Chapter 514: A Boon for the People
Chapter 514: A Boon for the People
In the city of Nanyue, Master Zhuang shook his head with a helpless smile. "Every time, such a ruckus. This child never fails to worry me..."
Old Gui glanced at him. "You seem rather pleased about it."
Master Zhuang couldn't help but chuckle. "I suppose so."
After all, he is my disciple!
Old Gui was speechless for a moment before furrowing his brows. "The karma of kneeling before a Dao devil... that's no small matter."
Master Zhuang shook his head. "First of all, it's not a Dao devil yet..."
"For my senior brother's scheme to turn the Corpse King into a Dao devil, there are two conditions."
"One, this Nanyue City will continue to refine century-old zombies, slowly creating sins through the foul aura of death and the resentful energy of the dead, allowing the Corpse King to gradually awaken."
"Two, if the plan is exposed and the Corpse King turns on its master, then it will immediately transform into a Dao devil."
"However, evil cannot overcome righteousness. The evil spirit array couldn't surpass the ultimate spirit array."
"So, from start to finish, Lu Chengyun could never truly be considered the Corpse King's master. The true master has always been this child, Mo Hua."
"Since it couldn't devour Mo Hua, it couldn't turn on its master."
"Therefore, this Corpse King can only be considered half a step into becoming a Dao devil, or perhaps, a calamity in the making, not yet transformed into the body of a Dao devil."
Master Zhuang looked at Old Gui again and continued, "Second, even if it were a Dao devil, it wouldn't matter."
"Mo Hua made it kneel through his own abilities."
"Once it kneels, it signifies submission, and this mark will be imprinted in the karma of the Dao, unable to be altered."
"For Mo Hua, this is also an opportunity..."
"As for how to use this heaven-defying karma, he'll have to learn that in the future."
Having said that, Master Zhuang couldn't help but sigh. "However, although there were some coincidences, to make a Dao devil kneel and submit is still... too outrageous."
Old Gui remained silent for a moment before asking, "You didn't foresee this?"
Master Zhuang frowned. "I'm not some fortune-teller who can predict everything."
Old Gui gazed at him silently, deep in thought.
After a while, Old Gui's eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke in a low voice, "This child's divine sense has already reached the peak of thirteen strands."
Master Zhuang nodded, feeling relieved and surprised at the same time.
"Yes, it's much faster than I expected..."
"What do you plan to do next?"
Master Zhuang paused, then lifted his head, his gaze drifting beyond the mountains towards the distant horizon. "To go where I must."
Old Gui's brows furrowed deeper. "Are you really going?"
Master Zhuang nodded. "The grudges of the past must be settled."
He then turned his gaze towards the courtyard.
In the courtyard, the plants were lush and the pond clear.
The large tree that shielded them from wind and rain swayed gently in the breeze, its leaves fluttering to the ground.
Under the tree, Mo Hua and his junior martial brothers and sisters often gathered to cultivate, meditate, study array formations, chat, and play. These scenes flashed through Master Zhuang's mind...
A hint of reluctance and melancholy tinged Master Zhuang's expression.
"This journey is also coming to an end..."
...
On the hill of graves, Mo Hua stood with his hands behind his back, directing the zombies to temporarily return to the mine and settle in the depths of the mine shaft.
The Corpse King hung its head low as it followed behind Mo Hua.
The Iron Zombie stood like a guardian in front of Mo Hua.
Meanwhile, the countless walking corpses formed lines and calmly marched towards the depths of the mine, their movements synchronized...
It was as if these miners, after a long day's work, were returning home as the sun set.
Amidst the bloodshed and cruelty, there was an air of tranquility and peace.
The zombies returned to the mountain in an orderly fashion, and this continued throughout the entire night.
As dawn broke, the sun rose, painting the sky with a brilliant hue, and the radiant glow bathed the peaks outside Nanyue City.
The cultivators were dazed, as if they had just woken up from a nightmare.
In their dreams, there was the terrifying Corpse King, the savage tide of corpses, and the desperate struggle between life and death.
Now that they were awake, the sun still rose as usual, and everything had disappeared without a trace.
But they knew that it hadn't been a dream.
They clearly remembered the night of blood, the putrid corpse aura that blotted out the sky, the Corpse King's horrifying roars, and the twisted, terrifying aura of a Dao devil.
They also remembered that despite the Corpse King's fearsome power, it had ultimately been subdued, forced to its knees, and made to submit to a young cultivator.
Mo Hua was the master of the Corpse King.
At the same time, he seemed like a mysterious little demon.
The Corpse King knelt, and the horde of zombies bowed.
This unbelievable scene left an indelible impression on their minds, shaking them to their core.
They looked at Mo Hua with a mix of gratitude for saving their lives and fear of his command over the zombies.
Now, all the zombies in Nanyue City were under his control, their lives hanging by a thread of his will.
Everyone was on edge, their minds tense.
But Mo Hua seemed completely unaffected by it all.
He kept his aura subdued, appearing no different from an ordinary, adorable young cultivator.
It was as if none of the previous events had anything to do with him. He even asked Yang Jishan, "Uncle Yang, do you have anything to eat? I'm hungry..."
Controlling the zombies had exhausted his spiritual energy, and now that things had settled down, he realized how hungry he was.
He had some dried meat in his storage bag.
But it was made by his mother, and he usually couldn't bring himself to eat it, saving it for special occasions.
Yang Jishan was taken aback by the question.
For a moment, everyone was at a loss for how to react...
...
After a full night's work, under Mo Hua's command, all the zombies, including the Corpse King and the Iron Zombie, temporarily returned to the mine and settled in its depths.
This mine had become a mountain of corpses.
And within it, the Corpse King still slumbered.
After settling the horde of corpses, Mo Hua left some Dao soldiers to keep watch while the other cultivators temporarily returned to the city to rest.
Mo Hua, too, returned to the cave abode with his senior martial brothers and sisters.
Having controlled the corpses for an entire night, his spiritual sense was somewhat exhausted, and he felt weary. Now that things had settled down, he indulged in a good night's sleep.
When Mo Hua woke up, he found that Yang Jishan had been waiting for him for quite some time.
Unlike Mo Hua, Yang Jishan hadn't dared to sleep a wink.
Every time he lay down, he thought of the terrifying karmic sin, the powerful Corpse King, the ferocious horde of corpses, the broken Sunset Spear, and the Dao soldiers and cultivators who had perished at the zombies' hands.
He thought of the mastermind behind it all, nurturing the karmic sin.
He thought of Mo Hua, who seemed pure but was utterly inscrutable.
He thought of the shocking scene on the hill of graves, where the Corpse King had knelt down.
And he thought of how, at that moment, tens of thousands of zombies were still under Mo Hua's control...
His head throbbed painfully, and his thoughts were in disarray.
Yang Jishan's face was pale, his breath weak, and his eyes bore dark circles.
On the other hand, Mo Hua looked refreshed after a good night's sleep. His eyes sparkled with vitality, and even his cheeks looked plump and healthy.
"Uncle Yang, is something the matter?" Mo Hua asked curiously upon seeing Yang Jishan.
How could there be nothing the matter!
Yang Jishan felt bitter inside but didn't know how to broach the subject.
"Is it about the zombies?" Mo Hua asked.
Yang Jishan nodded. Mustering his courage, he finally asked anxiously, "What do you plan to do with them?"
Mo Hua thought for a moment but didn't answer immediately.
Yang Jishan pretended to be calm, but his heart was in his throat.
A single Corpse King, dozens of Iron Zombies, and tens of thousands of Walking Corpses.
If they were turned into corpse soldiers, they would be an incredibly powerful force!
He was afraid that Mo Hua would make excessive demands or, worse, veer down the wrong path, embracing these "corpses" and becoming a little demon lord.
Yang Jishan's heart was filled with trepidation.
Just then, Mo Hua spoke up, "Uncle Yang, how does the Dao Court usually deal with this kind of zombie disaster?"
Yang Jishan was taken aback, then pondered for a moment before slowly explaining, "The Dao Court deals with zombie disasters by apprehending the culprits and masterminds.
"Zombie cultivators who practice necromancy and create zombies are the first to be arrested and interrogated. If they resist, they are executed on the spot.
"If they are captured alive, they are thrown into the Dao Prison and sentenced according to their crimes. The lightest punishment is exile to the Southern Wastelands to be used as cannon fodder in battles, but most often, it's the death penalty, with varying degrees of torture involved.
"The more heinous the crime, the slower and more painful the death.
"As for the zombies themselves, they are all burned to ashes.
"Since zombies are undead and carry corpse poison, once they are tainted with bloodshed, the corpse energy mutates, and they will continue to kill and eat people. The spread of corpse poison is also extremely harmful...
"Additionally, all evil artifacts and arrays used for creating zombies are destroyed.
"Anyone who shelters zombie cultivators, allows the creation of zombies, or assists in their creation is considered an accomplice and punished equally..."
...
Yang Jishan explained everything in detail to Mo Hua.
After listening, Mo Hua fell into deep thought and then asked, "So, you're saying that all these zombies should be burned?"
Yang Jishan nodded reluctantly, his voice faint. "Yes..."
"I understand," Mo Hua said, nodding. "Then let's do that."
Yang Jishan was taken aback. "Burn them?"
"Yes," Mo Hua affirmed.
Yang Jishan found it hard to believe. "Even the Iron Zombies and the Corpse King?"
Mo Hua looked at him, perplexed. "Why wouldn't we?"
Yang Jishan was shocked, but he still asked softly, "Don't you want to keep them?"
Mo Hua shook his head. "They are harmful things. Why would I keep them? Moreover, they pose a significant threat, and the Corpse King is difficult to control. It's best to burn them and eliminate the evil completely, leaving no future troubles."
Yang Jishan opened his mouth but was so moved that he felt like crying.
What a wise and righteous child!
Previously, he had thought that Mo Hua might have some personal agenda, which made him anxious. Now he realized that he had underestimated the boy's magnanimity.
"However..." Mo Hua added.
Yang Jishan's heart sank.
Usually, when someone said "however," it wasn't going to be good news...
His anxiety returned.
"I have something I want these zombies to do," Mo Hua said.
Yang Jishan's heart sank, but he asked in a deep voice, "What is it?"
"I want to use these zombies to build a mine," Mo Hua said.
"A mine?" Yang Jishan frowned.
"Yes," Mo Hua nodded. "Build a mine...
"The mining cultivators of Nanyue City have suffered the most in this zombie outbreak.
"Their lives are already difficult, struggling with scarce spiritual stones and a hard livelihood. In death, they are turned into zombies, forced to harm others, unable to find peace even after death.
"In life, they are exploited, and in death, they are enslaved..."
"After this zombie outbreak, the mountain has suffered large-scale collapses, and the mines within are damaged, filled with corpse energy and evil influences, rendering them unusable.
"Without mining, the loose cultivators of Nanyue City will lose their means of livelihood.
"If we just leave, they won't be able to survive.
"So, I want to build a larger mine, connecting several mountains, with more robust array formations to stabilize the mountains, eliminate the corpse energy, cleanse the evil influences, and find a way to increase the output of the mines...
"This will give the loose cultivators of Nanyue City a safe and stable place to earn a living, without risking their lives, worrying about accidents, or leaving behind grieving families..."
"However, to do this, we will need a lot of resources and manpower."
"Living beings in the Qi Refining Realm cannot undertake this task as it would put their lives at risk."
"But the walking corpses can."
"Most of these walking corpses were once mining cultivators from Nanyue City in their previous lives..."
"They may still have family members or close friends in the city."
"Before they truly pass away and their souls disappear, I want them to do one last meaningful thing for their living relatives and friends, and for their descendants..."
Yang Jishan's heart trembled as he looked at Mo Hua, seeing his eyes as clear as water.
The golden sunlight shone through the trees, illuminating Mo Hua's figure.
Yang Jishan took a deep breath and slowly stood up, bowing respectfully to Mo Hua.
...
Following Mo Hua's plan, the next steps were set in motion.
These zombies were to be burned.
The Corpse King, as the offspring of a Dao devil, had three masters and a history of turning against its masters. Although Mo Hua was its final master, he had no intention of keeping it.
Otherwise, it would eventually bring calamity.
The Iron Zombies and the other walking corpses would naturally be destroyed as well.
Burning the zombies required the use of the Corpse Burning Array.
This array was said to have been designed by a master array formation expert from the Dao Court specifically to eradicate the zombie menace.
It could not only incinerate the zombies' bodies but also purge the zombie poison, leaving no trace of their existence.
Mo Hua had studied the array and found it to be ingeniously designed, utilizing both fire and earth elemental array patterns. By using earth to suppress water and fire to purge the poison, it was indeed very practical.
Mo Hua took a few extra glances, secretly committing the array to memory...
However, there were too many zombies in Nanyue City.
This was a large-scale zombie outbreak, and the corresponding scale and number of Corpse Burning Arrays required were also considerable.
Fortunately, the Dao Court would handle this matter.
Mo Hua didn't need to worry about it.
He only needed to figure out how to construct the large-scale mine.
This decision was made with Yang Jishan's consent and the support of the Dao Court cultivators present.
Among them, some genuinely empathized with the struggles of the loose cultivators in Nanyue City and wanted to do something good.
Some simply wanted to curry favor with Mo Hua.
Others were reluctant but couldn't forget the scene of the Corpse King kneeling before Mo Hua, and they dared not disobey out of fear.
The final group agreed simply because everyone else had, not wanting to be left out.
Despite the varying motivations and complexities, a consensus was reached.
With Yang Jishan's connections in the Dao Soldier Division and the other cultivators' backgrounds in influential sects and clans from the various states, it was much easier to push this initiative forward.
Constructing the large-scale mine required both manpower and resources.
The manpower issue had been resolved—the zombies would provide the labor.
This would probably be the most meaningful thing they would do since becoming zombies.
As for resources, they would come from two sources.
The first was the Dao Court in Nanyue City.
Corruption ran deep within the Nanyue City branch of the Dao Court, especially with the city's chief officer, who had accepted countless bribes from the Lu family.
Confiscating everything would likely result in a substantial sum of spirit stones.
Of course, the Nanyue City chief had already been relieved of his duties and imprisoned. He would undoubtedly be sentenced to death, but the method of execution was yet to be determined.
The second source was the Lu family.
The Lu family's properties were confiscated.
These confiscated resources would be used for the construction of the mine.
These spirit stones and possessions had originally been extorted from the mining cultivators, so returning them to be used for the benefit of the miners was simply returning what was rightfully theirs.
Taking from the people to give back to the people.
Mo Hua had considered all of this beforehand, but the actual confiscation and collection of resources were left to Yang Jishan and his Dao soldiers.
Yang Jishan did not hold back.
The Dao soldiers were experienced in confiscating properties.
The amount of spirit stones collected was astonishingly high, totaling several million. Even Yang Jishan, who came from a prominent clan, was shocked. He couldn't help but exclaim:
"This Lu Chengyun, no, this Lu family, is incredibly wealthy!"
"And the chief officer has pocketed nearly a million as well..."
However, Yang Jishan was also aware that there was no such thing as unearned wealth.
The wealth of the Lu family came at the expense of the mining cultivators.
The poorer the cultivators became, the richer the Lu family grew.
Their immense wealth also served as a stark reminder of just how destitute the loose cultivators of Nanyue City had been all these years...
This amount of spirit stones was too large to be left untouched.
The Dao Court would find a way to confiscate and distribute it among themselves, with each person in the chain taking a cut.
But this matter was too big.
It involved a Dao devil, multiple influential families, and was out in the open for everyone to see. No one dared to take advantage of the situation.
Thus, to quell the disaster, Yang Jishan made the final decision.
These spirit stones would remain in Nanyue City.
With both manpower and resources secured, Mo Hua officially began work on the new large-scale mine, connecting several mountains.
(End of Chapter)
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