Death... and me

Outside the maze, things began to heat up. Like the Dalamu Sect, other sects also came to know what was happening in the Jiran Forest. Because of that, they all sent their elders there to check what it was all about.

The Dalamu Sect was a lot closer to Jiran Forest than the other powers. It was natural that they were the first ones to arrive. Of course, they wouldn't dispatch their full force to do that. None of the other sects would either. In the Dalamu Sect's case, the ones who came were Tiria Yinsan and Juvian Tarcio, two Nascent Soul Realm cultivators.

"The twins weren't joking. Just what is this place?"

From far away, they already noticed the pillar of light. Even though Tiria and Juvian were informed ahead of time, they were still surprised to see it.

"I have no idea. The twins' message simply said that this was the place where the Jade Slip they found had guided them. However, it didn't say what it was or how it ended over here."

"And where are those two brats?"

"Where else? Would you be able to hold yourself back and wait for reinforcements? Of course, they entered the place already. Not only them, but I'm pretty sure a lot more cultivators who've seen this definitely entered already, including those guys from the Umbral Sect they talked about."

Tiria's expression darkened after hearing that. In the twins' message, they also commented about the Umbral Sect coming to this place. Most likely, they found about the twins' location and sent that group here to get rid of them.

"Let's first secure the place so that others can't enter."

Juvian shook his head in response.

"It's useless. The ones who wanted to enter have entered already. Only a few others will arrive after all this time has passed. Not to mention that the other sects and the royal family have definitely been informed about this place already. Once their experts arrive, we won't be able to prevent them from entering."

Tiria nodded.

"Should we enter as well, then? Or perhaps call Elder Droman to come since he's a Soul Transformation Realm cultivator?"

"Droman's busy managing the Communication System. We can't have him move every time something happens. After he lost many of his most trusted Formation Master members from the Formations Hall, he has become even busier training new ones to help."

All of a sudden, Tiria and Juvian felt a Spiritual Sense wash over them. In an instant, their eyes narrowed as they looked in a specific direction. From there, they saw two cultivators moving in their direction at high speeds.

"Lukia, Soran, your Sect moved quite quickly."

They were the Nascent Soul Realm elders of the Raskil Sect, one of the five major sects of Jialin Country.

"Hahaha! You guys are slow, that's all. But don't pay too much attention to us. There's bound to be more of us soon enough."

Sure enough, it was just like Soran mentioned. Not too long after, more Nascent Soul elders of the other sects began to arrive as well.

Tiria and Juvian were not surprised by that. They understood that those guys must have used one teleport formation after the other to reach this place this fast. Otherwise, how could they arrive just a few minutes after them? Their Dalamu Sect, on the other hand, didn't need to do that since this was already their territory.

Tiria's expression darkened as she looked at one of the elders. He was Feren Posin, the same guy who had hit her with Umbral Energy in the past. If not because of Rean, she would probably still be slowly getting rid of the Umbral Energy in her body.

Furen noticed her eyes and gently smiled as if nothing had happened in the past.

"Oh, long time no see, Tiria. How have you been? I hope your days were not that painful."

Tiria snorted.

"Very well, to be honest. And how has Elder Furen been since the last time we met? Have you been feeling cold recently?"

Furen's mouth twitched, but he continued to smile nonetheless. Tiria was a Water Element User. Just like Elder Furan hit her with Umbral Energy, Tiria had also left a few gifts behind. It's just that it wasn't as troublesome to deal with as Umbral Energy.

Galios, the Lagan Sect's Nascent Soul Realm elder that Tiria met before during the twins' first mission, soon stepped forward, putting an end to their antics.

"Are you two having fun? What about we talk about this place first? If you want to settle scores, just step aside and get your problems resolved somewhere else."

Tiria and Furen ignored each other. After all, Galios was right.

Galios then looked at a group with three Nascent Soul Realm cultivators in tow. They were not part of any of the sects, but the Royal Family of Jialin instead.

"Mali, Colen, Xansio, if there's anyone here who knows what might be happening, that's gotta be your Royal Family."

Xansio looked at the entrance before shifting his attention to the strange words written on the walls. He narrowed his eyes as those words indeed brought back a few memories. The Royal Family records repository was the biggest in the country. After all, this was an abandoned place when Zef Jialin first arrived. No one had been here for longer than them.

He then pondered on whether he should talk or not. However, the fact was that he didn't have any useful information. The only information he had was of a few records talking about an ancient city that existed in this place way before the country was founded. In the end, he decided that he might as well share this information to not be on bad terms with the others. The Royal Family might be powerful, but they wouldn't be able to contend against all five sects at once.

"From what I know, this Jiran Forest was the place where a city called Laan was located in the past. However, it was long before Ancestor Zef Jialin founded the country. Other than the fact that the City disappeared one day, I know nothing else."

The others didn't know what to say about that information. It's not like it was of much help to them, after all. A Nascent Soul Cultivator from the Rohe Sect named Rago then asked.

"And how do you know that this place is related to this so-called Laan City?"

Xansio pointed at the walls beside the entrance.

"Those patterns match up with the records I read in the past, but don't waste your time asking me anything else. Even Ancestor Zef didn't know much about this place, let alone me. Besides, even if you don't believe me, it's not like I'm obligated to tell you everything I know."

The others narrowed their eyes but didn't complain in the end. It's not like they wouldn't keep a secret or two themselves.

"So, what do you guys want to do?"

Galios shrugged his shoulders before responding.

"I don't know about all of you, but Fia and I are going in to take a look."

Fia was the other Nascent Soul Realm cultivator from the Lagan Sect that came with Galios. A female cultivator at the Middle Stage.

Galios and Fia then headed down, ready to enter the place. The others also looked at each other before quickly following. Without wasting time, they all passed through the entrance and were teleported straight away. Obviously, they were sent into the maze, just like everyone else.

Back at Rean's group, they looked at the City Entrance before asking the people around.

"So, what are all of you waiting here for? Can't you open that door?"

One of those cultivators snorted in response.

"Aren't you an energetic kid? Why don't you go and open it for us, then? If we knew how to open it, we wouldn't be waiting outside."

Latalia then pointed at the slots on the walls close to the door.

"Can't you see that? It is evident that you need to use those tokens in there, don't you think?"

The cultivators knew what tokens Latalia was talking about. After all, for them to be here, they must be strong groups that also defeated the fake demon beasts on the way. Naturally, they got a few tokens from their bodies.

"Hehe! Do you think we didn't try? The tokens do fit in the holes indeed. However, nothing happened even after we put them there."

Another cultivator added.

"We believe that we don't have enough of them. There are 42 holes on the walls, but we only have 22, counting the tokens of all groups."

Latalia narrowed her eyes in response. She thought that with the number of people currently here, they would have close to enough already.

However, Roan snorted after hearing that.

"22, huh? Who would believe that? Let's not treat each other like fools. You guys definitely have a few more that you didn't bring out."

"Brat! Are you sure this is a place where an Initial Stage Core Formation Realm can talk?"

Latalia was surprised for a second but immediately understood. Soon after, she stepped forward and responded.

"Enough. Since no one wants to show their hands first, I'll be the one to do so."

Latalia then took four tokens from her robe and approached the walls. One by one, she put them inside the slots. Since she had the highest cultivation, Roan passed the tokens to her to prevent problems. No one would find it weird if a Middle Stage Core and Soul Fusion had them.

"I'm sure you all want to open this door too, right? If you keep waiting, more and more cultivators will arrive here. Don't you want to have a head start?"

Everyone looked at each other apprehensively. Roan was right. A few of them were hiding their own tokens since they didn't know if they would need more ahead.

Finally, one of the cultivator groups stepped forward and brought three more tokens out.

"Hey, didn't you say you only had two tokens?"

The guy who was holding them snorted.

"So what? Bite me!"

Latalia's words were correct. It was better to have a head start.

Seeing that, a few other groups also began to step forward. One by one, the 42 slots began to be filled.