The two people outside the door were eavesdropping, but they themselves fell asleep while listening.
Uncle Nine and Lin Yu exchanged a glance, both finding it somewhat amusing. They got up and pushed open the door.
Wen Cai and Qiu Sheng were huddled together under the eaves in the corner of the courtyard, back to back, their robes covered in morning dew.
Hearing the door open, the two of them jolted awake and quickly stood up straight, trying to act as if they had just arrived. However, their bodies were stiff, their movements were comical, and they almost fell over together.
The two of them didn't know why they had fallen asleep, but since they had been discovered, they could only awkwardly make up excuses.
"Master, Master... we're getting up for morning exercise." Qiu Sheng forced out a smile that looked more like a grimace.
Wen Cai quickly nodded, "Yes, yes, morning exercise! To absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth!"
Uncle Nine, with a stern face, snorted, "Morning exercise? Exercise until you're shivering in the corner? When have I ever taught you any exercises that require enduring the cold!"
His gaze swept over their ears, which were purple from the cold. "Get back inside! Do you want me to make you some ginger soup?"
Wen Cai and Qiu Sheng felt as if they had been granted a pardon. They didn't bother to argue anymore and limped but rushed towards their room, as if they were afraid that if they were a step too slow, they would be left behind for extra training.
Watching his senior brothers' disheveled figures, Lin Yu couldn't help but chuckle.
Uncle Nine sighed helplessly, but a faint, almost imperceptible smile curved his lips.
The mortuary, with its noisy and unreliable antics of Wen Cai and Qiu Sheng, adds a touch of vibrant life to this place where corpses are kept.
"These two clowns..."
Uncle Nine shook his head, turned to Lin Yu and said, "You should rest for a while longer; we've been traveling and chatting all night."
His tone, however, lacked any sense of ease; instead, it carried a somber air, as if a storm was brewing.
Lin Yu smiled and agreed, but did not immediately return to his room. His gaze swept over the faint morning mist that filled the courtyard of the mortuary.
"Master, have you noticed that the malevolent energy in the human world has been getting stronger these past two years?"
Uncle Nine stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the dawn sky in the east, his brows slightly furrowed. "It's more than just heavy. Three months ago, the zombies at the Tengteng Formation broke free of the formation's restraints. Over a hundred corpses were tainted by the evil energy overflowing from the formation, and the casualties around the coffins were severe."
Lin Yu was surprised to hear this. The area was also set up by a formation by a senior figure in the modern Spirit Illusion Realm, but he didn't expect that even the zombies there could break through the formation's suppression.
Clearly, the malevolent energy in the human world has reached an unprecedented level, which has also led to the growth of evil creatures to varying degrees.
"As malevolent energy grows and demons run rampant, the world-destroying formation continuously absorbs the negative energy of heaven and earth, while simultaneously feeding back into the evil creatures of the world."
Uncle Nine turned around, his sharp gaze fixed on Lin Yu: "The formation has already taken shape and is growing rapidly, like a snowball. If it cannot be broken before it fully erupts, then the malevolent energy will surge like a tide, sweeping across the world, causing all things to wither, and then it will be too late."
Lin Yu remained silent for a long time after hearing this. With their limited manpower, they were clearly overwhelmed. The Dragon Nation alone had produced countless emperors throughout history, not to mention the surrounding small countries.
Just thinking about it gives me a headache.
"The Grandmaster convened an emergency meeting recently because he detected a sharp increase in the fluctuations of the formation. Based on his calculations, the final time to break the formation must be brought forward."
Uncle Nine's voice carried an undeniable resolve. "We don't have much time left."
Lin Yu took a deep breath of the cool air, feeling the burden on his shoulders grow heavier and heavier.
He had initially thought there would be some buffer period, but he hadn't expected the situation to deteriorate so quickly.
"Then when will Master break the formation?" Lin Yu's eyes regained their firmness.
"The date is set for the third day of next month, when, according to celestial observations, a rare alignment of nine planets will occur."
"At that time, the celestial phenomena will be at their most chaotic, the formation's power will be at its strongest, and its nodes will be most visible and most vulnerable to being breached from the outside."
"Your master is in charge of one of them: the imperial tombs of the previous dynasty, the location of the dragon vein!"
Uncle Nine brought out a map and pointed to a striking scarlet mark on it, which was none other than Changbai Mountain.
"This is the origin of that previous dynasty, and also the place where the nation's destiny lies. The resentment and malevolent energy intertwine most intensely here. If the emperor's corpse is nourished by this, I'm afraid several Untransformed Bones will appear."
The broken dragon vein of the previous dynasty symbolizes the end of the nation's fate and harbors the deepest resentment. Moreover, the fact that this place was regarded as the ancestral land by the Qing Court only adds to the misfortune.
However, Lin Yu also noticed two other conspicuous markings on the map.
"Master, what are these two places...?" Lin Yu pointed to two other red dots, guessing that the master and disciple might be splitting up this time.
"This place is a mass grave. Due to the Qing Court's massacres, tens of thousands of people were buried here over time. The patriarch originally set up an array here to eliminate resentment, but he was never able to achieve his goal and could only incorporate it into the Great Baleful Qi-Slaying Formation."
"This place, Jingnan Kingdom, also known as Nanping Kingdom, was a small kingdom surrounding the Central Plains in ancient times. After its destruction, it was chosen as the imperial tomb because of the overwhelming resentment it harbored."
Uncle Nine pointed to two other places and explained them in detail.
"These three nodes are interconnected, forming a Lesser Three Powers Baleful Formation, which is one of the core array points covering the Central Plains region."
Lin Yu looked at the three glaring scarlet marks on the map that vaguely formed a triangle and felt extremely troubled.
These three sites are close together, and two of them belong to the same dynasty, making them interconnected and extremely difficult to eradicate simultaneously.
"Master, these three dangerous places are thousands of miles apart. We must destroy them at the exact moment the nine stars align... So we need to split up and act separately?" Lin Yu asked, though his tone was certain.
Uncle Nine nodded gravely, his fingertip tracing three red dots in sequence. "Good. Time is of the essence; there's no room for error. I will head to the Changbai Dragon Vein to confront the Emperor's corpse there."
"Xiao Yu, your Daoist skills have improved significantly and are no less than your master's. This mass grave is filled with resentment, and it cannot be resolved by ordinary means. I can only leave this place to you."
Lin Yu was naturally not afraid, but seeing that there was still one spot left, he wondered who else he could ask, "Master, who will take care of this last spot..."
Uncle Nine turned his gaze to the last Nanping Kingdom, Nanping, and said in a deep voice, "This last place is to be handed over to your Uncle Four Eyes and Chin Hok."
" With Four Eyes' mastery of summoning spirits, coupled with Chin Hok's formation and your many senior uncles and elders, it shouldn't be a problem."
Upon hearing this, Lin Yu realized that this was indeed the only way to allocate resources. He figured that the small border country wouldn't have any particularly powerful zombies, and his uncles and senior brothers were the backbone of Maoshan in this generation, so they should be able to handle it.
"You don't need to feel too much pressure right now. Your master and ancestors have already made the necessary preparations. Even if the sky falls, your master will hold it up."
Uncle Nine didn't want Lin Yu to feel too much pressure, so he patted him on the shoulder to comfort him.
After all, it's a bit much to ask a twelve-year-old boy to participate in such a major event concerning the rise and fall of the nation.