Tom—or rather, Tang Qian—had had enough of these ancestors in every sense of the word. His damn opponent was already practically on top of him, and they were still arguing over the price?!

“Take it! Just take it! Take it all! When I’m dead, see who’s still paying you! You’ll be left waiting for some idiot kid to burn you joss paper[1]!”

“Fine, then...” Fourth Great-Uncle let out a helpless sigh. “Let’s treat it as a discount. For this little amount of money, I’ll give you five minutes at most.”

With that, he opened his mouth, tossed the counterfeit Empia inside, and swallowed it whole.

Disturbingly, flesh and tissue grew from Tom’s body. Right beside that bearded face, another head suddenly sprouted from his neck. It had white hair and a cascading long beard, and his frail, aged skin that seemed on the verge of collapse took over Tom’s body. 

When those murky eyes slowly lifted, they burst forth with a terrifying, bone-chilling brilliance. The new face looked down at the two stunned brothers before him and said, “Same as always. You defend, I attack.”

“Alright.” Tang Qian nodded, instantly discarding the broken sword and shattered blade. His six shriveled arms, now dried and wrinkled with age and scars, reached out into the air,...