The moon over the Ashvale Wastes was pale and cracked, like the eye of a dead god.
Ash drifted from the skies—not snow, not dust, but remnants of burnt spirit beasts and forgotten wars. The land was cursed, they said. Spirit energy was thin. Monsters roamed. Cultivators who came here either hid… or hunted.
Li Xuan walked with purpose.
Behind him: five shadows.
Outer sect trash.
One was missing a hand. One was gaunt from poison Qi backlash. Another had a shattered core that would never recover fully. The last two simply had too many enemies, too few backers.
Now they followed him—not from loyalty, but because they had nowhere else to go.
One of them, a lanky disciple named Fei Lin, finally broke the silence. "Why bring us here? There's nothing in the Ashvale but death."
Li Xuan stopped, turned, and faced them.
"Good," he said. "Because death is where you're reborn."
System Notification:
—New Mission Available: Form the Ash-Blood Pact—
Objective: Forge a true bond with discarded cultivators. Make them fight together, bleed together, survive together.
Reward: 300 LCP + Hidden Feature Unlock
Failure: Pact Rejection. Participants scatter permanently. Future legion potential halved.
Long Chen's voice echoed in his head.
["Now that's more like it. A real leader doesn't just build strength. He finds it in others where no one else looks."]
Li Xuan stepped onto a raised boulder, drawing his saber.
"I'm not here to save you," he said to the five. "You're weak. Broken. And no sect elder will ever look your way. I won't promise mercy. Or kindness. But I promise this—"
He slashed across his palm. Blood dripped onto the ash.
"If you follow me, we fight. We bleed. We rise. Together. I don't want your respect. I want your rage. If you can't give me that, leave."
Silence.
Then Fei Lin stepped forward and cut his own hand. "I'd rather die standing behind a blade… than on my knees."
One by one, they followed.
A circle of six formed. Blood mingled in the ash.
System Notification:
—Ash-Blood Pact Forged—
—Hidden Feature Unlocked: Legion Sub-System—
—You may now assign roles, distribute simplified system rewards to bonded members, and track progress—
—Ash Legion Members: 5 (Status: Low Loyalty, High Potential)—
—Bonus: +300 LCP—
—Total LCP: 617 / 1000—
Long Chen's voice chuckled.
["Hah! You just birthed a nightmare the sect's going to regret ignoring."]
—
Later that night
Li Xuan trained in the Simulation Room, refining Split the Skies to 37% mastery. Two of the newer members watched in awe as his blade split stone after phantom stone.
They had never seen someone bleed for every technique like this.
They didn't speak. But their eyes changed.
—
The Next Day – Ambush
Three inner sect disciples arrived in the Ashvale, believing the rumors of Li Xuan's rising faction to be a joke.
They weren't laughing for long.
Using terrain traps, fake escape routes, and poison mist talismans, Li Xuan's Ash Legion struck hard. Two were slain. One barely escaped with half a leg.
System Notification:
—Combat Mission Complete—
—EXP +58 (586/600 EXP)—
—LCP +41 (658/1000)—
—Legion Loyalty: +7%—
And most important of all:
Reputation Updated:
Li Xuan – Leader of the Ash Legion / Ghost of the Waste / War Seed
—
System Status
• Cultivation: Late Qi Condensation – Peak (586/600 EXP)
• Long Chen Points: 658 / 1000
• Skills: Phantom Step, Kill Instinct, Predator's Pressure, Face-Slapping Divine Art
• Skill Training: Split the Skies – 37%
• Simulation Realm: Active
• Mission Hub: Legion Path Unlocked
• New Sub-System: Legion Management
• Ash Legion Members: 5
• Academy Status: Outer Disciple (Flagged for Monitoring by Inner Elders)