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.
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?"