The Origin of the Nine Days, The Nightmare

"The murals here likely depict the tale of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands collapsing, followed by the return of nine immortals from the celestial realm. They restored the world. According to the records of the Yantian Sect, these nine were later revered as the Nine Heavens. Have you heard of them?"

Tian Miao gazed at the two with an air of profound mystery.

"I’ve heard of them," Ying Bing replied expressionlessly.

"You actually know about them?" Tian Miao’s eyes flickered with surprise.

"Just a little," the strongest among the former Nine Heavens, the "Ice Block," nodded slightly.

Li Mo glanced at her, wondering if the "Phoenix Heavenly Empress" from Ice Block’s destiny was one of the Nine Heavens.

The information wasn’t enough to guess, so he turned back to Tian Miao.

"Are the Nine Heavens the legacies of those nine saviors?"

"Perhaps at first, but as time passes and the world shifts, even immortals like them fade away. So, they began selecting the most outstanding talents from various sects in each era to inherit their teachings."

"Those who inherit the Nine Heavens inevitably become the strongest in the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands."

"But though they are powerful, they remain detached from the mortal world, only appearing during cataclysmic events."

Hearing this, Li Mo couldn’t help but think of a fitting description—

Invisible guardians?

"That’s how it started. What happened later?"

"Later, perhaps due to internal conflicts or unforeseen events, the legacy was broken. Gradually, the title ‘Nine Heavens’ became a term for the nine most powerful figures in the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands."

Tian Miao sighed with emotion.

"Who are the current Nine Heavens?" Li Mo asked curiously.

"No idea," Tian Miao answered bluntly.

"The Yantian Sect isn’t omniscient. There are at least three types of existences whose fates we cannot deduce or perceive."

"First, those who have transcended the mundane—some at the seventh realm, the Profound Grasp Realm, whose comprehension of the Dao runs deep, begin to blur in fate. This is even truer for those at the eighth realm, the Heaven-Treading Realm."

"Second, those who possess divine artifacts capable of obscuring destiny."

"Third, those who do not belong to the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands."

At the last point, Tian Miao fixed her gaze intently on Li Mo.

Ying Bing frowned slightly, her jade-like face growing colder.

"Well, I did inherit something of extraordinary origin," Li Mo admitted.

"?" Tian Miao narrowed her eyes, about to press further.

But Li Mo, who had seemed unbothered moments ago, suddenly tensed, his expression grave.

"The jade pendant is heating up!"

Then he added, "And this time, it’s real!"

Tian Miao was taken aback—how could the pendant she crafted be fake?

A soft sound came from behind them. Under the gentle glow of the pearl, a shadowy figure gradually took shape.

Three figures emerged, their bodies gleaming with a metallic sheen, their tattered robes barely hinting at their former status as high-ranking members of the Demon Summoning Sect—likely priests.

Now, their faces were ghastly, their eyes filled only with a hunger for living beings.

Around them swirled shadows, thick as black water, distorting space faintly. A mere glance was enough to make one’s head spin and their spirit wither.

"Domain?!"

The word flashed through all three of their minds.

Whoosh—

Li Mo immediately activated Extreme Weapon Slaughter Body, the divine intents of the Great Sage and the Lunar Goddess manifesting behind him. In an instant, he entered combat mode.

A clear radiance enveloped him, dispelling the drowsiness clouding his mind.

Hiss—

By the time his consciousness cleared, a pitch-black claw was already at his face.

Clang!

The Red Sky Sword moved faster than Forty, piercing through the air to strike the palm.

Yet, this Ba (zombie) had clearly been immensely powerful in life—otherwise, it would have long turned to dust. Moreover, its body had been tempered by millennia of spiritual miasma, making it even tougher than in its prime.

The sword left only a streak of sparks and a faint white mark.

But as everyone knew, what was Li Mo’s nickname?

He struck first with the sword only because it was lighter and faster, buying himself a split second.

Forty slipped silently into his grip.

The surrounding space seemed to freeze.

The Star-Shattering Staff thrummed with rolling wind and thunder. The Great Sage’s divine intent opened its eyes, golden flames blazing, piercing through the shadows—where faint wails could be heard.

Within the darkness, agonized faces seemed to flicker.

Li Mo swung the staff, charging forward along the illuminated path.

"Roar!"

The shadowy Ba let out a cry—one that, surprisingly, carried fear.

Thud!

A solid hit.

The Ba stood at attention.

How to describe its experience of waking after millennia of slumber?

It got up—and got hammered in one strike. What more was there to say?

"This Ba is a bit strange," Li Mo muttered, staring at its flattened corpse with a grave expression.

Too bad the Ba couldn’t hear him. Otherwise, it might have sat up in its death throes to protest—I could use a domain-like power, and my body was tougher than most Inner Realm cultivators, yet you one-shot me?

Who the hell is strange here?!

To be fair, it made sense. Though Li Mo was only at the sixth realm, the Observing Divinity Realm, he wielded a perfected transcendent art, bore two supreme Dao forms, had a body rivaling calamity beasts, and seven Mystic Pills inside him. What normal person had such a monstrous soul, techniques, and physique?

In simpler terms—

Was the "Divine Hammer Little Tyrant" just for show?

"Already dead, yet able to wield something akin to a domain..." Ying Bing, the first to finish her fight, mused thoughtfully.

That domain... it resembled the Black Year Beast’s, though weaker...

"That was a Dream Domain," Tian Miao said, having also ended her battle. The Ba she faced was now covered in inscribed incantations, its aura extinguished.

"Dream Domain... so this thing could be called a Dream Ba?"

Li Mo had never heard of such a bizarrely named zombie.

So the random items Elder Qian had given them—like black donkey hooves—were probably useless...

"The Demon Summoning Sect once had a branch called the Cloud Dreamers. They could walk through others’ dreams and grow stronger while asleep. By the Outer Realm, they could even manifest dreamt objects into reality."

"But later, this branch vanished without a trace. Who’d have thought we’d encounter them here?"

"As for the tomb owner’s identity..."

Tian Miao turned her gaze to the far left of the mural—

The leftmost figure among the nine.