Chapter 136: The Dust Settles

Thousands of light-years away, a group of high-level zombies that Luo Ying had never seen before sat cross-legged, forming the Immovable Root Seal, chanting scriptures: “Shadow King Buddha, master of the Three Thousand Worlds, bearer of the Infinite Laws, receiver of Divine Confirmation… I feel the Shadow King Buddha responding to me!”

A zombie exclaimed joyfully, “Indeed, indeed, I feel it too.”

“We were lost and confused, it was the Shadow King Buddha’s emissary who awakened us. We must chant sincerely and praise his greatness.”

The chanting grew louder and louder, with a momentum that seemed to echo throughout the universe.

At present, only Tier 4 and above zombies believe in the Shadow King Buddha. If all zombies had faith, Luo Ying wouldn’t be stuck at just the Soul Formation Stage.

Power of Faith is unrelated to the cultivation level of believers—only to their number and sincerity.

…

“Can’t blame the whale—it’s a mutant. Suddenly awakened and tried to break through.”

Jiang Li was helpless. He hadn’t planned to use this method. Being exposed to the Power of Faith at a young age could cause dependency, which wasn’t good for future development. But accidents happen.

“Anyway, everyone’s safe and sound, so… congrats, I guess.” Jiang Li clapped dryly.

The Brahma Tower said worriedly, “Those scriptures belong to the great Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the Celestial Realm. You rewrote the source. Aren’t you afraid they’ll come for you?”

Jiang Li didn’t care. “If they can come down, perfect—I’ll ask them for directions to the Celestial Realm. Besides, saving hundreds of millions is a great deed. They’ll understand.”

“Let’s ride the wave and wipe out all the zombies.”

Luo Ying didn’t complain anymore. Aside from the fact that his believers were zombies, he hadn’t lost anything. Gaining Soul Formation power was something countless people dreamed of.

And this wasn’t temporary power. As long as zombies kept believing in him, he could remain at the Soul Formation Stage. On this planet, he could now truly be called a ruler who could summon wind and rain with a flip of his hand.

Under Jiang Li’s divine sense scan, not even the ones hiding underground or deep in the ocean could escape.

If Luo Ying had only been a Tier 2 Enhancer, Jiang Li would’ve had to teach him the Water-Evasion Technique just to enter the deep sea—it would’ve been a hassle. But now, Luo Ying could go anywhere.

Luo Ying, still in Dharma Form, began traveling the world. People in the Safe Zones saw the dozens-of-meters-tall Buddha statue move nimbly and were dumbfounded.

Officer Wang of Fortunefall Zone also saw it, recalling how Jiang Li had promised results within a month.

“Don’t tell me my 4,000 brain cores were used to build that Buddha statue?”

When the last zombie turned to ash, the System timer also stopped.

【Congratulations, Host, mission completed. Now extracting all Stairway to Immortality fragments from Luo Ying’s body】

A streak of golden light shot out from Luo Ying’s body and landed in Jiang Li’s hand.

【This System can store the Stairway to Immortality fragment for you. Store it?】

Jiang Li refused outright and placed the fragment into his Storage Ring.

“So this is the Stairway to Immortality fragment Mr. Jiang’s been looking for all this time?”

Luo Ying and Luo Zhu curiously leaned over to look at the small golden shard in Jiang Li’s hand. It looked just like an ordinary piece of gold foil.

It was also Jiang Li’s first time seeing a fragment. He scanned it with divine sense and found extremely complex laws inside. But they were all incomplete. He’d probably need other fragments to make it work.

As he had suspected, there was only a tiny residue of energy left—not enough for Luo Ying to resurrect again.

“Mr. Jiang, will we ever have a chance to visit the Nine Provinces?” Luo Ying and Luo Zhu looked at Jiang Li with anticipation. After spending months with him and hearing his stories, they were deeply fascinated by the Nine Provinces.

“It’ll be tough. For the next ten years, I won’t be able to influence your world. And it’s unlikely you’ll reach Void-Shattering level in ten years. So you’ll have to wait. In ten years, the Nine Provinces can fully connect with your world.”

The Brahma Tower cut in: “I could set up a teleportation gate for people from the Nine Provinces to come over. But like us, they’ll only be able to speak—not affect your world directly.”

“Please give us some time to restore order first.”

Luo Ying declined to establish the portal for now. Their world was in ruins. Breaking things was easy—rebuilding was hard. Especially since large-scale weapons were almost all scrapped, and tensions between nations remained unresolved.

If people from the Nine Provinces came now, it’d be pure chaos.

“Fair enough. I’ll come back in a year to check on things.” Jiang Li didn’t push.

“You can spread the Diagram of Spiritual Energy Circulation. The Enhancer System damages the foundation. Now that the zombies are gone, there’s no need to keep strengthening the body.”

“Got it.”

“Also, try not to remain in Soul Formation all the time. You’ve got great talent. Over-reliance on Faith Power will waste it.”

Luo Ying took Jiang Li’s advice and immediately dispersed the Power of Faith. The Dharma Form behind him faded, and his cultivation dropped from Soul Formation back to Foundation Establishment.

“And Luo Zhu, your talent is impressive too. But you rely too much on your brother. You need to learn to think independently.”

Luo Zhu looked like a little bunny, her eyes red. She held back her tears and nodded firmly.

“You two should rest. No need to stay on edge all the time. Especially you, Luo Ying. You survived ten years in the apocalypse, got reborn, and have been running around ever since. You’re at your limit. Now that the dust has settled, take a break.”

“Cultivation isn’t about speed. It’s about steadiness. With your talents, you’re bound to reach incredible heights. Don’t rush. Among your peers, you’re the most outstanding I’ve ever seen.”

Jiang Li nagged like an old man, giving all sorts of advice before parting.

As he turned to leave, Luo Ying and Luo Zhu knelt on the ground, palms flat, tears falling heavily as they spoke in unison:

“Thank you, Mr. Jiang, for your guidance. Thank you, Mr. Jiang, for saving our world.”

Jiang Li replied casually, “I was just killing time anyway. And I had a selfish motive—I wanted the fragment.”

But Luo Ying and Luo Zhu didn’t see it that way. To them, the fragment meant nothing. What mattered was that Mr. Jiang taught them like an elder, passed on cultivation techniques, and used heaven-defying power to save the world.

They kowtowed in gratitude.

“Mr. Jiang, I heard you mention the Human Sovereign Candidate… Do I qualify to become one?”

Jiang Li chuckled, “Haha, well then, you’d better work for it. Honestly, I think your sister has a better chance than you.”

As long as the ruling class of this world recognized it as a branch world of the Nine Provinces, the Nine Provinces Earth Veins would include it. From there, Human Sovereign Candidates could be selected.

This time, Luo Ying wasn’t discouraged. He nodded seriously and said, “I’ll do my best.”

Jiang Li’s smile faded. He gave a pleased “mm.”

…

After Jiang Li and the Brahma Tower left, Luo Ying let out a long breath. He felt like a weight had been lifted. No more thinking about survival, zombie extermination, saving others, or how to achieve peace.

“Brother, I want to be Human Sovereign too,” Luo Zhu said, trying to think independently, revealing her true feelings. “I’m not giving you a free pass on this.”

Luo Ying burst out laughing. “Nice! We really are on the same page. But for now, the most important thing is to tell the world that the zombie crisis is over.”