Chapter 330: Unraveling
Chapter 330: Unraveling
Mo Hua informed Zhang Lan and General Yang about this matter. Being from noble families themselves, they should have some knowledge about it.
"Zhuanshouwuyuan Pill?"
Zhang Lan's eyebrows furrowed gradually, and his expression turned solemn. "I've never heard of such a pill."
Zhang Lan turned to General Yang, who also shook his head. "Neither have I."
Mo Hua was surprised. It was unexpected that both Zhang Lan and General Yang were unfamiliar with such an obscure pill.
"Please make a copy of the drawings of the pill furnace and the herbs for me. I'll send it to my clan to ask around," Zhang Lan requested.
General Yang agreed. "Please provide me with a copy as well. I'll do the same."
Mo Hua made copies for both of them and asked, "How long will it take to get a response?"
Zhang Lan pondered for a moment. "It's hard to say. If we're lucky, less than a week. But it could take up to half a month if we're unlucky."
"Due to their low cultivation levels, many means of communication are unavailable, which prolongs the process," Zhang Lan added with a sigh.
Mo Hua nodded in understanding.
About six days later, Zhang Lan received a reply from his clan. He sought out Mo Hua with a grave expression on his face. "This is no ordinary evil pill!"
"The Zhuanshouwuyuan Pill," he continued, "devours the cultivator's life force and converts their cultivation into medicinal power. It is a pill passed down by some major demonic cultivator sects and is truly a demonic art!"
"These few herbs—the Refine Soul Grass and the Wither Life Vine—are indeed used to refine the Zhuanshouwuyuan Pill," he explained.
A chill ran down Mo Hua's spine. "How did the Qian Family Ancestor obtain such a pill formula?"
Zhang Lan shook his head. "Perhaps he obtained it by accident, or maybe someone gave it to him intentionally. With so little information, we can't be sure."
The next day, General Yang also received a reply from his family. The response echoed what Zhang Lan had said, but with an additional piece of information.
"The Zhuanshouwuyuan Pill is extremely valuable even among demonic sects. The method of refining it is a closely guarded secret, and it is unlikely to be passed on lightly," the letter read.
"To refine this pill, one must commit heinous acts. First, humans are refined into Human Longevity Pills. Then, these pills are used as catalysts, and human flesh and blood are used as ingredients to transform lifespan into cultivation progress."
"Refining a batch of pills can take decades or even centuries. During this time, one must continuously kill and refine pills to perfect the Zhuanshouwuyuan Pill."
"Even for demonic sects, refining this batch of pills is an arduous task."
A chill settled in Mo Hua's heart. This matched the actions of the Qian Family Ancestor.
The Qian Family Ancestor had established Black Mountain Village, kept evil cultivators, and killed people to refine pills.
First, he refined the Human Longevity Pills to extend his own life and that of the Qian Family's Great Elder. Afterward, he planned to use the Human Longevity Pills as catalysts to refine the Zhuanshouwuyuan Pills.
Mo Hua had inquired with Elder Feng, and he knew that while the Human Longevity Pills could prolong life, their effectiveness was limited.
If one continued to rely on these pills, their potency would gradually diminish, and the extended lifespan would become shorter and shorter until the pill's power eventually faded away completely.
The Qian Family Ancestor couldn't rely on the Human Longevity Pills to sustain his life indefinitely.
His true goal was to use these pills to buy himself time—perhaps another century—until he could perfect the Zhuanshouwuyuan Pill. Then, he would consume it to boost his cultivation and break through to the late Foundation Establishment stage, becoming a centenarian once again.
Advancing from the middle to the late Foundation Establishment stage would grant him another hundred years of life. With that extra time, he wouldn't be confined to Tongxian City anymore. He could venture into higher-grade state domains to seek the method of forming a pill!
Anything was possible with a hundred years.
Zhang Lan and General Yang, both shocked by this revelation, exchanged glances.
"But there's one problem," Zhang Lan said, furrowing his brow. "Does the destruction of the pill furnace in Black Mountain Village mean that the batch of pills he was refining has also been destroyed?"
General Yang considered this. "It would seem so..."
However, their faces remained grim, as they knew the Qian Family Ancestor was not one to be underestimated.
"Does the Qian family have a pill furnace?" Mo Hua asked.
Zhang Lan nodded. "Yes, there were several pill furnaces in the Qian Family Ancestor's cave abode, but they were all destroyed during the battle when we besieged him."
"What about the other pill furnaces of the Qian family?" Mo Hua inquired further.
"You mean the ones that appear to be ordinary pill furnaces on the surface?"
Mo Hua nodded.
General Yang asserted, "I'll send the Dao soldiers to destroy every single one of the Qian family's pill furnaces, leaving not a single one intact!"
Zhang Lan added, "I'll inform the officials again. All private, noble family, sect, and pill refining businesses' pill furnaces within Tongxian City must be reported and inspected one by one. We cannot leave any stone unturned."
After a moment's thought, Zhang Lan turned to General Yang and said, "We should conduct another thorough search of Black Mountain Village."
General Yang nodded resolutely. "I'll lead the search party there myself, and we'll dig three feet into the ground if we have to!"
"As long as we find and destroy the Qian Family Ancestor's pill furnace, preventing him from refining the Zhuanshouwuyuan Pill, he won't be able to stir up any more trouble."
Seeing his solemn expression, Zhang Lan thought that he was still worried, so he comforted him, "Rest assured, no matter how deep the schemes of the Qian Family Ancestor are, they are nothing but underhanded calculations. Once brought to light, their plots and tricks will be useless."
Mo Hua nodded, though he still had his doubts.
In the following days, the search of the Qian family's residence, the inspection of pill furnaces, and the hunt for Black Mountain Village proceeded in an orderly manner.
As these tasks were under the jurisdiction of the Dao Court and the Dao Military, Mo Hua could only lend his thoughts to unraveling the formation.
It took Mo Hua nearly a month to intermittently unravel the formation.
It shouldn't have taken this long, but one thing after another had caused delays.
Fortunately, it was finally done.
Mo Hua was curious to know if unraveling the formation could truly harm a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
He wanted to find an opportunity to test the power of unraveling.
Of course, no Foundation Establishment cultivator would let him experiment, nor would a second-grade magical beast.
Mo Hua wasn't sure if his concealment technique could hide him from the perception of a second-grade magical beast.
Magical beasts differed from cultivators; aside from their vision and magical senses, they also had a keen perception of scents.
Moreover, different magical beasts had different racial talents, resulting in varying sensitivities to the outside world. Some had excellent eyesight, some had sharp magical senses, and some were sensitive to vital energy.
Even if his concealment technique could fool a certain type of second-grade magical beast, it didn't mean it would work on all of them.
After all, while humans shared similar physical structures, magical beasts had diverse forms and abilities.
Without prior knowledge, approaching a second-grade magical beast would be akin to a toddler seeking death.
In this situation, a peak late first-grade magical beast was the limit of what Mo Hua could safely experiment with.
Even if something unexpected happened, he was confident that he could escape even if he couldn't win.
Mo Hua began by setting up the formation.
It was a set of first-grade Earthfire Replicating Formation.
The power of unraveling a formation was unrelated to its type but depended on the strength of the spiritual sense, the amount of spiritual power, and the number of formation runes.
As long as the formation was strong enough, even a concealment formation could unleash tremendous power when unraveled.
Mo Hua chose the Earthfire Replicating Formation to make a comparison.
Previously, Mo Hua had tested this formation and found that it could severely injure a peak late first-grade magical beast upon activation.
Now, he wanted to see what would happen if he unraveled this formation.
Would it be more powerful than the explosion of the Earthfire Replicating Formation? And by how much?
With everything in place, Mo Hua's vision shifted to a black bear.
The black bear had spiky black fur, bell-like eyes, and a massive build, making it one of the strongest creatures in Great Black Mountain.
It was also one of the most feared magical beasts among demon hunters.
However, Mo Hua no longer felt the same degree of fear as before.
All fear stemmed from one's weakness.
While Mo Hua's current cultivation wasn't exceptionally strong, he was confident in his ability to protect himself even against a Foundation Establishment cultivator, let alone a peak first-grade magical beast.
He might not be able to kill this magical beast, but it couldn't kill him either.
Soon, things would change.
What Mo Hua wanted to do now was to verify if, with his understanding of formations, he could kill this peak late first-grade magical beast by unraveling the formation!
Setting traps, laying formations, covering his tracks, and masking his scent with demon-attracting grass...
Mo Hua was already familiar with the entire process.
The black bear strolled along the path Mo Hua had anticipated, without any care in the world.
In Great Black Mountain, there weren't many cultivators or magical beasts that posed a threat to it. It could kill and eat whatever it wanted.
Furthermore, it didn't sense anything amiss.
Soon, it walked into the trap Mo Hua had set, triggering the formation he had laid.
In the instant the formation was activated, the spiritual power abruptly reversed.
The formation unraveled!
Mo Hua's pupils constricted.
Just like the previous times he had unraveled single formations, the spiritual power reversed and then disintegrated silently, without much fanfare.
However, this time, the scale of the unraveling was much larger, and the range of spiritual power reversal enveloped half of the black bear's body.
Half of the black bear's body instantly vanished, turning into black ash and ceasing to exist.
It was as if someone had suddenly crushed the void, along with half of the black bear's body!
The powerful black bear, with only half its body remaining, crashed to the ground, its life extinguished in an instant!
Mo Hua's expression shook, and his heart trembled as he muttered, "This is the true... power of unraveling formations..."
This is the true... power of unraveling the Dao!
(End of Chapter)
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