The Quest for Immortality

Mo Hua walked into the mural, into the mouth of the zombie, and into a secret passage.

The passage was narrow and dark but not long.

Less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, after passing through the secret passage, the space before Mo Hua suddenly opened up.

What came into view was a massive altar.

The altar was exquisitely arranged, resplendent with gold and glittering with jewels.

The sandalwood was precious, the candle stands were of jade, the candles were gilded, and a giant incense burner engraved with gold beast patterns, with incense smoldering inside, wafting curls of smoke.

Above the altar were placed five-color spirit flowers, as offerings alongside pigs, sheep, and spirit beasts.

In front of the altar hung banners of golden yellow, with jiao dragon patterned lanterns suspended from them.

In the middle of the altar stood an enshrined sculpture.

It was covered with a yellow cloth, obscuring its appearance.

But the material used for it was either gold or jade.

The entire altar was both imposing and luxurious.

Mo Hua clicked his tongue, silently murmuring to himself,

”This thing... must’ve cost a fortune in spirit stones...”

As he looked down, his brow furrowed, his gaze becoming even more stunned.

Underneath the altar lay a gigantic bronze coffin.

The coffin bore greenish patinas of bronze rust, suggesting it had endured many years of decay, exuding an ancient and rotten aura.

Around the huge bronze coffin were arranged numerous iron coffins.

These iron coffins housed iron corpses and were slightly smaller in comparison to the bronze coffin, appearing blackish-green in color.

Beyond the iron coffins, as far as the eye could see, were densely packed dark wooden coffins.

There were thousands of these wooden coffins, so many that in just a moment, Mo Hua couldn’t count exactly how many there were.

Between the coffins, blood-red formation patterns connected them.

First, they classified the wooden coffins, connecting them to above the iron coffins, and then through the iron coffins, with blood-red patterns, they led to the large bronze coffin in the center.

On the ground among the multitude of coffins were drawn several sinister and strange formations.

All of the evil formations were linked together.

Sinister yet magnificent.

A shiver ran through Mo Hua’s heart.

Is this... an evil path great formation?

He suppressed the shock in his heart, focused his mind, and used his divine sense to deduce the formation pivot and number of formations, sighing with relief afterward.

Not a great formation...

Although they looked menacing, the number of single formations, the structure of the formation pivot, and the scale of the formations did not qualify as a great formation.

At most, it could be considered a ”quasi-great formation.”

In essence, it was still a compound formation, much less powerful than a great formation, yet much stronger than an average compound formation.

This was the strongest compound formation Mo Hua had ever encountered.

And it was also an evil path compound formation.

Seeing Mo Hua’s shocked expression, Lu Chengyun felt quite pleased with himself, with a smile playing at the corner of his mouth, he asked,

”Young gentleman, what do you think?”

Mo Hua had his own thoughts, pretending not to have seen through it, his expression changing uncertainly, until, utterly baffled, he said,

”Lu Family Head, you’re actually constructing a great formation!”

Lu Chengyun humbly said,

”It’s not quite a great formation, just a compound formation of a larger scale.”

But pride flashed in his eyes as he was clearly very proud of the formation he had laid out.

Mo Hua then feigned as though he had seen very little of the world, saying in amazement,

”Such scale, and it’s still not considered a great formation...”

Lu Chengyun smiled and asked,

”Young gentleman, haven’t you seen a great formation before?”

Mo Hua blinked.

In his heart he thought, I can’t just tell you that I’ve not only seen one but have also been the lead architect of a Grade-One Eleven-Pattern Five Elements Slaughter Demon Great Formation, which I used to slay a big demon in the end...

Even if he said so, Lu Chengyun probably wouldn’t believe it.

Hence, Mo Hua shook his head with a ”sincere” face, and longingly said,

”I have not seen one, I’ve only heard my master mention it. A formation master capable of constructing a great formation must have extremely strong divine sense, wide knowledge of formations, profound expertise, and also manage the construction of the great formation, being a renowned figure of the region.”

Mo Hua had the nerve to lavish himself with praise.

Lu Chengyun nodded and said feelingly, ”Indeed.”

Becoming the lead architect and constructing a great formation was the lifelong pursuit of every formation master.

Lu Chengyun was no exception.

However, so far, he didn’t possess the ability to construct a great formation, and this compound formation here was already his limit.

Even so, he was far ahead of other formation masters.

Once this formation was activated, the Lu Family could dominate the Minor Wilderness State Boundary.

Whether it was personal power or formation accomplishment, he could take one step further.

Given time, he could undoubtedly construct a true great formation.

Ambition burned brightly in Lu Chengyun’s eyes.

The thirteen-year-old Mo Hua, who had already constructed a great formation, was standing quietly on the side, watching him.

When Lu Chengyun came back to his senses, Mo Hua softly asked,

”Lu Family Head, what exactly is this formation?”

Lu Chengyun’s eyes became focused as he slowly said,

”This formation is called... Formation of Ten Thousand Corpses.”

”Formation of Ten Thousand Corpses...”

Mo Hua was slightly startled.

”Ten Thousand Corpses...”

No, that’s not right...

This isn’t the name of a single formation, nor is it likely to be the name of a compound formation.

A mere compound formation could not possibly be named ”Ten Thousand Corpses.”

Mo Hua glanced at the countless coffins below, and at the dense collection of evil formations, his gaze flickering.

This Formation of Ten Thousand Corpses must be a great formation!

It should be called the Great Formation of Ten Thousand Corpses!

The current compound formation had been reduced from the original great formation.

Lu Chengyun lacked the ability in formation arts, and the Lu Family couldn’t possibly deplete their resources to construct a formation.

So because Lu Chengyun couldn’t build a great formation, he built this compound formation, reduced from the Great Formation of Ten Thousand Corpses.

But where did Lu Chengyun get the formation diagram?

The inheritance of great formations was always a closely guarded secret.

His Five Elements Slaughter Demon Great Formation was given to him by his master.

So, who gave Lu Chengyun the Great Formation of Ten Thousand Corpses?

Moreover, given that this was an evil path great formation, the ones capable of passing on such sinister formations must be either distinguished demon sects or powerful big demons from the demon path...

A chill went through Mo Hua’s heart, and his gaze grew colder.

”Lu Family Head, where exactly did this formation come from?” Mo Hua asked quietly again.

Lu Chengyun seemed on the verge of speaking, then stopped, looking at Mo Hua, he said with a smile,

”That... is something I fear I cannot disclose.”

Mo Hua also apologized with a smile,

”Family Head, my apologies, I shouldn’t have asked.”

Immediately following that, his curiosity perked up as he asked,

”Family Head, what did you want to see me for? I can’t do a Compound Formation, let alone, this Compound Formation is an Evil Formation and I haven’t learned it. My master wouldn’t allow me to learn it either.”

Lu Chengyun gave a faint smile. ”Gentleman, rest assured, I will not make you do anything difficult.”

”Gentleman, please follow me...”

After speaking, Lu Chengyun walked straight ahead.

Following behind him, Mo Hua passed by numerous closely-packed coffins and layers upon layers of blood-red Evil Formations on the ground, arriving near the bronze coffin.

Near the bronze coffin, there were some places that were blank, void of any drawn Formation Patterns.

Lu Chengyun then said,

”I invited Gentleman over here not to draw an Evil Formation, but to ask Gentleman to help me build the Formation eye of this Compound Formation.”

Mo Hua asked, ”Isn’t the Formation eye of an Evil Formation still an Evil Formation?”

Lu Chengyun shook his head, ”It is not constructed using the methods of the Evil Formation but by the handiwork of the Righteous Dao Gathering Spirit, to construct the Formation eye.”

Mo Hua was puzzled.

You are constructing an Evil Formation, so why switch to a righteous way for such a critical part?

Seeing the confusion in Mo Hua’s expression, Lu Chengyun sighed and said,

”The Formation eye of the Evil Path Compound Formation would result in too many killings, something my Lu Family cannot bear to do...”

Mo Hua inwardly cursed him for his pretense, but he praised him solemnly,

”Family Head Lu truly has a heart of compassion...”

Speaking nonsense with his eyes open, yet his face remained serious.

Lu Chengyun was slightly startled; he wasn’t sure if Mo Hua was praising him or mocking him...

Of course, he didn’t care.

”However...” Mo Hua showed some reluctance as he said, ”I don’t have a Formation Diagram.”

Lu Chengyun then handed Mo Hua the Formation Diagram of the Formation.

Mo Hua glanced at it and instantly had a rough idea.

The Formation Diagram was incomplete.

It only contained the relevant parts of the Formation eye and the Formation Pivot.

Indeed, one could use this to construct the Formation eye system of the Formation, but it was impossible to know the full picture of how Spiritual Power operates.

Mo Hua looked over the Formation of Ten Thousand Corpses Diagram again and gradually understood.

The Evil Path Great Formation required vast amounts of Blood Qi and Evil Power to operate the Formation.

In deriving from the Formation of Ten Thousand Corpses, the Ten Thousand Corpses Compound Formation requires less Blood Qi and Evil Power, but the total amount is still massive.

According to the Formation Diagram, to construct the Formation eye of the Formation of Ten Thousand Corpses, it was initially necessary to use a Blood Refining Formation and a Blood Spirit Formation as part of a Compound Formation.

First, killing people and refining the cultivators’ Blood Qi using the Blood Refining Formation, extracting the Spiritual Power from the cultivators.

Then, through the Blood Spirit Formation, the cultivators’ Blood Qi and Spiritual Power are fused to form Evil Power, which propels the operation of the Great Formation.

By doing so, a multitude of cultivators would need to be killed.

Mo Hua remembered what his junior female apprentice said.

Some Demon Path Great Formations even massacre all the cultivators in a city, to refine their Blood Spirit and inject it into the Formation eye, driving the entire Great Formation.

The Ten Thousand Corpses Compound Formation does not need to kill that many cultivators at once.

But over time, as long as the Formation operates, people will need to be continuously killed, and Spiritual Power and Blood Qi must be constantly refined to sustain the Formation.

South Yue City does not have so many cultivators to be killed so wantonly.

Besides, the Lu Family also dare not kill like that.

If they really did kill that many people, even a fool would notice something was wrong.

It is also impossible for the Taoist Court to tolerate such acts.

Unless the Lu Family truly wishes to rebel against the Taoist Court and the entire clan fall into the Demon Path, swearing allegiance to the Demon Sect, would they dare to do such a thing.

But such conduct is far too malicious in nature.

Once discovered by the Taoist Court, they would certainly be suppressed by Taoist Soldiers, and the whole clan slaughtered without leaving a single survivor.

Mo Hua estimated that Lu Chengyun did not have the courage for this.

Even if he did, not all the many people in the Lu Family were willing to be so reckless with their lives.

Although it was an Evil Formation, the Evil Formation’s eye could not be used.

So they had no choice but to use the Spiritual Power Formation eye.

Mo Hua estimated that Lu Chengyun intended to use the Gathering Spirit Array as the Formation eye and Spirit Stones as material to refine Spiritual Power.

Once the Spiritual Power circulated, it would then be corrupted by the Evil Energies in the Evil Formation, turning the clean Spiritual Power into Evil Power, thus driving the entire Ten Thousand Corpses Compound Formation.

”Master was right; the formations of the Righteous Dao are the foundation, and those of the Demon Path are just opportunistic shortcuts,” Mo Hua silently thought to himself.

But this Lu Chengyun, his understanding of formations was also quite profound.

He could actually think of such a method that mixes the righteous and the evil.

Mo Hua thought for a moment and then hesitantly refused,

”Family Head Lu, Compound Formations... I’m not too familiar with them. I’m afraid I may not be able to construct it...”

Yet Lu Chengyun said, ”You can do it.”

Mo Hua was puzzled, ”How do you know?”

”I heard it from Elder Su,” Lu Chengyun replied.

”Elder Su?” Mo Hua frowned, ”Does this matter have something to do with Elder Su as well?”

Lu Chengyun shook his head, ”It has nothing to do with him.”

Lu Chengyun looked at Mo Hua and sighed,

”When chatting leisurely with Elder Su, he mentioned your insights on constructing Formation eyes were truly extraordinary. Upon hearing it, Lu Chengyun was deeply impressed!”

”With such insight, involving advanced Compound Formations and even the central structure of Great Formations, one could not have such an exceptional understanding without a profound inheritance of Formation knowledge and guidance from Formation experts.”

”Therefore, I had the idea to ask Gentleman to help me construct the Formation eye of the Ten Thousand Corpses Compound Formation.”

Mo Hua understood.

It turned out to be Elder Su, who had slipped up.

When Mo Hua taught him back then, he had instructed him not to tell others.

Perhaps Elder Su did not regard the Family Head as an outsider...

Or maybe, he wanted to brag about Mo Hua in front of the Family Head to give Mo Hua some credit but did not expect it to backfire.

Elder Su probably did not anticipate that Lu Chengyun was not a good person.

Mo Hua sighed inwardly.

These insights regarding the Formation eye stem from his enlightenment when he constructed the Five Elements Slaughter Demon Great Formation.

The construction of the Formation eye of a Great Formation, if used on a Compound Formation, would naturally be more than sufficient.

Lu Chengyun’s this sort of thinking was, in fact, normal.

He tried to overestimate Mo Hua’s level of proficiency in formations.

However, his ”overestimation” was still, in essence, an underestimation.

Mo Hua thought for a while, then showed a difficult expression,

”I’ve only ever engaged in theoretical discussion; I might not actually be able to construct it...”

Lu Chengyun appeared very forgiving,

”No matter, Gentleman, feel free to try. Trial and error are part of Formation construction. I believe with Gentleman’s intelligence, you will not disappoint Lu Chengyun...”

Implicitly suggesting, disappointing him would mean there would be consequences to face...

Mo Hua understood Lu Chengyun’s thoughts and sighed helplessly,

”Alright, I’ll try.”