Chapter 388

Chapter 388: Flame Ghost Spirits, Flame of Revenge

Within the East Sea Kingdom, the East Sea King had long ruled unchecked, with almost no one daring to oppose him.

He grew accustomed to his lofty position, expecting everyone to kowtow to him.

But now, Mu Lin arrived—a man who believed "the throne belongs to those with the strongest armies." Such a man naturally disregarded royal authority and refused to bow to the East Sea King.

Thus, Mu Lin ruthlessly slapped the East Sea King and coldly declared that offending others carried a price: the massacre of one’s family and the ruin of one’s legacy.

“Try to kill me if you wish. But dare to strike, and your entire bloodline will perish. This is merely the beginning!”

Mu Lin’s assault left the East Sea King reeling, forcing a complete overhaul of his tactics.

Before, the East Sea King’s sole focus had been hunting Mu Lin.

Now, he scrambled to protect his offspring and shield the subordinates serving under him.

This required him to divert a significant portion of his forces to guard duty.

Yet the East Sea King’s manor sprawled too wide, its people too numerous. Worse still, Mu Lin’s power surpassed all expectations.

Simply wanting to protect them didn’t guarantee safety.

……

Ronghuo City housed a fire-attribute mineral vein called Fire Crystal. Whether forged into weapons or armor, Fire Crystal greatly enhanced military strength.

The East Sea King seized this site, deploying massive crews to mine it.

Tens of thousands labored here, alongside blacksmiths and Artifact Crafters who tirelessly forged arms and armor day and night.

This place served as a vital asset for the East Sea King’s manor. To secure it, he erected a fortress-city, garrisoned three thousand armored soldiers, and stationed numerous powerful beings to suppress unrest.

Now, Mu Lin came here.

His arrival went undetected… Though the East Sea King had warned his subordinates to stay vigilant, though the city activated its city-wide formation and patrols swept the streets—none noticed Mu Lin’s approach.

This was inevitable. Mu Lin hadn’t come from the world of the living. He’d opened the City God Realm, manifesting the Yin Soil, and now advanced through this shadowed land.

The Yin Soil mirrored the living world. Everything in Ronghuo City existed here in twisted reflection.

The fortress, patrolling guards, and soul reflections of countless miners lay bare before Mu Lin… Not all soul reflections were equal.

Cultivators’ souls burned resilient and vivid, their reflections sharp as living flesh—hardest to destroy.

Ordinary people’s souls hung like frail mist in the Yin Soil, scattering at the faintest breath.

Initially, Mu Lin meant to ignore these weak souls. His plan was simple: locate the overseers and leaders within the Yin Soil’s Cycle of Life and Death, slaughter them, and scatter the rest.

But upon entering the Yin Soil, he changed his mind.

Something here differed starkly from Jinyin Gate.

At Jinyin Gate’s Yin Soil, Mu Lin had sensed only the clash of yin and yang.

Here, everything changed.

Red mist drifted—unsurprising, as this was the Yin Soil’s echo of the Spirit Crystal mine. Spirit objects retained faint color here.

What shocked Mu Lin was the thick black miasma seeping through the air.

A dark mist, like storm clouds, enveloped Ronghuo City. Frightening faces constantly emerged from the gloom, screaming and wailing madly.

"This is hatred… resentment… Why is it so thick?"

Acting on instinct, Mu Lin summoned some screaming faces with Soul Binding Chains. Using the Other Shore Flower’s power, he invaded these souls to glimpse their memories.

After investigation, Mu Lin’s face darkened with grim realization.

"I always thought descendants of powerful clans in this feudal era carried original sin. Killing them shouldn’t weigh on my conscience. But now I see I was being too merciful!"

"They don’t just deserve death – they deserve the Sentence of a Thousand Cuts and eternal damnation in the Hell of No Escape!"

His fury stemmed from Ronghuo City’s reality far exceeding his darkest expectations.

……

Fire Crystals were valuable, but raw ones contained fire poison.

Miners and refiners working the veins would inevitably get poisoned, their organs burning with unbearable agony.

This meant cultivators were needed for safe mining, though requiring frequent treatments.

But cultivators cost too much – far too much.

Few would stoop to manual mining, forcing the East Sea King to spend mountains of Spirit Stones.

Subsequent treatments demanded even more Spirit Stones.

Naturally, the East Sea King refused such expenses.

Instead, they used ordinary humans for mining – literally mining with lives.

To save face, the East Sea King avoided conscripting civilians, using prisoners instead.

But malnourished ordinary people without proper protection couldn’t sustain long-term mining.

So predictably, the East Sea King harshened punishments and taxes in nearby counties. Minor offenses or unpaid taxes meant imprisonment and forced mining in Ronghuo City.

Over time, hundreds of thousands perished here.

What enraged Mu Lin more was their "recycling" of corpses – using blood and souls to sharpen weapons.

Whenever new arms were forged, demon cultivators shoved dying humans into furnaces, using their essence to empower the blades.

"Using ordinary humans as fuel and tools without remorse… I knew feudal lords saw themselves as superior, viewing ordinary civilians as livestock, even forbidding cross-class marriages as shameful."

"But I thought their cruelty stopped at land grabs and enslavement."

"Clearly I overestimated their humanity."

Mu Lin’s lingering guilt over killing vanished – now he only regretted not killing more.

He abandoned his original plan to leave after killing.

"This resentment could be useful…"

With a thought, Mu Lin granted a city god position to a paper figure there.

The divine rank elevated the paper creature’s capabilities.

Another mental command erected a Yin City God Temple in Ronghuo’s shadowy plane.

"Come. Endless wronged souls, your god has arrived… I’ll deliver your justice!"

“Whoosh…”

Seated within the Yin City God Temple, Mu Lin immediately began absorbing decades of accumulated resentment from Ronghuo City.

“Kill, kill, kill…”

“Wail… I hate this!”

“I’m innocent! I committed no crime—I was framed…”

“Don’t arrest me! My mother needs me… What will she do if I’m gone?”

“Agh… It burns…”

The deaths of hundreds of thousands had left behind a suffocating cloud of bitterness. This resentment carried their agonizing memories, their hatred toward the East Sea King’s manor, and their thirst for vengeance. Such overwhelming malice could warp an ordinary cultivator’s mind into a bloodthirsty lunatic.

Moreover, most victims had endured the searing pain of fire poison for years before being incinerated in furnaces. Their final moments had imprinted blazing fury into their lingering resentment.

As this energy flooded Mu Lin’s body, his soul felt branded by red-hot irons, sizzling and crackling. Yet Mu Lin was no ordinary man. The city god position had fortified his spirit. Crucially, he didn’t resist the collective wrath.

Sensing their boundless suffering and rage, Mu Lin channeled their desires: “You crave revenge? To make the true culprits suffer as you did?”

“Good. Submit to me, and I’ll lead your vengeance. I’ll force them to taste your pain!”

“Kill, kill, kill…”

His genuine acceptance, paired with the city god position’s authority, let him absorb hundreds of thousands of vengeful spirits.

Truthfully, the sheer volume of resentment from so many unjust deaths neared the peak of Transformation-level potency. Only the victims’ weakened Lingering Souls—leaderless and fragmented—allowed Mu Lin’s Substitute Paper Figure to contain them.

Risks aside, absorbing them brought drastic changes.

The Substitute Paper Figure’s power now rivaled Mu Lin’s true body at the pinnacle of Transformation. Of course, his original soul remained purer and more mystical, far beyond this paper replica’s capabilities.

Additionally, Mu Lin’s main body controlled the True Spirit Domain Chart. A single thought could strip the clone’s divine authority, ensuring it never threatened his primary soul’s dominance. Not that he planned to.

……

Boom!

Beyond the sea of resentment, Mu Lin fused the victims’ burning agony and hatred using techniques for condensing willing heart fire. From this cauldron of malice and fire poison, he forged a flame of revenge.

This fire thrived on hatred—the stronger the loathing, the hotter it burned, magnifying its victims’ torment.

The corrosive resentment and flame’s influence warped the Substitute Paper Figure’s form.

Boom!

A hundred-meter-tall infernal demon erupted in the Yin Soil. Flames cloaked its body, while countless twisted faces screamed from its flesh—a vengeful spirit incarnate.

"Whoosh…"

With a flick of his wrist, flaming chains manifested in the hands of the fiery demon within Yin Soil, coiling around its massive frame.

The Infinite Chains, known for their splitting nature, had become standard gear for Mu Lin’s Yin soldiers and ghost soldiers.

These chains served dual purposes – both as weapons for his Substitute Paper Figure and as restraints. They contained the murderous urges of countless evil spirits inside the body, forcing their killing intent to target only the guilty while sparing innocents.

The dead spirits’ plight was indeed pitiful. After death, most souls lost their memories and humanity, leaving only agonized remnants obsessed with "Kill, kill, kill," indiscriminate in their bloodlust.

This explained why even ordinary person’s souls could turn into vengeful spirits.

Such chaos was unacceptable to Mu Lin, necessitating strict control.

Naturally, this suppression triggered violent resistance from the evil spirits within.

"ROAR!"

"Lies…"

"KILL…"

The rebellion caused grotesque faces to erupt across Mu Lin’s hundred-meter demonic form – howling, cursing, and poisoning his mind with urges for endless slaughter.

Yet the Infinite Chains held firm, preventing escape from his corporeal prison.

Mu Lin simultaneously pacified them:

"Silence. I’ll lead you to exact vengeance through killing."

"Your tormentors shall taste suffering tenfold… no, a hundredfold…"

Striding toward Ronghuo City’s heart, Mu Lin scanned for its leaders. Powerful beings glowed like beacons through their soul reflections. He quickly pinpointed several strong entities, including a High Mastery of Transformation cultivator.

Notably, these powerful being did not scatter but clustered together, mirroring their counterparts in the world of the living who were clearly convening.

"Saves me hunting them individually."

As Mu Lin located them, the High Mastery cultivator’s soul reflection began quivering violently – an instinctive warning of impending danger.

Ji Lie, Ronghuo City’s guardian, received this subconscious alert. Yet while sensing imminent threat, he remained blind to its origin or nature.

"Who’s there?"