Chapter 26: Source of Merit

Suppressing his excitement for now, Lu Yan reminded himself that hunting zombie souls could be done at any time—there was no need to rush.

With a wave of his hand, he drew all the vengeful spirits back into the Soul Banner and turned his attention to a far more important matter.

“Where exactly did this Xuanhuang Merit Flame come from?”

If he were a lazy programmer, it’d be enough for some messy code to simply run—no need to understand how it ran.

But cultivation was not so forgiving. A single misstep could spell disaster. Without firm footing at every stage, something would go wrong—sooner or later.

Cultivating the Xuanhuang Merit Flame required two key prerequisites: a divine method for refining it, and a sufficient amount of merit.

Yet Lu Yan clearly had neither—at least, not in any obvious way.

His head swirled with questions. He couldn’t help but pull out the Red Lotus Karma Flame Scripture again, carefully combing through it in search of any mention of merit or the Xuanhuang Merit Flame.

But as an Upper-Grade demonic cultivation method, the scripture contained no references to merit, nor any elaboration about the Red Lotus Karma Flame beyond its basic spell formula.

“I used the incantation for the Supreme-Grade spell Red Lotus Karma Flame… and somehow produced the Xuanhuang Merit Flame?”

“This is clearly a demonic technique based on using karmic sin to kill. How in the world did it end up tied to a divine power born of merit?”

“Don’t tell me… there are people in the demonic path secretly accumulating merit to cultivate divine arts?”

Lu Yan couldn’t help but scoff aloud.

But then, he paused.

His expression shifted as a sudden thought struck him—back when he was studying the Red Lotus Karma Flame Scripture, he had found numerous mistakes. To correct them, he had referenced Buddhist and Daoist scriptures online and revised the method accordingly.

“Could it be… because I modified the scripture?”
“But even so, it’s still a demonic technique—how could some revisions possibly turn it into something aligned with merit and righteousness?”

Flipping through the modified version, Lu Yan reviewed the notes he had marked. The errors he’d corrected had seemed minor at the time, yet after practicing the updated scripture, everything had functioned smoothly—no backlash, no problems.

“Wait a minute… what if this Red Lotus Karma Flame Scripture was flawed from the start? What if the version I corrected is its true original form?”

“And what if this Xuanhuang Merit Flame… is somehow connected to the scripture’s hidden origins?”

Unfortunately, he wasn’t currently in the Xianxia version of the world, so none of this could be verified for now.

“Next time I enter the Xianxia version, I must prioritize investigating the origins of this Red Lotus Karma Flame Scripture.”

For now, Lu Yan pushed aside the mystery and turned to another pressing question:

“If refining the Xuanhuang Merit Flame requires immense merit, when exactly did I accumulate so much of it?”

In the Xianxia version, merit was a precious resource.

In ancient times, there had once been a sect called the Moral Virtue Sect that specialized in merit-based cultivation. Though its disciples were not skilled in combat between cultivators, they possessed overwhelming power against demonic forces.

Even demonic cultivators of an entire major realm higher would go out of their way to avoid them. Yin spirits, evil deities, and ghost gods would retreat the moment they sensed them.

Sadly, on the eve of the great demonic calamity, the sect was besieged by all sides. Its upper ranks were slaughtered, and it was eventually completely annihilated by the Demonic Sect. Its heritage was lost.

Some believed that the downfall of the Moral Virtue Sect was the very reason the demonic path, and particularly artifacts like the Soul Banner, were able to run rampant through the cultivation world.

Had the Moral Virtue Sect survived, the righteous sects wouldn’t be so helpless against demonic devices.

Lu Yan shook off the digression.

Even if one ignored its restraining effects on demons, merit itself was a powerful boon—enhancing fortune, prolonging life, and improving one’s destiny, even without using it for cultivation.

But Lu Yan had never considered himself a “good person.” In fact, his hands were soaked in blood—he had taken quite a few lives.

And in the post-apocalyptic version of the world, his kill count was nearing ten thousand.

Each day, thousands of zombies were slaughtered by the vengeful spirits under his control. Their souls were extracted and refined into the Soul Banner.

Even the most ruthless demonic cultivators would raise their thumbs in admiration and call him a “born devil seed.”

And yet… not only had he escaped karmic retribution, but somehow had accumulated enough merit to refine a divine flame?

Even Lu Yan didn’t know what to make of it.

“It probably has something to do with the zombies.”

That was the only conclusion he could reach after some thought.

He waved his Soul Banner and summoned Lishi, the main soul.

“Go catch me a few ordinary zombies.”

Lishi nodded and leapt from the high-rise.

Soon, growls and shrieks echoed from the buildings below. A short while later, Lishi returned, dragging two zombies into the room.

Lu Yan ignored the falling chunks of rotted flesh and examined the creatures carefully.

He sank into a meditative state. Ever since refining the Xuanhuang Merit Flame, Lu Yan had become aware of the strange lights in his consciousness—a representation of merit.

He checked the amount currently stored, then flicked a finger.

A burst of spiritual energy pierced the skull of one zombie, destroying its body and dispersing its lingering soul.

Lu Yan immediately entered meditation again—but the merit did not change. Not a single fluctuation.

This confirmed it: simply killing zombies would not grant him any merit.

Frowning slightly, he summoned a vengeful spirit and pointed to the second zombie.

“Extract its soul.”

The spirit obeyed, thrusting a claw into the zombie’s chest and ripping out its weak, wandering soul.

The body collapsed into bleached white bones, crumbling to the floor, while a dazed ghost floated in the air.

Lu Yan entered meditation once more—and his eyes widened.

The light representing merit had grown—just slightly, but unmistakably.

It had increased.

At that moment, Lu Yan’s doubts were finally dispelled.

Killing a zombie did nothing. But separating the soul from the decayed body did.

“What’s the difference?”

He fell into deep thought.

After a long silence, a single thought suddenly struck him.

“It’s the apocalypse itself!”

Understanding dawned on him in a flash, his eyes glittering.

“The root of the post-apocalyptic version lies in the severing of the human race’s two heavenly souls. After death, the soul and seven earthly spirits become trapped within the decaying flesh, turning the dead into undead zombies.”

“Killing the body does nothing—zombies are already dead. The death of a corrupted vessel is insignificant to the world at large.”

“But forcibly extracting the soul from its rotten prison—that breaks the cycle, frees the soul. That is a merit in the eyes of Heaven!”

“The Heavenly Dao doesn’t care whether the freed souls dissolve naturally or are sacrificed into a Soul Banner. As long as they are liberated from the undead flesh, merit is granted. That’s why I’ve accumulated so much!”

(End of Chapter)