Chapter 489: Little Yellow Sparrow

Chapter 491: Little Yellow Sparrow

The next day, during the Chou hour, in the ten-thousand-corpse altar filled with coffins, Lu Chengyun came again to draw formations.

Mo Hua hid behind the altar, secretly watching him.

As always, Lu Chengyun opened the coffin, took his brush, poured out blood-ink, dipped it in blood, and began drawing the formation. But just as the brush touched the surface, he furrowed his brow.

He stared at the formation for a long while, his frown deepening, until he muttered:

“This isn’t right…”

“This isn’t right…”

“This formation… has a problem…”

A chill ran through Mo Hua’s heart.

He had indeed been discovered.

Lu Chengyun was still puzzled:

“Who altered my formation?”

“Who has the ability to change the formation I drew?”

“And who could, right under my nose, sneak into the corpse mine, enter the altar, open the bronze coffin, and alter my First-Grade Twelve-Pattern Spiritual-Pivot Evil Formation?”

His gaze flickered between suspicion and uncertainty.

Suddenly, he was startled:

“Could there be someone in the altar?”

He quickly unleashed his Divine-Sense, sweeping the surroundings.

Mo Hua shrank his little head, obediently hiding his aura.

Lu Chengyun’s Divine-Sense scanned the formation, the coffins, the altar, and even passed over him—yet detected nothing.

After sweeping several times, Lu Chengyun finally relaxed.

“Was I being overly suspicious…”

He murmured with a frown.

This matter was somewhat unfathomable…

If someone really could do this, their cultivation would have to be profound, and their skills unfathomable.

A senior cultivator of such caliber wouldn’t need such sneaky tricks to deal with him; a direct approach would be unstoppable.

“The formation… Mo Hua?”

Suddenly, Lu Chengyun thought of Mo Hua.

In the entire corpse mine, only Mo Hua’s formation skills were second to his own.

Could it be Mo Hua who altered his Spiritual-Pivot Evil Formation?

“No, he doesn’t have that ability.”

Lu Chengyun said firmly.

A First-Grade Twelve-Pattern Spiritual-Pivot Formation required twelve Patterned Foundation-Level Divine-Senses.

Mo Hua, though his Divine-Sense was strong, was still at the Qi-Refining stage, at most ten patterns, possibly even fewer.

Divine-Sense is the foundation of a formation master.

Without twelve patterns, without using evil methods or borrowing another’s Divine-Sense, one cannot draw the Spiritual-Pivot Formation.

This little cultivator was pure in aura, an uncut jade.

He definitely hadn’t studied forbidden arts or drawn evil formations.

Moreover, he couldn’t possibly have learned the Spiritual-Pivot Formation.

This was a top-grade, twelve-pattern absolute formation. Even after nearly a hundred years of research, Lu Chengyun had to use unorthodox methods and lower the requirements just to draw it.

This little brat hadn’t even seen the formation map. How could he learn and draw it?

Sure, he’d glimpsed some formation patterns…

But only sporadically, when idle, watching Lu Chengyun draw formations a few times.

To think he could learn it from that? Preposterous.

Even with talent, it wasn’t that easy…

If he could learn so quickly, wouldn’t all of Lu Chengyun’s years of work have gone straight into this brat’s belly?

Lu Chengyun shook his head.

“It can’t be him…”

If not Mo Hua, then there was only one other possibility…

“Zhang Quan!”

Lu Chengyun’s gaze sharpened.

He glanced again at the formation on the bronze coffin, his thoughts stirring.

The aura of the formation had changed; the evil energy had weakened.

But the patterns hadn’t changed.

This indicated that the formation itself hadn’t been altered, but someone had used other methods to reduce his control over the Corpse King, weakening the formation’s effect and diminishing its evil power…

This was corpse-refining work!

Among all the corpse cultivators in the mine, the one most skilled in refining corpses was naturally Zhang Quan.

Moreover, this bronze coffin had been passed down in the Zhang family for generations.

Zhang Quan knew it better than Lu Chengyun. It made sense that he could secretly tamper with it.

“Zhang Quan…”

Lu Chengyun’s gaze grew cold as he muttered silently.

He knew Zhang Quan harbored ulterior motives.

And the two had very different approaches to the Corpse King.

Zhang Quan’s vision was narrow, his ambition small. Like ordinary corpse cultivators, he only knew how to refine corpses and kill, aiming to build a demonic sect and “bring glory to his family,” unable to see the true nature of the world.

Originally, Lu Chengyun didn’t mind.

After all, Zhang Quan’s corpse-refining methods were still useful to him.

But if Zhang Quan dared to tamper with the Corpse King and ruin his grand plan, then it would be no one’s fault but his…

Lu Chengyun’s smile turned sinister.

Behind the altar, Mo Hua, hearing that he “didn’t have the ability” and then listening to the name “Zhang Quan,” also revealed a sly, little-fox-like smile.

But Lu Chengyun still wasn’t entirely at ease…

The next day, he had Mo Hua help adjust the formation’s eyes of the ten-thousand-corpse formation. Meanwhile, he opened the bronze coffin and began drawing the formation.

Mo Hua, as always, peeked secretly into the bronze coffin.

His gaze was full of curiosity and wonder.

There was nothing unusual.

Lu Chengyun frowned and asked, “Little sir, what do you think of this formation?”

Mo Hua nodded, “Very profound!”

“Can you understand it?”

Mo Hua hesitated, “I can understand… a little.”

But his words betrayed a hint of insecurity.

He probably understood nothing, but wanted to save face, so he pretended to know a bit.

Lu Chengyun thought to himself.

Then Mo Hua seemed to remember something, his face innocent as he said:

“Oh, Master Lu, you said after the formation eyes were drawn, you’d teach me this formation. Can you teach me now?”

Mo Hua looked at Lu Chengyun, eyes clear and sincere.

Lu Chengyun was slightly taken aback.

Mo Hua’s gaze was too pure…

So pure that merely suspecting him would make one feel guilty.

“This foolish child actually thinks I would teach him the formation?”

He sighed in his heart, then said gently:

“You can’t learn it yet. Wait until your Divine-Sense is stronger…”

“Oh.”

Mo Hua was a bit disappointed and left, occasionally glancing back with lingering curiosity.

Seeing this, Lu Chengyun’s doubts vanished, and he was certain:

“It must be Zhang Quan!”

The one who tampered with the bronze coffin had to be Zhang Quan!

This little cultivator, though clever, was pure and simple, with little scheming ability.

The only one capable of trickery under his eyes was Zhang Quan!

Lu Chengyun’s gaze grew sharp, lost in thought.

Unnoticed, Mo Hua turned his back, a bit disappointed, yet a small smile played on his face…

…

For several days afterward, Lu Chengyun outwardly remained calm, but his gaze toward Zhang Quan carried a faint chill.

Zhang Quan, feeling guilty, did not notice.

Yet all of this was clearly observed by the innocent Mo Hua.

…

One deep night, during the Yin hour,

In the empty, deathly still ten-thousand-corpse altar,

The mural shimmered, revealing the gate. Zhang Quan sneaked in.

He looked left and right, ensuring no one was in the altar, then opened the bronze coffin, cut his hand, fed the corpses with blood, walked backward, reciting incantations, shaking a bell to summon the dead…

He had been performing this corpse-controlling ritual for several days in a row.

Within the bronze coffin, the Corpse King’s heartbeat grew stronger and more powerful, emanating an aura that made the other corpses fear and submit.

After completing the ritual, Zhang Quan’s face was pale, cold sweat forming on his forehead.

The later steps of this ritual required more blood and increasingly strenuous sacrifice.

But if he could control the Corpse King, it was worth it.

Zhang Quan closed the coffin, sneered, and left the altar…

The eerie altar returned to silence.

Moments later, a figure slowly emerged from behind the altar, dressed in splendid robes, face dark.

It was Lu Chengyun.

He glanced at the mural, walked to the bronze coffin, unsealed the lid, and examined the formation.

Sure enough, its power had weakened further.

At the same time, the corpse’s heartbeat had grown slightly stronger.

Lu Chengyun’s gaze turned icy. He silently took out a bone brush, dipped it in human blood, and reinforced the formation, suppressing the effect of the corpse-controlling bell.

After finishing, he resealed the coffin.

Lu Chengyun sneered and left the altar.

The altar returned to deathly silence.

After he left, less than the time it took to brew a cup of tea, a small head peeked out from the altar.

As the saying goes, “The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the yellow bird behind.”

Mo Hua was that little yellow bird.

When Lu Chengyun hid behind the altar watching Zhang Quan, Mo Hua had been perched on the stone beam above them, observing the pair.

Now, with both Zhang Quan and Lu Chengyun gone,

Mo Hua’s eyes brightened. He leapt lightly from the altar, approached the bronze coffin, used a self-made coffin nail to unseal the formation, opened the bronze coffin, and summoned a small zombie to help lift the lid.

Beneath the lid was the inner coffin.

On the coffin were the formation lines Lu Chengyun had just reinforced.

Mo Hua took out his brush and ink, and over Lu Chengyun’s Spiritual-Pivot Evil Formation, continued to overlay his own formation…

Zhang Quan refined corpses.

Lu Chengyun drew formations.

Mo Hua overlaid formations.

This scene played out repeatedly within the altar.

For over half a month, until the Corpse King was about to be fully refined and would emerge from the coffin…

After receiving Mo Hua’s message, for over half a month, currents of tension surged in Nanyue City, heavy with the feeling of an impending storm…

In the Small Wilderness Realm,

Though the sky seemed clear by day, a sudden storm could arrive in an instant.