Chapter 193: Golden Core Invincible

Rebuilding civilization!

Lu Yan gave Guo Ze a deep look.

A Fifth Stage Transcendent was considered top-tier within the apocalyptic version’s system, but in Lu Yan’s eyes, it was utterly insignificant.

On the surface, the two appeared to be at a similar level. But in truth, the gap between their combat power and cultivation was like heaven and earth. Lu Yan could casually dispatch dozens of Peak Qi Refining Yin Soldiers to form a battle formation and easily suppress Guo Ze.

Yet despite this, this seemingly ordinary Transcendent had displayed a level of courage that even Lu Yan couldn’t help but acknowledge.

“When did you come up with this idea?”

Guo Ze answered honestly:

“After I reached the Second Stage, I gained the ability to see souls. Witnessing the Yin Soldiers under your command harvest zombie souls, and combining that with the rumors of the Underworld spreading from other settlements, I began to realize that the Honored God’s true target was these zombie souls.

So I wanted to borrow your strength to eliminate the zombie threat around Settlement No. 73 while helping you collect souls in the most efficient way.

I dare not hide anything from the Honored God.”

“Very good.”

Lu Yan nodded in approval.

The idea of rebuilding civilization had sparked another insight in him.

He had been so focused on slaughtering zombies to shake the apocalyptic version that he had overlooked something important—the apocalyptic version’s Heavenly Dao order wasn’t defined solely by zombies, but by the chaos and disorder that followed the end of the world.

If civilization could be rebuilt while eradicating zombies, it would certainly have a greater impact on the world’s Heavenly Dao order, giving him more leverage to shift the entire version.

Lu Yan raised his right hand, and the Soul Banner within his body split off a palm-sized fragment.

Within that small fragment of the Soul Banner were a hundred Peak Qi Refining Yin Soldiers—enough to ensure Guo Ze’s safety and maintain long-range communication with the main banner.

Since upgrading to a true Magic Treasure, the Soul Banner could now be stored in his body for easy access, and its other capabilities had also improved dramatically. Even the split-banner technique he once used in the cyber version had evolved.

Casually tossing the split-banner to Guo Ze, Lu Yan said:

“I’ll give you two months. Stir up a super-scale corpse tide. Once it’s done, use this to contact me—I’ll handle the rest personally.”

Guo Ze hurriedly caught the banner. The cold touch sent a tremble through his soul. He could clearly sense the immense power within the seemingly ordinary object—more than enough to crush him.

Now more aware than ever of Lu Yan’s strength, Guo Ze couldn’t help but voice his concern:

“Does the Honored God have any limits for the scale of the corpse tide?

Settlement No. 73 is located on a plain that was once heavily populated. If we let things go unchecked, the tide might grow to over ten million zombies, and there will certainly be more than a few Ninth Stage Corpse Kings…”

Before he could finish, Lu Yan cut him off:

“No limits. The more, the better.”

This wasn’t arrogance—it was a confident assessment based on his current capabilities.

In three months, Lu Yan had slaughtered over thirty million zombies. Countless souls were absorbed into the Soul Banner, making his strength grow by leaps and bounds.

The number of Yin Soldiers had grown from 1,000 to 6,000 with the full operation of the Yin Soldier transformation assembly line.

And following the principle of quality over quantity, every one of those 6,000 Yin Soldiers had been upgraded to Peak Qi Refining—just one step from the Foundation Establishment Realm.

When the Soul Banner deployed all 6,000 in formation, the sheer pressure alone could make any lifeform below Golden Core tremble.

In direct combat, even multiple Golden Core-level Corpse Kings couldn’t escape annihilation under their siege. The once hollow shell of the Underworld now truly radiated the might of myth.

Of course, 6,000 Yin Soldiers alone would not justify the harvest of thirty million souls.

During his three-month rampage, Lu Yan had captured two Golden Core Corpse Kings. Not every one of them possessed powerful divine abilities like the Qiongyuan God.

So he had combined the vast number of wandering souls with the souls of the Golden Core Corpse Kings to upgrade two ghost deities—Blood God and Giant Spirit God—to the Golden Core Realm.

And now, the Golden Core Corpse King he was hunting in Jiao City would be the third. Its ability—Soul Refining Flame—was average, so Lu Yan planned to use it as material for another divine guardian’s ascension.

In addition, he had harvested the souls of over 600 Foundation Establishment Corpse Kings.

After careful selection by the Giant Spirit God, the most capable among them would be transformed into new ghost deities under Lu Yan’s command.

The rest would undergo a completely new kind of modification after refinement—based on soul computing principles and inspired by the Qiongyuan God’s research into laws.

This new upgrade, built upon Yin Soldier transformation, was dubbed “Ghost General Modification” by Lu Yan.

Once completed, the Soul Banner would gain 600 Ghost Generals, each leading a unit of Yin Soldiers—amplifying the Underworld army’s strength manyfold.

But that wasn’t all. Lu Yan had one more ultimate trump card—the Soul Continent.

Nurturing 6,000 Yin Soldiers and three Golden Core ghost deities didn’t even begin to exhaust the thirty million souls he had gathered.

The true soul-devouring process was used to generate ghost mist to refine the entire Soul Continent.

With his ghost deities and Yin Soldiers working tirelessly, the ghost mist had now consumed half of the Soul Continent.

Though it hadn’t been fully refined yet, Lu Yan could already command it in a limited capacity. Under the ghost deities’ transformation efforts, the Soul Continent had begun to shed its barren nature.

With so many wandering souls being infused, it was beginning to resemble the embryonic form of a true Netherworld.

With all these factors combined, Lu Yan’s strength had grown to a terrifying degree.

The apocalyptic version was only thirteen years old. The appearance of Golden Core Corpse Kings in such a short time was already the upper limit. It was simply impossible for Nascent Soul-level Corpse Kings to exist.

As long as no Nascent Soul appeared, Lu Yan was confident that—once all Soul Banner upgrades were complete—he would be unbeatable among Golden Cores.

Sweeping through the apocalyptic version would be only a matter of time.

But… what Lu Yan lacked was time!

Hearing his confident declaration, the reverence in Guo Ze’s eyes deepened further.

Since he had chosen to rebuild civilization by relying on Lu Yan’s power, he naturally wouldn’t doubt Lu Yan’s strength. He immediately resolved to pull Li Kang into the plan as soon as he returned to Settlement No. 73.

Having given his instructions, Lu Yan prepared to leave and resume his zombie hunt.

Mobilizing the Qiongyuan God’s power within the Soul Banner, Lu Yan sliced open space with his fingertip, revealing a desolate plain fifty kilometers away.

The nearest city clusters were still hundreds of kilometers beyond. The Qiongyuan God’s rifts weren’t limitless, so Lu Yan could only cross dozens of kilometers at a time before rushing to the next cluster.

But just as he was about to step into the rift, he suddenly remembered something.

When Lu Yan first transitioned from the urban version into the apocalyptic one, he had moved from Luocheng directly into Jiao City.

Though the different versions didn’t perfectly mirror each other, there were still traces of overlap.

If Jiao City corresponded to Luocheng, could it mean that Li Hao and his Li Family’s forces were nearby?

Lu Yan had spent the past few months slaughtering zombies, nearly forgetting about the Li Family—who had once been affected by him in the demon version.

With this thought, he halted his steps toward the rift and turned to Guo Ze:

“How many settlements are in this area?”

Guo Ze straightened and answered immediately:

“Reporting to the Honored God, within a hundred-mile radius, there is only one—Settlement No. 73.”

“Who is the settlement leader?”

“Yu Mingyu.”

Hearing that it wasn’t the name he expected, Lu Yan frowned slightly but didn’t dwell on it.

After all, the apocalyptic version had far fewer people than other versions. It wouldn’t be strange if Li Hao hadn’t appeared.

Since Li Hao wasn’t around, Lu Yan lost interest in investigating the settlement.

But just then, Guo Ze added one more thing:

“However, Yu Mingyu was only appointed in the last two months. The previous leader was named Li Hao. He controlled one of the major powers within the settlement—the Li Family.

Our squad has spent the past two years scouting for new settlement sites nearby, so we don’t know much about the internal politics. We only heard that Leader Li Hao offended some other powerful forces and was eventually forced to step down.

Yu Mingyu was a puppet propped up by those same outside forces.”

Guo Ze had barely finished speaking when a powerful pressure surged forth. In the eyes of the Honored God before him, there seemed to be… uncontainable joy?

“So that’s where you were hiding…”

Lu Yan’s face broke into an unrestrained smile.

In the demon version, he had been relentlessly hunted by True Law martial artists—especially the final pursuit by a Nether Abyss powerhouse that drove him deep into the forbidden zone.

After the version update, even Lu Yan wasn’t sure where he had ended up.

The apocalyptic version differed vastly from the demon version. With no familiar reference points, he couldn’t determine who had been hunting him.

And with the constant threat from the Immortal version, he hadn’t had time to seek revenge.

For three months, he had focused entirely on slaughtering zombies, harvesting over thirty million souls and growing stronger.

And now, by sheer chance, he had encountered Guo Ze—and through him learned that Li Hao had been ousted by the so-called outside forces.

There was no doubt: those “outside forces” were the same True Law cultivators who had hunted him in the demon version.

Lu Yan glanced at Guo Ze and his companions. A bloodthirsty smile curled at the corner of his lips.

“Lead the way.”

(End of Chapter)