For so long, Liu Tián Qǔ had maintained a state of alertness. She was beyond tiredness and exhaustion, only the deep fear of never seeing Wang Fèn Yǒng again kept her clinging to the state of wakefulness. All her focus was used to remain awake and stay in her void.

All it took was one moment of inattention for Liu Tián Qǔ to lose hold of her focus and get sucked out of the void. Liu Tián Qǔ had fallen unconscious as she was sucked out of the void.

It had been so long since Liu Tián Qǔ felt something other than severe fatigue or drained of all energy, that as she began to awaken, everything felt strange and weird.

It's been too long since she felt well-rested.  Well-rested!? Liu Tián Qǔ suddenly jerked fully awake, and her eyes popped open. In utter fear, Liu Tián Qǔ tumbled from the big bed in which she had been lying.

Liu Tián Qǔ's heart slammed against her chest then began racing as she struggled to breathe under the oppressive force that seemed to blanket the atmosphere.

Just by looking at the room she was in, and the feeling of the dense, murky power that permeated the very air. Liu Tián Qǔ already knew she was no longer in the Tolling Lands.

Liu Tián Qǔ stood in the middle of a ridiculously lavish room, trembling as warm tears pouring down her cheek. Warm tears?! Liu Tián Qǔ reached up and touched her cheeks. Her hand came away wet.

Liu Tián Qǔ quickly looked down at her body. She was no longer incorporeal! She was corporeal once more! She was in a real body! However, her body felt weird.

Liu Tián Qǔ head jerked up, and she frantically looked around the ostentatiously richly decorated room for a mirror. Finally, Liu Tián Qǔ spotted a large mirror positioned between two marble columns.

Liu Tián Qǔ momentarily froze when she saw the mirror. It was a tall wide mirror that was approximately three feet wide and seven feet tall. Most notably, it wasn't the bronze type of mirror that she had gotten so used to seeing.

This mirror was a replica of the more modern clear glass mirror. Liu Tián Qǔ hurried over to the mirror. She stopped in front of the mirror and gazed at the reflection in the mirror.

For some odd reason, Liu Tián Qǔ thought she returned to her original body. After all, she was ejected from her predecessor's body a little before she got sucked out of the void.

However, the reflection that looked back at her in the mirror belied that thought. She was somehow still in the body of her predecessor.

For the first time since reincarnating into her predecessor's body, Liu Tián Qǔ got a clear, undistorted look at her predecessor's face.

With deep confusion, Liu Tián Qǔ scrutinized the features of her predecessor.

Her predecessor's face was beautiful; she was definitely her father's child. The features of her predecessor strongly resembled the strange unearthly beautiful man. However, it appears as if she also inherited the features of her mother. It helped to balance out her predecessor's features and kept her from having the ethereal, unearthly beauty her predecessor's father had.

Liu Tián Qǔ couldn't help the thought that flashed across her mind as she noted that her predecessor had her father's fox eyes, lush lips, cheekbones, and facial shape. She inherited her mother's nose, eyebrows, dimples, and chin. 'I guess it really is true that Lady Lei Xiān Huā made General Lu wear a green hat! The features on the face of this body look nothing like General Lu. However, with just one look, I knew that the strange man that tricked me out of my void is my predecessor's father.'

After seeing what she looked like in the glass mirror, Liu Tián Qǔ looked down at her body once more, then pinched her leg to see if she could feel pain.

Liu Tián Qǔ winched in pain after pinching herself. The body she was in looked real and felt real. This caused Liu Tián Qǔ's confusion to deepen even more. 'I definitely got ejected from my predecessor's body in the void. I thought I died. So how is it I now have a body once again?'

Liu Tián Qǔ vividly recalled how her spirit had stood over her predecessor's body in the void after getting ejected. She was in an incorporeal form when she got sucked out of the void. She clearly was forced to leave her body behind in the void. So how is it, she was back in her body once more, in a strange land? What's going on?!

With a deep sigh, Liu Tián Qǔ turned from the mirror. Liu Tián Qǔ began to look around the room.

Liu Tián Qǔ slowly walked around the room, taking in the marble flooring, and the fresco paintings that graced the walls of the room. She couldn't help but admire the oriental carpeting and ancient roman looking couches that were plentiful throughout the chambers.

Some of the couches were backless, some looked like a chaise, some looked like a daybed, and some of them had full-backs. There were several statues and busts, a massive marble fireplace that was clean and unlit. The fireplace also had a sitting area in front of it.

Looking up, Liu Tián Qǔ almost gasped in wonder at the breathtaking mosaic ceiling. The whole room scream ancient Roman opulence.

She thought aloud, "I couldn't have gotten transmigrated to the ancient roman empire, right? The people that the statues and busts are modeled after do not look to be roman. Plus, with the heavy, overbearing tainted force in the atmosphere that I have felt since I've awakened. This can not be earth."

"That's right. This is not the Tolling Lands, nor is it earth. Welcome to the Mid-Lands." A deep domineering, authoritative voice answered.

Liu Tián Qǔ quickly spun around to see her predecessor's father leaning against a marble column several feet away from her watching her with his cruel, ruthless eyes as he sipped wine from a goblet. A scary inhumane oppressive cold-blooded murderous, bloodthirsty aura surrounded him.

Liu Tián Qǔ's heart stuttered in her chest. She felt her blood and her extremities turn cold. Liu Tián Qǔ forcefully held back her fear and tightly controlled her body to keep herself from trembling underneath his gaze. 'When did he come? He wasn't there a moment ago, and I didn't hear him come in!'

Then the words of her predecessor's father registered. Liu Tián Qǔ lost the tight control she had over herself, and her hands and legs started trembling, "Mid-Lands?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

'Did I die?' Liu Tián Qǔ inwardly started to panic.

"Yes, the Mid-Lands," he said as he straightened up from leaning on the marble column. "Come," her predecessor's father beckoned her to join him as he began walking over to the sitting area in front of the fireplace.

"There is much you, and I must discuss," he sat down on a full back white couch facing her.

Liu Tián Qǔ didn't move. She remained standing where she was. Liu Tián Qǔ met her predecessor's father's gaze and said, "Before we discuss anything, I have one question."

Not waiting for his approval Liu Tián Qǔ asked, "Can I go back?"

Her predecessor's father held her gaze as he casually took a sip of wine. "It depends on when and where you want to return. Earth? What year? The Tolling Lands? What Year?"

At his answer, Liu Tián Qǔ felt her legs grow weak. She staggered and almost fell. She was so shocked that dizziness flashed through her head, making her feel extremely light-headed for a moment, "Who are you?" she asked her predecessor's father.

"Domingnint of the Nine Realms below the High Heavens, son of Alfius and father of Lu Tián Qǔ. I was sent here to the mid-land by the Elders of the Nine Realms."

"Here in the Mid-lands, I am known as the Emperor or Overlord of the Mid-Lands. During times of war, I am also known as the Warlord." Liu Tián Qǔ's predecessor's father answered with a smirk. However, Liu Tián Qǔ noticed that his eyes remained cold and cruel.

Liu Tián Qǔ felt her brain freeze, and her thoughts scramble. "How... What... Where...?," she stuttered. Liu Tián Qǔ struggled to reorganize her thoughts.

Thoughts begin popping in her head from left to right, 'How much more to the universe was there? Where did Wang Fèn Yǒng reincarnate the second time? Did she die again? Did she really transmigrate? Earth? Can she return home? The Tolling Lands? Can she bear to leaving Wang Fèn Yǒng behind and return to earth? Wang Fèn Yǒng was absolutely miserable in his first life on earth. Would he want to return there? Could he even function as a normal human being of the 21st Century if he returned there?'

Liu Tián Qǔ was unaware that she had staggered over and collapsed on the white chaise couch facing Domingnint. She sat there for over five minutes with her thought running all over the place.

Finally, Domingnint said, "Why don't I explain the situation to you? After you understand the situation, only then can we open negotiations and come to an agreement."

"Negotiations? Agreement?" An overwhelmed befuddled Liu Tián Qǔ asked with a blank look on her face.

Domingnint cocked an eyebrow at her, leaning back on the chaise couch he said, "I didn't go through the trouble of dragging your soul through the straits of time and planting you in my daughter's body just as she died because I was bored with nothing else to do."

Liu Tián Qǔ was unaware that she had involuntary exploded from her seat in rage and leaped across the low table centered between them to throttle her predecessor's father.

Before she could even reach him, Liu Tián Qǔ met with an overbearing force mid-air. That force slammed her back down into her seat. 

Domingnint never stirred from his position. He arrogantly leaned back on the white couch, took a  sip of wine, and crossed his right leg over his left leg. With a cocked eyebrow, Domingnint looked at Liu Tián Qǔ as though she was a bug on the bottom of his shoe.

A furious Liu Tián Qǔ glared at him from her seat. She immediately recognized him for who he was when he said, "You have something I needed, so I brought you here, but don't worry. You will be compensated for your troubles."

Liu Tián Qǔ forced back the tears that threatened to burst from the depths of her very soul. It was either laugh or cry. Liu Tián Qǔ released a dark laugh, "Compensated? You ripped me from my first life and thrust me into a strange life in a strange world. I made do with what I was given. Just as I was coming to terms with that life, you ripped me from my second life. Before you even apologized, you have the gall to look me in the face and talk compensation?! How dare you?!"

By the time she came to the last sentence, Liu Tián Qǔ was roaring in rage. Her hands were trembling, and her face was flushed red from the rage that tore through her.

Liu Tián Qǔ had grown up among the extremely rich and noble. So she had been around this level of overbearing conceit, self-importance, arrogance, and disregard for the life of others all of her life. 

Liu Tián Qǔ knew it was a waste of time to even get angry with Domingnint, but she couldn't help it. All along, she thought it was the Black Blossom Potion that brought her to this state. Now she realized that is was the creature sitting in front of her who toyed with her life, destiny, and fate. Not once but twice.

Domingnint considered her beneath him, so he felt no need to apologized, respect her or be cordial. It's just that Liu Tián Qǔ never been on the receiving end of it. She never knew how much it could hurt one's pride, self-esteem, or how furious and small it could make one feel to be looked down on in this manner and shown this level of disregard.

Domingnint heavily reminded her of the overindulge rich heirs that would do anything and trample on anyone to get what they wanted.

Liu Tián Qǔ felt the darkness in her stirring awake. Just as she was getting ready to vow to drag Domingnint to his knees somehow and make him kneel before her and apologize, Liu Tián Qǔ saw a strange glitter light up in his eyes. Suddenly Liu Tián Qǔ realized that he was doing it on purpose. Domingnint was trying to get her angry on purpose, but why?

Liu Tián Qǔ forced herself to calm down and think. Something was not right. She has missed something somewhere. What did she missing?

A smile flashed across Domingnint's face when he saw her calm down. With a cold look on her face and eyes that held confusion, Liu Tián Qǔ baldly asked, "Why are you deliberately trying to anger me?"

For a moment, the mysterious smile that cloaked Domingnint lips grew before quickly disappearing. Domingnint held her gaze and said, "We will come back to that later. First I will explain your situation, how and why you are here. Then we will negotiate the terms of your return and where you wish to return. Hold whatever questions you have. I will answer them before we began our negotiation."

Holding the wine goblet in his hands, Domingnint uncrossed his right leg from over his left leg. He then recrossed his legs with his left leg over his right leg. He wiggled his butt on the seat to get comfortable and snuggled his back deeper into the couch.

When he finished settling himself, his cold, cruel, vicious eyes once more locked onto Liu Tián Qǔ, "Since you mention the taint, then we will begin there," Domingnint said before draining his wine goblet. He then leaned forward and placed the empty wine goblet on the low table centered between them.

Once more, Domingnint snuggled his back deep into the couch, "The heavy, overbearing tainted force that you feel surrounding you is magic. However, due to a series of unfortunate events, the magic in the Mid-Lands is tainted."

With a wave of his hand, Domingnint said, "It's useless for me to get into detail concerning the events that tainted the magic of the Mid-Lands. It happened hundreds of millenniums ago. The people here in the Mid-Lands are tainted and have been tainted for hundreds of millenniums. I would heavily advise you not to attempt to learn or use the magic here. If you do, your fate will be sealed, and you will become tainted like the people of the Middle Lands have become tainted."

Liu Tián Qǔ had no interest in the Mid-Lands, nor did she want to be there. The smothering tainted force was making her skin crawl. It also made it hard for her to breathe. Liu Tián Qǔ wanted to get out of the Mid-Lands and return to the Tolling Lands as soon as possible.

"The Northern Lands, Mid-Lands, Southern Lands, Eastern Lands, and Westen Lands were once all one continent. This continent was called the Middle Lands because that is where the Lands are located. On the Eve of the taint, what is now called, the great divide happened."

"Many approved of the events that led to the taint of magic. There were also many that did not agree. Those that did not agree were mostly those of the Northern Lands. The Northern Lands wanted no part in the events that unleashed the taint. Nor did they want their lands or people to be tainted with the tainted magic that later covered the lands."

The words of Jiang Mín Yuè suddenly rung in Liu Tián Qǔ's mind, 'If the Barren Lands were really barren, would there be a need to guard its borders using some of the most elite warriors of the Northern Lands?'

With a strange clarity and understanding, Liu Tián Qǔ thought to herself, 'It seems as if the Martial World knows more about what is going on. Jiang Tài Píng didn't call it the Barren Lands. He called it the Outer Realms. It seems as if the Guardian Warriors are guarding against the Middle Lands. I understand now.'