Chapter 484: Sneaky “Bites”

Chapter 485: Sneaky “Bites”

Lu “the Skin-flayer”  was evil through and through. He picked a perfect son-in-law, secured a fine head of the family, and yet after his death, he couldn’t even rest in peace—he was turned into a zombie.

Justice served, fully deserved…

Mo Hua thought to himself.

After cursing the Lu family patriarch, Lu Chengyun sat off to the side, meditating to recover his divine sense.

Mo Hua had no chance to sneak out, so he hid behind the altar, patiently waiting. Once Lu Chengyun left, he would find an opportunity to slip away.

But Lu Chengyun meditated for a long while, and his divine sense still hadn’t fully recovered…

Mo Hua was starting to get anxious for him.

“Does divine sense really recover this slowly?”

Mo Hua could recover his own in just a short meditation, but Lu Chengyun was like a turtle, sitting forever, barely regaining any divine sense. That was painfully slow…

Could it be a problem with his meditation method? Mo Hua furrowed his brow.

He had learned meditation from Mister Zhuang; his mind was clear, and divine sense returned quickly.

Lu Chengyun didn’t meditate, had a scheming mind, and was a bit… morally dirty, so his divine sense recovered slowly? Or is it that all other formation masters recover divine sense this slowly? Mo Hua hadn’t really compared before.

“Looks like the meditation Mister Zhuang taught is really something…”

Mo Hua felt a surge of gratitude toward Mister Zhuang.

Lu Chengyun continued to regulate his breath and then opened his eyes, seemingly a bit impatient. His divine sense had only recovered halfway.

Mo Hua was puzzled.

“What’s Lu Chengyun trying to do?”

How could he draw formations without fully recovered divine sense? Unexpectedly, Lu Chengyun didn’t pull out a formation diagram. Instead, he took a picture from his storage pouch.

The picture was a little wrinkled, had folds, and still had some dirty footprints.

Mo Hua recognized it immediately.

The footprints on it were his own.

It was Zhang Quan’s ancestral master picture!

A zombie diagram, and also a visualization diagram!

So the picture was indeed in Lu Chengyun’s hands!

Zhang Quan, that ungrateful bastard, had actually handed over his own ancestor’s portrait, making things so hard for Mo Hua.

Mo Hua frowned but silently contemplated.

Zhang Quan clearly treasured this ancestral master picture, probably unwilling to give it away, only lending it.

There must have been some deal between him and Lu Chengyun.

And Zhang Quan must have gained quite a bit from this deal; otherwise, he wouldn’t have lent it.

This was a visualization diagram, capable of enhancing divine sense.

Zhang Quan might not know its use, but Lu Chengyun definitely did.

Mo Hua was momentarily stunned.

The visualization diagram could enhance divine sense…

But how exactly?

Mo Hua had “eaten” it directly—if he hadn’t, he would have been “eaten”…

Other cultivators, without Dao monuments in their Sea of Consciousness and lacking the ability for spiritual killing, probably couldn’t “eat” it.

If they couldn’t “eat” it, how did they use it?

Wouldn’t they be eaten?

Or maybe the proper use of a visualization diagram was something else entirely?

How did other cultivators use it to strengthen their divine sense?

…

Mo Hua’s mind swirled with questions as he peeked out to observe Lu Chengyun, hoping to use him as a reference.

Outside the altar, in the Ten-Thousand-Zombie Formation,

Lu Chengyun first took out an incense burner and offered three sticks of incense.

He then respectfully opened the Zhang family ancestral master picture, clasped his hands in reverence, hung the picture up, and, amidst the curling incense smoke, sat cross-legged. His posture was upright, eyes fixed on the image, mind wandering to nothing, focusing entirely on visualization.

The aura of man and picture gradually merged.

Lu Chengyun seemed to enter a mysterious, indescribable state of gradual enlightenment.

His divine sense was slowly nourished, gradually recovering, and steadily growing.

“Strange…”

Mo Hua frowned.

The diagram really could be visualized, and visualization actually nourished divine sense.

This was different from his own experience…

Mo Hua recalled:

The first time, he saw the Mountain-Water Dao Child Diagram; the little immortal transformed into a demon and tried to eat him.

The second time, the Zhang family ancestral master picture—ancestor turned into a zombie, jumped into his forehead, still trying to eat him…

Neither time gave him a chance to understand it through visualization…

Why?

Why could Lu Chengyun calmly burn incense, show respect, and use the visualization diagram to enhance divine sense, while he only had the choice of “eat” or “be eaten”?

Another question:

When Lu Chengyun visualized the picture, did he notice that all these solemn Zhang ancestors were actually zombies?

Did he see but not care, or did he not see through it at all?

In his eyes, was it just a solemn, instructive ancestral master picture?

Weird…

Mo Hua analyzed further:

The evil thoughts in the visualization diagram wanted to “eat” him, not Lu Chengyun…

Was it because he saw through their true nature?

Or because his innate divine sense was strong, making him highly nourishing?

Or maybe simply because they preyed on the weak, and he was a little kid…

Mo Hua furrowed his brow, realizing all three reasons could apply…

Seeing through the true nature, divine sense nourishing, and easy to bully.

If he were one of these evil spirits, he would choose a small kid like him too…

Humans are easy prey for ghosts.

Mo Hua sighed helplessly.

…

Meanwhile, Lu Chengyun was still deeply absorbed in the visualization diagram, seemingly oblivious to external matters.

Mo Hua wondered whether he should sneak away now or later.

But then he paused.

The visualization diagram was right in front of him—why sneak?

Lu Chengyun kept it close; he couldn’t get it back for now, but he could “take a bite,” gather a few zombies, and enjoy a little feast—no problem.

Mo Hua peeked again.

From his position, blocked by Lu Chengyun, he couldn’t see the entire diagram, only part of it.

But Mo Hua knew it well.

Even with just this part, he could roughly infer the scene depicted.

A lofty, solemn hall.

Ancestral masters imparted teachings, filled with immortal aura.

Disciples passed on the words, one by one.

Lu Chengyun, utterly focused, seemed to comprehend profound truths, grasp the Dao, and subtly strengthen his divine sense.

But Mo Hua understood clearly.

It wasn’t “ancestral teachings,” just empty, pretentious nonsense.

All talk of “Dao,” “fate,” “truth”…

Seemingly profound, yet empty.

Lu Chengyun was just indulging himself.

Mo Hua didn’t care—let him get brainwashed by Zhang’s zombie ancestors, the more obsessed the better, maybe he’d never emerge again.

Mo Hua went about his own task.

His gaze swiftly scanned the diagram, picking the fattest target, finally settling on a Zhang family elder.

This elder sat in a corner, barely paying attention to the ancestral teachings, mumbling vaguely to brush it off.

Even if it disappeared, no one would notice.

“You’re it!”

Mo Hua’s eyes gleamed.

The elder, reciting scriptures, suddenly paused, sensing something. Turning slowly, its murky eyes met Mo Hua’s.

As expected, something changed.

Under Mo Hua’s gaze, the elder revealed its true form.

Mo Hua’s eyes were clear and bright, like sunlight, burning the elder’s face until it peeled away, exposing the zombie underneath.

The zombie elder was both angry and delighted.

Angry that a little kid dared spy on its true form.

Delighted that the kid’s divine sense was deep—surely incredibly tasty!

A young, naive Qi-Refining kid—what’s stopping it from being devoured?

The zombie elder licked its lips, impatient with hunger, leaping from the diagram into Mo Hua’s Sea of Consciousness.

It was thrilled, expecting a feast of divine sense.

Little did it know, it leapt into an abyss from which there was no return…