The Quest for Immortality - Chapter 1138 (Patreon)

Chapter 1138: Dizang Corpse

Mo Hua’s killing intent began to stir again.

He started weighing in his mind whether he could actually kill those four Gold Core elders.

Or—perhaps—kill only the one who had that special method to track him…

“How to kill them?”

Mo Hua turned over possibilities in his mind.

Array formations…

There wasn’t enough time or chance.

Those Gold Core from Yin Corpse Valley tracked relentlessly; he didn’t have the luxury to set up a proper formation.

A hastily laid array could at best hinder or confuse them, cause a little trouble—hardly enough to kill them.

The Reverse-Spirit Array would also need a certain amount of array power as “gunpowder” to detonate.

Besides, the deduction calculations for the Reverse-Spirit Array would consume extra time.

Arrays were out.

Heart-Demon Seed techniques were out too.

He had just tried a trace of the Heart-Demon Seed technique while talking with Elder Xu and the others.

It was useless.

The questions he asked elicited no answers from Elder Xu and the others, and there were no signs that the seed had taken.

Mo Hua roughly deduced that Heart-Demon Seed required certain preconditions and limits; it didn’t take effect at will.

Cultivation level was a major threshold.

Against cultivators of the same or lower level his divine sense dominated and seeding was relatively easy.

But when trying to plant a demon-seed in higher-level cultivators—like these Gold Core elders—one had to consider the casting conditions and success rate.

The higher the cultivator, the stronger the divine sense, the firmer the foundation, the purer the lineage, the craftier the mind, the more resilient the temperament—so the less likely words could influence them; Heart-Demon Seed’s success rate dropped.

To seed a high-level cultivator, they had to let down their guard and trust you—at least not reject you—so your words could enter their hearts and slowly take root.

That was the ordinary case.

Another situation: high-level cultivators trapped in intense desire—obsession, frenzy, intoxication, greed—when emotions surged and mental defenses weakened and divine-sense resistance lowered, they became easier targets for Heart-Demon Seed.

Back in Qianxue Prefecture, in the Desolate Heaven Blood-Sacrifice Hall, that swarm of Gold Core demon-heads had been infected by the mad, fanatical thoughts revived with the evil god; once their hearts developed cracks, they fell to Mo Hua’s Heart-Demon Seed, slaughtered one another clean.

Mo Hua understood that well.

Without the evil god’s “assistance,” with only his own level and Heart-Demon Seed skill, he could never have driven so many Gold Core demon-heads into simultaneous possession and mutual slaughter.

Those chances were rare.

And now, the conditions simply didn’t exist.

The four Yin Corpse Valley Gold Core kept their guard against him; they wouldn’t say much.

What he said might not even reach their hearts.

They were corpse-cultivators, steeped in death qi.

He did not know them well enough to find the stubborn points or fissures in their natures.

There were no hooks to tug at their desires and drive them into “strong craving,” to lose reason and reveal cracks in their hearts.

“Heart-Demon Seed—cannot be used…”

Mo Hua’s eyes darkened.

“Falling-Fire Forbidden Technique?”

Now that he was in late Foundation Establishment, the power of the Falling-Fire Forbidden Technique would have improved considerably; at least it might let him “overstep” and deal respectable damage to Gold Core.

But damage did not necessarily mean death.

These were Gold Core corpse-cultivators who excelled at raising corpses and could corpse-ify to some extent; injuring them without killing them was effectively useless.

Besides, there were four of them.

Even if the Falling-Fire Technique crippled one, the other three could still swarm him.

Forming and compressing the fireball, guiding collisions and stabilizing the spell would take several breaths.

If anything went wrong during that time and a flaw exposed, he might instead fall into a passive position—giving the Yin Corpse Valley elders an opening to strike.

“Falling Fire is no good either…”

Mo Hua’s brow tightened.

Eliminating all options left only one usable method: Divine Sense Sword.

And yet, Divine Sense Sword was precisely the one he least wanted to use.

Within the divine-sense world it was tolerable to use the Sword Manifestation a little.

But in reality, once he employed the Divine Sense Sword he would have to drive the formula to its extreme, project his divine sense outward, let sword intent exit his body—the load on his divine sense would be immense.

It would inevitably provoke fierce baleful-qi backlash.

If he used Divine Sense Sword to kill Gold Core, the backlash would multiply, the baleful qi would strike harder, and the consequences worse.

Moreover, he could not be certain Divine Sense Sword could even kill Gold Core.

So far he had used it to slay evil spirits and monsters, but never to truly kill a person.

Mo Hua’s gaze grew grave. With so many uncertainties, the risks were too great.

If he did nothing, the Gold Core would keep hunting, but they could not catch him for sure. At least for a while he was safe.

If he acted and failed to kill them, he risked being killed in return.

If he succeeded, the backlash and karmic reversal might ruin him.

After weighing everything, he suppressed his anger and restrained his urge to kill.

He was also unsure whether the murderous intent rising in him sprang from sober reason or from baleful qi affecting his nature.

If it came from reason, killing would be permissible.

But if the urge grew from his heart being polluted by baleful qi, that was dangerous.

It would mean his Dao-heart was being clouded by killing intent…

“Escape first…”

Mo Hua’s pupils contracted. He calmed his breath and headed south as planned.

Elder Xu and the other three Gold Core pursued.

Seven or eight days passed. Mo Hua slept in the open, traveled day and night.

Elder Xu and the others did not rest, tracking like famished wolves.

Annoyed, another question rose in Mo Hua’s mind: How had these Gold Core caught up to him? His divine sense was strong enough. His concealment and footwork were exquisite; his qi was sealed. So how could those Yin Corpse Valley “mangy dogs” cling to him? Were there such strange methods in the cultivation world?

Mo Hua pondered and remained baffled. The world of cultivation was vast; nothing was impossible. Some secret uncanny techniques could indeed spy on a person’s path.

There was no time to investigate. He had to keep running south.

Sensing the Yin Corpse Valley elders drawing nearer, Mo Hua’s gaze hardened. He melded with the breath of mountains and trees, performed the Lesser Five-Elements Concealment, and his form vanished into the woods—his aura drowned like a stone thrown into the sea.

No one knew where he went.

The mountain grew silent. After an unknown span, several retreating lights flared.

Dust stirred and Elder Xu and his companions appeared.

They tracked Mo Hua here, halted, and looked around with sullen faces.

“This brat’s gone again… damn it…”

One Gold Core from Yin Corpse Valley swore.

Elder Xu’s face was grim. He began muttering incantations and forming hand seals; this time pressing the ground wasn’t enough—he cut his wrist to spill blood and summoned out that half-human, ochre, rune-covered zombie about a foot high.

The earth zombie drank the blood, croaked something to Elder Xu.

The words were blurred; only Elder Xu could understand.

When it finished it slipped back into the earth and vanished.

One Yin Corpse Valley elder beside him sighed with envy and admiration.

“This trip is truly thanks to Elder Xu’s trained ‘Dizang corpse’. Otherwise we’d really have no way to catch that shadowy brat…”

Dizang corpse—rumored to be a corpse imbued with the earth-藏 Dao essence—had the ability to listen and perceive truth beneath appearances, to track traces, to know what ordinary minds could not.

Dizang corpse was one of the “miracle corpses” corpse-path cultivators coveted.

Elder Xu came from Yin Corpse Valley’s direct line, of an illustrious lineage. In his youth he had an odd encounter and signed a corpse-pact with a Dizang corpse.

Although his cultivation was only early Gold Core, among the elders on this trip he held great influence—second only to Elder Fu in Gold Core late stage.

“Indeed… Dizang corpse lives up to being a ‘miracle corpse’ of Yin Valley,” another elder marveled.

“But that brat’s strange,” a different Yin Corpse Valley elder said. “He slips like a fiend, drifts like flowing water—hidden yet visible, his footwork cannot be broken, his concealment cannot be detected. Call him a ghost and I’d believe it… At this rate, who knows when we’ll catch him…”

They frowned.

Elder Ma, a mid-stage Gold Core, spoke slowly:

“At this point we can’t bother with that small post town’s affairs. We must capture this brat and return with him. Nothing else.”

“But the problem is…” Elder Ma continued, “we can’t just keep dogging him forever.”

“If he runs for a month or two that’s one thing. If he runs for a year or two—will we chase him that long?”

“With the state in chaos soon and great contests arising, we as Yin Corpse Valley elders have plans to make…”

Others nodded. “Indeed—this cannot go on. Taking too long will be a poor report when we return, and may ruin important matters.”

“Think of a way to take him down quickly…”

“How to take him? He’s as elusive as a ghost…”

Silence fell.

After a moment, Elder Xu suddenly asked, “Do you think this brat is of the righteous path or the demonic path?”

The other three were startled, not understanding why Elder Xu asked.

“Doesn’t look demonic…” Elder Ma said slowly. “On our chase he never killed anyone. Passing by villages he didn’t harm a hair. Even to avoid harming innocents, he chose out-of-the-way mountain paths while fleeing.”

“That behavior is not of the demonic path. His heart is probably kind.”

Elder Xu sneered coldly. “If so, we’ll slaughter villages along the way and kill anyone we see.”

Elder Ma blinked. “Will that work?”

Elder Xu said, “If he’s righteous and has a conscience, he won’t stand aside.”

“Once he wants to intervene, he’ll fall into our calculation and be constrained by us. If he’s guilty and thrown off balance, he’ll expose a flaw—we’ll have our chance.”

“And if he’s cold and selfish?” Elder Ma asked.

Elder Xu replied, “If he’s callous and self-centered and doesn’t care for other lives, then we lose nothing—we’ll just kill a few peasants.”

“But if I’m right, using a few worthless lives to bind this brat—that’s a windfall.”

A venomous smile crept across Elder Xu’s mouth.

Elder Ma and the others were stunned, then praised: “As expected of Elder Xu—clever.”

“Excellent.”

…

Two days later, Mo Hua fled south as before.

A mountain wind blew through and brought with it a reek of blood.

He glanced back and saw the village behind faintly wreathed in a blood-red haze.

Black, accusing baleful qi hovered in the mountains.

Mo Hua frowned.

Moments later, the cold auras of the four Yin Corpse Valley Gold Core approached; Mo Hua could do nothing but keep running.

Half a day later another wave of blood and death-qi floated out—this time larger, smell thicker.

Mo Hua’s face changed. He stopped and stood his ground.

One incense stick later, the four Gold Core closed in and sneered.

Mo Hua looked at them coldly. “What do you mean by this?”

Elder Xu smiled lightly. “Young master, surrender obediently and come back with us to Yin Corpse Valley.”

Mo Hua asked, “And if I don’t go?”

Elder Xu smiled. “Wherever you walk, we will kill. Everyone you meet will die.”

Mo Hua sneered. “Threatening me with other people’s lives?”

Elder Xu said, “That isn’t really a threat. By rights these people are innocent, but you passed through here. If you don’t kill Boren, Boren dies because of you. By that logic, their deaths are your doing.”

Mo Hua’s face was as still as water.

Elder Xu said, “Surrender and we won’t slaughter them. Otherwise this area will run red with blood because of you.”

Seeing Mo Hua’s expression waver, he gave a subtle signal to the other Yin Corpse Valley elders.

The other three, some corpse-fused, some rattling bells, some invoking sword techniques, began to circle Mo Hua secretly.

A corpse-claw tore at Mo Hua’s back, a blood-corpse sword stabbed at his heart, a tall bronze corpse blocked his rear.

An earthbound Dizang corpse reached to grasp his feet from under the ground.

Mo Hua’s back was ripped open, his heart-pulse pierced, the Dizang corpse’s claws clamped his legs.

In the next instant the illusion shattered.

Mo Hua dissolved like a bubble of mist, breaking apart.

All four Gold Core’s killing moves struck empty air.

Mist spread and when they scanned the area there wasn’t the slightest trace of Mo Hua; they scowled with hate.

“Damn it—he got away again…”

“What kind of ghostly footwork is that…?”

“Damnation—die!”

Elder Xu’s face darkened. Having been embarrassed by Mo Hua several times, his patience wore thin. He smiled coldly and said: “I was right—this brat’s heart is not bad.”

“Since that’s so, we’ll continue the chase. We’ll split our forces: Ma Elder and I will pursue; the other two will kill along the route.”

“After killing, take their heads and string them together as ‘flags’. Turn the corpses into ‘remnants’, line them up and march them behind us.”

“I want him to see how many people die because of him.”

“I will use those lives to force him to come and die. Even if he refuses, he’ll live with guilt his whole life…”

…

A few miles away in the woods, Mo Hua’s eyes were pitch-black. He could no longer suppress himself; his chest boiled with killing intent.

“Really… asking for death…”

“If you don’t want me to kill you, you force me to kill…”

“Vermin of Yin Corpse Valley.”

Mo Hua’s gaze chilled. “Fine… then I’ll use the blood of those Yin Corpse Valley Gold Core elders to sacrifice to my Divine Sense Sword.”

Until now his Divine Sense Sword had cut down evil apparitions and monsters, but had never truly killed a person.

Today he would test it on those Yin Corpse Valley “animals.” Today his Divine Sense Sword would kill! Even if baleful qi backedlash and karmic reversal followed, he would kill.

His killing intent rose, but the light in his eyes was as stern and majestic as a towering mountain.

After a moment the urge subsided a little and his thoughts cleared. He began to plan calmly.

He could use Divine Sense Sword to kill, but there was an important worry: In a second-grade state, if he used twenty-one-pattern divine sense—the power of a Gold Core—to manifest the Divine Sense Sword, would he trigger provincial heavenly prohibitions?

Twenty-one-pattern divine sense was the divine-sense strength of Gold Core.

Second-grade states restricted Gold Core power; forcibly using it could draw tribulation thunder and heavenly punishment, reducing one to ash.

Divine sense differed from spiritual or blood energy.

High-level cultivators using higher-grade spiritual or physical power in a low-grade state could be struck down by the heavenly law.

High-level cultivators projecting divine sense to perceive might not always trigger the law.

The so-called divine-sense “projection” was a convention: in essence it was perception.

It was the divine sense sensing the world’s qi and phenomena.

This process did not truly “project” large amounts of divine-sense power outward.

Or rather, only a sliver leaked outward—weak and non-lethal—so it wouldn’t touch heavenly law and invite tribulation.

But Divine Sense “extrusion” was different.

More advanced extrusion techniques truly externalized divine sense.

Divine sense would break the barrier of the sea of consciousness, cross the boundary of virtual and real, and pour into reality.

Once in a lower-grade state one used a Divine Sense Sword in the real world—especially a god-slaying sword—the over-level divine-sense would be exposed to the provincial law.

Mo Hua couldn’t be sure whether that would trigger heavenly prohibition and bring tribulation thunder.

He dared not gamble.

If he lost the bet, death was certain.

He wasn’t the heavenly law’s favored child—far from it. The heavenly law often seemed to single him out and restrict him.

He could not rashly flout the heavenly rules lest he invite annihilation.

“My divine sense is Gold Core divine sense. If so, Divine Sense Sword can only be manifested across the third-grade state boundary.”

“Gold Core can only kill in a third-grade state!”

Mo Hua’s eyes went cold. He made a plan, then withdrew his concealment and no longer hid his aura. He pushed Flowing-Water Body Technique to full, becoming a streak of blue water light, and fled toward the nearest third-grade state.

…

Behind him Elder Xu and his companions noticed Mo Hua’s abnormality.

After a moment’s surprise they exchanged glances and smirked:

“This brat is desperate…”

“He no longer hides or slinks—he's openly blasting his footwork to draw us after him. He wants to lead us away quickly so we don’t create killing sin?”

“His intentions are oddly sincere… young and conscience-tied—too soft, too foolish. He’s likely to dig his own grave…”

The Yin Corpse Valley Gold Core snorted, took on corpse qi, and continued the chase.

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