AGAINST NINE REALMS

Inside an Unknown Territory where time, space, and life stays still…

(You idiot… I remember I told you before that as long as you
e alive, the three of us will remain in existence until we regain our physical bodies. And there you are, showing yourself once more amongst the humans…)

(I could forgive you if you
e trying to revenge us… But you went out there just to eat my body and core? What a great buddy you are…)

The core from QiongQi complained nonstop right after they were trapped inside this space. To their surprise, the insides of TaoTie, more correctly known as this Unknown Territory, actually held such a mysterious ability that could keep them from total death.

Still, their current situation is no different from death, as all they could do was speak to one another. Even if they were allowed to do anything they wanted, these four couldn since they no longer had a physical body.

Furthermore, this would quickly become imprisonment as this place is void of the concept of time, space, and life. Of course, the four didn notice that if it wasn because of their current condition, they would be disqualified from coming into this place too.

(I can help it… You taste quite delicious, you know? Perhaps the human actually hunted us because they wanted to eat us. You should praise me instead. If I wasn a glutton, we would be consumed by the people like braised pork, braised bear, braised lamb, and braised feline..)

[Author Note: HunDun was described to have the body of a headless bear in the early chapter. TaoTie was said to have the body of a sheep. TaoWu had boars teeth, so I depicted it with a boars body. As for QiongQi, it was said to have the body of a tiger, which is why it was so fierce]

(Feline your head! TaoWu! HunDun, why are you guys staying silent?)

QiongQi was pissed by TaoTies reply and tried to get extra support from the other two to reprimand this fellow. Unfortunately, the mythical beast finds the wrong helper this time.

TaoWu is well known for ignorance. Thus, he could stay quiet and still for ages like a tree stump. As for HunDun, asking for a headless mythical beast to talk to was pointless. It was unsure how long they were bickering since theres no concept of time here.

This continued until an unclear transmission came to all four of them. But it was just for a glimmering moment before that hope vanished completely.

(What is that? Shouldn all our contact with the outside vanishes after the slaughter? How would there be a survivor still exist? Furthermore, it had a connection to all four of us!)

QiongQi said. If it still has a physical body at this moment, the voice alone would echo here for a countless cycle.

(QiongQi, shush! I think the descendent had more affinity with TaoTie. Look at how quiet that fellow is right now…)

TaoWu interrupted. It might represent the epitome of ignorance and idiocy, but that doesn mean it was a fool. In fact, TaoWu is extremely sensitive to importance, shown when HunDun was trying to say something and a few other times before that.

(TaoTie!)

QiongQi tried to obtain that fellows intention to see if what TaoWu said was true. But what came in reply to its whisper was the sound TaoTie loved to make after devouring something.

(You damn glutton!)

…

…

…

Duan Yu was in a hurry after leaving the smaller living hall. He was afraid that he would be late and miss the fortuitous time to deliver his respect to his fellow ancestors.

This was merely an act of filial piety to the outsiders and those with ”Duan ” in their surname. But there are actually two separate Ancestral Halls within this Eastern Duan City. This fact was something even the regular Duan Family members weren informed about.

The first Ancestral Hall was, of course, the grand collection hall for all their ancestors tombstones. As long they had made a contribution to the Duan Household, they would be entitled to a slot here after passing away.

The greater their contribution was, the taller they would be positioned. Likewise, the more significant it does to the household, the bigger the tombstone would be.

As for the other Ancestral Hall, this place was where all the most notable and distinguished members of the Duan Household would be buried. Unlike the Family Ancestral Hall, the Duan Family members here are all patriarchs, matriarchs of the household, or the second and third successors in the same family.

The bloodline of those buried here can be considered extremely pure. This household also inspects how concentrated the successors lineage was with an artifact before he or she would be included in this secret.

As for where this artifact came from, it naturally came from one of the four perils, TaoTie, to be precise. It was said that at the beginning of the Duan Lineage, their first ancestor once fed TaoTie when it was young.

In return for its kindness, the TaoTie blessed the Duan with a thread of its karma cycle, where they wouldn face poverty as long they bear the surname and bloodline.

Because this secret was too sensitive and could possibly ruin their family if it was exposed, only Duan Yu alone was informed about this. None of his nine older sisters were told about this.

Through a drop of his blood as the ”key, ” Duan Yu opened the secret entrance to this hidden Ancestral Hall. The stairs leading underground were ridiculously long. Perhaps even the locals born and raised here had no idea there was a hidden chamber deep below underground.

Duan Yu get himself down on his knees after reaching the bottom.

”This unbecoming Duan family grandchild is here to pay his fellow respect to all ancestors, ” said Duan Yu as he moved forward. After prostrating and placing his forehead on the ground, he continued further.

The process continued until he arrived at a table made from rare metal. On top of the table was a piece of fragment made from unknown material, which looked like metal, but wasn . Being placed here for over two thousand years, it should be filled with rust and eerie Qi.

But that wasn the case. Instead, this fragment seemed alive, as it remained pristine over the years.

After completing the process of this anniversary rite, Duan Yu started his work by cleaning the ancestors tablets one by one. They don seem like one, but this Duan Household had survived for over two thousand years.

There are twenty-eight memorial tablets here, each of which comes with the surname ”Duan ” engraved. And instead of using golden ink to color the engravings, it was filled with the blood of that Duan Family ancestor.

But today, something else happened instead.

Duan Yu was in the middle of cleaning the mysterious fragment when he accidentally cut his finger.

The blood immediately made contact with the fragment, and before he could react, a sudden suction happened. Duan Yu collapsed after the mysterious relic robbed him of his Spiritual Qi.

This was also the starting point of the unclear transmission that connects the four perils with Duan Yu for a moment. And as QiongQi starts talking, one full day has gone through.

Duan Yu woke up after losing consciousness for the whole day. Although that wouldn affect too much for not making his presence out there, it would be best if he didn do this too often.

After all, Eastern Duan City is full of spies from three other cities. And each of them was simply waiting for the correct time to make their move and annex this fat piece of land.

(How come I could feel a faint connection with the origin of our legacy for a moment just now? Did this happen because my blood gets on it?)

Duan Yu was suspicious, but he would prefer if he could avoid the same thing from happening. The sharp edge of the dagger soon cut into his palm to create the same situation as yesterday. This time, hell distance himself from the fragment before trying.

As expected, the fragment immediately responded to the blood. But the liquid wasn what the relic starved for. It was the Spiritual Qi instead.

Once again, Duan Yu collapsed after having all his Spiritual Qi stolen away from him. This time, TaoTie felt a hint of familiarity from that transmission. The surge of two dosages of Spiritual Qi also came through the connection. It nourished TaoTie a little before flying back to the dimension where Duan Yu at.

This process happened almost in a blink of an eye, but where Duan Yu was, one more day had passed. When he woke up again, it was already the third morning.

(It didn take my blood, but my Spiritual Qi instead! If I want to inspect this treasure further, Ill have to prepare myself before I collapse again…)

It was normal for Duan Yu to be cautious after fainting twice in his attempt to inspect this treasure. But the two blunder wasn enough to get rid of his curiosity.

Carefully, Duan Yu used a handkerchief to wrap the artifact and gently placed it inside his chest pocket. And before leaving, he didn forget to check his surrounding.

(Hmm? Did the two pills here fall from my pocket? Maybe it was something our ancestor left somewhere on the table?)

Duan Yu pocketed the two dirty pills and returned to the surface. After exiting the Ancestral Hall, he immediately returned to his bed chamber. He decided to sleep away his fatigue before making a few more tries tonight.

This time, he would use the Mind Clearing Verdant Pill as a replacement instead. And to ensure he had more than enough, Duan Yu ordered the family servants to collect as much as possible.

Even the Verdant Calming Grasses that matured today couldn escape his grasp.