Chapter 434: Corpse Array

How is this possible?

Zhang Quan's pupils shrank slightly.

How could this brat still be an array master?

So the ground-fire array that blew up the mine shaft to force me out, and the earth-based array that blocked my escape—were all the work of this brat?

Zhang Quan looked again at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua's gaze was clear, yet profound, bright yet elusive.

At first, he had thought this gaze was cunning and vile.

Now he saw it was indeed a sign of extraordinary intellect and powerful spiritual sense.

Zhang Quan thought of one person.

That person, when scheming with deep calculation, had exactly this gaze.

And that person, too, was an array master.

This gaze really did resemble an array master's gaze.

Zhang Quan's heart tightened.

This is bad…

If this brat is an array master, he likely saw through the arrays on these corpses.

The question now is, how much did he see?

Does he even know what kind of array this is?

A cold glint slowly emerged in Zhang Quan's eyes.

The best course now is to kill and silence him.

Once a man is dead, he will forever hold his tongue; what he knows will be buried in the earth, unknown to all.

But Zhang Quan knew well.

Under these circumstances, he could not kill and silence him.

That white-clad boy had deep cultivation and fierce martial prowess—he couldn't overpower him.

That beautiful girl's Dao arts were dangerous and devastating—he dared not provoke her.

On the surface, this brat's strength was the weakest.

But he was also extraordinarily cunning, full of tricks, his methods treacherous, slippery, and highly troublesome.

Besides, he remembered this brat could vanish from sight.

Whether through spell or spirit artifact, his concealment technique was highly refined—even Zhang Quan's Foundation Establishment spiritual sense could not pierce it.

Thus, he could not catch him at all.

Thinking of this, Zhang Quan grew furious with shame.

He, a full Foundation Establishment cultivator, had been humiliated repeatedly by this brat—and yet could do nothing about it. It was infuriating!

He couldn't kill any of these three.

Since he couldn't kill and silence them, he could only "destroy the corpses and erase traces."

He must not leave any trace of the array!

Zhang Quan made his decision, looked solemn.

On the other side, Bai Zisheng had already begun helping Mo Hua capture the zombies.

He dodged the iron zombie and turned to attack the ordinary corpses, shaking his spear, releasing spiritual energy to cripple their limbs and render them immobile.

In moments, four or five corpses were subdued.

Mo Hua also began acting, cooperating with Bai Zi Xi to capture the zombies.

Mo Hua cast a Water Prison spell to immobilize the corpses, then Bai Zi Xi severed their limbs with sword light.

The three moved swiftly and precisely; in an instant, many more zombies were subdued.

Zhang Quan's eyelid twitched.

No more waiting!

His gaze turned cold as he shook the blood-etched bronze bell in his hand.

The bell summoned the corpses; dark winds swirled.

The battlefield shifted abruptly.

The corpses, their expressions twisted, no longer attacked Mo Hua and the others—they turned on each other, gnawing at each other's heart meridians, trying to destroy the arrays near the hearts.

The iron zombie also began hunting the lower-grade corpses, each punch or claw tearing open their chests, leaving behind a black, gaping hole oozing black blood.

The zombies destroyed themselves to erase the traces.

Bai Zisheng, seeing this, shouted angrily:

"You bastard, are you playing dirty?"

Zhang Quan sneered, ignoring him, and kept shaking the bell.

Mo Hua stared at the bell, studying it closely, then suddenly pointed with his small hand and cried out:

"There's an array inside the bell, brother! Steal his bell!"

Zhang Quan jumped in shock.

Bai Zisheng's eyes lit up. He abandoned the corpses entirely, flashed forward, activated his movement technique, and thrust his spear straight at Zhang Quan's bell.

Zhang Quan hastily retreated, dodging the spear, then immediately tucked the bell away, cursing inwardly.

This brat's eyes are sharp as a hawk's!

Fuck!

If this keeps up, he'll strip me bare!

We can't afford to stall any longer.

Zhang Quan dared not show the bronze bell again; he hid it in his sleeve and secretly shook it, activating the self-destruct array of the walking corpses, while also commanding the iron corpse to protect him as he fled.

Bai Zisheng wanted to stop him, but the iron corpse blocked him—he couldn't hold him back.

The scene descended into chaos, and Zhang Quan finally managed to break free and escape.

Before leaving, Zhang Quan turned back to look at Mo Hua, storing both new grudges and old hatreds deep in his heart.

He said coldly:

"Brat, I've remembered you!"

"One day, I'll kill you and turn you into a corpse, keep you by my side to serve me tea and water, carry me like a beast, and enslave you for life!"

He spoke and ran off, giving Mo Hua no chance to reply.

He feared Mo Hua would hurl more insults—he couldn't bear it.

In the art of provoking others, he knew he was no match for this brat.

Mo Hua sneered and muttered:

"Insult and run—you're a coward."

He'd already thought up all the curses he wanted to hurl, but Zhang Quan fled too fast—he never got to speak them.

Mo Hua felt a pang of regret; he'd have to wait for next time.

With Zhang Quan gone, the battle ceased.

The mine, after a fierce struggle, lay in ruins.

Rocks shattered, shafts destroyed.

The ground was littered with the remains of walking corpses; some had their heart meridians torn out, lying motionless yet twitching unconsciously.

The iron corpse had been taken by Zhang Quan; of the remaining walking corpses, most had killed each other, their chests torn open—only a few still had intact chests.

Aside from that, there were only the coffins in the mine.

These coffins were clearly used for cultivating and storing corpses—dozens of them.

The iron corpse had hidden in an iron coffin; the other walking corpses had mostly been stored in wooden coffins.

After the fierce battle, Bai Zisheng was also exhausted; he caught his breath, restored his Qi, and asked:

"Still chasing?"

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then shook his head:

"Not yet. Let's cast a long line and catch a bigger fish."

Bai Zisheng blinked in surprise: "There's another big fish? Isn't Zhang Quan the big fish?"

"There is."

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

Bai Zisheng opened his mouth. "These are still too few?"

Dozens of walking corpses here, fearless and relentless, coordinated with the iron corpse—ordinary Foundation Establishment early-stage cultivators would likely stand no chance.

Bai Zisheng's cultivation was deep, but even he was tired now, his Qi heavily depleted.

If there were more walking corpses, he'd have no choice but to flee.

Otherwise, he'd eventually be worn down and killed.

Mo Hua frowned:

"Zhang Quan has hired killers for decades—over those years, countless mining cultivators were murdered, their corpses bought by him…"

"He bought these corpses to cultivate into walking corpses."

"So many corpses couldn't possibly have produced only dozens of zombies."

"Elder Yu told me the saying: 'A clever rabbit has three burrows.'"

"Zhang Quan engages in demonic arts forbidden by the Dao Court—he must have left multiple escape routes."

"So I suspect he has other hiding places, with many, many coffins, each holding many, many more zombies…"

Bai Zisheng's mouth hung open, then he erupted in fury:

"That Zhang Quan truly deserves to die!"

Mo Hua nodded in agreement.

Then he added: "There's another issue."

"The array?" Bai Zisheng asked.

"Yes." Mo Hua nodded. "Zhang Quan clearly doesn't understand arrays—but the bells he uses to control corpses, the zombies themselves, even these coffins—all bear arrays…"

"That means someone is drawing arrays for him!"

"That person must have profound array mastery—and likely has comprehended an Absolute Array…"

"And this Absolute Array may not be a proper array at all, but a demonic one within the category of Absolute Arrays…"

Mo Hua's expression turned solemn.

"Absolute Array…"

Bai Zisheng's heart tightened; he glanced at the corpses on the ground and asked Mo Hua:

"Are the arrays on these walking corpses Absolute Arrays?"

Mo Hua rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought:

"Possibly…"

"Possibly?"

"Yes." Mo Hua looked at the corpses on the ground and nodded.

"It's hard to say yet—I need to study them first."

……

In the wasteland forest on the other side of the mine.

The earth arched up, stones rolled, and Zhang Quan revealed his form, gasping for breath, a weight lifting from his heart.

He'd finally escaped.

He never imagined that in this lifetime he'd be chased by three little cultivators like a stray dog.

The surroundings were desolate—no other cultivators, no demon beasts either.

Zhang Quan caught his breath slightly, and a sliver of doubt rose in his mind.

Why had they been able to find him?

That needle—he'd clearly already thrown it away…

Zhang Quan released his divine sense, scanned his surroundings, then suddenly his gaze hardened. Grabbing his tangled hair, it took him a long while before he finally picked out a fine needle from within it.

There was still one?

Zhang Quan drew in a breath of cold air, and panic rose in his heart.

He immediately snapped the fine needle in two and tossed it away, then used Earth Escape again to flee to a small stream by another stretch of mountain forest, where he had the iron corpse stand guard—only then did he feel a little at ease.

After that he changed his clothes, washed off the bloodstains, bandaged his wounds, then used his divine sense to examine himself and found nothing else suspicious on or around him—only then did he completely set his mind at rest.

Zhang Quan was somewhat感慨.

A few mere brats—how could their scheming be so deep, their methods so hidden, impossible to guard against?

Zhang Quan had a splitting headache.

Then he recalled something, and grew worried again.

Although he had used the bronze bell to control the corpses and destroyed most of the formation,

in the end there were still a few walking corpses remaining.

Walking corpses remaining meant traces of the formation had been left behind.

Zhang Quan frowned—he remembered that person's admonition:

"This formation must not be discovered by anyone. Once it's discovered, either silence everyone by killing them, or destroy the corpses and erase all evidence!"

When that person said this, he was unlike his usual self, his expression terrifyingly grave.

Zhang Quan pondered for a moment, then suddenly gave a soft laugh.

He was worrying over nothing.

"A few zombies, a few incomplete formations—chances are no one can tell anything from them…"

Formations are very hard to learn.

And this corpse-refining formation was even more abstruse and obscure, unfathomable, transcending the principles of ordinary formations.

Even among formation masters, there was basically no one who could learn it.

That little brat was so young, still at Qi Refining— it'd be a wonder if he could understand it.

Zhang Quan snorted a laugh, dismissive.

Suddenly the mountain wind blew past, stirring the stream, and the sunlight refracted through the water, glittering brilliantly.

Mo Hua's clear and profound gaze flashed through Zhang Quan's mind.

Zhang Quan's heart gave a sudden lurch. He knit his brows tight and muttered:

"He… probably can't understand it, right…"

(End of this chapter)