Chapter 451: Ling Shu

Inside the iron coffin lay a iron corpse.

The iron corpse is one level higher than the wandering corpse.

The wandering corpse has pale, decaying flesh, its interior filled with corpse poison; though fierce and fearless of death, its strength is mediocre, relying mainly on numbers and corpse poison to gain advantage.

The iron corpse's skin is iron-blue, like cast iron, and its strength is greater, comparable to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator at the early stage.

Crafting an iron corpse requires higher costs and more time.

Similarly, controlling an iron corpse is also more difficult.

Only a Foundation Establishment cultivator, relying on Foundation Establishment spiritual sense and using the corpse-controlling bell as a guide, can control an iron corpse with relative stability.

Qi Condensation cultivators lack sufficient spiritual sense; prolonged control of an iron corpse easily causes it to lose control and trigger backlash.

That is why Zhang Quan wanted to invoke the bell, using borrowed spiritual intent to enhance the stability of corpse control.

Mo Hua opened the iron coffin.

Inside lay an iron corpse with black-blue skin, iron-faced and fanged, its eyes closed.

Thick corpse qi clung to its body; greenish-purple corpse poison flowed through its flesh and blood.

Bai Zisheng gripped a long spear, its tip pressed against the iron corpse's forehead, to prevent it from suddenly breaking loose and harming Mo Hua.

Bai Zi Xi also held a golden longsword, standing beside Mo Hua.

Mo Hua sliced open the iron corpse's upper garment with a dagger, revealing its iron-blue, sinister chest.

The skin of its chest bore nothing.

But Mo Hua's eyes lit up.

He had indeed sensed the aura of the Absolute Array.

Mo Hua slashed several times at the iron corpse's chest with the dagger, but the corpse's skin was too hard, leaving not even a scratch.

Mo Hua sighed and handed the dagger to Bai Zisheng, saying:

"Brother, it's up to you."

Bai Zisheng took the dagger and said:

"Step back."

Mo Hua obediently retreated several zhang.

Bai Zisheng then activated his cultivation technique, enveloping the dagger in golden spiritual energy, and carefully sliced off the iron corpse's chest skin.

Beneath the skin, the flesh was deep green, thick with corpse poison.

Upon the flesh, clearly formed was a blood-red, intricate, and profound array!

"Mo Hua, come take a look!"

Bai Zisheng called out.

Mo Hua hurried over and leaned in to examine it.

After a moment of scrutiny, his eyes brightened.

Yes!

It was indeed a type of corpse, but with slightly different array patterns—the Ling Shu Array.

He quickly pulled out paper and brush and began sketching the array patterns.

But as he wrote, Mo Hua's expression grew uneasy.

He glanced at the iron corpse and said gravely:

"Brother, this iron corpse is about to lose control…"

Bai Zisheng froze. "How do you know?"

Mo Hua's gaze grew deep. "The array is active—someone is controlling this iron corpse… 'losing control'…"

Bai Zisheng's face paled; he immediately drew his spear and thrust it through the iron corpse, pinning it to the coffin.

At that moment, the iron corpse suddenly opened its eyes.

Its eyes burned crimson, filled with bloodlust and savagery.

Its arms stretched forward, iron claws long and sharp, dripping with corpse poison; its body stiffened as it struggled desperately to rise.

But its body was pinned by Bai Zisheng's spear, unable to break free.

As it struggled, the blood array on its chest grew increasingly vivid.

Between the array lines, blood seemed to flow; as the blood moved, a sound grew louder—a strange, rhythmic pulse.

The redder the array became, the stronger the iron corpse's savage aura, and the fiercer its struggles.

Bai Zisheng frowned and said:

"Move back—I can't hold it anymore!"

Bai Zi Xi lightly stepped aside, her figure graceful as she retreated.

Mo Hua also stepped back a few paces.

In mere breaths, the iron corpse let out a roar; its corpse qi surged violently, a powerful force erupting that shattered Bai Zisheng's grip and tore free from the spear.

Freed, the iron corpse's expression twisted with ferocity, emitting a low, bestial roar—but it showed no bloodlust, no desire to kill.

It seemed to know that none of the cultivators in this room could be slain.

The iron corpse leapt, aiming to burst through the door.

Once outside, into Nan Yue City, it could feast on flesh and blood, restoring its vital essence.

The iron corpse slammed into the door, trying to escape.

But the dense, spiderweb-like array patterns flared to life; several spiritual energy shackles appeared, binding the iron corpse and preventing its escape.

Enraged, the iron corpse slashed with its iron claws, destroying several array lines in its attempt to break free.

Before it could break loose, Bai Zisheng's spear struck.

Bai Zi Xi's sword qi also burned with pure white flames, striking straight for the Iron Corpse's head.

Mo Hua's fireballs, meanwhile, flew precisely toward the Iron Corpse's knee joints.

Inside the side room, the array trembled, and spiritual energy spilled everywhere.

Though a soundproof array had been laid, such a commotion and the surge of spiritual energy still spread outward.

In the courtyard, Instructor Yan was sipping tea with Mr. Zhuang.

Instructor Yan, hearing the noise, frowned and said:

"Did something happen?"

Mr. Zhuang smiled calmly:

"No worry—just children playing."

Instructor Yan paused, nodding half-convinced.

Inside the side room, the commotion lasted the duration of a cup of tea, then gradually subsided.

The arrays inside the room had been laid by Mo Hua too densely—layer upon layer, like a spider's den—leaving the Iron Corpse no escape.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zi Xi's Dao techniques were also extremely powerful.

And Mo Hua struck from the gaps, launching surprise attacks.

Thus, the Iron Corpse was quickly subdued.

Bai Zisheng's long spear pierced the Iron Corpse's throat, pinning it to the ground.

Yet the Iron Corpse's limbs continued thrashing and clawing without pause.

Bai Zisheng said: "Little brother, can you find a way to stop it from moving?"

Mo Hua stared at the array on the Iron Corpse's chest, then thought and said:

"Destroy this array."

Bai Zi Xi asked: "Have you learned it?"

"Not yet," Mo Hua shook his head, "but I've memorized the array patterns—I'll study them slowly later."

"Good," Bai Zi Xi said crisply.

Then, with slender fingers pinching, she summoned several golden sword lights, which shot forth together, piercing the Iron Corpse's chest and dismantling the blood array upon it.

The Iron Corpse struggled for a moment more, then its movements gradually ceased.

All three exhaled slightly in relief.

"What do we do with the Iron Corpse?" Bai Zisheng asked.

Mo Hua pondered: "Let's seal it in the iron coffin first—I'll use an array to suppress it, so it won't stir again and escape."

"What about the Ultimate Array?"

"I've memorized it."

Bai Zisheng was skeptical: "How could you remember it so quickly?"

"Mm," Mo Hua nodded, uncertainly adding:

"This Ultimate Array… seems not that difficult…"

"Which Ultimate Array isn't difficult?" Bai Zisheng worried. "Don't memorize it wrong and waste your effort."

"It's fine—even if I got it wrong, Sister Situ still has four more."

"Alright," Bai Zisheng said, then suddenly frowned:

"Could the four Iron Corpses at Sister Situ's place also have gone out of control?"

"No," Mo Hua declared. "Sister Situ and her people don't know arrays—they don't activate them—so the Iron Corpses won't go out of control…"

"This Iron Corpse went out of control because it feared being discovered."

"Someone didn't want me to see the array on the Iron Corpse's heart meridian…"

Mo Hua said, resting his chin in thought.

Bai Zisheng nodded: "Then study it carefully. I can't help with arrays, but if you need someone to fight, be sure to call me."

"Mm," Mo Hua agreed.

In the following days, Mo Hua devoted himself to studying the arrays on the corpses.

The arrays on the Walking Corpses and the Iron Corpses together formed a relatively complete, self-consistent spiritual energy circuit—with a beginning and end, and array patterns mutually resonating—a Grade One, Twelve-Pattern Ultimate Array.

And this Ultimate Array was the Ling Shu Array.

Several days later, Mo Hua sat in the courtyard, staring blankly at the array before him.

He could now draw this Ultimate Array.

This far exceeded Mo Hua's expectations.

Mo Hua had originally thought learning the Ling Shu Array would require at least time to comprehend its special Dao essence, if not the unique rules of spiritual energy flow.

But Mo Hua learned this Ling Shu Array quickly.

In just a few days, he had already mastered the array.

Mo Hua tried drawing the Ling Shu Array onto a wooden toy tiger.

The tiger had been made by Puppet Master and given to Mo Hua.

After drawing the array on the wooden tiger, Mo Hua inserted a spiritual stone and activated it with spiritual energy—discovering he could now control the tiger's movements with his spiritual sense.

It could walk, sit, run, sprint, crouch, or leap—lifelike in every motion.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zi Xi both found it remarkably novel.

In the cultivation world, toys could usually move on their own.

Mo Hua had bought many such toys in Xiancheng—inserting fragments of spiritual stones, activating them with spiritual energy, making the puppets "clack-clack" forward mechanically.

But their movements were rigid and fixed.

This is different from what Mo Hua has made now.

This wooden tiger can be controlled by spiritual sense, performing many subtle movements.

The two may look similar, but the arrays involved are worlds apart.

One requires only a few array lines—a crude array.

The other demands an ultimate array of the highest grade: twelve lines of first-rank.

Mo Hua studied the Ling Shu Array's principles again in detail.

He realized Yan Jiaxi had been right: the core of this ultimate array truly lies in the character "control."

It involves dividing spiritual power into finer filaments, using these spiritual filaments to achieve exquisitely precise control.

But is that all?

Has he merely grasped the surface of the array?

Is there something deeper he has not yet comprehended?

Mo Hua frowned.

Besides his understanding of the Ling Shu Array's rules, he discovered another flaw in this array.

This array might still not be the complete Ling Shu Array.

It has already activated, so why is it still not complete?

Mo Hua thought for a long time but could not figure it out.

Only when he remembered the out-of-control iron corpse did he suddenly understand.

The iron corpse's loss of control was, in fact, a "loss of control" under the array's command.

That is, the iron corpse controls the walking corpses, yet the iron corpse itself is also controlled by something else.

The Ling Shu Arrays on the iron corpse and the walking corpses together can form a spiritual power cycle, achieving the Ling Shu Array's effect.

But above the iron corpse, there exists another type of Ling Shu Array.

This type of Ling Shu Array is superior to the arrays on the iron corpse and walking corpses.

It is a higher-level component of the Ling Shu Array.

In other words, what Mo Hua currently masters is merely the mid-to-lower tier of the Ling Shu Array.

This type of array exceeds Mo Hua's previous understanding of arrays.

"Arrays truly are vast and profound…"

Mo Hua sighed again.

If his guess was correct, the so-called Ling Shu Array was not merely a single, simple array.

Rather, it was a system of arrays, branching downward from high to low, forming a self-contained hierarchy.

All Ling Shu Arrays belong to the same category, yet they are hierarchically controlled.

The array on the walking corpse is the lowest tier, with the least authority, capable only of being controlled by others.

The array on the iron corpse is one level higher, with greater authority, capable of controlling walking corpses.

If so, there must be something else controlling the iron corpse!

What controls the iron corpse? A demonic artifact? A cultivator? Or another zombie?

This entity—whether object, person, or corpse—holds the highest authority within the Ling Shu Ultimate Array system, able to command all zombies bearing the Ling Shu Array on their heart meridians, from the middle to lower tiers.

Commanding all walking corpses and iron corpses!

Merely imagining it sent a chill through Mo Hua.

(End of Chapter)