14: Chapter 14 New Kin

"Hiccup, I'm so full. Aunt Li's sweet and sour pork ribs are truly peerless."

Su Ming uncomfortably stroked his noticeably rounded little belly.

But remembering that he still had important business to finish, he forcefully suppressed the discomfort, activated his star ring, and swiped his fingertips rapidly across the virtual panel, selecting three resource cards in a moment.

Two of them were F-rank Kindred cards: the control-specialized Lingxi Envoy and the defense-focused Garrison Guard, which cost a total of sixty thousand divine crystals.

The last one was an F-rank wonder-type building card, "Marsh of Elements," which cost him a full hundred and fifty thousand divine crystals, but Su Ming was extremely looking forward to its effects.

Payment completed, Su Ming's mind stirred, and he instantly entered his Divine Domain.

The moment he appeared, boundless and vast divine might emanated from his body, sweeping across every corner of the entire Divine Domain like an invisible wave.

The Underworld Soldiers below instantly sensed the breath of the Divine Lord and gathered around one after another.

The Ghost General led all the Underworld Soldiers, kneeling on one knee with a uniform voice full of respect: "Your subordinates pay respects to the Divine Lord!"

Su Ming looked down at the neat formation below and nodded in satisfaction: "Rise."

He stepped in front of the Ghost General, his gaze falling upon its stern visage, and asked: "Do you have a name?"

A trace of crimson flickered slightly in the Ghost General's eyes as it respectfully lowered its head: "Reporting to the Divine Lord, ever since its birth, this subordinate has never had a name."

Su Ming pondered for a moment and said: "Then from now on, you shall be called Ada."

The moment the Ghost General heard Su Ming bestow the name, intense excitement surged in its eyes, and it once again knelt on one knee, its voice resonant and powerful: "Thank the Divine Lord for bestowing the name! This subordinate Ada shall swear to die loyal to the Divine Lord, and will not hesitate to be smashed to pieces!"

Looking at Ada's extremely respectful appearance, Su Ming was satisfied in his heart and gently nodded.

Afterwards, his gaze cast toward the altar of the divine temple.

Now that he still had two hundred and forty thousand divine crystals, naturally he wouldn't be stingy.

With a thought, forty thousand divine crystals were instantly consumed, and dense black mist immediately surged forth from the altar, pervading all directions. In the blink of an eye, four hundred chilling figures of Underworld Soldiers emerged in unison.

The aura of these four hundred new Underworld Soldiers seamlessly blended with the previous ones, their formations orderly and arranged in good order. Each pale face lacked any trace of blood, their eyes flickered with dead, gloomy light, and heavy nether fiendish qi lingered around their bodies. The murderous military might surged straight into the clouds, merging with the original Underworld Soldiers to instantly form a nether army.

They gazed burning-eyed at Su Ming above the void, full of reverence and loyalty.

Su Ming looked at Ada beside him, his tone calm yet carrying unquestionable majesty: "From now on, these Underworld Soldiers will be commanded by you. You must train them strictly and not slack off."

"Understood, Divine Lord!" Excitement grew even more intense in Ada's eyes, and it bowed respectfully once more.

Su Ming could clearly feel that the Ghost General had just transformed into a devout believer.

Su Ming's heart stirred slightly, and a smile curved the corners of his lips: "Teacher's teaching was indeed correct."

"The 10086th Revised Edition of Human Education, Deities' Subordinate Management Codex", Page 9, Article 9: Governing and commanding kindred values a balance of grace and might; solidifying the original heart with bestowals, restraining words and deeds with laws and decrees, making the kindred under one's command serve wholeheartedly and never rebel for all eternity.

Afterwards, Su Ming took out three resource cards, and countless nether underworld qi enveloped them as Su Ming did so.

The three resource cards began to rapidly transform, shedding their original appearance and becoming completely dyed with nether aura.

Su Ming did not pay too much attention to the changes in the cards' appearances, his gaze falling straight onto their evolutionary paths, and he quickly found a satisfactory evolution option:

[Ironclad Guard → Purple Zombie (E), consumes 20,000 divine crystals.]

With the experience of the Underworld Soldiers, Su Ming knew clearly in his heart that for kindred of the same E-rank, the more divine crystals required for evolution, the stronger the combat power of the recruited kindred would be.

Back then, the Underworld Soldiers only needed 20,000 divine crystals to evolve, and their combat power was comparable to ordinary D-rank kindred. Now, evolving into a Purple Zombie was the same, and its strength must certainly not be underestimated.

Moreover, Su Ming knew that the Purple Zombie was merely the lowest-level existence among zombies, and afterwards it could continue to evolve into White Zombie, Green Zombie, Hairy Zombie, Flying Zombie, Wandering Corpse, Corpse Lying in Ambush, Undead Bone, and various other zombies. It was a kindred very much worth cultivating.

Thinking of this, Su Ming did not hesitate in the slightest, immediately consuming twenty thousand divine crystals and choosing to evolve.

The kindred card before him emitted wisps of purple light, and soon a brand new card appeared in Su Ming's hand. On it was a ferocious zombie, but its clothing was different from the Qing dynasty official attire in Su Ming's impression, looking instead like Ming dynasty attire. Su Ming did not understand the reason for this.

Without hesitation, Su Ming sent the Purple Zombie's kindred card flying onto the altar, and soon Su Ming could feel that there was one more kind of kindred he could recruit.

[Recruitable Kindred: Underworld Soldier (E), Purple Zombie (E)]

Without a shred of hesitation, Su Ming directly threw fifty thousand divine crystals into it. As the divine crystals merged, the entire altar suddenly roared and trembled, the ground split open with fine gullies, and thick, bone-chilling corpse-fiend black mist diffused outward, instantly covering the surroundings.

Ada and the Underworld Soldiers noticed the commotion here, their brows furrowing as a trace of vigilance flashed in their eyes.

Seeing their vigilant state, Su Ming spoke: "You need not worry; I am recruiting other kindred."

Hearing Su Ming's voice, the vigilant expressions on Ada and the others dissipated, but they still subconsciously protected Su Ming in the middle.

At this moment inside the altar, overlapping phantoms of old coffins appeared, and the collision sounds of "bang, bang, bang" were endless. The next second, all the coffin lids flew open with a bang, and foul, chillingly cold rot-qi diffused in all directions, choking people until they were suffocated. Even the surrounding air seemed to be corroded into black ripples.

Figure after figure with flesh glowing a dark purple slowly rose from the coffins, their bodies stalwart and stiff, their skin as tight as aged wood. Their eyes were pale and devoid of spirit, without a trace of pupils, and sharp claws three inches long extended from their fingertips, gleaming with a chilling, toxic dark light. Surrounded by unresolvable death qi and corpse stench, a ferocious and violent aura rushed straight at the face.

They were silent and voiceless, stepping out of the coffins step by step. Their footsteps were dull and heavy, and every step landing on the ground made a muffled "thud, thud" sound. Although they lacked a shred of intelligence, they naturally carried a fearless, ferocious aura. The corpse power around their bodies condensed without dispersing, faintly forming a pale purple barrier.

In just a fleeting moment, all five hundred Purple Zombies made their debut, spontaneously forming neat ranks and standing tall in front of Su Ming like pine trees. Their bodies were condensed with heavy corpse power, and although their movements were sluggish, their momentum was incomparably awe-inspiring.

Su Ming hovered in the void, his gaze falling upon the Purple Zombies below with a calm expression. With a thought, the Purple Zombie's panel information clearly emerged before his eyes:

[Name: Purple Zombie]

[Potential: E+]

[Race: Nether]

[Realm: Transcendence Tier 1]

[Skills]

Purple Corpse Body: The physical body is hard and tyrannical, ignoring the slashing of ordinary weapons. It feels no pain, and neither cold, heat, nor poisons can easily invade the body.

Corrosive Venom Claw Strike: The five fingers carry underground corpse-cold poisonous fiend. Those who are hit become infected with corpse venom, causing their vitality to continuously decay and their self-healing ability to be heavily hindered.

[Equipment: Nether Bone Cold Claws, Sinking Corpse Dark Brown Garment]

[Description: The corpse does not decay, transforming into a Purple Zombie after being nourished by turbid yin earthly aura. Its three souls have left the body and its seven physical souls are condensed, leaving only ferocious instincts. It has great strength, feels no pain, and fearlessly disregards life and death.]

Purple Zombies were different from Underworld Soldiers; the defense of Underworld Soldiers relied entirely on nether-cold bone armor, and their combat techniques were fierce, leaning more towards slaughter and assault.

Whereas Purple Zombies had natural bronze skin and iron bones, relying on their own physical bodies for defense, and their claw strikes also came with fatal corrosive venom.

However, the flaws of Purple Zombies were also extremely obvious: their limbs were stiff, their movements were sluggish, and they were naturally afraid of pure-yang attacks. Once encountered, their combat power would be greatly discounted.

Yet in Su Ming's view, compared to their advantages, these flaws were simply not worth mentioning.

Purple Zombies did not know pain and did not fear life or death; as long as they were deployed properly, they would be an excellent assault and defense force. Su Ming could be said to be extremely satisfied with this newly recruited kindred.

He turned his head to look at Ada standing solemnly beside him and said: "Ada, now that the Purple Zombies have just appeared in the world and do not yet have a commander, you will temporarily take on the position of commander, responsible for controlling and training them, ensuring they integrate into the army as soon as possible."

Hearing this, Ada shifted its gaze to the five hundred Purple Zombies below, the crimson color in its eyes shifting slightly, and once again knelt on one knee, respectfully accepting the order: "Understood, Master! This subordinate will definitely not fail the mission!"

Su Ming nodded slightly, his gaze then shifting toward the other kindred card.