Chapter 493: Refinement
Chapter 495: Refinement
Time was of the essence. Everyone immediately sent messages reporting the matter of the “Dao-Sin.”
A single stone stirred a thousand waves. Not only were certain families and sects shocked, even the Dao Court itself was shaken.
Inside the Tian-Shu Pavilion,
the Grand Elder gazed at the celestial instrument, deducing silently in his mind, then slowly nodded:
“This is a sign of Dao-Sin…”
He took out a jade slip, stamped several seals on it, and instructed a disciple:
“Deliver this to the Dao Soldiers Division.”
The disciple respectfully accepted it, sealed it in a secure box, and hurriedly sent it to the Dao Soldiers Division.
The Dao Soldiers Division convened an emergency meeting and then issued orders:
From Li-Zhou, Xiao-Huang Prefecture, and the nearby Black Mountain Prefecture, Li-Shan Prefecture, Great Wilderness Prefecture, and the border of the Barbarian Lands, ten Foundation Establishment leaders and two thousand first-grade Dao soldiers were to march day and night to Xiao-Huang Prefecture’s Nan-Yue City to suppress the corpse mines and quell the undead. Anyone who obstructed them was to be executed without mercy!
Meanwhile, the central Dao Court also issued a decree:
Within a five-hundred-li radius of Xiao-Huang Prefecture, any Daoist forces officially sanctioned by the Dao Court must each send at least one Foundation Establishment cultivator to Nan-Yue City to assist in battle, clear the corpse mines, and annihilate the Corpse King.
Rewards would be granted upon success.
Those who disobeyed would see their family or sect demoted by one rank, with no chance of promotion for a century…
The order sent waves through all factions; cultivators hurried in panic.
Like a mountain storm, the momentum converged on Nan-Yue City…
At the high pavilion of the Tian-Shu Pavilion,
the Grand Elder stood alone, his gaze profound, looking up at the sky. After a long while, he murmured softly:
“So, it’s the Strange Daoist…”
A hint of surprise lingered in his eyes.
“To be able to cultivate Dao-Sin, and in less than a century… another great villain…”
“But… is Dao-Sin really so easy to cultivate?”
“Is it the Strange Daoist’s fault, or is there a problem with the Heavenly Dao itself…”
The Grand Elder silently stared at the sky.
Yet above, the winds and clouds swirled, concealing some secret. Beneath the blazing sun, no sign could be discerned.
His brow furrowed tighter.
…
Outside, the winds shifted and the forces stirred beneath the surface.
Inside the corpse mine, everything remained as before.
At night, Zhang Quan still rang his bell to refine corpses; Lu Chengyun continued drawing formation diagrams, and Mo Hua also meticulously overlaid Lu Chengyun’s formations.
Inside the bronze coffin, the corpse aura grew thicker, more imposing.
Within it, the three layers of control deepened…
Three days later, the Corpse King was about to be perfected.
Inside the Ten-Thousand Corpses Altar, Zhang Quan could no longer contain his pride and laughed recklessly:
“Soon, the Corpse King will awaken under my control! All of Xiao-Huang Prefecture will be strewn with floating corpses, truly becoming the Xiao-Huang ‘Corpse’ Realm. And I, Zhang Quan, will become the progenitor of Corpse Dao in this prefecture!”
“Brother Lu, Lu Chengyun!”
“I will show you who the truly shortsighted one is!”
After laughing, Zhang Quan left.
Once he departed, Lu Chengyun appeared.
He calmly reinforced the Ling-Shu Evil Formation, then looked toward the place Zhang Quan had left, sneering:
“Trying tricks under my nose? You’re asking for death!”
Lu Chengyun sneered and also left.
Finally, Mo Hua, with his big blinking eyes, appeared.
He skillfully opened the coffin, drew a formation—an orthodox Ling-Shu Formation—to suppress Lu Chengyun’s evil formation and strengthen his own control over the Corpse King.
When finished, a mischievous smile appeared on Mo Hua’s small face:
“Let’s see who this big dumpling will obey when it’s done!”
Mo Hua carefully completed the formation, sealed the coffin meticulously, and tiptoed out of the Ten-Thousand Corpses Altar.
After leaving, he decided to use Little Tiger to deliver a note to his Little Senior Brother and Little Senior Sister.
The note read:
“Three days later, July fifteenth, the Corpse King will be perfected, and the Ten-Thousand Corpses Formation will activate.”
Mo Hua attached the note to Little Tiger.
Little Tiger obeyed, puffing and climbing along.
Mo Hua, however, felt some worry.
With so many zombies in the corpse mine, he wondered how many hands his Little Senior Brother, Little Senior Sister, and Sister Situ had mobilized.
If there weren’t enough people, it would be troublesome.
If Lu Chengyun couldn’t be restrained, the zombies couldn’t be subdued, and the corpse mines weren’t controlled, any uprising would have catastrophic consequences.
After considering it, Mo Hua concluded the manpower was clearly insufficient.
The current forces weren’t a match for Lu Chengyun.
He couldn’t imagine where else to gather more cultivators…
“Forget it, doesn’t matter…”
Mo Hua sighed.
He had already done all he could.
The rest was beyond the ability of a mere Qi-Refining cultivator.
All he could do was his best and leave the outcome to fate.
The most important thing now was to find a way out.
Mo Hua had long planned:
“As soon as someone attacks the corpse mine, once both sides clash and chaos ensues, I’ll slip away!”
At that time, with a major threat present, Lu Chengyun would be too occupied to care about him.
By staying hidden and dismantling Lu Chengyun’s formation, he could escape smoothly.
As for the observation diagram…
He’d see if there was an opportunity; if not, it would be abandoned.
The diagram was indeed valuable, and he had always kept in mind the figure of Zhang Quan’s ancestor depicted within.
But survival came first. No diagram was worth the risk.
With so many zombies, dozens of iron corpses in the Ten-Thousand Corpses Formation, Zhang Quan eyeing him hungrily, and Lu Chengyun with ill intent…
Under such dire circumstances, caution was better.
Mo Hua nodded.
Once he escaped, he could plan further…
He would leave first, find help, establish support, then return secretly to control the Corpse King and maybe get back at Lu Chengyun.
He thought it through and found no flaw, finally relaxing.
But he did not expect an accident to occur.
And this accident came suddenly…
The next day, he still hid behind the altar.
Zhang Quan continued ringing the bell to control the corpses.
But after ringing, Zhang Quan coughed up a mouthful of blood; his once pale face turned deathly white, yet he still laughed wildly, chanting:
“It’s done! It’s done!”
Mo Hua was puzzled.
“What’s done? Is Zhang Quan really this happy?”
Then Zhang Quan strode to the front of the altar and abruptly pulled off the yellow cloth!
Mo Hua jumped in fright. Looking closely, he saw that beneath the cloth was indeed a corpse.
Its face was grotesque, cruel, resembling the visage in the mural.
It was indeed the Lu family’s ancestor, “Lu the Flayed.”
Its eyes bulged with bloodshot veins, ugly and terrifying, and a large hole had been cut in its chest—its heart meridian removed.
Mo Hua’s heart tightened.
His earlier suspicion had been correct.
They were indeed refining the Lu family ancestor into a Corpse King!
The bronze coffin refined the corpse’s heart meridian; the golden altar refined the body itself.
Zhang Quan cupped his hands:
“Senior Lu, that scoundrel Lu Chengyun deceived and harmed you, forcing zombies to mine and making you the ‘foreman’ of their labor.”
“This is an insult to you!”
“But I am different. I will make you the commander of the Ten-Thousand Corpses, the Corpse King of Xiao-Huang Prefecture, feared by all cultivators, and your fame will last a hundred years!”
…
Zhang Quan spoke ambitiously and grandly.
Mo Hua frowned. “What’s happening?”
Wasn’t the Corpse King supposed to be perfected in three days?
What was Zhang Quan doing now?
Opening the coffin early?
Mo Hua sneaked a glance at Lu Chengyun hidden behind the altar and saw that his expression was also somewhat excited, though not surprised.
It seemed he too knew that today was the day the Corpse King would be perfected.
Mo Hua was dumbfounded.
So he was the only one unaware?
July fifteenth, the Corpse King would open the coffin.
That was the plan Zhang Quan and Lu Chengyun had agreed on.
They had conspired, and both had communicated this.
Mo Hua had overheard the same plan.
But he hadn’t expected that Zhang Quan had actually deceived Lu Chengyun, who knew the truth but didn’t expose it—leaving only Mo Hua to be tricked.
Mo Hua felt speechless and helpless:
Being an outsider to corpse refinement made one an easy mark for the insiders.
Meanwhile, Zhang Quan had opened the coffin and the bronze outer casket, carefully lifted a dim, greenish, veined heart covered with dense formation markings, and respectfully placed it into the chest of the Lu ancestor’s corpse, which had had its heart meridian removed.
The eerie heart shivered mysteriously.
A dull sound followed.
Blood threads formed, stitching themselves into the corpse.
The beating of the heart grew louder.
Though not loud, it made Mo Hua feel suffocated.
He quickly covered his ears.
Yet the sound seemed to echo within his mind, carrying a terrifying majesty, capable of subduing even the dead.
Meanwhile, Zhang Quan bowed low, whispering incantations.
It was a Corpse Dao spell.
Dark and oppressive, it did not sound human.
Mo Hua could not understand it, but the incantations made him feel nauseous and oppressed.
He endured as long as he could. Eventually, both the chanting and the heartbeats ceased, leaving the altar in complete silence.
Suddenly, Zhang Quan’s expression turned manic.
The Lu ancestor on the altar abruptly opened his eyes!
Hidden in the shadows, Lu Chengyun smiled darkly, his eyes flashing with cold light.