Chapter 24: Where Did the Merit Come From?

The effects of the spirit pills in the storage pouch far exceeded Lu Yan’s expectations.

Originally, he had estimated it would take five or six more days to break through to the Second Layer of Qi Refining. But just one pill had shortened that timeline by several days.

For Lu Yan—who urgently needed to raise his cultivation at this stage—this was especially important.

In addition to the breakthrough, Lu Yan also sensed a type of spiritual energy completely different from the moonlight spiritual energy during this round of cultivation: the Great Sun Spiritual Energy hidden within the sunlight.

This energy was omnipresent beneath the sun, though incredibly faint. It could only be refined through sustained and extensive cultivation.

As for its effects, Lu Yan hadn’t fully figured them out yet. But he could clearly feel that after a full circulation, the Great Sun Spiritual Energy made his spiritual power just a little more refined.

He speculated that if Moonlight Spiritual Energy birthed the zombie transcendents, then Great Sun Spiritual Energy might be the foundation of humanity’s transcendent system in this apocalyptic version.

However, since he hadn’t encountered any survivors yet, he couldn’t confirm this theory.

Lifting the Soul Banner again, Lu Yan swung it lightly, releasing all twenty-seven vengeful spirits and the main soul. The room once again became a chilling netherworld of ghosts.

After his breakthrough, Lu Yan felt that the Soul Banner’s burden on him had eased slightly. At full power, he could now maintain control for up to three minutes.

This was a significant improvement for Lu Yan. He quickly retracted most of the spirits, leaving only nine active.

He then stepped out of the abandoned high-rise and began his planned soul harvesting, targeting areas with weaker transcendent zombie territories.

Outside the building was a main city street, already blocked by a sea of derelict cars.

Walking through the vehicle-littered road, Lu Yan could clearly feel countless eyes within nearby buildings fixating on him—bloodthirsty, frenzied stares hidden in the shadows.

Yet they didn’t dare move under the harsh sunlight, suppressed by the Great Sun Spiritual Energy it contained.

Glancing around, Lu Yan had already scouted the entire street. The strongest transcendent zombies hidden among the shops numbered only three at the Mid Qi Refining stage—not a threat to him.

Stepping toward a large supermarket, Lu Yan could even hear the threatening snarls of a mid-stage transcendent zombie inside.

His lips curled into a smile. A wave of black mist poured from the Soul Banner, blanketing the entire building.

The hunt began.

---

Half a month passed in a flash, yet the city that had lain abandoned for decades remained unchanged.

Still sitting inside that same high-rise, Lu Yan sat cross-legged and withdrew the last spirit pill from the porcelain bottle.

He had used up most of the pills obtained from Shopkeeper Chu—only three had remained.

He had taken one to break through to the Second Layer of Qi Refining, another a few days ago to speed up his cultivation. Now, only one remained.

Swallowing the pill, Lu Yan began cultivating once more.

As the vortex of spiritual energy intensified, a distinct shattering sound echoed within the room—Lu Yan had broken through to the Third Layer of Qi Refining.

He slowly opened his eyes, but there was no joy in his gaze.

In the past half month, he had spent his days harvesting zombie souls and his nights cultivating with pills. His strength had advanced rapidly.

But inside, Lu Yan was still unsatisfied.

His gaze turned toward the Soul Banner thrust into the ground. He extended his right hand, but the next moment, a surge of raging ghostly energy repelled him.

Lu Yan frowned deeply.

The Soul Banner had undergone a dramatic transformation compared to half a month ago.

The banner pole now resembled something carved from crystalline stone, exuding a constant, chilling aura. The black fabric was threaded with golden strands, covered in intricate patterns.

One by one, hideous vengeful spirits roamed across its surface, and at the center sat a fierce and terrifying ghost general, lording over the lesser spirits.

Just one glance gave the impression that the ghosts might erupt at any moment to devour all living flesh nearby.

Carefully counting the spirits within the banner, Lu Yan found that the number had reached a staggering ninety-eight, plus the main soul Lishi—making ninety-nine in total.

That might sound like a lot, but considering Lu Yan could refine ten or more spirits per day, this total was actually modest. The real bottleneck had been the Soul Banner’s refining speed.

In truth, he could’ve surpassed a hundred long ago.

But now, the Soul Banner had reached the limit of what Lu Yan could control.

When the number of vengeful spirits had hit fifty, the banner had upgraded to a High-Grade Magical Artifact.

At ninety-nine spirits, its quality was now on the verge of Peak-Grade.

Even though he had personally refined it, Lu Yan—still just at the early stage of Qi Refining—was unable to fully suppress a magic artifact of that caliber.

Peak-Grade Artifacts were usually wielded by Foundation Establishment cultivators. Even just High-Grade ones were rare for Qi Refining cultivators to use.

When the spirits reached ninety-eight, Lu Yan had experienced his first Soul Banner riot. Even without releasing them, the spirits inside rebelled and tried to devour everything around them.

It had taken all his strength, mastery over the banner, and Lishi’s suppression to force them back under control.

But as a result, Lu Yan now risked another riot every time he activated the banner.

There were only two ways to resolve this: either boost his cultivation to suppress the banner fully, or gain the power to subdue all the spirits inside.

Lu Yan chose the first option—breaking through to the Third Layer of Qi Refining—hoping to alleviate the burden.

But the result was clear. Even that wasn’t enough. Qi Refining Third Layer was still early-stage. It was nowhere near sufficient to control a near-Peak-Grade Soul Banner.

“Do I really have to grind away for months until I break into the mid stage? Wasting the rare opportunity of this apocalyptic version?”

Lu Yan’s heart sank.

The opportunity presented by this apocalyptic version was far too precious. It could even allow him to wield a Hundred-Soul Banner during the Qi Refining stage—powerful enough to ensure his survival.

If he missed this chance, who knew when the next apocalyptic version would appear?

The pills from Shopkeeper Chu had been exhausted. On his own, there was no way he could break through before the next version update.

“That means I have no choice but to try the second path.”

If his cultivation wasn’t enough, then he’d have to use power to suppress the spirits.

Ordinarily, not even a Peak Qi Refining cultivator could handle close to a hundred ghost spirits—they’d be torn apart instantly. Lu Yan should’ve stood no chance.

But in the Red Lotus Karma Flame Scripture he practiced, there was a Peak-Grade spell designed specifically to counter vengeful spirits.

Red Lotus Karma Flame.

Though a demonic cultivation technique, the Red Lotus Karma Flame was formed from karma, making it highly effective against demonic techniques—including the Soul Banner and vengeful spirits.

If he could master it and combine it with his control over the banner, he might gain a new path forward.

The only problem was that Lu Yan had failed to comprehend the technique in previous attempts. He still wasn’t sure he could succeed now.

“Maybe I’ve built up enough karma from killing so many zombies?”

With a “nothing to lose” mindset, Lu Yan began circulating the Red Lotus Karma Flame technique.

In his spiritual vision, intangible strands of mysterious light began to appear—things he had never seen before. Yet now, he was able to easily gather them through the technique and refine them into Karma Flame.

“So that’s karma?”

Lu Yan hadn’t expected that the spell which had frustrated him for months would succeed so easily.

He extended his right palm, instinctively channeling the technique. A moment later, a yellowish-gold flame rose from his hand.

Upon that flame, it seemed like celestial beings chanted scriptures, their holy voices echoing like sacred mantras. The aura was solemn and righteous—driving away all evil.

Within the Soul Banner at his side, all the once-rebellious vengeful spirits had fallen completely silent.

Lu Yan stared at the golden-yellow flame for a long time.

Then, a confused voice echoed in the quiet room:

“…Where did I get merit from?”

(End of Chapter)