In South Yue city, cultivators from various families and sects related to Tian Shu Pavilion gathered, each possessing their own methods and divine powers.
This point was evident, and not just to the emaciated old man.
Above the mine, corpse qi permeated.
Within, countless types of corpses were being nurtured.
Although everyone present was from major forces and had seen much of the world, under the surging corpse qi, they all gasped in cold air.
The Dao Court had unified, and the demonic path was gradually declining.
Where could one still see such heavy corpse qi these days, and where could one see so many zombies?
For a time, everyone was flustered and fearful.
"How audacious!"
"Who is refining corpses?"
"...Exactly how many people have been killed?"
"Despising the Dao Court, disregarding Dao laws, outrageous!"
"...Which demonic sect's methods are these?"
Everyone discussed heatedly, and finally, someone said:
"How should we handle this?"
Regarding this question, everyone fell silent for a moment.
A cultivator said: "Evil demons are rampant, we cannot just sit and watch, we should exterminate them!"
"Too many..."
"We can't manage them all..."
"Don't forget our main purpose, we came here not to meddle in other affairs."
"How can this be called meddling?"
"Exterminating demons and protecting the Dao, it is the law of heaven and earth!"
"Hmph, hypocritical, who are you pretending for..."
"You son of a... "
Arguments rang out in the inn.
But it was confined to the inn.
The entire South Yue inn was booked by this group of cultivators. They had set up means to shield vision and hearing, isolating outsiders. People of a different kind could not enter this inn.
After arguing for a long time, the emaciated old man who used the "Three Talents Easy Numbers Copper Coins" for divination suddenly frowned and slowly asked:
"Do any of you know where that person is?"
Everyone was silent for a moment, then all shook their heads.
The emaciated old man said again:
"He let us calculate him, to lure us here, but having arrived, there is no trace of him, only a mine permeated with corpse qi. Do you all think this is a coincidence?"
"What do you mean?"
The emaciated old man said: "That person perhaps only cared about this corpse mountain, and simply lured us here."
Everyone looked at each other, and someone else said:
"Then what?"
"Has he had a change of heart and wants us to take action to help?"
"No, he's dragging us here to do hard labor..."
"Or, is he testing us? Who can solve this problem, and he will see who?"
"What are you thinking?"
"Our motives are not pure... He is not some old grandpa who gives opportunities to people."
"Indeed... That person is arrogant, with unparalleled talent, and looks down on everyone. Why would he be so bored as to play these kinds of boring tricks with us?"
"Then how do you all say we should handle it?"
Everyone exchanged glances, each with their own ulterior motives, and remained silent.
Finally, they dispersed unhappily, leaving the matter unresolved.
After the emaciated old man and the other two returned to their room, they set up a sound isolation array and began to talk in secret.
The middle-aged cultivator said: "The corpse qi is too heavy, not long from now, it may turn into a corpse tide. South Yue city is not a place to stay long."
The emaciated old man said: "What do you mean?"
"What else could I mean? Leave quickly, if we don't leave, and fall into a corpse tide, we may not be able to escape."
The middle-aged cultivator's tone sank slightly, "Even if there is no corpse tide, to use such methods to conceal himself and refine so many zombies, how can this kind of cultivator be easy to deal with?"
"There's no benefit in this matter, why are we wading into this muddy water?"
The emaciated old man remained silent.
The middle-aged cultivator was surprised and said: "You don't want to stay, do you?"
The emaciated old man's eyebrows were tightly locked, and he nodded slightly.
The middle-aged cultivator let out a "tsk" sound, then turned his head to ask the white-clothed youth, "Little Young Master, what about you?"
The white-clothed youth nodded and said:
"A corpse tide brings disaster, and living beings suffer. I also want to stay and contribute some small effort."
This kind of youthful spirit, full of hot-blooded words, made his head ache a little to listen to.
But if he were to leave alone... Without the old man's divination using the Three Talents Easy Numbers Copper Coins, he would just be like a headless fly, bumping around everywhere.
The middle-aged cultivator was somewhat unwilling and asked the old man:
"Do you really want to stay?"
The emaciated old man nodded, seeming to think of something. His expression was somewhat grave. After a moment, he slowly said:
"I... have a kind of premonition..."
The middle-aged cultivator was startled, "What premonition?"
The emaciated old man took a deep breath, his gaze shocked and uncertain:
"These past few days, I have occasionally felt a throbbing fear in my heart."
"It seems there is a great terror ahead, extremely dangerous, with life and death unpredictable."
"And if we can suppress the corpse mine, save this city, even the cultivators in this state boundary, perhaps we can form a good karma. In the future, when we encounter a desperate situation of nine deaths and one life, there will be a ray of hope..."
The middle-aged cultivator frowned.
He felt nothing at all, so naturally, he did not believe any of it.
But he also knew, listening to others' advice is helpful.
Cultivators who could live to old age in this cultivation world, even with illusory premonitions, had to believe them.
"Alright, I will also stay, but I must say upfront, once things turn unfavorable, I will run away."
The middle-aged cultivator said helplessly.
The emaciated old man nodded, and the white-clothed youth breathed a sigh of relief and smiled slightly.
The next day, there were fewer people in the inn.
Some were in South Yue city and could not find any clues about Mister Zhuang, so they went to other places to search.
Some were worried about a corpse tide erupting and not being able to protect themselves, so they left without saying goodbye.
But similarly, there were also people who stayed.
Some, like the emaciated old man, vaguely sensed a thread of karmic mystery from within the corpse mine.
There were also those who felt nothing at all, but were purely upright in disposition and wanted to eradicate zombies and do something for the local cultivators.
Everyone discussed ways to suppress the corpse mine.
But within the corpse mine, there were countless zombies, making it extremely troublesome to deal with.
"With just us cultivators, it's probably not enough."
"We need to write a letter back to our families or sects to request reinforcements."
"That will take a while..."
"There's no other way, we can't go in without any preparation, like fools rushing to their deaths..."
"We are also completely unaware of the situation inside the corpse mine."
"How many iron corpses, how many walking corpses, and are there other special zombies? Who is refining them? Are the local cultivation forces participating in it?"
"No need to think, there are definitely local forces involved. Building a corpse mine requires quite a lot of manpower and resources. Without the support of local forces, it cannot be built."
"The Lu family, right?"
"I think so too."
"Do you have evidence?"
"Based on experience, you can tell at a glance..."
"A strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake, that is just troublesome."
A young cultivator proudly said:
"It's a pity this place is only a second-grade state boundary, restricted by the heavenly way. Golden Core cultivators cannot act. Otherwise, I would let my dad come, and one sword would flatten this mountain!"
"Alright, alright, we know your dad is a Golden Core..."
"Even if a Golden Core comes, one sword cannot flatten it..."
"Even if it's flattened, these zombies, half of them won't be killed for a while. Once the zombies lose control and invade South Yue city, then all the cultivators in the entire city will become zombies, and the problem will be even bigger..."
"Young people should not be too arrogant."
"Solving problems requires force, but relying solely on force doesn't work either..."
The young cultivator sat down disgruntled.
"Then how do we handle it?" Someone asked again.
Everyone pondered for a moment, and someone slowly said: "The Dao Court?"
"Requesting the deployment of Dao soldiers?"
"Indeed, that's a method..."
"Who has connections with the Dao soldier department?"
"Several of my uncles hold positions in the Dao soldier department..."
An old man shook his head, "Don't think about it, the Dao Court won't send Dao soldiers, and even if they do, there won't be many?"
"The risk is too high, the cost is too great."
"How can that be? Slaying demons and eliminating evil is originally the fundamental principle of Dao laws, and also the duty of the Dao Court."
"That's easy to say..."
"Don't think things are too simple."
"So much manpower and resources, how can they just deploy them on command?"
"Exactly, calculating from top to bottom, with the layers skimming off benefits, the actual cost could be even greater."
"These words should not be spoken casually..."
"The Dao Court also has its difficulties..."
"What difficulties? The difficulty of eating and taking bribes?"
"You shouldn't be sarcastic..."
"You son of a... "
Everyone chatted and chatted, and simply got angry.
"Alright, alright," an elder with seniority and high generation, a white-bearded old man, slowly said, "Let's talk about proper matters."
The argument only then ceased.
After a moment of silence in the room, someone else said:
"How about we each family jointly sign and submit a memorial to the Dao Court, stating the pros and cons, making the matter public, bringing it to the surface? The Dao Court cannot ignore it..."
Everyone nodded slightly.
Just at this time, the emaciated old man sitting in his seat suddenly stood up, pinching his Easy Numbers Copper Coins, his face pale.
The surrounding cultivators looked at each other, somewhat puzzled.
The white-bearded old man frowned and asked: "Old Brother Wen, what happened?"
The emaciated old man's expression was alarmed, and he said in a trembling voice:
"Just now, inspiration suddenly came to me, and then I used the Easy Numbers Copper Coins to divine a hexagram..."
"The hexagram image displayed..."
"Displayed... the future scene of the mine."
The emaciated old man thought of that scene, still somewhat in shock:
"Living people and dead corpses mixed, the boundaries of life and death indistinguishable, living people like corpses, corpses like living people, and ruling over them, is a corpse king. This corpse king, its pupils have a dark gold blood color, not under the control of any person or corpse..."
The white-bearded old man heard this, his face changing dramatically.
Other cultivators were still somewhat confused, "How is this different?"
"This is to say," the emaciated old man said slowly, his expression fearful:
"A corpse king has been refined within this corpse mine. If it is not suppressed, and is allowed to develop, after a hundred years, it will inevitably brew into a heavenly disaster. This corpse king will become... a corpse evil!"
"That is to say, this corpse mine is actually nurturing a Dao evil!"
As soon as these words were spoken, all the cultivators present were alarmed and terrified.
"Dao evil!"
This was a word that could only be seen in cultivation classics, meaning a great disaster that manpower could almost not resist.
Even families or sects with a thousand years of foundation had records of being slaughtered by Dao evils...
Nurturing a Dao evil?
The white-bearded old man's voice couldn't help but tremble, "These words... are they true?"
The emaciated old man's heart was alarmed, "The hexagram image is so..."
He thought for a bit, then added: "The matter of Dao evil, with my own ability, I cannot calculate it..."
The implied meaning was that someone had allowed him to calculate it, or rather, through his hexagram image, had told everyone...
Who this person was, everyone knew clearly in their hearts.
The white-bearded old man was silent for a moment, his expression serious, and he solemnly said:
"This matter should be submitted in a memorial to Tian Shu Pavilion, requesting the elders to calculate."
"At the same time, it should also be submitted to the Dao Court, requesting the deployment of Dao soldiers for support..."
"If it is truly so, that a Dao evil is breeding within the corpse mine, then all mobilizable cultivators must be mobilized, at all costs, to suppress the corpse mine, kill the corpse king, and strangle this Dao evil in the bud, leaving no future troubles!"
(End of this chapter)
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