Immortality Through Array Formations Chapter 1965 - 951: Tomb-Seeking Talisman (Part 3)

With the exception of Mo Hua, every member of the party was a Golden Core cultivator.

The zombies they encountered were merely Second Grade. While capable of biting a Golden Core expert, they generally lacked the power to kill one.

Consequently, after traveling for roughly an hour, the group that had been dispersed by the undead managed to reunite.

This included Mr. Hui and the three tomb robbers.

Four other cultivators dressed in black robes were also present.

Mo Hua studied them intently, noting that aside from Mr. Hui, only the "rat"—the man who clearly harbored ill intentions toward him—had been bitten.

This confirmed that these two were considered "material."

Among the others, the man known as "Rock" was a dedicated body cultivator. With skin as tough as earth and stone, the fangs of common zombies were unable to pierce his hide.

The four black-robed cultivators possessed extraordinary strength. Their garments appeared to be specialized treasures, capable of masking their auras and providing defense.

Despite being chased by the tide of corpses when the group split, they remained unscathed, their robes not even showing a single tear.

Mo Hua felt a flicker of disappointment.

He had hoped to catch a glimpse of the faces hidden beneath those black hoods.

Once regrouped, the team held a brief discussion and decided to retreat from the current forked path.

It was now certain that this specific route was a dead end.

Furthermore, the path was narrow and complex, making navigation difficult.

As a result, Mo Hua was tasked with leading the way back.

Since he was the only Foundation Establishment cultivator among them, the zombies were a lethal threat to him. The others feared he might be bitten and perish from the corpse poison before they could find their way.

Rock, acting as a human shield, positioned himself at the front of Mo Hua.

Mr. Hui and the black-robed Young Master flanked him on either side.

The remaining members protected the rear.

Maintaining this formation, the group slowly moved back toward the entrance of the fork.

They dealt with a few stray zombies along the way, but nothing that caused a major disturbance.

Mo Hua provided guidance while staying within the protective circle.

Though his position was secure, he occasionally felt a prickling sensation on his back, as if a pair of malicious eyes were boring into him.

Mo Hua didn't need to guess; it was the rat.

The man had incredibly sharp instincts. For some reason, he was certain Mo Hua had taken Mr. Pi’s tomb-raiding token and was looking for any opportunity to steal it.

"Earth Sect, Secret Department, tomb-raiding token..."

Mo Hua was unfamiliar with the Secret Department of the Earth Sect. However, seeing how Mr. Pi treasured the token and how desperately the rat—who came from a lineage of tomb robbers—craved it, he knew it held a massive secret.

This secret was undoubtedly tied to the Earth Sect.

The Earth Sect was the guardian of the "Earth Diagram," a fragment of the "Emperor Heaven and Earth Diagram."

Mo Hua had no intention of surrendering the token.

Up until now, no one had dared to take anything from him by force.

Moreover, he hadn't forgotten how the rat had previously searched his storage bag and stolen his spirit stones and items.

He remembered every grievance.

"He cannot be allowed to live..."

Mo Hua made a silent vow.

He refused to let a Golden Core cultivator with murderous intent stalk him throughout this journey.

However, the rat was a Golden Core expert, and Mo Hua lacked the means to kill him directly. Furthermore, he couldn't act in front of so many witnesses, particularly the man's allies.

"I should use him as a subject to see how evil spirits are triggered, how malicious thoughts are stirred, and to observe how the corruption of evil thoughts affects high-ranking cultivators..."

Mo Hua plotted quietly.

On the surface, he remained perfectly calm, focusing entirely on navigating the path.

Under his direction, the group bypassed several traps, dispatched a dozen zombies, and navigated countless turns before finally exiting the forked path.

Returning to the starting point, they faced the original dilemma:

Which of the five paths should they choose next?

Mr. Hui noted, "The path on the far right is a dead end, and we have already explored the middle one. Let's pick one of the three remaining routes."

After a moment of thought, Mr. Hui suggested, "Let's try the one on the far left."

Mo Hua remained silent as the group moved toward the left path. However, after only a few steps into the tunnel, he sensed the surrounding formation layout and stopped.

"Something is wrong," Mo Hua stated.

"What do you mean?" Mr. Hui asked, surprised.

"It is the same," Mo Hua replied.

"The same?"

"Yes," Mo Hua nodded, performing mental calculations. "The leftmost path, the middle path, and the others—they are all identical."

"These routes all lead to the same interconnected fork."

"Whether we take this path or the middle one, the outcome is the same: we will just be trapped in the same network of paths filled with mechanisms."

Mr. Hui frowned. "So, of these five paths, four are decoys and one is a dead end?"

"There are four false paths, but the remaining one isn't a dead end," Mo Hua explained. "My initial deduction wasn't wrong. This is a deceptive Earth Formation layout—four false and one true. The path I first led us down is actually the correct one."

"But..." Mr. Hui said gravely, "that was clearly a dead end."

Mo Hua shook his head. "Formations do not lie. If the deduction points to a path, it is there. Even if it looks like a dead end, if the formation identifies it as the 'Life Path,' then that is what it is."

As he spoke, Mo Hua’s gaze was steady and his voice full of certainty, radiating the natural authority of a skilled Formation Master.

The eyes of the black-robed Young Master narrowed slightly.

Even the black-robed Elder looked at Mo Hua with newfound interest.

Mr. Hui thought for a moment before nodding. "Fine, let's investigate it again."

The group turned back and, following Mo Hua’s lead, re-entered the path on the far right.

They walked until they reached the very end, where the stone wall blocked their progress. The hole Mr. Hui had previously punched into the wall revealed nothing but solid mountain rock.

To any observer, it looked like a total dead end.

"If a path exists, shouldn't there be a formation to unlock it?" Mr. Hui asked.

Mo Hua shook his head. "If there were a formation, I would have found it. It is precisely the absence of a formation that makes this deception so effective."

Mr. Hui considered this and nodded. "That makes sense."

Since there was no formation to break, the only option was to dig.

The Golden Core cultivators took turns using their techniques to excavate the mountain stone.

They dug for a long time without seeing any change. Doubt began to creep in, but Mo Hua remained firm.

"Keep going," he commanded.

The Golden Core experts had no choice but to follow his lead and dig deeper into the rock.

As they progressed, they began to notice something strange.

The rock didn't seem natural. The interior was a blend of second and third-grade stone materials. It was incredibly hard, but once broken, it revealed signs of manual construction.

This wasn't a natural part of the mountain; it was an artificial "rockery."

Without the combined strength of several Golden Core cultivators digging deep, this secret would never have been uncovered.

The cultivators glanced back at Mo Hua, internally stunned by his profound understanding of formations and his keen perception.

After more digging, Mo Hua suddenly signaled them. "Stop."

"What is it?" Mr. Hui asked.

"There is a formation now!" Mo Hua’s eyes sparkled.

With a formation present, they could no longer use brute force, as doing so might trigger a collapse or an explosion. Mo Hua took out his brush and ink and began calculating the solution to the barrier.

Once the formation was neutralized, Mo Hua said, "Continue."

They dug further until Mo Hua called for another halt to break a second formation. This cycle of digging and breaking formations continued for some time.

Finally, after an unknown duration, the stone wall ahead gave way, revealing a dark opening.

The group felt a surge of excitement. Rock stepped forward, using his massive frame to widen the breach, and the others followed him through. When they saw what lay beyond, they were speechless.

Before them stretched a vast underground palace, both terrifying and magnificent.

The palace was open, with layers of corridors stretching into the distance.

At the very end of the palace was a massive pit. Resting inside that pit was a colossal, shimmering coffin forged from golden copper ore.