Chapter 449: Opening the Coffin
Chapter 450: Opening the Coffin
Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi listened to Mo Hua’s words, and having witnessed the hardships of the miners firsthand, both frowned and fell into a moment of silence.
The atmosphere grew a little heavy.
Mo Hua thought for a moment, then suddenly pointed north and said,
“Let’s first go to the forest over there.”
Bai Zisheng was taken aback. “Why go to the forest?”
Mo Hua replied, “Aren’t you craving wild boar? There’s one there. We’ll catch it and bring it back for you to eat.”
Bai Zisheng paused, then his face lit up with joy. He couldn’t help patting Mo Hua on the shoulder:
“As expected of my good junior brother!”
Bai Zixi also smiled faintly.
The three of them went into the forest and caught a wild boar.
A late First-Rank wild boar was no match for the three of them.
After catching it, Mo Hua carried it back and, following his mother’s method, removed the gamey smell, purified the blood, added aromatic spices, and cooked it in a pot.
The pork was tough and fibrous, so it took quite some time to cook.
It wasn’t until a full day later that the aroma filled the air.
Mo Hua cut the meat and placed it on a plate, bringing it over to accompany wine for Instructor Yan and Mister Zhuang.
Instructor Yan was also temporarily staying in the cave dwelling.
Whenever he had free time, he would visit Mister Zhuang.
The two of them sat in the courtyard, enjoying the breeze, drinking wine, eating meat, and talking about the past of the Little Lingyin Sect, as well as the rise and fall of the Greater Lingyin Sect behind it.
Instructor Yan couldn’t stop praising the wild boar.
He never expected that Mo Hua, besides excelling in formations, could also cook so well.
Mister Zhuang tried a bite and nodded slightly.
Though the taste was slightly inferior to what he had in Tōngxiān City, it brought a comforting warmth to the heart, because it was made personally by his little disciple.
Under the big tree in the courtyard, the three of them sat side by side.
Bai Zisheng devoured his portion eagerly, wishing he could eat the whole boar.
Bai Zixi ate gracefully, with refined, gentle, and elegant manners.
Mo Hua took a few bites and nodded in satisfaction.
The weather was hot, but the shade under the tree was cool.
A gentle breeze rustled through the branches, shifting the mottled shadows.
Mo Hua suddenly felt that days like this were quite nice…
With a master, senior brothers, and senior sisters.
And old friends like Instructor Yan visiting.
He just didn’t know how long such days would last…
…
After they were full, Mo Hua began attending to the main task.
He needed to deduce the patterns of the Spirit-Pivot Formation, study it, and through this First-Rank Twelve-Pattern Formation, refine his Divine-Sense further, advancing toward the First-Rank Thirteen-Pattern level.
Thirteen patterns represented the limit of Divine-Sense for a Foundation Establishment early-stage cultivator.
Mo Hua could also take a critical step toward Foundation Establishment.
The Spirit-Pivot Formation needed careful study.
The first thing to investigate was Zhang Quan’s Corpse-Control Bell.
The Corpse-Control Bell was an evil artifact of the demonic path, appearing seamless from the outside, with its formation hidden within.
Mo Hua knew little about artifact refining, had no starting point, and didn’t know how to dismantle it.
In the end, it was Bai Zixi, after consulting some cultivation texts, who figured out the method of disassembly.
Dismantling the Corpse-Control Bell was complicated, requiring deep knowledge of artifact refining and some special techniques.
Bai Zixi patiently explained it to Mo Hua, who was utterly confused.
Aside from formations, Mo Hua was largely unskilled in other cultivation arts, far behind Bai Zixi.
Thus, only Bai Zixi could dismantle the Corpse-Control Bell.
Bai Zixi produced a small, exquisitely crafted refining furnace, made of precious materials, the flame refined like liquid mercury.
Then she took a set of artifact-refining tools from her storage pouch.
Golden scissors, silver tweezers, jade needles, and so on.
Mo Hua had never seen these before.
He had only seen the big hammer… the one Master Chen wielded when refining artifacts.
Bai Zixi explained,
“The tools differ depending on the artifact. Swords, spears, and halberds are generally handled with a hammer; for rings, pendants, and bells, the tools are more delicate.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Mo Hua admired her, nodding repeatedly.
Bai Zixi then demonstrated how to dismantle the Corpse-Control Bell for Mo Hua.
She first placed the bell over the flame until it reached the proper temperature, then carefully used the golden scissors, silver tweezers, or jade needle to separate the inner and outer layers of the bell bit by bit.
She moved with practiced ease.
Mo Hua watched, still confused.
He looked up, about to ask something, and found Bai Zixi’s eyes, like autumn waters, focused intently, her long lashes flickering occasionally.
Mo Hua was momentarily captivated, forgetting what he wanted to ask.
After a while, Bai Zixi finished dismantling the Corpse-Control Bell, looked up at Mo Hua, and asked softly,
“Do you understand now?”
Mo Hua, feeling a bit sheepish, looked away,
“I understand…”
Bai Zixi nodded in satisfaction.
The Corpse-Control Bell had been dismantled.
Mo Hua then collected his focus and began studying the formation engraved on the bell.
But soon, he frowned.
The formation on the Corpse-Control Bell was not an Absolute Formation…
It was based on the Five-Element Water pattern, transforming water into blood. Using human blood as the formation, it controlled the iron corpses, rather than the Spirit-Pivot Absolute Formation Mo Hua had initially expected, which emphasized Divine-Sense control.
Mo Hua felt disappointed.
“Isn’t it right?” Bai Zixi asked.
“Mm,” Mo Hua nodded.
Bai Zixi suggested, “Do you want to check the other formations in the Walking Corpse Stronghold?”
“Sure.”
Bai Zixi opened the storage pouch and had Bai Zisheng help lay out all the items they had scavenged from the stronghold related to formations, big and small, in the courtyard.
Mo Hua breathed a sigh of relief.
Luckily, he had prepared in advance.
If the complete Spirit-Pivot Absolute Formation wasn’t in the Corpse-Control Bell, it had to be somewhere in the Walking Corpse Stronghold.
Now that he had gathered all the stronghold’s formation materials, he didn’t believe he wouldn’t be able to find it.
He began searching one by one.
Those with simple formations, he immediately returned to the pouch.
Rare or obscure formations, he carefully noted down.
Some items contained deeply hidden and cryptic formations, which he marked for later detailed study.
Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi also helped.
Their Divine-Sense wasn’t enough to master Absolute Formations, but they could still recognize them.
They searched all day.
Still, nothing.
Mo Hua obtained some rare and obscure formations, but none were Absolute Formations.
“Strange…”
Mo Hua frowned.
“Could it be that the formation isn’t in the stronghold?” Bai Zisheng asked.
Mo Hua thought for a moment, shook his head, “Unlikely…”
Formations are always put to use.
The Spirit-Pivot Formation on the walking corpses was incomplete; it was impossible that the walking corpses had formations corresponding to the control method, but the same formation wasn’t used.
“Did we miss something?”
Mo Hua muttered.
“Anything in the Stronghold that has formations, you’ve already gathered, right?” Bai Zisheng asked doubtfully. “What else could we have missed?”
Missed what?
Mo Hua replayed the events with Zhang Quan in his mind.
Hundred Flowers Tower, Earth-Submergence Technique, Corpse Blood Pill, Corpse Coffin, walking corpses, iron corpses, Corpse-Control Bell, Stronghold, Zhang family patriarch…
After thinking several times, he suddenly exclaimed: “Iron corpse!”
Bai Zisheng frowned. “Iron corpse?”
“Yes,” Mo Hua nodded urgently. “The walking corpses have Spirit-Pivot Formations, so naturally the iron corpses must also have them…”
“I used to think the walking corpses and iron corpses were all controlled by the Corpse-Control Bell.”
“So the formations on them should be the same, at most differing slightly in strength.”
“But now, the Corpse-Control Bell doesn’t contain a Spirit-Pivot Formation, so the control formation is likely drawn on the iron corpses themselves!”
“Zhang Quan controls the iron corpses with the bell, then spreads the Spirit-Pivot Formation on them to control more walking corpses!”
Bai Zixi’s eyes widened in surprise.
Bai Zisheng also gaped, “How did you figure that out?”
Mo Hua said, “Once you understand the principles of formations, it connects everything. The more formations you learn, the more you can reason it out.”
Bai Zisheng pondered, “Very possible.”
“The iron corpse?” Mo Hua asked.
“In the Dao Court Division.”
Mo Hua immediately stood. “No time to waste. Let’s go find Sister Situ and get an iron corpse.”
The three went to find Situ Fang.
Situ Fang was surprised, “You want an iron corpse for what?”
Mo Hua said, “For research.”
Situ Fang was a little confused.
Research? Could that even be studied…?
Study what? It wasn’t like he could research corpse refinement.
Mo Hua added, “It’s related to formations.”
Situ Fang paused, understanding a little, but frowned. “It’s dangerous.”
“No problem,” Mo Hua assured her. “I’m a formation master. I’ll draw extra formations to ensure it won’t act out of control.”
He added, “After studying it, I’ll return it.”
Situ Fang hesitated a moment, then nodded. “Alright, but you need to be discreet. No one can find out.”
Mo Hua smiled, clear and sincere. “Thank you, Sister Situ!”
Situ Fang shook her head helplessly. She really had no way to stop Mo Hua.
There were five iron corpses in the Walking Corpse Stronghold.
Situ Fang gave Mo Hua one.
The iron corpse was stored in a coffin, which needed a cart to transport.
After much persuasion and coaxing, Mo Hua finally managed to have Da Bai help secretly move the coffin containing the iron corpse from the Dao Court Division back to the cave dwelling.
It was placed in the same side room as before.
Mo Hua reinforced the formation once more.
Since the iron corpse had to be restrained, he had to be extra careful. The formations he used this time were at least First-Rank Composite Formations.
The formations, like a spiderweb, covered every corner of the room.
Once ready, Mo Hua was set to open the coffin.