Zheng Family
Your Tag Looks Nice, I'll Borrow It
Biodata
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Zheng Family (郑家) 24 |
| Alias(es) | Nanze Zheng Family 24 |
| Affiliation | Subordinate clan of the Corpse Sha Sect; later rebelled against it 24 27 |
| Occupation/Role | Cultivation clan required to provide tribute and disciples to the sect 24 32 |
| Status | Wiped out 30 32 |
| First Appearance | Chapter 24 24 |
Background and History
The Zheng Family was once a Foundation Establishment clan. It originally lived roughly two hundred li north of its later marsh settlement, where an ancestral formation protected the clan. About ten years before Fang Huai's visit, a Foundation Establishment cultivator claiming to represent the “New Sect” gave family head Zheng Fengzu a Blood Jade Tree seed and instructions for raising it. The clan relocated and concealed the tree within its protective formation 25 27 29.
The family later lost its Foundation Establishment elder and every cultivator above mid-stage Qi Refining to the Corpse Sha Sect's war. Repeated conscription and rising tribute left it short of both cultivators and resources. When Fang Huai's four-person mission arrived to collect tribute, Zheng Fengzu was at Qi Refining Layer 5; the cultivators accompanying him were no higher than Layer 3 24 27.
Sect Tribute and Rebellion
| Demand | Amount |
|---|---|
| Actual tribute, according to the Outer Sect Hall | 1,000 Spirit Stones per year and five Qi Refining disciples every three years; the family could offset disciples with more stones or vice versa 32 |
| Lin Qian's demand during the mission | 2,000 Spirit Stones and ten Qi Refining disciples 25 32 |
| Zheng Fengzu's stated offer | 1,050 Spirit Stones and ten disciples 25 |
The family hosted the visiting disciples at a banquet. Lin Qian drained the blood and qi of its performers, while he and Wu Sanli pressed Zheng Fengzu over the tribute. Zheng Fengzu proposed hunting an Azure Wave Jade Carp trapped in the ancestral formation, offering its Water Spirit Pearl as a way to resolve the shortfall 24 25.
At the formation, the clan trapped the sect party and activated Blood Jade Insects that had lain dormant in the visitors since the banquet. Zheng Fengzu declared that the family would rebel rather than submit to further demands. He intended to strengthen the Blood Jade Tree and take the clan to the New Sect 27 28.
Fang Huai and Liu Xiange escaped captivity and defeated Zheng Fengzu and the clan cultivators. Zheng Fengzu died after Fang Huai extracted information from him; the clan members at the formation also died. When Fang Huai later returned to the family estate, he found it deserted and bloodstained. The report accepted by the Corpse Sha Sect instead claimed that a Qi Refining Layer 8 demon beast had destroyed the family and that Lin Qian and Wu Sanli had died defending it 28 29 30 32.
Members
- Zheng Fengzu — Family head and a Qi Refining Layer 5 cultivator. He led the rebellion and oversaw the Blood Jade Tree 24 27 28.
- Zheng Xianguang — A clansman at the peak of Qi Refining Layer 3, ordered to shed his Mortal Skin in the tree's hidden chamber 28.
- Zheng Xianrui — Another Layer 3 clansman ordered to attempt the same breakthrough. Fang Huai tricked Zheng Fengzu into severely injuring him during the skinning 28.
Clan Resources
- Clan Protection Array — An ancestral, bloodline-activated formation at the family's former settlement. It trapped the sect disciples and concealed a chamber beneath the marsh 25 26 27.
- Blood Jade Tree — Hidden within the formation and fed with blood, qi, and corpses. Its insects purified Death Sha into Living Sha, which aided cultivation; the clan also harvested its leaves 27 28 29.
- Blood Jade Insects — Introduced into the visitors through red mist at the banquet, then activated during the ambush. Several Zheng cultivators bore the acquired Blood Jade Body constitution 24 27.