Where am I?
The last thing Long Tian remembered was taking a shower. Night fell soon after, and he went to sleep.
Now he found himself in a vast, boundless space, standing at the center of nine towering pillars.
Each pillar was coiled by a dragon.
The dragons looked ancient and alive, their massive eyes fixed on him. Long Tian could feel their gazes pressing down on his very soul.
He knew this was not a dream.
It was far too real.
Suddenly, he heard nine dragon chants as the coiled dragons sprang to life, charging toward him.
Fear seized Long Tian, and he instinctively stepped back, but escape was impossible.
The nine dragons devoured him whole, and his consciousness plunged into darkness.
"With the Nine Dragons beneath my feet, even Heaven trembles."
These were the last words he heard before everything went dark.
Darkness surrounded him—deep, suffocating, like the pits of hell. A chilling presence engulfed him, endless and oppressive.
He felt fear. Loneliness. Sorrow.
It was as though he had truly died.
"If the heavens judge me, then the heavens die first."
At those words, Long Tian jolted awake, gasping for breath.
His entire body was drenched in sweat, the bed beneath him soaked.
"What is happening?" Long Tian muttered.
This was the first time he had experienced such a vivid, terrifying dream.
As he tried to calm himself, a sudden, splitting pain tore through his head.
Unknown information surged into his mind.
He gritted his teeth as veins bulged across his forehead, the pain threatening to tear him apart.
When the influx finally ended, Long Tian collapsed onto the bed, his consciousness fading once more.
He had another weird dream.
A being coated in darkness, its features indistinguishable, held a deep black scythe that gave off an eerie aura, one that seemed to yearn for the reaping of all souls.
He then heard the being's words, "Heaven governs life—I decide when it ends."
Nine dragon chants came from nowhere; light shone everywhere as a large sun appeared in the distance.
The being and the sun began to fight; Long Tian was like an unrelated character.
Both fought, but neither could overcome the other.
After an intense battle, Long Tian heard a sigh, and everything shattered.
He woke from his unconsciousness, opening his eyes to see the familiar ceilings.
He found additional information in his memories.
From that information, he realized he had gained the legacy of an ancient sect called the Nine Dragons Gate.
The legacy encompasses cultivation techniques, alchemy skills, talisman and forgery skills, as well as formation and rune skills, including divine doctor skills.
He was surprised by this. He knew of cultivation even though it was illusory, but he never expected it to be real.
There were numerous things he had been through that made him suspect such a thing existed.
Now, confirming it made him elated.
He found a cultivation technique with an unknown grade: Nine Dragon Scripture.
According to the cultivation art, there are nine tiers to the Nine Dragon Body Refinement section.
It is the foremost and basic foundation of the Nine Dragon Scripture.
It consists of nine dragon tiers;
Body Cleansing Tier, Flesh Tempering Tier, Bone Refinement Tier, Meridian Expansion Tier, Blood Purification Tier, Organ Fortification Tier, Essence Consolidation Tier, Body Unification Tier, and Primordial Dragon Vessel Tier.
He has to go through these nine tiers before he is able to cultivate internal energy.
It took him a long time to absorb all of the inheritance, during which he found one aspect of it particularly interesting.
Divine Doctor Skills.
According to what was written, with these skills, he could bring the dead back to life.
He chuckled at this, finding it unbelievable, but what was laid before him proved otherwise.
He was eager to cultivate the Nine Dragon Scripture.
But then he heard a chuckle that made his entire body stiffen in fear.
He couldn't move.
What was worse, he couldn't trace the source of the chuckle; his fear stemmed from the unknown.
Within a second, numerous pieces of information appeared in his mind.
The backlash was so severe that his body shook as if he were suffering from an illness.
After a few moments, his body calmed down, and he began absorbing the information.
The more he absorbed, the more shocked and amazed he became.
According to what he learned, this was the inheritance of a demon, and the fang he had found on Devil's Island was its source.
He also discovered another cultivation technique: the Netherworld Reaper Codex.
It turned out to be a Netherworld-based art.
It was similar to the Nine Dragon Scripture; he had to refine his soul before he could cultivate it.
It had seven levels: Soul Awakening, Yin Soul Tempering, Soul Vein Opening, Nether Resonance, Soul Core Condensation, Death Brand Engraving, and Reaper Vessel Formation.
Even though it had fewer tiers than the Nine Dragon Scripture, it must not be underestimated.
He could feel that the Netherworld Reaper Codex and the Nine Dragon Scripture had no rank in terms of cultivation arts.
Remembering that the fang was part of the inheritance, he touched his chest and discovered that not only had the fang disappeared, but the Nine Dragon Pendant was gone as well.
He panicked for a moment before forcing himself to calm down.
He thought of the Nine Dragon Pillars, the Nine Dragon Pendant, and the Nine Dragon Scripture.
They were similar, and he was able to reach a conclusion.
The Nine Dragon Pendant was also a means of inheritance.
Did his master know about this?
He wondered.
They had been with him for more than a year—why was it only now that they were triggered and he received the inheritance?
He was baffled, racking his brains for answers, but found none.
Eventually, he gave up, hoping they would bring him no harm.
When he tried to begin cultivating the foundation of the art, he was stumped.
There were two cultivation arts, and neither was stronger than the other. Moreover, their attributes contradicted each other, preventing him from cultivating both.
He couldn't make a decision.
It was as if both inheritances could hear him.
His surroundings changed as he found himself in an unknown space where the Nine Dragon Pillars stood once more.
The dragons coiling around the pillars came alive, letting out thunderous chants.
Long Tian felt chills run down his spine. Instinctively, he looked up and saw darkness.
He couldn't fathom what existed within it, but he could feel the anger of the nine dragons.
They roared and charged into the darkness.
Long Tian was merely a bystander, but he knew this battle had begun because of him.
But why?
The battle continued, even though he could see nothing.
Yet he could feel that both sides were locked in a stalemate.
At that moment, a soft sigh resounded, and everything was overturned.