Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch - Chapter 31: Healing Herbs

Everyone in the City of Jing thinks that bestowment of marriage between Xian Junwang and the daughter of the Yi’an Marquis House is to insert a fresh flower into manure.

In the world of cultivation, countless tales follow righteous protagonists, fated heroes blessed by destiny, or those chosen by heaven to walk the path of immortality.But what of those who stand in their way?What of the villains? The so-called obstacles to the hero’s journey—do they not bleed, dream, and struggle as well?Xiao Ning was never meant to succeed.From the very beginning, the Grand Dao wove him as a stepping stone—a necessary sacrifice to elevate another. His path, like that of all designated ‘villains,’ was doomed to failure by design.But what happens when that design is defied?After death, Xiao Ning awakens—not in the cycle of reincarnation, but in the cold silence beyond it. There, he is offered the Eternal Paradox Codex—a forbidden artifact containing the hidden truths of the Grand Dao System itself.Rules. Loopholes. Vulnerabilities.Knowledge not meant for those like him.With this power, Xiao Ning is granted a single, impossible choice: accept oblivion, or step outside the Grand Dao entirely—to abandon fate, sever karma, and cultivate a path unbound by heaven or law.It is Xiao Ning’s journey, from ashes to something beyond comprehension.Not to become an Immortal among men.But something even the heavens dare not bind.If fate is a chain…Then let him forge his own path in the void beyond.Welcome to this humble tale.The cultivation world is vast and unkind.Let us begin again—on our terms.

In his past life, he climbed to the 69th floor, and reached the limit of his potential.

Now, reborn, he has returned to the past, when the almighty Tower first summoned him. He will work his way up again, step by careful step.

This time, he will climb to the top.

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Ryo Tanaka, a struggling college student, works tirelessly at multiple part-time jobs to make ends meet. In a bid to earn some extra cash, he volunteers for a paid drug research study, unaware that it will alter the course of his life forever.The experiment takes a disastrous turn, leaving Ryo bedridden with a high fever for several days. But when he finally awakens, he finds himself in a world plunged into chaos. A deadly virus has ravaged the city, turning its inhabitants into ravenous, flesh-eating zombies. Streets once bustling with life now lay desolate, the remnants of civilization crumbling under the weight of the apocalypse.