Chapter 512: Omen

Yang Jishan pondered for a moment, sighed, "If there truly are forty iron corpses and five thousand walking corpses, this must be Lu Chengyun's final reserve..."

Yang Jishan swept his gaze over the crowd and said gravely:

"This is the final battle. Whether we can crush Lu Chengyun and exterminate the Corpse King hinges entirely on this fight. I ask all of you—no more holding back."

Holding back?

Mo Hua froze at these words.

The others also wore varied expressions.

One man grumbled, "Commander Yang, why speak thus? We've given our all in this battle—suffered heavy losses. How can you accuse us of holding back?"

"Exactly!"

"Commander, your words are disheartening..."

But Yang Jishan remained calm and assured:

"Many among you hail from powerful families and major sects of Daozhou, Qianzhou, Kunzhou—or are allied with the Seven Stars Pavilion of the Dao Court. Your lineages and heritages are profound, and naturally, each of you holds some hidden techniques..."

"These techniques come either from your family's ancestral reserves or from personal strokes of fortune—and are never used unless absolutely desperate."

At these words, everyone fell silent.

Every cultivator has their fortune, their hidden cards—this cannot be denied.

Yang Jishan continued:

"We have now reached the most critical stage in crushing the Corpse King."

"If we win this battle, all will rejoice."

"But if we fail—if Lu Chengyun escapes, if the Corpse King survives—the Dao Court will hold us accountable. I, Yang, will bear the brunt and answer to the Dao Court's Chief. And you all here..."

Yang Jishan looked around, "Will likely not escape blame!"

Yang Jishan's gaze darkened, "... If the Dao Court holds us accountable, the promotion rankings of your families and sects will be delayed drastically for a hundred years."

"And among you, some who hail from Daozhou and have ties to the Tianshu Pavilion should know exactly what it means if the Corpse King survives."

"If this fails, the responsibility is immense. Your families will surely be pursued by the Dao Court!"

"Will your clans blame you? Will they remove your elders, strip your privileges, downgrade your status?"

Yang Jishan's gaze hardened, his voice icy, "And this is not even the worst scenario..."

"The worst scenario is Lu Chengyun, driven mad, loses control of the Corpse King, triggering a true, massive corpse tide that swallows Nan Yue City—and even the entire province."

"When the province becomes a land of corpses, all life is laid waste..."

"And within that tide, if even a few iron corpses somehow undergo transformation into bronze corpses, few among you will survive to leave this small wasteland province!"

Yang Jishan said coldly, "By then, your hidden techniques will only be used to bury your own coffins..."

"You may not even get a coffin—either devoured alive, leaving no trace of bone, or becoming wandering corpses, worse than having no bones left..."

Yang Jishan's words left the crowd pale-faced.

These words carried a hint of alarmism.

But given the current situation, such outcomes were not impossible...

"Commander Yang, what do you propose?" asked an elderly cultivator.

He was very old, his hair white as snow—not out of concern for himself, but for his family's younger generation.

If we win this battle, he would earn merit, and his family's promotion ranking within a hundred years would be within reach.

His branch of disciples would surely be heavily relied upon.

But if we lose, and the Dao Court holds us accountable, our promotion ranking drops—three generations of cultivation, centuries of effort, all wasted.

And his branch's younger disciples would no longer be valued by the clan.

So even if he died, this battle must be won!

Yang Jishan's expression was resolute:

"Leverage your family's ancestral reserves—no more holding back. Unleash all your hidden cards. Crush Lu Chengyun outright. Exterminate the Corpse King. End this corpse plague!"

As he spoke, he drew from his storage pouch a long spear.

The spear gleamed golden, its surface etched with gilded patterns, its spiritual energy coalescing, radiating an astonishing aura.

At its appearance, those who recognized it immediately changed color.

Yang Jishan said, "This is my Yang family's Rank-Two Superior Spirit Artifact—Sunset Spear!"

"This spear is precious, forged by a unique method, immensely powerful. When paired with the Yang family's spear techniques, a single strike carries the strength of a Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivator—but it degrades rapidly, usable only three times."

Yang Jishan gazed at the golden spear, reluctant—but solemnly declared:

"This Sunset Spear was given to me by my grandfather, meant solely for saving my life—never to be used unless facing certain death."

"But this battle leaves no room for victory or defeat—it is life or death."

"Since it is a battle of life and death, I shall wield this spear to slay Lu Chengyun and end the Corpse King!"

The crowd was visibly moved.

Mo Hua was also startled—he did not know the spear's origins, but from the others' expressions, he knew it was no ordinary weapon.

Even if they won this battle, the merit earned might not equal the value of this spear.

With Yang Jishan setting the example, other cultivators fell into deep thought.

Yang Jishan was from the Yang family, commander of Dao troops, deeply versed in military strategy, and exceptionally familiar with cultivator warfare.

If even he must use his hidden card, it proves that without overwhelming force and a swift conclusion, grave disaster will follow!

When you must not spare, never spare.

Otherwise, you may end up sparing your life—and lose it anyway...

One cultivator, after pondering, spoke up:

"Since the Commander says so, I shall no longer hold back..."

He flipped his palm, took out a black jade case, and said proudly:

"I hail from the Tang family. I have a second-grade spiritual weapon called the Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles. The case conceals needles, and once it bursts open, spiritual power pours down like rain and the needles fly like pear blossoms. Against a powerful foe it may fall short, but tossed into a horde of corpses, its killing power is tremendous…"

Once someone took the lead, the remaining cultivators all followed along willingly.

Even the cultivator who had said at the start that he wasn't holding anything back now revealed his trump card.

"I hail from the Han family. I have one Spirit-Boosting Pill. After taking it, within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, one's cultivation will rise to mid Foundation Establishment…"

"Zhang family, Zhang Zifan. Our ancestor gave me a set of Blazing Flame Heaven-Burning Array…"

"Dou family, Dou Changbao. I have a second-grade Spirit-Binding Net that can pin down four iron corpses at once…"

"My clan is of no great lineage. It was only by a stroke of fortune that I obtained a high-grade, second-grade Spirit Burst Jade Talisman, carrying the spell power of a late Foundation Establishment cultivator…"

……

"I have a Clear Wind Screen that can dispel… the corpse poison of iron corpses above second grade…"

Someone finally couldn't help cursing: "Why the hell didn't you bring it out sooner?"

"This damn thing of mine is for saving my life—how could I bear to use it?"

"What a stingy bastard!"

"Then I won't let you use it…"

"No… good brother, good big brother, I was wrong, just pretend I was farting out my ass a moment ago…"

……

Amid the clamor and bickering.

Basically every cultivator present—from different state borders, different noble clans, different sects—revealed one or two trump cards.

Yang Jishan silently noted them down and nodded.

He knew everyone was surely still holding something in reserve, but that was only human nature. When coordinating an operation, every person keeping their own hidden agenda was unavoidable.

For now, these trump cards were already enough.

Mo Hua likewise felt his horizons greatly broadened.

In the earlier Dao Soldier battle, these clan and sect cultivators had covered the rear with mediocre performance.

He had assumed these clan cultivators were, if not completely useless, at least rather mediocre.

Only now did he understand the reason:

First, group combat among cultivators was indeed different from solo fighting, and many methods were hard to bring to bear.

Second, they all had their own little schemes, clutching the good stuff in their hands and not planning to use it just to wipe out a corpse mine.

Mo Hua's eyes lit up slightly.

It was like shearing wool—as long as you're willing to shear, there's always some to be had.

These matters, if Commander Yang hadn't brought them up, he would never have known.

Mo Hua felt he had broadened his experience once again…

……

The cultivators present each had different trump cards.

There were spiritual weapons, pills, talismans, arrays, spells, and so on.

Yang Jishan sorted them into categories and arranged them in a coordinated plan.

He was determined to use these methods where they counted most—to strike the decisive blow, wipe out the corpse horde, and slay the Corpse King!

Once Yang Jishan had finished his arrangements, the next step was to understand the terrain of the Graveyard Mountain.

On the Dao Court side, several Foundation Establishment cultivators with powerful divine sense began sweeping the Graveyard Mountain with their divine sense.

But after sweeping for a long time, they still couldn't discover anything.

The Graveyard Mountain, like the mine, was thick with filthy Qi, which blocked divine sense.

Moreover, arrays were laid out everywhere.

These arrays had murky, obscure auras, tangled together with the filthy Qi of the mountain, impossible to distinguish.

Therefore, the resulting map of mountains and rivers drawn up was very crude.

It could only roughly sketch the lay of the mountains and rivers—where corpse Qi was heavy, where arrays might be, what kind of arrays they were likely to be, and so on…

This information was vague and unclear, of little help.

Yang Jishan frowned, suddenly thought of Mo Hua, took this map, found Mo Hua, and asked:

"Little brother, can you tell what arrays are on this Graveyard Mountain?"

"Let me take a look…"

Mo Hua took the map, then looked toward the distant, gloomy and dim Graveyard Mountain. His divine sense stirred slightly, and he began to perform derivations.

He calculated as he went, muttering to himself, while finding a sheet of paper on which he scribbled and sketched, revising and correcting.

Everything he drew was something Yang Jishan couldn't understand.

Yang Jishan didn't dare disturb Mo Hua, so he simply watched silently from the side.

After an unknown length of time, Mo Hua's gaze brightened slightly, and he began marking the map.

What he marked were the array names, array grades, array patterns, and notes on the array eyes, array hubs, and array media used.

Even in places thick with corpse Qi, he roughly marked the number of iron corpses and walking corpses.

The entire Graveyard Mountain was laid out clearly at a glance.

Yang Jishan was stunned.

He very much wanted to ask Mo Hua how on earth he had seen all this, but on second thought, asking this every time would make him, as commander, look very undignified.

And even if Mo Hua explained, would he actually understand?

At the very least, what Mo Hua had said before, he hadn't been able to follow…

Enough, don't employ someone if you doubt them, and once employed, don't doubt them.

Yang Jishan sighed, yet felt a touch of relief.

Fortunately, this expedition had this young cultivator; otherwise, the suppression of the corpse mine would not have progressed so smoothly.

After Yang Jishan left, Mo Hua frowned.

There was one thing he found deeply puzzling.

Within this graveyard mountain, corpses were numerous; let alone the walking dead, how had these iron corpses come to be?

The neighboring prefectures were all second-grade prefectures.

In a second-grade prefecture, Foundation Establishment cultivators were the upper limit.

Where had Lu Chengyun obtained these dozens of Foundation Establishment corpses to forge into iron corpses?

Moreover, these iron corpses were clearly forged long ago.

The older the corpse, the more potent its poison.

Mo Hua frowned in deep thought, then suddenly froze.

Xiao Lingyin Sect!

He remembered Yan Jiaoxi saying that Xiao Lingyin Sect had once been a powerful sect specializing in arrays, producing many Foundation Establishment cultivators, before gradually declining.

Until eventually, Lu Chengyun betrayed the sect, murdered his master, and stole the array, causing Xiao Lingyin Sect to disband.

But even after its dissolution, the sect's graveyard remained.

Within the graveyard lay the corpses of past Foundation Establishment cultivators of the sect.

With this realization, Mo Hua's heart turned icy.

After observing these past few days, he noticed that the iron corpses in the graveyard mountain, aside from their potent poison, were not particularly strong in physique, and their arms were proportionate, fingers slender.

Clearly, in life, most had been array masters who handled brushes…

Lu Chengyun's murder of his master may not have been impulsive, but long-planned.

His scheme included not only the Lingshu Array, but also the sect's downfall and the dispersal of its disciples, and the unattended graves of Xiao Lingyin Sect's masters and elders.

He murdered his master, destroyed his ancestors, caused the sect's ruin, and used the sect's forebears to forge corpses…

In Mo Hua's deep gaze, a cold light slowly hardened:

"Lu Chengyun… you seek death!"

…

Yang Jishan, having obtained the detailed graveyard map and array diagram, began coordinating efforts, aiming to end it all in one strike: exterminate the Corpse King and quell the corpse plague.

Once all preparations were complete, Mo Hua suddenly approached Yang Jishan and said:

"Uncle Yang, let me come too."

Yang Jishan was startled, "What would you do?"

"I want to help," Mo Hua said.

Yang Jishan paused, then felt a warmth in his heart.

What a fine child—talented and kind-hearted; no wonder my fifth brother praised him so.

Yet Yang Jishan still shook his head:

"I wish you could go, but this is a battle of life and death—we face the Corpse King and countless iron corpses. It's too dangerous. Even I might not survive; I can't guarantee your safety…"

Mo Hua said, "Uncle Yang, don't worry—I have my junior brother and junior sister to protect me."

Yang Jishan hesitated, "Your junior brother and junior sister are merely Qi Condensation stage…"

"They're Qi Condensation, but their cultivation is very strong," Mo Hua said proudly.

Yang Jishan still refused, "This is life-or-death combat, fighting alongside corpses—it's different…"

Mo Hua said, "If all else fails, I can vanish and flee…"

Vanish…

Yang Jishan was startled upon hearing this.

No wonder!

No wonder he could sneak around in the corpse mine, gather intelligence—so he had concealment techniques.

Mo Hua had never mentioned this before, so Yang Jishan had been unaware.

Yang Jishan looked at Mo Hua, his eyes gleaming.

Concealment…

He actually knew concealment… wonderful…

Then he frowned, "You're only Qi Condensation—how did your concealment technique fool Lu Chengyun?"

Mo Hua smiled with narrowed eyes and said nothing.

Yang Jishan realized he had spoken out of turn.

Such secrets concerning a cultivator's true abilities must not be spoken lightly.

Yang Jishan immediately said, "My apologies—I was Tang Tu."

Mo Hua said, "So can I go?"

"This…" Yang Jishan still hesitated, then suddenly froze, asking, "Is there another reason you want to go to the graveyard mountain?"

Mo Hua did not conceal it; he nodded and said directly:

"I have a personal grudge against Lu Chengyun—I must see him die!"

Yang Jishan was stunned.

Personal grudge?

A personal grudge?

Was it a personal grudge from being locked in the corpse mine earlier, or was there some other reason?

Yang Jishan's gaze darkened slightly.

Whatever the reason, he didn't really want to let such a young cultivator like Mo Hua risk his life.

He was even considering whether to send someone to escort Mo Hua out of South Yue City first, so that if this battle failed and South Yue City fell, Mo Hua wouldn't be in danger.

Slaying corpse fiends was an edict from the Dao Court and the duty of Dao Soldiers — it actually had nothing to do with Mo Hua.

Mo Hua knows formations, has a good temperament, is a fine seedling — he can't be allowed to take this kind of risk!

Yang Jishan nodded.

But just as Yang Jishan made up his mind and was about to open his mouth to refuse, his heart suddenly lurched.

In his sea of consciousness, a scene inexplicably surfaced:

In the scene, the sky was stained red with fresh blood.

Lu Chengyun was dead.

But every cultivator present was also dead.

And he himself, missing an arm, was pinned beneath a corpse's foot, his eyes filled with despair.

This corpse was massive in stature, its pupils blood-red with a faint glimmer of dark gold, its aura terrifying.

It raised its arms and howled.

Across the mountains and plains, ten thousand corpses bowed in submission…

……

In an instant, everything vanished again.

Yang Jishan's back was already soaked in cold sweat, and immense terror welled up in his heart:

"Just now… what was that?"

Was it his battlefield-honed instinct?

Was it a sign from the unseen?

Or had someone let him see that scene…

Yang Jishan's face was pale, his gaze shifting between fear and dread.

"Uncle Yang?"

A childish voice pulled Yang Jishan back to his senses.

Yang Jishan looked up and saw Mo Hua, his face full of concern.

"Uncle Yang, what's wrong?" Mo Hua asked worriedly.

Yang Jishan thought briefly, then forced a smile: "Nothing, I'm just a bit tired…"

Mo Hua said apologetically:

"Then Uncle Yang, you get some rest. I won't disturb you anymore."

Yang Jishan nodded slightly, and just as Mo Hua was about to leave, he suddenly called out to him again.

"Mo Hua."

Mo Hua turned back in confusion.

Yang Jishan's gaze hardened slightly as he said: "You can go."

Mo Hua froze, then lit up with joy. "Really?"

Yang Jishan nodded. "But be careful. Stay by my side, don't wander off, and even if you see Lu Chengyun, don't act rashly."

"Mm, mm." Mo Hua nodded rapidly, smiling. "Thank you, Uncle Yang!"

Mo Hua left happily.

And ever since he agreed to let Mo Hua come along,

the bloody, terrifying, and despairing scene in his sea of consciousness had vanished…

The terror in Yang Jishan's heart gradually subsided, and the cold, numb feeling in his limbs was gone.

As if some terrible karmic link had been severed.

Yet Yang Jishan's heart could not settle for a long time.

He watched Mo Hua's departing back, his gaze shaken, thinking in disbelief:

"Mo Hua… this little cultivator — what exactly is his identity?"

Thanks to pyhuang, chanso, Hanhai Xiaoyao Shutong, and Sang Chen for the tips~

(End of this chapter)