aura, none doubted his resilience. While he couldn’t yet topple the East Sea King, his youth and untapped potential tilted favor toward him.

…

Many mourned their missed chance to court Mu Lin—not just humans, but even demons like Tu Su the Nine-Tailed Fox. Mere hours earlier, she’d dismissed him as a talent without influence, unworthy of being her consort.

But now, when she saw Mu Lin’s overwhelming presence and felt the turmoil in her heart, even with her obsession for power, she had to admit Mu Lin alone surpassed entire factions.

What truly unsettled her was realizing Mu Lin’s excellence surpassed even the human prince and Demon Race’s Tiger Prince as potential husbands. Yet while she now acknowledged him, Mu Lin had risen far beyond her reach.

The dragon clan visitors were equally shaken. Born as true dragons of the perfect Golden Race, Ao Yi and Ao Xuan had always scorned humans and demons alike. Even earlier versions of Mu Lin hadn’t earned their regard. But now, facing Mu Lin’s superior aura and higher rank, they felt primal fear and subjugation for the first time – the instinctive dread of lower beings before those in power.

This sparked furious defiance in the arrogant Ao Yi. "Impossible! How dare you suppress me? I’m perfection incarnate!" His dragon roar shook the skies as he unleashed full dragon might.

The commotion made Mu Lin instinctively glance over.

The moment Mu Lin’s gaze fell upon him, Ao Yi’s roar choked off. Death Energy clawed at Ao Yi’s core, an ice-cold paralysis freezing his soul. He couldn’t twitch a muscle.

Fortunately, Mu Lin in his advancement state barely noticed. A mere glance, then indifference. Yet that fleeting attention shattered Ao Yi’s pride completely.

Mu Lin continued evolving. As countless laws and talismans etched patterns across his lengthening form, his Zhu Long transformation finalized – though still juvenile. True adult Zhu Longs could darken entire worlds with closed eyes and shape seasons with their breath. Compared to such Great Gods, current Mu Lin remained but a hatchling.

As Mu Lin’s aura stabilized, the observing High Mastery of Transformation cultivators sighed in relief. "Finally over." They moved to congratulate him, hoping to salvage some connection despite their tardiness.

But one step forward froze them again.

Though Zhu Long’s oppressive presence had faded, a deeper terror now permeated the air – an existential dread stripping them of autonomy.

"There’s more?!"

"That wasn’t even his full manifestation? Impossible!"