The Two Meet

The first people Astoria saw after appearing in the Nine Desolate Domains for the first time and the first people in her new, second life were an odd set.

It was four people: a set of middle-aged triplets, each wearing an arrogant facial expression. However, Astoria could clearly see the fear and apprehension in their eyes, contradicting their smiles. These idiots were just putting on a strong front while being terrified of her strength.

They were cowardly bullies, basically. 

She noted them off.

As for the fourth person, it was a small, malnourished, and beaten-up boy who looked about twelve years old to her. After noting down his appearance, Astoria was about to turn her head back toward the triplets, but she took a double take and looked back at the child.

Rictoli's treasure, the one that contained the mysterious black tower and garden, wasn't in a hidden world or spiritually attached to Astoria. Rather, it was just a really high-grade piece of equipment that was rather common in the Nine Desolate Domains—a spatial ring.

Spatial rings were a simple but extremely useful tool that sold everywhere in this world.

What they did was simple. It carried a separate but much larger space hidden inside a ring. These spaces varied in size, with some spatial rings being so small that they could only support a few logs of wood and others being much larger, big enough to carry whole mountains of treasure and rations.

However, the spatial ring on the boy's finger wasn't just any spatial ring. The dark, abyss-like ring on his finger was Rictoli's. The ring that carried the mysterious black tower and the powerful soil that seemed to defy all limits of time and sense of reason.

Astoria's home as well.

'Why does he have it?' Astoria was confused. The information she had just learned from Rictoli had been immediately contradicted. 

She didn't express her emotions on her face, though, and looked back at the triplets she had graced with her first appearance on the Nine Desolate Domains.

Using her newfound powers, Astoria saw that the boy had opened his middle dantian but had yet to do anything substantial with it, while the middle-aged triplets were in the third realm of Qi Refinement, the Foundation Establishment Realm.

This observation made Astoria feel relaxed. She had been scared of appearing in front of a group of people in the Heavenly Seal Realms or something similar, but thankfully, her worries were for naught.

The people in front of her could be killed with a simple wave of her hands.

Becoming slightly arrogant, Astoria decided to pose for a bit.

"Who the hell was cursing me a moment ago?!" Using the advantage of her higher cultivation base, Astoria projected her strength outward into a suppressive aura that sent tremors through all four of their souls.

Surprisingly, rather than kneeling in fear, as her initial guess predicted, the three middle-aged men doubled down on their arrogant actions in response.

The lead triplet even raised his chin at her and looked down at Astoria through his nose as if she were a peasant and he were a king.

Astoria was baffled.

"Stupid spirit, we are on orders from the heir of the Profound Saber Sect! Even if you are stronger than us, what are you in front of the Black Lotus Domain's strongest sect? If you're smart, then you'll leave us alone and scram!" Shouted the middle-aged man holding the boy's neck.

Stunned, Astoria didn't know how to reply for a second. Her momentum was halted, and she was beyond confused. Not knowing how to reply, she quickly went back to Rictoli's memories for more information.

Before she exited the ring, Astoria thought she was going to end up in the Nine Desolate Domains' strongest region, the Heavenly Martial Domain.

Rictoli died there, and his reincarnation was also supposed to be completed there. After all, man had spent tens of thousands of years in that domain. Setting up his reincarnation there would ensure a quick and successful rise back to glory.

This is also why Astoria was worried about running into a bunch of Heavenly Seal Realm powerhouses upon her exit.

In the Heavenly Martial Domain, only once you reached the Four Earthly Realms could you be called a powerhouse, while people in the Three Mortal Realms were just fit enough to be subordinated. Seeing someone in the Heavenly Seal Realm wasn't even that rare.

However, the arrogant man's words made it obvious that this wasn't the case. She wasn't in the Nine Desolate Domains' strongest region, the Heavenly Martial Domain. Funnily enough, she was in the domain completely opposite to it, the weakest domain, the Black Lotus Domain.

As for this Profound Saber Sect, Astoria had no idea what it was. Rictoli died almost a millennium ago. And even if he died recently, a random sect in a backwater place like the Black Lotus Domain would be at the bottom of his list of worries.

Realizing that Rictoli's plans had gone astray in another way, Astoria felt a ton of the pressure she was feeling left her body.

'I thought I was going to have to cower until I regained my physical form, but I guess not.'

According to Rictoli's vague memories of this place, the Black Lotus Domain barely had people in the Four Earthly Realms, and the ones who were in those four realms weren't above the fifth rank.

At most, the strongest person in this domain would be someone at the peak of the fourth cultivation realm, commonly called a Rank 4 cultivator. Any stronger, and he or she would've long left this desolate domain.

This place was called a barren dump for a reason. It was hard to cultivate past the Three Mortal Realm here.

But as Astoria skimmed through Rictoli's memories and readjusted her plans mentally, she paused. She did so because these flies weren't worth anything in her mind. Whether or not they left, stayed, fought, or surrendered didn't matter to her.

However, her momentary pause caused the lead triplet to misunderstand. Rather than what it was, disregard, the triplet mistook it for fear and grew increasingly arrogant.

Raising his chin even further, he continued mocking Astoria: "Who cares if you're a spiritual lifeform in the Child Soul Realm? In front of the Profound Saber Sect, all you can do is run away in fear!"

Ghost, spirit, fairy, nymph—these were all different names for the same type of existence—spiritual lifeforms without a physical body that followed the path of Soul Cultivation.

Astoria called herself a ghost because that is what Rictoli called existences like her, so she adopted the same noun. Obviously, people in the Black Lotus Domain used a different one, but the meaning was the same.

After scaring Astoria, the lead triplet felt a rush of dopamine flood his body. Feeling like he was at the pinnacle of life, he turned back to the still-snarling Raiden and tightened his grip.

"Weren't you yelling a moment ago? Where did your anger go? Or are you too scared to let it out now that a cowardly ghost has come out?" The lead triplet, who was on a dopamine rush, then, for some reason, started cackling like a witch. He even tightened his grip around Raiden's neck, slowly turning the boy's face purple.

However, everything that comes up must come down.

Reaching the pinnacle of life meant that the bottom was close, and just before he could choke Raiden into unconsciousness, he suddenly felt his mind turn blank.

His mind stopped, and his soul was extinguished. Lifeless and with an empty gaze, the leader fell to the ground.

Spiritual lifeforms had a good reputation in the Nine Desolate Domains. They were often recluses who lived in uninhabited regions like forests or meadows and cultivated peacefully.

They were defensive, yes, and would ward off any foreign creatures, but they rarely killed unprovoked. 

That was why the lead triplet was so cocky with Astoria. He thought he had a moment to show off in front of his siblings and Raiden since Astora, the spirit, wouldn't attack him if he didn't do so first.

However, was Astoria a spirit? No.

Was Astoria nice? God no.

Would she wait until provoked to attack others? Of course not.

So, the moment this idiot turned his head, she pointed a finger in his direction and fired.

"I asked four people a question. Since one refused to answer, I can only use the other three. So, which of you is going to answer it? Or do I need to cull another before I get my answer?"

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