Death... and me

Everyone was looking at each other as their own groups protected the tokens they had. Unfortunately, in the end, there still wasn't enough to fill all the 42 slots. In the end, 34 slots were filled up, showing that they needed more groups with 8 more tokens to come.

Latalia then looked at the others before uttering.

"Alright, then. I'll wait here for more groups. I won't take my tokens back. It will be better than starting this game again by pretending to not have a token. Since you already arrived in this place, others will eventually do the same."

Latalia, Rovan, and the twins then leaned their bodies against the wall with their tokens and began to wait there. Seeing that someone else took the initiative to wait, the others did the same. And just like that, time passed.

Around one hour later, two more groups appeared, contributing five more tokens to the mix. Now, only three were needed. While they waited, Roan decided to ask Latalia about something else. He also used a Spiritual Sense message so that others couldn't hear her.

'According to your story, Laan City disappeared with its people in the past, right? Does it mean that behind this door, there is a living city?'

Latalia pondered a bit and shook her head.

'I don't know. Because our ancestor was banished, he had no idea as to what would happen with the city's people. Or at the very least, his records from thousands of years ago didn't mention anything about the destiny of the city residents.'

Roan nodded.

'We don't know if they will become allies or enemies, so we better take care. Depending on what happens, we might have to retreat straight away.'

Suddenly, another group arrived at the entrance of the room. However, Rean immediately recognized the energy in their bodies.

'It's the Umbral Sect.'

Latalia and the others then looked at the newcomers, especially the guy at the front. In an instant, their expressions darkened. Just as they had heard, there was a Peak Core and Soul Fusion Realm cultivator between them. Right behind them, they finally saw Sames, the guy who had fled from them before.

Naturally, the Umbral Sect members also noticed Rean's group.

'Senior Lian, it's them!'

Lian nodded. If it was anywhere else, he would have attacked straight away. He had the advantage in both cultivation and number by far. However, the room was packed with people from the Dalamu Sect territory. He even identified two more Peak Core and Soul Fusion Realm cultivators. If they all decided to gang up against his group, they could only flee.

Suddenly, Roan snorted before saying.

"Oh! To think that the Umbral Sect also sent people here. Aren't you all quite cocky to enter the Dalamu Sect's territory like that?"

At that moment, everyone's eyes focused even more on the newcomers. It was no secret to anyone that the Dalamu and the Umbral Sect don't get along. As one could imagine, Umbral Sect members weren't welcome in their territory.

'That damned brat!'

Sames felt like striking without caring for anything else. However, Lian immediately raised his hand to stop him.

"Brat! Are you thinking that I can't do anything to you because you're part of the Dalamu Sect?"

In contrast to the Umbral Sect, it was no secret that Rean and Roan were part of the Dalamu Sect. After all, where would you find cultivators at the Core Formation Realm at around 14 to 16 years of age? Everyone restrained themselves against Rean's group because of that same reason.

Roan didn't seem to care about Lian's group, though.

"Is that so? Then why don't you try? If you even have the gall to attack the Dalamu Sect members in their territory, then I wonder what you would do to the others once they've separated."

No one here was an idiot. Roan was basically pulling them all into the conflict of their sects. However, his words had hit the right spot. Indeed, if they disregarded everyone here to attack Roan's group, what would they do once they get separated?

Of course, if a battle for treasure arose, no one would hold back against anyone. That naturally included Dalamu Sect members. However, the Umbral Sect group was a lot stronger than Roan's team.

The only problem was that no one wanted to start a battle at this very moment. Wouldn't it be a shame if their groups were forced to retreat even before seeing what was on the other side? And just like that, the room reached an impasse where neither side wanted to make a move. As much as the Dalamu Sect group was outnumbered, they had four Core and Soul Fusion Realm experts in their midst. Umbral Energy was an extremely annoying thing to deal with, and no one wanted to be hit by that.

In the end, Roan grinned as he pointed at another side of the room.

"Since you don't have the guts to do what you said, then don't waste our time. Can you see those slots on the wall there? Take your tokens out and use them. At least, your existence will have some utility."

Lian's expression didn't even change from the provocation. He looked at the other groups and knew that the situation was not in his favor, so he didn't dare to act harshly. He looked around calmly, analyzing what was happening. It didn't take long for him to understand that everyone was protecting their own tokens that they had put in the wall slots.

"Hmph!"

Suddenly, three more tokens appeared in his hand, and he went straight to the last slots available on the walls. Soon after, he inserted them into the holes and waited to see what would happen.

As soon as the last one entered the right slots, all the holes with the tokens inserted closed at once. Everyone was taken aback as they looked at that. Following that, each of the closed holes began to shine with Spiritual Energy. It was then that the small pillar in front of the door came to life as it radiated a faint white light.

Everyone got excited, expecting the door in the front to open. However, nothing happened after that. In the end, one of the cultivators' groups lost their patience and stepped forward. All the others did the same once they saw that. After all, the tokens were locked behind the slots on the walls. They simply couldn't take it back anymore.

"What are we supposed to do with this thing?"

The first guy to get close touched the pillar, but nothing happened either.

"Get out of the way. Let me take a look."

The guy snorted but didn't care, quickly giving way. Since he didn't know what to do, staying there like a statue would be useless.

The next person then used his Spiritual Sense and Energy, just like the last one. Still, nothing seemed to happen to the pillar. He looked around, but the pillar was even on all sides. There was nothing for them to use.

"Get out. It's my turn."

One by one, the groups looked at the pillar, starting with the strongest groups, of course. Still, none of them found anything different.

Latalia and her group didn't mind that. They just pretended to wait for their time to take a look-see as well.

At some point, Lian's group also came forward to verify the glowing pillar. Or perhaps, it was better to call it a pedestal. Of course, Lian only dared to do that because the other groups seemed to have given up. Well, to be more specific, they were waiting for someone to open the door for them somehow.

"Perhaps we need more of those demon beast tokens?"

Everyone looked at each other, not sure if that was the case.

Finally, it was the turn of Rean's group. Latalia then pretended to look around and test the thing, just like everyone else. She also tried to move the pedestal to no avail.

It was then that Latalia took another token from her robe.

"Hehe! So you said all of that, but you had extra tokens as well, uh?"

Latalia laughed, not looking the least bit ashamed.

"At least I decided to use my own. Or are you guys telling me that none of you have an extra token somewhere?"

The others snorted but refrained from answering. Sure enough, a few of them still had at least an extra token that they kept to themselves. In fact, even Lian's group from the Umbral Sect was no different. They also gathered more than just three tokens, but didn't try to use another one.

That was Roan's idea. According to Latalia, she would need to use her blood on the pedestal for it to work. However, to prevent others from noticing it, Roan had her make a cut and drench the token with her blood first. Now that the token came out, it had some of her blood on it, but others didn't care. First, they didn't know if it was her blood. It could have been from someone from another group they stole from or whatever, or it might even be from the Demon Beasts themselves. It simply didn't matter. In their minds, what could possibly work was the token itself and not the blood.

That was the moment of truth. The records only said that the citizen's blood was necessary to enter the city, nothing else. She was a faraway descendant. Tens of generations had gone by before she was born, so her blood might not even have the necessary thickness of her ancestor's blood either. Last but not least, there was no guarantee if the pedestal would work with the blood of a banished person.

She placed the token with her blood on it on the pedestal... but nothing happened as well.

Latalia couldn't help but sigh after seeing that.

'In the end, it didn't work.'

It was then that Rean appeared by her side.

"Senior, you forgot to try something else."