Chapter 190: The Abyssal God, Ascension to the Thousand Soul Banner

Lu Yan sat cross-legged, channeling the vast ghost mist through the Soul Banner to begin refining the Nascent Soul of the Jindan Corpse King.

Under normal circumstances, with only his Foundation Establishment cultivation, attempting to refine a Jindan-level soul would be pure fantasy.

However, the Soul Banner in Lu Yan’s hand had already gathered three Ghost Gods and one thousand Yin Soldiers—more than enough to suppress a Jindan soul.

More importantly, the Soul Banner contained a hidden trump card: the Soul Domain. With this overwhelming pressure against souls, the odds of Lu Yan succeeding were greatly increased.

The ghost mist enveloped the Jindan soul. As the refining began, the Yin Soldiers slowly loosened their grip on the soul-bound Soul Hooks.

The Soul Banner stirred without wind in the void. Ghost mist descended from the banner like black waterfalls, manipulating every subtle shift within the mist.

Freed from the Soul Hooks, the Jindan Nascent Soul struggled within the ghost mist, golden radiance flickering as it tried to break free—but it was futile.

Even the Corpse King at his peak was refined by the Soul Banner’s formation of Ghost Gods. What chance did a mere soul have?

On the banner’s surface, the vast Soul Domain shimmered with light. The crushing force from the Soul Domain descended like a divine weight, enough to annihilate the Jindan soul. Under this might, the soul let out a silent wail as its golden radiance began to dim.

Once the soul started its transformation, it instinctively devoured the surrounding ghost mist and soul energy.

Seeing this, Lu Yan immediately issued a command.

“Harvest the wandering souls!”

At his order, the thousand Yin Soldiers wielding Soul Hooks began a full sweep of the ruined city.

With the Spatial Corpse King gone, nothing could resist the Yin Soldiers. Even the mid-Foundation Establishment Corpse King, the city’s strongest, could not withstand the assault of a hundred late-stage Qi Refining Yin Soldiers. Soon, its Nascent Soul was stripped and delivered to Lu Yan’s side.

The refined Jindan soul surged with black mist, ravenously devouring every soul nearby, accepting almost everything brought before it.

As ghost mist billowed, a powerful Jindan aura began to rise from within.

This refinement process lasted two full days. In the early hours, the thousand Yin Soldiers slaughtered the city’s 400,000 zombies.

Half of the souls were used to create ghost mist and elevate all Yin Soldiers to late-stage Qi Refining.

The remaining half was wholly used to nourish the growing Jindan soul.

During this process, Lu Yan didn’t simply let the Jindan soul evolve on its own. He drew upon a Soul Fission Battery to provide spiritual energy and conducted a full Ghost God transformation.

The Jindan soul’s resilience far surpassed that of typical Foundation Establishment souls. Without leveraging the soul’s metamorphosis, it would’ve been impossible to inscribe the complex spiritual code.

Finally, as the last of the truth-code engravings fused into the Jindan soul’s core instincts, the two-day ritual reached its end.

A majestic figure slowly emerged from the mist.

He wore a deep black robe embroidered with flowing golden spiritual runes along the cuffs and hem, accented with silver streaks filled with spatial mysteries.

His face retained faint human contours but was pallid with a ghostly deathly hue. In the depths of his pupils, a silver vortex of spatial energy swirled endlessly.

Shards of broken space floated around him like suspended mirrors, reflecting everything within several miles. With a mere lift of his hand, the void would silently tear open, revealing bottomless darkness.

He stood silently, the aura of Jindan cultivation radiating from him. The surrounding Ghost Gods and Yin Soldiers instinctively lowered their heads, not daring to meet his gaze.

Yet when his eyes turned to Lu Yan, that overwhelming pressure vanished completely, replaced by reverence and submission.

“Abyssal God greets my Lord!”

With the fourth Main Soul—Abyssal God—now in place, the Soul Banner in Lu Yan’s hand began to change.

A thousand late-stage Qi Refining Yin Soldiers, three Foundation Establishment Ghost Gods, and one Jindan Ghost God—all now fully bound to the banner. The former top-grade magical artifact, the Hundred Soul Banner, now had the qualifications to ascend.

The Soul Banner slowly unfurled in the void. Four miniature statues representing the Main Souls hung from the corners. Threads of black silk writhed across its surface like living veins, weaving together a mystical Soul Domain.

Lu Yan could clearly sense that as the banner ascended, the connection between it and the Soul Domain grew deeper. The vast ghost mist within the small world surged outward, spreading across the entire Soul Domain.

Previously, Lu Yan had only limited control over the ghost mist. But this time, after slaughtering 400,000 zombies at the start of this Wasteland Version…

Half of those souls were used to refine the Abyssal God. The other half created two hundred new Yin Soldiers and upgraded all Yin Soldiers to late-stage Qi Refining—and still, there were leftovers.

This residual soul energy was converted into ghost mist that extended over ten miles, greatly enhancing Lu Yan’s grasp over the Soul Domain.

At last, with the upgrade process complete, the Hundred Soul Banner successfully ascended into a full-fledged artifact: the Thousand Soul Banner.

This meant Lu Yan could now more easily control the Soul Domain, and the banner could accommodate more and stronger Ghost Gods and Yin Soldiers.

But Lu Yan understood clearly—this was just the beginning of his journey in the Wasteland Version.

He turned to the Abyssal God and asked:

“Do you remember anything from before you hunted me?”

The Abyssal God furrowed his brow, searching his mind for a moment before shaking his head.

“Reporting to my Lord, I only possess memories from after you granted me Ghost God abilities.”

Lu Yan felt a pang of disappointment.

The Abyssal God’s original form in the Demon Version was clearly linked to the Longevity Version. If he could recall anything, perhaps Lu Yan could’ve uncovered secrets from that world.

But it was a futile hope. The version update had caused a near-demonic Abyssal Realm expert to plummet to a mere Jindan Corpse King—his memories wiped clean.

Not dwelling on it, Lu Yan asked about the one thing he cared most about.

“What is your innate spell?”

In the battle with the Spatial Corpse King, its overwhelming spatial power had been a great obstacle for Lu Yan.

After refining a superpowered zombie from the Wasteland Version into a Main Soul, its abilities would mutate into a unique innate spell.

This was the main reason Lu Yan had invested so many resources into refining the Spatial Corpse King’s soul—he wanted to fully inherit its spatial abilities.

The Abyssal God lifted his palm. A broken spatial fragment coalesced into a rhomboid crystal, light constantly refracting and twisting within.

“This is my innate spell: Spatial Domination.

Based on my comprehension of spatial rules, I can manipulate the structure of space itself.”

As he spoke, he slowly pushed his right hand forward. The rhomboid crystal vanished, replaced by a portal connecting a kilometer away.

Then, with a flick of his finger, the spatial gate collapsed into shimmering spatial cracks.

While demonstrating, spatial runes shimmered in his eyes as he added:

“In evolving as a Ghost God, I focused all divine power on rule deduction, which allowed me to master Spatial Domination more fluidly.

Through this process, I stumbled upon the origin of extraordinary abilities and innate spells. It seems they emerge from absorbing Moonlight Essence, awakening latent power deep within the soul.

This development isn’t obvious during Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment—it only manifests as an extraordinary ability.

But once Jindan is achieved, it fully blossoms into a true spell, far beyond the description of innate spells in the Soul Banner. It aligns more closely with the divine abilities you once described, my Lord.”

Upon hearing this, a term flashed through Lu Yan’s mind—

Innate Divine Ability.

Upon entering the Foundation Establishment realm, a cultivator would plant the seed of a divine ability in their Dao Foundation. Once they achieved Jindan, that seed would germinate and give rise to a powerful ability.

Innate spells were thought to be unique to Wasteland Version superpowered zombies, but seeing the Abyssal God’s evolution made it clear—

These extraordinary abilities were likely early manifestations of Innate Divine Abilities.

Lu Yan himself had cultivated for three months under the Wasteland’s moonlight and developed a Soul Perception ability. At the time, he thought it was just a nascent talent—but that ability had been absorbed into his soul upon forming his Foundation.

Looking up at the bright full moon hanging high in the sky, Lu Yan fell into thought.

“Moonlight Essence not only strengthens the soul—it may also awaken innate divine abilities. What secrets lie behind this Wasteland moon?

And beyond that, this world’s sun contains Solar Essence…

Could it also give rise to unique powers once refined to a certain level?”

Countless thoughts surged through Lu Yan’s mind.

But after a moment, he forced himself to let go.

The version update progress bar had reached 1.5%. At this rate, he would remain in the Wasteland Version for six months.

Lu Yan had to make the most of this time to grow stronger—and prepare for whatever crisis the next update might bring. Now was not the time to unravel the mysteries of the Wasteland world.

Raising the Thousand Soul Banner once more, Lu Yan turned to the Abyssal God and asked:

“Any nearby city ruins?”

The Abyssal God lifted his hand. A floating shard of space projected an image from dozens of kilometers away.

“There is a small town thirty kilometers out. It holds approximately forty thousand zombies.”

“Can the Spatial Gate reach it?”

“It can.”

With a wave of his hand, the Abyssal God opened a spatial rift linking directly to the town.

Across the wilderness, a team of superpowered scavengers trudged forward, their weapons and backpacks worn with use. One pointed toward the town and asked:

“Captain, there’s clearly a town ahead. Why aren’t we going in to search?”

The leader turned with a snarl.

“Idiot! Didn’t I tell you to check the map before leaving?”

“That town may only have about fifty thousand zombies, but there’s a Tier 5 Corpse King living there. It’s a designated forbidden zone, claimed by several survivor settlements.

They once sent hundreds of superpowered fighters to clear it—and not a single one came back. You want to walk to your death?”

The others fell silent, thoroughly chastised.

The captain sighed heavily.

“As time passes, Corpse Kings above Tier 4 are becoming more common. There are at least four such forbidden zones within a hundred kilometers. Humanity’s territory is shrinking fast.

Some survivors have talked about purging these zones early—but everyone’s afraid of dying. Even those Tier 4 supers hesitate.

If we let these zombies run wild, what will we do when another outbreak comes?”

Just as he finished speaking, the captain noticed that the others were staring in horror at the town.

His face turned stern. “How many times do I have to tell you—when you’re out in the wild, fear gets you killed. Stay calm at all times.”

But one of the team members cut in anxiously:

“C-Captain! Look!!!”

Frowning, he turned toward the town—

And saw something he would never forget.

Above the small town, a massive rift tore through the sky—like the gaze of a supreme being descending upon the earth.

A thousand Yin Soldiers surged forth from the rift, their black armor gleaming coldly in the moonlight. Their Soul Hooks swam through the air like living serpents.

On the death-saturated streets, the zombies hadn’t even reacted before silver lightning tore through them.

The hunt spread swiftly.

Bathed in moonlight, the zombies had all emerged from buildings—making it easier for the Yin Soldiers to reap.

Pale blue souls were ripped from their bodies, howling silently in the air. The Yin Soldiers moved in perfect sync—cold, mechanical, efficient.

The Corpse King in the town’s center looked skyward, releasing its mighty aura to resist.

But a hundred Soul Hooks slashed through the void, effortlessly shredding its defenses.

Its desiccated corpse crumbled under the moonlight, and its purified soul was seized.

Within minutes, the entire town fell silent.

The thousand Yin Soldiers reformed in the air. Their Soul Hooks still vibrated slightly as ghost mist lifted them back through the spatial rift above.

With the last soldier gone, the massive rift slowly closed.

Silence returned.

Across the wilderness, only a single scavenger team remained—witnesses to the fall of a forbidden zone.

(End of Chapter)