Chapter 319

Chapter 319: The Closing of Grave Lord’s Secret Realm and the Terrifying True Spirit Domain Chart

"The Substitute Paper Figure controlling the Crimson Holy Grail shall be called Lord of the Blood River, the King of Asuras!"

Mu Lin finally settled on the name ‘Blood River.’

Yet he soon realized both his Yama and King of Asuras seemed pitifully weak.

In his past life, Yama had possessed Great Immortal cultivation, while the Lord of Blood River and King of Asuras wielded Yuan Tu and Abi swords as quasi-saints, ranking among the world’s supreme beings.

Here, Yama’s divine position barely reached Earth Immortal level. The Crimson Holy Grail, being a spiritual weapon, held Earth Master rank. Worse still, his paper figure couldn’t fully merge with it, leaving the Blood River Lord’s divine position fragmented.

"Even perfected, an Earth Master-tier King of Asuras remains laughable. In my previous world’s primordial era, such wouldn’t qualify as foot soldiers."

The mismatch between grand titles and feeble subordinates embarrassed Mu Lin. Then he remembered: deities in his True Spirit Domain Chart weren’t static.

"This chart manifests my collective power. As I grow stronger, comprehend more of this world, or dominate more artifacts, both upper and lower limits of my Yin Court Underworld’s True Spirit Domain Chart will rise."

"Like now…"

*Buzz!*

A shimmering chart materialized in Mu Lin’s palm. When aligned with the Crimson Holy Grail, it absorbed a wisp of the relic’s aura. Beside Yama’s fifth-tier divine position, the grail’s mark emerged.

This seamless integration resulted from Mu Lin’s prior refinement of the artifact. More importantly, absorption meant more than gaining another alias – it triggered systemic upgrades.

As the culmination of Mu Lin’s cultivation methods, this near-mythic chart allowed interconnected abilities. The grail’s entry sent shockwaves through the entire system.

*BUZZ!!*

When vibrations subsided, crimson tendrils linked the grail to other positions. Mu Lin felt power surges across his arsenal.

New tiers appeared beside Yin soldiers and ghost officials: Asura Soldiers (Crimson Fiends), Asura Generals.

"With the grail’s flesh manipulation… I could forge Bull-Headed and Horse-Faced guards."

Concentration made it so – though these were merely blood-constructed fiends bearing Soul Binding Chains rather than true underworld enforcers.

Shifting focus to the third tier, Mu Lin found County City Gods now connected to the grail, gaining a Blood Abyss ability. Within their City God Realm, they could manifest crimson hellscapes to torment evildoers, transforming wicked souls into Asura Soldiers – or rebrand them as Bull-Headed/Horse-Faced through superficial modifications.

"Swapping heads or adding limbs? Child’s play for the life-altering grail."

"Another third-tier position: Yaksha General. The grail awakened their latent potential."

"Pity I only command Blood Yakshas. Perhaps special flames could evolve them into Infernal Yakshas…"

Possible, yes – but rare elemental fires weren’t easily obtained.

"Still too poor. Should I swallow pride and accept East Sea King’s offer for resources?"

"Better not. That alliance reeks of trouble…"

Shaking his head, Mu Lin continued to scan the fourth tier representing the High Mastery of Transformation. Originally, this tier held only five divine positions—Other Shore Flower Sea, Zhong Kui, Cui Yu, the State City God, and the incomplete Ink Dragon, the River Lord (who hadn’t fully mastered the black river water).

But now, another divine position had been added: Crimson Blood Dragon, Nine Heads.

This new dragon emerged from the fusion of crimson power and Mu Lin’s draconic form. Compared to his original dragon body and the Ink Dragon River God who controlled the black river water, the Crimson Blood Dragon abandoned all flashiness. Its appearance grew more ferocious, its nature more savage, and its Physical Strength far greater.

The Crimson Child’s Lair had demonstrated its most fearsome trait—monstrous regenerative power. To destroy the lair, Mu Lin had died dozens of times before finally overcoming it. Now, the Crimson Blood Dragon, Nine Heads, inherited this immortality: it couldn’t be killed unless all nine heads were destroyed simultaneously. Even severing one head would only result in its regrowth over time.

"A decent meat shield to pin down enemies," Mu Lin mused.

Beyond the Crimson Blood Dragon, Zhong Kui had also transformed. His limbs became more grotesque, and his Physical Strength reached the High Mastery of Transformation without relying on the bright red wine gourd to boost his rank.

As for the State City God, its growth mirrored the County City Gods since they shared the same lineage. Incidentally, the True Spirit Domain Chart categorized State and County City Gods separately not merely to fill positions. Upon becoming the State City God, Mu Lin could appoint twelve County City Gods to govern twelve towns. He could assign others to these positions or deploy his Substitute Paper Figures as replacements.

At this realization, Mu Lin chuckled wryly.

"Never thought my Paper Figure Technique would remain indispensable even now."

Divine positions in the True Spirit Domain Chart required physical vessels to manifest. Paper figures, while not ideal vessels, were cheap and endlessly producible.

"Wait—my current paper figures aren’t mere paper anymore. They’re infused with the power of Sui Mu and the Fortune of a Dynasty. To maximize the Crimson Holy Grail’s power, the royal lord’s Sui Mu paper should ideally be blood-soaked or painted with crimson blood."

This revelation made him aware of the rising costs. Still, compared to Master Meng Rui’s expensive puppets crafted from rare materials, his paper figures remained affordable and cost-effective.

One drawback persisted: each paper figure required manual folding. Fortunately, his Substitute Paper Figure technique allowed hundreds of clones to operate a miniature workshop, sparing his main body the labor.

"Feeling like a capitalist… To prevent frustration among the clones, I’ll retire them periodically and summon fresh ones."

This was mere jest. Substitute Paper Figures needed only a sliver of his consciousness, devoid of full memories or emotions. Even if corrupted by higher powers, they’d remain hollow shells, incapable of spawning a dark version of Mu Lin.

Lastly, the Crimson Holy Grail’s integration into the True Spirit Domain Chart had altered Cui Yu and the King of Hell, with minor effects on the City Gods. Mu Lin now possessed the power to relegate humans to the animal realm—transforming them into livestock with a single command. This ability stemmed from the Crimson Holy Grail’s power to corrupt flesh and reshape lifeforms.

In contrast, the King of Hell, Cui Yu, and the State City God, recognized by the Will of Humanity and holding judicial authority, could more easily turn villains with monstrous sins into beasts.

"In the past, karmic sins remained invisible. But after grasping a fragment of divine office, I can now harness karma to perform certain spells with greater ease."

"If enemies drown in overwhelming karma, I might even demote High Masters of Transformation into mere beasts."

Beyond direct judgment, Mu Lin could also curse targets using the ledger of life and death…forcing punishments that turned humans into livestock.

"Blood Abyss, Asura, Beast Path, Blood Dragon, Lord of the Blood River…merging just one artifact boosted the True Spirit Domain Chart’s power this much. Imagine fusing more artifacts or exotic flames – I’d become unstoppable!"

"For instance, if Blood Cherry’s demonic blade merged into my True Spirit Domain Chart, could my Asuras level up through killing?"

"If so, could I forge an Asura battleground where they endlessly fight to strengthen themselves and even ascend ranks?"

After pondering, Mu Lin considered this highly plausible.

Yet spiritual weapons weren’t easily obtained.

Stealing the Blood Blade would provoke the Ge family to deploy Transformation experts or even Earth Immortals to chase him – this being Mu Lin’s own provocation, not their unfair persecution.

"Poverty strikes…"

With spiritual weapons beyond reach and exotic flames unavailable, Mu Lin surveyed his options. His second viable integration target turned out to be the black river water.

Complete dominion over it would not only perfect the Ink Dragon River God, but also let him establish the Yin River’s Weak Water while transforming Blood Wraiths into Black Water Wraiths.

Additionally, the City God would gain a Black Water Prison to punish foes with black water torments – dissolving magic, flesh and souls alike.

Marveling at the True Spirit Domain Chart’s might, Mu Lin reflected how merging multiple abilities had created something cheat-like. For ordinary persons, this could serve as a golden finger propelling them to mythic heights.

Such power made sense – being a mythical-grade technique fused from multiple Heavenly Techniques, many elevated to master tier with divinity’s touch.

Yet flaws existed. Though formidable, upgrading this mythical technique proved challenging.

Neither approach worked easily: studying new cultivation methods to master level for integration, or refining spiritual treasures.

Ordinary cultivators considered mastering one technique an extraordinary feat. Continuous integration? Pure fantasy.

Only Mu Lin’s Attribute Panel made this plausible.

The second method wasn’t simpler. Spiritual weapons served as foundational treasures for powerful clans.

"Even royalty can’t endlessly merge spiritual weapons…If I served the East Sea King, he’d likely just lend weapons temporarily rather than grant ownership."

"…Better focus on learning techniques."

With spiritual treasures scarce and forbidden power too risky, Mu Lin concluded his best path was mastering numerous cultivation methods to integrate into the True Spirit Domain Chart.

This stable approach maximized his Attribute Panel’s advantage.

"I’ll check for more techniques after returning…hmm…"

Mid-contemplation, Mu Lin suddenly felt bodily heaviness and skull-splitting pain.

"Who’s there?!"

His eyes narrowed as he scanned surroundings warily, suspecting an attack.

Soon he realized the weight wasn’t physical – his very True Spirit felt burdened.

Meanwhile, it wasn’t that someone was attacking Mu Lin. The True Spirit Domain Chart’s overwhelming power and vastness simply exceeded his current Cultivation level. His physical body, soul, and magical energy couldn’t bear such tremendous pressure.

"Now I’m barely sustaining myself through soul power…" Mu Lin muttered. "After the advancement of willing heart fire, my soul power has reached the Transformation realm. Though the quantity and quality meet requirements, without merging with Essence for soul metamorphosis…"

"I can’t delay any longer. Must complete Condensing Essence and achieve combining Essence and Evil to properly wield the True Spirit Domain Chart."

This line of thought even made him consider using the Essence gifted by East Sea King. But before he could act, the Grave Lord’s secret realm suddenly trembled.

Boom… roar…

"What now?!" Mu Lin scowled at the continuous mutations. Unbeknownst to him, these disturbances stemmed from his own actions – the True Spirit Domain Chart’s activation had triggered Grave Lord’s hidden safeguards, forcing the secret realm to shut down.

Mu Lin immediately staggered toward the exit, body weighed down like lead. Others scrambled too – in truth, many had started fleeing when blood rain fell and spirit wails echoed through the air.

Mu Lin outpaced them all. Riding Ink Dragon, the River Lord’s teleportation power, he instantly crossed black river that marked Grave Lord’s tomb’s dangerous perimeter. The initial path paved with Central Earth Evil-tainted yellow earth posed little threat, letting him emerge swiftly.

He barely stepped out before being surrounded by clan elders from powerful clans, their burning stares raising goosebumps on his skin. The tense moment broke when Prince Liang arrived, having rushed over after learning of East Sea King’s Martial Spirit-breaking invitation in the secret realm. The royal immediately shooed away the crowd, approaching Mu Lin for urgent discussion.