Chapter 488: Ambition

When a clan cultivator dies, they are buried in the ancestral tomb.

Within the ancestral tomb lie the burial mounds of successive clan heads, elders, and cultivators of profound cultivation.

The Lu clan was no exception.

Within the Lu clan's burial grounds, there must certainly be no few corpses of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Could this Lu Chengyun really have dug up the Lu clan's ancestral tomb, using the corpses of successive clan heads and elders to refine Iron Corpses?

Mo Hua drew in a slight breath of cold air.

This Lu Chengyun really does dare to think and dare to act…

To refine corpses, he even dug up the Lu clan's ancestral tomb.

Even if the Lu clan patriarch weren't dead, he'd probably be angered to death by this…

Mo Hua frowned again.

But this way, things get troublesome.

Over forty Iron Corpses, tens of thousands of Walking Corpses.

If he truly faced Lu Chengyun head-on, there'd be no chance of victory at all.

If he "called for help" to summon reinforcements…

The Situ family has deep foundations, but they certainly couldn't muster cultivators capable of matching these corpses.

The Dao Ting Si of Nanyue City is in cahoots with the Lu clan.

It'd be plenty if they didn't make things worse.

Nanyue Sect, the largest sect in Nanyue City, also has very close ties with the Lu clan.

Even if Nanyue Sect weren't colluding with the Lu clan, and were willing to step in and oppose them, they still wouldn't be a match for these corpses at all.

Beyond that, one could only count on the Dao Ting Court to allocate Dao Soldiers and suppress the corpse mine…

But the mobilization of Dao Soldiers isn't that simple either.

The procedures are numerous, requisition isn't easy, and the march of Dao Soldiers costs no small sum.

Moreover, too few would be useless; to suppress the corpse mine, the troops and finances required would absolutely be no small number.

The Dao Ting Court has the strength, but they may not be willing to pay that price.

For a poor, remote little Xiancheng in a second-grade prefecture, spending a large amount of spirit stones and mobilizing numerous Dao Soldiers would surely mean the military expenses far exceed the returns…

And the opponents are corpses.

Iron Corpses with bronze heads and iron arms, Walking Corpses fearless of death, devouring flesh and blood without end, plus contagious corpse poison…

If a full-scale war truly broke out, Dao Soldier casualties would surely be extremely grievous.

The Dao Soldier Bureau may not truly be willing to pay that cost.

And once defeated, not only would Dao Soldier casualties be grievous, Nanyue City would also be instantly swallowed by the corpse tide and become a dead city…

Swallowed by the corpse tide…

Thinking of that scene, Mo Hua sighed.

Mine cultivators are already ill-fated; if they must also fall to become Walking Corpses, parents and children turning on each other, a life worse than death, dying without peace—such a thing would be too tragic…

Is there anything he himself can do?

Mo Hua silently pondered.

Collapsing the formation…

He had considered it before; it wasn't quite suitable.

It would easily set off the mine and endanger the mine cultivators.

If the "Corpse King" were collapsed and the corpse horde lost control, the harm would likely be even greater.

At the same time, his master had also told him not to collapse formations unless absolutely necessary, and even if he did, not to let others see.

Collapsing the corpse mine would cause too much commotion; it would surely expose his own background and bring trouble to his master.

Mo Hua's thoughts shifted again:

"If I can't collapse it, then I can only start with the 'Corpse King.'"

To catch a bandit, first catch the king.

Lu Chengyun knows the Spirit Pivot Formation and wants to use formations to control the Corpse King.

And he himself also knows the Spirit Pivot Formation; if Lu Chengyun can control it, so can he.

If he truly could control the "Corpse King," he could resolve the corpse mine crisis without bloodshed, and even borrow the "corpses" to kill, slaying Lu Chengyun.

"But how does one control the Corpse King?"

Mo Hua thought carefully:

To control the Corpse King, one must draw a formation; to draw a formation, one must open the bronze coffin…

But even if the formation were drawn, how could he do it without being discovered by Lu Chengyun?

Lu Chengyun is no Zhang Quan.

Zhang Quan knows nothing about formations, but Lu Chengyun understands them very well.

He is at Foundation Establishment cultivation, a genuine first-grade formation master, and his formation skill far surpasses the ordinary first grade.

He's only a little worse than Mo Hua himself.

Surpassing him in formations should be possible.

But trying to deceive everyone, to tamper with the formation right under Lu Chengyun's nose, on the very formation he is currently drawing, would be the talk of a fool.

Unless Lu Chengyun were not only blind, but also a fool.

Lu Chengyun clearly is not.

A blind fool could never have married into the Lu clan, become clan head, and dug up the Lu clan's ancestral tomb…

Mo Hua pondered for a long time but couldn't think of a good solution, feeling helpless inside.

"Forget it, first figure out how to open the bronze coffin…"

Then see what's inside the bronze coffin.

But one must attend to both ends.

While he's busy here, preparations must also be made outside.

Mo Hua first wrote a letter and had Little Tiger deliver it to Little Sister.

The letter detailed the corpse mine, marked its map, the structure of Shi Dian, the cultivation methods of corpse cultivators, and the astonishing number of at least forty iron corpses and tens of thousands of walking corpses.

And he hoped they would prepare early.

Ideally, gather all cultivators to destroy the corpse mine before the Corpse King is forged, eliminating the threat once and for all.

Although Mo Hua thought this unlikely, he still needed to warn them in advance.

Whether or not so many cultivators could be gathered was beyond his control.

What came next was opening the bronze coffin.

The secret to opening it was hidden on Lu Chengyun.

Whenever Mo Hua had free time, he would sneak into the Ten Thousand Corpses Altar and wait there for Lu Chengyun, watching how he opened the coffin.

But Lu Chengyun was highly cautious and moved subtly.

Mo Hua watched several times but couldn't make out anything clearly.

He could only roughly guess that the bronze coffin required both a key and a formation—both needed together to open it.

Yet he couldn't steal the key, nor could he see the formation.

Just as Mo Hua was at his wit's end, that late night, unexpectedly, Zhang Quan arrived at the altar with Lu Chengyun.

The two were whispering to each other.

Mo Hua perked up and strained to listen.

"... The Ten Thousand Corpses Formation is nearly complete..."

"The formation's core is built..."

"Refine spirit stones to generate spiritual energy, then pollute that energy with corrupt blood qi to transform it into dark energy... and then the formation can be activated..."

"How long will it take?"

"Soon—just a few days."

"No wonder, Master Lu—you've planned this perfectly," Zhang Quan said with a flattering smile.

Lu Chengyun laughed: "Brother Zhang, you flatter me. Without your crafted coffins and the ancestral corpse-refining method, how could I have built this Ten Thousand Corpses Formation?"

Talking about the Ten Thousand Corpses Formation?

Mo Hua muttered to himself, secretly observing them.

Lu Chengyun glanced again at the Ten Thousand Corpses Formation and sighed with emotion:

"I must also thank that young Mr...."

"Using a righteous formation to construct the core, and a corrupt formation to transform dark energy—I originally only imagined this, but never thought it could actually work..."

"And this core has a grand layout and complex structure. I never expected that young Mr. would stumble through it and actually build it—his talent is truly extraordinary..."

"This core is very difficult..." Lu Chengyun sighed.

But Mo Hua listened with some confusion.

Difficult?

He had merely concealed his ability, deliberately drawing slowly—but he never expected Lu Chengyun would truly think this core was difficult...

What was so difficult about this core?

He thought it was quite simple...

Mo Hua shook his head.

Although Lu Chengyun was praising him, the mere core of a replicated formation—praising it like this gave Mo Hua not a shred of satisfaction...

Zhang Quan felt a twinge of bitterness and muttered sarcastically:

"Talent's decent, but the man's treacherous..."

Lu Chengyun knew he still harbored resentment, shook his head slightly, said nothing, and turned his gaze again to the core of the replicated formation, his emotions complicated.

This core of the replicated formation had nearly taken the shape of a grand formation's core...

A rudimentary form of a grand formation...

This boy's talent is truly terrifying.

Lu Chengyun sighed inwardly, then his gaze darkened slightly, a faint smile on his lips as he whispered:

"What a pity..."

On the other side, Zhang Quan stared at the bronze coffin, his eyes gleaming with greed, unable to help asking:

"Brother Lu, how long until the 'Corpse King' emerges?"

Lu Chengyun snapped back to attention, his eyes gleaming too: "Soon..."

"Once the Ten Thousand Corpses Formation is complete, a torrent of dark energy will surge, nourishing the bronze coffin. In less than a month, the 'Corpse King' will be forged and ready to be opened."

Zhang Quan trembled with excitement, exclaiming involuntarily:

"Good! Good!"

He circled the bronze coffin, his eyes alight with fervor:

"Without a Corpse King to command them, we corpse cultivators can control only one or two walking corpses at a time—even with the Corpse-Control Bell, at most three."

"But once the Corpse King is forged, he can command all the iron corpses!"

"Ten, even dozens of iron corpses unleashed, supported by tens of thousands of walking corpses—then we can rampage unchecked across this Small Desolate Province!"

"Beneath the Jin Dan, there is no equal."

"We too can shield the heavens with a single hand—no, we ARE the heavens of this Little Wasteland Realm!"

Zhang Quan's ambition surged, his expression stirred, and he said in a trembling voice.

Lu Chengyun was far calmer. He shook his head and said lightly:

"Brother Zhang, those words are amiss. This Corpse King will only stay in the Corpse Mine; unless absolutely forced, it will not go out, let alone rampage across the land…"

Zhang Quan frowned. "Stay here to do what?"

Lu Chengyun said lightly, "This is a mine. Staying here naturally means mining."

Zhang Quan was somewhat incredulous. "Mining?"

Lu Chengyun gave a slight nod.

Zhang Quan found it hard to believe for a moment and said indignantly:

"We went through endless hardships, poured out our heart's blood, schemed for a hundred years, killed so many people, refined so many corpses—was it all just to let them mine here?"

(End of chapter)