Chapter 505: The Lu Family

With all plans in place, Yang Jishan spoke in a low voice:

"Tomorrow, mobilize the troops and gather the cultivators; the day after, at the hour of Mao, we begin suppressing the Lu family and exterminating the corpse mine!"

Everyone looked solemn.

The day war begins will be the day torrential rain descends.

In Nan Yue City, winds and rains sway everything.

And what they must face is the deeply entrenched Lu family, and endless mountains and seas of corpses…

And that corpse king, possessing the qualifications of a Dao-fiend!

The atmosphere in the room grew suddenly grim…

…

Yet within the corpse mine, Lu Chengyun suddenly frowned.

He felt uneasy, his mind unsettled.

Something extremely dangerous had happened, yet he knew nothing of it.

What danger could there be?

Lu Chengyun calmed his mind and thought slowly.

Zhang Quan was already dead; control over the corpse king had vanished.

In this world, the only one who could command the corpse king was now himself…

Mo Hua had also been turned by him into a sacrifice, fed to the visualization map.

Once his spiritual sense was fully consumed, leaving only a hollow shell, he would refine him into a small zombie and keep him by his side to serve him.

After all, this child was clever and likable—he truly liked him.

But it was his fate to master arrays and know too much.

The corpse mine was too vital, tied to the Lu family's fate and his own future Dao path—he had no choice but to eliminate all risks, root and branch.

A too-smart child cannot be left alive.

One Zhang Quan, one Mo Hua.

Both had been betrayed, discarded, and eliminated by him.

Besides them, who else could threaten him? Who could make him feel this unease?

Lu Chengyun's fingers tapped mechanically on the table, his expression cold and stern.

After a moment, he opened more intelligence reports.

These reports had been gathered by Lu family cultivators, detailing recent movements in Nan Yue City and the corpse mine.

Lu Chengyun relied on these reports to monitor every ripple in Nan Yue City.

"The number of passing cultivators has increased…"

"Their faces are unfamiliar; their qi cannot be sensed…"

"Nan Yue Sect has distanced itself from us; they no longer accept our spirit stones…"

"Dao Ting Si still accepts spirit stones without fail, and still frequents the brothels."

"Zhou Zhangsi is indulging in pleasure in the brothel again—he has tortured another female cultivator to death…"

…

Lu Chengyun's gaze sharpened slightly as he fell into silent thought.

"It's not truly unusual…"

"Have I become paranoid?"

"More passing cultivators? That's good—within hundreds of li, only my Lu family's Jin Hua Street offers such luxury and debauchery; when they use female cultivators' bodies, they're bringing spirit stones to my Lu family…"

"Dao Ting Si shows no abnormality."

"If there were real movements above, they couldn't possibly escape Dao Ting Si's notice."

"Otherwise, even if they didn't leak word, they'd at least show some restraint."

"Is Nan Yue Sect putting on a show for me? Trying to extract more spirit stones?"

Lu Chengyun snorted coldly, "I think this Sect Master has grown tired of his position!"

Lu Chengyun reread the intelligence reports carefully, yet still felt something off—but he couldn't pinpoint what…

"Could it be… the corpse mine's conspiracy has been exposed?"

Lu Chengyun thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Impossible…"

The only ones who knew the truth were Zhang Quan and Mo Hua.

Zhang Quan was dead; Mo Hua had been fed to the map.

Beyond them, the corpse cultivators knew only surface details—they knew nothing of the core Ten Thousand Corpses Array, the Spirit Pivot Array, or the corpse king within the altar.

Even if they reported it, it wouldn't matter.

Just find someone to take the blame—Dao Ting won't go to such lengths…

Lu Chengyun was suspicious by nature, and still felt uneasy.

"Should I go to the city myself to check?"

Lu Chengyun pondered for a moment, then shook his head again.

The Ten Thousand Corpses Array still required his attention.

This complex, long-term array isn't finished once built—it needs constant inspection, maintenance, verification, ensuring the array core is intact, the pivot flows smoothly, and the array patterns are flawless.

Moreover, the core of the Ten Thousand Corpses Array was constructed by Mo Hua.

Some sections feature ingenious designs, unique qi flows, unlike anything he'd imagined—far more complex than he'd assumed.

Even maintaining it himself was taxing; inspection, correction, and repair all took considerable time.

Never mind the other array masters in the corpse mine—they'd be lucky just to understand it.

Lu Chengyun sighed, regretting:

"This little sir was killed too soon…"

Now, with these matters, he could only handle them himself, with no time to spare, yet he still felt uneasy, so he ordered:

"For these days, tighten defenses, patrol day and night, and report any anomaly immediately."

The corpse cultivators bowed in assent and passed the order down.

Instantly, the entire corpse mine went on high alert…

The Dao Court had prepared thoroughly; within the corpse mine, defenses were impenetrable.

The great battle was about to erupt…

And within Mo Hua's consciousness, inside the white coffin, the final enemy was approaching:

The Zhang Family's Corpse Dao Ancestor!

During this time, Mo Hua had fished without pause.

Until now, he had lured every single elder and disciple from the Zhang Family's Liezulie Sect into his consciousness.

Mo Hua, resting and waiting, first ordered the iron corpses to swarm and beat them down; once they had exhausted their methods, wounded each other, and been grievously injured, he would strike to finish them.

The elders were kept alive, controlled by the Lingshu Array.

The disciples were refined, used to restore the elders' strength.

Among them, the strongest was the Zhang Family's Grand Elder.

Mo Hua expended great effort, ultimately subduing him at the cost of two iron corpse elders.

The control over iron corpses had reached its limit.

Mo Hua, imitating Lu Chengyun, painted the same Lingshu Array on the Grand Elder's body as on the Corpse King, and bestowed upon him a high-permission sequence array pattern; on the other iron corpse elders, he painted lower-permission sequence array patterns.

By controlling the Grand Elder, he could command the ordinary elders.

As a result, his spiritual sense felt noticeably lighter, and his control over the iron corpses became far more precise.

And in Mo Hua's possession, there were now eleven iron corpses!

This was the total number of elders remaining in the Zhang Family.

They had once been Zhang Family elders, obeying the commands of the Zhang Family Ancestor, but now they were all Mo Hua's spiritual puppets, under his command.

What was once the few against the many had become the many against the few.

Using their own way against them.

Using the Zhang Family's elders to fight the Zhang Family's Ancestor!

Mo Hua smiled warmly, nodding in satisfaction with his own cleverness:

"No wonder it's me!"

Next, Mo Hua lined up the Zhang Family's eleven iron corpses in a row, arrayed for battle, and awaited the Zhang Family Ancestor.

Meanwhile, he himself hid in the shadows, resting and waiting, prepared to watch the Zhang Family's Liezulie Sect slaughter each other while he reaped the benefits…

Zhang Quan, who had witnessed all this, regretted it down to his very intestines.

He shouldn't have, under any circumstance, provoked this little ancestor!

No, better yet—he should have been enraged to death earlier.

Had he been enraged to death earlier, he wouldn't have been used by him, nor would he have endangered the Zhang Family's Liezulie Sect.

Now, they had all sunk to the level of "enabling the tiger."

Mo Hua was that little evil tiger.

He didn't just devour them—he turned them into ghost minions, then used them to harm his own Zhang Family ancestors.

Now, all the Zhang Family elders had become these "little evil tiger's" ghost minions, and the next to be harmed would be their own Ancestor!

The Ancestor's fate was dire indeed!

This little demon Mo Hua was far more terrifying than Lu Chengyun!

Zhang Quan was frantic with fear.

But now he was merely a puppet, under Mo Hua's control, obeying Mo Hua's orders—utterly powerless…

…

After an unknown length of time, Mo Hua, who had been closing his eyes to rest, suddenly opened them.

He sensed the walls of his consciousness trembling—as if something powerful was approaching…

Moments later, mist swirled.

An ancient elder, radiant with immortal aura, descended upon clouds.

His hair and beard were entirely white, his bearing noble and transcendent, solemn and dignified—he was Zhang Quan's Laozu, the Corpse Dao Ancestor depicted in the ancestral portrait.

Mo Hua's eyes gleamed; a sly smile curled at his lips…

…

The Zhang Family Ancestor had arrived.

He had no choice but to come.

Because the Zhang Family had no one left.

One by one, all had gone in—and never returned.

In just half a day, his disciples and descendants had vanished.

The ancestral portrait, once filled with generations of offspring, now held only this lone, bare old Ancestor.

If he didn't come now, the Zhang Family's Corpse Dao lineage would truly be extinguished!

This was surely a trap laid by someone.

It concerns bloodline kinship and the transmission of the Corpse Dao.

He wanted to see who—or rather, what foul thing—dared plot against his Zhang family.

When the Zhang ancestral master entered, he first froze.

Such pure and thick spiritual sense!

Like the legendary spiritual havens brimming with qi, the spiritual sense here was terrifyingly refined.

Were his Zhang family disciples so enamored by gluttony, so lost in delight, that they refused to return?

The Zhang ancestral master frowned, glanced around, his expression stunned.

There were no outsiders, no other evil spirits or spiritual forms.

Only about a dozen of his Zhang family elders stood in a row, like wooden stakes.

The Zhang ancestral master frowned and said:

"What is the meaning of this?"

The elders' qi was murky and dull, their gazes vacant, silent.

The Zhang ancestral master sensed something amiss.

He was about to step forward and examine closely when a sudden cold wind surged.

The Zhang family's eldest elder led the attack, his claws extending violently, coated in corpse poison, striking the ancestral master's back.

"Ambush?"

The Zhang ancestral master's face darkened; he seized the eldest elder's wrist and blocked the strike.

At the same time, the other elders launched their attacks—some targeting the heart meridian, others the eyes, the crown, the perineum, the joints…

Each move was vicious, aimed at killing their ancestral master!

The Zhang ancestral master flew into a rage.

He never imagined that in such a short time, his descendants had not only vanished but turned traitor—betraying their master and ancestor, even seeking to take his life!

"A pack of devils!"

The Zhang ancestral master parried and blocked several strikes, but two fists could not withstand many hands—his robe was torn, his arms slashed, strands of his white beard ripped out…

The Zhang ancestral master's gaze darkened.

In combat, he noticed the elders' oddity.

"Controlled?"

The Zhang ancestral master's thoughts raced.

Controlled by what?

Spellcraft?

Illusion?

Bewitched or brainwashed?

The Zhang ancestral master's mind stirred; he immediately chanted a high-pitched incantation, then cried out clearly:

"Ancestral Master arrives! Why not submit at once?"

"Submit to my sect, seek the Dao of eternal life…"

"Submit to my sect…"

"Seek the Dao of eternal life…"

These words rose and fell, echoing in the ears and resonating in the heart, possessing a seductive power to draw souls to submission.

Mo Hua's spiritual sense also flickered with momentary confusion.

But moments later, clarity flowed through his mind like a clear spring, and he instantly regained awareness.

On the other side, the iron corpses' gazes showed longing and yearning.

Yet they were controlled by the Spirit Pivot Array, their actions dictated by spiritual threads—mere puppets; their inner thoughts mattered little.

Even if the Zhang ancestral master swayed their hearts, their bodies remained loyal—obeying only Mo Hua.

They continued their assault without pause.

These iron corpses' gazes were filled with yearning, clearly shaken in mind.

Yet their strikes remained vicious, showing no mercy.

The Zhang ancestral master felt a chill.

What kind of control was this? He had never seen its like.

The Zhang ancestral master called out loudly:

"Who is the high one behind this scheme?"

To control eleven iron corpses simultaneously, and remain unaffected by my Dao chant—only a true high one could accomplish this.

Mo Hua made no sound and had no intention of revealing himself.

The ideal scenario was to avoid acting himself.

Let the corpse family kill each other.

When both sides were exhausted, he would emerge to pick up the spoils.

With superior numbers, let this Zhang ancestral master be worn down to death by his own descendants—preferably dying without knowing how, a fool in death.

This would save much trouble.

And the risk would be minimal.

Even if he eventually had to act, he would first force the Zhang ancestral master to reveal all his techniques, exhaust his hidden cards—so he could prepare and strike with precision…

Mo Hua's mind shifted; he intensified the iron corpses' assault.

The Zhang ancestral master was utterly frustrated.

He was being attacked by his own disciples and grand-disciples, unaware of who the hidden opponent was.

At first, he still cherished the bond between ancestor and descendant and held back, but gradually, his wounds multiplied, and he realized this stalemate could not continue.

If this drags on, I'll die here!

The Zhang ancestral master's expression darkened, his aura shifting abruptly.

The ethereal immortal aura vanished entirely, replaced by thick, reeking corpse qi.

His eyes became vertical pupils, shifting from pitch black to a copper-rust hue, cold and unfeeling.

His dao robe shattered inch by inch, revealing copper-hued skin, upon which twisted, grotesque, and incredibly resilient veins bulged.

His stature suddenly surged upward, swelling like bronze and iron.

His claws grew long and sharp, like slender swords, their tips glowing copper-red.

His appearance was terrifying, his aura savage and cruel.

Mo Hua drew in a sharp breath:

Copper Corpse!

Though he had anticipated it, he was still shocked.

He had not expected that the Zhang ancestral master's manifested spiritual projection was truly a Copper Corpse!

Only a second-rank zombie can be refined into a Copper Corpse.

A Copper Corpse's strength is at least Foundation Establishment mid-stage; if cultivated deeply, it reaches late-stage.

Based on the Zhang ancestral master's words, Mo Hua estimated it was barely a hair's breadth from Foundation Establishment late-stage.

But because it was the ancestral master, sustained by the family's incense offerings and the devotion of its disciples and grand-disciples, their faith also influenced its power.

Now, the Zhang family's disciples and grand-disciples had either been slaughtered and fed to him, or refined and consumed by him; the remainder had become Mo Hua's puppets, now "betraying their master and exterminating their ancestors."

Thus, the Zhang ancestral master's power had greatly diminished; judging by appearances, he was now mid-stage Foundation Establishment, middle tier.

Even so, he was still extremely strong.

Mo Hua internally assessed the odds and concluded that in direct combat, he very likely, probably, perhaps, might not be the Zhang ancestral master's match.

Fifty-fifty chance of victory.

His own odds of winning were probably even slimmer.

Copper Corpse…

Such a massive, copper-skinned, iron-boned thing, thick-fleshed and swift, steeped in corpse qi—how could one possibly fight it…

Even if he won, it would be a pyrrhic victory.

Mo Hua sighed inwardly, then felt a flicker of relief and muttered softly:

"Good thing I don't have to fight it myself…"

Mo Hua controlled the Zhang family's Iron Corpses, launching a righteous assault…

Mo Hua cheered them on internally:

"Go!"

"Kill your ancestor!"

"Kill it, and you'll be the new ancestor!"

…

Eleven Iron Corpses clashed head-on with one Copper Corpse, fighting to the death in brutal close combat.

Punches struck flesh, claws tore blood.

The scene became wildly intense.

Thank you to Fan Yu, Sang Chen, Xia Ri and Qing Liang, Hei Tao Jack, Li Xiao, Xi Nian Yi Ren Du Qiao Cui, Tao Tie Bu Chi Ya Zi, Bi Shi Huan Huan for your tips~

(End of Chapter)