Chapter 188: A Severed Path, A Thread of Hope

Lu Yan’s mind suddenly cleared, and he locked his blazing gaze onto the Immortal Cultivation Version in the selectable versions list, ready to make his choice.

But just as the thought spun in his head, his hand halted mid-motion.

“The Immortal Cultivation Version has Immortals within it. They sensed the invasion of the Longevity Version and even led the members of the Ten Great Sects away to avoid its corruption.

If Immortals have the power to keep entire sects from being updated into the Demon Version, then perhaps they also have the ability to resist the Longevity Version.

From this angle, the Immortal Cultivation Version is undoubtedly the best path forward.”

“But…”

Lu Yan’s eyes shifted behind him—where a massive hand was shattering space itself, reaching toward him.

Beyond the broken rift, Lu Yan could even make out the mocking expression on the attacker’s face.

If he selected a version now, that blow would land without question.

“Li Hao was at the peak of Foundation Establishment in the Immortal Cultivation Version, yet in the Demon Version he suddenly became a top-tier Mo Luo Stage powerhouse.

At a glance, the Demon Version appears stronger, but that’s only because of the rapid strength gains from the True Law system.

In terms of actual power level, the Immortal Cultivation Version is far superior.

You can tell just from the fact that the Demon Version was helpless against the Longevity invasion, while the Immortals could protect entire sects from corruption.

The Demon Version only dominates at the lower levels. At the higher end, the Immortal Cultivation Version is clearly superior.”

“If that’s true… then what cultivation level would this Abyss Realm powerhouse chasing me reach in the Immortal Cultivation Version?

Peak Golden Core? Nascent Soul True Lord? Or perhaps… Soul Formation?”

A flood of calculations surged through Lu Yan’s mind.

Through his Nameless True Intent, he had come into contact with three Abyss Realm experts. He could clearly sense that even within that realm, this Spatial Dao master was stronger than the others.

He would absolutely not be weak in the Immortal Cultivation Version either.

It was unlikely he would reach Soul Formation level, but being a Nascent Soul or at least a peak Golden Core cultivator was almost guaranteed.

And Lu Yan… was already running on fumes. Even if the enemy were reduced to peak Golden Core after the update, he still wouldn’t be able to win.

Which meant: entering the Immortal Cultivation Version was essentially a death sentence.

Worse yet, Lu Yan had once wielded the Soul Banner to bluff the thousand-year clans.

In the Immortal Cultivation Version, the Soul Banner was a forbidden artifact, despised by both righteous and demonic paths.

The moment he revealed it, both sides would hunt him down.

Even if he escaped the Abyss Realm powerhouse, the Soul Banner alone would be enough to seal his fate.

“I can’t go to the Immortal Cultivation Version!”

Lu Yan’s hand, halfway raised, slowly lowered again.

Staring at the taunting face frozen in time within the rift, Lu Yan finally understood—this path had already been sealed off by the unknown being behind the Longevity Version.

The thousand-year clans targeting the Li family had seemed like the Demon Dao’s attempt to ‘correct’ the version’s flow. But in truth, it was just a scheme to force Lu Yan to reveal his trump card—the Soul Banner.

Once the Soul Banner was used, Lu Yan could never again step foot into the Immortal Cultivation Version.

And without the Immortal Cultivation Version, he had no chance of escaping the Longevity Version’s lock-on. In the next update, the three-option deadlock could return at any time.

Perhaps high-level versions like Horror, Ghost, or Infinite could offer other solutions…

But that Abyss Realm powerhouse, ever the cat playing with its prey, made it impossible for Lu Yan to even consider entering a high-level version.

From beginning to end, he could only choose a low-level version.

At this point, even Lu Yan had to admire the terrifying foresight of the Longevity entity.

From the moment Lu Yan entered the Demon Version, the other had planned everything.

“The Spiritual Qi Revival Version is out—it solved the Abyss Realm problem last time, but it’s already been exhausted. No potential left to resist the next crisis.”

“The Cyber Version has a low power level, but there’s the AI God—virtually a Cyber Dao incarnation.

After the last encounter, the AI God must’ve prepared a countermeasure against the Heavenly Dao code. If I enter now, I’d likely be hunted down by high-level Psycasters.”

“As for the untested low-level versions, I have no way to predict what I’ll gain from them.

I must choose a version that can strengthen me, remove the Soul Banner threat, and ideally help me delay the next Longevity crisis.”

Lu Yan’s mind gradually settled on one answer.

“Select: Apocalypse Version!”

The world around him shifted.

The mountainous terrain was replaced by a wasteland littered with wreckage.

A wide concrete road had collapsed into ruins, where scrapped cars and tanks lay abandoned. A few zombies wandered among the rusting wreckage.

In the next instant, space twisted like boiling waves.

A spectral hand tore through space, trailing silver brilliance that shredded reality, reducing steel beams and shattered concrete to dust.

Wild space turbulence split the earth, forming massive cracks that spread like a spiderweb. Space shimmered with ominous light, and everything from zombie to vehicle remnants was sucked into oblivion, leaving behind only a bottomless crater shaped like a palm.

Amid this destruction, Lu Yan managed to raise the Xuanpin Gate, the supreme technique that could suppress all Dao. Even across versions, it barely held back the terrifying palm strike.

Spiritual Qi swirled around him as he began absorbing energy from the Apocalypse Version to refill his depleted reserves. With a flash, he shot across the wasteland as a streak of light.

Several minutes later, a silver glow appeared.

A humanoid figure stepped out of the rift—clad in a tattered suit, skin pale as ash, space rippling faintly beneath it. Its green glowing eyes flickered with distortion, and silver spatial cracks coiled around its rotten fingers.

The moment it appeared, debris all around was shredded by chaotic space, dissolving into the void.

On the endless wasteland, its gaze instantly locked onto Lu Yan’s retreating figure. A moment later, it stepped forward—warping space as it closed the distance.

Lu Yan sensed it immediately. That presence—it was the same Abyss Realm powerhouse.

In this version, he could no longer maintain a human form and had become a Corpse King wielding spatial powers.

Early Golden Core stage!

Lu Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

While that made the Corpse King one of the strongest beings in the apocalypse, he wasn’t invincible. Lu Yan still had a fighting chance.

With the version now updated, Lu Yan had no need to hold back.

As the spatial Corpse King neared to within 300 meters, Lu Yan forcefully raised the Xuanpin Gate again. Ghostly mist surged from his Soul Banner.

Three Ghost Generals and eight hundred Yin Soldiers appeared, instantly forming the Nine Nether Underworld Fire Formation, attempting to melt the Corpse King within it.

But the Corpse King’s reaction was faster than Lu Yan had predicted. The moment the gate manifested, it blinked away—evading the suppression range entirely.

Without the gate’s suppression, the fire formation couldn’t hold the Corpse King at all. In a flash of silver light, it teleported hundreds of meters away.

Lu Yan stared at the weakened Xuanpin Gate—already shattered several times in past battles—and his eyes filled with regret.

Had it been in peak condition, the Corpse King might not have escaped.

But after surviving multiple sieges from the Abyss Realm expert, the gate had been broken too many times. Now it could barely stay active, let alone suppress the foe.

Trying to activate other True Dao Intents, Lu Yan found them drastically weakened—the end of the Demon Version had shifted the world’s Dao, and his techniques no longer resonated properly.

He was spent, utterly exhausted. The other sixteen Dao Intents were now beyond his reach.

“Then why is the Xuanpin Gate still working…”

No time to think.

A spatial crack sliced past Lu Yan’s cheek.

The Corpse King had entered the void ahead of him, reappearing in his path. Space tore open at its fingertips, spiderweb-like cracks spreading out in the air.

Lu Yan’s pupils contracted. That dried husk of a body flickered within the space ripples. Every appearance warped reality—until the space before him collapsed entirely, threatening to bury him and his ghostly army.

He just barely managed to recall his Ghost Generals and Yin Soldiers, darting off in another direction.

The spatial maelstrom raged. The Corpse King’s eye sockets flickered with cold fire as unseen turbulence shattered everything nearby.

Lu Yan struck again with the Soul Banner, summoning a wave of Yin energy from his ghost army—but it simply passed through empty space. The Corpse King had vanished into the void.

Death surrounded him from all directions.

Space twisted and reformed again and again. Every dodge Lu Yan made was like dancing on the blade’s edge.

Those silver shards of space carved deadly arcs through the air. With a mere lift of a rotting finger, reality cracked open to reveal the dark unknown beneath.

Even with his cultivation suppressed, the Corpse King remained one of the strongest threats in this version.

Space manipulation allowed perfect offense and defense. Lu Yan simply couldn’t land a blow, while the Corpse King’s cracks could end him in an instant.

The bizarre pursuit lasted nearly half an hour.

Finally, at the edge of the wasteland, a small ruined city came into view.

Lu Yan’s eyes lit up—he rushed into the city at full speed.

The Corpse King’s rotting face curled in disdain. Raising its hand, it slashed a rift across several hundred meters, toppling buildings and awakening thousands of zombies.

Its powerful spiritual sense, enough to cover the entire city, linked with tens of thousands of undead who now obeyed its command, searching for Lu Yan.

But then… something changed.

Within that vast spiritual network, countless zombies suddenly disconnected—at a rate of over a thousand per second.

Most didn’t even realize what happened before their souls were drawn out, leaving behind only piles of white bones.

A moment later, a towering wave of ghost fog descended from the sky, blanketing the entire ruined city in darkness.

(End of Chapter)