"It's simply a disgrace to our Corpse Path ancestral masters!"
"What's even more infuriating is that the spirit stones earned from mining are to be sent out?"
"Really, once a dog, always a dog!"
"And to think he said I had a small vision? I see that you, as the Family Head for too long, have been blinded by wealth and luxury, narrow-sighted, timid and skittish!"
"To scurry like a rat and live like a dog for hundreds of years, how can that compare to the grandeur of the Demon Path?"
"To establish the Demon Gate, to promote the Corpse Path, to honor our ancestors, to leave a legacy of infamy in the annals of the state boundary, to be renowned among fellow corpse cultivators, even if it is but a transient splendor, and in the end to be suppressed by the Taoist Court so that not even my bones remain, would still suffice!"
Zhang Quan's expression was passionate, his gaze resolute.
...
Mo Hua fell silent.
This Zhang Quan had his own ideas...
And also... a belief and pursuit for the Corpse Path?
Mo Hua found it hard to judge at that moment.
After Zhang Quan cursed Lu Chengyun for a while and calmed his emotions, a moment later, he smirked coldly and whispered low:
"Lu Chengyun..."
"Corpse refinement is not for you alone to dictate... "
"...Once the Corpse King has been refined, you will no longer have a say..."
"I am not as timid and hesitant as you are."
"I will certainly bring forth the Corpse King, let Iron Corpses massacre the city, turn South Yue City into a field of walking corpses, plunge the Minor Wilderness State Boundary into purgatory, make all cultivators of this world lose their courage at the mere mention, let them know what true corpse cultivation is!"
Zhang Quan's voice was icy, and after he finished, he snorted coldly and then left.
A glint flashed in Mo Hua's eyes, chilly and sharp.
Zhang Quan, Lu Chengyun...
Though their methods differed drastically, neither was a good sort.
Whichever of them took control of the Corpse King, the outcome would not be good.
One would create a land strewn with floating corpses; the other's poison would reach far and wide.
Mo Hua then thought of Zhang Quan's angered expression and his recent words, spawning a thought.
Did Zhang Quan not get along with Lu Chengyun, and, judging by his intentions, did he also aspire to control the Corpse King?
To control the Corpse King would surely require opening the bronze coffin.
In that case, would this not present an opportunity for him?
Mo Hua's eyes flickered.
He spent all his free time thereafter tracking Zhang Quan.
When Zhang Quan was alone, he was indeed sneaky, even setting up a Formation to watch with Divine Sense, clearly preparing for something.
Mo Hua, cautious not to startle the snake, did not dare to spy too closely.
But he knew that Zhang Quan was sure to be up to something.
He was acting just like Mo Hua himself did when planning mischief.
Indeed, a few days later, one night, while Lu Chengyun was busy with clan affairs and had left the corpse mine, Zhang Quan snuck out as well.
Mo Hua quickly made himself invisible, left his own room, and went straight to the Ten Thousand Corpses Sacrificial Altar to wait for him.
In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Zhang Quan entered the altar.
Mo Hua still hid behind the altar, secretly watching him.
Seeing no one around, Zhang Quan, sneaky and a little on edge, removed a bronze coffin nail from his Storage Bag.
Mo Hua's eyes lit up, and he immediately understood.
"So it's the coffin nail!"
This coffin nail was both a key and contained a Pattern.
Normal coffin nails are for sealing coffins, but this one was for opening them.
Zhang Quan took out the nail, measured along the coffin lid, found a spot three inches from the edge, and nailed it into the bronze coffin.
Then, a flicker of aura appeared on the bronze coffin.
It seemed that something had been unlocked.
Zhang Quan was overjoyed and instantly lifted the lid, revealing the inside of the coffin, which was adorned with a Blood Formation.
Zhang Quan then took out a dagger, sliced open his palm, and allowed his blood to flow into the grooves of the coffin.
Once the grooves were filled with blood, Zhang Quan took out a Corpse Controlling Bell.
This Corpse Bell, neither stone nor wood, nor bronze nor iron, was pitch-black, with Pattern lines as sinister as those on the bronze coffin inside.
Zhang Quan rang the Corpse Bell.
The sound was muffled and strange, like a zombie whispering.
After ringing the bell for a while, Zhang Quan continued with the blood feeding ritual, then rang the Corpse Bell again, taking bizarre steps around the bronze coffin in reverse.
Feeding blood, ringing the bell, walking in reverse.
He chanted under his breath.
Though Mo Hua didn't quite understand, based on his prior research and what he had learned from Lu Ming about corpse refining, he guessed this to be a special Corpse control method within the Corpse Refinement arts.
Indeed, after seven rounds of blood feeding, seven rings of the bell, and seven reverse circuits,
the sound of a heartbeat emerged from the bronze coffin.
This was the heartbeat of the dead.
Distinguishable from the heartbeat of the living, it was sinister and eerie.
Just listening to it made Mo Hua feel uncomfortable, his own heart feeling slightly suffocated.
Fortunately, this heart only throbbed faintly for a moment and then stopped.
Zhang Quan, however, was thrilled.
He resealed the coffin, retrieved the coffin nail, looked around to be sure no one was there and that he hadn't left any other traces, then snorted coldly and left the vast, empty altar.
Behind the altar, however, Mo Hua peeked out his head.