Chen Zhou’s last memory before death was fixed beneath the crimson sky of the apocalypse.
When he opened his eyes again, nothing remained but boundless darkness and void.
Beneath him, a bone altar, translucent and white as jade, emitted a soft, faint glow.
"Great. I’ve transmigrated."
It took Chen Zhou only five seconds to calmly accept this reality.
Before the apocalypse had arrived in his previous life, he had spent plenty of time reading transmigration novels on webnovel apps. He was long past being surprised by such a starting scenario.
Chen Zhou lifted his hand, only to see a semi-transparent spirit form floating above the altar. He fell into deep thought.
'Legend says that as long as you transmigrate, you must have a cheat,' he murmured softly.
'Will the Mother Star bless every child who travels far? Is it true?'
As soon as the words left his mouth, a massive stream of information surged into his mind, accompanied by a cold, mechanical prompt:
【Evil God System activated】
【Entity: Bone Altar】
【Level: Confined Grade】
【Danger range is limited to a single, narrow confined space, such as a woodshed, a wooden box, or a withered well; this is the initial form of a nascent evil spirit.】
【Ability 1: Ghost Domain】
【Ability 2: Control enslaved ghost】
【Current Ghost General: 0/1】
【Current Ghost Attendant: 0/1】
【Current Ghost Servant: 0/1】
【Buildings】
【Current Special Buildings: 0】
"There really is one?"
Chen Zhou raised an eyebrow. He immediately felt a clear sense of the two abilities, 【Ghost Domain】 and 【Control enslaved ghost】.
They felt innate, as natural to move as his own limbs, without the slightest bit of unfamiliarity.
He instantly understood the details of these abilities.
【Ghost Domain】 was a passive area-of-effect skill. It could pull any living creature approaching the entity into an independent space, similar to an inner world.
Within the Ghost Domain, basic operations included disturbing the mind, creating hallucinations of dizziness and panic, or warping space to form a spirit wall.
More importantly, the Ghost Domain could strengthen the entity itself. Within this space, the evil spirit was the absolute master.
However, at his current "Confined Grade," the range of the Ghost Domain was very small, and its effects were quite limited.
Meanwhile, 【Control enslaved ghost】 unlocked the ranks of Ghost General, Ghost Attendant, and Ghost Servant. It allowed him to enslave the humans he killed, transforming them into 【Ghost Servant】.
They would be at his beck and call, truly embodying the concept of helping a tiger hunt.
"So the Bone Altar is my actual body... does this mean I finally don’t have to be human anymore?
"It’s my first time being an evil spirit; I’m actually a bit nervous."
Chen Zhou remarked with a sigh. There wasn't a hint of resistance in his tone; he had accepted it perfectly. He continued browsing the information in his mind.
In addition to the 【Personal Status Panel】, there were interfaces for the 【Shop】, 【Tasks】, 【Sacrifice】, 【Construction】, 【View Servant Info】, 【View Building Info】, and a 【Newbie Tutorial】.
Chen Zhou didn't rush to look at the other functions. He first clicked on the flashing 【Newbie Tutorial】.
【Warning: You are a newborn evil spirit, exceptionally fragile! Demons, immortals, buddhas, and eerie entities are all your natural enemies. Even a cultivator with minor progress can easily slay you!】
【Survival Directive: Sacrifice all living beings, accumulate power, and grow into a world-ending evil god as soon as possible to avoid the fate of being slaughtered or devoured!】
【Newbie Benefit: A Newbie Gift Pack has been issued.】
【Current Newbie Task: Complete one sacrifice.】
【Progress: 0/1】
【Task Reward: Skill "Bone Summoning", ordinary bone material x10】
Chen Zhou immediately clicked on the 【Newbie Gift Pack】. The system prompt rang out again:
【You have obtained newbie supplies】
【Ordinary flesh x100 units】
【Ordinary blood x100 units】
【Ordinary soul x100 units】
"This is the gift pack? Stingy..."
Chen Zhou then followed the tutorial and opened the sacrifice panel.
【Path of the Evil God: Forging Bones with flesh, Painting Skin with blood, Refining Body with soul. Only by sacrificing living beings can you perfect your evil god physique!】
【Current Progress Level: Confined Grade】
【Forging Bones Progress: Ordinary flesh 0/100】
【Painting Skin Progress: Ordinary blood 0/100】
【Refining Body Progress: Ordinary soul 0/100】
Chen Zhou directly tossed the three types of materials he had just received—which hadn't even warmed up in his possession yet—into the sacrifice panel and clicked sacrifice.
In the next second, Chen Zhou felt a surge of energy envelop his spirit form. Even the jade-white luster of the altar seemed to brighten slightly.
...
Outside the Bone Altar's Ghost Domain lay a forest thick with yin energy.
At this moment, the moon hung high, yet the forest was deathly silent.
Between the swaying shadows of the trees, a dozen figures of varying heights stumbled and fled in panic. Their clothes were tattered, their faces smeared with dirt, and their expressions were filled with despair.
"Zhao Laoshan... I... I can't run anymore..."
Widow Li stumbled and fell to the ground. Her sunken cheeks, already thin, were instantly drained of color, turning a terrifying shade of white.
"You all run... don't worry about me..."
Zhao Laoshan’s hunched back bent even further as he ran, as if it might snap in two at any moment.
He was so anxious his eyes filled with hot tears. "Li... get up, we're almost at the Dead Man’s Forest. Just hold on a bit longer, sigh..."
Dead Man’s Forest. These three words acted like a curse, making everyone around them pause.
Everyone knew the rumors that an evil spirit had been born there years ago, capable of turning living people into mindless, immortal living dead.
More frighteningly, no one who had ever entered had ever come out.
Beside them, Li Dazhu could no longer hold on. He lay down on the ground, gasping for breath, his voice filled with numbness. "Then let's not run. If the demon eats us, so be it.
"Without the protection of the immortals, where can we commoners possibly escape to? What difference does going to the Dead Man’s Forest make?
"Is there a difference between being eaten by a demon and being killed by an evil spirit?
"Sooner or later, it’s just the word 'death'."
As soon as these words were spoken, the others fell silent. They looked at each other, but no one said a word.
It was true. In this world, demons were everywhere and evil spirits ran rampant.
Without the protection of the immortals, how could commoners survive?
Their flight toward the Dead Man’s Forest was merely a desperate, self-destructive last resort after losing their protection and being hunted by demons.
Having fled all this way, the villagers had already died until only these dozen or so able-bodied people remained.
The small children and the elderly had lacked the physical strength days ago and had died tragically in the mouths of demons.
The exhaustion of several days without sleep, combined with despair for the future, caused these people to momentarily lose their will to live.
Widow Li touched her face with hands covered in cracks. She didn't even care that her fingernails were packed with mud.
Zhao Laoshan was profoundly sorrowful, his cloudy eyes covered by a layer of gray film.
They lay on the ground, speechless, catching their breath for less than fifteen minutes.
A rustling sound of scales brushing against fallen leaves came from behind them.
Li Dazhu's face turned instantly pale. He sat up abruptly, his voice trembling.
"It’s here."
He spoke in terror.
Even though he had prepared himself for death, when the horror actually approached, an instinctive shudder was impossible to suppress.
Soon, a giant black snake, about thirty meters long and as thick as a water vat, slithered toward them at extreme speed.
Its head was massive, and its eyes were cold.
Li Dazhu could even smell the damp rot emanating from the giant snake's flickering tongue.
This was the snake demon that had devoured over a hundred people from their Liang Family Village!
Li Dazhu saw the snake demon open its massive maw, aiming right for the youth at the very back.
The youth was named Shitou. He was Widow Li's only surviving child and the youngest among the dozen people left.
At fifteen or sixteen years old, in a peaceful world, he should have been a growing boy, but in these chaotic times, he was as thin as a hemp stalk.
He was clearly terrified by the snake demon's aura, his body shaking uncontrollably, yet he still gritted his teeth and shielded Widow Li behind him.
Shitou had heard the big figures in the city say that the immortals loved the souls of mortals.
He didn't know if any immortal in the Dead Man’s Forest would hear his humble prayer.
If a great immortal appeared and could save his mother...
He was willing to offer up his entire soul.
Shitou thought this in his desperation.
Then, he saw a burst of faint, jade-white light soar into the sky from behind the snake demon.
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