Chapter 135

It wasn't only the Jiao Snake that was bewildered; Mu Yi was also stunned.

It was his first time bringing a living person into the Six Paths Reincarnation Barrier, and it was also his first time discovering that the Asura Path actually has such a maneuver.

At this moment, before him, the Asura warriors crawling out of the sea of blood were actually merging with two hundred and eighty‑eight soldiers.

No, a more accurate description is that the Asura warriors are possessing the soldiers.

In Mu Yi's view, eight hundred and eighty‑eight Asura warriors and the soldiers had completely become a single entity.

According to legend, an Asura is a monster that is neither god, nor ghost, nor human, but exists between gods, ghosts, and humans.

It is one of the Six Paths of the Buddhist Sect, and one of the gods among the Eight Divisions of the Celestial Dragons.

It originated as an imported item from the Ling Mountain Buddhist Sect, and legends say there are many forms of Asura.

Some have nine heads and a thousand eyes, spew fire from their mouths, possess nine hundred and ninety arms, eight legs, and their bodies are taller than Mount Sumeru by four times;

Others have a thousand heads and two thousand arms, stand with their feet on the great ocean, and their bodies exceed Mount Sumeru;

Some have three heads and six arms, three faces of bluish‑black color, breathe fire, and appear in a raging naked form.

The previous Asura warriors were spirit‑type beings born from obsessive killing intent, and thus were incomplete and flawed in appearance.

But now, the two hundred and eighty‑eight soldiers before Mu Yi's eyes are approaching a fully formed Asura.

The eight hundred and eighty‑eight Asura warriors actually transformed into armor‑like possessions on the soldiers; depending on each soldier's physical quality, a different number of Asura warriors merged, resulting in a variety of Asura forms.

Some have three heads and six arms, some have two heads and four arms, and there are even beings with five heads and seven arms…

Originally, Asura warriors were spirit beings without a fixed shape; preserving their original appearance was merely due to soul influence, and now they are merging with living soldiers.

The Asura warriors called Great Asura appeared within the barrier; they possess both spirit and vigor, and have the three Elite Talents 【Iron-blooded Slaughter】, 【Blazing】, and 【Ten‑fold Versatility】, making their combat power more than double.

Crimson Cloud Energy spread within the Six Paths Reincarnation Barrier, and the four symbolic void spirits—Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise—appeared above the heads of the Great Asuras, showering layers of radiance.

"Combined alert: Yuan Yang Formation effect activated! Enemy attributes decreased… Our troops' attributes increased…"

"Combined alert: Four‑Symbol Formation effect activated! Our defense increased… Attack increased… Recovery increased… Speed increased…"

The crimson Cloud Energy pressed down from the sky, and the Jiao Snake instantly felt its body become heavy, as if bearing a mountain.

"Sss!"

Unable to endure this sensation, the Jiao Snake launched an attack, transforming into a true Jiao; just as a Western dragon is born able to speak the Dragon Language and inherit draconic memory, it also grasped a divine skill from its thin bloodline.

— Rising Clouds, Forming Mist

An abnormal aura suddenly emanated from the Jiao Snake, and a blue‑green light shimmered in its serpentine eyes.

A thick water mist spewed from the Jiao Snake's mouth, rapidly expanding in the air, and for a moment the entire barrier seemed shrouded in a vast fog.

Wind from the Tiger, Cloud from the Dragon.

Even though it is merely a Jiao, it has mastered this divine skill from its bloodline.

Obviously, this divine skill is not merely water mist; Mu Yi can already shield natural water mist, let alone Transcendent beings—if it were only water mist, it would be no different from an ordinary illusion.

A bloodline divine skill of the Dragon race is far from such a useless thing.

At this moment, in Mu Yi's perception, once his will radiated outward, it could no longer be sensed, as if it had been devoured.

But Mu Yi suffered no loss; he simply could not perceive anything within the mist, as if an ordinary person were groping in pitch‑darkness where one cannot see a hand.

Will‑based perception, at this moment, turned out to be less useful than the naked eye.

The Great Asuras trapped by the water mist were like headless flies; they could not locate the Jiao Snake's position.

The once conspicuous wave gradually faded within the mist, as if a rock had become silent and vanished.

Having lost its target, even the Blazing fire could not be ignited.

Mu Yi inhaled deeply, then swung his formation blade aloft to strike.

The divine skill is indeed impressive, but to try to conceal it from him is underestimating him!

While the Jiao Snake silently slipped through the water mist, it was as if a bomb had been ignited within the mist, and a bright blade flash, bearing the will to cleave all, sliced the mist directly.

When the divine skill was broken, the Jiao Snake immediately suffered backlash; the skill, drawn from its bloodline, had its activation conditions greatly reduced, yet because the same skill is linked to the bloodline, its destruction inflicted a heavy recoil.

This is the greatest drawback of employing a divine skill via the bloodline.

"Roar!"

A painful roar erupted from the Jiao Snake's mouth; already badly wounded, it was struck again, and Mu Yi, without any hesitation, directed the Great Asuras to launch a righteous assault on the Jiao Snake.

In Military Strategist affairs, can the many overwhelm the few?

Crimson flames rose upon the Great Asuras, and they used their weapons to ignite the crimson fire onto the Jiao Snake's body.

Although the flames were clearly illusory, Mu Yi could faintly smell a charred odor.

The Jiao Snake found itself in a dire situation, suffering heavy wounds while also being suppressed by Cloud Energy; it could not even slay a Great Asura soldier with a single strike.

Even if it unleashed its full force, it could only shatter the Asura armor on the soldiers, which would then rise anew from the sea of blood.

The souls accumulated within Mu Yi's barrier have been frantically dissipating; they serve as the resource for Asura warriors' rebirth.

For a moment, the battle turned into a contest between the Jiao Snake's vitality and Mu Yi's soul reserves.

Mu Yi's soul reserves are depleting at a visibly rapid rate, and the Great Asuras are gradually wearing down the Jiao Snake's life,

The Jiao Snake's attacks could fling a dozen or even dozens of soldiers with a single blow, yet in the next instant this fearless, death‑defying squad would charge forward again.

Rather than saying they are fearless of death, it is more accurate to say they fight with death as their goal, snarling as they swing their weapons, carving wound after wound on the Jiao Snake, gradually draining its life.

The soldiers hosting the Asura warriors, just as Mu Yi once awakened the Elite Talent Iron-blooded Slaughter, are wholly immersed in slaughter and bloodshed, their reason reduced to the lowest point.

Their actions are fully controlled; the Asuras born from killing intent and obsession now manipulate the soldiers' bodies.

Yet precisely because of this, they can persist, charging again and again, even if only to leave a trivial wound on the Jiao Snake.

The Jiao Snake's life force wanes bit by bit, not vanishing into thin air but merging into the Six Paths Reincarnation Barrier, becoming a new power that empowers the Great Asuras.

With one diminishing as the other grows, the Jiao Snake's movements become increasingly sluggish, its body ever heavier.

"Roar!"

A resentful wail erupted from the Jiao Snake's mouth, and immediately the Jiao Snake was slammed down heavily; the Great Asuras surged forward en masse, intending to hack the Jiao Snake into a lump of flesh.

However, Mu Yi sensed an abnormality; the flood dragon's body still had considerable vitality, and it should not be dying now.

A resentful gaze radiated from the flood dragon's body, and Mu Yi laughed, "Indeed?"

The soul, blessed by the tribesmen's faith, had completely surpassed the limits of the flesh; after the flesh could not escape its fate of being slain, this flood dragon actually chose voluntarily to abandon its body and manifest as a soul.

Ordinary people cannot perceive the soul's form, yet it does not realize that the entity it faces is the ruler of the realm of reincarnation.

Abandoning the flesh and choosing to fight as a soul is its most foolish choice.

Mu Yi spread his hands, and the Great Titan warriors instantly turned into blood, detaching from the soldiers' bodies; this blood gathered into a phantom blood sea that had always been like a backdrop.

Following the surging blood sea, as if it would flood the entire Six Paths space, the uneasy flood dragon rushed toward Mu Yi, hoping to possess his body and thus survive again.

The snake spirit, supported by the tribesmen's faith, had self-taught many things, the most important of which were possession and body snatching.

Originally, the bright moon was a means to let it possess the tribe members and boost their combat power, but now it has become the way the flood serpent deals with Mu Yi.

Light surged out of the blood and shot skyward in an instant; the Asura warriors have no physical bodies and can manifest as armor, and at this moment, under Mu Yi's control, they naturally transformed into layers of binding chains, restraining the writhing flood serpent within them.

Also being spirits, they precisely encircled the flood serpent's soul, binding it like layers of iron shackles.

Mu Yi looked at the flood serpent tangled into a lump and gave a faint smile.

He, who had originally planned to shatter the flood serpent's soul outright, suddenly thought of a better idea.

Mu Yi adjusted the original Six Paths Reincarnation Barrier; the previously round‑sky, square‑earth independent space became, under his control, a world shaped like concentric circles.

Mu Yi divided the Six Paths Reincarnation Barrier into good and evil paths, separating them into inner and outer zones of the concentric‑circle space.

The outermost layer is the Heavenly Path, the next layer the Human Realm, then the Asura Path, followed by the Hell Path, the Animal Realm, and at the very center the Hungry Ghost Path.

Although, aside from the Asura Path built on Iron-blooded Slaughter, ash, and divine power granted by the gods, the other five paths are essentially empty shells, Mu Yi still made this division.

Having been guided by Hou Tu Niangniang and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, he has a vague sense of the Reincarnation Barrier.

Moreover, just now a flash of spiritual light exploded in his mind, and he sensed that this might be a grand feat that could launch him upward.

Mu Yi placed his hand over the flood serpent's head, and a deep voice sounded from his mouth, clear and steady, bearing no room for doubt or resistance.

"Stay in the Hell Path!"

Mu Yi unsealed the power of the Asura Path, allocating ash and a portion of divine power to the realm of the Hell Path.

At this moment, the flood serpent's soul, bound by the Asuras, fell into the first layer of the Hell Path; there, under the Asuras' suppression, it will be increasingly scorched by ash fire until it becomes a pure soul.

Later, the Asuras will return to the Asura Path, the flood serpent will be relegated to the Animal Realm, and the Hell Path will sit between them, serving as the façade of the Six Paths Reincarnation Barrier, deciding the soul's fate with ash fire.

Although this causes the Asura warriors' power to drop from Biological Level 8 to Level 6, and they also lose the Elite Talent 【Ash】.

But Mu Yi, who had received guidance, understands that this is the correct approach; he loses present combat power, yet gains for the future.

His changes here will reflect onto the main world, and building the Six Paths Reincarnation Barrier along a sound Underworld reincarnation system will be his best choice.

Perfecting the Six Paths is a broad avenue, but he needs divine power; without it he cannot complete the construction of the Six Paths.

"Heh heh heh... Sun Wu, is this kid from your Military Strategist school? Now it's really a two‑talk!" Deng Lingzi said, his expression a bit stiff.

They didn't see it before because they never even considered that direction; now that Mu Yi makes it so obvious, can they still not see it?

The Six Paths Reincarnation Barrier is all set; if Mu Yi is from the Military Strategist school, that would really be two‑talk.

It can be Daoist, it can be Buddhist, even the Yin‑Yang school would welcome it, yet it seems to have little to do with the Military Strategist.

In other words, the other schools haven't noticed Mu Yi's existence; their impression of him remains at the level of having learned Guan Sheng Dijun's Blade Intent. If they do discover him, who knows how many things they'd smash to pry Mu Yi away.

After all, Mu Yi hasn't even built a foundation yet; switching schools is still possible—it's simply the ultimate mouthwatering.

"He admitted it himself, so he's a disciple of the Military Strategist!" Sun Wu's face was a bit stiff, but his mouth remained hard.

While dealing with Deng Lingzi, they frantically sent messages to all the war gods of the Military Strategist, trying to convene a Military Strategist meeting and tilt resources toward cultivating Mu Yi.

Such a good seed, letting it go would invite Divine Punishment.

Moreover, they've been arguing endlessly over candidates, leadership, manpower, and never managed to finalize the grand plan.

Now there's finally an opportunity to set it in stone; act, act, act—if you don't act, you're not human.

Their Military Strategist lacks manpower; even if they bring in Guan Yu, who already holds an emperor position in the Heavenly Court, or Wen Zhong, who has ascended to the Thunder Department's chief deity, they still lack enough personnel.

Or perhaps no one is being used.

After all, you can't govern a nation with military rule, can you?

Figures like Xiang Yu and Huo Qubing are fine at warfare, but having them handle development is truly asking for trouble.

Letting a bunch of coarse ruffians govern the world is worse than cutting them down with a single sword; this is also why consensus can't be reached.

Even if they conquer, many people's effort and reward are completely disproportionate.

People like Jiang Taigong and Wu Qi, who have governing abilities, would obviously reap greater benefits.

Letting other schools join in means the world they occupy isn't a one‑voice domain of the Military Strategist, so what difference is there from the current Hundred Schools' mode of interaction?