Zhao Family

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Zhao Family (赵家)
Affiliation	Black Water City; Zhao Family Shelter
Occupation/Role	Aristocratic family and ruling power in Black Water City; operators of a fortified survivor shelter and the Blood Sacrifice Grand Array
Status	Destroyed following Zhao Wuji's death and the collapse of the family mansion's underground complex 17
First Appearance	Mentioned in Chapter 3 3

Background / History

The Zhao Family was Black Water City's foremost aristocratic family, backed by its ancestor Zhao Wuji, a Qi Refining cultivator later revealed to be at the ninth layer of Qi Refining and half a step from Foundation Establishment. The family was feared enough that residents considered speaking critically of it dangerous. 10 15

Rumors connected the family to the Old Lin Family Manor and the sealed well beneath it. Yan Kui later determines that the family had been raising the Corpse Fiend as a Corpse Pill to support Zhao Wuji's breakthrough rather than genuinely driving it away. 3 12

After the Corpse Fiend devastated Black Water City, the family established a fortified shelter near the north gate. It accepted only those able to pay fifty taels of silver per person—or provide equivalent grain or medicinal herbs—while wealthy merchants, minor officials, rogue cultivators, and common residents received sharply unequal treatment. 12

Behind the shelter's protective façade, the family abducted residents, collected vital energy, and used modified half-corpse guards to enforce its will. Its activities culminated in a blood-sacrifice ritual intended to complete Zhao Wuji's Foundation Establishment. 13 16

Organization and Operations

Zhao Family Shelter

The shelter was defended by high walls, arrow towers, armored spear patrols, archers, and guarded entry points. A separate side entrance admitted outsiders who could demonstrate strength above the Muscle Refining Realm or offer rare medicinal herbs or talismans. 12

• Entry through the main gate cost fifty taels of silver per person or equivalent goods. 12
• The outer district confined paying merchants, minor officials, and rogue cultivators in crowded temporary housing. 12
• The protected inner district contained the family's guarded pavilions, towers, and core compound. 12
• Infected or injured residents were executed by guards rather than treated. 12
• The shelter functioned as a controlled source of victims for the family's secret sacrifices. 12 13

Half-Corpse Guards

Zhao Family guards included humans altered by corpse energy. They retained consciousness and martial skills but displayed gray-blue skin, visible dark veins, stiff movement, and vacant eyes. 13

• Elite guards used swords, coordinated formations, and Soul Locking Nets fitted with barbs and talismans to suppress qi and blood. 14
• Their corpse-energy modification increased their strength, but Yan Kui identifies their heads as a clear weakness. 13
• When the Zhao Family's underground complex collapsed and corpse-energy control failed, the half-corpse guards convulsed and died. 17

Blood Sacrifice Grand Array

The family constructed a large ritual array in an underground cavern beneath its mansion. Eight White Bone Totem Pillars surrounded a blood pool, with children bound to the pillars and bled into the formation. 16

• Lin Xiaowan, whose Extreme Yin Body made her especially valuable, was suspended over the Corpse Pill with her blood drained into it. 16
• Zhao Wuji assigned eight protectors to the formation's positions, including Yan Kui at the Kun position. 15 16
• The ritual was meant to empower Zhao Wuji's breakthrough to Foundation Establishment. 14 15
• Yan Kui shattered the Kun-position formation node, causing the ritual and Corpse Pill to backfire. 16

Notable Members

• Zhao Wuji — Zhao Family Ancestor; a Qi Refining Layer Nine cultivator, half a step from Foundation Establishment, who used corpse-based cultivation and blood sacrifice to seek a breakthrough. He was killed by Yan Kui after becoming a half-corpse monster. 14 15 17
• Zhao Rong — External affairs manager. He admitted Yan Kui into the shelter after witnessing him bend a steel spear, investigated Yan Kui's background, and delivered Lin Xiaowan to Zhao Wuji. 12 14
• Zhao Family protectors — Death warriors and core members stationed at the Blood Sacrifice Grand Array. Yan Kui defeated them after sabotaging the ritual. 16
• Zhao Family guards — Armored shelter enforcers, including corpse-energy-modified half-corpse guards. 12 13

Relationships

• Yan Kui — Initially admitted as a powerful outsider and appointed as a formation protector; he infiltrated the family, sabotaged its ritual, and killed Zhao Wuji. 12 15 16 17
• Lin Xiaowan — Captured as an Extreme Yin Body and designated as a medicinal ingredient and blood-sacrifice victim for Zhao Wuji's breakthrough. 13 14 16
• Corpse Fiend — Raised by the family as a Corpse Pill to assist Zhao Wuji's cultivation; its outbreak devastated Black Water City. 10 12 14
• Black Water City residents — Exploited through shelter fees, selective protection, abductions, and vital-energy collection. 12 13
• Lin Family — The Zhao Family targeted collateral Lin Family members, apparently due to the significance of their bloodline and Extreme Yin Body constitutions. 13

Story Role / Major Arcs

Old Lin Family Manor Rumors

The Zhao Family is first implicated in the Old Lin Family Manor incident through rumors that it urgently arranged for the Black Tiger Gang to scout the haunted estate because something was sealed in its well. 3

Black Water City Corpse Outbreak

After the Corpse Fiend emerges, Zhao Wuji publicly repels its main body while the Zhao Family establishes a shelter in the north of Black Water City. Survivors suspect the family is tied to the catastrophe. 10

Shelter Infiltration

Yan Kui enters the shelter by demonstrating enough strength to bend a steel spear. He observes its exploitative entry system, unequal living conditions, executions of infected residents, and concealed corpse-related operations. 12

Blood Sacrifice Night

Yan Kui uses Lin Xiaowan's capture to gain an audience with Zhao Wuji and is placed at the Kun position of the Blood Sacrifice Grand Array. He destroys the formation node, kills the other protectors, and battles Zhao Wuji after the Corpse Pill transforms the ancestor into a half-corpse monster. 14 15 16

Destruction

Yan Kui kills Zhao Wuji with the Bone Shattering Hammer, takes his storage bag, and escapes as the underground cavern collapses. The Zhao Family mansion burns, its underground vein is destroyed, and its half-corpse guards perish after losing corpse-energy control. 17

Trivia

• The Zhao Family possessed a token that could identify its holders within Black Water City, but it had no value outside the city. 24
• News of the family's destruction spread beyond Black Water City within days; the city was subsequently sealed by cultivators from Daganzhou. 19