The Quest for Immortality

The next day, at the hour of 2 a.m., Lu Chengyun returned to the Ten Thousand Corpses Sacrificial Altar, filled with coffins, to perform the Drawing Formation again.

Mo Hua, however, hid behind the altar, secretly watching him.

Lu Chengyun, as ever, opened a coffin, took up a Bone Pen, poured out Blood Ink, and began painting the Formation with blood. But as soon as the brush touched the surface, his brow furrowed.

He stared at the Formation for a long time, his frown deepening, and finally murmured,

”No …”

”No …”

”This Formation … there’s a problem …”

A chill went down Mo Hua’s spine.

He had indeed been discovered.

Lu Chengyun continued, still puzzled,

”Who altered my Formation?”

”Who has the ability to change the Formation I’ve drawn?”

”And who could slip into the Corpse Mine under my watch, sneak into the sacrificial altar, open the bronze coffin, and alter the Spiritual Pivot Evil Formation I drew, the first-class, twelve-pattern?”

Doubt flickered in Lu Chengyun’s eyes.

Suddenly, he jolted with realization,

”Could there be someone in this altar?”

He quickly released his Divine Sense, scanning the surroundings.

Mo Hua shrank his little head, earnestly concealing his presence.

Lu Chengyun’s Divine Sense swept over the Formation, the coffins, the altar, and even over him, finding nothing.

After scanning several times, Lu Chengyun finally began to relax.

”Am I being overly suspicious …”

Lu Chengyun murmured with a frown.

Such a thing seemed almost inconceivable …

If someone really could accomplish it, that person’s Cultivation would surely be profound and their methods unfathomable.

Such a senior Cultivator wouldn’t need to resort to such underhanded tactics to deal with him; if they confronted him openly, he wouldn’t stand a chance …

”The Formation … Mo Hua?”

Lu Chengyun suddenly thought of Mo Hua.

In the entire Corpse Mine, only Mo Hua possessed skills in Formation next to his own.

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

”No, he doesn’t have the power,”

Lu Chengyun declared decisively.

The Spiritual Pivot Formation of the first class with twelve patterns requires a twelve-pattern Foundation Establishment Divine Sense.

Mo Hua, this small Cultivator, though strong in Divine Sense, is after all still in Qi Refinement, at most with ten patterns, perhaps not even that much.

Divine Sense is the foundation of a Formation Master.

Without twelve patterns in Divine Sense and without using evil methods or borrowing another’s Divine Sense, he surely would not be able to draw out the Spiritual Pivot Formation.

And this little Cultivator, with an aura pure and flawless like uncarved jade, must not have cultivated Evil Skills nor ever drawn an Evil Formation.

Besides, it was impossible for him to have learned the Spiritual Pivot Formation.

This was the Ultimate Formation of the first class with twelve patterns, transcending rank. Lu himself had researched it for nearly a hundred years, and even with the help of Demon Gate techniques to lower the difficulty, he had only just managed to complete the Formation. Your journey continues on empire

This little brat didn’t even have a Formation Diagram. How could he learn it, how could he draw it?

As for the Formation Patterns, he had indeed seen them …

But that was only a fleeting glance at the Formation Diagram, and occasionally seeing Lu Chengyun painting the Formation a few times when nothing else demanded his attention.

If he could learn it that way, it would be an utter fantasy.

No matter how high his talent, it can’t be this effortless …

If he could learn just by looking a few times, then what was the point of his many years of study in Formations?

Lu Chengyun shook his head.

”It can’t be him …”

If not Mo Hua, then only one man was left …

”Zhang Quan!”

Lu Chengyun’s gaze became gradually sharper.

He looked again at the Formation on the bronze coffin, his thoughts stirring subtly.

The energy in the Formation had changed, the evil aura had faded.

But the patterns remained unchanged.

This indicated that it was very likely not the Formation that had been altered, but rather someone had used other means to diminish his control over the Corpse King, thereby weakening the Formation’s efficacy and diluting the Evil Power …

This was Corpse Refinement technique!

Among all the Corpse cultivators in the Corpse Mine, it was naturally Zhang Quan who was most skilled in Corpse Refinement.

Even this bronze coffin had been handed down from the ancestors of the Zhang Family.

Zhang Quan knew it better than him, and it would make sense for him to fiddle behind Lu’s back, appearing to be quite reasonable.

”Zhang Quan …”

Lu Chengyun’s gaze turned cold as he silently said the name.

He was aware that Zhang Quan had ulterior motives.

Moreover, the two had very different ideas on how to use the Corpse King.

Zhang Quan had a narrow vision and limited understanding, just like other ordinary Corpse cultivators, only knowing to refine corpses and kill, kill and refine corpses, fixated on establishing a Demon Gate to ”bring glory to the ancestors”, blind to the true nature of this world.

Originally, Lu Chengyun hadn’t bothered about it.

After all, the Corpse Refinement skills of the Zhang Family were still of great use to him.

But if Zhang Quan dared overstep the bounds and covet the Corpse King, messing up his grand scheme, then no one could blame him for the consequences …

Lu Chengyun’s smile turned sinister.

Behind the altar, Mo Hua heard Lu Chengyun say he ”lacked the strength” and then listened to him speak Zhang Quan’s name; a fox-like grin appeared on his face.

But Lu Chengyun was clearly still uneasy …

The next day, he asked Mo Hua to adjust the Formation eye of the Formation of Ten Thousand Corpses, and at the same time, he opened the bronze coffin and started painting the Formation.

Mo Hua, as usual, peeked stealthily into the bronze coffin.

His gaze was full of curiosity and confusion.

There was nothing else unusual.

Lu Chengyun frowned, then asked, ”Little gentleman, what do you think of this Formation?”

Mo Hua nodded, ”It’s very profound!”

”Can you understand it?”

Mo Hua mumbled, ”I can understand... a bit.”

However, when saying this, he clearly seemed somewhat guilty.

He probably didn’t understand anything but wanted to save face, so he pretended to know a little.

Lu Chengyun thought to himself.

Then Mo Hua appeared to remember something, innocently saying:

”Right, Lu Family Head, you said that once the Formation eye is painted, you would teach me this Formation. Can you teach me now?”

Mo Hua looked at Lu Chengyun with clear eyes.

Lu Chengyun’s expression was slightly startled.

The look in Mo Hua’s eyes was too pure...

So pure that even suspecting him made one feel guilty.

”This naive child really believes that I would teach him the Formation?”

Lu Chengyun sighed to himself before saying gently:

”You can’t learn it now. Wait until your Divine Sense becomes stronger...”

”Oh.”

Mo Hua felt somewhat disappointed and left, but he would occasionally look back, his gaze lingering reluctantly.

Seeing this, Lu Chengyun’s suspicions were dispelled, and he firmly thought to himself:

”It must be Zhang Quan!”

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

Mo Hua, this little Cultivator, may be a bit clever, but his gaze is clear, and he’s not scheming enough to play too many tricks.

The only person who could pull off such maneuvers under his watch was Zhang Quan!

Lu Chengyun’s eyes were sharp, his mind inscrutable.

In a place he was not aware of, Mo Hua had his back to him, his silhouette seemingly disheartened, but the little face was secretly smiling...

...

In the following days, Lu Chengyun kept his composure, but his gaze towards Zhang Quan was tinged with a hidden chill.

Zhang Quan, feeling guilty, noticed none of it.

But all this was seen by the seemingly innocent Mo Hua.

...

One night, at the hour of 2 a.m.

In the desolate and silent Ten Thousand Corpses Sacrificial Altar.

The mural rippled open, revealing a door, and Zhang Quan tiptoed inside.

He looked around to ensure there was nobody in the altar before opening up the bronze coffin, cutting his hand with a knife, feeding the corpse with blood, walking backwards, chanting spells, and ringing the bell to summon the corpses...

This series of Corpse Controlling spells, he had been casting for several days now.

Inside the bronze coffin, the Corpse King’s heartbeat grew more vigorous and powerful, filled with a might that struck fear and submissiveness in the other corpses.

After finishing the ritual, Zhang Quan’s face was pale, his forehead starting to sweat.

This set of spells required more blood as it progressed, and the refining process became increasingly strenuous.

But if he could control the Corpse King, it would all be worth it.

Zhang Quan closed the coffin lid, sneered, and left the altar...

The eerie altar returned to dead silence.

A moment later, a figure slowly emerged from behind the altar, dressed in ornate clothes, his face gloomy.

It was Lu Chengyun.

He glanced at the mural before walking over to the bronze coffin, unsealing the lid, and inspecting the Formation on the bronze casket.

The strength of the Formation had indeed weakened.

At the same time, the heartbeat of the zombie grew slightly stronger.

Lu Chengyun’s eyes were cold as he silently took out a Bone Pen, dipped it in human blood, and reinforced the Formation to suppress the power of the Corpse Controlling Bell.

After finishing, he sealed the coffin again.

Lu Chengyun sneered as well, then left the altar.

The altar became silent once more.

Not long after Lu Chengyun left, in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a small head peeked out from above the altar.

The praying mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

Mo Hua was the little oriole.

As Lu Chengyun hid behind the altar, watching Zhang Quan, he hid on the stone beam above Lu Chengyun’s head, watching them both.

Now that both Zhang Quan and Lu Chengyun had left.

Mo Hua’s gaze brightened slightly. He leaped down nimbly from the altar, then came before the bronze coffin and used his homemade coffin nail to unseal the Formation, opening the bronze coffin and then summoning a small zombie to help him push the lid off.

Underneath the coffin lid was the casket.

Atop the casket was the Formation Lu Chengyun had just reinforced.

Mo Hua then took out his ink and brush, overlaying his own Formation onto Lu Chengyun’s Spiritual Pivot Evil Formation...

Zhang Quan was refining a corpse.

Lu Chengyun was Drawing Formation.

Mo Hua was overlaying a Formation.

This scene played out in turns in the altar.

Until more than half a month later, when the Corpse King was about to be refined and emerge from the coffin...

And after receiving a message from Mo Hua, the undercurrents in South Yue City had been turbulent for more than half a month, with a sense of trepidation and gravity as if a mountain storm were about to break...

Within the Minor Wilderness State Boundary.

It appeared to be clear skies and sunlight, but in an instant, a storm was about to hit.