Chapter 946: The Earth Sect
Chapter 946: The Earth Sect
Mr. Pi's gaze gradually turned sinister, but this momentary change was fleeting.
Soon, his expression returned to normal as if nothing had happened. He took out the compass and walked ahead of the group, as he always did, observing the formation and discerning positions, using the compass to determine the direction, and moving forward along the passage.
Along the way, the passage was pitch-black and oppressive, filled with a pungent odor.
In the darkness, there seemed to be unknown dangers lurking, an eerie chill that sent shivers down one's spine.
The group remained vigilant, not daring to relax for a moment.
Mr. Pi and his companions were experienced and well-versed in this field, but it was precisely because of this that they were extra cautious, not daring to be negligent or careless.
Mo Hua observed this and had a fleeting thought:
Could there really be an extraordinary burial site beneath this Solitary Mountain? Otherwise, it was impossible for Mr. Pi and his companions to be so meticulous and cautious, and they wouldn't have the appearance of facing a formidable enemy, being so careful...
Mo Hua looked around and couldn't help but recall Master Gu's words, silently thinking to himself:
"If there really is a grand burial site, then wouldn't it be possible that there are 'evil beings' that have undergone corpse transformation or ghostly changes?"
This tomb might be even more dangerous than he had imagined...
Mo Hua felt a chill in his heart, and without realizing it, he moved closer to the few tomb robbers, thinking that if his fellow cultivator died, these Golden Core cultivators should be the first to face any danger.
Fortunately, the journey ahead was temporarily safe.
After walking for about half a day, the passage gradually widened, and the stone walls became more solid, taller, and more spacious. Soon, a massive tomb gate appeared before them.
As soon as Mo Hua saw the tomb gate, he was startled, and in an instant, his heart skipped a beat, and goosebumps rose on his skin.
It wasn't just because the tomb gate was ferocious, solemn, and terrifying.
But because, it was actually a...
Water Prison Gate!
The entire tomb gate, in its design, resembled the one he had seen in the Water Prison Diagram, a treasure of the Water Prison Gate, which was used to suppress and punish sinners. It was almost an exact replica.
The arch of the gate resembled the fangs of a ferocious beast, and the walls were covered with formation patterns, like the chains of a prison, interlocking with each other.
At the two large gates, the door rings resembled the jaws of man-eating beasts, striking fear into the hearts of the small-minded.
On the left and right gates, a human figure was carved on each, with a human body and an animal head—one with a bull's head and the other with a horse's face. Their expressions were fierce and dignified, each holding a pair of shackles, firmly securing the tomb gate, as if restraining the contents within, not allowing them to escape from underground.
The entire tomb gate exuded an eerie solemnity.
Mo Hua knew some inside information, and the more he looked, the more shocked he felt. He never expected to see traces of the Water Prison Gate's heritage in the underground tomb beneath Solitary Mountain.
Although Mr. Pi and his companions were unaware of the Water Prison Gate's secrets, seeing the solemn tomb gate before them also made their hearts feel slightly numb.
"Ash Sir, something feels off."
"Why does this tomb gate have such a design..."
"Doesn't it resemble the gate of the Dao Prison a little?"
"I was wondering why it looked so familiar... Damn, I spent fifty years in the Dao Prison, and I can't stand the sight of this thing..."
"Don't you find it strange? If the tomb gate is the gate of the Dao Prison, then isn't this tomb a prison?"
"Who was buried here, and they still wanted to be imprisoned?"
"That doesn't make sense..."
"Wasn't it said that the one buried here is..."
...
The few whispered among themselves, filled with unease.
Mo Hua eavesdropped, listening intently.
After a while, Mr. Pi frowned and said, "We've come this far, and there's no turning back. We're in this line of work, and we don't have the luxury of being picky. Besides, we've already accepted the payment; we can't just abandon the task, can we?"
"That's right," said the Golden Core cultivator among them, known as "Ash Sir," "We're here for the treasures in the tomb, so why bother about who's buried here?"
"After mixing in the underworld for so many years, we've seen all sorts of strange things. The bold survive, and the timid starve..."
After hearing these words, the group's courage grew.
"Mr. Pi, let's open the tomb gate," Ash Sir said.
"Alright," Mr. Pi nodded, and then, following the same method, he took out the compass, the bronze formation brush, and the formation paper, and began deducing on his own.
However, after a while, Mr. Pi frowned and turned to ask, "Let's bring the 'guest' down first."
Ash Sir was taken aback, "Isn't it a bit early? According to the agreement, after breaking the gate, we'll go and invite them, and then we'll enter the tomb together."
Mr. Pi thought for a moment and shook his head, "This tomb gate is a bit tricky and will require more effort. We just killed some Shen family cultivators above, and I estimate that someone will come seeking revenge. Time is precious, and we can't afford to delay, or else things might take an unexpected turn. You go and invite them, and I'll break the formation."
Ash Sir pondered for a moment and nodded, "Alright. 'Rat' will stay with you."
Ash Sir pointed to the short and thin cultivator with long fingers, the Golden Core cultivator who had crushed several Shen family cultivators' heads with his bare hands outside.
To avoid bad luck, tomb robbers used nicknames instead of their real names.
"Rat" was the nickname of a Golden Core tomb robber.
"No need," Mr. Pi said, "Take 'Rat' and 'Stone' with you. This group of guests is not to be underestimated, so be on your guard. Breaking the formation is something I can handle alone."
Ash Sir agreed, knowing that even if they died, Mr. Pi might not.
"Alright," Ash Sir nodded.
Mr. Pi took out a piece of paper, drew a few lines, marked the directions, and then handed the diagram to Ash Sir.
Ash Sir then left with the other two Golden Core cultivators.
Only Mr. Pi, Mo Hua, and the unconscious Shen Qingsheng remained at the scene.
This tomb, who built it, and who exactly is buried within?"
"How could it be the inheritance formation of the Water Prison Sect...?"
"Moreover, this tomb gate seems to be the 'Prison Gate', which aligns with the aura and Blood Pupil Technique of the Water Prison Sect... What's the connection here?"
...
Mo Hua's brows furrowed deeper and deeper.
After a moment of such contemplation, he suddenly felt the atmosphere around him turn chilly and the air became eerily quiet. Even the faint sound of the bronze formation brush on the paper had vanished.
Mo Hua was startled, looked around, and then frowned.
"Strange, where did Mr. Pi go...?"
As Mo Hua muttered to himself, he happened to turn around and saw Mr. Pi standing right behind him, his face grim as he held a dagger, stealthily stabbing towards his heart.
Mo Hua was so scared that his face turned pale, and his legs went weak. He stumbled and fell to the ground.
Just as he fell, he narrowly avoided Mr. Pi's deadly strike, which seemed to be poisoned and sharp.
Mr. Pi's expression was peculiar, "This little brat, you're pretty lucky..."
Mo Hua was terrified, "Senior, what are you doing?"
Mr. Pi gave a sinister smile, "What do you think?"
"I..." Mo Hua stammered, "You... you want to kill me?"
"You got it right, but it's of no use." Mr. Pi said indifferently, then took a step forward and stabbed towards Mo Hua's heart.
Mo Hua's hands and feet were shackled by the Second Rank Iron Shackles, leaving him unable to resist. He could only roll on the ground, dodging Mr. Pi's deadly attack. At the same time, he hurriedly said:
"Senior, weren't you asking for my help?"
"This Shen family's young master can take your place, whether you're here or not, it doesn't matter."
"How can one be enough? At least keep one more as a backup..." Mo Hua said.
But Mr. Pi ignored him, intent on killing Mo Hua. The dagger in his hand glinted with a cold light, and each time he stabbed, it was aimed at Mo Hua's vital point. Yet, Mo Hua narrowly avoided each deadly strike.
Mr. Pi's anger grew, and he suddenly realized what was happening. He coldly smiled, "I didn't realize you, young man, have such a good body technique..."
Mo Hua was only focused on escaping, paying no attention to Mr. Pi's words.
Mr. Pi's lips curled up slightly, "But, this is where it ends."
Mo Hua's heart jumped, just as he was about to say something, he felt the ground shake beneath his feet. The earth energy surged, and rocks rose up, forming a cage that trapped him instantly.
It was a formation.
Even though Mo Hua's hands and feet were bound by the shackles, Mr. Pi had set up the formation in advance to ensure nothing went wrong.
Moreover, this formation was derived from the Earth Array's heritage, making it extremely obscure. Ordinary cultivators, even ordinary formation masters, would not be able to detect it.
Trapped by the formation, Mo Hua's face turned pale.
Mr. Pi sneered, "You want to run again?"
Mo Hua looked like a little deer caught in a trap, his eyes filled with fear, and he asked Mr. Pi with a terrified expression:
"Senior, we have no grudges, no enmity. Why must you kill me?"
Seeing that Mo Hua was trapped by his formation with no chance of survival, Mr. Pi smiled faintly and slowly walked forward, saying:
"In my life, I've traveled far and wide, and I've met many cultivators. Just one glance, and I knew you were no ordinary friend."
"At first, I thought you had high talent and a natural understanding of formations. But when you pointed out the flaws in my formation, it was enough to prove that your master's teachings were profound, and your foundation in formation arts is very solid."
Mo Hua felt guilty, "I was just lucky..."
Mr. Pi shook his head, "There's no such thing as luck in formations. Either you know it or you don't. Luck has no place in the path of formations. Even if someone is lucky, it's still based on their foundation of strength. Without strength, luck is useless."
"I'm not mistaken, you're a formation genius." Mr. Pi's tone was firm.
"Senior, are you out of your mind? No matter how high your talent is, what does it have to do with me?"
"You're not really that naive, are you? Just because you have good talent, you think everyone will want to nurture you and teach you formations?"
"This is the cultivation world, where people are greedy and self-serving. No one will treat you well without reason."
"You're just too green..."
...
Mo Hua's pitiful appearance touched Mr. Pi's heart, and he couldn't help but feel a twinge of compassion.
Such a handsome young man, an excellent formation talent, was about to die by his own hand today.
"Kid, before you die, I'll teach you one thing so you can die with clarity."
Mr. Pi held the poisoned dagger and slowly approached Mo Hua, his face darkening with a sinister smile.
"As a formation master in the cultivation world, always remember: no matter what you do, it's best to have only one formation master in a group."
"And that formation master should be you."
"You're the only formation master, so others won't dare to silence you easily."
"And because you're the only formation master, only you understand formations. No matter what you do or say, whether it's right or wrong, only you will know."
"If you want to kill, scheme, or double-cross, everything is up to you."
"This is the experience I've gained after hundreds of years in the cultivation world, working with all kinds of cultivators, licking blood off the blade, snatching food from the tiger's mouth."
"Your formation skills are too good, I can't let you live, so you can only die."
"Remember, if there's a next life, always remember this..."
Mr. Pi infused his spiritual power into the dagger, and its blade glinted with a deadly dark green light.
As Mo Hua's eyes filled with fear and despair, Mr. Pi grinned maliciously and, with practiced ease, stabbed the formation genius in the chest.
As the master of this art, Mr. Pi performed these movements with great familiarity.
The genius of formations, who had always kept himself hidden from the light, felt a dark thrill.
But in the blink of an eye, Mr. Pi's sinister smile froze. His dagger pierced Mo Hua's chest, but no blood flowed; instead, a mist of water emerged.
Mo Hua's face showed no fear or despair, but a strange smile as he glanced at Mr. Pi.
This smile instantly gave Mr. Pi goosebumps.
"Not good!"
Mr. Pi's eyes widened, and he quickly turned around. But halfway through the turn, a glimmer of fire appeared at the corner of his eye.
This flame was different from ordinary fire.
It was deep, eerie, and filled with a violent spiritual power. Its subtle aura made Mr. Pi's bones chill.
"What...what is this...?"
Mr. Pi wanted to struggle, but in that instant, he had no chance to react. He felt a burning pain in his back.
The flames devoured his flesh.
At that moment, a kind voice sounded: "Thank you for the guidance, Senior. Among us, only one formation master can learn from you."
Mr. Pi's heart skipped a beat.
In that instant, he had only one thought left:
"Damn, we're in trouble. We've been hunting birds all day, and now we're the ones getting pecked in the eye..."
In the next moment, the flames exploded. They erupted from Mr. Pi's back, like a condensed flame dragon, burning through his internal organs, drying up his blood, and piercing through his chest. A trail of blood and fire shot out into the air.
Minor Meteor Technique!
As the fire faded, Mr. Pi slowly knelt on the ground. His five viscera were incinerated into ashes, and not a trace of life remained.
Mr. Pi was dead.
Now, among this group, only one formation master remained—Mo Hua.
After killing Mr. Pi, Mo Hua turned to look at Shen Qingsheng, who was nearby.
Shen Qingsheng, who had regained consciousness at some point, stared at Mo Hua with a mixture of horror and disbelief.
Mo Hua gave him a cold look and made a silent gesture, warning, "You didn't see anything. If you dare to say a word, I'll kill you."
Shen Qingsheng felt a chill run down his spine, and he couldn't help but shiver. In his heart, he thought, "What is this Mo Hua...?"
Mo Hua ignored him and focused on handling the aftermath.
After a moment's thought, Mo Hua searched Mr. Pi's storage bag and took everything of value from his body, putting it all into his own possession.
Then, Mo Hua searched the area and finally found a mechanism in a passageway. This mechanism was designed to kill, and it was a huge stone roller that would crush anyone who entered the tomb.
When Mr. Pi entered, he had sensed this mechanism and intentionally avoided it.
But now that he was dead, he couldn't avoid it anymore.
Mo Hua dragged Mr. Pi's body over and placed it in the mechanism's slot.
In an instant, the mechanism activated, and the slot shook violently, lifting Mr. Pi's body into midair.
From a distance, a whistling sound approached, and three fire arrows pierced through the air with great force, deeply embedding themselves in Mr. Pi's corpse. Then, along with the arrows, they flew towards the end of the passageway.
At the end was a stone roller, which crushed Mr. Pi's body into a meat patty, his blood splattering and staining the roller red.
Mo Hua quickly covered his eyes, his heart filled with reproach:
"I wonder who designed this tomb; it's too cruel..."
It was so cruel that even he couldn't bear to look.
However, Mr. Pi was a tomb robber who had disturbed the peace of the dead and looted many tombs. In the end, he died in the tomb's mechanism, a fitting end.
Mo Hua nodded and retraced his steps to the tomb's entrance.
Shen Qingsheng watched Mo Hua's figure, seeing him as a devil.
Mo Hua glanced at him, and Shen Qingsheng's face turned pale. He curled up on the ground, unable to bear looking at Mo Hua again.
Only then was Mo Hua satisfied. He reattached the Second Rank Iron Shackles that he had unlocked, carefully restoring the formation patterns on the shackles.
Afterward, he sat cross-legged and began to examine Mr. Pi's storage bag, which he had wanted to obtain for a long time. He hadn't expected it to come into his possession so quickly.
It was Mr. Pi's overcautiousness and impatience that led to this.
Mo Hua shook his head and continued to search through the storage bag.
Inside the bag were spirit stones, Obstacle Dispelling Pills, Evil Exorcising Pills, Filth Purifying Pills, and other commonly used pills for tomb exploration. Most of the items were related to the formation master's heritage.
For example, there were compasses, jade slips, formation books, formation diagrams, and more...
Mo Hua quickly flipped through them, and his heart skipped a beat.
This Mr. Pi seemed to be a disciple of the Earth Sect.
His heritage came from the Earth Sect, a major sect in Kunzhou.
"Earth Sect..." Mo Hua pondered.
This name was not unfamiliar to him. In fact, he possessed a copy of the Earth Sect's secret ultimate formation—
The First Rank Eleven Pattern Heavy Earth Ultimate Array.
When he learned this formation, his master had mentioned some of the Earth Sect's origins.
The Earth Sect was one of the largest sects in Kunzhou.
Its exact size, his master didn't specify, but given his master's insight, this sect was described as "very large," likely placing it at the Fifth Rank or higher.
Kunzhou, like Qianzhou, was a large state.
Kunzhou's land was even more fertile, and its noble families were extremely wealthy.
One of Kunzhou's largest sects, with its financial resources and heritage, might be more powerful than the Four Great Sects of Qianxue State to contemplate new possibilities.
Of course, the Earth Sect had one more thing that left a deep impression on Mo Hua.
It was a treasure map, said to be the Earth Sect's ultimate treasure, passed down for tens of thousands of years, containing profound Dao insights and invaluable value. It was so coveted by the Dao Administration that they had to divide it into two parts—
The ancient contemplation chart, the Heaven and Earth Contemplation Chart!
(End of Chapter)
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