The winding descent into Yellow Mountain's depths guided Zhang Yuan's steps, the path plunging him into a subterranean world where chill air pervaded. Flickering torchlight threw dancing shadows against rugged stone walls as the temperature steadily dropped.

At last, he arrived at the sturdy wooden door adorned with the elaborate seal of the Jiang Vault's guardians. Standing guard was an elderly figure in simple grey robes, his back straight as a rod despite his age.

Zhang Yuan inclined his head slightly, lips curving into a thin smile. "Elder Quan." His obsidian eyes glinted with amusement as the old warder started, clearly surprised by the visitor.

Elder Quan's attire was less about appearance and more about function. His grey robes were simple and utilitarian, made from sturdy cotton that could withstand the rigors of daily training. The fabric bore stains of past alchemical experiments, and the sleeves were rolled up, revealing thin forearms covered in faded scars.

"Young Disciple Zhang?" Quan blinked in surprise before narrowing his gaze shrewdly. "The elders did not inform me you'd been granted access to the Vault."

Zhang Yuan's smile didn't waver, though an undercurrent of steel edged his tone. "Yes, Elder Quan, by the Patriarch's directive. I require fifteen second-rank Jiangshi for a...delicate operation."

Quan's brow furrowed, and he leaned in, voice lowering to a worried rasp. "You can't seriously mean to wake those things up again," His weathered gaze searched Zhang Yuan's face as if pleading him to reconsider.

A thin smile played across Zhang Yuan's lips. "Have I not overseen their deployment multiple times before without incident?"

Quan's deeply lined face twisted into a scowl as he studied Zhang Yuan. “…You'd better know what you're doing," he muttered gruffly. With shaking hands, the old warder produced a carved bone key and unlocked the heavy door with a loud thunk that echoed through the crypt. Beads of sweat trickled down Quan's forehead as he glanced back at Zhang Yuan, silently daring the younger man to follow through on his bravado.

A chill draft flowed outward, mingling the musty scent of undisturbed earth with something else—something dry and ancient, akin to the faint traces of a long-gone flame. Zhang Yuan steadied himself as he followed the old warder inside, torchlight casting stark shadows across rows of sealed stone crypts.

Each sarcophagus bore warding seals, deeply carved into the stone. A thin layer of condensation covered the floor of the frigid, dark chamber, ideal for preserving the Jiangshi's desiccated husks indefinitely.

Quan frowned, gnarled hands clenching as he eyed Zhang Yuan. Many reckless fools had fallen to the Jiangshi's insatiable hunger before. He hoped the young disciple's confidence wasn't just hubris...but kept such doubts unvoiced.

With a wave of his wrinkled hand, Quan gestured towards the far chamber. "The second-ranks rest within. Take care not to disturb any others while you work."

Quan's footsteps faded as he retreated to the entrance chamber, leaving Zhang Yuan alone with the eerie silence.

Walking forward with purpose, he quickly located the row of fifteen sarcophagi marked with the distinct second-rank sigils. Zhang Yuan removed the talismans and traced the intricate patterns, calling forth the Jiangshi. Crimson light flared from the seals, bathing the chamber in an ominous glow. Each heavy stone lid quivered and cracked open with a menacing rumble. Plumes of stale, dusty air burst forth as desiccated forms began to stir in their shadowy confines.

Skeletal limbs clad in tattered burial wrappings clawed their way free of the shattered crypts. Withered husks shrunken tight around yellowed bones dragged themselves upright, empty sockets burning with cold pinpricks of unnatural green foxfire. The Jiangshi regarded Zhang Yuan with a palpable, alien hunger as they formed a loose semicircle around the young Magi.

Any lesser person would surely have blanched and fled from such an unholy congregation. Zhang Yuan stared back, unflinching. The Jiangshi's soulless hunger stirred something cold and ruthless within him - a drive to master that which others feared. His lip curled in a thin, predatory smile. Fear was for lesser men. Drawing forth an ornate ceramic jar, he held it aloft and issued a single, resonant command: "Attend."

Obediently, the fifteen Jiangshi hopped forward in an obscene mockery of life. Dull green flames flickered in their vacant sockets as they extended dried hands towards the proffered vessel. One by one, their ethereal essences were drawn inside with a sound like a candle's flame being snuffed out. Soon, the jar's surface glowed with an eerie inner radiance as it contained the bound Jiangshi forces.

With the Jiangshi's essences bound within the ornate jar, Zhang Yuan turned his focus to the next crucial step. Merely containing them would never be enough...

Zhang Yuan reached into his crimson-silk robes and withdrew the fifteen talismans used to summon them. These would be the conduits through which he exerted his dominance.

The Soul Binding technique was among the most esoteric and challenging Inscribed Abilities imparted by the Yellow Mountain Sect. There were plenty of rumours of disciples driven mad by the strain of merging their spiritual essence with inanimate objects. Yet Zhang Yuan had not only survived the difficult process - he'd surpassed his peers, his affinity for the art now rivalling even the oldest Elders'. A flicker of pride kindled within him. Let the others whisper about his arrogance - his results spoke for themselves.

Settling into a meditative lotus position, he arrayed the talismans before him and focused his spiritual sense. The chill of the crypt faded away as his consciousness expanded, merging with the potent essence contained within the jar. He could feel the Jiangshi's alien hunger, their primal drive to consume and defile all life essence. But that hunger would be tamed and reshaped to serve his will alone.

With a deep breath, Zhang Yuan projected ethereal filaments outward, initiating the tough task of linking his soul to the talismans. It was like trying to dominate a frenzied animal, his intellect warring against the voracious hunger of the Jiangshi.

Sweat trickled down his forehead as he tenaciously pressed on, each moment stretching into a timeless ordeal of mental strain. The Jiangshi's spirits attacked viciously, like starving beasts deprived of their feast, resisting his control. Yet slowly, agonizingly, he imposed his will on the talismans.

The final talisman thrummed with the imprint of Zhang Yuan's essence, and he allowed his consciousness to recede from the spiritual realm with a ragged exhalation. Stars danced at the edges of his vision as he slumped forward, chest heaving. Sweat streamed down his ashen face, and every muscle screamed from the sheer exertion of imposed his will upon the Jiangshi's insatiable hunger.

Though he showed no outward sign, Zhang Yuan's soul resonated powerfully with the fifteen talismans, an unbreakable synchronicity granting him elevated mastery over the bound Jiangshi forces.

Slowly, he rose on legs that trembled faintly from exertion. Carefully stowing the jar within his robes, he made his way back towards the entrance chamber. Quan looked up sharply at his approach, eyes widening slightly at the younger man's haggard appearance.

"You look like you've been through the wringer," the old warder rasped, studying him intently. "I take it you used Soul Binding?"

Zhang Yuan mustered a thin smile, tucking the talismans away. "Nothing I couldn't handle, Elder. The Jiangshi are fully bound to my will now."

Quan's brow furrowed sceptically, but he seemed to think better of voicing further doubts. With a grunt, he turned and pulled a heavy iron lever, causing the outer door's locking mechanism to grind open with a tortured shriek of metal on stone.

"Just see that you keep them under tight control out there," he whispered as Zhang Yuan stepped past him into the torchlit passage beyond. "The ancestors won't look kindly on anyone who lets the Jiangshi run rampant again..."

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Zhang Yuan barely acknowledged the warning with a curt nod. His mind had already turned to the coming operation and the spoils that would follow success.

oo0ooOoo0oo

The journey to Zykrvitz castle saw Zhang Yuan leaving the serene mountain paths of his homeland far behind. Each step carried him deeper into the bloodstained heart of the vampire clan's ancestral domain.

Against the backdrop of a blood-red moon, the castle's shadow loomed large and intimidating. Howls reverberated through the ancient forest—whether they were from the clan's subjugated werewolves or a darker presence, Zhang Yuan was indifferent.

Twin iron-wrought portcullises groaned open as he approached the outer bailey, granting entry. The guards' lifeless eyes and ashen pallor marked them as semi-undead - lesser thralls bound to the clan's vampires. They shrank from Zhang Yuan's path, hollow gazes instinctively averting from his potent spiritual presence.

Beyond the gatehouse, the main courtyard sprawled in grotesque opulence. Nude human forms lay strewn across extravagant velvet cushions and piled furs, bruises and bite marks marring their once-flawless features. Their glazed eyes held the soulless look of the deeply traumatized.

One poor wretch, a young woman who couldn't have seen her twentieth year, feebly lifted a trembling hand towards Zhang Yuan. Parched lips worked soundlessly as she beheld his exotic robes and regal bearing - so unlike the feral, debauched beasts that enslaved her. For a fleeting instant, he saw a flicker of desperate hope in her haunted gaze.

Zhang Yuan's obsidian eyes met hers, devoid of pity or compassion. With a subtle hand gesture, he extinguished that spark of naive optimism as easily as snuffing a candle flame. The human's face crumpled, a broken whimper escaping her bloodied lips as she shrank back in despair.

Ignoring the pitiful creature and her ilk, Zhang Yuan continued across the courtyard towards the inner keep's entrance. Shrill cries of tormented ecstasy echoed from within, mingling with the bestial snarls and wet tearing of flesh. He swept through the arched doors, unaffected by the debauched scenes unfolding in shadowy recesses.

In one alcove, a pale vampiric lordling had mounted a terrified young man from behind. The human's face was pale with pain and fear, his eyes rolled back as thick ropes of blood gushed from the gaping wound in his throat. The vampire's clawed hands dug deep furrows across his victim's chest as he rutted with animalistic frenzy, gulping down great mouthfuls of hot blood between hoarse grunts of pleasure.

Another knot of vampires had encircled a cowering human female whose tattered gown barely preserved her modesty as they took turns lapping at the fresh wounds crisscrossing her trembling form. Their pale faces were twisted in addicted bliss, razor fangs protruding obscenely as they drank her very life essence.

Through it all, Zhang Yuan never faltered. He brushed past the sordid displays as one might ignore insects underfoot with an expression of disgusted indifference. These pathetic, depraved creatures who could not control their baser instincts held no terror for one of his power.

At last he reached the inner sanctum's entrance - a pair of ornately carved ebon wood doors. The guards posted here were of sterner stuff, elder thralls whose baleful glares followed Zhang Yuan's approach with naked hostility.

"Hold, intruder," one growled in thickly accented English, levelling a wicked halberd to bar the path. "State your business before the clan matriarch's court, or be driven out!"

Zhang Yuan's lip curled faintly at the barbarian's boorish challenge. Didn't these cretins realize who they were dealing with? Rousing Soul Intimidation, he lashed out in a spiritual assault that sent the guards crumpling to their knees, clutching their skulls in silent agony.

"I am Zhang Yuan of the Yellow Mountain Sect," he stated flatly, obsidian eyes boring into the writhing thralls with derisive contempt. "Your matriarch requested my presence. See that I am not delayed further by your ilk's ignorance."

One guard managed a pained nod, fumbling for the latch with a shaking hand. The ebon wood doors groaned open, granting entry to the inner sanctum.

The depraved decadence reached new heights within the clan matriarch's personal chambers. Plumes of sickly-sweet incense hung thick in the air, cloying Zhang Yuan's senses as he stepped across the threshold.

In the room's centre, amid a sea of plush furs and silken cushions, lay the vampire matriarch Gisela, indulging in hedonistic pleasure. Her deathly pale body was a vision of sinful temptation, with her dark hair flowing over her milky skin, accentuating her curvaceous form.

Two human thralls, equally bare, knelt before her, their mouths suckling at her full breasts while she purred with wicked delight. But it was between her legs that a more intimate act of service took place. A female thrall, eyes closed in ecstatic agony, pleasured her mistress with her mouth, her face a mask of blissful torment as she worshipped Gisela's core. Another thrall, offering her throat, bled for Gisela's sustenance as her blood dripped erotically down her trembling body.

Gisela, lost in the pleasures of the flesh, barely registered Zhang Yuan's arrival as her crimson lips curved in a lustful smile. "Ah, Zhang Yu...ohh!" Her voice broke into a moan as the female slave's tongue flicked her clit, and she tightened her grip on the thrall's hair, pulling her closer. "You're...just in time...for the...preparationmmsss."

Arching her back, Gisela's shapely leg lifted, toes pointing, as she beckoned to Zhang Yuan with a crook of her finger. The thralls, expecting their mistress to offer them up to Zhang Yuan's desires, flinched and cowered. But he simply stood there with his arms crossed behind his back. Zhang Yuan eyed them disdainfully.

"Oh, yes...right there..." Gisela's words turned into a breathy moan as the female slave between her legs brought her to the brink. Her hips bucked, thrusting herself into the slave's mouth. "Mm, don't stop...oh, gods, yesss..."

Her orgasm brought her to the peak of pleasure, and her eyes rolled back as she gripped the furs beneath her. The slaves cowered further, knowing their punishment would be severe if they stopped now. The female slave redoubled her efforts, lapping and sucking eagerly at her mistress's arousal.

Zhang Yuan's lip curled in disgust at the display. He found the vampires' lack of control over their desires pathetic. While they indulged in their base instincts, he remained untouched by their carnal temptations.

"My people are prepared to assist in the Dark Lord's liberation," he said, his voice cutting through the haze of pleasure that filled the room. "Have you acquired the compensation promised to the Yellow Mountain Sect?"

Her body still trembling with pleasing aftershocks, Gisela's eyes slowly fluttered open. "Oh, yes...the compensation..." She laughed, a rich, throaty sound that filled the room. "Ever the pragmatist, Zhang Yuan. Very well, let us conclude our business."

With a sharp whistle, she summoned her minions, who dragged forward chests filled with the promised raw materials. Gisela gestured lazily, and the chests were opened, revealing the glistening treasures within.

Zhang Yuan inspected the goods while Gisela stretched languidly, pulling the female slave’s tongue lapping between her legs deeper into her cunt. "Do you like what you see, Zhang Yuan?" she purred, running a hand over her body, unconcerned by her nudity. "Perhaps you'd like to join me...?"

Zhang Yuan's expression never wavered. "The Sect's due has been met," he said, withdrawing a sealed spirit jar from his robes. "Now, it is time for me to deliver on my promise."

The room fell silent as he placed the jar on the furs and opened it. A crimson flare of light pulsed, and the Jiangshi within began to stir. One by one, the undead figures materialized, their withered forms and fire-filled eye sockets emitting an otherworldly menace.

Gisela's breath caught in her throat as the Jiangshi surrounded Zhang Yuan. She sat up, her body still slick with the evidence of her pleasure, and eyed the undead horrors with a curiosity.

"These are the assets you offer?" she asked steadily despite the erotic fog that still clouded her mind. "They appear rather...decrepit."

Zhang Yuan's smile was predatory. "Do not be fooled, matriarch," he said, holding up a stack of talismans. "The true power of the Jiangshi lies within their souls and life-draining capabilities, and these souls are bound to my will."

He demonstrated the control he held over the undead, and Gisela's eyes widened, her breath coming in short gasps. The display of power aroused her, and she bit her lip, her body responding despite the situation's seriousness.

"They will serve as the vanguard," Zhang Yuan continued calmly. "They will weaken and terrify your enemies, paving the way for your forces to extract the Dark Lord. Are these terms acceptable to you, Gisela?"

Gisela's eyes flicked to the Jiangshi, then back to Zhang Yuan. Her heart pounded, and she licked her lips, tasting the slave’s blood on her tongue. "Yes," she breathed hoarsely with desire. "The terms are acceptable. We can begin the liberation of the Dark Lord in two days."

As she spoke, she reached down, her fingers slipping between her legs to capture the essence of her pleasure from the female slave’s tongue. With a wicked smile, she held out her hand, offering the slick evidence of her arousal to Zhang Yuan. "Take it," she whispered. "Take my essence and seal our bargain."

Zhang Yuan's eyes narrowed, but he made no move to accept her offering. "Our bargain is already sealed," he said, his voice cold. "I do not require such...incentives."

Gisela's smile faltered, and for a moment, a flash of anger crossed her face. But then she laughed, a low, sultry sound. "Very well, Zhang Yuan. Our accord is struck. But mark my words, one day you will crave what I offer."

With that, she dismissed him, turning back her attention to her thralls, who immediately set upon her with renewed desire.

Zhang Yuan turned and left the chamber, his expression one of utter disdain for the depravity he'd witnessed. As the moans of Gisela's pleasure echoed behind him, he couldn't help but feel repulsed by these creatures' utter lack of self-control and spiritual discipline.

Once outside the inner sanctum, he allowed himself a weary sigh. Negotiating with the vampire had tried his patience, but at least the promised materials were secured. He pulled out the ornate jar containing the bound Jiangshi souls and gave it an appraising look. With these undead forces under his command, liberating the Dark Lord shouldn’t be too difficult.

A nearby clan thrall flinched away from Zhang Yuan's imposing presence. With a disdainful sneer, he barked out, "You. Show me to guest quarters befitting my status. I'll be residing here until we depart for England."

The thrall's eyes widened in fear, but he knew better than to defy a guest of his Mistress. With a trembling bow, he gestured for Zhang Yuan to follow.