Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 954 – Revealed

Mo Hua's expression shifted, and without hesitation, he tapped his foot lightly, using his movement technique to rush to Lord Hui the Second's side.

The rat—bloody and mangled—trembled as he raised a hand, pointing at Mo Hua, voice rasping, "You little bastard... I'll kill you…"

Everyone turned to look at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua wore a frightened expression.

Lord Hui the Second frowned. "Rat, what did he do to you?"

The rat tried to speak, but as soon as he opened his mouth, his throat caught, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood. He couldn't utter a single word. His eyes, however, were bloodshot and venomous, full of hatred as if he couldn't wait to rip Mo Hua apart.

Mo Hua quietly said to Lord Hui, "Did he… get bitten by the big zombie? Maybe the corpse poison got into his brain, and he can't speak anymore?"

Lord Hui glanced at the rat's condition and his expression grew grave.

Even Stone couldn't bear it and spoke up: "Second Lord, we're all brothers here. Let's save him."

Lord Hui hesitated.

"Second Lord!"

With a sigh, Lord Hui took out a bottle of pills and a calming talisman.

These were clearly not ordinary items. Even Lord Hui didn't have many of them, and it clearly pained him to take them out.

He wanted to treat the rat, but the rat looked like he'd lost his mind. The bluish-black aura between his brows deepened, his eyes grew redder, and he stared at Mo Hua with murderous intent.

"The poison of evil spirits has fully taken hold…"

Mo Hua muttered silently in his heart.

The rat let out a sudden roar and lunged at Mo Hua. Lord Hui shouted immediately, "Stone, restrain him!"

"Got it." Stone rushed forward, blocking the rat.

The rat's consciousness grew more muddled as he lashed out at Stone. But his body was heavily wounded, and without spiritual sense to guide his spiritual energy, his Golden Core strength had been reduced to a fraction. Soon, Stone subdued him.

Out of respect for their bond, Stone didn't go all out.

Lord Hui took some spiritual liquid and cleaned the rat's wounds, then fed him the pill and lit the calming incense.

As the incense smoke spread, Lord Hui placed the calming jade talisman on the rat's forehead.

A clear light radiated out, and the rat finally calmed down.

"Control yourself. Let go of everything. Be untroubled by all things," Lord Hui said solemnly.

Surprisingly, the rat seemed to listen. The black-blue mark between his brows faded somewhat, and the redness in his eyes lessened.

Mo Hua glanced at Lord Hui and thought to himself: This Lord Hui really knows a lot about tomb-related matters.

He might not fully understand the evil spirits themselves, but when it came to warding them off and suppressing the yin things in tombs, these grave robbers probably had some inherited knowledge.

Under the suppression of the jade talisman, the rat's greed lessened considerably.

But Mo Hua frowned.

If the rat really woke up, it would be quite troublesome.

Because... the Gold-Seeking Talisman was indeed on him.

The rat had guessed right.

If the rat survived, driven by his greed, he'd be like a mad dog—constantly coming after him.

What's more, during the chase with the corpse-spirits earlier, Mo Hua had already exposed his Divine Dread Sword Style in front of the rat.

Even if the rat didn't know the technique's full details, he couldn't be allowed to live.

Mo Hua glanced around.

Among this group, he was the only one who wasn't in the Golden Core Realm. He was like a little lamb among a pack of wolves.

So any trump cards that could threaten a Golden Core had to be well-hidden. He couldn't let the rat expose them.

But now, the rat wasn't just alive—he was gradually recovering.

Both physically… and mentally.

Mo Hua frowned deeper.

"Golden Cores really are tough to kill… Can't trick them to death so easily…"

To kill a Golden Core, it was best to have another Golden Core do it.

With his current cultivation—whether in spiritual sense or spiritual power—he was still within the Foundation Establishment level. Trying to kill a Golden Core with just one glance of the Divine Dread Eye technique was a bit too optimistic...

Lord Hui was still using the jade talisman to suppress the evil thoughts and corpse poison in the rat.

The rat's eyes regained some clarity.

But this talisman… was still too shallow. It couldn't truly cleanse the evil presence in the rat's sea of consciousness.

Evil spirits weren't benevolent beings to begin with—how could they be easily removed?

And after being bitten again by all those corpse-spirits from the bronze coffin… the evil thoughts in his mind had already sunk deep.

At most, Lord Hui could suppress them.

As Mo Hua expected, the rat's expression soon twisted again into a fierce snarl.

"Don't think about anything. Keep your mind focused!" Lord Hui shouted sternly. "If your mind slips, and the corpse poison reaches your brain, even the heavens can't save you!"

The rat knew what was at stake. He clenched his jaw tightly and tried to think of nothing.

But his mind was still filled with all sorts of desires…

Even a bloodthirsty craving, like that of a corpse-ghost, was slowly growing inside him.

Mo Hua looked at the rat, then at the people around them.

Lord Hui and Stone were entirely focused on the rat. The four robed cultivators were each meditating, recovering their strength. None of them seemed to care about the fate of a mere tomb robber.

Mo Hua's thoughts stirred. He rubbed his thumb, and from his Storage Ring, he pulled out the Gold-Seeking Talisman, holding it in his hand and toying with it briefly.

The rat seemed to sense something. As if possessed, he looked toward Mo Hua—and his eyes instantly landed on the golden-inlaid, silver-etched, lustrous ivory talisman in Mo Hua's hand.

His pupils widened, and his heart pounded uncontrollably.

He raised his head to stare at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua gave him a faint smile—innocent yet sinister, like a cat toying with a mouse.

That smile stirred the evil thoughts within him.

The rat's mental defenses shattered in an instant.

"You… it's you…"

The rat clenched his teeth so hard they almost cracked.

He now realized he'd been tricked—toyed with—by this brat.

But at the same time, a more overpowering desire surged and devoured his reason. His eyes turned completely blood-red.

A wave of evil energy crept across his face.

"Not good!"

Lord Hui saw that his calming talisman was now covered in cracks and immediately shouted, "Stone! The chains!"

Stone pulled out the chains, intending to restrain the rat, who now looked completely crazed.

But in the next instant, the rat let out a roar. A wave of black blood surged through his body, his arms bulged, and he broke free from the chains—lunging straight for Mo Hua.

But before he could reach Mo Hua, Lord Hui drew a blade and slashed at his leg.

The rat staggered and fell to the ground, but quickly tried to get up again.

Lord Hui stepped forward, using his life-bound shield to press him down.

Stone took the opportunity to chain him tightly again.

The rat, now bound, struggled and howled like a zombie.

Lord Hui sighed. "He's starting to undergo corpse-transformation… There's nothing more we can do."

"That means…" Stone frowned.

Lord Hui, though reluctant, still said, "According to the rules—once a tomb robber succumbs to corpse poison and begins transforming—we have to kill them. Otherwise, they'll become a major threat."

Stone understood the rule.

But since they were once brothers, he still didn't want the rat to die.

"Second Lord… how about…" Stone hesitated, then said, "We just tie him up, leave him restrained for a while and see? Maybe he gets better? Then we can take him back and get a pill master to expel the poison and cleanse the evil. He might recover. Even if his cultivation is ruined, at least he'd live."

Lord Hui fell silent.

He never had much fondness for the rat.

Especially since earlier, when the bloody corpse statue in front of the bronze coffin tried to kill him, everyone else jumped in to help—except the rat, who stood by selfishly.

Still, after all these years working together, he couldn't bring himself to kill him outright either.

Just as he was about to nod, Mo Hua's voice drifted over in a soft murmur—

"The thing's clearly in his hands. Why kill me to silence me?"

The words were barely audible, laced with an eerie undertone—nearly imperceptible.

The thing… is in his hands.

Lord Hui suddenly felt dazed. Unnoticed, a sliver of buried evil thought began to sprout in his heart.

After a moment of internal struggle, he shook his head. "In tomb robbing… rules are rules. If we let him live and he fully transforms, we'll have a huge disaster on our hands."

"Life and death are fated, and fortune lies with the heavens."

"This is the ancestral teaching. Since we've chosen this path, we should be mentally prepared for it."

At the same time, the rat's corpse-transformation worsened. His body began to rot and ooze pus, his pupils contracted, the whites of his eyes grew, and his expression became more and more twisted.

Stone had nothing left to say.

Lord Hui let out a sigh. "Rat, I'm sorry."

He then drew a long blade, dipped it in chicken blood, wiped it with a yellow talisman, and raised it high—bringing it down to chop off the rat's head.

The rat's eyes were wide open in death, seemingly unwilling to go.

His body, however, still twitched and struggled like a zombie.

Lord Hui pulled out some fire talismans, ignited them, and burned the rat's body to ashes.

Yet without anyone noticing, he discreetly slipped the rat's storage pouch into his own robe.

The third-grade fire burned the rat's corpse into blackened charcoal.

Just like that… the rat died.

Lord Hui glanced at the charred remains, offered a cup of wine, and muttered softly, "Don't blame your brother."

Stone looked at the corpse, then at Lord Hui—his eyes filled with unfamiliarity.

Mo Hua also took one more glance at the rat, then silently at Lord Hui, inwardly pondering.

For now, he had no clue about the matter of planting evil spirits.

But as for how to hatch, trigger, and stir up someone's evil thoughts—he had begun gaining some experience.

A person's evil thoughts… stem from desire.

A wall stands a thousand feet tall—desireless, it stands firm.

On the other hand, once a person develops greedy desires, they become weak, foolish, and bring about their own destruction.

In this world, there are no truly clever people.

In the face of desire, everyone is a fool.

"To learn how to see through desire, and use desire to make others destroy themselves…"

To see into someone's desire… is to control them.

In a way, it was quite similar to his Senior Uncle's technique: "Demonic Seed of the Dao Heart."

But the specific method… Mo Hua didn't understand much.

And currently, his experience with manipulating people's hearts was still shallow, and the effects not yet perfect.

Next time, he would need to be more subtle, more strategic...

Mo Hua quietly planned this out in his heart.

For a while, everyone was lost in their own thoughts.

The rat was dead. This matter had ended—but the tomb-robbing was far from over.

"Man dies for wealth, birds die for food."

They didn't come all this way to leave empty-handed.

Lord Hui thought for a moment, then said to the four black-robed cultivators, "Gentlemen, per our agreement: if there are treasures in this tomb, we split them fifty-fifty. If there's nothing, your payment will be doubled."

Now that Mr. Pi was dead… and the rat too.

With the pay doubled, and only Lord Hui and Stone remaining, their share of the commission would be quite substantial—

Assuming, of course, that these black-robed cultivators were men of their word and wouldn't go back on the deal.

Seeming to sense Lord Hui's concerns, the elderly black-robed cultivator nodded and said, "You need not worry, Lord Hui. A promise is a promise."

The old man's voice was steady, and Lord Hui finally relaxed a bit before continuing, "In that case, we now have three choices:

First, we withdraw now. While you all would have to double the pay, we also lost two comrades who bled and died with us."

"So if we're counting losses, we've taken the bigger hit. After all, spirit stones can be earned again—but dead companions… stay dead."

"Second, we search elsewhere. That blood-flesh corpse statue is far too ferocious. We avoid its edge, head somewhere else. Who knows? We might still find something without becoming corpse food."

"Third,"—he paused—"we go after the corpse statue."

"It was born from the bronze coffin. Kill it, and we can search the bottom of the coffin."

"Usually, the best treasures are pressed beneath the coffin. The greater the risk, the greater the reward."

"But as you've all seen, that corpse statue is far too strong. We might not be able to defeat it… and it's likely not worth the risk."

Lord Hui laid out the pros and cons, then looked at the black-robed cultivators. "So, what do you gentlemen want to do?"

The four cultivators were momentarily silent.

Mo Hua's throat moved slightly, but he didn't speak.

He actually wanted to kill that "blood-flesh corpse statue."

Leaving it alive—given time—might truly nurture a Demonic Calamity.

By then, everyone in Lone Mountain City could very well die.

And besides, the more Mo Hua thought about it, the more he sensed something… familiar about that blood-flesh statue.

A faint aura—one that reminded him of what he had sensed at the Node of the Divine Authority Tree—a presence that was chaotic, evil, twisted, and grotesque.

There had to be a connection between the two.

Those Nodes of the Divine Authority Tree were key ritual points in the Evil God sacrificial system.

So this blood-flesh statue's core… was likely an Evil Fetus.

Killing it… might even force the Evil Fetus to surface.

But this wasn't something he had a say in.

Moreover, if that flesh-and-blood corpse statue truly was the embryonic form of a third-grade "Dao Calamity," then it likely already possessed a degree of immortality, an ever-regenerating law of unending rebirth.

To kill it—just a few Golden Core cultivators wouldn't be enough…

Mo Hua had just thought this when the black-robed elder suddenly declared,

"We'll kill this flesh-and-blood corpse statue and dig up its coffin."

Lord Hui frowned. "Elder, I'm afraid that's…"

"It can be killed," the black-robed elder's eyes flashed with a glint of brilliance. "Within this corpse statue, a strand of 'Calamitous Qi' has formed. As long as the Calamitous Qi remains, this thing cannot die—it will continually regenerate."

"Thus, we must find a way to suppress this strand of 'Calamitous Qi'. Only then can we neutralize its regenerative ability and execute the flesh-and-blood corpse statue!"

"Calamitous Qi…" Lord Hui frowned in confusion. This was his first time hearing the term.

But Mo Hua's heart trembled—this old cultivator was definitely no ordinary man.

"How do we suppress this so-called 'Calamitous Qi'?" Lord Hui asked.

"I have my ways," said the black-robed elder. "I'll need you, Lord Hui, to assist me with your family's Maoshan formations and talismans to help us suppress and destroy this corpse statue."

Lord Hui paused in thought, then nodded. "Very well."

The group discussed their strategy a bit more, and soon officially began their assault—launching the battle to slay the monstrous, grotesque flesh-and-blood corpse statue buried inside the Lone Mountain Tomb's bronze coffin.

But this was no longer anything Mo Hua could participate in.

This was a battle of third-grade tier. Not about locating paths or breaking formations.

With Mo Hua's current cultivation and strength, he couldn't get involved.

Especially since this wasn't just any ordinary corpse-wight.

It was a terrifying zombie—one that had already formed the embryonic shape of a Dao Calamity.

No one expected anything of him.

In fact, even during the tactical discussion between the black-robed elder and Lord Hui, he wasn't included.

All Mo Hua could do was watch from a distance.

The Golden Core cultivators present were all decisive and efficient. As soon as the plan was agreed upon, they sprang into action.

Stone, being a body cultivator, still did the grunt work—direct offense and defense.

Lord Hui's true expertise, long hidden, turned out to be his Maoshan Daoist inheritance.

It included Daoist seal-script formations, as well as blood-etched yellow jade talismans, and more.

These tools naturally possessed suppressive power against corpse-type evil creatures.

Soon, with a soul-rending roar that seemed filled with the wailing of countless wronged spirits, the battle against the flesh-and-blood corpse statue erupted once more.

Pale golden light flashed, Daoist characters shimmered, and with the suppression of the yellow jade blood talismans, everyone unleashed their full strength to engage the monster.

The scene looked much like before.

The mountain-sized corpse statue lifted its mangled, flesh-glued limbs, stirring up a crimson rain tainted with corrosive yin qi, seeking to annihilate the cultivators before it and devour them whole.

Lord Hui and the others unleashed their methods to stand against the monstrosity.

As the magical lights of various techniques flashed and dimmed, the corpse statue was shattered and reformed repeatedly. Each time it reformed, it became even more furious—its killing intent colder, its aura stronger.

The more it regenerated, the stronger it became.

Lord Hui gritted his teeth and held on.

Meanwhile, as the statue was broken and reformed for the third time, the black-robed elder finally moved.

From afar, Mo Hua couldn't see clearly.

He could only vaguely see the old man take out a bone fragment, perform a ritual, then form a seal with his hand. In the unseen ether, a strand of qi like a spiritual chain locked onto the heart of the flesh-and-blood corpse statue.

"A bone?"

Mo Hua blinked. He hadn't figured it out yet when—

A thunderous roar shook the air.

The roar echoed like the cry of a dragon.

Mo Hua's pupils contracted instantly as he turned to look—what he saw froze him.

Standing before the massive corpse statue… was a black-robed man.

He was tall and powerfully built. Even facing such a colossal being, his aura did not waver.

With a booming shout, the man threw a punch.

The force of the punch was immense—right before Mo Hua's eyes, the blow released a phantom dragon into the air.

A dragon?!

Mo Hua's heart trembled.

The man's shout echoed like a dragon's cry, and the power of his fist, carrying the dragon shadow, was overwhelming.

The shockwave shattered his black robes, revealing a body of bronze-forged muscle, and on his back—a densely layered, red-black-blue Dragon Sigil, mighty and terrifying.

It's him!

Mo Hua's eyes shrank.

This silent, brooding man who had been following them the whole time… was none other than the former Demon Sect Commander—the one who nurtured a blood pool, committed monstrous atrocities, and escaped the joint siege of the Great Void Sect and the Heavenly Dao Sect.

After that, he was listed as a top fugitive by the Dao Court… and vanished without a trace.

And that dragon sigil tattooed across his back…

Was the very thing Mo Hua had been searching for all this time—

The Azure Dragon Diagram of the Four Symbols Formation!

Though shock still lingered on Mo Hua's face, his hands had already started instinctively tracing array patterns, while his mind raced—this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

He had to deduce and reconstruct the Four Symbols Azure Dragon Formation Diagram, stroke by stroke!

(End of this Chapter)