The ruins of the Azure Sect still smoked in the night wind.
Its disciples? Slaughtered. Its elders? Fed to soul furnaces. Its proud sect master? Stripped of his Dao and left as a husk writhing in eternal regret beneath the Zhou Clan's ancestral altar.
Yet in the weeks that followed, no songs of conquest echoed across the cultivation world. No arrogant proclamations followed. No banners fluttered.
The Zhou Clan… vanished into the silence.
Not even their name was openly spoken. It whispered like a curse in back alleys and under tavern tables, from wandering cultivators who claimed to have seen monstrous beasts walking like men. Rumors, they called them. Hallucinations. Old ghost stories rebranded. After all—no one could prove the Zhou Clan existed anymore.
And that was precisely how the Ancestor wanted it.
Beneath a veil of spiritual mist and layered illusions, the Zhou Clan's new territory lay buried inside a barren, death-tinged valley. Blackened stones jutted from the cracked earth like broken fangs, and cursed trees twisted in unnatural stillness. No beast dared howl here.
Yet beneath this cursed land, the Zhou Clan thrived in secret.
[System Notification]
Zhou Clan Territory Established: Blackbone Hollow
— Spiritual Concealment: High
— Sect Detection Risk: 1.4%
— Expansion Potential: 77%
— Threat Level: Unknown
In a cavern throne room carved from bone and basalt, the Ancestor sat—barefoot on a dais of cracked skulls, meditating. Crimson runes pulsed across his skin, whispering ancient demonic hymns.
Ji Yuan, his first blood servant, knelt beside him. The once-arrogant youth had been reshaped by the Ancestor's blood—loyal, brutal, and brilliant.
"They've started speaking our name again, Master," Ji Yuan murmured. "Some say we are ghosts. Others claim we are devils pretending to be cultivators."
The Ancestor's lips curled slightly. "Let them believe what they wish. Ghosts are harder to kill."
Ji Yuan nodded, rising to his feet. "The children are restless. Zhou Ji has completed his Sin Harvest from the Eastern Execution Province. His ritual elevated his sin index to 96%. He asks if he may return."
The Ancestor waved his hand lazily.
"Not yet. Keep them scattered. Let the world think the Zhou Clan is nothing but a myth built by madmen. We will rise slowly… and rot them from beneath."
The family understood the plan.
Zhou Ru continued playing her part inside the Cloudshine Sect, seducing her way into their inheritance records. She smiled softly at night, writing every secret she heard onto human parchment made from her latest victim's skin.
Zhou Heiyan's abominations bred deep in the Nightbone Swamps. With each generation, their intelligence and bloodthirst grew. One day, he would unleash a tide of monsters upon the righteous sects—and none would trace it back to the Zhou.
Zhou Ying's venomous disciples had already infiltrated three medicinal clans under false identities, planting poisons that would activate years from now. Slow, quiet death. The kind that cultivators blamed on karma or faulty alchemy.
And Zhou Mo? He sat in Nether Trade Hub auctioning souls bound in jade—each one stolen from forbidden orphanages sponsored by so-called "righteous" clans.
The Zhou Family was not idle.
They were simply… silent.
System Update
[Demonic Clan System - Clan Progression Phase II: Silent Bloom]
Objective: Establish covert influence across the Five Provinces
Status: 19% Complete
Regional Fear Index (unofficial): 37% Number of Hidden Zhou Agents: 61 Spiritual Artifact Collection: 233/1000
Unlock Requirement for Next Expansion Tier:
— Build First Sub-Sect Hidden Within Enemy Territory
— Ritual Sacrifice of a Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator
Reward: Access to "Bloodline Echo Array" (Grants clan-wide ancestral command linkage)
The Ancestor opened his eyes slowly. Black mist curled around his pupils.
"Ji Yuan," he said, voice low, "Summon the senior descendants."
Ji Yuan bowed. "As you command."
Moments later, a ritual flame was lit. From different corners of the cultivation world, six voices responded—bloodlines calling to their Ancestor.
Through spectral projections, the darkened throne room became crowded with presences.
Zhou Ji, still wet with the blood of hundreds.
Zhou Heiyan, surrounded by crawling things with too many eyes.
Zhou Ru, half-dressed in a seductress's silks.
Zhou Ying, holding a venom-fed infant in one hand.
Zhou Mo, lounging on a pile of soul jade.
Zhou Fen, smiling wide, fingers stained with the essence of array-tortured disciples.
"My children," the Ancestor said.
All six bowed as one.
"We've made our move. Now… we become legend."