Heaven, Earth, Me

Gu Chen decided to step up. He looked at the surroundings and walked forward, ready to be attacked by the wraiths. As he expected, he only had to take a few steps before two wraiths jumped from the walls and attacked him. He easily punched both of them into oblivion, killing them instantly. The reduced number of wraiths showed that the size of the group did increase the number of ghosts that attacked them as they advanced. 

Even then, Gu Chen continued walking forward, just in case he was attacked by chance. A few steps down the corridor, three wraiths appeared. He took care of them in a second and looked backward. "Well, this clears it. We are being attacked because of our group. What do we do now?"

Ayanduin suggested. "While many of them exist, it's not impossible to defend against them. Yasenia and the others are strong enough to deal with them. As long as we three protect the group, we won't have any trouble preventing deaths."

Violet and Gu Chen found it plausible. So, with the three seniors rearranging the group, they started slowly crossing the corridor. Everyone took out their weapons and used them against the attacks coming from the walls. 

The corridor was dangerous. However, it was not to the point that three Sixth Realm Cultivators would feel overwhelmed. Therefore, after a few minutes of fighting, the managed to reach the bottom of the passway. 

There, a large door awaited them. The door was intricate, showing the images of a prosperous city that bowed to one man at the top of the door. The next image showed the man being struck on the back, and as the pictures changed, it told a story that could be taken differently. 

Yasenia commented. "A story of betrayal or a story about taking down a tyrant. Which one do you think it was?"

Tatyana commented. "Probably the first. If it was a story about taking down a tyrant, that means that the city would've proposed after his defeat. Instead, we can see what the city has deteriorated into."

Yasenia hummed. "I see. That's quite plausible. Does this door have a way to be opened? I can smell both the treasure and the horrible smell coming from the other side."

Gu Chen tapped it with his finger and hummed. "I can probably strike it down."

Violet shook her head. "Don't what if the place collapses? These buildings are solid enough to resist our attacks. That means that the materials used are quite solid and dense. We will probably have a hard time resisting a building of this quality falling on us. Not to mention, there might be traps. Striking it down is honestly quite a bad suggestion."

Yasenia smiled. "I agree. However, I don't feel any formations in this place. The door has profound energy coming from it. However, other than that, I believe there are no other things we need to worry about. Not to mention, the aura of this place doesn't feel hostile, just ominous."

Violet raised her eyebrow. "Oh? You can sense the aura of the location as well! That's quite a high-level skill for Mortal Cultivators."

With those comments, Violet shrugged. "Sure, go ahead and brute force it. However, there might be an easier way to enter."

Tatyana blinked and asked. "Have any of you tried… opening the door?"

Everyone paused, and Gu Chen reached out to the doorknob. Twisting it, there was a clicking sound that activated a rusty mechanism. The doors started moving by themselves and then opened in less than a minute.

Gu Chen coughed. "Sorry for that. I should've checked."

Violet acted nonchalantly, but one could see that she was somewhat ashamed by the twitching of her lips. Dandan laughed and poked Violet's side, earning herself a glare from the powerful cultivator. 

After entering into the room, everyone looked around with awe. It was a very large room. Similar to a throne room but with a much gloomier tone. There were pillars supporting the tall ceiling, with chandeliers broken on the ground while their chains hung from the ceiling. 

The years had probably rusted them away, making them fall under their own weight.

While everyone was looking around, Yasenia had her gaze glued to the deepest part of the room. Some people noticed and looked over, making many eyebrows jump.

A half-rotten human corpse sitting on a throne could be seen. The long-dead man was wearing worse clothes that had lost their luster. However, this was more due to dust than the robes having decayed. The man's head was supported by his hand, and his now void eye sockets were looking their way.

Yasenia muttered. "That man is powerful."

Everyone agreed. Even while dead, his rotting flesh was still emitting profound energy. The energy was vast, like an ocean, and even Tatyana raised her eyebrows at the feeling of the man's aura.

She couldn't help but squint and look at the corpse. "Quite a worthy being… I wonder, does part of your soul still reside inside?"

Tatyana walked forward, and the second she did so, her Death Energy burst outward like a flood, surrounding the entire room in a dark fog. 

Violet's face changed as her alertness heightened under the feeling of Tatyana's energy. 'W-What kind of energy purity is this!? Her energy is purer than mine!'

Tatyana looked at the corpse with her red eyes, her gaze profound and powerful enough that everyone else didn't dare say a single word. "You who have perished…" Her voice echoed in the room. "You who had an unbreakable will when living…" Tatyana knew from his pose, from his body, from his attitude. This man had been someone that didn't bend his back. Someone worthy of being called a King. "Reveal your past and…" Tatyana's red eyes glowed with a bloody light as she stepped forward and appeared in front of the corpse. "Deliver your future to me. [Death Empress Decree: Pure Resurrection]."

The Death Empress extended her hand, intending to touch the man's forehead. However, the corpse suddenly moved and grabbed Tatyana's wrist in less than a second. Tatyana's eyes shone with both surprise and delight. "Do you resist even after Death? Your lingering spirit refuses to surrender to another being…" 

Violet, at the back, looked at Yasenia when she felt the man's aura slowly increasing. "Yasenia, I don't know what Tatyana is doing. However, you need to tell her to stop. That corpse is waking up!"

Yasenia smiled wryly. "I think that's her objective, Violet. Let's see what she wants to do." 

The man's semi-skeletal hand, surrounded by decaying flesh, was tightly gripping Tatyana's wrist. Tight enough that the people behind suddenly heard a loud sound.

CRACK!

Yasenia's eyes widened, and Valeria confirmed her suspicions. "Tatyana's wrist is broken."

The Death Empress didn't flinch, though. Even when her hand was pointing in a strange direction as blood poured down from the broken bones, the Death Empress's gaze was locked on the corpse's blank eye-sockets. "You might be a King. However, you were not an Emperor. You were not a Conqueror. You didn't bend to anyone's will, but you neither forced others to obey yours. Hence, you are not a ruler; you are a heroic being—a person who defies the odds. Come under my command, King Of The Past. Become one of my knights and uphold the honor of the Underworld, which I rule."

Tatyana's Death Energy deeply sunk into the man's body, and his vacant eye-sockets got illuminated by a ghostly green flame. The corpse looked at Tatyana and spoke, his voice raspy and rumbling as if it was scratching into the reality around him. "You… Are… Not… Worthy…"

Tatyana's lips arched. "Am I not? Tell me, King Of The Past, who other than me can be worthy of you serving them?"

The remains of the man who once governed spoke. "You… Lack… Righteousness."

Tatyana's arched lips bent down. "You say I lack righteousness? Of course, I do. I am a ruler. A kind ruler is a king that's waiting to be conquered. Only those ruthless enough will be respected. Only those who can stomp the world and make it tremble are worthy of leading others. Without someone at the helm who can stop storms and kill enemies, how can you protect those at the back?"

Tatyana squinted. "You are a Hero, King Of The Past. You are worthy of becoming my weapon. Therefore, submit to my will voluntarily so I can keep your past self unchanged." Tatyana's tone lowered as her Death Energy started becoming more ominous and oppressive. "Else, I'll erase the remains of your will and make you just another member of my Undead Legion. You are worth it even without a will."

The dead man's lips arched in a semblance of mockery. "Threatening… The… Dead? Is… That… Worthy… Of… An… Empress?"

Tatyana smiled coldly. "I want to deal with you quickly, King Of The Past. If I had more time, I would sit down to speak. First, accept becoming my subordinate, then we can talk more about what makes a person a true ruler." Tatyana warned. "However, you don't have more chances. Answer 'I submit' or become my puppet."

The corpse looked at Tatyana closely for a few moments, and eventually, he said. "I… Submit."

While he might've been someone with an extremely powerful character in the past, the corpse had been rotting away in this place for tens or even hundreds of thousands of years. Therefore, under the influence of Tatyana's Death Energy, the erosion of will was quick and overwhelming. Tatyana was speaking with him to allow her Death Energy to seep into the corpse. The second those green flames appeared in his eyes, the man had already lost. 

The only difference would be if he submitted by choice or by force. Eventually, Tatyana managed to make him submit to his own will, although it had been eroded and manipulated.

Tatyana nodded and stepped backward, ignoring her black, crushed wrist. Then, she waved her hand, and several chains shot from space, surrounding the man. Behind him, space twisted, revealing a door toward the [Underworld].

The man and his throne were dragged back and swallowed into it, leaving behind a void where a King sat in the past.

Violet looked at everything with a pale face. It had been a long while since she felt a sense of fear from someone, and yet, the mortal cultivator in front of her now seemed like a mountain that she would never be able to surmount. 

Tatyana turned around and looked at Violet, smiling. "Don't worry, I don't bite~." 

Violet looked at Tatyana and smiled back with difficulty. "That's good." 

Yasenia sniffed around and blinked. "Ah… The treasure was on that man…"

Tatyana paused and coughed. "Oh… Sorry, Little Treasure. I can't really summon him back right now… He needs to bath in the Underworld's energies for a while to recover some of his body."

Yasenia sighed. "How long?"

Tatyana smiled. "Not long. Around… a year?"

Yasenia hummed. "Well, we can spend the rest of the year exploring this city. We don't really have any hurry to visit other places." 

While one year sounded like a lot for cultivators at their level, it was actually quite a short time-frame.

Looking around the place, Yasenia commented. "Well, there are a few other treasures around here… Hm?" The dragoness blinked and sniffed the air, moving through the room and eventually arriving at one of the corners. "Ho, ho~? The treasure that man held was much stronger than you, so I didn't notice you~."

The dragoness leaned down and picked a key of some sort. "I wonder… What do you open?"