Primordial Heavenly Demon: I Raise the Twelve Golden Immortals with Talismans

[Behind-the-scenes mastermind] [No female lead] [Ensemble cast] [Faction building] [Dark] [Decisive and ruthless] [Twelve Talismans]

In a single day, he became a demon, binding the Twelve Talismans as his pact and devouring the souls of the living. All beneath heaven became his sustenance.

Wei Xuan used talismans as bait and contracts with souls as chains, beginning his schemes from behind the scenes.

A desperate priest, a resentful assassin, a struggling servant girl, an ambitious scion of an aristocratic house, a vassal prince consumed by lust for power…

One by one, people struggling in the mortal world took the blade he offered, becoming pawns scattered across the land.

Wei Xuan lay low behind the scenes, using his pawns to stir up the storm.

In the martial world of mortals, he unleashed bloody turmoil across the jianghu, harvested souls, and reforged his origins;

At court, he fueled the vassal princes' rivalries, overturned the political order, and seized control of the realm;

In the immortal sects of the Nine Heavens, he sparked a war between good and evil, reaped the rewards, and devoured the Heavenly Dao.

…

Starts with martial arts and later moves into cultivation. Focuses entirely on pursuing his ambitions, with no female lead. A dark, behind-the-scenes story with a relatively slow start.