Chapter 479: Scheming Thoughts

Chapter 480: Scheming Thoughts

Mo Hua was still studying the Ten-Thousand Corpses Formation.

The formation’s core point was designed by himself, so he understood it thoroughly. Most of his time was spent on the formation pivots and patterns.

After some study, Mo Hua roughly understood the function of the Ten-Thousand Corpses Formation.

The Ten-Thousand Corpses Formation, and the unabridged Ten-Thousand Corpses Grand Formation, served similar purposes, only differing in scale.

This formation had two main uses:

First, large-scale corpse refinement.

Within the formation, numerous coffins were embedded as medium conduits, maintained by the formation patterns, coordinated by the formation pivots, and powered by the formation core. This allowed for the “mass production” of zombies.

Second, enhancing corpse control.

Using a spiritual pivot formation as the core, a complete sequence formation was built with bronze corpses at the center, iron corpses as the pivot, and walking corpses as the base layer.

Every layer was meticulously controlled.

This required a fairly deep foundation in formation arts.

Although Lu Chengyun was morally corrupt, he was talented and accomplished in formation techniques.

It was just that his skills were not applied to the righteous path.

Mo Hua shook his head.

He had mostly figured out the Ten-Thousand Corpses Formation. Next came the altar.

The golden altar gleamed brilliantly.

A beast-gold incense burner released curling smoke.

Jade candlesticks were exquisite and luxurious, candlelight flickering across the surface.

Yet the candlelight carried a hint of strangeness; the wax resembled corpse fat, though it was unclear how many lives it had been extracted from.

On the altar were five-colored spirit flowers, hanging golden-yellow banners, and dragon-patterned lanterns.

In front of the altar were offerings of pig and sheep spirit meat.

These spirit meats were quite precious.

The miners outside, struggling for survival, might never taste such luxuries in their lives.

Mo Hua let out a small sigh.

The other items on the altar were covered by yellow cloths—strange shapes, resembling sculptures, monsters, or even mummies.

Even his divine sense could not penetrate them.

He couldn’t discern what exactly they were.

“Should I lift the cloth and take a look?”

Mo Hua’s hand paused midway.

He hesitated.

If he lifted it, could there be danger?

Would Lu Chengyun notice?

If what was under the cloth were zombies, demon beasts, or some other fierce creature, uncovering it would break the seal.

Though he could rely on the Flowing-Water Step or concealment techniques to escape, controlling it with cultivation alone was probably impossible.

If the creature stirred, it would alert Lu Chengyun.

And if it weren’t a beast, but something like a “visualization diagram” with parasitic evil intent residing in wood or stone, danger would still exist.

Since witnessing the Strange Daoist’s “Phantom Shadows,” Mo Hua had become more cautious.

He no longer believed that manifesting his divine sense could let him conquer all.

It was safer to act prudently.

Especially with unknown dangers, when understanding was shallow, rash action could be fatal.

Mo Hua was curious.

He wanted to know what was under the yellow cloth on the altar.

Yet he did not dare to uncover it.

After a moment of inner struggle, he decided to let it go.

Better safe than sorry.

A corpse mine was not like Nan Yue City. There was no master to back him up, no senior disciples to assist.

If one could “chicken out,” it was better to do so.

Reluctantly, Mo Hua shifted his gaze from the altar to the bronze coffin at the core of the Ten-Thousand Corpses Formation.

Inside this bronze coffin, the spiritual pivot formation contained the final sequence patterns.

If the formation’s authority activated, the zombie inside the coffin would, once refined, possess supreme command, capable of directing iron corpses at the Foundation Establishment stage, and thus dominate all walking corpses in the mine.

Lu Chengyun had perfected corpse control through the spiritual pivot formation.

He was not just the head of the Lu family; he was the zombie supreme of this small Great Wilderness Prefecture.

Mo Hua rested his chin on his hand, a mischievous thought forming in his mind:

“Should I smash this bronze coffin?”

“Or just destroy the entire Ten-Thousand Corpses Formation?”

“One strike to end it all…”

“Cut off Lu Chengyun’s ambitions completely.”

“Let his century of effort go up in smoke, all his work turn to ashes…”

Mo Hua considered, then shook his head slightly.

Disrupting the derivative calculations would take time.

Setting up a reverse-spirit array would also take time.

Lu Chengyun was suspicious and might not give him such an opportunity.

No…

Mo Hua furrowed his brow and thought further.

There was still a chance. With patience, a flaw could be found.

As family head, Lu Chengyun was busy and could not watch this place constantly.

Just a small lapse could give Mo Hua the chance to dismantle the reverse-spirit formation, and with a single “boom,” Lu Chengyun’s century-long foundation could be ruined…

“But if it collapses…” Mo Hua continued considering.

“Will the corpse mine collapse too?”

Could he still escape?

Perhaps he could first set up a reverse-spirit formation, find a way to escape, and later use a puppet to trigger the formation’s collapse?

But this was deep inside the mine.

If the collapse occurred, unpredictable explosions and cave-ins could happen, potentially causing a chain reaction. Not only the corpse mine, but the entire mountain could be destroyed.

Then, not only would the Ten-Thousand Corpses Formation collapse and the coffin be destroyed, the corpse cultivators could die, and nearby miners might also perish from the spiritual shock and mine collapse.

Evacuate the miners in advance?

Mo Hua thought it over, but that wouldn’t work.

The mine belonged to the Lu family. Evacuating the miners would surely alert them.

Once the Lu family suspected, actions would no longer be easy.

Also, the power of a formation collapse was huge.

But this was a derivative formation; the power might not be as extreme as he imagined.

At most, the Ten-Thousand Corpses Formation would collapse, and the bronze coffin be destroyed.

But if the bronze coffin were destroyed…

The highest sequence patterns of the spiritual pivot formation would fail.

Would the other zombies lose control as a result?

If they did, they would instinctively feast on flesh. With so many zombies, a tidal wave of corpses could erupt, toxins spreading, bringing catastrophe to all of Nan Yue City.

Mo Hua could escape himself.

Even if infected with corpse toxin, he had ways to cure it.

But the poor wandering cultivators?

If they couldn’t escape, they would become zombie bait.

Even a single bite, without medicinal intervention, would let the corpse toxin spread, corroding the heart meridians, causing zombification, reducing them to walking corpses…

Mo Hua tried to consider everything.

It seemed that no matter what he did, some risk would remain; it was hard to cover all bases.

A bit tricky…

Mo Hua sighed.

“Then maybe just tamper with the formation on the bronze coffin?”

He looked at the coffin in front of him.

He had observed this coffin often during the day, even peeking while Lu Chengyun drew the spiritual pivot evil formation.

An outer coffin and an inner coffin.

Lu Chengyun’s formation was drawn inside the bronze inner coffin, not directly on the zombie.

But what was inside the bronze inner coffin? Was there even a zombie?

If so, what level of zombie?

Walking corpse, iron corpse…

Logically, after that should come copper, silver, and gold corpses…

Could the bronze coffin contain a copper corpse?

But judging by Lu Chengyun’s tone, it didn’t seem likely.

If it were a copper corpse, its strength would be considerable, probably at the late Foundation Establishment stage.

Lu Chengyun was only early Foundation Establishment. Could he restrain a copper corpse?

If he couldn’t, yet still tried to refine it, that would be suicide.

If the corpse turned on him, he would be devoured entirely, leaving no bones.

Lu Chengyun was clever enough not to do something so foolish…

But if it wasn’t a copper corpse, what kind of corpse was it?

Mo Hua pondered, then suddenly realized a fundamental problem:

He didn’t even know the difference between walking, iron, copper, silver, and gold corpses…

Except hearing the names from his Little Senior Sister, he was a complete outsider in corpse refinement!

A total novice.

It was like a cultivator ignorant of formations trying to consider formation problems based on experience.

Right now, he was only speculating to infer the type of corpse refinement.

Outsiders trying to judge what insiders do often make assumptions.

Do corpse refinements have ranks?

Are gold, silver, copper, iron ranks or types?

Different corpses—what effects do they have, what taboos?

He only had a vague, superficial understanding…

For ordinary walking or iron corpses, this shallow knowledge might suffice.

But Lu Chengyun was clearly using a more “advanced” corpse refinement technique; half-baked experience might not reveal much…

Mo Hua worried again.

Practice leads to true understanding.

He couldn’t just learn corpse refinement and refine zombies himself just to understand this.

Mo Hua thought it impossible to refine himself.

But if he could secretly steal a few corpse refinement books from corpse cultivators, knowing the enemy would be very useful.

The cultivation world was perilous.

To survive, cultivators needed all kinds of knowledge.

Some things could be left undone, but could not be unknown.

Otherwise, a “cognitive barrier” could render even the cleverest useless, perhaps leading one to die foolishly without knowing why.

Mo Hua nodded slightly, then considered opening the bronze coffin.

The bronze coffin had an outer and inner coffin; the corpse was inside the inner coffin.

He would open only the outer coffin, not the inner coffin—like Lu Chengyun—so the risk should be low.

But Mo Hua didn’t expect that he couldn’t even open the outer coffin.

The entire bronze coffin seemed sealed shut.

Mo Hua tried multiple times, failing to open it, unsure whether it was sealed by a formation or a lock.

He sighed.

This trip yielded some results, but less than he had imagined.

He had thoroughly studied the Ten-Thousand Corpses Formation.

But he still didn’t know what was offered on the altar or what was sealed in the bronze coffin.

“Looks like… I need to think of another method…”

Mo Hua’s eyes flickered as he silently thought.

(End of Chapter)