Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 1138: Earth-Treasured Corpse (Ksitigarbha's Undead)

Mo Hua's murderous intent began to stir again.

He started weighing his odds. Could he kill these four Golden Core cultivators?

Or… perhaps he could just kill the one with the unique method capable of tracking him?

"How do I kill them?"

Mo Hua's thoughts began to turn.

Use formations...?

No—there wasn't enough time or opportunity.

These Golden Core cultivators from the Corpse Yin Valley were relentlessly chasing him. He simply didn't have the luxury of time to set up a formation.

And any formation hastily laid down could, at most, hinder or confuse them a little—maybe cause some minor trouble—but definitely not kill them.

Even the Reverse Spirit Array required a certain number of supporting formations as "gunpowder" to ignite and explode.

Not to mention, deducing the Reverse Spirit Array also required extra time.

Formations were out.

"Planting the Heart-Demon?" That wouldn't work either.

Mo Hua had just tried that.

Back when he was speaking with Elder Xu and the others, he had secretly activated a small portion of the Heart-Demon Seeding Technique.

But it had no effect.

The questions he asked weren't even answered, and there were no signs that they had been "seeded."

Mo Hua thus roughly deduced that the Heart-Demon Seeding had prerequisites and limitations—it wasn't something that could be casually applied.

Cultivation realm was a major threshold.

Against cultivators of the same or lower realm, where his divine sense held overwhelming advantage, planting the heart-demon was relatively easy.

But against higher-realm cultivators—like these four Golden Core experts—he'd have to consider activation conditions and success rates.

The higher one's realm, the stronger their divine sense, the deeper their foundation, the more orthodox their Dao lineage, the more cunning their mind, and the more resolute their will. All of this made them far less susceptible to being influenced by words. The success rate of seeding a heart-demon dropped sharply.

To use the Heart-Demon Seeding on higher-realm cultivators, they'd have to lower their guard, trust him, or at least not reject him.

Only then could his words take root and gradually sprout in their hearts.

That was the normal condition.

An alternate condition was if a high-realm cultivator fell into intense desire—becoming consumed by obsession, fanaticism, intoxication, or greed—losing rationality and weakening their mental defenses. Their divine sense resistance would plummet, making them vulnerable to the Heart-Demon Seeding.

Back in the Qianxue Province, within the Blood Sacrifice Hall of the Wild Heaven, an entire crowd of Golden Core demonic cultivators had been influenced by the maddening evil will during the Evil God's revival. Caught in a frenzied religious fervor, their hearts were riddled with flaws. That's how Mo Hua successfully seeded their hearts with demons, leading them to turn on each other and die en masse.

This, Mo Hua understood well.

Without the "assist" of the Evil God, relying solely on his own realm and mastery, he absolutely wouldn't have been able to make so many Golden Core experts fall into madness and slaughter each other to death.

Such opportunities were rare and couldn't be planned for.

And now, the required conditions simply weren't present.

The four Golden Core corpse cultivators from Corpse Yin Valley were all wary of him, saying very little.

Whatever he said, they wouldn't truly absorb or internalize it.

And they were corpse cultivators—people who spent their days among the dead, reeking of decay and death.

He didn't know them well enough to understand the obsessions or flaws buried in their hearts.

And for now, nothing existed to stir their desires and drag them into overwhelming obsession where they'd lose control and reveal those flaws.

"Heart-Demon Seeding… won't work either…"

Mo Hua's gaze dimmed.

"Falling Fire Forbidden Art?"

He was now in the late Foundation Establishment stage. The power of the Falling Fire Forbidden Art had definitely increased—it could potentially "punch above its weight" and inflict significant damage on Golden Core opponents.

But injuring didn't necessarily mean killing.

These were corpse cultivators—experts in corpse refinement. They could partially corpse-transform. Even if injured, if they weren't killed outright, it would be as if he hadn't hurt them at all.

And more importantly, there were four of them.

Even if the Falling Fire Forbidden Art took down one, he'd still have to face the siege of the remaining three.

Casting the Falling Fire Forbidden Art—condensing the fireball, guiding it, colliding it, and detonating the technique—would take at least a few seconds.

If something went wrong in that window and he exposed a flaw, he could be forced into a passive position, giving the Corpse Yin Valley elders an opening to strike.

"Falling Fire Forbidden Art… won't work either…"

Mo Hua's brows furrowed deeper.

He'd ruled out all other options. The only thing left…

"Divine Thought Sword Manifestation."

But ironically, that was the one thing he absolutely couldn't afford to use.

In the mental world, using a bit of the Sword Manifestation Art was still manageable.

But in the real world, once he invoked it, he'd have to activate the full incantation—externalizing his divine sense, manifesting sword intent, and projecting it outward. The burden on his mind would be tremendous.

It would definitely trigger a violent backlash from the slaughter aura.

And if he did manage to kill a Golden Core expert with it, the backlash would stack even further. The killing aura would intensify, and the consequences would be catastrophic.

And besides, Mo Hua wasn't even sure if the Divine Thought Sword Manifestation could actually kill a Golden Core cultivator.

After all, until now, he hadn't used it to "kill" anyone.

His gaze grew solemn. The more he considered it, the more he realized—there were just too many unknowns, and the risks were too high.

If he didn't act, they'd keep chasing him—but they'd never catch him. At least not for a while. He'd be safe, relatively speaking.

But if he did act—and failed to kill them—he risked being killed himself.

If he did succeed in killing them, he'd suffer the backlash of the killing aura.

After weighing everything, Mo Hua had no choice but to suppress his anger… and restrain his killing intent.

And what's more—Mo Hua wasn't even sure whether his killing intent came from his own rationality, or if it was the slaughter aura influencing his mind.

If it was born from clear logic and reason, then killing them might be acceptable.

But if it stemmed from slaughter aura corrupting his mental state… then it was dangerous.

That would mean his Dao Heart was slowly being clouded by murderous thoughts…

"Run first??"

Mo Hua's pupils narrowed. He tried to remain calm and composed, fleeing south according to his planned route.

Elder Xu and the other three Golden Cores continued chasing from behind.

Another seven or eight days passed like this. Mo Hua braved the elements, rushing day and night.

Elder Xu and the other three didn't rest either, hounding him like starved wolves.

Amid his growing frustration, a troubling question surfaced again in Mo Hua's mind:

"How exactly are these Golden Core cultivators keeping up with me?"

His divine sense should've been more than enough to throw them off...

His concealment techniques and movement skills were also refined to an exquisite level, and his qi had been completely severed from external perception.

And yet, these "mangy dog" elders of the Corpse Yin Valley could still cling onto his trail so tightly?

Was there some mysterious tracking technique in the cultivation world?

Mo Hua pondered silently for a moment, but still couldn't figure it out. Then he thought, the cultivation world was vast—stranger things had happened. Some obscure and secretive arts might indeed allow one to trace another's path. It wouldn't be that surprising.

But at the moment, he had no time to investigate. All he could do was come up with ways to continue fleeing south...

Sensing the Corpse Yin Valley elders' auras growing closer, Mo Hua's eyes narrowed. Then, merging with the essence of mountains, rivers, and vegetation, he activated the Lesser Five Elements Concealment Technique, disappearing once more into the forest. His presence vanished like a stone sinking into the sea—no trace remained.

No one could tell where he'd gone.

The mountain area was now empty and silent. After an unknown amount of time, a few streaks of light appeared in the sky.

As the wind and dust stirred, Elder Xu and the others appeared.

They had been chasing Mo Hua, but now stopped here, scanning the surroundings with dark expressions.

"That brat's gone again… damn it…"

One of the Golden Core elders from Corpse Yin Valley couldn't help but curse.

Elder Xu's face was cold. He began chanting a spell and forming hand seals. He pressed his palm to the ground—but this time, just pressing wasn't enough. He also had to slice his wrist and let blood flow in order to summon a half-man-tall, earthen yellow corpse covered in runic script—a "Dizang Corpse."

After absorbing the blood, the Earth Corpse let out a coarse, obscure sound and whispered something to Elder Xu.

The voice was too muffled for anyone else to understand—only Elder Xu could make sense of it.

After it finished, the Earth Corpse burrowed back into the ground and disappeared.

One of the other Corpse Yin Valley elders looked on with both envy and admiration.

"Truly, if not for Elder Xu's rearing of this 'Dizang Corpse,' we'd never have a chance of catching that slippery ghost…"

The Dizang Corpse was said to be infused with the Dao of Earth-Treasures. It possessed the ability of clairaudience and insight, could see through illusions, discern truth from lies, track traces, and know what ordinary people could not.

It was one of the most coveted "wondrous corpses" among the corpse path cultivators of the demonic sects.

Elder Xu came from the direct line of Corpse Yin Valley's main branch—descended from a prestigious Dao lineage. In his youth, he encountered great fortune and was able to form a corpse pact with a Dizang Corpse.

Because of this, even though he was only at early Golden Core stage, his authority among the other Corpse Yin Valley elders on this mission was second only to Elder Fu, who was in the late Golden Core stage.

"Indeed… the Dizang Corpse lives up to its name as Corpse Valley's 'wondrous corpse'—truly mysterious."

Another Corpse Yin Valley elder sighed with emotion.

"But that brat is also truly strange. He moves like a phantom, slips away like flowing water, can't be tracked, can't be pinned down, can't be touched. If you told me he was a ghost, I'd believe it. At this rate, who knows when we'll catch him…"

Everyone frowned at those words.

Elder Ma, a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, spoke slowly:

"Things have come to this point. We can't bother with Small Relay City anymore. Our only option is to capture this brat and report back. There's no other choice."

"But the problem is…" he said seriously, "we can't just keep wasting time chasing him endlessly."

"If he runs for a month or two, fine. But what if he runs for a year or two? Are we going to chase him for years?"

"The region of Liyuan Province is descending into chaos. A great struggle is on the rise. We, as elders of Corpse Yin Valley, have our own grand plans to see through…"

The others nodded.

"This really can't continue like this… dragging this out too long will make us look incompetent, and worse—it'll interfere with important matters."

"We need a plan to capture this kid quickly…"

"How? That brat's like a ghost. How do you even grab a ghost?"

Silence fell.

A moment later, Elder Xu suddenly asked:

"Tell me… do you think this kid is from the righteous path… or the demonic path?"

The other three were startled, unsure why Elder Xu was suddenly asking this.

Elder Ma thought for a moment and said:

"Honestly… he doesn't seem like he's from the demonic path…"

"Along our pursuit, he hasn't killed a single person. When passing through villages and hamlets, he hasn't harmed a soul. In fact, he often takes remote, isolated routes just to avoid dragging innocents into trouble during his escape."

"That kind of behavior is not what you'd expect from a demonic cultivator. I'd say this kid has a fundamentally kind heart."

Elder Xu sneered coldly:

"In that case, we'll slaughter villages along the way. Kill everyone we see. Force him to stop running."

Elder Ma was stunned.

"Would that… even work?"

Elder Xu said:

"If he's truly righteous, with a kind heart, he won't ignore it."

"Once he tries to intervene, he'll fall into our calculations. His actions will be constrained. If guilt begins to weigh on him, he'll grow careless and expose flaws. That will be our opportunity."

Elder Ma asked,

"But what if he turns out to be a cold-hearted, selfish bastard?"

Elder Xu replied,

"Then we lose nothing. At most, just a few dead peasants from the mountains. No big deal."

"But if I'm right… then with a few worthless lives, we can control him. That's an absolute bargain."

A sinister smile spread across Elder Xu's lips.

Elder Ma and the others were shaken, then all praised in unison:

"As expected of Elder Xu—truly brilliant."

"Excellent plan."

...

Two days later, Mo Hua was once again fleeing south, avoiding pursuit as usual.

Suddenly, a gust of mountain wind blew past, carrying a metallic stench.

Mo Hua turned his head—and saw that in the village behind him, a faint layer of blood-red light had risen.

A black-gray killing aura of resentment drifted through the mountain air.

Mo Hua frowned.

Moments later, the chilling auras of the Corpse Yin Valley elders closed in. Mo Hua had no choice but to keep running.

Half a day later, again—blood stench and the aura of death wafted from behind.

This time, the scale was larger. The smell, stronger.

Mo Hua's expression changed slightly. Then, slowly, he stopped running.

After about the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn, the four Corpse Yin Valley Golden Cores chased him down with mocking grins.

Mo Hua stared coldly at the four of them.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Elder Xu chuckled lightly.

"Young master, we kindly ask that you surrender and return with us to Corpse Yin Valley."

Mo Hua replied,

"And if I refuse?"

Elder Xu said,

"Then wherever you go, we'll follow. And everyone you encounter along the way… will die."

Mo Hua sneered coldly:

"Using other people's lives to threaten me?"

Elder Xu said:

"It's not a threat, really. Strictly speaking, those people are innocent. But who told you to pass through their lands? You didn't kill Bo Ren—but Bo Ren died because of you. In the end, their deaths are all thanks to you."

Mo Hua's face turned grim as water.

Elder Xu continued:

"Surrender quietly, and we'll stop killing. Otherwise, this region will drown in blood—all because of you."

Seeing Mo Hua's shaken expression, Elder Xu signaled the other three elders with a subtle glance.

The three Corpse Yin Valley elders moved—one activated corpse transformation, another shook a bell, the third invoked a sword technique. They began secretly surrounding Mo Hua.

A chilling wind rose. Murderous intent descended.

A corpse claw slashed at Mo Hua's back. A blood corpse sword pierced toward his heart. A towering bronze corpse blocked the path behind him.

Beneath the ground, the Dizang Corpse silently reached out to grab Mo Hua's legs.

His back was torn open. His heart vein pierced. The Dizang Corpse's claws gripped his calves—

—And in the next instant, the illusion shattered.

Mo Hua's entire figure, like a humanoid water-mist mirage, burst apart like a bubble.

All four Golden Cores' deadly strikes struck nothing but air.

As the mist rolled and dispersed, they looked around—but there wasn't a single trace of Mo Hua left.

"Damn it! He slipped away again!"

"What the hell is that movement technique?!"

"Damn it! Fuck!"

Elder Xu's face was dark. After failing time and again at Mo Hua's hands, even he was losing patience. But eventually, he sneered coldly and said:

"My guess was right. This one's heart isn't evil."

"Very well, then—we'll continue the chase. Split into two groups. Elder Ma and I will pursue. The other two—your task is to kill along the route."

"After killing, cut off the heads, string them together into a 'banner.' Then refine the bodies into 'mangled corpses' and line them up behind us."

"I want him to see how many have died because of him."

"I'll use these deaths to force him to surrender—even if he doesn't, I'll see him drown in guilt and remorse for the rest of his life..."

...

Just a few li away, deep within the forest.

Mo Hua's eyes were pitch black—he could no longer suppress the boiling killing intent surging in his chest.

"Truly... courting death."

"I didn't want to kill you. But you insist on forcing me to."

"Filthy beasts of the Corpse Yin Valley."

Mo Hua's gaze turned icy and fierce.

"Very well... in that case, I'll use the blood of you Golden Core elders from Corpse Yin Valley to consecrate my Divine Thought Sword Manifestation."

Until now, his Divine Thought Sword Manifestation had slain evil spirits and demons—but never a human.

Today, these beast-like Golden Core elders of Corpse Yin Valley... would be the first.

His Divine Thought Sword would draw blood today!

Even if the killing aura backlashes, even if his fate is reversed—they must die!

A biting killing intent surged in Mo Hua's heart. Yet, within his eyes shone a brilliance as majestic and righteous as a towering mountain, filled with unwavering will.

After a moment, the killing intent slightly faded. His mind cleared a little, and he began to calmly analyze the situation.

He could kill using the Divine Thought Sword, but... there was still one critical concern:

In a Second-Grade Province, using a twenty-one-mark divine sense to perform Divine Thought Sword Manifestation—would it trigger the Heavenly Dao's restrictions?

A twenty-one-mark divine sense was equivalent to Golden Core-level spiritual power.

But in a Second-Grade Province, Golden Core power was prohibited. Using it forcefully would attract Heavenly Retribution—a punishment of divine lightning that would annihilate him.

Now, divine sense was different from spiritual power or vital energy.

A high-realm cultivator using spiritual power or physical strength in a lower-grade province would absolutely be punished by the laws of the Heavenly Dao.

However, a high-realm cultivator using divine sense to scan or perceive things in a lower-grade province wouldn't trigger the restriction.

But the principles behind this difference were subtle.

What people commonly call "projecting divine sense" wasn't truly "projection." In essence, it was perception—a form of sensing external energy fluctuations with divine awareness.

This process didn't actually release divine sense into the world. Or, more accurately, it only involved a tiny trace of spiritual overflow.

And since that trace was extremely faint and non-lethal, it didn't violate the Heavenly Dao or provoke divine punishment.

However—divine sense "leaving the body" was a different matter.

True divine projection, especially advanced techniques like the Divine Thought Sword Manifestation, involved fully releasing divine sense from the mind.

The power would pierce the barrier of the sea of consciousness, shatter the boundary between illusion and reality, and be forcefully ejected into the material world.

Once he released such a power—especially something as aggressive as the God-Slaying Sword—in a lower-grade province, his over-tier divine sense would be fully exposed under the lower-grade provincial laws.

And that might trigger the Heavenly Dao's restriction and summon divine lightning upon him.

Mo Hua wasn't certain whether this would happen.

But he didn't dare gamble.

Because if he guessed wrong—he would die without a doubt.

He wasn't the Heavenly Dao's "beloved son." He had no special privileges or divine exemptions.

In fact, Mo Hua even felt the Heavenly Dao was biased against him—always limiting him, suppressing him, causing him trouble for no reason.

So, he absolutely couldn't recklessly violate its rules.

Otherwise, he would face complete annihilation—body and soul.

"My divine sense... is Golden Core level."

"Which means, if I want to manifest the Divine Thought Sword, it must be in a Third-Grade Province."

"Killing a Golden Core... must also be done in a Third-Grade Province!"

Mo Hua's eyes turned cold.

Now with a firm plan, he immediately withdrew his concealment—no longer suppressing his aura.

Instead, he fully activated his Flowing Water Movement Technique, transforming into a streak of blue light and fleeing at full speed toward the nearest Third-Grade Province.

Behind him, Elder Xu and the others instantly noticed the change.

After a moment of surprise, the four exchanged glances and chuckled.

"Looks like the brat's panicking…"

"Not hiding anymore? Not playing tricks?"

"Revealing his presence, using full-speed movement to lure us… afraid we'll kill more people?"

"He really does have a guilty conscience... how considerate."

"Young and soft-hearted. Not ruthless enough. Easy to slip up—and easy to dig his own grave."

The four Golden Core corpse cultivators of Corpse Yin Valley each let out a cold laugh, their bodies radiating corpse qi as they resumed their relentless pursuit of Mo Hua…

(End of this Chapter)