Mystery, ghost stories, apocalypse—these were the three versions Lu Yan could choose from this time.
Upon seeing the information for the three versions, Lu Yan instinctively furrowed his brows, as none of these versions seemed easy to handle.
There's no need to elaborate on the Mystery Version, which involves True Gods and outdated high-risk elements. According to the information, even extraordinary power within the Mystery Version is extremely dangerous.
Such a dangerous version is obviously unsuitable for Lu Yan, who has just entered the Qi Cultivation Stage, to explore.
The Ghost Stories Version is strictly speaking a rule-based ghost story game.
In the face of the rules of the ghost story game, low-level cultivators and ordinary people are almost indistinguishable unless they have a means to break the rules; otherwise, the ghost story game is definitely not a good choice.
As for the Apocalypse Version, it had already appeared during the last version update.
However, among the three options last time, the Apocalypse Version was the dangerous one.
But placed among the options this time, the Apocalypse Version is instead the safest one.
At first glance, any post-apocalyptic setting seems dangerous, but whether it's a nuclear apocalypse or a zombie apocalypse, the dangers at least have traces to follow.
Without much thought, Lu Yan made his choice decisively.
"Update to the Apocalypse Version!"
The next moment, the world outside the window began to change drastically.
Brand new skyscrapers were replaced by dilapidated high-rises, with yellowish marks lingering on the buildings as if from the erosion of time.
Large stretches of low houses had long turned into ruins, and the city's roads were strewn with the remains of cars, giving the appearance of a long-dead city.
Lu Yan looked at the house he was in; the furniture inside was chaos, and many wooden pieces had been dismantled to serve as firewood, with garbage strewn across the floor.
"Is this the world after the apocalypse?"
Lu Yan curiously examined everything around him.
The city seemed abandoned for decades, showing no signs of life.
After exploring the room for a while, Lu Yan found that everything of value had been scavenged, with no food left.
Water and electricity had been cut off for an unknown number of years, and only a discarded calendar on a desk showed a date frozen in 2012.
But this exploration wasn't without glimmers of hope.
Lu Yan could sense that the concentration of Spiritual Qi in the Apocalypse Version was at least ten times higher than that in the Urban Version.
As he had not cultivated in the Xianxia Version, Lu Yan was unsure of its Spiritual Qi concentration, but it was clear that the concentration in the Apocalypse Version was enough to support his cultivation.
Even three months of arduous cultivation in the Apocalypse Version would be a worthwhile investment for Lu Yan.
"What the Apocalypse Version lacks most should be resources.
Fortunately, I had prepared three months' worth of food and supplies in advance to deal with the version update, which will come in handy this time.
However, this room is no longer inhabitable; I should find a more suitable place to stay temporarily, then explore the crises of the Apocalypse Version."
Lu Yan extended his right hand to retrieve several Spirit Talismans from his storage bag, holding them in his palm as he stepped out of the door.
This was an old-style building, with Lu Yan located on the seventh floor. The hallways were littered with garbage and dried blood. In some rooms, there were even corpses piled up, having long since become mere bones.
Anticipating this, Lu Yan began searching for a suitable dwelling, but most of the rooms had been ravaged, with some even filled with excrement.
Clearly, due to the lack of running water, the toilets couldn't be flushed, and these rooms were used as public toilets by survivors.
It wasn't until he was almost at the top floor that Lu Yan found a room with its door closed.
Glancing at the old, rusty lock on the security door, Lu Yan snapped his fingers to channel his magical power, destroying the rusted lock core, and pushed the door open.
The room was also in disarray, with large areas of dried bloodstains on the floor, but compared to the vandalized other rooms, it was significantly cleaner.
However, Lu Yan did not let his guard down and remained cautious and vigilant.
While other rooms were thoroughly trashed, this room remained intact, indicating a potential problem.
As Lu Yan approached the bedroom, a gust of foul wind accompanied by a hoarse roar attacked; appearing before him was a zombie whose entire body was already decayed.
Being prepared, Lu Yan's Spirit Talisman gleamed, and an Ice Cone formed in the air, pierced the zombie, freezing it instantly.
Yet the danger was far from over, as the zombie's roar seemed to trigger a switch, releasing more zombies into the room, with over a dozen zombies in a tiny bedroom.
Lu Yan immediately realized that past survivors must have deliberately lured zombies in and locked them in the room to trap them.
Their flesh had already rotted, with many zombies unable even to make sounds, their vocal cords having decayed completely.
Yet these decomposing zombies still showed agility far beyond that of ordinary people.
Lu Yan's expression turned stern; while these zombies weren't too threatening, he could easily kill them using Spirit Talismans.
However, with limited Spirit Talismans at hand, spending so many just on this initial exploration left him worrying about future encounters with stronger zombies.
Chanting a spell, a Soul Banner appeared in Lu Yan's hand, and with a wave, four resentful spirits comparable to the first layer of Qi Cultivation rushed out, targeting the dozen zombies.
The eerie Ghost Qi condensed frost, slowing the zombies, while the Ghost Claw pierced the half-decayed zombie flesh.
As the Ghost Claw withdrew, a phantom soul appeared in the resentful spirit's hand, with the zombie's decayed body collapsing as it lost the soul's support, turning flesh into bone at an accelerated rate.
Lu Yan was momentarily stunned, then said with a burst of exhilaration:
"These zombies actually have souls?"
"No! It's precisely because they have souls that these bodies, which should have decayed long ago, are still intact."
The methods of resentful spirits of the Qi Cultivation Stage can largely only affect souls, so Lu Yan thought they were not much use against zombies.
But surprisingly, these seemingly nearly decomposed bodies had souls, albeit much weaker than normal human souls, making them easy targets for the resentful spirits in a one-sided massacre.
With each flicker of the Ghost Claw, it easily separated the soul attached to the flesh, while the zombies' attacks did no harm to the resentful spirits.
In just a minute, all the zombies were reduced to bones, and fifteen phantom wandering souls were left in the room.