Chapter 486: Zombies Mining

Chapter 487: Zombies Mining

Lu Chengyun’s voice was soft, but Mo Hua still heard it.

Looking for people to feed the formation wasn’t unusual; back at the Walking Corpse Village, Zhang Quan had done the same.

But Lu Chengyun’s smile was far too dark, making Mo Hua suspicious.

If it were just ordinary killings to feed the formation, it shouldn’t have been a big deal for Lu Chengyun. His expression would have been calm, not like it was now.

Mo Hua touched his chin.

Looking for someone to feed the formation?

Who exactly was he going to use?

“Mine cultivators? Corpse cultivators?”

“Zhang Quan… or… me?”

Mo Hua was startled.

Thinking about it, it seemed to make sense.

Every evil spirit that had jumped into his Sea of Consciousness had claimed that his Divine Sense was a supreme supplement, perfect for feeding the Visualization Formation.

Could it be that Lu Chengyun never had good intentions from the start?

Mo Hua pondered silently.

Even if it was just a guess, he couldn’t afford to ignore it…

After restoring his Divine Sense, Lu Chengyun redrew the Spiritual-Pivot Evil Formation. By the hour of Mao, he sealed the bronze coffin and left.

Once Lu Chengyun departed, Mo Hua waited another short while to ensure he was far away and wouldn’t return soon. Only then did he quietly leave the altar and approach the bronze coffin.

The bronze coffin was sealed again.

Mo Hua circled it, tapping and prodding, but still couldn’t figure out how it had been opened or sealed.

He felt a little regretful.

When Lu Chengyun arrived, he hadn’t noticed how the coffin was opened.

When leaving, he had also forgotten to check how it was sealed.

Now that he couldn’t open it, Mo Hua couldn’t uncover the secrets inside.

“Next time, then…”

He muttered quietly and also slipped away from the Ten-Thousand-Corpse Altar.

Back in his room, Mo Hua immediately jumped onto his bed, sat cross-legged, and sank his Divine Sense into his Sea of Consciousness.

Inside, everything was blank white.

Within the void, there was a Golden Lock Formation, containing a wisp of blue smoke.

It was the lingering thought-body of the Iron Corpse Elder left after his destruction.

Mo Hua seized the moment, manifesting the Molten Fire Formation, roasting the wisp of smoke bit by bit, burning it down, refining it into pure Divine Sense, and absorbing it into himself.

He “cooked” and consumed it simultaneously.

Until the entire wisp of smoke was roasted and swallowed.

Thoughts of bloodlust, greed, and evil surged in Mo Hua’s mind.

He calmly meditated, mind as clear as a mirror, completely purging all these vile thoughts.

Once the evil thoughts were gone, a pure Divine Sense flowed into his Sea of Consciousness.

Mo Hua’s Divine Sense strengthened slightly.

This increase pushed his Divine Sense closer to the peak of twelve patterns, approaching thirteen patterns, yet still slightly short…

Mo Hua opened his eyes and sighed.

Strengthening Divine Sense was hard.

Even after consuming another Foundation Establishment Divine Sense, he still couldn’t reach thirteen patterns.

Could it be that this Foundation Establishment Divine Sense was too weak?

Having been refined once already, there was even less left to “consume,” so it couldn’t fully satisfy him.

Mo Hua blinked.

Did he have to “consume” Zhang Quan’s ancestor to reach thirteen patterns?

But how could he do that?

His mind started scheming again…

Zhang Quan’s ancestor chart was kept close by Lu Chengyun, treated as a treasure, not something easily obtainable.

He would have to think of another way.

Perhaps he could use me to feed the formation…

Lying on the bed, Mo Hua crossed his legs, carefully considering…

Then he suddenly remembered he hadn’t communicated with Little Senior Sister in a long time.

Some matters needed to be discussed with her and Little Senior Brother first.

Mo Hua quickly got up, took a sheet of paper, and laid it on the desk.

He began jotting down key clues.

For example, Lu Chengyun’s status in the Lu family.

The dealings between Lu Chengyun and the Lu family ancestor.

The fact that the Lu family ancestor had been refined into a corpse.

Some details about the Ten-Thousand-Corpse Formation… and so on.

…

After finishing, he carefully stored the note. That evening, he secretly found Little Tiger and slipped the note into its mouth, sending it to Little Senior Sister.

The next day, Little Tiger returned with another note.

The paper was fine and white, with light gold embossing—a type Little Senior Sister often used. Mo Hua recognized it immediately.

Receiving a note back meant the message had been delivered.

Mo Hua nodded and opened it, curious about her reply.

The note only had four simple characters:

“Not coming back?”

And a small sketch of a face, brows slightly furrowed.

Mo Hua froze.

He realized he had unknowingly stayed in the corpse mine for quite some time.

Little Senior Sister and Little Senior Brother must be worried about him, hence the urgency.

Master and Grandpa Kui… probably weren’t anxious.

After all, Master could foresee things; he likely knew what Mo Hua was doing.

Mo Hua wondered if anyone was making tea for Master, or roasting pine nuts for Grandpa Kui…

And what about Da Bai? Had Little Senior Brother fed it good fodder?

And Instructor Yan…

…

Mo Hua reflected and suddenly felt a bit homesick, realizing it was time to plan an early departure from the corpse mine.

Besides, Lu Chengyun, though polite and refined outwardly, was ruthless inside. Even if courteous to Mo Hua, he likely had no good intentions.

Better to escape sooner rather than later.

Mo Hua wrote a reply on a piece of paper:

“Soon, soon!”

And drew a small tiger’s head, lively and spirited.

He used Divine Sense to guide Little Tiger to deliver it.

Then he began thinking about what to do before leaving.

The Ten-Thousand-Corpse Formation, the bronze coffin, the corpse mine…

All had to be destroyed, or they would cause endless trouble.

The corpse cultivators in the mine, killing and refining corpses, had to be eradicated.

The zombies inside had to be properly dealt with, ideally burned, to prevent the spread of flesh consumption and corpse toxin, which could poison Nanyue City…

“How many zombies are there in this mine?”

Mo Hua knew there were many, but couldn’t count precisely.

Those in the Stone Hall and the Ten-Thousand-Corpse Formation were only part of the total.

The corpse mine was larger than the Walking Corpse Village, with more complex formations. With Lu Chengyun supervising, many areas were inaccessible.

Outside the mine were more tunnels, possibly with even more zombies…

To know your enemy is to defeat your enemy.

Without knowing the number of zombies, he couldn’t act.

Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator, surrounded by hundreds or thousands of walking corpses, would die if trapped.

Moreover, there were many Iron Corpses in the mine.

Even if the Dao Court deployed Dao Soldiers, without knowing the situation, they couldn’t manage the mine effectively.

Mo Hua decided to first check the outer tunnels.

Outside the Stone Hall was the mine, separated by a large gate.

This gate had a bloody Evil Formation, and a key.

Mo Hua discovered the key later.

It was made of white bone and held by a gatekeeping corpse cultivator.

He couldn’t tamper with the formation yet, for fear of alerting Lu Chengyun, but the key could be stolen.

While the gatekeeper was busy refining a corpse, Mo Hua used Little Tiger to snatch the key, then secretly opened the Stone Hall’s gate.

Outside, it was the mine.

Dark, damp, gloomy, thick with corpse energy, yet extremely noisy.

Mo Hua followed the tunnels and soon reached a massive pit.

As he expected, yet slightly different.

The walking corpses were indeed mining, but there were too many…

The pit was enormous, densely packed with walking corpses.

Ragged, decayed, each wielding a pickaxe, tirelessly mining!

Dead, yet performing the work of the living.

Most had been miners in life; after death, they were refined into corpses, still laboring, even more tirelessly than when alive.

Countless zombies mined…

The chaotic scene felt simultaneously human and otherworldly.

Living miners were forced by life to move like walking corpses.

Here, dead miners were enslaved by the Lu family, laboring endlessly like the living.

For a moment, day-shift miners and night-shift zombies overlapped in Mo Hua’s mind, blurring reality.

He was stunned for a long time.

At that instant, he gained an indescribable insight into life, death, and the nature of “humans” at the lowest level.

At the same time, another harsh truth emerged.

There were too many zombies in this mine!

Just in this pit alone, there were over ten thousand.

Judging by the surrounding formations, the mine was even larger than he imagined, with many more pits.

Each pit held countless walking corpses…

Mo Hua shivered at the thought.

If these zombies broke out, forming a tidal wave of corpses and spreading the corpse toxin, Nanyue City wouldn’t survive. Even the entire Xiaohuang Prefecture could be devastated.

It would become a small “Corpse Realm.”

Mo Hua couldn’t look any further.

Time was short; he sneaked back.

The outer gate was a massive natural stone, guarded by two second-grade Iron Corpses, surrounded by thick cliffs.

He couldn’t leave immediately and had to return and plan carefully.

The gatekeeping corpse cultivator hadn’t finished refining a corpse yet.

Mo Hua returned the key using Little Tiger, then went back to his room, frowning in thought.

The corpse mine was larger than he had imagined.

The zombies were more numerous than he had thought.

And the Iron Corpses? How many were there?

He counted roughly: in the Ten-Thousand-Corpse Formation, there were about twenty-four Iron Coffins.

Meaning twenty-four Iron Corpses.

Some secret chambers in the Stone Hall also contained Iron Corpses, roughly seven or eight.

There were more in the outer tunnels.

Altogether, the corpse mine likely contained over forty Iron Corpses.

Mixed first- and second-grade, the first-grade slightly weaker (roughly weak Foundation Establishment), the second-grade much stronger (mid Foundation Establishment).

Altogether, nearly forty mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators?

Mo Hua felt a chill.

Over forty mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators—this power could dominate not just Nanyue City, but the entire Xiaohuang Prefecture.

Then he wondered, where did Lu Chengyun get so many corpses to refine Iron Corpses?

Refining an Iron Corpse required at least a peak ninth-level Qi cultivator or a Foundation Establishment corpse.

Considering success rates, even more corpses were needed.

Peak ninth-level Qi cultivators were plausible, but where did he get so many Foundation Establishment corpses?

Even killing wouldn’t suffice…

Suddenly, Mo Hua thought of the Lu family ancestor.

In the Spiritual-Pivot sequence of the Ten-Thousand-Corpse Formation, the ancestor was the “Corpse King,” the highest in the sequence.

A Corpse King commands legions of corpses.

Thus, refining a Corpse King’s corpses was precise—either the sect leader, family head, or national ruler…

Those under its control would be disciples, family members, or citizens.

The Lu family ancestor was the Corpse King.

According to corpse-refining principles, those subjugated should be… Lu family cultivators?

Unlikely miners…

Miner cultivators rarely reached Foundation Establishment.

Though exploited, many held resentment; refining their corpses into zombies under the ancestor’s control would easily go awry.

It had to be the Lu family…

Most Iron Corpses were likely made from Lu family cultivators, perhaps even elder corpses.

But Lu Chengyun, as head, could only kill one or two elders safely. Killing so many would cause suspicion.

He wouldn’t destroy his own roots.

So where did these corpses come from?

Elder corpses…

Mo Hua’s brows furrowed.

Suddenly, a terrifying thought struck him:

“Could it be… Lu Chengyun dug up the Lu family ancestral tombs?”