Chapter 21: Moonlight Spiritual Energy

Among the many souls sacrificed during the ritual, the early-stage Qi Refining zombie hound’s soul was also included.

But zombie hounds weren’t human to begin with. Even if they broke through to Qi Refining, their soul strength was only marginally higher than that of regular zombies. They held little real value, so Lu Yan casually refined the hound alongside the other zombies.

Thanks to the zombie hound’s soul, the newly formed eighth vengeful spirit bore the face of a dog, and its aura was slightly stronger than the others.

By the time Building 13 was fully cleared, the sky had already begun to darken.

Once the sun went down, the zombies that had been hiding indoors to avoid sunlight would inevitably flood the streets. Lu Yan had no interest in taking action during the night when zombie activity surged.

Building 13 didn’t appear to have any survivors. While some rooms were locked and covered in dust, they were still relatively clean.

Lu Yan picked one of them and decided to stay there temporarily.

He casually tore off a low-grade Dust Removal Talisman. A breeze swept through the room, lifting layers of dust into the air and sweeping them away. In mere moments, the entire room was spotless.

After finishing his cleaning, Lu Yan pulled out the supplies he had prepared from his storage pouch.

Before the version update bar had filled, Lu Yan hadn’t known what the three version options would be. So the supplies he’d chosen weren’t tailored to any specific environment—just some easy-to-carry food and water.

After reaching the First Layer of Qi Refining, his need for food had lessened considerably, though he hadn’t yet reached the level of true fasting.

Without these supplies, surviving in this apocalyptic version would have been incredibly difficult.

Trying to find food and water in a city overrun by zombies and abandoned for who knows how many years would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

But since Lu Yan had brought his own rations, survival in the apocalypse took on a very different tone.

On the table by the floor-to-ceiling window, a self-heating hot pot hissed and bubbled with steam, and beside it sat a freshly opened can of luncheon meat.

Lu Yan handed a bottle of cola to one of the vengeful spirits. The ghostly chill from its spectral hands spread across the drink, instantly frosting the bottle.

Taking a long swig of the icy cola, Lu Yan gazed out at the ruined city bathed in the warm hues of sunset. Amid this apocalyptic twilight, he dug into his hot pot and luncheon meat, thoroughly enjoying the meal.

In the city version, this wouldn’t even count as a noteworthy dinner. But in this world of ruin, it was precious luxury, the kind of thing that would spark bloody battles between transcendent survivors.

After dinner, the sun had completely set.

Lu Yan sat cross-legged by the window and began his first cultivation session since arriving in the apocalyptic version.

The spiritual energy here was ten times denser than in the city version. As he circulated the Red Lotus Karma Flame Scripture through his meridians, Lu Yan easily absorbed spiritual energy from the air, refining it into magic power strand by strand.

Even without the aid of spirit stones, cultivation in this environment was effortless.

Time flowed quietly as his technique circulated. Lu Yan entered a state of selflessness and clarity, and the mana in his body grew at a visibly rapid pace.

Eventually, a strand of chilling spiritual energy was drawn into his body. It bypassed the normal circulation path and directly fused into his spiritual platform.

In that instant, Lu Yan’s mind became crystal clear, and even his soul felt nourished and strengthened.

Snapping out of his meditative state, Lu Yan immediately looked toward the sky—where a full moon had risen from the west, casting its cold, silver glow across the land.

He could clearly sense that the moonlight contained a type of spiritual energy completely opposite to the yang-infused sunlight of the day.

Even just one thread of this moonlight spiritual energy was enough to nourish the soul and refine the spiritual platform.

“To think that moonlight contains such mysterious spiritual energy… Could the sunlight during the day also hold some special spiritual force?”

Lu Yan was filled with astonishment.

The apocalyptic version had offered him surprise after surprise. First, the Soul Banner showed signs of advancing; now, the secret nature of moonlight spiritual energy was revealing itself.

To others, this apocalyptic version might be a place of death and despair—but to Lu Yan, it was a land of boundless opportunities.

Just as he was deep in thought, a sudden, deafening roar echoed from the heart of the city.

“AWOOOO!!”

The sound seemed to tear through the heavens. Even from more than ten kilometers away, Lu Yan could still feel the immense pressure it carried.

His expression instantly changed as he turned toward the city center.

From all directions came wave after wave of zombie howls, as if responding to that terrifying roar.

The next moment, Lu Yan witnessed a scene unlike anything he had ever seen.

The once-dead streets of the city came alive as zombies stepped out from every shadow, gathering under the moonlight and flooding the roads like a tide.

Buildings, ruins, shopping malls, sports stadiums—everywhere was filled with dense, writhing zombie hordes. They raised their heads toward the full moon, letting out howls as streams of moonlight poured down on them.

The more zombies gathered in one place, the more moonlight they absorbed.

Lu Yan had previously wondered how these rotting corpses, with bodies on the verge of collapse, could still preserve all seven soul aspects of the human soul.

Especially the zombies on the lower floors—why were their bodies more intact than those trapped on the upper floors?

Now, he had his answer.

It was this very moonlight, rich in spiritual energy, that nourished their souls, keeping them from dissipating.

Zombies on the lower levels could step directly into the moonlight, receiving more of this strange energy. As a result, their bodies and souls were better preserved.

And among the common zombies, bizarre and powerful transcendent zombies began to appear in Lu Yan’s vision.

Some stood atop tall buildings, basking in the moonlight. Others occupied wide-open spaces that normal zombies dared not enter. Still others sat upon mountains of corpses, formed from lesser zombies piling themselves beneath them.

This city, abandoned for who knew how many years, now revealed its true horror under the moonlight.

Lu Yan narrowed his eyes as he observed these moonlit transcendent zombies. They seemed to each hold dominion over a specific area, and their auras far surpassed that of Lishi—they were at least late-stage Qi Refining.

The closer one got to the city center, the more tightly packed the zombie hordes became, and the stronger the transcendent zombies grew.

As for that terrifying roar from the center… Lu Yan estimated it had come from a late Foundation Establishment–stage Zombie King—an entity far beyond anything he could currently handle.

For the first time, Lu Yan felt a hint of relief. Since the room he chose had long been abandoned, it had no light sources. In the current darkness, it blended in perfectly.

If he had carelessly lit a fire without knowing the nature of the night, he might have drawn in countless transcendent zombies. Not even the Soul Banner could guarantee his survival in that case.

Glancing around at the moonlit hellscape, Lu Yan committed the locations of each powerful zombie to memory, so he could avoid them while hunting during the day.

Just as he continued surveying, Lu Yan suddenly realized something.

“If all these other zombie gathering areas have some kind of leader-class transcendent zombie, then surely this residential complex has one too.

I’ve already cleared out two buildings and killed hundreds of zombies.

Has it already taken notice of me?”

(End of Chapter)