The Bloodroot Grounds pulsed with awakening evil.
Just hours after Zhou Xian gave his commands, the corrupted valley began to stir. The once-dead soil softened into black loam that swallowed bones like seeds. The air thickened with a scent of iron and rot. Mist turned red by dusk.
In the center, Ji Yuan stood atop a black stone altar, robes fluttering. Around him, freshly carved totems depicting sin—gluttony, envy, wrath—jutted from the ground like the ribs of a buried beast.
Behind him, dozens of shadowy figures marched in.
[System Notification: Recruitment Campaign Initiated]
Outer Servants must be bound by Sin Pact.
You may choose from the following recruitment methods:
Blood Oath Rituals – Convert criminals, exiles, and dark cultivators. Corruption of Villages – Spread madness, disease, and heresy to draw the desperate. Beast Hunts & Soul Bounties – Offer rewards to rogue cultivators in exchange for loyalty.
Tip: Loyalty must be enforced. Weakness breeds betrayal.
Progress: 0/50 Outer Servants
"The Soil Must Drink."
That was the decree etched into the valley's perimeter. It was not metaphor.
Zhou Ji's punishment altars had been activated, and the first batch of 37 criminals—captured from Eastern Execution Province—were bound in chains and mounted on them. Their flesh was peeled into script, each scream weaving power into the valley's meridians.
Zhou Fen stood nearby, guiding children barely ten years old as they swung small soul blades with alarming calmness.
"Slice where the qi coils," she said to a blood-spattered boy, "Not too deep. Make them live longer."
Nearby, poison blooms rose from pools of venom, where Zhou Ying's disciples were already experimenting with creating plague-carrying insects.
Within the eastern swamp, Heiyan's Class-4 abominations clawed caves into the rock. They were born without skin, muscles exposed, but each step they took hardened the earth with corrupted spiritual imprint.
Zhou Mo knelt before a silver orb—his Soul Merchant Beacon—transmitting offers through the Nether Trade Hub.
"Ten orphans for one batch of Hell Bone Rice… yes, they're fresh. Still weeping."
Within an hour, three rogue cultivators—fugitive alchemists—appeared at the valley's edge, drawn by the scent of corruption and Mo's bounty.
One bowed low. "We seek shelter. We bring offerings. Let us serve the Eternal Ancestor."
[+3 Outer Servants Acquired]
Loyalty: 41% (Monitor Closely)
Specialty: Alchemy, Scavenging, Corpse Handling
Zhou Xian sat upon his throne in stillness as the System interface updated.
[Family Management Interface – Updated]
Bloodroot Grounds: Status — Corrupted Cultivation Zone Population: 7 Core Members | 3 Outer Servants Facilities:
Punishment Altars (Active) Poison Garden (Level 1) Bone Caves (Under Construction)
Sin Harvest: Moderate Influence Radius: 1.2 km Resources:
Hell Bone Rice: 50 units Soul Threads: 7 Infant Cries (Rare): 2
Next Objectives:
Recruit 47 more Outer Servants Construct Demon Altar of Pledge Establish Soul Refinement Pavilion
Zhou Xian spoke.
"Let them come. Let sinners crawl to us. From cultists and murderers to orphans and monsters. I will forge them into a family… or I will burn them as fuel."
The moon hung red above the Bloodroot Grounds, a crimson eye watching as the valley bloomed into wickedness.
At the heart of it all, Zhou Xian stood barefoot before a pit of flesh.
The earth itself had softened and cracked, revealing a hidden chamber below—the System's reward for awakening his bloodline and gathering his descendants.
[System Notice: Unlock Condition Met]
"Build the Demon Altar of Pledge to bind all servants to your will."
Required Materials:
– 3 Infant Cries (2 in inventory)
– 10 Bone Totems (7 available)
– 1 drop of Ancestor's Blood (Ready)
– 13 willing souls (sacrifices)
His black nails sliced across his palm. The drop of blood fell onto the exposed stone. The soil hissed.
Zhou Mo stepped forward, dragging a bag behind him. From it tumbled five street children—dead-eyed, barely alive, skin tight with hunger and dark qi withdrawal.
"They begged me to spare their mother," he said with a laugh. "I sold her soul instead."
Zhou Ying arrived next, her pale face serene. "My disciples brought in plague victims from the outskirts. Already dying. Eager to trade their agony for a few more breaths."
Zhou Ji, ever the silent collector, added two masked cultists stripped from a rival shrine. Bound in iron, their tongues removed.
Thirteen bodies.
The pit glowed.
And as they were lowered in—still breathing—the stone rearranged itself.
The Demon Altar of Pledge was born.
A throne-shaped structure of bones and writhing sinew rose from the pit. Its arms were carved from screaming skulls, and atop it sat a crown of thorns that pulsed with cursed qi.
Zhou Xian's voice thundered across the valley.
"Those who kneel here will not serve me. They will become me."
Twenty-three Outer Servants—criminals, traitors, and desperate wanderers—now stood in attendance. Some trembled. Others smiled with madness.
Heiyan, covered in blood and swamp filth, placed a heavy claw on one man's shoulder.
"Kneel," he whispered. "Or feed my beasts."
One by one, they approached.
The first—a rogue spirit tamer—bent the knee and placed his forehead against the altar. The moment his skin touched the bone…
[System Notice: Sin Pact Completed]
Name: Tu Fang
Specialty: Spirit Binding (Intermediate)
Loyalty: 78% — Bound by Fear and Greed
Sin Index: 62%
Each servant left a part of themselves behind. One lost his voice. One lost his eyes. One gave up all memory of his name.
Zhou Xian demanded it. The altar took it.
[+20 Outer Servants Acquired]
Total: 23 / 50
Sin Corruption Spread: Moderate Radius Increased to 3.2km
Construction Options Unlocked: Soul Refinement Pavilion | Slave Mines | Blood Scripture Library
The Zhou Family stood upon the bone cliffs as the valley below writhed and grew.
Zhou Ru arrived last, dusted in silks, eyes bright.
"I've seduced the sect heir of Cloudshine," she said with a satisfied sigh. "He gave me their outer defense array blueprint as a 'love gift.'"
Zhou Fen smirked. "Let's gut the fool and make an array from his intestines."
Zhou Xian stepped forward, placing a black crown—formed from the Demon Altar—upon his head.
"From today," he said, "The Zhou are not hiding. The soil drinks blood, the heavens look away, and our name will be spoken only in terror."
The children below cheered.
Some cried.
Others screamed.
It didn't matter.
They were Zhou now.