Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 1137: Pursuit and Slaughter

The sound of the formation's explosion shook the entire immortal city.

The city gate collapsed, and radiant light pierced the sky.

Within Little Relay City, the cultivators who had been trapped in the corpse tide of endless night finally saw a glimmer of hope. One after another, they surged like a tidal wave toward the fallen north gate.

Even those who had despaired and waited for death began raising their swords and channeling spells again—fighting back against the corpse cultivators and iron corpses as they withdrew toward the northern gate.

The corpse cultivators of Yin Corpse Valley were furious.

Especially Elder Fu—no longer holding the kindly appearance of a wealthy elder—his expression turned vicious, like a stingy slave master whose livestock had escaped.

The pen was broken, the penned slaves were fleeing.

This was no different than someone carving flesh from his body.

Worse still, he had been toyed with by a trap hidden in the formation.

He had thought himself clever—redistributing manpower—only to leave a gaping hole for others to exploit.

An utter humiliation!

"Who... dares ruin Yin Corpse Valley's grand plan? If I catch you… you'll beg to live, and beg to die!"

Elder Fu's voice was ice-cold and venomous.

At the side, Young Master Shi's heart skipped a beat. His pupils contracted.

"Could it be… that boy?"

Elder Fu looked at him.

Young Master Shi's gaze was sharp. He said slowly:

"A handsome young man, with mysterious origins. He appeared weak and frail, but his movements were strange, elusive… difficult to pin down."

Elder Fu recalled the scene from earlier in the Hehuan Brothel.

"You fought him?"

Young Master Shi nodded, expression sour.

"My gold-plated bronze corpse, for some reason, couldn't suppress him."

"Even after I used the 'Profound Yin Corpse Transformation Technique'… I still couldn't catch him."

"His movement technique is bizarre. He's a master of concealment. And…"—he frowned—

"He seems to be highly skilled in formation arts. During the fight, I don't know what method he used, but he secretly set up a high-grade second-rank array. Its power was tremendous."

"I didn't think much of it at the time, but looking back… I think it was the Mountain-Locking Prison Array?"

Elder Fu's heart grew heavier with every word.

"This boy… is Foundation Establishment?"

Young Master Shi's expression was dark as he nodded.

"He's Foundation Establishment."

A dark cloud loomed over Elder Fu's face.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator… and a high-grade second-rank formation master.

Who could also fight Young Master Shi to a standstill using nothing but movement techniques and spells.

Even a rare bronze corpse couldn't take him down.

Just who was this person?

A direct descendant of a righteous Hollow Void ancestor?

Or a candidate for a Holy Son of some demonic sect?

Why would such a genius appear in a remote place like Little Relay City?

Elder Fu's heart was heavy, his thoughts running deep.

Young Master Shi took a step forward:

"I'll go capture him."

Elder Fu quickly said:

"Wait, Young Master."

"Time is of the essence."

Shi's tone turned cold.

"I've already fought him once. He's skilled at hiding and evading. His methods are strange—but in direct combat, he's quite weak.

Aside from a single baleful fireball, he didn't have much worth mentioning."

"I've already seen through his tricks. If I act now, I can capture him for sure."

Elder Fu's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Young Master Shi, don't forget your identity. And don't forget why we came to Little Relay City."

Young Master Shi's face darkened slightly.

Elder Fu said slowly:

"The gate has been breached. The formation is broken. The cultivators are fleeing. Our plot has been exposed. The plan to refine this 'Corpse City' will now face immense resistance."

"The Dao Court and the righteous sects are mortal enemies to us. Even some demonic sects won't sit back and let us grow unchecked."

"At this moment, Young Master—you mustn't act rashly and jeopardize the bigger picture."

"It's not too late to patch the net. Kill as many as we can. Refine as many corpses as we can."

"We must continue building the Little Relay Corpse City. That is the priority."

"Even if we can't execute it perfectly, we must complete it to the best of our ability."

Elder Fu spoke earnestly and sincerely.

Young Master Shi paused, then after a moment of thought, was moved.

He nodded:

"Thank you, Elder Fu, for your guidance…"

But he still frowned.

"But that boy…"

Elder Fu's expression turned icy, his voice venomous:

"That boy ruined Yin Corpse Valley's great plan—he is now our mortal enemy."

"To toy with us using petty tricks… is unforgivable."

"And with such an unusual identity and background, I will have Elder Xu lead a team to hunt him down. With several Golden Core elders joining forces, a mere Foundation Establishment won't escape—even if he had wings."

Young Master Shi's eyes gleamed with desire:

"That boy… is my prey."

Elder Fu nodded:

"I'll tell Elder Xu to capture him alive, and deliver him to you."

Upon hearing this, Young Master Shi no longer insisted. He nodded.

"Very well."

Elder Fu and Young Master Shi reached an agreement. Their eyes turned icy cold.

Elder Fu activated his Yin Corpse Command Token, sending out orders:

"All Golden Core elders—return to reinforce the north gate."

"All elite disciples, immediately control the walking corpses and iron corpses. Form a 'corpse wall' to block the breach and prevent the cultivators from escaping!"

"All Yin Corpse Valley disciples—show no more mercy. Completely slaughter all cultivators in Little Relay City!"

Then, he privately sent a transmission to Elder Xu of Yin Corpse Valley:

"The situation has changed. Elder Xu, please bring several Golden Core elders to guard the north gate and investigate a suspicious Foundation Establishment youth."

"This person is highly skilled in concealment and is proficient in high-grade second-rank formations. Capture him alive if possible. If not—bring back the corpse."

....

Elder Fu's commands were swiftly passed down.

The corpse cultivators of Yin Corpse Valley began slaughtering in full force.

The cultivators of Little Relay City, meanwhile, began their desperate struggle for survival and escape.

Thanks to the time bought by Mo Hua's diversion and the city gate broken open by his array, they had a sliver of hope.

But whether they could ultimately survive or not—depended solely on their own fate.

Mo Hua could only help them this far.

Now, it was time for him to flee as well.

Yin Corpse Valley was no soft target. After mocking them and ruining their grand scheme, he was certain to be hunted with deadly intent. He had to get away—fast.

Mo Hua concealed himself and slipped into the crowd, heading toward the north gate.

As he passed by the northwest corner, he noticed a familiar storage building. He couldn't help but pause. Sweeping the area with his divine sense, he walked toward it.

In front of the storehouse, among a mess of corpses, lay a short, plump body.

It was Steward Wang.

He was dead—lying at the door of the storehouse. His chest had been ripped open, organs devoured, corpse poison spreading. His skin was rotting, and his face still held the expression of terror.

Mo Hua turned his head and saw that the storehouse had been forced open.

Inside—rows upon rows of coffins.

The coffin lids had all been removed. The zombies inside had long since climbed out.

Mo Hua now more or less understood how Steward Wang had died.

Wang, dissatisfied with the inn's spiritual stone pay, had made some shady deals, smuggling in coffins for others and personally guarding them.

He likely never imagined that these coffins belonged to Yin Corpse Valley—each one hiding real zombies inside.

Mo Hua hadn't suspected either.

The Valley's corpse-storage method was indeed well-hidden—sealing off even the faintest trace of corpse aura.

Add to that the defensive formation shielding the storehouse, which blocked out all spying.

Out of "politeness," Mo Hua hadn't used his divine sense to scan the building, and thus never noticed that what Wang had been guarding… was a cache of coffins and zombies.

After the city was sealed and the corpse outbreak erupted, a "corpse guard" like Wang naturally didn't stand a chance.

Mo Hua sighed lightly.

"Dead…"

Whether it was Steward Wang or Elder Ji, both of them had "death omens" on their foreheads—and both were now dead.

He'd tried to warn them, but it hadn't worked.

Maybe this was fate. When it's your time to die, you'll do everything you can—to walk right into it.

Even if you know the cause-and-effect ahead of time, it won't change much…

Mo Hua let out a soft sigh—part sorrow, part helplessness.

Then he reached out and gently closed Steward Wang's terrified eyes before fading into the shadows and leaving.

After that, Mo Hua didn't linger. He continued moving north.

At the north gate, he looked up to see the gate shattered and the city wall in ruins.

Through the massive breach, some cultivators from Little Relay City had already broken through Yin Corpse Valley's encirclement, fleeing into the forest swallowed by night.

Several corpse cultivators were forming squads, slaughtering the fleeing cultivators.

Where the wall had collapsed, zombies were piling atop one another—forming a "corpse wall" to reestablish the blockade.

Cultivators who had reached this point were engaged in a final, desperate battle against the corpse cultivators.

Blades and swords clashed, spells lit up the darkness.

Amidst surging corpse energy came the sounds of human screams, calls, weeping—and the roars of zombies, the gnawing of flesh—all blending into a hellish cacophony.

Seeing this, Mo Hua couldn't bear it. He began secretly using Fireball Art to snipe the corpse cultivators of Yin Corpse Valley.

But fearing the backlash of baleful qi, he didn't kill them outright—instead, he used fireballs to incinerate their arms or legs.

Other cultivators quickly stepped in to finish the job.

At the same time, Mo Hua used his divine sense to guide his ink, covertly drawing Earthfire Arrays on the ground under cover of darkness.

With rumbling bursts of fire, he blasted apart the newly-built "corpse walls" of Yin Corpse Valley, shattering them completely.

The cultivators who had been struggling in despair suddenly lit up with joy.

"A mighty expert is helping us!"

"Thank you, senior!"

"We are forever grateful!"

"Now! While there's still time—go!"

As the crowd surged forward, cultivators desperately fled.

Some still fell to the claws of corpse cultivators and the maws of zombies. But more and more made it out of Little Relay City.

And Yin Corpse Valley's corpse cultivators were helpless against the ghost-like figure in the night that was Mo Hua.

Just then—several powerful auras surged in from afar.

"The elders are here!"

"Elder Xu has arrived!"

The corpse cultivators of Yin Corpse Valley—who had been suffering greatly at Mo Hua's hands—shouted in relief.

Four Golden Core elders of Yin Corpse Valley arrived, led by a thick-browed, long-bearded man with yellow eyes—the Elder Xu their disciples had spoken of.

As Elder Xu saw the chaos at the city gate and the ruined "corpse wall," his brows furrowed deeply.

His divine sense, laced with corpse miasma, swept out—and sure enough, he detected an extremely faint but unusual concealed aura within the darkness.

"You little beast! Show yourself!"

With a wave of his hand, the Golden Core's demonic power formed a bronze-hued Corpse Hand, slamming toward a massive boulder outside the wall.

The boulder shattered. Smoke and dust rose.

And three zhang (10 meters) away—a youth's figure appeared.

The night was ink-dark, so his face couldn't be seen clearly, but his slim and slight frame revealed he was very young.

Elder Xu's eyes narrowed, heart quivering.

This was the one Elder Fu had emphasized must be captured?

So young?

Mo Hua didn't hide. He openly revealed himself, calmly staring at Elder Xu and the others from the shadows.

Elder Xu frowned.

"Boy, you're only Foundation Establishment. I won't bully the weak. Bind your hands and come with me to Yin Corpse Valley—I'll spare your life."

A sneering voice echoed from the darkness.

"Yin Corpse Valley? What kind of trash heap is that? A filthy, stinking cesspit—a giant mass grave that no one cleaned up."

"The elders of Yin Corpse Valley? Nothing but rotting corpses in coffins. Walking filth. Half-human, half-corpse—you'd be better off dead!"

Arrogant words, with a mouth as venomous as a pit viper.

Not only Elder Xu—every Yin Corpse Valley elder and corpse cultivator present was shaking with fury, eyes red with rage.

Elder Xu clenched his jaw and suppressed his anger.

"You little bastard. You're courting death."

Mo Hua spat to the side, then chuckled coldly:

"With just you lot? You can't even catch my shadow."

The moment he finished speaking—his figure completely vanished, melting into the night.

Within Elder Xu's divine sense, he could only barely sense a faint shadow fleeing rapidly into the distance, its aura so well-hidden that even he—a Golden Core demonic cultivator—could hardly track it.

Furious, Elder Xu muttered in confusion:

"What stealth technique is this brat using??"

But now was not the time to dwell on that.

His expression turned sinister as he ordered:

"Capture that brat—no matter the cost. Let him learn what it means to insult Yin Corpse Valley!"

Another elder beside him asked:

"Elder Xu, what about the city gate…?"

Elder Xu's eyes swept across the ruins with cold malice.

"Forget the gate. Whether these cultivators die in droves or not doesn't matter.

But that boy—we must not let him escape!"

"Yes!"

Several Yin Corpse Valley Golden Core elders nodded grimly.

In all their years, no one had ever dared insult them so brazenly to their faces.

This boy… must die!

"Pursue him!"

The four Golden Core elders of Yin Corpse Valley activated their movement techniques, wrapped in wicked corpse qi, and chased in the direction Mo Hua had fled.

In the darkness, sensing the dense and powerful killing intent behind him, Mo Hua slowly let out a breath of relief.

He had purposely insulted and provoked them, unleashing a verbal "taunt" to enrage the Yin Corpse Valley elders—luring them into pursuing him.

He had successfully drawn away all four Golden Core experts.

With these four demonic Golden Cores removed from the siege, more cultivators in Little Relay City would now have a chance to escape.

This was the final limit of what he could do.

From this point on, the life or death of the city's cultivators would be left to fate. Mo Hua could do no more.

Now, all he needed to do was lead these four Yin Corpse Valley elders far away… and find an opportunity to shake them off.

Among the four pursuers, one was mid-Golden Core, while the other three were early-Golden Core.

Killing them? Practically impossible.

But escaping from them? Not too difficult.

Mo Hua's divine sense had now reached twenty-one patterns, and thanks to its Dao Transformation, his spiritual perception far exceeded that of most Golden Core cultivators.

So even though he was only at the late Foundation Establishment stage, his stealth techniques could easily evade early-Golden Cores and even some mid-Golden Cores with weak divine sense.

Relying on his precise Flowing Water Steps, he could keep a solid distance from early-Golden Core cultivators.

As for the mid-Golden Core one—while difficult to deal with head-on, he could still stall for some time.

These demonic Golden Core elders from Yin Corpse Valley looked fearsome—but to Mo Hua, they didn't pose a fatal threat.

Thus, according to plan, Mo Hua proceeded south while consulting the map given to him by Steward Wang, heading toward the border city of the Great Desert, located between Lìzhou and the Great Wilderness.

At the same time, he would occasionally show himself—just enough to bait Elder Xu and the others into continuing the chase—while using stealth and agility to keep them dancing.

In this cat-and-mouse game, they had already covered nearly a thousand li.

Mo Hua figured that should be far enough. It was time to shake them off and head to the Desert City alone.

However, something soon felt off.

He realized… he couldn't shake them.

Whether using stealth, Flowing Water Steps, or even deploying concealment formations on the fly, Elder Xu's group never lost his trail.

Only the Mystic Mist Formation had any effect.

But that array had a fixed range and required a set location.

Elder Xu and the others, being Golden Core corpse cultivators, released waves of poisonous corpse qi and controlled iron and bronze corpses to perform wide-area corpse-hunting patrols—"mountain sweeps".

Mo Hua was still forced to keep running.

Another several hundred li later, Elder Xu's group was still stuck to him like "bone-gnawing maggots."

Usually, Mo Hua was the one chasing others with his divine sense advantage.

This was the first time he was the one being hunted so relentlessly.

Mo Hua frowned slightly. There was clearly something strange going on.

So, after traveling another hundred li, he arrived at a small hill located in a second-grade provincial boundary and came to a stop.

Not even the time it takes to burn an incense stick later—Elder Xu and the other three Golden Core elders of Yin Corpse Valley caught up.

Seeing Mo Hua suddenly stop, they were surprised—but after a brief moment of hesitation, they spread out, sealing all four directions and completely surrounding him.

Mo Hua—alone and surrounded by four demonic Golden Core corpse cultivators—remained calm. No fear, no panic.

Instead, he asked plainly:

"How exactly have you all been tracking me?"

Elder Xu's face twisted with irritation.

This brat really has no sense of danger!

A mere Foundation Establishment runt, surrounded by four Golden Core corpse cultivators from a demonic sect—and yet he dared to interrogate them?

His posture was as if he had surrounded them.

Elder Xu sneered coldly:

"Yin Corpse Valley's methods… are not something a brat like you can understand."

Mo Hua paused.

"Yin Corpse Valley's methods? What kind of technique can break through my concealment… and follow my trail?"

Elder Xu did not answer. His left hand clutched a corpse-calling bell, while his right held a corpse talisman resembling a blood-streaked web.

The other three Golden Core corpse cultivators each held a different weapon—one ringing his own bell, another summoning his life-bound corpse sword, and a third activating corpse-arm transformation, readying his killing moves.

Mo Hua knew the time for conversation had ended.

He gently stomped the ground.

Suddenly, light flared beneath his feet—

Surging golden light and underground fire erupted, blasting upward at his feet in rapid succession.

A high-grade second-rank formation!

Elder Xu and the others were shocked. They instinctively retreated a step while activating corpse transformations or summoning bronze and iron corpses to shield themselves.

This was a second-grade boundary—governed by the Heavenly Dao. Even as Golden Core cultivators, they couldn't afford to be careless.

Explosions rang out. Light blazed.

Once the blasts ended and the formation's energy faded, the four Yin Corpse Valley elders emerged again.

They looked around—but Mo Hua was nowhere to be seen.

Clearly, he had used the array's explosion as cover to vanish once again.

The four were left with scorched clothes, some mild burns—nothing serious.

But their anger only burned hotter.

Elder Xu's brows were tightly furrowed, deeply puzzled:

"That array detonated right beneath him. Why wasn't he caught in the blast?"

"And when did he even set up that formation?!"

"Just how skilled is this brat in formations…?"

The more Elder Xu thought, the more shocked he became.

"To wield such terrifying formation mastery—this boy must not be allowed to live!"

He formed a hand seal and slapped the ground.

Moments later, the soil bulged, and out crawled several arm-length, earthen-colored zombies.

These zombies' mouths moved slightly—reporting something to Elder Xu.

He gave a faint nod, then pointed in one direction with a frosty gaze:

"He went that way. Continue the chase!"

The four Golden Core corpse cultivators resumed their pursuit.

Meanwhile, only seven or eight li away— Mo Hua, still hidden, had barely gotten far before he sensed Elder Xu's group hot on his tail again.

His expression darkened slightly.

"Still chasing…"

"Do they really think… I won't kill them?"

(End of this Chapter)