"The Ancestral Master of the Zhang Family had such a powerful Divine Thought. Devouring it and then refining it away should certainly allow one to cross the bottleneck and reach the Divine Sense of Thirteen Stripes..." Mo Hua muttered to herself. Divine Sense with Thirteen Stripes... For cultivators at the initial stage of Foundation Establishment, the limit of their Divine Sense is that of Thirteen Stripes. Once one possesses a Divine Sense of Thirteen Stripes, they are only one step away from the requirement of Divine Sense Foundation Establishment mentioned by Master... Mo Hua felt some anticipation in her heart. Then she hesitated a bit. "Should I devour it now?" The remnants of the Ancestral Master of the Zhang Family’s Divine Soul were too strong; if swallowed whole, the process would likely be quite filling and take a long time to "digest"... And currently, Mo Hua was still unclear about the situation outside. She did send out the news about the Corpse Mine. However, inside South Yue City, none seemed to be able to contend against the Lu Family. Now, with Zhang Quan dead and Lu Chengyun in sole control of the Corpse King, running the Ten Thousand Corpses Compound Formation, refining corpses on the one hand and controlling them on the other, his power would continue to grow unchallenged within the borders of the Second-Grade Prefecture... "This is troublesome..." After some thought, Mo Hua decided to refine away the Zhang Family Ancestral Master first. One must eat the meat that’s already in their mouth as soon as possible. Devouring the Ancestral Master of the Zhang Family would also strengthen her own powers, and even if something unexpected happened, she would feel more confident. Besides, the Ancestral Master’s techniques were extraordinary. Though she blew him into a wisp of blue smoke, there was no guarantee that he didn’t have some technique to revive from the dead and restore his Divine Thought. Such old scoundrels were very sly. One must act prudently and eliminate all potential threats thoroughly! Consume completely without leaving any leftovers! Mo Hua immediately took action, transforming her Divine Thought into a formation, preparing to refine the remaining Divine Thought of the Ancestral Master’s Copper Corpse. To be on the safe side, she first used the Golden Lock Formation to lock up the blue smoke created from the Ancestral Master and then manifested the Melting Fire Formation, slowly roasting it with bright red flames. Stay connected via empire After roasting for a while, Mo Hua suddenly remembered. The Zhang Family had not only the Ancestral Master but also those Iron Corpse Elders. The eleven Iron Corpses initially, now six were near death, leaving only shadowy figures. The remaining five Iron Corpses were crippled by the Ancestral Master in the final battle of attrition, with only one left, the Chief Elder of the Zhang Family, and even he was left gasping for life... Mo Hua felt fortunate. The Ancestral Master of the Zhang Family had a strong Divine Thought and many techniques. Thankfully, she had been...no, had been careful! By using these Iron Corpses, she pressured the Ancestral Master into revealing his moves, depleted his strength, and withstood his ruthless attacks... Then she ambushed the old zombie herself. And finally, ground him down to death through sheer perseverance. Otherwise, the outcome of the battle would have been uncertain... Controlling the Iron Corpses, turning them for her use, with his own spear against his own shield. "The Spiritual Pivot Formation is really useful!" Mo Hua praised in her heart. The Iron Corpses shouldn’t be wasted either... Mo Hua gathered these Iron Corpses as well, tossing them into the Melting Fire Formation alongside the Ancestral Master. The Zhang Family, from disciples to old ancestors, including generations of forefathers, were all stewed in one pot by Mo Hua... Not until the blue smoke "stewed" into white smoke did Mo Hua inhale it in one gulp and then slowly started the refining process... This took quite some time. From defeating and controlling Zhang Quan and Elders "Song" and "Si," to setting an ambush and hunting other Iron Corpse Elders of the Zhang Family, to finally dominating the Iron Corpses and hunting down the Ancestral Master, and successfully subduing him... Five to six days had passed. Mo Hua, hidden inside the sealed white coffin, was unaware of anything. But outside, a massive battle had already erupted... Foundation Building Cultivators clashed with Iron Corpses, crushing mountains and splitting the earth. The mines were ravaged by spells and physical strength, with rocks shattered and pathways cratered. Below Foundation Building, there were Taoist Soldiers forming long formations, fighting to the death against the Corpse Tide. The Taoist Soldiers’ formations were meticulous, their orders strict, their killing decisive; Walking Corpses covered the mountainsides, fierce and hideous, fearlessly ferocious. The two forces fought, a battle both spectacular and tragic. In the territory of South Yue City, corpses were everywhere, with thousands of Zombies besieging the city. The city gates of South Yue City were tightly shut; Mining Cultivators gathered at the city wall, fending off the invading Walking Corpses and those Cultivators who had been bitten by Iron Corpses and Walking Corpses, struck by Corpse Poison at heart, turned into mindless flesh puppets. The clouds above the city were dense and grim, the atmosphere one of cold lethality. All were anxious and uneasy, uncertain whether tomorrow would bring sunshine or a deluge over the city. If the Taoist Court emerges victorious in the future, suppressing the Corpse Mine, exterminating the Zombies, everything would be great. If, however, Taoist Court was defeated, the surging Corpse Tide would instantaneously overwhelm South Yue City. In that event, every Cultivator within the city would become food for the Zombies. Some Clan and Sect Cultivators within the city, unwilling to share fate with the city, secretly fled, but most were intercepted by the scattered Walking Corpses along the way. In the midst of battle, once blood was shed, the scent of blood dispersed. Soon, large masses of Walking Corpses would swarm towards the smell. It may even attract Iron Corpses. Once an Iron Corpse appeared, the fleeing Cultivators had almost no chance of survival. Even a Foundation Building Cultivator might perish in the vast numbers of First Grade Walking Corpses out in the open fields. A few days ago, during the chaos, one of the Foundation Cultivation Taoist Soldiers’ commanders was struck by an Iron Corpse, broke away from the array of his soldiers, and was submerged by the tide-like rush of Walking Corpses. No matter how many Walking Corpses he killed, more would pile onto him, like a person drowning in water, overwhelmed by the Corpse Tide; no matter how much he struggled, he could not reach the shore and was ultimately torn apart by the Walking Corpses, alive... Yang Jishan’s heart was tormented as if cut by knives. These Taoist Soldiers were his brothers, who had shared life and death with him, but he never expected they would die before his eyes, in such a manner. And he was powerless to help. The Zombies were too numerous, too powerful. Yang Jishan never anticipated that, despite all the careful preparations, they would still suffer such losses.