Chapter 192: Large-Scale Corpse Tide and the Rebuilding of Civilization

Hearing those words, Lu Yan finally showed some interest.

He ordered the Qiongyuan God within the Soul Banner to temporarily close the spatial rift, then stowed away the banner and slowly descended from the sky.

On the ground, the elite scavenger squad looked up at Lu Yan with awe, not daring to breathe too loudly.

Even the previously arrogant young Transcendent who had questioned the legends of the Underworld now had no trace of his earlier defiance.

If before witnessing Lu Yan’s descent, they could still explain the cleansing of ruined cities as the work of Transcendent squads with special abilities…

Then after seeing Lu Yan’s actual power, all such assumptions were completely discarded. Now, there was only one thought in their hearts—

The Underworld had truly descended!

Thousands of Yin Soldiers swept through millions of zombies, even annihilating a Ninth Stage Corpse King.

Such a spectacular scene had utterly transcended their understanding of the Transcendent system. Calling it the mythic Underworld was far more fitting.

As Lu Yan landed, they finally saw his face clearly.

Beneath his dark robe was a handsome face tinged with a slight pallor. His pitch-black eyes were as deep as an abyss.

At times, he exuded the gentle warmth of the blazing sun, evoking a sense of closeness. At other times, the black mist surrounding him revealed countless ghostly figures and Yin Soldiers, like a mighty god of the Underworld—dignified and untouchable.

These two contradictory feelings somehow coexisted within Lu Yan, forming a strange yet harmonious presence that inspired even greater awe.

“You have information about a large-scale corpse tide?”

Lu Yan’s voice slowly echoed. Though calm, it carried a natural authority that made resistance unthinkable.

Guo Ze stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

“Reporting to the Honored God, I do have information regarding a large-scale corpse tide.”

Lu Yan’s eyes glimmered with curiosity.

So-called corpse tides were essentially vast gatherings of zombies that surged like waves to attack nearby survivor settlements.

In the apocalyptic version of the world, zombies weren’t limited to cities. The wilderness was also teeming with them, though scattered and far less threatening.

Even Lu Yan didn’t bother wasting time hunting them down one by one in the wilderness.

But during a corpse tide, hundreds of Corpse Kings would emerge across the wilds, gathering wandering zombies and directing them to assault human settlements.

Once the numbers grew large enough, zombies from surrounding cities would also join, forming a massive army.

To qualify as a large-scale corpse tide, there had to be at least three million zombies. Some even gathered tens of millions.

That would cover the entire field of view in an overwhelming sea of corpses—an ideal hunting ground for Lu Yan.

By now, Lu Yan had been in the apocalyptic version for three months.

Driven by the threat of the Immortal version, he hadn’t wasted a single moment, relentlessly harvesting zombies across city clusters.

Ever since the Soul Banner advanced from a High-Grade Magic Tool to a true Magic Treasure, Lu Yan was no longer limited by harvesting speed.

When pushed to full capacity, he could cleanse a small town of tens of thousands of zombies within ten minutes at night.

Even cities with hundreds of thousands of zombies—though more scattered—could be cleared with a thorough sweep in just a few hours.

Compared to killing zombies, Lu Yan was more troubled by finding ruined towns and cities that still harbored the undead.

The apocalyptic wasteland wasn’t like the Federation or United States of the urban version. Cities were spread far apart. After clearing one city cluster, he’d have to travel to find the next.

And even the Qiongyuan God’s spatial control had limits. The maximum teleportation range of a spatial rift was fifty kilometers. Beyond that, deploying Yin Soldiers became more difficult.

Every time Lu Yan arrived in a city, he would pick the area with the densest zombies to start cultivating.

The more zombies present, the more moonlight energy they could absorb at night, allowing him to draw in vast amounts of it.

After the Qiongyuan God and the Yin Soldiers had cleared the surrounding areas, he’d finish the final sweep himself and move on to the next city.

With such a method, Lu Yan had eliminated over thirty million zombies across more than fifty city clusters in just three months.

Among them were three large-scale urban centers with populations near or above one million. Smaller cities with populations in the hundreds of thousands were too many to count. Lu Yan spent the bulk of his time simply traveling between them.

This pace was terrifying. If those demonic overlords from the Immortal version ever learned that Lu Yan could harvest over thirty million souls in three months—and that it didn’t even incur Heavenly Retribution but earned Heavenly Merit instead—they’d be driven mad with envy.

Thirty million souls was a vast number, yet still far from enough for Lu Yan.

Partly because zombie souls were low in quality. More importantly, to withstand the next siege from the Immortal version, Lu Yan had to shake the entire apocalyptic version within six months.

The last time he killed over one hundred thousand zombies, it had only moved the version change meter by 0.2%.

That didn’t mean the entire version only had fifty million zombies, as the meter also included the positive effects of purifying zombie souls to weaken the apocalyptic influence.

Based on his exploration, the total population of this version was likely smaller than the urban version—but still around two to three billion.

Even if only half had become zombies, his thirty-million harvest was still less than 3% of the total.

At this pace, shaking the entire version would be impossible. He needed a more efficient way to harvest zombies.

Unfortunately, the apocalyptic version lacked ultra-large cities with populations in the tens of millions. He could only clean them up one cluster at a time, which wasn’t nearly efficient enough.

That’s why the mention of a large-scale corpse tide caught Lu Yan’s attention.

After briefly assessing Guo Ze, Lu Yan spoke directly:

“Tell me the location of the large-scale corpse tide, and I will grant you one favor.”

Even Guo Ze couldn’t help but swallow hard at those words. A visible look of excitement crossed his face.

Having witnessed the might of Lu Yan’s Yin Soldier army, he knew this one favor could be worth an entire city—or even securing his place as the leader of a survivor base.

Temptation surged in Guo Ze’s eyes, but he quickly suppressed it and spoke solemnly:

“Reporting to the Honored God, there is currently no area where a large-scale corpse tide has erupted.”

Before he could finish his sentence, a terrifying pressure slammed down.

Guo Ze, a powerful Fifth Stage Transcendent comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator, didn’t even have time to resist before dropping to his knees.

The dozen or so team members behind him also collapsed under the residual pressure, faces flushed as they stared nervously at Lu Yan.

“Do you think I was joking with you?”

Lu Yan’s calm words fell like thunder. With every word, the pressure on Guo Ze’s soul increased, as though it would shatter at any moment.

Guo Ze struggled to speak: “Reporting to the Honored God… though no corpse tide has erupted yet… I have a way to create one!”

As soon as he said that, the crushing pressure finally eased. Guo Ze gasped for air and quickly explained:

“Please forgive me, Honored God! I did not mean to deceive—only acted out of desperation!”

Lu Yan glanced at him.

“Let it not happen again.”

The pressure vanished, and Guo Ze finally managed to climb to his feet.

“Explain how you’ll guide the corpse tide.”

“Yes!” Guo Ze composed himself and began:

“The method for guiding a corpse tide lies with a Fifth Stage Transcendent in our Seventy-Third Base named Li Kang.

Li Kang was once an ordinary Transcendent, but during a scavenging expedition, he found rare materials and exchanged them for enough Sunstones to reach the Fifth Stage.

After that, his Transcendent ability changed. His spiritual link could mimic the command of a powerful Corpse King, allowing him to control regular zombies.

He once experimented by guiding wild zombies to form a small corpse tide of a few thousand.

According to him, with the right tactics, he could create a super-scale corpse tide. But since the method couldn’t be used to attack zombies, its value was considered limited.”

“Li Kang?”

Lu Yan’s eyes flashed with recognition.

In the final hours of his first apocalyptic run, when hunting the giant Corpse King, he had saved a Transcendent named Li Kang.

In return, Li Kang had given him a few Sunstones, and Lu Yan had passed him some leftover supplies.

Who would’ve thought that small kindness would lead to this?

Guo Ze, unaware of Lu Yan’s inner thoughts, continued earnestly:

“If the Honored God wishes, I will spare no effort to cooperate in summoning a corpse tide that spans hundreds of kilometers—so your army may harvest souls freely.”

Lu Yan cast him a meaningful look.

“A corpse tide is no plaything. With your strength, are you not afraid of being consumed by the fire you start?”

Guo Ze trembled, but still clenched his jaw.

“This is nothing less than a gamble with everything on the line. If the Honored God can destroy the tide, then all threats around our base will vanish.

Before tens of thousands of survivors, you shall reveal your divine might—dispersing the apocalyptic shadow over their heads.

This base… may truly become a safe zone. And the Seventy-Third Base could use that moment to begin rebuilding civilization from these ruins!”

(End of Chapter)