Chapter 393

Chapter 393: Shifting Day and Night, Time Freeze, and the Omnipotent Zhu Long

When the subordinates arrived, Ji Zheng felt immediate joy.

Dozens of Transformation cultivators and nearly ten thousand elite soldiers formed an overwhelming force, one strong enough to sway the battle between Earth Immortals.

“You’re done for!”

“Charge! Now’s the moment to claim glory!”

“For the East Sea King…”

The leading Transformation cultivator roared with excitement, convinced he’d caught a valuable target and seized his chance for advancement.

With a fierce battle cry, he led his subordinates forward.

But halfway through their charge, Mu Lin’s power erupted, manifesting the Zhu Long form. In an instant, Zhu Long shut its eyes, plunging the world into absolute darkness.

Wielding the power of Illusion and Reality and fused with silent divinity, Zhu Long’s eye-closing carried the weight of an unbreakable law. This effect intensified in the Yin Soil—Mu Lin’s domain.

The suffocating darkness robbed them not only of sight but also muffled their hearing, mental senses, and spiritual perception. The soldiers became utterly blind; even the High Mastery of Transformation cultivators could barely see.

Yet neither the cultivators nor the elite soldiers grasped the gravity of their situation. When darkness fell, they did not panic but held their positions, weapons ready.

The Transformation cultivators unleashed fiery, light-based spells to pierce the black void—a textbook response befitting seasoned warriors.

But their efforts proved useless against Mu Lin, now merged with Zhu Long and the King of Hell.

…

Uncertainty bred fear in the endless dark. Though the East Sea King’s troops were elite, dread crept into their hearts.

Then came worse terror—sinister noises tore through the darkness from all directions.

“Kill!”

“Roar!”

“Jijiji…”

Beastly howls, thundering hooves, and the wicked cackles of evil ghosts closed in rapidly. The aura of slaughter pressed against them.

Tension gripped the High Mastery cultivators and soldiers alike. Through the chaos, conflicting orders rang out:

“Hold position! Form military formations!”

“Attack now! Assemble teams and strike!”

Outside came conflicting orders—some demanding strict readiness, others urging scattered attacks, even some calling for full retreat.

The chaotic commands bewildered the soldiers, fueling their panic.

This time, even the High Mastery of Transformation leaders shared their fear.

"Who spread these reckless orders? Who told them to attack?"

The Transformation leader’s cry reached his comrades distorted: "Attack! All forces attack!"

This manipulation stemmed from Manjusaka’s influence.

Zhu Long’s eyes held not just light and darkness, but the swirling forces of Life and Death Illusion.

When its eyelids shut to bring night, Manjusaka bloomed within the pitch-black darkness.

While ineffective against all Transformation cultivators and calm elite soldiers in military formations, panic eroded their defenses.

Who could stay composed in sightless darkness, isolated and vulnerable?

Though blind to their surroundings, they heard thundering hooves, beastly roars, and the Jijiji laughter of evil ghosts—visions making them feel Death’s blade at their throats.

Fear became inevitable. Once terrified, Manjusaka’s power seeped in, distorting sights and sounds to deepen confusion.

Confusion bred more panic—this vicious cycle let Mu Lin seize control of nearly ten thousand soldiers’ five senses.

Now he could turn insects into giant dragons, swamps into flower fields, or stand plainly before unseen eyes.

Killing them became child’s play.

"Pitch-black night paired with illusions proves unstoppable against groups."

Mu Lin finally understood why illusion masters like Aizen dominated—such powers overwhelmed the weak.

Yet illusions had clear flaws. Effective against susceptible foes, they proved useless against resistant ones.

The Other Shore Flower barely affected Earth Immortal Ji Zheng.

But Mu Lin needed no control over him.

"Kill!"

"For the East Sea King!"

At Mu Lin’s command, Ji Zheng’s own subordinates turned their blades toward… Ji Zheng himself.

To the High Mastery cultivators and elite soldiers, they appeared to attack Mu Lin.

"Bastards, wake up!"

Already strained containing the vengeful evil spirit, Ji Zheng faltered against his turned forces.

His roars failed to break the spell.

With Other Shore Flower rooted in their hearts, every sight, sound, and thought obeyed Mu Lin’s design. Shouts couldn’t pierce this illusion.

Helpless, Ji Zheng watched his ten thousand elite soldiers form battle arrays, screaming loyalty to the East Sea King as they charged him.

"Bastard!"

Betrayed by his army, Ji Zheng teetered on defeat—and worse soon followed.

Beyond the vengeful evil spirit, Mu Lin’s Zhu Long… took action.

“Buzz!”

Having transformed into Zhu Long, Mu Lin did not charge forward. Instead, he fixed his eyes on Ji Zheng, opening and closing them several times.

Yet this simple act of staring and blinking left Ji Zheng in complete despair.

“Buzz!”

With each blink of Mu Lin’s eyes, the skies over the Yin Soil and Cycle of Life and Death shifted between light and darkness.

While ordinary darkness could blind Transformation cultivators and soldiers, Ji Zheng remained unaffected.

Wherever the Dragon veins stretched became his domain, letting him sense his surroundings.

But the primal power behind the day-night cycle proved harder to resist.

All knew the changing of day and night tied closely to time’s flow – in some realms, these shifts marked time’s passage itself.

"Men split days into night and day, then twelve hours. All attempts to divide time’s power… Now I command both daylight’s turn and the Root Word ‘Fixing’ to stabilize creation."

By now, Zhu Long’s secret became clear.

When shifting the skies between day and night, Mu Lin used the Root Word "Fixing" to halt time itself at the pivotal moment.

Normally, freezing an entire world’s time required the full power of the Great God Zhu Long.

But Mu Lin wasn’t targeting the living world.

He stood within the Yin Soil – a underworld realm he’d crafted from the world of the living, small and wholly under his control.

Here, as Zhu Long’s incarnation, Mu Lin wielded full power.

His closed eyes plunged the Yin Soil into perfect darkness.

His opened eyes brought searing daylight.

His breath transformed the realm into frozen wasteland.

In this contained world, freezing time made dreadful sense.

“Crack!”

Despite Mu Lin’s mastery, the Yin Soil’s powerful inhabitants limited the time freeze to a single heartbeat.

But that proved enough.

A single instant could decide battles between masters.

“Clang!”

As time froze mid-cycle, Infinite Chains materialized around Ji Zheng at Mu Lin’s command.

“?!!”

“Impossible!”

When the time freeze ended, Ji Zheng found himself already bound.

The chains’ silencing and sealing properties flared instantly.

Ji Zheng could feel his soul, magical power, and even Physical Strength being completely silenced and sealed by the Infinite Chains.

"No!"

"Break free!"

Earth Immortals were different, it had to be admitted.

Whether Combining Essence and Evil realm practitioners or High Mastery of Transformation cultivators, once bound by Infinite Chains, their inner power would quickly become silenced, reducing them to ordinary persons.

But Earth Immortals were different. Their unified connection with heaven and earth allowed constant channeling of natural energy, granting them immense magical reserves. Even when restrained by Mu Lin’s Infinite Chains, they retained enough strength to resist.

This outcome only occurred because Ji Zheng wasn’t in his spiritual ground.

Had he been within his domain – where Earth Immortals become inseparable from their land – the current Infinite Chains couldn’t have bound him at all. To suppress an Earth Immortal’s power, one must first restrain the very earth they’ve merged with.

An Earth Immortal within their spiritual ground became an entirely different opponent.

"I can’t stop time in an Earth Immortal’s domain either."

Mu Lin’s absolute control over Yin Soil allowed him to freeze time itself. But within an Earth Immortal’s spiritual ground, even when Mu Lin created opposing realms through living world contrasts, the Earth Immortals maintained partial dominion over their land’s dark reflections through their fundamental unity.

This limitation left Mu Lin powerless against them.

"Earth Immortals in their domains are formidable. Pity the East Sea King foolishly ordered his subordinates to abandon their spiritual grounds and confront me directly – truly seeking their own doom."

…

Ji Zheng’s situation worsened by the second.

Though his spiritual ground’s endless energy supply prevented complete helplessness, the Infinite Chains still crippled most of his power.

While he weakened, the vengeful evil spirit grew stronger. With dozens of Transformation experts and nearly ten thousand soldiers added to its ranks, Mu Lin’s forces only intensified.

"BOOM!"

"Kill, kill, kill…"

"Die!"

"Wuwuwu… return my life!"

Within moments, the vengeful evil spirit seized Ji Zheng. Flames of Revenge erupted from the monstrous entity, violently flooding into the Earth Immortal’s body.

"AAAH!!!"

Ji Zheng’s agonized screams echoed as blistering flames consumed him. Being the East Sea King’s uncle granted him wealth – he desperately hurled defensive artifacts and precious talismans to withstand the assault.

But every resource has limits. When his treasures expired, death would follow.

This realization finally cracked Ji Zheng’s composure, fear twisting his features.

"Will I die here?"

"Impossible! I’m an Earth Immortal – an extraordinary land deity! How could some Transformation trash kill me? Never! NEVER!"