Old Dog nodded vigorously, causing the bell around his neck to jingle, "Don’t worry, Master. Even if you didn’t remind me, I wouldn’t want to let this thing touch me, it’s disgusting!"

Saying that, a light shield enveloped him, and he incidentally wrapped another layer around his master.

With the light shield isolating them, at least they don’t have to worry about dirty stuff splattering on them.

"Jingle jingle~"

Ling Di’s bell sounded like the dinner bell to zombies, and in an instant, all the walking corpses immediately perked up, simultaneously turning their heads, pairs of gray-white eyeballs fixated on the two living beings.

"Woof!"

Old Dog wasn’t afraid, upon seeing this he rushed forward with a whirlwind slash attack.

"Bang bang bang!"

The nearest zombies suddenly flashed with deep blue light shields, aside from the ones hit directly being chopped into two, the other zombies surprisingly withstood the attack of the Tribulation Crossing Realm Great Demon Beast, and immediately counterattacked, rendering the wilderness a colorful spectacle of magical counter-fire.

"Zombies can practice cultivation now?" Jiang Yuan watched, dumbfounded.

He expected these zombies to be unusual, but he really didn’t expect them to know magic as well. Could it be that cultivators turned into zombies still retain their skills from when they were alive?

Ling Di was obviously surprised as well, skillfully dodging a wave of attacks, barking loudly, "Master, don’t worry, I don’t believe these junk can beat Grandpa Dog! Woof, no matter their realm when alive, they’re just bones now, boasting for nothing!"

Jiang Yuan: ...

To be fair, a Great Demon Beast fighting is quite impressive.

If after being attacked, those scattered bones wouldn’t roll around and recombine, the effect would be even better.

Apparently, these eerie zombies are more resilient and tough than those in movies. Even if a small bone falls to the ground, it can squirm like a bug to the body and reunite with it.

So Ling Di is fighting at the front like a gust of wind, while behind him the scattered bones quickly wriggle and shakily stand up again. However, after being smashed and recombined, the zombies look even more hideous.

"Eat them! We will become stronger!"

"I’m so hungry, there’s another one over there, quickly eat him!"

"Hungry! So hungry! Eat them, quickly eat them..."

...

The battle alerted countless zombies from under the desert sands, muttering like evil spirits, crawling, rushing over in competition, causing the ground to tremble slightly.

"Devouring Mountains and Rivers!"

Critical Strike -100000!

[Lifespan +5 years]

[Undying Bone +2]

Jiang Yuan dared not use weapons casually, it would be troublesome if they got contaminated. Watching the zombies press forward, he casually threw out a Devouring Mountains and Rivers, surprisingly even devoured some lifespan!

That is to say, these decaying zombies, unlike other eerie spirits, actually still possess life energy?

The Undying Bone is a special material needed to upgrade the Celestial Water Mirror, yet until now has not been found, but unexpectedly encountered it here, greatly inspiring him, and prompting him to immediately experiment.

[Current enemy state cannot use Soul Hook, please use other effective means to confront the enemy]

He tried clicking to use Soul Hook to see if it could further analyze the eerie spirits and complete the ongoing task quickly, to receive the permanent version of the tool. But unfortunately, this thing cannot be analyzed.

Devouring Mountains and Rivers can occasionally take some lifespan, he originally wanted to capture a zombie to try to use Soul-Devouring Demon Skill, but later found it too disgusting and unnecessary to risk contamination for a few years of lifespan, so he gave up.

"Five Elements Cloud-Piercing Thunder!"

"Heaven-Burning Storm!"

"Devouring Mountains and Rivers..."

...

After the skill cooldown, he tossed it aside, and at the same time threw a cluster of ice flame onto the scattered bones, attacking in the front while purifying in the back, multi-tasking effectively.

"Woof! As expected of eerie spirits, they certainly emanate strangeness from every corner." Ling Di struggled for a while, then turned to see that he hadn’t actually killed any of them, merely scattering them into piles of rotten meat and bones.

Once the meat drops, it doesn’t move anymore, spreading like stinky mud; the bones, however, like resilient squirmers, gather again to continue the fight.

Yet the magic attacks used by the master could make some zombies stay down and never rise again, although a few, they indeed died.

Puzzled, he bounced back to the master’s side to inquire, "The same magic released, why is it that I’ve hit them over and over without killing them, but you strike them down in one go? Any trick to it?"

"Did you hear them mumbling unclearly?" Jiang Yuan threw another Devouring Mountains and Rivers, acquiring three years of lifespan, and one of the zombies fell never to rise again.

Ling Di nodded in acknowledgment: "At first, I couldn’t hear clearly, but later I did—they want to gang up and eat us both, woof!"

"This implies they’ve consumed cultivators before, as each zombie can use magic, and some tactics are identical. I speculate that after sharing a cultivator, they could gain their life energy and skills."

He patiently explained: "This Devouring Mountains and Rivers can devour life energy, leading to the death of those devoured. Unless you have a method to completely seize the zombies’ life energy, otherwise no matter how many times you attack, they can’t be killed."

"Ah, well..." Old Dog paused, "Grandpa Dog indeed hasn’t studied such a cultivation technique."

Thinking to himself that the ability to devour life must be an evil technique, but then considering that the master uses it to counter eerie beings, it’s naturally harmless.

Jiang Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly, seeing those skeleton frames unexpectedly using magic to counterattack, puzzled, "Logically speaking, eerie beings shouldn’t be able to absorb and refine spiritual energy, how can they release so much magic? Where does the power come from?"

Ling Di shook his head, also expressing confusion, "Who knows, hence they’re called eerie beings. I’m very curious about what kind of place the Ghost Realm is, it can turn normal people into such creatures."

"Practice diligently, perhaps someday we’ll venture out and investigate!" He echoed the same sentiment to Yan Xuan as well.

He hopes they can both be promoted to Divine Beast status, then, with the system’s help, they can roam the Ghost Realm and unravel the greatest unsolved mystery!

Battle and purification, zombies died and died again, not knowing how long has passed in static time, the fifth territory finally cleared.

[Will you consume 500000 Faith Value to claim this land?]

After indulging in zombie combat, Jiang Yuan clicked to consume Faith Value to claim the fifth land, then ascended further to reach the sixth world fragment...

Persistently grinding through quests, by the third morning, the tenth land has also been claimed!

["My World" interface is now open, you may use Space Technique to refine and fuse the existing lands. Subsequently, Faith Value may be consumed to upgrade or rename "My World"]

The system prompt appeared instantaneously, and Jiang Yuan eagerly clicked to open the new page.

Previously, this page rendered grayed out and unclickable, now fully unlocked, allowing him to see each land’s shape and size, most importantly, the lower left corner had a fusion button added.

[Will you consume ten thousand Spirit Stones to use Space Technique to refine and fuse the current land?]

It costs money, but it’s not too expensive, just that the progress bar moves a bit slowly.

The stronger the anticipation, the slower time seems to pass, finally when the last bit is completed, magnificent digital fireworks suddenly illuminate the view!

[Achievement: Possessing your own world! Reward: "My World" upgraded to Level One!]

["My World" reaches Level One, capable of accommodating 20000 Immortal Qi Value!]

["My World": Heavenly Dao is flawed, Outer Heaven Demons run rampant, resulting in the mortal world having almost no pure lands, most world spiritual energy is polluted, ascended ones nearly cut off.

Cultivators who absorb and refine polluted spiritual energy cannot ascend to the Upper Realm, even if cultivation reaches the Peak of Tribulation Crossing Realm, still unable to invoke Ascension Thunder Tribulation.

To fulfill the aspirations of more worldly individuals to ascend, special powers of the World Tree have been utilized to create a space to store Immortal Energy, known as "My World".

Owners can set their own entrance spell; "My World" may only accommodate spirituality, physical bodies cannot enter.

After teaching believers the spell, sitting cross-legged, tongue touching the palate, silently thinking the spell, devoutly paying homage, spirituality can enter the space briefly in one breath. There, the stored Immortal Energy slowly cleanses pollution, persistently enabling cultivation with less effort for greater results.

Those purified to utmost purity, reaching the Peak of Tribulation Crossing Realm in cultivation, could invoke Ascension Thunder Tribulation, long nurtured by Immortal Energy to enhance spirituality, crossing the tribulation and ascending more easily...]

Jiang Yuan: Meow meow meow?

He was previously worried about the spiritual energy in Wilderness World being polluted, including all the members of the courtyard’s cultivators with not a single immune, turns out the cure lies in the World Tree quest!

The system is set up so cleverly, everything connects seamlessly!