Chapter 492: Birth of Dao-Sin Calamity

Chapter 494: Birth of Dao-Sin Calamity

In Nanyue City, cultivators from various families and sects connected to the Heavenly-Pivot Pavilion had gathered, each possessing their own methods and divine techniques.

They were not the only ones who could perceive this—there was also a gaunt old man among them.

Above the mine, a dense stench of corpses lingered.

Inside, countless undead were being kept.

Even though everyone present came from powerful factions and had seen much of the world, they all drew in a sharp breath under the overwhelming corpse aura.

With the Dao Court unified, the demonic path had gradually declined.

Where could such a dense corpse aura still be found today? And where could one still see so many zombies?

For a moment, everyone was filled with fear and dread.

“Unbelievably audacious!”

“Who is raising these corpses?”

“…How many people have been killed?”

“Disregarding the Dao Court and violating the Dao laws—how outrageous!”

“…Which demonic sect could be behind this?”

…

The crowd murmured among themselves, until finally someone asked:

“What should we do?”

The question brought a moment of silence.

One cultivator said, “With demons present, we cannot sit idly by. They must be exterminated!”

“Too many of them…”

“We can’t handle it…”

“Don’t forget why we’re here. We didn’t come to meddle in everything.”

“How is this meddling?”

“Exorcising demons and protecting the Dao is our righteous duty!”

“Hmph, all show and no substance, who are you trying to impress…”

“You—”

Voices of argument rose inside the inn.

But only within the inn.

The entire Nanyue Inn had been rented by these cultivators, who set up barriers to block sound and sight. Outsiders simply couldn’t enter.

After a long dispute, the gaunt old man, who was using the “Three Talents Divination Copper Coin” to calculate, frowned and slowly asked:

“Do any of you know where that person is?”

The crowd went quiet for a moment, then all shook their heads.

The old man continued:

“He had us do the calculations to lead us here. But now, he is nowhere in sight. Instead, there is a corpse-filled mine. Do you think this is a coincidence?”

“What do you mean?”

The gaunt old man said, “Perhaps he brought us here for this very corpse mountain.”

Everyone exchanged glances. Then someone asked:

“And then?”

“Was it out of pity, hoping we would help?”

“No, he brought us here to do the hard labor…”

“Or maybe he’s testing us. Whoever can solve this problem, he’ll meet.”

“What nonsense are you thinking?”

“Our motives are not pure… he’s not some old man handing out blessings.”

“Indeed… he’s arrogant, exceptionally talented, and looks down on everyone. Why would he waste time playing such childish games with us?”

“So, what do you suggest we do?”

They looked at each other, each hiding their own thoughts, and remained silent.

In the end, they dispersed without agreement, leaving things unresolved.

After returning to their rooms, the three gaunt old men set up a soundproof formation and began a private discussion.

A middle-aged cultivator said, “The corpse aura is too dense. Soon, it could develop into a zombie tide. Nanyue City is not a place to linger.”

The gaunt old man asked, “What do you mean?”

“There’s nothing to mean—leave immediately. If you don’t, once the zombie tide rises, escape might be impossible.”

The middle-aged cultivator’s tone darkened. “Even without a zombie tide, anyone capable of hiding such acts and raising so many zombies is not to be trusted.”

“Why get involved in something with no benefit?”

The gaunt old man remained silent.

The middle-aged cultivator, surprised, asked, “You don’t intend to stay, do you?”

The old man frowned and slightly nodded.

The middle-aged cultivator clicked his tongue and then turned to ask the white-robed youth, “Young master, what about you?”

The white-robed youth nodded:

“The zombie tide brings disaster and suffering. I wish to stay and do what little I can.”

Such youthful fervor gave the middle-aged cultivator a mild headache.

Yet if he left alone… without the old man’s Three Talents Divination Copper Coin calculations, he would be like a headless fly, wandering aimlessly.

The middle-aged cultivator, reluctant, asked the old man:

“You really want to stay?”

The gaunt old man nodded slightly, seemingly deep in thought, his expression solemn. After a moment, he slowly said:

“I… have a premonition…”

The middle-aged cultivator was startled. “A premonition?”

The gaunt old man drew a deep breath, his gaze full of doubt and unease:

“Recently, I’ve often felt a sudden pang of fear.”

“It feels like a great terror lies ahead, extraordinarily dangerous, life and death uncertain.”

“But if we can suppress this corpse mine and save the cultivators of this city, perhaps even the surrounding prefecture, we may form a bond of goodwill. In future life-or-death situations, there might be a chance for survival…”

The middle-aged cultivator frowned.

He could feel nothing, and naturally believed nothing.

But he also knew it was wise to heed advice.

In the cultivation world, even the most vague, ephemeral premonitions must be heeded by those who want to live to old age.

“Fine. I’ll stay too, but I warn you—if things go wrong, I’m leaving.”

The middle-aged cultivator said helplessly.

The gaunt old man nodded, and the white-robed youth exhaled in relief, smiling faintly.

The next day, the inn saw fewer guests.

Some couldn’t find any trace of Mister Zhuang in Nanyue City and went elsewhere to search.

Some feared the corpse tide might break out and realized they couldn’t protect themselves alone, so they left without a word.

Yet others remained.

Some, like the gaunt old man, sensed faintly from the corpse mine a trace of causal mystery.

Others felt nothing at all but, being righteous and straightforward, simply wanted to eliminate zombies and help the local cultivators.

The group discussed ways to suppress the corpse mine.

But inside the mine, the number of zombies was countless, making the task extremely tricky.

“With just us cultivators, I’m afraid it won’t be enough.”

“We need to draft a letter and request reinforcements from our clans or sects.”

“That might take a while…”

“There’s no choice. We can’t just rush in blindly without preparation and get ourselves killed…”

“We know nothing about the situation inside the corpse mine.”

“How many iron corpses, how many walking dead, are there any other special zombies, who is cultivating them, and are the local cultivation forces involved?”

“No need to guess—there are definitely local forces. Building a corpse mine requires considerable manpower and resources. Without local support, it couldn’t exist.”

“The Lu family, perhaps…”

“I think so too.”

“Do we have evidence?”

“Experience, mostly. You can tell just by looking…”

“A strong outsider can’t suppress a local powerhouse; that’s going to be a problem.”

A young cultivator said proudly:

“Too bad this is only a second-grade prefecture. The laws of heaven restrict us—Golden Core disciples can’t intervene. Otherwise, I’d call my father over to flatten this mountain with a single sword!”

“Alright, alright, we get that your father is a Golden Core…”

“Even a Golden Core couldn’t flatten it with one strike…”

“Even if it were flattened, these zombies couldn’t be killed all at once. If they go out of control and invade Nanyue City, every cultivator in the city could turn into a zombie. That would be far worse…”

“Young man, don’t be so reckless.”

“Solving this requires martial force, but relying solely on force won’t work either…”

The young cultivator sat down sulkily.

“So what do we do?” someone asked.

The group fell silent for a moment, then someone slowly said, “The Dao Court?”

“Request troops from the Dao Army?”

“That could work…”

“Who has connections in the Dao Army Division?”

“Several uncles in my clan serve in the Dao Army Division…”

An elder shook his head. “Don’t even think about it. The Dao Court won’t send troops. Even if they did, it wouldn’t be many.”

“The risk is too high, the cost too great.”

“What do you mean? Slaying demons and eliminating monsters is a fundamental Daoist law and the responsibility of the Dao Court!”

“That’s what you say…”

“Don’t oversimplify things.”

“All those resources and manpower—do you think they can be summoned at a whim?”

“Exactly. By the time it’s filtered through all levels, the actual cost may be even higher.”

“You can’t say that…”

“The Dao Court has its own difficulties…”

“What difficulties? Grabbing and embezzling?”

“Don’t be sarcastic…”

“You—”

The discussion gradually grew heated.

“Enough, enough,” a white-bearded elder of senior rank said slowly, “let’s talk business.”

The quarrel finally subsided.

After a moment of silence, someone said:

“Why don’t we jointly submit a petition to the Dao Court, clearly laying out the danger, making it public? The Dao Court wouldn’t be able to ignore it…”

The others nodded slightly.

At that moment, the gaunt old man seated among them suddenly stood, holding divination coins, his face pale.

The cultivators looked at each other in confusion.

The white-bearded elder frowned. “Brother Wen, what happened?”

The gaunt old man’s expression was panicked as he spoke with a trembling voice:

“I… just now, inspired by sudden insight, used the divination coins to cast a hexagram…”

“The hexagram showed…”

“It showed… the mountain mine, and what it will become in the future.”

Thinking of that vision, the gaunt old man shivered:

“Living humans and corpses are mixed together, the boundary between life and death is lost, the living appear like corpses, the corpses appear like the living, and presiding above them all is a Corpse King. Its pupils are dark-gold with a blood-red hue, and it answers to neither humans nor corpses…”

Upon hearing this, the white-bearded elder’s face changed drastically.

The other cultivators, however, were somewhat confused. “So… what of it?”

“This means,” the gaunt elder said with fearful gravity, “if a Corpse King is being forged within this corpse mine, and it is not suppressed, then in a hundred years it will inevitably bring about a calamity. This Corpse King will become… a Corpse Abomination!”

“In other words, this corpse mine is actually nurturing a Dao-Sin Calamity!”

At these words, all the cultivators felt their hearts freeze in terror.

“Dao-Sin Calamity!”

This was a term found only in cultivation texts, signifying a disaster almost impossible to resist by mortal means.

Even clans or sects with a thousand years of legacy have records of being wiped out by such calamities…

Nurturing a Dao-Sin Calamity?

The white-bearded elder’s voice trembled uncontrollably. “This… is true?”

The gaunt elder’s heart raced. “The hexagram shows it so…”

He thought for a moment, then added, “Regarding the Dao-Sin Calamity itself, I do not have the power to calculate it personally…”

The implication was clear: someone caused him to divine this, or rather, through his hexagram, revealed it to everyone…

Everyone knew exactly who that person was.

The white-bearded elder fell silent for a moment, his expression grave, then spoke with determination:

“Report this matter to the Heavenly-Pivot Pavilion, and have the Pavilion Elder calculate the outcome.”

“Also report to the Dao Court, request deployment of Dao troops for support…”

“If this is indeed true, that a Dao-Sin Calamity is growing within the corpse mine, then we must mobilize every available cultivator, spare no cost, suppress the corpse mine, slay the Corpse King, and eradicate this Dao-Sin Calamity at its root, leaving no trace of future trouble!”