Armipotent

Chapter 2103: Sacred Realm

A group of twenty, wearing white-gray cloaks with their heads covered by hoods, arrived in the city of Augur. The town belonged to a small faction called Vestige.

This was Tang Shaoyang’s destination, the way to reach the Sacred Realm. At least, that was what Ouyang Biya told him as she led him here.

Tang Shaoyang gave a quick scan. The city didn’t give off a clue that this place might be related to the Sacred Realm.

The buildings were something that Tang Shaoyang had seen before, exactly the same shape and design. It was something he could buy from the System Shop in his faction panel. These were the type of western-style building. He remembered that part of the United Sovereign used the same model as well.

He could hardly tell that this place was related to the cultivation world. They didn’t wear the robes he expected them to wear. They wore plain linen clothes; the men paired them with long pants that were made from the same material, while the women wore the long dress made of linen.

There were, of course, the guards. In fact, the guards were too many for a small faction that protected a small city. It was as if they were in a war, or maybe trying to suppress a rebellion that might happen in the city. However, the city was too peaceful, and he didn’t see the army outside. There were weirdly too many guards here.

The guard wore full plate black armor with a spear in their hands and a sword at their waist. They patrolled in a group of three or five, while he would see one or two of them standing on guard on the road as he navigated through the small city and entered the suspicious alley.

Twenty people dressed in gray cloaks and covered their faces with hoods were conspicuous, yet only a few spared a glance at them. Most of the people in the city ignored them, as if it were something normal.

Following Ouyang Biya through the alley, they ended up coming to a big street and stopped in front of the building called Black Inn. People were coming in and out, and it didn’t look like an inn at all.

It was too suspicious for an inn to have a stream of people coming in and going out. It made more sense if it were a bar or a drinking place.

’Or maybe there’s a bar inside.’ That was what Tang Shaoyang thought until they entered the building.

Inside was just a wide hall, with a red carpet stretched out of the hall, covering the whole floor. Two massive chandeliers hung on the side of the hall, giving off a dim lighting that made this place even more suspicious.

There were two spiral stairs on both sides that led to the second floor, but that was it. There were no tables and chairs, let alone people drinking here.

Where were those people who entered the building? They were in a queue. There were ten lines of queue to the counter at the end of the hall. They entered the building wearing those linen clothes, but once inside, they were all wearing cloaks. Most of them were wearing black cloaks, covering their whole body and their faces with hoods.

That explained why not many spare a glance at their group. It was a normal thing that happened in this city. Ouyang Biya hadn’t really explained how to get to the Sacred Realm until. The only thing she said was to follow her.

They joined the shortest queue, the third line from the left. They joined the queue, and the people ahead of them were also in a group. They didn’t have to wait that long until their turn.

"Yang Family of Vermilion Continent!" Ouyang said to the female attendant behind the counter. Then she added, "I forgot my plate. I will use the secret keywords to use the passage."

The female attendant kept looking, opening the scrolls, seemingly to look for something. When Ouyang Biya said she forgot the plate, she raised her head. There was a suspicion in her eyes, but she dropped it when Ouyang Biya mentioned the keywords.

The female attendant then took out a round gold plate and handed it to Ouyang Biya, "Please say the keywords."

Ouyang Biya put the plate closer to her lips and said the keywords in a low voice, "Rise and Revenge!" The keyword was her life goal: to rise again and rebuild her family. Then enact her revenge.

The plate glowed for a moment, and the female attendant nodded approvingly, "There will be an extra charge as per our agreement when you forgot to bring your plate. It’s a million in total for the penalty and extra fee for the new plate."

Ouyang Biya stepped to the side and gestured to Tang Shaoyang to pay. It was a natural thing to do since she was a spirit. She didn’t have the money, and she lost the plate along with everything in her inventory. She didn’t say she lost it because it would be too suspicious. It would make more sense if she said she forgot about the plate.

"And I want to register his voice as well for the passage," Ouyang Biya added.

The female attendant nodded, "Then it will be an extra one million for the service." She then took out a new round golden plate and handed it over to Tang Shaoyang, "Please say the keywords."

Tang Shaoyang took the plate and repeated what Ouyang Biya said. The plate glowed for a moment, and the female attendant offered her hand for the payment.

"It will be two million for everything, Sir."

Tang Shaoyang finished the transaction, and Ouyang Biya led them to the second floor. They mentioned a passage, maybe a teleportation portal inside a room. He expected her to lead them to a room with a specific teleportation portal.

To his surprise, there was no second floor. When he thought he stepped into the second, he was actually teleported into a heavily guarded area. With his Chaos Eyes, he estimated there were more than five thousand guarding this place. Not just the guards, there were a lot of visitors as well.

"Show the token to the guard," Ouyang Biya whispered.

Tang Shaoyang nodded and approached the guard, revealing the golden plate to the guard. The guard nodded and took the token. The guard took some kind of tool to scan the plate before giving it back to Tang Shaoyang with a nod.

"Follow me!"

They were led to one of many teleportation portals. "Proceed to the portal quickly!"

Ouyang Biya was the first one to enter the portal, followed by Tang Shaoyang. The others quickly followed after them.

"Welcome to the Sacred Realm!"

Tang Shaoyang appeared in a dark room, but the darkness didn’t really obstruct his vision. He could clearly see the room and the surroundings. It was empty, yet it was clean, a sign that the room was cleaned frequently.

This rustic room truly gave off the cultivation world. The wall was a wooden wall, and the floor was a wooden floor made of polished wood.

The others arrived, and Kate panicked for a moment at how dark the room was. Fortunately, Zhao Zhong arrived earlier than his wife, so he quickly calmed her down.

"This is..." Ouyang was about to explain where they were until they heard the sound of battle from outside.

She turned around without words, dashed out of the room, which was followed by Gianni and Mathias. Jovrick, Ruben, and Nikolas remained in the room. Their role was to protect their master’s followers, so they made sure not to act rashly and did their job.

Tang Shaoyang followed the three spirits and quickly caught up. That was when he found that he was truly in a place where he only saw in the ancient drama. The big difference was the dead bodies that were scattered all around the area.

Some of them had their heads missing, some of them lost half of their bodies, but most of them died with a hole in their chest. The elder and children were not spared in this brutality, and the fight still continued as the sound of metal clashing resounded.

That was when he caught up to Ouyang Biya, who quickly killed the invaders. The invaders of this place were wearing black and red uniforms, and they mainly used spears. That explained the hole in the chest of the dead bodies.

Ouyang Biya was talking with a middle-aged man wearing a red-stained white robe. He was on his knees, supporting himself with the sword in his hand.

"The Bloodshadow Pavilion is attacking us, Young Lady..." The middle-aged man looked relieved when he saw Ouyang Biya.

"What? Why? Don’t they know that your clan is under me?" Ouyang was in disbelief. It seemed she even knew about this Bloodshadow Pavilion.

"I don’t know... but their elder..." The middle-aged man glanced at the dead bodies that were not far from him. "He said you are dead, and they want to take over this place to be their cultivation pavilion."

Ouyang Biya was about to say something, but then more people with the black and red uniforms rushed over. They were surrounded by these people in a flash. The people from the Bloodshadow Pavilion radiated a strong killing intent at them.

Then a boisterous laughter rang in the air as a figure with a bare chest stepped out. While most of them were holding spears, this man was holding a pair of black cleavers that were soaked in blood.

"I didn’t expect that I would see the esteemed Yang Clan Leader on his knees. Unfortunately, your luck has run out. That slut who was supposed to protect your clan is dead. This rich energy place belongs to the Bloodshadow Pavilion."