Chapter 52: Heavenly Dao Merit

For an ordinary person to refine the Soul Banner into a Merit Treasure—such an idea would be nothing short of delusional.

First of all, from what was written in the journal, it was evident that refining a Merit Treasure required an immense amount of merit. Even the Morality Sect needed to activate their Merit Pool to possess the necessary foundation.

The wielder of a Thousand Soul Banner must have harvested countless souls, committing vast slaughter in the process. That kind of overwhelming karmic sin would be considered lucky just to be suppressed by merit—let alone refined into a Merit Treasure.

And from another angle, could a demonic cultivator have someone with immense merit refine a Soul Banner into a Merit Treasure on their behalf?

Clearly, that wasn’t possible either.

Even if the refiner bore no sin or karmic burden, the Soul Banner—brimming with resentment, soul fragments, and karmic backlash from all its sacrifices—would still naturally conflict with merit. They were fundamentally incompatible.

That’s why, throughout the entire history of the Xianxia version, no one had ever heard of such a ridiculous thing as a “demonic merit treasure.”

But if Lu Yan was the one attempting this, the situation would be completely different.

First, Lu Yan possessed an enormous amount of merit, with the apocalyptic version as a backup supply. He had no shortage of merit whatsoever.

Second, the souls inside Lu Yan’s banner—whether main souls or subsidiary—were almost entirely collected from zombies. These undead creatures lacked their Heaven and Earth souls and had dull, muddled spirits. Once refined, the residual resentment was less than one-thousandth of a typical soul banner, and as for karmic sin—there was none at all.

In such a scenario, the Soul Banner was entirely qualified to be refined into a Merit Treasure.

The final point was a speculation Lu Yan formed while reading The Morality Journal.

According to the journal, after reaching Foundation Establishment, every disciple of the Morality Sect would descend from the mountains to accumulate merit.

Their methods were almost exclusively slaying demons and upholding justice. If they interfered in mortal matters and caused calamities, they would incur sin and lose merit—completely different from Lu Yan’s personal experiences.

Lu Yan had experimented before. Killing zombies that posed a threat to humanity didn’t earn him any merit. But separating the zombie souls, freeing the human soul from its decayed flesh—that was what earned him merit.

Furthermore, when he killed those rogue cultivators and demonic cultivators in the past, there wasn’t even a trace of merit increase.

It was as if Lu Yan and the Morality Sect disciples of millennia past were walking two completely different paths toward accumulating merit.

Lu Yan boldly speculated: perhaps this had to do with the source of the Morality Sect’s inheritance.

Their disciples walked the path of Human Dao—they gained merit by protecting mortals and maintaining order.

But Lu Yan’s actions in the apocalypse version? That was an entirely different path. He cleansed the undead, quelled chaos, and worked to save the world. The Dao he followed was the Heavenly Dao, and merit descended directly from the Heavenly Will of the apocalypse.

Thus, if Lu Yan—a bearer of Heavenly Dao merit—refined a Merit Treasure, the outcome would be completely different.

Once the treasure was complete, even if Lu Yan brandished the Soul Banner right in front of a righteous sect’s members, and the heavens descended with golden lotuses and divine radiance… who could say a word against him?

“If I can really refine it successfully, what do I have to fear about being exposed?”

Lu Yan’s heart stirred violently with anticipation.

He flipped further through The Morality Journal, but it contained no further information about refining Merit Treasures. The entries resumed the mundane diary-style notes, which left him a little disappointed.

But it was only natural. The Morality Journal was just a personal diary from several thousand years ago—not a cultivation manual. Expecting it to contain the method for refining a Merit Treasure was unrealistic.

He turned to the final page.

It recorded only one line:

Heavenly Dao Calendar Year 76,351 – Month 7, Day 13.

Aside from the date, the page was blank.

Everything came to an abrupt halt there—just like the Morality Sect itself, lost to the river of history.

Closing the book with a faint sense of regret, Lu Yan began contemplating the information he had just absorbed.

Compared to all his previous strategies, refining the Soul Banner into a Merit Treasure was clearly more feasible. The only issue was—where to find the method to do so?

“The Morality Sect was severely weakened after being besieged by righteous sects. Later, during the righteous-demonic war, they were wiped out by demonic sects.

“If that’s the case, then the righteous and demonic sects involved in that siege should still hold some of the Morality Sect’s manuals.

“After all, this was a merit-based inheritance. No sect would willingly let such knowledge slip through their fingers.”

But even though the Morality Sect had been gone for thousands of years, no sect ever seemed to revive or spread the ways of merit. Even divine merit techniques had gradually disappeared from public knowledge.

That suggested that interest in merit cultivation had significantly diminished. However, simply locating a method to refine a Merit Treasure might still be doable.

Lu Yan mulled over this silently.

In the current cultivation world, the ten righteous orthodoxy sects controlled countless spiritual lands, and their subordinate branches and side sects were too numerous to count.

The seven demonic upper sects also commanded immense power, each boasting a legacy stretching back millennia.

The Red Lotus Demonic Sect, though now a rising force, had only emerged after the great righteous-demonic war several thousand years ago. Compared to the other orthodoxy and demonic behemoths, it was still the youngest of them all.

“To obtain the refining method for a Merit Treasure, I’ll probably have to start with the major sects. The best candidate would be the Red Lotus Demonic Sect—the one suspected to have inherited the Morality Sect’s legacy.”

After killing Cheng Yu, Lu Yan had acquired information about the Red Lotus Demonic Sect scheming around a hidden ruin in the Wushan region.

“Could I use this information… to gain something in return? Perhaps even the refining method I seek?”

Lu Yan contemplated the feasibility of this plan.

Just then, the defensive restriction outside his cave dwelling was suddenly triggered.

His expression darkened, and he immediately turned toward the entrance.

Right now, Qinggu Market was sealed off by Xie Yun and his people. The cultivators inside were all trying to keep their heads down. Who would come knocking at his door?

“Could it be a rogue cultivator seeking information about the inspection?”

Cautiously alert, Lu Yan tucked the journal into his storage pouch, then got up and headed to the cave entrance.

The restriction here functioned more like a doorbell than a real defense. Any Foundation Establishment stage cultivator or above could break in effortlessly. Normally, the safety of the cave dwellings relied on the order enforced by the market.

But Qinggu Market was in chaos now, and Lu Yan couldn’t rely on that flimsy restriction to keep anyone out.

Better to investigate now than wait for them to break in.

Approaching the formation, Lu Yan looked outside. Thanks to the one-way restriction, he could clearly see the area beyond the cave.

No one was there.

It seemed the formation had been triggered by mistake.

Still cautious, Lu Yan surveyed the surroundings. His right hand had already slipped into his robe, ready to draw a weapon.

But after a long while, no further activity occurred.

Lu Yan finally relaxed, withdrawing his hand and frowning slightly as he turned to head back inside.

Yet just a few steps later… he froze.

At the table inside his cave dwelling—

A figure was seated upright, as if they had been waiting there for quite some time.

Then, a cold voice slowly rang out:

“I heard… you claim to be one of my people?”

(End of Chapter)