Chapter 456: Eating and Being Eaten

The Zhang family's zombie disciple, upon entering Mo Hua's mind sea, froze in shock:

"Such profound spiritual awareness!"

"A prime tonic!"

Its voice was hoarse and sticky, with a hissing leak.

Like a living man turned to corpse.

Then, eager beyond restraint, it opened its monstrous maw and sucked down a mouthful of the abundant spiritual awareness.

As the spiritual awareness entered, the zombie disciple's eyes gleamed with excitement.

Pure, rich, and delicious.

This was the taste of top-grade spiritual awareness!

The zombie cackled wildly.

Then it couldn't resist, gorging itself, violently sucking in more.

As it devoured more spiritual awareness, its body gradually grew stronger, its stature rising slightly.

As the zombie consumed spiritual awareness, Mo Hua's mind sea throbbed faintly.

"So this is what it feels like to have one's spiritual awareness eaten?"

Hidden nearby, observing the zombie, Mo Hua thought silently.

Some pain, some discomfort, but deeply subtle.

If not paying close attention, one truly wouldn't notice.

Even if not seeing it with one's own eyes, one might never believe it possible.

One would only think oneself mentally drained, weak in energy, scattered in spirit, depressed in mood, plagued by countless vexations and base desires.

One would never suspect that one's spiritual awareness was being slowly devoured by a malevolent entity.

Mo Hua nodded, memorizing this sensation.

"I must be vigilant from now on!"

Human hearts are fickle and unpredictable; the many changes in spiritual awareness may not always be detectable by oneself.

So one must proceed step by step, learning all the signs of mind sea fluctuations, nipping problems in the bud to eliminate unknown threats within one's spiritual awareness.

So that in the future, should some evil thing sneak in to feast on one's spiritual awareness, one won't remain ignorant.

Beyond this, Mo Hua also confirmed one point.

That concealment techniques could function within the mind sea.

At least, this zombie hadn't detected him.

Mo Hua frowned slightly.

But what exactly was this zombie?

Was it human, or was it a corpse?

Mo Hua observed a while longer, and gradually formed a hypothesis.

This zombie disciple was likely one of the Zhang family's ancestors.

The Zhang family had long practiced corpse cultivation, merging their spiritual will with the corpses; in their self-perception, they were both human and corpse, so after death, their spiritual will sealed within the painting manifested as a zombie.

But whether it was human or corpse, Mo Hua had no intention of letting it go.

Mo Hua, concealed, gripped the Thousand-Jun Staff and crept silently behind the zombie disciple.

The zombie had its mouth wide open, feasting merrily.

It never imagined every movement it made was under observation.

It had no inkling that danger was drawing near.

Mo Hua stepped behind the zombie, raised the Thousand-Jun Staff high, and brought it down with all his strength!

"You dare steal my spiritual awareness!"

The blow was immensely powerful, deforming the zombie's scalp and making its form flicker faintly.

The height it had gained from devouring spiritual awareness shrank back under the strike.

After striking, Mo Hua was slightly surprised.

He hadn't expected his Thousand-Jun Staff strike to be this powerful.

The zombie disciple, however, felt its scalp go numb, pain piercing its core; after struggling to recover, it whirled around in fury—and saw standing behind it a young cultivator with delicate features, red lips and white teeth.

The zombie disciple froze.

Then it widened its eyes, as if seeing a ghost.

"No! How could there be a person?!"

Mo Hua's small face was stern, his expression dangerous:

"You sneak into my mind sea to steal, and still ask how there's a person? Is my spiritual awareness so tasty? I—"

Mo Hua was about to threaten further.

But before he could finish, the zombie disciple, sensing trouble, turned and fled.

Its ugly face was filled with panic.

The moment it saw Mo Hua, it knew it was no match.

This young cultivator was small in stature, young in age, yet his form was crystal-clear, his aura deep and unfathomable.

This was the sign of powerful spiritual awareness fully manifested.

Moreover, it had just taken a blow from the Thousand-Jun Staff.

The power of that staff left it trembling with fear.

The greater the power, the stronger the spiritual will.

The zombie disciple felt fear arise in its heart.

If my spiritual sense had not manifested, I could still sneak and steal.

But now that it has manifested, and the gap in spiritual sense is this vast, if I don't run now, I'll die here.

The zombie wanted to escape Mo Hua's spiritual sea.

Mo Hua would not let it escape; his small hand reached out, palm flipping to clench the empty air, and the manifested spiritual force condensed into a Water Prison Technique.

A spiritual chain restraint appeared out of thin air, binding the zombie tightly in place.

The zombie disciple struggled fiercely, but could not break free at all.

Its face twisted in terror, unable to believe:

"A spell?"

How could this be?

Can spiritual sense even use spells?

Laozu never mentioned this…

Mo Hua strolled slowly toward it.

The zombie knelt on the ground, pleading desperately: "Young Elder, spare my life!"

Mo Hua said: "Spare your life, so you can go out and harm others again?"

The zombie disciple swore: "Young Elder, rest assured—I will from this day forward uphold my duty and never harm anyone again!"

Mo Hua frowned in confusion: "You're a zombie, aren't you? Isn't your duty to harm others? If you uphold your duty, how could you possibly avoid harming others?"

The zombie disciple froze; seeing Mo Hua's amused expression, it realized this young cultivator would never believe its lies, and in rage it shouted:

"Laozu won't let you off!"

Mo Hua's gaze flickered slightly, a half-smile on his lips:

"Do you think… I'll let your Laozu off?"

The zombie disciple turned pale with shock.

This little brat… was actually plotting against his Laozu?!

How dare he?

Suddenly, a chill ran through the zombie disciple's heart.

This little brat's spiritual sense is overwhelming, cunning beyond measure, his methods unpredictable—his spiritual sense even uses spells. Under such calculated surprise, Laozu probably…

The zombie disciple was both terrified and furious.

"No! I must warn Laozu at once, or he's in grave danger!"

The zombie disciple's face twisted grotesquely; it bit off its own finger and swallowed it, then its body swelled, malice radiating from every pore—within an instant, it transformed into a corpse with iron-blue skin.

Exactly like Zhang Quan after taking the Corpse Blood Pill.

"I'll risk my life to stall this young cultivator, then seize the chance to flee and report to Laozu. Even if I'm left grievously wounded and limbless afterward, Laozu, moved by my filial devotion, will protect me."

The zombie disciple thought to itself.

Then it poured all its strength into breaking free of the Water Prison Technique and lunged violently at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua's expression didn't change; he gently raised his hand and formed a Fireball Technique.

The fireball was vivid red and blazing hot—a phantom fire forged from spiritual sense, yet appearing utterly real.

Mo Hua willed it, and the fireball shot forth, striking the zombie's transformed chest.

Amid exploding flames, the zombie disciple never reached Mo Hua, never even clashed with him once—it was instantly blasted back into its original form.

It deflated, shed its zombie form, its entire body ablaze, lying on the ground screaming in agony.

As if real fire were burning upon it.

Spreading alongside the pain was boundless despair.

It never imagined this young cultivator's spiritual sense could be so powerful.

The Fireball Technique it manifested… was this terrifying…

Mo Hua also frowned, puzzled:

"Why am I so strong?"

He pondered for a moment, and gradually understood.

In the real world, I'm a Qi Condensation cultivator.

But in this spiritual sea, I'm Foundation Establishment.

This zombie disciple is merely an ordinary walking corpse—roughly Qi Condensation level.

Right now, I'm using Foundation Establishment to fight Qi Condensation.

It's like using 'big' to bully 'small.'

Mo Hua's small spine straightened instantly.

"No wonder—I knew I suddenly became so powerful!"

Foundation Establishment defeating Qi Condensation? That's only natural.

Mo Hua gloated for a moment, then found it dull.

This zombie disciple is too weak—it doesn't let me show my true strength.

I'll need to pick stronger ancestors from Zhang Quan's lineage to practice on.

Step by step, gradually advancing.

Once I've mastered my manifested techniques and fully understood the Zhang family's zombie methods, I'll strike at Zhang Quan's Laozu.

That way, it'll be foolproof.

Zhang Quan's Laozu has the highest cultivation and the strongest evil intent—he must be a great zombie.

And having lived this long, it must have many tricks.

Now striking at it still carries some risk.

Besides, it has so many "disciples and grand-disciples"—two fists can't fight four hands; a horde of zombies rushing into the mind sea would overwhelm Mo Hua.

You eat a meal one bite at a time.

Mo Hua had made up his mind, so he decided to take the first bite.

This zombie disciple is no longer useful.

Mo Hua intended to make full use of it.

He fired several fireball spells, reducing the zombie to ashes.

As the ashes dispersed, the zombie's form and consciousness were utterly destroyed, becoming gray, threadlike spiritual thoughts.

Mo Hua opened his mouth slightly and swallowed them all.

The zombie that had sought to devour Mo Hua's spiritual awareness was ultimately devoured by Mo Hua himself.

Its evil intent strengthened Mo Hua's spiritual awareness.

(End of Chapter)