Chapter 459 - Spirit Pivot

Chapter 459: Chapter 451 Spirit Pivot

Inside the iron coffin, an Iron Corpse was sealed.

Iron Corpse was one level higher than Walking Corpses.

Walking Corpses had pale and rotting flesh and contained Corpse Poison. Although fierce and fearless of death, their strength was quite ordinary. They primarily relied on their numbers and Corpse Poison to gain an advantage.

The skin of an Iron Corpse was an iron blue, much like cast iron, and their strength was greater, comparable to that of a cultivator in the initial stage of Foundation Establishment.

Crafting an Iron Corpse was more costly, and it took more time.

Similarly, controlling an Iron Corpse was also more difficult.

Only a Foundation Building Cultivator, relying on the Divine Sense of Foundation Establishment and using the Corpse Controlling Bell as a medium, could control an Iron Corpse with relative stability.

For Corpse cultivators in the Qi Refinement Realm, whose Divine Sense was insufficient, controlling an Iron Corpse for an extended period could easily lead to its loss of control and result in a backlash.

That’s why Zhang Quan intended to consecrate the bell, to enhance the stability of corpse control by borrowing Divine Thought.

Mo Hua opened the iron coffin.

An Iron Corpse with blackish-green skin and ferocious iron features lay inside with its eyes closed.

There was a rich Corpse Qi emanating from it, and within its flesh flowed a greenish Corpse Poison.

Bai Zisheng, gripping a long spear, placed the tip on the Iron Corpse’s forehead to prevent it from losing control and lashing out, potentially injuring Mo Hua.

Bai Zixi was also holding a golden longsword, standing by Mo Hua’s side.

Using a dagger, Mo Hua cut open the Iron Corpse’s shirt to reveal its iron-blue, sinister chest.

There was nothing on the surface of the chest.

However, Mo Hua’s eyes lit up.

He had indeed sensed the aura of the Ultimate Formation.

With the dagger, Mo Hua made several cuts on the Iron Corpse’s chest, but the skin was so tough that not even a scratch was left.

Mo Hua sighed and could only hand the dagger to Bai Zisheng, saying,

“Senior brother, it’s up to you now.”

Bai Zisheng took the dagger and said,

“Step back a bit.”

Mo Hua obediently retreated several feet.

Bai Zisheng then activated his cultivation technique, wrapping the dagger in golden Spiritual Power, and carefully started cutting into the chest of the Iron Corpse, peeling off the skin.

Underneath the skin, the flesh was dark green, and the Corpse Poison was dense.

And on top of the flesh was indeed a red Formation, complex and profound!

“Mo Hua, come take a look!”

Bai Zisheng called out.

Mo Hua hurried over and leaned in to take a closer look.

After inspecting for a while, his eyes brightened.

Yes, it was indeed the Spiritual Pivot Formation related to Walking Corpses, but the Formation Patterns were slightly different.

He quickly took out paper and pen, and began to jot down the Formation Patterns.

But as he recorded, Mo Hua’s expression turned a bit grim.

He glanced at the Iron Corpse and said in a serious tone,

“Senior brother, this Iron Corpse, it’s about to lose control…”

Bai Zisheng was taken aback, “How do you know?”

Mo Hua’s gaze was profound, “The Formation is operating, someone is controlling this Iron Corpse… ‘Losing control’…”

Startled by the words, Bai Zisheng immediately took out his spear and pinned the Iron Corpse within the iron coffin.

Simultaneously, the Iron Corpse abruptly opened its eyes.

Their red eyes were brimming with bloodthirst and ferocity.

Its arms stretched forward, its iron claws sharp and long, tipped with Corpse Poison, as it rigidly tried to stand up.

But its body was pinned down by Bai Zisheng’s spear, making it unable to break free for the moment.

As it struggled, the Blood Formation on the Iron Corpse’s chest also became increasingly vivid.

Between the Patterns, there seemed to be blood flowing, and as the blood moved, the sound grew louder, like a peculiar pulse.

The redder the Patterns, the heavier the Iron Corpse’s savage aura, and the stronger its struggle became.

Bai Zisheng frowned and said,

“Step back, I can’t suppress it any longer!”

Bai Zixi quickly moved back gracefully with light steps.

Mo Hua also stepped back a few paces.

In just a few moments, the Iron Corpse let out a roar, with Corpse Qi surging from its body. Intense strength transmitted forth, shaking off Bai Zisheng and freeing itself from the spear’s restraints.

The Iron Corpse, freed from its bonds, had a fierce expression. It let out a deep growl similar to Monster Beasts, but it wasn’t bloodthirsty or murderous.

It seemed to know that it couldn’t kill any cultivator in this room.

With a leap, the Iron Corpse attempted to burst through the door.

Once it escaped outside, entering South Yue City, it could feast to its heart’s content, devouring flesh and blood to restore its Blood Qi.

The Iron Corpse slammed against the door, intending to break out.

But the Formation Patterns all around, dense as a spider web, lit up, and several Spiritual Power shackles appeared, directly binding the Iron Corpse and preventing it from escaping.

Enraged, the Iron Corpse tore with its iron claws, damaging several Formations, attempting to break free.

Before it could escape, Bai Zisheng’s spear was already thrusting toward it.

Bai Zixi’s Sword Qi, too, was ignited with pure white flames, aiming straight for the Iron Corpse’s head.

And Mo Hua’s fireballs flew precisely towards the joints of the Iron Corpse’s legs.

Inside the room, the Formation trembled, and Spiritual Power overflowed.

Despite the Sound Isolation Formation being in place, such a commotion and the fluctuations of Spiritual Power still managed to seep out.

In the courtyard, Instructor Yan was drinking tea with Mr. Zhuang.

Upon hearing the noise, Instructor Yan looked puzzled and said,

“Is something wrong?”

Mr. Zhuang smiled indifferently and responded,

“No harm done, just children playing.”

Instructor Yan looked doubtful but nodded, half believing, half unsure.

Inside the room, the disturbance continued for the duration of a cup of tea before gradually calming down.

The Formation inside the room was laid out too densely by Mo Hua, layer upon layer, like the Silk Cave, leaving no escape for the Iron Corpse.

And the Taoist Skills of Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi were extremely strong.

Plus, Mo Hua was darting in opportunistically to attack.

Thus, the Iron Corpse was quickly subdued.

Bai Zisheng’s long spear had pierced through the Iron Corpse’s throat, pinning it to the ground.

But the Iron Corpse’s limbs were still incessantly thrashing and clawing.

Bai Zisheng asked, “Junior brother, do you have a way to immobilize it?”

Mo Hua stared at the Formation on the Iron Corpse’s chest, thought for a moment, and said,

“Destroy this Formation.”

Bai Zixi asked, “Have you mastered it yet?”

“Not yet,” Mo Hua shook his head, “But I’ve memorized the Formation Patterns. I’ll slowly comprehend it later.”

“Good,” Bai Zixi said crisply.

Then, with a deft twist of her hand, several strands of golden Sword Qi coalesced and flew out simultaneously, piercing through the chest of the Iron Corpse and destroying the Blood Formation on it.

The Iron Corpse struggled with its limbs for a while before gradually ceasing to move.

All three of them breathed a sigh of relief.

“What should we do with this Iron Corpse?” Bai Zisheng asked.

Mo Hua pondered and said, “For now, we should seal it inside an iron coffin. I’ll use a Formation to suppress it to prevent any further mishaps from it escaping.”

“And the Ultimate Formation?”

“I’ve noted it down.”

Bai Zisheng was somewhat incredulous, “You’ve remembered it in such a short time?”

“Mhm,” Mo Hua nodded, his tone uncertain:

“This Ultimate Formation doesn’t seem too hard…”

“Hard or not, who says Ultimate Formations are simple?” Bai Zisheng expressed concern, “Don’t get it wrong and end up wasting our efforts.”

“It’s fine, even if I remembered it incorrectly, Sister Situ still has four more Iron Corpses.”

“Okay then,” Bai Zisheng said, then suddenly furrowed his brow:

“The four Iron Corpses at Sister Situ’s place… could they have also lost control?”

“They won’t,” Mo Hua asserted, “Sister Situ and the others don’t understand Formations. If they don’t meddle with the Formations, the Iron Corpses won’t lose control…”

“This Iron Corpse lost control because it was afraid something would be discovered.”

“Someone doesn’t want me to see the Formation on the heart meridian of the Iron Corpse…”

Mo Hua said thoughtfully, stroking his chin.

Bai Zisheng nodded and said, “Then study it well. I can’t help with the Formation, but if you need to fight, you must call on me.”

“Right,” Mo Hua agreed.

In the following days, Mo Hua devoted his time to studying the Formation patterns on the zombies’ bodies.

The Formation on the bodies of both the Walking Corpses and the Iron Corpse, combined, formed a rather complete and coherent system where Spiritual Power could circulate with a beginning and an end, and the Formation Patterns echoed each other – a first-grade, twelve-patterned Ultimate Formation.

This Formation was the Spiritual Pivot Formation.

Several days later, Mo Hua sat in the courtyard, staring at a Formation in front of him, somewhat dazed.

He had already mastered drawing this Ultimate Formation.

This was far beyond Mo Hua’s expectations.

Mo Hua originally thought that mastering the Spiritual Pivot Formation would, at the very least, require time to understand the unique patterns of Spiritual Power circulation, not to mention any special Taoist meanings.

But the Spiritual Pivot Formation came to him surprisingly quickly.

After just a few days, he had mastered the Formation.

Mo Hua tried inscribing the Spiritual Pivot Formation onto a toy wooden tiger. This tiger was a gift from Old Kui.

Once the tiger had the Formation painted on it, Mo Hua inserted a Spirit Stone into it, activated it with Spiritual Power, and found that he could control the tiger’s movements with his Divine Sense.

It could walk, sit, run, leap, crouch, and jump; it was as lifelike as could be.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi, upon seeing it, found it quite novel.

Typically, toys in the Cultivation World could move on their own.

In Tongxian City, Mo Hua had bought many such toys – if you inserted Broken Spirit Stones into them, the dolls would clatter their way forward under the motivation of Spiritual Power.

But their movements were mechanical and fixed.

That was different from what Mo Hua had just created.

This wooden tiger could perform many subtle movements under the control of Divine Sense.

To an onlooker, the difference might not seem vast, but the involved Formations were worlds apart.

One required only a few Formation Patterns and was a simple Formation.

But the other needed a beyond-grade, first-grade, twelve-patterned Ultimate Formation.

Mo Hua studied the principle of the Spiritual Pivot Formation more closely.

He discovered that Instructor Yan was right. At its core, the Ultimate Formation was indeed about “control.”

It transformed Spiritual Power into finer strands to perform detailed controls through these threads of power.

But was that all there was to it?

Had he only grasped the surface of the Formation?

Were there deeper elements to the Formation that he had not yet understood?

Mo Hua furrowed his brows.

Beyond understanding the rules of the Spiritual Pivot Formation, he also realized there was an issue with this Formation.

It seemed like the Formation was still not the complete Spiritual Pivot Formation, even though it was already effective.

Why did it seem incomplete?

Mo Hua thought for a long time but could not figure it out.

Not until he remembered the out-of-control Iron Corpse did he have a sudden epiphany.

The Iron Corpse’s loss of control was a “loss of control” under the influence of the Formation.

In other words, the Iron Corpse controlled Walking Corpses while also being controlled by something else.

The Spiritual Pivot Formation on both Iron Corpses and Walking Corpses could essentially form a Spiritual Power cycle, achieving the effect of the Spiritual Pivot Formation.

However, atop the Iron Corpse, there was another tier of Spiritual Pivot Formations.

This tier of Spiritual Pivot Formation was a higher component of the overall structure.

In other words, what Mo Hua currently understood was merely the intermediate and lower levels of the Spiritual Pivot Formation.

This hierarchical structure of Formations exceeded Mo Hua’s previous understanding.

“Formation mastery is indeed profound and vast,” Mo Hua sighed once more.

If his conjecture was correct, the so-called Spiritual Pivot Formation was not simply a Single Formation.

It was a special type of Formation system that branched down from one Formation into a hierarchical structure that spanned from top to bottom, from high level to low level.

All Spiritual Pivot Formations belonged to the same category, yet controlled with distributed authority at different tiers.

The one on the Walking Corpses was the lowest level of Spiritual Pivot Formation, with the least authority, capable only of being controlled by others.

The one on the Iron Corpse was a level higher, with more authority able to control the Walking Corpses.

Considering this, there had to be something controlling the Iron Corpses!

Was it an Evil Artifact, a Cultivator, or another zombie that controlled the Iron Corpse?

And this unknown item, person, or corpse, within the hierarchy of the Soul Pivot Ultimate Formation, held the highest authority, capable of dominating all others, controlling every zombie that had the Spiritual Pivot Formation on its heart meridian.

It commanded all Walking Corpses and Iron Corpses!

The mere thought sent a chill through Mo Hua.