Chapter 383

Chapter 383: Yin Court’s Underworld, Cycle of Life and Death

“Buzz!”

By harnessing the land’s energy, the master of Jinyin Gate channeled his City God Realm through a majestic and righteous path.

The entire world seemed to reject Mu Lin, crushing down like a collapsing mountain and surging sea. Waves of overwhelming pressure battered against him.

Under this cosmic force, Mu Lin resembled a tiny boat in a tempest, moments from being swallowed by the raging tides.

“Can’t fight it directly!”

An Earth Immortal remained an Earth Immortal—especially one commanding territorial advantage. Through his City God Realm, he could suppress Mu Lin completely, even preventing Mu Lin from unleashing his own realm.

This immense power fueled his confidence to oppose Mu Lin.

To him, Mu Lin’s defeat was inevitable. By sheltering disciples within the mountain gates temporarily, the conflict would fade. They’d minimize losses while currying favor with the East Sea King.

But his plans shattered when Mu Lin struck first, defying all expectations. The ambush devastated Jinyin Gate’s disciples.

Though an entire generation perished, the master still believed victory was his—after all, the sneak attack didn’t reflect true strength.

“You won’t escape. Don’t worry, I won’t kill you yet. You’ll pay… For slaughtering my disciples and offspring, I’ll roast your soul in hellfire for a century!”

“Boom!”

Fury deepened his connection to Jinyin Mountain, magnifying the pressure on Mu Lin. It felt like bearing the weight of endless peaks, locking him in place.

Jin Haoran, master of Jinyin Gate, aimed to crush Mu Lin entirely through his City God Realm’s dominion.

But was Mu Lin so easily subdued?

Of course not.

“Hiss!”

When brute force failed, Mu Lin unleashed his secret weapon. Though raw strength could overpower skill, masterful techniques could overturn the tides. Thanks to his Attribute Panel, Mu Lin had honed countless techniques to perfection, grasping their deepest essences. Now, their power manifested.

A serpent’s hiss pierced the air. The phantom of a giant serpent materialized around Mu Lin as it flashed across the battlefield. When the serpent’s head met its tail, encircling him, Mu Lin… severed from the world.

【Isolated Realm】

Though physically within Jinyin Gate’s domain, the Ouroboros’ power placed Mu Lin in another dimension. Shielded from the crushing pressure, he finally caught his breath.

His respite ended abruptly with a sneer from beyond.

“Useless struggle!”

Earth Immortals harmonized with heaven and earth, wielding profound spatial insight. Jin Haoran swiftly pinpointed Mu Lin’s technique. With a thought, he redirected the crushing force onto the encircling Ouroboros—if the man couldn’t be crushed, his sanctuary would be shattered first.

Such a thought wasn’t incorrect, but what Jinyin Gate’s master Jin Haoran didn’t anticipate was failing to breach Mu Lin’s defenses immediately.

The Ouroboros’ power embodied infinite cycles – cycles enabling energy relocation, transference, and exchange. The serpent coiling around Mu Lin didn’t just disperse attacks from concentrated points to wider areas. It could redirect others’ power directly into Mu Lin’s own body, where both he and the True Spirit Domain Chart inside him absorbed the impact.

This multiplied Mu Lin’s endurance exponentially.

Moreover, Mu Lin leveraged his City God status to pit his City God Realm against Jin Haoran’s Oppressive Aura. He could sustain this confrontation for three days.

But he wasn’t just defending.

"Hiss!!!"

Mu Lin grinned at Jin Haoran. With the Ouroboros’ serpentine cry, he vanished instantly from the sight of Jinyin Gate’s elders.

"Huh???"

"Gone? He’s gone!"

"Spatial Transfer?"

"Impossible! Our protective formation’s still active!"

The abrupt disappearance startled the furious elders into frantic searching. Jin Haoran alone remained composed. As an Earth Immortal, his heightened senses soon detected something.

"No, he’s still here! Stay alert!"

"Argh!"

His warning came too late. One elder’s aura abruptly dimmed, his spirit shaken as if slashed by a soul-piercing blade.

"???"

"What happened?"

"Elder Qi! What struck you?"

"I… don’t know…"

"Silence!" Jin Haoran commanded. "Clear your minds through meditation. You’ll perceive the truth."

The Earth Immortal closed his eyes first. A peculiar connection blossomed in his consciousness, pulling him into an altered version of Jinyin Gate’s mountain domain.

Though the structures remained identical, all color had drained from this world. The landscape turned ice-cold and monochromatic. Gray fog blotted out the sun, deepening the gloom.

Jin Haoran found his fellow elders present too – but their vacant stares and rigid postures made them resemble humanoid sculptures. A chill gripped him until relief came: as the physical-world elders meditated, their awareness gradually inhabited these puppet-like forms.

Gradually, their eyes gained emotional depth and their expressions became animated.

Yet, like the leader of Jinyin Gate, none of these elders recognized their surroundings.

"Where are we?"

"This place resembles Jinyin Gate’s layout, but parts are different…"

"Look, some structures changed… Fengdu City? What’s that?"

"Manjusaka flowers, the black river, grave mounds… Stay alert. Don’t touch anything—this place feels dangerous…"

As they scanned the area, confusion gripped some while fear chilled others.

Jin Haoran took slight comfort knowing not everyone in Jinyin Gate proved incompetent.

Soon, several elders connected their battle memories with Mu Lin to the eerie landscape.

"The City God Realm! This is Mu Lin’s creation—he built a domain using real-world energies… But how? This requires High Mastery of Transformation abilities!"

The Jinyin Gate elder’s voice wavered with uncertainty.

All evidence pointed to Mu Lin crafting this realm, yet logic insisted Transformation Realm cultivators lacked such power.

His fellow elders shared both his shock and dread. Having reached High Mastery themselves, they knew Transformation Realm’s limits.

"This breaks all rules!"

"Impossible…"

*Clap. Clap.*

Applause echoed from Fengdu City as the doubting elders fell silent.

Mu Lin emerged from Yama Hall, his twelve-crest crown glinting beneath the dark Zhu Long robes of the Underworld King.

Meeting the elder’s gaze, he grinned.

"Correct. This is my City God Realm."

Even Mu Lin had marveled when first witnessing these haunted lands—the shadowed Yin Soil, twisted flora, and spectral architecture surpassing his expectations. Transformation advancement had unlocked unimaginable powers.

…

Cultivation’s early path:

Awakening turns children into Taoist Child initiates.

Spirit Pool and Spirit Sea stages mark the Growth Stage for gathering energy.

Condensing Essence and Refining the Evil belongs to green youths.

Though spanning nine levels, these three major realms remain low realms in true powerful beings’ eyes—mere fledglings.

Only upon entering Transformation Realm does one shed mortality’s shackles. This extraordinary state births real cultivators, the cultivation world’s backbone.

Powerful clans appoint Transformation Realm experts as elders, hence "high-level cultivator" titles.

The honor isn’t empty—Transformation advancement unleashes fearsome might.

Not to mention non-human beings with extraordinary bodies or the transformation of abilities—after advancing to the Transformation stage, cultivators usually gained one or several divine-like powers based on their previous accumulations.

For example, Luo Chen’s calamity absorption, the descendants of evil gods’ immortal bodies with thirteen heads—these were all innate divine abilities.

When Mu Lin advanced to the Transformation stage, he naturally awakened such powers too.

[Yin Soil], also called [Cycle of Life and Death], was one of the four divine abilities Mu Lin gained.

Mu Lin believed the living world represented yang, while the underworld represented yin. This yin realm wasn’t underground but a separate dimension. Heaven, the underworld, and the mortal realm existed as three worlds of equal rank. He also saw the underworld and mortal realm as opposing yin-yang forces maintaining cosmic balance.

This belief led him to develop [Yin Soil] during his advancement. Its main power let him temporarily create a soul-dominated yin realm opposite the living world by channeling yang-world energy through yin-yang laws. Due to his limited power, this realm couldn’t last long—but it remained formidable.

Since yin and yang mirrored each other, the yin realm reflected both buildings and human souls from the living world. By attacking these soul reflections, Mu Lin could injure people in the yang realm.

Cultivators with extraordinary strength or strong souls could sense their reflections in the yin realm and shift their consciousness there to fight Mu Lin. But those with weak souls? They’d die helplessly. Battles between high-realm and low-realm cultivators often ended this way—the weaker side dying without understanding how.

Though powerful, divine abilities like Yin Soil required deep foundational understanding. Even during Transformation advancement, heavenly assistance alone wasn’t enough—this explained why Jinyin Gate’s elders doubted Mu Lin. They couldn’t believe someone so young had such profound knowledge.

Yet Mu Lin’s foundations were solid. His long practice with the Cycle of Life and Death formation gave him mastery over yin-yang principles. Soul reflections? He’d studied those through his Substitute Paper Figure techniques. Building a soul-centric world? He’d started that in the Awakened Realm with Mind Image · City of Heaven’s Funeral.

By merging high-level resources to nurture Xuan Huang’s energy and creating a secret realm via the True Spirit Domain Chart, forming Yin Soil through existing yang-world energy felt logical—to him, at least. Others found it outrageous, but Mu Lin didn’t care.

…

Refocusing, Mu Lin eyed Jinyin Gate’s elders.

“Impressive deduction of my City God Realm. Your reward is death.”

“Attack!”

At his command, crimson demonic creatures, Asuras, and the Beiwai Army from Fengdu City surged forward. The thunderous charge of demons and spectral troops chilled the elders’ hearts.

Note: Mu Lin’s temporary Yin Court held no real armies. The Fengdu City projection was conjured from his energy, not the True Spirit Domain Chart’s true version. But through the interconnected black river water—known for its teleportation properties—Mu Lin summoned his Yin soldiers and ghost officials from afar.

“Annoying. Each teleportation erodes my Beiwai Army and crimson demons, draining my power. If only I had a ship to bypass the black river’s corrosion…”