Not unexpectedly, Zhang Quan was completely no match for Lu Chengyun.

Lu Chengyun’s sword techniques were profound and powerful, and his movements were pure and skilled.

Zhang Quan, sticking to his old ways, relied on his corpse transformation to directly confront Lu Chengyun head-on. As a result, he was pierced by sword energy until he was like a sieve, bleeding profusely, and fell to the ground.

This lack of strategic thinking and simplicity in tactics made Mo Hua sigh as he watched.

Mo Hua had still thought that Zhang Quan, daring to fight Lu Chengyun fiercely, must have some hidden tricks up his sleeve. He hadn’t expected that Zhang Quan was just relying on sheer anger and fearlessness of death.

Then he was truly going to die…

Mo Hua shook his head repeatedly.

If he were truly his ancestor, he would be so angry he’d flip over in his coffin.

He had secretly manipulated the iron corpse and helped him so much, yet this Zhang Quan still didn’t amount to anything!

If this continued, without Zhang Quan as a pawn, he would have no way to trap and kill Lu Chengyun…

Mo Hua felt a bit helpless.

On the altar, Zhang Quan was gasping for breath.

His face was pale, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth. Perhaps knowing he was about to die, he didn’t beg Lu Chengyun for mercy but used all his strength to speak intermittently:

“My… my… painting, where is it?”

Lu Chengyun raised an eyebrow. “You mean your ancestral painting?”

Zhang Quan coughed up a mouthful of blood and said weakly:

“Yes…”

Lu Chengyun shook his head. “It’s mine now.”

Zhang Quan’s face showed anger, and he coughed up several more mouthfuls of blood before slowly saying:

“Fine… I surrender, but… Brother Lu, considering all the things I’ve done for you over the years, before I die, let me see my ancestors… just one more time…”

Lu Chengyun’s gaze slightly narrowed, showing no emotion, but he asked lightly:

“See it once, then what?”

Zhang Quan’s expression turned fierce, and he said hoarsely:

“I, Zhang Quan, am unfilial. I have not continued the Zhang family bloodline and have cut off the Zhang family’s path of corpse refinement. I want to kowtow to my ancestors… and apologize!”

Lu Chengyun was slightly moved and nodded, saying: “Alright!”

He took out a scroll from his storage bag.

The scroll was rolled up, the paper was old, and there were faint dust stains and footprints on it, having been stepped on by Mo Hua…

Indeed, it was the Zhang family’s ancestral painting.

Zhang Quan’s eyes lit up with excitement.

Lu Chengyun slowly unfurled the painting.

Zhang Quan’s gaze was fixed on the painting in Lu Chengyun’s hand.

Lu Chengyun unfurled it halfway, his gaze slightly chilling. Taking advantage of Zhang Quan’s distraction, he suddenly drew his sword and pierced Zhang Quan’s chest, instantly killing him!

Zhang Quan looked at the sword in his chest, then raised his head to look at Lu Chengyun again, his face showing disbelief. He gritted his teeth and said:

“You, Lu dog thief, you…”

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Quan stopped breathing and slowly fell to the ground.

Even on the ground, Zhang Quan died with his eyes wide open, staring at Lu Chengyun.

Lu Chengyun looked back at the dead Zhang Quan, his expression calm. After confirming that he was dead, he said gently:

“Brother Zhang, I’m sorry, I was afraid you still had some tricks up your sleeve, so for safety, I could only let you die first…”

“Don’t worry about the Zhang family’s affairs.”

“This ancestral painting, I will cherish it.”

“In the future, I will adopt a son and name him ‘Zhang’ to carry on the incense for your Zhang family.”

“Your Zhang family’s path of corpse refinement will also be greatly developed and promoted in my hands…”

After speaking, Lu Chengyun used Zhang Quan’s corpse to wipe the blood from his sword, then sheathed it and walked to the front of the altar.

In front of the altar, the corpse king, nine feet tall and majestic, stood like an abyss.

Lu Chengyun’s divine sense moved, and he could feel that this corpse king was completely under his control. The more than twenty iron corpses around it were also all under his command.

Lu Chengyun’s heart was no longer calm, and he finally couldn’t help but laugh wildly:

“From now on, this corpse king that commands the corpses will only listen to my command!”

“The cultivators of South Yue City, from birth to death, will all dig mines for my Lu family!”

“The entire South Yue City will be under my control!”

“This small Barren State is also about to change!”

Lu Chengyun was laughing when he suddenly stopped. He thought of Mo Hua.

Now that Zhang Quan was dead, the only person who knew about the Ten Thousand Corpses Altar was Mo Hua.

Mo Hua had built the array eye for the Ten Thousand Corpses Return Array and had also seen the array painted on the bronze coffin.

In the entire corpse mine, besides him, the person who knew the most about the array’s secrets was Mo Hua…

Lu Chengyun’s gaze flickered, and he released his divine sense, his face changing slightly:

“Where did this little mister go?”

Mo Hua was startled and quickly held his breath, concealing his presence.

Lu Chengyun’s divine sense scanned the corpse mine. He suddenly realized something and began scanning the altar again. After a long time, he still found nothing…

He frowned and said doubtfully:

“Where did he go?”

At this moment, Mo Hua, who had been hiding behind Lu Chengyun, secretly observing him all evening, didn’t dare to breathe.

Lu Chengyun thought for a long time but found no clue. He became a little irritable. He used his divine sense to carefully scan the altar again.

However, the altar was too large, and after a fierce battle, he didn’t search for long before his divine sense couldn’t support it.

Lu Chengyun stopped searching.

If he continued searching and his divine sense was exhausted, he wouldn’t be able to control the corpse king, causing it to go out of control, which would be dangerous…

Lu Chengyun put away the painting, ordered the corpse king to return to the bronze coffin, and then ordered the iron corpses back into their iron coffins. After dragging up Zhang Quan’s corpse, he threw it into an empty coffin on the side.

Although Zhang Quan was dead, his corpse could still be used to refine corpses and serve him.

Lu Chengyun’s gaze turned slightly cold. He then looked around, not knowing what he was thinking, and with a flick of his sleeve, he left the altar.

Mo Hua slightly relaxed his breath.

Not until Lu Chengyun had gone far away and there was no sign of him returning.

Mo Hua then secretly left the altar, quietly returned to his room, and burrowed into the quilt pretending to sleep.

If Lu Chengyun came to check the room, he would say that he had been in the room all along and hadn’t gone out, pretending to know nothing.

Lu Chengyun knew he had a hidden technique.

Breaking the hidden technique required divine sense.

And Lu Chengyun had consumed a lot of divine sense during his fierce battle with Zhang Quan, so there was a high probability that he would think his own divine sense was depleted, which was why he hadn’t discovered him…

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then suddenly shook his head.

That’s not good.

Although this excuse might work, there was still a considerable risk.

Moreover, it wasn’t like before…

Now that Lu Chengyun had killed Zhang Quan, there was no Zhang Quan as a shield, and Lu Chengyun’s attention would be on him.

Mo Hua’s mind raced.

He wanted to run!

He couldn’t run directly. The natural giant stone served as a door, and there were two second-grade iron corpses guarding it.

These two iron corpses were under control, and he was physically weak and didn’t dare to get close to change the sequence arrays on their spirit hubs.

Waiting for the outside cultivators to attack the corpse mine and escape in the chaos would likely be too late.

The corpse king had been refined early, Lu Chengyun had acted early, and the crisis had also arrived early. There was simply no time to wait.

Then he could only explode it!

“How to explode it?”

Mo Hua pondered.

He couldn’t use the Reverse Spirit Array. The array’s collapse was extremely powerful, but it was too special and would easily expose his cards, and Lu Chengyun would easily remember it.

The Earth Fire Array’s return array should be just enough.

Just set up the Earth Fire Return Array at the small cave entrance where the little tiger had dug. The stone wall there was thin and should be able to explode and collapse a part of the corpse mine. He could then take the opportunity to escape…

With the idea set, Mo Hua decided to try, but before he could even draw the array, he was suddenly startled.

His divine sense perceived Lu Chengyun approaching.

Mo Hua quickly climbed back into bed, covered himself with the quilt, and pretended to sleep.

A moment later, there were footsteps outside the stone room.

The sound was very faint, but it couldn’t deceive Mo Hua.

Lu Chengyun paced outside the room, wandering several circles, seeming to hesitate about something. Finally, he opened his mouth and said gently:

“Little mister…”

Mo Hua didn’t pay attention to him.

Lu Chengyun called out gently several more times, like a kind and polite old friend.

Mo Hua felt that his divine thought was a little sinister, as if he was plotting something, but there was no direct killing intent. His mind moved slightly, and then he got out of bed and opened the door.

Before opening the door, Mo Hua messed up his hair, then opened the door with a drowsy look, saw Lu Chengyun, and still pretended to be surprised:

“Family Master Lu, why have you come?”

After that, Mo Hua still rubbed his eyes, looking confused and pretending not to be awake.

Lu Chengyun was slightly startled and asked:

“Little mister, have you been in the room all along?”

Mo Hua said doubtfully: “It’s late at night, if I’m not in the room, where else could I be?”

Then he became a little dissatisfied and muttered in a low voice: “There’s nothing fun to play here either…”

Lu Chengyun hesitated.

For a moment, he couldn’t quite tell if Mo Hua was acting or not.

Could someone so young really have such a deep mind and such innocent and flawless acting skills?

Lu Chengyun frowned, silent.

Mo Hua asked again:

“Family Master, it’s so late, what matter do you have with me?”

Lu Chengyun came back to his senses and suddenly laughed:

“Lu came to find little mister this time because I want to fulfill my promise.”

“Promise?”

Lu Chengyun nodded, “Didn’t I tell you before? As long as little mister helps me build the array eye, I will teach you… that array…”

Mo Hua’s sleepiness was completely gone, and his eyes lit up:

“Really?”

Lu Chengyun smiled slightly: “I am a clan master, of course, I don’t go back on my word.”

Don’t go back on your word…

The scene of Lu Chengyun promising Zhang Quan to let him see the ancestral painting, and finally killing Zhang Quan with a sword before even opening the painting, flashed through Mo Hua’s mind.

Mo Hua cursed in his heart: I believe your ghost!

But on the surface, he still pretended to know nothing. “Can I learn now?”

Lu Chengyun shook his head, “Some preparation is still needed.”

Mo Hua was puzzled. “Preparation?”

Lu Chengyun sighed and said: “This array… is extremely difficult. I have also studied it for decades, and only have some small success.”

“And the most difficult part of this array lies in divine sense.”

“The threshold of divine sense is too high…”

“Little mister’s talent is extremely high, but after all, you are still young. With your current divine sense, you might not be able to learn it yet. So before learning this array, you need to find a way to enhance your divine sense.”

Mo Hua was startled, then said in “shock”: “Enhance divine sense? Could it be…”

“Correct!” Lu Chengyun nodded. “Little mister’s vision is extraordinary, you should know… contemplation paintings!”

Mo Hua sucked in a breath of cold air and said incredulously:

“Family Master actually has a contemplation painting in your hand?!”

Lu Chengyun nodded, saying with deep meaning:

“This contemplation painting, little mister has actually seen it before…”

“I’ve seen it before?” Mo Hua looked confused.

Lu Chengyun said: “It’s Zhang Quan’s ancestral painting!”

Mo Hua opened his mouth wide, pretending to be surprised.

Although his expression was a bit exaggerated, Lu Chengyun was racking his brain to lure Mo Hua onto the hook, so for a moment, he didn’t suspect anything.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then blinked:

“But, when I looked at that painting, my divine sense didn’t improve ah…”

Lu Chengyun revealed a profound and unfathomable smile. “That’s because, little mister, your method wasn’t correct.”

“There’s still a method?”

Lu Chengyun nodded and said gently:

“Little mister, follow me…”

Mo Hua looked confused and obediently followed Lu Chengyun.

Lu Chengyun brought Mo Hua to a secret room. In the secret room, there was still an altar.

The setup of the altar here was just simpler.

There were three dishes on the platform.

One contained hand bones, one contained foot bones, and the middle one contained a skull.

There were also candles lit on the altar.

The candles were white, the flames were ghostly green, and the candle wax flowed like human tears, solidifying at the bottom of the platform after dripping.

Besides that, there were some strangely shaped objects and a white coffin.

This setup looked very familiar to Mo Hua, almost exactly the same as the altar in Walking Corpse Village where Zhang Quan sacrificed human divine sense to the ancestral painting.

Mo Hua showed a look of “fear” and asked:

“Family Master, this is…”

“This is an altar,” Lu Chengyun said.

Seeing Mo Hua’s uneasy expression, he smiled slightly and said:

“This ancestral painting is a bit special. You need to burn incense and make sacrifices before you can open your heavenly eye, see the true form of the painting, comprehend the great dao laws within, and borrow it to enhance your divine sense.”

Lu Chengyun pointed to the white coffin on the side and said:

“I’ve lit the incense, and I’ve also set up the sacrifices…”

“Next, I will offer the contemplation painting.”

“Before that, little mister only needs to lie in that coffin, with no worries in your heart, casting life and death aside, then you can see the true meaning of this painting and promote your divine sense…”

Lu Chengyun’s tone was gentle, and he had a faint smile on his face, but his eyes reflected the ghostly green candlelight.

Mo Hua was a little afraid. “Really… really?”

Lu Chengyun’s voice deepened. “Naturally true…”

“But…” Mo Hua looked at the coffin.

This coffin was the same shape as the one in Walking Corpse Village, but it was more exquisitely made and also smaller.

It seemed tailor-made for him…

Mo Hua said timidly: “I, I don’t want to go in…”

Lu Chengyun’s face suddenly changed, his expression became ferocious, and he said in a low voice:

“Go!”

Mo Hua was startled.

Lu Chengyun smiled sinisterly. “Little mister, don’t disappoint my good intentions!”

Mo Hua frowned tightly, hesitated for a long time, and then, under Lu Chengyun’s cold gaze, slowly lay down in the small coffin.

Lu Chengyun sneered, took out coffin nails, and sealed the coffin. Then he solemnly took out Zhang Quan’s ancestral painting and respectfully offered it up.

Incense smoke curled, and candlelight flickered.

Lu Chengyun bowed and chanted some words:

“Today, the painting is opened, incense is burned, and respect is paid…”

“… With white bones as offerings, to the first master, and with human sense, as a feast.”

“Ancestors of the Zhang family above, your descendant, Lu Chengyun, respectfully bows!”

Mo Hua, lying in the coffin, immediately let out a painful shout when he heard these words.

He remembered that when Zhang Quan used human sacrifices for the painting, the movement from inside the coffin was just like this.

Of course, he still needed to use his fingernails to scratch the coffin, scratching out heart-wrenching, painful, struggling, despairing, and tormenting sounds.

But Mo Hua was afraid of pain…

His small hands probably couldn’t scratch much.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then released the little tiger and let the little tiger scratch the coffin board for him.

The little tiger’s claws scraped, and the coffin board indeed made “squeak squeak ya ya” heart-wrenching sounds.

Mo Hua also coordinated by shouting:

“It’s so uncomfortable!”

“Ah!”

“It’s so painful! Let me out!”

Lu Chengyun remained unmoved.

After shouting for a while, there was gradually no movement or sound from inside the coffin.

Lu Chengyun stood for a long time, then sighed, saying regretfully:

“Such good talent, what a pity. The cultivation world is dangerous, and even heaven-bestowed talents can die early…”

Lu Chengyun shook his head and left the altar.

Mo Hua then lay quietly in the small coffin. When he saw Lu Chengyun leave, he patted his chest with his small hand and slightly relaxed his breath.

Then he thought of the Zhang family’s ancestral painting offered on the altar at this moment and couldn’t help but lick his lips, muttering:

“Is he feeding me to the painting, or feeding the painting to me?”

Forgot to say, happy National Day everyone.

This chapter has over 4k words, so it was written a bit late.

(End of this chapter)