Chapter 431: Zhang Quan
Chapter 431: Zhang Quan
Mo Hua felt that this incident was shrouded in mystery, and no matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn't seem to make sense of it.
Once they capture that gray-robed cultivator, everything will become clear.
After the battle at the Hundred Flowers Tower, Mo Hua had a good grasp of the gray-robed cultivator's trump cards.
It would be much easier to set a trap for him now.
On the way back, Mo Hua pondered these thoughts and then sighed.
In recent days, he had been diligently cultivating, and his cultivation base had been steadily improving.
However, the enhancement of his spiritual sense had stalled at twelve strands, and he found it difficult to make any further progress.
This was partly because he lacked access to formation techniques that cultivated spiritual sense beyond the twelve-strand level, which slowed down his improvement.
The other reason was the Dao Tablet.
Ever since Mo Hua borrowed the power of the Dao Tablet to comprehend the Dao, it had been overloaded and had not yet fully recovered.
As a result, Mo Hua's daily formation practice had decreased significantly, and his spiritual sense improvement was minuscule.
At this rate, he might not be able to break through the thirteen-strand threshold for spiritual sense by the time he reached the Foundation Establishment stage.
The slow recovery of the Dao Tablet made it even more challenging to find first-grade twelve-strand formation techniques.
Mo Hua had been searching for a long time, but to no avail.
For now, the only lead seemed to be finding Yan Jiaoxiu.
But where was Yan Jiaoxiu?
Mo Hua sighed again.
Bai Zisheng found his behavior a bit odd and asked, "Mo Hua, is something bothering you?"
Mo Hua nodded, "My spiritual sense is improving too slowly..."
If they couldn't find Yan Jiaoxiu, they wouldn't be able to find the ultimate formation, and without the ultimate formation, he couldn't temper his spiritual sense. Without a strong spiritual sense, he wouldn't be able to follow Mr. Zhuang's teachings and seek the Dao through spiritual sense.
The path he envisioned was to cultivate an extreme spiritual sense, master formations to their pinnacle, and ultimately strive for the Great Dao.
However, his current level of spiritual sense was still far from the standard set by Mr. Zhuang.
"How many strands of spiritual sense do you have now?" Bai Zisheng asked curiously.
He knew that Mo Hua had a strong spiritual sense, comparable to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but he had never asked about the specifics.
The ultimate formation that Mo Hua had learned was something he couldn't learn, nor would he be able to learn it in the future.
"Twelve strands..." Mo Hua mumbled.
Bai Zisheng was slightly taken aback, "How many?"
"Twelve..."
Bai Zisheng fell silent.
Twelve strands...
That was already approaching the limit of spiritual sense for the early Foundation Establishment stage.
Typically, when a formation master at the Qi Refining stage reached ten strands of spiritual sense, they could attempt to learn second-grade formations.
Most second-grade formation masters started with around eleven or twelve strands of spiritual sense.
This was the first time Bai Zisheng had heard of a Qi Refining cultivator possessing twelve strands of spiritual sense.
Moreover, Mo Hua didn't seem pleased about it.
He looked unenthusiastic and somewhat dissatisfied.
Ingratitude! Bai Zisheng felt annoyed, his teeth itching to scratch Mo Hua's head.
Even Bai Zixi on the side couldn't help but join in, both of them scratching Mo Hua's hair.
Mo Hua felt a bit helpless, but as the youngest disciple, he didn't want to argue with his senior martial brothers and sister.
Upon returning to their cave abode, Mo Hua took out a compass with the Si Nan Mother Formation inscribed on it.
On the compass, there was a depiction of the Si Nan Mother Formation.
Correspondingly, the Si Nan Child Formation was inscribed on fine needles made of refined iron using micro-carving techniques.
Mo Hua had given these needles to Bai Zisheng beforehand, instructing him to secretly stick them onto the gray-robed cultivator's clothes or body during their confrontation.
By using the Si Nan Mother Formation to determine the location of the Child Formation, he could track the gray-robed cultivator's whereabouts.
That gray-robed cultivator had hired killers to murder the mine cultivators and then bought their corpses, clearly up to no good.
Whatever he was planning couldn't be anything virtuous.
During today's battle, the gray-robed cultivator had consumed a pill that enhanced his strength by transforming his body into a corpse. The pill was sinister and bloodthirsty, most likely refined from corpses.
Over the past few decades, countless mine cultivators had likely lost their lives because of this.
Many mine cultivator families had probably fallen apart as a result.
The lives of mine cultivators were already difficult enough, struggling to make a living, and now they had to contend with such nefarious schemes, often resulting in their bodies never being found.
Mo Hua's face turned cold at the thought.
That gray-robed cultivator must be eliminated!
But before doing so, Mo Hua wanted to ask him if he knew anything about Yan Jiaoxiu's whereabouts.
Yan Jiaoxiu had gone missing in the mine.
In the worst-case scenario, he had been killed by Wang Lai and his accomplices, and his corpse sold to the gray-robed cultivator.
There was also a possibility that Yan Jiaoxiu had discovered something and decided to investigate further, following a trail that led him to the gray-robed cultivator...
In that case, there was a chance that Yan Jiaoxiu had come into contact with the gray-robed cultivator.
Regardless, Mo Hua needed to confirm this.
However, the compass with the Si Nan Mother Formation didn't show any light spots, indicating that there was no trace of the gray-robed cultivator.
"Is it broken?" Bai Zisheng frowned.
Mo Hua examined the formation and shook his head, "It's not broken."
"Then... did that gray-robed cultivator discover your Si Nan Child needles?"
"Even if he did, if the child needles were discarded or damaged, there would still be some reaction on the compass.
The gray-robed cultivator knew escape techniques and could conceal himself underground, disrupting the connection between the parent and child formations.
The fact that he didn't appear on the mother formation meant that he was either still in the secret passage, or he had used an escape technique to burrow somewhere else.
Mo Hua thought for a moment and said, "Let's wait."
As a beast hunter, one must have enough patience when hunting their prey.
This was a lesson taught to him by his father, Mo Shan.
Two days later, Si Tu Fang came to inform Mo Hua that the Court of Daoism had identified the gray-robed cultivator.
"His name is Zhang Quan, a cultivator from Nanyue City, whose family has been in the funeral business for generations..."
"Funeral business?" Mo Hua was slightly taken aback.
"Coffins," Si Tu Fang clarified.
"Oh, I see." Mo Hua understood.
The coffin business...
Indeed, it seemed to fit the image, demeanor, and deeds of the gray-robed cultivator.
Si Tu Fang continued, "Thirty years ago, Zhang Quan's parents passed away, leaving the coffin shop in his hands..."
"Zhang Quan has a somewhat gloomy aura and doesn't socialize with the neighboring cultivators. But because he deals with the dead, people tend to overlook his strangeness."
"Zhang Quan occasionally gambles and frequents brothels..."
"I asked a few female cultivators from the Hundred Flowers Tower, and they told me that Zhang Quan often stays in the pleasure quarters but rarely reveals his true face."
"Even those who know him were unaware that he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator."
Mo Hua asked, "Have you been to Zhang Quan's residence?"
Si Tu Fang nodded. "Yes, the shop was closed. We broke in and found that all the coffins inside had been burned, and other objects were also destroyed."
"It's unclear if he did it himself or if he had accomplices helping him destroy the evidence."
"Now, the question is, why was he buying corpses?"
"Was the pill he took that day made from corpses?"
"If so, where was it refined? Where is the pill furnace and the pill formula? How did he obtain the herbs for refining evil pills?"
"Did he refine them himself or did someone help him?"
"Additionally, are there any other ulterior motives behind his actions..."
...
After Si Tu Fang finished explaining the situation, she sighed. "The Court of Daoism has issued a wanted order. If we catch him, all these questions should be answered."
Then she looked at Mo Hua with concern. "Be careful these days. That day at the Hundred Flowers Tower, he tried every means to kill you. Now that he's hiding in the shadows, he might try to take revenge on you..."
Mo Hua nodded. "I'm aware of the danger."
Si Tu Fang still felt uneasy.
Mo Hua assured her, "Don't worry, I'm with my senior martial brothers and sister. They will protect me."
Only then did Si Tu Fang feel relieved. They chatted for a while longer, drank a few cups of tea, and then she left.
Mo Hua's eyes narrowed slightly.
With his strong spiritual sense and concealment technique, it was impossible for Zhang Quan to find him.
Moreover, it was now Mo Hua who was hunting Zhang Quan, not the other way around.
The young Mo Hua was the hunter, and the Foundation Establishment cultivator, Zhang Quan, was the prey.
In the following days, whenever Mo Hua had free time, he would take out the Si Nan compass and check for any changes.
On the afternoon of the third day, the compass finally lit up.
Two bright spots appeared together, while another spot was dimmer.
It seemed that Zhang Quan had found one of the child needles and had twisted and discarded it.
However, he hadn't discovered the other two, which were likely still on his body.
Mo Hua's spirits lifted.
Finally, a clue...
Mo Hua then took out the map of Nanyue City and located the bright spots, which led him to a remote mine outside the city.
There were many mines outside Nanyue City.
Some belonged to the Lu family, some to the Nanyue Sect, some to the Court of Daoism, and others were occupied by various large and small families, sects, or the dead.
Some mines were currently being mined, while others had not been touched due to various reasons.
Still, others had been exhausted of their resources and abandoned.
Zhang Quan was hiding in one such abandoned mine.
Mo Hua and his senior martial brothers and sister donned their cloaks and stealthily left Nanyue City, heading towards the mine where Zhang Quan was hiding.
It was a small and dilapidated mine, filled with dirt and disorder.
Due to its abandonment, there was no sign of human activity.
Instead, the mine was permeated with a stale and eerie aura of death.
Mo Hua swept the area with his spiritual sense, his eyes turning cold.
The mine exuded an ominous and sinister atmosphere.
Perhaps this was where Zhang Quan had hidden the bodies of the mine cultivators he had bought.
(End of Chapter)
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