Chapter 202: Request to Forge a Heavenly Dao Merit Artifact

Yes, in Lu Yan’s eyes, this vast tide of zombies surging across the plains was no different from ripe wheat waiting to be harvested in a field.

Perhaps to an ordinary person, the thought of slaughtering tens of millions of zombies would seem like an impossible task—even if they stood still, it would take months to kill them all, and any average transcendent would collapse from exhaustion before finishing.

But for the Underworld Army, no amount of ordinary zombies could pose any threat at all.

The only thing worthy of caution was the extraordinary zombies and Golden Core Zombie Kings hidden within the vast sea of the Calamity Horde.

Lu Yan suppressed the joy in his heart and murmured softly to himself:

“Once I finish harvesting the Calamity Horde, it should be enough to complete the refining of the Soul Continent.”

On top of the city walls, the approaching zombie horde was now less than five kilometers from Base 73. Every citizen within the base could clearly see the boundless wave of zombies stretching to the horizon, as well as the putrid stench of rot that hung heavily in the air.

At that moment, Lu Yan raised his Soul Banner high above his head. A soft command echoed from the surface of the banner.

“Kill!”

The setting sun was like blood as 6,600 figures stepped on ghost mist and plummeted from the heavens. Their armor shimmered with eerie green ghostfire in the twilight, forming a flowing sea of spectral flames.

The Soul-Reaping Chains in the hands of the Yin Soldiers lashed through the void, each one wrapped in the aura of the netherworld. The battle spears wielded by the Ghost Generals glinted with a bone-chilling light.

When the Underworld Army descended from the sky, the earth below was writhing with an endless sea of corpses. Rotting flesh piled into mounds, and countless withered hands stretched into the dusk like an unending nightmare.

Before this horrifying tide of calamity-level zombies, the 6,600 Yin Soldiers and Ghost Generals appeared utterly insignificant, as if they would be devoured in the next breath.

Yet at that moment, the battlefield began to change.

In an instant, the auras of the 6,600 Yin Soldiers and Ghost Generals became linked. The invincible might forged through countless battles—where they had slain tens of millions of zombies and dozens of Golden Core experts—erupted in full force.

The pressure they released in that moment overwhelmed even the uncountable Calamity Horde.

As the Underworld Army collided with the zombie tide, swathes of undead fell like wheat being reaped in a harvest.

A Yin Soldier’s Soul-Reaping Chain lashed out like a silver serpent, piercing through layers of rotting flesh and forcefully extracting the tainted wandering souls from within multiple zombies.

The zombies whose souls were stripped collapsed into piles of bones, soon trampled into dust by the advancing horde.

High above, Lu Yan calmly observed the battlefield as if everything was going according to plan.

Over the past three days, he had specially instructed the Blood God and other ghostly deities to modify the Soul-Reaping Chains to better handle this massive zombie tide.

The modified chains, now imbued with the souls of extraordinary zombies, could not only freeze enemy souls using Yin energy but also pierce through multiple bodies and extract their souls in one go—greatly improving the efficiency of soul harvesting from regular zombies.

Originally, it had just been a flash of inspiration Lu Yan had while traveling. But now, it had become the key weapon against the Calamity Horde. Thinking back, this sudden inspiration almost seemed like divine guidance, carrying an unusual significance.

On the front lines, the Yin Soldiers formed a single wall to hold back the zombie tide threatening Base 73. They didn’t use the Nine Nether Formation, didn’t summon ghost mist, and didn’t even cast Yin techniques.

Because the number of zombies was simply too overwhelming, any technique would only waste energy.

For these Yin Soldiers at the peak of the Qi Refining Realm, ordinary zombies were like stalks of grain—they needed only to swing their chains to harvest souls in droves, managing to halt the advance of the Calamity Horde.

In stark contrast to the soldiers, the Ghost Generals mounted on spectral warhorses tore into the battlefield like a different breed entirely.

Six hundred Ghost Generals, shrouded in howling Yin wind and ghostfire, charged forward. Their spectral steeds trampled zombies into pulp, carving clear paths through the horde that looked as though they would rip the battlefield in two.

Their spears became streaks of light in the dusk, each strike effortlessly piercing through extraordinary zombies. As for the ordinary ones, they were obliterated by ghostfire before the weapons even reached them.

When massive Abominations came crashing in with thunderous roars, the spear tips of the Ghost Generals glowed with eerie green runes. A blast of solidified Yin energy erupted, tearing the grotesque corpses to shreds.

Despite their terrifying appearance, Abominations were merely peak Qi Refining special zombies. In front of Foundation Establishment-level Ghost Generals, they were nothing but prey.

The commotion caused by the Ghost Generals’ charge naturally drew the attention of more extraordinary zombies. Mountain-sized flesh beasts leaped into the sky, crashing down like meteors toward the Ghost Generals.

But the Ghost Generals didn’t even bother to engage. Their spectral steeds galloped through the air, rushing toward other parts of the battlefield.

With tens of millions of zombies present, there were at least tens of thousands of extraordinary ones. Even with six hundred Foundation Establishment-level Ghost Generals, it would be impossible to fight them all head-on.

Though the Ghost Generals didn’t possess the computing power of Ghost God supercomputers, they were still soul-based computers capable of battlefield simulation.

In every simulated outcome, engaging directly with stronger enemies meant certain death. So they never stopped to fight head-on—they hunted only weaker prey.

Their figures flashed across the battlefield like lightning, their spears delivering the judgment of death to each extraordinary zombie they found.

The massive zombies could only roar in helpless fury as they watched the Ghost Generals vanish from sight.

The battlefield was awash with the howls of zombies and the war cries of Yin Soldiers. Two deathly forces clashed across the plain.

Eerie green death energy wove across the battleground. The rising moonlight was stained with strange hues.

Tiny silhouettes stood atop the walls of Base 73, witnessing an epic war unfold before their eyes.

No one could believe that just a few thousand Underworld troops had held back over ten million zombies.

A flicker of hope ignited in the hearts of the previously hopeless. Countless civilians knelt before the statues of the Underworld, bowing down to the figure standing proudly in the sky. Even the muscular young man who had once tried to smash the statues felt a wavering in his heart.

The frontline held steady at five kilometers from Base 73. In just one hour, the ground had been piled with mountains of bones, formed from at least hundreds of thousands of slain zombies. Every Yin Soldier’s soul bottle was now brimming with captured souls.

Within the horde, the six hundred Ghost Generals rampaged freely, leaving chaos in their wake. Numerous extraordinary zombies tried to ambush them but failed.

Despite their terrifying power, the Calamity Horde had been halted by fewer than ten thousand troops.

Finally, the zombie kings hiding in the horde could endure no longer.

A powerful Golden Core Zombie King disguised itself as an ordinary zombie and quietly infiltrated the front lines.

It dared not provoke the Ghost Generals and instead tried to ambush the Yin Soldiers.

Though the Yin Soldiers were reaping souls rapidly, they were still too few in number and barely holding the line. If even a single point in the line fell, the horde would break through.

A Soul-Reaping Chain pierced several zombies and reached the Golden Core Zombie King. The corpse king sneered and grabbed the chain, trying to pull the Yin Soldier into the horde.

But at that moment, a loud command echoed among the Yin Soldiers.

“Nether Web Formation!”

As the words fell, the chains that had been harvesting zombies crisscrossed and wove into a massive net, descending upon the area where the corpse king lurked.

Thousands of chains overlapped to form a giant web, leaving the corpse king no room to escape.

Tens of thousands of zombies were caught in the same web.

“Reel it in!”

At the order, the net began to retract, and the trapped souls were pulled in like points of ghostly light into the soul bottles.

The Golden Core Zombie King’s powerful soul held on for only two seconds before it, too, was wrenched from its body and reduced to bones before it could unleash a single technique. The frontlines were even briefly cleared.

The sight struck terror into the hearts of the other hidden corpse kings.

They, too, had planned to infiltrate the line—but this unlucky king had simply acted first. None expected such a swift and humiliating death. None dared move again, waiting instead for the Yin Soldiers to show signs of exhaustion.

“I don’t believe you can kill the entire Calamity Horde in one go!”

“As soon as you tire, it will be your end!”

The same thoughts ran through all the zombie kings’ minds.

Twilight fell, and a crescent moon rose into the sky.

Across the plains, the Calamity Horde continued to fall like wheat under the reaper’s blade, but more zombies poured in without end.

The Yin Soldiers and Ghost Generals rose and fell through the tide of death. Their armor reflected the ghostly moonlight, their chains and spears continuing the relentless slaughter, turning the tainted land into a true domain of death.

From high in the sky, Lu Yan overlooked the battlefield. At the plains’ edge, countless zombies were still marching toward Granary Plain, now exceeding twenty million.

This number far surpassed the region’s native zombie population. Clearly, the horde had been drawn here from other regions.

Only an unfathomable existence could command such numbers to travel across hundreds of miles to one location.

With the zombie outbreak beginning three days ago, there was only one obvious conclusion.

The one behind this Calamity Horde was none other than the Supreme Will—still bearing a grudge from its previous defeat at Lu Yan’s hands!

“The Supreme Will will not stop at this. With a being of its stature, there must be more tricks to come!”

Suddenly, Lu Yan’s heart stirred. He muttered instinctively:

“It’s here!”

In the next moment, he witnessed the Supreme Will’s next move.

As the crescent moon reached its peak, the once-incomplete moon began to mend itself, breaking all temporal logic. It slowly became a full moon, hanging high above and overlooking all living beings.

In this apocalyptic world, a full moon signified the highest concentration of Moonlight Spirit Qi—and tonight’s moon far exceeded all previous ones.

The silver radiance poured down like a waterfall, blanketing the plains where the zombie horde had gathered.

Over twenty million zombies writhed under the moonlight, their rotten flesh suddenly glowing with eerie light. The tides of spirit energy surged above the horde, forming a vast web of power. In each corpse, a flickering light stirred like stars awakening in the void.

Rumbling echoed from deep beneath the earth. The zombies’ bodies began to mutate—skin split, bones cracked, ancient moonlit runes lit up beneath their rotting flesh.

A silver flood of Moonlight Spirit Qi surged across the sea of corpses, bathing the plains in transcendent light.

Under this divine influence, zombies began to transform—some into three-story-tall Abominations, others into grotesque flesh mountains. The earth trembled at the evolution, as if the entire plain had become a colossal furnace of mutation.

In mere moments, one in every ten zombies began evolving into extraordinary undead.

Out of twenty million zombies, even if only one-tenth reached Qi Refining Realm, that would be over a million extraordinary zombies.

Such overwhelming numbers could completely crush the Underworld Army.

“Excellent.”

Lu Yan stared at the moonlit battlefield with a knowing smile.

After their previous brief clash, Lu Yan knew the Supreme Will would not rest. Even though he’d crushed a wisp of its will, the being still held authority over this world’s transcendent foundations and could manipulate Moonlight Spirit Qi for its own ends.

During their journey, Lu Yan had tasked the Giant Spirit God with predicting possible outcomes.

Since advancing to the Golden Core stage, the Giant Spirit God’s simulation capabilities had vastly improved. Among all the possibilities, empowering the Calamity Horde through Moonlight Spirit Qi was not only the most likely—it was the most dangerous.

If the horde successfully evolved, Lu Yan would have no chance of winning.

For others, such a celestial phenomenon would spell doom—unless they wielded world-shaking power, there was nothing they could do.

But Lu Yan was not like others.

Under the moonlight, he suddenly raised the Soul Banner. A massive rift opened in the sky, revealing the faint outline of the Soul Continent.

Though a soul-based construct like the Soul Continent couldn’t manifest fully, let alone block the Moonlight Spirit Qi, that wasn’t Lu Yan’s goal.

With a flick of his wrist, an endless torrent of ghost mist poured from the rift—thick as ink, brimming with deathly energy from the netherworld.

The mist expanded like a living being, spreading rapidly in all directions. Within it, unrefined souls drifted, whispering faint cries.

The mist rolled across the battlefield, obscuring the moon until even its light grew dim.

In mere moments, the entirety of Granary Plain was swallowed in darkness, the sky above shrouded in black across hundreds of miles.

This ghost mist had no killing power. Its only purpose was to block the Moonlight Spirit Qi.

The silver-washed battlefield faded into shadow, and the transformation of the horde halted instantly. The battle was pulled back into a stalemate.

Lu Yan stood alone amidst the clouds, the only one bathed in the cascading moonlight, absorbing it with every breath. His soul strength began rising rapidly.

The moon grew even brighter, trying to break through the ghost mist.

But the mist never stopped. All the Moonlight Spirit Qi was intercepted and absorbed by Lu Yan.

Finally, the Supreme Will gave up. Not wanting Lu Yan to benefit, the moon dimmed and vanished.

Lu Yan clicked his tongue in mild regret.

Even though he had absorbed only a fraction of the Moonlight Spirit Qi, it was enough to push his soul to the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage.

With another thirty minutes, he could’ve reached the Golden Core stage in soul cultivation—but the Supreme Will wasn’t about to give him that chance.

The retreat of the full moon signified the Supreme Will’s abandonment of the Calamity Horde.

Lu Yan could clearly see the zombie tide at the plains’ edge scatter and retreat, directionless without the Will’s command.

Yet the Underworld Army’s slaughter continued. The undead now felt fear, and the tide of victory had begun to shift.

Within Base 73, hope was rekindled. Though they couldn’t fight, the people raised their voices in prayer, chanting the name of the Underworld Lord. Their prayers turned to vast waves of Willpower soaring into the heavens.

Amid the worship of the masses, Lu Yan released the Heavenly Dao Merit he had been restraining. Ninety-nine golden Merit Wheels unfurled behind him, shining like a sun across all worlds.

Clutching his Soul Banner, Lu Yan gazed at the sky and cried aloud:

“I am Lu Yan! I request the forging of a Heavenly Dao Merit Artifact!”

(End of Chapter)