The full moon hung high in the sky, its silvery moonlight cascading down like a waterfall, shrouding the entire plain where the undead horde was gathering.
Nearly twenty million disaster corpses gathered on this plain, and the Taiyin Spiritual Qi emitted by the full moon almost solidified, illuminating the whole land in a silver-white glow.
At this moment, the Moonlight Spiritual Qi seemed to be drawn by some mysterious force, transforming into countless silver threads that penetrated into the undulating sea of death.
Under the moonlight, twenty million corpses writhed as eerie lights suddenly burst from their decaying flesh. A tide of Spiritual Qi surged above the sea of corpses, forming a vast energy web. Inside each zombie, a ghostly light flickered, like countless tiny stars awakening in the darkness.
A rumbling sound echoed from deep within the earth, as the bodies of countless zombies began to twist and deform. Beneath their shriveled skin, strange runes of moonlight appeared, as if ancient incantations were reviving in their flesh.
The Moonlight Spiritual Qi turned into a tangible silver torrent, surging through the sea of corpses, draping the entire plain in transcendent splendor.
Under this power, zombies underwent transformation in batches; their bodies began to swell, bones cracked under the immense pressure, and some transformed into three-story tall abominations, while others merged into writhing mountains of flesh. The world trembled at this terrifying metamorphosis, as the moonlit plain seemed to become a massive evolutionary furnace.
As time passed, almost one out of every ten zombies began an extraordinary transformation.
With more than twenty million zombies, even if only one tenth transformed into Extraordinary Zombies, there would still be over a million.
Such a terrifying number could easily crush the army of Yin Soldiers, which numbered only a few thousand.
Lu Yan watched the Moonlight Spiritual Qi enveloping the earth, a knowing expression on his face.
After a brief confrontation with the supreme will, Lu Yan realized that it might not be content and could take action again.
Even though that wisp of supreme will had been crushed by Lu Yan, it still controlled the extraordinary cornerstone of the Subworld, possibly using the Moonlight Spiritual Qi to achieve some goal.
While traveling, Lu Yan had the Giant Spirit God simulate this scenario.
After advancing to the Golden Core stage, the Giant Spirit God's simulation ability of the full path improved significantly, deducing many possibilities based on existing information.
The scenario where the Moonlight Spiritual Qi assists the disaster corpse tide in advancement was the most likely and the most dangerous possibility.
Once the disaster corpse tide completed its advancement, Lu Yan would have no chance of opposing it.
For others, unless they possessed the power to shake the heavens, they could do nothing against such a heavenly phenomenon.
But for Lu Yan, there was a solution.
Under the moonlight, Lu Yan raised the Soul Banner high, and a massive fissure opened in the sky, revealing the silhouette of the Soul Continent.
The Soul Continent was a Soul Creation, and even though Lu Yan had completely mastered it, manifesting it in the physical world was difficult, let alone shielding the Moonlight Spiritual Qi.
However, Lu Yan's true purpose in using the Soul Banner was not the Soul Continent.
With a flick of his wrist, the next instant, from the fissure showing a corner of the Soul Continent, a vast ghostly mist poured out.
The mist was as black as ink, seemingly imbued with death from the Underworld.
In an instant, the ghostly mist spread like a living creature, rapidly expanding in all directions. Unrefined wandering souls flickered in and out of view within the mist, as if a million souls were weaving through it, producing faint cries of lamentation.
The ghostly mist seemed endless. As it spread across heaven and earth, even the bright moon in the sky became obscured and indistinct.
In a moment, the Grain Storage Plain was swallowed by the vast ghostly mist, with a black curtain draping over hundreds of miles.
It must be noted that the ghostly mist in the Soul Banner could cover more than half of the Soul Continent, so engulfing the Grain Storage Plain was no challenge at all.
This vast ghostly mist had no destructive power; its sole purpose was to block the moon's radiance.
The land, tainted silver-white by the Moonlight Spiritual Qi, quickly disappeared, halting the mass evolution of Extraordinary Zombies in its tracks, dragging the battlefield back into a stalemate.
Lu Yan stood alone among the clouds, as the moonlight obstructed by the ghostly mist remained above the sky. Lu Yan alone bathed in the nearly tangible Moonlight Spiritual Qi, visibly enhancing his Divine Soul strength.
The bright full moon shone even brighter, seemingly attempting to pour more Moonlight Spiritual Qi to break through the ghostly mist's barrier.
However, the ghostly mist was inexhaustible, and the descending Moonlight Spiritual Qi instead benefited Lu Yan, who absorbed it in full.
Finally, the supreme will abandoned its attempt to break through the ghostly mist, seemingly unwilling to let Lu Yan enjoy the Moonlight Spiritual Qi alone. The moonlight in the sky dimmed in an instant.
Lu Yan regretfully gazed at the dimming full moon, smacking his lips in dissatisfaction.
Even though he had only absorbed a small part of the vast Moonlight Spiritual Qi, his Divine Soul quickly advanced to the Peak of Foundation Establishment.
If given just half an hour more, breaking through to the Golden Core would be no issue, but the supreme will obviously would not allow Lu Yan to attain his desires. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹⟡𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⟡𝙣𝙚𝙩
The concealment of the full moon signaled the supreme will's abandonment of the disaster corpse tide.
Lu Yan could even clearly see the zombies gathering at the plain's edge disperse without the supreme will's guidance, no longer converging towards the center of the plain.
On the ground, the slaughter by the Underworld army continued unabated. The tireless Yin Soldiers and Ghost Generals slaughtered everything in their path, even the low-intelligence Extraordinary Zombies felt fear, and the balance of victory tilted towards the Underworld army.
Inside settlement No. 73, the people's hearts once again filled with hope.
Unable to aid the Underworld army, they continuously chanted the name of the Underworld sovereign, and the sound of tens of thousands of beings chanting transformed into a torrent of Wish Power, soaring into the sky.
Amid the chants of all beings, Lu Yan released the binding on Heavenly Dao Merits, with ninety-nine Merit Golden Wheels unfurling behind him, shining like the great sun across all worlds.
Holding the Soul Banner, Lu Yan gazed skyward and declared loudly:
"My name is Lu Yan, forge the Heavenly Dao Merit Artifact!"