Chapter 18: Transcendent Zombie

Lu Yan walked through the crumbling stairwell with his Soul Banner in hand. Around him, the vengeful spirits transformed into shadows of ghosts, weaving in and out of walls as they scouted the surrounding area.

From time to time, a hoarse zombie howl would echo from a room—only to fall silent moments later. Soon after, a vengeful spirit would emerge, respectfully presenting a wandering soul at Lu Yan’s side.

Each time this happened, ghost mist would surge from the Soul Banner and swiftly refine the soul, absorbing it with ease.

Eventually, Lu Yan stopped at the stairway leading downward. Behind him, the five vengeful spirits that had swept through this floor stood silently, awaiting his next command.

From the top floor to here, Lu Yan had led the spirits to clear almost the entire building—only the first floor remained.

There had been fewer zombies on the lower floors compared to the top, but even so, over thirty had been slain. The collection of their souls had already begun forming the sixth vengeful spirit within the banner.

That kind of speed was already impressive, and more importantly, it was stable. Best of all, hunting zombies posed no risk of triggering pursuit from other cultivators.

Lu Yan cast a cautious gaze toward the stairwell leading to the first floor. Though he hadn’t reached the Foundation Establishment stage and couldn’t form divine sense, his nascent spiritual intuition—already budding from his cultivation—warned him of imminent danger below.

That was precisely why he hadn’t ordered the vengeful spirits to descend first.

“With five vengeful spirits at my side, ordinary zombies, no matter how many, are nothing more than walking corpses to be culled.

“If my senses are sounding the alarm… then could there be a zombie possessing transcendent power?”

“With the spiritual energy in this version being ten times denser than in the Urban Version, it wouldn’t be strange for zombies on par with cultivators to appear.”

With vigilance rising in his heart, Lu Yan drew another spirit stone from his storage pouch and replenished his mana. He then poured it into the Soul Banner, and thick black ghost mist began spreading downward from the second floor to the first.

The five vengeful spirits vanished into the mist, their forms blending into the darkness as they slipped silently into the lower floor.

Lu Yan remained hidden on the second floor, talismans in hand to suppress his own aura.

Through the vision of the vengeful spirits, he clearly saw the scene below.

The first floor led directly out into the residential complex. The main entrance door had long been torn away by zombies, and the threshold was littered with bleached bones and dried blood.

Inside, the entire first floor had become a dark refuge for over a hundred zombies, likely gathered there to avoid the sunlight outside.

These zombies were far less decayed than those from the upper levels—some even retained intact bodies.

At the center of the horde stood a wide clearing. In it loomed a single, colossal zombie, nearly three meters tall.

“A transcendent zombie… just as expected.”

Lu Yan narrowed his eyes.

He could sense danger from the creature—but not enough to be fatal. Based on his judgment, its strength was equivalent to that of a Qi Refining Early or Mid-Stage cultivator.

In terms of cultivation level alone, this zombie vastly surpassed Lu Yan.

But cultivation was never the sole determinant in battle—especially at lower levels.

Spells, magical tools, talismans—these were the true deciding factors in combat.

Lu Yan possessed plenty of talismans and commanded five vengeful spirits with the Soul Banner. He could even take on a typical mid-stage cultivator without backing down.

Let alone a zombie—something that vengeful spirits perfectly countered.

The ghost mist expanded across the first floor. The ordinary zombies stood unmoving, unaware of the danger. Only the giant zombie stirred. Its body trembled as a guttural roar of warning escaped its throat.

Sensing the behemoth’s agitation, the other zombies around it began to howl as well.

Lu Yan’s eyes flashed. He increased his mana output, and the mist surged forward, swallowing the entire floor in an instant.

A frigid chill spread across the space, forming frost that slowed the zombies’ movements. Within the dark fog, five pairs of spectral claws emerged, all of them lunging directly at the giant zombie.

To the vengeful spirits, the horde of lesser zombies posed no threat whatsoever. The only real danger was this towering zombie wielding transcendent power.

Five claws pierced into the giant zombie’s body.

The beast bellowed in rage, and its flesh took on a metallic sheen like blackened steel, rendering it seemingly impervious to blades and blades.

But physical defense was meaningless against vengeful spirits.

Their claws penetrated straight through the flesh and reached the soul.

Just as they were about to tear the soul free, however, a massive surge of transcendent power erupted from within the giant zombie’s spirit. Its soul-body connection was exponentially stronger than that of a normal zombie.

All five spirits were flung backward at once, cracks appearing across their once-intact forms.

The giant zombie, far more agile than its massive body would suggest, smashed the floor beneath its feet and lunged after one of the retreating spirits.

Its black-iron fist rose, glowing faintly with a supernatural light, and came crashing down.

BOOM!

Blood and flesh exploded in a spray. A large number of ordinary zombies caught in the shockwave were pulverized instantly. The entire floor shook, and the entire building trembled under the impact.

But the targeted spirit had long since burrowed underground, dodging the attack completely.

Lu Yan could feel it—the faint glow on the zombie’s fist was infused with transcendent force capable of harming souls directly. If the spirit hadn’t dodged, it would’ve been gravely injured.

Having missed its strike, the zombie’s vision was once again clouded by the swirling black mist.

It let out a furious roar and began searching blindly.

At that moment, another ghost claw shot from the fog, piercing into its body.

But this time, the vengeful spirit didn’t try to rip out its soul directly. Instead, it slashed across it, carving a wound into the spirit itself. Cold ghostly energy immediately began eroding the zombie’s soul.

The behemoth swung in retaliation, but the spirit had already slipped away into the mist. Once again, only hapless lesser zombies bore the brunt of its fury.

And so the battle devolved into a game of cat and mouse.

Lu Yan’s spirits abandoned the idea of ending it in one blow. Each time they attacked, they left minor wounds on the zombie’s soul. Thanks to the concealment of the ghost mist, the giant’s counterattacks never landed true.

Meanwhile, the spirits still had energy to spare, easily slaughtering the mindless zombies around them. One by one, souls broke free of their bodies and littered the floor.

Before long, only the giant zombie remained.

Then, as one final claw struck home, Lu Yan saw the metallic sheen vanish from the monster’s flesh, its body returning to ordinary meat.

The wounds to its soul had depleted its transcendent energy. It could no longer activate its metalized form.

The spirit pierced deeper, and this time, the zombie’s soul was torn away effortlessly.

A battered, formidable wandering soul emerged, and the giant’s towering body collapsed into a pile of bones.

Lu Yan stepped down from the second floor, his gaze fixated on the soul hovering above the battlefield.

Unlike the others, this soul retained a clear form and outline.

Though it lacked the Heaven and Earth Souls like the others, this one’s strength was nearly equivalent to that of a Qi Refining Mid-Stage cultivator. No wonder the five vengeful spirits had struggled to extract it.

“A mid-stage soul—even if flawed—possesses power far greater than any of my existing vengeful spirits.”

“With a soul this powerful… I can forge a true main spirit for the Soul Banner.”

(End of Chapter)