The sky was dark over the Ashen Bone Wastes, where winds wailed like dying souls and no beast dared tread. Deep below the cracked earth, within a tomb older than most sects, silence reigned.
A single drop of blood fell.
It was not from battle. Not from sacrifice.
Just a nosebleed from a foolish rogue cultivator who had stumbled too deep, chasing rumors of a forgotten inheritance.
The drop landed on a cracked obsidian coffin. The moment it touched the surface, the air screamed.
[SYSTEM ACTIVATING…]
[Soul Signature: Zhou Anwu Detected]
[Ancestral Link Reestablished]
[Demonic Clan Restoration System Initiated]
The tomb trembled. Dust fell from jagged stone columns as ancient seals melted like wax. Centuries of silence shattered with a whisper:
"…Is it finally time?"
Within the coffin, skeletal fingers moved.
Zhou Anwu opened his eyes for the first time in 10,000 years.
What remained of his body was more curse than flesh. Ash-gray skin stretched over bones, pulsing with black veins of sealed demonic qi. His hair was long, white as bone dust, his gaze glowing with abyssal crimson light.
And before him floated a translucent blue interface.
[Welcome, Zhou Anwu. You are the Founder of the Black Vow Clan. Your sect is currently: EXTINCT.]
[Objective: Restore the Black Vow Clan.]
[Reward: Physical restoration, Bloodline Resonance, Unsealing of Forbidden Beast Codex]
Zhou Anwu raised a brow, amused.
"A system?" His voice was a dry whisper, like a blade dragged across old bone. "The heavens must truly fear me now… to give me such a toy."
[Your descendants remain. Bloodline trace detected. Six active inheritors.]
[Would you like to view the status of your grandchildren?]
He nodded slowly.
[Descendant: Zhou Ji – Sin Collector]
Location: Eastern Execution Province
Status: Executing 200 civilians for a sin ritual
Sin Index: 91%
[Descendant: Zhou Heiyan – Beast General]
Location: Swamps of Nightbone
Status: Breeding Class-4 abominations
Sin Index: 88%
[Descendant: Zhou Ru – Crimson Charmer]
Location: Cloudshine Sect (Undercover)
Status: Seducing sect leader's son
Sin Index: 76%
[Descendant: Zhou Fen – Array Butcher]
Location: Hellroot Mountain
Status: Teaching children how to flay with soul blades
Sin Index: 93%
[Descendant: Zhou Ying – Poison Matriarch]
Location: Thousand Venoms Garden
Status: Feeding disciples venom from birth
Sin Index: 90%
[Descendant: Zhou Mo – Soul Merchant]
Location: Nether Trade Hub
Status: Selling orphan souls for cultivation resources
Sin Index: 89%
Zhou Anwu chuckled. A sound like rocks grinding over a grave.
"Good. My blood has not weakened."
The system flashed again:
[System Quest: Summon the Descendants]
Objective: Send ancestral summons through blood resonance
Reward: Unsealing of the First Forbidden Pavilion + 1 Resurrection Token
Zhou Anwu closed his eyes. With a pulse of demonic intent, his voice flowed into the bloodlines of his children and grandchildren, carried by their own sin.
Across distant mountains, dark swamps, poison gardens, and blood-soaked execution fields…
Each descendant paused.
Their hearts skipped.
Their minds screamed.
And they all heard it — the voice of the one they feared, revered, and thought long dead:
"Children of my blood… the time has come. Return to me."
Back in the Tomb…
Zhou Anwu sat upon his coffin, cracked lips curling into a satisfied smile.
"Let the world tremble again. Let the heavens remember who I am."
He reached for a skull resting on a black altar beside him—his first tamed beast, now a cursed relic—and whispered:
"Let the clan rise… not in secret, but in fire and screams."
[SYSTEM NOTICE: Quest Complete – Summoning Issued]
[Forbidden Pavilion Unsealed]
[Resurrection Token Gained]
[New Quest: Rebuild the Sect – Objective: Recruit First Descendant Back to the Tomb]