The Quest for Immortality

These Wooden Ox and Flowing Horses are just simple puppets.

Their structure is very basic, capable of only mechanical forward movement, backward movement, and turning.

Even the Little Tiger designed by Mo Hua is more complex than these, but for the purpose of transporting ore, they’re sufficient.

Due to their simplicity, only the most basic Spiritual Pivot Formation is needed.

Unlike the Corpse King, there’s no need to draw complex Sequential Formation Patterns, and build hundreds or thousands of Spirit Pivot tiers for layered control.

Therefore, even Young Master Yun, who was just beginning to learn the Spiritual Pivot Formation, could draw it.

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And with Young Master Yun’s help, the progress was much faster.

But after the drawing was completed, things weren’t that simple.

These Spiritual Pivot Formations and Ox and Horse Puppets still had to be used in practice and adjusted accordingly.

Mo Hua took some time to test them in the mines, to see if these Wooden Ox and Flowing Horses could function normally.

Adjusting was not difficult, but it was tedious.

During the test mining and ore transport, manpower was needed to assist.

Adjusting the Formation, modifying the Formation, as well as repairing these Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse puppets also required "people" to lend a hand.

Mo Hua decided to use zombies for this labor.

Mo Hua then drew a group of zombies from the Corpse Mine, had them mine the ore, loaded it on the carts, and then pulled it out with the Wooden Ox and Flowing Horses.

Among these zombies was a small one.

It was not tall and had a pale face.

It was the small zombie that Mo Hua had first modified with Sequential Formation Patterns in the Formation of Ten Thousand Corpses, the one that secretly opened the door for Mo Hua every night.

Part of the Corpse Mine had collapsed, and the Formation of Ten Thousand Corpses had been destroyed.

While clearing the zombies and coffins from the Formation, Mo Hua found that this small zombie was still there.

Because it was so small and weak,

Lu Chengyun had not sent it out to fight with the Taoist Soldiers.

So, in the midst of the surging Corpse Tide and the fierce battle on both sides, it had quietly remained in its own coffin all along.

This small zombie was probably about ten years old, which should be older than Mo Hua, but it probably also came from a poor background, given its skinny build. It didn’t look much bigger than Mo Hua.

It’s just unknown how it died at such a young age, and how it ended up in the hands of Lu Chengyun, to be refined into a zombie.

At the age of ten, its life had just begun.

If its family was poor, it might not have even enjoyed much happiness in life.

Mo Hua felt some sympathy and regret for it.

During the adjustment of the Wooden Ox and Flowing Horses, Mo Hua specifically kept it by his side.

The other zombies mined, dug and transported the ore.

This small one, on the other hand, followed Mo Hua around, moving things, sweeping the mine tunnels, and exploring the mountain paths.

Or, when a Wooden Ox or Flowing Horse malfunctioned, it listened to Mo Hua’s commands, took the puppet apart for Mo Hua to inspect, or handed Mo Hua brushes and ink to repair the Formations….

All these lighter labor tasks were done by the small zombie.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi also saw this small zombie and were somewhat surprised.

Bai Zisheng was mainly angry:

"Lu Chengyun, that bastard, didn’t even spare such a young Cultivator. I should have stabbed him a few more times!"

Bai Zixi, looking at the small zombie, furrowed her brow.

Mo Hua asked in confusion, "Sister, is there something wrong?"

Bai Zixi thought for a moment and slowly said,

"This small zombie has only Corpse Qi on its body, no Blood Qi."

No Blood Qi?

Mo Hua was slightly taken aback but soon understood.

Only having Corpse Qi, without Blood Qi, meant that it had died and was turned into a zombie, but it hadn’t had the chance to eat human flesh or drink blood yet.

That wasn’t much of a surprise.

This small zombie was somewhat weak; it probably couldn’t kill a person.

Even if it had the opportunity to eat flesh and drink blood, it wouldn’t be able to compete with other zombies.

It could only rely on the nefarious Qi in the Corpse Raising Coffin to nourish its Corpse Qi.

Bai Zisheng glanced at Mo Hua, puzzled, "You’re not planning to keep it by your side forever, are you..."

Mo Hua sighed and shook his head,

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust; since it has become a zombie, it has its own destiny."

Bai Zisheng curled his lip and muttered,

"Such a young age, yet speaking so morbidly."

Mo Hua snorted, "You won’t get any beef tonight!"

Bai Zisheng immediately softened, "Junior Brother, I was wrong, what you just said was not wrong at all, very right, it makes a lot of sense!"

Bai Zixi let out a slight sigh and looked at Bai Zisheng with some disdain.

After a while, Bai Zisheng asked,

"So what are you planning to do with this small zombie? Burn it? The Corpse Burning Formation of the Taoist Court is almost ready..."

Mo Hua was somewhat conflicted and after pondering for a moment, he sighed,

"I’ve drawn Formation Patterns on it, and it has helped me. We’re connected by fate. Once everything is over, I’ll let it be laid to rest..."

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi both nodded in agreement.

...

Over ten days later, the Wooden Ox and Flowing Horses were properly adjusted.

All of the Ox and Horse Puppets had been marked with the Spiritual Pivot Formations.

As Mo Hua had predicted, the Spirit Stones were not greatly depleted, the controls were simple, the wood was durable, and they had enough strength; transporting ore was more than manageable.

The only issue was, once damaged, there was no one to repair them.

To fix these puppets, mastery of the Spiritual Pivot Formation was required.

When both Mo Hua and Young Master Yun leave, no one in South Yue City would know the Spiritual Pivot Formation, so naturally no one would be able to repair these Wooden Ox and Flowing Horses.

Therefore, they must be well-maintained during regular use.

With proper use, the natural wear and tear, these Ox and Horse Puppets would have a long lifespan.

Mo Hua entrusted this matter to the new Court Leader in South Yue City.

The Taoist Court Officials in South Yue City were almost completely replaced, from top to bottom.

The new Court Leader, a member of the Situ Family named Situ Shen, who seemed to be of the same branch as the former Elder Situ Jin, were particularly courteous to Mo Hua and even showed some respect.