Nine Venoms Sect Founder

"Your dad, obviously." After some reasonable thinking, Harun almost blurted those words but restrained himself. While he planned to enter the reincarnation cycle, there was a way to do it that didn't involve getting squashed into a meat paste by a berserk Demi-Emperor-level expert.

"I suppose there is no other explanation," Harun shut his eyes and said with a pensive look, while his eyelids twitched as if he inwardly struggled to accept the reality. There were, of course, many other possibilities. Perhaps the Sovereign Pupils couldn't reappear because the Serpent Emperor still breathed, and once he died in that unknown land, they settled on a new owner. Perhaps the Sovereign Pupils' reappearance rate was simply much lower than weaker Double Pupils. After all, in the 33 Heavens' history, even Silav's Heterochromatic Double Pupils rarely appeared.

But beyond all the perhaps, as far as Harun was concerned, the truth didn't matter. His name was Harun, born and bred in the Noxious Flame World. He had one father, one brother, and as sick as she might have been, didn't doubt his mother's identity. Why seek beyond all this life had already given him? He had neither the time nor the leisure for it.

"That being the case, after dealing with those overreaching celestials, I will follow you back to the Serpent Domain. We can then plan how to track and snatch our enemies' tokens," Harun sighed and said after several minutes of false struggle. Convinced that the boy bought his words, Silav nodded in approval and tapped his cosmic pouch. Two rays of green light shot forth, turning into a blood vial and paper talisman that hovered before Harun.

"This vial contains the Heart's Blood of a fallen elder. By combining it with this environment, I believe that before the deadline, you can re-cultivate the World-Devouring form and increase your victory odds. Should anything unexpected occur, tear this talisman and I will immediately come to your aid. Your Majesty, the resurgence of our clan relies on your future performance. We believe in you." Following those words, Silav bowed and left—leading his subordinates back to the Serpent Domain.

"He not only gave you seven tokens but offered another tool to increase your odds of success. What a loyal subordinate. In the future, you must make him the sect buffoon," the system told Harun who approved the words with a nod.

"But of course. That said, how about you tell me what you can do for me?" Harun asked the system and focused his divine sense in the golden token lodged in his brain. The surrounding walls vanished, replaced by a hallway with a dark-red carpet floor and seven towering doors that faced Harun.

The hallway seemed to go on infinitely. Even with his Divine Sense, Harun couldn't see the end, and at his back, brown walls stood.

"Allow me to introduce you to your new job. As you know, the main quest's purpose is to create history's strongest sect, a straightforward but incomparably ambitious goal. Your sect's overall power, wealth and prestige will need to surpass all forces, known and unknown, past and present. To that end, the system provides you with many tools, rewards, and enables you to set up to nine objectives," the system's voice said, and confused, Harun arched an eyebrow.

"I set the objectives?"

"Of course. You are the Supreme Founder, not the Supreme Pave My Road Master. I give you a maximum of nine objective slots, but you have to set them on your own—one at a time. After you make your choice, I appraise it and give you a deadline. If you succeed, you receive rewards relevant to your sect and path. If you fail, you're terminated, and I find someone else," the system explained with stunning tact.

"How long do I have to set an objective?"

"Typically, you only have 24 hours. Afterward, sentences start rolling in. But the Ancestral One foresaw that you'd leave the Divine Path for the Six Incarnations Bridge and granted you an exception. You can delay it until after you complete your reincarnation, but in exchange, I will multiply the rate at which you accumulate Scourge by three."

Again puzzled by the system's words, Harun frowned, but as if to answer him, a black bar appeared above the middle door, with a glowing-red zero written on its surface.

"Which brings us to the system's most important feature: Scourge. All cultivation paths hold one thing in common: Tribulations. They can take many forms but exist on all Bridges. Scourge increases the might of the tribulations you face throughout your path. An extra ten percent for each scourge point," the system started, and ignoring Harun's changing expression, it went on:

"You can only increase scourge, not reduce it—and accumulate it through three forms of crimes: Crimes against men, crimes against nature and crimes against Heaven.

Crimes against men are your usual murder, torture and so on. For every ten people you personally kill or torture, you get one scourge point.

As the name implies, crimes against nature concern what endanger nature's balance. Genocides, deforestation, slaughtering vital species and the like. For each crime against nature, you get 100 scourge points. Here, whether you're the direct or indirect cause, you still get scourge.

Last but not the least, crimes against Heaven involve changing cosmic laws and threatening Heaven's sovereignty. One such crime automatically nets you 1,000 scourge points.

The system holds the right of final interpretation," the system explained, and Harun's jaw almost dropped to the ground.

"But then, what about my reincarnation plan? By refining all those celestials into my Heart of Reincarnation, how much scourge will I get?" He slowly asked, as if dreading the answer.

"Well, let's go with 9,000 sacrifices as the base. That's 900 scourge points for crimes against men. The Six Incarnations Bridge goes against Heaven's Will, so that's another 1,000 points for crimes against heaven. Multiplying that by three, we get 5,700, or a 57,000% tribulation-might bonus. And that's not even considering that you plan to unleash a horde of monstrous beasts on the 33 Heavens. Let's just say that if you die early, it probably won't be because of failing a quest.

But it's fine, scourge isn't just a punishment. The stronger the tribulation, the more benefits you get post breakthroughs. You also need it to unlock the seven rooms. Just...try to not die."