Eastern Execution Province
Zhou Ji – The Sin Collector
The scent of burning flesh rose from the valley pit as black flags fluttered. Hundreds of cultivators—bound and broken—hung on pikes of bone, their souls bleeding into the air.
Zhou Ji stood at the center of a massive array carved into the ground using severed limbs. Dressed in flowing robes stitched with human hair, he raised a curved blade pulsing with crimson runes.
"Begin the extraction."
His subordinates nodded, slitting the throats of those still alive. Screams echoed across the mountains.
Zhou Ji's eyes gleamed. So much sin… such purity in their pain.
But then—his breath hitched.
A pulse in his chest. No, deeper. In his blood.
He dropped the blade. His body convulsed, eyes wide, veins glowing red.
"Zhou Ji…"
A voice. No—the voice. Ancient. Inevitable. Bound to his very marrow.
"Your ancestor calls you."
His knees hit the earth. The slaughter array flickered and died.
"Impossible…" Zhou Ji whispered. "That tomb was sealed. He's dead. He's—"
The voice echoed again, louder this time, sinking into his bones like black oil.
"Return, my child."
Zhou Ji wept blood. Not from fear—but from awe.
"The Demon Ancestor… lives.
Swamps of Nightbone
Zhou Heiyan – The Beast General
Inside a swamp that reeked of decay and death, a monstrous, six-legged beast howled in agony. Its flesh twisted mid-transformation, guided by blood-forging chains operated by a tall figure in bone armor.
Zhou Heiyan watched with clinical joy. "It's almost perfect. Just one more fusion—"
Then he paused. Every beast around him suddenly stopped. Growled. Whimpered. Looked toward him as if sensing an alpha return.
Then it hit him—a howl inside his skull.
"Heiyan."
His hand trembled.
"No… it can't be him."
"The blood has not dried. The pact is not broken. Come home."
All around him, mutated beasts began to kneel, snarling with reverence.
Zhou Heiyan grinned, his teeth sharpened unnaturally. "So… the old monster still lives."
Hellroot Mountain
Zhou Fen – The Array Butcher
A group of young disciples cried out, trapped inside a spiritual formation shaped like a lotus made of barbed wire. Screams echoed as the array slowly peeled away their souls.
Zhou Fen stood at the edge, calmly sketching notes with a blood quill.
"Too fast," she muttered. "Need slower unraveling. Fear must ferment first."
Suddenly, her hand froze. The ink began to swirl on its own, forming runes not written by her.
She blinked.
"Fen…"
The quill snapped in her hand.
"My little butcher. The blood sings your name."
Her pupils dilated. Her breathing quickened. A grin split her lips.
"My beloved ancestor," she whispered, pressing her hand to her chest. "I've waited so long to hear you again."
Without a word, she slit the throat of one of her disciples—not out of rage, but devotion.
Cloudshine Sect
Zhou Ru – The Crimson Charmer
She sat on the lap of a sect genius, fingers tracing his jaw, voice sweet as honey.
"You'd betray your whole sect for me, wouldn't you?" she purred.
"Anything," he mumbled, eyes glazed.
Before she could take the final drop of his spirit essence, her head snapped back. Her reflection in the mirror behind her shimmered—and she saw him.
The Ancestor. Eyes like voids. Smiling from beyond the veil.
"Ru. You've played long enough. Come home."
She inhaled sharply. A shiver ran down her spine. Excitement.
"The game has just begun," she whispered. "And you're the final piece."
Elsewhere – Descendants React in Silence
Zhou Ying stops mid-experiment and whispers, "The poison in my veins just got sweeter." Zhou Mo abandons a soul sale and murmurs, "The market just reopened for war."
Across the Continent…
Black birds rise from shadowy trees.
Demonic beasts howl toward the sky.
Corpses twitch beneath the soil.
The world doesn't know it yet—but the Black Vow Clan is awakening.
Back in the Tomb
Zhou Anwu opens his arms within the half-reformed altar chamber.
Behind him, statues reshape into twisted forms: a serpent with ten mouths, a beast with chained wings, and a woman with no eyes but a thousand teeth.
"My children come crawling, blood-drenched and broken, just as I taught them."
"Let the first gathering begin."
The system pings softly.
[New Quest Unlocked: Rebuild the Sect Core — Awaiting First Descendant]
[Reward: Forbidden Beast Egg + Inner Tomb Expansion]
The tomb lights up with red flame.
And the Age of Demonic Bloodlines begins again.