Chapter 480: Planning

Mo Hua was still studying the Ten Thousand Corpses Reanimation Array.

The array's focal point was designed by himself, and Mo Hua knew it inside and out, so most of his time was spent on the array's core and pattern lines.

After studying for a while, Mo Hua roughly understood the function of the Ten Thousand Corpses Array.

The Ten Thousand Corpses Reanimation Array and the unmodified Ten Thousand Corpses Great Array served similar purposes, differing only in scale.

This array had primarily two uses:

First, large-scale corpse cultivation.

Within the array, numerous coffins were embedded as array mediums, linked by pattern lines, coordinated by the core, and powered by the focal point, enabling "batch" cultivation of zombies.

Second, enhancing corpse control.

Building an entire sequence array with the Spirit Core Array at its center, using Bronze Corpses as the core, Iron Corpses as the pivot, and Walking Corpses as the base.

Layered coordination and control.

This required profound array foundations.

Lu Chengyun, though morally corrupt, possessed considerable talent and mastery in arraycraft.

But his talents were never applied to the righteous path.

Mo Hua shook his head.

He had studied the Ten Thousand Corpses Array enough; next came the altar.

The Jin Se altar shimmered brilliantly.

The Beast Gold incense burner emitted curling smoke.

The Jade candlesticks were exquisitely luxurious, their candles glowing faintly.

Yet these candlelights carried an eerie quality—the wax resembled corpse oil, who knows how many people had been killed to produce it.

On the altar were arranged five-colored spirit flowers, golden-yellow banners hung down, and Jiao-pattern lanterns were suspended.

Before the altar were offered pig and sheep spirit meat.

These spirit meats were also quite precious.

The miners outside, fighting to the death, might never taste them in their lifetimes.

Mo Hua sighed faintly.

The objects laid upon the altar were covered by yellow cloth, oddly shaped—like sculptures, like demonic beasts, or like dried corpses.

His spiritual sense could not penetrate them.

He could not discern what they were at all.

"Should I lift the cloth and take a look?"

Mo Hua's hand reached halfway, then stopped.

He hesitated inside.

Would lifting it trigger some danger?

Or would Lu Chengyun notice?

What if what lay beneath was a zombie, a demonic beast, or some other evil creature—lifting the cloth would immediately break the seal?

Though he could escape using Shi Shui Step or concealment techniques, he doubted he could suppress it with his cultivation alone.

If this evil creature caused commotion, it would alert Lu Chengyun.

And if it wasn't an evil creature at all, but something like an "observation diagram"—a wooden or stone carving harboring a malevolent spirit such as Bai Jisheng—he'd still be in danger.

Since encountering the Weird Daoist's "Weird Shadow," Mo Hua had become far more humble.

He no longer believed his spiritual manifestation could slaughter all before him.

Better to proceed cautiously.

Especially with unknown dangers, when one knows little, it's best not to act rashly.

Mo Hua felt a itch of curiosity.

He desperately wanted to know what lay beneath the yellow cloth on the altar.

But he dared not lift it rashly.

After a moment of internal struggle, Mo Hua gave up.

Better safe than sorry.

In the Corpse Mine, unlike Nan Yue City, no master was here to cover his back, no senior brothers or sisters to aid him.

When possible, better to play it safe.

Mo Hua reluctantly tore his gaze from the altar and turned it instead to the Bronze Coffin above the focal point of the Ten Thousand Corpses Reanimation Array.

This Bronze Coffin contained the final sequence pattern lines of the array.

If the array's authority activated, the zombie within would, the moment it was cultivated, hold supreme authority—able to command Foundation Establishment Iron Corpses, and thereby control all Walking Corpses within the corpse mine.

Lu Chengyun had perfected his corpse control through the Spirit Core Array.

He would not merely be the head of the Lu Clan—he would become the Zombie Sovereign of this small wasteland region.

Mo Hua rested his chin on his hand, a wicked idea stirring in his mind:

"Should I destroy this Bronze Coffin?"

"Or destroy the entire Ten Thousand Corpses Reanimation Array?"

"Put an end to it all…"

"Cut off Lu Chengyun's ambitions forever."

"Let his century of effort turn to ash—every single effort, gone…"

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then shook his head slightly.

Calculations would take time.

Setting up the Reverse Spirit Array also takes time.

Lu Chengyun is suspicious by nature; he may not give me this opportunity.

No…

Mo Hua frowned again, thinking.

There's still a chance—if I'm patient, I'll eventually find an opening.

Lu Chengyun is the head of the family, busy with affairs; he can't possibly watch this place all day.

If he slips up even slightly, giving Mo Hua the chance to trigger the Reverse Spirit Array's collapse, then—Boom! —his century-old foundation will be destroyed…

"But what if the collapse happens…" Mo Hua continued his reasoning.

"Will the Corpse Mine collapse too?"

Will I even be able to escape?

Should I first set up the Reverse Spirit Array, then find a way to flee, and later use the puppet to trigger the array's collapse?

But this is inside the mine.

Once it collapses, it will likely produce an unpredictable explosion and collapse, possibly triggering a chain reaction—destroying not just the Corpse Mine, but the entire mountain.

At that moment, not only will the Ten Thousand Corpses Array break, the Corpse Mine collapse, and the corpse cultivators die, but the unfortunate mine cultivators in nearby mines will also perish from spiritual force tremors and mountain collapse.

Evacuate the mine cultivators in advance?

Mo Hua pondered, then decided it still wouldn't work.

The mine belongs to the Lu family; evacuating the cultivators inside would surely alarm them and draw the Lu family's attention.

If the Lu family grows suspicious, things won't be so convenient.

Moreover, the power of the array's collapse is immense.

But this is a revival array; its power might not be as exaggerated as I imagine.

At most, it would destroy the Ten Thousand Corpses Array and shatter the bronze coffin.

But if the bronze coffin is destroyed…

The highest-tier array patterns of the Spirit Pivot Array will fail.

Will the other zombies lose control as a result?

If the zombies lose control, they'll instinctively crave flesh and blood, hunting humans; with their numbers, they'll form a zombie tide, spreading corpse poison—Nanyue City will face catastrophe.

Mo Hua himself could escape.

Even if he were infected with corpse poison, there are ways to cure it.

But what about the poor wandering cultivators?

If they can't escape, they'll become prey for the zombies.

Even if just bitten, without medicinal pills to treat it, the corpse poison will spread, corroding the heart meridian, triggering zombification—turning them into mindless walking corpses…

Mo Hua tried to consider everything thoroughly.

No matter how he thought or acted, there would always be oversights; it was hard to be fully prepared.

This is getting tricky…

Mo Hua sighed.

"What if I directly tamper with the array on the bronze coffin?"

Mo Hua stared at the bronze coffin before him.

Mo Hua often observed this coffin during the day; even when Lu Chengyun painted the Spirit Pivot Evil Array, he would sneak glances from the side.

Outer coffin, inner casket.

Lu Chengyun's array was painted on the inner bronze casket, not directly on the zombie.

But what was inside the bronze casket? Was there even a zombie there?

If there was, what level of zombie was it?

Walking corpse, iron corpse…

Logically, the next should be copper corpse, silver corpse, gold corpse…

Bronze coffin… Could it be a copper corpse?

But from Lu Chengyun's tone, it didn't seem right.

If it were a copper corpse, its power should be immense—likely at Foundation Establishment late stage.

Lu Chengyun is only Foundation Establishment early stage; could he suppress a copper corpse?

If he can't suppress it, why bother refining one? Isn't that suicide?

Once a corpse refiner is backlashed, he's completely devoured—nothing left but bones.

Lu Chengyun is too shrewd to do something so foolish…

But if it's not a copper corpse, then what kind of corpse is it?

After pondering for a long time, Mo Hua suddenly realized a fundamental question:

He didn't even know the differences between walking corpse, iron corpse, copper corpse, silver corpse, and gold corpse.

Aside from hearing these zombie classifications from his junior sister, he knew absolutely nothing about corpse refinement!

Apart from hearing the names of these types of zombies from Senior Sister when he was young, he actually knew absolutely nothing about corpse refinement!

Like a cultivator who doesn't understand arrays, trying to reason about array problems based on instinct.

He was now only guessing, speculating about zombie classifications.

Outsiders thinking about insiders' matters easily fall into assumptions.

Do corpse refinements even have ranks?

Do refined corpses have grades or not?

Are gold, silver, copper, and iron grades, or types?

What effects do different corpses have, and what taboos surround them?

He only had a half-baked understanding of all of it...

Ordinary walking corpses and iron corpses could still be handled relying on this shallow knowledge.

But what Lu Chengyun was clearly using now was a more "advanced" corpse-refining method, and half-baked experience might not reveal much...

But Mo Hua was troubled again.

Practice yields true knowledge.

He couldn't possibly learn corpse-refining just to know these things, and then refine corpses himself...

Mo Hua thought it over and decided it was impossible for him to refine corpses himself.

But if he had the chance to steal a few corpse-refining books from corpse cultivators to read, knowing the enemy and knowing oneself was still very necessary.

The cultivation world was treacherous.

For a cultivator to survive in the cultivation world, all kinds of cultivation knowledge were indispensable.

Some things, one might not need to do, but one could not afford not to know.

Otherwise, once a "cognitive barrier" appeared, no matter how clever a person was, it was useless; they might even think themselves clever, cut off their own path to survival, and die without knowing how they died.

Mo Hua nodded slightly, then went to open the bronze coffin.

The bronze coffin was divided into coffin and outer case—outer coffin, inner case, with the corpse refined inside the case.

He would only open the coffin, not the case; like Lu Chengyun, the risk shouldn't be great.

But Mo Hua hadn't expected that he couldn't even open the outer coffin.

The entire bronze coffin seemed sealed shut.

Mo Hua fussed with it several times but couldn't get it open, and couldn't even tell whether the bronze coffin was sealed by a formation or by a lock.

Mo Hua sighed.

On this trip, there were gains, but they were smaller than he had imagined.

The Ten Thousand Corpses Formation, though, had been thoroughly studied.

But what was offered on the altar, and what was sealed inside the bronze coffin, he hadn't figured out.

"Looks like... I'll have to think of another way..."

Mo Hua's gaze shifted slightly, and he murmured to himself.

My schedule's a bit off again, this chapter is late too, sigh~

(End of this chapter)