The Quest for Immortality

How is that possible?

Zhang Quan’s pupils constricted.

How could this kid be a Formation Master as well?

Was it him who forced Zhang Quan to show himself by detonating the Earth Fire Formation in the mines and then used an Earth Series Formation to counter the Escape Technique, preventing Zhang Quan from running away?

Zhang Quan looked at Mo Hua again.

Mo Hua’s eyes were clear yet profound, bright and yet elusive.

At first, he only felt that this gaze was sinister and detestable.

Now, it seemed to indeed be a sign of exceptional intelligence and a powerful Divine Sense.

Zhang Quan thought of someone.

When that person got cunning and calculating, his eyes looked just like this.

And that person was a Formation Master, too.

This gaze did indeed resemble that of a Formation Master.

A chill ran through Zhang Quan’s heart.

This is bad...

If this kid is a Formation Master, he most likely has seen through the formations on these Walking Corpses.

The problem now is, how much has he figured out?

Does he, after all, know what kind of Formation this is?

A cold light gradually appeared in Zhang Quan’s eyes.

The best approach now was to silence him by killing him.

Once a person died, they would forever keep their mouth shut, and whatever they knew would be buried in the ground, never to be known by anyone.

But Zhang Quan knew all too well.

Under the current circumstances, he had no way to silence him by killing him.

The young man in white had profound cultivation and was valiant in battle; Zhang Quan couldn’t take him down.

The beautiful girl’s Taoist Skills were lethal and extremely dangerous; he didn’t dare provoke her.

On the surface, this kid was the weakest among them.

But he was exceptionally cunning, full of schemes, and his methods were sinister and slippery, making him quite troublesome to deal with.

What’s more, Zhang Quan remembered that this kid could conceal himself.

Whether it was by spell or Spiritual Artifact, his means of concealment were extremely clever, and even Zhang Quan’s Foundation Establishment Divine Sense couldn’t detect it.

That being the case, Zhang Quan couldn’t catch him at all.

At this thought, Zhang Quan became angrily frustrated.

To be repeatedly humiliated by this kid despite being a mighty Foundation Establishment Cultivator, yet unable to do anything about it, was infuriating!

He couldn’t kill any of the three of them.

Since he couldn’t silence by killing, he had to ”destroy the corpse and erase the traces.”

He couldn’t allow the traces of the Formation to remain!

Zhang Quan’s decision was firm, and his expression became grave.

On the other side, Bai Zisheng had already started to help Mo Hua capture zombies.

He dodged the Iron Corpse and instead attacked the ordinary Walking Corpses, flicking his long spear to send Spiritual Power surging, crippling the limbs of the Walking Corpses so they couldn’t move.

In a short while, four or five Walking Corpses were subdued by him.

Mo Hua also began to take action, coordinating with Bai Zixi to capture zombies.

Using the Water Prison Technique, Mo Hua immobilized the Walking Corpses, and then Bai Zixi would sever their limbs with her sword light.

The trio acted quickly and accurately, and in an instant, quite a few zombies were subdued.

Zhang Quan’s eyelids twitched.

He couldn’t wait any longer!

His gaze turned cold, and he shook the Blood Rope Marked Copper Bell in his hand.

The copper bell summoned corpses, and a chilly wind blew in gusts.

The situation on the battlefield abruptly changed.

These Walking Corpses, with ferocious expressions, stopped attacking Mo Hua and the others and began to fight and cannibalize each other instead, aiming to destroy the Formation near their hearts.

And that Iron Corpse began hunting the lower-level Walking Corpses, punching and clawing out their chests, leaving behind dark and black-blood oozing cavities.

The zombies began self-destructing, obliterating any traces.

Seeing this, Bai Zisheng angrily said:

”Damn you, can’t you play fair?”

Zhang Quan sneered, disregarding him, and kept shaking the copper bell in his hand.

Mo Hua watched the copper bell intently, then pointed with his small hand and loudly said:

”There’s a Formation within the bell, Brother, snatch his bell!”

Zhang Quan was startled.

Bai Zisheng’s eyes lit up, and without bothering about the Walking Corpses, he teleported with his movement technique and thrust out with his spear, trying to knock the copper bell from Zhang Quan’s hand.

Zhang Quan hastily retreated, avoiding Bai Zisheng’s spear, and immediately put away the copper bell, cursing inwardly.

This kid’s eyes are really sharp!

Dammit!

If this keeps up, he’ll probably see right through to his underwear!

He couldn’t drag this out any longer.

Zhang Quan dared not expose the copper bell anymore, but instead kept it hidden in his sleeve, quietly shaking it to activate the Self-Destroying Formation of Walking Corpses and to drive the Iron Corpse to protect his escape.

Bai Zisheng wanted to stop him, but with the Iron Corpse in the way, he couldn’t.

The scene became chaotic for a moment, and Zhang Quan finally managed to escape.

Before leaving, Zhang Quan looked back at Mo Hua, recording the new and old hatreds in his heart.

He said with a dark tone:

”Little devil, I will remember you!”

”One day, I will kill you, refine you into a zombie, and keep you by my side to serve me tea and water, toil like an ox or horse, and be enslaved by me for life!”

After saying this, he ran off, not giving Mo Hua a chance to retort.

He was afraid Mo Hua would say something else that he couldn’t withstand. Enjoy new chapters from empire

In this regard of infuriating people, he admitted he couldn’t compare to this kid.

Mo Hua curled his lips and muttered:

”Runs after cursing, what a coward.”

He had already thought of what insults to hurl, but Zhang Quan ran too fast for him to get a word in.

Mo Hua felt a bit of regret; it seemed he would have to wait for the next time.

Once Zhang Quan escaped, the battle stopped.

After an intensive battle, the mine was left in a complete mess.

Rocks shattered, mine tunnels utterly destroyed.

```

The ground was littered with the remains of walking corpses, some of which had their heart meridians gouged out and were twitching unconsciously on the ground.

Zhang Quan took the Iron Corpse away, and most of the remaining walking corpses killed each other, their chests destroyed, with only a few corpses’ chests intact.

Besides that, there were the coffins on the mine.

These coffins should be used for corpse refinement and storage, totaling dozens of them.

The Iron Corpse was hidden in an iron coffin, while most of the other walking corpses were in wooden coffins.

After a fierce battle, Bai Zisheng was also very tired. He took a breath, recovered his Spiritual Power, and then asked:

”Should we continue the pursuit?”

Mo Hua thought for a moment and shook his head:

”Not in a hurry, let’s cast a long line to catch a big fish.”

Bai Zisheng was slightly taken aback, ”Are there still big fish? Isn’t Zhang Quan a big fish?”

”There are.”

Mo Hua nodded, pointing to the coffins and walking corpses on the mine, ”These are too few.”

Bai Zisheng opened his mouth, ”Are these considered few?”

Dozens of fearless walking corpses, in combination with the Iron Corpse, were likely more than a match for an average cultivator in the initial stage of Foundation Establishment.

Although Bai Zisheng’s Cultivation was profound, he too felt tired after fighting to this point, and the consumption of his Spiritual Power was also significant.

If there were more walking corpses, other than fleeing, he would have been powerless.

Otherwise, he would eventually be worn down to death.

Mo Hua frowned and said:

”Zhang Quan has been hiring murderers for decades. In these decades, who knows how many mining cultivators have been killed, and then their bodies...”

”He must be buying these corpses for corpse refinement.”

”So many bodies couldn’t possibly add up to just these few dozen zombies.”

”Elder Yu once told me about the cunning of the rabbit that has three burrows.”

”Zhang Quan, doing such Demon Path deeds that the Taoist Court would not tolerate, must have left himself several escape routes.”

”So I guess, he definitely has other hiding places, many many coffins, and inside those coffins, many, many zombies...”

Bai Zisheng opened his mouth wide, and then spoke indignantly:

”This Zhang Quan, really deserves to die!”

Mo Hua nodded in agreement.

Then he added, ”Actually, there’s another problem.”

”The Formation?” Bai Zisheng asked.

”Yes.” Mo Hua nodded and said, ”Zhang Quan, at first glance, doesn’t know about Formations, but the bell he uses for corpse control, the zombies he refined, including these coffins, they are all full of Formations...”

”This shows that there is someone helping him draw Formations!”

”This person must have high accomplishments in Formation principles and might even have comprehended the Ultimate Formation...”

”Such an Ultimate Formation might not be a regular Formation but one of the Evil Formations within the Ultimate Formations...”

Mo Hua had a somewhat grave expression.

”Ultimate Formation...”

Bai Zisheng also felt a chill in his heart, and looking at the zombies lying on the ground, he asked Mo Hua:

”Are the Formations on these walking corpses Ultimate Formations?”

Mo Hua propped up his chin in thought and said:

”Possibly...”

”Possibly?”

”Yes.” Mo Hua looked at the zombies on the ground and nodded, ”Right now, it’s hard to say, I need to study it first...”

...

In the wasteland on the other side of the mine.

The ground bulged, rocks rolled, and Zhang Quan’s figure surfaced as he gasped for air, feeling a sense of relief in his heart.

He had finally escaped.

He had never thought that in his lifetime, he would be chased by three young cultivators like a dog that had lost its home.

The surroundings were desolate, no other cultivators or Monster Beasts in sight.

Zhang Quan took a moment to catch his breath, a trace of doubt arising in his mind.

Why had he been found?

He had clearly discarded that needle...

Zhang Quan released his Divine Sense to scan his surroundings and suddenly, his gaze grew sharp as he fumbled through his messy hair, pulling out a fine needle after a long search.

Could there be another one?

Zhang Quan took in a sharp breath, panic setting in his heart.

He immediately snapped the fine needle and threw it away, then used Earth Escape again, fleeing to another hillside creek, letting the Iron Corpse stand guard, before he began to feel a little safer.

After that, he changed his clothes, washed the blood stains, bandaged his wounds, and examined himself with his Divine Sense. Finding nothing suspicious on the outside of his body, he finally completely relaxed.

Zhang Quan was somewhat sentimental.

Just a few kids, yet so deep in thought and so covert in action, it was impossible to guard against.

Zhang Quan was troubled.

Then he remembered something and became worried again.

Although he controlled the zombies with the Blood Rope Marked Copper Bell and destroyed most of the Formation, there were still a few walking corpses left behind.

Walking corpses left behind meant traces of the Formation were left behind.

Zhang Quan frowned, remembering that person’s admonition:

”This Formation must not be discovered by anyone. Once discovered, you must either kill the witness or destroy the corpses and the evidence!”

That person’s expression became terrifyingly stern when he said these words.

Zhang Quan pondered for a moment, then chuckled lightly.

He was worrying over nothing.

”A few zombies, a few pieces of incomplete Formation, probably won’t reveal much...”

Learning Formation was difficult.

And this Formation for corpse refinement was even more abstruse, unfathomable, and transcending ordinary Formation principles.

Even a Formation Master would hardly be able to learn it.

That young boy, still in the Qi Refinement stage, understanding it would be strange.

Zhang Quan sneered, unconcerned.

Suddenly a mountain breeze blew, stirring the creek water, with the sunlight reflecting in the water shining brightly.

The clear and profound gaze of Mo Hua flashed through Zhang Quan’s mind.

Zhang Quan’s heart skipped a beat, and he muttered to himself:

”He should... not understand it, right...”