《Nightmare's Call》 Chapter 1

Chapter 1: 001

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion A short-haired woman in white was sitting at the desk with her back facing him. It was midnight, and the moon shone with a wispy light. The woman¡¯s hands were on the table, and she was motionless. There was no light or sound. The night just seemed so still. Lin Sheng was lying in bed, peering at the woman by the table from under his quilt. He began to wonder as he remembered that he had gone to bed at 9.30 p.m. Now, judging from the darkness outside, it was 4.00 a.m. at most. When he woke up in his bedroom, the woman was already there at his desk. Where did the womane from? Lin Sheng squinted, but he had -5D shortsightedness and could only make out that she was a young woman in a white dress. The weird thing was, he had no idea where the woman in white hade from. His mother never wore white, and his elder sister never did too. His sister was always in a uniform, plus she had gone to college far away from home. It was terrifyingly quiet. Lin Sheng¡¯s brows were knitted together. He blinked to clear his vision, wanting to know who the woman was. However, it was too dark; there was not much he could see. What made it more terrifying was the fact that he could not move his body right then. In a trance, he seemed to hear someone talking. The voice wasing from right behind him by the bedside. It was out of his field of vision. The voice was very close, as though the person was staring at him while talking to his back. He seemed to be able to sense that there were two people. Pairs of strange and cold eyes were staring at him as the indistinct chattering continued. Goosebumps formed all over his skin. Then, there was a clicking sound like someone had opened the door and walked in. Suddenly, all the other sounds went dead. Lin Sheng snapped out of his trance only to find that the woman in white at the desk was getting to her feet slowly and quietly. But her back was still facing him. Her long white sleeves were loose and empty like a long skirt, while the movements of her body were stiff and unnatural like a robot¡¯s. ¡°I...¡± Lin Sheng wanted to say something, but he was horrified to find that he could not even make a sound. He was trembling like he had a cramp. All his muscles tensed up, and his teeth chattered. Cold sweat drenched his undershirt. *Tack, tack, tack, tack.* Again, footsteps were heard at the doorway. The entity that made those footsteps walked right up to the tail end of the bed and stopped. Lin Sheng was terrified. He tried to pull himself under the quilt and rx his body so that he could lie as t as possible on the bed. That way, no one would know he was there. He thought that as long as hey t, whoever it was may believe that it was just a thick quilt on the bed. Yet, he could not even move a muscle. His legs and back were experiencing a horrible cramp¡ªit was so bad that he had to use all his might to ovee the trembling and pain. *Tack, tack, tack...* The footsteps were approaching the head of his bed. Lin Sheng¡¯s heart was in his mouth. He tried to close his eyes so that he would not see what wasing, but the inexplicable sense of horror made even blinking impossible. Suddenly, a pair of cold hands slipped under the quilt and grabbed his feet. ¡°Aah!¡± Lin Sheng screamed and bounced up from his bed. He was doused in sweat. His face was pale, and his bloodshot eyes were wide open. ¡°Huff, huff, huff, huff...¡± He gasped with his head lowered, drawing as much fresh air into his lungs as possible. ¡°I... I had the same dream again.¡± He bent his leg and reached out to touch the spot where the pair of cold hands had grabbed him earlier. There was nothing there, as usual. There was no scar, and Lin Sheng felt no pain. Despite that, the feeling was so vivid and real. The sun had risen; it was now morning. Lin Sheng climbed out of bed when someone knocked on the door. ¡°Why were you screaming earlier?¡± The worried voice of his elder sister traveled from behind the door. With both hands, Lin Sheng rubbed his forehead, which had a copious amount of sweat. He took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Just had a nightmare.¡± ¡°You¡¯d better be. Did anything happen in school? You¡¯ve been very jumpy recently,¡± said his elder sister. ¡°I¡¯m fine, really. Just had a nightmare,¡± Lin Sheng replied after a pause. ¡°Breakfast is ready. Get yourself out of bed and drink some warm milk, you¡¯ll feel better,¡± his elder sister urged with concern before she walked away. Lin Sheng sat by the bed, the dream still lingering in his head. It was not his first encounter with that dream. He had been getting the same dream for three consecutive days. Each time, the dream would end with him not being able to move and someone grabbing his feet. He subconsciously reached down to touch his feet, then he got up. He went to his desk and pulled the curtains open. The zing sun suddenly lit up the bedroom; he could even see the dust particles that were floating in the air. Lin Sheng was an ordinary high school student. After spending three years in Hui An High School, he was about to take the college entrance exam. His dad ran a grocery store, and his mom was a kindergarten teacher. Theirbined annual ie was no more than £¤100,000. His elder sister was still in college, which was a distance away from home. She had returned home for a short stay and would go back to college in a few days. So, he was alone at home most of the time. Lin Sheng opened the door and remained silent. Outside was a clean corridor filled with sunlight. He heard the clinking of dishes; his elder sister was cleaning up in the kitchen. Lin Sheng entered the kitchen, picked up a ss of warm milk from the countertop, and gulped it down at once. His elder sister, Lin Xiao never liked to dress up. She was always in a white T-shirt and a pair of jeans¡ªnot the tight-fitting type but the loose-fitting ones. The only things that were unique about her were her grace and poise, as well as her dark hair that cascaded down to her waist. Lin Sheng put down the ss, grabbed a piece of hot bread, and nibbled it. ¡°Dad and Mom aren¡¯t home today. I¡¯ll take care of your breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But I¡¯m leaving tomorrow. You have to take care of yourself and not make me worry about you.¡± His elder sister turned and took off her apron before she sat on a high stool by the countertop. She was also holding a ss of milk in her hand, and she took a sip as she babbled on. ¡°Mhm.¡± Lin Sheng did not know what to say. ¡°Do you have enough pocket money? I¡¯ve been doing some part-time work, and I earned quite a bit during the holidays. Let me know if you need any money.¡± Lin Xiao was always worried about this and that; it was in her blood. ¡°I have enough,¡± Lin Sheng said. Lin Xiao thought for a moment. ¡°What specialty products do you like? There¡¯s a trade fair near my college. I¡¯ve been there. They feature Kongxi specialties, and it¡¯s said that they make fine porcin dolls. I could post you one if you¡¯d like. Many of my ssmates like it.¡± Lin Xiao started to babble again. Lin Sheng listened to her silently. It was only ten minutester that he obligingly responded, ¡°There¡¯s nothing that I want.¡± ¡°Okay, but don¡¯t always lock yourself in your room. Get out there and meet people. No girl likes a nerd.¡± Lin Xiao sounded helpless. Like her best friends in her dorm, she was family-oriented, and her boring younger brother was her biggest concern. Whenever his best friend¡¯s elder brother¡ªwho was dull and unmarried at forty¡ªcame to mind, she would feel a sense of urgency. ¡°I got it.¡± But, Lin Sheng had always been that way. There was silence for a while as the two just bowed their heads and ate their breakfast. They quickly polished off all the slices of bread on the te and the milk in the sses. His elder sister put her hand down and looked up at Lin Sheng. ¡°Sheng Sheng, I work during my free time in college, and I have enough money. If you¡¯re ever in need, call me.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Lin Sheng bowed his head. ¡°Sheng Sheng.¡± Lin Xiao suddenly reached out and pressed her hand on Lin Sheng¡¯s left shoulder. ¡°Sheng Sheng¡± was Lin Sheng¡¯s nickname at home, and only those who were closest to him called him that. ¡°You¡¯re a man now. Please help Dad and Mom when I¡¯m not around. They¡¯re having problems of their own. A child has gone missing from the kindergarten where mom works in, and the child¡¯s from mom¡¯s ss. So, she has to deal with the problem. Although mom¡¯s fine, she has to bear some of the responsibility; her pay¡¯s been cut.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, Sis. I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°But why do you look so ill?¡± Lin Xiao was worried. ¡°Really?¡± Lin Sheng was stunned. ¡°Go see for yourself in the mirror.¡± Lin Xiao released his shoulder helplessly. Lin Sheng hurriedly left the kitchen and went into the bathroom. He saw his face in the mirror as soon as he looked up. It was pale, and his lips were gray. ¡°Did you have insomniast night? Why don¡¯t you go and sleep again?¡± Lin Xiao was heard saying outside the bathroom. Lin Sheng touched his lips; they were dry and starting to peel. ¡°I-I just had a nightmarest night. I¡¯ll be fine after a while.¡± Lin Sheng yed down her concern because he did not want his family to worry about him even though the nightmare seemed real. ¡°Fine then. I¡¯ve got stuff to do so I¡¯m leaving now. When you get back from school, reheat the food. Don¡¯t worry about me. Dad and Mom will be at Grandpa¡¯s ce today. That means you¡¯ll be alone. Don¡¯t forget the key when you go out.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± Lin Sheng calmly responded. He then heard the sound of the door closing, and the house returned to silence. Lin Sheng stood in front of the mirror alone, looking at his face. He suddenly had a gut feeling that his nightmare would not simply go away. ¡°I hope it¡¯s just an ordinary dream.¡± Lin Sheng exited the bathroom and walked into the living room, where there were two £¤100 bills on a long wooden table. The green bills changed colors and had different lusters depending on the viewing angle. Lin Sheng reached out and took the money without a word. He would have to live on this money for the next two months. Previously, his pocket money was £¤100 a month with school-provided meals. Now, it was £¤200 for two months. That was £¤25 a week, and slightly over £¤3 a day. ¡°With only £¤3 a day, I must live frugally.¡± Lin Sheng got to his feet and entered his room. He then changed into his school uniform. On the left chest of his blue-and-white uniform was a school badge with a rooster pattern and the word ¡°Hui An.¡± Lin Sheng packed his school bag, changed into a pair of color-matching blue-and-white sneakers, and hurried out the door. He walked out of the housing area, passing by some vegetable sellers before hopping on an old bus at the bus stop next to the neighborhood¡¯s gate. The bus rocked all the way for more than ten minutes. He finally reached his destination, squeezed himself out of the crowded bus, and ran straight into school. The school bell rang as soon as he stepped into his ssroom. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: 002

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Most of his ssmates were already there as the ss was about to begin. The teacher had just walked into the ssroom and was getting his teaching materials ready. Lin Sheng quickly walked to his seat and sat down. He looked up at the lectern. The foreignnguage teacher adjusted his ck-rimmed sses and slowly flipped open the teaching materials while he asionally cast his eyes over the students, who subconsciously behaved and remained in their seats. Lin Sheng was no exception. Today, however, his elder sister¡¯s words kept ringing in his head. Lin Sheng reached for the meager £¤200 in his pants pocket, feeling a little depressed. His grandfather had a sudden cerebral infarction and needed to borrow money for treatment. Lin Sheng¡¯s family had exhausted all savings, and his elder sister was forced to work as well as study at the same time. When that came to mind, Lin Sheng sighed softly. ¡°It may be a difficult time, but it¡¯s not too bad.¡± He snapped out of his daze, and suddenly, the nightmare fromst night crossed his mind again. That dream was so realistic. The school bell rang, and Lin Sheng put the thought to the back of his mind. He took out the textbook from his bag to concentrate on the lesson. Yet, no matter how hard he tried to concentrate, the nightmare, his grandfather, who was about to undergo surgery, and his family¡¯s financial situation kept creeping into his mind. Each lesson came and went, and the final ss was about to end. ¡°Lin Sheng, are you okay?¡± The girl sitting in the front row tapped Lin Sheng¡¯s table. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Lin Sheng nced up calmly. The girl had a slightly oval and stretched fox-like face as well as slender eyes that did not fit the attractive category. Her loose and puffy school uniform covered most of her body, and the only striking feature about her was her fair skin. Her name was Shen Yan, and she was one of Lin Sheng¡¯s few best friends in the temporary ss. Shen Yan often borrowed erasers, pencils, and simr stuff from him. ¡°Are you sure there¡¯s nothing wrong?¡± Shen Yan was somewhat boyish, and she liked anime. She rarely mingled with girls, and most of her best friends were boys. ¡°Nothing.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. Shen Yan reached out and patted Lin Sheng on the shoulder. ¡°You look a mess today. I know that there¡¯ll be a gymnastic sessionter. Let me bring you there to feast your eyes!¡± Lin Sheng forced a smile. ¡°What¡¯s with that reaction? Don¡¯t you guys like to go to the gymnastic club to see chicks... Ouch!¡± Before Shen Yan could finish her sentence, Lin Sheng pinched the back of her hand. Then, Lin Sheng retracted his hand. This best friend of his had a problem; she liked to swear. ¡°Lin Sheng, are you out of your mind? Look out, here¡¯s my Invincible Sacred Palm!¡± Shen Yan got to her feet, and her hand went straight for Lin Sheng¡¯s face. But Lin Sheng managed to grab a book and block her move. She was too predictable and such a simple-minded crazyss. ¡°Why do you treat me like this when I show you kindness by taking you to see the good stuff?¡± Shen Yan did not back down. Instead, she continued her attack. Unfortunately, Lin Sheng blocked her every move. A few ssmates looked on with interest andughed. The history teacher at the lectern was inured to the farce. He nced at them, rubbed his bald head, and pretended like he did not see anything. They were in thest few months of their third year in high school. Most teachers would close an eye and let the students have some fun as a reward for their hard work. Soon, the sound of the bell rang in the air, and the ss was over. ¡°Xiao Yan, are you going to look for the new cassette tape at noon?¡± A girl came up to Shen Yan and whispered into her ear. ¡°Of course. Why not? I need onest tape toplete my collection of Zhang Enai. This time, I have to get it...¡± The two girls started jabbering. Lin Sheng cast his eyes on the girl with Shen Yan. The girl was wearing a school uniform, but it was paired with a pure-white denim skirt, under which a pair of long legs were exposed. Her skirt barely covered half of her thighs. While she had safety pants on, her long legs still attracted a lot of attention from the boys. Lin Sheng was no exception, but he had pretty good self-control. He just took a nce and looked away. However, the more he refrained from looking, the more girls with long legs sashayed before him. They sat with their legs crossed, sometimes wiggling around. Their skin screamed of youthfulness under the sun. Their seductive curvy bodies and delicate skin were arousing. ¡°An Ling! You crazy b*tch! How dare you grab my boobs!¡± Suddenly, Shen Yan screamed. She jumped up and chased after the long-legged girl, who turned around and ran. Laughter filled the air, but it also gave Lin Sheng a headache. An Ling, nicknamed Coco, was a little beauty in their ss. She always tied her hair in a ponytail, and she had gifted breasts as well as a near-perfect body thanks to all-year-round gymnastics practice. So, she was kind of a red-hot girl in their ss. It was said that some boys from inside and outside the ss had fought each other over her. ¡°Boring.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head, packed his books, and put them in the desk drawer before he went to the cafeteria. The food in the cafeteria was appetizing. In a sea of rtively empty rows of metal tables and chairs, Lin Sheng sat and ate silently. Scrambled egg with tomatoes and two taels of rice were all he had for lunch. It was simple yet fragrant. Lin Sheng kept a daily routine. He would go to ss every day, and once he was home, he would do his homework and revision of past-year exam papers untilte at night before he hit the sack. He would get up the next day and repeat the same routine. His parents usually went to work early in the morning and came backte. His elder sister, who was also a student, was about to return to her college soon. She came home only because her grandfather was seriously ill. ¡°This is really boring.¡± Lin Sheng scooped up a spoonful of rice and stuffed it in his mouth. His gaze traveled as the students in the cafeteria came and went, but things were mostly uninteresting. Coming from an ordinary family, he had no super talents or extraordinary IQ and EQ. Even at school, his academic performance was only average and unremarkable. This was because hecked passion. But it was also for this reason that he could remain calm no matter what happened. The second reason was that he was a weirdo who had awakened memories of his past life. Nearly thirty years of past-life memories had made him almost nonchnt of his current life. The college entrance examination in his past life was not much different than the current one. To him, it was only a number game, and it was dull to go through everything again. ¡°The level of technology here is only simr to a newly-formed China. Cars, airnes, and tech gadgets have bemon, but it¡¯s still a far cry from the most prosperous period of my past life.¡± Lin Sheng sighed quietly. After tasting the convenience of mobile payment and fast inte, now he was back to an era whereputer games were still pretty primitive. He was not in a good mood. Nheless, adaptability was his biggest strength. After more than ten years, he had long be ustomed to the life of an ordinary student. Lin Sheng knew well the concept of the tall poppy syndrome. That was why he never showed his mature side because being able to live in peace was not a coincidence. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: 003

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion After spending a busy day in school, Lin Sheng declined Shen Yan¡¯s invitation to go snacking in the afternoon. It was not that he was not interested¡ªhe loved the food on the snack street near his school. But he could only spend £¤3 a day; he could not be spendthrift. Therefore, he boarded the free shuttle and went home. Lin Sheng sat in a window seat, looking at the old streets that swiftly flew past him. The curvy reliefs of flowers and birds on the edge of ques and the corners of walls reminded him of his nightmare fromst night. *Doo.* ¡°Next stop, Old Town Textile Factory.¡± The female voice speaking standard Xilin dialect jolted Lin Sheng out of his daze. He grabbed his grayish-white bag, got to his feet, and gave his seat to an olddy who had just boarded the bus. Then he held the overhead handrail and moved slowly through the crowded bus toward the exit. ¡°Stop pushing!¡± ¡°Young man, be careful! Don¡¯t piss people off.¡± ¡°Ouch, my foot! You¡¯ve stepped on my foot! Are you dreaming?¡± People began to grumble and make noises like touch-activated toys. Lin Sheng could not care less. He was 1.75 meters in height and possessed a body with healthy muscles beneath his uniform. Besides his fair skin, he looked pretty ordinary. The automatic door swung open with a hiss. Lin Sheng jumped off the bus, took a deep breath, and looked back into the coach. Seven to eight people boarded the bus that he had just gotten off. It was packed like a can of sardines. The door slowly shut and the bus left the bus stop. His home was just in the Huilian residential area, which was ten meters right of the bus stop. The gate to the residential area was an iron arc, and on it, a sign that read ¡°Huilian Neighborhood¡± hung askew. Every day, vegetable sellers would bring vegetables in their bamboo baskets and sell them on both sides of the gate. People would stop by and haggle with the sellers. The temperature in thete afternoon had dropped to the mid-twenties on the Celsius scale, which was not as hot as the temperature during midday. Lin Sheng walked past the rusty red iron gates straight down the slope into the neighborhood and came to the fifth block. He turned right into the stairwell of Block 11. There were advertisements of every kind¡ªlocksmiths, plumbing, moving services, and what not¡ªcovering the walls of the corridor. Lin Sheng walked up the stairs and suddenly felt something slimy under his foot. He raised his foot and found that he had stepped on ice cream with the white creamy stuff staining the sole of his white sneakers. He knitted his brows as he scraped the sticky stuff off his shoe on the staircase. He had barely cleaned it up before he continued his climb. Arriving on the third floor, Lin Sheng took out his key, deftly opened the security door of the first unit on the left, and walked in. ¡°Dad,¡± Lin Sheng stood at the doorway and called out. But there was no one at home. After he changed into his slippers and closed the door behind him, Lin Sheng walked straight past the living room into his bedroom. In his room, he could not help but look at the desk, which reminded him of the figure who had sat in the chair in his dream the previous night. He remained silent as he walked over and gently pulled the chair out to sit on it. He snugged down on the soft fabric cushion and the hard seatback. Sitting down after a long day at school, he felt drowsy. So, Lin Sheng got back up. He did not dare sleep at the table because the scene fromst night¡¯s nightmare made him uneasy. He would usually take a short half-an-hour nap when he got home every afternoon. The nightmare from the previous night may have been scary, but it was just a dream, Lin Sheng thought. He hesitated but still approached the bedside. He took off his school uniform, climbed into bed, and pulled the quilt over his belly. The red sunset outside the window spilled into the bedroom like blood, sshing on the desk and floor tiles. In his stupor, Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness slowly drifted away. He had no idea how long he ended up sleeping. A soft cry suddenly woke him from his slumber. It sounded like a woman was sobbing, or was she singing? He was not sure. Sadness, desperation, and shrill cries were apanied by asional rapid breathing. Lin Sheng slowly opened his eyes. Again, he was lying in bed, unable to move. There she was. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the white figure at the desk. But unlike thest time, the woman in white was moving her shoulders rapidly and sobbing softly, as though she was in fear. *Tack, tack.* *Tack, tack.* *Tack, tack.* There were footsteps again. Lin Sheng could feel someone approaching from the corridor. The person wasing through the living room toward his bedroom, and the footsteps were growing clearer as well as more thunderous. Meanwhile, the woman at the desk sobbed even louder, and her shoulders twitched even faster. It was as if she was about to get up and run. The footsteps were now very close. When the door slowly swung open with a click, Lin Sheng¡¯s blood ran cold. There was silence for a while. Suddenly, someone lifted the quilt. Lin Sheng¡¯s body felt numb. His eyes were wide open, and his pupils contracted. Before he knew it, his quilt was tossed away and a figure pounced on him. ¡°Aah!¡± Lin Sheng screamed and jolted up from his bed with his head in a muddle. He panted. His body and T-shirt were soaked in sweat. ¡°I... I...¡± He wanted to say something but could not utter a word. His mind went nk. Lin Sheng sat motionless in bed for ten minutes. He calmed his breathing until his heartbeat slowed down, no longer thumping like a drum. He then looked around. There was nothing unusual in his bedroom, only the faint glow of the silvery moonlight scattered through the window. Lin Sheng wiped the sweat off his forehead. Even his hands were wet with sweat. ¡°Hell, I even dreamt of that thing during a short nap.¡± He slowly leaned against the headboard and took a deep breath. ¡°It was the same dream, but this time, it was closer.¡± The dream gave him the heebie-jeebies. Nevertheless, he quickly calmed the rapid thumping of his heartbeat. ¡°Fear isn¡¯t going to solve anything. I have to keep calm.¡± Lin Sheng knew that since he was little. The more panicked he was, the more likely he would make mistakes, wasting time and energy. It was only by calming down that he could quickly find the solution to a problem. Lin Sheng took a deep breath while he leaned on the bed to calm his pounding heart. About five minutester, his mind was clear, and his emotions returned to normal. ¡°It gets closer with each dream. At first, the footsteps were only outside the door. Now, it has entered the room, and the entity even flipped over my quilt!¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s intuition told him that it was some kind of sign. He had the feeling that if he allowed the owner of the footsteps to flip his quilt over and grab him, something unimaginable would happen. He had a hunch that it was a bad omen. ¡°I have to think of something should the same dream ur again.¡± Lin Sheng decided. When memories from his past life could even be awakened, anything was possible. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: 004

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Just as Lin Sheng had anticipated, on the third day, he experienced the same nightmare again, and this time, it happened in the middle of the night. After having supper with his dad, Lin Sheng went back to his bedroom and hit the sack. Ten minutes into his sleep, he dreamt again. The footsteps outside the door were approaching quicker than thest time. However, it seemed as if he was prepared for it; Lin Sheng woke up before the person who made the footsteps opened the door. The encounter this time confirmed his suspicions that it was not a fortuitous phenomenon. The nightmare had to have some hidden meanings that he was unaware of, just like the past-life memories that he had awakened for no reason. In the days that followed, the nightmare still arrived on schedule as soon as Lin Sheng fell asleep. He tried to take control of his body in his dream but it was to no avail. Every time, the same fear struck him. In the dream, the woman in white who sat silently at the table always maintained the same posture. She would twitch and sob in a strange manner, while the footsteps came from the same direction in the corridor. So, Lin Sheng used an rm clock to wake himself up in advance to avoid idents. The loud rm would go off each instance and wake him up just as the footsteps entered through the doorway. It was a precautionary measure that he had put in ce... And things went on this way for two weeks. ¡°My calctions show that since the third dream, the overall length of the dream is about thirty-five minutes.¡± ¡°There are fluctuations in the fourth to the seventh dream, all within the five-minute range. This shows that the dream isn¡¯t long.¡± It was nighttime, and Lin Sheng was sitting in front of the deskmp, carefully checking the dream data that he had recorded. ¡°I should probably just take the average, then I¡¯ll have the approximate length of the dream.¡± The length started from the beginning of the dream to when the footsteps entered the room. Lin Sheng obtained the data from his previous two dreams. Spinning a pencil in his hand, Lin Sheng¡¯s face was calm. Had it not been for the sweat on his forehead, he would not have believed that he had just experienced the same nightmare. ¡°What I need to do next is regain control of my body before the footstepse through the door.¡± Lin Sheng knew himself well. He was not a school bully or a genius. He only had one strength¡ªcalmness. So, only by taking advantage of that strength could he win the tug of war with the nightmare. Although he had no idea what victory would mean to him, his physical instincts warned him that he could not let the maker of those footsteps catch him... Absolutely not. Lin Sheng began to write, jotting down several points of data in his notebook. Then he closed it, got to his feet, and looked out the window into the distance. The moonlight was gentle, but he felt a chill. Lin Sheng turned around and was about to get into bed but hesitated all of a sudden. ¡°Bah, I think I¡¯d better not sleep.¡± He remained silent for a while before he stood up again because as soon as he fell asleep, he would face the same nightmare again, and the experience had made him begun to shun the bed. But it was not a solution. Not sleeping would take a toll on his health. Silently, he picked up his wind-up rm clock, carefully set the time, and fell back in bed with his clothes still on. In the eyes of ordinary people, the bed was a warm and cozy ce, but for Lin Sheng, he felt like he was on hot bricks. He still had the nightmare, though with the rm clock going off seven times during the night, he finally made it to dawn without incident. ... ¡°What have you been doingtely?¡± Shen Yan looked at Lin Sheng in horror. The calm and healthy friend of hers now looked pale with ugly dark circles. ¡°You look as white as a sheet. Young man, you need to learn some self-discipline,¡± Shen Yan said, shooting out her mouth. Lin Sheng yawned helplessly. Despite sitting in the noisy ssroom, he was extremely sleepy and about to doze off. The noise around him seemed to be muffled by a thickyer of soundproof fabric; it did not bother him at all. ¡°I haven¡¯t been sleeping well for the past few days,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Did you have a wet dream?¡± Shen Yan got closer with a perverted look on her face. ¡°Get lost! It was a nightmare.¡± Lin Sheng sounded dejected. ¡°A nightmare managed to turn you into this?¡± Shen Yan was dejected too. ¡°The nightmare¡¯s been repeating itself,¡± Lin Sheng said in a whisper. There was nothing secretive about it because many people had the same experience. It was just that their situations were not as bad as his. ¡°You¡¯ve been experiencing the same nightmare? Then you should go online and check it out. It¡¯s said that some people can control their dreams freely and turn nightmares into sweet dreams. It seems magical,¡± Shen Yan said after some thought. ¡°Really?¡± Lin Sheng had checked, but he could not verify its authenticity. ¡°Really. I¡¯ve had nightmares before. You shouldn¡¯t read horror stories before you go to bed, and you mustn¡¯t have fear in your heart. Otherwise, you¡¯ll surely have nightmares,¡± Shen Yan said. ¡°Is that so?¡± Lin Sheng nodded. He had also checked those ims, but he could not verify them. ¡°You¡¯d better believe it. I used to have nightmares, but after I discovered this method, I never had a nightmare again. You dream what you scheme,¡± Shen Yan said. ¡°Really?¡± Lin Sheng blinked and said nothing more. ¡°You look so dead. Do you want me to take you to the gymnasium afterward?¡± Shen Yan became perverted again. ¡°Forget it.¡± ¡°Tsk-tsk. Now, not even the gymnastic suits and long silky legs can evoke your interest?¡± Shen Yan sighed. ¡°I just want to have some good sleep now.¡± Lin Sheng felt helpless. Lin Sheng got home after school in the afternoon and was surprised to see his parents at home. His mom, Gu Wanqiu, was cooking in the kitchen, and his dad, Lin Zhounian, was sitting in the living room reading the paper. His elder sister, Lin Xiao, was not there as she had returned to college. Seeing Lin Sheng arrive home, his dad put down the paper and looked at him worriedly. ¡°Why have you been looking so paletely? Are you sick? Son, never underestimate the slightest illness. Some illnesses can kill.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, Dad,¡± Lin Sheng changed into his slippers. ¡°It¡¯s just that I haven¡¯t gotten enough sleep recently.¡± ¡°You¡¯d better be. Son¡ª¡± Before his dad could finish, Lin Sheng dropped his bag and entered his room. The door was mmed shut with a bang. Then, there was silence. ¡°This kid...¡± Lin Zhounian looked at his wife, who hade out to see what was happening. The two of them looked at each other with worried expressions on their faces. ¡°Dad¡¯s still ill. We mustn¡¯t let anything happen to our two children,¡± Gu Wanqiu said. ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye on them, don¡¯t worry. Now, go and make dinner.¡± Lin Zhounian waved at her. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: 005

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion While lying in bed on a moonlit night, Lin Sheng¡¯s body was immobilized, and his limbs were frozen. The only parts of his body that he could barely move were his fingers and brain. That was also partially due to his hard work for the past few days. *Tack, tack, tack.* The footsteps came again. Lin Sheng was calm as he tried to clear his mind. After experiencing the same nightmare so many times, he knew he could not go on like that anymore because two weeks without sleep had taken a toll on his health and life. ¡°Lin Sheng.¡± Suddenly, Lin Sheng heard a voice calling him, and his expression froze. ¡°Lin Sheng.¡± The voice seemed to be floating from a distant void, and it sounded sorrowful. But Lin Sheng was only in a bedroom of less than six square meters. ¡°Lin Sheng.¡± The voice rang out again. Lin Sheng gritted his teeth, trying to stabilize his elerating heartbeat. After his previous experiences, he had noticed a pattern. Whenever he was in a panic, the footsteps would pick up the pace and get closer, making him lose control of his body. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid,¡± Lin Sheng told himself. He turned and looked at the woman in white who was sitting in front of the desk on his left. Then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He opened his eyes again and saw a woman with a paleplexion right in front of his face, almost touching his nose. They were less than a palm apart from each other. The woman¡¯s eyes were wide open as if she had seen something terrifying. Suddenly, a light shed across his eyes. When Lin Sheng could see again, the woman¡¯s face was gone, and the woman in white was still sitting motionless at the desk with her back facing him. He trembled, trying to control his body. *Tack, tack, tack.* The footsteps were getting closer and closer. ¡°Lin Sheng.¡± The call was also getting closer and closer, and the bedroom door slowly opened with a click. Lin Sheng struggled to rein in his body and emotions. *Tack, tack, tack.* The footsteps were closing the gap between them, slowly entering his bedroom and stopping at the tail end of his bed. Lin Sheng could clearly feel that someone was staring at him with a mysterious smile. It was cold and lifeless. Somehow, he suddenly sensed a pair of hands slowly reaching for his quilt. ¡°Lin Sheng!¡± A sudden scream rang in Lin Sheng¡¯s ears, and his entire body felt numb. ¡°Let¡¯s perish together!¡± Lin Sheng had no time to think. The color drained from his face, and with all his might, he flung his quilt away, got up, and reached out to catch the person at the tail end of his bed. ¡°Aah!¡± There was a shrill cry. Lin Sheng felt the world spin around him, and he could not see anything. He seemed to have hit something yet caught nothing. Huffing slowly, Lin Sheng regained his vision after some time but had no idea how much time had passed. He only found himself out of bed and standing at the desk with his right hand firmly on the woman in white¡¯s right shoulder. In a split second, the woman in white, whose back was facing him, shriveled instantly like a leaky balloon and disappeared. Only her white dress was left on the chair. Lin Sheng was rooted to the spot. He looked down, trying to examine the dress, which quickly melted like white wax and disappeared altogether in a matter of seconds. ¡°I¡¯ve seeded!¡± Lin Sheng felt a sense of relief. Gasping and looking around, he found himself still in his bedroom, but there was something amiss; except for the desk, bed, floor, ceiling, and chandelier, the other details in his room were blurry. Lin Sheng reached out to touch the chair, but he could not feel it, as though he was wearing thick gloves. ¡°Am I still in the dream?¡± Lin Sheng suddenly came to his senses. He had studied the way to determine whether one was still in a dream, and one of the methods was to look at the surrounding details. Thinking for a moment, Lin Sheng bent over and carefully examined the texture of the wooden chair. The curved texture and pattern on the ck wooden chair did not look like wood grain at all but more like the painting of some strange animal. Lin Sheng found it familiar but could not identify its name. ¡°It appears that I really am in a dream.¡± Lin Sheng was excited and was no longer in fear. He could still move about freely. The bedroom, bookcase, bed, desk, and wooden chair were the same as they were in reality, except the details of some corners were fuzzy like a mosaic. Calming himself down, Lin Sheng slowly shifted his eyes to the tail end of the bed, where the person who made the footsteps stood earlier but had now left. Lin Sheng looked through the open door and noticed that the narrow corridor was bathed in a dim red glow. He paused before he slowly moved to open the door. Stepping out into the corridor felt like walking on cotton; he could not feel the floor. Lin Sheng was aware that he was in the hallway of his home, but there was the illusion of walking on a soft and fluffy carpet. Through the ss window on the left side of the corridor, Lin Sheng saw something dark red flowing slowly and quietly like thick liquid outside. He went on to touch it but felt nothing. ¡°It must be the special nature of dreams. I still remember theck of the sense of touch in my previous dreams.¡± The thought crossed Lin Sheng¡¯s mind, but he did not stop. Instead, he retracted his hand and continued to walk down the corridor. His home in the dream was the same as it was in reality¡ªthe design andyout were all the same. The corridor was only a dozen meters long, and at the end of it, the kitchen was on the left, while the living room was on the right. When Lin Sheng got in between the kitchen and the living room, he peeked around. ¡°Where should I go?¡± A nket of fog seemed to be clouding his consciousness in the dream. He had a feeling that he needed to focus his mind on remaining in the dream. Otherwise, he would wake up immediately. After hesitating for a few seconds, Lin Sheng went left, where the kitchen was. He wanted to check if the food he had eaten and the dishes during the day were still there. His family members would usually leave the leftovers on the table and cover them with a fly-proof food cover. He gently pushed the door open and was startled. The sink, dining table, and chopping board were all in their respective positions. The white tiles on the wall, the ck and whitettice tiles on the floor, and the freshly bought vegetables in the corner of the kitchen were all there. A few red carrots were strewn around the grocery bag, a head of cabbage still had dew on its leaves, and there were two tomatoes as round and big as apples. Those tomatoes were supposedly a new variety that was more nutritious. ¡°Things are the same as they are in reality, but what is this?¡± Lin Sheng cautiously maneuvered past the groceries. His eyesnded on a crack in the wall on the right side of the kitchen. The crack, which looked like a passageway, should not have existed there. It was over one meter in height and half a meter in width with ck mist rolling within. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: 006

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng stood motionless in front of the passage and saw that the kitchen was asionally distorted like a shifting phantom. He had no idea how long he had been standing there¡ªprobably ten or twenty seconds. He had no perception of time in his dreams. ¡°This crack must have something to do with my previous nightmare,¡± Lin Sheng spected. ¡°The air here is the same as the air in my nightmare before this; I can definitely feel it!¡± As Lin Sheng slowly inched closer to the passage, he could already feel a chill and stiffness spreading across the part of his skin that faced the fissure. It felt just like the previous nightmare. ¡°I have to go in and check it out.¡± Lin Sheng paused before he made up his mind. Since it was just a dream, he knew that he would not die for real. Hence, curiosity finally took over his fear. He calmed down for a while, then slowly stepped into the crack. Lin Sheng felt as though he had jumped into a pool of icy water the moment he poked his head in. It was pitch dark, and he heard the whining of the wind. Not even three seconds in the crack, a light suddenly shed before Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes, and the chill in his body slowly subsided. It was still cold but more bearable. When his eyes finally adapted, a European-style living roomprised of grayish-ck stones appeared before him. He found himself standing directly on one end of the rectangr living room. On his left were a firece and an old brownish-red stove with the bust of a solemn curly-haired man. Lin Sheng could not help but reach for the sculpture, which felt solid, cold, and smooth to the touch. He was stunned and quickly pulled back his fingers. ¡°The feeling is much, much stronger this time... Just like the real thing.¡± With that in mind, Lin Sheng quickly looked back over his shoulder. The crack in the wall, from which he had passed through, was now shrinking and disappearing rapidly. There was still a faint light leaking through the cracks from the kitchen. Before Lin Sheng knew what was happening, the crack suddenly decreased in size at an even faster rate and waspletely gone in the blink of an eye. Seeing what was happening, Lin Sheng was rooted to the spot. He knew that he was in a dream, but... He looked down and noticed that a dark gaseous substance in his surroundings had begun to permeate his skin and seep into his body. It was as if the ce was epting and infecting him. There was an unexinable sense of security, which made him feel that he could stay a little longer. Snapping out of his thoughts, Lin Sheng started to look around the ce. There was arge dining table covered with an eye-catching white cloth that had turned grayish, old, and tattered with dark red stains at the center of the hall. The floor, which was ck with yellow patterns, was made of unknown cold hard stones. Overhead, a ck petal-shaped candle holder hung from the yellow ceiling, and on it were sixteen unlit white candles of different lengths also arranged in a petal pattern. There was arge rectangr window on one side of the hall, while various oil paintings were on the opposite pale-yellow wall. Lin Sheng paused for a while before he headed toward the big window first. At the window, he slowly drew the grayish-ck curtains aside and looked out through the square window pane. The scene outside was gray and gloomy with a few shadows of bare trees swaying in the wind. Other than that, there was nothing but darkness beyond the wall. Lin Sheng closed the curtains. He quietly turned to walk toward the other wall where there were many oil paintings, but all Lin Sheng saw were fuzzy images. He could barely distinguish portrait fromndscape paintings. ¡°It¡¯s not much different from the previous dream... All details appear blurry.¡± Lin Sheng was calm as the sense of familiarity in the dream made him less nervous. He reached out to touch the oil paintings. Like before, he could not feel them as if his hand was wrapped in thick cotton cloth. Lin Sheng was very patient, though. He examined each and every oil painting. Only then did he step back and look in the direction of the exit. There was a wooden door in the corner of the hall, and it opened to other rooms. Lin Sheng continued to walk, increasing his pace. Once he was at the wooden door, he put his hand on the doorknob, which was in the shape of a horse head, and gently turned it. As the door softly creaked open, he slowly stepped into the adjacent room. A dark curtain with printed patterns hung from above the doorway. Lin Sheng drew the curtain to both sides and finally saw the interior. He was greeted by two dark red bookshelves that faced the door, and they were filled with neatly arranged books. ¡°It¡¯s a study room,¡± Lin Sheng inferred. He paused, stopping short of going in farther. His past experience told him that the text in the books would be illegible. Thus, he thought that he had better explore other ces. Lin Sheng turned and went back to the hall, where he wandered around and quickly found another door. He stepped through it and came upon a bedroom. He hung around for a while and went back out when he found nothing. In the corner of the hall, he soon discovered a basement under the floor where a massive amount of wine bottles and arge dark red wine barrel were stored. The cer was filled with the fragrance of wine. Lin Sheng mooched around in the basement and began to figure out what kind of ce it was. ¡°This is an old European manor.¡± Lin Sheng resurfaced to the hall when he felt that he was about to wake up. People in dreams could always tell when they were about to wake up. ¡°I better make use of thisst moment to check out the study room.¡± He wasted no time and ran straight toward the study room. Once in the room, Lin Sheng first saw a low mahogany table at the center and a stack of gray-covered books on it. Next to the pile of books was a silvery-gray candlestick, and next to that was an opened book. He curiously went up to check it out. The texts in the books were written in a small font, but they were clear enough. In spite of that, he had no idea what the words meant. ¡°Why is it that the writings are so clear?¡± Lin Sheng wondered. He ignored the books and set his eyes on the other bookshelves, which were filled with various books. Picking up a book and opening it, Lin Sheng saw that it was also written in the same kind ofnguage in a small font. ¡°This doesn¡¯t look like Xilin but more like ancient Rehn.¡± Lin Sheng frowned. He remembered seeing ancient books with such writing on TV. Ancient Rehn, hieroglyphics, cuneiform, and ancient Xiguang were the four oldest writing systems. Lin Sheng had read about the origin of these writing systems in the many extracurricr books in his junior high school. Among the four ancient writing systems, hieroglyphics and ancient Rehn were the most readily identifiable and distinct. That was why he recognized it immediately. ¡°This is funny. Now I¡¯m even dreaming of ancient Rehn,¡± Lin Sheng said to himself as he carefully browsed through the book in his hand. What was even more surprising was that he found a new sense of unfamiliarity in the book¡¯s content, graphics, and text. ¡°Supposedly, what I see in dreams, however strange they are, should be familiar. But this unfamiliarity...¡± Lin Sheng felt that something was wrong. Just as he decided to copy a paragraph of the text and study it after he woke up, sudden vertigo struck him. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± He knew it. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: 007

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The nascent ray of the morning sun came through the window andnded on the desk, creating a pale-yellow reflection. Lin Sheng was lying silently on his bed with open eyes and a calm expression. There was only a hint of regret in his pupils. ¡°No way!¡± Lin Sheng jumped up abruptly, throwing the quilt aside to get out of bed. He approached the desk and pulled the drawer open, taking out a pen. A moment of rustlingter, he had written down a row of text on a white sheet of paper. It was a line of ancient Rehn text. Lin Sheng scrutinized the text, which he had written down from his memory of his dream. The ck Rehn text looked like a row of shredded metal¡ªsharp and disorganized yet neatly arranged in a line. It looked like debris, which was the most typical feature of ancient Rehn writing. That was also the reason why Lin Sheng could point out its characteristics instantly. ¡°Interesting.¡± Lin Sheng smacked. He was in a profession that required a sharp perception of texts in his past life. Right now, the unknownnguage had reignited his long-lost passion. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯ve managed to copy the Rehn text from my dream. And it looks authentic.¡± Lin Sheng scratched his chin as old habits died hard. He wanted to trante it. ¡°This Rehn text... Tranting it is not difficult; I can check the words one by one online. Others may not be able to do it, but I¡¯ve been studying ancientnguages for six years. It¡¯s really not a challenge.¡± Lin Sheng was focused. He folded the paper carefully and kept it secure. ¡°This is the first time I¡¯vee across thisnguage. I never thought it would appear in a dream. I just hope that the tranted text won¡¯t be a bunch of garbled characters.¡± He was curious about what the Rehn text meant. Lin Sheng securely tucked the paper away, then got to his feet and put on his clothes. His daily routine started all over again. After breakfast, he changed into his school uniform and hit the road with his school bag on his back. He soon hopped on the bus that carried him to school. At school, the day went by uneventfully. There was a short break in between lessons, and after lunch, there were more sses. It was business as usual after school in the afternoon. Lin Sheng concentrated on revisions to prepare for the next weekly test. He would only study the Rehn text, dismantle each word, and look it up online during his free time. ¡°There¡¯s a mobile book fair. Do you want to go and have a look? I heard it¡¯s a big one with many booksellers.¡± The ss was just over when Shen Yan turned and whispered to him. ¡°Mobile book fair?¡± Lin Sheng began to recall what it was. It consisted of a group of booksellers who bought and sold old books. They were basically selling second-hand books. Before the inte became prevalent, book-hunting was one of the few popr student hobbies. ¡°Let¡¯s go together. Maybe you can find something interesting,¡± Shen Yan invited him. It appeared that she was the most eager to go. ¡°I¡¯m not going. I¡¯m penniless,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Don¡¯t you have several hundred yuan? I saw the money yesterday. You have it in your pocket.¡± Shen Yan smiled slyly. ¡°I have to live on that money for quite some time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t miss out on this opportunity. Are you sure you don¡¯t want to go? Maybe you¡¯ll find some good stuff for a bargain.¡± Shen Yan made a face at Lin Sheng, her smile was ambivalent. Lin Sheng was impassive. ¡°I really have no money.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a few yuan a copy, and we can share it equally,¡± Shen Yan got closer and said in a low voice. Lin Sheng understood what she was talking about. The so-called ¡°a few yuan a copy¡± referred to the most popr publications¡ªthe adult magazines. The magazines, which had photos of handsome men and pretty women on the cover, were stuffed with erotic content. A copy of such a magazine was usually sold at £¤4, which was the standard price. But the content varied from magazine to magazine. Shen Yan was a girl, but she liked to buy them in secret. ¡°What do you think? These magazines will be ourmon property. And we¡¯ll take turns reading them. After that, we can rent them out for fifty cents a day,¡± Shen Yan said. ¡°...I¡¯m not interested.¡± Lin Sheng remained silent for a while before he managed those words. ¡°Wee!¡± Shen Yan looked at him and smiled. ¡°We¡¯ll meet at the school gateter.¡± Shen Yan turned around and packed up her things. She never regarded herself as a girl. Her rtionship with Lin Sheng was like that of buddies. She was tomboyish, and she got along well with boys. As a result, it gave the impression that she was just like an ordinary boy. Had it not been for her growing breasts and butt, which always reminded others that she was a girl, Lin Sheng would have treated her as a boy. After all, why on earth would a girl bring a boy to buy adult magazines? Lin Sheng was speechless. Shen Yan would be treated like a creep even in the society of his past life, let alone the present one. Lin Sheng wanted to decline her invitation since he was trying to focus all his energy into the texts that he had memorized from his dream. Curiosity was driving him to trante the book as soon as possible. ¡°Why not. The second-hand bookstalls used to sell pirated copies of the Rehnnguage dictionary. That would be a bargain and should be good enough for my purpose.¡± With that thought in mind, Lin Sheng¡¯s interest grew. While he quickly packed his things, two students from another ss came over to borrow study notes from Shen Yan. So, Shen Yan asked Lin Sheng to wait for her at the school gate. Lin Sheng carried his bag and stood at the school gate as groups of students in blue and white school uniforms left their sses and walked out of the school. The golden ray of the sunset dyed the students a shade of pale red. There were also loud shoutsing from the school field nearby, where students were ying ser. Some students rang the bell of their bicycles as they rode past him. He stood on one side of the iron gate and took a deep breath. The mild weather gave him the feeling that oxygen had disced all of the carbon dioxide in his lungs. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Shen Yan suddenly appeared out of nowhere and patted him on the shoulder. The girl had tied her hair into a ponytail, and it dangled freely from the back of her head. She peeked over her left and right side with a wicked smile. ¡°I brought a dark-colored bag today. We can buy more when we get there,¡± Shen Yan said. Lin Sheng wanted to tell her that he was not interested and would rather go home to trante the text, but he did not want to pour cold water on Shen Yan¡¯s enthusiasm. Therefore, he paused, stopping short of speaking his mind. ¡°I wanted to bring Ali along, but she has thin skin,¡± Shen Yan said. It was not so much that Ali had thin skin. She was actually too embarrassed to tag along because there was a boy following them. Lin Sheng also knew Ali. She was Shen Yan¡¯s bestie and her only close friend in the ss. However, Ali was not that close to Lin Sheng. While they were on their way, the two did not talk much. They walked along the roadside and passed two street corners to arrive at an alley in the old section of the town. Thene, packed with bookstalls, was only two hundred meters away from their school. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: 008

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion At dusk, there were more than a dozen bookstalls in the alley. Some vendorsid their books on a rag above a stic sheet on the ground, while some had mobile carts selling pirated books, cassette tapes, CDs, and so on. They sold mini radios too. The sky had not turnedpletely dark, but there were already patrons like Lin Sheng and Sheng Yan hanging around in the alley. There were not many people yet, nheless, the atmosphere was pretty lively. People just liked to spend time there, and they never thought of leaving. Some even squatted and read books in front of the bookstalls. There was only a single light source, which was a high-powered light bulb without ampshade, above the alley. The light bulb appeared to have 100 watts of output as it illuminated the entire ce. Shen Yan enthusiastically maneuvered past the small crowd and came before the first bookstand. She was a veteran. Knowing that bookstalls usually did not disy the adult magazines in prominent ces, she immediately locked on to the hidden spots where the vendors kept their adult materials. Lin Sheng left her alone and went to search for dictionaries. While he was still at the first bookstall, Shen Yan had already moved on to the third. Despite that, Lin Sheng was not in a hurry. He searched carefully, and when he did not find the Rehn dictionary he wanted, he moved on to the next stall. Lin Sheng vaguely remembered that the stalls there had it. The trantion dictionaries may have been pirated copies, but they would save him a lot of money. So, he went to stall after stall and soon reached the fourth one. In a pile of books on the floor, Lin Sheng found what he wanted: a Rehn dictionary. ¡°How much is this?¡± Lin Sheng squatted down and pulled out the dictionary from the pile of old books. ¡°Fifteen. No bargaining.¡± It seemed that the stall owner with square sses and a gray fabric mask did not want people to see his face. ¡°The texts are blurry. I¡¯ll buy it for £¤5,¡± Lin Sheng counteroffered. ¡°You can¡¯t get it for £¤5. At least £¤10, kid. You seem to be a regr here, you should know the price,¡± the stall owner said. ¡°Ten?¡± Lin Sheng shook his head and got to his feet, pretending to leave. ¡°All right, all right, five then. Take it.¡± The stall owner epted the counteroffer. ¡°Here you go.¡± Lin Sheng quickly took out the small bills from his pocket and paid the stall owner £¤5. Picking up the dictionary, he checked it thoroughly. The printing was clear. It was an excellent reproduction and was as thick as a brick. A pirated book like that usually fetched around £¤20. After all, genuine ones were sold at about £¤40. He got it for so cheap only because it was not popr. Not many people looked for Rehn dictionaries. It was also the only Rehn dictionary in the stall. Plus, the crux of the matter was, the pages were about to fall apart since the binding was about to give way. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. ¡°As long as it¡¯s useable,¡± Lin Sheng said to himself. He could not wait to go home to begin tranting the text. The £¤5 he spent was way more than his daily budget; he would have to be extra frugal from then on. After spending his money on a piece of scrap like that, he was having a headache. But if he could restore it, who knows, it might even appreciate in value. Soon, Shen Yan came up to Lin Sheng with a bag load of books in her hands. ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± she asked. ¡°I¡¯ve bought a dictionary.¡± Lin Sheng waved the dictionary in his hand. Its red cover and white spine were in stark contrast to the adult materials in Shen Yan¡¯s bag. ¡°This is...¡± Shen Yan stared at Lin Sheng with a distorted face as if she was meeting him for the first time. ¡°If there¡¯s nothing else, let¡¯s go home,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Nice guise!¡± Shen Yan¡¯s mouth twitched. However, she knew Lin Sheng well; he had always been that way. It was one of the reasons why she liked to bring Lin Sheng along as her cover. ¡°Look, I bought three at £¤4 each, totaling to £¤12. Let¡¯s divide the cost equally. All you need to pay me is £¤6,¡± Shen Yan said in a whisper. ¡°I have no money,¡± Lin Sheng said. He used to buy and rent these adult materials out for a little money. After all, most students in the school were not willing to spend money on such things because they were nice to read but difficult to hide. Hence, people rented them for a few cents¡ªthey did not have to worry about where to hide the magazines, and it cost much less. Also, when there was not much to see and they got bored with the magazine, they could rent a different one. Another reason why Shen Yan brought Lin Sheng along was that she was a girl; she needed Lin Sheng to be her frontman in the book-renting business. ¡°If you¡¯re not paying, the renting part...¡± Shen Yan was in a pickle. ¡°You can rent it to girls,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Boys are more willing to part with their money for this!¡± Lin Sheng had always been her cooperative business partner until now when he suddenly changed. So, Shen Yan was upset. ¡°You can resell them. I¡¯ve been having some other stuff recently, and I don¡¯t have time for this.¡± Lin Sheng did not want to continue the book-renting business. It would have still been eptable to him had it been regr books, but adult magazines were too low-ss. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to continue? It could earn you a few bucks a day,¡± Shen Yan said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to carry on.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re a girl, it doesn¡¯t look good on you. Just stop doing it for now.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t we partners?¡± Shen Yan felt helpless. ¡°I can help you get Yao Daiyu¡¯s help,¡± Lin Sheng said. Yao Daiyu was a student from another ss, who also ran a book-renting business that included adult materials. He would be happy to take in the magazines on a consignment basis. After all, he had nothing to lose, and it also saved him the hassle of sourcing for books. ¡°Fine.¡± Shen Yan was still reluctant. Lin Sheng looked at her and knew that she was not happy. But he could do nothing because she would not listen to him. Even though they were best friends, he had said everything he needed to say. The ball was now in her court. The two parted ways at the alley and went home separately. Once he arrived home, Lin Sheng saw the note that his parents left him, saying that they had gone to the hospital to take care of Grandpa. They left two dishes of food¡ªa te of scrambled eggs with cucumber and a te of red pepper shredded pork¡ªwhich had turned cold on the kitchen table. Lin Sheng reheated the rice and quickly ate it with the cold dishes. Then he rushed into his bedroom with the dictionary to begin studying the text that he had memorized from his dream. ... His bedroom was both a sleeping ce and a study room. It was nightfall, and Lin Sheng turned on the deskmp to continue working on the Rehn text, word by word, under the yellowish light. About half an hourter... ¡°Interesting!¡± Referring to the basic grammar rules found in the dictionary, Lin Sheng had quickly tranted the two phrases on the cover of the book. ¡°It really is standard Rehn text! I¡¯ve never seen thisnguage before. Other than a little exaggeration in style, the two phrases are actually correct!¡± Lin Sheng stared at the two phrases in front of him and was momentarily at a lost for words. ¡°So, the meaning of these two phrases should be...¡± Lin Sheng slowly wrote down the tranted words, one at a time. Sharp object. Long sword. Method. Note. Handbook. ¡°When reading them together in a sentence, it means ¡®The Handbook of Swordsmanship¡¯?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes were wide open when he finally figured it out. He had tranted the Rehn text word by word, and the basic grammar of thenguage was notplicated. Often times, a letter may contain several meanings, but when the different letters were connected together, the result made Lin Sheng¡¯s jaw drop. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: 009

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Under the desk light, Lin Sheng was immersed in studying the text that he had just tranted. He repeatedly checked the words using the dictionary to see if he had made any mistakes, and after three rounds of verification, Lin Sheng was pretty sure that his trantion was correct. ¡°If it¡¯s really a handbook of swordsmanship, then the book I saw in the dream...¡± Lin Sheng was in disbelief as he remembered that nothing was repetitive despite the vast amount of text in the book. If those writings were authentic... A strong sense of curiosity rose within him. ¡°How could it be? It was just a dream!¡± Lin Sheng smacked and lowered his head to continue tranting thest line of the text that he had memorized and written down. The first line was on the front cover, and thest line was on the lower right corner of the back cover. He was initially not sure what they were about. However, with the help of the dictionary, he quickly finished tranting the remaining words. Fortunately, the Rehn writing system was not difficult to learn, and there were many experts of thenguage in the country. Lin Sheng was d that he had bought the dictionary. After he was done with the trantion, he picked up the note, waved it a little, and put it back down on the table. His expression changed. ¡°What is this?¡± Lin Sheng looked perplexed. By now, he was dead sure that his dreams had gone wrong. The ck text on the white paper clearly read ss II Swordsman. Ravel¡¯s Handbook. ¡°ss II Swordsman?¡± Lin Sheng had found something life-changing. He remained silent for a while before he scrunched up the paper and went to open the door. The living room was dark; his parents were not home yet. He took a deep breath, walked quickly into the kitchen, and wet the crumpled paper under the faucet. Lin Sheng watched as the writings on the crumpled paper blurred and faded quickly under the running water. When the writings finally turned into faint patches of ck ink, he tossed the wet paper into the trash can, dried his hands, and left the kitchen to return to his bedroom. Without cleaning himself up, Lin Sheng took off his clothes and socks, then got into bed. He could not wait to reenter the dream from the day before so that he could obtain a little more content and see if the book was truly readable. He wondered if he could still ess his previous nightmare. ¡°I hope I can still dream about it.¡± Lin Sheng was looking forward to it. Without the feeling of fear this time, he closed his eyes. He regted his breathing and emptied his mind. Time then ticked away. Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness gradually blurred. In a trance, he seemed to hear the sound of the security door unlocking in the living room and someone walking in. The person did not utter a word, and there was no other sound. Soon, footsteps were hearding from the corridor, and his bedroom door was pushed open. Lin Sheng could clearly feel that someone was standing at the doorway, peering at him. ¡°Is that Dad or Mom?¡± Lin Sheng spected. But he did not even know when the person left because he quickly fell into a deep sleep. Lin Sheng stood quietly in the gloomy manor¡¯s hall, next to the firece with a bust. In front of the firece was a rectangr dining table covered with a tattered tablecloth. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around. ¡°Am I really back?¡± Lin Sheng found it incredible. He thought that he would experience his previous nightmare again, and he was prepared to confront it. But to his surprise, he hade to this ce instead. ¡°Where is this ce?¡± Lin Sheng searched his memories but did not find anything reminiscent of the manor. ¡°The scenes in dreams are supposedly ces that I¡¯ve seen before. Most of the time, it would be familiar scenery, people, and things. But I have no idea what this ce is.¡± Lin Sheng knitted his brows together, looking down at the long gray underwear that he had worn to bed. ¡°Even the loose thread isn¡¯t here?¡± Lin Sheng raised his right hand, where there used to be a loose thread hanging from his sleeve near the elbow. Pausing for a moment, he then walked straight toward the study room. He had checked the other ces in the manor, and now, the study room, specifically the opened book on the table, was the only thing that interested him. Lin Sheng twisted the doorknob and reentered the study room, which he had previously left. The roomyout was still the same as before; there were two mahogany bookshelves filled with books, a stack of books on a low wooden table, a candlestick, and arge opened book. Lin Sheng walked up to the low table. Sitting down, he carefully looked at the content of the book¡ªthe dense text and graphics were clear. ¡°So realistic! It doesn¡¯t feel like I¡¯m in a dream.¡± Lin Sheng was amazed. He reached out to grab the corner of the wooden table to make sure that he was not dreaming. The tactile sensation was still the same as before¡ªhe could not feel anything as if his hand was wrapped in a thick cotton cloth. But what surprised him was the perception of touch this time. It was much more refined than the one in his previous dreams. Lin Sheng retracted his hand and refocused his attention on the book in front of him. The sheer amount of Rehn text gave him a headache. ¡°With my level of memory power, I can only memorize a little at a time. How long will it take to finish reading a page?¡± Thinking of that, Lin Sheng felt depressed. However, he had no choice but to trante it bit by bit. Perhaps, he would get more proficient over time. ¡°It looks like I¡¯ll have to return to my old trade.¡± Lin Sheng used to work as an ancient text trantor in his past life. Fortunately, the Rehn writings in this world were akin to Old English on Earth; it was rtively obscure but not hard to make out the rough meaning since Lin Sheng was quite an expert at it. ¡°I¡¯ll just treat this like I¡¯m learning another foreignnguage. If this book¡¯s really legible...¡± Lin Sheng was full of anticipation and curiosity. He was keen to know what this book in his dream was about. Was it just as the book cover suggested and was about ancient swordsmanship? If this book wasprehensible, would it mean that he could also trante and read the other books on the shelves? Lin Sheng was on tenterhooks but quickly made up his mind to memorize the content on the first page of the same book for the first time. It was the same book from which he deciphered the text on the cover. Time was ticking away. Lin Sheng repeatedly recited a small passage from the first page with the aid of a light, which seemed to havee from nowhere. Memorizing a paragraph of ancient text without knowing the meaning was tough. Nheless, Lin Sheng had been in the trade before so he used his own way to memorize the entire paragraph on the first page. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: 010

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The trantion was painstakingly slow. Lin Sheng¡¯sck of grammatical knowledge on the Rehnnguage meant that he could only trante it one word at a time, just as the search engines did. The problem was particrly apparent when it came to ng words. After he experienced the dream for the second time and memorized the book, Lin Sheng could now go to the manor every night. Each time he got in, he would write down a sentence or two and trante them into Xilin, which was his everydaynguage. This went on for four days. With the aid of the studies and experiences from his past life, Lin Sheng¡¯s trantion became better. As the Rehn text was not a nichenguage, there were many rted grammar books avable for download on the Inte. By referring to those materials during the trantion process, Lin Sheng was able to verify the results repeatedly. And soon, he finished the first page of the book. ¡°My memory is what¡¯s holding me back.¡± Lin Sheng sat silently in one corner of the sofa, recalling what he had tranted the day before. It was a Sunday. His uncle and cousin, Lin Zhenyu hade for a visit. Lin Zhenyu, who was neen this year and a year older than Lin Sheng, possessed a gentle disposition. He wore a pair of square sses, sitting silently beside his father and reading a foreignnguage book with his head down. Lin Tao, Lin Sheng¡¯s uncle held a cup of tea in his hands with his brows knitted together as he discussed the condition of their grandfather with Lin Sheng¡¯s dad. Lin Tao opined that Grandpa was old and ill now; it was time to write a will. But he wanted to know what everyone thought. There was a more urgent problem, though, and it was about the purchased of a grave plot for Grandpa. Lin Tao was concerned about who should bear the cost of the purchase and whether they should evenly share the cost. After all, some of them were on the breadline and could barely contribute much. Grandpa was still alive, yet all Lin Tao cared about was his share of the estate. Meanwhile, Lin Sheng¡¯s dad, Lin Zhounian, who rarely talked, listened on with a grim expression. Lin Sheng did not like his uncle and his family. His cousins, Lin Zhenyu and Lin Xiaoxiao, who lived in clover, loved to frequent the bars and KTV. They also asionally backpacked together in search of life experiences. Naturally, their social circles and activities were a ss higher than that of Lin Sheng¡¯s. In contrast, all Lin Sheng could afford to do was mostly visit the arcades and inte cafes. So, Lin Sheng and Lin Zhenyu may have been of simr age, but they shared nomon interests. Lin Zhenyu¡¯s eyes asionally swept past him, and it felt as if Lin Sheng did not exist. This cousin of his was a top student, who hadnded a top ten spot in thest weekly exam in his school. Huaisha First High School, which Lin Zhengyu attended, was one of the top schools in town. It was of a different leaguepared with Hui An High School, where Lin Sheng studied. Lin Sheng could not care less about Lin Zhenyu and vice versa. Lin Sheng had his full attention on the books in his dream. The tranted text was still shing across his mind¡¯s eye. For a long time, I, Ravel, a ss II Swordsman of the Empire, have wanted to record a biography on myself. I have fought on the battlefield of Sharn and defeated seven elite enemy soldiers. I am not extraordinary, but I deserve my reputation as a ss II Swordsman. Now, I am old and returning to my hometown. In this desperate time, I want to leave my legacy. I can still see fire and hear explosions at the outpost. Shells pierce the air and glittering cold weapons sh in conflict, while myrades and I ruffle against each other¡¯s armor. Some people fall, and some get back up. There is a loud banging from the shield tower at the front, and smoke is rising like a stone column into the air. I am not afraid of death, but I do not want to die for nothing. That was it. That was the only part Lin Sheng had tranted after he went through the trouble of buying a dictionary and scouring the inte for grammar materials. He just pieced the words together and discovered their meaning. ¡°An actual soldier left this book behind,¡± Lin Sheng inferred. After days of hard work, Lin Sheng finally grasped some of the ancient Rehnnguage¡¯s basic vocabry. He spent all day and night on the trantion, eating, sleeping, and breathing the Rehn text whenever he was free. He swore that he had never been so crazily enthusiastic about learning. The books in his dream were like deadly poppies with a tempting aroma and appeal. He was eager to know what the ss II Swordsman represented and whether he could learn the art of sword fighting from the Handbook of Swordsmanship. ¡®The graphics I saw before could be an illustration of how to learn swordsmanship.¡¯ Lin Sheng thought. ¡°Lin Sheng? Lin Sheng?¡± Suddenly, a call jolted him out of his thoughts. Lin Sheng noticed a frowning Lin Zhenyu, who had been calling him several times. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Lin Sheng quickly replied. ¡°What revision materials do you need? I¡¯ve got a lot, and you can make a copy of them,¡± Lin Zhenyu said. Lin Sheng was stunned and turned to look at his dad. Apparently, Lin Zhenyu did not make the offer on his own ord but at his dad, Lin Zhounian¡¯s request. As his son was about to take the college entrance exam, Lin Zhaonian was worried because Lin Sheng¡¯s academic performance had always been mediocre. So, he figured that his son could learn something from Lin Zhenyu. However, Lin Sheng was not interested. He had the memories of his past life and was far more mature than the average student. When it came to academics, he was so-so, but it was only because he did not want to learn. Not only was Lin Sheng not interested, but he also did not agree with the exam-oriented education system there. He thought that it was merely a waste of time. Barely scraping by in his studies only to pacify his parents, Lin Sheng was not willing to invest more effort and time inpeting for marks with other students because he already had enough of those things in his past life. ¡°Revision materials? Thanks, but no thanks, Brother Zhenyu. I have enough here,¡± Lin Sheng replied. ¡°Fine.¡± Lin Zhenyu could not have cared less. ¡°Next week is Xiaoxiao¡¯s birthday. We¡¯re going out to have some fun, do you want to join us?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t go. I¡¯m strapped for time.¡± Lin Sheng could not be bothered as he was too engrossed in his dreams. ¡°You should expand your social circle. n for your future and think about where you want to go.¡± Lin Zhenyu always held a sense of superiority but pretended to be modest. ¡°Spend less time on video games and magazines. We should be responsible for our future.¡± Lin Zhenyu¡¯s father felt proud of his son while Lin Zhounian stayed silent. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: 011

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng was tired of all the bullsh*t. He had no intention of arguing with Lin Zhenyu, but his cousin seemed to enjoy unting his superiority. ¡°I know what I¡¯m doing and what I want to do. Brother Zhenyu, you should worry about yourself. I heard from my ssmates that you brought a girl to The People¡¯s Hospital. Is it true?¡± Lin Zhenyu was stunned, and his face froze. He thought that he had kept the secret well. Not only had Lin Sheng learned about it, but he had now revealed it in front of his father too. ¡°Stop spewing nonsense!¡± Lin Zhenyu panicked. After all, he was just neen years old. There was ack of subtlety, and when those words came out, his father, as well as Lin Zhounian, immediately wised up. Lin Sheng shook his head silently. As the two elders began to question Lin Zhenyu, he revealed everything he knew¡ªincluding the appearance of the girl. Truth be told, Lin Sheng did not hear about it from his ssmates; he saw it with his own eyes at the hospital. Leaving Lin Zhenyu alone, Lin Sheng got to his feet and exited the living room to quickly clean himself up. He wasted no time since he knew that studying for the college entrance exam and researching the ancient Rehn text would be time-consuming. Nothing could fascinate Lin Sheng more than the ancient Rehn text. ... Time flew. A month had passed since then. Lin Sheng, incessant in his study of the ancient Rehn text, finally managed to trante a few crucial pages of the book. He chose pages with graphics to save time, but it was not done randomly. The pages were carefully selected based on the marks below the graphic illustrations. Each illustration depicted a person holding a long sword, all in different poses, and the lines of text were mostly annotations. Lin Sheng discovered that the pages with graphics were exnatory while the rest of the pages just contained stories. That was also the reason why he focused on tranting the pages with graphic illustrations. Lin Sheng flipped through the pages of his notes, which he had written in Chinese characters. His brows were knitted together as he sat at his desk, immersing himself in the tranted content. ¡°I¡¯ve done five pages, all with graphics. There aren¡¯t many words, and the trantion process is much faster. I¡¯ve been using the Chinese characters that I¡¯ve learned from my past life for the notes because it¡¯s a safer method to prevent any secrets from being leaked. But this content...¡± Lin Sheng was hesitant. The tranted graphics were apparently illustrations of swordsmanship. Looking at the simple graphics that he had copied, Lin Sheng knew that the pattern and style, as well as the apanying text, described vital points and killer moves. They were obviously not for show but skills for actualbat. ¡°Is swordsmanship from a book in a dream real? If it isn¡¯t, it would be too dangerous to learn it.¡± In the first illustration, a man was holding a sword and thrusting forward. There were many arrows and annotations around his body. The move looked simple, but the essence of it was in the annotations. ¡°The more important issue is that the weapons in this society aren¡¯t as advanced as those in my past life. But firearms are rampant in this world, and cold weapons are only good for physical exercise.¡± Lin Sheng frowned as a thought urred to him. ¡°However, the swordsmanship from my dream could be something special. The book has repeatedly mentioned the ssification system.¡± Upon further reading, Lin Sheng learned about the ssification system. In the book, Swordsman Ravel had mentioned higher-order warriors whom he encountered on the battlefield. These higher-order warriors had superhuman bodies, terrific strength, speed, and were almost like war machines with heavy body armor. The descriptions of their battlefieldpletely overturned Lin Sheng¡¯s prior understanding of the world. Lin Sheng thought that the battlefield mentioned in the book was just from amon cold weapon era, but the existence of the higher-order warriors had changed his views; if the content of the book was real, then the higher-order warriors might also be true. ¡°Ravel mentioned that when a warrior attained ss III or higher, he could slowly train his stamina and improve his physique,¡± Lin Sheng recalled. ¡°If all of this is true...¡± Lin Sheng swallowed, looking at the graphics and text, which he had tranted. It could not be a figment of his imagination. A total of five pictures, when read in sequence, formed a motion picture of a move that Swordsman Ravel was most proud of. It was called Furious Blow. ¡°It¡¯s a simple yet effective move.¡± Lin Sheng had not seen it in person, but he could feel how badass the move was judging from the graphic illustrations. The little figure who wielded the sword was about to strike his opponent at a certain angle from above. Once hit, it would kill his opponent instantly. Lin Sheng exhaled gently and closed the handbook. ¡°I¡¯ll try to see if I can find any other content in the book tonight. Perhaps, I should leave the manor and check out other ces. There are already so many things in the manor, what will there be to explore outside? And how are the outdoors going to look like? Why haven¡¯t I seen a single living thing even though I¡¯ve spent such a long time in the manor? The scene outside the window has always been dark.¡± With plenty of questions on his mind, Lin Sheng washed up, took off his clothes, and went to bed. When Lin Sheng went to visit his grandfather in the hospital during the day, he had an unexinable feeling the moment he saw his grandfather lying on the hospital bed. It was not sadness. His grandfather had never treated his family well the entire time. So, naturally, they did not have a close rtionship. But in his time of trouble, it was Lin Sheng¡¯s family that came to his aid. Having said that, what Lin Sheng saw at that moment was not his grandfather but a dying old man. The fragility of life like that of a candle in the storm was pricking him. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t overthink. Let¡¯s see if I can leave the manor in my dream tonight.¡± Lin Shengy in bed, and his eyes slowly closed. In just a few minutes, he entered the dream world. After a short trance, he regained consciousness and slowly opened his eyes. Taking a deep breath, Lin Sheng looked at the low mahogany table in front of him and the Handbook of Swordsmanship on it. ¡°Here I am again.¡± It was still the same study room with no window, only a door leading to the hall. There were tworge bookshelves filled withrge red books. Lin Sheng went up to examine the bookshelves. Previously, he took books from the left of the bookshelves. But now, Lin Sheng wanted to start from the right. Without hesitation, he pulled out a book from the right side of the bookshelf and opened it. ¡°Aah!¡± He suddenly frowned and paused as he could not see the text on the book cover; it was all blurry. It was the same for the text inside. Some text even appeared like garbled characters and lines. Lin Sheng¡¯s heart sank. He quickly put the book down before he picked another red book from the shelf on the right and opened it. Just like the previous one, the text in it was also fuzzy. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: 012

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng frantically flipped through the pages, trying to find anything legible. But he found nothing. Dropping the book and going back to the bookshelf on the left, he quickly pulled out a book from the top half of the shelf. This time, he was relieved as the text in the book looked clear. ¡°Good...¡± But before Lin Sheng could exhale, he saw blurry pages again. Only the first half of the book was legible, and the second half was blear. His expression changed, and Lin Sheng could not help but feel anxious while he rummaged through the bookshelf even though he knew it was just a dream. It took him a while, and after he browsed through dozens of books, he finally got a rough idea of the situation. ¡°Only a dozen books in conspicuous positions on the left are legible. The rest are all obscure.¡± Lin Sheng sat down by the low table and fell into deep thought. ¡°The books on the table are all legible too, especially the Handbook of Swordsmanship. Plus, the graphics in it are extremely detailed.¡± He quicklypared the books and found a problem. Of all the readable books, the Handbook of Swordsmanship was the clearest, followed by the stack of books on the low table and the prominent books on the left shelf. ¡°Interesting.¡± Lin Sheng had a conjecture, but he was not very sure about it. ¡°I¡¯m not going to worry about this. Let¡¯s first explore the outside of the manor.¡± He was bing more and more fascinated with the dream. Standing still and keeping his cool, Lin Sheng put the book down and slowly walked toward the exit. In contrast to the time he first arrived, he could now perceive more of his surroundings¡ªthe coldness of the air, the texture of the floor under his feet, as well as the friction between his clothes and his skin. All these sensations convinced him that something was amiss in his dream. ¡°This isn¡¯t an ordinary dream. No dream could be so vivid and repeat itself for over a month!¡± Lin Sheng was convinced that he had encountered something abnormal. But since remembering past life memories was a possible thing, he was naturally able to ept and adapt to anything. Lin Sheng pushed the door open and slowly stepped out. He looked to the left and right before he ambled toward the main exit of the manor. He came before the main door and peered up. The purplish-red door, which was made of a certain type of metal with a light woodgrain surface, looked like a grandfather clock. A pattern depicting a circle with four different animals in it was visible in the middle section of the door. Lin Sheng had no idea what species those four animals were. They seemed like cheetahs with long serrated tails. Above the door was a diamond pattern that looked like a giant vertical eye, staring at everything in the room. Lin Sheng furrowed his brows and reached out to touch the door frame, where repeating letters formed a chain pattern, covering the entire length of the frame. ¡°This door seems to be guarding something.¡± Lin Sheng had a strange feeling. Once curiosity overwhelmed him, he reached out and held the door handle. The handle, which had been carved into the shape of a ck python head with a pair of lustrous dark red eyes, felt cold in his hand. He could even see the delicate scales on the snake-like handle. He gave it a twist, and the door opened with a quiet click. A vast foggy woond appeared before Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes. There was a horsene cutting through the woond and stretching all the way to the fog in the shade of the trees. Everything in his surroundings appeared to be grayish-ck. Lin Sheng swallowed and slowly walked out of the door. Outside, he came upon three wooden steps. Their dark red color appeared to be the result of paint sshes. The steps felt soft, and they creaked when he stepped on them as if they were going to copse. Lin Sheng stood in front of the entrance and looked around. His surroundings were dark because the trees were blocking the night sky, which was slightly bright but not bright enough to illuminate thend and woods. It just barely allowed a person to see the outline of things. Lin Sheng took a few steps forward. Sensing that he was on soft ground, he almost lost his bnce and immediately stopped. A faint strange, rhythmic, and dull noise was hearding from the distance. Lin Sheng looked in the direction of the sound and noticed something moving seemingly fast in the fog. ¡°What is that?¡± Lin Sheng squinted and tried to make out what it was. However, whatever it was suddenly picked up its pace like the pounding of the heart when a human was in a panic. Before Lin Sheng knew it, a tall quick-moving figure who made a weird puffing sound had emerged from the fog and rushed toward him. The sound got increasingly closer, and Lin Sheng finally knew what it was: footsteps. His pupils shrank. Lin Sheng continued to reverse until he tripped on the wooden steps and fell on the ground. ¡°Damn!¡± he cursed. Before Lin Sheng could get up, the figure sped up like when someone fast-forwarded a video. It appeared to be far away at first, but the next second, the figure with a strangely-twisted posture got within meters of him. ¡°I!¡± When Lin Sheng was halfway into getting up, he suddenly froze. His head was flung into the air in a nket of bloody mist. It crashed into the ajar main door and bounced off before it rolled down and stopped on the wooden steps. His ck eyes were dted. The ck figure wielded his sword, its tip touching the ground. Pausing for a moment, the figure then lunged forward to sh Lin Sheng¡¯s body with his sword, and blood spattered with every shing motion of the sword. Mutted into pieces, Lin Sheng¡¯s body parts were strewn around the wooden steps. ... Lin Sheng suddenly woke up in bed, panting. His body was in extreme pain, and he could still feel the pain from the cut on his neck. ¡°Am I dead?¡± The fast-moving figure was like a terrifying monster. There was no hesitation but only madness in the attack. Unfortunately, Lin Sheng did not manage to see the figure¡¯s face as the enormous tension and bone-chilling sensation had immobilized him at a critical moment¡ªhe could not even scream. Leaning against the headboard, Lin Sheng instinctively reached for his neck. There was no wound on his neck, but somehow, he felt the pain. Luckily, the pain was quickly fading. ¡°What was that dream about?¡± Lin Sheng could not help but shudder when he recalled the scene of the approaching figure. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: 013

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Sh*t!¡± Lin Sheng got up and sat on the edge of his bed. He ran his fingers through his hair and found it drenched in sweat. ¡°It¡¯s not the first time I¡¯ve dreamt about dying, but this time, the feeling¡¯s entirely something else.¡± Lin Sheng sat there and gasped, trying to calm down. Once his breathing returned to normal, he got up and walked over to sit at his desk. Lin Sheng switched the tablemp on and began to flip through the text he had tranted. ¡°The most crucial part of the swordsmanship guide is the five illustrations. The rest are mainly just stories,¡± Lin Sheng muttered to himself as he looked at the trantions. ¡°What was that figure in my dream? Is this information useful at all? What if the information and the swordsmanship that exist in the dream are just figments of my imagination? Learning it may cause irreversible damage to my body.¡± Lin Sheng had heard that learning acrobatics or martial arts the wrong way could result in physical disability. So, he was somewhat worried that the so-called Handbook of Swordsmanship was just all in his head. Sitting silently by the bed, Lin Sheng was unsettled. It was not until a whileter that he fell back in bed and closed his eyes. Yet, he could not sleep anymore because as soon as he shut his eyes, the pain of being killed would strike him. And this went on until dawn. At twilight, Lin Sheng had no choice but to get up. He cooked some noodles with the leftovers from the day before and quickly ate them. After that, he put on his school uniform and headed out to school. Lin Sheng thought that his death was only a dream. However, throughout the day, he felt a slight pain in his heart and a tingling sensation in his neck. After muddling along for the entire day in school, Lin Sheng politely declined Shen Yan¡¯s invitation to go to the cassette tape store and dragged himself back home. Lin Sheng tumbled into bed and fell asleep the moment he got home, skipping his dinner. This went on for two days before Lin Sheng recovered his spirit. He did not experience any dreams during those two days. It was as if his previous nightmare was just an illusion. His dad thought that he was ill and measured his temperature with a thermometer. But it turned out that Lin Sheng was fine, and all his dad could do was urge him to get more rest. The college entrance exam was necessary, but nothing was more important than one¡¯s health. After dinner, Lin Shengy in bed and looked up at the ceiling in silence. Had the notebook with his trantions not been in the desk drawer, he would have thought that it was really a dream. The house phone rang suddenly. His mom, Gu Wanqiu picked up the telephone. ¡°Sheng Sheng, your sister¡¯s looking for you.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He quickly got out of bed, scurried into the living room, and took the telephone from his mom. ¡°You should have put on a jacket.¡± Gu Wanqiu held Lin Sheng¡¯s hand, and it felt cold so she was worried. Going into Lin Sheng¡¯s bedroom, Gu Wanqiu came out with her son¡¯s coat. Lin Sheng replied his mother with a smile. He put on his jacket and sat down on the couch with the telephone in hand. Meanwhile, his elder sister did not say anything but just listened on. Lin Sheng paused and switched the phone to his other ear. ¡°What¡¯s up, Sis?¡± ¡°Nothing. I heard from Mom and Dad that you haven¡¯t been feeling well recently. Get more rest and don¡¯t overstretch yourself. Getting into a good university is important, but your healthes first.¡± His elder sister, Lin Xiao sounded worried. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Don¡¯t worry about me.¡± Lin Sheng made some calctions in his mind and said, ¡°The exam¡¯s still four months away; I¡¯m not worried. The recent nightmares have just been affecting my sleep.¡± ¡°Is it because you¡¯ve been reading too many horror stories?¡± ¡°I have no idea why. I haven¡¯t done anything except study.¡± Lin Sheng yed dumb. ¡°Is it because you don¡¯t have enough money?¡± Lin Xiao suddenly lowered her voice. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Really,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Don¡¯t act tough, I¡¯ll send you some money. You¡¯re grown up now, and some expenses are unavoidable,¡± Lin Xiao said. ¡°No, really, Sis. You have enough to worry about on your side.¡± ¡°I have enough here, don¡¯t you worry about me. All right, I¡¯ll stop here. Don¡¯t forget to get the money,¡± Lin Xiao said. Lin Sheng heard a female voice calling his elder sister as if asking her to help out with something. ¡°I have something to do here, I¡¯ll hang up now,¡± Lin Xiao responded and hurriedly hung up. Lin Sheng put the phone down and looked at the clock on the wall. It was nine in the evening. His elder sister was still working at that hour, and for this reason, Lin Sheng did not want to be a burden to her. But he knew she was stubborn and would send him the money anyway. ¡°Forget it. I have to sleep well tonight and begin my revision for the college entrance exam tomorrow,¡± Lin Sheng said. The college entrance exam in his current life was not much different from the one in his past life. It was only a ticket to promotion. If he failed the exam and was not epted into university, he could only go to a vocational school and be a mechanic. There were many vocational schools in Xilin, but they were rtively inferior to universities. Also, the quality of the vocational schools was much lower than the quality of schools in Lin Sheng¡¯s past life. If a student failed the college entrance exam and ended up in a vocational school, it basically meant that the person¡¯s future was over. There was a huge social gap in the society where few mechanics could leapfrog the divide, and the pay for simple technical jobs was meager. Returning to his bedroom and falling on his bed, Lin Sheng made up his mind; he would rest well and not worry about the nightmare until he finished the college entrance exam. Covering himself with his quilt, Lin Sheng said goodnight to himself, shut his eyes, and slowly fell asleep. ... Hearing his own breathing reverberating in an empty room, Lin Sheng opened his eyes and found himself in the familiar hall of the manor. Pieces of silver tableware were scattered on the long table that was covered with the tattered white cloth. ¡°I¡¯m here again?¡± Lin Sheng quickly looked around, and his heart sank. On the left was a wall where fuzzy oil paintings had been hung, and on the right was arge square window. Through the gauzy curtains, Lin Sheng could see the fog outside. He quickly moved forward and arrived before the door, which was open before he entered the study room. There he was, in that familiar ce once more with the giant opened book of clear text still sitting on the low table. ¡°Sure enough, I¡¯m back again.¡± Lin Sheng calmed down. Instead of looking at the Handbook of Swordsmanship, he left the study room and went back out to the hall again. At the window along the side of the living room, Lin Sheng gently drew the curtains open. Beyond the rudimentary wall of the manor was the ck forest. It looked like a monster shrouded in the fog. In the yard, within the outer walls of the mansion, were several broken wooden benches and a small swing. There was also something in the corner that looked like a hoe. Lin Sheng closed the curtains and went to check out the other windows, which did not face the main entrance. The figure hade from the main entrance thest time. Lin Sheng paused for a while, standing in the hall and falling into deep thought. Then, he turned around and started to search the manor. ¡°I need a weapon. It¡¯d be better if it was a little longer and wider.¡± Lin Sheng knew what to do. He did not intend to keep staying in the manor and the bizarre dream in which he died because it could physically affect him in reality. It gave him a sense of crisis, and he had the explicable hunch that if the shadow figure killed him repeatedly, some nasty changes might befall him. It seemed like his physical instincts were warning him. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: 014

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng rummaged in the hall but found nothing. Hence, he entered the study room. Yet, he discovered nothing except books there. Backing out from the study room, Lin Sheng decided to search the kitchen. After he found a pointed kitchen knife there, he rushed back to the bedroom. There was a king-sized wooden bed in the middle of the bedroom. Additionally, there was a wardrobe, a dressing table, and arge wooden box along the wall. Lin Sheng opened the wooden box but saw that it was empty. So, he swept his eyes around and walked up to the dressing table to pull open the drawer in which he found a few colored teenage-style hair bands. But the colors of the hair bands looked old and faded. He closed the drawer and checked out the other spots. Soon, something leaning against the wall in the corner behind the curtains caught Lin Sheng¡¯s attention. Lin Sheng strode nervously to the corner and grabbed the object¡ªit was a cross sword without a sheath. As Lin Sheng took the sword, its silvery-ck tip slid across the floor, producing a faint noise. He carefully lifted the sword in his hands. The long sword was not hefty¡ªfelt like five pounds¡ªand its length was just right, about waist-high. The crossguard and the de formed a standard cross, though the shape looked a little stretched. When Lin Sheng clenched the hilt with both hands, he could feel the rough fabric wrapped around the handle. The hilt and the de formed a seamless body without any apparent joint marks, and on the de near the hilt, there was a vertical eye pattern that looked identical to the one on the door. Lin Sheng waved the sword to see how it felt. To his dismay, it was a little too clunky. ¡°Let¡¯s see if there¡¯s anything else.¡± Lin Sheng poked around the bedroom for a while but still found nothing. So, he had no choice but to return to the hall. ¡°I¡¯ll need to be more careful not to make a sound this time. If I manage, it should be fine.¡± Lin Sheng was a bundle of nerves when the thought of his previous death came to mind. But it did not mean that he would not venture outside. After all, he knew that he would not die for real because it was just a dream. Lin Sheng was very curious about the world outside and would not be satisfied without going out to explore a little. With the sword in hand, Lin Sheng stood stark before the door and took a few deep breaths to calm himself. ¡°This time, I¡¯ll do it as quietly as possible. It¡¯ll be all right as long as that thing doesn¡¯t notice me.¡± He carefully reached for the snake-shaped door handle and gave it a gentle twist. The door unlocked with a click and opened slightly, just enough for Lin Sheng to pass through. Carrying the sword in his hands, Lin Sheng slowly slipped out. Once he stepped outside, Lin Sheng could feel the chilly wind blowing in his face. He shivered involuntarily as his body temperature plummeted and his joints stiffened. ¡°This feels more real than thest time. It doesn¡¯t feel like I¡¯m in a dream.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s heart suddenly skipped a beat, and the strange feeling made him uneasy. He stood right outside the door, peeked around furtively, and decided not to get down the flight of steps. ¡°This wooden stairway squeaked too loud thest time. I think I should just jump directly onto the ground so that I don¡¯t make any sound.¡± With a n in mind, Lin Sheng slowly moved to the right of the staircase. The humid and cold fog was surging slowly in his surroundings. Lin Sheng looked down and saw old scratches as well as many small pebbles on the dark yellow floor under his feet. He had to maneuver past the gravel with caution. Holding his breath, he quickly reached the edge of the veranda and jumped down silently,nding on the ground with a soft thump. With his feet nted on the ck soil, Lin Sheng peered into the distance. There was no strange sounding from the direction of the bridleway. ¡°I made it! I just have to remain vignt, then I won¡¯t attract any attention.¡± He breathed a sigh of relief. Shrouded in the fog, Lin Sheng started to anxiously scan his surroundings. Behind him was the open hall door, from which he exited earlier. On his left and right were all dark and dense woonds. All he could see was the bridle path in front of him. Lin Sheng took a deep breath and slowly circumvented the manor by going to the left. Soon, he arrived at the yard where the hall window faced. The yard had a swing, which was made by tying a ck wooden shelf between two dead tree trunks with thick hemp rope. There were a few decaying benches scattered randomly in the yard and a small withered garden in the corner of the wall. Lin Sheng wandered around for some time but discovered nothing. As such, he headed to the back of the house. He suddenly stopped in his tracks when he heard something. Lin Sheng was rooted to the spot in the fog, with the manor on his right and the small yard on his left. Clenching the sword in his hands and nting his feet on the ground, he looked straight ahead. He heard something dragging on the ground, and it sounded disturbingly all too familiar. He tensed up and stood still, staring into the dark fog from the backyard, which was just around the corner. The sound gradually got closer and closer. Then, the owner of the sound finally emerged. It was a weird person covered with ck pustules. The figure carried a long ck sword, and its hilt was fused together with his hand. Other than that, the figure looked just like a typical human. The human figure¡¯s face¡ªhis eyes, nose, and mouth¡ªwas fully covered with thick gray linen, and there were some blood stains on it. At about 1.9 meters tall, he was taller than Lin Sheng. The human figure also spotted Lin Sheng the moment Lin Sheng saw him emerging from the fog. He then stumped toward Lin Sheng. His steps were slow, and the tip of his sword produced a ¡®shiiiing¡¯ sound as it was dragged across the ground. ¡°What the heck is this?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s blood ran cold, and he shrank back involuntarily. Butpared with hisst experience of death, not only did he calm down quicker this time, but he also managed to think of a countermeasure. He traced his eyes downward and noticed that the monster¡¯s right leg was crippled. Large chunks of flesh were missing underneath his long pants. ¡°He doesn¡¯t look that impressive.¡± Lin Sheng clenched the hilt of his sword and had no intention of going away. He wanted to test how good the monster was. Lin Sheng figured that since the entrance to the house was nearby, he could turn around and quickly run back inside should things go wrong. With an emergency withdrawal n in mind, Lin Sheng decided to make contact with the living creature. ¡°Hey, can you understand me?¡± Lin Sheng spoke in Xilin in a low voice. The strange human figure did not respond but just continued to trudge toward him. ¡°Are you a resident here? Ie in peace. Can you tell me what this ce is?¡± Lin Sheng tried tomunicate with him. When the human figure showed no response while he approached, Lin Sheng sensed that something was wrong and began to retreat slowly. Right when Lin Sheng and the human figure were less than three meters apart from each other, the human figure suddenly lunged forth, thrusting his sword forward. The tip of his ck sword hit the cross-shaped sword in Lin Sheng¡¯s hand with a ng, and the sharp percussive sound reverberated in the air. Lin Sheng lost his bnce and almost tumbled to the ground. His blood ran cold, and he immediately turned around and ran, dragging the sword along as he scrambled onto the wooden staircase. He slipped through the doorway back into the hall before he mmed the door shut and snapped on thetches. Just as Lin Sheng thought that he was safe, he heard the same hissing sound behind him. He turned around slowly with all his muscles in a knot. To his surprise, a rotten swordsman with the same linen cloth wrapped around his face was limping toward him! Chapter 15

Chapter 15: 015

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°When did this thinge in here?¡± Lin Sheng was scared stiff. With his back against the door, he sped the hilt of his sword and felt a chill run up his spine. ¡°No! This is a different one!¡± Lin Sheng quickly figured it out. Arge chunk of this swordsman¡¯s right arm was missing as if something had bitten it off. The difference was hard to miss. ¡°I¡¯m in deep sh*t!¡± Lin Sheng did not want to die again. It had given him a severe hangover feeling for the past days. As the thing got closer, Lin Sheng identified the pustules on the swordsman¡¯s neck as small blisters; they were dense and bulging. Clenching the hilt of his sword and staring dead at his opponent, Lin Sheng¡¯s muscles tightened. Suddenly, the rotten swordsman lunged forward, thrusting the sword in his right hand straight into Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. Lin Sheng roared and raised his sword in the air in an effort to parry his opponent¡¯s attack from above, but he missed. Lin Sheng felt a great pain in his chest and lost strength in his hand, but the momentum kept the sword¡¯s motion going, and it sliced off the rotten swordsman¡¯s arm. However, it only shed off a small bit of flesh. Looking down at his chest, Lin Sheng noticed that his enemy¡¯s ck sword had pierced the left side of his chest, instantly immobilizing him. ¡°Again...¡± His vision went ck, and Lin Sheng lost consciousness. After an unknown amount of time, Lin Sheng woke up on his bed at home. The sky outside was gray, and the sun was about to rise as he heard roosters crowing in the distance. ¡°I died again.¡± Lin Sheng touched the area on his chest where his heart was and felt a tingling sensation. ¡°It felt so real.¡± He slowly sat up and discovered that his underwear, which he had just changed into the previous night, was now drenched in sweat. He got out of bed and quickly took a new set of clothes. Following that, he entered the bathroom to clean the sweat off his body with hot water before he put on the clean set of attire. ¡°I can¡¯t go on like this. I have to think of a way...¡± Lin Sheng sat at his desk, opening the drawer to take out the tranted notes, which were written in neat and tidy Chinese characters¡ªthe most secure way he coulde up with to prevent anyone in this world from understanding it except him. It was the best encryption method. ¡°Having checked online before, the illustrations and annotations seem to suggest that the swordsmanship is a real thing. But I¡¯ve never learned anything like this. Nevertheless, it¡¯s not a figment of my imagination but something real from another ce!¡± Lin Sheng was absolutely convinced now. ¡°The dream world is filled with dangers. A defenseless person like me will only be ughtered like cattle there. I could barely hurt that crippled monster.¡± He stared at his notes and the illustrations in front of him. ¡°I have to go out and explore if I want to find out the secrets of my dream. However, I couldn¡¯t even defend myself against the wounded monster. I have to find a way...¡± Lin Sheng sat in silence and soon thought of an idea. ¡°Since I already have the Handbook of Swordsmanship with me, I should try to find out if there¡¯s any way to learn it. Only then will I know whether this thing¡¯s real or not and improve my self-defense skills. After all, I still have a cross sword in my dream.¡± Lin Sheng rxed and made up his mind. Before his parents got up, Lin Sheng quickly ate his breakfast and headed straight to school. After the morning ss, he could not wait to leave and wander around downtown Huaisha. In this era where the Inte was still primitive, Lin Sheng could only go out and scout the area to find ces where he could learn European swordsmanship, which was the rarest of the martial arts in this part of the world. Huaisha, where Lin Sheng lived in, may have been a small town, but it was a port town with bustling international trading activity. Many foreigners went there and became the driving force behind the growth of its local industries. Lin Sheng first went to a street in Huaisha, where most foreigners stayed. Soon, he found what he was looking for: two associations and a club. The two associations charged expensive membership fees so Lin Sheng decided not to visit them. Now, there was only one option left. ¡°It looks rundown, but I¡¯m sure it¡¯s a lot cheaper.¡± Standing in the middle of the quiet street, Lin Sheng looked up at the shop on the second floor, where an inconspicuous wooden que with three rows of little characters was hung. Tengchong Swordsmanship Club ckmud Street Office ckmud Street Pigeon Association Apparently, the three entities shared the same signboard. Below the sign was a dirty and dpidated stairway. The wooden steps squeaked loudly when people stepped on them. Two hooligans were squatting on the staircase, puffing on their cigarettes while chatting. Lin Sheng looked down at his school uniform, grabbed his schoolbag tightly in his arms, and climbed up the stairs. When he reached the second floor, Lin Sheng saw three arrows drawn with red chalk on the wall, each pointing in three different directions. One of the arrows indicated that Tengchong Swordsmanship Club was on the right. He followed that arrow and turned into the corridor on the second floor. After he walked a dozen meters, Lin Sheng stopped in front of an open office door with a sign on it that read Tengchong Swordsmanship Club. It was pretty empty inside with only three rectangr ck desks forming arge table in one corner, and three people sitting there working on something. Lin Sheng knocked on the door. ¡°Hello, is this the Tengchong Swordsmanship Club?¡± A girl sitting closest to the entrance turned to look at him. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to learn orthodox Naxi swordsmanship. Is it avable here?¡± Lin Sheng replied. ¡°You¡¯vee to the right ce.¡± The girl suddenly smiled. ¡°We¡¯re the most professional non-profit hobby club in Huaisha.¡± ¡°Hobby club?¡± ¡°Yeah, a club for people sharing amon interest,¡± the girl exined. ¡°Come in. Not many people are interested in Naxi swordsmanship because boxing and MMA are the in-things now. Martial arts like ancient Naxi swordsmanship require learners to bring their own swords. It¡¯s quite troublesome and pretty impractical. So, no one makes it to the end unless they¡¯re really interested in it.¡± The girl smiled and pulled a chair out for Lin Sheng to sit on. As they sat down, Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes darted around the ce. The walls of the entire office were bare, and the chair under his butt was shaky. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: 016

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°This is a non-profit club, hence the condition of our ce.¡± The girl smiled. ¡°My name is Xu Yi. You can call me Sister Xu. The fact that you found this ce shows your immense interest in Naxi swordsmanship.¡± ¡°Yes, but I¡¯m a newbie who knows nothing about swordsmanship. I can only learn the most basic moves. Will you teach me?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°No problem, as long as you¡¯re willing to learn.¡± Xu Yi passed Lin Sheng a brochure. ¡°This is the standard fee structure. You can choose the package you want.¡± Lin Sheng took the brochure and nced at it. Basic Course: 18 Lessons. Two lessons per week. Tuition fee: £¤400. Advanced Course: 18 Lessons. One lesson per week. Tuition: £¤1,000. On the lower section of the brochure was an introduction of the club¡¯s two coaches: Chen Huan, a woman, and Du Xinlei, a man; they taught students of the opposite sex, and both possessed Third Grade National Athlete Certificates. Lin Sheng¡¯s face twitched when he saw the coaches¡¯ qualification; third-grade athletes were worthless. Generally speaking, anyone with slightly above average skills could already pass the certification. In some remote areas of Xilin, there were even cases where people could buy the certificate. Only first and second-grade certificates had value. It looked like this was only a mediocre club. Nheless, he would give it a try since it was better than not learning at all. ¡°Is there a trial lesson? I¡¯m a student. You know, students don¡¯t have much money,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Of course, the first lesson is free. What time slot would you prefer? Chen Huan¡¯s mainly in charge of male students while Du Xinlei the female students,¡± Xu Yi said with a smile. Lin Sheng looked at the clock on the wall. ¡°It¡¯s two o¡¯clock in the afternoon now. I have no sses this afternoon. Can I start now? How long is a lesson?¡± ¡°Forty minutes. Let me take you to Coach Chen Huan to see if she has time.¡± Xu Yi talked to the other two people, who got up and brought Lin Sheng out of the door. They turned left and went up one more floor before they stood on thending. There were tworge ssrooms on both sides of the stairway, and shouts could be hearding from the sses. It was mostly female voices on the left and male voices on the right. ¡°Your ss is on the right. Let me ask the coach first.¡± Xu Yi got Lin Sheng to wait outside the door while she entered the ssroom on the right. The room was asrge as four ssrooms in his schoolbined. The floor was covered with thick cushions and surrounded by bare-bone concrete walls. There were also two rows of fluorescentmps on the ceiling. A woman wearing tight-fitting gray trousers and a white short-sleeved T-shirt was holding a ck wooden stick, demonstrating for three boys. The long-legged woman with her hair in a ponytail had fair skin and a small waist. Lin Sheng gave her an eight just by looking at her from the side. The woman noticed Xu Yi and turned to say hello. The two talked in whispers for a while. Then, Xu Yi motioned for Lin Sheng toe in. ¡°You can take a trial lesson before you sign up.¡± ¡°All right.¡± Lin Sheng nodded and went forward. Looking at the simple stick in her hand, his mouth twitched involuntarily. ¡°I¡¯m Chen Huan, the swordsmanship coach here. Let¡¯s continue with the lesson.¡± The woman wasely with a petite mouth and a pair of apricot eyes that were filled with determination. She had to be the stubborn type, Lin Sheng thought. Standing behind the three students, Lin Sheng listened quietly. ¡°Once you get your posture right, the next step is your eyes. Pay attention to your opponent¡¯s point of force, which is any muscle and tendon that will trigger motions.¡± Chen Huan held the wooden stick upright with both hands beside her right ear. ¡°This is a Roof. Since there¡¯s a new student here today, we¡¯re going to do some revision. ¡°A posture is a starter move designed for fast attacks that target the opponent¡¯s weak points. ¡°A Roof is one of them. It¡¯s the most basic swordsmanship posture, which all of you must master.¡± Lin Sheng listened attentively and before he knew it, ten minutes had passed. Chen Huan just exined the basics briefly and delved into the more difficult part quickly. Fortunately, she gave the other students free time to practice, and they all moved to the side with wooden sticks in their hands. Chen Huan then asked Lin Sheng to pick up a stick from the corner of the ssroom. ¡°First time?¡± Chen Huan asked. ¡°Yup, I¡¯m a newbie.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Why do you want to learn Naxi swordsmanship?¡± Chen Huan swung the thick wooden stick, creating an airburst sound. Lin Sheng squinted, staring at the movements of her stick. ¡°Because I¡¯m interested.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not sincere.¡± Chen Huan smiled. ¡°Well, since you have no foundation at all, I¡¯ll start with the basics.¡± She held the stick and lifted it to the side of her right ear. ¡°The foundation of Naxi swordsmanship is divided into postures, basic moves, and sword skills. Our club mainly teaches basic postures and moves. We won¡¯t talk about sword skills since you¡¯re still a long way from it.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Naxi swordsmanship is a delicate sword technique introduced by an ancient foreign kingdom. Many people think that this sword technique is crude and chaotic, but this perception is a big mistake.¡± Chen Huan raised the stick over her head. ¡°This is also one of the basic postures. Roof is typically used when not wearing body armor. The sword is above the head so that striking from above is more natural. ¡°The posture with the sword near the ear is only used when we wear body armor. Since the helmet is tall, we ce the long sword next to the ear.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Lin Sheng raised the stick and made the same posture. ¡°After the postures, you have the basic moves. The basic moves of Naxi swordsmanship are mainly thrust, strike, and swirl. If you register, you¡¯ll learn these three moves.¡± Chen Huan began to demonstrate the simple Roof and one of the basic moves¡ªthrust. Soon, the forty-minute ss ended. Lin Sheng had probably just scratched the surface, and the next step¡ªpaying the fee¡ªwas the most crucial part. ¡°I don¡¯t have money right now. Can I pay for it partially first?¡± Lin Sheng asked. He only had over £¤100 in his pocket. His elder sister mentioned that she would send him money, but Lin Sheng did not want to rely on her. As a spacetime traveler, he would be ashamed of himself if he could not even earn some money. ¡°Partially? How much?¡± Chen Huan asked haplessly. ¡°One hundred. I¡¯ll take a quarter of the course first,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°I¡¯ll continue the rest of the course after I pay the bnce.¡± ¡°All right.¡± Chen Huan thought for a moment and nodded. The two discussed the schedule, trying to make lessons on the weekends when Lin Sheng had no school. After that, Lin Sheng paid the money and got the payment receipt in one hand and a ck stick in the other. Before he left, he had asked and learned that the club would be vacant after four in the afternoon. As such, he coulde and interact with the other students, as well as learn how to use the protective body armor and helmets for apparent reasons. Of course, he would have to pay if he damaged any of them. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: 017

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng did not engage in a long conversation with his parents after he got home. After dinner, he went back to his bedroom to quickly finish his homework before he practiced the swordsmanship¡¯s basic postures using the wooden stick. The long sword, which was also a cross sword, was the only weapon Lin Sheng could find in his dream. And connected to it was the swordsmanship book that he had tranted. So, Lin Sheng was eager to prove whether the sword moves were useful. Once he was done practicing the postures and the first basic move, Lin Sheng took a shower and hit the sack. The night went by without a dream. After school the next day, Lin Sheng hurried over to the club in the afternoon just to catch a few students sparring in the ssroom. He enthusiastically put on the armor, which was made of bamboo, and wielded his wooden stick. Then, he began to spar with the other students. Since everyone was still a rookie, the practice session naturally looked a little messy. Lin Sheng did not dream again for the next several days. Instead, he went to the club to practice what he had learned each day. No one in the club was as hardworking as Lin Sheng. When Chen Huan saw the persistence in Lin Sheng, who always practicedte into the night before going home, she decided to give Lin Sheng some individual attention. Another week had passed, and Lin Sheng finally got the opportunity to enter the nightmare again. ... The sound of the tip of the sword being dragged across the ground was audible before Lin Sheng could even open his eyes. And as soon as his vision was restored, he looked in the direction of the sound and found that the rotten crippled swordsman was still in the hall, limping and lugging his sword along. The swordsman was in front of an oil painting on the left side of the wall, and the long ck sword that grew from his hand emitted a sharp ¡°shiiiing¡± as he moved. Lin Sheng came to his senses and saw the silver sword, which he had previously taken out of the bedroom, in a corner. ncing at the rotten swordsman and seeing that the swordsman did not notice him because the swordsman¡¯s back was facing him, Lin Sheng carefully circumvented the big dining table to get to the sword near the door. After learning the basics of the swordsmanship for a week, Lin Sheng had pretty much figured out which move had killed him thest time¡ªit was the simple thrust move. Thrusting was the most natural move but also the hardest to master. In Naxi swordsmanship, making the thrust move required the body to be in a sideways position with the arm extending forward. This was so that the sword could thrust as far out as possible to kill the opponent while dodging the opponent¡¯s attack. Lin Sheng moved very slowly, and soon reached the door where the sword was. Keeping an eye on the rotten swordsman, he quietly bent over to pick up the long sword with his right hand. After a week of basic postures and thrusting practice, Lin Sheng was keen to try out his skill to see if he could kill the monster. ¡°He¡¯s just a slow cripple. I just need to be careful, then I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Lin Sheng estimated the distance. The monster seemed to rely on hearing to judge his surroundings. As long as he did not make a sound,unching a surprise attack from behind should work. Making up his mind, Lin Sheng held the sword and inched toward the rotten swordsman. Once he got close enough, he clenched his sword with both hands and slowly lifted it near his right ear in the Roof posture. Lin Sheng had been eating and sleeping with the Roof posture and thrusting move for the past week. He imagined his fight with the rotten swordsman in his mind every single day. Now, the day that he most looked forward to had finally arrived. Under the dark night sky in the hall, Lin Sheng raised his long sword and gritted his teeth as he and the rotten swordsman were just three steps apart. Lin Sheng roared and struck down from above. In a split second, the rotten swordsman turned around, drawing a ck arc in the air with his right arm and urately blocking Lin Sheng¡¯s attack. As the two metal swords collided, Lin Sheng felt numb¡ªeven pain¡ªin his wrist. The sword in his hand vibrated so much that he almost lost grip of it. But Lin Sheng gritted his teeth and pressed his sword down with all his might while he kicked his opponent in the knee. The rotten swordsman¡¯s legs were slow, and they failed to dodge Lin Sheng¡¯s kick. His knee snapped with a loud cracking sound. Losing his bnce, the swordsman¡¯s right hand dipped with his sword. Lin Sheng¡¯s de involuntarily followed, slipping off the swordsman¡¯s ck sword before cutting into something soft below. ck blood sttered like ck ink all over the ce, turning the inky floor ck. The rotten swordsman stumbled to the ground with ck blood spurting out from the left side of his neck. With the sword in his hand, Lin Sheng looked on and was dumbfounded as the monster fell to the ground. ck smoke rose from his body, prating and disappearing into Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. In a split second, countless fragmented images shed across Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. Kneeling on the floor and letting go of the sword in his hand, Lin Sheng buried his head in his hands. He wanted to scream butcked the strength to do so because of his convulsions and severe headache. The ck smoke began to evaporate from his body, and that went on for anywhere from ten minutes to half an hour¡ªhe was not sure how long. In his kneeling position, Lin Sheng struggled and removed his hands from his face. His eyes were bloodshot, but it looked like there were ck spiderwebs around his ck pupils. ¡°Ravel Green...¡± With aplicated expression on his face, Lin Sheng stood up and peered at the rotten swordsman whoy face down on the floor. ¡°Ravel, you said that you would love me forever. Have you forgotten?¡± A voice suddenly rang out behind Lin Sheng. He turned around, and his blood ran cold when he saw no one behind him. ¡°Did I just experience a hallucination?¡± Lin Sheng gritted his teeth and gasped as he quickly picked the sword up from the floor. The de was damaged. It was chipped, and there were many fine cracks around the chipped area. ¡°The sword is ruined. Perhaps it¡¯s too old. The fact that an old sword made of ordinary material couldst through a fight is good enough.¡± Lin Sheng put his long sword down and cast his eyes on the long ck sword in the rotten swordsman¡¯s right arm. Taking a deep breath, Lin Sheng recalled what he saw when the ck gaseous substance rushed into his chest. It was the memory fragments of Ravel, the owner of the manor. Those memories and vague iplete voices kept echoing in his head up to that moment before slowly receding. He seemed to have experienced the bits and pieces of Ravel¡¯s life. Fortunately, however, the number of memories shing into his mind was minimal, otherwise, he would have gone crazy. Lin Sheng bent down to examine the rotten swordsman¡¯s body to make sure that the swordsman could no longer move for good. After that, he raised his sword, aimed it at the swordsman¡¯s right arm, and struck down. Despite the chip on the de, the sword still made a clean cut on the rotten swordsman¡¯s arm. Lin Sheng did not encounter much resistance, and that had to do with the high degree of decay in the swordsman¡¯s body, which had weakened the bone... or else, it would not have been so easy. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: 018

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion A momentter, Lin Sheng sat in the kitchen, carefully examining the ck sword that he had severed off the rotten swordsman¡¯s arm. At the length of an arm and width of a palm, the ck sword had a smooth ss-like coating on its surface. Its hilt had a ck crossguard, and just like the silver sword earlier, it was a cross-shaped sword. On the de near the grip was the mark of a vertical eye identical to the one on the silver sword. ¡°It looks like Ravel¡¯s the rotten swordsman.¡± Lin Sheng could make out the identity of the swordsman once he saw the fragmented memories in his mind¡¯s eye. ¡°The most unbelievable thing is that I can absorb his memories!¡± He reached for the hilt of the ck sword and gently lifted the sword. The ck sword was a tad heavier¡ªabout one and a half times¡ªthan the previous silver sword. Waving the sword in his hand, Lin Sheng found it surprisingly handy. With that sense of familiarity, he nted his feet on the floor as energy began to rise from his legs to his waist, then to the shoulders and arms. With the aid of this new strength, he urately thrust the sword forward in a straight line, leaving behind a ck trail along with a faint airburst. ¡°What just happened?¡± Lin Sheng was startled. The smooth thrusting move waspletely instinctual without any hesitation as if he had practiced the move many times before. After a pause, Lin Sheng waved the sword again to try out other moves. The other moves did not feel the same as the thrust earlier, no matter how many times he tried. So, he may as well just practice the thrusting move. His repeated practice of the move produced airbursts in the kitchen. Lin Sheng found the move absolutely awesome. ¡°Wait a minute! This seems simr to the move that the rotten swordsman used before.¡± It was this very move that killed Lin Sheng thest time, and he had only begun to notice the familiarity as he practiced it. He stabbed the sword forward again. As simple as it may have seemed, the basic move became more potent than it appeared with limb and body coordination. ¡°The attack point is the same¡ªthe heart on the left side of the chest.¡± Recalling the fragmented memories that he had seen, Lin Sheng could vaguely deduce that they were thest memories of the rotten swordsman. ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with acquiring the rotten swordsman¡¯s fragmented memories. After all, anything can happen in dreams.¡± Once he calmed down, Lin Sheng began to enjoy his newfound strength. Taking the ck sword and leaving the kitchen, Lin Sheng went to examine the body of the rotten swordsman in the hall and made sure that everything was all right. After that, he grabbed the body by its clothes to drag and toss it outside through the doorway. He then closed the door and snapped thetches on. Since there was no water in the manor, Lin Sheng wiped the ck blood off his hands, using the curtain as a rag. Then he returned to the study room and sat down, wanting to continue his memorization of the swordsmanship notes. Very quickly, Lin Sheng was surprised to find that he could understand some of the words in the handbook. With thebination of context and illustrations, he could roughly make out the meaning. ¡°This must be the result of acquiring Ravel¡¯s memory!¡± Lin Sheng was overjoyed. He could not believe that killing a monster in his dream had given him such an advantage. He quickly scanned the Handbook of Swordsmanship and finished it in its entirety. Just as he had expected, content on the swordsmanship was only a tiny part of the handbook. Only a few pages with illustrations mentioned Ravel¡¯s famous sword technique: Furious Blow. Lin Sheng gave it a quick read inbination with the previous andtter pages. ¡°Furious Blow isn¡¯t so much Ravel¡¯s famous sword technique but a kind of conventional long sword technique. It¡¯s just that Ravel really mastered it so it became famous.¡± He flipped the pages, his eyes scanning the text. ¡°Unlike what the book title suggests, most parts of the book talk about Ravel¡¯s travels, battles, experiences, and stuff like that; nothing more than blowing his own horn.¡± Shaking his head, Lin Sheng put the book down. After he acquired some of Ravel¡¯s memories, he could recognize quite a number of new words when he reread the books, which he had difficulty understanding earlier. Lin Sheng stood up, scanned the bookshelf, and quickly found another book that he could read. This book was different from the otherrge books; its cover was nk, there was content only in the first half of the book, and the writing was all scribbled. ¡°It looks like a notepad.¡± Lin Sheng began to carefully read the text at the top of the first page. The sky has turned dark again. Dunnes again. He is leaving to seek help, but things have be irreparable. Leaving will only bring a more horrible oue. As the subsequent line was illegible, Lin Sheng simply turned to the next page. The nights are getting longer, and the winds colder. Dunn has left. Myst best friend, I wish you a safe journey. Lin Sheng found it surprisingly easy to read since the text was written in simplenguage. So, he continued to browse through the pages. I am old, and my physical strength has declined dramatically. Polly has also grown up. She struck down my sword for the first time today. I am very pleased. Many chickens and ducks have gone missing from the manortely. I do not know if they are dead or something else. The wind is freezing... I hope everything can go back to the beginning. Except for the parts that he could not understand, Lin Sheng found page after page of the author¡¯s daily life¡ªthey were bits and pieces about Ravel and his granddaughter, Polly. But Ravel¡¯s words contained a faint sense of despair and depression as if some grave danger was looming in the world outside. Lin Sheng kept flipping and soon found these on thest few legible pages: Did something also happen to ckfeather City¡¯s patrol troop? Even thest shield has... It is hopeless now. It looks like I will have to go to Lhasabelle and get my new sword. The old sword can no longer hold up. With the protection of my armor, Polly will be all right. She will be able to make it out safely. Lin Sheng knitted his brows together as at that point, the text got blurry. But he had learned a few essential things. First, there was probably a ce called ckfeather City. Second, the ce where Ravel went to collect his sword was called Lhasabelle. It was likely a ce for buying and selling weapons. Perhaps he could find some protective gear there. After spending a week in the club, Lin Sheng was no longer totally clueless about such weapons. He had learned online that a full set of body armor was absolutely vital for improving survival in the cold weapon era. ¡®ckfeather City... Lhasabelle...¡¯ Lin Sheng repeated the names in his mind, feeling that his dream was getting as real as it was interesting. He could not wait to find out what happened to ckfeather City and why Ravel, a ss II swordsman, had turned into a rotten monster. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: 019

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng shouted as he thrust the wooden stick forward repeatedly. Standing among a group of students, Lin Sheng appeared inconspicuous, but if one were to take a closer look, his moves and postures were the most authentic. Chen Huan observed him carefully with her arms crossed, and she knitted her brows together. ¡°He¡¯s improving fast!¡± she whispered. By her side was Xu Yi, who was sipping hot water from the mug in her hand. ¡°It¡¯s only been three weeks, but this kid¡¯s a born swordsman. It looks like we¡¯ve found a gem.¡± Chen Huan shook her head and said, ¡°Even if he¡¯s a gem, there¡¯s no way to send him to an officialpetition because we¡¯re not a proper institution. Even coaches like us have to register for exams elsewhere. If he wants to get the certification, it would have to be at his own expense.¡± ¡°He¡¯s just a beginner; it¡¯s too early to talk about that.¡± Xu Yi smiled. ¡°But if we can train him well, who knows, he might win somepetitions and make our club famous.¡± ¡°I hope so.¡± Chen Huan was somewhat enthused. Truth be told, in the world of sports, youthfulness was an asset. There were Naxi swordsmanshippetitions held in Xilin, and as long as Lin Sheng could make it to the city-level championships, he would be much better off than staying in the club. The entire swordsmanship club relied on the patronage of a few rich kids to stay afloat and cover its daily operational costs. Chen Huan and Du Xinlei¡¯s original intention for recruiting students was to earn some money to keep their club running, and reduce expenses at the same time. ¡°We¡¯re just half-baked coaches, if I may say so,¡± Chen Huan said. ¡°I¡¯ve only learned Naxi swordsmanship for two years while Du Xinlei three.¡± ¡°It¡¯s notplicated and entirely dependent on the talent of the learners. There are just so many moves to learn, after all.¡± Xu Yi smiled and took another sip of hot water before she continued, ¡°It was Chen and a few others who came up with this idea for fun. Only Du Xinlei and you have taken it so seriously. Had they been concerned about losing money, they would not have set this club up.¡± ¡°You¡¯re probably right.¡± Chen Huan forced a smile, and just as she was about to speak further, it was time for the students to spar. ¡°Well, everyone, pay attention. The sparring session starts now. Please refrain from attacking the head and lower body. Whose body gets touched first loses.¡± Chen Huan pped her hands and began to instruct everyone to put on their armor. Drenched in sweat, Lin Sheng lowered his stick. He felt like he had just woken up in a body of water. A strange sense of familiarity had corrected his moves the entire time during practice. ¡°This is weird. Could it be that whatever happens in the dream affects reality?¡± Lin Sheng became a little nervous. Since killing the rotten swordsman in his dream, he had not given it much thought until the practice session when he vaguely felt something amiss. His moves and agility were on another level now, as though he had practiced them many times; some of his moves were fluid while some still seemed to be rudimentary. Lin Sheng stood transfixed with the wooden stick in his hand. He had tested a few moves earlier and found the crux of the problem. ¡°My basic move, the thrust, is way better than thest time.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s pupils contracted as the changes in his dream came to mind. ¡°I acquired the memory and skills of the rotten swordsman after I killed him in the dream. Now, even reality has...¡± Feeling confused, Lin Sheng paused. He was fearful but simultaneously looking forward to the supernatural phenomenon. ¡°If Ravel whom I have killed really exists, does it mean that there¡¯s also a ce called ckfeather City?¡± Lin Sheng began to have butterflies in his stomach when he realized that his dreams were not what he initially thought them to be¡ªonly a little special. If such things could happen in his dream, did it mean that simr changes also urred in other parts of the world? ¡°Is this world still the ordinary world that I¡¯vee to know?¡± Lin Sheng clenched his wooden stick a little tighter. ¡°Lin Sheng, Feng Xia, you two spar.¡± Chen Huan¡¯s voice jolted Lin Sheng out of his thoughts. Lin Sheng looked around. Feng Xia, who was rtively more skillful among the students, was already standing opposite him with full-body armor on and a ck wooden stick in her hand. She pulled her visor down and stood in the Roof posture by raising her stick near her ear. Lin Sheng finally snapped out of it. He quickly put on the bamboo armor and helmet, then proceeded to pull down his visor. Through the wire mesh, he could see his opponent. The other students also began to find their sparring partners. All the students there were novices, and Lin Sheng had a second change of ssmates in just a few weeks because most of them onlysted for a few lessons. Once their initial enthusiasm died down, they stoppeding. There was no surprise to this phenomenon. Who would still want to practice swordsmanship in this era when a bullet was all it took to solve problems? Not to mention, one had to get a permit to carry a sword. ¡°Ready, three, two, one, go!¡± Chen Huan had divided the students into groups. She raised her right arm and waved. Lin Sheng quickly lifted his stick and charged aggressively at his opponent. Feng Xia, a 183-pound girl, standing at 1.7 meters tall, the same as Lin Sheng, quickly riposted with a quick forward sweep. However, Lin Sheng changed tactics midway. It turned out that he was only faking the strike from above, and his actual intention was to thrust his wooden stick straight at Feng Xia. Lin Sheng¡¯s ck stick hit Feng Xia first before Feng Xia¡¯s strike from above could hit Lin Sheng. Dropping her stick with her hand pressed on her stomach, Feng Xia squatted down and cried in pain. Standing still with his thrusting posture frozen in ce, Lin Sheng looked a little unresponsive. He had just instinctively pulled off Ravel¡¯s famous thrust. ¡°It really works.¡± His face did not reveal much of an expression, but deep down, Lin Sheng was stunned. The thrust maneuver was so much more fearsome in actualbat than the other moves. Feng Xia was the one who made the first move, but when the speeds on both sides were simr, the straight-line distance between the stick and the opponent became the factor that separated victory from defeat. ¡°One more round!¡± After a short break, Feng Xia got to her feet with her stick and threw herself into the same posture again. Lin Sheng was silent for a moment, eager to know whether he had really undergone any changes. Soon, Lin Sheng hit his opponent in session, and Feng Xia screamed in pain. It quickly caught the attention of the other students. The wooden stick in Feng Xia¡¯s hand was struck off her hand. Unwilling to concede defeat, Feng Xia stubbornly went to pick her stick up again. ¡°That¡¯s enough. The difference of strength between you two is toorge. Let me try.¡± Chen Huan walked over to stop Feng Xia. ¡°Lin Sheng has made tremendous improvement. He may only know one move, but he uses it better than anyone else.¡± Feng Xia was adamant. ¡°I just didn¡¯t get enough rest yesterday. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s not your fault.¡± Chen Huan shook her head and interrupted Feng Xia. Holding a wooden stick up to her ear, Chen Huan stood opposite Lin Sheng. ¡°Your fighting style reminds me of the battlefield swordsmanship materials I saw before. The military mainly utilized the Naxi swordsmanship¡¯s thrust move.¡± ¡°Coach, you...?¡± Lin Sheng was hesitant. ¡°We are sparring.¡± Chen Huan, bowing slightly with her eyes lowered, was extremely serious. Lin Sheng stood with his mouth agape. Noticing Chen Huan¡¯s silence, he knew that he had to take on the challenge. After all, Lin Sheng was also keen to know how good he had be after he acquired Ravel¡¯s muscle memory. The two stood face to face, holding their wooden sticks in the air like they were real swords. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: 020

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Xu Yi stood to the side with a hint of interest on her face. ¡°The rest of you, step aside. Let me begin.¡± Astonished by someone having the guts to take on Coach Chen Huan, a few students stopped their practice to watch the battle. Feng Xia cupped her hands and moved to the side, observing Lin Sheng. She did not think that she had lost; it was just ack of rest the day before. ¡°Let¡¯s see how this kid gets crushed!¡± Feng Xia murmured. After attending the ss for over two months, she was the most senior student in the ss and naturally found it shameful that a neer could defeat her. ¡°Begin!¡± Loud shouts ensued as the two sticks collided. At that moment, everyone including Xu Yi seemed to see two swords, not sticks, in the fight. Lunging forward and pressing her wooden stick against Lin Sheng¡¯s, Chen Huan bent her elbow to try to knock Lin Sheng¡¯s weapon away. This move, which she had yet to teach her students, looked like a simplebination of grab and sword techniques but took her a long time to master. Chen Huan did not hold back as she wanted to defeat Lin Sheng in the first round to defend her pride as a coach. But Chen Huan was shocked when she discovered that they both were maintaining an equally long distance from each other. Unable to beat Lin Sheng in the first round, Chen Huan was forced to change her tactics. Otherwise, she would only lose face if the battle dragged on. ¡°Awesome!¡± Xu Yi¡¯s face turned solemn. ¡°Distance calction is the heart of Naxi swordsmanship. Its primary purpose is to first get in a position where the opponent can¡¯t reach you, then look for opportunities to strike the opponent¡¯s weak point. ¡°However, Chen Huan couldn¡¯t even get the upper hand just now. There¡¯s something in this rookie.¡± ¡°Really?¡± A new student was in awe. With a little foundation before joining the club, this new student had practiced with Chen Huan many times, and each time, Chen Huan would defeat him in an instant. Now, seeing how Chen Huan and Lin Sheng had been evenly matched for several rounds, the student was amazed. ¡°His improvement¡¯s too fast!¡± a male student said in a low voice. ¡°I remember that he just starteding three weeks ago. Has he learned this before?¡± ¡°Unlikely. I think he¡¯s born for this kind of sport.¡± Xu Yi shook her head. Just as they spoke, there was a change in the battle. Each time Chen Huan attacked, Lin Sheng would dodge with much agility. How would she face her other students when she could not even defeat a three-week-old newbie? So, Chen Huan became anxious. She wanted to win and had to win decisively. Yet, the more emotional she got, the more anxious she got and the more mistakes she made in her moves. Her face soon turned red. At first, Lin Sheng did not realize what was happening because he was immersed in the instinctive control of his muscle memory. When Lin Sheng finally noticed Chen Huan¡¯s strange movements and expressions, he realized that he had overdone it and quickly revealed an opening by slowing down his riposte on the right on purpose. Seeing the opportunity, Chen Huan was delighted and quickly struck Lin Sheng through the opening. Hit on the right rib with his chest wide open, Lin Sheng retreated several steps back. Just as Lin Sheng was about to concede defeat, Chen Huan, with eyes turned red, roared and struck down from above with both hands. She knew that Lin Sheng lost on purpose, but the battle had dragged on for too long, and it would not look good on her to be bogged down by a student. She needed to maintain her reputation by achieving an absolute win. Not allowing Lin Sheng to concede defeat, Chen Huan decided to further take advantage of Lin Sheng¡¯s good-will byunching a quick attack from above. Wanting to stop the sparring session and not seeing what wasing, the surprise attack caught Lin Sheng off-guard. In a split second, he instinctively clenched his stick with one hand and thrust it straight forward while his body moved sideways. Chen Huan¡¯s wooden stick struck down from above with full force but barely scraped Lin Sheng¡¯s mask. Had the stick hit him on the head directly, he would have been badly hurt even with the helmet on. Almost at the same time, Lin Sheng¡¯s wooden stick struck Chen Huan in her abdomen. Dropping her stick to the floor, she groaned and squatted down with both hands on her stomach, appearing to be in acute pain. Sensing that things had gone terribly wrong, Lin Sheng quickly went up to check on Chen Huan. ¡°Lin Sheng!¡± Xu Yi shouted at Lin Sheng. ¡°What did you do?! This is just a training session. Why did you use so much force?¡± Walking over and squatting next to Chen Huan, Xu Yi checked her injury. Lin Sheng¡¯s purposeful loss and Chen Huan¡¯s willful pursuit happened so fast that no one in their surroundings noticed what had happened. Lin Sheng stood in the same spot silently. He just followed his instincts¡ªevading, then riposting. It was Ravel¡¯s muscle memory that controlled him. It seemed that the blow was a heavy one to Chen Huan even with the bamboo body armor. For a while, she could not get to her feet. But if Lin Sheng had not fought back, Chen Huan would have struck him good and proper. Chen Huan obviously did it on purpose, pretending not to see that Lin Sheng was taking a dive. ¡°How long have you been learning this? Stop fooling us by iming to be a newbie!¡± Xu Yi said coldly as she got to her feet. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Lin Sheng was stunned. ¡°Stop pretending! Are you here for a dojo challenge?¡± Xu Yi felt that she had guessed correctly. ¡°Take your money back and get the hell out of here! You¡¯re not wee here!¡± Xu Yi showed Lin Sheng the door. After taking a look at Chen Huan¡¯s injury and seeing arge bruise on her abdomen, Xu Yi could not believe that Lin Sheng could be so ruthless. Lin Sheng did not say anything. It was just a misunderstanding. Chen Huan deliberately made use of the opportunity to attack Lin Sheng to save her own face. Had he been an ordinary student, things would not have developed that way. But Lin Sheng was anything but an average student. Nheless, he had achieved what he wanted and tested how potent Ravel¡¯s swordsmanship was. ¡°It looks like you¡¯re not going to exin yourself. Goodbye, then.¡± Lin Sheng saw that Chen Huan had no intention of clearing the air, and the other students had begun to resent him with Xu Yi influencing the narrative. He felt that it was pointless to stay there any longer. Taking off his armor and dropping the wooden stick on the floor, Lin Sheng walked to the ssroom¡¯s exit. It was only then that he noticed the incident had attracted many onlookers. Many of them were female students from next door, and some were people he had never seen before. ¡°Excuse me.¡± Lin Sheng headed directly to the office, where he was given a refund of his £¤100. With his money in hand, Lin Sheng went straight downstairs. The sky was getting dark. Standing downstairs, Lin Sheng looked back at the signboard of the Tengchong Swordsmanship Club. He never thought things would end up that way, with him having to leave the club after just three weeks of lessons. Chen Huan seemed like a good coach at first, but it turned out that to save face, she... Not wanting to harp on it anymore, Lin Sheng shook his head since he could not exin what had happened to himself either. Just as he turned around and was about to leave, someone called him. ¡°Wait a minute, buddy!¡± Suddenly, a tall man rushed up to him from behind and patted him on the shoulder. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: 021

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Bro! Don¡¯t go just yet. Have you ever thought of joining another club? You¡¯ve got some great skills there. Even the b*tch, Chen Huan, wasn¡¯t a match for you! You¡¯re a master!¡± The man, who had strong perfume on his body, came up to Lin Sheng. Being a little taller than Lin Sheng, the man was a hunk. His voice was coarse, but his native Xilin ent sounded a little strange to the ear. Xilin people mainly had yellow skin tone. But these yellow-skinned people were generally much fairer than those in Lin Sheng¡¯s past life. Meanwhile, the cks and whites there were rtively less socially divided than those in Lin Sheng¡¯s past life. The current whites were only slightly fairer than the ones with yellow skin tones. Foreigners weremon in the port city of Huaisha. They mainly came from the countries in the Riehen region on the other side of the ocean. That was the most developed region in the world. Lin Sheng turned around and looked the man up and down. He was white and had dark blond hair as well as a golden nose ring. The guy was baring his upper body with a pair of loose gray breeches. ¡°Hello, my name is Russell. I¡¯m the manager of Steelscale Club. I saw it; you fought well!¡± the man said. ¡°Russell?¡± Lin Sheng was startled; the name sounded pleasant to the ear. ¡°My name is Lin Sheng. Did you just say that you were the manager of Steelscale Club?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not talk here. Come with me!¡± Russell held Lin Sheng¡¯s hand and ran. Soon, they turned into a street corner and arrived at another sword club. It was one of the other two clubs that Lin Sheng had visited before. It charged an expensive fee. The clubhouse was renovated like a luxury hotel on the outside with two ck lion statues on either side of the entrance. On the inside, everything seemed to be round¡ªthemps, the hall, the columns, the counter, and even the face of the receptionist was round. Russell brought Lin Sheng straight to the second floor. There was a beautiful and spacious sparring room where two swordsmen wearing armor and helmets were fighting each other. ¡°Madin! Shayeen! Come here, I¡¯ve brought back a master!¡± Russell yelled as soon as he entered the room. ¡°This guy has just given the long-leggedss in Tengchong a bloody nose!¡± Russell exaggerated. ¡°What?¡± The two swordsmen stopped their sparring and looked in his direction upon hearing what Russell said. One of the swordsmen was a ck youth, while the other was a mixed-race girl. Russell pointed at the ck man. ¡°Madin, the CEO¡ªChief Executive Officer of the club.¡± Then, he pointed at the mixed-race girl. ¡°Shayeen, the CEE¡ªChief Equipment Engineer of the club. Oh, yes, she is a mix of Xilin and Io.¡± Finally, he pointed at Lin Sheng. ¡°Lin Sheng, the master who beat Chen Huan ck and blue!¡± Speechless, Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes swept across the ssroom, which looked almost like a dance studio with an expensively padded floor. However, the padding material looked like it was made of expensive ck marble with patterns. On the left was arge piece of ceiling-to-floor mirror that allowed the swordsmen to correct their posture and movement. Iid racks were in the corner where sets of expensive metal armor and helmets were kept. There were also different types of swords on the weapon racks. ¡°What do you think? The conditions here are much better than next door¡¯s!¡± Russell guffawed. ¡°Over here, weck nothing but masters. Are you interested in joining us?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Lin Sheng looked at Russell in bewilderment. ¡°One thousand yuan a month. You have to teach at least five times; that will be 200£¤ per lesson. Any problems? Even Chen Huan wouldn¡¯t get this price,¡± Russell offered. Madin came up with a broad smile on his face, revealing a full row of white teeth. ¡°Hello, friend. The three of us set up this club with our own money to learn Naxi swordsmanship and other ancient martial arts.¡± ¡°Madin, he can take on three of us at once!¡± Russell said in an exaggerated tone of voice. ¡°He¡¯s kidding. I¡¯m just a beginner.¡± Lin Sheng was ttered for a while before he calmed down. ¡°Beginner? It doesn¡¯t matter. We need a beginner who can beat Chen Huan!¡± Madin grinned. Shayeen took off her helmet and gave Lin Sheng a closer look, but she said nothing. ¡°What will be my duty if I join the club?¡± Lin Sheng asked again. ¡°Five times a month, each time with a tuition fee of 200£¤, teach us Naxi swordsmanship,¡± Russell exined. ¡°We¡¯re different from Tengchong in that we¡¯re not open to the public. Membership is by invitation only.¡± ¡°To put it bluntly, we need a tutor,¡± added Madin. ¡°What about your previous tutor?¡± Lin Sheng was puzzled. The ce was beautifully renovated, and it offered high pay. They should have had tons of peopleing to apply for the position. But where was everyone? ¡°Tengchong has beaten them all.¡± Russell was crestfallen when he talked about the matter. ¡°Well, let¡¯s not talk about that. Let¡¯s start practicing!¡± He quickly brought Lin Sheng over to put on some protective gear. Two minutester, three people were standing opposite Lin Sheng, panting. They were in full sets of armor and were each holding a cross sword in their hands. Yet, their postures were somewhat unnatural. Russell and Madin were gasping with their hands on their chests, while Shayeen was standing motionless with her hand pressed on her right leg. ¡°Great!¡± Shayeen shouted. ¡°Come on, stay here. We¡¯ll pay you 1,500£¤!¡± Madin pped his thigh with his hand. For a while, Lin Sheng did not know how to respond as he looked at three pairs of earnest eyes before him. Back at home that night, Lin Sheng still could not make sense of his encounters earlier in the day. He was driven out of Tengchong Swordsmanship Club and immediately invited into Steelscale Club, which only had three official members. It felt like a dream¡ªseriously unreal. At the dinner table, his dad, Lin Zhounian held a bowl in his hand and looked at Lin Sheng, who was sitting across the table. ¡°How¡¯ve you been doing recently? How are your studies?¡± He picked a piece of stir-fried meat with tofu and ced it in his bowl, waiting for Lin Sheng to reply. ¡°Same as usual,¡± Lin Sheng replied when he snapped out of his thoughts. ¡°Grandpa¡¯s condition has stabilized, but we still need to take turns taking care of him. You have to take care of yourself.¡± Lin Zhounian sighed. ¡°I understand.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°While on the way home downstairs, I heard Aunt Zhang say that the price of beef has gone up sharply.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s mom, Gu Wanqiu began to ramble about the sales and subtle changes that happened somewhere in town, which she had heard from her neighbors. What amazed Lin Sheng was that his mom spent most of her time working in the kindergarten and was rarely at home. How did she get all the news? Lin Zhounian would interrupt his wife to join the discussion from time to time, but Lin Sheng would just sit by and listen on silently. After the meal, Lin Sheng offered to wash the dishes and clean things up. When everything was done, he took a shower before he hit the sack. He could not wait to enter the dream world again to explore the secrets of the mysterious ckfeather City. Lin Sheng had inherited some fragmented memories after he killed the corrupted swordsman, and ever since that encounter, Lin Sheng had begun to look forward to the experience. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: 022

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion A deep fog permeated the manor¡¯s surroundings. Lin Sheng carried his ck sword and treaded forth slowly on the right side of the horse trail. The gravel and withered grass produced small crunches whenever he stepped on them, and the sound of rustling tree leaves could be heard in the wind. Lin Sheng scanned his surroundings and saw dark dense forests on both sides of the path where ck tree branches swayed back and forth. He started to imagine what would happen if something suddenly lunged out of the darkness. Up ahead, a ck oilmp hung from a lonelymppost at a Y-junction with two dry corpses sitting back-to-back, leaning against it. The dead bodies were dressed in ck clothing, and their faces were indiscernible as messy, weed-like gray hair covered their faces. Lin Sheng was stunned for a moment. He held his sword and plucked up the courage to move closer. With the exception of the howling wind and two dead bodies, there was nothing else around. But as Lin Sheng got closer, he felt inexplicably lonely as if he was in the middle of an empty football field. ¡°I¡¯m at least four or five hundred meters away from the manor. I guess I won¡¯t be so unlucky to bump into the monster again.¡± Lin Sheng knew his limits; he could not beat the monster¡¯s speed and strength. Although he had inherited some of Ravel¡¯s memories, his real strength was still inadequate. This was because, firstly, there was no change in his physical strength so his powers and speed still remained the same. Secondly, the only skill that Lin Sheng acquired from Ravel¡¯s fragmented memories was the thrust technique, which was the most basic of the basic moves. ¡°In terms of real strength, I may not even qualify as a backup fighter in Ravel¡¯s world.¡± Lin Sheng forced a smile. But when he thought of the possibility of acquiring more fragmented memories, he began to look forward to killing more monsters. Thinking of that, Lin Sheng held his sword and slowly got closer until he was less than a meter from the bodies. As he jabbed the arm of one of the corpses with his sword, the body fell to the ground, and the head detached itself from the neck, exposing a hidden dagger in the arms of the corpse. ¡°Is itpletely dead?¡± Lin Sheng squinted. When he tried to pick up the dagger with his sword, the dagger dropped into the mud. Just then, a hissing sound suddenly came from his right. He quickly turned, looking in the direction of the sound. In the darkness, a monster with a ck sword growing on his right arm slowly limped toward him. Its head was wrapped in a white headscarf stained with blood, and the skin on its neck and arms were covered in festering pustules. ¡°Not again!¡± Lin Sheng clenched his ck sword, staring intently at the monster. Armed with Ravel¡¯s fragmented memories, he thought that he could try to take the monster head-on. ¡°A surprise attack isn¡¯t going to work, and there is no escape.¡± Lin Sheng took a deep breath, holding his sword with both hands and slowly raising it beside his ear. The rotten swordsman hissed as he got closer and closer. Lin Sheng¡¯s mind was totally focused. A gust of wind suddenly blew past, and Lin Sheng charged at the rotten swordsman, aiming for the neck of his enemy. As his ck sword pierced through the air, a bursting sound could be heard. The move would be lethal if it hit its target. Strength and swordsmanship did not help when the body was decaying. The rotten swordsman would not stand a chance if he got hit. However, the festered swordsman was not a sitting duck. He swung his ck sword upward in an arc and intercepted Lin Sheng¡¯s de in time. The swift riposte that came straight out of Ravel¡¯s memories bounced Lin Sheng¡¯s sword back. He leaned to the right, avoiding the iing sword of the decaying swordsman. ¡°Go to hell!¡± Lin Sheng swiftly swung his sword in a downward movement, trying to cut off the enemy¡¯s wrist. A muffled sound was heard. The swordsman was able to make a quick change of direction, blocking Lin Sheng¡¯s attack. Both of them were forced to step back respectively. However, Lin Sheng lunged forward again in less than a second, thrusting his ck sword straight at the rotten swordsman¡¯s chest. Yet, the swordsman blocked his move again. Lin Sheng was forced to retreat a couple of steps. Now, both of them stood face-to-face at a distance. The keys to Naxi swordsmanship were timing, angle, speed, and distance. A stalemate would ensue if one¡¯s skills were not better than another. As the fight continued, a hissing sound began to travel from afar. After a while, Lin Sheng figured out that the swordsman was an entirely different type of fighter from Ravel. Although the swordsman¡¯s attack was not aggressive, his defense was pretty formidable. This could be seen from the sessive blockade of Lin Sheng¡¯s attacks. Exhausted, Lin Sheng began to gasp for air as his body reached its limit. Despite the weeks of continuous practice, one thing was undeniable: he was only a high-school student with very little training. It was already outstanding that Lin Sheng could y with the rotten swordsman for so long. Each time their ck swords collided, Lin Sheng would feel his arms go numb. He needed to use all his strength to avoid losing his sword. But the rotten swordsman fought only with one hand. This meant that there was arge gap between them in terms of strength. ¡°This is too much!¡± Sweat was running down Lin Sheng¡¯s forehead and temples. He was gasping breathlessly for oxygen. Right then, the dream had be as real as reality; goosebumps began to rise on his skin while the chilly wind blew. ¡°I need to end this quickly. Otherwise, running is the only option!¡± Making up his mind, Lin Sheng kept an eye on the rotten swordsman while he nced at the ground around him from the corner of his eye. Very quickly, he thought of a simple n. Lunging forward again, Lin Sheng aimed straight for his enemy¡¯s chest. However, the rotten swordsman quickly blocked it and reciprocated with a riposte. While he fenced off the attack, Lin Sheng slowly moved toward a darker area nearby. When he got close enough, he bounced back, turned, and quickly fled. The rotten swordsman was stunned for a moment before he gave chase. Not realizing that there was a sharp rock protruding out from the ground under his feet, the rotten swordsman tripped and lost his bnce. Before he could recover his bnce, a ck sword was alreadying his way. It was Lin Sheng who had turned back, striking him with the ck sword from above. The ck sword struck the rotten swordsman¡¯s head in the dark, cutting as deep as a third into his head before getting stuck. Lin Sheng continued to put pressure on the sword but still failed to cut the head in half. ¡°This is bullsh*t!¡± Lin Sheng gasped, drenched in sweat. ¡°The human skull is much harder than other parts of the body. Slicing a skull in half is just impossible.¡± Despite all his might, the sword could only go as deep as one-third of the skull, which he felt was pretty impressive already. His angle and speed of attack were impable, while the ck sword was as sharp as it could get. Nheless, it could only go so far. Chapter 23

Chapter 23: 023

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion A ck mist rose from the body of the decaying swordsman. Like a strand of thread, it flew and permeated Lin Sheng¡¯s chest before he knew it. By the time he realized what had happened, chaotic images began to flood his mind as if someone was stuffing things into an already full suitcase. He felt like his head was about to explode, and he sweated profusely. After three breaths, Lin Sheng managed to suppress his headache and scan his surroundings. To his horror, three more rotten swordsmen had appeared around him and wereing toward him. ¡°Goddamn it!¡± He turned around and quickly ran. While he turned around, he cast his eyes on themppost, on which were three arrows showing directions to different locations: ckfeather City, Ravel¡¯s manor, and ck Morass. The most useful thing Lin Sheng obtained after he acquired the fragmented memories was the ability to understand thenguage. At least, he no longer ran around like a headless chicken like when he first came. Lin Sheng ran straight into the darkness in the direction of ckfeather City. He had probably alerted many dangers in his surroundings, but he could not care less. His focus was to receive the full memories in his mind first. After running and gasping a dozen times and feeling physically exhausted, the memory infusion was finallypleted. ¡°Mercenary? Women? Wine? Gambling?¡± Lin Sheng briefly browsed through the images in his new memories. But to his disappointment, there was almost no memory about fighting, only bits and pieces of daily living. The memories seemed to belong to a wandering mercenary, who would work for whoever offered the highest price and spend all his money on gambling as well as women if not drinking. The information was garbage. It appeared that Lin Sheng had put too high a hope in it in the first ce. ¡°Not everyone is a good man like Ravel...¡± However, as a constion, he did gain some muscle memory of basic tricks and training methods. ¡°At least there¡¯s something.¡± After a while of running and hearing no more sound behind him, Lin Sheng slowly stopped. He now found himself standing in the darkness in the middle of a street suffused with thin fog. For a moment, he was even unsure whether he was on solid ground. There were broken wooden fences on either side of the road, and in some spots, indiscernible pieces of tattered clothing were hung on the fences. Lin Sheng clenched his ck sword and continued to go forward while he sorted out the mercenary¡¯s memories in his mind. Most of the memories were useless, but upon digging deeper, he still managed to find something informative. ¡°A sudden urrence of cold wind and dense fog, and everyone was infected with some unknown disease?¡± Lin Sheng knitted his brows together. He quickly found a familiar name: La Chapelle. ¡°Hmm, it looks like a cksmith shop that¡¯s ranked third in ckfeather City.¡± Lin Sheng quickly looked for the direction to La Chapelle but could not find it in the mercenary¡¯s fragmented memories. So, he continued to move ahead down the street for a few minutes before arge hole-ridden grayish-white structure appeared in front of him. ¡°It looks like a city gate!¡± Lin Sheng was hesitant for a while. ¡°This must be the ckfeather City that Ravel mentioned.¡± Looking ahead, he was about to continue his journey, but Lin Sheng suddenly felt his heart palpitate. ¡°Time¡¯s up. That¡¯s okay. At least, I¡¯ll have time to digest the mercenary¡¯s memories.¡± As he stood still on the spot, looking at therge and dark city ahead, his mind suddenly cked out, and he lost consciousness. Lin Sheng slowly woke up and sat on his bed. He felt a little hapless when he found that his underclothes were drenched in sweat. ¡°Another piece of clothing to wash!¡± In an era without fully automatic washing machines, he had to use a bit of elbow grease. Getting out of bed, he fumbled into the washroom with the help of the faint moonlight. After he cleaned himself up with warm water in the thermal sk and changed into a set of clean clothes, he returned to his room andy back down in bed. His rm clock, which was in the shape of a ck pig withrge ears, on the bedside table showed three forty in the morning. Lin Sheng still had enough time to work on the memories. ¡°Let me see... There should be something useful.¡± Hey in bed and began to recall the mercenary¡¯s fragmented memories. The sky outside started to get brighter as time went by. Lin Sheng had fallen asleep¡ªagain. In a trance, he seemed to hear his parents in the washroom. His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly awoke from his sleep. He may have regained consciousness, but his mind was still thinking of the fragmented memories. ¡°Ahh, it¡¯s Sunday! I can sleep a little longer!¡± Lin Sheng suddenly realized what day it was. But since he had woken up, there was no way he could fall back to sleep again. Still lying on the bed, Lin Sheng began to carefully study the mercenary¡¯s memories while he listened to the noises in the hallway and corridor. Finally, a very minute detail caught his attention. ¡°In ckfeather City, mercenaries usually received their assignments through the ckfeather Trade Union, which was located between the Valent Sanctum and the tax department. The Valent Sanctum?¡± Lin Sheng got out of bed and sat in front of his desk. Pulling the drawer open, he took out his notebook and jotted down the name. The Valent Sanctum. Written in Chinese, the characters looked particrly eye-catching on the white notebook. He shut his eyes, and Ravel¡¯s memories of the ce began to surface in his mind. Combined with the mercenary¡¯s memories, Lin Sheng began to piece the information together. ¡°The Valent Sanctum¡ªa ce where warriors are trained and sacred runes are passed down? Sacred runes?¡± It was all that Lin Sheng managed to piece together after cross-referencing the memories belonging to Ravel and the mercenary. ¡°The sacred runes...¡± A weird expression appeared on Lin Sheng¡¯s face. ¡°Perhaps I could go there and try my luck. Who knows, I may find some articles and books that possess supernatural powers. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s something about the sacred runes!¡± Up to that point, all the fragmented memories Lin Sheng had gotten were of pure physics and had nothing to do with the supernatural. But if the small temple could lead him to the supernatural realm, he was willing to take the risk. He had dreamt of this in his past life as well as the current one. Once he made up his mind, Lin Sheng put on his shirt, ced the notebook back in the drawer, and went into the kitchen. He found some big buns on a te and a ss of preheated milk. His parents had gone to work. Pulling out a chair from under the table and sitting down, Lin Sheng began to eat. After he gobbled up threerge meat buns and gulped down the entire ss of milk, he changed into his workout outfit and headed out the door. There was no need to go to Steelscale Club that day since he had just given a ss the day before. So, he hopped on a public transport heading toward Rainbow Park, which was not far from home. Rainbow Park was one of the only three parks in Huaisha. Close to the sea with a great view of the beach and coconut trees, the park was a hotspot for wedding photography. However, Lin Sheng did not go there for fun but to collect his money. Armed with the memories of his past life, making some pocket money was literally a walk in the park for him. Chapter 24

Chapter 24: 024

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion After he got off the bus ten minutester, Lin Sheng entered the park through the main entrance and met the person he went to see in front of an ice-cream store on the right. Shen Yan was standing there with another girl. While they chatted, they stomped their feet to get warm. They were both dressed in white. One was wearing a workout outfit while the other a hoodie and a pair of jeans. They looked pretty eye-catching. ¡°You¡¯re early!¡± Lin Sheng went up to say hello. ¡°We¡¯ve been waiting for you.¡± Shen Yan breathed a sigh of relief when Lin Sheng showed up. Dressed in a tight-fitting outfit and sporting a clean ear-length haircut, Shen Yan was by no means pretty. But her tall and slim body screamed youthfulness. ¡°This is Chen Lin. She¡¯s been my bestie since I was little.¡± Shen Yan patted the long-haired girl next to her. ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Lin Sheng, Shen Yan¡¯s ssmate,¡± Lin Sheng said politely with a smile. ¡°Nice to meet you too.¡± The girl appeared shy, and her voice was very soft. ¡°Where¡¯s the money? I still have something on. Let¡¯s split the money,¡± Lin Sheng reminded. Shen Yan quickly pulled out a waist bag from behind her and unzipped it without hesitation. ¡°We got £¤124 of sales in totalst week. We¡¯re sharing it fifty-fifty, so £¤62 for each of us. Any issues?¡± Shen Yan counted £¤62 and shoved it into Lin Sheng¡¯s hand. ¡°That¡¯s all?¡± Lin Sheng knitted his brows together. It would have looked a lot in the past. This was part of the ie from the book-renting business that he and Shen Yan operated in school. ¡°This is a lot considering that it¡¯s only one week!¡± Shen Yan retorted. Lin Sheng shook his head. Compared with his first month¡¯s sry of £¤750 that Steelscale Club paid him, the £¤62 looked meager although it meant a lot to a student. After they divided the money, Shen Yan invited Lin Sheng to go shopping and food-hunting. But Lin Sheng declined. He did not go far. After he found a quiet corner in Rainbow Park, Lin Sheng began to practice his basic movements. The heart of Naxi Swordsmanship was calction and timing, but the unknown school of swordy that Lin Sheng acquired from Ravel and the mercenary was more than that. If he wanted to turn the muscle memory that he learned from the fragmented memories into intuition, he needed to repeatedly practice expediting the process. Afterpleting the movements, Lin Sheng sat down to take a break. Just then, a girl who was pushing a drink cart came from one corner of the park. The cart, wrapped all over with white paper boards and selling a variety of drinks, looked neat. Lin Sheng went up and took out some small change. ¡°One bottle of mineral water, please.¡± He handed £¤1 to the girl. The girl was wearing a cap. With thebination of her shoulder-length hair, fair skin, and charming big eyes, she exuded a faint vibe of innocence. Hearing Lin Sheng¡¯s words, she quickly took a bottle of mineral water and gave it to him. ¡°Here you go.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Lin Sheng took the bottle, uncapped it, and drank its contents. ¡°Oh, youe here to work out early in the morning? A student like you has the stamina,¡± the girl said with a smile. ¡°I woke up early this morning so I may as welle out to do some workouts,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°To be honest, it¡¯s pretty dangerous here early in the morning.¡± The girl appeared mysterious. ¡°I¡¯ve also woken up pretty early ande here previously. Had I not been lucky back then, tsk tsk...¡± Lin Sheng did not respond. Apparently, she was waiting for him to ask her what that was all about. But Lin Sheng did not want to listen so he pretended to not hear her. ¡°Have you heard about the fatal robbery? It happened right at the rear entrance of Rainbow Park, where I pass by every day! I never thought such a thing would happen there!¡± The girl seemed unstoppable as she babbled on. ¡°A fatal robbery?¡± ¡°Yup. People say that they only cleaned up the scene this morning. Before that, there was a police barricade to stop people from passing through,¡± the girl muttered while she scratched her chin. ¡°By right, it shouldn¡¯t have been so bloody if the victim had cooperated. While I was pushing my cart, I passed by the spot once and saw blood everywhere! It lookedpletely like a torture scene!¡± ¡°This is very close to the city center, yet I¡¯ve never heard of this incident in the news.¡± Lin Sheng frowned. ¡°Who knows? Probably it was too gross, and the people at the top ordered for it not to be publicized.¡± While she spoke, the girl shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ve also heard that people could hear gunshots earlier.¡± ¡°This case doesn¡¯t seem so straightforward.¡± Lin Sheng was basically convinced that it was not a robbery-gone-wrong. Apparently, some department was making use of the incident to attract people¡¯s attention. Nevertheless, it had nothing to do with him. His priority now was to concentrate on his training to elevate his capabilities. Only through repeated practice could he digest the fragmented memories and integrate them into hisbat intuition. What could Lin Sheng do even if he could sense that the government was trying to conceal something? He could not care less about the so-called conspiracy. Since the powers that be were determined to hide it, they must have had a reason to do so. After his practice, he hopped on a bus and headed home. He resumed his study and revision to prepare for theing college entrance exam, which would make or break his future. If he still refused to buckle down and be serious, he would end up being a dead loss. Therefore, Lin Sheng went into overdrive and studied hard. With his IQ being more developed than other students his age, he had an unfair advantage over them in many subjects except Math. His strategy in tackling that subject was repeated revision. Time flew while he did his revision, and the day of the week on which Lin Sheng had to teach in Steelscale Club arrived. Over in Steelscale Club, Lin Sheng taught Madin in the ring. He only defended, he did not attack. Their swords produced a series of loud nging sounds when they shed. ¡°My dad¡¯s asked me not to go out recently, especially into the wilderness,¡± Russell said listlessly while he leaned against the wall in a corner. ¡°Mine too. It¡¯s probably because of that case earlier,¡± Shayeen said calmly. ¡°What happened? I asked my dad, but he didn¡¯t want to talk about it,¡± Russell asked quietly. Shaking her head, Shayeen said, ¡°I have no idea too. My grandpa¡¯s the only person in the know. He¡¯s never mentioned it one bit. He just reminds us to be careful and not go to quiet ces.¡± ¡°Hmm, it reminds me of that arson case at the port where a dozen containers went up in mes. Mind you, it was near the sea. I wonder how much fuel was needed to burn all of the containers. Did it not make sense?¡± Russell¡¯s mouth twitched. ¡°Come on, anyone with a good sense would have known that something was wrong.¡± ¡°Let the adults worry about it. Meanwhile, we just need to mind our own business and not stick our noses where they don¡¯t belong. Practice your sword skills, youngsters!¡± Shayeen waved her hand impatiently as she did not want to talk anymore. ¡°You¡¯re right. If I still don¡¯t knuckle down, Madin will surpass me.¡± Russell shut his visor, held his sword, and walked toward the two individuals in the ring. Lin Sheng flung away Madin¡¯s sword and stopped, waiting for Russell¡¯s turn. Following the ritual before sparring, the two drew an ¡°X in the air with their swords. ¡°Were you talking about the case that happened in Rainbow Park?¡± Lin Sheng suddenly asked. Chapter 25

Chapter 25: 025

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the one. You may not know, but the city police have sent their entire force there. On top of that, there are vehicles constantly entering and leaving their station there,¡± Russell said all of a sudden. ¡°Wasn¡¯t it a fatal robbery?¡± Lin Sheng asked casually. ¡°Who knows? It could be a narrative for the unsuspecting public!¡± Russell sneered. ¡°And why would they need to mobilize the entire city police force and putter about so long just for a robber?¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Lin Sheng nodded in agreement. ¡°Forget it! Let¡¯s concentrate on our sword practice. Those things don¡¯t concern us. Come on, it¡¯s my turn!¡± Russell yelled. Lin Sheng nodded in acquiescence and braced for Russell¡¯s advances, which were more form than substance; his movements were all for show. Right from the start, he began to correct Russell¡¯s mistakes. While doing so, the words of the girl with the drink cart kept ringing in his head. ¡°While I was pushing my cart, I passed by the spot once and saw blood everywhere! It lookedpletely like a torture scene!¡± Also, there were Russell¡¯s words... ¡°My dad¡¯s asked me not to go out recently, especially into the wilderness¡± Not just his, but Shayeen¡¯s family had said the same thing. They were obviously worried that the alleged fatal robbery would pose a safety concern to Russell and Shayeen. ¡°Hey,¡± after a while of sparring, Russell suddenly spoke, ¡°Master Lin, you¡¯re a real swordsman, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°What do you mean? I don¡¯t quite get you.¡± Lin Sheng appeared baffled. ¡°There are two distinct camps in the world of Naxi Swordsmanship: the showmanship and the swordsmanship,¡± Russell exined. ¡°Master Lin, why don¡¯t you teach me a couple of beautiful yet practical movements?¡± he said with a cheeky grin. ¡°I know no such thing.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. He had inherited a little swordsmanship skill from Ravel, a veteran soldier, and the mercenary, a private military contractor, who mainly exercised practicality in their fighting skills. ¡°What a shame,¡± Russell swung his sword and grumbled. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t know, Master Lin?¡± an unyielding Shayeen, who stood beside him, chimed in. Lin Sheng thought for a moment and said, ¡°There may be such swordsmanship, but I¡¯ve never learned it.¡± ¡°What are all of you thinking? You should already be grateful for having a master instructor. Stop whining.¡± Madin looked baffled. ¡°What¡¯s the use of learning swordsmanship if it doesn¡¯t look cool?¡± Annoyed, Russell spread his hands. ¡°Swordsmanship should look cool, without which there is no point in learning.¡± Shayeen nodded in agreement. Madin seemed to be divided now. Lin Sheng looked them, disheartened, not knowing what to say. Born with silver spoons in their mouths, they were umitted and would give up at the drop of a hat. Lin Sheng finally understood why no instructor wanted to teach them because these three chaps were hopeless. The game was not worth the candle, but he did not want to lose this high-paying job just yet. Lin Sheng was hesitant after he pondered for a moment. ¡°Perhaps it is for self-defense?¡± ¡°Self-defense?¡± Hearing the proposition, the trio¡¯s eyes fell on Lin Sheng. ¡°Carrying this huge sword is cumbersome enough, not to mention you¡¯ll most likely be hit by a bullet before you can even draw your sword. Don¡¯t you think so?¡± asked Shayeen, shaking her head. Her family was in the arms dealing business, so she knew that better than anyone else there. ¡°Not everyone has a gun,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°If you think the sword is slow, try me.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Russell became excited. ¡°I¡¯ve had professional training in knife techniques for self-defense before; close-quartersbat within two meters¡ªit was a special kind of training. Why don¡¯t we spar?¡± Lin Sheng knew that if he still did not show his true worth, these rich kids would probably find some excuse to fire him within the next few days. He did not want to lose his job yet. ¡°Why not!¡± He wanted to test his strength too. He had only fought the rotten swordsmen in his dream. Perhaps, he could take this opportunity to gauge how good he was in the real world. Shayeen and Madin immediately champed at the bit when they heard the two throw down the gauntlet. Lin Sheng still used the same sword but had changed into a sh-resistant suit, while Russell, still wearing his protective gear, swapped his sword for a dagger. They stood facing each other in the middle of the sparring ring. ¡°Master Lin, may I remind you that Russell is no amateur. His family previously hired a retiredmando to train him,¡± Shayeen said matter-of-factly. ¡°Thanks for the heads-up.¡± Lin Sheng pulled down his visor and signaled Russell to start. Wiping away his cheeky expression, Russell drew out his dagger and held it in a reverse grip. They were two meters apart from each other. At that distance, Lin Sheng did not even have enough time to draw his sword, and Russell would stab him in the chest with just a lunge. Looking on, the two spectators in the sparring room were on the edge of their seats. ¡°In Naxi swordsmanship, winning and losing usually happens in a split second. Unless both sides are evenly matched, the fight won¡¯t take long,¡± Shayeen said in a low voice. ¡°Now, let¡¯s see how Master Lin manages¡ª¡± Just then, a grating loud nk was heard. Russell was flung out, and he crashed hard on the floor while the dagger dropped from his hand. Lin Sheng looked down vacantly at Russell, his sword dangling beside him. ¡°What¡ªWhat just happened?¡± Madin was bewildered. ¡°I¡ªI don¡¯t know!¡± Shayeen did not see what happened too. Before everyone could grasp the situation, an embarrassed Russell had bounced back up swiftly and aimed his dagger straight at Lin Sheng¡¯s waist from the side. *aank!* In a sh, Russell was down on the floor, faceup. Before the others could make a sound, he roared like a beast, got back up to his feet, and pounced on Lin Sheng. *aank!* Sparks flew, and Russell was sent flying away with his dagger. This resulted in a long cut in the floor mat. He struggled to get back up but was too exhausted after tumbling twice in session. Lin Sheng tilted his sword sideways and walked up to him calmly. With just one swing of his hand, the sword tip reached Russell¡¯s neck, stopping short of shing his throat. Russell¡¯s shock, confusion, and embarrassment were reflected in the mirror-like de. ¡°Would you like to learn?¡± Lin Sheng asked. Russell swallowed. Since the founding of the club, he had hired a dozen instructors, all of whom were masters of Naxi Swordsmanship, but none were as threatening as the one before him. The feeling was... ¡°This is too awesome!¡± He suddenly guffawed uncontrobly, with Madin and Shayeen joining in on the hee-haw. Lin Sheng pulled back his sword. Seeing how excited they were, he suddenly did not know what to do. Chapter 26

Chapter 26: 026

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion After he left the clubhouse, Lin Sheng still went home on the bus as usual. Although he now had money in his pocket, beating his long-established habit was hard. He only wanted to remain low-profile when he just started out, but over time, it had be a habit. ¡°To put in bluntly, this is nothing butziness.¡± Standing in the bone-chilling wind and ncing back at the bus, which slowly disappeared into the distance, Lin Sheng pulled his cor together and gradually moved along the tactile paving in front of a row of shops. Very few pedestrians and street food were in that part of the town, so the nightlife was pretty much absent there. While he was on his way home, Lin Sheng thought about his sparring moment with Russell earlier. ¡°I finished off my opponent almost without having to unsheathe my sword. The close-range riposte that I learned from the mercenary¡¯s memories is absolutely impable. ¡°With urate judgment, the metal pommel alone is enough to repel an opponent¡¯s attack. It should be a close-quartersbat technique. ¡°It¡¯s a shame that my physical strength isn¡¯t up to par. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have to redirect my opponent¡¯s momentum of attack to win.¡± He was able to fling Russell away during the sparring session, not because of his own strength but by using Russell¡¯s attack momentum as leverage. It was an instinctive move contained in the mercenary¡¯s memories and a necessary technique to use when one confronted a much stronger opponent. ¡°Generally, it uses the solidness of the sword¡¯s material to leverage the opponent¡¯s strength.¡± Theoretically, the stronger the opponent was, the more damage it would cause to the opponent¡ªprovided that the sword was strong enough. The sparring session earlier had given Lin Sheng a more in-depth understanding of such a technique. While Ravel¡¯s memories did endow him with the basic thrust move, the mercenary¡¯s memories had enriched his otherbat experience, albeit not by much. He could not even qualify as a student in Ravel¡¯s world, but dealing with Russell was easy peasy. While the chap imed that he had undergone training, in reality, he was no more than a novice. After Lin Sheng entered through the gate of the apartment buildings, he walked all the way to the stairway below his unit. There, he saw advertisement leaflets strewn all over the ground. There was a photo of a beautiful unknown woman with a line of text at the bottom that read ¡°Baby Reward¡± . Lin Sheng kicked the leaflets, which fluttered in the wind, away before he climbed up the stairs slowly. The lightbulb in the stairwell was blown again. He quickly ascended the third floor by leaping up three steps at a time. The security door of his house was wide open as his dad, Lin Zhounian was carrying goods out of the house. Lin Sheng still managed to find a way in even though several bag loads of snacks were almost entirely blocking the entrance. ¡°Give me a hand in moving these things downstairs,¡± Lin Zhounian quickly called out when he saw that Lin Sheng was back. ¡°Mhm,¡± Lin Sheng replied. With an extra pair of hands, the father and son quickly moved the dozen or so bags of goods downstairs and loaded up his trishaw. ¡°Alright, go to sleep. I need to deliver the goods, it¡¯s urgent,¡± While he spoke, Lin Zhounian shoved a roll of money into Lin Sheng¡¯s hand. ¡°Your ss teacher called. There¡¯ll be a tuition ss for the college entrance exam. This is for your tuition fee as well as pocket money. Don¡¯t ask your sister for money, she¡¯s not having it easy out there too.¡± After he spoke, he waved at Lin Sheng, and before Lin Sheng could say anything, he slowly paddled away on his trishaw. Lin Sheng looked on. Once his dad began to gradually disappear into the darkness, he then looked down at the roll of money in his hand. The £¤100 note and two £¤20 notes, full of creases, were stained with his dad¡¯s sweat. Such was life. Aside from running a grocery store, Lin Zhounian would asionally deliverrge orders to customers all by himself. Making deliveries in the evening was normal. He made £¤20, or £¤30 at best each trip. It was hard-earned cash. A while of silenceter, Lin Sheng turned around and went back up to his house on the third floor. He changed into his slippers, cleaned himself up, put on a fresh nightdress, and habitually gulped down a ss of water before he slept. Lying quietly in bed, his mind started to wander. ¡°I really need to improve our life.¡± After a long moment, Lin Sheng sighed and leisurely closed his eyes. A nip in the air rushed at his forehead the second he opened his eyes. He instinctively rolled to his left to dodge it. A ck swordnded right where he was standing in earlier, and the impact created a rather big pit in the ground. The wielder of the ck sword, a rotten swordsman with a bloated body, pulled the sword out of the ground. He turned around and charged at Lin Sheng again. ¡°Not again!¡± All Lin Sheng could see was an inky shadow in the dark. He quickly rolled to the side and ran as fast as he could. There was still moonlight illuminating the ce thest time he cam, but this time, it was pitch-ck. He could see nothing around him. ¡°I¡¯ve got to find some light!¡± The thought of bumping into other monsters kept him from stopping. He did not want to die again without knowing what was happening. After all, it would take a few days before he could recover from the neurasthenia after each death. Lin Sheng did not know how far he had run, but he definitely did not hear any other sound behind him anymore. Out of a sudden, he hit something like a rock under his feet and almost tripped over. A glow finally appeared in the sky as the moon came out of its hiding ce behind the dark clouds. Lin Sheng stopped and panted while he carefully looked at his surroundings. He saw a tall gray wall up ahead. Dotted with holes and looking like a piece of decaying cheese, the wall surrounded a city. Lin Sheng took several steps forward until he was just a few meters away from the city wall. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that I got here in under one breath. Is this ckfeather City?¡± He reached out to touch the city wall. The wall did not feel the way it looked; it was made of super solid material, and its sharp sections had a metallic feel to the touch. ¡°It¡¯s bing more and more real. This dream...¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s heart sank a little. Right then, he began to doubt if he was dreaming. He retracted his hand, grabbed his ck sword, and went into the city via the main gate. At three meters tall, the entrance felt cold and quiet. A chilly wind rushed at him from behind as he walked through the gates. Lin Sheng instinctively shrank his neck, trying to avoid losing too much body heat. Upon passing through the gate, a ruined gray city block appeared before him. There were broken carriages on the streets, while some shredded unknown debris were carried up in the air by the wind. The dpidated shops and houses creaked in the wind, as though they were about to copse at any time. Lin Sheng looked into the distance, and everything he saw was gray. The fog was still shrouding the deepest part of ckfeather City, and visibility was virtually zero. ¡°There isn¡¯t even a single living thing here?¡± Lin Sheng was on his guard the entire time because he did not believe that there were no monsters in that big city. Holding his ck sword, he searched around and quickly found a road sign to the right of the city gate. Made of some kind of ck metal, the road sign showed the directions to five different ces. But the letters of three of the ce names had faded and were illegible while the remaining two were barely recognizable. ¡°Els Square and ckfeather City Hall?¡± Nheless, Lin Sheng managed to read those two names. Chapter 27

Chapter 27: 027

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°These two ces...¡± Lin Sheng did not think he was strong enough to be entirely fearless. Spaces like squares were attractions for arge number of monsters. Who would believe that a ce as important as ckfearher City Hall was without high-level monsters? ¡°Going to these two ces is a no-no.¡± Lin Sheng thought better of it andid his eyes on the other three ces. The letters showing the name of the three locations had faded entirely, leaving only some faint traces of ink that werepletely illegible. Standing at the city gate, Lin Sheng was hesitant. ¡°Maybe I should first kill some rotten swordsmen in the wilderness.¡± He reckoned that he still did not have enough strength. Since killing a rotten swordsman was able to yield him some residual memories, he could only kill more of them. Perhaps he could find more clues as he acquired more fighting skills from those memories. ¡°It¡¯s better than running around like a headless chicken.¡± Once he made up his mind, Lin Sheng turned and headed outside. For now, his priority was to kill more rotten swordsmen and build up his strength. Going out through the path he had entered from, Lin Sheng started to circumvent the city wall. He quickly bumped into a rotten swordsman behind the fence on the right of the city gate. This rotten swordsman was a lot weaker than the previous two, and Lin Sheng was able to finish it off after just a few rounds of exchange to acquire the fragmented memories. Regrettably, this person was only a city-wall guard who knew nothing but basic sword-fighting skills. Nevertheless, he was able to obtain some other information. Lin Sheng searched on and quickly found himself face-to-face with two rotten swordsmen near the city gate. One fell while another struck back, injuring Lin Sheng¡¯s arm before he was killed too. ¡°Damn it, I was too careless for him to hurt me!¡± Lin Sheng had no idea whom it belonged to, but an instinctual urge came from the acquired chaotic memories. He hid in the corner of the city wall, put the corner of his nightdress in his mouth, and tried to rip it apart. The fabric was not torn as intended, slipping from his teeth instead. Lin Sheng felt a sharp pain in his gum. ¡°The TV shows are all full of crap!¡± He applied pressure on the wound, but the bleeding became worse over time. The wound was the length of his palm, and it could be fatal if he did not stop the bleeding. He had no choice but to take off his clothes. He found the nearby artery and tied his clothes around the wound. It worked; the pressure kept the bleeding under control. Just then, Lin Sheng felt apathetic like he was about to wake up soon. ¡°It looks like exhaustions like injury and fatigue can shorten the duration of my stay in the dream.¡± Lin Sheng had good horse sense, and quickly, an inexplicable feeling rose within him. He shut his eyes slowly as he plunged into unconsciousness. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in his bedroom, and the rm clock was ringing loudly beside him. Exhaling, he turned off the rm clock and checked the time; it was a little past six in the morning. His head felt bloated from memory overload. He did not have the time to sort things out yet. He hurriedly cleaned himself up and put on his school uniform before he rushed out of the door to catch a bus to Hui An High School. After he absorbed the memories of the three rotten swordsmenst night¡ªthe garbage information excluded¡ªLin Sheng began to have a good grasp of ckfeather City¡¯sndscape. After all, they were guards of the city gate, and their memories woulde in handy someday. On the other hand, something was bugging Lin Sheng; many of the guards¡¯ memories were contradictory. For instance, what to do if his sword was entangled with an enemy¡¯s light weapon? Lin Sheng was able to find three different solutions, which were fine in themselves. It was just that they were tooplicated, and two of them even contradicted each other. Therge influx of memories in his mind made him feel dizzy the whole afternoon. He wolfed down his lunch in a hurry and took a quick nap in the ssroom. The first lesson right after lunch break was Math, and his ss teacher gave them a test. Lin Sheng answered all the questions, not knowing what he wrote. He did not even remember when he had submitted the question paper. Only God knew how he would fare in the test. He just knew that he finished the test paper by pure intuition. It was not until eight o¡¯clock at night that Lin Sheng began to recover from his daze. The first thing that Lin Sheng wanted to do was find the location of the little temple in his dream. There were two purposes for his continuous hunt of the rotten swordsmen to piece ckfeather City¡¯s map together. One, to find the little temple and see if he could get his hands on anything about superhumans. Two, find La Chapelle and see if he could get any personal protective gear. ¡°ording to Ravel¡¯s memories, La Chapelle and the Valent Sanctum should be right within ckfeather City.¡± Lin Sheng began to sort out the nodes of the routes to these two ces. ¡°Usingndmarks as nodes is the best way to get out of trouble when you lose your way. If the memories are correct, there¡¯s a clock tower here, here, here, and here respectively.¡± Lin Sheng used a notebook to jot down how many turns he had to make, and quickly, he made out a clear route to the two different ces. ¡°All done! Next, to sort out the misceneous information.¡± With the memories of multiple peopleing at him simultaneously, he had topile them together as soon as possible, lest things get mixed up over time. On a new page of the notebook, Lin Sheng jotted down the following: martial arts,ndscape, and supernatural. ¡°These three things are all that I care about. The rest is irrelevant.¡± He had established his priorities. Soon, he found something useful from the memories of the city gate guards. ¡°Limit Breaker? ¡°The method to break through the Level 2 limit into the supernatural Level 3?¡± It was a surprising find upon sorting out the memories. The guards may have been low-ranking soldiers and possessed lowbat strength, but their knowledge, as well as experience, were unmatched. They had a fantasticwork of grapevines and learned tons of gossip without having to look for them consciously. In a ce like the city gate, rumors and gossip flew as people traversed in and out of the city. It became the center of information. Whenever the government had a public message to spread, this ce would be the first ce where notices were put up. The guards were responsible for checking every merchant who passed through the city gate and chasing away the beggars as well as the homeless. They were the first to be alerted when something significant happened in the city. Eder, the city gate guard from whom Lin Sheng found out about the Limit Breaker, was different. He was the one who injured Lin Sheng before he died. He was a soldier who had retired after serving in the war. When he was still healthy, he had the potential to undergo warrior-level training. It was the proudest moment of his life, and that was why he kept recalling it in his mind. Eventually, it became a handy way for Lin Sheng to learn things about Level 1 warriors. Level 1 warriors learn and master only a single type of weapon. They are skilled in attack as well as defense, and only require fighting in the battlefield a few times. So, it merely takes a year to mass-produce a batch of these soldiers. Level 2 warriors are veteran soldiers. They are wandering swordsmen who possess sword-fighting skills handed down from their families. Those who are the best of the best in their fields and have trained themselves close their human limitations can qualify as Level 2 warriors. Level 3 warriors are those who have transcended their human limitations. They are superhuman killing machines. This is a realm that no one can achieve through training. That was all Lin Sheng hadpiled. However, it was so much moreprehensive whenpared with the fragmented information he previously got. The more important thing was that he had heard a name in the memories: Austen Reine, Level 12 shieldbearer, the lieutenant general of ckfeather City Army Corps. ¡°When Level 3 already sounds like a superhuman, it¡¯s hard to imagine how a Level 12 warrior looks like!¡± Chapter 28 - The Beginning: Part 1

Chapter 28: The Beginning: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng finished sorting out the memories in awe. He then put away his pen, washed up, and hit the sack. ¡°This time, I¡¯m going to carry out my practice on the outside. I can¡¯t believe there¡¯s a Level 12 existence in ckfeather City. If the Level 12 lieutenant general has be a monster, then...¡± Never mind that, Lin Sheng thought. After all, he had made up his mind to not enter the city. However, after he pieced the map of ckfeather City together, he could not wait to go there and see if he could find any traces of superhuman power. Lying in bed with his eyes shut, his troubled mind began to fall deeper and deeper into a trance. A gust of chilly wind suddenly arose, alerting Lin Sheng from his sleep. He opened his eyes abruptly and saw scattered bushes around him. Not far away, the corpse of a rotten swordsman was lying on the ground. He got to his feet with the support of his sword and looked around, realizing that he was still in the same corner of the city wall, where he had hidden to dress his wound thest time he was there. Dpidated gray walls dotted with holes were on both sides, stretching out and disappearing into the fog in the distance. It was hard to determine where the walls ended. Therefore, he quickly checked his wound first. ¡°It¡¯s healed?¡± His injury was gone, and even his torn clothes had been restored. Lin Sheng smacked the part of his skin that was previously wounded, and there was no more pain. ¡°Hmm, I guess this can be a way to restore my original condition next time.¡± He quietly noted down the idea in his mind before he looked up to scan his surroundings. On the left was where he had checked out before and found the rotten swordsman. On his right was the way back to the city gate. He paused for a moment and decided to go to the right. ¡°I¡¯m not going to enter the city just yet, I¡¯m only going to meander around outside. There shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Perhaps there are changes in ckfeather City at different times.¡± Armed with the memories of the city gate guards, Lin Sheng got a good grasp of the situation in ckfeather City and his current location. He did not have to run around like a headless chicken anymore. He exercised his hands for a while and peered down at his body. Long sleeves and long pants¡ªthe same white undergarments that he wore the first time he went there. No wonder he felt so cold right then. ¡°I need some proper clothing. The sensations in my dream have be increasingly real, and being frozen to death is thest thing I wish to experience.¡± While he scanned for any clothes that he could find, Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes subconsciouslynded on the corpse not far away. The original grayish fabric of the dirty ck clothing on the rotten swordsman¡¯s body was still visible. However, what irked him was the dried blood and burst sores underneath the garment. ¡°Eww, forget it!¡± Lin Sheng had initially thought of cutting up the rotten swordsman and taking his clothes. But, he thought better of it after he saw the corpse¡¯s condition. Holding his sword in his hand, he walked toward the city gate unhurriedly. After a while of walking, he suddenly heard faint footsteps up ahead at the bottom of the city wall. It sounded as if someone was walking on gravel in metal boots. Lin Sheng¡¯s heart skipped a beat, and he halted in his steps. But to his surprise, the other person also seemed to have noticed him and stopped. Their reactions were simultaneous. The wind was blowing under Lin Sheng¡¯s feet, and he could hear the rustling of the bushes nearby. Feeling colder by the minute, he clenched the hilt of his sword and pressed his lips together before he tickled his dried and cracked lower lip with his tongue. Suddenly, a stone chip fell from above the city wall. He could also hear a rapidly-approaching sound. Distracted by the falling stone chip for a second, Lin Sheng quickly came to his senses and raised his sword in time. At the same moment, a ck sword descended from above, aiming straight for Lin Sheng in the dark. The two swords shed. At this distance, Lin Sheng was able to make out his attacker¡¯s appearance. It was also a rotten swordsman with his head wrapped in a white bandage that covered his eyes, nose, and mouth¡ªpractically his entire face. However, there was something different about this rotten swordsman; the bandages around his head were clean without bloodstains, his limps were normal, and not a single piece of his clothing was torn. There were also no pustules on his exposed skin. Aside from the old-fashioned clothes and a wounded head, this creature looked like any healthy individual. Before Lin Sheng could observe more of his attacker, the powerful impact sent him and his attacker sliding backward. While the rotten swordsman managed to ovee the momentum that sent him flying, Lin Sheng kept falling back for a while. Lin Sheng¡¯s hands and shoulder felt numb after their swords shed. Before he could take another breath, his attacker bounced back and charged at him. Like before, their swords collided with a deafening nk, and Lin Sheng could only parry with the help of the mercenary¡¯s muscle memory. As the fight dragged on, he began to discover how handy the wandering mercenary¡¯s fighting instinct was. Tried and tested on the battlefield, it really worked like a charm. ¡°This is epic...¡± Lin Sheng was still struggling, however. It shocked him to see such a tough and fearsome rotten swordsman for the first time. All those swordsmen whom he had met before possessed physical defects¡ªmissing either an arm or a leg. But this attacker had no bodily defects. Even his sword skills were much more refined, and the memories of the soldiers did not give Lin Sheng an edge over this attacker. ¡°He¡¯s definitely not weak! Had it not been for the instinctive reflexes I learned from the mercenary, I would¡¯ve been dead long ago.¡± Lin Sheng snapped out of it, but at this juncture, he could not consciously remember any of his sword-fighting skills. All he could do was fall back amid the ear-piercing nks of the swords. Swinging his ck sword instinctively to deflect his attacker¡¯s de, Lin Sheng finally knew how badass the mercenary was. If not for the physical disability and theck of systematic training on the mercenary¡¯s part, Lin Sheng would not have been able to kill him. The fight continued, and Lin Sheng began to feel pain in his muscles. It was as if a heavy hammer repeatedly came down on him; his hands were totally numb now. Nevertheless, his mind and intuition told him that he could not lose his sword no matter what. Otherwise, he would die for sure. While he retreated, he heard a loud muffled noise, then there was silence, and the attack stopped. That moment, he got weak in the knees and tumbled to the ground on one knee. But, he still forced himself to look up. Under the moonlight, Lin Sheng saw the rotten swordsman standing still two meters away, holding his sword with one hand and no longer pursuing him. Just then, two shes, like glints from a sword, in the shape of a cross shed on the ground in front of the rotten swordsman. He turned around and slowly disappeared into a nket of fog. Lin Sheng gritted his teeth and got to his feet, leaning on his sword as support. Sweat was trickling down his forehead and his back, but he waspletely unaware of it. ¡°That guy¡¯s of a different league, unlike the other rotten swordsmen earlier! But why did he stop pursuing me?¡± Lin Sheng quickly scanned the ce and finally figured out why. To his left was a four-meter-high wooden column, on which hung a tattered ck triangr g. He could vaguely make out the pattern on the g: it was of an eagle pping its wings. ¡°Ahh, this is the border under the rule of ckfeather City. I can¡¯t believe that I¡¯vee this far.¡± The distance between the city wall and the spot where he stood was at least two hundred meters. It knocked his socks off when he realized that the rotten swordsman had forced him to retreat so far. Chapter 29 - The Beginning: Part 2

Chapter 29: The Beginning: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Falling back two hundred meters as a result of the rotten swordsman¡¯s attack, Lin Sheng was amazed by the strength and fearsomeness of his attacker. After the incident, he no longer saw the mercenary¡¯sbat strength the same way again. ¡°I was so lucky to be able to forge this special intuition at that moment of life and death. This trip has helped me discover the true potential of this ability.¡± Lin Sheng stood there in the same spot to get some rest. It seemed like he recovered faster in the dream world than in reality. Stillpletely exhausted a while ago, he had fully regained his strength in only a little over ten minutes. With the ck sword nted in the ground, Lin Sheng squatted down and dug up a handful of soil in his hand. ck, cold, and soft, the soil contained arge amount of grass, root-like ck stuff, and gravel. He squeezed the dirt in his hand, cing it close to his nose and smelling it. Immediately, a disgusting stench, much like rotten-meat, assaulted his sense of smell. He quickly discarded the dirt. Getting back to his feet, he rubbed the soil residue off his hands and retracted his sword from the ground. ¡°I wonder if I can find out who this guy is from the memories of the city gate guards.¡± While he thought of this, a few names shed across his mind, and he fell silent. ¡°Let¡¯s see... Since the rotten swordsman stopped his pursuit, there¡¯s a high probability that one of these names belong to him.¡± Holding his ck sword in hand, Lin Sheng slowly stepped out. And as soon as he went past the column with the ck eagle g, he heard hurried footsteps in the fog up ahead. His pupils contracted, ck sword pointing down and forward at an angle. All his muscles tensed up as if he was ready to release all his stored energy. This stance, called Central Irongate, may have appeared like an attack posture, but in reality, it was the most widely used defense posture of all basic structures. Within the span of a few breaths, a shadow with a ck sword pointing downward at an angle lunged out from the fog like a mad ox. Only a second passed from the moment Lin Sheng saw the shadow until the sword approached. He quickly raised his sword in riposte, swinging it upward with all his strength. Their two swords collided in the air, and Lin Sheng sessfully deflected the rotten swordsman¡¯s attack. But it did not manage to cause the attacker to lose hisposure. Leveraging on the remaining momentum he had, the rotten swordsman immediately performed a three-sixty turn and bounced back with his ck sword. Meanwhile, Lin Sheng felt numb all over and quickly took a step back. In that split second, the rotten swordsman¡¯s ck sword came down from above again. It barely missed Lin Sheng by one centimeter before it plunged into the ck soil below, a third of its sharp de buried in the ground. ¡°This is it!¡± A light shed in Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes as he leaped and thrust his sword forward with all his strength. The rotten swordsman tried to retract his sword from the ground, but it was stuck too deep. There was no way could he pull it out in time. The window of opportunity quickly closed, and before the rotten swordsman could react, Lin Sheng¡¯s sword had pierced through him. The long de prated his heart and half of the de came out of his back. ck blood oozed from the wound and dripped down from the de. ¡°Hurrah!¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s calcted move had worked out well; the ck soil had caught the attacker¡¯s sword. He felt somewhat relieved, even overjoyed. The trick worked only because the attacker was a brainless monster. Those in their right minds would not have fallen for his trap. However, Lin Sheng¡¯s celebratory mood was short-lived as he began to feel a sharp pain in his abdomen. Loosening his grip on his sword and taking a couple of steps back, he looked down at his belly. A crooked dagger with a grip in the shape of a snake had pierced his stomach. The pain was growing stronger, in addition to a hint of numbness. Thanks to the soldiers¡¯ memories, Lin Sheng quickly knew that some nasty poison had begun to spread throughout his body. ¡°Sh*t... I was too careless...¡± Enduring the excruciating pain and taking a clue from the method that he learned from TV dramas, he grabbed the dagger and pulled it out in a swift motion. Blood instantly spattered onto his hands as well as the ground. ¡°Oh sh*t, that made things worse! I think I¡¯m going to die!¡± It felt like his stomach had a puncture with air leaking out continuously. ¡°No, this isn¡¯t just something in my head, it¡¯s real!¡± he reminded himself. Applying pressure on his abdomen with his hands, Lin Sheng dropped to the ground and sat there. A meter away ahead of him, the rotten swordsman had fallen dead on the ground with ck mist slowly rising from him, condensing into some ck thread. It flew toward Lin Sheng before it plunged and disappeared into his chest. ¡°At least, I¡¯ve got something...¡± A familiar headache struck as numerous footages started to overload his mind. The unbearable headachebined with the agonizing pain of the wound in his stomach was killing him. ¡°That¡¯s it, I¡¯m dead this time.¡± Without hesitation, Lin Sheng grabbed the dagger that he had pulled out from his stomach earlier and killed himself by cutting his throat. A suffocating pain ensued and quickly spread across his body. His vision dimmed, and he quickly cked out. When he opened his eyes again, he could see nothing but darkness. He was suffocating because he was wrapped inside a nket. Yanking the nket away, Lin Sheng gasped for fresh air. Instead of sweating profusely, he felt strangely cold that night even though the weather was anything but chilly. ¡°I thought that the mercenary¡¯s method of treating his wound was too old-fashioned, and he should have followed the way of modern medicine. But I was wrong! I won¡¯t believe those TV dramas again!¡± Lin Sheng could not hold back his anger when the scene of him pulling the dagger came to mind. Although he knew that he would have still died from the injury no matter which method he followed, he still thought that he could have hung on for a little longer had he used the other method. Lin Sheng sat in bed, panting. He then picked up the rm clock by the bed; it was sixteen past four in the morning. ¡°It¡¯s still early. I can still get some shuteye.¡± However, what surprised him was that he did not suffer the same listless side effect as before. ¡°Hmm, I feel pretty normal.¡± Lin Sheng was suspicious, and he began to observe himself carefully. Getting out of bed, he switched on the tablemp. ¡°The best method to test my mental condition is to solve mathematical questions.¡± He quickly took out a math exercise book and randomly picked a question. The time he took to answer this particr question was more or less the same as he did on other days. ¡°Nothing¡¯s changed. It looks like I¡¯m okay.¡± He quickly worked on a few more questions just to be sure. The results were all the same; he could solve all the equations in almost the same length of time in one go. ¡°But hey, something¡¯s wrong. I haven¡¯t died for a long time.¡± Lin Sheng thought. ¡°Could it be that death is something adaptive?¡± He began to suspect that there was some pattern in what he was experiencing. ¡°Perhaps, it has something to do with the absorption of the ck thread?¡± He took note of the thought in his mind, turned off the light, andy back down in bed. There were no worries since the experience did not affect him mentally. Otherwise, he would have a problem preparing for theing college entrance exam. With the doubt removed, Lin Sheng started to recall the memories he had just acquired. Thetest rotten swordsman, who was very different from the others, should be able to offer something different, Lin Sheng thought. Chapter 30 - The Beginning: Part 3

Chapter 30: The Beginning: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city of Huaisha, sporadic lights were glittering in the dark like fireflies. Less than five hundred meters from the port, in a training room on the fifth floor of a building, Chen Huan was holding a ck wooden stick and silently looking out the window at the spotty city lights. She tied her hair in a ponytail, and the white tight-fit protective garment entuated her slim figure. ¡°Starting practice again?¡± The door was pushed open as Xu Yi walked in with a cup of hot tea. Unlike Chen Huan, Xu Yi was wearing a ck nightgown, and she had long cascading hair. It appeared that she had just gotten out of bed. ¡°Yeah, thepetition is drawing near. I need to ramp up my training,¡± said Chen Huan as she looked back at her. ¡°You¡¯re up early today.¡± ¡°I was supposed to open the clubhouse gate today, but when I arrived and saw that there was light in the training room, I knew it was you.¡± Xu Yi paused, went up next to Chen Huan, and pulled a wooden chair over to sit down. ¡°Are you still worried about Lin Sheng?¡± she asked in a low voice. ¡°Am I not supposed to? They¡¯re only selecting two people out of the entire ten teams in Huaisha. I¡¯m not at my best right now, and I¡¯m not sure if I can guarantee myself a ce,¡± Chen Huan replied quietly. ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re stretching yourself?¡± Xu Yi asked. ¡°Do you think this is going to help?¡± Chen Huan remained silent, and Xu Yi stopped talking. She knew the reason for Chen Huan¡¯s desperation. The organizers of the National Amateur Swordsmanship Tournament consisted of a group of wealthy people who had an interest in Naxi Swordsmanship. Naturally, they used money rewards to attract participation from major teams. In Huaisha¡¯s case, anyone who could make it to the provincial level would get a cash prize of as high as £¤50,000. It was money that Chen Huan was hell-bent on getting. The National Amateur Swordsmanship Tournament was the avenue for Chen Huan to get extra money for herself. Everything was fine until the emergence of Lin Sheng. Apparently, Chen Huan was not confident in beating the young chap, and that stressed her out, forcing her to rise early for training. ¡°Take care, then,¡± Xu Yi said. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I know how much my body can take,¡± Chen Huan replied while she shook her head. Xu Yi sighed and said nothing more. She turned around, took the teacup, and left. Closing the door behind her, Xu Yi paused outside the training room when she heard the sound of Chen Huan practicing her sword skills with the wooden stick. Xu Yi let out a sigh again before she walked downstairs to the office on the fourth floor. She was a full-time staff in the sports club, responsible for coordinating and managing the training-room rental operation. Back in the office, Xu Yi closed the door, picked up the telephone on the desk, and dialed a familiar number. *Toot¡ª* ¡°Hello?¡± a calm male voice answered. ¡°It¡¯s me,¡± Xu Yi said. ¡°She¡¯s stepping up her training again. It¡¯s been three days now.¡± There was silence on the other end. ¡°She hasn¡¯t fully recovered from her injury yet. I¡¯m a bit worried about her.¡± Xu Yi paused. ¡°I got it,¡± replied the male voice. ¡°Keep an eye on her.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Xu Yi exhaled and only put down the phone after the male voice hung up. ... ¡°I¡¯m fine! I¡¯m not sick! It¡¯s true! I swear!¡± In Steelscale Club, Madin had Russell in a headlock with both hands. ¡°You¡¯re terribly sick! You should get treatment!¡± Madin retorted, face red. But it was not obvious since his skin was dark. As soon as Lin Sheng arrived, he noticed the club staff chuckling at the side while watching Russell and Madin¡¯s wrestling farce. Meanwhile, Shayeen was holding a tiny mirror and touching up her makeup, seemingly uninterested in the drama. ¡°What are you two doing?¡± Lin Sheng was dumbfounded as he saw Russell try to grab Madin¡¯s lower body, but Madin blocked him. Both of them were engaged in bare-knuckle fighting. ¡°He¡¯s crazy, master!¡± Madin shouted. ¡°He lunged at me and tried to kiss me just now. I was lucky enough to dodge in time!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t f*cking mean to kiss you. It was meant for Shayeen!¡± Russell groaned in pain as Madin tightened his hands. ¡°But your mouth f*cking touched me!¡± Madin roared. Shayeen put her mirror away andughed at the two. ¡°The retard tried to ambush me while I wasing upstairs, but it turned out that it was Madin whom he had waid. I knew what he was up to!¡± Sheughed darkly as she put the final touch to her hair buns before she jumped down from the stone table on the front stage. While he was envious of their close friendship, Lin Sheng was half-crying, half-smiling seeing what had happened. Sitting down by the side, Lin Sheng decided to wait it out while he got some rest. Russell had allegedly received specialized training, but his strength was still no match for Madin. The oue was obvious in the close-quartersbat, and the episode ended with Russell begging Madin for mercy. Lin Sheng pped his hands together and said, ¡°Alright, guys, let¡¯s start the lesson.¡± ¡°Here we go!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go, Master Lin.¡± Madin and Russell followed closely as Lin Sheng went into the training room. Meanwhile, Shayeen went to get changed in a separate fitting room fordies. Compared with Tengchong Swordsmanship Club, Steelscale Club was much better equipped¡ªprotective garments were divided into outer and inneryers, elbow guards, shoulder guards, knee guards, arm guards, and everything needed for safe training there. Even the props were real and heavy, but they were not as substantial as Lin Sheng¡¯s ck sword. The swords were pretty close to the real thing except they were not sharpened. The three students gathered at the center of the training room in a full set of gear, waiting for further instruction. ¡°Master Lin, are you interested in entering apetition?¡± Shayeen, the more dependable student, first asked. ¡°Whatpetition?¡± Lin Sheng was baffled. ¡°As you all know, my skills are self-taught, and I rarely have contact with the outside world.¡± He told them that he was a self-taught master and learned his sword skills through real-world battles. His fighting style was true as a result, and the three of them had never doubted it. The only baffling thing was from what actual battle did Lin Sheng learn his sword skills? After all, practitioners of Naxi Swordsmanship were a rare breed now. ¡°NAST, short for the National Amateur Swordsmanship Tournament,¡± Russell quickly replied. ¡°Traditionally, Chen Huan¡¯s our representative. She¡¯s the best candidate in our area.¡± ¡°That wasst time; things are different now,¡± said Madin. ¡°If you¡¯re interested, Master Lin, we¡¯ll help you register, and the club will bear the registration fee.¡± ¡°What is it for?¡± Lin Sheng asked with a bewildered look, as he had never been exposed to such a championship. ¡°The main purpose is to have a friendly exchange with other practitioners aside from winning the prize money. It will add a little fame to your name too,¡± exined Madin. ¡°But in reality, you can forget about the fame,¡± he continued, ¡°because it¡¯s only apetition among amateurs who share the same interest and passion.¡± ¡°How much is it?¡± Lin Sheng was more interested in the prize money since his family was financially strapped right then. Plus, he had never tried to conceal his intention. Madin thought for a moment and said, ¡°I can¡¯t recall how much it is. As far as I know, there will be prize money given at every stage.¡± While Madin was still trying to recall how much it was, Shayeen had passed Lin Sheng a leaflet, which contained information on NAST. Lin Sheng briefly browsed through the material before his eyes quicklynded on the prize table. Winners of the city stage¡ªtwo prizes: £¤50,000 each. Winner of the provincial stage¡ªone prize: £¤100,000. Winners of the national stage¡ªfirst prize: £¤500,000, second prize: £¤200,000, third prize: £¤150,00 0. Chapter 31 - Exploration: Part 1

Chapter 31: Exploration: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Look at the prize! I think we can do it!¡± Russell suggested. ¡°With your strength, even the strongest Chen Huan is no match for you. You¡¯re gonna make it. However, there were ten teams in Huaisha thest time, and I don¡¯t know how many people are taking part this time,¡± Shayeen exined. ¡°Ten teams?¡± Lin Sheng was surprised. ¡°Isn¡¯t there only three clubs?¡± ¡°It¡¯s based on individual participation. Anyone with a bit of confidence can take part in it, provided that they have their own equipment to protect themselves. So, we¡¯re not the only three clubs taking part in it,¡± Shayeen exined. ¡°Got it.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°So, master, you wanna join?¡± Russell asked, anticipating an answer. ¡°If you do, you can help us get some trophies or something for the club. It¡¯ll be much easier for us to recruit members in the future!¡± Lin Sheng thought about it in silence, then nodded. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I knew it! Now they¡¯re going to lose!¡± Russell burst intoughter. ¡°Each county can qualify for two ces. Chen Huan should be able to take second ce. Of course, the premise isn¡¯t to sh with our instructor,¡± Shayeen said calmly. Lin Sheng looked at the information in his hand. His eyes fell on the date of thepetition: April 13th. ¡°What¡¯s the date today?¡± he asked casually. ¡°The 27th of March. There¡¯s more than ten days before the game. It¡¯s still early,¡± replied Shayeen. ¡°Well, there can only be one participant. You¡¯ll be the reserves, then. Well, that¡¯s all. Let¡¯s start today¡¯s ss,¡± Lin Sheng said, returning the leaflet to Shayeen. The other three quickly put down their things and got up to stand in line before him. Although they cked a little, Lin Sheng could see that they were serious. Lin Sheng¡¯s position in their hearts had beenpletely different ever since he defeated Russell. He was no longer just an ordinary paid coach, and they took him seriously. Lin Sheng scanned the three of them carefully from left to right. The first was Russell. The guy was 1.8 meters tall and strong. He had deep blond hair, some freckles on his face, and his eyes were amon pale blue. He looked like a regr white guy. He was not handsome. He looked cheeky, but he could be tough when he was serious. Lin Sheng made a little analysis, quickly positioning Russell. He knew what style to direct him in. Then he looked at Madin. Madin was a little taller than Russell, almost 1.9 meters tall. He was a little thinner with longer hands and legs, as well as a in face. He alwayspleted his training honestly and earnestly. He was the most solid of the three, having the strongest endurance and strength. Next was Shayeen. She was a typical richdy who had a high IQ, arrogance, and perseverance. Although she was not as good as Madin, she was of the same level as Russell. She was beautiful but not delicate. After he analyzed the three of them, Lin Sheng sorted out his ideas and slowly gave them an exnation. ¡°You¡¯ve been practicing the basics for a while. Basic moves are the foundation of all styles and techniques. All sword styles are evolved from these basic moves.¡± He paused for a moment and continued. ¡°Naxi swordsmanship doesn¡¯t refer to the traditional swordsmanship in the Naxi area, but it¡¯s a general term for many types of swordsmanship based on it, which have evolved in various regions.¡± ¡°And in this swordsmanship, I need to determine your mastery of the moves.¡± He swung his long sword before he held it tightly with both hands and swished it. The tip of the sword almost touched the ground. ¡°What is this move?¡± ¡°Umm... it¡¯s an upward thrust. Its main purpose is to strike between the legs!¡± Russell answered decisively. ¡°Master, we haven¡¯t learned this before. Also, isn¡¯t this too obscene...¡± Lin Sheng nced at Madin and Shayeen. Both of them looked puzzled. He knew at once that there seemed to be a great deal of difference between Naxi swordsmanship and the swordsmanship he obtained from his dream. He paused again, then exined. ¡°In Naxi swordsmanship, most moves are mainly aimed tobat a bay charge, so our protective suits are used to protect against stabbing and cutting. However, my swordsmanship is different. I pay attention not only to stabbing, but also splitting, cutting and other basic moves.¡± ¡°That means you¡¯ve created your own swordsmanship?¡± Shayeen asked immediately. ¡°No.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. ¡°I inherited my swordsmanship from an ancient school. I name it...¡± For a moment, a great number of names shed through his mind. But after a brief hesitation, he chose the simplest one. ¡°I name it... ckfeather swordsmanship.¡± He had fused with and absorbed the swordy of the warriors as well as swordsmen from ckfeather City. Hence, it was not a problem to name the swordsmanship as ckfeather. ¡°ckfeather? Why is it called ckfeather?¡± Shayeen was curious. ¡°We¡¯ll talk about thatter. Now, let me exin the principle of this move.¡± Lin Sheng began to borate. ¡°This is called the Irongate style. There are many variations of the Irongate style, but the mostmonly used one is cing the sword in the middle, which is called the Central Irongate. ¡°This move can connect with many subsequent sword skills, and it¡¯s also the most defensive move. It looks like you¡¯re leaving your unguarded head open, but it¡¯s just a trick.¡± He then began to show them how the pose or move changed. Although the three had already mastered some of the moves in Naxi swordsmanship, it was the first time they had heard of Irongate, therefore they studied it very carefully. Lin Sheng also sorted out the memories of the corrupted swordsman in his mind while he instructed them. From the swordsman¡¯s memory, he not only acquired aprehensive basis of ckfeather swordsmanship, but he also obtained a real, orthodox one. Before that, he had received the sword skill, Furious Blow from Ravel¡¯s letter as well, though he did not practice it hard. He did try to practice Ravel¡¯s Furious Blow, but unfortunately, his progress was too slow. Inparison with hunting rotten swordsmen and getting their memories right away, he estimated that it would take him at least half a year to master the Furious Blow. And it would take even longer to fully integrate it into his own swordsmanship system. The reason was that Ravel¡¯s Furious Blow, which he had developed for himself, was the best sword skill for him. ¡°I can study and absorb the essence of it, but it¡¯s not advisable to copy itpletely.¡± Lin Sheng had recently spent his spare time thinking about what he tranted on the Furious Blow. He was trying to incorporate the power skills into other simr moves, but the process was slow. Time went by quickly while they trained, and soon, forty minutes passed without them realizing. Lin Sheng left some homework for them and left the club after he said his goodbyes. After he obtained the memory of the corrupted swordsman, his strength had increased greatly. Although he did notpletely digest it, the next time he entered his dream, he would no longer be the ordinary rookie he once was. At least I¡¯m a formal soldier, a Level 1 warrior, right ? he thought. With such an idea in mind, Lin Sheng went home and continued to practice hard. Chapter 32 - Exploration: Part 2

Chapter 32: Exploration: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The following days, Lin Sheng did not enter the dream world again. In fact, he did not even dream. He rested very well every night. Besides studying at home, he went out to find ces to practice his swordsmanship every day. He was now practicing with the sword in order to assimte the corrupted swordsman¡¯s memories with his. The swordsman was the leader of ckfeather City¡¯s patrol team. He was a typical aristocratic academician, and he had to practice aplete set of basic swordsmanship skills each day. That was how Lin Sheng acquired aprehensive swordsmanship system. Also, it appeared that the swordsman had mastered more than one move, but in the iplete memory that Lin Sheng received, there was only one move. Of course, he was still satisfied. It was, after all, the first time he had mastered a true sword skill. Before that, he was actually just using basic moves to fight against his enemy. Apart from the sword skills, what interested him most was the part about the Valent Sanctum in the guy¡¯s memory. In the memory fragment, the Valent Sanctum indeed held a special secret that rapidly increased one¡¯s physical strength. It was a secret skill that only official warriors of the temple could learn. Most importantly, ording to the memory fragment, was that the Valent Sanctum kept a real special method of practice, one that pushed the human limits faster. The tough rotten swordsman was only a Level 2 warrior. The memory fragment showed that Level 3 warriors automatically got a certain amount of preferential treatment in ckfeather City. If the Level 3 warriors were willing to be attached to a family, they could even be treated equivalent to many elite citizens. Lin Sheng wondered when he would break through the limit and enter Level 3? Soon, on the 31st of March, he would finally be able to return to the dream again. ... The drizzle came down from the sky like silk threads, drenching Lin Sheng, who was still in his pajamas. As soon as he opened his eyes, his face and hands felt cold as well as wet. ¡°It¡¯s raining in this goddam ce?¡± Lin Sheng nced around quickly. He was standing in the spot where he had killed the rotten swordsman. The triangr ck Eagle g was to the left. ¡°Strip the swordsman first!¡± Without another word, Lin Sheng rushed to the rotten swordsman and started to remove his clothes. ¡°Oh, a woman?¡± Lin Sheng was slightly shocked when he put his hand on the body. ¡°No, just a bigger chest...¡± He immediately recognized the difference. The top was like arge ck tablecloth, with a hole cut in the middle¡ªa really simple style. The bottom consisted of a long ck tube skirt with split sides and gray trousers underneath. Meanwhile, a string of decorated silver beads and a moneybag were tied on the belt. Lin Sheng reached out and ripped the moneybag away. It was an old gray moneybag about the size of a hand. He untied the moneybag and shook it. *Clink!* A little ck thing fell to the ground. Lin Sheng quickly picked it up. It was a key; a serrated key with a round handle and a small vertical pupil symbol carved into it. ¡°This symbol...¡± Lin Sheng picked it up and examined it carefully. ¡°Very simr to the vertical pupil I saw in Ravel¡¯s memory.¡± He identified it, then quickly raised the ck sword in his hand and examined the symbol on it. Two symbols, one big and one small, were ced side by side. They looked very simr. ¡°The same style, it should be a symbol.¡± Lin Sheng found it suspicious. ¡°There is no doubt that this symbol represents something, perhaps an organization, a force, a belief? ¡°Plus, this symbol can be openly carved on the door and the sword without fear of being discovered. It¡¯s obviously not something that¡¯s uneptable to all.¡± He looked at the huge ckfeather City not far away. ¡°Maybe the answer¡¯s there...¡± Lin Sheng kept the little ck object, then stripped off the rotten swordsman¡¯s clothes and put them on himself. It was a little too big. He was obviously too thin. ¡°I need to build up my muscles.¡± Lin Sheng sighed and looked at the ck sword in his hand, then at the ck sword in the rotten swordsman¡¯s hand. The de in the corpse¡¯s hand was thicker and wider. The rounded guard perfectly protected the palm, and the grip was of proper thickness, tied with thin non-slip yarn. The pommel was not rounded, but in the shape of a spike, and there was still blood at the end of the spike. ¡°It looks like that sword is much more powerful.¡± Lin Sheng decisively abandoned the ck sword in his hand, bent down, and picked up the ck sword in the corpse¡¯s hand. ¡°Since they¡¯re all from the rotten swordsmen, these ck swords should be called corrupted swords.¡± He took the ck sword and lifted it. It was much heavier than the previous sword. ¡°About five kilograms... Cool.¡± The sword he used before was only 2kg or 2.5kg, but this one nearly doubled in weight, and he needed some time to get used to it. Then there was the dagger that had stabbed him before. The dagger was unexpectedly heavy, around two kilograms. He hesitated for a moment but did not take it. A sword was enough. He buried the dagger under the gpole. Maybe he could take it back when he returned. Holding the sword, Lin Sheng began to walk around the city again. In the darkness, the weeds swayed in the wind and rustled. He walked for a long time under the moonlight without running into any monster. However, he was walking a little too fast. He was panting now and feeling tired. ¡°I¡¯m too weak...¡± Lin Sheng rested his body against the wall. It was very tiring to carry a five-kilogram sword the whole time. ¡°I have to find a way to improve my stamina and strength quickly. While exercising every day helps, it¡¯s too slow...¡± He sighed. After a rest, the rain gradually stopped. His clothes were wet and he was cold, yet he felt warm inside. He possessed a rough map of ckfeather City. He had nned the routes to the Valent Sanctum and Lhasabelle. Now, all he had to do was enter the city. ¡°Presently, I¡¯m stronger, plus I¡¯ve been around for so long. Nheless, I can¡¯t find any living thing. I guess I¡¯ll have to enter the city.¡± Lin Sheng licked his lips, holding the sword but struggling to steady his body. ¡°But I just changed my sword. I shouldn¡¯t rush. I¡¯ll enter the city once I get used to it.¡± A pauseter, he stood up, took his sword, and went on searching for his prey. However, things were different this time. He was turning back, not exploring any other ce. He walked along the wall without identifying a specific direction. Turning back was much faster than exploring. Soon, Lin Sheng returned to the city gate. The doorway was deep as well as dark, and cold wind was blowing continuously from the inside. Lin Sheng looked up at the top of the gate. After the rain, the fog had dissipated, and there were visible jagged piles of arrows above the city gate. Behind the piles of arrows was a dim outline of a tall ck tower with a spire. The moonlight cast a silver glow over the entire wall. Lin Sheng clenched the corrupted sword and strode toward the gate. Chapter 33 - Exploration: Part 3

Chapter 33: Exploration: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The ck gate was only about a dozen meters high. Lin Sheng moved slowly and warily, breathing softly while listening to the sounds around him. *Thump...* Suddenly, there was a dull sound like that of a bell,ing from ckfeather City. Lin Sheng stopped at once. *Thump... Thump... Thump...* The thuds rang on for five consecutive times before they died off. Lin Sheng stood still, listening carefully to the changes around him. After a few minutes, nothing happened. He raised his sword again and gradually moved forward. Soon he passed through the gate again, and the view ahead was clear. It was filled with decaying ckened buildings and streets. Unknown pieces of ck rags drifted in the wind while a lone direction sign stood by the side of the road. Lin Sheng did not approach the direction sign but went straight to the right side of the street without hesitation. He felt some roughness as he stepped on the street¡¯s hard gravel. On the right side of the street, the main road was paved with rough cobblestone and nked by broken ck stone buildings that looked like they had been burned. Most of these buildings were two or three stories high. They did not look like shops but more like ordinary houses or cottages. Stonemp posts stood at intervals on the main road. To Lin Sheng¡¯s surprise, themp posts were actually emitting a pale yellow light. Within their squarempshades, the candle mes flickered in the cold wind. ¡°But it wasn¡¯t like this before...¡±He recalled what the street looked like thest time he was there. Themps were not lit at that time. Feeling like something was amiss, Lin Sheng quickly looked for a ce to hide. ncing around, he soon found a row of buildings on the right with holes in its broken windows and doors. He could easily get in and hide there for a while. However, those holes frightened him just as much. Who knew what dangers lurked inside? There was nothing else on the empty and deserted street. ¡°I¡¯ll wake up if I don¡¯t go on...¡± Lin Sheng summoned up his courage and took his sword. He followed the nned route, walking forward. *Tap... Tap...* Though he tried to tread as softly as he could, his footsteps still echoed across the street. *Hiss...* Suddenly, a slight noise came from the front as if someone was whispering in his ear. Lin Sheng quickly found a broken window and got in. He proceeded to crouch down and hide behind a wall. *Hiss... Hiss...* The sound was closing in... In the middle of the street, a huge shadow of two stories tall was leisurely wriggling its way through the neighborhood, its long tail trailing behind. Countless ant-like ck insects were crawling all over the huge shadow. Lin Sheng could not see its face clearly as it waspletely covered by the ck insects. Nevertheless, beyond the insects, Lin Sheng saw a human silhouette on the upper part of the huge shadow. The creature was flicking its forked tongue, and the three pairs of ck eyes on its face looked like holes in a rotten tree. Its eyes were now scanning around greedily. Lin Sheng slowly and silently peeped through the crack in the window. He swallowed hard and dared not move. The monster wriggled past him quickly. It possessed the form of a human on top and that of a python at the bottom, and its long, thick tail was covered with smooth ck scales. The cobblestone on the street rubbed against its scales, creating the hissing sound that Lin Sheng had just heard. Some of the pieces of debris in front of the monster were easily crushed by it. Lin Sheng dared not make a sound. Once you were targeted by a monster of this size, it was hard to escape. The hissing faded away, but Lin Sheng was too afraid to budge. The size of the monster frightened him. Once you were discovered by such a monster, you would have no chance of survival. He did not get up until the hissing waspletely gone for quite some time. ¡°Young man... have you seen my Justin?¡± Suddenly, a trepidatious female voice traveled from behind Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng was startled. He immediately stood up and turned around, raising his sword to strike. That was when he found himself in a shabby living room. At one corner of the room, in a doorway leading to the other room, a pale woman was standing there. The woman seemed to be in her forties, appearing haggard and anxious. Her eyes were sunken with dark circles and heavy bags under them. She was wearing a gray cloak, simr to that of a nun¡¯s, and it covered her head. ¡°Young man... have you seen my Justin?¡± the woman repeated. Lin Sheng was alert, but he was relieved. It was the first time he had met anyone who could speak in his dreams, and it gave him a faint sense of security. He had remained alone for too long in that deathly stillness, which made him feel a little on edge, but he finally met someone tomunicate with. Lin Sheng narrowed his eyes, making sure that there was no obvious hidden weapon in the woman¡¯s hands before he moved a little closer. ¡°Hi, I don¡¯t know who you¡¯re talking about. But if you can give me some clues, perhaps I can help you find him.¡± He answered slowly and clearly, in the same ckfeather City ent. Thenguage used in his dream world was Ancient Rehn, which he got from the memory fragments. At first, he felt a little awkward speaking thenguage, but he quickly became proficient. The woman¡¯s focus now fell entirely on Lin Sheng. ¡°Are you sure you can help me find him?¡± ¡°If you can provide me some clues and help,¡± Lin Sheng replied cautiously. ¡°Can you find Justin if I help you?¡± ¡°I think so, maybe, maybe...¡± ¡°When? When can you find him? Now! Now! All right!! I need to find Justin now, now!!! Now!!! Now!!!¡± The woman was going berserk and getting closer. She started to il her arms wildly, her eyes turning redder and redder. All of a sudden, her head exploded! The woman¡¯s head exploded like a balloon. A stream of sand-like ck fluid spewed forth from the explosion. The fluid gathered in ck lines on the ground, hissing softly, and the next moment, the fluid sped toward him. Thick masses of ck lines filled the room in an instant, rushing madly at him from all directions. ¡°F*ck!¡± Lin Sheng did not have time to think. He turned around and jumped out of the window. The next second, countless ck lines rushed frantically out of the window, chasing him. Lin Sheng fell over and rolled on the ground. When he looked back, his face turned pale. He instantly got up and ran for his life. Chapter 34 - An Unforeseen Event: Part 1

Chapter 34: An Unforeseen Event: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion *Crack!* Lin Sheng¡¯s elbow hit a board as he rolled on the ground, The board was smashed into pieces, while his elbow bled from being all scratched up. Under normal circumstances, he may have cried out in pain, but now he did not even have time to breathe. *Bang!!* A mass of ck lines smashed madly into the window frames and dashed toward him. The ck lines were spinning and dancing along the way. Everything the inky wires touched would quickly be dyed ck and disintegrate. They would turn into ck powder and melt into the ck ¡°wires¡±. Lin Sheng dashed all the way to the gate of ckfeather City! Behind him, the ck lines were thudding wildly along the gravel on the street. Wherever they went, stone or road were all crushed into ck powder in an instant, integrating into the wires. Lin Sheng rushed toward the gate, nced back, and fell to the ground in shock. *Bang!!* A great mass of ck lines dropped down behind him, piercing the ground. If he had not rolled on the ground, he would have been pierced into a ho¡¯s hive by now. Lin Sheng got up and ran out of ckfeather City without wasting any time. At his rear, the great mass of ck lines kept circling in the air, but they did not move beyond the gate at all. The ck lines then slowly retracted, darting back into the house. In an instant, everything was calm again. Lin Sheng sat in the middle of the road outside the city, sweating and panting. He could feel his vision beginning to blur and that he was about to wake up. He had failed to explore ckfeather City. ckfeather City, which seemed dead and calm, was indescribably dangerous. ¡°Next time, I¡¯ll have to find a chance... I don¡¯t believe this...¡± Lin Sheng sat on the ground, clenching his teeth. There were so many holes all around ckfeather City. He did not believe that he could not find a safer way in. Even at the risk of his own life, he had to find the Valent Sanctum and get the Limit Breaker. However, his field of vision gradually blurred. *Beep! Beep!* The rm clock on his bedside table beeped nonstop. Lin Sheng opened his eyes and sat up on his bed. He gently exhaled and tossed his nket aside. It was already bright outside, and the clock read nine o¡¯clock sharp. ¡°It was a failure... But this is just the beginning...¡± He rolled out of bed, took off his pajamas, and put on his clothes. Then, he brushed his messy hair in front of the mirror to make himself look good. Finally, he pulled the sword he had borrowed from the club out of his closet, carried it on his back, and exited the bedroom. The long sword was kept in a ck case, which Shayeen had sponsored. It looked like an ordinary violin case. As soon as Lin Sheng walked out of his room, he heard a voiceing from the living room. It sounded like a girl reciting something in a foreignnguage. He paused and entered the living room. A girl in a white shirt and a knee-length red checkered skirt was sitting on the sofa. She was about fifteen or sixteen years old with short hair. The girl¡¯s skin was fair like snow in the morning light. ¡°Good morning!¡± Seeing Lin Sheng enter the living room, the girl quickly stood up and gave him a sweet smile. ¡°Xiao Xi? When did you get here? Have you had your breakfast?¡± Lin Sheng was a little surprised. The girl¡¯s name An Xi, but his family called her Xiao Xi. She was his cousin, the daughter of his aunt. They lived near each other, so she would visit asionally. He was quite familiar with An Xi, but their rtionship was just so-so. ¡°Yes, my mom made some hot sauce and asked me to send some to your parents. But I forgot to bring my keys...¡± An Xi said with an embarrassed smile ¡°So diligent...¡± Lin Sheng looked at the textbook in her hand. The book was as long as a thick magazine with an old cover. It had obviously been flipped through many times. ¡°Where are you going? Aunt and uncle went to work, and they asked me to eat with youter.¡± An Xi hurriedly asked when she noticed that Lin Sheng was carrying a long ck case. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a moment. You just stay at home and study.¡± Lin Sheng could not tell her that he was going to the club to coach swordsmanship. He had made too much progress in the club and went straight to coaching. It did not make sense to reach such a level of swordsmanship without a long period of practice. Besides, his family knew that he could not have been practicing the sword for a long time. Hence, Lin Sheng chose to hide it. ¡°Are you going to the cyber cafe?¡± Lin Sheng was speechless. ¡°Well, I¡¯m going now. Take care of the house.¡± ¡°Okay...¡± An Xi nodded. Carrying the sword case, Lin Sheng put on his shoes, took a thermos and towel, then opened the door and left. An Xi quietly watched as Lin Sheng closed the door. She then heard the echo of him walking down the stairs. Sitting on the sofa, she decided to carry on memorizing the words in her book. Suddenly, she saw the money left by her aunt on the table. ¡°He forgot to take the money.¡± She did not think much and quickly grabbed the money before she ran to the balcony, wanting to call him back. That was when she spotted Lin Sheng at the gate. Unexpectedly, a young girl wearing sunsses approached him, and the two began to talk. The girl was fashionably dressed as well as in good shape, and behind her were two tall, sturdy men. They then got on a bus together and left. Curiosity flickered in An Xi¡¯s eyes. ording to her knowledge about her cousin, there was nothing special about him, and he had no advantages in terms of appearance or height. His academic performance was not really good too. Basically, he had a low sense of existence. Perhaps, the only plus point was that he had a fairplexion. At first, her impression of him was just that of an ordinary person, but now it seemed that... It seemed that he had some secret social circle. That girl had a hot body. Although she was wearing sunsses, she certainly looked good. The clothes she was wearing were quite expensive, highlighting her exquisite figure. That girl¡¯s family background had to be very different from her cousin¡¯s. How did hee to know her? ¡°He¡¯s not as honest as I thought...¡± An Xi was now a little curious about Lin Sheng. Chapter 35 - An Unforeseen Event: Part 2

Chapter 35: An Unforeseen Event: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Hongxia Guildhall, Eastern District of Huaisha. The eastern district was the most prosperous area in the whole city, and Hongxia Guildhall was one of the most magnificentndmark buildings there. The eighteen-story retro garden-style guildhall was painted dark red and decorated with luxurious as well as exquisite decoration. Beautiful ushers in uniform weed the guests with a smile, allowing them to enjoy the best of Huaisha. Chen Tan sat alone in front of a pond in the guildhall¡¯s back garden, gazing at the lotuses that were floating in the water. His father, Chen Hang, was the eldest of the Chen brothers who controlled all of the casinos in Huaisha, and he was also the owner of the guildhall. Chen Tan was only twenty-one years old, but he had taken over half of his father¡¯s business. Though he looked nerdy, he was, in fact, famous throughout Huaisha. ¡°Boss, we¡¯ve found out his background.¡± Behind him came the sliding sound of the balcony door. A calm, strong, and tall man, wearing a ck T-shirt and long pants, came in. He bowed his head while he reported to Chen Tan. ¡°What is it?¡± Chen Tan turned and looked at the man. ¡°His father owns a store, a grocery store. No other significant background information,¡± the man quickly replied. Chen Tan gently drew a circle on the arm of the chair with his index finger, looking calm. ¡°Chen Huan¡¯s mydy, and I don¡¯t want her to be sad. So, you know what to do.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it, don¡¯t worry.¡± The man nodded. ¡°Be careful. The situation¡¯s getting tense these days.¡± Chen Tan frowned. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± The manughed. ¡°Those from Steelscale Club have some good family backgrounds so we better not get them involved, but this man... It¡¯ll be easy if we want to bring some trouble to his father. In business, there¡¯s always some kind of sh with others. It¡¯s normal to have a bit of an ident if you have a grumpy customer.¡± Chen Tan nodded slightly. If anything happened to Lin Sheng¡¯s father, he was sure Lin Sheng would know what to do. ¡°I¡¯ll arrange it in the afternoon, don¡¯t worry.¡± The man bowed his head, turned, and left quickly. ... On the bus. There were only a few empty seats in the front, middle, and back of the bus. Lin Sheng nodded at Shayeen, and they immediately looked for a ce to sit down. This time, they were going out into the field for actualbat. Actualbat could not be practiced indoors, hence Lin Sheng arranged some field training. The three of them had never practiced outside the club. This was their first time, and it seemed interesting. Shayeen and Madin sat together and chatted while Russell sat behind Lin Sheng with a sleepy face. Lin Sheng sat alone in the middle of the bus. They were headed for the city¡¯s infamous decadent neighborhood, ckwater District. You could find prostitutes, gangs, bars, and even guns there. ckwater District was the most chaotic neighborhood in Huaisha. Those who could not make it in the city would look for cheap rent there because the average rent was the lowest in the whole of Huaisha. About twenty minutes into their bus ride, Shayeen suddenly took out her cell phone and answered a call. At first, she looked rxed, but after a few minutes, her expression changed. ¡°Master.¡± Shayeen quickly stood up from her seat and walked toward Lin Sheng. Madin followed her with a grim expression. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Lin Sheng looked puzzled. ¡°I just received a message. Someone wants to attack your family!¡± Shayeen whispered, suppressing her anger. ¡°Huh?! Who? What time?! What ce?!¡± Shayeen shook her head. ¡°Today, but I don¡¯t know where. I heard that some people were secretly plotting against participants before the tournament, so I arranged for someone to watch them in advance, just in case. I thought it was just a rumor, but...¡± ¡°Who are they?¡± Madin was furious. ¡°Are they targeting my father or my mother?¡± Lin Sheng quickly calmed down. He had to find out the n quickly and go to the rescue. ¡°It¡¯s Uncle Lin!¡± Shayeen answered quickly. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of the bus right now and hail a taxi. We should make it in time!¡± Lin Sheng immediately stood up. They all got off the bus in a hurry, dragging a half-asleep Russell along. Their n to go to ckwater District waspletely disrupted. Lin Sheng stood by the roadside in silence, looking angry and worried. Madin quickly gged down a taxi, and the four got in. They headed back toward the location of Uncle Lin¡¯s store. ... The zone between the Eastern District of Huaisha and the port area. Lin Zhounian was busy moving boxes of goods from his tricycle, and a porter was also helping him. It was not hot, but he kept sweating. The store, called Lin¡¯s Store, was the size of a bedroom. It was no more than eight meters long and wide. Business had been good recently. Lin Zhounian had received a new batch of goods and sold most of them quickly, so he received a new batch of goods today. ¡°Hey boss, business is good, huh?¡± The owner of the nearby clothing store chatted with him. ¡°Small business, small profits.¡± Lin Zhounianughed. ¡°Whether it¡¯s a small profit or not, it¡¯s a prosperous business,¡± the owner of the clothing store replied. Lin Zhounian gave him a bitter smile and began toin about how hard the business was. Some of the goods had to be sold at a loss, and he had to work long hours every day... On a roadside stall not far away, several strong men with light blond hair and faint blue tattoos on the back of their hands were sitting around. They exchanged nces, slowly stood up, and walked in Lin Zhounian¡¯s direction. Out of nowhere, a tall and dark-haired boy stopped in front of them, blocking them. It was Lin Sheng with his sword case on his back. He stood in front of them without a word. ¡°Get out of my way!¡± The man in the lead appeared impatient and reached out to push Lin Sheng aside. He did not know Lin Sheng at all. His job was toplete the task given to him. His gang did not care about the rest. ¡°Did you just push me?¡± Lin Sheng red at the man. ¡°You wanted to hit me?!! You wanted to hurt me?! I was only trying to ask for directions, and you were trying to hit me. I¡¯m sure you were trying to kill me!¡± The strong men were stunned and did not know what to do. Before they could react, Lin Sheng grasped the hilt of his sword, which was behind him, and he narrowed his eyes, staring at them like a snake staring at a frog ¡°You¡¯re finished...¡± he said with a wicked smiled. Chapter 36 - An Unforeseen Event: Part 3

Chapter 36: An Unforeseen Event: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Whatever you do, you need a reason for it. That¡¯s the rule.¡± These words appeared in Lin Sheng¡¯s memory. He did not know who said it, but he took it seriously. In those memories, there were also other people¡¯s contacts and conversations, so he could not remember who it was. But it did not matter. If it worked, he would take it. So, right then, he found an excuse for himself. He approached them to ask for directions, and they bullied him, therefore he hit back and disabled them. Even if someone called the police, there were three witnesses around to prove that he was not lying. As to why he did not speak at first... The man hit him before he could speak. Many people around could prove that he just wanted to ask for directions. Everything was well thought out before he stopped the men. He had asked several people around for directions just to prepare for the moment. There was a distance of nearly one hundred meters between the breakfast stall and Lin¡¯s Store. It was crowded, and Lin Zhounian was busy moving goods into his store. He did not notice what was happening in the middle of the crowd a hundred meters away. Lin Sheng stepped forward without drawing his sword. He struck the hilt forward, hitting the first man¡¯s dagger with precision. *ng!* The dagger fell to the ground. The others bellowed and rushed in from several directions at the same time, each with a dagger in their hands. Lin Sheng took a step back and suddenly pulled his sword out. A ring of silver light suddenly shed across their faces. *Swoosh!* The four men wailed miserably, holding their hands and falling to the ground. A great deal of blood gushed from their hands and spattered all over the ground. Another strong man standing quietly behind Lin Sheng took out a ck pistol and aimed at him ferociously. *Swoosh!* A silver glint shed before the man, and the man¡¯s right palm fell to the ground, along with his gun. ¡°Arghhh!!! My hand!!!¡± Another man wailed miserably as he held his severed arm and dropped to the ground. ¡°These people have guns. Luckily, I¡¯m quick, or else I¡¯d be the one lying on the ground right now. I was right, you guys were trying to kill me.¡± He was far more experienced inbat and skilled in fighting than those men on the ground. If it had been a one-on-one fight, it may not have been over so quickly. However, when they attacked him all at the same time, it really gave him room for leverage. It was then that the surrounding crowd reacted and dispersed quickly, screaming. Lin Sheng nced at the men on the ground before he turned and left quickly. He had cut their main arteries. If they did not stop bleeding in time, they would bleed to death before long. Of course, he had asked Shayeen to arrange for someone to call the police and make an emergency call in advance. They would not die, but they would be weak. In addition, he had also cut their tendons, so their hands would be inflexibleter on. Lin Sheng moved with great speed and soon disappeared. Lin Zhounian was in the store when he heard the noise. He walked out and looked in the direction of the noise with suspicion, wondering what had happened there. Soon, police cars with shing lights arrived, followed by ambnces. The men on the ground were loaded onto stretchers one by one, their intact hands handcuffed. Each man was escorted to the ambnce by a police officer. ... In an alley not far away. Shayeen, Russell, and Madin stared nkly as Lin Sheng killed a group of strong men. One of them also tried to fight back with a gun, but Lin Sheng cut off his palm without even turning around. The cruel and bloody but delicate swordsmanship formed a strong contrast in their minds. They just stood there in a daze. ¡°This is actualbat.¡± Lin Sheng stood at the entrance of the alley, watching the three men. ¡°In actualbat, you must never give your opponent any chance to fight back!¡± ¡°Will they die?¡± Shayeen asked in a quivering voice. ¡°No, I know what I¡¯m doing. No one will die.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. With the memories of so many people, he was very clear about the strength of his hand and how much damage he could inflict. ¡°But... earlier... What if there¡¯s a mistake?¡± Madin hesitated, looking pale. ¡°Then I was just defending myself. Didn¡¯t you see that they started it first?¡± ¡°But this will hurt the man behind the curtain,¡± Shayeen whispered. ¡°Master, I found out where these thugs came from.¡± ¡°Where?¡± Lin Sheng looked somber. ¡°The White Tarots.¡± Shayeen gnashed her teeth. ¡°Are they very troublesome?¡± Lin Sheng was surprised. ¡°Yes, troublesome indeed.¡± Shayeen nodded. ¡°They¡¯re the biggest gang in Huaisha, and there are also authorities backing them.¡± ¡°How did the tournament get involved with the White Tarots?¡± Russell shouted, grabbing his hair. ¡°It¡¯s just an amateur fencing tournament. Are there any contestants from the White Tarots?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go back first. There should be no problem here for the time being. I expect someone wille for me soon.¡± Lin Sheng looked calm. It was toote to think about anything else. The immediate concern was how to cope with the aftermath. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You got into trouble because of us, we¡¯ll settle it!¡± Shayeen said earnestly. Lin Sheng said nothing. He was suddenly agitated. In reality, he had to control his force. He could not kill people even if he got into trouble, otherwise he would have to face awsuit. But that was not the case in his dreams. In the dream realm, he could just kill someone without hesitation. At close range, even a gun was no match for him. Lin Sheng now had this assurance because the man did not have time to shoot. Nheless, he was not invincible. If there was someone armed with a gun five meters away, it could pose a fatal threat to him. ¡°...Different worlds have different rules... What I should do is live better within the rules...¡± Lin Sheng felt calmer now. With the memories of so many individuals, he could actually analyze the situation with a nce. If he had more power than the White Tarots, this would never have happened. Then he could just kill those men without worrying about the White Tarots. Shayeen, Madin, and Russell were all on the phone. In an age when mobile phones were still expensive, all three of them carried mobile phones, which meant that they certainly did note from ordinary backgrounds. However, when it came to the White Tarots, they still had to be extremely careful. ¡°Yes!¡± Russell shouted. ¡°My grandfather can help us settle this!¡± Shayeen and Madin breathed a sigh of relief. Chapter 37 - Found It!: Part 1

Chapter 37: Found It!: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Callen LaFaye, Russell¡¯s grandfather, was a retired officer from the province. Lin Sheng did not know his exact position, but based on the attitudes of the others, it was obvious that he was not an ordinary officer. ¡°If it¡¯s Grandpa Callen, it¡¯ll be fine. Although the White Tarots are strong, Grandpa Callen won¡¯t be provoked by a few thugs!¡± Shayeen affirmed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, master, it¡¯ll be okay this time.¡± Madin nodded too. Lin Sheng did not speak. He looked calm, but no one noticed that he was holding the hilt of his sword tightly. After someone cleaned up the scene, they took a taxi back to the club. Their field training was temporarily suspended. No one was in the mood for lessons after that. Lin Sheng corrected their basic stance slightly, and in addition to the Central Irongate, he also taught them the Crown style. Once that was settled, he began to pack up and leave the club. It was sunny outside, and the air was fresh with the smell of the sea. In a corner of the club, a couple was kissing and cuddling as if no one was around. The boy unscrupulously reached his hand into the girl¡¯s jacket. Lin Sheng¡¯s footsteps startled the young couple. Frightened, the young couple quickly left, but the young man threw Lin Sheng a resentful look before he left. Dressed in a white tracksuit and carrying a sword, Lin Sheng walked to the bus stop next to the club and waited for the bus with several primary school students. Soon, on the right side of the street, a lc car approached slowly and silently. It stopped right at the club¡¯s gate. The door opened and a grizzled old man in a long ck silk coat stepped out. The old man walked to the door of the club, but when he saw Lin sheng, he stopped. ¡°Mr. Lin?¡± the old man asked suddenly. They were more than five meters apart, but Lin Sheng could clearly feel that the old man¡¯s eyes were on him. He paused, ncing at the old man¡¯s clothes and the silver decorative border on the door of the car behind him. He knew that the man was not someone ordinary from one nce. ¡°You are?¡± he asked, taking a few steps forward. ¡°I¡¯m Lenny, Russell¡¯s uncle. I¡¯ve heard him talk about you,¡± the old man introduced himself, looking Lin Sheng up and down. He had met many young men, but never one like Lin Sheng, who gave him an air of inexplicable coldness. It was not something an ordinary senior in high school usually had. In his eyes, Lin Sheng, who was dressed in a white tracksuit, bore some resemnce to his father when he was young. They were both calm and strong. ¡°Hello uncle, what brings you here all of a sudden?¡± Lin Sheng had a rough guess. ¡°The White Tarots, as you had expected. I¡¯m here to personally inform you that the problem has been settled. You guys need to be careful. Don¡¯t mess with those thugs.¡± Lenny dropped his voice. ¡°Mr. Callen LaFaye settled the matter himself?¡± asked Lin Sheng. ¡°Yes. Alright, work hard. The college entrance examination¡¯sing up,¡± Lenny said gently. Although Lin Sheng came from an ordinary family, Lenny seemed to appreciate the boy very much. After all, the three kids had never truly admired anyone from the bottom of their heart, not even the special instructor he hired previously. Yet, this boy made the cut. Lin Sheng nodded slightly and said goodbye politely as he saw the uncle push the club door open and walk in. He then returned to the bus stop. After a few minutes, the bus came. He stood among the crowd, looking calm, but deep inside he was in turmoil. For several days, he was able to enter the dream realm. However, he could not enter ckfeather City. He just explored the area around the wall. There were some holes in the walls. Since the front gate was extremely dangerous, he nned to take another route into the city. A big city like that could not possibly have only one entrance. He did not gain much for three days, but in the course of his exploration, he killed a few rotten swordsmen who were wandering aimlessly around. Despite that, the memories he obtained were mostly the same, nothing new. A week had passed... Lin Sheng was running in the drizzling rain. In his dream, dark clouds filled the sky. It was very dark in the wild. He was behind the city, a few kilometers away from the entrance to the city. The surrounding weeds were half the height of a man, and some noises rang out from time to time. Lin Sheng was gripping the hilt of his sword. After some time of adjustment, he was finally able to take full control of his sword At the same time, he could feel a slight increase in his physical strength. ¡°It¡¯s all because I¡¯ve been exercisingtely. It¡¯s been slow, but it worked.¡± *Swoosh!* Suddenly, his sword shed and disappeared into the darkness on his right. The body of a rotten swordsmany t on its back and stopped moving after the swordsman struggled for a while. Lin Sheng quickly stepped forward to check the body. There was nothing but a few ck coins in his moneybag. As for the ck sword in the corpse¡¯s hand, Lin Sheng did not even look at it. With the heavy sword from that previous rotten swordsman, the other weapons were nothing. After absorbing the inky ck lines, he went on running at full speed. The only sound in the darkness was his echoing footfalls. Suddenly, he saw something and slowed down. Directly in front of him, less than ten meters away, a wall had copsed, leaving an obvious gap. Gray bricks and stones were scattered all over the grass, oveying arge area of weeds. The gap was more than three meters high and one meter wide. Behind it was an alley, which was situated between two houses. Lin Sheng was overjoyed. That was what he wanted! He approached it quickly and cautiously, gripping the hilt of his sword and breathing slowly. He stood at the gap and looked in. Inside, the dark alley stretched out to the main street of the city, where faint yellow streetlights could be seen. The ground reflected a thick, greasy stain, and to the right, there were severalrge ck drums with something inside. Lin Sheng moved his vision up and down carefully, listening to the sounds around him. His previous experience told him that ckfeather City was a very dangerous area. In gaming terms, he had run into an advanced area. Lin Sheng took a deep breath and walked silently into the gap. His sneakers ttered across the rubble as he moved forward. His mind was also rapidly analyzing his surroundings to determine where he was. ¡°This... should be the back of a kitchen.¡± Lin Sheng walked slowly down the alley. It felt like his sneakers were stepping on a thick nket with a little ck grease sticking on the soles; it made him ufortable. When he reached the end of the alley, he stopped and peered around warily. There was nothing on the main street. Chapter 38 - Found It!: Part 2

Chapter 38: Found It!: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Amid the sound of water dripping from the eaves, Lin Sheng moved forward with haste in the falling rain. He quickly determined that he was likely in the aristocratic residence area in ckfeather City. It was less than two hundred meters from the Valent Sanctum, which was his destination. ¡°Lucky me!¡± He was delighted. After he confirmed that there was no one around, he ran toward the Valent Sanctum. *Tap... Tap... Tap...* The echo of footsteps seemed to rm something in the town. He could vaguely sense a rapid movement through the dark buildings on either side. Lin Sheng did not care. The worst thing that could happen was him dying in the dream. He had been too cautious previously, so now, even if he was going to die in the city, he wanted to take his chances and find the Valent Sanctum. Lin Sheng made a sharp turn in the rain and soon stopped in front of a gray and white church. The church was no different from that of an ordinary Catholic church, except that there was an extra ring of dark yellow metal around the top of the building. The huge ring encircled the entire building as if the building was wearing a cor. Lin Sheng also noticed that arge number of mysterious andplicated symbols were engraved on the huge ring. While he was standing near the church door, he felt the inexplicable mass of activity fading away behind him. Not long after, peace was restored again. ¡°It¡¯s like everything is in awe of the church.¡± An idea shed through Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. But he was fearless. He was not afraid to die. He had no intention of going back alive when he rushed in. He just wanted to find out the truth. Thinking no more, he strode toward the church with sword in hand... From the open door to the rusty iron fence, until he was standing in the courtyard. Lin Sheng slowed down and looked around. To his surprise, when he entered the courtyard, he felt slightly at ease. Under the silvery moonlight, the church¡ªmore than ten meters high¡ªwas faintly filled with a holy and soft atmosphere. Dozens of meters around the church, all areas within the dark yellow ring gave him a mysterious sense of peace. Lin Sheng walked slowly toward the church and looked up at the two-meter-high door. The door, made of ck metal, depicted a sad and helpless human face. It was drawn in the form of a stick figure without much detail, but the person¡¯s sad emotion was extremely realistic. On the right side of the door stood a small stone pir. Some words were carved on it. ¡°Believe in the light, annihte darkness!¡± Atop the round surface of the stone pir, the text was carved into the stone in a ring. The words were unusually neat as if they had been printed on. Lin Sheng narrowed his eyes slightly before he put his hands on the door and pushed it. The door swung open with a slight noise. A neat and quiet church hall appeared in front of Lin Sheng. Standing at the entrance, he nced across the rows of seats all the way to the altar at the end of the hall. A thick gilt-edged tome was lying on the white altar. The cover of the book was iid with a blue crystal the shape of a diamond, and its edge was covered with mysterious runes simr to the ones on the outer ring. Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes fell on the crystal, drawn to its shine. He stepped gingerly into the hall. Just as he entered the hall, an invisible wave shed past him and vanished. ¡°Who¡¯s there!?¡± Lin Sheng was startled. The wave was so clear that it felt like some kind of inspection. For a moment he froze there. After a good few minutes, once there was no more movement, he moved again, striding in the altar¡¯s direction. His shoesnded on the dark red carpet floor, leaving ck stains on it. Soon, Lin Sheng was standing in front of the altar, looking at the heavy gilt-edged book. ¡°It must be... something unusual. It could be the cause of the anomaly here.¡± Lin Sheng stared at the golden book in front of him, slowly reaching out and touching the cover. The book¡¯s cover was warm and soft. It felt like he was touching human skin. Lin Sheng hesitated for a moment, then slowly opened the first page. ¡°The city is getting more and more chaotic. I cannot waste my time here. Whoever you are, stranger, your ability to pass through the ring means you are not infected. Here I leave a gray seal as the foundation of the church¡¯s future teaching. If you can, I ask that you leave a little seed for ckfeather City.¡± The Ancient Rehn script was neat and beautiful. It was probably written by a woman. Lin Sheng saw the red seal at the back, which was engraved with the words, ¡°The Light of Hope, Ancellia¡±. ¡°Ancellia? The Light of Hope?¡± Lin Sheng frowned as he stood on the altar and continued to read the book. He quickly realized that the book waspletely different from what he had expected. The Dawn Scripture¡ªthe title of the book¡ªwas a prop used by the temple to train knights. Apart from imparting knowledge, it served no other purpose. Page after page, Lin Sheng was filled with surprise. The book recorded the Ashen Seal Dharma, a system of spiritual practice that was unique to the temple. The Ashen Seal was a special mysterious symbol. If one just remembered it in one¡¯s heart and meditated all the time, one could have wonderful power feedback and strengthen one¡¯s self. The Ashen Seal Dharma was the Limit Breaker used by the temple to train the knights of the temple. ording to the book, the method could be used even by individuals with ordinary physical fitness. Meditating on the Ashen Seal could quickly increase one¡¯s physical strength, depending on which Ashen Seal the person was using. The book also stated that there were many kinds of Ashen Seals. Different runes had different special functions, and meditating on different Ashen Seals produced different oues, strengthening a person in different ways. Therefore, the Ashen Seals appeared to be a shortcut to strengthening one¡¯s physical strength. However, as Lin Sheng continued to read, he soon discovered that Ancellia had written down many notes on the margin of the page. Among them were preconditions for meditating on the Ashen Seal. ¡°The most important prerequisite for the seed selection of a knight is the spirit. Only those who are strong in spirit will seed in their meditation.¡± Another note showed Ancellia¡¯s concern. ¡°The inheritor of the Ashen Seal must face the first edition of Ashen Seal runes directly, but the Ashen Seal in ckfeather City is unable tost very long. Liz, has your trip to the holy city not been approved yet?¡± ¡°Liz?¡± Lin Sheng was growing increasingly curious. Before long, he saw another note. ¡°My third application was still rejected. Ancellia, I have a bad feeling.¡± Lin Sheng paused for a moment and continued to turn the pages. Soon, he found the page on which the Ashen Seal was. It was a very special page. A strangelyplicated and exquisite symbol was carved in the middle of the white paper. The symbol resembled a huge bird pping its wings or a giant snake wriggling on the ground. But at first nce, it looked like a church. The entire symbol was dark red in color and eye-catching. Chapter 39 - Found It!: Part 3

Chapter 39: Found It!: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°So this is the Ashen Seal?¡± Lin Sheng stood there in a daze. He did not expect the surprise toe so easily, but he did not know if it worked. He flipped through the book and read about how to meditate. The woman named Ancellia had mentioned that the Ashen Seal could notst very long. Yet, it appeared to be all right now. Lin Sheng quickly memorized the meditation method then turned back to the page where the seal was. Beneath the Ashen Seal was a line of small delicate writing. ¡°Ashen Seal: the Sanctuary. ¡°Note: the spiritual requirements for meditating on the Ashen Seal are extremely high, and failure to meet them for the first time can lead to serious consequences.¡± ¡°The Sanctuary? Is that the name of this Ashen Seal?¡± After he read the book for a while, he already knew that each Ashen Seal had a different function. And different seals were inherited by different temples in different regions. Therefore, knights in different regions had different styles of fighting due to the different seals they inherited. The Ashen Seal in front of him was the Ashen Seal of ckfeather City¡¯s temple, the Sanctuary. ¡°I should just try it.¡± Lin Sheng stared at the Ashen Seal decisively. The White Tarots incident greatly angered him. Apparently, the White Tarots had stopped harassing him and his family due to the intervention from Russell¡¯s family, otherwise, they would have never given up. He needed to be stronger! For the first time, he was so eager for power. He stared at it nonstop, not blinking. It took more than twenty seconds toplete the first Ashen Seal imprint. Lin Sheng kept his eyes wide open, fixing them on the Ashen Seal. One, two, three... he counted in his mind. His eyes were sore and tingling. He wanted to blink, but he restrained himself. Twenty-five seconds passed by quickly. Fearing that he may have made any mistakes in his counting, he waited five more seconds just in case. He closed his eyes and rested for more than a minute before he opened them again. He was surprised to find that the Ashen Seal seemed to have taken root in his mind. He could easily recall it whenever he wanted, and he could even remember the details of every line vividly. ¡°Yes!¡± Lin Sheng breathed a sigh of relief. ording to the book, that meant the first Ashen Seal imprint was sessful. However, the book recorded that only people with extremely strong will and spirit could seed on the first attempt, and that puzzled him. Most needed to try at least ten times to be able toplete the Ashen Seal imprint. He knew his own level, and though he had some self-control, it would be a joke to say that his will was extremely strong. ¡°Is it because I¡¯ve absorbed so many pieces of memory?¡± Lin Sheng closed the book and closed his eyes to recall it. The Ashen Seal had indeed magically stayed in his mind. As soon as he thought of it, the Ashen Seal immediately emerged before him like a picture. ¡°Cool!¡± He was amazed. The church did not seem to be in danger, so he just kept testing the seal. The book was very thick, and there was much he had yet to read, hence he just took his time. Lin Sheng stood in front of the altar and read the rest of the book. Unfortunately, apart from the little information on the Ashen Seal, the rest of the book consisted of poems and songs praising God. The church believed in Hir, the god of light. He stood there reading until his vision began to blur. He realized it was time to wake up. Closing the book, he stepped down and went out. He quickly closed the iron fence in the yard followed by the church door. This gave him a sense of security. Then, he sat down on a bench to rest, falling asleep soon after. ... Lin Sheng turned over and jumped out of bed. He was filled with anticipation after the dream. He did not expect to get the Ashen Seal so easily If it had not been for the time constraint, he would have searched the church again. Maybe he could have found something good, such as equipment. In front of his desk, Lin Sheng calmed down, closed his eyes, and began to recall the Ashen Seal. To his surprise, the Ashen Seal, which was supposed to be very difficult and required a high level of mental willpower, came to his mind in a sh. It was extremely clear. The meditation of the Ashen Seal was very simple. He just needed to focus on the runes of the Ashen Seal as they clearly emerged in his mind. He stared at a segment of the runes and began to move along the line of runes all the way to the end. If one did it all the way to the end, it was considered a sessful meditation cycle. Without wasting any time, Lin Sheng immediately began to try. To his surprise, the first step was simple. The runes came to mind quickly. But, not the second step. It was hard to focus, stare at the line of runes, then move along the line all the way to the end. After three attempts, he seeded only once. And after his sess, there was no special feeling. Afterpleting one cycle, Lin Sheng continued to meditate and seeded twice. He felt exhausted and drowsy after some time so he went back to bed. This time, however, he did not enter the dream realm again. The next morning, Lin Sheng carried his sword, left the house, and took a bus to the club. The previous incident had given him another n. Russell¡¯s grandfather solved the problem this time, but what about next time? He knew that he possessed the power of the dreams and that sooner orter, he would take an extraordinary route, therefore it was better to be prepared in advance. The bus stopped at Steelscale Club. After he got off the bus, he quickly walked into the club. The receptionist nodded and smiled politely. ¡°Good morning, Mr. Lin. So early today?¡± ¡°Hmm, I couldn¡¯t sleep well so I came in earlier. Are theying?¡± Lin Sheng asked casually. ¡°Miss Shayeen is here, but the others aren¡¯t. They onlye once in a while when you¡¯re not here,¡± the receptionist whispered back. Lin Sheng nodded and hurried up to the second floor. He quickly reached the only room with an open door and turned right into it. Shayeen was standing by the window talking on the phone. Noticing that Lin Sheng had entered the room, she paused for a moment and quickly ended the conversation. ¡°Master, why are you here today?¡± She wondered. ¡°I have an idea, but I need to ask your permission.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I n to open a defense club and also a training ss on self-defense.¡± ¡°Self-defense?¡± Shayeen blinked. Chapter 40 - Obscuration: Part 1

Chapter 40: Obscuration: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng, appearing calm, walked to the window and stood next to Shayeen. ¡°How do you feel about this incident?¡± The calmer he looked on the outside, the more furious he was deep inside. After going through two lifetimes, he did not expect to be driven into a corner by such little trouble. He could fight off those attackers alone, whether it was four or five of them. But what if there were ten or twenty of them? What if there were hundreds of them with guns? He did not even know if he could escape. And what about his family? With such a big gang upying the whole city, should they start anything, his whole family would be affected. Shayeen looked at Lin Sheng. She could not understand what Lin sheng was trying to say. She had always admired Lin Sheng, but this case was not something that individual forces could solve. ¡°Master, the matter¡¯s been settled... The White Tarots promised not to harass us anymore. Let¡¯s leave it at that.¡± Shayeen¡¯s voice had a light sense of maturity. Perhaps the incident had also made her realize who she could rely on at a critical moment. Lin Sheng sensed it. Perhaps his three students had grown up a little after the ident. Nheless, that was not the answer he wanted. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s settled for now. We¡¯re safe for the time being because of Russell¡¯s grandfather. But... what about the next time? Are we going to Russell¡¯s grandfather again if we have any more problems that we can¡¯t solve?¡± ¡°It was an ident. Such things don¡¯t happen often.¡± Shayeen shook her head. ¡°I just want to try. I wish that we have the ability to solve problems on our own instead of going to your grandfathers or uncles.¡± ¡°On our own?¡± Shayeen had never thought of that. ¡°Yes, not relying on our family background, just our own abilities.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. Shayeen froze for a moment. Those words echoed back and forth in her mind. She suddenly recalled that from childhood to adulthood, she had relied on the influence of her family to solve almost every problem. Very, very rarely did she do it on her own. It had almost be a habit. It was not just her; perhaps Russell and Madin, as well as the people in their circle, were used to it too. They seldom thought about making their way on their own. It was not that they did not want to, it was just too hard. No matter what they did, they could not separate themselves from their families. ¡°What¡¯s your n, master?¡± Shayeen pondered for a moment before she slowly asked. ¡°First, we have to win the tournament. Then, with the fame we get from it, we can open a training ss. I¡¯m good at actualbat, Russell can teach closebat, Madin¡¯s good at management, while you can be in charge of the sourcing channel.¡± Lin Sheng arranged their roles ording to their strengths. Shayeen was a little surprised. She did have a lot of connections. She started doing business with her family early on. But she did not expect that Lin Sheng would give a detailed arrangement so soon. ¡°However, with the current state in Huaisha, it¡¯s unlikely that a lot of people will be willing to spend their money on these lessons. It¡¯ll be hard for us to build this.¡± She was very rational and realistic, always careful when it came to business. Lin Sheng smiled and said, ¡°We¡¯ll charge very little to teach people the skills to protect themselves. We won¡¯t make money off of it.¡± ¡°What about the profits...¡± ¡°We only need to make just enough to support the business for the time being,¡± Lin Sheng said with a smile. ¡°Although Xilin is stable, it¡¯s not really safe. Moreover, the port city has arge flow of people. As long as the fee isn¡¯t too high, I think many people will be willing to learn.¡± ¡°How do we advertise?¡± Shayeen asked again. ¡°We don¡¯t need to advertise it. We don¡¯t have to expand too fast. It¡¯s okay to start with a smaller number of students.¡± The college entrance examination was around the corner so Lin Sheng had no time to teach too many students. He also spent part of his day trying to meditate on the Ashen Seal. He had meditated a few times but saw no effect. Shayeen was not very clear about Lin Sheng¡¯s n, but it would be fine if it started on a smaller scale. ¡°I¡¯ll take a wait-and-see approach. If you want to do that, our club can provide free space,¡± she replied after thinking for a moment. To her, Lin Sheng was obviously affected by the White Tarots incident. But, power could not be cultivated just by training a few students. Plus, students were not gangsters; they had families, and they were young. Who would be willing to risk his life for him? Lin Sheng did not mind if he did not manage to persuade Shayeen. He asked her to call the other two while he sat down, sipping tea as he waited for them. Soon, Russell and Madin arrived as he had expected. ¡°Master, this is totally possible! Let¡¯s do it together! I¡¯ve always wanted to start my own business! We can use the space here! I can teach fighting and shooting!¡± Russell shouted, looking excited! Madin was pragmatic. He discussed details with Shayeen carefully. Lin Sheng was still sitting there, drinking his tea. He waited for their decision calmly. Russell¡¯s reaction was not a surprise. Russell was also the key person in the project. He was the biggest shareholder of the club, and many issues could be easily settled if he agreed. As for the other two, it was best if they agreed, but it was also okay if they did not. To his surprise, half an hourter, Shayeen and Madin agreed to set up the ss together. ¡°Master, since we run the ss together, the system should be clearly divided first. How will profits and shares be divided?¡± Shayeen asked earnestly. ¡°And, while it¡¯s not primarily about making a profit, we should at least not lose money. All these things need to be considered carefully,¡± Madin added. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we can do.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Shayeen nodded. ¡°If we run a ss, the real core would be your actualbat ability. As long as we can win the uing tournament, it¡¯ll be easy after that.¡± They quickly began to work out the specifics such as registering thepany, determining the terms of admission, how to admit students, the fee, and the course arrangement. Chapter 41 - Obscuration: Part 2

Chapter 41: Obscuration: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion With Lin Sheng providing technical expertise and the rest of them taking care of the remaining aspects, they registered thepany. Shayeen and the others decided that Lin Sheng would get 40% of the shares while the three of them split the rest. Lin Sheng was not really bothered by it. He did not need ie, what he needed was the ability to influence¡ªpower. What he would teach was naturally not some hidden sword technique from ckfeather City, rather it was a practical style ofbat handpicked from his mess of memories. This style ofbat would be very useful. In contrast to freestylebat that was popr in Xilin, the attacks in the new style mostly utilized the fist or elbows, and it was well suited for street fighting. As for profits, he had never thought of it. By then, he would be the master, and his disciples would naturally gather around him. If they ran into any trouble, that would give them another point of contact. This seemingly ethereal connection was what he wanted. After all, Huaisha was not as peaceful as mostmoners thought it was. Very quickly, to Lin Sheng¡¯s astonishment, the framework for the ss had been set up way before the National Amateur Swordsmanship Tournament. The location for the training grounds, under Lin Sheng¡¯s suggestion, was not at the club itself. Instead, it was in ckwater District because they managed to rent a wide ce for cheap. Russell had the best performance, while Shayeen came in second. Madin, on the other hand, seemed to be out of his depth. Four days after Lin Sheng¡¯s proposal, everything was in ce, and once he aced the tournament, he would use his fame to kickstart their recruitment. ... *Ding Dong...* The moment the after-school bell rang, the teacher gathered his teaching materials and left the ssroom. Lin Sheng hurriedly got up as he picked up his already packed-up bag. He was about to leave the ssroom for his sword practice in the park when... ¡°Lin Sheng!¡± Suddenly, a female voice called him. Lin Sheng turned back and saw Shen Yan getting up and trotting toward him. He had not been paying any attention to her for a while, and he was surprised to realize that Shen Yan was slowly bing a beauty. Her skin was smoother than before, and the few pimples on her face were all but gone. Even her chest had gotten bigger, making a nice contrast to her slender waist. Beneath her short bob, was a pair of big bright eyes. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Lin Sheng calmly looked at her. Shen Yan grumbled as she ced her hand on his shoulder. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you for a long time. You haven¡¯t been joining in on the funtely. Wanna go to the cyber caf¨¦ter? My treat. I managed to earn a small fortune recently, hehe.¡± ¡°Cyber caf¨¦?¡± Lin Sheng was just halfway through his sentence. ¡°Shen Yan, I have two movie tickets here for the Star of Tomorrow, wanna go watch it? It¡¯s starting soon,¡± a male student eximed loudly as he walked in. The male student looked sharp. His neatlybed hair and smooth skin gave off the impression of an effeminate man. While the boy was not looking at Lin Sheng directly, his acute senses told him that the boy was staring at him. He understood and smiled. ¡°The two of you go ahead then. I have something to do. Bye.¡± Shen Yan frowned as she searched for the words to say, but Lin Sheng had already wiggled his shoulder free and waved at her. ¡°Go on, have fun.¡± ¡°Hey, wait up! Why don¡¯t youe along? It¡¯s just an extra ticket, no? I¡¯ll pay!¡± Shen Yan said with gusto. A movie ticket that cost more than £¤10 seemed like nothing based on her tone. Well, the students there were rather well-to-do anyway. For most people though, £¤10 was worth a few days of their pocket money. As she said that, she looked at Lin Sheng in anticipation, signaling that she was already being very generous. ¡°We haven¡¯t had fun togethertely. Come on, let¡¯s go. You¡¯ve been disappearing a lot recently, I don¡¯t see much of you at all.¡± Lin Sheng was speechless. He really had no time to entertain children with their movies. He much rather use it to meditate at home. ¡°I really have something to do, I¡¯ll pass this time. Maybe next time.¡± He declined once again. ¡°If he¡¯s not going, I¡¯ll go! Yan Yan¡¯s loaded! Buy us a ticket, yeah!¡± Two female students overheard their conversation andughed as they grabbed her from behind. ¡°Bullsh*t! Both of you won¡¯t even treat me to breakfast. It¡¯s not like you don¡¯t have the money yourself!¡± Shen Yan grumbled as she tried to break free. ¡°That¡¯s because we really don¡¯t have money. It¡¯s not like you don¡¯t know that we¡¯re saving up for the sales.¡± ¡°So your money should be saved, and mine should be spent on you?¡± The girls¡¯ harmless quarrel quickly turned into a cacophony. Lin Sheng smiled and noticed that no one was paying attention to him any longer. He then grabbed his bag to leave. On his way out, he rubbed shoulders with the boy who was holding the tickets. ¡°At least you have some sense.¡± The boy suddenly sneered. ¡°Stay away from Shen Yan next time, or I¡¯ll kick your a**.¡± Lin Sheng was surprised, and he stopped. He suddenly found it was hrious. There was someone who actually liked Shen Yan the loudmouth tomboy, and that someone actually threatened him about it? He rarely felt so amused as he did right then. It was not anger, it was genuine amusement. It was akin to an adult passing by a foulmouthed snail taunting him as it did summersaults! The reaction of the adult would not be anger. Rather, it would be amazement. Look! It was a snail actually pulling off a summersault! An adult would have such a thought. And like every adult, Lin Sheng felt the same way. He blinked and looked at the boy as if he was staring at a monkey. ¡°The f*ck you¡¯re looking at?!¡± The angry boy growled. *Uff!* Lin Sheng suddenly turned his elbow and hit it against the boy¡¯s left rib with stunning precision! On the surface, it looked like he had just identally swiped his elbow against the boy¡¯s uniform, but in reality, it was a brutal hit. The boy immediately turned pale. He shuddered while he held on to his ribcage, unable to utter a word. The pain pulsed all over his body from the ce he was hit. Lin Sheng blinked. ¡°What were you saying? I may have missed it.¡± ¡°I... *Uff!* Lin Sheng mmed his elbow into his stomach again. That bugger immediately trembled; he was about to faint from the pain. Lin Sheng held his shoulder, and they looked like good friends. ¡°You look pale, let¡¯s get you to the infirmary.¡± Before Shen Yan and the rest noticed, he dragged him out of the ssroom and into the gents. A whileter, Lin Sheng walked out with a smile on his face, heading for the stairs. It was only after a long while that the boy emerged slowly from the gents, clutching his stomach. His forehead was dripping with cold sweat, and his face was absolutely pale. Lin Sheng had no interest in the love squabbles between students. His attention was fully focused on the club and the dream realm. Everything else would have to make way. After he left the school, he quickly hailed a cab and rushed on to get to Rainbow Park nearby. *Baaam!* All of a sudden, the sound of a crash thundered from the neighboring street. Everyone around was startled as they turned toward the source of the sound. Faint screams and yelling could be heard from afar. ¡°A crash!¡± ¡°A truck has crashed into a car! Call the ambnce!¡± ¡°Quick, check if they¡¯re alright!¡± Lin Sheng paused for a moment before he got into the taxi. Just as he closed the door, he popped his head out to take a peek. The taxi was also about to make a U-turn at the end of the street, and it moved on slowly. ¡°Rainbow Park, sir.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± The driver peered out at times to have a look at the ident too. Chapter 42 - Obscuration: Part 3

Chapter 42: Obscuration: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The taxi drove slowly along the road. Soon after they made the U-turn, Lin Sheng saw the scene of the ident from the vehicle. A massive truck carrying a full load of metal pipes had crashed into a small ck sedan. The front of the sedan was crushed, and faint traces of blood could be seen on the driver¡¯s seat. ¡°Looks like he¡¯s a goner.¡± The taxi driver sighed. ¡°The truck driver¡¯s gone, probably ran away. Not sure if the police will be able to track him down, damn... Sigh.¡± ¡°Has this been ongoing?¡± Lin Sheng sensed that something was wrong from the driver¡¯s tone. ¡°Pretty much,¡± the taxi driver said as he turned the steering wheel. ¡°The current political situation is tense for a border harbor like this. Security has always beencking, there are too many foreigners, and Xilin¡¯s putting pressure...¡± ¡°Putting pressure?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°The matter regarding the mining of red neephite [1]. Xilin and Redwin have been tugging at it for so long, and the chasm is getting worse.¡± ¡°Plus, there are reports that many Redwinian spies have infiltrated this port city. Enforcements would catch a few of them every now and then.¡± The driver exined in a hushed tone. Lin Sheng demurred. They had a peace that was without any weapons of mass destruction, and a mere rare earth deposit was enough to get two countries to be at each other¡¯s throat. Xilin¡¯s science and economy weregging behind, and that was the cause of its internal instability. Another reason was due to the country¡¯s own weakness. It was a country with rich resources, and powerful nations had been eyeing its rare earth deposits, thus the infiltration. All along the way, the driver rambled on nonstop as he went from politics down to local gossip without having to catch a breath. A momentter, they arrived at the park. Lin Sheng paid the fare and got off the taxi before he walked on the familiar path into the park. He had practiced his swordy for quite a while now and had already selected a fixed spot for it. This time around, however, he came without his sword and was mainly there for meditation. As he strolled along the pebble path, he took several lefts and rights to reach the deeper parts of the park. Then, he followed a flower-lined pathway, snaking across the area into a deserted field. The tuff on the field had already been trampled t as one end of the field lined up against the Ring River. The airflow was good. Best of all, there was a rather spartan pavilion for people to rest. Most of the time, Lin Sheng would practice on the field before taking a break in the pavilion when he was tired. It was no different this time around. He ced his school bag on the stone bench in the pavilion and began to do some warm-up exercises. Soon, he was standing still. His eyes were closed as he started to meditate on the Ashen Seal. The weather was cool, neither too hot nor too cold. Standing in the middle of the field in his uniform, he did attract the attention of a few passers-by. However, Lin Sheng did not mind it. What he was most concerned about was the purpose of the Ashen Seals. Not long after, hepleted his first round of meditation. He slower opened his eyes, and a tinge of fatigue appeared in them. Then he made his way to the pavilion to rest. ¡°Ever since I obtained the Ashen Seal, I¡¯ve been practicing for a few days now, but why am I not seeing any visible effects?¡± He was confused. He had ced a huge focus on the Ashen Seal, spending a lot of time meditating on it. ¡°It¡¯s a shame that the tome didn¡¯t mention what it was for. It only briefly touched on the practices and stuff.¡± ¡°But thinking again, after a few days of meditating, it does feel like training has be much easier now. Am I just getting used to it, or did the Ashen Seal take effect?¡± He frowned a little as he was slightly at a loss. Without a precision-monitoring device, he was not able topute the minor changes. ¡°Based on ckfeather City¡¯s standards, I¡¯m probably a Level 1 warrior. For a Level 2 one... my body strength probably isn¡¯t up to par yet.¡± He was very clear about it even when he had managed to kill the elite Level 2 rotten swordsman in the dream realm. In actuality, he had simply acted smart. When it came to his physique or technique, he was still far, far away. After some thought, he felt that he had rested enough. He pressed his hand onto the bench to push himself up to continue his meditation. However, the moment he used some strength, he felt a sudden pricking pain. ¡°Hmm?¡± Lin Sheng quickly pulled his hand back and looked at the stone bench. There was a nail on the bench! It was a silver nail with its tip pointing upward, and it was slightly rusted. God knew how long it had been there. Lin Sheng looked at the rusted part and quickly turned his palm over. What surprised him was that he felt the prick, but howe there was no wound on his palm? ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Lin Sheng was astounded, and he carefully inspected his palm. Once he confirmed that there was no injury, his vision returned to the nail. ¡°Could it be?¡± He suddenly thought of something. Without any hesitation, he clenched his fist and punched the wooden pir inside the pavilion. *Bam!* The pir did not move... But his fist did not hurt also. ¡°It feels like I¡¯m wearing a thick glove or something,¡± Lin Sheng said in surprise as he ran his hand over his knuckle. Only then did he realize that his skin had toughened up and was not so susceptible to wounds. ted, he got out of the pavilion and smashed his fist into a massive tree with all his might. *Bam!!* The tree shook a little as a couple of leaves fell. Lin Sheng remained were he stood and looked at his fist. It did not turn red at all! ¡°That¡¯s quite the defensive power...¡± He could feel that the moment he struck the tree, the impactpletely recoiled against the surface of his knuckle. Yet, in the end, not only did his fist not hurt, but a shallow mark also appeared on the tree instead asyers of dead bark fell away. ¡°Okay, how about this!¡± Lin Sheng picked up a rock and grabbed the sharp edge of the rock, smashing into the back of his hand. *Crack!* The sharp edge chipped away. Lin Sheng raised his hand and did not feel any pain. He felt that even his bones were being protected by something. The only thing on the back of his hand was some dust left by the stone. ¡°This defensive capability... sure is something! I¡¯ve only spent a few days meditating, and it¡¯s already...¡± Lin Sheng was astonished. He now understood what that sanctuary was all about. Since he was excited now, he was no longer in the mood to practice. So, he quickly packed up his things. He left the empty field and bought a small knife from a convenience store near the park. He then returned to the empty field. He pulled out the knife. It was a palm-sized fruit knife, about a finger wide. Lin Sheng grabbed the handle hard as he slowly pricked his palm. There was nothing. He proceeded to increase his strength and push the de against his palm. There was now some prickling sensation. He further increased the strength of his stab by about 78%. The edge of the knife bit into his palm. Now, Lin Sheng felt pain. He lifted the knife and saw a tiny wound in his palm, which was bleeding. ¡°This is super effective!¡± Lin Sheng was truly astonished now. It was a proper knife, and with his strength, against any normal folk, that stab would have sent the de at least halfway through a person¡¯s palm. It also pays to remember that he had been practicing for a while with a five-and-a-half-pound metal de. It was little wonder that his strength had increased. Chapter 43 - Hosting: Part 1

Chapter 43: Hosting: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng tried it a couple more times, and very quickly, he managed to figure it out. The Ashen Seal of the Sanctuary not only provided his flesh with protection, but it also gave him an overall increase in strength. His skin, muscles, bones... Everything was strengthened. So, no matter what he did, whether it was smashing a tree or stabbing himself, there were no signs of bone injury. After he trained a while longer, it was already dark. Lin Sheng then packed his stuff up and headed home. Back at home, Lin Senior was all smiles as his business seemed to be on the uptick. His mother, too, had resumed her normal work, and their financial situation had improved significantly. Lin Sheng was also relieved at that. In his dream over the next few days, he did not leave the Valent Sanctum. He simply meditated on the Ashen Seal. He nned to just focus on meditation and expected the defensive capabilities given by the Ashen Seal to hit a ceiling. Otherwise, the Valent Sanctum would have been invincible, and they would have had no need for any ordinary pdins. They could have just gotten a few to learn the Ashen Seal, and they would be able to run rampant all over ckfeather City. The days passed by, and finally, the swordsmanship tournament arrived. ... April 13th, Huaisha City Third Indoor Sports Complex. Half of the wide sportsplex was empty, and long rectangr mats were onlyid in the far right corner. The mats formed a ring, and at the center of the ring was a square tform with wire fencing. Dark red nks wereid on the floor as a few workers in yellow uniform inspected the ce. Lin Sheng and Russell walked in front while Madin and Shayeen followed closely behind. They were led by someone along the side of theplex. The person leading them was a staff member of the tournament. He was a balding middle-aged man in a gray suit named Li Heng. ¡°The venue is part of the stadiumplex because there aren¡¯t many participants in Huaisha City, so I do hope you understand.¡± ¡°If things go smoothly, the tournament will end by noon,¡± he said with a calm smile. It was obvious he was the peacemaker sort of character. He then started to exin matters pertaining to thepetition. Russell was walking next to Lin Sheng, looking about. All of a sudden, his eyes brightened, and he pointed into the distance. ¡°Look, the other participants!¡± Lin Sheng looked over in the direction he was pointing to. There was a group of people across the hall that was being led by a staff member into the venue. Chen Huan was one of them, and next to her was that big sister character, Xu Yi who had helped him register for the tournament. Behind them were a few youngsters, who appeared to be normal trainees. Chen Huan was d in white protective garb with her hair tied up into a ponytail. She looked poised and graceful. She had her helmet in her hand, and her expression was cold. Lin Sheng swept his gaze past her,nding it on another team that was being led in. The team only consisted of two people who were probably siblings. Both had golden hair and blue eyes, while their bodies were well-toned. The gentleman especially had a powerful posture. He was wearing a simr protective garb while holding a straight sword without its scabbard. Lin Sheng squinted a little and had a feeling that the man was no pushover. He had absorbed part of the rotten swordsmen¡¯s memories, retaining the ability to gauge his opponents as a result. He could discern his opponent¡¯s steps, movements, awareness, and more to have an idea of his or herbat ability. ¡°Looks like we¡¯re not without strong opponents.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s senses kicked into overdrive. Soon, the staff members brought all the teams around the arena over, and they sat on the prepared mats. A banner was soon unveiled from the second floor, reading ¡°Congrattions on the hosting of the Seventh National Amateur Swordsmanship Tournament¡± . Lin Sheng, as well as the rest, sat down. Not long after, Chen Huan and her entourage also sat on the mat not too far away. There were ten teams in total circling the tournament arena, and they could see one another with ease. Chen Huan gave Lin Sheng a powerful stare for a moment, her eyes about to pop out in the process. However, a momentter, she shifted her gaze to a golden-haired man, as though she was facing her nemesis. Lin Sheng sat down cross-legged as he ced his longsword beside him. ¡°Who¡¯s that guy?¡± ¡°Caeser Carmie, a wealthy local businessman. He¡¯s pretty into this. Before you were here, it was he who challenged Chen Huan.¡± Lin Sheng nodded in understanding. The golden-haired youth, Caeser seemed to have noticed his gaze, and he turned over with a friendly smile. Lin Sheng returned it with an impassive nod as a sign of respect. Shortly after, the host went up the stage to test the mic as a deafening song started to y. ¡°I¡¯m very pleased to present to you on this very fine day, here, in Huaisha City¡¯s thirdrgest indoor sportsplex, the Seventh National Amateur Swordsmanship Tournament!¡± Following that was a whole load of crap on thanking the sponsors. ¡°Not even a dozen spectators... What a farce of a tournament,¡± Russell mumbled in a corner. ¡°Well, getting a trophy for bragging rights isn¡¯t all that bad.¡± Lin Sheng chuckled. After a ton of crap talkter, the swordsmanship preliminary boutsmenced. There were ten teams in total, and they drew lots for the one-on-one bout. The winner would advance, while the loser would go home. It was rather straight forward; once you lost, you lost, there were no second chances. Over on Lin Sheng¡¯s side, Shayeen went ahead with the other teams to draw lots. Looking down at her lot, she discovered she had drawn a number five. ¡°The fifth match, neither good nor bad. We¡¯ll just have to see who the opponent is now.¡± Shayeen demurred. The opponent would be another team that had drawn a number five as well. ¡°Well then, the first match will begin, please get on stage. Those who are hit three times will lose, including those who are no longer able topete.¡± The host announced. Lin Sheng sat down and saw two men walk up the wooden stage, facing one another. The referee then stood in between them. *Ding!* The bell struck! And the referee executed a chopping motion, signaling the start of the bout. The two of them immediately slid into a roof guard. However, the difference was that one was in a side guard with his de lined vertically against his ear, while the other was in high guard with his de over his head. The roof guard was a verymon and popr stance because it was easy to execute an overhead strike from that stance. Nheless, the moment Lin Sheng saw their footwork, he shook his head. Both of their steps were floaty, and one even stood in a normal manner. Both of them were walking with parallel steps... whereby both of their feet were in a straight line. With that stance plus the floatiness of their steps, it looked like they would fall from a mere gust of wind. ¡°Master, how are these two?¡± Madin whispered from the back. Lin Sheng did not answer. He simply shook his head. And as expected... The two yelled a battle cry before they struck each other with an overhead cut. *Uff!* The taller person struck first due to his longer hands, and his opponenty crumpled on the floor. Just like that, the battle was over. It was fought with mere brute force! A handful of ps was heard, and the victor quickly left the stage as the second boutmenced. As usual, the one with the longer arms won. Chapter 44 - Hosting: Part 2

Chapter 44: Hosting: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The third bout saw Chen Huan going onto the stage, and with a rapid thrust, she easily dispatched her opponent long before he could sh at her. Caeser¡¯s turn came during the fourth bout, and with a swift side-dodge, he struck his opponent¡¯s arm with the hilt of his sword, winning the match. Then came the fifth round... Lin Sheng got up and put on his helmet. He grabbed his sword as he went up the stage from the right side. His opponent was arge brute who was about half a head taller than him and twice the size. ¡°Boy, with that scrawny frame of yours, it¡¯s just a waste of time. Forfeit, I don¡¯t want to hurt you!¡± the brute shouted at Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng did not even bother to respond. *Ding!* The bell rang. With a chopping motion, the referee signaled the start of the match before stepping back. Lin Sheng, in turn, took a step forward, his sword on guard. At the same time, the brute roared and made a powerful downward sh, hitting the side of Lin Sheng¡¯s guard. *ng!!* Lin Sheng¡¯s sword parried the brute¡¯s, and he made use of a powerful strike as counter-leverage. The brute¡¯s massive strength, instead, caused Lin Sheng¡¯s de to rebound and smashed into his face. ¡°F*ck...¡± The brute was struck by his own force, and he went into a daze. He spun about dizzily before he fell to his knees. Lin Sheng then drew his de and brought it downward. The de easily struck the brute¡¯s neck, knocking him down. It was the skill he had learned from the rotten swordsman, sh Riposte. It was not a secret technique, rather, it was a verymon one created to fight against foes who relied on brute strength. There were also such techniques within Naxi Swordsmanship that used special moves to turn the strength of one¡¯s foes against themselves. For Lin Sheng, who had obtained the rotten swordsman¡¯s memory, it took him just mere moments to master it. He was able to easily advance through the beginner phase and utilize it with ease. ¡°Steelscale Club, Lin Sheng¡¯s victory!¡± After the referee confirmed that the brute was not able to get up, he raised his hand to indicate the victor. Lin Sheng walked down the stage indifferently and saw Chen Huan gnashing her teeth as she stared at him. After that, the victors drew lots again. Shayeen went ahead to draw her lot, and her opponent was the golden-haired youth, Caeser. This piqued Lin Sheng¡¯s interest slightly. His match was the second one; the first was Chen Huan against the long-armed swordsman. The long-armed swordsman had only won by virtue of his arm length. Against Chen Huan, that was mere decoration, and his longsword was quickly knocked out of his hand. Amid the victory promation, he walked down dejectedly without any pomp. Lin Sheng reckoned that, due to how quick the bout had ended, there was no flourish and spectacle for the audience. As a result, it was probably not so popr. Sadly, this was a reality that could not be changed. ¡°Second bout, Lin Sheng of Steelscale Club against Caeser.¡± Lin Sheng got up with his sword in hand as Russell cheered on loudly and Madin, as well as Shayeen, pped hard. He nodded slightly and got onto the stage, facing the golden-haired youth. ¡°This guy... He knows realbat techniques!¡± Lin Sheng looked over and squinted. Caeser cast a simr sharp nce at Lin Sheng too. ¡°Such a powerful presence!¡± He may have looked calm, but deep down, he was unnerved. The man facing him simply stood there, his de still in his sheath. His face was impassive, yet Caeser could faintly sense a deadly aura around him. He had only sensed such an aura from his former bodyguard... It was the aura of someone who had bloodied his de before! *Hiss...* Caeser slowly drew his de and moved into position, his de facing upward before him. It was a stance that he only used against a strong opponent, the Crown Guard. Although his sword was in front of him, Caeser¡¯s eyes were locked tightly on his opponent, as he guarded against any points of attack. ¡°Start!¡± The referee¡¯s voice boomed. Caeser¡¯s muscles tensed, and just as he was about to go for a strike, his vision suddenly blurred. ¡°Where is he?!¡± He lost his targetpletely. As his pupils shrank, he saw a silhouette appearing behind him. *ng!* Their two des shed, rebounded, and shed again. Caeser rolled and tried to get up for a counterattack, but he suddenly stopped. A silver de was pointing at his forehead. ¡°Such speed!¡± He looked up in astonishment at his opponent. Even against his former bodyguard, he could still spar with him for a dozen rounds. He was no mere showoff. In terms of skill and technique, he could even easily fight off a group of people with his de alone. Yet, right then... ¡°I¡¯ve opened a training school. Feel free to visit if you¡¯re interested,¡± Lin Sheng calmly said as he sheathed his sword. ¡°Victory goes to Lin Sheng of Steelscale Club!¡± the referee pronounced. Lin Sheng slowly walked down the stage, his expression calm. In his eyes, Caeser was only a person who knewbat sword techniques. As he descended the stage, Russell and the rest happily congratted him. Now that the strongest contender, Caeser was so easily defeated, a loser like Chen Huan was a forgone conclusion. Lin Sheng would take the crown in this tournament. During the next round, Chen Huan easily beat the fifth participant who was given a goodbye. Once it came to facing Lin Sheng, however, she chose to forfeit. As Lin Sheng looked at her, she gritted her teeth with her head down. No one knew what kind of expression she was making. And with that, the tournament officially ended before noon. The organizer gave Lin Sheng the certificate to participate in the provincial tournament. On it was the details of his cing in the local tournament. As for the prize, it would be given in one go after the finals. The provincial-level tournament was a weekter at Greenmat Sports Complex in Adien City, the provincial capital. The team wouldprise of the victors, Lin Sheng and Chen Huan. By the time the tournament ended, it was barely 11 o¡¯clock. Just as Lin Sheng was leading Russell and the rest out of theplex, a few people came chasing after him. ¡°Lin Sheng!¡± The golden-haired youth ran over, smiling as he called out to him. Lin Sheng turned over and gave him a confused look. He had no idea why that person hade running for him. Caeser was wearing a very attractive smile. ¡°It¡¯s so rare that I get the chance to meet a skilled swordsman in Huaisha City. Want to go for a drink? My treat.¡± Lin Sheng demurred before he nodded. He was curious about Caeser too. ¡°You can head back first then, I¡¯ll have a short chat with Mr. Carmie.¡± He turned back. ¡°Master Lin, be careful. Caeser¡¯s background isn¡¯t exactly pristine,¡± Shayeen closed in and whispered. Lin Sheng nodded in acknowledgment. ¡°We¡¯ll wait for you at the club in that case. Master Lin, you should get a handphone, it¡¯s just too inconvenient trying to get in touch with you,¡± Russell grumbled audibly. The three then got into the car, which had been waiting for them, and left. Lin Sheng and Caeser then headed to a caf¨¦ next to the sportsplex. Caeser had onlye with his bodyguard, and as he sat down, he sent his bodyguard to wait at the door. There were not many customers in the caf¨¦, and they both decided to sit in the innermost corner of the shop. ¡°What would you like to have?¡± Caeser had changed into a smart casual outfit. His immacte face held his attractive smile, and his golden hair shone under the light. Comparatively, Lin Sheng appeared very regr. He had the look of a mere high school student, and aside from his sharp eyes, there were no other defining traits. Chapter 45 - Hosting: Part 3

Chapter 45: Hosting: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Both of them sat facing each other as gentle music yed inside the caf¨¦. On the dark brown stone table was a vase of roses, which drew a line between their vision. The fragrant roses and Caeser¡¯s golden hair were a perfect match. They made him look all the more attractive. ¡°Anything. I don¡¯t really drink coffee,¡± Lin Sheng said. Caeser smiled as he ordered two cups of coffee that Lin Sheng had never heard of. Soon, two hot aromatic cups of coffee were served. As he waited for the waiter to leave, Caeser smiled and looked at Lin Sheng. ¡°Are you interested in working for mypany?¡± he asked as he raised a finger. ¡°You don¡¯t have to decline so quickly.¡± ¡°Ten thousand a month, that will be your basic sry.¡± Lin Sheng did not drink the coffee and simply tore bag after bag of sugar into it. ¡°I don¡¯t have any interest in working for anyone at the moment.¡± ¡°Twenty thousand.¡± Caeser smiled. Lin Sheng paused for a moment. ¡°I want to build my own career, do you understand what I mean?¡± Caeser continued to smile as he shook his head. ¡°It seems like you¡¯re unwilling. No worries, you¡¯re still young. If you need anything, you cane over and look for me.¡± He then pushed a name card across the table. ¡°I can see that you are an ambitious one. If you ever get bored trying your luck, mypany is always open to you.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Caeser took a sip. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, may I know who your teacher is?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have one.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. ¡°Is that so?¡± A smile appeared on Caeser¡¯s face again. ¡°I heard that you¡¯re a third-year high school student?¡± ¡°Yes, I am.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°I¡¯m facing my college entrance examination soon. It¡¯s troublesome, to be honest.¡± ¡°With your talent in swordy, why do you need to worry about that exam?¡± Caeser said with a smile. ¡°Even Langang University in Huaisha City alone, if you want it, as long as you¡¯re able to win something from the national tournament, I can help you pull some strings and get you in through the athlete intake program.¡± ¡°Langang University?¡± Lin Sheng was stunned. ¡°Yes, Langang is one of the main universities in the country. While it may rank low, it¡¯s a good choice for normal students,¡± Caeser said with a grin. Lin Sheng was enticed. If he could get a secured entry into the university, that would be for the best. His revision for the exam was just taking too much time. However, that was incumbent on Caeser not hoodwinking him. ¡°Win a prize in the national tournament? What sort of cing are we looking at?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°At least the top ten. Since this is the National Amateur Swordsmanship Tournament, it¡¯s not that well regarded. As for the professional tournament, even if you¡¯re capable, you don¡¯t have the time for it. The tournament cycle for the professional circuit is just too slow.¡± Caeser¡¯s cobalt eyes were calmly fixed on Lin Sheng. ¡°Of course, the higher you ce the better.¡± ¡°Why do you want to help me?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°Well, because I¡¯m a businessman.¡± Caeser smiled again. ¡°Based on your abilities, with a little training, you¡¯ll know how to defend against firearms, and you¡¯ll be a good, as well as powerful, bodyguard. ¡°So, I hope that you¡¯lle over to mypany as my security advisor, and in times of need, protect me and my family.¡± Lin Sheng twiddled his finger as he considered the offer. ¡°If you can guarantee me a ce in the university, I¡¯ll agree.¡± ¡°If you cane out in the top ten, that¡¯ll be a simple matter.¡± Caeser smiled again. To obtain a powerful bodyguard for £¤20,000 a month plus a guaranteed entry into Langang University, it was a bargain for Caeser. While this bodyguard was still fresh, he would be able to do wonders with just a little training. Finding a proper professional was just too difficult. ... After the tournament, Lin Sheng¡¯s lifestyle returned to normal. What he did not expect was that even before the club began its recruitment process, problems had already appeared at its door. Near the rental grounds in ckwater District, a few goons had appeared to collect protection money and fought with Russell who was waiting there. While Russell had learned how to brawl and could hold his ground one-on-one or two-on-one, three-on-one was too much for him. He quickly summoned Madin for help. In the end, the goons were beaten off, but they came back again with another five. The two sides fought once more, with both ultimately licking their wounds. The goons did not care about a person¡¯s identity. ckwater District was a ssic chaotic ghetto, where gangs were formed and dismissed every now and then. Such goons were highly mobile, and aside from an established gang like the White Tarots, your run of the mill goons would simply move elsewhere if they could not beat you. By the time Lin Sheng received the news, it was alreadyte in the afternoon. And he was astonished to find that Russell had actually made friends out of them. Due to the fight, not only did they no longer have to pay protection money for the training space, but they had also attracted a few impoverished youths who wanted to join the training and work in ce of their fees. ... ckwater District, backyard training course. It was arge square yard with an area of about two hundred square meters, and it was surrounded by a wall. This was the temporary training ground they had rented in ckwater. Grass grew all over the yard, and there were a fewrge water containers that had yet to be removed. The gray wall was littered with all sorts of graffiti, from curses to lewd drawings. The two cleaners they had hired were holding buckets of water while trying to wipe the graffiti off. Lin Sheng turned away and looked at the three youngsters who were standing in front of him. They were all skinny, almost bamboo-like, and their faces were pale as well as sunken. You could tell that they were malnourished from just a nce. The shirts they wore were patched but still clean and tidy. ¡°You want to join the ss?¡± Lin Sheng asked with a frown. ¡°And you¡¯ll work in ce of the fees?¡± ¡°Yes, sir,¡± the tallest boy answered loudly, clearly not intimidated. Lin Sheng sighed. The three individuals may have looked like they were there to train, but in actuality, they were there to look for work and food. The training was just an excuse. However, that also meant that he now had his first batch of disciples. If he could make something out of the three of them, then he would be able to spread the word about his school, and subsequent recruitments would be easier. Lin Sheng turned around, and after he discussed the matter with Shayeen behind him, he decided to take them in. As for rental, they had canceled their rental of the clubhouse and only rented the current ce, so that shrunk the rental cost by about tenfold. Plus, the money prepared by Shayeen was more than enough, and for a small ce like that, they could even survive a few years without any profit. After the discussion, Lin Sheng had a look at their family background. Two of them were locals, sons of dockworkers in ckwater, while another one was an ound orphan who hade here to beg. He could not be bothered about verifying the veracity of their ims, and after registering them, he started the day¡¯s training. Lin Sheng kept things simple and directly picked out ckfeather City¡¯s meleebat training system from his memory. He arranged the basics into light and heavy portions before he threw the responsibility to Russellter. He had time since he was there almost every day. Russell reacted in joy as he started to lead the practice with the three in tow. As for why the goons did not ask for protection money, Lin Sheng did not believe the story about forging a friendship from battle. He was sure that Russell and the rest had used their families¡¯ influence. However, that was expected and within Lin Sheng¡¯s calctions. So long as they could get a foothold in ckwater, the next step would be to expand their influence. And how were they going to do that? It was simple. He nned to organize an unrestrictedbat tournament after some time¡ªright on the streets. The victor would get some measure of money and the title of ¡°ckwater¡¯s Ace Fighter¡±. Chapter 46 - Once Again: Part 1

Chapter 46: Once Again: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion After he settled everything, Lin Sheng walked out of the rented yard. There was a simple sign hanging outside, which read ¡°Steel Fist Fight Club¡± . There were signs of iplete work around the area, and certain parts were not even painted yet. ¡°They really just cobbled a ce up...¡± Lin Sheng was speechless. No wonder they were so quick in setting it up. He did not pay it any more attention and simply walked down the street that the fight club was on, sweeping his gaze left and right. There was an Inte caf¨¦ on the right-hand side, and the shop¡¯s sign read ¡°New Era Inte Caf¨¦¡± . There were a few fifteen to sixteen-year-old kids squatting by the door, smoking and b*llshiting as they proceeded into the building. ¡°I haven¡¯t gone online for a while now, let¡¯s go have a look.¡± He walked passed the two smoking youths and pushed the transparent ss door open. Inside were two neat rows of slightly dirtyputers. On the right-hand side of the caf¨¦ was a counter, and a youngdy, no more than twenty was manning it. She was eating a cup of instant noodles while watching some soap opera. There was a sign on the countertop. ¡°£¤1.50 per hour. For members, top-up £¤100, get an extra £¤50.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like a unit for three hours.¡± Lin Sheng looked at the clock on the wall, and since he was already out, he gave an excuse and told his parents that he was out with friends. So, he had the whole afternoon to himself. It was only a little over three o¡¯clock now, and dinner time would arrive in three hours; it was perfect. The counter girl looked up at him. ¡°I need your ID. Do you remember it? If you don¡¯t, you need to use a temporary card, and the rates will be higher.¡± Lin Sheng quickly gave her his ID number and paid for the usage. He then bought a bottle of mineral water from the counter and took it to his assigned PC. As he hit the start button, he waited for the blue CPU loading screen and the NWE operating system to load. NWE was an operating system simr to this world¡¯s Windows and was developed overseas. It was, however, widely pirated in Xilin. As Lin Sheng sat down, he distanced himself from the monitor and held the mouse, clicking away at an icon on the screen. It was an animated icon with a bluish-white starship. That was the icon of Xilin¡¯s most popr real-time strategy game, Star Path, a game simr to Starcraft. Its controls were more akin to Red Alert¡¯s, though. It was Lin Sheng¡¯s favorite game, thus he had joined an online n as well. He quickly logged in, and his user ID read ¡°7FootGiant¡± . Once the super-futuristic sci-fi loading screen appeared, a notification sound started to pop out from the ¡°friends¡± panel on the lower right screen. DuskStar: ¡°You there?¡± DuskStar: ¡°Let¡¯s y!¡± DuskStar: ¡°Anyone home?¡± DuskStar: ¡°Not online again?¡± Skyfall Leaf: ¡°7Foot, you there?¡± RoyalHatred: ¡°Bloody hell, I lost again. 7Foot, if you don¡¯te online, our n¡¯s gonna get wrecked!¡± DuskStar: ¡°Those Bronzeforge guys are just too much. 7Foot, let me know when youe online. We¡¯re just short of you!¡± DuskStar: ¡°Why aren¡¯t you on yet?¡± Lin Sheng looked at the timestamp. It was two days ago. Since his skills were decent, he was one of the core yers in his n. Sadly, ever since the nightmare came to him, he had to focus on the dream realm, and he had not yed for a long time. Even if he visited an Inte caf¨¦, it was mostly to check on information rted to the dream or swordsmanship. *Beep beep!* A sudden notification prompt rang. DuskStar: ¡°You¡¯re finally on. Let¡¯s wreck some scrubs!¡± Lin Sheng was surprised. That person was the most active yer in their online group, almost fanatical. In fact, once he started, he could y from dawn to dusk. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s team-up,¡± Lin Sheng replied. ¡°Okay.¡± The two quickly formed a team and started to hail for the rest, but none were online. Soon, the game started. Their opponent was selected at random. Even though Lin Sheng had not yed for a while now, the game relied more on APM and strategic or tactical skills, which was simr to fighting games. Therefore, his skills had not regressed much, and they started their winning streak. They easily defeated the first pair of foes, not taking more than twenty minutes. The second and third rounds followed... And after about an hour, Lin Sheng was bored. He then set up the ¡°Away¡± sign. DuskStar: ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Aren¡¯t you on holiday today?¡± 7FootGiant: ¡°I have something to do, stopping now.¡± DuskStar: ¡°What¡¯s so important? Let¡¯s y!¡± 7FootGiant: ¡°I really have something to do, and I¡¯m pretty busy at home too, so I don¡¯t have much time to y.¡± DuskStar: ¡°Even Crown isn¡¯t as busy as you. Aren¡¯t you a student? What are you busy with?¡± 7FootGiant: ¡°I have something to settle.¡± DuskStar: ¡°Oh yeah, Crown said he¡¯s passing by Huaisha soon, how about we arrange a meetup for the yers here. I¡¯ll book the whole ce!¡± Lin Sheng smiled at the screen. He had mentioned in the group that he was a poor student without a lot of pocket money, hence why he was not online much. Meanwhile, DuskStar seemed to be at least well to do with no need to care for inte charges. Now that he talked about booking the whole ce, it was clear that he was not short of money. Lin Sheng smiled as he responded. ¡°Anything. Let¡¯s see what everyone says.¡± DuskStar started to grumble again, and the two yed another round before Lin Sheng went offline. After he quit the game, he clicked on the search engine and entered Huaisha City¡¯s local forum to check if there were any new posts. Very quickly, a post that went up two hours ago appeared in his line of sight. ¡°A robbery-cum-murder case in ckwater District, south of the city... It¡¯s live!¡± Lin Sheng squinted and quickly clicked on it. The post was made by someone called Windtalker, and the original post had a picture of the crime scene. It looked like a room on an iplete construction site. And the floor was covered in blood while the wall was scrawled with ¡°Do you love me?¡± Lin Sheng narrowed his eyes, and he quickly looked at the posts that followed. ¡°It¡¯s that godforsaken ce again. A few cases have already spawned from that sh*thole, yet there are still people who refuse to listen, and daringly go over to y! Fools!¡± ¡°It was a guy thest time. He was killed after he was robbed as well. It¡¯s just so gruesome.¡± ¡°Not only that, a pair of lovers had also disappeared over there. A room full of blood was all that was left.¡± ¡°Have the police gone over already?¡± ¡°Many times, but it¡¯s useless. The killer left nothing behind.¡± Lin Sheng quietly read through the postings and demurred. Huaisha was not a big city, but it was also not small. He had actually heard of many such unsolved cases already. The police had been trying to investigate, but they always came to a dead end. At most, they would pick a random fool and pin the crime on him to close the case. However, anyone with half a brain could tell that they were just obfuscating the public. He had not paid any attention to it before and treated it as a gossip topic over tea. Now that he thought of it, something was not right. There were just too many cases in which the police could not do anything. He then went on to check other posts and found that there was another sealed room murder case that was unresolved. After he closed the forum site, he proceeded to look at the current news: Xilin and Redwin were still at each other¡¯s throats. They continued to trade verbal barbs as they deployed their troops at the border. It seemed like war could break out at any time. In reality, however, this situation had alreadysted over a year. At first, everyone was rather anxious, but as time passed, they got used to it. Chapter 47 - Once Again: Part 2

Chapter 47: Once Again: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion By the time he left the Inte caf¨¦, it was already six in the evening, and the sky had begun to turn dark. Lin Sheng grabbed some grub from the street vendor before he hailed a cab to head straight back home. When he got home, his father was not around. Only his mother, Gu Wanqiu was in the kitchen peeling potatoes. Lin Sheng went over to help out, and very quickly two dishes were made. The mother and son then had their dinner. Gu Wanqiu asked what he had been up to throughout the day, and Lin Sheng easily weaved a story for her. He did not want his family to know that he had joined a swordsmanship club outside... Just like how he was not very willing to join Caeser¡¯spany. But that was another headache altogether. Besides, he knew nothing of Caeser. Who was he? What sort of person was he? What was his background, was it good or bad? He knew nothing at all. Was it all just for money? It, of course, seemed unrealistic, and he needed time to consider. Once he was done with dinner and washing the dishes, Lin Sheng used revision as an excuse to go to his room after a quick gargle. Two sets of questionster, he was feeling sleepy. He then put on his coat and the shoes he had prepared. After that, hey on his bed and closed his eyes to rest. ... The Valent Sanctum. Within the grayish-white sanctum... Lin Sheng slowly got up from a pew and quickly scanned his surroundings. The sanctum was the same as when he left it. The air was calming, while the door, as well as windows, were in pristine condition and closely shut. Lin Sheng rose up and checked his body. He was wearing a ck sports jersey and shoes, which he had worn before sleeping. By the pew was his weapon, the Elite Corrupted Sword. He grabbed the sword and left the pew, ignoring the prayer dais at the center of the room. He headed directly for the small door at the back of the sanctum. Lin Sheng had pretty much searched the entire sanctum already, and only the storage room at the back was left. The entire sanctum consisted of a main hall, a sub-hall, a bedroom for the clergy, a kitchen, and a toilet. After he scoured the whole ce, there was nothing aside from a few daily goods. The storage room was the only section he had not checked yet. Holding his sword tightly, Lin Sheng speedily arrived before the storage room. He reached out for the cold bronze knob... And he pulled it open. *Creaaakkk...* A gentle creakter, the grayish-white wooden door slowly opened. It was a small space about a square meter wide. There was nothing in it besides a meter-tall carved obelisk-like pir. The pir was grayish-white in color, and there was a curved moon with three stars at the top. At the bottom end, there was also a simr marking with a line of words. Lin Sheng peered over to get a better look. ¡°Evaluation Obelisk: Career level assessment. Assessment parameters: Pdin, Warrior, Priest.¡± ¡°Evaluation Obelisk??¡± Lin Sheng was stunned. This was his first time encountering such a thing. From the memory fragments in his mind, he had discovered the identities and levels of certain individuals, but how was their level determined? There was no mention of it. Perhaps, the memory fragments he had absorbed did not contain such information. However, the small obelisk before him probably had something to do with the level assessment. He walked toward the obelisk and checked it out. Aside from the carvings on the surface, there were only two handles protruding out of each side. On the edge of the handles were markings to hold them tightly. Lin Sheng held his hands out and grabbed the handles with each hand. Suddenly, he felt a warm surge from the obelisk. It entered his palm before it circted through his arm and all across his body. Then, as suddenly as the warmth appeared, it returned to the obelisk and disappeared. *Hummmmm...* A slight hum rang out. Under Lin Sheng¡¯s slightly astonished gaze, the carvings on the obelisk started to glow brightly, and a white line began to move upward along the entire obelisk from the bottom like a thermometer. The white line slowly stopped at the Level 2 indicator and stayed there. ¡°Level 2?¡± Lin Sheng was surprised, and he released the handles. The white line faded away as soon as he let his hands go. ¡°That means I¡¯m a Level 2 warrior now?¡± Lin Sheng guessed. He then ced his hands on the handles again. Very quickly, the white line lit up once more and went all the way to Level 2, but the initial warmth did not manifest. ¡°Interesting... though I don¡¯t have any idea what this thing is basing its grading on.¡± He released his grip and allowed the white line to disappear. After he searched the storage room, Lin Sheng found nothing other than the Evaluation Obelisk. He took the corrupted sword and went back to the sanctum¡¯s main gate. This time around, he did not n to stay in that safe zone. There were no beasts or dangers in the sanctum, so he had assigned it as a safe ce to rest and recuperate. ¡°While this ce is fine and dandy, I¡¯m not here to stay in the safe zone...¡± Lin Sheng gently pushed the main door, and it opened without a sound as the biting wind blew in. Lin Sheng shivered a little but continued on outside with his sword in hand. Standing before the sanctum¡¯s gate, he could see the district of ckfeather City with its empty streets and dpidated buildings. In the distance was a sky-scraping ck tower surrounded by a massive ring wall. ¡°It feels like a giant cage...¡± Lin Sheng muttered to himself, and he started to scan for the direction he should advance in. Holding his sword, he slowly walked toward the steel fence in the yard, and his sights fell upon a manor that faced the sanctum. It was a fish-shaped mansion. All over the grayish-white structure were carvings of infant angels, and in some ces, wisteria-like flowers grew. Compared with the other buildings around the manor, it was much more well-preserved, and even its outer walls were in good shape without any signs of damage. The manor had three levels, and the windows on each level were sealed shut. Lin Sheng could see the center inner court from his position. There was a dried-up ck fountain there, and before it was a white que. Under the moonlight, he could detect some writings on it, and after some thought, he decided to go over to have a look. It was not only due to the fact that the manor was well-preserved and would potentially hold some useful items. It was also, more importantly, due to the ce being close enough to the sanctum, and as such, could be much safer as well. Additionally, inparison to the buildings around it, it was much shorter, and in some respect, its d¨¦cor was not asvish as that of the others. It was clear that the status of the mansion¡¯s owner was probably not too high, and in that treacherous ce, the lower your position was, the safer you were. *Creaaakkk...* Lin Sheng gently pushed the steel gate open and walked out. Just as he left the sanctum¡¯s protection, he felt a chill down his spine. There was a tingling sense of foreboding and danger. Lin Sheng gripped the handle of his sword as he swept his gaze about. Then, he dashed toward the manor¡¯s gate. A few darting stepster, he had passed through the ten-meter-wide street and arrived in front of the manor¡¯s gate. With a gentle pull, the gate slowly opened. Chapter 48 - Once Again: Part 3

Chapter 48: Once Again: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The moment the gate opened, Lin Sheng hurried in and closed it behind him. With his ck sword in hand, he quickly scanned through the manor¡¯s yard There were ck nondescript flocs all over the ground, and he had no idea what they were as they tumbled around in the cold wind. On the right side of the wall was a bronze namete covered in moss and oxidized corrosion. Lin Sheng wiped the namete, which revealed some blurry artwork and words on it. ¡°Sir Kaarman¡¯s Residence, 6 Sanctum Street¡± Beneath those words was an illustration of an owl-like bird with its wings opened. ¡°A noble¡¯s manor?¡± Lin Sheng squinted for a while before he looked away. He then took his sword and cautiously headed forward into the silent yard. He walked toward the fountain and very quickly arrived before the que in front of it. ¡°No debts. ¡°No currencies. ¡°No Feltons ¡°If you have something that interests me, perhaps I can waive the fee.¡± ~Kaarman Veste. ¡°This ce doesn¡¯t look like a normal noble¡¯s manor...¡± Lin Sheng had a few spections. Walking around the que he headed straight for the main door. There was also a sculpture of arge owl-like bird on the white door. As Lin Sheng got close, the bird chirped. While it kept its wings and shut its eyes, the door slowly opened, revealing a passageway for a single person. Lin Sheng was shocked by the sudden movement and quickly went into a defensive stance. Yet, nothing happened. Only cold wind blew out of the gap. He narrowed his eyes and used the tip of his sword to give the door a push. It moved slowly... Inside was avish andrge golden hall. There was a giant oil painting on the wall facing the door. It was a portrait of a middle-aged white man with curly brown hair. He had a small mustache on his face, and he was dressed in noble garb, which was littered with all kinds of medals. Lin Sheng looked on with the help of the moonlight. The man in the painting seemed to have a sword in his hand, and next to him was arge ck dog. The dog, even when seated, was about the height of the man. Its form was regal, and a tuff of mane surrounded its neck, not unlike a lion¡¯s. Lin Sheng tensed up a little but had no intention of retreating just yet. After he had absorbed so many memory fragments and meditated so much on the Ashen Seal, he had confidence in his current capabilities. Plus, the Evaluation Obelisk showed that he was now a Level 2 warrior in ckfeather City... A Level 2 warrior with an Ashen Seal. Level 2 in ckfeather¡¯s system meant that he was an elite soldier. Perhaps he was considered one due to the Ashen Seal. Regardless, it was enough. Lin Sheng had enough memory fragments to know that his body was still a long way from that of a Level 2 warrior. This meant that his grading as a Level 2 warrior was solely reliant on the Ashen Seal from his meditation. The Ashen Seal had given him decent defensive capabilities, and that was his trump card! As he held his sword with both hands, Lin Sheng slowly walked into the hall. He scanned it from left to right as he hugged the wall to check the cupboards and concealed drawers. He quickly went through the tightly packed cupboards and drawers, but there was nothing there. Upon checking the edge of the oil painting on the wall, Lin Sheng suddenly paused. He had heard movement. Soft footsteps were closing in. There were no rugs in the hall, and hard rock tiles covered the floor. His footsteps were not muffled, and gentle taps could be heard as his feet fell. Lin Sheng turned around and held his ck sword tightly, his eyes on alert. Suddenly, he caught a shadow darting to his right. ¡°There!¡± Lin Sheng suddenly burst into a swing and shed at the dark shadow. *ng!!* Two des collided. The shadowy figure was revealed by the moonlight. It was a masked swordsman about five and a half feet tall. However, what surprised Lin Sheng was the fact that the masked swordsman was actually a swordswoman. She was wearing tight-fitting leather armor with her chest bound high, and her ck hair was tied into a ponytail. Meanwhile, a mask covered every feature on her face aside from her eyes. Nheless, from the gaps in the mask, one could tell that she was pretty good looking. Soon, the second strike came. Lin Sheng held his sword with both hands as he took a side step, and a ngter, he parried the de away. The swordswoman was, however, only using her sword with one hand, and she pulled out another short sword before thrusting it at him. The de was aimed at Lin Sheng¡¯s stomach with deadly intent. He shrunk his tummy back and narrowly avoided the stab before he stepped sideways again to avoid her horizontal sh. The two then exchanged rapid blows. Just within ten breaths, Lin Sheng was grazed by two consecutive shes, all from the surprise short sword attack. He could not catch a break. The masked swordswoman was quick on the offensive and was striking at Lin Sheng faster than he could react. If not for the Ashen Seal¡¯s protection, those two stabs would have torn his stomach apart. Thankfully, his opponent¡¯s skills werecking, and against Lin Sheng who had merged his talent as a mercenary with true ckfeather swordsmanship, the gulf was showing. The two exchanged blows again, and their des shed almost every second. The exchange consumed a lot of energy and had Lin Sheng panting while his chest moved up and down heavily. Yet, the swordswoman seemed like an automaton that knew no fatigue as she kept up her frenzied attacks. The only thing Lin Sheng could be thankful for was that thetter¡¯s eyes were dark without any intelligence, and she was seemingly swinging her de based on instinct alone. *Bam!* He suddenly kicked and sent a stool flying over. The swordswoman deflected the flying projectile with a sh, but before she could follow up with an attack, she was struck by a wooden rack that Lin Sheng had pulled over. *Crash!* The swordswoman paused for a moment as her chest was pierced by a ck de that came through the gaps of the rack. Arge amount of ck blood flowed out of her wound, but the swordswoman seemed oblivious to the matter. She struggled and swung her sword in a frenzy at Lin Sheng who was behind the rack. Yet, as she bled out, her movements turned sluggish before she fell backward, her head smashing against the rack and crumpling onto the ground. Lin Sheng pulled his ck de out before he stabbed the swordswoman again. Only after he was sure that she was not moving anymore did he allow himself a sigh of relief. ¡°This monster... If she hadn¡¯t been brainless enough to strike at me with a book rack between us, the dying one would have been me.¡± Fear welled up in him. The cocksure attitude he had after he learned that he was a Level 2 warrior faded away just like that. If the fallen swordswoman before him had not already turned into a monster and totally lost all rationality, he would have been taken out very easily. She was superior in speed as well as endurance, and aside fromcking in sword technique, she held every advantage over him. ¡°She¡¯s not totally dead yet, but she won¡¯t be moving anytime soon, that¡¯s for sure.¡± Lin Sheng pushed the rack to the side. He bent down before the swordswoman and checked her body for any spoils of war. The sword that she used was a normal one and had already chipped from the exchange with the ck de. Next to her leather armor were three ck steel needles of unknown use, and by her slender waist was a ck leather pouch. Lin Sheng took the pouch and turned it upside down. A yellowed scroll dropped out of it. Lin Sheng picked up the scroll and opened it. The writing on the paper had blurred slightly, but it looked like an item list. ¡°The blood from the whole body of three adults, a standard vial of deer blood, a standard unit of sequoia wood, nine standard units of silver powder. Ritual sacrifice.¡± Chapter 49 - Chance Encounter: Part 1

Chapter 49: Chance Encounter: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion There was a ritual matrix diagram on the list, and beneath the diagram was a chant in Ancient Rehn. At the very bottom, there was another small row of words. ¡°Annie, your spiritual powers can only increase once at the most. Remember, restrain your greed.¡± ¡°Annie? Ritual sacrifice?¡± Lin Sheng was astounded, and as he focused on thest line of words, his instincts told him that he may have chanced upon a treasure trove! All of the items listed were not things that he had not heard of before. ¡°If I could use this ritual in the real world...¡± Before he could react, strands of ck smoke appeared from the corpse and formed into a ck line that stabbed into his chest. Lin Sheng¡¯s head shook as a huge surge of the swordswoman¡¯s memory roiled in his head. Image after image shed past his eyes. ¡°Annie, do you love me?¡± ¡°Annie, you shouldn¡¯t hold a sword that way. You need to move your wrist like that.¡± ¡°This ritual needs a living sacrifice. It can awaken the blood within your body using an evil power as a conduit... If your will is weak, do not use it.¡± ¡°Ugh...¡± Lin Sheng grabbed his head because it felt like it would explode at any time. He put his hand on the wall and tried to catch a breather. A sudden bone-biting gust blew, and goosebumps appeared all over his body. He tried to roll to the left to dodge, but he was still too slow. The headache had dulled his reaction. *Ufff!* A massive ck war ax brutally cleaved into his neck and tore his body into a Y shape. *Uhh... Uhh...* As blood spurted out, Lin Sheng¡¯s vision ckened. Thest thing he saw was a powerful figure about two meters tall... And the figure was slowly pulling the bloodied ax out of his body. ... Lin Sheng jumped out of bed, his body cold, and his face pale. ¡°Bloody hell, ambushing me while I was absorbing the memories!¡± Aside from preventing his body from being hacked into two, the Ashen Seal had no other effect because the power of the dark shadow was just too strong. ¡°But I remember the details... ingredients, matrix... and manner of the ritual in the fragmented memories.¡± Lin Sheng got off his bed and turned on the tablemp as he pulled his notebook out of the drawer. He jotted down the details of the ritual sacrifice. What surprised him was that the ritual required him to use some kind of tonal rhythm, which originated from an unknownnguage, as an initiating phrase. It was not Ancient Rehn or any othernguage he knew, rather it was like a meaningless note that was cobbled together. The memory fragments showed that the girl called Annie had recited it many times over to memorize it, and that made it easy for him. ¡°Human blood, deer blood, sequoia, silver powder... I could probably secure all these items. It¡¯s just the blood from the whole body of three adults... I¡¯m not sure if the hospital sells them or not...¡± Lin Sheng wondered. It was a new experience for him after all. If he could use the knowledge from the ritual in the real world, that would help him immensely. He had tested it out; no matter what kind of injury he received in the dream, his body would not be affected when he returned to reality. Simrly, no matter what kind of training he underwent in the dream, it would be non-effective by the time he woke up. He had trained his muscles hard in the dream realm, but when he woke up and trained again, it was sore once more due tock of training. ¡°That means that what happens in the dream won¡¯t be reflected in reality. And that means the only thing I can get from there is information and knowledge; stuff like the Ashen Seal, like this ritual...¡± Lin Sheng now understood. He would focus on such items from then on. Taking a nce at the clock, it was only a quarter past four in the morning. Lin Shengy on his bed again and turned off the light as he tried to get some sleep. But after gaining knowledge of the ritual, his hands were itching to try it out. That feeling left him sleepless. After rolling around on the bed until five, he still could not sleep, and he was getting increasingly excited about it. ¡°Blergh, let¡¯s go for a walk instead.¡± Lin Sheng got up immediately and put on his clothes. Then he grabbed his sword case and left the house. As he left the Huilian area, Lin Sheng walked on slowly along the street. The clouds were moving slowly in the sky while a golden ray was slowly appearing in the east, dying the clouds gold. Not many shops were open at that hour in the morning. Lin Sheng ran all the way to the bridge about three kilometers away from his house before he slowed down. Beneath the bridge were a few homeless vagrants curling up in their dirty nkets, fast asleep. Lin Sheng turned his vision away from the vagrants as a car sped across the bridge. He walked down the staircase by the side of the bridge toward the path above the tunnel, which was under the bridge. It was the only pathway across the bridge. A few beautiful girls with long hair appeared on the opposite end. They were probably in their twenties. Their faces were adorned with light makeup, and they had long legs long as well as slim waists. Additionally, they were all wearing long woolen skirts and thick silk stockings, chatting yfully while walking. ¡°Probably models.¡± Lin Sheng noticed a bespectacled girl with a camera behind them. As the girls closed in and saw the ck box on Lin Sheng¡¯s back, they gave him a curious nce. It did not seem like a violin case, probably a case for a long flute or something. ¡°Lin Sheng?¡± A guttural male voice suddenly boomed up from the top side. Lin Sheng paused for a moment before he looked up. Over at the edge of the bridge was a dark-skinned man wearing a fitting ck singlet. The man looked down with a ck leather jacket draped over his back. There was also a silver cross hanging in front of his chest. Lin Sheng squinted as he loosened his grip, letting the ck box fall into his hand. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± The girls by the side were drawn by themotion too, and they slowly turned their faces as they looked on. ¡°Are they shooting a scene?¡± ¡°Not sure. That guy up there sounds so clear even when he¡¯s so far away. Is there a speaker or something?¡± The man stepped onto the railing as his massive frame somehow squeezed through the rails. He took off his coat and disyed the perfect muscles on his back. But more importantly, he pulled out a ck handgun from his waist. The gun spun about in his hand for a bit before it was held tightly. ¡°Times are different now,¡± the man calmly said. ¡°We will end up being forgotten, but before that, even if people take us for a fool, I shall persist.¡± He then ced the gun on the railing. ¡°Let¡¯s duke this out!¡± He took a step and leaped down from the top of the bridge, his figure blocking the sun. Lin Shen narrowed his eyes and immediately stepped back. He then yed his box in a straightyout and sted it open. A sword thrust, as quick as lightning, darted straight toward the man. *ng!* The two of them collided violently. God knew when the man had put on a pair of ck metal gauntlets, and his fists parried Lin Sheng¡¯s thrusting form. The powerful shock wave hit Lin Sheng and sent him back. Lin Sheng instantly stepped to the side and spun his de, his strike aimed at the man¡¯s chest. Chapter 50 - Chance Encounter: Part 2

Chapter 50: Chance Encounter: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion *Uff!* The man blocked his de with a single hand as he raised his right leg to do a roundhouse kick. At the same time, Lin Sheng lifted his leg to strike too. As their legs collided, Lin Sheng grunted before he pulled back. ¡°sh Riposte!¡± Lin Sheng resumed his form and became silent. In a sh, a bolt of serpentine silver lightning shot out at a speed far beyond his previous strike. It targeted the man¡¯s neck. ¡°Not bad.¡± The man took a quick step back and avoided the sh. ¡°Bull Rush!¡± As the sh faded away, the man stomped on the ground with his right leg, kicking up a minor quake. He then charged forward, using his entire body strength to ram into Lin Sheng. *Bam!* Lin Sheng managed to dodge the attack, and he crashed into the cement wall. Arge piece of loose cement copsed under the impact and dust as well as debris were sent flying all over. Some of the debris shot out and struck the arm of one of the girls, sending her screaming. Only then did the girls who were watching the fight realize that it was real. When they saw Lin Sheng and the man exchange blows again, their faces turned pale, and they quickly ran away. Lin Sheng held his sword, his face cold as he swiftlyunched strike after strike. He had faced many foes in the dream world, and all of them had the same killing intent. However, the one before him was not as strong as the ones in his dreams. He was just not used to fighting in such a style of brawling without weapons. As de and gauntlet shed, the din of battle rose and fell. Above them, cars sped across the bridge, and the rumbling masked the noise of their fighting. *Bam!* A sudden gruntter, Lin Sheng took a few quick steps back, his sword hand shivering violently. Meanwhile, a bleeding cut slowly appeared on the man¡¯s arm. ¡°Interesting...¡± The man looked at his arm. ¡°Based on swordsmanship alone, I have not faced a foe like you for a very long time.¡± ¡°Are you sick in the head?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s expression was cold as he tried to stabilize his shivering hand to avoid showing weakness. He was pretty sure that he had not crossed anyone. If it was the White Tarots, they would not move against him so boldly. That aside, even though the man before him may be screwed in the head, his ability was real. He was a real professional. Ever since he had trained with his sword in the dream world, this was the first time Lin Sheng had met someone who could fight toe to toe with him in reality. ¡°Heh, acting dumb, eh? As long as there¡¯s a good enough price, a good enough target, I¡¯ll take the contract.¡± The man retracted his hand and rxed his fingers. ¡°That¡¯s that then. I never thought I would run into such a surprise.¡± ¡°You mean someone¡¯s ced a bounty on my head?¡± Lin Sheng was stunned. ¡°Yep, not much though, £¤200,000. Better than nothing.¡± The man grinned. ¡°If the bounty hadn¡¯t stated that you could take down five people with your sword in five seconds, I wouldn¡¯t have taken such a crappy bounty.¡± ¡°What now?¡± Lin Sheng straightened his back. While his opponent was no longer in an offensive stance, he remained on alert. ¡°Now, I give up. You¡¯re free to go.¡± The man shrugged. ¡°You¡¯re not using your gun?¡± Lin Sheng was astonished as he looked at the handgun on the railing. ¡°Are you mocking me, kid?¡± The man¡¯s expression turned cold as his gaze changed slightly. ¡°Seems like your teacher hasn¡¯t taught you about our rules.¡± He gave Lin Sheng a final nce before he grabbed a hold of the cement wall and leaped back up to the bridge in under one second. After he picked up his handgun and jacket, he turned away, disappearing from Lin Sheng¡¯s sight. Lin Sheng stood beneath the bridge and remained there in silence. After he was certain that he would not be attacked again, he finally walked slowly to pick up his sword case. The ck case was slightly dented on the side, and the sheath had slid out, falling not far away. Lin Sheng looked over and saw that his sword sheath was in the arms of one of the girls from earlier. Her face was pale, and her forehead was drenched in sweat. Her arms shivered as she clutched the sheath. Seeing that Lin Sheng was walking over, she quickly got up and handed the sheath over with both hands. ¡°Your... stuff...¡± She found that even her voice was trembling. ¡°Thank you.¡± Lin Sheng took the sheath and slotted the slightly bloodied de in before he ced it back in the sword case. He then turned away and left, leaving the girl there to look at him in a stupor until he was out of her sight. ... ¡°My leg¡¯s swollen...¡± Lin Sheng calmly ced an icepack on his calf. Upon checking, it was the part that met the man¡¯s kick. If not for the protection given by the Ashen Seal, that kick would have broken his bones. ¡°Hmm, if not for the Ashen Seal, I wouldn¡¯t have blocked the kick with one of my own. In the end, my strength¡¯s just too weak, and my body¡¯s just too frail.¡± Lin Sheng then recalled the battle earlier. His strength, as well as speed, were much weaker than that of his foe, and in every exchange, he had to use many techniques to ovee the man¡¯s powerful advantage. That limited his ability to fully utilize the strength of ckfeather sword techniques. Sitting in the bathroom, Lin Sheng took the ice pack away and looked at the swollen part. The wound was starting to feel numb. ¡°The bleeding should¡¯ve stopped by now.¡± He then took some ointment and rubbed the ointment all over the wound. The entire bathroom was filled with the musky scent of medication. After he applied the ointment, Lin Sheng pulled down his rolled-up pants and ced everything back. ¡°Luckily, we have ointments at home, or else I¡¯d need to go and buy one.¡± The chance encounter had some unexpected twist, and thankfully, his foe seemed to follow some sort of rule and did not use his gun. ¡°I¡¯ve meditated on the Ashen Seal for so long now, and its effect just seems a little stronger than when I was at the park. Seems like it has teaued and I¡¯ve hit the ceiling.¡± Lin Sheng sighed and went back to his bedroom. ¡°If I had run into a shooter... I probably would¡¯ve been unable to block anything and died right there.¡± He then carried out a test. The protection given by the Ashen Seal was probably equivalent to an encyclopedia with a few hundred pages at most. Since he did not have anything else to test it out, he had to use his study materials forparison. ¡°Now... who the hell ced a bounty on my head?¡± The White Tarots?¡± Lin Sheng frowned. ¡°I never did cross anyone before, so why am I being targeted? If this is about that amateur tournament, isn¡¯t it a bit excessive?¡± He had to know. But, he did not realize that the goons from the White Tarots had wanted to beat him up from the beginning. It was not to the point of broken bones or gaping wounds, of course, but just a light wound to scare him. However, they never thought that they had, instead, forced Lin Sheng to act, and he took all of them out in a single go, forcing the goon¡¯s leader to draw his concealed pistol. ¡°I have no information at all. Who¡¯s behind this... Damn it!¡± Lin Sheng was frustrated. Even if he wanted revenge, he had to find out who his target was. Right then, he did not even know who was targeting him. Chapter 51 - Chance Encounter: Part 3

Chapter 51: Chance Encounter: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion At the port. Large containers were picked up by cranes and loaded onto a docked cargo ship. Near the port, at a small supermarket, a tall and thin man in a gray windbreaker, as well as a round hat, looked out at the ship¡¯s long elongated body in the distance. ¡°Kailu, you¡¯rete,¡± the tall and thin man suddenly said. ¡°Only two minuteste.¡± A strong man in a ck jacket came up. The man had two bloodstains on his wrists and a silver cross on his chest. It was the mysterious man who had just fought with Lin Sheng. ¡°You had a fight?¡± The thin and tall man gave the mysterious bloke a quick nce and noticed the bloodstains. ¡°Just one of my tasks. I met the man on the way. I thought this would be an easy task, but I didn¡¯t expect him to be so tough.¡± Kailu smiled. ¡°It¡¯s nothing, just a little bruise on the wrist. It¡¯ll heal in a few days.¡± The tall and thin man nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t take those tasks for a while. But... is there anyone here who can hurt you?¡± He sounded surprised. ¡°It¡¯s just a bruise. I didn¡¯t use the gun.¡± Kailu smiled. ¡°No wonder.¡± The tall and thin man then understood why Kailu was injured. If Kailu had used his gun, no one in Huaisha could have escaped his assassination. ¡°Alright, is everyone here?¡± The smile on Kailu¡¯s face disappeared. ¡°Yes.¡± The tall thin man nodded. ¡°We can start now.¡± ... How did you get the information needed to find the person who tried to kill you? Lin Sheng had thought about that for a long time. If it involved the White Tarots, it would be very difficult for him to do that. Besides, he was just an ordinary high school senior student. He had good swordsmanship, but none of his skills worked in front of guns. He could react faster than the shooter at close range, but what if he was a little farther? ... ckwater district, Ironfist Club. ¡°What? Someone tried to kill you?¡± While Russell and Madin were having dinner, Lin Sheng sat in a chair and told them what had happened to him. They were startled by the news and stopped eating immediately. Russell looked serious. ¡°And he nearly shot you? Are you sure he really wanted to kill you?¡± Lin Sheng nodded slightly. ¡°I¡¯m sure. The man did it with intent. No mercy.¡± ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be the White Tarots... They¡¯ve promised my grandfather. Failing to keep a promise is a taboo in their world.¡± Russell frowned. ¡°I¡¯m surprised too, so I want to ask you if you wanted to find out who¡¯s behind this, how would you do it? Your family has a lot of connections. You know where to start, don¡¯t you?¡± Lin Sheng calmed down and asked. He was not afraid of a strong opponent, and he was afraid of not finding that man. His experience in the dream realm had given him infinite strength. ¡°The only way is to get the most well-informed person. Such people are often intermediaries in the gray area,¡± Russell exined. ¡°Any idea?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a guy in Sleigh Bar named Red Baboon. He¡¯s an arms dealer. I saw him once because of my former firearms coach. I heard that he also sells information. Maybe we can try to contact him,¡± Russell whispered. ¡°What about the price?¡± asked Lin Sheng. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never dealt with him.¡± Russell looked puzzled. ¡°If it¡¯s just simple information, it shouldn¡¯t be too expensive...¡± Madin whispered. ¡°I¡¯ll check it outter,¡± Lin Sheng muttered to himself. Either way, he had to find a breakthrough. He could not live on tenterhooks every day for fear that someone would kill him. Lin Sheng then went on to train a few young men who had just joined the club. At about 7 pm, he left the club with his sword case on his back and headed home. On the way back, there was arge crowd of people in the street. They looked solemn as they held banners and wore identical white armbands. Holding a loudspeaker in her hand, the leading woman shouted as she marched, ¡°Say no to the 96 Treaty! Oppose the betrayal of this country!!¡± ¡°Say no to the 96 Treaty! Oppose the betrayal of this country!¡± The rest of the group roared along. At a nce, Lin Sheng guessed that there were at least hundreds of people shouting in the demonstration. The white banner also read ¡°Get out, Redwinians! Get out of Xilin!¡±. Like the rest of the bystanders, Lin Sheng stopped and stood by the side of the road, quietly waiting for the demonstration to pass. Witnessing the demonstration, he was d that there were no Redwinians in Ironfist Club. The members consisted of Xilinians and other nationalities, or mixed-race people. He did not want to get involved in such trouble. After the demonstrators passed them, Lin Sheng took the bus home. Once he got off the bus, he walked into his neighborhood and quickly went upstairs. As soon as Lin Sheng opened the burr-proof door, he saw a pair of brown boots on the floor that he had never seen before. Then, his mother called him. ¡°Come in quickly, Yueyue¡¯s here!¡± Who?? Lin Sheng wanted to put on his slippers but found that they were gone. Someone was probably wearing them. He stooped to open the shoe cab, then took a pair of stic slippers and put them on. As for that Yueyue, he had no recollection of meeting her before. Lin Sheng put on the stic slippers, closed the door, and walked into the living room. A beautiful girl, about twenty years old, was sitting beside Gu Wanqiu. The girl was wearing a pink ruffle dress with white short sleeves, which revealed her long legs. She had long ck hair that fell on her shoulders, and she looked sad. The tea table in front of them was covered with used tissues. ¡°Hi, I-I¡¯m gonna go wash up...¡± The girl saw Lin Shenge in and stood up in a panic. ¡°Go ahead. Go to bed early. Your room¡¯s over there, and the bed is ready,¡± Gu Wanqiu said softly. ¡°Ok, thank you, auntie.¡± The girl hurried into the bathroom with slightly swollen eyes and closed the door. ¡°Wang Yue is your distant cousin. Do you remember her? You used to y at their house when you were a child, and you tied the hair of one of her favorite dolls into a knot. She¡¯s been cheated by a friend. She got a loan and ended up owing a lot of money,¡± Gu Wanqiu whispered. ¡°Yueyue just borrowed £¤3,000, and two monthster, she has to pay back £¤6,000!¡± Gu Wanqiu sighed. ¡°...And, she¡¯s here for?¡± Lin Sheng asked, frowning. ¡°She¡¯ll stay with us for a few days. The men followed her to her school, Langang University. She¡¯s now afraid to go back to school or contact her family. If I hadn¡¯t seen her when I went grocery shopping today, the girl would have...¡± Gu Wanqiu sighed. Lin Sheng understood. His mother saw his distant cousin in distress, so she took her home. She normally avoided trouble, but she would always help when it came to rtives, just as she did this time. Was she not worried about the debt collectors following her home? There was nothing Lin Sheng could say or do. Plus, he had not been in touch with this cousin for years, so he found it hard to sympathize with her. Chapter 52 - The Progress: Part 1

Chapter 52: The Progress: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Yueyue¡¯s story was just a brief interlude. Lin Sheng could not enter the dream realm temporarily because he had been killed, so he took the time to rest, build up strength, and practice his sword skills every day. On the surface, he was just an ordinary senior high school student. But in reality, due to the practice of swordsmanship, his physical strength, endurance, and physique were slowly rising. In the following days, Lin Sheng went out to buy silver powder in various gold and silver stores after school. Since there was no Taobao there, it was very hard to obtain silver powder. After a long search, he finally found one shop that sold the silver powder, but the price exceeded his expectation. ording to Annie¡¯s memory fragments, the ritual required at least nine standard units. A standard unit referred to a wooden spoon that was unique to ckfeather City. Each unit consisted of one full scoop. Lin Sheng estimated that nine standard units were at least one kilogram or so... After he spent thousands of yuan to purchase a kilogram of pure silver powder, Lin Sheng began to walk around farmers¡¯ markets, pet markets, and other ces in Huaisha. He needed deer blood. Unfortunately, he searched for two days and found nothing. Ironfist Club in ckwater district had taken in a few more students... And this time, the students were not the poor type. They were actually paying the fees for the sses. ording to Shayeen, Russell¡¯s students got into a fight after they learned a few quick moves from him, and they actually won. Therefore, Madin took the opportunity to publicize that the club¡¯s coach was the real master who won the first prize in the swordsmanship championship in Huaisha. The ordinary people did not understand the level of swordsmanship championship. As soon as they heard that the coach of the club had won the first prize, they immediately believed that the club must have some real skills, so they joined the ss. The new three students were also bold young people who were very much into martial arts. They paid the tuition fee immediately after seeing Russell¡¯s skills. Now the Ironfist Club, though not very well-known in ckwater district, had started to make some money. As long as the following publicity was good, Ironfist Club would be more and more popr. Lin Sheng went to the club again and directed Shayeen to decorate the dojo. He had experienced the idea of martial artsmunication, knowing that the martial arts dojo also attached great importance to the visual effect. So he required everyone to wear the uniform, and the decoration should also reflect elegance and refreshing feeling as much as possible All this was to make the members of the Ironfist Club unite and feel a sense of belonging. Everything at the club was improving steadily while Lin Sheng was worrying about the materials needed in the ritual. ... At noon. Nice weather. The faint fragrance of flowers blew in through the open window, apanied by the shouts of children ying football outside. Lin Sheng, holding a book in his hand, seemed to be studying seriously, but in fact, he was nning to go to the Sleigh Bar at night. The Sleigh Bar, as Russell described it, was quite a special ce. This bar did not seem to like strangers. The address was hidden in an extremely remote corner of the city. Red Baboon was an arms dealer, but not the only one in the bar. Russell went with his teacher, so maybe he did not feel much, but Lin Sheng could guess that anything could happen in ces like this. The current society was not the China he lived in his past life, the public security was not so reassuring. Therefore, he must prepare various ns in advance so that he would not be clueless and making wrong decisions in case of an unexpected situation. Sitting on the sofa, Lin Sheng actually had a faint feeling of excitement and anticipation. He was just a trantor of ancientnguages in his previous life, which was extremely far away from such a life now. The atmosphere of the Sleigh Bar reminded him of a simr pattern: the mercenary bar, the mostmon type of bar in those movies and novels. *Click.* Suddenly, the sound of turning the door lock interrupted his train of thought. The door of the guest room slowly opened, and the cousin, who had been staying at home for several days, came out, looking pale. She changed into a pink T-shirt and skinny jeans. Her slender legs and hips were clearly outlined in the skinny jeans. Seeing Lin Sheng sitting on the sofa, she hesitated, and then squeezed out a smile and asked, ¡°You¡¯re studying?¡± ¡°Yes. Don¡¯t you take a nap?¡± Lin Sheng put down the book and asked casually. ¡°Can¡¯t sleep...¡± Wang Yue looked worried. ¡°I¡¯ll go down and do some shopping. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± She did not want to embarrass herself in front of her cousin. And she did not want to disturb his study either. She felt that she owed them a lot for her stay there. Lin Sheng understood her feelings and did not ask too much. He just smiled at her and reminded, ¡°Don¡¯t forget your key.¡± ¡°Yeah, okay.¡± Wang Yue hurriedly nodded. She then opened the door and went downstairs to the nearby supermarket. After the interruption, he was not in the mood to continue reading. ¡°Well, I should go to the club now.¡± He also wanted to ask Shayeen and the others if there was any way to get fresh deer blood. He got up and dressed quickly. With his sword case on his back, Lin Sheng changed his shoes and opened the door. The afternoon ss was a self-study ss, and the teacher did not care too much, so he did not have to be on time. Instead of taking a bus, he hailed a taxi, and within 20 minutes, he was at the dojo of Ironfist Club. The dojo had been upgraded. In front of the gate of the dojo, two people were cing the stone sculpture of Star Jasmine Bird for decoration. In Xilin, the status of Star Jasmine Bird was the same as the Chinese stone lion. Putting it in front of the gate could protect the building. In front of the door stood two pitch-ck stone birds. The dojo was painted white. The hall was solemn and spacious. The floor of the hall was covered with a huge tiger pattern in ck te. On the wall behind the front desk hung a pair of scrolls, with ¡®tiger¡¯ and ¡®dragon¡¯ written on it respectively. Lin Sheng strode in with his hands behind his back. A tall and thin student at the gate saw him and hurriedly bowed his head to greet him. ¡°Good Afternoon, Master Lin!¡± ¡°Good afternoon.¡± Lin Sheng nodded slightly and strode into the main hall. His position in the club was the chief martial arts coach while Russell was the club¡¯s chief firearms instructor. So far, the club had only two coaches for all six students. Arriving at the main entrance, the two girls at the front desk were both good looking and in good shape, enhancing the club¡¯s fa?ade image. After responding to the girls¡¯ greetings, Lin Sheng went to the newly decorated back area. Chapter 53 - The Progress: Part 2

Chapter 53: The Progress: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The club was divided into several sections. The swordsmanship area has just been renovated, and the other sections were still under construction. Obviously, Shayeen was really doing her best. Lin Sheng soon saw Russell and Shayeen chatting in the financial office. Russell was dressed in a ck coaching suit that perfectly entuates his muscr physique. He had a good foundation. After training with Lin Sheng for so long, his actualbat ability was at least several times better than at the beginning. ¡°You¡¯re here, coach! We have challengers today!¡± said Russell. ¡°Who do they want to challenge? You or me?¡± Lin Sheng asked, grabbing a handful of melon seeds from the nut tray on the table ¡°Me!¡± Russellughed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t embarrass Ironfist Club! A lot of people havee here to challenge us in the past few days. Most of them were not experts so I rejected them.¡± ¡°Let me know if someonees here looking for trouble.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Got it.¡± Russell nodded. ¡°By the way, I have a friend who is also interested in our training ss, wannae and see...¡± ¡°If your friend is strong enough, then let him join.¡± Lin Sheng said casually. He did not care if the club made money. He cared about other things. ¡°All right, I¡¯ll call him back. My friend is good at jujitsu, which can make up for the gap in our field,¡± Russell said quickly. ¡°If you have the time, pleasee to the club as often as possible. I have a potential business for this club, which is simr to helping investmentpanies recover loans. If you like,¡± Shayeen said calmly, ¡°No.¡± Lin sheng shook his head. ¡°The reputation of investmentpanies is not good, which is not in line with our original intention of starting a club.¡± ¡°Never mind that. There¡¯s another one. Acting as a temporary patrol in the west port area, simr to the work of the special police. There are some vacancies because the department has been very understaffed recently,¡± Shayeen continued. ¡°This one is good. It helps to enhance the positive image of our club.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Then I¡¯ll do it!¡± Russell threw his fist and said. ¡°I always wanted to be admitted to the police school, but my family wouldn¡¯t let me in.¡± ¡°You? Police school?¡± Shayeen sneered. ¡°Eh? Looking down on me? I was...¡± *Bang!!* All of a sudden, there was a loud banging from the entrance, interrupting Russell. Lin Sheng and Russell got up at once, quickly left the financial office and went to the main hall. The burr-proof door, which had just been installed, had fallen to the ground. A clear white footprint remained on the door. Rubble and cement powder scattered on the ground. The twodies at the front desk were so frightened that they turned pale and could not speak. The two students who happened to be in the main hall were holding the wooden swords in their hands, trembling all over. Their eyes were fixed on a figureing in at the entrance. It was a teenager. A red-haired boy not older than eighteen. If it was just a normal guy, maybe the onlookers wouldn¡¯t be so scared. The key was the red-haired boy¡¯s eyes. Lin Sheng looked at the figure and was immediately attracted by the boy¡¯s abnormal eyes. The boy¡¯s ck pupils are much smaller than normal. From a distance, it looked like there are no pupils. It looked really scary. ¡°Who¡¯s the boss here? Come out now!¡± With a strong Dinan ent, the boy walked into the hall with an arrogant look. Dinan was a slightly remote ind city in Anduin province. The local ent there was famous for its strong retroflex sounds. Russell was furious and ready to rush out, but Lin sheng stopped him. ¡°I¡¯ll handle it,¡± he said calmly. Russell stopped, gnashing his teeth. Closebat was not his strength. Lin Sheng took a step forward. ¡°Who are you and what are you here for?¡± The red-haired boy¡¯s eyes quickly fell on Lin Sheng. ¡°You¡¯re the strongest here?¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. ¡°Not the strongest.¡± The red-haired boy sneered and walked to the middle of the main hall. ¡°This ce is too noisy!¡± He held up three fingers and said fiercely, ¡°Three moves! If you can stop me, I¡¯ll pay for the door outside, and I¡¯ll give you $50000! If you can¡¯t stop me...¡± He snorted and sneered. ¡°You give me $50000!!¡± Lin Sheng stared at the boy¡¯s fingers and then turned to look at Shayeen. Shayeen nodded. ¡°Be careful. This guy can kick down the burr-proof door. He must be very strong!¡± Lin Sheng nodded. Shayeen was in charge of finance. She nodded, which meant he did not have to worry about money. He stood opposite the red-haired boy. ¡°Go ahead.¡± The red-haired boy sneered and stared at Lin Sheng for a while. Suddenly he stepped forward, grasping Lin Sheng¡¯s shoulder with his right fist like an eagle w. *Swoosh!* His w was extremely fast. Lin Sheng took a step back to avoid his w. A sh of surprise shed through the red-haired boy¡¯s eyes. It was the first time he had met a peer who could avoid his hand so swiftly. He has been practicing hard since he was a child. Besides, his physique was different from ordinary people. It was rare that anyone could avoid his grasp. ¡°Watch my Talonbreak!¡± The red-haired boy dashed to Lin Sheng. His hands wed at Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. This move was called Soul w. It seems to be just an ordinary grasp, but in fact, there is hidden strength in the ws. Once caught, the mixed strength in it can break the bone of the opponent instantly. Chapter 54 - The Progress: Part 3

Chapter 54: The Progress: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng was quite shocked. The boy¡¯s attack was very disciplined, forceful and speedy. If he was not careful enough, he could have been beaten. Lin Sheng felt a slight pressure before his hand could get close, but he remained calm and turned his body again. *Swoosh!* The red-haired boy¡¯s hand swooshed through the air, quite frightening. The second move! The red-haired boy felt a little anxious. It was a situation he had never encountered. It used to take two moves to beat the opponent, but this guy is so quick. Two times in a row, Lin Sheng was able to react to his attack and avoid it ahead of time. ¡°The third move! I was showing you some mercy just now. Since you can¡¯t see the difference between us, then don¡¯t me my merciless!¡± The red-haired boy was ferocious and his muscles began to quiver. Lin Sheng smirked. ¡°Mercy?¡± He lunged at the red-haired boy. His right hand went straight to the boy¡¯s stomach like a sword. *Bam!!!* The red-haired boy blocked it. *Bam!!!* Lin Sheng hit the boy, causing him to stagger and wobble. *Bam!!!* Lin Sheng appeared behind the boy, his palm swooshed and stopped at the back of the boy¡¯s neck like a sword. ¡°Huh!!!??¡± The red-haired boy stood still, his mind nk. He could feel the sharp, menacing difort of being pointed at the back of his neck. No doubt that if Lin Sheng had not stopped, his fragile neck would have been immediately dislocated. Lin Sheng slowly pulled back his hand. His forearm was beginning to swell with pain. The boy obviously did some hard work or something. He felt that if he hadn¡¯t pulled his hand back, the boy¡¯s neck might be fine, but his hand would surely break. He had only been practicing the sword and learning to fight for a month. In the club, even Russell, who was not good at fighting, had been practicing for at least a few years. The red-haired boy may have been practicing for more than a few years. His postures were obviously set and structured, and apparently he had a lot ofbat experience. Lin Sheng might not have been able to defeat the boy if he hadn¡¯t absorbed a lot ofbat experience of the soldiers of ckfeather City. ¡°I lost...¡± The red-haired boy lowered his head, looking gloomy. ¡°But it¡¯s because I was careless!¡± He looked up again and took a gold card from his pocket. ¡°I¡¯ll pay for the door! And I¡¯ll transfer $100,000 to you! Let¡¯s fight again!¡± He looked ferocious. Obviously he could not ept the fact that he had lost. One hundred thousand dors!? Lin Sheng was stunned by this number. Shayeen and Russell, who were standing behind him, were also stunned for a moment. Just as they were about to speak, Lin Sheng stepped forward and replied, ¡°Okay.¡± Who said no to money? Ten minutester... The red-haired boy walked slowly out of the club with his head down. He was just trying to get some pocket money... Unexpectedly, he did not earn the pocket money as nned, instead, he lost a lot. Basically, he did not expect to encounter such a master in such a small ce! He always prides himself on being one of the best among his peers, and there were only a few who couldpete with him. However, he was beaten twice in this ce! After the red-haired boy left, Lin Sheng, who just made some money, was in a good mood and took a taxi to the Sleigh Bar. To his surprise, the Sleigh Bar did not open. Not only was the bar closed, but even the entire bar seemed to have been abandoned for a long time. Losing the only channel, Lin Sheng had no choice but to go home. The next day he came back to the club after school, and the red-haired boy was there again. ¡°I was in poor condition yesterday! Let¡¯s fight again today! The loser must pay $100,000!!¡± The result was obvious. After losing twice in a row, the red-haired boy left the club in frustration. Then day three, day four... No matter how hard the redhead tried and how he changed his moves, Lin Sheng could easily win with his extremely strong instinctive reaction to threats. He tried to use brute force, but the brute force was also easily avoided by Lin Sheng. His moves were very destructive, but his reaction was too slow. But after a couple of days, the boy has improved a lot. He also found the root cause of his failure and began to improve his shorings rapidly. No longer sticking to old moves and always ready to change instead of relying too much on brute force. Russell also challenged the redhead, but just after a few moves, he was pped to the ground by the redhead. Under shame and anger, Russell began to train hard and practice all day to challenge the redhead. Soon everyone got to know each other better. Lin Sheng then learned that the red-haired boy, named Sarroux, was a native minority of Xilin. His father was temporarily transferred to work in Huaisha, so he came to live with him. He liked fighting, disliked studying, and yed truant a lot, so he did not get along with his family. Sarroux could get along well with Russell, the biggest reason was that he was very forthright! This guy was very generous and not stingy at all. He did not mind spending all his money just to challenge Lin Sheng. At first, Sarroux was only interested in challenging Lin Sheng. Russell then invited him into a gun range and show him the power of using both guns and martial arts in fights. The twoter had a try. Though Russell lost, he did surprise Sarroux with his skills. As time went by, Lin Sheng invited Sarroux to join the club, and Sarroux agreed without hesitation. He would not leave until he had defeated Lin Sheng. Shayeen and Russell also brought in several new members of the same age. Everyone was interested in martial arts. Slowly, more and more people joined Ironfist Club. And Lin Sheng also found the fresh deer blood he had been looking for. ... Outside Huaisha, in an old farmhouse. Lin Sheng frowned at the brown-yellow doe moving around in the pigpen. The deer looked sick and listless, not sure how long it would live. The boss of the farmhouse, Chen, stood beside him with a greasy smile on his face. ¡°Bro, the deer was caught on the mountain only a few days ago. If I put it on the market, I can sell it in minutes. But since you¡¯re here today, I can sell you the deer at a discount. No one else can give you that price. Don¡¯t even think about it!¡± Chen held out a finger and swore. Lin Sheng did not understand the market. But that¡¯s ok. Just cut the price! ¡°Five thousand, one price. And keep the deer here for the time being.¡± ¡°Five thousand? Bro, no way. This price at least.¡± Chen made a gesture of eight. Lin Sheng shook his head. After a period of bargaining, they finally settled on a price, six thousand. Boss Chen continued to keep the deer for a while with the foster care fee of $50 a day. Chapter 55 - The Gain: Part 1

Chapter 55: The Gain: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng had obtained a unit of deer blood, bringing it out of the farmhouse and going straight to the hospital without any dy. Blue Cherry Blossom Private Children¡¯s Hospital was thergest private hospital in Huaisha. Lin Sheng got in a taxi and began to figure out where to hold the ritual. ¡°Certainly not in the city. If I get caught, I won¡¯t be able to exin it. People would think I was doing some kind of cult ritual.¡± Lin Sheng leaned back against the car seat, closed his eyes and thought. ¡°This time I¡¯ll just do it in the suburbs. Next time I can rent a house in the suburbs as a temporary base.¡± He remembered one ce that suited him well. It was the ce where he had used to wander when he was a boy. Next, Lin Sheng calcted the cash in his hand. He had not earned much money since he became the club¡¯s coach. Instead, he made more than $300,000 from the bet with Sarroux. It could be more, but Lin Sheng did not charge him the challenge fee after he joined the club. Poor Sarroux was grateful for it. ¡°Sarroux is very strong. If I didn¡¯t have the defensive effect of Ashen Seal, I¡¯d be no match for him. He¡¯s almost pushed himself to the peak of his age.¡± Lin Sheng thought to himself. More than a month ago, Lin Sheng was just an ordinary high school student. Now, he was essentially a tough swordsman who was used to fighting and hardening himself. Level 2 warrior. This may seem just an ordinary level, but the power was far greater than most people can imagine. ¡°The warriors of the temple definitely have abat system, they even have a test tower, so I¡¯m sure I can find otherbat materials. Guess I¡¯ll have to look for arger templeter.¡± Lin sheng thought, did not notice that he had arrived at the hospital. ¡°Is it here?¡± The taxi driver shouted. Lin Sheng looked out the window to his right. He saw a building of milky white columns covered with vines. The whole building looks like an ancient temple style, supported by stone columns. Above the gate hangs a gray, cloud-like board: Blue Cherry Blossom Private Children¡¯s Hospital. ¡°Can¡¯t imagine the huge profits they make.¡± Lin Sheng got out of the taxi and looked up at the hospital gate. How much did the decoration cost? This hospital was famous for its high price and good service in Huaisha. It was said that one visit here would cost at least one thousand. It had the best pediatric specialist, the best medical equipment, and the best medicine. Lin Sheng stood at the gate, waiting silently. In front of the hospital gate, expensive luxury cars kept going in and out. Some of thedies, dressed in expensive clothes, got out of the car with their children and walked into the hospital slowly. They did not look like bringing their children to see a doctor at all. They looked more likeing to a beauty salon. Lin Sheng was still standing in front of the gate, feeling ufortable. He noticed that not only did the security guards kept their eyes on him, but also most of the people who came and went were scanning him with a kind of inexplicable look on their faces. It¡¯s not a look of contempt. It¡¯s more like they saw a staff member of a hospital and wanted to ask for directions and found that he didn¡¯t look like a staff member here. The inexplicable embarrassment left Lin Sheng speechless. But he had an appointment to meet someone right here, could not just walk away. Twenty minutes had passed. It was gettingte, and the lights were on all around the hospital. Finally, a middle-aged man in a gray suit, carrying a ck stic bag, came in a hurry. ¡°Mr. Lin?¡± ¡°Err... Yes.¡± ¡°This is what you want. Just give the money to that person.¡± He shoved Lin Sheng the ck stic bag, then turned around and left. Lin Sheng blinked and then immediately turned and left. The handover took less than five seconds. Almost no one around noticed what happened here. Carrying the ck stic bag, Lin Sheng quickly went home, took the schoolbag hidden under the bed, and quickly went out. Then he took a taxi to an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Huaisha. The factory was overgrown with weeds, and there was a pile of abandoned wooden boxes in one corner. Lin Sheng walked around the factory for a while and soon came to a storeroom in the factory. There was no light around, and he could smell a faint smell of urine. Lin Sheng covered his nose and pushed open the storeroom door. It was empty, almost the size of a school ssroom. There was a bonfire left on the dirty, greasy ground. In the corner was a simple wooden bench covered with gray and green mildew. Lin Sheng nced around the storeroom and quickly walked to a clean corner of the warehouse. Then he took out a piece of the folded stic sheet from his schoolbag. ¡°Luckily, I expected this.¡± He unfolded the dark red stic sheet and spread it on the floor. The stic sheet was more than one meter wide and two meters long. Lin Sheng then took out all the other materials in his schoolbag. Silver powder, deer blood, and human blood are respectively ced in small bowls and pressed on the stic sheet. Soon, the storeroom filled with a faint smell of blood. Lin Sheng was quick and skillful. He took out another pen, dipped it in some melted frozen human blood, and drew lines on the stic. He had practiced many times for this moment. About five minutester, a blood ritual circle appeared on the stic sheet. There were a lot of intersecting lines in the circle, and the intersections of some lines were marked with twisted mysterious symbols. None of these symbols were Ancient Rehn, and most were unknown characters that Lin Sheng could not understand at all. He purposely left four nk spaces in the dense lines of the circle. Lin Sheng mixed human blood, deer blood, and silver powder in a certain proportion, turning them into some kind of blood color slurry, and then poured the slurry into the nk of the circle. Three disgusting dark red slurries fell on the dark red stic sheet and seemed to blend into the color of the stic sheet. That¡¯s what Lin Sheng wanted. If the color contrast was too big, it was easy to notice it from a distance, which was too risky. ¡°Last one, the redwood.¡± Lin Sheng took out a square gray block from his schoolbag. This was the raw wood cube that he bought directly from a wood processing factory. It cost him more than $700 for just a small piece. The price of redwood in Xilin was much higher than that of other woods because a lot of people made wood carvings out of it. Having done all this, Lin Sheng stood in front of the circle. It was gettingte. No candles, no blood sshing onto the floor like what happened in a movie. He just stood in front of the circle and began to chant slowly and deeply. Chapter 56 - The Gain: Part 2

Chapter 56: The Gain: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The faint moonlight came through the only window in the storeroom. Lin Sheng stood alone in the dark, chanting in a strange rhythm smoothly and naturally as if he was singing a special musical piece in an unknownnguage. The Initiator needs to be repeated over and over again, and in the standard ritual, it needs to be repeated nine times. When Lin Sheng finished chanting, he didn¡¯t find anything unusual, so he started to do it the second time, then the third time, and the fourth time... He had practiced alone before, but nothing unusual happened. But now, as he stood in front of the circle, watching the three dark red masses gradually solidifying, he felt a vague and sleepy feeling welled up in his heart. His consciousness seemed a little confused. His brain drifted into a state of half asleep and half awake, and his eyes, as the ritual required, remained fixed in the nk spaces in the middle of the circle. The nk spaces were now slowly twisting and turning. Soon, in the center of the stic sheet, a basin sized whirlpool was formed. He suspected he was hallucinating, but the ceremony was halfway through and could not be stopped. Lin Sheng was still chanting the strange and mysterious Initiator. In the inexplicable melody, the whirlpool in the middle of the circle gradually stabilized. He managed to lift the bowl in his hand and pour the mixture of the three materials into the whirlpool in the middle of the circle. The great mass of thick liquid seemed to fall to the water with a ssh and disappeared in the middle of the circle. *Shhh...* Suddenly a faint sound came out of the whirlpool. Lin Sheng stared at the whirlpool as a blurred human face slowly emerging from the surface of the whirlpool. The face was like being covered by cloth, getting more and more clear and protruding. It seemed to want to break free from the whirlpool, open its mouth and shout. At this moment, Lin Sheng struggled with all his strength and grabbed the redwood block and threw it into the whirlpool. The block hit the face. *Boom!!!* In an instant, Lin Sheng was stunned by the sudden roar. Unable to support his limp body, he dropped to his knees, hands touching the greasy floor. Vaguely, he seemed to feel a myriad of noises echoing in his ear. The voices, like hallucinations, interwove and mingled until they be whispers. The soft, seductive whisper kept whispering in Lin Sheng¡¯s ear as if telling him some evil knowledge. After a while... In the moonlight, Lin Sheng shook his head vigorously. He felt cold all over, and his face was wet. He wiped it away and looked at it in the moonlight. ¡°Blood... ?!¡± Lin Sheng was startled. He got up slowly and quickly examined his face. There were blood clots in his ears, nostrils, mouth, and eyes. Lin Sheng quickly peeled off the blood clots and rubbed off the residual blood. ¡°So... I did it?¡± He recalled the process, and it was so nightmarish that he could not recall what had been whispered in his ear. All he knew was that he was cold. And there seemed to be some subtle change going on in his body. There seemed to be a chill in the space between his chest and stomach. It was like an ice cube, releasing a constant stream of chillness into the depths of the internal organs. Strangely, the chill did not pierce to the bone. It was not too hard to endure. In a moment, the chill was gone. It felt like it all went into his body. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Lin Sheng stretched out his hand and looked at it. His body seemed to be the same as before. Just a little lighter. His muscles trembled as he tried to clench his fists. ¡°The Sacred Blood... Burning...¡± Suddenly, some words came out of his mouth unexpectedly. Deep in the skin, it felt like something was slowly burning. An inexplicable huge force seemed to be born out of nothing, spreading rapidly from Lin sheng¡¯s heart. Power, an endless stream of power, gushed into Lin Sheng¡¯s body. In the moonlight, spots of blood began to appear all over his skin. Lin Sheng covered his heart. Suddenly he tore open his cor. In the middle of his bare chest, a mass of dark purple veins clearly protruded from the skin like a spider¡¯s web crawling across his chest. ¡°This!?¡± Lin Sheng gnashes his teeth and reached out to touch the dark purple veins. It was like a second heart growing on the surface of his skin. The icy cold veins were still pulsing. ¡°Damn it! What have I done?¡± Lin Sheng loosened his cor and punched the wall. *Bam!!!* The entire storeroom was shaking as if it had been smashed by some heavy object. He looked at the wall in the moonlight. A fist-sized hole was visible on the wall. ¡°My strength has grown so much! ?¡± Lin Sheng raised his hands in disbelief and examined them carefully. He knew from the fragments of Annie¡¯s memory that the ritual was extremely evil. The stronger the spiritual will of the host, the stronger the power he would gain. And the ritual, for some reason, could only be used once. But he did not expect that the ritual was sessful, and he also acquired such strong power! Lin Sheng just wanted to try it to see if the knowledge gained in the dream work in the real world. But now... ¡°It works!¡± He looked at the stic sheet on the floor. The moonlight on his face reflected his ferocious face, especially the protruding dark purple muscle between his eyebrows. There was a big round hole in the middle of the stic sheet on the ground. The blood mixture had disappeared, and the only remaining one was the cdon round bowl. ¡°The redwood is gone?¡± Lin Sheng squatted down and rolled up the stic sheet. He could feel that his strength and explosive power were far beyond his normal state. And not just power. His mind was calmer and clearer than usual. It felt like he would not be affected by any emotion in this state. With this form in ce, Lin Sheng wanted to see how long the ability willst. He did not believe that this power couldst forever. ording to the person who taught Annie the ritual, in the sessful ritual, the spiritual will of the host would attract some unknown evil spirit. The evil spirit would then exchange and transmit a special ability to the host ording to the materials and sacrifices prepared by the host and part of the mental power of the host. As for what abilities one would acquire, it¡¯s random. After all, Different people summoned different evil spirits. And the ability that evil spirits were willing to transmit was not the same. Chapter 57 - The Gain: Part 3

Chapter 57: The Gain: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Standing in the storeroom, after nearly a hundred heartbeats, Lin Sheng suddenly felt all his strength rapidly withdrawing into his heart like a balloon contracting. The dark purple veins between his eyebrows and in his chest faded and smoothed out, hiding under his skin. His clothes and trousers were also slightly looser now. ¡°It also seems to expand muscles...¡± Lin Sheng guessed. Then, suddenly, a strong feeling of weakness came over him, spreading like an electric shock. Lin Sheng almost fainted. ¡°I knew it... The principle of conservation of energy. This kind of explosive power must havee from me!¡± Lin Sheng held on to the wall with one hand, feeling everything was spinning around. He felt lucky that the evil spirit he had summoned was not picky about what it ate and did not care if the blood clotted a bit, or he would not have seeded this time. About this power, he had a vague feeling that this explosive power might be produced by burning the blood in his body. Where else would that powere from? The evil spirit would never be so kind and provide charging services for those who used the power for free. Lin Sheng rested against the wall for a while. ¡°What an experience...¡± He recalled the ritual. That dark red face that struggling to free itself had shattered his materialistic worldview of more than 40 years in an instant. ¡°No, maybe what I saw was just an illusion.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s possible to see anything weird in a state of hallucination.¡± He carefully picked up the stic sheet, wrapped the bowl, carried his schoolbag, and clean up the remaining traces. Finally, he staggered out of the abandoned factory. Now he tasted the pain and trouble brought by the ritual, especially after testing the new power he gained. Lin Sheng was totally weak from head to foot up to now. Home. Wang Yue was watching TV with Lin Sheng¡¯s mother while father was doing something in the study. Lin Sheng opened the door and came in. His pale, bloodless face startled them. ¡°Why do you look so pale?¡± Gu Wanqiu quickly stood up and helped Lin Sheng to sit on the sofa slowly. Wang Yue poured a ss of water and put it on the tea table in front of Lin Sheng with a worried face. Lin Sheng thanked her and picked up the ss of water, sipping. Then, Lin Zhounian heard the noise and came out of the study. He was also startled as he saw his son¡¯s pale face. ¡°You look so pale! Is there something wrong? You need to go to the hospital!¡± He said, putting his hand on Lin Sheng¡¯s forehead. ¡°No fever. Just sweating.¡± Lin Zhounian guessed. ¡°Mom, Dad, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m ok, maybe just tired... I didn¡¯t sleep well these few days, and I was busy studying during the day. I didn¡¯t have a good rest, so it¡¯s normal that I don¡¯t look well.¡± Lin Sheng found an all-purpose excuse ¡ª he didn¡¯t sleep well. But Lin Zhounian insisted on taking him to the hospital. Lin Sheng could not refuse, so his father rushed him to the nearest hospital for emergency treatment. After one round of examination, which cost more than $800, nothing was found except anemia and insufficient rest. Lin Zhounian did not mind the extra expense. He breathed a sigh of relief and returned home with Lin Sheng. Gu Wanqiu quickly went to the kitchen to make brown sugar eggs. Lin Sheng ate two bowls at a stretch. Then he soaked his feet in hot water and went back to his room to rest. He felt lucky that he had disposed of the stic sheet and bowls before he went home. Otherwise, his family would find out. He¡¯s going to get rid of all his clothes tomorrow. Who knew if the evil spirit he had summoned would leave anything on his clothes. He would be in trouble if the evil spirit followed him home. He had not thought of that before. Thinking of this, Lin Sheng immediately took a bath and changed his clothes. Then he found a stic bag to pack his clothes, tied the stic bag tightly, put it in his bedroom, and then going to burn them tomorrow. After that, he dried his hair andy down on the bed. In fact, he agreed to go to the hospital for a check-up. After all, he did not know whether performing this ritual in real life would bring any hidden danger to the body. He knew from memory that the ritual could enhance power, and then he used it without thinking about the consequences. The good news, for now, was that reality did not seem to differ much from the records in the memory. Lying on the bed, Lin Sheng was exhausted and extremely tired. He fell into a deep sleep as soon as hey down. To his surprise, he did not enter his dream. Why could he not enter the dream realm? Lin Sheng found it strange. *Beep! Beep! Beep!* A rhythmic rm bell roused him from his slumber. Turning off the rm, Lin Sheng propped himself up from the bed and looked out the bedroom window. There was nothing outside the window. It seemed to be dawn at the moment, and it was dim outside. *Bam!!!* All of a sudden, a pale face with an eerie smile hit the window. A man with messy hair, dressed in white, was pressing his face against the bedroom window, rolling his bloodshot eyes and looking at Lin Sheng with a smile. *Click! Click! Click!* Before Lin Sheng could react, the man lowered his head and started to frantically pick the iron lock hanging on the window, trying to get in. Lin Sheng was about to get up, but all of a sudden... *Bam!!!* There was also a loud bang from the door. *Click! Click! Click!* It seemed as if someone was trying to force open the door with something in a mad way, and the door could be opened at any moment. ¡°Damn it!¡± Lin Sheng quickly turned over and got out of bed, but he was too weak to even stand up. He tried to walk to the wall to take the sword case However, as soon as he took a step, he felt like everything was spinning around and he was not able to bnce. Lying in bed, he saw that the window and the door were opened. And the next second, two white figures lunged at him. A great sense of crisis welled up in his mind. But before he knew it, a light shed before his eyes. A dark red, swirling light. Even when he closed his eyes, he felt the light right before his eyes. The sense of crisis quickly subsided. After a while, Lin Sheng slowly opened his eyes again. He was still lying on his bed, covered with a thin nket. The windows and the door were shut, while the sky was bright and sunny. A sense of security that Lin Sheng had never felt before suddenly gushed from the bottom of his heart. Chapter 58 - The Strength: Part 1

Chapter 58: The Strength: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng took a deep breath. The cold morning air rushed down his throat and into his lungs, refreshing him all of a sudden. ¡°Did I... have a dream just now?¡± He clearly remembered that he had just seen two white shadows. He could still recall the deep fear he felt when he saw the white shadows. ¡°Why can¡¯t I enter the dream realm?¡± Lin Sheng sat up in bed, his brows furrowed. ¡°Is it because of the ritual?¡± He got out of bed and touched his neck, which smelled of sweat. He walked out of the bedroom and saw Wang Yue on the phone in the living room. She looked pale and seemed to be saying something. Lin Sheng went to the washroom, washed his face, and brushed his teeth. Then he changed into his school uniform and carried his schoolbag. When he entered the living room, Wang Yue had finished her phone call and was now sitting on the sofa, looking depressed. She gave Lin Sheng a forced smile when she saw him enter the living room. ¡°Breakfast is ready. It¡¯s on the kitchen counter.¡± She had been staying there for several days. To thank them, she washed the dishes, cooked, and did theundry every day. As a result, Lin Sheng had also slightly changed his view of her. ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯m runningte. I¡¯m going to school now,¡± he said, looking at Wang Yue. He found that she looked haggard. ¡°If something happens, it¡¯s better tomunicate with your family and find a way to solve it together.¡± ¡°I know... It¡¯s all because of my family...¡± Wang Yue lowered her head. Her tears were dripping on her skirt. Lin Sheng guessed that something was wrong with her family, but it was no use saying anything at that time. He had learned a little about Wang Yue¡¯s situation in the days that he spent with her. Her parents liked gambling. They spent most of their time in the casino, and their money would be thrown into the bottomless pit of gambling. Therefore, since junior high school, Wang Yue had started to work and earned money to go to school. It was hard for her, and her life remained that way to this day. Due to an urgent need for money, she asked for help everywhere, but could not find anyone who was willing to lend it to her. So, she turned to a money-lendingpany for help. In the beginning, she signed a contract with a monthly interest rate of 2% with thepany. Although it was high, it was not out of line. Butter, when she wanted to pay back the money, she found that the contract was totally different from the previous one. The monthly interest rates had multiplied dramatically. She begged them and used up all of her savings, but it was still far from enough. The money-lendingpany even found her school, forcing her to skip sses. ¡°It¡¯ll be all right.¡± Lin Shengforted her. There was nothing else he could do for her. Then, Lin Sheng left the house. As he walked to the bus stop, he saw two men, who were smoking, standing near a flower bed. One of them was fat and the other one was thin. Both of them were wearing gray leather jackets. Their eyes were sweeping around, and they definitely did not look like good guys at first nce. Lin Sheng frowned. He did not like to cause trouble, at least not if he was not strong enough to protect his family. However, that did not mean he was alright with a potential threat hanging around his doorstep. He was worried that they wereing for Wang Yue to their debt. One did not want to mess with people like them. After thinking for a while, Lin Sheng walked straight toward them. The two men saw Lin Sheng approaching from afar. One of them sensed that Lin Sheng was actuallying to them, so he dropped his cigarette and straightened up. Lin Sheng stopped two meters away from the two men. He tightened his bag around his shoulder and frowned. ¡°What are you two doing here?¡± The two men were a little surprised. They looked at Lin Sheng but did not answer him. ¡°If Ie back from school and find both of you still here, don¡¯t me me for being rude!¡± The two men looked at Ling Sheng¡¯s school uniform and school bag, and they almost burst intoughter. ¡°Yo! A boy!¡± The fat manughed and stomped on the cigarette butt on the ground. ¡°Hit him!¡± The thin man reached for Lin Sheng¡¯s hair. Lin Sheng tilted his head and avoided the man¡¯s hand. Then he dashed forward and punched the thin man hard on the chin. ¡°Arghh!!!¡± The thin man screamed, covered his mouth, and stepped back. He squatted down, and his mouth began to bleed. Apparently, he had bitten his tongue. The fat man was stunned for a moment, and he rushed over with a roar. But then, he tripped and fell to the ground. Before he got up, he was kicked in the stomach, and he screamed as he rolled on the ground. Lin Sheng looked calmly at the two men who were lying on the ground. He had experienced a lot of fighting and died so many times in the dream realm. Not only that, he had absorbed a lot of iplete memory fragments. He was no longer just a researcher of ancientnguages. On the surface, he was an ordinary senior high school student, but in reality, he was a senior high school student with strong swordsmanship skills and rich practical experience. Lin Sheng kicked them again and warned, ¡°Don¡¯t let me see you two again, or...¡± Lin Sheng pondered, but could not think of any more threatening words. By then, a few people had been drawn to the incident. He went up to them and pummelled them again. They were covered in bruises, their noses were bleeding, and their teeth were broken, falling to the ground. With the absorption of so many practical experiences and skills in addition to the effect of the Ashen Seal, it was a piece of cake to deal with those two men. After a hard beating, Lin Sheng was finally feeling good. ¡°Stop!!¡± The fat man cried out, ¡°We just came here to collect the property management fee! What the hell is going on?!¡± Lin Sheng paused for a moment. Collect the property management fee? It seemed that the fat man was not lying... ¡°I made a mistake?¡± He looked around, feeling a little guilty. Then he turned around and ran. On the bus, Lin Sheng continued to think about the two men from earlier. It looked like he was really in the wrong. ¡°It was my preconception.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. ¡°But they did look like bad guys,¡± he defended himself. And it made him feel better. Chapter 59 - The Strength: Part 2

Chapter 59: The Strength: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The school bus arrived at school, and Lin Sheng got off along with the other students. At the cafeteria outside his school, he bought two meat buns and a pack of soy milk, and he ate them as he walked into school. He entered through the school gate, walked across the yground, and entered the teaching building. While he made his way up the stairs, Lin Sheng saw several famous students from ss Foure down. They all wore sses, looking nerdy. Lin Sheng nced at them and found that two of them hadpletely different eyes whenpared with the other high school students around them. Those were the eyes of individuals who were more self-disciplined, more matured, and sober, unlike the students around them who muddled along without any aim. Such students knew what their goals were and kept moving toward them. ¡°You can tell that they¡¯ll have a bright future...¡± Lin Sheng thought to himself. He soon reached his ssroom. The ssroom was much quieter than usual, not as lively as before. Most of the students were sitting in their seats and reading. Only a few students, who had given up on the exam, were ying and joking around. He went to his ce, put his bag down, and took a seat. Shen Yan was sitting in front of him with a pen in hand and a foreignnguage book in front of her. From Lin Sheng¡¯s angle, he could see a ck earbud in her ear, and a little sound kepting out of the earbud. Seeing Lin Sheng, Shen Yan took off the earbud and asked him in a low voice whether he had finished the Math paper. Lin Shengughed and took out his Math paper for her to copy the answers. They then chatted for a while. Not long after, the bell rang and the teacher strode into the ssroom with a stack of thick test papers under his arm. ¡°This is the score for thest test. The final exam ising. Next semester, you¡¯ll face the national college entrance examination. That¡¯s the biggest turning point in every student¡¯s life,¡± the teacher said loudly, looking serious. ¡°So, ording to the schedule, we have to finish the rest of the course as soon as possible, then leave a semester for revision.¡± Lin Sheng listened on and felt sleepy again. He had used the powers he obtained from the ritual, and his body had yet to recover. He called that power the Sacred Blood, but he did not really know what it meant. It was simply named after the homophonic sound of the Initiator. But the power was too draining, and he was determined not to use it until he had to. The world was far less safe than he once thought it to be. The unsolved murders were still happening, and the atmosphere in Huaisha had recently been growing radical. Lin Sheng had a bad feeling. It was just like a calm before the storm. The teacher soon handed out the scores for their previous exam. To Lin Sheng¡¯s surprise, he still passed the exam although he was clearly in a trance-like state. Then, the ss began. Suddenly, several policemen in ck uniforms passed by the ssroom, escorting a gentle-looking middle-aged man. In the corridor, many students were whispering, and it seemed that many people knew who the middle-aged man was. ¡°Isn¡¯t that Mr. Sung? Mr. Sung Yushi, who teaches geography!¡± Shen Yan suddenly whispered. The other students were also whispering about it. ¡°Why is he being arrested by the police?¡± ¡°Mr. Sung taught me before. He¡¯s very gentle, isn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been secretly asking around. I heard that Mr. Sung openly taught the students to turn against Redwin in ss, and someone reported it...¡± ¡°He¡¯s being arrested just for that?¡± ¡°Who knows what else he did?¡± Soon enough, Lin Sheng learned part of the story through everyone¡¯s whispers. Lin Sheng noticed that when Shen Yan heard about Mr. Sung being arrested for his anti-Redwinian views, a slight panic shed across her face. Shortly after, the teacher silenced their discussion, closed the ssroom door, and went on with the lecture. The whole morning, all of the students in the ss discussed Mr. Sung. Lin Sheng also realized that Shen Yan seemed absent-minded and unhappy all day. When they walked out of school together, Lin Sheng tapped her on the shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t keep it all to yourself. If you tell me, maybe I can help you.¡± Shen Yan smiled reluctantly. ¡°It¡¯s alright. Perhaps I didn¡¯t sleep wellst night. I¡¯m a little tired now.¡± Lin Sheng could see that she was not telling the truth. He did not know what she was hiding, but since she did not want to talk about it, so be it. As usual, after school, Lin Sheng would go home first, change his clothes, and proceed to the club. However, when he got home, there was no one around. His parents were still working, so it was normal for them to not be at home. But, where was Wang Yue? Something seemed off to Lin Sheng. He quickly changed his clothes, carried his sword case, and went out. He searched around and asked the owner of the department store nearby. Yet, there was no information on Wang Yue. Wang Yue had seemingly disappeared. She left no note, and all her clothes were still in the room. Lin Sheng hurried to the club by taxi. His strength alone was not enough to find Wang Yue in the huge Huaisha. At such a time, he needed the help of his friends. The rtionship between Russell, Shayeen, and Lin Sheng was no longer that of instructor and students. They were more like friends of the same age. ... Ironfist Club. ¡°You¡¯re searching for someone? Do you know the name of the money-lendingpany?¡± Shayeen asked. ¡°Du Feng Finance,¡± Lin Sheng replied quickly. He had heard Wang Yue mention it before. Shayeen wrote down the name of the money-lendingpany. Her family was well connected in Huaisha because of business contacts, so she could help. ¡°I¡¯ll call and ask. There are only a dozen money-lendingpanies in Huaisha, and I¡¯m familiar with all of them.¡± ¡°Thank you very much, Shayeen.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± Shayeen smiled. ¡°Actually, you can go to Madin. His family deals a lot with finance,¡± Russell said while he rubbed his swollen arm with ointment. He had gotten through another rough session with Sarroux in the morning, which ended in aplete defeat and left him with a swollen arm. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I want to solve it myself. I just haven¡¯t been able to find thepany.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Except for the White Tarots, the rest of the smallpanies aren¡¯t a big deal for her,¡± Russell said in a low voice while Shayeen was on the phone. Lin Sheng raised an eyebrow and said nothing. Chapter 60 - The Strength: Part 3

Chapter 60: The Strength: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Soon, Shayeen got the address of Du Feng Finance and the phone number of the person in charge. ¡°The person in charge is called Du Haidong. He used to be a car mechanic. He has millions of assets and no partner, so he has an exclusive stake,¡± Shayeen exined. ¡°Thepany¡¯s address is No. 134, Elm Wood Street in ckwater District, next to the old furniture market.¡± ¡°Did you ask him to release the girl?¡± Russell asked, picking his nose. ¡°I did, but he said the girl owes them $100,000, and they won¡¯t let her go until they get the money.¡± ¡°One hundred thousand dors? Why doesn¡¯t he just rob someone?¡± Madin mmed the table. ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯ll go myself.¡± Lin Sheng frowned. ¡°Don¡¯t rush! They have firearms licenses. And more than one!¡± Shayeen hurriedly dissuaded him. ¡°Trust us, we¡¯ll take care of this.¡± ¡°I ask my uncle for help!¡± Madin reached for the phone, walked out the door and began to dial. A momentter he entered again. ¡°Is this Du Haidong very powerful? He doesn¡¯t even respect my uncle. He gave in, but he asked for $50,000.¡± Lin Sheng was about to speak but Russell hurriedly dissuade. ¡°You can¡¯t go. They have guns, and more than one. What can you do? Would you kill them all? This kind of people, unless you kill them all, they won¡¯t let you go easily.¡± ¡°Yes, don¡¯t go! Not worth it!¡± Shayeen agreed. Lin Sheng could only ept their advice. Indeed, Xilin was a society ruled byw. If they hold a grudge against him, he would be in trouble unless he actually killed them all. But once he killed a man, he would be a murderer and have to face the punishment of thew. Then he would have to hide, and he could never go home... As Shayeen said, it¡¯s not worth it. Besides, he couldn¡¯t beat the speed of a bullet. Shayeen, Russell, and Madin tried to use their contacts to negotiate with Du Haidong, but hepletely ignored them. If it had been their parents, the oue might have been different. ¡°This is one tough guy!¡± Russell was furious. ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯ll go myself,¡± Lin Sheng said. He must bring his cousin back. It¡¯s not safe for a pretty girl to be held there. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Two more people happened to enter the practice room. One was a tall young man with a bald head, a strong figure, and ruddy skin. The other young man was tall, handsome, and wearing lots of tinkling metal. Of the two people, baldheaded was called Chris, another teenager was called Chen Yuanyang. They just joined the club. ¡°Are you still applying ointment?¡± Chrisughed at Russell. ¡°Nonsense! I¡¯m busy!¡± Russell yelled, stamping his foot. ¡°What¡¯s up? You guys look distressed,¡± asked Chris. Russell quickly told them what had happened. ¡°I have some friends. Their family is also in this business. I¡¯ll ask them for help.¡± Chris touched his bald head and then went out to make a phone call. Chen Yuanyang blinked. Knowing that Lin Sheng ran into trouble, he immediately volunteered to help as well. Neither of them had a family background that was as powerful as Russel, Madin or Shayeen. They were here because they were interested inbat. When the members knew about Lin Sheng¡¯s difficulties, they all joined in to help. Half an hourter... ¡°Your cousin has gone home. And they gave her $5000 as an apology.¡± Shayeen put down the phone and told Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng was speechless. For the first time, he understood the power ofworking. There were more than ten members in the club now, and only eleven of them made the call today. And it was they who made a bunch of tough guys give in. Lin Sheng was well aware that, they did not have the family background that¡¯s as strong and powerful as Russell, Madin, and Shayeen. Each of them could only y a small role on their own, and Du Haidong would not care about the little trouble they caused. But when the little troubles added up... It forced these greedy bastards with guns to give in... Lin Sheng was there, and he heard clearly that the members were only using their own connections. Chris contacted a buddy who was a team leader in the Industrial and Commercial Bureau. Chen Yuanyang¡¯s best friend¡¯s sister was the head of the fire department. Another member had a girlfriend who worked in the tax department. These young people were not powerful individually, but they were not afraid because they had some sort of connection. At the end of the day, it¡¯s not just about helping, it¡¯s more aboutpeting with each other to see who had the best resource and ability. Lin Sheng was aware of this, too. When these subtle forces came together, they could actually force a tough lendingpany to give in. Lin Sheng was quite shocked, so did the three of them. Others were even almost moved to tears. Shayeen put down the phone and fell silent. They were just teenagers. The oldest in the whole club was only neen. They were at least three years away from actually entering society. They were, so to speak, just a group of kids. Ring... Ring... Suddenly Madn¡¯s cell phone rang. He quickly picked up the phone. After answering the phone, he fell silent for a while. ¡°It was my mother. She told us not to worry...¡± There was silence. ¡°Did they really let the girl go?¡± Russell whispered. Shayeen nodded. ¡°And gave her $5,000...¡± Russell was at a loss for words. ¡°So... we did it all by ourselves?¡± muttered Russell. Lin Sheng patted him on the shoulder. His eyes swept through everyone in the room. ¡°Now, who dares to say we are just kids?¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°As long as we unite, even adults can¡¯t underestimate our strength! Of course, I¡¯m not as influential as you, but it doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m the one who fights, and you¡¯re the one who makes the difference!¡± There was silence again. Everyone¡¯s eyes were getting brighter and brighter. ¡°I suddenly feel so awesome!!¡± Russell suddenly stepped forward and held out his hand. *p!* Madin followed, cing his palm on Russell¡¯s. Followed by Shayeen, Chris, Chen Yuanyang... And finally, Lin Sheng. Chapter 61 - Yearning: Part 1

Chapter 61: Yearning: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Aftering out from the club, Lin Sheng paced slowly on the night street. Through a phone call, he had confirmed that his cousin, Wang Yue had already returned to her ce, not his, but her own actual ce. It seemed like the matter was resolved once and for all. However, to him, the incident caused him a realization¡ªboth clear and blurry¡ªof the idiosyncrasies of human connection, influence, and the strength of a group in his heart. His clear footsteps echoed in the empty streets. Simrly, a series of thumping rang in his heart. ¡°The power of mere children with some background... when pooled together, could reach such heights...¡± Lin Sheng looked up and swept his gaze across the pedestrians before him. There were barely any pedestrians out and about as most of the shops had started to lower their shutters. Vehicles passed by, both fast and slow along the street. TAP! Lin Sheng suddenly stopped. ¡°Sadly... this power is just too fickle...¡± He had looked at his hand, the pair of hands that could easily murder everyone in the club, but could not resolve Wang Yue¡¯s problem. Lin Sheng could feel that a yearning for such power had started to well within him. ¡°This is the power of a collective, a power that is perfect and cannot be defeated. Face to face, nothing can overpower it, it is...¡± ¡°It is... really enticing...¡± Lin Sheng clutched his fingers and suppressed the feeling in his mind. ¡°Sadly, this power is just too fickle. You may pile up sand into a sandcastle, but it would still be blown apart by wind or by waves.¡± He continued walking back home as his mind went on overdrive. ¡°I¡¯m not irreceable in the club, and this power is not mine. Perhaps someone would help me out of kindness, but will there be a next time?¡± That clear and obvious fickleness of it had Lin Sheng thinking on how to solve this. By the time he got home, it was already half-past nine. Lin Zhounian was standing in the living room talking on the phone, while Gu Wanqiu held a newspaper in her hand, her face worried. There was not much reaction when Lin Sheng got home. All these while, Lin Sheng had beening home around this time due to his sword practice, and they had taken it for normal, thinking that he had gone for supplementary sses. ¡°Chenchen, Yueyue¡¯s matter was suddenly resolved and she had gone home now.¡± Lin Zhounian put down the phone and told Lin Sheng. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s settled? That¡¯s good.¡± Lin Sheng nodded as he pretended to just found out. ¡°No idea how that happened, I had asked Wang Yue, and even she was unsure. Perhaps some big boss had found their conscience under the sofa?¡± Lin Zhounian queried. ¡°It may be that. I had heard something like this before, a big boss had run into something and had totally changed his ways.¡± Gu Wanqiu had that ¡®that might be the case¡¯ look on her. Lin Sheng did not want to dwell on the matter, and he stood in the living room for a bit before he returned to his room. Turning around the deskmp, he pulled out his notebook from the drawer and ced it before him as he sat down. Flipping the book open, he then took up his pen and wrote one word on the paper: Stability... ¡°Let me see, in so many pieces of ancient literature that I have tranted, among the great kings there, did anyone managed to have a stable collective power?¡± He tried to scan through his memory, but sadly, any kings that he had recalled all encountered the same problem. The hearts of men were fickle and would change ording to opportunity and surroundings. Even the most loyal of ministers would betray a king with the passing of time. Then there was faith. The power of faith was immense, and its ability to coalesce power is stunning as well, but yet, like the kings and monarchs, they faced an issue of stability. ¡°Plus, if I choose the power of a collective means spreading my strength and training all over, and slows down my own progress. Lin Sheng closed the book. ¡°In the end, only your own strength is loyal to you, but an individual can never cover all bases, and needs the power of a collective to fill the gaps. Only then will he be safe on all angles, and will be undefeatable. ¡°Yet, the power of a collective is fickle, it may be lost, it may turn on you, or it may leave you for good; butpared to an individual, it is a much, much moreplete form with fewer weaknesses.¡± Lin Sheng got up as he went to brush up and change into his pajamas. Laying on the bed, he looked up at the light hanging from the ceiling. ¡°But a man¡¯s time and energy are limited... You can only choose either one or else you will waste both and end up with nothing.¡± Lin Sheng pondered more. Thanks to the vast amount of tranted literature that he had read, giving him a boatload of reference material; allowing him to refer to every situation, every part of history for him to refine his thought process. As time passes by, his eyes grew brighter. A perfect idea came to his mind. He seemed to have found a possibility... And based on that possibility, Lin Sheng¡¯s mind roiled like a violent sea as he mapped out actionable methods with the possibility at its core. He thought and thought, refined and refined as his brain ran into overdrive untilte night. And he did not even realize when he had fallen asleep. ... He slowly opened his eyes. He found himself standing before the Valent Sanctum¡¯s iron gate. It was dead silence all over. The dim, yellowish street light amplified the emptiness of the streets of ckfeather City. As he looked over, the long winding street was totally empty, as it snaked all the way to the edge of his vision. ¡°I¡¯m finally in here again...¡± Lin Sheng looked at himself. His ck sword was missing. The only thing he had was his white pajamas. ¡°Did my items all dropped thest time I died?¡± He looked up to the opposite side. The old noble manor, under the shroud of night, was both mysterious and quiet. He could see, through the iron gate, the stone que before the fountain still stood there. Lin Sheng took a deep breath. He had obtained the sacrificial ritual and the special ability called Sacred Blood from that ce. While that ability has some side effects, from the perspective of growth however, it was still a valuable item. ¡°I need to get to the bottom of that manor, I may find some other good stuff as well.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s spirit burned as he thought of the ritual. From Annie¡¯s memory fragments, he had obtained knowledge about the ritual¡¯s do¡¯s and don¡¯ts, knowledge of what he should keep an eye out for, and also the master of the manor, Kaarman Veste. Sir Kaarman was one of the top alchemists in ckfeather City and seemed to dabble in the ult as well. Butpared to the rest, Kaarman had already run into trouble long before the disaster befalling ckfeather City. From her memory, the old bar had sensed that his days were numbered, and was trying to find special ways to extend his life. And that Ritual of Sacrifice was one of the side-products of his research. Plus, there were memories about Kaarman locking himself in his basement performing some unknown experiments. Yet, due to Annie¡¯s lowly status, or perhaps Lin Sheng had not collected sufficient memory fragments, the information was spotty and he had no idea what sort of ritual Kaarman was doing in his basement. Regardless, Lin Sheng was determined to find out at all costs. Chapter 62 - Yearning: Part 2

Chapter 62: Yearning: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion It was different than thest time. After getting the first taste of the Ritual of Sacrifice, he once again cast his attention onto Sir Kaarman. If he could get something that great out of just a mere female follower, then what would he be able to get from the man himself? Lin Sheng had great hopes for that. He gently pushed the iron gate of the sanctum open and ran over towards the Kaarman manor and entered it. He went past the fountain and straight to the front door. The owl on the door slowly opened its wings and the door opened. Lin Sheng took a deep breath, and pushed it open. It was dark all over inside, more so than thest time he was here. Only a sliver of moonlight came through the window, casting light on a carpet. Lin Sheng quickly noticed the fallen rack, and Annie¡¯s body lying beside it. And beside her body was the familiar ck sword, his corrupted de. He went over to pick the de up and carefully went up the second floor in full alert. Annie hade charging from the second floor that other time. And that crazy ax-wielding brute too may very welle down from there. Before Lin Sheng could even get to the staircase with his sword in hand, an ominous wind suddenly blew. He felt that breathing suddenly became difficult as the air around him seemed to have been sucked out. Without much thought, he quickly rolled away and stood up a distance away from where he had stood, and looked over. Over at where he had stood earlier, there was the two-meter tall giant standing in the darkness. He was wielding a massive double-headed ax. His head was encased in a metal helm, while a thick mail skin adorned his lower body, as his chest was bare. The mail shone under the reflection of the moonlight. *Crack!* The monster pried the ax off the wall and turned towards Lin Sheng, and broke into a charge. His heavy footfalls stomped holes into the carpet. The monster charged over like a tank towards Lin Sheng and swung a brutal sweep with his axe held two-handed towards Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. *Bam!* Lin Sheng bent down and allowed the de to cut harmlessly into the wall above his head. ¡°You managed to ambush mest time, let¡¯s see who¡¯s dead meat this time!¡± Lin Sheng had his sword in both hands and gave a powerful thrust toward the monster¡¯s chest. Unexpectedly, his skin was extremely tough, and the sword tip only managed to bite in a little before getting stuck. The monster by then had pulled his ax out again and swung in a downward arc at Lin Sheng. ¡°Sacred Blood!¡± Lin Sheng felt his muscles swelled slightly as purple veins appear all over his chest and temple. A surge of explosive energy came bursting out from his heart. *ng!* The ck sword rose up and smashed against the ax head. As the two weapons collided, the area imploded. Both Lin Sheng and the monster was pushed back by the impact. Lin Sheng felt his back against the wall, his arms shuddering from the shock. But he was not concerned. He quickly got into a stance, and a dashter, charged at the monster like an arrow. Since it was a test of the limits of his power, and also the moment he started changing. He was tired of ying hide and seek, like a sewer rat. With the explosive strength, the ck sword swung out heavy and powerful strikes. With Lin Sheng¡¯s unleashing of the ckfeather techniques, the explosive power unleashed was even more terrifying than when he had faced the corrupted swordsman. It was nothing but a flurry of violent attacks and techniques, and that staggered the monster. Without proper bnce, he could not swing his ax and was being pushed back by Lin Sheng. *ng ng ng!* Under the flurry of strikes, wounds started appearing all over the monster¡¯s naked chest. ¡°Rwarrrr!!¡± A roar boomed out as he tried to counterattack, but just as he was about to move, the ck sword bit diagonally into his face. The powerful de cut through steel like butter and shed through his eyes, nose, and mouth. The monster immediately froze in ce as a gaping wound appeared on his face. A thudter, the ax fell into the ground as his body dropped onto his knees before copsing onto the ground, motionless. Lin Sheng was steaming hot as he got before the dead monster and stab into his chest. ck blood gushed out of the heart wound. He shuddered for a bit as ck smoke appeared and formed into a ck line towards Lin Sheng and entered his chest. Lin Sheng quickly retreated. A few stepster, he rushed out of the hall into the yard. Only after resting against the wall until the influx of memories into his brain and the resulting headache had lessened did he got up and went in again. ¡°You got me once, you won¡¯t get me again.¡± Lin Sheng took a deep breath and brought his ck de before the monster. He knelt down as he searched the body for any spoils From the memory fragments, the man was called Bard, he was an adopted child of Kaarman since young. Compared to Annie however, while Bard had gotten knowledge of rituals, it was not the sacrificial ritual to obtain special powers. Rather, it was a proper ritual called the Beckoning. In the memory, the strength of Bard was not his own, but rather the animalpanions he had bonded through the ritual. ¡°The Beckoning? A type of ritual that could bond and control animals?¡± Lin Sheng was intrigued. Any and every ritual now piqued his interest. The earlier Ritual of Sacrifice could only be performed once, but the Beckoning ritual was different, and as long as he have sufficient materials, and his spirit could withstand it, he could repeat the ritual. However, to Lin Sheng¡¯s slight dismay, he did not get the details of the ritual in Bard¡¯s memories. Perhaps he had simply not gotten the memory fragments containing the ritual; instead he had gotten more of the nitty-bitty details of his love and his life. Seems like this Bard person was the type that ce massive importance on love. Lin Sheng quickly went upstairs while his Sacred Blood was still active. In the memory, Bard¡¯s room was on the second floor, and he wanted to see if he could find any information regarding the Beckoning ritual in the other rooms upstairs. Being able to bond with animals and to control them, such a ritual was certainly much safer and hiddenpared with the ritual of sacrifice. The key point was, that ritual allowed Lin Sheng¡¯s earlier idea to work even better. As the Sacred Blood effect continued, Lin Sheng felt his body was reaching its physical limit. He rushed up the staircase and stood at the stairway. Chapter 63 - Yearning: Part 3

Chapter 63: Yearning: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The second floor was a smaller, but equallyvish hall. Within two rows on intricately decorated disy shelves were all sorts of white bones. Most of them were animal bones, but probably a few of them were the oddly-shaped human bones. However, Lin Sheng¡¯s vision was not on the bones, rather it was on the silhouettes of three figures walking out of the bedroom. Using the moonlight, he could see that the silhouettes were wearing the same ck getup that Annie was wearing. There were two females and a male, all of them armed, either with a sword, or a short il. The moment they saw Lin Sheng, they charged maniacally at him like a hound catching the scent of blood. ¡°Bloody hell!¡± Lin Sheng looked up and darted forward, as he charged past the first person. The ck sword in his hand shed out like lightning, and cut through the second person¡¯s neck, before blocking the il attack from the third person. *ng!* Lin Sheng¡¯s immense strength exploded out, as he swatted the weapon aside before riposting with a horizontal strike. The carpet was stained with a pool of blood. Three bodiesy on the ground as blood gushed out of their necks. Lin Sheng swept the blood off his ck de and hid in a corner, allowing the three strands of ck lines into his body. Following that, his body shuddered as his head ached violently. A massive amount of chaotic information was surging into his mind. From the memory fragments, all three of them were Kaarman¡¯s adopted children. They sparred often with Annie and were about in the same league as her. What Lin Sheng did not expect was his encounter with Annie was enough to tire him out and almost got him killed. But after activating that ability, he could take all three of them out so easily. ¡°This difference...and the ability of the three seemed to be a little different in the memory...¡± After a moment, Lin Sheng had recovered from the headache and was frowning as he processed the information in his mind. The Sacred Blood time limit had reached by then, but thankfully for Lin Sheng, the side effect of the ability was not as bad in the dreampared in reality. He only felt slightly weakened, but that was about it. ¡°Annie and these three have all used this Ritual of Sacrifice, and I had gotten the same Sacred Blood ability like one of them, but the scale of the strengthening seemed to be not that great. Lin Sheng started to wonder. In the memories that he had obtained, the person who had gotten the Sacred Blood ability had only half the effect of Lin Sheng¡¯s when used. He recalled that the moment when he activated the Sacred Blood ability, his body had strengthened many times over. Explosively, withoutparison. ¡°Forget it, now¡¯s not the time for this. I need to find more information about the Beckoning ritual!¡± He then followed the memories to Bard the brute¡¯s room. It was closed, but not locked. Lin Sheng gently pushed the door open as he stayed alert; as he made his way into the room. There was a massive three-meter-long bed. And by the edge of the wall was a cupboard and a set of table and chairs as all sorts of white bones hung all over the wall. Lin Sheng quickly walked to the table and pulled the drawer open. There were three drawers in total, and within them were some scrolls and a ck metal te. The scrolls disintegrated the moment he touched them and was useless. The ck metal te, on the other hand, had words inscribed on it, and Lin Sheng immediately read through it. ¡°Father had said, ckfeather City would soon be dragged into the dream, and I cannot imagine what will happen then. I¡¯ve decided, we¡¯ll leave together the day after.¡± The writings were rather rushed, and Lin Sheng could imagine the panic the writer might have had. ¡°Dragged into the dream? What does that mean?¡± He did not understand why that person would have inscribed that onto a te, but that was not important now. Lin Sheng ced the te into his pocket and started rummaging through the rest of the ce. Bard¡¯s room was very clean, and there were not many spaces to store stuff. But that did not faze Lin Sheng, he simply ran through Bard¡¯s memories. Soon, he came to the bedside and pulled out a small metal box out from the bottom of the bed. The box was the size of a palm, and there was a yellow lock on it. Not having the time to find the key, Lin Sheng tried to break it with the sword, but the box and the lock were surprisingly tough, and could not be broken. He simply just took the box and left the room. Weirdly enough, he had been on the second floor for quite some time now, plus the earlierbat should have certainly rung some rm bells, yet no other monsters had appeared. Lin Sheng held the box and stood at the mouth of the staircase for a moment. He ced the box down and looked left as well as right before he cast his gaze on the staircase that led to the third floor. He surmised that based on the memories, the people inside the Kaarman manor had foreseen disaster would befall ckfeather City, and had nned to escape. They would be dragged into the dream, as stated on the metal te. Lin Sheng could not imagine it. If the words were true, that the entire city was being dragged into the dream. What a disaster... And even when he had absorbed so many memories, he still did not dare to believe it was true. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to go up to the third floor to have a look. Perhaps Sir Kaarman had already run away? Then this would be easy pickings for him. But the moment Lin Sheng lifted his leg, a surge of tension welled up inside him. The moonlight outside was being obscured by thick roiling clouds as everything sank into absolute darkness. Lin Sheng gripped his sword tight, he suddenly felt fear. He could sense that this darkness was different than thest. Something was about to happen. The moonlight on the carpet dimmed rapidly as the area around him sank into absolute darkness. Shadows were moving rapidly as they swallowed everything they came into contact, and very quickly they were under Lin Sheng¡¯s legs. He quickly grabbed the box and held on to his sword tightly, his back against the wall until he was totally swallowed by the darkness. A minute, two minutes. Ten minutes, twenty minutes. Lin Sheng had no idea how much time had passed. Since theing of the darkness, the moonlight had not been seen since. He stood still in the darkness. And slowly, the time was up, and he should have woken up from the dream. He noticed this and tried to walk forward. But just as he lifted his leg and stepped forward, the floor disappeared underneath him. An unknown sense of falling overwhelmed him as he felt himself plummeting downwards. Tumbling... Falling... Lin Sheng felt his sense dulling and knew that he was about to wake up. He hugged the ck sword and the box tightly. The box was Bard¡¯s keepsake and may have had information pertaining to the Beckoning ritual. And his ck sword was his only weapon. After his experience in ckfeather city, Lin Sheng no longer treated it as a simple, mysterious dream. While he would not really die in it, but not dying is even better. He had no idea how long as passed before Lin Sheng regained his consciousness. He seemed to have returned to his bedroom. He closed his eyes and could feel the weight of the nket on top of him... And the warm bedding beneath him. He could now hear the ticking of the clock beside his ears. He opened his eyes, and just as sudden, every sound around him disappeared. His room was crimson red, like the sunset. Lin Sheng turned around to the side of the bed and looked, the rm clock was there. Yet, its needle was not moving. He looked around. The room was still his original room; only the light from the window was crimson red, painting the room carmine. It was a silent, peaceful crimson, yet oddly unnerving. Lin Sheng closed his eyes. *Tick tock, tick tock...* The sound of the clock rang in his eyes again. As he opened his eyes. It stopped. Closing it again, the ticking started once again. It was as if opening and closing his eyes were two different worlds altogether. Chapter 64 - Lost: Part 1

Chapter 64: Lost: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Cold and damp wind blew strongly from the Pearl Ocean, carrying with it plenty of humidity as it engulfed the entire Anduin province, forming a cold wave. Fiers City, about sixty kilometers away from Huaisha City... Fort Whitehawk naval base was Xilin¡¯srgest military base, and it was closest to the Pearl Ocean. Due to the amount of personnel moving in and out of the base, it became the economic lifeline of Fiers City. It was twenty past four in the morning. On a busy pedestrian street in themercial district, near Honghaidai Commercial Center. Cars darted around the streets like a series of neon bands, while crowds dispersed from the KTVs, bars, and Inte cafes. As usual, they were all yawning, either still excited or totally worn out as they waited for cars. A few fashionable youngds were staggering while walking out of a bar. ¡°No more, no more. Any more, and I¡¯ll puke!¡± A youth with silver ear piercings held on to a small tree by the pedestrian walk. His face was pale as he panted. His twopanions behind him yawned, reeking of alcohol. They both looked at him with slight disdain. ¡°Weren¡¯t you like all crazy earlier?¡± ¡°My one pint was two of yours! Weak! Weak!¡± Another man jeered at the youth. ¡°You!¡± The youth with the piercings looked over and was just about to yell when... *Boom!!* Suddenly, a huge, deafening explosion thundered from afar. He only felt his legs wobbling, while his ears felt like they were violently being hammered by something. In the night sky before him, a blinding me shot up into the air and painted the skyline red. *Boom!!* Another explosion followed. The three youths were stunned and simply looked in the direction of the mes. Even the surrounding tallplexes could not block the me as it shot out from one of the buildings, rendering the sky crimson. The youth with the silver piercings paused for a moment before an ominous thought came to mind. ¡°That¡¯s... where... Fort Whitehawk is!!¡± The other two were stunned when they heard that. They did not know how to react, but they instinctively knew that something big had happened... Over on the streets in themercial district, cars stopped as drivers peeked out to look. Pedestrians looked up as some of them began to take photographs with their phones, and an unknown feeling of dread slowly welled in their hearts. Fort Whitehawk¡¯s location was not a secret in Fiers City. Almost everyone there was familiar with its rowdy soldiers. So, quite a number of people could tell at first nce that the fire was indeeding from Xilin¡¯srgest naval base, Fort Whitehawk. ... *Boom...* A sudden quake dazed Lin Sheng and pulled him back from his unusual stupor. Before he could recover, the room before him started to rapidly unravel... Like a melting candle, or a swirling dye at times. Everything before his eyes became a chaotic tangle of lines, and they began to spin and spin... As he looked at the images before him, Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness turned blurry. ¡°Chenchen! Chenchen!¡± A panicked voice wrenched him out of his daze. Lin Sheng opened his eyes. Outside his room, his father, Lin Zhounian was pounding the door. ¡°Coming!¡± he yelled in reply. He quickly got off the bed and opened the door. Lin Zhounian stood by the door, his face grim. ¡°Did you hear that? The quaking earlier.¡± ¡°The quaking?¡± Lin Sheng responded. ¡°Earthquake?¡± His expression changed, before running back to his room to collect his stuff and escape. ¡°Twice, but no more after that. So it¡¯s probably not an earthquake. Probably something big somewhere had exploded!¡± Lin Zhounian shook his head to reject the possibility of an earthquake. ¡°An explosion?¡± Lin Sheng said in realization. If it was an earthquake, it would have been shaking continuously, and not just once or twice. Gu Wanqiu had also made her way over with a coat. ¡°That scared me. Getting shocked like that while sleeping is really not good for my heart. It¡¯s still thumping hard now.¡± Lin Zhounian got to the window and looked out. He could see nothing. ¡°As long as it¡¯s not an earthquake. Let¡¯s wait a bit. If there¡¯s nothing, then we¡¯ll leave it till tomorrow. There¡¯ll certainly be news about it. We¡¯ll know by then.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. His father was right. For this level of explosion, it will definitely hit the headlines tomorrow, be it on screen or on print. The Lins waited for a few more moments, and after they were sure that there were nothing, only did they went back to sleep. Lin Shengy on the bed, his heart simply felt intrigued. This was the first time he encountered something like this after living for so long. For some reason, he thought of the geography teacher that was arrested in school... All sorts of random thoughts flooded his mind, and he could not sleep. He ended up rolling on the bed until morning before hearing the sound from the television. He quickly got up and changed before getting out of his room. Just as he got into the living room, he saw his father, Lin Zhounian was holding onto the remote as he sat on the sofa, watching the morning news. On screen, a pretty, short-haired news anchor d in white western suit grimly reported thetest local news. ¡°Breaking news. At four o¡¯clock in the morning on 29 April, a massive warehouse containing fireworks had an explosion ident near Fiers City.¡± ¡°As of now, there are 11 reported deaths, and 32 injuries, the cause of the explosion is currently being investigated.¡± ¡°A fireworks warehouse explosion?¡± Lin Zhounian frowned. ¡°With that sort of quaking, and we can feel it here even when Fiers is like miles away. How much fireworks was that?¡± Lin Sheng did not say anything. Gu Wanqiu had changed into her work attire and walked out of the bedroom. ¡°Don¡¯t bother about it, as long it¡¯s not over here. Let¡¯s have our breakfast and go about our business. I¡¯ll cook noodles for you two.¡± ¡°No onions please,¡± Lin Zhounian reminded. ¡°Coriander please!¡± Lin Sheng followed. ¡°Right, right, wait on you two!¡± Gu Wanqiu smiled as she entered the kitchen to cook. Lin Sheng sat beside his dad and watched the news. What confused him was that the news had only spoken briefly about the explosion, before showing footage of the burning skyst night. They then moved on to another news. It felt too short, and was not being taken seriously. ¡°There are probably more casualties, or else they would not have touched on it so lightly.¡± Lin Zhounian was holding onto a cigarette and spun it in his head without lighting it up. He had not smoked at home even after so many years of smoking. ¡°We can check onler, we¡¯ll probably learn some truths there.¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Yeah, the is much freer anyway, and they can¡¯t censor everything.¡± Lin Zhounian smiled. ¡°Right, that¡¯s not our problem anyway. That aside, how¡¯re your studies going?¡± Chapter 65 - Lost: Part 2

Chapter 65: Lost: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion After breakfast, Lin Sheng got on the public bus, still uncertain, to Hui An High School. On the way, many of themuters were discussing the explosionst night in whispers. These were normal passengers, and some were simply throwing things out there, but some sounded factual and logical. From their chatter, Lin Sheng heard something, ¡°Fort Whitehawk¡±. He knew what that was, it was Anduin province¡¯s only naval base. It was also thergest in all of Xilin. Xilin¡¯s strongest fleet, the White Hawks, were docked there. And some guessed that the explosion had something to do with Fort Whitehawk. But the general public did not believe that. It was the strongest naval base in Xilin after all, and something like that would not happen so easily. After getting into school, Lin Sheng quickly went into his ssroom. His ssmates too were discussing the matter in hushed whispers. Some of them hadputers at home and could go online so their information was more up to date. And they were discussing the various articles they had seen online. There were many guesses up and about, but all of the postings were quickly removed and censored. Lin Sheng sat at his ce as he quietly flipped through his study material. He did not know why, but there was an improvement with the speed of his study. He had managed toplete all of the study materials in about two-thirds of the normal time required. ¡°Eh, did you hear the explosionst night?¡± Shen Yan who was seated in front turned back to ask. Compared to the rest, she was not asking out of excitement, rather it was a serious question. And she seemed different from usual. Lin Sheng looked at her. ¡°I heard it.¡± ¡°What you think of it?¡± Shen Yan asked after a pause. ¡°You think it¡¯s a fireworks warehouse explosion?¡± ¡°Whether it¡¯s true or not, what does it has to do with us?¡± Lin Sheng retorted. ¡°Studying should be your priority now.¡± ¡°But don¡¯t you think the government is being too soft?¡± Shen Yan said, her tone miffed. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in that.¡± Lin Sheng tly replied. It was not news that the upper echelon of Xilin being a corrupted, rotten lot. This wasmon knowledge, it was just not spoken openly. ¡°But...¡± Shen Yan still had something to say, but seeing Lin Sheng¡¯s expression, she stopped. She could tell that he was clearly disinterested, rather than being wary. And soon, the foreignnguage teacher came into the ss, and with the bell, the ss started. Lin Sheng¡¯s study had already overshot the teacher¡¯s teaching n, and he simply did module questions instead. And after he got bored of it, he sat on his ce and meditated the Ashen Seal. The seal seemed to be stuck in a bottleneck, and after a twofold growth of his defensive capabilitiesst time, it had stopped. No matter what he did, the seal¡¯s defensive capabilities had not changed. So he reckoned that the Ashen Seal had probably hit its limit. It was just one Ashen Seal after all, and the Ashen Seals that is mastered by the Sanctum, was not only just one. If one Ashen Seal would exponentially increase one¡¯s ability, the Sanctum would have already taken over ckfeather City long ago. And the day went by uneventfully. After ss, Lin Sheng walked out of the school alone. At a distance, over at the alley on the opposite street was Shen Yan and two other girls huddled together talking about something. From afar, it looked like a normal conversation. And just as Lin Sheng was about to leave, he saw a ck car stopping before Shen Yan and the rest and they quickly got on the car. The car then drove away into the distance. Lin Sheng looked over, and only after a moment did he turned away to hail a taxi to head to the club. Shen Yan was hiding something. As her best friend, plus his honed mind and intelligence, he could quickly deduce some clues left by her. Sometimes, there were something that he could not be bothered with, nor was he in a position to do anything. ... Ironfist Club shooting range. Russell was holding thetest ck ngwent 13 pistol with eight rounds loaded, his expression serious as he stood before Lin Sheng. ¡°Master, do you really want me to shoot you with this? The ngwent¡¯s prative ability is much more powerful than the ckshark, being hit by it is noughing matter.¡± ¡°What a load of nonsense. It¡¯s just paintball. You make it sound like as if it was live rounds.¡± Shayeen sneered. Lin Sheng simply smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s begin. It¡¯s just a practice.¡± He had just killed three of Sir Kaarman¡¯s adopted children that are at least level two, all of them were of the same caliber as Annie. As he obtained the memory fragments, he had also gotten hold of arge amount of experience and ability to use weapons. And what Lin Sheng paid the most attention to, was the memory on the training on avoiding crossbow bolts. All three of Sir Kaarman¡¯s children had receivedprehensive training. They not only knew how to ride or how to use a bow, they too knew how to dodge long range projectiles. And while Lin Sheng had only gotten memory fragments, it had brought along some basic capabilities in this area. ¡°Then I¡¯ll start?¡± Russell yelled. ¡°Do it.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. *Bang!* Before his voice even trailed off, Russell had fired the first shot. As if by instinct, Lin Sheng dodged to the side. The two were about ten meters away, and just before Russell had pulled the trigger, he had already started moving sideways. And the metal wall behind him had a stter of red. That was proof that the shot missed. ¡°He dodged it!¡± Shayeen could not help but p. And a few other students who were watching by the door started pping as well, as if they were the one dodging it. Sarroux, the strongest among them, was rendered useless by Russell¡¯s skill with firearms. And now with Lin Sheng dodging the shot, everyone got excited. ¡°It¡¯s not over yet!¡± Russell slightly moved his wrist as he continued firing. *Bang bang bang bang bang!!* Lin Sheng tried to dodge left and right, but he was not able to avoid them all as his body was painted with four stter of paint. The bullets themselves did not hurt much, they were practice rounds after all. As soon as someone got shot, the area they got hit would be painted with a special color; and that mean they were hit once. Lin Sheng stopped, and looked at the red marks on his body. ¡°Let¡¯s do it again once I¡¯ve cleaned up!¡± He was serious now, and was ready to get into the projectile dodging training proper. As the Ashen Seal had already hit its limit, then he needed to find other ways to counteract against firearms. Now that the Ironfist Club was on track, and Wang Yue¡¯s incident had allowed the members to better understand their ability to influence something. But this knowledge, had created a somewhat unpleasant aura in the club. After training for about half an hour, Lin Sheng felt that he was at his limits. The biggest drain in the training was his focus. He had to pay total attention to Russell¡¯s every movement. And that means that the time he had to fully concentrate would be continuous. It was fine if it was a short while, but if it drags on, his alreadyckluster stamina and strength would run out sooner thanter. After all, he was just a normal high school student who had started training not long ago, and aside from unlocking the Sacred Blood and Ashen Seals, he was not much different than the club members. After thanking Russell, Lin Sheng changed and got home before dinner time. It was night time again. The time he anticipates the most. The box that he had taken back then was still with him. And whether the box contains the information and knowledge he sought, he would only know after opening it. Chapter 66 - Lost: Part 3

Chapter 66: Lost: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion As soon as he got home, Lin Sheng quickly wolfed down his dinner and gave an excuse to sleep early. He returned to his room once he brushed his teeth. After the unusual happenings in his dream the day before, Lin Sheng was rather excited to dream again that night. He changed into his tracksuit and sports shoes, theny sideways in bed. He began to rx and memorize his political textbooks. Ten minutester, he started to feel sleepy. As he closed his eyes, he could feel his consciousness sink into a deep abyss... *ck!* The box near his chest rolled to the ground. Lin Sheng quickly got up and held his de tightly while he scanned his surroundings. He was sitting along the edge of the bed his room, and next to his feet was the metal box that he had been holding on to earlier. There was still a sea of crimson darkness outside his bedroom. Nothing was visible. A bizarre silence and calmness permeated throughout the area. As he stood up, Lin Sheng reflexively looked at the rm clock by the bed¡¯s headboard. The needles on the rm clock had stopped at the twelve o¡¯clock position, neither one of them ticking anymore. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me I can¡¯t return to ckfeather City any longer?¡± He picked up his sword and looked around. There were minor chips on the edge of the sword¡¯s de, but aside from that, things were not very different from when he wasst in ckfeather City. Then there was the box. Lin Sheng peered around and only found himself in the room. The door and windows were locked. He finally bent down and pressed the lock of the box. There were a few deep gashes on the lock, which resulted from his hacking with ck sword earlier. One of the deeper gashes had torn halfway into the lock. Lin Sheng pondered a bit before he lifted his sword and aimed for the gash. *ng!* He struck hard. With a rip of the air, the extremely sharp corrupted de bit into the gash again, and deeper did it bite. ¡°It¡¯s working!¡± The moment Lin Sheng saw the effect after he pulled his de away, he readied himself for the second strike. Five strikes were delivered one after another. Finally, the yellow lock broke and ttered as it fell on the ground. Lin Sheng quickly picked up the lock and squatted to open the box. Suddenly, his eyes widened as he seemingly saw someone standing outside his room window. The figure had been staring at him for a while with an impassive look. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± Lin Sheng looked up but found nothing there when he did so. Yet, his instincts told him that there were other entities besides him here... He quickly swept his gaze across the ce and gripped his sword tightly as he picked the box up and ced it on the study table. He then opened the box. *ck.* The top cover knocked against the table¡¯s surface with an audible ck. Lin Sheng¡¯s gaze was immediately caught by the items in the box. There was a dagger with a wavy de, a leather scroll, and a mysterious brown rock. Those three items were the most eye-catching inside the box. Other than that, there were a couple of currencies with carvings of feathers and a soaring eagle on them. Lin Sheng grabbed the scroll and unbound it. With a slip, the brown scroll opened, and the first line on the scroll ted him. ¡°Details of the Beckoning Ritual.¡± Beneath that was an illustration of the matrix, a diagram made out of two ovepping diamonds. Along the spaces within the diagram were all kinds of runes. However, Lin Sheng was not interested in that, but the materials needed for the ritual. There were detailed drawings for every material required. ¡°Ten ckblooms, one standard unit of gold, nine standard units of silver powder, ten standard units of red crystal powder, one standard unit of the user¡¯s blood.¡± ¡°ckbloom...¡± Lin Sheng had never studied nts and was not sure if there was such a thing. He just needed to remember the picture on the scroll and search for it online once he woke up. ¡°Aside from the ckbloom, I have the rest, but this is much more expensive than before... Ten bloody units of red crystal powder...¡± The moment Lin Sheng saw the requirements, his heart skipped a beat. He could only hope that man-made crystals would work, or else he would have to settle for some lower-quality ones... The activation chant was on the scroll, and it seemed like it was in Ancient Rehn; Lin Sheng repeated it a couple of times and only stopped once he managed to get a grasp of it. He then carefully ced the scroll in his shirt for safekeeping. It was impossible for him to memorize the activation chant in such a short time, so he had to bring it along with him. As for the rest of the items, he did not touch them. He just left them there. After he closed the box, he ced it underneath his bed before he picked his sword up. Only then did he have the time to take a measure of his surroundings. ¡°I remember the first time, just right before I entered ckfeather City in the dream realm; it was here, through a rift in my own house.¡± Lin Sheng gently pushed the door open and walked out to the corridor. On the side of the corridor was a window that bled crimson light. As he closed the door, Lin Sheng carefully walked along the corridor toward the intersection between the living room and kitchen. He immediately turned into the kitchen. Thest time he got to ckfeather City, it was through the rift in the kitchen. Yet, the kitchen wall was now unscathed without any signs of a rift. Lin Sheng slowly made his way in the kitchen with his sword in hand. After checking around, he did not find any rifts in the kitchen wall. It was spotless, just as it was in reality. If not for the moving red light outside the kitchen window, Lin Sheng would have mistaken it for reality. After he left the kitchen, he entered the bathroom. It was normal there as well. Lin Sheng turned the faucet on, and only a few droplets came out before the hissing of air current followed. He then turned off the faucet and headed toward the hall. The hall was all quiet. The sofa, television, cupboards, and even the calendar hanging on the door were the same as they were in reality. The air was still, as though the time there had been still for a very, very long time. Lin Sheng walked toward the TV and held his hand out to press the switch, trying to see if the TV was operable or not. All of a sudden, a knock on the door echoed across the hall. *Knock, knock, knock.* Lin Sheng immediately tensed up. This was his dream, and it had been silent right up to the sudden knock on the door. ¡°Anyone home?¡± A gentle female voice came from outside. Lin Sheng took a deep breath and slowly made his way to the door. *Knock, knock, knock.* The knocking rang out again. ¡°I¡¯m Auntie Chen from the opposite house. Open up, I¡¯m here to give you something.¡± Lin Sheng reached out and pushed the lid over the peephole, cing his eye on it. There was nothing but roiling ck mist outside, and a middle-ageddy was actually standing in the middle of it. That familiar face and smile... It really was Auntie Chen! *Knock, knock, knock.* ¡°Anyone home?¡± Lin Sheng noticed that the woman¡¯s eyes moved a little before looking at the peephole. ¡°Is there no one home? I¡¯ming in, then? ¡°I¡¯ming in, then? ¡°Coming in, then?¡± Lin Sheng took a few steps back and clenched his fist as a sense of mortal danger closed in on him. Chapter 67 - Testing Out: Part 1

Chapter 67: Testing Out: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The soft sound of a key unlocking something rang from the door¡¯s lock. Lin Sheng looked around, and in his panic, he moved the tea table from the hall to barricade the door. *Crack!* An unexpected odd noise rang out from the study. Lin Sheng tensed and rushed to the study with his sword in both hands. The window of the study was half open. Darkness roiled outside the window, and something seemed to be seething as it rubbed against the window ss from time to time. Lin Sheng darted over and looked out of the window. Within the darkness, an arm-wide tentacle, which looked like a tree root, quickly slithered past the window. The tentacle was translucent, and a mysterious silver slime flowed within it. *Bam!!* There was a sudden loud bang at the front door as it caved inward in a terrifying twist. *Bam!!* Then came the second crash. Lin Sheng could feel the entire house shaking He held his ck sword tightly and was just about to activate the Sacred Blood to fight when... *Wiff!* A translucent root came flying in from the window behind him. The root caught hold of his waist, and with overwhelming force, violently pulled him out of the window. Just as Lin Sheng exited the window, Lin Sheng instinctively shed at the root, but the ck mist soon surged over and smothered him. *Crack!* However, the ck sword appeared to have shed through something. Lin Sheng suddenly felt light, and he fell downward. He could not see anything in the darkness. The ck mist engulfed him as it tried to get into his nose, ears, and mouth. Then, a faint crimson light appeared on the dazed Lin Sheng¡¯s body. The crimson light barely warded off the ck mist¡¯s assault, and it looked so thin like it could unravel at any time. Lin Sheng curled up and felt that he was still falling. He could see above him, was the house enveloped in red light were getting ever further away... He immediately recognized that house, it was his own home. He had fallen out from there, and the house had slowly disappeared inside the ck mist. Time seemed to have lost all meaning here as Lin Sheng continued to fall. He clutched his ck sword hard. It was the only thing he could rely on now. *Wuff!!* Suddenly, another translucent root shot out from afar as some sort of silvery slime flowed within it as it rapidly retracted towards a direction. Without any warning, Lin Sheng was bound again by the root and dragged in a certain direction. *Wuff!* The wind howled in his ears. Lin Sheng had not felt something like this before. He was being bound tightly by the root, as he was swiftly dragged through the ck mist. This time around, he did not sh against the root. His instincts told him that if he allowed himself to simply just fall downwards, something bad will happen. This time, Lin Sheng calmed himself down and allowed the root to drag him on. Time slowly passed. And slowly, but surely, he felt the mist around him was brightening up, turning from ck into an ethereal gray. *Duff!* Suddenly, a cotton-candy like cloud came charging towards him. The cloud seemed to be living, writhing gray body as some parts were contracting as others expanded. By the time Lin Sheng could react, he was already about to crash into the cloud. Just at that moment, the root that was tugging him suddenly increased its strength and changed direction, pulling him away with just inches to spare from the edge of the cloud. At the same time, he seemed to have heard cheersing in from the cloud, distant and unclear. There were also voices of people speaking loudly as an odd melody apanied it. As he got away from the cloud, the voices weakened and disappeared. Before he could even regain his bearings, another silver-gray cloud flew by. This time, chilling screams and cries could be heard as a bizarre, manic howl followed. Lin Sheng had no time to decipher what it was all about before a third cloud closed in. It was much smaller than the first two. It had a faint golden glow to it, and was particrly eye-catching in the sea of gray clouds. Lin Sheng was dragged by the root beneath the cloud. And just as he got close, *Hiss...* A massive golden face appeared on the cloud. The face looked impassively at Lin Sheng as a pair of golden eyes traced his movements. Lin Sheng felt the root binding him suddenly shuddered and started loosening up. ¡°The f*ck!¡± Lin Shen quickly grabbed onto the root. His instincts told him that if he was left here against the golden face man, there would be nothing but danger for him. Thankfully, the golden face simply looked at him and the root before turning away and disappearing. Lin Sheng held his ck sword in one hand as he grabbed onto the root with another as his body dangled out and mming against the root from time to time. Clouds of various sizes and colors sped past him. There were furious howls, cries of sorrow, or silence from the clouds, and some were slowly disintegrating and disappeared. After flying for a while, Lin Sheng finally felt that his grip was weakening. And suddenly, he was dazed, as his fingers let go, his entire body thrown by inertia into the air before falling downwards again. Among the howling winds, Lin Sheng saw him breaking through clouds after clouds. *Duff!* He then crashed violently against the top of a small ck cloud, and bounce up like a ball a few times before rolling off the edge of the cloud. And incidentally, another translucent root flew by underneath him. Lin Sheng adjusted his position and timing before he struck down his with sword. *Duff!* He once againnded on the surface of the root. This root was the size of a thick thigh, enough for him to ride on it. The root quickly flew through clouds after clouds as the gray mist around him lessened and his field of vision grew wider. Lin Shengy prone on the root as he looked about. As the cloud turn scarce, the mist got thinner as well. Arge green ind appeared beneath him, with a mountain range crawling across it. On the highest peak of the sea of trees and mountains was a clear, ck stone fortress. The fortress was dead silent, without any signs of life as vines crawled all over the outer wall. Before Lin Sheng could even take a proper look, the root that he was on shuddered suddenly as if someone was swinging it about. He could not react in time and was thrown into the air and directly towards the mountains. The translucent root he had ridden on earlier flew into the distance and disappeared in the mist. Chapter 68 - Trying Out: Part 2

Chapter 68: Trying Out: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Arghh!!!¡± Lin Sheng fell from high in the air and crashed violently against the verdant sea of trees. *Uff!!* Countless branches tore into him. Under the powerful impact, Lin Sheng¡¯s supposedly strong body was torn into shreds like a soft persimmon. Countless pieces of flesh and blood rained alongside the broken branches onto the ground. The verdant grasnd was soon painted red by blood. And thest thing Lin Sheng saw was the massive tree roots that crawled about in the woods. ... ¡°Another new way to die that was.¡± Lin Sheng calmly opened his eyes and got up, as hey against the headboard. He then looked at the rm clock. It was five o¡¯clock. ¡°What is that translucent root thing? What was that monster knocking on the door? Why did it want to attack me? And what was that crimson light on me...¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s mind was in flux. He quickly got up and wrote the three questions he had into his notebook. ¡°Ever since something had changed to ckfeather City, I had never been able to return there. What about this then? I was brought to that ind by the root...¡± Lin Sheng was intrigued by the castle on the ind. However, he had just got his hands on the Beckoning ritual, and he had to record it down. He sat at his study and wrote everything he could remember about the ritual onto the notebook. This time around, he used a mix of Hanzi and pinyin this time around. With that, even if someone were to try to decipher the meaning of the Hanzi, the difficulty would be increased many folds. But what surprised him was that he was able to memorize and write out about ny percent of the ritual details and diagrams in a single go. He only could not fully replicate the drawing of some of the ingredients, and that aside, he believed that it was the same as the scroll. He then went through the content of the ritual again. Lin Sheng felt that his memory was photographic as he could clearly recall most of the details. ¡°While I may have died again this time around, but I still managed to get some good loots. Guess I¡¯ll go find the materials today!¡± Lin Sheng was eager. ¡°Now, I need to confirm if ckbloom exists or not.¡± He quickly got up and changed into his casual wear. It was Saturday after all, and he had plenty of free time to spend. After washing up, he took his sword case and greeted his parents who had just woke up. Lin Sheng was just about to leave the house before Lin Zhounian called out to him while yawning. ¡°Wait up, even if you are going out with friends, still have some breakfast will you?¡± Lin Zhounian pulled a big red apple out of a red pocket by the edge of the sofa and tossed it at Lin Sheng. ¡°Your cousin Yueyue gave them yesterday. Eat it on the way.¡± Lin Sheng deftly grabbed the apple and bite into it. It was a juicy ripe apple that was fragrant and crunchy at the same time, quenching his rather dry throat. ¡°Oh yeah, dad. You know about the flower called the ckbloom?¡± ¡°What flower? Is it the one with the jagged leaves, six-petal flower that looked like charcoal?¡± Lin Zhounian took an apple for himself too and bit it without rinsing it. ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± Lin Sheng perked up. It was just a random question after all and he never thought his father would actually know it. ¡°We call that Coalbloom here, it grows in those mountainous, dark and damp areas. Why that question? We used to feed the pigs with themst time.¡± Lin Zhounian queried. ¡°Nothing, just asking. Where can I get it now?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°Nanxi Mountain I guess. I saw some smattering of Coalblooms around the rock steps when we went hikingst year.¡± Lin Zhounian ran through his memory for a bit before answering. ¡°Got it, I¡¯ll be heading off now.¡± Lin Sheng was relieved as he bit the apple and went downstairs. Since ckblooms are avable in reality, which means that is a possibility of the Beckoning ritual materializing in the real world is there as well. And now he needed to look for the ingredients, pronto. ¡°Ten ckblooms, one standard unit of gold, nine standard units of silver powder, ten standard units of red crystal powder. And one standard unit of the host¡¯s blood.¡± And the first thing he got was silver powder. It was the same pure silver powder he got from that shopst time. Gold, on the other hand, was expensive, for the single standard unit of gold, Lin Sheng straight up bought a billion, the ones usually kept by the banks. The gold price in Huaisha City had been risingtely, about four hundred bucks a gram, and a standard unit would need about eighty grams. And that meant, on gold alone, he had spent about 32,000... Then there was the red crystal powder. After some querying, he decided to buy natural ones; and in contrast to his expectations, a natural crystal was about 80 a gram, and he needed ten standard units or 800gram. And that meant, on the crystal powder alone, he had spent about sixty thousand... As for the few thousand spent on the silver powder, it was almost spare change... Lin Sheng was out and about shopping for the entire day just to get all the materials. And only untilte evening did he managed to get everything. He had gotten dried ckbloom from the medicine shop, and aside from that, there was a need for him to bleed this time. So Lin Sheng had bought a kerosenemp, and a fruit knife plus a medical set with bandages and antiseptics. He then ced everything in his bag, and after dinner, he went through it again. After confirming that everything was in ce, he decided to choose what sort of living being he would like to control. The Beckoning ritual in essence, was a dominating ritual use to control the spirit weaker than the caster. At the same time, he could not control any humanoid or any being with too big a difference in size. From the fragmented memories, Lin Sheng knew that the ritual was a side-product of Sir Kaarman¡¯s research, and was meant to increase the understanding between the caster and his mount. Aside from that, due to its monumental cost, this ritual could not be done en masse. Plus there were other systems that have simr methods to increase the bond with the mount, at a much cheaper cost. And that resulted in the Beckoning being one of the ult rituals held in lower standing in ckfeather City. It¡¯s just that Lin Sheng had no other choice, and he was thankful if it could seed. He then brought his back and took a cab to the abandoned factory he had performed his ritualst time. And the factory was still deserted as usual. Abandoned farming fields surrounded it, and behind it was a rather tall hill near Huaisha City, called Ironedge Hill. He then went into the same warehouse room he had performed his ritual. Lin Sheng looked about, and there was a clean spot where thest ritual was held. He had cleaned that ce up on purpose and hadid a stic sheet over it. Lin Sheng looked around and quickly put down his bag and pulled out a torch for some illumination. He ced the light against the wall and using the reflection to light up the room, giving it an ominous atmosphere. Lin Sheng opened up the stic bag and pulled out the various materials and powder for the ritual. He then ced them into the small basin and mixed them in. Compared with thest time, he was much more confident this time around. As the Beckoning ritual was a proper ritual, and none a sinister, evil sacrificial ritual like thest. And from his memories, aside from the expensive materials, there was no inherent danger to it. Chapter 69 - Trying Out: Part 3

Chapter 69: Trying Out: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Afterpleting the preparation, Lin Sheng pulled out something he had prepared from his bag. It was a ck crow with its leg and beak bounded. It was a normal crow he had purchased from the pet store for about five hundred bucks. And the seller said it was a wild one. Lin Sheng had nned to use this as a test subject to see whether the ritual would work or not. As a proper ritual, the Beckoning could be done more than once. As long as the caster¡¯s mind and soul can withstand it, anyone could do it multiple times. So, even when the ritual itself had cost him about a hundred thousand bucks, Lin Sheng was still prepared to try it out. As for which animal, he had no suitable one in mind. A crow was inconspicuous, and would be hard to detect in the dark; the key point was they were easy enough to catch. As a flying beast, he would be able to use the crow to scout his surroundings and warn him in advance of the safety of the area if the ritual works. And that would better ensure the secrecy of the ritual here. ¡°But... I really need to find a way to earn money.¡± Lin Sheng sighed. One ritual itself had already cost him a hundred thousand, and his total savings were only about three hundred thousand with a third already used up in a blink of an eye. As he ced the mixture aside, he bent down and started using a piece of chalk to draw the ritual matrix. The matrix was simpler than thest one, and Lin Sheng simply used a ruler to draw it, and it took about ten minutes toplete it. He then ced the mixture into the corresponding spaces. Then it was the ckbloom. Lin Sheng took a ckbloom petal and ced it into the ritual matrix. He then ced another into a gap in his shirt. The other eight petals were ced around the matrix in a circle. As hepleted that, Lin Sheng took out the knife and lit up the kerosenemp as he heated up the knife to sterilize it. After heating the knife up, he let it cool for a little before pressing the de into his finger. A spurt of blood appeared from the wound and dropped downwards onto the ckbloom in the center of the matrix. At the same time, Lin Sheng started chanting the activation chant that he had memorized. The chant was like a tongue twister in a foreign tongue as it rumbled and twirled at a certain speed. And it was differentpared tost time. Based on the scroll, the Beckoning was a proper, standard ritual. The difference between one and a non-standard ritual was the amount of chanting needed. The chant would naturally draw the chanter to focus, and the chant of a standard ritual would need about five chants. Only non-standard ones would require up to nine or ten chants. After five chantster, nothing changed with the matrix. The blood on the ckbloom too had slowly hardened without any changes. Lin Sheng stopped and quickly bandaged the wound. He then went over to check on the crow. The bound crow could not move, and only its eyes moved about. He straight up went to pick the crow up by its wings. But just as he touched it, he felt a static-like sensationing from his fingers. As he shuddered, he felt like he had grown another arm as his consciousness entered the crow¡¯s body. As if he could control the crow¡¯s body at will. ¡°Did it worked?!¡± Lin Sheng swiftly undid the binds on the crow. ¡°Fly andnd on my shoulder.¡± He thought for a bit before transmitting amand. The crow pped its wings a little before hopping about and looked up and Lin Sheng. It then took off andnded easily on his shoulder. ¡°Caw a little.¡± Lin Sheng was gleeful, and he tried again. *Caw!* A piercing caw boomed from his left shoulder and almost stunned him. ¡°Caw twice!¡± *Caw! Caw!* The dreadful caw rang out twice. Lin Sheng was sure that he could really control the crow now. And he looked at the materials on the matrix. They seemed normal at a nce and could be reused. As he pondered a little, he kept the mixture into the small cabin. After cleaning up, he walked out of the room with the crow. It was night time now, and the croaking of frogs and the hissing of crickets rang. Lin Sheng pointed to the night sky in the distance. ¡°Go, look around, and caw when someone approaches.¡± As the crow heard that, it flew away, and disappeared into the dark sky. This time, Lin Sheng was a hundred percent sure that he had seeded. But what disappointed him was that once the crow left him, he could not sense it anymore. It was not like in the novels where he would share visions with the birds. This ritual only allowed the crow to understand hismands. ¡°Its usefulness is a little iffy...¡± Lin Sheng frowned. Compared to the Ritual of Sacrifice, the Beckoning Ritual was much less effective, and it cost a lot more too.¡± ¡°No wonder people prefer evil rituals, the difference is just too big.¡± After training the crow by the field for a little while, Lin Sheng gave it amand to feed near the factory and wait until he returns. After arranging that, he picked everything up and went over to the main street to hail a cab and headed home. In the dreamst night, he was thrown to an unknown ind, and on it was a massive castle. And that got Lin Sheng intrigued. It seems like he can no longer go back to ckfeather City now. And perhaps he could get something out of his unknown castle. But sadly, due to his death the other day, he could not enter the dream, and simply slept soundly. And the following days, Lin Sheng continued to train the crow to improve their bond while he practiced his swordy. It seemed like his life had returned back to normal. But yet at that moment, the National Amateur Swordsmanship Tournament was canceled, both the provincial and national levels. And his prize was simply given out. Lin Sheng found out from Russell that they had only earned two thousand in prize money. It was a vast difference from the original prize money. ¡°That¡¯s not right? It had been held for so many times without any issues? Why did something happen now?¡± Russell was scratching his head back at the club. ¡°I had been wondering, why was there no news about the provincial tournament. Well, now we know, it¡¯s outright canceled.¡± ¡°Perhaps it has something to do with the current situation,¡± Shayeen said tly as she drank her coffee. ¡°Situation? You mean the explosion at Fort Whitehawk?¡± Russell said in realization. Sarroux and Lin Sheng were ying martial chess by the side. Xilin¡¯s martial chess was a mix of Chinese Chess and Go, and was rather time-consuming. What Lin Sheng did not expect was the usually impatient, ill-tempered Sarroux was temperate when ites to chess. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel it¡¯s a pity?¡± Russell turned towards Lin Sheng. ¡°It¡¯s fifty thousand!¡± ¡°A pity, sure.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°But the tournament is hosted by them, so there¡¯s nothing we can do anyway. Oh yeah, did you manage to get the bulletproof vest?¡± Russell raised his eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯ve got it already. One each for our core members. Consider me sponsoring that.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t, we have yet to make a profit. We need to consider how we can get some cash flow going.¡± Li Sheng said. Shayeen pondered for a bit and said, ¡°Our previous co-operation with the port security with the patrols had some rather spectacr results. We caught a few thieves and robbers. So the port police want to sign a long term partnership with us. What do all of you say?¡± ¡°Every time someone does it, it¡¯s 500. Three times a week, so that¡¯s 1,500. After tax, you can take home about 6,000 a month, it¡¯s pretty good.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°That much?¡± Sarroux was astonished. ¡°Yes, that much. It¡¯s a little dangerous after all, and the remuneration being higher is normal.¡± Russell exined. Sarroux pondered. ¡°I have a junior, and he had been mixing with the wrong sort. He¡¯s ability is no worse than mine, can I drag him over and join the club patrol?¡± ¡°A junior?¡± Lin Sheng squinted. ¡°You can call him over. If he¡¯s as good as you, it won¡¯t be a problem for him to join in.¡± Chapter 70 - Resource: Part 1

Chapter 70: Resource: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion A port patrol officer was a pretty well-paid job, and normal individuals without any connections could only dream of getting it. It was due to Shayeen¡¯s connections with the club that she had gotten the quota for them. It was usually reserved and split between ckwater¡¯s various gangs as well as factions. The main reason for using gang members was that it was the most convenient. They were, after all, snakes that lived within the gaps of society, and they clearly knew more than those above ground. And the person Sarroux spoke of was arge redheaded youth. The next morning, he came to the club for an interview and officially joined Ironfist Club. The club application was getting more and more standardized as the members and their strength increased. And Lin Sheng quickly drew up sixteen club rules and pasted them on the inner entrance. The sixteen rules had raised a lot of heckles, and many thought that Lin Sheng had pretty much thrown them under the bus even when they had helped his cousin sister. But as Shayeen, Russell, Madin, and Sarroux insisted on it, the rules were still announced in the end. And the already unpleasant atmosphere in the club was bing more and more obvious. When it was evening, using Sarroux¡¯s junior joining the club as an excuse, Sarroux invited Lin Sheng and the rest to a nearby hotpot joint for dinner. ¡°Master Lin, don¡¯t you think the rules are a little too much? Our brothers have all sorts of opinions about it.¡± Russell was conflicted and frowned hard as he sat on the chair inside the hotpot shop. Shayeen was sitting by the window, her hand on her chin as she looked at the evening sky outside. While Madin and Sarroux looked down as they yed with the chili peppers in the broth out of boredom. Lin Sheng looked at the three. After being together for so long, they were old friends now, and he could naturally see that they had opinions about it too. ¡°I made the sixteen rules as a basis for the club¡¯s development, we cannot change it.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. ¡°Helping each other, being courteous, knowledgeable and trustworthy, not harming your fellow members, these are all basic moral ts no? What¡¯s wrong with that?¡± Russell smiled bitterly. Among the three, he was the most straightforward, and the most daring of them, so it was up to him to state his opinion to Lin Sheng personally. ¡°It¡¯s not that it¡¯s wrong, but we are just a club, not some religious cult. We don¡¯t have to make it so convoluted right? If we are too strict no one would even join us.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think our members are just too much of a mixed bunch?¡± ¡°Too much of a mixed bunch?¡± Russell¡¯s expression changed slightly. The three too had reacted slightly, clearly focusing on the conversation there. ¡°What we need is a more cohesive strength,¡± Lin Sheng said inly. ¡°Only then we can bring everyone¡¯s strength into a deeper level, and create an even stronger group.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with our group now? Isn¡¯t it what you describe?¡± Russell was at a slight loss. ¡°No, it¡¯s not the same... It¡¯s mostly for fun now, and peoplee and go at their whim. When we need everyone to dig in and cooperate, there¡¯s always someone who is not willing to chip in.¡± Lin Sheng stopped tapping on the table. ¡°And that¡¯s not good.¡± ¡°But we are a club, to begin with...¡± Russell said wearily. ¡°But we are not just any club now...¡± Lin Sheng responded. He knew that it would be difficult to convince these wealthy scions, but this needed to be done. The club would need everyone¡¯s strength. Only by getting everyone¡¯s power and influence together, forming into tangible force that it can be of use to him, and of use to the members of the group. This was not a triad or something, rather something akin to an aid society. ¡°And? Master Lin, we are just mere students. Perhaps our families are a little richer, a little more influential, but we do not have the ability to push things too hard yet, we need to go ording to our abilities.¡± Shayeen could not help but speak. ¡°So what I n is to create an aid society within the club, a real aid society that is able to help each other out.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. As he looked at their bewildered gaze, he continued. ¡°This aid society will only take in the core members who are really willing to help each other out. I¡¯m looking for quality, not quantity.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Master Lin, but that¡¯s unrealistic.¡± Madin was the first to stand up and shake his head. All this while, he was an honest and trued, but he too had his own opinions. And for Lin Sheng, he had nothing but respect then as he had powerful swordsmanship skills, and knew his limits as well. Thatmanded respect for him. But that was all there is. For him, Lin Sheng was just a swordsmanship teacher. Everyone making him a leader was simply on the premise of his superior swordsmanship and his ability to serve as a link for everyone there. But that not mean that Lin Sheng had the right to lead everyone. Ever since Lin Sheng forced the sixteen rules out, he was thoroughly disgusted by it. Only due to their friendship that he did not speak out at first. And this time around, Russell was speaking for them as on a certain level Russell was reiterating their position. ¡°How about you?¡± Lin Sheng had anticipated that. His expression was impassive. Shayeen was quiet before shaking her head. ¡°We are going on a path that is more and more treacherous, and any misstep would mean trouble. So, sorry...¡± She then looked down and did not say anything else. Both Madin and Shayeen had rejected him. Only Russell and Sarroux was left, and both of them demurred for a moment. ¡°Master Lin, there is really no need for this. Really, weren¡¯t we all happy together earlier?¡± Russell said with a conflicted feeling. And when he looked at Lin Sheng¡¯s impassive case, he suddenly felt a strange feeling. He was the one that supported Lin Sheng the most, and that was not just due to Lin Sheng bringing him into the Steelscale Club, or due to the admiration of his skill with the sword. Yes, Lin Sheng wore a halo of an idol in his eyes. But now... He looked at his best friends, both Shayeen and Madin were his childhood friends, and they had now stood against his idol And it was now his turn to state his position. ¡°Russell, your family won¡¯t allow you to do this,¡± Shayeen said. In her eyes, Lin Sheng was no longer simply a swordsmanship teacher. She had sensed an unknown emotion roiling within his eyes. Russell looked at his best friends, then to Lin Sheng before lowering his head. Sarroux suddenly sneered. ¡°I¡¯ll do whatever Master Lin does!¡± His words were golden and unusually decisive. ¡°You, Sarroux?!¡± Madin looked quizzically and bewildered at the resolute Sarroux. Sarroux did not bother with him. The only person Sarroux trust in the club was Lin Sheng, as for the rest, it was just that. If not for Lin Sheng, he would have beaten all three of them into pulps. ¡°I need to remind you, the patrol job quota was through my connections. I won¡¯t allow it to be used for that,¡± Shayeen said coldly. Her instinct told her that Lin Sheng had gone over the treacherous line, and she did not want to have anything to do with it. If she goes onto the path, and something happens, the consequences might be beyond her ability to bear. Chapter 71 - Resource: Part 2

Chapter 71: Resource: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Sarroux guffawed darkly. The grim expression on his face became even more apparent. Madin did not know what to do. Thest thing he wanted was to see hisrades turning against each other. Just then, Russell looked up and shook his head at Lin Sheng. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Master Lin...¡± He made his choice with a dilemmatic and helpless expression on the face. Sarroux stood up abruptly and threw the others with a cold nce. ¡°Master Lin, why are we still sitting there? Since they have refused to join us, they are not on our side. There is nothing to talk about anymore.¡± ¡°Sit down, Sarroux. Let us finish the meal first. They were once ourrades, even though they no longer support us now. There is no need to be at loggerheads with each other.¡± Lin Sheng was calm, his face devoid of any emotion. ¡°I apologize, Master Lin. I couldn¡¯t control my temper.¡± Sarroux sat back down with an evil smile. Lin Sheng sat straight up, his slightly muscr arms resting on the armrests. ¡°You all may no longer support me, but I will still treat you all like my brothers.¡± Upon hearing this, Russell felt a great sense of relief, but Shayeen and Madin were unfazed. In their mind, Lin Sheng was only a sword instructor. They had helped him a couple of times before, but he was treating them like his subordinates. So, when self-esteem kicked in, they start to think about Lin Sheng¡¯s as well as their backgrounds and categorically declined his offer. However, Russell had a different mind; he did not want to lose a teacher and a friend like Lin Sheng. ¡°Master Lin... I...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t¡¯ say it. You all may not agree with my way, but I won¡¯t sit by if trouble befalls any of you,¡± Lin Sheng said calmly. ¡°Excuse me.¡± Shayeen got to her feet and headed for the door. Immediately, Madin excused himself and followed Shayeen out. When the two reached the doorway, they turned to look back at Russell. ¡°Goodbye,¡± Shayeen said. Russell looked at the doorway, and Lin Sheng, face twisted in a dilemma. ¡°Master Lin...¡± ¡°Go.¡± Lin Sheng smiled at him. ¡°Master Lin, find me if you need me!¡± said Russell, gritting his teeth. ¡°I will be there for you at the drop of a hat!¡± ¡°Go now.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. Reluctantly, Russell got up and left with the two. With only Lin Sheng and Sarroux, the hotpot table appeared toorge for the two of them. ¡°Heck, these kids know nothing.¡± Sarroux sneered. ¡°Sarroux.¡± Lin Sheng shifted his attention to him. ¡°Why are you willing to follow me? One thing you should know;ing from an average family, I have nothing aside from a little sword-fighting know-how.¡± ¡°Because I trust you!¡± Sarroux spread out his hands. ¡°You¡¯re the only person who has been practicing Naxi swordsmanship to this level. Those kids have no clue what it means with this level of martial art attainment. It takes more than interest and merely a few years of practice.¡± ¡°So, do you mean that you¡¯ve seen people like me before?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°Yeah. My master is such a person. Also, devoted and passionate practitioners are willing to sacrifice everything for martial arts,¡± Sarroux said in veneration as he recalled the seniors and elders that he once met. ¡°Perhaps they are old and frail and may not as strong as I am now. However, the sacrifice, perseverance, and blood and sweat that they put in are unimaginable.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never met such persons, ¡°Lin Sheng appeared regrettable, ¡°who would sacrifice everything for martial arts.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a shame that human abilities are finite¡ªboth lifespan and strength-wise. Not many could go all the way to the top at the end.¡± Sarroux¡¯s face turned doleful as if he had thought of something. ¡°Now, since you have parted way with Shayeen and the others, your junior fellow will lose his job. Do you regret it?¡± asked Lin Sheng after a while of silence. Shaking his head, Sarroux replied, ¡°It¡¯s a give and take. Isn¡¯t it so?¡± ¡°You seem to have a positive mindset.¡± Lin Sheng smiled and got to his feet. ¡°Come one, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°After you.¡± Lin Sheng went out of the hotpot restaurant with Sarroux following from behind. From that tonight onwards, Ironfist Club was officially divided in half. Before parting their way, Lin Sheng had asked Sarroux¡¯s help to identify those who were willing to join him and to look for a new venue. After all, the rental in the ckwater district was cheap. He gave Sarroux £¤100,000 as seed money, and as long as the ce was below 300 square meters, the rent should not be a concern. Lin Sheng had to know how many people trust him, absolutely. But he did not expect it to be many. He could not care less, however. He was looking for quality, not quantity. After the night at the hotpot restaurant, a tiny new club called Ironfist Aid Society was born. Sarroux would be responsible for growing its membership. But with most people joining clubs as a way to make a connection, there was no surprise that no one cared to take a look at the aid society that had no whatsoever connections. Sarroux pounded the pavement for three days, except for his junior fellow, no one wanted to join his aid society. But Lin Sheng was not discouraged, as this was not unexpected. His priority was to find a way to make money. Midnight at Golden Grand Casino, Huaisha. Golden Grand Casino was thergest casino in the city, owned by the notorious Chen brothers. For this reason, no one had dared to make troubles in the area surrounding the casino. Since Chen Hang, the tycoon owner of the casino, passed down his business to his son, Golden Grand Casino had undergone significant transformation with its gambling business quickly growing even more profitable and popr than before. At this time of the night, the street in front of the casino was jammed pack with traffic. Vehicles of all make ferrying patrons to the casino were dropping them off at the entrance. Groups of guests, some of them walking with an arm around each other¡¯s shoulder, some in sanctimonious expression, wereing in and out from the casino. Those who wereing in were enthusiastic, and those who were leaving looked utterly wretched. There were a few exceptions, though. The few lucky ones came out, beaming with women in their arms. Among them was Larsthu, who had won £¤170,000 on the table tonight¡ªthe singlergest amount Larsthu had ever won since he started patronizing the casino long ago. Larsthu was overjoyed with the win. He came out wanting to wave down a taxi to bring the casino girl he had just hired to the hotel. After leaving the casino area, the surroundings became deserted. There was not much traffic and pedestrians on the streets. Larsthu shook his head, realizing that he had one too many and needing the girl to hold him walking in a straight line. ¡°No taxi yet? How long do we have to wait?¡± the girlined. ¡°I should have driven myself...¡± Larsthu replied tipsily. ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous to carry so much cash.¡± The girl was worried. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. No one knows.¡± Larsthu smiled wryly. Before he knew it, he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head. His eyes turned white, and he fell unconscious to the ground. The casino girl, wearing a short skirt standing beside Larsthu, was shocked when she saw a man, face covered in a ck scarf, rapidly approaching. Before she could scream it out, she was hit on her head, dropping unconscious to the ground. All it took was ten minutes for the man to run away with all their money. Chapter 72 - Resource: Part 3

Chapter 72: Resource: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion For Lin Sheng, getting cash was easy, especially after he found out the identity of the perpetrator who was aiming for his dad. Carrying Larsthu¡¯s leather trunk full of cash and ignoring the unconscious man and woman on the ground, he snapped his fingers. A crow flew by, circling in the air overhead. With the cash in hand, Lin sheng quickly left the scene. Larsthu was one of the targets that he chose randomly. There had been three targets before this. And all of them were patrons who had won a fortune from Golden Grand Casino. He tucked away all the money that he had gotten by burying them in the ground in the suburbs. He did note purely for money. Chen Tan in Golden Grand Casino was his real target, while the robbery was only a smokescreen to hitting the business of the casino. Besides, in the memories that he had acquired through killing his targets, he had found covert skills. In particr, Annie, the target that he had killed in the residence of Sir Kaarman, possessed pretty badass covert skills. He had learned how it worked though he did not inherit too much of it. After robbing three persons in session and hiding away the money, Lin Sheng took off his mask and returned to the scene where Larsthu was lying. By now, the police had arrived at the scene with red throb lights of the police patrol vehicle shing by the side of the road while police officers took statements from the two victims. Disregarding the two victims, Lin Shengid his eyes on the tall and burly casino security personnel who were escorting a man. Wearing a ck suit with a beard on his face, the man seemed to be the top manager of the casino. His face looked solemn as he spoke softly on the phone. Lin Sheng blended into the crowd of onlookers, standing from afar under themppost, watching. Not long after, as the police brought the two victims and left, the bearded man outside the casino turned around and was about to leave. Lin Sheng quietly followed with swift and light footsteps. Coming to an alley, he turned in, quickly flipped his jacket and wore it inside out, and then put on a facemask and a cap. Backing out from the alley again, he kept up with the bearded man in front. Dark and quiet ces were the hotbed of crimes in this country where street-surveince cameras were severelycking. While walking, the bearded man seemed to be talking to the security personnel beside him. Lin Sheng quickly lunged forward. The carrying case on his back suddenly clicked open with his ck-sword sheath knocking silently on the back of the head of a burly bodyguard, who cked out and quickly fell unconscious to the ground. ¡°Who the hell is it?¡± Shocked, the other bodyguards looked back. But it was toote; Lin Sheng¡¯s speed was too fast. Five brawny men were hit on the back of their heads and fell senseless to the ground. While the rest were still dithering about whether to run or to fight, Lin Sheng had leaped forward, knocking every one of them, including the bearded man, unconscious to the ground. Lin Sheng stood breathlessly in the dark. Taking out a dozen men in one go was quite a challenge to his current level of sword skills. Taking in mind that knocking them all out without killing them in just a few seconds required delicate control of one¡¯s force, which was a hard row to hoe. Especially when considering his physical strength or theck of it. But he managed to pull it off because of his recent training making him a little better than peers of his age. After regrizing his breathing, Lin Sheng walked up to the bearded man, squatting down to check his body. Quickly, he found a cellphone, a stack of business cards, and a brown leather wallet. Printed on the business card were the beady man¡¯s name and position: Chen Risheng, General Manager of Golden Grand Entertainment. He thought for a while and dragged the bearded man into the alley, not far away. There, he pped the man on the face. When the man slowly came out of his unconsciousness and saw Lin Sheng, whose face was masked in a ck scarf, he screamed. But Lin Sheng gave him another quick bash, stopping his yelp and followed by squeezing his throat with his foot. Now, the bearded man could not even utter a groan. ¡°Where is Chen Tan?¡± Lin Sheng asked quietly. ¡°You¡ª¡± Lin Sheng squeezed harder on his throat, interrupting his words. ¡°Now, let¡¯s try again¡ªWhere is Chen Tan?¡± ¡°I¡ªI don¡¯t know!¡± Lin Sheng stomped on his left leg without warning, and a soft crack in the bone was heard. Just as the bearded man was about to cry in pain, Lin Sheng applied more pressure on his throat to muffle him. ¡°Let me ask you for thest time: where is Chen Tan?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s voice was cold. Since Chen Tan dared to bounty-hunting him, then Chen Tan should be prepared to be hunted. ¡°In¡ªin Dongwu Tower... He¡¯s staying there to-tonight...¡± The bearded man stammered. ¡°Dongwu Tower?¡± ¡°D¡¯oh... You don¡¯t want to go there! Red Stoats are there!¡± The bearded man retorted as if he had something else in mind. ¡°The Red Stoat brothers? Lin Sheng¡¯s brows twitched and stepped on the bearded man¡¯s mouth, rubbing all the ck soil and dirt on the outsoles of his pointed ck leather shoes in his mouth. The bearded man tried to turn his face away, but the force of Lin Sheng¡¯s foot rendered him helpless. Lin Sheng looked down, held the sword in his hand, and drew his sword slightly out of the sheath. That small part of the de exposed in the slit reflected the cold, faintly yellow streetlight in the dark. ¡°Give me the exact location. And who are the Red Stoat brothers?¡± The bearded many stiffly on the ground. Twenty minutester. Level-6, Dongwu Tower. Chen Tan wore a nightdress leering at the blonde who was stretching her attractive body near the window. She was the reason he liked to stay here. Swirling the ss of light-blue cocktail in his hand before downing it all in his throat, he could not help but think of Chen Huan again. He was sleeping with other women just to vent his desire. But to him, Chen Huan was different. He had never forced her. All this while, he had been quietly protecting her behind the scene. He rose to his feet, walked to the window and overlooked the night skyline of the city down below. ¡°I¡¯ve been working hard for six years for thisnd of prosperity,¡± he muttered. ¡°It¡¯s been six-year. From rag to riches, aside from the one million yuan from my father, I¡¯ve never gotten any other help. The so-called transfer was only a dog and pony show.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the man, Brother Chen!¡± said the blonde, leaned mousily in his arms. ¡°Will you stay with me like this?¡± Chen Tan said softly while grabbing the woman¡¯s waist and pulling her to himself. ¡°I¡ª¡± Just as the woman looked up and was about to answer. ¡°Staying to die together?¡± A voice was heard outside the door as a sword pierced straight through where the door lock was before retracting immediately. The door was swung open as Lin Sheng sashayed in with fresh blood, slowly dripping down his sword. Outside, two hulk men kneeled death on the floor, eyes-wide-open with blood oozing out onto the surface. Chen Tan turned his head, his pupils contracting. ¡°Who the heck are you?¡± Before his voice trailed off, he had sprung up toward the cupboard nearby, reaching for the drawer. A light shed across the air, slitting Chen Tan¡¯s throat wide open with blood spurting out continuously from the wound onto the carpet below. ¡°Aah!¡± The blonde grabbed a vase about to throw it at Lin Sheng. But a sword went through her forehead into her skull in extremely precision before she kneeled down and dropped face-down on the floor. Lin Sheng stood there and waited quietly for a while. ¡°There¡¯s no ck thread?¡± He was a little stunned before realizing that he had just killed a possibly innocent girl. It was an instinctive move when he killed her, but he had never wanted to im an innocent life. Before this, all those who died under his sword were armed. ¡°What a shame...¡± This was undoubtedly his first time killing people in the real world. But the action seemed familiarly fluid in his head. He calmly turned around, walked out of the room, and took the elevator down to the lobby. When he emerged from the tower, the crow circling in the air above him almost seemed to blend into the darkness. Just then, a shrill was hearding out of the tower. Apparently, someone was shocked to find the dead bodies. The crow suddenly came down on Lin Sheng¡¯s shoulder in a swoop before Lin Sheng picked up his pace and disappeared into the darkness. Chapter 73 - Turbulence: Part 1

Chapter 73: Turbulence: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The Red Weasels, who robbed and killed fourteen people in session, were once the most notorious robbers and serial killers in Huaisha. Theck of substantial evidence on the part of the prosecution and with someone greasing the wheel behind the scene, the brothers were eventually only sentenced to four and six years in prison respectively. At one time, it became headline news in Huaisha when the duo was released from prisonter. Back then, Lin Sheng was still small and felt it interesting when his dad, Lin Zhounian, was babbling all the time about the Red Weasel brothers. But at his moment, he was standing on the road leading to the abandoned industrial zone, seeing for the first time the gang that he had heard since childhood. Two men, thin and bald, wearing maroon leather jackets, looking alike except for one was tall, and the other was short, was riding a motorcycle zooming past Lin Sheng. They were not in Dongwu Tower when the killing happened, apparently. They immediately rushed back to the scene upon receiving the news, but it was a little toote. Standing at the empty street in the middle of the night, Lin Sheng nced around and saw only a few drunkards sitting by the roadside. Those who were sober like him would be either drug addicts or thieves. The two brothers, face hideous, sped past him at high speed and quickly disappeared from his field of vision. He retracted his gaze and hurried to the location where he buried the money. He would never forget that he was ambushed and put on the bounty-hunting list online. That was why after Ironfist Aid Society grew stronger, he began quietly tracing the perpetrator behind the swordsmanship tournament with the help of his peerwork. Soon, the truth finally surfaced. Chen Tan, the son of the head of the gangster group in Huaisha, Chen Hang, was the man Lin Sheng was looking for. Chen Hang was also one of the bosses of the White Tarots. Chen Tan did not even bother to hide his hands when he made the secretly move against Chen Huan¡¯s opponents. He had done it more than once, and it happened that this time, Lin Sheng was his target. ¡°The head of the gangsters? This will be a littleplicated. I¡¯d better not use the money for now. At least, not locally.¡± Lin Sheng quickly returned to the bushes where the money was hidden and used his sword to dig up the cash wrapped in arge stic bag and then buried the sword. He went straight to the factory where he had held the ceremony before with the money. In the warehouse, two ck backpacks were piled in a corner under a few dirty nks, looking inconspicuous and like a pile of garbage in the dark at first nce. Lin Sheng went in, closed the door behind him before walking to the corner, and opened one of the backpacks, taking out aplete set of material for the Beckoning Ceremony. From the other backpack, he then took out a semi-transparent bottle that contained a fat silkworm-like insect. At the length of almost two knuckles, the bug was creeping in the gravel in the bottle. This was the second covenant creature that Lin Sheng had thought of. If the crow was just an experiment, then this bug was the beginning of his formal covenant. ¡°The queen of the flying ants. It took me some effort to order this thing.¡± Lin Sheng lifted the bottle looking at the queen in satisfaction. He had pondered about it for a long time before deciding on the flying ants as his second pet. He had no idea if there was anyone in ckfeather City using insects as a covenant object. But he thought it was a good idea. Flying ants were better than crows in that once they had formed a swarm, they would be his pervasive guards in the air as well as in the ground. The flying ants that he specifically ordered from the pet store owner were also poisonous. He had spent well over £¤5,000, which was a significant part of his fund, to get his hand on this awesome thing. The other material was leftovers from the previous ceremony. There was almost no loss of anything after making a covenant with the crow. So, Lin Sheng nned to reuse them for the second ceremony. Lin Sheng skillfully arranged a ritual circle, ced the sticky paste that he had prepared in several fixed positions before taking out the queen ant and put it in the center of the array. ¡°Let¡¯s hope everything goes smoothly.¡± He took a few steps backward, took out a knife and disinfected it before standing solemnly in front of the ritual array. When the knife cooled down, he pointed the de at his other hand and swiftly slit across his palm. As blood dripped down onto the ckbloom flower in the center, Lin began to sing a strange, tongue-twister-like activation incantation. After chanting for five rounds, he stopped and dressed his wound on his palm. Then, he stepped forward and went on his knees. Only then, he discovered that the sticker paste in the array seemed to have been oxidized and look dull. It was unlike the mixture of crystal and silver powders. The gold blocks on the side were covered in a thickyer of gray as if it had turned into a different kind of bullion. Lin Sheng looked at the queen ant in the center of the array and reach to touch it. An electric shock-like numb quickly spread from his finger and entered his body. Unlike thest time, the numbness onlysted for a brief moment before it went away. Lin Sheng quickly settled his eyesight and stared at the queen ant on the ground. ¡°Move.¡± Hemanded with his mind. But the queen ant did not move a muscle. He frowned. Using his finger, he gently poked the queen ant. Yet, it was still not moving. He decided to flip the queen ant belly up. ¡°Is she dead?¡± While doing so, the queen did not show the slightest movement, and even her body seemed to be somewhat stiff. The same sense of body extension as he experienced with the crow did not materialize. By now, he knew that the ceremony had failed. Getting up to his feet, Lin Sheng quickly wrapped up the stic sheet and stuffed it into his bag. After making sure that he did not leave behind anything, he found a nearby ce, wrapped all the money and buried it underground. He specifically looked for a rtively dry spot near a stone pile to avoid mold built-up. He was only hiding it temporarily. After a while, he would have to find a way to transfer it to another location. After cleaning up the site, Lin Sheng headed out to the road nearby, hoping to get a taxi. Perhaps it waste at night, for a long time, he did not manage to stop one. He made up his mind and walked back to his house. After all, it was only a dozen kilometers, and he did not even need to walk all the way. When he reached some rtively urbanized area, he could wave down a taxi anytime. Lin Sheng left the crow at the site where he kept his money, leaving behind some eggs and fruits as food in a basket hung high at the warehouse. While on his way home, Lin Sheng analyzed that the cause of his failure was probably because of one of the taboos of the ceremony. He should not make a covenant with creatures whose body size were too far apart from him. In the case of ants, he was toorge, and it was only natural that the ceremony failed. Now, he had wasted a lot of material. £¤100,000 worth of material could only be used twice. Lin Sheng was frustrated. When he arrived back in the Huilian neighborhood, it was five in the morning. He told his parents that he was staying at a friend¡¯s house; going home at this hour would seem odd. So, he decided to hang out around the area. He bought a newspaper at a newsstand, came to a bun shop that had just opened and ordered an oversized meat bun. I bought a newspaper in the newsstand, sat in the bun shop that opened the door, and ordered a big meat bun. The bun-soy milkbination was heavenly as one was oil and the other refreshing. Lin Sheng wolfed down four buns in total. Xilin Daily was a national publication. Its headline for the day was ¡± War Breaks Out: Protracted or Infiltration? ¡± Chapter 74 - Turbulence: Part 2

Chapter 74: Turbulence: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Redwin has finallyunched the war!¡± Lin Sheng squinted, taking a quick nce at the news. An infiltration battle has broken out on the beach outside of Lucerne, the seaport in the north of Pearl Ocean on 14th, 4.00 pm. Our troop, led by Major-General Fermat, sessfully drove out the invading special forces of Redwin. ording to casualty figures, a hundred and thirty-five invading special soldiers are dead, and our side has lost thirteen soldiers. Beneath the text was a color photo of the beach-battle aftermath. There were no bodies but only sporadic bullet holes and explosion craters. Further down was various analyses and statistics. The news reported that Redwin was weak and dogged by domestic unrest and foreign aggression. Unaware of its dwindling support from the people, Redwin was no match for Great Xilin, and the fragile Redwin would lose a protracted war. But considering that this was only a state-owned publication, it was expected to be partial and distorted in its reporting. So, Lin Sheng continued to browse through other news. What surprised him was that many neighboring countries held an opposing stance against Xilin. While some countries were urging for restraint from both sides, they actually did not allow any Xilinian vessels from entering their waters. Also, some countries were using Xilin of seizing the mineral resources of other nations. The Xilinian government was heavily distorting and altering the news to make themselves look the most innocent and strongest. However, they could not cover up everything, especially the details. ¡°It¡¯s getting all the more chaotic.¡± Lin Sheng rolled up the newspaper, paid for the food, and left the restaurant. Quickly, he headed back to the newsstand and bought a local newspaper, Huaisha Daily. The headline zing across the front page was about his ¡®masterpiece¡¯st night. Terror in Dongwu Tower! Bandit murdering twelve and fleeing under the cover of night has been gunned down by police at a roadblock. ¡°Gunned down?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s eyelid twitched. He finally understood why Huaisha was such a dangerous ce. The goddamn police department had issued a press statement saying that they had cracked the case all in the name of maintaining public order. ¡°This is simply...¡± Lin Sheng could not find a word to describe his disgust. No wonder the gangsters could spit in the face of thew with so many murder cases. After discarding the two newspapers into the garbage bin, he entered Huilian Neighborhood and walked toward his house with his hands in his jacket pockets. ¡°Next, I will have to wait for Sarroux to determine the list of people he can get.¡± In fact, Lin Sheng did not mind how many people there were, all he cared about was the actual influence he could amass. His former club might look good on the outside, but there was no internal cohesion, and everyone was looking after his or her own interest. When pressure arrived, the club would crumble in the blink of an eye. Initially, he had wanted to wait until he could build up his reputation before setting up a mutual-aid society. But time was not on his side. The official narrative of the previous explosion incident was that it was the explosion of tons of firecrackers, but he hadter heard of another version. It was said that the st was, in fact, the work of spy detonating the ammunition depot at the Fort Whitehawk. In the following days, shes had arisen between Xilin and Redwin on the near sea with battleships from both sides firing at each other. Not a single media in the country had reported the incident or its oue, but it was the non-reporting itself that was the most troubling. With the times getting more turbulent, he felt an urgent need to increase his self-defense capability. Sneaking back into his home, Lin Sheng went to check on his parents¡¯ bedroom. It was locked. Apparently, they were still asleep. He changed into his slippers, went back to his room, took off this jacket before going into the washroom to wash his hands and face. He left his sword and its carrying case, which were stained with blood, buried in the money pit in the wilderness. Despite killing twelve people in one night, there was not a single bloodstain on his clothes and body except for the inconspicuous one on his chin. A simple face wash would clean that up thoroughly. After cleaning up everything, Lin Sheng climbed into bed and slowly fell asleep. With the ongoing uncertainty and the crow doing the recon earlier, he was not worried about being traced. Neither there would be a police dog following his trail. He had been traversing in the wilderness where usually there was strong wind at night, and odor would notst for long. Shad, the head of Huaisha Police Department, stood in his office talking on the phone with sweat trickling down his wrinkled fat chin. His face was pale, and he was in a panic. ¡°Yes, Sir. Understood. The killer has been gunned down! Absolutely, I swear!¡± Shad said assuredly. ¡°There won¡¯t be next time! We have sent the best IOs.¡± ¡°Please be assured, Sir! I will get things in order! Absolutely!¡± As the call ended, Shad dropped back down in his ck leather chair, which creaked loudly in protest under Shad¡¯s over one hundred kilograms of weight. Grabbing the tissue papers on his desk, Shad wiped his face, soaking up all the sweat on his skin before discarding them all into the bin. All twelve-murder victims in Dongwu Towerst night were the thugs of White Tarots. Everyone in the gangster group was furious. Making use of his political connection, Chen Hang demanded the police to find and catch the murderer as soon as possible. That was why Shad had received the telephone call from his superior. He ran his carrot-like fingers through his hair, his fat face twisting together. He would already have solved the case if he could. But the scene ofst night¡¯s murder was so horrific that it even shocked the police officers at the scene, including him. Two senior police officers, who were quite authoritative, opined that the killer took no more than ten minutes from entering the tower until killing Chen Tan. It meant that within those ten minutes, the twelve thugs were defenseless like sitting ducks. At least eight of the victims were professional firearm training instructors. The wounds of all the victims were different; some were tearing, some deep cut, some stab wound, and some wound caused by hard objects. Experts even suspected that ancient weapons like the flying hammer had been used, and there could be multiple killers. ¡°Solve the case? How?¡± Shad mmed his hand on the expensive ckwood desk. He was in fear. Not just him, but all police officers who had been at the scene that night were in fear. Killing twelve men in ten minutes with over half of the victims were trained gunmen, the killer just walked away unscathed and left no trace behind. There was no sign of struggle and no fingerprints¡ªnot even shoe print. Dispirited, Shad wiped his face again. Messing with such vicious ruffians were thest thing he wanted. He just wished he could stay a few more years in the job to amass a little more money. His men were all slick shirkers. Asides from nabbing some small-time offenders like thieves and rapists, he could not count on them in capturing the psycho killer who slew his victims like cutting winter melon. Dispatching them to catch the killer would mean sending them to certain death. Shad was at his wits¡¯ end; there was no one whom he could count on. ¡°Forget it. After all, Chen Hang wouldn¡¯t just sit by and do nothing. I will leave it to him!¡± Shad had made up his mind not to interfere in the case as he knew those at the top would not give a shit. The war broke out. The ammunition depot of the Whitehawk Fleet, one of the three marine fleets of the Xilinian military, was attacked earlier and suffering huge losses. Following that, a sea battle ensued. After learning the news from his formerrade in the military, Shad was struck dumb. So, who would bother to look at the murder case? ¡°Wait it out! As long as the killer does not continue his killing spree, things will be forgotten quickly, and Chen Hang will take care of the rest.¡± Shad thought for a moment and determined as such. Since the killer could kill Chen Tan despite his watertight security measures, he could likewise kill him in the police station. After all, fear was part of human nature. Chapter 75 - Turbulence: Part 3

Chapter 75: Turbulence: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Tree leaves of ckish-green color were dancing with susurration in the breeze. In the meadow, Lin Sheng was lying on his back, slowly opening his eyes. ¡°Such a lifeless ce.¡± He sat up with a nk face. Asides from the rustling of the leaves, there was not a single buzz from any insects, birds, nor wild animals. He checked looked down to check his body. ck workout suit and sneakers¡ªhe wore this outfit before going to sleep. Nearby, the ck sword, with which he had been familiarized, was nted slightly angled in the ground. Lin Sheng got to his feet, walked up, and retracted the ck sword. The soft soil made pulling the sword out effortless. He held the sword before his eyes and found that the edge of the de was full of chips, the tip had broken off, and the section near the hilt was slightly twisted. Swinging the sword in his hand and feeling it awkward, he sighed. But he did not discard it. Instead, he took it with him and made out where he was. Those many fragmented memories that he had acquired did not contain any knowledge that could help him survive in the wild. ¡°Going up to the higher ground will never go wrong.¡± After determining the direction, Lin Sheng headed up the slope. He wanted to go to the castle that he saw from the air before, as the things that he was looking for could be there. As the wind rustled in the trees and swayed their branches overhead, it sounded as if waves were hitting the shore. Lin Sheng trekked in between the trees, slowly making his way up. He stumbled up a slope and climbed up the rocks along the vines. By going around the waterfall with strong current and threading on a jungle path, he could make his way up the dangerous cliff. Using the ck sword as a walking stick, Lin Sheng made the climb all the way up. asionally, he could hear gravel under his feet fall off the cliff into the dark gorge below. He leaned his back as close as possible against the rock wall surface, ncing down asionally at the seemingly bottomless abyss while inching to the left. He was going sideways because the path under his feet was only a palm-wide. It was the only way. The biting cold mountain wind blew in the face, but Lin Sheng gritted his teeth and pressed on. Something started to perplex him; he had been in the dream for a long time, yet he did not feel like he was going to wake up any time soon. The higher he climbed, the colder the air became. The towering trees in the surroundings had turned from brown into grey with their canopy covered in white. There was also snow on the ground. Standing on the mountainous path, Lin Sheng firmly nted his ck sword in the frozen ground and looked up at the massive castle above. As clear icepletely covered the winding track leading to the castle, he had to thrust his sword into the frozen soil to stabilize himself on the slippery surface. Otherwise, he could have slipped and plunged down the cliff. Lin Sheng looked as water vapor from his breathing quickly dissipated in the air. Right now, all he could hear was the whine of the frosty wind, which sounded as if the blowing of the horns in his ears,pletely masking other sounds in the surroundings. The mysterious, massive, grayish-white castle standing silently in the snow seemed to have disappeared against its white backdrop. Lin Sheng looked back down and continued trudging up along the icy path. He was almost exhausted. But luckily, hisnding spot was not far from the castle. Had it been farther away, it might take him an extra day or two before he could reach his destination. Half an hourter, Lin Shengnded on the edge of the vast teau where the castle was. Leaning on his sword, he panted looking at the castle. In front of the entrance, the steps, covered in ck ice, were glistening with a faint blue light on the sharp edges. The entrance, brown and in an arch shape, was nked by a pair of statues in the form of the upper body of two nuns. They wore hoods with their arms folded in front of their chests looking down at visitors with a pair of gentle eyes. Just like the castle, the material of the statues was gray stone. Oddly, there were faint tear marks that looked like dried blood under their eyes. After taking a rest, Lin Sheng slowly walked toward the castle. The strong wind on the teau sounded as if someone was roaring in his ears, breaking his eardrums. His ears were getting frostbite from the stinging cold air. He came before the castle and nced up at the two nun statues. As he held his sword and walked up the stairs, the clear ice crackled under his feet. Standing in front of the entrance, which was at the height of three persons, he reached out to push it open. But the door did not even budge a bit as there the entire door, and door gap had been frozen in ice. The cold was unbearable, and Lin Sheng was only wearing autumn attire. Since he could not open the front door, he looked around and quickly found a ck handle on the wall to his right where there was arge keyhole below the handle. ¡°Can¡¯t get in without a key?¡± Lin Sheng frowned. He tried to pull the handle, and just as he had expected, it did not yield. Coming back down from the steps, he began to walk around the castle wall. Soon, he found a spot under a low window from where he could get in. It was a ck, metal iron door, ajar with a rusty padlock still hanging on the handle, and open to a small yard on the nk. He took a deep breath and walked in. Inside, weed had taken over the yard with overgrown wild white vines covering the wall. Grass struggled in the cold, trying to stay above the snow, but it seemed bleak. He passed through the yard and came before a side entrance. The door creaked open slowly as he pushed it, revealing a dark, long passageid with red carpet. He stepped inside and prowled along the over twenty-meter-long passage, at the end of which was a small hall that looked like a lounge or something. A firece, an ornate chandelier light, a rocking chair, and the gray nket on it, and two harps under the wall were the main things in the hall. Lin Sheng saw a small red book covered in dust on the rocking chair, opened and ced face-up on the nket. The page on the left had a title clearly printed in Ancient Rehn: ¡± The Proverbs of Eternal Light, below which was a line of scrawled text: God, please tell me what to do. I will pray and pray all day and night. Even though I recite the proverbs and light surges in my body, I still feel incredibly fearful.¡± Further below was the main content. ¡± Weed out the evil and spread the light. Light is not God. It is neither power, weapon, nor walls. It is my heart, my spirit, the cohesion of everything of me, and the only mirror in my heart. I am determined and steadfast with an unyielding spirit. My heart is my eyes, by which I can see the light. And my light can illuminate the soul! My heart is my living soul, and it is holy. When I am fearless, light will shine on everything.¡± ¡°Should I?¡± Lin Sheng felt an urge to recite the passage, and he knew he would not die for real. He was far more reckless in the dream than in real life. Chapter 76 - Surging: Part 1

Chapter 76: Surging: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°I am determined and steadfast with an unyielding spirit.¡± Lin Sheng paused as he felt something burning in his body. He then continued, ¡°My heart is my eyes, by which I can see the light. And my light can illuminate the soul! My heart is my living soul, and it is holy. When I am fearless, light will shine on everything.¡± A bright white light suddenly lit up before his eyes. Strangely, the white light did not illuminate the ground in the surrounding as if it only appeared on Lin Sheng¡¯s retinas. It floated there for a while before slowly faded away. However, Lin Sheng could still feel a warmth beating in his body after the light was gone. In another ce deep inside the castle, though, another warmth was resonating with the one in him. ¡°Is it just a preamble?¡± Lin Sheng would be living in vain he still did not know what it was; this proverb was an activation key that triggered the power in the book. And judging from the feel of it, this power existed in two ces in the castle. One was in the book before him, and the other was deep inside the castle. ¡°Interesting.¡± He tucked the book into the pocket of his workout wear, carried the ck sword, and strode in the direction from where the resonance came. He was out of the hall into a dark stone corridor, where grayish-white tapestries hung on both sides. These rectangr tapestries were mostly made of animal fur, iid with gold or silver, and once used to keep warm. He could see the different images and patterns woven on the tapestries as he walked past them. He padded as quiet as possible up the corridor, which spiraled upward with beautiful moire tiles on the ground. After about five minutes of walking, a grayish-yellow wooden door finally appeared on the right. Thick and delicately made, the oval-shaped door was embedded in the wall, very much like that of the cabin on a ship. Lin Sheng slowly came up to it, reached for the ring-shaped door handle, and gave it a gentle push. It did not move. So, he pulled it, and it creaked open. Inside was a round, yellow room, which was empty except for two white shields of swords-crossing pattern hanging on each side. A figure, wearing a full set of white armor and a horned helmet, was squatting on the carpet motionless with his back facing Lin Sheng. At two meters tall and with two-meter-wide shoulders, the figured looked like a tank. Lin Sheng held his breath, fearing that he might waken this thing. Nevertheless, he noticed that the armor that the figure wore was at least one phnx of a finger thick. At this thickness, the armor was at least several hundred kilograms in weight, he figured out from the fragmented memories. Not wanting to mess with this thing, he slowly closed the oval door back, and it shut with a soft click. Lin Sheng breathed a sigh of relief, stepped back, and continued to tramp up the corridor. A loud bang was heard behind him as a giant white shadow had broken through the wooden door, charging at him with a white gold giant shield. Standing at three meters tall, the white warrior looked like a tank, almost shrouding Lin Sheng in his shadow. Sensing the threat, Lin Sheng rolled forward instinctively. A loud boom ensued as an impact shattered the stone floor of the castle, sending broken stones flying out in all directions and hitting him like bullets. A half-meter pit appeared behind Lin Sheng. With no time to think, he reacted with a back-thrust, aiming straight at the gap at the neck of the white-armor figure. The white-armor figure parried by knocking and shattering Lin Sheng¡¯s sword, instantly sending shrapnel of the de flying. The powerful force flung Lin Sheng up into the corridor wall with blood spurting out of his mouth. He got up and ran as quick as he could, but the white-armor figure was no slough despite the heavy armor. There simply was no match between them as the strength difference between them was too big. Ignoring the excruciating pain, Lin Sheng scrambled up the corridor. His defense-enhancing Ashen Seal had protected him from the impact, sparing him from suffering severe injury. Even so, the minor injuries felt terrible. Lin Sheng ran as fast as he could, but the white-armor figure was just as quick as it chased from behind. With the white golden shield in one hand and the white heavyweight spear in the other, it looked like the white-armor figure was taking no prisoners. Even the solid stonewall of the castle broke off like soft tofu under the weight of the white-armor figure. He quickly reached the end of the winding corridor, where an all-metal, ck staircase would lead him to the partly open ck arch door upstairs. Climbing up the stairs on all fours, Lin Sheng reached the door and quickly pulled it open. As soon as he lunged into the ck door, a loud crash was heard behind him. The door and the entire doorframe gave way and were violently flung out and down the castle. By now, Lin Sheng only realized that behind the ck door, it was a rooftop tform on the side of the castle. The tform was not level, however. It was constructed at a 45 degree angled slope with a chimney in the front and an iron rail guard all around. Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat. As soon as Lin Sheng dodged aside, the white-armor figure missed its target and lunged past him. Just when the white-armor figure managed to stabilize itself, blue veins appeared on Lin Sheng¡¯s skin and wrinkles on his forehead, Lin Sheng had blue veins appearing on his skin and wrinkles on his forehead as he lunged forward and violently rammed the white-armored figure from behind in a ming Sacred Blood move. The three-meter-tall white-armor figure lost its bnce, tumbled and rolled down the sloping tform, damaging the surface with cracks and holes with its immense weight. The white-armor figure tried to grab the rail guard, but the frozen surface was too slippery and unable to sustain its body weight. It eventually fell off the tform onto the snow down below. With still some signs of life initially, the white-armor figure then quickly became motionless. Lin Sheng stood on the rooftop and looked down. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw no more movement from the white-armor figure. A ck thread suddenly rose from below and flew up to him before entering his chest. Face pale and shocked, he pressed his hand on his chest. This was the first time it felt so terribly painful while absorbing the fragmented memories. It was as if a steel needle was repeatedly piercing through his heart, and this feeling went on for about ten seconds. As the absorbed memories turned into information in his head, Lin Sheng began to see the real identity and power of the white-armor figure. Chapter 77 - Surging: Part 2

Chapter 77: Surging: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Sacred Shield Tyrant?¡± Lin Sheng buried his head in his hands as he started to recall the vast volume of memories that he had just acquired. A myriad of chanting, sacred scriptures, and hypnotizing training processes began to sh across his mind. ¡°Damn it! This thing is a war machine through and through!¡± Lin Sheng stumbled backward, feeling his head was swelling and going to explode. The white-armor figure in the memories wasck of any personality. All he remembered was the time spent in a chamber as a priest hypnotized and brainwashed him by repeatedly chanting words from the scripture. He had long lost his personality and thinking ability. All he knew was to fight, fight, and fight. If not for Lin Sheng¡¯s strong mental resistance developed after acquiring arge number of fragmented memories earlier, and also the fact that it required a part of the brain to be removed for the training to work, the hypnotizing scriptures would have too brainwashed him into another madman loyal to the temple. He quickly realized that the danger of absorbing the fragmented memories. Still standing on the rooftop, Lin Sheng scanned the surroundings and quickly found a simr ck door opposite the one behind him. He ran toward it quickly and pushed it open. Once inside, the noise from the roaring wind reduced significantly. Again, a metal staircase was behind the ck door. In the spiraling corridor down below, there were broken pieces of a brown wooden shield, a cracked broadsword, and a skeleton still wearing a silver chain mail lying on the floor. ¡°It looks like an explorer.¡± Lin Sheng shut the door behind him and climbed down the stairs. He picked up the wooden shield and broadsword. After thinking for a moment, he decided to take down the chain mail from the skeleton and wore it. But it appeared a little loose on him. ¡°Well, I think I will have to make do with it.¡± Lin Sheng let out a sigh and casually swung the broadsword, which felt about 15 kg in his hands. The de of the one-meter-two, double-edged sword, which had some ck stuff residue on it, was only as thick as the nail of the index finger. ¡°It was a little heavy. But it should be just nice with Sacred Blood activated.¡± As Lin Sheng carried the broadsword and padded down the corridor, he sensed that he was getting nearer and nearer to the warmth of the proverbs. He kept his guard up as the memory of the horrible encounter with Sacred Shield Tyrant earlier still haunted him. Had he not taken advantage of the terrain and the fact that his opponent was brainless, he would have been dead and forced to wake up. So, he did not want more trouble. Before the thought went away, Lin Sheng saw a skinny figure wearing a gray robe leaning under the cross-framed window up ahead. The person sat there with his head lowered in his hoodie, so Lin Sheng could not see his face. The only thing that stood out was the pupil pattern on the robe in front of his face. ¡°Yet another pattern...¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s heart missed a beat, and he stopped involuntarily. The hypnotizer who chanted words from the scripture in the memories of Sacred Shield Tyrant was also in this very same attire. The priests who had the mystical power belonged to the powerful ss in the temple. Lin Sheng was only stopping slight, but the priest up ahead had noticed him. He lifted his dry and dark hand, pointing at Lin Sheng; a spinning fume that suddenly appeared in the air surged at Lin Sheng like a smoke column. Swelling with thunders and gleaming in a red light that looked likeva, the smoke column almost filled the entire corridor. Lin Sheng knew that he had no way to run but raised the wooden shield in the air. The ck smoke hit the wooden shield, and a loud boom ensued. The wooden shield looked just like any other regr shield, but the impact did not shatter it. The force only left behind a deep scar on its surface. Lin Sheng was sent flying backward as if a small car had hit him. ¡°Sacred Blood!¡± Lin Sheng roared, spun around in midair, and ground the broadsword on the wall to resist the backward momentum. After falling back for over five meters, he finally crashed into the wall behind him. His shoes and the broadsword was billowing in smoke as a result of the high heat generated from the enormous frictions. Even the air was filled with the burnt smell of his sports shoes. His muscles erged, and a hideous purple pattern appeared on his forehead. He raised the shield again, and the memories of Sacred Shield Tyrant instantly came to mind. ¡°Charge!¡± He stumped forward and sped up his movement by transferring the strength of all his muscles to his feet. ¡°Shield Bash!¡± Lin Sheng lifted the shield, keeping his body behind the shield as he channeled a violent power to his left shoulder. In an instant, he rammed into the gray-robe priest with his left shoulder backing the wooden shield. A ring of ck smoke appeared on the priest¡¯s body and deflected Lin Sheng¡¯s Shield Bash head-on. ¡°Lunging Thrust!¡± Lin Sheng roared and suddenly thrust his broadsword out from behind the shield. ¡°Kill!¡± Indescribable anger and hatred from the memories instantly took over Lin Sheng¡¯s thoughts, and unprecedented power of terror burst out of him. Holding the broadsword in the posture of Sacred Shield Tyrant, the terrifying power shredded the ck smoke with the broadsword going through the chest of the priest into the wall behind before it finally stopped. Lin Sheng roared like a beast looking at the priest pinned to the wall with his sword. The emotions of Sacred Shield Tyrant in his memories violently exploded like waves hitting the rocks. The priest struggled for a while on the wall before he lost his strength. The ck smoke that he could barely summon in his hands dissipated, and he died. ck blood began to flow down the wall and formed a pool of blood in the corner. Li Sheng dropped to his knees as Sacred Blood left him, leaving him in a state of extreme exhaustion. Just then, arge amount of ck smoke rose from the priest¡¯s body and formed a ck thread, which was thergest ever one that Lin Sheng had ever seen¡ªit was as thick as an arm. Drenched in sweat, he looked up and saw the python-like ck thread surged at him with an inexplicable roar and hideousness and disappeared into his chest along with arge number of images, voices, and instincts flooding into his mind. ¡°I will not let you down, Ancellia!¡± An inexplicable voice rang in Lin Sheng¡¯s ears. It was as if he was going to see hallucinations; a light appeared before his eyes, and below the light was a red-haired woman of athletic build, wearing a dark-gold armor and a pure white cloak on her back, standing on the ground fill od blood-red petals. ¡°Will we seed?¡± Lin Sheng felt he was speaking, but the voice was recognizably not his. It sounded hoarse and low. ¡°We must move forward. The sacred power is guiding me with the light in my heart. This is the only hope¡ªthe only answer.¡± The woman answered calmly and resolutely. The vision began to blur and dissolve into countless light dots. Lin Sheng kept his eyes wide open, and the dead gray-robe priest began to reappear before his eyes while the voices in his ears faded away. ¡°Damn it! The amount of the memories of this guy is so damnrge.¡± The information of the priest almost overloaded Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. Chapter 78 - Surging: Part 3

Chapter 78: Surging: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng fell off his bed. With muscle pain all over his body and underwear drenched in sweat, he seemed like he had performed a rigorous round of exercise. But lying on the cold surface of the floor did not make him feel as drowsy as before. Instead, there was a feeling of pleasant surprises. The priest that he had just killed was Dell Baffis, one of the admirers of Ancellia, the Sacred One, in the Snowgale Fortress. But this was not important. What was crucial was that the priest¡¯s memory contained the knowledge system of extraordinary ability that Lin Sheng had been looking for all this while. ¡°Before this, there was a monster that mastered the extraordinary power in ckfeather City, but it was ridiculously invincible. This one is a lot better.¡± Lin Sheng got to his feet, dusted his clothes before putting on a jacket. He checked the time; it was 6.35, which was still early. He could not wait to immerse himself into the memories of the priest. ¡°Firstly, it¡¯s a type of attack method, very much like ck smoke!¡± The surprised expression on his face faded away, and disappointment set in slowly as he rummaged through the memories. The priest had detailed memory about the extraordinary power. The ck smoke was thebination of multiple Ashen Seals forming the extraordinary power. Just like the one he had, this ck smoke required nine different types of Ashen Seals to create the Ring of the Ashen Seal, and the acquisition of the Ashen Seal must go through the sacred book, that was the Dawn Scripture, through which Lin Sheng had acquired his Ashen Seal protection before. The Ashen Seal that Lin Sheng saw in the priest¡¯s memories was blurry. The only Ashen Seal protection that he could see clearly through the Sacred Ring was the one he had acquired. ¡°Is there any other way?¡± Lin Sheng frowned. Not willing to give up just yet, he performed a more in-depth examination of the priest¡¯s memories. And he had indeed made some remarkable discoveries concerning the descriptions of the souls in the temple. Sensing that he had struck gold, Lin Sheng singled out this information and studied it carefully. The spirit of man is given by God. Like the most beautiful jigsaw puzzle, it is divided into five parts as if five guardian angels. Together, they build the sacred temple of the souls. These five parts are: The Angel of Power representing all powers, courage, anger, hatred, and madness. The Angel of Wisdom representing wisdom, logic, memory, and reason. The Angel of Desire representing all deeply hidden instincts, natures, and desires And the Angel of Fire amodating the best sides of the souls. Lastly, the Angel of Darkness amodating all the ugly sides of the souls. ¡°The five angels?¡± Lin Sheng had heard about the myth of the angels before when he was on Earth. But the angel of the souls was something new to him. After digesting what he had read, he continued. The best way to create a powerful warrior who is forever loyal to the temple and keeping the orders is to getting rid of the Angel of Darkness in the soul and engraving the light in his Angel of Desire. And the only way to engraving is through the Sacred Baptism The more Lin Sheng read, the creepier he felt. The so-called Sacred Baptism was the process of removing a part of a person¡¯s soul through a mysterious method and recing it with a part of the spell caster¡¯s soul. A master-servant rtionship would be formed between the spell caster and the subject after the exchange of the souls. This rtionship was clearly manifested between the priest and the temple warrior, who had been brainwashed. A priest could control a warrior through his Sacred Baptism, and this mystical spell would only be used on the elite soldiers. ¡°I cannot believe that this mystical spell actually exists!¡± A cold ran down Lin Sheng¡¯s spine. ording to his understanding form the memories, a person cast with this Sacred Baptism spell would manifest any undesirable effect. Instead, the subject would only cry, have a clear conscience, be enlightened and repent as the dark side of him was stripped away. The subject would also be totally open to the spell caster, who then could engrave his name in the Angel of Desire. The most terrifying part of this mystical spell was that the subject would retain his intelligence, emotions, memories, and personality. The difference was that he would be a fanatical loyalist of the spell caster. ¡°The subject will not know that he has been brainwashed if it is done directly to the soul. He will think that he is just attracted to the spell caster¡¯s personality.¡± The mere thinking of this had Lin Sheng felt a chill down his spine. However, the Sacred Baptism had some strict rules to follow. Only a person with the most robust soul would ever be a priest, and only a priest with a ckfeather birthmark could perform the Sacred Baptism. People with the ckfeather birthmark were strong in soul, in which the size of the Angel of Darkness was naturallyrge. Lin Sheng quickly examined himself but was disappointed when he found no birthmark on his body. The Sacred Baptism might be cruel, but it also depended on who the spell caster was. Compared to the vicious and the wicked, Lin Sheng thought that he would be a far better person to master the Sacred Baptism because he would be a blessing to the society, country, and people around him. He would not trust anyone other than himself for mastering this mystical spell. The Sacred Baptism aside, Lin Sheng had also found the only unrestricted ceremony that he could use without needing the Ring of the Ashen Seal. It was a summoning ceremony¡ªa magic array¡ªthat could summon real creatures. Unlike the sacrificial rite that summoned the unknown dangerous beings to obtain power, this ceremony only summoned the lower covenantal beings, which were creatures that established a covenant with the spell caster. This was the most significant find that Lin Sheng had gotten. A person only needed to make the ceremony work once, and he could subsequently summon his covenantal creatures to him using the activation phrase, which worked pretty much like having a remote call device. This ceremony was called the Vow. Lin Sheng got out of bed and sat in front of his desk. He took out his notebook and pen and quickly jotted down the information. The Vow ceremony required that the spell caster was of at least level 3 and had mastered the extraordinary Sacred Light, the sacred power in the temple needed in the ceremony. Other materials also needed to be prepared in advance. Lin Sheng noted down the details and drew up the magic array. He then encrypted the activation phrase using his newly encryption method ofbining pinyin, Han characters, and the ckfeather City¡¯s ng version of an old Rehn expression to ensure absolute security. After all, this was done and keeping the note securely, it was already seven-thirty. ¡°If I couldplete the Vow ceremony, then I will be able to make a covenant with some more badass creatures, and this will solve the problem of controlling the pet remotely!¡± He was full of anticipation. Although the Vow ceremony was an orthodox temple ritual and it would require level-3 power to use the sacred array, he believed he was not far from it as he was currently at level 2. Lin Sheng had asionally felt a faint warmth surging in his body whenever he meditated the Ashen Seal. Other than extraordinary abilities, the Ashen Seal had another function, which was to break through the limit, enabling warriors at their limit to transcend into the extraordinary. This was also the exclusive Limit Breaker of the temple. Chapter 79 - Cohesion: Part 1

Chapter 79: Cohesion: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Despite the inessibility, Lin Sheng was inspired by the Ashen Seal. ¡°The Ashen Seal of the temple cannot be passed on in any form other than the written method. The Ashen Seal is unique in that when any person learns the Ashen Seal outside of the sacred scripture, the person must repeatedly face the Ashen Seal and meditate to transcend its limits. Any Ashen Seal engraved outside of the sacred scripture can only be used once, and this has be the key factor that affects all Temple Knights.¡± ¡°Also, one has to fulfill another criterion in acquiring the Ashen Seal, which is to have enough will power. Does this not mean that I can make use of this to control all the masters who want to transcend their limits and control the Ashen Seal?¡± These materials had enabled Lin Sheng to conjure up a core recipe for forming the Ironfist Society quickly. Meanwhile, he would have to wait until he had reached Level 3 before he could perform the Vows ceremony. The good news, however, was that materials required for the Vows ceremony were not expensive. For now, Lin Sheng might as well concentrate on meditation at home, and go to the ckwater district to check on the progress that Sarroux had made. Just as he had expected, though, no one from the clubs wanted to follow him. For one, hecked the prestige factor; besides, it was also his intentional arrangement. The club might yield some influence, but in times of trouble, its members would likely break under pressure. He needed a force that would absolutely not bend under pressure to help him save and protect his friends and family in the increasingly chaotic world. And this was the reason Lin Sheng hadid down the sixteen rules as a pretext as he intended to break off from the original club. Of course, if there were anyone who could trust him as much as Sarroux did, he would not mind epting that person. Now, the good news was that everything went smoothly as the new Ironfist Society had recruited some new members, who were basically vagrants from the ckwater district. These vagrants seemed to be not much use to him, not forgetting that Lin Sheng had to spend money just to keep them in, but at least, the society was starting to get a foothold in the martial art business. Lin Sheng had formed apany providing security service in the ckwater district, with Sarroux leading the vagrant members looking after the safety of the shops in a small area. Together with some transportation business thrown into the mix, thepany barely kept its head above water. During all these days, Lin Sheng did not ck either; he had been working hard in meditation and training. Especially when he found that the time flow in the dreams was much slower than in reality. Sometimes, after he finished tenps of marathon meditation in his dream and woke up, only one hour had passed in the real world, where it usually took at least three hours. Lin Sheng found the differences in time flow extremely useful. All the more so when he alreadycked time for practicing variousbat techniques that he got from the memories. With this time misalignment, he found the best training venue. He needed more time to digest and absorb the vast volume of mystical knowledge that he just obtained from the priest¡¯s fragmented memories. Lin Sheng did not continue to explore the fortress after hunting down thest priest. Instead, he decided to stay at his current position, taking his sweet time to sort out all the memories before continuing his journey. Earlier, absorbing the memories of Sacred Shield Tyrant and the priest was tormenting enough, as if things were being shoved down his throat at once. He was not afraid of his enemy. What really sent a chill washing down through his guts was the following memory absorption process, which could break him down mentally. A week had passed. Lin Sheng and his dad, Lin Zhounian, were standing at the bus station exit, waiting for passengers to disembark. The station was jam-packed with travelers and their luggage. The floor was littered with stic bags and tissue papers. People were sleeping on the beam chairs, with some even upied four seats at a time. Lin Zhounian had brought along Lin Sheng to the bus terminal, saying that he was there to receive someone¡ªallegedly his best old ssmate, and needing Lin Sheng to help with the luggage. But what Lin Sheng found utterly baffling was if they were merely former ssmates, his dad would not have dragged him along. Especially when knowing that Lin Sheng was in his third years of high school¡ªtime and energy were as precious as gold to him. His dad had not only done it, but he also behaved mysteriously by asking Lin Sheng to dress up by taking out the most expensive ck leather jacket and soft leather boots in the closet while reminding Lin Sheng to be polite when speaking. At the terminal exit, Lin Sheng leanedzily against the metal handrail with the support of his hands. His dad also dressed to the nine, continually looking at his watch. Standing amongst the crowded bus terminal with the constant movement of people, the duo looked somewhat out of ce. ¡°Dad, why do you bring me here?¡± Lin Sheng asked in a baffled manner. ¡°Why do you have to ask? He is only passing by, and I just want to invite him for a meal, after which I will send him to his hotel. It¡¯s not going to take a lot of time. It¡¯s just a meal, after all.¡± Lin Zhounian flung his hand up impatiently. ¡°But...¡± Just when Lin Sheng wanted to say more, Lin Zhounian interrupted. ¡°You will know when hees. Do you think your dad will set you up for this?¡± Lin Sheng let out a sigh and said no more. In just a while, another three long-haul buses pulled into the terminal. The door of the white bus in the middle hissed open as it stopped in the bay. Passengers began to alight and waited in line to retrieve their luggage from the luggagepartment under the bus. ¡°Follow me!¡± Lin Zhounian seemed to have spotted his friend. He quickly went forward, dragging Lin Sheng along. Lin Sheng had no choice but to follow from behind. Earlier, his dad woke him up from his meditation in the dream. He thought something had happened, but it turned out that his dad just wanted him as a bellboy. Before the father and son reached the bus, Lin Zhounian already began to wave his hands in the air from afar. ¡°Wu, this way! This way!¡± Among the passengers beside the bus was a family of four¡ªhusband and wife and two children. The husband and his wife, dressed pretty smartly, saw Lin Zhounian from afar as well. ¡°Hey, Zhou! I can¡¯t believe that you¡¯ve actuallye!¡± The middle-aged man, who grew a pair of thick eyebrows and an austere, square face, guffawed as he stepped forward to give Lin Zhounian a giant man hug. Even his smile was flinty as if he had been a soldier before. His wife beside him was plump, wearing gold rings and erring that made her look tasteless. But her ckce dress that partially exposed her white skin on her arms gave the impression of a matron. Lin Zhounian politely smiled at the woman and then turned his sight to the daughter and son behind them. ¡°So, they are your children?¡± ¡°Let me introduce.¡± The middle-aged man allowed his two children toe up to the front. ¡°This is my daughter, Wu Manwen, and this is my son, Wu Zong.¡± Not to be outdone, Lin Zhounian pulled Lin Sheng to the front. ¡°This is my son, Lin Sheng, about toplete his third year in high school.¡± ¡°Third year? He must be busy this time around. My daughter is only in her second year,¡± the man said, smiling. Chapter 80 - Cohesion: Part 2

Chapter 80: Cohesion: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng had sharply sensed his dad¡¯s real target: the second-year, female high school student, Wu Manwen. So, he briefly sized her up while they were in the midst of introductions. The girl had long hair, which cascaded down her shoulders. She was wearing a brown jacket on the outside and a simple white tube top on the inside along with a pair of prewashed jeans over her long slender legs and sneakers. Her attire was not cheap by the looks of it. Her face appeared exquisite with makeup, and she also had on purple contact lenses in her big, shiny eyes as well as silver earrings that were asrge as eggs. Her t chest aside, Lin Sheng would rate her an eight over ten. He then shifted his nce to the boy, Wu Zong. Wearing a silver BB cap, loose T-shirt, ankle jeans, and some silver rings with skulls as decoration on his fingers, the teen was dressed like a little ruffian. However, the impatient look on his young-schr face did not impress at all. Wu Manwen and Wu Zong were also assessing Lin Sheng while he was sizing them up. Already a dab hand at makeup since little, Wu Manwen was one of the hottest girls in her school, where boys fell over backward to please and impress her. However,ing from a rather well-to-do family, she was not interested in any Tom, Dick, and Harry. In terms of looks, Lin Sheng was passable. But what she frowned upon was how he dressed. Lin Sheng rarely decked out like this. It was overly formal and mismatched, definitely looking not right. She swept her eyes over Lin Sheng¡¯s dad; by how he dressed and spoke, Wu Manwen quickly made an opinion of how well to do, or rather poor, this family was. She gnawed the chewing gum in her mouth and rolled her eyes in disdain, not wanting to talk anymore. Her dad did not ask anyone to meet him when he came over, but the poor father and son hade unsolicited. And they did not decline the invitation out of courtesy. Just this alone, she had enough reason to despise them. After the pleasantry, Lin Sheng and Lin Zhounian helped the family of four carry their luggage and left the bus terminal. Lin Sheng had roughly figured out what was in his dad¡¯s mind. Lin Zhounian was overzealous in Wu Manwen,plementing her elegance, beauty, and academic performance before turning around and euphemistically praised his own son. It was the most embarrassing moment in Lin Sheng¡¯s life. Listening to the odd conversation and feeling something was wrong, Wu Deshan¡¯s broad smile had copsed into half-smile. It was not that he looked down upon Lin Sheng. Instead, it was quite the opposite. He had a damn good impression on this peacefully self-assured young man. But the thing was, it was not quite the right time, as both his daughter and Lin Sheng were still too young to talk about rtionships. There was no rush for it. With Lin Zhounina ying host, both families came to a restaurant beside the hotel and had avish seafood feast. Lin Sheng was seated next to Wu Manwen. While the adults were merrily chatting, Wu Zong yawned continuously, and Wu Manwen fiddled with her fingers. ¡°Sheng Sheng, why not share your stories about life in the third year of high school with the juniors?¡± Lin Zhounian shot a nce at his son. Lin Sheng looked on helplessly. Apparently, Lin Zhounian¡¯s suggestion was not well received. While Wu Deshan¡¯s reaction was better, his wife appeared a little impatient. ¡°There¡¯s not much to talk about,¡± Lin Sheng casually said with a smile, ¡°except that life in the third year is more tiresome and busier that in the second year.¡± ¡°Where do you live? Maybe we can meet upter in the day for dinner, my treat.¡± Wu Deshan smiled. ¡°Huilian Neighborhood, right in the ckwater district,¡± replied Lin Zhaonian sheepishly. ¡°Huilian Neighborhood? How much is the value of the houses there? Is it a seaside city or a seaport? I¡¯m sure the houses there fetch a high price.¡± The woman began to poke into their family background. ¡°About four thousand yuan,¡± replied Lin Zhounian candidly. ¡°Four thousand isn¡¯t bad for a ce like that.¡± The woman¡¯s expression became even haughtier than before. Wu Deshan quickly stared down his wife and then looked at Lin Sheng. ¡°Sheng Sheng, how is your study? Do you manage? You look like you have done well. Perhaps you could share a little of your experience with them.¡± Lin Sheng smiled and just when he was about to say something, Wu Manwen sitting next to him suddenly raised to her feet. ¡°Dad and mom, I¡¯m going out to get some fresh air.¡± It was a waste of her time sitting there. She thought her dad should have simply made up an excuse to send away the father and son instead of entertaining them. It was not that this father and son did not know they had been traveling the whole day and were drained. It was very annoying with them lingering on. Not waiting for Wu Deshan to respond, she excused herself and walked out of the private dining room. ¡°Uncle Wu, you all must be exhausted after a long day. If you¡¯d allow, we should leave it to yourselves. We can still talk until next time we meet,¡± said Lin Sheng calmly, despite Wu Manwen¡¯s abrupt walkout. ¡°Lin, your son is so much more thoughtful than my two children!¡± Wu Deshan sighed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lin. Wen Wen is too spoilt.¡± Wen Wen was Wu Manwen¡¯s nickname at home. Earlier, just when his face turned stern and was about to chide his daughter for her rudeness, Lin Sheng¡¯s words came, and he could not help looking at Lin Sheng with a pleasant surprise. As obtuse as Lin Zhounian was, he already sensed that they were being looked down upon. But running a grocery store all these years had trained him to not disy his emotions on his face although he felt a little offended. ¡°It¡¯s okay, she is still young. Who has not gone through the same things at this age?¡± he said, dismissing the concern. The meeting ended in an awkward atmosphere. There went an expensive seafood feast. Lin Zhounian and Lin Sheng left before the family of four. Walking on the sidewalk along the main street, both the father and son were silent. Lin Zhounian did not drive today. Even if he did, his ride was only a trishaw that he used to transport goods, and he would be too embarrassed for it. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, son.¡± Lin Zhounian suddenly patted on Lin Sheng¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m fine, dad,¡± Lin Sheng replied with a smile. ¡°But wouldn¡¯t it too early to talk about this thing? I mean¡ª¡± ¡°Not at all. Even your elder sister has a boyfriend now.¡± Lin Zhounian sighed. ¡°What? When was it?¡± Lin Sheng was transfixed for a while. ¡°She told us just not long ago. The guy seems to be a good chap, well mannered on the phone and allegedly doing well in his study. But what¡¯s more important is that he treats your sister well.¡± Lin Zhounian shook his head. ¡°Well, maybe I¡¯m the one who cannot wait.¡± ¡°I¡¯m only in high school, dad. My biggest task is to study.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty self-conscious of you.¡± Lin Zhounian could not hold back his smile. ¡°Because I know what I want in life.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. The father and son chatted along the way, and before they knew it, they had almost reached home. Lin Zhounian had to open his shop for today, so they parted way at the gate of the residential neighborhood. Lin Sheng watched as his dad left. The little drama about Wu Manwen and her family was only a small episode. He would not lose hisposure just because of some random people and events. There were so many more things to worry about in life than harping on the slightest annoyance. He did not want these things to get in his way affecting his mediations. It was Saturday, where he was supposed to check out the progress of the Ironfist Society. He dug up the money and stuffed them in arge briefcase, counted £¤860,000 in total, never mind the small change. He would not use this money in Huaisha because he had another n in mind. Chapter 81 - Cohesion: Part 3

Chapter 81: Cohesion: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Huaisha City, a deserted part of the beach. Among the pebble-strewn sand was a number of fishing boats docking by the beach. The afternoon sun was shining bright, yet it was still cold. ¡°It¡¯s getting colder...¡± Lin Sheng stood on a rock and looked at the golden sea afar. He was wearing a white tracksuit and carried a short sword on his arm. The sword casing made him looked like a violin-ying youth. Sarroux and another redhead youth stood on the empty ground at the side, their hair waving around by the wind. Both of them were wearing fitting singlets and camouge pants. They looked strong and fit. At the back of their singlets was a very clear Chinese character, ¡°Fist¡±. ¡°Bro, I have an update on the professional you asked me to look for. But do we really need to go pay him a visit?¡± Sarroux may look calm, but there was concern in his eye. He knew that the individual was not a nice person, and knowing how he had been acting, it was nothing but brutality. If anything went wrong... ¡°You just need to tell me the location. I¡¯ll head there myself. You guys stay here.¡± Lin Sheng aid. ¡°But, just by my words alone is a little weak no?¡± Sarroux was concerned. ¡°And boss, even if that person is willing to join, we have yet to get our club up and running, and won¡¯t the cost be a little too high?¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. ¡°I know. But you don¡¯t have to worry too much about it. You just need to focus on getting more members and stabilizing Ironfist Club.¡± Sarroux did not know what Lin Sheng was nning. The person he had scouted was once called the Deathw who was a famous martial artist when he was young. During his prime, he had opened a dojo and started epting disciples. Sadly, he did not manage to find one that could help ward off trouble, and his old nemesis came looking for him and destroyed one of his arms. He went on a downward spiral after that, as he closed his dojo and dismissed all his disciples. Without any children, he could only live on his savings. ¡°So when you are going over?¡± Sarroux noticed that Lin Sheng had already made up his mind, and did not say anymore. ¡°You have his address with you? If it¡¯s nearby we can head there straight.¡± Lin Sheng replied. ¡°It¡¯s close by, but I¡¯m not very familiar with that ce. We might need to spend some time looking...¡± Sarroux responded with a frown. ¡°Then you two lead the way.¡± Lin Sheng said no more as he leaped off the rock and quickly made his way towards the road. The two followed behind. By the roadside was a white rental car. Sarroux¡¯s junior had a driver¡¯s license. The three then got on to the vehicle and sped away from Huaisha¡¯s city center eastwards. After an hour, the car slowly entered a town called Baisha Town. The vige was empty, and on the few streets there, only elderlies or children were seen with nary any youths or adults in sight. As Sarroux¡¯ junior drove, he exined. ¡°I¡¯ve been in Baisha Town beforest time; most of the youngsters had already left the town to work, and only the elderly and children are left. The entire town altogether numbers barely a few hundred.¡± ¡°And this sort of town will probably disappear after a few years...¡± Sarroux sighed. Lin Sheng did not say anything. He only looked at the low houses on the old road. The car quickly made a turn and slowly stopped before a yard of a farmhouse. The farmhouse was made out of lime soil with its roof made out of mud and rice stalks with ck tiles on it. However, the tiles were already in a state of disrepair by then. The farmhouse¡¯s entrance was half-opened, and the sound of someone washing clothes could be heard in the yard. Lin Sheng led the group forward and knocked on the door. Knock, knock, knock. The sound of scrubbing stopped. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± A thin middle-ageddy with a dirty apron walked to the door and looked at Lin Sheng and his friends. ¡°Does Mr. Dao Ning live here?¡± Lin Sheng asked courteously. ¡°Yes, and you are?¡± Thedy asked. ¡°We are Mr. Dao Ning¡¯s former students, and decided to visit him since we are on the way.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°I¡¯m a housekeeper he hired. Wait a bit, I¡¯ll go call for him.¡± Thedy then turned and ran into the house. After a moment, she came out and waved at Lin Sheng and the rest. ¡°Come in, he lets you in.¡± ¡°Sorry for the trouble.¡± Lin Sheng said loudly, as he walked into the yard and then into the slightly dim house. A strong medicinal smell permeated in the room. On the redwood chair sat a strong old man with white hair. The man was d in a gray cotton garb, and on his knee was a piece of thin red shawl. His eyes were bright and sharp, and he had not seen it for himself, he would not have believed it belonged to an old man at all. ¡°Which batch were you from? Sorry, I¡¯m old now and my memory is not what it was used to be.¡± The old man said slowly. His voice was deep, powerful and clear without any signs of frailty. ¡°Mr. Dao Ning, I¡¯m Lin Sheng, the leader of Huaisha City¡¯s Ironfist Club. This trip here was to invite you to be our club¡¯sbat advisor. Lin Sheng smiled as he exined his motive. ¡°Hm?¡± Dao Ning¡¯s expression sank, ¡°Ironfist Club?¡± Only then did he measured Lin Sheng¡¯s figure. ¡°I never heard of any Ironfist Club before, but your body, you are a weapon user right? And you are interested in a crippled man like me?¡± Before he was crippled, he was a famous person and many local factions had wanted him to join then. But after the incident, no one dared to approach him owing to the influence of his nemesis. Only a few small factions dared to look for him, hoping to learn something and give him some money as a fee. That was the only way he earned a living now. ¡°Mr. Dao Ning you are also a martial artist that had hit the limit of human strength, and I¡¯ve heard that you had tried to break that limit without sess for ten odd years.¡± Lin Sheng paused for a moment, as he lifted his hand, signaling for Sarroux and his junior to leave. The two did not say anything and left the room before closing it behind them. ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± Dao Ning looked impassively at Lin Sheng. He had lived long enough that he had seen everything, so he was wellposed and calm. ¡°I mean to say, I found the way to break that limit!¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s every word was resolute. ¡°And?¡± Dao Ning was still impassive, and he looked on calmly at Lin Sheng. He had seen all too many half-baked fools who had imed to have broken the limit. But words alone would not convince him. ¡°I hope that you can join the Ironfist Club.¡± Lin Sheng said. I want to create an association thatprises and unites all martial artists, a pure martial arts association. Too many martial artists had fallen in their fearless pursuit, and this was not just a loss for Xilin, but also the entire martial arts world. And now that martial arts weak, with guns running rampant. Pure martial artists have found it harder and harder to survive. If we do not unite and find a way out, one day, martial arts may totally disappear under the tides of history.¡± ¡°It sounds good, far-sighted, but this old man here is beyond being wowed by delusions of grandeur.¡± Dao Ning sneered. ¡°And, a mere boy like you saving the martial arts world? That¡¯s almost... hrious...¡± Before he couldplete his sentence, the sneer on his face slowly disappeared. Lin Sheng, who was standing before him, was rapidly bulking up at a rate that one could see. Lines upon lines of purple blood vessels appeared on his body as his muscles strengthened, and even Lin Sheng¡¯s height was pushed up by a few centimeters. ¡°I... have long through that limit.¡± Lin Sheng extended his hand out as his gripped clutched his palm and smashed again the way in a sh. *Boom!* The wall was torn through, then it exploded. A ten centimeter thick mud wall, was blown apart like a piece of tofu. Dao Ning swallowed hard and looked at Lin Sheng¡¯s extended palm as he walked towards him. ¡°Want to bet?¡± The massive hand filled with purple veins slowly extended before him. Chapter 82 - Encounter: Part 1

Chapter 82: Encounter: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The train slowly roared into life. Lin Sheng sat on his seat with his eyes closed. His posture was upright as if he was looking at something, or was meditating. And these sorts of changes had slowly affected his daily life. Arge part of the memory fragments had subconsciously infused somethings that he had no idea he had liked into his daily routine. Lin Sheng had noticed it now, but he was not concerned. As soon as he managed to get Dao Ning, the Deathw to join, he had got on the train to the city the next target lived in. Lin Sheng was wearing a simple ck shirt, with an intricate ck leather box ced by his leg, and another ck long boxy by it. The train was a normal rapid service with an openable window. As the wind blew it, it cast off the stale air and unbearable temperature inside the carriage. Opposite of Lin Sheng was a ck-haireddy in a white uniform. Her facial features were not exactly pretty, but her long legs covered with skin-colored pantyhose sat in an angle gave was visually seductive. Beside her was a bespectacled and proper man, and he was trying to chat her up. Lin Sheng took the small tumbler off his table and opened it up for a drink. The girl opposite him was talking about job searching after graduating with the bespectacled man. On the right side, a father alongside his son was reminded of things not to do in hushed whispers. While two youths in front of him were seated cross-legged as they yed cards. Behind him was probably someone who was well to do as he sat there with his phone gaming on it. ¡°This is Xilin¡¯s train service... It sure is backward as hell that I¡¯m starting to miss the nes on Earth.¡± Lin Sheng retracted his gaze and started to think about how should he convince the second martial arts master. ¡°If Dao Ning the Deathw was a dewed tiger, then Seahawk Rnd is a true blue-ck society leader. Mere words will probably not convince him. Lin Sheng pondered as he tried a way to get Seahawk Rnd¡¯s trust. Sadly, he heard from Sarroux and Dao Ning that Seahawk Rnd was a sly old fox even when he was not what he used to be. But under him was a disciple that he had trained up since young as a shield. And he heard that the disciple did well, and was operating a real estatepany. ¡°...My cousin back then was like that too, and he got beaten half dead for his troubles. He only came back alive after my uncle went over to pick him up. The bespectacled man suddenly walked about the safety issues in Ninghai City, the destination of the train. ¡°Well, nothing much we can do with the chaotic world now. My cousin brother was a na?ve one and ruffled the wrong feathers. By the time he got sent to the hospital, his right leg was totally shattered and was dered crippled.¡± The man sighed again. Thedy listening too started frowning. ¡°Did they manage to catch the guy? This is serious, surely it¡¯ll go to court no?¡± The man shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s no way. He had no connections or whatnot. In the end, it was my uncle and mother¡¯s intervention that they found the person, and got them to pay 500,000 aspensation. He then stole a nce at the girl¡¯s legs before continuing. ¡°Frankly speaking, it was not aplicated matter to start with, but my cousin brother was stubborn. Sigh...¡± ¡°Five hundred thousand? That person paid up?¡± Thedy puffed up her considerable chest, ¡°If someone is willing to go that far, they won¡¯t be cowed so easily.¡± ¡°Usually yeah,¡± the man nodded. ¡°But for those people, as long as you are fiercer than them, they will still be afraid. They¡¯re human after all. So we had to find someone who would strike fear in them.¡± He maintained a smile, as he tried to imply that his family was influential enough to not to be messed with, being able to suppress a mean criminal just like that. And unsurprisingly, the girl¡¯s attitude towards him changed a little. In this chaotic world, a man that could provide safety and security was indeed attractive to any females. Lin Sheng simply swept his gaze past the man. He looked flighty and his movement had a sort of faint exaggeration to it, plus he had that show-off feel to him; it would be surprising if half of what he said was real. But seeing that the girl taking it literally with her eyes opened widely in a slight surprise, he did not say anything. In order to meet Dao Ning the Deathw today, Lin Sheng had dressed up rather maturely, alongside the ck box beside him, it gave him some sort of gravitas. The man noticed that and smiled. ¡°May I know where you are going? Ninghai as well?¡± he asked. ¡°Yeah, going for a short trip to Ninghai, to unwind.¡± Lin Sheng said with a smile. ¡°Ah, I see. I have lived in Ninghai for about ten odd years. It¡¯s pretty good for a trip. The air is good, not much pollution, and while it is not super developed or rich, it isfortable living there.¡± The man started going about the various tourist spots in Ninghai. He then started going on about Ninghai¡¯s slightly restive nature, and what ces to avoid. Lin Sheng only smiled in response. The man clearly took himself as a senior and warned Lin Sheng about some local taboos, clearly seeing Lin Sheng as a junior. After a while, the man quickly exchanged contacts with thedy. As soon as they arrived at their destination, the man patted his chest, to give confidence to thedy. ¡°Ninghai¡¯s train station is a rather chaotic ce. Follow me close. Don¡¯t go alone, or you might get swiped. And honestly, those people here could tell if you are not a local with a nce.¡± Then he looked at Lin Sheng. ¡°Young man, want toe along with us? The train station is a mess, you might get targeted if you are alone.¡± Being the flighty person he was earlier, these words were simply for show to thedy. Lin Sheng smiled as he declined. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯m used to going out alone.¡± And the train slowed down as it entered the station. It was just that outside the station, there were a few armed soldiers in dark green uniforms. Plus two officers, one male one female. Their uniforms were prim as ck leather boots covered their soles as they wore a special beret with an insignia of a silver eagle. And the male officer was one-eyed as he wore an eyepatch. He was well built and his gaze was ferocious. The two seemed to be chatting, seemingly as they waited for someone. ¡°A silver eagle?¡± Lin Sheng tried to recall. There were rarely any silver eagle insignias in Xilin¡¯s military; rather they were moremon with the Redwinians. And now Xilin and Redwin were in a tense situation, so why would there be Redwinian military officers here?¡± But soon he noticed that the soldiers around them had the Xilin¡¯s blue hydrangea insignia on it. The train slowly went past them. And for some reason, as Lin Sheng looked at the Redwinian officer, he felt like he was looking at a primal beast of sorts. Chapter 83 - Encounter: Part 2

Chapter 83: Encounter: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Over on the tform, the one-eyed man quickly shook hands with a few Xilin military officers that rushed over. Lin Sheng noticed that even when the one-eyed man was shaking hands, there was a hidden smirk in his mouth, as he was on home ground. And the officer facing him looked tense as if he was under some sort of immense pressure. The soldiers too were tensed, as they were ready to take aim and fire at any time. ¡°So many people fearing just one person?¡± Lin Sheng was curious. The train soon stopped, but the broadcast system soon rang out to get the passengers to wait for a little, due to emergency military protocol taking effect, they had to allow the army to pass through first. Some of the passengers started grumbling, no one liked being held back and not being able to disembark for no reason. Lin Sheng instead nned to close his eyes to meditate as a way to pass time. ¡°Excuse me, make way please. I need to go to the toilet.¡± Two men in ck, one tall all short came from the back of the carriage. The two were asking for passengers to make way, and their destination was the toilet where the trains connected. But just as the two passed by Lin Sheng, he felt something was off. They may look like they are bowing down but Lin Sheng could tell that they back was straight all the while. As they two passed by, another person was pushing his way forward. ¡°Excuse me, I need to use the toilet!¡± And the voice of the maning forward was familiar to Lin Sheng. He turned around and looked. The man wasrge and muscr as he wore a yellow leather jacket with the chest open, exposing the silver cross hanging on his neck. In his mouth was an unlit cigarette, while his crew cut hair spiked up straight. Lin Sheng felt a weird familiarity and turned his head slightly sideways to measure the person. As he focused, his eyes sank. The man quickly made it past him forward. Lin Sheng demurred as he picked up his ck case on top of his leather box and gave a quiet hand motion to the man anddy sitting opposite him, ¡°Shhhh.¡± A smile appeared on his face as their gaze turned into a stupor. He slowly opened the case and pulled out a ck short sword out of it. *Shhhing...* The de was unsheathed, exposing its deadly and chilling edge. *Bang!* A sudden gunshot was heard from the front side of the train. Lin Sheng got up and walked straight towards the man; his footsteps were getting quicker but his motion was smoother and lighter than ever. The man in front was looking towards the window outside, as a menacing smile appeared on his face. His right hand was just about to pull down to his waist, as the silhouette of a handgun could be seen there. ¡°For the glory of Xilin! Kill them!¡± A deafening roar thundered from outside. The man quickened his pace as he pulled out the ck handgun from his waist and aimed it towards the two Xilin military officers passing outside. *ng!!* Lin Sheng darted forward, using his momentum to power his thrust and mmed it against the man¡¯s metal gauntlet. The tip of the sword skidded off the gauntlet¡¯s smooth surface and sliced through the outer part of the man¡¯s right leg. And a squirt of blood spurted out. The man¡¯s aim was thrown off as well. With a grunt, he turned with a roundhouse kick, his sole aimed towards Lin Sheng¡¯s head. Lin Sheng raised his hands to block the strike. A gruntter, before he counteracted, however, he saw the man throw himself out of the window and onto the tracks. He wanted to give chase but thought better of it as he returned to his seat and picked up his leather suitcase. The man anddy looked in a daze at him, having no idea what had just happened. The passengers within the carriage turned silent, awfully silent before chaos erupted as screams and shouts turned into a cacophony of fear. Very quickly the carriage door was opened by the fearful station staff and the passengers flooded out of the carriage to escape to safety. Lin Sheng smiled at the people sitting facing him as he kept his sword and went out of the train with the human flow. Over on the tform, there were two dead bodies, and at the staircase not too far away, the one-eyed Redwinian officer was being surrounded by two strong men armed withbat knives and handguns. The three moved surprisingly fast and strong as they traded blows like a raging tempest. The soldiers had no time trying to calm the crowd down as they focused on trying to take down the assassins. Lin Sheng easily made his way out of the tform. But what he did not expect however, just as he got out of the tform, a figure in a gray windbreaker appeared in his vision some ten-odd meters away rushing towards somewhere. With a smirk on his mouth, he picked up his case as he quickly followed behind. The man was slightly limping and there was a scent on blood on him. While he may have changed, Lin Sheng could still easily recognize him based on the tracking techniques in his mind. This was clearly the same delusional man that had tried to kill him before. And after unexpectedly meeting him in the train, and noticing that he had a firearm with him. Lin Sheng decided to ambush him. To him, there¡¯s only victory or defeat inbat, honor be damned when it came to life and death. Now if the ambush was sessful, and that they were to meet again, that meant it was right for the person to die by his hands. The two quickly left the train station in tow as they entered an alley beside arge hotel. Lin Sheng looked at the CCTV and stopped. Ninghai City was different from Huaisha City, and while the ce was not particrly developed or wealthy, it was still the capital of Anduin province. While the number of cameras may not be a lot, but it will still be present at important ces. After some thought, he decided to look for a public phone and quickly dialed 123 for the police. ¡°Hello, is it the police? I was one of the passengers who had just disembarked and I saw the shooting on the train. The criminal looked like... and thest ce he appeared was ....¡± Lin Sheng quickly described the looks and details of that assassin. ¡°I think that person may be an assassin. And he must have some ns appearing here. I saw him pulling his gun out, and out of panic I ran over and rammed into him, stopping whatever he was nning. I¡¯m abat sports trainer after all, and I¡¯m well versed with ded weapons like a sword, so I¡¯m not totally defenseless. Yes yes, no one would standby looking at that situation! Yes... Yes... the situation at the station is much more critical. A written record? No need, no need, you don¡¯t have to thank me. We should always cooperate with the authorities against such uwful persons!¡± He then cut the line and left the ce. This call, during normal times would have been taken for a joke. But now, with the chaos at the train station, the police would not let any possible clues pass them by. So... Lin Sheng smirked and turned away. That person had tried to murder him once, and this was revenge. And the assassin had not seen his face since the beginning, and Lin Sheng reckoned that he would not have any idea who was the one that got him into trouble. Lin Sheng did not linger any longer and simply hailed a car to head to Jiuhe district. The ce was about ten kilometers away from Huaisha City, and if he was to use the money he had gotten here, he probably would not attract the attention of the White Tarots. Chapter 84 - Encounter: Part 3

Chapter 84: Encounter: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng went into a hotel and booked a room before buying a new gray tracksuit and changed his persona while putting a hat on. He then bought the cash into a gold shop and went about until evening to exchange part of the money in his suitcase into gold, silver powder and some other materials before depositing another part into his bank. As he ced the suitcase filled with materials into the hotel, he then went to his destination. The Zhongning Gang that Seahawk Rnd was with, was the third strongest faction in Ninghai City. And from Sarroux, he learned that the gang¡¯s headquarters was at Jiuhe district. Only until when he arrived at the HQ of the Zhongning gang did Lin Sheng realized that the gang was not just a mere gang. while Seahawk Rnd may have been a senior figure who was already past his peak, he only maintained his position by relying on his disciples. The HQ of the gang was a nine-story building with a huge ¡°Karsman Fitness Center¡± sign hanging in front of it. Lin Sheng carried his short sword into the building and a receptionist greeted him warmly. ¡°Bro, are you here for the gym? We have an ongoing promotion right now for the year¡¯s end. Don¡¯t you worry, we are one of Ninghai City¡¯s tworgest fitness center and we have everything here.¡± ¡°I heard that Mr. Seahawk Rnd conducts sses here, is that true?¡± Lin Sheng could not be bothered with the titudes and went straight into the question. ¡°Mr. Rnd¡¯s ss is only once a week, but unfortunately his ss this week was yesterday. I¡¯m afraid you need to wait for next week for another ss.¡± The receptionist responded. ¡°If you are interested in ourbat sses, you can register as a member first. We have special promotions for members, and you will be able to choose your preferred trainer for personal training...¡± Lin Sheng frowned slightly, that person was actually not here. ¡°Then who¡¯s the strongest fighter you have there? Since you are the best fitness center in Ninghai City, I suppose yourbat sports sses aren¡¯t half bad, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s natural. Our coaches here have their own strengths. I think when you asked for the strongest, that question itself is problematic, all of the trainers here...¡± ¡°Let¡¯s cut to the chase, money is not a problem, as long as you can find a trainer that I¡¯m satisfied with.¡± Lin Sheng said tly. The receptionist brightened as he heard that, and arranged for Lin Sheng to rest at the VIP lounge while he went to look for the trainers. And soon, one muscr hulk of a man wearing a white singlet came over with the receptionist leading the way. ¡°Good day.¡± He held his hand out. ¡°I¡¯m Trainer Hu, Hu Zhen. My specialty is boxing.¡± Lin Sheng shook his hands. ¡°Then can I give it try? I¡¯ve trained a little before.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Hu Zhen said with confidence as he led Lin Sheng out of the lounge and into the training room beside. Lin Sheng took off his jacket as he looked at the former putting on his boxing gloves. ¡°My criteria is simple, as long as you can beat me, that¡¯ll do.¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°As for the payment, that¡¯s not a problem. What I want is an improvement.¡± Huo Zhen felt something was not right with that. A few guests who hade over to look were even more intrigued when they heard that. ¡°Wow, someone¡¯s up for a fight.¡± Someone let out a hushed snort. ¡°Thene.¡± Hu Zhen felt something off, as he quickly adjusted his pose and stared Lin Sheng. He had been training hard as a boxer for six long years now, and he had won at least a dozen fights, big or small. Given his experience, the moment he got serious, his entire persona changed. ¡°Hah!¡± He roared as he took a few quick steps forward and shot out a straight jab at Lin Sheng¡¯s nose. *Foosh!* The jab was much faster than normal people, and it was urate too. It was clear that Hu Zhen had a good grasp on the techniques of boxing. And this jab, was so fast that it was his best jab for a while. The crowd spectating the fight did not expect him to pull out a punch that quick and their eyes opened wide in anticipation. Hu Zhen wasmon fixture in this center, and many guests had received his meleebat defense training. And when they saw that jab, they knew it in their hearts it was a beautiful one. In Xilin¡¯s boxing technique, the shortest and quickest jab was this piercing fist aimed at the opponent¡¯s nose. If the hit connects, it was usually an instant knock out. Plus, this technique was very useful in close-quarter fighting, firstly due to most preferring to use their legs due to its advantage in length. Secondly was due to it being a jab, it relied only on the strength of the arm, while it was fast, itcked strength. And most would not have chosen this move to knock one¡¯s opponent out right away. But Hu Zhen not only used it, and he had used that standard piercing fist right out of the bat. *Huff!* Just as Hu Zhen¡¯s arm shuddered and his fist stopped, he was stunned as he looked at Lin Sheng facing him. His fist missed right at the veryst second. Just when he thought he might connect, Lin Sheng tilted his hand and easily avoided the strike. *Bam!* Lin Sheng right hand hooked up and smashed against Hu Zhen¡¯s face like a thunderbolt. The hook connected with thetter in the ear. Hu Zhen staggered backwards as his head buzzed. He then retreated to the wall and could not move for a good while.¡± ¡°Are you guys f*cking with me?¡± Before anyone in the gym could get mad, Lin Sheng roared in outrage. ¡°I told you, money isn¡¯t a problem. What I want are pros!¡± And two people came into the room and quickly helped Hu Zhen up as a person in a suit, seemingly the manager walked in and whispered to a few staff for a bit. And soon, a half-naked man in ck shorts walked in. The man had a white lion tattoo on his body while his arms had two ck skull tattoos. His build was muscr and his body oiled. The man heard what the manager had to say, and looked at the gym customers. He then made his way to Lin Sheng. ¡°It was you who was looking for Master Rnd?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Lin Sheng measured the person and realized that this person was on a totally different level than Hu Zhen. The man was muscr all over, and his skin was firm as he had all sorts of scars on his body; seemingly a veteran brawler. And the most eye-catching was a knife scar on his right shoulder, snaking around like a centipede. ¡°You want to meet the master, sure!¡± The man sneered. ¡°Beat me, and I¡¯ll take you there!¡± *Bam!* The two fists met as they struck at the same time. And what surprised Lin Sheng was that the person was the same as Sarroux and had trained to harden his body. When his fist connected, it felt like as if he was punching a solid chunk of cowhide. And what surprised him even more was the man quickly took a step back and pointed at him before roaring. ¡°This b*stard is here to cause trouble, get him!¡± And a ruckuster, a few goons armed with fruit knives came charging through the entrance and started shing at him. Chapter 85 - Discovery: Part 1

Chapter 85: Discovery: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes widened. Before he could even react, the goons had already charged in front of him. ¡°Hah!¡± The first goon shed towards his shoulder. Lin Sheng instinctively kicked out, and knocked the goon off bnce and sent him toppling to the ground. He then dodged to the left, avoiding two shes before charging forward, focusing all of his strength onto this right shoulder. ¡°Charge!!¡± The memory of the Sacred Shield Tyrant came to his mind. Lin Sheng darted out and smashed away three other goons. Faint purple markings started appearing on his forehead, and his entire body erged a little. ¡°Reflector!¡± He pulled out the short sword hanging on his back, as he blocked off two shes. HAH! A sh of silverter, the two goons were sent staggering backwards clutching their hands. Reflector one of the more useful defensive counterattack techniques in ckfeather swordsmanship. Especially when the user is being surrounded. Comparatively, sh Riposte was much more useful one to one. Using the experience from the memory fragments, Lin Sheng¡¯s reflexes was not something mere goons could handle. He charged into the crowd, and after a few shoulder blocks, he broke their formation. A few shes of silverter, the goons were allid low. *Bam!* Lin Sheng grabbed the neck of one of the goons and held him up high against the wall. ¡°No... stop!¡± The goon was bloodied as his nose was clearly broken. His face was quickly turning green as he was starting to get asphyxiated. ¡°Are these all Seahawk Rnd¡¯s disciples?¡± The purple markings on Lin Sheng¡¯s forehead made him look more and more menacing. ¡°Too weak...¡± ¡°Too weak... mere maggots waiting to be stopped dead...¡± ¡°You bastard!¡± Only the tattooed man was standing. The one that had ordered the attack on Lin Sheng, was clearly riled by his words. He clutched his fist menacingly but the sight of his goons strewn all around him regained him his senses. ¡°Wait till my senior brotheres! I dare you to say that again!¡± His expression was furious but his tone had mellowed down clearly. ¡°Scrubs.¡± Lin Sheng threw the goon in his hand aside, and thetter grunted in pain as he mmed against the ground. ¡°Running a fitness center when you¡¯re that weak? Might as well close shop!¡± He shook his head. This ce had totally let him down. For him, basic rules should be observed in a simple bout, but thetter had no intention to lose with dignity. And that, for any proper martial artist, was the utmost disgrace. No one is born undefeatable, so if they are not willing to even lose a match, then their standards would always stay stagnant. ¡°Forget it, forget that I even came here. And you guys can shut your sses as well, it¡¯s about as useful as you lot.¡± Lin Sheng had totally given up on looking for Seahawk Rnd. For such a martial artist without any sportsmanship, it was pointless for him to join the Ironfist Club. He then raised his short sword and walked towards the tattooed man. ¡°Wha... What are you doing!?! The man¡¯s voice shuddered as he took a step back. *Bam!* Lin Sheng shot out a roundhouse kick, and the heavy blownded on the man¡¯s neck. The man simply flew away with nary any resistance, and passed out as hended. Lin Sheng nced at the man as he pushed the door to leave. For a moment, the only sound in the room was his trailing footsteps. The patrons looking on did not expect things to turn out so bad. In just a mere minutes, a good number of goons armed with knives were taken out by that person. And even the tattooed guy was no match, and fell in a single hit. Many patrons had came to this fitness center was due to the reputation of theirbat training coaches were top notch, but as they looked at the carnage, their expression may not have changed, but they were sighing deep inside. While that person was overwhelmingly powerful, but they were still so convincingly trounced even when they were up against a single person. Was this fitness center staffed with a bunch of weaklings that they cannot even scratch that foe? And as expected, the moment these group of patrons left, the fitness center¡¯s reputation in the martial arts circle would be irreparably ruined. As Lin Sheng made his way out of the building, he turned to look at the bright signage of Karsman Fitness Center, and sneered. ¡°When a pure martial artist like the Deathw can end up in such a sorry state while a bastard like Seahawk Rnd without any martial spirit can prosper, such is the world, eh?¡± He looked down and walked away. After he got back to his hotel, Lin Sheng packed his stuff up, and hailed a cab to the long distance travel station. As the general situation was getting more and more chaotic, he had no ns to take the train any longer, and decided to hire a driver back to Huaisha City. The trip from Ninghai City to Huaisha City took about three hours and Lin Sheng snoozed away in the car. He only arrived back in the city center around nine at night. After arriving back, he got the driver to drop him off at Huilian district. For this weekend, he had told his parents that he would be putting a night at his friend¡¯s ce, and as for which friend, it was Sarroux who yed the role. Sarroux¡¯s school was not Huilian High School, but rather the more expensive Zhongdian High School. The entry requirements into that high school was tough. Lin Zhounian was pleased that Lin Sheng could make friends at such a level in society and did not say much. Only his mother, Gu Wanqiu was a little worried. After he snuck back home, he took a peek at his parent¡¯s room. There was light through the gap in the door. They were clearly not asleep yet. Lin Sheng softened his footsteps, using the infiltration techniques from god knows who is in memories. As he quietly gotten into the washroom to wash up, he returned to his bedroom, and changed up to rest. ¡°It¡¯s almost for the final exams. I think I should keep a low profile for now. We have enough cash for the time being. I¡¯ll let Sarroux to draw the money out, and plus our current cash flow, running Ironfist Club should not be a problem.¡± Lin Sheng changed into his bedtime tracksuit and shoes as hey on the bed and pondered. ¡°I really need to start being tough on the rules I¡¯ve set earlier. Only those who are willing to abide by it will be epted into the core of the club. And then from the core few, we can pick out those who had reached their limit and train further. Now we just have to wait for Old Man Deathw to reach that for things to get on track.¡± He then let out a breath and slowly closed his eyes. He had been busying himself with the matter of influence, and by chance had managed to lure Deathw in using the Ashen Seal. As long as he could draw out a seal every now and then, and allow the old man to meditate, that would ensure him serving the Ironfist Club for the long term. The Ashen Seal, if not taught properly through the sacred tomes would fade with the passing of time. And once it is forgotten, the person¡¯s ability would return to its original state. So Lin Sheng was not worried that Deathw would quit. As for the operating needs for Ironfist Club. As they are not a gang; in order to collect protection money, they chose the method of a securitypany. Lin Sheng had gotten Sarroux to hire a retired veteran to give the core members military training to enhance disciple andbat readiness. ¡°I suppose I can see the effect within the next few days. But if it is too tough, probably not many would stay eh?¡± Lin Sheng knew that very well, but this move was to weed out the chaff and select a group of elite prospectus to stand with him. They had taken in quite a number of poor kids, and could not afford to feed everyone. He had to choose, and choose wisely. That aside, once Old Man Deathw had managed to break the limit, and reach level three, then his name would spread far and wide. By then, he would be able to absorb many more top tierbatants into his fold. Chapter 86 - Discovery: Part 2

Chapter 86: Discovery: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Sadly, the requirement for the transfer of the Ashen Seal is so high, and its effects will decrease progressively.¡± Lin Sheng was a little disheartened but was a little d at the same time. The Ashen Seal could indeed allow any martial artists who have reached his maximum potential to break through that limit, but this seal is only avable through him, Based on the records of the sacred tome, this was not the proper way for the technique to be passed down, so even when Old Man Deathw had broken through his limit with the Ashen Seal, he would still not be able to teach it to someone else. Should he leave Ironfist Club, as time passed, his memory of the Ashen Seal would slowly fade away, and his ability would return to its original state. So he would need to meditate on the seal drawn by Lin Sheng from time to time to refresh his memory. That was the key to it all. Turning one¡¯s back towards Ironfist Club would mean turning one¡¯s back to strength, and to the light. And for the Ashen Seal, the key process was the focusing of energy during the inscription, and not the diagram itself. So every time one sees an Ashen Seal, there will be mileage changes to it. So Deathw would not be able to transfer the Ashen Seal to anyone else as his seal is a one-use transfer, and cannot be replicated. As he thought about it, Lin Sheng started to get tired as his consciousness turned blurry as he sunk into slumber. ... Ninghai City Special Reception Division. The Special Reception Division in Ninghai City was the only foreign reception area in the Anduin province. And this was a division specializing in handling foreign VIPs. While the division may only be a reception specialist on the surface, they were actually the biggest intelligence and counter-intelligence center in the entire Anduin military district. Aside from having the usual duties to receive important dignitaries, during key moments, they would be activated for special informational warfare. The division was based in the affluent financial district of Ninghai City and was convenient. Even the amodation options were top-notch, not unlike most other reception centers. At this moment, within the meeting room at the top floor of the grand reception building. A group of special operatives in various casual wear were seated grim-faced as they looked at the images on the projector. And in the middle of them all, was a tall blue-eyed golden-haireddy. She was wearing a western business suit with long pants as she crossed her arms and exposed her voluptuous cleavage. ¡°Go ahead and speak your minds.¡± Her expression was cold as she stared at the ten-odd elites there, her face unchanged. A silence followed. Someone wanted to speak, but as they looked at the one-eyed military guy on the projector, they shuddered and shut their mouth.¡± ¡°Major Isaac is Redwin¡¯s special envoy this time around. His entire entourage is thirteen strong, and he is the most eye-catching one.¡± The golden hairdy said. ¡°On the way, he had already met three separate assassination attempts by the Revival Clique, but all failed so far and no one could tell how strong he actually is.¡± She continued. ¡°So you guys are giving up now?¡± The golden-haireddy sneered as she cast a disdainful gaze at all. ¡°Is this group of rabbles the proud elites of Anduin?¡± ¡°Ma¡¯am, Isaac is a member of the Heaven¡¯s Spire. You should know that.¡± A man rumbled. ¡°We are just normal people, and are totally different from the maniacs at Heaven¡¯s Spire who lusts for power.¡± ¡°Heh.¡± The golden-haireddy sneered again. ¡°And this is the reason why you guys don¡¯t even dare to get within a hundred meters of him?¡± ¡°Pardon my bluntness.¡± Ady with short green hair stood up. ¡°Isaac is a serious crime convict that had killed hundreds with his bare hands. He is a maniac chasing pure unbridled strength, and he will use any means necessary to obtain it. We will not be able to get any information from him.¡± And soon another man stood up. ¡°The Heaven¡¯s Spire is Redwin¡¯s secret experimental enhancement facility. They had studied the dark energies that had manifested in the world and after a few breakthroughs had managed to find the method to break the limit of the human body. ¡°The members of Heaven¡¯s Spire, in some respect, are no longer human. With a ny-percent elimination rate, every one of those things they had created is a twisted murder machine.¡± ¡°Fine words, but what about it?¡± The golden-haireddy nodded. ¡°And just because they are strong we are supposed to let them be and do nothing?¡± ¡°They are maniacs tainted by dark energy. We shouldn¡¯t be the ones fighting them! No normal persons can fight against the Darksiders!¡± Someone protested. ¡°Then who should do it? The Heart of the Ocean task force the people above had created?¡± The golden-haireddy had a chilly aura around her. ¡°Since when did they ever seeded?¡± The entire meeting room sank into silence again. ¡°Both of those organizations are studying dark energies, and yet our funding is being siphoned by those corrupt shits above, and our annual military budget is not even five percent!¡± she roared. ¡°If we are to rely on them, we¡¯d be dead sooner thanter!!¡± She smashed her palm against the wall. ¡°And you know what information I had just gotten?¡± Her expression contorted. ¡°Redwin hade to Anduin requesting that we totally open up our protectionist measures and get rid of the import tariffs. They are even trying to entice the provincial upper echelons to secede from Xilin.¡± The meeting room immediately broke into rancor as the elites showed expressions of disbelief, shock and silence. But none showed the anger that thedy wanted to see the most. She suddenly felt defeated. She had already informed the capital of Redwin¡¯s intentions, and what astounded her was that the orders from the capital was for them to dy and deal with it by themselves. ¡°The sky... is really falling...¡± The golden hairdy pushed opened the door tiredly and walked out. She could no longer be bothered with the so-called elites behind her. She was just tired, very, very tired. ... ¡°Haa...¡± Lin Sheng was in armor holding a wooden sword and shield as he let out a long breath. White mist appeared from his mouth and trailed away before disappearing. He once again stood before the stairway where he had killed the cleric, and he started to move his body again. ¡°It took me so long to digest every bit of that memory. Time to move on I guess.¡± Lin Sheng felt that he could breakthrough as a level three warrior any time soon. Ofte, every time he meditates he could feel a warmth in his abdomen as if something was there, something akin to a heater that warmed his organs. ¡°This is probably the effect of the pdin¡¯s ability, Holy Power.¡± Lin Sheng swung his arm as he picked up the meter-long shield and slowly walked past the already searched body of the cleric, and headed forward. His footsteps could be heard clearly in the castle. Tap, tap, all of it was the sound of the sport shoe making contact with the ground. The faint yellow stairway had a circr window at a set distance to light the ce up. The staircase was well lit, and it spun downward like a spiral. Lin Sheng advanced carefully, ready to strike at any moment. But as he had descended the stairs and reached a ck arched door he had not encountered any other monsters. As he stood in front of the door, Lin Sheng could feel warmthing from the inside. The warmth was life-like, as it called to the warmth in his own body. His abdomen was feeling warmer and warmer as if something was swirling in his body. *ck!* A ckter, Lin Sheng cut the door lock open. He pushed the door open, and inside was an arched passageway leading towards a dark hall at the end. And the warmth came from the hall. Lin Sheng swept his gaze around as he held his sword and shield, and quickened his pace over. Just as he was halfway through, a corpse suddenly appeared on the right side of the passage. Chapter 87 - Discovery: Part 3

Chapter 87: Discovery: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The corpse was standing in a corner, outside of Lin Sheng¡¯s vision from afar. And he only noticed it after he got close. The corpse was wearing a grayish-white robe and holding a yellow leather scroll. Lin Sheng was shocked by its appearance and almost shed at it. Luckily, he managed to stop in time. He then thrust the de at the head and the heart of the corpse to stop it from moving. After ensuring all safety precautions were taken only did he started searching through the body. The robe on the corpse turned into dust upon contact, and only the leather scroll in his hand was robust without any signs of damage. Lin Sheng slowly pulled out the scroll from his hand and opened it to see. It was a row of clearly written words and symbols. Lin Sheng did not understand what it was, but seeing the title, it was probably some sort of musical score. ¡°Whatever it is, I¡¯ll just take it with me first.¡± Lin Sheng was not too bothered as he rolled the scroll up and stuffed it into his tracksuit beneath the scale mail. After a short pause, he continued on. And very quickly he reached the entrance of the dark hall. The hall was dark as there was barely any light in there. And at the center of the hall stood a white jade-colored stone pir. Snake-like creatures coiled the surface of the pir, looking like monsters sealed inside the pir, struggling to escape. But Lin Sheng¡¯s attention was not on the monsters, rather the upper part of the pir. There was a slightly grayish humanoid angel sculpture on it. The angelic sculpture was slightly taller and wider than a normal man as it held a long spear in hand, and a round shield in another as its wings were spread wide. Lin Sheng looked on intently and felt like every feather on it was clear and intricately detailed. The angel seemed to have a male face, as his neck had a series of intricate patterns. He wore a thin muslin but he had eagle ws for legs. Lin Sheng paused for a little and ascertained that there were no movements around him. He then slowly walked ahead. As he entered the hall, it was still silent all over. Lin Sheng then moved in further into the hall. And just as he was a few steps into the hall, the great door behind him closed shut. *Bam!* The massive door thundered as it mmed shut, and before Lin Sheng could react, the gray angel sculpture on the rock pir started cracking. Massive pieces of debris started falling off his body as the wing slowly shuddered, carrying with it a strong air current. *Hiss...* The gray angel¡¯s eyes lit up in blue light. ¡°Purge! Purify!¡± A thunderous roar boomed from his mouth. Lin Sheng was dazed by the sudden turn of events and as he recovered, he quickly brought the shield before him as he felt his sword tight. Before he could react, a gray shadow mmed itself against the shield. The impact was so great that Lin Sheng felt the entire length of his hand, and half of his body turned numb. And the shield almost flew off his hand. ¡°What strength!¡± he eximed as he shed forward, hitting nothing. Lin Sheng blinked, and the gray angel had already retreated to a few meters away inside the dark hall, as he pped his wings while floating in the air. *Whoosh!* The gray shadow struck again. And Lin Sheng quickly raised his shield again. *Bam!!* The shield shuddered violently as Lin Sheng was sent flying and crashed against the door behind him. ¡°It¡¯s too damn fast!¡± He was way faster and stronger than he was, and he was flying to boot. Lin Sheng tried to think of a countermeasure as he rolled on the floor to dodge the third strike. *Crash!* A deep, horrifying gash appeared on the wall. Lin Sheng was sweating profusely as he cut up and ran, quickly scanning the hall. And soon, he saw a small door, a door that had a hole broken in the middle of it! *Whiff!* Another rip in the air boomed. Lin Sheng panicked and jumped through the hole in the door. As he dove it, the sword got stuck and he had to abandon it. Carrying only the shield with him into the hole. And behind the door was a wide bedroom. Compared to the other decorated rooms, this was a rather Spartan one. There was a ck metallic rack on the wall, with a number of ck leather books on it. Beside the rack was a round ss container, and inside the translucent container was all sorts of golden runes. The container itself was empty, but on the edge of the floor was a tiny clump of ck object, seemingly burnt bones. Lin Sheng let out a deep breath as he turned back to listen. And was astounded to find that there was no movement behind him. ¡°That gray angel didn¡¯t pursue me?¡± Random thoughts ran through his mind. A quick circle around the room, Lin Sheng discovered that aside from the simple bed, there was nothing in the room that fit the description of a bedroom. The book rack, the massive ss container, the ck rectangr rock tform, and some seemingly decorative, organ-like flesh chunks. On the rack of the wall was a gray robe, and by its side was a belt, short sword, staff, and a ring of keys. Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes brightened as he started rummaging through the pockets of the robe. The robe tore the moment he touched it as if he had ripped through mere spider webs. But very quickly, he had found something. He had pulled out a rock glowing in purple out of the pocket. ¡°What is this?¡± He inspected the rock. The rock was just about the size of a nail and was glowing in purple all over. Its surface was rough and there was a faint scent of blood on it. Lin Sheng applied some strength to it and felt like it was some sort of tumor that had been cut off. As he took the rock, he came to the book rack and swiftly swept his gaze along it. ¡°I love studying, studying makes me happy.¡± Lin Sheng smirked as he soon found a very interesting book. He quickly pulled it out and started flipping it in his hands. On the side of the book, a line was written in Ancient Rehn: Necromancy Spell Matrix. Lin Sheng flipped over the first page and was slightly surprised. The first page was a foreword, a page where the author expressed his thoughts. He saw the neat, elegant handwritings ¡°I don¡¯t know how long I can hold on. Maybe ten years, maybe a hundred. The light of hope, the sacred child in the legend, the Hope that Ancellia had brought us had faded away with the passing of time. What was left, was the abyss. But I am not willing to give up. In my hundred years of living, every problem I¡¯ve faced, I had solved them. There was no other reason, other than I am the strongest mage in Snowgale Fortress. Sadly, even the strongest of magic is meaningless before the copse of the world. Before my end, I have chosen to chronicle everything I have into writing, into books. And hopefully the day it will be opened wille...¡± And the name at the end of it was: Qallir Meyer. ¡°It¡¯s a mage¡¯s tome!¡± Lin Sheng was ted, and he quickly flipped through it. The table of contents was long; there were over hundreds of rows at least from top to bottom. But most of the words were already blur and unclear. Some were still legible. Lin Sheng focused as he tried to pick out the parts that could still be read. As expected, most of the tome was a blurry mess. The tome had spoken of three necromancy spell matrixes, but two were so fragmented that nothing could be identified from it. There was however an intact one called, ¡°Elementary Summoning of Otherworlders.¡± Chapter 88 - Preparation: Part 1

Chapter 88: Preparation: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Three in the morning at Huaisha City Dockyard. Chen Hang led a group of close aides as they walked along the docks. They were d in ck suits, and around them were bodyguards standing ready, forming a tight security. Chen Hang was almost fifty. His head was bald, his body muscr, but his strength far away from his prime. His expression was heavy, as the wrinkles on his face slowly shuddered as he walked, as he bore a sinister look on it. The group walked to the side of the dock and boarded a medium-sized silver yacht docked by it. Vrooom.... The yacht roared to life and slowly turned towards the distance, kicking up arge number of waves in the process. The wind was howling and the clouds roiled in the night sky, creating a foreboding and oppressive atmosphere. Chen Hang stood on the bow of the yacht, squinting as he looked forward. He could only see part of the sea from the yacht¡¯s frontal lights, and nothing else. But he did not mind it as his eyes were locked ahead, seemingly in a trance. Ever since his only son was suddenly murdered, everything he had arranged copsed like a house of cards. And even his loyal subordinates started having other thoughts as he was not without an heir. Even if he tried to get one now, the child would be too young, and who knew how many years it would take for him to grow up. The variables were just too immense. Chen Hang ced his hand behind his back and kept silent. The sea wind grew stronger and the ship started rocking violently as the waves crashed against the hull, letting out a loud boom. Chen Hang came back to his senses and raised his hand. ¡°Everyone, shut your phones!¡± He yelled. The six people behind him quickly took out their phones and shut them down. Chen Hang did not give out any further orders and simply allowed the yacht to head forward as he waited quietly. Time passed by. Perhaps ten, perhaps twenty, or even thirty. A ssh suddenly rang out from the stern. ¡°Who goes there?!¡± A few guards on the ship pulled their weapons out in response. ¡°Stand down.¡± Chen Hang barked. His underlings were stunned, not understanding why Chen Hang would give such an order, but they still slowly lowered their gun and quickly formed a circle around him. And not long after, a series of rhythmic footsteps came over. A masked bald man in a blue robe walked out of the darkness. The person was tall, about two meters in height, like a bamboo pole covered in an intricately decorated robe. And what caught everyone¡¯s attention was his eyes. It was blood red as if it was about to explode at any given time. ¡°Seems like you have thought things through.¡± The masked man let out a hideous gutturalugh. Chen Hang¡¯s hand was behind him as he held a grenade that he had prepared beforehand, staring unblinkingly at the person. ¡°As long as you find my son¡¯s murderer, I will cooperate with your operation in Huaisha this time!¡± ¡°Hehehe, what touching fatherly love.¡± The masked bald manughed again. ¡°This is actually a very simple matter. But I have been wondering, why don¡¯t you just let us kill that murderer?¡± Chen Hang kept silent. He was not a fool; if not for the fact he could find no trace of his son¡¯s murderer, he would not have made a deal with a literal devil. If it was just this once he could still hide it. But if hees to rely on them a little too much, then the White Tarots would be their puppets sooner orter. Even when he saw Chen Hang kept quiet, the masked bald man did not mind it. ¡°Alright. Since you have decided. Let¡¯s begin now, or?¡± ¡°Begin now, I just need your information, and I will provide you the information you seek. After this, we don¡¯t owe each other anything¡± Chen Hang said with a chilly tone. ¡°Sure.¡± The masked bald manughed again. He then held his hand out and pointed his almost feminine, slender fingers onto the ground. *Hiss... Hiss... Hiss...* At that very moment, the hull of the ship rang with the sound of crawling insects. And soon, countless of ck bugs came from every direction manically and formed into a blob on the deck before Chen Hang and his man. The bugs were about the size of a fingernail. They were all ck, with eight appendages, without any eyes alongside a saw-like mouth. There was too a semi-translucent wing on their back. And very quickly, the bugs formed into a tiny ck ball. And the size kept expanding until it became the size of a goose egg. The masked bald man pointed again towards the tiny ball. *Hiss...* The bugs quickly scattered all along the hull and back into the sea. In a blink of an eye, there was not a trace of the bugs on the yacht anymore. And in the location of the ck ball was a faint blue ellipsoid egg. ¡°Take it back, and ced it on the scene of your son¡¯s murder. Three dayster, it will hatch automatically, and an Azurewing wille out of it, follow the bird, and you will find your son¡¯s murderer.¡± The masked bald man let out another cackling smile before retreating back into the darkness and disappearing. ¡°Don¡¯t forget your promise... And of course, if you cannot resolve it yourself. Call my codename and we will help you...¡± Thest of the words came from the darkness. Chen Hang¡¯s face twitched as he stared at the Azurewing egg on the deck. ... ¡°Elementary Summoning of Otherworlders? Is this a special, proper summoning spell?¡± Lin Sheng was excited as he quickly went through the book to the corresponding page. On the pages, most of the details were still legible, and Lin Sheng quickly looked for the ritual matrix details and read. ¡°Summoning of Otherworlders, or the Summoning, is a tether. There are many rifts in this world, and these rifts will appear out of nowhere at any corner of this world. They are everywhere, yet no one knows about them. This was because the existence of these rifts was not detectable by human senses. They were ever-changing, disappearing and reappearing, a totally differentyer from our own world: two separate worlds. Summoning of Otherworlders is to summon a special existence that is willing to serve under one¡¯s will through that ritual.¡± After reading the abstract, Lin Sheng had a pretty good idea why this matrix did not need that many materials even though it was capable of summoning an otherworlder to fight for oneself. ¡°So this doesn¡¯t require the caster to open a summoning portal, rather it summons by tethering to the rift. The difficulty between the two is pretty much heaven and earth.¡± Lin Sheng was engrossed. Even though he was still not sure if this ritual matrix would work or not, but the previous rituals had all worked, so this by logic should work as well. When he was still on Earth, he had heard of this sort of magic, to summon a being to fight for the caster. And back then, he was very envious of it, and never thought he would have the chance to make contact with such magic. Chapter 89 - Preparation: Part 2

Chapter 89: Preparation: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion He then flipped through the details again. Lin Sheng folded the pages that contained the diagram, the activation chant, materials, and notes and nned to write them down to his notes once he wakes up. What he regretted was that some parts of the diagram¡¯s notes had slightly blurred away. ¡°This sort of blurriness, I¡¯m not sure if it can be restored, what actually caused it?¡± Lin Sheng closed the book and sighed. ¡°All this knowledge... All these rituals are usable and are real. And if the knowledge is real, then did it exist before in this dream that I had entered?¡± He recalled that phrase he saw in ckfeather City. ¡°The entirety of ckfeather City would be dragged into the dream.¡± ¡°What if all of these dreams are real? Then I¡¯m...¡± Lin Sheng turned silent. He started wondering if he had found the so-called rifts in the dream and had gone into ckfeather City by ident. ¡°Ah, screw that. Let¡¯s deal with it as ites. I have too little information with me now, not possible to theorize anything.¡± He then stood up and ced the book onto the bed as he continued to search the book rack. After segregating the books that had totally faded away, Lin Sheng still managed to pull out six books that could be read. One was about the history of Snowgale Fortress. Two about the structure of souls, while another was talking about how to create a harp called the Bloodazure. Thest two books were an introduction and advance primer to Deviltongue, Lin Sheng went through the history book, before looking at the ones talking about souls. What disappointed him was that the core information was already obtained through the memory fragments of the cleric. Then there was the book about the harp. ¡°...Bloodazure Harp. It is a craftsman item, and it is the type of craftsmanship that can train one¡¯s supernatural abilities. The instrument seems easy enough to make, easy enough to learn but hard to master. The materials required are as below...¡± Lin Sheng looked over. The instrument had only three parts: the chords, frame, and tuner. The materials required are not rare, and there were no specific materials required. It¡¯ll work as long as he can find a good recement. ¡°Well, I can make one to y with at home when I¡¯m free.¡± Lin Sheng closed the book and picked up thest two books about Deviltongue. The two books were a primer of the special tongue used by evil spirits. ¡°Evil spirits¡± was the all-epassing name for the dangerous spiritual beings. Conversely, those that are docile and not dangerous are called holy spirits. As evil spirits are much stronger, and their numbers far exceeded the holy spirits, so Deviltongue was considered as anguage that spellcasters need to master, and waspiled into a book before being ced here. Lin Sheng quickly browsed through the abstract and understood what thenguage was all about. He then closed it and put it down. He did not have the luxury of time to linger around. Thest time he had mysteriously been yanked out of ckfeather City, and could no longer enter it. And this made Lin Sheng worry that his time at one ce is limited. ¡°Information is key!¡± He then picked up the ¡°Summoning Ritual¡± again that started reading it. This time around, he nned to master the Elementary Summoning of Otherworlders, and after testing it out, only will he go against the gray angel once again. Since it could note in, and with it guarding the door, this ce was extremely safe. Rather than scampering around outside, he might as well take the opportunity to learn here. And what was more important was, that Lin Sheng felt the warmth that had summoned it was within the rock pir the gray angel had stood on. That means, he had to defeat the gray angel to get in contact with the true form of the warmth. After that, he simply sat on the bed and started studying and memorizing the details of the summoning ritual. There was a square window in the room, and outside was a sky nketed in white as snow started to fall. Borrowing the light, Lin Sheng read till he forgot the time; and slowly he felt giddy. ¡°It¡¯s time to wake up...¡± He carefully folded the pages as his sight ckened and his consciousness faded away. And when he regained his consciousness, Lin Sheng opened his eyes and quickly got up and onto his desk as he took out his notebook and pen. He swiftly recorded the materials needed for the summoning ritual, the matrix diagram and the activation chant. The materials and activation chant was fine, as for the matrix diagram, even with Lin Sheng¡¯s enhanced memory, he could only draw half of it at a time. To remember aplex matrix, he usually would split them into severalyers of memories, and everyyer is a simple diagram. The full matrix diagram will be formed once the separateyers are piled on each other. But this diagram was soplicated that he could only manage twoyers at a time. And if he wanted to rpile it, he needed at least fouryers. ¡°I¡¯ll try to memorize everything by tomorrow and hope it works. Let¡¯s get the materials ready today!¡± Lin Sheng was in a good mood. Even though he was almost done in by the gray angel, the subsequent find he had made it all worth it. He then looked at the materials needed for the matrix. ¡°Ten white spiders, a blood-lipid candle, a standard unit of wind serpent grass, a standard unit of gold, ten standard units of silver powder, one windbell flower, twenty units of pure water, and ten standard units of venom arrows.¡± ¡°All these materials... plus gold and silver are enough. The problem is with the white spiders and blood-lipid candle...¡± Lin Sheng frowned as he started ying with his pen subconsciously. ¡°White spiders, based on the picture are small, white, semi-translucent spiders. Amon enough pest, the description matches as well. I probably won¡¯t be able to buy this, and can only catch them myself.¡± ¡°Well, the white spiders will need some effort, but this blood-lipid candle...¡± Lin Sheng pondered. ¡°Based on the diagram and the exnation, the blood-lipid candle needs to be made out of the blood-lipids of living beings, it and can only be used after being lit up.¡± ¡°Sounds fancy, but isn¡¯t it just normal animal fat candle? I¡¯ll get some pork fat candleter to try it out.¡± After having a gist of what to do, Lin Sheng headed out. He changed up and had his breakfast before running off to the caf¨¦. After some twenty minutes, he managed to find out the location and habits of the white spiders. He then went over to a gift shop, and bought a few small thousand-crane ss bottles before going straight to school. At school, Lin Sheng applied for a day off and went to the nearby fruit farm with the bottles. Based on the information on the, the mostmon ce they would appear was a fruit and vegetable garden as these insects were herbivores and one of the pests that bred easily. So they could be seen in most farms. As for if they would be killed by pesticides. The information on the shows that they are particrly resistant towards pesticides, and Lin Sheng figures that catching about ten of them would not be too difficult. As for school, now that it was close to the exam period, and the lectures had pretty much been wrapped up. It was a self-study period now at school. So it did not matter if he goes to school or not. Rather than going to school, Lin Sheng decided to skip the day and settle the matter with this elementary summoning. Or else, he would need to wait a whole day before going out to look for the materials. And who knows how long would that dy his preparations. Chapter 90 - Preparation: Part 3

Chapter 90: Preparation: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion After getting down from the taxi, Lin Sheng looked around. All around him was a sea of verdant vegetable farms. Not too far away were rows of greenhouses with rows upon rows of eye-catching white cotton nts lined between the green fields. ¡°Follow the small path to the right, and you¡¯ll arrive at the Mingri Fruit Garden. If you are looking to bulk purchase fruits, that¡¯s the best ce to start.¡± The taxi driver gave him some tips. ¡°Thanks, sir.¡± Lin Sheng nodded as he lifted his bag and went towards the dirt path. Gentle breeze flew along the path and carried with it the scent of grass. Lin Sheng felt the air was much fresher, and he was much more awake. Huaisha City always had that seawater smell, and the air here was totally different. As he walked along the path, he very quickly reached a ntation with neat rows of verdant trees. The trees were thick with leaves but Lin Sheng had no idea what sort of fruit tree was it as he could not see any fruit between the branches. By the side was a sign saying. ¡°Private fruit farm. Please do not pluck the fruits. And by the side was the entrance to the fruit farm. A dirt path with tire tracks on it. Lin Sheng followed the path into the farm. At the end of the path were two mud houses, and an old farmer stood by the door, sticking something on the wooden door frame. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m a student from the provincial agricultural university, and I¡¯m here to study a farm pest called the white spider...¡± Lin Sheng quickly stepped forward as he spun a tale, and stuffed a hundred bucks into the old farmer¡¯s hand. The old farmer probably did not even understand what he was talking about but smiled anyway as he received some money. ¡°Go on, go on. As long as you don¡¯t ruin the trees!¡± Lin Sheng then took out his ss bottles and entered the fruit farm to look for white spiders. But what he did not expect was due to the cold weather, he had only managed to find and capture two after a good while. Halfway through the old farmer came over to look, seemingly to monitor him. The moment he saw he was really catching white spiders, only did he slowly leave. After two odd hours scouring across the entire fruit farm only did he manage to finally get a dozen white spiders that he needed. Upon storing the bottles containing the spiders into his bag, he carefully slung it over and turned towards the path out of the fruit farm. At that very moment, youth with a blue short hair walked over from the opposite side. The youth had his hands in his pocket, as he wore a white wool shirt and ck long pants. He looked like he had just gotten out of a car without any speck of mud on him. The youth randomly swept his gaze past him before looking away. And Lin Sheng could sense that this person had a special aura to him. His body was ringing rm bells. This sort of cautiousness was a natural reflex stemming from the mercenary swordsman he had killed at first. His body will naturally go into alert the moment he encounters someone who could potentially threaten him. And the moment he got close to the youth, goosebumps were all over him. As if he was just a step away from the jaws of a ferocious tiger. ¡°The only thing that could threaten me is a level three, a level three or above supernatural being!¡± Lin Sheng had never thought of actually meeting a supernatural existence in reality. The warmth in his body seemed to be triggered as it started roiling and heating his abdomen up. He had no idea how strong the opponent was, but it was okay, thetter did not notice his uniqueness. Lin Sheng kept calm and left with his bag. The blue-haired youth stood where he stopped and lifted his watch at times, seemingly waiting for someone. Lin Sheng did not stop as he continued onward until he could no longer see the youth. Even then, he still kept calm and walked until the town street. Only then did he stop and hailed a taxi. Very soon, a blue taxi stopped before him. Lin Sheng quickly got in the car. ¡°To Yushu Street please!¡± He quickly gave his destination. The car then started moving, leaving the suburb behind. As the car drew a distance only did Lin Sheng managed to rx. ¡°There¡¯s a powerful existence at least at level three in Huaisha City? Was he here all this while? Or an outsider that hade here recently?¡± As he wondered, a sense of peril started to form. ¡°Ah, screw that. I¡¯ve gotten the needed materials today, and I¡¯ll perform the ritual tomorrow. If it doesn¡¯t work then I will need to focus on breaking through the holy powers.¡± As it was triggered earlier, the warmth in his body was clearly agitated, and it started to move even faster. Lin Sheng felt that he was close to breaking through, but he did not know when will that opportunityes. Based on the ckfeather City¡¯s sacred tome, a pdin¡¯s breakthrough is different from a normal warrior¡¯s. A normal warrior¡¯s breakthrough was an overall increase in physical attributes and nothing more. It was different for a pdin. Aside from an increase in their overall physical attributes, there is also a change to the Ashen Seal they have. And this enhancement is normally based on the back on the Ashen Seal¡¯s base ability. But until now Lin Sheng had not met a proper pdin yet, or perhaps he had already met one but failed to recognize it. After getting back to the city, Lin Sheng went to the traditional medicine shop and bought the rest of the materials. He then went to a farmer¡¯s bazaar to get a bucket of solidified pig oil. It there was any leftovers from the ritual, he could still use it to cook. So no waste there. ... Port District, the Golden Barrel Bar. Chen Hang was seated in a suite, his face grim as he drank pint after pint of beer. And beside him, was a slothful looking hulk of a man. ¡°Chen Hang, we have not met for four years now right?¡± The round-faced brute slowly sipped a ss of wine. ¡°Yes, it has been four years.¡± Chen Hang nodded. ¡°So, youing to look for me, means you have something to ask for me.¡± The man said. ¡°You know, I promised you three favors. You have used up two.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Chen Hang was impassive. ¡°This is thest one.¡± ¡°So? You still want to use it?¡± the brute asked again. ¡°I have no choice.¡± Chen Hang replied tly. ¡°The murderer could kill my son even when he was under the protection of a dozen elite bodyguards and escape without a scratch. Aside from you, I don¡¯t know who could go up against such a person.¡± The brute nodded. ¡°I heard about your son. Since you have decided, just send me the details.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Chen Hang said stiffly. As long as the person before him agreed, he knew that the murderer was a dead man! The reason was the man before him was no ordinary person. He was a Darksider who had once served the Heart of the Ocean! A terrifying existence that had hunted and killed a special force team! Xie Yaohui, the Venomancer. ¡°Remember to prepare the cash.¡± Xie Yaohui the Venomancer smiled. Chen Hang nodded. ¡°No problem, but since this is thest time we will work together, can you let me see what that legendary dark power actually is?¡± While he had been working with the Venomancer for a while now, he had never had the chance to witness that terrifying power. And this was hisst chance. Chapter 91 - Summoning: Part 1

Chapter 91: Summoning: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The next day. The dawn light shone from the broken window and lit a good part of the warehouse. Lin Sheng carefully ced his bag down. He had not done anything yesterday and only focused on memorizing the details of the summoning ritual. After counter checking a few times, he was finally sure he had perfectly memorized the matrix diagram. As soon as the dream ended, Lin Sheng went to school to ask for a day off before preparing the rest of the materials. He then went straight to the abandoned factory where he had performed his previous rituals. The factory warehouse had be his permanent ritual spot. He had ced his crows around the area to monitor the perimeter. And as usual, Lin Sheng pulled out a stic sheet from his bag andy it on the ground. He then took out the ritual mixture and lit up the pork fat candle. At the center of the matrix, he put up a t pan before pouring pure water and all other ingredients into it. Lin Sheng then got out to find some dried wood to use as firewood. He then poured some petrol on it, and... *Poof.* The light lit up on the thinnest of the wood as they lit up one by one. And soon, a decent-sized fire lit up underneath the pan. Lin Sheng had purposely cut a hole in the stic sheet for ease of the ritual. As the firewood lit up, he then ced part of the ritual mixture onto the fixed positions on the matrix before throwing another part into the pan to boil it. The pig fat candle too exuded an aroma that whetted his appetite. Lin Sheng followed the diagram as he prepared and put everything in ce. After simmering in the pan for about half an hour, he started using the gooey broth to finish up the remaining symbols on the matrix. The ¡®Elementary Summoning of Otherworlders¡¯ ritual was ratherplicated, more so than the ones that Lin Sheng had performed before. He then took another half an hour toplete the matrix, before taking another twenty to countercheck. Until he was sure that everything was as what was in his book did he took a step back and stood before the ritual matrix. ¡°Should be fine now.¡± Lin Sheng calmed himself down. ¡°Ten minutes, the matrix is only effective for ten minutes. If I cannotplete the summoning within that time, the ritual will failpletely, and everything is wasted.¡± Lin Sheng took a deep breath. This was the first time he had got in touch with a ritual that could summon a physical entity. The earlier rituals, be it the Ritual of Sacrifice, or the Beckoning Ritual, was a matrix based on the mind and soul. But this was different. He was about to summon and tether a totally unknown otherworld existence into the ne he is in, and to serve him. After settling his mind, Lin Sheng started chanting a clear, but bizarre sybles. The sybles were meaningless, and was created to work with the matrix diagram. It was an activator, but also a regtor to ensure stability and bnce. A dream-like murmur came out from Lin Sheng¡¯s mouth. The voice was getting stronger and louder as it shook the pan in the middle of the matrix till ripples started appearing. The ripples were soon getting more and more pronounced. And slowly a green mist appeared on the top of the pig fat oil. *Hiss...* And suddenly, a huge amount of steam shot up from the pan. Countless of steam whirled around Lin Sheng. A sensation akin to entering the dream made Lin Sheng subconsciously closed his eyes. In his sight, which should have been pitch ck, two light orbs appeared before him, one big one small. One of the orb was red, and another white. The red orb was about the size of an egg, while the white one was the size of a ser ball. ¡°It has begun!¡± Lin Sheng did not panic. He understood that he had sessfully entered the summoning process created by the matrix. And the two light orbs before him was the two beings that he could summon. What surprised him was that, originally, after activating the ritual, he would need to seek out the rift himself, and within that ten minutes, to bring a being that he likes back from the rift and bind it to him. But just as he had entered this stage, two light orbs had appeared right in front of him without needing him to look for it. ¡°The ritual matrix, or rather than ult is more like a fixed program created using some mysterious powers. But not sure why I was presented this two beings to summon without needing to look for them. Well, that works too, save me time and effort.¡± Lin Sheng then frowned as he hesitated. ¡°Since they would appear before me, that means I should be able to withstand the monster¡¯s requirement and drain, and the book said, therger the orb, the stronger the being is. And without any more hesitation, he looked at therger white orb. As soon as he consciously approached it, a furious roar exploded in his mind. Countless of white lights blew up before Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes as if he had been thrown into a storm of shbangs. A pauseter, a surge of images, memories and voices came out of Lin Sheng¡¯s mind and entered the white orb before him. What he did not expect was the images, memories and voices resonated with the white orb. And an even more blinding light exploded before him. ¡°I shall give everything to God.¡± Amid the daze, a massive giant in white te armor knelt piously on the ground towards the ornate divine statue to pray. ¡°Gods do not exist! Only the will in our hearts is eternal!¡± A voice came from the back of the giant. ¡°No, I believe God do exist.¡± The giant said calmly. ¡°Just because of Ancellia¡¯s jest?¡± The voice sounded full of disappointment. ¡°But she saw a divine miracle!¡± The giant rumbled. ¡°That is fake, Harsenna.¡± ¡°Even if it just a shred of hope, I will persist!¡± the giant rumbled again as he stood up. ¡°When everything is dragged into the dream, you will be the same as the rest of the Sacred Shield Tyrants. A mere wandering husk.¡± The voice behind the giant continued, as if it was stating the truth. ¡°Then I will kill all of them.¡± The giant¡¯s voice turned chilly. ¡°I will bear all of their wills and live until the end, to see the final hope!¡± The voice behind him spoke no more. *Hiss...* Lin Sheng was suddenly yanked out of the memory and the white orb in the darkness before him had totally disappeared. And it is ce, was the white armored warrior he had encountered in Snowgale Fortress. The Sacred Shield Tyrant. ¡°This... actually... !?¡± Lin Sheng never thought that the light orb that he had chosen, was the Sacred Shield Tyrant in the Snowgale Fortress!? He could feel that there were countless of ck linesing out of his body and entering the body of the Sacred Shield Tyrant. This was probably the memory fragments he had absorbed from the tyrant. Thetter¡¯s three meter tall, and powerful body floated in the darkness of his sight like a shell that was being filled in by the ck lines. It was probably took a minute, or maybe five minutes. Lin Sheng could feel that all of the memories he had about the Sacred Shield Tyrant was being replicated into the body before him. He could make contact with thetter¡¯s mind, and thetter was like machine bereft of any emotions, consciousness and personality. It would only act on its orders. He suddenly opened his eyes. Before him, a massive three meter tall warrior in white armor stood silently on the ritual matrix. Chapter 92 - Summoning: Part 2 Chapter 92: Summoning: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The warrior¡¯s body was fully encased in thick white armor. His face was not visible and only emotionless but sharp eyes were exposed from the slit on the helmet. The eyes were determined and pious, and at a nce give anyone thoughts about determination, victory, sacrifice and the likes. *ng!* A loud thudter, the Sacred Shield Tyrant suddenly knelt before Lin Sheng. Without a word, without any consciousness, the giant before him was like a loyal fighting machine, quietly waiting for Lin Sheng¡¯s orders. Lin Sheng took deep breaths and felt that he just needed to think and he will be able to enter the mind of the tyrant and check on his status. ¡°Based on thews of the summoning ritual, the monster I summon should be form-malleable and could easily pass through the rift, but this Sacred Shield Tyrant here...¡± He had no idea how this giant bugger was being tethered and summoned. One needed to know that the rift was mostly located between the void and reality. If it was a solid physical form, even something the size of a hair would have difficulties getting through. But the giant before him... Before Lin Sheng could react, the massive Sacred Shield Tyrant was suddenly enveloped by ayer of ck mist. And following that, his entire form quickly came apart, turning into puffs of pure ck smoke and rushed into Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. Lin Sheng could not help but close his eyes, and in the darkness, the tyrant¡¯s massive frame appeared once again. And beneath thetter was a small Ancient Rehn numeric symbol for one. Lin Sheng looked around. ¡°When I performed the summoning ritual I saw two light orbs, and now that I¡¯ve summoned the Sacred Shield Tyrant, I don¡¯t see that small red light orb anymore.¡± ¡°Also, it seems my mind is being burdened with something. And based on the tome, I probably am bearing the tyrant¡¯s soul right now, and that is causing the dissonance.¡± Lin Sheng recalled that when he had killed the cleric previously, the memory fragments he obtained contained a detailed description of the soul. ¡°...A summoning ritual can only follow the strength of the summoner¡¯s soul, and summon being of corresponding strength. The stronger the summoner, the stronger the summoned being.¡± ¡°And should the summoning seed, the foreign being would slowly consume itself, and the matrix will program it basic hunting instincts for it to maintain its existence.¡± ¡°And a summoned being with a physical body would need flesh or food to survive. Ethereal beings, on the other hand, require different things, but normally, if it is not wounded, it could absorb the natural elements from the surroundings to sustain itself.¡± Lin Sheng had an idea, and open his eyes. On the ground before him, a surge of ck smoke rushed out of his body and formed into the three-meter-tall giant in white armor. The giant breathed slowly before bowing down in deference. Lin Sheng walked over and held his hand out to touch the white helm with cow horns. On the sturdy helmet were many intricate serpentine patterns. While his chest armor had a carving of a massive lion baring its fangs. There were simr lion motifs on the pauldrons on his shoulders as the beast bared its razor-sharp fangs. Aside from the lion head motifs, all across the joints of the armor were wave-patterned marks. And the weapon in the giant¡¯s hands astounded Lin Sheng even more. He had no chance to inspect it up close before, and upon touching it, he now knew that it was by pure luck that he had defeated the Sacred Shield Tyrant. The giant held a giant shield with white and gold trims in one hand, and a massive knight¡¯snce in the other. The giant shield had a white crest that looked like mish-mash between a dragon and a snake while thence was simple yet heavy, about two meters in length. ¡°That¡¯s not right... a normal knight¡¯snce would not be that short.¡± Lin Sheng started inspecting again. Thence in the giant¡¯s hands, was more akin to a fusion between a broadsword and ance, than a propernce. Thence bore a keen edge on both sides while its tip was tapered as a menacing hollowed-out frame extended from the tip. One could imagine, if thence were to be stabbed into a foe, the massive gaping wound would be tore in said foe¡¯s body. Blood would inevitably shoot out like a fountain, and the foe would be bled dry within a short amount of time. Lin Sheng looked around the Sacred Shield Tyrant as the powerful warrior simply knelt like a statue, allowing him to inspect as he wished. After an hourter, only did he snap out of his excitement and started cleaning up the mess the ritual had made. The tyrant then turned into a puff of ck smoke and entered his body. Even though he had managed to summon an extremely powerful being, Lin Sheng¡¯s mind kept ying the memory again and again. ¡°Why did this situation happened? Was it because I had absorbed the memory fragments of those monsters and that formed a bond that made the summoning process easier?¡± Lin Sheng guessed. But this was just a wild guess based on the mess of memories in his mind, and he had no way of getting to the bottom of this. As he sensed the dissonanceing from his chest, Lin Sheng suddenly recalled the giant, Harsenna in the memory. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if this fulfills his dream of escaping the nightmare?¡± For some reason, he thought of that. But he knew very well that the Sacred Shield Tyrant he summoned, was just a being that contained the memory fragments that he had replicated. He was the same Harsenna he had seen. But somehow, he was reminded of that determined yet faithful giant. ¡°Let¡¯s find a ce to test this out. A Sacred Shield Tyrant eh, I sure was driven to a corner by it. Not sure he¡¯ll be able to fight against the gray angel in the dream or not.¡± He would need a proper ce to do some testing, and the thought of the tyrant¡¯s three-meter frame gave Lin Sheng headaches. ¡°Let¡¯s see if I can do that in the dream.¡± He then took about ten minutes to clean everything up. And what made it easy was all of the ritual materials had lost their original sheen and be charcoal dust-like junk. Lin Sheng only needed to pour everything into the pan and bring the pot out to be buried somewhere in the nearby woods. After settling everything, he tested the power and ability of the tyrant there. Lin Sheng was surprised to find that when the tyrant was in its ck smoke form, it would note into contact with the crow. It was as if he was like a shadow, and the crow simply flew through him without any resistance. And when the crow flew, it was as though it did not even notice the tyrant and simply flew through him. And that reminded him of a summoned being from the tome, a nightmare. A nightmare can take both a physical and an ethereal form, and switch around at will. In its ethereal form, normal people would not be able to see it. ... Dongwu Complex. The room where Chen Tan was murdered. Chen Hang and the Venomancer alongside a few aides circled around the room as they looked at the Azurewing egg on the floor. And that moment, the egg was about as lifeless as a normal egg. Some sort of spider web seemed to be secreted into its surroundings, and the web would fly all around the room at the slightest gust. What astounded everyone was, the spider web would only exist in the room itself. As soon as it left the door or the window, it would immediately disappear. ¡°A darkside Azurewing. Top-notch stuff there!¡± the Venomancer was full of praise when he saw the egg. ¡°This is not something you¡¯lle by cheap. How did you get it?¡± Chen Hang demurred. ¡°I paid a hefty price to get it. And can only use it once.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good enough.¡± The Venomancery on the bar stand behind him, looking all rxed. ¡°The egg will hatch tomorrow, we¡¯ll just wait for it to do its magic. Get your man ready for tomorrow.¡± ¡°I will.¡± Chen Hang nodded. He had given everything for vengeance, and he did not want to think of anything other than that. Chapter 93 - Summoning: Part 3 Chapter 93: Summoning: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Oh right, if the dark energy is seen by the normal folks, even if we don¡¯t do anything it¡¯ll still leak out, right?¡± Chen Hang suddenly thought of that. ¡°No worries, as long as I will it, and the scale of the operation is small enough, no one will notice anything.¡± The Venomancer smiled. ¡°Won¡¯t it attract problems from above?¡± Chen Hang continued asking. ¡°No problem. It might have in the past, but now...¡± the Venomancer seemed to have thought of something as his smile faded away. ¡°The egg will hatch tomorrow morning, but if you want, I can help you elerate the process.¡± He then smiled again, ¡°I don¡¯t have the patience to wait.¡± ¡°If it does not affect anything, then please do.¡± Chen Hang¡¯s eyes brightened. For him, waiting even just a second was torture. ¡°Very well.¡± The Venomancer held his hand out with a smile as he grasped towards the Azurewing egg from a distance. Strands of red light shot out from his fingers and into the egg. *Crack!* And suddenly a crack appeared on the egg¡¯s surface. Chen Hang was ted and quickly took out his phone to get his underlings to ready the cars. He had no idea where this thing would lead him to. If it was far away, then driving would make things easier. ¡°It is hatching.¡± The Venomancer suddenly said. *Crack!* A blue shadow darted out of the eggshell in that instant as the spider webs in the room flew about. Arge amount of web then retracted and returned to the blue shadow. ¡°Follow it!¡± the Venomancer said. Chen Hang and the rest saw the blue shadownd on the Venomancer¡¯s shoulder as it revealed its true form, a tiny blue bird. No one knew what species of bird it was, but its eyes were as dark as ink, and it gave everyone an ominous feeling. The Venomancer yed with the Azurewing for a bit and gotten it to flew out of the door. The rest followed. ... After school, Lin Sheng got home. As he had managed to summon a powerful servant, he was in a good mood and proactively helped his parents out with the dinner preparation. Most of the time, he would simply just wait until dinner was ready. And his proactivity surprised his father Lin Zhounian. ¡°Boy, since when did you be so diligent?¡± The said as he swept the kitchen floor. ¡°Since I¡¯ve nothing better to do, and seeing you work so hard at it, can¡¯t I just be a good son and help?¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°Then do it consistently.¡± ¡°Forget it, your son here still have exams to face. Time is precious.¡± Lin Sheng sniggered. He had another reason to be in a good mood. He had noticed that the Sacred Shield Tyrant had another particrly useful ability: long-range reconnaissance. As the tyrant had an ethereal form, so he had tested it out and was sure that normal people would not be able to see it. And through the bond, the tyrant was able to automatically send the images of what he saw back to Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. That made it a super effective long-range rm system. Simply by letting it wander about, Lin Sheng would be able to gather information on his surroundings from time to time. On the other hand, the crow could only be at one ce at a time and was relegated to a secondary scout to alert Lin Sheng. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll wash the tes.¡± He said as he walked to the basin and started to awkwardly wash the tes and bowls. Lin Zhounian could only shake his head wordlessly. Just as he was about to turn on the faucet, Lin Sheng¡¯s mind shook slightly as an image the tyrant had just seen came into his mind. His smile soon disappeared and gave way into deep thought and severity. This was the tyrant¡¯s first patrol and he had detected a supernatural existenceing towards Huilian district, and it was the district Lin Sheng was living in. As the tyrant had basicbat cognitive ability, he immediately transmitted the image to Lin Sheng. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Are theying here?¡± Lin Sheng closed his eyes to concentrate. The image was a street slightly less than two kilometers away from the Huilian district. Rows upon rows of ck cars were heading in line towards his direction. Lin Sheng also noticed from the image, there was a blue bird flying before the convoy of cars. There was a pulse from its body, seemingly a supernatural being as well and it looked like it was leading the convoy behind it. Lin Sheng¡¯s hand who was washing the bowls suddenly paused as he straightened his back. ¡°Dad, I got something to do. Heading out for a bit.¡± ¡°Do it after you washed the dishes!¡± Lin Zhounian chided him. But Lin Sheng had already turned off the faucet and darted past him. ¡°I really have something to do, be right back!¡± The more Lin Sheng thought of it, the more problematic it seemed. The convoy was heading straight towards the district he lived in. He had to make sure if thetter was actually targeting him. And if they were, he had to prepare. ... About a hundred gunmen carrying all sorts of firearms and ammunition bandoliers sat in the car as they darted straight towards Lin Sheng¡¯s ce. Chen Hang sat in a luxurious car at the center of the convoy. His face was calm. He knew that, if this attempt fails, it meant death. And he was prepared for that. ¡°Son, I will avenge you.¡± Cen Hang said as he clutched his grip tight, seemingly murmuring to himself, or trying to reaffirm his determination. The Venomancer sat facing him, both his hands were encased in a dark red metal gauntlet. Noting Chen Hang¡¯s condition, a glint of admiration appeared in his eyes. ¡°That Azurewing is formed from a dark power that I¡¯ve seen before. It was made for tracking. Don¡¯t worry, since we started tracking, the target did not show any signs of dark powers. So, whoever they are, they are dead meat.¡± The Venomancer smirked. He had killed too many, too many for him to even remember them properly. Countless heads and torn limbs howled in his dreams as they tried to pull him into the abyss. But he did not fear them. This was the battle of wills. So, he admired anyone with a strong will. He had thought Chen Hang as a weakling, but now he saw him in a slightly different light. ¡°I want to make sure nothing goes wrong.¡± Chen Hang said. ¡°With me around, nothing will go wrong.¡± The Venomancer said tly. ¡°But I cannot guarantee that they won¡¯t escape...¡± Before Chen Hang couldplete his sentence, he saw the Venomancer¡¯s expression suddenly changed as he suddenly grabbed him on the shoulder. As the two mmed against the car window out of the car. *Bam!* The brutal fall sent surges of pain all across Chen Hang. Before he could ask anything, he saw the car he was on suddenly being thrown into the air. ¡°Charge! ¡°Stomp! ¡°Sacred Shield!¡± In his daze, he heard someone roaring in an unknownnguage. A three-meter-tall warrior in white armor, like a fearsome battle tank trudging on under heavy footfalls as his powerful stomps created cracks on the ground. The warrior roared as he charged towards the cars like a ferocious beast. *Bam!!* The three cars were sent flying like Jenga tiles in sequence. Chapter 94 - Laying Low: Part 1 Chapter 94: Laying Low: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion *Boom!!* Amidst the cacophony of explosions, the white armored warrior ran rampant among the convoy, and everything he lifts up his golden-white shield, a car was simply crushed. Blood and petrol mixed together as they flowed out of the smashed vehicles. *Boom!!* Another car exploded into a crimson fireball. Fragments of the exploded car shot out all over and crashed against the white armored warrior, yet that did not faze him one bit. And just as the white armored warrior was reaping a human harvest, a ck shadow appeared out of nowhere behind the cars. The silhouette was masked as he waved his sword around, walking through the burning cars. The Venomancer and Chen Hang had not expected the murderer to appear in such a fashion before them. The explosive terrifying power and that three-meter-tall warrior the size of a battle tank roared by the ck shadow¡¯s side like a monstrous beast. ¡°Die!¡± The Venomancer was the first to recover from the shock as piercing red light appeared on his hands. ¡°Fadeshadow, activate!¡± Without hesitation, he activated the strongest dark power corruption mode as the red light flowed from his hand upwards to his body and formed a bizarre crimson mark on his chest. And at that moment, his speed increased by many folds. *Hah!* He then surged into a red shadow towards Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng suddenly felt a very powerful threat, a threat that sent goosebumps down his spine. That very moment, he activated his Sacred Blood ability as his body expanded and purple rune marks appeared on his forehead. Without a word, he met the charge with his sword. And the sword¡¯s edge seemed to have resonated with the warmth in his body as the warmth flowed like a torrent into the longsword in his hand, coating it in faint white light. ¡°Come, one-on-one, let me see how strong I¡¯ve gotten!¡± Lin Sheng said calmly, as he focused all of his thoughts on his de. ¡°Crescent Moon sh!¡± *Swing!* A silver crescent moon smashed against the red shadow. *ng!!* The two crashed in a blur of red and white light. ¡°Facing me head-on is the stupidest mistake you¡¯ve made!!¡± The Venomancer felt that he had the advantage in strength as his hands pressed towards Lin Sheng¡¯s throat like ripping talons. *Crash!!* Unfortunately for him, a white shadow came crashing in from the right side like a lorry onto his right shoulder. ¡°F*ck! Wasn¡¯t this a one-on-one!??¡± The Venomancer writhed in pain as he was sent flying towards the opposite shop and smashed against the disy ss. A crashter, countless of ss fragments rained upon him. He quickly got up and raised his hand before him. *Bam!!* His hands were just raised in time to block the oing shield strike. And he felt his arms creaking under the assault. ¡°Ooof!!¡± He was spitting blood now. Sh*t! This is bad! He should not have gotten involved in this! Why did a powerful Darksider suddenly pop out in a border town like this?? He could not understand. On the other hand. ¡°I¡¯m no match huh... Guess I¡¯ll need to go all out next time then.¡± Lin Sheng easily dodged and started charging and shing at Chen Hang¡¯s underlings. With every charge, a stter of blood followed. Those underlings could not fire randomly once Lin Sheng got close. They could not even get a bead on him. He was too fast, too ferocious. And in just a mere minute, the original hundred-strong troops had scattered. About fifty bodiesy on the ground, about half of them was taken out by the Sacred Shield Tyrant. ¡°Mon-Monster!!¡± A goon holding an assault rifle knelt on the ground as he shivered, tears and snivel flowed freely from his face. ¡°Monster?¡± Lin Sheng walked past him, and a shter, the man¡¯s throat was ripped apart. ¡°Can you find something more original?¡± And not too far away, Chen Hangy on the wall. There was no one beside him. At this key moment, he only had himself to protect him from harm. ¡°You... you lot are Darksiders as well!!?¡± His eyes opened wide as he stared at the approaching Lin Sheng as if trying to imprint his image into his mind. ¡°Dark powers? No, I don¡¯t know what dark powers you¡¯re talking about. I¡¯m just a normal person looking for a peaceful life.¡± Lin Sheng then struck forward like a bolt of lightning and sank the sword into Chen Hang¡¯s heart. Chen Hang tried to open his mouth, but he no longer had any strength to speak by the time his voice got to his throat as hey slump and still for good. As he pulled the sword out, Lin Sheng looked around, passersby, if any had already all ran away. The shops around him are still open, but the counters were empty, the shopkeepers clearly had run away. The ruckus was big this time around. But he had to show his power, and remove any threat to him at the root. The White Tarots was the biggest gang in Huaisha City, if he does not show them his strength, they would know no fear; rather they would be even more brazen and hurt his loved ones. As for disying his supernatural powers? They had flipping brought someone with supernatural powers against him. If he was to worry about this and that all the time, he would be killed by his indecision sooner orter. Lin Sheng did not search the bodies as he feared being tainted by some unknown supernatural powers. When he killed Chen Tan the other time, he had thought that he had taken care of things pretty well. Using the memories he had absorbed, he had perfectly dealt with any details that could expose him. Yet, they still managed to find him. That made him suspect if there was any intervention by supernatural powers. So before he could ascertain how they did it, he would not touch anything. ¡°And that bird...¡± Lin Sheng looked up in the sky. The Azurewing was still circling around. He then picked up an assault rifle from the ground before training it towards the sky and pulled the trigger. *Rat tat tat tat!* The muzzle jumped about widely as the bullet flew in random directions. Not only did he not hit the bird, but a few rounds also smashed against the windows of the apartments nearby, and terrified screams could be heard. ¡°Ugh... better not harm any innocents...¡± Lin Sheng demurred and put down the rifle. The Azurewing chirped clearly before flying away. Lin Sheng did not allow his crow to follow. Thetter was a supernatural being, while his crow was just a normal crow. It was futile, to begin with. He then refocused and looked around. Not too far away, the tyrant had already overturned thest of the cars and stabbed hisnce through it. Thence then shuddered a little, as if some sort of contraption activated. He only heard a grunt as the entire vehicle quickly twist and crumpled, and a crashter, it felt apart. And while the Sacred Shield Tyrant¡¯s armor was bullet-ridden, none of it punctured his armor. And the Venomancery unmoving by a fire hydrant, his entire body bloodied. ¡°Kill him.¡± Lin Sheng ordered. The tyrant walked a few steps forward towards the Venomancer and grabbed his hand with his right hand. ¡°Wait,¡± Lin Sheng called it to stop as he thought of something. ¡°Take him away.¡± He then looked up to the sky, and the bird had already flown far away and disappeared into the horizon. ¡°I need to understand more about the knowledge of supernatural powers in this world. Hopefully letting this guy live will satisfy that.¡± He then looked down, motioning for the tyrant to extend a hand as he leaped on to it. The two then quickly ran and disappeared from the street. As for the Venomancer, he was hanging by the tyrant¡¯s other hand. He did not have the luxury of preferential treatment that Lin Sheng had and simply pped about like a broken sack. He had only unleashed about sixty percent of his powers, and with a mere few hits from the tyrant, he was at death¡¯s door. No matter how proficient he was, no matter how experienced he was. If you cannot win face to face, that was it. If you fight a fight that you can¡¯t win, death was the only thing waiting for you. And with that, he got captured by Lin Sheng. Chapter 95 - Laying Low: Part 2 Chapter 95: Laying Low: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The Sacred Shield Tyrant turned into a puff of ck smoke and flew into Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. *Ssh!* Lin Sheng took the fat pan and poured water on the Venomancer¡¯s face. Wet, pain, and weak; the previously cocksure Venomancer was now nothing but a docile and dazed animal. ¡°Who are you?¡± Lin Sheng still wore his mask and changed his voice a little to prevent anyone from recognizing him. While this was not really effective, it was still something. The Venomancer looked at him in a daze before turning around. It was nothing but trees all around him, leaves above him, and grass beneath him. He wasying by a big tree, and the masked man which had challenged him earlier was beside him. ¡°Xie Yaohui...¡± ¡°Age.¡± ¡°Thirty-eight.¡± ¡°Sex.¡± ¡°Withdies.¡± ¡°I mean your gender god damn it!¡± ¡°Male.¡± ¡°Why did you target me?¡± Lin Sheng continued asking. ¡°Because I owe someone.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Fool¡± ¡°Who?!¡± ¡°You fool!¡± the Venomancer suddenly leaped up as heughed in a daze as yellow liquid kept seeping out of his pants. The moment Lin Sheng smelled urine, he had a feeling that something was off. When he took a good look, only then did he notice that there was an obvious cave in in his skull. The crack was the size of an egg! With such a crack on his skull... ¡°Forget it.¡± He then stepped forward and quickly searched the Venomancer. Soon he pulled out a passport-like document, a ck card, and a brown pure leather wallet. The document was light blue in color and the middle of it was a water drop pattern. Lin Sheng flipped it open, and the Venomancer¡¯s passport photograph was stered on the top right. And beneath it was a serial number, ¡°xe11337¡±, and a line of words in a smaller font, ¡°Graduated Year 1891, 10th October¡±. At the bottom was a light blue stamp, and three words could be vaguely seen: The Azure Heart. ¡°So he belongs to a group called the Azure Hearts?¡± Lin Sheng put down the document and stuffed it back into the Venomancer¡¯s coat. He did not intend to take that with him. Probably have some RFID or GPS chip embedded in it. Lin Sheng then took the wallet and pulled the zip. Inside it was arge amount of cash, mostly in hundred dor notes, with a few thousand dor ones. ¡°Probably about ten odd thousand at least.¡± Lin Sheng took the money out, before taking a look at the bank card. As he pondered, he resisted the temptation and did not touch it. There are records for any financial transactions, and there is a possibility of his identity being exposed that way. While he probably had already exposed himself now, if he could still buy time then why not? In the end, he only took the cash out of security. Then there was the ck card. Lin Sheng turned it over and back, and could not work out what was it for? ¡°What is this?¡± He decided to ask the Venomancer himself as thetter looked stupidly at him. ¡°Banban.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Banban.¡± ¡°Banban?¡± Lin Sheng was baffled. ¡°Banban card. Can use it for hos, payment, buying stuff, buy and buy and buy~~¡± the Venomancer end up singing. ¡°So that¡¯s a bank card?¡± Lin Sheng did not expect an answer. ¡°Yes, can buy many, many things, many pretty things.¡± The Venomancer grinned. ¡°Where?¡± ¡°Online, bite it before using, and the webpage will appear, bite a bit of money, happy and smiley, smileyll~~¡± *Oooff!!* Lin Sheng cut his misery short as he pulled the sword out and looked at the corpse with a crack on his head. ¡°Bloody noisy.¡± He then rubbed the sword hard against the crash, but the brain matter had already mixed with theyer of filth from before and coated the whole sword red. ¡°Not sure if I leave it like this, it will be a potent venom like a komodo dragon?¡± Lin Sheng had the idea but he soon rejected it. Only for the reason it smelt very bad. As he held the ck card, and hesitating for a moment before throwing it on the Venomancer¡¯s body. Even if that card contained some sort of secret, he had no ns to test it out now. He then took his sword to a nearby stream and quickly cleaned his sword. He then putting the cleaned de back into its scabbard and left the ce in haste. This was wild forest at the edge of Huaisha City, and not the abandoned factory or Huilian district. It was just a ce Lin Sheng chose at random, so abandoning the corpse here was not a problem. ... *Chirp.* The blue bird chirped as it flew across the city beneath it. The blue feathers on its body fluttered against the wind as its wingspan looked as sharp as a razor. It flew through the city area, past the port, and after almost an hour the bird dove downwards towards a massive white military vessel on the ocean. On the bow of the ship, a man with golden curly hair gently held his hands out and allowed the bird to perch on his finger. The man was dressed in an expensive tight-fitting garment more akin to the style preferred by the nobility, and on his right shoulder was an epaulette of a white wolf made out of bird feathers. His face was elegant and gentile, almost feminine, but yet it exuded a nondescript aura of masculine determination. ¡°The Azurewing is back. Seems like it had failed.¡± The man said resignedly. ¡°I knew it was a waste of time.¡± A tall andnky bald man in a long robe appeared from the cabin door nearby as he grumbled. ¡°I had told you to prepare more countermeasures. You are too trust, Kamir.¡± ¡°What does have that to do with anything?¡± The gentle man smiled. ¡°Only by giving others hope that we gain hope ourselves.¡± ¡°Hell will freeze over if I ever believe that.¡± The bald man was speechless. He then made his way to the gentle man¡¯s side and held the rails as he looked at bird. ¡°Let¡¯s see what it saw.¡± The bald man held his hand out, and like a sh of lightning, grabbed the bird by its head and squeezed it. *Poff!* The bird exploded right away and turned into a ball of spider webs. And the strands were being sucked in by the bald man. He then closed his eyes as he seemed to have noticed something. ¡°Oh, interesting, very interesting!¡± As he saw more and more images, the smile on the bald man¡¯s face grew even wider. ¡°What happened?¡± The gentle man was astounded. He had rarely seen his partner make such an expression. They had been travelling together across the globe for ten odd years now, and whenever the bald man made such an expression, that meant he had found something really interesting. ¡°Kamir, do you believe that there are people who can fight against the Darksiders without using dark energies themselves? Without any proper ballistic weaponry, only with cold steel.¡± The bald man asked as he opened his eyes. ¡°Impossible. But if that was what you saw in the images, and such a thing happened. The only exnation is that their dark pulse is too weak, or their concealment is too strong that the Azurewing is not able to detect it.¡± Kamir said tly. Chapter 96 - Laying Low: Part 3 Chapter 96: Laying Low: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Heh, interesting, really interesting. I never thought I¡¯d see such a fun thing in tiny little Huaisha.¡± The bald man rubbed his head. ¡°Want to go ahead and have a look? If there was a concealment ability beyond the detection of the Azurewing; that would be very useful to us in the future,¡± Kamir said with a serious face. ¡°In the images, the Huaisha gang boss even hired a Darksider to help, while he is still the weakest Fadeshadow rank, but the opponent¡¯s speed and power were a wee bit too much there.¡± The bald man then went ahead to describe the Sacred Shield Tyrant he saw. Kamir did not pay any heed at first, but the moment the bald man¡¯s description got clearer and clearer, his interest was piqued. ¡°Basing on our Six Wings categorization, what level you think that white armored warrior belongs to?¡± ¡°Six Wings? There¡¯s no physical mutation so he is probably a One Wing corruption level Bloodshadow.¡± The bald man said after some thoughts. ¡°A Darksider is broken down into four ranks, Fadeshadow, Grayshadow, Bloodshadow and Nightshadow. You have directly ranked it on the second-highest rank, did something that great appear in that small town?¡± Kamir was surprised. ¡°His strength, speed, and defense aren¡¯t much different than a Bloodshadow¡¯s.¡± The bald man shook his head. ¡°Heh, at this level, most police munitions won¡¯t even work anymore...¡± ¡°Weird, a Darksider of this level would only appear on the provincial level,¡± Kamir added questioningly. ¡°Screw that. I¡¯ll pay that ce a visit. The White Tarots are still important, and that line of contact is still important to us. We need to keep it in ce. As for that Darksider who had taken out Chen Hang, I hope he¡¯ll reveal how he hides his aura when he dies.¡± The bald man said no more and turned back into the cabin. ¡°Enough. It¡¯s bleeding cold out here! I¡¯m heading back in.¡± ¡°If it is cold then why the hell did youe up here?¡± Kamir was speechless. ¡°I had hung one of my underwear on the cannon. Wasn¡¯t it fired just now? So I came up to see if it had dried or not,¡± the bald man said without even turning back. There was silence. ... ¡°I became stronger again...¡± Lin Sheng sat cross-legged on his bed, his knee aching a little. ¡°Didn¡¯t they say this posture was the best for meditating? Why is my knee hurting even after doing it for so long?¡± He was a little perplexed, as he had only managed a breakthrough with his holy power after a bitter fight. And now his abdomen was letting out a faint white light. The holy power seemed to be in perpetual motion as it continued to release a faint white light, nourishing his organs. And that warmed Lin Sheng¡¯s whole body up. ¡°So this is holy power... it sure is powerful and warm at the same time.¡± Lin Sheng felt that he was soaking in a forty-odd degree hot spring now without the water pressure pressing against him. ¡°No wonder so many got engrossed with training. This sort of happiness is beyond theprehension of most people.¡± Lin Sheng pondered as he tried to figure out what use this thing had. The fight between him and the Venomancer earlier had badly chipped his de and even tore a wound in his hand. At that moment, he was trying to get the holy power to flow towards the wound. Sadly, the holy power simply stayed still in his abdomen, not heeding hismand. ¡°There was nothing on what to do once the holy power had awakened when I read the tomest time...This is problematic...¡± Lin Sheng was troubled. He then tried all sorts of methods. Like trying to use an eye beam. Imagining himself shooting a ray of holy light from his eyes and get it to follow where he looked at. Or trying to caress and massage out. Like using his hands to pinch out a pimple, he tried to force the holy power out. Or trying to meditate in silence. As he sat cross-legged on the bed, imagining himself as the darkness, an emptiness as he regted his breathing, and between breaths, was that eternity...¡±Eternity my ass!¡± Lin Sheng sprang up from the bed as he massaged his knee. Seemed like his synovitis got worse. He had learned from the about meditative cross-legged seating, and after a while instead of helping him, it had instead caused his knees to hurt. ¡°Forget that. I probably have to back there to see if I can get any information about holy powers.¡± Lin Sheng decided it was probably the best to search for it in the dream. After all, no matter how much a genius or a savant he was, he could not beat the research and experience of holy power by the countless of people in that world. He then took off his jacket and turned off the light as Lin Shengy on the bed with his legs protruding out of the bed to avoid dirtying the sheet. As his breathing calmed down, he suddenly thought of his parents. ¡°If I¡¯m found, then that means my family is in danger too. So, I should strike first at any potential enemy and wipe out the threat. If no, I¡¯ll need more strength to help me protect my family. I¡¯ll pay Ironfist Club a visit tomorrow.¡± Old Man Deathw had already gotten the Ashen Seal for a couple of days now, and he should have gotten used to it by now. He was hoping to use Deathw¡¯s personal experience as a tool to spread Ironfist Club¡¯s name out and attract more powerful martial artists. These are all elites who had already reached the peak of human capabilities, and their willpower indomitable, all of them were talents to be harnessed. ¡°Sarroux too had gotten the seal for a while now. Hopefully, he¡¯ll have some sort of breakthrough as well. My power is still too little...¡± Lin Sheng thought. His summoned beings had no thought of its own and were onlybat tools, not capable of performing anyplicated tasks. So he needed someone else to help him. That aside, even after seeing the power of a collective, Lin Sheng was particrly wary of this sort of power. And even if he was not good at it, he could not afford to allow anyone to use this against him. ¡°Ah, screw it. I should get going...¡± Lin Sheng swept away all of the random thoughts in his head and slowly closed his eyes. *Tick tock, tick tock...* The clock continued to tick as Lin Sheng felt the sound getting further and further away. He like a drowning person as he looked up at the clock while continuously sinking downwards. The sound was getting softer, and even more distant, before being totally inaudible. And no one knew how long had passed before a faint light appeared before Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes. It was a golden light, dazzling like the sun. *Ahhhh!!!* A deafening roar suddenly boomed. In the light, a bloodied figure was charging manically forwards, howling and screaming. She was all bloodied, her steps unstable, her longsword had already chipped and cracked while her armor was rent, and had long lost its defensive capabilities. ¡°God does not exist.¡± ¡°Is that so? But I witnessed a divine miracle.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lie, a deception.¡± ¡°But I witnessed a divine miracle.¡± ¡°Ancellia, have you gone mad...¡± ¡°But... I did witness a divine miracle... Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s beautiful? Like the side face of Hir.¡± Lin Sheng widened his eyes as he tried to see things even more clearly, but unfortunately, his body seemed to have fused with the light, and could not feel anything. Not even his own body. ¡°Go... Go... Find your faith. Be in it a fairy tale, a legend, or madness. It is still a shred of hope.¡± A blurry blue-haired knight knelt on one knee as he quietly waited beside the howling figure. It was not only him but many others as well. Some of them were of the peasantry, some of them were in noble garbs, there too were the imposing Sacred Shield Tyrants, and another armored warrior that Lin Sheng had no way to identify. The crowd slowly knelt by the side of the howling figure, they seemed to be the people who had waited on for very long as they looked at the bloodied, maddened figure. ¡°Go.¡± ¡°Go.¡± ¡°Search for that final light...¡± *Hiss...* Lin Sheng knelt on the ground as he held his shield, his throat was parched. A vomiting sensation roiled from his stomach. ¡°What the hell did I just saw? A memory resonance?¡± He was suddenly stunned as he looked at the glowing purple rock in his hand in a daze. The rock was letting out a faint white glow. And that white glow, mixing in with the purple started radiated warmth all around as countless of ck lines came out from the stone and entered his palm. Chapter 97 - Gain: Part 1 Chapter 97: Gain: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Ugh, wasn¡¯t this rock from the pocket of the robe on the wall?¡± Lin Sheng endured the surge of information into his mind as he stood up. The ck lines from the rock had lessened as the white light and purple glow too had faded along with it. Pieces upon pieces of memory fragments, countless voices, conversations, and sensations were all muddled in Lin Sheng¡¯s already buzzing head. Just like a massive stew with boatloads of ingredients thrown in at the same time. ¡°Are these... Ancellia¡¯s memories?¡± Lin Sheng heard the name from the memories. But the memories from the rock were probably just a tiny portion, while the ones that were transmitted to him were chaotic and blurry. As time passed, the memory transfer weakened and finally stopped... *Crack!* The mysterious rock seemed to havepleted its mission as it shattered in Lin Sheng¡¯s hand and fell onto the ground into a smattering of ck dust. Lin Sheng took a deep breath as he straightened himself. ¡°It¡¯s finally over...¡± He massaged his temple and felt the massage ease the biting pain somewhat. To him, the memory fragments were like him watching a series of different movies at the same time. Not only was his vision locked in first person, but they also had a fully immersive virtual reality effect to them. While it may sound terrifying, but in reality aside from a few muscle memories being absorbed, the rest of the memories did not seem to do much. Most of them allowed him to see the world from a different perspective. ¡°I hope I can get more of this, but at the same time I worry about running into danger.¡± Lin Sheng sat on the bed and wiped the sweat off with both of his hands. This dream was so real that it had imprinted itself on all his senses. ¡°What a dilemma.¡± He smiled bitterly. Even though he would hesitate and worry about everything before any action, but when he actually runs into trouble, he would still march on. ¡°When you are hesitant and unsure, be stronger. The only thing you won¡¯t regret is being stronger yourself.¡± This was Lin Sheng¡¯s motto, and it was his drive to study ancientnguage in his past life. Frankly speaking, he did not like those dry and dreary ancientnguages, but at times, choices were limited and he had no other options. As he broke out of his thoughts, he quickly got up and moved his body to check if everything was okay. Only then did he arranged the memory that he had absorbed. There were not many memories about Ancellia, and most of the contents were dry and boring, mostly about her idyllic young life. She was born to a middle nobility of ckfeather City and her life wasvish and sheltered since young. Fortunately for her, she did not develop the typical noble pride and temper, and instead join the Sanctum and became one of the warriors of the Sanctum. After that, it was the tale of her training in ckfeather City and inheritance the Ashen Seal ¨C Sanctuary as she climbed up the ranks of the sanctum and became a Sanctum Knight. All of these memories were blurry and shortened, with scant details. As if it was an unclear concept. In Ancellia¡¯s chaotic memory, there were two pieces of memories clearest to Lin Sheng. One was her charging into a massive gate oozing ck liquid, like a whirling ck hole or a tide of writhing insects. Another was when she came to train in Snowgale Fortress and obtained the Ashen Seal there. It was a seal unique to Snowgale Fortress¡ªFurious Howl. ¡°An Ashen Seal! A second one!¡± Lin Sheng was excited. The Sanctuary¡¯s abilities were very practical, and if meditated on properly, plus ayer of armor, it is as good as having an extra set of protection that your normal folks. Good for keeping yourself alive. ¡°And I wonder what this Ashen Seal does?¡± Lin Sheng forced his excited self to calm down and started to recall the mysterious seal in his memory. That Ashen Seal in his mind was like a gray crystal, exuding a warm light. ¡°It is really an Ashen Seal, it is all ash in color.¡± Lin Sheng started meditating. For him, meditating on the Ashen Seal was already a well-versed process. But this was a new Ashen Seal, and he needed to get used to it. Lin Sheng closed his eyes and started focusing on the moving lines of the seal. When meditating the seal, he needed to focus and move along the lines. Once he had reached the other end of a line, a round ispleted. After trying it out, he finallytched on to the trick, and after three failures, he had finally managed toplete a full round of meditation. *Bang!* The moment hepleted his meditation, the entire seal lit up. Lines upon lines of information flowed from the seal into his mind. ¡°Oh unknown existence, when you have seen this message, that meant I¡¯m already dead. No matter how determined you are, how resolute you are, the end may not always be perfect. Such is life. After putting everything on the line, my life, my soul, and even my existence, but I still failed. Yet I still believe that God does exist, but just that I was not able to meet God.¡± Lin Sheng could tell that this was Ancellia using the powers of the Ashen Seal to temporary store a message. He then continued watching. ¡°If you are willing, you can choose to tread the path that I had notpleted, and marched forth. Search for the existence of God, but if you are not willing. Consider me having said nothing.¡± ¡°For you to activate the power of this seal; that means you have already awakened your holy powers. Here, I will leave you thest remaining trail regarding the Holy Sanctum, thest relic.¡± After that, it was all about the Holy Sanctum, the basic training methods of holy power, some points to note plus countless analysis, research, andws regarding holy power. In such a short span of time, Lin Sheng could not fully understand these few yet profound words. He could only memorize them, and imprint them in his mind. Then something struck him. ¡°If I can look for a permanent, unchanging ce to stay that would not disappear, can I jot all of the important stuff in my notebook and leave it here?¡± Lin Sheng was starting to think way too far ahead. The dream was always changing. But his current dream state has stabilized, and ever since he left ckfeather City, he had managed to return to the room he had lived. That made him think that perhaps there was a sort of function when something happened to him in ckfeather City, he would instantaneously be brought back to where he lived. ¡°If I could make out this function, perhaps I could realize the idea of setting up a ce to stay in the dream.¡± He then put the thoughts away and started studying the materials about holy power. As for Ancellia, he had noment. She was clearly a holy knight who bore much burden. She had the title, the light of hope, her disposition na?ve and pure. He did not know what Ancellia was up to, but it was probably something grand like saving the world or the likes. ¡°Sadly, I¡¯m not really interested in that, so I¡¯ll take what information you have, as for your path, too bad.¡± Chapter 98 - Gain: Part 2 Chapter 98: Gain: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Time indeed passed much more slowly there than in reality, but even that had a limit. Lin Sheng had found the techniques to use his holy powers, but what confounded him was the information that he had gotten. It categorized his current stage as a basic umtive stage. At this stage, there were no techniques to be used, as the seed of holy power had yet to give birth to a holy power that is flowing. That meant it was not usable and all he could do was wait. Of course, if he was lucky, he could unleash his holy powers given time, but that was simply an unleashing of holy power after a period of umtion, not some sort of ability or talent. It was simply a matter of preparation. A Level 3 pdin, aside from some boost to his body and strength through the holy power, he still would need to rely on the Ashen Seal to fight. That was because, at that stage, the holy power was umting to strengthen his physical attributes. While the Furious Howl seal¡¯s ability, based on what Lin Sheng had gleaned from the information he got, was a sound-based howl that could flinch an opponent for a short period of time and knock them unconscious. If it is trained to the highest level, a howl could even shock any weak foes to death. ¡°Isn¡¯t this something like Piercing Howl?¡± The Ashen Seal would need plenty of time from meditation to the formation of the power. And when he meditated for the first time, it took him many days of meditation to seed. Thus it was pretty much impossible for him to use that ability in the near future. He then forgo any further testing and started checking his body. His scale mail was still pretty much intact, and only a wooden shield was on his hand. So going out to face the gray angel was probably impossible. As for summoning the Sacred Shield Tyrant, he had given it a quick try, and found out that there was no reaction at all. It seemed like the summoned being did not even exist inside him, and could not be summoned out in the dream. ¡°Seems like I have to depend on myself.¡± Lin Sheng did not dither, he still had one more thing to test out; a thought that he had before. ¡°I have already awakened the holy power, and my body is stronger than before. With the shield, I can still try to fight that gray angel, and see if I can find an opportunity to take it out!¡± Lin Sheng still remembered that insane speed and power the angel had. And his only weapon, the great sword was lost during that encounter. As he lifted his shield, he slowly walked towards the bedroom door. The hole which he hade through was still there. The hall outside was bright because light shone in from the windows of the sidewall. Lin Sheng ced his head near the hole and peeked out. ¡°There¡¯s day and night cycle over here?¡± A thought struck him, as he continued to investigate the gray angel¡¯s location. The odd rock pir still stood in the middle of the hall, and on it was the gray angel in its original state. It was just the same asst time. A spear in one hand, and a shield in another. Its wings expanded wide, unmoving. Lin Sheng started thinking as he squatted by the hole. ¡°I probably won¡¯t be able to beat it in terms of speed and strength. While I have already broken through Level 3, and my holy powers have awakened, but the strengthening is not instantaneous and would need time. At this juncture, I¡¯m probably not much stronger than I was before.¡± So his conclusion was, he was still no match. ¡°I need toe up with some strategies.¡± Lin Sheng was not afraid of challenges, just like when he faced an ancient tome in anguage that he did not understand. There was no Google, no dictionaries, he only had himself to match the pictures, words and sentence structure and figure it out himself. And he had managed to persevere through that, so this was nothing. After some thinking, he finally had an idea. He took up his shield, as he squatted down carefully, facing the hole. And then... *Whoosh!* He dashed forward, through the hole and into the hall. *Crack!* The gray angel shuddered as it quickly roused to motion. However, Lin Sheng rolled on the ground, grabbed the massive twin-edge de and threw it violently against the gray angel. The massive de spun under the massive kic energy into a flying razor and smashed against the angel¡¯s chest. Lin Sheng did not even bother looking as he turned around and dove into the hole again. The angel had only started moving then, and could not react in time before the de struck its chest *Thump!* A small about of broken debris fell from its body. A rent the size of a walnut appeared on the gray angel¡¯s chest. It was however still emotionless, and seeing Lin Sheng diving into the hole, it stopped moving and returned to the pir. And very soon the gray angel returned to its original position as if nothing had happened. The heavy de rebounded against the wall and after a few spins, fell about ten meters away from Lin Sheng. And calm returned to the hall. Lin Sheng¡¯s face too was calm behind the hole. ¡°It worked! I never thought that¡¯ll work.¡± Through the hole, he saw the rent on the side of the gray angel¡¯s chest. ¡°I did not judge the rebound well enough, the sword is quite far away...¡± Lin Sheng looked around and there were no other weapons near him. Retrieving the weapon was his only choice. ¡°Again!¡± After a short rest, and adjusting his status, he darted out again. This time, he counted the gray angel¡¯s activation time. Two rolls, picking up the sword, and returning to the hole took four seconds. While the gray angel¡¯s activation time was about three seconds. As he did not have a watch, his timing was not too urate, but as long as he had a rough timing, it was fine. *Whoosh!* Lin Sheng dove through the hole and brought the sword back with him. He was not used to his surroundings earlier, but once he had a good grasp of his surroundings, things became easier. ¡°Again!¡± Lin Sheng rolled out again. *Bam!* The sword flew out, smashing a new rent before bouncing back onto the ground. Lin Sheng then rolled back, and out again to pick up the sword. As he repeated the motion, Lin Sheng was getting more and more ustomed to it. He was now better at grasping the activation trigger of the gray angel. And slowly, countless rents started appearing on the gray angel¡¯s body. Most of it was on the chest and next to the wings. At first, Lin Sheng had ced to simply grind down the gray angel, but soon found the rock on its chest a little too thick, so he went for the wings instead. As soon as the gray angel loses its ability of flight, that will give him an even bigger window of opportunity. And as time passed, the massive de flew out and was repeatedly retrieved. Lin Sheng was at the point where his hand was feeling numb and sore, after pitting against the gray angel for fifty-seven times. And finally, it was at its limits. Its chest like was like porcin that was close to shattering, its wings had long been clipped, its right arm was broken, and its legs were gone. Yet, Lin Sheng still did not face it head-on. He repeated the process another ten times. *Bam!* A sudden thud rang. And finally, the gray angel fell wordlessly against the ground as its head broke apart from the body and shattered into countless pieces. Even before its demise, it did not show any emotions. Yet, Lin Sheng felt sad for it. It was a powerful killing machine, and if someone was controlling it, even with ten Lin Shengs, its strength and speed were still beyond his ability to fight against. The statue had simply allowed itself to be pelted by Lin Sheng, and even that took him about sixty-odd strikes to totally kill it. Each strike was done using full force. ¡°Such a waste...¡± And after waiting for a few minutes, a ck line flew over and entered Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. ¡°Ugh...¡± He frowned slightly as he held his head. ¡°This time it¡¯s rather simple, just memories about flight andbat.¡± He quickly browsed through the memories and found that the angel was based on a very swift bird. Its memories were all about flying across mountains and trees without a shred of intelligence. ¡°Well, better than nothing.¡± Lin Sheng finally got out of the hole and to the gray angel¡¯s side. He squatted down and started to search the ruined statue. He found nothing but gray rocks. There were no cores or any control mechanisms like those in the legends. Chapter 99 - Gain: Part 3 Chapter 99: Gain: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°The key thing is probably not that.¡± Lin Sheng looked at the white pir. It was the warmth that he had sensed from that pir that brought him into conflict with the gray angel. And now, the warmth was inside the pir. He then stepped forward, and gently ced his hands on the pir. The holy power in his body surged like the tide, and the warmth within the pir roiled as well, and streamed into his body through his palm, across his arm, shoulder, chest, and into his abdomen. ¡°Is this thing pure holy power? No... not that. It is a magic circle that is created using holy power, probably to control the graynd.¡± Lin Sheng could sense a little of the gray angel¡¯s aura in the holy power entering his body. ¡°The seed of holy power is strengthened by a good bit. Not bad.¡± Lin Sheng was ted. If his seed of holy power was the size of a small walnut earlier, then after absorbing the gray angel¡¯s seed of holy power, it was now the size of an apple. After a moment of rest, and felt that time was almost up, he felt this time around he had managed to deal with the gray angel, and also gained part Ancellia¡¯s memories. Plus, he had also gotten the guide and training methods for his holy power. ¡°I¡¯ve just leveled up my holy power, and now I¡¯ve absorbed the power of the gray angel. The seed of holy power has stabilized and strengthened quite a bit. What a haul!¡± And Lin Sheng, as usual, returned to the bedroom and sat on the bed. The door of his ce was locked shut, and even without the gray angel, it was still a safe ce. He had no intention of leaving just like that. Before waking up, he used his shield to block the hole on the door and used the powerful de as a support for the shield to create a rudimentary rm system. He theny on the bed, and his consciousness slowly faded. ... Huilian District, nighttime. Strands of ck mist flew past the deserted streets. The mist was very scattered, and if it met someone it would slow down, and if there were no living beings in the area, it would simply dart through. It was the ce that Lin Sheng fought against Chen Hang¡¯s convoy. A good number of police cars blockaded the ruined streets as their sirens red. Over dozens of police officers stood guard outside the cordon line and looked about in alert. Shad, the fat police chief was drenched in sweat as he bowed at a kneeling blue-haired youth. ¡°For such a ruckus, you said there¡¯s no trace at all? Are you pulling my toes?¡± The youth¡¯s face was chilly as he stared at the dismantled car wreckage. Shad wanted to cry, he dared not offend the White Tarots, but yet, the person before him was even more fearful of offending. As for the killers, he could only push the matter onto them. ¡°I have found clues about the murderer. Chen Hang of the White Tarots had brought his man to exact revenge for Chen Tan. But they were intercepted halfway through and were taken out before they could even get into formation. ¡°That aside, from Chen Hang¡¯s surviving men, we have the description of the killers and the main guy was a three-meter-tall man in white armor. ¡°Three meters tall?¡± The blue-haired youth was astonished. ¡°Surely you jest?¡± ¡°No, definitely not! You can go ask the survivors yourself. If only one person said it, it was probably a lie, but when twenty of them repeated the same thing, it is definitely real!¡± Shad said with a firm voice. He had not used such a tone in a very long while. Long had he lost his ideals and drive when he joined the force, and now he only wanted to preserve his position and live life easy. The blue-haired youth nodded. ¡°Go on.¡± Shad then wiped away the sweat from the tip of his brow. ¡°The second killer was d in a long ck shirt and long pants. His weapon was a sword, a capable fighter on his own but far behind the white armored warrior. ¡°Hiding a three-meter-tall frame would not be easy, so our investigation should be on the first killer. We have concentrated our forces to investigate any person with his characteristics. Shad quickly finished his analysis. The blue-haired youth was impassive as he looked at the mound of wreckage and fell into deep thought. At that moment, on a tall building hundreds of meters away from him, upon seeing the youth, the bald man frowned slightly. ¡°He actually came...¡± ¡°Seems like that battle during the day was a little too loud. While Xilin is almost at itsst legs, but it is still possible to squeeze out some powerful persons eh.¡± The bald man had intended to start searching for the white armored warrior and the ck-clothed swordsman once he got into the city. He only had one Azurewing with him and no others, plus the battle site was on the main street, a sensitive location. So if he wanted to locate the two, he had to cast a very wide. But now, upon seeing the blue-haired youth, he knew his n was toast. ¡°This sort of elites, their senses are sharp, for them toe to this ce is probably them passing through, they shouldn¡¯t be staying for long. But now Xilin is in need of talents, and with leaks everywhere, he cannot be allowed to wander about. So I need to wait, and once he leaves, I¡¯ll be able to find my chance...¡± The bald man did not choose to confront the blue-haired youth. While he was not afraid of thetter, he had no need to look for a fight when there was none. Plus he did not fear him simply because he could run faster than thetter... ... Lin Sheng woke up and looked at the time. It was 3.07 in the morning. He could no longer sleep and decided to start studying therge amount of information on holy power he had gotten. ¡°It feels like the burden on my soul seems to have lessened?¡± The first thing Lin Sheng thought was that something had happened to the tyrant! But when he closed his eyes and focused. Strands of ck mist soon came in from the window gaps into the room and returned into Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. And the tyrant¡¯s massive frame appeared before him, with a clear number ¡®one¡¯ marked beneath him. ¡°Okay, so he¡¯s still here.¡± He took a sigh of relief. ¡°But why did the load on my soul had lessened? Based on the Summoner¡¯s Grimoire, the spiritual load of a summoned being should not change.¡± Lin Sheng pondered for a bit and remembered his earlier conjecture. ¡°Perhaps, my soul had gotten stronger instead...¡± He had been wondering what those memory fragments that he had gotten from killing the monsters were all about. What could carry memories? And could transmit flight so freely? And now he seems to have a clearer picture. ¡°What I¡¯m absorbing, is probably the remnants of souls that those people had left behind.¡± After realizing this, no matter how calm Lin Sheng was, he still felt conflicted. He had no clue what would happen after absorbing so many soul fragments into his body. As for the theories about souls, the angels of power, wisdom, desire, fire, and darkness each governed a piece of the five main pieces of the human soul. ¡°For now, my main consciousness is probably not affected. And the main deciding hosts are the angel of wisdom and the angel of desire. As long as these two pieces are fine, then there should not be a problem. After all, Lin Sheng had gotten the memories of a cleric and had basic knowledge about the holy sanctum. ¡°Normally, those soul and memory fragments were all disparate, and could not form into a unified consciousness to take out mine. While there will be some effects, but it¡¯s not problematic. ¡°But, if my soul bes stronger, and the load of summoning a being lessens, does that mean I can summon another new being?¡± Lin Sheng suddenly realized. Chapter 100 - Summoning Once Again: Part 1 Chapter 100: Summoning Once Again: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Summoning, summoning...¡± For the whole morning, be it in ss or in the toilet, he studied the basic ts of the Elementary Summoning of Otherworlders. He was d that the basic ts andws regarding this was clearly written in the tome. After finishing the first half of the ss, he went to look for Shen Yan and got her to help him take leave while he went out to collect the materials needed for the second summoning ritual. He still had leftovers in gold and silver power, plus he knew how to get the rest of the materials, so this time around, he had managed to collect them faster than he had expected. By nightfall, he had alreadypleted the preparation of the materials. He did not head back home after school, rather he went over to Ironfist Club and consulted with Sarroux to get an idea of the progress before returning to the same abandoned warehouse he had performed the rituals. The warehouse was dim as there was no light, and thick clouds clustered above the sky, blocking out the moon. This time around, Lin Sheng had used a cloth mat instead and ced it on the position where the ritual was previously done. He then mixed the ingredients together and ced the mixture aside. Finally, he looked at the notebook and started drawing the magic circle on the cloth mat. He had dug a hole in the middle of the mat, and thankfully it was a washable water-resistant cloth, he just needed to throw it into the water and wash it clean. After drawing for a good twenty minutes, and counterchecked three times over to ensure there¡¯s no error. Only then did Lin Sheng heaved a sigh of relief, got up and took the mixture in his hand and ced them at their respective positions. ¡°Lastly is to boil water.¡± He then pulled out a new t pan and as usual, ced some firewood beneath the support, poured some oil, and lit up. He then poured in pure water and the various other materials into it. Lin Sheng felt like he was making a soup or something. The fire slowly got stronger as the water in the pan started to bubble as well. Lin Sheng then took a cow fat oil over and pulled out a lighter. *ck!* The cotton wick he made himself slowly burned. Everything was ready. Lin Sheng straightened his back and pulled out a small paper board with the Sanctuary Ashen Seal diagram on it. The paper board was cut out from his father¡¯s cardboard box, and there was still part of the noodle brand name at the back of it. He then sped the small paper board in between his palms. This would allow him to extend the ritual time; a method of using the seal he had recently learned. Lin Sheng then started chanting the activation chant in a hushed voice as the chaotic and random chant started floating above the magic circle, creating a series of blurry ripples. And strands of white smoke started floating out of the cow fat oil and into the pan, merging with the ripples. *Hiss...* A gush of beef-vored steam shot out from the pan and circled around Lin Sheng. He slowly closed his eyes. In the darkness, a red orb slowly lit up, followed by a smaller light green orb. And there was nothing else. Lin Sheng waited for a moment, and after he was sure that it was only these two, he felt a little resigned as these two orbs were clearly much, much smaller than the tyrant¡¯s orb. ¡°When I summoned the Sacred Shield Tyrant back then, it was the size of a football, but these two are just the size of a chicken egg, no... a quail¡¯s egg...¡± He had thought of summoning another Sacred Shield Tyrant, or the gray angel. However, reality was not so kind, and only these two light orbs had appeared before him. ¡°So based on the grimoire, there¡¯s probably not enough space in my soul after supporting the tyrant, so I can only take on either of these two smaller ones.¡± Lin Sheng was no longer the dumb kid who knew nothing and had managed to grasp something by now. Since he had already reached this stage, it would be a waste if he did not summon anything right? So he steeled himself and touched the egg-sized red orb. *Poof!* And suddenly a flood of red light drowned out his consciousness. Lin Sheng¡¯s spirit was so shaken by the sudden sh of red light that he only recovered after ten-odd seconds. He was now standing in a silver-grey hall, and in the center of the hall, was a strong, muscr man d in ck with a ck sword on his back. The man was looking up, as he allowed a white-haired elder to slowly bind a white bandage on his head. ¡°Only by abandoning the light can you embrace the darkness.¡± The elder said. ¡°I understand, master. For the hope.¡± The kneeling man rumbled. ¡°For the hope.¡± The elder then tied thest of the bandage over the man¡¯s eyes. He then held his finger out and drew a sign on the man¡¯s forehead. The red light shone once again and engulfed Lin Sheng¡¯s vision. Everything had disappeared. A few secondster the red light faded away. In Lin Sheng¡¯s vision, a very familiar old foe floated before him. It was the corrupted swordsman with a bandaged head. ¡°I knew it...¡± Lin Sheng felt a little helpless. The corrupted swordsman was not weak by any means, but he was nowhere near the level of the Sacred Shield Tyrant or the grey angel, and that gulf was massive. When he could easily hunt dozens of the swordsmen when he was still weak, and now, he could take on as many as theye without question. ¡°Forget it. I just need to remember to gather more spirit power, then only perform the summoning, or else I would not be able to withstand the load of an even more powerful being.¡± He now roughly understood the logic behind the summoning process. The summoning would prioritize any otherworld beings that had the closest rtionship to him. As for the closeness of the rtionship, what other beings could go against the spirit of the beings he had absorbed in the dream? Thus those buggers from the dream were summoned instead. ¡°But that¡¯s fine. With this, I have a good grasp of the abilities of my summoned beings, using them would be much simpler.¡± As he tossed aside his disappointment, he started inspecting the corrupted swordsman. Simr to the ones he had taken out in his dream, this swordsman had his head bound by bandages. The swordsman¡¯s body was strong as well as muscr, and he a long sword on his back ¡°There¡¯s no impairment on his limbs, no blister-like skin diseases. So this is probably the true form of the corrupted swordsman. The ones I¡¯ve met were probably all goners.¡± Lin Sheng now understood, he then noticed there was a tiny numeral underneath the swordsman, ¡°2¡±. ¡°Hmm, does that mean...¡± Something struck Lin Sheng as he opened his eyes. Before him, above the magic circle, were two ck-d, powerful corrupted swordsman. Both of them had their head bandaged, with their swords on their back, their frame strong and muscr, and most of the details were almost the same. This was because their bodies were created using the materials and mysterious energies formed by the summoning circle. And for a body that is created based on a temte, it was natural for them to be the same like they came off an assembly line. ¡°Two in a single go? Not bad.¡± Lin Sheng nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Now, to replicate their basicbat ability.¡± Lin Sheng was no longer passive this time around. He had followed the method listed in the grimoire and picked the strongest corrupted swordsman from his memory. And the strongest of them all that he had faced, was naturally the elite corrupted swordsman from ckfeather City. That swordsman back then could send him staggering a few hundred meters back in a single blow. Chapter 101 - Summoning Once Again: Part 2 Chapter 101: Summoning Once Again: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The transmission of basicbat instinct was very simple. Lin Sheng only needed to recall the memory of the corrupted swordsman inbat, and the transmission waspleted. Last time the basicbat instinct was passively transmitted to him under the influence of ritual. This time was different. Lin Sheng only replicated the basicbat instinct of the corrupted swordsman, excluding other irrelevant memories, so it was much faster thanst time. Five minutester... Two corrupted swordsmen knelt on one knee and crouched in front of Lin Sheng, waiting for orders. ¡°Dissipation, and patrol the neighborhood,¡± Lin Sheng said calmly. ¡°Yes.¡± The two corrupted swordsmen immediately turned into ck smoke and dispersed away. He named that ability to turn into ck smoke Dissipation. And the two corrupted swordsmen, who copied the memory of the basicbat instinct from Lin Sheng, understood it. ¡°I¡¯m worried about a shortage of men for security. Corrupted swordsmen are weak, but they have the ability of Dissipation, which can y a greater role in security. But now these swordsmen are no longer rotten, shouldn¡¯t be called corrupted swordsmen. Let¡¯s call them ckfeather swordsmen, after all, I met them in ckfeather City.¡± Lin Sheng then began to clean up the remaining materials. He skillfully destroyed all traces, carried his schoolbag, and walked back quickly. The two ckfeather swordsmen turned into ck smoke and followed him, floating ten meters around him. The ck smoke moved so fast and dispersed that it was almost imperceptible to the average person. Lin Sheng hailed a taxi, and the two ckfeather swordsmen rushed into his chest. Twenty minutester, Lin Sheng reached home. He put the remaining materials away, changed his clothes, and then left a ckfeather swordsman to patrol the Huilian neighborhood to protect his family. Another ckfeather swordsman was sent to patrol the neighborhood where his father worked. It was close to the ckwater district. idents could happen anytime. As for mom, he did not worry too much. It was a fully enclosed kindergarten with no contact with the outside world. Even gangsters did not usually hurt kids. It was not just a matter of morality or condemnation, it was a matter of reputation. How could you bully a toddler?? It was a lifetime of shame. So Lin Sheng believed that kindergarten was actually the safest ce. ¡°ckfeather swordsmen have a normal body size, not eye-catching and easy to hide.¡± Lin Sheng suddenly found the real use of ckfeather swordsmen. This kind of swordsman makes the best bodyguard. They were strong and powerful. In reality, they could pretend to be ordinary people, perfect for protecting family and friends. And they did not have to eat, drink, sleep or rest, just need to take care of their injuries if they had one. With careful use of Dissipation, these ckfeather swordsmen were even immune to bullets. ¡°I should summon more ckfeather swordsmen to be my eyes and bodyguards in the future. As long as I have enough ckfeather swordsmen, I can know everything that happens in Huaisha.¡± Summoning consumed much of his energy. He ate the instant noodles quickly, then washed up and went to bed. With the sacred shield tyrant and two ckfeather swordsmen patrolling and protecting nearby, Lin Sheng felt an unprecedented sense of security. He slept soundly that night. In his dream, he did nothing else but sit in his room and study the books on the shelves. After reading the Summoner¡¯s Grimoire, he also wanted to master the Deviltongue. Lin Sheng just got the spiritual practice materials, and the new Ashen Seal needed to be absorbed, so he decided to turn the present harvest into ability first. So he studied all night. The next morning, Lin Sheng finally went to school. Perhaps because his soul was getting stronger and stronger, his memory was much better than before. He only needed to read a text of several thousand words once or twice to remember and understand it thoroughly. In one morning, Lin Sheng had done most of the paper. These types of questions were not difficult for an adult mind like his, and his problem was that it took time to memorize things. Now that this problem had also been solved. After finishing the paper, Lin Sheng still had a lot of free time, so he closed his eyes to meditate on the new Ashen Seal ¨C Furious Roar. When he was tired, he practiced holy power. The basic practice of holy power was to sink the consciousness into the warm part of the abdomen, then empty one¡¯s mind and rx. Every time Lin Sheng woke up, he felt like he just had a good sleep, and feeling refreshed. *Brring...* The school bell rang. The physics teacher took off his sses and said, ¡°Well, that¡¯s all for today¡¯s ss. ss representative,e and get the holiday homework.¡± The ssroom was immediately filled withints. ¡°Teacher, the holiday is so short and we still need to do homework. We can¡¯t even rest!¡± ¡°Teacher, other subjects have no homework!¡± The physics teacher chuckled. ¡°Because you all don¡¯t have other homework to do, so I think I need to give you some pressure.¡± Lin Sheng sat in his seat. His body was so fit that his muscles were entuated through his school uniform. Now he almost had the physique of a professional boxer. Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes swept through the ss. All the students who met his eyes lowered their heads with a trace of fear. Since thest time he lectured the guy who liked Shen Yan, the story had spread around the school. So now most students did not dare to mess with him. Shen Yan, sitting in front of him, turned andined, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Why do you keep skipping school? I can¡¯t keep lying for you!¡± ¡°I just have something to deal with,¡± Lin Sheng said with a smile. ¡°Thank you so much. I¡¯ll treat you to a big meal next time.¡± ¡°Next time? When? Just set a date!¡± ¡°Tomorrow, then? In the afternoon? Are you free?¡± Lin Sheng asked. Chapter 102 - Summoning Once Again: Part 3 Chapter 102: Summoning Once Again: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Okay.¡± Shen Yan nodded. She then looked at her watch and said, ¡°Well, I have something to do. Gotta go. See you tomorrow!¡± She took her schoolbag, hurriedly took a stack of papers from the ss representative and stuffed them into her schoolbag and left the ssroom. Lin Sheng did not ask her where she was going, just as she did not get to the bottom of what had Lin Sheng been doingtely. Lin Sheng took a stack of papers from the ss representative, folded them and put them in his schoolbag and then walked out of the ssroom. He was not familiar with any of his ssmates except Shen Yan. Of course, he was not interested in getting acquainted. He would rather spend more time in the practice of Holy Power to strengthen himself. ¡°No wonder there are always monks in the temple who meditate all day long and not feeling bored. It¡¯s a nice way to pass the time. When I open my eyes again, an hour or two has passed.¡± Lin Sheng thought to himself. Soon after he left the ssroom, he saw on his left-hand side, in the corner of a stairwell, three arrogant girls were poking a girl with sses. The girl with sses was poked in the face and forehead by their index fingers. Her face had turned red and there were tears in her eyes. Lin Sheng passed by here every day, and so did today. With a nk face and his hands in his pockets, he passed those girls and was about to go down the stairs. ¡°Lin Sheng! Shen Yan asked me to take ss notes for you! Do you want it?¡± Suddenly the girl with sses shouted loudly. ¡°Huh?¡± Lin Sheng turned to look at the girl. ¡°Who are you?¡± He didn¡¯t know the girl at all. ¡°I am Chen Huihan!! We are ssmates! I¡¯m sitting right behind you!¡± ¡°Oh... No, thank you.¡± Lin Sheng replied and went downstairs. The girl with sses was stunned. The three girls were stunned, too. They thought Lin Sheng was going to help, but he actually left? The three girls thenughed at him. ¡°We scared him away? Hahaha.¡± ¡°Such a coward!¡± Suddenly arge hand came down from above and squeezed the girl¡¯s head. ¡°Let¡¯s do a circle dance.¡± Lin Sheng suddenly appeared behind the girl. He held the girl¡¯s head and gently turned it clockwise. The girl couldn¡¯t help but follow it. ¡°Come on, all three of you.¡± The other two girls also began to turn in circles. Soon the three girls were spinning clockwise like a spinning top. ¡°Five rings make up the Olympics. What can three rings make up?¡± Lin Sheng pondered. The girl with sses stood there dumbfounded. Lin Sheng was like a giant tiger ying with three small chickens. Just like... another species over them! ¡°May-May I go now?¡± The girl with sses was a little scared. The joy of having just been rescued, and the pleasure of the enemy being avenged, were now concealed by another kind of chill. At this time, Lin Sheng was staring at the three circles, lost in thought. He seemed to see the secret of the holy light in the three spinning circles. ¡°Go? Oh, well, off you go then.¡± *Puke!* Finally, a girl could not stand it anymore. Falling to the ground, she kept vomiting. Soon, the other two fell to the ground too, lying there, unable to get up. At this point, some students noticed it, slowing down to watch. Lin Sheng put his hand back in his pocket and went down the stairs without looking at the three girls on the ground. Walking out of the teaching building, he went to the canteen to buy a carbonated drink, drank it slowly and walked towards the school gate. When Lin Sheng arrived at the school gate, he was surrounded by five male students, led by a tall, big, fat boy. ¡°That¡¯s him! Hit him!¡± The fat boy pointed at Lin Sheng and yelled. *Bam!!!* The fat boy was immediately punched in the nose and staggered to the ground with blood all over his face. ¡°Blood... Lots of blood!!¡± The fat boy cried out in horror. ¡°My nose is broken! Broken!!!!! Damn it... My nose is broken!¡± The other boys were shocked. They looked at the blood on the fat boy¡¯s face, then looked at Lin Sheng, and ran away. Lin Sheng looked at their back and thought, ¡°How long can such a peaceful school lifest?¡± He walked calmly to the side of the road and hailed a taxi, ignoring the students around him. The driver was a talkative old man. He started chatting with Lin Sheng as soon as he got into the taxi. From the chat, he learned that the incident where Chen Hang died in was characterized as arge-scale pileup. The death toll was as high as sixteen! It was the biggest traffic ident in Huaisha recently. The incident also reminded Lin Sheng of the Azurewing who had escaped and the blue-haired guy. The Azurewing obviously had a master, otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t fly away so decisively. As a supernatural creature sensed by the Sacred Shield Tyrant, the Azurewing was surely more than just a guide. ¡°My own strength is still too weak. I need to strengthen it.¡± Fortunately, after absorbing the holy power of the stone pir of the gray angel, the holy power inside him grew a lot. He should soon reach the degree of a free transfer. It usually took at least two years of painstaking practice to attain the degree of transferring the holy power freely after the awakening of the holy power. He needed to strengthen the holy power before he was qualified to transfer it freely. But now, it only took Lin Sheng a few days to achieve it. The holy power in the stone pir had no soul imprint, which made it easy for Lin Sheng to absorb it into himself. As for the gray angel, it was just a killing machine controlled by the Circle of Holy Power, not a living thing. What Lin Sheng expected most was that the Level 3 warrior of the holy sanctum would get a fixed divine power after theplete awakening of the holy power. Chapter 103 - Meditation: Part 1 Chapter 103: Meditation: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng chatted with the driver while he looked out of the window. More and more pedestrians walking on the streets. Huaisha was getting more and more prosperous. ¡°The poption seems to have increased in urban areas recently,¡± Lin Sheng said casually. ¡°Yes.¡± The driver sighed. ¡°A lot of foreigners have entered the harbor area recently, messing some of the streets around it.¡± ¡°Foreigners?¡± ¡°Yes, mainly from Miga but also from Osiris. I heard it¡¯s because of the open port policy, and Huaisha is also on the list,¡± the driver lowered his voice. ¡°Open port?¡± Lin Sheng was slightly surprised. ¡°Wasn¡¯t it open enough before?¡± ¡°I heard that there are tax breaks for foreignpanies and all kinds of benefits, but not so much for our ownpanies.¡± The driver was not satisfied. ¡°Is it?¡± Lin Sheng pondered. This kind of policy was obviously not initiated by Xilin. It felt more like being forced. Soon, Lin Sheng arrived at the Ironfist Society. The Ironfist Society had bought the site which was once a private primary school. Lin Sheng changed the only teaching building in the school into an iron fist assembly hall. Two new students were standing outside the gate. When they saw Lin Sheng, they immediately bowed their heads and greeted him. Lin Sheng nodded to them then walked into the gate, one beautifuldy immediately came forward and led him to the dressing room to change clothes. As the President of the society, he was dressed in a simple ck long top and trousers with arge ¡°iron¡± word sewn on the back with white thread. Now the money was tight, he had to keep everything simple. Then, he strode into the lobby. It used to be a pocket school with no yground, just a building, and a yard. There was also a gpole on one side. The lobby was transformed into a training hall. Sarroux was practicing ckfeather Swordsmanship with several students. Seeing Lin Sheng entering the door, he stopped immediately and came up. ¡°Bro, oh nope, President, you¡¯re just in time. Dao Ling seems to have broken through. I feel that he¡¯s getting stronger and stronger these days. No one dares to approach him!¡± Sarroux had been practicing ckfeather Swordsmanship and meditating on Ashen Seal during this period of time. He looked more stable, and his grumpy character gradually calmed down. ¡°You¡¯ve made a lot of progress, too.¡± Lin Sheng patted him on the shoulder. Now, after stepping into the transcendent, he could feel something special that no one else could. Like now Sarroux was emitting a faint wave of the holy power of Ashen Seal. It was obvious that his meditation of Ashen Seal seemed to be working, but he did not know it. ¡°Really? I have a feeling too, I just don¡¯t know which aspect I¡¯m making progress!¡± Sarroux was delighted. ¡°Try to feel it. Meditation gives you more than just peace and stability,¡± Lin Sheng reminded. ¡°Okay, where¡¯s Dao Ling?¡± ¡°Meditating inside,¡± Sarroux answered quickly. ¡°I go and see him now.¡± Lin Sheng also wanted to see what level Dao Ling had reached. Dao Ling was different from Sarroux. He was himself a martial artist who had reached the limits of the human body, but his body was failing with age. So his breakthrough represented the breaking of the limit. It¡¯s hard for Lin Sheng to determine what effect it would produce. Lin Sheng left the training hall, walked along the corridor, and soon came to the meditation area. The meditation area was previously a ssroom area. Only the official members of the Ironfist Society could enter this area. Those at the training hall were just students, not members. Lin Sheng established two distinct identities¡ªmember and student. A member was also a mentor to the students. They had the freedom to choose whether or not they want to teach students for ie. They can also be a member just in name, which allowed them to asionally exchange martial arts here, but they would not get Lin Sheng¡¯s Ashen Seal. These were just the initial structures; they still need to improve. Entering the meditation area, he quickly found the room where Dao Ling was. Just standing at the door, he could feel a slight warmthing out of the door. ¡°He did it?¡± This warmth was simr to the holy power Lin Sheng sensed in his dream. But the difference was that the warmth here was too weak, not even one-tenth of what he had. He knocked at the door. ¡°Come in, please.¡± The voice sounded peaceful yet joyful. Lin Sheng pushed the door and entered. It was a closed, white, windowless quiet room. Dao Ling was sitting in the middle, his long gray hair hanging loose, his muscles and skin hardly showing any sign of old age. The changes that meditating on the Ashen Seal had brought to him, especially in his spirit, were almost magical. Lin Sheng was surprised when he saw the appearance of Dao Ling. ¡°Five days of meditation... Great harvest...¡± Dao Ling stood up, unable to stop his smile. ¡°Thanks to your unselfish sharing.¡± Lin Sheng took off his shoes and stepped onto the wooden floor, the door behind him closed automatically. ¡°It looks like you¡¯re really breaking the limit,¡± said Lin Sheng. ¡°Yeah... The line I¡¯ve been pursuing when I was young... was finally crossed yesterday...¡± Dao Ling held out his hands. Before that, his hands were not much different from those of an old man. But now, the skin on the back of his hand seemed rejuvenated, tight and firm. ¡°I can feel this specialyer of strength covering me. It¡¯s like armor protecting me from everything. It¡¯s amazing!¡± ¡°That¡¯s the power of the Ashen Seal.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Yeah... The power, as you said before, is amazing...¡± ¡°But it¡¯s not without cost,¡± Lin Sheng exined. ¡°The Ashen Seal is the result of meditation, and in the process of meditation, we are actually gathering our own spiritual will.¡± ¡°You mean that this power, in fact, is our own power?¡± Dao Ling was surprised. ¡°You can understand it that way. Ashen Seal is the auxiliary, and the holy power activated is our own power. Although this power belongs to us, it will fade away soon if there is no Ashen Seal,¡± Lin Sheng exined calmly. ¡°So I have to keep meditating on the Ashen Seal to stay this way?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°You have to meditate on the Ashen Seal periodically, about once every six months, or the Ashen Seal will fade and your strength will fade, too.¡± Chapter 104 - Meditation: Part 2

Chapter 104: Meditation: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Is that so?¡± Dao Ling frowned for a moment but was soon back to normal. ¡°I was wondering why you had suddenly found me and given me such a strong power for nothing.¡± Lin Sheng had been too generous in providing him with the way to break through his limits without any restrictions, and that actually made him worry the entire time. However, he was relieved when Lin Sheng revealed the key behind it. ¡°Once every six months, that¡¯s alright. The price is just a loss of power? That¡¯s okay. That¡¯s generous of you. If I had such secrets...¡± Dao Ling did not go on. He just chuckled. ¡°What are you going to do next?¡± Lin Sheng walked two meters across from him and stopped by the wall. ¡°Martial arts are on the decline. Now that there is a glimmer of hope, I hope that more masters of martial arts will know this method.¡± ¡°That¡¯s easy. I have a few close friends, I¡¯ll call them right now. They¡¯re better than me, but they¡¯re stuck at their limit because of their age.¡± Dao Ling sighed. ¡°I didn¡¯t believe it at first, and if you hadn¡¯t shown me your strength, I would¡¯ve missed the boat.¡± ¡°How are you feeling now? How has your strength changed?¡± Lin Sheng was most concerned about the change in Dao Ling¡¯s strength. Dao Ling was the ultimate Level 2 warrior. After breaking through, he had advanced to the transcendental Level 3 now. Although different from Lin Sheng, who had absorbed the many memories of swordsmen, Dao Ling was definitely an extraordinary one among ordinary people. ¡°I feel that not only is my body back to its peak, but there is a wonderful warmth growing in my belly. In addition to the protective force that covers my body, I think I¡¯ve already exceeded my prime.¡± ¡°Do you want to give it a try?¡± Lin Sheng suggested. ¡°Okay.¡± Dao Ling stood up. They stood opposite each other. ¡°Be careful...¡± Dao Ling opened his hands and held them out like ws. *Swoosh!* Dao Ling moved very fast. Like an eagle grabbing a rabbit, his right ¡°w¡± was aimed straight at Lin Sheng¡¯s right shoulder. Weirdly enough, his w was moving in a straight line, but visually, it appeared to be drifting left and right. Lin Sheng was not afraid. He raised his right palm like a sword, hitting Dao Ling¡¯s ws extremely fast in the air. Dao Ling also swung his left hand as quick as lightning, blocking Lin Sheng¡¯s palm. The two of them fought swiftly in the quiet room. After a muffled thump, Dao Ling stepped back and lost. A small white mark was left on his right shoulder. ¡°Amazing!¡± Dao Lingughed and was not discouraged. After all, Lin Sheng had disyed his actual strength before. However, Lin Sheng was a little surprised. Although he did not use the Sacred Blood or the holy power, he was considered one of the strongest Level 3 warriors. He was really doing the best he could earlier without using his full strength, but Dao Ling only lost by one move. Lin Sheng pondered. He believed that, at that point, Dao Ling was able to confront two Level 2 elite warriors. ¡°After breaking through your limit, you don¡¯t just get back to your peak, your body also improves. Your speed, your strength, your physique, they all increase. You¡¯ve now achieved transcendence,¡± Lin Sheng said frankly. ¡°Transcendence?¡± Dao Ling was d that he had finally reached a level that he was not qualified to reach before. ¡°Yes...¡± Lin Sheng exined roughly to Dao Ling what transcendence meant. Now, Dao Ling was second only to him. He was the top master in Ironfist Society, and there was room for him to grow up so Lin Sheng had to treat him well. Dao Ling was even more amazed when he learned of the specific hierarchy after he achieved transcendence. Lin Sheng had told him about ckfeather City¡¯s hierarchy. He also told Dao Ling frankly that he was only equivalent to a Level 3 warrior at the moment. ¡°What is the highest level in this system?¡± asked Dao Ling. ¡°It¡¯s too early for you to ask. Practice well, and you will know when the timees for you to know.¡± Lin Sheng did not tell him what level he was at right then. After he answered Dao Ling¡¯s questions, he drew another Ashen Seal and gave it to him so that Dao Ling could give it to his friends or use it himself. When the frequency of meditations increased, the growth of the holy power would be significantly elerated too. Lin Sheng then left the meditation area and returned to the hall just in time to hear Sarroux talking to a stranger. The stranger was wearing Ironfist Club¡¯s uniform. Lin Sheng had not been to the club since he founded Ironfist Society. After all, it was a little awkward after that incident. He had left Ironfist Club for more than two weeks. What was a member of the club doing there? Lin Sheng wondered and slowly approached them. Sarroux turned to see Lin Shenging and quickly said, ¡°Something happened at the club!¡± He looked hesitant, not knowing what to do. ¡°What happened?¡± Sarroux looked at the stranger. She was a lean young girl, about seventeen or eighteen years old. The girl was also sweating from her forehead, and she looked worried. ¡°President Lin, something happened to the club! Many members have recently left! If you don¡¯t help us, then...¡± ¡°Speak slowly. Take your time, don¡¯t worry.¡± The girl calmed down and told the story. After Lin Sheng left, the members of the club felt like they were powerful and became arrogant. Several members who were usually gentle also began to overestimate their abilities once they managed to solve one or two issues together. Then, things started to happen. During a night patrol not long ago, the club shed with some people. They were a medium-sized gang in the ckwater district with a reputation for being ruthless. The conflict was not serious, but there were injuries on both sides. Shayeen, Russell, and Madin regarded themselves as equally strong, and they thought that the gang would be afraid of them, so they let their guard down. A few days ago, the gang came over to seek revenge, and five members of the club were severely wounded. Russell went off the deep end and gathered all of the members to put pressure on the gang. The next day, the retaliation was even more serious. Chapter 105 - Meditation: Part 3

Chapter 105: Meditation: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The next day, the gang broke the hands of three club members, knocked them unconscious, and dumped them at the harbor. The gang left a note on them, giving the club two choices. One was to give the club up and hand it to them aspensation. The second was to give them apensation of ten million in cash. ¡°Then? How did Shayeen, Russell, and Madin handle it?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°Madin is scared... Russell and Shayeen want everyone to work together, but no one listens to them. The core members have left... In fact, most members have left the club.¡± ¡°Left the club?¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. That¡¯s why he decided to start a new society in the first ce. The club looked good on the surface, but in fact, itcked the spirit of cooperation and unity. Put a little pressure on the club and they could not take it anymore. ¡°Useless!¡± Sarroux sneered. ¡°What should we do now?¡± The girl looked helplessly at Lin Sheng and Sarroux. ¡°Go back and tell Russell that I can help him. But since the members have left, the club is definitely not going tost,¡± Lin Sheng said calmly. ¡°Thank you, I¡¯ll go back now!¡± The girl was overjoyed. She bowed and left. Sarroux looked at her back and said, ¡°That little girl is kind of loyal.¡± ¡°They¡¯lle backter. Do you want to go and help them out?¡± Lin Sheng smiled and asked. ¡°I don¡¯t have time. I¡¯m focused on meditation.¡± Sarroux refused tly. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll arrange for someone else. This is such a good opportunity for practice.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go! I¡¯ll go!¡± Sarroux changed his mind decisively. ¡°Really?¡± Lin Sheng looked at him, smiling. ¡°Yes. Don¡¯t you just want freebor, bro?¡± Sarroux was speechless. ¡°Ironfist Society isn¡¯t as weak as Ironfist Club. We¡¯ll face such problems in the future, so think of this as training,¡± said Lin Sheng. ¡°Alright, I gotta go now. Any questions?¡± He had no shortage of men, of course, and his two ckfeather swordsmen could easily solve the problem. The training task was given to Sarroux. After he answered Sarroux¡¯s questions, Lin Sheng went home. It was then time for him to enter his dream and continue his practice. He had roughly mastered the superficial use of the holy light, while the Ashen Seal ¨C Furious Roar was ineffective probably because his meditation time had been too short. In dreams, time flowed a lot slower than in reality, so Lin Sheng spent most of his time meditating in dreams. ... At Snowgale Fortress. Lin Shengy on his bed and slowly opened his eyes. He peered at the broken wooden door, where his wooden shield and big sword stood as a little guard. The wooden shield and sword were still there, nothing had changed. He got out of bed, sat down at his desk, closed his eyes again, and fell into meditation. After a round of meditation, Lin Sheng began to practice the holy power and adjust his state. The Gray Angel¡¯s holy power, which he had absorbed, still needed a little bit of running before it could thoroughly turn into his own power. A momentter, Lin Sheng suddenly fell into a trance. As the holy power grew stronger andrger, some natural patterns began to be spontaneously sketched in his lower abdomen, forming a mysterious but irregr motif. The holy power around the pattern was like a light, shining warmly on all of Lin Sheng¡¯s internal organs. However, the light seemed to be gradually conveying a little mysterious message. Lin Sheng felt as if he had mastered some innate ability. He sat in his chair and examined the little message that had just materialized. ¡°Detection of evil? Is this a fixed divine power of a Level 3 warrior? ¡°Detection of evil? So, what is considered evil? How do you draw the line?¡± Lin Sheng was puzzled. Soon, some of the exnations in the message made him understand the key point. The detection of evil was the detection of faith. ¡°All heretics are guilty!¡± The detection was actually very simple. It was just based on the affinity of holy power. If there were other forces in the subject that did not ept the holy power, it had to be evil. The subject was also evil if he or she was not physically attuned to the holy light or was mentally disrespectful toward it. It was basically a lie detector for faith. The essence of holy power came from the soul, which Lin Sheng knew from basic practice. Therefore, if the soul was not willing to receive the holy light, then the body wouldck harmony. The power was extremely hegemonic. It needed to be fully epted by the body, including the heart before it could pass detection. ¡°This magic has to change. I¡¯ll think of a good way to correct it.¡± Lin Sheng put it aside and continued to train his holy power. He meditated on the Ashen Seal as well as trained his holy power, and when he was tired of both, he turned to the book to learn Deviltongue. Lin Sheng felt like he had never been so diligent. Nheless, it was really nice to feel like he was making progress all the time. ¡°The use of the holy power seems to be a process of absorbing and purifying soul fragments into myself.¡± Lin Sheng could vaguely feel a change in himself. ¡°If a normal person were to absorb so many soul fragments, there would be a problem. But I¡¯m fine. I guess practicing the use of the holy power has solved everything.¡± He suddenly remembered the adage he had read before. ¡°My heart is a living spirit, for such it is sacred.¡± That passage in The Proverbs of Eternal Light implied that the essence of the holy power was most likely the manifestation of one¡¯s own will. The continuous practice of the holy power was to constantly strengthen one¡¯s will and soul. Thinking of that, Lin Sheng stopped his galloping thoughts and returned to training his holy power again. What he needed now was plenty of time. He nned to continue exploring the castle once he could utilize the Ashen Seal sessfully. Only by killing the monster and increasing the strength of his soul could he be stronger more rapidly. Killing more prey, gaining more souls, and summoning more subordinates! That was what he wanted! And the stronger the soul, the stronger the holy power! Chapter 106 - Recovery: Part 1 Chapter 106: Recovery: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The holy power can recover Dao Ling¡¯s arm and tendon, expand his physique, as well as further improve his potential. The potential of the holy power is so great. Surely it can be further developed. Lin Sheng aligned his thoughts and resumed his meditation. All of a sudden, a very soft noise came from the window, followed by dense pitter-patter. Lin Sheng turned his head. Through the only round window, he could see that it was raining. The raindrops, like countless stones and particles of sand, ttered on the windows, covering the scenery outside. The light then faded away. The gloom was not just caused by the heavy rain. Lin Sheng felt everything around him slowly begin to darken. Feeling rmed, he darted out, holding his sword and wooden shield with both hands. Then he returned to his desk and tucked the two books of Deviltongue into his shield. However, it was toote. The view around him had turnedpletely ck. There was no light, and Lin Sheng stood there, immersed inplete darkness. He did not have time to grab The Summoner¡¯s Grimoire too. A slight sense of weightlessness then enveloped him from the bottom up. ¡°This is... It¡¯s the same as what happened in ckfeather City!¡± He was sure it was a sign that his dream wasing to an end. A momentter. Suddenly, he heard a faint tapping sound in his ear. It was the sound of the second hand. ¡°An rm clock?¡± Lin Sheng recalled the situationst time and immediately closed his eyes. It did not make any difference whether he closed his eyes or not in the dark. But, when he opened his eyes again, things began to change. He could vaguely see several rays of light. Lin Sheng closed his eyes once more, paused for a moment, and opened them again. He went back to his bedroom and saw a flowing dark red sh outside the red window. His bedroom was exactly the same as it was before, except for the rm clock at the head of the bed. Both its hands had stopped at twelve, and it was quiet all around. ¡°Just like thest time, I¡¯m back here. I¡¯m also in this half-conscious state.¡± He took a deep breath, and the air seemed to be filled with a faint smell of dust. He pulled the nket off the bed and looked at the wall where the sword case hung. There was nothing there, and there was nothing in his hands. ¡°Well, I can take this opportunity to see what can happen to the house in this state.¡± Lin Sheng was now stronger than before, so he was not too worried. He tried not to make a sound as he moved about. Lin Sheng walked to the bedroom door, reached out and gently grabbed the doorknob before he twisted it. The door opened. Strong red light flowed in, looking like the simple glow of the setting sun. The red color was so strong that it made him feel sick. Lin Sheng walked slowly into the corridor and heard the crackling sound of the TV in the living room. Strolling down the corridor, he looked to see if there was any crack in the wall of the kitchen on his left. There were no problems in the bathroom straight ahead. The door, however, was still intact. Lin Sheng remembered that thest time he saw the door, it had been smashed by a great force, yet now it was intact. ¡°Does it have the ability to repair itself?¡± He went over and touched the door. The cold, hard sensation reached his forefinger. Recalling hisst experience, Lin Sheng reached for the door handle. He suddenly wondered what was out there in the darkness. There was nothing but the rustling of the television. After a long pause, Lin Sheng released the door handle and stepped back. He did not open the door. He approached the TV, reached out, and pressed the off button. The next second, he was surrounded by absolute silence. Lin Sheng then proceeded to check the study. The window of the study was firmly locked. After his inspection of the house, Lin Sheng soon confirmed that it was very safe. It seemed that the monster did not stay there. ¡°I wonder how I got to this state. Could it be a temporary ce for me to store things in my dreams?¡± Lin Sheng checked and locked all the doors and windows again. After that, he began to direct a little holy power out of his body and touch the door, as well as windows, with it, especially the door and window in the study where he was previously dragged out. Once he had touched all the doors and windows with the holy power, he returned to his bedroom andy on his bed. Just as he got back in bed, his eyes suddenly drifted to the wardrobe in the room. The door of the white wardrobe was slightly opened. It felt as if someone was peeping at him through the dark crack. Lin Sheng was startled. He remembered that the wardrobe was closed when he left the room! He increased his vignce to the utmost at once. Lin Sheng got out of bed and walked slowly toward the only white wardrobe in the bedroom. When he was half a meter from it, he stopped, reached out, and grabbed the door handle. Taking a deep breath... Lin Sheng yanked the wardrobe open, but there was nothing inside. ¡°Was it my imagination? Or...¡± Lin Sheng closed the wardrobe. *Poof!!!* Out of nowhere, a big nket sprang up behind him. The white nket covered the entire space, preventing Lin Sheng from dodging, and it wrapped his entire head. Darkness descended on all sides. *Bam!* The bedroom door was smashed open, and bursts of rapid footsteps along with rapid breathing closed in on him. Following that, someone crashed through the window and came in. The wardrobe creaked too, and something rushed out before it pounced on him. Lin Sheng¡¯s vision was blocked; he could not see his surroundings. Plus, he had no sword to tear the nket with. ¡°Damn it!¡± He felt someone pressing his or her head through the nket. ¡°Sacred Blood!¡± His body suddenly swelled, and he grabbed the nket with both hands, ripping it open. The entire nket was ripped in two, and cotton floss flew everywhere. Lin Sheng looked up, and the room was quiet. There was nothing around him as if those noises and movements he had just heard and felt were never there. The windows were in good condition, and the door remained closed. The wardrobe behind him was also closed. ¡°Phew...¡± He breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that the ce was not safe. ¡°It¡¯s time to wake up...¡± A sudden feeling flooded him from the bottom of his heart. He quickly returned to bed andy down. The holy power was flowing throughout his body. If the Sacred Blood had not helped him break free, the holy power would have exploded. Unfortunately, he was not given the chance to witness it. Chapter 107 - Recovery: Part 2 Chapter 107: Recovery: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The waters near the port of Huaisha. On a medium-sized warship. ¡°What?! Go back?!¡± A bald man stared at his partner in disbelief. ¡°I just found the way here, and the boss wants us to go back?!¡± ¡°Xilin gave in, but on the condition that all the offshore warships leave, so we have no work for the time being,¡± Kamir said calmly. ¡°It¡¯s that simple?¡± The bald man could not imagine how much it took to feed the greedy nobles of the country for them to be willing to give such orders. ¡°It¡¯s that simple.¡± Kamir did not care. He had merely been on vacation from start to finish, anyway. It was the bald man who had been doing all the work. ¡°What about the Azurewing we lost...¡± asked the bald man. ¡°There will bepensation,¡± Kamir answered casually. ¡°But, it looks like a temporary move, just a show for other countries.¡± ¡°Like Miga.¡± The bald man suddenly understood. ¡°Yes. Xilin signed the treaty and agreed to most of the terms. In this period of time, countries are restricting each other. We¡¯ll probably have nothing to do.¡± Kamir shrugged. ¡°We¡¯ve been working so hard out there, but one order from the boss and we¡¯re done?¡± The bald man could not get rid of his anger. ¡°There¡¯s still a chance in the future.¡± Kamir patted his partner on the shoulder. ¡°Before we go, shall we obtain the secret skill?¡± ¡°No... The blue hair is in Huaisha!¡± the bald man said, gnashing his teeth. ¡°Then there¡¯s nothing we can do.¡± Kamir turned around and went back to his room, leaving only the bald man to stand on the deck and watch the crew adjust the rudder. They were just passengers, and it was the captain of the ship who could decide whether to leave or not. ¡°Damn it!¡± The bald man was left speechless. Without arge-scale search, it would take a long time and lots of energy to find the hidden masters in Huaisha. He stood there for a long time before he sighed and gave up. ¡°Well, at least I¡¯ve left something here. I¡¯ll be back in a few months!¡± That was all he could do tofort himself. Otherwise, his heart would ache at the thought of the Azurewing he had invested in. ... The next day. Xilin and the other five countries signed the Moon Sea Treaty at the same time. The details of the treaty were unclear, but tensions along coastlines and borders had eased. Lin Sheng did not have time to care about that. After he left Snowgale Fortress, his dream had remained stagnant without progress. In reality, he practiced the holy power and meditated on the Ashen Seal every day. He also found his shield, sword, and books under the bed in his dream. Time passed, and soon, his final examination came. Lin Sheng obtained good marks in the examination. Following that, he and his parents began to prepare for the Chinese New Year. The school closed two weeks for the winter holidays and the Spring Festival. The family nned to invite rtives over for dinner, and Lin Sheng¡¯s parents began to prepare for the New Year dinner very early. Most of Lin Sheng¡¯s time was either spent in his dream, studying Deviltongue, or going to Ironfist Society to check its progress. Some new martial artists hade to Ironfist Society to explore, and it continued to thrive. Life seemed to be returning to its original state, calm and peaceful. Lin Xiao, Lin Sheng¡¯s sister also called back to say that she had bought a train ticket and was on her way home. Lin Xiao was in college. There were talks that she had a boyfriend, but she did not n on bringing him home. ... *Beep! Beep!* The sound of car horns filled the ce. Lin Xiao had just exited the train station, dragging her suitcase. The train arrived early, otherwise, she would have seen Lin Sheng and her dad waiting for her. Lin Xiao dragged her suitcase and left the station. She was going to walk a little into town and take the bus back. She wanted to save some money. Her family had been spending a lot recently, and after she fell in love, her personal expenses had grown much higher than before too, so she needed to be careful with her spending. She reached an intersection, and while she waited at the traffic light, she noticed that her suitcase was not properly closed. So, she squatted down and zipped it up. When she got up, she heard the sharp sound of brakes behind her. Then, there was a loud bang. A white car mmed into Lin Xiao, sending her flying. She rolled across the ground before shey on her back above the concrete, unable to move. Fresh blood oozed slowly from under Lin Xiao. The door of the white car opened, and a drunken man got down. ¡°You¡¯ve hit someone!¡± A voice came from the car. ¡°She¡¯s not dead, she¡¯s just hurt, no big deal!¡± The drunk got back into the car and drove off, zigzagging all over the road. Lin Xiao was lying on the ground alone. Her shirt was gradually being dyed red with blood, and her ck trousers had be dirty. She was feeling cold all over, and the color was fading from her lips. She tried to straighten herself up, but she could not. She was feeling groggy and nauseous. The crowd slowly started to gather, but onlookers just stared at her, whispering. No one went up to help her. Then, a ck car rolled by. The people in the car seemed to notice Lin Xiao, and they turned back. The door opened, and a young man and woman dressed in expensive clothes got out of the car. They quickly walked toward Lin Xiao and squatted down next to her to check on her. ¡°Was it a car ident? This girl has lost a lot of blood! So many people watching, and no one helping?¡± the woman yelled angrily. ¡°A bunch of thrash,¡± scolded the boy who was standing by the side. He looked young. ¡°Little Yong, carry her to the car. Let¡¯s go to the hospital!¡± ¡°Okay!¡± They quickly carried Lin Xiao to the car and sped to the nearest hospital. Chapter 108 - Recovery: Part 3 Chapter 108: Recovery: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Chen Minjia was just driving around to rx. She never thought of saving people and had never encountered such a thing before. No one would believe that she had done such a good deed. Ruthless, strong and fierce were the only impressions people had of her. Even her brother, Chen Yong was always respectful and afraid of her. She did not mean to intervene when she passed the badly-injured girl. However, when she noticed that there were so many people around the girl but none of them helped her, it reminded her of her childhood. How simr was the girl¡¯s situation to hers... A wave of inexplicable anger suddenly welled up in her heart. So, Chen Minjia turned back and took the girl to the hospital. In fact, she was not just saving the girl, she was saving herself. After she sent Lin Xiao to the nearest hospital, Chen Minjia paid £¤8,000 for the emergency and hospitalization expenses. She then called the police. The police came and soon contacted the girl¡¯s parents. When the girl¡¯s parents arrived, Chen Minjia knew at first nce that they were just ordinary people. They thanked her profusely. After chatting for a while, she found out that the woman was a preschool teacher and the man was a small business owner. The police also found the identity of the drunk driver and contacted him. After a while, the girl¡¯s rtives arrived as well. Lin Sheng was thest to arrive. As soon as he entered the ward, he noticed that other distant rtives were also there. ¡°How¡¯s Sis? How did it happen? Who did it? Where is the person now?¡± Lin Sheng asked with a somber face the moment he entered the room. Unlike his honest parents, he walked in like a boss. Chen Minjia gave Lin Sheng one more nce. The son, who seemed like a high school student, appeared to be the most assertive member of the girl¡¯s family. ¡°Your parents are here, and you are only a child, there¡¯s no room for you to talk.¡± His rtives began to speak. ¡°Why are you asking so many questions? That guy¡¯s a rich boss, and your sister is okay now. Why don¡¯t you just ask for morepensation?¡± ¡°Listen to me, my brother, you better sign the settlement. It¡¯s worth £¤200,000. You get so much just by breaking a leg. What are you waiting for?¡± His rtives all spoke at the same time. It was so noisy, giving Lin Sheng a headache. ¡°Shut up!¡± he yelled sharply. ¡°I thank you foring to see my sister, but...¡± Lin Sheng swept his eyes across the room, giving them a sense of fierce coldness. ¡°I don¡¯t want anyone to make decisions for us!¡± The rtives were stunned by Lin Sheng¡¯s bluntness. They wanted to retort, but they did not dare. His distant rtives were so angry that their lips trembled. They found out about the driver¡¯s background from the police, and they did not want Lin Sheng¡¯s family to annoy the boss, implicating themselves. However, looking at Lin Sheng, they were worried that he would beat them if they spoke again. ¡°Well, you can leave now.¡± Lin Sheng pointed at the door. ¡°Very well!¡± An older man mmed the door and left. The rest were too embarrassed to stay and also left. Those rtives did note tofort them but to persuade them to stay out of trouble and sign the settlement. Now that they were gone, the room was suddenly much quieter. Lin Sheng went up to Chen Minjia as well as her brother and said, ¡°Thank you for getting my sister to the hospital in time. May I have your names?¡± ¡°You can call me Miss Chen, and he is my brother. We were just passing by. No one would turn a blind eye to that. I just acted a little faster than the others.¡± Lin Sheng nodded, and his father handed him a wad of cash at once. Lin Sheng then gave the money to Chen Minjia. ¡°This is the money you helped to pay in advance. Also, if you have any trouble in the future, you can call this number. I¡¯ll try my best to help.¡± Lin Sheng handed Chen Minjia a note with the number of Ironfist Society. Chen Minjia smiled and epted the note as well as money. ¡°Since her family¡¯s here, we¡¯ll go back first.¡± ¡°Thank you so much, Miss Chen,¡± Lin Sheng said solemnly. ¡°You¡¯re wee. I just did it because I wanted to.¡± Minjia nodded and left the ward with her brother. She really just did whatever she wanted to do, and she did not ask for anything in return. After they left, Lin Zhounian and Gu Wanqiu looked at their son, finding him to be quite different from his usual low-key persona. He now had a strong sense of presence, and he was steady and powerful. Those were the qualities of a man with great confidence and determination. ¡°Tell me about it, Dad.¡± Lin Sheng looked at his sister, who was lying on the hospital bed, and pulled chairs for his parents. He had protected his parents but never expected his sister to get into an ident. It was bad luck; no one could stop it. Nevertheless, he wanted to know whether the ident was really just an ident. If it had happened due to the exposure of his identity, it would be a different story... As for Miss Chen, he had sent the ckfeather swordsman to follow her. She was not willing to give her name, which meant that she was not asking for anything in return. Just because she did not need help now did not mean that she would not need it in the future. Chapter 109 - An Attempt: Part 1 Chapter 109: An Attempt: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°What? Unwilling to settle? They haven¡¯t signed the settlement yet?¡± In a vi, Odica stood at the window with his big belly, holding a cell phone in his hand and wearing a white towel. He had just gotten up from the pool. He had been out driving during the day and had hit a student. He had already spoken to the Department of Transportation and police, so he thought that it was settled. He did not expect it to be not over yet. ¡°You can¡¯t even settle a small case. Why the f*ck do I keep you?!¡± Odica swore angrily. ¡°Boss, they aren¡¯t willing to sign, and a lot of people have gathered in the hospital. We can¡¯t do anything to them.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care. You have to take care of this. The traffic police will cooperate with you. Don¡¯te back if you can¡¯t solve it!¡± The fat man hung up angrily. It was not the first time he had hit someone. He had killed several people before, and it all worked out fine with a little pressure and some money. This time, the student had just broken a leg, and they did not want to settle? They did not even want the money? ¡°Fine, you can¡¯t have the money either! Do you think your legs are superior?¡± Master Odica had decided to be generous for the first time. He closed one eye and gave £¤200,000 aspensation, but they turned it down. Were they nning to p someone? ¡°Hehe, they¡¯re really pushing it. Do they think that I can be easily bullied? ¡°Hun, don¡¯t even think about taking my money. I¡¯ll drag you to death! Thewsuit may go on for a year and a half, but just wait until your limelight dies down. Watch how I kill you!¡± Odica felt disgusted at the thought of the ident. ¡°It so happens that I have a business meeting with a customer. At least, I can go out to rx and forget about this. Staying here will just remind me of this crap and make me upset!¡± He opened the door to go downstairs, and outside the door stood his bodyguard, Paul. Odica then walked down the stairs to the living room. The living room was full of some of his finest wooden collection. It consisted of animal sculptures that were carved out of the best materials, which he had collected over the years. Two of his servants were carefully wiping the wooden sculptures on their knees for fear of damaging them. Odica had almost beaten one of the servants to death when there was a broken edge on one of the sculptures. After he examined his wooden sculptures and made sure that they were all in good condition, Odica felt like his soul had been cleansed. He loved it. He returned upstairs to the bedroom and spoke to Paul before he closed the door. He went to the wardrobe to get a t-shirt, then went downstairs to drink a cup of ck tea. *Click.* Suddenly, the window behind him was opened. Odica turned his head, finding it odd. A gentle breeze blew in through the open window, and a ck crow stood on the window sill, its red eyes looking at him calmly. The sky was dim, and the crow stood there motionless, appearing eerie. ¡°What is it?¡± He went over to close the window and chase the crow away. Just as Odica¡¯s hand touched the window, a pale hand stretched out from behind him, covering his mouth and nose tightly. The next second, his mouth was taped. Loops of rope swished around his body, lifting him up. A man dressed in ck with a white cloth over his head caught Odica¡¯s shoulders from the back. He then stepped on the sill, turned around, and the two fell silently through the window. Strong winds poured into Odica¡¯s ears while they were free falling. He tried to scream, but a powerful force pushed him sideways, hurling him across thewn and down a nearby alley in the blink of an eye. In the alley, the man in ck clothes jumped and caught the fat man urately. He quickly walked to the entrance of the alley, where a ck car had been waiting for a long time. The doors closed, and the car pulled away. Under the moonlight, everything was secret and silent. In the vi, a waft of ck smoke shed by. A pale hand pressed the y button on a pocket recorder and ced it in the middle of the bed. *Zzzz...* A light snoring sound wafted from the recorder. Paul, who was standing outside the door, chuckled and looked at the time. He then turned the room¡¯s sign over to ¡°do not disturb¡±. ... In the suburbs. Gaz tree farm. The abandoned tree farm had not been contracted for many years. The tree farm was full of snake vines, which were difficult to eradicate. Those vines were slightly poisonous and belonged to a very domineering group of parasitic nts. They had posed a deadly threat to many kinds of trees that the logging farmers needed. After many attempts to eradicate the snake vines, the tree farm was finally abandoned. Lin Sheng stood expressionless in the forest, watching as the ckfeather swordsman dragged Odica into the pit. It took an hour to send the ckfeather swordsman to the police station to check the information of the driver before taking the man to the designated location. He then drove there and tied the man up deep in the woods. Although Lin Sheng conducted the whole process remotely, he was very satisfied with the ckfeather swordsman¡¯s covert and silent movements. ckfeather City¡¯s training focused on the explosive swordsmanship of stealth assassinations, therefore, the effects of cooperating with the ckfeather swordsman were extremely amazing. Since their bodies were not as weak as when they were in the dream realm, almost all of his ckfeather swordsmen had the strength of an elite. ¡°What to do with the fat man now...¡± Lin Sheng wondered. Just kill him? No, he was not a murderer. Although he had run into Lin Sheng¡¯s sister, perhaps he ran a good business in his daily life. His sin did not require death. There was a better solution. Recently, Lin Sheng had been putting a lot of effort into the study of the holy power, and he had many questions. Unfortunately, there were no suitable materials around for him to test it out. Was the fat man not the most suitable material right then? ¡°I¡¯ve improvised the next ritual of the holy power from memory, but it¡¯s still missing a key piece. It would be better to use this living specimen to perfect it...¡± The holy power was merciful, so Lin Sheng decided to give the man a chance. As long as the man could wholeheartedly assist him in perfecting his ¡°soul-ectomy¡± experiment, he would keep his promise to spare the man after the experiment waspleted. He felt like he was being too kind. Perhaps that was the price of believing in the holy light? At that moment, the fat man in front of him slowly regained consciousness. ¡°You¡¯re awake?¡± ¡°Ugh, ugh...¡± The fat man wriggled and struggled to make a sound. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid,¡± Lin Sheng said calmly. ¡°You¡¯re ill, seriously ill... Only I can cure you.¡± Chapter 110 - An Attempt: Part 2 Chapter 110: An Attempt: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The fat man shivered and struggled harder. He had heard rumors of lunatics roaming around, but he never thought that he would be one of their victims. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid... It¡¯s no big deal. If you¡¯re sick, treat it...¡± Lin Sheng stood up, took a hammer, and walked toward Odica. The first step of the ritual was to train one¡¯s spirit to change as well as uplift both the body and the mind. Not long after, Lin Sheng walked out of the forest with his hands full of blood. He had no direct way of observing souls, but with his knowledge of the five regions of the soul, he was able to reconstruct one of the temple¡¯s ssic experiments, Exhortation. The memories of the priest helped too. Exhortation was not something supernatural, but a punishment specific to the temple. It was a penalty that targeted the different regions of a prisoner¡¯s soul. The principle of Exhortation was simple. It could directly affect the human soul through the stimtion of the body, making a person change in essence. Many powerful men could plead not guilty through their own will. However, Exhortation suggested that this was because most of the cells in their bodies were controlled by the brain and mind, so such strong men were not afraid of death. However, life always had a way to survive. No matter how strong a person¡¯s will was, the person would also have cells and a soul that desired to live. Exhortation used the healing power of the holy light to support the cells that wanted to live, allowing them to grow and take over the body and brain, ultimately transforming the person. That was what Exhortation was all about. The holy light could arouse the deep desire for life in anyone. All it had to do from beginning to end was redeem the person. That was a phrase often heard by the priests of the temple when they studied scripture. Unfortunately, outside the temple, Exhortation was known as a soulectomy. ¡°What a pity... It was so close...¡± The fat man was not dead, but parts of his brain had been removed in a number of hidden areas, and that would probably affect his life in terms of intelligence and memory retention. Lin Sheng used the conductivity of the holy power to drill into the fat man, cutting off a little bit of his brain and seeing what would happen to him. Lin Sheng did it repeatedly. It was just an experiment, and he was considerably lucky to even obtain such results. ¡°The experiment didn¡¯t work out, but there were gains.¡± Lin Sheng learned that the fat man had several unknown deposit ounts and arge amount of cash hidden in a secret house. The society¡¯s funds were suddenly secured. He could take the money since they were prepared for his mistresses. Without dy, Lin Sheng washed his hands in a nearby river and returned to the ck car, which was waiting by the side of the road. Sarroux was sitting in the driver¡¯s seat, and he did not ask too much. He just looked at Lin Sheng and asked, ¡°Want to go back?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Lin Sheng nodded and closed the door. In that increasingly chaotic country, no one cared about the death of one or two people, so Sarroux was not bothered at all. He was more curious about the man in ck clothes who had dragged the fat man into the car. The man with the covered head seemed to be very strong, but it looked like Lin Sheng was not going to introduce him. Nobody noticed that Odica was missing. Even if people did, Lin Sheng was confident that they would not be discovered. His cooperation with the ckfeather swordsman was perfect. No one would associate the car with the disappearance of a wooden sculpture merchant. Lin Sheng sat in the backseat of the car and began to think about his sister¡¯s follow-up treatment. Lin Xiao¡¯s leg was broken. She also experienced a little concussion, but there was no huge problem. She just needed to rest. The car went straight to the hospital, and Lin Sheng went to visit Lin Xiao. She was chatting with mom. After they chatted for a while, he left the ward with his mother, and they talked in the corridor. ¡°Where¡¯s Dad?¡± Lin Sheng asked in a low voice. ¡°He went to get the money. We have to pay a lot of money upfront for the treatment and hospitalization...¡± Gu Wanqiu sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mom. Sis¡¯ injury isn¡¯t serious, and she can go home soon. It won¡¯t cost much,¡± Lin Shengforted her. ¡°I cane to the hospital more often to take care of her.¡± Regarding Lin Xiao¡¯s ident, he obtained information from the fat man and was fully aware that it was truly an ident. It had nothing to do with the White Tarots. The Level 3 holy power allowed him to recover Lin Xiao¡¯s injury secretly. He nned to cover up his use of the holy power to recover Lin Xiao¡¯s injury with a hotpress. Over the next two days, he helped Lin Xiao recover from her injury while he got someone to investigate Chen Minjia. Chen Minjia was Lin Xiao¡¯s savior. Lin Sheng intended to assist Chen Minjia when she needed help the most. However, to his surprise, Chen Minjia was the chairman of a coal-miningpany. She was rich and powerful, notcking in anything. He could only remember her kindness first. As the Lins considered when to sue Odica, they heard the bad news. Odica¡¯s body was found on a rocky beach outside Huaisha. It was said that his body had been dragged by two wild dogs and gnawed into pieces. Lin Sheng did not expect him to die. The blood on his body had probably attracted wild animals in the forest, and he was eaten as a result. When Odica died, his wife took charge. In order to alleviate any trouble and allow herself to take over the business as soon as possible, she readilypensated the Lins with £¤500,000 in cash and personally went to the hospital to apologize. That was the end of the matter. Lin Xiao did not want to waste money in the hospital, so a few dayster, she decided to go home. After the final examination, the doctor found that her recovery was way faster than expected. Her parents were surprised and took her home atst. Lin Sheng had not been exploring the dream realm for several days. After his sister finally came home, he nned to explore his dream further. Chapter 111 - An Attempt: Part 3 Chapter 111: An Attempt: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion A crimson glow shone through the window onto Lin Sheng¡¯s insteps. Holding his wooden shield in one hand and his great sword in the other, Lin Sheng stood with determination behind the burry-proof door of his home. He wanted to go out. He could not stand the snail¡¯s pace in the dream version of his home any longer. He needed more actual fights to absorb more souls. He was curious about the strangeness of his home in the dream realm and what the bizarre environment on the outside meant. He seriously wondered about it, so he made up his mind and opened the door to venture outside. Lin Sheng leaned his sword against the wall, freeing his hand to grab the door handle and give it a gentle twist. As the door opened with a soft click, he quickly released his hand and gripped the great sword. Using his leg, he softly pushed the burry-proof door open. Outside was a pitch-dark stairway. Not the faintest sign of light was present except for the soft crimson glow that emanated out from his house. There was a figure on the stairway, outside the unit opposite Lin Sheng¡¯s house. It was a tall, slender man, who was dressed in white and standing with his back facing Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng could hear the man rummaging for his keys to open the door. But, the man had been standing there in the same posture, like a statue, since the moment Lin Sheng saw him, and that raised Lin Sheng¡¯s suspicion. Whenever Lin Sheng opened the door of his house, it would make a faint protesting creak, and this time was no exception. The loud, brassy creak attracted the attention of the man, who visibly dropped his hand from his door handle, seemingly about to turn around. Lin Sheng licked his lips, bracing his wooden shield in front of him while he firmly clenched the great sword in his hand. He was ready for anything. Then, he heard the man panting as if he was in extreme fear, sweating and gasping desperately. Suddenly, there was a click followed by the sound of a door opening. The burry-proof door opposite Lin Sheng¡¯s house had opened. The man tardily entered the house and closed the door without looking over the other side at all. Lin Sheng frowned. He carried his shield and stepped outside, eager to explore his surroundings and see what was unusual out there. All of a sudden, the door of the opposite unit swung open with a loud bang. Two figures, a man and a woman, with pale faces grinned wickedly at Lin Sheng from the doorway. It was Aunt Chen and one of her family members. Lin Sheng was transfixed as he turned around and mmed the door shut. He braced himself against it, standing behind his shield. *Bang, bang!* Shortly after, someone mmed against the door from the outside. The burry-proof door became deformed under the violent force, which sent Lin Sheng tumbling several steps back. He almost fell to the floor. ¡°Sacred Blood!¡± He roared in fury, his body swelling as he forcefully thrust his great sword at the door. Almost at the same time, a ferocious impact from the outside broke the entrance apart, sending the entire iron door flying straight in Lin Sheng¡¯s direction. His great sword, which was pointing forward right then, instantly prated the iron door, producing a horrible metal scraping sound in the process. Lin Sheng felt his sword hit something hard¡ªa stone, or maybe a stump¡ªand he felt a violent vibration run up his arm. He gripped the hilt of his sword as tightly as possible despite the pain. The sheer force of the impact sent him flying backward again, and he came to an abrupt halt as he crashed into the wall behind him. Blood instantly spurted out of his mouth. However, it seemed that the people on the other side were in no better condition. They dropped the iron door and faded into a pair of white shadows before they disappeared along the stairway into the opposite apartment unit. Then, the door of the unit was slowly shut and locked. ¡°The heck?!¡± Lin Sheng defiantly got to his feet with the support of his sword. ¡°Are they as hurt as I am?¡± He managed a smile and barely moved a few steps before needing to stabilize himself again. With the sacred power in his body, Lin Sheng began to heal his injuries. One of the pros of gaining the sacred power was that he could use it to treat his injuries anytime, anywhere. Once he regained his health, Lin Sheng was all the more fearless. Carrying his sword and shield, he stepped toward thepletely dark stairway again. He could choose to either go up or down. ¡°Down it is.¡± Lin Sheng quickly moved down the stairs with his Sacred Blood still in effect. But as he walked down the stairs, he sensed something strangely amiss; the staircase was longer than he remembered. By right, it should have only been thirteen steps, but he had taken twenty, yet it was still not the end. Furthermore... Lin Sheng looked to his sides carefully, and under the faint crimson glow from his house, he quickly found another strange phenomenon; there were no handrails on either side. The never-ending staircase extended downward, and there was only infinite darkness on both sides. Peering into the dark, Lin Sheng felt like he was standing in a vast space of utter darkness, and the staircase was the only solid ground on which he stood. ¡°This goddamn ce!¡± Lin Sheng quickly backed up until he was in front of his house again. He cautiously nced at his neighbor¡¯s house, then up the stairway. Without hesitation, he went upstairs with his sword and shield in hand. One floor after another, he climbed. The doors of the houses¡ªtwo on each floor¡ªwere tightly shut. However, that was not a problem. The things that baffled him were the security doors; they appeared more ancient as he got higher up, and the doors on the upper floors had engravings on the surface, engravings of ancient patterns. It was too dark for him to see clearly, though. He climbed four levels up before he stopped and looked back down. The faint crimson glow from his house was still visible, and it gave him some sense of security even though he had just been attacked a while ago. Perhaps it was the light itself that gave him the feeling. ¡°People are usually drawn to light, it¡¯s human nature.¡± Lin Sheng chuckled in a self-deprecating manner. He fired up the sacred power in his body to light up the edge of his wooden shield. It consumed little of his energy to provide illumination. With the white light, Lin Sheng could see his surroundings more clearly. Moss almost covered the entire surface of the walls along the stairway, and the paint in most parts of the walls had also peeled off, exposing the light-colored concrete walls beneath. The stairway¡¯s lighting was not of the incandescent type, instead, there were retro oilmps in ck ss housings. The two doors on both sides of each floor were equally unusual; they were utterly rusty as if they had not been in operation for years. Lin Sheng thought for a moment, and he cast his eyes on the door on his left, which was strangely rustier than the one on the other side. He braced his wooden shield for a Shield Bash and was prepared to break into the house. Just then, the door before him slowly became ajar. Chapter 112 - In Action: Part 1 Chapter 112: In Action: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion As the door came ajar, Lin Sheng raised his wooden shield and took a step back. Staring unblinkingly into the gap of the door, he waited anxiously. After a long while, there was still no movement. He thought that perhaps the door had not been closed correctly and that a gust of goddamn wind had blown the door open. He did not believe in random chance, however. Why did the door not open before or after, but at that very moment he arrived? Something was definitely amiss. He slowly extended his sword forward, inserted it between the door gap, and gave it a gentle twist. The door slowly swung open, revealing the antiquated, decaying interior. The floorn of the house was simr to that of Lin Sheng¡¯s house, but the ce was covered in a thickyer of ashen dust. A picture frame with a missing corner hung loosely in one section of the house, while the sofa, TV, fridge, and everything else were outdated in style. Lin Sheng slowly walked in, carefully skimming his surroundings with the faint light on the edge of his shield. With a tri-partition design, the house consisted of only a kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom. Lin Sheng suddenly heard a sounding from the kitchen the moment he stepped into the living room. It was as if someone was cooking on a stove. He warily edged closer to the kitchen, and once he was right in front of the kitchen, he saw something boiling in a small pot above the glowing mes of the stove. Who the hell¡¯s cooking in this goddamn abandoned house? Lin Sheng thought. He instantly became even more suspicious and raised his guard even further. The burning red me on the stove was particrly bright in the dark. He carefully walked over, and just as he was about to take the lid off to see what the heck was inside the pot, a quick-moving shadow emerged behind him out of nowhere. ¡°Who is it?¡± With the aid of his ultra-sensitive perception, Lin Sheng swung his sword in a quick backward motion, and the de of his sword glowed with soft white light. He was not sure if the move would kill the mysterious shadow, but since he knew how potent the sacred light was, he focused all of his strength on his sword and left the question forter. The shadow was fast, but Lin Sheng was not slow either. The effective damage range of his great sword was wide, and it caught the shadow, slicing into its tail. However, the cut felt like it had hit a block of solid wood. The shadow shrilled like a jungle fowl as the de¡¯s sacred white light exploded into a furious fire like a spark igniting gasoline. The shadow rolled on the floor in agony before it quickly became motionless, appearing dead. For a moment, the shadow continued to shrink in the me on the kitchen floor, and Lin Sheng went up to it take a good look. At only half his height, the dead figure had two pairs of arms and a pair of legs, but its face was featureless. The only thing that stood out was a tentacle akin to an elephant trunk growing out of its chest. The shadow continued to squinch and burn, and before long, it was reduced to a pile of ckened ash on the floor. Lin Sheng stirred the burnt ashes with his sword for a while but found nothing unusual. Suddenly, a plume of ck smog rose from the ashes. It quickly condensed into a ck streak before it disappeared into Lin Sheng¡¯s chest in a swoop. ¡°Are these monster¡¯s memories?!¡± Lin Sheng squinted, carefully distilling the chaotic data that was entering his mind. However, it seemed that the memories contained nonguage and images except for a bunch of strange sounds. The length of the sounds varied from a couple of minutes to days, and different sounds appeared to carry different meanings. But, Lin Sheng could not make head or tail of what they meant. It was not until he had sorted them out a little that he also began to see patterns and found that the monster feasted on the fears of living creatures. Thepiled sounds seemed like the scared whimpers of different living creatures, and the monster appeared to be in a good mood in the presence of long cries while depressed when it was only short whines. ¡°It¡¯s just a bunch of garbage.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. Despite that, he did feel like he had gained some mental strength, which was almost equal to the gains from killing a ckfeather swordsman. So, he continued to look around the abandoned house. But, there was nothing else except for the mysterious creature he had just killed. Nheless, all was not lost, as he found something of interest in the corner of the bedroom. ¡°What is this?¡± He dragged a chair away from the corner, where there was a light-purple florescent fissure in the wall. In the fissure, which measured only about the width of a palm, was a beetle. It looked almost identical to regr beetles, but this beetle was no ordinary beetle. Translucent and like sapphire, the little bug¡¯s six legs were reminiscent of red-hot spikes. Smoke would rise whenever it crawled across the floor. ¡°This bug...¡± Lin Sheng instantly found something wrong with the picture. The beetle was out of ce there, and it was not native to the area. Then, his keen eyes noticed that the fissure behind the beetle was closing very slowly. ¡°Such a small fissure... Could it be a portal?¡± After he pondered for a moment, he poked and churned around the fissure with his sword. Lin Sheng was wildly excited when the crack slowly grew in size as ck debris rose in the air. The Summoner¡¯s Grimoire mentioned that portals could exist everywhere in the world at any time. A portal led people from one dimension to another and formed a temporary bridge that two different dimensions. On normal days, the minimal perceptive ability of humans meant that they had no way to find and step into different dimensions. However, the existence of portals opened up this opportunity, giving humans a chance to filter themselves and enabling them to contact other dimensions. The contents of the Summoner¡¯s Grimoire worked on this principle to cohere and draw out the different dimensions for itself. Lin Sheng had no clue how the portal came about since his strength had only been improving incrementally. If he could step into other dimensions just like he had done twice previously, it would significantly speed up his power gain for sure. Upon thinking of that, he grew even more excited and jerked the fissure with greater force. After a moment, the fissure in the wall finally expanded to over a meter wide,rge enough to allow a person to squeeze through. The frightened beetle was long gone, fleeing back to the other side of the hole. But Lin Sheng could not have cared less. He finally stopped as he was already sweating profusely. He writhed into the purple light within the fissure and felt like he had plunged into a sticky pool of mud. He could not breathe or move in the omnipresent purple light. Nevertheless, he scrambled ahead and finally saw the beetle floating not far ahead. When it realized that Lin Sheng was in there, the beetle almost jumped out of its skin. It quickly turned around and swam away. Lin Sheng decided to follow the little bug, and it did not take long before he felt like he was running out of breath. Right then, he suddenly found himself swimming past the purple light. On the other side of the purple light, a figure suddenly emerged into a dark and putrid dungeon, tottering out of the purple fissure in its wall. It was Lin Sheng. Holding his wooden shield and great sword, his face was covered in purple residue, which rapidly evaporated from his skin. He coughed convulsively, then dusted the purple fluorescent liquid off his scale armor to speed up the evaporation. Chapter 113 - In Action: Part 2 Chapter 113: In Action: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion In the middle of the dungeon was a wide arched corridor, where there were prison cells on either side. And on each side, the cells were some distance apart from each other. Lin Sheng was standing near the gap between the cells, shaking his head as he skimmed around. He reached to touch the wall, which felt solid and cold, and its rough ck stone surface was covered in honeb-like eyelets. He nced down at the stone-brick floor under his feet. The neat stretcher-bond pattern of the floor looked antiquated. Lin Sheng raised his wooden shield as he slowly moved deeper down the arched corridor. Cracked skulls were left about in the rows of rectangr-shaped recess in the wall on his left. Large candles glowing in light-yellow me could also be found in some of the coves. There were also awl-shaped, solid candleholders on wire rope hanging down from the ceiling at intermittent intervals. These candleholders were part of the lighting system in the passage. After walking for a distance, Lin Sheng saw six gray cloth bags left about in front of the cell on his right. Each of these cloth bags was almost asrge as a sandbag. He went up and stomped his foot on one of them. It felt soft and emitted a muffled sound when kicked. It could be grains in the bags. Just then, a series of heavy footsteps came. Lin Sheng peered ahead through the thin nket of gray fog in the corridor and saw a team of ck-armored soldiers carrying shields and swords marching steadily in his direction. There were five of them, each was about one-meter-eight tall, exceptionally well built, and draped in thick and heavy metal body armor¨Ceven on the face. They almost looked like Mechwarriors from a distance. These soldiers had noticed Lin Sheng just as soon as Lin Sheng did. For a moment, there was a deadly silence on both sides. And then with a jerk, the five heavily armed soldiers lunged out at Lin Sheng with their shields and swords, stomping like the sound of war drums. The first soldier rammed at Lin Sheng in full force. Lin Sheng drew his sword aiming at the soldier¡¯s waist as he cleverly dodged aside in a swift motion, slitting open the armor and the flesh of the soldier with sparks flying and ck blood spattering out at once. Lin Sheng was no longer the weakly of the past. With extraordinary Level 3 strength and the memories of so many warriors in his mind, he was strong and battle-hardened. In a series of false steps, Lin Sheng quickly made it past the encirclement to the rear of the enemy. In an abrupt maneuver, he spun around, dropping his shield to hold his sword with both hands to his ear with a zing white light glowing on the de of his sword. ¡°Quantum sh!¡± As a streak of white light fluttered around the soldiers, the broadsword in Lin Sheng¡¯s hands shattered in an instant. The broken pieces dropped to the ground at once. At the same time, ck blood began to squirt out from the cut wound in the throats under the helmets of the remaining four soldiers, who then dropped dead on the ground with a thud. Lin Sheng nced at the hilt and let out a sigh. He discarded it and picked up another sword from one of the bodies on the ground. Simr to the old one, this one was also a double-edged broadsword with some pattern engraved on the sides of the de, the thickness of which was a few millimeters more than the shattered broadsword. It was at the right thickness and to Lin Sheng¡¯s liking. Lin Sheng squatted on his knee and took a helmet from one of the bodies. He shook the helmet before putting it on. ¡°Nice!¡± He smiled. Aside from being a nice addition to his armor, the helmet was a small constion to Lin Sheng¡¯s dismal spirit after losing his original broadsword. Having tasting sess, he tried out the greave and metal boots too. In the end, he decided to put on a full set of armor that he looted from a body. ¡°This at least 50 kg, if not more. These soldiers must be damn good weightlifters.¡± But something was strange. Lin Sheng was transfixed for a second when he realized that none of the soldiers had memories that he could ingest. He swung the sword in his hand and nced down at the soldiers from whom he had taken the helmet. These soldiers were just regr men, albeit their skins pale and face expressionless. They all died with the same expression¡ªtheir eyes were wide open. ¡°Are they soulless, or it¡¯s just me that is unable to take in the fragments of their souls?¡± Lin Sheng sheathed his sword and was off again, leaving the bodies behind. The metal boots nked loudly as he walked. He skimmed the cells on both sides as he walked past them. The cells were no inmates there except for a toilet, an iron bed, a chair, and a small iron table. Soon, a sharp left turn filled with a thin nket of gray mist appeared ahead, where something was around the corner. Lin Sheng slowed down his pace, his hands firmly clenching on the hilt with heightened alertness. As he inched closer, the thing at the bend slowly emerged, finally revealing itself. It was a man, wearing a long robe and an iron mask, standing motionless like a statue in the fog. The man was right in front of Lin Sheng but looked as if a stationed guard, or merely a statue. Without warning, the statue-like man suddenly moved and pointed his hand at Lin Sheng. A pale green mist instantly appeared on the tip of his finger, swirling, surging, and then forming into a ball. A dozen green tentacles bust out from the green gas ball in a split second. It happened so quickly that the tentacles had arrived within feet of Lin Sheng in a beat. Lin Sheng stopped dead in his tracks before he came to his senses and immediately bent his body backward while raising his wooden shield in front. A powerful force was pushing him back. Each of the tentacles was as thick as a human¡¯s arm, and their corrosive nature would leave behind streaks of burnt mark on whatever they touched, including on the wooden shield. The pale green slime from the tentacles stuck to Lin Sheng¡¯s wooden shield hissed menacingly. Even the walls in the surroundings that had been spattered with the hideously sticky stuff were eaten into, leaving behind countless of holes on the surface. After retreating several steps, Lin Sheng aimed his eyes at a gap between the waving tentacles. He timed it correctly and lunged out. With his sword already drawn, he swung it in a rapid motion and then struck the man, forcing him to retreat. The tentacles froze, and the man began to spit blood under his mask as he was hit right in the chest. The man leaned against the wall with blood continuously gushing out from his mouth, while the tentacles lunging out from the misty green ball quickly lost their strength. Seizing on this opportunity, Lin Sheng charged forward with his Shield Bash, and his wooden shield glowed in a sacred light. This time, Shield Bash hit the target, the man¡¯s body began to hiss and emit a disgusting burnt smell in the air. The man in a long-robe, still spurting ck blood in his mouth, struggled desperately. But he was pinned under the shield andpletely motionless after a while. Then, plumes of ck smoke began to rise from the man¡¯s body and formed a streak of ckline before rapidly disappearing into Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. Chapter 114 - In Action: Part 3 Chapter 114: In Action: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion A hell load of chaotic memories started to rush into Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. Contrary to the experience of thest two dreams, the memories he was taking in this timepletely knocked his socks off. Messy footages and blurry voices formed no meaningful images. It was as if someone had tipped over a barrel of fuel, it was chaotic and iprehensible. The slightly moreplete memories were nheless just a hazy thought, which seemed to be the only obsession that this person was holding on. It was like thest drynd that had not yet sunk into the sea of wanton chaos; it represented thest orderly existence. Lin Sheng carefully filtered the thought, noting what was truly valuable and ignoring the rest. This very piece of thought could still offer some information. Find the Circle of Reaping that Dark Igor left behind in the Level 3 dungeon. With the power to extract primordial blood from any living creatures, the Circle of Reaping is the only way of reaping the Chaos Blood inside me. It is also the only way to saving me. That was all about the thought, and the rest was merely a bunch of illogical mosaics of thought. ¡°Dark Igor?¡± Lin Sheng spoke of the name from memory as if it was merely a pronunciation. The memories of this person had only a thought, which was the only thing that Lin Sheng could understand. Other than that, there was nonguage. The footages and voices werepletely illegible, and the world in this dream did not use Ancient Rehn but anguage that Lin Sheng had never heard before. The body of the long-robe man leaned limply in the corner of the wall, motionless and long dead. So, Lin Sheng went up and searched his body. He found a silver key, a small ss bottle containing some silver powder, and a blurry scroll. ¡°This guy seemed to know something. He knew that the Circle of Reaping could directly reap primordial blood from any living beings and turned it into pure blood crystal. Cool.¡± Lin Sheng stowed everything back into the ck fabric pouch on the man¡¯s body, and then took it and tied it on his own body. Killing the man was utterly exhaustive for Lin Sheng. So, he decided to take a little break before continuing his exploration. After a while, he was off again. Not long after trudging deeper along the corridor, another three-man team of armored soldiers appeared. Lin Sheng made his move first to greet the three soldiers before they could react, and of course, he finished them off in a swoop. He got the fragmented soul of a soldier this time. Aside from a tiny piece of explicit memory, the mind of this particr soldier was mostly chaotic. But it was from this memory that Lin Sheng learned of the name of this ce: The Fay Vault. Once upon a time, a formidable royal court magician, named Dark Igor, suddenly came to this ce. He had brought a powerful magic circle called the Circle of Reaping, which he used to reap the different ancient types of blood from the convicts for his own benefit. The soldiers had been here to extend their cooperation to Dark Igor under orders. Because of thenguage barrier, Lin Sheng found it extremely tricky to decipher the information. Not only that, in the memories of this soldier, those magicians called the power that they controlled as the Mastery of Death and Decay instead of magic. ¡°This ce... the Mastery of Death and Decay?¡± Lin Sheng took a short rest. He swapped his broadsword for another one before continuing his journey. There were stretches of downward slopes at different sections of the passage. So, Lin Sheng was moving deeper underground as he went. Not long after, he again bumped into a wayward armored soldier. He finished off this one without much difficulty. After that, he encountered no more living being. As he hustled down the corridor further, the gray fog grew thicker. At first, Lin Sheng still had about ten meters of visibility, but that quickly diminished. With the monotonous surroundings, Lin Sheng began to feel a faint sense of fatigue in his mind¡¯s eye; he was unsure how far he had gone, but just when he thought his time was up and he was waking up, he heard heavy footstepsing from the front. He halted his steps, firmly clutching the hilt in his hands as he peered ahead intensely. A man began to emerge from the thick gray fog. Massively fat and standing at over two-meter tall, the bare-chested dude had a hideous, ck spiked tiger tattoo on his dark tone skin. He was bald, arms strapped with ck armor, and wearing a pair of spiked metal gloves. When he saw Lin Sheng, he sped up his pace while making a low, furious roar. Coming within four meters of Lin Sheng, the fat dude forcefully drew air into his lungs before spurting it back out violently in the form of fiery mes. In just a second, the mes had spread throughout the entire tunnel, sanitizing everything on its path. The fervor ze sted onto Lin Sheng¡¯s shield before being deflected away in a ring of fire, which still burned for a full three-second beforepletely dying down. As soon as the fire stopped, Lin Shengunched his counterattack. He leaped four meters in a beat and mmed hard on the fat dude. But some repulsive energy hit back at Lin Sheng, who almost lost his grip on the wooden shield and fell back sitting on the ground. How did it happen? The fat dude¡¯s belly seemed to be an energy deflector, bouncing off every attack that Lin Sheng struck at him. But Lin Sheng had no time to analyze. He nted his feet on the ground and stayed behind and inside the wooden shield as much as he could. A beatter, a mighty force hit as the fat dude cupped his hands and smashed violently from above onto the wooden shield. The sheer force of the impact had left behind a deep crack in the wooden shield. Lin Sheng still hid behind the shield, but his eyes, nose, and mouth were bleeding badly. Feeling lightheaded, he barely managed to stand on his feet. Quickly, he summoned the sacred power in his body and started the healing cycle. Although Lin Sheng had stabilized his health, he had missed an opportunity. Despite the massive body size, the fat dude was agile, and his strength was extraordinary. Even his skin was tough and imprable. Lin Sheng and the fat dude had exchanged several rounds of assault. Thrusting his sword at the fat dude¡¯s belly was of no use at all. Lin Sheng had tried sh Riposte, leveraging on the fat dude¡¯s own force to strike his own head. But the problem was, the broadsword was not strong enough to withstand the kind of abuse, and it snapped in an instant. When the first step went awry, nothing seemed to work in his favor anymore. Failing to dodge an iing fist, Lin Sheng was directly struck on his chest and sent flying backward. Crashnding on the ground, Lin Sheng began to vomit blood in his mouth. The scale armor on his chest was severely dented from the punch, and he could no longer stand up. ¡°Fearsome!¡± Lin Sheng had not suffered such a severe injury for a long time. The fat dude¡¯sbat strength was at least Level 3. His me-spitting skill was particrly destructive; inflicting a wide range of damage would work wlessly in either one-to-onebat or melee. The fat dude was too strong for him to beat. He did not only lose in terms ofbat skills, but also from a raw physical strength perspective. Particrly difficult to deal with was the fat dude¡¯s skin; it as unbelievably tough, seemingly imprable. Lin Sheng could barely make himself to sit up. He saw a sh of light, and before he could move his body to dodge, a burning me had already wholly engulfed him. His body began to char and cken quickly. Arge hand suddenly reached out from the fire, grabbing his head, and with a violent jerk, it snapped Lin Sheng¡¯s head off his neck like a liding off a bottle. Chapter 115 - Continuation: Part 1 Chapter 115: Continuation: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Did I just sleep?¡± Lin Sheng opened his eyes, bewildered. ¡°Unlike the first time, I don¡¯t feel the seque of being killed anymore. Probably it¡¯s because my soul has be stronger.¡± He shook his head and realized that he was still at the party. He had been non-stop meditating from morning until now to digest the chaotic memories, and atst, mental fatigue set. ¡°I think I should take a break.¡± Slouching on the couch, Lin Sheng let out a sigh. He looked at his former primary-school ssmates, who were drinking and chatting volubly beside him. The ambient in the KTV, particrly the lighting and the rhythms of the music, made one involuntarily swung with the beats. Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes swept across the room. Those who were here today were all his former ssmates. But he did not mean toe initially. It was Liu Hui, his closest ssmate sitting next to him during his elementary years, who came to his house inviting him to the gathering. Reluctantly, he agreed. After all, he had died in hisst dream, and there were another three days before he could go back into his dream to continue his exploration. But at the gathering, Lin Sheng was reticent, preferring to sit in a corner quietly and chewing some fruit slices asionally, as though no one had noticed he was there half of the time. There were sixteen of them packed into the karaoke room. A few boys and girls, who had gotten quite a buzz, began to sing in chorus and b at the top of their voices. Everyone was high on alcohol and feeling except Lin Sheng. This gathering of the former primary-school ssmatescked the philistine vibe of the adults, mostly because everyone was in some state of sadness of parting as the college entrance exam loomed. It was easy to get emotional with this innocent, fraternal feeling. But not Lin Sheng. He watched as his buddy, Liu Hui, jestingly held the hand of a girl whom he had secretly been having a crush for a long time. Another girl, who tied her hair in a ponytail sitting in another corner, gulped a mouthful of beer down her gut as she watched the little handholding episode yed out. ¡°Since when did these kids find the ¡®torn-between-two-lovers¡¯ affair an in thing?¡± Lin Sheng chuckled in amusement. The karaoke session was soon over. Liu Hui, who organized this gathering, got to his feet and went outside to settle the bill. The ponytail girl, whose eyes were fixed upon Liu Hui just now, got up and followed Liu Hui. A lively banter was still ongoing with the others, and no one, except Lin Sheng, noticed the two had gone out one close behind the other. Not long after, Liu Hui came back in with an absent-minded look on his face while the ponytail girl came back in after him. Looking from the eye of a spectator, Lin Sheng found the ponytail girl was not bad at all. Except for a little plump, this girling from a well to do family could be considered pretty. But the girl whom Liu Hui was after was definitely more gorgeous and alluring. ¡°Thank you so much foring today. I truly appreciate it. I, Liu Hui, have not many true friends in school except you all who havee today!¡± Liu Hui got to his feet and toasted his ss in the air. ¡°You must be drunk, Liu Hui. You¡¯re damn emotional today!¡± Someoneughed. ¡°I might be drunk,¡± Liu Hui swirled a ss of beer in his hand, face flushing, ¡°but my brain isn¡¯t. To be honest, this might be our veryst time seeing each other.¡± Upon hearing this, everyone hushed in curiosity as to what he was going to say. ¡°In just a few more days, I will go abroad to further my study and not being back very often. As we will part ways to pursue our dreams, respectively, gathering like this will be hard toe by.¡± Still, with the ss in hand, Liu Hui walked up to the girl he liked. ¡°Chen Lan, there is something that I¡¯ve been keeping in my heart for a long time, and now, I finally get the chance to confess in front of everyone.¡± His tone was serious as he looked into her eyes. Wearing a light-red, one-piece dress, white high heels, nude-colored pantyhose, and a light shade of red lip makeup together with a shapely figure, Chen Lan was an alluringly charming little girl with a mature vibe to it. She was no doubt the prettiest one in the room and knew how to apply makeup. Upon seeing Liu Hui approaching, she put up an obligated, polite smile. ¡°What do you want to say?¡± Liu Hui suddenly choked, and for a long while, there was no response from him. Lin Sheng sat in a corner and was tired of watching this kiddish soap opera. What did these kids know about love? They were driven by their youthful hormone and sexual impulses more than anything else. ¡°Chen Lan, I...¡± Liu Hui stammered, and the words seemed to have stuck in his throat. Lin Sheng watched with bated breath. Just then, Chen Lan raised her ss in the air. ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about it. I wish you well in your study, and a great future awaits you.¡± She then downed the entire ss of beer down her throat. Liu Hui looked at her, transfixed. His heart sank, feeling woefully miserable. He still had failed to confess in the end. Seeing the public confession of love dead in the water, the others broke out in teasingughter, which had sort of helped y down the awkward atmosphere. After a final toast and publicly professing their own feelings, everyone left. The gathering began at one in the afternoon, and by the time it ended, it was already seven at dusk. Lin Sheng and Liu Hui meandered side by side along a food street. ¡°I¡¯m leaving. Do you have anything more to say?¡± Liu Hui asked casually but was visibly depressed. ¡°Study hard. And then find someone better than Chen Lan and get married,¡± replied Lin Sheng casually. ¡°Knock it off. Isn¡¯t it too early to talk about marriage? ¡± Liu Hui retorted. ¡°Forget about it. What about you? Where are you nning to go?¡± ¡°I have no idea. Maybe Langang University.¡± In fact, Lin Sheng had no whatsoever n. ¡°I n to study hotel management. Miga University is ranked pretty highly globally for its hotel management course. I¡¯de back to help manage my dad¡¯s hotel afterpleting my study,¡± said Liu Hui candidly. Running only a medium-end hotel, his family might have to spend a fortune to send him abroad. Perhaps this could be the biggest turning point and opportunity in his life. ¡°Good for you.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°You are still cocky as ever; why the girl is into you is really beyond me,¡± said Liu Hui with a shrug. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Lin Sheng was confounded. Just then, He saw Liu Hui fishing out a pink envelop from his pocket. ¡°Here you go.¡± Liu Hui shoved the letter in his hand. ¡°Mission aplished. The ball is in your court now.¡± He patted on Lin Sheng¡¯s shoulder before turning around and dashing away. Just then, Lin Sheng saw a familiar face appearing from an alley up ahead. He instantly recognized her; she was the ponytail girl who kept her eyes glued to Liu Hui earlier. What is her name? He suddenly found himself scrambling in his mind as embarrassment loomed. He had totally forgotten her name. Damn it. Liu Hui had only passed him the confession letter at thest minute, and now, he was in the lurch. The girl ambled up to Lin Sheng. ¡°Hi, what a coincidence!¡± A sweet smile bloomed on her face. ¡°Ya... Hi, what a coincidence.¡± Lin Sheng echoed reactionarily. ¡°You¡¯re still the same, Lin Sheng. It¡¯s like nothing has ever concerned you. But I like this maturity of you,¡± said the girl softly and earnestly. ¡°I-I think we¡¯re too young... not mature enough...¡± Lin Sheng quickly made up an excuse. Chapter 116 - Continuation: Part 2 Chapter 116: Continuation: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Just as I¡¯ve imagined it. You¡¯ve always been this characteristically pragmatic, not even one bit impulsive.¡± The girlughed. ¡°I share your imagination.¡± Lin Shengughed too. As they said,ughter was the best medicine for awkwardness. ¡°I like you, and that¡¯s just me. It has nothing to do with you. Lin Sheng, I hope you well, healthy, and smart as ever. And no other girls will ever see your good might I add.¡± She sounded as if she meant it. ¡°You¡¯re a good girl, but I¡¯ve no n to get into a rtionship just yet,¡± Lin Sheng said matter-of-factly. ¡°There are many people attracted to you in our ss as you¡¯re such a catch. You deserve more than this and shouldn¡¯t waste time on me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re all that I want. But that¡¯s fine.¡± The girl exhaled, broken-hearted. ¡°I hope you will continue to remain single, just like you have said.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t lie.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. They smiled at each other as if there was already a tacit understanding between them. They walked side by side for a while and then arrived at a junction. The girl sped her hands and twitched her mouth; her delicate skin looked so tenderly soft under the soft light of the streetmps. ¡°Well, see you again, Lin Sheng.¡± ¡°Yup, until we meet again. Goodbye, Bervie.¡± Lin Sheng reciprocated as he finally recalled her name. The girl¡¯s affectionate smile suddenly copsed and became stiff, her hand that she was waving at him just now had frozen midair. Her name was Sylvie, not Bervie. After a moment of silence, tears started to swirl in her eyes, and she turned around and left apace. Lin Sheng stood there, dumbfounded. He then ripped the envelop open and looked at the letter, a confession of love. It was a long one. At the end of the letter was a heart with an arrow emoji, and the undersigned was Sylvie Adeline. The penny dropped, and it all made sense now. Lin Sheng finally knew why the girl ran away with such an emotional reaction. He crumpled the letter in his hand, tucked it inside his pocket, and gave himself a moment of silence for the rtionship that died before it even started. Lin Sheng trotted in the direction of his house. He had not rambled on the streets like this for a long while. It was seven something when the night market began to spring to life as stalls selling a variety of street food sprung up like mushrooms along the street. Like an innocent child, Lin Sheng bought apple-vored ice cream, happily savoring it in his mouth as he continued to meander in the night market. He passed by a food stall selling hot barbeque on sticks and bought a bunch of it, greedily devouring it until his lips swelled red from the spices. Furthering up ahead, he saw a hotpot stall with lots of fresh green veggies, meats, and seafood on the iron pan. There were also bright red tomatoes, yellowish-green cucumbers, and jade-green bok choy. Not to mention potato slices, Chinese yam slices, sticks of chicken,mb, beef, pork belly, and all. The owner grabbed whatever his customers ordered and tossed the ingredients into the boiling broth. Before long, a tantalizing aroma of spices and meats began to waft around in the air. Lin Sheng quickly found himself a seat. ¡°I¡¯d like to have fifty sticks ofmb, fifty sticks of beef, and ten sticks of potato and veggie each.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± The stall owner who grew arge waistline responded loudly. Lin Sheng sat at the table, silently finishing off the barbeque sticks that he had bought earlier while observing the flowing traffic. For a moment, he fell into deep thought. At the adjacent table, three youngsters with the dragon, tiger, and panther tattoos on their arms were gulping ss after ss of beer down their throats along with the hotpot broth. On the other side, a pair of lovey-dovely lovebirds were feeding each other ¡®bird-feed¡¯ as if they were the only persons in the world. At the far-end table, an old man with brown sses was diligently wiping the oily residue off the table using a single-use tablecloth. Retracting his gaze, Lin Sheng lowered his head and wolfed down another two sticks of barbeque. He got a big jump in appetite after practicing the sacred power. And as he got better at it, he began to feel that the sacred power was actually his own soul, more like the cultivation of his mental strength. When the hotpot was served, Lin Sheng quickly finished off the remaining few sticks of barbeque and proceeded to slurp up the aromatic hot and spicy broth. He had never found eating so enjoyable for a long time. When he finally had enough of it, he stopped and was almost in sweat. He paid and went back in the direction from where he hade. After the break, it was time to study a way of dealing with the dark, fat dude. Lin Sheng would have to wait three days to recover before he could get back in after he died in the dream. He would not allow himself to fail again. Back at home, his big sis, Lin Xiao, was watching TV in a wheelchair. It seemed she was recovering quickly. His dad was working hard in the study room, busily paring some wooden stuff. His mom, Gu Wanqiu, wasboriously weaving some ornament using colorful polyester thread for celebratory purposes in the kindergarten. ¡°You¡¯re homete. Have you had your dinner?¡± Gu Wanqiu quickly stopped what she was doing and came up to Lin Sheng as he walked in the doorway. ¡°Of course, I did. Haven¡¯t I told you not to wait for me?¡± Lin Sheng changed into a pair of slippers and closed the door behind him. ¡°There are still some leftovers in the kitchen. You can reheat them and eat if you want,¡± reminded Gu Wanqiu. ¡°I¡¯ve had enough, mom. I have to do revision after cleaning up.¡± Lin Sheng could not wait to meditate on the Ashen Seal. ¡°Go, go.¡± Gu Wanqiu went into the kitchen and came back out with some bright-red strawberries that she had just bought today. ¡°Come out to eat some strawberries if you are tired. It¡¯s good for your body.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Lin Sheng responded. He quickly went to clean himself up. Earlier, during the time when he did not have any dreams, he took the opportunity to digest thoroughly all the memories that he had previously acquired. Combining with the many armored soldiers and a spell-caster monster that he had killedst night, he got quite a lot of fragmented souls. Today, he was going to meditate on Ashen Seal-Furious Roar, purifying and turning the fragmented souls as his own power. On the other hand, he was in no hurry to recruit more people. His priority now was to umte more soul space for more powerful summoned creaturester. The night went by without any dream. Lin Sheng mediated on Ashen Seal for a while and pondered the strategy of defeating the fire-spitting, dark fat dude. He then took a break before continuing on the Ashen Seal meditation. This routine went on for three days¡ªmeditating, resting, meditating, resting¡ªover and over again until he got the hang of Ashen Seal-Furious Roar. It would not be long before he could use the Ashen Seal, he thought. Finally, on the fourth day, the seque of death had vanished entirely. Lin Sheng reentered the dream to begin his second attempt. He took a deep breath, vapor spurting out of his mouth for over ten centimeters in the vault before slowly diffusing into the gray fog. When he opened his eyes, he found himself resurrected at the spot where he had killed the spell caster earlier. This position was right at the corner, after which it would be leading straight into the prison section where there was a thick nket of fog. He had no scale armor, wooden shield, broadsword, helmet, and whatsoever gear with him, just the white sports suit that he had put on the night before he went to sleep. ¡°It¡¯s all back to square one...¡± Lin Sheng did some stretches, but he did not go down the corner. Instead, he jogged back in the direction from where he hade. He did not want to go head-on with the fat dude just yet because he first needed to gear up. He had learned firsthand how seriously disadvantaged he would be without some sort of powerful weaponry. He had to get some sharper sword. After trotting for a while, he arrived back to the ce where he first came in. He did not stop. Instead, he continued to run down the passage at an even faster pace. Chapter 117 - Continuation: Part 3 Chapter 117: Continuation: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Soon, three patrolling soldiers in ck armor slowly emerged in the arched tunnel. Sensing the approach of Lin Sheng, the three charged at him unannounced like a herd of angry bulls. Amid the muffled stomping of footsteps, the first soldier lunged at Lin Sheng with the swording down at his chest from above. Lin Sheng dodged aside. With the sweep of his hand, he mped the soldier¡¯s neck with the crook of his elbow and forcefully twisted the opponent¡¯s head with his other hand. The soldier¡¯s neck snapped with a fatally loud crack as the skull was twirled in a one-eighty rotation, and the soldier instantly lost his strength and dropped dead on the ground. Wasting no time, Lin Sheng grabbed the soldier¡¯s sword and swung it up in front of his body, just in time to parry the iing attack of two more soldiers. His speed was too quick for his opponents to catch up. He had made three moves while they only made one. And this key difference always gave Lin Sheng an edge. With their attack deflected, a soldier mmed down his iron shield at Lin Sheng. But Lin Sheng bounced backward ahead of time, nimbly swinging his sword around and sliced through the wrist of the two soldiers. Their hands, together with their swords, instantly dropped to the ground. Again, Lin Sheng took another step back, thwarting the shield attack of the two before heunched his fiery riposte. As the sacred power rapidly surged in him with a faint white light glowing on his shoulders, he mmed on the two ck shields. The great force of the impact shattered the bones of the hands that held the shields and sent the two armored soldiers flying out. Immediately, Lin Sheng lunged forward and shed the throats of the two soldiers in the sh of the sword. As the two soldiers dropped dead on the ground, two streaks of ckline appeared and quickly vanished into his chest. Lin Sheng briefly sorted the information. Apart from the intemperate indulgence and senseless bs in the memories, and the addition of another soul to his collections, everything else was just a mosaic of chaos. He handily took the gear from the soldiers and put them on. These soldiers had a simr build as Lin Sheng, so the armor fit snugly on him. Equipping with the heavy armor, he intended to travel in the opposite direction until he reached the end of the tunnel. Soon, he came before a crumbled section of the tunnel where the path had been entirely blocked off by the copsed walls. He went up and lightly jabbed the crumbled walls using his sword. The walls were too thick, and it would waste him too much effort and time to clear them up now. Earlier, he had tried but did not find any other exit. With the only way out sealed off before him, Lin Sheng had no choice but to turn around and make his way back to the dungeon. While he was at it, he might as well finish off the freaking fat dude, he thought. Following the direction from where he came, Lin Sheng had quickly made it back to the corner. There, he rested for a while. He took off again and arrived at the deepest part of the dungeon. As the gray fog was getting thicker, visibility quickly dropped from ten meters to four. Lin Sheng slowed down, firmly clenching the sword in his hands and making as little sound as possible under his feet. Instead of changing into the long metal boots, he preferred to wear his sneakers, which made little to no noise when walking on rough, hard surfaces. Lin Sheng kept a posture where his armor, sword, and shield would not scrape or collide with each other and made noises. As he threaded ahead, a two-meter massive shadow began to appear. Despite shrouded in the fog, Lin Sheng could still make out the ck arm on its arms. It was the dark fat due. Lin Sheng halted his steps and carefully inched forward. It was not long before he found the wooden shield, body armor, and the ck cloth bag that he had left behind after he died earlier. He picked up the wooden shield and the ck cloth bag and kept the cloth bag in the pocket of his workout suit. When this was done, he moved his gaze upward on the tall shadow up ahead, tightly clutching the sword in his hands and edging forward quietly. He was getting close. Six meters, five meters, four meters, three meters... An energy burst within him as Lin Sheng stomped his feet hard on the ground. ¡°Charge! ¡°Trample! ¡°Sacred shield!¡± Lin Sheng instantly burst out in a pounding attack of Sacred Shield Tyrant. Holding the sword close to the edge of the shield, his body lit up in sacred light and slightly swelled while a purple pattern appeared on his forehead as he focused all his strength in the sword. With a quick lunge, he pounded on the back of the dark fat dude like a ferocious lion. The tip of the sword glowing in white light prated the back of the fat dude with an overwhelming force. The fat dude growled in pain and spun around abruptly. His fist that wore a spiked arm armor pounded down like a gigantic column of stone. Lin Sheng drew his sword as he ducked sideways, cleverly slipping past the side of the fat dude anding behind his back. Again, his sword burst out in white light as he used all his strength thrusting the sword back into the very same wound he had inflicted earlier in the back of his opponent. This time, the sword had prated without much difficulty, with half of the de buried in the flesh. The fat dude roared vehemently in pain. He tilted his head up and pounded his fist back at Lin Sheng. As there was no need to spin around, the iing blow came too quick and toote for Lin Sheng to duck. He was forced to let go of the sword and brace for the assault. The fist sent a heavy blow on the shield, denting the wooden surface and sending pieces of the wood chips flying off in all directions. In his bracing posture, the energy forced Lin Sheng to slid several meters backward on his feet and left two burnt-mark trails behind on the ground. Immediately, the fat dude followed up with a second strike before Lin Sheng had time to catch his breath. This time, Lin Sheng was squatting on one knee, which was now bleeding. He braced the shield in front of his body, taking the violent force of the blow in its entirety. Lin Sheng roared furiously and quickly rolled aside, just managed to give the iing fist a miss. He then surged to his feet and lunged aside beforeunching himself in the air to grab the hilt of the sword that was still half-buried in the back of the opponent. The fat dude immediately swung his fist in a backward motion, but Lin Sheng used the exposed portion of the de to deflect the attack. The de took the brunt of the blow and slit across his back along the waist, nearly severing the fat dude in half. That was the fat dude¡¯s own doing. Lin Sheng had only cleverly leveraged on his opponent¡¯s strength. The sword broke and, together with Lin Sheng, were flung out onto the iron gate of one of the prison cells. The fat dude wailed in pain, pressing his hand on the massive cut in his waist as ck blood and gray mist oozing out uncontrobly from the wound. He knelt on the ground and burst out in a yowl of anger as he struggled to get back to his feet. Vomiting blood from his mouth, Lin Sheng began to stagger back to his feet, his face stolid. As his body armor had taken the brunt of the force, and also the fact that he was only flung away, not taking the hit directly, he had only cracked some bones and minor hemorrhage. His condition was not severe. Lin Sheng held the broken sword in his hand and stared deadly at the fat dude. He then grabbed the hilt with both hands in a charging stance of Sacred Shield Tyrant. ¡°Instead of endlessly wandering around here, let us kill our way out of here!¡± Lin Sheng raised his sword and cocked his body like a ferocious leopard. ¡°Let there be sacred light! Kill!¡± With all his strength concentrated at one point, the edge of his body began to glow in white light. ¡°Charge! ¡°Trample! ¡°Sacred shield!¡± He hollered angrily like a lion on itsst breath and lunged out at his enemy. At the same time on the ground, the half-dead fat dude roared back, lifting his fists in the air in meeting Lin Sheng. Chapter 118 - Searching: Part 1 Chapter 118: Searching: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion An ear-piercing sound of metal twisting broke out along with heavy pounding and a ring of gray mist. Lin Sheng gripped the broken sword, face hideous. As sacred power circted in his body, the strength in his muscle was converted into primordial energy before being channeled to the sword. The broken sword began to crack before shattering into hundreds of pieces. In hisst-ditch effort, the fat dude caught Lin Sheng¡¯s sword barehanded, ignoring the pain of and the blood gushing out from his wound. But the more strength he used, the worse the bleeding became. Unable to hold on any longer, he roared with hisst bit of strength before dropping dead on the ground. At the same time, Lin Sheng had also exhausted what remained of his strength. As blood gushing out from the wound in the fat dude¡¯s waist, a gray mist started to rise from the ck liquid as the blood was boiling. Lin Sheng tumbled several steps backward and leaned against the wall on his back. He summoned his sacred power to heal his injured knees and muscles. What was left of his sword was only the hilt and a massive crack in the wooden shield. ¡°It¡¯spletely ruined. What a shame!¡± This wooden shield was stronger than any metal, and the surface area wasrge enough to be useful and practical. But it was now kaput for good. He discarded the broken shield and the hilt and ripped the dented chest armor apart. He reached his hand to his breast; there, he could feel four broken ribs inside his chest. He coughed a few times, spitting out saliva that was mixed with blood. He then slowly walked up to the dead bodies of the fat dude, from which ck smoke rose and formed a massive streak of ckline. ¡°Hope there is something more useful this time.¡± Lin Sheng took a deep breath, looking at the smoky substance of the memories expectantly. He knew the value of the fat dude¡¯s memories would surpass any of the previous monsters. As the ckline disappeared into Lin Sheng¡¯s chest, he felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck him. His mind went nk as if a million-volt of electric current was surging through his body with every cell of his body numb and screaming in pain. ¡°The Circle of Reaping... what blood would you like?¡± A hoary-sounding voice spoke into his ear. Thenguage was indescribably beautiful, sounding like a singing chorus. ¡°I am the strongest, so I want the most powerful!¡± A youthful voice of a man answered softly. ¡°The more powerful it is, the riskier it gets. Could your soul withstand the bacsh?¡± asked the elder. ¡°Never try, never know. Master Igor has given me hope, and I will not let him down!¡± The man¡¯s voice was filled with great ambition. ¡°Are you sure? Each person could only be infused with the Circle of Reaping once. One thing you should know; the purpose of Master Igor developing this technique was to fight against death and decay, not for the sake of outright power.¡± ¡°Is there anyone more qualified to receive the bloodline of the Rock Dragon than me?¡± The maleughed raucously. The elder said no more. Then, the voices slowly dissipated. Lin Sheng shook his head as he woke up from his dream. He did not like the feeling ofssitude, but it was a necessary part of memories ingestion. ¡°Is this the memory of the fire-spitting fat dude acquiring the Circle of Reaping? Each person could only use the Circle of Reaping once? If Igor was not afterbat strength, then could it be for longevity?¡± Lin Sheng asked as he examined the voluminous memories. As he had expected, the fat dude had used the Circle of Reaping to infuse himself with the blood of a half-dragon beast called the Rock Dragon, from which he had achieved an incredible boost to his strength and the me-spitting ability. Unfortunately, all these enhancements came with a caveat; the blood of the Rock Dragon would pollute his soul, and he would turn to be uncontrobly tyrannous. Since then, the fat dude¡¯s memories became disorganized, his mind swung continuously between lucidity and utter vagueness. ¡°Did the thing backfire?¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. After the sacred power had healed him somewhat, he began to search the dead bodies hoping to find something useful. Sadly, all the fat dude left behind was only a pair of arm armor and glove, even the sizes of which were toorge for Lin Sheng to wear. He had no choice but to give up, leaving the body behind him as he continued to thread forward. The gray mist was bing thicker, and it finally turned so dense that Lin Sheng could not see his own fingers before his eyes. He had to be extra vignt. From the memories, he knew that thest ce where the fat dude was guarding was the veryst batch of Circle of Reaping in the vault. This circle was unique in that before its usage, it could temporarilytch on the soul of a human in the form of pure energy, the pattern of death and decay. Upon selecting a target, the user needed to chant the initiator, and the circle would quickly spring to live, melting and devouring the primordial blood of its target. Then, the user would only need to swallow the crystal to acquire the blood. The key to all this was that the Circle of Reaping would only respond to the blood of supernatural quality. Igor had added some sensor mechanism in the circle to ease its usage. The circle would onlye to life when it sensed the presence of supernatural blood. Lin Sheng sorted this information in his mind as he continued to move forward. ¡°If the fat dude¡¯s memories are anything to go by, there should be no more guards up ahead. But still, better be safe than sorry.¡± A dozen minutes of walking down the tunnel, the gray mist had turned thinner. Lin Sheng nced around and saw skeletons in the prison cells on both sides. In the cell on the left was the skeleton of a wolf with wings. In the cell on the right was the skull of a mountain goat the size of a palm. However, what really caught Lin Sheng¡¯s attention was the tiny holes on the foreside of the skull. Lin Sheng was vignt as he slowed down his steps to make as little sound as possible. As he walked down the tunnel, he saw more skeletons in the prison cells. In certain cells, there were multiple skeletons inside. One of the cells had a colossal white bone lying on the floor. A few more minutes down the tunnel, Lin Sheng finally saw arge ck metal door at the end of the tunnel. At eight meters tall and five meters wide, the door was not designed for a human like Lin Sheng, apparently. It was open ajar with gray mist drifting out from the inside. Lin Sheng paused. He then slowly came up and pushed the door with his leg. As the door slowly creaked open, he eased through the gap. From what he learned from the memories, this was theb where the fat dude stored the Circle of Reaping and a square pit undting with green fluorescent liquid. Chapter 119 - Searching: Part 2 Chapter 119: Searching: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°It looks like a swimming pool.¡± Lin Sheng carefully skimmed his surroundings. Next to the pool, a mahogany rack was filled with test tubes of different sizes. Most of the containers were empty, but some had ck ashen residue in them while some had gray slime. Of over a dozen racks, only two of the racks had test tubes that emitted a silvery glow. Lin Sheng went around the pool and came before the two racks on where the test tubes were glowing. From the memories of the fat dude, he knew the stuff test tube was the still perfectly usable, single-application Circle of Reaping. ¡°I wonder if I can take these things outside.¡± Lin Sheng grabbed the only three test tubes on the rack and carefully studied them in his hands. The test tubes were only of the size of a finger in diameter, less than a palm in length, and seemingly extremely fragile. The silvery liquid in the test tubes continuously surged and danced like a burning me, but sometimes, it appeared like some agitated little bugs. A cork, exquisite as if ceramic with finely carved, gold-iid patterns and some unknown mysterious runes, was keeping the liquid in. Lin Sheng thought for a moment. He followed the method in the fat dude¡¯s memories by taking off the cork of one of the test tubes and poured the content on the back of his hand. The sticky substance slowly and steadily flowed out from the test tube and slid down Lin Sheng¡¯s skin. But it faded and disappeared as soon as it made contact with his skin. He felt like a little mouth had grown on the back of his hand, where there was always a vague feeling of hunger, which was a strange sensation. How could hands feel hungry? He nced at the empty test tube and put the cork back on before cing it back on the rack. ¡°Now, let¡¯s see what blood I can take in.¡± His keen eyes scanned around, and at the other side of the pool, he saw a dark and narrow tunnel, inside which there were more prison cells with even sturdier doors. ¡°It should be where the holding cells of highly dangerous living creatures located and where the fat dude got his Rock Dragon blood.¡± Lin Sheng immediately identified the ce in his mind. After acquiring so many memories, he began to have a rough understanding of thenguage used in the dreams. Holding the remaining two test tubes in his hands, Lin Sheng slowly entered the narrow tunnel. With the faint fluorescent glow from the pool, he could make out the white prison cells inside. In the cell on the left, the skeleton of a winged white deery in the corner. What was left of this creature was only bones and dried skin. The cells on the right were empty, however. Lin Sheng was hopeful of finding some new, strange blood. He was curious as to whether this would enhance his ability in the real world. He would not be afraid to try out. After all, he knew he would not die for real in the dreams, and he could kill himself immediately if something went wrong. With this thinking in mind, Lin Sheng ventured deeper into the tunnel. He trudged carefully until he reached the end. There were sixteen holding cells in the tunnel, but none of them contained any live creatures¡ªa stark contrast to the tunnel on the outside where there had been the heavily armored soldiers and fire-spitting fat dude. The first requirement for the Circle of Reaping to work was the presence of a living thing, without which the circle simply woulde to life. He came to the end of the tunnel and nced at the back of his left hand, where the Circle of Reaping had formed an exquisite, silvery flower tattoo. ¡°There is nothing in here.¡± He doubled-back and was out of the tunnel in no time. He then took this time to mooch around the pool area, again, hoping to find something. But disappointingly, this ce seemed to be only cold storage, from where the pale green mist was released and turning gray in the air. ¡°Apparently, this is where the gray mistes from.¡± Lin Sheng squatted beside the pool and dipped a test tube inside the green sticky liquid. It hissed and white fluffy, frost-like stuff immediately formed on the surface of the tube. It was bone-chilling cold. ¡°I¡¯m sure it is just cold storage.¡± He pulled out the test tube from the pool and put it back on the wooden rack. Lin Sheng did not want to stay any longer here. He slipped out through the gap in the doorway and was back in the gray mist-filled arched corridor. ¡°I might as well go back to the blocked exit and dug my way out. Maybe I can find something there.¡± So, he lifted his leg, but a sense of vagueness rose in him, and he heard the rhythmic ticking of the clock. ¡°Time¡¯s up...¡± Lin Sheng realized. His vision turned dark and quickly lost consciousness. Being able to make so far and deep in the dream surprised him. That was even after an exhaustive fight with the fat dude. So, waking up at this moment did note with as a surprise. He had no idea how long it had been. It could be an hour. Maybe two. When he finally woke up, his mouth was dry, and he felt extremely thirsty as the sunlight was directly shining on him, the heat grilling him, turning the room into a hot oven. Half of his face was under the light and half in the shadow. So, when he opened his eyes, he saw dark spots in his vision. It was the sequ of eyes being exposed to intense light. ¡°The fat dude is dead atst.¡± He whipped open the quilt as it hade so unbearably hot that he was sweating. But he was utterly exhausted, just wanting to lie in bed. ¡°But, from where the ticking sound came?¡± Lin Sheng cast his eyes over to the bedside table, where his stic rm clock had been. However, he had identally broken it when he woke up the day before. He had not bought a new one, so there should not be any clock ticking sound in the room. ¡°Or was it just something in my head?¡± Lin Sheng took a deep breath and slowly helped himself sit up in bed. He felt cold again. So, he might as well put the quilt back on to cover his legs. Sitting on the bed, his brows knitted together as he began to recall the dream. ¡°Strangely, at first, I thought since ckfeather City and Snowgale Fortress are all rted events, and they all had something to do with the sanctum, Ancellia, and the Sacred Light faith, this dream would be likewise rted. But, Heaven knows, I was wrong. It is not connected to the previous events at all.¡± In the memories of the fire-spitting fat dude and other souls, no one had ever mentioned the sanctum, sacred light nor sacred power. No ckfeather City, no Snowgale Fortress. It did not contain any hint that it was rted to the two earlier dreams. There was only the Mastery of Death and Decay, the royal court magician, and the Circle of Reaping. In this memory of the fat dude, his world had no other intelligent life except humans. In the world of ckfeather City and Snowgale Fortress, however, there were the barbarians, the giants, the ancient evil spirits, and other legends and records. ¡°Could it be that the world in thistest dream is entirely independent of the other two?¡± Lin Sheng spected. Chapter 120 - Searching: Part 3 Chapter 120: Searching: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The memories of the fire-splitting fat man were more vivid than the others. There were precise pieces of information aboutnguage, writings, and worldviews. This was the reason why Lin Sheng was appalled by the differences. ¡°Since I¡¯ll have a few weeks in a new dream, I won¡¯t be in a hurry. I should first dig a way out of the dungeon and see if I can find new leads.¡± The switching and rtionship of the dreams had aroused his interest. ¡°If I could freely manipte the pattern of entry and exit of the dreams, would it mean that I could also control which dream to enter? Maybe not now, though. There is a hand-to-handbat technique in the memories of the me-spitting fat dude. This guy was a master of back punch fighting!¡± Recalling the terrifying moment where the fat dude pulled off a back punch while he was behind him, Lin Sheng became curiously interested. Although his mastery of Naxi Swordsmanship and ckfeather sword skills was at its best, Lin Sheng was handicapped when it came to hand-to-handbat. Even he was treating his hands as swords during close-quartersbat most of the time. So, the discovery of the hand-to-handbat technique of the fire-spitting fat dude hade at the right time. The fat dude was the only one who could defeat Lin Sheng at once, although Lin Sheng¡¯s strength and defense technique were absolutely no child¡¯s y. It showed how terrific the hand-to-handbat technique of the fat dude was. ¡°But the memories only contain a limited record about his technique. It will only have a limited effect on my skill if there is any at all.¡± Lin Sheng got out of bed, took out his note from the drawer, and began to write down his experience using theplicated Han characters-pinyin encryption method. People were forgetful, and if he did not record things down quickly, the ideas would quickly skip through his mind. Once out of mind, he would eventually forget about it altogether. After he was done, he put the note back to the drawer. He then put on his outer garments and walked out of the bedroom. In the living room, his sis, Lin Xiao, was on the phone. However, he could vaguely hear a female voice on the other end of the line. But he noticed Lin Xiao¡¯s expression; she was not particrly in a good mood. It was easy to see why. Lin Sheng figured that since the day she met with the ident, her boyfriend had never visited her, which said a lot about the state of their rtionship. ¡°Breaking up isn¡¯t a bad thing, sometimes. It¡¯s better to only think about this stuff after graduation and when you have a job.¡± Lin Sheng was not hopeful of university puppy love. The chances for this kind of budding rtionshiping to fruition were slim. Not mention the challenges and difficulties that both sides had to face in a long-distance rtionship if they had to be separated due to study reasons. But it did not mean that there had never been sessful cases of such rtionships. It was just that things were overly tiresome. He went into the washroom, pouring out half of the hot water from the thermal sk into the water sink. He then took down the facial towel on the wall and dipped it in the water. Suddenly, something caught his attention. He looked at his left hand, on the back of which was a fully bloomed silvery flower pattern. Like a W-shape vein, every leaf and branch on the pattern carried an exquisitely mysterious symbol. But what amazed Lin Sheng was the numerical symbols; they were thousands of them, yet no two were the same. ¡°Holy shit! This could be brought into the real world! The Circle of Reaping!¡± Lin Sheng was astounded and full of excitement. ¡°Does this mean that I can use the circle in the real world to conduct blood infusion with my body?¡± He could not suppress his excitement. From the memories of the fat dude, Lin Sheng knew that the blood infusion woulde with a sequ, and this sequ could be the result of not having a strong-enough soul. However, since he practiced Sacred Light and Ashen Seal, his soul had been strengthened; he was not worried about what undesirable effects the Circle of Reaping could cause to his soul. ¡°I should be fine as long as I only choose the less brutal creatures.¡± His eyes were fixated on the pattern on the back of his hand, and inspiration came to mind. He saw in his mind¡¯s eye flora and fauna with various abilities. Those swimming in the water, flying in the air, and squirming in the ground, he saw all those frighteningly powerful abilities. Only if he could acquire some of them, he would gain an explosive improvement in his strength, he thought. ¡°But... the Circle of Reaping would only respond to blood with supernatural ability. Are there any creatures with such blood in the real world?¡± He began to wonder. ¡°Sheng Sheng, are you done yet? I need to use the toilet.¡± His sis, Lin Xiao, called out from the living room. ¡°I¡¯m just done.¡± Lin Sheng pulled his sleeve down to conceal the pattern on his hand. He quickly washed his face, hung the towel back on the wall, and came out from the washroom. Meanwhile, his mom, Gu Wanqiu, was helping Lin Xiao get up. ¡°The congee is in the toilet...¡± His mom suddenly realized her gaffe, face blushing, and quickly corrected it. ¡°The congee is in the kitchen. Reheat it if you want. The dishes are from yesterday¡ªshredded pork with veggies and cucumber meat soup.¡± ¡°Okay, mom. I¡¯m eating out with my friends. Don¡¯t worry about me.¡± Lin Sheng took his jacket, hurried to the door, and quickly put on his shoes. Actually, he was eager to test out the circle on the back of his hand. ¡°It¡¯s already ten something now. Who are you seeing?¡± asked Gu Wanqiu perplexedly. ¡°Sarroux!¡± Sarroux has been his trusted cover all this while. After snapping on his shoes, Lin Sheng rushed out the door and disappeared down the stairway as the burry-proof door slowly closed with a soft click. Just then, as Gu Wanqiu turned around wanting to say something more, Lin Sheng was gone. In the Huaisha pet market, somewhere in the new town farthest away from the port, buses constantly came and then left, ring their horns as they came and went after passing by the pet market. The ear-piercing noise, together with the sounds the cats, dogs, and poultries made, formed a symphony orchestra of utter chaos, which was, too, an understatement. A row of shops that looked like a long loaf of bread and a flea market of pets along the street formed the scene fifty meters away to the right of the bus terminal. Lin Sheng was wearing ck gloves and a workout suit, sauntering past the pet shops, where cats and dogs, as well as birds, hamsters, rabbits, piglets, hedgehogs, were all kept in cages. He walked past those ces, trying to see if the circle on the back of his hand responded. However, he was disappointed. ¡°Is it because the animals here do not have the supernatural blood in them? Or is it because it¡¯s not even possible to use the Circle of Reaping in the real world?¡± Lin Sheng spected. If possible, he wanted to reserve this circle for the more savage creatures¡ªthose in the dreams. Compared to the real world, there were more monsters with supernatural blood in dreams. But then, Lin Sheng was also worried that if he used the circle in the dreams, the infused blood in his body might not be useful in the real world then. Just like how he was killed in the dream but not dead in the real world. Things added up to be a trilemma because he could only use the circle once. He did not want to gamble on it. If the Circle of Reaping were real, he would prefer to use it on the creatures in the real world. He had even thought of using it on Sacred Shield Tyrant that he had once summoned. Since his soul was capable of amodating more summoned creatures, and he could summon one of them and infuse its blood with his. It might work. But before that, Lin Sheng wanted to first check out the pet market here. The Circle of Reaping was not only a magic circle to perform blood infusion, but it also could be used as a detector of creatures with supernatural blood. Chapter 121 - Bloodline: Part 1 Chapter 121: Bloodline: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion After circling the pet store alley, Lin Sheng finally felt a reaction from the mark on the back of his hand. The reaction was weak and t. If he had not been focusing his senses, he may have very well missed it. Just over at the secondst pet store, he slowed down and stopped before a steel cage before the entrance. An old ck-brownish lizard sat in it. It was an odd one. It had dark skin, yet its eyes were faint grey. Lin Sheng noticed that its skin was folded all over, meaning that it was already old, so old to the point that it did not even bother moving. When Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes met its eyes, he felt a certain indifference. It was an indifference so extreme that there was an odd sensation of calm cruelty to it. ¡°How much is this?¡± Lin Sheng straightened himself and asked the shop owner as he made his way to him. The shop owner¡¯s belly was exposed, as he held cards in his hand, seemingly in the midst of a gamble. The moment he heard a voice, the shop owner turned back. ¡°I¡¯ll let it off for a hundred. Don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t warn you. That old lizard is dying of old edge soon, it won¡¯tst more than a couple of months.¡± The shop owner was an honest person at least. Just as he finished, an olddy who was ying cards quipped. ¡°That lizard is still around? Didn¡¯t you bring in a whole load earlier? And only that was left?¡± ¡°Yeah, it killed all of them.¡± The fat boss got miffed as soon as that matter was brought up. ¡°I had only ced them together for one night to wait for the new containers to arrive. I¡¯ve even ced cardboards between them! But just my rotten luck, all of them were dead the next morning! ¡°What sickness did they had?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°None, god darn it! Ah, forget about that. A hundred, take it or leave it.¡± The fat shop owner turned back to y his card game. Lin Sheng ced his hand gently over to the ss container, facing the old lizard. As the distance closed between the silver mark on the back of his hand and the old lizard, that unknown hunger became more and more apparent. ¡°So it¡¯s the one...¡± Lin Sheng was sure now, and as he pulled out two hundred from his wallet and handed it over. ¡°I¡¯ll take the container as well.¡± ¡°The container is more than a hundred.¡± The shop owner said as he took the money. ¡°It¡¯s yours if you add another fifty.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Lin Sheng could not be bothered to bargain, and two hundred fifty for a lizard with a supernatural bloodline, it was simply a steal. As he paid, he grabbed the ss container and got the shop owner to help him put it into arge stic bag. He then wrapped a couple of thick cardboard sheets over the box and carried it around. This time around, the lizard in the box seemed to have some sort of interference, causing the hunger of the mark to be active. After a few more rounds, he could not find any other beings with a supernatural bloodline. Without anything else to do, he took the old lizard back to his base, the old abandoned factory warehouse. The warehouse was quite a distance away from town, resulting in him needing to call a cab everything he wants to go there and that left him feeling a little inconvenienced. As he pondered when should he get a car to drive around, Lin Sheng picked up the box and walked into the warehouse. He then ced the ss box aside. He quickly set up the Elementary Summoning of Otherworlders ritual circle once again. Most of the materials needed are ready-made, and only a rare few fresh items that needed him to find himself. So this time around, Lin Sheng had simply just drawn the magic circle out to useter. ¡°The supernatural bloodline of the lizard is too weak and unstable. So even if I fuse with it I cannot predict how much of an increase it will be. So I guess the best way is still to summon.¡± Lin Sheng was sure about using his summoned beings to draw out the blood fusion extract. So even if he loses a summoned being in the process in return for a powerful blood fusion, that loss would be eptable. ¡°And luckily I have enough spiritual load to summon a stronger being.¡± Lin Sheng looked at the old lizard in the box. He nned to bond with the lizard just as he previously did with the crow. However, such things required materials. So he put away all his thoughts, and started drawing the magic circles in the abandoned warehouse. Six hourster. The sky was getting dark and he finally finished two different circles after a whole day. As he squatted on the warehouse floor, Lin Sheng took a peek at the sky outside and understood that no matter what he did, the preparations would not be done by today, so he got up. ¡°Stand guard, and don¡¯t let anyonee close.¡± He calmly ordered. *Hiss...* A gust of ck mist quickly formed into a powerful swordsman with a bandaged head. The ckfeather Swordsman nodded slightly at Lin Sheng without a word. As it was the holidays, his parents were mostly at home due to his sister¡¯s matters. So he did not need to delegate too many people to guard them. He had the Sacred Shield Tyrant to protect his house while the two ckfeather Swordsmen were made to handle whatever menial tasks he had. Mainly becausepared to the tyrant, the swordsmen were better at hiding. As long as they put on a hat to cover the bandages, they looked no different than a usual young adult. Lin Sheng carefully folded the magic circle sheets up and ced them in his bag. As for the remaining materials, due to the numbers of bottles present, he simply ced them by a corner and gotten the swordsman to guard them. ¡°Look after them!¡± Lin Sheng gave the swordsman another order. The swordsman then straightened up and darted over to the pile of bottles before lowering his head to stare at them. His movement was swift and precise as he gazed upon the items entrusted to him through the bandage. ¡°Is he nning to stare at the bottles like this until tomorrow?¡± Lin Sheng was speechless. Without much ado, he then turned away and left. As for the rituals, the key items were the matrix circle and the activation chant, the materials, on the other hand, were easily obtainable. As long as he does not leak the matrix circles in his bag out, or the activation chants in his head, the ritual would not bepromised. Back home, Lin Sheng finally rxed a little as he chatted with Lin Xiao about her university life, trying to cheer her up. During dinner time, as he had not eaten in the afternoon, Lin Sheng wolfed down five bowls of rice, all filled to the brim. That scared Gu Wanqiu enough to ce her hand on his forehead to check if he was unwell. Lin Sheng could not be bothered to exin, and after some niceties, he then used revision as an excuse to retreat to his bedroom and started meditating on the Ashen Seal. The Ashen Seal meditation, plus the study of holy power was repeated after a short rest. And with that cycle, it was soon bedtime. Lin Sheng was almost anticipating as he changed into his sportswear andy on the bed, breathing slowly to try to stabilize himself. *Tick tock, tick tock...* A strange ticking of the clock entered his ears. And Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness quickly faded away along with it. *ck!* Something fell on the group. Lin Sheng opened his eyes and saw a piece of leg armor had fallen off. He looked around and noticed the armor on his body was beyond worn. The left leg armor dangled and knocked against the back of his leg before it fell to the side. ¡°What is this? Some cheap sh*t?¡± He ended up taking the entire armor off him. Chapter 122 - Bloodline: Part 2 Chapter 122: Bloodline: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The wounds on his body had totally healed. Every time he exits and re-enters the dream, he would be restored as new. Lin Sheng had some ideas about this phenomenon but he was not able to properly confirm it. He shook off the metallic bits from his body. He then swept his gaze around and quickly left for the direction of the pathway. As he walked along the pathway, only his echoing footfalls against the coarse ground was heard. As he made his way ahead, the grey mist in the air started thinning as his vision cleared. About ten minutester, Lin Sheng once again came to the entrance of the vault, standing before the sealed path. Along the way, he had scavenged the heavy armor from the body of a dead soldier and picked up a new set of sword and shield. ¡°This thickness... let¡¯s see.¡± After a few presses against the rock, he pulled out the heavy de and stabbed at the few cracks on the rock. And stabbed hard he did. *Bam! Bam! Bam! Following the odd crack, a faint ray of light starteding in from outside. ¡°Is that sunlight?¡± Lin Sheng held his hand out towards the location where the light shone in, and his arm was covered by a golden sheen. What made him frown, however, was the golden light seemed ethereal, for it was without warmth. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get out first then.¡± Lin Sheng increased his pace as he stabbed. And a few momentster, rays upon rays shone in from outside. *Crash!!* A heavy crashter, a storm of dust was kicked up as the rock blocking the entrance came apart. Lin Sheng shielded his eyes as he waited for the dust to settle. When he raised his head, he saw over a dozen men and women staring at him. Over a dozen pale-skinned men and women were standing by the entrance of the path, staring at him in a bizarre yet calm manner. *Hiss...* Lin Sheng¡¯s expression did not change, but his heart skipped a beat. The group of people stood by the entrance unmoving. Between him and them, there was barely a meter¡¯s distance. He did not notice them earlier at all. Ten-odd pairs of eyes had suddenly appeared before him under the bright sunlight, and that scared the hell out of him. ¡°You lot...¡± Lin Sheng had absorbed many memories from this dream and had a level of understanding as well as mastery of the localnguage. He spoke in the most prominent local dialect, but just as the words left his mouth, something bizarre happened to the ten-odd people by the entrance. Their bodies quickly disintegrated like sand and scattered in all directions. A momentter, they had totally vanished before him. Lin Sheng stood by the entrance as he let out a sigh of relief before looking at the bright goldennd before him. Beyond the vault, was a golden sand dune. And beyond the rising and falling dune, was an evenrger one as a sea of golden sand spanned across the horizon. ¡°This is a desert?¡± Lin Sheng squinted as he slowly stepped out and the golden light shone against his right leg. He paused for a bit before walking out slowly out of the vault. While he basked in the sunlight, he could not feel any warmth, With heavy footfalls through the sand, Lin Sheng made his way to the top of the dune as he nned to scout the area from there. *Hiss...* A sudden prickling sensation came from his face, and he reflexively held his hand out to touch it. *Crack.* Something fell into the ground. Lin Sheng looked down. ¡°Skin?!¡± On the ground was a piece of yellowish skin that was swiftly ckening. ¡°God damn it!¡± He quickly turned about and dashed towards the vault. Two secondster, Lin Sheng threw himself back into the vault as kes of skin continuously fell from his body. Yet he felt no pain. *Bam!* After getting back in the shade, he quickly smashed the rock he had pulled away earlier back in. He then quickly piled up the rest of the rocks to seal off most of the pathway. The sunlight soon dimmed and was not as blinding anymore. Lin Shen quickly retreated to the dark area covered in mist as he lifted his shield to protect his body. He was not sure if the sunlight was causing his skin to fall off, so any protection was prudent. After preparing, he slowly made his way deeper into the tunnel, and only then did the pain start to sting all over the body parts where the skin had fallen off. If he had a mirror, he could see that half of his face had literally fallen off, with only his eyeballs and skull still intact. ¡°I¡¯m actually not bleeding?¡± Lin Sheng touched the wounds on his face. There was nary a drop of blood, only tiny specks of dust falling from his face. He now know how the people at the entrance died. ¡°So, I can¡¯t go outside, and there¡¯s only so much inside here. Is this the extent of this dream?¡± Lin Sheng was a little miffed. He took a nce at the golden light from outside before turning towards the deep of the vault. He then recalled that green pool. And if he was not wrong, the pool was not just a segregation matrix. About ten minutester, Lin Sheng stood before that green pool again. He looked around and soon made way to the cells before finding a bunch of keys. He then opened up one of the cells, and pulled the bones of a bull-like twin-headed monster out of it and tossed it into the pool. *Ssh!* The meter-tall and four meter-wide frame sank into the pool, sshing out a huge amount of green liquid to the side. Yet, there were no changes to the bones after it sank into the pool, there were no frost nor any signs of any corruption. Nothing happened. After pausing for a moment, Lin Sheng held his hand out and dipped his finger into the pool. Nothing. It was as if the green liquid did not even exist. He could not feel anything. ¡°What is... this pool for?¡± Lin Sheng retracted his finger. *Crash!!* Suddenly an arm rushed out of the water and grabbed his right arm. A powerful, horrifying force pulled him hard. Caught off guard, Lin Sheng tried to muster all his strength but the force of that arm was far beyond even when he has his Sacred Blood activated. With an almost disdainful dismissal of his resistance, the arm dragged Lin Sheng straight into the pool. And the moment he fell into the pool, Lin Sheng went berserk, at most he¡¯ll just be dying again. He opened his eyes wide and swung his sword in a brutal arc. The pale arm may look weak and frail, but the moment the de struck it, an ear-piercing metallic ng rang out instead. As he sank deeper into the pool, Lin Sheng did not asphyxiate at all. All around him within the green liquid, countless of pale arms were iling about. He turned towards where the hands came from. It was the entire bed of the pool. A massive face made out of countless of arms was staring calmly at him. The eyes lobes were ck and abyssal, yet there was an unknown sense of gentleness within them. Countless of pale eyes formed the entire make-up of the face, down to every muscle and fiber. They were all clutching at each other, forming a series of long and short lines that were stacked upon one another. Chapter 123 - Bloodline: Part 3 Chapter 123: Bloodline: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°What the f*ck is that sh*t?!!¡± Without a second thought, Lin Sheng tried to run, and he swam upwards. The human face was about ten meters wide, and as for the arms that formed it, there were a few hundred of them at the very least. Lin Sheng had already tested the strength of the arms. With no way to chop the arms off, turning tail and running was the best option. ¡°No... No...!¡± A loud pleading followed by a horrifying quake was transmitted onto Lin Sheng¡¯s body. His entire body turned numb as he poked his head out of the water before being dragged by a number of hands back into the water. ¡°Die!!¡± Lin Sheng tossed both his sword and shield with extreme force and the two objects flew downwards and smashed against the nose of the giant face. *Rip!* The arms, almost reflexively, retracted and grabbed the shield in a frenzy. *Crack!* The shield was immediately shredded into broken metal and was swallowed by the face. Lin Sheng had no time to think, as he rushed out of the water and ran towards the door. But just as he tried to make his escape, a massive explosion thundered from behind as a massive shockwave smashed violently against his back. Lin Sheng spat a mouthful of blood as he was sent flying, avoiding the flood of hands by a hair¡¯s breadth. ¡°No... No...¡± A series of muffled voices rang out from behind. Lin Sheng forced himself up off the ground and ran. He did not need to turn back to know that the massive face monster was after him. ¡°Sacred Blood!¡± He immediately activated his special ability and piled even more burden onto his body. As he suppressed his urge to use the holy light to heal himself, Lin Sheng dashed forward for another hundred odd meters before dizziness struck him from the depth of his mind. ¡°I¡¯m at my limits. I¡¯ll be waking up soon.¡± He was ted. Upon entering the dream, aside from death or reaching the time limit, there was another way for him to wake up earlier, and that was to use up all of his strength. The more strength he expended in the dream, the shorter the time he had there, and that was the effect Lin Sheng was looking for. ¡°No... No...!!¡± The voice behind him repeated like a drone, as it got closer and closer. Yet it was too slow. Lin Sheng felt his body turned light, and he sank into unconsciousness. *Tick tock, tick tock...* The ticking of the clock was heard. ¡°Huh!!!¡± He opened his eyes wide as he got up, his shirt soaked in sweat. ¡°By a razor¡¯s edge! Thank goodness, I made it back!¡± Lin Sheng turned over and looked at the headboard. A new silver rm clock was there as the clear ticking clicked and clicked. The hour needle was pointed at seven. Morning light shone faintly through the curtain. Lin Sheng took a few deep breaths on the bed as he closed eyes before throwing his nket away. ¡°Let¡¯s get the materials ready today!¡± He had enough of being chased around. ¡°I¡¯ll summon another being, and then perform the Bloodline Fusion!¡± He already had the best candidate in mind. ... A few hourster... Inside the abandoned warehouse. Lin Sheng carefully ced thest of the mixture onto the matrix circle as the cow fat candle let out a mouthwatering aroma. On the pan, the thick grey liquid had already started bubbling. Lin Sheng stood up and took a step back as he started chanting. Hiss... Strands of white smoke appeared from the candle as it entered the pan, a gush of steam soon followed. Just likest time. The mist quickly surrounded Lin Sheng and slowly spun around him. He reflexively closed his eyes. In the darkness, he saw three orbs of different colors appearing. From left to right, there was a blue, red, and gray orb. They were arranged in a simr order in terms of size, blue being the smallest, and gray the biggest. ¡°Thest time I chose a red light, it was to summon the ckfeather Swordsmen. The blue orb is slightly smaller than the red, so it¡¯ll probably summon some weak heavy infantry or some sort. And thest grey one...¡± The grey orb was bigger than the twobined, about the size of the orb of the Sacred Shield Tyrant. ¡°It¡¯s probably the fire breathing fatty I killed not too long ago...¡± Lin Sheng guessed. The Summoning Grimoire had also mentioned, just prior to summoning, if he is able to recall the being¡¯s form, it will greatly increase the chance of it appearing. And he did just that. ¡°Where¡¯s that spellcaster?¡± Lin Sheng wondered as he recalled the tentacle spellcaster that he had taken out in the vault. *Hiss...* And suddenly, another grey orb of a smaller size appeared. Lin Sheng looked at the orb and felt the same sort of dissonance when he first faced the spellcaster. ¡°It works like that?¡± He was surprised. The grimoire said nothing about the addition of another choice. ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s choose the candidate first!¡± Without much consideration, his eyes lined against thergest grey orb. And at that very moment, his entire consciousness was drowned in a flood of grey. ... Arge golden eye suddenly opened. The eye was encrusted onto the cliff face of a mountain. *Crack!!* A bolt of lightning shed past and lit the dark abyss at the bottom of the cliff. ¡°My death... will bring forth a bigger me... ¡°Take my blood... ¡°Take... my everything...¡± The golden eyes on the wall closed again. *Crack!!* Lightning shed again... And the entire cliff face turned silent as if it fell into slumber. In the darkness, above the cliff, a dark figure appeared. The figure held a torch, and the fire dancing on the torch was the only source of light in the area. The figure then threw the torch off the cliff and into the abyss. ¡°Awaken... Harken to me... oh great Lord of the Crags. ¡°Awaken... Harken to me... oh the most powerful Lord of the Crag Dragons... ¡°Awaken... Harken to me... oh thest dragon of hope in the darkness...¡± At the same moment, a flowing chant started ringing out from all over. *Crack!!* The third lightning shed through as the light shone everything, from the heavens to the ground, and the entire ck cliff bright. Within the dark abyss, a dark red ember lit up and slowly turned into a massive inferno. *Hah!!* A pair of menacing gold eyes suddenly opened. Lin Sheng returned to his senses and noticed a massive figure kneeling before him. The eyes of the figure were the same golden eyes he had seen. Taking a deep breath, he raised his left hand and slowly approached the figure¡¯s forehead. Chapter 124 - Fusion: Part 1 Chapter 124: Fusion: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion As his hand closed in, the fire-belching fat man¡¯s kneeling form started to blur as if something within his body was being absorbed by the silver mark on the back of Lin Sheng¡¯s hand. There was no resistance, no pain. Not longter, the fire-belching fat soldier-type had its only unique bloodline ripped out from his body by the Circle of Reaping. Only after Lin Sheng felt the hunger from the mark subsiding that he pulled his hand back. The Circle of Reaping was spinning rapidly as it let out a faint silver glow. Something was being weaved within the light. Lin Sheng shifted his gaze to the summoned being, and that fire belcher he had summoned, was melting like a wax figure as he was being reduced to the most basic of ck mist. And the ck mist dissipated in midair, as if it never existed. ¡°It is disintegrating, and disappearing.¡± Lin Sheng suddenly understood something. This was a unique feedback he had gotten from the ritual. It did not take more than a minute for the fire belcher¡¯s massive frame to be totally reduced into ck mist and disappearing before him. He could feel the burden of his soul increasing before decreasing again. That meant the summoned being had disappeared. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯ve managed to extract the bloodline or not.¡± Lin Sheng did not regret what he had expected to happen. This was but one of the possible scenarios. He then turned his gaze to the back of his hand. He saw that a blood red crystal had formed from the Circle of Reaping at the back of his hand. The crystal was ethereal as it floated above the circle and was growing faster than the eye could see. About five minutester, the crystal had reached its maximum size, the size of an entire fingernail. Only then did the silver mark at the back of his hand slowly disappeared. Lin Sheng stuck his hand out, grabbed the crystal and stuffed it into his mouth. *Gulp.* He swallowed it whole. ¡°Strawberry vor...¡± he tapped his jaw as he recalled the taste. And just as that happened, a scorching heat belched out from his stomach and across his entire body. Burning, boiling as his sweat evaporated the moment it left his body. The temperature of his eyes was getting ever higher, as if two boiling metal ball bearings were rolling in his eye sockets. Lin Sheng could even hear the sound of his flesh being scorched by his eyeballs. The pain continued and continued. He had thought himself to have a will of steel, and yet before this surge of excruciating pain, that swiftly copse like a house of cards and he passed out. Yet, the Bloodline Fusion would not stop just because someone¡¯s will had copsed. Within the abandoned warehouse, Lin Shengy on the ground, his skin was like a boiled lobster as the heatwave slightly distorted everything around him. A massive surge of frenzied blood started crashing against his flesh. As the Bloodline of the Crag Dragon was extracted from the ethereal body of a nightmare, its concentration was halved. And so, the Crag Dragon¡¯s fusion was only half of the fire belcher¡¯s. And this diluted half still managed to knock him down. He was not as strong as the fire belcher after all. Lin Sheng thrashed about on the ground by instinct as he cried. The ckfeather Swordsmen around him all appeared as they silently waited for the fusion toplete. Time passed slowly. And soon, the light outside dimmed, it was close to dusk. Lin Sheng¡¯s thrashing lessened as the redness started to fade away. His body size grew a little, and while not exactly visible, his skin had darkened somewhat, and was not as fair as before, yet he was not dark, just somewhere in between. As the dusk light shone on his face, there was a trace of rock-like hardness to it. Not longter, Lin Sheng slowly opened his eyes, and sat up with much difficulties. He felt his throat sore, and his whole body feverish and dehydrated. ¡°I¡¯ve used up a good chunk of my holy power. Probably used up to sustain the fusion after I passed out.¡± Lin Sheng could feel the changes to his body. ¡°I¡¯ve be stronger, and my skin is tougher than before...¡± He proceeded to pinch the touch skin on his hand. It was a totally different sensation from that of a normal person. ¡°If I have really seeded with the fusion, there should be the most unique feature of the Crag Dragon¡¯s bloodline. The dragonskin.¡± Based on the fire belcher¡¯s memory fragments. The dragonskin¡¯s most standard ability was fire resistance. As the Crag Dragon was also a dragonkin that could breathe fire, so it was natural for him to look for resistance in both physical and fire. Just like how it took him all his might to get through the fire belcher¡¯s skin and flesh. This resistance was not that strong due to the dilution of the bloodline, but plus the Ashen Seal alongside Sacred Blood, then its effect... Lin Sheng had the urge to try it out. But he could feel that his body was extremely unstable, like a volcano about to erupt. The Crag Dragon bloodline had brought him at least a one-fold increase in power, as for how much, he still need to test it out. And as for his current strength, his consolidated skin resistance, and the transformation of his eyes into dragon eyes, all this he still had to slowly discover one by one. ¡°I need to take some time to get used to this... I¡¯ve grown a little too fast, and I¡¯ve became a level four warrior out of nowhere. Once I¡¯ve stabilized, and mastered all of the changes to my body, won¡¯t be surprised if I hit level five then.¡± Lin Sheng had that rough idea in mind. After level three, every level would see a consolidated increase for a warrior¡¯s physique. If not for that, the warriors would not have stood a chance against those legendary spellcasters. ¡°And now, I need to cool down...¡± Lin Sheng patted off the dust on his body, and started cleaning up the ritual site. ... Zhiteng Hill. It was a small hill outside Huaisha City, and was a popr exercise spot. As the weather had turn colder, the number of people training there had fallen. With the end of the year closing in, the amount of people appearing there was even lesser. Late evening. Lin Sheng followed the hill path up the hill. All around him were footprints, and the grass lining the pathway was stained with mud spots. Perhaps someone had sttered mud on them when it was raining. Along the curved path were the asional graveyards, some had gravestones on them, some none. Lin Sheng breathed hard as he tried to let out the scorching heat within his chest. He could sense that his current condition was far from stable, and he may be belching fire by ident. This trip to the mountain here, was simply to find a quiet, deserted high ground to calm his roiling spirits. Chapter 125 - Fusion: Part 2 Chapter 125: Fusion: Part2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion As he slowly made his way up the hill path, Lin Sheng focused on the greenery all around him and felt the fire in his heart weakening somewhat. As he forged on, the number of people lessened before him. When he was still half-way through the hill, he could still see a couple of people, and the higher he got, the more deserted it was. Lin Sheng did not mind that. The quieter the surrounding was, the better he could rx. Just as he was about to reach the peak, a youngdy with a long ponytail in a purple trek suit appeared. She was looked in her mid-twenties and was calmly making her way up the hill path. On her hand was an intricate watch, and he could tell, even from afar that the craftsmanship was beyond those hundred buck cheap watches. He could also tell that her stamina wascking, and needed to rest every few other steps. Her face was slightly pale, with fine features on it. Beads of sweat were on her forehead as she panted so every slightly. Lin Sheng quickly made his way past the girl, and the two exchange a quick nce before he walked by. Very soon, Lin Sheng disappeared into the thick shrubs in the forest. The girl stood where she was, and looked at Lin Sheng¡¯s disappearing silhouette before smiling to herself, and continuing her climb. Not too long ago, she was also climbing the hill with this ease. On top of the hill was a natural t rock tform. All around the tform were steep slopes without any vegetation. Looking down, one could see the entirety of Huaisha City. As the mountain wind blew, Lin Sheng stood on the tform and looked at the city. From above, the houses in the city below looked like toy blocks, and could easily be crushed with just a stomp. A momentter, thedy with the long ponytail too had arrived at the summit. She saw Lin Sheng already upying the only rock tform and so stood at one of the shorter slopes to look afar and take in the fresh air. ¡°There¡¯s so few students going hill climbing nowadays...¡± She murmured to herself. She had remembered her time as a poor student. It was to train her willpower back then that she would take a day to climb a hill or to swim, just to clear her head. ¡°Now... trying to take some time to train is so difficult nowadays.¡± She then looked at Lin Sheng again. From that man¡¯s trained movements and his well-sculpted figure, he was probably your typical student with a strict sports routine. She did admire people with strict self-discipline the most. If she had the chance, she felt that she would not hesitate to give his young man some help. With her current status, just a mere word from her would be able to alter a normal student¡¯s course of life. So many yearster, as she returned to this little hill filled with memories and nostalgia, thedy felt a faint sense ofmentation and yearning. Not too far away, Lin Sheng saw thedy resting a little before taking her phone out and sat on the rock to y with her phone. He shook his head. On the hill summit with such strong cold wind, sitting still to y one¡¯s phone was unwise. In such a situation, the loss of body heat for a normal person would be exacerbated, because without any movement, body heat would not be replenished, resulting in someone catching a cold more easily. However, that was thedy¡¯s problem and not his, and he would not actively remind someone of that. After a short rest, Lin Sheng did not linger and got ready to descend the hill. The climb was just a way for him to unwind. Reaching the summit was the goal, and there was no need to linger. This climb allowed him to rx quite a bit and he nned toe here to chill out next time. As he got down the tform and walked passed thedy, he noticed that her nose was running... The cold wind was blowing hard, and that made her face numb to the point that she did not even notice it. Seeing the snot drooping down and getting blown by the wind into a huge ¡°U¡± on her face. Lin Sheng could not help but pull two serviettes out of his pocket and hand it to her. Thedy looked up at Lin Sheng as he handed her serviettes in surprise. *Whoosh...* A gust blew and a clear line of snot was blown away, leaving a half a meter long strand. ¡°Yeah.¡± Lin Sheng dangled the serviettes in his hand, and stared at her. She followed his gaze and touched her nose. Her face exploded in red at a very perceptible speed. And even the cold mountain wind could not stop that sort of exaggerated reddening of her face. ¡°Thank you...¡± Thedy took the serviettes from him and quickly turned around to wipe her face. After cleaning up, she turned over and saw Lin Sheng¡¯s figure descending the mountain. His silhouette was already blurry by then, and seemed like he was about to blend into the woods. ¡°Sh*t...¡± She could not describe her current emotions. In her usual attempt to keep up the pristine image of a dy¡±, she would even hold in her fart before finding an area without anyone to release it. She would even pat her skirt hard to get rid of the smell. She had never used the toilet in the office and held everything in until she got home. Now... it was entirely gone... Her pristine image... The moment she thought of the time she was caught by someone with snot all over her face, the cold wind did not even matter anymore... ¡°Argh!! I¡¯m going mad!¡± She could not help but to hide her face. The only thing she was d that, the young man had no idea of her identity. ... The sky was turning dark as Lin Sheng slowly walked down from the viaduct. Cars upon cars sped past him, kicking up a draft of cold air. Yet it did not faze him, and it felt more like a cool wind in summer, refreshing. As he walked past a clothes boutique, he saw his reflection on the disy ss. His eyes were bloodshot, and his skin color had darkened a few notches, while his frame increased a little. This was the natural oue after fusing with the Crag Dragon¡¯s bloodline. And in fact, if someone were to monitor him closely now, they could see that his eyes now had the dragon-like golden slit irises. ¡°Woof! Woof!¡± Lin Sheng slowly walked pass a small bungalow that had a dog. Behind the steel gate was a golden retriever, half the size of a man barking at him. ¡°Hmm?¡± Lin Sheng looked at the dog. ¡°Wooooo....¡± The dog shuddered as if it was electrocuted as a puddle of yellow liquid formed behind it before it ran away. ¡°It got scared till it pissed itself?¡± Lin Sheng was speechless. Was it the Crag Dragon¡¯s bloodline? That a simple gaze could scare a guard dog to the point it pissed itself? Lin Sheng then slowly strolled on. He did not dare to go home now. He had to wait until he had totally mastered this fusion so that he could hide his current form and return to normal, or else his current change would definitely scare everyone at home. Chapter 126 - Fusion: Part 3

Chapter 126: Fusion: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion As he walked to a junction and across a zebra crossing, a few sparrows flew over the electric post above him. Their chirping was melodious, and Lin Sheng felt the roiling inside him subside somewhat. He stood beneath the pole and looked up at the sparrows. But just as he lifted his head, the sparrows were seemingly shocked as their feathers bristled and flew away in fear. As if someone had just whacked them with a stick. ¡°That¡¯s a little much, ain¡¯t it...¡± Lin Sheng helplessly look down and continued on walking as the cold wind made him feel a little better. The sky was getting darker. Lin Sheng had walked a few kilometers now. He felt that his body had somewhat calmed down and that it was in better shape. Only then was he bothered about what was going on around him. At that moment, a faint piano tune could be heard not far away on the right street. It was a melodious piece of music, which created a wellspring of calm in Lin Sheng¡¯s heart, and his current vtile status quickly came under control. A thought came to his mind, and he quickly made his way towards the source of the music. And soon, by the side of a cake shop, he found the source of the music. A simple piano shop called ¡°The Sound Screen¡±. The shop was not big, about the two shops wide, and on the top was a ck signboard with the words ¡®The Sound Screen¡¯ carved into it. The entrance was a transparent ss door, and a flyer was stered on it: Year End Promotion! Taking in long term students, 20% off fees! There was a signboard by the entrance, and written on it was: Garna, Hyde Pianos, Fassman violins, Caen harps, we have all of them. Lin Sheng walked to the side of the ss door and peered into it. There was a gaggle of children in it, the youngest about seven, the oldest about thirteen were carefully ying their songs under the guidance of a short-haireddy in a white dress. On the other side of the shop was an array of guqin, flutes and small harps. By the far corner was a ck medium-sized piano, and a couple, probably customers were chatting before the piano. While there were some clumsy notesing out of the shop at times, but it was for these notes that Lin Sheng had managed to calm down. ¡°Music, huh?¡± He demurred as he stood by the entrance observing the children who were ying the piano. Even so, he was about eighteen, neen this year, and was not that much older than the children. It was just that his current body size was toned due to his constant training, and it was now made even bigger by his half-dragon form. Lin Sheng currently stood almost two meters tall before the piano shop, and his chiseled muscture, as well as half-dragon form, brought forth an imposing aura. Any people walking around him would simply avoid him when he stood still. Lin Sheng could not be bothered by the pressure he was exuding on others. After a while, he finally pushed the door open and entered the piano shop. The music teacher looked at him and was slightly startled by his exaggerated physique, but a momentter, she continued to teach the children. A female shop attendant in a green apron came over and greeted Lin Sheng courteously. ¡°May I know how can I help you? Are you looking for a five or six-string guqin? Or a violin, or perhaps a harp?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just looking around.¡± Lin Sheng could feel that he would be able to better rx in his half-dragon state with music. But it was not enough! He needed more music that was calming! He browsing through the guqins that were hung on the wall, and stroke his finger through them as he picked out memory pieces from the deluge of memory fragments. And soon, he reached a faint gold harp the size of an adult¡¯s arm. Seeing so, another shop attendant standing by the side quickly came forward to exin. ¡°This is a Shaar Harp, andpared to other harps, the Shaar is very small, and while its rhythmic range is not as a normal harp, but it wins in rity.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Lin Sheng took the harp down and recalled the method to make a Bloodazure Harp he saw in Snowgale Fortress. This Shaar harp just needed a simple modification to be turned into the Bloodazure harp in the books. The two looked pretty much the same. Lin Sheng extended his hand and closed his eyes. The small harp was in sharp contrast with his massive physique. He gently plucked it. *Ting...* A clear, melodious note came from the harp. In one of the memories that Lin Sheng had absorbed, a heavy soldier loved ying the harp, and even with the rigors and demands of war, he would still find time to y to himself. The soldier hailed from the ancient kingdom of Mitos, and of verdant woods and fresh fruits, covered in endless greens. Sadly, within the memory, the kingdom of Mitos had already disappeared in the sands of time. Lin Sheng closed his eyes to recall the ancient song from the soldier¡¯s memory, and following his rather unrefined plucking, slowly yed the tune. As the ancient, serene music yed, Lin Sheng¡¯s mind and body slowly returned to normal under the peaceful trance. His burning body was seemingly being quenched by a torrent of cold spring water, and that felt really good. That feeling almost made him forget that he was still ying the harp and not resting. As he finished the tune, Lin Sheng moved his finger away from the harp. ¡°I¡¯ll take this.¡± He handed the harp over to the stunned shop attendant. ¡°Su-Sure!¡± The attendant regained his senses, he had never heard the tune before. That sort of ancientment, that sort of calm, yet distant style had him feeling very calm and rxed. And he then realized that the person ying the gentle music on the harp was a massive hunk of a man that was a head taller than him. At the corner of the shop, the children ying the piano, and the teacher too cast an astonished nce at Lin Sheng. It was not that he yed it well, rather, no one had heard that tune before, and it was also due to Lin Sheng¡¯s bear-like frame holding a small, delicate harp. The dissonance in the image surprised everyone. The young couple at the corner gave Lin Sheng a very appreciative nce, from their demeanor they were probably musical professionals. In this day and age, there were very few who could y the Shaar harp this well, so infused with emotions, much less someone as young as Lin Sheng. After paying for the harp, Lin Sheng declined the couple¡¯s attempt to chat and left the shop. With just a single y, he had felt the half-dragon status was slowly receding, and his body was slowly returning to normal. He now nned to modify the harp to make a Bloodazure harp that was capable of training his holy power. Chapter 127 - Separation: Part 1

Chapter 127: Separation: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Central Xilin. Deep within a dark cavern in a hilly forest in the distance. ¡°...This is one of thest two provinces without any powerful Darksiders... I need to get enough flesh and blood, heal up andplete the body before Anjali catches up!¡± A cold hoarse voice rasped in the dark. ¡°As long as my body isplete, even Anjali will die!¡± A massive dark red shadow let out a furious roar in the cavern. It was a mantis-like monster, and in its hand was a map, and was it was pointing at the circles of it. It swept its gaze the map and quickly determined the direction of Anduin province. There was a long coastline there. It could hunt there and once it has aplete body, take a ce as itsir. There were too many Darksiders in the east and central provinces. Those ces were not ideal hunting grounds. ¡°I can only hide for now.¡± It calcted in its mind, if it was voracious in its hunt, it will attract the attention of central. So its hunts need to be separated. ¡°While there¡¯s little ore here, I canpensate for it with more flesh. Anjali, just you wait...!¡± Being forced into this forsaken ce, hunting low lives to survive, this insult ignited a furious rage in the monster¡¯s heart. A ripter, the mantis monster tore the map into pieces as it opened its wings and instantly disappeared without a sound. Ten minutester, within the dark cavern, footsteps were heard. A couple of shlights were shone in the cavern, and map fragments were detected on the ground. A group of personnel in white protective uniform rushed in and quickly saw the map as they tried to put it back together. Not too longter, they managed to piece ny percent if the map together. And there was a clear red circle mark on it. ¡°It¡¯s Geria province! The monster may have escaped to Geria! The more it hunts, the quicker it recovers its strength! Quick, let Master Anjali know!¡± ... Two dayster. ¡°News from Duyan City. Last night at around seven in the evening, a family of three living at Dongcheng District, Lanhua Street was found murdered in their bedrooms. After killing the victims, the murderer had stolen tens of thousands of cash One of the neighbors who was talking a walk during the time of the murder, Ms. Wang said that the victims were kind folks and had no quarrels with anyone, so it was probably not revenge killing.¡± ¡°Following the police¡¯s investigation, traces of blood left by the murderer was found in the bushes about thirty meters away from the crime scene. Based on the forensic sketch, the murderer is about 190cm tall, with a skinny figure and long arms, with a cold demeanor. Anyone with any information is encouraged to contact 123.¡± Lin Xiao stretched on the sofa. ¡°There was a murder case not too long ago, and now another one. Security sure is getting worse by the day...¡± She had changed into a white shirt and ced her uninjured leg on the sofa. Her slightly pale face seemed a little redder under the light. Gu Wanqiu was knitting as she listened to the news. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve heard my colleague said before, the victimst time is a boss of a repair shop in the neighboring town. While he may look friendly, he was apparently a menace at work.¡± ¡°Is it really revenge killing?¡± Lin Xiao guessed. She was stuck at home now, so watching TV or reading was her only past time now. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Gu Wanqiu shook her head. ¡°How about your brother? What is he doing? He had been locking himself in the room every time he gets home.¡± Lin Xiao shook her head. ¡°No idea...¡± Two days back when Lin Sheng got home, she felt something was off with her little brother as if his clothes were being stretched hard till the point the zippers and buttons were ruined. And the expression on his face, it looked like someone who had constipation for ages finally releasing everything out all at once. A face of relief. ¡°Could it be...¡± Lin Xiao then had an idea. ¡°Could it be that Chenchen is dating now?¡± She thought of it but did not tell her mother about it. Chenchen was matured enough, he knows how to manage his time and energy. As an elder sister, she should trust her own brother more. ¡°But Chenchen had been going out and about...I hope he is not mixing with the wrong sort of people.¡± Gu Wanqiu continued. ¡°Nah, Chechen probably has his own ideas. We just need to stand behind him. He¡¯s an adult after all.¡± Lin Xiaoforted her mom. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡± Gu Wanqiu could not help but recall the scene where Lin Sheng yelled at his rtives. It was so menacing that she was worried. ¡°Oh right, I¡¯ve spoken to Jiamin yesterday. I¡¯ve invited her toe over for a meal, but she said she did not have time, and needed to go overseas for work. Somewhere called Ryrkistan,¡± Lin Xiao said. ¡°Don¡¯t go disturbing people...¡± ¡°I just felt that Jiamin might¡¯ve been lonely.¡± ... In his room. Lin Sheng stared at the third harp as he carefully used the tools in hand to hammer about the frame of the harp. It had been two days, since he bought the first Shaar harp, that he was totally engrossed with his simple instrument with a clear sound. Of course, it was mainly because he had memories on how to y this instrument. Plus, with the aid of muscle memory, he managed to master the harp in a short span of time. It was just that Lin Sheng had run into roadblocks while trying to modify the Bloodazure Harp. The Bloodazure Harp,pared to the Shaar Harp, requires the harp strings to be coated in the user¡¯s blood before using the user¡¯s supernatural powers, through the blood to infuse the harp strings. With the strings coated in supernatural powers, it will slowly change. After that that, the frame would also be soaked in a special solution before being put together again. While it may sound simple, the difficult part was to fuse the strings and the frame together and activate it; to let the supernatural powers flow and reside within it. And the moment that was done, upon infusing the supernatural powers, it had to be sealed shut. Lin Sheng was stuck there. *Crack...* The third harp was ruined... ¡°The activation failed...¡± Lin Sheng pulled out another new harp frame from the stic container. To make a Bloodazure Harp, he had infused six frames in a go for fear of continuous failures. For the past two days, he had also been returning to the vault. Everything was back to normal. He did not go looking for trouble with the monster at the bottom of the pool and simply trained in the vault itself. And what surprised him was that the desert outside the vault did not show any signs of nightfall. For two consecutive days, Lin Sheng noticed the golden glow outside the vault all day long. That kept him from venturing out. Since he had nothing to do, he simply sat by the entrance of the vault and used the reflected golden sunlight as a light source. He then found a cell to start meditating, studying the holy power, reciting the Deviltongue, and going through some Gaokao practice materials. That actually meant that Lin Sheng was studying more than most, although a good part of the time was used on something else. Chapter 128 - Separation: Part 2 Chapter 128: Separation: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion *ck.* An hourter... After the fourth attempt, Lin Sheng finally managed to craft the Bloodazure Harp. ¡°Considering how simply this harp is, I¡¯ve actually failed so many times...¡± Lin Sheng was despairing at his handicraft skills. ¡°Thankfully, I¡¯ve finally made one.¡± He heaved a sigh of relief and took thepleted item as he started fixing the strings it. The Bloodazure Harp was not that much different than the Shaar Harp. It was still gold in color, but a few shades darker overall. After that, Lin Sheng did not try it out. Randomly ying at home would make him a nuisance. Plus he was a little tired. For the past two days, in order to master the half-dragon mode, and to create the Bloodazure Harp, he had focused all his attention on those two matters. ¡°Right, time to study. I¡¯ve spent half the day meditating, so the rest will be for my revision.¡± As he kept the harp, Lin Sheng quickly cleaned up the mess on the floor before heading to the washroom to wash up. Along the way, he took an apple to bite on. After wolfing down the apple, he drank a ss of water before changing into his usual getup and on the bed. *Click.* The tablemp was turned off. Lin Sheng closed his eyes, and slowly entered a calm state. *Tick tock, tick tock...* A series of ticking became clearer and louder in Lin Sheng¡¯s ears as his consciousness sank deeper and deeper into the deeps. No one knew how much time had passed since before Lin Sheng opened his eyes and saw the shroud of mist before him. It was clear that this was the Fay Vault that he had been staying around for the past few days now. The vault was chilly and the shaking candles gave it an eerie atmosphere. Lin Sheng was, however, already familiar with the atmosphere there, and he quickly made his way into one of the cells on the right. This was one of the better cells around, equipped with a table and chair, a toilet, a bookrack, a cupboard, a mirror, and also a cup. Most of it was of no use to Lin Sheng. He pulled the chair out and sat on it. He had nned to meditate just as nned. Suddenly, his gaze swept past the sidewall of the cell, and thought of something. ¡°This cell is underground, so how did I came in here?¡± Lin Sheng recalled how did he managed to get into this ce. ¡°Through a crack, a crack on the wall...¡± He then stood up and grabbed the heavy de by the side of the wall and came before the cell wall. The wall was in a state of disrepair and had tiny cracks all over it. Lin Sheng chose a slightly bigger one as he pierced the tip of the sword it and started stabbing about. Tiny rocks came falling out of the cracks onto the ground. And as time passed, Lin Sheng could tell from touch that his assumption was correct. ¡°It¡¯s empty. The next door is empty!¡± He got excited. The de had already sunk halfway into the crack before any resistance disappeared. Lin Sheng then pulled the de out. *Whoosh!* The de slid out of the crack. And from the cracks, a faint purple light shone through. ¡°The purple light when I came in!¡± Lin Sheng was ted as he managed to immediately recognize the purple liquid which he hade through into the vault. And now he knew that he had round the rift entrance, and started stabbing ferociously at the wall. *Crack, crack, crack...* Amidst the piercing din, a half-a-meter uneven gap appeared in the cell wall. The purple glow shone through the hole as the liquid of the same color flowed and rippled at times. ¡°What will happen if I leave this dream before it ends?¡± Lin Sheng hesitated as he stood before the gap. But he had enough of this forsaken vault, and staying here was a waste of time. He was no match for that face monster, and even with the half-dragon form, he did not want to go courting trouble. Lin Sheng had made up his mind. Unless he had some high-level weapons on hand that could easily sh through that insanely tough arm, he would not face that monster. The difference in their level was just too great. ¡°The biggest secret of this vault is definitely that face made out of arms. But... I¡¯m just too weak now, and like ckfeather City, I¡¯m not able to search it whole.¡± Lin Sheng sighed as he changed into a full set of armor before slowly going through the purple gap. *Gulp.* It was as if he had entered the depths of a purple sea. Lin Sheng extended his limbs and swam within the purple liquid. His body grew and his skin darkened and hardened to a rock-like toughness as his strength and resistance increased. At the same time, his eyes felt warm as they turned into faint golden dragon eyes. *Whoosh!* Lin Sheng swam hard as he pushed himself forward with the massive current his strokes had created. He was d in heavy armor yet he did not feel any weight as he quickly made his way through the liquid. ¡°So my lung capacity also increased after I take on the half-dragon form?¡± Lin Sheng had no idea how much the lung capacity increase was, but he could go on without breathing for a short while now. He quickly swam forward, it was nary but purple around him. Five minutester... Lin Sheng felt that he was at his limits. While his half-dragon state had increased his lung capacity, the longer he held his breath, the most strength it consumed. Now, it was nothing but purple before him. Lin Sheng felt that breathing was getting more and more difficult, and his vision started to blur. ¡°Shit... He finally lost control and opened his mouth to breathe as a surge of purple liquid rushed into his chest. Lin Sheng felt his chest in pain, before cking out and sank into perpetual darkness. No one knew how long had passed. Lin Sheng slowly opened his eyes and saw the familiar ceiling in his room. ¡°I died huh...¡± Lin Sheng wiped off the sweat on his forehead. Sitting up, he looked at the rm clock on the headboard. It read 4:32 am. It was still dark outside. Lin Sheng was a little helpless, while he would not truly die in the dream, but every death meant he had to wait for three days, losing him precious time to train his Ashen Seal. ¡°Too bad I guess...¡± He got up and changed into his outdoor wear as he nned to go over to Ironfist Society to have a look. That ce was open 24-7, and there were rotating staff on duty at night. Since he had nothing else better to do, he nned to go over there to test out the effectiveness of the Bloodazure harp. He got into his clothes and picked up the harp casing. This was not a masquerade sword casing, but a real harp casing. But the casing was much wider this time, and he could only carry it on his back. Everyone was still asleep and Lin Sheng snuck out of the house. There was no one on the street at this hour. Woof, woof! An old mutt with a broken leg was howling at random in a corner. The moment it saw Lin Shenging out of the staircase, it seemed to be shocked as it ran away. Lin Sheng had gotten used to this now, even without his half-dragon form, he still exuded a faint draconic aura wherever he went. And every beast or incest with an acute sense would reflexively run away from him. Chapter 129 - Separation: Part 2 Chapter 129: Separation: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Anduin Province border. On the right side of the expressway, within the dark forested hill. A massive shadow darted across the woods, down the slope and leap towards the expressway. At that very moment, a massive red trailer sped across the expressway. The ck shadownded deftly on the top of the trailer andy low as the trailer sped along. The shadow at the top of the trailer slowly bulged up and turned into a humanoid form while its right arm formed into an ellipsoid ball. As if it wasying eggs, the ball on the right arm spat a ck ellipsoid ball into the scrubs by the side. ¡°Hunt, separate, go. The master needs more flesh...¡± A mysterious order entered the ck ball as it rolled about before stopping in a small ditch. *Crack.* A green glow shed across the surface of the ball before the sound of cracking rang out. Cracks upon cracks appeared on the surface of the ball as their numbers increased and gottenrger. The next moment, the ball totally disintegrated as a blurry silhouette shot out of it and darted towards the nearby city district as it disappeared into the woods. ... Ironfist Society. Lin Sheng sat before the empty main hall and held a record book in his hand. As the manager of the society, Sarroux was particrly detailed in his records keeping. Every time something significant enough had happened, he would record it on the log for Lin Sheng to go throughter. With Dao Ling and another newly recruited martial artist¡¯s help, the two old farts and one young man became the highest administrative level of Ironfist Society. They were driven, revolutionary and adaptable. Lin Sheng noted that on the log, under the suggestion of the new recruit, an elder called Luo Xinna, the Society had officially entered into the business of managing the port deliveries. There were all sorts of potential security problems at the port, theft, robbery, the dockhands fighting for business opportunities, triads stopping vessels from offloading their wares, jacking up of prices and the likes. So there¡¯s plenty of room for business there. Luo Xinna, the martial artist suggested that they took control of a section of the port and collect fees for providing security. And that allowed the Ironfist Society¡¯s ledgers to turn from red to back in just a week. Previously, the running of the Society depended on Lin Sheng¡¯s robberies, but now, that new venture could earn them a profit of a few hundred a day. That was after deducting the sries, maintenance costs, and living expenses. ¡°Finally there¡¯s someone who knows how to run a business...¡± Lin Sheng was pleased and decided to find some time to meet that new recruit, Luo Xinna. But that alone said nothing, but it was impossible that no one had seen this possible business opportunity at the port with itying wide open for so long, no? Not all were fools. It involved not only strength and background but also bnce. To be able to force their way into the area without the already established gangs and port officials to recoil would require plenty of strength. The club earlier could only get temporary, ad hoc patrol jobs. ¡°Our total number of disciples had already broken through a hundred?¡± Lin Sheng noticed the headcount at the bottom. There were 121 disciples, four members, and twenty-three staff. ¡°Had we get so big without me realizing?¡± Lin Sheng closed the log. ¡°How ¡¯bout that? Boss.¡± Sarroux came from behind with two cups of coffee and sat on the chair beside Lin Sheng as he ced the cups of the table. ¡°Not bad, not bad.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°You¡¯re sleeping here every day?¡± ¡°Almost. Pops isn¡¯t really bothered about me too much, so I may as well just stay here,¡± Sarroux said inly. ¡°And now, our Ironfist Society is one of the five strongest factions in ckwater District. While our numbers are not as many as other factions, but the people we took in are all fighters. ¡°I think we have enough now. We don¡¯t need numbers, we need elites.¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Understood, I¡¯ll inform them to stop recruiting.¡± Sarroux nodded. ¡°How about the club?¡± Lin Sheng asked. The club he mentioned, was, of course, Ironfist Club. ¡°Disbanded.¡± Sarroux shrugged. ¡°We absorb a few good members, they had requested to join in here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s too bad...¡± Lin Sheng sighed. ¡°Oh right, boss. There has been an increase in murder and robbery cases in the nearby towns, and it seemed to be rather clustered. Something is not right.¡± Sarroux suddenly said. ¡°Nothing in Huaisha right?¡± ¡°Not yet, also the White Tarots seems to be shifting businesses,¡± Sarroux whispered. ¡°Hmmm? Shifting businesses?¡± Lin Sheng paused for a little as he demurred. ¡°The White Tarots are still thergest triad in Huaisha, they are also the richest and have the most members; they have no reason to shift out, right?¡± ¡°The news are true,¡± Sarroux sniggered. ¡°Many of our disciples either have personal or familial links in the secret society, so they know quite a bit.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Lin Sheng was a little perplexed. ¡°An established organization with plenty of wealth and power, why would they choose to shift their businesses? Did they run into some trouble for them to do this?¡± ¡°Maybe some threats to their business? Cashflow problem?¡± Sarroux guessed. ¡°Most likely not... don¡¯t go guessing blindly. We¡¯ll find out soon enough. Just wait and see.¡± Lin Sheng reminded him. ¡°Then, boss. Since the White Tarots are relinquishing so many of their holdings, should we go in and take it for ourselves?¡± Sarroux whispered again. ¡°Take it slow, don¡¯t be greedy. The other factions would move in as well. Let them go in first, and see how it goes.¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Understood.¡± Sarroux nodded. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll be heading home.¡± Lin Sheng stood up. ¡°Hang in there, I can see that you are close to breaking through.¡± ¡°Boss, your eyes sure are sharp!¡± Sarroux gave a thumbs up. ¡°I¡¯ll head off first then. Don¡¯te looking for me if there¡¯s nothing unless you breakthrough, of course.¡± Lin Sheng used the desk as a springboard and left the hall waving his hand. Sarroux stared on as Lin Sheng¡¯s figure slowly disappeared into the night as an unknown feeling welled within him. At first, when he sparred with the boss, he could still sense his strength. But God knew when he began to feel a powerful pressure weighing on him even by just standing before him, much less actually fighting with him. Sarroux actually wanted to ask Lin Sheng to test out how much better he had gotten. But in the end, he could not verbalize it. ¡°I really don¡¯t know what sort of level boss has gotten to, but that¡¯s fine. He is the society¡¯s trump card.¡± Sarroux stood up and stretched. ¡°I too need to work hard now. Can¡¯t afford to get left behind.¡± *Ring... Ring...* Suddenly his phone rang. Sarroux quickly pulled out the phone from his pocket, and as he saw the screen, his smile slowly faded away. He then pressed the ept button. The voice from the phone was that of the familiar middle-aged man. ¡°Sarroux? I¡¯m Uncle Xu here, you pops have something do so, so in the meantime if you need anything you can get in touch with me.¡± The voice was young, belonging to a gentle person called Xu He in Sarroux¡¯s memories. ¡°How¡¯s up with my pops?¡± Sarroux asked. ¡°There¡¯s been a simr murder case in Huaisha, and two cases in a single night. Mr. Wayne has already gone to the crime scene. This is a very huge case, and what Sir wants is that before it is solved, stay at home and don¡¯t go ying outside,¡± Xu He advised. ¡°It happened in Huaisha as well?¡± Sarroux frowned. ¡°That aside, I¡¯m not ying!¡± He said with particr emphasis. ¡°I¡¯m just repeating, also the case was just tonight, and the methods are the same with other towns. We believe that it is probably an organized crime at it, with that scale, solving the case won¡¯t be easy.¡± ¡°Where is he? At the crime scene?¡± Sarroux was suddenly worried about his pops. While he was a busy person and barely took care of him, but there was no denying that he loved him. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Sarroux cut the line. As he stood before the entrance of the hall, he demurred before deciding to head home. He was confident, with a gun in hand, he was capable of protecting himself. And his skills in martial arts maye in handy as well. So he decided to go back to his dad¡¯s side, and that will at least ensure his safety while waiting for the case to be solved. As for the Society¡¯s matters, he could still manage it offsite through the phone. Plus old man Dao Ling is there, so there¡¯s no problem. Chapter 130 - Frenzied Attack: Part 1 Chapter 130: Frenzied Attack: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The next day. Lin Sheng was engrossed in ying the harp. As he could not enter the dream, he decided to focus his whole day into the Bloodazure Harp. He had noticed, using this to train his holy powers, the progress could only be described as fast, so he did not want to waste any time. Nothing had changed over on his side, but something had happened at Ironfist Society. Sarroux had gone home. He had discussed it with old man Dao Ling and gone home alone; apparently, he had something to settle and had to take a few days off. In the meantime, the old man would be managing the ce. Lin Sheng too had gotten a call from Sarroux and was informed on the matter. Now that Sarroux was away, all of the society¡¯s matters now fell on the shoulders of Dao Ling and the new recruit Luo Xinna. Lin Sheng went over to the society to have a look, andpared with when Sarroux was around, Dao Ling and Luo Xinna had announced a few new sets of rules, which made the ce look even more organized. That said, while it may be more organized, it had somewhat lost its revolutionary zeal. After finding out that nothing was wrong, Lin Sheng did not pay much attention to the Society anymore and was engrossed in ying the harp. At the same time... the murder cases in Huaisha City was rapidly increasing. ... Ironfist Society. Dao Ling sat in the training room as he drew long breaths. The holy power within his body flowed slowly as it healed the inner wounds in his body. *Knock, knock, knock...* Someone was knocking on the door, as a voice rang out. ¡°Master Dao Ling, something had happened, and we might need your help in dealing with it?¡± Dao Ling opened his eyes as a glint of gold shed across his eyes. ¡°What happened?¡± He let out a long breath, as he asked. ¡°There were a few robbery-cum-murder casesst night in the city,¡± the man at the door said. ¡°Oh?¡± Dao Ling paused for a moment. Sarroux was not here, and Master Lin Sheng usually isn¡¯t bothered with the running of the society and was simply focused on training. With this sort of leader, the core principle of the society was naturally to make money, train, make money, train ad infinitum. And he had heard from the disciples about the robbery-cum-murder cases. To him, as long it did not affect the Ironfist Society he was not bothered either. At this day and age, with the general situation chaotic, plus the Xilin¡¯s government¡¯s deep-rooted corruption; with so many issues popping up, even if he wanted to be bothered he did not have the strength to do so. So, as long all is well in Ironfist Society, it was fine by him. But now... Dao Ling stood up and opened the door. Outside was a young disciple with a crew cut, bowing down respectfully as he reported. ¡°Master Dao Ling, the key matter is, that someone from the society was affected...¡± ¡°Hm?¡± Dao Ling frowned. ¡°Give me the details. Who was affected, what¡¯s the situation like?¡± It would be a stain on his honor if something were to happen just right after Sarroux left. ¡°When we did the roll call today, Xu Wanqing did note. Her rtive called, saying that something had happened. Xu Wanqing was hospitalized with serious injuries. There¡¯s a death at her home too.¡± The young disciple reported. ¡°One death and one serious injury...¡± Dao Ling¡¯s face turned grim. ¡°Have you informed the leader yet?¡± ¡°No, we don¡¯t have his contacts.¡± A shred of anger appeared on the disciple¡¯s face as he said. ¡°Someone actually dared to harm one of ours. Master Dao Ling, many of us are suggesting that we look for the murderer and take revenge for Xu Wanqing!¡± ¡°How¡¯re her injuries like?¡± Dao Ling asked. ¡°Her left arm is broken... there¡¯s a possibility she might be crippled...¡± the young man said sullenly. ¡°...Inform Master Sarroux first.¡± Dao Ling said, ¡°After this, whenever you guys leave the hall, go in groups or pairs and avoid going out alone.¡± ¡°Uhh... Master Dao Ling, we have tried to contact Master Sarroux, but we can¡¯t get through the number he left behind.¡± The disciple quickly added. ¡°Hmmm?¡± Dao Ling raised his eyebrow, an ill omen brooding in his heart. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the hospital first.¡± He said grimly. ¡°Also, sent someone to inform Master Lin Sheng. His house is at...¡± He quickly told thetter¡¯s Lin Sheng¡¯s address. ¡°Yes!¡± ... Sarroux was behind his dad Wayne, as he looked at two bizarre corpses lying on the ground. The corpses looked like praying mantises, their entire body green with a thick carapace, on it were tiny bristles. But could a mantis grow that big? He could not believe his eyes. The two corpses were the size of a man, and the fatal wounds on them were on the chest, sted open by a heavy sniper rifle. Sticky green blood flowed outwards from the wound. ¡°Is this the thing that had been going about on a murder spree?¡± Wayne asked as he got up. ¡°Yes, chief. When we discovered them, they were nning to ambush a couple nearby.¡± A man in a ck suit said. ¡°Have you sent the samples for analysis?¡± Wayne asked. He got up, and by his appearance, with his dark red suit, his elegant, refined demeanor was the pr opposite of the impulsive Sarroux. It was hard to believe that they were father and son. ¡°Yes. Also, Deputy Chief Smith said that they have found a new clue, and wanted you to go and have a look.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Wayne nodded before turning towards Sarroux. ¡°Want toe along? Since you¡¯re here, I might as well let you know the things that I¡¯ve been keeping from you.¡± Sarroux looked at the two corpses again before nodding hard. The two may not have noticed, but at least half of the dozens of people around were exchanging some mysterious nces. While in the darkness, the telephone signal of everyone present had been unknowingly disrupted by a mysterious signal. ... Within the dark forested hill, a massive mantis hung down from the tree branch. ¡°Interesting... I had no problems with so many ces, but to lose two bodies in a small port city...¡± The mantis¡¯ red eyes glowed red, as if it was activating some sort of ability, and checking whatever information from its split bodies. And soon, the red glow turned bright. ¡°Found it...¡± ¡°There¡¯s always a few who want to struggle. It would be simpler to just keep your heads down and stay alive, no?¡± The mantis opened its mouth as a long slithering tongue came out. ¡°Take care of them, number four.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± A massive shadow suddenly leaped away. *Foosh!* The next moment, it disappeared into the dark woods. ... *Boom!!* Lin Sheng¡¯s fist smashed ferociously on the chest of the Sacred Shield Tyrant, while his face ate the full brunt of a shield bash. He was slightly dazed as his golden eyes suddenly widened, before steadying himself to catch the oing Tyrant¡¯s fist. He met the attack with his right knee before strike hard with his elbow! *Bam!!* A massive cloud of dust burst out from the area that the Tyrant was brutally hit. He staggered two steps back before he lifted his shield up for another strike. *Bam!!* He pressed his massive hand against the shield and charged forward. At that same moment, a flurry of powerful kicksnded on the shield. As the shield creaked and twisted, the Tyrant could no longer keep his bnce and was sent tumbling onto the ground. Chapter 131 - Frenzied Attack: Part 2 Chapter 131: Frenzied Attack: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng slowly retracted his fist and walked up to it. ¡°Done. The semi-dragonized power, the impable free-fighting ability, the terrific maneuverability, and explosive force together with the Sacred Blood make me invincible.¡± To be honest, Sacred Shield Tyrant¡¯s strength was by no means inferior to Lin Sheng, but his moves and maneuverability were far agile than Lin Sheng¡¯s. This difference akin to two swordsmen with the same physique, just that one was more agile and quicker than the other was. This advantage had enabled Lin Sheng to fool Sacred Shield Tyrant with only a few false moves and beat him to the punch. If he willed it, he would have instantly hit his opponent¡¯s vulnerable spot and ended the battle. Thick armors might be able to shield one from some of the damaging harms, but after the semi-dragonizing process, he had never fought using cut, pierce nor sh but the power of shockwave. Lin Sheng willed it, and Sacred Shield Tyrant instantly turned into a plume of ck smoke before rapidly dissipating. ¡°Experiment¡¯s done. It¡¯s time to head back and practice the harp.¡± Since thepletion of the Bloodazure Harp, he had been immersed in it all day. He could not hold back his passion for it although the sound he made with the harp was no way near pleasant. He was still unfamiliar with it and making jumpy notes. He could clearly sense the sacred power in his body; during the harp practice, his strength had gained triple improvement over the regr session. And it was this hyperbolic rate of improvement that engrossed him in the world of the Bloodazure Harp. Lin Sheng looked around and made sure that no one was looking at what happened in the woods, he waved his hand and summoned a ck crownding on his shoulder. ¡°Time to go back.¡± After leaving the woods, he set the crow free and looked around again. He rode a bicycle and moved in a leisure pace along the road in the direction of his house. The bike that he had just bought this morning made a convenient transport. He need not have to spend endless time standing on the roadside waiting for buses anymore. Lin Sheng steered the bicycle left and right, trying to get around the potholes on the road. It was a bumpy ride, but he was thinking about Ashen Seal-Furious Roar. His sacred power increased exponentially with the help of the Bloodazure Harp. Not only that, but he had also made tremendous progress on Ashen Seal-Furious Roar meditation. Now, he had that explicable feeling that he could perhaps produce a second Ashen Seal ability. ¡°It¡¯s just that... what method should I use?¡± Lin Sheng fell into deep thought. Furious Roar must be apanied by the angry howl of its user. Roaring was the easier part, but anger was a lot trickier, he thought. He rode at an unhurried pace along the road, passing through the open fields, the utilitarian mud houses in the suburban, where he saw more and more farmers were carrying vegetables and fruits on their shoulders to sell them in the city. When he passed by a teenager selling tomatoes, he stopped and bought a kilogram from him. The fresh tomatoes were a good source of nutrients for his elder sis, he figured. Twenty minutester, Lin Sheng stopped at the entrance of Huilian Neighborhood. Alighting from his bicycle, he carried the tomato and headed back to his ce on foot. Once he was up to the floor where his house was, he fished out the key from his pocket to open the door. As soon as he put the bag of tomatoes on the floor in the doorway, he saw a young woman whom he found somewhat familiar sitting on the sofa. She was Chen Minjia, the young woman who saved his elder sis earlier. Lin Xiao and Chen Minjia were hitting it off well with each other, totally unlike strangers who only knew each other not long ago. ¡°You¡¯vee at the right moment. I¡¯ve bought some fresh tomatoes from the farmers while on my way back.¡± Lin Sheng nodded at Chen Jiamin with a friendly smile. ¡°Mom and dad have gone out for New Year shopping. Since Sis Jiamin is here, why not we have steamboat today?¡± Lin Xiao suggested. ¡°I¡¯m okay with that. Let me go to get some ingredients from the market.¡± Lin Sheng turned around and yanked open the door again. To his surprise, he saw a well-built teenager standing outside the door, face pale and panting. The teenager saw Lin Sheng, appeared delighted and wanted to say something. ¡°Take it easy. No hurry.¡± Lin Sheng calmed himself down and closed the door behind him softly so that the two in the house would not notice it. ¡°Something happened in the club... and also to Sarroux. We have lost contact with him!¡± Gasping for air, the teenager managed to put his words together. The news had unnerved Lin Sheng. He remembered Sarroux told him that he went with his dad for some business and that Lin Sheng could call him on his phone. ¡°Did you call his house?¡± ¡°It¡¯s busy!¡± In the woods. Sarroux¡¯s lips looked pale, and cold sweat trickled down his forehead. His dad held him to sit down, leaning against a tree trunk. ¡°Sarroux, hang on there. I will not let anything happen to you!¡± Wayne said assuredly as he held his son¡¯s hand, face ghastly pale. ¡°I... I¡¯m fine... Take... Take this to Ironfist Club in ckwater, let the big brothere! He is the only one who can save us! Hurry!¡± Sarroux shoved a business that had the drawing of Ashen Seal-Sanctuary on it before he passed out. Not long ago, Wayne was surrounded and attacked; half of the bodyguards had revolted against him. His side had suffered a heavy casualty. Amid the chaos, someone fired a shot at him. Unable to stop nor kill the shooter in time, Sarruox flung himself in front of his dad and took the bullet himself. Then, something unexpected happened. A monster that came out of nowhere began to ughter the bodyguards nearby. Sarroux and his dad managed to flee with a few loyal men under cover of the chaos. Wayne¡¯s face turned pale when he saw his son passing out. Upon knowing that his son was still alive after feeling his breathing, he only breathed a sigh of relief. Xu He and the other two bodyguards looked at each other, trying to get a grasp of what happened. They were the only ones out of the 25-team members who had made it out alive after the ambush and the monster attack. They knew the monster would be looking for them in the dense forest for sure after finishing off the traitors. That meant their danger was far from over. Wayne held his son in his arms, ncing at the business card with the Ashen Seal drawing. As things hade to this stage, he did not know whom to trust anymore. It was as if everyone around him was a spy; he could not know who was loyal to him and who would betray him. He became hesitant. But atst, he still passed the business card to Xu He. ¡°Xu He, make the trip. We can¡¯t appear in the open right now. Don¡¯t go back to the city hall building. Instead, head straight to the ce and find the person just as Sarroux has instructed.¡± ¡°But minister, Sarroux is still young, what if his condition...¡± Xu He was worried. ¡°My connection is no longer safe. Many people are involved in this ambush this time. Instead of trying to figure out who is with me, it¡¯s better to change our direction and try Sarroux¡¯s idea.¡± Wayne said calmly, but there was a sense of sadness in desperation in his voice. He did not want to count how many people had betrayed him. Except for the three men beside him, the others... he would not want to think about it. The most urgent thing now was to treat the gunshot wound of his son. Xu He was silent for a moment before finally nodded his head. ¡°Understood. I will go right away.¡± Chapter 132 - Frenzied Attack: Part 3 Chapter 132: Frenzied Attack: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Go, now...¡± said Wayne calmly. He then pried his son¡¯s mouth open and shoved in a little capsule containing clear liquid¡ªcool stuff that he once got his hands on to temporarily save a life. It now came in handy in saving his son¡¯s life. He was ready to die here. The monster would make sure he did, so too the traitors. Everyone had deserted him, and he had lost everything. But Sarroux... Sarroux was too young. He should not be dying here; he had not lived long enough to experience and enjoy all the good things in life. The sky was turning dark as night came. The forest became opaquely dark and biting cold after sunset. The two bodyguards were too afraid to light a fire. They could only walk back and forth with a gun in their hands, keeping their eyes peeled for any dangers that might loom. Wayne hugged Sarroux in his arms, and took off his zer and put in over his son¡¯s body to keep him warm. Not long after, Sarroux seemed toe out of his unconsciousness. ¡°Dad... don¡¯t cover me just yet. I¡¯m not dead.¡± Sarroux struggled to get up, but he was too weak even to move a muscle. The pain from the gunshot wound became unbearable. ¡°Don¡¯t try to talk. Save yourself some energy!¡± Wayne stopped him. ¡°You¡ª¡± Before he could continue, he saw something in the corner of his eye and quickly looked up to his right. In the dense forest, a tall and slender mantis humanoid was trudging through the woods, making a loud rustling sound as it stepped on the leaves on the forest floor. ¡°It¡¯s the Dark Mantis! That¡¯s it...¡± Wayne eximed, a chill washing down his guts. After hiding for so long, the monster had still found them. He had ridden through all the ups and downs in politics for pretty much all of his life, yet never a second in his life he had ever imagined he would die in such goddamn ce. And he could not even save his own son. But he was not alone. The two bodyguards were quaking in their boots, too, while trying to aim their weapons at the mantis with their shivering hands. ¡°Sarroux, are you scared?¡± Wayne forced a smile, lowering his head to kiss his son¡¯s forehead. ¡°Forgive me, son. I have been too strict with you... I just didn¡¯t want you to make the same mistakes that I¡¯ve made...¡± Sarroux struggled to sit up. ¡°I know... but it¡¯s toote now... if... if I could make it out, I want to find Mom.¡± Wayne instantly fell into silence. The four of them stared dead at the silhouette of the Dark Mantis. Death was the only oue when they bumped into a mutant like Dark Mantis, Wayne thought. Five seconds had passed. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. Thirty seconds. Under their watchful eyes, the Dark Mantis not only had stoppeding, but it was also retreating slowly. Wayne¡¯s keen eyes had even noticed that it was trembling. The arms of the Dark Mantis was shivering. ¡°What are you afraid of?¡± The young voice, cold and calm, asked in a low voice behind them from afar. ¡°Who is it?¡± Wayne did not dare to look back as he was too afraid to agitate the Dark Mantis. ¡°Are you crying, Sarroux?¡± Again, the male voice was heard saying, apanied by a series of calm and rhythmic stride. Sarrouxy in his dad¡¯s arm. Tears swelled in his eyes upon hearing the voice. ¡°Big brother!¡± Sarroux was too weak even to turn his head. But he could instantly make out the identity of the person based on the voice. It was a strong man whom he worshipped, followed, and supported. Wayne turned his head around very slowly to look back at the grassy slope behind him. There was no one there just a minute ago, and this person hade out of nowhere. Strong, perfectly built body with marble carvings-like body muscles, the man held a silver cross sword walking in a leisure pace toward them. His hawkish eyes reflected nothing in the surroundings. ¡°I¡¯ve been looking for you. It¡¯s time to go home.¡± The man nced down at Sarroux. All of a sudden, Dark Mantis seemed to have spotted an opportunity. Itunched itself at the man, aiming the sickle at the man¡¯s neck. A loud boom ensued as a shell was shot out of the man¡¯s left hand while he grabbed the mantis by the throat, lifting it in the air. The next second, the head of Dark Mantis exploded with the body dropped and rolled dead on the ground. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We¡¯re going home.¡± Lin Sheng threw the cross sword to Sarroux. ¡°Your walking stick.¡± Wayne and Sarroux were dumbfounded. Seeing Lin Shenging with a sword, they thought he was a swordmaster. But it turned out... ¡°Stop looking like you¡¯re dead! Quickly meditate, initiating your inner strength to heal yourself,¡± said Lin Sheng impatiently. ¡°We have many things to do today.¡± ¡°A...aye!¡± Sarroux quickly helped himself sit up from his dad¡¯s arm and started meditating. Indeed, a faint warmth began to circte in his abdomen, focusing on his gunshot wound to help resist infection. Lin Sheng stepped closer to him. In a fast lighting motion, he touched Sarroux¡¯s gunshot wound with his finger. The bullet popped right out of the wound onto the grassy forest floor. ¡°Hold him up and follow me.¡± Lin Sheng said indifferently. Huai Wayne en and the two bodyguards looked on and did not know how to respond for a moment. When they finally came out of their amazement, they quickly held Sarroux up. At night, the area in the surroundings of the Ironfist Society was deserted. Lin Sheng had arranged Sarroux to rest in the lounge at the back of the premise and hired a doctor to treat his wound. Strictly speaking, a doctor without a license was not allowed to practice. However, there was always an exception. Among the many disciples of the society was a middle-aged man who was once a doctor. The simple wound dressing was not even a challenge to him. Sarroux was quickly treated and now resting in the conference room. Lin Sheng, Sarroux¡¯s father, Wayne, Dao Ling, and the neer, Luo Xinna were sitting at a round table in the room. Wayne had note out of his astonishment until now. Only the most badass sniper could shoot the Dark Mantis right in the head and kill it, but it appeared like a fragile toy in front of this man, who just needed to nip with the tips of his fingers to make it explode like a balloon. The mental shock reminded Wayne of legends about the middle to higher-order Darksiders. ¡°Master Lin... thank you for saving us...¡± Wayne had wanted to thank him, but Lin Sheng flung his hand up to stop him. ¡°Let¡¯s cut the cackle. Can you describe the Dark Mantis, what is it? Why was it here?¡± Lin Sheng said calmly. ¡°Also, there were three murders that happened in the city under the broad daylight today. One of the cases involves a family member of our disciples.¡± Dao Ling said in a low voice. ¡°This happened way too often!¡± At first, he thought the murders had to do with the society, but upon further investigation, he found that simr cases had popped up around Huaisha. No. it was not only Huaisha. The same thing had happened in nearby cities. Chapter 133 - Unfolding: Part 1

Chapter 133: Unfolding: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Since things havee to this and no matter who is behind the murder when they have dared to move against Sarroux, the disciple of Ironfist Society, this is the greatest provocation. I dere that from now on, Ironfist Society is officially involved in investigating the case.¡± Lin Sheng said calmly and determinedly as he slowly rose to his feet. ¡°I don¡¯t care about the other part of Anduin province, but here in Huaisha, I don¡¯t want to hear about any murdermitted again.¡± His dered darkly. ¡°But, President, finding the murderer with our lone strength, would it be...¡± Dao Ling frowned as he said this. Ironfist Society was only a civilian force established not long ago; even it was hard to determine the level of loyalty of its followers in just such a short time. He wondered what gave Lin Sheng the confidence to make such an ambitious im. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I have made a request to the higher up. Do you really think that we are the only people in Ironfist Society?¡± Lin Sheng tly said. The higher up? Dao Ling¡¯s expression took a sudden change. Not only him, but also others in the room were quietly shocked. Something was more to these words than met the eyes, it seemed. Everyone began to specte quietly with imaginations running wild, yet their facial expressions remained unruffled. Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes swept over them and instantly knew that this was the reaction he had intended it. He had a grand n and secret calctions right from the start. Things like sacred-power practice, age-old sword skills,bat techniques, and experiences did not just appear out of nowhere. Instead, each of them had an origin, a root. Now, it was the time to unfold the mystery, which was that there was a highermand, the HQ, above Ironfist Society, an inscrutably mysterious, extremely powerful yet stealthy force. ¡°President, do you mean that Ironfist Society is only a division of something bigger?¡± Dao Ling asked after a moment of silence, his eyes sparkling with an explicable excitement. He looked at Luo Xinna, who was no less shocked and awed than he was. Apparently, Luo Xinna knew little about the inner secrets of Ironfist Society. After all, he only joined the society not long ago. Sarroux¡¯s dad, Wayne, was equally if not more, appalled. He had utterly no clue of what was happening. Although he could roughly know that there was the headquarters, he had no idea of what it was and what it meant. After assessing their reactions, Lin Sheng continued. ¡°I was the one who founded the division. But now, the situation has taken a sudden change. It¡¯s by far beyond the division¡¯s ability to handle. So...¡± He paused for a second and then continued. ¡°I will request for reinforcement from the HQ. The room turned stilly silent. The only sound audible was the breathing of them. Everyone was trying to make sense of what Lin Sheng had said. How could Ironfist Society not just be a small potato? It looked like the society was an essential part of something bigger and more powerful, from which they could get reinforcement on request. Dao Ling lowered his head. He finally got the picture. ¡°No wonder! I¡¯ve long said that it is such a mature skill of sacred power practice, it must note from a lone genius. Now, it has turned out that indeed, there was a profound secret and a more powerful backing behind all this. The only thing that I wonder is how powerful the HQ is.¡± ¡°All right. The person investigating Ironfist Society will be here soon. But he will not appear in the open; the investigation will be done covertly. You will know the identity, appearance, and other information of the investigator when you see him. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary to say it here. That¡¯s what I have to say, and Mr. Wayne, you can first go to take some rest.¡± Lin Sheng arranged as such. Wayne rose to his feet. ¡°President Lin, thank you for saving my son and me. Since Ironfist Society is involved in the case, I have some information that might help.¡± He had no idea how powerful Ironfist Society was. But even without this weighty support, he had more than enough confidence in Lin Sheng¡¯s ability. ¡°I¡¯d love to hear.¡± Lin Sheng looked at Wayne in curiosity. ¡°The embarrassing situation I¡¯m in now will not discount the fact that I was once a deputy minister of security for many years in the province, although now I have been kicked out...¡± Wayne forced a smile. Lin Sheng¡¯s interest was aroused. He had no idea how high the position of a deputy minister of security was, but someone who was involved in the security matter of a province should be equal to a city-level official. Anyone of this level should have ess to many internal secrets even the person had a lousy mastery of Xilin. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard Sarroux mentioning it.¡± There was not much expression on his face. Although Wayne had once upied a high governmental position, the acquisition of different memories in the dreams had made Lin Sheng more than an ancientnguage expert. ¡°It would be better if the information could be written down so that everyone could have a rough idea of it while getting the mental preparedness,¡± he said matter-of-factly. ¡°In fact, if things haven¡¯te to this, I wouldn¡¯t want to request the HQ for reinforcement because this will only make me look bad. At the same time, it is also because people from the HQ have a vastly different style of doing things than us. They and we are a world apart.¡± The others did not get the drift, but they could see Lin Sheng¡¯s attitude toward the people from the HQ. ¡°Then, I shall make it into writings right away.¡± Wayne nodded and then left the meeting. The disciples who were waiting on the outside quickly brought him to his room. Ironfist Society premise was formerly a school, the staff quarters of which had now been converted into guest rooms, where Wayne could rest and stay. After Wayne left, there were only Lin Sheng, Dao Ling, and Luo Xinna in the conference room. ¡°Now, since Surroux is injured and needing rest, Dao Ling, you would have to take care of the society¡¯s affairs,¡± Lin Sheng said, looking at Dao Ling. ¡°It¡¯s not a problem at all, I could still manage. The Ironfist Society division is still moderate in size, it is pretty easy to manage,¡± Dao Ling quickly said. After all, with his experience in managing a martial art club of hundreds of people, he surely could handle Ironfist Society with ease. ¡°No. What I mean is Luo Xinna will take care of the society affairs. You have already transcended onto the extraordinary, and you should take the opportunity to hunt down the mantis monsters in the city,¡± exined Lin Sheng. ¡°Me, alone?¡± Dao Ling was stunned. ¡°Of course, not.¡± Lin Sheng pped his hands twice, and the conference room door was pushed open. A tall man wearing a ck robe, hoodie, and a mask walked in slowly. His face was tightly wrapped in bandage with only a pair of blood-shot eyes visible under the hoodie. ¡°This is Crow. He is originally the monitor of the progress of our division. But now in this special case where we areck of manpower, Crow will be part of the search and hunt team to rid the city of the unknown threat.¡± Lin Sheng so introduced. Chapter 134 - Unfolding: Part 2

Chapter 134: Unfolding: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Crow nodded lightly at Dao Ling and Luo Xinna; his eyes exuded nothing but coldness. ¡°I won¡¯t get overly involved. After the case closes, I will return behind the scene. I hope all of you understand,¡± he said in an awfully hoarse voice. Dao Ling quietly sized up Crow, his tall and brawny figure, his posture of clenching the sword at his waist, and his always on-guard stance. All this was a telltale sign that Crow possessed a highly cultivatedbat readiness. A swordmaster? Luo Xinna¡¯s eyesnded on the hilt of the sword on Crow¡¯s waist. ¡°Besides,¡± Lin Sheng reminded, ¡°Crow is also of level extraordinaire. If you encounter any threat or problem, you can tell me. If he is nearby, he could quickly render his support.¡± ckfeather swordsmen were not of extraordinary level, but hazing into a plume of ck smoke could evade bullets. To people in the real world, this ability was no different from level extraordinaire. ¡°I got it.¡± Dao Ling nodded. He still had doubt when Lin Sheng first told of the HQ, because there were just too many inconsistencies that reeked of a sham. But the appearance of Crow had utterly changed his opinion. A master extraordinaire was not someone whom one could make up out of thin air. He had only encountered a handful of masters extraordinaire in all his life. Yet the one appearing here was rendering his support to the Ironfist Society. When such a thing happened, it was hard to convince people otherwise that the Ironfist Society had no stronger backing. ¡°Then, I will first excuse myself.¡± Crow nodded at Lin Sheng. He then turned around, walked out the door and left the premise. His steps were feather-light and ghostly silent, drawing no whatsoever attention to himself. This formidable covert skill had Dao Lin and Luo Xinna watching in wonderment. They saw with their astonished eyes how Crow stealthily left the premise through the opened door. ¡°Then, we will wrap up the meeting for today. The division¡¯s development needs a transition and stabilization period, and we are also severely short of manpower.¡± Lin Sheng said with a throaty voice. ¡°After this incident, I need you all to step up your practice and transcend yourselves into level extraordinaire. And also not forgetting to invite more masters to join us.¡± ¡°Understood!¡± Luo Xinna knew that Lin Sheng was referring to him. Once meditating on the Ashen Seal, he would have to stay loyal to the Ironfist Society if he did not want to lose the power of the level extraordinaire. This would ensure his loyalty to the society. Furthermore, he and Dao Ling were close friends who intuitively knew what each other thought. He still had doubts about this little Ironfist Society when he first joined, but knowing the existence of the powerful HQ, he was totally convinced of his choice. Gone was his iffy feelings, reced by eager anticipation and relentless curiosity, and topped with a rapidly increased sense of security. ¡°Now, go and prepare yourself. I will stand guard here these few days,¡± said Lin Sheng, his voice was low and calm. With Sacred Shield Tyrant guarding his house, he did not have to worry about his family. At least, a dozen mantis monsters were not even able to make a dent on Sacred Shield Tyrant. One of the ckfeather swordsmen was guarding his family while they were outside. Another ckfeather swordsman by the name of Crow was involved in the society¡¯s affairs. So, Lin Sheng was left with no one staying beside him. ¡°We seriously need more people...¡± But, he had a new n. As Dao Ling and Luo Xinna rose their feet and left the conference room with excitement spread across their faces, Lin Sheng had made up his mind to conduct a new round of summoning ceremonies as soon as he could. With the heavily armored soldiers, a spell caster, andstly, the fire-spitting fat dude, he now was able to take in a higher load of summoned creatures. This time, he needed to select his targets carefully. Lin Sheng did not stay in the society premise just yet. Instead, he had called a cab heading home. His sis, Lin Xiao, and Chen Minjia¡¯s eyes were glued to the idiot box. tes of different dishes were still on the dining table. Lin Xiao was upset to see Lin Sheng finally came home empty-handed. ¡°Did you not say you were going to buy some ingredients? Where are the ingredients? Sis Jiamin had volunteered to cook for us!¡± Lin Xiao was visibly angry. Chen Minjia shook the water off her hands and said, ¡°That¡¯s okay. I just hope you two like my cooking. I¡¯ve almost lost the skill after so long.¡± Wearing an apron, her face appeared flushed, seemingly a result of the grilling heat from the stove. Compared with thest time when Lin Sheng saw her, she looked livelier. ¡°It¡¯s my fault.¡± Feeling a sense of guilt, Lin Sheng changed into his usual slippers and quickly went over. ¡°Come, sit down and eat. But you got to wash the dishes,¡± Chen Minjia quipped with a witty smile. On any other day, people¡¯s eyes were on stalks to see this rare asion. Nine out of ten people had never known Chen Minjia could be capable of smiling. ¡°Okay.¡± Lin Sheng quickly sat down. His bowl of rice had been prepared on the table. All he needed was to pick up a pair of chopsticks. Lin Xiao and Chen Minjia had eaten before. But the dish portions were a littlerge, the two girls had only nipped a little. Shredded pork with green pepper, ck mushroom chicken soup, and stir-fried cabbage. The three dishes looked delicious and smelled awesome. Even the presentation was fabulously exquisite. Chen Minjia had turned what was only an ordinary home-cooked meal into a Michelin-starred culinary with her magic hands. Astonished, Lin Sheng picked up some shredded pork and green pepper with his chopsticks and put them in his mouth. Crunchy and slightly spicy, the meat was fresh and tender. It was hard to nitpick on whether the texture or taste. ¡°Awesome!¡± Lin Sheng nodded his head vigorously while reaching to pick up more of it. Knowing that Lin Sheng enjoyed her cooking, the corner of Chen Minjia¡¯s mouth slightly cocked up with a beautiful smile of satiation. ¡°Then eat more since you like it. We two have had our fill.¡± ¡°All right!¡± Lin Sheng lowered her head and concentrated on the dishes. Quickly, he reached for the green peppers and shredded pork again, and before long, he had exterminated half of the dish. Lin Xiao could not bear to see her brother¡¯s ravenous appetite. Especially after he started his physical training, he had literally be a ¡®rice bucket¡¯¡ªterm reserved for people with a scarily insatiable appetite. Meanwhile, Chen Minjia looked on with a slightly twitchy smile. Before she knew it, Lin Sheng had polished off the remaining shredded pork green pepper dish, with Chen Minjia and Lin Xiao looked on with their eyes on stalks. ¡°Leave him to it, Sis Jiamin. We have reserved a separate portion for my dad and mom.¡± ¡°I just taste a little...¡± Lin Sheng tried to argue. ¡°You still have to nerve to say that!¡± Lin Xiao retorted. Chen Minjia covered her mouth but still could not hold back her amusedughter. While Lin Sheng was still on his meal and the two girls were giddily chattering, Chen Minjia suddenly received a call. She had to leave to attend to some business. After the meal and cleaning things up, Lin Sheng learned the whereabouts of his parents through the ckfeather swordsman. Knowing that they were safe, he went into his bedroom and drew out his bag from under the bed. He then made up an excuse and headed out the door. He needed to summon more helpers as soon as possible. He preferred to call the monsters that he summoned as soldiers. These soldiers had the necessary basic level of intelligence, looked no different from any human beings. It was just that they had no free will, which meant they were like aputer, an existence wholly guided by some mysterious power through the ceremony to carry out orders. If Lin Sheng so wished, he could control the body and ability of these soldiers any time he wanted. As if programming aputer, Lin Sheng would be infused with their different memories and using these memories to control them. Chapter 135 - Unfolding: Part 3

Chapter 135: Unfolding: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng rode his bicycle, heading straight toward the abandoned factory in the suburb. The journey took half an hour, and this made him ponder the idea of finding a new staging area that was nearer to home. His thought was further encouraged by the fact that the current location of the factory was not adequately stealthy. ¡°Let me first settle the things here.¡± He hid his bike in a bush and then strode through the doorway of the factory. Three young men were sitting in a circle around a bonfire, seemingly on to something. When they heard footsteps, they looked in the direction of the doorway. One of the young men, bald and wearing earring, rose to his feet and tidied his leather jacket as he saw a taut man marching in. He did not utter a word but just balefully stare at Lin Sheng, hoping to scare the intruder away with his menacing look. ¡°This ce belongs to me. Don¡¯t evere here again.¡± Lin Sheng demanded as he came and stopped not far away from the bonfire. ¡°Who the f*ck do you think you are?¡± The bald young man snorted, lunging forward to grab Lin Sheng¡¯s shirt cor. But he ended up being lifted up with his two legs kicking frantically in the air. ¡°What the...¡± Before the bald young chap could finish, he was summarily tossed to the ground, hands pressed on his stomach as he curled up in pain. Just when the other two surged to their feet with one of them drawing out a knife, they saw what happened to theirpanion and husked. But what surprised Lin Sheng was that the young man and woman did not quickly flee. He could see that they were afraid; the young woman was literally quaking in her boots. But they remained at where they were, eyes darting between their bald friend and Lin Sheng. A whileter, they only began to say, ¡°We apologize for trespassing your ce. We are leaving right away!¡± said the young shorthaired chap with a smile, tucking the knife away beforeing forward with the young woman to hold their friend up from the ground. Knowing that Lin Sheng would not do anything to them further, they breathed a sigh of relief and quickly left. ¡°Wait a minute.¡± Lin Sheng suddenly spoke. ¡°Would you like to make some quick buck?¡± He looked at the tattered clothes they three wore, an explicable expression shed across his eyes. The three young men and woman halted and looked back, visibly confounded by what they heard. Ten minutester. Lin Sheng had finished cleaning up the ce. He would not conduct the ceremony in the factory again. Since this ce was exposed, it meant that it was no longer safe. Besides, he had a new n in mind. Leaving the abandoned factory, he hung this stuff behind his bike. He carried the bike and walked into the dense woods. He trudged along a dark forest path for ten minutes before arriving at a gray, abandoned monastery. The rotten wooden door of the brick-and-tile monastic building hung askew on its frame, seemingly it could fall at any time. The central part of the building was a small courtyard, but half of the surrounding walls had copsed, making essing the courtyard from multiple sides possible. The roof was gone; the walls were ckened with a faint but horrible burnt smell. The entire monastery was overgrown with weeds and veins. The exposed roots of the nearby giant trees had swallowed almost half of the building. Therge and strong roots had invaded through the monastery¡¯s entrance, the opening of which was now only half the size of its original. ¡°This is the ce.¡± Lin Sheng carried his bicycle into the courtyard. After putting the bike, he snapped his fingers in a loud and crispy click. Immediately, a crow swooped into view and circled above the monastery to scout the surroundings. He took the bag containing the materials for the ceremony and briskly went into the monastery. Inside, there were five rooms. Roots and veins had covered the entire space of the main hall. It was not usable. The side halls, kitchen, and living quarters were in an utterly dpidated condition with roof tiles all over the ce. There was absolutely no ce for one to rest one¡¯s foot on. Except for one guest room, where there was still the roof was still partially intact. Other than the moss and some wild fungi on the ground, it looked a lot neater than the rest of the building. With location identified, Lin Sheng quickly put down the backpack and swept away the dark-green guey veins in the surroundings. The veins were covered in little tiny poisonous spikes, but they could inflict no harm to Lin Sheng¡¯s skin. Instead, the poisonous spikes felt like soft and fluffy fur of the bird in Lin Sheng¡¯s hand. He made space by briefly clearing up the veins and other overgrown in the surroundings. He then took out the stic ritual drawing that he had previously used but still in good condition. He just had to wipe it clean, and it was reusable again. ¡°Luckily it was written with water-proof, wear-resistant, highly concentrated ink.¡± Lin Sheng took out a torch and carefully examined the stic ritual sheet that he hadid open on the ground. The patterns wereplete, and the symbols were clear as if it had never been used before. He began to prepare the ingredients, taking out the gold nuggets, and setting up the t pan. He then collected some dried branches and built a rudimentary stove with rocks. Quickly, Lin Sheng had made a small bonfire. Acrid smoke was billowing from the small bonfire. Lin Sheng ced the t pan on the fire, took out the stic water bottle and poured out the pre-boiled water out into the pan. He then lit the buttermp, and a waft of faint beef aroma began to drift about in the air. The less than ten-meter-square room instantly brightened up under the illuminations of the bonfire, buttermp, and torch. Lin Sheng checked the circle on the stic sheet for thest time. After making sure there was no whatsoever mistake, he got to his feet and ced the prepared ingredient mixture at the preset positions. He had not forgotten to put the white spider into the pan filled with water. After doing all this, he stood straight and began to chant the initiator. ¡°Mu, ba, en, di, yu, yi...¡± Strange-sounding sybles came out from Lin Sheng¡¯s mouth. Gradually, a cloud of white smoke rose from the buttermp. The smoke swiftly drifted to the water surface in the t-bottom pan, stirring rings of riddle in it. Before long, the water seemed to boil in a hiss as steam began to rise from the pan and surrounded Lin Sheng in it. Lin Sheng shut his eyes like he had done it a hundred times over, and his vision went dark. Groups of light began to appear one after another in the dark. There were three types of light balls: blue, gray, and red, drifting in Lin Sheng¡¯s field of vision. ¡°The blue light ball is the soul of a bird in Gray Angel. The gray light ball is the armored soldiers of the Fay Vault. The red light ball is the ckfeather swordsmen.¡± Lin Sheng was transfixed, wrinkling his brow. He could feel his soul has enough capacity, but what hecked was powerful-enough summoned creatures to fill it. ¡°After thest blood infusion, I can no longer summon the fire-spitting fat dude again. I need to go into the dream as quickly as possible to look for new summoned subjects.¡± He started to make sense of the inner working of the ceremony. The number of soldiers he could summon seemed to depend on the number of monsters he killed in the dreams. Just like Sacred Shield Tyrant, whom he had only killed one, so he could only summon on Sacred Shield Tyrant. Same went for the me-spitting fat dude. But it was different for the armored soldiers and ckfeather swordsmen, which he had killed many, and he could summon them again. ¡°The armored soldiers are suitable for open confrontation. In terms of strength, they are below level three, mostly likely level two, slightly powerful than the ckfeather swordsmen but have much higher defense ability and upy less space in my soul than the ckfeather swordsmen do. The downside is that they are slow.¡± Lin Sheng calcted in his mind. ¡°They all have nightmare void forming abilities. The ckfeather swordsmen are assassins. The armored soldiers are forward-charging type... since theye from the Fay Vault, I might as well call them the Vault Guards.¡± After making up his mind, he shifted his attention to the gray light ball. He had chosen the vault guards because they appeared like any ordinary human beings without the armors, camouge ability was far better than the ckfeather swordsmen were. Instantly, Lin Sheng was shrouded in a sh of gray light. When he finally recovered his vision, he found himself floating above a massive medieval temple. A general, tall, wearing a white helmet with a ck cloak behind his back, was standing in front of the gray and white temple. The military man was bare-chested, his strong muscles looked like a wall of solid steel. Below the temple was an army of shield and sword, armored soldiers. ¡°I will make your souls mine, we be as one.¡± The general unsheathed his double-edged broadsword and raised it in the air. ¡°The sun protects us!¡± he roared, and then the army below raised their swords and echoed with a deafeningly fiery roar. ¡°The sun protects us!¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s vision went dark, and he left the memories. A vault guard in full silver armor was floating in his field of vision. Below the guard was the Ancient Rehn numeric character of the number four. Chapter 136 - Covert War: Part 1 Chapter 136: Covert War: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Four?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He did not harp on it, however, as he quickly injected thebat memories of the armored soldiers that he had acquired earlier. He then quickly opened his eyes and saw four soldiers wearing silver armor. They were standing before him in the brightly illuminated space in the room. ¡°Weren¡¯t their armor ck earlier? Or is this what the Vault Guards are supposed to look like?¡± A thought came to mind, and Lin Sheng walked around and observed the four soldiers. ¡°One soldier, step forward.¡± Hemanded in his mind. One of the Vault Guards stepped out, his heavy armor nked loudly, making way more noise than the ckfeather swordsmen did. Lin Sheng came close to the soldier and carefully examined him. The entire armor was silver in color, the upper part was bucket-type chest te apanied by a cape armor, and the leg armors at the bottom. They looked not much different from the one he wore in the dreams. He knocked the armor with his hand. It sounded a bit dull, which meant it was a thick piece of metal. ¡°Aside from the color, there are not many changes.¡± Lin Sheng then checked the sword and the shield. Still, they were the same as before, except that they had be silver color now. He checked the thickness of the armor tes; they were as thick as a phnge of the finger. Armor tes of such thickness would be imprable even by bullets. He did not know about sniper rifles, though, as he had no experience using it. But, he could imagine that even shots from a weapon as powerful as a sniper rifle would have a hard time making a meaningful dent on the armor. ¡°The Vault Guards are the most resistant to weapons.¡± Lin Shengmented, however, among the normal human beings, who would possess the kind of strength to wear this heavy metal armor and walked around with it? A phnge of the finger in thickness, which was roughly about 24-mm piece of metal, Lin Sheng calcted in his mind. This kind of thickness was skin to a tank. Again, he reached to open the helmet visor of the soldier. Under the helmet was the face of a tall man with white hair, white skin, and ck eyes. The man looked emotionless, eyes exuding a deadly coldness, and were totally devoid of self-consciousness. ¡°Your name will be Sddin from now on. You will be in charge of the Vault Guards.¡± Lin Shengmanded. ¡°Aye!¡± Sdin dropped to his knee with his head lowered in a gesture of salutation. Sdin meant sturdy and strong in ancient Rehn. Save for if it was under the bombardment of heavy firepower, these armored soldiers were practically an imprable fortress. Lin Sheng did not recall during any time in his dreams he had ever worn this kind of armor. ¡°It seems that the armor has lost a considerable thickness after being exposed to years of corrosion in the vault.¡± Lin Sheng figured. Otherwise, the armor he had worn would not weigh merely sixty kilograms. It would weigh at least a hundred. ¡°Now, Sddin, bring two soldiers with you and follow the crow. Once arriving at the destination, search the city for any non-human creatures and then kill on sight.¡± Lin Sheng quicklymanded. ¡°Aye!¡± Sdin replied aloud with an emotionless expression. Immediately, he and the other two Vault Guards behind him turned into a cloud of ck smoke and disappeared out through the opening in the room. The ck crow let out a loud caw and then flew straight toward the direction of Huaisha. The remaining one Vault Guard stood unmoved, waiting for Lin Sheng¡¯s order. ¡°Go to patrol the perimeter. No creatures are allowed to bother me.¡± Lin Shengmanded. ¡°Aye.¡± The Vault Guard turned around and strode out with loud nking noise, leaving the monastery ruin and making his round in the surroundings. Lin Sheng looked around the scene of the ceremony and quickly cleaned up the mess. He felt that his soul was fully upied again. Just four Vault Guards, yet they had taken up the soul capacity that he had worked so hard to achieve. ¡°Apparently, killing and acquiring a fragment of the soul does not mean that I can make use of this fragment to summon a corresponding monster. I should have acquired more fragments to make aplete soul, then only could I summon a corresponding soldier.¡± Lin Sheng began to calcte. ¡°Then, how many soul fragments should I acquire to make, or rather summon aplete soul?¡± A mansion area in Huaisha. Body parts were strewn on the floor in the living room on the first floor of a mansion. Blood-spatters were on the walls, sofa, TV, and refrigerator. A middle-aged man with a fat belly was lying on the couch, his internal organs had been entirely gouged out. Lying on the wooden stairs was the body of a little girl. The flesh on her face, arms, legs, and body, basically all parts that contained tissue had been ripped apart, leaving behind massive bloody open wounds. When Shad led another two police officers and stormed into the mansion and saw the horrifying scene, one of them instantly turned around and emptied outst night¡¯s dinner. Shad¡¯s brow gently perspired. ¡°It is already the fifth case since yesterday. This is utterly crazy! Absolutely sick!¡± He mumbled, looking at the two bodies but stopping short ofing near them. What worried him more was the disappearance of the minister of security, Wayne, together with twenty or so of his men while investigating the murder case. He was still nowhere to be found until now. Eyewitnesses recounted that they saw some bodies in the woods. But when he led his men to check out the ce, there was nothing there except some bloodstains here and there. ¡°Something had happened to the master of the Azure Heart when he left...¡± Shad was like a cat on hot bricks. ¡°Chief... what should we do now?¡± An officer named Jerde asked in a low voice. Jerde was a veteran of the department; he had seen many murder cases. He had seen far worse, more horrible scenes than this one, so he was not affected by what he saw. ¡°Now... I must inform my superior! That¡¯s right! My superior!¡± The first thinging Shad¡¯s mind was to shift his responsibility, and then apply for a transfer. He could not stay in this goddamn ce anymore. Cases kept cropping up continuously. It seemed there was no stopping to it. He began to worry that he might not live long enough to see his term end if he were to continue to stay here. ¡°Then you¡¯d better be quick. The killer is maniacally fast. So many cases with so many people killed in just two days.¡± Jerde said with a frightful expression. ¡°Perhaps we could ask the favor from the White Tarots gang...¡± The police officer who had just thrown up said quietly. But Shad did not respond. As chief of the police department, he knew the situation better than anyone else did. The White Tarots had been transferring their assets elsewhere, with only a small part of it still remained locally. After the murder of Chen Hang, the White Tarots had been behaving strangely. Instead of seeking revenge, they had opted to dispose of their assets and moved their money overseas. ¡°It¡¯s useless.¡± Shad had spected that the White Tarots might have been afraid of the killer who had been staying in the dark all this while. But intuition told him otherwise. Suddenly, the door of the mansion was pushed open as a man, old but hunky and tall, wearing a ck sports suit, walked in. ¡°Chief Shad?¡± the old man asked. ¡°I¡¯m Chief Shad. You are?¡± Shad could sense an unusual vibe on the old man. He must be no small potato, and caution in his attitude would be wise, Shad thought. With too many shits happening, he had started to get paranoid and afraid of causing more trouble for himself. ¡°I am Dao Ling,¡± the old man said in a throaty voice, ¡°from Ironfist Society. I¡¯ve visited you in hopes that you could provide information and leads on the murder case.¡± Chapter 137 - Covert War: Part 2 Chapter 137: Covert War: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Ironfist Society? Murder? I¡¯m sorry. If you have no authorization in writing, I¡¯m afraid I cannot divulge anything to you.¡± Shad shook his head. ¡°Besides, this is now a crime scene, and the police have sealed off the premise. How the hell did you get in here?¡± Dao Ling did not answer. A cautious expression rose on his face. He spun around suddenly, swinging his elbow back at the same time and hitting a shadow that came out of thin air. As the golden glow of sacred power shed in his eyes, every muscle of his body sprang into action, and he whisked a chop to the shadow with his hand. The protection of Ashen Seal-Sanctuary enabled him to confront the enemy head-on with no hesitation. The Ashen Seal could withstand multiple low impact force, protecting him from possible injury. Unable to respond in time, the shadow was struck hard on the head with his skull rupturing violently. Green blood spattered everywhere as the body of the shadow dropped dead on the floor. Only then, Shad and the others began to see the figure clearly. It was a skinny yet massive mantis with the height of a human. Its two round ck eyeballs, which exuded a sense of violence, were still rolling back and forth. Dao Ling retracted his hand and carefully studied the bodies of the jumbo mantis on the floor. This was also his very first time encountering this type of monster. ¡°This thing was fast, its body was riddled with poisonous spikes. Had it not been for the protection of Ashen Seal-Sanctuary, I would have been injured, or dead.¡± It was only then that fear began to fill him. ¡°This thing is not human!¡± The police officer behind Shad yelled in fear. ¡°Stop it!¡± Shad had seen plenty of strange things in his life. Now, seeing the strange, dead creature on the floor, he knew that he had been dragged into a supernatural case again. ¡°Can we talk now?¡± Dao Ling looked at Shad. With so many murder cases taking ce, Lin Sheng had to let Sarroux call his home, making the lie that he was staying at Sarroux¡¯s ce. Even Sarroux¡¯s dad had yed a sidekick role in the fib. Atst, he got a three-day leave. After summoning the four helpers, Lin Sheng quickly sent out two of them to join in the search and skill operation in the city. The other two soldiers were tasked with the duty of patrolling the immediate vicinity of Ironfist Society. This was necessary because there were still many disciples of Ironfist Society here. Very quickly, the first day had passed. Murders had skyrocketed to five cases in just one day. Things hade utterly out-of-control that cover-up was no longer possible. Those mantis monsters seemed to have gone into a killing frenzy, randomly killing residents in the city. Despite the joint effort of Dao Ling, Crow, and the two vault guards to hunt down those mantises, they were still unable to trace their trails. The killing of the three mantises was purely chance encounters. So, Lin Sheng decided to use another tactic. He sent a crow flying over the city, and this method worked; they quickly found the mantises. Crow, the ckfeather swordsman, and two vault guards quickly turned into plumes of ck smoke as they were dispatched to kill six mantises with surgical precision. Atst, they sessfully suppressed the vicious murder frenzy in Huaisha. But things had not ended yet. What surprised Lin Sheng was that not only the mantis monsters did not feel fear, they had also begun to focus their attention on attacking Dao Ling and the other three. Even the number of mantis monsters was more than what Lin Sheng had expected. At nightfall on the second day, ten mantises had appeared andunched a concerted assault on Dao Ling and the other three. But Lin Sheng stayed put. He remained in Ironfist Society, keeping tabs on the situation of the four through the phone. If Dao Ling could not even handle this challenge, he would not be qualified as Lin Sheng¡¯s disciple. What Lin Sheng needed were helpers, not burdens. As the steamy greenish tea was poured from the spout of a pot into the white jade-like ceramic cups, the faintly pleasing aroma of the tea began to pervade the meditation room of the society. With a calm andposed demeanor, Lin Sheng sat face to face with Sarroux, who was now showing a lot more patiencepared tost time despite the anxious expression on his face. At least, he began to have theposure of an acting president when he sat there. Wayne sat silently and breathed steadily as he lifted up a cup to savor the tea slowly. ¡°Big brother, why are we still sitting here? Shouldn¡¯t we do something?¡± Sarroux was not happy with the situation. ¡°What do you want to do? What can you do?¡± Lin Sheng nced up at him. ¡°Your physique will still remain that of an ordinary human if you haven¡¯t attained supernatural. All you could do is flee or get your head crushed if you encounter the monster.¡± Sarroux was speechless instantly. ¡°President Lin, we will know the oue by tonight, perhaps?¡± It seemed that Wayne had figured out something. ¡°Perhaps.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. He kept his finger on the pulse of the hunting of the mantises through Crow and the vault guards. He knew very well that those mantises had gone frenzied. The encirclement from the Ironfist Society had inflicted a heavy casualty on them. Those mantises would not remain a sitting duck waiting to be ughtered. In fact, they wereunching a counterattack on the four Ironfist hunters. ¡°I have sent all the disciples home. We are the only ones here.¡± Lin Sheng reached to take the teacup in his hand, carefully observing the color of the tea but not drinking it. ¡°If the information is correct, the mantises are indeed intelligent and revengeful. Their attack on me is a clear indication.¡± Wayne nodded in agreement. ¡°Evacuation of civilians is the best option. At least, this will reduce unnecessary casualty to the minimum.¡± ¡°By right, you two should evacuate too,¡± Lin Sheng put down his teacup, ¡°but Sarroux¡¯s health and Mr. Wayne¡¯s situation are unique; it is safer to stay here than going home.¡± Wayne nodded again but said nothing. He had figured out part of Lin Sheng¡¯s n. Another half an hour had passed, and finally, Lin Sheng was making his next move. He took his teacup and flushed the tea down his throat. ¡°Get some good rest. It might get a little noisy afterward, but stay put.¡± ¡°Big Brother¡ª¡± Just as Sarroux wanted to say something, his dad reached to press his hand on his head, trying to stop him. But his dad was too feeble, and Sarroux stubbornly insisted on getting up. His dad could do nothing about him. ¡°Sarroux, there is no shame to stay alive.¡± Lin Sheng rose to his feet. ¡°Go and take a rest. You are too weak now.¡± Too weak? A shockwave spread through his mind, and Sarroux seemed to have finally figured out something. He gritted his teeth angrily with his head lowered. ¡°I got it. I will make sure I will not be absent next time!¡± He clenched his fists irascibly. As an acting president, all he could do was hiding in the room while his Big Brother and Dao Ling were fighting like a man on the outside all because he was too weak. Perhaps, what happened tonight would be a painfully unforgettable humiliation to the oversized ego of Sarroux. Lin Sheng pushed the door open and strode toward the main hall. On the roof of a building, Sdin pulled his sword back out from the chest of a mantis monster. He flung the blood from the de and dusted the cement off his armor. He again transformed into a streak of ck smoke and flew in the direction where the crow was pointing. In front of a bar under the night sky, two tipsy women stood on the roadside, trying to wave down a cab. They were chattering in a low voice, unaware that there was a tall figure sneaking up behind them. It was a mantis. Slowly and silently, it lunged out from the shadows at the two women. Just at the same time, behind the mantis, a plume of ck smoke appeared quietly and quickly materialized to be a ckfeather swordsman behind the mantis. Chapter 138 - Covert War: Part 3

Chapter 138: Covert War: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion In a dark corner of the city, a ck cross sword pierced through the chest of a mantis. Following a forceful upward whisk of the sword, blood gushed out freely as the mantis¡¯ head and throat were sheared open, leaving its headless body to drop dead on the ground. Following that, the ckfeather swordsman quickly transformed into a plume of ck smoke and flew into the distance. In a quiet alleyway beneath the flight path of the ck smoke, Dao Ling was having a brutal fight with a mantis monster in the dark. This particr mantis was more powerful than the others. Just when Dao Ling was about to lose the battle, a shadow swept past. The mantis suddenly froze as a streak of blood appeared across its neck. A secondter, the mantis¡¯ head slid off its neck and dropped to the ground. Dao Ling quickly nced in the direction where the shadow left, panting loudly. He could only see the back of the ckfeather swordsman, Crow quickly disappearing into the darkness. Killings happened rampantly in Huaisha after dark, and the time was 3.10 a.m. In another dark corner of the city, more bodies of non-human creatures fell to the ground. More mantises than ever had gathered there from afar, yet the situation still slowly but surely leaned in favor of Ironfist Society. ¡°So many have died? Trash! They¡¯re all trash!¡± Somewhere in a dark and dense jungle, a shadowy figure stopped his movements and roared in anger and frustration. ced before the figure were bloody balls of meat on the ground. Made from mincemeat, the meatballs were covered in some disgusting sticky fluid. The shadowy figure opened its ravenous mouth and gnawed half of a meatball as if the yucky fluid did not bother it at all. ¡°Ironfist Society? Where did this piece of trashe from? How dare every Tom, Dick, and Harrye out to fight back while I am injured? Do they really think I will not act?¡± The shadowy figure discarded the half-eaten meatball and pulled himself out of the ground. Before it, two mantis monsters chattered away like they were saying something, producing low, intermittent sounds in the process. ¡°Gather everyone in the vicinity.¡± The shadowy figure unearthed itself and stood on the grass under the moonlight. It was a dark-red humanoid mantis, much brawnier than the other mantises. ¡°How dare that little pest show its teeth to me...¡± He had run out of patience. After the rising suppression in the middle of the country, he was forced to flee to the remote area. Little did he expect to get the same treatment from a little-known snob there. ¡°It looks like I have been silent for far too long; everyone seems to have forgotten who I am...¡± The humanoid mantis grabbed arge ck cape from behind and quickly put it on to cover himself. ¡°Let¡¯s move.¡± The humanoid mantis led the group and moved toward Huaisha. He would not take such insults silently anymore. Now, he wanted to hunt and gather enough blood as well as flesh, then recuperate in the shortest time possible. After that, he would finish off those pieces of thrash who dared to oppose him. He would deal with this Ironfist Society that killed his anciry bodies. He would crush them under his feet, make them his raw, bloody food, and let bystanders understand that he, Tassardibar, was not someone who could be trampled upon even if he had fallen into the gutter. The humanoid mantis moved faster and faster as he became more anxious. A group of shadowy figures was following him and moving just as fast. Through his anciry bodies, he had obtained information on Ironfist Society¡¯s exact location. He had also gathered every child of his in the vicinity to encircle the society¡¯s premises, ready tounch a brutal massacre. They progressed along the road on the edge of the dense forest. With the speed of a humanoid mantis, it took him just a dozen minutes to arrive in the suburbs of Huaisha. More mantises had joined him along the way, and their number had now swelled to over twenty individuals. The mantises moved at lightning speed, and they flew past in the shadows. Their camouge skills were as good as they could get. That left the humanoid mantis the only one still running on the road. At least, it seemed like that was the case. Another ten minutes passed by. When the humanoid mantis arrived in ckwater district, he yanked out a pair of dark-red leather gloves out of nowhere and put them on while he was still running. Under the night sky, Tassardibar stood on the street not far away from the premises of Ironfist Society. He looked ahead at a small building that looked somewhat like a school at the end of the street. That was his target. His surroundings were eerily quiet. The rampant murder cases had turned the area into an abandoned city at night. People stayed indoors, fearing for their safety, but ckwater district had always been the most dangerous ce in Huaisha. The frequent murder cases had only worsened the situation dramatically. The street was well-lit with rows of streetmps along the way. Suddenly, in a dark corner on the left of the road, a vault guard, fully armored, violently pinned a mantis on the ground. On the right, a ckfeather swordsman and a mantis were sending shes at each other. After a dozen rounds, the mantis was shed in the throat and dropped dead to the ground. The vault guards and ckfeather swordsmen were fighting a brutal war along the street that led to the Ironfist Society. It seemed not just the mantises, but these fighters too had gathered here. Although the number of mantises that came under the cover of night had far surpassed their number, the mantises were no match for them when it came to one on onebat. Instead of joining the fight in the dark corners on both sides of the street, the humanoid mantis strode straight toward Ironfist Society. He aimed to kill the key figure there, and he was less worried about the others. He needed a thorough, decisive victory, a gruesomely brutal massacre to make a point to his enemy and the world that he was still had the strength and in control. ¡°Are these all the men you have? That¡¯s all you¡¯ve got? That¡¯s your headquarters?¡± The humanoid mantis grinned as he strutted toward the premises of the society. All of a sudden, a vault guard lunged out with a sword silently, aiming at his chest. He flung his w to block, bending the sword while sending the soldier flying back out several meters. The soldier dissipated into a plume of ck smoke and disappeared. He was unbothered, and he continued to stride forward. Everyone, be it the ckfeather swordsman, the vault guard, or even his anciry bodies, whoever dared to stand in his way would be summarily and violently flung out of his path. He was far more powerful than they were. Even if he stood still and let the vault guards did whatever they wanted, their silver swords could do no shit about his incredibly tough shell. The differences in strength were depressingly evident. In just a few beats, he had made out three hundred meters. The air was slightly chilly at night. The crescent moon hung brightly in the night sky like a sickle. Inside Ironfist Society, the air was still and quiet. No one was standing guard at the entrance. The whole premises seemed like an empty ce. Suddenly, the door was broken into pieces, and debris was sent flying. The shrapnel hit the walls and the floor, before breaking into smaller wooden chips. A dark-red glove reached in, gripping onto the broken, nched doorframe. Meanwhile, Lin Sheng was sitting with his leg crossed in the main hall, hands resting on his knees, eyes slightly closed as if he had fallen asleep. ¡°Neither the Azure Heart nor Heaven¡¯s Spire. A vige school it is. You are just asking for trouble!¡± a tall figure draped in ck cape strutted into the main hall, eyes fixated on Lin Sheng. He paced forward, slowly drawing his cape open to reveal the steely body of a mantis. He was going to nail this person dead in his chair with his w so that those dumb trashes would understand the consequence of provoking him. The humanoid mantis raised his hand, aiming his finger at Lin Sheng as unexinable purple-red energy appeared and hovered above his palm. ¡°Have you ever seen what death looks like?¡± Suddenly, a voice spoke into his ear. The mantis was transfixed, and he saw Lin Sheng had opened his eyes. This guy who looked nothing but an ordinary folk possessed a pair of light-gold eyes! The humanoid mantis was confounded. Chapter 139 - The Tragic Battle: Part 1

Chapter 139: The Tragic Battle: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Light gold? How could a human possess such a pair of light golden eyes? The thought shed across the mantis¡¯ mind, but there was no time to worry about it. In that split second, innumerable footages rushed into his mind. He sawva flowing, volcanos erupting, cliff breaking off and falling down the gorge. Massive rocks crashing down onto the earth with fire burning and meteors bursting into the atmosphere. He burst out in a roar, abruptly breaking himself out from the hallucinations. When he finally opened his eyes, a big-ass hand hade before him, almost touching his brow. He quickly fluttered his wings, jerking back convulsively. But it was toote. The hand had transformed into a finger; things might seem slow, but the finger had tapped his brow with lightning speed. In a loud, violently explosive shockwave, the mantis¡¯ upper body bent backward with green blood spouting out of his brow. He lost his strength and fell on his knees. Lin Sheng came up to the mantis slowly, his light-gold eyes glistening in a bone-chilling, murderous vibe. ¡°It¡¯s over.¡± He struck his hand down at the mantis¡¯ neck in a deadly sh move. ¡°Goodbye!¡± The mantis suddenly lifted his head, crossing his hands in front of his body. As hands collided, they bounced back, respectively. A new pair of ck wings swung open like a scissor behind the back of the mantis, and the new wings split and grew an additional pair until there were four pairs of wings in total. The eight wings spread open like a ck-winged angel. ¡°Eight Phantom sh!¡± With eight wings spreading wide open as if some living creature, they shed down at Lin Sheng from all directions. Lin Sheng quickly raised his arms in front of his body, bracing for the attack. Once transforming into wings, the speed and strength of the mantis had increased dramatically, and the new eight wings that looked like four arms were even sharper than before the transformation. Bruises began to appear on Lin Sheng¡¯s arms after a moment. This was despite his semi-dragonized skin and the protection of his Ashen Seal-Sanctuary. Lin Sheng was forced to retreat, his light-golden eyes rippling with surprise. ¡°Shadow Salvo. Kill!¡± The eight-winged mantis sped his hands. Plumes of purple mist began to appear and quickly formed four purple, crystal-like spikes on his side. He shouted. Four actinal tentacles that bugged out from his body immediately coupled with the four purple spikes. Four spikes, together with his pair of arms faded into six shadows, flying out toward Lin Sheng in a violent shing move, all aiming at the vulnerable spots. Lin Sheng leaped back at once. But the spikes came too fast and too furious, Lin Sheng was hit squarely in midair. With a thunderous boom, the purple spikes vaporized into a cloud a mist and shrouded Lin Sheng before mercilessly smashing him into the wall behind. The impact almost punctured the wall with broken stones all over the ce. ¡°What a shame. I used to be like you, na?ve to the core, upholding justice, fighting the evil, aspiring to restore everything with my own strength.¡± the eight-winged mantis lifted his arm, ravenously licking the razor-sharp spike with his tongue. ¡°Next, I will rip apart your intestines, shred your bones, and skin your alive before I take you home as my newest collection...¡± ¡°I won¡¯t be.¡± A voice was hearding out from the mist. ¡°I just like your eyes.¡± The eight-winged mantis¡¯ expression crashed, and he immediately lunged to his left. But he still miscalcted his move. A streak of silver light shed in the hall, shing over his eyes in the shape of an arc. ¡°Double Quantum sh!¡± Lin Sheng came to a halt behind the mantis in front of the entrance, kneeling on one knee on the floor, arms spreading wide open like a pair of flying wings and swords. A drop of green blood dripped down from his fingers, bing a stter on the floor. Lin Sheng rose to his feet with a jade-green, horrified eyeball pinched between his fingers on each hand. Right now, his body had again swelled, a streak of purple patterns appearing on his brow; he had activated his Sacred Blood. The eight-winged mantis covered his eyes with his hands, howling incessantly. But Lin Sheng was unruffled. Either a sword or a fist was just a tool for him. All he needed was to use the right skill for the right moment, and victory would be guaranteed. He paced up to the eight-winged minster, his hands continuous changing between shing hands and pounding fists, the side of his arms glimmering with a faintly polished shape of a fiery sword. But the two eyeballs spinning in his hands stayed undisturbed. Losing his both eyes, the eight-winged mantis ran amok, aimlessly waving his arms, attacking and smashing everything, including the furniture, in the surroundings. Lin Sheng¡¯s footsteps had caught his attention. He turned in the direction of the footsteps, fluttering his wings, and together with his pair of arms and four wicked spikes, he transformed at once into a shadow and charged at Lin Sheng. But Lin Sheng stayed put, letting the frenzied attack of the eight-winged mantis brush past him, missing nearly a centimeter. The mantis missed and yowled frenziedly, his attack aimless like sea wave sshing up in all directions. Had it not been for Lin Sheng¡¯s unpredictable moves that changed from hand-to-handbat to weaponized, elusive assault, he would not have lost. But there was still a chance. As long as he could make out alive, he could devour more flesh and blood and grew a new pair of eyes, so he thought, as long as he could stay alive, fleeing this ce... Out of a sudden, a hand burst through his chest from behind. Lin Sheng was right behind him, his right arm piercing through his body like a piece of sharp metal. ¡°Did you just see hope? What a shame, it wasn¡¯t real.¡± Lin Sheng retracted his hand, watching as the eight-winged mantis slowly lost his bnce, falling to the broken floor. ¡°I... I will not... not ept this!¡± The eight-wingedy on his side, hatred, and anguish could still be seen in the bloody hallows his face. Lin Sheng shook the blood off his hands, staring down at the body as he used his sacred power to heal himself. His injuries rapidly healed as a white glow shimmered in his wounds. ¡°This is the world of the survival of the fittest. Since I¡¯m stronger than you are, you are destined to die.¡± He turned his gaze away from the body and sat back down in the broken chair. Outside, the remaining anciry bodies of mantises became even more violent after the death of the mother body. But Lin Sheng had no n to intervene. It was a test of strength for the forces under hismand. Those mantises appeared ferocious and strong, but in reality, a surprise attack was the only skill they were good at. In times of open battle, even Sarroux could kill them with his current strength if he was careful enough. Horrible cries and suppressed groaning could still be heard outside Ironfist Society. The vault guards and the ckfeather swordsmen, and also an army of police that Dao Ling had brought began to hole up and kill the remaining mantises. Gun fires raged on like firecrackers, it just went on and on with ever-increasing frequency. Lin Sheng seemed to sit idly in the chair, but he was quietly directing Crow and Sdin to give their cooperation to the police. Gunshots continued until twilight when the sky began to turn faintly white. Once dead, the bodies of the mantis quickly liquefied to be pools of green fluid, unlike previously where the liquefaction of the bodies had never happened. Chapter 140 - The Tragic Battle: Part 2 Chapter 140: The Tragic Battle: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Ten minutes after gunshots had stopped, and the sky had just begun to turn bright, Dao Ling and Crow brought Shad and the other two police officers walking through the broken door of Ironfist Society. ¡°What the heck?¡± Shad eximed quietly as he took a nce at a piece of the broken door. At the thickness of a palm, the wooden door had broken up into a dozen pieces, strewn on the yard in front of the society¡¯s premises. What had caused this destructive damage? Handgun or grenadeuncher? No. there was no burnt marks from the explosive. Shad was stunned and began to specte. Meanwhile, Dao Ling had gone into the main hall. So, he quickly followed. As soon as they were in the main hall, the first person they saw was Lin Sheng, who was sitting on a chair, and the body of a jumbo mantis. ¡°Congrattions for the victory.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s face was calm, voice loud and clear, exuding a domineering presence. ¡°President, I¡¯m afraid there would have been more casualty if not for the help and leadership of Crow.¡± Dao Ling cupped his hands, forcing a smile. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what method it is, to the victor go the spoils.¡± Lin Sheng said matter-of-factly. ¡°May you all first wait on the side?¡± His eyesnded on the police chief, Shad, at the back. ¡°May I know who you are?¡± ¡°My name is Shad, the chief of Huaisha Police Department. Thank you for rendering your unwavering support to the police.¡± Shad quickly said. ¡°As a local martial art school, the Ironfist Society hase forward at the critical moment to help get rid of the evil. This is a blessing to Huaisha.¡± ¡°It¡¯s so nice of you, Chief.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s face had no emotional changes. Shad grinned, eyes involuntarilynding on the body of the eight-winged mantis. This body seemed to slightly different from those on the outside. But he did not give it much thought, just assuming that it was a mutant, because there had been such a mutant existed before. ¡°We will officially hold a ceremony to give our recognition of the Ironfist Society for the contribution to the anti-terrorism effort. We look forward to the continuous cooperation of the President.¡± Shad was extremely polite. Lin Sheng might be a leader of a civilian body, but his organization had shown its terrific ability. Shad thought that if he could establish a good rapport with Lin Sheng, it might be easier to ask for his favor next time if simr incidents were to happen again. Especially when the world had be ever-increasing turbulent. Shad quietly let out a self-deprecating sigh for his gross ineptitude; for a police chief to butter everyone up was outrageously degrading. ¡°Thank you in advance, Chief Shad.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. The Ironfist Society was badly in need of such positive publicity. Shad quickly squeezed a smile. Just as he wanted to jolly things up further, hurried but firm footsteps were hearding in through the doorway behind him. Two tall military men wearing navy-blue military uniform strode in. The one in front was the handsome, blue-haired man from Azure Heart, whom Shad had met before. As soon as he came in, he saw the body of the eight-winged mantis on the floor and was delighted. ¡°The Ironfist Society has indeed made a great contribution to Huaisha, definitely worthy of recognition. We will publicly present the recognition to the Ironfist Society in the name of the city government. Now, let me first take this body away.¡± At first, he did not even bother toe simply because the eight-winged mantis was elusive, fast, sinister, and cunning. But, the body of a Nightshadow-level Darksider would be totally worth the while. It would be a fantastic material for making first-ss weaponry and equipment. ¡°Major Dondi...¡± Shad¡¯s eyes were on stalks upon hearing what the major said. Lin Sheng was the master who obliterated this mantis monster. Would it be rude to take other¡¯s trophy as his own? Shad thought quietly. The blue-haired young man could not have cared less about Shad. With the wave of his hand, several soldiers in blue uniform and bulletproof vest carrying assault rifles in hands bulged in. They spread out a big white bag as if they had done it over a thousand times before and dashed toward the body of the eight-winged mantis. While the bodies of the regr mantis on the outside had liquefied into pools of horrendous green fluid long ago, the body in the hall remained unchanged. Needless to say, this thing was a high-value subject. Dao Ling was fit to be tied when the soldiers humped in and were about to take the body away. But as the saying goes, no peasants should fight with officials, especially a major who wore military uniforms. He had heard how Shad addressed the young man, calling him Major, apparently an army officer. So, he gritted his teeth and stood down. ¡°Since the Ironfist Society has attained such a high level of capability, you all should be grateful, contributing back to the country by serving the mothend that nurtured you, especially during this time of uncertainty.¡± Major Dondi watched as the body was loaded into the bad. ¡°President Lin, from now on, your society must send at least three master-level fighters every month to serve in the Special Ops division. The stronger one bes, the heavier the responsibility is. I believe that President Lin surely knows what it means. Then I shall say no more. But then,¡± He continued, ¡°I have heard that President Lin has a very special type of practice. Why not you dedicate it to the military in a time when we are gathering all the methodologies of the martial art training so that we cane up with a method of training that can be poprized across the country? If the research is sessful, it would mean a lot to the entire Xilin.¡± This was the real purpose of why he was here. The inadequacy of the Ironfist Society in safeguarding the secrecy of Ashen Seal meditation had caused information leakage. It eventually caught the attention of the Anduin branch of the Psionic Research Division in the military. Earlier, someone in the research division had taken notice of the murder of Chen Hang by Sacred Shield Tyrant and sent Dondi of Azure Heart to investigate and found nothing. But Dondi did not want to go back and give up just like that. At a time when Xilin was gued by corruption from top to bottom, the motivation of the special research team was noble at first¡ªfor the sake of the people and nation, they gave all they had to the research to find a way to save the country. But then, the evil virus of corruption had infiltrated the division, turning it to be a self-interest-centered, money-making, and looting tool. The same happened to Dondi. With such a profitable chance lying before his eyes, he would not go back unless he had gotten his greedy hands on this pot of gold. So, he decided to wait it out in Huaisha. Then, as luck would have it, the Ironfist Society was exposed. Shad could not bear to listen to the bullshit anymore. What more did the major want? He should just take the body and left. But now, he wanted more. He wanted the Ironfist Society to join the military in their operations and demanded Lin Sheng to divulge the methodology of his secret practice. He was asking for too much. Shad thought. ¡°Major Dondi... would it be overly...¡± Shad finally could not keep silent anymore. Seeing himself highly as a military officer of a special division of the military, Dondi would not even look at him, who was just a fat-ass chief of the police department. Instead, his eyes were on Lin Sheng all the time. He figured that if Lin Sheng did not resist, then he could matter-of-factly get what he wanted. But if Lin Sheng resisted, it would be even better for him. If a civilian body dared to resist, he would paint the resistance as treason. By then, Lin Sheng¡¯s society would be ouwed and shut down, men arrested, and he could even gain more money from it. In fact, he would instead wish that Lin Sheng would resist. But Lin Sheng did not say no to him at all as his men carried the body away. ¡°President Lin, are you with me?¡± Dondi squinted, staring intently at Lin Sheng. Since Dondi had chosen toe, he must have already possessed the file on the little Ironfist Society above his desk beforehand, including files on who Lin Sheng was, his background, and his family. He hade well-prepared. ¡°Understood,¡± Lin Sheng replied calmly. ¡°I will have the methodology written down and passed to you, Major.¡± Chapter 141 - The Tragic Battle: Part 3 Chapter 141: The Tragic Battle: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Dondi did not expect Lin Sheng to be able to hold back so much and was surprised for a good moment. He stared hard at Lin Sheng until the corpse was dragged into the vehicle outside before he spoke again. ¡°Very well then. Seems like Master Lin understands what I mean well enough. Let¡¯s go.¡± With a wave of his hand, he led the soldiers away. And not longter, the group of people quickly left Ironfist Society with the sound of the engines starting rang out. The convoy soon departed, as the sound died away. *Boom!!* Suddenly, a massive st thundered from afar as if something had exploded. Lin Sheng suddenly spoke. ¡°Alright, go get the mantis corpse back.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± Crow, the ckfeather Warrior slowly stood out and turned towards the main gate. Shad, Dao Ling, and the rest looked at each other as they saw Lin Sheng, his expression impassive as a chilling cold soon crept up their spine. ¡°Ugh... That-That¡¯s Major Dondi...¡± Shad could not help but stutter. ¡°Perhaps the mantis¡¯panions had struck?¡± Lin Sheng muttered to himself as he left through the side door. Shad tried to open his mouth, yet he felt like he was paralyzed by some virulent poison that froze him in ce. He did not dare to even make a sound, and could only see Lin Sheng slowly make his way off until he disappeared from sight. Dao Ling stood in a corner as he clenched his fist tight. His face sullen and his expression dazed. As he looked at Lin Sheng¡¯s departing silhouette. A surge of unease welled up inside him; where would Ironfist Society end up? ... *Boom!!* A massive burst of me and fury exploded again near a petrol station along the street. Three of the ck jeeps with military tes had been reduced to burning metal, and the passengers inside had left their mortal coils. Only Dondi, at the moment the explosion sted out, threw himself out of the vehicle to avoid part of the explosion. Even when he was a two-wing Darksider, he still could not manage to activate his powers before he was wounded by the ambush. As he struggled to get up from the ground, he took a nce at his right arm and saw that a shard of ss had pierced through it as blood flowed freely from the wound onto the ground. His head too felt weak. Wiping his hand against his forehead, it was all bloodied, and clearly he too was shell shocked by the sudden explosion. While Darksiders are powerful, they could not use their powers to protect themselves all the time. After all, he was not like that eight-wing mantis who had forsaken his humanity. And so, that explosion had gravely wounded him. ¡°Damn it!¡± He held his arm as he scouted around. There was a petrol station just right beside the convoy, and clearly his assant had chosen this ce to blow up the car. Thankfully that explosion did not ignite the petrol station along with it, or else he¡¯d be dead ten times over. ¡°Someone¡¯s screwing with me!¡± Dondi gave out a menacing look as his eyes turned green, and raised his awareness to the maximum. And soon, a puff of ck smoke darted past the wreckage. ¡°Got you!¡± Dondi gritted his teeth as he pulled the ss shard out of his arm. As the wound bleed, it was quickly healed under the green glow of the dark power. *Dash!* He stepped forward and chased after the ck smoke that had a shred of supernatural power in it. The smoke flew very quickly and in mere moments he was brought out to the outskirts into a dry paddy field that was recently harvested. Just as Dondi¡¯s feetnded on the field, he heard a crack behind him as a footstep rang out. He quickly turned around. *Bam!* At that very moment, the ck smoke before him reformed into a three-meter-tall Sacred Shield Tyrant that came charging at him. Behind him, Lin Sheng let his arms down as his body bulked up and purple markings appearing on his forehead. ¡°Charge. ¡°Thunderp! ¡°Sacred Shield!!!¡± *Boooomm!!* As the two pincers met, they turned into white shadows at the same time and charged past Dondi. ¡°Ugh.¡± Dondi fell to his knees as two gaping holes appeared on both sides of his body. His arm had simply disappeared, seemingly evaporated as countless bits of flesh scattered all around. Not only that, his body was no different than a biscuit that had been bitten on two sides, as there were gaping wounds on both the left and right side of his body. And blood flowed freely. ¡°Damn... you all!!¡± He shuddered hard as his face was full of anger and pain. He had no idea his opponents would be so devastating in their initial strike. As the two terrifying force collided, the weave of dark power supporting him was instantly shattered. *Hiss!* Even so, his wounds were healing rapidly as his flesh writhed as it tried to regrow his arms. At the same time, dark feathers started appearing all over his body, like an avian creature. ¡°Kill him.¡± Lin Sheng turned around and looked impassively at thetter. *Hisss...* Strands upon strands of ck smoke took form around the field as Vault Wardens and ckfeather Swordsmen appeared one by one. The Sacred Shield Tyrant too marched over as he lifted his golden shield and ced it and himself before Lin Sheng while the rest of the soldiers encircled Dondi. *Bam!* Dondi dashed forward as he attempted to breakthrough, aiming towards Lin Sheng¡¯s direction. He was quick, but not quick enough to beat the soldiers and the Tyrant. Just as he made the distance of a few meters, two Vault Wardens had materialized before him and went into formation with their shields up high. *Bam!!* Dondi simply ran over them, but before he couldnd the coup de grace, a ck sword came shing at him from the side. He quickly dodged. Denied his both arms, hisbat effectiveness was badly affected, and while his two-wing mutation would allow him to use his dark powers to regrow his limbs, his opponent clearly will not allow him that luxury. Just as he dodged the ck sword, the Vault Guards before him dematerialized as a three-meter-tall tank charged at him. ¡°Starburst!¡± Dondi leaped backward as a surge of green light formed around him and flew towards the Tyrant. Before he could see the result of the attack, two puff of ck smoke quickly materialized beside him into the Vault Wardens and shed at him. Caught off guard, he unleashed his green light as he blocked the attack head-on. But before he could recover two more ckfeather swordsmen appeared on his nk, and stabbed their ck swords at his waist. *ng!* The two des only managed to pierce the surface of the dark power before being stopped. ¡°You!!¡± Dondi roared as he tried to counterattack. And the Tyrant¡¯s colossal de came mming down in a murderous arc. *Booom!!* The green light around his body glowed hot as he was tossed away like a broken doll. Before he could make any height, he was pursued by a few strands of ck smoke. In the air, two ckfeather swordsman rematerialized and stabbed their des at his chest. While beneath him, the Vault Wardens took form and pointed their swords upwards as they shed at him. *Crack!* A loud crack was heard. The green light only managed to hold on for a while before the sky was painted red as Dondi was torn into pieces; his body parts flying all over the field. Lin Sheng looked from afar and tore off his torn shirt, exposing his rock-like physique. He then looked up at the sky before turning back the way he came from as all his soldiers turned into ck smoke and dispersed. Chapter 142 - Relaxed: Part 1 Chapter 142: Rxed: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Anduin Provincial Capital, Adien. ¡°How about a cup of ck tea?¡± Isaac sat on an old bookrack inside a traditional study. On his hand was a thick tome of the local history. His polished head reflected some of the study¡¯s light as his ck eyepatch wasid on the table, revealing his totally white left eye. As he looked at Baron Centfar who had just walked in, he smiled and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ll pass. Not in a habit of drinking anything when I¡¯m reading.¡± ¡°Is that so? That¡¯s a pity then, this is good tea.¡± The man with the curly tinum hair by the door smiled as he held a hot cup of pink tea. ¡°Work is never done,¡± he added. Isaac shook his head. ¡°The situation in Xilin isplicated, I need to make sure there are no leaks in every part of the n.¡± The man with the tinum hairy on the door frame as he ran his fingers through his hair. ¡°We have two years to see this n through. What are you rushing for?¡± Isaac smiled and did not answer. He simply took up his eyepatch and put it on, before adjusting the silver eagle insignia on his cor. This time around, the mission he was sent to Xilin alongside Baron Centfar was not just simple assassinations or suppression. ¡°The top echelon has decided to fullyplete this n. This is most difficult indeed.¡± Isaac paused for a moment. ¡°But after studying it for the past few days, I¡¯ve managed to see the motive behind this operation.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it simple??¡± Baron Centfarughed. ¡°A country, a society would conjure up extraordinary feats of strength when they are tethering on a precipice.¡± ¡°And so? Why would this power be unleashed? What sort of people would that be? What level are they? What background are they from?¡± Isaac sat before the study desk, his faint blue eyes were deep. The smile on the baron¡¯s face faded away as he started thinking. ¡°You got me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s simple.¡± Isaac calmly crossed his fingers before him as he stretched. ¡°All of these people who would show their strength would have some basics at least. In other words, they were already primed for unleashing their potential. As to why they would do so? First is they would not see their rights and personal benefits be threatened. Secondly, they think that their country, their people should not be weaker than others. The idea of being invaded and upied by a foreign power is an insult to them. And that has to do with the concept of ¡®us¡¯ against ¡®them...¡± ¡°Is this some sort of sociology or anthropology lecture?¡± The baron shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in all of that. What the bosses want me to do, I¡¯ll do as they say. The rest is the job for those page flippers.¡± ¡°We need to understand what we really need to do, only then we will be sure of the point of this operation,¡± Isaac said tly. ¡°Then, have you found out the true intention after your studies?¡± The baron queried. ¡°Of course...¡± Isaac smiled. He curled his fingers and he made a repeated circr motion. ¡°What we need to do first, is to break them.¡± ¡°Break them?¡± ¡°Yes...¡± Isaac let out a weighted smile. ¡°Break their backs, and get them to respect, revere, and fear us from the bottom of their hearts...¡± ¡°And if they cannot be broken?¡± ¡°Then we shall eliminate each and everyone with potential. Their numbers are just way too littlepared to the general public...¡± Isaac said as he touched his eyepatch. ... ¡°Charge! Take him out! Kill him!¡± ¡°Kill him! Kill!¡± ¡°Go, Death Fang!¡± ¡°Toss! A spear! The hell is your technical skills! Damn it!¡± In an underground boxing arena in Anduin. Inside a steel cage purposely painted white, two powerful men in shorts were fighting tooth and nail without care for their lives. The fairer one was the reigning king of fists in this arena, Kalidomar the Death Fang. And opposite him was a bald man a head taller than him, a gigantic brute from Redwin, Vargas. At that very moment, the Death Fang was covered in blood as he bowed his body low, circling the brute as he tried to find an opening. He had done this many times already. Every time he thought he had an opening and charged in, it was like he had run into a steel wall, and was pushed back after a few strikes. The brute stood before him and gave him the disdainful look of toying with a worm. That unbridled disdain and contempt could not only be seen by Death Fang, but also the audience beyond the cage. The cursing and jeering around surged like a rampaging tide towards the Death Fang¡¯s psyche. He swallowed hard, as he tried to drive his strength into a frenzy. ¡°Arghhh!!!!¡± With a furious roar, he once again charged at the brute. And this time, he could feel all of his strength focusing on his right arm, and without any hesitation, he threw out his right fist. This was his best shot, and the shot that carried everyst bit of his strength. *Bam!* Blood sttered all over. The Death Fang simply stood where he was, and the upper half of his head was gone as his remaining orifice ttered. ¡°Cry, cry, cry some more!!!¡± The brute pulled back his fist as he let out a furious roar. ¡°Crying won¡¯t change the fact that you are rubbish!¡± He lifted up his fist, seemingly showing them his blood-sodden hand to gloat. The Xilin citizens around instantly fell into a fit of rage and anger as their fists clenched and face reddened, wanting to charge into the cage. A couple ofdies were screeching at the top of their lungs as they tossed all sorts of junk at the cage. *Bam!* The brute gave the cage a brutal kick and tore a hole in it. He grabbed the cage and got out just like that. ¡°Come, whoever it may be! Come! Come and beat me!¡± He boomed as he clubbed his chest. ¡°Come!¡± Seeing him getting out of the cage, the circle of men earlier lost their nerve and retreated. ¡°All of you, are weak!¡± The brute jutted his finger point and pointed at everyone. ¡°I¡¯m from the far north, and heard that Xilin had a history of martial arts, have a tradition of powerful fighters, and so here I am but yet, what did I see? All the martial artists there are only good at being monkeys?¡± The brute roared furiously. The furor all around him was drowned by his impressive aura. The security guards of the ring quickly came over and tried to pacify him. ¡°I, Vargas, will be here, waiting at this ring. I will be open to any challenge for the next ten days. Anyone cane to face me. Come! Show me your trust martial arts! Come,e and kill me! Kill me! Only you all can do it!¡± Chapter 143 - Relaxed: Part 2 Chapter 143: Rxed: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion That promation by the brute sent waves across Anduin. There were many challengers who came to the coastal region, including those like him who went on a pilgrimage every day. Yet, no one could incite a crowd like he did. And many furious martial artists converged upon Linghua City, which Vargas was in. Sadly, two dayster, the cruel hammer of reality came crashing down on everyone. All twelve of thebatants were handpicked elites who had reached the limit of human potential, yet this group of people did notst longer than three minutes before being overwhelmed by Vargas, and they were destroyed in a mere few hits. Vargas even dered that he alone could cut through half of Xilin. Before Vargas¡¯ challenge wasplete, there was news of other powerful fighters from Redwin that hade to Xilin for a challenge. These fighters were all strong, tall and hard-skinned. And wherever they were, the Xilin martial artists around them could not even hold them back. One by one, famous Xilin martial artists were pushed onto the arena in order to protect their dojos, before being ripped apart alive. And within that moment, the entire martial arts world of Xilin felt into furor and disgrace. Many a fighter who thought highly of their prowess quickly converged upon those ces to challenge the Redwin fighters. What followed, was obituaries after obituaries, aside from a couple of veteran elites who managed to survive after taking a beating, most of them died one after the other. ... Huaisha City, Ironfist Society. ¡°I heard that this Vargas person is a Redwinian?¡± Sarroux frowned as he brought the papers into the quiet room, and ced Lin Sheng¡¯s breakfast on the table. ¡°Yes, not only him. Even the Mican free-boxers havee. But they are not as brutal as them.¡± Lin Sheng too was reading the paper. These Redwinians imed to have admired Xilin¡¯s martial arts traditions and had traveled the distance to spar. And this situation was pretty much a repeat of the foreign martial art challenges in the Republic Era back on Earth. But back there, the martial artists faced the strongmen from Russia, and over here they faced Redwinian boxers. Not much different in fact. ¡°Boss, seeing how they are provoking us, you think the headquarters would strike?¡± Sarroux whispered. ¡°The HQ have their own things to do, they won¡¯t bother with this.¡± Lin Sheng simply replied. ¡°Don¡¯t bother about it, they are still a distance away from us. Now our primary objective is to use our reputation to increase our influence. ¡°No choice, boss. We don¡¯t have the manpower. Now that Chief Shad helped to promote us, our business opportunities have increased, but our manpower is only that handful.¡± Sarroux sounded rather helpless. ¡°I can¡¯t be sending out those disciples who had not evenpleted basic training out, can¡¯t I?¡± ¡°You¡¯re mistaken... What we need to do is not to send our own people out, rather allow them to use our name as protection,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Our name? You mean to let them use our name?¡± Sarroux¡¯s eyes brightened. He had never thought of this. ¡°Yes, that way, we just need to deal with customers who have problems. That way, we can scare those unruly elements into submission, and solve the problem once and for all.¡± Lin Sheng exined. ¡°I understand now! That¡¯s why you¡¯re the boss, to be able to think of that!¡± Sarroux was effusive with his praise. ¡°You didn¡¯t ask me that¡¯s all. Even Dao Ling and the rest should know how this works.¡± Lin Sheng did not mind as he picked up one of the buns and chowed them down. ¡°That aside, ckwater and Port District is currently the most chaotic areas in Huaisha City, and all of the main factions are in these two ces. You¡¯ve brought a team to make contact in that area, what happened?¡± Sarroux got serious as they were now talking business. ¡°Over here at ckwater District, there are about eleven factions, big and small, five of which were not happy with us. We¡¯ve made contact with them; old man Dao Ling led the team himself. One of the factions couldn¡¯t fight back, and someone resorted to using firearms, instead, that person had half of his face smashed in. You were not there, Boss, but it was awesome!¡± ¡°How about the Port District?¡± ¡°The Port District... we ran into some trouble, mainly because it¡¯s too chaotic there. But no worries, I¡¯ll get it wrapped up soon.¡± Sarroux did not delve into the details, but seeing how serious he was, Lin Sheng decided to believe him. ¡°Fine, the Port District is much more important than ckwater, and we need to take it. Now that the White Tarots have totally retreated from Huaisha, and sold off thest of their holdings, we cannot let this opportunity slip.¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°I understand.¡± Sarroux nodded. A week had passed since the Battle with the Eight-wing Mantis. In these few days, Lin Sheng had been managing Ironfist Society¡¯s affairs during the day while training his holy powers at the same time. In the night he continued to be inside that purple sea as he tried to find ways to leave the vault. After the Mantis Incident, Ironfist Society¡¯s influence skyrocketed within Huaisha. Especially when Dao Ling appeared and used his extraordinary abilities to suppress the other factions. That meant that Ironfist Society¡¯s influence snowballed because many recruits decided to join the society. After breaking through as a level three pdin, they will pick up a fixed ability. Detect Evil. Dao Ling had only recently made his breakthrough and have yet to learn it, but Lin Sheng alone was more than enough. He could simply use the training he had gotten from the Gray Angel¡¯s core. Ayer of white glow coated his eyes as he radiated some holy power to scan over these neers. That way, he could easily determine if these people were suitable to train holy powers. As for their loyalty after joining, Detect Evil could detect the same thing. If their faith to the holy light, and to Ironfist Society, this weakness in faith could easily be detected by a simple divine skill. And by then, no hiding was beyond his detection. After discussing further on the society¡¯s matters, Lin Sheng finished his meal and walked out of the room. ¡°Greetings, Master.¡± ¡°Greetings, Master.¡± Along the way, men and women bowing towards Lin Sheng in reverence the moment they saw him. After the battle with the mantis, the scars of battle within the ruined hall was proof of Lin Sheng¡¯s strength. And Lin Sheng¡¯s pace was sure and steady. As he passed by thebat training room, old man Luo Xinna came to him with a couple of prints. ¡°Master, in the battle against the mantis, quite a few disciples were affected, either their families or themselves, with wounds light and heavy. These disciples had long relied on their strength to work, and now they are wounded, and without any strength, their life would be difficult... so what...¡± He had to admit, Luo Xinna was way better than Sarroux in handling these matters. ¡°Allow them to work with the society, we need backroom staff members still.¡± ¡°Also, you are about to breakthrough right, when you do so, Dao Ling will set up a branch in the city center. By the time Sarroux breaks through, you¡¯ll probably be allocated another branch to handle.¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Understood.¡± Luo Xinna nodded. Chapter 144 - Relaxed: Part 3 Chapter 144: Rxed: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion As he walked passed Luo Xinna, Lin Sheng left the society¡¯s hall. Along the way, he declined a request by a disciple to send him back. He then walked alone, slowly towards his home. The Ironfist Society, once an organization that relied on him robbing to run, was now turning a profit, and could sustain the finances of their disciples and their family members, bing a solid shield behind everyone. And this happened within a short span of time. That did awe him somewhat. Over at a corner of the screen, a group of armed Xilin soldiers in blue uniforms were hurrying across the street in uniformed steps. And soon, they got on one of the troop carriers that had stopped. The ck troop carrier spat out a puff of ck smoke as it sped towards the port area. For the past few days, Lin Sheng had been waiting for news about Major Dondi¡¯s murder investigation. But what surprised him was, rather than seeing any reports about it, the news about the martial arts world kept repeating itself. ¡°Our country is weak, as foreign fighters swept across our realm of martial arts. With our security worsening day after day...¡± Lin Sheng had never considered himself a part of the martial arts world and had simply no interest in entertaining such news. As for those soldiers... Troop carriers have been appearing in increased frequencies ofte as arge number of soldiers were shipped off by the White Hawk Fleet. The cloud of war loomed upon everyone¡¯s head, even before the year¡¯s end. ¡°Master Lin?¡± A surprised voice before him pulled Lin Sheng back to reality. He looked ahead and saw two familiar figures inside a white car. Russell and Shayeen. Russell was d in a white shirt and had styled himself well, with a slight mustache. Looking much more mature than before. Shayeen wore a simple purple blouse with ck pants, showing off her trained curvature as she wore a ponytail. The one calling Lin Sheng was Russell. He quickly made his way over. ¡°Are you here to attend our registration of marriage?¡± Russell had a surprised, yet delighted look on his face. He seemed to be truly happy that Lin Sheng hade. Shayeen on the other hand frowned. After the argumentst time, her impression of Lin Sheng took for the worse, but they were still friends for a long while. So she still gave him a courtesy greeting. ¡°Marriage registration is it... I just happened to pass by.¡± Lin Sheng said bluntly, ¡°I didn¡¯t even know you and Shayeen had gotten married. Congrattions.¡± ¡°Since you are here,e along as well.¡± Russell was enthusiastic about inviting him. ¡°Ah, I¡¯ll pass on disturbing you guys. I wish you two a blessed marriage.¡± Lin Sheng had no intention of disturbing them. Both Russell and Shayeen, since the dissolution of the Ironfist Club, they had stepped out of that circle. And he did not n to disturb their peace. ¡°Master Lin, you know, since the club was dissolved, every one of us was reminded of your goodness...¡± Russellmented, his expression dimmed someone. ¡°We were wrong at that time.¡± Shayeen kept silent for a moment, before sighing. ¡°Our structure was too loose back then, and like a sandcastle, it disappeared before the waves.¡± ¡°Thene over to my side, Russell, Shayeen. I have built a new Ironfist Society, and it no longer has the weakness of the past. It is perfect now, just as I had imagined it to be.¡± Lin Sheng smiled as he extended his invitation. Russell was touched. With his background, he naturally knew what sort of influence the Ironfist Society has today. The Ironfist Society¡¯s growth within a short span of time shocked everyone, and a few days ago, the police had officially awarded them amendation for their assistance in aiding the police to keep the peace. And the Ironfist Society today, no longer needed them, plus Shayeen¡¯s attitude back then was harsh. Even so, Lin Sheng still invited them. Russell was alright, but Shayeen, she did not acknowledge Lin Sheng back then and started to regret it now. And now, she seemed to get to know Lin Sheng all over again. ¡°Master Lin... I¡¯m sorry. I was too headstrong back then...¡± Shayeen apologized. ¡°No worries, I actually understand your decisions.¡± Lin Sheng was not mad. He could tell, that both Russell and Shayeen had chosen to step out of this circle, and returned to the path their family had nned for them. ¡°If you need our help in the future, just say that word, as long as it is within our capabilities, we¡¯ll definitely help out!¡± Shayeen promised. ¡°What Shayeen said!¡± Russell added. They actually had no idea, how strong the Ironfist Society that was praised by the police was. They most likely see the Ironfist Society as a new force on the block that had stabilized its finances. The three chatted for a bit until someone from the hotel called out to them that Russell and Shayeen made their way to the hotel. Lin Sheng bade them farewell, and in the end, they did not agree to join the society, and neither did Lin Sheng agreed to attend their registration of marriage ceremony. The two parties simply went their own way, as if they had never met in the first ce. As he made his way across the streets, Lin Sheng soon arrived at the Port District. He went past the slightly empty za and onto the railings by the sea, staring into the distance. With no crowd, the vast sea was refreshing for him, and the stress he had piled up earlier too were lessened with the sea breeze. On his right was a youngdy who too came to enjoy the breeze. She had short hair and was wearing a white top and gray jeans. Her tight-fitting jeans emphasized her hip line, looking very alluring. She seemed to be looking at something in her hand, as her delicate face looked downwards. The two of them simply just stood there wordlessly as the breeze blew. It was a rare opportunity for Lin Sheng to rx. After he had detected the irregrities in the dream, he barely had any time to rest, as he spent every waking moment to train and investigate. But he was not a machine, and still needed some rxation. Standing there enjoying the sea breeze was rxing. Especially when no one recognized him. And that feeling was extremely rxing... Xie Qiaoyue by the side was cursing inside her. Her legs were already about to give way, as she waiting for Lin Sheng to leave. And he was still standing there...after a whole hour! ¡°Is he wanting me dead...??¡± Xue Qiaoyue wanted to cry. She was just a simple pickpocket, and this was totally beyond her... She had juste here to enjoy the breeze, and a killing machine was now beside her. As Lin Sheng got close, she immediately recognized him. She had been hiding by her house window during the battle against the mantis and saw the elites of Ironfist Society beating the mantises to a pulp. And Lin Sheng, the leader of the lot, was naturally the one to take note. So she had been monitoring him and baked his image into her mind. And many more like her did the same as well, all of them seeking a living in the grey area of society. And most of these folks tended to remember the bosses of each faction, as to try to not wrong a person they could not afford to wrong. And normally, most of them would linger around here. Otherwise why would Lin Sheng feel that the za was so spacious? Since all of them had already run away, it was, of course, spacious... They had ran the moment they saw him... Lin Sheng still reckoned no one recognizes him, but the fact was that everyone who knew him dared not speak his name... Chapter 145 - Upheaval: Part 1 Chapter 145: Upheaval: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The sea breeze was refreshing yet noisy at times. Lin Shengbed his messy hair as he looked at the cargo ships calling into port. He had calmed down by now. ¡°But I¡¯ve been here for a while, why is it so deserted still?¡± He recalled this ce usually had a lot of people milling about. And now as he swept his gaze, a few cargo ships were unloading their cargo on the dock. The dockhands moving the cargo were friendly and all smiles with their merchant counterparts. The stories about the dockhands holding cargo hostage or striking was nowhere to be seen. ¡°Seems like much of the rumors are off the mark.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. AT the very least, the port he was seeing is a totally different one. He then stood at the railings for a while longer, before realizing it was time for dinner. Lin Sheng then turned away and headed off. Half-way through his turn, his gaze swept past the girl. He remembered her already being there when he came. And she was still there when he was about to leave, almost unmoving. Everything aside, that persistence was admirable. What he did not know was, that gaze alone almost scared Xie Qiaoyue out of her wits as her legs threatened to give way. She had been standing for far too long in a straight posture. Her thighs were already screaming murder. Lin Sheng, ever carefree, left the port as he hailed a cab and departed the ce. Only until the car had totally disappeared into the distance did Xie Qiaoyue heaved a huge sigh of relief. She then wiped her forehead, and found it drenched in sweat. ¡°I can¡¯t deal with this... Oh, my poor heart. If this keeps happening, I¡¯ll really die!¡± She had been out and about the port area for three years now and was one of the veterans there. She had a naturally sharp sense of danger, and that allowed her to prosper in this forsaken ce, and rose to the leader of one of the thieves¡¯ group. And because of that, the terror and the urge to escape the moment she saw Lin Sheng was the strongest in her career as a pickpocket! An unknown aura seemed to circle around Lin Sheng that drove fear into everyone, and that seemed to affect humans as well. For her sharp senses, it was even more telling. ¡°Bloody hell!¡± Xie Qiaoyue let out another deep breath as she bent down to massage her stiff lower thighs. Just as she bent down, a ne with a pink color stone in the shape of a droplet fell out the cavity in her chest. The stone seems to be jadeite but had a milk-colored hue in its core as intricate patterns were carved around it. Xie Qiaoyue immediately stuffed the ne back into her chest and adjusted it. It was something she had stolen from a sorry foreigner ship captain a few days ago. The ne looked interesting and pretty at first nce, so she took it for herself. Later she found it even more pleasing to the eye, and decided to bring it along with her. While she may be just a petty pickpocket, she still knows the value of things. While it may not look all that valuable, but its engravings probably meant it has some history to it. In case it was an antique, then it would be nothing but profit for her. After patting her leg, she got up and stretched again. As she looked at the sea, she felt rxed and refreshed. ¡°Hm? What is that?¡± Just as she was about to leave, her sight caught onto something floating on the surface of the sea. It was a dark blue, almost gemstone-like blue sea hawk. And what caught her eye was the neck and wings of the hawk had gold pattern to it. If it was a normal sea hawk, she had seen it all too many times. She had grown up by the sea after all. But a sea hawk that had golden markings on its wings and neck, that was a first. ¡°Sadly... this thing is so eye-catching I can just forget about it.¡± This ce belonged to the ck Wolf Gang, and amongst those who had escaped before her, at least a dozen belonged to the gang. With so many eyes seeing it, this unique sea hawk naturally was beyond her. And so she stood by the railing and looked on as the sea hawk slowly floated over, unmoving. What surprised her was that, until the sea hawk floated its way about ten meters before here, no one seemed to notice. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Xie Qiaoyue felt something was off. She swept her gaze around, and none of the passersby actually bothered with such an eye-catching sea hawk. It was the size of a basin, with golden markings on it. Under the bright sun, it was particrly eye-catching. ¡°Something¡¯s not right.¡± Xie Qiaoyue¡¯s face darkened. This was something totally unusual. She had noticed that no one near her seemed to have seen the sea hawk at all. A sailor who had just gotten off his boat even walked past the railing above the sea hawk, and bent down to pick up a penny before leaving with a grin. He totally paid no heed to the hawk floating just right beside him. As if he... did not even see it at all. ¡°Little one... you can see me?¡± An old, calm voice suddenly rang out in her head. She immediately froze as her muscles tightened, ready to make a run for it. This unnatural phenomenon was beyond what she could take. There was no one around there, yet it sounded as if someone was whispering beside her ears. Without any distance. ¡°Don¡¯t worry...I¡¯m wounded, badly. And I¡¯m just on the surface just before you.¡± That voice rang out again. Xie Qiaoyue swallowed hard as she looked at the surface of the sea. Then, to her surprise, the floating sea hawk had somehow had opened its eyes and was calmly looking at her. She was just a simple pickpocket, and the strongest person she had seen since the day she was born was the boss of the Ironfist Society. Never did she saw something like this before. ¡°Can you please help me? Little miss, and your reward, I can teach you something.¡± The sea hawk spoke with an old man¡¯s voice. ¡°Gulp...¡± Xie Qiaoyue swallowed her saliva hard, as she felt her throat dry... What she did not noticed was, the stone on the ne in her chest was letting out a faint golden glow. ... The moment Lin Sheng got home, he went about training his holy power, and also meditated on the Ashen Seal untilte evening. After dinner, he apanied Lin Xiao to watch some television before partaking in the supper his father had bought home. He then quickly washed up and went to bed. As he had failed to find an exit and had drowned in the progress, he could not re-enter the dream in for two days and could only sleep normally. He slept all the way untilte at night before a faint firecrackers-like sound roused him from his sleep. Chapter 146 - Upheaval: Part 2 Chapter 146: Upheaval: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion *Bang... Bang... Bang... Bam!* A faint crackling sound rang out from afar through the window. ¡°What is that noise?¡± Lin Sheng got up of the bed groggily as he looked out. A crescent moon shone brightly outside, and there was a particrly bright star by the edge of the crescent, shining brightly in red. Lin Sheng let out a sigh. Feeling his mouth dry, he pushed aside his nket, got up and stretched his hand out to reach for the thermos sk on his headboard. As he took up the sk and shook it, he realized that it was empty. Left without a choice, Lin Sheng got out of bed and walked towards the door. The moment he opened the door, the noise from outside gotten clearer. Lin Sheng frowned as something struck him. A puff of ck smoke that was circling around the area suddenly changed direction and quickly flew towards the source of the sound. A convoy of white armored vehicles was slowly making its way into the streets of Huaisha City. Any obstructing vehicles on the wide streets were simple rammed aside by the armored cars to make way for the infantry. toons upon toons of quick-moving infantry wore dark camouge uniforms as their helmets bore the mark of the silver eagle. They held advanced assault rifles in their arms, amunicator hung by their waist as they carry a multi-purposebat pack. They even wore a gasmask-like apparatus that covered their entire face. And these soldiers swarmed into the city like a horde of ants, with speed and efficiency, as they rapidly shot dead any scattered resistance in the dark corners. A series of gunfire and grenade explosion rang out, and that was the only thing heard from the killing. Behind the soldiers was some sort of bread truck-like vehicles. This convoy was odd, they had a rectangr top with a silver cup on top, not unlike a pot cover. Around the vehicles were bone-white armor ting. And on one of the vehicles, the cup was opened, and arge military officer stood in there. The officer wore a ck cloak, and on the officer¡¯s head was a ck military hat with a silver emblem. The officer seemed to be female as a luscious blue hair flowed down beneath her hat until her waist. ¡°Hope you support our new website ¡°¡± As there was some distance, the ck smoke could not see thetter clearer. It then swirled about in midair and closed the distance rapidly for clearer inspection. ¡°Hmmm?¡± The female officer lifted her head slightly, an emerald glow shed in her eye. A couple of ck rifts suddenly appeared in the air as white chains shot out of it towards the ck smoke. Lin Sheng, surprised, quickly steered the ck smoke backward. But it was not fast enough, and it was caught up a few secondster A loud crashter, the chains violently stabbed into the ck smoke. *ng!!* The chains sted out a green mist as it dispelled the ck smoke. As the smoke faded away, the ckfeather swordsman took form. ¡°Oh? A human?¡± The blue-haired officer suddenly materialized behind the swordsman as countless of tiny chains swirled around her fingers and her body like a snake, at her beck and call. ¡°Too bad for you, the price of trying to peek on me is death.¡± The officer lifted her hand, as she pointed at the swordsman. A white chain suddenly sted out and charged towards the swordsman with a thunderous roar. *Whoosh!* Not too far away, another ck smoke shot out and quickly turned into a massive white figure. It was the three-meter-tall Sacred Shield Tyrant. The Tyrant appeared before the swordsman as he lifted his shield against the chain. ¡°Another one?¡± The officer smiled, as she snapped her finger. ¡°At that moment, the chain flying towards the ckfeather Swordsman quickly bulged up and turned into a meter-wide bone dragon skull. The dragon skull opened its jaws, revealing rows upon rows of terrifying fangs as it bit into the unsuspecting Tyrant¡¯s shield *Boom!!!* It was as if a bomb went off. The Tyrant and the ckfeather swordsman were flung away like toy blocks by the massive force and crashed against themp post further down the street. Themp post immediately warped under the impact, and after letting out a few electrical hisses, it died off. The Tyrant shook his head as he got off the ground. The officer on the opposite end slowly walked over as countless white chains slithered around. As he took a nce, the simr chains that had just whipped him had increased to at least ten. ¡°Wait, we mean you no harm!¡± The Tyrant spoke under Lin Sheng¡¯s control. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± And what replied him was that white chain and other nine identical ones. *Booom!!!* A st of emerald light soon engulfed the entire street. ¡°Ugh!¡± Lin Sheng could not help but hold his head, his resolve shaken. Thest memories of the tyrant and the ckfeather swordsman were them being impaled by countless of dragon bones before being corroded by a green mist and disappearingpletely. ¡°Never thought I¡¯d run into a professional like this during a scouting run...¡± The Sacred Shield Tyrant and the ckfeather swordsman had been taken out, but he was not worried. The two were just war machines created through the matrix of summoning. He just needed to perform the ritual once again, infuse it with their memories to recreate them. But what shocked him was the female officer herself. The Tyrant was a formidable high-level Transcendent warrior, and it would take the top few ces amongst the elites in ckfeather City. But that woman, she had just annihted him as if she was just ughtering a chicken. ¡°Since when did someone that powerfule to Huaisha...¡± Lin Sheng was slightly worried. The female officer was the most insane of all Transcendents he had seen so far. ¡°She¡¯s at least level five, no... much higher, six or seven at least... There¡¯s too little information about the Transcendents in reality to do aparison.¡± He went to the washroom, turned on the faucet and washed his face with cold water. His head suffered a piercing pain when the two were killed. Clearly he had suffered feedback. Luckily, the holy power quickly took effect automatically, and covering his head in warmth, and healing it. Lin Sheng realized that the holy power was not only useful in healing, it also serves as a substitute for stamina when he was under the Sacred Blood effect. As he recalled the scene he saw through the ckfeather swordsman¡¯s eyes. ¡°...The silver eagle means Redwin... and the Redwinian army actually just marched into the city just like that... where¡¯s the Xilin garrison?¡± An almost impossible thought suddenly came to Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. ¡°Could it be...?¡±!¡± He did not bother guessing. Now that he was two minions short, he quickly ordered two Vault Wardens over to take over the gap left by the in duo. This time around, he used these two soldiers to scout around the city area. From afar, he saw the Redwin troops had already entered the city hall as arge number of soldiers scattered and started upying various important facilities across the city. Chapter 147 - Upheaval: Part 3 Chapter 147: Upheaval: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Deep in the night, important buildings all over were silently taken under control. Without the military, the police could not stop the Redwin from taking over. And in just a mere hour, the entire Huaisha City was upied. Lin Sheng did not dare to dawdle, and only controlled his soldiers remotely as he monitored the city using their ethereal form. Thankfully, that convoy the female officer belonged too did not stay behind, and after a short pause, they left the city into the distance. As he could no longer sleep, Lin Sheng simply controlled the wardens to scout about. And just as he thought, the entire Huaisha City was lost. Inside the police station, the Xilin police were cornered by the Redwinian soldiers, and were squatting down, not daring to say anything. Shad, the fat police chief smiled widely as he spoke with one of the Redwinian military top brass. The inte control center, the controlling authority of the inte signals towers were now under Redwinian control, and had cut offmunication to the outside world as the printing press were printing out piece after piece of flyers. A few important public spaces too had Redwinian soldiers standing guard to keep the order. The entire city had changed, over the course of a night, into another city. And Lin Sheng only realized what was happening after staying up the whole night. He quickly got down to the paper vendor at the ground floor and bought a copy of the morning paper, and at that moment, a Redwinian military truck were scattering flyers about. He picked one up on the way home. About 7:40am in the morning. His parents, Lin Zhounian and Gu Wanqiu had woken up. They were slightly stunned seeing Lin Sheng sitting in the hall, eating a bean paste bun as he read the papers and the flyer. ¡°Chenchen, why are you up so early?¡± Lin Zhounian walked to Lin Sheng¡¯s side as he pulled a chair over and sat on it. Lin Sheng did not reply to him, and simply handed the flyer over. And on the flyer, a message was printed clearly: ¡®Civil Notice: The Xilin government is corrupt and inept as they ran rampant with heavy taxation. Today, Redwin has answered the call of the people, and in the name of justice, moved into Anduin province to aid the Xilin people in rebuilding their government, with the needs of the people in the forefront...¡¯ It was a whole load of hogwash, as if trying to tell everyone that Redwin had not upied Anduin out of conquest, rather it is out of justice. Plus the Redwinians managed to do it without affecting the civilian poption, nor plundering their properties as they kept the peace. And that was enough to pacify the civilians. Lin Zhounian¡¯s expression changed almost immediately as he read the notice. ¡°Surely this is fake? Chenchen, randomly printing such stuff is against thew! Don¡¯t do anything reckless!¡± ¡°It¡¯s all over the ce outside.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head as he handed the papers over to his dad. The headline of the paper printed: For Justice! The Redwinian Fifth Combined Army had officially entered Huaisha City. And beneath it was a series of promises by the Redwinian army. It was no different than the notice, it was to assure that the Redwinians will not harm any innocents. The Redwinians will ensure the normal functioning of basic facilities. The Redwinians will ensure that the order will be maintained and that the property of the civilians are sacred and will not be despoiled. ¡°This... this...!?¡± Lin Zhounian wanted to say something, but words failed him. His had a conflicted look, a mixture of worry and confusion. ¡°I¡¯ll go out to have a look!¡± He passed the paper over to his wife. Gu Wanqiu took the paper to read, and a momentter, her expression had turned pale as well. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, mom. The Redwinians won¡¯t do anything to harm civilians. No matter which country goes to war, they will not affect too many normal civilians.¡± Lin Sheng tried to console her. Gu Wanqiu shook her head. ¡°Is the heaven¡¯sing apart...?¡± She sat on the sofa, at a lost on what to do. Lin Sheng held her hands. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, mom. At most we should leave this country!¡± He had not much feelings for Xilin, and at most a tinge of regret. Compared to Gu Wanqiu and the rest, he still thought himself as someone from Earth, a Chinese. And therein lies a gulf between him and Xilin here, and did not share the sense of belonging. Xilin, in fact is not weak, but they simply could not react in the short term. If they were to go to war, it will be a long one. And soon Lin Xiao too had found out about it. The whole of Huaisha, or rather, Anduin province undergone an upheaval. In just a single night, everything had changed. None of them had any mood to have breakfast as they saw the entire street smothered with the white notice, and all of them had the same content as the one they had just saw And there were many like them as everyone got out of their houses and picked up the flyer to have a look. Some of them pulled out their phones to check out on the situation elsewhere. Some ran to the caf¨¦, but soon returned disappointed, as the inte was cut. Some even made their way to the city hall, and saw the ck Redwinian g with a silver eagle on it flying from the pole. After Lin Sheng and his family confirmed everything, they returned home still rather lost. Gu Wanqiu had kept silent as she cooked a simple meal with the ingredients she had bought earlier as everyone gathered around for a meal. Lin Sheng could tell that his family were at a lost, and were worried about their future. Compared to him, they were just normal folks without any power. They had no control over their own fates, and could only move along with the current. And truth be told, that female Redwinian officer had gave himself a brutal awakening from his previous glee at being invincible. The Sacred Shield Tyrant was at least a level three warrior, and even he, at full power, would need at least a dozen hits before taking him down. That was simply because the Tyrant¡¯s defense was too thick, and his own abilities powerful. But that woman, only needed two blows. And in fact, if not for the fact that she was checking things out, she could have simply wiped both the ckfeather swordsman and the Tyrant out in a single hit. That because a sense of peril to well up within him. Compared to the real elites, he was nothing! The officer was obviously just patrolling together with the army, and these sort of prowess is probablymon enough in the Redwinian army. He demurred as he had to figure out a way to ensure the safety of his family and himself. While things may have changed, but they still needed to live on. Lin Zhounian went ahead to open his shop while Gu Wanqiu was on leave and stayed behind to do some household chores. Lin Xiao turned on the TV only to be greeted with static, and nothing was being broadcasted. Lin Sheng had gone out as well, as he headed to the Ironfist Society hall. The hall was rather empty, and only about half of the disciples had shown up, probably trying to get used to whatever that had happened yesterday. Sarroux and Wayne were around, and their expression told him that they had knew what had happened. The few cleaners taking care of the hall had not turned up, and Lin Sheng and the rest got the disciples to do spring clean the hall. He then reorganized everyone to collect information from all over, to get a better grip on the situation in Huaisha City. Ensuring that Ironfist Society would survive in this new age was something Lin Sheng and the rest had to do now. Chapter 148 - Sea Breeze: Part 1 Chapter 148: Sea Breeze: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion In the middle of winter, the surface of the ocean glittered amid the glow of the lukewarm sunlight. Among the waves, a small destroyer rocked about as it drove towards the direction of Anduin. At the fore and the aft of the ship were a green illumination device. Compared to the sea, the destroyer was engulfed in a thick green glow, almost painting the entire vessel green. ¡°The Ironfist Society?¡± Arge figure in a cape held onto the aft railing on the green-lit destroyer. ¡°What is that? I¡¯ve never heard of it.¡± He shook his head as he sneered. ¡°Probably some random faction appearing out of nowhere. There are many opportunist factions that are trying to make a name for themselves nowadays.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t becent. The twin-wing Darksider from the Azure Heart had disappeared here, and even the eight-wing mantis too fell to them. For them to be able to take down a Transcendent, that means the Ironfist Society has some capability. If a powerful bugger were to pop out...¡± Amid the green light, a slim figure in cloak closed in. ¡°I have went through Xilin¡¯s records for the past ten years, I¡¯ve never heard of a transcendent organization called the Ironfist Society ever popping up! Heh...¡± therge figure sneered again. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you actually believe that shtick? That sort of lie is porous at best, and won¡¯t stand up to scrutiny. It¡¯s probably just a few Transcendents who are pulling wool just to survive.¡± ¡°Can never be too prepared. If this Ironfist Society has some elites, then won¡¯t it be too risky?¡± the slim figure said. ¡°Then, get them to send out their elites to kill me then.¡± Therge figureughed in disdain. ¡°Remember when the Moonlight Sect imed that their ascendant would appear himself? And in the end? Nothing happened when they got wiped out.¡± The slim figure sighed, and walked to his side while holding a notebook. The brown leather notebook was then opened, revealing a massive writing in green light that were packed together. ¡°The Pale Viper is the suppresion-ss Darksider in the area. She does not like any Transcendents entering her territory. We need to take out the target, and slip away immediately.¡± He paused for a moment. ¡°If we can avoid encountering the military elites, do so. This is the family¡¯s own action. If they manage to find out, and she gets wind of it, we won¡¯t be getting our hands of any benefits.¡± Therge figure agreed. ¡°I know that. A suppression-ss heh. How many suppression-ss had gone over to Anduin?¡± ¡°Two. Pale Viper and Snow Banshee.¡± The slim figure replied. ¡°What about the target profile?¡± therge figure asked again. The slim figure then looked back down at the notebook.. ¡°Ironfist Society target value profile. Absolute aura concealment, value, level three to level five. The ability to obtain mysterious runes with special abilities through meditation. Level four to seven.¡± ¡°These two items alone, is enough for us to risk offending a Suppressor to soulhunt.¡± ¡°What about the target.¡± Therge figure asked again. ¡°Target: White knight. Transcendence aura: one-wing. Level between Bloodshadow and High Nightshadow.¡± ¡°Target: Lin Sheng, Transcendence aura: one-wing. Level between Bloodshadow and normal Nightshadow.¡± ¡°Target Raven and other minions, two often. Transcendence aura: one-wing Fadeshadows.¡± ¡°But based on reports, they could turn into ck smoke to move around quickly, and are very nimble. These are probably all one-wing levels.¡± ¡°And these are all the Darksiders in Huaisha City?¡± Therge figure slowly pulled down his hood, and under the green light, exposed his hideous face lined with X-shaped scars. He had golden hair, as strands of hair simply fluttered without any elegance. His face was oily while a silver scorpion tattoo was on his neck. ¡°Yes. The family have used three days to thoroughly investigate this. This is all of them.¡± The slim figure nodded. ¡°Who was the team that came overst time? Seems like the information was from them.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Kamir and his team.¡± The slim figure said. ¡°Why? You want to inform them?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just a few grunts who had managed to reach two-wings. Probably gotten some baubles to help them grow. Even if a four-wing were to appear, I can still get out intact. ... But it¡¯s the best if we are able toplete the hunt before the military realizes it. We don¡¯t have time to waste.¡± Redwin was not without its factions, as the military and the three great families are at constant loggerheads. Soulhunting is something truly beneficial, and who strikes first wins.¡± ¡°Understood. Take note when you prepare. We will be able to circumvent the strait and arrive in Xilin in two days¡¯ time. Your operation time limit, is only a day.¡± ¡°If you are not able to aplish the mission within a day, you must withdraw. Also, don¡¯t bete this time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t.¡± The golden hair man said as he revealed a mouthful of golden teeth. ... ... Ironfist Society. Lin Sheng, Sarroux, Dao Ling and Luo Xinna had converged together as they silently looked at the invitation letter on the table. The letter was simple, its envelope ck, with a mark of a silver eagle expanding its wings in the middle. The eagle seemed to have been stamped on, as the side silhouette had faded. Even so, no one present dared to take this invitation lightly. While they were having their meeting earlier, a Redwin solider came in to send an invitation letter to Master Lin Sheng. The soldier did not say much after that, and simply left. Showing sound discipline. Yet, the content of the letter was not that amodating. ¡°The Redwin Military wants me to go to Adien City before noon tomorrow to attend an interview at the provisional military affairs division.¡± Lin Sheng pointed at the invitation letter and said tly.¡± He had already read the contents of the letter, and was just reiterating. The rest kept quiet, and did not know how to answer. This was not your normal rival faction pilling pressure on you, rather it was a country-size one. Redwin now is one of the strongest military in the world. And the Ironfist Society, even with a societal backing would simply crumble before this level of force if they slip up. ¡°Boss, my father had heard that all of the influential figures in the city had received this ck invitation...Seeing how Redwin operates, probably everyone in the province with any sort of influence have already received it.¡± Sarroux said with a hushed voice. Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Seems like an official warning and consolidation. No worries, I¡¯ll head there tomorrow morning. While the military has changed, it doesn¡¯t matter to us civilians anymore as to who is in charge right?¡± ¡°Well. Xilin has been corrupt and inept, and there have been plenty of injustices now any now, andpared to Redwin¡¯s militarized governance, it¡¯s probably the same. Just as unbearable.¡± Ever since the upheavel, Redwin had enacted a temporary reform program for Huaisha City, and as the reform would need time, they had also provisionally enacted military governance. No one is allowed to wander around in the streets at night, a midnight curfew, plus no gatherings of more than thirty people. That turned Huaisha City into almost a ghost town. With the sudden change, everyone was trying to figure out what was the military¡¯s attitude and what changes awaited them. Everyone was cautious, and chose to stay indoors most of the time. Chapter 149 - Sea Breeze: Part 2 Chapter 149: Sea Breeze: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Don¡¯t worry, based on the current state of affairs, Redwin does not seem to have any intentions of using violent suppression.¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°I¡¯ll go to the provisional military affairs division and make contact with them. To see what are their political ns.¡± ¡°Master, you need to be careful.¡± Dao Ling said. ¡°I will.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. Their individual strength was nothingpared to a national level strength. If they are not careful, they would simply be stomped t. After getting home, Lin Sheng tried tofort his slightly despondent father, Lin Zhounian. As he was not able to bring in new goods, his shop had many empty shelves. Without any stock, there would be no ie, and who knows how long will the Xilin currency will be used. His mother, Gu Wanqiu went over to the kindergarten to check things out. There was not many changes there, but the holiday was cut short. Probably to let work dull their senses. The kindergarten session had been brought forward, but no one knew how many will be attending it. Lin Xiao on the other hand, was at a total loss as she helplessly sat in the study reading some historical text. Perhaps trying to find some way to live on in those records. Now that Redwin had upied the city, and locked down the entire province, cutting off allmunication and transportation into Xilin, that mean that Lin Xiao could no longer return to her university outside the province. Bereft of the opportunity to graduate, plus all industries taking a cautious stance, her future looked rather dim, and could only live on day to day. And that sort of life, quickly wore Lin Xiao out. Lin Sheng had no idea what to say either. After dinner, the Lin family washed up and went to bed. Lin Sheng still had one day from the death penalty. As he could not enter the dream, he was relegated to tossing about in this bed, not being able to sleep. While he may look calm, he was in reality a normal trantor of ancientnguage, and had absorbed plenty of memory fragments. But those fragments was more like movies than anything as they stayed in his mind, it was harmless. Had anyone actually lost their identity after watching one too many movies? Of course not. So, only when he was alone, that Lin Sheng allowed himself to disy his loss and fatigue. The image of the female officer annihting the Sacred Shield Tyrant still yed in his mind. With that gulf in strength, Lin Sheng could not even think of a way to go against her. And in the short term at least, he can forget about catching up to her. His own strength, was just a little stronger than the Sacred Shield Tyrant, and no more. If the officer could instantly kill the Tyrant, that means she can do the same to him as well. ¡°Also, when the war starts, my soldiers can block off simple light weapons, but no way they¡¯ll survive any heavy firepower. And once I¡¯m being held by a Transcendent, a barrage is all it takes to wipe out my summoned soldiers.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just too weak...¡± Lin Sheng could not help but sigh. The dream was just too random. If he wanted to be stronger, he had to depend on himself searching for all sorts of hidden knowledge. The Crag Dragon bloodline, and the summoned soldiers were all boons that he had found himself in the dream. ¡°The dream is too random, but how about the memories I¡¯ve absorbed?¡± Lin Sheng started to go through the massive amount of memories to find a way to resolve the current situation. He had absorbed way too many spirits, and after searching for a while, he got worn out and passed out. By the time he got up, it was already the next morning. He quickly brushed up, and changed into a ck and purple tracksuit, before running over to the local supermarket to buy a stic skull mask. He put it on, and went straight to the Ironfist Society. After meeting Sarroux and Dao Ling, Lin Sheng got on the military jeep that had been waiting for him, and went straight to Adien City. From Huaisha to Adien, it would take about three hours if they travel at top speed. ... ... Afternoon, Adien Provisional Military Affairs Division. Sitting on the presiding seat was a male officer, as he held a cksh in his arm. His uniform straight and smart. A silver-ck handguny on the table beside him. All around him were full armed Redwinian soldiers, as their rifles were pointed downwards, the atmosphere cautious and heavy. The moment Lin Sheng arrived, he was sent over there. And with him, was another ten odd people. None of them were talking to each other, as they separated the moment they arrived at the division and stood about or sat in the hall waiting. No one was chatting either, with the soldiers watching, no one was in the mood for idle chatter. Until the moment the officer walked in and sat down. ¡°I¡¯m Styse, you can call me Deputy Commander Styse. I¡¯m d that all of you could answer our summons ande over here. I believe the motives of us Redwinians¡¯ actions have been clearly stated on the flyers.¡± The officer¡¯s tone was indolent, not unlike a well-fed wolf who was sleepy. ¡°So, the reason we called you all here is first, to recognize us, remember the special emblem of the Military Affairs Division so you don¡¯t offend the wrong people further down the line.¡± He then pulled out a cigarette and bit on it. ¡°Second, as Anduin¡¯s most prominent underground factions, all of you will need to keep the peace here for this while. You people know thend best.¡± Everyone simply kept to themselves, and did not speak. Some of them were handling some matters, and before they couldplete it, they were already dragged over here. Officer Styse lowered his head as he lit the cig and took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. ¡°If you have any suggestions, you can voice it out now. Don¡¯t go protesting after things have been decided.¡± The officer¡¯s voice echoed slightly in the room. ¡°You can say it out now, and it is better for everyone else in the future. Don¡¯t go feigning ignorance if my hands are forced.¡± Lin Sheng stood amidst a dozen people, and was particrly eye-catching. He was the youngest of the lot, but he had taken precaution and put on a stic mask on his face. It was that white, stic skull mask that exposed the eye and nose. After a while, no one said anything. Everyone were veterans in dealing with this, and even if they are unhappy, they will not verbalize it. ¡°Alright then.¡± p p p. Styse gently pped his hands to get everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Seems like you¡¯ve epted our arrangement. From now on, it¡¯s on your heads if anything happens.¡± He looked up and signaled to the outside. And soon a soldier brought in a stack of photographs and distributed it to everyone present. On the photograph in their hand was a silver-haired crone in a ck windbreaker. The old crone had an aura about her, and her eyes were like a world, emerald green. Beside the crone was massive blue and ck-coloured sea hawk. The sea hawk had very eye-catching golden adornments on it. ¡°If you lot sees this person, or this sea hawk, inform us immediately. Any person reporting this would receive a mysterious gift from the Heaven¡¯s Spire.¡± The officer smiled. ¡°Trust me, if you have the chance to get that gift, you won¡¯t regret it.¡± ¡°Lastly, I¡¯m going to announce the city¡¯s regtion of the organizations and factions...¡± Chapter 150 - Sea Breeze: Part 3

Chapter 150: Sea Breeze: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Half an hourter... As they left the office of the Provisional Military Affairs Division, Lin Sheng and the rest of the delegates bore a grim look. ¡°That¡¯s too much!¡± An elder holding a silver cane brought his cane down and made a small hole in the ground. ¡°Elder Xu, we already know what the Redwinian army wants. This announcement will affect our territory and operations in a few nearby cities. So, how about we meet up for a drink and discuss it?¡± A red-haired man with a worried look in the crowd suggested. ¡°Yeah, we barely have the time to meet up. At least, one good thing came out of this whole Redwinian debacle. It has allowed all of us to meet face to face.¡± A man who looked like a welder rumbled. ¡°What Master Baen said.¡± ¡°Set a time, then.¡± A few others joined in, but most of them were like Lin Sheng, standing there without saying anything. Lin Sheng swept his gaze around. Among the crowd, were gang lords, martial artists, and some corporate bosses. He even saw two people in working clothes entering the office. Regardless of their getup, everyone there had a powerful presence. However, he was not bothered to speak with those people. With his holy power, he could tell that most of them were normal civilians, while a few were like him, possessing an aura of transcendence. He was not interested in talking to those Transcendents either. What hecked now, was not connections, but strength. Before such mighty power, only by having enough strength would one get more options in his choices and survival. So, Lin Sheng only exchanged contacts with a few of them before he left. The only ce that could allow him to grow exponentially, was the dream. ... ¡°Huhh...¡± Lin Sheng woke up from the darkness. He once again stood inside the cell of the Fay Vault, the same position where he found the purple rift. The cold mist within the vault slowly spread, flowed and changed. The ground was hard and cold, as a bone-chilling cold radiated from the ground up. ¡°After so many times, there¡¯s nothing to gain from this, all of my attempts ended with me dying inside the light... seems like my arrival here is due to some other unknown method.¡± Lin Sheng looked at the rift beneath him, and this time around, he did not enter it. Rather he turned around and went to the lowest level of the vault. Even if he did not continue to look for an exit, the time he had spent here meant that the duration was almost up. Based on his previous two experiences, he would probably be leaving one of these few days. Since that was the case, he decided to go over to the bottom level to check things out. And soon, the grey mist got thicker and thicker as Lin Sheng made his way to the green pool. The deep emerald pool was the same asst time, with nary a ripple. Lin Sheng walked along the pool to look for clues, and he did not believe there was nothing about that monster at the bottom of the pool. He needed to at least find out what he was up against. He rummaged through the wooden shelves around him but came up with nothing. He then made his way to the cell at the end of the tunnel. Lin Sheng had pulled a massive skeleton out from there and provoked the limb-faced monster at the bottom of the pool He continued on deeper. Inside the cells on his sides, there were a few oddly shaped bones, some had missing parts while some had withered so badly that they crumbled upon contact. Lin Sheng continued on to the wall at the end. As he looked at the wall, he noticed an intricate disc that looked like the sun. There were numerous bizarre runes on it. Even though he had absorbed so many memories, he did not understand a thing on that. ¡°Oh, right... it was nothing but purple in that cell I was in. what about this? This is the deepest part of the vault, will there be anything behind this wall?¡± As this thought came to mind, Lin Sheng sprang into action. He immediately went to pluck a stiff monster bone out of the cell around him. As he held the bone, he stood before the wall and focused his strength. He then swung his right arm forward. *Bam!!* The sharp bone bit deep into the wall as if puncturing a thin membrane. ¡°There¡¯s something!¡± Lin Sheng was surprised and quickly pulled out the bone. A greenish gap appeared on the wall. Lin Sheng immediately used the bone as a tool to widen the gap, as for the intricate disc on the wall, he did not have the mind to bother about it now. And a momentter, he had dug out a human-sized oval hole. The green light from the gap was thicker and brighter now. Lin Sheng tossed the ruined bone aside and peered into the gap. It was a massive stone hall that glowed in green. The hall was rectangr, with grey statues holding axes standing tall all around. The statues were all carved to look like solemn warriors in heavy armor. The battle-axes in their hands were also different from normal axes. They were muchrger than your usual battle-ax, more akin to a war hammer. And each statue stood six meters tall. All around the wall were wave-like rune patterns. Lin Sheng had only taken a nce but to his surprise, he found that he understood them. ¡°Are these...ancient Rhen?¡± He was astonished. He then looked to the center of the hall. There was a massive stone table and a chair there, and on it, was a massive four-meter-tall statue. And what intrigued Lin Sheng was the weapon on hisp. It was a massive battle-ax that radiated with a green light. The ax was about two meters long, with a massive haft, and the ax de the size of a head. For that grey stone statue, however, the ax looked tiny in his hands, just like a small throwing ax. The ax was double-ded, and on its side was a prism-shaped engraving made out of green lines. The engravings along the line had all sorts of Ancient Rhen markings representing, holiness, steadfastness, shackles, suppression and the likes. Lin Sheng had only taken a cursory nce and felt something was not right. That ax and the statue, alongside the other guardian-like statues, seemed to be protecting something. *Crack...* And just as he was about to step away, the eyes of the grey stone statue in the middle of the hall lit up as pieces upon pieces of grey debris fell off his body. *Creak...* The statue slowly rose from the stone chair, as it held the massive double-ded battle-ax with both hands Chapter 151 - The Way: Part 1

Chapter 151: The Way: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Within the stone temple, pieces of stone were falling from the statue in front while it slowly stood up. Lin Sheng also heard the noise behind him. He looked back quickly and saw that the green pool was boiling violently. Many pale arms were slowly floating up. A huge face, made up of countless arms, was slowly rising from the bottom of the pool. The pale arms were waving and swimming out of the pool in all directions. The arms were like countless white worms, detaching themselves from the human face one after another and upying the entire surrounding space. Soon, the hole behind him was blocked by arge number of arms. The arms stopped at the hole and did not enter. They looked like they were blocking Lin Sheng¡¯s retreat and also seemed to fear the situation in the stone temple. Lin Sheng stabilized himself and looked straight ahead. The giant stone statue slowly stepped down from its chair, the green glow in its eyes burning like mes. It suddenly raised the huge ax, and a silver light shed across its edge. Then, more and more silver rays emerged from the surrounding out of thin air and shot into the ax. The silver rays on the ax grew brighter and sharper. A weirdly familiar atmosphere quickly spread and instantly filled the whole stone hall. It reminded Lin Sheng of something. ¡°It feels like... Could it be...?!¡± ¡°In the name of God.¡± Suddenly, a dull and loud male voice sounded in the stone pce. ¡°F*ck!! Ashen Seal!¡± In a split second, it froze Lin Sheng¡¯s blood, and he recalled what it felt like. There was no time to think. The holy power within him rose rapidly, and at the same time, his body was partially dragonized, lunging sideways. ¡°KADUYA (judgment)!¡± A loud roar reverberated in the air. The huge ax, held aloft in the air, fell sharply. *Swoosh!* A circle of silver halo instantly spread out in all directions. Everywhere the silver halo went, everything split in two. Lin Sheng was still in the air. The heavy armor he was wearing cracked and fell to pieces of ck dust. The sword in his hand also cracked and broke into pieces. *Bang!* Lin Sheng fell hard to the ground. His body was covered by a thinyer of soft white light while two Ashen Seals emerged from the white light on his chest. The statue put down the ax and was about to go toward Lin Sheng. Suddenly, white light and the Ashen Seals emerged from Lin Sheng¡¯s body. The statue stopped slightly, turned around, pounded heavily back to the stone chair, and sat down. Soon everything was back to normal as if the statue hadn¡¯t moved at all. Lin Sheng struggled to get up from the ground. As soon as he got to his feet, his entire armor crumbled and fell to the ground. The silver halo seemed to have the most overbearing force. If it wasn¡¯t for the great immunity of Ashen Seals and holy power to the same source of power, the situation would be really bad... ¡°Is it because it sees the holy power and the Ashen Seals in me?¡± Lin Sheng guessed, otherwise it would not let him go so easily. ¡°It is also a stone statue driven by holy power, but the gray angel didn¡¯t have such preferential treatment.¡± Lin Sheng shook the pieces off the body, wearing ayer of white holy power, began to move around the statue. He tried to remove the holy power from the surface of his skin. *Crack!* The statue moved! It startled him so he quickly activated the holy power again. After a while, the statue sat there quietly. Lin Sheng then removed the holy power on him again. *Crack!* The statue moved again! After trying a dozen times in a row, Lin Sheng found that as long as he removed the holy power, the stone would see him as an intruder, and immediately woke up. ¡°Interesting.¡± Once he knew what to do, Lin Sheng now focused on exploration. Time was running out for him, and he hoped he could get some real help from this ce. ¡°The force just now seems to be the ability to produce Ashen Seals. The kind of waves it produces is almost exactly the same as my Ashen Seal ¨C Sanctuary and Furious Roar. Is it possible that this stone statue is also engraved with Ashen Seals?¡± Lin Sheng wandered around and found nothing in the stone temple, so he refocused on the stone statue. He moved closer to the statue and looked closely at the huge double-edged ax in its hand. The statue maintained the posture of holding the ax t on its knees. His hands rested lightly on the handle of the ax, his eyes closed. Lin Sheng reached out and touched the hands of the statue. Cold, hard. It was nothing more than an ordinary stone statue. He reached out and patted its arm. Still no response. Lin Sheng quickly searched around the statue. But after searching for a while, nothing was found. Then his eyes fell on the huge ax in the hands of the statue. Lin Sheng thought for a moment, reached out and gently grasped the handle of the ax, then slowly pulled it out of the stone statue. ¡°Cool!¡± He took the ax in both hands and retreated slowly to the entrance of the stone temple. Outside the hole, pale hands wriggled everywhere like worms. Carrying the double-ded ax with all the strength he had, Lin Sheng looked at the wriggling pale hands outside the hole. Through the cracks between the pale hands, he could clearly see the huge, eerie face floating on the water. ¡°Now that I have this ax in my hand, maybe I can try?¡± Lin Sheng looked at the wriggling arms and thought. He was not sure if it worked, but he should give it a try. He recalled the spell the statue had just roared out. He, too, had the holy power in him, mimicking the spell might bring the same effect. Lin Sheng looked back at the statue. The statue must also have holy power within it, otherwise, it would not have been able to use the Ashen Seal. ¡°Let¡¯s try it on the thousand-limb-faced monster.¡± He made up his mind. With the ax in hand, he was not afraid of the monster. Standing at the hole, he grasped the ax with both hands and struck hard at the arms blocking the hole. ¡°KADUYA!!¡± The ax cut into the arms easily like cutting tofu. Soon, all the arms were cut in half. And the broken arms ttered to the ground. Chapter 152 - The Way: Part 2 Chapter 152: The Way: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t really work. Knowing the spell is not enough.¡± Lin Sheng stepped out of the hole. Looking down the corridor at the pale arms, he was about to do it. Suddenly the double-edged axe in his hand shed and instantly disappeared. ¡°Ah...¡± apanied by the groan of thousand arm face, arge number of pale arms rushed into the corridor and pounced on Lin Sheng. ¡°Ahhh!!¡± Without further hesitation, Lin Sheng activated the Sacred Blood, purple lines emerged between his eyebrows. Bang!! He stomped hard on the ground, roared, and then turned and whizzed into the hole and disappeared. Soon, the arms without targets spread out and wriggled toward other ces. About two minutester. Lin Sheng appeared again. With his double-edged axe in his hand, he stood again before the hole. This time, he ns to test the reason why the double-edged axe automatically returned to the stone statue. Yes, just as he went back to the stone temple, he saw that the double-edged axe had already returned to the stone statue. He guessed that it probably had to do with ¡®the time he had it in hands¡¯, ¡®the area he was in¡¯, and ¡®whether or not he attacked with an axe¡¯. So he¡¯s going to test it now. Holding the axe, Lin Sheng fiercely split the arms blocking the hole, and then walked out and waited quietly. ¡°One. Two. Three. Four. Five.¡± Swoosh! In an instant, the double-ded axe flew out of Lin Sheng¡¯s hand and returned to the stone temple. Lin Sheng also turned and ran at the same time. Without the axe, there¡¯s nothing he could do. As soon as he entered the hole, the arms stopped chasing and retreated as if nothing had happened. Soon, Lin Sheng came out slowly again with the axe in his hand. This time he did not stop, holding the axe and savagely attacking the arms. After a dozen attempts, the number of arms blocking the hole had greatly diminished. At the same time, he also found out why the axe returned to the statue automatically. Presumably, five breaths after he left the stone temple, the axe would automatically return to the statue. After getting the answer, Lin Sheng started doing the work. Now that he could use the axe, he decided to see if he could kill the monster at the bottom of the pool in the time he had left. The monster with a thousand-armed face was invulnerable, made up of numerous arms, and seemed to have a certain degree of confusion. If it could be killed, summoning it could be a huge boost. Lin Sheng began to carry the double-edged axe back and forth, chopping the arms as hard as he could in a very short time. An hourter... The edge of the green pool was littered with pale arms, all of which had been cut in two, with faint, ckened burn marks. In the pool, the monster was now no bigger than a bathtub. It has very little autonomous consciousness. As soon as the arms that were on guard were killed, it immediately released arge number of arms and scattered them around. So Lin Sheng followed this instinct, chopping away at the arms madly again and again. He ran back and forth dozens of times in an hour... Ahhhhh!!! Soon a figure rushed out of the hole, chopping away violently at the pool. The huge double-edged axe, swooshing and spinning in the air, fell hard on the face of the thousand-armed man. The face instinctively covered the body with arge number of arms, which were then easily severed by the axe. The green light on the axe seemed to have some power to extract life, and the arm chopped off by it wouldpletely lose its vitality in an instant. Soon the double-edged axe turned into a white light and disappeared into the pool. Lin Sheng immediately turned and ran. Suddenly the field of vision in front of his eyes began to shake and blur. ¡°I¡¯m waking up!¡± Soon he heard the familiar sound of the second hand of the rm clock. Everything in front of Lin Sheng quickly became dark and blurred, and eventually sank into darkness. He felt like a victim who had fallen into a hot spring, covered in damp heat and suffocation. A momentter... Lin Sheng yanked off the nket. He nearly suffocated himself! ¡°The dream ended earlier than it should...¡± Lin Sheng then looked at the rm clock sadly. ¡°Too bad... But tomorrow, tomorrow I should be able to kill that monster!¡± He had been evaluated on the strength of the monster. But at the height of his level-three prowess, he could not even chop off an arm, which meant this monster was at least at level five or above. ¡°No... ording to the ssification of the ckfeather City, the level 5 soldiers are just having a few more skills than the level-3 or 4 soldiers, and their physical quality is just a level better.¡± And that monster... Even if there were ten of him attacking the monster at the same time, he would not necessarily be able to defeat the monster. ¡°Tomorrow I¡¯ll kill that monster, then summon it to see its power!¡± Lin Sheng was quite looking forward to this. Now the political situation was changing and everything was beginning to be unstable, which also increased his thirst for strength. Chapter 153 - The Way: Part 3 Chapter 153: The Way: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion After ncing at the rm clock, Lin Sheng quickly got up. He wanted to go to the Ironfist Society to practice holy power and meditate. His parents and sister were at home these days, so it was not convenient for him to practice at home. After all, once the practice started, it could not be interrupted, or all the previous work would be wasted. Now, apart from meditating on the Ashen Seal, he was also desperately practicing the holy power... It made his power umte three times faster! ... In the port area. Xie Qiaoyue sat on the ground, and the coins kept dropping from the purse she was holding. Normally, she would have screamed and grabbed all the coins at once. But right now, she couldn¡¯t calm down. Looking at a body lying on the ground before her, she pointed at a dark blue sea hawk standing on her bedroom windowsill, speechless. ¡°Scared?¡± The sea hawk carefully arranged the feathers on its body, gently pping its wing. Some fine powder flew out andnded on the wound on the body. Soon the body began to dissolve and evaporate, turning into wisps of white steam and disappearing into the air. Only some pieces of clothes was left. ¡°This is the third time!¡± Xie Qiaoyue said angrily. She knew it wasn¡¯t an ident. Someone must be watching her. ¡°It¡¯s someone from my family. They¡¯re looking for me,¡± said the sea hawk coldly. ¡°You¡¯d better make up your mind as soon as possible. They¡¯ll be after us again soon. I saw someone elseing just now. My injury is severe, I can only use a little power now. And if I keeping using my magic, they¡¯ll find something unusual and know I¡¯m nearby.¡± ¡°The best thing you can do now is to go to the dock and get a ship out of here. With any luck, under my guidance, we shall meet a fleet of ships sailing from Miga to Olro!¡± The sea hawk¡¯s voice was serious and urgent. Xie Qiaoyue also understood the situation, but she did not want to leave here. She had been living here for more than 20 years. Although she had been away for some time, she was still familiar with everything here. Although the port area was known as the most chaotic district, in her eyes, it was a ce where spheres of influence, strong or weak, were clearly divided. After a moment of silence. ¡°No... Let¡¯s go to the Ironfist Society!!¡± Xie Qiaoyue said seriously. ¡°The Ironfist Society is very strong! They¡¯ll get rid of the weirdoing after us! As long as I sneak into the Ironfist Society, I¡¯ll be safe!¡± ¡°Are you crazy? The Ironfist Society is just an ordinary organization! It was filled with ordinary people. Even if they do have some strength, there is no chance to fight against the transcendent!¡± The sea hawk was worried. ¡°The strongest thing we have here is the Ironfist Society. I think they can protect us!¡± Xie Qiaoyue nodded to herself. ¡°The chairman of the Ironfist Society is a super-strong man who can kick the head like a ball! He needs to drink three cups of virgin blood every day! I heard that he slept every night with his eyes open, and he would kill anyone who came near. So no one in the Ironfist Society has ever seen him sleep, because those who have seen him sleep are dead!¡± Xie Qiaoyue said seriously in a low voice. ¡°Where did you hear all this crap...!? I¡¯ve told you these rumors aren¡¯t true!¡± The sea hawk was kinda speechless. This girl seemed quiet and obedient, but when she fell into her own delusion, she went on her own way,pletely deaf to the opinions of others. It was a mistake to entrust its soul to the girl!! ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯ll go first. Your goal is too big, you don¡¯t have toe with me!¡± Xie Qiaoyue got up decisively, and she began to pack up her clothes and food. ¡°My soul is in you! If you die, I can¡¯t live either, you idiot! Hey, are you listening!!!¡± The sea hawk exploded in anger. ¡°Which way to go? And I have to figure out how to get in...¡± Xie Qiaoyue didn¡¯t listen to what the sea hawk was saying. Carrying the bag, she rushed out of the bedroom door and rummaged through the kitchen. A short timeter, a girl and a bird rushed out of the house and ran to the Ironfist Society in the ckwater district. Soon, just minutes after they left the house, a bloody red figure walked into themunity and looked straight at the house where Xie Qiaoyue lived. ¡°They ran away?¡± The blood-red figure frowned slightly. The moonlight illuminated his appearance. It was a strange man who had no skin and all the muscles and tendons under his skin could be seen. Two men in casual leather jackets approached him from left and right, bowing respectfully. ¡°Mr. Yamodell, the target is heading for ckwater district, and we¡¯ve lost the men we sent to stop them. Probably killed.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, that kind of mercenary, we can buy at any time.¡± The weird man did not care at all. ¡°She probably wanted to escape, and it¡¯s a good choice to escape here by ship.¡± The two men exchanged a look and continued to bow their heads without making a sound. ¡°I¡¯ll go myself. Don¡¯t follow me. I don¡¯t want to scare them. I don¡¯t believe that they¡¯ll make it this time!¡± The weird man sneered, turned and marched away into the darkness. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± .... .... At ckwater district. Opposite the Ironfist Society, in a narrow alley. Xie Qiaoyue looked at the building in front of her. ¡°This is the primary school I went to... How nostalgic.¡± ¡°I can only block them one more time, and then I¡¯ll run out of energy. Don¡¯t die,¡± the sea hawk stood on the head of Xie Qiaoyue and said clearly. ¡°Rest assured, this is Ironfist Society¡¯s territory. We¡¯re safe here!¡± Xie Qiaoyue was very sure. ¡°Safe? There¡¯s no transcendent around. How safe can we be?¡± The sea hawk looked speechless. In order to survive, it signed a Soul Core Contract with Xie Qiaoyue and now they shared one life. Andtely, it had made every effort to correct Xie Qiaoyue¡¯s timid character. But... Looking at Xie Qiaoyue standing at the door of the Ironfist Society, pretending to read the requirements of joining the society but dared not enter, the sea hawk felt like weeping. Chapter 154 - The Way: Part 4 Chapter 154: The Way: Part 4 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Mhm... that¡¯s a strong blood smell.¡± Under the night sky, a skinless creature with raw, bloody tissues and vessels exposed, slowly and quietly sneaked to the back of the Ironfist Society premise, as if it hade to a no man¡¯snd. With just a snap of its fingers, the iron door lock broke like tofu. The monster let out a smile and walked through the back entrance. In the guardroom on the side of the rear entrance, a disciple asionally took a sip of the water from his ss as he read from a book with his head lower. Upon hearing the faint but perceptible sound, he grabbed a stun baton. As soon as he pushed the guardroom door open, he came face to face with the bloody monster. ¡°You...¡± Stunned, the disciple scrambled to alert the others, but it was toote. The bloody monster leaped across four meters in one single step,ing within inches of him. It wrapped its hand over his mouth before breaking his skull with fingers. What was even more frightening was that the entire actions were silent, without the slightest perturbation of supernatural power. ¡°I know you here. But let me first eat everyone else, only then I will take care of you...¡± As the monster retracted its hand and took a deep breath, the blood exploding from the skull flew like a living thing into the monster¡¯s nostrils. It then continued walking toward the main building. Holding the Bloodazure Harp with one hand, Lin Sheng asionally struck his fingers across the strings, ying a rather difficult-to-y, standard-practice song. But the harp did not make a sound. Being gifted in music, the armored soldier was a talented harp yer. The inheritance of the soldier¡¯s talent had Lin Sheng upied for quite a while. He was feeling the sacred power swell and ebb continuously like a tide in him. His face was calm and he was emotionless as if he had fallen into a state ofplete serenity. When he closed his eyes, he seemed to be able to see his body and his internal organs in his mind¡¯s eye. ¡°The breakthrough is imminent...¡± Suddenly, he was experiencing enlightenment. Already a Level-3 warrior, his strength had peaked after acquiring the sacred power of the Gray Angel. He had been practicing sacred power incessantly as he aspired to make the power of the Gray Angel his own. Now, he had almost internalized it. ¡°Bodily strength andbat experience are now up to snuff. Even without semi-dragonizing, I¡¯d still be qualified as a Level-4 Temple Warrior.¡± Lin Sheng so self-assessed. ¡°The Crag Dragon bloodline boosts my strength to almost level-5, but my sacred power is still at Level-3. Once attaining Level-4, the mastery of my body would improve significantly with added divine ability. Let alone semi-dragonized.¡± Lin Sheng thought, his heart was pounding in anticipation. After ying the harp for a while and sensing a slightg of his sacred power cirction, he knew that he had overexerted himself. So he put the harp aside and was about to take some rest. Just then, one of his telepathic links with the armored soldiers, who were patrolling the perimeter, suddenly disconnected. Startled, he took a shallow breath and got to his feet. He knew well how hard it was to deal with an armored soldier. Even if someone could kill an armored soldier quickly, it would not be as quick as to bepletely silent. He had not gotten much rest these few days because of the pressure from the military of Redwin. Someone sneaking in from the backdoor was making his situation worse. Although he showed no emotional changes on his face, deep inside, his anger was boiling. Lin Sheng put on his jacket and walked out of the quiet room. In was dead silent on the outside, where he saw blood stters on the white wall in the corner, where the body of a disciple was lying lifelessly. He slowly went up and squatted down, checking the dead body. This disciple had died an agonizing death, his face twisted. He reached to rub his hand over the disciple¡¯s face, closing his lifeless eyes. Suddenly, a gust of wind rose in the dark. Lin Sheng surged to his feet, his body swelling rapidly like a balloon, his muscles twisting like a brown bag of boulders, and his eyes sparkling with shes of gold. A fearsome aura of a dragon fanned out from him in all directions. As he tilted his head to the left and then right, the joints of his body started to pop and crackle loudly like firecrackers. After that, he silently strode into the main hall. Xie Qiaoyue knew she had messed up. She should not have acted hastily and hidden behind the unguarded Ironfist Society. The undefended Ironfist Society would be likely suffering enormous casualties. If this happened, she would inevitably face the wrath from both sides. She had witnessed how the Ironfist Society hunted the souls; they would surely not let her off the hook just as the monster would show no mercy to her. ¡°I have passed on your membership application to the above. As long as you meet the criteria, the society will approve your application.¡± Seeing Xie Qiaoyue¡¯s nervousness, the receptionist let out a gentle smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The Ironfist Society is aw-abidingmunity. We are not a violent lot, although we are the strongest in the area now.¡± ¡°I¡ªI¡¯m fine... It¡ªit¡¯s just that...¡± The guilt Xie Qiaoyue felt grew stronger. What if the monster came and no one was defending the IronFist Society? Many people would die, and blood would be on her hands. The longer she thought, the more uneasy she became. ¡°You may need to wait for a while, as there are only a few students here. The president and other members have gone back home. They will only being back at around seven.¡± The girl sitting behind the counter exined softly. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I can wait.¡± Xie Qiaoyue was like a cat on hot bricks; she had gone beyond the point of no return. Fleeing by boat out to sea was a risky gamble; she definitely did not want to take the risk. She had no other choice but to ce her hope on the Ironfist Society, perhaps they were able to stop the monster. The receptionist-on-duty was had a pretty, smiley face. Earlier, the Ironfist Society had decided to halt the new member intake, but girls with beautiful faces were a raremodity. Xie Qiaoyue was first-ss in the looks department, and she was one of those rare women who had an interest in martial arts. So, the president had made an exception to the no-new-intake order to take in any talented and attractive female recruits. Xie Qiaoyue groped the ws of the sea hawk on her head. When she was nervous, she needed to feel the deadly cold talons of the sea hawk with her hands to make herself feel safe and secure. But ordinary humans could not see this weird habit of her and the sea hawk. ¡°Gal, it¡¯sing!¡± The sea hawk suddenly said with a cold voice. The nerves of Xie Qiaoyue tensed up, her eyes darting around as she tried to anticipate the possible direction from where the enemy would emerge. ¡°I found it.¡± A tall, bloody monster slowly came through the side entrance of the main hall. ¡°Utiya,¡± the monster called out, looking and smiling at the sea hawk on Xie Qiaoyue¡¯s head, ¡°I can puncture a hole in your brain with just a snap of my fingers, break every bone in your body with two, and gouge your eyes out to make the most beautiful pearls with three...¡± Xie Qiaoyue and the sea hawk froze as if their vessels and nerves had seized hearing the grim voice and seeing the murderous stare of the monster. But what actually paralyzed them was not the monster but the golden-eye figure that slowly and silently emerged from behind the monster. Chapter 155 - Standoff: Part 1 Chapter 155: Standoff: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The receptionist behind the counter was scared stiff just as the air in the main hall was stilly. Except for the disciple in the guardhouse, she was the only person on duty tonight. After the mantis incident, no one in their right mind would want to mess with the Ironfist Society. But now, what was she seeing? Xie Qiaoyue swallowed and forced a smile. ¡°What should we do now, teacher?¡± The sea hawk was silent for a moment before it shrilled, ¡°Run!¡± They turned and ran, taking the stunned receptionist with them. ¡°Hahahaha! Do you really think you can run away from me?¡± A burst of manicughter came from behind them. Suddenly, the raucous guffaw stopped, as even more dangerous energy began to pervade in the air. When Xie Qiaoyue looked back over her shoulder, a chill ran up her spine, causing her to run even quicker. The sea hawk held on to her hair tightly as it was thrown back by the inertia as Xie Qiaoyue scrambled away. ¡°You idiot! Moron! You¡¯re the single most unfortunate encounter in my life!¡± The sea hawk screamed, feathers standing erect, terrified by the menacing dragon aura. In just a few beats, the two and the sea hawk had disappeared out of the doorway, leaving the door shut behind them. In the main hall, Lin Sheng¡¯s hand jutted out from the monster¡¯s mouth from behind. A cocktail of the brain, blood and cerebrospinal fluid covered his hand. Had he attacked from the front, the monster would have bitten off his hand. ¡°Hoo¡ªhoo¡ª¡± The monster tried to make a sound, but his vocal cord had been ripped apart. All he could make was a hollow sound in the form of a gust of wind from his lung. His skin reddened, and ck smoke rose from his head. When its corrosive blood dripped onto the floor, it ate into the surface with a hiss, burning holes in the floor. The monster whisked his elbows back and struck Lin Sheng on his chest. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the monster lunged forward to free itself from Lin Sheng. It then rolled on the floor and disappeared into a puddle of blood at once. Lin Sheng regained hisposure quickly and went up to check. Just then, the blood abruptly rose in the form of a shadow and charged at him. But Lin Sheng was no slouch. He sent a heavy blow right in the shadow¡¯s face before it could even touch him. More blood sttered. But the blood quickly formed into a shadow and reappeared behind Lin Sheng. Again, before it could do anything, Lin Sheng swiftly delivered a deadly blow in the chest of the monster. ¡°I¡¯m going to rip you apart!¡± The monster was heard roaring furiously inside the bloody shadow. It again condensed from the blood vapor and materialized into a humanoid. The process repeated. But this time was a little different from previously. The bloody humanoid, shrouded in ck smoke, had a golden inverted pyramid spinning in his chest. The humanoid swelled, its body growing from one meter eight to over two meters tall, and it roared in anger as it pounced at Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng kept bashing, and the humanoid broke up and sttered in the form of blood. Wherever the blood touched, the surface would burn. mmable objects such as papers began to catch fire, and smoke started to spread in the air. The scattered blood still regrouped, but it did so a lot quicker this time and emanated a faint blue glow, which was an indication that the monster had activated its secret skill. ¡°You ask for it! Light on the earth, Moon Wolf!¡± The blood solidified and formed into a three-meter blue monster with the head of a wolf and the body of a human covered in ck leather armor. It lowered its head and howled angrily at Lin Sheng. With just one strike, the blue monster lost its head and its body exploded in hundreds of pieces. This went on and on, smashed by either the fist or the palm. Atst, the bloody humanoid could no longer catch up with Lin Sheng¡¯s speed as his hands emerged around the humanoid like a phantom. From angry roaring and hopeless struggling to desperately want to flee and wailing, the bloody humanoid seemed to have lost too much blood as it became lesser and iner than before. Lin Sheng had never seen such a Transcendent. He thought that those who practiced dark energy were at most martial art practitioners who merely mastered some unique power, which was no more than a strength enhancer or a means of protection. But the bodily form of this bloody humanoid was something new to Lin Sheng. The monster was almost indomitable. It could repeatedly resurrect under the suppression of the power of the Crag Dragons. As the monster struggled to crawl away, it left behind a long trail of blood on the floor. After barely making out over two meters and reaching to grab the threshold, it was smashed and broken up again. It lost all its hope. As its body exploded, a miniature golden pyramid dropped out on the floor and fell into a burning fire in the corner of the hall. Everything went silent. It seemed it was thest resurrection of the monster. ¡°I¡¯m sorry; could you please stop for a moment, President Lin?¡±Just as Lin Sheng reached his hand to the golden pyramid, a voice was heard saying. A gunshot followed and punctured a deep hole in the wooden floor inches away from his feet. Lin Sheng halted and looked up ahead. As few armored vehicles screeched to a halt outside, teams of heavily armed Redwin soldiers alighted, escorting a blonde shorthaired young woman as they bulged into the premise. The young woman, in a military outfit with white-feather insert on the right shoulder, had a military a lieutenant colonel insignia on her chest. Her beautiful face aside, she exuded a condescending air in her demeanor. ¡°President Lin, you truly deserve the reputation as the strongest man who has killed the eight-winged mantis barehanded. My name is Yan Mingsha. I am in charge of pursuing this bloody humanoid.¡± The woman so introduced herself. Lin Sheng¡¯s light-gold eyes looked intently at the woman, his face devoid of any emotion. At the same time, there were six red dots on his body; the snipers were at the ready taking the shot when signaled. The shot on the floor in front of his legs earlier had already sent a chill up Lin Sheng¡¯s spine. He could feel threatened by the terrifying firepower of the sniper rifle even though he had a semi-dragonized body and the protection of Ashen Seal. He intuitively knew that he could not stop the bullets fired from this type of sniper rifle. Chapter 156 - Standoff: Part 2

Chapter 156: Standoff: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°What bring you all here?¡± Lin Sheng looked grimly at Yan Mingsha, the female lieutenant colonel. ¡°This miniature golden pyramid is a piece of crucial evidence. We need to take it. Besides, I¡¯d appreciate if President could divulge the whereabouts of the golden-winged sea hawk that this monster was after,¡± Yan Mingsha said coldly. Lin Sheng nced at the miniature pyramid on the floor. A faint sign of life was suddenly detected in the pyramid as soon as Yan Mingsha appeared. It seemed that the monster and Yang Mingsha and the others had some form of direct rtionship. But what was more important was that the monster was not dead yet. Lin Sheng stayed silent for a moment before he said with his head lowered, ¡°What if I decline?¡± ¡°President Lin, don¡¯t cut off your nose to spite your face,¡± Yan Mingsha said casually. ¡°Ie representing the Defense Affairs Division of the military. And I¡¯m not asking.¡± Lin Sheng was silent again. ¡°Take it away.¡± With the wave of her hand, two soldiers stepped out. They used their gun barrels to pick the tiny golden pyramid out of the fire before tossing it into a cloth bag and taking it away. ¡°Do you all really think all will be fine and dandy?¡± Lin Sheng looked up suddenly. ¡°Eh?¡± Startled, Yan Mingsha looked intently at Lin Sheng. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s half-dragon body had ebbed as with the golden glow in his eyes, which had returned to its original color. ¡°This thing killed three of my disciples. Had I not been in the premise, there would have been a terrible bloodbath.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s voice was calm, his body shrinking into its original size. ¡°That¡¯s your problem,¡± Yan Mingsha replied coldly. ¡°Our record keeper has informed our headquarters of what has happened tonight,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°I hope you would still keep your smile when the envoy arrives.¡± The Ironfist Society headquarters? Yan Mingsha¡¯s heart missed a beat, but she showed no emotion on her face. As the chief of a division, Lin Shen had the strength of a Two-Winger. The Six-Wing system included most of the mutants and Darksiders. Yan Mingsha could certainly ignore Lin Sheng, who was just a Two-Winger. But Lin Sheng had imed to have a backing¡ªthe Headquarters. If Lin Sheng¡¯s im was valid, then she must not take it lightly. Her brows knitted together as she had no idea how powerful the Headquarters was, but she already felt intimidated. The matter had gotten rather thorny now. It did not look like Lin Sheng was not bluffing, however. If the Headquarters im were real, then she would have to take a good hard look at this Ironfist Society again. Armed with the special authority given by the vice-minister, she had the discretion to deal with everything within her jurisdiction. Lin Sheng reached his hand into the fire on his right. The me not only did not hurt his skin but also rapidly died down. ¡°Lieutenant Colonel, have you given it a careful thought?¡± Lin Sheng pulled his hand back as the fire went out. Yan Mingsha¡¯s pupils contracted upon seeing what Lin Sheng had done to the fire¡ªit was an act of intimidation. And she knew he had not shown all his strength. She started to calcte in her mind that if things went ugly, she might be able to walk away rtively unscathed, but not so with her men; nine out of ten would likely be dead. She was unable to figure out what was Lin Sheng¡¯s redline. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Yan Mingsha asked coldly. ¡°Compensation, of course.¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°This thing has killed three of my men. I needpensation. Otherwise, the thing must die.¡± ¡°You have already incapacitated him!¡± Yan Mingsha said sullenly. ¡°That¡¯s not enough!¡± Lin Sheng cut her off. ¡°I need him dead!¡± He shut his eyes, and a murderous air began to pervade in the surroundings like a storm. ¡°I think you must have a death wish!¡± Yan Mingsha¡¯s eyebrows cocked as wrath boiled inside her. ¡°Then, we will see!¡± all of a sudden, mes burst out of Lin Sheng¡¯s body. As he rapidly semi-dragonized, his ck jacket was torn apart. A purple pattern emerged on his brow, and his body swelled to an enormous size. The floor cracked, and stone shattered under his feet as Lin Sheng sprang up spontaneously and disappeared into thin air. Almost at the same time, rounds of bullets hit the spot where he stood a second ago but missed him by far. Shocked and unable to locate where Lin Sheng had gone, Yan Mingsha immediately bounced backward with a frantic whoosh, her body glimmering in fluorescent green like a shield, protecting her from any attack. But it all came toote. A big hand came out of nowhere from her left, prating the fluorescent green light and aimed straight at her throat. ¡°Stop!¡± A loud bark was heard from afar. Just as Lin Sheng was about to snap Yan Mingsha¡¯s throat, he heard the voice and let go of her. He bounced several steps back, pulled back his right hand, and returned to the spot where he was seconds ago¡ªall done in one quick sweeping motion. ¡°Hey, you!¡± A tall, shorthaired man, wearing a white military outfit, stormed in and red at Lin Sheng. At the same time, beside Yan Mingsha, the cloth bag that contained the miniature golden pyramid suddenly exploded, blowing up everything in the bag and sending debris flying in all directions. That was what Lin Sheng had actually done; his target was the miniature pyramid. Drenched in her own cold sweat, Yan Mingsha reached to touch her neck. She felt a sharp pain pricking her. She was lucky that her big brother had arrived at a critical moment. Otherwise, she would have been dead. ¡°You...¡± Yan Mingsha gritted her teeth as she gave Lin Sheng a dead stare, but she was more restrained in her words now. ¡°Thank you for the hospitality, President Lin. I will surely reciprocate your ¡®cordialness¡¯ someday!¡± That said, she turned around and walked out. The man in white military uniform also nced coldly at Lin Sheng before following her back out. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡± Lin Sheng said darkly. Only then, the soldiers came to their senses and retreated, leaving the courtyard. They had witnessed firsthand how fast Lin Sheng was and his terrifying capability. Even more fearsome was the high-pressure air of intimidation that Lin Sheng exuded. He could not have possibly evaded the bullets of the sniper rifles, but his intimidating energy stunned the snipers momentarily, causing a slight dy in their action. It was during that short moment that Lin Sheng made a move to blow up the miniature pyramid while performing that fake move to lock the female lieutenant¡¯s throat. He was so fast that it was as if he had never left his ce at all. As for Yan Mingsha, her blood running cold. She left without even daring to bark back at Lin Sheng as she had just cheated death. With the Redwin military and all the soldiers behind her, she still suffered a shecking in the standoff. If this news broke out, she would be an utterughing stock. Lin Sheng stood still in his ce until all the soldiers had left, and the red dots of the sniper rifles on him gone. A few minutester, a group of disciples rushed in from the yard. Dao Ling, Sarroux, and Luo Xinna hurried over after getting a call from one of the disciples. But the party was over by the time they arrived. ¡°Big Brother!¡± Sarroux came up, dropping to his knees before Lin Sheng. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. We arete!¡± He cried loudly in shame with his head lowered. Likewise, Dao Ling and Luo Xinna looked embarrassed, keeping their heads low. Unlike Sarroux, Dao Ling and Luo Xinna were in the vicinity when the standoff was ongoing, but they flinched and decided not toe to Lin Sheng¡¯s aid when they saw the Redwin soldiers. Chapter 157 - Standoff: Part 3

Chapter 157: Standoff: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng possessed the divine ability to detect evil in a person. With just a sh of the golden light in his eyes, he had seen the rising level of evil in the spiritual lights of Dao Ling and Luo Xinna. With this evil-detecting divine ability, anyone who practiced sacred power but doubted it would be revealed in the person¡¯s spiritual lights as seen through the divine ability. The revtion, however, was more of the extraction and magnification of specific contents in the mind, spirit, and soul. Lin Sheng had not seen any weakening of Sarroux¡¯s spiritual light. Instead, he found it to be getting stronger. Sarroux deserves the core training, while the other two will be dealt with ordingly. Lin Sheng had quickly decided so. ¡°Put out the fire and clean up the mess, everyone. Dao Ling,fort the families of the death, and call the contractor to renovate the ce again.¡± Lin Sheng said, his tone very matter of fact. ¡°Sarroux,e with me,¡± he said, then turning to walk deeper into the premise. Sarroux gritted his teeth and followed from behind. Meanwhile, Dao Ling and Luo Xinna were feeling miserable, as they knew that Lin Sheng had begun to despise them. When an Ashen Seal inscriber formed an opinion about them, the oue was in to see. The two exchanged a look and saw the desire to leave in each other¡¯s eyes. They had leveraged the sacred power to break through human ability. They had nothing to lose even if they lost their strength and returned to their original state. What was more important to them was Ashen Seal and Sacred Power, the information of which they could sell for a handsome profit. At that time, it happened that someone was looking for information about Ashen Seal and Sacred Power of the Ironfist Society; these things would fetch a high price in the ck market. They could trade the information for resources to regain transcendenceter. To them, life seemed to be much freer without the restrictive rules of the Ironfist Society. They had made up their minds. No matter how strong and secretive it was, a civilian force like the Ironfist Society would never have the power to defy the authority of a country, such as the Redwin military. It was still not toote for them to leave. They would not worry so much about whether the Ironfist Society would be hunting them down or not. They would buy a flight ticket and fly out of Xilin to any ce they wanted. Finding them in a city of a million poption was akin to looking for a needle in a haystack. So, they were determined to leave. Meanwhile, standing in the yard, they were only going through the motions of directing the other students to help clean up the aftermath. After all, it was still necessary to put on a fa?ade. In a quiet room. Lin Sheng stood there with Sarroux kneeling before him. The atmosphere was as devoutly solemn as it could get. ¡°The female military officer could speak for neither Redwin nor the Defense Affairs Division. She only speaks for herself. There is no need toplicate the matter,¡± Lin Sheng said, voice unruffled. ¡°Big Brother, I will do as you say!¡± Sarroux said assuredly, kneeling on one knee. ¡°All you need to do now is wait.¡± Lin Sheng looked up at a giant character on the wall: Spirit. It referred to a mental state, of which martial art practitioners had high regard. The spirit controlled everything, from physical energy to preternatural abilities. It was the linchpin of all linchpins. The core of Sacred Power. Spirit was an expression of the soul, so it was only natural that it represented Sacred Power. ¡°Wait?¡± Sarroux was puzzled. ¡°Yup. The emissary of the Headquarters will arrive soon. By then, the emissary will get back everything for us.¡± Lin Sheng said, his voice calm with a murderous look in his eyes. Today, right at home, someone almost took away the murderer who killed three of his disciples. If he did not sh the name the Headquarters of the Ironfist Society to scare off the body seizer, he would be facing investigations by the Defense Affairs Division of the Redwin¡¯s military. From the perspective of war, Redwin was now the de factor government as Xilin was too inept at fighting back. While they might be busy guarding against the possible retaliation from Xilin, they were still able to divert their resources to burn the Ironfist Society to the ground. Lin Sheng sighed. Had he been strong enough, he would have obliterated those who dared to mess with the Ironfist Society. Unlike now where he had to eat dirt and groan inwardly. ¡°Big Brother, will the emissary from the Headquarters be able to settle the score?¡± Sarroux could not help asking softly. ¡°Who knows? What is certain is that the Headquarters will not sit by and watch.¡± Lin Sheng sat down slowly. ¡°I supposed you have transcended?¡± He looked at Sarroux. A golden light shed in his eyes, and he instantly knew the state of Sacred Power in Sarroux. ¡°Yea, almost there,¡± replied Sarroux quickly. ¡°Keep it up, and don¡¯t let me down,¡± Lin Sheng said calmly. ¡°Select some grateful and well-natured seedlings from among our disciples; we will focus on training them into the Transcendents.¡± ¡°Aye, Big Brother!¡± Sarroux answered with great reverence. He knew Lin Sheng meant it. Lin Sheng could summon powerful monsters at his whim, but he still needed the Ironfist Society. The reason was that the summoned creatures did not possess the ability to think independently. They executedmands efficiently as if aputer did. But that was all about it. Such as when a ckfeather swordsman transcribed a letter, he would do that task to the letter. But if something beyond his duty happened and needed him to take care of it, he might be stuck and end up running away from the problem so that he could continue the original task of transcribing the letter. As for how urgent and vital the unexpected event was, it was not his concern. People with independent thinking was the reason why Lin Sheng had to keep the Ironfist Society. Unless he could develop a self-directed personality in the summoned creatures, he would not give up on the Ironfist Society. All the more so because the existence of the society was useful. After all, he was a human, and humans needed money and resources. His family needed support and protection. What was more critical was that summoning creatures also required resources. ¡°Prepare me something. I need them for my praxis.¡± Lin Sheng instructed Sarroux; it was time for the Ironfist Society to contribute something back. ¡°Big Brother, just tell me!¡± Sarroux came forward at once. Lin Sheng had listed those materials that were no readily avable and asked Sarroux to get them for him. Such as the white spiders, which could only be caught in the wild. The sky outside began to turn bright. After giving the list to Sarroux, Lin Sheng further instructed him to find out the reason behind the monster attack. As he suspected that, the monster would not have attacked them suddenly. That said, Lin Sheng strode out of the quiet room into therge sparring room. ¡°Send for me Dao Ling and Luo Xinna.¡± Lin Shengmanded the two students standing guard at the door. As the Ironfist Society grewrger and wealthier, some of the students and their families began to live off the club. Most of these students came from a rather miserable background. They were pushed around, had nowhere to go, andcked the means to survive or the necessary skills to get a job. These people had nowhere to turn to but to join the Ironfist Society, willingly bing chore boys. But these chore boys were also the most loyal of all. The two students standing guard at the doorway came precisely from such a background. Upon hearing Lin Sheng¡¯smand, one of them skittered toward the direction of the main hall. Lin Sheng quietly waited. He had seen the wavering faith of Luo Xinna and Dao Ling, and he needed to fix it when he saw a problem. Not long after, hurried footsteps approached. The disciple who went looking for Dao Ling and Luo Xinna reappeared in the doorway, face pale and panting. ¡°President! I have looked everywhere in the entire building but couldn¡¯t find Mr. Dao Ling and Mr. Luo Xinna. Earlier, they were heard saying that they were going to the library, but there was no one there!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Lin Sheng turned around. The murderous looks that had faded from his eyes had returned. Chapter 158 - Dark Clock: Part 1

Chapter 158: Dark Clock: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion A river of people was flowing up the gangway to the giant cruise ship. Dao Ling wore a ck suit and blended in a group of naturalists from Olro. The group was here to conduct a field study of the ancient history of Xilin and now was ready to depart to their home country. Each member of the group held an individual visa. Had it not been for Luo Xinna who had backdoor ess, Dao Ling might not be able to get a cruise ticket reserved for the tour group. Wearing a hat and a ck suit with a walking stick in hand, these naturalist gentlemen were looking down and giving their valediction to a woman in a white dress on the harbor. Mrs. Vessani, sixty, skin slightly wrinkled but looking graceful with a white gauze on her shoulders, was nked by three bodyguards. ¡°It was my pleasure to host you all, gentlemen. With all the histories, cultures, and myths in Xilin, thirteen days of study tour seem to be too short. If the opportunity arises again, I hope I could bring you all to...¡± Mrs. Vessani¡¯s voice was graceful and euphemistic, it sounded like a poetic, sweet rhythm to the ear. After repeatedly expressing her regret to Kenhardt, who was the study group leader, she extended her invitation for their next visit. Quietly staying at the rear of the group, Dao Ling and Luo Xinna watched as these people exchanged pleasantries. Their decorous etiquette and gracious manners bewildered the two. They felt as if they were in a different world. As mere churls themselves, they were nowhere as sophisticated in speech and manner as these people. ¡°At least we are in and onboard. The study group has a boarding priority. If it wasn¡¯t because of you, I would find a way to Miga,¡± Luo Xinna said in a low voice behind Dao Ling. ¡°I don¡¯t know if Lin Sheng would being after us. So too Sarroux. Probably, they still think we have gone out to take care of a few things. If that is the case, it would be three dayster before they realize that we have deserted them,¡± Dao Ling said quietly. ¡°We are going to make it out. No worries.¡± Luo Xinna nodded lightly when he saw the group leader, Kenhardt, kissed the hand of Mrs. Vessani, and the group began to move further up the gangway. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he urged, nudging Dao Ling. The two stayed at the rear of the line, behind a bearded, middle-aged man. They stepped on the sampan and finally went onboard the Red Roses, the mid-size cruise ship from Olro of more than one-hundred-meter-long with over two-hundred-passenger capacity. A pair of ck leather boots stepped on the concrete floor of the harbor. Lin Sheng, wearing a ck leather coat, hair cascading down as he stood at the entrance of the harbor. More than a hundred disciples of the Ironfist Society were marching on the street, blocking the entrance and preventing traffic from going in and out of the harbor. Vehicles transporting goods came to a standstill along the street. People began to yell and curse as they disembarked to check what was going on that held up the traffic. Passersby and merchants stopped on both sides of the road, taking a glimpse of what was happening. The expression on some of the faces started to change when they saw the uniforms of the Ironfist Society, which was on the crest of a wave right now. A few police officers, who happened to be patrolling in the vicinity, hurried over with an inimical expression on their faces. But when they saw that it was the Ironfist Society, their expression took a sudden change and slowed down their steps. Lin Sheng looked up, eyes on the red cruise ship. He was tall and burly, physically well-proportioned yet appearing cold and manic. Coupled with his unbridled aura of a dragon, his persona was force field-bending. It was almost like looking at a massive, callous, and cruel killer beast; one would shudder in fear by just looking at his eyes. ¡°Get them.¡± Lin Shengmanded, his voice hoarse. ¡°The Ironfist Society will not tolerate disloyalty.¡± He might sound casual, but he would make sure to make his words into rules. A masked man with a cross sword, wearing a simple ck suit, flew past Lin Sheng, heading up the cruise ship. Two armored soldiers were following closely from behind. Sarroux came up beside Lin Sheng, his impassive face filled with a hint of anger. Beside them, groups of men with the Han-character of ¡®Fist¡¯ on the back of their shirts flowed into the crowd on the harbor to clear out a path for Lin Sheng and Sarroux. Other than eating and drinking, these men had been training and practicing every day. They were brawny and seriously skillful in close-quarterbat. Sarroux had even hired someone to teach them bullet-evading techniques. The training they received was not something that the usual cliques could match. All the more so because the martial art they practiced originated from the best fighting techniques Lin Sheng had replicated from ckfeather City. A fighting technique highly regarded by a horde of superhuman beings in ckfeather City was no joke. Even the most basic techniques of it could outmatch the fighting techniques of Xilin by far. Protest and shoving quickly arose in the crowd as they were forced aside, but men from the Ironfist Society quickly kept the situation under control. When a path was finally cleared out, Lin Sheng and Sarroux strutted past the crowd toward the red cruise ship. ¡°What the heck! It¡¯s the Ironfist Society¡ª¡± A few bare-armed, burly, bald men with tattoos on their skin started cursing. These men might be muscr, but they were no match for the professionally trained disciples of the Ironfist Society. A few ordinary disciples from the Ironfist Society was able to beat the daylights out of them. When Lin Sheng and Sarroux arrived at the gangway, the two bearded ticket collectors were seen lying unconscious on the ground. Just then, some faint sounds of fighting and gunshot were heard on the deck near the starboard. Lin Sheng stepped onto the gangway and paced up unhurriedly with Sarroux following closely from behind. In just a few beats, the two were on board. A ckfeather swordsman and two vault guards had kept the situation under control. A blue-haired young man was seen sitting in a corner. Supposedly the security officer of the cruise ship, he had a gun in one hand and pressing his other hand on his bleeding wound in the abdomen. Dao Ling and Luo Xinna were keeping their heads low and blending in with the crowd, hoping that Lin Sheng would not spot them. When they saw Lin Sheng hade onboard, their hearts sank, realizing that the Ironfist Society had used some unknown method tracking them to this ship. ¡°I think we should step out and apologize. The president would surely forgive us as he needs people.¡± Dao Ling helplessly let out a sigh with Luo Xinna gritting his teeth, concurring and knowing that there was nothing more they could do. In any case, they were still Transcendents, and as long as they had notmitted too obvious sin against the Ironfist Society, Lin Sheng would certainly absolve them. The two so thought and exchanged a look. But they both clearly sensed the dispiritedness in each other. They appeared from the crowd and came before Lin Sheng, one following the other. ¡°President,¡± Dao Ling took a deep breath, ¡°I am merely taking a tour of the cruise ship on an invitation. It¡¯s my fault not informing President about this beforehand.¡± Luo Xinna quickly stepped out. ¡°President, I heard that some VIP guest who could be of help to the Ironfist Society was on board and about to leave, so I came to give him a courtesy send-off.¡± He pointed to Kenhardt, the tour group leader. Kenhardt, who had received some hush money from Luo Xinna, smiled at Lin Sheng with his hat off. Chapter 159 - Dark Clock: Part 2 Chapter 159: Dark Clock: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Mr. Kenhardt is a naturalist from Olro. He has a close rtionship with Redwin¡¯s lieutenants, who are also here today.¡± Luo Xinna emphasized hisst sentence. Did he just threaten our Big Brother? Sarroux¡¯s eyes were wide-eyed. For a moment, he could not believe what he had heard. At first, he thought that Dao Ling and Luo Xinna would admit their mistake and apologize, and then they would be forgiven. They had done nothing wrong except for the desertion. But now they were using Redwin¡¯s pennant to intimidate President Lin. ¡°President, if we could make a deal with the Redwin military through Mr. Kendhardt, it would be¡ª¡± Before Luo Xinna could finish, a gust of gale came toward him from the side. Shocked, he quickly parried with his arms. Then, he heard the briskly crackling of the bone of his arm. Before he knew it, he was sent flying out backward, mming his head on a piece of solid metal of the ship and instantly passed out. Lin Sheng retracted his right hand, stepping forward with an intimidating aura of a dragon. The tourist and the crew had their hearts in their mouths and scrambled backward like a fragile breakwater pounded by powerful waves. Taken back, Dao Ling¡¯s face went pale before he quickly regained hisposure. ¡°President, why did you do that?¡± He demanded. ¡°Haven¡¯t you felt your sacred power is leaving you?¡± Lin Sheng reached out his left hand, fingers slowly closing. As simple as the movement was, they seemed to move like phantoms at elusive speed. ¡°Repent...¡± Lin Sheng struck forward with his left hand in a swirling motion, hand seemingly extending out from his shoulder. His fist changed into a palm, aiming straight at Dao Ling. In a split second, the muscles of Dao Ling¡¯s body sprang into action. He gritted his teeth, and with the fighting technique of ckfeather City he had learned, he focused all his strength on his hands before sending out punches to meet Lin Sheng¡¯s palm. Shockwave burst out when their hands collided. Dao Ling stood still, his body quivering involuntarily as if a bolt of lightning had struck him. Blooding was oozing out of his eyes, ears, mouth, and nostrils, his skin pale as if a sheet of white paper. A secondter, he copsed on his knees, with two streaks of blood rolling down his cheeks. Dao Ling died without leaving behind a single word. Lin Sheng drew back his hand, turned around, and calmly left. The passengers of the cruise ship screamed at seeing what happened. Some of them with family quickly covered the eyes of their children, preventing them from seeing the gruesome murder. But no one dared toe forward to stop Lin Sheng. The Ironfist Society had risen from utter obscurity to instant notoriety. Especially after the mantis attacks, the Ironfist Society had grown to be the top dog in the underworld of Huaisha. Many people among the crowd knew about this rising forces of influence, but they mostly stayed as fence-sitters when things did not concern them Mr. Kenhardt, the gentleman of the tour group, just shook his head regretfully upon seeing Dao Ling kneeling dead on his knees. The money he received was only payment for his nods at the crucial moment. Other than that, he would be concerned. But if there was anything that he was concerned about, it was the sudden burst of physical power that Lin Sheng had disyed. Disembarking from the ship, Lin Sheng left the rest of the matter to Sarroux and other disciples. He needed to go to deal with the person who lured the monster into the Ironfist Society in the first ce. From what he knew, the stranger woman whom he saw in the hall was likely the culprit. It looked like he had met this woman before, but he could not tell when. He also heard the monster calling ¡®Utiya,¡¯ but he had no idea what it meant, nor was it her name. But he remembered her face and the sea hawk on her head. With this information at hand, he could quickly assemble a photo of her and find her. Especially the sea hawk, which looked like the bird in the wanted list of the Defense Affairs Division. Quickly, he disembarked from the cruise ship, his mind unruffled. The curious tourists gathering in the surroundings had mostly dispersed; it was not as crowded as before. As he stepped his foot on the harbor, an army officer in Redwin¡¯s military uniform came up to him. ¡°President Lin, you¡¯re suspected of disturbing public order and security and being involved in a murder onboard the cruise ship. Come with me!¡± The military man held a gun in his hand, staring deadly at Lin Sheng. ¡°Are you speaking on behalf of the Defense Affairs Division or yourself?¡± Lin Sheng asked darkly. ¡°Either way, you have no right to question me! Take him!¡± The military officer¡¯s face was stern, and he motioned the soldiers behind him to arrest Lin Sheng. He bet that Lin Sheng would not resist arrest as he was representing the Defense Affairs Division of Redwin. Defying arrest meant going against the Defense Affairs Division of the military, which not even the Ironfist Society could afford to do. Lin Sheng stay put, letting the soldierse near him. A golden light shed in his eyes as one of the arresting soldiers took out a handcuff. The soldier began to shiver as he came closer with the handcuff to Lin Sheng. The nearer he came, the worse his shivering became. The soldier did not feel a thing when he stood far away. But now, a fearsome feelinging out of the person whom he was going to arrest was terrorizing him. Then, one of the nearest soldier with a handcuff gritted his teeth, came up, and snapped the cuff on Lin Sheng¡¯s wrists, closing his eyes all the time. As the handcuff click locked, Lin Sheng twisted his hands slightly and raised them in the air, and the handcuff just snapped open. ¡°It¡¯s broken, officer,¡± said Lin Sheng, looking amusedly at the military man. ¡°Do you have a new one?¡± Another soldier came with another pair of handcuffs and snapped it on Lin Sheng¡¯s wrists. But this one also broke apart with a slight twist of Lin Sheng¡¯s hands. The face of the military officer went ghastly pale, and cold sweat started to trickle down his brow and temples, yet he dared not even raise his hand to wipe it away. After three pairs of handcuffs were broken in session, Lin Sheng nonchntly strutted past the military officer and left the scene while his disciples bringing Dao Ling and Luo Xinna following from behind. Before leaving, Sarroux shot the military officer a re. He did not intervene earlier because he knew that Lin Sheng would handle the situation with ease unless the president ordered so. Atte noon, Lin Sheng tossed Dao Ling¡¯s body for cremation and then brought Luo Xinna, who was half-dead, into a quiet room. He ordered that no one shoulde in. Luo Xinna was valuable while he was alive, as his soul was the subject of Lin Sheng¡¯s study. Especially the Exhortation ability, which if he could master, he would be able to make the toughest-willed prisoner talk and divulge information. What was even more important was that he would gain a more in-depth knowledge of the anatomy and nature of the souls. Unfortunately, Luo Xinna had breathed hisst before three hours had passed, that leaving only Sarroux the only Transcendent in the Ironfist Society, notwithstanding Lin Sheng himself. Following that, Lin Sheng selected eight new, talented men and women and trained them from scratch. It was a little slow process. But these recruits, who were saved by and lived off the Ironfist Society, possessed a higher sense of loyalty than others. After the betrayal incident such as by a martial art veteran like Dao Ling, Lin Sheng became more careful in the bestowal of Ashen Seal. He would not give out Ashen Seal until he found the right persons. After giving instructions to Sarroux and the others earlier, they hade back with tons of ingredients for Lin Sheng. One of the hardest-to-find ingredients was white spiders. A bottle could contain up to a hundred of these eerie creatures. Other than the spiders, most of the other materials were bought off the market. Lin Sheng had now enough ingredients to carry out at least tens of summoning ceremony with some to spare. He could currently really feel the strength in numbers. But he must first find a suitable, powerful enough summoned creature¡ªthe sooner, the better. After all, he could not bluff his way out of the situation when it came to the Defense Affairs Division in Redwin¡¯s military. A powerful summoned creature that he could conveniently use its identity was what he sorelycked right now. Chapter 160 - Dark Clock: Part 3 Chapter 160: Dark Clock: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng yed the harp for a while with a target in mind before he headed home. At home, he briefly exined himself to his parents and sister and then hit the sack to go into dreams. His aim was the face of a thousand arms at the bottom of the pool. Without the ax, he could do nothing. He had triedst night without the ax many times. Even with his half-dragon form, Sacred Blood, and sacred power activated at the same time, he could barely rip off one of the limbs of the face with a thousand arms and leave some bruises on its skin. So, Lin Sheng was determined to kill the face with a thousand arms and make it his summoned creature. While lying in bed with his eyes closed, Lin Shengmanded in his mind two vault guards to patrol the perimeter around his house and kill anything that posed a threat. When his mind settled, he let his consciousness dip so that it went into a state of trance. Soon, Lin Sheng heard the clock ticking, and he regained his consciousness. When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in a dim, misty space between the stone chamber and the pool, surrounded by walls that glimmered in green. Up ahead, a bright green light leaked through the gap in the wall of the stone chamber, and behind him, two arms were creeping on the ground. Lin Sheng quietly lunged into the stone chamber and summoned his sacred power so that it shrouded him before he deftly snatched the ax from the stone statue¡¯s hand and darted over to the pool. He had done this a dozen times over, and most of the time, it took less than five seconds toplete the whole action. Apparently, his rehearsal ofst night had paid off. He soon heard some muffled sound in the pool. The face with a thousand arms was only asrge as a basin now, but it still could not seem to evade Lin Sheng¡¯s attack. Needless to say, it was brutally hit by the ax in the face. ¡°No!¡± The face with a thousand arms howled and groaned in pain, with the same response each time. It had apparently lost its mind and be delirious. All of a sudden, the ax disappeared into a ray of white light, and in the blink of an eye, it was back in the hand of the stone statue in the stone chamber. Again, Lin Sheng came back in, snatched the ax, and returned to the pool. And then the entire process started all over again. Things went on for an hour before a voice wailed antagonistically, and the vault began to shake violently. Lin Sheng stood by the pool, striking the ax into the pool for the onest time. The face with a thousand arms, only the size of a human face now, was shed across its face from left to right, leaving behind arge cut wound that glimmered in green light. Immediately, a gray mist of fervent heat spurted out from the gash. Again, the face with a thousand arms wailed loudly. The vault began to shake violently. Rocks and sand started to fall from the ceiling and walls cracking open. The same happened under Lin Sheng¡¯s feet as dark and seemingly bottomless fissures formed in the ground. The only ce unaffected by the copse was the stone chamber, as if what happened on the outside did not concern it. The situation was bing desperate for Lin Sheng. There was not a ce for him to rest his feet on as the whole ce was falling apart. He was forced to back up into the stone chamber. Standing at the entrance, he quietly observed the scene of the disaster outside. Soon, the tremor stopped. By then, rocks, big and small, had filled the pool, and arge portion of the green liquid had flowed out through the cracks, revealing the real face of the monster in the pool. It turned out that a skinny, white-haired, mummy-like old man wearing a dark-yellow magician robe was at the bottom of the pool. Holding a staff in hand with his eyes closed, he looked just like any other elderly. But when looking carefully, Lin Sheng found that the mouth of the old man had been stitched up. Not only that, this old man had a missing arm, and his only arm was covered in a light-gold tattoo. It was not easy to spot it at first because the gold color of the tattoo had blended in with the yellow of the robe. The old man slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of cloudy and vacant yellowish pupils. He seemed to want to say something, but he could not. His mouth had been sewn. Very quickly, the old man¡¯s body dissolved, vaporized and turned into plumes of ck smoke, which rapidly took the shape of a thick ckline before flying toward Lin Sheng. ¡°So here it goes!¡± Lin Sheng was ready for this moment. After all the painstaking troubles, he could not afford to mess up the absorption step. He stepped out of the stone chamber, just in case when he passed out, the stone statue attacked him because he was unable to use his sacred power to shroud his body. Although the tremor around the pool had stopped, cracks were all over the ce. But as long as Lin Sheng watched his steps, he should be fine. He quickly loped to a safe spot at a corner, and as soon as he sat down with his legs crossed, a ckline dived into his chest. He heard a loud boom in his mind as if his brain had exploded. Whispers, distorted breaths, messages and sensations rushed into his mind. Feeling like his skull was going to fall apart, he dropped to the ground, and his body began to twitch uncontrobly. The experience was very different from previously. Images were dark, colorless and formless. Aside from utter darkness, there was nothing else. The whispers were unintelligible, the voice sounding like the buzz from a beehive¡ªthere were noisy, evil, painful, helpless, fury, and madness. He could sense all the negative emotions from the whispers, and the only physical sense avable to Lin Sheng was his hands. ¡°Could you lend me your hands?¡± a voice suddenly said in the dark. Lin Sheng froze, as an unexined, eerie chill spread through his body, which then quivered violently. It was horrifying, but he could not tell what emotion it was. Then in the dark, he seemed to see a lonely, horrific soul gradually turned creepy in loneliness and distortion. The sense of touch was its only way to learn about the world. Not only that, this sense of touch only worked with his hands while the rest of its deformed body was merely a shell devoid of feeling. To satisfy its exploratory desire, this soul gradually became a monster. It greedily asked for help from others, from whom he would harvest their hands. As time went by, its collection of hands grew until an old man in a golden mask found it and traded one of his arms for this ce¡ªin the pool. The memory stopped abruptly. Following that, the blurry face of a child emerged in the dark, smiling at Lin Sheng. He suddenly fell facedown and began to retch. A cold was running through his body, which twitched violently as if some of his nerves had withered while some overgrown. His hands became overly sensitive¡ªit was so touchy that he would feel a sharp pain whenever his hands touched the ground. But what was more appalling was that he could feel the soul fragments he acquired this time were as many as the entire collection of souls he had taken in previously. ¡°Khad...¡± Lin Sheng retched, uttering a name that carried fear in itself. ¡°Your name is Khad.¡± His mind a muddle, but the smiling face of the boy was vivid and clear in his mind. Khad was the name that the old man with a gold mask gave to the boy. It meant sin in ancient Rehnnguage. Coincidentally, a character was the only differentiation that set apart the sybles of the name and ¡®sacrament¡¯ in ancient Rehn. Chapter 161 - Summoning: Part 1 Chapter 161: Summoning: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng¡¯s hands still shivered when he woke up from the dream. Getting up and sitting on the edge of his bed, his hands shuddered involuntarily as if he had a bad cramp. Not just that, his chest felt swollen and pressurized as if it would burst like a balloon at any time. Lin Sheng took a deep breath and then breathed out in several steps. The breathing method that he learned from somewhere in regting his breathing and emotions worked like a charm. After a few rounds, his emotions settled down, and the quivering of his hands stopped. ¡°I¡¯m having indigestion after ingesting the soul.¡± He mumbled, and then stood up and walked to the desk just as he had done it a hundred times before. He took out his encrypted notes from the drawer and began to write, documenting some of the turning points in his life. After learning the Deviltongue, he began to use a mixture of the Deviltongue alphabets, Rehn characters, and Han pinyin in the encryption. There was no question about the security of this encryption method, but the downside to this was that it made a short content doubly longer. Lin Sheng turned on the tablemp. Holding a pen in hand, he began to ponder and write. That done, he came back in bed andy on his back, starting his meditation on Ashen Seal. His cultivation of Ashen Seal-Sanctuary wasplete. He was now meditating on the second ability¡ªAshen Seal: Furious Roar. The longer he meditated, the better his mastery of Furious Roar became. And after a while, as the caprice in his heart gradually came under control, he halted his meditation and started to sort out the useful memories from the useless ones, which he had just acquired. The memories of Khad had little substance except for the part concerning his life. He was born deformed and abandoned, no one wanting him because he looked like a monster. When some hawkers plucked him out of the street, they used him as a money-spinner until his antecedents were revealed. However, there was no information about how Khad obtained his ability and how he ended up in the Fay Vault. However, a white-haired old man wearing a yellow magician robe with a missing arm appeared in his memories. The old man¡¯s name was Dark Igor. ¡°Dark Igor... I knew it was him, the one who created the Circle of Reaping and polluted the entire Fay Vault.¡± Lin Shengmented. The soul of the face with a thousand arms was so nasty that he still could not fully assimte it even he had woken up from the dream for so long. Lin Shengy in bed, alternating between meditation, sorting out the memories fragments, and taking some rest. Time flew and the sky outside was gradually softening to a blue. He waited until his strength had somewhat recovered before he got out of bed, packed his stuff, and put on a loose garment. After wolfing down a few leftover boiled eggs of yesterday, which he found in the kitchen, he could not wait to get out of the door. ¡°If I could summon the face with a thousand arms, it would turn the tide of the current situationpletely!¡± Lin Sheng said to himself. The Redwin military would think twice before they made a move against the Ironfist Society. They did not want to provoke an unknown force like the Ironfist Society if it did not harm their interest. Lin Sheng had no clue how what level the strength of the face of a thousand arms was at. But it was way much stronger than he was for sure. Before he left, Lin Sheng left a note on the table. He then closed the burry-proof door behind him and when he came into the stairway, he stopped and calmed himself down for a while. His hands would shudder involuntarily if he did not pay attention. It was as if his nerves suffered from some kind of seque; his body was always tense. From these symptoms, he roughly figured that he might have taken in too many soul fragments at the same time, causing indigestion, and Khad was affecting his soul. He was not overly concerned, though, because he had experienced many simr phenomena before. The symptom would go away by itself as long as he kept practicing his sacred power, the most fearsome energy capable of cleansing all impurities from the soul. The after-six morning in Huaisha looked like an icy beauty shrouded in a blue gauze. Itsst stronghold slowly lost ground to the relentless assault of the wind and waves. Lin Sheng rode his bike, heading straight in the direction of the jungle. While he went, he could sense someone was trailing him from outside the neighborhood where he lived. So he sent Crow, the ckfeather swordsman, to shake off the tracker. He had only a ckfeather swordman and two armored vault guards with him, as Sacred Shield Tyrant and other summoned creatures were dead and no longer summonable. So he nned to take this opportunity to vacant more room in his soul for the face with a thousand arms, who was more powerful than he was. But he had no idea know how much soul space he needed to amodate the monster. Perhaps the more, the better, he thought. His bicycle¡¯s tires suddenly screeched to a halt. Lin Sheng alighted. Wearing ck sports attire and carrying a backpack filled with ingredients on his back, he darted into the mountains on foot. His steps were light and fast, almost twice as quick as a human could go. He passed through the field into the dense forest, threading up the slope until he saw a dpidated temple up ahead. The temple seemed to have been cleaned up recently with the broken door hanging askew previously repaired, and the bushes on the forest floor and moss on the steps trampled and even cleared. Lin Sheng carried his backpack, pushed the front door open, and came into the central courtyard. Most tree¡¯s roots growing out of the surface into the courtyard had been ripped apart, overgrown bushes and veins were reced by a clean open space in the middle. Lin Sheng came to the open ground. With the snap of his fingers, a ck crow flew over his head silently before it circled above the temple. At the same time, Crow, the ckfeather swordsman, emerged from a plume of ck smoke. Together with the other two armored vault guards, Crow began to make his round outside the temple. As for another soldier, Lin Sheng had sent him to protect his family. He put the backpack down and took out the ingredients and a piece of stic sheet that had a magic circle already drawn on it. He needed to finish this ceremony as quick as he could because if Redwin found that he had escaped their surveince, they would likely take actions. So Lin Sheng quickly spread the stic sheet open on the ground and deftly ced the different ingredients in their respective ces. With the help from the Ironfist Society, he had more than enough materials for many rounds of the ceremony. But gold nugget and silver powder were in short supply, and they barely sufficed for three more rounds of summoning rituals. ¡°I have to get some more supplies. The Ironfist Society has spent half of its money on materials.¡± Lin Shengmented. After putting up the t pan, he poured the filtered water in it and lit the buttermp using a lighter. As the water boiled, Lin Sheng scooped up adle of premixed ingredients and tossed it into the pan. ¡°Here it goes.¡± He ced thest white spider into the liquid in the pan and began to chant in some strange sybles. ¡°Mu, ba, en, di, yu, yi...¡± Following immediately, plumes of white smoke from the buttermp began to drift toward the t pan before disappearing into it. The murky liquid in the pan started to ripple and steam started to rise. The steam that looked like a nket of fog quickly drifted toward Lin Sheng and engulfed him in it Chapter 162 - Summoning: Part 2

Chapter 162: Summoning: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion As Lin Sheng closed his eyes and the sacred power in him rapidly rose, he began to see a group of light balls appear in his mind¡¯s eye. Red light balls represented the ckfeather swordsmen, white the Sacred Shield Tyrant, gray the vault guards, and blue the core of Gray Angel. Other than that, there were also other light balls of different colors and sizes floating in the dark, waiting for Lin Sheng to make his choice. He nced up and saw seven different light spheres. ¡°I can only see this because the space in my soul isrge enough?¡± He spected while he took a quick nce at the light balls. Immediately, thergest one, which was of a pale-white color, caught his attention. The light ball was slightly smaller than the Sacred Shield Tyrant¡¯s, and it had a shimmering human face on its surface. He felt a weird sense of irritability, depression, and uneasiness just from looking at it. ¡°This should be the one.¡± He reconfirmed his findings. That particr light sphere was thergest and weirdest thing in his entire field of vision. Its feel and the energy perfectly coincided with the face monster with a thousand arms, so he hesitated no more and went up to it. At that moment, the light ball gradually and quietly expanded. Like closing curtains, it gingerly embraced Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness in its fold. Amid a soft whine of the wind, Lin Sheng opened his eyes and found himself standing in a beautiful yet decadent and freezing pce. Above him, a whitish-gold candleholder hung from the ceiling. It consisted of a hundred candles, and it looked like a giant icicle. Under his feet was a thick, pure ck carpet, which was decorated with many white hexagonal patterns. On his left and right, round columns protruded out of the walls with massive portraits of nobility hanging at each interval. They looked grim and impassive in the dim candlelight. ¡°Your hands... are beautiful...¡± Up ahead stood a young boy wearing an exquisite tuxedo. He was smiling at Lin Sheng. ¡°I wish I could have those beautiful hands of yours...¡± The young boy looked at him with a pair of big eyes, but they were soulless and unfocused. ¡°You-You are?¡± The hurried and scared voice of a woman was heard next to Lin Sheng. He turned around and was shocked to see a blonde woman wearing a whiteced dress standing on his right. She looked terrified while she slowly stepped back. Heavy, golden white, flowery gauze hung ant on her head as she shivered. ¡°Don¡¯t... Don¡¯t...¡± She was frightened. She then turned and ran in the opposite direction of the cloister toward the main entrance. Just then, another young boy wearing a white tuxedo that was identical to the earlier one appeared from the right side of the doorway and stood in her path. The woman shrilled in fear, but her voice suddenly muted as her skin began to age and turn dull. In the end, her entire being became all withered and dehydrated, except for her arms. The skin on her arms appeared more tender and softer than before, as though the skin had sucked her soul and all of the fluid, as well as blood, in her body dry. Following that, the woman dropped dead to the ground. Her arms melted into the carpet like candle wax while the other parts of her body turned into dark ash and vanished. The young boy stood still and smiled before he slowly walked toward Lin Sheng. ¡°You cannot hear, can you, my lord?¡± Lin Sheng suddenly heard the low feebly voice of a man behind him. He turned around and saw an old man in a yellow robe standing on the ck carpet. He was looking calmly at the young boy. ¡°Yes, Igor.¡± The little boy smiled. ¡°You¡¯re right. I cannot hear your voice.¡± ¡°The kingdom is falling,¡± said the old man calmly. ¡°Follow me. There is still onest ray of hope.¡± ¡°I like your hands. Could I borrow them?¡± The young boy did not respond directly to the old man¡¯s words. After a while of silence, the old man took out a golden mask and gingerly put it on his face with one hand. Meanwhile, he clutched his arm firmly with the other. All of a sudden, blood sttered all over the ce as the old man ripped his arm off his shoulder and tossed it to the young boy. ¡°I cannot protect you anymore, my lord.¡± He quickly stopped his bleeding, his eyes full of sadness. ¡°That is all right.¡± The young boy caught the arm and held it tightly in his arms. ¡°You will live as long as it is with me.¡± He looked up and smiled. ¡°Just like you have kept me alive, Dark Igor.¡± Right then, Lin Sheng¡¯s vision shattered into golden dust like a broken crystal before dissipating in the air. He returned to a dark field of vision, where the young boy with white hair quietly floated in the air before him. The boy opened his eyes, but his pupils looked empty. It was a stark contrast to his elegant, body-hugging royal tuxedo and the tender, spotless skin on his face. However, what baffled Lin Sheng was the gray-haired old man behind the boy. The old man was wearing a yellow robe and holding a staff in his hand. His mouth was sewn, and his body was assimted into the boy¡¯s back from the waist down. As the old man was semi-transparent, he was not clearly visible without taking a closer look. ¡°Have they grown together?¡± Lin Sheng knew that the old man was Dark Igor, the royal magician whom Khad, the young boy, forever kept beside him. It was unclear what had happened in the Fay Vault, but Khad and Dark Igor seemed to be fighting and waiting for something at the bottom of the pool. Was it the Mastery of Death and Decay or some unknown existence imprisoned inside the stone chamber? At first, Lin Sheng thought that the stone chamber was designed to jail Khad. But he had killed Khad the night before, and the stone chamber still remained intact. Plus, the ax even continued to shine with a dazzling green light. ¡°Perhaps, the hidden secrets will never see the day of light again...¡± Lin Sheng sighed quietly and shifted his attention to the young boy. ¡°It¡¯s time to try a new way of doing things.¡± He gazed intently at the boy as his consciousness entered the boy¡¯s body. In a split second, the memories of the thousand-armed face monster rushed into the hollow shell of the summoned creature, and with that, the boy¡¯s face turned creepy. His smile exuded a peculiar air of frenzy, danger, coldness, and cruelty. A few secondster, after all of Khad¡¯s soul fragments had been duplicated, Lin Sheng retracted his consciousness and opened his eyes. In the courtyard of the temple ruins, a boy stood before the summoning circle. His hair was white, his face delicate and sharp, but he appeared kind of genderless. He was at most nine, and his soulless, amethyst eyes were bright and clear. His skin was softer than silk, his face spotless, and his pink lips as tantalizing as rose petals. He was more beautiful than a doll. ¡°Khad... Your name is still Khad, although it is not your real name,¡± Lin Shengmanded. Without saying anything further, his consciousness quickly poured into Khad¡¯s mind via a secret channel. He could keep all of his summoned creatures under his full control and turn them into his avatars. Chapter 163 - Summoning: Part 3

Chapter 163: Summoning: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Attaching himself to Khad¡¯s mind was a strange experience. Lin Sheng was continuously under the assault of greed and hunger, which made him want to hunt and harvest more arms. Since Khadcked physical senses other than his hands, all his actions and perception of the outside world depended solely on his arm. But this seemed to have changed after he got Dark Igor¡¯s harm, which gave him a strong perception of magic. The hundreds of magician¡¯s eyes covering his body gave him the ability to perceive and master information in his surroundings. As for the other abilities, Lin Sheng was not so interested. He just nced over them and forgot about them, as he knew Khad was the strongest when he no longer disguised himself. Lin Sheng was controlling Khad, opening his mouth, and trying to utter a sound. And then, an impulsive thought came to mind. ¡°Do you like me? Then sacrifice your hands.¡± Khad opened his arms slightly with a beautiful smile spreading across his face. Lin Sheng did not say this. It was the instinctual impulse and the longing for arms of the host body that spoke. Lin Sheng did not stop it, however. As stated in the grimoire, this bodily instinct was a natural reaction to the soul, and it was normal. On the open ground, Lin Sheng looked at Khad. Simultaneously controlling two persons was something that he could perform easily. He had previously mind-directed the ckfeather swordsmen, vault guards, and Sacred Shield Tyrant as and when they needed refined actions. But this time was different. The influence of Khad on his soul and consciousness was beyond what he had imagined it. ¡°It feels more in condition that I have expected.¡± Lin Sheng looked up at himself from the eye of Khad. It was a strange feeling as if he was looking into the mirror. The two bodies were akin to a pair of hands; they moved as the soul willed it. With him in control, Khad began to move around in the courtyard. Lin Sheng suddenly stopped halfway when blurry footage in what looked like the encounter of Dark Igor and Khad, who appeared in his real identity for the first time in a lush royal garden, emerged from his memories. ¡°Dark Igor, are you happy?¡± Khad scampered in between the flowering shrubs, his feminine face radiating a smile that came genuinely from within him. ¡°I can now see colors, smell the fragrance, hear voices, and taste the sweetness of the honey. I can¡¯t tell you how happy I am.¡± ¡°My Lord, you are running too fast. Be careful.¡± Dark Igor held a magic wand in hand, his hoary face breaking out in a helpless yet avuncr smile. Lin Sheng came back out of the vision, shaking his head over the weird feeling. ¡°Was it all in my head, a natural, mental association?¡± Since the coupling of his soul and Khad¡¯s, Khad had gained his memories. This caused Khad to feel the same experiences and emotions as Lin Sheng¡¯s and help Lin Sheng¡¯s soul mate with the host body better. ¡°It¡¯s time to go.¡± Lin Sheng moved his primary consciousness over to Khad, leaving behind only what was essential for his body to function correctly. His principal body could be an easy target if exposed. So Lin Sheng nned to use the summoned body to deal with most of the dangerous situations. The only problem was that he still struggled to multitask his consciousness. It would take him a considerable long time to adapt. ¡°Not much left of the space in my soul. But there¡¯s still room for more summoning!¡± Lin Sheng checked the state of his soul and decided to muster whatever he could. This time, he wanted to summon the vault guards, who were tough and sturdy. They almost had no weaknesses except for their rtively slow movement. What was more, the price to performance ratio was high. He could summon up to four at a time to use them as scouts. ¡°Without Sacred Shield Tyrant and with only a ckfeather swordsman left, I can summon the vault guards twice.¡± Lin Sheng calcted in his mind by drawing from his experience. He was now in control of Khad¡¯s body. ¡°Let¡¯s do it before the sunes out.¡± A gunboat glinting in pale-green aureole stopped several kilometers offshore Huaisha Port under cover of the night. Due to its size, the gunboat could not sail close to the shore. So it sent an intable life raft to the coast. As the raft reached the shadow water, several figures draped in cloak jumped into the water. Leading the way was a man, the tallest among them. As the man stepped on the shadow water, he created a ssh under his feet. ¡°The beach here is so much dirtier than that of our country. I could smell the foul stench even with my mouth closed!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t smell with your mouth. You idiot!¡± Another man said sarcastically behind him, who dropped his hood to reveal his shoulder-length blonde hair and face with ugly muscles. What caught the eyes more was the scar in the shape of an ¡®X¡¯ across his face. ¡°Chief, you¡¯re not going to get girls this way!¡± The tall man shot back. ¡°You sounds like a pussy.¡± The man with an ¡®X¡¯ scar on his face retorted. ¡°Knock it off, Borel. And move your ass. You only have one day.¡± A slender figure at the rearmost had also jumped down from the raft and gotten ashore. ¡°I know. No worries.¡± The man with a scar nodded and raised his hand to look at his watch. ¡°It¡¯s 0716 now. Exfil 0700 tomorrow at this same spot.¡± ¡°Be careful, and don¡¯t engage the Darksiders of Redwin.¡± The slender figure warned. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Borel flung up a waving hand as he darted toward the direction of Huaisha. ¡°Send me the location.¡± That said, a green shadow of a translucent female scooted past Borel from behind and disappeared into thin air with Borel¡¯s blonde hair fluttering in the breeze. Men behind him quickly squatted down, reached out their right hands, and thrust half-an-arm-deep into the sand. Following this, a faint sound like the hissing of snakes began to spread on the beach. With them at the center, a dark-green ring with intricate patterns appeared and encircled them. ¡°See you soon.¡± The slender figure said to the man with a scar. ¡°See ya.¡± The man with a scar lit a cigarette and darted away without even looking back. The remaining figures vanished instantly from the beach, leaving behind the dark-green circle of a flowing pattern on the sand. But the ring did not stay long as it also slowly sank and disappeared into the sand. The gunboat out at sea turned around and sped off into the distance. Meanwhile, the intable life raft at the shallow water suddenly caught fire and sank to the bottom of the water. Chapter 164 - Like: Part 1

Chapter 164: Like: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion As Lin Sheng came out from the temple ruin alone, plumes of ck smoke dissipated from the courtyard behind him. He flung his backpack on his back and looked up at the sky. The clouds were puffs of white in acres of blue extending beyond the horizon. The dense woods before his eyes pervaded a musty, moist, and herbaceous scent. The air was refreshing yet bone-chilling cold. ¡°Khad should be able to buy me some time and kept Redwin from doing anything stupid.¡± Lin Sheng knew that stability was Redwin¡¯ priority, and they imposed night curfew to conserve their resources while in conflict with Xilin. From now on, it depended on how well Khad held up against Redwin¡¯s Darksiders. Lin Sheng was not sure of thebat strength of Khad. After years of holing up in the vault, no one knew his actual condition. Even Lin Sheng had only killed him with tricks and the divine ax; it was not realbat. ¡°Let¡¯s see how it goes.¡± He let out a sigh. The blue-haired female Redwin military officer who came in an armored vehicle that day had made a deep impression on him. He did not want to be in a confrontation with the Defense Affairs Division of Redwin. Otherwise, Yan Mingsha, the female military officer, who bulged into the Ironfist Society, would have been dead. ¡°Things changed too quickly and too unexpectedly.¡± Lin Sheng tightly clutched his backpack and bolted down the mountains. The damp forest floor felt soft and cold under his feet. The pounding of Lin Sheng¡¯s feet on the ground asionally scared away the birds that chirped like melodious choruses on the trees. Had he not been in the summoning ceremony, Lin Sheng would still feel like any typical high schooler who came jungle trekking in the mountains. The stark contrast of the ordinary forest and the mythic reality was surreal. Once out of the woods, Lin Sheng headed straight back to the Ironfist Society on his bicycle. Since the summoning of Khad was a sess, so too the others, it was time to create a smokescreen. It was a wise move to using Khad¡¯s identity as cover while keeping himself stay under the radar. .... The clinking of the coffee mug and spoon jolted Elba out of her thought. The coffee in the Defense Affairs Division was nd andck of unique aroma. It was a typical characteristic of on-the-shelf coffee. ¡°Run-of-the-mill... absolutely terrible...¡± Elba hissed, tidying her long blue hair and getting to her feet. ¡°Vice Minister Stitz, have you found the rats of the Heart of the Ocean?¡± She picked up the phone on the table and asked impatiently. The empire needed more suppressive-level forces to break through the stalemate. Instead of biding her time here only to guard against the bugs of the Heart of the Ocean, she would rather fight in the frontline and win herself some recognitions. The person on the other end was silent for a second. ¡°Apologize, Minister. The Heart of the Ocean had many hidden strongholds along its long coastline. Especially at the shallow water whererge-scale search operation is difficult.¡± Stitz got his knickers in a twist. The Heaven¡¯s Spire was divided into six wings; the more the wings, the higher the position and power. Elba, nicknamed the Pale Viper, was a four-winged Darksider who was powerful enough to rule an area asrge as a province. But that was not the reason for Stitz¡¯s headache. Elba was restless. She was not content just to stay at the rear of the battlefield. She wanted to prove herself in action in the frontline. This was the reason why everyone in the Defense Affairs Division was in trepidation. People were afraid of agitating Elba, who was already a grumpy bull. ¡°Minister, you might want to check out things that have happened in Anduin recently, if you feel bored,¡± Stitz said as he recalled the information he had just received. ¡°Several Darksiders from the Starfury n of the spire hadnded near the shallow water of Huaisha. Our intelligence shows that the Darksiders have entered the city, but we still couldn¡¯t make out their intention.¡± ¡°The Starfury n?¡± Elba scratched her chin thoughtfully. ¡°That¡¯s interesting. It might be a good one to kill time. Anything else?¡± Stitz cursed quietly, frustrated at serving a boss with her temperament as high as her ability. He had sacrificed his polo session every afternoon just to keep his hard-to-please boss upied. He was either on official duty or on grappling with the whimsical ideas of Elba, for fear that she might cause unnecessary trouble outside. Then a thought suddenly came to his mind. ¡°By the way, as the situation in Huaisha is bing more vtile, the intelligence has begun to train their eye at an organization called the Ironfist Society. My aide-de-camp used to work on a mission in pursuing Utiya there and had a brush with the Ironfist Society, the attitude of which was inexplicably unyielding.¡± ¡°And then?¡± Elba¡¯s interest was aroused. Although there were at least a couple of disturbances that urred in the colony every day, most of it was the work of an underground organization called The Revivalists in Xilin. The members of the Revivalists were elusive and rarely in direct confrontation with the Defense Affairs Division, which no one would ever wish to challenge. ¡°We have gone there to investigate and found that the Ironfist Society has nothing to do with the Revivalists nor the Heart of the Ocean. It¡¯s an unknown group,¡± Stitz said as he sorted the information in his mind. ¡°Unlike Yin Chamber of Commerce, the Ironfist Society ims to have a headquarters. They even have locked horns with a military officer of the Azure Heart earlier. Their political leaning is unknown...¡± He paused for a second with his brows knitted together. ¡°They also master a kind of strange dark-energy cultivation technique that uses a special symbol to meditate and gain abilities that transcend human limit.¡± Elba cocked an eyebrow in curiosity. ¡°How powerful are they?¡± ¡°Not bad... enough to make an average martial art practitioner a level-three Darksider within a month. There is more to this Ironfist Society than meets the eye.¡± Stitz continued. ¡°Based on intelligence, my take is that the Ironfist Society has a rtivelyplete set of cultivation systems, of which the experience and skills disyed are rather mature. Not something developed recently.¡± ¡°And then?¡± Elba could not help asking. ¡°This means they have a background that is much more powerful than what we already know. I didn¡¯t intervene earlier because Olro had stepped into the picture,¡± Stitz said frankly. ¡°You wanted to avoid a dispute?¡± Elba could see his concern. As Xilin has fallen into disarray, foreign powers began to intervene, wanting a slice of the action. It was just that Redwin was the first toe to the party. But Olro was no slouch either. It was said that they had quietly made a move. The biggest concern was whether the Ironfist Society had any alliance with Olro. If this were true, it would be bad news to the frontline forces of Redwin. ¡°Of course, Minister...¡± Stitz nodded. ¡°Lin Sheng, the president of Ironfist Society, was only an ordinary high schooler. He magically moved up in the world and rose to be a Darksider. I don¡¯t believe that he has no one teaching him anything if you ask me.¡± Elba rubbed her chin impatiently. First came the Heart of the Ocean, the Revivalists, the Yin Chamber of Commerce, and now the Ironfist Society. The emergence of so many rats in this shithole was puzzling. Chapter 165 - Like: Part 2

Chapter 165: Like: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion An irritating ring of the phone went off beside Stitz. Immediately, amunication officer hurriedly answered the call. Following a series of Morse code tapping, a secret message was decoded in writings before being ced before Stitz. ¡°Huh? The Ironfist Society had gathered a hundred men, killed two Darksiders and apprehended the others near the harbor?¡± Stitz frowned upon reading the message. ¡°Did they learn it from the Yin Chamber of Commerce? Mass strike here and arrests there. Some police officers have been murdered in Jyr too.¡± ¡°You sound like full of confidence.¡± Elba stood up. ¡°In that case, I will leave the Yin Chamber of Commerce to you. Coincidentally, the Starfury n has also gone to Huaisha. Since I¡¯m idle, I might as well go to check them out.¡± ¡°But, Minister...¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. I know when to y a weak hand. If ites out nothing, I will find a way to get my hands on the cultivation system and bring it back to study it slowly. After all, I have time.¡± Elba took her cloak down from the clothes stand and stroke out of the office. ¡°Minister, what about the Heart of the Ocean?¡± Stitz was wide-eyed. ¡°It¡¯s your call!¡± ..... Borel, the guy with an ¡®X¡¯ scar on his face, stood at the window peeking out from behind the curtain, looking at the entrance of the Ironfist Society, which was just on the opposite side of the street. He had been waiting for two hours to kill all the leading figures of the Ironfist Society. And if that was not possible, then he would make do with just Lin Sheng. But when he peeked out of the window, he saw something weird going on. The entrance of the Ironfist Society was wide open as groups of disciples came out and lined up in two columns. Their faces were not only solemn and in veneration, but also appeared a little nervous. It was hard to believe that these twenty or so people, standing upright with hands behind them, had an identical expression on their faces. Thest personing out from the premise was Sarroux, who was followed by Lin Sheng. As the president of Ironfist Society, it was weird that Lin Sheng also wore the society uniform just like the others. He was seen standing slightly in front of Sarroux and quietly waiting with his head low. The winter wind was freezing but nobody made a sound. It was solemn atmosphere. Ten minutes had passed. Twenty. And then an hour. Borel had been standing behind the window for over an hour. He could have acted long ago, but he did not because he was curious about whom these people were waiting for and who could make the president wait outside the door. Borel was not in a hurried, though, as he had all the time with him. He was determined to find out what these people were up to before he acted. Time flowed quickly. The unforgiving weather was keeping people off the streets. Otherwise, there would have been curious crowd by now. Ever since the arrival of the Redwin army, the residents did note out of their houses unless it was necessary. Even when people walked past asionally, they always covered their faces and kept their head low, as if they did not want to be identified because the scouters of the Defense Affairs Division were lingering in the surroundings. These scouters were now seen taking photographs of Lin Sheng and the others. Hidden away and not so obvious were pairs of curious eyes peeking out from behind the windows nearby. People were observing the situation outside, just like Borel did. The Ironfist Society had risen to fame and be the top martial art school in Huaisha after the battle of the mantis. People had heard that the society had had a brush with police officers near the harbor. With these people assembling outside, something must be happening. Soon, another twenty minutes had passed. Just when Borel was about to lose his patience, a ck vehicle, not particrly expensive but still brand new and clean, slowly pulled up in front of the Ironfist Society. Just when the vehicle ground to halt, a pale-faced, female disciple of the Ironfist Society quickly stepped forward to open the door for the rear passenger. An oundishly white, small-sized boot that fit only the foot of a child with the pattern of a weird bird on the side, stepped out of the car onto the concrete pavement. As the person emerged, it turned out to be a young boy who had a gentle smile on his smooth and sophisticated face with eyes looking at Lin Sheng, who stood at the front of the waiting congregation. ¡°Here we meet again, my beloved Lin.¡± ¡°I¡¯m now the president of the Huaisha branch. We have been expecting you, Khad, our emissary!¡± Lin Sheng stepped forward to shake Khad¡¯s hands, looking emotionally. ¡°Sorry for keeping you waiting,¡± Khad said with a smile. ¡°Not at all. Pleasee in.¡± In the hotel, when Borel saw the young boy with a smooth face followed Lin Sheng into the Ironfist Society, he frowned. ¡°Who is he? I¡¯ve never seen him before.¡± Standing from a great distance, Borel could not hear about what the two were talking. But judging from their interactions, it was apparent that Lin Sheng and the young boy were close. ¡°Never mind. They are all going to die today anyway.¡± Borel lowered his head and lit a cigarette in his mouth before nonchntly taking out a white remote-control device that blinked in red light from his pocket. Earlier, he had quietly rigged the entire building of the Ironfist Society with miniature high explosives, powerful enough to level an entire structure. With this kind of bombs, not even a suppressive-level Four Winger could survive the st. He was ready to kill everyone in the building and collect the souls. Taking onest nce of the building of Ironfist Society, Borel then reached to press the deadly red button. ¡°I like your hands.¡± A kiddish voice suddenly spoke behind him. Borel was startled for a split second before he scrambled to press the detonation button. At the same time, a translucent figure with long hair, shimmering in eerily green light, appeared beside him, blocking the white hand that stretched out at him suddenly. The green light was agitated and rippling outward. A powerful shockwave was sent from the white hand through Borel¡¯s body, causing him to lose grip of the remote control and dropped it on the floor. He did not pick it up but turn to look at the unsolicited guest, the sophisticated young boy who came to the Ironfist Society just now. The young boy was half the height of Borel, but his amethyst-like eyes gave him an intriguing nce. ¡°Don¡¯t y with dangerous stuff,¡± the young boy said, smiling at Borel. Borel put out his cigarette and tossed it away. ¡°How did you find me?¡± ¡°My name is Khad. What¡¯s yours?¡± The young boy ignored Borel¡¯s question. ¡°Me? Borel.¡± Borel answered wryly, the ¡®X¡¯ scar on his face shimmering in a blood-red glow. This happened when his dark energy was fully activated. ¡°You haven¡¯t answered my question. How did you find me?¡± Borel asked again. ¡°It was simple.¡± Khad titled his head and lifted his little hand. ¡°Just like this.¡± Borel¡¯s pupils contracted, and cold sweat started to trickle down his forehead. Immediately, he turned and lunged at the window. In that instant, starting from the bottom, the outer wall of the hotel began to etite as thousands of white hands crept out from the ground, wrapping up the hotel in a sea of hands. The hotel building seemed to have been dyed in ayer of ashen-white color when looking from a distance when actually, it was covered by countless of squirming and crawling hands. But strangely, no one in the streets seemed to notice this phenomenon. People just walked past as usual without raising an eyebrow. Chapter 166 - Like: Part 3

Chapter 166: Like: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The middle section of the wall of the hotel bulged like a bun following a loud impact sound. But the sea of arms quickly forced it back. ¡°This energy...¡± A fair distance away, a white vehicle suddenly screeched to a halt and stopped on the road shoulder. The door swung open as Elba, the Pale Viper, alighted and looked up in the direction of Huaisha. Her facial expression suddenly turned from rxed into slight dour. After perceiving carefully for a while, she got back into the vehicle and sped toward Huaisha. ... In the hotel room. Streaks of green light red like a blooming flower, stopping the frenzied white hands from getting near him. Borel had transformed in the light. His skin was covered in wounds, and he began to feel light-headed as he bled profusely. But he dared not move a muscle. This was his ultimate form after he fully transmuted. His dark energy was pouring out like receding tide that if this kept going for another ten minutes, he would end up dead after exhausting all his strength. ¡°I have to think of a way!¡± Borel gritted his teeth, staring unblinkingly at Khad. ¡°He is of suppressive-level. Definitely of suppressive-level! Even more so, the nastiest type!¡± Borel thought. ¡°What have I done wrong that all the bad luck in this world hase upon me?¡± Borel was choked with anger. He would readily ept his fate had he finished what he had set out to do. But the young boy had found him even before he could do aplished anything and although he had made himself look like an innocent bystander. ¡°Terrific.¡± Khad stood in the middle of the sea of arms, pping lightly and blinking, as he was puzzled. ¡°But why do you resist? I am such a beauty. Don¡¯t you feel happy to be one of my collections?¡± ¡°F*ck you!¡± As Borel snapped and roared in anger, three ck wings suddenly spread open behind him. Immediately, the green light surrounding him became even more intense. ¡°Flying worm!¡± Borel spread out his hands, the green light around him rapidly materializing and turning into a spinning green. ¡°Burst!¡± He let off his hands. The green exploded and became as bright as a star emitting a radiating green-ray in all directions. Khad stepped back a little, his sea of arms formedyers of shield to protect him. The outeryer melted under the intense green ray, followed by the secondyer when the deadly beams finally subsided. When Khad emerged from the shield of arms, Borel was no longer there. All was left was just a broken window through which he had escaped. ¡°Did he just flee?¡± A hint of surprise shed in Khad¡¯s eyes, but it was quickly superseded by sensual delight and ravenous greed. ¡°Lovely... I can¡¯t believe that I have stumbled upon such a fantastic collection item at the beginning.¡± He licked his pinkish lips, took a step forward, transformed into a plume of ck smoke, and disappeared out of the broken gap in the wall. Following immediately, the thousands of creeping arms on the outer walls of the hotel quickly writhed and faded away as if the fight had never happened there before. ... Borel pressed his hand on the wound in his chest, running as fast as he could through the alleyways. Blood continually oozed out from the wound that was asrge as a fist in his chest. He was dreary, eyes filled with horror. ¡°I was lucky to detonate my crystal heart just in time. Otherwise, I would not even be sure if my body would remain in one piece, let alone making it out alive. That thing is a monster!¡± He could not help but shiver when Khad came to mind. He had seen many suppressive-level beings, but none could strike fear in him as Khad did. As the best Three-Wing Darksider, Borel knew what to do when facing different opponents. When he realized even his ultimate killer move had failed, he quickly yed hisst card, getting out of the relentless siege to stay alive. ¡°How could those douchebags in the intelligence department overlook such an important piece of information? You all will be sorry when I get back!¡± When he changed direction to turn into the alley on his left, he came face to face with a white shadow smiling at him. It was Khad. ¡°What the¡ª¡± Borel stopped dead in his tracks, but it was toote as several dozens of pale-white arms had crept out of the walls in the alley, sweeping up his limbs and grabbing his face. ¡°Burst!¡± Borelunched into the air, his body bursting with bright green light like a fiery sun. The arms immediately formed a wall to protect Khad from the deadly ray. When the light subsided, Borel had lunged out of the alley and was limping away in the distance. He was struggling as blood spurted out of his wounds with every step he took, but he pressed on. Borel could almost feel a pair of icy cold and creepy eyes leering at him from behind as if a viper or a demon wanted to consume his flesh and blood alive and suck his soul dry. He could vividly feel the rapacious greed even from such a distance. ¡°No... I will not die here... I swear!¡± Borel used what was left of his strength to stagger forward. ¡°Still trying to run away?¡± Khad slowly walked up from behind him with a cloying smile. At the entrance of the alley, three homeless people were curling up in the corner, leering at him with their greedy eyes. Just when Khad walked past them, the three shuddered, their body rapidly wilting with their life essence flowed to their hands. As they dropped dead in the shadows, their bodies dissolved into the ground, leaving behind three sets of clothes at the scene. A few passersby saw the horrific scene and screamed in terror. They turned around and ran. At the same time, the windows and doors of houses in the surrounding were heard mming shut, and the streets instantly became deserted and quiet. After exhausting all his strength, Borel dropped to the ground, his body shriveling from strange power. Khad sped up, quickly approaching Borel. Out of nowhere, a hand suddenly pressed softly on the back of Borel, injecting pale-green dark energy into him to fight off the strange power. As the figure that pressed a hand on Borel stood up, it was none other than Elba, the Pale Viper, and a senior military officer wearing Redwin¡¯s military uniform. ¡°Who are you?¡± Elba stared dead at Khad. Khad eyeballed her smooth white hand, slowly cocking up a sly smile. ¡°Khad, the special emissary of the Ironfist Society Headquarters. Are you here to be my collection item, too?¡± he had an innocent smile on his face. Meanwhile, Borel, whoy behind Elba, suddenly wilted and dissolved into the ground, leaving behind only his clothes on the floor. Chapter 167 - Situation: Part 1

Chapter 167: Situation: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Pieces of paper scudded over the ground and mmed on Elba¡¯sbat boots. She stared dead at the opponent, who was only the height of her waist, but the knifelike, murderous aura of the young boy was almost giving her goosebumps. ¡°The Ironfist Society? I see. Then do you know who you have just killed?¡± Khad raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist. ¡°No idea. Will someone being to kill me?¡± While speaking, pale arms began to rise under his feet with a hissing sound, and they all grew as long as a dozen meters. ¡°I do hope someone wille looking for me so that I can find some more collection items.¡± Khad¡¯s eyes turned dark and hollow, the corner of his mouth cocking in a creepy smile as he gazed at Elba. Almost at the same time, Elba shimmered in a green light, which quickly formed ayer of liquid-like strands that slowly flowed and shrouded her like a green armor. Following that, dark saucers started to appear in the air around her. Just the size of a palm, some asrge as a basin, the saucers were densely distributed in the surroundings, directly opposite Khad. As the two stood on the pedestrian sidewalk, the shutter doors of the shops on the side were creaking in protest under the powerful twisting energy-field force, the gray concrete pavement cracked silently, and the fire hydrant crocked up with water spurting out like a fountain. The dark saucers and the pale arms became a stark contrast in ck and white. For a moment, no one dared to make the first move. Both Elba and Khad were gauging each other¡¯s strength, trying to feel how nasty and powerful the other was. If the man with an ¡®X¡¯ scar on his face was an opponent where Khad could finish off with little effort, then this Elba standing before him was a formidable adversary whom he had no confidence in defeating. ¡°Show me what you got.¡± Khad reached out his lotus root-like arms, white flowing lines that were made up of countless smaller arms that weaved together and formed the more massive pale arms began to rise under his feet and writhed around him. ¡°You think you can beat me?¡± There was a vicious look on Elba¡¯s face, her long blue hair fluttering in the air even though it was a windless night. The dark saucers formed a giant dark sphere and shrouded her and Khad in it. Their eyes met, both emanating a deadly gaze and saw the heinousness in each other. ¡°I¡¯ve made up my mind...¡± Khad licked his lips, ¡°I will not only want your hands but also your skin!¡± He whisked his hands up in front and clenched into a fist. Instantly, thousands of pale arms burst out from behind him and charged at the opponent. Almost simultaneously, giant snakes shot out from the dark saucers in the surroundings. These snakes had mere skeletons, but they hissed and shimmered in green light to meet the hostile pale arms. Green and white shed like two distinct waves with a deafening boom and powerful shockwave, tearing bone and flesh into pieces, which then poured down like rainfall from the sky. Elba firmly nted her feet on the ground and then lunged forward, a pair of white-bone long saber scooting out from the dark saucers beside her. She took the sabers and struck down with full force in a vertical cut from above. The des slit through Lin Sheng¡¯s body, but it felt as if the sabers had merely cut through the air. Before Elba knew it, Khad had faded into an afterimage before her eyes. ¡°Where go?¡± Elba¡¯s dark silk armor sparkled brightly. She turned around at once and parried with her sabers crossed as a gargantuan white arm shoot out to grab her sabers. Unlike the white arms earlier, this one was significantly more massive, stiffer, and stronger. Its fingers were as sharp as knives, cold, pointed nails aiming straight at Elba. Before Elba could respond, anotherrge hand reached out from the other side. Within a few seconds, a sea of white arms grabbed Elba from all directions, enshrouding herpletely. Khad tapped his foot lightly andunched himself in the air beforending on a gigantic hand. Standing in midair and looking down at the besieged Elba, an anticipating smile spreading across his face. All of a sudden, a blinding light shone through the shroud of arms from the inside and slowly turned from green to blue with a faint hue of pale-white. ¡°If you think you have won,¡± Elba¡¯s voice was heard from inside, ¡°then, you would be incredibly naive!¡± The air ttered as a swarm of skeleton snakes lunged out like torrent from the saucers and struck the position where Elba was. The skeleton snakes nketed the hand shroud that wrapped Elba in it, tightening and squeezing to form a gigantic sphere of skeletons. Khad began to sense the arms under his control began to disappear as if they had been devoured. He squinted and took a step back, staring at the enormous sphere of skeletons. ¡°Tough little rascal. What about this?¡± When Khad raised his head slightly with his mouth open, plumes of white smoke rose from his mouth and quickly spread in the air. Almost at the same time, an outburst of white hands rose from the ground, squirming and climbing onto each other to form four new colossal arms. The first enormous arm caught the skeleton in its ws, followed by the second, the third, and the fourth arm. ¡°This time, it is four times the strength of the previous one. I hope you like it.¡± Khad retreated gradually, making room for histest action. ¡°Sorry. Not my cup of tea. Don¡¯t you feel hot with so manyyers?¡± To his surprise, Elba¡¯s voice came from behind him. Startled, Khad scrambled to form-shift into ck smoke. But it was toote. A bone saber had thrust through his chest from his back. ¡°When did shee behind my back?¡± Khad looked down at the tip of the saber protruding out of his chest in disbelief. ¡°Am I dying?¡± ¡°Well, it has always been that those who underestimate me will always die before me.¡± Standing behind Khad, Elba let off her hands from the hilt, reaching to fish out a cigarette from her pocket and put it in her mouth before lighting it up. ¡°Big sister... impressive... I don¡¯t want to die... really... don¡¯t want...¡± Khad¡¯s face was as pale as a sheet of white paper, hands clutching the saber in his chest before pulling it out in one abrupt motion. ¡°Ouch... that hurts! By the way, how is my acting?¡± Khad¡¯s agonizing expression suddenly turned into a smile. He did not feel the slightest pain from the through-and-through stab wound in his chest. Elba¡¯s face copsed. She tried to lunge back, but it was a little toote. Chapter 168 - Situation: Part 2

Chapter 168: Situation: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion It was toote to pull herself away as the five-meter wide, gigantic hand struck down from above. The concrete pavement under her feet caved in, her feet sinking half a meter in the ground. Khad turned around, face flushing as he looked at the unyielding Elba struggling under the gigantic hand. ¡°Big sister, what an impressive performance... I thought I would die just now...¡± ¡°Have... have you ditched your human body?¡± Elba¡¯s face was ashen, gritting her teeth and biting the cigarette in half as she tried to push back therge hand over her head. ¡°Ditching my human body? Maybe.¡± Khad smiled and walked up to Elba. ¡°It¡¯s game over, Big Sister. Why do you still resist?¡± ¡°Resist?¡± Elba¡¯s face calm. ¡°I think you must have mistaken.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Khad halted in his steps, instinctively feeling a sense of danger in the air. He suddenly realized he could not move his feet. He nced down and saw his feet started to calcify from the soles up until the ankles. It was as if a coat of white paint was climbing up his feet. Elba exhaled. ¡°Don¡¯t you like it, this posture?¡± She dropped her hands, leaving the giant hand above her head. Following immediately, the white hand shattered to bits and rained down like a shower of sses to the ground. As that happened, Elba grew a pair of ck wings that were as dark as night, without any imperfection, on her back. ¡°You should be proud of yourself to have forced me into this situation.¡± While speaking, Elba tidied her long blue hair. She then bent over, picked up her military cap from the ground, and put it back on. ¡°Had you not killed the guy from the Starfury n, I could have let you go. But what a shame,¡± she said, staring intently at the young boy with a sophisticated face. She had a hard time making out the gender of the person by just looking at the face. Khad was undoubtedly a stunning piece of art that was too precious to break. ¡°Am I beautiful?¡± Khad asked in a soft voice, ncing down at the calcification that had now spread up his chest. ¡°Of course, you are.¡± Elba reached to touch her face. ¡°But I still think I¡¯m prettier than you are.¡± A momentter, she sighed. ¡°But saying this makes me bashful. I am a woman of conscience. Anyway, goodbye. Death is the only destiny for Darksider who has discarded his human body and failed to liberate themselves.¡± She turned and walked toward the car stopped not far away. ¡°Goodbye. You are incredible, considering what you have achieved. I will keep that in mind, the Ironfist Society.¡± She waved and walked away amid the ttering of the calcification on Khad¡¯s body. ¡°Why don¡¯t you let me be? Why do you want to kill me when I¡¯m such a beauty?¡± a voice was heard saying. ¡°Isn¡¯t beauty almighty when I¡¯m pretty and perfect? Why? Why does this happen? Why didn¡¯t you die? Am I not pretty enough? It must be because of me. It must be because I¡¯m not pretty enough!¡± As the hurried voice rose, Elba sensed something was amiss. Supposedly, the entire calcification process should havepleted by now, and the young boy should have be a bone statue three seconds ago. Why was he still talking? She halted in her steps as she saw a shadow on the ground. ¡°Impossible!¡± She slowly looked back, her neck stiff. Khad had disappeared behind her. Instead, a six-meter-tall, yellow-robed old man, with multiple white arms that looked like a centipede, stood in his ce. That was not all. The arms on the old man were growingrger and longer, his skin turning dark-yellow and looking tougher than before. The old man¡¯s face was inanimate, and arge tumor, which appeared to be the face of Khad, was on his chest. ¡°Now, I¡¯m even more beautiful.¡± Khad spread out his arms, many of them, making rounds of strange sounds. ¡°Shit!¡± Elba was transfixed, looking at the old man and not realizing that she was already in his shadow. ..... On a deserted street, all-ck motorcycles zoomed past at high speed. The roar of the engines of the convoy of about a dozen bikes sounded like a herd of angry beasts, and clouds of exhaust fumes nketed the street. The leading rider was dressed in a full set of racing suits. The surroundings scenery flew past him in the form of reflection on his helmet visor. ¡°The target is on the move,¡± a voice was heard saying through the earpieces inside the helmet ¡°Copy that.¡± The rider suddenly made a sharp right turn and sped along the road. ¡°The dark energy flux has reached its maximum. ckfeather has been activated. Reroute and circumvent the patrol units.¡± ¡°Go now.¡± ¡°Go Now.¡± ¡°Copy that.¡± ¡°Copy that.¡± All the riders responded. The leading rider suddenly made an abrupt U-turn, the screeching rear tire leaving a half-circle of burn marks on the asphalt. As the motorcycle stopped, the rider alighted and took off the helmet, revealing a soldierly yet pretty face of a ck-haired woman. ¡°Go!¡± With the wave of her hand, she led the charge and stormed through the front door into the Ironfist Society. With a slight push of her hand, the thick wooden door that had just been repaired not long ago fell inward with a loud crashing bang, sending a cloud of dust into the air. Several disciples in the main hall were startled. But they quickly came to their senses and shouted, ¡°Who is it?¡± Just when one of them stepped up, a sharp object suddenly pierced through his chest with a muffled sound, and the disciple fell dead to the floor on his back. The others were rooted to the spot, and before they could react, the rider threw several pointed darts at them, instantly prating through their chests. The ck-haired woman with a deadly nce swiftly dashed across the hall into the corridor on the side. ¡°Location?¡± She halted her steps, looking at the other rider who came up beside her. ¡°Third room on the right.¡± The woman strode over and violently kicked the door open. Inside the quiet room, Sarroux surged to his feet in shock while Lin Sheng was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed. ¡°Who is it?¡± A white light shed in Surroux¡¯s eyes, and he summoned his sacred power at once. ¡°President Lin Sheng?¡± The ck-haired woman strutted inside, her eyes locking on Lin Sheng immediately. ¡°Who are you guys?¡± asked Lin Sheng, lunging to his feet. His heart sank as he realized most of his consciousness was still with Khad. The ck-haired womanughed darkly. ¡°You don¡¯t need to know who we are. All you have to do is to reveal your Ashen Seal cultivation techniques, and your and his life will be spared.¡± ¡°Frodo, just cut the cackle, take him and harvest his soul!¡± The second rider, apparently a male, strode in and said. Lin Sheng remainedposed, but he could sense a grave threat before him, as told by the tingling sensation on his skin. ¡°Soul-harvesting takes time. If they are cooperative, I may be able to save a ton of time.¡± The ck-haired woman said coldly. ¡°Women just like to drag their feet!¡± ¡°If you say that again, I guarantee you will not walk out the door alive!¡± Frodo, the ck-haired woman, hissed. The two stopped their internal bickering and shifted their attention to Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng remained silent for a moment before he said grimly, ¡°Do you two know what you are doing?¡± ¡°The master of your Headquarters is busy with the Pale Viper. He might not be free toe to your rescue.¡± The ck-haired woman took a step forward. ¡°Or are you thinking of doing ast-ditch struggle?¡± ¡°Struggle?¡± Lin Sheng closed his eyes. When he reopened them again, his pupils had turned light-gold. ¡°Just the two of you?¡± He stomped forward, the dust under his right foot puffing up in the air as he pulled off a Triple Sacred Shield move. His body rapidly swelled, purple pattern appearing on his brow. He changed his fist into palm, striking at the ck-haired woman in the form of a streak of white light. Chapter 169 - Situation: Part 3

Chapter 169: Situation: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Red Soul!¡± The woman roared, her hands crossed and making several mudras, the fingers of her hands trailing with afterimages bursting out in red mes. Following that, a translucent dragonhead lurched out from the fire at Lin Sheng¡¯s hand. While the dragonhead broke apart upon impact, Lin Sheng¡¯s right hand also lost its strength and became slower. ¡°Purple soul!¡± The male rider howled, lunging out at once in the critical juncture to meet Lin Sheng¡¯s hand with his own. At the same time, purple rings shot out from his body and bound Lin Sheng until he looked like a two-meter-tall cocoon standing unmoved in the quiet room. ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± the male rider chortled, patting the massive cocoon as he looked at the woman. ¡°What about the other?¡± ¡°Take him too. Kill him if he resists,¡± the woman said callously. ¡°No problem.¡± The male rider turned to look at Sarroux. Just then, Sarroux stepped back, yanked out a gun, and began to shoot indiscriminately. The weapon fired five shots in two seconds, all hitting the green dark-energy shield in front of the male rider. ¡°Interesting. He uses a gun!¡± The male rider reached to grab Sarroux, and just when he shot out purple rings from under his sleeve, a shadow lunged in through the window, grabbing Sarroux in a swoop before doubling back out. At the same time, the purple cocoon beside the male rider swelled and turned red. ¡°Watch out!¡± The ck-haired woman shot a warning at the other rider as she turned and threw herself on the floor, but it was toote. A loud boom ensued. A high-temperature fire spread across the entire quiet room like a storm, burning the purple cocoon into ashes. The male rider, who stood closest to the center of the st, was sent flying out like a piece of tattered cloth and only crashing to a halt in the wall. Blood instantly spurted out from his mouth. Meanwhile, the ck-haired woman¡¯s body was shimmering in green. Despite standing further away, the explosion had ripped a tiny chunk of her flesh off her left face and left burn marks on her right arm and right leg. A tall figure stood up slowly in the burning me, his mouth and nostrils breathing with fire and ck smoke drifting around him like ribbons. ¡°You have no idea what it means to be hostile to me.¡± The figure walked out of the fire. It was Lin Sheng, who seemed to be unscathed with ck smoke still billowing from his mouth, which apparently was the source of the explosion. ¡°What a poor little Two Winger...¡± The ck-haired woman looked grim, her body going up in red me. ¡°Kill!¡± She lunged forward, kicking her right leg at Lin Sheng¡¯s throat like ash. But Lin Sheng took hold of it at once and yanked her out sideways into the wall, which cracked upon impact. The womannded hard on the floor, body shimmering in green. Immediately, she thrust her ming right fist at Lin Sheng, delivering a powerful blow to the joint of Lin Sheng¡¯s arm. Lin Sheng let off his hand, and the two simultaneously bounced backward with a groan. Blood flowed out from the woman¡¯s mouth and quickly vaporized in the me. On the other hand, Lin Sheng seemed to suffer from a bone fracture as he felt a sharp pain in his joint. He immediately summoned his sacred power to heal his injury. ¡°Whoosh!¡± The woman did not stay still. Sheunched into the air, attacking Lin Sheng with multiple kicks of fire and mes that delivered the deadliest force with each throw of her leg. Although power was not her strength, this Darksider could still dispense the maximum strength of a Two Winger. The multiple kicks that she pulled off were her killer move in regrbat, where she could make thirteen kicks in a mere two seconds. Each kick was powerful enough to break even the hardest steel, more so with the aid of the burning me of Red Soul. Lin Sheng parried with his hands, but each kick sent a powerful shockwave through his body. Taking thirteen kicks in a row took a toll on him, as evident from the blood spouting from his mouth. Luckily, his strengthened half-dragon body and the rapid healing ability of the sacred power enabled him to heal as quickly as he was injured. Lin Sheng waited it out. When the kicks finally stopped, he saw an opportunity and lunged forward at once. He focused all his strength, the power of his Sacred Blood, and the power of the dragon in his right shoulder and mmed against the woman in her abdomen. At tons of ramming force, the impact was as deadly as being hit by a runaway semi-truck. Blood instantly spouted out from her mouth. But the high heat of the me vaporized every blood droplet in the air before it even hit the floor. The woman did not expect Lin Sheng could take her thirteen lethal kicks and still be able to make a retaliatory move. What was even more surprising was the level of force he could exert in the riposte. She paid a high price for her sessive miscalctions; her abdomen was severely mutted, and the organs inside must have been a mess. ¡°Damn it, Frodo!¡± The male rider pulled himself to his feet. Severely wounded by the explosion, his body was shimmering in purple light. Lin Sheng turned to the male rider, his mouth spitting mes like a fire extinguisher. As fire engulfed the male rider, his body began to sh in a green light, and a pair of ck wings spread open on his back. He had almost exhausted all his strength, barely staying alive in the deadly fires. But this move also took a toll on Lin Sheng¡¯s energy. After two sessive fire-spitting moves, he started to feel his throat dry, his body fatigue. So he stopped. ¡°Kill them all!¡± Lin Shengmanded and retreated into the fire. In the corridor outside the quiet room, a group of armored soldiers emerged from the billowing ck smoke. They held a sword and a shield, charging at the two injured riders with no hesitation. The ck-haired woman shrieked frenziedly, her eyes, ears, mouth, and nostrils spattering fire as her body burst into red-hot mes. Following immediately, she forced out the fire with the wave of her hand, engulfing the two armored soldiers in a merciless inferno. As the body of the soldiers under the armors heated up, a terrible burning smell began to permeate in the air. Despite that, the two soldiers seemed to have no fear of death, much to the surprise of the woman. Instead of rolling on the floor groaning in pain, the soldiers continued to charge at her, ramming her to the ground. On the other hand, the male rider was struggling to fence off the other three armored soldiers. Already severely hurt by the earlier explosion, he became significantly slower in his physical response. But the armored soldiers were different; they feared no death. Protected by crazy thick armor, they pounced at him one after another. Lin Sheng had summoned eight vault guards. Together with the earlier two, they were all here right now. Earlier, the vault guards had not been able to determine whether the motorcycle convoy was friend or foe because the riders were riding too fast. Also, Lin Sheng did not let them join the battle earlier but only summoned them into action at the critical juncture to make the most impact. Badly hurt in the earlier explosion, Lin Sheng was hiding in mes, healing his injuries. His half-dragonized body might be resistant to fire but not explosion. The concussion and tearing of tissue were non-fire physical trauma, to which he was not immune. He knew he was at his limit when two Two-Wingers began to attack him at the same time. He coughed, spitting out a lump of gore. ¡°That was a close call. Who the hell are these people?¡± Lin Sheng looked down at his arms. After taking the brunt of the multiple kicks, his right hand had swollen even further. His right arm was now weak, dangling loosely from his shoulder. Taking a deep breath, he emerged from the mes, took the coat that was rtively undamaged from the fire and put it on. He lunged again at the ck-haired woman, determining to finish her off while she had not recovered. Once a Darksider transformed into a Dark Winger, its injury would heal quicker than before, and he must not allow the woman this opportunity, he figured. Chapter 170 - Light: Part 1

Chapter 170: Light: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Sheng Sheng, why are you still noting home? It iste and the dinner is ready.¡± His mother, Gu Wanqiu, had just served the braised ribs on the table and shot a nce at Lin Zhounian, who was reading a newspaper on the side. ¡°Can¡¯t you show more concern for your son? Don¡¯t you make me more worried than I already am, you old man!¡± Lin Zhounian retorted helplessly, ¡°Did he not leave a note? This rascal listens to no one. He is treating his home as merely a hotel!¡± Lin Xiao peeked at the sky outside; it was mid-noon. Without an inte connection, the newspaper was the only means of learning news of the outside world. Even then, those news outlets were under the control of Redwin, which would only let the people read what it wanted them to read. ¡°I wonder when days like this will be over...¡± Lin Xiao sighed. ¡°Forget about him. Let us first eat. The rascal has told me that he is working as a trainer in some gym and sports club. I think it is real. Just look at his body shape; he eats like a pig and could wolf down an entire bucket of rice in ten minutes. It would be a waste if he did not work in the gym.¡± Lin Zhounian grumbled as he pulled a chair over. ¡°It is pointless to talk about that when the prices of food have soured again today,¡± Gu Wanqiu said helplessly as she sat down at the table. ¡°I heard that the supply of goods in the market is dwindling. I¡¯m afraid something is happening again.¡± ¡°This turbulent times...¡± Lin Zhounian began to mumble with his head lowered, but no one could hear what he was muttering about. He had closed the shutter of his grocery store recently because it had been running out of supply. He needed to reserve what remained in his store for the family. Now, his family was living off their savings. He heard that Redwin was implementing a ¡®work in exchange for goods¡¯ program. But he was not so sure. ¡°The war has just broken out all of a sudden.¡± Lin Zhounian sighed. ¡°Come and eat, Xiao Xiao,¡± he called out at Lin Xiao, who was also reading the paper. ¡°Right away.¡± Lin Xiao nced at the chair where Lin Sheng usually sat, feeling slightly worried. ¡°Have you put aside something for Sheng Sheng?¡± ¡°He has his portion, no worries,¡± said Gu Wanqiu as she put arge piece of braised rib in her daughter¡¯s bowl. The braised rib was the mother¡¯s favorite dish too. But the family will be running out of meat soon and meats were getting more expensive by the day, she held back her urge and picked the veggie instead. As Gu Wanqiu pulled back her sight, she saw a piece of braised pork in her bowl. She looked at Lin Zhounian, her husband, who was tucking in the in rice with his head lowered. She suddenly felt an emotion rise in her; no matter how hard life was, they would be able to sail through the difficult times as a family. ... Lin Sheng¡¯s hand and the ck-haired woman¡¯s leg collided. Both were forced to bounce a step back before they lunged at each other again. The fire was burning even more fiercely in the surroundings. A rider and a disciple were lying on the floor, leaving five vault guards surrounding and attacking the purple cocoon. The shockwave from the heavy blows of fists and legs stirred the mes dancing back and forth. The blood on Lin Sheng¡¯s mouth and nose had dried up, while the woman¡¯s face was pale with a pair of ck wings already spreading open on her back. Both of them hade to the point of no return; they either fought or died. While sacred power was helping Lin Sheng to heal, the dark energy was healing the woman after she transformed into a Dark Winger. It seemed that they were evenly matched; no one could im superiority over the other. As the fight went on, Lin Sheng finally sent a heavy blow to the neck of the woman while the woman reciprocated with a brutal kick in his chest. Atst, the woman spat blood and passed out. ¡°It is over.¡± He clenched the throat of the woman with his hand, and with the twist of his hand, he crackled her neck. The breath left the woman, and she became motionless. Meanwhile, not far away, the male rider was killed on the spot when a pair of swords prated his chest. Feeling dizzy, Lin Sheng tossed the body on the floor and leaned on the wall. He might have won the battle, but he had also exhausted his energy. The injury he suffered this time was more severe than at any time in the past. ¡°The club might not be sustainable again...¡± He nced at the bodies in the corridor. The Ironfist Society had suffered a heavy casualty in the attack. If there were more such assaults, the club would quickly go belly-up by just paying death gratuity alone. ¡°Just hope it all ends here.¡± Lin Sheng pulled himself to his feet with a forced smile. ¡°The situation would have been worse had the explosives not removed earlier.¡± Coming out of the corridor into the main hall, he could not have cared less about the fire in the premise. Once he was out in the hall, he saw a tall man standing silently outside the entrance. He could roughly make out his appearance: thirtyish of age, wearing a pale-yellow coat, a round hat of the same color¡ªor maybe slightly darker, and gray-framed sses with a ck scarf on his chest. It seemed like he had just attended a funeral. Lin Sheng felt goosebumps all over his skin the moment he saw the man. He held his breath and took a step back. What was terrifying about this man was that he looked exactly like Major Dondi, whom Lin Sheng had ripped apart earlier. The only difference between this man and Major Dondi, however, was the pervasive dark energy that spread like wildfire from this man. This dark energy, imperceptible to average humans and twice the strength of the dark energy of the two ridersbined, was visible when Lin Sheng was in his half-dragon form. ¡°I hope he hasn¡¯t seen me.¡± Lin Sheng slowly retreated, too scared to even make a sound. But the man took off his hat and walked into the hall after looking up at the weather in the sky. Lin Sheng turned and ran at once. Just then, several plumes of ck smoke flew past him, materializing into vault guards to meet the man. ¡°Where go?¡± A streak of yellow light shed past the vault guards and stopped in front of Lin Sheng. The light materialized and transformed back into the shape of the man wearing the yellow coat. Lin Sheng ground to a halt, his body muscles stiffened, and eyes staring warily at the man. ¡°Who are you?¡± he asked back. Apparently, this man was not with the two riders. That exined why he had waited until the two riders had died before he came in. The man¡¯s mouth twitched as he fiddled with the only bundle of yellow hair on his head. ¡°Let me ask you a question: did you kill my little brother, Dondi?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s face showed no expression. ¡°Dondi? I don¡¯t¡¯ know. I am merely the chief of a branch, a small potato in the Ironfist Society Headquarters. Do you think I can kill your little brother?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t look like you could,¡± the man nodded in agreement, ¡°and that¡¯s why I have been waiting on the outside.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°If you say ¡®I don¡¯t¡¯ know¡¯ again, I will kill you,¡± said the man threateningly yet calmly, his back leaning against the wall and not minding the fire spreading toward him at all. ¡°I have volunteered for this mission just because I want to find out who killed my little brother. You may live if you tell the truth.¡± Lin Sheng was silent. ¡°I really have no idea,¡± he then said. ¡°There was an explosion just when Major Dondi walked to the door. My men and I tried to stop him, but it was toote.¡± ¡°Lie!¡± The man¡¯s expression suddenly changed. ¡°Let me ask you again: did you kill my little brother?¡± ¡°Of course not!¡± ¡°Lie again! Eat this!¡± The man¡¯s arms suddenly broke up into a swarm of electric yellow snakes, grabbing Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng had no time to dodge. It all happened too fast. He was severely injured, and his body reflexes were slow. ¡°When the world mourns in sorrow, I gouge the darkness out of my heart and bury it. So light is what is left of me.¡± As a crisp, childish voice was heard before Lin Sheng, a hand suddenly reached from a white shadow, caught the yellow electric snakes. Holding the passed out Elba in one hand and the yellow electric light in the other, Khad suddenly emerged out of thin air with a murderous look on his face. As their shadows came into each other, white arms under their feet spread in all directions like a flood. ¡°Now, what do you want to do with my light?¡± Chapter 171 - Light: Part 2

Chapter 171: Light: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Inside a budget hotel in Huaisha, two people and a sea hawk were sitting on the wooden bed, holding bottles of cold milk in hands, and taking a sip from the container intermittingly. ¡°Why am I here?¡± The girl on the farthermost right appeared confused. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I be working in the club?¡± The girl then fell into thought. Since when did she start to follow the muddled head and run around? And why did she even have to run in the first ce? ¡°Because you have seen something you shouldn¡¯t have seen,¡± said the sea hawk, taking a sip from the bottle as if it was a human. ¡°Something I shouldn¡¯t have seen?¡± What are you talking about? You talking seahawk!¡± asked the girl. She had seen enough weird things and now was able to speak to the mutant sea hawk calmly. ¡°You and Xie Qiaoyue are my lucky chosen ones,¡± the sea hawk said in a matter of fact voice. ¡°Next, I will endow you with a brain development technique that could tap our own potential.¡± Xie Qiaoyue chuckled and continued drinking her milk. ¡°Ever since I have been chosen, I am running like a stray cur. No. I am one, actually.¡± ¡°No worries. Soon and as long as you do as I say, a grand mansion, fine vine, superyacht, private beach¡ªyou name it, will all be yours.¡± The sea hawk spread out a wing and said gravely. ¡°I just want to ask: when can I go back? I will surely lose my job if I return toote.¡± The female receptionist asked cautiously. ¡°Don¡¯t you still want the mansion, yacht, private beach, and all that I have mentioned?¡± The sea asked. ¡°I do...¡± ¡°Then follow me. For all the years I have lived, I have never failed to deliver what I have promised! Got it?¡± the sea hawk said proudly. ¡°Got... got it...¡± The receptionist girl nodded muddleheaded. ¡°Then, when can I go back to my job?¡± ¡°You are getting on my nerves already!¡± The sea hawk growled. ¡°All you think about is your job. How much could you make in your entire life in this job? You loser! We should n our next course of action. We have been holing up here for several days; it¡¯s time to make your first step.¡± The sea hawk snorted. ¡°But we are running out of money.¡± Xie Qiaoyue chimed in. ¡°Prices of goods are increasing too fasts. Had it not been for this receptionist girl, we could have been caught long ago, let alone staying in the hotel.¡± ¡°I still have a little...¡± The receptionist girl could not help but say softly. ¡°Wow, not bad!¡± The sea hawk felt spirited. ¡°Don¡¯t be worried. Just consider this as an I-owe-you loan. I will give repay you an additional mansion someday! By the way, what is your name?¡± The receptionist girl could not have cared less. She worked in the Ironfist society because she thought the task was easy and the pay was good in the first ce. Never in her entire life had she dreamed of such extravagant things. Redwin would have identified her if not for her obscure origin¡ªshe had no family. ¡°My name is Tan Yue. You all¡ª¡± Before she could continue, a hurried siren was heard outside. Xie Qiaoyue immediately got out of bed, running to the window and peeking out from behind the curtains. ck armored vehicles and troop carriers were whooshing past the gray street outside the hotel. While the leading police escort vehicles were shing their strobe lights brilliantly in the front, each of the armored vehicles in the middle had two military officers standing erect, and they all seemed to be highly ranked. Just then, a chopping noise was hearding from a far distance in the sky. Xie Qiaoque quickly spotted a back attack helicopter flying rapidly toward a direction. ¡°What¡¯s happening? That¡¯s a hell lot of noise!¡± Xie Qiaoyue poked out her tongue. ¡°The army seems to be moving in the ckwater district¡¯s direction. Something could have happened there.¡± The sea hawk flew over to the window and said gravely. ¡°They have even mobilized the Darksiders and bazookas. Something big must have happened.¡± Xie Qiaoyue carefully opened the window and stretched out her neck to take a better view of the outside. Passersby also stopped on the sidewalks watching what the hoo-ha was all about. Redwin had not carried out troop mobilization for a while. Just when the residents of Huaisha began to feel a little at ease and restarted their daily routine, thisrge-scale troop movement was causing more worries as well as curiosity among the poption, and arousing spections among the folks in the streets. ¡°There was an explosion in Luohu Street, and fire raging in ckwater district. Our colleagues in the E&E have been called to serve as the emergency medical crew there.¡± ¡°I thought it was a war between the supernaturals?¡± Someone was heard saying in a low voice. ¡°I did not see it. But whether supernaturals or not, many people have died. Those who have survived don¡¯t seem to be any better. It is said that many of the victimse from the Ironfist Society.¡± A few young men and women, dressed in medical personnel uniform, were seen discussing among themselves in front of the convenient store next to the hotel. Xie Qiaoyue suddenly felt a pang of guilt rising in her upon hearing the mention of the Ironfist Society. She knew she was the culprit who brought this disaster upon them. The monster that she had lured there had skilled several people there, and the blood would naturally be on her hands. ¡°This situation here is bing more and more chaotic. I must not stay here anymore. I have to find a way out!¡± She decided in her mind. ....... Strands of yellow electric light turned into a sphere in Khad¡¯s hand before it shrank and dissipated to be a tiny plume of green smoke. ¡°Tear him into pieces!¡± Khad roared. An uncountable number of pale arms rose and crashed down at the man like a storm. The arms had filled every inch of the space in the hall, tightly squeezing the man in the center. ¡°Thunderbeast!¡± When the man tapped his finger on his brow, streaks of electric arc burst out around him and formed a bolt of zing lightning. Like the re of the sun, the light was so bright that no one could stare at it with naked eyes. ¡°Since everyone is here, you all shall perish together!¡± A golden radiance shed in his eyes as his pupils suddenly contracted. Following immediately, a tidal wave of energy exploded in the Thunderbeast, as if tons of high-energy explosives were detonated at once. Immediately, the high-energy yellow arcs shredded the mountains of arms like papers, the force of the explosion sent dust and broken stones flying out in all directions, leaving behind an empty courtyard outside. ¡°Where the hell is he?¡± The man was startled. Before he knew it, a gigantic ck hand emerged out of nowhere on his right, striking down from the air like a bolt of lightning, sending the man flying out like a ball. He crashed through the sidewall of the building, brought down an electricity pole on the street, rammed into a white car that, unfortunately, happened to drive andnded on his back. The impact shattered the car windows in an instant and forced the vehicle, sliding sideways for over ten meters beforending in a ditch. The man coughed, his body still flickering with electric arcs. He pulled himself out from the damaged vehicle and stared at the Ironfist Society building that still billowed thick clouds of smog. ¡°Good. *cough* It has been a long while since Ist suffered this level of injury. A loud boom was heard inside the Ironfist Society when a pavilion copsed in half. Following immediately, a six-meter old man wearing a yellow robe emerged from within, his arms growing on the side of his body looked like the legs of a centipede. In the middle of it was the pretty face of Khad. Chapter 172 - Light: Part 3

Chapter 172: Light: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Another again? Why... Why? Do you all have a death wish?¡± Khad walked toward the man slowly. ¡°I was supposed to kill Elba here,¡± the man pulled himself to his feet and spat a mouthful of blood, ¡°but it seems I have missed the boat.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you run away!¡± Khad was startled at first, but very quickly, he came to his senses and lunged at the man. With his six-meter body, he came up before the man in just a giant leap, striking at him at an even higher speed and force than before. ¡°I will see you again.¡± The man¡¯s body dissolved into electric arcs and vanished. ¡°Remember, my name is Beijiu. I wille back to revenge my little brother¡¯s death.¡± His voice reverberated in the air, but his body had already disappeared into thin air. Khad missed his target and his hands struck the ground in full force, creating hundreds of burnt-out pit in the ground. He lifted the car blocking him in anger and tore it into pieces barehanded before looking into the sky and hollering frenziedly. ¡°Knock it off!¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness suddenly woke up to the frenzy. The body of the six-meter-tall giant elder began to vaporize into ck smoke. In just a few seconds, Khad¡¯s body vanished. As Lin Sheng emerged from the ruins of the Ironfist Society, he found a uniform of the society and put in on. He held Elba in his hand and gazed in the direction where Khad disappeared. ¡°Fearsome...¡± Suddenly, he felt a gush of blood rushing up his throat, but he forced it back down. ¡°Khad¡¯s instinct is too strong. There is a vast gap between my consciousness and his. I couldn¡¯t fully control him.¡± At thest moment, it was Khad¡¯s own instinct and memories that were controlling his actions. Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness had unknowingly drowned in it, thinking that he was the reborn Khad. ¡°It looks like the problem lies with my soul and consciousness¡ªthey aren¡¯t strong enough. Sure enough, there is a downside to taking a shortcut...¡± Lin Sheng knew what he had been getting into and what the consequences were just as the grimoire clearly stated. When the consciousness of a summoned creature is stronger than the soul of the summoner, it could bring unintended side effects upon the summoner. ** Depending on the relevance andpleteness of the souls, although the soul of a summoned monster could not be self-aware and self-directed, there is still some level of probability that some of the summoner¡¯s instinctive traits could be homogenized if the gap between the summoned monster and the summoner is too huge. If that happens, the summoner could experience the summoned creature¡¯s traits, such as its habits, interests, grudges... ¡°I don¡¯t want to be the spoiled little prince who acts cute all the time.¡± Lin Sheng could not help but shiver upon thinking of it. He then looked at Elba in his hand. ¡°Miss Elba, stop pretending when you¡¯re already awake. Now, let me make myself clear.¡± Lin Sheng had resisted his murderous zeal and stopped Khad from killing this woman because of her unique identity. Elba was a senior military officer of Redwin, her status and position were in to see. Instead of killing her, which was a foolishly unwise action, incapacitating her and using her as a hostage and a bargaining chip was a far smarter move. Now, Lin Sheng could hear the wailing of the sirens and roar of the engines. Apparently, the police and the military wereing. He could hear the rapidly approaching chopping noise of the helicopter¡¯s rotor. With her ruse failing, Elba could only open her eyes. ¡°Can¡¯t you just let me take some rest when I have already lost to you?¡± She said helplessly, pointing at the tearing mark on her arm. ¡°It requires energy to grow a pair of arms, don¡¯t you think? What¡¯s more, I¡¯ve grown four times in a row.¡± ¡°The emissary is pursuing the other one; let me take care of the things here. Madam, the sincerity of the Ironfist Society has been quite evident now, don¡¯t you think?¡± said Lin Sheng frankly. The fact that he had merely beaten her half-dead and ripped off a few of her hands was considered merciful enough. ¡°All right...¡± Elba was aware of that. For all the serious-looking battering that her body took, she needed only a week of recuperation, and she would be alive and kicking again, thanks to the restraint that Lin Sheng had shown. But when recalling the Ironfist Society monster that she battled earlier, Elba still could not help but feel a chill run up her spine. ¡°I have lost, and I admit it.¡± Not wanting Lin Sheng¡¯s help anymore, she pulled herself to her feet helplessly. ¡°Beijiu had been here just now. But thanks to you all, I¡¯ve just evaded a disaster. As a gesture of appreciation, I will ask Redwin to leave you all to yourselves¡ªas long as you all don¡¯t make trouble again.¡± Elba had always been a grateful person, and since the Ironfist Society had shown her a friendly gesture, it would only be natural that she reciprocated the same. Especially so in the upied zone where things had always been vtile, one more friend meant one less foe. The reason for Lin Sheng not killing her was simple; it was to avoid esction of the conflict. He had never expected Elba topromise in the first ce. ¡°I appreciate that very much. In the meantime, I will convey your message to the emissary,¡± Lin Sheng said softly. ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you then.¡± Elba waved feebly at Lin Sheng. The strength of the Ironfist Society was a hell much more impressive than she had expected it; they could even stave off someone as formidable as Beijiu. Nevertheless, things had worked in her favor. Had she met Beijiu herself, the result could have been a lot nastier. ¡°Again, since your emissary has pulled his punches earlier, in return, let me give you a friendly reminder: this is a war zone, and if there is nothing else, get out of this ce quickly.¡± Elba let out a sigh, fished out a wrinkled cigarette from her pocket, and put it in her mouth. ¡°By the way, you got fire?¡± ¡°No.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. Helplessly, Elba took the cigarette out from her mouth. ¡°You guys have killed a master of the Starfury n from the Heaven¡¯s Spire. They will not let this go by unrevenged. You all had better leave. I can get you all a travel pass to leave the war zone.¡± ¡°I will suggest it to the emissary. How could I contact you if we decide to leave?¡± ¡°Take this.¡± Elba took out a ck metal te that looked like a business card. ¡°This is a temporary travel pass, good for ten persons. You had better hurry if you decide to leave. I will return to my home country to recuperate. The travel pass will be invalid once I leave.¡± Lin Sheng nodded and took the card. With his identity as a small potato and Khad as the boss, he was not so worried about whether Elba had any evil intention. Even Lin Sheng himself would prefer anyone who could leave to leave as quickly as possible and not getting in his way. ¡°There they are; my men havee. You had better rush while you still can.¡± Elba stood upright, pretending to take everything unruffled and under her control. ¡°Got it.¡± Lin Sheng got the message. He shook his head, turned around and darted into the distance. While he went, he informed Sarroux about the situation through the vault guards. It would be more convenient for Sarroux to clean up the aftermath in the Ironfist Society on behalf of him. Right now, Sarroux had gathered the remaining disciples in a safe ce, awaiting the news. These disciples were of no help in a battle of such a level. The only thing they could do was wait. Chapter 173 - Departure: Part 1 Chapter 173: Departure: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°What? An explosion?¡± At night, an outburst of shrieks was heard in Lin Sheng¡¯s home. Horrified, Gu Wanqiu held her son Lin Sheng tightly, checking him from head to toe to see if he was hurt. Lin Zhounian¡¯s brows knitted together as he puffed on his cigarette silently. On the other hand, Lin Xiao covered her mouth with her hand, tears starting to swell in her eyes. Lin Sheng was helpless, but the situation hade to the point where they had to make a choice. Huaisha was no longer safe, and they should leave while they still could. Not wanting toplicate the matter, Lin Sheng had made up an excuse that there had been an explosion in his workce, and he almost could not make it home in one piece. The white lie sent shock and disbelief throughout his family, making the already troubled atmosphere worse, which was something he had expected anyway. But what falling outside his calction was a guest, Chen Minjia, who saved his elder sister previously, showed up in his home all of a sudden. It seemed that she had juste over for a casual visit. The foreign upation of Huaisha seemed to have little effect on Chen Minjia; she was still living a good life, just like before. When she heard Lin Sheng¡¯s fabricated story, her expression turned slightly grave as if she was in thought. ¡°No worries, mom. I¡¯m fine, just frightened. Sarroux and I have talked over it, and a friend was able to help us get out of Huaisha,¡± said Lin Sheng. ¡°Leaving Huaisha?¡± Gu Wanqiu was stunned. Not far away, Lin Zhounian, who was holding a cigarette in hand, was also visibly shaken. As a matter of fact, they had thought of leaving too because the situation in Huaisha was getting more unstable with more incidents by the day. All the more so because of the runaway intion. This ce was definitely not a ce to be in anymore. But that was all just wishful thinking without knowing how to go about it. ¡°Your friend could get us out?¡± Lin Zhounian got to his feet and interjected loudly. ¡°Bullshit! Do you know what the situation in Huaisha is right now? Even Mr. Hu and his entire family, who live next to my store, could find no way out. Let alone you!¡± Never Lin Sheng expected his dad would not be buying his story. He stayed silent for a while and then said, ¡°I saved his life once¡ª¡± Before he finished, he quickly covered his mouth as if he had made a slip of the tongue. Upon seeing Lin Sheng¡¯s reaction, Lin Zhounian seemed to have guessed a thing or two and exchanged an enlightened look with Gu Wanqiu. ¡°I¡¯m not going to ask what you have been doing on the outside.¡± He appeared like he had guessed what it was all about. ¡°I don¡¯t care who your friend is, Sheng Sheng, but you need to have a good grasp of the situation. Is what he says real? Are you sure it¡¯s going to be safe?¡± Lin Sheng nodded as he believed that Elba would not risk earning the wrath of Khad by lying to him. If things really went wrong and Khad came to wreak havoc again, the entire Anduin province would fall into turmoil. More so, he could always use the Ironfist Society as a scarecrow, and Elba would have to worry about more monsters like Khad. ¡°I am dead sure it¡¯s going to be okay. All we need to do is to think about where to go.¡± Frankly, Lin Sheng was also scratching his head over the matter. The world was one big ce. Other than Xilin, there were Miga, Olro, Riehen nations, Osiris, and others. Lands surrounding the Pearl Ocean existed many powerful and peaceful countries, which they could also include in their list of refuge. But they needed a visa to go there. ¡°You all should leave while you still can.¡± Chen Minjia, who had been staying silent all this while, suddenly spoke. ¡°If you all have nowhere to go, I can help get you all to a neutral country, Xylond.¡± ¡°Sis Minjia, you can go with us.¡± Lin Sheng looked at Chen Minjia. He had enough quota to bring more people, including Chen Minjia. But he was not going to take along other disciples of the Ironfist Society as he nned to disperse them to various parts of Xilin and let them keep on training. By doing this, he could vacate more quota. ¡°I don¡¯t need it, Lin Sheng. Thank you.¡± Chen Minjia shook her head with a smile. ¡°I have a good rtionship with a private college in Xylond. You and your elder sis could go there with my rmendation. Treat it as a self-sponsored study.¡± Lin Xiao appeared reluctant and was about to decline the offer upon hearing that it was a self-sponsored study. ¡°That will be great!¡± Lin Sheng quickly agreed. ¡°But Sis Minjia, why don¡¯t you leave too?¡± Chen Minjia let out a smile. ¡°To be honest with you, I¡¯m not a citizen of Xilin. I hold an Osirian passport and am here for business. I can go anytime if I want to.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t want to trouble you anymore, Sis Minjia,¡± Lin Xiao said helplessly. ¡°Not at all. Getting the travel pass and out of the war zone could be a little tricky, but the rest is just a walk in the park,¡± Chen Minjia said with a smile. She liked how this family interacted with each other, which was a stark contrast to the cold and indifferent atmosphere at home. Earlier, she had even taken Lin Xiao as her younger godsister, making cement rmendation to a college was like taking candy from a baby to her. All it took was just a call. ¡°But first thing first, it is only an average college, not a branded university,¡± she said, smiling. ¡°It¡¯s all good and better than nothing. I really appreciate it, Sis Minjia.¡± Lin Sheng nodded in a gesture of appreciation. He willed in his mind, and two vault guards transformed into plumes of ck smoke and got inside Chen Minjia¡¯s vehicle that was parked downstairs. The vault guards would be her bodyguards. Lin Sheng had long wanted to repay her kindness for saving his elder sister¡¯s life. Little did he expect they had to get her help in getting out of the country before he could even reciprocate her first favor. Since they were parting, leaving behind two vault guards to protect Chen Minjia would be the least he could do. Besides, Lin Sheng was also eager to find out how far the distance from which he could remotely control his summoned creatures. That same night, Chen Minjia had contacted the college. With a letter of invitation sent out in an email from the college from Xylond, getting a student visa was not going to be a problem. Their parents could also apply for a long-term visa too. But Lin Zhounian and his wife were more worried about the other family members, especially the bedridden Grandpa. They had a good rtionship with many rtives from both sides. Lin Zhounian felt terrible to leave all these people behind. Lin Sheng knew what was bothering his dad, but he could not help it. He could bring along his Grandpa, who was living alone after all. But not the rest, with whom he was not close enough. After making a phone call that night, Chen Minjia decided to stay for the night here with Lin Xiao. As for Lin Sheng, his parents had questioned him for like hours, and only after they were convinced of the travel pass thingy, they only started to discuss how to make a living in a new ce. After all, they had everything but money. Chen Minjia had expressed her willingness to help them find jobs, but Lin Zhounian had categorically declined her goodwill. After the Lin family had received such a great favor from her, he could not bear to see himself asking for more, he thought. That night, while everyone was asleep, Lin Sheng heard faint voices of discussion in his parents¡¯ room. They seemed to be hesitant about whether to leave or stay. While Lin Shengy in bed, the sacred power continued to heal him. Considering his state of injury, it would take at least a week before he would fully recover, and that meant during the next one week, he had better not go into anybat. Chapter 174 - Departure: Part 2 Chapter 174: Departure: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Howling winds blew in from the gap of the stone hall. Lin Sheng sat on the cold surface of the hall¡¯s floor, his body glowing white as a gray rune slowly roused within the light. Upon entering the dream realm, Lin Sheng did not do anything else besides sit down to meditate. The stone hall seemed to be sealing something in it, but at that moment, he was not remotely close to Khad. So, even if he were to unravel the secrets there, he would not be able to do anything. Therefore, he simply used the hall as a meditation spot as he slowly waited for the next dream toe. If he was not wrong, the change in the dream would happen in the next few days. ¡°If I can get stronger, my soul won¡¯t be so burdened by Khad, and by then, I can use him as a split body. That will increase overall security.¡± Lin Sheng sighed. He thought that he had gotten a good aide through a shortcut, but he never thought he would run into such a problem. ¡°Hopefully by the time I leave Xilin I can enter the next dream. That¡¯ll increase the strength of my soul. Using this meditation method is just too slow.¡± The night passed as Lin Sheng trained and meditated. The next day, he went to look for Sarroux and the rest of the disciples, dispatching them from Huaisha to other cities. Based on Redwin¡¯s regtions, as long as they did not leave the Anduin province, they were free to move about. Lin Sheng had asked Sarroux if he wanted toe along with him, but thetter declined. He wanted to be with his father, Wayne. At the same time, he nned to expand and develop the Ironfist Society in Xilin. Lin Sheng did not say anything. He only gifted Sarroux the Bloodazure Harp and guided him on how to develop the sacred power in his body. That way, even without the Ashen Seal or if the Ashen Seal faded from his memory, Sarroux could still use the harp to continue training his sacred powers. The only thing was that Lin Sheng had no idea how long Sarroux would take to break through Level 4 with such a rudimentary training regime. Based on ckfeather City¡¯s estimation, advancing from Level 3 to Level 4 would take two years at least, for a genius. Now that Sarroux had the harp and probably capabilities almost akin to that of a genius, perhaps he could break through Level 4 in two years¡¯ time. As for theparison with ckfeather City¡¯s ssification and the Darksiders¡¯ abilities, Lin Sheng had yet to create a consolidatedparison. He would need to go against elites to find out. Anyway, two days passed by just like that. Within those two days, Lin Zhounian and his wife finally decided to hand over their house and shop to their grandfather and let the remaining rtives take care of him. Meanwhile, they would bring whatever savings they had along with their two children out of the country. If it was possible, they nned to settle down as soon as possible and quickly build up a business overseas before they brought grandpa and the others out to avoid the chaos of war. As for the Ironfist Society, Lin Sheng had handed most of the robbery money to Sarroux to use it as capital. With the ckfeather City¡¯s uniquebat techniques alongside Sarroux¡¯s leadership. The Ironfist Society will still be able to grow even without Lin Sheng. As not every gang or organization would have a Transcendent at the helm. Lin Sheng too have left a Vault Warden behind to keep Sarroux safe. Everything was ready by then and the third day, Lin Sheng took the ck card to ascertain the authenticity of the ess pass. After determining it was legitimate, he brought his parents and his sister to board the Xylondian¡¯s cruise ship, the Ocean¡¯s Silverstone. The omnipotent Chen Minjia had even arranged for them two decent twin-bed rooms and gave them an emergency satellite phone number. ... The cool sea breeze blew at Lin Sheng¡¯s face alongside water sshes from time to time. And that felt a little itchy. He leaned against the white railing as he pressed against the rubber lifebuoy. It felt particrly tough and rubbery. He had no idea if it would work if thrown into the water. *Ssh!!* A school of blue fishes darted out like an arrow out of the sea and back into it, attracting gasps from the passengers. Lin Sheng wore a simple ck t-shirt and jeans. His hair had been cut short by himself. It was not the best handiwork, but it¡¯s the thought that counts. While this getup was normal, it was rather underwhelming on this ship. Among the passengers around him, the only person dressed like him were either waiters or sailors. The real passengers are mostly in western suits and elegant dresses. Even if they were not in formal garbs, their clothes were clearly designerbels, and one could tell that just by a nce. ¡°What sort of ship did Sister Minjia put us on?¡± Lin Sheng was rather speechless, but he could understand why. Other than this rather expensive cruise ship, most other ships could not even hope to bring anyone away from the war zone. And before they boarded, Chen Minjia too had reminded them to not cause any altercations with anyone. Things will get better once they got to Xylond. As he pondered something, a voice suddenly came from behind. It was a youngdy. ¡°Can I please know where the fish-watching hall is?¡± Her voice was clear and pretty, giving out the expression of someone about eighteen to neen years old, yet there was a sense of pretention as well. As if the girl had been trying to keep her voice at her best. Lin Sheng turned over and saw a trio of male and female that seemed to havee out from the banquet. There were twodies and a man, all of them young, probably between fifteen and neen. One of thedies were dressed in a white long gown that exposed part of her chest, her skin was eye-catchingly fair. Another one wore a purple-ck tight-fitting dress, her chest and buttocks small, her face young and youthful. The girls were quite beautiful indeed. The young man, on the other hand, had a confident, yful smile to him. While he was handsome, he gave out a slight hint of frivolity. ¡°I¡¯m not a sailor, not sure where¡¯s the ce you¡¯re looking for.¡± Lin Sheng answered tly. ¡°What are you doing here then?¡± ¡°Looking at the sea, there are fishes jumping out of the sea from time to time.¡± He answered. His identity now was just of a normal male passenger. The journey from Huaisha to Xylond¡¯s Isaiah Harbor would take about six days, and he hoped for these six days to pass peacefully. The moment they heard that fishes might jump out of the sea, the three young ones too excitedly stood by the side of the ship, chatting away as they enjoyed the scenery. Due to the long journey on the cruise ship, there was nothing all too interesting, so there were plenty of entertainment facilities within the ship. Casinos, cardrooms, performance theater, concert hall, and the likes. The three of them seemed to havee out of the concert hall after a dance and were outside to rx. Lin Sheng, on the other hand, was outside to get some air as his parents and sister were seasick, and had yet to get used to it. After the trio came over, a few more people appeared as they stood by the side of the ship to chat. Humans aremunal creatures, especially when there was a quiet spot to view the ocean, more and more people would appear. Chapter 175 - Departure: Part 3 Chapter 175: Departure: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Not longter, about a dozen folks havee over to the side of the cruise ship as they formed into groups of two or three and chatted. Not longter, a middle-aged man with a small beard mentioned something that piqued everyone¡¯s interest, seemingly a massive change happening to one of the luxury brands. And that immediately drew everyone¡¯s attention as people joined in the discussion as they added what they knew to show that they were knowledgeable and resourceful. A momentter, someone talked about the recently popr Ademan hair conditioner, Derdice pearl ne or thetest automated fishing tools. Lin Sheng was bored by them, and his peace disturbed so he decided to return to his cabin to rest. Just as he passed by the cabin area, there was arge disy cab there with a satellite television within it. And on the white rectangr television was the live broadcast of the General Assembly of the Union of Nations. The General Assembly of the Union of Nations was simr to the United Nations General Assembly back on Earth, in Lin Sheng¡¯s past life. An assembly where representatives of all countries gather around to discuss all sorts of matters. ¡°I object to the speech made by the Redwinian representative!¡± A stern, powerful voice boomed from the television. ¡°First, the Red Neephite Ore extraction and usage will worsen the world¡¯s pollution is a baseless usation! If it was the case, why isn¡¯t there any concrete data on the usage of Red Neephite causing permanent contamination! Secondly, as for the territorial sea demarcation, the waters from the Pearl Sea Port Franciske to Port Thonee had been part of Xilin since ancient times. And based on the historical records...¡± The Xilin representative in the television was a middle-aged man with a designer¡¯s stubble d in a smart suit, speaking at the top of his voice as he rebutted the usations made by Redwin and Mica-Olro. One by one, he rebutted the usations made against Xilin by Redwin¡¯s representative in the assembly. His arguments were simple yet concrete, and they were very convincing. Lin Sheng stood there for a while as he listened. ¡°Professor Viklund is well-learned, he speaks sevennguages and holds a doctorate in bothw and psychology from three top universities in the world. He was previously the ambassador to Firmand and Kyrgyz.¡± A deep voice came from Lin Sheng¡¯s side. ¡°With his education and reputation, he could have just stayed overseas to enjoy his life. Yet he chose to return and speak as Xilin¡¯s representative in the assembly.¡± the male voice continued. ¡°That requires a tremendous amount of strength and willpower.¡± A female voicemented. ¡°Yes, not everyone is capable of letting go of theirfort. It is a very difficult choice.¡± The man agreed. Lin Sheng did not say anything and merely watched Viklund give his impassioned speech and proposals. But these seemingly sensible proposals did not even pass the first round of voting as they were shot down there and then. There were three rounds of voting, and he could not even get past the first round... Viklund tried to salvage the situation as he attempted to convince the other countries to agree to his proposals, until the end, none of the thick stacks of documents in his hands managed to get through. By the time the assembly was adjourned and the other representatives have left, he sat alone at his seat as he stared at the proposals he had painstakingly made, unmoving. ¡°This is the fourth time Viklund had tried to speak in the assembly. Proposals from other countries would usually have one or two getting into the second or third round of voting, but he...¡± Even the manmented. Lin Sheng did not say anything and simply turned to the source of the voice. It was a man in his thirties, and beside him were a group of people who were listening to his exnation. Among them was the girl in a low-cut white dress as she looked at herpanion beside her. Herpanion was obviously the youngdy in a purple-ck dress. The girl was called Cindy, and she was a Xilin national. She had the Xilin¡¯s typical ck eyes and hair. The people of Xilin had plenty of skin colors, from white to yellow to even reddish and dark. But everyone shared the same trait, ck hair, and ck eyes. Anyone without that trait was either mixed or a foreigner. And everyone seemed to have noticed the color of Cindy¡¯s eyes and hair. Even without any particr reaction as they continued their chatter, the rest had kept some distance away and started ignoring her. In their eyes, everyone from Xilin is probably seeking refuge. A refugee. In their eyes, that was the tag that all people from Xilin bears now. Their chatter was not really just to pass time but more to expand theirwork. Cindy lowered her head and kept silent. Lin Sheng quietly walked over as he patted her on the shoulder. Without a word, he quickly went back into his cabin. Cindy looked up at Lin Sheng and only saw his muscr back. ... After having their meal, Lin Zhounian and Gu Wanqiu could not get used to their surroundings as they got sick when they were outside. So both of them had gone back to their cabin to read and rest. Lin Xiao went on a stroll with Lin Sheng before returning to her room with his help. After sending Lin Xiao back to her room, he went back onto the deck, and just as he was about to head to the observatory on the second level, he saw someone shouting by the ship¡¯s side. He instinctively went over. On the ocean surface not too far away, a small grey-ck boat floated about, and on them were about a dozen people, all of them ck eyes and ck-haired. The boat seemed to be leaking as it sank slowly. The passengers on the boat were panicking, and some of them were mothers with their children who pulled them close. One of the teenage boys started singing as if this valiant disy of bravery would forestall death. ¡°Save them!¡± On the side of the boat, a bearded Xilin man yelled. ¡°No! Those are refugees, illegal migrants! We cannot let them onto the ship. It¡¯s against thew and an insult to the Ocean Silverstone!¡± One of the ships¡¯ managers rebuked him without any mercy. ¡°But those are human lives there!¡± The bearded man yelled, his face reddened in fury. But no matter what he said, neither the sailors nor the managers said anything different. Their replies were the standard, ¡°No! Impossible! Can¡¯t do!¡± Lin Sheng did not move as he stood on the deck looking at the sinking vessel, as a sudden urge welled up within him. ¡°How could you be so cold, so cruel!¡± The boat sank, and the bearded man cried. The vice-captain who hade over upon hearing the news coldly shook his hand, motioning for everyone to return to the post. ¡°Why are there refugees? Aren¡¯t there many ces in Xilin that are still unscathed?¡± A passenger who could not take it any longer said with a hushed voice. ¡°Some parts are fine... but a few provinces came other Mica¡¯s air raids. And many cities were bombed with poison gas and concussive bombs. Bodies had been piling up...¡± Someone answered. ¡°Has the news been censored?¡± ¡°Yes, aside from the Redwinian military lines, or some specific satellite channels, there¡¯s no other way to connect to the inte. The papers are censored hard, so the news could not spread out.¡± ¡°It had gone from bad to worse. When I came to Xilinst time, over at Ikaros to the north a refugee boat was caught by a Mica patrol boat, and they simply sprayed lead at them from above. Every time I pass through that sea region, it feels like bodies are floating everywhere.¡± The crowding passengers started discussing what they have heard. And soon, the bearded man too was dragged away as his voice faded into the distance. Lin Sheng stood by the side of the ship and did not say anything for a long while. He had never seen himself as a Xilin citizen, but now, for some unknown reason, a wave of pent-up anger welled within him. Chapter 176 - Departure: Part 4

Chapter 176: Departure: Part 4

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The sea breeze was getting colder and colder and the congregating crowd soon dispersed as if nothing happened. ¡°This is war.¡± Lin Sheng let out a deep sigh, feeling helpless. He was strong, Khad was strong, but what of it? The invasion of Xilin did not happen in just a day. Xilin itself was rotten to the core, and even without any foreign invasion, it would copse under its own weight as revolutionary zeal run rampant. And the billions of citizens would suffer the same fate. If a rotten tree does not fall, and to serve as fertilizer for thend, no new sprouts will grow. By the time he got back to the cabin area, he ran into that girl in the purple-ck dress again. She clearly had saw that scene as well, and was still in a daze. ¡°Why didn¡¯t they save them?¡± The girl suddenly asked as Lin Sheng walked passed her. ¡°Because it has nothing to do with them.¡± Lin Sheng tly replied, before heading off towards his room. Night came, and Lin Sheng tried to check out the situation in Huaisha City. The three Vault Wardens he had left behind no longer shared their senses with him. The distance was clearly too great, and was beyond the range he could control. Now he could only vaguely sense their general direction, and which unit it is. Lin Zhounian went to the washroom to take a puff. The moment he got out, his expression was grim as he sat on the chair without a word. Lin Sheng too did not say anything. The father and son simply just sat there, one of the bed, another on the chair as minutes passed by. ¡°Chenchen, be honest with me, did you join that revivalist movement?¡± Lin Zhounian suddenly asked. ¡°Revivalist?¡± Lin Sheng was dumbfounded. ¡°You mother and I are not fools. You have been going out early anding backte these few days. And were busy all day long even during the holidays. We have even came across the flyers from that movement a few times already.¡± Lin Zhounian said with a hushed voice. ¡°No.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not a member of the Revivalist Front.¡± He did not want to hide this from his parents for long. As they were living under the same roof, a prolonged lie would simply cause problems. ¡°Then you...¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve joined a martial arts society and have been spending time training.¡± Lin Sheng was forthright. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, dad. Things will get better.¡± ¡°...¡± Lin Zhounian did not respond. Late night. Lin Sheng continued to train his holy power in the vault. The dream did not change. The second day, the cruise ship had reached a port for resupply. The port was the furthest port in Xilin¡¯s frontier, called Port Franciske. In Xilin tongue, it meant the eternal pearl. After this port, the ship will leave Xilin¡¯s maritime borders and enter international waters. By the time the cruise ship arrived, it was about nine in the morning. The Ocean Silverstone was probably thergest ship to dock on Port Franciske. As there were manpower shortage due to the recent strikes, the resupplying took longer than scheduled. Lin Sheng got onto the deck, and saw an ongoing protest by the docks. At least thousands of Xilineans were clustered together as they held cards and loud speakers, chanting slogans as they went. Arge number of military police soon arrived, and started using rubber bullets and water cannons to push back the protestors. As the protest was swept aside, plus the enraged crowd stampeding upon one another, there were many casualties. Lin Sheng stood by the boat side, and this time around, Lin Zhounian, Gu Wanqiu and Lin Xiao too had witnessed this. There were a few more Xilineans onboard the ship, and their expression changed when they say that. The military police was the Xilin government¡¯s suppression force, and they were very experienced in dispersing protesting crowds. And soon, the area was cleared and aside from some mess on the dock, there were nothing left. Lin Sheng did not say anything at all, and simply watched. The Xilin today, needed some bloodletting to be able to change from the bottom up. And this was the pain everyone needed to endure during a revolutionary period. By the time the resupplying waspleted, it was alreadyte evening. After that, the journey was uneventful as they arrived at Xylond¡¯s Port Isaiah. And weirdly enough, Lin Sheng¡¯s dream was still at that stone hall. Lin Sheng sensed that, without a stable environment and state of mind, he could not change the dream. After disembarking, Lin Sheng and his family grabbed their bags, big and small as they got onto the vehicle arranged by Chen Minjia to Shermanton Yinglu Private Academy. The academy was located in Xylond¡¯s central Shermanton City, a city of arts rich in history. The city had Xylond¡¯srgest concentration of private universities, and were mostly towards the arts, like graphic design, music, dance, instruments etc. Chen Minjia, due to her business rtions, had sponsored Yinglu Private Academy and have obtained a special rmendation quota from there. And because of that special investor privilege, Lin Xiao and Lin Sheng both gotten a spot in the university through this quota, and directly entered the academy for their education. Lin Xiao entered year two, while Lin Sheng was year one. Lin Zhounian and Gu Wanqiu on the other hand scouted around nearby the academy as they nned to open up a small shop. Both Xylond and Xilin uses the same Xilinnguage system. Aside from some local dialects, Xilin is understood here. So there¡¯s not muchmunication barrier. Lin Sheng and Lin Xiao both went ahead to report themselves for university. The main faculties for Yinglu Academy were dance and instruments, while the rest are mostly for show. It ranks 39 in the entire Shermanton area, towards the lower rung. Lin Xiao, without any recourse, chose to specialize in engraving, a subject that interested her somewhat. While Lin Sheng chose to study about the business management of ointments and balms. The Lin¡¯s then rented a ce, and tried to settle down as soon as possible. Lin Sheng still had a couple of million of cash with him. Even when converted to Xylond dors, there¡¯s still a couple of million to go about, allowing him to live without needing to crack his head on expenses. The only thing he needed to do was to legitimize these money without affecting his parents. ... ... Redwin, ckblossom City. ¡°Dead? He¡¯s dead?!¡± Inside a private manor, an old man covered in silver adornments mmed the table as he got up. ¡°A three-wing, top tier Darksider dying without aplishing anything in Xilin, while under the supervision of the military four-wings! Are you kidding me?!¡± The old man¡¯s face was red in anger as strands of dark powers roiled around him. Standing opposite him, one man one woman, were in suits, hat and scarf. The two took of their hats at the same time, bowing apologetically. They were the representatives of the Heaven¡¯s Spire to inform the old man about the death of his grandson. ¡°Our apologies, sir....¡± The old man, a member of the Starfury n in the Heaven¡¯s Spire top echelon, clutched his walking stick tightly as he stood by the table, as if he was deciding on who should die. ¡°I want details. Who are the four-wings stationed at Anduin?!¡± ¡°The Pale Viper and the Snow Banshee, sir.¡± The man quickly answered. ¡°The one who discovered your grandson¡¯s murder was the Pale Viper. She herself was badly wounded as well.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care if she¡¯s wounded or not, what I want to know, who killed my grandson! Who!!?¡± The old man¡¯s eyes gleamed red. The operatives looked at each other before answering at the same time. ¡°The Ironfist Society.¡± ¡°The Ironfist Society?¡± Chapter 177 - Return: Part 1 Chapter 177: Return: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Ring... Ring... The afterschool bell rang. Lin Sheng quickly picked up his study materials and stuffed them into his bag. The wide room that was capable of amodating two hundred odd students only had forty plus students in it. That was the number of students in his ss. ck. The pen of a male student beside him dropped onto the ground and rolled away. Thetter simply went ahead to pick it up himself. No one bothered to help even if they say it. That was the mood of the ss. No one bothered to get to know each other, nor did they helped anyone out. Everyone simply attended ss,plete their homework, and only hang out with their own dorm mates. Aside from that, everyone was just minding their own business. Most of the students of Yinglu Private Academy had part-time jobs, and did not have much time for themselves, much less to make friends. And this atmosphere could only be described as, brutally realistic. Lin Sheng¡¯s arrival was nothing but a slightly new sideshow. No one paid any attention to him as if it was like a droplet falling into ake, and very quickly it disappeared into it. Lin Sheng picked up his back as he quickly made his way out of the ssroom, through the corridor and down the stairs before running all the way to the library. The academy¡¯s library was three story high, and while the amount of books they have in collection was not impressive, they had many of the books Lin Sheng needed. Such as materials for three or more ancientnguages. Lin Sheng was now very interested in ancient tongue, and the environment he encountered in the dream were all using ancient Rehn. This type ofnguage seemed to have some mysterious function under certain circumstances. Not to mention the arcanenguage like Deviltongue, and that too had some powerful effects. So now he wanted to study which words and tone would have an effect, and hope topile them together. This was a massive undertaking, but oncepleted, he will be able to use this as the base structure of his own arcane writing system. And ever since he had enrolled into the academy, aside from his usual ssroom periods, he had been spending most of his time in the library, not even bothering to go back to his assigned dorm. He quickly made his way to the second floor of the library and into the ancientnguage area on the right most corner before pulling out the Aniernguage teaching materials out from the shelf. There were very few people inside the ancientnguage area. Aside from Lin Sheng, there were another two person. One of them was a bespectacled boy that gave out a vibe of a bookworm. Another was a girl, also bespectacled. She wore ck braids, and looking totally unassuming. Inparison, Lin Sheng¡¯s strong build and presence was particrly eye-catching. But the moment he sat down every time, he was there for a few hours taking notes, the two students and the librarian soon got used to his presence. After about half an hour, Lin Sheng found that the pen he had bought had dried up. He was using a ballpoint pen, a one-use item. Without a pen he could not do his notes. Frowning, he closed the note book and went over to the librarian¡¯s desk. The librarian was azy bugger who only spent time reading novels and story books. He probably had an extra pen that he could borrow. ¡°Excuse me. Do you have any extra ballpoint pens that I can borrow? Mine ran out of ink.¡± Lin Sheng asked courteously. ¡°I can buy it from you.¡± ¡°Nope. There¡¯s only one for registration. Sorry can¡¯t do.¡± The librarian simply answered without even lifting his head. Lin Sheng went back to his seat with a frown. While it was a minor problem, but he preferred to not go out of school to buy one. ¡°I have an extra. Here, take it.¡± The bespectacled girl passed over a ck ballpoint pen. ¡°Oh, thank you.¡± Lin Sheng looked at thetter, and nodded in thanks as he took the pen and tested it out. It was smooth writing. ¡°No need.¡± She answered. The library returned to its original quiet, with only the sound of pen being written over paper was heard. And time passed without him noticing, it was already dinner time. Lin Sheng packed up his stuff and returned the pan to the girl, asking her name in the process before heading home. The girl too had packed herself and carried a small back out of the library. There were two other girls waiting outside there. ¡°Who is that, Oakney?¡± I saw you speaking to him.¡± A girl with curly blonde hair asked curiously. She recalled that the youngest member of her dorm was usually rather absent-minded, and barely had any friends of the opposite gender. ¡°I don¡¯t know him. His pen went dry, so I lent him mine.¡± The bespectacled girl was a little surprised as she did not understand why the question. ¡°He¡¯s from Xilin!¡± Another girl whispered. ¡°I heard that it¡¯s in a state of war there right? It¡¯s chaos all over there.¡± ¡°Yes. Seems like it.¡± Oakney nodded. ¡°There¡¯s a few Xilin refugees near my house. All of them are very poor and ill-mannered. Oakney, you might want to stay away from them.¡± The blonde haired girl said. ¡°I just lent him a pen. There¡¯s nothing more to that.¡± Oakney shook her head. ¡°Just stay away from them. Xilin is very backwards, and with so many refugees escaping their country. A destitute person will do anything to survive, and are very dangerous.¡± Herpanion advised. ¡°I understand.¡± Oakney nodded. ... ... Tick, tock, tick, tock... The rhythmic ticking of the clock rang beside him as Lin Sheng slowly roused from the daze, and opened his eyes. He was still standing inside the stone hall, and the moment he was awake, his holy power activated. The stone statue in the center of the hall moved a little before turning to its original form. Clearly recognizing Lin Sheng¡¯s aura. ¡°Still here?¡± Lin Sheng frowned. He had been in this stone hall for very long now. From Xilin, to the journey by sea, till now, a month had already passed, but he was still here. ¡°What is the rules behind the change of dreams?¡± Lin Sheng started wondered. He took up his sword and patrolled around the hall again. This time around, a few stepster, he fled the hall suddenly dimmed. Wooooshh.... A faint noise was heard, akin to the sound of wind was getting closer and closer as his vision slowly darkened. ¡°It¡¯s here.¡± Lin Sheng was ted. ¡°It¡¯s finally here.¡± The change of the dream that he had waited for so long was finally here. ¡°Clearly, the change of the dream has something to do with the stability of my environment. As I was on a ships time, and was constantly in the state of moving, so I wasn¡¯t able to change the dream.¡± ¡°Now that I¡¯ve settled down, the change took ce immediately... but if only I could get a clearer picture of how it works.¡± Lin Sheng opened his eyes wide as he observed everything before him. His vision was slowly turning dark, and even the holy light radiating from the stone hall too had be blurry. And not long after, his vision turned pitch ck. Chapter 178 - Return: Part 2 Chapter 178: Return: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The darknesssted for a few minutes. *Tick tock, tick tock.* The ticking of the clock reverberated. *ck.* He suddenly opened his eyes. ¡°Hmm? I kept my eyes open earlier right??¡± Lin Sheng was stunned. He had meant to observe the changes in between the dreams, so he tried to keep his eyes open, but just like that, his eyes had closed without him knowing it. It was nothing but a flood of red light before him. He sat on the bed inside the dorm, and the four-person dorm had no one but him. A pale red light shone in from the small veranda window and painted the whole dorm red. Lin Sheng looked at the dorm. There were two double-decker metal beds and four big tables that were ced together with nothing on it. A big brown clock hung on the wall, and its needles showed 12:17. The second needle did not move, as if it had totally stopped. By the edge of the wall was a big cupboard divided into four. A water dispenser sat by the side of the cupboard. Over at the wash area, water droplets dripped from the tap like it had not been turned off tightly. Aside from that, the entire area was quiet. He still wore his white school uniform. The academy¡¯s uniform was more akin to white sportswear with ck trimmings. Simple yet elegant. In his hand was a double-edged heavy sword. Pausing for a moment, he got off the bed and stood up as he tried to be as stealthy as possible. As he stood in the center of the dorm, Lin Sheng looked out of the window. It was nothing but flowing red outside, and could not see anything; just likest time over at his house. *Bzzzzztttt...* Suddenly a buzzing sound rang out from the stairway outside as if someone was adjusting the frequency. The buzzing sound reverberated throughout the silent dormitory, but there was no sound of humans. Lin Sheng was impassive as he slowly made his way to the door and gripped his de tight before gently pulling the door open. *Creak...* A small gap opened. Lin Sheng held his breath as he slowly widened the gap and peered out. *Bam!* Suddenly an arm rushed in from the gap and stuck itself there as it tried to grab the door lock. It wanted to permanently jam the door! Lin Sheng quickly reacted and threw himself against the door. *Bam!* The door could not be closed! A second and third arm suddenly squeezed it as well as they scrambled towards the lock. The arms were all pallid, rotten and swollen. *Bam!!* Without hesitation, Lin Sheng swung his sword and shed off the three arms as if he was cutting wood. He then mmed the door shut. The arms on the ground immediately dissipated into white smoke, and silence returned outside the doorway as if nothing had happened. ¡°One little bear... two little bears... three little bears, four little bears...¡± Out of nowhere, a faint, slightly trembling voice rang out from the bed behind him. The voice seemed to be singing. Lin Sheng locked the door and turned around, and saw a ck figure with messy hair sitting on his bed. From the angle he was at, he could only see the figure¡¯s ck hair and pallid forehead. ¡°This ce...¡± He licked his lips as he raised his caution level to the maximum. A level three to four warrior like him could not go about rampaging like Khad did. And even Khad had been trapped within the dream for so long... ¡°Oh, little bear, why do I see you by my bed every night.¡± ¡°Why is it when I wake up, I find you by my side.¡± ¡°Why is the me in your eyes distant and unknown?¡± ¡°I am crying, but he is smiling... He is smiling...¡± ¡°The me in your eyes is smiling at me...¡± *Bam!* A massive crash followed. ¡°Smile then!!¡± Lin Sheng rushed over with a sh and the de hell heavily like a war hammer. The entire bed was split into two and copsed while the ck-haired figure disappeared without a trace. *Shaaa...* The sound of flushing came out from the toilet as the window lock slowly turned open by itself. *Bam!* Someone crashed against the dormitory door as the person let out a sickly wheeze as if driven mad and would die any time. *Creak...* The metal bed around him starting shaking as the nkets slowly rose as if someone within was getting up. Goosebumps grew all over Lin Sheng¡¯s body as a prickling sensation started to appear all around him. He took a step back, as he felt that danger was all around him! ¡°Gotta dash out then!¡± A thought came to mind. Staying here was as good as being surrounded. He needed to make his way to a better location! His mind now set, Lin Sheng dashed forward as his body quickly transformed into his half-dragon form and smashed against the door. BAM!!! The door was shattered upon impact. There was nothing out there, but he could clearly feel that he had rammed into a gooey, shapeless human-form. The person was sted away by the force, and Lin Sheng quickly grabbed his de and ran down the hallway. It was empty, with nary a person in sight. But the moment he started running, the sound of banging rang out from the doors on both sides as if something inside was trying to get out. *Bam! Bam! Bam!* Amid the cacophony of banging, Lin Sheng looked down the staircase, and easily leap down. After four times, he was down the entire height of the building and rushed out of the dorm. What greeted him was an empty academy field engulfed in red light. Lin Sheng raised his sword as he turned towards the entrance of the dorm with his mouth open. *Whoooosh!!* A torrent of me shot out from his mouth and engulfed the entire entrance in me. The bright mes quickly heated the entire area up. The torrentsted over half a minute before stopping. But there was nothing on the staircase. No monsters, no danger. It was empty and silent. *Huff... Huff...* Lin Sheng took deep breaths as he stopped bellowing fire and looked confusedly at the dorm. ¡°Nothing was taken out? There was something in there that managed to trigger my sense of danger, but now that I¡¯m outside, there¡¯s nothing? Could it be that that danger only exists within the dorm itself? Even my mes did nothing.¡± He guessed. He was no longer the newbie from yore that was helpless against danger. His fist and fire, used in tandem, now allowed him to face off most dangers. ¡°What sort of monster is that? I couldn¡¯t even see its true form.¡± Lin Sheng stared at the dorm slightly dumbfounded. Chapter 179 - Return: Part 3 Chapter 179: Return: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion This time around, there seemed to be many of the same monster as they tried to surround him in a single go, but yet, until now he had no idea what sort of monster he was facing. ¡°Seems like I cannot return to the dorm for now.¡± Lin Sheng looked around. He was standing on an empty ground between the dorms. There was neither sun nor moon in the sky, only a sea of scarlet that painted everything on the ground crimson. Lin Sheng turned around and left the dormitory area towards the ssroom area. There were three blocks of ssrooms, each for different years. Lin Sheng carried his sword as he slowly walked to the main ssroom block. The entrance to the block¡¯s stairway however, was not the usual one. Rather it was an oval gap that radiated purple light. A gooey substance flowed within the gap that glowed in purple, probably leading to another unknown area. ¡°This light probably means a new area right...¡± Lin Sheng recalled the experience of him searching the Fay Vault. He was rather familiar with that purple glow by now. Suddenly he heard shuffling noises all around him. He tensed up and quickly looked around, only to find nothing around him. He was the only person before the empty ssroom block. ¡°Invisible?¡± Lin Sheng lifted his sword, as he tried to sense his surrounding, yet he detected nothing. He quickly activated his holy powers, and let them flow into his eyes. It was still fruitless as the sound got closer and closer. He could now make out the sound of footsteps converging upon him. These monsters were legion! If it was a single unit, Lin Sheng might have tried to see if he can fight it off, but by the sound of things, they were at least in the hundreds. So he instantly gave up fighting back, and dashed into the purple gap. Dush! The purple glow rippled as Lin Sheng crashed into its surface. A momentter, he had passed through it and disappeared. ... ... CRACK! A lightning cracked past the sky as rain started pouring. The second floor of the Bar¡¯s Manor in ckfeather City. Lin Sheng dashed out of the wide rift on the wall. In his hands was his heavy de, as purple goo were all over him as he made his way out of the rift. ¡°This ce is...?¡± Lin Sheng rposed himself and quickly looked around. This familiar setting had him quickly recalling that this ce was the original ce when he had left ckfeather City. ¡°I¡¯m back?!¡± Lin Sheng was in slight disbelief. ckfeather City was the ce he had obtained everything. From the Beckoning ritual to bond with animals, or the dark ritual, all of them were gotten from this ce. Lin Sheng quickly wiped away the glowing liquid from his body, and saw the corpses on the ground. It was the same scene when he had left. There were a couple of bodies there, the humanoid monsters he had previously in in the manor. He took a deep breath before slowly making his way downstairs. The first floor of the manor was a total mess, as the copsed book shelf was stillying there. Also there was the corpses of the swordswoman, and the brute with a helmet. Lin Sheng recognized them as Ennie, and Barde. These two were the monsters that he had in when he first explored the manor. He even gotten the Beckoning ritual from him, and gaining the ability to bond with animals. But sadly, it was not particrly useful. Lin Sheng stepped pass the bodies, and pushed the door opened. Outside the manor was a wide garden with a fountain, and opposite the manor was the small sacred sanctum in ckfeather City. Lin Sheng got out through the main door, and looked at the familiar sanctum. He felt a little lost after not seeing it for so long. But thatsted for a bare moment before he recovered. He pushed open the closed gate and stepped onto the cold floor. The street were still lit by the faint yellow streetmp. He quickly got across the street and walked to the small sanctum. As he pushed the door open and entered, he once again returned to that wide sanctum hall. Rows upon rows of pews lined up in the hall, and the sacred tome stilly on the prayer dais. Lin Sheng felt much safer andfortable the moment he got in. He closed the door and made his way through the pews, and got to the store room behind the prayer dais. The storeroom¡¯s door was wide open, and within was that meter tall granite assessment obelisk. At the top of the obelisk was a picture of a crescent moon with three stars. Underneath it was a series of detailed markings. And further down were the two handle-like assessment instruments. Lin Sheng went ahead to ce his hands on the handles. He wanted to find out where he stood now. As his hands wrapped around the handle, and a faint aura flowed out from the obelisk and quickly circted throughout his body before returning to the rock. Hiss... The thin white light within the obelisk rose like a thermometer, and soon stopped at the marking of a level four pdin. ¡°So... I¡¯m already considered a level four pdin.¡± Lin Sheng paused for a bit before letting go of the handle and activated his Sacred Blood. He had been in his half-dragonic state all this while, and now with the activation of the Sacred Blood, he was at his strongest now. And once again, he held onto the handle. Hiss... The white line that had recently stopped at the level four mark shot up a little again before stopping in the middle of level four, with a little more to go to level five. ¡°I¡¯m not level five yet huh.¡± Lin Sheng pulled his hands back, and deactivated Sacred Blood. ¡°Too weak...¡± he sighed. He had thought himself strong, but after that thest fight, he now knew how weak he was. If not for the weakness of his flesh, Khad too would not have been this passive. As he stepped away from the obelisk, Lin Sheng demurred before turning away towards the sanctum¡¯s main door. He needed more fights, and more souls to quicken his strengthening! He then came out from the sanctum. Lin Sheng paused for a bit as he looked around. It waste at night, and there was no one on the dimly lit streets. He could see the end of the street by just a nce. He gripped his sword tightly as he slowly walked down the street towards the inner city area. He had in so many mothers, and had memorized theyout of the city through the memory fragments. The next ce he wanted to go, was the residential quarters of the city¡¯s true nobles. It was there that the concentration of ckfeather City¡¯s Transcendents were the highest. It was also the most dangerous area. And it did not look long for something to astonish him as he saw a ck building with three horns and stopped. Outside the building¡¯s metal gate was a very familiar sign in his memory. ¡®The Warrior¡¯s Guild.¡¯ ¡°Never thought I¡¯d run into the Warrior¡¯s Guild just after a short while...¡± Lin Sheng looked towards the direction of the guild. In the veil of darkness, the building looked like a sleeping bull, the two massive horns on the top side of the building made it look menacing. ¡°Hopefully I can run into some trash mobs, and quickly level up the strength of my soul. And then I can increase my holy power, and break through the next level...¡± Lin Sheng rposed himself as he lifted his sword and slowly made his way to the guild¡¯s metal gate. As long as he have enough soul fragments, he can summon even more help. At the same time, his soul would be stronger and therefore allow him to continue his breakthrough. Lin Sheng estimated that he needed to absorb another fifty or so ckfeather swordsman or so in order to increase his holy power to level five. Once that happens, the holy power will stimte growth and strengthening of his body, and he will naturally attain level five as well. Honing their holy power was the most traditional war for the pdins to gain ascendance. The only difference between Lin Sheng and them was, Lin Sheng¡¯s training did not only involve prayers and meditation, he could also absorb soul fragments, that was because holy powers are in fact soul energies that have been converted. Chapter 180 - Pressure: Part 1

Chapter 180: Pressure: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ng. The moment Lin Sheng touched the metal gate, the entire gate fell backwards and crashed against the ground, kicking up a storm of dust. A loud ng rang out as the rusted metal knocked against the stone paving. Lin Sheng quickly went into alert, ready to fend off any danger that might pop out. He had not forgotten the encounter with the massive serpentine monster the first time he arrived here. Plus his memories told him then there are level ten elitemanders here. ¡°If only I can summon Khad here, then I won¡¯t be so gimped...¡± Lin Shengmented, and noticed there were no movement around him after a short while. Only then did he picked up his sword and walked towards the main door of the guildhall. The inside of the guild was a school field-like empty ground. At the center of the field was a g pole, the g was so torn that it was drooping down lifelessly. The emblem on it long illegible. Lin Sheng walked through the side of the pole and slowly made his way inside. The guildhall wasrge and Lin Sheng took a good ten odd minutes to circle the entire ce. As the only warrior¡¯s guild in ckfeather City. This building has a revered position in the memories of the many ckfeather swordsmen Lin Sheng had absorbed. And the main guild building was the massive house that looked like a bull¡¯s head. Lin Sheng circled around the building before finally stopping before the building¡¯s main door. As he looked up he saw many engravings of minatours, dragonkin and human warriors killing each other. It was a very detailed and intricate engraving that carried a certain brutality to it. Lin Sheng did not say anything as he slowly made his way up the stairs and gently pushed the door. Rumble... A tiny rumbleter, the main door was pushed open, as the interior was revealed. Behind the door was a long and dark hall. The hall looked like an underground croft with crimson braziers lighting the ce on both sides. The floor was made out of ck stones with crude patterns on it while the ceiling above it formed into a pyramid that had an azure diamond-shaped gemstone embedded into it. A faint, ethereal blue light shone from the gemstone and casted a veil upon the throne at the end of the hall. The throne was empty, without any beings on it. ¡°This is...¡± Lin Sheng looked at the burning braziers and felt something was not right. But he did came here looking for trouble. As he took up his sword, Lin Sheng stepped into the hall. And barely two steps in... Crack...crack... A six foot tall figure suddenly appeared slowly from the stone pir by the left. The figure was d in dark armor with a bull horn helm, its eyes bleeding crimson glow. BAM BAM BAM... Step by step, it made its way towards Lin Sheng, and it was gaining momentum as the twin axe spun in its hands. CRASH!! Lin Sheng swung out to parry the axe attack, and without breaking a sweat, batted the monster aside. ¡°Its strength as about level two. No different than the Vault Wardens.¡± He measured a little before grabbing his sword with both hands and sent out a horizontal sh. The heavy de suddenly exploded with extreme force and smashed against the parrying axes, sending sparks flying. The monster was pushed back at least half a dozen steps before managing to steady itself. But before it could recover, a heavy de pierced through its chest and pinned it against the stone pir behind it with a thunderous crash. ¡°And just like the Vault Wardens, they are not valuable, only useful as meat shields.¡± Lin Sheng grabbed the sword and pulled it out. Hiss... Dark mes spat out of from the monster¡¯s chest, as the me rapidly lit the monster up and reduced it, flesh and armor all into a pile of ckened ash. The moment the mysterious mes appeared, Lin Sheng took a step back, and frowned. He dared not approach the mes as the holy power within screamed danger when the mes appeared. ¡°Its capabilities are standard, but there¡¯s this self-destructive dark me within it.¡± Lin Sheng put that to memory. And soon, strands of ck lines appeared from the ashes and flew towards Lin Sheng and into his body. Scenes of a warrior practicing his axe techniques entered his mind. ¡°Basic axe techniques? These are not important...what¡¯s important are stuff that could tell me things.¡± Lin Sheng frowned as he searched the soul fragments. As he cannot bring anything out of the dream, the only things that will aid him were knowledge of spellcasting or rituals, or pure energies. But regrettably, the memories of this monster was not much. It was not someone of high position in its previous life. As a mere guard, it could never hope toe into contact with any high level knowledge. After obtaining the basic axe techniques, Lin Sheng picked up one of the axes and swung it about, and felt proficient with it. As he held his sword in one hand and the axe in another, he made his way deeper into the hall. On the left side of the hall, there was an opened side door amid the darkness. The warrior with the bull-horn helmet probably came out from there. Lin Sheng then made his way towards the door, and just as he got close, another group of bull-horned warriors appeared from the door. The bull-horned warriors all had short axes in their hands as they walked out in a line, detecting Lin Sheng who was standing in the hall at first nce. Without any roars or shouts, the five bull-horn warriors raised their weapons and attacked. Lin Sheng was of course no longer the newbie fromst time, and with a step back, and to the side, he dodged the attack of the first warrior as his own de sang. UFF! The warrior was cleaved from his thigh to his head as dark mes spat out and burnt it into ashes. Lin Sheng continued his motion as he turned the de into a downward sh, and cut the second warrior¡¯s neck open. With a turn, the sword still in motion, the de smacked away the three iing axes with a thunderous sh. BAM BAM BAM!! Three shester, Lin Sheng¡¯s de spun as he charged forward and into the middle of the warriors¡¯ formation. A few secondster, three of them had gaping wounds over all over their bodies as dark mes spew out of it, and turned them into ashes. Lin Sheng stood where he stand, as he looked at five ck lines taking shape and flew into his body. ¡°Six. So I need another forty-four to level up...¡± He picked up the slightly blunted de and swapped over to the other edge as he walked into the side door. Inside there were groups of congregating bull-horned warriors. Within that small side hall, at least thirty bull-horned warriors had gathered there. Without any words, the monsters charged at Lin Sheng with their axes raised. Two bright red glows appeared from the slits in their helmets in the dark, as if some sort of killer instinct had been activated within them. Lin Sheng endured the shock from absorbing the memories earlier as he maintained his half-dragonic form and charged into them. He immediately used his full force with his de, and tore into the chest of two bull-horned warriors in front of him. But that was the end of it. Chapter 181 - Pressure: Part 2 Chapter 181: Pressure: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng was a level four pdin, and with his half-dragonic form¡¯s massive increase in strength, taking out two bull-horned warriors in ago was the best he could do. He was level four, not ten. A level four against two level two bull horn warriors at their peak, their difference in strength was not as great as imagined. Plus Lin Sheng¡¯s habit of shing head on, biting des into des caused his heavy de to dull very quickly. After taking out six of the bull-horned warriors, Lin Sheng was out of strength and had to retreat to the door of the side hall, to use they of thend against the numerical superiority of the warriors. These are not your usual run of the mill grunts, all of them were elite level two warriors. As the fighting went on, Lin Sheng quickly realized their strengths. Regardless of strength, speed or defense, they were at the pinnacle of level two, stable and without any ws. Even their axe skills were simple but effective. Compared to the Vault Wardens, these bull-horned warriors were much faster and stronger, but loses out somewhat in the defensepartment. Well, everything have their pros and cons. HAH! Lin Sheng ran his de through the chest of one of the bull-horned warriors, and before he could pull out his de, he was struck by two brutal blows on the arm. Two continuous thuds were heard. Lin Sheng felt a stinging pain on his arm, even the defense provided by the half-dragonic dragonskin and the Ashen Seal could not totally ward off damage. He was finally wounded. As he blocked the warriors before the doorway, Lin Sheng took out sixteen bull-horned warriors before being wounded himself. Adding in the six warriors he had in earlier, he had taken out a total of twenty-two now. A massive amount of soul fragments frenziedly turned into ck lines and surged into Lin Sheng¡¯s mind, turning into all sorts of images, sounds and information. Among the chaotic mix of fragments, most were mundane and uninteresting, with seventy percent being about training their skill with the axe. And this caused Lin Sheng¡¯s mastery of the basic axe technique to surpass all of the monsters present. Every tiny little technique the warriors had honed were all converging upon him into one whole unit, and that improved his ability with the axe by leaps and bounds. But Lin Sheng did not mind that at all, rather he was feeling his spirit was levelling up. ¡°I need another twenty-eight more!¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s mind was preupied by nothing but levelling up. He swung his sword about as he grew tired, retreating as he fought. There are at least a dozen of the bull-horned warriors left as they continue to charge with him without any sound. Now that Lin Sheng have an understanding on their axe techniques, fighting against them got much easier. He slowly fell back as he took out another two bull-horned warriors, and finally, his strength was depleted as he was left panting. Not that he did not want to breath fire, but it was too stamina consuming, and the innate ability of the Crag Dragon allowed him to sense heat from these monsters. That meant that these monsters probably have natural fire resistance and he loathed to waste his strength on that; once he started belching fire, he would not be able to stop it for a good while. ¡°Twenty-six more!¡± Lin Sheng remembered the number. While this was just an estimate, to ensure that he would be able to level up, so he still added a little to the margin of error. He managed to make it out of the guildhall, and quickly Lin Sheng ran all the way back to the sanctum. He could not believe how smooth this hunt went. As he rested for a while in the sanctum, the fatigue soon set in and the dream ended naturally. Having taken out twenty elite level two warriors in a single go, this was now the limit Lin Sheng knew he had. The Crag Dragon bloodline was powerful, but what he had gotten was just a mere fraction of it, and the increase in strength of his body was nowhere close to the fat fire belcher in the vault. And truth be told, the only reason Lin Sheng was able to take down so many of the warriors was his use of the narrow doorway. As he woke from the dream, Lin Shengy on the bed topile the memories that he had absorbed. It was only four in the morning. He had another two odd hours to sort them out. After sorting them out, it was six as he got out his bed and started reading an essay. With his soul getting stronger, his memory andprehension ability improved as well. For a simple thousand word essay, he would just need to read it three to four times to totally memorize them. And that reignited his passion to learn again. After memorizing his essays for a while, his other three dorm mates woke up as well. The three simple huddled together to chat, no one bothered to greet Lin Sheng at all. One part, was he had no intention to mix around with a bunch of brats as it was a waste of time, on the other hand, the three had consciously avoided him. Not only because he was from Xilin, but also because he had a powerful build and a rather threatening aura to him. But Lin Sheng did not mind that, and simply tended to his own business. After memorizing the essay, he prepared his books for today¡¯s ss and put them into his bag before leaving. If things goes smoothly, he would go against the bull-horned warriors again tonight, and hit the soul requirements to break the threshold. By the time his soul slowly absorbs everything and grow, his holy power capacity will grow as well. And that will allow him to breakthrough level five. Lin Sheng calcted the time required. Based on ckfeather City¡¯s standards, breaking through from level four to fifth would normally take three to five years. This was the standard time needed for any warriors with the potential to breakthrough. But with him achieving the soul strength threshold, even taking into ount the absorption and growth period, it will take no more than a week. ¡°A week....¡± Lin Sheng was anticipant. As he walked into the canteen, he used his student card to purchase a te fried egg noodles with extra vegetables and wolfed it down. Eating for him, was just another mission. After finishing his first te, Lin Sheng still felt a little puckish, and went to get another. By the time he got back to his seat, the seat on his right side were already filled with studentsing in for breakfast. Among the crowd was one of the female student Lin Sheng was familiar with. She was bespectacled with a ponytail as she wore a ck pinafore. She was slightly on the thicker side, and her features normal, seeminglycking any presence. Lin Sheng looked over, and quickly recalled that she was the girl who had lent him her pen. If nor for his enhanced memory, he probably would not have recognized her with just a nce. Her rather generic features rendered her almost without any presence. The girl seemed to have noticed him. She hesitated for a bit as she paused, before nodding at Lin Sheng in the distance as a form of greeting while circled by her friends. He nodded back in response. He had seen the girl in the ancientnguage corner of the library almost every day and were used to each other¡¯s presence. Nodding to greet each other was nothing out of the ordinary. Her friends however started whispering at her, seemingly to tell her to not mingle with Xilinites. After having his breakfast, Lin Sheng made his way to the ssroom block. The ssroom period was the best time for him to train holy powers, and at the same time to use his summoned beings to scout things out. But just as he got to the entrance of the ssroom block, two young man in blue suit looked for him. ¡°Is this Master Lin?¡± A slightly chubby man stepped forward to ask with a hushed voice. ¡°You are...?¡± Lin Sheng was impassive as he replied with a simr hushed tone. ¡°We are personnel from Xylond¡¯s Special Resources Department. Mr Lin, can youe with us for a while? We need to rify something.¡± The chubby man said courteously. Chapter 182 - Pressure: Part 3 Chapter 182: Pressure: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng had expected this moment because his reputation in Xilin had probably spread a little. For such a dangerous person toe to Xylond, it would be weird if the local special branches did not react. ¡°Alright, but make it quick.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ... Inside one of the empty offices within Yinglu Private Academy. The two Special Resources Department officers sat opposite Lin Sheng. ¡°Our apologies, due to your actions in Xilin, we are particrly concerned and wary about your motives toe here,¡± the chubby man said. ¡°I am Maier, assigned to speak to you this time around. What is spoken here could affect your life further down the line, so please take it seriously.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°What do you want to know? Go ahead and ask.¡± ¡°Well then.¡± Maier nodded. ¡°First question, why has the Ironfist Societye to Xylond?¡± ¡°If I tell you I¡¯m here for personal reasons to study and avoid the chaos of war, would you believe me?¡± Lin Sheng raised his eyebrows. The two did not answer. They clearly did not believe him. They only stared at him as they wait for him to speak the truth. Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°It is true, I¡¯m here to study.¡± ¡°Master Lin, please don¡¯t insult our collective intelligence. Our Xylondian superiors have their eyes wide open on the Ironfist Society. If you cannot provide us a proper reason, you might be deported,¡± Maier said with a serious expression. ¡°We cannot allow a terrorist organization like the Ironfist Society to take root in our country.¡± He added. ¡°Deported?¡± Lin Sheng pretty much understood Xylond¡¯s take on this now. ¡°Pardon me, but we have not done anything illegal here...¡± ¡°If you had done anything of that sort, we won¡¯t be the one speaking to you now!¡± Another man in the corner shot a stern gaze at Lin Sheng as he lowered his head. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Lin Sheng was dumbfounded. ¡°Verbatim. There is a Transcendent Special Forces team nearby, and they are ready to move in at any time. So tell me, what is your true motivation?¡± the man asked in a chilly voice. ¡°A Transcendent that controls one of the Ironfist Society¡¯s branchesing all the way to Xylond to study business administration in some third rate academy? You¡¯re insulting our intelligence!¡± the man slowly spat out every word. Lin Sheng pondered for a bit and concurred. If it was him, he would not have bought it either. Just as he was about to tell the truth... *Bzzztt...* The cellphone of the chubby man before him¡ªMaier¡ªrang. He quickly got up to answer the call. Not long after, he returned to his seat, his expression grim as he looked at Lin Sheng. ¡°I got bad news for you.¡± ¡°What?¡± Lin Sheng was dumbstruck. ¡°Some members of the Starfury n is here. Two Suppression ss on paper, but their exact ability is unknown. They are going to Xilin first, but they¡¯ll be on your tails soon enough,¡± Maier said calmly. Two Suppression ss... so at least two four-winged elites? Lin Sheng¡¯s heart sank. He was not surprised that the Starfury n would be able to find him so quickly. If they did not have that capability, they wouldn¡¯t have been one of the dominating ns of the Heaven¡¯s Spire. What he was worried was that a mere faction within the Heaven¡¯s Spire like the Starfury n could summon such power at their beck and call. ¡°Thank you for telling me that. I will inform the Emissary Superiors. They will send someone over to deal with them.¡± Lin Sheng quickly answered. ¡°Is it not toote?¡± Maier was surprised. Lin Sheng smiled slightly. ¡°I won¡¯t lie, due to some problems with our expansion, the Ironfist Society¡¯s web is cast very wide. We have seniors from the society stationed here as well.¡± He started bullshitting now. ¡°Then, will Khad of the Thousand Arms be here as well?¡± Maier continued to ask. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but Khad is my senior, so he should being,¡± Lin Sheng replied. ¡°Alright...¡± Maier and his partner looked at each other. One could see the fear in their eyes. Khad¡¯sbat prowess, showcased during the battles in Xilin, was already beyond doubt. He was at least on par with those of the Level 4 Suppression ss, and easily the strongest of the Suppression ss. With his transformation, he could even reach Level 5. For such a powerful dangerous element to sh with the elites from the Starfury n in Xylond... The two felt a chill down their spine as they realized the ramifications that is toe. After asking Lin Sheng two more questions, they quickly left, leaving him alone in to rest in the office. As the two men left, the smile on Lin Sheng¡¯s face disappeared, and he turned grim. ¡°The Starfury n surely must¡¯ve known about Khad, and to actually look for him after the fact, they must be very well prepared...¡± Lin Sheng started worrying. He was a little afraid that Khad might not be able to withstand the iing danger. ¡°I better hurry.¡± He did not know when the Starfury n members would arrive, so figuring how to summon more strength was the best course of action he had. ¡°I better quicken the search inside ckfeather City.¡± Lin Sheng had wanted to train his skills, but time was not on his side. He needed to summon a second creature that could support Khad. Mostmon monsters would not do jack all in a fight among elites. He needed at least a three-wing monster to be of use. A Suppression level monster was probably still beyond him but a three-winged monster, he still had a chance to take one out. If there were enough Level 3s, he could even invoke a mutation. Of course, if things did not work out, he could only try to escape again with his family. After all, they were looking for Khad, and not him per se. ¡°If that is the case, I do have an idea to dy that...¡± ¡°At this day and age, if I were to resist once, I need to resist all the way. Sad reality.¡± Lin Sheng stood up and pushed open the office door as he left. ... *Tick tock, tick tock...* Amid the ticking of the clock, Lin Sheng slowly roused from the darkness. He was standing at the center of the pews as if he had just got up from it. He held his sword tight as he quickly turned towards the main door of the sanctum. As he made his way out of the steel gate, he continued along the street and returned to the front of the Warrior¡¯s Guild. *nk.* A loud nk rang out as he stepped on the fallen metal gate. Once again, Lin Sheng stood before the main door of the guildhall and pushed it open. *Creak...* As the door opened, the long undercroft-like hall appeared again. Two bull-horned warriors were patrolling then, and the moment they heard the noise, they immediately charged at him. Lin Sheng held his sword out and blocked the attack. *Bam!!* The three of them shed together as Lin Sheng held them off with his sword in one hand, as he struck with his empty hand like a bolt of lightning. The edge of his palm was like a sharp edge and with a sh, he removed the heads of the two bull-horned warriors from their body. Dark red mes spew out of their necks as they were quickly reduced to ashes. Lin Sheng let the two ck lines entered his body as he made his way towards the throne at the end of the hall He had not checked the throne thest time he came here. ¡°Since it is a throne, that means someone will be sitting on it.¡± He was not in the mood to farm trash mobs at the moment and only nned to scour the ce for anything that was useful to him. Lin Sheng slowly made his way to the throne. But just as he got two thirds across the hall, something felt wrong as a familiar aura seemingly resonated from the throne. *Hiss...* A shadow slowly solidified on the throne as a massive giant of a man in menacing ck armor appeared from it. The ck armor on his body had spikes that looked like fangs, and in his hand as a ck war ax. Lin Sheng looked over and was quickly attracted by the ax. It was at least three meters long with two faces. The width of the ax head was the size of a bathtub, so wide and thick that it looked more like a hammerhead rather than an ax head. ¡°A true dragon bloodline, huh...¡± Lin Sheng recognized the aura from thetter. It was a dragonblood aura that was far, far more condensed that his own Crag Dragon bloodline. Chapter 183 - Idea: Part 1 Chapter 183: Idea: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Late night. By the shore of the azure sea. A white vessel that had just arrived spat out puffs of thick ck smoke as it pulled a massive wave as it docked by the beach in a location somewhere in Anduin province. Two middle-aged man and woman in white slowly stepped out of the boat under guard by Redwinian soldiers. ¡°It¡¯s really an undeveloped beach. Really pretty, without any musky smell to it. Might be a good ce to develop as a holiday destination.¡± The middle-aged man was effusive with his praise. ¡°You are even thinking of your business during a mission. Don¡¯t you ever feel worn out by it?¡± Thedy asked. ¡°Eh, it¡¯s fine. Some habits die hard.¡± The man smiled as he looked at the Redwinian Heaven¡¯s Spire soldiers that came to receive them. There were about ten of them, each one a true Transcedent, and standing in front was the Oppressor of the area, Elba the Pale Viper. ¡°Wee, Uncle Maham, Ms Karmen.¡± Elba opened her arms and hugged them both. ¡°We are not talking about our duty here. Elba, haven¡¯t seen you in a while, you¡¯ve gotten prettier.¡± Maham smiled. ¡°Uncle Maham, you¡¯re still the same as ever, your tongue isced with honey.¡± Elba smiled but that seemed to have affected her wound as she coughed. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Your injury bad?¡± Maham¡¯s smile disappeared. ¡°It¡¯s alright. My lungs were wounded, and had yet to fully recover. I¡¯m otherwise okay.¡± Elba waved it off. Of the two person before her, Maham was a powerful Darksider that she had known since young. Back then, before the Heaven¡¯s Spire grew to its current position, Maham was rather well known in some areas within Redwin. Later he seemed to have joined the Starfury n, and she never expected them to meet again. ¡°I¡¯ve actually carried you when you¡¯re still a babe, and you sure did a number on my shirt by peeing all over it.¡± Maham guffawed. ¡°You should not tell a joke like this to ady, Maham, that¡¯s very ungentlemanly.¡± The middle-ageddy said coldly. ¡°Alright, alright.¡± Maham nodded. ¡°Elba, you should already know why we are here. That one that died over here had the old coot back home fuming in rage, so we, the zing Stars were sent out to deal with it.¡± Elba had already received the phone call prior. Themunication within Anduin was not paralyzed, it was simply controlled and blocked off by the military. ¡°The murder is the Special Emissary of the Ironfist Society, Khad of the Thousand Arms.¡± She had no intention to hide anything. While she too was a newly minted Oppressor, before a veteran like Maham, hiding anything was pointless. The Oppressor was just a level to signify that a Darksider had the right to watch over an area and to deal with any danger. But that did not mean all Oppressors were all four-wings. If one were topare the difference between a man and a Darksider based on the difference of their physical attributes, then for an Oppressor is at the level where yourmon weaponry would not be able to wound them. For a veteran Oppressor like Maham, his connections and informationwork was far beyond Elba¡¯s, so she might as well be forthright. ¡°So what¡¯s this Khad of the Thousand Arms like? Can you give me more details? I need details.¡± Maham said seriously. He was of the habit to fully understand his enemies before striking against them. ¡°No problem. I had fought against him, and the fight took about half an hour, but the real fighting was only about fifteen minutes. His strength is probably at the apex of a four-wing, and after transformation, he can, for a short while, unleash an explosive five-wing level powers...¡± Elba started exining the fight back then. She did not just exined, and even brought both of them to the scene for them to get a measure of Khad¡¯s strength. All this information and details would be turned into important intelligence and filed into the Starfury n¡¯s intelligence vault. ¡°How? Think we can deal with it?¡± Thedy, Karmen asked after getting all the information required. Maham got up from the battle scene, ¡°His power level has not reached a true elite¡¯s level. It¡¯s mere brute force, and even at five-wing level, it¡¯s just brute force. Taking it out is not a problem, but...¡± ¡°But?¡± ¡°But it¡¯s a little weird, I can only detect the residue of Elba¡¯s powers from the ruins, but none of Khad¡¯s.¡± Maham frowned. ¡°Is it not dark energies? It seems like the Ironfist Society have fully masters a brand new system of powers.¡± Karmen said. ¡°I¡¯ll send this intel back in a bit, those old coots back home will be interested.¡± Mahamughed. ¡°Our investigations is almost done here, so what now? Anything else to do?¡± Karmen looked around. With Elba not around, she did not bother to hide much. ¡°I heard that there¡¯s a manager of the Ironfist Society here. We can y him a visit.¡± Maham said as he revealed his white rows of teeth. ... ... ckfeather City, the Warrior¡¯s Guild. Lin Sheng took a deep breath as he held his sword tight, staring at the massive armored man on the throne. The man was about as tall as he was, but much, much more muscr and imposing. He looked like a veritable mountain of steel as he sat on the throne. Lin Sheng grabbed his sword as he slowly approached thetter. Yet the man on the throne did not move at all, as if he did not even see him. ¡°Based on the memories, the Guildmaster of the Warrior¡¯s Guild is called the Iron Lord and is a member of the ckfeather City Council... his strength is unknown. So he¡¯s probably the one sitting on the throne there?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s brows furrowed. He felt that he had to be even more careful as he slowly closed in. ck. Suddenly a clear metallic noise entered his ear. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± he paused. Hummmm.... There was some sort of vibration above him. Lin Sheng quickly looked up, and cracks started appearing on the diamond shaped gemstone. ck lines started appearing on the surface of the gemstone, affecting its ability to project light and the light shining upon the throne was getting smaller and smaller. Hiss... A series of racks started appearing with the throne as its core as it expanded all over the ground like a spider web. Dark embers faintly leapt within the cracks. Lin Sheng instinctively knew that something was not right, he did not turn back, but rather withrge steps, made his way back to the entrance of the guildhall. BOOOOM!! At that moment, the armored man on the throne burst into mes as a massive amount of dark fire exploded out from his body, and turning him into a walking pyre. An ominous howl thundered as the mes and temperature rose. The entire guildhall was soon turned into a massive furnace. And from afar, the guildhall looked like a massive bull, its eyes bleeding crimson light. ¡°Defeat me! Vanquish me!!¡± A thunderous and terrifying roar sted out from the center of the guildhall. BAM!! The guildhall¡¯s main door was mmed open, as a figure engulfed in mes staggered out of the building, screaming. AHHH...!!! The figure screamed for a bit before copsing altogether, reduced to noticing but burnt ash. Chapter 184 - Idea: Part 2 Chapter 184: Idea: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion A slight cracking sound came from somewhere. At this time, the ground around the building began to fill with dark red cracks. As the temperature began to rise, the fiery dark red glow gradually lit up the surrounding area of the building. The temple on one side suddenly turned the circles around it, emitting a faint white light. In the calm white light, the red cracks pervading the Warrior¡¯s Guild were quickly repressed. There was a grudging roaring from the Warrior¡¯s Guild, but soon, as the white light from the temple grew brighter and brighter, the mes and sounds inside the guild grew dimmer and dimmer, until peace was finally restored. ... Lin Sheng woke up suddenly from his dream, sweating and panting. ¡°It hurts to be burned alive...¡± He could still feel himself suddenly burning. The dark red me reduced him to ashes less than three seconds after he rushed out of the guild. ¡°I lost a bit of my soul power... It looks like I¡¯ll have to rest for another two days.¡± Lin Sheng has not been killed in a dream for a long time. This time he was suddenly burned alive, so he had a grudge against the armorman. That dark red me seemed to have the function of enhancing one¡¯s sense of pain. Even Lin Sheng could not help screaming when he was burned. ¡°But that guy is really strong...¡± Lin Sheng recalled the armorman protecting the Warrior¡¯s Guild. It was the second horrible opponent he had ever encountered who could kill him before he came close. The first one is Khad. In the dungeon at that time, he was frightened away by the mere touch of Khad¡¯s arm. ¡°But this time is different. I was burned before I got close...¡± Lin Sheng began to think about how to kill the armorman. But he was burnt to death before he could get close to the armorman. After thinking about it for a long time, he could not figure out a good way. ¡°Forget it, I¡¯d better focus on the previous arrangement first.¡± Conquering the powerful armorman was obviously not a short-term thing. He¡¯d better deal with the threat of the Starfury n first. After thinking it over, Lin Sheng got up from the bed. It¡¯s still dark outside the dormitory. It was Saturday, and he had arranged to go to town to buy the materials for the summoning ritual and new essories for the Bloodazure Harp. Lin Sheng got up from the bed and looked around. Among his three roommates, two were sleeping soundly, while the other was sitting in front of theputer, secretly chatting with a girl. Lin Sheng sat on the bed, leaning against the wall, eyes closed. He had just died, so he got a headache, but that¡¯s not the reason he chose to rest now. It¡¯s something else. Under his secret control while closing his eyes, a wisp of ck smoke, which had been circling around the dormitory building, rapidly gathered and flew a few dozen meters into the air, flying quickly toward the Yinglu Private Academy. ck smoke flew out of Yinglu Private Academy, speeding across a vast wastnd, past a human town, and reached the Port Assia. The ck smoke flew far faster than the other soldiers of Lin Sheng. Just in the blink of an eye, it crossed more than ten meters,nded on a cruise ship about to set sail. On the deck of the cruise ship, crowds of people poured into the cabin. They were carrying all kinds of luggage. The ck smoke gathered in the crowd, turning into a cute little boy with gray hair. The boy stepped gently out of the crowd and found an empty space and stood there. Before anyone noticed him, the boy leaned back against the side of the ship and began to recheck the tasks that had just set for him. In order to distract the enemy from focusing on himself or Sarroux, Lin Sheng made an experimental move ¡ª released Khad and let it act alone and create chaos at a distance, so as to attract everyone¡¯s attention. This was the key for Lin Sheng to solve his own problems. Rather than him and Sarroux, the special envoy of the Ironfist Society, Khad was the main character that would attract more attention. Therefore, it could help Lin Sheng avoid many dangers if it was used well. In order to avoid Khad¡¯s change of temperament and disorderly actions after leaving Lin Sheng, he specially designed a dozen rules that must be obeyed, and then Khad would take care of the rest. Khad¡¯s intelligence was much higher than other summoning creatures. It could decide everything on its own without Lin Sheng¡¯s intervention. ¡°I hope it works this time.¡± Lin Sheng checked Khad for thest time to make sure that the rules were all right. After one long st on the ship¡¯s horn, the cruise moved slowly and clumsily towards a new ce in the distance. Next, Khad would disembark at the cruise ship¡¯s destination and start creating chaos. After confirming that the arrangement for Khad was ok, Lin Sheng let it turn into ck smoke again while waiting for the ship to arrive at the shore. As soul splits, these summoning creatures were essentially derived from Lin Sheng¡¯s soul. They were centered on Lin Sheng¡¯s soul, so they could move alone at a distance even without Lin Sheng¡¯s master consciousness control. Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness returned to the dormitory. He rolled out of bed. The roommate had finished chatting and was pretending to browse his study materials. Lin Sheng quickly brushed his teeth and washed his face, put on his coat, and was ready to go out. He opened the drawer under his desk, wanted to take some money, but found that the amount was not right. There were more than two hundred Xylond dors in the drawer, but now there were only a few dors left. ¡°Who took my money?¡± He frowned and asked. The other two roommates had just woken up. They were still a little muddled when they heard it. ¡°Lin Sheng, your money is gone?¡± asked a fat man. ¡°Two hundred dors are missing.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°We are sharing the same dorm. Whoever took the money, it¡¯s better to own up to it,¡± said the roommate with sses sitting in front of theputer. No one made a sound. ¡°Nobody admits it?¡± He looked at his roommates and asked again. It¡¯s not a lot of money, but it¡¯s not a pleasant thing. Chapter 185 - Idea: Part 3 Chapter 185: Idea: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng kept looking at each of them. ¡°Why are you keep looking at us? What if it was someone out there?¡± The third roommate, a tall man with colorful hair, said discontentedly. Lin Sheng didn¡¯t speak, but his eyes fell on the guy again. ¡°Stop looking at me!¡± He was guilty. He did take the money. ¡°If no one will admit it, I¡¯ll have it split between the three of you. 70 dors each,¡± Lin Sheng said calmly. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Lin Sheng, is there something wrong with your brain?¡± ¡°Who do you think you are?¡± Lin Sheng said nothing but put his hand on the metal bed frame. Seeing that the metal frame was dented by Lin Sheng¡¯s hand, the three voices stopped abruptly. ¡°Any problems?¡± asked Lin Sheng. ¡°...¡± No one spoke. The fat guy reached out and touched the metal, and then broke out in a cold sweat. ¡°Remember to make up the amount before Ie back.¡± Lin sheng then took the rest of the money in the drawer, turned and left the dorm. ... In the evening, Lin Sheng went back to the house that his parents rented. Lin Zhounian and Gu Wanqiu rented a small house in the town not far from the school and then opened a retail store with their savings. Gu Wanqiu made some Xilin-style gloves and towels and sold them in their retail store. The sales were good. It seemed to go down well with the locals. It was cold and damp here. The things that Gu Wanqiu made was warm and thick, and the design was popr in Xilin but unique here, which met the needs of the local people here. After staying at home for a while, Lin Sheng left the house and went to the nearby market to purchase all kinds of materials needed for the summoning ritual. He also bought several harps to use as a baseboard for the Bloodazure Harp. The materials were soon gathered, but the money was gone quickly, too. He felt that he had to start making money. Back in the dormitory, the missing money had been put back in the drawer. Not sure who returned it. But Lin Sheng did not care as long as he got his money back. That night was dreamless. The second day, Lin Sheng continued to practice holy power for the whole day. He seemed to have mastered Ashen Seal-Furious Roar, just waiting for the right time to test the effect. Then he made some preparations and prepared something to deal with the armorman. The next night, he returned to the ckfeather city, along with arge bag of industrial detonators. ..... ..... He was standing in the street outside the iron gate of the Warrior¡¯s Guild. Lin Sheng quickly checked his body. The clothes and shoes were okay. The test lighter was still with him. 123 industrial detonators stolen from various construction sites were also with him. Lin Sheng, with a light step, approached slowly and then walked to the iron gate of the Warrior¡¯s Guild step by step. He reached out and gently pushed the heavy door open. It was empty inside. There were no warriors roaming around. Lin Sheng immediately took all the detonators off his body and tied them up in a big bundle. ording to the standards of Xylond, if all these detonators explode, it would be enough to bring down a ten-story building. They would surely call the police as soon as they found out that their detonators were stolen from the construction site and start looking for the stolen detonators. But now Lin Sheng could not care so much. In order to deal with this armorman, he slept in a hotel room these two days. Entering the hall, Lin Sheng paused, slowing down as much as he could, holding the detonators in one hand as he edged closer to the throne. The throne was empty, and the blue beam on the top was casting a pure blue light as before. Everything was the same as before. Moving slowly, he stopped twenty meters from the throne and slowly lifted the bundle of detonators in his hand. Lin Sheng lit the lighter, then ignited the detonators. The detonator lead began to give off tiny yellow sparks and kept getting shorter. Lin Sheng quickly threw the detonator towards the throne, then turned around and rushed all the way to the gate. Boom!!!!! Before he could reach the gate, a dark red me swept through behind him, speeding up the explosion of the detonators. The great terrible explosion exploded with a piercing roar. The heavy, terrifying impact tore through the dark red mes and walls and floors of the building. Large chunks of the bs of the cracked walls and a mass of fragments flew about like cannonballs. Lin Sheng was hit on the back by something before he could escape. Bang! He flew out of the gate and rolled around on the ground. Cough... He coughed up a little blood, and then looked back at the building. The building already looks a bit dpidated. He could faintly see the red glow in the hall through the cracks. ¡°It¡¯s dead?¡± He wondered. He got up and moved slowly toward the building. Whizz!! A series of ck lines shot out through the walls of the building and disappeared into his chest. As arge number of ck lines pouring into his body, arge number of memory fragments shed through Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. These warriors are all the elite of the guild. All of their memories rushed into Lin Sheng¡¯s body, and the weight of therge number of memory information squeezed him to groan. Before he could recover, a roar of furious rage burst out of the building. The roar shook the ground, making Lin Sheng go numb. Suddenly, arge number of dark red mes turned into a torrent and rushed out of the building and quickly gathered in the air in front of Lin Sheng, turning into an armorman with a huge ax. His armor was like red hot glowing steel, his ax held high. The de of the great ax sprang off to the side like a butterfly, suddenly erging the face of the ax several times. Pulled by a huge jet of air, the ck ax began pulling in all directions to absorb the countless pieces of rubble and mes. mes and debris flew overhead like meteors and clung to the surface of the ax de. The double-ded ax grewrger and heavier. In two seconds, it formed a giant sphere more than three meters in diameter. The dark red sphere was held high and was about to fall on Lin Sheng. Hum!!! A dazzling white light suddenly lit up in the temple. Chapter 186 - Hope: Part 1 Chapter 186: Hope: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion That¡¯s the holy light. Lin Sheng had never felt so clear before. The holy light had the third power besides healing and strengthening. The pure and overwhelming power instantly hit the burning armorman as hard as a hammer in the air. Ahhh!!! The armorman roared, struggled, and fought against the holy light. Dark red mes were steaming all over him, and streaks of ck smoke and mist were rising. As soon as the ck smoke and mist drifted out of the armorman¡¯s body, they tried to get back into its body, but the holy light made the smoke and mist dissipate instantly. The mes on the armorman were rapidly dimmed and weakened by the great suppression of the holy light. The huge ax in his hand also cooled rapidly, dropping a lot of rubble and debris. Lin Sheng was standing there dumbfounded, but then he reacted right away. He was semi-dragonized and then picking up a stone the size of a head on the ground and throwing it with all his strength at the armorman. Whoosh!! The stone whistled and shed through the air, crashing into the center of the armorman¡¯s chest. The tremendous kic energy immediately threw the armorman back a little. Ahhhh!! The armorman roared wildly and tried again to pounce on Lin Sheng, but the holy light held it down like a chain, unable to go any further. Bang!! The second stone whistled out, this time it was bigger. Lin Sheng picked up a stone the size of a washbasin and threw it at the armorman¡¯s abdomen with all his strength, and hit the ax in its hand. This time, unlike just now, Lin Sheng injected most of the holy power into the stone. A sh of white light suddenly appeared on the stone that hit the armorman, hitting the dark red ax like a balloon on a spike. Boom!!! Suddenly a sh of lightning burst forth. A dark red halo sted fiercely above the Warrior¡¯s Guild. Before the halo was fully spread, it was suppressed by the white light and quicklypressed back. Lin Sheng was also hit by the huge explosion. He was thrown high, flew out of the Warrior¡¯s Guild, and fell heavily in front of a building across the street. He vomited a mouthful of blood and felt pain all over his body. He was just a level-four transcendent. He had no resistance to this level of explosion. Some of the burning radiant energy from the dark red mes seemed to be a special kind of damage to the dragons. For his semi-dragonized body, once infected, it was extremely difficult to extinguish. Lin Sheng lifted some of the stones that fell on him. ¡°Is it dead now?¡± He got up from the ground in pain, hid in a corner alley, and looked at the Warrior¡¯s Guild from afar. The powerful holy light had extinguished and suppressed all the mes on the armorman. It was now smoking ck, brandishing a huge ax, and howling in anger, trying to get out of the Warrior Guild, but an invisible force made it impossible to go any further. There seemed to be not only the power of the holy light but also other force fields. ¡°This guy is so tough!¡± Lin Sheng was trying to find a way to kill the monster. All of a sudden, there was a slight vibration on the street in the distance, apanied by a slight hissing sound. Arge, slow-moving, two-story-tall ck figure with a long tail snaked through the neighborhood. It was a giant monster with a greedy human face. It looked a little like Medusa, but its face had three pairs of eyes like holes in a rotting tree, and there¡¯s a huge slender forked tongue in its mouth. Besides, countless ck insects were climbing and buzzing all over its body. The whole body of the monster waspletely covered by those ck insects. ¡°That monster...¡± Lin Sheng immediately recalled the huge monster he met when he first entered the ckfeather City. Just a look at the monster from a distance made him feel greasy, sending chills down his spine. The armorman saw the huge six-eyed monstering and roared wildly again. Once again the armorman burst into a dark red me, lighting himself up. The scorching heat was again pervading the guild. The huge six-eyed monster stared viciously at the armorman as if it was ready to pounce and bite the armorman. Its huge, fat body swayed slowly toward the guild. Just as the two were approaching, the temple was once again shining a more dazzling white light. The white light was tinged with gold, sacred and pure, and fell upon the six-eyed monster and armorman. With a cry of pain, the six-eyed monster retreated slowly, stared at the glowing temple, and finally turned away, disappearing into the end of the street. Lin Sheng slowly walked out of the alley, looked at the direction of the six-eyed monster, and waited for a while to make sure that it would note again before he returned to the Warrior¡¯s Guild. The armorman growled again as soon as it saw him, but this time its dark red me seemed to be consumed too much by the holy light, and there was no way to grow again. ¡°It looks like it¡¯s weakened a lot, but the question is, how do I kill this guy?¡± Lin Sheng looked at the dark red me burning on its body and fell into thinking. This kind of me could not be touched. ¡°Maybe I can...¡± Lin sheng suddenly thought of an idea. As he watched the armorman struggling with the holy light, he suddenly opened his mouth and a me burst out of his mouth. It was me with a little bit of dragon fire. The red mes hit the armorman hard. Then, something happened and surprised Lin Sheng. The dark red mes on the armorman rolled violently, canceling out his dragon fire and annihting them. Not devouring the dragon fire, but colliding, canceling out, and then annihted it. ¡°Right... This dark red me looks like fire, but it¡¯s not fire at all! It¡¯s a special kind of searing energy!¡± Lin sheng confirmed his judgment. Now that he knew what it was, Lin Sheng continued to attack the armorman with the dragon fire. Chapter 187 - Hope: Part 2 Chapter 187: Hope: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The fiery dragon fire counteracted the dark red energy. But the strength gap between them was too big, Lin Sheng could only offset a little dark red energy. Soon he felt tired all over. His body slowly withdrew from the dream because of excessive consumption. But Lin Sheng did not give up. For the next three days, he kept attacking the armored man madly as soon as he fell into the dream. However, the damage to the armor was minimal. Lin Sheng kept thinking for another solution and soon came up with a new way. That¡¯s refrigerant liquid nitrogen. ... With the sound of a loud siren, groups of Redwin¡¯s colonial soldiers, dressed in ck uniforms, quickly formed a formation and got off the cargo ship. Colonel Younis stood in front of the dock, looking coldly at the soldiers of Redwin. Since thest request for help, more and more colonial troops hade here. But again, more and more foreigners wereing here as well. This was Veleon, an archipgo between Xilin and Redwin, where the indigenous poption was even less technologically advanced than the vassal state next to Xilin. After conquering here, the colonial army of Redwin soon used this as a springboard to set up a base and go to Xilin. But recently, the underground party here has begun to be active again. Their movements grew faster and more frequent, irritating Younis. In the distance another cruise ship slowly docked, ready to begin unloading. The soldiers of Redwin were about to make a routine inspection. Boom!!! There was a loud explosion in the warehouse area of cargo containers at the dock, followed by a barrage of gunfire. Younis quickly dispatched troops to suppress the violence. ¡°What a waste...¡± A young, neutral voice came to Younis¡¯s ears. ¡°Who!?¡± He jerked back and pulled out his gun. A white-haired girl in a white casual dress was standing beside him. No... It looked like a boy... Younis squinted at the boy¡¯s throat. The boy¡¯s delicate, almost perfect features and the strange way he suddenly appeared beside him startled Younis. ¡°Ah... Are you asking me?¡± The boy smiled. ¡°I¡¯m on vacation. Well, I didn¡¯t expect to have fun here.¡± ¡°Vacation?¡± Younis felt the boy looking at him, but that kind of look sent chills down his spine. ¡°Do you want me to dispose of the body?¡± The boy smiled. ¡°I like the ones that have just died. I don¡¯t want them after a quarter of an hour.¡± ¡°You!¡± A sense of humiliation rose within Younis. In the custom of Redwin, the corpse was sacred and invible, let alone the corpse of a soldier. To insult a corpse is to insult the family behind it! ¡°Go to hell!!¡± Younis did not hesitate to shoot. Just as he had randomly killed captured toddlers before, he loved to watch the moment when the prettiest and most beautiful children were shot and turned from cute to bloody. It really fascinated him. And that¡¯s why he stayed on the inds and didn¡¯t want to be transferred. Younis was one of the top five decision-makers in the archipgo. Bang!!! The pistol shot, with an evil green glow, exploded with astonishing eleration and hit the boy between the eyes in an instant. ¡°Why are you all so impatient? Why don¡¯t you let me finish?¡± The boy asked while touching the blood hole on his forehead. ¡°You...!!!¡± Younis stared in horror at the boy. The wound on his forehead was still oozing blood. ¡°You like it?¡± The boy touched the blood on the wound between his eyes. ¡°Oh yes, brain. Would you like to see my brain?¡± He dug his finger into the wound and soon his brain was flowing out... ¡°Monster!! Kill him!!¡± Younis shouted, his face quivering and contorted with fear. But all the soldiers around did not move as if they had not heard him. ¡°Frightened?¡± The boy looked bored. In an instant, everyone around him, including Younis, shuddered, shriveled and shrunk, and all the essence rushed into arms and fell askew to the ground. ¡°You... You... Who...¡± Younis struggled to finish hisst word. ¡°I am Khad from the Ironfist Society. I am twelve years old. I like carrots. My dream is to grow white carrots one day. Is there anything else you want to ask?¡± The boy exined without reservation. Younis¡¯s eyes widened, his body dried up rapidly, and he lost consciousnesspletely. All the essence poured into the arms, and then the body sank to the ground like the rest of the soldiers. More than 100 people were mummified on the dock in a sh, slowly sank to the ground, and disappeared. ¡°It¡¯s my breakfast...¡± The boy rubbed his stomach and walked briskly towards the direction of the explosion. ¡°Let¡¯s see what else I can eat...¡± He hummed and headed for the warehouse area as if nothing had happened. Only then did the others on the dock see the disappearance of Younis and all the soldiers of Redwin. Ahhhhhhhhh!!! Everybody started screaming. ... ... At the Warrior¡¯s Guild. Lin Sheng was carrying a tank of liquid nitrogen and spraying at the armorman. Arge amount of cold gas turned into a white mist and poured over the roaring armorman. Liquid nitrogen gas of minus one hundred degrees was cooling the dark red energy of the armorman at a terrifying rate. The temperature of the armorman was getting lower and lower. When it¡¯d time, Lin Sheng suddenly opened his mouth, and the me fell heavily on the armorman. Chapter 188 - Hope: Part 3

Chapter 188: Hope: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion After days of suppression and torture by the holy light, the armored man had fallen into a state of extreme weakness. Alternate attacks by liquid nitrogen and the mes were thest straw. Soon, cracks gradually appeared on the surface of the armored man¡¯s body. Atst, the armored man let out a feeble howl and fell heavily to the ground. Its dark red energy had long been suppressed by the holy light and the armored man was covered with scars and cracks. However, what puzzled Lin Sheng was that there is countless ck smoke in the surrounding air. The ck smoke, as if it were alive, tried to prate the armored man¡¯s body, but each time the smoke seeped into the armored man for a certain amount, the armored man would move forward, spurring the temple to emit holy power, purifying the smoke inside, like it wanted to kill itself... Soon the armored man stopped movingpletely and began to melt slowly. The armored man¡¯s body, along with its weapons, was reduced to a thick ck and red liquid. The liquid evaporated rapidly, turned into numerous ck lines in a sh, and dashed towards Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng¡¯s head is like being hit by a heavy hammer. It¡¯s extremely painful. A stream of graphic memories flooded into his mind and arge amount of dark red me energy shed in front of Lin Sheng. ¡°I can¡¯t be wrong! The Rioman n is one of the five oldest ns in ckfeather City! We have ruled the Blood Armor Corps of ckfeather City for hundreds of years! And now, you! You¡¯re just a knight! How dare you question my decisions??¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant...¡± ¡°Now, get out!¡± The Steel Lord, sitting on the precious wooden seat, ordered coldly and rigidly. ¡°Lord, I saw with my own eyes that man nted a powerful and strange nt that I couldn¡¯t understand! The kind of thing that will never be eptable to the living beings...¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough! Guards!¡± The Steel Lord closed his eyes and ordered. Two heavily armored dark red soldiers rushed in. ¡°You¡¯ll regret it one day!¡± Ancellia breathed in deeply. ¡°Regret?¡± The King of Steel crossed his hands. His face was cold. ¡°I will bear all the consequences!¡± Ancellia gave him a deep nce and, without being pushed by the guards, turned and walked away quickly. Lin Sheng was standing there and watching it happen. The King of Steel was the armored man. The old man was as stubborn as ever. He was not only stubborn, but also selfish, bossy, condescending, and contemptuous of anyone who was inferior to him. Ancellia¡¯s persuasion was taken by him as a sign of disrespect. Lin Sheng watched Ancellia leave. He got the Ashen Seal ¨C the Sanctuary from her. Suddenly the scene shed and everything changed rapidly. The ck fog rolled over the sky like thunderclouds, pressing down on top of each other. The whole ckfeather city was like an ind isted in the ck sea, helpless, afraid, confused, and lost. Countless people were looking up at the slowly falling sky. The King of Steel stood at the city wall and gazed at the falling ck clouds without uttering a single word. ¡°My Lord! We have not found the great knight, Korred!¡± ¡°My Lord, the Assassin¡¯s Guild is empty! They¡¯re all gone! You should leave now!¡± ¡°There¡¯s a lot of hallucinogenic ck fog on the moors! We¡¯re besieged!¡± ¡°No! The North. There¡¯s still a gap at the North!!¡± ¡°The people in the town are almost gone! My Lord, please go now! We will defend this ce!!¡± The Blood Armor elites were covered in blood. Dark spots were emerging on their skin. It was a sign that they were contaminated by the ck fog. The King of Steel turned silently, went down the wall, and returned to the Warrior¡¯s Guild. ¡°Where¡¯s Ancellia?¡± He asked suddenly, standing in the hall. ¡°Ancellia, the Light of Hope, is leading the remaining knights to break through the siege, helping thousands of civilians to slowly retreat,¡± answered one of the Blood Armor elites. The King of Steel looked at the Blood Armor elites in front of him. His fair skin was covered with ck patches of varying sizes, but there¡¯s no fear in his expression as if nothing had happened. ¡°Is there anyone else in the guild who hasn¡¯t been contaminated?¡± He asked calmly. ¡°Only the son of Gore and his thirteen siblings. We have sent them, as you ordered, to the northern gap,¡± answered the Blood Armor elite. The King of Steel fell silent. He closed his eyes, walked slowly up to the throne, and gently stroked the hard, cold arm of the throne. ¡°Do you hate me?¡± He asked in a low voice. ¡°We are always your most solid shield!¡± The Blood Armor elites knelt on one knee, replying loudly and solemnly. ¡°Please go, My Lord. As long as you are alive, the Blood Armor Corps and the guild will always be there!¡± Ladya, the vice president of the Blood Armor Corps, spoke loudly. Ladya¡¯s face was half-covered with ck spots. Intense pain and hallucinations invaded his spirit all the time, but he remained unmoved. The Steel Lord calmly looked at the Blood Armor elites before him. ¡°I told Ancellia that I would bear the responsibility for all the consequences.¡± He slowly sat on the throne. A stream of ck metal liquid erupted behind the seat. The metal liquid quickly enveloped him, transforming him into a huge, massive, powerful armor. ¡°You are my sword and shield. In this world, there are no soldiers who can live without their sword and shield.¡± ¡°Lord...¡± ¡°Remember when I put the Bloodmark on you?¡± The Steel Lord¡¯s eyes softened. Suddenly there came a growl from the street outside. It sounded like the growl of some wild animal. Soon, countless growls grew denser and closer. Outside the window, the ck fog descended slowly, almost touching the tallest spire of the ckfeather City. The light in the Warrior¡¯s Guild dimmed rapidly. ¡°Now.¡± The Steel Lord bellowed as heid his hand on the arm of the throne. ¡°Tell me what you are!¡± ¡°The Burning Blood! The Blood of Order!! The Shield of ckfeather City!¡± All Blood Armor elites stood up, pulled out their weapons and roared! ¡°Very well.¡± The Steel Lord took a deep breath. ¡°So... Activate the Shackles of Blood War, now.¡± ¡°Activating the ritual of the Shackles of Blood War.¡± A cold female voice slowly sounded in his ear. Dark red cracks spread rapidly from around the throne. ¡°The blood of the Fire Dragon ignites the fire of the ritual.¡± ¡°Activating the Absolute Binding Ward.¡± ¡°Activating the Mind Ward.¡± ¡°Activating Life Identification.¡± ¡°Activating the Energy Reserve Pool.¡± ¡°Sweep out the alien species, purge the wicked! Non-human species will never leave the city until they defeat you. The ritual begins.¡± The King of Steel was gripping the arm of the throne tighter and tighter. He felt that his soul was being ignited and his blood force was being poured into the ritual circle. His eyes seemed to see Ancellia, who was fighting and leading the people to flee, through the wall. ¡°Just run, as far away as possible...¡± Suddenly his body burst into a dark red me. ¡°Lord!!¡± shouted the Blood Armor elites. *Bang!!!* The door of the guild was smashed open by a tremendous force. Dark figures rushed in, leaping at the Blood Armor elites. ¡°I... The Burning Blood! The Blood of Order! The Shield of ckfeather City!!¡± The Steel Lord roared, and mes flew wildly from his body, shooting into all the Blood Armor elites to sustain their strength and preserve thest dignity of the warriors. ¡°Come on! Beat me!!!!!!! Destroy me!!¡± He stood up, pulled his huge battle-ax from behind him, and walked to a huge finger poking through the gate. Chapter 189 - Attraction: Part 1

Chapter 189: Attraction: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Xilin, Huaisha *Bang!* The wooden door was smashed by a great force. A blue-armored soldier slowly entered the room, the red electronic eyes on his helmet scanning the room. ¡°Nobody¡¯s here,¡± the soldier murmured and left. Xie Qiaoyue slowly opened the refrigerator door, shivering with cold, but at least escaped another search. ¡°Are you alright?¡± At the window nearby, a sea hawk fluttered its wings, standing on Tan Yue¡¯s head and asked. ¡°It was a close call... There are more and more Redwinians on the streets!¡± Xie Qiaoyue knelt on the ground, shuddering from head to foot. ¡°Now what?¡± She looked at the sea hawk and asked. ¡°We have to find a way to escape from Huaisha. It¡¯s getting tough here. There are too many people in Heaven¡¯s Spire. You¡¯ll get caught sooner orter if you don¡¯t leave.¡± The sea hawk replied in a low voice. Xie Qiaoyue fell silent. She did not want to leave. That was where she grew up, but she had no choice now. ¡°Is there any way?¡± she asked. The sea hawk nodded. ¡°Of course. I have thetest news. The Heaven¡¯s Spire is searching not only for us but also for members of the Ironfist Club. It was a man called Sarroux.¡± ¡°Master Sarroux?!¡± Tan Yue was slightly surprised. ¡°Yes.¡± The sea hawk affirmed. ¡°But I have news from other sources that the Ironfist Society is not something ordinary. There is a mysterious HQ behind them.¡± ¡°Mysterious HQ...?¡± Tan Yue was surprised. ¡°I¡¯ve been working in it for over a month, and I don¡¯t even know there¡¯s a mysterious HQ behind it!¡± ¡°How much will you know in just over a month?¡± The sea hawk rolled its eyes. ¡°We saw the emissary of Ironfist Society fought with the masters of Redwin military and Heaven¡¯s Spire in ckwater district!¡± ¡°Wow... Really?!¡± Xie Qiaoyue now has some basic knowledge of their power, so she was even more surprised. ¡°In the end, the master of Redwin military was badly wounded, one of the masters of the Heaven¡¯s Spire died, and the branch of Ironfist Society waspletely destroyed,¡± sea hawk exined. ¡°The destruction of the branch is a great disgrace to any organization, a provocation tantamount to dering war. Hence, they will never stop!¡± ¡°So now we just have to wait for the Ironfist Society toe out and grab the attention of the Heaven¡¯s Spire, and then we can seize the chance to escape?¡± Xie Qiaoyue responded quickly. ¡°Right!¡± The sea hawk smiled in satisfaction. ¡°The harder they fight, the better, so we can sneak out of Anduin smoothly.¡± ... Xylond, Yinglu Private Academy. Lin Sheng had a splitting headache. He was leaning over his desk, unable to hear clearly what the teacher was saying in ss. He had had this problem since he woke upst night. He knew that this was a special consequence of absorbing the kind of soul far beyond he could digest. The soul of the Steel Lord fell into his mind like hard, stubborn rock, and he digested it at a cial pace. This also resulted in him not being able to fully digest and promote his holy power practice. ¡°This is the consequence of overstepping too much...¡± ording to the perception of the soul, the indigestible areas were generally concentrated in the region of the Angel of Desire of the five archangels. The soul can be divided into five angelic regions. ¡°The five regions of the soul are the Angel of Power, the Angel of Wisdom, the Angel of Desire, the Angel of Fire, and the Angel of Darkness. The Angel of Desire rules all desires. And the soul force of the Steel Lord that I absorb, the core force that pulls it together, that causes indigestibility, muste from this region. The core force is what the soul calls obsession. Without this, the soul is free and naturally dissipates into elementary particles. If I can find the obsession of the Steel Lord, I should be able to digest this part of the soul quickly.¡± But Lin Sheng did not know how toe into contact with the region of the Angel of Desire and find the obsession of the Steel Lord. ¡°If there¡¯s no other way, I¡¯ll summon it first.¡± Then, it suddenly reminded him of Khad. Khad definitely had his own obsession, but when he first absorbed that part of soul power, it didn¡¯t seem to be too much of a hindrance. ¡°No... Khad must have had his own obsession, but it was resolved without my knowledge...¡± Soon, the bell of Yinglu Private Academy nged. Lin Sheng slowly raised his head, packed his things and stuffed them into his school bag, ready to leave the ssroom. Unexpectedly, the two men from Xylond¡¯s Special Resources Department who came to see himst time were standing at the door. Lin Sheng remembered that fat man was called Maier. He walked slowly to them. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Come on, let¡¯s talk. River Beach Cafe, my treat,¡± Maier said with a smile. ... A momentter. In a ssy cafe outside the campus. Lin Sheng and two men sat down facing each other and ordered a cup of coffee respectively. Then Maier ordered arge fruit te. ¡°Well, if there¡¯s anything that needs me, let me make it clear. The branch at Huaisha has failed, and I don¡¯t have much weight in the Ironfist Society anymore,¡± Lin Sheng said directly after the waiter left. Maier rubbed his fat cheeks and asked, ¡°That means you¡¯re done with it?¡± ¡°Almost. The branch in Huaisha was a chance, a trial and a test that my teacher gave me, but the branch was destroyed and everything was ruined. So my teacher is disappointed with me. In short, I¡¯m now idle.¡± Lin Sheng was now more and more adept at telling lies that he almost believed it himself. Chapter 190 - Attraction: Part 2 Chapter 190: Attraction: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Your teacher...¡± Maier tried to dig a little more of the Ironfist Society HQ¡¯s secrets out. While the Ironfist Society HQ only caused some trouble in one of the small ports in Xilin, it had attracted a lot of attention. Some neighboring countries close to Xilin had also expressed interest. ¡°My teacher?¡± Lin Sheng pretended that he did not understand. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me anything. I don¡¯t know anything.¡± ¡°Nothing much, I just want to ask.¡± Maier smiled sheepishly. ¡°Have you ever thought of opening a branch here?¡± ¡°Huh??¡± Lin Sheng paused for a moment. He didn¡¯t expect Maier to say that. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear me? Then I ask again.¡± Maier¡¯s face grew solemn. ¡°My boss asked me to ask if the Ironfist Society could open a branch here.¡± ¡°Which side?¡± Lin Sheng was a little caught off guard. He just got kicked out of Xilin, and now he¡¯s being asked to open a branch. ¡°Well, Xylond is divided into two parts, the east, and the west. We belong to the east. Normally the east is dominated by elected state legitures, which decide everything here, even the army,¡± Maier exined. ¡°This time you are invited to the State Council of our state, Dermansk, and it is the unanimous appeal of the whole council.¡± Lin Sheng was puzzled. ¡°Well I could try again, but our headquarters has a problem with Heaven¡¯s Spire... Don¡¯t you afraid...¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Heaven¡¯s Spire is strong, but we are not weak.¡± Maier smiled. ¡°Also, do you know why we are the most advanced in art?¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because we tolerate everything. As long as the Ironnfist Society isn¡¯t an anti-human and anti-social organization, we wee it.¡± Maierughed. ¡°This... I¡¯ll go back and apply. To be honest, I also want to reopen the branch, but it depends on whether they support it,¡± Lin Sheng said hesitantly. ¡°You can rest assured that if the branch can be located in our state, we will be able to offer more favorable welfare policies than you can imagine!¡± Maier¡¯s small eyes narrowed withughter. He took a folded piece of ck paper from his pocket, put it on the table, and pushed it gently to Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng took it and opened it. It¡¯s all about the privileges and benefits for the Ironfist Society branch. ¡°That wasn¡¯t your attitude before.¡± Lin sheng refolded the paper and kept it. ¡°Previously we served the general government. Now, I¡¯m a native of the state of Dermansk, and we serve the state legiture,¡± the fat man smiled and exined. ¡°We are extremely curious about the way Ironfist Society practices, how it can allow someone who has no superpowers to break through the boundaries and be a transcendent...¡± ¡°There are conditions,¡± Lin Sheng interrupted. ¡°I had checked the physique of the students before I taught them the method. Those who don¡¯t have the qualifications don¡¯t have the chance to learn it.¡± ¡°Well... I wonder if you can tell me what the conditions are?¡± Finally, the man sitting next to Maier spoke. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say, but the odds are one in a few hundred,¡± Lin Sheng exined briefly. There was a sh of disappointment in their eyes. Lin Sheng sensed their disappointment, so he didn¡¯t exin further. He had told them the truth. It¡¯s up to them to decide. Just then, the waiter served the coffee and fruit te. He stuck a piece of watermelon into his mouth with a toothpick. ... At Veleon Inds. *Boom!* A sh of orange-yellow fire exploded on Khad. Flesh and blood, and great masses of red debris burst violently, sshing all over the ground. ¡°It hurts...¡± Khad wriggled, healing rapidly, and within two seconds he was back to its original shape. Tens of meters in front of him, countless arms sprang from the ground. More than a dozen soldiers were grabbed by the arms in an instant, climbing all over them until they werepletely submerged. This was a Redwin barracks on the ind. Camp buildings had been set aze. The mes kept burning, turning several buildings into giant torches tens of meters high. The ground was covered with bodies, guns, canisters. In the mes, arge number of pale arms wriggled and crawled like swarms of worms, forming white rivers that flowed through the ground. Khad stood in the middle, his eyes as ck as a ck hole without light. He nced around, didn¡¯t find any more living things, so he moved forward. During the raid on the camp, his body was hit by volleys of bombs, artillery shells, sniper rifles and various traps. But each time his body was blown up, he recovered quickly. ¡°Boring.¡± Khad moved forward a few hundred meters, almost prating the whole camp. But still, no one attacked him because all the men in the camp had either died or fled. ¡°Now that they¡¯ve all given up. Then... Let¡¯s end it.¡± Khad lifted his right arm and pressed it gently. In an instant, an invisible shockwave centered on him spread to all the arms in the camp. Numerous pale arms burst open and sank to the ground. And the essence of the dead soldiers also rushed into the arms and sank into the ground. There was not a trace of blood in the camp, only a few guns and weapons scattered around. ¡°A camp of four hundred men fell in just three minutes. Khad, you guys really wanna dere war with Heaven¡¯s Spire?¡± In the distance, under a sh of green light, a metal ring appeared on the ground. Two shadowy figures suddenly appeared in the ring. Like a holographic projection from a distance, the two figures flickered from time to time, and the signal seemed to be a bit shaky, but the sound was clear. ¡°Dere war? Why?¡± Khad¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. ¡°There are so many Redwinians. I just ate a little, less than 1/100000 of your poption, and you¡¯re going to dere war for such a small number of people?¡± Chapter 191 - Attraction: Part 3 Chapter 191: Attraction: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Khad, do you know what you¡¯re talking about?¡± said the figure in the circle in a low voice. ¡°Don¡¯t think you have the power to do whatever you want. The power of the Heaven¡¯s Spire is far more than the mere Ironfist Society can match.¡± ¡°Cool... But I¡¯m just a special envoy, and I¡¯m still on vacation. What does this have to do with me?¡± said Khad, pping softly. ¡°Arrogance!¡± The figure was angry. ¡°So you want to die? Khad!¡± ¡°Oh dear, you¡¯re angry,¡± said Khad, covering his mouth in surprise. ¡°I just helped myself to some food. Did I do something wrong?¡± ¡°Good. We¡¯ll be seeing each other soon. I hope you¡¯ll look so rxed then.¡± *Puff!* The two figures suddenly burst and disappeared. ¡°Guess I¡¯ve created some big news. What¡¯s next?¡± Khad turned and looked out to sea, the direction where Lin Sheng was. At this moment, in the body of Khad, Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness was watching this scene. He froze. He was in Xylond. He could see and know what Khad was doing, but he could not control it. He could only watch Khad devour the soldiers by instinct, but he could not intervene. Lin Sheng was meditating. It seemed that only when his mind waspletely focused could he manage to connect with Khad at this moment. But there was nothing he could do. ¡°The desire in Khad¡¯s body is too strong... It can¡¯t be suppressed at all...¡± Lin Sheng slowly opened his eyes. ¡°Plus, it feels like he¡¯s stronger... Maybe it¡¯s because he¡¯s stronger now so I¡¯m able to connect with him.¡± Lin Sheng straightened up from the bed, frowning. He had just returned from the caf¨¦ and was ready to take a break and meditate in his dormitory. However, after connecting Khad, the news sent Lin Sheng¡¯s mood to the bottom. ¡°Khad ughtered the entire military camp... Now, this is a big problem...¡± Lin Sheng frowned. The conflict between him and Redwin was previously a mere conflict between transcendents. But now, after killing hundreds of their men, it had evolved to the level of absolute contradiction. Lin Sheng was getting more and more worried about the intensification of the conflict, but he could not control Khad. It¡¯s too far away. Khad could only act ording to the rules and tasks he set before. ¡°There is no way that Redwin will allow Khad to continue the massacre at Veleon. They will definitely send their best men there to stop it. Khad has to leave ASAP! Besides, I need to summon the Steel Lord. I need two masters to support the Ironfist Society.¡± Lin Sheng stood up, changed his clothes, left the dormitory, hailed a taxi at the school gate, and went straight to the old house he rented in the suburb. In order to facilitate the summoning ritual, Lin Sheng specially prepared aplete set of summoning materials in the old house. He only needed toe here to start the summoning. It was a mistake to let Khad out. If he did not get ready soon, Sarroux and he would be in big trouble Up to now, Lin Sheng could vaguely sum up some regr patterns. ¡°Every creature that I summon, without my direct control, will use its own unique way to fulfill the mission and instructions I give. For example, the big news Khad created was the massacre.¡± Lin Sheng had arrived at a remote old town. There were weeds everywhere, and not far away was an old parking lot. He rented a unit in a dpidated building. This half-finished building was not even capped. The upper part of the building was encased in thick grey stic sheeting. All the residents there lived in the grey, undecorated roughcast units. Lin Sheng passed a small grocery store at the entrance of the corridor and bought some bread and milk for dinner. He went into the corridor, took the elevator and pressed the sixth floor. When he rented the house, he was the only one who lived on the whole sixth floor, and it was the only unit with windows. From where he was, several floors up and down were unupied. On the sixth floor, the freight elevator opened slowly, revealing a dark corridor outside. There was no corridor light here so it would be dark at night. Only brave people like Lin Sheng dare to live here, and most people dare not even enter this ce. Lin Sheng stepped out of the elevator, turned on the shlight, and the light suddenly lit up in the dark corridor. The moment he turned on the shlight, Lin Sheng vaguely saw a man who looked like a construction worker, wearing a safety helmet, standing at the door of the unit he rented. Lin Sheng didn¡¯t notice that immediately. When he realized something was not right and quickly turned the shlight back, the man was gone. ¡°Huh?¡± Lin Sheng quickly semi-dragonized his eyes. His pupils turned pale gold, and his vision improved greatly in the dark. But the dark corridor was empty and quiet. No one was there. Lin Sheng suddenly thought of hisndlord. Thendlord was impatient when negotiating the price, and did not Lin Sheng forcing the price down. Now it seemed that... There¡¯s something wrong with this unit... Lin Sheng went to his unit, took out the key and opened the door. A current of cool air blowing in his face, along with a faint rotten smell. Lin Sheng went in and closed the door. ¡°Huh??¡± Suddenly he felt that the door would not close behind him. Someone was pushing at the door! ¡°Who¡¯s there!¡± He turned sharply. There was nothing outside in the dark. After he turned around, the door finally closed smoothly. But as soon as he closed the door, Lin Sheng heard the sound of footsteps slowly approaching behind him. He turned his face slightly and looked behind him. A construction worker wearing a safety helmet was standing quietly in the living room, facing him, motionless. ¡°You still have time to get out.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s golden vertical pupils were glowing, the corner of his mouth slowly overflowed with sparks. Chapter 192 - The Heart: Part 1

Chapter 192: The Heart: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion There was a faint whiff of blood in the evening breeze. As soon as Maier came out of the college, he was sent to cooperate with the local investigation organization to solve the new infiltration phenomenon. At the back door of a bar, in a dark alleyway, Maier waited grimly as the two men in front crouched on the ground to examine the body. The body was swollen and pale, with three hideous wounds on thigh and back, about 1cm into the flesh. The fatal point was the tornrynx in the throat. ¡°The identity of the deceased was a bartender who had worked here for about a year. He didn¡¯t have any bad habits. The only thing he liked was working overtime.¡± ¡°Working overtime? Then he¡¯s a good employee.¡± Maier lowered his head and lit a cigarette. ¡°The time of death is half an hour ago. The exact range requires instrumental precision. Something hit him from behind, all in less than five seconds. And most importantly, all the wounds on the body were made almost at the same time. It¡¯s not something humans can do,¡± one of the men stood up, looking grave as he exined. ¡°Only that kind of guy can have this kind of speed!¡± Maier nodded. ¡°Block the news first. Let me see if I can get the relevant departments to help.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry to drag you into this again, Maier.¡± The man who spoke was a bald old man who looked like a college professor. He looked extremely tired. ¡°But I really have no other choice. Five cases in a month! This is insane!¡± ¡°That¡¯s what these guys are like, rememberst year? It could go up to 10 cases a month.¡± Maier shook his head. ¡°Anyway, try to be prepared.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ... At the half-finished building, the sixth floor. Red sparks slowly escaped from the corner of Lin Sheng¡¯s mouth. His pale golden dragon eyes fixed on the silent strange figure. ¡°I¡¯ve only been here once and you target me. Did youe specifically to see me? Or just by chance? Forget it. You don¡¯t have to talk. I don¡¯t want to hear it.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s ws shed toward the man. Lin Sheng¡¯s hand suddenly strode over a few meters and shed the man ruthlessly. But strangely, he didn¡¯t touch anything. The man was like a phantom, his figure rippled and then dispersed and disappeared. ¡°Huh?¡± Lin Sheng stopped and stood still. He clearly felt the physical presence of the man, but when he rushed over, he couldn¡¯t touch it. And then, the man¡¯s figure reappeared a few meters away. The man stood there as if nothing had happened. ¡°Interesting...¡± Lin Sheng walked slowly forward, approaching the man step by step, and stopped one meter away from the man. The man did not aware of this dangerous distance and did not seem to care how close Lin Sheng was. ¡°You can¡¯t talk?¡± Lin Sheng asked again. The man remained silent. *Boom!!* Arge cloud of dragon mes gushed out of Lin Sheng¡¯s mouth, engulfing the manpletely. There was a faint smell of burning in the air. This time the man was no longer there. Lin Sheng stood still and looked around. He no longer felt anything lingering around. ¡°Weird energy.¡± He had never been exposed to the kind of energy on the man. It was not evil energy or the ck smoke in the dream. This kind of energy seemed to be only perceptible when it was moving. Lin Sheng checked all the corners, doors and windows, but was finally relieved after he found no more problems. ¡°There are so many mysteries in the world that I don¡¯t know... If that energy develops, it can easily cause trouble.¡± After locking the door and making sure that everything is fine, he took out the ritual paper that he had prepared in advance and put it on the ground. In less than twenty minutes, everything was ready. Seeing that the water was about to boil, Lin Sheng lit the oilmp with a lighter. In the standard summoning ritual, the initiators of the primary summoning would naturally arouse the spiritual and special forces. As soon as Lin Sheng began to chant the initiator, he felt that his consciousness was being extracted and injected into the circle in front of him. The oilmp in the circle sent a thin wisp of smoke into the boiling water. The thick water rippled and soon, water vapor rose from the water. These vapors soon formed a big fog and shrouded Lin Sheng in it, making him gradually fall into a trance. In front of his eyes, a huge red sphere of light slowly lit up. The sphere of light almost filled his entire field of vision. Without hesitation, Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness quickly plunged into the sphere of light. ¡°Avoid the war? Rubbish!!¡± ¡°Coward! Trash!!¡± ¡°Pain! Useless!!¡± ¡°In the fight, the only thing you can rely on is yourself!¡± It was an old and stern voice. ¡°No retreat! Attack! Crazy! Forget everything! Charge Forward! You can win!¡± ¡°Winning is everything!¡± ¡°The winner will be the king! Valgariah, from now on, you are the new Steel Lord! Heir to the blood of Fire Dragon!¡± ¡°The glory of the family for centuries rests on you alone.¡± ¡°Glory, history, power, will. All must win in the end!¡± Lin Sheng opened his eyes. He was sitting in an ornate gold square study. In front of him stood a brown-haired young man with a handsome face, looking a little timid. Although the young man was covered in armor, holding a sword in one hand and a sallet in the other, Lin Sheng could sense a strong fear in the young man¡¯s eyes. The young man was in awe of him. ¡°Father...¡± said the young man in a low voice. ¡°Your will is too weak.¡± Lin Sheng heard himself speaking. The voice seemed to be the voice of the Steel Lord. He suddenly realized that he was entering the resonant memory of the Steel Lord, and now he was the Steel Lord. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to go to Synradel...¡± The young man summoned up his courage and argued. ¡°You must go! I¡¯ve got everything ready for you. Now you¡¯re as weak as a rabbit.¡± ¡°Yes... I got it...¡± The young man opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end, he did not say anything. Lin Sheng watched the young man turn around and walk out of the study. On the desk, he saw the Steel Lord clenching his seal slightly. There was a document in front of him, and all he had to do was stamp it. But he hesitated. Chapter 193 - The Heart: Part 2

Chapter 193: The Heart: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion *Swish.* The scene turned dark. He could only hear some random conversation. ¡°Father... do you really... love me?¡± ¡°He¡¯s your son! And you sent him to the bloody battlefield ten thousand miles! All right now, he¡¯s dead! Are you happy?¡± ¡°The funeral will be held the day after tomorrow, Valgariah.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t wrong! I can¡¯t be wrong! Absolutely! No!!¡± It was the low, muffled voice of the Steel Lord. ¡°Will you cry? Valgariah, you are crazy! You are a ruthless beast!! Your only son is dead. Now, look at your face! It is indifferent!!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry we couldn¡¯t find madam¡¯s body. She wasst seen by witnesses on the dark cliff of ckdeer Mountain.¡± ¡°Valgariah, Steel Lord, your heart is as cold as steel. Hard and stubborn.¡± ¡°As cold as steel?¡± *Swish.* The scene changed again. In front of Lin Sheng floated a tall old man in gray hair and ck armor. The old man¡¯s face was cold and hard, with a strong sense of ancient aristocratic arrogance. The fine lines and carvings on his armor revealed his extraordinary family background. ¡°Is this the Steel Lord?¡± Lin Sheng had not recovered from the memory fragments just now. He suddenly understood why the Steel Lord would not leave at thest moment, but stay and die with all his men. Because he had lost his wife and son. He had nothing to lose. ¡°If you had one more chance, I wonder if you¡¯d make the same choice...¡± Lin Sheng sighed. He slowly opened his eyes. In front of the ritual circle, a strong old man with gray hair stood calmly. It was Valgariah Rioman, the Steel Lord. ¡°You are Valgariah Rioman, the Steel Lord.¡± ¡°I will bring you victory.¡± The old man knelt on one knee and bowed his head in front of Lin Sheng. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it,¡± Lin Sheng answered calmly. Although Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness was in the body of the Steel Lord, he did not suppress the Steel Lord¡¯s instinct. He pulled out his strength through the ritual, reconstructing his body. Although these summoning creatures did not originally exist in the dream, the memory contents that Lin Sheng copied to them was essentially making them reborn. Reborn with fragments of memory. Such a pattern can be understood as Lin Sheng was the original body of their souls while they were different parts of Lin Sheng¡¯s soul. After all, their souls had been fully integrated into Lin Sheng¡¯s soul. They were one. ... On one of the inds of Veleon. In the center of the forest was a temporary encampment made of white nks. A Redwin g fluttered in the breeze. Beneath ity a bloody, smoky battlefield. ¡°Have you ever felt the sea breeze?? Khad whispered to the captain¡¯s ear. ¡°It is like the feather on the bottom of a bird¡¯s wing, so soft... so light...¡± Khad removed his hand from the captain¡¯s throat, allowing blood gushing from the wound. ¡°I like the sea.¡± He spread his arms wide, his soft cheeks were flushed with pink. ¡°Oh,¡± said Khad, smiling. ¡°I have another dream. I want to own a warm ocean.¡± ¡°Evil!!¡± Far out in the sea, a speedboat came hurtling toward him. Two officers were driving a speedboat, on which stood a middle-aged woman with long blue hair. Speedboats appeared simultaneously in several other directions, each with someone standing on it. There was a strange surge of energy in each of them. A total of four speedboats carrying four people approached the coast quickly. Of the four persons, two of them were Maham and Kamen, who had previously appeared in Xilin. They had been searching everywhere for Sarroux, trying to dig out the secret information of the Ironfist Society from him, and they did not expect to meet the special envoy of the Ironfist Society, Khad, in the Veleon Inds. ording to the unspoken rules that everyone follows, the transcendents did not generally ughter ordinary people or cause widespread shock. But Khad did not care. He killed hundreds of Redwin¡¯s soldiers in a single blow and then continued to hunt and kill all sorts of soldiers throughout the inds. The strongest men of the entire Veleon were three three-winged colonels. After the first colonel was killed, the other two were in a panic. They fled as soon as the crackdown failed. The rest of the army was killed and destroyed in a matter of days. The shock caused by this immediately caused a sensation in Redwin. Redwin had to send a special squad to attack and kill Khad. At a distance of more than twenty meters, two pale green balls rose from Maham¡¯s feet and carried him through the air,nding him easily on the beach. Meanwhile, Kamen¡¯s feet shone with green light and then took off like a cannonball, crashing straight into the beach. The two men were the strongest men who were closest to the ind, and since they hade to investigate the Ironfist Society, they automatically became the main force of the operation, moving rapidly in the direction of Khad. Feeling the rapid approach of the two masters of Heaven Spire, the smile on Khad¡¯s face gradually calmed down, reced by excitement. ¡°Come on...¡± He stepped forward, his arms stacked up behind him like waves pushing him forward. ¡°Ready!¡± Maham called out. Hum!!! A green light rose from him and exploded, turning into a pir of light, followed immediately by the other three. The four pirs of light connected with each other in the air and quickly formed arge, thin film, which enveloped Khad in the center. Chapter 194 - The Heart: Part 3

Chapter 194: The Heart: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Huh?¡± Lin Sheng was testing the ability of the Steel Lord he just summoned in the rented unit. All of a sudden, he felt that the connection between Khad and him began to be vague as if something had hindered the connection between their souls. ¡°The masters of Redwin?¡± Lin Sheng closed his eyes, gathered his mental focus, and felt that Khad seemed to be in trouble. ¡°Last time Redwin suffered a great loss. They must be very well prepared this time. Khad can¡¯t die...¡± Lin Sheng pondered for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s the right time for the Steel Lord to try.¡± He thought for a moment and then turned to look at the old man standing there, waiting. The Steel Lord was a part of his consciousness that he controlled. After getting the instruction, he bowed slightly, turned and scattered into ck smoke, dissipating. ¡°Hopefully he¡¯ll be able to get Khad back.¡± Lin Sheng nned to let Khade back and rece him with the Steel Lord. The Steel Lord had far more loyalty and subservience than Khad. He was, after all, a real knight. And Lin Sheng was also very curious. How strong was the Steel Lord? He paused for a moment and then began to pick up the rubbish left over from the ritual. Suddenly, he heard police sirens outside. Police cars pulled up in the middle of the road. The officers got out of the car, pulled out their guns and rushed into a yellow vi next to the building he was in. Lin Sheng packed up the most critical ritual circle and went to the window to look down. Yellow lines had been drawn around the vi. A fat man who looked like the sheriff was holding a walkie-talkie and seemed to be talking to the police inside. Lin Sheng sensed a faint wave of evil energy came from the vi and then quickly dissipated. Several auxiliary police officers carried several bodies out of the vi. ¡°It seems that the Xylond is not as peaceful as I imagined.¡± Lin Sheng returned to the living room. After hiding the rest of the ritual material, he strolled downstairs. Along the way back, there were many roadside barbecue stands. Lin Sheng felt a little hungry, so he randomly sat down at the stand where there were not many guests. ¡°Boss, I¡¯d like fifteen small octopuses, two eggnts, a bowl of cuttlefish rice.¡± Lin Sheng liked the barbecue here. The taste here in Xylond was spicier. They added a lot of spice, which could conceal the fishy taste of seafood. ¡°Extra hot,¡± he added. ¡°Okay, young man.¡± The vendor smiled and gave a thumbs up. ¡°My special sauce is hotter than average.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m used to it. I can¡¯t really taste the spiciness of chilies.¡± Lin Sheng said honestly. The Fire Dragon blood in him numbed his sensitivity to hot stimulus. ¡°Okay!¡± The boss picked up a lot of octopus, spread ayer of red hot pepper sauce on them and grilled them on the charcoal fire. After sitting for a while, more and more guests came to the stand, and almost all the tables were upied. ¡°Do you mind if I sit here?¡± A man dressed like an office worker in a ck suit sat down at Lin Sheng¡¯s table. ¡°Not at all.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Thank you.¡± The man ordered a beer and some oysters. Lin Sheng noticed the man slowly chewing the oysters with raw garlic cloves. Oysters were not usually eaten with raw garlic cloves. And, for the first time, he saw someone eating a barbecue meticulously and slowly as if they were eating a formal meal. Halfway through, Lin Sheng put down his octopus and reached for the free tea. ¡°Bro, you just came out of that unfinished building?¡± asked the man suddenly. ¡°Yes. I rent an apartment there.¡± ¡°I heard it¡¯s haunted,¡± the man sighed. ¡°I was in the neighborhood, and when I saw youing out of there, I knew you must have been cheated.¡± ¡°Hmm... Perhaps.¡± Lin Sheng poured himself a ss of tea. ¡°Give me some, too.¡± The man smiled and held out his ss. ¡°Thank you. I remember when I was young, I used to live in this building. The reason is simple. The rent is cheap.¡± The man chuckled. ¡°But...¡± ¡°But?¡± ¡°But then something happened...¡± The man looked at him wistfully. ¡°It was at that moment that I made up my mind that I want to be somebody someday. That is my dream...¡± ¡°Dreams?¡± Lin Sheng looked thoughtful. ¡°Bro, what¡¯s your dream?¡± The man asked casually. ¡°My dream... Live more freely...¡± ¡°More freedom? Well said.¡± The manughed. ¡°That is not an easy goal. You have to give a lot to be able to just see the hope.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m still young.¡± Lin Sheng added. ¡°It¡¯s good to be young. Cheers!¡± the man said, raising his ss, and so did Lin Sheng. ¡°So do you what happened to the vi over there?¡± The man put down his ss and continued, ¡°Some people are too greedy and will never be satisfied with what they have, then things happen. Some people believe that there¡¯s no such thing as a free lunch, while some people think you¡¯re doing him a disservice by giving him something and not expecting anything in return.¡± Lin Sheng just listened to the man quietly. ¡°So, humans are reallyplicated creatures...¡± The man sighed. Lin Sheng took a nce along the direction of the man¡¯s gaze and found him looking at a young police officer outside the vi. The officer looked righteous, had thick eyebrows andrge bright eyes that seemed to have energy thatsted forever. ¡°Humans aren¡¯tplicated at all,¡± said Lin Sheng. ¡°Oh?¡± The man¡¯s eyes fell on Lin Sheng, waiting for his answer. ¡°Everyone has something they want. He doesn¡¯t want it because you¡¯re not giving him what he wants. It¡¯s simple,¡± Lin Sheng exined calmly. ¡°That makes sense...¡± The man thought for a moment and did not seem to understand this simple truth. ¡°Nice talking to you.¡± The manughed. ¡°Well, how do you get someone who rejected you back into your life?¡± Lin Sheng thought about it and then asked, ¡°Why were you rejected?¡± ¡°Because of my natural identity....¡± The man smiled sadly. ¡°Maybe knock the person out and drag him or her away?¡± Lin Sheng joked. Chapter 195 - Confidence: Part 1

Chapter 195: Confidence: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°The existence of the Ironfist Society is an obstacle to our n to annex Xilin.¡± ¡°First, get rid of the followers, and thenunched aprehensive siege against the Ironfist Society to set an example. Operation Blood and Fire must not bepromised!¡± ¡°The actions of Khad has severely undermined the strongholds from where the militaryunched its offensive against Xilin. But we also need to reassess the strength of the Ironfist Society to reduce risk.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. As our military has now seriously stretched to the max, we should be extra careful when fighting a multiple-front war.¡± Inside Redwin¡¯s Third Command of Xilin Operation, eachmander had a different opinion, and each was trying to convince the other. Sitting at the middle was a stout middle-aged man with shoulder-length blonde hair. His expression was grave, silent as he waited for the others to finish expressing their opinions. It was only until thest person wrapped up his speech that he knocked the table lightly. ¡°So far, Khad is the only person we are concerned with. Aside from him, we know little about the Ironfist Society. In contrast, the tacit alliance between the Heart of the Ocean and the Revivalists is more worrying.¡± ¡°General, you mean...¡± An elder asked in a low voice. ¡°I will inform Isaac, let him ry the message to the Heaven¡¯s Spire, and we will work out a strategy depending on the situation of the encirclement.¡± The middle-aged man said faintly. ¡°If during the encirclement of Khad, the Ironfist Society responds with strong resistance, we will dy the operation and concentrate on gathering intelligence. If they could not even handle this kind of assault, it only means that they have little counterforce, and I will sign the special paper tounch a full-scale operation against the Ironfist Society.¡± ¡°Depending on the situation. Good one, General. But we may face more pressure from the Heaven¡¯s Spire,¡± amander said. ¡°It is akin to using them to corner the Ironfist Society.¡± He frowned. ¡°That is their business. It was the Starfury n that started the vicious circle with the Ironfist Society. So we don¡¯t have to worry about it,¡± the general said calmly. ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°Then, we shall proceed with the n. Next, about the Strike Team Bluewhale deployment by the Heart of the Ocean...¡± The arguments arose in themand center again. ... While talking with the man, Lin Sheng drank like a child who had not seen water for a week before he headed back to his dorm and hit the sack. In his dream, instead of going around again, he meditated in the temple. He was still struggling to digest after collecting the soul of the Steel Lord. It would be a while before he dared to harvest another one. He would probably get schizophrenia over time if he could not ovee the soul indigestion problem. That was why he had taken a short break, letting his mind do its work before going hunting again. While meditating, Lin Sheng gained many ax skills from the memories of the Steel Lord. But what really gave the Steel Lord strength was not martial arts, but the blood of the Fire Dragon flowing in his veins. In the memories of the Steel Lord, the Fire Dragon bloodline was declining across generations, but it was still far more powerful and ten times more concentrated than that of Lin Sheng. This was also on top of the mighty Redstar battle-ax that he inherited from his family and the imprable armor. No wonder the Steel Lord could ascend to the top echelon of ckfeather City to be a senator. Early morning in the lecture theater, Lin Sheng saw the library girl again. Wearing a pair of sses, the girl sat alone in the corner listening to the lecture, face cool. She looked gracefully quiet. But Lin Sheng sensed strange energy in her. ¡°What the hell?¡± As he sat down in his chair, his gut feeling told him that something was amiss. So he skimmed his surroundings, eyes sweeping across the lecture theater. He was dumbfounded as one out of ten persons he saw carried the same strange energy that he found in the unfinished buildingst night. This energy was nasty, unafraid of physical attack, and could only be dispelled using a special power. On the stage, the lecturer was writing on the huge ckboard, which was already filled with variousplex forme and equations. Below the stage, most students were busy writing notes, utterly unaware of what was wrong with their bodies. Lin Sheng could only see this energy after making a new breakthrough in his sacred power. He had almost attained Level-5, thanks to the soul power of the Steel Lord. ¡°Oh, I think it is necessary to waken a divine ability to be a Level-5 Temple Warrior.¡± A thought came to mind as Lin Sheng recalled the memories of Temple Warriors. With that awful lot of memories in his head, his mind became an encyclopedia. All he needed was to enter a keyword, and the contents he looked for would pop up before his mind¡¯s eye. Just as he wished, the information about the divine ability necessary for Level-5 sacred power came to mind very quickly. Divine Word¡ªNowhere to Hide. In the long course of cultivation, the temple warriors have awakened a pair of eyes that could see the extraordinary existence. These eyes can see most of the unhidden extraordinary beings without needing the use of sacred power. It is a passive ability. ¡°No wonder I could suddenly see the renovation workerst night.¡± Lin Sheng suspected he had seen a ghost. Same as the man ofst night whom he felt not quite ¡®ordinary.¡¯ But his focal point was not on the man himself but his identity as a regr police officer. And this made Lin Sheng felt a hell lot better. When the bell rang, Lin Sheng got to his feet, packing his stuff on the desk. ¡°I wonder what the situation on Khad¡¯s side is.¡± When he asionally focused his mind on meditating, he could sense Khad was inbat. But what he could not perceive was the intensity of the battle. Although both Khad and the Steel Lord were the avatars of his soul, Lin Sheng could only fully receive Khad¡¯stest experience when he was back. ¡°Just hope that everything is fine.¡± Lin Shengmented. Khad had been in a fight with someone for a night, and Lin Sheng was eager to know who would emerge a victor. The least he could do now was hoping the Steel Lord could rescue Khad in time before he was ughtered. Carrying his bag and walking out of the lecture theater, Lin Sheng suddenly rooted to the spot before the handrail on the staircase. His already weak mental connection with Khad had suddenly broken off entirely. He scrambled to reconnect with Khad, but it was futile. ¡°Please don¡¯t die... Khad.¡± By nature, elemental summoning did not muster the same creature repeatedly. Just like the soldiers that Lin Sheng had summoned before, most of them had perished, and when Lin Sheng mustered these soldiers again, they were not the same persons. Just that they looked alike. So, he was unsure what would be the consequences if Khad perished. ¡°More so, this battle could affect the force projection of the Ironfist Society in the world. Only through force projection that I can gain some breathing space and quickly develop my abilities.¡± Chapter 196 - Confidence: Part 2

Chapter 196: Confidence: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion On a rtivelyrge isle in the middle of the lush Veleon Inds, a giant light shield of a hundred meters across was glimmering in the air. However, it was invisible to worldly eyes. Within the shield, thousands of pale arms struggled frantically like a school of frightened sardines. Green rays radiating down the sky broke the wriggling arms into pus that seeped into the ground. ¡°Go to hell, cluster of a thousand arms!¡± Thick clouds of smoke rose and spread in the air following a violent explosion. Following immediately, arge swarm of gigantic pale arms flew out like cobras toward the four persons. ¡°This is one hell of a fight!¡± Khad thundered, his voice sounding not as kiddish as previously. He was ambushed and caged inside a massive light shield, unable to move his body. It had never crossed his mind that Redwin could be capable of pulling off such a feat. His arms were disintegrating. By right, as long as there was still an arm left, Khad could still regrow his limbs despite the vast distance between him and Lin Sheng. But the range limitation sometimes worked like the Achilles heel to his ability. ¡°Finish him! He is weakening now!¡± Maham was draped in glittering green armor, firmly clenching a ckthorn in hand. As he stomped his foot on the ground, jade-green pearls that looked like stars in the sky instantly rose, emanatingyers of a gauge-like halo as they spun and circled him. ¡°Roaring Battlestar!¡± He clutched the ckthorn with both hands, rays of green light bursting out from behind him and vanishing into the thorn in his hands. ¡°Go!¡± In a split second, the ckthorn went off from his hands with an earth-shattering boom. As soon as Khad¡¯s pale face emerged from the thick smoke and took shape, the ckthorn hit him at high speed, instantly blowing a massive ck hole in his face. ¡°No!¡± Khad howled with his mouth wide open. A sea of pale arms gushed out from his mouth instantaneously, flooding every inch ofnd inside the light shield. The arms climbed and scraped on the surface like swarms of insects with razor-sharp nails. Their movement was lightning quick, and they were incredibly tough. These arms were entirely different animals than the previous ones. As Maham was exhausted after using his killer move, he became slower in his reflexes. Unable to dodge in time, the rapidly approaching arms hit him head-on. ¡°Do you see that? Your ugly face!¡± Khadughed and roared. ¡°Even Heaven has shown bias because of my beauty!¡± As Khadughed frenziedly, a blinding white light suddenly appeared on his brow. While the surroundings turned dark, the white light on Khad¡¯s forehead grew brighter and brighter. ¡°Go to hell! Arm of the Grim!¡± A gigantic white arm with four fingers spreading open reached out from the ring white light and grabbed Maham. Despite the slow movement, the sheer level of intimidating energy of the arm could stun its target, preventing the target from escaping. When invisible energy began to bind Maham like a chain, he was frozen in ce, watching as the gigantic arm approached. ¡°No! I will not die here!¡± His eyes were wide open, bloodshot began to appear in the corner of his eyes because he had overstretched the surrounding tissues. Quickly, pieces of green chain emerged behind him and transformed into a faceless and deformed giant. ¡°Celestial Spirits!¡± Maham spread out his arms with difficulty, looking up the sky and roared. As the chain giant behind him murmured and dark electric arcs exploded in a burst, he reached out, meeting the white Arm of the Grim directly. A sparkling dark pearl that gleamed with a rainbow halo appeared on the palm of the giant, shing with the Arm of the Grim. The air turned still at once, everything inside the light shield became static, as if an enormous pressure was keeping things from moving. Following immediately, a fulgent light of different colors burst out from the point of collision in a spectacr explosion. Not able to pull away in time, the fire quickly engulfed Maham and Khad. Shockwave st the other two persons who maintained the light shield, sending them flying outward and hitting them unconscious. Maham was thrown into the sea, creating a trench as deep as ten meters and as long as a hundred. Meanwhile, arms continued to flow up and into Khad¡¯s body, helping him resist the colored mes. But it was futile. The force of the explosion was at least twice that of his strength. The giant face of his crumbled soundlessly, his steely arms disintegrating and vanishing altogether. From ten meters in height, his face quickly copsed, leaving behind a tiny, partial face floating in the air. ¡°My face!¡± Khad wailed as an excruciating pain that he had never experienced before threw him into insanity again. ¡°My spotless face... you... you.... unforgivable!¡± Khad scrambled to regenerate his face, but the wound just would not heal and close. He was floating in midair, roaring and wailing like hell as colored energy lingered in his wounds, burning his body, making him weaker and weaker. Now, Khad could no longer maintain himself in the air, his face dropping slowly to the sea and sank to the bottom, sshing up tons of gravel and seawater. ¡°I¡ªI will eat you alive!¡± Khad shrilled, trying to grow some new arms to attack Maham, who was floating not far away. Just when some arms sprung up, it triggered a round of smaller explosions of colored fire, hurting him even more seriously. Maham was floating in the sea,ughing as he saw the battered Khad. ¡°Let me end this.¡± He raised his mostly charred right arm with difficulty. A finger slowly glowed in green as he pointed toward Khad. ¡°Finger Cannon!¡± A ray of green light shot out from his finger, hitting Khad on the forehead. Unfortunately, it barely scratched his skin and made some ck smoke. His vastly weaker strength had not only failed, but Maham also spat a mouthful of blood and became even more vulnerable. This time, Khad burst intoughter as both of them had exhausted theirst bit of energy. But they quietly scrambled to heal themselves, racing against each other to regain their strength. ¡°Victory is mine!¡± Maham looked determined. Pieces of translucent jade-green pearls surrounded him as he seemed like he was using dark energy to expedite the healing process. On the other hand, Khad was silently drawing his strength together to put out the colored mes in his wounds. Considering their current conditions, even the most mediocre Transcendent could now finish them with the snap of a finger. While the burning colored mes had significantly weakened Khad¡¯s strength, Maham¡¯s remaining level of dark energy was much less than that of One Winger. The most crucial factor that would decide their fate was who would recover first. Chapter 197 - Confidence: Part 3

Chapter 197: Confidence: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The undting waves crashed violently against the rugged rocks and broke up, leaving behind a nket of white foam on the water surface. Under the sunlight, the white foams had only stayed for a second before bursting and vanishing out of the water. The sea at the coastline was like wild horses with waves rolling in long and white fringed and disappeared. Here, a white-haired man with a perfect body shape holding a metal staff slowly emerged from the deep water with his short white hair fluttered in the wind. He wore short sleeves and a pair of long white pants, his muscr chest was clearly visible. Strangely, the water did not wet his clothes but just slid off the surface of the fabric. ¡°Interesting. I can¡¯t believe that I have already agreed with the Starfury n and do this myself.¡± The man looked up at the ind up ahead. His blue eyes scanned the surroundings as he slowly trudged toward the shore. Earlier, he thought the crackdown team led by Maham should be able toplete the mission. He did not expect to sense the drastically declining signs of life of Maham while onboard the boat. So he had no choice but to do it himself. ¡°What the heck Maham is doing? Has he thrown all my teachings to the wind?¡± He appeared frustrated. Holding the staff in hand, he bent his legs slightly before springing up in the air toward the inds. His movement was quick as he could leap a hundred meters in a beat. By now, he could already sense Maham was close by. In just a few minutes, the man finally saw a fragile green light shield up ahead, inside of which was Maham, who was critically wounded, and Khad, who was almost decapitated. ¡°Teacher!¡± Maham seemed to have sensed the man¡¯s energy and looked back, his eyes emanating an excitement. ¡°Kill him, Teacher Vanyi.¡± He called out aloud. The man¡¯s eyesnded on Khad. ¡°Another fallen one who has discarded his body?¡± While speaking, he raised his staff,unching himself in the air in an unhurried yet swift motion. In just a beat, he leaped across a hundred meters, and his staff hade within Khad¡¯s sight. ¡°No!¡± Khad flinched in fear as if he had sensed the ending. But he could not dodge the staff that came at him at high speed. All of a sudden, the staff stopped a mere inch from his brow, and powerful wind of kic energy gusted past him. The man froze in motion, eyes squinting as he slowly turned to look back over his shoulder. Some distance behind him, a gray-haired old man, draped in maroon armor, was lifting Maham out of the sea. ¡°Evil.¡± The old man clenched Maham by his neck, dragging him along as he moved forward. ¡°Kid, you are on the wrong path.¡± He looked calmly in the eyes of the man holding a staff. ¡°Who do you think you are to lecture me?¡± The man sneered, his eyes moving around stiffly with a viciously evil look. ¡°Let¡¯s see how evil you have be.¡± A white light shed in the old man¡¯s eyes, and he instantly saw a faint red glow of evil on the man. All it took was a couple cleansing to get rid of this red light, he thought to himself. ¡°The sacred light told me you are a goner,¡± said the old man calmly. ¡°What do you want?¡± The younger man was perplexed. ¡°Do you want to exchange hostages?¡± ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. The one in your hand is a devil too. So you all shall die!¡± The old man suddenly roared and went up in dark-red mes. The mes materialized and formed a double ax in his hand. ¡°Dispel the evil! Kill!¡± He lunged at the man and Khad at once. mes that dropped on the sea ignited the water instantly. Khad¡¯s hopeful expression copsed. While the man with the staff was transfixed, Khad took this opportunity to get away by disintegrating into arms and swam away in all directions. ¡°Crazy old man!¡± Caught off guard, the man braced his staff in front in anticipation of the double ax attack. Their weapons collided. He felt terrific energy travel up his arms and throughout his body, sending the sand under his feet flying into the air. He could not believe that he had been overpowered. He was born with extraordinary strength and was the most powerful one in terms of brute force strength in the entire Heaven¡¯s Spire. This was even before taking his cultivation of dark energy into consideration. But this old man who came out of nowhere had quickly ovee him. ¡°Celestial Spirit!¡± He took a step back, and a green giant formed by chains appeared behind him. As the giant extended his hand, a ck pearl emitting light with different colors appeared on his palm. Immediately, he thrust his hand at the old man. The same move, but the power and effect were entirely different from what Maham could unleash. Not only Celestial Spirit of the chain giant was bigger, more powerful, and faster, but the colored lights of the ck pearl were also double in intensity¡ªa unique feature of Stygian Force of a Six Winger. The dark energy of a Six Winger was not only powerful, but the skills it used were even of a higher level. More so, with the changes in the dark energy. After bing a Six Winger, the cohesive force of the dark energy would undergo essential changes, forming a sturdier structure under higher exogenic forces. This transformed dark energy was dubbed Stygian Force. Darksiders who mastered this Stygian Force could quickly use their strength to its limit, and this meant every move was at its highest power. ¡°You must have a death wish! Now, let me send you to hell!¡± Vanyi wielded his staff back before striking at the old man again at lightning speed with a series of airbursts sound. His attack came in thirteen sessive blows. The chain giant¡¯srge hand had also hit Vanyi hard in the chest. They both had hit each other, but Vanyi felt as if his staff had struck on a solid metal wall. ¡°You...¡± Vanyi sensed something amiss and scrambled to pull back. But his staff was stuck on the armor of the old man. ¡°I am the Steel Lord with unparalleled armor, the strongest of all!¡± The old man raised his double ax and struck down with a terrifying force of red mes. All of a sudden, a loud boom was heard from afar, as a ck shell was fired from hundreds of meters away. The shell cut through the air, hit the back of the Steel Lord with precision, and exploded into a mushroom cloud of fire. The st shook the Steel Lord, jolting him to cause him missing its target. As his body glowed in a green light, Vanyi shifted and reappeared beside Maham in the blink of an eye. ¡°I will remember you, the Steel Lord!¡± He gritted his teeth, taking Maham with him and fled. The Steel Lord held his double ax and was about to pursue. But another shell hit him and buried him in clouds of fire. When the fire subsided, a dark-red shield had formed behind him as he gazed at the gunboat that had gone far away in the distance. He then turned around, grabbed the mutted body of Khad, and darted in another direction. Chapter 198 - Development: Part 1 Chapter 198: Development: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The remaining half of Khad¡¯s body was unceremoniously tossed on the ground. ¡°Is this how you treat the person who once saved you?¡± While Khad struggled to pull himself to sit up, the Steel Lord held his double ax and came to his side. The double ax suddenly broke up, dispersed like flying wings before transforming into the shape of a fan. Following immediately, a vibration that sounded as if the roar of the engine was heard in the air as four columns of dark-red fire rose and surrounded Khad. ¡°What are you doing?¡± A gut feeling told Khad that something was wrong. But before he could figure it out, the Steel Lord had swung down his ax and slit his lower body with blood quickly oozing out of the wound. ¡°You...¡± Khad was as furious just as he was shocked. Just before he could react further, the giant ax in the Steel Lord¡¯s hand melted and rose up in the form of dark-red mes, from which a semi-transparent skull of a dragon emerged. ¡°Where is the offering?¡± The dragon hissed, its long red jaws growing with spikes drew close to Khad. ¡°It is before you.¡± The Steel Lord pointed at Khad. ¡°But I need to bring him back to the master. His body is too massive and cumbersome to carry. So you can eat him and just leave me a leg.¡± ¡°Great.¡± The evil dragon opened its mouth, gnawing Khad into pieces with its saw-like teeth. Khad¡¯s cry of pain could be heard from the far-flung corners of the ind. ¡°Steel Lord, I will kill you sooner orter!¡± Soon, Khad¡¯s cry stopped, followed by the horrific sound of the crushing and crackling of the bones. ... Three dayster. In the forest behind Yinglu Private Academy, Xylond. Lin Sheng¡¯s face was grim as he looked at the Steel Lord, who kneeled on one knee before him with a leg on his back. ¡°So, are you telling me that this is the Khad you have brought back?¡± Lin Sheng looked at the leg and could not believe what he saw. Earlier, due to Khad¡¯s condition and that he had difficulty in concentrating on his meditation, he did not check with the Steel Lord through his mental connection to see what happened. This slip of the mind had caused Khad¡¯s an arm and a leg¡ªactually his entire body. Now, Lin Sheng was unsure who to express his anger. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± said the Steel Lord. By merely taking a short mental tour, it was not difficult for Lin Sheng to find out what the Steel Lord had done during the mission. After all, the Steel Lord was only an avatar, and mental exchanges with an avatar could be done in a snap of his fingers. But Lin Sheng had never intervened in thebat actions of his avatars. All he did was just injecting hismand into the avatars and forget about it. This was because if he were to intervene and take control of every avatar¡¯s actions, thebat strength of the summoned creatures would be significantly reduced. But then, even if he wanted to, he could not. Lin Sheng had figured it out without needing the Steel Lord to tell him. The Steel Lord had a fervently destructive zeal against anything evil. His double ax and armor existed and feasted on the evils. On the other hand, as a being that had devoured a thousand souls, Khad was an unforgivable devil in the eyes of the Steel Lord. The fact that he had not eaten Khad entirely in the absence of Lin Sheng¡¯s intervention spoke volumes about his self-control ability. As the leg squirmed and dissolved, it slowly reshaped and regrew into the body of a white-haired, beautiful boy. Now, Khad, critically wounded, kneeled on one knee before Lin Sheng. Being one of Lin Sheng¡¯s avatars did not prevent Khad from having a strong sense of hatred and hostility toward the Steel Lord. ¡°Perhaps I shouldn¡¯t have sent these two guys on the same mission,¡± Lin Sheng said to himself helplessly. The two summoned creatures had returned, but the oue was not what he had expected. The evil-abhorring Steel Lord and the bloodthirsty Khad were very different creatures that belonged to two opposing camps. In frustration, Lin Sheng made up his mind to conduct a review of the independent actions of the two during their mission. The body of the Steel Lord had magnified his disgust and hate toward evil to the extreme level. Although he had only a fragment of his memories left, the Steel Lord was destined to be the cleanser and destroyer of evils. On the other hand, Khad was at the other extreme. He devoured the living, stopping at nothing at making himself stronger, which made him the recognized leading figure in the evil camp. So Lin Sheng came to a decision and willed in his mind. Immediately, the Steel Lord nodded, rose to his feet and took a few steps back before turning around and leaving at once. The Steel Lord would rece Khad in setting up a new branch of Ironfist Society in the outside world. Meanwhile, Khad would be grounded and staying under Lin Sheng¡¯s scrutiny until he fully recovered his strength. Right now, Khad was so feeble that even a regr One Winger could easily defeat him. Lin Sheng was silent for a while after the Steel Lord left, while Khad transformed into plumes of ck smoke and hid in the surroundings. ¡°The Heaven¡¯s Spire...¡± Lin Sheng recalled the strong man who wielded a staff to fight the Steel Lord. ¡°The power had been revealed. It now depends on how you make a choice.¡± Thetest news came that Redwin forces had shed with troops from Xilin and Miga at the same time. It looked like the tension between Redwin and Miga arose due to the conflict of interest in Xilin. But it was also because of the undeniable fact that Redwin¡¯s aggression was unsettling the nations surrounding Xilin. These countries had started talks of a possible military alliance to counter Redwin, and because of this, the international rtions had be extremelyplicated. On the other hand, Lin Sheng did not believe that there were only six wings in Heaven¡¯s Spire. For sure, the Six Wings were rivals to the Darksiders, which were also the Transcendents. But this did not mean that all Transcendents were Darksiders, just like the one Lin Sheng dad encountered the night before. After staying silently in the forest for a while, Lin Sheng left and returned to his dorm. ... The snow was falling from the sky onto the forest of spires and covering the earth in a thick nket of white. On the staircase to the Heaven¡¯s Spire in the middle of the white-stone spires, a group of tall figures, all draped in a cloak, was hustling up the ram to the highest point. The snow squeaked under their leather boots, leaving behind pairs of footprints in the shape of a line of gray marks, which was then quickly buried by the falling snowkes. The leading figure was a burly man with short, white hair. He held a white metal staff, eyes grim as he asionally raised his head, looking up into the distance. ¡°Teacher, I don¡¯t want to put you in the situation for the sake of me.¡± A frail voice of a male came from behind the white-haired man. The male dropped his hoodie, revealing the pale face of Maham. ¡°Shut up! You are my student! All you need to do is to obey my instructions!¡± Vanyi, the white-haired man chided. Chapter 199 - Development: Part 2

Chapter 199: Development: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Teacher¡ª¡± Just as Maham wanted to speak again, the person draped in a cloak stopped him. ¡°Mate, it is no longer your problem now. Just trust Teacher,¡± a deep female voice was heard saying under the cloak. Maham stayed silent, gritting his teeth and looking back at Vanyi behind him, his eyes moist. The Heaven¡¯s Spire of Redwin was not a paradise as the outside world would like to think it to be. It was a ce where the strongest Transcendents of Redwin gathered and immersed themselves in the pursuit of the most powerful uses of dark energy. This was why Heaven¡¯s Spire had produced the most powerful monster of dark energy. The study of mysterious dark energy in Redwin had brought about a massive system of Transcendents, the lowest rank of which was called the Darksiders, which was thergest group in the system. Vanyi nced ahead into the jungle of spires in snow. The solemn, wide ancient ram seemed to extend endlessly beyond the field of vision. But he knew at the end of the stairs was where the entrance to Heaven¡¯s Spire was. The ce was one of the mysterious realms of the world. ¡°Let¡¯s press on. Your wound will only heal when you get there. I think you should know what it means to you when a Darksider loses his dark energy.¡± Maham was agape and could say nothing in response. The heinous name, Darksider, did note about without a reason. For the rest of the journey, nobody said a word as everyone silently followed Vanyi trudging up the ram. Despite Maham¡¯s injury, no one had offered to help nor carry him. It was a test for those who wanted to enter Heaven¡¯s Spire. No one was exempted from this tacit rule. ... There was no shortcut except absorbing the mysterious energy from the surroundings for Khad to recover his strength. On the other hand, after the Steel Lord devoured Khad¡¯s body, his mental connection with Lin Sheng had be even better, and the effective range was even wider than before. The show of force in Veleon Inds and the defeat of Maham and Vanyi, who was also a six winger, Redwin was forced to reassess the Ironfist Society and how it posed a grave threat to them. Lin Sheng was flipping through the newspaper and stumbling upon the news about Redwin. The article was about the defeat of the Second Mechanized Division of Redwin, which after raiding two cities of Xilin, the division suddenly suffered a heavy casualty in a surprise attack by the peacekeeping forces of Miga. Since then, Miga was practically at war with Redwin without a formal deration of war. It had deployed a massive number of mechanized infantry along its border with Redwin and upied thousands of square kilometers of Redwin territory in just a day. At the same time, Xilin had seized this opportunity and begun to work with Miga, nning tounch a counterattack to drive the Redwin army out from his territory. Brutal wars erupted, just like what was reported in the news. Lin Sheng shook his head as he knew the level of corruption that gued Xilin. It might be possible for Xilin to win one or two skirmishes when its enemy was under siege in all directions, but entirely driving Redwin out of its territory was just a pipe dream. He put down the international version paper and picked up the Shermanton Morning Post. Reading the paper had be his habittely. This was the first time he read the local papers since he moved to Shermanton. He sat at the desk in his dorm, spreading the paper wide open. Soon, a headline quickly caught his eyes. ¡°Justice or evil? Hero or criminal?¡± A high-resolution night photo showing a young police officer, whose face looked hideous, punching a short man in a business suit, was just below the headline. From the picture, blood-covered bodies of men in ck suits were lying on the grassy ground. Some of them had even their limbs broken and deformed. The main article went like this: ¡°There is no denying that the assault of thirteen members of a gangster group by Officer Zeon has caused an uproar in the city. ¡°ording to reliable testimonies, Officer Zeon is upright and emotionally stable. But he would show incredible brutal and manic behaviors when he is emotionally disturbed. ¡°During numerous police operations in the past, Zeon had caused severe injury, sometimes death, to suspects. For this reason, he is believed to be suffering from severe sadistic obsessivepulsive disorder. ¡°There had been no solid proof to back up this im, however. But now, eyewitnesses hade forward with proof in photo...¡± The rest of the article mainly contained a ton of negative analyses to smear the reputation of this particr police officer. Lin Sheng browsed the article casually and then put down the newspaper. He recognized this officer. While he was drinking with a mysterious man the other night, the mysterious man kept gazing at Officer Zeon. From the words of the strange man, Lin Sheng could deduce that something was amiss. But he did not give much thought to it because he thought it did not concern him. Now, as Lin Sheng looked at the newspaper photo, he began to feel things more interesting. With Redwin in a quagmire, it would be a long while before they woulde after the Ironfist Society. Coupled with the smokescreen of the Steel Lord, Lin Sheng knew that he was going to be very safe in this city. He had been a bundle of nerves in every step he took. Now, with the pressure suddenly taken off him, he felt a sense of relief. ¡°It looks like Shermanton is also an interesting ce.¡± He put down the paper and exhaled slowly. He had never felt so good¡ªso relieved that he began to develop an interest in the trivial news. All of a sudden, the dorm door was kicked open as his two dorm mates bulging in. One of them held a basketball in the arms, and both of them were sweating like a pig. Upon seeing Lin Sheng sitting at the desk, the smile on their faces froze. Since Lin Shengst showed off his iron handprint, his three dorm mates had been avoiding him like the gue for fear of angering him again. The bogeyman was the iron handprint, which seemed to have been smoothened over by some powerful forces. Since then, they would be yellow-bellied whenever Lin Sheng was in the dorm. The two quickly cleaned themselves up, changed into a new set of clothes and scrambled out of the door¡ªall done under ten minutes. Just when Lin Sheng got to his feet and was ready to go to the library to study ancientnguages, he suddenly realized that he would soon run out of money and needed to find a way to replenish the fund. Putting on his jacket, Lin Sheng left the dorm and headed to the library with his bag in his hand. While on his way, his mind was working hard, trying to figure out a way toe up with a moneymaking undertaking to support himself in Shermanton. Robberies were definitely out of the way in the long term. It must be something legal and having the ability to collect a vast amount of ingredients. As Lin Sheng came before the ancientnguage department, he deftly went inside and sat at his usual spot. After putting down his bag, he went to retrieve the book that he hadst left off from the shelf. This must be the least popr ce in the entire library, he thought, because he was the only person here. The librarian, who was seen yawning incessantly behind the counter, must have a sleepless night yesterday. Chapter 200 - Development: Part 3

Chapter 200: Development: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng sat down and continued to ponder his next n. ¡°Building my own influence from zero is too slow. I must leverage the local group by making a deal with them to get what I want. But what can I offer them in exchange?¡± He began to assess the resources in hand. Quickly, he thought of a feasible n that might worth a try. ¡°I don¡¯t only need money for the summoning ceremony but also more resources for other types of rituals and experiments. I need to solve the funding problem quickly.¡± After determining so, he continued with his study. ... Adolf drew his woman in his arms, looked down at her, and nted a fiery kiss on her lips. High on liquor and tempted by expensive handbags and jewelry, the woman became Adolf¡¯stest ymate. As the son of the owner of Chriss Group, Adolf was destined to inherit an enormous wealth from his father in the future. At least that was the perception in the eyes of outsiders. Indulging in glitzy nightlife and sleeping around, he was living a life of extravaganza that the average people could have never dreamed of. No one except himself knew the tedium and emptiness of such a way of life. What was more, he did not like the slightest bit of it. But he could not help himself as there was nothing else that could fill his emptiness, especially after he learned of Zeon, who, just like him, was the son of a wealthy family. However, Zeon had broken free from the shackles of his family and lived the life that he wanted. On the contrary, Adolf could not. Although the Zeon family¡¯s Yuandu Corporation and his family¡¯s Chriss Group were the toppanies in this part of the world, Adolf¡¯s father and elder sister always told him not to befriend the Zeon family, as if they were beasts and scourges. An hourter, Adolf pushed the woman away and asked her to leave. The woman took the bankcard that Adolf gave her as a matter of course. She kissed him, put on her clothes, and left, leaving the door slowly shutting close behind her while Adolf sat in bed and fell into a daze. If he had a choice, he would not choose to live a life of indulgence. But he had been used to it all these years. He had thought of not letting down his elder sister and seeing the disappointed face of his father. But what could he do? He had tried very hard, but he was just not cut out for it. He had failed despite all the advantages he had over others, leaving his elder sister and father wholly disappointed. Atst, he realized that he was a dead loss. So he gave up on himself and sank into depravity. ¡°I look a mess...¡± He rubbed his face with his hands, put on night robe, and went into the bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror, he lowered his head and was about to wash his face. Just then, a creepy chill suddenly swept up his spine and spread throughout his body. ¡°Poor kid, I can see your pain and empty spirit.¡± A strange man, whose face fully covered in bandages, carrying a long silver sword on his back, stood at the bathroom entrance looking at him with his arms folded. ¡°Who are you?¡± Just when Adolf was about to alert his bodyguards, he was suddenly transfixed when the strange man transformed into a plume of ck smoke and reappeared within feet from him. ¡°Who are you?¡± He asked again, eyes-wide-open, unsure of what to make of it. He quickly pinched his thigh, thinking that he was in a dream. But the pain sensation told him that he was not dreaming. The strange man¡¯s head slowly drew close, a pair of keen eyes seemingly peering through theyers of bandage and piercing into the deepest part of his heart. ¡°I see your discontent, your depression, and your emptiness...¡± ¡°Who are you? What do you want?¡± Adolf swallowed and took a step back, his back pressing against the sink and his eyes filled with explicable anticipation. ¡°Who am I? I am just a small fly working for an organization in search of talent.¡± The strange man answered with a hoarse voice. ¡°Talent?¡± Adolf was startled, pointing at himself. ¡°Are you talking about me?¡± ¡°You sounds doubtful.¡± The strange man smiled. ¡°But it is none of my business. Ie to offer an opportunity, as you have been preselected to receive the endowment of Sacred Power. You may turn down the offer, of course. If you decline, I will leave immediately.¡± Adolf was not the only option that the Ironfist Society had, so Lin Sheng did not really care. This man might seem like a perfect match for Sacred Power, but this was not Lin Sheng¡¯s main concern. Adolf¡¯s breathing became heavy. He did not choose to live in degradation, which was just a natural and helpless oue of his constant failure in life. He had no idea why he was selected for the mysterious endowment. What was more, this was the first time he saw someone capable of turning into a plume of ck smoke. An extraordinary world suddenly opened up before him. He would be admitted if he agreed, and it was that simple. ¡°At what price? What can I get in return?¡± At lease, Adolf still had some degree of mental awakeness and rationality. ¡°Price? Return?¡± The ckfeather swordsman sneered under the control of Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness. ¡°You really think you could get anything you like just because you have talent? Talent is only the beginning. You must spend time and work your butt off before you could get to the highest point. Of course, the passing down of Sacred Power calls for sacrifice, which is only an insignificant price to pay. What you really need to sacrifice is perseverance and having the spirit of never giving up.¡± With the speed of the ckfeather swordsman, Lin Sheng had selected many people in just one night. But out of all these people, he was most satisfied with three, whom he was about to test and take them in. He realized that the Ironfist Society could not solely depend on him and the summoned creatures; he must gain enough support from influential people. Once he found the one he wanted, he would give the other two candidates a pass. It was not that Xylond had no supernaturals. That was why he did not want to conduct his recruitment exercise in a high-profile manner only to offend the local forces of influence. He already had enough to deal with Heaven¡¯s Spire; thest thing he wanted was to have any more problems, especially with Xylond. Adolf could hear his own breathing. He could vividly sense the attitude of the man, which seemed to tell him that he was not indispensable and that he could be easily reced. And he was right in this regard. Lin Sheng indeed had many options. Adolf might be the best person whom he had ever met to fit the criteria beautifully, but it was not as quick as collecting souls. So he could not have cared less if Adolf said no. After all, he did not recruit members for propping up hisbat strength but for securing resources and connection. ¡°I¡ªI do!¡± Adolf agreed at once. He suffered a miserable loss in hisst gamble, but he wanted to gamble again simply because he chose to believe it one more time. Chapter 201 - Anomaly: Part 1

Chapter 201: Anomaly: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion At midnight, teams of armed security were patrolling the perimeter around the small manor in the remote part of Shermanton. A faint sound of music andughter could be heard inside the mansion. ¡°My dear Adolf, it has been a long time. You used to fish in the Red Wisteria Vi, but time flies. Here you are an adult already.¡± Muniwah Zeon, with his swept-back blue hairstyle and a cultured smile on his face, was clinking sses with Adolf¡¯s father. ¡°d to see you, my dear Uncle Zeon,¡± said Adolf, bowing his head in a gesture of respect. The avuncr Muniwah Zeon, who was also called Zeon Sr., continued chatting in a low voice with Carney, Adolf¡¯s father. As the two most prominent business tycoons in Shermanton, their every word and action were always in the limelight. However, Adolf did not want the spotlight. He preferred to keep a distance and observe his father from afar. What happenedst night appeared like a dream to him, and until now, he still found it unreal. The words of the man, who self-proimed to be a ckfeather swordsman, still lingered in his ears. He held his ss in hand and slowly came to a quiet corner in the vi. He just wanted some quiet moment, but a girl with long blue hair was already standing there. Adolf recognized her; she was Marfa, the second daughter of the Zeon family. Out of politeness, he raised his ss and smiled at her. Marfa shot him a despising nce before walking away. She did not even want to be standing next to him. Despite that, Adolf could not have cared less as he knew how low his reputation had been in Shermanton; such cold-shoulder treatment was all toomon to him. He stood in the corner, listening to the melodious music while shooing away his admirers with his cold eyes. His mind was busy figuring out how to show due respect to his teacher. Deep inside, Adolf was an innocent child, overly protected by his father and elder sister. He could be even considered as a spoilt child. As he grew up hearing enough verbal abuse and being taken advantage of, he got wiser and more mature. He was now a person who would give his best in everything he did when he decided that he wanted it. Marfa Zeon came to a dark spot in the garden, not far away, where another girl was already there rolling her eyes at her. The girl was tall, shoulder broad, well built, and wearing a ck suit. Her muscles and body were in perfect proportion and exuding an aggressive aura. ¡°If not for Father has forbidden me, I would have snapped the neck of that fellow!¡± Marfa sounded irascible. ¡°We can¡¯t help it. We need to take the influence of the state assembly into consideration,¡± the beefy girl said with a smile. ¡°Haven¡¯t Laurence decided toe back? His veins are flowing with the blood of the Dark Demon! Why the heck he wants to be a cop at all? Does he want to make the Zeon family aughing stock in the dark world?¡± Marfa¡¯s face turned grim. ¡°The blood of the Dark Demon has a periodic urge of brutality. The damn media have exposed hisst outbreak. Father might not care, but I am utterly disappointed!¡± Lifna, the beefy girl, just quietly listened to Marfa venting her grievances. ¡°What is more ridiculous is that he has even called the cops to seize the properties of his own family. This guy must have hit his head somewhere!¡± Marfa became even angrier when she spoke about this. ¡°Perhaps the patriarch has his own n and arrangement,¡± Lifna said with a smile. ¡°I don¡¯t care! If he dares to do that to my assets, I will kill him!¡± Marfa looked cold and vicious, a plume of purple mes shing in between her fingers. That said, she strode away, her dress floating around her, leaving Lifna stood quietly in the shadow. ¡°Your Excellency, do we have to do something?¡± Lifna turned her head slightly, looking at the Zeon Sr. who emerged from the shrubs behind her. His face wrinkled like the bark of a tree, almost friable as he let out an avuncr smile. ¡°That¡¯s all right... whatever Laurence does, his body still flows with the Zeon¡¯s bloodline. Let Marfa be his offerings. The Dark Demon will grow even better if watered with the blood of the closest next of kin.¡± ... In a hotel, Lin Sheng looked at the beautiful ck gift box before him, reaching to untie the ribbon gingerly. After recruiting Adolf as his temple disciple with the ckfeather swordsman as his go-between, the young man had swiftly sent him a gift. As the box was opened, the content wasid before him. It was a white bank card. ¡°This guy is quick. I have just given him a hint, and he has immediatelye back with his offering.¡± Looking through the ckfeather swordsman¡¯s eyes, Adolf had to be drooling at the sight of sacred power. His physical strength may have been less than ideal, but he had an innocent heart and a strong, unyielding mental will. There was little wonder why he scored the best match with sacred power among the three candidates. Lin Sheng took out the bank card. Using the notebook he had at the ready, he went online and did a quick verification. After entering the ount number and the password, a figure popped up. ¡°Fifty million. Not bad, considering it is just a start¡ªWait a minute! Fifty million?¡± Lin Sheng was startled. He did a double-take just to confirm he did not read it wrong. It was, indeed, fifty million. His smiling face became a little at ease now. He was only thinking of getting some money at first so that he could summon more soldiers to expand his influence. Before this, Lin Sheng had conducted a background check on Adolf, whose monthly expenses were about 6 million. 50 million was by no mean a small amount to him. Even if his father had a billion-dor business empire, he could not possibly have ess to such arge amount of funds at whim. ¡°This chap is interesting.¡± He kept the card and left the hotel room, which was only a transition point that would be discarded after use. Next, he nned to collect new ingredients and start another round of summoning. Lin Sheng hade up with a list of hard-to-get ingredients and given it to Adolf through the ckfeather swordsman, just to try his luck. To Lin Sheng¡¯s surprise, however, Adolf sent a second gift box in less than two days. The gift box contained a key to a warehouse with the address stuck at the back. Lin Sheng went to the location to check it out. Many containers, all stuffed with various ingredients, piled up in the warehouse. This was significantly quicker than searching around from shop to shop himself. So, Lin Sheng decided to add in the rest of the ingredients into the list and let Adolf run all the errands. As before, Adolf did not disappoint. Two dayster, new containers arrived at the warehouse, all stuffed with the ingredients that Lin Sheng needed. It wasplete with two cartons of gold nuggets, which weighed about 100kg, and 500kg of pure silver powder. What really amazed Lin Sheng, though, was the speed and method in which Adolf collected all those things. Chapter 202 - Anomaly: Part 2

Chapter 202: Anomaly: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Being able to collect so many ingredients in such a short time was something unthinkable in the past. Now, with enough materials and money, Lin Sheng wanted to conduct a new round of summoning ceremonies and find a new operating base. After he let Adolf know about his n of purchasing a building, Adolf quickly sent someone to give him a 200-year lease title of a small hill in the suburbs outside Shermanton, where Lin Sheng would have exclusive ownership for two centuries. Adolf¡¯s efficiency and speed were impable. It was hard for Lin Sheng to find fault with even if he wanted to. Another day had passed and Adolf was sending another man. Earlier, when he heard that Lin Sheng needed money, he transferred all his savings into an impersonal ount just to show his piety toward Sacred Light. He had also set up the ount as such that when he received his regr ie every month, his impersonal ount would automatically transfer part of the money into the impersonal ount of Lin Sheng. This made Lin Sheng feel that even he might not be as devoted as Adolf was to Sacred Light. With Adolf¡¯s deep-pocket support, Lin Sheng could not wait to try out some other experiments that he had not been able to conduct due to theck of funds in the past. He felt that recruiting this chap was the right decision because the treatment he received now was akin to between hell and paradise, with now being the paradise, and what he got back then in Xilin being the hell. He did not have to pay out of his own pocket to buy ingredients anymore. All he needed to do was to say it, and it would be aplished. So Lin Sheng began to summon more soldiers and build his all-new operating base. The Ironfist Society was still too weak to his liking, and there seemed to be a dent in its reputation too. However, as long as he changed its skin, things would still get going. With Khad temporarily out ofmission and the Steel Lord still somewhere out there, no one would be able toe to his rescue if something were to happen to the principal body. Lin Sheng felt that he could no longer summon something all-powerful in the short term except for those average monsters, which he could still mass-summon. One day, Lin Sheng brought his pre-drawn circle and headed straight to the small hill that Adolf had gifted him. He nned to find a ce deep inside the forest where he could conduct a new round of summoning ceremonies. As for Adolf, he must wait for his health to recover, refraining from the life of indulgence and regaining his strength before he could start his cultivation practice. Cultivating a weak body would do more harm than good to him. ... A strange sound was heard outside the vi. Adolf slowly emerged from the swimming pool, got out of the water, and looked in the direction of the sound with suspicion. After taking heed of the ckfeather swordsman¡¯s advice and receiving the guidance of Sacred Light, he began to train his body every day and stay away from the self-indulgent way of life. He needed a healthy physique to practice sacred power, and he had been leading a regr daily routine ever since. Another two counts of loud, muffled sounds were heard outside as if something had exploded, but it seemed that the affected area was small. Adolf wrapped a dry towel around his body and put on a pair of slippers. He went into a warm room and took a shower before changing into a new set of clothes. Here, safety was the thing he least worried about because the vi had the tightest security measurement with threeyers of protection on the outside and 24-hour armed security patrol. At this time, his father was having a business discussion with Zeon Sr. His elder sister was working in her office on the second floor. CCTV was in every corner of the house without a blind spot. Even if something were to happen, the security system would automatically connect to theputer of the Shermanton Police Department at once. Just after Adolf put on his clothes and was about to hit the sack, the strange sound came again. It was not loud and only discernible at the swimming pool in the backyard. ¡°What is that sound?¡± He picked up his phone, brows knitting together as he was about to call the head of security outside. All of a sudden, an explosion erupted, blowing arge hole in the wall and sending debris flying in all directions. Following that, a tall figure in police uniform came through the hole in the wall. ¡°Muniwah, get your butt out over here!¡± The figure roared, and an airburst from his body blew the surrounding dust into the air. ¡°Laurence? Zeon Jr.?¡± Standing beside the swimming pool, Adolf was transfixed as he recognized the man. Since when Zeon Jr. had obtained his strange power? After discarding his family tradition to be a cop? Before Adolf could respond, a team of security personnel had rushed over, pointing their guns and shooting. Zeon Jr. quickly moved in a zig-zag direction, dodging all the bullets fired at him and came before the team of security personnel. He thrust his hand forward and struck two of them, sending them flying backward. The two crashnded several meters away, blood spurting out from their mouth and they were dead. The other bodyguards began to scream in fear, guns shaking violently in their hands. They dropped the weapons to the ground and ran away, but Zeon Jr. pursued. He struck to break each of their spines, causing them to spurt blood from their mouths and drop dead to the ground. Zeon Jr.¡¯s bloated muscles seemed to burst out of his uniform, his face filled with flecks of blood, eyes glowing in florescent purple, his breathing as hoarse as a beast, and blood dripping down his hands. He suddenly turned around, stared at the second floor of the vi before lunging forward, and up in the air. Adolf watched speechlessly as Zeon Jr. leaped up four meters in the air and crashed through the window of the living room on the second floor, shattering the ss into pieces instantly. A few secondster, two shadows descended from the air, crashing down onto the ground below. A dark, tall creature that looked like a demonic humanoid with knotted muscles clenched Zeon Jr. by his throat and lifted him in the air. ¡°Have you received my present, my dear son?¡± The voice of the dark demon was none other than that of Zeon Sr. Zeon Jr. frantically struggled, hitting back as he tried to free himself. Adolf got the shock of his life; his entire worldview suddenly crumbled like a house of cards. His mind went nk for a moment, but he quickly turned and ran toward the stairway to the second floor since he realized that his father and elder sister were there. He flew up the stairs and reached the second floor in just a couple of beats. Adolf looked around, but the entire floor was covered in thick smoke. Nheless, he could faintly hear someone coughing violently inside. Very quickly, he saw his elder sister, Sheena, carried her father, Carney, on her back, struggling to bnce herself as she staggered along the walling in his direction, and his father was covered in blood. ¡°Sister!¡± Adolf quickly lunged inside, holding her exhausted elder sister and father. ¡°Father is injured! Get out of here. Quick! Everyone in the Zeon family is a monster!¡± Sheena looked utterly terrified. Adolf immediately took his father from her elder sister and carried him on his back. ¡°Father is going to be all right. He is going to be all right!¡± He mumbled and was just as horrified. Meanwhile, the blood of his father, Carney, flowed profusely down his body, hands, and clothes. There was arge mutted wound in the side of Carney¡¯s waist, where a three-legged metal perch was half-buried in his body. Adolf frantically put pressure on the wound, trying to stop his father¡¯s bleeding. But it seemed the more he did so, the worse the bleeding became. Chapter 203 - Anomaly: Part 3 Chapter 203: Anomaly: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Get-Get out of here... quickly!¡± Carney patted Adolf¡¯s arm with difficulty, his eyes bleak. The wall beside the three of them suddenly exploded, and Zeon Sr. emerged from the st hole with a hideous smile on his dark, muscr face. ¡°I am sorry, but anyone who sees me in this form must die.¡± Just when Zeon Sr. raised his hand and was about to harm them, a shadow lunged out from the left and rammed into him. It was Zeon Jr. whose fluorescent purple eyes glowed even brighter, and his body had grown one size bigger than before. ¡°I will kill you!¡± The momentum sent Zeon Sr. flying together with Zeon Jr. through the wall and off the second floor. The two brutally fought in the air, their punches and kicks sounded as if heavy hammer striking on a giant drum. ¡°Go! Now!¡± Carney, half-dead, roared with his remaining strength. Adolf quickly came to his senses and just when he was about to carry his father running down the stairs, a thought suddenly came to mind. He reached his shivering hand into the jacket pocket and fished out a white stone, which the ckfeather swordsman gave him earlier, and which he could break it apart to gain help from the temple in the time of danger. Adolf wanted to crush the stone in his hand, but he was too nervous. The stone then slipped through his shivering hand and dropped to the ground before it rolled down rapidly in the other direction. ¡°No!¡± Adolf carried Carney and gave chase. Atst, he managed to retrieve the stone again. This time, he decisively crushed the stone, which was only as hard as an eggshell, with one hand. And after it broke apart, stone powder began to fall off onto the floor and slowly dissipated in the wind. ¡°What are you doing here? Get out quickly!¡± His elder sister hurriedly urged. ¡°No, we cannot go!¡± Adolf suddenly calmed down after crushing the stone. He looked at his elder sister. ¡°We can¡¯t possibly outrun Zeon Sr. with father on my back. We will surely be dead if we do that. What is more urgent is to treat Father¡¯s wound first. So let us head down to the basement!¡± ¡°Are you crazy? We can call the police when we get out!¡± Sheena looked at his young brother, face filled with horror. ¡°It won¡¯t matter. Do you think the cops could stop Zeon Sr.?¡± Adolf retorted. ¡°Follow me!¡± That said, he carried Carney and flew toward the stairway. ¡°Adolf!¡± Sheena called out aloud from behind. ¡°Trust me! Someone wille for us! Trust me!¡± Adolf said aloud without looking back. His only hope now was that the power behind the ckfeather swordsman could make it here on time, as they had made a promise to protect him. ... A thick nket of white mist surrounded Lin Sheng as he quietly stood in front of a summoning circle in a three-story building in the forest outside the city. A faint white light lit up in the summoning circle as if someone was shining on a torchlight at it. He was in the critical moment of summoning his soldiers, which was his third summoning today. In the previous two rounds, he had mustered eight vault guards, which was all the vault guards he had. After that, he saw no light sphere that belonged to the vault guards in his mind¡¯s vision anymore. So Lin Sheng decided to call up the ckfeather swordsmen instead. The ckfeather swordsman formed thergest group of his summoned creatures. Bearing in mind that when he was in ckfeather City, he had killed no less than a hundred of them. There was no way he could use all of them in such a short time. In contrast, the vault guards had suffered a high casualty in Xilin. What was more was that not all vault guards that he killed possessed soul remnant, and this had significantly reduced the number of vault guards Lin Sheng could summon. Only creatures with soul remnants were capable of being summoned, and this had been one of the ironws that Lin Sheng discovered in the summoning ceremony. He had tried to summon the Sacred Shield Tyrant before, but unfortunately, the dead Sacred Shield Tyrant was no longer summonable. Lin Sheng stood with his eyes closed as two ckfeather swordsmen rapidly materialized out of ck smoke. They carried a long sword on their back, head wrapped in a white bandage, and their sturdy, tall body stood still like a statue. ¡°The price-to-performance ratio of these two is pathetic...¡± Lin Sheng sighed as he opened his eyes, ncing at the ckfeather swordsmen. So he willed them away. There was still enough room in his soul for another ceremony, he thought, and this time, he wanted to summon the red-armor, hatchet-wielding warriors that he had killed in the warrior union. Before long, amid a series of soft chanting of initiation words, a nket of white mist emerged and shrouded Lin Sheng in it. Unknown to him, however, was the white stone that vibrated and glowed in white light in his bag. A momentter, two red-armor warriors appeared, kneeling on one knee before Lin Sheng. They were fully covered in armor with a pair of hatchets hanging from their waist. A pair of red eyes could be seen behind the visor of their helmets. Standing a little taller than the ckfeather swordsmen, their bodies were more well-proportioned than that of the vault guards. Lin Sheng opened his eyes. By running some calction of his soul linkages in his mind, he deduced that he had forces of ten vault guards, three ckfeather swordsmen and two red-armor warriors with Khad and the Steel Lord as themanders. ¡°It stillcks midrange forces, barely making a whole army. But I will make do with that for now.¡± Lin Sheng ended the ceremony and began to clean up the scene. With the resources and money of Adolf, he could conduct as many ceremonies as he wanted. As long as there was enough room in his soul, he could rapidly expand the size of the Ironfist Society. Rolling up the stic sheet of the summoning ceremony and dusting the dirt and any ingredient residue, Lin Sheng suddenly sighed. He had been using the same ritual sheet since a long time ago. From Xilin until here, it never broke despite the frequent usage. The onlyrge hole in the middle was his purposeful creation, just to amodate the bonfirest time. ¡°There is no more room in the soul. With so many soldiers here, I can reserve a part of them to protect my family and myself and send out the rest into the field to prop up the reputation of the Ironfist Society.¡± These soldiers were intelligent although not as independent as the Steel Lord and Khad. If he could let them be, they might be able to carry out some simple mission, as long as he set a proper limit in advance. Lin Sheng picked up his bag, unzipped it, and shoved the circle sheet into it. Only then, he saw the white stone, which was vibrating and emitting a white glow. ¡°This...¡± He suddenly recalled it; this stone was initially one of the two stones, which he had bestowed it upon Adolf. He had only begun to develop this application after discovering that the soul was the essence of sacred power. Bit by bit, he infused a stone with sacred power before breaking it in half and gifting one of them to another person. If any of the two stones broke apart and sacred power disappeared, the other stone holder would immediately know it. Lin Sheng was transfixed. However, he quickly came to his senses and lunged to his feet. ¡°Khad,¡± he called out in a low voice. Plumes of ck smoke appeared and rapidly formed the figure of a human before him. ¡°Go and bring Adolf here.¡± The ck-smoke humanoid dispersed and elerated toward the city. Following immediately, another dozen plumes of smoke appeared from the building and coalesced into a ck cloud of smoke before it suddenly broke up again and disappeared in the direction of where Adolf was. Chapter 204 - Cruelty: Part 1

Chapter 204: Cruelty: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion In the dark basement, Adolf gingerly ced his father, Carney, on the bed and sprayed a special hemostatic dressing on his father¡¯s wound. It was the first-aid skill that he had learned somewhere. The light-yellow spray quickly formed a coat of paste that covered the entire wound, and only then did the bleeding stop. However, he could not pull out the three-legged metal perch, which had prated deep into the wound. Meanwhile, Carney had passed out three times in a row. The three of them curled up in the corner of the dim basement, looking up at the dust that fell from the violent shaking. The impacts sounded as if two gigantic beasts were brutally killing each other withoutpassion. There were three light-greenmps on the wall. The floor looked unorganized with cartons and shelves. In the middle of the basement was a ck leather couch, in front of which was a small freezer for storing meat and poultry. It was from the freezer that Adolf found the hemostatic sprayer. Therge bed, on which they cuddled together, was right between two wooden racks in the corner of the wall. Adolf bit his lip, holding his father¡¯s hands and waiting quietly. He believed what the ckfeather swordsman told him. All they needed to do was hide and wait, but Sheena was impatient and could not bear to see any dy in treating her father¡¯s wound. Although the hemostatic spray had stopped the bleeding temporarily, they neededrge medical equipment to stitch up and heal the tissue inside the wound. She was on pins and needles, but the intense shaking overhead forced her to calm down. The walls in the basement were mottled by green molds. This was not where they would typically stay; it was merely one of their many mansions. They went there only for a business meeting. Little did they know that it would turn out to be so deadly. Sheena kept checking her father¡¯s condition while looking at Adolf, who was also utterly terrified. ¡°Adolf!¡± she called him. ¡°Trust me!¡± Adolf turned to look at Sheena, his face matter of fact. ¡°Elder sis, I will not lie to you and Father in this time of grave danger. So, please trust me!¡± ¡°What are you waiting for? Tell me! Don¡¯t keep me in the dark and seeing no hope at all! Father will be infected if we keep staying here any longer!¡± Sheena was filled with anger. ¡°The CCTV surveince system in the house will alert the police at once when something happens,¡± Adolf said with his head lowered. ¡°Yeah, I know. But the police have yete. Do you think we can rely on the police?¡± Sheena gritted her teeth, face flushed. And for a moment, she was lost for words. She was panic because his family¡¯s bodyguards had been obliterated, and her only hope was the swift response from the police department. ¡°So, what is happening to the Zeon family is something that the police could not resolve. We have to find another way out!¡± Adolf quickly said. ¡°What way could you think of?¡± Sheena asked as if she knew her younger brother for the first time. She had never seen Adolf so earnest, decisive, and having his own mind. He was now confident and taking his responsibility seriously. ¡°I¡ªI am waiting for my teacher...¡± Adolf gritted his teeth and looked up. ¡°Teacher?¡± Sheena was dumbfounded. Suddenly, arge chunk of the wall copsed near the entrance of the basement. Zeon Jr. was harshly tossed into the basement with blood covering his body. A secondter, Zeon Sr. agilely hopped in through the copsed wall. ¡°You all are here!¡± Zeon Sr. skimmed around but found nothing of interest. His eyes then quicklynded on Adolf. ¡°Your teacher? Who do you think can still save your life?¡± He grinned. Under the gentle smile were two rows of razor-sharp ck teeth that looked like the hideous teeth of the saw¡ªheinous and horrific. Adolf lunged to his feet abruptly and stood before his elder sister and father. ¡°Uncle Zeon, why do you want to kill us? We swear we will not tell your secrets to anyone!¡± Adolf said softly in his final effort to keep them alive. ¡°Swear doesn¡¯t worth a dime.¡± Zeon Sr. had now grown a long ck tail, wagging it in the air as he slowly walked toward Adolf with a smile. Sheen hugged her father in fear, curling even deeper into the corner of the wall and clinching at seeing the approaching Zeon Sr. The monster-like body became a permanent nightmare in the mind of Sheena. She would not be able to shake off this image for the rest of her life¡ªif she could make it out alive at all. Likewise, Adolf was just as frightened, his breathing heavy, sweat trickling down his forehead before dripping off his chin. He was shivering in fear, but he had no intention of letting up. ¡°I guarantee,¡± he gritted his teeth with all his strength, ring at Zeon Sr., ¡°that if you kill us, you are going to regret it sorely!¡± ¡°Oh yeah?¡± Zeon Sr. cocked an eyebrow and stopped in his tracks, looking at Adolf in amusement. ¡°Regret? Do you have any idea how powerful I am? Do you have any idea what power I have mastered? Do you have any idea what the dark side of the world looks like?¡± He raised his index finger and waved it in the air as he looked into Adolf¡¯s eyes. ¡°You have no idea. Absolutely no idea.¡± ¡°If I die, my teacher will revenge my death!¡± Adolf plucked up his courage and retorted loudly with his trembling voice. ¡°Your teacher?¡± Zeon Sr. guffawed. ¡°You are absolutely clueless about who you are talking to.¡± ¡°Right. You are absolutely clueless about whose disciple you are talking to.¡± A voice was heard, followed by a sophisticated white figure walking through the basement entrance. An adorable and luscious-looking young boy who wore a beautiful retro white formal attire and always had a sweet smile on his face spoke. ¡°Good afternoon, everyone.¡± The young boy bowed slightly as a gesture of social etiquette. ¡°I feel happy when ites to mealtime again. I could smell the air of freedom again since Valgariah the bitch left.¡± He took a deep breath and seemingly reveled in it. ¡°You...¡± The smile on Zeon Sr.¡¯s face copsed as he turned to squint at the young boy. Adolf, Carney, and Sheena, however, dared not move a muscle as they were unsure what was before them. Adolf had neither met Khad before nor know that he came from his teacher. ¡°Khad....¡± Zeon Sr. was shocked. ¡°Khad of a Thousand Arms! You are Khad of a Thousand Arms from the Ironfist Society?¡± It was unimaginable that a man could change his tone of voice three times in a sentence¡ªfrom calm to shivering, andstly, fear. Zeon Sr. burst out in sweats. He immediately lunged upward, broke through the ceiling above and disappeared out of the hole. Chapter 205 - Cruelty: Part 2

Chapter 205: Cruelty: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Khad smiled sweetly. ¡°Am I so popr now? You sure have a way with words. I don¡¯t feel like eating you anymore, well, just a bit...¡± *Creak...* Following the creaking of metal being twisted, a sea of pale arms shot out like chains as they grabbed at a person as they slowly drooped down from the hole. The person caught by the terms were struggling frenziedly as fear and despair appeared over the person¡¯s face. That person was Zeon Sr. who had rushed out earlier. He could not have imagined that he would run into a five-winged Oppressor in this deserted ce. He had chosen the most remote area possible to avoid trouble. He had done his best to stay low profile. He had... He had lost the ability to think now as his mind went nk while his entire body was slowly being crushed by the arm¡¯s massive strength. ¡°Master Khad! If I¡¯ve known you were here, I wouldn¡¯t have dared to do this! I wouldn¡¯t have dared to harm Adolf!¡± Zeon Sr. yelled. He, who was the master of someone¡¯s fate just a moment earlier was now at the receiving end of things as he frenziedly tried to beg for mercy. What an ironic twist of fate. Even Adolf and Sheena did not know how to react. ¡°Toote...¡± Khad smiled. ¡°I¡¯ve not had a proper meal in a while now...¡± ¡°Master Khad,¡± A ck smoke suddenly formed into a heavy foot soldier in silver mail. It was clearly Lin Sheng¡¯s summoned vault guards. Aside from the ones left behind in Xilin for protection duty, Lin Sheng had about ten of the vault guards there. ¡°Our lord wants you to bring Zeon Sr. with you. The Holy Sanctum now requires people, and if he is willing to pledge himself to the light, then we can give him a chance,¡± the vault guard said. Khad pouted, seemingly a little mad. ¡°I haven¡¯t been eating, sleeping or healing well. Can¡¯t the lord understand me a little?¡± ¡°I am just rying our lord¡¯s message. My apologies,¡± the vault guard said. Without Lin Sheng assuming direct control, these spirits would act ording to their memories and instincts. In fact, they were not that dissimr to any independent lifeforms. The only difference is that the core of their souls belongs to Lin Sheng. ¡°This is no fun!¡± Khad was extremely displeased as hemanded his arms to started draining Zeon Sr.¡¯s essence. *Hiss...* Zeon Sr.¡¯s powerful body was shrinking and withering at a rate the eyes can see and a few secondster he had shrunk to an old husk of an old man about five foot five. He was screaming and struggling in fear but the powerful arms around him held him in ce and did not give him any room to escape. At that moment, Adolf, who was thankful for Khad¡¯s aid much earlier, turned pale in fear. He now understood why Zeon Sr. had tried to run the moment he saw Khad. That person was the devil incarnate! ¡°If I can¡¯t him, how about the two there?¡± Khad was anticipant again, as his eyes grew bright as he looked at Adolf and Sheena. His malicious re sent shivers down their spine. ¡°Unfortunately,¡± A second ck smoke quickly formed into a second vault guard. ¡°Master Khad, the lord wants to you bring them to him as well.¡± The faint smile on Khad¡¯s tiny face then disappeared again. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± He was really just a coolie after all. Not being allowed to eat anything. As he turned away, Khad dissipated into ck smoke, and the arms clutching Zeon Sr.¡¯s mouth and nose pulled him away as well. While the two vault guards walked towards Adolf and his sister and took them away to where Lin Sheng was. ... Within the verdant forest. Rays of light shone down from the canopy andnded near Lin Sheng¡¯s leg, and on his hair and body. Pollen and fungi floated about in the clean air as an asional dandelion flew past. On a tiny yellow flower, a few bugs fluttered their translucent wings as theynded on the small white petals as they made their way into the pistil to taste the pollen. Everything was peaceful and quiet. Adolf, on the other hand, had been there for at least half an hour now. When he had first arrived he saw Lin Sheng with his back facing him. At that time, Lin Sheng was in his half-draconic state as he exuded faint draconic aura all over. He was d in a warrior¡¯s guild red armor without the ax. The same armor on him gave out a totally different aurapared to those wearing the same blood cuirass as he had the faint aura of the Iron Lord then. Adolf was brought to him alone, while his elder sister had apanied their father while he was given emergency treatment. Thankfully for the timely aid that he would be fine once the critical stage has passed. Among his summoned beings, none of them knew anything else aside from fighting. As such, Lin Sheng began to think that he needed to find some special monsters in the dream realm and absorb them into his forces. Yet, he had to deal with Adolf now. Adolf was in a sorry state as his expensive white shirt had already been stained all over by tears, dust, and blood. But his eyes were reverent, showing focus and respect. ¡°Can you see it? This is the meaning of strength.¡± Lin Sheng said with a hoarse voice. ¡°You and your family are simply coteral damage in the internal feud between the Zeon patriarch and his son, yet, you lot cannot even survive the aftershock of their feud.¡± Adolf looked down as he gripped his fist tight, his eyes beamed in anger. ¡°Please, my lord, bestow me divine strength!¡± He said as he fell on one knee. ¡°You should call me Master.¡± Lin Sheng was rather pleased with this disciple. Lin Sheng had simply meant to look for some unfortunate sod to relieve him of some of his wealth and resources, but now he instead nned to take thetter as his disciple. ¡°Yes... master!¡± Adolf quickly answered. ¡°The holy light would only ept those who havee prepared, are you ready tomence training?¡± Lin Sheng asked tly. ¡°I¡¯m mentally prepared, but my body is weak...¡± Adolf said, rather helplessly. ¡°No need to rush...¡± Lin Sheng answered. Any power, any strength would need to go through a process of growth, and the holy light is no exception. Even Lin Sheng himself, if not for his ability to absorb so many souls, he would at most be amoner who had recently just transcended. ¡°Why... Master... why did all of this happen?¡± Adolf asked, his tone helpless and pained. ¡°I will now teach you the meditation methods of the Ashen Seal.¡± Lin Sheng nned on carrying out one-on-one training and teaching the Sanctuary Ashen Seal to Adolf properly. He knew Adolf¡¯s pain. He was not pained by the weakness of his flesh, rather he was pained by the sudden change of the world as the world order he once knew copsed all around him. ¡°Why did so little people know of the truth that Zeon Sr. was on a rampage?¡± Adolf was both conflicted and confused. However, not long after, he had no more questions. ¡°The Xylond government officers are here,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°They are erasing the memories of every eyewitness. Every single one of them.¡± ¡°Erasing memories...¡± ¡°Yes. This is the reality of things. If you are still inside your manor, the only end you¡¯ll get is an idental death due to a copsed building.¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°For the stability of the greater masses, they will not allow the cruel truth of the world to be spread out.¡± Chapter 206 - Cruelty: Part 3 Chapter 206: Cruelty: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Just because of that, they treat human lives like nothing?!¡± Adolf was getting angry. ¡°Quite the different sort of justicepared to your ideals, yeah?¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°But you need to consider that all these officers are also human. They too know fear and will want to avoid trouble at all costs. This is human nature. ¡°Did you think they¡¯d risk their lives and rush in to fight against Zeon Sr. with that paltry sry they get per month? What would they fight with? Their sense of selflessness and honor?¡± Adolf had understood it now, but he still could not ept it. ¡°This world is formed by thews made by countless of people with power. You want your justice and fairness, then you need to make them see you as an equal,¡± Lin Sheng continued. Adolf¡¯s anger slowly turned into determination, a determination to get stronger. Sensing the change in Adolf¡¯s demeanor, Lin Sheng considered his first goal achieved. Adolf had excellent attributes with a strong will to go with, plus he was single-minded in his pursuits, thus making hispatibility with the holy light very high. Now he had Lin Sheng supporting him from behind. Lin Sheng nned to train him to be the next Sarroux. Xilin was undergoing an upheaval back then, but Xylond, on the other hand, was different. He had plenty of time to slowly nurture Adolf¡¯s growth. Adolf soon left. His sister, Sheena and his recently-awakened father, Carnie quickly pledged material support once they understood the rtionship of their kin and the Holy Sanctum. This was for payment for saving their lives. Carnie, just like his son, did not think twice about spending as he quickly set aside a portion of his wealth, which could easily see anyone through their old age. After settling some minor stuff, and brainwashing Adolf again, Lin Sheng headed over to visit Zeon Sr. who had been taken captive. The old man was being locked inside an underground cavern within the hills. It was an underground base-like cavern that the vault guards had dug out. As this patch ofnd had already been purchased and given to Lin Sheng with a two hundred year lease, he simply went ahead with it. Old Zeon Sr. knew very well what awaited him and without any interrogation, spat everything out. Especially details about the Darkblood inherited by his family, as he gave every single detail out to try to show his worth and to seek mercy. Unfortunately for him, Lin Sheng had detected malice with his Detect Evil skill, and after interrogating, and getting his bank card PIN, he fed the old man to Khad. If he was to consider his strength, Zeon Sr., the strongest member of the Zeon Family was merely a two-winged Transcendent. A person of this level would have been a threat to Lin Sheng in the past. But know, it was just that. After preparing everything, and teaching the Ashen Seal to Adolf, Lin Sheng returned to school and left the rest for Khad to handle. ... A swarm of bugs swirled around the dim yellow street light. Maier and two other officers were standing together as the three circled around a pool of ck gooey liquid. No one said anything, but their faces were grim. This was Shermanton¡¯s northern district, a district of artisans. Ever since Xylond as a whole increased the status of artisans, the area became one of the most developed areas of Shermanton. Yet, such trouble had urred in the most developed area within the city. ¡°After the perfusion, it will be the ck cluster. It is almost beyond our ability to contain it. We need to report to those above.¡± Maier spoke first. ¡°To think that a ck cluster... could simply suck a living being into it and disappear...¡± A man with a round hat and grey coat said, his voice still in shock. He picked up a small pebble and threw it over to the glop of ck liquid. The pebble simply fell into the liquid before disappearing altogether. ¡°It may look like a glop of ck goo, but it is probably more like a dangerous ck hole.¡± Another man quickly gave his analysis. ¡°Is this the vaunted ck cluster?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve never seen one before? They appeared in Shermantonst year as well, but about five cases only. But in these six months alone we already have ten!¡± Maier¡¯s face was stiff. ¡°Plus the Perfusion... there¡¯s so much trouble aboundtely.¡± He concluded. *Hiss...* At that moment, the ck goop on the ground hissed and disappeared. ¡°Right, let¡¯s go.¡± Maier heaved a sigh of relief as he turned and left. ... *Tick tock, tick tock...* Amid the ticking of the clock, Lin Sheng slowly opened his eyes. He was standing inside the sanctum in ckfeather City, among the pews to the left. Within the small Holy Sanctum, sacred power radiated and gave out a familiar and gentle aura. Lin Sheng stood up and walked out from the pews as he pushed the main door open. As he got out of the courtyard, he quickly made his way to the Warrior¡¯s Guild once again. The Warrior¡¯s Guild¡¯s bull head-like structure still stood tall and proud there. Lin Sheng calmed himself down as he picked up his ax and stepped into the realm of the Iron Lord. He was here to look for spoils. He had already scoured the outer area around the guildhall, and aside from some armor and weapons, he found nothing. Now, only the core area was left, and this bull head-like building was the entrance to the core area, through a trapdoor beneath the throne. That trapdoor was the key to connect the outer area to the inner area. Lin Sheng had found that thest time, but as hecked time, he did not manage to have a look. So today he nned to go in to check things out. ¡°Hopefully there¡¯s some useful knowledge there...¡± Lin Sheng stepped through the guild¡¯s metal gate and circled around the crater left behind by the Iron Lord as he entered the main door. Upon making his way straight towards the throne, Lin Sheng looked down at the exposed trapdoor leading underground. He then pulled the ring lever outwards. A series of rumbling was then heard as Lin Sheng slowly pulled the lever outwards bit by bit, and about ten secondster, the trapdoor was fully opened and the entrance appeared before Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes. Beneath the trap door were rows of clean granite steps that extended all the way underground. Lin Sheng waited for a moment as he let the stale air out before picking up his ax and entering the tunnel. As he followed the steps down, a few minutester, his vision brightened as he entered a room about the size of a basketball court. The book had piles upon piles of yellowed tomes, andpared to the other ces, the tomes were simply just ced on the ground without any shelves or racks in sight. Lin Sheng even noticed the ashes of burnt books by the corner. Lin Sheng simply picked up a book from the ground and flipped it open. Upon the yellow page, these words were inscribed: Even before the cmity, our will to fight be eternal. He then flipped further in but did not expect the notes written on it to be so grim. It was recorded in a diary or in a third-person viewpoint. ¡°The perfusion, ck liquid, ck tide, mist. As the end drew near, we had no way to run. ¡°The border between the living and the dead started to blur as thews governing the holy and the dark were dismantled. Allw and order copsed as death reaped thend like harvested grain, many falling at a time. ¡°Find the node... find the node... find the node of the world¡¯s ruin... destroy it, that is the only way to survive...¡± Chapter 207 - Signal: Part 1

Chapter 207: Signal: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Node?¡± Lin Sheng picked the book up as he kept on flipping, but unfortunately, thest few pages were all garbled. On the pages of the book were uneven lines drawn in dark red ink, seemingly to take the shape of spirits with a menacing smile. Lin Sheng looked at the pile of books on the ground before picking up another one from the ground as he continued to flip them open. This one was a local travelogue, the author started off about the local culture and traditions of ckfeather City, but not long after, the writings started to be garbled. Sentences that looked like sleep talk starting appearing in higher and higher frequencies. And that followed the third and fourth book as well as Lin Sheng picked up book by book to check. As to not miss out on any potential ult knowledge, he was usually very cautious when dealing with any books. He would not allow anything to slip past him. This was because the most valuable item that he had gained from the dream was knowledge as most of the other stuff cannot be brought out. After flipping through all of the books, the dream soon came to an end. Amid the ticking of the clock, Lin Sheng exited the dream. After resting for a while, by the time he opened his eyes, the room was already bright. ¡°Did I sleep all the way to the morning? That¡¯s rare.¡± He rarely had the opportunity to sleep all the way to the morning. Ever since he discovered his ability to enter the dream, he had always been wandering between slumber and consciousness. Everyone in the room had left, probably to attend ss. Lin Sheng paid no heed to it as he took a look at the rm clock next to his pillow: 9:12 am. It was already long beyond ssroom hours. He had alreadypleted studying the ssroom materials himself. He had evenpleted the article abstract for the critical assignment and have already submitted the core articles over. These were all prerequisite materials for him to graduate, but he had already arranged them prior and quicklypleted them. ¡°It¡¯s still early, let¡¯s y the harp and meditate for a bit.¡± Lin Sheng was the diligent kind who would practice the moment he had free time. He feared not boredom, but theck of any target, and now hisbat ability had already reached Level 5, but his sacred power was still at Level 4. There was a massive gulf between the sacred power of a Level 4 and Level 5. Level 4 sacred power allowed the use of Detect Evil three times a day, while Level 5 sacred power would allow him to use it five times. Level 4 sacred power also merely granted some basic healing and enhancement abilities, but from Level 5 onwards, there was a powerful repellent ability. While it was only a minor repellent, but with sacred power at that level, it had a very potent ability to repel all negative energies. It would even improve one¡¯s life span. Thus, within the ckfeather City, while a Level 3 warrior was already a Transcendent-level fighter, he only belonged to the elites. Only when one was at Level 5 would he or she be seen as an equal by all the denizens of ckfeather City. A Level 5 person would have an additional half to the lifespan of the normal folks. Most people in ckfeather City could live up to a hundred years old, while a Level 5 person could live until a hundred and fifty. That meant, the only people who could survive and master the city and its various intermediary positions were those who were at Level 5 and above. It also meant that the higher the position a noble was, his or her ability would be even stronger to match. After ying his harp for a while, Lin Sheng felt that something was off. There was no problem when he first summoned Khad back then. Especially on the absorption of the soul, Khad had not given him any problems. Back then, he had only used meditating of the Ashen Seal to resolve the absorption issue, no different than summoning a foot soldier. Yet, this time around, things were slightly different. The Steel Lord was very powerful, and the limit of Khad¡¯s strength can also be seen now, equivalent to a five-wing of the Heaven¡¯s Spire. And based on Lin Sheng¡¯s estimate, a one-winger was equivalent to a ckfeather City¡¯s Level 3. Consequently, a two-winger would be around Level 4 to Level 5, a three-winger at Level 6 to Level 7, a four-winger at Level 8 to Level 9, and a five-winger would at Level 10 to Level 11. That¡¯s because based on the Steel Lord¡¯s memories, he was a Level 11 ckfeather City warrior, even though he had only broken through that before he died. Plus he had the blood of a Fire Dragon within him, and that needed to be ounted for as well. The potency of his blood was far beyond Lin Sheng¡¯s. With Lin Sheng already capable of fighting someone a level higher with it, it was a forgone conclusion with the Steel Lord himself. He probably had the ability of a Level 11, 12 or even 13. There was little wonder that he could be a member of the ckfeather Council. As for what cameter, Lin Sheng had no idea. He had no reference material topare. A five-winged ckfeather City warrior at Level 10 to 11 was Khad¡¯s limit. However, the Steel Lord could even fight off a six-winger back then, as a councilman of ckfeather City, his power had not been fully unleashed yet. Hence Lin Sheng had not been able to resolve the absorption of his soul until now. ¡°It¡¯s too slow, and if it goes on at this rate, it¡¯ll be taking years. If I don¡¯t fully absorb his soul, I can¡¯t afford to even continue my hunt. And I can forget about the breakthrough of my sacred power to Level 5 in the short term.¡± Lin Sheng had noticed that he had only absorbed a little of the Steel Lord¡¯s soul when he yed his harp and started to get frustrated. ¡°If I could totally absorb the Steel Lord¡¯s soul, I definitely will be able to easily break through Level 5, and by then my total strength will jump by leaps and bounds as well, breaking through to Level 6. With only my own ability to rely on in the dream, the bonuses given by the sacred powers are just too good...¡± Lin Sheng put down the Bloodazure Harp in his hand as he fell into deep thought on how to resolve this issue. *Bzzt... Bzzt... Bzzt* A sudden buzz came from beneath his nket. Lin Sheng extended his hand under the nket and pulled out his ck block of a phone. As he opened the mshell, he pressed on the receive button. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Master, everything here¡¯s almost settled, but the Zeons...¡± It was Adolf on the phone. After the incident at his manor, he straight away bought Lin Sheng a satellite phone. The phone fit Lin Sheng¡¯s requirements with no entertainment capabilities. It only had powerful navigation and signal tools. That would ensure his ability to receive anymunications under any circumstances. ¡°What about the Zeons? Someone came looking for trouble?¡± Lin Sheng did not hide the fact that he was the Lord of the Holy Sanctum. Based on what he said, he was the master of the sanctum in Xylond, there is a bigger main branch somewhere. Plus, he and his master were once a member of the Ironfist Society, but have since jumped ship and turned to the light. Adolf did not doubt that at all. ¡°No, there¡¯s no trouble,¡± Adolf continued, his voice hushed. ¡°It¡¯s the government people, they wanted to talk to you.¡± ¡°No problem. Get them toe over to Yinglu Private Academy then,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Okay.¡± The line was cut. Lin Sheng quickly packed up his stuff as he changed into simple outdoor wear andbed his hair before leaving the dorm and headed out of school. He did not attend ss today, and it was toote to even bother as the ss had already been dismissed for a while now. So he headed outside of the school and to the same caf¨¦ asst time as he quietly waited for his guests. Chapter 208 - Signal: Part 2

Chapter 208: Signal: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion A momentter, Maier leisurely got out of the taxi with his portly belly leading the way. He looked at the beautiful smiling waitress serving the customers and quickly pulled out his mirror andb from his pocket and gave his hair a quickb. Only then did he walk into the caf¨¦ and sit opposite Lin Sheng. ¡°We meet again.¡± Maier smiled at Lin Sheng. ¡°Yeah. What you want to drink. My treat today.¡± Lin Sheng was now bloody rich, having a wealthy disciple sure was something. ¡°Anything.¡± ¡°Then the same as me, three shots of espresso, no sugar,¡± Lin Sheng ordered. The waitress at the side hid her snigger as she took down the order and left. Maier opened his mouth, wanting to say something but he held his tongue. He was not here to drink coffee. ¡°Alright, alright. Truth be told, the reason I came looking for you today was to rify something, are you a member of the Holy Sanctum or the Ironfist Society.¡± ¡°The Holy Sanctum.¡± Lin Sheng answered without any hesitation. ¡°There was no Ironfist Society, to begin with. All of us are members of the Holy Sanctum.¡± ¡°So the Ironfist Society was just a front?¡± Maier gasped in surprise. This was big news as internationally, the Ironfist Society was already a known organization. Especially after they fought off the Heaven¡¯s Spire¡¯s six-wing elite, Vanyi of the Brutal Staff, their reputation soared even higher. So they were being monitored by almost everyone. ¡°It is just a front.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°The Holy Sanctum is the core of our organization. But I was at Xilin back then so I had established a branch there, never thought I¡¯d run into trouble.¡± ¡°Alright, that aside, you should know why I¡¯m here for right?¡± Maier¡¯s face turned grim. ¡°I know, about the Zeons right?¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°I¡¯m just a branch master, and the person in charge of this is Khad of the Thousand Arms. Why don¡¯t you go look for him?¡± ¡°I am, but I can¡¯t seem to locate him.¡± Maier wiped off his sweat, as he started to feel warm. ¡°Why not I help you ry the message?¡± ¡°No need, no need! Don¡¯t disturb the Emissary. We¡¯ll settle this small matter ourselves.¡± Maier¡¯s was sweating profusely. Khad¡¯s notoriety had made rounds across nations after his week-long rampage killed thousands of Redwinian soldiers. And as a simple government officer, he had to be super careful when he meet the former, or else he might just die there and then. ¡°The blood of the Zeons is tainted with the blood of the dark demons, and they will run rampage every now and then. Zeon Sr. has a feud with Zeon Jr., and my disciple Adolf witnessed it that time.¡± Lin Sheng simply exined. ¡°Now that Zeon Sr. has gone missing, you should be asking Zeon Jr., not me.¡± ¡°We had tried to ask but...¡± Maier wiped off his sweat, soaking the tissue in the process. ¡°But there¡¯s been a problem ofte, a big problem that has us shorthanded.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°Well, that aside, we hope that you can help us, and we will provide the necessary rpense.¡± Maier quickly replied. ¡°Can you authorize this?¡± Lin Sheng raised his eyebrow. ¡°My father is a state councilman, and my mother is an instructor of the Special Forces stationed in Shermanton,¡± Maier said, sounding confident. ¡°Then that¡¯ll work. So a verbal agreement?¡± ¡°A verbal agreement.¡± ¡°May our cooperation be fruitful.¡± Lin Sheng held his hand out, and Maier shook it. ¡°Now, about the situation.¡± Once the cooperation was agreed upon, he quickly went straight into business. ¡°We need your help in providing support with people who can sense supernatural auras. The more the better.¡± ¡°What do you need us to do? And give me more details on your need for the sensors,¡± Lin Sheng responded. ¡°Do you know about the ck Clusters?¡± Maier¡¯s expression turned grim again. ¡°ck Clusters?¡± ¡°Come, you¡¯ll understand better if you see it yourself. ¡± The two quickly settled the bill and left the caf¨¦. There was a police vehicle already waiting outside. The moment the two got on, the police car quickly sped along the road and came to a garbage dump about five minutester. All around the garbage dump were clusters of farnd and abandoned factories. The police car was parked by the right side of the dump. It was empty all over. Maier leaped out of the car and quickly made his way into an area sealed off by yellow police tape. The fat officer pointed towards the inside of the sealed area. ¡°This is a ck Cluster.¡± Lin Sheng followed behind and made his way to that sealed area, and peered out to look. At first nce, he saw the pitch-ck swamp-like area. On the surface, it looked no different than a glop of ck mud. ¡°What is this?¡± Lin Sheng frowned, as he could sense danger from that thing. ¡°A ck Cluster,¡± Maier said calmly, but underneath his calmness was some reservation. ¡°No matter what you throw into it, the ck Cluster would consume it whole instantly. Look around it.¡± Lin Sheng quickly observed as he was prompted. And soon his expression changed. That glop of ck mud was slowly but surely dragging everything into it. Rubbish, sand and stone, and even bugs and papers. It was not picky as it consumed everything. ¡°What is this actually?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s face turned grim. ¡°No one in the Holy Sanctum knows about this?¡± Maier queried. ¡°Do I look like someone who had joined the sanctum long?¡± My master had not thought me about that yet okay?¡± Lin Sheng said, rather grumpily. And for his age, this excuse was impable. ¡°You have a point.¡± Maier squat down as he pulled a hair out from his head and threw it into the mud, and the hair instantly disappeared. ¡°This is a ck Cluster. Based on the Three Secret Realms, the ck Cluster is an existence that is capable of connecting to a very dangerous realm. This is just a preliminary cluster. And apparently, the Three Secret Realms themselves are suppressing the threergest ck Clusters, but whether that is true or not is up for debate.¡± ¡°Then why do we need to find those clusters? Nature will heal itself, it won¡¯t recover from that?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°It will disappear by itself.¡± Maier nodded. ¡°But it will take a very long time. So what we need to do is to find them, and iste them to avoid any civilian casualties.¡± ¡°Is this thing only happening in Xylond? I¡¯ve never seen this in Xilin before.¡± Lin Sheng frowned as he kicked a rock thatnded right on top of the ck Cluster. *Fwip!* In the blink of an eye, the fist-sized rock disappeared. It had not fallen into it and gotten consumed, it simply just disappeared. ¡°There are a number in Xilin as well, but you did note across them back then. So the Holy Sanctum¡¯s mission is to help us find all of these ck Clusters in the whole of Shermanton. ¡°I¡¯ll be frank, our department has sent all our men across all states, and due to thete eruption in Shermanton, we are short of manpower,¡± Maier said, his tone helpless. ¡°Sure, but what about our rpense?¡± Lin Sheng was more concerned about that. ¡°It certainly won¡¯t disappoint you. As for the news about Ironfist Society, we will keep it a secret for you. Once you locate a ck Cluster, just call me, give me your number by the way,¡± Maier said as he pulled a big silver cellphone out of his pocket... And Lin Sheng could not help but look at his big bulky pants. Chapter 209 - Signal: Part 3

Chapter 209: Signal: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The two exchanged numbers and returned to the city. Lin Sheng was dropped off at the gate of his school. At the same time, he sent out the ten vault guards to start a carpet sweep of the entirety of Shermanton. The advantage of having a summoned soldier was all of them could fly. So they had a distinct advantage when ites to sensing thingspared to the Special Forces Maier belongs to. An hourter. Lin Sheng received the feedback from the soldiers and tabted the areas of the ck Clusters before calling Maier directly. As he nned to unload all of the information about the ck Clusters onto Maier, Lin Sheng suddenly recalled the records about the Perfusion, the ckwater, the ck tide and the mist. This seemed to be interconnected. Especially the mist in the end. Lin Sheng still recalled the all-enveloping mist when he first entered ckfeather City. As he took the call, Maier was astounded. He never expected the Holy Sanctum to work so fast. ¡°Are you sure about the locations?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure,¡± Lin Sheng answered with confidence. ¡°Oh right, I want to ask you, you know about the perfusion and the ckwater?¡± ¡°Perfusion? ckdotter?¡± Maier¡¯s tone became slightly odd. ¡°You¡¯ve asked the elders in the sanctum, right? The perfusion is the preliminary phenomenon before the ck Cluster. The Perfusion will happen first, and this will cause all sorts of weird things to happen, and usually, someone will die in the process. ¡°Then came the ck Cluster, probably the ck dotter you¡¯re talking about. But at this stage, it will quicklypress itself, but not longter, the ck cluster will disappear by itself.¡± ¡°Is that so...I¡¯m talking about water, not dotter,¡± Lin Sheng added. ¡°Isn¡¯t that the ck Cluster? Once it grows it would be a puddle of ck water, no?¡± Maier smiled. ¡°Alright, since you have found all of them, I¡¯ll need to send someone over. Your payment will be paidter.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± The line was cut. Lin Sheng stood by the school gate and did not say anything for a while as he recalled one of the books that were lying on that underground chamber inside the ckfeather City¡¯s Warrior¡¯s Guild. That made him frustrated. ¡°My lord, if you are not happy, you can look at Khad and be happy~~¡± Khad had appeared out of nowhere and walked towards him as he chirpily said that. As a sub-spiritual existence, after getting used to the memories and the information about this word, he was more and more like a normal person. ¡°I have no interest in role-ying with myself,¡± Lin Sheng said tly as he looked at him. ¡°Everyone speaks to themselves when they think no? Argue against themselves no? We have but only materialize that process.¡± Khad smiled. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Lin Sheng replied. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to waste my breath with a guy.¡± ¡°Is that so? I understand...¡± Khad did not seem to mind if he pissed Lin Sheng off at all. One need to know that if Lin Sheng¡¯s piss, he would assume direct control of his body. He cheerfully turned around and left, before disappearing within an alleyway. Lin Sheng did not mind that. He was now actively trying to nurture these elite¡¯s sense of self, especially when he was critically short of people that he could trust. If he wants to train generals that he could fully trust, he would need to train them for a good while, plus a little bit of luck. For his summoned soldiers, though, it was a different ballgame altogether. Their spirits were pieces from Lin Sheng¡¯s own, and simply put, they were part of Lin Sheng¡¯s soul. Due to the different memories however, and with their bodies affecting their spirit, distinct personalities were formed. Just like how cells slowly turned into organs. When all of them were put together, then Lin Sheng was at his mostplete form. As he looked at Khad¡¯s disappearing visage, Lin Sheng turned back to school and attended ss. Afternoon. Maier called once again to thank Lin Sheng and had also mentioned that the payment had already been wired to Lin Sheng¡¯s bank ount, and asked him to bring his bank Pin with him to take the money. As he attended a whole afternoon of ss, Lin Sheng had meditated throughout the whole afternoon as well. Unfortunately, his sacred power did not grow much, and was almost no different than a few days ago. No matter what he did, be it using the harp, or to meditate on the Ashen Seal, his progress was totally blocked off by the Steel Lord¡¯s resolute spirit. This was not something he had encountered before. He was still rather frustrated as he left the school and started strolling around the evening street. He did run into his sister Lin Xiao who was out looking for food. She was with two other female friends as they stood outside a bubble tea shop chatting. ¡°Big sis has been losing a lot of weighttely, but seeing her leg heal is great,¡± a clear, cheery voice rang next to Lin Sheng. He did not need to look to know who it was. ¡°Nice timing, I have something to ask you. While both our memories are the same, I hope that you could help me think of a problem using your memories and point of view.¡± Khad could sense the seriousness in Lin Sheng and quickly answered. ¡°Okay.¡± Lin Sheng turned over and looked at Khad. ¡°Am I pretty?¡± Khad gently spun her skirt. Her long legs, d in white stockings were impable, the curvature gorgeous. She had a thin waist, thick lips with a white long hair, an ample chest size, and an innocent seductiveness to her. This was her now. If not for their soul link, and that familiar, delicate face, Lin Sheng could have sworn he had mistaken her for someone else. ¡°My lord, you got aroused,¡± Khad said cheerily. ¡°No, I did not.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t deny it, we are one. I could sense that.¡± Khad mercilessly pried open Lin Sheng¡¯s fa?ade. Lin Sheng stared at her impassively. ¡°Do you like it? I¡¯m a pure innocent maiden now~~¡± Khad had clearly used some effort on the changes to her body, and let out a cheeky smile. ¡°So what you need me to do.¡± She walked to Lin Sheng and grabbed his hand. ¡°Honey? Dear? Teacher? Brother? Or... Master?¡± She gently pressed her chest onto Lin Sheng¡¯s arm, a seductive glint glowed in her eye. ¡°Where the hell did you learn all of this?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s head hurt. ¡°Eh? Master, you don¡¯t like this? Or are you into uniforms?¡± Khad asked with wide-open eyes. ¡°Or are you saying that you don¡¯t like innocent, young ones, and prefer someone more matured?¡± she asked. ¡°Like brother? Daddy? Grandpa?¡± Lin Sheng had no answer and simply walked away. ¡°But I could sense that I¡¯m better received in this form... Weird, back in my time, the appearance of a boy was much more popr...¡± Khad muttered to herself. Lin Sheng walked in front and she followed behind. The difference in their height was really jarring. Khad was barely at Lin Sheng¡¯s waist, but yet her looks were delicate and beautiful, her face innocent and unblemished. With her whitece skirt, thin waist and thick lips, plus her supple, smooth skin had many a passerby turn back. Most people would not be so open when they see a prettydy, and most would simply pretend to look sideways before catching a few more nces when the person was not noticing. A few would simply pretend to look over in the general direction, or quickly walk pass, but they still stole some nces at Khad. Lin Sheng noticed that the reaction of quite a number of middle-aged men was rather extreme, and it seems like Khad¡¯s get up was particrly effective against men that age. However, Lin Sheng had no intention to observe that, his only goal was to quickly absorb the soul of the Steel Lord. ¡°I want to know the answer to this question.¡± He passed on his question to Khad. The two bodies shared the same soul and thoughts. Khad immediately understood what Lin Sheng wanted to ask. ¡°Back then, my greatest wish was to escape the vault, and to bask in the light again. So master, when you summoned me, you had aplished my wish andpulsion,¡± she answered. ¡°Is that so?¡± Lin Sheng frowned. ¡°Then what is the Steel Lord¡¯s wish?¡± ¡°I guess is the opportunity to redo things once more. ¡± Khad smiled. ¡°To redo things once more?¡± ¡°That old coot is probably wracked by guilt. He surely wants to try to redeem everything, redeem all of his failures,¡± Khad continued. ¡°So we just need to set up something simr tost time.¡± ¡°Redemption, huh?¡± Chapter 210 - Dust Cloud: Part 1

Chapter 210: Dust Cloud: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The wind blew as the endless sand dune glittered beautifully under the sunlight. Amid the wind, there was a faint nking as the billowing dust cloud crashed against Valgariah¡¯s dark red leg guard. Every step he took, his leg sank centimeters into the ground. The scorching sun above him was like a steam cooker, or an oven, as his entire armor was heated to the point of boiling, seemingly possible to grill sweet potato on it. Ever since he had rescued Khad, he had been wandering around under Lin Sheng¡¯smand, to look for a ce where he could establish a branch and spread the word of the sacred power. Sadly, perhaps due to his overly stringent requirements, or his bad luck, the Steel Lord Valgariah had been hopping from ship to ship without any luck of finding a suitable spot. So he decided to simply bypass the ind and directly headed to this vast desert continent and hoped to find a good ce to spread the word in this backward, war-tornnd. ¡°I would not havee to this godforsaken ce if not for the price that you are willing to pay. No one in their right mind woulde to the Gyrshuri Desert at this season. This is literally self-getion with this wind and sand!¡± The guide, called Ishak kept on yapping about his suffering. Perhaps he wanted more money, but just as the words formed up in his tongue, he saw the Steel Lord¡¯s gaze and the words went back down his throat. ¡°A few more miles ahead is a tourist vige closest to this area. I had brought quite a number of people herest month. You can forget about beingfortable here. ¡°In this season, especially when youe to this unholy ce in November, it is hot as hell during the day, and cold as hell at night. It is already a luxury to be able to have somewhere to stay warm,¡± he exined in Xilin¡¯s tongue. ¡°Understood.¡± The Steel Lord was not adept in dealing with this sort of character. He hated those who were calctive the most. However, his outstanding upbringing stayed him from admonishing the person. He was after all no longer the Steel Lord of yore, a member of the ckfeather Council. The two continued on in tow as they stepped onto the sands as they heading towards the predetermined direction. ¡°It is right ahead.¡± The tour guide, Ishak wore a round hat and a long gray yarn shirt, and if not for his ck skin, he looked no different than a scrawny dark-skinned female from afar. The two soon made their way to the top of a dune and looked into the distance. Amid the clouds of dust, smoke bellowed from a vige about a mile away from them. From afar, the smoke looked like thin likes as they were blown about by the wind. Most of the buildings in the vige were already in ruins, with only broken walls left. Isaac opened his mouth and just meant to say that after resting for tonight, they would make their way to another vige. But right then, his words failed him. ¡°It has just been raided.¡± The Steel Lord looked from afar and rumbled after observing the smoke and ruins within the vige. ¡°It¡¯s always like that here in Lybba. Every month there¡¯s a new country forming, and every month there¡¯s another country being destroyed, with all sorts of weapons and mercs around...¡± Ishak sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We need to find a new ce to rest. Don¡¯t mind me, but your getup is quite a burden isn¡¯t it, can you still walk?¡± The Steel Lord nodded. His armor may have looked thick, but in fact, it was bonded to him, so to him, the armor weighed almost nothing, but the tour guide¡¯s words reminded him of something. ¡°It¡¯s fake, I¡¯ll take it offter.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go. We¡¯ll head to the next point. Only because you¡¯ve paid so much or else I¡¯ll be making a goddamn loss here...¡± he mumbled to himself. The windstorm was getting stronger as he grabbed onto his fluttering yarn shawl and tied them dead onto his neck as he took out a white disc-like item and turned towards the direction it was pointing. ... Inside the forest. *Bam!* A massive tree was being sawed down and crashed with a thunderous roar, breaking the nearby branches. Amid the grass and leaves, a few tiny animals peeking about quickly scattered as they were shocked by therge crash. Soon, the whirring saw stopped. Following that were expert workers who quickly chopped off the branches from the fell tree before sawing it into a round timber, rolling them onto the transport vehicle. Not too far away, was Lin Sheng¡¯s summoned tower. The tower had almost been fully dismantled, with only the empty top frame left. Arge number of workers were busy with their work, carrying cement, piling, andying bricks as they went. Everything was done in proper order. At the side of the construction site, beyond the simple barricade, a few people were observing the busy construction team at work. And the few people there stood between two others, as they listened to the instructions for theyout of the ce. ¡°I need a field that could amodate at least five hundred, can we make one in this hill here? It cannot be small.¡± Of the two persons, one of them was the muscr newly appointed Holy Sanctum branch master, Lin Sheng. He was not in his armor this time around, rather he was in his daily get up. He wore a ck leather windbreaker over a ck singlet and jeans. His powerful build alongside his messy ck hair made him look no different than someone in his mid-twenties. Standing beside him was the recovered Adolf. He was in a simple casual western suit, and his presence was way weaker than Lin Sheng. ¡°Everything will be done ording to your wishes. You don¡¯t have to worry about the quality!¡± The construction manager patted his chest as he yelled. The din of the machines in the construction yard was too loud, and one needed to shout to get his message across. ¡°When can this be done at the quickest?¡± Lin Sheng asked again. ¡°About a month¡¯s time.¡± The manager was a middle-aged man with golden hair. His face was full of confidence. ¡°That¡¯s fast.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Master, Hamme¡¯s team is the fastest we have. We have even hired two supporting teams, and the construction speed is at its fastest now,¡± Adolf got close and whispered. ¡°Come, let¡¯s go somewhere else to speak.¡± Lin Sheng turned and walked toward a purpose-build resting tent. As the two walked into the green tent, someone quickly served them two warm cups of water before excusing himself. ¡°Have you memorized the meditation method I thought youst time?¡± Lin Sheng said as he sat on a stool. ¡°Yes. I have memorized the Ashen Seal you¡¯ve given me as well,¡± Adolf swiftly responded. Lin Sheng nodded in satisfaction. Adolf¡¯s innate ability was probably one of the best he had seen so far. Compared with Sarroux in Xilin, Adolf¡¯s rate and speed were much, much faster. Just within four days, Adolf¡¯s body had recovered to the point he could meditate. As he withdrew himself from his vices and kept a tab on his food, drinks, as well as recovery, within four days, his body and soul had reached the bare minimum required to meditate. Lin Sheng was stunned when he inspected him. It was almost if this person was born for meditation because his focus was extraordinary. After confirming that Adolf did not suffer from any mental issues, he quickly thought the Ashen Seal and the meditation methods to him. And Adolf did not disappoint him. Upon making the first contact with the Ashen Seal and the meditation methods, he had shown his terrifying innate attributes. He hadpletely memorized the Ashel Seal ¨C Sanctuary on his very first attempt. By the afternoon of the same day, the faint protective markings appeared on his body. This was faster than Lin Sheng by almost seven to eight folds... One needed to remember that he had spent almost a week meditating to even get the basic protective shell of Sanctuary. Chapter 211 - Dust Cloud: Part 2

Chapter 211: Dust Cloud: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Don¡¯t becent and work hard, meditation is just the basics. You will also need to study the full length ofbat techniques as well,¡± Lin Sheng advised. ¡°Once your body gets stronger, I¡¯ll teach you some realbat techniques.¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± Adolf bowed his head in reverence. ¡°Meditate. The rued power will shine when you need it most,¡± Lin Sheng said tly. ¡°Yes.¡± The two sat inside the tent as they seemed to be closing their eyes to rest. But in fact, both of them were meditating their respective Ashen Seals. But Lin Sheng, on the other hand, was not meditating, rather he was controlling Khad to prepare for the Steel Lord¡¯s redemption. The present Steel Lord, after consuming arge part of Khad¡¯s body, had formed a very strong bond with him. And even from afar, Lin Sheng could still send shortmands through meditation. While sendingmands would use up much of his mental strength, with its content very limited, it was still much more desirablepared to the total loss of contact. Aside from the two elites, the rest of the soldiery were arranged to cooperate with Shermanton¡¯s Special Forces to sweep a wider area for ck Clusters. This time around, they were part of the official team and had gotten full cooperation as a result. ... ¡°This is the third vige.¡± The Steel Lord slowly walked inside the ruined town, and everywhere around him were broken walls and ruins that had just been bathed in the explosion. Ishak the tour guide continued to drink water and was curious as to how the Steel Lord didn¡¯t need to drink. ¡°This situation is usually rarer, but it still normal. This ce is like that, if you don¡¯te for a while, many settlements would be abandoned. There are just too many bandits around,¡± he said as he put down his bottle. ¡°There¡¯s someone!¡± The Steel Lord suddenly stopped as he cast his sharp eyes toward the ruins on his right. It was the yard of a small farmer¡¯s cottage. The wall was already half-ruined, with the other half struggling to hold the structure upright. The house was empty, and from the gaps on the copsed wall, no one was in sight aside from a few burnt bodies. ¡°There¡¯s someone?!¡± Ishak was shocked as he quickly bent down and run toward a broken wall. He had wanted to pull the Steel Lord along, but he could not move him even an inch. The Steel Lord simply turned around, and took big strides toward the earthen house, not fearing any potential threats. ¡°Oy! You...!¡± Ishak called out to him, but before he realized it, the Steel Lord had already made his way before the earthen house as he suddenly stomped the ground hard. *Bam!* An iron hoop suddenly bounced up, and the Steel Lord caught the hoop with his leg and pulled it upwards. With a creakter, a thick wooden board was pulled up alongside the hoop, revealing a dark basement. Valgariah looked down. It was just a small four square meter basement, and in it was a golden-haired girl with twin tails who was curled up within it. The girl was curled up in her mother¡¯s embrace and looked up with fear in her eyes at the Steel Lord standing outside. Valgariah paused for a moment, before turning away. Suddenly, amand came from Lin Sheng from afar, and he stopped moving. ¡°Understood...¡± He returned to the entrance of the basement. ¡°Come out,¡± he rumbled. Without a word, the girl came out of her mother¡¯s embrace and out of the basement as she stood silently by Valgariah¡¯s side. Her right arm was broken, with only her left arm usable as she struggled to climb out. Valgariah peered into the basement. The mother was not moving as if asleep as she maintained her embracing position. He could tell from a nce that it was a corpse. The giant man looked at the small girl and no one said anything for a while. After a while, Ishak could not stand it anymore and got out after ascertaining that everything was safe. ¡°She¡¯s a war orphan. Leave her be, and let¡¯s go. Having another burden to carry is problematic, plus she¡¯s crippled,¡± he whispered to Valgariah. The Steel Lord ignored him and stared at the young girl. ¡°Can you understand me?¡± She nodded. ¡°Can you speak?¡± he asked again. The young girl demurred for a moment before she opened her mouth. There was no tongue, only a bloodied wound. ¡°Sigh...¡± Even Ishak could no longer bear to see it. ¡°Such is war... Let¡¯s go, otherwise, we won¡¯t be able to make it in time.¡± The Steel Lord did not say anything and simply looked at the young girl in the eye. He remembered that his son bore the same eyes as the girl now before he left. Helpless. Confused. Fearful. After a while, he turned away and walked out of the vige. ¡°Hey! Wait for me!¡± Ishak quickly ran after him as the bottles on his backpack nged against one another. About five hundred meterster, the Steel Lord paused and turned to look back. Behind them, a tiny figure about a meter tall struggled to keep up with them. ¡°I knew it... I knew it...¡± Ishak the tour guide grumbled. The Steel Lord ignored him and simply looked at the girl before turning away and continuing his march forward. Ishak followed behind as he turned back to look at the girl before sighing and threw a bottle of water alongside a packet of biscuits down before continuing on. ... Lin Sheng slowly opened his eyes as he withdrew his consciousness from the Steel Lord. Adolf had already longpleted his meditation and was drinking a cup of hot water as he rested, his face somewhat pale. ¡°Master, are you done?¡± ¡°Yes. Your body is still too weak. Meditation is a process that consumes a lot of your strength to turn them into holy power. Without a strong body, a strong will is pointless.¡± Lin Sheng got up as he moved his muscles. ¡°I have four paths for you to choose in terms ofbat techniques. Once you have decided on what, I¡¯ll teach you the basic drills.¡± ¡°May I ask, which four?¡± Adolf asked reverently. ¡°Bare-handed, long sword, sword and shield, and war ax.¡± Lin Sheng quickly listed out the four mostpletedbat systems that he had absorbed. ¡°Consider properly.¡± He patted Adolf, who was now deep in thought, on the shoulder as he left the tent and made his way down the hill. He suddenly had an idea to resolve the matter with the Steel Lord¡¯s redemption, and if it works... After returning to the dorm and having his dinner, Lin Sheng effortlessly made his way into the dream. He had been spending these past few days searching the Warrior¡¯s Guild for all sorts of information and useful items. Sadly, aside from the books in the underground chamber, it was nothing but weapons and armor across the entire guild. And yet, these weapons and armor were not much better than those Bloodarmored soldiers. Lin Sheng had tested it out, and it was about as strong as the armor of a vault guard. So he simply forwent it entirely as the defense provided was no better than his own skin. Plus they were heavy and encumbered his movement. He felt that his entirebat capability took a dive as he wore them. As for the weapons, he collected a bundle of short axes with the length of an arm and packed them together to use as throwing axes. With his absorption still notpleted, he did not dare to hunt for new souls and could only return to the small sanctum and continue to meditate. Some progress was better than none after all. Chapter 212 - Dust Clouds: Part 3 Chapter 212: Dust Clouds: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The chill of the desert night was bone-biting. The Steel Lord sat by the fire as he looked at the little girl who Ishak had brought along. Fear was etched on her face as two lines of tears cut through the muck on her dirty face. She was no more than nine years old, her frame small and skinny. Not only she had a broken arm, but she also had no tongue. She could not speak. ¡°Do you fear death?¡± Valgariah asked, his voice t. The girl simply stared at him, not understanding what he was trying to say. ¡°Forget that.¡± Valgariah did not pursue the matter. He was a noble of ckfeather City, the patriarch of his proud lineage, these sort of tragic scenes, was all toomon for him. If not for her eyes that looked like his son¡¯s, if not for his master¡¯s orders... ¡°War...¡± Valgariah looked at the burning bonfire and recalled the first time he stepped into the battlefield. The people within the chaos of war would inevitably hope against hope, and those who survived were usually very strong-willed. And this was the reason why the Steel Lord chose to set up a branch of the sanctum here. ¡°Sleep...¡± But for some reason, when he saw the girl, he was reminded of his son. ... Lin Sheng slowly woke up from his dream as his consciousness returned to his body. Inside the dark dormitory room, the three other dorm mates were still sleeping with their snores in rhythm. Lin Sheng got up and saw his phone lit up. There was probably a missed call or an unread message. So he flipped the phone and saw missed calls from Adolf and Maier. Maier even sent him a message. Lin Sheng opened the phone to take a look. ¡°The people from Xilin are here to look for you. They¡¯ve found your parent¡¯s shop.¡± ¡°Hmm?!¡± Lin Sheng frowned. The ce where his family had moved was only known to a select few. He looked at the time of the message. It was sent yesterday at 11, and it was already 5:21 the next day. As he pondered, Lin Sheng replied, ¡°You know who they are?¡± The response was almost instant. ¡°No idea, but they do have precise knowledge of your family.¡± Maier was clearly on the night shift again. ¡°Can you arrange a meeting?¡± Lin Sheng quickly asked. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s meet at mee¡¯s Crepe Shop in a bit,¡± Maier replied. ¡°Sure.¡± Lin Sheng locked his phone screen and got out of bed as he changed into his outdoor garb. He gave his hair a fewbs to keep it somewhat tidy before grabbing his key and stealthily left the room. From his school to mee¡¯s Crepe Shop, it took about fifteen minutes by foot. Maier had clearly considered the distance Lin Sheng needed to travel for him to arrange the meeting at such a close-by ce. Dawn had just broken as Maier, Lin Sheng, and another bald man gathered at the entrance of the shop. Maier was treating so he brought them into the shop and requested a private room. ¡°This crepe shop is a little special. The customers will be the ones cooking their own crepe. So you can make it however you like, whatever you like.¡± Maier sat on the main seat as he smiled at the two. ¡°Mr. Xiao Weiqi, please have a seat. Lin Sheng, you too.¡± He motioned for the two to start making their own food. ¡°You guys go on with your talk, I¡¯ll head out for a puff.¡± Maier, ever perceptive, quickly found an excuse to leave the room, leaving the two inside the private room. Lin Sheng sat on his seat as he measured the bald man. He was a typical Xilinite, ck eyes, thin, tall nose with a slightly sunken chin. ¡°Mr. Lin Sheng right?¡± The bald Xiao Weiqi was d in a ck shirt and pants, as he sat opposite Lin Sheng, and bade him respectfully. ¡°Yes, anything?¡± Lin Sheng tly replied. Xiao Weiqi smiled. ¡°Mr. Lin Sheng, for your family to move to Xylond, it was a good choice, but you really think that you¡¯ll be safe here? That you and your family are safe here?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Lin Sheng stared at the former. ¡°I, Xiao Weiqi, represents the Ocean¡¯s Heart, formally extend our invitation to you.¡± Xiao Weiqi smiled. ¡°We hope that you would return to Xilin, and aid your country.¡± ¡°Impossible,¡± Lin Sheng tly rejected him. ¡°I don¡¯t know what Ocean¡¯s Heart group you¡¯re talking about, and I have no idea why you¡¯vee looking for me. If there¡¯s nothing else, you may leave.¡± ¡°Mr. Lin, don¡¯t be so obtuse.¡± Xiao Weiqi continued, ¡°You were born and raised in Xilin, you still have many ties there.¡± ¡°What are you trying to imply?¡± Lin Sheng imperceptibly frowned. ¡°Your rtives, and thatdy who helped you to escape to Xylond. We have managed to rescue them and send them somewhere safer,¡± Xiao Weiqi went on. ¡°What are you thinking of doing?¡± Lin Sheng was impassive as he asked. ¡°The top brass of Ocean¡¯s Heart hopes that you could speak to your master, and help us out. Also, you need topile the entirety of your sacred power training methods and send it back to Xilin. Thirdly, you will need to send a million dors to the ount we have indicated every month,¡± he said as he held his hand out and gently patted Lin Sheng on his shoulder. ¡°If you could do these three things, not only we won¡¯t harm your rtives, we will take care of them well.¡± ¡°It seems like the country has gone to hell...¡± Lin Sheng said as he looked at thetter¡¯s somewhat manic look. ¡°Gone to hell?¡± Xiao Weiqiughed as he drank a whole ss of tea down. ¡°Redwin took nine cities yesterday, and the battle cost us hundreds of dead and wounded. So what do we have to fear at this point?¡± Lin Sheng did not say anything. He only sipped his tea. ¡°So, what do you say?¡± Xiao Weiqi smiled. Lin Sheng did not reply and only ced the empty ss onto the table. *Hiss...* He turned the ss upside down and slowly pushed it to Xiao Weiqi. ¡°When a ss is upside down, it is no longer a ss. And when the ss has lost its original use, what we need to do is to crush it...¡± ¡°So... what are you trying to say?¡± The smile on Xiao Weiqi¡¯s face slowly faded. ¡°Don¡¯t you think that both... you and I are just like this ss?¡± And through the pristine ss, Lin Sheng¡¯s irises slowly turned gold. ¡°You...!!?¡± Xiao Weiqi suddenly realized he was in trouble, and quickly dashed out of the room in fear. Only Lin Sheng remained in the room, as he sat down with his hand pressing against the ss. Minutes passed by. ¡°Is that alright?¡± Maier walked in, as he looked worriedly at Lin Sheng. ¡°They will forgive me.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s expression was calm. ¡°Plus, do you think that I have totally broken off contact with my country?¡± ¡°Then that person...¡± Maier heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°One two three, three to one, one two three four five six seven...¡± Over on the opposite street, the sweetughter of a young girl could be heard. Maier looked over and saw a young girl in a whitece dress as she trotted along in her small shoes. For some reason, he felt that the girl looked rather familiar. Then, he squinted. He saw it... The object spinning in the young girl¡¯s fingers was the bunch of metal keys hanging from Xiao Weiqi¡¯s body earlier. Chapter 213 - Resolution: Part 1

Chapter 213: Resolution: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Yuleen had never eaten meat for a very long time now. Clean water and toasty roasted meat were like her mother¡¯s embrace in her dreams as it warmed her up, and made her feel like she was in heaven. Her tongue and arm still hurt, but that did not matter, as long as she lived, everything else did not matter. Mother had said, she was like a patch of wild grass in the desert, and even when battered by the elements, she would still grow, ever stronger. Humans need to be positive. To see happiness, to see contentment, only then one would be a happy person. Yuleen still remembered the words her mother had said while she was in her arms. The Steel Lord looked on as the little girl wrote crookedly on the sand. Yuleen. ¡°Is that your name?¡± He asked. She nodded and let out a bright smile. She was not pretty, her skin was rough, and neither her features were anything out of the ordinary. It was only her smile, a smile that gave others the feeling that she was a fluttering bloom in the forest. She was neither fragrant nor pretty, but normal, yet strong. ¡°I can merely send you to the next vige. You will then need to survive on your own. Being independent is the basic ability of the strong,¡± the Steel Lord said. Yuleen nodded as she let out another endearing smile. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The Steel Lord shifted his attention away from her and called on Ishak before turning away. The three formed into the line as they slowly made their way. Thankfully, the next vige was not too far away, and just as Ishak and Yuleen were at their limits, they had arrived at that vige. The golden sand dunes soon gave way into a barren desert. By the side of the dry dune was a grey vige. There were quite a number of people in the vige, mostly trade caravans and mercenaries. This ce was near a sizeable mercenary base and had attracted a number of merchants to gather around, finally forming this simple vige. The Steel Lord and Ishak restocked their supplies and bought a camel before leaving Yuleen with some food and drinks, and a small amount of money. Only then did the two continued their journey. The Steel Lord needed to find arge and stable enough city to set up a base for the propagation of the holy powers. An hourter. Yuleen looked on as the silhouette of the Lord of Steel and Ishak disappeared into the distance as she stood on in a stupor in the opening outside the vige. ¡°That¡¯s her! I saw the two giving her money!¡± A few menacing-looking males and females carried their guns as they made their way towards that direction led by a skinny man. In this desert, there was now and order, and if there was enough profit, the people here would do anything. There was no country here, only swarms of impoverished civilians, bandits, robbers, and soldiers. *Bam!* Yuleen was brutally pushed down into the ground. The bottle of water and a packet of biscuits in her possession were taken. ¡°There¡¯s food and drinks! Heh! Money too! Where¡¯s the money! Spit it out now!¡± The thin man stomped into Yuleen¡¯s stomach as he growled at her. A few other armed men and women walked over with a grim look on their faces. ¡°That brat¡¯s gaze is particrly annoying.¡± A woman with a scar on her face looked on spitefully at Yuleen. Yuleen endured the pain as she tried to smile, seemingly to ask for mercy. But they ignored her and simply allowed the man to search her body for money. ¡°Found nothing yet?¡± The scarreddy was growing impatient. ¡°Almost there... Almost there...¡± ¡°Then, get her to spit out details about that old man. I know Ishak, that old man is a new face, to be able to give this gutter rat food and drinks, heh, he must be someone loaded.¡± Thedy sneered. After searching for a good while, the thin man finally managed to retrieve a few hundred Redwinian notes. In that area, Redwinian and Migan currencies were popr with the folks. ¡°That little? And she¡¯s a mute?¡± The scarreddy spat as she saw Yuleen¡¯s torn tongue. ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s get rid of her.¡± She raised her rifle and pointed it at Yuleen. ¡°Stop!¡± The Steel Lord once again reappeared at the edge of the vige, his eyes stared intently at the scarreddy and her clique. He had overestimated the people here, and by giving Yuleen something, he had brought disaster upon her. This ce... was just like what Ishak had said. Chaotic,wless, and bereft of humanity. ¡°Oh? You came back?¡± The scarreddy was astonished. ¡°Just for this gutter rat?¡± She smiled. *ck.* She suddenly raised her rifle and aimed it at the Steel Lord as she released the safety. ¡°Don¡¯t move, or we¡¯ll kill this girl!¡± Another man pointed his gun on Yuleen¡¯s head. The Steel Lord was calm and was just about to speak when suddenly, Yuleen raised her head and smiled at him. ¡°You... Stop!!¡± The Steel Lord¡¯s eyes widened. *Bam!!* Yuleen darted forward, as she crashed her tiny body onto the arm of the scarreddy and bit into it. She was biting with all her strength, like a rabid dog. She had no money, no food, and nothing else to give. The only thing she had, was this life. Mother said you will be able to see the heavens once you are dead. Mother said, once you die, you will be able to meet again. Mother said don¡¯t be afraid. Mother said don¡¯t be afraid... Yuleen bit the scarreddy¡¯s arm savagely and did not let go. ¡°Arghhhh!!!¡± The scarreddy screamed. ¡°You filthy rat..!!¡± *Bam!!* A gunshot rang out, and the Steel Lord¡¯s eyes shrank just as he was about to charge over when he saw a spurt of blood shoot out from Yuleen¡¯s body. ¡°I¡¯m... not afraid...¡± Yuleen thought as her small body mmed heavily against the ground, blood flowing freely into the sand. She opened her mouth as she huffed. Her mouth seemed to be moving to talk, but she was still smiling. The Steel Lord had made his way to the group, and with the swing of his arm, a few of them were sent flying as if they had been rammed by a massive elephant. All of themnded hard on the ground and spat blood. However, it was toote. He walked toward Yuleen and knelt down. He had not considered the possibility of someone in the vige to rob such a small amount of food and money from her. He had never thought that his kindness would result in this tragedy. He never expected Yuleen to be so defiant in the end. She was trying to prove that saving her was well worth it. She wanted to save the Steel Lord. The Steel Lord lowered his head as he gently stroke Yuleen¡¯s hair. He had returned to that very day, where he stroked his dead son¡¯s hair. It was his decision... His. His son dying in battle, his wifemitting suicide. His subordinates being dragged down by him, and dying needlessly together in that cmity. Now, another life was leaving him. ¡°And it happened again...¡± The Steel Lord looked at Yuleen¡¯s fading eyes. ¡°Do you want to save her, Valgariah?¡± A voice that the Steel Lord totally did not expect, rang out behind him. ¡°Name your price!¡± The Steel Lord did not get up, and simply just replied. Chapter 214 - Resolution: Part 2

Chapter 214: Resolution: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°You owe me one!¡± Khad slowly made her way to Yuleen¡¯s side as she bent down and gently ced her hand over Yuleen¡¯s bullet wound on her chest. A shapeless life energy flowed into Yuleen¡¯s body. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you first. I never saved anyone before, and once I do that with this child, her body will change with my powers, and will be forever tainted with that evil aura you detest.¡± ¡°Why are you here?¡± the Steel Lord calmly asked. ¡°The master asked me to follow you. And it seems like you have made another mistake.¡± Khad sniggered. ¡°But no worries, although you are still alone just like the past, you have us to cover your back.¡± The Steel Lord did not say anything, as a weird feeling welled up in him. ¡°Remember, you owe me one.¡± Khad pulled her hand back and turned to leave. ¡°Don¡¯t you hate me?¡± the Steel Lord asked. ¡°I do, but who got us to berades?¡± Khad smiled on the surface but wanted to puke inside. But for effect, she still kept the fa?ade. The Steel Lord got up as he picked Yuleen up in his arms before looking impassively at Khad as she disappeared into the desert. A few vigers came out to have a look and only saw a few bodies on the ground before retreating with their guns. No one bothered with who was dead on the ground. There were too many to even bother. ... Lin Sheng made detailed contact with the soldiers he had left in Xilin. He had previously left a few Vault Wardens there to protect Sarroux and Chen Minjia. While the soldiers were stationed in Xilin, his capabilities now would allow him to sense what state the soldiers there were in. If anyone were to do anything to Sarroux or Chen Minjia, his soldiers would resist and bring them to safety. Since there was no news, that meant that Xiao Weiqi was simply bluffing. After leaving the shop, Lin Sheng looked for his parents to ask for Chen Minjia¡¯s contact details before calling her with his satellite phone. His disciple Adolf too quickly arranged his men to investigate the matter and to gather information. Even though Adolf¡¯s family was not the biggest conglomerate in Shermanton, but they still have businesses all over the country, and most certainly internationally as well. While Xilin was in a state of chaos now, Adolf¡¯s family business still had dealings in both Redwin and Miga, and have hired many workers from both countries. So sending the locals to investigate made things much easier. Barely half a dayter, there was news from Xilin. Chen Minjia was now in Miga negotiating business, while the Lins were still living within Redwinian-upied zones. Only Sarroux had disappeared as he led a few core Ironfist Society members underground with his father. ¡°So that is to say that person was just bluffing?¡± Lin Sheng sat by the school garden as he looked at the male students ying basketball on the court. Adolf, on the other hand, was going through the information received from Xilin. ¡°Probably so, my men had checked and that Xiao Weiqi person once belonged to a mysterious department within the Xilin government, but some time back, a couple of Xilin¡¯s army divisions were defeated in pitched battles, with many soldiers routing, the central government is probably on itsst legs...¡± Adolf had to stop as his master was someone form Xilin. Lin Sheng gently stroked his fingers through the green leaves, as he felt the gentle prickly sensation. ¡°Is there any way to get someone out from Xilin?¡± I will speak to someone I know from the Redwinian military and get them to cooperate. ¡°How about I go?¡± Khad came out from the corner of the wall, her face bore that innocent yet seductive smile. This was the second time Adolf saw Khad, and his emotions went unchecked as he sprang up. Most normal people would want to think that Khad was cute and will want to hug her. But he was different. When he was rescued that day, he saw Khad controlling arge number of pale arms and easily captured the seemingly invincible Zeon Sr. ¡°Have you settled the thing I got you to do?¡± Lin Sheng looked at Khad and sent a telepathic message. ¡°Of course. For such a simple matter, a split body would do.¡± Khad smiled at Lin Sheng again, as though she was trying to curry favor. ¡°So, let me go there?¡± A theatre of war was the best ce for Khad to heal and grow. She needs to consume arge number of arms and human essence. ¡°Your notoriety is too great, and you¡¯ll definitely run into trouble.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. ¡°No worries, I can change my looks again,¡± Khad quickly added. Lin Sheng pondered for a moment. ¡°Alright, head there yourself and get them over here.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll send someone to lead the way!¡± Adolf volunteered. ¡°Father and big sis have given me some number of authority.¡± ¡°Sorry to trouble you, then.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t be, it is my pleasure.¡± Adolf quickly nodded. He did not understand why his master still decided to stay in the campus. Perhaps he wanted to experience a normal life or blend into society, or it could be some other reason. However, it was not his ce to say anything. As long as he could aplish whatever his master wishes, and then meditate daily, this was the most fulfilling thing for him now. He had no idea if it was just him, but he was particrly taken in by the meditation, as he could feel that he was growing stronger by the moment with this training method. ¡°Alright, dismissed.¡± Lin Sheng stood up. He wanted to check if the Steel Lord¡¯s spiritual blockage was still there. He had used Yuleen and gotten Khad to appear at the most fortuitous moments. After so much effort into the act, he would totally be at a loss if this did not work. Seeing Lin Sheng leaving, Adolf bowed reverently as he turned towards the school gate. His car and driver were waiting for him there. ¡°Master, won¡¯t you praise me as well?¡± Khad stood alone and started mumbling to herself. ¡°You are me, what¡¯s the point of praising myself?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s voice rang out in her mind. ¡°Have you never heard of self-encouragement and rewarding one-self?¡± Khad retorted. ¡°Alright... What sort of reward you want?¡± Lin Sheng could feel that the Steel Lord¡¯s soul was slowly thawing. ¡°I want to sleep with you!!¡± ¡°Huh???¡± ... Lin Sheng left the dorm under the gaze of his fellow dorm mates as if they were looking at a pervert. He felt that it was getting more and more inconvenient to live on campus, and decided to move out. Adolf¡¯s men had managed to find him a house about ny square meters wide to rent. He did not have many personal items, and upon gathering his stuff, he informed the school and moved out. He never expected Khad to appear when he moved. That bugger actually left a double here. The first thing she said was, ¡°Big bro, can you bathe with me?¡± Lin Sheng was totally helpless then. Khad looked no more than a twelve-year-old girl. She was no taller than Lin Sheng¡¯s waist, and when the two stood side by side, the difference in size akin to a bear and a bunny. Besides, as pretty, as seductive, and as well-endowed as Khad was, she was still a young girl. Chapter 215 - Resolution: Part 3

Chapter 215: Resolution: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion It was evening, at about 7 pm. Lin Sheng had moved all of his items to the newly rented ce. After sending the movers away, he chased away Khad as well while he quickly unpacked. After taking a shower, he called his family to check things out. The sky had totally darkened by then. This time, Lin Sheng did not sleep early to enter the dream as he sat alone in the hall of the rented house. The hall was empty, with only a television, fridge and table set in it. The walls were painted white, and the coat of paint new. Lin Sheng sat in the center of the room as he closed his eyes to recall the two Ashen Seal that he had mastered. The first one was Sanctuary. His mental strength was like flowing water as it naturally made its way along the lines of the Ashen Seal. Barely a minuteter, a full circle of meditation waspleted The second one was the Furious Howl. This was the Ashen Seal he had obtained from Snowgale Fortress, but he had found no use for it. While he had mastered it, he had no opportunity to use it. His fighting style was no crap talk and straight-up brawl. If he can¡¯t win he¡¯ll run, if he can win he¡¯ll fight. So he did not have the opportunity to use Furious Howl. However, the meditation of the Furious Howl seal only took two minutes. Lin Sheng closed his eyes as he could feel that the Steel Lord¡¯s spiritual clusters slowly thawing and melting away as arge amount of shapeless and colorless spiritual energies were entering his body, as they took the hue of his mark and aura. Lin Sheng could feel that the sacred power cluster within him was growing explosively as every second saw an improvement to the result of his training. The sacred power cluster was like a ss that was constantly being filled with water as it roiled and swirled. *Hum...* The faint white glow of sacred power radiated all over Lin Sheng¡¯s body. His entire body glowed, and could not be hidden by his clothes. This phenomenonsted for a good twenty minutes. And twenty minutester, Lin Sheng felt the total sacred power within him had increased by more than two-fold. A surge of sacred power slowly entered his bloodstream and circted across his whole body. He felt like he was soaking within afortable hot spring, absolute bliss. Within his gut, the core of his sacred power, two marks slowly formed and floated about it. Lin Sheng closed his eyes to sense it, and very quickly he could tell that the two marks were the two Ashen Seals that he had mastered. Sanctuary and Furious Howl. ¡°The books said that the more Ashen Seals a pdin masters, he would be able to gain more perks when he levels up. A shame, I only have two so far.¡± Lin Sheng felt a little disappointed. But now that there was a marked increase in his sacred power, that meant his self-healing ability and resistance all increased as well. ¡°So I think this is about Level 5 now?¡± Lin Sheng guessed. He then rose to wash up and change. After that, hey in bed and readied himself to enter the dream realm. ¡°Brother... I want to sleep together with you!¡± Khad appeared out of nowhere and mbered onto the bed excitedly as she stared at Lin Sheng with expectant bright eyes. ¡°What for?¡± Lin Sheng was speechless. This felt extremely weird, as if he had put on female makeup on the left side of his face, and kept his right side normal before the two sides of his face started teasing each other. ¡°Having your right hand love your left hand, your femur loving your fib, what the bloody hell for?¡± Lin Sheng spat. ¡°It¡¯s certainly something! I¡¯ll only sleep tight when I¡¯m hugging you...¡± Khad had changed into a one-piece ck nightgown as her legs, d in white socks slowly inched closer toward Lin Sheng. Her white hair ran down and onto the white bedsheet, as her small but well-endowed chest and thin waist, alongside her perky hip formed a very alluring curvature. ¡°Do you like it?¡± Khad slowly got close to Lin Sheng¡¯s face, a floral fragrance emanated from her body. ¡°Khad, how many people had you eaten so far? Do you still remember them?¡± Lin Sheng suddenly asked. ¡°Ugh... about three thousand plus I guess?¡± Khad pondered for a bit. ¡°All of them have be one with me!¡± ¡°So that means I¡¯m actually sleeping with three thousand people in my bed?¡± Lin Sheng said tly. ¡°How can that be?!¡± Khad was stunned. ¡°Alright, go stand guard outside, and don¡¯t disturb me for nothing.¡± Lin Sheng patted her on the head. Khad fell into a deep mental conflict as she got down from the bed in a stupor and started thinking about Lin Sheng¡¯s question. Everyone she had eaten, was not dead, rather they were absorbed into her body, and they lived on together. She was, in fact, simply a massive monster that had absorbed arge number of humans. If she did that with Lin Sheng, that meant that three thousand people would do that to him as well at the same time... but the master was hers alone! She would not share him with anyone! Thus, Khad fell into a never-ending cycle of dissonance. Lin Sheng took control of Khad and sent her own of the room as she patrolled in her ck smoke form. Only then did he rxed andy on the bed as he slowly sank into the dream. If she was not messing around, Khad was indeed a powerful bodyguard. Now that he had totally absorbed the Steel Lord¡¯s spirit, he could now start to hunt again... ... *Tick tock, tick tock...* Amid the ticking of the clock, Lin Sheng slowly opened his eyes. Theyout of the small sanctum was still the same asst time. Rows upon rows of pews, intricate and holy-inspired stained windows and the sacred tome on the prayer dais. It was the same as when he left. Lin Sheng looked at himself. He was wearing a suit of Blood Armor he found in the Warrior¡¯s Guild with a bundle of short axes on his back. As he got up, he headed straight to the storeroom. Standing before the assessment obelisk, he held his hands out to grab the two handles. *Hiss...* Sacred power flowed into the obelisk, and the markers were lit up by the rising sacred power. And soon it went past Level 4 and hit Level 5, before stopping right after pipping through the mark. ¡°It¡¯s Level 5!¡± Lin Sheng was relieved. ¡°Absorbing the Steel Lord¡¯s soul cluster is almost equivalent to absorbing god knows how many other normal mobs.¡± After confirming his sacred power had indeed reached Level 5, Lin Sheng pulled his hands back as he did not dawdle and walked out of the sanctum. As he stood on the street, he swept his gaze past a few buildings close by as he looked passed the Warrior¡¯s Guild toward the end of the street. The further he went, the closer he got to the core district of ckfeather city, and the closer to the core, the possibility of him running into stronger monsters increased as well. Lin Sheng stood before the gate of the Holy Sanctum as he took a few deep breaths and made his way to the city center. The ck buildings on both sides of the street all looked like prowling beasts of various sizes, as they stared intently at Lin Sheng. With the grey mist permeating all over and the street lights dim, it felt like monsters would pounce out of every corner at any moment. Lin Sheng slowly made his way past the Warrior¡¯s Guild, heightening his alertness as he swept his gaze on the signage on both sides of the streets. ¡°The Caen Manor.¡± ¡°The Hundred Leaves Pub.¡± ¡°The Anducil Manor.¡± ¡°The Tamlyn Manor.¡± ¡°The Raven¡¯s Haberdashery.¡± Name after name of buildings swept past his gaze. He did not enter at random to search. ckfeather City was just too big, and if he were to scour every building in the city, it will take him forever. He needed to make full use of the time here, and try to garner as much ult knowledge that can be brought out of the dream as possible. With big strides, Lin Sheng quickly picked through the signage on the buildings on both sides of the road. After making his way through two streets and was close at the end of the third, Lin Sheng suddenly stopped as he looked at a white building with a golden dome that looked like a mausoleum. A sign hung outside the building, with the following words clearly etched upon it: ckfeather City High Magic Research Center. Chapter 216 - Search: Part 1

Chapter 216: Search: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The structure of the golden-domed building was simple There was no fence, and only a silver line marking the ground. Faint silver glowed and flowed within the line. The entire building was simply surrounded by a circle of this silver line to demarcate it from the other buildings. Lin Sheng looked down at the lines, squinted and slowly took a step forward as he pulled one of the axes from his back and tossed it gently at the line. *ck.* The ax connected with the line, tumbled for a bit, andy still on the ground. ¡°No problems there.¡± Lin Sheng looked up and slowly crossed the silver line as he made his way before the building. The main door was in pure gold, on it were massive symbols about passing through two gates. The symbols had the silhouette of a man¡¯s face, and on the head were two horns as two ram-like horns grew from the back of his head. There were no eyes within the eyes socket, giving out a bizarre, chilling aura of terror. Lin Sheng paused for a bit before putting his hand onto the door and pushed hard. *ck.* The door seemed to be locked, as a metallic ng was heard. Lin Sheng pulled his hand back and took a step back as he shot out a powerful kick. *Bam!!* The door shook under the massive impact, and as silver glint shed through it, it did not budge. Lin Sheng continued kicking it for about half a dozen times. Not only did the door not budge, it felt like it was getting sturdier by the moment. Frowning, Lin Sheng looked around the building as he started to circle the research center. After a good half a circleter, he was at the back of the building and found a round tform covered with a yellow curtain. The tform seemed to be made out of grey stone, and engraved on it were countless intricate circuits and symbols with ayer of translucent crystal enshrouding it. And what piqued Lin Sheng¡¯s interest was, there was a transparent connected corridor between the tform and the building. Apletely sealed ss walkway and the entrance was that round tform. ¡°This seems like... a back door? A backdoor that requires special authorization?¡± Lin Sheng raised the yellow curtain around the tform and observed the engraved circuits and symbols. He was not the clueless idiot from the past. After taking in arge number of memories, he had some knowledge about these circuits and symbols. After all, while the sanctum mainly focused on sacred power as its core system, but within the Ashen Seals and the summoning rituals, they were still based on basic runic symbols and magical circuits. It could be said that the Ashen Seal was based and expanded from the spellcasting system. Lin Sheng made his way to the front of the tform and peered inside. The pathway was empty, with only some ck bloodstains on the ground. It was so faint that if he did not focus he would have missed it. He slowly made his way in as he pulled out two axes from his back. The pathway was about ten meters long and he quickly made his way through it as he entered a rather empty hall. Looking up from the hall, it was like the main hall of an ancient temple. There was a faint golden glow from the top of the dome, and the source of the light was arge round light screen on it. On both sides of the hall were rows of long rectangr pirs, and at the top of them were stripes that looked like ws. A bright red triangr cloth hung on every pir with golden trims on their side. On the cloth was arge four-horned human head, just like the one on the door. ¡°Another one...¡± He gripped his axes tight as he walked into the hall. In the center of the hall, there were a few overturned ck stone tables and cutleries scattered all over the ground. Some of the tes had crusty food remnants on them. ¡°It seemed like the meal was in progress before it was violently disrupted...¡± Lin Sheng said as he kicked one of the stone chairs. It was heavy, at least a hundred kilograms in weight. ¡°Even a chair is that heavy?¡± He frowned in slight confusion. It did not seem like it was meant for a normal person¡¯s use. He then looked around. There were dark shadows between the pirs of both sides. From the shadow, he could see a number of sealed doors. On the top of the door were blurry portraits, probably indicating who the owner of the room was. Lin Sheng circled around the hall and found in the corner was a few gorgeous form-fitting ck dress, an intricately sewn cloak, two wooden staves, and a few pretty but useless vases. There was nothing else other than those. ¡°It seems like there¡¯s nothing in the central hall, and the good stuff is probably inside the rooms. ¡°To think that there¡¯s a square hall inside the round building. There are eight rooms on each side, so sixteen in total...¡± Lin Sheng looked around and walked towards the first room on the left. He paused for a moment as he held his hand out to hold onto the bronze vine-like knob and twisted it. *ck.* The door slowly pulled outwards. The room was simple with only a Greystone tform in it, with its upper sections engraved full ofpact runes with all four walls having fourrge ellipsoid crystals etched in them. Lin Sheng paused for a moment and realized that there was no danger before he stepped into the room. *Hiss...* A red light suddenly lit up in the middle of the tform. An orb of mes quickly rose from the tform. It was originally the size of a football, but it rapidly expanded and in a blink of an eye, became the size of a man. Within the mes, arge humanoid creature with four horns charged out towards Lin Sheng with nary a sound. The humanoid being had dark skin and wore a simrly dark metal armor. The armor was roughly built, aside from the neck and the waist area with their skull adornments, the rest of the armor was simply linked by simple crisscrossed chains. The being had legs that resembled a mountain goat, and it wore two silver knee guards with human faces etched on each of them. In its hands was a ming broadsword in one, with a translucent round shield in another. *ng!!* Lin Sheng raised his ax to block the blow. As embers flew, he quickly realized that the heat wasing from the sword. ¡°Ansag! Ansaglinar!¡± The humanoid monster roared as it shed in a brutal arc. It was powerful and was beyond the ability of a Level 3 to block. Only a Level 4 could manage that. Lin Sheng carefully took a big step back and dodged the sh. A massive amount of heat was emanating from the burning double-edged de and was quickly heating the room up. The monster continued its brutal assault, but its skill was subpar and simply relied on its massive strength and speed. After absorbing so many memories of so many sword masters, these were simply child¡¯s y for Lin Sheng. He continuously dodged about a dozen blows as he observed the monster¡¯s skillset and abilities as he tried to mutter simple Deviltongue words to try tomunicate with thetter. However, the monster seemed to be without intelligence and was only shouting a few specific words repeatedly as it relentlessly continued its frenzied attacks. Chapter 217 - Search: Part 2

Chapter 217: Search: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion After a minute of observation, Lin Sheng noticed his opponent had run out of skills to throw at him, and simply threw one of his short axes toward thetter¡¯s head. *Whuff!!* The short ax spun into a ring and sank directly into the monster¡¯s head. It stopped for a moment, as a surge of holy white light exploded out of its body, leaving it a walking mess bellowing ck smoke ¡°Roar!!¡± It let out a painful roar as it charged forward again, swinging its ming de wildly at Lin Sheng. His eyes turned crimson as his veins expanded and popped all over the surface of his skin, not unlike swarms of green worms. Lin Sheng did not dodge this time. A deafening ng rang out as he blocked the de while heshed out a powerful side kick. A thudter, the monster flew away and mmed hard against the floor, its hip twisted into an odd angle. Its spine broke. ¡°Defense Level 1, strength Level 4, speed Level 3,bat awareness Level 3. Average level, three. If it has some better defense, it could be Level 4 even.¡± Lin Sheng looked at the armor worn by the monster, it seemed to have slivers of purple crystals in it, but it did not activate during battle. Probably too much time had since passed, and it has lost its effect. ¡°It probably uses some supernatural defense, but has lost its effect due to time, causing this to happen.¡± He slowly walked over to the howling monster and smashed his ax against its head. *Bam!* The skull and the ax head cracked at the same time. The monster¡¯s howl stopped as it flopped, and stayed forever quiet. There was a massive gap in its head as arge amount of gross yellow-white matter flowed out of it. Lin Sheng waited for a moment, and realized that there were no ck lines forming, surprised him. That did not really bother him, though, as he bent down and picked up the ming twin-ded sword. The moment the sword left the monster¡¯s hand, the mes on the de quickly shrunk, and became dim. In hisnd, the sword looked more like a massive torch, and even with the smaller mes, the embers were still about the size of a finger, and was still capable of singing someone. Oddly enough, he did not feel the hilt heating up. The burning de seemed to be a junk de a lousy smith had made. It was simple, crude, its de thick and not tapered, and there were even chips off the edges. The hilt had a simple brown cloth wrap, while the guard was fashioned out of a red metal into a horn-like shape. The de itself did not have any engravings and looked the part of a third-rate weapon. ¡°What about that shield? Lin Sheng remembered that the beast had a semi-transparent shield. What surprised him was the shield had gone missing as if it had long disappeared. ¡°Seems like the shield was the monster¡¯s own ability,¡± he guessed as he swung the ming twin-ded sword about. A surge of sacred power soon went into the de *Boom!* Suddenly, the mes of the de roared to life as the embers spat out at least half a meter away as if Lin Sheng was holding a ball of mes. The mes even burnt him, but Lin Sheng had dragon skin and was highly resistant to fire, so that did not bother him. He gently swept the de onto the wall. As the de barely made contact with the wall for over two seconds, a ck scar was burnt on the wall. ¡°Not bad!¡± Lin Sheng knelt down, satisfied as he started rummaging through the body of the monster. As he did not manage to find anything else, he picked up the sword and started looking around the room. The room seemed to be purposely made for this monster. There was no furniture or any signs or visage of life, not even anybustibles nearby. After a quick search, Lin Sheng left the room and came to the second one on the left of the hall. He gently pushed the door open. Before he could even fully open a door, a surge of power sted out from the room and mmed at the door onto Lin Sheng. *Bam!!* A monster with four horns on its head, wielding a ming sword charged out at Lin Sheng. *ng!* The two ming swords shed against each other as Lin Shengshed out a punch against the monster¡¯s head. With a massive thud, the monster¡¯s entire face copsed inwards. Not even two secondster, the monster copsed on the ground and died. The battle was over. Lin Sheng was pleased as he withdrew his sword. With his Level 5 sacred powers and thebined strength of Level 6, a Level 3 to Level 4 monster was nothing to him. *Hiss...* This time around, a ck line appeared from the monster¡¯s body and entered Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. He closed his eyes as he absorbed it. Images of darkness, slumber, and feasting entered his mind. There were two particr images that left a mark on him, one was that the monster with the ming sword was gathered with many other monsters as they gorged on food and drink in the hall. The second one, the four-horned monster, was being defeated head-on by a young man in Blood Armor and fell on the ground without any resistance. Lin Sheng saw the face and noticed some simrities with the Steel Lord¡¯s aide. This monster was probably defeated by an elite of the Warrior¡¯s Guild before and had carved that memory into its soul. He could feel his spirit grow a little, just a wee bit. ¡°After reaching Level 5, the total volume of sacred power has increased. I think I¡¯ll need at the very least hundreds of these monster¡¯s soul fragments to level up... Seems I need to find stronger monsters to meet the requirements, otherwise it¡¯ll take forever to get to Level 6 with these trash mobs.¡± He sighed to himself as he pried the ming sword from the monster¡¯s hand. Two des in both hands, that suited him fine. As he kicked the body aside, Lin Sheng walked into the second room. There were metal discs of various sizes in there. The tes were all dark yellow, with intricate engravings on the surface of them, probably a part of some special book-making process. Lin Sheng walked closed and took one of the discs to read. It was written in ancient Rehn, and aside from some odd grammar, he could read it. The discs were all ced neatly within the holes in the wall, and on every disc was a short but special essay. Lin Sheng looked at the disc in his hand. It was the size of a human head with almost thousands of tiny words engraved into it. It would not have been legible if he did not focus. On top of the disc was a title. ¡°Ideas and theories about building the Holy Sanctum¡¯s defense system.¡± Beneath it were many rows of tiny words. ¡°The defense system of the Holy Sanctum? Could that be...¡± Lin Sheng recalled that ritual that had appeared in the Steel Lord¡¯s memories. As long as the Steel Lord lived, every non-human being would not be able to escape the city. If it was that ritual of such a scale... His interest was piqued, and he gave the disc a thorough read. On the disc was everything about the functions of the city¡¯s defensive system without any detailed instructions. Lin Sheng quickly went through it, and aside from some conceptual ideas. There was nothing. He then ced the disc back at its original ce before sweeping his gaze over the rest and checked their titles. ¡°The Introductory Usage of Defensive Runes.¡± ¡°The Discussion of Possible Issues With the Energy Nodes.¡± ¡°Babylonian Effect Calction¡± ¡°The Rtion of Energy and Electromaic Fields¡¯ Exchange.¡± ¡°The Font of the Holy Sanctum: Construction and Maintenance (Volume One).¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s gaze paused for a moment as he took the disc about the Holy Sanctum down and started reading it. ¡°A font of sacred power. The construction of any Holy Sanctum would need a font as its base. As a massive facility to store and convert sacred power, the font of sacred power would need the attributes that the sorcerer¡¯s magic fonts do not have. ¡°Its functions: The storage, provision, and conversion of sacred power. Providing a natural base for a Soul Benediction matrix (Soul Benediction: One of the most basic Divine Arts. It is a supernatural matrix that will provide natural healing of any ailments upon gathering arge amount of sacred power. The area of effect will fluctuate ording to the reserve of sacred power.) ¡°Requirements: ¡°A convertor to change the spiritual power of prayer into sacred power. ¡°A sealed structure that will not be exposed to store sacred power for the long term. ¡°The required items are waterproof masonry, tinum, gold, Ashen Seal core, anti-corrosion paint, heat-resistant paint, insect repellent matrix, yellow crystals, activation sacred powers.¡± Chapter 218 - Search: Part 3

Chapter 218: Search: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng¡¯s hand shuddered as he held the disc. He had recalled that terrifying suppressive powers the Holy Sanctum had disyed before, and the Steel Lord and that massive human-headed snake monster within ckfeather City were pushed all the way back by the sanctum. The Holy Sanctum¡¯s powers definitely did not materialize out of thin air, and it seemed like there was a reservoir for the sacred power font. As for how long this reserve canst, he had no idea. Lin Sheng sighed and continued to read. At the bottom of the disc was a list of materials, with their amount and quality clearly listed in detail. Then... there was nothing?? Lin Sheng was stunned as he flipped the disc onto its back. There was nothing. He quickly went to look at the other discs around, but all of them were theories and discussions about everything other than the sacred power font. ¡°There has to be a volume two! They won¡¯t be putting it here with a guard for nothing!¡± Lin Sheng had taken that monster as a guard. He was pleasantly ted as he never expected to acquire this unexpected knowledge. If he could master the techniques of creating a sacred power font; that meant that he could build a holy sanctum in the real world as well. The Holy Sanctum was very useful, not only it could shelter the weak, heal the wounded, or serve as a source of energy for rituals, it could even create sacred tomes! If he has a sacred tome, he could then learn new Ashen Seals as the tome was a unique treasure that could unlock an Ashen Seal sealed deep within one¡¯s soul. Its greatest use was that it could materialize the Ashen Seals that he had already learned and turned them into a Primordial Seal for him to teach it to others. While there was a limit on its usage and that he could only teach one seal at a time, but Lin Sheng was grateful. He could see hope now! Now if he could summon a cleric-like being that had mastered the Ashen Seal... After going around the room for a good while, Lin Sheng still could not find the second disc. Not wasting any time, he got out of the room and went to the third. *ck.* As the door was pulled open, another four-horned monster charged out roaring at Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng simply raised one sword to block, whileshed out a horizontal sh with another. With his massive strength and speed, a sonic boom sted out as the de sank into the monster¡¯s waist and slicing it into two. *Bam!* The four-horned monster staggered backward as it fell growling onto the ground into two. Its life force was strong that it thrashed about for a good while before finally bing inert. Lin Sheng stepped over its body and started rummaging through the room. As expected, he found a few more scattered metal discs, and one of them was the second volume of the sacred power font. This time around, however, it was about the structure of the font, and notes on what to look out for during construction. ¡°...The construction of the sacred power font is basic among the basics of the city defense system. I have already designed the entire structural blueprint. ¡°The other three modules of the sacred font will be managed by Master Khenhalo, Master Arjelf, and Master Ophaif Xerma. Try toplete the construction at the earliest.¡± At the bottom was a round, pir-like blueprintyout, and it was in three-dimensional form. ¡°The first is the material list, the second is the blueprint... Is there a third?¡± Lin Sheng stored the second disc and made his way out of the room. He ced the discs on the ground at the center of the hall, before taking his sword as he searched the other rooms. Soon, he had gone over all eight rooms on the left. He did not manage to find any other metal discs, but he did run into a couple more four-horned monsters. They were released from their mortal coil after a few shes by Lin Sheng. These monsters were of Level 3 on average. Plus, their Level 4 strength and the ming de made them a formidable foe. Sadly, they met Lin Sheng, and under the suppressive aura of his Level 5 sacred power, he could simply inhibit their physical abilities, and weaken them tremendously. Even with the Berserk skill, it was merely for them to get an extra hit in. While he did not find any other discs, Lin Sheng managed to find some magical staves that had run dry of magic, and some sorcerer¡¯s robe, plus a crystal staff as well. All of these items were referred to as soul crystals by the person in mage robes in the monster¡¯s memories. They were special vessels that could store souls and absorb the souls that he had killed and store them forter use during his magical experiments. Lin Sheng had no idea what the items really were at that moment, so he simply brought them out and tossed them into the middle of the hall before turning to the rooms on the right. There were eight rooms in total on the right as well, with colorful sequential paintings on them, unlike the ones on the left. The room doors on the right looked a little heavy as they seemed to have a thinyer of faint silver membrane on it. Lin Sheng walked to the first room on the right and looked at that thinyer as he lifted his sword and stabbed at the door. *Bam!!* A blue lightning arc shot out from the door and onto the sword before leaping onto Lin Sheng¡¯s arm. Shocked, Lin Sheng tried to release his grip on the hilt but it was toote, the arc was too fast, and he could not react in time. The moment the lightning arc struck the back of his hand, his sacred power immediately surged and shed against the arc. *Bam!!* A puff of green smoke sted out as Lin Sheng staggered two steps back, and felt a good amount of sacred power within was consumed even as his skin pricked in burning pain. ¡°Is that something of electric current?¡± Lin Sheng looked at the back of his hand. It was charred ck, as both skin and flesh were cooked. ¡°Even my resistance could not ward it off... This strength... is superb!¡± He looked at the door again. The faint silver membrane seemed to have been consumed and was slowly disappearing. Lin Sheng stepped forward and picked up the ming sword, but the mes on it were quickly dying off. It seemed like the lightning arc had destroyed its ming capabilities. Lin Sheng shook the sword a little and it immediately broke in the center as the front half fell onto the ground. The mes on it dying off permanently. He simply threw the broken de aside and picked up one from the corpses lying around. There were still four more on the ground for him to use for a good while. As he held the sword, Lin Sheng made his way to the first door and prodded the door with the tip of his sword. There was no arc lightning now. Only then did he held his hand out to pull the door open. And within the room was a monster engulfed in blue electric current with its back facing him. The monster had a ram¡¯s head, among the faint yellow muscture was a prism-shaped wound. And within the wound was a flowing blue liquid current as if the monster was totally made out of electricity. Lin Sheng looked at the flowing current on the monster¡¯s body, and then looked at the flowing silver membrane on the wall and floor around him. The membrane clearly had something to do with the monster. Lin Sheng stood unmoving as he swept his gaze across the room setting. Soon enough, he located in the corner, a metal shelf with five metal discs on it. And on one of the disc, he could see its title even from afar. ¡°The Sacred Power Font Prayer Conversion Module.¡± Chapter 219 - Hope: Part 1 Chapter 219: Hope: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The moment he saw the disc. ¡°It¡¯s there!¡± Lin Sheng was ted as he slowly pushed the door open and pulled two axes out of his back, and aimed at the ram-headed electric monster. ¡°Die!¡± With a flick of his hand, he transferred all of his strength into the axes Two short axes quickly turned into spinning des as they flew toward the monster. *Bam! Bam!!* The ax heads struck the back of the monster¡¯s head. ¡°Rawrghhh!!¡± The monster raised its head as it roared furiously, its body suddenly burst open into countless of blue electric currents that flew toward Lin Sheng at the door like whips. Lin Sheng quickly took a few steps back as his body glowed white and his eyes turned into a draconic state. As he faced the oing electric whips, he let out a breath. *Whoosh!* A surge of crimson me engulfed the entire front of the room likeva as lines upon lines of electricity crashed into the mes. Two fonts of energy were shing at each other within a level unseen to the eye. Lin Sheng could clearly feel that his breath was being suppressed and weakened by something. His gush of mes would have been like a flood but at this moment, it was barely a square foot into the room. A massive surge of electricity rushed into the mes as fire and electricity shed against each other like dark clouds of different shades. Not too longter, Lin Sheng was out of breath. The power of his breath was determined by the potency of the dragon blood within his blood. While he had increased in level, his bloodline did not. So the power of his breath had not changed and was slowly but surely being suppressed by the electricity. ¡°Go!¡± Lin Sheng once again threw out two short axes with all his might. The axes were imbued with potent sacred powers as they howled through the area onto the ground. The electric current on the ground was affected by the sacred power and like pebbles upon a pond¡¯s surface, electric sparks went flying. The sacred power on the short axes could barely hold for a fraction of a second before it was engulfed by the electricity. Just then, Lin Sheng could no longer hold his breath and quickly broke away. He quickly transferred a torrent of sacred power into the short ax in his hand. *Hiss...* This time around, he seemed to have imbued the ax with everyst bit of his sacred power and the ax head lit up like a light bulb, glowing extremely bright. As the gentle white light lit the entire ce up, even the massive light source above the dome looked dim inparison. ¡°Another one!¡± Lin Sheng threw the ax in a brutal arc. The glowing short ax was almost like a grenade and Lin Sheng turned and ran the moment he lobbed it. He did not bother to see the results of the attack nor did he bothered turning his head back as he ran straight along the path he hade. Barely a few steps in, Lin Sheng could feel a scorching wave was just right behind him. He gritted his teeth as he stomped hard,unching himself forward and onto the ground. *Booom!!!* At that same moment, a lightning arc of white and blue exploded from behind him, forming a miniature maelstrom as scorching heat and air roiled across the entire hall. The explosion started from the entrance of the first room on the right, and the ensuing heat st shot out in a fan shape outwards. Everywhere the heatwave touched, the surface was charred as short lightning arcs danced about around the wall. Among the cking, a massive blue lightning arc quickly roiled, gathered and formed into a slightly dimmed ram-headed monster. Its entire body was rent with wounds, and flowing electricity could be seen from the wounds. ¡°Ansalgorna!¡± It roared as it headed in Lin Sheng¡¯s direction with big strides. But just as it took a couple of steps... *Whoosh!!* A massive ball of crimson me shot out from the exit of the passageway and mmed against its body. The monster staggered as it tried to fall back as the electric current within its body collided against the energy from the breath. *Bam bam bam!!* The chain reaction triggered a few explosions over its body, the continuous explosion staggered it to the point of imbnce. ¡°Waargh!!¡± It let out a furious and frenzied howl as it charged headlong toward Lin Sheng. *Bam! Bam! Bam!* As its heavy footfalls mmed against the ground, sending minor tremors all over. The monster only needed a few steps to get to the entrance of the passageway, andshed its arm out at Lin Sheng at blinding speed. Suddenly, an ax came down in a vertical stroke past its ws and ripped its chest open with a massive force. *Crack!* A sizable rent was torn open on the monster¡¯s chest and exposed its beating electrically-charged heart. At this moment, a second short ax imbued with sacred power struck into the rent, and onto the beating blue heart. The monster¡¯s movements abruptly paused as its three sharp ws stopped just in front of Lin Sheng¡¯s neck, and just a few centimeters short, it could have ripped Lin Sheng¡¯s throat open, and turning the tide of battle. Unfortunately for it, it was a step too slow. *Whoosh!* The monster¡¯s body quickly ckened and turned into ash as it copsed into a pile of burnt ash onto the ground. Lin Sheng heaved as he breathed as his face and neck were drenched by sweat. The w earlier had only missed him by a few centimeters, and the skin of his throat blistered due to the scorching heat. ¡°That was fun.¡± He bent down as he breathed hard, taking a short rest. Only when he had recovered his breath that he squat down and started searching the pile of ash. The ash was still warm as Lin Sheng used his ax to go through it, and an ellipsoid blue gemstone rolled out of it. The gemstone glowed and dimmed in a faint blue hue. Its surface was smooth as if it was polished before. Lin Sheng picked the gemstone up after taking a look at it. He could still sense the aura of a living being from it. ¡°That monster isn¡¯t dead yet?¡± He had not absorbed its soul fragments yet, so it could still be alive. He then ran through his memory but failing to find any information about the use of this gemstone. So he simply tossed it up into the air andshed his ax out. *Crack!* The gemstone was broken into two in the air, shattering into a shower of white dust. Strands of ck lines finally appeared as they coalesce and darted into Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. He paused for a bit as a torrent of totally foreign memory surged into his mind. The images of the memories were twisted and grey. Everything the lightning beast saw was different than the eyes of men. Within the world of the monster, every passing moment was distorted, disintegrated, and pulsating as if an earthquake was shaking every moment. The sounds it heard were also a series of quaking, their meaning unknown. Lin Sheng closed his eyes for a while before breaking out of it. ¡°It¡¯s meaningless... there¡¯s too little to work it out. I don¡¯t understand itsnguage, so I don¡¯t even know what¡¯s going on...¡± Only now did he understand the gulf between humans and monsters. Their senses were different, so their knowledge would be the same as well. ¡°Luckily, my spirit¡¯s growth was almost akin to killing twenty-odd Blood Armor or a ckfeather Swordsmen. Not bad.¡± Lin Sheng let out a satisfied smile. After a moment¡¯s rest, he walked into the first room on the right side and quickly took the disc to read. Chapter 220 - Hope: Part 2

Chapter 220: Hope: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°The Sacred Power Font Prayer Conversion Module¡± ¡°Usage: Converting the adherents¡¯ spiritual power into sacred power.¡± ¡°The design blueprint is as below...¡± ¡°The detailed steps are as below...¡± ¡°The conversion principle: When there is a high concentration of spiritual power, it can be converted by the matrix into free soul particles. Once the soul particles are absorbed, to use the Ashen Seal core to purify them and inject them into the reactor...¡± A series of packed words and even diagrams had Lin Sheng stunned as many of these principles may look simple, but were in fact very difficult. Fortuitously, he had absorbed the memories of a cleric before, and he had managed to quickly make sense of it. The conversion of energies would need a conversion point at its heart, and the conversion module¡¯s heart was the core of the Ashen Seal. The core of the Ashen Seal was a pdin who had high enough piety and strong enough faith. ¡°So is this why all sanctums needed to have a garrison of pdins?¡± Lin Sheng suddenly realized. ¡°A cleric¡¯s function is to be the core of the Ashen Seal and convert the scattered soul particles into sacred power through meditation before storage. No wonder...¡± He then finished reading the rest of the parts as he tried to memorize the details before taking the disc out of the room and piled it together with the ones he found earlier. Suddenly, slight fatigue hit him and Lin Sheng paused. He knew his time was up and did not bother going anywhere as he sat before the discs and quietly waited for him to get out of the dream. ¡°I should be able to collect everything about the construction of the sacred power font tomorrow...¡± He was anticipant. ... Dawn. Xilin, Huaisha City. A passenger ne slowly flew past the city¡¯s sky towards the capital. Strands of ck smoke escaped from the underbelly of the ne as it went against the wind and headed straight towards Huaisha City below. As the ck smoke cut through clouds and avoided the sea birds, it swiftlynded on one roof of the city¡¯s buildings before forming and turning into a cute white-haired girl. The girl¡¯s long hair had been tied into a twin ponytail as she wore a white t-shirt and checkered short pants. A wing-shaped hairpin adorned her hair. ¡°I¡¯m back...¡± The girl took a deep breath as an expression of glee appeared on her face. ¡°The aroma of food... So much... food...¡± She closed her eyes as a blush appeared on her pale cheeks. ¡°I want them¡± She extended her tiny legs in whitece socks out, as she stepped onto the edge of the building. *Hiss...* A dozen pale hands grew out from the walls of the building out of nowhere and grabbed her by the leg. ¡°No... I need to find the people big brother is looking for... I cannot tarry on that...¡± The girl gently leaped off the building and transformed into countless strands of ck smoke towards the city. The ck smoke was so thin that no one noticed. And very quickly they darted past the streets, and across buildings before arriving at a ten-odd story tall white building. The ck smoke swirled along the building¡¯s surface as it checked the building from bottom to top, and a few minutester, with the target found, it darted into an office on the sixth floor. The sealed ss count not stop the smoke from seeping through, and could only slightly dy it. Within the wide office, Chen Minjia sat silently on the leather chair as she closed her eyes to rest her worn-out self. On her table were piles of documents, and a white glow shed on the cellphone screen by the documents. The background picture of the screen was a gentle-looking blondedy with an apron standing in a kitchen, her head looking towards the camera. From that angle, it seemed that the shot was taken by surprise. Chen Minjia was in a bad mood. She hade from Osiris to escape her paternal family¡¯s influence and wanted to make it big with the war. She had thought that with her connections everything would be smooth sailing and money will be rolling in. However, the Redwinian order was not that simple. She had been forced to sell three refineries at a fire-sale price. Even so, the post-war chaos had yet to fully subside. She had indeed managed to garner the praise of the Redwinians for the quality of her products and gotten quite a few tenders. Nheless, these tenders had also be a veritable golden egg for herpetitors as they converged around her, pouncing frenziedly. After fighting them off a few times, Chen Minjia was totally exhausted, and the people beneath her were not equipped to face off so many opponents at once. Due to that, a few of her factories were repeatedly sabotaged, disrupted and her workers harassed and assaulted. That led to the quality of her products dropping, and there was massive unhappiness on the military¡¯s side as well. The piling pressure and stress were driving her into a corner. ¡°You seem very tired...¡± A gentle, young girl¡¯s voice suddenly rang out from behind her. Chen Minjia froze as she slowly lifted her head and opened her eyes. She did not simply move, nor did she tried to turn around. She had been at the receiving end of a robbery before, and many were not willing to be seen, so suddenly turning, screaming, shouting were all extremely dangerous moves. In such situations, the best course of action was staying calm. ¡°Who are you?¡± Her voice was cold as she asked. ¡°Me?¡± There wasughter in the girl¡¯s voice. ¡°I am Alice, my master sent me to help you~~¡± ¡°Help me?¡± Chen Minjia paused for a moment as she demurred. ¡°I don¡¯t believe in any ¡®help¡¯ing out of the blue. What do you want?¡± ¡°What do I want... It¡¯s simple.¡± A bizarre look appeared on Khad¡¯s face as she gently approached Chen Minjia¡¯s back, and hugged her. Her arms gently coiled around Chen Minjia¡¯s waist as they slid upwards. ¡°What I want is for you to give your everything to my master... Gotcha!¡± ¡°Hahaha... just kidding!¡± Khadughed as she turned into a puff of ck smoke and suddenly reformed and reappeared before Chen Minjia as she sat on the office table, her legs crossed. Chen Minjia¡¯s emotions were roiling, but her face remained calm with only a little sweat forming on her forehead. ¡°You¡¯re Big Sis Minjia, right? I¡¯m Big Brother Lin Sheng¡¯s little sister, don¡¯t you know you are in a very precarious position...¡± Khad leaned forward as her tiny mouth was barely a fingertip away from Chen Minjia. The two could even see their respective reflections in each other¡¯s eyes. ¡°If you don¡¯t pay attention, you might very well die...¡± ¡°Lin Sheng...¡± Chen Minjia pushed her head back as she heaved a sigh of relief. She could sense an imperceptible, temperamental danger from the little girl. This was a girl with extreme emotions. She had only seen such people in an asylum, but neither of those people had hidden their emotions so deep like the girl before her. For such a person, no one knew what they were thinking, and a slip of a tongue could very well anger thetter. So she needed to be extremely careful. ¡°Big brother said to look for you first, then everything else will be easy.¡± Khad chuckled. ¡°Oh right, big brother requested that I bring you to Xylond. Do you want to go?¡± Chapter 221 - Hope: Part 3

Chapter 221: Hope: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Chen Minjia thought for a moment and could roughly understand what Lin Sheng meant. She had learned about the earlier battle via her own methods, and she was aware that Lin Sheng¡¯s teacher was a master from the Ironfist Society. Since Lin Sheng had sent the young girl to fetch her, she knew that something must have gone wrong, and that something could affect her badly. After she figured it out, and when her own predicament came to mind, she decided at once. ¡°I will go with you!¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid that I am lying?¡± Khad was surprised. ¡°Your style of movement is the same as that of the Ironfist Society. And you know Lin Sheng is in Xylond. So I believe you,¡± Chen Minjia said quickly. ¡°When are we leaving? What Lin Sheng wants me to do for him?¡± ¡°Bring all of Lin Sheng¡¯s rtives to Shermanton in Xylond. You can contact my elder brother for the details of the operation,¡± said Khad. ¡°Okay!¡± Chen Minjia nodded at once. She could always remote-manage her business, but she only had one life, she figured. Knowing that Lin Sheng was a member of a powerful organization like the Ironfist Society, she knew that listening to the advice of the pros was the best option in the realm of the supernaturals. After a while of discussion, Chen Minjia quickly picked up the phone and called Lin Sheng. After confirming on the nitty-gritty, she sent out her men to look for Lin Sheng¡¯s rtives. Lin Sheng¡¯s instruction was explicit: by hook or by crook, she was to bring everyone on board, even if it was against their wills. It was a waste of time to do the exining, as he would exin itter when they arrived in Xylond. While Chen Minjia hit the ground running, Khad also began his hunting spree. Sticking strictly to Lin Sheng¡¯s instruction, Khad treated everyone with evil thoughts as her food. In times of chaos and dwindling resources, she would devour anyone who came within her sight, whether they were hooligans, robbers, thieves, or rapists. In thete noon, while Khad was devouring his hundredth victim, Chen Minjia had packed everything and sent everyone onboard a cruise ship which was scheduled to depart to Xylond. Before the Redwin military could realize it, the cruise ship left and was on its way to Xylond. Considering the rtively close distance between Xilin and Xylond, the vessel was expected to arrive two dayster if things went smoothly. This operation was very different from the rxed manner of which Lin Sheng and his family previously took. They must reach Xylond waters before the enemy found out. ... Over at the Heaven¡¯s Spire, Redwin, snow was falling and cumting on between the many towering spires. At this time, inside a stone house among the sea of white-stone buildings around the spire, Vanyi sat on the sofa with a staff in his hand, eyes gazing at the burning firece. He had sent his student, Maham, into the Heaven¡¯s Spire, which was the only ce where Maham could receive a wholesome, sequ-free treatment to his injury. And for this reason, he had utilized a favor that someone had owed him since a lifetime ago. ¡°Latest update.¡± A red-haired woman, wearing a white blouse and a pair of ck dress pants, came out of the shadow. ¡°Our men in Huaisha, Xilin, have found the kin of Lin Sheng. They are being relocated.¡± ¡°What about Khad the Thousand Arms?¡± asked Vanyi, his voice matter of fact. ¡°Not yet found.¡± The woman shook her head. ¡°Lin Sheng... Khad had stopped the assassins of the Heart of the Ocean from killing Lin Sheng on numerous asions. His reaction was dramatically emotional.¡± Vanyi¡¯s face appeared calm, but his hands were clenched into fists. ¡°It is, thus, apparent that Lin Sheng is important to the Thousand Arms.¡± ¡°You mean...¡± ¡°I am too far away and won¡¯t make it on time. Ask Reinier to go and bring his own men. Everyone to be equipped with a repulsor. I would like to see how he could continue to devour people!¡± There was a murderous look in Vanyi¡¯s eyes. Redwin was the world¡¯s superpower, it was not the first time that incidents of the monster devouring their soldiers happened. Vanyi had already found some ways to deal with this type of beast, and the repulsor was one of them. When linked with the physiological readings of the wearer, this miniature device would immediately explode if anything terrible happened to the wearer. It was highly explosive, and the toxic substance and unique radiation released during the explosion were extremely lethal to any living being. This device had blown apart many transcended monsters with devouring ability in the past. ¡°Understood. I will immediately inform Reinier.¡± The woman nodded. ¡°Go now.¡± The woman left the house and made a quick call. Meanwhile, Vanyi stayed in the house, remaining silent for a while before he took out a mobile phone and dialed a series of numbers. ¡°Vanyi? What¡¯s up?¡± A male voice with a high vocal pitch that sounded like a rooster answered. ¡°Do me a favor. A ship has just departed from Redwin to Xylond, I need you to help my student, Reinier, intercept the ship. I am afraid that the Steel Lord is on board,¡± Vanyi exined. ¡°I am busy, Vanyi.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry; it won¡¯t dy your drug. One unit of obsidian,¡± Vanyi offered. ¡°One point five.¡± ¡°Only one unit. I will find someone else if you decline.¡± ¡°Deal! But who are you bluffing, Vanyi? There are only five Six Wingers you can contact in Xilin. Three of them are on the frontline, and one of them will not give a shit about you. I am the only one whom you can look for!¡± The rooster voice sneered. ¡°I know that, of course.¡± Vanyi pinched his forehead. ¡°You don¡¯t know a damn thing!¡± The rooster voice retorted. ¡°All those at the top want is stability. It is stability, got it? Fighting among the Six Wingers is the upper tolerance limit. Don¡¯t create more trouble!¡± ¡°I know, don¡¯t worry,¡± Vanyi said after a while of silence. ¡°After this job, and whether or not it is sessful, please stop causing any more troubles. The Ironfist Society is in the crosshair now. If you are still this stubborn, expulsion will not be the only punishment.¡± Once that was said, the phone was hung up. Vanyi put down the phone and remained silent. ... Lin Sheng put down the phone and breathed a sigh of relief after knowing that Chen Minjia had departed. As for the other rtives of the Lin family, he could not care less. But it did not mean that Lin Zhounian and Gu Wanqiu were not concerned. So he had to bring all the kin from both sides, especially the next of kin of his parents. Also, not forgetting Chen Minjia, who had taken a tremendous risk to help his family. He must not let any danger befall her. Coming out of his rented house, Lin Sheng first went to check out the construction site. The work was progressing at a steady pace and the expected toplete in half a month tops. After that, he checked how Adolf was doing in his meditation. Adolf was so gifted that a day of his reflection was equivalent to five days of the average person. At this speed and with his talent, Adolf was deemed top-notched even among the Temple Warriors in ckfeather City. Lin Sheng then further corrected Adolf¡¯s mistakes and ws in his physical training. After lunch, he headed straight to the warehouse that Adolf leased for him. All the ingredients that Lin Sheng needed for his summoning ceremony were in the warehouse. This time, he wanted to summon the half-human, half-goat Thunderbeast that he had killed yesterday. It was a powerful creature, only slightly less potent than when Lin Sheng was at his average condition. Its overall strength should be at the upper limit of a Three Winger, which was equivalent to Level 7 in ckfeather City, a not so puny master who could have an overwhelming influence in some prefecture-level cities in Xilin. With such a level of power, it could definitely make some impact on the higher level of fighting. After all, this monster was only a step away from bing a suppressive Four Winger. Chapter 222 - Discovery: Part 1

Chapter 222: Discovery: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Shengid the stic sheet for the summoning ceremony on the ground and carefully checked the ingredients before him. The whale oilmp was burning, and a cloud of white steam had formed in front of Lin Sheng as the sticky liquid in the new t pan boiled. ¡°Let¡¯s begin...¡± After he received feedback in the form of unique signals from the soldiers around the perimeter, Lin Sheng knew that no preying eyes were in his surroundings. He made sure that he was attuned before he chanted the words to the Initiator. As the Initiator slowly climbed to a fever-pitch, it surged and rolled in the warehouse, triggering the sacred power in Lin Sheng. Plumes of white smoke rose from the whale oilmp and instantly disappeared into the liquid in the t pan. Immediately after that, white steam began to rise and shroud Lin Sheng. He closed his eyes, and within his dark field of vision, light orbs of different colors and sizes started to appear and float before his mind¡¯s eye. They were red, white, gray, and blue, with the red one on the leftmost side being the smallest. It represented the ckfeather swordsman. The white light orb was of middle size, but Lin Sheng had no idea what it represented, and he had no intention of summoning it anytime soon. He nced over the light orbs, and his eyesnded on the blue one on the rightmost. At twice the size of the others, the blue light orb was bright, almost blinding in its intensity. Instead of soft and moderate, it was horribly brazen and savage. ¡°Here it is!¡± Lin Sheng was almost sure that the blue light orb was the Thunderbeast that he had just killed the night before. Without further hesitation, he focused his mind on it, and the orb began to envelop his consciousness. ¡°Wait a minute!¡± A thought suddenly crossed his mind, and he quickly pulled his consciousness out. ¡°Earlier, when I decided to inject my consciousness into it, it was merely to transfer the necessary memories. But that would also make the summoned creature almost an independent individual. It wouldn¡¯t be a problem when used on its own, but it¡¯s inconvenient for me.¡± Lin Sheng thought for a moment and resolved to let his consciousness touch the orb lightly. Following that, he closed his eyes. Except forbat experience of the Thunderbeast, he would not give a damn about the other remaining memories. A few minutester, arge number of deep-blue lightning bolts appeared on the ground before Lin Sheng. The lightning then coalesced and formed a half-human, half-goat Thunderbeast. It stood before Lin Sheng, looking at him in shock before looking down at itself. ¡°It works!¡± The monster spread its hands out and clenched its fists like a human. ¡°Is this soul transfer?¡± It stretched its body and felt extremely light. ¡°Am I Lin Sheng or the Thunderbeast now?¡± Once again, it looked at Lin Sheng, who was silent and appeared calm. However, if one looked closely, one would notice the zed look in his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s not soul duplication but soul transfer?¡± Lin Sheng walked around his own body in the Thunderbeast¡¯s form. At that moment, he realized that the sacred power in his original body was gone. He looked down and felt the body of the Thunderbeast. Sure enough, a current of pure-white sacred power was flowing in the heart of the Thunderbeast. His sacred power had fused with the Thunderbeast¡¯s electric current and formed something more fascinating. ¡°It¡¯s not just the transfer of the soul but also of sacred power. It looks like the theory that sacred power is a manifestation of the power of the soul is well-founded.¡± Lin Sheng continued to walk around. He was now a Thunderbeast through-and-through. Half-human, half-goat, standing at over two meters tall, and surrounded by light-blue electric arcs, his form was essentially a powerful electric current wrapped in living tissue. Lin Sheng raised his arm, and a streak of blue light shed in between the threw ws on his hand. It then shot out from his w and struck the ground several meters away like ash, leaving behind a burnt mark on the surface and beating up a cloud of dust in the air. ¡°Awesome! It¡¯s so much more powerful than my own body.¡± Lin Sheng could not help but be amazed. Previously, the Thunderbeast had fought based on its skills as well as instincts, and it nearly ughtered Lin Sheng although he was armed with a terrific amount of memories of brutal battles. The level of skill it had was just amazing. With Lin Sheng in control of its body and the sacred power joining forces with lightning, it was much more powerful than the sum of all its parts. Lin Sheng looked at his own body again. ¡°If my body suddenly dies one day, will I be able to continue living in this shell?¡± The query came to mind because the question of where he came from, and how he crossed space and time had always bothered him. However, it seemed that there was little difference between the current possession and his previous space-time crossing. The only distinction was that thest possessed body was of a human¡¯s and now it was a Thunderbeast. ¡°If that¡¯s true, then what is the meaning of the bloodline? No! If the difference in body structure were too huge, my soul would¡¯ve had a problem being in full control, and I would need time to adapt. I can feel the essence and root of the souling from humans.¡± Lin Sheng raised his hands, and arge purplish-blue electric bolt crackled between his ws with a buzzing sound, reverberating in the air. He willed it in his mind, then his spirit receded and disappeared rapidly in a mysterious way. At the same time, Lin Sheng¡¯s original body began to wake up; his sacred power gradually returned, growing stronger and more intense. Lin Sheng found himself as a human again, back in his own body. When he looked at the Thunderbeast not far away and willed it in his mind, the monster turned into a plume of ck smoke and dispersed into his surroundings. It was unlike other monsters, which would return to their natural, instinctual behavior after Lin Sheng ceased control such as Khad and the Steel Lord. The Thunderbeast was different. Lin Sheng did not duplicate its memories, and it could only linger around him like an empty shell that was devoid of a soul, awaiting its master to possess it again. ¡°I¡¯ve made it!¡± Lin Sheng was convinced. ¡°The body of this Thunderbeast will only be for my use, and it will not have its own conscience, which means it¡¯s my second body!¡± He willed it again, and his consciousness returned to the body of the Thunderbeast. Secondster, he switched back to his human body. After he did that back and forth for a dozen times, Lin Sheng started to get used to it. What Lin Sheng did not expect was the mysterious reaction between the electric current and sacred power when he changed into the Thunderbeast. As talented and powerful as the Thunderbeast was, there was a problem in terms of the sensory system. Lin Sheng needed to fine-tune his bodily senses carefully to minimize issues due to the sensory differences. Lin Sheng spent the entire day in the warehouse practicing his newfound sacred power in the Thunderbeast¡¯s body, and he was utterly immersed. Chapter 223 - Discovery: Part 2

Chapter 223: Discovery: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion It was not untilte afternoon that Lin Sheng reluctantly left the warehouse with the Thunderbeast¡¯s body. The Thunderbeast had transformed into a plume of ck smoke and was now lingering around him. However, this second body of his could not act independently, so it was best that he just kept it close to him at the ready. Lin Sheng continued to study the new thunderbolt that formed after the Thunderbeast¡¯s electric current and sacred power fused. He could almost feel his ability to deal damage increase exponentially after he acquired thebat strength of the Thunderbeast. His strength could actually reach that of a Four-Wing level if he pushed it to the limit. The Thunderbeast had two unmatched abilities; one of them was the ability to summon thunderbolts as it pleased with two-winger damage, and the other was the ability to dematerialize into electric current to dodge physical attacks. The Thunderbeast could quickly regrow its limbs in battle as long as its core was undamaged. All it took was a little electric current to regenerate its tissues. Lin Sheng felt his way back to his rented house. His mind was still in a heightened state of excitement before he hit the sack. He knew the strength of the ability he had just discovered. While the previous summoning ceremonies had brought him arge number of powerful soldiers andmanders, thetest summoning ritual had given him an avatar that he could conveniently move his consciousness in and out of. For now, he only possessed a Thunderbeast, but who knew the future? He may be able to summon an even more powerful monster someday. Imagine what he would be with such a body. ... Under the starry night sky, arge ship was cruising speedily on the high seas, forming a stark contrast with the stars that seemed fixed in the sky. Khad was sitting on the bow, gazing into the distance as the vessel cut through the gusty wind and choppy water, cruising forward. Powerful waves rammed against the bow, separated, and sshed onto the deck. Strangely, Khad¡¯s body remained dry, unaffected by the salty water. She was only wearing a pair of white socks and sitting on a white metal chair, hugging her legs close to herself while remaining motionless. ¡°Why are you sitting here alone?¡± Chen Minjia approached from behind and moved next to Khad, cing her hands on the bow rail. Like Khad, she gazed forward as the bow dived and rose in the waves. ¡°The ship may not be asrge as a cruise ship, but it¡¯s good enough to send us to Xylond, no worries.¡± She thought Khad was concerned about the safety of the ship. ¡°What about my brother¡¯s kin? Are they alright?¡± asked Khad as she snapped out of her daze. ¡°They are fine and calm,¡± Chen Minjia said with a smile. ¡°They were very cooperative. Upon hearing about the chance to leave Xilin, they followed my men at once.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah?¡± Khad smiled. ¡°How long before we reach Port Assia?¡± Unlike her previous flirtatious allure, she looked as innocent as could be in her silence. Chen Minjia was transfixed for a moment before she quickly came to her senses. ¡°Tomorrow night, if everything goes well.¡± She paused before she continued, ¡°For safety reasons, I¡¯ve arranged another three vessels of the same model and tonnage to depart at the same time to act as decoys. Like our vessel, the three are also headed toward Xylond but on different routes and with different passengers. ¡°What does this ship usually carry?¡± Khad asked curiously. ¡°Canned food to Xylond,¡± replied Chen Minjia. ¡°We are only hitchhiking.¡± ¡°Then, the enemy can simply intercept all four vessels.¡± Khad was perplexed. ¡°That is why I have chosen this ship. I have done my homework; this ship will pass through the waters where the Xylond Navy usually patrols. We will raise the Xylond g tomorrow morning because we are going to encounter the Xylond Navy soon,¡± Chen Minjia said, smiling. She had used the power of covertness, camouge, and leverage to her advantage. It was an almost perfect n. Even Khad was stunned and could not find a w in it. ¡°Will the Xylond Navy protect us?¡± Khad asked puzzledly. ¡°Hence, the Xylond g.¡± Chen Minjia smiled. ¡°No worries. Besides us, most of the passengers on board this ship are Xylonders. What a crafty chick! Khad thought. To a person who only knew how to solve problems through brute force, the sneaky way of survival was indeed an eye-opener. ¡°We¡¯re a lot safer on board this ship. The Xylond Navy may not be bothered about us at all, but they will not abandon the hundred or so Xylonders on board,¡± said Chen Minjia, arching the corner of her mouth. ... In the passengerpartment, a bearded, middle-aged man, who was a little stooped and wearing a white suit, used a metal card and carefully gained ess to Chen Minjia¡¯s sleeping cabin. His movement was quick as he rummaged through the room, searching the drawers, wardrobe, under the bed, safe, nket, pillows, and all. Soon, he found stacks of money hidden randomly around the room and a ck fabric bag in the safe. The man¡¯s actions were deft as if he knew the password to the safe beforehand. He took the bag and tipped it over. Instantly, a silver ring with a yellow wooden orb iy dropped out. ¡°Found it!¡± The man looked delighted. The ring was Chen Minjia¡¯s most valuable item. He just needed to go to the Olro Union Bank and show the ring. Irrespective of who the ring bearer was, he would instantly gain ess to the vast wealth in the ount. The ring carried all the money that Chen Minjia had gained after she sold her properties. The man took the ring but put the rest of the items back in their original positions. After that, he fished out another ring from his pocket and ced it in the safe. With that done, he quickly left the room and returned to his sleeping cabin. Once the man was back in his ce, he sat on his bed and reached under his pillow to take out a small metal box that looked like a music box. He gave it a gentle twist, and the lid swung open, revealing the brass mechanicalponents inside. The box instantly clinked to life with a pleasant melody. Following that, the man pressed his finger against the bottom of the box. Chapter 224 - Discovery: Part 3

Chapter 224: Discovery: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion A wireless signal¡ªpiggybacking on the ship¡¯s wirelessmunication frequency¡ªwas sent out undetected. ¡°I¡¯ve checked; those rtives of Lin Sheng, whom you¡¯re looking for are on my ship. The box will continue to emit a location signal for the next three hours. I¡¯ve done my job, so I hope you¡¯ll keep your promise and pay,¡± the man said softly into the box. ¡°No worries,¡± a voice was heard answering from inside the box, which was a satellite phone in disguise. ¡°Once we determine that the information you¡¯ve provided is real, your reward will call you at once,¡± the voice in the box said. ¡°Alright.¡± The man nodded, getting to his feet and hanging the ring on his neck with a string. He then put on a diving suit as well as a scuba mask, and he topped off the look with a ck sweater on the outside. After that, he took out his mobile phone to make a call. The phone rang three times before the call was hung up. The man got the message and walked out of the room toward the stern of the ship empty-handed. It was the perfect opportunity to flee since Khad and Chen Minjia were chatting at the bow. His steps were light, and he did not forget to greet the people that he saw¡ªbe it the sailors, the crew, and even strangers. He wasposed and had a constant smile on his face. Soon, he came before a metal hatch at the end of the corridor, which led to the stern outside. The man could not hold back his smile, turning the valve on the hatch. As the valve turned, the hatch swung outward. There was no one on the outside, and he could feel the bitter wind rushing in. The man covered his eyes and darted out of the hatch toward the taffrail at the stern. Closing the visor on his mask, he took out a metal wire catapult and fastened one end on the taffrail while the other on his diving suit. He deftly jumped over the taffrail and descended using the wire. Halfway through his descent, the wire suddenly got stuck. He gave it a harder pull, but it refused to budge. ¡°Do you need help?¡± a little girl with white hair who was floating on his right asked. ¡°Umm...¡± The man rubbed his head and smile. ¡°No, it¡¯s just a little glitch.¡± He pulled the wire again, and it was finally released. He breathed a sigh of relief and continued the descent. Soon, he descended past another little girl on his left, then another on his right, and another on his left, so on and so forth. The man froze. He was in shock. He slowly turned his head to his right, and the little on his right also turned to smile at him. ... Lin Sheng woke up from his stupor as the ticking sound of the clock gradually faded away. He had returned to the magic researchb in ckfeather City. The mes on the des of the double swords in his hands had been dim as if they were about to die down soon. However, when Lin Sheng regained consciousness, the swords began to burn at a higher intensity with sparks spurting out from the mes. He rose to his feet and nced at the metal discs on the ground; they were still there. Holding the swords in his hands, he slowly walked to the second door on his right and tossed a sword at the door. Electric current, mes, and smoke instantly broke out just like magnesium powder used in sh photography during the old days. Immediately after, the smell of burnt leather drifted into his nostrils. The burning sword dropped to the ground, and when the mes on the sword died down, the de appeared rusty as if some corrosive substance had eaten into its surface. Using another sword, Lin Sheng pushed the door inward. It creaked loudly from what sounded like metal grinding. It seemed that something was stuck behind the door, which could only create a small gap. Lin Sheng frowned, raising his guard. There was squeaking inside the room again, as though children were ying swings in the yground. The living room was basically quiet with only the audible sound of the squeaking. Lin Sheng took a step back before he forcibly struck the door with his sword. A loud bangter, the door split in half and fell inward. At that moment, a dark one-eyed humanoid monster lunged out from the pitch-dark room like a leopard. Hearing a loud gust of air rushing out, Lin Sheng took another step back and struck his ming Sword forward with all his strength. The monster exploded at once, and its body parts flew in all directions. Unable to dodge in time, Lin Sheng¡¯s face was pasted with the disgusting body tissues. He wiped the monster¡¯s flesh and blood off his face before he slowly walked into the dark room. Now, the me on his sword was bright enough to illuminate the entire room as he had injected his sacred power into it. Unlike the other rooms, this one had a children¡¯s bed, a metal swing, and a ck leather ball. There were also a few metal chains hanging on the wall, and each chain was as thick as the arm of a child. Lin Sheng took a few steps forward, came before the bed, and nced around. Dirty children¡¯s clothes that seemed to be red and stained with blood were strewn around the bed. When he saw a metal disc next to a dress, he focused his sacred power in his hand to protect himself against any poisons before he took it. Once he was out of the room, he raised the disc and examined it. ¡°I am hungry. Is there anyone outside? ¡°Have I been forgotten? ¡°Something is approaching! ¡°Here they are. They areing again!¡± Streaks of blood marks were seen at the bottom as if someone had scratched the surface with bloody nails. ¡°It looks like the diary of a prisoner.¡± Lin Sheng put the disc down. ¡°And the people in the researchb went away, leaving behind these things that they did not manage to bring.¡± He headed down to the rest of the doors, and like before, he opened them one by one. There was either a monster with four horns wielding a ming sword or a single-eyed humanoid in the rooms. Very quickly, Lin Sheng collected all of the discs rted to the sacred power font. He had found many empty cupboards and boxes in thest room, but aside from the few monsters and the discs, there was nothing else in the researchb. With the help of the ming Sword¡¯s light, Lin Sheng brought the discs and returned to the round tform at the tunnel entrance. He put the discs together and carefully studied them. With the help of a diagram, Lin Sheng quickly discovered something strange. ¡°This... is the map of ckfeather City?¡± He traced his memories of the ces he had visited. ¡°These nodes should be the key mpdown zones, which means that there are powerful non-human monsters there.¡± Those living creatures were so powerful that even the Steel Lord had to use a magic circle to contain them. Lin Sheng figured that ckfeather City was akin to a massive tomb, on which there were four nodes. The node in the middle was the Steel Lord¡¯s location while the rest of the nodes were scattered around the city. Chapter 225 - Hitches: Part 1

Chapter 225: Hitches: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion After stacking the discs together, Lin Sheng carried them along with the ming Sword, ran out of the researchb toward the direction of the small temple, and arrived in just a few beats. It was not until he put the discs on the praying altar that he began to breathe a sigh of relief. To a sacred power cultivator, the temple was the safest ce in such a strange realm. Lin Sheng went to shut the metal gate on the outside, and then the main door before putting on thetch. He quickly checked all the windows to make sure they were all closed. After making sure that he had left no opening behind, he breathed a sigh of relief. Back to the metal discs, Lin Sheng began to memorize the content on the discs. ¡°As stated in the record, the core should be the conversion system and storage. It is not a rare material, which I cannot easily find in the real world. That means, if I memorize the list of materials and the design diagram, I can recreate this sacred power font in the real world.¡± After figuring this out, Lin Sheng began to concentrate on memorizing the disc content. His memory ability had be better after ingesting arge number of souls. He could quickly memorize the content with five to six rounds of careful reading. After refreshing it a few times, the content of the discs became a snapshot in his mind. During his time in the temple, he did nothing else but memorizing and engraving the information of the discs into his mind until it was time to leave the dream, just like how he did previously. As soon as he woke up, Lin Sheng got a stack of papers and a pen immediately and jotted down the entire things he had memorized, including the diagram. An average person could write down at least five out of ten items from his immediate memory, let alone when Lin Sheng had such a super capacious memory. In just a few minutes, Lin Sheng had filled the papers with all the information about the sacred power font. He flicked the paper in his hand and reexamined it. Only after he was satisfied that everything was in order, he folded them together. Just when he picked up his cellphone from the bedside table and was about to call his student, Adolf, he faintly sensed a message wasing into his mind from afar. He paused and began to identify the message, his brows knitting together. ¡°Brother, we have caught someone over here. Our movement must have been exposed. Trouble is looming, and I am afraid I cannot protect everyone here.¡± Khad was the one sending the message. As the ship approached Xylond, her soul connection with Lin Sheng became better, and she could use telepathicmunication as usual. ¡°They are even monitoring my rtives. It looks like they really miss me.¡± Lin Sheng let out a sly smile. He thought for a while and quickly meditated, sending amand to the Steel Lord, who was far away in another continent, to meet Khad. He was not sure of the exact location, but he could roughly perceive with his soul the correct direction. That done, Lin Sheng thought for a moment before he got out of bed and put on his slippers. A plume of ck smoke appeared behind him and covered him like a piece of garment. ¡°The Steel Lord needs to change ships twice. He is not going to make it even if he takes the flight. I have to get ready.¡± He hesitated for a while before quickly putting on his jacket and rushing out of his rented house toward the harbor. ... Inside the passengerpartment, Khad and Chen Minjia stared suspiciously at the middle-aged man, who appeared calm. ¡°Tell us! Who do you send the signal to?¡± Chen Minjia asked. ¡°The din Family, the Leaping Tiger Group, or...¡± ¡°Save your breath. I am just a small fry who knows little more than nothing,¡± the man answered coldly. ¡°This guy has a backbone.¡± Khad smiled. ¡°But it is already toote to interrogate him.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Chen Minjia could faintly hear the crew shouting outside, but it was too far to hear what they were talking about. ¡°There is a ship approaching,¡± Khad replied, waving her hand. The body of the middle-aged man suddenly wizened, and all his blood flew to his arms. In just a few seconds, the arms dropped and disappeared into the floor before the eyes of Chen Minjia. What remained of the man was only his clothes and a pair of shoes. Chen Minjia felt a chill running up her spine and could not help taking a step back. Seeing this gruesome thing happening before her eyes, her good impression of Khad crumbled and was reced by apletely new image of mystery, fear, and unfamiliarity. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here and see what happens outside.¡± Khad smiled and strode out of the cabin. By now, many passengers hade out into the corridor to see what happened. Some of the passengers even inquired of the crew what was going on. In their effort to ay the fear of the passengers, the crew repeated the same standard but useless words of assurance. Khad and Chen Minjia emerged from the cabin, closed the door behind them, and darted out onto the white square-patterned deck at the stern, where many crews hade out, along with the passenger, looked into the distance. ¡°It is a warship!¡± Someone was heard shouting. ¡°It flies a Redwin g. Why is there a Redwin warship in this ce?¡± ¡°I can see cannons! An entire row of them!¡± The passengers were more surprised than frightened. It was rare for average people¡ªespecially those who lived ind¡ªto see warship patrolling the sea. ¡°How could it be Redwin warship?¡± Chen Minjia looked at Khad, surprised, and worried. ¡°It is fine. Let me handle it,¡± Khad replied with a smile. She stared at the small warship in the far distance, her eyes turning dark as the pale arms in her body transformed into thin plumes of smoke and flew toward the enemy. The smokended and permeated into the bridge of the battleship. A few minutester, Khad pulled back her sight. ¡°Done. Everything is going to be all right. The warship might have lost its way. It is now on its way back home.¡± ¡°Is it?¡± Chen Minjia instinctively got what Khad meant. But she did not ask further. She had once encountered the strange realm. She thought she had better stay away from it. ¡°Yup. No worries. We will very soon return safely to meet my brother....¡± Before Khad finished, her face suddenly turned pale with blood spurting out from her mouth. Chen Minjia was startled. Just when she was about to hold Khad up, a roaring voice was hearding from the faraway warship at the rear. ¡°The rat of the Ironfist Society, get your butts out over here!¡± ¡°Damn it!¡± Khad¡¯s face was ashen. She had just killed no less than thirty people on board the warship. But little did she know that mysterious energy suddenly burst out of the thirty people that she had just killed and impaired the arms inside her. This alien energy quickly seeped into her body like a poison and traveled in her veins throughout her body. No matter how strong she was on the outside, it was tough to get rid of the harmful substance that lurked within her. Chapter 226 - Hitches: Part 2

Chapter 226: Hitches: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The arms were the most crucial existence for Khad because each arm was a part of her body. Damaging the arms was equivalent to killing her body. For this reason, wrath and pain instantly rose inside her. Before Chen Minjia could react, Khad lunged forward,unched herself into the air, and flew toward the warship at the far distance. Almost at the same time, a light-green figure was seen rising from the battleship and flying in Khad¡¯s direction. The two figures shed above the sea. Just when Khad was about to summon her strength, a slight dy in her response had given her opponent an edge. Khad was struck in her abdomen, her body arched back and fell spectacrly into the sea below, creating a ssh. The light-green figure kept pursuing, swooping down with a powerful punch at the spot where Khad had fallen. ¡°Atmospheric Crusher!¡± Arge body of water was blown away with Khad parrying with her hands crossed. She stepped on the water and lunged into the air beforending softly on the deck. The passengers and crew on board scrambled to flee like a group of terrified birds. ¡°Come on!¡± Khad¡¯s face was grim, firmly nting her feet on the deck, which quickly sank and deformed under the intense energy force. The next moment, she lunged out at the light-green figure again. The green figure was a burly man with an army haircut, wearing a white sleeveless vest and barefooted. His eyes that glowed in a pale-green light seemed to exude a hint of arrogance Clenching Khad¡¯s fist with one hand, the man swept his other hand and cut off all the pale arms that quietly came to attack him, as if he could turn air into a de. ¡°I am Reinier. Are you Khad of the Thousand Arms? You are much weaker than I thought. Do I get the wrong person?¡± The man looked surprised, but his voice calm and matter of fact, as if he was only talking to a stranger who came up asking for direction. ¡°Go to hell!¡± Khad¡¯s body rapidly expanded, transforming into the six-meter-tall, centipede-shape Dark Igor. The many arms on her sides shed at Reinier like thousands of machetes, leaving behind a trail of holes of different sizes in the deck. After dodging for a few times and finding that it was futile to do so, Reinier decided to stand at the bow, confronting his opponent head-on. ¡°Superheated Form!¡± Reinier spread out his arms, his muscles and skins swelled rapidly like a balloon. From a one-meter-eight body, he grew to be a five-meter-tall giant in the blink of an eye. His clothes were torn apart, skin shimmering in a metallic luster. Raising his hands, he fought Khad at close range. A series of loud collisionster, he said, ¡°You are too weak! Is this all the famous Thousand Arms is capable of?¡± Reinier quickly caught Khad¡¯s hand that came out of nowhere. His reaction was so quick that afterimage could be seen on his hand. A silver-white halo appeared on his upper body. He was so tall as if a giant spirit had possessed him. Retracting his arms, the man cupped his fists and struck out at the human face on Khad¡¯s chest. A ring of gray dust burst out from between the two figures. The heavy blow dent Khad¡¯s chest, sending her flying backward into the air with thousands of pale arms dropping off her body. ¡°I heard that you are injured? If this is all you got, you are not my match, even if you have fully recovered. Because you are simply too feeble.¡± Reinier slowly walked toward Khad. ¡°You are despicable!¡± After failing in his surprise attack, Khad pulled herself on her feet while her pale arms still fell off her body. There were various alien energies wreaking havoc in her body, throttling half of her strength. Whenever she raised her hand in a parry, the alien energies would suddenly surge and affect her bnce. ¡°If not for the setup...¡± ¡°Trash always has many excuses. It is a waste of my time to y around here. I am done with talking with a fe who doesn¡¯t even know about a qualitative change is.¡± Reinier raised his right fist with twisting green smoke rising around it. ¡°Just me it on yourself for bumping into me.¡± Arge nket of smoke rose around him, all in green, as dark as ink. ¡°Scales of Sanction!¡± As Reinier roared in a low voice, the dark green smoke gathered around his fist and transformed into a small bnce scale. On one pan was a throbbing ck heart, and on the other was the pale arm that represented Khad. As the pan with the ck heart dropped, Khad began to experience sharp pain all over his skin. Not only that, even the pale arms on the deck felt the pain. ¡°My brother will surely revenge my death!¡± Khad stared dead into Reinier¡¯s eyes despite the agony. ¡°The Ironfist Society will pursue you, gouge your soul out, and hang your body to dry on the thorns. You will not be able to run away...¡± ¡°Pursue me? Hahaha, I might as well kill every one of you,¡± Reinier said absent-mindedly and pressed down the pan with the ck heart. ¡°Goodbye.¡± A twisting force suddenly exploded in Khad¡¯s body and blew him into thousand pieces of arms, which fritted away out to the sea. As things happened, a tiny ck orb slowly rose in the sea of arms and shook in the air. But Reinier had spotted it before it could fly away. ¡°Where go?¡± Reinierughed grimly, waving away the scale in his hand. As he opened his hand, a dark-green dark-energy vortex appeared on his palm. The vortex rapidly spun and released a powerful field of gravity, capturing the orb in ce. As the air began to distort, the force field of the vortex transformed into an energy column and thrust at the ck orb of Khad. As smooth as a mirror, the pale and dead face of Khad could be seen projected out onto the orb¡¯s surface. ¡°It¡¯s over.¡± A curtain of dark-red me suddenly rose, just in time to block the energy column that shot toward the ck orb. In a split second, the dark-red mes and energy field vanished. Following that, a tall old man draped in dark-red armor slowly walked out of the shadow on the deck, his body shing with streaks of red light. ¡°Let¡¯s carry on. The Steel Lord, what takes you so long?¡± A man wearing a white cloth slowly emerged from the sea behind Reinier. The man was smiling, wearing a pair of blue sunsses, hand fiddling with an elusively translucent dagger. Just then, footsteps were hearding from the other side of Reinier. Shrouded in electric arcs, Lin Sheng strode out of the passengerpartment. ¡°It is three against two now.¡± While he calmly looked at the white-haired man and Reinier, a fiery air expanded from behind him in all directions. Chapter 227 - Hitches: Part 3

Chapter 227: Hitches: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Smiles slowly faded from the white-clothed man¡¯s face. ¡°Interesting... two Six Wingers at once?¡± Reinier was just as rmed. No matter how talented he was, Six Wing was a qualitative change that he had no way to attain anytime soon. Feeling threatened, he quickly looked at the white-clothed man. ¡°Let¡¯s leave,¡± the white-clothed man said calmly. He came only to help, not to risk his life. Even if he had more confidence in his strength, he would not want to get involved in a brutal battle just for a little money. ¡°Leaving? Shouldn¡¯t you all leave behind something?¡± The Steel Lord sneered, mes surging in his right hand and materializing into a giant battle-ax. It expanded and started to attract metal debris in the surroundings like a ma. ¡°That¡¯s enough!¡± Lin Sheng snapped. ¡°Be mindful of where you are!¡± He red at the Steel Lord. The Steel Lord looked to his left and right. He gave up on his intention and relinquished the maic force of his battle-ax. Now, Reinier and the white-clothed man had converged. The voice of the white-clothed man was unpleasant, much like the crow of a rooster. ¡°Sending two Six Wingers at the same time, not bad. The Ironfist Society deserves its reputation. But this is the most it could pull off.¡± ¡°Who are you people? Who sent you?¡± Lin Sheng quickly asked. ¡°Ie from the Heaven¡¯s Spire, name Forgotten, nickname Lanyun.¡± The white-clothed mannguidly smiled. ¡°Since the fight does not happen, let us go home.¡± He grabbed Reinier by his arm and stamped his foot on the water. The salty water sshed up as he rapidly flew toward the warship in the distance. Lin Sheng squinted, looking at the warship and raising his hands. The blue electric current rapidly surged up his arms and shot out from his hands. Beside him, the Steel Lord summoned his battle-ax and forcefully yanked it out at once. The electric current and battle-ax converged in the air with a loud boom as if there had been a chemical reaction. After the convergence of the two powerful energies, the power of the battle-ax had surpassed that of the Six Winger. It spun and flew at Reinier and the white-clothed man at high speed. Just as the two looked back to see what was going on, the battle-ax hade right behind them. Shocked, the white-clothed man immediately summoned a ghostly image of a shield. But the battle-ax changed its course slightly, scraping past him and missing him by mere inches before striking the man beside him. Reinier screeched as the battle-ax hit him on the left of his body, cutting him in half in an instant. The battle-ax exploded into a ball of dark-red fire, just as the Steel Lord had intended to show the power of his Six-Wing capability. On the deck, Lin Sheng put down his hands, breathing a sigh of relief before squatting down to unplug the power cord under his feet. This was how he feigned the power of a Six Winger. It was just a ruse, where he absorbed the electric current to make it looked as if he was a Six Winger. The Thunderbeast could absorb electric current, but there was also a limit to it. Lin Sheng possessed the memories of the Steel Lord, and so he knew the power of Six Wing like the back of his hand and sessfully pulled off a perfect ploy. At thest moment, with the help of the Steel Lord, Lin Sheng released all the electric current he had absorbed at once, avoiding the energy from overly building-up and exploding in the Thunderbeast¡¯s body. After all, that was how much electricity the Thunderbeast could handle. More so because it was difficult to control the borrowed electric current, and this showed up in his rage. Atst, the final strike was a disy of the power of a Six Winger. As a red fireball rose above the sea surface, Lanyun and Reinier emerged from the explosion, their bodies ckened. Without stopping, they flew past the warship into the distance. Lin Sheng nced at the Steel Lord, who then nodded back at him like they hade to a tacit understanding. Without saying a word, they simultaneously jumped down from the deck and flew toward Xylond at high speed. While the Steel Lord had transformed into a plume of smoke, Lin Sheng had let half of the Thunderbeast body transmute into electric current, and the other half carried him flying at low altitude. While he went, he had not forgotten to bring along Khad¡¯s ck orb, which was the object in which she deposited her soul after Scales of Sanction destroyed most of her body. But as soon as she collected more new arms, Khad would recover and be back to normal again. Meanwhile, Lin Sheng had left behind six vault guards to protect everyone on board until they arrived at Port Assia in the afternoon. ... Three dayster, in the forest on the private hill of Lin Sheng. On the other side of the hill away from the construction site, another structure had popped up. The over a hundred-meter-square white-stone building looked like a church with benches and praying altar inside. But it did not have pointed roof nor windows, less so statues, and anything for praying ritual. The entire building akin to four concrete bs pped together to form a rectangr structure. The vegetation was lush and dense in the forest. The singing and chirping of the birds, however, seemed a little too loud in the quiet forest. Here, Adolf was carrying arge case, escorted by two bodyguards, trudging up the stairs from the bottom of the hill. When he was about to arrive, he looked up at the building and motioned his bodyguards to stay put while he carried the case and continued to ascend to the top. Once he was in the building, he saw Lin Sheng leaning on the prayer altar. The tall and burly young teacher, who looked like a university graduate and a lion, was concentrating on drawing something on a paper. Lin Sheng appeared tired. But who would not have been after getting bombarded by questions from his rtives for two days? All the more so because he had to help his parents exin the reason for the relocation and then resettle the newly-arrived rtives. But he had managed to settle everything in just two days. ¡°Teacher, I have brought the ingredients.¡± Adolf walked up to him, ced the leather case on the floor, and then stepped back. ¡°Thank you.¡± Lin Sheng took the suitcase and opened it. Everything he needed to build the conversion mechanism of the sacred power font was here. ¡°By the way, teacher, is this ce you have built a temple? But there is no statue here,¡± Adolf asked curiously. ¡°This is not a temple but a sanctum,¡± Lin Sheng exined. ¡°Why would the Holy Sanctum need statues?¡± ¡°The Holy Sanctum?¡± Adolf was confounded. ¡°Yeah. Once it ispleted, you need to help to do some publicity so that more people coulde to pray here,¡± Lin Sheng said casually. ¡°No problem, but what protection could the sanctum offer? Peoplee here with different desires and motivations in mind. Without knowing what kind of protection the sanctum could provide, it is difficult tounch a publicity campaign,¡± Adolf said helplessly. ¡°Protection?¡± Lin Sheng softly tapped his fingers on the prayer altar. The confluence of sacred power itself would produce a cleansing effect that helped to alleviate negative energy such as fatigue, sadness, sorrow, hopelessness, and even minor illnesses. He thought for a moment and said, ¡°Protect the bankrupt from jumping off the building?¡± Adolf was dumbfounded. ¡°I was just kidding.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°Let the construction finish first.¡± Chapter 228 - Building: Part 1

Chapter 228: Building: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The construction of the sacred power font was smoother than Lin Sheng had expected. With Adolf¡¯s generous support, all the materials on the purchase list had been quickly delivered. In less than two days, a carving factory, specialized in producing unique articles, had been set up. The conversion system of the sacred power font involved the precision carving of different symbols, which was not something Lin Sheng could simply chip using nail, hammer, and ax. Arge number of high-density stones had been selected for building the watertight outeryer of the sacred power font. Lin Sheng hade to the factory to supervise the work and conduct tests to ensure every step was done ording to standard. The builders of the metal disc were not the average sacred power cultivators but grandmasters from ckfeather City. Their design was nothing, unlike the rudimentary summoning circle. Lin Sheng divided the sacred power font construction into two parts; one was the coreponent, and the other was the less critical nge. While he only supervised the work on the nge, he was carving the core parts all by himself. The core elements consisted of four stone globes of equal size, which he had to carve by hands andter to be iid at the bottom of the font. These four globes were the conduits by which Lin Sheng transmitted the sacred power he produced. At the same time, the globes also worked as the monitoring device and regtors at four different positions. Lin Sheng had missed his sses and been working overtime for five consecutive days in the building of the sacred power font, which uponpletion, the entire system of the sanctuary would beplete, and by then, the Ashen Seal would no longer be the factor constraining the growth of Lin Sheng. Not to mention that he could leverage the power of the sanctuary to kill enemies that were far more powerful than he was. In the afternoon on the sixth day, a sh of white light suddenly exploded on the hillside of Lin Sheng¡¯s private estate. But it disappeared just as quickly as it came if it was just an illusion in the eyes of the witnesses. Lin Sheng, Adolf, the Steel Lord, and Khad, nked by eight vault guards, were on high alert. In the center was the elementary white-stone structure, which was pervaded with a nket of holy glow. At dusk, the air around the small structure was fresh and serene, like the soothing atmosphere in the morning. ¡°Purification ispleted. Let¡¯s go inside.¡± Lin Sheng led the way and entered into the white-stone building. The sh of white light earlier was just a simple purification step. Once stepping inside, he reached to touch the bench, which still smelled of fresh paint. ¡°It is still an unfinished sanctum. But soon, it wille to its full glory.¡± Without waiting for the other three, Lin Sheng strode to the back of the prayer altar. One meter away behind the prayer altar was a square pit, on the edge of which was a white oval object that looked like an egg. Slightlyrger than a washing basin, the white object was fully covered in beautiful symbols and characters. Lin Sheng bent over, picked up the object, and ced it into the pit before putting on the stone lid. The lid automatically locked with a secure click and followed by the electronic beeping sound of the advanced encryption lock that Adolf supplied. Thebination of physical and electronic locking mechanisms made up the ultimate security protection. ¡°This will do.¡± Lin Sheng stepped forward to stand on the stone lid before the prayer altar. ¡°Leave me. I am going to activate the thing right away.¡± Lin Sheng motioned the Steel Lord, Adolf, and Khad. They quickly retreated, leaving Lin Sheng alone at the prayer altar with his eyes closed. Immediately, wisps of sacred power emanated from his feet began to seep into the white oval orb that he had just buried underground. Like the dyeing process, the sacred power coated the patterns on the white oval object in white. Fifteen minutes had passed, and the white oval object had almost be entirely white. A further two minutester, its surface had wholly turned snowy white. Lin Sheng opened his eyes, extended his hand, and began to draw different strange symbols in the air. As the sacred power surged in his body, the invisible symbols slowly descended and disappeared into the white oval object underneath his feet. A momentter, Lin Sheng let off his hand and carefully checked the steps in his mind. ¡°Done.¡± He cautiously looked down at the floor in front of the prayer altar, where the gaps that were still visible a while ago had vanished as if they had been seamlessly patched and smoothened over and that there was never a secretpartment below. Lin Sheng took a deep breath and stepped up the transfer of his sacred power from his body. As the oval object underground vibrated, the patterns on its surface rapidly faded. The sacred power that Lin Sheng injected into it worked like the first me that lighted up a torch; it fired up the newlypleted system of the sacred power font with arge white oval globe suddenly appeared before Lin Sheng¡¯s mind eye and a countdown number on the globe. ¡°5... 4... 3... 2... 1...¡± *Puff!* The globe instantly went up in a bright white me. At the same time, a voice that Lin Sheng sound extremely familiar began to speak into his ears. ¡°Holy power authentication in progress... ¡°The ritual is wless. ¡°Wee to using the Central Sanctum System.¡± ¡°No wonder the magicians were so rxed while managing the researchb; this thing is high-tech.¡± The voice amazed Lin Sheng. He knew that the system was going to be impressive, knowing that the architects behind this thing were grandmasters from ckfeather City. But what he did not expect was how advanced it was. Even the female voice was the most pleasant voice he had ever heard and as far as he could remember. He had heard the voice in some songs in the past. It looked like a trick to his mind, the effect of a magic maniption that converted the sound he heard into a voice that sounded the most pleasant to his ear. Lin Sheng took a deep breath. He paused for a while, feeling the faint retiction of the sacred power, which slowly expanded in all directions and pervaded the entire hill. An elusive image suddenly popped up in the darkness of his vision. It was a translucent model of a hill, floating quietly before him with a web of white lines shimmering around. These white lines originated from a spot on the side of the hill and spread in all directions. ¡°Are the white lines the sacred powerwork? This system is...¡± Lin Sheng was exceedingly amazed. The total amount of sacred power that he had injected into the sacred power font was equivalent to two Divine Wordsbined, just enough to conduct two rounds of evil detection at best. Even a newly transcended Temple Warrior could deliver this amount. To Lin Sheng, it was less than one-tenth of his total sacred power. But even with this tiny amount, it could form a monitoring system covering the entire hill. ¡°It is a real masterpiece!¡± Lin Sheng could not help but gasp in admiration as he looked at the semi-transparent hill model before him. Following the record of the metal discs, as soon as he reached to touch the hillside on the hill model, the spot where he touched expanded as the model erged. The next moment, it had be a semi-transparent image of a stone building. The square stone structure that floated in the air looked like a shrunk version of a projected image. ¡°It feels like a sand table.¡± Lin Sheng thought to himself. Chapter 229 - Building: Part 2

Chapter 229: Building: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Abel suddenly popped up to the right of the stone building model: Preparatory Sanctum. Lin Sheng reached to tap thebel, and a drop-down menu expanded. Preparatory Sanctum¡ªSt. Lin Sheng is the Ashen Seal Core. The sanctum force field: spirit purification is weak (affect the negative condition of living things, purify some negative thoughts) Upgradable: The Sanctum of Dawn, the Sanctum of Dusk, the Sanctum of Shadows. ¡°Selectable menu?¡± Upon seeing this, Lin Sheng instantly found it as ridiculous as ying video games. But he still decided to proceed and pressed the ¡®Sanctum of Dawn¡¯ selection. Immediately, another page of information rushed into his mind. The Sanctum of Dawn: substantially cleanse the negative form, heal the injured living things, and trigger different types of divine healing spells. Long-term exposure could enhance the sacred power adaptability of living things; prolong its lifespan up to ten years. Sacred power required: 100 units ¡°This should not be the design for use in war zones.¡± Lin Sheng spected. He then clicked the second selection: The Sanctum of Dusk, and immediately, a new piece of information came into his mind. The Sanctum of Dawn: a special sanctum that possesses a certain level of defense capability. It could dispel alien and evil energy and has a divine healing spell that protects an area and brings security and hopes to the residents. Sacred power required: 200 units Lin Sheng squinted, feeling this description was overly simplified. ¡°A certain level of defense capability? What defense capability a sanctum could have?¡± He moved to the third selection and clicked on it, and another new piece of data flowed into his mind. The Sanctum of Shadows: a special sanctum that possesses a powerful defense capability, has a suppressive level of power over alien energy, is suitable as thest line of protection for living things in an extremely harsh environment. Sacred power required: 500 units Three types of sanctums for three different environments; the builder could select the most suitable option for its use. But what Lin Sheng saw right now was solely for his eyes only because when he checked in the ¡®Preparatory Sanctum¡¯ menu, he had only three units of sacred power in the font while each sanctum had a minimum requirement. ¡°This means, after all the sacred power I have injected, it has only be three units after the standard conversion?¡± Lin Sheng calcted in his mind and figured that the total amount of sacred power he had put into the Preparatory Sanctum was one-tenth of his overall capacity. ¡°This also means that if I use my full capability of sacred power, I can add 30 units of sacred power into the sanctum, which also means that three rounds of full-capability injection will meet the minimum requirement for building the Sanctum of Dawn.¡± He figured that if he exhausted all his sacred power, he would need at least a day before he could fully recover them. And since sacred power was the instantiation of the power of the soul, over-exhaustion of sacred power could adversely affect his health. ¡°Four days is what it takes to meet the minimum requirement of the Sanctum of Dawn. As a Level 5 sacred power Temple Warrior, I have to spend four days just to meet the minimum requirement of the basic type of sanctum?¡± When Lin Sheng recalled the powerful small sanctum in ckfeather City, he realized that he still had a long way to go. Quickly, he pulled his consciousness out of the virtual space. As soon as he opened his eyes, he felt the sanctum was a little different from before. There were dust and debris on the inside, but it felt so clean, holy, peaceful, and cozy. It was a strange feeling. But Lin Sheng knew that it was a natural effect of the force field after the activation of the sacred power font. This force field was still rtively weak, considering that there were only three units of sacred power inside the font. ¡°Come in and experience it for yourself.¡± Lin Sheng called out. The Steel Lord, Khad, and Adolf slowly walked in. Khad was the first to experience a reaction as she was injured and in the process of recuperating. Besides, the fact that she shared the same body with Lin Sheng, the energy field did not reject her. ¡°I feel a sense of security... it is a pleasant feeling.¡± She slowly walked up beside Lin Sheng and held his hand. Meanwhile, the Steel Lord skimmed around carefully. ¡°This environment doesn¡¯t make for battle. But the force field isn¡¯t bad; it has no problem in calming people¡¯s minds.¡± To him, this pathetically weak force field did not worth mentioning at all. But since this was his big brother¡¯s masterstroke, he did not say a bad word about it. On the other hand, Adolf was the most astonished among the three of them. He had never had such a pleasant feeling before. He felt as if he had returned to his childhood, in his mother¡¯s arms, happy and safe. With the talent for sacred power, Adolf could clearly feel a warmth in the air enveloping and protecting him. ¡°Now, can you do the publicity?¡± Lin Sheng looked at Adolf. Being a part of Lin Sheng, the Steel Lord and Khad knew what Lin Sheng was thinking. The focus now was on Adolf, who truly represented the average human. ¡°Great!¡± Adolf nodded. ¡°It has a great healing effect on the body and mind. It might seem a little too weak for us, but it should be great for the average person. Especially those with a weak physique, the feeling would be tremendous. Some of my friends who like to stay upte will benefit the most if they are willing toe here for even just a while.¡± ¡°The force field can only cover this little space. I will allocate half of the seating to you. You decide how you are going to sell it,¡± said Lin Sheng, his voice matter of fact. ¡°Understood!¡± Adolf replied. ¡°Remember, those who havemitted too much sin must not be brought in.¡± This was the only rule that Lin Sheng had imposed. He had learned the importance of the power of influence since he was small and weak. So his priority had always been bringing people of influence together to form an even more influential force. The Preparatory Sanctum could sit about forty persons, and he allocated twenty seats to Adolf so that he could invite more people of influence to the sanctum. ¡°Understood!¡± Adolf knew what Lin Sheng meant. ¡°Steel Lord, you can go back now. Khad, stay here until you have fully recovered.¡± Lin Sheng instructed. ¡°Aye,¡± the two quickly replied in their minds. ¡°The energy field might cover the entire hill, but the closer it gets to the sanctum, the stronger the energy is. So, Adolf, you can bring your family for a short trip here whenever you want. It is good for their health.¡± Lin Sheng reminded. ¡°Thank you, Teacher.¡± Adolf bowed his head in appreciation. In fact, Lin Sheng was delighted with Adolf. This student was obedient, smart, and always in-condition in terms of EQ and IQ. What was more was that Adolf could provide him with seemingly unlimited resources so that he did not have to run around like a headless chicken to collect materials. He just needed to say it, and Adolf would fling himself into carrying out the duty without expecting anything in return. It could be noted that Adolf was the best student he could ever have. Taking more care about Adolf was only a natural thing to do. After giving out his instructions, Lin Sheng left behind two vault guards in the Preparatory Sanctum to prevent anyone from trespassing. And he further injected a few more units of sacred power into the font before leaving. The Steel Lord had left. There was already a small group of people under him, and he must not be away for too long. Meanwhile, Khad was staying for the night in the Preparatory Sanctum. Chapter 230 - Building: Part 3

Chapter 230: Building: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Back in his rented house, Lin Sheng began his sacred power cultivation to regain the exhausted portion. He repeated his meditation until it waste afternoon. He then got up and was about to get a quick bite downstairs. Just when he was out in the stairway, he bumped into Maier, who wore a pair of ck overalls and imed to have just gotten off a bus while Lin Sheng came out. ¡°Hi, Big Brother Lin, here we meet again!¡± Maier ran up to Lin Sheng, shamelessly wrapped his hand around his broad shoulder, and patted on his back. But he self-consciously stopped as his hand hurt after just a couple of pats. ¡°Anything?¡± Lin Sheng did not believe that Maier bumped into by chance. He knew Maier had been waiting for him. ¡°I have seen it.¡± Maier drew closer, letting out a mysterious smile. ¡°Your application to the HQ is sessful, right? That is efficient!¡± Lin Sheng quickly came to his senses. Recalling his conversation with Maier earlier, he knew that this fe must be here to verify the news. ¡°I have only recruited a student; he is our sole patron now. Should it be your turn now? Show your sincerity!¡± ¡°Am I not here now?¡± Maier smiled slyly. ¡°Word-based advert slot in prime time in the travel channel for you. All discounts remain.¡± ¡°Deal.¡± Lin Sheng nodded at once. The two walked into a restaurant. Lin Sheng immediately ordered eight dishes and five bowls of rice and also got a pair of chopsticks for Maier. ¡°By the way, does anyone among the Darksiders need healing from a third party?¡± he asked quietly. Marier picked a pair of clean chopsticks. He smiled upon hearing that. ¡°There are, but the number is on the low side. Since the Darksiders already have amazing self-healing ability, and also due to the difference in their natures, they do not need other treatment.¡± Lin Sheng nodded thoughtfully. Indeed, all the Darksiders he met possessed incredible self-healing ability, a few of which were even at a perverse level. ¡°Have you heard about what happened yesterday morning?¡± Maier¡¯s face suddenly turned grim. ¡°Yesterday morning?¡± Lin Sheng blinked, clueless about what Maier was talking about. He had even temporarily stopped exploring his dreams for fear that his death in the dream would affect his performance during the day. He had focused all his undivided attention on the construction of the sanctum and only begun to see the fruits of hisbor now. As for other matters, he had not given them much attention. ¡°Don¡¯t you keep an eye on the things concerning the Heaven¡¯s Spire since your rtionship with them is less than cozy?¡± Maier was perplexed. ¡°What happened?¡± Lin Sheng was helpless. ¡°I have been busytely.¡± ¡°I got it.¡± Maier picked up his cup and sipped a mouthful of tea to moist his throat. ¡°Something big has happened to the Heaven¡¯s Spire!¡± His face was somber, voice low, and secretive as if a seller of porn DVDs. ¡°What something big?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°You really don¡¯t know?¡± Maier sighed. ¡°Just tell me!¡± Lin Sheng began to lose his patience. ¡°In fact... it is...¡± Maier scanned his surroundings. ¡°This time, the Heaven¡¯s Spire...¡± He suddenly sighed and shook his head. ¡°Speak up!¡± Lin Sheng banged the table. Frightened, the excess tissue on Maier¡¯s face danced like waves of meat on a pug. ¡°All right, all right, I will tell you. I will tell you!¡± Maier wiped his sweat and smiled embarrassedly at the other patrons in the surroundings in apology. Only then, he sat upright and began to tell in a low voice, ¡°The Heaven¡¯s Spire suffered tremendous losses after being ambushed by the Heart of the Ocean and the Revivalists near Vursar Ind in the North Sea. It was said that the Carte nche, the dark-energy organization of Miga, was also involved.¡± ¡°How big are the losses? How big?¡± Lin Sheng was surprised. ¡°Have the Thousand Arms from your sanctum not wreak havoc once?¡± Maier kept his voice low. ¡°But what has happened this time is entirely on another scale. Of all the casualty the Heaven¡¯s Spire suffered, three of the five Five Wingers and one Six Winger died. What is more...¡± he paused and took a sip of the tea. ¡°What is more, I heard that even the Ptinates had surfaced.¡± ¡°The Ptinates?¡± Lin Sheng was stunned, hearing the name for the first time. ¡°In the Heaven¡¯s Spire, Six Winger is the pinnacle of Darksiders. In ournguage, the Ptinates is at the top of the dark-energy food chain, they will note out lightly.¡± Maier sighed before continued. ¡°Now, as things involved the apex Darksiders, could not imagine that of all the hundreds of thousands of people on Vursar Ind, there is not a single survivor? It is such horrifying.¡± ¡°What is the official narrative?¡± asked Lin Sheng after a moment of silence. ¡°Volcano eruption¡ªwhat else would you expect? However, many normal humans know the existence of the supernatural world, it is just that it has not been widely made public,¡± Maier said matter-of-factly. ¡°How strong is the Ptinates? Have you seen them before?¡± Lin Sheng was eager to know but felt it too embarrassed to ask about this apex group of Darksiders. ¡°How could I know?¡± Maier said helplessly. ¡°Are you not from Xilin? Don¡¯t the Heart of the Ocean and the Revivalists have the Ptinates? Did you not see them before?¡± ¡°Yes but no. I have only heard of it.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t your house near Fort Whitehawk? You must have heard about the explosion of the ammunition depot, don¡¯t you? That was the work of the Ptinates of the Heaven¡¯s Spire,¡± Maier sneered. ¡°If not, do you really think that the Heart of the Ocean and the Revivalists would want to go to such length to attack them? The Heaven¡¯s Spire was the one who broke the unspoken rule. Everyone had this tacit understanding not to get the Ptinates involved until the Heaven¡¯s Spire opened the floodgate.¡± ¡°To what extent things go before the Ptinates get involved?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°How the hell I know?¡± Maier rolled his eyes. ¡°At that level, they are the bosses. I am not a boss. How the heck I know what is in their mind?¡± ¡°How many Ptinates are there in the Heaven¡¯s Spire?¡± Lin Sheng asked without bothering to hide his curiosity. ¡°Three.¡± ¡°What about the Revivalists and the Heart of the Ocean?¡± ¡°I wonder whether you are a Xilinian!¡± The fat dude got angry. ¡°The Carte nche is the dark-energy organization in Miga? What about that of Olro and Xylond?¡± Lin Sheng asked after thinking for a while. ¡°It¡¯s Hellfire in Olro. Such a bumptious name. ¨CWhy are you looking at me like that? I did not give them this name.¡± The fat dude rolled his eyes. ¡°In Xylond, they are called the TSSF¡ª the Transcendent Special Strike Force. Have you not met one of them? The person who was with me. I am one of them.¡± ¡°What is the difference between the Ptinates and the normal Darksiders?¡± Lin Sheng asked again. ¡°I do have some knowledge about this because my mom used to show me, and it ismon knowledge. Let me tell you some of them.¡± Maier was willing to butter Lin Sheng up because people at the top were interested in the sacred power system of the Ironfist Society. Who knows Lin Sheng might end up bing his superior someday. More so because he had a simr encounter before. ¡°I am all ears.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. The fat dude further sipped a mouthful of tea before putting down the cup and beginning to mumble, ¡°It was said that dark energy originated from the evil side of a man¡¯s heart,¡± Maier said mysteriously. ¡°So most Darksiders possess different evil desires on a magnified scale. Legend has it that when a Darksider rises to a higher level, his dark energy will undergo a qualitative change. During the change, if the Darksider could take this opportunity to trigger a force of good in his heart, he would be able to calm his heart and transcend to be another type of existence.¡± ¡°What if he could not trigger it?¡± Lin Sheng asked. Maier shrugged. ¡°Do you know why people at the top want to keep the Six Wingers from fighting each other? Because once the Six Wingers lose control, it would be a Ptinate-category disaster.¡± Lin Sheng was stunned. ¡°That means, irrespective of whether thest step is sessful nor not, there will be an explosive increase in strength. It will reach the Ptinate category as soon as qualitative change starts.¡± ¡°Bingo!¡± said Maier with a thumbs-up. Chapter 231 - Training: Part 1

Chapter 231: Training: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Alright, let¡¯s have some grub. So what is it that you have to say?¡± Lin Sheng looked at the waiters pushing in the food trolley with all sorts of dishes as he shifted his gaze to Maier. ¡°Oh, actually I heard that Master Lin, you have started recruiting already, so I¡¯m here to book a ce for myself. I¡¯m hoping to see if you are willing to give me a chance? I, Maier, want to step into the gates of the sacred light too!¡± Maier divulged his desire after the waiters left. ¡°...Not everyone is capable of awakening sacred power within them...¡± Lin Sheng said rather helplessly. ¡°But I think I might have some chance. I¡¯ve been totally ruled out as talentless with the dark powers, so I want to give the sacred powers a try!¡± Maier insisted. ¡°Alright, let me assess you.¡± Lin Sheng was speechless as he held a finger out and ced in on the back Maier¡¯s rotund hand. ¡°Oh?¡± Lin Sheng let out a surprised noise. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Maier tensed up as he asked. He had gone for dark power testing many times over. His mother was an expert on the matter of dark powers, his father was no slouch either, and his sister was a genius with it, only him, who was practically useless at home. So, in order to salvage whatever pride he had left in this lifetime, he relented and looked for Lin Sheng the moment he heard the news. ¡°There¡¯s some hope... While your natural disposition is terrible... with some work, you will have hope to ascend and be a Transcendent.¡± Lin Sheng gave Maier an odd look. ¡°R-Really??!!¡± Maier, the portly man was stunned. ¡°You¡¯re... not pulling my leg, aren¡¯t you?!!¡± ¡°If I have the time to pull your leg I might as well spent that to meditate,¡± Lin Sheng spat. Maier took a deep breath as he heard that as he tried to contain his excitement. He had alreadye prepared for rejection, so he never thought that... ¡°Alright, if you are willing,e over to the Holy Sanctum a few dayster to take the sacred power training assessment.¡± Lin Sheng did not dither and simply went ahead to inform him. ¡°Sure!¡± Maier mmed his hand on the table as he got up. ¡°I¡¯m in your care!¡± he eximed as he gave Lin Sheng a deep bow before gulping down a cup of fruit juice that was just served. Then Lin Sheng saw him walked out slowly in a daze out of the restaurant as he stood there looking into the heavens. God knows what he was thinking then. Lin Sheng shook his head, not understanding what sort of emotions the portly man had at that moment. He simply continued eating. That meal itself took about half an hour and by the time he got home, it was already dark. Lin Sheng was in his room, but he did not train, rather he made a series of calls to check on things. With the initial promotion of the Holy Sanctum, it would be bad if no one came to pray. If no one came, that meant that he needed to continuously feed it sacred power every day to maintain the sanctum¡¯s basic matrixes. And that would be a burden instead. ¡°Hopefully everything works out well.¡± As he put down the phone, without any of the information he wanted, Lin Sheng could only close his eyes and started meditating. ... ¡°Alright, alright. What is it that you want me to collect at this ungodly hour in this godforsaken ce?¡± Deep in the night, a fat man in sses wheezed as he slowly lugged his portly frame to the bottom of the Holy Sanctum¡¯s hill. The small hill where Lin Sheng had constructed the Holy Sanctum was not thatrge, but there were still some recently-built public facilities at the bottom of the hill. The fat man staggered, clutching his barely moving leg as he finally stopped to rest, drenched in sweat. With much effort, he pulled out his phone. In Xylond, a much more advanced nation than Xilin, the telephone fees were at the rate where themoners could use, and this made it much easier than Xilin. The fat man quickly dialed a number. ¡°The number you have called is unavable. Please try againter,¡± an automatic voice prompt suddenly rang out. The fat man¡¯s expression suddenly changed. ¡°Bloody hell... are they pulling my leg? Or are theyte?¡± He looked around. All around him was the deepest part of the park closest to the bottom of the hill, and on the left was a wide staircase up the hill. The stairs seemed to be newly built as the granite staircase extended upwards. On both sides, were the dim light of sr-powered streetmps, they were not particrly bright, but enough to make out his surroundings. More importantly, at every set distance along the stairs were a few benches. The fat man looked around, and aside from the stairs, there was no ce to rest. If he wanted to rest, he had to climb the stairs. With no resource, he looked at the dozen-odd steps as he slowly mbered upwards. But the moment he stepped on the stairs, he shuddered. ¡°Wha...?!¡± The fat man suddenly felt like he finally tasted cool wind after being left out to dry in the sun for three straight days. His already wheezing self with his already heavy dark circles suddenly felt better the moment he got onto the steps. And even his fatigue caused by the shortness of breath was relieved. ¡°This ce...it¡¯s like magic!¡± The fat man took a step back and left the stairs and suddenly that sensation of relief disappeared. Swallowing hard, the man suddenly felt that he had run into a monumental secret as he took a few steps forward and felt that gush of relief again. ¡°My God!!¡± The fat man quickly took out his phone and started taking videos of the ce. These were all materials that he wanted to share with his bunch of friends, to see if anyone had any idea what was going on. ... Within two short days, what Lin Sheng did not expect was the Holy Sanctum¡¯s main visitors were not the visitors who came here because of the advertisements, rather, they were pairs or trios of sports enthusiasts who came running up and down the steps. There were also a couple of shut-ins who went there to camp and have some barbeque. Thetter group, especially, was beyond Lin Sheng¡¯s expectations. He hade over after receiving word that the bottom of the hill was full of people. And by the time he got there, all he saw were people crowding around the newly built steps. Every part of the step was upied and he never thought that there would be so many youngsters there in Shermanton with nothing else better to do than clog up the ce. Lin Sheng looked up and saw young men and women sitting on the steps ying their phones, or readingics and novels. They were all young looking, most with dark eye circles, probably workingte and their health ill. ¡°Why are there so many people...??¡± Lin Sheng was a little confounded. It had only been two days. Even Adolf was stunned by the spectacle. He had gotten a call from his men about a massive crowd there, but he had no idea how massive until he got there to see it for himself. ¡°What do we do now?¡± he asked Lin Sheng. Chapter 232 - Training: Part 2 Chapter 232: Training: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng demurred for a moment. ¡°Let¡¯s head up. These people are probably just taking advantage of the sanctum¡¯s effect and have taken this ce as public property. ¡°However, further up are private grounds where my men are stationed. They won¡¯t be able to get up. So what we need to do now is to try to pick the people we need from the rabble here. ¡°Even if it is just staying upte, someone who can endure week-long graveyard hours would have rather considerable willpower. These are the people we need.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Adolf nodded. His sacred power had now grown to the point it fills his stomach. Once he catches up with the physical andbat training, he would be able to be considered a Level 3 pdin in shape and form. ording to the traditional standards, Level 1 and Level 2 warriors weremoners without any transcendent powers, with only powerful martial and physical abilities. Only a warrior who had mastered a supernatural ability would ascend to Level 3. Adolf, however, had gone the totally opposite path from the traditional ckfeather City method. ¡°Come.¡± Lin Sheng took the lead as he stepped forward along the step upward as Adolf and his two bodyguards followed quickly behind. The four-men team quickly attracted attention, but Lin Sheng did not mind as he walked faster, and soon, he arrived at the end of the third level of steps. There was a wire barricade segregating the area. Any further up would be entering into Lin Sheng¡¯s personal territory. Lin Sheng stopped before the entrance into the restricted area as he pondered for a bit before telling Adolf something and heading straight into the ce. A momentter, one of Adolf¡¯s men carefully took out a newly printed notice and pasted it on the right side of the entrance. ¡°A notice? What¡¯s it about?¡± ¡°It was made by that few people who went in earlier. There¡¯s a sign saying that this ce is privatend.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s have a look.¡± The crowd at the bottom of the hill started moving as a few made their way up the stairs to look at the notice. ¡°Thisnd belongs to the Holy Sanctum. Pray with all your heart, and God will respond to the determination in your heart. No honestbor will go unpaid.¡± At the bottom was an application form, and in it was a series of very strict requirements toward physical and mental strength. If someone met the criteria well enough, the fees would be waived off as well as long as they sincerely prayed to the god within the Holy Sanctum. Below it was an exnatory note. On the top of said note was the history of the Holy Sanctum, what sort of organization they are, alongside the fees. The presentation was professional. The group of people took a while to properly read it, and most of them were skeptical, but owing to the special effect of the hill, there were a few who believed the content of the note. ¡°It looks like a gang, an illegal organization...¡± A few Xylondian government officers tasked with monitoring the situation shook his head as he saw the scene. ¡°They are not illegal. They¡¯re officially registered,¡± one of his colleagues quipped. ¡°That¡¯s why that¡¯s the worst.¡± The man shaking his head was even more resigned. ... Within the Holy Sanctum at the half-way point of the hill. Lin Sheng stood before the prayer dais as he closed his eyes to monitor the changes in the ce. Within his darkened vision, he unexpectedly saw dots of translucent white light particles floating around the inner sanctum hall. The amount was not great and Lin Sheng consciously approached them as they were sucked in like a ma. Lin Sheng then meditated the Ashen Seal and converted these particles into pure sacred power. ¡°There¡¯s probably five units of it... To think that so many soul particles can be collected even without a proper worshipping method...¡± Lin Sheng had tasted blood. ¡°While this sacred power is not my own, and cannot be stored inside me, but I can still call upon them when I need it. As long as I am within the Sanctum, my with my absolute authority here, I can use this force to suppress any living being in the area.¡± Lin Sheng carefully sensed the difference between the two sacred powers as he opened his eyes and broke into a relieved smile. ¡°Not bad, not bad at all.¡± ¡°Not bad, huh?¡± Khad had been folding little stars out of boredom by his side, and there was already a whole bottle worth of paper stars with all sorts of colors by his side now, not unlike a grade schooler¡¯s work. ¡°At least I don¡¯t need to maintain the operations of this ce myself and just need toe here on a schedule,¡± Lin Sheng exined through the soul link. ¡°But I¡¯m bored...¡± Khad carried the star-filled bottle before Lin Sheng and gave it to him.¡± ¡°A present for you.¡± ¡°...Thank you.¡± Lin Sheng speechlessly epted arge bottle of stars. ¡°If you¡¯re bored then go read some books or study.¡± ¡°I¡¯m badly injured this time around, and I need a little over a month at least to heal. Are you telling me that I need to read books for that entire time?¡± Khad pouted as she forked her arms over her waist. ¡°If you are really that bored, then help me with the physical andbat training of our people.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°There¡¯ll soon be a batch of disciplesing in.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Khad nodded excitedly. ¡°Also, we¡¯re stretched rather thin now. We need to find some strong ones to replenish our ranks,¡± Lin Sheng rumbled. ¡°Today onwards, I¡¯ll leave this ce to you. If there¡¯s anything, just use the soul link to contact me, it¡¯s not that far anyway.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Khad nodded again. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll leave it in your care,¡± Lin Sheng said solemnly. Ever since he managed to chase off a Heaven¡¯s Spire Six-winger by ying boss, he had a sense of dread that wound him up. Compared with the extremely powerful Heaven¡¯s Spire, not even counting the Ptinates, if those few Six-wingers alone teamed up, they could level the Holy Sanctum today in the blink of an eye. So, in order to stand firm, Lin Sheng needed to summon more six-winged elites, but only he had the strength of a Three-winger, and to aplish that would be exceedingly difficult. Lin Sheng had a feeling that since Fort Whitehawk was sabotaged by the Ptinates, the warzone would expand, ever bigger and wider. By then, it would be chaos all over, not to mention the appearance of the mysterious ck Cluster, ckwater, cktide, and Mist. It was just like what happened in the dream. Perhaps only by strengthening the Holy Sanctum could he truly protect a side and protect his friends as well as family. Lin Sheng still recalled how the tiny sanctum within ckfeather City had so determinedly pursued its duty for god knew how long even after it lost its master. Upon giving Khad some orders, Lin Sheng got Adolf to stay behind and to receivebat training from Khad. Khad, who was once a royal prince would naturally have her own insight onbat. Especially when she was a powerful monster who had lived long enough. Replicating the training regimen of those vault guards was a piece of cake. So Lin Sheng left the hill from the other side silently and went back to his rented house. This time around, regardless of the Holy Sanctum¡¯s requirements or his own personal advancement, he would need to find a six-winged monster to kill; or else he had no idea how long he would take to achieve Level 6 sacred power. After all, his physical attributes were still mediocre, and if he wanted to break through to Level 6 via normal means, it would take at the very least ten odd years. And this stage, even for the Darksiders, going from a three-winged to a four-winged Oppressor was a leap by itself, and was extremely difficult. So, he had all the more reason to quicken his pace! Chapter 233 - Training: Part 3 Chapter 233: Training: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ckfeather City. *Tick tock, tick tock...* Lin Sheng slowly made his way on the dimly lit street. He followed the side street from the sanctum, through the bar¡¯s manor, warrior¡¯s guild, and the high magic research center that he had recently left. All of the buildings looked like slumbering beasts that could wake up at any moment. Lin Sheng carefully looked at the signage as he passed by. He had lost interest in the run-of-the-mill manors. What he wanted was a strong foe like the Steel Lord. ¡°From the Steel Lord¡¯s memories, most of ckfeather City¡¯s popce have already evacuated, and only a few stayed behind. To find a Six-winger from this group of people...¡± Lin Sheng did not need much thought to know how difficult that was. ¡°If we include monsters as well... then my options are plenty.¡± As he stood before a sealed little shop, Lin Sheng held his hand out and touched the already rotten wooden door frame before making his way as he left building after building behind him. And the tall spire and the ringed district at the heart of the city was getting closer to him. After a while, Lin Sheng looked up, there was no mist tonight. Using the moon, he could see the rough situation ahead of him, and as long as he bypassed a few templeplexes-like buildings he would be able to reach the heart of the city. ¡°A templeplex? There¡¯s already a Holy Sanctum here, so why is there a templeplex?¡± Lin Sheng frowned as he looked at the massive building about ten meters away from him. At the center of this building was a massive granite cathedral with a round dome with a steeple by the side. The steeple was much, much taller than the main cathedral, and some intricate red gemstones were embedded within the spire. At the top of the cathedral¡¯s main door was a sculpture of a hooded angel, and on the chest of the angel was a massive spiral-like eye motif. Lin Sheng paused for a moment and looked around before making his way to theplex after determining that there was no danger. As he got closer to the building, Lin Sheng¡¯s footsteps echoed throughout the empty street as the cold wind howled, causing all surrounding cavities to howl as well, as if a pack of monsters was closing in. Lin Sheng stood before the cathedral¡¯s main door, and there were grey pirs nking it on both sides that extended all the way into the darkness. On the center of the door were engravings of two half-kneeling men with bare chests as they each held an ewer and a quill, their posture seemingly odd. ¡°For a city to have the Holy Sanctum relegated to the edge of the city center... To think there¡¯s a second templeplex here...¡± Lin Sheng raised his ming sword. The sword was now his constant source of light. Making his way to the main door, he looked up at the ck door that was at least three times his height. He tried to pull the door. It did not budge. Then he tried to push it in. *ck.* The door slowly and heavily opened inward as two doors weighing at least hundreds of kilos slowly opened up as Lin Sheng pushed them. *Whoosh!* A frigid current suddenly blew out of the door and sent chills all over Lin Sheng. His body activated his sacred power by reflex to keep himself warm. There was arge hall inside the cathedral, at least hundreds of square meters wide. There were rows and rows of stone pirs within the hall, lining up and forming a wide walkway. There were bloodstains and torn carpet all over the ground. *ck, ck.* Just as Lin Sheng stepped into the hall, a couple of maskeddies holdingrge scythes walked out from between the pirs. Thedies¡¯ heads were all encased in a ck helmet as they wore fitting leather armor with their navels slightly exposed. A menacing red eye was visible on their fair exposed waist, and it was right above their navels. The eye spun about, almost in a frenzy. ¡°One, two, three, four. To think I¡¯ll get a reception party the moment I step in.¡± Lin Sheng gripped his ming sword tightly as he looked at them. The fourdies all slowly made their way toward him, and as soon as they were within five meters of him, the eyes on their navels stopped looking around and stared straight at Lin Sheng. *Schwing!* Four scythes rose at the same time and came crashing down in a brutal stroke. Lin Sheng was a little astonished as to why the four monsters struck him when there was such arge distance between them. Before he realized it, the scything de suddenly appeared out of thin air behind him from two directions. ¡°Ugh!!¡± Four massive scythe des struck Lin Sheng¡¯s back. With a painful grunt, blood spurted. Lin Sheng had managed to move his body sideways at the veryst moment. Only two des tore into his back before they were stopped and deflected by his bones while he dodged the other two strikes. The des seemed to have traveled across space and appeared behind him. Lin Sheng did not have too much time to think as he saw thedies raise their scythes again. He quickly dashed forward as his ming sword lit up, and he shed at one of thedies. *Whoosh!* Thedy suddenly disappeared into a puff of ck smoke before materializing at another corner as she shed her scythe down. Lin Sheng charged again and made it straight toward the seconddy. *Whoosh!* Another puffter, thedy turned into ck smoke and disappeared too. Lin Sheng quickly let out a flurry of strikes, but his speed could not catch up to the fourdies as his strikes were either dodged or parried. ¡°Urgh!!!¡± Two more wounds opened up on his arm as he staggered back, trying to pull a distance before the teleporting des forced him to close in again. Yet, he had no means of hitting thetter even if he got close. Lin Sheng¡¯s ming de spun about as he fended off the oing scythe attacks. Even as skilled as he was with the de, one against four, plus his speed not being up to par with his foes, Lin Sheng was bearing more and more wounds. As horrifying gashes and tears appeared all over his back and limbs. The floor was stained all over as blood gushed out of his wounds. Slowly Lin Sheng¡¯s strength failed him as he staggered and almost fell onto the ground. *Foosh!!* Four scythes opportunistically struck at the same time in a brutal downward stroke toward his arm. *ng!!* Suddenly, a menacing smile appeared on Lin Sheng¡¯s face as he grabbed the haft of the scythes, and opened his mouth. ¡°Rawrrrr!!¡± A thunderous and deafening dragon¡¯s howl suddenly materialized from his mouth. The fourdies were just about to scatter as they were stunned by the howl, and were dazed for a second. Lin Sheng quickly let go of the haft and dashed forward to grab onto two of thedies before him and rammed into them. *Bammm!!* The twodies¡¯ chest caved in as they were stuck onto the wall, unmoving. Lin Sheng turned back and dashed forward as he grabbed the heads of the two remainingdies and smashed them together. *Plop.* Two headless bodies fell limply onto the ground. As he let go of the bodies, Lin Sheng moved his arm a little as he slowly made his way to the center of the hall. His wounds were rapidly healing at a visible rate. Deep within the hall, a tall silhouette slowly turned to look at him, and a purple glow gleamed in its eyes. Chapter 234 - Fearless: Part 1

Chapter 234: Fearless: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Late Night. Redwinian Province H5, Pakzy Town. ¡°Ah... I¡¯m bored... Is there anyone here to y...¡± A blue-haired, red-eyed youthy on the bar counter looking listless. Behind the bar was a white-haired old bartender in uniform as he gently ced theyered cocktail before the youth. ¡°Dad, your cocktail.¡± The old man pushed the drink over to the side of the youth¡¯s mouth with a stern face. ¡°Ugh...¡± The blue-haired, red-eyed youth propped his head up. ¡°Congcong, you are still that stuck-up self even after a hundred years. Should¡¯ve just shot you into tissue back then, and raised a daughter instead. Look at Xiaoyang¡¯s ce, he has everythingid out for him. Heh...¡± ¡°Dad, I¡¯m someone whose granddaughter has already started working. Give me some face, will you?¡± The old man sighed. ¡°As if you¡¯re the only one who needs face...¡± The youth picked up the cocktail and knocked it down in one shot. ¡°Oh right, I¡¯ve arranged your grave plot for you already. It¡¯s in the Third National Mausoleum.¡± ¡°Is that so? Thanks, then,¡± the old man responded as he wiped his hand with his hand towel. ¡°Even after so long, you have not changed.¡± ¡°This is the power of bnce. You don¡¯t understand... the Eventide will reward us with untold powers.¡± The young man spun his ss about. ¡°Oh right, Dad. You said you had taken a disciple, and he seemed to be badly wounded by someone. Not gonna pay him a visit?¡± The old man suddenly asked. ¡°Eh, it¡¯s fine as long as he is still alive. He¡¯s way too over his head. While he is talented, talent alone doesn¡¯t mean that everyone would make way for you,¡± the youth answered impassively. ¡°He is still your disciple. A disciple of the former Lord of Assassins,¡± the old man emphasized. ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter. The dark powers do not care about one¡¯s body, rather one¡¯s soul. His soul is naturally strong, and to be able to reach this level by forty is already an aplishment. For him to step further into Six Wings, what he needed was not more dark powers, but rather to train his mind and limits.¡± The youth smiled as he exined. ¡°Alright, there¡¯s that. It¡¯s not proper for us to get involved in the matters of our juniors. Another, Rainbow Sparkle.¡± ¡°Coming up.¡± The old bartender deftly pulled out a ss and started mixing. ¡°Oh right, you¡¯re wrong about something just now.¡± The youth squinted as a mysterious smile appeared on his face. ¡°The new Lord of Assassins is dead, on that ind...¡± ¡°So you are the strongest assassin again?¡± The old man tly said. ¡°Wrong again.¡± The blue-haired youthughed. ¡°There was only one strongest assassin all along. Me.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because I was the one that slew him.¡± ... ckfeather City. Lin Sheng stood motionless as he measured the man before him. The figure had golden hair and amethyst eyes. His zed eyes were like a pure crystal, crystalline and permeable. The figure belonged to anky but well-built. He had a ck mouth cover over his mouth, as he wore ck armor with gold trims. The armor did not look heavy at all, rather it gave out an agile aura to it. ¡°If I did not run into you here, I¡¯d actually take you for a living person,¡± Lin Sheng mumbled to himself. At that moment, four ck lines from the corpses of thedies behind him entered his body through his back, and a torrent of memories surged into this mind. ¡°You are the third council member, Dyze? I¡¯ve seen the power of the Steel Lord, so let me see what you are...¡± As he stepped forward and before he could even finish speaking, he saw thetter turn away and walk into the darkness. ¡°Wait! You!?¡± Lin Sheng tried to pursue the figure. *Ugh.* Suddenly his vision turned ck, and he did not know what happened. As he slowly got out of bed, Lin Sheng was stunned. ¡°What happened just now? What was going on?¡± He had no idea what happened. ¡°The dream ended so abruptly. Did the location change? It probably should have after this while, but ckfeather City should have been different... I¡¯d stayed there for a long while thest time.¡± Lin Sheng pressed his face into his hand and felt sweat all over. He got off the bed and got into the bathroom to shower. When the warm water hit his head, he felt all the filth on him being washed away by the current. As he wiped himself dry, Lin Sheng lifted his hand, and carefully spat out strands of me as he pointed the fire towards his hair. *Hiss...* The water on his head was immediately evaporated and turned into steam. Barely ten secondster, his hair waspletely dry. As he put on his clothes, he sat by the table as he tried to analyze what happened in the dream. But no matter what he did, he could not find anything that could give him a clue as to what had happened. ¡°Screw that! I¡¯ll just head back to ckfeather city tomorrow to investigate!¡± Without any resource, Lin Sheng decided to simply just lie down and rest. He slept all the way to the next morning. He started his meditation and yed the Bloodazure harp the moment he got up. During the afternoon, he went up the hill and turned the umted soul particles into sacred power. Alongside the stored amount yesterday, there were ten units of pure sacred power now. At this moment, he should have been staying at the sanctum monitoring its progress, but that incidentst night had totally upied his mind, and he was in no mood to do anything else. Night soon came again, and this time around Lin Sheng got his feeling checked as heid down and his consciousness slowly sank. *Tick tock, tick tock...* Following the rhythmic ticking of the clock, Lin Sheng stretched his body and felt something was totally off. ¡°Where¡¯s my armor?! My ming sword?!¡± Only then did he realize that he was wearing the sleeping wear he had worn before bed. ¡°Could it be?¡± Lin Sheng thought of a possibility, and his heart skipped a beat. He then looked up and around. He was standing before the ckfeather City Grand Temple. It looked like he was just about to make his way in yet his armor and weapons were all gone. Lin Sheng stepped through the door and slowly slipped into the hall. He then saw the corpses of thediesying broken on the floor. And further ahead of the corpse, was a piece of blood-red armor part. Two ming swordsy inert on the ground, broken in two, its me had long since died off. This was the first time Lin Sheng saw his own dead body properly. Yes, before him was the remaining items after his death. There was no corpse, only the remains of his broken armor and weapons. And that confirmed Lin Sheng¡¯s fears. That sudden ckout was him dying... ¡°But, when was I struck?¡± Lin Sheng bent down and but he did not pick up either the ming sword or the massive scythe by the female corpse. Without its ming de, the ming sword was as good as a normal de, no better than his fists. As for the scythe, he was not used to it. ¡°So based on the memories of these women here, the masked man with amethyst eyes is probably the strongest person in this temple, the third council member, Dyze, the Night Lord. ¡°But admiration is probably the furthest kind of emotion... Aside from fangirling, these women have given me no other information.¡± Lin Sheng stood up as he recalled the memories of the in women. Chapter 235 - Fearless: Part 2

Chapter 235: Fearless: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Be careful. Are you alright?¡± With A gentle, sunny voice, Master Dyze¡¯s long arms held me gently. Even if he had only touched me by my arms, I could feel that my skin was tingling and roaring. On my arms, every part of the skin that was touched, my cells are raging, roiling as they gushed in the passions of love! Yes!! Master Dyze loves me!! Or else he would not have held me at that only and very moment I fainted this year! I was touched by Master Dyze! I¡¯ve been marked by him! From today onwards, I¡¯m his! Love has definitely blossomed at this moment! ...That was a piece of the memory belonging to the scythe-wielding woman that Dyze had chanced upon to hold her steady. This was the only time this woman had made contact with Dyze throughout her lifetime. That chance contact. However, he could not deny that chance contact had such a terrifying effect. He then went through the memories of the other women. ¡°Ahhh... Muh heart... Muh heart is melting...¡± ¡°Master Dyze... sure is gentle... Loving someone does not mean that I need to be with him. I¡¯m happy enough just to be able to pray and wish him well from afar...¡± ¡°I, Selena, will repay every good deed, so does every evil, Dyze, you will not escape me forever! ¡°Just you wait! I will be stronger, stronger than anyone! Then I¡¯ll press you against the wall and #!%!%!#!¡± Four different versions of unrequited love yed in his mind. He had wanted tob through these newly gotten memories but now... he decided to ignore it to not be blinded by their disys of affection, especially thest one. That Selena¡¯s memory was already borderline porn... and masochistic one at that... That alone sent chills down his spine. After all, it was simply wild fantasies, but from the memory, Lin Sheng could tell that that Dyze person is very strong, very pretty and very gentle. And at the same time, he was the strongest Night Lord in all of ckfeather City, the lord of Assassins. ¡°Seems like my death that time, was the work of Dyze...¡± Lin Sheng pondered the possibility. His girth was now stronger, and having already faced an opponent the level of the Steel Lord, being offed without him realizing it was nothing to be ashamed of. ¡°Let¡¯s move on... and try to observe that bugger from afar, and figure out a way to take him out.¡± Lin Sheng looked around and felt that something was not right. This area was nowhere inside the area of the Holy Sanctum, yet he could feel a level of immacteness that was beyond words. Yet, the ce was immactely clean. Compared to the Warrior¡¯s Guild, the walls deep within the hall were well maintained and preserved. Even the carpeting, had nary any rubbish on it despite its seemingly bloodied surface. The whole ce gave Lin Sheng the impression that this was an ancient site that was merely covered in dust. He heightened his alertness as he slowly made his way into the hall. The entire hall was at least a couple hundred meters long, aside from the faint glow on the embedded amethyst jewels along the wall, the area was dark. And now, he was without his ming sword. The good thing was, in his half-dragon form, he had superb low-light vision that allowed him to see things in a very dimly lit area. Lin Sheng was barefooted, as he silently made his way on the thick carpeting. A momentter, beyond the carpet, thenky yet powerful figure with golden hair appeared. It was the Night Lord, Dyze. His back was facing Lin Sheng, as he looked at the portrait of a beautiful purple-haired woman. Lin Sheng was surprised as he quickly suppressed his breathing. With his Crag Dragon blood, he could totally hold his breath in for a good five minutes. He had been taken out once without him knowing how, and Lin Sheng was not in the mood for a second time. Stopping to take a deep breath, Lin Sheng slowly focused his powers as purple lines appeared on his forehead and sacred power roiled within him. *ck.* The Night Lord before him lowered his head, and let out a light ck as the armor rubbed against each other. Now was his chance! Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes shrunk as he dashed forward. With a loud thud, he charged headlong toward the Night Lord as he focused all of his strength into a strike to the Night Lord¡¯s back. ¡°Die!!!¡± With a howl, the Furious Howl Ashen Seal sted out like a ripple with Lin Sheng in the center, engulfing everything within three meters of him. A surge of violent energy was being molded and amplified by the sacred power rippled at the tip of Lin Sheng¡¯s fist. With a menacing face, it took him less than a second to close the distance and tond his fist onto the back of the Night Lord. *Bam!* Spurts of blood sted out. Bloody red lines appeared all over Lin Sheng¡¯s body, as he seemed to have been sliced and diced into proportional cubes in a blink of an eye. With a faint whimper, his entire body copsed into a pile of mushed flesh into the ground. The Night Lord seemed to have been shocked by the voice and quickly turned around to look about, seemingly trying to locate the source of the voice. But aside from the pile of sliced up flesh on the ground, there was nothing. A couple of minutester, Dyze the Night Lord lowered his head in confusion as he continued forward... ... ¡°I died again...¡± Lin Sheng got up calmly as he wiped off the sweat on his forehead. This time around, he purposely got himself killed. After realizing that he only loses a very tiny amount of soul power in each death, he did not mind dying in the dream all that much anymore. And it allowed him to use his life as a means to scout things out. Just like earlier when he used his entire, explosive strength to ambush the Night Lord from behind. While it yielded no results, he found out that Dyze, the Night Lord was using some sort of attack that was both extremely quick and sharp. ¡°Now that I know my opponent¡¯s attributes, there¡¯s nothing I cannot defeat as long as I work against that!¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes glistened with confidence. He got off the bed and used the quiet of the night to start nning out strategies against the Night Lord. And soon, a day passed. As he returned to the dream Lin Sheng once again stood before the street facing the great templeplex. He looked around, and after making sure that there was no danger around him, he stepped into the hall. This time, he did not directly venture deep into the hall, rather, he stood before the front section of the hall and picked up one of the scythesying there before flinging them about to get a feel of it. Then he took the scythe with him deeper into the hall. Not too far away, he saw Dyze the Night Lord. He was slowly moving, as if he was on a touring his domain, as he walked out of the darkness toward the main door. There was a distance of at least twenty-odd meters between him and the Night Lord. The moment he saw him, he quickly assumed his half-dragon form and held the scythe tight toward the Night Lord. *Hiss...* A surge of sacred power rushed into the scythe as Lin Sheng focused all of his strength into his arms as he took a step back as if he was pulling a bow tout. ¡°Go!¡± With a burst of strength, he swung his arm forward. The scythe immediately howled as it spun into a ck disc toward the Night Lord. ¡°Die!!!¡± Lin Sheng roared furiously as he stepped out, sending shockwaves across the hall. Then, he turned and ran! Chapter 236 - Fearless: Part 3

Chapter 236: Fearless: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Without needing to even look, Lin Sheng could feel a powerful, chilling force catching up to him. He was not surprised, rather he was ted as he quickly ran all the way to the main door of the templeplex and leap outwards. As he rolled onto the ground, he swiftly got to his feet and continued running. Soon, he was well beyond the general vicinity of the templeplex. Only then did he turn back to look. The Night Lord stood by the main door of the temple and did not exit the ce as he calmly fixed his amethyst eyes on him. ¡°Of course! There is a territorial restriction with him as well!¡± Lin Sheng was sure of it. As long as there was a restriction, no matter how strong the foe was, he could wear them dead! He estimated the distance between him and the Night Lord. About a dozen meters... At that range, he had no effective offensive measures. For most people, ten meters would be very close, but in order to unleash Lin Sheng¡¯s full force, ten meters was too great a distance, five was more like it. Lin Sheng then stepped forward as he picked up a rotten log and flung it violently. The log smashed against the Night Lord¡¯s intricate ck armor and a thudter, it fell and rolled away. Yet, the Night Lord still stood there motionlessly by the door. Lin Sheng then continued trying as he picked up all sorts of things to throw at him. But no matter what he did, the Night Lord did not react. Emboldened, he got closer, about five meters away. *Whoosh!!* As he opened his mouth, he spewed a mouthful of dragon¡¯s breath towards the Night Lord. The dark crimson me quickly engulfed the lower half of the door as the extreme heat started charring the frame and the surface. He then saw the Night Lord simply blocking the mes, and took a step forward. *Ugh.* Lin Sheng¡¯s vision faded to ck, and he lost consciousness once again. With a creak he got up from his bed, panting and looking horrible. ¡°That¡¯s me screwing up by relying too much on experience. The Steel Lord was bound by a magic circle and could not leave the Warrior¡¯s Guild, but the Night Lord may not be bound by the same rules.¡± He took a couple of deep breaths as he tried to regte himself. ¡°No issues, I still have some ideas!¡± After calming himself down, hey down and continued to meditate. And a dayter, Lin Sheng made a few phone calls as he got his disciple, Adolf to procure the items that he needed. Then he got out of the house and headed straight to the warehouse in the suburb where all the items were stashed. This time around, he nned to fight the Night Lord head-on. That night, Lin Sheng brought in a big tank of petrol into the dream and started pouring petrol into the hall. But before he could manage a good amount, he was caught by the Night Lord from afar and was reduced to a pile of diced meat. On the fourth night, Lin Sheng brought in a high-powered sniper rifle that Adolf procured, and had it set up on the street outside of the templeplex before luring the Night Lord out. But before he could even pull the trigger, he was reduced to paste the moment he saw the Night Lord. Then came the fifth, sixth and seventh attempts... Day after day, Lin Sheng tried all sorts of methods to kill the Night Lord. But no matter what he came up with, the moment he within a ten-meter-radius of the Night Lord, he would be killed instantly. Lin Sheng had no idea how, where, or what actually killed him. Luckily for him, he could simply enter the dream the next day after his death without needing to wait any longer. Or else, the waiting period would have wasted so much time. ... The twelfth day. Lin Sheng slowly opened his eyes as he once again stood before the templeplex. On his body was that familiar PJs. ¡°Twelve days already, huh...¡± He sighed. It was definitely the most times he had died so far. His previous death tolls were nowhere close even when they were added together. ¡°But no problem.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s gaze sharpened. ¡°This time, I¡¯ll definitely take him out...¡± He lifted his head as he looked towards the darkness inside the hall. At the edges of the ce, packets of explosives of all sorts were ced all over somehow. And alongside the explosives were arge number of petrol barrels and metallic powder barrels. *Plop.* Lin Sheng pulled apart the cor of his pajamas, revealing his toned muscture. ¡°Five kilograms of this explosive charge is enough to topple a building and I¡¯ve prepared seventy-five for you!¡± ¡°Come!¡± He bit onto the red cords coiled around this waist. This cord was the detonation cord, purposely made to detonate the explosives. He had replicated all of the explosives that he borrowed into the dream. Even when replicated, the explosives could still be used in real life and would not go missing. That would avoid any problems for Adolf as well since to the outside world, he had simply borrowed the materials for research purposes. As he held his head and chest up high, Lin Sheng made his way into the hall with a cold gaze in his eye. It was for this moment that he had resorted to being a hermit in the warehouse. ¡°Argh!!! Come! Come and kill me!!¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s body grew as he activated his half-dragon form, his pajamas torn by his expanding muscle as packets upon packets of high explosive charges were wrapped all around him. As he screamed, he lit the detonation line up while charging into the hall. As for where the Night Lord was, he did not care. No matter where he was, however, he would definitely be within the templeplex. Lin Sheng screamed at the top of his lungs as he disappeared deep into the temple. And a momentter, the entire templeplex lit up. Following that was a thunderous explosion that woke the entire city up. The main door and the windows of the temple sted out as globs of crimson me spew out from the inside of the temple. *Boom!!!* Another thunderous explosion sted out from within the templeplex as the massive monumental building, which had stood for who knew how long, finally met its end and copsed ignominiously into a heap of rubble. Clouds upon clouds of ck smoke rose from the ruins like a bundle of cotton balls, yet at the same time, it was like the dark clouds in the sky as crimson light shed within them. The smoke ended up engulfing a radius of at least ten meters wide from the temple as secondary explosions continued, sending out blistering heat and shockwaves all over. Lin Sheng slowly got up from the madness. He only saw the Night Lord at the veryst moment. The bugger was standing there as always motionlessly as he stared at the portrait of ady. Without any hesitation, Lin Sheng dashed straight toward him, and halfway through, he lost his consciousness, clearly in at that point. ¡°While I did die, the Night Lord should be heavily wounded or at least somewhat wounded. Let¡¯s head in again tonight to check. I don¡¯t believe that such a huge amount of explosives would not be able to kill a councillor-ss monster!¡± A councilman meant he was at least a Six-winger. Being a Six-winger meant one was extremely powerful, but that did not mean that they were invincible. They, too, had a limit to what they could endure. Modern explosives were not just simple tools of ming death, the killerponent was actually the st waves. The thousand-odd degrees Celcius heat was but a sideshow to the concussive power of explosives. So, as long as the Night Lord was not immune to physical attacks, he would definitely have suffered damage! Chapter 237 - Destiny: Part 1

Chapter 237: Destiny: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion No one knew how much time had passed as the dust clouds were slowly blown to the right of the temple. From afar, it looked like a gray screen was slowly engulfing more and morend. ¡°Augh, cough...¡± The moment he stepped into the dream, Lin Sheng felt like he was being suffocated by dust as his body heated up, and his breathing difficult. The contamination of dust and debris in the air from the explosion was clearly very thick. Only after a few good minutes Lin Sheng was able to get used to the air and started checking the area out. He first circled halfway around the ruins of the temple and found the entire ce was covered in dust clouds. Upon confirming the effectiveness of the explosion, he then slowly made his way to the epicenter of the st as he had a rough grip on the situation around him. Now it was to see if the Night Lord had survived or not. *Whooosh...* A chilly gale blew within ckfeather City and the dust cloud from the explosion went along with it. But this sort of dissipation was a little too slow and did little to reduce the number of particles in the air. ¡°Hopefully no one wille suing me for environmental damage, heh,¡± Lin Sheng joked to himself. After a few more coughs, he looked up and could see the once magnificent templeplex before him. The originally gigantic temple¡¯s main door was broken beyond recognition as a small part of the door hung precariously on the door frame, seemingly about to fall off at any given moment. Half of the templeplex¡¯s wally broken on the ground, as a scarred fa?ade riddled with holes appeared. All of the windows were destroyed, and the panels charred with spiderweb-like cracks forming all of them. Lin Sheng changed his mind and did not enter from the main door but instead from the left side. On the left side of theplex, a good part of the wall had already copsed, leaving a few massive gaps there, and revealing the interior of the hall. Lin Sheng quickly got to one of the gaps and made his way in. From his position, there was a pir that was still standing. The moment he stepped in however, Lin Sheng saw one of the nting pirs was falling towards him. He quickly stepped aside and simply let the pir smash against the wall. The pir¡¯s motion was stopped there and then, and it remained still. After making sure that the pir was no longer moving, Lin Sheng then scouted the area out. Within the hall, a number of its supporting pirs had already been shattered. The remaining ones were unevenly broken and barely held onto the copsed room. The space within the hall had greatly shrunk, and the ten-meter-tall hall had its height shaved significantly, with cracks and rubbles all over, looking like it could copse at any moment. ¡°Where is the Night Lord?¡± Lin Sheng paid no mind to the condition of the building, and was only focused on the status of the Night Lord as he carefully made his way deeper into the hall. The temple hall was almostpletely ruined, and what was left was just a destroyed hunk with nary anything left aside from the ckened st marks and the support pirs that barely held on. Lin Sheng walked about in the hall and did not find the corpse of the Night Lord at all. ¡°Did he survive?!¡± Lin Sheng suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He had gathered so many explosives. If the Night Lord did not die and managed to escape, then he was really out of options. He then made his way out of the main door of the hall as he kicked away some of the rubble. Barely a few stepster... *Crash!!!* The templeplex behind himpletely toppled over, and whatever space that was left disappeared entirely as clouds of dust were kicked up like clouds into the air. Lin Sheng was still startled when he looked back. If he had to die, the worst way was to be trapped within rubble with no way to get out. This type of death was the easiest to drive someone insane. ¡°That was really close.¡± Lin Sheng took a few steps back as he avoided the oing clouds of ck dust. By then, the entire templeplex was gone, and he had scouted the ce out without seeing any remnants of the Night Lord¡¯s armor or weaponry. If he was killed, these items were possibly the hardest thing to burn and there should have been something left. ¡°But there¡¯s nothing at all, could it be...!¡± Lin Sheng stepped out of the templeplex towards the street across it. Due to the massive explosion, the dust kicked up by the st remained, and the visibility of the entire area around the templeplex was very poor. ¡°With that sort of explosion, even a Six-winger would have struggled against it.¡± Even the Steel Lord was not invincible and without weakness. It was a powerfulpressed explosion from all directions, and even the Steel Lord himself would be hard-pressed to escape unscathed, much less an assassin-type character like the Night Lord that was not known for having high defense. Lin Sheng looked at the copsing temple ruins as he shifted his gaze towards the edge of the area engulfed by a storm of dust. ¡°If there was any ce to hide, it has to be this area!¡± Without much thought, Lin Sheng started to circle around the general vicinity of the templeplex from left to right in a clockwise matter. Not ten minutes into the dust-engulfed area, he found the trail of the Night Lord. It was before a patisserie. And Lin Sheng was about ten meters away from it. Over on the third floor, the Night Lord sat calmly by the side of the cupboard, his armor and hair was a mess. Lin Sheng quickly measured the Night Lord and noticed that there was a faint dent on the lower right leg and his abdomen, seemingly being struck by something massive. There were bloodstains on his mouth as well. ¡°Damn! To only be injured and not die in that explosion...¡± Lin Sheng was astounded. He did not know how thetter had evaded that massive explosion, but he knew that this was the moment where the Night Lord was at his weakest. If he did not strike now, he would regret itter! Without much thought, Lin Sheng picked up a fist-sized rock and started infusing sacred power into it. He wanted to test, to see how badly injured the Night Lord was. To see if he had any chance of taking him out for good. Frankly speaking, Lin Sheng did not dare to put much hope on that explosion killing a councillor-ss elite. His original goal was probably injury but not death. As he readied the rock, Lin Sheng adjusted his angle, his gaze cold. *Wuff!!* He flung the rock with all of his might. The fist-sized rock was already infused with sacred power, and with the enhanced muscle strength of his half-dragon form, its lethality was never in doubt. The rock seemingly traversed the distance of ten-odd meters within a split second and crashed right into the middle of the Night Lord¡¯s chest. *Bammm!!* The rock crumbled into fragments. The Night Lord was unharmed, but he instead was attracted by the sacred power imbued within the stone. His nk gaze slowly shifted towards Lin Sheng. ¡°With this distance, I don¡¯t believe you are much of a threat.¡± Lin Sheng sneered. After being killed so many times, even Buddha would have been pissed. Plus, he was no Buddha himself. Now that he had the opportunity for revenge, even under his calm fa?ade, Lin Sheng felt a measure of relief. Chapter 238 - Destiny: Part 2 Chapter 238: Destiny: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng bent down as he picked up another rock. Just as he got up, his eyes met the Night Lord¡¯s amethyst eyes. It radiated a faint purple glow, as a silvery object within his eyes struck out. *Bam!!* His movement froze as the entirety of his sacred powers surged out to block the attack. Before that overwhelming power that transcended space, the sacred power within Lin Sheng¡¯s body was but a candle in the wind,sting no more than two seconds before it was snuffed out. And then the familiar darkness descended upon him. He died again. ... ¡°Hehe.¡± Lin Sheng opened his eyes as hey still on the bed. ¡°I¡¯m such a fool. A bloody fool.¡± Lin Sheng grimaced as he thought himself a fool. ¡°When I faced the gray angel, I found a way to kill it, and I did the same with Khad as well as the Steel Lord. In my arrogance, I thought that all of these leader-level monsters had area restrictions, heh.¡± Lin Sheng self-reflected. He had indeed been getting a little over his headtely, especially now that the preparatory Holy Sanctum in the real world had already umted over a hundred units of sacred power and things were going smooth sailing. That allowed him the delusion of him being able to easily take down a councillor-ss elite. ¡°I should have known that there is a hierarchy of power within the council...¡± Lin Sheng let out a defeated breath. ¡°The Steel Lord was only a recent addition to the council and even at the lowest possible rank, he was still a top-end Six-winger.¡± As for what the rest of the council entails, he did not need much prodding to understand. ¡°A Level 11 is a councillor; so is a Level 13. And based on my memory, the Commander of the ckfeather City Guard, Ostenrhein was a Level 12 Shield Barrier. All of them are part of the council.¡± Lin Sheng was clear as to where he went wrong. ¡°Being a councillor only means reaching the apex of the ckfeather City¡¯s hierarchy, but that does not determine the limit of once strength. It is just a mere demarcation of the strong.¡± As he got up from the bed, he quickly washed up and went downstairs to buy soybean curd and fried fritters for breakfast. Adolf had intended to arrange for someone to serve as his butler but Lin Sheng t out rejected it. He was not the type who enjoyed being served by others. Plus, with his personal secrets, he could not afford to let it be discovered by anyone else. After breakfast, someone came over to Lin Sheng¡¯s ce. It was Maier. The man looked slightly panicky as he held his phone in his hand without making a call, all the while standing awkwardly before Lin Sheng¡¯s ce knocking on his door. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Lin Sheng opened the door to let him in, as he closed the door behind him. Maier was covered in sweat and his breathing heavy. Clearly, he had rushed over at top speed. As he sat on the chair, the wooden furniture creaked. ¡°We have a problem!¡± He eximed as he wiped his sweat off with a piece of tissue. ¡°Your disciple, Adolf has run into trouble, big trouble!¡± ¡°Trouble? Exin.¡± Lin Sheng was calm, there was nothing shocking to him now that he had a dozen times in a row. Maier put things sinctly. ¡°I¡¯ll keep things short, you know that there¡¯s something wrong with Adolf¡¯s body, right?¡± ¡°Hmmm? Something wrong with his body? What are you on about? I actually find that he¡¯s particrly gifted in learning how to use sacred powers,¡± Lin Sheng said impassively. ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that. I only know thatst night, two people from the Astral Mere came out to look for him, seemingly to investigate something,¡± Maier quickly continued. ¡°The hell is the Astral Mere?¡± Lin Sheng frowned. While he had gone through some of the materials that he had borrowed from Maier, it was the first time he had heard of the Astral Mere. ¡°If there¡¯s one thing that has to do with that godforsaken ce, it has to be the Paragons of Destiny! They are an organization that specializes in the retrieval of the Paragons of Destiny!¡± Maier exined. ¡°They will normally perform a covert investigation before stealthily retrieve the Paragons of Destiny, they are able to do it to the point that no one was any wiser.¡± ¡°Wait up, what¡¯s this Paragons of Destiny thing?¡± Lin Sheng held his hand up to stop Maier. This sort of disjointed exnation confused him. ¡°A Paragon of Destiny can be understood as the Ptinates of treasures. Even if the owner of one is a crackpot, he would still be able to obtain all sorts of unimaginable powers. And each of the paragons has its own unique ability. They have been the focus of countries and powerful factions.¡± ¡°As long as one owns a Paragon of Destiny, they will be bestowed with powers?¡± Lin Sheng was stunned. ¡°That broken?¡± ¡°It is!¡± Maier nodded. ¡°The Darksiders may be extremely powerful, and even the Ptinates that run rampant will be wary of a Paragon of Destiny as no one knew what sort of powers that thing might bring.¡± ¡°Alright, what does this stupidly broken thing have to do with my disciple, Adolf?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°It¡¯s like this, most of the time the people from the Astral Mere would not reveal their identities, especially to a government staffer like us. And we have gotten word that they purposely looked for the TSSF and requested our cooperation!¡± Maier was incredulous. ¡°And? What happened to Adolf?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°Ugh...¡± Maier was stumped. ¡°So you came running to look for me even when nothing¡¯s happened to Adolf?¡± Lin Sheng sniggered. ¡°...I just feel that Adolf must¡¯ve gotten involved with a Paragon of Destiny, or else the people from Astral Mere would not have gotten us to authorize protection for him.¡± Maier rebutted. ¡°Alright, alright. Since Adolf himself hasn¡¯t contacted me ore to look for me, that means he thinks he can handle this himself. Go get some rest. You don¡¯t need to panic. Oh right, weren¡¯t you training in the sanctum under Khad?¡± Lin Sheng suddenly recalled. ¡°Ugh...¡± Maier¡¯s expression changed. To be honest, he was rather happy when he saw the pretty girl, even if he had no luck with her, she was still eye candy during training. Unfortunately for him, Khad was extremely brutal when she got hands-on. Every time he saw Khad disciplining some disobedient disciples, she would be whipping andughing happily at the same time. That filled him with a sense of peril. Maier was a normal person, and he had no intention of being a masochist! ¡°So in the end, you have not told me what sort of ability that Paragon of Destiny has?¡± Lin Sheng finally asked. ¡°Absolute Recovery!¡± Maier answered, his face serious. ¡°No matter, how bad the wounds far, how close to death¡¯s door you are, as soon as you activate that ability, you would fully recover!¡± ¡°Any limitations?¡± ¡°Once a day, and you can heal any broken or torn limbs without the need of any prerequisite. Even if you are close to death by starvation, it will heal you to back to full health.¡± ¡°That broken?¡± Lin Sheng was astonished. ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s called a Paragon of Destiny. We believe that the paragon is inside Adolf, but he doesn¡¯t realize it,¡± Maier added. ¡°No matter.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. While he was intrigued by the power, it was Adolf¡¯s luck, and he would not take it from him. ¡°Alright... since you, as a master aren¡¯t fazed, then I¡¯ve just been sh*tting myself silly for nothing for a good part of the day.¡± Maier was speechless. ¡°Just so you know that the allure of a Paragon of Destiny is beyond what you can imagine, so you better prepare,¡± he reminded. Chapter 239 - Destiny: Part 3 Chapter 239: Destiny: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion He then sent Maier off. Lin Sheng did not pay much heed to this. This was something Adolf has chanced upon himself, if he wanted, he woulde to look for him. For him, the most important thing now was to kill the Night Lord. Councillor-ss elites, even at their weakest, were still Six-wingers. If he were to summon him out, it would not only increase his abilities and prowess but also the powers around him. Lin Sheng nned to summon a few more councillor-ss elites to raise his sacred power. Now that Khad and the Steel Lord were practically splits of his body, in retrospect, he, as the main host, was the one holding them back. After putting the side story that Maier brought to him on the back burner, Lin Sheng was wholly focused on grinding the Night Lord down for the next few days. Inside the dream, the Night Lord simply stayed by that tiny patisserie. It was just a simple small patisserie, yet motionlessly he stood by the door, and at times he would be like a customer, as he waited before the window. The Night Lord¡¯s aggressiveness was much, much weaker than other monsters. As long as Lin Sheng did not attack him, he would not attack first. And after getting a measure on his opponent¡¯s character, Lin Sheng started to hit him with targeted methods. He also noticed that the Night Lord was extremely forgetful, even after taking damage in a ce on one night, he would have forgotten about it on the second, and take damage again at the same spot. Plus, his already wounded body never had a chance to recover as Lin Sheng tried all kinds of underhanded tricks like spraying poison at him, sniping him with sacred-power-infused rounds from afar, or lobbing a copious amount of grenades. As his target simply just stood still, he had free reign on how to strike. And soon, Lin Sheng noticed the Night Lord¡¯s wounds were getting worse. ... Outside the patisserie. *Hiss!!* Lin Sheng held a modified methrower as he sprayed fire at the Night Lord from afar. The methrower he used did not only spew mes, but it also had a sticky substance to it. This substance could stick to a human¡¯s flesh and continue to burn at extreme temperatures. Jets of dark red mes continued to spew out of the methrower andnded square on the Night Lord¡¯s back. mes soon started to burn his back, yet he still stood there motionless as if nothing had happened. If Lin Sheng had not realized that this trick worked earlier, he would not have persisted with that seemingly inane method. *ck.* A loud crack was heard, and Lin Sheng got ready to throw away the depleted methrower as he heard it. He instantly paused and turned to the Night Lord. The Night Lord simply sat there as if he was waiting to be served by a waiter. The amethyst glow in his eyes had dimmed, yet it still carried a faint brightness and calmness to it. A few momentster, the sitting Night Lord closed his eyes as hey on the metal chair like he had fallen asleep. Lin Sheng actually thought that he was resting. However, he soon realized that strands of ck smoke were seeping out of the Night Lord¡¯s body, and as they coalesced, they grew in size and thickness. *Hisss!!!* Suddenly, the ck lines shot toward Lin Sheng and crossed the ten-meter plus distance in a blink of an eye. *Bam!!* A crash of memories surged into his mind. ... ¡°I was born to be the Night Lord. ¡°This is my destiny, and so is my talent. ¡°It is inevitable, and it cannot be denied. ¡°They say, I have the blood of the Shadowdragon within me, the blood of a dragon king. So I don¡¯t need to think about how to be strong, as the innate ability of the blood would help me cleanse everything. ¡°Steel, horses, gales, night, the stars, all of this will be the blood that I will shed, and the sky will bring forth the cries of thunder. ¡°As my foe, that will be the most crushing thing because even I don¡¯t know how they died by my hands. By the time I realized it, they were all dead. ¡°Kill. ¡°Butcher. ¡°ughter. ¡°Why can¡¯t you people even get close to me? Even when I could not lift a weapon that was a little heavier? ¡°My skin could be pierced by a simple sewing needle, but yet no weapons wielded with ill-intention could get close to me. ¡°I will treat everyone around me with kindness, as I¡¯m afraid that my emotions will be the death of them. ¡°This has already happened countless times since I was three. ¡°I hate this bloodline that is flowing within me. It is but a curse! A curse that binds me for eternity... ¡°I just want to be a normal person. Without this power, there will be no death, no suffering, no cries.¡± ¡°So?¡± An unknown female voice interjected and interrupted the man before him. ¡°My dear Master Dyze, my dear Count Palminton! I tell you, I, Cerys, hate pampered, sheltered lordlings like you!! ¡°A bullsh*t count of the equally bullsh*t Palminton family! You are nothing but a sorry lot that almost starved to death after getting lost in the woods. You can¡¯t even cook a piece of meat that was given to you! Are you kidding me?! ¡°Also, you don¡¯t even know how to ughter a chicken! You even got bloodied by the bunny at home! Hell, you even almost smashed the dinner table in two trying to hit a mountain rat with an ax!!¡± ¡°That¡¯s just an ident... If not for the ill fortune that befell my family, and I got poisoned...¡± ¡°Shut it! You and your excuses! You can¡¯t even chop firewood,ining it is too tough, you can¡¯t even boil water,ining that it is too hot! You can¡¯t even pluck feathers from a chicken,ining that the feather is too slippery... Ah, forget it. This is tiring. Thankfully I got you to sign a contract. You still owe me a lot, a lot of money! A lot!¡± ¡°Yes... Yes... a lot indeed. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll pay you back.¡± ¡°I want to buy a big house in the city! With three stories! Pigs on the first floor, chickens on the second and milk cows on the third!¡± ¡°Why milk cows on the third? Shouldn¡¯t you raise them on the first floor...?¡± ¡°That¡¯s because a milk cow is the most expensive! Of course, you¡¯d ce it at the highest ce against thieves!¡± ¡°...A noble¡¯s meal alone is probably more expensive than your cow...and where will you sleep then?¡± ¡°Cows are different, you don¡¯t understand. As for where to sleep... you can sleep with the pigs, I like the chicken¡¯s nest.¡± ¡°Have you been livingst this all this while...¡± ¡°What? I¡¯m illiterate and blind to boot. I¡¯ve had to fend for myself since I was three. That¡¯s that.¡± ¡°But you look very beautiful when you smile.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I love watching you smile.¡± ¡°...Rea...lly?¡± ¡°Really.¡± ¡°...Oh, you, ttering me won¡¯t get you extra food!!¡± ¡°No worries, once we get back to the city. I¡¯ll take you to eat good food. I know many, many types of good food.¡± The man said gently. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Really.¡± Chapter 240 - Accumulation: Part 1 Chapter 240: umtion: Part 1 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion *ck.* Something dropped on the table and made a noise. Dyze Palminton quickly snapped out from his stupor. ¡°My lord! The Mist has already spread deep into the mountains! We need to decide quickly! We cannot dy it any longer!¡± The voice of his second-inmand rang by his ears. The Night Lord closed his eyes as he held a letter in his hand. His long, pale fingers were trembling. The letter was from ckfeather City¡¯s sorcerer. The sorcerer was the one he had arranged to protect Shanna, and now the letter was stained with blood. That meant that there was an emergency. ¡°My Lord! The Light of Hope beseeches your full support! The life or death of ckfeather City¡¯s 13,000 citizens depends on your decision. Please, give the word! My lord, should we send in the reinforcements?¡± The second-inmand pushed him for a response. ¡°The only person that could save them is you, my lord!¡± ¡°How many councillors are still in the city?¡± Dyze the Night Lord suddenly asked. ¡°Aside from the martyred Steel Lord, everyone has retreated.¡± A moment of silenceter, the Night Lord gently crumpled the letter into a ball and ced it onto the table. ¡°Is there anyone still alive in the city?¡± ¡°There should be some, and there are still people evacuating from it. All of the members of House Palminton have already evacuated...¡± The second-inmand wanted to say something, but he sensed something was not right, and using his better judgment, he kept quiet. While he had heard his adjutant saying that, Dyze was still worried. Although he had brought Shanna over to his family, at that key juncture, he should have been by her side to protect her. He wanted to return, but this army was bound to him. Without any councillors to hold the line, the moment they run into a tyrant-level monster, it would be nothing but disaster. ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s go and do our duty. We can leave the rest to the Light of Hope.¡± He looked up with a gentle smile as he pushed aside the gold-trimmed tent cover and slowly walked out of it. The sun shone brightly outside, and for some reason, the smile on Dyze¡¯s face became more and more gentle. ¡°Forget it. After this, I¡¯ll relinquish my position as the patriarch, and return with Shanna to run that patisserie.¡± He had done enough for the Palmintons, and he nned on living for himself next. ... Lin Sheng shook his head in a daze. He had almost taken himself for Dyze Palminton just now. Dyze the Night Lord, a proud member of one of the biggest noble houses of ckfeather City, the Palmintons. The potency of the dragon king blood in his body was at unprecedented ny percent. He was a veritable kin of the dragon king in human form. For an existence like this, the strength of his soul was incredible. ¡°This bugger... he¡¯s a born killing machine!¡± Lin Sheng slowly made his way to the Night Lord¡¯s corpse. As he was just about to touch the body, the Night Lord suddenly disintegrated into dust and disappeared. ¡°There¡¯s nothing?¡± Lin Sheng squat down as he sifted through the ashes. It was nothing but your usual ashes, and there seemed to be nothing in it. Then a round item with a purple sheen to it caught Lin Sheng¡¯s attention and he picked it up. It was a silver ring with a purple gemstone on it within an oval crystal case. The crystal case was translucent, and it actually survived the mes and explosions. Beneath the crystal box was a ck metal disc. Lin Sheng was very familiar with this disc, it was something used to record important messages. But it was ckened earlier by the ash. He picked up the disc as looked closely. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± That was the first line on the disc, in arge font. ¡°The moment I saw you standing alone before the temple waiting for Shanna to appear, I could not stand it and decided to write this down. ¡°There was no Shanna, to begin with, only a chatan called Sharleena. ¡°She used it a long, long time to gain your trust. And now she has seeded, she has swiped your Shadow Dragon Temple clean. ¡°She was never blind, to begin with, and she has never begged before. She has slept with over fifteen men and was even someone¡¯s lover when she was young. She has undergone abortions to the point she has lost her ability to conceive. ¡°This wasmon knowledge amongst the nobility. ¡°And the start of this whole farce was a bet she made with Count Geert. She bet that she could fool you, enve you, and turn you into her ything. ¡°Sharleena said that she would wait for you here, even if it meant her death, that was a lie. ¡°It was a farce. ¡°A farce. ¡°And now, you should wake up from this dream...¡± Lin Sheng looked at the disc and fell silent. He looked up ta the position where the Night Lord had died , and for some reason, a sense of sorrow welled within him. He looked at the crystal case in his hand. The ring within it was intricate and beautiful. It was clearly made for marriage. ¡°And what of the end? Where did Shanna go?¡± Lin Sheng sighed. In the end, he did not find out where that Shanna went. After Dyze led his army, he must have returned, or else he would not have stayed within the temple and gotten reduced to a monster. What about Shanna? There was no information about her. Lin Sheng scoured the patisserie, and aside from some moldy utensils, there was nothing. So he returned to where the Night Lord once was. From that position, he could clearly see the full scale of the templeplex, and there was a careful mark on the side of the table. For Dyze only. As he sat on the chair, Lin Sheng stayed still as the soul of the Night Lord surged into him, and hammered him hard as countless of memories and information piled upon one another in his mind. So he sat still in the chair and focused as he startedbing through the information he had gained. It was the same old, the memories ofbat techniques first, other skills second, the rest third. By the time he was done with it, the dream was almost over. *Tick tock, tick tock...* The ticking of the clock became louder and louder as Lin Sheng¡¯s vision slowly dimmed before fading to ck. Time passed so ever slowly. It could have been half an hour, or two hours, with his consciousness muddled, Lin Sheng had no concept of time. By the time he woke up, it was already bright. The phone rm kept on ringing, and it looked like it had been at it for a while now. *Tap.* Lin Sheng stretched his hand out to turn off the rm as he sat up on his bed. ¡°The Night Lord... another councillor-level member. Someone who¡¯s even stronger than the Steel Lord. Let me see hisbat experience... A momentter, his expression darkened, and did not even bother looking at it any longer... ¡°Bullsh*t!¡± Lin Sheng yelled. ¡°What do you mean he just smiles when surrounded? ¡°Look at these so-calledbat experience! ¡°As long as he stays calm, he will win a one-on-one fight. ¡°Against long-range attacks, he needs to wear a gas mask. Some attacks scents are harder to detect. ¡°Against magic, he¡¯s afraid of was being blinded, and some of the spell patterns make him dizzy as well.¡± All thatbat experience may have looked logical at a nce, but there was one very important line in it. And it was... He did not need to lift a finger! He just needed to pose! The ones who had managed to actually force his hand were only the councillors, and even at that level, Dyze simply just threw whatever basic abilities out there. Also, the skills that he already knew were no better than that of the ckfeather Swordsman. Aside from being extremely powerful, he knew nothing else. Chapter 241 - Accumulation: Part 2 Chapter 241: umtion: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°I¡¯m speechless!¡± Lin Sheng whined. Perhaps what he wanted to summon was useless and also the most powerful councillor-ss being ever. ¡°Let¡¯s summon first and talkter!¡± He would not allow himself to be distracted again. There was still room in his soul after collecting the souls of the four man-crazy women and the Night Lord, which meant he could summon a second councillor-ss creature. After getting out of bed, Lin Sheng put on his clothes and hastened to the warehouse where all the summoning materials were. It was the ce he would go to whenever he wanted the summoning ingredients. ... ¡°Do you mean I will die if someone reaps the Paragon of Destiny from my body?¡± Inside a luxury hotel suite, Adolf looked at the man and the woman in blue, dumbfounded. The two hade out of nowhere and told him that the Paragon of Destiny, which was also called the Sensible Fish, was inside him. The Paragon of Destiny was special in that it could heal any injury. What mattered most was that this secret treasure had somehow grown into one with him. ¡°Such is the situation! You¡¯re in danger now! That¡¯s why wee to protect you because the Paragon of Destiny is a trouble ma. Be it human or not, they all are greedy. You have the treasure in you, yet you are powerless; I guess you know how things would end,¡± said the muscr and strong man, who wore a blue shirt, a blue baseball cap and a white ribbon on his right arm. ¡°The best way for you is to follow us back to the Astral Mere, the only ce where the Paragon of Destiny could be isted,¡± said the woman in blue. She was thin and had a babyface as well as bright piercing eyes. ¡°But I have felt nothing wrong with me since small.¡± Adolf rubbed his head, dumbfounded. ¡°That¡¯s because you haven¡¯t woken up to it yet. Now you are awakened. The longer you stay outside, the more dangerous it bes,¡± said the woman, her voice calm. ¡°I feel safe right now!¡± Adolf said. ¡°You were just an ordinary human who did not understand what the real world looked like. Don¡¯t you want to know who you are and why you are born with the Paragon of Destiny?¡± Coming from the Astral Mere, the two were confident of the prophecy of theing of Adolf by great astrologers. ording to astrology, Adolf was a typical rich kid, who did not understand about supernatural abilities. They thought what they needed to do was to pull a few tricks and Adolf would believe in him. But now what? ¡°I will be safe by going to the Astral Mere? I don¡¯t think so. We only meet for the first time, and I don¡¯t know you two.¡± Adolf shook his head. If not for the government agent¡¯s request, he would not meet the two. He was busy helping his teacher. But when he met them, their caliber and the crap they spewed were utterly disappointing to him. The two found Adolf¡¯s reaction was puzzling. The reality seemed to be different from what they learned from the great astrologer. Two months ago, Adolf still looked like an ordinary human two months ago, but things had changed now. ¡°Long story short, someone with very impressive skills was desperate to heal from his injury, and your appearance has be hisst hope! He will surely send someone to look for you! There is no way you can resist! If you don¡¯t leave now, it will be toote by then!¡± the man wearing blue clothes urged. However, Adolf shook his head. ¡°Impressive? How impressive? I feel safer with my teacher inmand in Shermanton than going to your Astral Mere.¡± ¡°You have no idea what the Darksiders could do! If the powerful Darksiders were to kill off the big families and organizations, it would be like trampling the ants!¡± the woman wearing blue clothes said in exasperation. What teacher inmand? Shermanton has only a few mediocre figures! The woman thought to herself before adding, ¡°Things would be atrocious when the monsteres!¡± ¡°Fine. Needless to say more. Whether the Paragon of Destiny is in me, it is my business alone, not yours.¡± Adolf was not an idiot. He knew that they were up to no good when they desperately wanted him going to the Astral Mere. Compared to the ostensible promise that the two made, he had the solid backing of the sanctum. So why would he want to choose the Astral Mere over the sanctum? ¡°Let him be. He will not give up until dangers befall him. By then he will know we are telling the truth,¡± said the man helplessly. Two business cards slid from his palm as he softly pressed his hand on the table. Chen Huaien was the name on one of the business cards, and Cacophony on the other. And both had their contact numbers. ¡°We are leaving.¡± Without saying another word, the two left through the doorway. Adolf felt relieved as the two disappeared out of the door. Earlier, when the two had called him and talked a load of crap, he ignored them. Little did he expect they woulde to see him personally today. After the two had gone a far distance away, a thought came to Adolf¡¯s mind. He took his mobile phone and made a call. The call got through. ¡°Teacher... I...¡± ¡°Come to the sanctum,¡± the voice said on the other end. Immediately, Adolf understood what his teacher meant; perhaps his teacher knew about his situation. He packed up, went downstairs, waved down a cab and headed to the Sanctum Hill. Lin Sheng had not only named his private hill Sanctum Hill, but he had also formally registered it. It was not just that the sanctum was on the hillside, but many folks also starteding to the hill for prayer and seeking divine favor. So the influence spread. Every few days, a few of the folks who came for prayer would be selected and sent up the hill to receive cultivation training. Also, as the environment of Sanctum Hill was conducive for body nourishment and recuperation, the ce had be a popr destination. As the ck vehicle ground to a halt at the foothill, Adolf alighted and darted up the stone stairs. He did not use the main staircase, but the special passage reserved for the students of the sanctum. Guarding the passage was a tall warrior, draped in silver armor and holding a shield and a sword, standing unmoved at the entrance like a lifeless statue. In the many times that Adolf came, he had not seen the warrior move. Even the warrior¡¯s posture never changed. From morning until night, the warrior did not seem to have taken a rest. He used to think the warrior was a dummy until he saw the warrior killing a snake which was attacking a passerby. Since then, he had high respect for the warrior. The sanctum was so mysterious that there were more martyr-like warriors than Adolf could have known. He had seen a dozen of them, but there was no telling how many warriors were there in total. Adolf hiked up the special stairway. When he was about to arrive at the sanctum on the hillside, he heard someone wailing up, and Khad¡¯sughter of delight that sent a chill up his spine. He kept going. Soon, he saw Lin Sheng standing in the woods with his hands behind his back, and Khad holding ash whipping out punishment on the students. Lin Sheng was tall, his face solemn, and his body seemed a size bigger than before. The sacred power in Lin Sheng continuously stirred the internal energy of Adolf like waves of surging tide. ¡°Let me see your Paragon of Treasure.¡± Lin Sheng turned around, his face calm. ¡°Teacher, I can¡¯t help it.¡± Adolf forced a smile, unable to exin himself. Chapter 242 - Accumulation: Part 3

Chapter 242: umtion: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Never mind.¡± Lin Sheng extended his hand and tapped Adolf on the arm. He made a quick assessment before recalling the sacred power. Something strange had fallen upon Adolf; he was in a state of stagnation. It felt weird. ¡°Does your sacred power stop growing even when you meditate?¡± ¡°Yes, Teacher. It happened since two days ago,¡± replied Adolf ¡°The so-called Paragon of Treasure is limiting your cultivation.¡± Lin Sheng thought for a moment and reached into his pocket. He took out a tiny object and tossed it to Adolf. ¡°Take this. Crumb it when you are in trouble.¡± ¡°Thank you, Teacher.¡± Adolf caught the object in his hand and found that it was just a folded paper star. But that did not dishearten him because he knew his teacher would not prank him. ¡°Don¡¯t leave the hill these few days; stay in the sanctum while I deal with the other things. I wille back to youter,¡± said Lin Sheng softly. ¡°Understood.¡± Adolf nodded. After briefing him about a few more stuff, Lin Sheng turned and strode into the small sanctum. Inside, several people were praying with their eyes closed on the bench. They were the wealthy people who had secured their seats in the sanctum. Lin Sheng disregarded them and walked up to the prayer altar. He flipped through a book on the altar, pretending to read from it, but in reality, his mind began to connect to the sanctum system. ¡°Link the soul to the sanctum.¡± Strands of the golden thread that popped out from the altar began to connect to the back of Lin Sheng¡¯s hands just as Lin Shengmanded in his mind. Immediately, a semi-transparent sand table showing the panorama view of Sanctum Hill popped up before Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes. ¡°The Preparatory Sanctum ¡°Sanctum master: Lin Sheng ¡°Sacred Power: 602 ¡°Functions: low-level soul benediction (it was an effect of basic divine spell, the confluence of sacred power that produced a supernatural force field to aid the healing of the negative condition of living things. Its effective range fluctuated with changes in the sacred power reserve). ¡°Upgradability: the Sanctum of Dawn, the Sanctum of Dusk, the Sanctum of Shadow¡± ¡°Nice. I have always wanted to save enough sacred power to upgrade the sanctum. I can now try to find out how good the Sanctum of Shadow is.¡± The corner of Lin Sheng¡¯s mouth arched in a faint smile as he could use Adolf¡¯s case as an experiment. In ckfeather City of the dream, the sanctum was a dominant force. So, Lin Sheng wanted to turn the sanctum into amand-type building, much like the magician tower. Instead of immediately upgrading the sanctum, he paused for a moment and began to meditate. As time went by, the afternoon passed into the evening, and it was dinnertime. Lin Sheng, Adolf, and Khad were having a sacred meal together. The sacred meal was food that the back-end distribution center prepared and delivered to the sanctum. As the food was exposed to the force field of the soul benediction for a long time, it was not only fresh but it also came with body and mind purification benefits. To the wealthy people there, having a meal in the sanctum was a means of social stratification. The sacred meal there was extremely costly. It was prohibitively expensive. A meal with the same ingredient as the sacred meal cost only 50 Xylond dors outside. But there, it cost 10,000 Xylond dors per person. Not to mention that one needed to make advance reservations. So even the wealthy found it exorbitantly pricey to have 10,000 meals there. Lin Sheng was looking at the paper box containing the meal. There was some printing on the packaging. ¡°Sacred Meal ¡°by Sanctum Hill Back-end Distribution Center. ¡°Everyone loves Sanctum Hill¡¯s sacred meal. Sis, marry a sacred meal chef if you find one!¡± Looking at thest sentence with his cutlery in hands, Lin Sheng fell into deep thought. Beside him, Adolf¡¯s face blushed. He smiled awkwardly amid a heavy silence. His men had made the silly blunder when he tasked them with the packaging design. ¡°This is a matchmaking arrangement!¡± Lin Sheng nodded and sighed with mixed emotions. ¡°It is also a chef advertisement.¡± Khad nodded, curiosity taking over him. ¡°Maybe I have been stymieing your inborn nature all this while,¡± said Lin Sheng softly. ¡°Teacher, it¡¯s all my fault! I will reshuffle the entire back-end distribution center right away!¡± said Adolf sternly as he forcefully shoved the table and got to his feet. ¡°Heads must roll if people advertise without our consent. This is against our policy. Besides, we need to study how to solve the personal problem of the employees,¡± said Lin Sheng gravely. ¡°Forgive me, Teacher!¡± Adolf could not help but say. ¡°Solving the problems of survival of the students is the key.¡± Khad sided with the teacher apparently and did not give a damn about others. All she and the rest of the new recruits cared about was to cultivate their sacred power every day. Ever since they arrived there, they became non-productive. To many families, these people were a headache. They used to be the providers of their families. But when they immersed themselves in cultivations, they became a burden to their families. ¡°We have discussed the problems ande to a few conclusions.¡± Adolf began to exin his solutions. It was right up his alley anyway. ¡°The most crucial thing is to find out how to sustain themselves via sacred power. The sacred power has three main uses: healing, appeasing the people, and enhancing the physique.¡± ¡°You sum it up well. What then?¡± Lin Sheng became interested. By the side, Khad was bored. She counted the grains of rice and fiddle with the money to kill time. Was it not good enough that people came with their offerings? But she did not care one bit about what was being discussed. After the briefing, Adolf wanted to know what Lin Sheng and Khad thought about his approaches. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, mate. You¡¯ve got the wrong person. I¡¯m Khaj, Khad¡¯s younger brother.¡± Khad looked at Adolf with a sweet smile after she reverted to boy mode. That dumbfounded both Adolf and Lin Sheng. Khad had been addicted to ¡°monopolylogue¡±tely. While the female Khad was the standard mode, there were also boy-mode Khaj, father-mode Khadu, mother-mode Khame, uncle-mode Khaf, and aunt-mode Khaz. These had be the entire members of the Khad family. Lin Sheng ignored the dipstick. He thought for a moment before pointing out the w of the solutions to Adolf. His soul was now powerful and his body supporting his fully powered soul. He had attained an unprecedented level of thinking agility, perfection in nning, and memory. Adolf noted his advice. And after the meal, Adolf went outside the sanctum and made a call to reshuffle the back-end distribution center. Meanwhile, Lin Sheng was back to the prayer altar in the sanctum and stayed there until he closed the sanctum at seven in the evening. He asked the devotees in the Preparatory Sanctum to leave. No one caused troubles there as the force field of the soul benediction had tranquilized everyone. People were rational and gentle. Most of the time, they were tolerant and amodating, and able to adjust their differences with each other. After thest person¡ªa teenage devotee¡ªleft, Lin Sheng closed the door and came back standing in front of the prayer altar. But he waited until the students and devotees had left the hill that he only began to connect his mind to the sanctum system, and was ready to do the Sanctum of Shadow upgrade. The sanctum had be saturated in just half a month with the sacred power umtion reaching its limit and producing twenty units of sacred power after deducting the unit exhausted. After the sanctum upgrade, the sacred power font would be further expanded. It would then have a higher capacity, more functions and powerful divine spells, and better control. Chapter 243 - Upgrade: Part 1

Chapter 243: Upgrade: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng started to meditate as he regted the sacred power within him. He was turning the umted soul particles into sacred power, and while doing so, he was pondering how to maximize the Night Lord¡¯sbat strength. ¡°The Night Lord looks smart, and his strength is almost unassable. Except for the gentle nature, he is perfect in every way. Hmm, only if he bes one of my avatars.¡± The idea vanished quickly from his mind as Lin Sheng realized that he was the suprememander of the summoned creature. It would steal his thunder if he let the Night Lord be hisst card. What Lin Sheng wanted was him remaining as the boss inmand. He knew he was not up to snuff. But the growth of his power was tremendous, and he knew he would be the strongest one day. ¡°Then let¡¯s begin the usual summoning. Moremanders would help Shermanton be the HQ of the sanctum. Forget about the Ironfist Society. It should be buried in history and forgotten.¡± Lin Sheng already had an inventory of names¡ªIronhand, Steel Leg, Golden Teeth, Silver Teeth, Brass Teeth, Iron Teeth¡ªthat he could use when the name of the sanctum became smeared. He was not the only person changing his skin often. Other terrorist organizations had been doing so for a long time. Earlier, an organization called The Truth Society had changed its name again after a terrorist attack. This name-changing game was puzzling to its members, and Heaven knows how they coped with it. Thinking of this, Lin Sheng refocused his mind and looked at the sand table of the sanctum in his field of vision. As three upgrade options appeared below the sand table, he directed his mind to thest item in the choice list. Immediately, a female voice arose. ¡°The Sanctum of Shadow is selected. ¡°Connecting the Higher Magic Research Center... Connection failed. ¡°Connecting the First Magician Tower of ckfeather City... Connection failed. ¡°Back-up mode activated. Begin basic upgrade of the Sanctum of Shadow...¡± At night, a thin nket of ck smoke rose from the sanctum at the hillside and spread throughout the entire Sanctum Hill in just tens of seconds. The ck smoke appeared like a film of water wrapping around the hill when looking from a distance. At night, the air was windy, and the forest was quiescent. Tourists at the foothill began to sense the silence weird and thought that something had gone wrong. Out of intuition, they left the ce. Meanwhile, a few TSSF members stationed in a nearby house observing Sanctum Hill with their binocrs saw the anomaly on the hill. ¡°Something is happening!¡± A middle-aged woman wearing a pair of sses and watching her favorite drama on her mobile phone got to her feet at once and looked up at Sanctum Hill. Immediately after, a few soldiers on-duty got into the room and looked out the window into the distance. ¡°I don¡¯t see much movement out there.¡± ¡°The energy reactor isn¡¯t that powerful. Maybe it¡¯s just transforming the environment a little. No worries.¡± An experienced old man shook his head. ¡°The sanctum said that there might be major changesing. They asked us not to be rmed. This is the major change that they have been talking about. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°Those at the top are talking about inclusiveness and diversity, and they have taken in so many forces of influence at once. I wonder what they are up to and how they are managing it. We are short of manpower, you know.¡± the middle-aged woman bemoaned. ¡°It¡¯s the boss¡¯ business. Stop overthinking about it.¡± ¡°Hey, something is going on!¡± Anotherpanion alerted. The ck smoke covering Sanctum Hill began to dissipate, and everything returned to normal. They felt that Sanctum Hill looked different now. But the changes were so subtle that they could not tell what it was. On Sanctum Hill, Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes glued to the upgraded sanctum. It was now called the Sanctum of Shadow. Below the virtual sand table of the sanctum, rows of information appeared. ¡°The Sanctum of Shadow: ¡°Sanctum master: Lin Sheng. ¡°Level of sacred power: 112 units ¡°Divine spell: puny-level of soul benediction. ¡°Range: One ring.¡± ¡°Except for the name, not much different from before.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s brows knitted together as he started to look for new options carefully. He soon discovered a clickable ck-feather symbol behind the ¡®Divine Spell¡¯ and ¡®Range¡¯ choices. With his mind as a controlling device, he selected and clicked ¡°Range¡±. ¡°Range: 1,000 units of sacred power required to enhance the range of a ring.¡± So Lin Sheng was like, ¡°That bloody expensive... 500 units of sacred power for an upgrade. But 1,000 units of sacred power just for increasing the range of one ring?¡± A ring is one of the units of measurements used only in ckfeather City. It was a measurement of volume. A ring was equivalent to an entire Sanctum Hill. Lin Sheng continued to the second choice: the Divine Spell. ¡°Addable divine spell: ¡°1¡ªEnergy suppression (suppress the energies of non-sacred power. Energies of non-sacred power will decrease by a standard level within the range of the Sanctum of Shadow) ¡°Sacred power required: 5,000. Maximum upgradability: Level 3. ¡°2¡ªThe Shadow Guard (summoning a powerful guard from the shadow ne to patrol the territory under the control of the Sanctum of Shadow. Most of the guards are virtual beings that ordinary humans cannot see and contact.) ¡°Level of the guard: Level 3-5 ¡°Sacred power required: 1,000 units for a guard. Maximum number of summonable guards: 3 ¡°3¡ªThe Shadow Font (infesting and metamorphosing the sacred power font by leveraging the shadow font and coalescing the shadow ne to be the unlimited energy source for the Sanctum of Shadow) ¡°Level of energy supply: upgradable to the maximum of Level 3 (Each level can supply enough juice for one standard divine spell. The maximum power of the divine spell is less than Level 10) ¡°Sacred power required: 1,000 units per level.¡± ¡°Three divine spells at most?¡± Lin Sheng was wide-eyed. ¡°Energy suppression, the Shadow Guards, andst, the Shadow Font. This is almost aplete set of a standard temte of divine spell release.¡± While his inadequate strength was still troubling him, the divine spells of the Sanctum of Shadow had be his great white hope. ¡°The expensive energy suppression aside, the Shadow Guards and the Shadow Font are the most practical.¡± Lin Sheng thought for a moment before he focused his entire attention on the Shadow Font. ¡°I will get one more divine spell at my disposal when I upgrade the Shadow Font functions to Level 1. More so when a divine spell of no lower than Level 10 while my overall assessment is only at Level 6. This will increase my strength to Level 11, which is equivalent to Five Wings, the lowest of the councillor ss.¡± He was not in a hurry to get the Shadow Guards. Right now, he many summoned soldiers to guard and patrol Sanctum Hill, and the functions of these soldiers ovepped with that of the Shadow Guards. Standing on the prayer altar, Lin Sheng pondered for a moment and focused his attention on the Shadow Font. He would gain three more powerful cards up his sleeves as soon as he upgraded the Shadow Font to Level 3. ¡°Too bad. I have to umte the sacred power gradually,¡± Lin Shengmented as he looked at the three addable divine spells, which showed the Sanctum of Shadow asbative. Chapter 244 - Upgrade: Part 2 Chapter 244: Upgrade: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The Energy Suppressor could weaken the enemy. The Shadow Guards would bog down and drain the energy of the foe. But it was the strength-enhancing Shadow Font that made or broke the oue. It was a smooth offensive routine. After upgrading the Holy Sanctum, the next course of action was to summon the Night Lord. Lin Sheng¡¯s earlier n was to summon the cleric to increase his ability in mastering the new Arshen Seal. But the cleric had to make way for the Night Lord for now. Lin Sheng had been busy on the hill for the entire day. He walked around the hill to check if there was any difference after the upgrade. Aside from the increased affinity at night, nothing had changed. What puzzled Lin Sheng was the force field of the soul benediction. He had umted over six hundred units of sacred power so far. But it made little difference and had no upgrade option. After the upgrade, Lin Sheng took out some materials from the store in the Sanctum of Shadow. He then quietly stood in the middle of the sanctum, spreading the stic sheet on the floor and setting up the t pan. When the water in the t pan boiled, he tossed the ingredients into the boiling water. He then lit the whale-oilmp and proceeded toy all other ingredients on the magic circle on the stic sheet. Lin Sheng had been doing this for a hundred times over. When everything was ready, he stood before the ceremonial circle, keeping his mind and sacred power steady and then chanting the activator. As a string of strange sybles reverberated in the Holy Sanctum, a cloud of white steam rose and shrouded Lin Sheng in it. Lin Sheng slowly closed his eyes. Instantly, light orbs of different colors appeared before his mind¡¯s eye. But he did not have to searchboriously because of all the light orbs, one particrly stood out and upied half of his field of vision. This light orb was purple and as gentle and bright as Dyze Palminton¡¯s eyes. Lin Sheng focused his mind and projected his consciousness into the light orb at once. ... On the endlessly ck-blue Pearl Ocean at night, a hideous looking, ck warship surfaced slowly from the deepwater. When the seaweed- and coral-covered ship emerged, it also brought along some little fishes out of the water before they slid down the side back into the sea. A ck battle g with a white bull logo started to rise along the mast of this ancient sailing warship. ¡°I see the light of day finally...¡± Gushes of ck water formed the figure of a tall man on the bow. This man had a beard on his face, but half of his cheek had turned ck and rotten. He wore a captain hat, dark-red battle suit with a curvy epee hanging from his waist. A bolt of lightning struck across the sky and illuminated the face of the man, revealing the unblemished side of his face. ¡°Bloodeye... just wait until I recover from my injury. I have never forgotten what you have done to me twenty years ago.¡± The bearded man bit out his words, one at a time. ¡°I, Quasar, is the most powerful Sea Lord!¡± As his voice trailed off, a group of ship¡¯s crew, all tall and burly, appeared behind him. The crew kept their looks just as before they died. Just as the captain, half of their faces had rotten away. A giant wave mmed against the front of the warship, sending salty spray over the bow. As the warship submerged, all it left behind was a few vortices on the surface. ... Over onnds, blue wildflowers fluttered in the mountain breeze, releasing pollen and spores into the air before scattering far and wide in the wind. Shanna squatted among the flowers, plucking the first leaf below the petals with a smile across her face. She cut the leaf from the stem and put it into the basket that hung on her arm. ¡°You have a lot of time on your hands!¡± Shanna heard a sharp male voice saying from afar. When Shanna turned around, the smile on her face copsed. ¡°I have given the Temple of Shadow Dragon and everything you need. Our deal has ended.¡± ¡°What about you? Don¡¯t you want toe back to me? Do you really think Count Dyze like a person like you? Do you think the Palminton family will let you off the hook when you have usurped their money and the treasure in the temple?¡± The male voice scorned. ¡°Then I will repay him with my life.¡± Shanna smiled. ¡°I know I don¡¯t deserve him. But who cares? The time spent with him was the happiest moment of my life.¡± ¡°It looks like you are serious about it!¡± ¡°Serious?¡± Shannaughed. ¡°A woman like me has long forgotten what it looks like being serious in a rtionship.¡± ¡°What have you done to Count Dyze?¡± ¡°I lied to him I would withdraw from ckfeather City. Dyze is the hope of the nobility, the most powerful councillor. He is also thest hope and honor of Palminton.¡± Shanna smiled. ¡°So he shouldn¡¯t waste time on a dirty woman like me.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe that you have changed so much!¡± ¡°So what brings you here?¡± demanded Shanna. ¡°Juste to see your how you look at the end.¡± The man sounded cold. ¡°Now you have seen it.¡± ¡°Are you really not going to leave?¡± the man asked. ¡°It¡¯s toote...¡± said Shanna with a smile as she tidied her dress. For a moment, her smile resembled that of Dyze. ¡°Tell Dyze that I am just a swindler if you see him. Everything between him and I was just a scam. I have never loved him. I am a b*tch, a wh*re who sleeps around.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the point?¡± ¡°Well, so that Dyze will note back to me again. He will forget me, and the sanctum of ckfeather City will be mine. Alone. Who knows, he wille for a visit after I die,¡± said Shanna. Then there were no more voices. Shanna was transfixed. She reached out her hand to feel the breeze rubbing against her skin. ¡°Now, it¡¯s time to wake up...¡± ¡°Not seeing and not forgetting each other is the best ending I could ever have.¡± She turned around, facing the rapidly spreading ck mist in the horizon with a gentle smile on her face. May those memories belong to me, alone. ... ¡°Does she really love you, Dyze? Do you really think she loves you?¡± An angry female voice scolded into his ear. When Lin Sheng opened his eyes, he found himself standing in the corner of a restaurant. At one end of the table were the Night Lord and Dyze Palminton, and a beautiful, middle-aged, noblewoman at the other. The elegant looks on the face of the woman vanished when burning anger distorted her face. Her intense rage appalled Lin Sheng even though he was a distance away. ¡°She is a liar! A b*tch! Dyze, you might not believe the others, but you must listen to me! Even if everyone in this world will hurt you, I will not do this to you!¡± The noblewoman roared in anger. ¡°I know.¡± Dyze looked calm, taking in the grilled meat in his te, one at a time. He let out a gentle smile as he talked with his mother. ¡°My heart will only feel unprecedented peace when we are together.¡± Getting to his feet, he continued. ¡°I don¡¯t care whether she is a liar or what. In fact, I need not know who she used to be. All I need to know is who she really is now.¡± ¡°You will die if you go back there!¡± The noblewoman rose to her feet, throwing the cutlery on the table before she turned around and left. ¡°Mother, perhaps what you don¡¯t know is that I never want to be a gentle person.¡± Dyze looked and murmured as the noblewoman left. ¡°I¡¯ming to you. Wait for me, Shanna.¡± He put on his cloak, turned around, and left the restaurant. ¡°I, Dyze Palminton, is always the strongest. Anytime. Anywhere. I¡¯m unstoppable. No one can evade from my eyes!¡± Dyze stood outside the restaurant, looking up at the horrific ck mist in the sky. He then darted toward it without looking back again. Chapter 245 - Upgrade: Part 3 Chapter 245: Upgrade: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion An intense light blinded Lin Sheng¡¯s vision, and he exited the resonating memories. ¡°Thest time I had such resonating memories was when I was summoning Sacred Shield Tyrant. But this time ites as a shocker.¡± He refreshed in his mind what he had seen: the incessant search of the Night Lord in ckfeather City, and Sharleena¡¯sck of hesitation in risking her life in the sea of flowers. But their endings were meaningless. Their meeting was not just two people crossing paths at the wrong time. ¡°So none of themanders I have summoned has a good ending? Every single one of them ended up a sad story?¡± Lin Sheng took a deep breath. He could not help but feel a wave of anger rise within him. He knew what it was like living in a disastrous era when the end of the world was nigh. Everything that began beautifully would end in a disaster. After he left his thoughts, Lin Sheng looked up ahead. In the dark dimension in his field of vision, he saw a man wearing a golden-edged ck armor was floating in the air. The man¡¯s hair was golden, the lower part of his face hiding behind a mask, and his eyes as lovely as the amethyst. ¡°Time to inscribe the memories.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s initial n was to continue inserting the memories of the Night Lord. But when he saw the changes in thetter part, he hesitated. It was not in the Night Lord¡¯s nature to develop into a warrior. He preferred a peaceful life. If summoned, Lin Sheng was afraid that the Night Lord would simply turn out to be ame duck. ¡°Never mind. Since you don¡¯t wantbat, I will do it myself.¡± Lin Sheng so decided and opened his eyes. A ck figure stood quietly in the Sanctum¡¯s aisle of Shadow. With no personalized memories, Dyze Palminton was only a passive summoned creature. Lin Sheng first prepped his consciousness before he entered Dyze¡¯s body. But as soon as his consciousness was in the Dyze¡¯s body, dizziness struck. Fatigue began to spread from the body into his consciousness. ¡°Is it because the soul can¡¯t deal with the body?¡± A thought then came to mind. In most cases where one tried to control a summoned creature, the symptoms of dizziness and fatigue likely urred when a weaker soul sought tomand a much stronger summoned creature. ¡°No way! That¡¯s like only three breaths!¡± Lin Sheng approximated the time of the body possession. His soul onlysted three breaths before the self-protection mechanism pulled his consciousness back to his body. Most of the summoned creatures as recorded in the grimoire were of Level 8, and the rest of the record simply mentioned increasing the number. But Lin Sheng was like no other. He had summoned as many creatures of double-digit level as anyone could think of. The Night Lord might not be a councillor, but he was the strongest being in ckfeather City by far. As many memory fragments as Lin Sheng had gained, he could not even stay longer than three breaths in the summoned creature. He opened his eyes and turn the Night Lord into a plume of ck smoke and let it attach to his clothes. ¡°By right, my split soul forms the core of this body. I wonder why I couldn¡¯t control the guy?¡± Lin Sheng found the experience perplexing. ¡°And one more thing. With my strength way below that of the Night Lord and the summoning circle just enough for entry-level summoning rituals, how the hell did I summon such a badass thing? What happened to thew of conservation of energy? From where did such a humongous aggregation of energye? Did ite through the portals?¡± Lin Sheng had now more questions than answers. He felt that the source of energy of these summonedmanders must have something to do with the ck dots in the surroundings. The same ck dots that happened in ckfeather City may hide a secret of unimaginable magnitude. ¡°I should just copy the basicbat memories into him.¡± With not much else he could do, and while the effect of the magic circle had not subsided, Lin Sheng touched the Night Lord with his consciousness. In that instant,bat memories began to rush into the mind of the Night Lord. Lin Sheng had figured out it. He knew the mostmon killer move of the Night Lord. As he stood in the sanctum, he extended his hand in a grabbing gesture. Immediately, a strand of transparent line popped up out of nowhere in his palm. ¡°The Shadow-Dragon Whisker, an organ of the Night Lord that existed since his birth, could attack by cutting any things that generate a murderous intention in the surroundings. The Shadow-Dragon Whisker developed as the Night Lord grew. Under normal circumstances, it can handle any beings three levels below the Night Lord.¡± Lin Sheng knew this when he gained the soul fragment of the Night Lord. And the Shadow-Dragon Whisker was only one of his inborn passive abilities. ¡°After summoning the Night Lord, no room was left in the soul. So the cleric will have to wait until another time.¡± Lin Sheng found a problem when he tucked the Shadow-Dragon Whisker. A passive ability like the Shadow-dragon Whisker only appeared when Lin Sheng¡¯s soul possessed the Night Lord. When leaving the Night Lord alone, he did not disy any ability as if the Night Lord required a soul to power those abilities. ¡°That means I can control the abilities of this fe. He is an invincible warlock with nobat capability. And his existence is possible only because of his powerful soul and bloodline. I lost control of him earlier because I pretty much exhausted half of my energy to activate his passive abilities.¡± After the summoning ceremony, Lin Sheng turned off the light and came out from the Holy Sanctum. He stood on the meadow outside, gazing up the starry night sky. The summoning ceremony and the attempt to control the Night Lord had drained the strength of his soul. By the time he stopped, he almost could not support himself on his feet. As sleepiness struck, his consciousness began to lose focus, and the muscles of his entire body plunged into a state of rxation. But this did not worry Lin Sheng. He knew that it was safe here. A plume of ck smoke rushed out of nowhere and formed into Khad behind him. She held Lin Sheng up to sit down before she lowered him to the ground. Further behind, teenage girl Khad emerged. She knelt on the ground and let Lin Sheng rest his head on her thighs. On the left and right, two more teenage Khads appeared and started to give Lin Sheng a massage. By now, Lin Sheng had fallen into slumber. On the pasture under the glittering night sky, Khad massaged Lin Sheng¡¯s forehead. Her movements were soft and silent. ¡°I am bing more and more useless...¡± she mumbled. ¡°But at least I can act cute so that Master can rx.¡± Khad had not been the strongest for a long time. Whether she was protected by Dark Igor or imprisoned in the vault, she always epted what came to her. She had never thought of fighting for anything, but now she had a sudden urge to defend everything she had. ¡°I need to use my strength from now on.¡± Her eyes widened as if she had thought of something. Chapter 246 - A Chance Encounter: Part 1

Chapter 246: A Chance Encounter: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng had never had such sleep for a long time. When he woke up, the sun¡¯s rays were ring through the canopy roof and shining down on the forest floor. The pasture on either side of him was wet with morning dew, while he found himself in the arms of Khad, whose cascading white long hair was hugging him on both sides. The girl closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest on one side; her face was as delicate as it was white, and her eyshes were long and curly. She seemed to have fallen asleep. A pleasant scent drifted into Lin Sheng¡¯s nostrils. It felt soothing to the heart yet caused an itch to his nose. ¡°Khad?¡± Lin Sheng raised his hand and was just about to touch her nose when Khad suddenly awakened. Herrge, expressive eyes beamed at Lin Sheng. ¡°You are awake!¡± She sat up, hoisting her white long hair together with the alluring scent away from Lin Sheng. ¡°Thanks.¡± It was a weird feeling. Khad was his split soul, but because of the separate memories, their behaviors were different. ¡°Am I seducing myself here? What¡¯s going on?¡± He let out a half-smile. ¡°If you like, I can do anything.¡± Khad winked at him. ¡°I am you, and you are me. No matter how you treat me and what you do to me, I will tell no one.¡± She pouted, stricken with a pair of dimples on her cheeks. Lin Sheng admitted that she had gotten the better of him. Yet since she was his split soul, he knew every thought of her. At that moment, he could see the various adult-grade materials going on in Khad¡¯s mind. The most appalling thing was that the images were all of the smitten Khad and him. He nearly lost himself in it, and Lin Sheng knew that what Khad said was real. But it was awful to make out with himself, he thought. ¡°Lin Sheng...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say it!¡± Lin Sheng flung a halting hand at her, his voice determined. ¡°I¡¯m not that kind of person! What is the purpose of painstakingly cultivating our sacred power only to be screwed by our lustful desire?¡± Khad said nothing again but wore a loving smile. She was a split soul of Lin Sheng¡¯s, one in the body with him. She knew the nature of him and understood his every thought. Lin Sheng realized that if he stayed with Khad any longer, he might lose himself for real. Recognizing this reality, he got to his feet at once and nced up at the sky. Then he took out his mobile phone to check the time. ¡°Nine in the morning! It¡¯s time to resolve the issues of the Night Lord. I might have injected the basicbat instinct into him, but the Night Lord could not function on his own. He is more like a lowest-ranked ckfeather swordman. I have to take control. But even with my full power on, I can onlyst for three breaths. This means there is still a huge power gap between my soul and the Night Lord.¡± Lin Sheng was thinking hard on the problems. He had ughtered as many monsters and gathered as numerous memories as he could remember. He could have written a memoir of himself and his experience to fill an entire library. So solving this problem was just a piece of cake for him. ¡°I must find a way to solve the problem.¡± He recalled the knowledge about the souls from his memories. ¡°What have I done that the other summonedmanders could act independently? Khad and the Steel Lord have been utilizing their full potential from the very beginning. Why can¡¯t I control them?¡± Lin Sheng wanted topare the differences between the two situations. so he went into the Holy Sanctum, sat behind the prayer altar and analyzed the information. Before long, a tiny detail that was almost inconsequential crossed his mind. ¡°It¡¯s the difference in the souls.¡± The penny dropped, and he started to get a hang of the problem. ¡°What I give to the split soul is only a core. Around the core, they take the memory fragments as nutrients and get the nourishment from the body itself. Then through the stimuli of the outside world, they improve and shape a new split-soul individual, which is already different from me.¡± Things began to dawn on him. ¡°That means they are the seeds I have sown, each of them grows in a separate body into a distinct fruit.¡± Feeling the ck smoke of the Night Lord surrounding him, a thought came to Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. ¡°Does it mean that as soon as I let them grow in a different environment, these split souls will be different beings?¡± He became silent as he felt the lump of the still Night Lord¡¯s soul in his mind. As the Night Lord was more powerful than the Steel Lord, the indigestible souls were even more in number and higher in strength. ¡°Besides, the fluctuating emotions might have caused vtility in the inborn abilities of the Night Lord, which increased the exhaustion of my soul. But if I pull away and only inject thebat basics into the Night Lord, there will be little emotional turbulence. This way, the inborn abilities will be in a dormant state and I could keep exhaustion to the minimum.¡± Sensing that he had cracked the problem, Lin Sheng could not wait to test out his theory. He asked Khad to take charge of the matters in the Holy Sanctum while he dashed to the Blood Armor-guarded forest behind the sanctum. Lin Sheng began to regte his mind and emotions, and then gradually transferred his soul into the Night Lord. Plumes of smoke gathered before him and materialized into the tall figure of the Night Lord. It was not until a minuteter that the Night Lord slowly raised his hands. ¡°It works!¡± Excited, Lin Sheng tried to clench his fist. The body would not use up much energy as long as he kept his emotions steady. ¡°And this body seems to attract special energy from the surrounding environment. Its absorption rate is phenomenal!¡± Lin Sheng carefully assessed the body of the Night Lord, whose strength might be poor but his intake of energies from the environment was nothing short of stunning. As powerful as Khad and the Steel Lord were, their absorption rate of mysterious energy was only one third that of the Night Lord. ¡°No wonder this fe is crowned the most powerful councillor in ckfeather City.¡± Lin Shengmented. Staying in the body of the Night Lord was a tiresome task, and he had to keep a tab on his emotions. But Lin Sheng felt that this body was continuously generating a ton of pure soul particles that nourished his soul. And the rate of growth of his soul now had even surpassed that when he yed the Bloodazure Harp by several times. ¡°This is a cheat! It¡¯s like having an oversized soul elerator!¡± Using a councillor-ss body to nourish himself was a rare luxury one could have. Lin Sheng believed that he was one of the lucky few to do that. ¡°This way, I can temporarily use thebat ability of the Night Lord. It just requires some time to adapt, and let my soul, as the split soul of this body, receive nourishment and grow stronger. Before long, my soul here will restore to the full potential of this body, just like Khad. And that means I can leverage this powerful body to turbo-boost my soul to be on par with Khad¡¯s level of strength.¡± Chapter 247 - A Chance Encounter: Part 2

Chapter 247: A Chance Encounter: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Excited about the newly gained knack, Lin Sheng controlled the Knight Lord and brought him to walk on the pasture. Then he made the Night Lord perform different movements, including drawing the short sword from his back and trying some attack maneuvers. Step by step, Lin Sheng started to get used to multitasking his mind. He could control his body and the Night Lord at the same time. ¡°It¡¯s still a little clumsy, but that¡¯s all right. At least when the two bodies nourish the soul, the growth of my soul will surpass everyone else.¡± Satisfied with the test, Lin Sheng nned to return to the sanctum to continue his meditation. Just then, a thought came to his mind. ¡°What would happen to my soul if I could multitask all my split souls at the same time? That would be an unimaginable level of nourishment to my soul!¡± Upon thinking of this, he willed it in his mind. Immediately, a plume of ck smoke flew out of his body. The gaseous substance materialized into a half-human half-goat monster on the ground. It was the Thunderbeast, which Lin Sheng had summoned previously. Likewise, he took part of his consciousness and injected it into the Thunderbeast. His soul was so powerful now that focusing his visions and listening to sounds and voices from three different sources with three distinct sets of sensory organs were just a walk in the park. ¡°Three is the maximum. I may not be able to handle more than that.¡± Lin Sheng reckoned. ¡°More so because I have to get used to it.¡± ... At the coastline somewhere in Xylond, the waves rolled in long and white fringed onto the beach. In the dim corner of the shoreline, a gush of ck seawater flowed out from the gaps in the reef and transformed into a two-meter-tall man. Half of his bearded face had turned ck and rotten, and the other half looked as healthy as any normal human being. This man was Quasar, who had broken the seal and returned to the surface earlier. ¡°This is the ce. I can smell blood and flesh now.¡± Quasar took a long deep breath. His decayingrge eyeballs that emitted a stinky smell focused toward Shermanton. ¡°Now, tell me, who is the one possessing the Paragon of Treasure there?¡± A ship crew with the same half-rotten face emerged from the water and kneeled on one knee. ¡°Captain, it¡¯s an ordinary human called Adolf. People from the Astral Mere had arrived, but they have not captured the subject. This is an opportunity!¡± The ship crew came up with his intel and opinion. ¡°The Astral Mere? It is just a bunch of people who only know how to spew garbage prophesies.¡± Quasarughed with no humor on his face. ¡°Find Adolf and bring him to me.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± The ship crew bowed his head before his body liquified and disappeared into the water on the spot. ¡°But, Captain, an organization called the Holy Sanctum is protecting Adolf. It will not be as easy as it seems if we go there alone.¡± Another ship crew had emerged beside Quasar. ¡°The Holy Sanctum?¡± As soon as Adolf was mentioned, it invoked an association with Bloodeye. Shocked and as if it was a conditioned reflex, he kept mum. ¡°My intel shows that the Holy Sanctum is an emerging organization. It is small but doing pretty well. At one time, a Three-winger had fought them.¡± The ship crew added. ¡°Three-wingers? That¡¯sme!¡± Quasar burst into scornfulughter. ¡°Did the ramshackle local forces scare the sh*t out of you?¡± ¡°I got it, captain.¡± ¡°Crush anyone who resists. I won¡¯t repeat myself again!¡± Quasar was displeased. Whether it was the government of Xylond or the so-called Holy Sanctum, they were only ornaments on the road to revenge. He believed he could wipe them off the world with just the snap of his fingers. More so because he believed that, except for Bloodeye, people from a tiny ce like this could be his match. ¡°And don¡¯t forget that I have been a Four-winger for twenty years! Even though I¡¯m injured now, my strength is still at the very top of a Four-winger! The Holy Sanctum? You must be kidding me!¡± Quasar let out a peal of hideousughter. ... ¡°A Four-winger from twenty years ago is still a Four-winger now?¡± Lin Sheng fell into silence as he looked at the intel report. ¡°A Four-winger? Is the fe a retard or what? I don¡¯t get it. Why do we need to gather so much information about him and raise the alert level of the Holy Sanctum?¡± Khad shook her head by the side. ¡°Lin Sheng, the way I see it, Quasar is only a red herring. Someone must be pulling the string behind him!¡± She was a Five-winger, yet all she did in the Holy Sanctum was run some errands and train the back-end support crew. A Four-winger might be a formidable force, but it was nowhere near invincible. ¡°That¡¯s possible.¡± Lin Sheng tucked the report aside. He also felt that he had overestimated the opponent. A Four-winger was as good as an Oppressor-level being on the battlefield of Xilin. But it was the fat dude, Maier, who shared this intel, sending through his secret channel to the Holy Sanctum. It was natural to get worried when facing such an opponent. Maier had gained some seeds of the sacred power after special training. And he had gained recognition forpleting a mission after that and was now out in a mission. Lin Sheng reckoned that Maier would soon get a promotion. ¡°I heard that some badass fe called Bloodeye wounded Quasar. Could his appearance this time have something to do with Bloodeye?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Lin Sheng, I have ced our men in the cities around Shermanton. We will know immediately if anything happens.¡± A smile spread across Khad¡¯s face. ¡°You? Our men?¡± Lin Sheng was startled, but he quickly figured out what she meant through the shared mind channel. ¡°That¡¯s it. I have a thousand avatars. Each of them carries a different identity in all of the cities.¡± The number of avatars that Khad held was nothing short of shocking. ¡°Each avatar¡¯s as strong as a One-winger. Their capabilities are of survival and self-defense. They will ry any information at once. They won¡¯t let you down!¡± One thousand Transcendents with One Wing capabilities was a shocking number. Lin Sheng had nearly forgotten that Khad possessed such a terrific ability. As a life form that resulted from the aggregation of many living souls, each of Khad¡¯s avatars could act independently. To put it in another way, Khad was an assemge of a myriad of consciousness. It was just that the attributes she disyed were only of the prevalent individual, which was Khad. But that did not mean the other persons whom Khad devoured had disappeared. Instead, these people had be something like the living cells in Khad¡¯s body. ¡°Lin Sheng, isn¡¯t Khad awesome?¡± Sensing the awe in Lin Sheng, she came up to him, curling her lips. Her face was smitten as if she was expecting a kiss. ¡°How... many can you split into?¡± Lin Sheng was hesitating. ¡°Four thousand. But then, I won¡¯t be able to maintain the principal body. It would be a heavy burden to bear. The individual avatars will have problems in maintaining their strength and their survival rate will be low. So I am thinking, one thousand would be just nice a number to run the Holy Sanctum.¡± Chapter 248 - A Chance Encounter: Part 3

Chapter 248: A Chance Encounter: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Four thousand...¡± ¡°With so many split avatars, your principal body must be vulnerable.¡± As speechless as he was, Lin Sheng had also discovered a problem. ¡°That¡¯s right. I only keep one-third of my strength right now.¡± ¡°Then stay in the sanctum. It is safe here.¡± Lin Sheng patted her head. ¡°Understood.¡± Khad nodded. Lin Sheng nodded back at her. Then he turned to look at the Night Lord, who was reading on the side, and then the Thunderbeast, who was standing still on the pasture. As much as he wanted his soul to multitask, the avatar in trouble would pull much of the consciousness from the rest of the avatars, which sent the others in limbo. ¡°Now with the Night Lord in charge, and Khad here. When the Thunderbeast and I be one, we are at least as strong as a Four-winger. Coupled with the Sanctum system, the security at this ce will be imprable.¡± Lin Sheng was confident, especially in the Night Lord, over whom he still could not haveplete control. But he could issue an instruction to the Night Lord to attack. Dubbed as the most powerful councillor, the Night Lord¡¯s strength had grown tremendously after losing his personality. At full strength, he would be unassable. That again reminded Lin Sheng about the horrible dream where he was killed a dozen times in a row. ... ¡°The Holy Sanctum will be the first otion for the return of me, Quasar, to the world!¡± A tall figure, who blended himself among the crowd on the foothill, gazed at the entrance to the Sanctum Hill, which had be a popr spottely. In war zones, even an average Four-winger was an Oppressor-level being. Let alone he was an apex Four-winger, who would transcend into the Five Wing realm soon. Five-wingers were beings that the average humans could never have imagined with their minds. In front of the mortals, Quasar looked like a god sitting in high heaven. He could kill a thousand with ease if he wanted to, as effortless as trampling a group of ants. ¡°The world will tremble upon hearing my name, Quasar, the Sea Lord!¡± Quasar strode toward the entrance of the hill, holding his head high all the while. But no one seemed to notice him as if he was only a regr tourist. This was his unique ability¡ªa supernatural skill outside the realm of dark energy, dubbed Ghost Vector. Back then, he had used thisst card to escape from the deadly w of Bloodeye. With this ability, even enemies of several levels higher than him could not locate his whereabouts. Quasar made his way up the hill, climbing a dozen steps with each leap. Influenced by the faint energy field around the hill, the natural sunshine and fresh mountain air were rxing and refreshing to the body and mind. Quasar became emotional when he discovered the extraordinary quality of the hill. He knew how to appreciate the good stuff. ¡°It¡¯s been twenty years. Dark energy hase a long way.¡± Since Bloodeye pierced and wounded him, and he sank to the bottom of the sea twenty years ago, he was almost out of touch with the world. He had to depend on his ship¡¯s crew for information all this while. Now, he had gotten out of the sea and was back on the surface again. Quasar kept a steady pace and before long, he could now see the Sanctum of Shadow, which had just finished construction on the hill. ¡°Here it is. The person with the Paragon of Treasure is here!¡± Quasar focused his eyes, looking up the hill where the crowd was scarce. Adolf carried a book that was as thick as a dictionary and came out of the sanctum. ¡°It¡¯s him!¡± Quasar had an inborn stealthy ability and perceptive skill. He used to see a Paragon of Treasure from afar many years ago, so he could instantly make out that same scent on Adolf. ¡°This is the smell of the Paragon of Treasure. Fate has it that I am the first person to get it.¡± He closed his eyes, feeling as if the air had be even more refreshing, the sun warmer, the pasture greener, and the sky bluer. Asides from the pain on his back, everything was perfect. Oh, wait! Pain on the back? Quasar reached to touch his back. He felt a hole,rge enough to amodate his fist. When he came to his senses, he retracted his hand, which was stained with fresh blood. Just then on his right, a golden-haired man, wearing a mask and a full set of ck body armor, walked past him. The man did not even look at him as if he was not there. ¡°I knew it! It¡¯s just an ident! He hasn¡¯t seen me!¡± Quasar forced himself to calm down and not to be panic. ¡°This man did nothing to me. Yeah, how could anyone hurt me in this ce? But then, where did the wound on my backe from?¡± He fell into deep thought. ¡°Could it be the old wound?¡± Quasar thought so and became confident again. ¡°Bloodeye, I wille back for you to im your low life!¡± He gritted his teeth and continued to strut toward Adolf. ¡°I will recover from my injury when I get the Paragon of Treasure! By then, I will make a big jump in strength. Bing the real Sea Lord will no longer be a dream!¡± He was filled with excitement and guffawing in his mind. Just then, a streak of blood sttered from his chest onto the pasture floor. ¡°It¡¯s the old wound again? Bloodeye, wait till Ie back!¡± Quasar gritted his teeth, looking up at the golden-haired, masked man, whom he had passed a while ago and was now standing up ahead. If he wanted to capture the person with the Paragon of Treasure, he had to make it past the man. ¡°Almost there!¡± Quasar pressed on despite his injury. The wound was insignificant since he had an impressive regeneration ability. He could grow another pair of hands and legs in seconds if he were to lose his limbs. So he kept going, reaching his hand in the direction of Adolf. ¡°That Paragon of Treasure is mine!¡± It did not mind that his stomach was painful. As soon as he got his hands on the Paragon of Treasure, extracted it to infuse in his body, it worth the injuries. Quasar trudged ahead with his battered body, one step at a time, toward Adolf. His body tissue dropped and blood oozed out of his wound with every step he took. Even Lin Sheng was appalled by what he saw. Such determination... No word could possibly describe this level of persistence. After wounded by the passive ability of the Night Lord, this bearded man was losing blood fast and just one step away from death. But he still pushed on, even though it was ever so slowly. He had a hole the size of a fist on his back. His body almost broke off in half at his waist. The Shadow-dragon Whisker had nearly cut off all the flesh from his limbs. And the wound on his neck was so deep that even his windpipe was visible. But he still did not give up. Lin Sheng, who was in control of the Night Lord, could see the unfaltering determination in the man¡¯s eyes. Even if he had lost all his flesh, 90% of his blood had drained from his veins, and his intestines were half-hanging outside his body, he would not change his course. To be honest, Lin Sheng did not even discover Quasar at first. As strong as the Night Lord was, his perceptive ability was helpless. Lin Sheng had been restraining all the Night Lord¡¯s passive abilities for fear that it might over exhaust his soul. Even when Quasar revealed himself, Lin Sheng still ignored him. Ever since Sanctum Hill became famous, there had been many Darksiders came to scout out the ce. So Lin Sheng thought that one more stealthy Darksider was no big deal. It was not until Lin Sheng saw the spartan fortitude of the man that he became awed by his strong-willed soul. By now, Khad had gotten the wind of the situation ande. He looked at Quasar from afar with awe and respect written all over her face. But Adolf was even more emotional, his eyes turning red. He had no idea what was propping up the man¡¯s body, but such a will was his role model. ¡°I-I...¡± Quasar struggled to take another step. He was only four steps away from the masked, golden-haired man. But he could no longer make these four steps because his legs had separated from his body. He could no longer say a word because the Shadow-dragon Whisker had severed his windpipe and throat. His lips were attempting to squeeze a sound but none came out of it. He did not give up but crawl ahead with his hand on the ground. Lin Sheng stood by, silent for a long moment. Looking at Quasar, who had left a blood trail behind, he kept a distance by controlling the Night Lord to walk away. Quasar struggled to make out another short distance. He then stopped five meters away from Adolf. His bodyy lifelessly like a sleeping baby on the pasture in front of the Holy Sanctum. Lin Sheng became silent, and everyone around him went silent too. Even the Khad, who used to be cracking jokes at day, was in no mood for one. ¡°Bury him.¡± Lin Sheng instructed with a sigh. ¡°Aye.¡± Two sacred power students stepped forward, carefully lifted Quasar¡¯s body and ced it on a stretcher before they carried it away. Chapter 249 - The Situation: Part 1

Chapter 249: The Situation: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The incident of Quasar was only a little episode. Maier¡¯s intel had it that back then, Quasar was struck at the back of his head by a knife. The wound was so bad that even his brain oozed out from his skull. So it might seem that that fe had not recovered ever since. He had been suffering from a mental disorder and going insane. Lin Sheng could not have cared less. A Four-winger may have been formidable to him in the past. But now, it was just a little monster. Ever since using the body of the Night Lord as a cheat code, Lin Sheng felt his soul was growing in strength at a tremendous rate. He did not go anywhere for the following two days. Whether he was in the real world or the dream, he was meditating all days to strengthen his foundation. But strangely, he received a call from the college, informing him he had to retake the sses. It took a moment before Lin Sheng realized that he had skipped quite many examinations. He had lost count of how many subjects he had failed. By right, however, his student Adolf, or Maier should have settled the matter on his behalf. But out of curiosity, Lin Sheng made a trip back to the university. ... Lin Sheng¡¯s ss teacher was a marathon runner and a history postgraduate with a long ponytail. She sat in her office, knitting her brows together as she stared at the three students who might be failing their grades. ¡°Byron Cray, Schwyr, Lin Sheng. You all should know why you are here.¡± Since he hade, Lin Sheng might as well treat this as a multitasking practice session. He nced at the others. One was a fat boy, face pale wearing a pair of sses. And the other was a girl, cute and much like an ACG character who tied her brown hair into a pair of ponytails. The two looked nervous and regretful with their head low. ¡°You all look the part!¡± Lin Shengughed in his mind. ¡°Don¡¯t let me start with you, Lin Sheng!¡± The ss teacher had a grave expression on her face. ¡°You are all adults. It is your business to decide your future. But then, since you all havee to this stage, don¡¯t you think you should finish the study and get the certificate? Or are you all ready to give up now after all the effort spent in the past?¡± ¡°Teacher, I only failed to attend the exams because something else was going on. I will take a resit. As you know, I always keep a tab on my progress,¡± exined Lin Sheng. Thinking of his study and college and looking at the callow students who asionally passed by outside, and the other innocent university lecturers in the office, he found it inexplicably surreal. Not long ago, he was still working hard to build the sanctum to prepare for the unknown dangers. But now, he was in the academic utopia together with a bunch of mortals, talking over his failing grades with his ss teacher. Bearing with the faint printing ink smell in the office, Lin Sheng listened to his ss teacher lecturing him about a hundred and one things, that he must not absent from the exams again, and that he could apply for a study grant from the college should he face any problem back home. ¡°What a warmhearted person,¡± Lin Sheng made a mentalment. When he emerged from the office, it was already over an hourter. Walking behind the two and noticing their relieved expressions, Lin Sheng could not help chuckling. ¡°What¡¯s so funny? Remember the resit date? What say wee together?¡± Byron, the fat boy wearing a pair of ss, was worried. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can pass the resit and may have to retake the lesson!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s pass notes, Legend!¡± The ACG-character girl with pigtails came up to Lin Sheng with an ingratiating smile. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s pass notes, Legend!¡± The fat boy wearing sses moved up, his expression nothing short of servile. The two had heard Lin Sheng¡¯s conversation with the ss teacher. Lin Sheng had been doing well in his study and only failed because he missed the exams. Let us make a deal. Two hundred dors per subject!¡± The fat boy lowered his voice and offered. ¡°We might not sit close together.¡± Lin Sheng found it funny. From a master of the sanctum to an average student who had to resit exams, the contrast was stark. ¡°What if we get to sit together?¡± The fat boy cocked his brows with a smile. ¡°We will count on you then, Legend!¡± Schwyr, the girl with pigtails grinned. Lin Sheng waved his hand, turned around and darted toward the elevator. Adolf had been waiting in the vehicle outside the college. When he saw Lin Sheng emerging, he alighted and came up to Lin Sheng. ¡°Teacher, it was my fault. I mishandled the matter. I have liaised with the college, but in your case, money can only do so much. It is not possible to skip the resit.¡± Adolf felt ashamed of himself. ¡°Is it something more to this university than meets the eyes?¡± Lin Sheng wondered. ¡°Not at all. I just didn¡¯t expect they were so hell-bent on not doing us a favor. I think something has gone wrong. But I already have n B in ce. You don¡¯t have to go to the exam. My man will handle that for you.¡± ¡°Mmm, that will be good.¡± As the two climbed into the car, the dark-purple, bulletproof vehicle sped up in the direction of Sanctum Hill. ¡°About your parents...¡± ¡°It will do as long as you have given them the convenience, but don¡¯t let them find out about it. Just stick to the market price.¡± Earlier, Lin Sheng had asked Adolf to help prop up his family business, and Adolf had been handling it with care. He was even making sure that Chen Minjia got favorable deals in her business. Adolf had done much more than what was required to be a student of Lin Sheng, and he had never phoned it in. ¡°Understood, Teacher.¡± The conversation ended. Lin Sheng closed his eyes, refocusing his mind to direct his three bodies. Meanwhile, Adolf was worried about the Paragons of Destiny in his body. He expected the various scenarios that might crop up. The vehicle drove past a street that sold jewelry and jades. The traffic was heavy. Adolf slowed down the vehicle and stopped on the left side of the street, waiting for the traffic to clear up ahead. Adolf and Lin Sheng heard the loud sound of tires screeching all of a sudden. And then two vans screeched to a stop beside Adolf¡¯s vehicle, blocking it from escaping. Then the door of the vans slid open with a dozen armed men, wearing a ck suit and ck stocking mask, jumped out. The armed men aimed at Adolf¡¯s bulletproof windows and opened fire. The rattling of the machine guns was causing panic screams around. The busy street instantly turned into chaos with people scrambling for cover. Those in the cars were holding their breaths, and some abandoned their vehicles to run into the nearby alleys. ¡°Get your butt out here!¡± A short gunman trained his rifle and shouted at Adolf, who was behind the wheel. Adolf let out a sigh as what separated him from the gunmen was ayer of bulletproof ss, which was now covered in fine cracks. Amid a sh of blood, two silver-armor vault guards appeared and pierced through the chest of the gunmen before they dissipated into plumes of ck smoke. The other gunmen became panic in seeing this strange phenomenon. They realized that they had found their match. They shouted frantically and fired indiscriminately. But the vault guards stabbed each of them to death in no time. Their weapons were useless against the elusive ck smoke. Three surviving gunmen, who were more agile than the rest but now covered in sweat, dropped their guns and ran. But they could not outrun the vault guards. Atst, all of them dropped dead to the ground. ¡°Was this happening frequently?¡± Lin Sheng was shocked. ¡°Not really. Ever since news of me having the Paragons of Destiny broke out, this kind of attack came only every couple of days.¡± Adolf forced a smile. ¡°Can you handle it?¡± ¡°Hell no. I had wanted to ask for your help even if this did not happen just now, Teacher.¡± Adolf sounded helpless. ¡°I havee across an attacker who¡¯s at least a Two-winger or higher.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°Then I called out the name, Khad of the Thousand Arms, and the attacker hesitated before fleeing.¡± Adolf¡¯s face creased with a half-smile. ¡°Where did it happen?¡± ¡°In the public park near Sanctum Hill.¡± ¡°That sucks!¡± Lin Sheng frowned. Chapter 250 - The Situation: Part 2 Chapter 250: The Situation: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°There have been so many peopleing into Shermanton recently. I don¡¯t know which ones areing for me,¡± continued Adolf. ¡°There¡¯s also a serious shortage of manpower in The TSSF, and we¡¯re too busy to control it.¡± ¡°Forget it, I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± Lin Sheng nned to clean up the spies in Shermanton. The car moved slowly forward. Part of Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness jumped onto the Thunderbeast on sanctum hill. He was directing the Thunderbeast into the temple hall. The high altar had umted a lot of sacred power in recent days. The Thunderbeast was wearing a thick cloak that covered his whole body and standing before the altar without uttering a single word. Although those present were curious, no one dared question the actions of those inside the temple. ¡°Wee, honorable Lord Lin Sheng.¡± After a soft and familiar female voice, a sand table model of the entire sanctum hill appeared before him, followed by parameters. ¡°The Sanctum of Shadow: ¡°Temple Lord: Lin Sheng. ¡°Sacred power: 207 units. ¡°Divine skill: Mind Purification. Level: weak. ¡°Scope: One ring.¡± ¡°There is still a long way to go to gain new divine skill, but this is a convenient way to observe the sanctum hill.¡± Lin Sheng stared at the virtual sand table model in front of him. Those whose aura was ipatible with the sacred power were shown as little red dots. Now, there were two red dots around the Sanctum of Shadow. Lin Sheng was slightly shocked. ¡°Well, these people have infiltrated the temple.¡± He did not doubt the uracy of the disy. After carefullyparing the red dots to identify the corresponding people, Lin Sheng contacted the dungeon soldiers stationed on the mountain in his mind and informed Khad in the temple to cooperate with them. Everything was going on smoothly. Khad, who was supervising the trainees with a whip, received the news without showing it on her face and continued to do what she was doing. Her attention was already focused on a few people among the trainees. A group of students was doing routine weight-bearingps, sweating and panting. ¡°Ari, Frank, Patty. You threee with me.¡± Suddenly, Khad¡¯s cold voice was heard all over the training field. Three students in a group, wondering why they were called out by Kha, walked to the small temple beside the training field. After a while, the three of them came out again and returned to the line. Khad checked them one by one, taking down the spies while continuing to train the students outside with her stand-in. The substitution passed unnoticed, and she soon took all the red spots on the sanctum hill and locked them up. Khad interrogated them and got the specific information from them. Then she turned straight into a small room at the corner of the temple. Before long, strangers of different abilities were streaming out of the small room at a brisk pace. All these people had one thing inmon, and that was their arms ¨C which were all pale without a trace of blood. Soon, hundreds of people descended from the sanctum hill and flowed into the surrounding area, blending into Shermanton naturally like water. These people began a statistical cotion of the Transcendents in Shermanton. ... *Bam!* Man and woman were sitting up from their beds, naked, staring at the people who had broken in. When they saw the people wearing silver armor at the door, the naked man and woman immediately pulled a bath towel to cover their bodies, turned and ran. They were quick and decisive, running in both directions to the window. They had obviously been trained for a long time. But before long, two ck clouds of smoke chased out of the two windows, enveloping the two men. A short timeter, a subtle noise of sharp knives stabbing into the flesh came from the hotel room. ¡°Settled. The thirteenth.¡± A pale woman dressed as a hotel maid came out of the room, looking calm. ¡°This organization called The Deerblood sent more than 30 people in at one go. It seems that they are determined to obtain The Paragons of Destiny, said the woman, smiling. ¡°The next one is an organization called the Eye of Heaven. Their captain is a bald ck man named Marcus. Very strong,¡± the woman exined with a smile. ¡°Never mind. Let¡¯s go,¡± said the silver armored soldier, striding off. ... At night. The killing, the fighting, the eviction broke out in different ces. ... In the dark came the sound of small quick steps. Several ck shadows were running rapidly between the buildings It was a dark, moonless night, and even the silhouette of their bodies disappeared into the darkness. ¡°The men of Bloodgrave. Now that you¡¯re here, why don¡¯t you visit sanctum hill? Our Lord Lin is the most hospitable person you will ever meet.¡± Clouds ck smoke gathered quickly, turning into human figures around them and vaguely enveloping them. ¡°Do you think you can stop us?¡± One of the men spoke with a cold voice. ¡°How do you know if you don¡¯t try?¡± A tall man with pale arms formed in the ck smoke. The man of Bloodgrave sneered. A sh of red light in his hand shot straight at the tall man. They were not like the many small groups and forces that had been wiped out in recent days. Even in the world as a whole, Blood Grave was an absolute behemoth. They were the top 50 killers in the underworld. Although they were discovered, Bloodgrave¡¯s killers had never been afraid to reveal their identities. They were just as good at fighting head-on. But soon, a piercing chill shed up in the man¡¯s heart. Without another word, he turned quickly sideways and bounced off to the left with all his strength. Two pale arms sprang from the ground in the darkness and tore at his breast, nearly ripping open the man¡¯s chest. ¡°Run!!¡± yelled the man. The red light in his hands spread into a pair of pale red wings, and the wings spread fiercely behind him. The man sped up and flew away. The others reacted at the same time and fled quickly. They were paid to do the job, not to die. Chapter 251 - The Situation: Part 3

Chapter 251: The Situation: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lately, the Xylond local organization, called the Holy Sanctum, had suddenly begun to eliminate all the foreign forcesing for the Paragons of Destiny. Within a few days, more than a dozen small forces had been routed and withdrawn. Four of the medium-sized groups were pushed back, and two of their stubborn strongholds were wiped out. Two of therger groups fought against the Holy Sanctum and then withdrew without a word. The rest of therge organizations also began to increase their forces. Among them, the Bloodgrave was the one who sent the biggest force. ¡°It¡¯s sote. Why don¡¯t you stay and have tea with me?¡± A strange woman with pale arms slowly emerged from the darkness, looking at them and chuckling like a silver bell. Suddenly there was a slight crash in the darkness. The men Blood Grave were driven back by some force and gathered together, looking distressed. ¡°Are you going to wage a battle against us?¡± one of the men of Bloodgrave fumed. ¡°Battle? You think you¡¯re qualified?¡± The gorgeous womanughed. ¡°Are the people of the Holy Sanctum always so arrogant?¡± Not far away, a car parked on the street, and a tall man in a ck suit got out. The man¡¯s eyes are cold, his clothes were neatly arranged, and he looked like a powerful man, like awyer or a top financial elite. But judging by the light silver streaks on the back of his gloves, this was no ordinary guy. ¡°Lord Silver Ash!¡± The men of Bloodgrave were so d to see the man and immediately bowed to the man. The charming woman felt the strong aura of the man, and the smile on her face changed slightly. ¡°What?! Run!!!¡± The men of the Holy Sanctum around the woman immediately evacuated and disappeared into the darkness ¡°I¡¯ve only just arrived and you want to go? Are you looking down on me?¡± The man sneered and took a step forward. The silver lines on the glove suddenly glowed with silver light. Streaks of silver thread shot out of his glove and instantly condensed into silvery birds, flying after the men of The Holy Sanctum in the darkness. ¡°How dare you kill the men of the Holy Sanctum in our territory?¡± A sh of light shadow in the darkness caught the flying silver birds like lightning. All the birds were crushed and scattered into tiny light spots. The light shadow fell rapidly, turning into a soft and graceful petite girl with pale arms and gray hair. ¡°I did not expect that the Holy Sanctum would attract a big shot at the apex of Four Wings. It¡¯s rare.¡± The face of Silver Ash froze. His previous ease gradually gave way to surprise and anxiety. ¡°The Holy Sanctum actually has such a powerful Transcendent!¡± Although he felt that the aura of the girl was only at the bottom of Five Wings, the violent force that emanated naturally from the inside out could not be false. He thought the sanctum was just an ordinary organization. ¡°I am the Pied Piper of Bloodgrave...¡± ¡°Kill them.¡± Silver Ash was interrupted in the middle of his introduction. He turned quickly and ran away. However, the rest of the killers of Bloodgrave were seized by arge number of arms sprang up from the ground, unable to break free. They could only watch themselves dissolve quickly and sink to the ground. Khad did not chase Silver Ash. The main purpose of the Holy Sanctum was to show their true strength, not to kill anyone against them. And if they killed someone¡¯s best yer, there would surely be a massive retaliation waiting for them. Besides that reason, there was also another fundamental reason. Khad watched Silver Ash run away until he was out of sight. Now that Khad had split into more than a thousand versions of herself, she could not handle the battle with a Five-winger. ¡°Five-winger... It seems that these major organizations have important figures to heal. But it¡¯s okay. Now we just need to show our strength and let outsiders know that the Holy Sanctum has enough power to be feared.¡± Khad heard Lin Sheng¡¯s voice in her heart. ¡°We don¡¯t need to kill all forces. We just need to kill some of them as a warning. Only if we show enough strength will we be able to trade the Paragons of Destiny for what we need in exchange for healing their men,¡± Lin Sheng continued. That was his real purpose. ¡°You¡¯re right about everything,¡± said Khad, smiling. She knew that Lin Sheng¡¯s purpose was not just focused on the Holy Sanctum. The Paragons of Destiny on Adolf was a disaster for those who have no power or strong background, but for those who have power in hand, it was resources and contacts. Lin Sheng did this to make the Holy Sanctum the strong background force for Adolf so he was able to stand on an equal footing with the rest of the big bosses, and thus to manage his ownwork by therapeutic means. Who would bother to exchange resources with you for just one secret cure if someone else could easily take it from you? ¡°But sorry. Your identity may have been exposed,¡± Lin Sheng sighed. ¡°Never mind. Even if this didn¡¯t happen, the news that I¡¯m in the Holy Sanctum will also spread.¡± Khad did not care. ¡°You joined the Holy Sanctum. What about the Ironfist Society? Which one do you belong to? Ironfist Society? Or the Holy Sanctum? How about the Steel Lord?¡± Suddenly, the voice of a young man came from behind Khad. The sound so close to her it made her skin crawl. The intensity of this sound wave could only be emitted by a person within a meter of her. She wanted to turn quickly and throw her arms at the young man behind her. ¡°Don¡¯t move,¡± warned the young man. ¡°You can still say yourst words, but if you move, it¡¯s over.¡± Khad did not dare to move. She already felt the pain that came from all over her body. Her body was imperceptibly cut into hundreds of pieces by the young man in a sh. The only reason she was still standing there was that the young man¡¯s sword was too fast for her body to react. ¡°Who are you! ?¡± The smile on Khad¡¯s face was gone, and it was reced by an unprecedented chill. ¡°Me?¡± The young man behind him smiled. ¡°Do you remember my disciple, Reinier?¡± ¡°Reinier??¡± ¡°Ah... Don¡¯t even remember the name? Never mind. This time, you¡¯ll never forget.¡± *Bang!!* Khad suddenly exploded and burst into hundreds of pieces of flesh. A handsome young man with blue hair and red eyes was smiling at the rain of flesh and blood. Behind him was Reinier, looking reverent. At the same time, on Sanctum Hill, in the Sanctum of Shadow, the Night Lord stood up suddenly, his eyes shing bright purple. Chapter 252 - The Battle: Part 1

Chapter 252: The Battle: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The dark fog was burning like fire. The girl with long white hair by the side of the Night Lord let out a suffering cry and nearly fell to the ground, but the Night Lord immediately put one hand around her waist and held her in his arms ¡°Are you alright?¡± asked Lin Sheng inside the Night Lord. They were alone in the cold, empty sanctum. ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± Khad struggled to support herself with the lingering sensation of severe pain. Lin Sheng nodded, released her, turned and walked down the altar. Walking out of the sanctum, he looked up at the crescent moon. ¡°Looks like the people we dealt with before were just appetizers. This time, we finally have a strong enemy.¡± He could feel his blood boiling inside him. Oh nope, it should be the Night Lord¡¯s blood that was boiling. Lin Sheng licked his lips, getting excited. He did not have an enjoyable fight for too long. In the past, the opponents he faced were either far beyond his imagination or indescribably weak as garbage. But it was different this time. Controlling the body of the Night Lord, he could feel the indescribable power within him. It was surging, like a volcano about to erupt. He slowly pulled out the dark gold sword behind him, his body suddenly dissipated into ck smoke, shooting down the hill. Khad came slowly out of the temple, dissipated into ck smoke and flew after him. ... A dark street near the outskirts of Shermanton. Countless pieces of flesh were scattered on the ground. It was a mess, bloodier than the scene of the worst crime. Several Bloodgrave masters quickly arrived at the scene. Seeing the blue-haired, red-eyed young man standing in the middle of the scene, they all shivered and knelt on one knee. ¡°Lord Yinan!¡± The young man ignored them. Bloodgrave was only a small branch of one of his three major organizations. Smiling, he walked slowly to the flesh of Khad and stooped down to pick up some paper stars that avoided the cut. The red and blue stars were slightly squashed and stained with blood, looking a little dirty. ¡°Haven¡¯t seen such sincere thing for a long time,¡± the young man sighed nostalgically. ¡°Teacher...¡± Reinier hesitated. He doesn¡¯t understand why he didn¡¯t continue to attack the Holy Sanctum but instead wasting his time here? However, he never dared to say much about his teacher¡¯s intentions. Although he was a Five-winger, he could not see the height of his teacher. The Ptinate. It was an unimaginable terrifying state that could turn evil energy for his own use. His teacher always told him that he was missing something, but Reinier had never been able to find anything, until thest time he was on that ship, and the boy from the Holy Sanctum struck him from a distance and left him badly wounded. As hey dying, something seemed to dawn on him. The teacher found out this. In order to seize the chance, he decided to take him to Xylond and find the Holy Sanctum again ¡°Be patient.¡± The blue-haired, red-eyed boy smiled and tossed the paper star in his hand. ¡°Look.¡± *Swoosh, swoosh...* Clouds of ck smoke fell rapidly, turning into figures with pales arms. The number of figures was growing, getting denser and denser, and gradually surrounded the men of Bloodgrave. The buildings with lights on around the area seemed to feel the tension, turning off the lights and going silent. The streetmps were flickering as if under some terrible pressure. The air around them moved slowly and silently, turning into a cold wind, sweeping past their skin, the leaves, and a long dark gold sword slowly forming in the ck smoke. A figure with a long sword approached slowly. ¡°...Well, I didn¡¯t expect that a strong man like you would personallye here.¡± A slender man in a mask and ck gilt-edged armor appeared slowly under the streetmps. His golden hair and the sword in his hand reflected the flickering light, especially his golden hair, which was as pure as the pure me burning quietly. As soon as the man stepped forward, all eyes focused on his eyes. The man¡¯s eyes are like the finest crystal amethyst, beautiful and pure like it¡¯s not real. As the masked man approached, the pressure in the air became unbearable. Without realizing it, Reinier was forced back by some hidden mortal threat. The others, who could not bear it any longer, retreated more than ten meters behind them, looking as though they had lost too much blood. The pressure, which was too powerful to look directly at, was growing as the masked man approached. The smile on the young man¡¯s s face finally faded. ¡°Oh? This feeling... It¡¯s powerful.¡± He paused, his face showing a hint of greed. ¡°But your eyes are really beautiful. I really want to dig them out and keep them...¡± ¡°I¡¯m the Night Lord,¡± said Lin Sheng calmly, his long sword trembling in his hand. He hadn¡¯t used the long sword for a long time. But never mind. The skill of fighting with numerous swords shed through his mind. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll make your death easier...¡± ¡°Oh?!?¡± The young man grinned. ¡°You look so confident. But do you really know what a Ptinate means?¡± Suddenly, the two disappeared, and a little silver light shone in the middle of where they stood. *Dang!!!!!* The silver light burst into countless red sparks. They moved incredibly fast, undetectable to the naked eye and unimpeded by air. The two swords, long and short, hit each other in the air like lightning. Dozens of attacks were exchanged in an instant. If someone could see the two yers clearly, though, they would be surprised to see that both of their moves did not really hit each other. The sparks generated by the collision were actually the electric light and sparks generated by the high-speed friction of the airflow triggered by the two men¡¯s swinging weapons. The two men kept changing their moves almost immediately after drawing their swords. The rapid changes were so fast that they reached the limits of nerves and muscles. If you watched them in slow motion, you would find that their movements rarely sh. But in reality, they were literally fighting for their lives. Chapter 253 - The Battle: Part 2

Chapter 253: The Battle: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Is that all you can do?¡± asked the Night Lord calmly. Suddenly, a dark gold sword flew out of the air, cutting more than ten meters in the ground, hitting the flower bed, and then disappeared, leaving behind a ck sword trace of more than a meter deep on the ground. Light ck smoke wafted from both sides of the sword trace, giving off a scorched smell. The blue-haired red-eyed boy staggered, covering his left shoulder and standing back for several meters. ¡°Faster than me?¡± His scarlet eyes showed a deeper interest. ¡°Then how about this?¡± He raised his hand and a thread of dark green evil energy wrapped around his left arm. ¡°Iguana!!¡± In an instant, numerous evil energies flew out, turning into a huge ck iguana mouth. ck light shed across the huge mouth, and a long ck tongue shot out like a bolt of lightning, breaking the air and sending a pale jet of air rushing toward the Night Lord. ¡°That¡¯s fast!¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s heart was shaking. Since his soul was not strong enough, he could not apply the passive strength of the Night Lord, so he could only use his body strength to fight. He thought that no one could withstand such a strong body, but this guy... Fortunately, the strength of the Night Lord¡¯s body was not his physical strength, but his ability to manipte the shadows. After all, the Night Lord had the blood of the dragon king in his veins! Looking at the rapid approach of the ck tongue, Lin Sheng pulled out the sword and thrust. Countless shadow forces swarmed around him, helping him reduce resistance and increase his power. The power and momentum of this simple thrust were far greater than any battle he had ever faced before. All of a sudden, the sword and the ck tongue collided and shot upwards into the dark sky. ¡°Ha. Interesting.¡± The blue-haired, red-eyed boy finally raised his eyebrows and looked earnestly at the Night Lord. ¡°You can even stop it? The iguana is three times faster than I just attacked. It seems that you didn¡¯t do your best just now.¡± ¡°Let me reintroduce myself.¡± The look of contempt on the young man¡¯s face faded and was reced by a strange look of intense interest. ¡°My name is Yinan, now I am the sixth Ptinate of Heaven¡¯s Spire. And my title is...¡± ¡°Throne Angel!¡± In an instant, the green energy shone brightly on his body, burning like fire. *Boom!!!* In a sh, a circle of pale green light exploded. The green mes spread like ripples. All the people around were pushed away at the same time by the huge impact. Cracks were also emerging in some nearby buildings. Green lines of fire appeared on the ground, catching and devouring living things everywhere like a snake. ¡°No! Not mes!?¡± Lin Sheng could not resist taking a step back and lift the sword to block the huge explosion. Instead of the searing sensation he had expected, he was overwhelmed by the pressure he had never anticipated; not on the body, but on the soul! *Boom!!!* The Night Lord was drowned in the huge cloud of green mes Khad¡¯s eyes glowed with anxiety, and she clenched her fist, ready to rush forward. As the mes dissipated, however, a dark, ink-ck semicircle barrier stood in front of the Night Lord, protecting him. Lin Sheng was holding dark gold long swords in both hands and brandishing in front of him like lightning. Countless sword marks gathered together, forming an exaggerated ck barrier in everyone¡¯s eyes. ¡°Oh? Wow.¡± Yinan¡¯s was burning with green mes from head to toe. The terrifying and exaggerated evil energy field was driving out all the forces in the air around it. He looked at Lin Sheng with a hint of appreciation. ¡°But this is just the natural power of my own existence. How long can you hold on even if you can resist it?¡± He spread his arms. ¡°There are so many kinds of forces in the world. But of all the forces, why did everyone choose the evil energy?¡± He calmly watched Lin Sheng struggle. ¡°It is because evil energy is the strongest of all forces!¡± With the help and increase of shadow power, Lin Sheng brandished the swords crazily. But as the young man¡¯s huge and terrifying evil energy mes suppressing him, he gradually became powerless. ¡°It seems... There¡¯s no other way...¡± He could no longer suppress the surging instinct in his body. ¡°If so...¡± He suddenly took a step back and stopped waving the long sword in his hand. ¡°Huh?¡± Yinan saw it, too, slightly stunned. Facing his natural energy field, the Night Lord gave up the fight? Although the natural evil energy field was only the most basic power of a Ptinate, if the Eventide was not opened, one would soon fall into a state of madness and confusion if eroded by this power. This state would rapidly destroy the soul and brain of the infected person. He would bepletely destroyed physically and mentally, and finally became part of the evil energy, and started to burn. Yinan was sure that the man in front of him had not be a Ptinate and could not resist the erosion. It¡¯s hard for him to stay in the evil energy field for such a long time. ¡°Did he give up?¡± He raised his eyebrows and was about to adjust his breath to make the evil energy field a little weaker. Suddenly, the wind began to blow. ¡°Huh? This is...?¡± Yinan stretched out his hand and grabbed it. Unexpectedly, he caught a ck silk thread in the air in front of him. ¡°ck threads? When...¡± He suddenly startled and leaped back, trying to dodge. But it was toote. A huge cloud of ck shadow was spreading from the Night Lord. *Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!* Countless ck silk threads were dashing like streamers, wrapping and closing from all directions towards Yinan. Looking from afar, therge number of ck lines actually formed a huge ck dragon head, biting at the tiny Throne Angel. ¡°I...¡± Yinan was shocked. He crossed his arms in front of him, and the evil energy boomed and burst into green mes. In the air, the green mes were pouring towards the ck dragon head. Suddenly, the dragon head sped up, its eyes lit up with purple light, swallowing the green mespletely. Under the ck dragon, Lin Sheng¡¯s whole body was rolling with shadow power. He looked up at the position where Yinan was swallowed up. The blood of the Shadow Dragon in him burst into unimaginable power when he was no longer suppressed by it. *Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!* Countless ck lines stormed into the dragon¡¯s head from all directions, piercing the human body wrapped in the dragon¡¯s mouth. ¡°It¡¯s over.¡± He thought. Chapter 254 - The Battle: Part 3

Chapter 254: The Battle: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°The Ptinates... are really powerful.¡± Lin Sheng thought to himself. In the fight between him and Yinan earlier, almost every blow exceeded the maximum power of the full burst of a Six-winger. In other words, if they wanted to, they could make the top tier of the Six Wing level and copse at any moment. They had gone far beyond Six Wings. It was a whole new level. ¡°I don¡¯t repress the instinctive talent anymore. Even if it¡¯s not all open, I can only hold on to ten breaths at most...¡± Lin Sheng estimated the time and decided to give Yinan a final blow. ¡°Goodbye, Throne Angel of the Heaven¡¯s Spire.¡± He raised his hand and shook it lightly against the dragon¡¯s head. ¡°Do you know what the Ptinate is?¡± Suddenly, a calm voice came from inside the dragon¡¯s head. The ck dragon shivered violently and green cracks appeared in its body. There seemed to be lighting out of it. Lin Sheng did not dare to cken off. Countless Shadow Dragon Whiskers piled up and surged up, trying to suppress the green light again. ¡°Happy... So happy... I want your eyes more and more now... I didn¡¯t expect to encounter such potential power...¡± Yinan¡¯s voice, with a touch of sickness and fanaticism, oozed from the inside of the dragon¡¯s head little by little. The massive amount of Shadow Dragon Whiskers couldn¡¯t stop it at all. Cold sweat oozed slowly from Lin Sheng¡¯s temples. Tiny beads of sweat gathered and rolled down his cheeks, but he had no intention of wiping them from his face. *Boom!!* Countless ck lines burst open. A huge dazzling green light rose slowly in the night sky, illuminating the surrounding area as bright as day. Yinanpletely changed in the green light. The in casual clothes he was wearing had changed into a delicate, finely groomed, iguana-embroidered robe. ¡°It is true that being a Ptinate will elevate my level of evil energy and improve my quality, butpared to those, it is not these boring things that really make me stand above all beings...¡± The mes suddenly drew back into Yinan¡¯s body. He fell gently to the ground, looking calm. ¡°Well, that¡¯s all for the game.¡± He raised his hand again. ¡°I¡¯m tired of it.¡± Lin Sheng then backed away out of the blue and dashed to the right, trying to avoid the possible attacks. ¡°Illusion: Astral Projection!¡± Indescribable great gravitation suddenly pulled him back to the clearing less than twenty meters away from Yinan. At the same time, a circle of silver light curtains flowing with arge number of strange green symbols wrapped around Lin Sheng and Yinan, isting them in a small space about 20 meters in diameter. There was no evil energy and me on Yinan. He had a paper-thin silver dagger in his hand and a calm look on his face. ¡°What a pity... If you can dabble in evil energy, maybe you can step into the rank of Ptinates and keep pace with me. He swung the dagger casually, and the dagger sent out a great piercing wind pressure and noise. Lin Sheng¡¯s pupil contracted. A simple movement of the opponent made him feel the fatal threat. He could clearly feel that there¡¯s no evil energying from the dagger, but how could a simple wave give him that fatal threat? ¡°You found it weird?¡± Yinan smiled. ¡°Among the Darksiders, only those who awaken to the Eventide are entitled to be called ¡®The Ptinates¡¯, which is the ironw. And as soon as the Ptinates awaken to the Eventide, a powerpletely of his own will awaken from the depths of his soul. This ability is the greatest strength of the Ptinates.¡± He was unsparing in exining his moves to his opponents. He had done this many, many times. Destroy all your enemy¡¯s hopes before you kill them. When one¡¯s heart was shaken, one¡¯s spirit would doubt, quiver and the soul would likewise be oppressed and weakened. His ability was called Astral Projection, and its core was to produce different effects depending on the strength of the soul. If the opponent¡¯s soul is stronger than his, the opponent would be forced to weaken half of his soul power. And if the opponent¡¯s soul was weaker than his, all his attacks would automatically be doubled or more. This was soul specific lethality. To get out of this situation, only the Ptinates of the same rank could use the stronger evil energy field to break free. The average person could only be the underdog in this 20-meter diameter until hepletely lost consciousness. ¡°You are not a Ptinate. No matter how hard you struggle, it will only be in vain.¡± Yinan approached Lin Sheng step by step, feeling his soul fluctuating, doubting and weakening. ¡°Now... Wee your death!¡± He shed toward Lin Sheng, holding a dagger and shed. It was just a simple sh, but the force was stronger than the movement just now! The dagger fell like a meteorite toward Lin Sheng. *Dang!* Lin Sheng shed a sword to block the dagger, but he felt the pressure as soon as his sword touched the dagger. The great weight and great pressure kept flowing from the dagger. Yinan¡¯s strength had increased greatly,pletely beyond the limit he could cope with. Even with the help of shadow power, the de of Darkgold in his hand was constantly being pressed toward him. ¡°Well? Do you want to surrender?¡± Yinan smiled and asked. ¡°You see, at this point, you¡¯ll either be imprinted with my soul, and then you¡¯ll be mine, or you will die here.¡± He said, and then added another slight kick. *Bam!* Lin Sheng blocked the kick, but the tremendous force sent him flying, hitting the silver light curtain behind him and bouncing him off. ¡°Please make your choice,¡± Yinan said, waving his dagger again. *Dang!* Lin Sheng tried to block it, but the force sent him flying again. He vomited a little blood in the air and then fell heavily to the ground. ¡°Oh, where¡¯s your power? Why didn¡¯t you use it?¡± Yinan suddenly appeared behind Lin Sheng and stabbed him. Lin Sheng was toote to dodge the attack. The attack left a gash in his waist, and a little numbness crept up the wound. He took a few steps and turned around to protect himself, but the numbness in the wound spread quickly. ¡°Poison!? Damn it!¡± He had no idea that the young man was so powerful. It was way beyond the power of a Six-winger! ¡°Well? I¡¯m running out of patience.¡± Yinan approached him, step by step. ¡°Haha... Soul imprint? It doesn¡¯t sound like a good thing...¡± Lin Sheng pulled off the mask and spat some blood. His purple eyes were faintly filled with manic. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not so bad. It¡¯s better to be a dog than dead, isn¡¯t it? You can¡¯t get out anyway, and my evil energy will burn your soul to ashes,¡± Yinan smiled and said. He was not lying. This light curtain was an absolute shield against all soul waves. Lin Sheng did not speak. He no longer dared to use the Night Lord¡¯s natural power, and if he kept using it, the only result was that his soul fell asleep, unconscious as before. If he lost consciousness now, the Night Lord¡¯s body would be controlled by his own fighting instincts. Using the night king¡¯s natural power at full st had failed to beat the opponent, let alone his basic fighting instincts. ¡°Haven¡¯t you decided yet?¡± Yinan finally lost patiencepletely. ¡°Well then, you should go to hell.¡± The mes of evil energy began to turn on him. The me was at least twice as powerful as before! The dark green mes had changed to something close to ck. Lin Sheng gritted his teeth and stood up, holding the de upright, his eyelids drooping. *Puff!* Suddenly, a small explosion was heard from outside the light curtain. Lin Sheng¡¯s heart began to hurt all of a sudden. He looked over his shoulder and saw a flood of white figures rushing wildly toward the light curtain, then turning into ck smoke one by one and disappearing together with the silver spots on the light curtain. Khad was standing there, her eyes turned pitch-dark. ¡°Lin Sheng...¡± She seemed to have something to say to him, but he could not hear her inside the light curtain. It appeared that she sensed death in the light curtain. Numerous of her splits continuously rushed to the light curtain, one after another, without a trace of hesitation. ¡°Don¡¯t die...¡± There were tears in Khad¡¯s eyes. Many of the splits exploded, but apart from causing a slight ripple on the light curtain, nothing else happened. Soon, Khad¡¯s skin began to darken, and countless energies were drawn back to her from far away. Her strength increased rapidly, and soon she reached the level of Five Wings. Lin Sheng watched her and soon realized what she wanted to do. ¡°Stop! Khad!¡± ¡°Lin Sheng, thank you for your care all this while.¡± Khad smiled at him, and without hesitation she rushed to the silver light curtain, pious and determined. ¡°To me, you are myst and only light... Goodbye.¡± Layers of ck smoke billowed from her body, and she rushed to the light curtain without hesitation. She suddenly turned into her real form. A face made up of countless huge pale arms crashed into the silver light curtain with a tremendous impact. ¡°No!!!¡± Lin Sheng roared. He was struggling extremely. He tried as hard as he could to reach Khad, but the silver light curtain cut between them like a stone wall. His sword fell heavily on the light curtain, but nothing happened. ¡°No!!!¡± He growled again, striking the light curtain with his sword. Time seemed to be flowing slowly, everything around it was being slowed down in an instant, just like a slow-motion shot in a movie. Watching Khad rushing towards the light curtain, Lin Sheng felt an inexplicable paining from some unknown ce in his heart and the darkness from the depths of his soul overwhelmed all his consciousness. Suddenly, darkness shed before his eyes. And the next moment he was standing on a huge ckke, calm as a mirror. Opposite him stood a man. A man with purple eyes, wearing armor and a mask. The ck water rippled slowly beneath their feet. The ripples at the two ends kept crossing and converging on each other, creating finer ripples. ¡°I see your pain,¡± whispered the man. ¡°Night Lord...¡± Lin Sheng recognized the eyes. The kind of gentle eyes only the Night Lord could have. ¡°Leave it to me.¡± The Night Lord raised his head, gently pulled off his mask and smiled. ¡°You¡¯re exhausted.¡± ¡°I...¡± Lin Sheng opened his mouth, wanted to say something, but the intense pain in his heart was getting stronger and stronger. The Night Lord turned and walked slowly into the darkness. ¡°If there¡¯s a chance, tell Shayna I love her.¡± Lin Sheng wanted to catch up, but a ray of light appeared in front of him out of nowhere, and in an instant, he was standing in front of the light curtain again. Everything was exactly the same as before, except the soft eyes of the Night Lord reflected on the light curtain. ¡°How nice... A world without destruction.¡± The Night Lord stood up and watched everything around him in slow motion. Khad who gave up her life for Lin Sheng. The calm and cold Throne Angel, Yinan. The men of the Holy Sanctum and enemies in a frenzied battle in the distance. Leaves falling slowly in the night sky. The bright moon in the night sky. And... a living, powerful self. ¡°Am I Lin Sheng or Dyze?¡± He lowered his head and looked at his fair and slender hands, and then he raised his head, his eyes stopped on Yinan. Time seemed to be speeding up and returning to normal. Golden cracks gradually emerged in his pupils, and numerous golden dots swirled in them. All of them rapidly converged to form a huge golden three-headed dragon sitting majestically in a dark void. ¡°Repent. The Resplendent Gloom... The gaze of the Dragonking.¡± A dark color suddenly climbed up from the foot of Yinan. Chapter 255 - New Start: Part 1

Chapter 255: New Start: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Very few had seen the true form of a Shadow Dragon. For an apex being that lived within the shadows, its existence itself was a miracle. And Yinan was now witnessing that miracle with his own eyes. His body froze as strands of ck smoke started appearing all over his body. That was the signifier of his life force leaving him. The Shadow Dragon was naturally born with the ability to consume the shadows, and the Shadow Dragonking was even more so equipped with the ability to drag a living being straight into the shadows. Yinan¡¯s dark powers roiled as he tried to break the hold. But no matter what he did, that powerful binding power held him in ce. ¡°I... I can¡¯t die here!!!¡± *Ahhhhhh!!!* Within his mind,yers uponyers of thin dark light shattered. The ck light seemed to be like a gate to a tunnel, and beyond it was a vast, endless emerald ocean. The waters were roiling as ten-meter-tall waves were being kicked up. Within the waves, a massive ck-green monster appeared as it turned into a shadow and charged toward the entrance. *Roarrrrr!!* An ethereal smander appeared out of nowhere behind Yinan as it lowered its head and let out a furious roar at the Night Lord. That instantly broke the binding and Yinan finally regained control of his body. ¡°Wha...?! What was that?!¡± His eyes were bloodshot red as he had not realized what had happened. The moment he felt something was not right, and thankfully things had suddenly changed. Without any recourse, he had broken the gate to the ocean and materialized the spirit smander from the Eventide. Before he could drop amand, however, the spirit smander, Herakles had appeared on its own volition, roaring as it protected its host. The Night Lord had suddenly changed too. The dark shadow that had grabbed his leg was still trying to mber upward. *Hiss!!!* Streaks upon streaks of ck lightning sted out as the two powers collided. The massive amount of dark powers within the Ptinate roiled wildly and fought against the shadow in a battle of attrition. At the same time, the Eventide too had provided him with a continuous supply of dark powers, yet his Astral Projection ability was creaking under pressure. That was the sound of it being crushed between two powerful forces. Instinctively, Yinan took two steps back as he was about to use his dagger to cut the shadow off his body. But the variable that he had not thought would happen, happened. *Crash!!* The silver screen of the Astral Projection finally shattered. ¡°Sh*t!¡± His iris shrank as he was about to dart out of the screen to pull some distance. But he was still one step too slow. A massive shadow of the dragon appeared beneath him. And the shadow was gettingrger and closer by the moment. Yinan let out a menacing expression as spasms ran through his entire body, and pped both of his hands together. ¡°You want to kill me?! Then, you shall die with me!!!¡± A bright, crystalline light sted out from his chest. Within the light was an ellipsoidal tapestry with all sorts of patterns on it. ¡°Astral Projection: The Empyrean Tapestry!¡± And in that instant, the light exploded like the sun. The tapestry disintegrated alongside the explosion, its boundaries suddenly expanded as it tried to swallow everything within the area into it. The pebbles on the ground, the streetmps, the mist within the air, and even half a block of an apartment nearby... Everything was being distorted, shrank and quickly swallowed into the tapestry. However, the light and the edge of the tapestry simply just stopped before the Night Lord. Countless of dark, menacing dragon scales had appeared on his body as countless of ck smoke burnt like mes. A pair of curved dragon horns formed out of smoke extended from the top of his head backward until the center of his back. The tapestry¡¯s edge shed against the sea of ck smoke beneath his legs, and could not advance. Even Khad¡¯s massive human face had disappeared, and what was left was a white-haired girlying within the Night Lord¡¯s arms. The sh of powers sent out powerful gales, and the resulting wind sent their clothes fluttering. A momentter, the tapestry in the air disappeared and Yinan fell onto one knee onto the ground. He looked viciously at the Night Lord, but just as he opened his mouth, a gush of fresh blood spat out of it. ¡°Very well... it¡¯s my mistake this time... just you wait... ¡°Ughh!!!¡± A diagonal wound suddenly sted out in his chest. A wound almost half a meter long suddenly ran through his entire body. And blood spat out like a fountain. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Yinan staggered as he summoned a ray of green light that engulfed the nearby Reinier as he crushed something in his other hand. With a crack, countless of snow-like marks appeared around them as a pure white pir-like screen appeared from the ground up and covered them within it. ¡°We will meet again... The Night Lord, eh... Soon... Soon...¡± ¡°Ugh!¡± He suddenly spat out another mouthful of blood as swarms of ck smoke appeared all over him. That was the effect of being under the Dragonking¡¯s Gaze, resulting in the loss of life force at regr intervals. With a hiss, the two light pirs disappeared as Yinan and Reinier went along with it. And calm soon returned to the area. The people from the Bloodgrave had long run away after things got out of hand. All that was left were craters and a ruined battlefield. The night wind was chilly as it kicked up a slight cloud of dust. The Night Lord stood motionlessly. ¡°Brother...¡± Khad called out weakly as the Night Lord¡¯s massive frame fell backward and mmed hard onto the ground. ... On the ckke¡¯s surface. Lin Sheng quietly looked at the Night Lord who entered the ce once again. He had not nned to let the Night Lord out... but when Khad appeared, that made him realize that he actually cared about something. It was almostical that he had grown attached to a split soul of his own. But that was what had happened. ¡°He¡¯s strong...¡± The Night Lord stood on the surface on theke and smiled slightly. ¡°My apologies, I could not hold him back.¡± ¡°That¡¯s more than enough,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°It was my fault. If I had not been greedy about using your body, this would not have happened. ¡°I don¡¯t me you, but it¡¯s just too bad.¡± The Night Lord¡¯s body became ethereal as ck particles were released from his body toward the sky. ¡°What¡¯s too bad?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°It¡¯s too bad that...¡± The Night Lord opened up as if he was about to say something, but he stopped as he looked at Lin Sheng. ¡°Forget it. Smooth... sailing...¡± He smiled onest time as his body disintegrated and turned into countless ck particles that flew into the sky. Chapter 256 - New Start: Part 2 Chapter 256: New Start: Part 2 Within the soulke. Lin Sheng stood silently in the same spot for a good while before he suddenly spoke. ¡°Say... you weren¡¯t hit by Yinan back then, right?¡± The Night Lord remained silent. ¡°Or, are you just a goddamn slouch at home?¡± Lin Sheng rolled his eyes as he looked towards the other direction, directly at the familiar pretty man that was lying in the middle of theke. ¡°Don¡¯t disturb me. I¡¯m already dead,¡± the Night Lord said as he closed his eyes. ¡°Dyze, don¡¯t you gozing out on me. I need you now!¡± Lin Sheng said, his tone serious. ¡°You don¡¯t need me. You need Khad. I¡¯m already dead. Don¡¯t talk to me.¡± The Night Lord¡¯s lips did not even move this time around, and for some reason, his voice could stille out. ¡°You think I went through all the trouble to pull you out of ckfeather City just so you can be a slouch?¡± Lin Sheng retorted. ¡°I didn¡¯t ask to be pulled out of that ce alright? Shut it, and get lost. Don¡¯t disturb my sleep. I¡¯m already dead. Don¡¯t talk to me.¡± The Night Lord then used his shadow to form a word: Dead. ¡°What¡¯s up with that!! Get up this instant!¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s temper exploded as he stomped over and pulled the Night Lord out of theke by the color. ¡°I had just saved your life! You¡¯re insane!¡± Dyze shouted. ¡°Even peasants get a day off!¡± ¡°Who the bloody hell is a peasant!¡± Lin Sheng mmed his hand on the back of Dyze¡¯s skull. ¡°Without your bloodline restraining you now, you sure are onezy slouch!! Lin Sheng had never thought that his split spirit would be such a character. If he had known, he would not have summoned him out. But the situation was critical, and to save Khad, he had to insert Dyze¡¯s own memory fragments into the Night Lord. These soul fragments were originally part of the Night Lord¡¯s own soul and were simply stored in Lin Sheng¡¯s mind as it could not be absorbed. For such fragmented souls, after using the Night Lord¡¯s body in the fight, it was natural that they simply scattered. However, it was a good thing for Lin Sheng, as the Night Lord¡¯s soul scattered, he would absorb them. Besides, the soulke was the final destination of the ck lines he had absorbed. So when the Night Lord¡¯s soul had scattered, at that same moment he had absorbed the soul particles, so a secondter, the Night Lord was reborn as his split spirit. However, a tiny change had taken ce in the newly resurrected Night Lord. Due to the emergency, when he had stuffed the soul fragments into the Night Lord, there were other memory fragments that were included as well aside from Dyze¡¯s own memories. And now, the Dyze before him had taken this character... ¡°When I was the Night Lord I really wanted to justze around...¡± Dyze was dragged up helplessly as he simply flopped over like a spineless insect in Lin Sheng¡¯s hands. ¡°And did I summon you to get you toze about?!¡± Lin Sheng roared. ¡°Believe me when I say I¡¯ll beat your a**!¡± ¡°Do it, I can go sleep after you¡¯re done.¡± The Night Lord hadpletely sunk into sloth mode as he shrugged and waited for his punishment. ¡°Bloody hell!!¡± Lin Sheng was so pissed off that he ran his mouth. He was apprehensive about beating the Night Lord up, as thetter had indeed just saved him. Did that mean he had to leave him to his own devices there, though? Is this the real, gentle Count Palminton, the Commander of the Army, the strongest councillor of ckfeather City!? ¡°Come! I¡¯m not afraid of pain!¡± Dyze closed his eyes and totally stopped moving. Seeing him so, Lin Sheng got even more pissed. While he knew that the bugger had simply done what he wanted in the spiritual realm, unfettered by his bloodline, etiquette or his upbringing. But that character that he had revealed... made him wanted to smother him alive!! *Bam!!* Lin Sheng brutally shoved Dyze into theke and turned away without a word into the darkness. ¡°Don¡¯t call me if there¡¯s nothing.¡± Dyze¡¯s slothful voice rang out from behind. And that totally pissed Lin Sheng off as he decided to turn back and beat the bugger up. ¡°Oh right, I had healed Khad up.¡± The next thing Dyze said stopped Lin Sheng in his tracks. ¡°That child really likes you.¡± Dyze smiled, a nostalgic gentleness shed across his eyes. ¡°Indeed...¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s expression mellowed as he looked at the Night Lord floating on theke. ¡°Then I¡¯ll get Khad to take the form of Shayna once I get back. Ugh... kissing a young girl everything can be criminal, a change of tastes should be in order.¡± He muttered to himself as he walked towards the darkness. ¡°Wait!!¡± Dyze called out and leaped before Lin Sheng to block his path. ¡°Anything but that!!¡± He gave a pained bow towards Lin Sheng. ¡°Hehe, that depends on your performance then.¡± Lin Sheng sneered. Dyze, upon having his Achilles heel targeted, his expression ckened. As he looked at his main host, he suddenly felt that his ns toze about was about to die in its infancy... ... Shermanton, Sanctum Hill, the Sanctum of Shadows. The night veil had descended as the moon appeared. On an empty ground by the edge of the Holy Sanctum at the hillside of Sanctum Hill. A group of Lin Sheng¡¯s core underlings had gathered. And also five representatives from the Xylond government. A talldy with red curly hair led the delegation and was staring grimly at the Night Lord standing not too far away. ¡°Commander Shan, this time around, the Sanctum Hill¡¯s operation against the factions of Shermanton has been known to the government. We have already done our best to keep any casualties and damage to the bare minimum. And yet, the TSSF came knocking anyway, so what¡¯s your business here?¡± The one speaking was not the Night Lord, rather was a giant of a man d in robes and a mask. The masked man seemed to have a lot of authority, and neither Khad nor the Night Lord indicated otherwise. That masked man was the Thunderbeast under Lin Sheng¡¯s control. Due to their souls being separated, Lin Sheng could not use the Thunderbeast to prevent Khad¡¯s suicidal move. And that was the mistake he was talking about. Thankfully Dyze came to save the day, and that also allowed Lin Sheng to discover a way to quickly dissolve the soul fragments. But that is also incumbent on the subject agreeing to it. As he snapped out of thought, Lin Sheng looked at the Xylond officials. Thedy named Shan spoke slowly. ¡°We did indeed received your notice, and have approved your sanitation operation, but you did not mention that you wille face to face with a high-level elite!¡± She seemed to be angry. And the Xylondians do indeed have a reason to be angry. That¡¯s because the area where the Night Lord and Yinan fought was reduced to a destend. The destroyed buildings included one civilian apartment, thirteen shop lots, twelve streetmps, one inte ry station, and a good stretch of road that needed patching up. Plus, the Xylondians also needed to cover this up and brainwash any civilians who witnessed that. ¡°And?¡± Lin Sheng knew that thetter was here to discuss terms. And as expected, Shan, who wore a furious look immediately changed her expression as she gave an eye-motion to her deputy. The deputy stepped forward and handed over a printed document to Lin Sheng. And the first thing he saw was a rpense request in the form of the Night Lord¡¯s assistance. They indeed had their eyes on hisbat prowess. ¡°If you need us to pay the bill for the damaged area, we can pay you back, but as the Night Lord had only just concluded a vicious battle with that mysterious foe and have yet to fully recover. So I doubt he can be of little help to you.¡± Lin Sheng attempted to decline. Chapter 257 - New Start: Part 3

Chapter 257: New Start: Part 3

¡°Not a problem. We can wait.¡± Shan said seriously. ¡°You need to know, that we have shielded you from a lot of potential international trouble.¡± Lin Sheng demurred. He had to concur that Shan had the right of it. Compared to Xilin, Xylond had been treating them rtively well, and that could be because Xylond had ack of transcendents themselves. However, the fact that the Holy Sanctum could operate peacefully without any official pressure is a reflection of Xylond¡¯s ying nice. ¡°That depends on Master Dyze¡¯s recovery then.¡± Lin Sheng looked at the Night Lord. ¡°I¡¯m grievously wounded.¡± Dyze yed along as he raised his hand. ¡°That person is just too strong. I only managed to hit him once before I got badly wounded. And I can barely move my body now.¡± I¡¯ve never seen someone so shameless before in my life! Both Lin Sheng and Khad screamed within their hearts. You had only just used a single skill. True, but that single skill was enough to send the Seraphim, Yinan running away badly wounded while you came out unscathed. Shan, however, bought that hook, line, and sinker. Based on the energy signatures earlier, she believed that Dyze was not lying, as his opponent was suspected to be a Six Wing elite. And there were not many people like that within Xylond. Once a transcendent reaches a certain level, their danger level could not just be measured by their capacity for destruction. This is especially true for the Darksiders. The further up they go, they refine their abilities even more. ¡°No worries. Please focus on recuperating, Master Dyze. If you need, we can help you to contact the Six-wingers in Xylond...¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need. I just need to rest for a while.¡± Dyze quickly added. ¡°Okay then...¡± Shan nodded and after a brief discussion with Lin Sheng, she and the Holy Sanctum signed a memorandum of mutual defense. This reaffirms the Holy Sanctum¡¯s aid during critical moments in the aid of Xylond¡¯s defense for Xylond¡¯s official backing with the growth and expansion of the holy Sanctum. After both sides ascertaining the documents, Shan once again extended her appreciation and constion for the fight that the people of the Holy Sanctum had just gone through and left the gifts sent by the government before leaving with her men. Lin Sheng looked on until they left the Sanctum Hill area before using the soul link to leave with Khad and the rest. ¡°Dyze, that Seraphim, Yinan from the Heaven¡¯s Spire, what is his strength like? Be honest with me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m injured, that is real,¡± Dyze answered seriously. ¡°I¡¯m not joking. I used my innate ability, the Dragonking¡¯s Gaze to try to take him down in a single hit, but I never expected that Seraphim to be that strong! Almost as if I was fighting a real dragon.¡± ¡°That powerful?¡± Lin Sheng had memories of the ckfeather City¡¯s battle records, and a mature dragon was at least Level 13. Even when there are rtively few of them during the era of ckfeather City, few mean that they were still around. ¡°Yes, that powerful. I only had a small number of soul fragments, it was not possible to unleash all of my power, so I had to rely on my innate ability.¡± Dyze exined. ¡°And the Dragonking¡¯s Gaze is the strongest of the abilities I can use. But that person managed to block it.¡± ¡°If that person came again, can you fight him off?¡± Lin Sheng asked. Dyze demurred for a bit. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± ¡°Why? You should be more powerful than that person right?¡± Khad interjected. ¡°That¡¯s because there is a powerful force behind that person. And his trip here was mostly unnned and ill-prepared.¡± Dyze continued. ¡°I can feel that the person took this loss badly. He is sure to have some hidden trump card that has yet to be used. That¡¯s why he had such extreme emotions.¡± ¡°If the Ptinate used the Eventide again, can you ward it off?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°It will be difficult...¡± Dyze shook his head. ¡°That power does not belong to the Seraphim himself, rather it is drawn from a vast and endless font of power.¡± ¡°So you mean, it¡¯s borrowed?¡± Lin Sheng shot another question back. ¡°Something like that, yes. I don¡¯t know the exact workings of it. We can only but try to face it head-on. And that Astral Projection ability that I had managed to break, the key to that was my soul still belonged to an outsider, and was not locked down by the ability. Without that, I suffered little to no suppression of my powers and could unleash it to break the spell.¡± Lin Sheng now understood and pondered for a bit. ¡°I have a n.¡± He said as he told them his idea. ¡°I n to properly learn the dark powers.¡± ¡°The dark powers?¡± Khad held Lin Sheng¡¯s hand as her expression changed. ¡°Is the sacred power not good enough?¡± She did not want to leave Lin Sheng. ¡°Once you get to a high enough level, your powers will be terrifying.¡± ¡°Not that, rather I¡¯m taking the opportunity to master the dark power system before anyone gets a proper idea on how to assess the sacred power. Knowing one¡¯s self and one¡¯s foe is the only way to truly understand your opponent.¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°I get what you mean,¡± Dyze saidzily. ¡°What about this ce?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll just leave a double here to convert sacred power and expand the Holy Sanctum.¡± Lin Sheng could operate three bodies at the same time, and there was no problem. Since the Holy Sanctum could run even when he was AFK, so he might as well just let the Thunderbeast serve as a mascot here, and used it when needed. After this round of peril, he now realized how little he knew about this world¡¯s supernatural order. All these while, he had been wading through danger after danger passively, as Darksiders appeared one after another. From weak to strong, and now a Ptinate. Plus, a Ptinate alone was that close to undoing all of his work, and the Heaven¡¯s Spire was sure to have more than just one Ptinate. So he needed to fully understand what the real Darksider world is like, and also how to face those insane powers the Ptinates have. ¡°So... where do you want to learn? The TSSF? We do have good enough rtionship with the Xylond government but not good enough to warrant them to allow you into their academy right?¡± Dyze asked. ¡°Xylond¡¯s study of the dark powers is weak, and our current rtionship level is not enough for me to get in deep into it. So there¡¯s no point learning from them. If I want to learn, I might as learn from the best, once and for all.¡± Lin Sheng said tly. ¡°I need to head to a ce where the dark powers are already developed, a ce without any contact with the Ironfist Society or the Holy Sanctum. Better still if I¡¯m able to use a brand new identity to learn about the dark powers from scratch.¡± ¡°Based on the information I have, of the countries around the Pearl Ocean, there are three ces were dark powers are advanced.¡± Khad sent over the information. ¡°Redwin¡¯s Heaven¡¯s Spire, Miga¡¯s Carte nche, and Olro¡¯s Hellfire.¡± ¡°The control of dark powers probably has to do with the soul. This I¡¯ve learned from that fatty Maier. So, brother if you want to study it, it won¡¯t be too difficult.¡± Khad added. ¡°After I¡¯m gone, you¡¯ll be in charge of this ce, Dyze.¡± ¡°As long as you don¡¯t resent me forzing about,¡± Dyze respondedzily. ¡°Then thest question remains.¡± Lin Sheng took a deep breath. ¡°Where should I go, and how?¡± Chapter 258 - Enrolment: Part 1

Chapter 258: Enrolment: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion *Tuuuttt!!* Large puffs of steam shot out from the smokestack of a massive lotive as therge, snaking train roared as it departed into the distance. Lin Sheng dragged three luggage bags that were stacked up almost to his height with a borrowed baggage trolley as he navigated his way through the congested Qatarin Station. The massive train darted past from his left and sent out a surge of warm torrent in its wake. As he refocused and pulled his sight back, he continued to push the trolley following ady with an ample bosom in a red dress. She wore golden earrings beneath her brown curly hair, her lips were thick. She was Meyrin, a receptionist from Miga¡¯s Crown Academy to receive new students. She was a middle-ageddy of few words, and her expression was even colder. If not for the name tag hanging by her chest, no one would have taken her for a teacher sent by Carte nche to receive someone. Meyrin led Lin Sheng through the station as they made their way through three different tforms. And soon, three other students joined them. Two males and a female. Lin Sheng did not bother looking at them. For him, this trip to Carte nche was him expending a hefty sum of Xylondian goodwill to get this rmendation. Miga had two different schools for dark power development. One was the special government-run academies. For one to get into these academies, they basically have to sell their body and soul. But of course, the training and quality of these academies were top notch. The second kind was the top civilian universities with their own unique architecture. All of these academies in Miga have a unified name, The Crown Academies. What Lin Sheng managed to get was naturally the second kind of quota. After Meyrin received the other three students, adding Lin Sheng into the count, there were four of them. She then looked at her watch. ¡°It¡¯s almost time. I suppose the four of you are all we have today. Follow me.¡± Lin Sheng looked at the few students beside him. The male students did not stand out, while the girl had her chin raised slightly, her sapphire eyes squinting a little. She wore a beautiful silk dress and there was a servant pushing her luggage for her. The four of them followed Meyrin through the packed station before stopping by the street to wait for a car. ¡°Can¡¯t the school find a better ce to meet up?¡± The girl grumbled. ¡°The admission department of Baine University is getting worse by the years! I totally have no idea how Mr. Farmann is running the school.¡± She sounded prideful, and from her words, she seemed to be well-acquainted with the university. Meyrin red at her. ¡°That is not something you should be saying.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± The girl turned away disgruntledly, seemingly in no mood to speak to Meyrin. She had luscious tinum locks, and aside from her temper and character, she was quite the beauty when she was quiet. The moment she opened her mouth, however, her entire image copsed. Lin Sheng and the other two boys simply just stood behind without a word, content to y the part of the background cast. The group simply stood by the roadside and looked no different than other normal civilians or travelers. Soon, a white van slowly stooped before them. ¡°Get on.¡± Meyrin pulled the door open and got in first. Lin Sheng blinked as he was sure he was not seeing things. Meyrin had just walked straight into the van. When its doors were opened, it was nothing but a serene surface of theke. Ripples spread all across the surface as a couple of swans idly floated by, grooming their feathers. And by thekeside were verdant grass and alternating rows of red and yellow flowers. ¡°This!??¡± The two boys were as stunned as Lin Sheng was. Only the tinum-haired snobbish girl followed right after and stepped into the van, and onto the grass by theke. ¡°Hmph.¡± She gave a dismissive nce towards Lin Sheng and the rest as she and her servant followed Meyrin. Lin Sheng calmed himself down as he looked around. The civilians around them did not seem to have noticed the car door as they paid it no heed. ¡°Come in, this is a portable soul transference vehicle, it¡¯ll send you directly to the safe zone outside the Crown Academy,¡± Meyrin said tly. Lin Sheng pretended to gulp hard as he wore an astonished mask and carefully stepped onto the door frame, and into the van. The two other boys followed excitedly as well, keen to check if the ground were real. ¡°My goodness... that¡¯s amazing!¡± ¡°And my mum was adamant of not allowing me to attend the Crown Academy back then. I had regretted it somewhat, but not now, not ever!!¡± The two boys seemed to be very excited. Lin Sheng did not bother with any pretensions, aside from the initial astonishment, he had pretended to remain calm. It was a normal reaction for a Xilin student who hade from Xylond, amoner with little knowledge. After all, Xylond was considered backward in the development of dark powers. ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it. This sort of soul transference vehicle is verymon across Miga. It¡¯s amon transportation vehicle.¡± Meyrin simply exined and yawned in the process. After the students had settled down did she brought them across the grasnd by theke, and across the hill into a massive cluster of buildings circled by a white wall. The buildings did not look any different from your usual school, but every building there exuded a thick aura of dark powers, and from afar, the building seemed to be perpetually burning in green mes. However, for the students who had yet to awaken their dark powers, the buildings looked no different to your normal buildings. The main gate outside the white wall was wide open, as scores of people walked appeared out of nowhere,nding before the gate as they continued on to head into the campus. There were a few tables set up outside the ce, and a sign was propped up beside them. On it were a few signs written in Migan script. A few newly-enrolled students stopped before the table before they abruptly disappeared because the staff manning the tables seemed to be busy recording something. ¡°This is a graduate exchange program that the school is holding. You¡¯ll be attending one when you graduate as well. Don¡¯t look about, follow me.¡± Meyrin brought them through the main gate passed the tables and straight into the main building. The main building looked no different than a bank¡¯s customer service counter as quite a number of students were lined up before the three counters. After arranging them to line up for the payment, Meyrin left them to their own devices. The four of them looked at each other and fell silent. ¡°Hmph.¡± The tinum-haired girl sneered and could not be bothered about the three guys as she joined the line and started to browse through her phone. Lin Sheng too was not here to make friends. His goal was to learn everything he could about the dark powers, and building connections was not on the agenda. So he too went to join the payment queue with his head lowered, seemingly nervous. But in actuality, he was distracted as he remotely controlled the Thunderbeast over at Xylond. With his current sacred power level, a mere sea between Miga and Xylond could no longer stop him from assuming direct control from afar. Chapter 259 - Enrolment: Part 2

Chapter 259: Enrolment: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion A few momentster, the line moved on and soon it was the tinum-haired girl¡¯s turn. She stepped forward, and pulled a tinum card out of her purse and handed it over. ¡°Mylissa Cador. This is for the fees.¡± The staff behind the counter took the card and swiped it. The moment she saw the details she was stunned for a bit, before handing the card with an even more courteous attitude. ¡°Miss Mylissa, wishing you a wonderful campus life.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Mylissa took the admission papers and left the line. Lin Sheng followed suit and handed his normal identity card over. ¡°Lin Sheng, here¡¯s my card.¡± As the staff took the card, the process went on without a hitch, and his admission papers were soon handed to him as well. Just as he was about to turn away, he heard someone murmuring. ¡°It¡¯s Mylissa, another Cador here?¡± ¡°Probably that younger sister then. Having both sisters entering the same school. Heh, they aren¡¯t afraid of that congration?¡± ¡°This is Miga, not Olro. We value freedom here and don¡¯t have all those nonsensical rules and etiquettes. Isn¡¯t it normal to attract talents?¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s rude to gossip!¡± ¡°The Cador¡¯s had just beaten someone up there, and now there¡¯s an even better way for revenge. Did they send the girl here to get ughtered? What is that sh*t? A sacrifice?¡± All sorts of voices entered Lin Sheng¡¯s ears. His body at the moment could allow him to listen to every sound within ten-odd meters off him, and even more, but what he heard was some juicy tidbits. Yet, he just frowned and shut the voices off. He was here to study, not to gossip. After settling the admission process, there was someone to arrange for amodation, study materials, and ss schedules. The hostel was a simple single room, with a built-in washroom and a small balcony. A good enough setup. The teaching materials were no different than the normal university-level study materials, without anything to do with dark powers. All of them were Migan history, the university¡¯s history, philosophy, Migannguage primer, basic biology, basic chemistry, and the likes. After getting the study materials, it was almost dinner time. Lin Sheng simply had a meal in the school canteen. The canteen was not much different than the outside ones, and the food was actually worse than the one in Shermanton. But back there, Khad had been taking his ce in ss. Over there, Lin Sheng still existed, and over here, it was a Lin Sheng who shared the same name and surname but was a totally different person. For Xilinites, the name was not umon, and there were at least a few hundreds or thousands of Lin Shengs there. Lin Sheng could not be bothered to take on a disguise, and he simply adjusted his personal profile. For someone like him who had Level 6 sacred power and Level 7 overall attributes, it was nothing. Besides, his identity there was merely that of Lin Sheng¡¯s distant rtive from the Holy Sanctum. After he got the bed ready and arranged his study materials, Lin Sheng stood before the balcony, looking at the scenery outside. His room was on the first floor, and just below, that pompousdy, Mylissa was speaking to someone on the grounds before him. And the person she was talking to seemed to be a student here, but possibly a senior. The three of them exchanged words but the atmosphere was not pleasant and had gotten tense. Very quickly, someone shouted at Mylissa as tempers frayed. The person seemingly stepped forward to hit her but was stopped by theirpanions. Lin Sheng sniggered as he watched it. From his angle, it just looked like some brats no older than sixteen or seventeen were fighting while trying to act like adults at the same time. It was, honestly, quite hrious. *Knock, knock, knock.* Suddenly, a knock was heard on his door and Lin Sheng went over to open it. He saw a few new students standing outside, and one of the cheerful body with short brown hair immediately smiled at Lin Sheng. ¡°We are new students who are staying in the neighboring rooms. I¡¯m Felle, do you want to hang out and get to know each other?¡± ¡°No, thank you.¡± Lin Sheng wore a warm smile. He had no time to waste with the group of brats. ¡°Oh...¡± Felle was a little stunned, but he still courteously nodded, apologized and closed the door. He had not expected someone would actually decline that, and when he left he was still in a daze. As he closed the door, Lin Sheng went to bed. The dream was the same asst time. It was a new ce and he was still trying to get used to the ce, so he did not do anything drastic. Hence, Lin Sheng managed to rest properly. He wanted to get in touch with the core secrets of the dark powers within the shortest time possible, and that would need him to disy his innate talents. Especially in the field of dark powers. Luckily for him, the core of dark powers was the soul, and his spirit was just his strongest possible point. With soul and spirit so closely intertwined, he should not have any problems here. When he was at Xylond, he had taken the assessment and he had the potential to awaken his dark powers. ¡°Hopefully everything goes smoothly without a hitch.¡± With that thought in mind, Lin Sheng covered himself and slowly sank into meditation. Before he left, he had summoned the cleric out and got him to create a tome, and that allowed him to get a new Ashen Seal. If not for the fact that a Holy Sanctum could only have one tome and each tome could only record a signal Ashen Seal, Lin Sheng would probably get the cleric to engrave every seal he knew. ... ¡°I¡¯m d that you had chosen Baine University as your starting grounds to awaken your dark powers.¡± The third day after enrolment. Seven o¡¯clock in the morning. Lin Sheng attended his first lecture on dark powers. The lecturer was a bald bespectacled old man. He was no taller than five feet as he held a meter long teaching cane in his hand, pointing at the whiteboard from time to time while scribbling notes on it. Lin Sheng sat within the forty-plus students, and like the pompousdy, Mylissa, he was focused on listening to the lecture. ¡°Many people take the awakening of dark powers as being possessed by demonic powers, or someone going mental, some take it as a supernatural ability, the sign of rebirth.¡± The old bald man sniggered. ¡°Sadly, all of those are false, ignorant thoughts. The dark powers themselves are the power of the soul, the manifestation of wills. Alright, let¡¯s cut to the chase.¡± With a snap of his finger, a green light suddenly shed out. *Hiss...* Soon, an intricate crystal prism appeared before Lin Sheng¡¯s table. ¡°This is an assessment crystal. To assess the crity of your dark powers. Now, focus upon it, and imagine it turning ck,¡± the bald lecturer said. Lin Sheng looked around and noticed all of the students around had the same thing. He saw Mylissa, sitting behind him to the left toyed around nonchntly with the crystal with a disgruntled look, boredom was evident his her eyes. It seemed like thisdy here had already tested this at home before. As he cast his sight back to the crystal, Lin Sheng too wanted to find out, what sort of dark powers aptitude he had. He focused onto the crystal and started imagining it turning ck. A momentter, the bald lecturer spoke and broke everyone¡¯s focus. ¡°Based on the coloration, and hue of ckness, we will categorize them into nine different grades. The closer it is to ck, the better one¡¯s aptitude is. Look up, and match the color of your crystal to the chart, and determine what your aptitude is.¡± The old lecturer walked about among the students, and the moment he saw a crystal with a changed color, he collected and recorded them down. Not long after, as he arrived before Lin Sheng¡¯s desk, he was slightly bbergasted. The moment he saw the crystal prism before Lin Sheng had turned pitch ck, his expression mellowed and he even smiled genially at Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng smiled back out of etiquette. Chapter 260 - Enrolment: Part 3

Chapter 260: Enrolment: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion About ten minutester, the old lecturer finished collecting all of the crystal prisms and returned to the lectern. ¡°The nine different grades of aptitude, you can match it yourself. The lower your aptitude is, the more hard work and training you need to put in. Your soul is determined by your spirit, and your spirit can be nourished by your body. So train your body, break through the limit; that will allow you to train your mind at the same time, and increase your aptitude!¡± After a whole load of drivel, the old lecturer started announcing the results. ¡°Now, I would like to take the time to highlight these three students, their crystals had created the highest possible grade. Pure ck! All of you could do well to learn from them.¡± ¡°The students with pure ck grades are Mylissa Cador, Shalom Barbh, and Lin Sheng.¡± ¡°These three students will receive much more attention to the workshop segments, and all of you should learn from them.¡± Lin Sheng sat straight looking forward, but he could clearly sense that Mylissa¡¯s originally proud gaze was now looking at him in astonishment. She had totally did not expect someone she thought for a country bumpkin to have the same aptitude as her. Aside from her, there was another redhead brat whose expressionless gaze leaped between Mylissa and Lin Sheng. ¡°It¡¯s only a beginner¡¯s ck shroud crystal. Have you lot not seen one before? It¡¯s not like it¡¯s some high-end crystal...¡± The brat scoffed as he measured Mylissa and Lin Sheng with a gaze of superiority; even when he had no idea each and every word he muttered was heard by Lin Sheng. After the test, the old bald lecturer started to talk about the history and development of dark powers. While this subject was dry, Lin Sheng was paying full attention. At that moment, he was pairing things up with ckfeather City, and the appearance of the dark powers was usually from the spread of the ck Clusters. The powers brought on by the spread of the ck Clusters were the dark powers. The ck Clusters, the very holes had could consume all life, was veritably the source of dark powers, and the three hidden realms did not exist to exterminate the ck Clusters, rather they were meant to maintain a state of bnce. As Lin Sheng listened on, he could feel the gaze of the students around himnding on him. There was a name sign on the top left corner of each table so everyone could see at first nce that he was one of the three with the best aptitude. One by one, curious and envious gaze swept past him. Lin Sheng simply just sat up straight as he focused on listening to the lecture. Soon, the key part of the lecture came. ¡°Next... the awakening of your dark powers. Those who have already done it, you don¡¯t have toe. Those who have not yet, look at me!¡± The bald old man held a clear orb and said to the ss. Lin Sheng looked up at the old man. ¡°Ready, I¡¯ll try, and the awakening willmence. One, two.¡± *Bam!!* There was no three as a bright emerald light suddenly sted out from the clear orb and in that very instant, countless of cold, formless aura shot out from the clear orb towards the eyes of the students. Lin Sheng was no exception as he withstood his natural urge to dodge and defense himself, allowing the aura to assail him. The formless, sinister aura shot into his eyes and seemingly through a special conduit into his heart. Then, that aura, seemingly like embers on dry wood, instantly lit up a unique thought within his heart. *Hum... Hum...* Slowly, the students held their hand out and looked at the faint emerald light at the tip of their finger. The emerald light was very faint, but that was proof that they could really use dark powers. Lin Sheng too lifted his hand, and on the tip of his finger, a speck of pure emerald light popped out. ¡°It is simple but very unstable...¡± He frowned. Compared to with sacred power, dark power was itself very unstable and could mutate at every moment. ¡°After awakening your dark powers, you will need to learn the basic methods, the usage, the properties,pression, and transmutation. All of these will be taught by someone else,¡± the old man spoke again. Another torrent of drivelter, the old man had no other new content to offer and was mostly reminding the students to not be seduced by the dark thoughts in their heart. ¡°You are not some superior incarnate or reborn bygone deity, you are just a normal Darksider. ¡°The dark side of the soul that is aroused by the dark powers can shake and change someone in the beginning.¡± While it was drivel, Lin Sheng noticed that a few students recovered from their initial daze after they listened to the old man¡¯s words. *Ding dong...* ss was over. Lin Sheng was just about to go out to get some fresh air when he saw the brat make his way over and block Mylissa¡¯s path. ¡°Mylissa, do you want to join the Darkheart Society?¡± The brat wore a proud look, the backpfeifengesicht-type of look, as he looked at Mylissa. ¡°The Darkheart Society!¡± Unexpectedly, the prouddy Mylissa¡¯s expression changed, and her face turned pale at the mention of the name. ¡°You should be very aware of what the aim of the Darkheart Society is and the position my big brother is holding. If he is willing to cover for you, everything would work out fine,¡± the brat tly said. The two were speaking at almost at a whisper, and aside from themselves, only Lin Sheng could hear them. ¡°The Darkheart Society?¡± Lin Sheng felt that the organization probably had some clout when he heard that name. ¡°Think properly and let me know.¡± The brat sneered before he turned and walked over to Lin Sheng. ¡°Your turn now. I¡¯m this year¡¯s PIC for the Darkheart Society¡¯s first-years, Shalom. You can go back to find out what sort of organization we are, and if you want to join us, you can send your application to me. ¡°Of course, with your current conditions, you may have to pay a bigger price to join in. Be prepared for that.¡± The brat simply exined while still wearing that proud fa?ade before returning to his seat. He did not even bother asking if Lin Sheng was willing to join or not. Then, a voice rang out from the lectern again. ¡°There is only three days-worth of orientation, after three days, you need to choose a workshop tomence practical studies. If you could not join in time, based on Miganws, you will need to return to your country,¡± the bald lecturer exined. ¡°Of course, you can also opt to join the organizations, and learn from them. But you may be required to pay a price before joining these organizations, but they will also help you to n out a better future.¡± After ss, the bald lecturer simply stayed on for Q&A. Lin Sheng had a mind to join an organization, but the moment he heard that this Darkheart Society would require him to pay a price before joining, that nipped the thought in its bud. ¡°Day three? Isn¡¯t it tomorrow?¡± Lin Sheng estimated the time and looked at the brat. He did not reply... And that meant he was not joining. After school, Lin Sheng saw that the brat, Shalom went to look for Mylissa again, but Mylissa, who had been shaken earlier, formally rejected his invitation too. She seemed to have steeled herself for something. After being rejected again, Shalom was a little angry, and he sneered as he left. Chapter 261 - Parade: Part 1

Chapter 261: Parade: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Shalom did note looking for Lin Sheng and had probably forgotten about him. Lin Sheng did not bother either. He had just got there and did not understand what that organization was all about. However, what surprised him was that the other students in the ss¡ªafter some consultation and suggestions by the lecturer¡ªeach selected a society or an organization, big or small to join. Lin Sheng returned to this dorm and started to meditate for a moment before controlling the Thunderbeast over at the Holy Sanctum to settle some piled up paperwork. As hey on the bed, he could hear the voices of people within the dorm. And from the voice, it was that boy, Felle, who hade looking for him before. That boy lived just right beside him and was seemingly popr as he stood outside for a good hour on the phone, and each call was to cate a girl. ¡°Sure is nice to be young...¡± Lin Shengmented for some reason. His current body was also only neen years old. He, of course, would have his hormones, and his sexual urges as well, more so due to his Crag Dragon blood. Nevertheless, for him to control all of these memories before he awakened was not difficult. It¡¯s not that he did not want to look for a girlfriend, rather, every time he thought of it, Khad¡¯s face will appear in his mind. As he shuddered and entertained some of his more random thoughts, Lin Sheng collected himself and started meditating again. Another phone call rang out from outside the door, and the muffled voice and the passing of time slowly drove Lin Sheng to sleep. Sleeping while meditating was now a normal thing for him now, and the night passed without any dreams. The next morning, Lin Sheng woke up refreshed and left the dorm to the canteen for breakfast. There was arge notice board outside the canteen, and on the digital screen was a series of weird workshops and organization names. Lin Sheng looked over as he passed by, and saw many students gathering before the board. His neighbor, Felle was there as well. His short brown hair was a little messy as he chatted with a tall girl. Lin Sheng¡¯s passage too had attracted the attention of the crowd. The freshmen swept their gaze across him from time to time, and some whispered towards each other. This was the reception of the top three, they were always the focus of the crowd whenever they went. Lin Sheng saw a girl in a white dress walking close to him. Her tinum locks were long and luscious, just like the best roll of silk. He recognized the person; she was Mylissa, the girl who hade along with him. Mylissa had noticed him too and did not say anything. But she did give him a curt nod. She seemed to have recognized Lin Sheng somewhat after the earlier assessment. Soon, she got close to the notice board and seemed to be checking something. Lin Sheng focused to listen to the murmurs, and a momentter, he let out a faint smile as he walked closer and pushed a few students away to get to the front of the notice board. ¡°Atelier le chatte: Looking for three strong members. Please apply.¡± ¡°Arcane Thundercloud Workshop: Top-tier Darksiders preferred. Four persons. Please apply.¡± ¡°Miss Dulsa¡¯s Studio: Top-tier Darksiders preferred. Need one additional member. Please apply.¡± ¡°The Titan¡¯s Workshop: Good-tier Darksiders preferred, five members. Any unfilled slots will be automatically assigned.¡± ¡°The ck Chrysanthemum: Strong and determined persons preferred. Ten slots are avable. Any unfilled slots will be automatically assigned.¡± Workshops were listedpactly from top to bottom, and Lin Sheng had totally no idea what was what. He quickly looked at the bottom of the list and noticed that some of the workshops had additional requirements, like being a member of the Darkheart Society, or a member of the Standing Harp Club and the like. As for those without restrictions, most of them only had limited openings, or requirements so high that it made one¡¯s eyes water. ¡°If you are a true freshman, I suggest that you select the workshop with the highest possible requirements based on your aptitude,¡± Mylissa suddenly suggested. ¡°Why is that so?¡± Lin Sheng had only just arrived hadcked any understanding of the dark side. Xylond had little information about the Carte nche as well, and the fact that he could obtain a Xylondian rmendation was already a blessing. He had no time to understand anything else before he was sent there, and this information could not be found online. Mylissa seemed to have adjusted her view on Lin Sheng because of his aptitude, and she looked up as she spoke with a slight puff. ¡°It¡¯s no secret that the Carte nche¡¯s Crown Academies are not some welfare organization. Every student thates here to study needs to create value for the school. It¡¯s an exchange.¡± ¡°Very practical.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. He did not dislike such a system. ¡°And there¡¯s plenty of substandard garbage here.¡± Mylissa sneered. ¡°The lower the workshop¡¯s requirements, the less you¡¯ll actually learn. Plus, you¡¯ll get worked to death instead. ¡°On the other hand, the higher the requirements, the more you¡¯ll be able to learn. While it will still be a slog, once you graduate you¡¯ll be in high demand and be able to get better jobs.¡± ¡°This student has exined it well.¡± A girl in sses who overheard Mylissa¡¯s exnation smiled as she interjected. ¡°You also want to take note that if you don¡¯t have any details about a workshop, or any information about the lecturer¡¯s and tutor¡¯s character, I¡¯d suggest you not to choose randomly, and opt for the automatic assignment instead.¡± ¡°Hmph.¡± Mylissa gave a disdainful roll of the eye at the girl and did not say anything else, seemingly considering thetter beneath her notice to even talk. Lin Sheng however naturally continued the conversation. ¡°What do you mostly learn in those workshops?¡± ¡°This is where the informationes in handy. Mostly, what they teach is what you learn. You don¡¯t have the right to choose anything,¡± the girl in sses answered. Lin Sheng then swept through the notice board again and roughly memorized all of the workshops. Soon, the ssroom bell rang and the students dispersed and returned to their respective ces in the ssroom. Lin Sheng, Mylissa, and Shalom¡¯s ce were changed to the front most. All of the seats bore the student¡¯s name and they were not allowed to change at whim. The bald lecturer walked it with a huge stack of paper under his armpit and the noisy ssroom quickly turned quiet. ¡°My schedule is packed today, so let¡¯s keep things short. From now, those who want to apply for their preferred workshops, please raise your hand, and sent the forms to my officeter. ¡°And, who¡¯s looking to be assigned automatically? I¡¯ll arrange the most suitable choice based on your results, from top to bottom.¡± He seemed to be agitated, apparently having something urgent to attend to. A good number of students raised their hands, and Lin Sheng followed suit. He had no idea about the workshops and might as well just go with the automatic assignment. But what surprised him was Mylissa chose the same thing as well. The Shalom guy simply looked at them and sneered before he ignored them altogether. Chapter 262 - Parade: Part 2

Chapter 262: Parade: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Alright, alright.¡± The bald old man then continued, ¡°Since you¡¯re here, that means you have all been assessed and checked multiple times, with no promising ones left out. ¡°Now, it¡¯s for the assignment! From the best results!¡± His gaze then fell onto Shalom, Mylissa and Lin Sheng at the front. ¡°All of the workshops are located within the interior of Carte nche¡¯s Ville de nc. And next, I suggest that you choose a workshop that is best suited to your requirements. ¡°The workshops are divided into three levels. Level 3s are the highest, and they¡¯re usually led by the best of lecturers. ¡°Level 2s are led by your normal lecturers, and Level 1s are led by tutors or some short-term experimental workshops. ¡°Now, of the three most excellent students, Shalom has already applied, so it¡¯s down to you two, Mylissa and Lin Sheng.¡± The old man looked at them both and pointed. Two jets of green light shot out andnded on their table. Rows upon rows of words appeared on Lin Sheng¡¯s table. ¡°Level 3 workshops: Thousand Serpents, the Crystal Staff, The Silent Volcano, and the Soul Fortress. ¡°Level 2 workshops: The House of Palmisar, Secondary Thousand Serpents, Secondary Crystal Staff, Secondary Soul Fortress, The Hundred Footmen, The Behemoth, The Blood Army...¡± Lines upon lines of workshop names appeared on the surface, but Level 1 workshops were not even disyed. Lin Sheng did not see any requirements or prerequisites either. Clearly, for top-tier students like them, they had no restrictions in terms of their choice of workshops. Lin Sheng pondered a bit and smiled gently as he carefully asked the bald lecturer. ¡°Sir, can I know, of the Level 3 workshops, who is the most aplished and powerful of lecturers?¡± The bald old man shrugged and did not answer. Mylissa sniggered as she let out a dismissive sneer. She was clearly amused by Lin Sheng¡¯s immature question. ¡°If he were to answer your question directly, it¡¯s considered cheating.¡± She then added. ¡°But I just came from Xylond, and I¡¯m quite clueless...¡± Lin Sheng said helplessly. ¡°Then just choose at random. They won¡¯t be terrible,¡± Mylissa simply answered. She had little time to waste on a country bumpkin from Xylond. She was, after all, determined to get into the ss of the strongest lecturer, and this information, she had already scouted out beforehand, and of the avable choices this time, the strongest one was... She took up her pen and tapped gently on the table. All of the words on the table shrank and turned into a green light the moment she made her choice and flew towards the hand of the bald lecturer. Lin Sheng smiled as he retracted his gaze, and lifted his pen as he activated his weak dark powers from his body and infused the pen with it, before tapping on the same workshop Mylissa had chosen. *Whoosh.* ¡°The Soul Fortress Workshop¡± disappeared long the rest of the words. He did not mind what sort of development he was going to progress towards, what he mind was to make contact with the highest possible level. And based on Mylissa¡¯s character, she would not choose anything but the strongest workshop. Based on this sort of proud bratty attitude, if she had the choice, not choosing the best would be illogical. And time soon passed as a hum rang out as lines upon lines of green light returned to the bald old man¡¯s hand. He then took out a list and counterchecked them quickly before ticking on it. When he saw both Lin Sheng and Mylissa chose the Soul Fortress, he nodded slightly and did not say anything else. ¡°Alright, the selection isplete. Your afternoon is free, and you¡¯ll head to your respective workshops the next morning to report yourself. As for how you would get there, there¡¯ll be someone to bring you over. So you just need to wait outside the main hall tomorrow at seven. Good luck you all of you kids. Goodbye.¡± The bald old man said in a rushed tone as he packed up and darted out of the ss. And just as he got out, he raised his hand and shouted. ¡°Quickly! Book a ticket for me this afternoon! I¡¯ve already packed up!¡± He shouted as he ran, and soon he disappeared at the end of the corridor. ¡°He seemed to be very busy...¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°In Carte nche, everything has a price and a payment. Freedom means you don¡¯t have many responsibilities. That applies to you and the lecturers as well,¡± Mylissa simply added. ¡°I saw you chose the Soul Fortress?¡± Shalom walked over and sneered. ¡°Right, only the people of the Soul Fortress could ignore the pressure from that side, and ignore the problem your sister had made and shield you. ¡°Frankly speaking, though, I¡¯m rather impressed by your courage.¡± He left after he spat that out. Mylissa sat there coldly without a word. The moment Lin Sheng saw that scene, he was slightly more curious about the Soul Fortress and was slightly more interested in Mylissa as well. It seems like this bratty girl had some baggage with her the moment she enrolled. In three short days, he had gone through the enrolment and had selected his preferred workshop, and Lin Sheng could tell that the real deal, was only going to start at the workshop. ... *Hiss...* The faint Ashen Seal in Lin Sheng¡¯s mind lit up in pure white light. He had already stepped into Level 6 of his sacred power and was getting to Level 7 at a blinding speed. Level 6 orded him a simple increase of his sacred power¡¯s capacity while Level 7 would allow him to learn a brand new divine art. As for what it was, Lin Sheng had no idea. He only had a rough idea from the cleric¡¯s memories, and the moment he had absorbed the Night Lord¡¯s fragmented soul, his sacred power rose dramatically alongside his soul. *Tick tock, tick...* The rm he had set rang and Lin Sheng was roused from his meditation and opened his eyes in the dark. ¡°I¡¯ll probably be able to hit Level 7 in half a month¡¯s time... and the further I get, the Crag Dragon¡¯s blood¡¯s potency increase lessen, and my sacred power level is probably already a proper warrior¡¯s level...¡± He sighed and got off his bed. Looking at the sky outside, it was starting to get bright. He quickly washed up and changed up before going downstairs and waited before the main hall. Many had already arrived much earlier and all of the students were somewhat nervous, even Shalom and Mylissa. No one spoke and the atmosphere was tense. A few looked up at the school gate as anyone who made their way through it would attract the attention of the crowd there. Lin Sheng simply stood at a corner as he quietly waited for the person in charge to arrive. Soon, it was seven o¡¯clock, and the first person in charge arrived. It was a thin, pallid man in a white cape. He had a yellow leather case in his hand as he walked toward the students. ¡°Those of the Soul Fortress,e with me.¡± Lin Sheng and Mylissa walked over to the man at the same time. ¡°Mylissa and Lin Sheng, right?¡± the man mumbled. ¡°Yes.¡± the two answered at the same time. Mylissa gave Lin Sheng a surprised nce, she clearly did not expect him to choose the same workshop as her. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll exin the rules as we walk.¡± The man turned away and walked out of the school, not even bothering to look at the rest of the students. Both Lin Sheng and Mylissa quickly followed suit. ¡°The lecturer¡¯s temper is horrible, so the first rule is, no matter what the lecturer says, do not talk back.¡± Mylissa clenched her teeth but did not say anything while Lin Sheng simply just nodded. ¡°Next, you need toplete the daily mission assigned to you. That¡¯s mandatory. Failing that will earn you a strike, and you will be expelled after three strikes.¡± The two had no qualms there. ¡°Thirdly, the experiments of the workshop would need your close cooperation. And there¡¯s an element of danger to it, so both of you will need to sign a waiver and disimer beforehand.¡± Chapter 263 - Parade: Part 3

Chapter 263: Parade: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The man brought them out of the school towards a bread van waiting outside the school. He simply walked ahead and pulled the door open. On the opposite side of the door, was a domed fortress with twin towers. There was also a hundred-meter white field that ran from the door to the fortress. The three went in in sequence as the door shut behind them. ¡°I don¡¯t know why both of you had chosen the Soul Fortress, the main lecturer here is Mr. Auldmandiller. He is indeed powerful, but he is not someone easy to deal with. Here are your documents.¡± The man pulled out two scrolls of documents from his pocket and passed one each to Lin Sheng and Mylissa. ¡°Sign them, using the basic dark power method. Just leave a mark by the signature column there will do. The most basic usage of dark powers is fine.¡± Lin Sheng read through the document as he received it, and a green light appeared on his finger as he tapped on it. The document suddenly disintegrated and dispersed into light particles. Mylissa, on the other hand, also signed the document as she clenched her teeth. Seeing so, the man nodded as he brought them through the fields without a word, and soon they arrived at the vast garden before the fortress. ¡°You¡¯ve arrived. I¡¯m relieved from my duties now,¡± the man said. ¡°But just a reminder, be very, very careful. The experiments can kill.¡± He then sent the two to avish yet ancient hall before leaving that reminder and left. Lin Sheng and Mylissa looked at each other, and not having any idea on what to do, they simply just sat on the sofa. Time soon passed slowly as the two waited on the sofa. Yet there was no sound, no movement from within the fortress. The sunlight¡¯s arc moved from diagonal to vertical and back to diagonal. The hall¡¯s main door was wide open and aside from some ck metallic furniture, there was nothing else there. And soon, the sky started to turn dark as a figure slowly walked out of the door. Lin Sheng and Mylissa quickly got up and looked at the door. An old man, with silver hair, hooked nose and emerald eyes in a ck robe was slowly making his way with a stick in hand. The old man¡¯s gaze shifted a little the moment he saw Mylissa and Lin Sheng. ¡°Let¡¯s assess your aptitude using the high-grade crystal. I don¡¯t want to waste my time on rubbish.¡± Both Mylissa and Lin Sheng had chills going down their spine as his gaze swept past them. It felt as if a sharp, cold de had just run through their skin, and goosebumps started rising all over them. Lin Sheng tensed up, as he knew thetter¡¯s capabilities belies his frame, and that triggered that natural reaction. If his main body was graded based on the present tiering, he would only be a Three-winger, just inches away from being an Oppressor ss. And for him to go into full alert with just a gaze, that person must have been at least a Four-winged Oppressor ss. Carte nche sure was something. Lin Sheng brimmed with excitement. Mylissa beside him suppressed her unease as she stepped forward to ask. ¡°Are you Professor Auldmandiller of the Soul Fortress?¡± The old man did not answer and did not even look at Mylissa as he slowly walked into the hall and sat down on a silver rocking chair in the hall. He seemed to be very tired as he constantly massaged his temple. His eyes were bloodshot. ¡°Give them the assessment,¡± he said as hey down. *Hiss...* Suddenly, two pieces of pure white cards with silver trimmings appeared before Mylissa and Lin Sheng. The two quickly took the card, and just as they touched it, a powerful force suddenly radiated from the card and started drawing the dark powers from their body into it. *Hummm...* And soon, the two faint lights lit up one after another. Mylissa was proud as she puffed up her little face and pumped dark powers into the card. Lin Sheng, on the other hand, simply just held the card as he curiously looked at the jumping markings. The markings leaped about and soon formed a clear number. ¡°I¡¯m done!¡± Mylissa said loudly as the number on the card stopped. She let out a proud expression and held the card high. Auldmandiller simply just looked over and saw the number on Mylissa¡¯s card. ¡°Thirty-two,¡± he read the number out, and his face was impassive. ¡°I¡¯m only eighteen!¡± Mylissa interjected loudly as she tried to maintain her gaze on Auldmandiller. ¡°How about you, where¡¯s your card?¡± Auldmandiller did not even bother with her as he shifted his gaze to Lin Sheng. Mylissa was displeased and she held the card even higher. She clenched her teeth as she looked at Lin Sheng. As a fellow top tier student of the same caliber as here, even as good as Lin Sheng is, she did not think that thetter could surpass her! One needed to know, she had already awakened her dark powers back at home, and the moment she got there, she trained hard as she drew the power of her soul into part of the dark powers. To be able to get at least thirty and above on the card, even among all of the new enrollees of Carte nche, she would be at the top end. For that number, she had spent millions worth of Migan dors on the resources, and this preparation only allowed sess and no failure! She clenched her teeth hard, and her face turned red. If she fails here, she dare not imagine what sort of problems she¡¯ll run into in this academy. The enemies that bitch made would not let her go so easily! ¡°I must...seed!¡± I will seed! Mylissa held her fist tightly. If the person beside her scored much lower, that meant the chances of the old man taking her in was higher! With that hope in mind, she looked to the side at Lin Sheng¡¯s card. There was a clear number five on Lin Sheng¡¯s card, and the glowing silver light suddenly expanded in her eyes and allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m wondering if there is something wrong with this card.¡± Lin Sheng held the card with a confused look. ¡°Impossible!¡± Mylissa quickly replied. ¡°The margin of error of a high-grade assessment crystal is lower than a calctor. So your numbers must be right. If you are saying that it is too low, the problem then lies with yourself!¡± Her eyes gleamed with confidence. ¡°Is that so?¡± Lin Sheng slowly let go of the card in his hand. ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m saying that it is too low, I was thinking, was it a little too high...¡± He smiled. Behind his finger, right after the five, two zeroes appeared. *Whoooosh!* Auldmandiller shot out of the chair as his eyes glowed in disbelief. His form flickered and turned into a series of after-images before appearing before Lin Sheng and held the card. ¡°Marvelous! Just marvelous!!¡± His expression had changed from shock to disbelief to joy and to eptance in just mere seconds. ¡°What¡¯s your name!?¡± He held Lin Sheng by the arm, and even a fool could see that there was something wrong with this warmth. ¡°Professor, I¡¯m Lin Sheng, from Xylond,¡± Lin Sheng replied respectfully. ¡°Marvelous! Marvelous! Hehehehe!!¡± The old man inspected the card again and again as he closely observed the change in Lin Sheng¡¯s aura. And soon, he pulled out a crescent moon-shape rock and approached Lin Sheng. A gentle white glow appeared on the rock, and that made him even more excited than before. ¡°Marvelous! Lin Sheng right? I¡¯m so d that you had chosen the Soul Fortress as the path for awakening your dark powers. Don¡¯t worry, from today onwards, you are one of the only two disciples of Auldmandiller!¡± ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± Lin Sheng smiled respectfully. He had simply just infused the card with one-tenth of his faint dark powers, and never thought that could attract such a reaction from the old man. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you still need to go through another assessment, and if you pass that, aside from a few private areas within the Soul Fortress, you are free toe and go anywhere else!¡± The smile and warmth on the old man¡¯s face almost made Lin Sheng doubt that it was faked. And Mylissa simply looked on at Lin Sheng¡¯s card in a stupor, her face pale. She had not expected such an oue. She had thought she was well-prepared... that her aptitude was outstanding among the rest. ¡°Also, you can go home.¡± Auldmandiller waved Mylissa off. Mylissa indeed had a decent aptitude, but he had seen all too many people with such caliber here, and even if there was someone better than her, he did not care at all. Not at this critical juncture. The blood drained from Mylissa¡¯s face altogether. Chapter 264 - Treatment: Part 1

Chapter 264: Treatment: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°I... I...¡± Mylissa¡¯s breathing was erratic, stuttering as blood disappeared from her face. She trembled as she stared at Auldmandiller, her eyes bloodshot as she tried to figure out a way to change the professor¡¯s heart. ¡°You can leave now.¡± Auldmandiller never had any sympathy for students like her, as he had already seen such panic and despair all too many times. Ever since he made contact with dark powers to his present professorship, he had seen all kinds of students with a variety of characters in the past hundred years. Mylissa¡¯s initial pride and arrogance to her current shattered pride and panic, this dissonance may be interesting to others, but not him. ¡°Professor! I heard that you are researching the Firmirian Rotation Effect! I have managed to obtain a crimson dreamrhino horn! I can give it to you, and hope to be of help to your research!¡± Mylissa gritted her teeth, her heart bled as she spat every word out. That was her final trump card, and she had assumed that she would not have to use it, but now... She should be d that she hade fully prepared for all eventualities, or else things would turn out really bad! However, as she said that, her heart bled! A crimson dreamrhino was a true blue Five-winged dangerous beast! If one wanted to obtain the horn that it treated as its own life, the only way to do so was to kill it. As a Five-winged beast, due to powerful physique and terrifying resistance to energy and kic attacks, the crimson dreamrhino had been listed as the most dangerous of dangerous beasts to hunt. Even a normal Six-winger could do nothing against it. Plus, it had a habit of burrowing underground to hibernate, and each cyclested up to ten years. That horn was top-grade material, which any Darksider would wish to get their hands on. Even with money valuing in the tens of millions, one would not be able to purchase such a rare and valuable item. Yet now, for all kinds of reasons, she had to gift this to Professor Auldmandiller. The moment the crimson dreamrhino horn appeared, Auldmandiller was slightly astonished. ¡°You have managed to obtain such a rare ingredient?¡± He was a little surprised, and he reevaluated Mylissa again. ¡°I¡¯ll take the ingredient, and you can join the workshop as a student, but I won¡¯t guarantee that you will be able to graduate from my department. As for my examinations, I won¡¯t go easy. Think carefully.¡± Mylissa bit her lip and nodded hard. ¡°I won¡¯t disappoint you! I promise!¡± she said with absolute determination. Her emotions now was like a roiling volcano, as emotions surged and rampaged. She, Mylissa Cador, will definitely, definitely, make this old man see her different! Just you wait! She will definitely surprise this old coot! And let him understand how wrong he was to take her so lightly! ¡°Alright. Remember to pay the school andb fees. Five hundred thousand a year,¡± Auldmandiller said without even looking at her, his expression impassive. He then shifted his gaze to Lin Sheng. At that moment, the frost on his face seemed to melt like spring snow, and within a second it became a warm and genial elderly face. ¡°Lin Sheng, you can choose to live inside the fortress. I will immediately arrange for another round of assessment for you. Think you can do it? I¡¯ll send the study materials to youter. As for theb and materials, I¡¯ll prepare them when I get back. If you ever need anything in your life, please remember to tell your professor here.¡± ¡°Ugh...¡± Lin Sheng stole a nce at Mylissa, and thedy¡¯s expression was extremely ck as she tried to hold back some sort of terrifying rage. ¡°Then where should I pay the fees? The bursary at the main hall?¡± Lin Sheng asked in a hushed voice. ¡°Fees? No, no, no, you don¡¯t have to pay anything. As one of my only two disciples, I will pay you a hundred thousand a month in Migan dors for your living expenses andb workpensation.¡± Professor Auldmandiller then motioned wildly and said something that almost made Mylissa puke blood. ¡°That aside, if you have any issues at home, you can look for me too. I will help wherever I can!¡± Auldmandiller said with a puffed chest. ¡°Also, if you need anyone to help you. You can get her to help you. I¡¯m sure she would not reject any reasonable request you make. Right? Mylissa?¡± Auldmandiller shifted his gaze and stared at Mylissa. Mylissa¡¯s fuse was just about to blow, but she had no choice but to lower her head and force the words out of her mouth. ¡°Yes... I will do my best to help Lin Sheng...¡± She was very clear of her current situation. Lin Sheng¡¯s aptitude was way beyond hers. Five hundred... The total dark power capacity for most Two-winged Darksiders was roughly at that number. Dark power was determined by the strength of one¡¯s soul. The stronger the soul was, the more powerful one¡¯s dark powers. That meant the person had awakened directly as a Two-winger... One could only be born with such strength. It was a terrifying natural talent that could not be replicated or made up through hard work. This sort of spiritual strength meant that Lin Sheng¡¯s one day training would equate to her spending at least a dozen days, or even more. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s for today. Mylissa, you may go back yourself. There¡¯s transportation at regr intervals. As for Lin Sheng...¡± Auldmandiller¡¯s expression changed so rapidly it was beyond anything that Lin Sheng had ever seen. ¡°Lin Sheng you can follow the stairs behind. All of them are bedrooms. You can simply choose one, aside from my room and my granddaughter, Mi¡¯s room, feel free to choose one to live in.¡± ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± This was the first time Lin Sheng had experienced what it was like to be treated as a genius, and what tant favoritism was. He looked at Mylissa, whose face was still ck with anger, as she adjusted her dress and bowed towards Auldmandiller to bid her farewell, all while keeping her emotions in check, before leaving. He felt both schadenfreude and sympathy for her at the same time. Mylissa¡¯s etiquette was impable, but Auldmandiller had simply waved her off, not even bothering to look at her as he focused everything on Lin Sheng. He was busy exining the benefits of the fortress to convince him to move in. There was a special being called the Unseen Servants, and they will deal with everything as arranged by the professor. Based on the introduction, the intelligence of an Unseen Servant was akin to a teen and was very useful. As Lin Sheng tried to deal with the professor¡¯s overwhelming enthusiasm, he looked at Mylissa leaving the main gate dejectedly as she headed towards a bread van that had appeared on the far end of the field. ¡°Just a little pheasant that thinks too highly of herself. You and her are of different worlds. Pay her no mind. ¡°Lin Sheng, with your talents, you don¡¯t have to take notice of such minor characters. Their talents and their aptitude have pre-destined them to only be able to serve as your servant,¡± the professor said without any pretensions. ¡°Talent is everything! For such a normal student like her, she will never be able to follow in your footsteps no matter how hard she tries. Not even your shadow! So she needs to set herself straight and know where she stands!¡± ¡°I understand, sir,¡± Lin Sheng responded respectfully. ¡°You are a natural-born Darkheart, a genius among the Darksiders. An elite who is destined to enter the highest echelon of Carte nche, the Mooke! ¡°Alright, you don¡¯t have to waste your breath with such minor characters. When my granddaughter returns, I¡¯ll introduce you to her. Both of you are of the same age so I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have plenty to talk about!¡± Chapter 265 - Treatment: Part 2

Chapter 265: Treatment: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The enthusiasm that the professor showed was bizarre by Lin Sheng¡¯s standards. He could faintly tell that Auldmandiller¡¯s attitude was slightly overboard, and he also noticed thetter had used a new word. ¡°A Darkheart? What is that, sir? Does that refer to those with exceptional talents?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°When a person awakens with dark powers over the value of two hundred, all of these geniuses have a name, the Darkhearts. The Darkhearts and your run-of-the-mill Darksiders are on two totally different levels.¡± A trace ofplicated envy shed through Auldmandiller¡¯s face. ¡°In all, don¡¯t you worry, I¡¯ll do my best to guide and nurture you! You surely won¡¯t be disappointed!¡± he said as he patted his chest. There were fourteen Crown Academies ran by Carte nche and Baine University was a middling academy, or else they would not have needed to ept foreign students in exchange for fees. Auldmandiller knew very well that if Lin Sheng¡¯s identity as a Darkheart was leaked out, many other more powerful professors would start to extend their olive branches to lure him away. The advantages and benefits that they would be able to offer were far beyond his, and they could provide Lin Sheng with resources and statuses far beyond his own ability. And they would also be able to provide him a stronger and even better-rounded teaching and guidance tform. So, to keep Lin Sheng and his first disciple, he did not see himself as a teacher or a professor. He had inherited his grandfather¡¯s Soul Fortress as a normal Darksider. It had been eighty years since, and for eighty years, he worked himself to the bone to barely keep the Soul Fortress running normally. The difference between a Darkheart and a normal Darksider was heaven and earth. His grandfather was a Darkheart, and could easily maintain the operation of the Soul Fortress. For him, it was as if the ce was a rust bucket. Every movement took everything he had. And Auldmandiller was exhausted. He had once ced his hope on his progeny, but when his son was born, his aptitude was not even close to his own. When his granddaughter was born, she was just a little stronger than him. So until now, he had totally given into despair. In order to not let the Soul Fortress workshop die in his hand, he finally decided to ce his hopes on his disciple. However, a natural genius like a Darkheart would normally not stay in Baine University and would mostly choose to move on to the top ten schools. So, in order to keep such a genius there, he was prepared to pay the price. Lin Sheng did not know what Auldmandiller was thinking, as he had also noticed that his aptitude was beyond his own expectations. However, he had no ns to change his school. Perhaps he could go further in his dark powers if he chose a top-ranking university. But he did not want to risk going into too dangerous an environment. For a middling university like Baine, it fit the bill just nice as he could stille into contact with the top level of the dark powers without it being too risky. So he decided to seriously learn what he could, and decideter. No matter where he went, he was here to learn about the dark powers, and he would leave sooner orter. After another round of enthusiastic exnation, Auldmandiller gave Lin Sheng an identity card made out of ck crystal, and only left after bringing thetter to the room he had chosen. Lin Sheng had indeed agreed to live inside the fortress. Since he barely had anything to pack up back in school, so he just decided to stay the night. And it was a dreamless night. Due to his recent changing of amodation, the dream was a blur. But Lin Sheng was not in a rush as he needed to focus on learning how to use his dark powers. He could feel that both dark and sacred powers were of the same source, and they could affect each other. The next morning. Lin Sheng woke up sharp at eight. The room that he had chosen was inordinatelyvish, and therge feather down bed was at least three meters wide, six meters long. And the room was at least the size of a small basketball court. On the side of the wall was filled with bookracks and cupboards. On the bookracks were all sorts of collections and decorations. Inside the cupboard was all kinds of clothing. He had no idea when it was prepared. The wall of the room was pure gray, and the floor and the ceiling were made out of tiles of yellow crystal that let out a faint, gentle glow. When hey on the bed, the light would automatically dim and disappear as the windows would appear on the wall automatically, letting fresh air in. ¡°Oh... this ce is pretty decent.¡± Lin Sheng sat on the bed as he massaged his neck, his body felt good. The bed was not just a simple bed, there were faint fluctuations of dark powers in it, and it was clearly working. That was the best sleep Lin Sheng had gotten in a long while. From Xilin to Xylond, to Miga, he had never felt that sleeping was such a wonderful thing. As he got down from the bed, he walked to the shirt rack and grabbed his clothes. ¡°Hmm? It¡¯s washed and ironed?¡± The texture and fragrance of the shirt astonished Lin Sheng. He had no idea when the clothes were washed and ironed. Upon grabbing the shirt and putting it on, while it was just a simple light blue shirt and brown cks, it still gave out a rather branded feel after some ironing. Pushing the door open, Lin Sheng followed the grey-carpeted corridor towards the ssroom zone at the back of the fortress. That was the ce the professor had mentioned, where ss and work takes ce. As he got close, Lin Sheng could hear faint sounds of crying and yelling. The train-carriage-like corridor soon reached its end as Lin Sheng arrived at a circr sky well. From his position, the sky well¡¯s entrance was just at the edge. In the middle of the sky well was a translucent ss dome, and within each dome were two students who were hard at work trying to operate the various test tubes loaded bubbling with all sorts of glowing liquid. Professor Auldmandiller held a training cane as hended a heavy hit on a female student with twin pigtails. Vicious wounds were seen on the student¡¯s hands and face, and one of her eyes was swollen. On the ground rolled a green test tube as a faint silver liquid flowed out from the mouth of the tube onto the ground. Lin Sheng looked around and saw Mylissa in one of the ss domes. She was operating instruments alongside a tall girl with a mole on her nose, seemingly in the middle of producing something. Auldmandiller yelled for a while more until he saw Lin Shenging over as anger gave way to a genial smile as he made his way over. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you sleep a little longer? This is your first day, you don¡¯t have toe ording to schedule. You should rest up. ¡°I have purposely turned off the morning rm to not wake you up. I never thought you¡¯d wake up this early though.¡± ¡°Sir, I only wanted to learn more about the mysteries of dark powers as soon as I can,¡± Lin Sheng responded with respect. As he spoke, he saw Mylissa and the rest looking over. The students were just mere apprentices and not disciples of Auldmandiller. There were eight of them in total, and the oldest looked almost fifty, while the youngest was Mylissa and another boy in his mid-teens. All of them had very heavy eye bags and had clearly not rested enough. Chapter 266 - Treatment: Part 3

Chapter 266: Treatment: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng could feel the faint envy and jealously from the side nces the apprentices were throwing at him. Even when these emotions were concealed, he could still perceive them. ¡°Continue, aside from the new students, all of you need to finish two antidotes by five. Those who fail to do so will be fined ten thousand, and three failures will get you the boot!¡± Auldmandiller turned over and roared with a stern voice at the apprentices. ¡°Do you hear me!¡± He raised his voice. ¡°Yes, sir!¡± the group of apprentices quickly replied. It seemed like they were being drilled thoroughly on this. Aside from Mylissa who was not used to it, the rest were already used to lowering their heads and work. Auldmandiller then turned over and said warmly to Lin Sheng. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Lin Sheng. We¡¯ll first have breakfast then I¡¯llmence with the first of your initiation sses.¡± ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. Standing before the group of apprentices, he now knew what it was like to be on a level with special privileges, how it was like to be treated as a genius... Compared with Mylissa who hade together within on equal standing, there was now a massive gulf between them, as though they were in two different worlds. Auldmandir gave the apprentices another fierce nce before taking Lin Sheng for breakfast. The menu was crispy maple syrup pancakes and ironfowl eggroll with orange juice and mashed potato with beef liver and tomatoes. The ironfowl eggroll was not something Lin Sheng had eaten before. ording to the books, the ironfowl was arge bird and their eggs were cooked using peanut oil. Lin Sheng wolfed down three in one go and felt that his body was all warmed up, seemingly overdoing it. Yet Auldmandiller kept offering him to eat more, and the gentle care in his eyes surpassed even his own father. After breakfast, Auldmandiller brought Lin Sheng alone into a small ssroom and got him to sit on an independent set of tables and chairs. On it were a stack of brand new study materials, and by the books were all sorts of stationery and an empty notebook. A momentter, four people entered the ssroom, and two of them were Mylissa and the talldy with a mole on her nose. The two moved quickly as they fearfully looked for a seat at the edge of the room. The two other persons were panting boys, their looks were unassuming, but caution was apparent in their eyes. After everyone had gotten to their seats, Auldmandiller stood calmly on the lectern as he said to everyone below. ¡°Alright, we willmence our first ss. This will be about the basic type and properties of dark powers. ¡°During my lecture, if you have any questions, I hope to not be interrupted. You may keep the questions until I¡¯ve finished a section. Ask questions only when I indicate that you can start asking. Am I clear?!¡± His voice was calm, yet there was a stern warningced within it. ¡°Understood!¡± everyone answered at the same time, Lin Sheng included. ¡°Of course, that excludes Lin Sheng. You can interrupt me and ask questions at any time.¡± His tone literally shifted from the cold winters of Siberia to the warm breeze of Hawaii, and the sudden shift had all of the other students gnashing their teeth. ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± Lin Sheng smiled in reply. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s start then.¡± Auldmandiller whipped out his teaching cane and pointed at the air in front of him. *Humm...* A cluster of green orbs appeared in the air and floated about. ¡°This is what you call dark powers,¡± he said as he pointed at the orbs. ¡°All of us know that dark powers originate from the soul, the spiritual powers from the malevolent side. And because of its nature, it has powerful corruptive and destructive powers, hence we are able to use it as a weapon to protect ourselves. ¡°Of course, there are powers from the benevolent side as well, but those kinds of powers cannot protect us, so we¡¯ll leave it for the time being.¡± When ites to lecturing, Auldmandiller did have the air of a professor. ¡°The history of dark powers, I¡¯ll be passing on that. You can go through the books if you are interested. It¡¯s in the study materials. ¡°What I want to talk about are the properties and usage. Properties first!¡± He gently tapped one of the dark power orbs, and the orb immediately split into a green color crystal prism and a slightly fainter green orb. ¡°There are three types of dark power properties. Corruption, Violence and Phantasm.¡± ¡°Corruption, Violence and Phantasm?¡± Lin Sheng had some inkling. He had, after all, fought against quite a number of Darksiders now, and the moment he heard the categorizations, he immediately had some ideas. ¡°Every type of dark power will have all these three properties, but their weightage will be different, hence the differentiation. ¡°Your study materials have also recorded these three categories. So what I¡¯m going to focus on, is their difference,¡± Auldmandiller continued. ¡°The first type is Corruption. These Darksiders are the most numerous. The dark powers that they awaken are mainly to corrupt objects or minds. This kind of Darksider would start to have nightmares every day, normally a continuous sort of dream or an endless dream state. ¡°After their dark powers are awakened, the first thing that they need to corrupt is themselves. ¡°Without proper guidance, these Darksiders, unless they managed to defeat their fears, they would quickly devolve into all sorts of monstrosities and are hunted down. ¡°The next type is Violence. These Darksiders are average in numbers. The powers that they awaken mainly stimte their muscles to create a stronger physical body. And here, at least 90% are the second type of Darksiders. ¡°The dark powers of this type could either increase strength, speed, self-recovery, but the side effect is that their temper is short and would go berserk easily. ¡°The third type, Phantasm. This type of dark power is mainly to create illusions. You¡¯ll probably run into a bunch of people called the Audial-mesmers, their specialty is phantasmic dark powers. ¡°This type of dark powers have all kinds of style and patterns, but when ites tobat, they are either terrifyingly powerful or terrifyingly impotent. It¡¯s very easy to veer off the edge with that. We¡¯ll delve into the details when we have the chance.¡± Auldmandiller swept aside the green orbs and kept only the green crystal. ¡°Next is use. Normally, upon awakening their powers, they¡¯ll simply use it crudely to improve their powers, either on the surface of their bodies or within their muscles. ¡°But only a few know that if one were to modte it into weapons, items or even living beings, the potency and usability of dark powers will be greatly widened.¡± He pointed at the floating crystal, and the crystal soon shuddered. It twisted and turned into a small, intricate cup. Not long after, the cup changed again, and two secondster, it became a four-winged dragonfly. The dragonfly then flew about, letting out a buzz as it sped across the ssroom. ¡°All dark powers have these three properties, Corruption, Violence and Phantasm. And everyone will have different inclinations and specialties, so you need to find which area you are good at, and choose your path from there. ¡°Amplication, modtion, and short-term activation are the three basic usages of dark powers, and is the content that I¡¯ll be teaching you next.¡± Lin Sheng sat still as he listened on intently. To think that such a crude and simple green light had all sorts of different properties to it, and to have so many different usages. What got him interested was Auldmandiller¡¯s talk about the general state of the Darkside. Based on his demarcations, there were three types of people in the Darkside. The first referred to the powerful Darksiders trained by the military. They possessed both a strong will and body. While their average power was the highest, their number was the lowest. The second type were those from the civilian universities led by the Three Hidden Realms. The ability of this group was not consistent but their strongest ones were a match for the first. The third consisted of the wanderers who did not belong to any organization. They were the most numerous in numbers and the most dangerous. The monsters, disasters, and horrifying tales that popped up from time to time were usually their handiwork. Most of them would have no idea that they had awakened their dark powers until their minds were corrupted and they had turned into monsters. Chapter 267 - Enhancing: Part 1

Chapter 267: Enhancing: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Corruption, Violence, and Phantasm...¡± After ss, Lin Sheng used the break time to ponder the three properties mentioned by the professor. ¡°If all dark powers have all these three properties, then mine would have one too, but I¡¯m not sure which type I¡¯m more inclined to?¡± During break time, all of the students simply sat down quietly as they wrote down notes, not daring to speak loudly or to chat about. They had endured so much and paid such a hefty fee to be here, all to learn the things that one will not be able to learn in the outside world. If there was any moment for them to use their time wisely, it was now. Auldmandiller walked over to Lin Sheng¡¯s side and saw the three main properties written on thetter¡¯s notebook and smiled. ¡°Do you have any questions, Lin Sheng? All three properties have their own unique traits and abilities, want me to demonstrate?¡± Lin Sheng had just meant to ask that. ¡°Yes, thank you, sir.¡± He just asked because, regardless of why Auldmandiller treated him so well, learning something was always a plus. Besides, Auldmandiller did not even bother with the other apprentices who had shifted their eyes to listen in. With a p, a small cag with a few white mice in it flew into the room. ¡°Then, let us see how dark powers corrupt a living being under normal circumstances.¡± With a tap, a dark power orb suddenly appeared in the air. It was just a size of a peanut as it slowly flew over to the mouse cage. The mice seemed to have detected something absolutely terrifying as they started shrieking, their fur bristling and scampered around the cage nervously. The peanut-sized dark power orb floated over to one of the mice and slowlynded. The dark power had not even gotten close, but the closest white mouse slowly shrank into a corner. ¡°The corruption of dark powers is faster for weaker lifeforms. But of course, as fast as it may be, it¡¯ll mostly take at least ten odd days. ¡°But here, to let you observe closely, I can elerate the process a little.¡± Auldmandiller smiled as he gently waved his finger. The orb of dark power slowly turned back, and at the same time, the closest white mouse to the orb started shuddering as if it was being electrocuted. Its fur starting turning back, so did its eyes. *Snap!* After a short struggle, it suddenly lunged at another mouse following a piercing shriek. Its eyes had totally turned ink ck as it started fighting with the other mouse. ¡°This is corruption, it will trigger the negative memories within a living being¡¯s soul, it strengthens their grudge, but aside from that, corruption will not bring you any additional strength.¡± Auldmandiller exined genially. ¡°As for the other two properties...¡± With another tap, a brand new dark power orb appeared in the air. ... Three hourster, Lin Sheng left the fortress deep in thought with his notebook. The door behind him slowly closed as if an invisible hand was pulling the door. *Bam!* The two door panels met and mmed close heavily. Lin Sheng adjusted his cor as he walked along the path on the field outside the fortress. After Professor Auldmandillerpleted his lecture for both sses, he went on to supervise the other apprentices. As for Mylissa and the rest, they had returned to the main hall to start another round of potion-making. Lin Sheng, in his boredom, was also released by the professor to do his own thing. ¡°Head over to the Flowing Avenue. It is popr among the students,¡± Professor Auldmandiller said. The Flowing Avenue was the most popr gathering spot for Darksiders in Miga that was near Baine University. It was originally a bazaar formed by the workshops of the university to sell their additional products and it slowly became to what it was today. Every Darksider woulde here to have a look, and some even bought houses nearby to live. Without a word, Lin Sheng made his way through the small path between the fields until he reached a position about two hundred meters away from the fortress. He then suddenly held his hand forward. His finger lit up as an emerald light disturbed the air, and formed ripples. Lin Sheng pulled his hand back, and whiles stepped into the ripples while it was still present. *Hiss!!* Like passing through a thin membrane, the scenery before him changed as a lively and bustling street. He was now standing by the side of the road in front of a chilled drink caf¨¦. Beside him was a long line of customers as countless of weird giant avian creatures were slowly ferried passengers overhead. Before him were a few powerful men in ck uniforms and a rubber truncheon in their hands. They were scanning around before moving on. Lin Sheng had yet to adjust himself from a ce of quiet to a cacophonous street. On the grey pavement on the right, a puff of mist glowing in silver light appeared and the mist soon formed into an ethereal giant fat clown. He smiled as he bowed, a current of air blew from his pudgy hands. The clown was about six meters tall and took up almost half of the street¡¯s space. Yet his body was ethereal and simply went through the passersby. There was no knocking into or pushing, just like an illusion. The clown¡¯s massive hand easily went through everybody. ¡°The Pierrot¡¯s Darksider Tools, your best choice!¡± A deafening advertisement boomed from the clown¡¯s mouth. Only then did Lin Sheng realize that that clown was a walking advertisement. Looking into the distance, the whole street offered all kinds of phantasmal configurations, and advertisements like that from the clown asionally appeared and disappeared. Herds of flying beasts would alsond from time to time before vanishing into handling as their passengers got off into the buildings. There was a four-legged dolphin, a green octopus, a meter tall giant mosquito and a humanoid made out of flies. Weird beings passed by Lin Sheng one after another. If not for him being squeezed inside a group of humanoids, Lin Sheng would have assumed that he had arrived into some bizzarond. Then he recalled what his professor had told him before he left. ¡°The Flowing Avenue is a bazaar where dark powers converge, so you don¡¯t need to be surprised or afraid. Us Darksiders are always a weird bunch ourselves, and there are people in every shape imaginable. ¡°Just look for what you need and what you want to find. You don¡¯t have to bother about the rest. Some Darksiders are not willing to reveal their identities and will use a spirit conjuration as their double.¡± Lin Shengposed himself and calmly walked through the massive clown. A few stepster, he was through it, and onto the other side. There were a couple of street stalls arrayed on the right side of the street, and the owner was a person d in a ck robe with a pink pumpkin head. Lin Sheng looked at what the stall had to offer, and they were mostly scattered items, probably a stall selling decorations and adornments. A few people squatted before the stall as they enquired about the price. Lin Sheng then increased his pace, past the stall toward a seemingly normal shop. The shop was white and seemed no different than a usual sundry store. From outside, an array of wares could be seen. There was a pretty girl in a white dress standing outside the shop, bowing as she handed brochures to the passersby. Lin Sheng had taken one as well when he passed through the shop and looked down. ¡°Dark power gadgets clearance sale! Big spring discount! Discounts on all items starting at 65%, 65%!¡± Chapter 268 - Enhancing: Part 2 Chapter 268: Enhancing: Part 2 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Darksider Tools?¡± Lin Sheng looked at the pictures in the brochure, and it seemed to be some special items formed out of machine and dark powers. Among them were mechanical limbs, strength enhancement equipment, speed enhancement equipment, sticity enhancement, endurance enhancement, animal prosthetics, and the like. ¡°Seems pretty decent.¡± Lin Sheng looked at the prices. The cheaper ones were just a few hundred dors and the most expensive cost around tens of thousands of Migan dors. Along the way, the street had all sorts of shops tightly packed together, and he would never finish looking at them. Most of them were mainly selling Darksider equipment or potions. Some were clubs or experience centers. Lin Sheng had no idea what these experience center clubs with their thick fuming smokes were all about. They had no signboards or descriptions, and only lines of customers going in or out of it. Only after he had gotten to thetter half of the street that the crowd died down a little. There were a number ofrge cars parked outside the shop lots on both sides of the road, and the car tes seemed to indicate that they were heading to different districts in Miga. Lin Sheng reached the end of the street and stopped at thest garbage transfer station before turning back toward where he came from. Not longter, he returned to the busy street that he had originally arrived in and headed in the opposite direction. That other street was slightly longer, but not by much. After moving across the entire Flowing Avenue, Lin Sheng estimated the entire street to be about three kilometers long, and what impressed him was, every living person in this street seemed toe and go the way he did. All of them were using dark powers to open up a mysterious portal to arrive here safely. Meaning, if not for their mastery of those portals, very few people would have found the ce. ¡°It¡¯s like a mini Hidden Realm...¡± Lin Sheng wondered. Half an hourter, he once again reached the end of the other side of the Flowing Avenue. Over there it was an endless barren in filled with yellow sand. Aside from the people on the street, there were no living things there at all. After window shopping for a while, Lin Sheng returned to his point of arrival, and with a tap of dark powers, the scenery before him changed as he returned once again to the fields outside the Soul Fortress. The cacophony around him disappeared as a serene quiet of the fields greeted him. After regaining hisposure, Lin Sheng walked back toward the fortress, and soon he was passed the main gate and back into the ssroom. The professor was not in the ssroom. Only two students, who had reached earlier were whispering to each other. Mylissa was not there too. Lin Sheng looked at the time before going over to the canteen, and after his meal, he went back to his room to rest. He only returned to the ssroom about two in the afternoon. It was almost time for the afternoon session. Professor Auldmandiller was already sitting by the edge of the ssroom drinking a ss of water, and before him was a short-haired youth whom he had never seen before. The youth had an impatient look in his eyes. He was d in some sort of white fitting uniform, and on his wrist was a ck-leather watch. ¡°He¡¯s here. This is your junior, Lin Sheng from Xylond!¡± The professor burst into a smile the moment he saw Lin Sheng enter the ssroom. The youth turned over to Lin Sheng and gave him a measuring, towering look. He was indeed tall, at least two meters in high, and he stood before Lin Sheng like a bamboo pole. ¡°You called me back just for this?¡± the youth grumbled. ¡°Sir, I¡¯m a busy person, I don¡¯t have time to waste on this sort of unimportant meetings! Please don¡¯t bother me with this in the future, alright?¡± Auldmandiller¡¯s originally happy face turned awkward with the youth¡¯s grumbling and tantrum. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be leaving.¡± The youth ignored Auldmandiller and simply walked past Lin Sheng before disappearing into the hallway. ¡°Don¡¯t mind that, Lin Sheng. Your senior is a very busy person. He¡¯s very tensed up due to the qualifiers. This will affect whether he will get a full Carte nche research grant or not...¡± ¡°No worries.¡± Lin Sheng was initially worried about Auldmandiller having some sinister ns for him, but it now seemed that he was just thinking too much. His senior¡¯s attitude toward the professor seemed to be bad, yet Auldmandiller¡¯s treatment of his senior was the same as him, amodating as always. ¡°Your senior is called Mokhra, and he is posted at Carte nche¡¯s Ninestar Mere. His aptitude is excellent, and just like you, he¡¯s a Darkheart as well.¡± Auldmandiller fought through the slight awkwardness and helplessness as he exined. Lin Sheng nodded and let the topic rest. ¡°Then, sir, I suppose you¡¯ll be talking about the training methods for dark powers in the afternoon?¡± ¡°Hmmm, I¡¯ve nned for the training practice to be der, but since you want to elerate that, I can adjust the teaching n. We¡¯ll talk about how to train one¡¯s dark powers today.¡± Auldmandiller¡¯s genial smile returned. In the afternoon, as Lin Sheng chatted with Auldmandiller, a few new apprentices entered the ssroom as well. After everyone was present, Auldmandiller started the lecture about how to train one¡¯s dark powers. ¡°As for the training of dark powers, every school has their own methods and teachings, and Baine University here has twenty-seven main schools. Now that you¡¯ve joined my Soul Fortress, I can allow all of you to choose the Soul Fortress¡¯ unique Crystal school as your main training method. Auldmandiller waved his hand as he stood at the lectern. Soon, a series of silver crystal slivers flickered in the air. Very quickly, however, they disappeared and things returned to normal. But on Auldmandiller¡¯s lectern, a gigantic silver crystal the size of a human head appeared on it. The crystal was a perfect orb, and within it was a series ofpact light points. It was enchantingly beautiful as Mylissa and the other girls gasped in amazement. Girls were always much more easily attracted to pretty things like this than boys. ¡°The Soul Fortress¡¯ dark power training method is our own unique Legacy Crystals. It is beautiful, powerful, yet extremely difficult.¡± Auldmandiller was pleased with the reaction of his apprentices. ¡°I¡¯ll teach all of you the preliminary training methods. This level is free, but if you want to continue further, you¡¯ll need to pay the fees. I¡¯ll publish the fees listter.¡± As he got there, he looked at Lin Sheng. ¡°But of course, Lin Sheng could learn it all for free. This is the natural benefits of a Darkheart.¡± Lin Sheng smiled amidst the envious gazes. Mylissa sat in a corner and bit her lips. She looked at her hands, which had been toiling for a good part of the day. Her gentle, smooth palms were horribly unmade by the corrosive nature of the potions. She could not help but to look at Lin Sheng¡¯s hands, it was clean and smooth, without any scars. They were new students from the same batch... When she thought of that, a painful bitterness welled up within her. Chapter 269 - Enhancing: Part 3 Chapter 269: Enhancing: Part 3 Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion At that point, Auldmandiller had already reached the part about the basic flow of dark power. ¡°No matter what school it is, the core principle is to sculpt a spiritual conjuration of your soul. ¡°Only after you manage to amplify, modte, and activate your dark powers will you be able to start sculpting.¡± Auldmandiller kept the exnation simple. ¡°Different schools will create different types of soul conjurations. For us Soul Fortress, based on the Crystal Legacy training method, the soul conjuration is...¡± Auldmandiller gently pointed towards an empty spot beside him, and suddenly a massive warrior covered in ck crystal slowly appeared. The warrior¡¯s armor was made out of crystal, and wore a full-face helmet, not showing any skin at all. The students could only see it wielding a massive greatsword. Its chest did not heave, indicating that it was not a living thing. ¡°The Crystal Warrior. This is the Soul Fortress¡¯ unique crystal training method and the result of our toil,¡± Auldmandiller said with much pride. ¡°At the same time, the Crystal Warrior is also a rare, independent superior conjuration.¡± ¡°Then, sir, the strength of the Crystal Warrior...¡± an apprentice could not help but ask. ¡°In the dark power system, the strength of one¡¯s conjuration is equal to the Darksider¡¯s strength,¡± Auldmandiller exined. ¡°Most of the spiritual conjurations cannot help their masters to fight their foes head-on. Most can only provide supporting buffs, but the Crystal Warrior of the Soul Fortress is different, and that¡¯s why my Soul Fortress could rank the highest in Baine University,¡± Auldmandiller proimed proudly. Lin Sheng nodded. While he had no idea what kind of strength the professor possessed, but the Crystal Warrior, just by standing there exuded the same aura and pressure as the professor. That clearly meant his strength was quite something. He then lowered his head as he started taking notes. Half of the ss was Auldmandiller boasting and another half was him doing extravagant presentations, and very quickly the ss ended. The professor had freely thought everyone the basic crystal training method of the Soul Fortress. And on this note, the treatment Lin Sheng received was no different than other students. After ss, Auldmandiller took a phone call and left the fortress in a hurry. So Lin Sheng went alone to the canteen for dinner, and by the time he got back, the other students had already left. Only he and the Unseen Servants were left. Out of boredom, Lin Sheng went back to his room and flipped through the study materials he had gotten. On them were some basic information on Baine University and the problems that Darksiders of all levels would encounter. The sculpting of one¡¯s spiritual conjuration was mentioned as well. Lin Sheng then copied the information down onto his notebook as reference. The study materials, too, had mentioned another way to aid with the training of dark powers. To consume Illusory Potions! Lin Sheng did not look into detail yet, but the theories inside the books pointed straight into the biggest disadvantage of a Darksider. That was their purported cruelty and the survival of the fittest mentality. ¡°The dark powers originate from the soul, and stress, threats, and fear can all increase the level of dark powers. In a sense, the more negative emotions one have, the stronger their dark powers is.¡± Lin Sheng was aghast. ¡°So, the saying was indeed true. The higher the stress, the faster the improvement to one¡¯s dark powers will be.¡± After getting an idea about the periphery details about dark powers, Lin Sheng renewed his study of Auldmandiller¡¯s crystal training method. ¡°So, it¡¯s the first three steps first before one can start sculpting their spiritual conjuration... Based on the normal progress rate, I¡¯ll be able toplete the mastery of the three initial steps within three months. Lin Sheng looked at the study materials before him as a thought struck him. A strand of green dark power appeared before him. ¡°The first phase, amplification.¡± Lin Sheng controlled the dark power to attack onto his finger. Not long after, all five fingers were roiling with some power as his skin and flesh started trembling as they heated up, a sensation to move welled within him. Lin Sheng then gently lifted his finger and pressed against the metal cup on the table. The silver cup slowly but surely crumpled. ¡°The strength increase is not much, or maybe my dark power¡¯s too little. Or probably due to my physical strength, the effect of this shred of dark powers is too minuscule.¡± Lin Sheng guessed. ¡°But isn¡¯t it rather easy?¡± After counterchecking, he was sure that his work matched up with the details within the study materials. ¡°Then, the second phase, modtion.¡± The dark power on his finger slowly left him as it reformed into green light and floated around Lin Sheng¡¯s palm. ¡°A pencil.¡± *Hiss.* The dark power turned into a pencil. ¡°A wine ss.¡± *Hiss.* The dark power transformed into a wine ss in a sh. ¡°A cellphone.¡± This time around, there was no sound as the dark power silently transformed into the shape of the cellphone that Lin Sheng always used. The only difference was its green color. Lin Sheng then tested one after another. Most people would need a month to get to the second phase, but for him, it seemed like it was smooth sailing altogether. And that small dark power orb was like a y dough before him, what he wanted to make, it will transform into it in a blink of an eye. ¡°So, the third phase, temporary activation.¡± An image appeared in Lin Sheng¡¯s mind and the dark power before him turned into a sparrow. The sparrow simply just stood there unmoving, just like a statue. ¡°Based on the activation theory...¡± Lin Sheng pondered for a bit and followed the steps for temporary activation as a tiny sliver of his will separated and entered perfectly into the sparrow¡¯s body. With his will controlling the dark power, blood, organs, muscle, and tissues rapidly formed within the sparrow. Soon, the glow of dark powers on the little sparrow dimmed as it pped its wings and easily made circles around Lin Sheng beforending on his shoulder. ¡°And that¡¯s it. Temporary activation, simple.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. All of the three initial steps were as easy as breathing to him. As he controlled the sparrow, Lin Sheng could clearly feel that his dark powers were growing rapidly. The activation of the sparrow was like embers to firewood, and the moment it waspleted, his soul and consciousness started rapidly producing arge number of dark powers, and these dark powers surged into his body as it tried to remold him. As the dark powers grew, Lin Sheng could feel that the sacred power within his abdomen was warming up as well. The two powers reacted just like milk being poured into coffee, and the originally pure white holy light now took a faint shade of gray. The two powers did not merge together, though, as they simply kept to their own. The only thing that happened was that they were nowpressed together in the same ce without any resistance. Lin Sheng then held his hand out as he tried to draw the dark power out. And soon, from the cluster of grey powers, the dark power separated and quickly materialized in his hand, all without affecting the sacred power around it. A surge of dark power flooded into the sacred power, and thissted for a good half an hour before it stopped. ¡°My total dark power has increased by threefold!¡± Lin Sheng was shocked. He then flipped open the study material before him. ¡°Uponpleting the temporary activation, one¡¯s dark powers will be stimted and will enter a preparatory period, and see an increase in the total capacity of one¡¯s dark powers. A normal rate of increase is between 10% and 140%.¡± As he read the notes on the book, Lin Sheng experienced the sensation of the three-fold increase of dark power inside his body. He knew that this was probably due to him absorbing too many soul fragments. However, what surprised him was that the moment the growth of the dark power stopped, his sacred power seemed to be stimted as well and started growing at an rming rate. The surge of sacred power was as if it was free and flooded across his entire body, and the rate and speed were the same as the dark power from before. Half an hourter... Lin Sheng sensed that his body¡¯s sacred power had also increased threefold, and he fell into deep thought. Chapter 270 - Training II: Part 1

Chapter 270: Training II: Part 1

¡°Three times... not 30%... This is amazing...¡± Lin Sheng could feel that the holy power within his body was roiling like a violent sea. The upgrade in his dark power capacity seemed to have stimted his holy power. The holy power was in a frenzy. It was trying to resist and consume the dark powers that had appeared, but due to the dark powers being a manifestation of the dark side of one¡¯s soul, it could never be extinguished. With his holy power being more and more agitated, it tried to draw more and more holy power out of the light side of the soul as if trying to win by sheer volume. ¡°Interesting... so the dark powers could function as a stimnt?¡± Lin Sheng closed his eyes to clearly feel the changes in his body, having more understanding as he went. ¡°No matter what, the holy power had reached the maximum capacity of my body.¡± His entire body was even slightly swollen. Arge amount of holy power was trying to eradicate the dark powers in a frenzy, and without any recourse, it instinctively thought that it did not have enough power, and was stimting the soul to produce even more. This stimtion had even affected his own body. Even with his body, already strengthened by the blood of the Crag Dragon could not control and suppress the growth. ¡°No more training...¡± Lin Sheng immediately decided to stop his dark power training. If he were to let it grow further, the holy power inside him will probably cause his body to explode. Even so, he had already felt dehydrated as the holy power within his body took hold of every inch of his body. ¡°I¡¯ve probably hit Level 7 with my holy powers already, but my body cannot keep up, and need to have it nourish it for a while. Most of the pdins have body stronger than their holy powers, and I¡¯m the exact opposite,¡± Lin Shengmented as he stopped his training. While he knew he could still push on, but with the holy power raging within him upon stimtion, he was afraid something bad will happen. After tidying up, Lin Sheng got the Unseen Servant to bring him a ss of hot milk. And after finishing it, he left the room. *ck.* At the same time, the sound of a door closing rang out not too far away. It seemed like someone had just entered the room. Lin Sheng peered over and saw the sign on the door. Mi Ashyl. ¡°Professor Auldmandiller¡¯s granddaughter?¡± Lin Sheng guessed thetter¡¯s identity. Thetter seemed to be avoiding him on purpose but he did not mind that. He had no intention to speak to the girl anyway. When he got to the washroom, Lin Sheng threw the dirty clothes into the basket as he turned on the tap and started to wash his face. He then pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. The tune of the line waiting to be connected rang out. A momentter, the line was connected. ¡°Chenchen? Have you arrived at Miga? How¡¯s school?¡± His mother, Gu Wanqiu¡¯s voice rang from the opposite side. ¡°Everything¡¯s fine. Don¡¯t worry, there¡¯s even a free canteen, plus my amodation and stuff is free as well. My professor has been good to me too.¡± Lin Sheng smiled as he said. He told his family that he had managed to get a ce for student exchange to further his studies in Miga. With official backing and every procedure in ce, his family bought the story whole. ¡°Then that¡¯s fine, don¡¯t think too much about money, take care of yourself okay. Make friends with your dorm mates, don¡¯t be stubborn.¡± ¡°I know, I know.¡± Lin Sheng smiled again as he replied. He will call his family at least once a week, to put them at peace. ¡°Everything¡¯s fine at home?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°Fine, but your sister, she had made some new friends and had been staying outte...¡± Lin Sheng listened on as his mother nagged andined, his smile never faded for a second. He actually loved listening to his mother telling tales of home. That made him feel that he was still close to them, that he was still Lin Sheng. As his power and level grew, as the more circles and worlds he came into contact with, Lin Sheng sometimes really felt that he was getting out of touch with reality. Very quickly, half an hour had passed. Lin Sheng hung up and quickly took a bath. After putting on a white bathrobe, he walked out of the bathroom. He then ran into a ck-haired, blue-eyed girl with a princess cut who was tapping away at her phone. The girl was standing outside Mi¡¯s bedroom and wore blue pajamas. She had quite a resemnce to Professor Auldmandiller, and he could tell that she was his granddaughter, Mi. The moment she saw Lin Sheng stepping out, Mi took a nce before turning back into the room and mming the door shut. Lin Sheng did not mind that as he returned to his room and closed it behind him before throwing himself on to the bed. Perhaps it was his raging holy power, or the training of his dark powers had drained his soul. Very quickly Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness turned blurry as he sank into a deep sleep. ... ¡°...If you don¡¯t like this, we can change your head, your hand, your leg. Uh... no, no, no, your hair, your hair at least. I like your hair, it¡¯s long and ck. Do you know the sky? A dark, ck sky, they always like to turn red in the evening. What¡¯s over there I wonder? Heavens! Is it a ck spiked catfish? I don¡¯t like spiked catfish, they always like to spray stinky water at random. Poisonous stinky water. You will hate it when you see it, and I¡¯ve seen it many hundreds of times since young...¡± A buzz of high-pitched voice roused Lin Sheng from his sleep. In a daze, he shook his head, and as he opened his eyes, before him was a blurry, dark, verdant forest. Additionally, in front of his eye was a weird little being with purple butterfly wings the size of a palm. The tiny person¡¯s wings fluttered as its sharp eyes winked, apparently smiling. The edge of its eyes and mouth were ticked upwards, long, and sharp, giving out a weird, chilling feel to them. The tiny person was chattering, chattering non-stop, as both of its eyes stared at Lin Sheng with an avaricious and venomous gaze. ¡°Ugh...¡± Lin Sheng shook his head, and his vision became clear. He looked at himself, and notice that it was soft, ck ground beneath him. All around were massive trees that blocked out the sun. Each of them was at least a few meters wide. A continuous chatter still rang beside his ear. Before him was a pixie-like tiny person with butterfly wings that continued to bber nonsense that Lin Sheng had no idea what to make of it. It was standard Ancient Rehn. While he understood what it was saying, he was now totally at a loss as to what thetter was on about. ¡°Hello.¡± Lin Sheng used the samenguage as he spoke. ¡°If you give one-eighty of a flower petal to the Rat King he will give you a mysterious present. The wrapping of the present can be used to stir fry grain stalks. If you eat a paper-thinyer within it, it will increase your intelligence. And you must never eat the ck cake within. You¡¯ll lose your sight, your hearing, and everything you treasure if you eat it. So what¡¯s the thing you treasure the most?¡± A continuous stream of babble that leaped from one topic to another came out of the butterfly pixie¡¯s mouth and that made Lin Sheng dizzy. The voice seemed to have a special effect, and the moment he tried to decipher what she was really on about, he would feel his headache. He then ignored the pixie and got a measure of himself. He was still in the same garb from ckfeather City, d in crimson armor, with a bundle of short axes on his back, without a helmet. His temple stung. ¡°So I left ckfeather City... but where is this ce? He looked around as he tried to make sense of the ce. Sadly, it was nothing but trees and vines around him. Chapter 271 - Training II: Part 2

Chapter 271: Training II: Part 2

Among the shrubs in the distance, dandelions the size of footballs flew about as they were carried by the wind, their pollen falling all over as they went. Even further, a massive tree branch stood out like an arm, and on it was a noose, with a dead striped cat in it. The cat was about the size of a hunting dog, its tongue dangled out as its dark ck eyes popped out like a toad. The butterfly pixie was still bbering, and Lin Sheng felt his head cracking by the cacophony. He looked at the pixie and asked a few questions, yet thetter seemed to be content to speak to its own tune, and totally ignoring him. Those eyes that curved upwards made it look like it was wearing a sinister smile. *Smack!* Lin Sheng pped the pixie on the head and it was sent flying by the massive force and smashed against a massive tree trunk, its head popped like squashed persimmon. The pixie¡¯s brain matter stuck onto the tree and its headless body flopped down onto the ground. *Hiss...* Its corpse then turned into ck ash before disappearing. ¡°No soul fragments?¡± Lin Sheng was surprised, but that did not matter as silence returned to the entire area, just as he wanted. He then looked up at the dead cat hanging on the tree branch. ¡°Ah.... To the right, right. Right! There are countless treasures and food there! Everything you could ever want! Hahahaha!!¡± The dead cat¡¯s mouth suddenly closed as it let out a bizarre and ominous chatter, not unlike a maddened crone as it started at Lin Sheng maliciously. *Dush!!* Using the tip of his leg, Lin Shengunched a piece of rock square at the dead cat¡¯s mouth. The fist-sized rock immediately smashed half-dead cat¡¯s head into bits., and silence returned to the area again. Earlier, when the dead cat spoke, Lin Sheng could feel a nauseating sensation welling within him. And it seemed that the former¡¯s voice had a side-effect on him. So he decided to kill it. With half its head missing, the dead cat could no longer be held by the noose and fell limply onto the ground. Lin Sheng went over and stomped the remains into a pile of mushy paste. There was no ck lines, and quiet reigned. Lin Sheng stepped forward and around the dead cat as he stepped deeper into the forest. Not even a few stepster, a massive ck-feathered bird came from the sky andnded on him. It opened its mouth as if wanting to speak, but its massive frame suddenly shuddered and it stopped. ¡°You?!¡± Lin Sheng opened his mouth to speak, but just as he got the first word out, the entire area around him shook. *Knock, knock, knock.* Lin Sheng opened his eyes, he was still lying on the bed, and he took a deep breath in as he heard the voice from the door. ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± ¡°Mr. Lin, it is already nine o¡¯clock.¡± A sharp, young voice rang out from outside. ¡°Okay...¡± Lin Sheng got up and massaged his head. It was him who had requested his Unseen Servant to wake him up at this hour. He never expected to enter the dream in thetter half of the night. Having not been into the dream for a while now, the new ce slightly intrigued him.¡± ¡°Right, so have the apprentices started their ss already?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes, sir. About an hour ago,¡± the Unseen Servant answered. ¡°Alright...¡± Lin Sheng quickly got out of the bed. He had to find a way to increase his physical strength tonight. He believed that with the dark power¡¯s development so far, there should be some techniques to go about. ... *Bam!* Mylissa crashed heavily against a small figure. She did not restrain, and could not restrain her strength as she sent thetter flying against the wall. ¡°Ugh...¡± The small figure let out a painful groan. ¡°Don¡¯t you have eyes?!¡± Mylissa yelled. It was not her fault, thetter had suddenly rushed out from the left side and ran into her. ¡°I... I¡¯m...sorry...¡± The small figure got up with much difficulty, and from her appearance, she was a young girl with hemp brown hair and wounds on her face. She limped a few steps forward as she tried to walk, but before she could even steady herself, rushed footfalls were heard from the other end of the alley. ¡°Over here! Faster!¡± A man growled. The tiny girl¡¯s expression changed as she ran. *Bam!* A piece of the wall chipped as a bullet impacted against it. And the bullet hit just right above where the girl and Mylissa stood. Mylissa was stunned for a moment, as she looked at the bullet mark that was barely an inch away from here, her face reddened immediately. ¡°You bastards!! Could you not see there are people here??!¡± She roared in furiously, and the reply that came was a shower of bullets. *Bam, bam, bam!!* A shower of bullets impacted at the location Mylissa was standing. She simply took a step to the side and avoided all of the shots. ¡°Damn it! You lot actually dare to shoot at me!!¡± While she was an apprentice Darksider, against a normal person, she still held powers unimaginable. Mylissa raised her hand as her right palm lit up. A cluster of emerald orbs suddenly appeared and transformed intopact threads and sted out towards the other end of the alley. And soon after, cries of pain and agony rang out. As the sound of gunfire rang out, Mylissa retracted the dark power threads and walked out of the alley in big strides. She was already going to bete for ss, and now to get shot along the way. While gun crime rates in Miga was high, and there were cases of shooting every now and then, the fact that her assants had not paid much thought as they shot at her angered Mylissa. Outside the alley, five adultsy prone on the ground. All of them were in inclothes. Each of them had a handgun in their hands, and all five were hit, as theyy on the ground wordlessly, and could only look at Mylissa with pale faces. ¡°Since you guys dared to drag me into this, you better be ready to pay the price,¡± Mylissa growled. Behind her, a cowering figure slowly appeared. It was the skinny girl who had crashed into her earlier. ¡°You too!¡± Mylissa turned over and red at the girl. ¡°So tell me, how are you going to repay me?!¡± The skinny girl was wearing a school uniform, with faint fluctuations of dark powers on her. She was clearly not an ordinary person. However, her aura was very weak, much, much weaker than Mylissa¡¯s as if it was non-existent. ¡°An... ace??¡± Only then did the skinny girl realized the Silver Fortress insignia on Mylissa¡¯s left arm. Among the students, anyone with a silver insignia meant that they were ace students, the cr¨¨me of the crop. That was because the silver insignia is a mark of the top workshops and professors of the university. Chapter 272 - Training II: Part 3

Chapter 272: Training II: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The skinny girl could not help but look at the insignia on her arm. It was the lowest grade of pure ck. A pure ck dove. She then looked at Mylissa again and found her posture looking infinitely more imposing than before. Within the Carte nche¡¯s Crown Academies, among the tens of thousands of new students there, only a few could reach the level of an ace. Therefore, the girl before her was one of the best among the new enrollees. ¡°I... I am Selena... I am really sorry about earlier.¡± Mylissa¡¯s brow furrowed and as she was just about to speak, another gunshot rang out, and she saw the chest of the girl before her spurt out blood as thetter fell backward. ¡°You..!!?!¡± She shrieked as she turned toward the sound of the gunshot and swept her hand. The raging dark power immediately formed into a semi-translucent emerald shadow and darted out like a bolt of lightning toward the gunman on the street. The man could not even make a sound before his head was smashed in by the surge of dark power, and he flopped to the ground, dead. At that hour in the morning, there were few people around, and the ones who witnessed it were even lesser. Any other pedestrians had already felt while afar and did not dare to get close. Mylissa was about to check the girl¡¯s wounds as thetter suddenly sprang to life before dragging her and run. ¡°Quick, run! Follow me!!¡± She let out a screech as she tried to pull her hands away. She had already overslept and waste, if she did not rush to the Soul Fortress now, she¡¯ll waste a whole day¡¯s worth of ss! Yet, the girl before her did not even bother to listen to her, as she dragged her through the alleyways and disappearing from sight. ... ¡°Where is Mylissa? Why is she not here yet?¡± Professor Auldmandiller scowled in displeasure. At the ssroom below, everyone had already arrived aside from Mylissa, whose ce was still empty. Lin Sheng looked at her empty seat and did not say anything else. ¡°Record that. Mylissa Cador, skipping ss,¡± Auldmandiller said coldly. ¡°Let us continue.¡± ¡°So yesterday, we talked about the elementary crystal training method. And I trust that all of you have already gone back to try it out yourself. The training of your dark powers is all dependent on yourself, and not others. You can only try it out yourself. The three initial stages, amplification, modtion, and temporary activation, all these three stages are as normal as air for us. But for those wild Darksiders outside, these are invaluable guidance. They had no one to teach them, and as for their awakened dark powers, when it toocks any dedicated and regimented training, the end result is it going berserk. Next, I¡¯ll point out a few cases to let all of you better understand what it is like when one¡¯s dark powers go berserk...¡± Lin Sheng listened intently to the lecture, and while the books had examples as well, but these were extended versions, and is a more detailed rendition by the professor. The ss proceeded for half an hour. *Bam!* The ssroom door suddenly opened, as Mylissa appeared panting heavily by the door. ¡°Professor! I¡ª¡± ¡°Stand there until the ss is over!¡± Auldmandiller said coldly as he gave Mylissa a sweeping re. Mylissa was covered in wounds on both her face and her body, but the professor did not show a single shred of concern. He only knew that Mylissa waste, egregiouslyte. The other students in the ssroom all turned towards Mylissa but only Lin Sheng had managed to sense some sort of aura from the prouddy. He squinted as the aura felt the same as his disciple, Adolf... ¡°A Paragon of Destiny?¡± That phrase suddenly sprang to mind. A Paragon of Destiny is extremely rare, and because Adolf had this within him, and that Lin Sheng was in contact with it almost daily that he could tell the aura. ¡°From the potency, it¡¯s probably not on her... but she may have gotten in touch with it...¡± Lin Sheng surmised. But what does that had to do with him? He smiled a little before refocusing his attention on Professor Auldmandiller. Mylissa was punished to stand by the door as Auldmandiller continued his lesson. And soon, all of the general knowledge of the dark powers were exined. Yet Lin Sheng raised his hand. ¡°Professor, I have a question.¡± ¡°Go on.¡± Auldmandiller looked at his treasured disciple in a genial manner. Lin Sheng, to him, was the student with the best aptitude he ever had. There was no other like him, and that allowed him, who had always prioritized talent, to be extremely pleased. Lin Sheng stood up and said. ¡°Professor, I want to ask, if there are any techniques or ways to enhance our body with dark powers.¡± ¡°This question... while it¡¯s out of topic, but I can answer you. There is!¡± Auldmandiller answered seriously. He turned over and quickly wrote on the ckboard with a chalk. ¡°Stimtion, Corruption, and Hypnosis.¡± Three words were written on the ckboard. ¡°These are the three ways to train one¡¯s body, and you can say that all training methods originate from one of these three methods. If you want to train your body, I¡¯d suggest you go with the stimtion method. It is the most gentle...¡± Lin Sheng copied down the notes as he listened to the professor detailing the pros and cons of each method. Sadly, neither three met his requirements. As they all required detailed maniption of dark powers, they were very time- and energy-consuming. Plus, their effects are not that strong either, better for him to opt for exercise orbat training instead. Based on Auldmandiller¡¯s exnation, the dark powers have very powerful harming effects, and most only will use it to break through their limits. And Lin Sheng kept that in mind. As he listened on to Auldmandiller¡¯s various advice and warnings, an idea bloomed in his mind. Compared with the rest, he had both holy and dark powers, two opposing powers within him. Holy powers were the best for healing; perhaps he could use his dark powers to train first, then rely on his holy powers to heal himself back. After ss, all of the other apprentices continued to toil at the workshop while Lin Sheng headed over to the shared training room in the fortress. He had to test out his idea. The training room was not a big ssroom, rather it was divided onto about ten separate units, and each unit only allows a single user at a time. Lin Sheng simply picked one and stepped before the door, and he looked up at the surveince camera above. *Beep... Snap.* ¡°Wee, Mr. Lin Sheng.¡± A gentle female voice rang out from the camera and Lin Sheng pushed the door open. Inside the room was a clean, white cylindrical room. Aside from a pass-coded entrance, there was nothing there, nothing but pure white. ¡°The Lord of the Fortress has already set your authorization to the highest level. You may use up to five hundred thousand units worth of training consumables daily,¡± the digital female voice rang out again. Lin Sheng was once more astounded by the difference in treatment, and he quickly found a ce to sit down. He nned to try using his dark powers to corrupt his body, to force his body to create even stronger cells. This training was simple, yet very consuming. Auldmandiller had only provided him a simple training module and if one were to train, they would need medication. It was not something normal Darksiders could afford. The corruption method was already the cheapest and simplest. As he sat on the floor, Lin Sheng started to manipte his dark powers and spread it across his whole body, before slowly easing the inhibition he ced on them. ¡°Let¡¯s start then...¡± He closed his eyes as he rxed, allowing the dark powers within him to start corrupting his skinyer. Chapter 273 - Experimentation: Part 1

Chapter 273: Experimentation: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The Soul Fortress, Single Person Training Room. ¡°Let¡¯s first test out the strengthening of the skin.¡± Lin Sheng sat inside the room as green spots appeared all over his body. All over his body, underneath his skin, if someone could see through his clothes, then they could see that arge number of green spots were appearing all over him. That was the effect of the dark power¡¯s corruption. ¡°About there now.¡± Lin Sheng sensed that the corruption was almostplete and quickly recalled all of the dark powers. Very quickly, he released his holy powers throughout his body. The pure, cleansing glow started radiating from inside his skin outwards as it started to heal his body. Lin Sheng sat down and closed his eyes for a few minutes as he let the white glow dissipate. ¡°It¡¯s done. But the effect seems to be... weak? My skin is only enhanced by a little bit. At this rate, even if I slog for a year, I won¡¯t see much effect.¡± He shook his head and decided to forgo the corruption method, as he tried the other remaining two methods. A few minutester... He was disappointed again. As expected, using dark powers to train one¡¯s body was just too inefficient. The other two methods were just a smidge stronger than corruption. ¡°The training method using dark powers is just too undeveloped...no wonder many Darksiders chose to forgo their humanity and transform into monsters, all to enhance their body.¡± Lin Sheng could now understand why some Darksiders made that choice. ¡°While dark powers can be used to enhance my body, it will not work for now. So what about the holy power instead? Seems like it¡¯s still down to that.¡± Lin Sheng could see the hope of strengthening his body from the massive increase of his holy power. ¡°Within the Holy Sanctum, there should be quite a number of training methods to strengthen one¡¯s body. And now that I¡¯m at Level 7, I should have gained a divine ability.¡± As he thought of that, he gave up training his dark powers and focused his thoughts on the core of his holy power instead. He started to look for the divine ability that he had gained after he achieved Level 7. ¡°A three-fold increase of my total holy power capacity, surely I¡¯m already at Level 7 then. So that ability...¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness slowly entered his abdomen, and into the swirling pure white orb. The orb let out a white glow and radiated a tidal wave of holy power every moment. Just as his consciousness entered there, he felt a warm, weing sensation, as if he was soaking inside a hot spring. He quickly checked the core of his holy power, and soon, he found the divine abilities he had already gotten. Detect Evil, and Divine Word: Nowhere to Hide. These two divine abilities were of the reconnaissance type, notbative. Within his core, the two divine abilities were engraved onto the inner wall of the white orb in with gold threads, not unlike two unique patterns. The Detect Evil pattern was much simpler, and the Divine Word: Nowhere to Hide pattern was a little moreplicated, not by much. Lin Sheng skipped through the two abilities and focused on the third pattern that was slowly appearing. Armor of Dawn. ¡°That¡¯s the one?¡± Lin Sheng was surprised as he let out an ted smile. From the memories he had gained, he was very clear how powerful the abilities of those who managed to awaken their Level 7 divine ability were. The Armor of Dawn was an evolving ability where its potency increases alongside one¡¯s holy power. It could use the holy power within one¡¯s body to rapidly form a powerful heavy armor. The key to the formation of the armor was the use of holy power as a basis to attract all surrounding positive energies to form it. A powerful ability that totally utilizes one¡¯s holy power to its maximum capacity. ¡°Finally, I¡¯ve reached the watermark of a Holy Knight...¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°Only with this ability that I¡¯m considered upgraded from a Pdin to a Temr.¡± After he confirmed that he had indeed obtained a new divine ability, Lin Sheng decided to end the experiment. ¡°Something¡¯s not right!¡± He suddenly paused as he felt something changing within him. As his consciousness dove back into his body, Lin Sheng¡¯s powerful spiritual consciousness immediately detected something wrong. Tiny hairline cracks had appeared on the edge of his skin, and a minuscule amount of pure holy power was leaking out. ¡°Sh*t... it¡¯s leaking?¡± Lin Sheng never expected a simple body enhancement experiment to result in his body leaking holy power. He had just been so excited about the massive increase of his holy power, and the leakage was putting him in a slight panic. ¡°I need to find a way!¡± Lin Sheng then recalled thepression technique he used to train his dark powers. The books had clearly stated that once a person¡¯s dark powers reached a certain stage, they could try topress it to increase their density and potency. Nheless, thepression technique was not just any simplepression, rather it uses a special meditation technique than adjusts one¡¯s spirit. ¡°The soul is a source of both holy and dark powers...¡± Lin Sheng flipped to the page about thepression technique and started reading it. The technique mentioned in the book was not easy, and it requires him to create three nodes first as a solid framework. Only then could he use it as a basis to adjust his spiritual frequency and allow himself to enter a state of emptiness to draw in the current of both dark and holy powers. Lin Sheng expanded a lot of time and effort before he barely managed to stop his holy power from further leaking as he sealed all of the cracks. With that arduous attempt, he no longer dared to willy-nilly experiment with his own body anymore. While he dared not try it on his body, there was still a way for him to keep trying. As he let out a long breath, a strand of ck smoke quickly formed and a vault guard appeared beside him. Lin Sheng then transferred his consciousness into the vault guard, and with his soul moving, his holy powers followed as well. ¡°Let¡¯s start then.¡± With a mentalmand, a surge of holy power slowly revolved inside the vault guard. The parts where he dared not experiment on himself, he could do it with the vault guard¡¯s body. Dark and holy powers were of the same source, but they had distinct differences too. What Lin Sheng wanted was to find a way to rapidly increase his physical strength. He had absorbed arge number of memories, and the memories of elites like the Steel Lord as well as the Night Lord showed that their control and knowledge of the basis of their powers were far beyond any Darksiders. With such an overwhelming difference, the chances of sess were higher as well. As time slowly passed, Lin Sheng¡¯s ideas and theories about the correct training methods were corrected or discarded one by one. *Bam!* Suddenly, the vault guard¡¯s body could no longer withstand the strain, as a surge of holy power sted out of his armor and disintegrated into ck smoke. ¡°That failed, huh... Let¡¯s continue.¡± Lin Sheng was impassive as he summoned another vault guard out. He then restarted his experiment, but soon, the second vault guard disintegrated as well, and the experiment failed. Lin Sheng did not stop and continued to summon the third, the fourth... By dinner time, Lin Sheng had destroyed six summoned beings before managing to have a slight grasp on the technique of how to vastly strengthen his body using holy power. He had mixed all of the methods from the dark power texts, with the control techniques of the Holy Sanctum before slowlying up with a special technique called Gloria. However, the technique was iplete, and the fact that it required the use of both Ashen Seals¡ª Sanctuary and Furious Howl¡ªresulted in a veryplicated structure. Thankfully, Lin Sheng¡¯s spiritual power was strong enough to hold the framework in ce, preventing it from copsing upon itself, and garnering some results in the process. He had no intention of simply throwing everything into it in a single night. The technique still had many stages of perfecting to go through. After dinner, Lin Sheng went out for a walk. He first returned to the school district before taking a car towards the night time Miga City. He needed to replenish his summoned beings to experiment, and at the same time get in touch with his people in Xylond. Chapter 274 - Experimentation: Part 2

Chapter 274: Experimentation: Part 2

Henricqal City, Miga. Lin Sheng left the Soul Fortress when it was alreadyte. He sat on one of the public benches, taking in a deep breath as he absorbed the new scenery before him. Behind him was a pharmacy with a line as a few elderlies chatted about while waiting for their turn, all the while hunched. Lin Sheng had changed into a ck windbreaker, and inside was a gray shirt and white jeans, looking no different than most university students in the city. As he stretched, Lin Sheng pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time. There was an unread message on the screen, and Lin Sheng tapped to read it. ¡°It¡¯s done. You can move it at any time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fast.¡± Lin Sheng put the phone back as he stood up, and walked towards a small residential district to the left. Over there, Adolf¡¯s men had already helped him to rent a room, specifically for him to perform his summoning ritual. From his experiments, Lin Sheng surmised that the growth of holy power upon stimtion did not appear out thin air, and he guessed that the increase of his holy power was actually a type of extraction of his soul. An extraction that forcefully converted one¡¯s soul into holy power. So, it came back to the strength of his soul. If anyone else were to attempt this, their soul would have been sucked dry, and die on the spot as their consciousness disappear. His Gloria technique, on the other hand, used the Ashen Seals, alongside the maniption of both dark and holy power to slowly stimte the growth of his body. The core principals were still the same, but it was much gentler and more subtle as there was the power of the Ashen Seal to adjust and serve as a buffer. That greatly increased the safety of the process. If he could perfect the technique, that meant the efficiency of his training would increase at least tenfoldpared with the methods using dark powers. That was why Lin Sheng was willing to sacrifice so many soldiers for the experiment to seed. As he slowly made his way into the area, he walked among the pedestrians before entering a nondescript unit on the left. He got into the elevator by the stairwell and pressed the button for the top floor. *Ding!* Just as the elevator door opened, a bespectacleddy in a ck office dress waited quietly outside. ¡°Mr. Lin, your room is ready.¡± Thedy handed over the key to him. ¡°Thanks for the trouble,¡± Lin Sheng said as he took the key. Thedy bowed with a smile before she entered the elevator and left. A momentter, a faint scent of smoke permeated through the door slits. Not long after, the door opened once again as Lin Sheng got out alone, his body seemed to be much darker than he entered as if he was shrouded by ck smoke. This time, he not only reced all of the destroyed Vault Wardens, he even summoned a dozen normal ckfeather Swordsman. ¡°If I put Xylond aside, I could control three bodies perfectly to experiment with Gloria. That will greatly increase the pace, and hopefully, things will go well.¡± He sensed that Gloria had a powerful potential to it, but at this stage, he only nned to use it to strengthen his body. With his summoned soldiers, they were pretty much limitless living experimentation ingredients, and every one of them was a part of him, with perfect sensory connection, he could detect every minute changes to the body. And that was far more efficient thanb research, much, much more efficient. As he got out of the tiny residential district, he went about strolling. The progress of Gloria had him seeing hope at the end of the tunnel. With his good mood, he entered a small book shop by the road to pass time. There were rows upon rows of Migan fairy tales, and the shopkeeper was squatting by the corner ying games on his phone, not even bothering to look at his customer. Lin Sheng went around for a bit before his sightnded on one particr book about fairy tale creatures. ¡°This...?¡± On the front page of the book was the same butterfly pixie he had seen in his dreamst night. The pixie had long sharp eyes, with a tiny yet venomous tongue, and it thered nonsense to the point of pain. ¡°It¡¯s totally the same...¡± Lin Sheng walked over and picked up the book to read. ¡°The Griffin¡¯s Morass¡± That was the title of the book. Lin Sheng flipped through the pages. ¡°In Migan mythology, Griffins were the mostmon and widely-used mythological character. ¡°They are mysterious creatures and have powers akin to a witch doctor. They are well versed in using all kinds of hallucination medicine as they live without a quarrel with the world in secluded ces. ¡°But the most popr of these ces was the mythological Griffin¡¯s Morass, which contained all sorts of mysteries and riches.¡± Thest line of the foreword was, ¡°The Griffin¡¯s Morass, everyone has a Griffin¡¯s Morass of their own.¡± Lin Sheng went through thetter part of the story, and most of it consisted of local legends and tales from all over Miga. Most of them were twisted and grossly exaggerated,cking any meaningful reference. Only that butterfly pixie and that foreword had Lin Sheng thinking. The book stated that a butterfly pixie and a cat that was almost strangled to death were the guardians of the entrance to the Griffin¡¯s Morass. If one could aplish the pixie¡¯s wish, and save the dying cat, then they would gain the right to enter the Griffin¡¯s Morass. Lin Sheng simply read it a few times over but did not purchase it. Just a few read-throughs were enough for him to memorize all of the things in there. The dream from before matches the description in the book, and Lin Sheng was starting to doubt if he had indeed entered that so-called Griffin¡¯s Morass. As he got back to the Soul Fortress, Lin Sheng continued to experiment with the Gloria technique, before washing up and going to bed. His dream was interruptedst night, and this time, he intended to fully investigate the changes in this new dream. ... *Tick tock, tick tock...* Amidst the ticking of the clock, Lin Sheng raised his head as his consciousness returned to him. And before him, was that sky-scraping tree from earlier. There were however no sights of any living being around. The corpse of the butterfly pixiey by the tree trunk, and further ahead was the decapitated cat. Lin Sheng checked the body and went around the dead cat as he followed the only small path in the wood. Further ahead, the massive bird that he saw yesterday stood on the way, blocking the path. The ck bird was about the height of a human, as its feathers exuded a cold, metallic sheen and its beak was curved like an eagle¡¯s. *Squawk!* A piercing squawkter, the ck bird pped its wings and hopped toward Lin Sheng. Its wingspan was about four meters wide, and literally blocked Lin Sheng¡¯s entire frontal vision. A secondter, the bird¡¯s razor-sharp ws were striking close to Lin Sheng. *Bam!!* Lin Sheng raised his hand as his arms transformed into the half-dragon state and gave one of the bird¡¯s ws a firm grip. As the two forces collided, Lin Sheng was pushed a step back as his holy power surged, and increased his strength as he smashed the bird into the ground. *Bammm!!* The ground caved in a little as grass and dirt flew all over, a crater forming in its wake. The aggressive ck bird now flopped dead, killed by a single strike. ¡°Its¡¯ strength is not bad. On pure power alone, it¡¯s probably about a Level 4 warrior¡¯s.¡± Lin Sheng waited for a moment, as strands of ck lines finally appeared and entered his chest. Lin Sheng paused for a moment, squinting as he felt the surge of memories into his mind. It was a ck Hawk, and its life basically revolves around hunting when hungry, drinking water when thirsty, aside from killing a few strangers that popped out of nowhere. Besides its daily life within this weird forest, it was just a normal giant eagle that was slightly bigger than normal. Chapter 275 - Experimentation: Part 3

Chapter 275: Experimentation: Part 3

Lin Sheng refocused himself as he continued onwards along the winding path in the woods. Soon, another ck hawky along the path, blocking it. This time around, the hawk was much bigger than thest one, and its feathers look even tougher. *Squawk!!* The ck hawk got up, its ck eyes were empty barren of any emotions. *p, p...* Its massive wings started pping as it took flight. After a spin in the air, it charged at Lin Sheng with massive force as a piercing screech followed. There was nothing else to say but fight. Lin Sheng activated his half-dragon state as his holy power enhanced his body, he lifted his hand up, as lines upon lines of green dark powers sted out. The dark powers bound around the massive ck hawk and lowered its charging speed. Grasping the advantage, Lin Sheng left forward and gave a lightning-fast karate chop onto the neck of the ck hawk. A crackter, the ck hawk froze as it fell limply onto the ground, and died. ¡°Too weak. It¡¯s just a little faster and stronger than the one before, but still of the same level. It has not surpassed a Level 4 warrior.¡± Lin Sheng sighed a little, andpared to the time he had entered the dream, he was at least ten times stronger now. This time, the ck hawk did not have any soul fragments. However, Lin Sheng did not mind that as he continued on. As he went along the path, he soon passed through a secluded silver waterfall. After the waterfall was a massive granite cliff face, and a few ck hawks of simr size stood at the top of the cliff, looking down. On the stone cliff face were holes of different sizes, probably the nest of the ck hawks. ¡°One, two, three, four, five...¡± Lin Sheng counted the number of ck hawks on the top of the cliff. Thergest of them was just a little bigger than the earlier one he just killed. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Let¡¯s get this over and done with to avoid any other monsters appearing.¡± Lin Sheng took a deep breath as he slowly walked forward towards the cliff face beneath the flock of ck hawks. These were ck hawks of normal strength and were the best material for him to umte spiritual energies. He looked around, and very quickly found and picked up a fist-sized rock from the ground. Aiming it at one of the ck hawks, Lin Sheng arced his body backward and flung the rock with deadly intent. *Fhoosh!* The rock flew at high speed towards the ck hawks and struck true at the side of the wing. The impact sent a couple of feathers loose. The ck hawks were shocked and took flight. After spinning a circle in the air, they started swooping down towards Lin Sheng. About ten meters distance, the first ck hawk struck close as shed its ws at Lin Sheng. He simply just sidestepped it, and the attack missed. Just as it was about to fly away, a piercing pain surged in its back as a flood of feathers fell. Its entire spinal column had been severed by Lin Sheng¡¯s elbow strike. The ck hawk fell to the ground, and before it died, the second, third, and fourth ck hawks fell one after another. The instant a ck hawk swooped at Lin Sheng, he would just smack it down. Finally, thest and thergest ck hawk let out a piercing cry as it swooped down to use its wings to strike at Lin Sheng while trying to peck at him with its sharp beak. *Whoosh!!* Lin Sheng spat out a glob of fire and struck the ck hawk face first. It let out a pitiful squawk, running and tumbling along as its entire body was on fire. Soon, it fell onto the ground, thrashing about before finally stopped moving altogether. *Hiss...* Countless ck lines appeared from the body and entered Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. He simply just stood there as he closed his eyes to absorb the memories. Not longter, he opened his eyes, and quickly walked towards the bottom of the cliff face, and started scaling the wall. The cliff face was about a hundred meters in high, and there were holes of various sizes at the top. Very quickly, Lin Sheng had climbed a hole that was the size of a human and went into it. There was an oval crater in the center of the hole, and on it were a nest made out of branches. What surprised him was that there were a few wooden cups, a candle holder and a ck book with a golden gloss to it. Lin Sheng had seen this image from the memories he absorbed and took the book out of the nest. The book seemed to not be targeted for humans, rather it was meant for arge monster to read as its entire scale was increased. The words within the book were not Ancient Rehn, it was anguage that he had never seen before. Thankfully, the memories he had absorbed allowed him to understand most of it, and reading was not a problem. ¡°The Lamanier Inner Circle ¨C Purification.¡± Lin Sheng flipped through the pages and started frowning as he did not understand what this purification technique was for. All around the ck book were messy scribbles and handwriting. ¡°Return, return to the embrace of the Ancient King... Return....¡± ¡°We are on the right path... Don¡¯t give up now... Soon... Soon....¡± ¡°I have already forgotten who I am, and I don¡¯t know who will be next...¡± Lin Sheng skimmed through the scribbles before looking at the content of the book proper. ¡°To purify the ancient royal bloodline within the giant hawks?¡± After going through a few pages, he finally understood what this book was all about. To save time, he quickly read through it and pretty much understood what the book was all about. It was a record on the secret technique of purifying a supernatural bloodline and was one of the three books of the Blood Tome of the Inner Circle. The three books were separated into Purification, Cultivation, and Assimtion. This was only the first book of the series, but this secret technique was only effective for someone with a supernatural bloodline within them. At the end of the book, there were some notes on the methods on how to strengthen their feathers, seemingly meant for the ck hawks. ¡°There are no techniques on how to strengthen one¡¯s body... but this technique to purify one¡¯s supernatural bloodline... if it can remove the impurities in one¡¯s blood and increase the level of the bloodline, then it¡¯s worth a try.¡± Lin Sheng stood in the nest as he memorized every page of the technique. He had long been unsatisfied with the Crag Dragon bloodline within him, and perhaps this technique will surprise him. As he got out of the nest, he went about the other holes to search for the other two tomes, and soon he came across some shattered gemstones, and fruits. And that was it. After spending some time on the cliff face, Lin Sheng had just gotten off it before he started feeling lightheaded. The ticking of the clock started to ring out by his ears. Lin Sheng quickly steadied himself as he looked for a ce to hide, and ran over. And just as he managed to hide, Lin Sheng could no longer hear his surrounding, and in ce, was the rhythmic ticking of the clock. ¡°Huh!¡± Lin Sheng sat up on his bed and rushed over to the table as he wrote down the purification technique that he had just gained from the dream into his notebook. Just as easily, he wrote them all down. ¡°There are no special materials required. This purification technique only requires meditation and maniption, and no other bothersome steps.¡± He read through the purification technique carefully and made sure to memorize everything. He then looked at the sky outside. Dawn had already broken, and the sky outside could turn bright at any time. ¡°Let¡¯s test this out then. I can just stop if there¡¯s a problem.¡± If his summoned beings inherited his supernatural bloodline, he would have summoned them out to experiment on them, but most of his summoned beings do not have such bloodline within them, and he only had himself to test on. Plus, from what he observed, the purification technique did not seem all that dangerous. So he may as well give it a try, or two. Lin Sheng sat on the bed, as he spent a couple of minutes to get into form, and once everything was stable, he started to close his eyes and meditated the purification method. The Lamanier¡¯s Inner Circle Purification Technique¡¯s meditation was not the same as what Lin Sheng knew. Normal meditations would require the meditator to be calm and focused. Not this. This bizarre meditation¡¯s first requirement was to take the natural form of the source creature that one has the bloodline of. Simr to self-hypnosis, just like if someone¡¯s source creature was a fish, then during meditation, he needs to convince himself that he was that fish. Lin Sheng¡¯s willingness to try it out was within that reason. For him, the one who had already absorbed so many memory fragments, such self-hypnosis was almost too easy since he just needed to tap into said memory. The source of his bloodline was the Crag Dragon, and he had seen bits and pieces of the Crag Dragon¡¯s memories when he absorbed the soul fragments. The meditation needed just that. As he meditated, his hand started making one hand signs after another, as his mouth let out the corresponding sound. Just as this bizarre purification had just started, Lin Sheng felt a weird sensation welling up within him. Strands upon strands of blood with special powers started shuddering and flowing within him, discarding impurities alongside the sound and the meditation. ¡°It actually worked?!¡± Lin Sheng was ted, and his meditative trance was broken. Chapter 276 - Unusual Phenomenon: Part 1

Chapter 276: Unusual Phenomenon: Part 1

¡°I¡¯m sorry, Sir. I overslept,¡± Lin Sheng said apologetically to Professor Auldmandiller. Auldmandiller was originally giving out a lecture on the general knowledge of dark powers with a cold face to the apprentices in the ss. The moment Lin Sheng appeared at the door however, his coldness disappeared and in its ce was an extreme warmth and gentleness. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Come in, it was I who did not allow the Unseen Servant to wake you up. You must¡¯ve studied tilltest night right? You¡¯re sure hardworking. How about you go back and catch up on some sleep?¡± *Crack.* One of the apprentice¡¯s pencils suddenly cracked. Mylissa simply sat in a corner as she lowered her head, not daring to look at either Auldmandiller or Lin Sheng. She was afraid that if she looked at them a little too much, the raging mes inside her would take over, and she would punch someone. Lin Sheng too was amused by what the professor said. He spent the whole morning meditating, and the purification effect was top-notch, and much of the impurities of the Crag Dragon blood within him were discarded. He could feel that, while the Crag Dragon blood¡¯s volume had lessened due to the purification, and its effects weakened, his body felt like it had been thoroughly cleansed. Compared with before the purification process, his body was much lighter and cleaner now. However, the purification technique actually needed to consume spiritual energies. In just a short two-hour meditation span, Lin Sheng could feel the strength of his soul being sapped a little. It was about the level of summoning a vault guard. If it was to be applied to a normal human, that meant at least half of one¡¯s soul would be consumed. And now, he somewhat understood the records left behind by those giant hawks. One choice was to sumb to the nightmare, and one was to use their soul in search of a more purified primordial blood, and perhaps they could gain the hope of escaping their fate there, however minuscule that was. Especially when death was all but certain in both scenarios. ¡°No need, Sir. I will attend the ss with the rest.¡± Lin Sheng replied and went to his seat. The ss then restarted. Auldmandiller¡¯s lecture was very thorough, as he gave out at least three examples for the understanding of everyone for every theory and form. Such as the crystal training method, or how to create a perfect Crystal Warrior, or what sort of problems or roadblocks one would face during their training... How to identify and resolve such problems, or how to react when there was an unexpected change and the like... The sssted until lunch. After ss, Lin Sheng went back to his room to take a nap. But in actuality, he continued meditating the purification technique. The consumption of soul was to others, probably a massive problem, but for him, this little bit of loss was no issue. Perhaps it was that the Crag Dragon blood within him was too weak, or the meditation process was too effective, and just within an afternoon, Lin Sheng felt that the Crag Dragon blood within him had almost been purified to its purest form. He had absorbed the memories of the giant hawks, and the hawks dared not spend his soul like currency without thought, or to speed through the meditation process. They only meditated a little bit every single day, before letting their soul recover, and with time, and the length of the purification only did they reached the perfect result. Late in the afternoon, Auldmandillermenced his practical ss, as he requested his apprentices to formte a potion for him. Lin Sheng was, of course, exempted from that, and simply just performed an assessment of his dark powers. It was five hundred something now, much higher than the first assessment. That growth had Auldmandiller in all smiles, and he did not even bother to fret on how Lin Sheng used his time. Without anything better to do, Lin Sheng went back to his room to meditate again. His soul was powerful, and he could replenish it by killing monsters, thus he was not concerned by this minor consumption of his soul. The meditationsted all the way to six in the evening, and he finally felt that the Crag Dragon blood within him had been purified to its limits. Now, if he could strengthen the blood, then his body would be immensely strengthened as well. Lin Sheng had been long envious of those highborn bloodlines of the Steel and Night Lords, especially the Night Lord... Plus, if he could enhance his body, then the holy power bottlenecking would not be a problem any longer. Then, reaching Level 8, Level 9, Level 10, and councilor level holy power would no longer be just a dream. It was just like that Night Lord who neither needed nor did any training... After dinner, Lin Sheng went back to his room and no longer meditation, instead, he tested out his body¡¯s strength. Under his half-dragon state, his defense fell by a significant amount, and his ming breath shrunk too. While the mes had shrunk, its potency had greatly increased, and the originally crimson mes were now faint ck. Though most importantly, his dragon eye and dragon aura had undergone changes due to his now pure ck blood. However, the changes were still ongoing and had yet to stabilize. Later in the evening, Lin Sheng noticed that he was out of some bathroom items. As he had already spent the whole day meditating, and now that his Crag Dragon blood had already stabilized and could no longer be further purified, he decided to go for a walk. The Soul Fortress, or the Baine University, all these institutions were the realms of the Transcendents. But Lin Sheng preferred to rx in the simpler world of themon folks. No matter how supernatural the world was, themon folks were still the majority. ... ¡°Thank you for your visit, the total bill is $15.75. Forget the cents, $15 will do.¡± The young convenience store staff smiled as he passed Lin Sheng¡¯s his items. Lin Sheng took them and walked out of the shop. Next to the store was an Inte caf¨¦, and on top of it hung a blindingly colorful neon signboard: ¡°Genesis Net Caf¨¦¡±. A few youths with dyed hair and ear piercings came out from the shop in a row, boasting about their performance in the game they had just yed. ¡°I haven¡¯t gone online in a while now...¡± Lin Sheng looked at the time on his phone. It was only seven. ¡°Let¡¯s do some web surfing.¡± After he came over to Miga, he a lot less stressed out. There was the Night Lord looking over things in Xylond, the Steel Lord developing a branch of the Holy Sanctum in the desert area, Sarroux had gone missing and could not be contacted. That Ptinate from the Heaven¡¯s Spire was badly wounded and probably would not reappear any time soon. While he was afraid that the Heaven Spire would try to hit him with numbers, with official Xylondian backing, that situation would not happen. Xylond had their own trump card and could stand tall in the world of the Darksiders, and they were not that afraid of the Heaven¡¯s Spire. While what sort of trump card they had, Lin Sheng had no idea, but if they are capable enough to protect the Holy Sanctum, that was more than enough. ¡°I should give myself a break sometime.¡± Lin Sheng went into the caf¨¦ and went up the second floor. The air within the caf¨¦ was stale, as the smell of cigarette permeated all over, everyone sitting inside was no different than smoked meat, as they focused on their games amidst the cigarette smoke. ¡°I want a unit.¡± Lin Sheng handed his passport over. ¡°A dor an hour, is that okay?¡± the counter staff asked as he wrote something down. ¡°Okay.¡± As he took the activation card, Lin Sheng found a unit by the window and sat down after activating it. He had not gone online for a long while now, ever since he left Xilin. At most what he did was to check something using his phone. As he sat down looking at the screen full of icons, he suddenly felt lost. Upon bing a Transcendent, he had long left behind the life of a normal person. For far too long now. Games? PVP games, RPGs, or MMOs, all of these barely even interested him any longer. Chapter 277 - Unusual Phenomenon: Part 2

Chapter 277: Unusual Phenomenon: Part 2

¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s see the messenger programs...¡± The messenger program in Miga was a program with an orange-like fruit icon. Lin Sheng clicked on it, and a round chat window appeared. The window was split into three columns: Friends, Recent, and Group. The interface was slightly on the darker side, simple yet utilitarian. Just as he opened the program that Lin Sheng recalled he probably would not be able to get in touch with his online friends back in Xilin. Most of the inte there are standalone entities, and even the software they use was different. As he looked at the barren ¡°friends¡± list, he sighed and turned off the program before clicking on an obscure game to y. Time passed slowly but surely, and soon, hours passed by. Lin Sheng rubbed his eyes as he turned off the game, and prepared to log off and leave. Just as he lifted his head, he saw someone standing before theputer opposite of him. It was a long-haireddy with slightly white-ish eyes. She looked no different than the other people ying games behind him, but that Lin Sheng noticed was that the woman, was looking at him! Theputers were set up in the way that yers¡¯ backs would face each other, and the person sitting opposite of Lin Sheng was smashing his keyboard while enjoying his game. But just as Lin Sheng raised his head, he saw thedy staring at him. Her eyes were puffed, and her hair messy, while her face was totally expressionless. Amidst the cacophony of game audio, she simply just stood there as if ignored by everyone. And a young man simply walked before thedy, and a blurter, thedy disappeared. Despite the crowd, no one apparently saw this unusual scene. Lin Sheng was calm as he got up and paid for the time used. As he got out of the caf¨¦, the street was already empty. He decided to just stuff the items he bought into his pocket and threw away the stic bag as he slowly walked towards the direction of the school. Thatdy reminded him of the renovation worker in that derelict unit back in Xylond. Along the pavement, Lin Sheng¡¯s pace quickened. The distance from where he was to the Soul Fortress was not that far. Just a couple of kilometers. But not a few hundred meters into his stride, a weird sound rang along with the wind. ¡°What was that?¡± Lin Sheng paused and looked around. Beneath the night sky, a couple of searchlights-esque glows swept about. On his left were rows upon rows of streetmps, and on the right was a running path beneath the trees. There were small illumination strobes along the pathway for both decoration and lighting. There was no one around him. Cold wind started blowing, and it was bone-bitingly cold, making the whole atmosphere even eerier. Lin Sheng pulled his hands out of his pocket and started cracking his knuckles. ¡°Who¡¯s there? You¡¯ve followed me for a while now, show yourself.¡± His voice was not loud, but it was clear enough to be heard. No one responded. But a short, and pudgy shadow slowly closed in from behind. It was a fat man d in ck. His gaze was nk, and he had faint ck markings on his forehead. On his sleeve pocket was a pen from work, and two rings of keys hung by his pants. One was a door key and another a car key. Lin Sheng turned away and looked at the fat man. ¡°Who are you?¡± That question stemmed from the fact that he had never gotten on anyone¡¯s bad side ever since he came to Miga, and for someone toe looking for trouble, he had to find out why. The fat man was impassive as he slowly approached Lin Sheng *Whoosh!!* Suddenly, he pounced forward, his expression turned menacing. Lin Sheng was just about to strike as a sudden blur followed the disappearance of the fat man. Then his back felt heavy, as a low growl rang out from behind. *Arrrgh!!* He turned back and saw the fat man suddenly appearing on his back, pressing hard onto him as he aimed for the jugr. *Bam!* Lin Sheng¡¯s elbowshed out and smashed the fat man like a bolt of lightning as thetter¡¯s body twisted into a weird angle and flew away before crashing hard onto the ground. Lin Sheng pulled back his hand and cracked his neck as he made his way to the fat man. ¡°For such a weak person to have a blink-like move?¡± He stepped on the fat man¡¯s head as he investigated. The person looked no different than a normal person, aside from his gaze. His eyes were dim, and his gaze was empty as if he had no will of his own. ¡°His attack is weak as hell, just like a normal person.¡± Lin Sheng was just about to release his holy power to further investigate when suddenly... *Hiss...* The fat man under his leg shuddered as he disintegrated into ck smoke, and disappeared. Lin Sheng suddenly lost his footing. As he stabilized himself, he looked at the smoke as it dissipated and disappeared into the air. ¡°A ck cluster phenomenon?¡± Lin Sheng was reminded of that renovation worker back in Xylond. With a groan, he slowly made his way back to the Soul Fortress. ... ¡°I¡¯m telling the truth! Really! I¡¯m not lying!¡± Felle was trying his best to exin the trouble he had run into the security chief. A weird monster with empty eyes and instant movement suddenly attacked him and bit an unseen wound onto him. ¡°You have no wounds on your body. Boy, I understand that you have a lot of stress aftering to the university, but if you have psychiatric issues, you might want to consider seeking treatment. Screaming and shouting at me here won¡¯t help you.¡± The security chief at the guard post was a man almost fifty as he twirled his cigarette in his mouth while looking impatiently at Felle. ¡°I¡¯m really telling the truth!! I swear!¡± Felle tried to exin. ¡°That weird person was wearing the school¡¯s janitor uniform. He had long hair and was a man...¡± He pointed at his arm. ¡°I was even bitten by him here! Look!¡± ¡°Alright, alright, I¡¯m busy now, and have no time to listen to your nonsense, the chief rolled his eyes as he looked at Felle¡¯s fair arms. The moment he saw there were no wounds there, his patience ran out. And Felle was kicked out. He looked on in a daze at the guard post, looking all helpless and panicky. ¡°See? I told you, no one will believe you!¡± Two people walked out from the shadow of the building not too far away. It was Mylissa and the xen-haired girl. ¡°I¡¯ve tested it already, aside from Selena, no one else could see those weird shadows. We probably only gained the ability to see them after getting into contact with her.¡± Mylissa held her hand. As she squeezed her small chest into a more considerable size, her face held her usual proud expression. ¡°I... I...¡± Felle looked at the wound on his arm and looked down. ¡°These few days, we have seen more and more of those weird people. Not only outside, even inside the school as well. They¡¯ll appear when night falls.¡± The xen-haired girl, Selena bit her lip. ¡°Yet, other students, even the tutors and lecturers could not see them...¡± Chapter 278 - nusual Phenomenon: Part 3

Chapter 278: Unusual Phenomenon: Part 3

¡°These weird people cannot even be detected by professors of Darksiders, then there must be something unique with their existence,¡± Mylissa said coldly. ¡°Only that we don¡¯t know how dangerous are they.¡± ¡°No!¡± Selena interrupted her. ¡°My ability tells me that if this goes on, something really bad will happen!¡± Her face was grim. ¡°When I first detected these people, I went to look for my tutor for help, and I was ambushed and attacked on the way back. I¡¯m suspecting that everything here is a conspiracy!¡± ¡°A conspiracy?¡± Mylissa frowned. ¡°We need to find someone who will believe us, someone with influence who can help us! If it is just with our powers alone, we will not be able to stop this conspiracy!¡± Selena said, her tone serious. She then looked at her twopanions. ¡°I¡¯m the one who dragged both of you into this. If it wasn¡¯t for me, they would not have set their sights on you two. But we don¡¯t have a choice now.¡± ¡°Who knew that taking out one would invite a swarm!¡± Felle said helplessly. However, he did not regret it. If it had not been for Selena¡¯s powers, they probably would not have even known if they were killed. Those weird people were just very good at hiding. Selena¡¯s ability allowed them to hide their aura once every while, to avoid being detected by those people. ¡°But the problem is, they cannot be killed!¡± Selena gritted her teeth. The other two demurred when they heard that. Mylissa recalled what she had gone through these few days, and it felt like a dream. Every time those weird people were killed, they would resurrect about ten minutester and bring a swarm of them in tow. If not for Selena, she would have been... ¡°They are monsters that cannot be killed, but I don¡¯t believe with so many powerful Darksiders around that no one actually noticed those monsters. Why didn¡¯t anyone do something?¡± Mylissa spat. Selena then turned mum. ¡°Perhaps, this is the reason why I was being pursued.¡± ... *Bam!!* Lin Sheng¡¯s elbow struck like lightning in a circle as three pouncing monsters were struck in the head. They soon disappeared as they flew away. Rposing himself, and tidying his shirt, Lin Sheng was a little confused. ¡°How did these b*stards find me?¡± After taking out the short fat man earlier, dozens hade after him barely ten minutester. They were no different than that fat man earlier, they were like mindless beasts who wed and bite at their foes. *Huh... hah... huh...* Beside him a man doing his routine night jog passed by. There was a white towel on his neck and he ranked of sweat as he just ran past the monsters that had appeared. What surprised Lin Sheng was, that man did not seem to even notice the monster¡¯s existence as his eyes were straight on the path as he ran. ¡°He can¡¯t see them?¡± Lin Sheng frowned as he went on his way. A few minutester, though, another cluster of shadows appeared before him. All of them were nk-eyed, with ck markings between their eyes. Among the monsters were normal white-cor workers, students of both genders, and even elderlies. All of them were clustered together, at least two dozen in numbers. *Rawrrrr!!* A bestial roarter, all of the monsters straight charged at Lin Sheng. Just as he was about to strike back, all of them disappeared. *Bam bam bam!!* His upper body part was suddenly grabbed by a swarm of teleporting bodies as they mped onto him and turned into a massive ball of flesh. Not only that, but more monsters also appeared from the darkness as they howled in a frenzy before throwing themselves into the ball of flesh, engorging it into an even more terrifying size. *Boom!!* Green light burst out from the ball of flesh, and quickly following it was the second and third aspact dark powersers sted out from inside the ball of flesh. *m!!* A formless shockwave ripped apart the ball of flesh as countless of monsters were shredded by the force of the st, and were reduced into ck smoke in the air. Lin Sheng stood there unharmed as he adjusted his cor. ¡°They cannot be killed?¡± He noticed that one of the monsters he took out earlier had reappeared again. ¡°Interesting...¡± Lin Sheng looked ahead, and even more figures appeared from the darkness. The streetmp exposed their menacing faces. *Grahh!!* A shadow leaped at Lin Sheng¡¯s side and tried to bite his neck. Lin Sheng held his hand out and grabbed the shadow by the neck. ¡°If dark power can¡¯t kill you, then try this instead.¡± A white light shed in his eyes. The monster in his arm shuddered as a white light shed through its eyes, and it flopped over limply. A momentter, the monster wordlessly disintegrated into gray light particles and disappeared. Following that, Lin Sheng saw something extremely familiar among the light particles. It was a very fine ck strand. ¡°Oh... could that be??!¡± Lin Sheng squinted as he stared at the ck line. *Whoosh!* The ck line flew over and entered his chest. At the same time, a surge of memories entered his mind. He shuddered a little as he quickly closed his eyes to absorb the memories. Thankfully, he was well experienced already, and absorbing the memories was now a simple task. And not even half a minuteter, he hadpleted the absorption of the memory. He had not seen the details yet, he did not have the time to do so. However, from what he understood, the female monster he had just purified was a single mother who had worked as a clerk in a smallpany. At one of her friend¡¯s behest, she had joined a mysterious religious sect called the Sect of Thousand Graces. The sect only required their adherents to go over to their ce of worship chant their scripture every day to earn some side ie. The more they chanted, the more ie they got. To improve her family¡¯s finances, she had increased her time there to chant and pray. One day, she suddenly felt faint and decided to rest on the sofa within the building. But that short rest became eternal. ¡°The Sect of Thousand Graces?¡± Lin Sheng looked up the new monsters that were appearing before him. ¡°Seems like all of them were converted from living persons...¡± He then checked the soul that he had just absorbed. Compared to the souls they had absorbed in the dream, the soul that the monster provided was just a tiny smidge. Not even one-tenth of a vault guard. ¡°Too weak... unless I continuously kill them by the hundreds, these sort of soul is pretty much pointless. ¡°But the information and memories can be useful...¡± As he looked at that the approaching horde, Lin Sheng now knew that his holy powers could stop them, and he was much more confident now. He only needed to keep his holy power into a very small area, and not let it leak any auras out. He then stepped forward and went on the offensive against the horde. His eyes lit up in white holy power. Chapter 279 - Prowess: Part 1

Chapter 279: Prowess: Part 1

One by one, the monsters were disintegrated as they were reduced into countless of light particles. ck lines surged toward Lin Sheng like a spider web and into his chest. Lin Sheng¡¯s expression stayed the same, as he deftly moved within the charging horde, and his every move seems very rudimentary. Yet, when chained into abo, it was a highly urate and efficient series of attacks, powerful yet not wasteful. Just as Lin Sheng was ughtering the surge of monsters, about a thousand meters away, above a river-spanning bridge, a thin,nky man stood upon it with a gray jacket and a round hat. A cigarette was lit in his mouth as he looked at Lin Sheng in the distance. ¡°Interesting, a little bug could actually harm the Shades.¡± The man opened his mouth, revealing a row of ck, sharp fangs. ¡°Do we kill him?¡± Beside him was a muscrdy with dark skin and white hair, not unlike a panther. She had a green tattoo on the side of her face, seemingly a symbol. ¡°I¡¯m curious, what did that guy use to kill the Shades?¡± ¡°Then, let¡¯s capture him to investigate. He¡¯s not a Four-winged Oppressor. There won¡¯t be much trouble if we take him. What are you afraid of? the dark-skinneddy said impatiently. The man in the jacket smiled without a word. After demurring for a moment, he spoke again. ¡°Seems like a student with some rather interesting secrets. Forget it, kill him. Don¡¯t let him affect our ns.¡± ¡°One minute.¡± Thedy stomped her feet as she crossed her fingers and stretched, letting out a crisp crack. ¡°Stamping out the problem.¡± She took big strides toward Lin Sheng. ... As strands upon strands of ck lines entering his mind, even as weathered as Lin Sheng was at this, he still at times could not withstand the impact of the information torrent. This impact was just too great. While every ck line was just a shred of memories, but it could slowly stack up onto a veritable tide. In the short span of ten minutes, he had already killed about a hundred of the monsters and absorbed a considerable number of souls. ¡°I¡¯ll take back what I¡¯ve said.¡± Lin Sheng stared coldly at the endless horde of monsters. ¡°These kinds of trash mobs are not that bad if theye in these numbers.¡± Lin Sheng steadied his foot, as he straightened his hand into a de. He then dashed out and charged into the oing horde. The gruesome cacophony of des sinking into flesh rang out as the new wave of monsters were all taken out in less than two minutes. Each and every one of the monsters turned into light particles as strands of ck lines entered his chest. Without him noticing, the souls that he expended during the purification meditation earlier had already been replenished, with extras to boot. *Bam!* Thest portly elder monster¡¯s neck was snapped by Lin Sheng¡¯s fist. It fell to the ground and dissipated into light particles. Lin Sheng shook his arm and went on his way. Further ahead was a crossroad, and a right turnter, it was the entrance to the Soul Fortress. A deserted two-story building. He had just taken a few steps forward before he stopped and looked ahead. ¡°There...¡± Lin Sheng frowned as he quickly retracted the holy power on his body and took the appearance of amoner as he slowly headed to the Soul Fortress and disappearing into the night. About a hundred meters ahead of Lin Sheng, a panther-like dark-skinned woman slowly made her way out of the alley and looked at the direction Lin Sheng went. ¡°Count yourself lucky, kid.¡± She snorted as she turned in another direction. There was a coldness in her eyes as she retreated back to the direction she hade from. Barely half a minute after the two left, two powerful men with green dark power aura all over them suddenly appeared at the area where Lin Sheng had just massacred the monsters. ¡°The energy surge earlier...someone fought here,¡± one of the men said. ¡°That aside, the weird fluctuations we detectedst time... there¡¯s a lot of them. They were weak, but once their numbers increased, their traces became obvious as well,¡± the other man said. ¡°Let¡¯s report this upwards.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ... The life in the Soul Fortress was even more fruitful than Lin Sheng had expected. Going to ss every day, training the control of his dark powers, going into the dream to hunt the ck hawks, then going out at times to rx, to go online, to eat some nice good. If he was lucky he would run into those monsters. Running into them was probably when Lin Sheng felt the best. As there were not many opportunities to absorb so many souls in the real world. A rare opportunity indeed... And a week passed by. Finally, there were new changes to Lin Sheng¡¯s dream. *Crack.* Lin Sheng stretched his hands out to break the protruding branch and tossed it aside. Ahead of him was a massive gray cliff face, which filled his entire field of vision. There were all sorts of dark holes on the cliff face, and the giant hawks would fly in and out of the holes. The sky was gray as if meshing together with the gray cliff face. Just by a nce alone, he could not tell one from another. ¡°Finally something new. Aside from killing the hawks and absorbing their soul, there was literally nothing else.¡± Lin Sheng was also relieved. A week¡¯s time was long enough, and he was worried that the dream would end automatically, just like the Fay Vault earlier. So finding the other two secret techniques was now of prime importance. But even as he tried to increase the speed of his search, it took him a week to even find this unique ce. ¡°Hopefully this won¡¯t disappoint me.¡± Lin Sheng looked at the dozens of hawks flying above as he approached the cliff face. Oddly enough, the closer he got to the cliff, the ck hawks in the air had disappeared without him knowing. Lin Sheng slowed down his pace as he went into full alert, before taking one step after another in his approach. The hawk¡¯s nest on the cliff face were like dark, sinister eyes that stared at him as he got close. And got close he did, to the sturdy gray stone wall. ¡°Hmmm?¡± Only after getting close did he noticed a hidden Z shaped path within the cliff hall. As the path was of the same shade, with stone wall piling up high, plus its tiny entrance made it hard to detect at first nce. Lin Sheng rposed himself, as he entered the path. Upon entering it, it was nothing but tall, sky-scraping walls. There was nary a piece of green on the wall, it was barren of any life. Lin Sheng slowly made his way along the pathway, and after some distance, he finally reached a turn. He slowed down and looked up. At the exit of the path, a grayish-ck sculpture the size of two-story buildings blocked the path. It was a ck hawk¡¯s head, a veryrge head. The base of the sculpture seemed to be made out of gemstones simr to dark green diamonds. It was clear and very strong with some nondescript patterns around it. The head of the ck hawks Lin Sheng had killed was no different from that sculpture. They were identical, aside from the size difference. As even if all of the hawks were to be added together, they were nowhere close to the size of the sculpture. Chapter 280 - Prowess: Part 2

Chapter 280: Prowess: Part 2

Lin Sheng stood before the sculpture and looked up to get a better look at things. He was trying to look for the written records just like the ck tome from before. After all, the Cultivation and Assimtion techniques that came after Purification could be the key to enhance his bloodline. After circling around the sculpture, aside from realizing that the giant hawk sculpture being hyper-realistic, there was nothing else. The sculpture stood on the empty ground at the end of the path. It was a massive ringed valley, and all around were high cliff walls without any other entrances. ¡°There¡¯s probably a ce that I haven¡¯t noticed yet.¡± Lin Sheng felt like something was still hidden and he just had not detected it yet. ¡°There¡¯s probably some sort of mechanism in this sculpture...¡± He started circling the sculpture again, and just as sudden, heshed out at the gemstone base of the sculpture. *Bam.* The base was unmoving, as a powerful, tough feedback reverberated throughout his fist. ¡°That¡¯s tough! Something¡¯s not right.¡± Lin Sheng sensed that it was not only tough, but there was also some sort of unknown warmth to it. He refocused his gaze andshed out another powerful punch at the base again. *Bam bam bam bam!* With a flurry of punches, the green gemstone base of the sculpture was getting warmer and warmer. Lin Sheng sensed the changes and increased his rate of attack. *Crack.* A sudden crack suddenly rang out from above. Lin Sheng paused, and his expression turned slightly incredulous. ¡°Sh*t, could it be...¡± This sort of familiar crack reminded him of a very unpleasant memory. He slowly looked up, and what entered his eyes was a giant amber eye. The eye was like a prison, and within it were countless of pale faces that were writhing and crying out wordlessly. More importantly, the eye-ball itself was already about his height... *Bam!!* Lin Sheng quickly pulled back. And only after retreating about ten meters back, that he once again reassessed the massive hawk sculpture. It was alive?! A good portion of the two-story-tall sculpture¡¯s outeryer had already fallen off and revealed a real, living giant ck hawk¡¯s head. Its head itself was already two-story tall, and Lin Sheng could scarcely imagine its true size. Just with that amber eyes staring at him alone was enough to give Lin Sheng the terror of being stared at by an apex predator. The echoes of the wind rang across the circr valley. Lin Sheng was about thirty meters away from the hawk¡¯s head, yet he could still feel goosebumps all over him as if there was an impending disaster. ¡°Hello.¡± Lin Sheng opened his mouth, speaking in Ancient Rehn. ¡°Can you understand me?¡± he asked. ¡°Hello?¡± Lin Sheng switched to a differentnguage, and this time he used the weird tongue spoken in the giant hawk¡¯s memories. Sadly, there was no reply aside from the howling winds. Lin Sheng did not give up and switched to Deviltongue instead, using the contents he had learned from the tome in Snowgale Fortress. While he was not fluent at it, he felt that he could still manage simple conversations. Yet the giant hawk¡¯s head stood still there, as calm and quiet returned to the valley. If not for the basteryer of the hawk¡¯s head had fallen off, he could scarcely believe that this tiny-mountain of a hawk sculpture was actually alive. As calm returned, Lin Sheng, still not willing to admit defeat, slowly got close to the giant hawk¡¯s head sculpture again. This time around, he stood about ten meters away. Therge hawk¡¯s head opened its eyes again and looked at him. Lin Sheng circled around the head once again, and while the gargantuan beast did not turn around with him, but its eyes never left him. Within the eyes, it was a quiet sea of despair, terror and ambivalence. Lin Sheng observed for a while, and as he did not encounter any hostilities or danger, he calmed down somewhat. As he looked at the giant hawk¡¯s head, he pulled some distance away and pulled a short ax from his back. *Hiss...* A surge of holy power infused the ax. His Level 7 holy power now was beyondparison to his Level 3 power back then. The short ax started glowing in a pure white glow as his body radiated excess strand-like holy power. *Huff!* Without a word, Lin Sheng activated his half-dragon form, alongside holy power as he unleashed all of his strength into tossing the short ax in his hand. The ck short ax howled as it turned into a ck shadow, an afterimage was left in its wake as it smashed into the amber eyes of the giant hawk head. *Bam!!!* The ax struck the amber-like eyes straight in the bulls¡¯ eye, and at that same instant, a blunt thud was heard. The giant hawk¡¯s head simply looked at him in quiet despair. *ng.* The short ax fell limply onto the ground, its edge had already shattered into jagged teeth. *Gulp.* Lin Sheng felt his throat dry as he gritted his teeth hard, all the while staring at the eye at the ax had just struck. It was still smooth as a mirror, with nary a scratch. ¡°Bloody hell, I don¡¯t believe this won¡¯t work!¡± Lin Sheng took big steps to get close as he pulled out another ax, increasing his pace into a charge. *Bam!!!* With all his might, his body radiated in holy light as the short ax burst into an overwhelming force, driven by his Crag Dragon blood and his Sacred Blood ability. The keen eye of the ax ripped through air in Lin Sheng¡¯s hand as he leaped into an arc to smash therge eye. *Pooow!!* Lin Sheng only felt a powerful recoil brutally pushing back against his axe. The axe snapped into two, and its upper hand flew away, and embedded into the surrounding cliff wall. Lin Sheng threw away the broken haft and simply resorted to his bare hands, as he leap again and startednding a storm of powerful blows upon the giant hawk¡¯s eyes. *Bam bam bam!!!* A series of thuds quickly followed. The hawk¡¯s head seemed to be covered by ayer of seemingly impregnable material, and no matter how much strength Lin Sheng had tried to muster, no matter how hard he tried to look for weaknesses, no matter how he tried to pierce through thatyer... It was futile. The giant hawk did not even flinch or resist. It just looked on in quiet despair at Lin Sheng as it monitored his every move. *Huff... Huff... Huff...* Lin Sheng pulled back to about a thirty-meter distance, sweating profusely as he looked at that incredible giant hawk¡¯s eye. ¡°It is...¡± He had no idea how to describe it. The gulf of their prowess was just too huge, and staying here any longer was meaningless. After his body recovered, Lin Sheng gave the giant hawk head onest nce before leaving the valley. Very quickly, he returned to the bottom of the cliff wall and looked at the tightly packed nest holes. Taking a few steps back, he darted forward, using the uneven cliff wall as leverage as he mbered up. From afar, he looked just like a nimble monkey that was quickly scaling and jumping along the cliff wall before entering a close-by nest hole. Chapter 281 - Prowess: Part 3

Chapter 281: Prowess: Part 3

Lin Sheng quickly checked through each and every hawk¡¯s nest. His goal was clear, to look for the second tome and learn about the Cultivation and Assimtion techniques. Before long, he had gone through about a dozen nests within ten minutes. This search was not for naught, and soon, he found the second tome inside the hawk nest on the top right most of the cliff wall. ¡°Lamanier Inner Circle ¨C Cultivation¡± ¡°There it is!¡± Lin Sheng gently turned the ck tome open and saw the title within the tome. The content within the tome was a continuation of the first book, Purification. And Lin Sheng had already memorized the first tome whole, so when he saw the book, he could naturally link them together. There were not too many items within the Cultivation technique, rather it wasyers uponyers ofplex triangr magical matrixes. From Lin Sheng¡¯s absorbed memories, there were a bare few fragments that were about the magical matrix, and he could slightly tell the effect of the matrixes. ¡°Seems like an energy conversion ritual...¡± He was not well-versed in rituals. There were all sorts of ritual types, runes, and sigils used, patterns, matrix bases; simply too many. And each different ritual had a very vast gulf from one to another. The only ritual he was familiar with was the summoning rituals from ckfeather City. That was the one that he had used the most, yet ckfeather City¡¯s ritual system was standalone and different from this. Not daring to waste any time, Lin Sheng started to memorize the energy conversion ritual, and forced himself to use some memorization techniques to imprint what he read into his memories. Through repeated memorization, Lin Sheng tried his base to basically carve everything to his mind. By the fourth round, the familiar ticking of the clock rang by his ear side. *Tick tock, tick tock...* Lin Sheng¡¯s vision started to blur as he hugged the tome and hid into a dark corner of the nest, his arm digging hard against the wall. Soon, a hidden gap that could fit his frame was dug out. Lin Sheng quickly curled up and hid into the hole. Just as he got in, his vision faded to ck, and his consciousness muddled. Time slowly passed, and some momentster, Lin Sheng slowly woke. The moment his eyes opened, he leaped out of the bed and onto the desk as he pulled out his pen and notebook, and started drawing out the magical matrix he had just memorized at the speed of a man possessed. After drawing it out and counterchecking it a couple of times, only did Lin Sheng dared to rx. He then looked out to the window and saw that it was still pitch ck outside. Lin Sheng picked up the paper with the matrix and rolled it up as he made his way out of the bedroom. Using the night veil, Lin Sheng quickly left the Soul Fortress and left it using the dimensional distortion rift. At dawn, Miga had a scenery very different from that of Xilin and Xylond. Henriqc, as a standard Migan second-line city, while not the most prosperous city, was still by all means a modern city. Lin Sheng quickly returned to the apartment Adolf had rented for him. The apartment was stocked up with all sorts of materials he needed for his summoning ritual, and it was also the best hiding ce for his experimentation and recuperation. As he closed the door and pulled the curtain shut, Lin Sheng quickly used the scanner and photocopier to erge the matrix he had drawn as well as print out arger matrix. The printing utilized a splicing method as the matrix was divided into many small parts, then smaller parts were erged and rbined back into one piece. What came out was thergest possible copy. About half an hourter, a matrix that was just the right size was created by Lin Sheng and wasid on the floor. The testing ritual itself was simple. Based on the notes on the ck tome, Lin Sheng bit his finger and squeezed out a drop of blood onto a nk corner on the top right of the ritual all the while he stood on the empty spot on the left. There was no need for any activation chants, nor any other materials. All he needed, was his spiritual power. Lin Sheng controlled his power and slowly it flowed like a stream into the connection link of the matrix. Of all the things Lin Shengcked, he did notck in his spiritual power. He had estimated that if he was to do a simple conversion, it was at least a thousandfold more than your normal folk. The simple matrix on the ground started emitting faint silver mist after being infused with souls. The silver mist was like a living being as it entered Lin Sheng¡¯s body as if having a will of its own. And a momentter, Lin Sheng could feel an increase of fresh blood within his body. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be a problem then!¡± He quickly stopped the soul infusion. And the ritual immediately stopped. He had used the ritual to cultivate his own fresh blood, and through the infusion of souls to convert it into fresh blood directly within his body. The effect was simple enough, but the price to pay was steep. And aside from him, there was probably no one else who dared to use it. If not for the fact that he could absorb souls, he would not have been so wasteful. If he overspent his souls, and should there be a shortfall, he would end up being brain-damaged... ¡°Let¡¯s test this out a couple more times. Gotta make sure no problems actually arise...¡± Lin Sheng was still a little weary, as this was different than the Purification technique as his Crag Dragon blood had already been purified to a very potent level. But its amount had been greatly reduced, and with only that little bit, any failure in the Cultivation process will cause him to lose that blood. That was the point on his caution. Lin Sheng carefully bled himself again, and as he tested the process of the ritual once again; and also to estimate the amount of soul power needed to cultivate his own blood. The cost of a soldier¡¯s worth of soul could create around a liter worth of fresh blood. The efficiency was so low that it was no better than a waste of resources. However, Lin Sheng had no other choice. That was the only hope he had of strengthening his bloodline. The enhancement of his bloodline was key. If it was sessful, that means the general parameters of his body will increase, and with that, he could once again increase the level of his holy power. With one affecting another along with sufficient progress, Lin Sheng¡¯s prowess would increase and grow to a whole new level. After counterchecking the ritual again, Lin Sheng looked at the clock on the wall: 5:43 am. ¡°Let¡¯s start.¡± He once again stood on the ritual cement and closed his eyes. He lifted his finger and hung it over the other empty spot on the matrix as the Crag Dragon blood flowed rapidly within him. With the help of his holy power, a drop of golden blood slowly seeped out from the tip of his finger and fell. *t...* The moment the golden bloodnded on the nk spot, Lin Sheng infused it with souls, and a surge of souls flowed like a river into the connection link of the matrix. *Bam!!* Silver light lit up all across the matrix as arge amount of silver mist sted out and rushed toward Lin Sheng. *Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!* *Baamm!!* Lines upon lines of silver light pirs shot out andnded on Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. The Crag Dragon blood within Lin Sheng seemed affected by some sort of active stimuli as it started wolfing down the silver mist to strengthen itself. But the strengthening was not particrly fast. Lin Sheng focused his gaze as he infused it with souls, he had his red line and needed to ensure that he had enough to sustain his lieutenants. Taking aside the soul required to maintain his lieutenants, Lin Sheng possessed about thirty units of summoned soldiers-worth of souls to expend. As his soul was continuously consumed, the ritual matrix converted arge amount of silver mist that soon were infused into Lin Sheng¡¯s body. The golden Crag Dragon blood within him was growing at a visible rate. After his initial purification, all of the purified dragon blood was coalesced and reduced to a paltry five drops. Now that units upon units of souls were being converted, the original five drops of golden blood were slowly, but surely increasing. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. ... Ten minutester, the golden blood more than tripled to sixteen and Lin Sheng slowly opened his eye, a golden glint shed through his eyes. ¡°Not enough... not nearly enough!¡± He looked at the dimming silver glow around him. ¡°I need more souls... more!¡± He could feel that boiling blood within his body, and his half-dragon form from before could allow him to fight against anything below Level 6. Then his half-dragon form now would have at least three-times more explosive power, and the toughness of his skin had vastly increased too. He even started to suspect that if he were to activate that form the strength and defense of his body would reach Level 5, or even Level 6. ¡°My body¡¯s strengthened, and that aside, I can start to train my holy powers again...¡± Lin Sheng kept the matrix and left the room. As for souls, that so-called Sect of Thousand Graces may be able to surprise him. Chapter 282 - Dragonblood: Part 1

Chapter 282: Dragonblood: Part 1

Dawn, Henriqcal, Whitecard District. There were pedestrians on the streets, as the nightlife revelers walked in hurried steps as no one would like to remain outside at a time like this. A faint aroma of deep-fried meat permeated in the air from an unknown shop. Lin Sheng tugged his jacket tight as he pulled down his hat to cover his face as he quickly made his way to a ten-story tall building. A neon sign hung at the top of the building, lines of blue words moved slowly. ¡°Tomorrow, Happiness; Today, Hope; Yesterday, Forgotten.¡± Two white searchlights shot out toward the sky from the floor on both sides of the building, and the signage light from the opposite Jarde Supermarket chain shone over, painting the entire building red. Lin Sheng held his right hand out as he used his finger to feel the cold air outside. That refreshed him somewhat. He had just spent arge number of spare souls and converted them into boiling Crag Dragon blood. Besides, Lin Sheng had not recovered from that state yet. He slightly lifted his head, and walked towards the locked door. There was a CCTV camera on the upper right of the entrance, and a crack was heard. A green sh flickered as the camera broke. Lin Sheng retracted his dark power strands as he ced his hand on the shut high-durability ss door. *Crack.* The two doors slowly opened up and revealed a dark entrance. From the entrance, there were rows of elevators with blinking red light on the left of the main hall, and on the right, was an empty reception desk. At the center of the hall was a round pir that had been hollowed out, with a few ck vases ced within it as decoration. *Hiss...* There were pieces of white flyers being blown about by the wind. Lin Sheng slowly walked through the ss door, and swept his gazes across the area, and did not sense any of the monsters. He did not get on the elevators, rather he went up the evacuation stairwell up the building. All around the wall of the stairwell were all sorts of bizarre red sigils. Some looked like random graffiti, some were like characters, while others were some weird faces with creepy smiles on them and all sorts of cartoon characters. Unless the green emergency lighting, the markings on the wall looked like as if they were written in blood, and looked rather terrifying. Lin Sheng went up the staircase step by step. The side rail of the stairs was totally rusted as the ground had smatterings of god knows what, perhaps blood or paint. Based on the memories of the monsters he had absorbed, this building was the old base of the Sect of Thousand Graces in this district. For him to get even more souls, going there was the most simple solution. From the memories, Lin Sheng had a rough idea of theyout of the building, alongside the deployment of their members, and the rough level of their strength. He was equipped with the knowledge of all of that. When the memories of the in monsters werebined, it had created a particrly distinct mark of everyone within the building. Especially when the people here did not even take any precautions against the monsters, and did not even bother masking what they were talking about. Heck, they even allowed them to simply wander about. Perhaps they themselves could not see the monsters or thought that the monsters would not leak anything out. But regardless, all of this made Lin Sheng¡¯s job easier, as no one could have known that he could absorb the soul and memory fragments of so many monsters. ¡°Go check things out.¡± Li Sheng ordered as he stood by the emergency exit door on the second floor. *Poff!* ck smoke appeared beside him and transformed into a vault guard. ¡°Yes, My Lord.¡± The soldier lowered his head as he pulled out his sword and shield, then he proceeded to the second floor. Lin Sheng paused for a bit before he followed suit. ¡°The first floor is meant as a front and a reception floor. Everyone there is a normal person. Only the second level onwardsprise the cultivation levels, ces where they cultivate the shades...¡± Lin Sheng slowly followed behind the vault guard as a few more puffs of ck smoke were released. As theynded, the ck smoke transformed into a few more vault guards, and without a word, they drew their weapons as they started searching the ce. ¡°Ugh, they cannot see those monsters.¡± Lin Sheng suddenly frowned as he looked forward. There was a young girl in a white dress sitting quietly in a corner as two vault guards simply walked passed her without noticing. The girl had long ck hair, and her frame thin, most of her face was hidden by her hair, and only the point tip of her chin was visible. Having some ideas, Lin Sheng ordered his vault guards to turn into ck smoke form, to search the ce even more stealthily while he himself went ahead to investigate. *Hngff!* As he passed by the girl, before she could even yell, his right handshed out and grabbed her by the shoulder as a searing white lightning arc ran through her body. The girl just exploded into gray light particles as a strand of ck line entered his body. Lin Sheng was impassive as he went about searching the entire ce on that floor. This was the old port for the Sect of Thousand Graces in this area, and based on the memories of the monsters, there wererge amounts of shades being cultivated here, and even special types of shadow monsters as well. As he made his way through the floor, past a few administrative areas, he took out a few more monsters, but their numbers were far lesser than he had expected. With the second floor done, he went up to the third, and the third was empty. Swiftly, he made his way up the forth, and fifth... As he sped up, the number of monsters he ran into increased, but when he had gotten to the top fifteenth floor, he had only taken out about thirty of them. The vault guards did not find any living person here, not even a security guard. Dawn was breaking soon. Not willing to give up, Lin Sheng started searching from top to bottom again. ... The main hall on the first floor. Inside the hollowed pir were eight ck vase-like decorative items, and the moment Lin Sheng passed through the security door, it lit up in faint blue light. Weirdly enough, the blue light did not even light up the dark hall, nor anything around the vases. The eight vases were like a living being, and the pattern on the surface was slowly moving. If someone were to look on with a magnifying ss, they could see that the pattern was actually formed out of thousands of tiny white figures. If further magnified, one could see that these tiny white figures were all d in white, and their faces were therge number ofmoners who had gone missing. Some of them had gone missing in recent years, some even longer. And some, no one even knew where they came from, as if they had been inside the vases ever since. These unknown tiny white figures formed ny percent of the number. They were expressionless, their skin pale and pallid, as they wore a hooded white shirt forming into lines. Some even sported hairstyles that were popr a very long time ago, but no one knew what era that was. Theserge amount of tiny white figures seemed to be souls trapped within the vase, as they formed lines upon lines of white, and the lines converged into small, white eyes. The eyes stared at the direction Lin Sheng had just passed through, and the moment it reached the edge of its vision, it disappeared and returned to normal. Chapter 283 - Dragonblood: Part 2

Chapter 283: Dragonblood: Part 2

*Bam!!* With a casual swing of his hand, Lin Sheng destroyed a monster that had appeared suddenly and reduced it into light particles. After searching for about half an hour, the sun was rising already, and if he still could not find it, he had to leave the building. His instincts, stemming from the acute senses of the Crag Dragon blood allowed him to sense that there was something fishy about this building. The monsters were definitely hiding somewhere. He went from top all the way to the bottom, and with the help of his vault guards, he had searched almost every corner of the building. Yet, there were no signs of the monsters unseen to normal sight anywhere. Thankfully, the vault guards in their smoke-form had already taken out all of the CCTVs, so he had no worries about being detected. ¡°I can sense arge number of souls here... but why can¡¯t I find it?¡± Lin Sheng licked his lips as he quickened the search. He had gone through the building twice, and the entire area was cleared of any monsters. Yet, the aura of souls still tingled Lin Sheng¡¯s senses, but he had no idea where they were. *Beep beep* The sound of a car¡¯s horn rang out. Lin Sheng walked over to the window and peered down. Two ck cars drove into the open-air parking lots at the bottom of the building. The vehicles were unusually new and polished. As the door opened, a few men and women in business suits got off it. ¡°Trouble.¡± Lin Sheng frowned. He did not n to go head-on against the people of the Sect of Thousand Graces, and he needed to quickly find the hiding monsters. Who knows what sort of skills that god-forsaken sect had. He was still in his budding period and had no need to make enemies everyone. ¡°Go and investigate, and if possible, knock them all out,¡± Lin Sheng ordered in a hushed tone. ¡°Understood.¡± Three vault guards quickly turned into ck smoke and went down the elevator shaft to the bottom of the building. After sending his men over, Lin Sheng continued his search. Not longter, the vault guards reported the sess of their mission through the soul link. They were allmoners, and have been knocked unconscious, bound and hidden. Lin Sheng looked at his watch, it was six-thirty. ¡°Another half an hour, if I can¡¯t find anything, I¡¯ll have to retreat.¡± He had no ns to dere open war against the Sect of Thousand Graces, without the Steel Lord, the Night Lord or Khad beside him, he was only at Level 7, even with his enhanced Crag Dragon blood. Even with that, he was at most Level 8, and if converted into the real world, it was about the top of Three Wings, but not yet of a Four-winged Oppressor. At that range, his powers were neither too weak nor too strong. An awkward situation. Lin Sheng did not give up and continued his search. Another half an hour passed by. Aside from some unimportant personal details, he found nothing else. With nothing to show, he headed all the way down back to the first floor. The moment he got there, he saw at least a dozen people lying prone on the ground, all of them taken out by the vault guards. Lin Sheng looked around and did not sense any transcendent aura. He had searched for a while now, and he still found nothing. So he could only just leave the main hall, and made his way out of the exit and back to the streets. However, just as he was about to leave, the countless of white eyes appeared on the vases inside the hollowed pir and stared at Lin Sheng. Therge number of eyes were slightly curved, forming a sinister smile. ¡°Hmmm?¡± Lin Sheng who had just gotten out of the building suddenly stopped. ¡°What goes there?!¡± He turned back and looked at the building as he paused. *Whoosh.* He turned around and dashed back towards the building, and he traversed the distance of a few hundred meters within seconds. The main door was forced open as Lin Sheng once again stepped back into the building, and the first thing he saw was the sinister smiles on the vases that had yet to vanish. ¡°Hah! Got you!¡± Lin Sheng was ted as he held his hand out to grab the vase. ¡°Smile more!¡± Lin Sheng sted a palm-full of holy light onto it. *Hiss!!* A series of ovepping shrieks rang out from the vase as arge number of gray light particles floated out. Arge amount of holy power was consumed, but Lin Sheng was instead ted as a torrent of ck lines entered his palm, and along his arm into his chest, bringing with it thousands of memory fragments. He steadied himself as he released his holy power, and started meditating on the Ashen Seal. He had noticed that training his holy power would reduce the impact of the memory surge. While this would deny him the vision of the absorbed memories, but it would greatly reduce the burden to his brain when absorbing the memory fragments. Ten-odd seconds passed by... A vase cracked and shattered as Lin Sheng quickly grabbed the second. Arge volume of shades was purified by the holy light, as thick strands of ck lines entered Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. Gradually, even the Ashen Seal meditation could no longer help him withstand the tidal surge of memories. *Crack.* The second vase shattered. Lin Sheng looked at the remaining six vases and quickly took off his jacket, and a momentter, he carried all of the vases in the bundle and ran. He simply dashed out of the building and ran madly along the way. A street sweeper who was pushing a garbage trolley had just put his broom down when he saw a blur and a strong gust, sending the leaves that he swept earlier flying all over again. Ten minutester, a red sports car stopped abruptly at the building¡¯s entrance, as two youngdies in tight-fitting white garb jumped off the car and quickly made their way into the hall. What they saw were a bunch of unconscious staffers, and an empty pir in the middle of the main hall. Their expression turned grim. ¡°Where are the soul vessels?¡± They rushed over to the hollowed pir to investigate, but there was nothing there anymore, and only a few shattered fragments on the ground. ¡°Aside from us, no one should be able to detect the vessels! Who? Who was it!?¡± Another person growled in anger. ¡°Inform the Cardinal! There¡¯s someone else that senses the existence of the vessels. We need to secure the rest!¡± ¡°What about here?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll send someone to investigate! We need to find out who! Or this is the end for both of us!¡± The two looked at each other and could see the palpable fear in their eyes. ... Inside the rented apartment. Lin Sheng did not even bother to go to ss, and gave the professor a call to take a day off, saying that he was in a bad mood, and wanted a day off to rx. It was a totally inane excuse, which would not have flown with any professor. However, not only did Auldmandiller not admonish him, but he even started to ask things out of concern, dragging a one-minute call into a twenty-minute chat. As he put down the phone, Lin Sheng once again looked at the six vases he had shrouded with dark powers. In order to shield it from any other signals, Lin Sheng even coated them with a thinyer of holy power, before putting a secondyer of dark power on it. Even if he ran the risk of exposing his holy powers, he would not allow these vases to be taken away from him. ¡°Just two vases have gotten me about a few hundred units worth of souls... This trip sure was worth it!¡± Lin Sheng was still a slight daze from absorbing too many soul fragments. He had after all absorbed at least tens of thousands of souls trapped within the vase in a span of ten seconds. The shades provided a varied amount of souls, and they were not equal. Some seemed to be ancient and possessed weak souls, while some had just died recently and possessed strong souls. That was the reason why he only managed to absorb that amount of soul units even with that staggering number. Chapter 284 - Dragonblood: Part 3

Chapter 284: Dragonblood: Part 3

Lin Sheng did not tarry as he got up, and flicked a stic switch on the wall. *ck.* A number of digital signal scramblers within the room came alive. So every electromaic signal sent out from the room would be scrambled and could not be read. Then a couple of ck smoke shot out from his body andnded around the room, ready to transform into vault guards to ensure his security. ¡°Let¡¯s convert them into Crag Dragon blood first, other things can wait!¡± Lin Sheng started right away. He printed out a new set of ritual matrix andid them out on the ground as he forced his golden dragon blood out. He stood on one corner of the ritual as the souls within his mind started flowing into the ritual. *Whoosh!* Lines upon lines of silver light shot out andnded on Lin Sheng¡¯s body as the matrix kicked up a cloud of mist. All of the mist was absorbed by Lin Sheng as the amount of Crag Dragon blood within him increased. With that increase, it started to dye and eat into Lin Sheng¡¯s original blood. The arms on the clock spun circles upon circles and Lin Sheng¡¯s body was slowly radiated faint golden circuits all over his body as unsuppressed dragon aura seeped out as well. Slowly, Lin Sheng¡¯s opened his eyes, and his iris had totally transformed into a dark golden dragon eye. ¡°Ten percent of the blood within this body has been converted into Crag Dragon blood. While I¡¯ve used quite a bit of souls, if this can totally transform my body...¡± Lin Sheng was anticipant. One needed to remember that only his main body could enter the dream. If his main body got stronger, that would increase the rewards he would be able to gain from the dream as well. Many dangerous ces would no longer be dangerous, while the risk of going into a perilous one would be much better managed. As he recovered, Lin Sheng felt the enhanced Crag Dragon blood within his body, and the blood was even nourishing and enhancing his brain. He could clearly feel that every organ in his body was cheering. The Dragon Blood could absorb energy particles from the air, and convert it into mysterious nourishing energy to provide potent nourishment to all of his organs. His organs, now nourished by that energy, had their evolution hastened. His muscture had gotten even tougher, his bones became crystalline, and while other organs were developing new abilities on top of their original functions. ¡°Let¡¯s continue!¡± Lin Sheng could feel that his souls in his mind were being drained away, and felt much better. He then extended his hand through thebi-barrier of holy and dark power and grabbed onto the third vase. A surge of souls once again entered his mind, alongside a deluge of memory fragments. ¡°Ugh...¡± Lin Sheng felt his head aching badly... Only the nourishments from the Dragon Blood and his enhanced brain allowed his mind to maintain rity, and recover more quickly. *Crack.* The third vase shattered, and then it was the fourth and fifth. Due to the continuous nourishments of his brain by the dragon blood that his ability to withstand it had gotten stronger. In a single go, he had absorbed three vases worth of souls, and the number of memory fragments was even more. Frowning hard, as his face turned slightly pale, Lin Sheng continued to stand on the ritual matrix and infused it with souls. A sea of silver mist once again appeared and was absorbed into his body. Another thousand-odd units of souls had been consumed. There were three more vases left, but he dared not absorbed anymore. His brain was already feeling like a balloon being pumped to its limit and could burst at any time. Even his nerves were at their limits, and the fatigue made the headache worse. ¡°I... need to rest...¡± Lin Sheng got out of the ritual matrix. The golden dragon blood on the other end slowly turned ck and disintegrated into countless of gray light particles as the ritual was ended. As he sat on the sofa, Lin Sheng sank himself into a nket, looking like a soft ball. The dragon blood within his body had already reached about twenty percent, and at this ratio, he could already create an independent blood family of his own in ckfeather City. Even for the earlier generations of Palmintons which the Night Lord belonged to, did not have pure dragon blood within them. The dragon blood was nourished and cultivated from one generation to the next, and upon reaching the Night Lord¡¯s generation, his body structure fortuitously matched the Shadow Dragonking¡¯s blood, and thus the power of the bloodline grew explosively. A normal human being could never achieve pure dragon blood with them. The dragon blood could only take over some of the human blood¡¯s functions, but it could never fully rece it. So, while the Night Lord had maintained his human form, he was born with additional Shadow Dragon organs. Lin Sheng was currently the same. If the dragon blood was to achieve a higher ratio in his blood, his organs needed to mutate to adapt to it. The strong consumed the weak; thisw of the universe applied even to the cellr level. With sufficient dragon blood within him, he would slowly transform into a Crag Dragon, and all of the organs weaker than the Crag Dragon¡¯s own would be mutated. ¡°I¡¯m not looking to be a half-man half-dragon being.¡± Lin Sheng did not want to totally detach himself from society and be a monster that everyone discriminated against. Even if he were to take that form, he needed a way to conceal himself. Lin Sheng closed his eyes and started meditating his dark powers. Now, he just needed to train his dark powers to trigger a massive surge of his holy power at the same time. While that would consume his souls, the holy power was key to allow him to maintain his form by will. Within the room, Lin Sheng¡¯s golden dragon marks were slowly being covered by the pure white holy light as both glows merged and turn into one. The mutation of his organs too seemed to have reached a stable point. After a short rest, Lin Sheng got up again and grabbed a new vase Following that, three more crisp cracking sounds were heard. Thest of the souls within the three vases were totally absorbed before being purified and turned into gray light particles, as they dissipated into the air. ¡°I¡¯ve absorbed the souls of at least ten thousand people... What is that sect on about?¡± The headache resulting from the absorption had eased a lot. As he stood once again on the ritual matrix, he forced his mind to stay awake by sheer force of will as he started infusing the matrix with souls. Countless images, information, and memories flickered before his eyes and rang by his ear side. *Hisss...* The silver light shone again as argent mist appeared. Lin Sheng looked down at the floating mist and felt his consciousness fading somewhat. ¡°Gulp.¡± A rock rolled past his leg and made a noise. Suddenly, the floor Lin Sheng stood on had suddenly turned ck. He looked up, and a massive dragon with dark gold scales looked down and onto him. The massive dragon was the size of mountain ranges, with no end could be seen of his silhouette. Within the darkness, purple lightning struck and revealed the dragon¡¯s gargantuan frame. And through the lightning, he could see deep rents and wounds on the scale. The dragon¡¯s murky eyes calmly looked at Lin Sheng. It looked ancient, and there were no reflections in its amber eyes. ¡°It¡¯s all up to you now.¡± An ancient voice rumbled in Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. For some reason, he understood that it was the dragon speaking. ¡°What?¡± Lin Sheng looked at the dragon in astonishment. *Huff...* The long whiskers on the dragon¡¯s back were like a lion¡¯s mane fluttering with the wind. It slowly retreated as its massive body gradually disappeared into the shadows. ¡°Everything... ¡°Is up to you now.¡± Lin Sheng opened his eyes, and before him, a scarred crystal slowly appeared. A sense of familiarity welled up within him as he held his hand out in a daze, and grabbed onto the crystal. The old dragon¡¯s voice still rang in his ears. All of a sudden, he had a feeling that he and the old dragon, was like an old and a new king, an end and a new beginning. Chapter 285 - Infiltration: Part 1

Chapter 285: Infiltration: Part 1

Late at night. Inside a bar in Whitecard District, two figures dashed out of it as they ran outwards. Both of their clothes were messed up, and one of them was Felle who was together with Mylissa. ¡°Run!¡± The moment they got out of the bar, they split up and ran towards different directions. There were all sorts of stalls and night markets in the area, and very quickly, the two disappeared into the crowd. Just as the two ran away, the bar¡¯s main door was smashed open by a group of red-haired brutes. The lead brute had a gold earring as he bit on a thumb-sized cigar, puffing out white smoke from his nostrils. ¡°Where are they?¡± ¡°They ran in two directions.¡± A powerful-looking ck man beside him sniggered. ¡°Get them! And be careful not to wreck it. There are only so many people who coulde into contact with that. If it is really on that tiny brat, I won¡¯t be able to help you if it breaks,¡± the leading brute said. ¡°Yes, sir!¡± A few other red-haired brutes responded in unison before splitting up. Only the leading brute remained as he looked at the crowd, and took a big puff as he gently pressed onto something inside his pocket. A formless signal was emitted and traveled into the night sky in the distance. Having done that, he returned to the bar as the silver-ash colored door closed shut. ... Both Felle and Selena panted hard as they sped across the alley. After running for a good while within thebyrinth of alleyways until the point they could not make out the directions did they slowly stop, and breathed hard while bending low. ¡°What¡¯s with those guys!? Suddenly rushing it to capture us. If not for me noticing earlier, we¡¯re probably dead meat.¡± Felle grunted with a pained look. ¡°I recognize them. Those... those are the people those monsters won¡¯t attack!¡± Selena said between pants. ¡°They are probably... Those people from the Sect of Thousand Graces we heard before.¡± Felle was stunned as he recalled the three of them tailing a monster in secret to a ce. It was an abandoned za, and inside it was all sorts of converging monsters. What surprised them was, that there were living people conducting rituals inside. They simply looked at those monsters being sucked into a small vase held by the living person without any resistance. It was from that time that they had eavesdropped on the conversation and learned about the Sect of Thousand Graces. ¡°The Sect of Thousand Graces... This is probably some heretical sect pulling some stupid stunts. So what do we do? Go back to school?¡± Felle said, his voice helpless. Selena shook her head. ¡°No one else can see those monsters, and it¡¯s dangerous even in school. We need to look for a ce without those monsters.¡± ¡°Somewhere without any monsters... our school¡¯s professors have their own miniature hidden realms, all of the top tier workshops are built within that hidden realm. If not, we can ask Mylissa...¡± Felle suddenly recalled that Miss Mylissa was not only an ace student but also an apprentice of the Soul Fortress, one of the strongest workshops in the academy. ¡°A hidden realm... No, we should not trouble Miss Mylissa any longer. We just need to find somewhere else to hide. The Sect of Thousand Graces won¡¯t dare to run rampant and cause too big of a ruckus.¡± Selena suddenly had an idea. ¡°Come with me, I¡¯ve got a good ce in mind,¡± she said as she pulled Felle away from the alley. ... Whatever happened to the Sect of Thousand Graces, Lin Sheng had no idea and had no mind to care about. Ever since the night he obtained the thing that looked suspiciously like a dragon crystal, he had been shutting himself inside the room. One was to study what that mysterious thing actually was, and another was to train his dark powers and increase his holy power at the same time. He had fully absorbed and consumed the souls within the eight vases and converted them into Crag Dragon blood. Ever since then, his stamina was at its peak, and he had not felt any sleepiness for the past three days. That was because the Crag Dragon blood was continuously absorbing energy from the outside world and was nourishing his internal organs. The change supercharged his stamina and kept his mind alert. At the same time, Lin Sheng could feel the same sensation when he summoned the Night Lord¡¯s body. With the transformation of his body, his soul too was nourished. As he was unable to enter the dream, Lin Sheng focused all of his attention on the training of his dark powers. With regard to his actual capabilities, due to theck of any reference material, he had no idea how far he had grown. After all, he hadpletely no idea how much power his Crag Dragon blood infused with both dark and holy powers could unleash. He only knew that his current body¡¯s parameters were many times stronger than before. The Crag Dragon was a powerful being that was powerful in both strength and defense, much different from the Shadow Dragon of the Night Lord or the me Dragon of the Steel Lord. Compared to the Steel Lord, Lin Sheng¡¯s Crag Dragon blood was much more suited to defense. Of course, in terms of how strong it was, Lin Sheng still needed a proper opponent to determine that. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve used up all of the souls and can no longer convert them into holy power, things have gotten problematic...¡± Lin Sheng sat on the sofa and he shoved a chopstick full of instant noodles into his mouth. He had practically been feeding himself that for the past few days. The instant noodles had a few cubes of pre-cooked, dehydrated eggs and vegetables, and that made it much more ptable. ¡°Seems like the source of everything, is still the soul...¡± Lin Sheng did not just past his time doing nothing. Aside from training and meditating, he had been doing something else. That was to absorb the memories of those tens of thousands of souls. Tens of thousands! Imagine that! Even if everyone had just given him a memory about the length of a short film, tens of thousands of them would take him some time to fully absorb them. He could only pick up the useful ones by key phrases, and absorb them whole. First, it was the memories of variousnguages. As he had learned the Deviltongue before, Lin Sheng was particrly interested in the learning ofnguages. He thought that, if he had sufficient mastery ofnguages, he could move mountains. And in this regard, the runes and sigils too were a type ofnguage, and in fact, symbols themselves are a form ofnguage. So he had picked out andpartmentalized about eleven foreignnguages from the memory fragments. Aside from some pointless ngs, all these elevennguages by far were the most widely usednguages in the world. If not for Lin Sheng discarding the memories of a couple of tongues that sounded a little too ancient, the number ofnguages he would have masters would have been much, much more. But even those had taken him quite a bit of time. Having the memories itself was not enough as he needed to use, and practice it, only then could he assimte it as a part of him. Lin Sheng estimated that he needed at least a few more days to fully absorb those. After he was done with the foreignnguages, the second thing he picked out were the specialist knowledge and experiences. Yes, among the dozen thousands of souls that he had absorbed, an extremely small number of them belonged to learned schrs. While there were no memories of top field-leading schrs or scientists, but there were still memories of intrepid researchers with a proper knowledge system. Since they were memory fragments and notplete personal memories, Lin Sheng could only piece together knowledge from different fields one at a time. With sufficient numbers, he could still piece together quite a decent amount of basic knowledge. Basic chemistry, biology, and the like. These were things that many of the souls had studied before, and werepiled by Lin Sheng, and absorbed whole. Chapter 286 - Infiltration: Part 2

Chapter 286: Infiltration: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Thanks to the Sect of Thousand Graces, there was a group of thirty-odd researchers from a research center who were killed within the souls. Their soul fragments had benefited Lin Sheng much. This research center had forced on a cross-discipline field, bioenergetics. While Lin Sheng did not manage to fully obtain all of the memories, but based on the pieced together memory fragments, he had managed to work out the main ts of the field and its research purpose. This was something that he took as the greatest of rewards. ¡°Bioenergetics would need more basic scientific knowledge, and is iplete now. I need more knowledge repositories. This knowledge is very useful, and this research center seemed to have met partial sess in researching the Shades of the Sect of Thousand Graces, and before they could do anything with it, they were wiped out...¡± Lin Sheng finished his instant noodles and gulped down a few sses of water before sinking into the sofa to rest. To some, he may look like he was taking a breather, but he was in fact studying. While he may look like he was napping with his belly exposed, in reality, he was absorbing the vast quantities of foreignnguage memories in his mind. The reason for that was for him to prepare for the basis of creating his own arcanenguage. The arcanenguage was what you would call the runic system. All these while, he was stuck using the runic system of ckfeather City and had no way of modifying or correcting it. In reality, however, most mages, upon reaching a certain level, would be required to know how to create their own arcanenguage. If they did not create their own, that meant they were reliant on the works of others, and that subsequently meant that even their defensive matrixes were someone else¡¯s. That, for theck of better words, meant that they were putting their lives in the control of others. So, creating their own arcanenguage was something every mage in ckfeather City would need to go through. Only then would he fully understand and master the rituals and magic circles, and to ward against any eventualities. He did not n to entrust all of his hope on the summoning ritual being error-free. After a short rest, Lin Sheng stood up and returned to the side of the matrix. He then pulled out the crystal that he had obtained earlier. The crystal looked like your run of the mill crystals, unassuming, just like any other normal item. Lin Sheng turned and threw that thing out of the window. *Poff!!* The crystal then disappeared before the half-opened window. Lin Sheng quietly sat down, as he returned to the sofa, and put his hand into his pocket. The crystal was there, sitting snugly inside his pocket, identical to the one that he had just thrown. Lin Sheng sighed as he pulled the crystal out again. Now that he had a brain full of knowledge, he was no longer the ancientnguage specialist like before. ¡°Imprinting is it? And a special imprint of a higher being...¡± Based on the ts of bioenergetics, the crystal was very simr to one of the markings they had encountered. This mark was called the imprint, and while it may look like it was a physical imprint, it was actually an illusion that exists deep within the soul. Aside from the imprinted body, no one else could touch the mark. ¡°A specialized imprint is mostly used to make keys or switches. But I have totally no idea what this crystal is for.¡± Lin Sheng recalled that old dragon he had seen before. His instincts told him that it was a Crag Dragon, a pure and proper one! ¡°I don¡¯t even know what this thing is capable of, or what use it is for. Guess I can only wait.¡± Lin Sheng put back the crystal into his pocket as he started studying the Cultivation matrix once again. *Beep...* His handphone suddenly rang. As he picked up the phone, he saw the number of his professor. After skipping sses for the past few days, it seemed like the professor was worried now. Lin Sheng picked up the phone. ¡°Hello. Lin Sheng? Are you feeling much better? How¡¯s your progress with your dark powers? Did you run into any problems? I¡¯ll be teaching about dark power¡¯s potency and ductility and its research. Do you want toe and listen?¡± Auldmandiller asked carefully over the phone. Lin Sheng was wondering who was the professor in this instance... and now that his Crag Dragon blood had stabilized over the past few days, it was indeed time for him to go back. He came here not to just pass time, but to fully understand the dark power system, and unravel the secrets of the Ptinates. Given that dark powers was the predominant field of this world, he had no reason to go against it. ¡°Alright, professor. I¡¯ve rested up already. I¡¯ll head over right away.¡± He quickly responded. ¡°Marvelous! It¡¯s almost three already, but since you¡¯reing over, I¡¯ll just slightly dy the afternoon ss then to wait for you.¡± Auldmandiller smiled. ¡°Okay, Sir.¡± Lin Sheng was not an ungrateful b*stard after all. If someone treated him well, he would reciprocate it. After disconnecting the call, he quickly cleaned up the room and threw the rolled up matrix into the brazier by the corner of the room, and spat at it. Spittle with trails of ember flew over. *Vhoom!* The brazier lit up as the dark mes immediately burnt everything within it into ash, all without damaging the brazier itself. After that, Lin Sheng wiped out the data on the photocopier and printed a whole bunch of random notes as cover. Once done, only did he put on a new jacket and left. The fragments and the clothing he wore the other day had all been burnt clean by his dragon¡¯s breath, with no traces left behind. He then stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor as the elevator slowly made its way downwards. But when it reached the second floor, it suddenly stopped. *Ting...* The elevator door slowly opened, and outside it stood a long-haireddy in a ck office dress. Her head was looking down as she stood there unmoving. Lin Sheng frowned as he pressed the button. *Tap, tap, tap.* Even as he pressed it multiple times, the button simply shed red, and nothing happened. The elevator just stood there, the door not closing. Lin Sheng paused, as he slowly looked up at thedy, before shing a gentle smile. ¡°You...¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± Thedy suddenly shuddered as she turned and ran. Lin Sheng was rather astonished as this was the first time he saw a monster running away. Alright, he should start using their proper name, the Shade. That Shade was probably sent out to scout. As he got to the first floor, Lin Sheng saw arge group of Shades wandering about, and that confirmed his theory. The Shades were not unlike ghosts as they wandered among the popce in broad daylight. Lin Sheng pretended to not notice them, as he made his way to the Soul Fortress. As he exited the district, it was Shades all over the ce. Lin Sheng kept his eyes straight on the road as he quickly walked towards another entrance of the Soul fortress. That abandoned factory. There were a few kids kicking football by the empty field beside the factory. One of the boys kicked the ball a little too hard and almost hit Lin Sheng. He turned in that direction, and the boy who came running to collect the ball felt shivers down his spine and ran away in fear. Chapter 287 - Infiltration: Part 3

Chapter 287: Infiltration: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng stood in ce, creasing his brow slightly as he took out his mobile phone and turned on its front-facing camera, looking at himself. Soon, the dragon aura flowing in his body subsided and isted by his dark energy and holy power. After doing this, he again examined himself carefully, making sure that there was not any anomaly before he strode toward the factory. Only after a few steps, he saw lights from the corner of his eye. A car stopped on the road behind the abandoned factory with its heamps on. The yellowish-orange light from the light bulbs was not particrly bright. A pair of young couples was half-leaning on the bo, their bodies pounding madly together as they embraced each other in hot wet kisses and caress. ¡°Youngsters nowadays...¡± Lin Sheng pulled his eyes away, shaking his head. And just as he was about to leave the ce, his gut feeling told him that something was amiss and he looked at the couples again, doing a double-take. True to his suspicion, the girl seemed to struggle to push the guy away as if it was against her will. Blinking his eyes, Lin Sheng dashed over to the car. Not that he liked to stick his nose in other¡¯s business, nor he wanted to do good. Sometimes, there was no harm in giving people a helping hand while he was already here. Who knows his little gesture might change someone¡¯s life. There was another reason driving him to be a good Samaritan. Being beneficent akin to nting mushroom. Perhaps he would get to reap what he sowed someday when the mushroom grew. Being benevolent was more like sowing his seeds around. Who knows he would bump into his offsprings, who would then take care of him when he grew old someday. So doing more good was as if having more children. With more children taking care of him, he could ensure his quality of life in the old age. But then again, it also depended on the sense of gratitude of the person who received his help. Having an ungrateful child was the saddest oue of all of this. As Lin Sheng was fast approaching the car, his hurried footsteps seemed to have alerted the lust-crazed man. Looking up and removing his tie, the man showed off his muscr chest overgrown with blonde hair in an intimidating way. The man red as if he wanted to scare away Lin Sheng with his eyes. But that did not work on Lin Sheng. He unhurriedly took out his mobile phone and aimed the camera lens at the two. ¡°Ignore me and keep on. I will just watch and not say anything.¡± The man got agitated seeing the mobile phone. He came up to Lin Sheng, wanting to grab the gadget from him. But before he could do so, he saw Lin Sheng tapping on the screen and heard him saying, ¡°Sent!¡± Lin Sheng looked up and smiled at him. ¡°I have just filmed an attempted rape.¡± The man¡¯s face sank, and he lunged forward and whisked a punch at Lin Sheng. The man was furious. Somehow, a great force yanked the man out and away, smashing him against the side of the car. The man dropped to the ground with a muffled groan, leaving behind the body contour of the man on the door. Lin Sheng put down his leg, face still carrying the same smile. ¡°You deserve it. But it doesn¡¯t have to be this way.¡± He was helpless about it. By right, the mobile phone trick should work, just like the novels he had read before on Earth, where the protagonists used the phone trick to scare away any perpetrators. But it was not working here. So it all came down to who had the biggest fist. The man could no longer make a response. Lin Sheng had been very restrained in whisking out his power, but he still broke half of the ribs and bones in the man. After a long treatment and recuperation process, the man might walk again, and that was the best the man could hope for. The huge dent on the car door might look scary, but that did not tell the whole story. In fact, the man had transferred most of the force to the car when he crashed, and this transfer of force had saved his life. Meanwhile, the woman was still lying on the bo despite the earlier loud crashes. Gasping for air, the woman rolled to her side and dropped to the ground, staining arge part of her bare shoulder white dress with dirt. She struggled to lift her head and look at Lin Sheng. On her fine-featured, beautiful face, her almond-shaped eyes looked drowsy as if she was semi-unconscious. ¡°Have you been drugged?¡± Lin Sheng reached his hand into the car window before he took out a handbag. He then fished out her mobile phone and tossed it to the woman. ¡°I supposed you have no problem calling for help since you could still struggle with the man just now.¡± The woman looked at the phone that slid up before her and took it. She unlocked the screen and called up her contact list. Looking at the long list of contacts, she hesitated, unsure who to call. Tears swelled in her eyes before they rolled down her cheeks. ¡°There is no one you can trust even in such a key moment?¡± Lin Sheng had guessed what was in the woman¡¯s mind. He took his phone and dialed the emergency number 199. Ambnce in Miga was efficient. In less than fifteen minutes, the ambnce shing with red strobe light arrived. Along with the wounded man, the medic lifted the woman, who felt weak and lightheaded, onto a stretcher. Lin Sheng checked the woman¡¯s handbag for her ID card and used the cash from her wallet to pay for the ambnce fee. He then examined the woman¡¯s condition, making sure that the effect of the drug was fading. As the ambnce red its siren and carried them away, Lin Sheng went back to the abandoned factory. He made a few turns on the expansive factory floor, then walked straight toward a huge steel cylinder. Just as he was about mmed his face on the cylinder, the surrounding space distorted and Lin Sheng vanished. ... In the Soul Fortress, Lin Sheng was back to his routine of studying, practicing, meditating, and dreaming. And it all repeated in a cycle. He had explored the ce that looked like the Griffin¡¯s Morass, but he still could not find any traces of the third chapter of the Assimtion spell. Not an inch in the ck mist-coverednd that Lin Sheng had not searched. The only thing that he had not figured out was the huge griffin sculpture, which looked scary with only its head exposed on the earth¡¯s surface. He did not want to look for trouble although his Rock Dragon bloodline had gained considerable strength. The blood had settled down in his veins. His body and soul were receiving the nourishment that the blood brought. As the powerful bloodline could change his physique, and a strong body would nourish his soul, Lin Sheng felt that he was growing stronger by the minute. His dark energy would also grow stronger as the strength of his soul developed. The strength of his dark energy increased from 15,000 to 16,000 units, and this enhancement represented the improvement that a Three-winger took from the early to the stable period. By the time he woke up, he would have gained 5,000 units increase in his dark energy, which was equivalent to a Three-winged Darksider. This level of increase was insignificant to him. But the effect on the holy power was remarkable. His holy power seemed to be high on drugs as it expanded along with the dark energy. There seemed to be no limit to the increase. From Level 8 in the beginning, his holy power almost reached into the realm of Level 9 now. Lin Sheng became worried about this explosive growth. He had only gained Level 8 a few days ago, and now he was eyeing Level 9 already. Climbing thedder of the sanctum system was no easy task. From the Temr to the most gifted pope in history, an upgrade from Level 8 to Level 9 had taken no less than three years. A body under the nourishment of the Level 8 holy power could live well over three hundred years in theory. So three years seemed rtively short. But Lin Sheng felt like he would have another upgrade in days. Chapter 288 - The Test: Part 1

Chapter 288: The Test: Part 1

Two students were sparring in the ring. One was using a short jab and the other, kick. The sh of the jab and the kick was producing bursts of dark energy in the form of green light and loud thuds in the air. On the fringe of the sparring ring of the fortress, Auldmandiller was sitting on a chair and his students on both sides of around the ring. The students were having different expressions on their faces as they watched the ongoing sparring in the center of the ring. ¡°Both Xiao Ling and Ternes are close-quartersbat fighters. That¡¯s why they covered themselves with dark energy on the body to increase the explosiveness of their strength and lethality. This is what you all should emte. Especially the rapid motions, during which they can still perfectly keep the dark energy in ce. This requires some level of prowess to do it,¡± Auldmandiller exined. Melissa was sitting on the right, her eyes drifting involuntarily toward Lin Sheng. Not just her, but nearly all the students had their eyes on Lin Sheng, who sat on the right next to Auldmandiller. Dressed in slim casual white clothes, Lin Sheng had dark hair, golden eyes, fair skin, and an always-on smile on his face. This created aposed and gentle aura around him. One sparer dropped to the floor, spitting out a mouthful of blood and never getting up again. The winner ripped the red scarf off his arm and tied it around his head. With a determined look on his face, he bowed at Auldmandiller and then waited for his next opponent. ¡°Next challenger: Melissa.¡± A soft-spoken female voice sounded in the air inside the fortress. It was the synthesized voice of the testing device. The Soul Fortress was not some fusty dark-energy institution but a high-tech, high precision dark-energy workshop. Hearing her name called, Melissa rose to her feet and strode into the ring to face her opponent. And they both bowed to each other. ¡°Among all the new students, Xiao Ling is the strongest in terms of physique and strength. But in terms of dark energy, Melissa has the upper hand. The earlier test shows that Melissa¡¯s dark energy is 51, which is considerably higher than Xiao Ling¡¯s 30. But these figures mean nothing inbat,¡± Auldmandiller exined. ¡°This test will determine the position you hold in the workshop and your self-positioning during the mission in the future.¡± Auldmandiller brushed his beard with his hand and continued. ¡°The school has an Overall Strength ranking of the students. These are official ratings. If you all are confident enough, you can take part in the program. The school will give out rewards based on the rankings. There is another strength ranking run by the students. No prizes given, but a better ranking on the list will definitely help in your future development.¡± ¡°Two ranking systems? Teacher, why would anyone want to take part in the student-run ranking?¡± one student asked curiously. ¡°It¡¯s because many students are not qualified to take part in the official ranking. Such as those who have broken thew,¡± exined Auldmandiller. He was usually gentle and soft-spoken when it did not concern about the business of pharmaceutical manufacturing of the workshop. Everyone nodded in response. The sparring had begun. It was a battle between Melissa and Xiao Ling. But this time, it was different from the earlier close-rangebat. Melissa started by firing green flosses from her hands. They pierced through the air with a distinctive whoosh sound. Xiao Ling dodged, and his performance was particrly gawky from the start. A slight dy in his response had got himself cut on his left shoulder. Gritting his teeth in pain, he flipped back and retreated a dozen meters. ¡°Come on!¡± Coming back on his feet, Xiao Ling lunged forward in an ¡®S¡¯ evasive maneuver. He sessfully dodged the dark-energy flosses that Mylissa shot at him. With a bright-green halo appearing around his arm, he flung his fist at his opponent in a Bullet Fist, which gained speed mid-air and created a loud airburst sound in the air beforeing within inches of Mylissa. In that critical juncture, a shield in the form of green floss mesh popped up an inch in front of Mylissa, just in time to stop Xiao Ling¡¯s Bullet Fist. At that same moment, the floss mesh spun and popped more than a ton of green hideous spikes on the surface, ready to deploy its payload. ¡°I surrender!¡± Xiao Ling suddenly cried out. The surprised Auldmandiller nced at Melissa. He needed to do a double-take on the kid. This kid had talent as she had put up an impressive performance. ¡°Next!¡± announced Auldmandiller. He had already assigned a score for Xiao Ling in his mind. There was a momentary silence as all eyes fell on two persons on the spectator seats. One was Lin Sheng, who sat next to Auldmandiller, and the other was Margaret, the golden-haired, gentledy sitting on the other side of Lin Sheng. A foreign student from Olro and as Auldmandiller¡¯s most doted on and cherished student, Margaret was the one closest to bing a disciple. ¡°Anyone else?¡± Auldmandiller then looked at Margaret. ¡°Would you like to show your skills to us?¡± ¡°Aye, Teacher.¡± Margaret rose to her feet and tidied her dress before ambling out into the sparring ring. She wore a white safari skirt, a silver body armor, and leg armor of the same color as the body pieces on her exposed, perfect long legs. Hanging from her waist was a slender cross sword. There was also a diamond on her hair as an essory. ¡°Melissa. Here we go!¡± Margaret greeted her with a smile. Melissa nced at Lin Sheng involuntarily. But she quickly pulled her sight back and nodded at Margaret. ¡°Here we go!¡± She responded. Melissa opened her hand wide, intending to prove herself to her teacher. So she summoned all her strength right from the start by shooting dark-energy flosses that pierced through the air in an arc at Margaret. ¡°Death Spiral!¡± With the wave of her arm, Mylissa had the dark-energy flosses split into a dozen more missiles, attacking the opponent from different angles. The students were on the edge of their seats watching the terrific battle. These students had an average dark-energy value of 30, but the abilities disyed before their eyes were so refined in control that it was way above what they were currently learning. ¡°This is not possible without the dark energy getting above fifty,¡± said Anna, Melissa¡¯s close friend who sometimes helped her run errands. Seeing Melissa putting up an impressive performance made her happy. ¡°But Margaret isn¡¯t any average student! No doubt Melissa is impressive, but she is a little too reckless, don¡¯t you think?¡± A male student sitting on the other side shook his head. Indeed, before Anna could rebut, the battle took a sudden turn. With just a subtle leaping maneuver, Margaret dodged every single one of the dark-energy flosses. She then lunged forward and unsheathed her cross sword. In a sh of silver light, all dark-energy flosses began to break down and turned into light dots before they vanished altogether. Without giving Mylissa the time to think, Margaret hade dangerously close at her. Wielding the sword with one hand, Margaret thrust her sword forward and stopped an inch away from Melissa¡¯s forehead. That was it. Margaret was the clear winner. There was a moment of silence as if everyone was shocked. Only then the students broke out in apuse and cheers. Chapter 289 - The Test: Part 2

Chapter 289: The Test: Part 2

Mylissa was unable to stop her body from shivering. Her defeat was a shocker as she did not even know how her dark-energy floss could break apart. ¡°There¡¯s a wide gap between their strengths...¡± Some remarks drifted into Mylissa¡¯s ears. She could not help turning to look at her teacher, who pped his hands lightly with an approving smile on his face. Lin Sheng also smiled, but there was no reflection of her in his golden eyes. It was Margaret¡¯s graceful figure that filled his entire vision. With the help of Anna, Mylissa tottered down the ring. She still had not recovered from the dejection and shame when she was back in her seat. ¡°Next challenger. Is there anyone who would like to try?¡± Auldmandiller looked over his left and then right. The student test was an essential activity that every workshop must conduct. Darksiders were not office creatures. They had to survive in the toughest environment and be ever ready forbats. Just this alone madebat training an absolute requirement for them. This time, no one wanted to get into the ring again. This had been the situation in the Soul Fortress all along. As long as Margaret was in the ring, the sparring session was as good as over. ¡°Since no one has volunteered...¡± Auldmandiller turned to look at Lin Sheng, ¡°Lin Sheng, why don¡¯t you showcase the higher-level dark energybat mode with Margaret in front of everyone?¡± Lin Sheng rose to his feet and bowed. ¡°Aye, Sir.¡± He came into the ring, and under the anticipative eyes of Margaret, he gave her a ceremonial bow. ¡°Here we go!¡± All eyes were on Lin Sheng as they could not wait to see what woulde out of this battle. As another student of Auldmandiller was already of a different league from them, so Lin Sheng, who was of the same age, became their target ofparison. Lin Sheng had gained many privileges from the professor who had even allowed him to stay in the Soul Fortress. Rumor had it that the professor was thinking of matching Lin Sheng with his own granddaughter, Mi. And this had made the many young men, who had seen Mi before, to be jealous of him. Genius is marvelous, but Auldmandiller, you are the professor! Do you have to suck up to Lin Sheng? Yes, that was how people thought of Auldmandiller, that he was sucking up to Lin Sheng. Now, Lin Sheng and Margaret were facing off in the ring. Margaret represented the best of all senior students, while Lin Sheng the most exceptional of the new recruits. To many people, it was the day to crush the genius¡¯s pride to teach him a lesson. ¡°Perhaps what you all are eager to see is how good the genius is, and whether he deserves the many privileges from the professor!¡± Anna, who sat beside Mylissa, could not hold back her words. Mylissa was feeling a little better now, but she still could not believe she had lost so quickly and so thoroughly. She had thought she could at least hold up a few rounds before losing to Margaret. So her instant defeat came as a bolt from the blue and made a huge dent on her pride. ¡°Margaret will graduate soon. So don¡¯t worry. She has been in the Soul Fortress for four years; it is only natural that she achieves that kind of strength.¡± Anna tried tofort Mylissa. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m just...¡± Mylissa looked up at the two in the ring. She hoped that Margaret would crush Lin Sheng outright just like she crushed her. But deep inside her, an anticipatory voice hoped that Lin Sheng would roundly beat Margaret. She had been looking upon Lin Sheng as a target to catch up to, so she did not want anyone else to defeat him before she did. Lin Sheng¡¯s crushing defeat would only expose her ineptitude, she was afraid. Lin Sheng stood in the sparring ring, unarmed and smiling at Margaret. ¡°Lady first.¡± Margaret turned off her smile and held her sword nted. She then lurched forward, her body fading into a shadow with her sword slicing forward. Also fading into a shadow, the sword traveled eight meters across in under one-tenth of a second and appeared before Lin Sheng, right at his chest. No average human could ever pull off this level of sword skill. Margaret had leveraged the dark energy to stimte her body to produce this almost instantaneous movement and terrific strength. Also, the exertion of this dark energy was brief and precise, which could preserve her stamina and minimize harm to her body. Just as the sword came within an inch of Lin Sheng¡¯s clothes, a rhombus green crystal appeared just in time. It not only stopped the sword¡¯s advance but also bent the cross sword in a ny-degree angle. Margaret had never expected she could beat her opponent in the first move. So with green light shing on her elbow, she made the cross sword in her hand vanish. ¡°Cross Starlight!¡± she yelled. A silver light in the shape of a cross came out of thin air, crashing into Lin Sheng. This was Margaret¡¯s favorite pursuing move. Many of her previous opponents could quell her first thrust move, but no one had ever held up under the crushing force of Cross Starlight killer move. Not that people had not expected it. But it was because the force of this move was too overwhelming. The power after the first thrust move had tripled in strength, and the range of attack expanded. Even many of her opponents, whose dark energy was higher than she was, had lost because of this surprise attack. But this time, she would taste disappointment. The cross-shaped sword light stopped a few centimeters before Lin Sheng. It could not move any further as a group of rhombus green crystals had formed the same cross as Cross Starlight and blocked the sword¡¯s light. Lin Sheng stood still in ce, looking at Margaret through the sword light and crystals. ¡°Come on.¡± As Margaret looked at Lin Sheng gravely, she shifted her steps and disappeared into thin air. In less than a split second, Margaret reemerged beside Lin Sheng. The movement was almost instantaneous. ¡°Neb!¡± A cloud of sword lights appeared around Lin Sheng in an instant. A loud sh ensued as the rhombus green crystals had again blocked the attack. None of the sword lights could make it past Lin Sheng¡¯s defense. ¡°Comet Sword!¡± Margaret shifted, surrounding Lin Sheng in a quick circling motion. The cross sword in her hand glowed in bright green light. It then shot out the energy like aet, carrying a tail of bright burning me aiming at Lin Sheng¡¯s back. But a rhombus green crystal blocked the attack again. Just as Margaret was about to follow up with another move, she saw Lin Sheng lift his hand in her peripheral vision. A sense of imminent danger struck. rmed, Margaret faded into a shadow as she leaped a dozen meters backward. ¡°Thanks for pulling the punches,¡± said Lin Sheng with a smile. As their battle movements were so quick and the fingernail-sized green crystals were so tiny, no one, except the sparrers, knew if the crystals had blocked all the sword lights. ¡°Had Margaret continued her attack, I would have lost control of my dark energy and been hurt. She is the clear winner here.¡± Lin Sheng looked at Auldmandiller while speaking. Unlike his students, Auldmandiller knew exactly what happened and who was the actual winner. As much as he knew Lin Sheng was superior, he could not see how far Lin Sheng had made. ¡°Then it¡¯s a draw.¡± He nodded. Chapter 290 - The Test: Part 3

Chapter 290: The Test: Part 3

Margaret was born in a prominent family in Olro. She would not have been sent here if not for her average aptitude. So allowing the kid to save face was a harmless decision. Upon thinking of this, Auldmandiller approved of Lin Sheng. He was talented, powerful, circumspect, and knew when to stop. Above all, he was humble and tactful in safeguarding collective harmony. He was a rare breed. ¡°Then, it¡¯s a draw,¡± dered Auldmandiller. Lin Sheng and Margaret stood back in position and bowed at each other, and then they only went back to their respective seats. Margaret calmly sat down, but she was not as unruffled as she looked. She knew she had lost. She had exhausted half of her dark energy to pull off herst move, Comet Sword. But still, her opponent quelled her attack. ¡°You have lived up to your reputation¡ªthe genius who has achieved 500 units of dark energy in the early stage.¡± She ran her fingers through her messy hair and let out a smile. Sitting beside Margaret, Lin Sheng returned a smile. ¡°Your sword skill was awesome. I lost. I might have gained some dark energy, but I¡¯m nowhere near your level of control of the dark energy.¡± Lin Sheng looked sincere while he spoke. If not for Margaret sensing the imminent threat at thest moment during the battle, she would have believed in his words. Margaret had also disyed the same dark energy level, just right about 500, more or less the same as Lin Sheng¡¯s. This level of strength was impressive considering her young age. Not forgetting that unlike other abilities, dark energy was less powerful during the early stage of cultivation. It only got more powerful and all-rounded during theter stages of development. This formed a stark contrast with other systems, where most Four-Wing suppressor-ss woulde to a bottleneck during theter stages. He is impressive, but I¡¯ve only used half of my dark energy. At over 1,000 units, I could have pulled off a real killer move. I would have won had I done that. Margaret thought, and her smile became gentler. ¡°That¡¯s it. Today¡¯s test will end here. I will update the final ranking on the notice board in the central hall. You will see it when you pass through the entrance,¡± announced Auldmandiller. The students stood up. Tomorrow was off day and everyone was talking about ns for their downtime. The job of blending elixirs was a stressful one. More so because they had to endure the constant reproof every day. So it was only natural that they looked forward to the time-out. Mylissa sat on her seat, her mind still recalling the scene of the battle. The strength of Margaret and Lin Sheng was in a different league. It had far surpassed that of what new students were supposed to have. Their level of precision in controlling the dark energy was beyond the imagination of the average persons. ¡°Pure dark-energy indicator could no longer be the yardstick in gauging their strength.¡± Mylissa could see the gap between her and the two. Just then, her phone rang. She came out of her thought and nced at the screen. To her surprise, it was Selena. Instead of answering, she pressed the decline button. An instant gloomy look appeared on her face. She had told Selena before that unless it was absolutely urgent, she must not call her when she was in sses. Otherwise, she would risk being exposed. So something must have happened over her side. Picking up her pace and ignoring the call of her best friend, Anna, Margaret dashed toward the Soul Fortress exit. ... Lin Sheng came out from the abandoned factory and nned to go somewhere to unwind. He would like to see if there was any good stuff over at the Sect of Thousand Graces. With the memories of tens of thousands of grieving souls of the sect, there should not be just the intel of one stronghold. At first, he shunned getting behind enemy lines alone, so he had targeted the weakest one. But it turned out that even the lousiest base had surprises for him. He had made full use of thest few days to digest the memory fragments. He had also taken the research materials in the memories and applied them to his dark energy cultivation. The dark-energy crystals, which he summoned during the sparring with Margaret, was a special defense system he created using the oue of the study of the destructed researchb. And it seemed to be a solid defense array. As Lin Sheng came out of the factory, a red Ender was blocking his way. Ender was one of the luxury car brands in the world. Even its cheapest entry-level model cost 50,000 Miga dors. He saw that the one before him was not an entry-level Ender. It was expensive for sure. But what surprised Lin Sheng more was the person behind the wheel. As the door swung open, the driver climbed out of the vehicle and took off the sunsses, revealing a pair of beautiful almond eyes. ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± Lin Sheng paused as he had recognized the person. He had just saved her the other day. The woman was wearing a different outfit today. It was a white dress that resembled cheongsam with a high cut on the side that revealed her long perfect leg. She tied her hair in a bun, wearing a light make-up on her face with a bright-purple handbag in her hand. Herposed demeanor that exuded a sense of confidence was an extreme contrast to her powerlessness she disyed that mid-noon. ¡°Found you atst.¡± The woman stepped forward with a smile. ¡°My name is Fiona. Thank you for saving me that day!¡± ¡°You are waiting here all this while?¡± Lin Sheng was a little curious. ¡°Not all day, but I would wait here for a while during the day. I can¡¯t believe that I¡¯m so lucky today.¡± Fiona looked at Lin Sheng with her keen eyes. ¡°I, Fiona, always requite like for like. Since Mister has saved my life, it¡¯s only proper for me to return the favor.¡± She was firm in her voice as if no one should disobey her words. ¡°Besides, I could see that Mister is unlike no other, judging from your skills. So I wonder if you are interested in bing ourpany¡¯s security consultant? You¡¯re my savior, and I will not be stingy with your pay. One-million-dor basic yearly pay, excluding contingency pay. What say you?¡± Lin Sheng knew it. This woman did note to show her gratitude but headhunt him. One million dors? The daily cultivation resources that his teacher provided him was way more than that. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡ª¡± Shaking his head, Lin Sheng was about to leave. ¡°Two million!¡± Fiona came up and stood in his way. ¡°I¡¯m busy...¡± ¡°Three million!¡± Fiona¡¯s expression said that she was determined to get what she wanted. ¡°Three millions per year. And don¡¯t forget that you have hurt someone before. Without my help, you know what will await you. The court, police, legal suits, expensivepensation¡ªcan you afford that as a foreign student?¡± Fiona had never failed to get what she wanted. Lin Sheng was silent for a long moment. And then he only mumbled, ¡°I see. You¡¯re just an unfilial kid.¡± He did not always do good, but when he did, it turned out that he had saved an unfilial kid. It puzzled Fiona in hearing what Lin Sheng said. ¡°I¡¯m sincere here. The person you hurt is the director of a famous pharmaceutical group here. His family is influential. Without my help, you will be arrested and locked away in no time. And don¡¯t dream of getting out again,¡± she said with an earnest expression. ¡°It¡¯s only because you have saved me. So I, Fiona, will protect you. I won¡¯t let them get to you! I know you can fight and is really good at that. But can you fight the police? The army? Do you intend to go against the entire judiciary? Getting pragmatic is the only way. You don¡¯t have to be the enemy of a powerful interested group for the sake of a scum. It doesn¡¯t worth it.¡± ¡°That sounds good and proper,¡± Lin Shengughed, ¡°but it doesn¡¯t change the fact that you¡¯re an unfilial fe.¡± With a flick of his fingers, he was about to strike at Fiona¡¯s forehead. But then he hesitated. As much as he was disgusted, he did not want to kill her. It did not worth the trouble. So he stopped and recalled his dark energy but struck her forehead with only the natural force of his finger. Before Fiona could figure out what Lin Sheng meant, the strike on her forehead had produced a buzz in her head. Time ticked away, and when she finally recovered from the stupor, Lin Sheng was nowhere to be seen. Rubbing her forehand, her eyes emitted a sense of ardent desire. ¡°The Transcendent. He could be a Transcendent! I knew it! Let¡¯s see then. As long as he is a human, even a Transcendent has weaknesses and desires!¡± She had always been wanting to get close to the realm of the Transcendent. And now, the appearance of what might look like a good-man Transcendent was her best chance at getting what she wanted. She, Fiona, was a dab hand at controlling a good man like him. Chapter 291 - Contact: Part 1

Chapter 291: Contact: Part 1

At the Moon Basin, the highest echelon of Carte nche. In the expansive white space, there was no sky nornd but a floating city suspended right in the center. It looked like a huge basin when looking from above with seven purple ribands twirling around a dark vortex in the center. This vortex was continuously emitting tons of dark energy to suppress and seal a certain force field. In the middle of one of the purple ribands, a tall man, wearing a lunar-white, half-body armor, was walking toward the center. ¡°Azem, what are you doing here? You¡¯re no longer a member of the Moon Basin!¡± A burly looking woman, wearing the same lunar-white, half-body armor, stepped out from the circr opening appearing on the white wall. She stopped the man right away, her eyes cold andced with a concoction of emotions. ¡°Merrie, it¡¯s you! Only you still keep my detector. You are always the first to know as soon as I step into the Moon Basin.¡± The man smiled and stopped in his tracks. ¡°What are you doing here? Answer me.¡± Out of nowhere, a long and dazzling spike appeared in Merrie¡¯s hand. Strands of snake-like fments were spinning around the spike. ¡°I-I¡¯vee to deliver a message for my lord.¡± ¡°Your lord?¡± Merrie¡¯s heart sank, her expression changing as if she had thought of something. ¡°Is the rumor true you have joined the Sevenlocks Tower?¡± Azem did not reply. He lifted his arm and with the wave of his hand, he shot out a strand of ck fment into the white wall. ¡°This is the message. Whether it is you, the Heaven¡¯s Spire, or the Hellfire, you all are getting the same message. What the Lord wants is written in there.¡± ¡°What is it? A warning?¡± A white-haired shadow appeared behind Azem on the passage. ¡°You all may treat this as a warning,¡± Azem said. ¡°The Sevenlocks Tower does not want to delve into many matters, be it you or the Heaven¡¯s Spire. Otherwise...¡± ¡°When the moon turns full round, you can try again. If we could have the first Battle of March, what prevents us from having the second?¡± The white-haired shadow said intimidatingly. ¡°The Battle of March?¡± Azem guffawed and said nothing more. During the Battle of March ny years ago, his lord was injured, and the three mysterious realms almost destructed. Only the Sevenlocks Tower suffered the least casualty. So who was the winner here? MRA¡ªthe Mysterious Realm Alliance might seem like the winner. But then? ¡°We¡¯ll see then.¡± Azem¡¯s body slowly broke up into countless pieces, like a mirror cracked and shattered. They dropped and vanished. Meanwhile, Merrie and the old man gazed at the spot where Azem had been, and no one said a word. ... ¡°Storm is rising again...¡± Auldmandiller sighed as he crumpled the letter in his hand. The paper turned into ck ash and disappeared. ¡°What is the Moon Basin¡¯s decision? Something is going on in the Sevenlocks Tower. The Heaven¡¯s Spire is ambitious. And the Hellfire is happy to be self-contented. We don¡¯t know if the MRA could restructure itself.¡± He turned to look at his mate, Frendiman, behind him. Frendiman was an old-fashioned schr, a top professor who had a high academic credential in the Carte nche, and also a corrupt-ss Darksider. Among the big three schools of dark energy: Corrupt, Violence, and Elusion, the Corrupt school was at the top of the pile. And the level ofplexity of the corruptor school of dark energy far surpassed the others. So Frendiman deserved the reputation with his achievement, which came after his participation in the world-changing world war back then. ¡°The tide of suppression of the three mysterious realms didn¡¯t just happen two days ago. Even if you can recover from your injury during the full moon, there won¡¯t be an all-out war. Otherwise, there will be mutual destruction.¡± Frendiman was more optimistic. ¡°The Sevenlocks Tower is our old opponent in the open, and this is a good thing. Instead, I¡¯m more concerned with the terrorist groups who act in the dark. Things might get even messier by then.¡± Auldmandiller nodded in agreement. ¡°The Sect of Verity, the Sect of Star Alias, and the Sect of Thousand Grace are the most noxious. We haveunched many offensives against them. But they are elusive rodents, we have difficulty wipe them off.¡± ¡°The principal mentioned his intention to clean up Miga once again during thest meeting. Just that the perception of the Horcrux is troublesome,¡± Frendiman said. ¡°Troublesome? Every time weunched an offensive campaign, someone would leak the intel. Those who leaked information of this level are...¡± ¡°Mind your word!¡± Frendiman interrupted his friend, and his expression changed. The two remained silent for a while before Fendiman said again in a low voice, ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about this. Who will you bring for the next school meeting?¡± ¡°I have only two disciples,¡± replied Auldmandiller. ¡°Lin Sheng, the new guy? I heard that he had got over 500 units of dark energy in his initial awakening. He is a genius for sure.¡± ¡°There have been many new recruits who could achieve the same thing for the past five hundred years. No big deal.¡± Auldmandiller put up a pretentious waving hand, but deep inside, it ttered him. Frendiman responded with a sneer, not wanting to pander to the old man¡¯s hypocritical response. Instead, he got to his feet and went to the window, looking down the fortress. In the sparring ring, students had gathered in a corner, watching an ongoing sparring session. Margaret wielded a slender sword, her every move as quick as lightning, striking at her opponent, Lin Sheng. And Frendiman recognized him, he was the recruit his friend mentioned. Lin Sheng was on the defensive all the time. Green crystals constantly shrouded him and stopped Margaret¡¯s relentless attack. Not so long after, the two stopped and bowed at each other after exhausting their dark energy. ¡°Awesome, Margaret. I lost. My dark energy could no longer keep up with you,¡± said Lin Sheng, pretending to gasp for air. ¡°Lin Sheng, you truly are the genius of the new students! With only one year older, you already disy such an impressive strength!¡± Margaret pretended to sweat profusely. The two of them sang praises of each other. Never mind the superfluous connotation, there was a subtle sense of appreciation for each other in their eyes. While they both knew that the other was hiding the real strength, they were confident of their own ability. And here it was, the melodrama. The other awed students rose in loud apuse. The postures and strength of the two during the sparring still lingered in their eyes. Lin Sheng had been searching for the new bases of the Sect of Thousand Graces for the past days. But they were always one step ahead of Lin Sheng, constantly shifting the location of their bases. Lin Sheng had found four strongholds based on his memories. But each time he arrived, the ce was empty. Frustrated, Lin Sheng returned to the Soul Fortress and continued his cultivation. With no further exhaustion of stamina, his dark energy and holy power were increasing. But his bloodline stagnated. The good thing was, his Dragon blood was stable, at one-third of the stable level. His holy power had breached Level 9. And his dark energy wasing to the upper limit of Three Wings. Bymon standard, the lower ceiling of Three Wings was 2,000 and upper ceiling 20,000. It was a huge chasm to climb. The physique-changing dragon blood not only nourished the body but also benefitted the dark energy, Right now, Lin Sheng¡¯s dark energy had reached the 18,000th level. Chapter 292 - Contact: Part 2

Chapter 292: Contact: Part 2

With rock dragon bloodline, holy power and dark energy increasing strength concurrently, Lin Sheng needed a reference target to test his strength. But the problem was, those beings around him were either too wimpy or too powerful for him. Just like his first sparring with Margaret. Although she was hiding half of her strength, Lin Sheng did not feel like she was his match. Under the reverent gaze of the other students, Lin Sheng went back to his room. ¡°Should I reveal part of my strength topete for the ranking?¡± He pondered. Not that he craved for the material rewarding with the ranking. It worried him to reveal too much as this could have an adverse impact on him. ¡°Forget it. I¡¯d just be myself. Being too careful would instead attract too much unwanted attention. And I still have room for improvement. No hurry.¡± He then continued to digest the memories he had sorted out earlier. Digesting the memories by the thousand would not be easy. By using keywords as filter earlier, he had managed to absorb a small part of them. But Lin Sheng could select what was useful to him now because he had time. After absorbing the memory fragments from the researchb and backed by his umted knowledge, Lin Sheng learned about the shades and more about the dark energy. He had also figured out what caused the body to limit energy growth. The dragon blood, the badass lineage, gave him extraordinary control over his body. He could also use the holy power, a kind of mind power, as antithesis reference verification. Using his holy power, Lin Sheng had spent the past few days materializing a superfine surgical tool. He then cut out a little dark energy as seed. He controlled the Rock Dragon blood with careful calction, and after diluting it several times, he let out a drop as a primer to devour and absorb the dark-energy seed. Now both substances had be thin in quantity and quality. Using the knowledge that he had learned and a special observation technique invented by researcher Lien, Lin Sheng found out the dark energy¡¯s growing process. As amazing as the transition was, it showed that the coreprising human¡¯s mind power only formed a small part of dark energy. The rest came from the outside. Lin Sheng also had his mind on the holy power. As the inverse side of dark energy, did holy power has a simr nature and effect? If mind power formed a small part of holy power, then from where the rest of the holy power came? The questions had aroused Lin Sheng¡¯s strong interest. After having a crash course on the basic science, his scientific research knowledge expanded. Even his thinking became even more agile and his memory enhanced after an uplift in the Rock Dragon bloodline. Lin Sheng packed his stuff and left the Soul Fortress. In the mysterious realm outside, he rang up Adolf. He needed a new ce to stay, which would double as a researchb, and some high-precision equipment. This puzzled Adolf, but still faithfully carried out the order. While waiting for Adolf to get his things done, Lin Sheng returned to his rented house. Just as he was about to get down to meditate, the doorbell rang. This was weird, Lin Sheng thought. He had only rented the house a few days ago, and he was sure he had not known anyone in the neighborhood. So who was outside the door? He went up, twisted the knob to open the door. Three tall, burly men with knotted muscles on their faces were standing outside. Lin Sheng saw tattoos on their body. They wore a singlet and jeans, as if that would help in a fight, and wielded a ck baseball bat in their hands. ¡°Who are you looking for?¡± Lin Sheng scanned the surroundings and found that there was no one else except the three persons. ¡°Are you Lin Sheng?¡± The leading brawny mean fished out a photo from his pocket and checked it against Lin Sheng¡¯s face. ¡°Yes, I am. You are?¡± ¡°We are...¡± As the leading man smiled and lifted his hand, the baseball bat in his hand separated in half to reveal a ck gun barrel. Fire burst out around the muzzle with a loud bang as a bullet shot straight at Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. Sparks flew. The bullet hit a green crystal, which shattered upon impact but deflected the bullet. Before Lin Sheng had even done anything, the three men were already quaking in their boots as plumes of ck smoke rose and materialized into three vault guards behind them. Knocked on the back of their heads, the three men fell unconscious to the ground with three loud thuds. Lin Sheng had them dragged into the house before shutting the door. After a while, Lin Sheng reemerged from the house. Following him were the three burly men, their face pale. With no torture but just a little sanctum ult technique, the three had divulged everything. Just like Lin Sheng had guessed, the one behind this was the would-be-rapist whom he had broken half of his bones¡ªthe one guy who wanted to force himself on Fiona that day. ¡°But I have to say that this Karin family has an impressivework of intel and influence. I¡¯ve just rented this house recently and you guys have found me.¡± Their swift action had caught Lin Sheng¡¯s interest. ¡°Well, we can pretty much find anyone if the immigration has the personal file of the person,¡± one man said. ¡°But something puzzled us. Just when we thought of getting some contacts to find... find you, someone called.¡± Another man revealed. Flinching was the gangsters¡¯ only reaction when confronting someone who could even block a bullet. Miga had many Transcendents. The gangsters knew it. They even had a few Transcendents in their gang as insurance, just in case. But unlike Xilin, Miga had too many Transcendents. The Transcendents had crossed paths with the human world many times. It was not an umon phenomenon. Knowing what the Transcendents could do, they cringed. ¡°Do you know the caller?¡± asked Lin Sheng. ¡°Nope. But I know a ce, someone knows it!¡± One man, bald, answered. ¡°Come back with the answer before this time tomorrow. If I don¡¯t see you all returning by then, you all don¡¯t have toe back anymore.¡± Lin Sheng had nted a dark-energy crystal in their heads. If they were to do anything stupid, the imnted crystals would blow their heads off. And using the sanctum¡¯s ult technique, Lin Sheng had turned them into his informants among the mortals. ¡°Understood, Your Excellency!¡± The three men ran as fast as they could as if their arses were on fire. They each hopped onto a motorcycle parked not far away and sped off, never daring to look back at Lin Sheng again. But Lin Sheng could not have cared less. ¡°No. 245, ck Street, Golden Dragon District,¡± he told the driver as he hopped on a cab. ¡°Sit tight,¡± the driver replied. Fastening his seatbelt, Lin Sheng gazed at the scenes outside the window as the cab hustled along. His destination was the base of the Sect of Thousand Graces. This time, he was confident about catching up with it. The ce was well concealed and having many members, so shifting the base to another location in short notice would not be easy as that would attract the attention of other dark-energy forces. Chapter 293

Chapter 293: Contact: Part 3

The Sect of Thousand graces was only a cult, a terrorist group. They would not dare to get into a direct confrontation with dark-energy groups even if they had a special skill like that of the shades. Instead, they hide in the dark corner of the city like cowards. As the cab drove forward, it soon left the White District and crossed over into the Golden Dragon District, the part of the city nearest to the countryside, the boundary of the ecological park. Lin Sheng asked the cab to stop one hundred meters away from the destination. His target location was a cat caf¨¦ inside the building. ¡°A cat cafe?¡± Lin Sheng did a double-take to make sure it was the correct address, the same as the one in his memories. He then walked into the building and entered the elevator. The lift stopped on the seventh floor. Lin Sheng stepped out of the elevator. Following him were two persons who seemed to live on this floor. Walking along the corridor, he passed by a few shops beforeing before Blue Coast Cat Cafe. With no intention of disguising himself, Lin Sheng pushed the door open and entered the caf¨¦. The tables, chairs, and counter were brown. The ceiling had a huge, hand-drawn picture of a blue cat. Bloody writings that sang the praise of cats filled the walls. Decorative bloody handprints were all over the sses. They looked so realistic as if actual people had smeared the sses with their bloody hands. It was a unique-themed coffeehouse. The business in the cafe was good. Only three of a dozen tables were empty. The waiters and waitresses were shuffling between tables, serving their customers with a genuine smile on their faces. Behind the counter, the pretty car-eared girls had a broad smile on their faces. It was apparent that they enjoyed working here. Lin Sheng could not believe this was the base of the Sect of Thousand Graces. But then, he saw someone he knew. Mylissa was sitting in the corner, talking in a low voice with a thin little girl with long xen hair. Both had not noticed Lin Sheng. They were too engrossed with their chatter and food. Lin Sheng cast his eyes around but did not see any soul device. He had lost interest in the shades. He wanted a soul device. If he could get his hand on one, he could use it to hunt the shades and it wouldst him a long, long while. Hisst catch had given him the taste of the good stuff, and he was craving for more. But his aim was the soul device this time. He did not find any. So he might as well sit down and order a ck coffee, no sugar. Stirring the coffee gently without drinking it, he had been sitting there for a good half an hour. Lin Sheng was always patient. As always, his patience paid off. When there were fewer patrons in the coffee house, a man with a green short haircut, wearing a green-stone ne approached Mylissa and the young girl. A group of redheads had entered the caf¨¦ at the same time. These guys wore leather jackets and wielded various stuff in their hands. Nobody dared to f*ck with these guys. ¡°Still thinking of running away?¡± The green-haired man looked at Mylissa and the young girl. Mylissa rose to her feet, her hand glowed in green. But before she could do anything, a big hand had grabbed hold of her neck and lifted her up in the air. In desperation, she thrust her hand forward to hit the man. But the green light on her hand disappeared the minute it touched the man as if an invisible force had quashed it. ¡°Two who could see the shades.¡± The green-haired man lifted Mylissa with one hand and reached out to catch Selena, the thin young girl. Selena tried to take out her prop to ward off the man, but before she could use it, the man pped her with his big hand and she became too scared to even raise her hand. ¡°I¡¯m taking you two away!¡± Just as the man turned around and wanted to leave with his catch, he saw a ck-haired big guy standing in his way. Lin Sheng wore a smile on his face, ncing at Mylissa, whom the man dragged across the floor. ¡°It¡¯s very much appreciated if you could let her go. I don¡¯t like to stick my nose in your business, but she is my junior.¡± The green-haired man looked up at Lin Sheng, who was much taller than him. ¡°Who do you think you are? Step aside if you want to live!¡± ring at Lin Sheng, his voice dark. Mylissa looked at Lin Sheng, hope and worries filling her eyes at once. Never did she expect to see the genius fellow students here. She did get it why Lin Sheng came alone instead of informing the professor first. Realizing the situation, her hope dwindled, reced by a sense of helpless anger. Arrogant! Stupid! Do you think you¡¯re Professor Auldmandiller? Coming unguarded and alone? There are at least twenty Transcendents in the vicinity! Do you want to fight all of them by yourself? Mylissa knew Lin Sheng knew how to fight, but as strong as he was, he was only a recruit. Just the green-haired man alone could beat him hands down. Once the fighting started... A big hand suddenly reached to grab the throat of the green-haired man. Shocked, the man summonedyers of green crystal walls before him, oneyer on top the other. But the all-prating hand was unstoppable. He leaped back, trying to pull away from the grabbing hand. Crystal wall had shattered into ash, yet the hand was unscathed and still aiming for his throat. ¡°Kill him!¡± the green-haired man roared. A small part of the patrons in the caf¨¦ lunged to their feet, firing bullet-like green spikes at Lin Sheng at once. The spiked bullets went from slow to a quick motion as if time slowed down. They hit Lin Sheng in just the blink of an eye. But the green lights dissipated upon impact, and the high-heat smoke from the explosions dispersed. Lin Sheng still stood in ce, unharmed and smiling, his hand firmly snatching the throat of the green-haired man. As soon as he closed his fingers more, the neck of their leader would snap like a brittle twig. ¡°You think you can threaten us?¡± The green-haired man broke into a creepy smile. A chain of green runes appeared in his hand. The chain transformed into a ck sphere the size of a fist which then shot at Lin Sheng¡¯s stomach. It happened so quick and he was so determined that Lin Sheng did not see iting. This guy was ruthless. He still chanced his arm even though Lin Sheng could break his neck at any time. When Lin Sheng realized what was happening, it was toote. The ck sphere hit him hard on his body with a loud explosion. A ck fireball rose, shattering every single one of the caf¨¦¡¯s ss windows. Mylissa grabbed Selena. Using her dark energy as a shield, they rolled aside and looked at the spot where Lin Sheng was. A burned, bloody arm dropped from above beside her, scaring the daylights out of her. When the thick smoke and fire finally dissipated, Lin Sheng was still standing in ce, smiling. He then walked toward the green-haired man, who kneeled on one knee not far away. He was unhurt! A strand of ck fment shot through the window, transformed into a ck spike and shot at Lin Sheng. It stopped a few centimeters from Lin Sheng, blocked by ayer of green crystals. Sharp and solid, but it only made a muffled sound upon impact. ¡°Child¡¯s y!¡± Putting up with the spike, Lin Sheng continued stroking toward the green-haired man. Frightened, the green-haired man lunged toward the window. And just as he was mid-air, green crystals pierced through the air, hitting all the targets and piercing through the bodies of the hostile men in the caf¨¦. The green-haired man dropped to the floor, pressing his hand on a pration hole in his chest and unable to say a word. There was no blood and horrid smell, just a refreshing scent pervading the air. With the twist of his hand, Lin Sheng retrieved all the crystals, which flew back to him and disappeared into his hand. Mylissay on the floor, bruises covering her body. She was shocked and in awe. She was speechless. All she knew was staring at Lin Sheng, whose back was facing her. Selena pinched her a little and whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t be silly. Let¡¯s go!¡± Lin Sheng came up to the green-haired man and was about to find out the secrets of the man. A sudden gut feeling told him he needed to look out the window. And so he did. Downstairs, a high-power motorcycle screeched to a halt. The rider was a woman. Tall, white hair, dark skin with the tattoo of a strange character on her face. As soon as she alighted from her bike, she looked up at the window upstairs with the same gut feeling. Two pairs of murderous eyes met, determined to stare down each other. ¡°Watch where you go, you little rascal!¡± The woman¡¯s mouth arched as she strutted into the building. ¡°Mylissa, bring the girl and go, now!¡± said Lin Sheng without looking at them, his voice grave. Mylissa came to her senses and ran out of the caf¨¦ with Selena at once. She knew she had to call the professor right then and not be a burden to Lin Sheng. Chapter 294 - Defense: Part 1

Chapter 294: Defense: Part 1

The ss door shattered upon impact as the dark-skinned woman with white hair strutted into the building. She then shifted like a ghost, green light rising on her back as she lunged toward the stairway. The woman could outrun the elevator when she flew up the stairs. In less than ten seconds, she hade to the cat cafe, kicking open the door and striding in. The injured were moaning in pain in the corners of the cafe. But at the center of the st, nothing remained in one piece. The walls and ceiling were full of bloody slurry and darkened by the fire from the explosion. Lin Sheng stood at the center, looking back at the entrance with a grave expression. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Why ask when you have found our division?¡± the dark-skinned woman with white hair asked gloomily, strutting toward Lin Sheng. ¡°If not for the people from the Moon basin, I would have killed you. You were just lucky back then. But this time, you won¡¯t be able to get away!¡± ¡°Whale Tail!¡± With the lift of her right arm, a virtual whale¡¯s tail appeared behind her. At over eight-meter wide and ten-meter long, the tail almost filled the entire space in the cafe. The whale tail swept through the air, blocking out any light from above and smashing down at Lin Sheng. The speed and energy field of the tail swept debris and body parts up in the air. The whale¡¯s tail was a simtion from the Violence ss, which was one of the three schools of dark energy: the Corrupt, Violence, and Elusion. It was fundamental Judging from the changes in its basic properties, expansion, simtion, and short activation, this whale tail followed the simtion route. As the giant tail swept across the room, it moved air was like a pump. The entire floor shook. After the simtion, the dark energy gathered and materialized before the tail smashed at Lin Sheng. Startled, Lin Sheng summoned eight-tenth of his dark energy to form ayer of green crystal shield before him. But the thin shield did not look having the same order of magnitude as the whale¡¯s tail. In a split second, the whale¡¯s tail hit the crystal shield. The impact sent debris of the dark energy flying, turning into light dots and vanishing in midair. Whether it was the whale¡¯s tail or the shield, the application of the dark energy has achieved a high degree of solidification. But the sh of two dark-energy forces still caused a great deal of damage. Lin Sheng was sent flying out through the window and crashnding on the roof of another office building not far away. His face was pale, leveraging the falling momentum with his hands, he stabilized himself and stood on his feet again. ¡°Very impressive power!¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes searched for the dark-skinned woman, but she was nowhere to be seen. Still in the cafe a while ago, now she was gone. ¡°Sh*t!¡± Lin Sheng realized something was wrong. He lifted his hand at once. Dark-energy crystals swirled in his palm and transformed into spikes around him. Spike and fment were the lowest-end, simplest yet most useful abilities of dark energy. Even learners who had just awakened to the dark energy could use them. The only difference was the amount and level of refinement. Lin Sheng summoned hundreds of this fment at once. Each had a power value and energy exhaustion of 0.1. So, that made the total power consumption at tens of points. To ordinary students, using this ability would drain their energy. But for Lin Sheng, this was just a big move of high energy consumption. The dense array of dark energy shot out in all directions, exposing a transparent humanoid in the space to his right,ing less than three meters away from him. With little time to think, Lin Sheng focused his remaining dark energy on his right palm and hit straight at the transparent figure. The surging violent energy formed a beating green me on Lin Sheng¡¯s arm. The move contained over 300 dark energy values, and its attack power was equivalent to that of a Two-winger. ¡°What a joke!¡± The dark-skinned woman did not dodge. Instead, she reached out for Lin Sheng¡¯s hand. The woman did not know any palm technique, but she knew her dark energy was far more than her opponent. She was confident of crushing her opponent with only the basic dark-energy increment. She thought so, and she did it. This move contained over 400 units of dark energy. The woman smirked. A huge whale¡¯s tail again emerged from behind her. It split into two and smashed in from both sides. ¡°Go to hell!¡± The huge whale tails met just as the hands collided head-on. The me-like dark energy exploded on impact and spread out in a circle of gray ripples and smoke. The energy blew Lin Sheng flying out sideways, and he fell from the top of the ten-story office building. In that split second, Lin Sheng reached out in mid-air and grabbed a section of the air-conditioning rack on the wall on the fifth floor. The rack creaked and twisted. Unable to withstand the extra weight, the screws fastening the rack to the wall came off half-way and was about to fall off altogether. Lin Sheng kicked his feet on the wall. Leveraging the rebounding force, he flew and crashed into a window on the opposite building. The dark-skinned woman leaped and jumped down from the top of the building. The me-like dark energy shooting out from her back thrust her to fly in an arc in the air before crashing into the window where Lin Sheng had just gone into. ¡°Not dead yet?¡± As soon as shended, she saw Lin Sheng getting to his feet in the living room. He looked a sight, covered in dust and his clothes tattered. His chest was heaving as if he was tired. Even apex Two-wingers could not take a hit like that. This fe must have quite the luck today, she thought, feeling a little surprised. ¡°But your luck will end here.¡± She stepped out. The huge whale¡¯s tail emerged behind her again, sweeping in a sideways motion and covering the entire space of the living room. Her dark energy simtion was power. After the activation, she could maintain her power and absorb the dark-energy existence in the surrounding air. Energy exhaustion-wise, she only needed to create a whale tail at the beginning. And after that, it wouldst her for a while and she could use it whenever she needed it. Lin Sheng knew what the power of activation was like now. As long as he could master the temporary activation skills, even if he had only 100 units of dark energy left, he could still create a 100-unit dark-energy activation model. And before the activation ended or annihted, his power would always stay at the peak of 100-unit dark-energy. The horrific force of the whale tail hit Lin Sheng flying out again. He crashed through a wall into anotherrge office on the left. Aside from damagingputers and furniture, people in the office did not react in time. They were hit, spitting blood and falling to the floor. Chapter 295 - Defense: Part 2

Chapter 295: Defense: Part 2

¡°What a pathetic loser!¡± The dark-skinned woman nced coldly at the hole in the wall. She was confident the target was hit in the face. It was a no-bullsh*t blow. Lin Sheng would be dead for sure, no matter which way she looked at it. Just as she was about to leave, the man got up again with the dark energy flickering on him. He was wounded and about to die. ¡°Not dead yet?¡± The dark-skinned woman¡¯s eyes wide opened. With the wave of her hand, Whale Rudder dissolved behind her. It transformed into pure dark energy, flew through the hole in the wall, hitting Lin Sheng in the other room. This time she had used over 1,000 units of dark energy. The loud burst ensued. Lin Sheng flew up like a tattered fabric doll, hitting the wall behind him like a cannonball with his body deep-setting in the concrete. Lin Sheng coughed and broke free from the wall. Half-kneeling on the ground and panting, he looked as if he was dying. ¡°Not dead yet?¡± The dark-skinned woman¡¯s mouth was agape, and she wondered if she had hit the target earlier. She waved her hand again. This time, with three Whale Rudders transforming into pure liquid dark energy, it rushed into the hole, re-transforming into Whade Rudders and hitting Lin Sheng with three consecutive loud booms. Lin Sheng was sent flying into another office next door. He broke through two load-bearing walls, brought down a massive white machine, which fell on and smashed the corner of a rectangr conference table. The dark-skinned woman gasped. Directing three Whale Rudders at the same time with each exceeding 1,000-units of dark energy, it was exhaustive. ¡°Should have died by now.¡± She went through the holes in the walls and stood not far away from Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng coughed as he got up from a pile of debris once again. He looked in a bad shape. His clothes were ragged, his movements slow, and appearing exhausted and to have suffered some internal injuries. But he looked determined as he stood up. ¡°You...¡± Sweat popped up from the ck woman¡¯s face. She could not believe what she saw. The woman hissed and a knife, formed by dark energy, appeared in her hand. She clenched the knife in her hand and lunged at Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng was sent flying before he crashed to the ground and could never get up again. Suddenly, some strange air whipped past outside. Startled, the woman lunged out of an open window and disappeared into the frightened crowd outside. The next second, a green light emerged in front of the window in a sh. Professor Auldmandiller rushed out of the light and stepped into the office. Seeing the broken bricks and dust everywhere, and the massive hole in the wall, Auldmandiller¡¯s expression turned grave. Just by looking at the scene, he could already see how powerful the attack and destructive force. ¡°Lin Sheng!¡± With no time to think, he rushed in through the hole in the wall. The staff in the office next door were mostly gone. But a few daring ones were hiding and peering in from behind the door. Auldmandiller saw Lin Sheng lying on the ground, and he rushed over to help him up. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Lin Sheng shook his head, looked up, and in a daze. He calmed down, panting. ¡°I¡¯m lucky that she has missed twice. Otherwise, I would have been in deep sh*t!¡± ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay?¡± Auldmandiller took out a cylindrical silver crystal from his pocket. ¡°This is a regenerative crystal! Hold it and ingest it Stop talking!¡± Lin Sheng sat upright and forced a smile. ¡°I¡¯m alright, Sir. The opponent was careless. She didn¡¯t check if I was dead.¡± He pushed the crystal away and got to his feet. ¡°Had I not been lucky today, I might have been dead now. That woman was strong. I couldn¡¯t even fight back.¡± ¡°You just learned dark energy. It¡¯s only natural that you are powerless against a Suppressor-ss opponent,¡± Auldmandiller said helplessly. Only after making sure that Lin Sheng was alright did he breathe a sigh of relief. ¡°But then, the ce has be a mess, and yet you are fine. You are really lucky.¡± Auldmandiller sighed. Lin Sheng looked like he was in shock. ¡°Yeah, I thought I would be dead many times. I never thought I would survive.¡± He clenched his fists, pretending to be embittered and frightened. ¡°Only if I were stronger, I wouldn¡¯t be...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t overthink. You are still young.¡± Auldmandiller patted him on the shoulder. ¡°How the assassin looks like? Is it a non-human? Can you describe it to me?¡± ¡°Aye!¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ... ¡°That guy!¡± The dark-skinned woman covered herself with a white windbreaker and darted forward inside a dim tunnel. Vehicles zooming past were shing their headlights at her. The old lighting system had long gone out of service. The air in the tunnel was nowhere near healthy, but she could not care less. When she reached the middle of the tunnel, she turned into a small ck door built into the wall. Switching on the torchlight, she walked through the room behind the door beforeing into a dark hall. ¡°What happened? Feia? You look disturbed.¡± A male voice sounded from a corner in the darkness. The dark-skinned woman took a deep breath. ¡°I bumped into someone. Also, something is puzzling me.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you looking for the killer destroying the base?¡± the man asked in a whisper. ¡°Not found yet. The Darksiders from the authority have emerged and so has the Moon Basin. As such, I figured I had to keep my head down.¡± The dark-skinned woman calmed down and spoke in a whisper. ¡°No hurry. The theft of the soul vessel from that base was probably just a coincidence. You know, neither we nor the Sect of Verity has ever lost any soul vessel before. It must be a coincidence,¡± the manforted. ¡°What do we do now? Just wait here?¡± the dark-skinned woman asked. ¡°Be patient. The Archbishop ising soon. We can¡¯t do anything without the soul vessel.¡± The dark-skinned woman said no more, and there was a silence. She was reying the scene she had just encountered in her mind. She clearly felt she had hit the target, not once but many times. But what happened then? Every time she recalled the fight with the young dark-haired man, she would feel a chill running up her spine. ¡°Forget it. Why should I be worried? He could have been dead. I have used nearly half my dark energy and struck his throat.¡± She calmed down and decided not to think any further. ¡°Where was the other soul vessel that had been moved out?¡± she asked casually. ¡°It¡¯s with me. That is the purpose of Archbishop¡¯s visit. He is to escort the soul vessel out of this ce temporarily,¡± the man answered. ¡°We have caught many people who can sense the shades. And we have been one step ahead of the Moon Basin. So they won¡¯t be able to catch up to us as before.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s hope everything goes well.¡± The dark-skinned woman¡¯s voice was as depressed as her mood. ¡°No worries.¡± ... In the spot clean hospital ward, Lin Sheng was half-lying on the bed, sipping hot water from the ss in his hands. From yesterday¡¯s experience, he got a taste of what it was like to fight with dark energy. Chapter 296 - Defense: Part 3

Chapter 296: Defense: Part 3

¡°The upsurge is only for lowest-level uses. It can be used for testing, conceble and has fastunch speed. The downside is that it has weak power output. The subsequent stage of simtions, whenbined with a temporary activation, outweighs the upsurge in terms of power. Once formed, it is will be durable stable. The disadvantages are slow forming andplicated operation.¡± After summarizing the dark-skinned woman¡¯s skills in his mind, Lin Sheng felt he had learned a lot. Only throughbat that he could know the gap between him and the enemy. The doorbell rang, jolting Lin Sheng out of his thoughts. ¡°Come in,¡± he said, his eyes casting over. As the door opened with a click, Mylissa and Selena came through one after the other with a handful of supplements as well as fresh fruit in their hands. There was a hurried look on their faces. ¡°Ahh, it¡¯s you two.¡± Lin Sheng wore a gentle smile. ¡°Thank you for yesterday.¡± Mylissa gritted her teeth and lowered her head. If it was not for Lin Sheng, the enemy would have taken Selena and her, and there would have been no escape. ¡°Thank you for saving our lives!¡± Selena bowed. ¡°You are wee. Anyone would have done the same, let alone those of us who are from the fortress. Shouldn¡¯t we help each other since we are under the same master?¡± Lin Sheng yed down the issue, expecting nothing in return. ¡°Lin Sheng, why did you go to the caf¨¦ yesterday?¡± Mylissa asked. ¡°Nothing. While strolling around, I stumbled upon the caf¨¦. I looked interesting, so I wanted to check it out. I didn¡¯t expect to encounter such an incident.¡± Lin Sheng appeared hapless. ¡°Anyway, it was you who saved my life. And I will remember that. If you need any help, just say it. I will not say no as long as I could help,¡± said Mylissa. ¡°Okay.¡± Lin Sheng saw her sincerity. Mylissa seemed to be a person who would keep her promise. ¡°Well, I think we should go now. Rest well, Lin Sheng.¡± Mylissa and Selena bowed again before they left. The two walked out of the door and took the elevator to go downstairs. As they walked out of the hospital, Selena suddenly realized something. ¡°We forgot to put down the things!¡± The two looked at the fruits and all in their hands. They were supposed to give them to Lin Sheng. Mylissa¡¯s face blushed like cooked a shrimp. She was ashamed of her blunder. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you remind me earlier?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t realize it either!¡± ¡°Such an embarrassment!¡± Mylissa grabbed her hair. Lin Sheng watched as the two left, his smile fading. He did not suffer any injury at all, just pretending he was. He figured that this might make his cover identity look more convincing. He knew that even if he was a genius, as a novice who had just started cultivating dark energy, beating a Suppressor-ss opponent now would only make him look strange. ¡°It¡¯s a shame that I didn¡¯t find any new soul vessel. Without additional soul power, the progress of my bloodline has slowed down. Damn!¡± He whisked the quilt away and got out of bed. Stretching his arms and legs, he then took out his mobile phone and called his teacher. When Auldmandiller sent him to the hospital, he had arranged an itinerary in advance to bring Lin Sheng to the final meeting in two days. Baine University had many workshops, but only six persons were qualified to take part in the meeting. The six heads of the workshop head¡ªtwo vice principals and one principal¡ªmade up of the entire top management of Baine University. The principal was an undisputable grandmaster from Carte nche, a Ptinate, Sainsrokar the Bee King. The two vice-principals were Fallman, a Five Winger, and Suna, a Six Winger. The six heads of the workshop were Five-wingers, which was the minimum entry threshold for everyone. The Carte nche had so many Five Wingers that the outside world could never have imagined it. ¡°Upgrading of dark energy has to go through a bunch of steps. This is annoying.¡± Lin Sheng was feeling the dark-energy flux in his body. Since he had nothing to do, he plunged into the sofa, closed his eyes and cultivated his dark energy using the crystal exercise method. The growth of dark energy would cause the holy power to grow. Earlier, he was worried that too much holy power and insufficient physical strength would harm his body. But now the blood of the dragon has reached a certain level, and the strength of his body had improved. ¡°Let¡¯s see how far the holy power can go.¡± Lin Sheng was full of anticipation. He trained his dark energy using the crystal exercise method, absorbing the dark energy in the air to strengthen himself. Perhaps because of the huge number of souls Lin Sheng possessed, every time he trained, his strength would gain an explosive growth. Half an hourter, his level of dark energy had increased from 18,000 to over 19,000, and it was eyeing the 20,000 mark. Lin Sheng was sitting on the sofa with his eyes closed, seemingly taking some shuteye. But inside his body, a huge amount of dark energy was surging, boiling, and transforming. Soon, another hour had passed. Lin Sheng opened his eyes, and his golden pupils lit up in a wicked green. By general convention, Darksiders who had achieved 2,000 to 20,000 units of dark energy were called Three-wingers. When the value exceeded 20,000, a qualitative change in dark energy would happen. ¡°Is this apressed qualitative change?¡± Lin Sheng was feeling the drastic changes inside his body. When all the dark energy broke through 20,000 units, vortexes of different sizes emerged from the inside. These vortexes were extremely fast and had a great gravitational pull. They collided with and squeezed each other as if living things devoured one another. Small vortexes merged into arge vortex, andrge vortexes merged into an evenrger one. The biggest vortex formed a dark hollow in the center. Lin Sheng was feeling the dark energy inside his body shrink and decline under these weird changes. Within ten minutes, his dark energy had be a dark green vortex at the size of a fist suspended in his lower abdomen. The vortex swallowed up all the mist-like dark energy and spun at high speed. As ifing from the outside in, a steady stream of dark energy was rushing into the dark hollow in the center. The hollow devoured the dark energy like an ever-hungry monster. Lin Sheng looked on with his mind¡¯s eye in curiosity. He meditated following the methods and steps in the textbook, but never expected it to cause such a change. Soon, three pir-like white spots appeared around the edge of the green vortex. ¡°So this is the right way to dopressed meditation.¡± Lin Sheng finally realized. He followed Auldmandiller¡¯s teaching of the One-Wing dark-energy cultivation technique to simte and build his own crystal warrior. The dark energy would only be deemed to achieve the corresponding level after it was converted into actualbat power. What Lin Sheng had to do now was turn the figure into a real strength. But just as he was about to form a crystal warrior and create a symbol of the Darksiders¡ªOne-Wing ckfeather¡ªa sudden change happened to his holy power, forcing him to let go of everything and deal with the emergency. ¡°Again? I have only made a breakthrough to Level 9 holy power a few days ago!¡± Lin Sheng bowed his head, staring at the bright white light between his chest and abdomen. His skin glowed white as an endless stream of holy power poured into his body under the dark-energy simtion. He did not know where the holy power came from. Having reached Level 9 not long ago, his holy power was growing again. Pure-white holy power started to pour into his bone marrow, seemingly out of control. It infected the medu that the blood of the dragon had just transformed not long ago. As the two forces entangled and opposed each other, Lin Sheng had to use his high-pressure control of the soul to merge them. Just then, the dark energy that had just been upgraded rushed into his bone marrow, fighting the two forces. Lin Sheng watched as his holy power was excited, pouring into his body. His Level 9 holy power breached into the Level 10 realm. This time, the overflown holy power did not pour out of the soul but through his skin. Lin Sheng lowered his head, seeing white cracks on his skin. The blood of the Rock Dragon had stabilized, but his body could not withstand the enormous amount of holy power. His holy power was fast approaching the next level. Level 11 was a real watershed, which was the highest ss in ckfeather City representing the upper councillors. His body had failed to cope as the gap between this level and the one below was huge. Chapter 297 - The World: Part 1

Chapter 297: The World: Part 1

Fiona dunked her whole body in the tub. The milky white shower gel kept forming bubbles in her hands. The air was scented with sweet flowers. The steam kept rising, enveloping the whole bathroom in a mist of steam. ¡°The guy must have felt the trouble this time. One more day, and I¡¯ll be able to clean up the mess.¡± That guy had a strong family background. Then again, if she had not been drugged, she would not have failed because her background was strong as well. It was an ident. Luckily, a student named Lin Sheng saved her. ¡°When that guy is cornered, I¡¯ll take my time and maximize the effect,¡± she said to herself and smiled. It was not a very clever trick, but she did not care as long as it worked. She also had contact with transcendents. People in that group, too, must abide by establishedws and rules. So... *Ding dong.* Suddenly the doorbell rang. ¡°Hello, do you need to change the sheets?¡± It was the voice of the hotel housekeeper. ¡°No,¡± Fiona picked up the extension and said impatiently. ¡°She¡¯s in there.¡± Suddenly, a voice traveled from beyond the door. ¡°Open the door,¡± said another person in a low voice. Before Fiona could react, she heard the door of the suite click and open! She quickly got up and put on the towel and was about to rush out. But as soon as she entered the living room, she saw several tall men and women in white and blue star uniforms enter the room. ¡°That¡¯s her! Catch her before she gets away!¡± They rushed at her as soon as they saw her. A woman as strong as a chimpanzee charged forward and punched her in the stomach. Puke! Fiona bent over and spat out some yellow water. ¡°Sorry, you have been suspected of divulging state secrets, endangering public officials, and secretly contacting terrorist organizations to carry out terrorist activities. You are under formal arrest by the Miga national security agency. Anyone who resists will be shot on the spot.¡± The strong woman sneered, listing out a lot of charges quickly. ¡°I really love punching a pretty face!¡± The leader of the team was a little speechless, but he quickly took out his cell phone to call and report the situation. ¡°All those who target Professor Auldmandiller¡¯s disciple must be found. Well... Understand. They will be locked up for investigation. Okay, it won¡¯t be a problem.¡± After reporting, he put down his mobile phone, looked at Fiona and said, ¡°Well, take her away.¡± ¡°Wait!¡± Fiona struggled and shouted. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything... Do you... Why?!¡± She thought she had always obeyed thew, and even if she did something illegal, it¡¯s in the grey area. She could not have anything to do with colluding with any terrorist organization. ¡°Have you ever tipped off a gang of gangsters and given them the address of a man called Lin Sheng?¡± asked the leader calmly. She did not answer. He got the exact answer right off Fiona¡¯s face. ¡°Right. Take her away!¡± ¡°No! I didn¡¯t do it! I didn¡¯t...¡± All of a sudden she was hit in the stomach and then in the back of her neck. She lost consciousnesspletely. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The leader turned and left the room before the rest quickly followed. They were all men of The Asterism. As thergest police force under Carte nche, they maintained the extraordinary world order of the entire Miga. They were supposed to be impartial enforcers, but this case involved one of Baine University¡¯s most talented freshmen, Lin Sheng. Of course, Lin Sheng did not have the power to drive thesew enforcement teams, but Lin Sheng¡¯s teacher was the owner of one of Baine University¡¯s most powerful workshops, Soul Fortress. The owner was Professor Auldmandiller, and one of the students he once taught was one of the top executives in The Asterism. And because it involved a terrorist attack in the city which almost killed a transcendent of extraordinary talent and potential, so the president of Bain University personally called for a thorough investigation. Anyone who had contact with Lin Sheng recently was all investigated, and those who were slightly suspicious were all put in prison. So, even those who were slightly suspicious were caught, not to mention Fiona, who deliberately tipped off and wanted to murder Lin Sheng. ¡°Maybe this woman has something to do with those missing person cases!¡± The leader looked at Fiona and said in a low voice. The missing people cases were still guing them. If only someone could take the me... All of them got the meaning in a second. ¡°Yes, maybe this woman just pretended to be in a bath, but in fact, she was secretly contacting members of terrorist organizations through mysterious means to n a new round of terrorist attacks!¡± the strong woman agreed. She had a natural aversion to beautiful women. ¡°We¡¯ll have to look into it.¡± The other nodded earnestly. Whether it¡¯s true or not, when people got executed, they would be able to close a few cases. They dragged Fiona downstairs quickly, entered the police car and left. ... Lin Sheng stood silently in front of the sink, carefully wipe off the blood he just spat out. The sudden increase of the holy power nearly killed him. If he hadn¡¯t released the Holy Power Barrier in time and suppressed the force of the holy power with totally enclosed istion, he would have broken into countless pieces now. ¡°The blood of the Fire Dragon has ascended fast enough, but it still can¡¯t support the ascent of the holy power... I miscalcted...¡± He could observe that the holy power hade from the depths of his own soul, and now he did not feel any diminution in it, but a steady stream of holy power still seeped madly through the skin. Fortunately, he used the holy power to enhance the effect of the Ashen Seal ¨C the Sanctuary in time to produce a shield simr to the istion of energy to save his life. ¡°The holy power is overflowing. How do I solve it?¡± Lin Sheng began to search the memories in his mind, trying to look for the possible solution from the memories. But he had absorbed too many memories and he could not look through all of them, so he had to pick and choose the key parts. ¡°The part about holy power... Mainly focuses on the soul fragments from ckfeather City and Snowgale Fortress. Let me see...¡± Unfortunately, the search results were zero. Chapter 298 - The World: Part 2

Chapter 298: The World: Part 2

¡°Well... most peoplein that their holy power cannot be improved or increased. Who¡¯s worried about too much holy power?¡± Lin Shengughed bitterly at himself, turned, and walked out of the bathroom. ¡°After all, it¡¯s because I don¡¯t have a lot of temple heritage, otherwise it wouldn¡¯t bother me.¡± He sighed. Now he could only turn his attention to dark energy. ¡°Dark energy and holy power are both a kind of soul power, and there should be a connection. I think I can look it up in the reference books of Dark energy.¡± Then he thought for a moment. ¡°Since the holy power is increased by the stimulus of Dark energy. What if I use up all the excess Dark energy and keep it from stimting the hoy power?¡± Lin Sheng suddenly thought of this. It¡¯s not hard to do that. The crystal warriors of the Soul Fortress were made from the Dark energy, but it took a lot of Dark energy. ¡°I¡¯ll just skip the previous steps in the training method and go straight to form the crystal warriors. That should be fine.¡± Although this could lead to a weak foundation and the crystal warriors would not at their best, dark energy was not his main focus, so it did not really matter. Lin Sheng had always been a brave person. Also, he had nothing to do in the ward anyway. He looked out the window at the sky. The clock on the wall showed that it was ten o¡¯clock at night. It was the time when the nightlife was just beginning, and it was also the time when the office workers went to sleep. ¡°Just try it...¡± Lin Sheng also thought that it¡¯s too wasteful for him to release and use his 20000 dark energy with entry-level operating skills. It¡¯s like you had a huge tank of aviation gasoline, but you could only use it on a small motorcycle. ¡°Then follow the method the mentor taught. First, measure the segments... Then adjust the mental frequency...¡± After being transformed by Rock Dragon¡¯s blood, Lin Sheng¡¯s mind is clearer and faster than ever before. The crystal warriors of the Soul Fortress were notplicated. The difficultyy in the long-term and stable control of dark energy. Soon, under Lin Sheng¡¯s meticulous operation, an image of the crystal warrior that best met his needs in his subconscious gradually emerged behind him. It was a strong human figure of three meters tall. Its silhouette was illusory, showing a translucent state. Its body was covered inrge, hard te armor. It had sharp spikes all over its feet, knees, shoulders, elbows. It had a curved horn on its head like a bull¡¯s horn. Overall, it looked like a ck version of the sacred shield tyrant. Lin Sheng turned and looked at the crystal warrior. It¡¯s rough and translucent, but it was also one of the most familiar forms in his mind. ¡°The shape is there... But it will take a long time to refine and adjust the filling. But the point is, the amount of dark energy in my body has gone down...¡± He clearly felt that arge chunk of dark energy inside his body had been dragged away by the crystal warriors. The rest of the dark energy could no longer stimte the growth of the holy power, and the holy power was finally no longer absorbed inrge quantities. Lin Sheng breathed a long sigh of relief. The danger was temporarily relieved, but the dark energy in him would increase and he would fill it into the crystal warrior unless his physical strength could keep up with the rate of the holy power explosion. ¡°Well, let¡¯s leave it at that for the time being.¡± Lin Sheng moved his body, and the crystal warrior behind him slowly disappeared into the air. It seemed to have disappeared, but it was formed by Lin Sheng¡¯s dark energy, so it would always follow him invisibly. Lin Sheng picked up the phone and nced at the message from his mentor. ¡°So fast?¡± ording to the message, all the suspects he came into contact with recently had been arrested and put in jail, waiting for an investigation. In addition, because of this incident, the senior management of the school was very interested in his performance. This time he would attend the summing-up meeting. Auldmandiller told him to prepare. He might meet Shawnslocka, the Wasp Lord, a fellow of the Miga Dark Energy Research Centre, also known as the walking encyclopedia, and one of the strongest names at Baine University. He was one of the oldest Ptinates in Miga. Although this man was not powerful in physical power, he had profound knowledge, especially in the simtion of dark energy. During his time in Baine University, all the students he taught were now in high positions and had great influence. Plus, the elder was said to be over three hundred years old, so Lin Sheng was looking forward to meeting him. He came here to discover the secret of the power of the Ptinates. It would be nice if he could achieve his goal ahead of time. He was not afraid to reveal his identity. There was no conflict between the Holy Sanctum and Miga. The worst thing that could happen was just exining himself and got deported. With the endorsement of the Xylond government, it¡¯s unlikely that Miga would attack him for no reason. So he thought it was worth a bet. ... Three dayster. Inside Baine University. The drizzle shrouded the whole campus in the mist. A few students rushed to the dormitory to avoid the rain. The campus was empty. Most of them were in the workshops and started their own study. At the back of the campus, in a u-shaped building. Auldmandiller walked slowly out of the elevator on the sixth floor, dressed in a delicate white suit. Lin Sheng followed him, dressed appropriately in a formal white suit with a small ck pattern at the cor. ¡°The campus was actually more of a hub that controlled the security of the entire surrounding state,¡± Auldmandiller introduced the ce casually as he walked. ¡°At first, Baine University was not ranked as low as it is now. We were in the top 20. Unfortunately, since a terrorist attack, two vice presidents died on the spot. The current Vice President was re-electedter, but in fact, he¡¯s as strong as the two before. Several of our workshop owners have been reced because of that war.¡± There was slight regret in his tone. They reached the other end of the sixth floor. Auldmandiller pushed open a ck wooden door. A bolt of green lightning shed by. Lin Sheng squinted his eyes for a second, and when he opened his eyes again, they were standing in arge, dark, spacious factory. They seemed to be standing high up in the middle of the factory, on a level steel road. On either side of the road were huge holes like deep pits. The huge holes were arranged in order, and the surface was covered with something looking like transparent ss. ¡°Haha! Auldmandiller, I haven¡¯t seen you for a long time!¡± Straight ahead, an old bald woman stepped forward and gave Auldmandiller a big hug. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, Daisy.¡± ¡°This is my new disciple, Lin Sheng, from Xylond. His talent... well, it¡¯s nothing special!¡± Auldmandiller introduced Lin Sheng with a smile. ¡°Haha.¡± Daisy saw through her old friend¡¯s trick. She had long heard about Lin Sheng¡¯s talent. She then introduced the girl behind her, ¡°Eiffel, my current assistant.¡± Chapter 299 - The World: Part 3

Chapter 299: The World: Part 3

Lin Sheng and the girl looked at each other and just smiled politely. The two groups made their way down the factory¡¯s main road. Lin Sheng kept quiet and listened to the mentor introduced here. From the conversation between the two professors, he learned that Baine University was actually built by six workshops plus the university itself. The six factories were actually equivalent to sixrge factories, which manufactured weapons, defense equipment, potions,munications, construction materials, and istion materials respectively. Each of the six workshops brought together the strongest elite students, which was the highest strength of the whole university. In addition, there were arge number of small and medium-sized workshops, which were the backbone of the school. These small and medium-sized workshops epted arge number of students every year and trained arge number of middle and lower-level Transcendents for the entire local state. At that point where terrorist organizations continued to create trouble, this force was the backbone of the entire city¡¯s stability. Meanwhile, the university itself, the real core, was a huge dark factory, aboratory for breeding shadowbeasts. Lin Sheng passed by the holes covered with transparent materials. He could clearly see that there were arge number of octopus-like monsters crawling in the hole. The monsters were ck and their bodies covered with countless pale eyes. Their thick tentacles thrashed and struggled here and there. It seemed that the sound instion was good. They heard nothing as they walked along the main road. ¡°Most of the monsters here are Darksiders that are out of control,¡± Eiffel exined. ¡°Those Darksiders who arepletely out of control will end up like this?¡± Lin Sheng thought for a moment and asked. In a hole he passed by on his right, a huge ck octopus of more than 10 meters long was blinking hundreds of its eyes, frantically climbing up the cave, trying to break open the transparent lid with its tentacles. Eiffel nodded. ¡°Well, no matter what kind of Darksiders, the initial stage may be different because of different levels of strength, different abilities, and different forms. But once they grow stronger, they go the way you see in these ck octopuses. This is their limit state, also their perfect state. We call them Shadowbeasts.¡± ¡°Then why does the university keep them here?¡± Lin Sheng asked again. ¡°You know, whether it¡¯s Miga or any other secret world, every year, we have a lot of Darksiders trained. Theye from all over the world. They are quite strong. But why do ordinary people rarely see the Transcendents? It¡¯s only when something goes wrong that you get a chance to see them. Then where are all these graduates?¡± asked Eiffel, smiling. Lin Sheng had long thought about this question but had not been able to answer. Now it seemed that he was about to get the answer. ¡°Another secret world?¡± he guessed. ¡°No...¡± The smile on Eiffel¡¯s face faded into an expression of awe. ¡°It¡¯s aplete world. A world that has existed since ancient times, but ordinary people never discover it¡ª¡± Auldmandiller, who had been paying attention to the conversation as he walked ahead, cut in, ¡°That ce is the source of our power, the source of evil energy, and the root of the ck dot and the ck tide.¡± He smiled. ¡°In ancient times they called it Hades, and in some ces, they called it the Necroworld. It¡¯s called differently in different ces. But all in all, that¡¯s where the dead go. Now we call it the Ashen World.¡± ¡°Dust World...¡± Lin Sheng narrowed his eyes. ¡°So the three secret worlds are the entrances to suppress the Ashen World?¡± ¡°Right. The three secret worlds, from the earliest times, were the arbiters of life and death. But in the early days, the three secret worlds had very few manpower. Because the Ashen World had always been stable, and there¡¯s no big threat, so the secret worlds were not so strong. But something seemed to have changed in the Ashen World since a thousand years ago. The otherwise peaceful side was beginning to mutate, and arge number of powerful monsters that were difficult to kill appeared.¡± Auldmandiller paused and sighed. ¡°The three secret worlds could not support themselves. With no other choice, they finally began to use the power of mortals and formally imparted their powers of evil energy to the first human Transcendent.¡± ¡°So the war continues to this day. It¡¯s getting bigger,¡± Daisy, the other professor, added with a smile. ¡°This is a war between the living and the dead. Well, the war is raging in Redwin, but it has very little to do with the Heaven¡¯s Spire. The Heaven¡¯s Spire is at a higher level than Redwin. Maybe there are more Redwinians inside, but otherwise, they are not directly rted.¡± ¡°Then why call that world the Ashen World? Is there any reason?¡± asked Lin Sheng. He was getting more and more interested in the dark side of the real world. ¡°It¡¯s easy.¡± In a sh of green light, an old man in a white coat with white hair and a long beard appeared on the road ahead. He adjusted his sses, his eyes calm and his lips in a smile. ¡°It¡¯s because all the dead monsters that invade from there will turn into ck dust and disappear. Life and death should not be exposed directly. The power of evil energy should not be mastered by the living ones.¡± The old man opened his arms and gently embraced Auldmandiller and Daisy. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again, my children. Auldmandiller, Daisy, you look as good as thest time I saw you.¡± ¡°You are as young as ever, Lord Shawnslocka,¡± Auldmandillerplimented. ¡°And as fresh as ever,¡± Daisy added with a smile. ¡°You two.¡± The old manughed. As soon as Lin Sheng heard the name, he knew that the old man should be the President of Baine University, Shawnslocka the Wasp Lord. A real old Ptinate. He observed the old man carefully. It was hard to guess from his appearance that this old man possessed great power. He looked like an ordinary man. There was a little fresh tomato sauce on his white beard, and the wrinkles on his face made him look really old. ¡°Oh, Little Eiffel is here. And the little snack?¡± ¡°This is Lin Sheng,¡± Professor Auldmandiller corrected. ¡°It¡¯s an interesting name. Hahaha!¡± The old manughed. ¡°It reminds me of the carrot soup I hadst night.¡± The pronunciation of ¡°Lin Sheng¡± was very simr to the pronunciation of snacks and carrot soup in Miga. Lin Sheng could only smile. ¡°I understand your joke, but why the leftover carrot soup?¡± ¡°Because it was awful. I didn¡¯t finish it. Hahahaha!!¡± The old man¡¯s awkward joke was utterly inscrutable. They could onlyugh along awkwardly. After chatting for a while, they were led by the old man into the central area of the factory. Soon, straight ahead, a huge, circrva pool appeared in front of Lin Sheng. The whole interior of the factory was reflected in a dull red color as countless dark red magma boiled and sshed. However, the most striking thing was not that but a huge woman in the middle of theva pool, bound by a myriad of ck chains. The woman¡¯s long ck hair hung down loosely, while her eyes were closed and her graceful body was covered by countless chains. Her hands were joined and her body was slightly bent as if she was trying to lift a me from theva pool. Lin Sheng stopped for a moment and stood still. In his dreams, he had seen monsters of enormous size, but those were less realistic and less dramatic than this one. The naked woman was at least a hundred meters high. Her fair skin could be seen faintly through the gaps in the chains. ¡°Shocking, isn¡¯t it?¡± The old man squinted at the huge woman in theva pool. ¡°We call her E, the Sunstrider of Hades.¡± Chapter 300 - Form: Part 1

Chapter 300: Form: Part 1

¡°E, the Sunstrider of Hades?¡± Of all the people present, Lin Sheng was the only one who saw the giant monster for the first time. After they went around, Lin Sheng saw the reason why she was called a monster. On the back of the Sunstrider, there wererge dense blisters filled with magma. The zing heat was constantly released from the blisters. Lin Sheng felt that the heat radiated from the blisters was even hotter than the magma pool below. They walked over the arch bridge over the magma pool. The principal smiled and pointed at the huge sun-seeker. ¡°In all, Miga put down more than ten such monsters. Almost a lot of famous universities, with a little bit of history, have this guy. Do you know how that magma pool under your feet came about?¡± ¡°Do you mean... It¡¯s alling from this Sunstrider?¡± Hao Ren guessed. ¡°Correct. You must have sensed the direction of the flow?¡± The principal nodded with satisfaction. ¡°I didn¡¯t believe what your mentor had said about your talent. But now it seems that you¡¯re better than I thought you were.¡± ¡°Thank you, but I¡¯m not that great.¡± Lin Sheng smiled and lowered his head. ¡°No, you are.¡± The principle waved his hand. They continued going forward. Auldmandiller gave Daisy a quick nce, looking proud. ¡°Tcht!¡± Daisy just ignored him. After crossing the arch bridge, they soon came to arge stone wall behind the Sunstrider. A triangr hole was opened in the wall, and a guard in white thermal suits bowed to them. They went into the hole and down a long underground passage. The temperature in there was not as hot as outside. Not long after, they came to the end of the passage, and a round hole appeared before them. ¡°Just a moment.¡± The principal smiled and pped his hands. In the rumble, a big ck mouth slowly arched from the ground, a big mouth made of countless ck stones and mud. In the mouth was a spacious room shrouded in soft yellow light. The principal marched in first, followed by Auldmandiller and Daisy, and then Lin Sheng and the girl. The room was an oval conference hall, which has already been filled with many people. Most of the people sitting there were older people. Lin Sheng looked around and found that even the youngest one looked at least fifty years old. And for this transcendent world, it was not unusual to live longer. In other words, almost everyone in this room looked a lot younger than they really were. The principal took the principal¡¯s seat at the far left while Auldmandiller took Lin Sheng to a middle seat. ¡°Don¡¯t talk. Just listen,¡± he whispered. Lin Sheng nodded, knowing that he should not talk on this asion. ¡°Well, everybody¡¯s here. Let¡¯s start the meeting.¡± The principal smiled and pped his hands, catching everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°As before, the first thing to start with is weapons. Are there any new breakthroughs?¡± A curly-haired old man in a vintage court robe stood up with a stiff face. He took the transcript from his assistant¡¯s hand and began to read it carefully. Lin Sheng listened for a short while and then lost interest. They¡¯re talking about extremely detailed development digital information, interspersed with technical terms and acronyms that the outsiders would not understand. Moreover, on such asions, it was impossible for them to detail the most confidential information. Instead of focusing on the content of the meeting, he began to observe the conference room. In the conference room, there were small iron bookshelves next to the corner filled with magazines and small books. One of the bookshelves was right behind Lin Sheng. Behind the professors, assistants and students were bored with their own work. Some looked at their notes carefully, some yawned sleepily, some sat staring into space, and some had fallen asleep with their backs against the wall. Lin Sheng quietly took out a book from the shelf and began to read. ¡°Suncrown, Moon Basin, and Asterism¡± He chose the one he was most interested in, which was aprehensive introduction to Miga¡¯s dark energy institution. The first thing the book introduced was the Asterism that connected the ordinary and the extraordinary. There were not many strong Transcendents inside the Asterism. This agency served primarily as the transcendental police and their main task was to deal with the general conflict within the city. Then, there was the Moon Basin. The Moon Basin was the most powerful body in Miga. There were not many men in it, but they were all strong, with a truly formed armed force. One had to at least be at the level of a Two-winger to qualify for the Moon Basin. There were also Ptinates inside. The Asterism would apply to the local university for support in case they could not solve the problem. If the local university could not solve the case as well, they would get help from the Moon Basin. That was the process. Thest one was Suncrown. Suncrown was standard research institutions. It was also the most mysterious agency andpletely out of touch with the ordinary Darksiders. It was said that Suncrown was the ultimate agency suppressing the entire Miga, but very little information released from it. Soon, more than half an hour had passed. The meeting also began to rx. Obviously the most troublesome and serious cases had been discussed. Auldmandiller was chatting with the people around him and looked back to see that Lin Sheng was reading. ¡°A lot of our graduates are sent to the Moon Basin, military, or Asterism. You should have a look at the inside information in advance. If you don¡¯t go back to Xylond, in your case, you will definitely go to the Moon Basin,¡± said Auldmandiller. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t this book mention the names of the Ptinates?¡± Lin Sheng asked softly and carefully. Auldmandillerughed. ¡°What¡¯s the level of the Ptinates? How can a general book reveal such secrets?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t hear anything about the messenger when I was in Xylond, so I¡¯m curious. I wonder how many Ptinates are there in the entire Miga?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°On the surface, we have six,¡± an old bald professor answered with a smile. ¡°Miga has the most Ptinates in the world. Because we are guarding the biggest secret realm in the world.¡± ¡°Is it rted to the size of the secret realm?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The old professor nodded. ¡°It¡¯s no secret, and Ptinates did not mean to hide their whereabouts. But the Ptinates, like our principal, are considered rare in the whole of Miga.¡± ¡°Yes, our principal has done too much for this university.¡± Auldmandiller nodded and sighed. Their conversation soon led to past events. Chapter 301 - Form: Part 2

Chapter 301: Form: Part 2

After listening for a few minutes, Lin Sheng had got a lot of information from their chatter. ¡°Okay, everyone, quiet.¡± The principal knocked on the table again. ¡°Next, the Asterism needs us to send a team over to join the raids.¡± ¡°Have we not just deployed a team there? Why are they requesting for more?¡± Someone frowned. ¡°We¡¯ve received information that the Sect of Thousand Graces has been getting very active recently, as though they are preparing for something. The Asterism is understaffed because of the recent incidents in Olro. So...¡± said Auldmandiller. One of the top executives of the Asterism was his former disciples. So it was only natural that he put in some good words for him. ¡°Is there any inside information? Your disciple?¡± someone asked. ¡°As you know, Thousand Graces and Verity step up their activities because of that.¡± Auldmandiller shook his head. ¡°Sir, send Swift Graybear. He is the steadiest one of the Suppressor-ss.¡± ¡°Why my men when a situation arises every time? You still have the nerve to say that.¡± The idea displeased the workshop professor of Swift Graybear. ¡°What about Rampage? She handled the case neatlyst time. It really boosts the image of Baine.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay to send Rampage but with full remuneration.¡± ¡°Why not ask for her opinion first?¡± Everyone had thus decided on the mission. But what surprised Lin Sheng was that Auldmandiller had pushed for the patrol mission¡ªa night sentry mission in a nearby city. ording to his word, this was only a run-of-the-mill mission that people were using to gain credits. The risk was low. Nothing would happen. In Baine university, a student had to achieve 300 credits to graduate. A patrol mission would earn the student 20 credits. There was nothing easier than this. ¡°If you don¡¯t feel like going, you can hire someone else to do the job.¡± Auldmandiller had considered everything for Lin Sheng. ¡°It¡¯s all right, Sir,¡± said Lin Sheng with a smile after the meeting. ¡°I will consider it as a vacation.¡± ¡°Be sure that when you are in danger, run if you can¡¯t win. Don¡¯t worry about everything else! The most important thing is to stay alive.¡± Auldmandiller was showing his extraordinary concern for Lin Sheng. ¡°I understand, Sir.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Just don¡¯t try to act like a hero,¡± Auldmandiller added, unconvinced. ¡°Sir, is this Sect of Thousand Graces, the one I metst time¡ª¡± ¡°Yes. So you know. The cults are extremely harmful, so you avoid them like a gue,¡± Auldmandiller cut in before Lin Sheng could finish his sentence. ¡°About the previous incident, I wonder how it has turned out,¡± Lin Sheng whispered. ¡°The fe escaped, but we seized many sacrificial items rted to the Sect of Thousand Graces. These guys pray to the Divine Scion through the soul sacrifice every day. However, it is just a ruse in their quest to create a distorted vicious monster. Like the Sevenlocks Tower, they are the terrorists who advocate the release of the Ashen World.¡± Lin Sheng and Auldmandiller got out of the conference room. They went back via the long tunnel, from which they hade. ¡°Do you know why I bring you here?¡± Auldmandiller asked, changing the conversation. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Lin Sheng knew that this was the main point. Auldmandiller did not bring him here just listening for a bunch of nonsense. Auldmandiller smiled without saying another word. Lin Sheng followed him out from the tunnel and went into ane on the left. The sloping path ran along a magmake, and soon they came to a standalone courtyard. Auldmandiller pushed the door open and entered the courtyard, where an old bearded man was standing in. The old man was checking the barrel of his rifle. Almost asrge as a fist, the barrel seemed too thick at a nce. It was engraved with beautiful patterns, and the bore glowing in silver light. It was no ordinary firearm. ¡°Hey, Beardy, what have you got?¡± Auldmandiller guffawed. ¡°It¡¯s good stuff. Just arrived. You¡¯vee at the right time. Or this is within your calction?¡± Beardy put down his rifle. But the head of the workshop of the Soul Fortress was one of his main customers, he did not want to slight him. ¡°What do you want this time? Tell me.¡± ¡°My disciple is a little weak in his stamina, give me the Heart of the Damned,¡± Auldmandiller said. ¡°Okay. There are two here. Take all of them?¡± ¡°All of them. Do you have other things? I need to give my disciple a gift.¡± ¡°There. Pick two from the pile.¡± Beardy pointed at the corner of the courtyard. Auldmandiller motioned Lin Sheng as his eyes and said, ¡°See for yourself. Choose whatever you like.¡± Lin Sheng knew that his teacher paid for it out of his pocket. So he hurried up to the corner where mildew had formed on the walls, and the cementyer had peeled off from arge part of the walls. On the dark, dry ground was a pile of everything: mud blocks, stones, branches, metal fragments, old vases, radios, small trumpets, and a few dried flowers. Lin Sheng even saw a key, white and in the size of a palm. ¡°These are all from the Ashen World. Don¡¯t ask me if they are of any good. You know they are when theye from that ce. Pick whatever you like,¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s teacher walked up to him and whispered. Lin Sheng skimmed around and his eyes fell on a rtively fresh bone. The white jade-looking bone looked like a human thigh bone, but with cracks on the surface. He felt a weak sign of vitality in the bone, almost faded away, but he could resuscitate it, he figured. The powerful ritual he got from the Griffin¡¯s Morass could consume soul power to nourish the blood. As long as the blood is alive, he could bring it back to life and grow it. Lin Sheng first picked up the bone. He then looked around again. Then he saw the second item¡ªa tile. Or so it seemed. Lin Sheng felt a very strong negative air on it. So he took it. The bearded old man had brought what they wanted: two beautiful turquoise hearts, seemingly carved from crystals. ¡°It¡¯s the heart of a dying giant as powerful as an apex Six-winger. It was hit by dark-energy cannons and has sustained some damages. Nevertheless, it still works.¡± He tossed the two boxes containing the hearts to Auldmandiller. Thetter took it. Upon checking its contents, he smiled in satisfaction. ¡°They are in very good condition. Deduct the amount from my ount. By the way, have you conducted the test? Is my student okay?¡± ¡°Checked. There is no problem with the absorption,¡± Beardy replied. As they carried the items and left the courtyard, Auldmandiller noticed doubt in Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes, so he smiled. ¡°Are you curious why the monster, as powerful as an apex Six-winger, has be our merchandise?¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°I guess, maybe one reason is that you are also a Six-winger, Sir. So¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s one of the reasons.¡± Auldmandillerughed. ¡°It¡¯s also because we are human.¡± He sighed. ¡°It¡¯s the most powerful dark-energy hot weapon, the Ebonthread Crystal Culverin. It could kill an apex Six-winger from a few kilometers away with just one shot. Don¡¯t forget the many powerful monsters in the Ashen World. We humans are too weak inparison. But we have no trouble guarding the secret realm. It is because webine dark energy with technology and apply hot weapons in all aspects.¡± Chapter 302 - Form: Part 3

Chapter 302: Form: Part 3

Lin Sheng was a little startled. It turned out that this was the true strength of the Darksiders. Aftering out of the mysterious realm of the school, Lin Sheng returned to the dormitory. But the thought of the powerful weapons that his instructor mentioned filled his mind. The floating battleships, dark-energy cannons, active sniper rifles, various biochemical weapons, highly toxic weapons and all. The three mysterious realms had developed many powerful weapons for the Ashen World. This was one reason they could push back against the Realm of the Damned. Closing the dormitory door behind him, Lin Sheng took off his jacket and put the things down. He ced the Hearts of the Damned that Auldmandiller bought him and the other two items he had chosen on the table, looking at them quietly. ¡°If what Teacher said is anything to go by, absorbing the Heart of the Damned using the dark energy will strengthen my physique. This will be a natural potentiating potion. It produces no side effects.¡± Lin Sheng sat on the chair, extended his hand, and gently pressed on a Heart of the Damned. Still worried about his overly feeble body and overloaded by the holy power, he thought it a good idea to try out these two things. He was eager to find out their effects. A thin green thread rose from the surface of the heart, connecting to the position where Lin Sheng¡¯s palm touched. In that instant, a cool and soft power slowly flowed out of the heart into Lin Sheng¡¯s hand. ¡°It feelsfortable... No! Something¡¯s in there!¡± Lin Sheng paused. He felt arge, chaotic and crazy consciousness in the heart. He suddenly thought of a possibility. ¡°This is... Could it be the soul of the owner of this heart?¡± In the real world, few people could perceive the soul force. And that was why people from the Sect of Thousand Graces had dared to release the shades and put the soul vessels in the most conspicuous ces. And now, he felt the residual soul this heart. Suddenly, he saw in the dark green heart a cloud of dark smoke curling up in the corner. Sad faces appeared from time to time in the smoke as if they had noticed Lin Sheng peer at them. The instant the cloud of smoke raised what might be its head and looked at Lin Sheng, a biting chill rushed into him. Lin Sheng¡¯s heart missed a beat. The smoke burst forth violently with a deafening roar, prating through his hand into his body. Following that, chaotic images poured into his mind. Lin Sheng saw a powerful giant who was at the limit of Six Wings. Together with his legions, the giant was blown into pieces by many crystal cannons. He saw the depressive sorrow, anger, and fear. Together, these negative energies made these souls dangerous¡ªfar more harmful than what he had thought. Lin Sheng had no time to think as the soul was quick. The smoke had entered his mind in just a split second. In the dark gray space, a huge gray cyclops stood up before Lin Sheng. It was a cyclops. The cyclops roared with his head lowered. He reached his huge hand in one fell swoop, trying to grab Lin Sheng¡¯s head. He roared so hard as if he had exhausted hisst drop of strength. ¡°Destruction! Death! Ashes!¡± In that moment of life and death, a pure white light exploded inside Lin Sheng¡¯s soul. The light expanded, transforming into threads and piercing through the void as if they were connected with something out there. In front of a red building, the Steel Lord wearing a blood armor gently lowered the child in his hand. He then looked in the direction of Miga. Just then, a ck emblem glowing in a white light appeared on the side of his face. Meanwhile, at the top of a skyscraper, Khad swung her legs on the edge of the top of the building. She was lying on her back, reading a blue book in her hand. She straightened up suddenly when a ck emblem that emanated a white light appeared on the side of her face. ... In the sanctum of Xylond, the Night Lord sat on a chair, his head resting on his hand. Jolted out of his sleep, he opened his eyes and sat up straight when a pure white light flickered in his amethyst-like eyes. ¡°So the moment hase.¡± A ck emblem, with dazzling white light glowing on the edge, appeared on the side of his face. ¡°Take it, my strength.¡± ... Lin Sheng gazed at the pair of giant hands smashing down at him. He instinctively opened his mouth and a silent roar exploded from his mouth. Immediately, countless white threads rose behind him. The threads formed a circle and then went up in me in the air, like a huge torch fire wrapping around his body. A little ck spot appeared in the torch fire after a soft ¡°ding¡± sound. Following that, a jade-like, wless hand extended out from the ck spot and gently touched on the giant hand of the cyclops. Then, everything came to a standstill. A secondter... No, perhaps a minuteter, the frozen body of the cyclops slowly turned into ash. The ash was not ck but gray. While this happened, the jade hand disintegrated. It turned into white light spots and then dissipated to expose Lin Sheng standing in ce. As the gray space around Lin Sheng flickered, the scene returned to be the school dormitory. ¡°This... this is...¡± Lin Sheng held out his hand, his body frail and shivering as if he was overly tired. At that instant, he felt he had touched something. Sensing the deadly threat, his instinct had triggered every self-defense mechanism to protect himself. And he had unwittingly borrowed the power of all his summoned creatures in that short time. The souls of the summoned creatures were the soul of the summoner. So when a threat arose, the summoner would recall his soul powers to protect himself. It was an instinctual conditioned reflection. What Lin Sheng did not expect was that he had not only recalled his soul power but also the power of his threemanders. Khad was the weakest among them. But her strength as a Five-Winger was formidable. Thebined strength had produced an explosive power. It came as a surprise. Lin Sheng did not know what happened. He felt like he had reached an unprecedented height, a realm that he could never imagine before. Spacetime came to a standstill. Everything was frozen in ce. Lin Sheng was the only person unaffected by the phenomenon. He reached out his hand, and it was clear who was the winner of this battle before his fingers even had touched the palm of the cyclops. The soul of the dying giant hiding inside the heart disintegrated, and the gray space copsed. Lin Sheng panted. He checked the condition of his threemanders at once, and to his relief, while they were anemic, they showed no other abnormalities. After his breathing normalized, Lin Sheng nced at the two hearts on the table instinctively. His pupils contracted. Following his gut feeling, Lin Sheng reached out and pressed his hand on the second Heart of the Damned. Like he had expected it, the heart was empty inside. But he could feel a stream of the purest soul power poured into his hand along the green threads. ¡°Is the soul of the second heart destroyed? Coteral damage?¡± He could not imagine what had happened. Chapter 303 - Mission: Part 1

Chapter 303: Mission: Part 1

Lin Sheng had only maintained that terrifying form for a few beats before he was exhausted. Not only he was spiritually drained, but all energy¡ªthe holy power, dark energy, and the blood power of the Rock Dragon¡ªin his body was also emptied. Fortunately, after the enhancement of the blood of the Rock Dragon, he could absorb the mysterious energy from the environment to replenish the consumed energy. So his strength was a one-time-use ability. But even so, Lin Sheng had spent two days to recover his strength. And during those two days, he practiced near the huge griffin¡¯s head in his dreams. He once tried using explosives and liquid nitrogen, the methods he previously used against the Steel Lord and the Night Lord, against the griffin¡¯s head. But the measures did not work this time. Not that he did not use enough of them, but because the power was not adequate. This time, Lin Sheng had secretly collected a stockpile of explosives and ammunition and ced them in a circle around the griffin¡¯s head. The number of explosives doubled the number of explosives he used against the Night Lord. After the explosion, not only did the griffin¡¯s head suffer not a single scratch, even the surrounding rock wall had little damage. It was out of his expectation. Not that Lin Sheng did not try any other methods in his dreams. He had used his holy power to the max with no avail. Not even thebination of the holy power and dark energy and driven by the blood of the Rock Dragon had produced any result. The same happened to explosives. Lin Sheng probably knew his upper limit now. Unless he could recreate the earlier form, which had a slight possibility of hurting the griffin¡¯s head. Otherwise, other methods were meaningless. He knew that the form he was in when the soul of the giant attacked him was beyond his imagination. He and the threemanders had talked to each other and knew that they had suffered different degrees of injuries and needed over a month to recover. It was apparent that it was not a form that he could simply summon at whim. While recuperating in the dormitory for three days, Lin Sheng took the opportunity to digest the alien power of the Heart of the Damned. The absorbed energy was nourishing. It could enhance the strength of his skin, muscles and internal organs. This reinforcement wasprehensive, and sometimes quite aggressive too. If Lin Sheng¡¯s physique was any weaker, the alien power could have injured him instead. No wonder Auldmandiller had to bring him to see Big Beardy. Perhaps he wanted Big Beardy to examine if Lin Sheng was qualified to devour the Heart of the Damned. There was no progress in the dream. And he had not found the third Assimtion spell of the mysterious ritual array. So Lin Sheng treated the Griffin¡¯s Morass as his practice venue. He had an advantage over the other students. Unlike Lin Sheng, they could practice their dark energy in their dreams. Another two days had passed, and news came from the Soul Fortress. It was time for the special credit mission, which Auldmandiller requested on his behalf. ... In Baine University Office. When Lin Sheng pushed open the door, many people already sat inside the expansive rectangr hall. There was the vice-chancellor, three professors, four mentors, and six teaching assistants, while Lin Sheng was one of the twelve candidates taking part in the assignment. ¡°This way,¡± Auldmandiller beckoned to Lin Sheng. He stood behind Auldmandiller, observing the others at the same time. The vice-chancellor was a mature woman with a sedate face and a touch ofposed temperament. She wore a pair of red-rimmed sses, sitting at the leading seat. The other three professors and four mentors had their own identity tes on their tables. The identity tes had the name of the ces they represented. The te in front of Auldmandiller had ¡°Soul Fortress¡± written on it. Lin Sheng nced to the right. ¡°Thousand Vipers¡± was stated on the namete. On the left was a wilted old man with the name ¡°Volcanus Silentio¡± on his te. He remembered very well that these two workshops were the third-ss workshops like the Soul Fortress he saw when he made his selection. They were top-notch workshops. Lin Sheng nced at the others. In front of several other mentors, there were nametes of Palminsar House and Secondary Crystal Wand. He could not recognize the names of others, but they were no bad workshops. Soon, a few more students arrived. The vice-chancellor adjusted her sses and said, ¡°Now everyone has arrived. Let¡¯s begin.¡± She gently knocked on the table, and the sound of gold hitting an iron rang throughout the room. Her fingers were as hard as metal. The knocking sound was harsh to the ear. ¡°There are three special quotas allocated this year and step forward if you want one.¡± Her eyes fell on Auldmandiller¡¯s three students. ¡°Go. Step forward.¡± Auldmandiller nudged Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng nodded. Together with the other two students, he stepped forward and stood in the middle of the hall. He finally saw the namete of the vice-chancellor, Suna. At that moment, he recalled the information he had seen before. Suna was one of Baine University¡¯s extreme Six-wingers, the strongest person except for the principal. Lin Sheng further nced at the other two students again. Like him, the two, a man and a woman, were candidates selected for the special quota. Standing next to him was the man. Wearing square sses, with a gentle temperament, he looked more like a high school teacher than a student. The woman had a cold disposition. She carried a short brown sheathed knife on her back, simr to a hunter who hunted in the mountains all year round. ¡°This year has the three of you; Fanny, Elind, and Lin Sheng. You all have the head of a third-ss workshop guarantor, so you will get three first-rights to choose the special task,¡± Suna, the vice-chancellor said, pointing her finger. Suddenly, a three-dimensional rectangr light-green light curtain unfolded in front of them. The list of the special missions popped up on the screen. Lin Sheng saw what seemed to be cases of the fugitive and killings, mysterious town investigation, tracking of scary monsters, and all sorts of high-risk missions. Not wanting to be a hero, he reached out to select the easiest patrol mission, just as he had discussed with his teacher. ¡°The Paragon of Destiny has appeared in Pine Town. The investigation team reached the bottom of the mine, and something went wrong. A number of wild monsters secretly devour human blood. ¡°Mission description: Guard and patrol thend within a kilometer square of the mercury mines. Ensure the safety of the people and the normal life in Pine Town. ¡°Mission reward: 20 credits plus 200,000 Miga dors. (All items got during the mission belong to the student.) ¡°Mission tenure: two weeks.¡± Lin Sheng had noticed that the other two selections were also easy missions. Apparently, these three missions were tailored made for them. But the key to the missions was time. It was just too short. 20 credits for two weeks. If he got lucky and nothing bad happened, it would be more like taking a vacation. Getting 20 credits would be easy-peasy. Although there was a certain level of risk, it was much simpler than other missions. No matter how easy the school¡¯s missions were, risk was an essential part of the mission and it would carry an element of test. After all, a genius would only be akin to a flower shrouded in the greenhouse without exposing it to the weather outside. He would never hold up in the face of setbacks. Lin Sheng selected the patrol mission. On the dialog box that popped up, he clicked ¡°OK¡±, and the selection wasplete. Chapter 304 - Mission: Part 2

Chapter 304: Mission: Part 2

Auldmandiller smiled and nodded at Lin Sheng. He had used his connection, through his old friends, to secure this credit mission for him. The patrol mission was not a one-off expedition but containing a series of operations. As long as Lin Sheng sessfullypleted this one, there would be more such credit missions awaited him. And if he wanted, he could get 100 credits. This was the benefit of the special mission. After the three selected their missions, they stood back behind their respective professors, and then only came the turn of the rest of the students. The process was just the same as before. After the students selected the missions, Vice-Chancellor Suna dered the meeting as over. Auldmandiller had a few words with others and introduced Lin Sheng to an old professor whom he knew well. After a few moments of pleasantry, Auldmandiller brought Lin Sheng out of the hall and walked out of the university. ¡°Did you notice the other two earlier?¡± Auldmandiller asked with a smile. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, professor?¡± Lin Sheng responded, knowing that Auldmandiller had something to say. ¡°Fanny and Elind are the only best disciples in the two workshops. Since they were selected to enjoy this privilege, it means that they are the most favored students,¡± exined Auldmandiller. ¡°But in Baine, the ones who are really going ces are Isabel Cador, the Blue Thunder Shadow and Carlis the Mermaid. Besides, the current president of the Darkheart Society, the little guy named Gail, is good. Together, they have upied the top three spots in the two leaderboards.¡± ¡°Err... I haven¡¯t read the rankings...¡± Lin Sheng confessed. ¡°I¡¯ve been busy with other things recently, and you know that I¡¯m not interested in this thing.¡± ¡°I agree. The rewards of the rankings are nothing. It¡¯s for publicity and a stepping stone to enter the Moon Basin. But I¡¯m sure you can make it to the Moon Basin even without the rankings. That¡¯s okay.¡± Auldmandiller could not help but smile like a Cheshire cat. He was very pleased that Lin Sheng had achieved over 500 units of dark energy in his first awakening. ¡°But I heard that if a person joins some student societies, one can get preferential treatment in choosing a workshop? Is this true, professor?¡± ¡°Some workshops work this way. It¡¯s like preselection, but it¡¯s something that the elite disciples havee up with in the workshop.¡± Auldmandiller waved a dismissing hand. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t take part in that. It¡¯s meaningless. It¡¯s never toote to build your influence after you enter the Moon Basin. I¡¯ve confidence in you.¡± ¡°Speaking of which, is Isabel Cador the elder sister of Mylissa?¡± Lin Sheng remembered that Mylissa¡¯sst name was also Cador. And to be honest, of all the students in the Soul Fortress, Mylissa was the only person whom Lin Sheng could remember her full name. ¡°That¡¯s her. Isabel is from the Crystal Wand workshop. She is good and strong. But she has a bit of a problem with some student organizations. It¡¯s just some petty issue, anyway.¡± Auldmandiller smiled. ¡°In fact, the strongest student, whom I find worth the while, is Carlis the Mermaid. She is the current president of the student council of Baine University. I expect that she will stay on and teach on campus after graduation. You might want to befriend her.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°How strong is Carlis?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it appears that she is an apex Three-winger with a performance index of 19,000. However, that is all she has revealed. Lin Sheng, remember not to show yourst card in any situation,¡± Auldmandiller reminded. ¡°This will mislead your enemy to miscalcte your strength and underestimate you. Thus, you will have a higher chance of winning.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. Coming out of the campus, Auldmandiller gave Lin Sheng a mobile phone for the mission and sent him off to report to the designated ce. Auldmandiller returned to the Soul Fortress to supervise the pharmaceutical works. It was said that the workshop had secured a buyer for its new drug. The buyer had sent their representatives to the Soul Fortress for a meeting. So the professor had taken time off his busy schedule to bring Lin Sheng to the mission selection meeting. This was the privileged treatment an elite student would receive. Not only did Lin Sheng not have to break his back to work for the workshop, but he also got to enjoy favors from the professor. That was a contrast to the other students, who only got ten credits forpleting more dangerous missions sometimes. The student societies held most of the quotas for missions with over ten credits, and these missions couldst over a month. The student societies used various means to get the mission for themselves before assigning them to their members. That was also the reason many students outside these societies found life difficult. However, a genius like Lin Sheng was different. Among the first and second-year students who enjoyed the same genius treatment, there were Fanny and Elind. Lin Sheng did not know how strong the two were and their level of dark energy. As a veteran whose strength had far surpassed that of a student, Lin Sheng wanted to work his way up slowly. After gaining the power of the Heart of the Damned, his body was gradually mutating. Because of the surge in holy power earlier, Lin Sheng was cautious to not over-train his dark energy. So he could only cultivate step by step. When he sensed a spike in the dark energy, he would transfer the excess energy to the crystal warrior behind him. A few days before setting out, Lin Sheng felt that his crystal warrior was getting clearer and clearer. But his control over the dark energy was still rudimentary, not even close to that of a One-winger. He was only a novice who rode on the advantage of having a huge amount of dark energy to bully other students. He was not as strong as he looked. Lin Sheng traveled light with a bank card, some cash, and some materials for the ritual array. He hopped the campus bus and went straight toward Pine Town. ... The bus suddenly sounded its harsh horn. Someone was blocking the way in front, waving a small g purportedly conducting checks. The driver stopped the bus and impatiently waved a small ck booklet in his hand. The persons carrying out the roadblock suddenly became pliant in their attitude and let the bus through. There were ten students on the trip to Pine Town, and they were all in the bus. ¡°It¡¯s said that two teams have arrived, and we are the third. They have enough men, but as long as the professors had note out of the mine, we will have to keep patrolling the surrounding areas. It¡¯s a bit of a troublesome for sure,¡± said a blonde girl with braided hair by the name of Melissa. She was one of the fellow students sitting next to Lin Sheng at the window. Among the ten students and except Lin Sheng, Melissa had the highest dark energy¡ªover a hundred. It was not known if the girl was hiding her capabilities, but with over a hundred units of dark energy, Melissa was one of the best among the One-wingers as opposed to the other rookies who were of the double-digit realm. Had Lin Sheng not been here, the girl would be the team leader. But since Lin Sheng was here, he was the team leader by default. ¡°I hope the situation in the mine will drag on. Otherwise, we may not gain enough credits!¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°You¡¯d better hope the professors didn¡¯t hear it. Otherwise, they won¡¯t spare you.¡± Melissaughed. So too the rest of the team members. Those who could take part in the mission surely had some personal connections. Those wealthy families had ¡°donated¡± quite arge amount of money to the university for sure. Chapter 305 - Mission: Part 3

Chapter 305: Mission: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Everyone in the team shared amon goal, and so there was a sense of identity among the team members. The job was dangerous, but not as risky as the other missions. ¡°Speaking of which, I wonder what happens to the Paragon of Destiny in Pine Town. It has taken so long, yet they haven¡¯t found it,¡± Melissa whispered. ¡°I heard my uncle said, the Paragon of Destiny is hidden in a mouse in Pine Town, and the mouse is mutating and digging holes everywhere. So that the professors are too cautious about using more damaging techniques for fear of destroying the thing.¡± ¡°No wonder it¡¯s been dragging on for so long.¡± ¡°Think about it. They have sent three Suppressor-ss professors, yet nothing hase out of it yet. This is still within the area under our university¡¯s control. Had it been in other ces, it would already attract a lot of attention.¡± Listening to the chatter of the team, Lin Sheng stayed quiet. He raised the dark energy in his body to about seven hundred. ording to the established categorization convention, 200 to 2,000 was within the realm of One Wing. So his current 700 was not too eye-catching but woulde in handy when he needed it. The bus passed through a dense pine forest after half an hour of travel. The driver produced his pass as an officer and his men came on board for inspection. Lin Sheng and the others produced their student IDs before they were allowed to pass through. They were on their way again. asionally, Lin Sheng saw armored vehicles and troop carriers parked on the side of the road. Sometimes, he saw dark energy-reinforced battle vehicles with white discs, like the ones Redwin had and he had seen in Xilin before. They looked simr, but still, it evoked in Lin Sheng a sense of nostalgia for Xilin. After all, he had been living there for over ten years. Melissa did not look particrly beautiful. Like an ordinary country girl, she was simple in the way she dressed. Naive and casual, and not maniptive, Melissa was very open while chatting with Lin Sheng. She never minced her words when it came to her opinions about other students and professors. Lin Sheng talked to her as the bus ground ahead. Because of the many roadblocks, it was not until the afternoon that the team finally arrived at Pine Town, the location of the mission. Pine Town was just an ordinary town with a small poption. If not for the discovery of the Paragon of Destiny in the mine, no one would have heard of this ce. The ce they had arrived at was a defense station. Just like a police station, but the Asterism had taken over the ce. They handed over the job right away as soon as the team arrived. The job was notplicated. The first patrol was from eight to ten in the morning. And the second patrol was from eight to ten in the evening. And the Asterism had sent the patrol route to Lin Sheng, the team leader, via phone. They had also handed over a three-story mansion with over ten bedrooms to choose from. There were cooks to take care of their food, andundry service too. It looked really not bad. ¡°Nothing is good about this ce except for the cheapnd prices. It would have cost an arm and a leg to stay in this kind of mansion,¡± someone in the teammented. ¡°It would take at least a year of my pocket money!¡± Another member sighed. ¡°I¡¯m better. I can earn enough for this if I¡¯m lucky with the poker game. It¡¯s just a few million.¡± ¡°You parvenus! It costs three years of my pocket money to buy this! Stop bragging in front of a broke person like me!¡± Lin Sheng did not know what to say as he listened to the sarcasm. They were a privileged team and each of them was obviously freaking wealthy. After looking around the mansion, he instructed Melissa to assign rooms for the team members. He then took a stroll outside. Their main threat was monsters called wildlings. These monsters were invisible. Only the transcendent could see them. But even so, any ordinary humans could kill these monsters with a stick if they could see them. That was how puny these monsters were. However, when the monsters came in hordes, they would pose a threat. But generally, they were timid creatures as an individual but would be gutsy once they were in groups. Such was the situation in Pine Town. The wildlings attacked towns and viges in groups. A thin strip of pine forest surrounded the mansion on all sides. Yellow pine needles and cones were everywhere, covering the forest like a thick nket on the ground. ck pine trees were unique to this ce. Their trunks were full of burls, and their bark was dark with white spots. From time to time, small ants and bugs could be seen climbing up and down the pine trees. The pine trees emanated a unique rosin scent. As the wind blew through the forest, the rosin scent would permeate the air. Lin Sheng took a tour of the surroundings. The mansion was located in the middle of a pine forest. A highway was on the periphery leading to the town. And the straight line distance between the mansion and the town was less than a hundred meters. At the rear of the mansion was arge expanse of ck pine forest. A wooden house of the forest ranger could be seen half-hidden in the forest when looking from afar. Done with the tour, Lin Sheng headed to the ranger¡¯s house. He wanted to see if he could meet the ranger, from whom he might get a better idea of the terrain of the area. Before he barely made out some distance, Lin Sheng saw two outsiders in front of the ranger¡¯s hut. The easiest way to distinguish between outsiders and locals was to look at their attire. Outsiders were more fashionable, which was apparent at a nce. It looked like the outsider, one stood while the other squatted, was looking for something on the ground. At first, Lin Sheng thought they were tourists. But as he drew closer, he sensed a trace of dark energy wafting from far away. His heart missed a beat. And before he could ask, the two persons saw him and ran away. ¡°Hey, stop!¡± Lin Sheng gave chase for a while, his voice loud, but it was just a show. This was only a credit mission. There was no need to be so serious. As he came closer, he saw a monkey-like, yellow-haired monster lying at the spot where the two persons were a while ago. The monster¡¯s chest was cut open. It was dead. It looked like it was a golden monkey with four hands. ¡°Is this a wildling?¡± It was a ce under the control of ??Baine University, yet it had been trespassed by outside Darksiders. The attraction of the Paragon of Destiny was remarkable. Lin Sheng examined the monster¡¯s corpse for a while. He could not care less after he determined that it was the work of the One-wingers. A One-winger could range from 20 to 200 in their level of dark energy, which was wide a gap. His team of ten consisted of all One-wingers. They might not possess any actualbat ability, but they could definitely protect themselves with their dark energy, which could be pushed to the limit when they needed it. ¡°I need time to digest the alien powers of the Heart of the Damned. It seems that I would be able to finish that in two weeks. Besides, I also need to convert the newly gained soul power into the blood of the Rock Dragon. The Crystal Warrior also needs detailed build. I mustn¡¯t leave it as an empty shell.¡± Lin Sheng had many things to do, so he did not bother about those little bugs. As long as those things did not interfere with his credit mission, he could turn a blind eye to them. ... ¡°They are the dark-energy students from Baine University. It¡¯s already the third group. It looks like it will take some time to get the things from the hole.¡± Outside of the forest, two persons in camouge uniform were whispering to each other. ¡°There is a patrol team here. We may have a problem getting in there now,¡± one said helplessly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the rookies. They are just a group of students. Should worsees to worst, I will shoot them one by one. Dark energy is nothing if they couldn¡¯t master its power. When Rev. Yang Hui arrived, getting the thing would be a piece of cake.¡± ¡°Baine University is getting too close. We must act fast. Otherwise, we may lose everything.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see when the pastor could make it here. Hopefully soon. If not, we would be in even bigger trouble when those barbarians from the Sect of Circr Heart arrive.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Since many people have arrived in the town, it makes no difference if more sectse. When Rev. Yang Hui arrives, everything will fall in ce. Let¡¯s go!¡± After that, the two individuals disappeared into the forest. Chapter 306 - Experiment: Part 1

Chapter 306: Experiment: Part 1

The exploration team of the silver mine was still underground. They weremunicating with the people of Baine University on the surface throughmunication equipment. Themander was a professor named Bessis, a powerful but retiredbatant from the Moon Basin. Other than Lin Sheng¡¯s team, another two student teams were also patrolling and guarding the nearby areas. But since the three teams worked in different zones, there were no inter-team interactions. Lin Sheng was keeping his head down and following whatever Bessis ordered. He was curious about the Paragon of Destiny in the silver mine, but not if he must know everything about it. He led the team and performed two rounds of patrol every day. And just like that, they had their free time after that. Life was getting mundane. A few dayster, the patrol team encountered the first wildling. Someone shot out green threads and the dark energy pierced through the air with a whiz. Melissa retracted her hand and gave Lin Sheng a cocky look. Three wildlings that looked like golden monkeys were lying in front of the patrol team. On the side was a passerby who was attacked and lying limply on the ground. Unable to get up and was terrified, he covered his head with his hands. ¡°Not bad.¡± Lin Sheng nodded at Melissa. ¡°Hey, captain. When do you want to show off your skill too?¡± Melissa did not hide her curiosity about Lin Sheng. She was not happy that Lin Sheng was the team leader and not her. No longer a rookie but a little genius in her sophomore year, Melissa had a good grasp on dark energy and was experienced in close-quarters and long-rangebats. Although those were just missions for earning credits, it was still a mission. She felt she Lin Sheng should show his capability to prove himself to lead. Otherwise, she could not shed that hard feeling. Lin Sheng knew what the girl was thinking. But this was not his priority. While absorbing memories, Lin Sheng made use of his idle time to study the research projects of the research institute. And one particr project caught his interest. Before the destruction of the Sect of Thousand Graces, the institute focused on their study of the shades. But unknown to many, they had actuallyunched a project called Energy Assimtion Point simultaneously. ording to their theory, Energy Assimtion Point, or EAP, was a part of the characteristic energy in nature like proteins. When this energy was in a certain environment, their active characteristic would be temporarily reversibly inactivated. If mixing these energies together, different energies would have a certain probability of assimtion. The research institute had actually studied and used a certain parameter of the soul to adjust the method of controlling the assimtion. This was a semi-finished shock model and was far fromplete, but Lin Sheng had seen the potential of this model. Unlike others, he had absorbed far too many memories, among which was the knowledge of the soul in the sanctum. It could even be said that he was a typical case of soul assimtion. Although the semi-finished product of the institute fell behind Lin Sheng in terms of the knowledge at the soul level, the fact that they could rely on the knowledge system of living people and make it this far was amazing. So Lin Sheng intended to continue the study. If sessful, he might be able to solve the w of inadequate soul channels. Lin Sheng walked up to the body of the three wildlings, crouched down, and checked the heads of the corpses. ¡°Send it to the same ce. I need to study and get some materials.¡± The two militiamen exchanged a look, but none of them dared to touch the strange creatures. ¡°Like before, 500 dors per person,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Yes, Sir!¡± The two militiamen came up enthusiastically. They skillfully wrapped each corpse with a stic cloth, bundled them together before carrying them to the team¡¯s quarters. Each corpse weighed only thirty jin, which was light. The two carried the three corpses on their shoulders and pocketed a thousand dors in total. To the residents of Pine Town, it was a good deal. ¡°Captain, what do you want to do with these corpses? They are useless!¡± someone from the team asked in a low voice. ¡°Nothing. I have been performing live sample dissections recently. They may just be corpses, but I want to see the body structure of these monsters.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°Just my little personal hobby.¡± ¡°Well then.¡± The person looked at Lin Sheng with a smile, but deep inside, he felt a little rmed. Considering that the captain had really taken care of the team members for the past few days, he did not give the matter much a thought. Lin Sheng was not only talented but he had also never discriminated against the students who came merely for the credits. As such, everyone held him in high regard, and perhaps even more so because they knew he was a genius from the third-ss workshop of the Soul Fortress. ¡°Let¡¯s carry on.¡± Lin Sheng led the team and continued along the street. In slow mode, it took over half an hour to go from one end of the town to the other. Since Lin Sheng had nothing else to do, he might as well get slow. The sun was beating down from above. The weather was still hot despite winter was just around the corner. After patrolling for a while, they passed by a supermarket. Lin Sheng asked a student to buy some ice water. ¡°Stop!¡± a team member shouted. Lin Sheng looked up and went closer. Suddenly, a thread of dark energy transformed into a green shadow and shot at his ear. The shadow did not n to kill him, just aiming at his ear. Even if hit, it was the ear that was hurt. Nothing else. ¡°You must have a death wish!¡± Melissa came to her senses at once. She raised her right hand and a thunderous bolt exploded in her palm. The cold-blue bolt shot out into the entrance of the alleyway up ahead on the right. The bolt hit the trash can at the entrance, sending arge amount of garbage and dust flying in all directions. The group of rich kids bounced back in disgust. They did not want to get any closer. With the wave of his hand, Lin Sheng turned his dark energy into fine particles before shooting out as a wind to blow the dust away. By the time the dust had dispersed, the figure at the alleyway had gone, leaving behind only a trace of blood on the ground. ¡°That guy ran so quickly!¡± Melissa snorted. ¡°Sir, are you alright?¡± She turned to look at Lin Sheng. ¡°I¡¯m fine thanks to your quick response. You saved me this time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say that. Even without me, I know you can handle the situation with ease.¡± Melissa sounded humble, but her bodynguage said otherwise based on her visibly raised chest. ¡°There will be more and more troubles in this town. We are lucky that we only have to stay for two weeks, and then it will not be our problem,¡± Lin Sheng whispered. ¡°Let¡¯s move on.¡± Lin Sheng took the lead and walked in the front, but his team members each looked behind them. ¡°Are we still carrying on?¡± Someone hesitated. That was the first attack they had encountered, and they initially did not know how to respond. Even their team leader was startled. Had that happened to them, they may not have been able to even flee, they thought to themselves. ¡°Are there some advanced measures to deal with such things? Don¡¯t be afraid. Let¡¯s keep going!¡± ¡°We will lose the credits if we withdraw now. Let¡¯s keep going!¡± A few team members gritted their teeth and followed Lin Sheng. Meanwhile, Melissa, unhesitant, was already following Lin Sheng closely. After the attack, everyone was a little nervous. Holding the ice water they had just bought, they took a sip from time to time to quench their thirst. The patrol team crossed the main street of the town and passed by a bank. Lin Sheng suddenly stopped under a wall. There were some flower drawings on the gray wall next to the bank. It seemed that some children had drawn them with a ck pencil. The artwork was extremely rudimentary, but each flower had six petals. Chapter 307 - Experiment: Part 2

Chapter 307: Experiment: Part 2

¡°The secret code of the Sect of Circr Heart...¡± Lin Sheng looked grave. In the memories he absorbed and the introduction of the cults, there were intros of the Sect of Circr Heart. Not that they were strong, but because the sect was cruel. They had perpetrated many bloody tragedies in the past. ¡°The Sect of Circr Heart? Are you kidding me?¡± Melissa was startled. ¡°Should be correct. I have seen this symbol over ten times. I won¡¯t get it wrong.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°But the Paragon of Destiny is here. It is normal to attract these terrorists.¡± He did not remove the hidden symbol. ¡°Let¡¯s move on.¡± As they continued the patrol, Lin Sheng saw the Sect of Circr Heart¡¯s symbol several times and encountered several wildlings, which he finished off promptly. After that, there were further incidents. Back in the defense station, Lin Sheng told what he had encountered today to the stationedmunication officer. That done, he washed his hand of the matters. ... Late night, Lin Sheng stood beside the pit and looked down at the corpses. These were the bodies of the wildlings. ¡°Captain, what have you found on these bodies?¡± Melissa asked in a low voice. ¡°Nothing.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. ¡°You can go to bed first. I still need to look around,¡± he whispered, still standing in front of the pit. Melissa and the other team members nodded. After making sure that everything was all right, they left. It was a cloudy night with asional rolling thunder sound heard in the sky. The perg where the corpses piled up was quiet and permeated with a faint nasty blood smell. While standing alone in front of the pit, Lin Sheng turned around and watched as the lights in the mansion went out one after another. Until all the lights were off, leaving only the natural moonlight sprinkling down from above. With the snap of his fingers, a plume of ck smoke appeared. A vault guard had brought him the stic sheet and backpacks for the sacrificial ritual. Lin Sheng took the ceremonial stic sheet and spread it on the ground. He then took the backpack and directed the vault guard to guard the perimeter. ¡°The flesh and blood are almost done.¡± He had been learning Deviltongue for a long time. Before absorbing the memories of the researchers in the research institute, he still had doubts about starting the ritual array study. He was cautious not to change anything for fear that an ident could cause chaos to the ritual array. But after getting his hands on the EAP project, he suddenly recalled a ritual¡ªthe sacrificial ritual¡ªthat he had used in the beginning. Back then, there was no dark energy, holy power, nor any bloodline. He had nothing but passion when he plunged into this business. Reckless, young and fearless were best in describing him back then. But as luck would have it, he had made no major mistakes. Thinking back now, Lin Sheng went through and interpreted the ritual sacrifice again based on his understanding of Deviltongue, and he roughly figured out the basic principle of this ceremony. The sacrificial ritual was a pure and special magic circle. Even the energy of the initiator depended on the dark energy. The requirement for the person presiding over the ceremony was so unimaginably low that as long as the person was a human, there was a sacrifice and a known initiator, anyone could start the circle. ¡°Back then, I seemed to have all the luck with me. The sess rate of the sacrificial ritual is high, so too the risk.¡± Lin Sheng rearranged the basic elements of the sacrificial ritual, whichprised of the three crucial things: elements, pattern of circle, andnguage. He now had figured out the elements, the pattern of the circle, and most of thenguage. If he wanted change this basic circle, he could do it with the snap of his fingers. After setting up the array, Lin Sheng looked at the Deviltongue on the stic sheet. He thought for a while, took out a charcoal pen and made some minor changes. ¡°The blood of three adult humans, a standard bottle of deer blood, one standard unit of redwood, and nine standard units of silver powder¡ªthe sacrificial ritual.¡± That was the original ritual requirement. Lin Sheng changed some of the keywords in Deviltongue. He reduced the demands of the initiator, increased the number of offerings, and blurred the types. In this way, he could expand the effective range of drawing the dark spirits. A low requirement and a variety of offerings¡ªonce such a ritual was started, it would perform like no other ceremonies. While revising the circle, Lin Sheng also re-examined the goals of this experiment. And soon, he finished changed the content under the illumination of the shlight of his mobile phone. After making sure that everything was in order, he got to his feet. The dim moonlight was casting a long shadow behind him. The wind was blowing strong tonight with the branches on the tree swaying back and forth. The perg was right behind the mansion. As the perg was long and massive, it was impossible to see Lin Sheng was there when he stood on the inside. ¡°The sacrificial ritual used to require adult blood. I¡¯ve switched to using the blood of the wildling. Who knows the dark spirits like it?¡± Lin Sheng smiled. He stood up, took out the ceremonial materials from his backpack. cing them ording to the steps and positions, he then mixed the ingredients. After everything was in ce and all the vault guards in the vicinity had checked in, Lin Sheng stood in position. He bowed his head, his lips mumbled a voice that only he could hear. He had conducted the ritual so many times he knew the volume of his voice did not matter, but he could not make a mistake in the elements, formation, andnguage. The evening wind howled with the branches in the ck pine forest swaying like that they would break. The environmental noise had drowned the voice of Lin Sheng chanting the initiator. Yet, the ritual circle came to life. The sacrificial ritual used to require a living sacrifice, but Lin Sheng changed thenguage. He ced the flesh of the wildlings here. Any dark spirits only needed to fulfill Lin Sheng¡¯s trivial request and they could take the flesh at will. The task was not challenging, and it was akin to giving things out for free. The dark spirits could not care less whether it was a living sacrifice. As a hazy blood mark appeared, the t stic sheet began to twist and spin. In the center of the stic sheet, in the nk space, something unusual appeared. Like thick red grease being stirred and spun, clear lines appeared. In the center of the stic sheet, a basin-sized bloody vortex formed. Lin Sheng continued chanting the initiator, his face undisturbed. He poured the pre-mixed blood in the bowl into the swirling bloody vortex. In a split second, a vibrating sound alternating from faint to loud came from the bloody vortex. Something rose from the vortex. It was the face of a human. The human face looked more vivid as it rose higher as if it wanted to break free from the shackle of the ritual circle. Lin Sheng¡¯s expression remained unchanged. He put down the bowl, picked up the redwood, and gingerly tossed it to the human face. If all goes well, this redwood would submerge in the vortex and disappear, and he would get the mysterious knowledge and ability transmitted by the dark spirit. This was the ceremony¡¯s standard procedure. However, after getting his hands on the research project of the research institute, Lin Sheng did not want to remake the same sacrificial ritual. Just as the redwood was about to fall into the vortex, he uttered, ¡°Disaka!¡± It was a Deviltongue word. As the redwood sank into the vortex, Lin Sheng experienced a violent explosion on the spiritual level. Chapter 308 - Experiment: Part 3

Chapter 308: Experiment: Part 3

Amid the thunderous sound, the vortex broke up and the redwood disappeared. A human figure shrouded in red light lunged out from the center of the ritual circle at Lin Sheng. A shriek ofughter was heard in the air, and whispers ringing in Lin Sheng¡¯s ears. ¡°Amoendika!¡± As Lin Sheng uttered another keyword, the face of the red human figure stopped mid-air, only at a distance the width of the palm of a human¡¯s hand. Its fuzzy face contorted, giggling and staring at Lin Sheng. Its mouth squirmed as if it was making sound waves inaudible to human ears. Likewise, Lin Sheng murmured. Using the Deviltongue, he bargained with the human figure. Time ticked away. The human figure began to lose its patience. He drew close to Lin Sheng¡¯s face, seemingly intimidating him. But Lin Sheng was unruffled, face stern like iron and mouth still murmuring. This irritated the red human figure even more. He began growling and shrilling. Yet, Lin Sheng remained unflurried. The red human figure finally lost it like someone flip the table in a negotiation. He lurched toward Lin Sheng, wanting this human to pay the price. Regardless of whether the deal was reached, he had to first get his own needs met. Just as he was about to get in front of Lin Sheng, white light burst out of out nowhere. Lin Sheng¡¯s body went up in mes in a split second, turning himself into a white human-shaped torch. Under the ferocious me, every inch and every part of Lin Sheng¡¯s body began to release a huge amount of concentrated holy power. The dark spirit screamed and was about to withdraw into the circle. But Lin Sheng had grabbed its shoulder,ughing as he dragged the dark spirit out. A violent explosion broke out in Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. His white me and red dark spirit shed and annihted each other. The ritual, the corpses in the pit, and all the materials turned into ck ash and dissipated with the wind. After a long while, when everything calmed down, raindrops asrge as a bean began to fall from the night sky. Lin Sheng came out from the perg and walked straight toward the back door of the mansion. Seemingly out of nowhere, he found a light-red translucent bead in his hand. ... s... Melissa burped as she put the fizzy drink on the table. The patrol team was in the midst of performing a routine patrol. The team leader, Lin Sheng, smiled as he chatted with two teammates about the fun of ying cardsst night. Right now, they were resting in the only pancake shop in town. ck Bear Pancake was the only eatery that sold food ptable to them. So they usually came here to get a quick bite. The restaurant was spacious and well lit. The floor wasid with white tiles and the walls and ceiling were of stain-resistant dark yellow. Aside from the less-than-nice design, the furnishings were of forestry style with deer and bear heads hanging on the walls. The bar counter and chairs were of log-style design. Even the cups were made of wood. Melissa had ordered a snow pear pancake with cheese sausage. She returned to her seat with a te of the delicacy, wolfing down the pancake with a can of carbonated drink. As she ate, she peered at Lin Sheng with the corner of her eye. She somehow felt that sincest night, this good-tempered team leader had undergone some changes. She could not tell what, but something must have happened. And she was dead sure about that. During the mission, several girls in the team had developed an affection for their team leader. In their eyes, Lin Sheng was tall, heroic, gentle, and magnanimous. He was particrly a good listener and very a caring person. Not to mention that he was a top student in the Soul Fortress with a bright future. So far, two girls had either secretly or openly expressed their admiration for Lin Sheng. Things were inexplicit, but as a woman, Melissa had sensed it. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that a group of female monkeys is on heat!¡± Melissa sneered, mming her cup on the table. She, Melissa, would never bother to mingle with these people. Suddenly, Melissa spotted Lin Sheng ncing at her. She was transfixed for a second. She lowered her head andpressed her lips, her smirking face bing gentle and blushed. When she looked up again, Lin Sheng had looked away. A female teammate with a coquettish voice, wavy blonde hair, and a curvy figure came up and sat next to Lin Sheng, blocking Melissa¡¯s sight. Melissa squeezed the cup in her hand, her eyes stern as she gritted her teeth. ¡°What a big-a** monkey!¡± Suddenly, the restaurant door was pushed open as a teammate rushed in, his face pale. ¡°Captain! Something is wrong,e and see!¡± He hurried to Lin Sheng¡¯s table. Lin Sheng nodded and motioned to Melissa before he stood up and went out. Melissa calmed her fluttering mind and got up and rushed out with the other teammates. Something happened in the town near the end of the pine forest. An old man who got up to exercise in the morning was found dead in the parking spot reserved for courier vehicles. The body shriveled as if someone had sucked the blood dry. When Lin Sheng arrived at the scene, a crowd had gathered in the vicinity. Someone from the defense station had also arrived and was taking photographs of the scene. Lin Sheng¡¯s team was the only patrol squad in the town. So as soon as the officer from the defense station saw Lin Sheng, he immediately came up to him. ¡°Come and check it out. What the hell is going on? Jack has been exercising every morning here for thest ten years!¡± Henry was the director of the defense station. He was a tall ck man with a wide waist andrge arms. But he apparently was not in a good mood now because the dead old man did not look like he was murdered. ¡°Jack is a very nice man. His death is definitely not a vendetta! Absolutely not!¡± He kept emphasizing. Lin Shengforted him. He then asked the crowd to make way as he came up and squatted before the body. With his finger pointing on the forehead of the body, dark energy permeated and circted through the body, just as the standard investigation method written in the textbook. ¡°I need your help, Melissa.¡± Lin Sheng turned to look at her. Melissa came to her senses,ing up to squat down beside Lin Sheng. ¡°I need to freeze his head,¡± Lin Sheng whispered. From the Crystal Wand workshop, Melissa¡¯s dark energy technique could make an object¡¯s temperature drop drastically. And the effect was instant. With over 100 units of dark energy, freezing the head of a corpse was not that difficult for her. ¡°Understood.¡± While Melissa was at it, Lin Sheng started to examine other ces. He had just gained new achievementsst night. Thest thing he wanted was more surprises. Those professors had been in the silver mine for a very long time. Although they were sending news of their progress asionally, it would take more time to catch the cunning mouse. That meant he coulde back for the same mission again. And he needed time to conduct his experiment. If he returned to the city, there would be no ce with such an ideal condition to continue his test. The amount of blood each wildling had was more than that of an adult human. Naturally, it was a good ingredient for summoning the dark spirits. Throughst night¡¯s attempt, Lin Sheng could already purify the dark spirit with his holy power and assimte it as part of his soul through the Energy Assimtion Point. This could be a new way for him to gain soul power and a great ce for him to expand his experiments. Thest thing he wanted was to have someone interrupting his work. Chapter 309 - Evil Soul: Part 1

Chapter 309: Evil Soul: Part 1

The death of the indigenous people of the town was not only the responsibility of the defense station but also of the temporary patrol team. Due to the proximity to Baine University, the strong ones had secured the surroundings like an impervious fortress. Some scourge might have sneaked in though. Some patrol team members were scared, and some calm. Those felt excited, though startled at first, was probably seeing the incident as a good opportunity to earn some credits. So they looked at Lin Sheng, expecting direction. After examining the body, Lin Sheng rose to his feet. ¡°Any witnesses around?¡± ¡°Nope. I¡¯ve asked those living in the vicinity.¡± Someone from the defense station stepped forward. Director Henry was frightened, so someone muste forward to take charge of the situation. The patrols were all students, rookies. Should they failed to handle the case, the veterans would step in. Lin Sheng nced at the man with appreciation, knowing they were on the same page. The Chief Commander Bessis was strong, but he had to look after arge jurisdiction. His priority was the Paragon of Destiny. If shove came to push, Bessis would have to rely on the patrol team and the defense station. The defense personnel were equipped with powerful shotguns and G25 semi-automatic pistols. Shotguns were okay. But as the power of the burning charge was divided among the pellets, the energy of any single ball of shot was fairly low. The advantage was that it had arge damage area. The G25 semi-automatic was different. It was a high-power piercing pistol specially equipped for this mission and designed to deal with the Transcendents who had robust defense ability. ¡°Officer, you are?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°Call me Dean. I have been living in the town for more than ten years. You cane to see me if you need any help,¡± said the young police officer. ¡°Great.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°We are unfamiliar with the ce. This makes investigation work harder. So the responsibility to investigate the case will fall on Officer Dean. Melissa, Be. Bring two men to assist Officer Dean. And take charge of Officer Dean¡¯s personal safety.¡± Melissa nodded. She and Be were the only Darksiders with real-worldbat capability. They were only One-wingers, but they were more than capable enough to deal with the scourgers, who were mostly also One-wingers. A One-winger was a crushing threat for an ordinary human. It had the protection of dark energy, a conscious self-defense ability. Coupled with a bulletproof vest, this would make an imprable armor. Dark energy enhanced one¡¯s physical fitness. It made one move faster, stronger, and senses sharper. Without explosives and special weapons, an ordinary human would be as helpless as a chic before an eagle. ¡°What about you, Captain?¡± Melissa could not help asking. ¡°I¡¯ll send another team to handle the case.¡± Lin Sheng did not want to make a mountain out of a molehill. All he wanted was to enjoy his vacation and earn the credits, living in peace with everyone. But damn, he came at the wrong time. After Melissa and Be left, Lin Sheng sent the remaining teammates back to the mansion which he referred to as a base camp. He did not want the team to stay around. They were a liability to him. He also did not want them to get hurt, because that would have a negative impact on the university and the professors. With that done, he strolled along the periphery of the town alone. He figured that since the killer was so daring tomit a murder in broad daylight, it would surely leave behind clues. He also knew that since the killer dared toe despite realizing that Suppressor-ss professors were there, it had to be no ordinary murderer. So Lin Sheng had sent Melissa and other men to assist the defense station with the investigation. As they said, there was safety in number. Except that Lin Sheng was going it alone. He was there to earn credits, not to risk his life. As long as no one messed with him, he was happy to leave them alone. More so because he had devoured a dark spiritst night and badly needed more living sacrifices to trap more dark spirits. Staying near the dense forest meant that he had time to hunt the wildlings for his sacrificial ritual. ... The green pine forest was swaying back and forth as a strong wind was howling through the area. Deep inside the forest on a green pasture on a slope, the soil moved to expose a semi-circr entrance, which had been well-concealed all this while. A few masked men, wearing green coats, rushed out. They then pressed a hidden button on the ground, and the semicircr opening closed back up, returning to its original camouge appearance. ¡°Are you ready?¡± one whispered. ¡°Ready.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like this sneaky way. When will the priest be there? I can¡¯t wait any longer seeing the young students roaming around in the town!¡± Another one swallowed greedily. ¡°Where is the soul vessel? Did you bring it?¡± someone whispered. ¡°I have one here, and Rev. Yang Hui has it too. But hers is a big one. We have to wait for her,¡± said the thinnest man in a deep voice. ¡°We have insufficient soul vessels. Why not we kill some more people to replenish them?¡± ¡°Sound good. But we got to move fast. And covertly. Time¡¯s a-wasting. The Sect of Thousand Graces will find out soon.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± The men moved swiftly toward Pine Town. ¡°Go to the mansion near the town, where the patrol base is. We need to finish off the Transcendents first!¡± The short leading man barked. ¡°Aye!¡± the rest answered. ¡°Stop!¡± a voice shouted in the air. A green light figure jumped from tree branches above,nding in front of the men and blocking their way. ¡°Don¡¯t touch the patrol before the priest arrives. Even if you kill the patrols now, our n will fail.¡± Dressed in green leather clothes, the person¡¯s face was hidden by the green leather. He did not look like a human. The few men stopped in their tracks. ¡°After you attacked the patrol thest time, Bessis had been monitoring us. If something goes wrong again this time, how would our mene in?¡± the green light figure demanded in a cold voice. ¡°What about the soul vessel?¡± one asked in a low voice. ¡°No hurry. We will just wait!¡± answered the green light figure. .... Lin Sheng sauntered through the pine forest. Since discovering wildlings during hisst patrol, he had studied the poption distribution and trails of these creatures. Combining their living habits, Lin Sheng had guessed that their of the wildlings must be near the silver mine. From the memories of the researchers in the research institute and of the hunters, Lin Sheng found a possible conve point of the wildlings. The sun was overhead, but the air temperature was low. Lin Sheng trekked forward, and within a short time, he was 500 meters away from the mine and into the endless ck forest. The pine needles covered the forest floor, on which Lin Sheng could see poisonous insects crawling from one gap to another. ¡°The wildlings should be nearby.¡± Lin Sheng squatted down, picking up the soil, but nothing looked unusual. With the memories of too many people in his mind, Lin Sheng was bing an all-knowing being. Chapter 310 - Evil Soul: Part 2

Chapter 310: Evil Soul: Part 2

The memories hid a countless number of skills and experiences. All Lin Sheng needed to do was to absorb and digest. Under certain circumstances, these experiences would be his most valuable asset. Never mind that most of the skills and experiences in the memories were iplete. Out of nowhere, a spike toward Lin Sheng, startling him. But in that split second, he tilted his head, and the spike missed his face by an inch. He barely escaped injury. ¡°Who is it?¡± Lin Sheng looked in the direction from where the spike came, his eyes shing in golden light. Deep in the dense forest, a golden shadow with only a third of the height of an ordinary human was lunging towards him. Amid the wailing cries, he knew the golden shadow, a four-armed monkey standing upright, was the wildling he was looking for. This tall wildling looked different. The wildling wielded a bamboo tube-like white object in his hand and aimed it at Lin Sheng. Another spike had shot out. Lin Sheng was calm as a green crystal had appeared in front of him, urately blocking the iing spike. The impact produced some sparks before the spike dropped to the ground. As Lin Sheng lunged forward, several wildlings shrieked and lurched at him, trying to attack him with their ws and bite him with their fangs. But before the wildlings coulde close, the dark-energy crystals had stopped their advances. A light green light appeared on each wildling that hade into direct contact with the crystal of dark energy. This was a typical characteristic of being corrupted by the dark energy. Under normal circumstances, the dark energy should not produce such a powerful corrupting effect. But Lin Sheng was different. Corruption was the most prominent characteristic of his dark-energy ability. He was an oddball of the corrupt school of dark energy. The correct fighting technique of the corrupt school of dark energy was long-rangebat. It used various dark-energy threads or fine powder to surround the opponent from a distance and corrupt the target. But Lin Shengpletely departed from this style of the corrupt school of dark energy. He rushed forward. In one-meter space around him, green crystals were shing wildly like neon lights, bouncing off the w of every wildling that attacked him. The extremely fine powder of dark energy would prate the respiratory tract of the wildling, further speeding up the corruption process. In just a few seconds, Lin Sheng stood on his feet before walking up to the tall wildling. Meanwhile, a dozen of wildlings in the surroundings, panicked and unable to flee in time, had turned dark-green. This was a typical sign of dark-energy corruption. ¡°It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve used it inbat since I¡¯ve tested my dark energy. I can now see how it works.¡± Lin Sheng reached out his hand and gently touched the transfixed wildling leader. The wildling trembled, yet dared not move a muscle. Its hand holding the cylinder still shivered, fear filling its yellow. In just ten seconds, thirty wildlings had dropped to the ground, not dead yet but close. A wildling corrupted by the dark energy climbed to its feet. Its muscles twisted, skin covered in small pustules, arms lengthening, belly bloating, and legs thicker. The wildling turned from crawling on four to walking on two feet. ¡°It¡¯s the natural result of corruption.¡± Lin Sheng looked at the standing wildling. The corruption of dark energy always started with the soul. Dark-energy corruption on different people looked the same. But the difference was in the details. After all, everyone¡¯s evil soul was different. Different evil souls would have different corrupting effects. And after the corruption, the mutant monsters would be uncontroble. Lin Sheng counted the number of wildlings that survived the corruptive force of his dark energy. There were five of them, and they had turned into a dark-energy monster, standing upright. ¡°Since it¡¯s of no use to me, I¡¯d have to destroy them.¡± He had tried tomunicate with these monsters but to no avail. So with the raise of his hand, he fired his deadly dark energy, hitting and prating the forehead of four wildlings, which dropped dead on the ground. Another mutant wildling dodged the dark-energy thread. But that was all it could do. A dozen more dark-energy threads had shot out, piercing the wildling¡¯s body. ¡°Check out the surroundings. Make sure no one within two hundred meters from here.¡± As Lin Sheng so willed in his mind, plumes of ck smoke dispersed into all directions to patrol in a 200-meter-radius circle. Another plume of ck smoke materialized into a vault guard, helping Lin Sheng pile the corpses in one ce. Using blood, Lin Sheng skillfully drew a rudimentary circle of a sacrificial ritual on the ground. With his skill and mastery of the elements and the Deviltongue, he could draw an array he wanted, as long as he kept the crucialyout intact. In less than five minutes, Lin Sheng had finished drawing arge circle of the sacrificial ritual. The vault guard had brought the materials and utensils needed for the ceremony. Before he came, he had instructed Adolf to send over ritual ingredients, making sure that he would not run out of supply. Lin Sheng had brought along a dozen materials required for various rituals in this mission. But the ingredients for the sacrificial ritual were not adequate because he never expected to perform so many sacrificial rituals. As everything was in ce, Lin Sheng began to summon the dark spirits, one by one. It was not so much a summoning as it only involved trapping the dark spirits with fresh corpses of the wildling. And to prevent from summoning an overly powerful dark spirit, Lin Sheng had used three corpses at one time. Soon, rays of faint red lights shone. As roars and explosion that existed only at the spiritual level broke out, the clueless yet greedy dark spirits reached out their ws from the ritual circle. They tried to grab and devour the blood in Lin Sheng¡¯s body. But they turned into light-red crystal beads under the burning me of holy power. In just a few beats, Lin Sheng found a dozen new light-red crystal beads in his hand and the corpses were gone. Letting out a smile of satisfaction, Lin Sheng tucked the crystal beads and looked at the paralyzed leader of the wildlings. ¡°Next ... let¡¯s try making of the shade.¡± An expecting smile spread across his face. Making the shades was the main reason for the research institute¡¯s destruction. They had vited the fundamental interests and techniques of a cult such as the Sect of Thousand Graces. ... Time flew, and it was evening. After a day¡¯s fruitless investigation, Melissa was drained, dropping on a wooden chair in the mansion¡¯s lobby and looking at her cell phone to scan the news. Likewise, the few teammates who went to investigate the murder case were equally exhausted. They followed the police officer from that defense station and searched around. Just when they thought they had found a clue, something came up and interrupted them. Sometimes, the killer was allegedly hiding in the town, and the other time, it was holed up in the mountains. After a tiring day, when Melissa returned, she caught the rest of the team members ying video games, drinking, and ying cards in the mansion. It looked like the murder case during the day did not affect them at all. And she was upset. ¡°Where is the captain?¡± Melissa looked at the love birds on the sofa. ¡°The captain hasn¡¯t returned yet. Don¡¯t worry, Melissa, he is also a genius from the Soul Fortress. Nothing will happen. Not that I¡¯m lecturing you, but Melissa, you didn¡¯t have to be so serious as to make yourself so exhausted.¡± The teammateughed. ¡°That¡¯s right. We have called the university and asked. As long as we send our report on time, the rest is none of our business. The only thing we need to pay attention to is to keep ourselves safe,¡± said another one. ¡°Yeah, if we do and finish everything. What the Asterism do?¡± Someoneughed. Chapter 311 - Evil Soul: Part 3

Chapter 311: Evil Soul: Part 3

Melissa was impassive. While they were all there for the same purpose, she was different. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Melissa,¡± Be, another recon team member walked over and whispered to her. ¡°There too was a case of a patrol being assaulted before, but as long as we stay inside this manor, there should not be a problem. There are defensive mechanisms set up by the professors here. It should be quite safe.¡± Melissa nodded. ¡°I¡¯m fine... Thank you, Be.¡± She always thought she was special. Ever since she had awakened her dark powers, she understood that she was different from the rest. Compared to the students around her, she preferred to delve into an exciting lifestyle that is exciting and dangerous. Just like the time she had awakened her powers back then. She was a victim of an assassination plot at a birthday party when her powers awakened. That moment of life and death, that thrill of battle made her whole. And she, who had awakened her dark powers, killed three gunmen while wounded. That earned her the attention of Asterism as she was sent to Baine University to learn how to control herself. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid...¡± Be looked at Melissa¡¯s conflicted expression and thought that she was fearful before putting her hands out to hold thetter¡¯s. ¡°I know...¡± Melissa suppressed the frustration and desire in her as she held Be¡¯s hands instead. *ck.* Suddenly, the manor¡¯s main door opened as Lin Sheng¡¯s imposing frame, d in a jacket quickly made his way in. ¡°Captain!¡± Members of the team called out to him. Lin Sheng gave everyone a courteous nod, before looking at Melissa who had now stood up. ¡°What¡¯s up? You okay?¡± He asked in a hushed voice as he hung his jacket over a nearby rack. ¡°Nothing... everything is normal. Nothing happened.¡± Melissa shook her head. ¡°We did not manage to find any clues either...¡± ¡°No need to rush,¡± Lin Sheng gently patted her on the shoulder. ¡°We are not Asterism. We only need to search for information and do our best to keep the town safe. Everything else will be handled by them. Don¡¯t pressure yourself too much.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± Melissa wasforted by Lin Sheng¡¯s gentle voice and rxed slightly. ¡°You seem very exhausted. Go take a warm bath and get some rest.¡± Lin Sheng reminded her. Melissa nodded as she picked up her coat on the sofa before hailing Be and going upstairs to bathe. Just as she went up the stairs, she could not help but think about what happened during the day, that corpse that had died right in front of her. Tendrils of suppressed mes, the raging thrill-seeking urge started to rear their heads in her heart. It was just like that time when she awakened her dark powers and killed the first assassin. As she got to the turn on the staircase, she took a nce at Lin Sheng. He was speaking softly with Be about what happened during the day, his expression calm and natural. Seemingly noticing her gaze, he turned over and smiled at her. Melissa could feel that that pair of faint golden eyes were piercing deep into her heart, much like an arrow, as it revealed the roiling urges and desires within her. But what surprised her was that she did not feel suffocated by it. ¡°Golden eyes... are there actually people with golden eyes in this world?¡± With that question in mind, she replied with a smile as she continued her way to her room to shower. Lin Sheng pulled back his gaze and continued to answer Be¡¯s questions about dark powers. After absorbing arge number of memories of the researchers within the researchb, while he may still not be up against the professors in terms of knowledge about dark powers, he was far beyond what these normal apprentices would know. And regardless of what questions Be had, he could answer them easily. That quickly made an impression on Be and a few other team members. A few more questions and answerster, he went back to his room. Earlier, he had a gut feeling and had used his talent, Detect Evil stealthily on Melissa. And the result he got surprised him. In his memories, there were countless people and countless experiences; there was no shortage of people like Melissa with hidden potential within them. From her eyes, he could see dancing mes of suppressed desires. She was a natural-born Darksider, but the morals and bonds of society had forced her to shackle herself, as she forcibly held back and suppressed her desires. And that intrigued Lin Sheng. It was because for a person with a hidden potential like Melissa in itself was a rare talent, and if she was guided properly, her soul would be able to unleash powers unimaginably. She was a genius that had her potential suppressed. And in fact, there are many such people in society, hidden gems with exceptional talents, but not everyone is fortunate enough to find the field that they will be able to use their talents best. And most would end up working mundane jobs in fields unsuited to them for the rest of their lives. When a person with hidden talents is being guided on the path he is adept in, he will be able to unleash powers beyond one¡¯s imagination. ¡°And even a Darksider, will be able to unleash such great powers if their powers are used on the right path.¡± Lin Sheng was in his room purifying and absorbing all of the evil spirit orbs he had obtained, and after taking some time to get used to the growth of his soul, he nned to meditate to train his dark powers. He suddenly heard soft footsteps outside the corridor. At the urge of something inside his heart, he got up and put on a coat as he pulled the door open and went out. At the end of the red-carpeted corridor, stood a in girl with twin pigtails standing by the window. She was wearing simple yellow pajamas and wore a ck-rimmed spectacle while holding a mug of hot coffee in her hand as she stood by the window looking outside. ¡°Melissa?¡± Lin Sheng walked out of the shadow and called out to her. The girl by the window quickly turned her head over, and the moment she saw Lin Sheng, she forced out a smile. ¡°Cap¡¯n, not asleep yet?¡± Her Migan tongue had that tinge of southern countryside ent. Melissa was born to a farming family and having that sort of ent was normal. She was born to a wealthy family, but she had no idea how to dress up. And even after enrolling for two years, she still had the look of a country girl. ¡°Yeah, I was meditating when I heard your footsteps, so I got out to check things out.¡± Lin Sheng walked close and stood beside Melissa as he looked outside as well. ¡°What¡¯s up? Having some issues?¡± He asked gently. Melissa shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m... just thinking about the clues during the day.¡± She blurted a white lie. ¡°Lin Sheng smiled.¡± ¡°Which clue?¡± ¡°The footprints we saw in the pine forest.¡± Melissa was taken aback as she quickly looked for an excuse, not expecting Lin Sheng¡¯s question to be so specific. ¡°Is that so?¡± Lin Sheng smiled and did not say anything else. Only then did Melissa breathe a slight sigh of relief. ¡°Yes, is just that I¡¯ve not been able to figure out some parts.¡± ¡°What were you figuring out then?¡± Lin Sheng asked again. ¡°The clues, the footprints.¡± ¡°Oh, alright.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. After a short pause. ¡°Oh right, how did you guys settled your meals during the day? What did you eat... What were you thinking? Really is it about the clues?¡± He suddenly stopped his question midway, before asking the same question again. ¡°I... I¡¯m thinking about the clues... Didn¡¯t I tell you that?¡± Melissa was slightly agitated. ¡°Do you know? When someone tells a lie and manages toplete the ruse, they¡¯ll subconsciously rx as they think they have managed to get by. But when the same question is asked again, most of them will be agitated, or stutter in their reply.¡± Lin Sheng smiled as he looked towards the sky in the distance. Melissa was even more embarrassed now, but she did not know how to reply. ¡°Are you worried about something?¡± Lin Sheng suddenly asked. ¡°Worried about the thing that you have been suppressing?¡± Melissa¡¯s originally red face suddenly took a shade of white as she turned and stared at Lin Sheng. Chapter 312 - Candlelight: Part 1

Chapter 312: Candlelight: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Did I hit the mark?¡± Lin Sheng did not seem to pay any mind, totally missing Melissa¡¯s nervousness. ¡°To be fair, everyone has a secret. The only difference is if you care if the secret is revealed.¡± Lin Sheng went straight to the point. ¡°Melissa, you... are thinking that your desires, your urges are wrong?¡± He paused for a bit and put it in a different way. ¡°Perhaps, these kinds of desires, to you, do not fit societal norms?¡± Melissa bit her lip and did not say anything. After keeping quiet for a moment, she lowered her head and Lin Sheng spoke no more as he only stood by her for a bit, before patting her on the shoulder. ¡°Get some rest.¡± He then turned away and returned to his room. Not long after he closed his door, Melissa¡¯s footsteps as she headed to her room was heard. Lin Sheng stood behind the door, and let out a smile. To him, Melissa possessed a very powerful and malleable talent. As a girl who had just entered the world of the Darksiders, she was still lost, and her worldview had not fully formed yet. She just needed a little guidance. Based on what was taught to her, that was how she would turn out to be. The key question was how to convince her that she did not need to pay any heed to what people saw. ¡°An interesting child.¡± Lin Sheng left it at that. If Melissa understood what he meant, she would naturallye to look for him, and then embark on the right path of her talent. If she did not understand that, then there were still plenty of geniuses around the world. Melissa was not the only person who fit the bill. After tidying up, Lin Sheng took a bath as he pulled out the stic ritual materials from his bag and used the prepared materials to quickly convert any ess souls into Crag Dragon blood. The Crag Dragon blood within him was already at a ratio of forty percent, and his bone marrow had already been transformed. The transformed bone marrow would continuously produce dragon blood and transform the rest of his body. 1 Once he was done with that, he took a sip of orange juice as he sat on the sofa and turned on the television. The screen then changed to ate-night news channel. The content inside it was pretty much the standard face, either it was the coverage about anotherrge scale battle between Xilin and Redwin, or a prince of Olro getting married and had invited many dignitaries. There was some news about the local political scene, as well, as a local politician had resigned, and the president¡¯s ratings were at its lowest point in history. ¡°Pointless stuff.¡± Lin Sheng yawned as he looked at it. He was not a training fanatic, and the rxation from time to time was to him a reward in itself. Only by properly training and resting would he see constant growth. After going through a round of channels, he did not find anything interesting. Without any else to do, he then turned to the movie channel. And at that juncture, a romance movie was ying, everyone in it were young idols, and their getup daring. There were even rather risqu¨¦ scenes from time to time. Lin Sheng¡¯s interest was piqued and he continued watching. Not longter, he felt tired and decided to just straight up sleep on the couch. He now sleeps about once every two days. After the dragon blood transforming his body, he was almost always at peak stamina, and could barely fall asleep now. So he decided to change his sleeping pattern to two days once now. His consciousness slowly turned blurry and faded. *ck.* Suddenly, the room door opened by itself as a row of silhouettes stood by the door, looking at him quietly. The silhouettes simply just stood there, not entering the room, but Lin Sheng could feel a gaze pointed straight at him. *Tick tock, tick tock...* The ticking of the clock was heard. ¡°Hahhh!!¡± He lifted his head all of a sudden as he took a deep breath. Bolting up from the sofa, Lin Sheng shook his head while he looked at the door. There was no one there, but the door had indeed been opened as the cold wind blew in from outside. There was only static on the television as it hissed continuously. The bright light was the only light source in the room. After a few deep breaths, Lin Sheng slowly walked away from the sofa. ¡°Oh, right... a change of location... So, the dream changed as well?¡± The Griffin¡¯s Morass earlier had him at wit¡¯s end. He could not find the Assimtion technique, nor could he do anything about the giant hawk head. Hence, leaving was probably the best course of action. Lin Sheng looked around to get a measure of the changes to the room. It was no different than reality, and even theyout was the same. ¡°Interesting...¡± Lin Sheng then looked at himself. It was normal white loungewear. This was his getup after his Crag Dragon blood had increased to beyond 20 percent, and saw a massive increase in his defensive powers. Normal metal armors were of little use to him now and were instead an encumbrance, so he decided to forgo it altogether. After checking his body, he did not find any problems. Only then did he slowly headed to the door, and pulled the door open and headed out. Outside was the corridor on the third floor of the manor, and the floor was carpeted with red carpet and the walls had old damage scars. Then suddenly, a chittering was heard from the left and Lin Sheng turned over. On the left, a hunched human-form d in ck-red carapace was mbering quickly toward him. The side of the figure¡¯s body had many beetle-like legs, and itsrge number of appendages allowed it to clear the distance between it and Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng held his finger out as strand upon strand of green threads shot out toward the crawling monster. *ng ng ng!!* A series of blunt thuds followed as the dark power threads were deflected by the carapace. Lin Sheng changed tack while all of the threads converged into arge one and smashed against the monster. *Bam!!* This time around, the dark power beam was much stronger. While it could not kill the monster outright, the massive force was enough to send it flying against the wall. Yet the monster simply just forced its way out of the crater on the wall and continued to crawl towards Lin Sheng without any signs of damage. ¡°That carapace is thick...¡± Lin Sheng called back the threads as holy power radiated in his palm. He then shed forward. *Vhoom!* The holy power wasunched as it turned into a crescent de and hit the monster right in the middle. *Ooff!!* A light tterter, the light de went through the floor and disappeared. The monster froze as it copsed into the ground unmoving. All over his body were countless of tightly packed spiked appendages as its chest and abdomen looked like it was sliced open like a fish from top to bottom, as a massive cut ran the length of its body. This was a Divine de made out of concentrated holy power, while it consumed much more holy powers, it was extremely powerful, a reasonable trade-off. Lin Sheng waited for a moment and noticed there were no ck lines, so he simply went along the corridor and down the stairs. The spiral stairs simply extended all the way below seemingly without end. It was originally a three-story manor, but ncing from there, it looked like it extended at least ten stories down. Chapter 313 - Candlelight: Part 2

Chapter 313: Candlelight: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng made his way down the stairs at a decent pace. The echoes of his footsteps rang across the spiral stairway and made it feel like the ce was empty. Soon, he went two floors down and Lin Sheng suddenly stopped. At the level he had just came down from, a blurry silhouette stood quietly by the staircase. The silhouette was staring at him without nary a sound or a breath. *Hiss...* Suddenly, the entire staircase shook. *Bam!!* A thudter, something seemed to have sted out of somewhere. What followed was a clustered amount of footfalls and chittering, all of them densely packed and deafening. Lin Sheng¡¯s heart sank, as he stood there at looking around, trying to keep track of the source of the sound. Very quickly, he had a clear view of what the source was. All around him, on the upper and lower floors, a swarm of the same ck-carapace monster appeared Countless monsters charged in a frenzy downwards to where Lin Sheng was, And with a nce alone, Lin Sheng could tell that there were at least hundreds of them. He quickly took a few steps back and ced his back against the wall. *Hah!* A dense array of dark power crystals flickered beside him before turning invisible. Before he could prepare any further, a surge of monsters charged out from the rear entrance of the floor as numerous monsters mbered on and crashed against Lin Sheng like a ck tide. *Bam bam bam!!!* A series of concentrated thuds sted out as Lin Sheng was engulfed in a sea of monsters. His dark power crystal created a slightly ellipsoidal space as it unleashed arge number of dark power threads. The maximum number of threads he could control now was between three to four hundred, depending on his current status. However, seeing that the dark power threads had no effect against the monster, Lin Sheng knew that these buggers were the same as the one before, their defensive carapace was extremely tough. The defenses of these monsters had clearly already reached the stage of a Transcendent because a One-wing dark power thread could no longer pierce through the chitin. Lin Sheng held onto his dark power crystal as the pressure it suffered grew ever greater. The monster¡¯s striking force was immense, and every attack would need about forty to fifty points worth of dark power to hold on. From a nce, Lin Sheng could see that every single wave of the attack had at least seven monsters striking at the same time. His dark powers were going down at the rate of three hundred plus per second, and even his twenty thousand off dark power value could not hold up to this attrition. So Lin Sheng took in a deep breath as embers lit up at the edge of his mouth. *Whoosh!!* He opened his mouth as a torrent of dark red sticky mes sted out from his throat. The mes spread out in a fan shape, and quickly lit up arge number of monsters around. The scorching mes instantly turned at least thirty monsters into walking pyres. The lit-up monsters iled and scampered about in pain, and burnt many scores more in their rampage. And very quickly, all of the monsters surrounding Lin Sheng were all ame. As monsters upon monsters were reduced to white ash, they still came like an endless tide and quickly plugging the gap as they charged towards Lin Sheng. The dark red dragon mes were quickly overwhelmed by the swarm, and were snuffed out. They seem to have some fire retardant sort of liquid on their body, and with enough numbers, the dragon mes could not work its magic. There was caution in Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes. The powers that he had mastered were, dark powers, holy powers, and the Crag Dragon bloodline. The dark powers were the best in destructive force, while holy power was only potent in a concentrated amount. As for the Crag Dragon blood, he was not too familiar with its abilities yet and had only seen passive increments to his physical strength. Besides, he was not used to using his dark powers in such a scenario, so he only had one choice. ¡°Trouble.¡± Lin Sheng quickly pulled back his dragon¡¯s breath, and swept his gaze across the battlefield, only to see more and more monsters charging in a frenzy towards him. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then simple brute strength works best.¡± He held his chest, and started a chant. ¡°Armor of Dawn!¡± *Whooosh!!* A pir of lightnded on him, as sunlight seemingly appeared out of the void. Basking under the white light, a glowing heavy armor formed around Lin sheng¡¯s body. Pieces upon pieces of light armor quickly took shape into a heavy armor andtched onto him. This was the talent he had obtained earlier, the Armor of Dawn. It was a basic divine art that a Temr would need to master, and it was also the reason why the Temrs were a force they were. *Bam!!* Lin Sheng took a heavy step forward, and his hand swung in a forward arc-like de. *Crashhh!!* And seven monsters before him were cut into two. Using the opening, Lin Sheng charged forward. *Bammm!!* A crashter, Lin Sheng smashed four monsters over, and using his hands as des, he sliced and diced his way through the monsters. Yet, they still they came from all over. Lin Sheng did not care about the direction as he headed forward with grim determination. He slowly made his way down the spiral stairs to three levels below, and mangled corpses piled up in his wake. Yet, there were only corpses and no ck lines. Lin Sheng continuously swung his arm about. With the number of memories he had, sword or de techniques were no longer immaterial. As long as there was an edge, Lin Sheng could use it as a weapon, and naturally use the best techniques known to him. As one by one the monsters fell, the ck-red blood painted the entire floor ck. Every one of the monsters was at least a Two-winged Darksider in terms of strength, not unlike those who had focused everything on the Violence tree. With no idea how many enemies there were, Lin Sheng chose the killing method most economical in strength and energy cost. He calmly swung his hand de in deadly arcs and turned in his arm movement into a lethal weapon. The monsters were different than normal, and they could fight on even without their heads. Their true weaknessy in their chests and abdomens. *sh!!* Lin Sheng¡¯s hand de swept past as three monsters¡¯ chest burst open as he grabbed another one by the head and tossed it forward. A thunderous crash soon followed. With the Crag Dragon¡¯s blood explosive strength, the monster was thrown like a missile and crashed hard against its kin. The monster and those hit by it were all reduced to paste. Using the lull, Lin Sheng took a few more quick steps and went down another level. This level was now different from the ones before. By the side of the stairway exit was a faint yellow light, something one would see from a candle. Lin Sheng stepped forward as he created some distance with the horde of monsters behind him. Using his hand as a lethal de while his dragon blood roared explosively, he spun into a deadly arc. *Crash!!* A dozen or so monsters who had leaped into the air were split into two. The horizontal sh was so powerful that their flesh and carapace blew out backward like a grenade. *Bam, bam, bam!!* About ten of the tightly packed monsters were struck by the fragmentations and fell limply onto the ground. Suddenly, there was an opening. Lin Sheng quickly made his way to the corridor towards the source of the light. It was a room. It was the only room with its door open along the corridor. Inside it, the gentle candlelight swayed with the wind as it lit up the darkness. Chapter 314 - Candlelight: Part 3

Chapter 314:

Candlelight: Part 3

Lin Sheng slowly made his way into the room, and before the monsters could charge at him again, he closed the door behind him. *ck.* As the door locked, the roar seemed to have been isted outside. Within the wide, warm room was a table with a candle stand on it, and by it was a pale nobledy with golden hair. The nobledy¡¯s eyes were bright, as she sat up proper with her hands on her legs. Her back was straight as she looked at Lin Sheng making his way in. She then suddenly lifted her hand, and gently pulled the zipper of her purple gown down. *Zippp!* The nobledy suddenly split into two as arge amount of grey mist spat out of her flesh. The mist swirled about as it converged into a ram-headed monster a couple of meters tall and charged towards Lin Sheng. At that moment, the holy light radiated brightly and turned the entire room white. Lin Sheng lifted his arm as a powerful light radiated from his palm, readying himself to receive the charging mist monster. The mist ram-headed monster shuddered violently as runic lines appeared all over its body as it seemingly tried to fight against the holy light. *Hah!* Lin Sheng swung his other hand, and the dark power-enhanced hand de sted out a sonic boom and split the monster into two. Following that was the surge of holy light that thoroughly purified it. As the grey mist dissipated, thedy on the seat quickly shriveled as if all moisture was drained out of her body and turned into a desated corpse as she felt onto the ground. Lin Sheng then calmly made his way to the candle stand on the table. *Whoof!!* Suddenly countless of dark tentacles appeared out of all the shadows in the room. At least ten tentacles swiftly bound Lin Sheng all over his body. *Hummm!!* Golden dragon scales appeared on Lin Sheng¡¯s face as his eyes lit up in gold. *Bam!!* All of the tentacles were broken by the brute force of his Crag Dragon blood as a painful scream could be faintly heard from the darkness. Lin Sheng did not dither as he walked to the table and held his hand out to grab the candle stand. A blurry yet familiar image appeared and disappeared amidst the candlelight. A powerful resistance could be felt from the dim candlelight as if trying to push back against Lin Sheng¡¯s hold. ¡°Meaningless.¡± Lin Sheng simply grabbed it. *Bam!!* With the powerful force of the holy power, all of the illusions blew up and faded away. Lin Sheng held the dark gold candle stand with his hand and pulled it up. He was no longer that weakling from yore. With his holy power now at Level 10, he would have been an elite anywhere he went, not to mention he still had his Crag Dragon blood and dark powers to boot. The moment Lin Sheng touched the candle stand, another howl of pain roared among the shadows as countless hidden perils receded like the tide as calm returned. Lin Sheng then took a good look at the candle stand. It was of simple design, but he had no idea what the dark gold material was, its shape was like three coiling branches spiraling upwards to hold on to the candles. A white candle the size of an egg was lit up in yellow mes. Lin Sheng looked at the candle me for a bit before suddenly putting his hand into the fire. ¡°There¡¯s no heat,¡± he said as he pulled his hand out. After studying it for a while, he found nothing special with the candle stand, and the candle was just a normal one as well. He then took the candle stand with him as he circled around the room and found nothing else. At that same moment, the faint ticking of the clock was heard. ¡°I¡¯m gonna wake up soon...¡± Lin Sheng took the candle stand back to the table, and tossed the desated nobledy¡¯s corpse away, and pulled another chair over to sit on. *Tick tock, tick tock.* The ticking of the clock was getting louder and louder as his sight started to blur, and his body felt it like it was falling. *ck.* Something seemed to have fallen onto the ground as Lin Sheng opened his eyes and got up from the sofa. The television was still on, and on it was a rice cooker advertisement. A gorgeous blondedy in a red dress was holding a rice cooker in all smiles. As if one could take her home after buying that rice cooker. The room was still tightly locked, and there were no signs of it being opened. White light could be seen through the seams of the curtain. ¡°It¡¯s already bright...¡± Lin Sheng looked down at the remote control on the ground. He could hear the voices of his team members along the corridor, talking about some strategies for clearing a game. Lin Sheng shook his head as he got up and went to wash up before changing his clothes. He did not manage to get anything of note from the dreamst night aside from a candle stand of unknown use. And just as he wanted to properly study it, the dream had ended. ¡°Butpared with me just running like a sorry lot, again and again, most dreams now are no longer too much of trouble,¡± he said as he recalled the sensation of using three powers at the same time in his dream. Ever since the upgrade to his abilities, this was the first time he had gone into properbat to unleash his power. Every monster there was like a Two-winged Transcendent, and he had killed at least a hundred of them, all of them Violence-type Two-wingers. *Bam bam bam!* Suddenly, someone was knocking frantically on his door. ¡°Captain! Wake up!¡± Melissa was shouting outside the door. Lin Sheng quickly went to open the door and saw Melissa, Be, and another male team member standing there, with beads of sweat on their foreheads, seemingly agitated. ¡°There¡¯s trouble, captain! There are teams from other academies here now! Trying to steal our jobs!¡± Melissa quickly said. ¡°Other academies?¡± Lin Sheng was dumbstruck. This was an area near Baine University, the main campus of the school. And people from other schools actually dared to send their teams in too? ¡°Let¡¯s have a look.¡± The few quickly packed up and brought on a couple more avable members inside the manor along. With one of the team members in lead, they quickly came to the Bureau of Defense. And as expected, there was a ck jeep with a foreign car te in front of the department, and inside it was two short-haired girls. The moment their arrival was spotted, two people walked out of the bureau, one tall, one short, one male, one female, towards Lin Sheng. The two wore camouge uniforms meant for operations, with only the insignia of Foy University on their chest. ¡°Foy University?¡± Melissa frowned. ¡°That¡¯s like about hundreds of kilometers away, why are they here?¡± ¡°Not only them.¡± Be looked to the far right. There were all sorts of cars stopped there, each and every one of them bore car tes of other states. ¡°We¡¯ve never seen these cars before,¡± Be whispered. ¡°Seems like the news of the Paragon of Destiny had been leaked out.¡± ¡°What should we do, captain?¡± Melissa asked, her voice hushed. Lin Sheng calmly looked at the two people who had juste out of the building. ¡°Ignore them for the moment. If they are looking for the paragon, that¡¯s their problem. We only need toplete the mission given out by the academy, and ignore the rest.¡± ¡°Should we inform the academy?¡± Melissa was hesitant. ¡°No need, if they are already here in broad daylight; that means they should have already known.¡± Lin Sheng was calm. ¡°That aside, if these people dared to show up even when an Oppressor ss teacher is around, you really think they are just normal students? The three jolted back as they understood what Lin Sheng meant. ¡°Then what should we do?¡± Melissa was a little excited. ¡°Don¡¯t bother. It seems like the Paragon of Destiny is about to manifest,¡± Lin Sheng added nonchntly. He had no care for what the paragon was. As long as it did not affect him, he did not have to pay it any mind. Chapter 315 - The Current Era: Part 1

Chapter 315: The Current Era: Part 1

Ignoring the foreign students, Lin Sheng stepped into the bureau and pushed open the ck metallic door. Inside the office, a few persons in student getup were gathered before Dean¡¯s desk as they asked him in an authoritative voice. They were extremely unfriendly. One of them was a strong blonde hulk of a man in a brown Ker uniform. On his waist was a gun belt and a metallic bow hung on his back. He was extremely arrogant as he kept on interrupting the Defense Bureau staff, Dean as his finger knocking against the table. Lin Sheng and his team¡¯s entry into the room attracted their attention. The muscr man turned over, and his gaze caught Lin Sheng, the tallest of the lot at first nce. ¡°Baine¡¯s student patrol team? There¡¯s nothing for you here. The mission in this town will be taken over by the Foy Royal Academy, all of you can get lost!¡± His expression was chilly, and his mood foul. ¡°The Foy Royal Academy?¡± Melissa and Be¡¯s heart sank. If it was just other Crown Academies they still had some grounds to argue. But thetter is a Royal Academy... they do not belong to the Crown Academy system, rather a military academy directly under the government. Everyone from that academy would be future military elites. More importantly, these non-Crown Academy education systems are particrly harsh and brutal, so there was a gulf in terms of actualbat ability. Melissa did not begrudge them for being insufferable arrogant pricks, they had earned the right after all. She only looked towards her captain, Lin Sheng as now everything hinges upon his decision. Lin Sheng just smiled. ¡°My apologies, this area is under Baine University¡¯s patrol jurisdiction, and during our mission duration, any unconventional movements, you will need to report to us.¡± ¡°Hmm??¡± The blonde man was taken aback before pointing at Lin Sheng andughed. ¡°Did you hear that? What he just said? Report to him? Insolent runt...¡± *Bam!* A green light shed passed with deadly precision pass the side of the man¡¯s face and left a fine graze mark on his face... And the words stopped there. The blonde man still pointed at him, but his voice seemed to have run into a stop button and ceased just right there. He touched the graze on his face and looked at the blood on his fingers, still in disbelief of what had just happened. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s smile grew wider. ¡°We have no need for weaklings here.¡± *Whooosh!!* A densely packed array of dark power threads shot out from his side as a torrent of green threads charged towards the few Royal Academy students in the office. A few of them managed to react and activated their dark powers, yet just as their faint green dark power threads had just appeared, they were instantly torn into and ripped apart. *Bam bam!!* A momentter, the entire office was shrouded in silence. Three of the Royal Academy students knelt on one knee on the ground, their face pale as tears and snot ran freely. This was the symptom of dark power fatigue. ¡°Do we still want to continue?¡± Lin Sheng smiled as he asked, all the while maintaining a courteous tone. The torrent of threads quickly retracted into the space around him. No one answered. Melissa, who was standing behind, saw with her own eyes that Lin Sheng had unleashed a veritable tide of dark power threads, and crushed the defenses of the few people before her with ease. While it was only the most basic of dark power threads, the overwhelming power had managed to startled her even when she was not the target. Lin Sheng¡¯s dark power count was just too overwhelming! For new students like them or junior students, they had to ration the usage of their dark powers since they run the risk of using them up and turning into normal people. Most of them only had dark powers in the hundreds, after all. Yet, for Lin Sheng to unleash hundreds of threads in a single strike, it was a disy of might, a disy of limitless power. Something only a high-level Darksider would be able to do. ¡°Melissa.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s voice rang out. ¡°Ugh... Yes!¡± she quickly responded. ¡°Go stick a notice and inform everyone here. This is the patrol jurisdiction area of Baine University. If anyone dares to do anything funny here, and affect the lives of the people living here, our patrol team will intervene, and exact punishment,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Uh...?!¡± Melissa and Be were stunned. Was this not a tant provocation?! ¡°Any problems?¡± Lin Sheng turned back to look at them. ¡°Captain... you...¡± Melissa wanted to advise against it, but as she opened her mouth, words failed her. ¡°Go if you don¡¯t have any,¡± Lin Sheng ordered impassively. Without any recourse, the two could only turn around to look for a printer. Lin Sheng smiled at the stunned Dean, before walking out of the office. Since he was a top tier ace, he needed to show why he was called that from time to time. With his seven hundred-odd dark power count, he could go toe to toe with some experienced Two-winged Darksiders already. And that was not taking into ount his holy powers and Crag Dragon blood. Two Wings did not sound like much, but for the students here whose dark powers measures in the low hundreds, this was already something beyond them. However, if there were stronger personnel, of course, the academy¡¯s professors would take action, and that did not concern them. This was a core region of Baine University, and even elites would not dare to so brazenly intrude as Baine University too was a university that has her own Ptinates. Still, even if there were elites, Lin Sheng paid them no mind. As he got out of the office, he swept his gaze across the street. Rows of cars still remained parked by the roadside, but many people in never seen before getups had appeared by the cars. Their cautious nce were all trained towards him, as the atmosphere was tense. Soon, Melissa and Be had printed out the notice and pasted it on the wall by the bureau. ¡°Good.¡± Lin Sheng patted his hand as a circle of dark power slowly radiated around him. The already fine dark power was refined even more into the sand and flew into the air. That was enough to draw the attention of all Darksiders in the area. ¡°I¡¯m Lin Sheng of Baine University and the captain of the patrol team in this area. No matter what your goal is, I hope that you do not unnecessarily disrupt the lives of the residents here. Of course, you can choose to ignore my advice, but if anything happens, please be ready to assume responsibility for the consequences.¡± Lin Sheng gently announced his request. His voice was not particrly loud, but everyone nearby could clearly hear him. No one spoke, but a few powerful students simply just looked at Lin Sheng from afar with sneers on their faces. After his promation, Lin Sheng led Melissa and Be to patrol the town for a bit. Once they were sure no trouble was afoot, only did they rx. Lin Sheng gave Melissa and Be time off after lunch as he gave themanding professor of the academy a call. He was told that there was no need to toughen up the defenses, but simply to keep the peace as it is. And if possible, to prevent anyone from approaching the cave. Chapter 316 - The Current Era: Part 2

Chapter 316: The Current Era: Part 2

Lin Sheng understood what they meant. It was simply due to the school¡¯s strength wascking, and was not able to have absolute control of the entire situation, so they had to depend on the patrol teams to do their best. Lin Sheng understood that arrangement. He, too, had the same request, as long as these outsiders do not affect thepletion of their academic mission, everything else did not matter. With that in mind, Lin Sheng patrolled twice every day, once in the morning and once at night. After the outsiders got a grip of the situation, nothing actually happened... And time slowly passed. Baine University Administrative Bureau. *Tap, tap, tap...* Auldmandiller¡¯s fingers tapped rhythmically on the seat armrest. His brows were slightly furrowed as he started at Vice Principal Suna who was sipping her tea. And with him were three other professors. They were all originally doing their own research within their own hidden realms but the vice-principal suddenly called and requested them to gather within twenty minutes. The atmosphere within the office was heavy. ¡°So we still have no idea which faction was taking aim at us?¡± The master of the Crystal Staff, an old man with a staff and a round hat rumbled. ¡°Without even seeing who¡¯s hitting us, we have lost a third of our strength? Vice-principal Suna, surely you jest?¡± Auldmandiller¡¯s expression was equally grim. The academy¡¯s businesses and industries are closely linked with all of them at the nexus of the academy. While Baine University was just a middling Crown Academy, it still had all sorts of properties and industries. Every great workshop¡¯s produce was in an astronomical number, but once business was mped upon, that would cause a glut in supply and affect profits. ¡°I have no intention of jesting,¡± Suna said coldly, her mood was equally foul. ¡°Due to that dark sect, for some reason, there¡¯s increasing chaos within the jurisdiction of our university. The number of tutors we have sent to patrol and suppress has increased. We are already short-handed as it is, and then that scandal erupting.¡± She crossed her hands as her fingers gently rested on the back of her hand, her gaze chilly. ¡°The case of Tutor Bartoia¡¯s research of forbidden potions has badly affected our reputation, and the Migan National Assembly has already passed the motion to sh our research grant.¡± No one spoke. Even if Bartoia was just a mere tutor, but no one knew whether his research was personal, or a university-sanctioned one, so that motion was a given. ¡°What did the principal say?¡± the master of the Silent Volcano asked. ¡°He has already been in contact with a few councillors of the Moon Basin. The current situation is already the result of the efforts of many to contain the matter,¡± Suna said tly. The room went silent again. ¡°Then what¡¯s the point of this meeting?¡± the master of the Silent Volcano asked. ¡°The point?¡± Suna chuckled. ¡°The whole reason of me summoning you all here is, of course, we have one final chance to turn things around.¡± ¡°One final chance to turn things around?¡± The few who were present exchanged nces before cing their gaze onto Suna as they waited for her to continue. Suna too did not dither and quicklyy out the problem before them. ¡°I¡¯m sure that all of you have already heard the matter about the Sevenlocks Tower?¡± She said as she swept her gaze around, and soon found faces of understanding and dejection. ¡°As all of you have imagined, the government is requesting all of the academies to pick out their elites to form a coalition enforcement team in n unified effort against the Sevenlocks Tower. ¡°Usually, most academies will try to stay away from this headwind, but Baine... we have hit the unlucky lottery.¡± ¡°How many people do they need?¡± Auldmandiller had expected this. ¡°Our target is fifteen. The lowest being Four-wingers, and at least eight Five-wingers,¡± Suna responded. The room then fell into a dead silence again. Only after a long while, did the master of the Silent Volcano spoke. ¡°So that means we can only leave a few core people in the school while the rest have to join the enforcement team?¡± ¡°That is indeed the case.¡± Suna nodded slowly. ¡°Also, this time around, no Ptinates in Miga could stay out of this. Sir has already set off, and may have already arrived at the capital.¡± Even the principal had to take action, and that kept everyone present at a loss of words. ¡°The deadline is noter than two months. So let¡¯s get prepared. This is peril, but also opportunity.¡± Suna threw down thesest words before leaving. Auldmandiller slowly gripped the armrest hard. He was clear what sort of result this national draft would inflict. The fight with Sevenlocks Tower would not be a small-scale affair, and casualties were to be expected. Thest unified draft saw only barely one survivor out of ten from the elites that were drafted. The death ratio was just too high. Perhaps it would be better this time given that they have more time to prepare, but that did not mean Sevenlocks would not to the same. ... Northern Miga, State of Shaelyn, River Moon. The rapid currents surged into the distantnds away as the setting sun let out a gentle red light. By the white banks, a group of white doves pped their wings about as they feasted on the bird food on the ground. Every evening, a number of people came to the river bank for a stroll and to rx as a couple of children ran about as they pulled the strings of the kite, theirughter could be heard from afar. A puff of blue fire appeared as it lit a white cigarette, on the side of it had was a circle of golden writings on it, seemingly an expensive item. The smoking man wasrge. He wore a ck coat, and his gray hair was spiked up high like a wall of thorns. He was very pale, almost pallid as a golden earring hung by one ear and a golden cross on another. The man looked on at the sunset as he took a deep puff, the evening wind send his coat fluttering in the air. ¡°Your Excellency, The Migan Enforcement Unit has been reestablished, and our men are ready.¡± Ady with tinum-hair in white shirt and pants came and stood quietly behind the man, before speaking. Thedy¡¯s face was impassive as if nothing would change her expression. ¡°Lingsha, don¡¯t be so cold, you should smile more.¡± The man pulled the cigarette from his mouth as the smoke flew by him with the wind. There was a mysterious allure to his pale yet handsome face. ¡°Now all of the sealing nexus have manpower gaps as the Ptinates have all gathered in the enforcement unit, I suggest that we can formallymence Operation Deep Abyss.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so grim.¡± The man smiled. ¡°This is all but a game, a game.¡± ¡°It may be a game to you, your Excellency, but to us, it is destiny,¡± thedy said, her voice ever stern. *Hiss...* The man took onest puff as he flicked the cigarette butt away. The remaining cigarette was put out midair as it disintegrated into ck ash. ¡°Destiny itself is also a game,¡± he said in a serious tone. ¡°If you take it too seriously, you might die.¡± He turned around and gently ruffled thedy¡¯s hair. ¡°And I¡¯ll be sad if you die.¡± ¡°It is my honor, but theoretically, if I¡¯m beside you, there will be no one is this world that is capable of killing me,¡± thedy with the tinum hair said. The man smiled again and ruffled thedy¡¯s tinum hair like a cat ying with a ball of yarn. ¡°You should properly enjoy this era. Thousands of years ago, I had called that age of powerful figures meeting and shing, the Golden Age. But now, all of my juniors have be stronger, and they now have gathered again, against me, against the Sevenlocks Tower. ¡°Be it by will or by chance, destiny had allowed us to meet here once again, and this shall be a brand new age!¡± The man smiled. ¡°Butpared to gold, the present folk may not be as resplendent as their forbearers, but they are still equally attractive.¡± He took a deep breath as if trying to sniff out an intoxicating scent. ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± Lingsha asked. The man smiled again. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel... anticipant? Seeing their hope and will radiating light before my eyes.¡± He said as he held his arms open as if trying to hug something. ¡°So I shall name this age, the tinum Age! To reward them for their efforts in entertaining me!¡± ¡°tinum...¡± The tinum-haireddy looked down slightly as her gaze focused upon the man looking at the sunset before her. Chapter 317 - The Current Era: Part 3

Chapter 317: The Current Era: Part 3

The Heaven¡¯s Spire. Inside the cloud-piercing white spireplex, a group of figures, wearing a white robe, dashed into a formation. Tall white figures with eyes lit up in silver strode forward. Several stealthy white spacecraft emerged in the sky. Some of them were as long as several dozen meters. Some wererger at hundred meters long. On both sides of a spire, green light from the portals lit up. Groups of Darksiders came out of the transmission tforms and headed towards the center of the spireplex. Snow was falling from the sky, but just as it dropped toward the central district, the snow disappeared without a trace. A pure white falcon flew across the sky, straight through a snow-covered staircase and climbed straight up. It glided past the ancient temples, over the icy squares where the soldiers gathered. And then it entered a vast and immacte white hall in the center of the spireplex group. There were seven ice thrones in the hall, divided into two rows. The falcon swooped down andnded on the throne at the highest point in the middle. It was resting on the shoulder of a tall old man with white hair and cold piercing eyes. ¡°Fall in,¡± the old man whispered. As a green light glowed on the falcon¡¯s chest, a diamond-shaped green crystal emerged from within. A bell rang from afar before the sound dissipated into the distance. Starting from the throne on the left from high to low, a tall and burly red-haired woman emerged. ¡°Angel Encarmine, Narodu, reporting for duty.¡± The woman wore a thick white bear shawl on her shoulders, her long legs crossed, and translucent white light spots hovering around her like ice crystals. On the second throne, a figure draped in ck armor, holding an epee, sat down. ¡°Night Angel, Kansha, reporting for duty.¡± The figure flickered as if it were not a real entity. On the third throne, a person of unknown gender with long hair, wearing a gray robe, sat down with a smile. ¡°Phantom Angel, Vessaile Karelina, reporting for duty.¡± On the right, the fourth throne, a man wearing a ck suit, square sses with a ck pistol hanging from his waist, sat down. ¡°Spell Angel reporting for duty.¡± On the fifth throne, a blurry virtual figure, wearing a silver-white suit, holding a wine ss in his hand, emerged. ¡°Lunar Angel, Dawnlight. Hi, everyone, long time no see!¡± On the sixth throne, a shadow of a green monitor lizard shed across the air, and the green dark energy materialized into a blue-haired red-eyed young boy. ¡°Throne Angel, Yinan, reporting for duty.¡± Amid a long rumble sound, the frosted doors of the hall shut slowly. The over-ten-meter-tall stone doors shut so seamlessly that it left no gap behind. A blue light ripple radiated along the hall, shone on the strong ones on the thrones, then disappeared at once. ¡°Since the visible and invisible angels are all here, let¡¯s start the meeting,¡± dered the old man on the host throne. ¡°With the use ult spell and the presence of the invisible angels, don¡¯t you tell me that this is just a regr meeting,¡± Dawn, the Moon Angel, wearing a silver suit was heard saying. ¡°Yinan, I heard that you¡¯ve hit a wall in Xylond and have been injured.¡± He gloated over the misfortune of Yinan, the Throne Angel sitting on thest throne. The muscles on Yinan¡¯s face twitched. He was furious by the remark yet suppressing his urge to look at the Moon Angel. ¡°It¡¯s no big deal. Thank you for your concern, Dawn!¡± ¡°Oh, yeah? Just no big deal?¡± The Moon Angel stretched his neck, and it got longer and longer like a snake until the Moon Angel¡¯s face, pulsating in a strange red glow, came before Yinan. ¡°Do you need me to make you a potion? I will surely give you the best discount, Throne Angel.¡± Yinan was unruffled, closing his eyes. The thought of the fe called the Night Lord would send anger burning through his gut. ¡°Now, let us discuss the specific response to the present actions of the Sevenlocks Towers,¡± the old man on the host throne said with a solemn voice. ... Near Baine University, Miga. Somewhere in the dense forest, a scarlet halo expanded from Lin Sheng¡¯s hand. But quickly, the light dissipated and everything returned to normal. He held a dark-energy bead that had just been purified and tucked it into his pocket, his face calm. ¡°This is not enough. I need at least ten more dark spirits to improve the strength of my bloodline by one-tenth.¡± He already had a refined mastery of his bloodline. He knew how much more soul power he needed to transform into dragon blood. Looking down at the residue of the ceremonial stic sheet on the ground, Lin Sheng opened his mouth. A spark came out of it and fell on the stic sheet, igniting it instantly. The dark-red dragon¡¯s breath consumed the stic sheet of over two-meter in diameter in less than two seconds, leaving behind only a little ck residue at the scene. With everything done, Lin Sheng was about to head back to the mansion when he heard voices in the far distance. ¡°There was fire there. I just saw it. Hurry!¡± Hurried footsteps approached. Soon, several figures holding shlights came close. They were young people, thirty at most, wearing ck, knife-resistant night suit. If not for the shlight in their hands, most people would not have noticed them. Walking in front was a man, bald with his head covered with horrible scars. Among the few people following, one of them was Lin Sheng¡¯s acquaintance. ¡°It¡¯s you?¡± The blond captain of the Royal Academy pointed back at Lin Sheng with a horrified look on his face as he stepped back. Apparently, the presence of Lin Sheng there shocked him. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous to wander in the forest at this hour at night.¡± Lin Sheng looked at them and broke into a gentle smile. The men looked at Lin Sheng and then the bloodstains on the ground. That was the trail left by the corpses of the ceremony. The stic sheet of the ritual circle had been destroyed but not the bloodstains. ¡°Go home. Pretend that we have never met here.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. The young blond man looked at Lin Sheng, a chill running up his spine. He could not help taking a step back. ¡°What are you afraid of? Are we not here with the jammer to get some extra dime? As long as we get the information on the Paragon of Destiny, we can change it for a piece of ck feather gold!¡± One stepped forward and said. The young blond man turned a deaf ear to him, his mind full of the images of Lin Sheng¡¯s use of dark energy during the day. He kept stepping back. ¡°You guys go ahead... I-I have to leave now.¡± ¡°What? Are you flinching at his moment, Bolin?¡± A fat woman at the rear stood in his way. ¡°Students like you all are a bummer. It¡¯s just a little child. Let¡¯s just kill him and we keep going.¡± Kill-Kill him? Suddenly, there was silence. Bolin¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he knew things were not right. He looked up at Lin Sheng. In the moonlight, Lin Sheng¡¯s face was in the shadows. He could make out the smile on his face, but it differed from the one before. ¡°With so many people missing every day, it makes no difference if we kill one more.¡± One sneered, drawing a short knife and waving it in the dark. A green light of dark energy appeared next to him as he strode toward Lin Sheng. Chapter 318 - Homecoming: Part 1

Chapter 318: Homing: Part 1

Leaves and branches ruffled in the wind. There were also the chirps of insects and hoots of the owls in the distance. In the dark woods, a man was wielding a dagger that glowed in a faint green light. It was apparent that dark energy had enhanced the dagger. ¡°Wandering alone in the woods at such ate hour. Kid, you have guts.¡± The manughed as he came closer. No matter what level of strength Lin Sheng had, he still could not shed his student looks. If he was a student, he was definitely no match for them. What he had to do was to stop Lin Sheng from screaming. Killing a person was that simple. He could take a life with the slit of the dagger. ¡°Take this! Phantom de!¡± The man approached and shouted. Amid a whizzing sound, a silvery-white de burning with green mes whizzed through the air. It left behind a trail of afterimage as the man whisked the dagger straight at Lin Sheng¡¯s throat. As the dagger approached, it got faster and faster. The green me and silvery-white reflection from the de illuminated Lin Sheng¡¯s whitish face. Many ult spells were avable for use at One-wing and Two-wing levels. Different ult spells had different amplification effects. A good ult spell could exert dark energy to enhance the human body. It amplified the speed, strength, recovery, spirit, and even soul of the caster. Dark energy had more functions than people could imagine. ult spells were like dark energy, there were refined divisions. But in general, there were only three categories: gold, silver, and bronze. And Shadow Dagger was a bronze-ss ult spell. While it was probably just the lowest level of an ult spell, as long as it was one, it could be deadly. No matter how lousy an ult spell was, it could produce a powerful amplification effect, doubling the strength of normal dark energy. If such a lethal force was used on an ordinary student, it would be foolproof. Even if he were to encounter elite students, he could effortlessly crush their mettle. After all, most of the students had not mastered the basic characteristics of dark energy, let alone the use of ult spells. This man was right, but... A piece of green crystal appeared out of nowhere, stopping Shadow Dagger in its pace, right in front of Lin Sheng. The green crystal, shimmering with a green light, was only the size of a fingernail. Yet it could block the half-a-meter dagger head-on. Dark energy from the tip of the dagger hissed. As if it had all its strength focused on one point, it tried to break through the barrier to pierce into Lin Sheng¡¯s throat. But no matter how hard it tried, the crystal would not budge. It was as if a wall of unimaginable thickness, the dagger had no hope of breaking through. ¡°You¡¯re too puny!¡± Lin Sheng looked up, his eyes slit open, turning into pale-golden vertical pupils. ¡°It happens that I¡¯m short of a few otions. Let me take you.¡± He stepped forward, his body fading into a blurry shadow as his hand fluttered toward the man. Blood sttered. But by not much. As if struck by lightning, the body of the person wielding the dagger cocked like a prawn as blood spurted out of his mouth. The others did not react in time and received a heavy blow to their chests. Everything happened so quickly. These people shivered, dark energy lighting up around them. But their defense mechanism hade toote. An attack that was quicker than their instinct had struck them within half a second. Lin Sheng¡¯s reemerged on the pasture in the forest, his body normalizing. One man stood wobbly in front of him. This was the one who wielded a dagger to kill him just a while ago. The man spat out a mouthful of blood, curled up on the ground, and became motionless. The dark energy on his body shed and surged incessantly, but there was nothing that could revive him. Soon, another one kneeled on the ground. It was the fat woman who stopped the blond man from leaving. Her nose, ears, and mouth were bleeding, her eyes bloodshot as if they would explode. Following immediately was the third person, the fourth, and the fifth. Lin Sheng walked up. ¡°No matter how much dark energy you have and what kind of Darksiders you are, it¡¯s useless.¡± He raised his finger and tapped. Five threads of dark energy shot out from his fingers, prating the shoulder des of the five persons with precision and tying them in a bundle. An excruciating pain struck, but theycked the strength to even utter a sound. The attack that struck them was even quicker than the reaction of the nerves of their bodies. Before they could feel pain, they were already injured. ¡°I may only be a Two-winger, but I¡¯m several times quicker than you all.¡± Lin Sheng walked up to the man from the Fury Gold Academy during the day. ¡°Are you afraid?¡± Lin Sheng lowered his head, looking into the panicked eyes. The man spurted another mouthful of blood, dropping to the ground on his side, unable to utter a sound. All he managed was his violent panting. ¡°Oh, I forgot. You can speak no sh*t.¡± Lin Shengughed and looked at the throat of the man, which had been severed. ¡°My dark energy may only be at a Two-wing level, but...¡± He bent down and stared into the man¡¯s eyes. ¡°My Two Wings are equivalent to your Four Wings, or even Five Wings.¡± The man writhed like a dying worm. He opened his mouth, but all he could make was a hollow gust of air. He wanted to speak, but his thinking had be blurry. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m just kidding.¡± Lin Sheng got to his feet. ¡°People like to talk nonsense before killing their enemy. But I¡¯m different. I prefer to kill first and talk nonsenseter. Talking nonsense can indeed putting the mood in order. It soothes the heart and relieves depression, making your body and mind at ease.¡± While he spoke, a pale green dark-energy crystal warrior emerged behind him. The warrior moved to grab a live body, tipping it upside down and letting blood to drip from the wound in the throat. He was using the man¡¯s blood as ink to draw a ritual circle on the ground. ¡°The number of dark-energy beads was a little small. This time I will add a little more bait and hope to catch a big one.¡± Lin Sheng directed the crystal warrior to draw the ritual circle. With five living bodies of the Darksiders, he hoped that these otions would attract some powerful dark-energy being. Soon, the ritual circle was ready. A vault guard took the ingredients out from the backpack and blended them together. He then sprinkled the mixture in the correct positions. Lin Sheng stood still, waiting until everything was ready. ¡°ce the bodies in there.¡± Lin Sheng let out a smile of satisfaction after the crystal warrior ced the living bodies in the correct sacrificial position. When everything was in order, he bowed his head to chant the initiator. In just a beat, he heard a voice, as if someone was whispering in his ear. A hazy murmur spread in Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. An evil and greedy voice bypassed his normal senses and got into his brain. Circles of strange airflow were spreading out from the ritual circle, blowing at and bending the surrounding grass. Chapter 319 - Homecoming: Part 2

Chapter 319: Homing: Part 2

Waves of eerie palpitation rose like a steady stream of tremors in the forest. A thick, dark red halo-like blood sma surged from the center of the ritual circle and out into all directions. ¡°Gaze, despair. Ear blindness, hearing loss. Demon shades, split soul. Broken limbs, tangent...¡± A vague voice got into Lin Sheng¡¯s ears. It was intelligible at first, but in just a few seconds, it evolved and adjusted into a frequency andnguage that Lin Sheng could understand. A translucent blood-red arm stretched out from the sma-like red light as if a rescued person came out from a well, grabbing the edge of the red light. As a deep inhtion sound spread in the air, a second arm reached out to grab the halo edge. After that, a third arm followed, and then the fourth, fifth... The deep sound of inhtion got more rapid and denser when more and more arms emerged. It was as if some living creature trying to climb out of the halo got anxious. Suddenly, an invisible mental shock ejected a strange pale-red huge creature from the halo. It looked like a pale-red cloud with hundreds of pairs of arms, iid with colorful rotatingpound eyes. Just like the eyes of a dragonfly, they were round. ¡°Very good... Very good... You¡¯ve summoned me, the Great Bloodgazer Tyr. You¡¯ve been lucky!¡± The cloud dark spirit floated in front of Lin Sheng. At three or four meters wide and six meters high, it appeared like twisted modeling y. Its arms were swaying mindlessly like the tentacles of a sea anemone. ¡°Come on... tell me your wishes and I will fulfill them!¡± The thing bent down, almost touching Lin Sheng¡¯s face. Lin Sheng looked up with aplex expression of astonishment and longing on his face. ¡°Any... any wishes?¡± his voice quivered. ¡°Of course, this is a fair deal. So think before you ask.¡± The eyes in the cloud-like, dark-spirit body flickered and produced a low strange voice. Lin Sheng could not control his body from shivering, and he swallowed involuntarily as if he was terrified. ¡°I... I... I...¡± His voice trembled. He tried to speak, but he could not piece together a sentence. ¡°I... want... want...¡± His voice got weaker and softer, almost imperceptible. So the dark-spirit cloud had to get closer to hear more clearly. ¡°What do you want?¡± the dark spirit urged. ¡°Want... your everything!¡± Suddenly, Lin Sheng raised his head, his right arm nted into the dark spirit¡¯s body with a creepy smile on his face. In that instant, rays of pure-white, holy light shone from his arm. Like the sharpest spike in the world, the pure-white holy power exploded in the dark spirit¡¯s body. The ensuing shockwave came in the form of arrows flying out in all directions. The holy power purified everything that it came into contact with, vaporizing half of the huge body of the dark spirit. It cried in pain in his back, struggling to get back to the realm of the dark spirits. But it was toote. As the holy light shone on the ritual circle on the ground, it cut off the dark spirit¡¯s route of retreat. ¡°No!¡± The agonizing shrill faded as the holy light burned away the body of the dark spirit, leaving behind a blood-red sphere the size of a fist in Lin Sheng¡¯s hand. Like an eyeball, a pupil was moving inside the sphere, watching everything around it. Lin Sheng exhaled as he felt he had exhausted half of his holy power. He looked down at the dark-energy bead in his hand. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect this little bait could get me such a big guy. Totally worth it! It was of Level 9 strength! Phew! If not for the sneak attack, I might not be able to finish it off so quickly.¡± His approach was nothing new in ckfeather City. Many powerful magicians used this method to catch powerful dark spirits and demons. Some of them used the dark spirits and demons as their ves. Others simply turned them into a synthetic material. Some even ate them as food, or fed them to their pets. But only the most powerful magicians could do this. And this was also the case in the empire to which ckfeather City belonged. Just like what Lin Sheng encountered in his dreams. Some magician caught the Thunderbeast and trained it as a guardian monster. Lin Sheng examined the remaining ritual circle. Of the five living people he used as ceremonial consumables, three had disappeared. But two skeletons remained. Not bad for his luck. It was only because Lin Sheng killed the dark spirit and cut off part of the ritual reward. ¡°Let me eat it first.¡± Lin Sheng looked at the dark-energy bead in his hand. It was a pure soul-bead, purified by the holy power. Because of the holy power purification, the bead carried Lin Sheng¡¯s holy power¡¯s energy. Lin Sheng used the best method to minimize exhaustion. The blood transformation ritual could convert the soul power into the blood of the dragon. He was familiar with the ritual. But he had insufficient ritual materials, which were good for two rounds of rituals. So he had to get resupplied. After a burst of soft red light, the fist-sized dark-spirit bead changed into the pure blood of the Rock Dragon. His had further transformed Lin Sheng¡¯s bone marrow, making him one step closer in getting the full physique of the Rock Dragon. ¡°That¡¯s over 50%, almost 60%! What a catch!¡± Lin Sheng spat out a spark to ignite the residual traces of the ceremony. He then directed the vault guard to clean up everything else before heading back to the mansion. While on his way, Lin Sheng felt that half of his Rock Dragon blood was incubating an inexplicable power. His body was undergoing a crucial change, after which, a qualitative leap would be on the horizon. The next morning, Lin Sheng led a few teammates¡ªMelissa, Be, and three other gutsy members¡ªto begin their routine patrol mission. And just as he had expected it, a dozen shes had happened in the town in just one night. However, these people did notmit their crimes in broad daylight, at least, as if they were allowing Baine University to save face. But even so, at least four people were injured, missing, or killedst night. Of course, this figure did not include the five people that Lin Sheng killed. After mediating a few disputes, news finally came from the silver mine that the team of professors decided toe out from the hole. Lin Sheng¡¯s team had got a request from the chiefmander to beef up their patrol. As ordinary studentsing for the credits, no one was counting on them. Lin Sheng could not have cared less. As long as no one bothered him, he would not want to bother anyone else. But he just could not help himself. Especially at night, when he would use fire as bait in the forest to entice those people with evil intentions in their hearts. And just as before, he would eat them as supper, turning humans into an otion to bait the big boy dark spirits. Chapter 320 - Homecoming: Part 3

Chapter 320: Homing: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ording to Lin Sheng¡¯s calction, if the energy of human sacrifice was one, then when adding several offerings together, it did not exceed six. But after the summoning ritual, the dark spirit had energy value at least 100. Even after purification by the holy power and deducting a small loss, the energy would still be over 60. Considering the return on investment was 1,000%, there was little wonder why Lin Sheng was so enthusiastic. After doing the same trick several times and having a dozen more people killed, those outsiders seemed to have sensed something wrong. They no longer took the bait. Not wanting to give up just yet, Lin Sheng attempted a few more times. But just like the people, the wildlings had also wised up. They were nowhere to be seen. As soon as the living creatures saw a fire from a distance at night, they would turn around and run. Let alone approaching. Since there was nothing Lin Sheng could do about this, he threw in the towel. When all was said and done, the bloodline in Lin Sheng¡¯s body had nearly breached the 60% mark. But improvement got harder and slower from this point onward. As the professor team was on the journey out from the mine, it drew many powerful beings to the town. Just like the one Lin Sheng had sensed, a suppressor-ss outsider had openlye to the town. Finally, a team of teaching assistants and professors from the university had arrived to take over their patrol mission. Mission aplished ahead of time. But what followed was no longer a mission the students could handle. The university was recalling the team but considering them as havingpleted the mission. Lin Sheng did not look forward to an early discharge. If there were no abnormal changes, he might be able to lure some high-value otions from thoseters and push his dragon bloodline to 60% in one fell swoop. A 60% dragon bloodline was the ultimate limit. Unless one wanted to transform into the body of the Rock Dragon, the special bloodline in human bodies should never exceed 60%. This was because once the threshold was breached, it would be difficult to keep the human body, and Lin Sheng would have no choice but transform into a monster. This was not something Lin Sheng wanted. Lin Sheng preferred to hide in the world of dark energy and improve himself. Speaking of which, dark spirits were something with an excellent price-to-performance ratio. He had listed it as one of the best options for soul power conversion. Dark spirit, the shades, and the soul vessel, and monsters in the dreams were three different sources of soul power he had contact with. But among the three things, the dark spirit was the purest. ... ¡°Please let me stay. Let me do my part for the university and the teachers, who are risking their lives in the mine!¡± Lin Sheng bowed to the new chiefmander, his voice loud and full of rectitude. ¡°The student¡¯s patrol mission has been incident-free because the teachers have been taking care of us all this while. Instead of uspleting the mission for the university, it was the university that took care of us. ¡°I¡¯m deeply ashamed of this. While the university has done so much for us, we are treating the various benefits and perks that we enjoyed as a matter of course.¡± ¡°So is this the reason you want to stay and join the teaching assistant team?¡± The new chiefmander was a skinny old professor named Kerntis. He was not a workshop owner, but one of a few independent professors of the university. They worked full-time for the university. And this was their difference from the workshop owners. Kerntis looked at Lin Sheng, unsure of how to respond. Before Kerntis came, he already knew that the most favored disciple of the Soul Fortress owner was there. Lin Sheng was so famous now that even Kerntis had heard wind about him. At first, he wanted to discharge and sent Lin Sheng and his team back to the campus once he arrived. But he never expected this young guy to volunteer to take part in the defense mission. Who did he think he was? As a freshman in his first year in the university, he was so daring to want to take part in therge-scale conflict mission at the lowest assistant level. Was he too gutsy and naive, or was he after something else? Kerntis looked at Lin Sheng again, undecided. He turned his eyes to the two associate professors on both sides. But they evaded his eyes, pretending not seeing him. ¡°Lin Sheng, Professor Auldmandiller, and I are acquaintances. Let me tell you the truth here. Now the upgraded mission is not something you can handle. The Paragon of Destiny has attracted too many outsiders. As of now, over four Four-winged warriors have arrived.¡± He paused and looked at Lin Sheng, his eyes earnest. ¡°So the situation is really dangerous now. Your stay will only affect the work of the professors and teaching assistants. It helps nothing.¡± Those had to be the bluntest words Kerntis had ever uttered. Lin Sheng had no more excuse to linger on. In fact, everyone knew he was only making up an excuse. Now the door was closed. He could make no more excuses up. No more excuse for staying back. ¡°Understood.¡± Lin Sheng knew there was nothing he could do about it. He bowed to salute to each professor. After saying a few obligatory words, he turned around and left the temporarymand center. Stepping out of the door, he walked along the wooden corridor. There, he saw a tall man in a white uniform. On one side of his chest was a silver spire emblem. The man walked past Lin Sheng and headed straight towards the temporarymand center without even looking at him. Lin Sheng squinted. He could make out the familiar air. It was dark energy. ¡°It¡¯s the Heaven¡¯s Spire. Just like the scent of that guy named Yinan, he has the same smell.¡± He slowed down in his steps. Then he heard the door closed. He could hear conversation transmitted through the floor and drifted into his ears. The voices were crystal clear. This was one ability of the Rock Dragon blood: Landwhisper. The ability allowed Lin Sheng to hear sounds within 50 meters, no matter how soft it was. But there was a height limit, which Lin Sheng had not tested. Using it to eavesdrop on what was being discussed in themand center was possible. The jamming field generated by dark spirits could not iste this means of eavesdropping from the ground. Soon, voices of discussion drifted into his ears. ¡°It¡¯s your turn to send the missive this time, Icefall.¡± It was the voice of Professor Kerntis. ¡°The Dimensional Missive every three years. Since you and I met, you have been on this duty three times.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t help it when I¡¯m the idlest person in the spire,¡± a full, maic male voice said in a self-deprecating manner. ¡°Well, cut the cackle. Three of the Dimensional Stone we got are activable. So too, the one on your side. How many men do you n to send in?¡± Kerntis smiled. ¡°Those at the top are transferring the powerful ones to form thew enforcement division. The university is seriously understaffed. The teachers heading the teams may not find all of them. I¡¯m afraid we have to give up this time.¡± ¡°Oh, who do you want to bluff?¡± Icefall sneered. ¡°That was what you saidst time. Also, thest time you couldn¡¯t go through with it, but what happened?¡± ¡°No one gives up on small Ashen World even if there is little hope,¡± another voice chimed in, sounding like it was another associate professor. Kerntis continued, ¡°Although we know we can¡¯t take control of the small Ashen World, the resources extracted for the first time have far exceeded those from the area around the fixed passage. Now we have the Dimensional Stone, so here we go. It¡¯s just a matter of how to go and how many people.¡± ¡°Did you test it¡ªthe Dimensional Stone?¡± Icefall asked. ¡°I did. Four Wings max. Otherwise, it could get very dangerous and affect dimensional fluctuations. Besides, we n to sell some quota,¡± said Kerntis. ¡°No wonder several Four-wingers have arrived. Two of them have even brought along their students,¡± Icefall said. Then the conversation suddenly changed to revolve around daily mundane. Lin Sheng stopped the eavesdropping and pulled back his attention. He had made some guesses. The Paragon of Destiny in the silver mine was probably no ordinary treasure. It could be the so-called Dimensional Stone. This stone seemed to open up to a little Ashen World, allowing humans to explore inside. Also, there seemed to be a maximum strength limit. ¡°Interesting.¡± Lin Sheng was not interested. But from the conversation, a brutal conflict could happen within. When there was fighting, there would be killings and corpses. By then he would have enough flesh and blood sacrifices to summon the dark spirits. ¡°It¡¯s a pity.¡± He was only a Two-winger, too puny in terms of strength. Otherwise, he could be a member of the exploration team, hunting and killing in the little Ashen World. Chapter 321 - Scattered: Part 1

Chapter 321: Scattered: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Back in the mansion, Melissa was still looking at her mobile phone on the first floor. Only three team members were there as the rest of them had gone out. ¡°Two groups of Darksiders were fighting outside. The teaching assistants are trying to mediate, and the other teammates are there too.¡± Melissa stood up and exined when Lin Sheng returned. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. From now on, the team is disbanded. Everyone can return to the university to receive credits forpleting the mission.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°This quick?¡± Melissa wondered. ¡°We are supposed to hand over long ago. Just because the teaching assistant team waste; otherwise, we would have already arrived back at the university,¡± said Lin Sheng casually and went up the stairs. ¡°See youter.¡± Melissa nodded. Since few means of transport were avable in the town anyway, probably they would be on the same bus, she figured. Without saying another word, Melissa used her mobile phone and sent a message to the group. Shen then went to pack up. The other team members looked at each other and returned to their rooms. Back in his room, Lin Sheng stuffed everything he needed into a suitcase, and then took off his clothes and took a hot shower. As soon as he finished and put on a new set of clothes, someone knocked on the door. ¡°Pleasee in,¡± Lin Sheng answered. He had keen five senses and knew who was outside the door before the person came knocking on the door. The door slowly opened as Melissa came in, biting her lip, her eyes filled with hesitation. ¡°Captain...¡± ¡°Anything? Have you packed up?¡± asked Lin Sheng with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m done. Not much luggage to take.¡± Melissa nodded. ¡°Did you buy any souvenirs for your family?¡± Lin Sheng asked casually. Melissa shook her head. ¡°They need nothing. But I¡¯ve bought some.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s go. The bus is waiting. If we leave now, we can still catch dinner. I can¡¯t wait to eat the chicken mushroom stew in the university¡¯s cafeteria.¡± ¡°You have a really simple wish.¡± Melissa could not help but smile. ¡°With your position, status, and ie as a captain, you still like to eat in the school cafeteria?¡± ¡°What position and status? Those are meaningless. To live is to be happy. Whether or not it is a cafeteria food, as long as you like it, you don¡¯t have to care about others,¡± said Lin Sheng. Melissa smiled and hesitated. Before she could say anything, Lin Sheng carried his suitcase and interrupted. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± She carried her luggage and followed Lin Sheng downstairs. There, several team members had already finished packing up. Together with the other teammates, Lin Sheng went out of the door. He had contacted the driver beforehand. The bus had pulled up at the entrance. Everyone went on board and tossed the luggage on the luggage rack. Lin Sheng found a rearmost seat and sat down, exhaling softly as he rested on the back of the seat. Melissa was sitting on the left, on the other side of the aisle. Melissa¡¯s strange expression did not bother Lin Sheng at all. He was quietly trying to assimte his holy power with the Rock Dragon blood in his body. The theory of energy convergence point is a singr argument held by the overthrown research institute. This theory did not mention that all energies could find the assimtion point. Indeed, all energies had the potential to assimte the other energies. But the question was in what conditions, which was still unknown. Most energies required extremely harsh assimtion conditions. The cool thing about this research institute was that they had developed an Energy Assimtion Point that worked. That was the shadow energy. The person in charge of theb had presided over an experiment. He assimted the shadow energy with dark energy and sessfully created the shades, monsters that most Darksiders could not detect. This had vited the taboos of the major cults, so destruction fell upon theb. Yet, Lin Sheng did not follow the assimtion method of the shades. Instead, he took a different path, trying to assimte the holy power and the Rock Dragon blood. The possibility of it working was high, and he just needed some advanced equipment. The bus rocked away on some steep and winding mountain roads. Less than ten people were on board. Melissa sat on the opposite side of Lin Sheng, raising her head and then lowering it again. She had been hesitant for a long time. Due to her personality, she just could not say whatever was in her mind. The words got stuck in her mouth. A sudden violent jolt threw almost everyone off their seats as the bus had run over arge pothole. ¡°Ouch!¡± a student sitting nearby cried, covering his head in pain. The sudden rough movement caused the back of his head to bang on something. This was the consequence of not turning dark energy into one¡¯s instinct. In the event of a surprise attack, these novices were no better than any ordinary people. The driver could not care less about what happened to the poor passengers behind him. He just drove ahead as usual. Melissa checked the time. They were about to arrive in the city. If she did not decide right now, the chances of being so close to Lin Sheng would slip away and she might not have another chance. After all, no matter what, Lin Sheng was the most powerful genius in the workshop. She was not sure about Lin Sheng¡¯s words, what the feeling of giving her a whole new direction meant. But since he was a genius disciple at the Soul Fortress Workshop and the mission team leader, what Lin Sheng said definitely carried more weight and credibility than the ordinary students. Lin Sheng was having some shuteye while Melissa looked at him. She finally plucked up her courage. Instead of twiddling her life away, it was better to put her life on the line and see what better choice Captain Lin Sheng could give her. Choices always came in twos. If she did not like the direction Captain Lin Sheng gave, she could just ignore it and continue on the same path as before. Melissa thought so. The bus ran into a pothole again, jolting things down on the floor. Melissa took the opportunity toe near to Lin Sheng. Just as she was about to wake him up, Lin Sheng suddenly opened his eyes. In those pale golden eyes was a calm, unsurprisingly gentle color. ¡°You¡¯ve decided?¡± Lin Sheng looked at Melissa. ¡°Once it starts, there is no turning back.¡± Melissa took a deep breath and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve decided!¡± she said in a whisper, and Lin Sheng smiled. What he left for Melissa was not as simple as a test of the human heart. Melissa possessed the potential of a rare evil soul. Her power did not lie in dark-energy cultivation or physical training. Instead, she was in a state of tension, danger, excitement, and a strong sense of guilt. The more guilty she felt, the more powerful potential she could have. This was the evil soul, the real reason Melissa was so perverted. Theoretically, the stronger her guilt was, the greater her potential. 1 However, Lin Sheng had never met such a case. This modern concept of the ¡°sense of guilt¡± was known as penance during ancient times. Repentance would lead to enlightenment. Perhaps this referred to a potential person like Melissa. Chapter 322 - Scattered: Part 2

Chapter 322: Scattered: Part 2

Lin Sheng stretched out his right hand, and a colorless halo shimmered on his fingertip. As he approached Melissa and touched his finger on her forehead, the colorless halo disappeared. And then everything was back to normal. ¡°I¡¯ve given you a little primer. Just embrace it and practice on it well,¡± Lin Sheng whispered. Just now, the moment Lin Sheng¡¯s fingertip met her forehead, Melissa trembled. She was frozen in ce as if her consciousness was impaired. But her reaction did not bother Lin Sheng. He had just passed on a little holy power to her as a primer. He had even driven the holy power to circte in the path of the Ashen Seal-Sanctuary in Melissa¡¯s body. After that, Melissa would have to cultivate the holy power by following the Sanctuary way. Before a cultivator of holy power exposed himself, he must get a cultivating Ashen Seal from the priest regrly. This was because the Ashen Seal had an expiry date. It was just the way the sanctum system worked and had nothing to do with Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng let her be, sitting there without saying a word while waiting for the bus to reach its first destination. Ten minutester, they arrived at the house of a student, and the bus ground to halt in front of a house. The student exchanged contact information with Lin Sheng before he hopped off the bus. And then the bus went to the next drop points, dropping off students at their respective homes. Soon, even Be had disembarked. Yet, Melissa had still note out of her daze. As the bus stopped at the entrance of the Soul Fortress, Lin Sheng got up and out of his seat. ncing at Melissa, he lowered his head and whispered a few words into her ear. He then dropped a folded note into Melissa¡¯s pocket and alighted. He had left the seed. It was up to Melissa now, but he would not tell Melissa that he had passed on the holy power to her. She was unlikely to cultivate any substantial holy light in such a short time. But she would experience the nourishment and strengthening her body without knowing that it was the holy light. Once she had tasted the goodness of the holy power, she would find the snail pace of progress of her old days intolerable. The great differences would drive her back to see Lin Sheng. ... The next day in the Soul Fortress, Lin Sheng sat in the cafeteria alone, enjoying his simple breakfast. White bread with tomato cherry jam served with skimmed hot goat¡¯s milk and four more butter-fried eggs¡ªthat was what he would eat in the morning when the professor and Mi were not around. An invisible servant was attending to his every need. He ate the bread with jam spread while surfing thetest news on his smartphone. While he was at it, he found an online forum and joined the alumni group of Baine University. The alumni groupposed of current and former students of Baine University. A few alumni had even be teaching assistants at the university. This alumni group had existed for a long time. Sometimes they would organize a get-together. But Lin Sheng was not interested. He joined the alumni group to get thetest news and information on dark energy in the university. While browsing the website, a new notification popped up on the alumni group forum on their website. It has started! Fighting has erupted around the silver mine! Three coronated schools, two affiliated universities, a bunch of other people, and the underground cults shed in a melee. There were photos, albeit blurry, showing three green spots in the rolling forest terrain. Those were the shes between different forces of interest. There were also tiny bloodstains on the ground outside the pine forest. Then the replies came. There are cults too? How dare theye when there are many university teams there. Aren¡¯t they afraid of dying? The thread starter replied: I don¡¯t know. But from what I heard from the mission team, they said that a badass cult priest just killed a teaching assistant in a surprise attack. The TA¡¯s death was tragic! Oh, that was horrific! Which university was the TA from? Please be specific! The thread starter replied: I can¡¯t reveal that. It¡¯s confidential, and the situation is more than chaotic. Anyone who has the strength of less than that of a Three Winger, you¡¯d better run as far as you can. Where is the cult? Let me deal with them! Aizen with the nickname Pureblood Spear Knight wrote. Pureblood hase! It¡¯s Pureblood! Now, let¡¯s grab the popcorn! With theing of Pureblood, the end is near to the cults! There was a whole paragraph of exaggerated praise mixed with emoticonsmending Pureblood. Lin Sheng figured that this guy must possess some unique ability to deserve so many supporters. Lin Sheng¡¯s ount in the alumni group was new, so he did not have the privilege of posting. He could only read thements. When Lin Sheng continued to scan other posts from the online alumni group, he saw some interesting and useful information, such as the outbreak of ¡®ck current¡¯ in the urban areas, and the activities of the cults. Many alumni were too afraid to reveal their identities. But still, Lin Sheng could get a handful of inside information from their forum replies. Lin Sheng had finished the food in front of him, so the invisible servant served a dessert: watermelon. While nibbling the fruit, he stumbled upon another interesting post. In the Northern suburbs, the special police force is seeking Darksider¡¯s help in the investigation of a strange murder case. Request-for-help posts weremon. But many missions arising from these posts were not allowed on the university¡¯s mission announcement board. The application to get approval and announcement on the message board was a painfully slow process. Perhaps because of the bureaucratic red tape. So young Darksiders nowadays preferred the more direct and simple approach. A reward table was at the end of the post. But it came as an attachment, and readers had to click to download it to read it. As a neer, Lin Sheng was not eligible to ept any mission job from the request-for-help posts. So he scrolled down further. If he could find some request-for-advice posts, he might earn some points to upgrade his ount level. With this purpose in mind, Lin Sheng soon found a post that he thought he could help. Seeking for opinion. I¡¯d like to know what is the true strength and status of Margaret in the Soul Fortress. A fe nicknamed Scarlet Fever, whose gender was unknown, posted the thread. The reward for responding to the request was 10 points. This sound like a good deal for Lin Sheng, because he only needed only five more points to upgrade his ount from Level 0 to Level 1. ¡°No one knows better than me about Margaret¡¯s strength, except Margaret herself, of course.¡± Lin Sheng smiled and clicked open the post. He had yed against Margaret many times. Although those were only friendly matches, he could make out her real level of strength. Not to mention her status in the Soul Fortress. Notwithstanding a core disciple like him, Margaret¡¯s status was the highest in the Soul Fortress. Chapter 323 - Scattered: Part 3

Chapter 323: Scattered: Part 3

Lin Sheng¡¯s reply was mixed with vague words: ¡°I guess¡±, ¡°I think¡±, ¡°maybe¡±, and ¡°what not¡±. But the core message was clear and to the point. After sending the reply, he continued to browse the other posts. After ten minutes, a notification sounded. The post he had just replied had got responses. Lin Sheng returned to the post to check out the replies. ¡°It¡¯s a fair answer. Thank you, genius! The tone of the post starter was very respectful. He saw other replies. But they mostly came from the onlookers. Not worth his time.**¡± Just like that, Lin Sheng had earned ten points. Apparently, the post starter was very happy with his reply. His ount had now been upgraded to Level 1, and he could finally post on the forum. He looked away from his phone to drink some goat¡¯s milk before he continued. ¡°Seeking advice: What would be the future direction of dark energy? Corruption, violence, or Elusion school?¡± ¡°Who is the strongest student in the State of Cosillia*?¡±* ¡°Who is this nickname Leopard?¡± ¡°About the Sect of Thousand Grace.¡± Among the series of posts, the most interesting one was the post about the future direction of the dark energy, which had stirred up a strong public debate. Lin Sheng nced over them and found that the debate had hundreds of replies. Out of boredom, he browsed the othertest threads and then called it a day. Suddenly, one particr thread caught his attention. ¡°Margaret will face difficulties when she returns home after graduation.¡± Lin Sheng thought for a moment. As soon as he clicked open the thread, his brows knitted together. Most of the contents were subjective opinions as if people were just venting their personal emotions. ... Margaret tucked her sword, sweat trickling down her forehead. She took a hot towel that her junior handed her to wipe the sweat. She was going home. Margaret came to Miga to avoid her cousin, who was regarded as the best hope of the family. They said talent was unreasonable sometimes. Her cousin, Shamika was born three years after her. But within a year of practicing dark energy, he had surpassed her five-year worth of achievement. She used to feel she deserve more, and angry, and work her butt off. Yet, her hard work was meaningless. Talent was unsurmountable, and countless failures had made Margaret wise up to this cruel truth. She thought she could face this and remain calm. But when things stared her in the face, he only realized that she was far from calm as she thought. Shamika, the overbearing cousin, a terrible monster, wasing to Miga. And he specifically stated that he wanted to find her in the Soul Fortress. When Margaret got the news, her mind went nk. She knew why Shamika came. Margaret was the eldest daughter in the family branch, where she had a great say and influence. Her parents had left her arge number of property and resources, which were that Shamika needed. And to secure his position as the future patriarch, he must defeat all his rivals. Margaret was one, although the weakest one. ¡°Margaret, are you okay?¡± a junior asked with concern. ¡°I¡¯m all right. Just spacing out a bit after the sword demonstration. Sorry.¡± She forced a smile. ¡°It¡¯s okay, you have shown your best sword skill. It was amazing!¡± a male studentplimented, and the rest followed suit. There was a bitter smile on Margaret¡¯s face. She did not respond to their des. Instead, she continued to re-exin the sword skill to her juniors. Due to her absent-mindedness, she continued to make mistakes and needed her junior to correct her, making the atmosphere awkward. On the second floor of the fortress, Lin Sheng stood on the open-air balcony, looking down as Margaret exined to her juniors. He was a little stunned before letting out a smile. When the professor was not in, Margaret had to stand in, sharing her experience with the students. And as an idol senior student, who would graduate soon, Margaret was far more popr than Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng stood on the terrace, eyeing the scene below. ¡°Her personality, demeanor, practical experience, and application of skills are all good, but her talent¡¯s so-so.¡± Margaret was no Melissa. She was not ungifted in dark energy, but also in other aspects. Everything was dangling on mediocrity. With no idents, special encounters, and ingenuity, Margaret was so ordinary that, apart from her family background, she was just a hardworking mediocrity. ¡°So that¡¯s why she is so popr among the mediocrity?¡± Lin Sheng seemed to know something. ¡°It¡¯s none of my business. I should check out the new research equipment.¡± He had instructed his apprentice Adolf to purchaseprehensive research equipment to clone and research the energy assimtion point. These instruments were expensive and bulky. So delivery and instation were a hassle. Lin Sheng had to take the time to deal with it. It was better to deal with them hands-on. Only by calibrating the machine himself would he get the machine to work in the way he wanted. Lin Sheng left the Soul Fortress and went to the other side of the city. He was in the mansion Adolf had just bought. With him were the researchers. He was to calibrate the equipment. The mansion had a courtyard and a massive wine cer. Lin Sheng nned to turn the cer into an undergroundb. But he had toe up with his n and design. Meanwhile, a group of unsolicited guests had arrived at the Soul Fortress when Professor Auldmandiller and Lin Sheng was away. ... ¡°This is the Soul Fortress?¡± A wheat-skinned young man with short blue hair looked at the fortress with great interest. ¡°Yes, Young Master. This is where Young Mistress studies. It¡¯s the workshop of Baine University, the Soul Fortress,¡± a maid in a red skirt whispered. ¡°May I read out the details report for you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s unnecessary. I¡¯ve read it in the morning. I remember it.¡± The young boy smirked, striding toward the entrance where a group of people had been expecting them. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Don¡¯t let the fellow think we are rude.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± said the maid in the red skirt. ¡°Even a person like the young mistress is regarded as the strongest one here, you can imagine the quality of the students here. It¡¯s already their greatest honor since birth for such weaklings to see Young Master¡¯s heavenly face in close range.¡± ¡°What kind of people that a workshop of this level could produce? Don¡¯t expect too much. It¡¯s only a coronated school in the middle reaches of Miga. You can¡¯t have too high of a demand. Margaret is here to recuperate, not study,¡± said the young man with a smile. ¡°You¡¯re right, Young Master.¡± The maid bowed her head in agreement. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Let me take a good look at her life here. She¡¯s been wayward for so long. It¡¯s time to go home.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid that Young Mistress won¡¯t want to go home.¡± ¡°Since I¡¯m here, she can¡¯t say no.¡± The young man then strutted toward the fortress entrance. Chapter 324 - Collision: Part 1

Chapter 324: Collision: Part 1

Several students had gathered at the entrance of the Soul Fortress after they discovered some unknown figures had entered the mysterious realm. With theprehensive security system in the mysterious realm, and also the fact that Shamika had never intended to hide his presence, this had allowed his whereabouts exposed. A few students looked at Shamika from afar andmunicated through their walkie-talkies. Soon, a tall young man with pale skin, holding a metal stick, appeared at the entrance. ¡°Who are you all? How dare you trespass into the secret realm without permission!¡± The tall young man named Shurkadie was a senior student who had spent three years in the Soul Fortress. Except for Margaret, he was the highest-regarded senior here. Since he liked to y baseball, he used a baseball bat as his weapon of dark energy. Surprisingly, the bat made a power weapon. A few students were enjoying their downtime at the baseball field. Not that their professor would go out every day. So they had a field day, no longer having to work their butt off to produce potions when the professor was away. But before they could have enough fun, the security circle had sounded its rm. Someone had invaded the mysterious realm of the Soul Fortress. The student left the baseball field and rushed straight to the entrance, preparing to vent their frustration at the intruder. Shamika cocked a brow andughed with an unknown intention. ¡°We are from Olroing to meet Professor Auldmandiller of Baine University. By the way, is Miss. Margaret here?¡± The maid in the red skirt stepped forward and exined her intention. ¡°Margaret?¡± The group of students had different expressions on their faces. They slightly calmed down upon hearing what the maid said. But Shurkadie felt these people were up to no good, and that they were rude. The Darksiders of Olro were well-known for their rude manners. And this was recognized globally. Dark energy was not amon practice in Olro, so the number of Darksiders was notrge. But the individual strength was remarkable. ¡°For what business you want to see Margaret? We can pass the message on your behalf.¡± Shurkadie suppressed his irritation. ¡°Nothing. Just looking around. By the way, remind her it¡¯s time to go home.¡± The red skirt maid said. ¡°Let¡¯s go. It seems that she is not here.¡± Shamika smiled and turned to leave. Suddenly he stopped, looked back, and smiled. ¡°Oh, by the way, get someone of a higher level to receive us the next time wee. You all are not up to snuff.¡± ¡°Not up to snuff? Eat this!¡± It was a ck student who stood beside Shurkadie, and he was known for his grumpiness. Upon hearing the belittling remark, he lost his patience and thrust his w forward at Shamika. Over thirty green threads shot out from his palm and flew toward Shamika from three different directions. Dark-energy threads pierced through the air like sharp des. The dark green color of the threads showed the density of his dark energy, which was much stronger than that of the average students. The maid in the red skirt turned deadly cold and stood behind Shamika. As she raised her arms, a triangr shield with beautiful cravings of a lion head popped up out of thin air in front of her. The gravitational force of the shield pulled the dark-energy threads to itself and then absorbed every single one of them. ¡°How dare you attack the master!¡± The eyes of the maid in the red skirt were wide-opened, her long skirt lit up in fine red lines. ¡°Garbage should have the self-awareness of the garbage!¡± She squeaked and took a step forward, the red threads on her long dress rose like dark-energy threads in a sea of red, shooting out at the students. ¡°Step aside!¡± Shurkadie knew how deadly the move of the opponent was. His pupils contracted as he lunged forward. Behind him, the phantom of a crystal warrior emerged and then disappeared into his body. ¡°Unite! Thrust!¡± He waved his baseball bat with full strength, creating a group of green me in front of him to meet the flying red threads. The green me rose as high as several meters in the air, just in time to intercept the iing red threads, setting off a spark in the air. Arge part of the me had died down like a cake missing a pie. When Shurkadie tried to deploy another one, it was toote. The red threads fell from the sky and prated his limbs, like a rain of blood. ¡°Shurkadie!¡± ¡°Senior!¡± Shocked, several students behind him rushed forward trying to help. But it was toote. Shurkadie fell on his knees before dropping motionless to the ground. ¡°Shurkadie!¡± ¡°Call Professor!¡± ¡°Where is Margaret?¡± ¡°She is on her way!¡± The group of students pulled Shurkadie back. They gathered at the entrance, ring at the maid in the red skirt. ¡°Let¡¯s go. This is boring.¡± Shamika yawned as he walked toward the exit. The maid in the red skirt snorted, pulled back the red threads back onto her long skirt, and turned to follow Shamika. Everyone could only watch as they left. But there was nothing they could do. In the realm of the Darksiders, people at their age who could pull off the level of strength as Shurkadie did was a rare breed. His Crystal Warrior had shown its ability in actualbat. But the opponent from Olro he fought was far more powerful in dark energy than he was. This was an unfair duel. When Shamika came before the exit and was about to step out, the mysterious realm trembled and a thick dark air emerged at the entrance. ¡°Why leave in a hurry since you two havee from so far? This will only make the Soul Fortress look bad in the eyes of the people.¡± A crisp and cold voice drifted from the direction of the fortress. It was the voice of a girl, a very confident girl. Shamika reached out to touch the dark air in curiosity. ¡°Film of the mysterious realm? Is this a lockdown?¡± He turned around and looked in the direction of the fortress. There, students had split into half to both sides as Margaret and another beautiful girl with long brte hair stood at the entrance, looking at this side. ¡°Come back!¡± As the brte reached out, rings of transparent ripples formed in mid-air, triggering the security system of the fortress to encase Shamika and the maid. In a sh of light, the two were brought back to the entrance. ¡°My name is Mi, I¡¯m d to have you two as guests of the Soul Fortress. So what¡¯s the hurry?¡± Auldmandiller¡¯s granddaughter, Mi Ashe stared at Shamika with Mi dead cold eyes. ¡°No one can simply walk away after injuring our man!¡± She spelled out the sentence word by word. Shamika raised an eyebrow at Mi, then at Margaret. ¡°Do you know who I am?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. And I¡¯m not interested to know.¡± Mi stepped forward. A tall purple crystal warrior emerged behind her. ... Lin Sheng sauntered in the mansion. Indicator lights were blinking on the high-precision instrument. Installed and calibrated, these instruments could help him observe various energy fields, with graphs that showed data change uracy in milliseconds. They could also cultivate the puniest and most basic particles of dark energy. Not to mention the cloning of any group of dark-energy infected cells, and the rapid freezing of any kind of biological tissues and organs. They were even equipped with many istion rooms, security rooms, and the ceremonial istion room that Lin Sheng was most looking forward to. And these were only part of the instrument in the mansion. Adolf had invested at least 300 million Miga dors here to meet Lin Sheng¡¯s requirement. Miga dor was a sought after currency in the world. To put that in perspective, one Miga dor was equal to 13 Xylond dors. So it was self-evident that 300 Migan dors was a damn big investment. Chapter 325 - Collision: Part 2

Chapter 325: Collision: Part 2

Lin Sheng checked all the instruments one by one to make sure they operated normally. Most of these instruments were what the research institute used. He had just remade them ording to what he knew in the memories. But some were upgraded versions. There were also materials for the experiment¡¯s needs in ckfeather City. ¡°This could be my base in Miga.¡± Lin Sheng could not have more been satisfied with the result. ¡°I have digested the two Hearts of the Damned that I got during the mission. My physique has got some enhancement.¡± He was curious about the Hearts of the Damned. Bearing in mind that his initial physical strength had reached an unbelievably strong level. Although he had not tested it, it should above suppressor-ss. Yet, the Hearts of the Damned had further enhanced it on this basis. That only showed that this thing had versatile applicability. ¡°About the dark spirits...¡± Lin Sheng was considering building a dark-spirit channel. ckfeather City¡¯s historical record had mention of this spell, which the magicians called it the Otherworld Gate. A powerful spell, it could connect with the otherworld and bring the otherworldlings into this world. But this spell required the use of a sufficiently powerful energy core. ¡°If it¡¯s in the sanctum, I can use the holy power font as the energy core. Too bad, this is Miga.¡± Lin Sheng pondered the n. He could use dark spirits as a long-term source of soul power. If he wanted a long-term supply, it was best to build the Otherworld Gate. Otherwise, he would have to use living flesh and blood as a sacrifice each time he conducted a summoning ritual. Eventually, the other Darksiders would find out. ¡°Still, there are the shades.¡± Lin Sheng was deep in thought. ¡°The study of the shades requires a lot of soul power.¡± If he could mass-produce the shades, then he could solve the supply of soul power. Suddenly his phone beeped. He received a text message on his phone. Lin Sheng seldom gave out his number. Those who had his contact number were mostly people important to him. So even if it was a text message, it was unlikely to be spam. He picked up his phone and nced at it. A surprised look spread across his face. ... Mylissa tried to pull off a surprise attack, but a red thread wrapped around her arm, flinging her away into the distance. She crashnded on the pasture and could no longer get up. When the high-energy power on the red thread and the high-density dark energy collided with her dark energy, she copsed in an instant. Mylissa had never expected that human¡¯s dark energy could be this dense and strong. The dark energy of the maid in the red dress, whenpared with that of them, was like the difference between steel and tofu. On the grass in front of the fortressy many bodies on the ground. A few cowards were spared the same fate because they just stood by and watched. Meanwhile, core figures, like Margaret, kneeled on one knee on the ground as dark-energy green light burst out on her body, trying to resist the overpowering red light. But her resistance was futile. She sweat profusely while the maid in the red dress remained cool. It just showed how big the gap in strength between them. On the other hand, the professor¡¯s granddaughter, Mi, was the strongest at the scene. She was the only one who could resist the attack of over a dozen red threads. Just looking at the dozens of red thread fluttering behind the maid in the red skirt, she knew that there was no hope for her to win the battle. Mi was desperate to get away, but a slight carelessness had her chest whipped by a red thread, tearing open her outer garment to expose her brassiere inside. Mi was wearing a slim-fit thin outfit. Although unharmed, the tearing of her outfit made her blush in humiliation. She was furious. ¡°Shameless bastard!¡± ¡°Miss. Mi, now that you have started a fight, you should be prepared for the immediate consequences.¡± Shamikaughed. ¡°Unauthorized use of the mysterious realm¡¯s array and blocking us from leaving. You¡¯re the one who first vited the code of conduct.¡± Shamika kept looking at Mi¡¯s breasts. ¡°Enough! Shamika!¡± Margaret yelled. ¡°This is Miga, not your family fiefdom in Olro! Put your disgusting face away!¡± ¡°Oh, you still have the strength to cry?¡± sneered the maid in the red skirt. Her face was dead cold with more than a dozen red threads shooting out from behind her. Margaret dropped to the ground, hit by the red threads. Some conscious students tried to climb to their feet in anger. But they had lost their strength after getting whipped by the red threads. They could barely move their muscles. Suddenly, Margaret and M finally fell to the ground and could not fight back. ¡°That¡¯s all you got?¡± Shamika nced around. ¡°It¡¯s over?¡± ¡°They¡¯re all sh*t fighters,¡± said the maid in the red skirt with a look of disdain on her face. ¡°It¡¯s time to leave, Young Master.¡± Shamika shook her head in disappointment and looked at Margaret on the ground. ¡°This is what you have learned after four years in Miga?¡± Margaret gritted her teeth, her body shivering. She struggled to hold herself up. But no matter how hard she tried, she could not break away from the red threads. There was an absolute qualitative gap between their dark energies. Not a little but a huge distance. She burst into tears. For the past four years, she worked so hard and practiced day and night. Not a single moment she forgot the helplessness and pain when she was in Olro. She worked hard for four years and sacrificed for four years. Yet what did she get? ¡°Margaret, you are not cut out for this. Shamika shook his head. ¡°Just stay at the bottom.¡± He reached out, removed the gloves, and threw them on the ground. ¡°You look like a dog now.¡± After he said that, he turned, brought the maid along, and left. Margaret¡¯s pretty face turned pale in an instant, tears blurring her eyes. She did not know what to say nor how to react. She just wanted to cry. Crying her heart out. Coming back to the exit, Shamika looked back at Mi. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you open it now?¡± Mi lowered her head, extending her hand in pain to gesture her fingers in the void. The dark air dispersed and Sham strode out through the entrance. Suddenly, a ring of dark green ripples exploded at the entrance with a loud boom. Dark energy expanded like a horrifying vortex of seawater. It oscited and spread into what looked like a dark-green flower of over ten meters in diameter. Before the young master and maid could react, the violent shock wave from the explosion blew them out like artillery shells. Atst, they crashnded in the field in the far distance, leaving behind a several-meter-wide, half-meter-deep mud pit. Lin Sheng emerged from the dark-energy ripples at the entrance, his hair cascading down his shoulders. ¡°I think I¡¯ve hit something.¡± Puzzled, he raised his hand, the sea of dark energy around him disappearing into his hand like a whale sucked in seawater. All the students were in awe. Chapter 326 - Collision: Part 3

Chapter 326: Collision: Part 3

Margaret looked at Lin Sheng, wide-eyed. She felt like she had cried in vain. After a while, she crawled to her feet, letting out half a smile as she had at least regained the energy to stagger up on her feet after breaking free from the red silks. When she thought that was the end it, she was struck dumb again, this time, by the sight of Shamika and the maid. Did the dark energy explosion just blow them away like that? Margaret looked up at Lin Sheng again, her mind boggled. Shamika and the maid were no ordinary Darksiders. Their strength was at the ruler-ss level. Just how powerful Lin Sheng was that he could blow the two away like dust in the wind? Just the thought of it was enough to send a chill up her spine, and she was not the only person having that thought. Not too far away, Mi had seen what Margaret saw and thought the same. There was not a single expression on her face, yet her heart was roaring and growling as if in anger. She was hellbent on refusing to marry Lin Sheng earlier. So much as that if her grandpa insisted on bulldozing the marriage proposal through, she would fight Lin Sheng in a duel. She would beat the fe in front of everyone, humiliate him, and then refuse the marriage. But now what? ¡°Auldmandiller, you just dug a pit for me! If not for what happened today, I wouldn¡¯t have known he was a kiss-ass fighter. I¡¯d have been dead if I challenge him. I admit I¡¯ve always wanted to find the most powerful Darksider! Someone like... like... him! He isn¡¯t a bad choice at all!¡± Mi said in her mind. Charged up by a strong sense of security and a sense of relief, Mi could not hold back herughter. Looking at those lying on the ground and the two poor fes whom he had blown away, Lin Sheng realized what a blooper he had made. He found something was blocking the way when he hurried back, so he mmed the door. But it would not budge. So he mmed it harder, but this time, it looked like he had overdone it. ¡°Argggh! I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Far out in the fields, a ray of dazzling red light was rising. In the light¡¯s heart was a triangr shield with a lion head-engraving. The minute the thing was in the air, it shot out an overwhelming number of red silks at Lin Sheng. ¡°Be careful! It¡¯s Cindersilk! Not ordinary dark energy!¡± Margaret warned. ¡°Cindersilk?¡± When Lin Sheng realized what it was, his dark-energy crystals had popped up to brace for the attack. The next second, the red silks pounded on the green dark-energy crystals with an ear-piercing clinking sound. They spent arge amount of dark energy every second as both tried to outdo each other by burning through their energy reserves. Soon, the maid in the red dress got the upper hand. Her red silks overloaded Lin Sheng¡¯s dark-energy crystals, prating through the spots with weaker defense, where energy recement rate was slow. Lin Sheng¡¯s face looked grave. ¡°Holy moly! This is the first time I¡¯ve seen this kind of dark energy. Red. High density. If not for seeing with my own eyes, I wouldn¡¯t have believed that there is dark energy in red!¡± He squinted. ¡°Even dark-energy crystals could not stop it. The red stuff is too powerful a threat! I have to grab some and study them!¡± He reached out, got hold of a bunch of the red silk, and pulled it toward him. In the field far away, the angry maid in the red dress sensed a mighty opposing force. But before she knew what happened, she was pulled outward, shooting like a rocket in Lin Sheng¡¯s direction. The red silks were slicing over Lin Sheng¡¯s hands, but they caused no harm. Not a single white mark could the red silks leave on his dreaded dragon skin. Instead, they looked like a bunch of mantis shrimps, squirming frantically trying to break free. But the struggle was futile. As the maid in the red dress flew in, Lin Sheng reached out and grabbed the maid by the neck. ¡°You are too dangerous and a threat to the lives of others. You must be controlled.¡± The maid in the red dress opened her mouth. But Lin Sheng was mping her throat, she could only make a choking sound. Her face turned red, and a huge swath of red silk waved behind her. Red light lit up on the triangr shield again and again, as though it was preparing for some big move. But when Lin Sheng squeezed his throat a little more, the red light would die down. ¡°Let Hong Ling go! You abbreviated piece of nothing!¡± Not far away, a dazzling red light rose again. This time, a golden scimitar like a meniscus emerged from the light. There was a pattern of the star and sun on the de, as well as vague white souls, on the hilt. Shamika, face covered in red blood vessels, stepped into the air from the field, approaching Lin Sheng one step at a time. By now, Lin Sheng¡¯s face became even graver. From where these two elites came? Their level of cultivation in dark energy has already surpassed me. Not to mention the high-level dark energy vision they could create. The more he thought about this, the more cautious he became in his response. He knew his dark energy was the weakest link, which was weaker than his Rock Dragon blood. In turn, his Rock Dragon blood was weaker than his holy power. So his dark energy was inferior to his opponents, and that was an undeniable fact. ¡°I can¡¯t hide it anymore.¡± Lin Sheng raised his hand, his face still grave. ¡°I can¡¯t fight with quality, but I can make that up with numbers.¡± While speaking, arge circle of green dark-energy rippled out from his body. The ripple spread to be a ring of ten meters in diameter in a blink of an eye. Inside the ring, two hundred halos exploded continuously. This meant each the total amount of dark energy used was 20,000. Margaret¡¯s eyes were out on stalks. She groaned involuntarily seeing what happened before her. What it was like to have 20,000 units of dark energy? This meant that Lin Sheng had stepped into the realm of a Four-winged Suppressor. Many dreamed of entering the suppressor-ss realm, but that remained a dream. So far, even she had only slightly over 1,000 units of dark energy, and that was already in the upper reaches in Baine University. It would take her 20 years of cultivation to be a Four-winged Suppressor. Even Mi had only slightly over 2,000. Compared with the huge dark energy ring, it was like the difference between the giant and the baby. On thewn in front of the fortress, the students watched. They were in shock. Some were so dumbstruck that they stared at the green ring with mouth agape. And Mylissa was among those. Shurkadie and a few others leaned against the iron gate as if they were sleepwalking, watching from a distance Lin Sheng and Shamika fighting. Worries spread across their faces. Atst, the green ring and Shamika¡¯s golden scimitar collided. The two high-intensity dark energies shed as if two virtual beasts were fighting each other. They mowed, hit, and tore. In a matter of two seconds, and before one could defeat the other, a dark green figure flew out from the entrance. It came in between the two fighting parties and cut the entangled dark energies in half. One was green and one was red. ¡°That¡¯s enough!¡± It was Professor Auldmandiller¡¯s voice. Chapter 327 - Enticement: Part 1

Chapter 327: Enticement: Part 1

Two streams of dark powers, one red one green moved like a living jet stream back to their master¡¯s body. From afar, it was like two puffs of colored smoke quickly shrinking before disappearing. Lin Sheng was impassive and slightly regretful, he threw the maid in his hand away to be grabbed by Sharmika. Sharmika¡¯s expression was twisted as he stepped forward and grabbed the red-dressed maid by her thin waist before taking about ten meters back. ¡°Professor Auldmandiller, is this the way the Soul Fortress treats their guests?¡± he quickly asked usatively. ¡°Both me and my servant had no intention to attack you, and from the beginning, it was your students who struck first! You will need to give a proper response to my family!¡± he shouted with a stern look. Auldmandiller looked at Lin Sheng behind him. Thetter did not seem to mind as he looked at his opponent who was yelling in a frenzy as if it had nothing to do with him. ¡°Baron Sharmika, let me ask you, why every member of my workshop isying on the floor wounded when you stepped in? The professor was no slouch, and could easily see through the charade. ¡°Heh, you can see who struck first through the surveince,¡± Sharmika responded without a hint of fear. The moment the words came out of his mouth, Shurkadie, Marguerite, and Mi who had approached from afar were speechless. If they were to think of it, the first to strike was indeed the people of the Soul Fortress. ¡°This bastard did it on purpose! He provoked us!¡± Mi roared. There was no way that Auldmandiller did not realize that Sharmika did it on purpose, but things as they were had his hands tied. Behind Sharmika was no ordinary family, but an ancient noble bloodline with Ptinates as their members. ¡°So how about both of us take a step back, Baron Sharmika? I¡¯m sure that Olro does not want this incident to go out and bemon knowledge across Miga?¡± Auldmandiller tried to prick the pain spot of thetter. Sharmika sneered as he knew that it was useless, but he had to try to piss his opposition off at least. He once again looked coldly at Lin Sheng and Marguerite. ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll remember this.¡± He did not say anything else, as his seemingly calm voice went away. Sharmika brought his slightly recovered maids in huge strides past Auldmandiller and out of the exit. Auldmandiller shook his head and looked at Lin Sheng. ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Follow me.¡± Auldmandiller sighed as he pulled a faint red test tube out of his pocket, and gently pressed against it. *Crack.* The test tube broke and from inside arge number of red light spots quickly flew around like a living thing. Some of these light spots flew into Lin Sheng¡¯s body while the rest over to the front of the Soul Fortress into the wounded students. Lin Sheng¡¯s body suddenly felt warm andfortable, and he realized that this was probably the professor healing their wounds. ¡°Everyonee to the main hall,¡± Auldmandiller calmly said, but his voice rang out loud in everyone¡¯s ears like a loudspeaker. The light spots entered the bodies of Mi, Margaret, and the rest and their wounds had slightly recovered, allowing them to slowly get up. The group very quickly gathered in the main hall of the Soul Fortress on the first floor. Just like the first day of school, aside from Auldmandiller, everyone stood at attention in the middle of the hall. Lin Sheng, Marguerite, Mi, and Shurkadie, the four of them stood at the front. ¡°Now, Marguerite, do you have anything to say?¡± Auldmandiller looked on helplessly at Marguerite. The student he had taken a liking to, was after all the main reason for this ruckus. He knew very well from the surveince. Margaret looked worn and gloomy. ¡°It was my fault, I¡¯ll repay everyer, and I¡¯m thankful that everyone stood up for me at that key moment. Thank you, thank you very much.¡± She first bowed towards her professor, before taking a few steps forward, and turned to the rest of the student and bowed. ¡°I¡¯ll settle the matter of your graduation processter. Go back tomorrow then. This is not a ce you should be staying any longer.¡± Auldmandiller sighed. Margaret kept silent and only lowered her head. Auldmandiller may look stern, but he was truly helpless in this situation. He paused for a moment, before admonishing Shurkadie and the rest who struck first, and Mi who had sealed the fortress. As for Lin Sheng, he gave his usual praise and did not mention the issue where Lin Sheng had wounded Sharmika and his maid. With that, Margaret was sent back, Mi was scolded, while Shurkadie and the rest were punished. Lin Sheng was the only one who escaped any admonishment and got praised instead. Auldmandiller then reminded the students to learn from Lin Sheng, and outright said that if he was not around, the management rights of the Soul Fortress falls to Lin Sheng.¡± ¡°If I¡¯m not around and you¡¯re unable to decide on what to do when trouble is afoot in the workshop, look for Lin Sheng.¡± With this, as to who was the leading student after Marguerite¡¯s departure was now set in stone. The incident opened their eyes to the gulf between them and their genius-level peers, and the gulf between them and an ace like Lin Sheng. The meeting was soon dismissed, as Auldmandiller had onlye back for a while as he had work to do, after some words of encouragement, he prepared to leave again. Before he left, he called Lin Sheng to a corner. ¡°Let me on to this, how much dark power do you have now?¡± His face was serious as he asked with a heavy voice. Lin Sheng pondered for a bit. ¡°Two thousand!¡± Auldmandiller was speechless. ¡°Do I look like a fool to you?¡± he asked as he pointed at himself. ¡°Five thousand?¡± Noticing his expression, Lin Sheng carefully added a little more. ¡°Heh.¡± Auldmandiller did not want to drag things out, and he just patted him on the shoulder. ¡°How far in the twenty-thousands?¡± ¡°Twenty... thousand and five hundred,¡± Lin Sheng finally answered honestly. ¡°This is the truth, and it¡¯s actually closing in on thirty thousand....¡± Auldmandiller¡¯s hand froze. He was actually just pulling Lin Sheng¡¯s legs. He swore, he had only given out a rough number, and never thought that... After a moment of silence... He patted Lin Sheng hard on the shoulder. ¡°This matter, we will never be able to hide it. The principal will know of this, and you better be prepared.¡± ¡°Be prepared?¡± ¡°The development of your dark powers is almost the same as the Ptinates back then. This is already at the Suncrown¡¯s level. My Soul Fortress will not be able to hold you,¡± Auldmandiller said honestly. Something then struck Lin Sheng. He had gone through the information in the library and knew that in the history of dark power¡¯s development, there were people reaching twenty thousand units of dark power at his age... But he had never thought that this was the mark of the Ptinates in their youth. ¡°If nothing goes wrong, the principal will guide you himself. And that, the upper echelon will let you choose, either to stay in Baine or to head to Suncrown. However, to be frank, while Suncrown is a very good and powerful ce, but I personally suggest that you stay in Baine. Thepetition in Suncrown is just too strong, and with your abilities, you don¡¯t have to try to force yourself through the gauntlet. Since you are a student of Baine University, and the principal himself is a Ptinate, he will definitely do his best to guide you.¡± Auldmandiller was serious in his suggestion. Chapter 328 - Enticement: Part 2

Chapter 328: Enticement: Part 2

¡°I understand.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. To him, going anyway was fine by him. The revealing of his hand this time around was in line with his thinking that it was time to show his true powers. He had been suppressing his dark power development all these while. It could be said, ever since the awakening of his dark powers until now, the training of his dark powers were done almost piecemeal. It was mainly for him to wait for his holy power and his Crag Dragon blood to strengthen his body. With enough time and enough souls, his capabilities would increase by leaps and bounds. All of these was of course not known to Auldmandiller. He only knew that he had discovered a Suncrown-level genius with his own hands! So he happily went to report the matter to the principal. And with Lin Sheng¡¯s agreement, he had given the recordings of the former¡¯s fight with Sharmika to the academy¡¯s upper echelon. With Miga drafting arge number of the academy¡¯sbat ability, with eighty percent of the academy¡¯s top fighting force, the principal included, all away from the academy, so they could onlymunicate via long-rangemunications. So, with extraordinary timeses extraordinary handling, with Vice Principal Suna¡¯s assistance, the academy started training young lecturers and tutors in full force, and also taking the cr¨¨me of the crop of the student body and sending them on missions. And just at this moment, Lin Sheng¡¯s details and recordings were sent over, and after confirmation, his name was quickly included in the list. ... The next morning. After breakfast, Lin Sheng walk out of the fortress and found a patch of grass to lie down and rest. He then took out his phone to look at the forum posts. The battle yesterday had already been spread all across Baine University¡¯s student group forum... And the top three posts are all about him. ¡°The ace of Soul Fortress, Marguerite? Mi? Let me tell you the truth!¡± The headline looked rather simple, but its contents were anything but. ¡°An epic battle by the strongest student in Baine University bar none! Lin Sheng the Demonheart! The hidden boss in Soul Fortress, the third member of Baine¡¯s invincible elites?¡± Lin Sheng was speechless. ¡®Demonheart? Who the hell gave him that silly moniker? Shouldn¡¯t it be Beastheart?¡± As he cringed, he opened the third post. The opening post was the surveince footage of him fighting with Sharmika. As the Soul Fortress¡¯ surveince system was the top of the line HD equipment, all of the recordings were pretty much clear. And below the opening post were row after row of postings praising him, calling him the Demon King as he brutally sent Sharmika¡¯s two main maids running with their tails between their legs. Some were talking about how strong he waspared to the other two Invincibles, but those posts were soon drowned out by the deluge of other posts. As Lin Sheng did not hold back, any pros worth his or her salt could see that Lin Sheng was already about to reach the watermark of an Oppressor-ss. But the other two ace students did not disy such prowess before so no one knew how it will end up. ¡°Hurrah to the Soul Fortress!!¡± ¡°Hurrah to the Soul Fortress!!¡± Thetterments seemed to have changed as the members of the Soul Fortress hade to join in the ruckus. Lin Sheng read the forum post for a while more and as soon as he got bored of it, he turned it off and looked at other posts. Aside from the incident he was involved in, the rest of the posts were talking about the upper echelons of each school being drafted to join the battle. This was the topic that most people paid attention to. Even as strong as he was, Lin Sheng was only a student, and for Five-winged and above lecturers to be drafted; that meant the situation was extremely critical. But what Lin Sheng never expected was that not long after he registered his ount, the student group had already managed to dig out his ID. And not even an hourter, his user name was listed on the forum¡¯s sticky post in a list alongside the other ace students. Not longter, someone had tagged him. Lin Sheng tapped on out of curiosity on the ¡®My logs¡¯ column and read the tag. It was a student investigation mission done in cooperation with the Asterism, and the person who tagged him was one of the back-office investigating students who had been from the Soul Fortress. There were quite a number of students from the Soul Fortress, including those who had dropped out of the school. While these students may be dropouts, but they were still elites that most workshops would fight for. Auldmandiller may have been a stern teacher with a terrible bias streak, but when it came to education, he did not hold anything back. So any student that he had thought, even if they dropped outter, were still considered elites when they leave. Lin Sheng opened the post to read and could tell that the students there were at their wit¡¯s end. Not only did they tagged Lin Sheng, but all of the top twenty ace students and the reason was simple. Another team from a different university had appeared just as they were about toplete their mission, and had their eyes on the prize! So the two sides shed, as they tried to draw in allies. Due to the fact this was a scuffle between students, there was an unwritten rule that no parent or teachers should be involved, and who does that proved that they are unworthy, and will be looked down upon. As for tagging Lin Sheng and the rest, the students did it with the thought that they had nothing to lose, and if an ace were to be interested, they had all to gain. Lin Sheng scrolled down and read the post properly. The mission was to hunt down a mutated darkbeast bearing a low-level dark fruit within it. These beasts had been mutated by the radiation of the cktide in both body and soul and turned into a Darksider-like beast. As there were civilian deaths, and normal military operations proved ineffective, the Asterism was deployed to wipe them out. Baine University, as the closest Darksider organization, sending out teams of students was expected. Lin Sheng had no interest in the low-level dark fruit. He had seen this in the Soul Fortressboratory before, it was a normal beast heart that had been corrupted by dark powers. Due to its structure, there would be remaining dark powers in it that could be absorbed to increase one¡¯s dark powers. But that was useless to him. He was not training now as his dark power growth was too fast, and will cause his holy power to grow explosively as well, straining his body. But what piqued his interest was a Xilin refugee camp mentioned in the post. ¡°I should take some time to check it out when I¡¯m free.¡± He started to miss Xilin. That was after all the ce he had lived for ten odd years, and Xilin was the ce most simr to China in his past life. He had unconsciously taken the ce as his hometown now. As he broke out from his thought, Lin Sheng sensed something as he looked towards the Soul Fortress¡¯ main gate. A group of students had already gathered around there as they stood by the gate, seemingly to send someone off. Lin Sheng looked at the person at the front of the crowd, and it was indeed Marguerite. ¡°Oh yeah, she should be leaving now.¡± Lin Sheng realized that the cause of the ruckus yesterday was all due to Marguerite. Sharmika¡¯s motive all along was Marguerite. ¡°I heard that Marguerite¡¯s family is rather influential in Olro¡¯s Hellfire...¡± Lin Sheng suddenly recalled a piece of information he had previously read. Influential meant they had money and influence in abundance. Lin Sheng pondered for a bit as he looked on as Margaret was sent off by the students as she slowly made her way out of the main gate. He smiled as he stood up. Taking a step forward, his silhouette flickered and disappeared. Chapter 329 - Enticement: Part 3

Chapter 329: Enticement: Part 3

He heard that once his dark power had reached a certain level, it will start to activate all sorts of abilities. Movement, attack and defense, and misceneous skills, all three of these trees will have very intricate branches. And among the movement tree, there was a high-level movement technique called the Dark Crossing. The technique allows the user to greatly increase his movement and reflex speed within the area of their dark powers and was extremely potent. Lin Sheng¡¯s dark power techniques are still considered raw, and he could only use the most basic of maniption techniques and could not tell the difference. But even so, his movement speed was already far beyond the range of any typical techniques. It was all because of his overwhelming physical strength, and he could use his dark power as a jet stream to propel him into shocking speeds. And a few secondster, outside the Soul Fortress hidden realm. He managed to catch up with Margaret who was getting on the car to leave. Without a word, Lin Sheng only threw a piece of paper that he had written earlier and it flew it silently through the car window before Marguerite. He then turned away and left. Written on the note was an opportunity that could be given to her, as for whether she woulde or not, it was up to her. Lin Sheng had no shortage ofb rats, and it was good if she came. If she did not, he would simply just look for someone else. Inside the car. Margaret looked on in astonishment at the white piece of paper that went through the window andnded before her. It was a simple piece of white paper yet it could force its way through a bulletproof window, andnded before her without any sound. That was definitely beyond her capabilities. After settling her nerves, she opened the paper and read it. ¡°If you do not wish to ept your fate, thene here, perhaps you will have the chance to break the cycle.¡± Beneath it was an address. ¡°118, Redcurrent Street.¡± Margaret kept the paper and sneered as she was prepared to throw the paper away. Yet the displeasure in her heart was roiling, and she could not help but hold the paper tight in her hand. After some moment of silence, her expression softened as she closed her eyes. ¡°Perhaps I should give it a try before I leave and give myself a chance?¡± The thought appeared in her mind. What if there was a chance to turn things around, it was not somewhere remote and was right smack in the city, so it was safe. And when such thoughtse to mind, it was nigh impossible to suppress. ... Lin Sheng¡¯s true target was not Marguerite. It was another person, and the person was named Madin Byrnbaer. He was an inconspicuous old professor in Baine University¡¯s back office. As a professor, he was once one of the academy¡¯s powerful Five-winged elites, but sadly, that was something very long ago. He was already a hundred and ny years old now. The heavy injuries stemming from a battle many years ago had greatly shaved his lifespan short, and his abilities had plummeted all the way from Five Wings to Three Wings. Every now and then he would need to go to Asterism¡¯s hospital for a scheduled check-up to ensure the vitality of his internal organs and body. Every meal he had to take in countless capsules with his normal food. He was too old, too weak. Perhaps in a few more years he would suddenly die of old age at home like other Darksiders, and pass on without a word, without anyone to see to his funeral. Without any descendants, his life during his youth was good, but at that age, he did not have anyone he could trust, and that wear upon him. And today he took the meal out from the canteen as per usual back into the lecturer¡¯s dorm. As he closed the door, he sat down to have his meal. But suddenly on the table he usually ate at, there was a white piece of paper that had appeared out of nowhere. ¡°A note?¡± Madin quizzically held his jittery hands out and opened it. ¡°If you do not wish to ept your fate, thene here, perhaps you will have the chance to break the cycle.¡± Beneath it was an unknown address. ¡°Whose prank is this? Heh.¡± Madin sneered as he threw the note aside. He was too old, too tired, and the curiosity of his youth had already long died. But just as he threw the note away, the note suddenly lit up and popped into a faint dark fire. Barely a secondter, the entire note turned into ash and dissipated into thin air. Madin quickly reacted, and the moment he saw that, a thought struck him. He had not sensed any dark power reaction earlier, and even if his dark powers had fallen to the level of a Three-winger, he still had the skill and techniques of a Five-winger. A person of such caliber would not normally y such an inane prank with an old man like him in such close proximity. And after keeping silent for a moment, he slowly picked up his spoon as he started to eat. ¡°Perhaps... I should pay that address a visit?¡± He demurred as he recalled the address, an anticipant feeling welled up deep within him. He really did not want to die... Really. ... Nighttime. Lin Sheng carefully took a squirming flesh from the test container and ced it into an energy reaction chamber. He then turned it off and started to draw the air out. ¡°Change the environment, and continue to monitor the measurements.¡± He was studying a piece of his own flesh. His flesh, now enhanced by the Crag Dragon blood had been activated to the point of ridiculousness. He was now testing if his flesh would have different activity levels and resistance in different environments. This would ensure if he could survive and adapt to treacherous terrains and environments. As he monitored his flesh that was in a vacuum, Lin Sheng sensed his current physical condition at the same time. Arge number of holy power roiled within him every moment, and these purifying powers were frenziedly enhancing every inch of his flesh and organs. The Crag Dragon blood did the same too as it rapidly mutated and modified his internal body structure through the bone marrow to allow the body to better unleash the power of the Crag Dragon. ¡°My body is about to reach another level, and in another two days, I can go ahead to increase my dark and holy powers. But I need to work on my dark power skills as well. So this time around I should not focus all on increasing my total dark power, but rather to train on the techniques.¡± Lin Sheng had nned ahead. He was already close to being a Four-winged Darksider with only the knowledge on how to use dark power threads. It was almost embarrassing. That aside, his holy power should also breakthrough Level 11. Level 11 was a watershed, and for ckfeather City, this was the hurdle the lowest level Councillor must pass. ¡°Using the Steel Lord as aparison, my body will strengthen once again, and then, with my Crag Dragon blood alone, my defense would be at a Five-wing level. While I don¡¯t know any other skills, but a strong defense is better than everything.¡± His Crag Dragon blood was almost at Five Wings and his dark power Four Wings, but he did not count his holy power because he had no idea how strong a Level 11 Temr would be. And there were no memories of such a person in ckfeather City. He was now thinking about how to unify these three different systems into abat system that is unique to him. *Hiss...* And suddenly that blob of flesh in vacuum started secreting a faint yellow rockyer and covered itself in it. Lin Sheng quickly turned on the radioscopy machine and using his dragon eyes, he quickly saw the changes within. ¡°Hmmm? Where is it getting energy from?? And its strength had increased by that much??¡± He was slightly astonished as he looked at the numbers on the monitoring device. It was only hovering at about fifty-odd a moment ago, and now it had jumped all the way to three hundred, a six-fold increase! And more importantly, Lin Sheng had no idea where the energy used by the flesh to create the stony shell came from. ¡°This power...¡± Lin Sheng could faintly feel that this was the true power of his Crag Dragon blood. But he did not have any inheritance, and he could not master it. ¡°An inheritance...¡± He suddenly put his hand into hisb coat and pulled a prismatic crystal out of it. It was that mysterious Crag Dragon crystal. Chapter 330 - Stepping Into: Part 1

Chapter 330: Stepping Into: Part 1

The dragon crystal was a special treasure that Lin Sheng had gotten by chance, and no matter what he did, he could not discard it. It would always appear where it was most convenient for Lin Sheng¡¯s hand to grab it. ¡°If only I could use some tools to open this thing up, perhaps I¡¯ll be able to understand what secret is hidden within it.¡± Lin Sheng recalled the process where the flesh turned into rock armor. If he could understand what the principle behind it was, perhaps it would help him in analyzing the dragon crystal. He carefully pulled the flesh out and put it into the freezer as he cleaned up the table. ¡°Seems like it¡¯s almost time.¡± Lin Sheng looked at the clock on the wall. As he stepped out of the basement, using his senses he could tell that two people were waiting calmly before the gate in the courtyard. Of these two, one was Margaret, and another was a frail old man. ¡°Did theye early?¡± Lin Sheng looked away. He did not rush over but rather he checked the time. There were two minutes more to the appointed time. He then got into another room and changed into a set of clothes he had prepared earlier before summoning the Armor of Dawn and encasing him within it. The Armor of Dawn could conceal its divine radiance, but that would result in a reduction of its resistance and regenerative abilities. However, without the constant radiance from above, the armor looked like a very intricately made ancient armor that encased the wearer within it. ¡°About time now.¡± Lin Sheng looked at his image in the mirror, and he looked like an immacte knight in argent armor. The armor was smooth as ss without any marks on it, and it looked like it was forged using the best alloys avable. The heavy knight in the mirror was not just d from body to toe in armor, even the head was fully enclosed inside a helmet. Only small tuff of hair was exposed at the back of the helmet. Lin Sheng pulled the white cloak over with satisfaction. The cloak had a simple gold-trimmed emblem on it, the golden sun. As he put on the cloak, he shook slightly as he stepped out of the room. His figure suddenly blurred as he disappeared. The teleportation-like phenomenon was simply due to his extreme speed that most people could not see it with their eyes. With just a dash and a leap, Lin Sheng went past two blocks andnded on the pre-appointed courtyard. As he stood in the middle of the courtyard, he stepped into the guest pavilion and waved his hand. In that instant, a surge of holy powers turned to light as they flew around the hall. With the radiance of holy power, the gloominess of the ce was quickly purified as the atmosphere of the ce increased by several notches. ¡°Any time now.¡± Seeing that his preparations were almostplete, he looked at the door of the courtyard and snapped his finger. *Snap!* The door opened automatically inwards. Standing outside was Margaret who had meant to leave the ce today. Her golden long hair was set loose as she wore a simple ck blouse and white pants. She looked gant, her figure straight, as she looked on slightly quizzically into the courtyard. Next to her was another person, Madin Byrnbaer. This frail, old professor was holding his hands as he looked at the courtyard gate that was opening. His expression was impassive. If Margaret was slightly fidgety, then the professor was a calmke, peaceful, patient and determined. For an old man who was close to the end of his life, he wore a smart grey suit, his shoe was polished, his hairbed backward, giving out a simple yet capable aura. The two did not speak to one another and simply looked inside the courtyard. *Creaaaak.* The door slowly opened wide. ¡°Come in, please.¡± A deep yet crisp voice came from inside. What slightly shook them was the voice seemingly rang out in their ears, and not through a broadcast. While Margaret was still slightly hesitating, Madin had already taking determined strides into the gate, and toward the guest pavilion. Seeing so, Margaret¡¯s eyes flickered and finally followed behind into the courtyard. Just as she stepped into it, the door seemingly closed by itself shut. She paused for a moment as she turned back to look at the door, and did not hesitate any longer as she went toward the pavilion. Over at the pavilion, the light was rather dim, yet arge man in full argent armor sitting quietly in the center of the pavilion could be clearly seen. The man¡¯s back was facing them, as the white cloak behind him sat on the ground. There was an intricate pattern in the middle of the cloak, seemingly like a golden sun. ¡°Are you the person who sent this old coot the note?¡± Madin asked, his tone calm and steady. The man wasrge, his shoulders broad as he stood there like a veritable wall¡ªpowerful, firm, and unassable. The two could clearly sense that an overwhelming amount of power flowed and roiled like a live volcano within the man¡¯s body. That power was pure and unbridled as it pushed back and suppressed every other power. Even their dark powers felt like it was suppressed at a certain level, and could not leave their body. Amid the cking of the armor, the man slowly turned over and looked at them. His head was encased in a menacing-looking white helmet, its shape was not unlike a dragon with its jaws open. Just by looking alone, Margaret and Madin felt like something was piercing them in the eyes. ¡°My name is the Holy Emperor,¡± the man said with a slow, rumbling voice. Then he stopped talking, as he lifted his hand. *Hah!* A blinding white light suddenly sted out from his palm. A pure, gentle white light surged toward the two like a tidal wave and engulfed them within it. A massive torrent of holy powers that were beyond their ability to resist started to envelop the two as they seeped into their body through their skin and nose. At the same time, a mysterious warmth welled around them and made them want to lower their guard and sink intofort. ¡°Can you feel it? This is the power that will allow you to regain your hopes!¡± A dark red silhouette walked out from the shadow of the wall. Only then did Margaret realized that the man who called himself the Holy Emperor had disappeared without her noticing. In his ce was another man d in armor, revealing on a pair of green eyes. ¡°Who are you?!¡± Margaret quickly asked. At that moment, the holy power around her quickly faded and disappeared, and if not for the fact that her body felt veryfortable earlier, she would have been wondering if that was just an illusion all along, as Darksiders that specialized in Phantasm could easily perform such sensory deceptions. ¡°It was not an illusion,¡± Madin said with a conflicted voice and answered her question. ¡°My body, it felt like it had turned younger by three years!¡± he said as he moved his arm, and felt that a forlorn vitality had now been added to his withering body. Chapter 331 - Stepping Into: Part 2

Chapter 331: Stepping Into: Part 2

The man in the red armor walked slowly toward them. ¡°His Holiest Majesty had chosen you two, and this is your chance, and the point where your fate changes.¡± He carefully measured the two, as if wondering why did these two had managed to gain the Emperor¡¯s grace. ¡°I really don¡¯t know what His Holiest Majesty saw in your two.¡± He sighed. ¡°Now, make your choice. Do you want to embark on a path that ispletely different from dark powers, or turn back now, leave, and return to your original fate?¡± It was an unnecessary question. Both Margaret and Madin had already decided long before when they chose toe here. Madin stepped forward. ¡°It seems like you are not some shady dark organization. And since this old bones had already made his way here, I won¡¯t be backing away.¡± His eyes were calm, his gaze determined. ¡°That power that could extend myself, I want it!¡± Margaret too took a deep breath as she spoke, her voice heavy. ¡°My abilities are just run of the mill, if I could carve a new path for myself using another method, I will never regret it, no matter that the choice is!¡± The hearts of these two were already set long before they came here. The man in red armor suddenly let out a rumblingugh. ¡°I think, I now understand a little as to why His Holiest Majesty had chosen you two. Such strong will, such determined souls...¡± He then turned around and walked towards the side door on the left in great strides. ¡°Come with me then, you two. There will be a few rules that you need to adhere to when you join our Holy Sanctum. ¡°We will not force our members to do anything as faith in the holy light, and the will from the deep of the heart is the source of our powers.¡± ¡°A sect without any restrictions?¡± Madin asked, slightly frowning. ¡°No... Not totally without.¡± The man in red armor paused. ¡°Every member would need to go to each sanctum to pray and rebuild the Ashen Seal within their hearts. This, perhaps, is the only restriction.¡± ¡°Then, what are your goals?¡± Margaret asked with a straight face. ¡°Our goals?¡± The manughed. ¡°The world is darkening, and if there is a true goal, that is to banish the darkness.¡± ¡°Banishing the darkness...¡± Something seemed to have touched both their hearts and soon, the two had received a special manual on how to meditate and train their holy powers. As they had already been infused with the seed of holy power by Lin Sheng, as long as they meditate and train their holy powers diligently, it would definitely bloom. For any other person, awakening one¡¯s holy power would allow them to be a Level 3 Transcendent, and that would require a well-trained body. However, for the two who were already Transcendents themselves, this prerequisite was not required. All they needed was just a fuse. Now they had the seed of holy power, and the training method, the rest was up to them. From the beginning, there were no requests made to them, and the manual was simply to allow them to understand what sort of organization the Holy Sanctum was, and the core that bound all members. As she stepped out of the door, Margaret¡¯s eyes were focused on one particr line. ¡°The holy power could purify the influence of the cktide, it could extend your lifespan, and the higher you train, the longer your life will be. At the same time, it could stimte the growth of your dark powers, and increase your overall attributes. ¡°But remember, you will need to head to the branch sanctums every now and then to refresh your memory of the Ashen Seal. ¡°For anyone who forsakes the holy light, forsakes everything as everything the holy light brings you will be taken back whole the moment you forsake it.¡± ¡°Is this what it meant by its easy to join, but difficult to get out?¡± Margaret sniggered. This restriction was indeed terrifying, but what constitutes forsaking the holy light? Was it by betraying the Holy Sanctum? She then remembered the mysterious yet powerful man called the Holy Emperor or perhaps forsaking the holy light meant betraying that person. ¡°It is a potential fatal enticement... but it is not something I can refuse.¡± Margaret smiled bitterly as she kept the booklet and left. Behind her, Madin seemed to have turn younger by a few years as he walked out with all smiles. Compared with Margaret, his faith in the Holy Sanctum was much stronger. Facing the fear of death made him grab onto holy power for dear life as he swore fealty as a member of the Holy Sanctum, especially when the Holy Sanctum did not demand anything from them. It only required mutual assistance. That kind of requirement was as good as nothing, and that made Madin all the more ted. Only until he drove his car away slowly into the distance did the courtyard door closed shut. The man in red armor sniggered before turning into ck smoke and disappearing. Inside the basement not too far away, Lin Sheng opened his eyes and let out a smile. ¡°That went well. Very good, this is the first step.¡± The imntation of the seed of holy power was a very potent enticement to the Transcendents of the Darkside. This was because not holy power could extend one¡¯s life, it could heal any inner wounds, and could act as a stimnt to enhance a high-speed growth of dark powers. It was like an omnipotent panacea. However, little did they know, after the betrayal by two of his subordinatesst time, Lin Sheng¡¯s propagation of the seed of holy power this time around was tempered with his personal imprint. So as long as they do not betray the Holy Sanctum or himself, their holy power would be fine. If they betrayed either, all of the holy power they had trained so hard for would be reduced to zero instantly. Plus, the constant prayer, meditation, and training of the holy power would inevitably lead to the total reliance of holy power. With time, once someone was so used to having holy power to stimte the growth of their dark powers, going back was nigh impossible. ¡°I¡¯ve imnted two people now. I¡¯ll just monitor them. Don¡¯t have to rush.¡± Lin Sheng took off the armor and cloak as he resumed his thought. He returned to hisb and pulled out the dragon crystal and ced it on the tray. He had not performed any test as he had done it countless times before. Every time the dragon crystal encounters any testing, it would turn ethereal, as its existence disappears. Piercing, sample taking, radiation, irradiation, bombardment, none of them worked against it like it never existed. ¡°Now that the crystal had appeared, and had been following me around, based on that old dragon this thing is for me to use, but I had not found the way yet.¡± Lin Sheng gently touched the surface of the crystal. Suddenly, an idea struck him as he started infusing holy power into the crystal. And the holy power seemed to be seeping into the air, not even touching the crystal. That was expected. Lin Sheng then switched to his dark powers and tried to infuse it as well. It was the same, as the crystal was not affected. The only thing that happened around the crystal was from the conflicting forces that were released in quick session as they shed against each other. Under Lin Sheng¡¯s control, it was quickly snuffed out. ¡°If it was inside my body; that was out of the question. Not only is it a waste of energy, but it will even hurt my body. But given it¡¯s outside that¡¯s not a problem.¡± He tried to control the sh of two different powers as a powerful explosion rang out in quick session around the crystal... And that created a massive shaking there. He had noticed some time back when dark and holy powers shed, it would create small dimensional fluctuations, and these fluctuations were simr to the cktide phenomenon. Only that this explosion was enveloped by an even stronger shell of holy power, and the quaking was not felt outside. Chapter 332 - Stepping Into: Part 3

Chapter 332: Stepping Into: Part 3

As the annihtive explosion of the two conflicting forces getting more and more concentrated and violent, the area around the dragon crystal slowly turned back, and a faint, gentle yellow glow started radiating across the crystal. ¡°It worked!¡± Lin Sheng was encouraged. Now that there was an energy reaction that meant that the dragon crystal could be used in this state. With another word, he quickly picked up the dragon crystal and ran toward the soul conversion ritual matrix that had already been prepared beforehand in the corner. The matrix was ready-made as he ced the dragon crystal into a designated corner. Before it could return to its original state, he started to mutter the activation chant. The soul conversion ritual was one of the mysterious rituals he had gotten from the Griffin¡¯s Morass. For this set of rituals, he had already obtained two of them, one was Purification, and another Cultivation; both had very potent practical uses. The one he was using was the Cultivation ritual where he converted souls into Crag Dragon blood. Soon, a never-seen-before yellow glow appeared on the ritual matrix as arge about of yellow dust had appeared out of nowhere and started to envelop Lin Sheng and the dragon crystal within them. A series of thunderous rumbling could be heard from the center of the ritual matrix as the dragon crystal in the middle of the ritual shrank rapidly as it dissipated into arge number of yellow light spots and flew toward Lin Sheng. The light spots formed into a tiny straight light pir that continuously shot into Lin Sheng¡¯s forehead. A surge of instinctual memories on how to utilize the Crag Dragon¡¯s powers inside his body entered his mind. He now understood what that crystal was. It was a skill memory cluster of his blood¡¯s ability! The crystal got smaller and smaller as the light radiating from it became weaker. Ten minutes passed as thest of the light spots flew into Lin Sheng¡¯s head and the entire dragon crystal disappeared without a whimper or any traces. *Hah!* Lin Sheng suddenly opened his eyes as two rays of light sted out of his eyes for a dozen centimeters before disappearing. ¡°It¡¯s finally over...¡± Whether the crystal came as a gift from that old dragon or was it a manifestation of his own ability, he no longer had the mind to bother with it. Lin Sheng did not care where it came from, he only cared that he had obtained an inheritance. The inheritance allowed him to grow from a dragonkin to the Crag Dragonking. ¡°Once my dragon blood reaches sixty percent ratio, I can choose a Bloodline Talent from an array of abilities as my heritance ability. After forming my own dragon crystal then I can choose another Bloodline Talent.¡± With the heritance skills that Lin Sheng had obtained, he would be able to gain a Bloodline Talent after growing to a certain threshold. As long as he continuously converted more souls into dragon blood, he could undergo explosive growth, enter a new level, and obtain another Bloodline Talent. ¡°Let me see... I¡¯m almost at sixty percent ratio now, and once I reach it, I can select a Bloodline Talent.¡± Lin Sheng got off the ritual matrix as he walked into the istion chamber and sat on the chair there. The istion chamber slowly closed behind him. This was a room that he had purposely used to train by himself. It could be opened from inside but would need a few more extra steps. This was to prevent him from rushing out of the basement in the event he lost control of himself. ¡°Let¡¯s start.¡± Lin Sheng sat on the chair as he slowly closed his eyes. The inheritance in his blood told him that upon absorbing that dragon crystal andpleting this selection, he would be able to sessfully the limit of sixty percent dragon blood ratio in his body. Just as Lin Sheng closed his eyes, a thunderous growl rumbled from afar and shook his entire blood. His gaze suddenly fell and turned microscopic into his own blood. *Bam!!* Amid the sound of something falling into the water, Lin Sheng¡¯s vision blurred as he fell into a crimson ocean, and he sank deeper and deeper. Within the blood sea, light was scarce and faint, his vision only limited to about ten meters before him. From time to time, a series of bubbles would float up toward the surface. And he continued to sink, and sink, and sink. Suddenly Lin Sheng¡¯s vision brightened, as two crystal ball-like light orbs floated up and stopped before him. Within the light orbs were two different series of letters. Lin Sheng looked on in detail as two information screens appeared before him. ¡°Control Earth; Stoneskin.¡± Upon understanding the content, Lin Sheng held his hand out for Control Earth without any hesitation. An ability that has multiple uses was much more useful to him than a purely defensive one. *Bam!!* Just as his hand gently touched the light orb, a shapeless information stream entered his mind. ¡°To infuse it with holy power or dark power?¡± ¡°Hmm??¡± Lin Sheng was astonished. This ability wants him to choose between infusing it with dark or holy power? For a spell like Control Earth, what changes would happen should he infuse it with either power? The defining trait of holy power was to heal and purify all other powers, while the dark powers¡¯ trait was to corrupt, infect, and corrode a living being¡¯s soul, and to turn it into a monster. Since he had already chosen, there was no room for regrets now. After some pondering, Lin Sheng chose to infuse it with holy power. The moment he made his choice, his vision blurred again as the vast red ocean disappeared. Once again he returned to the istion chamber in the underground basement. Slowly, a cking sound could be heard from inside his body as something seemed to be growing, expanding, and getting stronger. At the same moment, his chest and abdomen started radiating bright, gentle light as if a blinding light source was shining from within. He stayed still. This was the holy power instinctively growing stronger and breakthrough its former limit after the body and spirit were strengthened. At the same time, a natural instinctive ability to control earth started flowing from the deep within his Crag Dragon blood into his mind. However, that was not all of it as his holy power broke through and was raised to Level 11, with a new talent forming as well. A mysterious new light gold rune floated between the torrents of holy power in his chest. *Hummm...* Control Earth and the golden rune suddenly resonated naturally into the same frequency and it disappeared as quickly as it came. A few minutester. Lin Sheng opened his eyes as his holy power within his body or his blood had all calmed down as a brand new ability had been infused into his blood. ¡°Sacred Grounds ¨C Create a permanent holy ground, and anyone who is anointed by the master of the sacred ground would gain massive boons while standing on it. ¡°Empowerment effect: Strength+1, Speed+1, Reaction+4, Recovery+4, Resistance against Energy+4.¡± Lin Sheng was speechless as he read the description of the effects. The +1 marker meant a one-fold increase based on the standard of the inheritance. Then +4 would mean a four-fold increase. ¡°Wow, as expected of a Level 11 holy talent. It has even merged with the talent from the Crag Dragon blood.¡± What was terrifying was that the boon affected him as well... Chapter 333 - Assassination: Part 1

Chapter 333: Assassination: Part 1

¡°Let¡¯s try this out.¡± Lin Sheng wanted to try the Sacred Ground ability out. He pondered for a bit as he held his hand out and gently exerted some strength towards the ground inside the istion chamber. Silently, a gentle white light with golden sands radiated from his palm as the whitend quickly seeped into the ground as it made contact with it. The originally grey stone floor suddenly started turning white at a speed the eye could perceive. At the same time, faint but pure holy aura started radiating from the ground. The stone b seemed to be absorbing every energy from around it and converting them into holy power. ¡°Wow!!¡± Lin Sheng continued to observe. Using about 10 percent of his holy power, he is able to create one square meter of Sacred Ground. He stopped right at the one square meter mark just to calcte how much Sacred Ground he could create in a single go. ¡°So that is to say if I were to use up all of my holy power, I can create ten square meters of Sacred Ground. ¡°Once the Sacred Ground is created, though, it will start to absorb all over energies from around it, and converting it to holy power before releasing it back to the air for perpetuity...¡± He squatted down and gently touched the area that had been turned into Sacred Ground. The originally cold, rough stone b felt warm and smooth now as if an instor had been installed beneath it. ¡°It¡¯s weakening, but very, very slowly.¡± Lin Sheng could sense that the Sacred Ground was not actually permanent. ¡°At this rate, it will probably take about three hundred years for it to fully deplete and return to a normal b.¡± He then stood up and walked towards the Sacred Ground he had created. Just as he stood in it, he felt that his body, bone, blood, and skin all started to feel a mysterious warmth, as if bizarre radiation was stimting his entire body. He lifted his hand up as he saw his arm visibly expanding and his skin turning even whiter with a shred of gold in it, like an invible metal. ¡°It works! I could feel that my strength has increased. While I don¡¯t have ways to test out the other perimeters, there should¡¯ve been some increase as well.¡± Lin Sheng pinched his flesh and it felt like he was pinching a sturdy tree bark, impressing even himself. After he was sure that the Sacred Ground was effective, Lin Sheng quickly transformed the entire istion chamber into sacred ground. As he had already nned to use this ce as his base in Miga, he might as well get it over and done with. It would be helpful when he starts with more rigorous experimenting. Standing on the Sacred Ground massively increases his abilities while any non-holy beings would be greatly suppressed. A pure energy being like the dark spirits would definitely be the target most debilitated by this. Lin Sheng had nned to build a Dark Gate, and open a path to the Dark Realm. The Sacred Ground woulde in very handy. He first focused on the few core locations where he would be storing items, or if it was of importance to expel all unusual energies. He had also noticed another boon of the Sacred Ground. The ability to expel all other energies was actually the best form of istion as not only all other energies would not be able to get close, they would be instantly expelled and purified by the holy power. Thus, stepping into the Sacred Ground itself would be difficult, much less trying to scout the ce out. So, Lin Sheng used the entire night, and his reservoir of holy power to create Sacred Grounds as he rested and recovered in between. With that, he had turned the entire key areas of the basement into Sacred Grounds. Afterpleting that, it was almost twelve already, so Lin Sheng sent a message to Mi back in the Soul Fortress that he would not be heading back to rest. Instead, he simply found a bed to lie down and sleep. With the expenditure of holy power today, even with his Level 11 holy power could not stop him from feeling exhausted as sleepiness started to overwhelm him. Ever since he had strengthened his Crag Dragon blood, Lin Sheng had been beaming with energy and had not been able to enter the dream for a long while now. So he decided to sleep, and enter the dream to test out his newly gained powers. ... The familiar ticking of the clock rang out as Lin Sheng opened his eyes in the darkness. He was standing in the middle of a dark spiral staircase, and all around him were densely packed dark rotting corpses. In his hand was a candle stand with a yellow light on it. The gentle candlelight radiated all around with him as the center. Yet, there were no shadows from the light, not even casting a shadow behind him. ¡°Interesting.¡± Lin Sheng lifted the candle stand up high as he continued walking downwards. Within the darkness, the spiral stairways went twelve stories down. And this time around, it was nothing but calm and quiet, unlike the wave of monsters like time around. Under the bright candlelight, Lin Sheng very quickly reached the bottom-most level. Over there, was a giant menacing bronze door. On it was a human-shaped monstrous relief. The monster¡¯s arms were wide opened as they were nailed into both ends of the door. Its legs were missing and in its ce was all sorts of packed metallic motifs, like a circuit board extending all the way to the end of the wall. ¡°Ah... it has been a while since someonest came here.¡± The monster¡¯s leopard-like jaws slowly opened as a nasal voice rumbled out of it. It was in Deviltongue. Lin Sheng stood by its side and looked at the monster. ¡°Who are you?¡± he asked, using Deviltongue as well. ¡°Answer the question. Mistakes beget punishment.¡± The monster on the door did not even bother with him as it continued to speak. Lin Sheng asked once again and the monster only repeated that. After a few repetitions, Lin Sheng suddenly felt a sense of solitude and destion. For a world that had been destroyed, he probably should have never hoped to find a being that still retained its senses. For too long a time, too long a struggle had left every life there barren, save for a tiny shred of will to live. They could still speak but may have long lost their ability tomunicate. ¡°What question?¡± Lin Sheng decided to go along instead. ¡°What will happen when the ck willow root is soaked in a razorviper¡¯s drool?¡± the monster on the door asked. ¡°Tragedy.¡± Lin Shengshed out a kick. *Bammm!!* A powerful surge of holy power wrapped around his right leg as he kicked out. A blinding white light and thick ck smoke collided and exploded. The light tore through the ck smoke and drew lines upon lines of burn marks all over the ck wall. The door monster squealed as its face was caved in by the kick. It quickly shriveled as white smoke came out of its husk, and a momentter, it was reduced from a relief into a two-dimensional drawing. Silence descended again and what remained was a pile of ash from the collision between the white light and the ck mist. *ck.* The door slowly opened as a peaceful, azure sky was revealed inside. Lin Sheng leaped through the gap. *Hah.* At that instant, he felt like he had gone through a thin gentle membrane as the candle stand in his hand let out a bright light and enveloped him within it, not unlike a soap bubble. Chapter 334 - Assassination: Part 2

Chapter 334: Assassination: Part 2

Lin Sheng descended slowly alongside the wind like a bubble amid the blue sky. He looked upwards and saw the door he hade through slowly closing shut. ¡°The hell is this ce?¡± He then looked down. Thend was vast and borderless, and what greeted him were ruins, a sea of grey ruins. Beneath him was arge city, so big it was that he could not see the edge of the city even with a birds-eye view. However, ny percent of the city had already copsed, and from afar, it looked like a massive junkyard or a giant graveyard. It was silent, deste, and eerie. ¡°Not even birds or insects?¡± Lin Sheng frowned slightly, and aside from the cold, piercing wind, there was no sound, no movement in the city. He slowly descended inside the bubble, and soon madendfall on the top of a tilting spire. *Crack!* Both Lin Sheng¡¯s feetnded on the top of the tower and broke a few tiles in the process. The bubble around him suddenly popped and disappeared as the candlelight extinguished. Lin Sheng simply ced the candle stand at his back before squatting and grabbing onto the tip of the spire. The spire had a seventy-degree slop to it, and toward the top of the tower was a closed stained ss window. Lin Sheng carefully climbed to the stained ss window andnded a light blow. *Crack!!* The stained ss cracked. Lin Sheng smashed it a couple more times, and after he had made a hole that could fit him did he leap into it. Beneath the hole was a small observatory, in it was a telescope-like device and dust coated the floor. By the edge of the wall was a white skeleton that was holding onto its head, while a silver bowl and forky scattered on the ground. ¡°That sucks.¡± Lin Sheng swept his gaze over the skeleton. ¡°Seems like the person starved to death.¡± He walked to the corner of the room, and on the floorboard was a rectangr metal cover that had been locked shut. ¡°This is probably the passage leading downstairs.¡± Lin Sheng broke the lock and tossed it aside before pulling the metal cover te open. Underneath it was another room that was much wider. Lin Sheng leaped down andnded on a sofa that had already been horribly battered. The moment hended, it kicked up a storm of debris. ¡°Bloody hell.¡± With a wave of his hand, countless of dark power particles spread open and turned into an air current that sucked all of the dust in before turning into a giant serpent and flew out from the broken window on the side. Instantly, the room was clean. He then looked around the room. There was a table, a chair, an embedded book rack, and a small oval bed. That was everything inside the room. ¡°There was a skeleton on top there, but why there¡¯s nothing here? Why was it locked shut?¡± Lin Sheng had plenty of questions and did not lower his guard as he carefully inspected his surroundings. There was nothing around as the ce looked it like had been deserted long ago. He slowly made his way to the table. There was a sand clock there, about the size of a palm. The silver sand inside the clock had already all flowed to the bottom side. He held his hand out toward the clock. *Hiss!!* A thick puff of ck smoke suddenly floated out from the clock and formed into a menacing human face. ¡°I curse you! Curse you! Curse¡ª¡± *Bam!* The sand clock suddenly exploded. Lin Sheng had only just managed to catch a glimpse of the human face speaking before he felt strands of unknown energies were trying to stealthily make its way into his body. Yet, with his holy power flowing wildly all over his body, the closer that energy got to his skin, the bigger the pressure it felt. In the end, it could not withstand the resistance and the sand clock shattered. Lin Sheng did not pay it much mind, with his Level 11 holy power, he felt that he was now immune to mostmon curses and hexes. He then pulled open the only drawer on the table. Inside it was a mess of notes, crystals, gems, coins, and cigarettes. Lin Sheng took up a gold coin. On it was a relief of a three-headed dragon, while the image of a long-haired, solemn-lookingdy graced the flip side, and beneath the image was a series of tiny writings. ¡°A script that I don¡¯t recognize, it¡¯s not Deviltongue either... a new ce after all?¡± Lin Sheng threw the coin back into the drawer and started rummaging through it. After going through the entire drawer, he finally found something different in at a corner of the drawer. It was a scroll. An old brown scroll made out of ck sticks and yellow cloth. There was a transparent silk ribbon tied to the scroll. With the ribbon as the center, there were ck floral patterns on the edge of the scroll, while the bottom part was crammed full of words. Lin Sheng¡¯s curiosity was piqued. The city was clearly ruins of a city annihted, and for him to find a scroll here, he had no idea what content it would have. He took up the scroll to sense it, and only felt a very faint energy fluctuation on it, around two or three-wing. So without any hesitation, he pulled the ribbon apart and opened the scroll *ck!* Yellow lightning suddenly shot out from the scroll. The lightningnded on the ground and instantly turned into a two-meter tall person made out of lightning. Amid the intense crackling of electricity, the humanoid form floated impassively in midair. Its upper body was of a muscr brute¡¯s frame, while its lower body was made out of storm clouds with yellow lightning shing from time to time. ¡°A thunder elemental summon?¡± Lin Sheng was astonished as he guessed. The thunder elemental had no expression, its eyes nk as it floated in the air awaiting his orders. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Can you talk?¡± ¡°Are you able tomunicate?¡± Lin Sheng changed into a few othernguages but it elicited no response from the thunder elemental. Aside from a few simplemands given from his heart, the elemental ignored the rest. ¡°It looked like a humanoid AI. Uh, no, not even an AI.¡± Lin Sheng was slightly speechless. He looked at the scroll in his hand. The item was already consumed; while the patterns on it were still around, all of the power inside it had disappeared. He could bring that back to study. Putting the scroll away, Lin Sheng carefully studied the thunder elemental, but before he could get a working understanding of it, thetter had automatically dissipated into countless of lightning arcs before disappearing. While he had found a scroll and had wasted it, the finding increased Lin Sheng¡¯s drive to continue searching. After rummaging through the entire ce, and was sure that there was nothing else, Lin Sheng opened the floorboard toward the level below and leaped down. This time, just as he jumped, Lin Sheng could hear a piercing riping toward him while he was still up in the air, and they were all around him! He had no time to wonder as he unleashed his dark powers into countless dark green spikes toward the sharp objects. *ng ng ng!!* Amid the shing, Lin Shengnded in a half-squat on the ground and stood up. It was a wide ring-shaped hall. The hall was filled with white cobwebs as ck monsters with bat wings screeched one after another, as they charged at him again after being repelled by the dark power threads. These monsters hadrge bat wings, while they wore simple grey clothing. There were both male and female monsters, without any young or old. They looked like harpies, but their wings were bat wings instead of the usual bird wings, and among them were not only females but males too. Chapter 335 - Assassination: Part 3

Chapter 335: Assassination: Part 3

Lin Sheng had originally nned to talk, but the moment he saw ck misting out of the monsters¡¯ mouth and nose, and the frenzied hostility in their bloodshot eyes, he had to put that n to rest. ¡°Since they have bat wings, let¡¯s just call you guys Batwings then,¡± Lin Sheng said to himself. Hundreds of dark power threads shot out from his side into the cluster of Batwings, as they hit thender¡¯s wings and limbs. *Bam bam bam!!* The Batwings were frail, slightly above a Transcendent level, and could not withstand Lin Sheng¡¯s dark power threads. Aside from the asional parrying using their metallic ws, all of them were soon taken down without any exceptions. Lin Sheng had wanted to try to see if these corrupted monsters could be saved. He had no concern for the monsters in the dream world, but if someone he cares about were corrupted by the ck mist one day, would there be a chance to save them? Using the dark power threads, Lin Sheng bound all of the Batwings onto the wall as he made his way to the strongest looking male Batwing. He held his hand out and ced it gently on the Batwing¡¯s shoulder. Strands upon strands of dark power pierced into the Batwing¡¯s shoulder like roundworms, as they started squirming within its body. Lin Sheng dared not use his holy power as its resistance bias was just too strong. Plus the ck smoke was an antithesis to it, and its level was much higher than the dark power. He then closed his eyes to sense and monitor. A momentter, the Batwing suddenly opened its mouth as a mechanical cking rang out from its throat as blood started oozing out from the corner of its eyes as ck smoke shot out from its ears and nostrils. A tumor the size of a head slowly grew in its chest and was gettingrger andrger like a balloon. *Boom!!* The then tumor exploded. At the veryst moment, Lin Sheng activated his dark power crystal defensive matrix and warded off the hail of bone and flesh. He then took a step back, his expression impassive. ¡°These Batwings are pretty much walking corpses. Their organs had already long withered away, and only depends on the ck mist to drive their instincts... ¡°Even their brains are mush with a big part of it missing. I won¡¯t be able to cure them at this stage. ¡°A pity.¡± Lin Sheng then turned to the other Batwings. Their condition was all the same. The brain part where the memory control was within the Batwings were all gone, and he had no means to cure them. ¡°Forget it.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head as hemanded his dark power threads to put an end to them. A couple of thudster, over a dozen Batwings fell onto the ground, released from their mortal coil. Lin Sheng waited for a moment and very quickly, streams upon streams of ck lines formed and flew into his chest. Countless of soul fragments entered his mind, as arge volume of images, sound, memories followed the intense emotions as they crashed like a tidal wave against his soul vault. After collecting so many souls and memories, Lin Sheng¡¯s soul form was like a star system. In the center with a faint white-golden halo, was his main soul, and the soul had a very strong gravitational pull to it as countless of densely packed soul fragments spun frenziedly around it. In the process, these soul fragments were slowly being devoured and absorbed. That was the process of Lin Sheng absorbing the soul fragments within his body. And it was the same this time. After absorbing about a dozen Batwing¡¯s soul fragments, Lin Sheng had no time to check them in detail before hearing the ticking of the clock getting louder and louder. ¡°It¡¯s almost time...¡± He then leaped back up to the level above and closed the metal cover, then repeated the motion again until he reached the rooftop. After closing the metal floor cover, Lin Sheng simply just sat on it as his vision blurred and his surrounding started to spin. Soon, his vision turned ck, and he lost consciousness. However, two secondster, Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness returned to him as he once again has control of his body. The ticking of the clock went away. And soon, he could hear nothing except his own breathing and heartbeat. Slowly, he woke up from the darkness. He was sleeping in a temporary bedroom in the basement. It was dark, and only the sound of the venttion exhaust fan spinning. He justy there for a while. *Whoof!* A sudden howl of wind came from the ground and Lin Sheng sprang up as he felt a surge of dark power rushing through. And it was not the only one. ¡°There are Darksider¡¯s fighting!¡± His senses were extremely sharp now, and he could urately judge it after a short moment. ¡°At this time...¡± He looked at the clock on the wall. ¡°5:20 am. They sure are daring to strike at a busy ce like this. They¡¯re not afraid about the Asterism taking action?¡± The manor Adolf had bought for him was the most bustling ce of the town, the Downtown District. Not too far from his ce was the tallest building in the city, Migan Agricultural Bank. The security of this area was about the same as the city hall area, someone actually dared to strike it. Something bothered Lin Sheng as he got up and changed into dark long clothes as dark power crystal formed ayer of green mist over his face. ¡°That¡¯s that.¡± He opened the basement door and closed it behind it before his silhouette blurred and disappeared. ... Henriqc City was thrown into a scene of chaos at dawn. The streets were empty without any pedestrians as police sirens red all across the area. There were incidents everywhere. Asterism had been sending men to aid the local police, but it was futile. With over a dozen incidents erupting at the same time, with murder and prison breaks, the situation sent panic to the Asterism Superintendent. Just as Lin Sheng got out, and saw two figures shing before a convenience store about a hundred meters away. One was d in ck police uniform, and another was bare-chested as red glow shone from his waist. The two seemed to be equal, but Lin Sheng could tell at a nce that the Asterism officer was at his limits. It was not just him, the dark power auras from a few other battles in the distance, the neutral dark power aura of the Asterism officers were weakening. ¡°Seems like the whole situation is FUBAR for them.¡± Lin Sheng said as he simply raised his hand toward the two. *Bam!* A rapid burst of dark power pierced through the bare-chested man¡¯s chest. He let out a painful scream as he fell backward unconscious, his skin ckened as his mouth foamed. The Asterism officer was ted and quickly made his way to Lin Sheng. ¡°They are members of the terrorist group Sevenlocks tower! They are attacking the university while all of the school¡¯s elites away! If you are willing to help, please go to the university!¡± ¡°Sevenlocks Tower?¡± ¡°The person leading the assault is one of their cadres, the Immtor Kalthalia! I saw him flying over earlier and the Baine University grounds had been under some mysterious lockdown. It must¡¯ve been them!¡± After the office quickly briefed him on what was going on, he then went along to support the other officers. ¡°Cadre? Sevenlocks Tower?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s interest was piqued. This faction actually dared to hit Baine University straight on. Even if most of the school¡¯s elites were already away, there were still a few Five-wingers in it. ¡°But... there might be something nice like the soul vessels.¡± With that in mind, Lin Sheng left the ce and dashed toward the university. Chapter 336 - The Raid: Part 1

Chapter 336: The Raid: Part 1

Thick, ck smoke rose from thekeside of Baine University. By thekeside, a figure with triangr see-through shields was fighting with a group of masked men in ck armor. Streams of dark powers crashed and exploded, letting out a thunderous crash. Scorching green light and ck smoke spread out continuously as uneven craters were gouged out upon the verdant grasnd. *Bam!!* A figure fell into theke and kicked up a massive ssh. Before he could even get up, a cold, silver light shot out like a beam into theke and struck the person square in the chest. By the shore, Bluetail gently pulled his right arm back as he twirled the long blue hair on the side of his face with his pinkie. He had a very muscr body, which was d in blue female tights. His lips were coated with blood-red lipstick while red eyeshadow lined his eyes. He seemed strong, bizarre, and charming. That would be the first impression most would have upon seeing him. ¡°Did you see that? This is the result of being stubborn.¡± Bluetail gently forked his hand over his waist, as he skipped over toward Baine University. Behind him were three people, all massive men and women d in white armor. They were professionals sent from the Sect of Thousand Graces, Whalerudder, and cklion. The Whalerudder was the powerful dark-skinneddy with white hair, whom Lin Sheng had met before, Fea. The other two were male, one looked like a rich kid in sunsses while another wore a short white t-shirt and jeans, as his muscles twitched about like a standard bodybuilding trainer. ¡°Master Bluetail, we are going to hit Baine University head-on? Don¡¯t we have any ns?¡± the rich kid-looking Madram could not help but ask. ¡°n?¡± Bluetail broke into a mischievous smile. ¡°Are you ordering me about?¡± He turned around and slowly stared at Madram, a glint of bloodlust and madness appearing in his eyes. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare, but this is a joint operation by the Sevenlocks Tower and our Sect of Thousand Graces. Regardless, we do not wish for any unforeseen incidents in the operation, so wouldn¡¯t it be better if things could go a lot smoother?¡± ¡°Smoother? That means you think my n is no good as yours?¡± Bluetail ran his finger gently across his lips, painting it red. Madram¡¯s expression turned dark as his body subconsciously tensed up. Bluetail, while an operator of Sevenlocks Tower, was a genuine maniac. If not for his attitude problem, he would not have been sent out as the vanguard. One needed to know that the casualty ratio for the vanguards is always the highest. ¡°You know I did not mean that. But Our Sect of Thousand Graces is just a mere small force, and cannot afford to send men anywhere like you. So if we do not agree to the n of action, the sect¡¯s team will not join in the main force,¡± Madram insisted. ¡°Heheh... pitiful... pitiful caution...¡± Bluetail pulled his hand away and wore an exaggerated helpless look. ¡°So that means you¡¯re threatening me?¡± His expression suddenly turned chilly. Madram gasped. ¡°No, I did not mean...¡± Suddenly, a massive blue tail shed before his eyes as the ten-odd-meter-long spiked tail crashed against him like a speeding freight train. Madram let out a howl as a three-meter-tall green ram appeared and fused with him. His body suddenly grew as ram horns appeared on his head, as he lowered it to block the attack. *Bammm!!!* An explosion rang out all across Madram like shattered ss as he flew up into the air and spurted blood as he went, before crashing into theke. A gruntter, a white water pir sted out from the surface of theke as mud roiled at the bottom of it. The blue monstrous tail returned to Bluetail like a bolt of lightning as he smiled while cing his finger in his lips. ¡°Anyone has any other opinions?¡± The remaining two members of the sect kept silent and dared not speak. Madram was their leader and the strongest among the three of them. For someone with an Oppressor-ss ability to be so easily pummeled into half-death into theke, Whaleruder and cklion dared not say anything at all. ¡°Seems like both of you have nothing to add. Let¡¯s go.¡± Bluetail then took big strides towards the university gate. Every other distance he walked, a ten-meter-long half-translucent monster tail would appear as it swept around, sending every student or teacher flying and tethering on the brink of death. Soon, however, an old man rippling in cold blue light with a staff in hand slowly walked out of the gate. ¡°Bluetail, it is you,¡± the old man said as a white, mysterious matrix akin to a mistletoe spun within his eye. ¡°Thirty years, and you are getting older, and older, Cainphas.¡± Bluetail stopped as he looked at the old man about twenty meters away. The old man smiled. ¡°You couldn¡¯t defeat me thirty years ago. It will be the same today.¡± He lifted his staff and gently tapped it against the ground. *Ting!* The moment the other end of the staff made contact against the ground, a gentle, hidden ripple rang out. The ripple quickly expanded and enveloped every heretic within a fifty-meter radius, Bluetail included. ¡°Skyfrost!¡± The mistletoe matrix within the old man¡¯s eyes lit up in blue light. *Bam bam bam!!* At that instant, barely a fraction of a secondter, a sea of white frost emanated from his feet and engulfed the entire rippled area. White frost quickly crept up the shoes, back of the leg and thighs of the heretics before rapidly freezing, expanding, and exploding. *Bam bam bam!!* Within a second, countless of blood-colored snow flowers bloomed at the same time within the fifty-meter radius. ... Inside the gloomy city before dawn. Amid the skyscrapers, a muscr frame was moving like an agile cat as the figure rapidly jumped his way from building to building. Soon, a sea of buildings was left behind the figure. He did not stop as he traversed districts after districts as neither malls, shoppingplexes, residential areas or parks could slow him down. Not long after, the figure suddenly paused as he stood silently on top of a massive billboard above a shopping mall. The figure was d in dark grey long shirt and pants, with a dark green crystal mask on his face; revealing only a clean-shaven chin. It was Lin Sheng. He quietly stood at the corner where the light did not shine and looked at the Soul Fortress¡¯ entrance from afar. It was nothing but quiet, and only a couple of drunkards were screaming about as they sat on the steps. Many shops have yet to open their shutters, as it was not yet operations hours. Or perhaps it already was, but no one dared to open their doors. ¡°It seems like this ce is not the target. Should be safe.¡± Lin Sheng took a step back andunched himself into the air as strands upon strands of dark power threads formed around him. The threads then formed into stable tforms to allow him to quickly leap forward. Shortly after, he left the Soul Fortress entrance far behind him. A few minutester, he reappeared near a fountain za as a four-meter-tall dark figure was fighting with two green wolves. Chapter 337 - The Raid: Part 2

Chapter 337: The Raid: Part 2

*Bam!!* The giant shadow in the za roared as it smashed its fist into the head of one of the giant wolves and sent it crashing into the ground. Just as it was about tounch a kick, another wolf immediately pounced upon him. The three starting a furious melee and trashed the za apart. Lin Sheng simply looked from afar. The two giant wolves were transformed into two assistant tutors in Baine University uniform while therge shadow as a monster with two heads, and a wing of pure ck. ¡°What a thick Shade aura...¡± Lin Sheng sniffed as intrigue appeared on his face. ¡°There¡¯s at least a few hundred souls of Shades on that bastard¡¯s body alongside dark power and some other energies and materials. Quite a unique design...¡± Lin Sheng let out a praise, but praises aside, he still needed to act. He leaped up, and his silhouette shed passed the Shade Homonculus. *Crack!!!* Two beams of pure holy light shot down from the heavens, and sted through the Shade Homonculus¡¯ twin heads with extreme precision, before secondary explosions ran across its body, tearing multiple burning rents all over. *Roarrrr!!* The Homonculus let out a painful roar as its arm that was outstretched to grab onto one of the giant wolves shuddered violently before falling limply onto the ground. A momentter, its entire body was reduced into grey dust and flew away with the wind. In a blink of an eye, a four-meter-tall monster simply just vanished from the za, leaving no trace behind. The two giant wolves flickered as they shrank into two middle-aged men. ¡°What... What was that?¡± One of them looked on in a daze at the Shade Homonculus¡¯ prior location and was at a loss on what to do. ¡°That¡¯s a Shade monster that is almost at Oppressor-ss...it just took a moment...¡± The other person was at a loss too. Not too far away, Lin Sheng rapidly leaped about toward thergest entrance into Baine University. As he got close, he could vaguely sense the fluctuations of arge number of souls. ¡°It has to be a soul vessel! And a vessel with a volume wayrger than the one I got before! Only such arge vessel could be able to deploy such arge zone of influence!¡± After absorbing so many memories, Lin Sheng¡¯s knowledge about the soul vessels was unlike before. He could now sense the soul fluctuations when the vessel was activated and calcte its rough position. He could even use certain calction forms to calcte the strength of the vessel and its release efficiency. Lin Sheng quickly ran across the buildings, and the closer he got, the more he felt that the vessel was different than the rest. Compared with the one he got previously, the volume this one had was at least twice the total about he previously got. ¡°If I manage to get my hands on that, I could possibly break through the next holy power level and reach Level 12! A proper level for a councillor!¡± Not long after, he finally arrived at thergest entrance to Baine University, Lewin Park. The park was pitch ck as all of its lightning facilities had been extinguished. There was no sound, no movements, no bird chirpings nor any insects buzzing. Even the university¡¯s hidden realm entrance could not be detected. ¡°Has it been closed?¡± Lin Sheng curiously held his hand out. The entrance that previously would open using a little dark power was dormant. He could sense that a faint frosted ss-like membrane was shrouding the entrance. ¡°Something is interfering with my senses.¡± Lin Sheng looked around as a faint golden glow appeared in his eyes. Soon, a floating orb instation guarded two semi-translucent humanoid forms entered his sight. The three were deep inside the park, unmoving as potent yet bizarre waves emanated out of it, disrupting the dark power senses within the vicinity. ¡°So it¡¯s here?¡± Lin Sheng had an idea and decided against using his real identity, so he simply switched to another one. With a wide smile, he made toward the direction in huge strides. Just as he stepped into the park, a couple of masked heretics in ck clothes appeared from the shadows. ¡°Who are you? Entry is forbidden here!¡± The leading person had two orange me orbs floating by his shoulder. The dark power crystal mask on Lin Sheng¡¯s face started twitching as it changed into a mask with a crying face. He slowly made his way toward the mass of people as a blinding orb of holy light radiated from his right palm. ¡°I smell the stench of evil...¡± The holy light in his palm was gettingrger and brighter. ¡°Kill him!¡± the masked heretic ordered. Streams of dark powers exploded into being as dark power threads and mes came flying from three directions. The scorching green light formed into a massive torrent with a ming core toward Lin Sheng. It was abined attack by at least two digits worth of heretics. They had managed to instinctively detect danger and had unleashed everything they had. Lin Sheng did not retreat, rather a smirk appeared on his face as holy light ley lines crawled all over his right up like blood vessels. He then lifted his shoulder as he charged forward while hurling his fist forward. ¡°Armor of Dawn!¡± A light pir descended upon him as an argent armor took form. ¡°Repent, heretics!¡± Lin Sheng roared as his fist struck out. *Boom!!* The pure white holy light exploded with the radiance of the sun and engulfed the dark powers. The light pierced through the thick clouds like the first light after a storm. The radiance soon faded, and on the surface of the park were only bits and pieces of the heretics¡¯ clothing. Being struck by the cleansing me of concentrated holy lights, their bodies were reduced to ash. ¡°Death to all heretics!¡± Lin Sheng rposed himself as he let out a cold sneer before taking huge strides deep into the park. The moment his silhouette disappeared into the woods, a few gazes appeared from the streets not too far away from the park. ¡°That power... that¡¯s like...¡± A Baine University¡¯s tutor had a conflicted look on his face. ¡°He only needed one-tenth of that power to defeat those heretics, but that unknown ace instead used ten times the power... That¡¯s just overkill...¡± ¡°Thankfully, that person seems to be an enemy of evil, and an ally. Probably some ace living in seclusion wanting his or her peace back,¡± another person guessed. It was not too farfetched an idea, as there were a number of aces who upon awakening their dark powers, continued to train quietly as they lived normal lives. One of the Ptinates of Carta nche was like that. ¡°But that temperament indicates otherwise...¡± The person before said slightly awkwardly. The two still had things to say before they suddenly saw a white light sting out from deep inside the park as a formless shockwave shot out across the park. ¡°The disruptor has been destroyed? Can it be? Is that person that powerful? There are two Oppressor-ss cadres over there...¡± The two looked on in a daze at the light and was left speechless. With the disruption gone, the entrance to Baine University soon reappeared like normal. ¡°Let¡¯s head to the school!¡± The two woke up from their stupor and dashed toward the entrance, but another figure was quicker than them as a white sh flickered by and Lin Sheng disappeared into the entrance. Chapter 338 - The Raid: Part 3

Chapter 338: The Raid: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The grasnd around Baine University was actually a few kilometers wide. On the carefully curated grasnd, streams upon streams of green light crashed and exploded as ethereal beasts formed out of dark powers tore at one another. The students and tutors remaining in the school had formed into smallbat units based around their respective workshops and fought independently while the professors, all of them at least Oppressor-ss levels were the main pir of thisbat force. The Sevenlocks Tower and Sect of Thousand Gear had gathered at least sixty cadres and focused all of them to this small area. For someone to be a cadre in either Sevenlocks Tower or the Sect of Thousand Graces were at least four-wing Oppressors, and every one of them outside was an infamous criminal. As the leader of the heretical sects, the Sevenlocks Tower had called upon at least half of the Migan heretical aces for the operation, forming three different strike forces to assault three of the Sealed Realms. Baine University was the weakest of the realms. The operation was almost like a small scale war between the Sevenlocks Tower and Carte nche¡¯s hidden realm. And these wars between Transcendents were much more destructive than Redwin¡¯s invasion of Xilin. Even without any battleship cannonades or fighter jets, the destruction wrought was no less devastating, much more even. Bluetail simply just stood there as he crossed his arms over his chest, behind him a monstrous blue tail pounded upon a white ice barrier repeatedly with deadly intent. It was silence all around as no one dared to get close to the battlefield. Those with an ounce of bravery had all perished. ¡°You are old, andpared to that time, not only did you not get any stronger, you¡¯ve gotten weaker...¡± Bluetail¡¯s expression was calm, sympathetic even. ¡°And I, am still as beautiful, and even stronger...¡± He held his right hand out as a small blue dark power squirrel. The originally cute squirrel bore a totally different form in his hands. The squirrel looked normal in most respects, but it had eight green eyes on its face, and its tail was muchrger than normal. It mbered around Bluetail for a few grounds before stopping, as it stood upon his shoulder and gazed towards the school. ¡°Can you feel it? My dark power minion had already connected to the particle disruptors in the area. No one can reinforce you people, all of the entrance has been sealed shut.¡± He said as he walked towards the elder by the school. ¡°Cainphas, it was your era fifty years ago, and now it is my time!¡± He spread his arms open as a dozen giant tails ripped through the air and crashed against the ice barrier like a heavy artillery barrage. *Bam bam bam!!!* Rents upon rents were being gouged out on the barrier as the staff-wielding elder, supported by two other tutors spat blood, yet his body still let out arge number of dark power threads. The most basic Darksider maniption ability was the threads, and many other abilities were actually built upon the threads as a basis. At that very moment, his ice barrier was being torn apart by the massive force and returned to its most basic thread form. ¡°Hahahaha!! Die! Die! Die!¡± Bluetailughed maniacally as he held his arms open while giant tails pounded the barrier in turn. Amid the deafening din, three Sevenlocks Tower cadres had already deployed a simple teleportation device. As the metal box openedyer byyer, they carefully pulled a walnut-shaped, fist-sized crystal out of it. The three then ced the crystal on the top of the device, and gently turn the activation knob underneath. *Hummmm...* As the sound of electric current rang out, the top of the device opened like a ck petal flower before slowly closing again as the ¡®petals¡¯ grabbed on gently to the crystal. ¡°We canmence now. Soul Transference, connecting to city district unit.¡± ¡°Activating camouge mode.¡± ¡°What about the disruptor?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already sent a remote signal, but no response. Maybe the dark power fluctuations is too strong and had affected signal transmission. Don¡¯t bother about that, let¡¯s get it up and running.¡± ¡°Right!¡± The three quickly tinker about the device as they unleashed their own dark power to transform into various auxiliary tools to run the device. Just as they focused on operating the device, a white silhouette slowly appeared from the grasnd entrance afar. ¡°The soul vessel.¡± Lin Sheng caught sight on the soul vessel the moment he got it. And just as his gaze hadnded on it, he dashed over right way. *Bam bam bam!!* Torrents of holy light shot out like a storm of des with him as the epicenter towards the cultists, and within an instant, over a dozen cultists were pierced by the holy light and died on the spot. There were corpses and gore all over, of the students and teachers left in Baine University, only about eighty were still standing and fighting. Theposite team formed out of the students and teachers was about three hundred strong against about two hundred odd heretics. There were still about half the number of heretics left while the students had suffered heavy casualties. There was a gulf inbat experience, as this was the first time most students stepped into the battlefield. With the Sevenlocks Tower involved, heavy casualties were but a given. The moment Lin Sheng destroyed the disruptor and broke into the school, it was the best possible time to relieve some pressure off of the defenders. ¡°Who goes there?!¡± Two Sevenlocks Tower cadres overflowing with dark powers blocked Lin Sheng¡¯s path. ¡°Death to all heretics!¡± Lin Sheng roared as he held his palm out. Holy power surged out like a tidal wave and turned into light pirs, engulfing the two cadres within. 1The moment Lin Sheng got past them, there were only bits and pieces of broken weaponry as the rest were simply just vaporized. Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes were on the soul vessel. His target was clear and in front of him. Before he even got close, he roared out again. ¡°You dare steal our Holy Sanctum¡¯s vessel?! Death awaits you!!¡± 1With barely ten meters distance away, Lin Sheng held his hand out to unleash his holy power towards the white soul vessel at the top of the device. ¡°The hell? Weren¡¯t this the soul vessel our boss had just made?¡± The three cadres guarding the device were baffled!!¡± ¡°Death to all heretics!¡± Lin Sheng was still in midair as he unleashed a radiance as bright as the sun as he charged towards the device. ¡°You have a death wish!¡± Bluetail, standing not too far away, leaped up in fury as a giant tail mmed brutally onto Lin Sheng. *Booom!!* The two shed against each other in midair like two meteors as white holy power beam and a blue storm of quills rained upon each other and exploded. ¡°You dare to take our holy relic! Die!¡± Lin Sheng sted out circles upon circles of white halos. He may be spewing venom, but he had only formed a couple of holy orbs as he lobbed it at Bluetail before charging towards the vessel. Bluetail had thought that he was about to have to fight for his life, and summoned countless tails to cover himself. In the end, however, Lin Sheng had only tossed a few light orbs over and ran off to snatch the soul vessel; that pissed him off so much he almost spat blood. ¡°Ahhhh, I¡¯ll kill you!!¡± At least a hundred eight-eyed squirrels appeared behind him, and all of them had a massive blue tail. *Bam bam bam!!* A swarm of squirrels charged at Lin Sheng as theyunched their tails like missiles at him. All of the tails then converged into a massive cone as it charged towards Lin Sheng. Six-wing? Just as Lin Sheng was about to grab the soul vessel, he sensed an impending danger behind him. With no other recourse, he turned to face the attack as he turned all of his holy power into a giant Warhammer and smashed it against the charging cone. Thunder struck as Lin Sheng was sent flying and as he crashed and dug a shallow trench through the grasnd. Taking advantage of the attack, Bluetail quicklynded as many more eight-eyed squirrels formed up behind him to form up the second cone attack. The intruder must have already suffered grievous injuries from that attack, and this strike would definitely kill him!! He had no idea where this person came from, but to target the soul vessel so brazenly, and meant only... Hmm? Bluetail¡¯s murderous eyes suddenly went into a daze. The person in white armor who had taken the brunt of his attack was getting up from the grass patch with nary a wound and was roaring as well as charging toward him. ¡°Give us back our holy relic!!¡± Amid the thunderous shing, the two struck at each other again. Chapter 339 - Soul Power: Part 1

Chapter 339: Soul Power: Part 1

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The bright white light and the blue needle twined together, forming columns of blue and white on the pasture with light energy radiating in all directions over the grasnd. The cultists, teachers, and students of Baine University retreated as far as they could to avoid this ce. At the gate of the university, a transparent, triangr shield protected several students and professors. They were taking Cainphas and slowly backed away. Among the students was an eye-catching female student, whose face was 70% simr to Mylissa¡¯s. The Heavens had endowed her with a small waistline and breasts that looked like they were about to burst out of her ck shirt. Her long blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders as she fired green spiked bullets from a ck submachine gun, which was over one meter long. It was a charge gun, one of the standard-issue weapons of dark-energy technology. ¡°Isabel, the teacher is badly wounded. We must find a deblocking agent immediately. The master has terrible hemorrhage. Otherwise...¡± said the youth on the side. ¡°Where is Professor Ayr? He¡¯s an expert in healing!¡± ¡°He¡¯s still isted on the outside!¡± ¡°Damn it!¡± Isabel Cador appeared calm, but she could not hide the worry in her eyes. She had just returned from her mission when she encountered the cult attack, which came as a surprise to her. ¡°I haven¡¯t encountered such a situation for many years. It happens the moment I am back!¡± Isabel looked a little upset. It was no longer a situation a student like her could handle. As one of the top three in the list of students, she could only y the support rule behind the frontline. Oppressor-ss elites, apex Three-wingers, and even Five-wingers pounded the lines of defense of the university. On a normal day, the Three-winged Darksiders would be elites, a rare breed. But now, they were ying the role of foot soldiers. As a shock wave of over ten meters exploded and expanded in the distance, a blue needle twined with a white light flew from afar and scraped past Isabel. She froze, too scared to move a muscle. And then cold sweat trickled down her body, and blood oozed out from the cut on her left face. ¡°I-I was almost KO¡¯ed!¡± ¡°Be careful ... it¡¯s a fight between the Five-wingers. ¡°Cainphas¡¯s coughing voice was heard from behind. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the blue-tailed guy to break through...¡± Before he could finish, he covered his mouth and coughed again. The teachers and students quickly retreated into the university. As soon as they left, a light curtain with a crescent symbol rose from the ground just outside the school¡¯s gate. ¡°Yes! The SET defensive force field is activated!¡± A professor sighed with relief. Thisyer of defensive force field gave them a sense of security. But they still could not move their attention away from the fighting in the distance. ¡°Who is that person? A reinforcement?¡± Isabel watched as the halos burst out. She murmured in horror. ¡°Not a reinforcement. It¡¯s an eliteing for the important items of the Sevenlocks Tower. But if it weren¡¯t for him, we wouldn¡¯t be able toe back in,¡± A professor said, adjusting his sses. ¡°Is it ready?¡± Cainphas looked at the professor. ¡°Ready. The Moon Basin will arrive in half an hour. The Vice-Chancellor is also on his way back, arriving in half an hour too.¡± ¡°Then wait.¡± Cainphas sighed. ¡°If not wrong, the university is not Bluetail¡¯s target. It will take them at least three days to defeat the SET defense system here.¡± ¡°Then what are they after? They are paying such a high price for it.¡± A professor held his wounded arm and asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe¡ª Watch out!¡± Cainphas suddenly barked. A huge energy flow that looked like magma exploded on the film as the blue-and-white light beam hit the SET¡¯s thin defensive film at the gate. It sputtered before disappearing. Liquid and gaseous white holy power, mixed with blue spikes, with huge kic energy, bombarded the sturdy defense system film. Frightened, everyone scattered. Only when they saw the defense system still held up, they calmed down. ¡°It¡¯s time to end this!¡± Cainphas murmured. ... ¡°Scorching Gaze!¡± Hundreds of eight-eyed squirrels emerged from behind Bluetail, staring and shootingser-like blue beams in the form of a cone toward Lin Sheng. ¡°Heresy!¡± Lin Sheng raised his right hand and parried in front of him. A circle of pure white halo, much like a white disc, appeared around his hand, blocking all the beams. At the same time, he straightened his palm into a knife shape and chopped forward. Driven by the Rock Dragon blood, his dark energy, and holy power came together, bursting out with explosive force. As soon as the energy left his hand, it materialized into a simple oval-shaped disc, as thin as the wing of a cicada, and shot at Bluetail. The elliptical disc flew at high speed, driven by the explosive force, hitting Bluetail at its waist. The dark-energy defense film on the disc and Bluetail shed, trying to cut through each other¡¯s defense. Bluetail was sweating profusely after a long fight. He was half-exhausted. Things got worse for him when the disc hit him, further speeding up his energy consumption. He was desperate and stepped up his dark energy output. This time, dozens of giant tails swelled behind him with spots of blue fluorescence. ¡°One Tail!¡± He roared in a low voice, his tails behind him merging into a long, slender one with only the thickness of an arm. ¡°Hunter¡¯s Ring!¡± The long tail curled into a ring, spinning before it disappeared. When the ring reappeared again, it had surrounded Lin Sheng. The long tail tightened its ring, trying to bind Lin Sheng up. Bright light as strong as the sun exploded out of Lin Sheng¡¯s holy power to push back against the constriction of the long tail. At the same time, he used his arms and pulled off a move of neen shes. Each sh carrying the power upsurge of three energies cut into a long tail. However, his attack strength was still one step below that of a Six-winger. He could barely dy the squeezing of the blue tail. Atst, the slender blue tail wrapped around his Armor of Dawn, which creaked in protest. Lin Sheng¡¯s ult had never been powerful because his strengthy in his defense, not attack. As the blue tail kept tightening and Armor of Dawn held its ground, the fight became a stalemate. On the grass below at the instation location of the soul vessel, the light column hit two guards and struck them unconscious to the ground. Another one had his arms charred when he tried to block the holy light with his bare hands. ¡°Final... activation...¡± He struggled, kneeling on one knee on the ground, extending his charred trying to activate the device. Chapter 340 - Soul Power: Part 2

Chapter 340: Soul Power: Part 2

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The remaining five devices had all been set and activated at thest energy node. No more interference from the elites of Baine University. Once activated, the ritual would suck the life out of all non-believers who were within a several-hundred-kilometer radius. This huge number of lives would be the fuel to summon the Divinity¡¯s Advent. This was the n. What about attacking Baine University, though? Without thebined attack of multiple Six-wingers, it would be difficult to defeat the university¡¯s SET system. The Sevenlocks Tower had made the ordinary humans around them their target from the beginning. They did this because these humans were the best ingredient for the blood sacrifice. Just as he struggled to set off the device, a ck-and-gray spike jutted out from his chest. ¡°Who is it?¡± Before the man could turn to look at the attacker, the spike tore open his chest and his skull. His ribs, spine, and internal organs were exposed and blood was all over the ground. Even his blood-stained fat copsed around like bags of water. Whalerudder and cklion emerged from behind with cklion retracting his spike. He then shook off the blood on the weapon. As they looked at therge soul vessel on the device, cklion said, ¡°Do it! Bluetail will lose. We have to go now!¡± Whalerudder nodded. She squatted down and took out an object wrapped in ck fabric from the belt pack on her back. It was an imitation copy of the great soul vessel. When no one was looking, she swapped therge soul vessel on the device with the imitation in just the blink of an eye. As she pressed her hand on the button, the fake soul vessel emitted waves of soul power, just like the original. ¡°Let¡¯s go! This fake stuff could onlyst for five minutes!¡± Whalerudder warned. They did not bother looking at the others. The great soul vessel contained a huge amount of soul power. It did not matter who, as long as there were sufficient otions, anyone could perform the Divinity¡¯s Advent ritual. The great soul vessel, a paragon of its kind, was not evenmon in the Sevenlocks Tower. Right from the start, the cooperation between a cult like the Sect of Thousand Graces and the Sevenlocks Tower was only a marriage of convenience. Now that when interests were at stake, they could just me it all on the elites of Baine University. Fishing in troubled waters and then running away with the paragon was expected. The two nced at Bluetail and Lin Sheng, who were still fighting each other to death in the distance before cklion put the great soul vessel into arge ck metal box. As soon as the great soul vessel was inside the box, it would lose all signs of its soul power. The box insted its energy wave and made it look like an ordinary artificial crystal. ¡°What is that aggressive white power there?¡± Whalerudder knitted her brows as she saw Lin Sheng shooting ray after ray of holy light. ¡°It¡¯s the power from the sanctum,¡± said cklion, his voice unexcited. ¡°I have seen it in the intel department; it¡¯s a group who calls themselves the Sanctum in Xylond. They¡¯re dab hands at using pure and aggressive purification power.¡± ¡°The Sanctum?¡± Whalerudder shook her head and never gave it a second thought. Whoever dared to challenge the cadre of the Sevenlocks Tower must be a kick-ass dark horse. Not to mention it was a battle small fries like them could never interfere with. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± They took off with therge soul vessel. A few people, except a dozen of them, were still fighting on the grasnd. Most people had fallen back into the university¡¯s defense system. No one would stop them, not the cults, the professors, or the students. However, the SET defense system did not block everyone out. At least, students could still get in, provided their names were on the university¡¯s register. Otherwise, they would be on their own outside. Whalerudder and cklion moved to pull the unconscious Madsheep out of theke, made their way across the battlefield, leaped out of the entrance, and vanished. ¡°I will not forget this!¡± Bluetail was struck on the shoulder, and he tumbled to the ground. The impact left a ring of cracks on the earth. He got up, turned, and ran. While he fled, he made his dark energy into an eight-eyed squirrel to attack Lin Sheng, trying to slow him down. Steam was rising from Lin Sheng¡¯s body. It was his sweat vaporizing that created that faint vision. He would not be upset if he could not kill his opponent because he knew hecked the offensive capability to do so. His strength was in the defense department. The dark-energy crystals, the holy power¡¯s Armor of Dawn, and the blood of the Rock Dragon were the best type of defense. It was not an exaggeration to say that his defense capability had far surpassed his offensive strength. But, Bluetail was about to get away. Beating this opponent was not an easy task. Lin Sheng had worn down his opponent by attrition. Even injuring her. If he let her get away, his efforts would be in vain. ¡°Let¡¯s try this. If you can survive this attack, that means your time isn¡¯t up yet!¡± Lin Sheng raised his hand, gathering thest 30% of his holy power on his hand. Taking inspiration from thebat just now, hepressed and formed the energy into three solid discs in his hand and shot them out as if firing a bullet from a gun. It looked rudimentary but good enough. The only problem was, it was exhaustive. ¡°Go to hell!¡± With the flick of his hand, three discs shot forward at once, making a deadly piercing sound through the air. Bluetail was already one hundred meters out in front and thinking she was safe when she heard something swishing in the air. She looked over her shoulder and her pupils constricted in shock. Before she could react, the three discs prated herst bit of dark-energy defense. She froze in her ce. A few secondster, three cut marks with blood appeared on her upper body. The discs sliced her body into four pieces, each sliding off the other onto the grasnd. ¡°I... I won¡¯t ept defeat...¡± Bluetail struggled to utter his final words. He could not believe that he would die here. As an elite with Six-winged strength, he could have gotten away anytime he wanted. Especially when Lin Shengcked the required offensive power. The problem was, he had fought Cainphas previously and been worn down by Lin Sheng. He had no dark energy left with him. So when he sensed the iing disc attack, he had no way to parry nor dodge. ¡°He has died! Lord Bluetail has died!¡± The cults waiting for the battle oue in the surroundings watched in disbelief. Horrified, a few headmen from the Sevenlocks Tower withdrew from the scene. The operation had failed. Not only the person setting up the soul vessel, but the chiefmander of the team had also died. Everyone looked at each other, incredulous. They turned around and ran away. But the students and teaching assistants could not care less. Lin Sheng caught his breath as he descended from the air. No. He could not fly. Just that the explosive reaction in his body kept him up in the air as he fought with his enemy. As the fighting stopped, he did not have to keep floating anymore. Bluetail was the first elite warrior that he killed. While feeling emotional, Lin Sheng also found out his shorings. He was strong in defense butme in his offense. ¡°Three things make up my strength. I¡¯ve not used every skill I have, but I know my actualbat strength only a little better than this guy. When back home, I need to think of a way to strengthen my ult skill.¡± Lin Sheng walked up to Bluetails¡¯ body, thinking to get his hands on the corpse and see what he could get from it, a blue light emerged from Bluetail¡¯s head. It moved quicker than lightning across a distance of twenty meters and disappeared into Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. Chapter 341 - Soul Power: Part 3

Chapter 341: Soul Power: Part 3

Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng felt a sudden numbness in his body. A silver cross made up of flower pattern appeared on his chest armor. ¡°Something¡¯s wrong.¡± He could feel that the thing was a kind of remote mark. Any organization that was capable of sending Six-wingers was surely a top dog in the business. So Lin Sheng gathered the little holy power and dark energy that he recovered on his chest. He wanted to get rid of the thing on his chest armor. But the thing was elusive as if it did not exist. He scoured it several times but it just would not budge. ¡°Sh*t!¡± Lin Sheng frowned. He was seeing such a pesky thing for the first time. Marked by it, a sense of urgency rose within him. ¡°F*ck it. Get the soul vessel first!¡± Lin Sheng ran his hand through the corpse and found a wallet and a metal disc. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for this guy¡¯s had depleted his energy, we would still be fighting now.¡± It reminded him of the higher-order Darksiders he had fought; they all had scary recovery ability. After that, Lin Sheng hurried over to the device where the soul vessel was installed. No one would dare to challenge him now after he killed Bluetail. The cultists had fled at once. The students could not be happier as they did not have to risk their lives anymore. They had all retreated into the SET defense system, leaving Lin Sheng as the only soul on the grasnd outside. He came in front of the soul vessel and plucked it down from the device. ¡°Good stuff!¡± Lin Sheng was delighted. Grabbing the crystal-likerge soul vessel in his hand, he made it to the exit. He was unhurt, just almost depleting his holy power and barely keeping his Armor of Dawn in shape. As he needed to direct whatever holy power he had recovered to power the Armor of Dawn, he was left with little energy in his body. Once out of the mysterious realm of Baine University, Lin Sheng leaped forward and maneuvered around buildings like a bolt of lightning using the dark-energy threads, all the while gripping the soul vessel firmly in his hand. ¡°I need to get back as soon as possible and suppress the soul power with the device. Otherwise, I¡¯ll be exposed.¡± As he ran, he held up the soul vessel and examined it before his eyes. A smile of satisfaction spread across his face. The great soul vessel was emitting a strong wave of soul power. Somehow, the energy rapidly declined. ¡°What the heck? The energy wave is dying down?¡± Startled, Lin Sheng stopped running. He stood at the top of a tall building and carefully checked the great soul vessel. ¡°Indeed. It is declining!¡± Lin Sheng was uneasy. Was there a taboo in handling the soul vessel that he had missed and vited? He kept checking every facet of the soul vessel, trying to find out what caused the problem. But then, he broke a corner of the soul vessel by ident. However, that led him to discover the true face of this great soul vessel. With the exception of the waves of soul power, the central part of the great soul vessel was hollow. Lin Sheng crushed the imitation great soul vessel into pieces and found a note inside. it read, ¡°It¡¯d have been better if you did not read this. I will take care of the real great soul vessel. Don¡¯t worry.¡± At the end of the note was a cartoon smiley. Wind at the top of the building was freaking cold. Over the horizon, a faint red fireball was slowly rising; it was the morning sun. Lin Sheng looked up and tore the note into pieces, his face expressionless. ¡°Great!¡± He had directed a part of his power to the position where the soul vessel was earlier. It was to make sure he covered every angle to avoid things from going wrong. By doing this, he had also killed two Oppressor-ss cultists while protecting the great soul vessel with his holy power. At that time, he saw Whalerudder and cklion approaching from a distance. But since the soul-power wave was still on, he ignored the two. And that was when things went wrong. ¡°How dare they took my thing! I¡¯ll make sure you all pay!¡± When a gust of wind blew past the building top, Lin Sheng was gone. ... Henricqal International Airport. Whalerudder and cklion were pushing Madram in a wheelchair. They all had changed their faces and costumes, looking like brothers and sisters while queuing up for a security check. ¡°Is the thing secure?¡± Madram kept his voice low. ¡°Secure.¡± cklion nodded. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the Sevenlocks Tower has f*cked up so quickly!¡± ¡°If it weren¡¯t for the elite spoiling the party, the Sevenlocks Tower would have seeded with their n: the Divinity¡¯s Advent. Bluetail, the elite they sent could have single-handedly crushed all the remnants of the rabble army of Baine University.¡± Whalerudder sighed. ¡°The other two sides have seeded, except this side,¡± Madrammented. ¡°At least we got the great soul vessel. We can save tons of resources the next time we summoned the Divinity¡¯s Advent,¡± cklion felicitated. The three of them inched forward as they talked. Soon, they passed the security check and pulled their luggage to the boarding gate, lining up to board the ne as other passengers did. ¡°What a day!¡± Whalerudder sat in the window seat, looking at the tarmac under the bright daylight outside and breathing a sigh of relief. They hadpleted the mission. They could finally leave. Soon, after thest passenger got on board, the door closed, and the ne taxied to the runway. The flight attendants began to broadcast in the cabin, reminding everyone to fasten their seat belts, open the sunshade, straighten the seat back, and tuck away the tray. COMMENT A couple of minutester, the ne suddenly stopped. ¡°Dear passengers, the aircraft has a technical problem. It needs fixing. Dear passengers, the aircraft has a technical problem. It needs fixing. Please disembark ording to your seat order and take another ne of Azure Airline,¡± the broadcast repeated. Everyone was dumbfounded; no one had expected this. The flight attendants kept apologizing to the passangers and promisingpensations. Soon the ne stopped, opened its hatch as passengers got off the ne, grumbling. cklion and the other two had to pull the luggage and disembarked since there was nothing they could do about it. Just when they got off the ne, they saw a burly figure wearing a white armor standing next to the ne, watching them from afar. Lin Sheng began to strode toward them, the corner of his mouth arching in a hideous smile under the face mask. As Madram had never seen how kickass Lin Sheng was, he was calm. But not cklion and Whalerudder; they were scared stiff. ¡°Let¡¯s split!¡± cklion snarled and ran like a man possessed to the left. Whalerudder got the hint and dashed to the right. But before she could make ten meters out, Lin Sheng had stood in her way, holding cklion and Madram by their throats, each on one hand. ¡°Don¡¯t be rmed. I¡¯m not going to hurt you three,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°My name is Seagal. I¡¯m looking for the holy vessel that has vanished from the sanctum for many years.¡± A smile spread across his face. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Even if you don¡¯t hand over the holy vessel, I¡¯m not going to kill you just because I¡¯m angry.¡± Lin Sheng tightened his hands, their necks cracked as if they might break at any time. Chapter 342 - Sorting: Part 1

Chapter 342: Sorting: Part 1

Passengers were screaming. Everyone ran away in fear to somewhere safe. Some were hiding and peeking out from behind obstacles. But not everyone was a curious bunny, sticking out the neck for no good reason. Those people just left. The airport security was running in their direction with guns drawn in their hands. When Whalerudder saw the white armored man, she knew she could not run away anymore. Had she not seen the battle between him and Bluetail, she might want to fight back. But now, she raised her hands and said, ¡°We surrender.¡± Her reaction startled Lin Sheng, who was about to snap the necks of the two persons in his hands. He had seen many cowards, but her cowardness was at another level. She had surrendered before he had even done anything. Lin Sheng concealed himself with dark energy earlier while he came. It was to attract as little attention as possible while finishing the battle as quickly as he could. He would overpower the three when they were low on guard. And things went ording to n. He had apprehended Madram and cklion. That left one more to deal with. But finding his ¡®old friend¡¯ Whalerudder here was a surprise. Thest time they met, Whalerudder was beating him ck and blue. She had brought down the walls on many floors. ¡°Surrender?¡± Lin Sheng grinned. ¡°Very well. Then everything should belong to me. Where is the soul vessel?¡± Without saying a word, Whalerudder took out the great soul vessel and tossed it to Lin Sheng. No point having the soul vessel if that meant she would lose her life. Lin Sheng caught the metal box, flicked the switch, and the lid popped open. Inside was a white object that looked like a crystal walnut. It emitted thin waves of soul power. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of soul power!¡± Lin Sheng was delighted to get his hands on this thing. He had gone so far as to kill a powerful Six-winger to get it. A Six-winger may have only been an annoying bug to the Night Lord, but it was at Lin Sheng¡¯s limit, representing all his strength. ¡°Since you surrender, then let¡¯s go!¡± Lin Sheng smiled at Whalerudder. He moved to the back of her like a bolt of lightning and struck the back of her head. Whalerudder felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, and the world started to spin around her. Then, she lost consciousness. ¡°Err, I think I¡¯ve cracked her skull.¡± Whalerudder heard Lin Sheng say that before she passed out entirely. ... Dimpera, the secondrgest city of Xylond. A Ferris wheel-styled hotel with capsule rooms hanging from its rim was slowly rotating on its axis. In one of the suite, three mysterious figures, wearing a white robe with the pattern of a spiky sun stood in the middle of the room, staring at the five men standing opposite them. All five men wore leather suits and shoes. The leading figure wore a pair of brown sses and held a stack of documents in his hands, looking grave. ¡°The infiltration of Sevenlocks Tower and the outbreak of ¡®ck fluid¡¯ have intensified. Compared with other regions of the world, Xylond is the hardest-hit. So, the purpose of inviting you all here is hope you all could stop the spread of the ¡®ck fluid¡¯.¡± The leading figure a white robe nodded. ¡°It¡¯s our honor. This is what the temple is for.¡± ¡°I appreciate it,¡± the man in sses said. ¡°Themander-in-chief of the TSSF has set off to intercept the heads of the major cult groups invading the border. I wonder if the temple...¡± The man in the white robe looked up, revealing his handsome and young face. It was Adolf, Lin Sheng¡¯s disciple. ¡°The lord has dispatched a group of clergymen to the rendezvous to conduct ¡®ck fluid¡¯ screening. The Assembly shouldn¡¯t be worried. Xylond is also our homnd,¡± Adolph answered. ¡°That will be great. Now with the reemergence of the Sevenlocks Tower, the three secret realms are ready for war, and the other areas are feckless. We are on our own.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Adolf replied. The sanctum had grown in confidence after the impartment of dark-energy and holy power cultivation techniques throughout the sanctum. Led by Khad, the Night Lord and the Steel Lord, the power of influence of the Sanctum had increased. Forget about dark energy, the holy power was the real deal. With the aid of the holy power font, the threemanders got a big jump in their strengths. The strength of the holy power was not only in healing but also in the explosive growth and inherent exclusivity to other energies. The threemanders and the hundreds of qualified priests below them had benefitted from the holy power font and grown stronger in their strengths. And the Sanctum had risen in influence because of its warm rtionship with the government of Xylond. A special existence like the Sanctum of Shadow was more inclined to killing and supervision. This was a cost-effective deal for the government of Xylond, whichcked the low- to medium-level supernatural powers. However, in other regions, the three secret realms have sent many elites to the unknown areas. They wanted to focus their strengths on building up their core positions. ... In the basement, the earth was glowing in a faint white light in the dark. The thin particles of holy power were increasing the concentration of holy power in the basement. Whalerudder, cklion, and Madram were bound by white chains in the istion room. They were dispirited. The holy power had suppressed their dark energy. They could neither use their power beyond their bodies nor fire up their internal energy. ¡°Now what? Just wait for our final day without putting up a fight?¡± Madram was a little emotional. The other two knew why Madram was afraid; he had been beaten the most before this. ¡°What can we do? This white power is too repulsive. It has restricted at least half of my strength.¡± cklion sighed. ¡°Not to mention that person is still here. If we fight back...¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just wait and see. Since that person didn¡¯t kill us right away, it means that we are still useful to him,¡± Whalerudder said. ¡°Besides, the elders must have found out that we are trapped.¡± ¡°And then? They woulde to rescue us? They can¡¯t even find us.¡± Depressed, Madram ran his fingers through his hair. They looked at a corner of the basement. In the corner of the one-way mirror in the room was a small window, through which they couldmunicate with the people outside. ¡°We don¡¯t even know when that person will remember us,¡± Whalerudder said. Just then, they felt a tremoring from outside the holding cell. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Earthquake?¡± cklion asked. They got up and went to the window. They heard a hissing sound. A dazzling white light shone through the window followed by deep breathing, rumbling noise, and tremors. They had to stop and cover their eyes with their hands to protect themselves from the blinding light. Chapter 343 - Sorting: Part 2

Chapter 343: Sorting: Part 2

In another corner of the basement. Lin Sheng put down therge soul vessel. Rings halo-like white cloud appeared from his body before dissipating into particles of holy power in the air. Tens of thousands of soul power fragments impregnated his soul, forming a vortex around the core. As the soul power grew, it stimted the holy power and dark energy to expand. Dark energy threads rose from behind Lin Sheng, intertwining with one another to form a burly figure of a man on his left. At the same time, twisted and diffuse white light spun like a vortex and materialized into a half-human half-dragon figure on his right. Compressed to the limit, the holy power continued to gather and circle the three figures. Time flew. And after over half an hour, Lin Sheng opened his eyes. As the two figures beside him distorted and vanished, the holy power flowed into him like a siphon. Lin Sheng raised his hand and looked at his fingers. Tough like metal, the lines and wrinkles on his palm were visible. During such aplete state, fluorescent light was asionally flowing over the skin. ¡°I¡¯m still here? Not going out?¡± He clenched his fists, feeling at a loss. The great soul vessel contained the memories of over thirty thousand souls. Lin Sheng was almost overwhelmed despite he was used to absorbing memories. When indigested memories piled up in his mind, they would be a problem for him in the form of severe headaches. He would feel the throbbing pain in his head all day as if something was jabbing his emotions and consciousness. What was more, the most dangerous seque of absorbing arge number of memories showed up. With too many foreign memories and too few of himself, his memory fragments conted and emotional fragments ovepped with each other. Many unforgettable soul memories started to mask Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. ¡°It finally starts...¡± Lin Sheng sighed. ¡°The memories interfere with each other and even threatens to affect my independent personality.¡± A long time ago, he had expected this problem. So early on he had nned for the moment and worked out a perfect solution. ¡°The only way to stabilize the content of memories is to increase the amount or strength of my own memories. ¡°However, it needs time to umte experience and chances, which was unachievable in a short time. But not capacity.¡± ¡°Dream is the only way to increase capacity.¡± Lin Sheng had been categorizing memory fragments as if he was watching movies to avoid problems. But too many foreign memories would fail this method. So he needed time to digest and adapt. In the dream world, the immortal body could experience more things and ces by incessant fighting. This way, he could rapidly expand his memories. The point was, a difference in speed of time flow existed in dreams. ¡°ording to the sanctum¡¯s doctrine of the soul, memory capacity focuses on experience variables. More new encounters mean higher memory contents.¡± Lin Sheng was feeling his level of holy power. With the influx of arge amount of soul power, his dark energy and holy power had risen to a whole new level. His dark energy had gone through the roof at 40,000 units, while his holy power was approaching Level 12. ¡°It¡¯s getting too fast! I need to calm down and adapt to this power. Dreams would be my next focus.¡± Lin Sheng nced in the direction of the istion room. The three persons there were special offerings for the gates of the dark spirits, but that would be for the future. ¡°Besides, I need more people who are absolutely loyal to me in Miga. Luring a few people here hoping to gain a foothold and expand just won¡¯t cut it.¡± Now the three mysteries realms and a massive unknown force were in a confrontation. The situation was murky. But Lin Sheng thought it was the best time to expand the sanctum. With the holy soil, he just needed to recruit more people and summon moremander-ss elites from the dreams. ¡°This will solve the headache.¡± With that in mind, Lin Sheng closed his eyes again, letting loose his mind and cultivating his body and mind. The raid at Baine University by the Sevenlocks Tower had wiped out many elite students. But the incursion also baptized a few students with blood and fire. They quickly matured and grew up, now able to stand on their own. Inparison to the raid at Baine, one of the two remaining raid sites had survived. The other one, however, had fallen. The ce was called Yuekong Academy. The school was overrun. Over 30,000 people died as the massive ritual turned them into blood offerings. The divinity never came but the seal was lifted. In the mysterious realm of the Yuekong Academy, the huge monster, Muncher, was missing. In just two days, the three major mysteries realms were shaken and the governments of all countries around the world found themselves on shaky ground. When the Sevenlocks Tower reappeared, it had brought fear and blood to the world. The seven sons of the Lock representing the Sevelocks Tower were super Ptinates. Excluding Plenilune, the tower¡¯s grandmaster, the seven Ptinates were already a deadly threat to the three secret realms on their own. Multiple wars broke out across Miga at the same time. The Sevenlocks Tower had also attacked Xylond, Xilin, Redwin, and every ce with people. Their tentacles and power had spread all over the world. After the Baine University attack, the old chancellor nced back, not saying a word. But when he returned to the secret realm, he immediately issued a restructuring document. All workshops switched into the wartime system, patrol teams set up and student department activated. The cruel loss jolted everyone out of theirfort zone, triggering a sense of urgency and alertness in people. ... On a massive rotating silver disc in the dark space of an unknown secret realm, densely built ck buildings that looked like mushrooms revolved as the disc turned. It was inside a tall pyramid-shaped building in the center of the disc that a meeting held. Sitting at the revolving round table were two men in tight-fitting white trench coats. One stood there, and one rested his hands on the back of a chair. They remained still as the ten-meter table rotated. ¡°Olro has lost three cadres in the operations, Miga five and Redwin two. Combining the other ces, the total casualty is seven. This high number of death has overwhelmed the recovery pool. The recovery will notplete in time,¡± said the man on the right. His hair was green, tall build with the mostmon face in the street. ¡°In exchange, we got three sealers and three ptinates,¡± said the man across the table. ¡°And we¡¯ve marked over ten threateners who have killed our cadres.¡± Chapter 344 - Sorting: Part 3

Chapter 344: Sorting: Part 3

¡°They are not the Ptinates. The power of the sealer is uncontroble. We can only guide it. The consequences are unthinkable once it gets out of control,¡± the green-haired man said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. So long as you focus on clearing the markers and getting rid of the elites who posed the greatest threat, our mission is over,¡± the man on the opposite said. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not about me; it¡¯s about the tower¡¯s grandmaster. Just the same as before. We will send in the team. Once within a kilometer of the target, we will teleport and decapitate them. The time is set half a monthter. The Ptinates will lead the strike team. Most of the markers on low alert will die.¡± ¡°A quick and sudden attack? I still don¡¯t agree with this n. Forget it, let¡¯s report it to the grandmaster. I won¡¯t go in this operation.¡± The green-haired man left. ¡°Jena.¡± A voice called out. The green-haired man stopped, waiting for hisrade to speak. ¡°Take a stroll while waiting for the peace we want.¡± The green-haired man was silent, and then he strode away. He disagreed with the great unification that the Hades of the Ashen World led. He joined the Sevenlocks Tower only because Plenilune saved his life before. ... ... In the dream. At the bottom of a tower, two broken metal gates were knocked down with force, sending dust into the air. Lin Sheng emerged from the entrance and looked around. Rutted streets, empty shops, and rubble were everywhere. There was also a rancid smell in the air. ¡°It¡¯s time to enrich the memories.¡± Lin Sheng tilted his neck twice. ¡°It¡¯s been a long while since thest actions. It¡¯s good to kill again.¡± He sniffed, looking to hs right. ¡°This way.¡± The ground under Lin Sheng¡¯s feet cracked as he lunged forward to the right. The wind howled in his ears as he ran, the streets fading into blurry images around him. After passing by several streets, the ground looked uneven and full of potholes. Suddenly, a huge green monster emerged from one pothole in the ground. It had the body of a frog, but lots of tumors on its back. Looking closer, these tumors were human heads,ughing with their eyes blinking. Lin Sheng kept his pace steady. A dozen green threads burst out beside him like sharp des, cutting down everything in his path. Defenseless against these green threads, the frog monsters became minced meat in no time. As Lin Sheng ran past it, he absorbed the ck threads of the soul power. The frog monsters kepting. But like the first one, the dark-energy threads cut them down. As Lin Sheng kept going, the skin of the frog monsters ahead was getting tougher and more slippery. As dark energy lost it effectiveness, Lin Sheng summoned his holy power. A white, dazzling rays of light burst out of him. He focused all his energy to form lots of elliptical discs and shot them out all at once. The frog monsters became vulnerable again and died as soon as they emerged. The death toll had soon passed one thousand. The ground shook. Lin Sheng slowed down before he lunged out like an arrow onto the outer wall of a building on the right. As the ground burst open, a massive white frog crept out from the earth. It open its mouth and shot out its red tongue at Lin Sheng. Using the rebound force, Lin Shengunched himself into the air, dodging the frog¡¯s tongue. While he was at it, his arm lit up in a dazzling white light and something as if a de formed. The de fell and cut the tongue in half with the stroke of his hand. The white frog shrilled in pain. Without giving the monster the time to react, Lin Sheng thrust his right arm that glowed in a white light and prated the head of the frog with ease. When he dialed up his strength again, the holy power swelled in his hand and exploded, blowing the upper body of the white frog into pieces. Following that, a thick thread of ck soul power rose from the corpse and flew into Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. He would not have given a damn. These memory fragments had very little contentpared to human¡¯s; it did not matter how many he had absorbed. Atst, the body of the white frog fell to the ground. Lin Sheng sped up his pace and came before an eight-story stone structure that had copsed in the middle of the road. Once passed the fallen structure, thendscape changed. It looked white with rime. He slowed down to just walking as if he had sensed something up ahead. After passing a cross junction, the icing phenomenon became more serious. Rime was on the eaves of buildings, ice on the ground, and the freezing wind in the air. Lin Sheng further slowed down. He was almost crawling now. As the surroundings changed, he needed to be cautious and take it slow. Two hundred meters down the road, Lin Sheng stopped in his tracks, looked up ahead. He saw a figure sitting leg-crossed in the middle of the road. It was a woman. Her pupils were dark, hair long and red, gorgeous like a burning me. She was neither fat nor thin¡ªcurvy, in fact. There was a vertical red mark that looked like a scar on her brow. What attracted Lin Sheng¡¯s eyeballs was the chilling-looking long sword lying before her. ¡°Hello, you alive?¡± Lin Sheng stopped and asked. The woman stared at Lin Sheng. Her eyer were dark and her face had little expression. She suddenly lunged to her feet and swung her sword forward. A white avnche emerged out of thin air, filling the entire street with snow that crumbled down at Lin Sheng. At over ten meters tall, the virtual avnche materialized and came within three meters before Lin Sheng in just a second. The snowstorm looked like a white beast. It could crush anything made of steel into rubble. Lin Sheng would have flinched had this happenedst time. But now he was a different person. After a loud roar of the dragon roar, scales grew over Lin Sheng¡¯s body, his muscles swelling with white light glowing all over him. He thrust his fist forward into the avnche. The shock wave and impact stopped the avnche in its tracks. And then it exploded, sending snow flying in all directions. When the snow fell back onto earth, the red-haired woman lunged out of the snow. She shed down with her sword, but Lin Sheng pped his hands, stopping the sword mid-air in between his palms. But Lin Sheng could not stop the energy, which was far more powerful than he had expected. An energy surged up his arms that had just semi-dragonized. His blood vessels under the scales burst instantly. The impact energy had exceeded what his body could bear. It blew a ten-meter-wide, twenty-meter-deep pit under his feet. Lin Sheng was only standing on a thin stone column the thickness of his arm. ¡°This level of strength! What the hell?¡± Lin Sheng was shocked. Chapter 345 - Anomaly: Part 1

Chapter 345: Anomaly: Part 1

There was a loud boom. A leaning building split in half in an explosion. A ton of snow burst out at the fracture. Following another st, two shadows lunged out and fought in mid-air. Lin Sheng used his arms as swords, attacking and defending as quick as he could. But cuts and bruises began to show up on his body. His attacks were too simple, relying on his beginner-level sword skills. Even therge library of memories in his mindcked a powerfulbat technique that suited him. It did not matter whether it was the Night Lord of the Steel Lord, they all relied more on their bloodline magic skills as their killer moves. And this was what Lin Shengcked. It looked as if he and his opponent were evenly matched. But he knew he was on the defenssive. A cloud of snow burst out in mid-air and transformed into a giant white eagle. It pped its wings, crying as it swooped down. When Lin Sheng heard the ear-piercing shrill, a pair of eight-meter-wide eagle w had gripped and mmed him to the ground. The mighty impact sent snow up in the air, buildings on both sides of the street broke up and copsed with rising clouds of dust. The red-haired woman swung her long sword. Snowkes solidified and formed a slender staircase of ice in the air down to the earth. She walked down the icy stairway. Lin Sheng was lying in the snow pit, covered with blood, and coughing. The blow had exhausted every bit of his dark energy and holy light. He was now holding himself up by relying on the Rock Dragon blood. It did not matter which one. Be it dark energy, holy light, or Rock Dragon blood, each was as fragile as the other before the snowkes. They were no match in power, speed and defense for the enemy; as breakable as a piece of paper. It was as if the enemy had dad been crippled him. ¡°I should¡¯ve performed better with my current strength,¡± Lin Sheng thought to himself, feeling weird. ¡°Something must have gone wrong and impaired my power.¡± He stared at the red-haired woman approaching. But he was not afraid; to him, death was all in a day¡¯s work. ¡°I can still put up a fight.¡± Lin Sheng struggled to hold himself up. ¡°Armor of Dawn!¡± A white beam of light descended from the top of his head and shrouded his body. At that moment, Lin Sheng recovered half of his holy power, and his injuries healed by half. A divine skill like Armor of Dawn was scarce, especially when Lin Sheng needed holy power the most. This was a skill with great price-to-performance ratio. ¡°This is the right way of using Armor of Dawn!¡± Regaining his strength, Lin Sheng bounced back and fled. The red-haired woman raised her long sword, and a small, hazy circr array burst out above her head. It spun with a flow of symbols and characters. In the center was a golden chain that swam like a snake. As if something bound for a long time was breaking free. ¡°Soul Annihtion!¡± As the red-haired woman howled, a dot of blue light burst out from the disc above her head and disappeared into the clouds. A chill washed down his guts. Lin Sheng felt as if some natural enemy was watching him, ready to pounce on and ate him alive. His gut feeling told him to run. So he turned and ran. He was only a Six Winger and beaten by the boss in the dream was matter of course. There was no shame in running away. After all, no one was looking. Without wasting more time, Lin Sheng nted his feet on the ground, cracking the pavement under his feet as he propelled himself away like an arrow. In a blink of an eye, he had run hundreds of meters, pulling away from the woman. He looked back; the woman was nowhere to be seen. He thought he was out of danger. But Lin Sheng had a bad feeling. So he kept running. This time even faster. The powerful defenses of the Rock Dragon blood allowed him to run like a Tyrannosaurus¡ªforceful and brutal, leveraging the rebound force to spring himself forward. In just a few beats, Lin Sheng had made out a thousand meters, leaving the woman far behind beyond his line of sight. Just when Lin Sheng thought he could breathe a sigh of relief, a spinning dark cloud formed out of thin air in the clear sky. A giant snow-white eagle w appeared. Semi-transparent, 30-meter-across, covering an area asrge as two blocks of street, the w swooped down at once like a giant pir. The descending w destroyed arge area of buildings around Lin Sheng, sending waves of violent tremor spreading out in all directions on the ground. The eagle¡¯s w sank into the ground, stamping a ck w print on the ruins of the city. The giant eagle ws started fading. After it vanished, it left behind a 20-meter-deep pit on the spot. Looking down the pit, there was nothing but darkness. Suddenly, something fell from the sky. It looked like something that had been blown up into the air by the force of impact. It was a broken hand with dark-yellow dragon scales. It dropped on the edge of the pit,nding on a piece of rock covered in soil. ..... ..... In the basement. Lin Sheng opened his eyes, feeling upset. ¡°I¡¯m sure my strength has increased and stabilized at Six Wing level. Why was it still felt the same as before?¡± He died instantly earlier. When the eagle¡¯s w fell, the massive icy energy of stagnation slowed down the revolving speed of his internal energy by half. In that circumstance and with the little holy power left, he had only the Rock Dragon blood to hang on to. It was a wonder a hand was still left. ¡°That guy is tough to beat.¡± Lin Sheng squinted, letting reality to sink in. ¡°Unlike the Night Lord and the Steel Lord, who were basically suiciding, reacting passively, and not resisting at all, this guy is different.¡± Lin Sheng could sense the woman¡¯s fervent fighting spirit. She had attacked him with the sword as soon as she saw him. With no intention to talk, she was a rare aggressive monster, and powerful at that. Especially at thest moment, her power had surged several folds. ¡°I need time to think it through.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes flickered. Time was on his side, he would use it to his advantage. But he would not use those soul powers that he had just absorbed for now. He would keep them, and wait until he wore out and killed the woman by attrition, he would then summon her. Besides, this would also solve the problem of failing to summon because of insufficient soul power. He wanted to summon more helpers. He figured that even if he could raise his Rock Dragon blood by a bit to 60%, it would make no difference in hisbat capability. He might as well summon amander-ss elite. ¡°I need some rest. Then go back to the university tomorrow and see if I could take in more elites.¡± Chapter 346 - Anomaly: Part 2

Chapter 346: Anomaly: Part 2

It was time to expand the sanctum. Lin Sheng knew that the university had sent out all the elites. Few people guarding the campus now had been wounded by the cultists during the attack earlier. So the healing effects of the holy power shoulde in handy. Upon thinking of this, Lin Sheng closed his eyes and began to meditate, treating the mental fatigue he suffered because of his death in the dream. He could recover from this mental fatigue in less than two hours. But in the dream, the cooling period one whole day. Lin Sheng did nothing but meditated on the Ashen Seal the whole night. In the next following days, Lin Sheng visited the campus and workshops to check on the situation. His aim was looking ways to defeat the red-haired woman. Something had been bugging him. The tons of explosives he rigged in the dream had failed to detonate. The reason was the freezing air surrounding the red-haired woman. He had tried the chemical gas. But it was no good. He had even experimented with the high-power, dark-energy weapon. These modified firearms, unmatched in firepower by ordinary guns, were lethal against the transcendents. But the bullets could not get within two meters of the woman. She just sliced them into pieces. Two dayster, Lin Shengunched a war of attrition. But only after a dozen rounds of fighting, the woman killed him. So he decided to go all out. Ordinary weapons were not effective against the transcendents, let alone the extremely powerful ones. So Lin Sheng was aiming for the high-power, dark-energy weapon in the university¡¯s arsenal. Most modified dark-energy weapons were open for use to students. But the badass ones were off-limit to them. Even the professors needed permissions to use them. That was tricky. So he needed a n. A weekter, Lin Sheng had gotten the intel he needed. He had transformed thend surroundings his mansion into holy earth. He used high-power spotlights to shine on thend. This was to drown out the glow of the holy soil to prevent it from catching unwanted attention. When everything was ready, Lin Sheng was feeling a little exhausted. Tensions and getting killed for so many times had taken its toll. He needed time to ease his body and mind. After feeding the three captives, Lin Sheng left them to the few red armored guards while he came out from the basement. He strolled around for a while before going to his regr noodle restaurant. It was the ce he would usually go to get his lunch fixed. And it had be a habit. The restaurant was small. There were only six tables, all made of yellow wood. Each of the benches sat two. The wooden surfaces had developed cracks on them. Menus were hung on the wall on both sides of the rectangr dining hall,plete with the price of each dish. As usual, Lin Sheng sat down at the table by the doorway. ¡°I¡¯d like a bowl of hot and sour beef noodles, extra spicy and egg, please!¡± ¡°No problem.¡± The restaurant owner was a forty-year-old man. He wore a soft white round cap on his head and a spot-clean white apron with stic gloves on his hands, looking like a good family man. His wife and teenage daughter were helping out in the restaurant. Young and pretty, the teen was always in a light-blue uniform. Her little buttocks looked firm and round in the white jeans, and her legs left no gap in between when they were closed. It was a sight to behold. It was no wonder male patrons could not help but keep staring at her. But the harassment never went physical. No one dared to do it in this bustling ce. Instead, her beauty had be a blessing in disguise. The restaurant had be a popr dining spot in the city. Only after acquainted with the owner that Lin Sheng learned of his woeful past. This was his second marriage. His ex-wife was deep in gambling debts with creditors visiting their home every day. They could no longer stand the pressure and moved to Miga. As foreigners, they could not speak the localnguage very well. Less so the writings. After struggling to catch up in her study, his daughter quit school. But it was more because of the bullies in the school, Lin Sheng learned. Otherwise, what parents would allow their children in their teens to work in the restaurant? Lin Sheng pulled out a pair of chopsticks from the chopstick holder. This noodle of Xilin origin was the reason he kepting back to the restaurant; he was getting his homesick fix. Not to mention that noodle was also his favorite food in his past life. Soon, the girl held a huge brown bowl half the size of the table, came out from the back and served it on Lin Sheng¡¯s table. ¡°Here you go. Extrarge.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. He poked the chopsticks into the hot and aromatic soup, picked up a bundle of noodle, coiled it up it around the chopsticks before delivering it into his mouth. Few patrons were in the restaurant today. Lin Sheng was one of the three patrons. It was not usual for Lin Sheng to study the other patrons in the restaurant. But today, one of them had caught his attention. It was a long-haired girl, wearing a high school uniform, sitting alone in the corner. Her hair hung down loosely and her clothes were a little wet. She looked a sight. While everyone else ate with their head lowered, she sat still with the bowl in her hands as if she was looking at a mirror, studying her face. ¡°Taozi, Table 3. Quick.¡± The owner¡¯s wife called out from the back. The daughter of the noodle restaurant owner was Taozi. She hurried back to the kitchen and came out with another bowl of noodle and served it to Table 3. After that, she walked past the long-haired high-school girl. Taozi envied the girl; she wished she could go to school just like her. She saw the girl looked down at her bowl of noddle and heard her sobbing. ¡°There is nothing moreforting than eating a bowl of hot noodles when sad.¡± Taoziforted her as she fished out a paper napkin from her pocket. The girl suddenly grabbed her hand, clenching on so tightly that the veins on the back of her hand were half popping out. Startled, Taozi could not help but shudder. But she quickly calmed down. ¡°It¡¯s OK... Everything will be all right...¡± Taozi felt the girl¡¯s hand was as cold as ice. The girl sobbed. It was soft at first and then grew more audible. Taozi saw tears dripping into her bowl. She felt her and kept consoling the girl. But she felt something amiss. The light in the restaurant became a tad dim, and the voices she had around her were gone. Her dad and mom would call her to serve orders, but now five minutes had passed, yet no one was calling her. ¡°I have work to do. Please enjoy the noodles. I¡¯ll be back soon.¡± Taozi panicked. She looked around her. The light at the kitchen window, from where she usually collected the ready noodles, had lost half its brightness. She remembered the bulb had just been changed recently. Her mom, who usually sat at the cashier counter by the kitchen entrance, had disappeared. In her ce was only a red chair that she usually sat on. The noise was still in the kitchen. But somehow, she found the familiar nking of the cooking wares a little scary. Taozi nced down at the high-school girl, face covered in her hair, sitting motionless at the table. But the hand holding her was getting tighter and the pain getting unbearable. ¡°Can you let me go? You¡¯re hurting me!¡± Taozi whispered. The high-school girl was still motionless and had stopped sobbing, just sitting there like a wax sculpture. Chapter 347 - Anomaly: Part 3

Chapter 347: Anomaly: Part 3

Cold air was blowing through the door. Taozi could not help but shiver. She felt something amiss; the patrons still eating in the restaurant a while ago had gone. It was quiet like the morgue. Taozi had no idea why she was thinking of the morgue, but at this moment she was cold yet sweating in her vest. It felt like in a mortuary. Her hands being gripped on felt tighter and the pain was getting worse. She was almost in tears. ¡°Please let me go, You¡¯re hurting me!¡± She asked, fighting the pain. The dark-haired high-school girl still sat with her eyes looking down at the table. But Taozi had noticed something; the corner of the girl¡¯s mouth quirked up. The girl was smiling, Taozi realized. A chill rushed up her spine to the back of her head. Feeling cold, Taozi opened her mouth, wanting to scream. Yet something was blocking his throat. She could not utter a sound. All she could do was watching the hand of the high-school girl¡¯s moving up her arm, grabbing her wrist and forearm. At that moment, arge brown bowl fell on the head of the high-school girl. The impact sent a tremor to the table and the ground with mist of yellowish soup bursting out from around the bowl into all directions. A big, strong hand was pressing the bowl onto the high-school girl¡¯s head, mming her on the table, keeping her still. Taozi looked at the big hand, wide-eyed. She turned and saw a familiar face. ¡°It¡ªit¡¯s you!¡± Her voice was almost a scream. She recognized the person; it was one of the regr patrons of her noodle restaurant. ¡°Are you all right?¡± Lin Sheng wore a white short-sleeved shirt and brown casual pants, revealing his stout furry arms. He also wore a pair of brown sunsses, which made him look like a gentleman yet barbaric. ¡°I¡ªI¡¯m fine.¡± Taozi lowered her voice, only to find that her hand was free. Just that there was a dark mark on her wrist. It looked like bruises, but with a shade of dark red. ¡°There is never too brutal when ites to dealing with heresy. You can use whatever style you want so far as it is effective,¡± said Lin Sheng, looking at the high-school girl whom he pinned on the table. He knew he was no match for the monster in the dream, but not in the real world. Especially a dreg like this. The high-school girl was getting her bad day because Lin Sheng happened to be in a bad mood now. How dare she looked for trouble in his favorite noodle ce. ¡°It is not a shade because ordinary people can see it. It could create a separate dimension to iste the others during its attack. But how? It doesn¡¯t look that powerful to pull off this stunt. Interesting!¡± Curiosity got the better of him. ¡°I will take it and do experiment. See if I can figure out its origin. Otherwise, it also makes a good offering.¡± With the n in mind, Lin Sheng grabbed the head of the high-school girl and dragged her out of the restaurant. Feeling too cold, Taozi did not want to stay. She followed Lin Sheng out of the restaurant, gripping his sleeve and staying close to him. The moment the two stepped out of the premise, the environmental sounds rushed into their ears. It was as if they had taken off their noise-cancetion earphones; all the hustle and bustle of the streets had returned. People and traffic crowded the street. There were drones flying overhead dropping flyers everywhere. On her right, a man was walking his two chunky Shar-Peis. It made Taozi feel like she had returned from time travel. Lin Sheng raised his hand and looked. The high-school girl in his hand had be an old-fashioned phone with yellow faded screen and loose keypad. He looked back. The two patrons were still in the noodle restaurant, and the shop owner and his wife were still busy. But the busyness had a hint of weirdness in it. He focused his holy light in his eyes, and the sight before him shattered like an illusion. The patrons and the owner and his wife had gone. The noodle restaurant was empty. But bowls of hot noodle were still on the table. Water was still boiling in the kettle in the kitchen. Just that no one was in there. ¡°What the heck?¡± Lin Sheng nced at the passing traffic. No one seemed to have noticed the anomaly in the noodle restaurant. Some people were looking in the restaurant¡¯s direction, but their eyes focused past it. Taozi¡¯s face was pale, body shivering and hand covering her mouth. ¡°Dad! Mom!¡± She rushed out at once, wanting to look for her parents in the noodle restaurant. But before she could make out a few steps, Lin Sheng grabbed her harm and pulled her back. ¡°See? It¡¯s toote,¡± Lin Sheng said. While speaking, he flicked his hand and a half invisible white dot flew into the noodle restaurant. Things faded, vanished, and the restaurant turned into a gray-brown brick wall with movie posters pasted on it. Taozi watched as the restaurant disappeared, the door turning into a brick wall. She was rooted to the spot. Lin Sheng sighed. It was also his first time seeing such a phenomenon. If the renovation worker he saw in the unfinished building in Xylond earlier was only a fart in a blizzard, then the disappearance of the entire restaurant would be a big deal. But what worried him most was the cognition-changing magic. He looked around and saw a supermarket to his right. He walked in. A stuff was ying games on the mobile phone when Lin Sheng came to the counter to pay. ¡°Excuse me, do you know the noodle shop next door? When did it close?¡± The stuff, a woman in her forties, gave him a strange look. ¡°What noodle shop? I¡¯ve never heard there is a noodle shop on this street. You sure you¡¯re in the right ce?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. Thank you.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Maybe I got it wrong.¡± Taozi had alsoe in. Hearing their conversation, she was again rooted to the spot. After paying, Lin Sheng walked out of the supermarket. ¡°What¡¯s your n now?¡± Lin Sheng looked Taozi, whose face was pale. He could tell that the girl was real, a living person. And this he could not understand. The noodle restaurant had turned into a brick wall. Yet the personing out from it was still alive. This restaurant where he always came for lunch had been here for a long time. He was dead sure about it. But Now, it had disappeared. Taozi looked at Lin Sheng, her eyes red and swollen. ¡°I¡ªI don¡¯t know... I want to find my dad and mom!¡± ¡°Very well, I see your determination. I too want to figure out what has just happened. Come. Follow me.¡± But deep inside, Lin Sheng knew that the owner of the noodle restaurant was dead. Taozi was pure in spirit and had talent in neither dark energy nor holy power. But the building up of holy power was more about will and spirit than talent. Taozi might not be a clergy like the Ptinate, but she could be an experimental assistant, run some errands, and serve as a prayer to build up the holy power for the sanctum. Those who were pure in soul could umte holy power quicker than regr believers. It was usually faster by a factor of three to five. Lin Sheng started to understand why the original sanctum had to adopt orphans and cultivated them from a young age. Chapter 348 - Expansion: Part 1

Chapter 348: Expansion: Part 1

After bringing Taozi back to the mansion, Lin Sheng taught her some basic knowledge of the supernatural world. He also found a stealth skill suitable for women to learn and step-by-step guided her. Taozi studied martial arts from Lin Sheng every day and spent her free time praying to the holy light under Lin Sheng¡¯s guidance. She cultivated her faith and strengthened her willpower. She was determined to find out the cause of her parent¡¯s disappearance. These trivial matters aside, Lin Sheng thought he might have found a way to get his hands on the high-power dark-energy weapons. Baine University had a huge stockpile of high-power weapons because it was the entrance to the Ashen World. A professor and two teachers were the only persons guarding the armory. The professor¡¯s name was Cavendian, who was the key to Lin Sheng¡¯s ess to these dark energy weaponry. In his mid-eighty, the professor was only considered a middle-aged man in the world of the transcendent. He was also a Six Winger. Drinking was his hobby but never excessive. Apart from that, he touched neither cigarette nor gambling. Not even women. He was obsessed with keeping the weapons in tiptop condition and dark energy cultivation. Cavendian was an incorruptible man. Lin Sheng got this intel from Professor Madin Byrnbaer, whom he recruited as logistics support. Madin¡¯s body improved after learning how to cultivate holy power. As the holy power stimted his dark energy, his injuries began to cure. This made him even more grateful to the sanctum and his insistence and pursuit of the holy power reached a peak. Especially that the sanctum was born to suppress the ck Tide. The holy power had a powerful suppressive effect on the mist emitted by the ck Tide. Madin had tested it. So when Lin Sheng asked him to collect intel for him, it was just a piece of cake. Lin Sheng spent half a day studying Cavendian, the armory manager. He then got an idea. Cavendian was wless. He had a son, Basbo, an ordinary human who had a sessful career as a senior executive of a recordpany. But not long ago, he was dragged into a massive corruption and bribery case, suspected of secretly hiring transcendent and forcing women to sleep with VIPs. As Basbo was under investigation, Cavendian rummaged through hiswork of influence to save his son¡¯s ass. ¡°It¡¯s a breakthrough.¡± Lin Sheng stood in front of the Chowchow Record Company building with a weird smile on his face. But he was in the body of a red armor warrior. He had information that Basbo¡¯s office was in the building. He looked up at the 19th floor, where the target was. Before this, the red armor warrior had trailed Basbo to this ce. ¡°There aren¡¯t much weaknesses I can exploit in this guy. But I can make one.¡± Lin Sheng did not enter the building. Instead, with the snap of his fingers, an office guy in suit and leather shoes emerged from the underground parking. The man¡¯s face was pale, his head lowered. No one saw him, as if he did not exist. A security guard at the parking entrance was chatting with his colleague while smoking as the office guy walked past. But they ignored the office guy as if they had not seen him. Lin Sheng went to a cafe across the street, sat down by the window and ordered a cup of hot ck coffee. He flipped a free magazine in his hands but kept an eye on the office guy. After the office guy came out from the underground parking, he headed straight to the entrance of Chowchow Record Company building. His steps were wobbling at first, then stable and heavy. His body bulged gradually, tumors the size of a fist grew out of his skin. In just ten seconds, his upper body had swollen, doubling his original size. He now looked deformed. As the office guy got closer to the building, his deformation got worse, the tumors burgeoning to the size of a human head. It looked as if a dozen heads squeezed into andpeting for the body. The office guy roared and strode through the entrance. Yet no one seemed to see him or hear his yell. Lin Sheng looked calm, still browsing the magazine. ¡°This is the first synthetic shade I¡¯ve made. If I¡¯m not wrong, it should have the invisibility of the natural shades, and the steel skeleton of the Two Winger.¡± Armed with the Institute¡¯s shades transformation technology and a full range of equipment, it was easy to reproduce the shades. What was more, Lin Sheng had technical knowledge in his memories. He could study and improve the special properties of the shade race. The shades were modified beings, the remnant of the souls. Their weak and iplete state and theck of a physical carrier meant that they were invisible to humans. But the shades were unique. When they attacked, they could bite off the soul power from living people. The shades might have low physical attack ability¡ªin fact only as strong as an ordinary adult¡ªbut their non-physical ability was top notch. And they had short-range teleporting ability. This was what Lin Sheng liked about them. Lin Sheng sat in the cafe, took a sip of the ck coffee and asionally cast his eyes at the building on the outside. Sitting opposite him on the next table was a beautiful brte. Wearing a bright yellow sweater and a white skirt, she was chatting with another bestie about thetest fashion in town. Just when Lin Sheng picked up the coffee and was about to take a sip, a brown-haired young boy only half the height of an adult emerged behind the brte. The young boy wore a gray shirt and white track pants with dirt and mud all over his body. His face was pale, his smile creepy as he raised his hands and wrapped his arms around the brte. The waiters, the brte¡¯s bestie sitting across the table, and other patrons in the caf¨¦ did not see the young boy. ¡°Not a shade.¡± Lin Sheng cocked an eyebrow, staring at the young boy. He was curious what the boy was doing. Simr thing had happened before in the noodle restaurant. Now the same thing was happening in this caf¨¦. The world had be more chaotic than before. What intrigued Lin Sheng was that no one had ever remembered the existence of the noodle restaurant. Everyone just went on with their lives. Lin Sheng did nothing but watch as the young boy hugged the beautiful brte from behind. The young boy melted and entered the body of the beauty. While the brte still talking, she put down her coffee cup, hitting the ss tabletop so hard that it made a loud clink. The brte lowered her head and started sobbing. Seeing this, her bestie began to console her as if she knew what happened. Then the sob turned into cry. The brte looked really sad. Suddenly the brte grabbed a fork and stabbed herself in her eye. Half of the fork had prated her eye with blood and fluid sputtering into the coffee and on the table. Chapter 349 - Expansion: Part 2

Chapter 349: Expansion: Part 2

Everyone inside the caf¨¦ had noticed it as all of them subconsciously got up with shock etched in their face. A few waiters even dropped their trays without them knowing it as the caf¨¦ which was bustling with chatter suddenly fell silent. ¡°Aaaaaahhhhh!!!¡± Then came the screams as customers all got up and ran out of the caf¨¦. Even the waiters scrambled far away as the manager called the cops with a pale face. Only that officedy¡¯s BFF, still shivering, mustered up some courage as she grabbed her best friend¡¯s hand. ¡°Oh my god! Oh my god! Liv! My god!¡± She was only capable of repeating a fear-ridden ¡®Oh my gods¡¯ as she tried to pry her friend¡¯s hand from the fork. Yet thetter¡¯s strength was mysteriously beyond her imagination as she could not even move her wrist. Lin Sheng sat behind and saw clearly the small boy slowly flowing out of the long hair beauty, reforming and heading out of the caf¨¦. He did not act, as this was just the body of a crimson armor warrior, he did not have the speed and reaction to stop it. On the other hand, this was the first time he saw these non-shade monsters causing such damages. ¡°A pity, a crimson armor warrior is not all that strong or reactive. Or else I could stop that boy and save a life.¡± Lin Sheng sigh. BAMM!! And just at that moment, a ruckus broke out at the Chowchow Records Tower. The window pane of one of the office level Basbo was at suddenly shattered as countless of ss fragments rained down. ROAAARR!! A shapeless soul ripple halo sted out in a frenzy from there, and spread across the entire ce. The sound sounded like a bestial roar, yet no one seemed to have heard it. Lin Sheng got out of the coffee, and looked at the incident scene at the tower. And soon, a monster with a dozen human heads jumped out of the building with a middle-aged man in its hand andnded brutally onto the ground. BAMM!! Two massive foot marks suddenly appeared on the ground. In the eyes of the crowd, Basbo was simply held by the neck up high by an invisible monster, yet he survived the fall unscathed. ¡°So it begins...¡± Lin Sheng pretended to scream with the rest and ran to the side streets for safety. In fact he had transformed into ck smoke when no one was looking and observed from nearby. ¡°Basbo!! Give Leah back!!¡± The dozens of head on the Shade Homonculus all wore a furious expression as it roared. The core of his body was a normal man who was about to get married to his beloved girlfriend. Yet, this originally happy ending was shattered when Basbo used his powers to charm his girlfriend forcibly in a bar. The girl¡¯s loss of the chastity aside, she had be a willing ve to Basbo and any important VIPs he deigns to. And that sent the man into a deep despair, and not too longter, at the grip of crushing despair, he consumed poison andmitted suicide. Yet Lin Sheng¡¯s luck was on his side as he managed to find remnants of his soul that have yet to disappear. So he used the Shade creation technique to turn him into a Shade, and during the experiment he had added another ten different spirit fragments and something special as well. It was not only that. What Lin Sheng wanted was a powerful weapon that he could send into a battlefield. Using therge amount of memories and knowledge he had as a basis, plus his continuous study and extraction of souls, he had made huge strides in the study of the souls. And the study made him realized that his usage of the souls were the crudest of methods. The power that could be unleashed from a person¡¯s soul is probably beyond his imaginations, so he now focused on uncovering the secrets of the soul. BAM!! The Shade Homonculus opened its mouth as it gave Basbo¡¯s arm a brutal bite, and tearing the limb off. Amid the bone-chilling cry, a pool of blood sshed against the ground. The homunculus did not just stop there as it started to infuse arge amount of ck smoke-like substance into the arm wound. ¡°The Asterism should be showing up any time now.¡± Lin Sheng looked at the time and saw that most of the pedestrians had already cleared away as a couple of green dots were quickly making their way towards the deserted street. ¡°Based on their aura, a two-wing leading a couple other one-wing. They won¡¯t be able to do anything to the Shade Homonculus.¡± And soon a couple of green silhouette shed with the homunculus. Amid the sh, aside from some flesh wounds, the homunculus was like a battle tank as it ran rampant. The walls and pavements were crushed and torn apart as Basbo was simply tossed about as he hung upon death¡¯s door. The small Asterism squad had no means to save the hostage as their ranks were soon thinned by wounded. All of their attacks against the homunculus only left minor scratches. At this point, Lin Sheng had no need to further observe. He had obtained all of thebat data he needed, so he turned and left. Basbo will not die, this was the order that he had engraved in the mind of the homunculus. But he will suffer, and suffer he will as the dark power medical techniques, even when paired with modern medicine will not be able to do anything for his wounds. Only the Holy Sanctum, and only the holy power was Basbo¡¯s only hope, and by extension, it was Cavendian¡¯s only hope. On the way back, Lin Sheng ran into another bizarre shade attacking a living person. This time, he managed to stop it, and took out the boy shade as well. With Asterism running all around town trying to maintain order, even normal civilians could see them flying around every corner of the city. And the normally bustling city center, barely had any cars on it. Now that cases upon cases happening back to back, the streets were deserted as no one dared to head out and tempt fate. When Lin Sheng walked past a few darker areas, he could sense that there were dangerous aura permeating from the darkness. ¡°That¡¯s the aura of the cktide...¡± Lin Sheng was now very familiar with that aura. With his present knowledge, he could clearly tell that the world he was in was slowly being engulfed and consumed by the cktide. That made him suspect that this was the reason that he was so easily able to enter the dream; where expanse contracted and eons became instant, into the worlds that had long been consumed by the cktide. It was not for the fact his soul was powerful and could ignore the distance between worlds. And the biggest possibility was that his world, and the consumed worlds, were simply just too close... As he refocused, Lin Sheng¡¯s main body in the undergroundb slowly opened his eyes. ¡°The test results are pretty good. And the mission objective ispleted as well. The control is perfect. The third homunculus experiment is a sess.¡± He said as he stood up and walked to theb desk, as he typed into the notebook the results and process of the experiment earlier. Lin Sheng had been onto the homunculi experimentation ever since the patrol mission. Using the various effects and distortions of the soul based on locality, plus the special brainwashing technique of the Holy Sanctum, and the technique he had gained for controlling the Shades, Lin Sheng had managed to further improve upon all of them into the homunculus technique he had now. Chapter 350 - Expansion: Part 3

Chapter 350: Expansion: Part 3

¡°Based on the Holy Sanctum¡¯s theology, the human soul is split into five main parts. And these five parts are: Dynames, representing strength, courage, anger, vengeance, madness and more. Cherubim, representing intelligence, logic, memory, conclusions, rationality and more. Exusiai, representing the hidden nature in the deepest parts of a being and its desires. Seraphim, the part epassing all the positive and virtues of the soul, and finally Nephilim, the part covering the negative and the foulness of the soul.¡± ¡°The soul conversion between the Seraphim and the Nephilim is the most efficient, the two clearly has the strongest connection, and perhaps within the five main parts, they have an even deeper and more arcane connection. Lin Sheng had recorded this theory down, and it was the next thing on his agenda. ¡°Now, what I need to do is to take care of Basbo¡¯s matter.¡± He then picked up his phone, and sent Madin¡¯s number a short message. Madin was now slowly recovering his ability, with his body receiving the needed healing, his strength had recovered to the peak of an Oppresor¡¯s ss. And he will under a ¡®coincidental circumstance¡¯, unintentionally divulge the healing powers of the holy power after Cavendian ran out of methods to save his son. A sect that could heal his son¡¯s injuries, and to extend his own lifespan at the same time without much requirements and restrictions was almost a perfect, salvation sect. The only requirement to obtain the holy light was to pray at the holy Sanctum every now and then to refresh the Ashen Seal. And so Lin Sheng started waiting. Days soon passed, and on the afternoon of the fifth day, Cavendian came alone to the rented meeting room in a pre-arranged hotel as a crimson armor warrior that bore Lin Sheng¡¯s will followed behind. The recruitment process was very smooth. The Holy Sanctum had no restrictions or request from Cavendian. Lin Sheng dered that their only goal is to preserve the final embers of humanity in the face of the expanding cktide. And the founding of the Holy Sanctum was to face the cktide, and not for any person or factions. After disying the suppressive ability of holy power, Cavendian epted the joining ritual while still having doubts in his mind. The ritual was just as simple oath alongside the eptance of the holy power seed into his body. The seed was imnted by Lin Sheng in a hidden ce personally as Cavendian was a proper six-wing elite, and was one of the strongest persons in the academy. Aside from the principal and vice principal Suna, he and the other four deans are the strongest in the academy. As expected, Cavendian was a cautious man, and simply just shrouded the holy seed within his body and did not perform any meditation or training, instead he only beseeched the Holy Sanctum to heal his son. Clearly, he did not believe that the Holy Sanctum would not imnt someone with the seed of holy power without any motives. But Lin Sheng did not mind that, Cavendian will believe him when he shows him the possibility of curing Basbo. And just as he nned to bring Cavendian into the Holy Sanctum, Madin brought him another good news. The medical treatment of old dean who led the defense against the Sevenlocks Tower, Cainphas Walloon, was ineffective, and his injuries were getting worse by the day and was already beyond the point of no return. The current medical and dark power treatments had little to no effect now as Cainphas¡¯ entire blood production system was failing and even his brain was showing signs of withering while his entire internal organs was showing bizarre signs of rejection. Cainphas was one of the influential figures of Baine University, one of the five deans beneath Suna and another vice principal. A person of the same level and caliber as Cavendian. But his authority and background stretches much further than Cavendian, and even his capabilities are at least six-wings. For someone at this level, even within Carta nche, or when he leaves the university, he was still a high-level elite. But now, he was dying of his injuries with no medical treatment working. Lin Sheng knew his chance hade. If he managed to get a hold of his person, at least half of the voice of the university belongs to him. By then, whatever resources or weapons he needed, he would be able to obtain them easily. ... ... Beep, beep, beep... The cardiac monitor let out a continuous ECD beeps. Inside one of the special wards inside a first ss hospital in thergest Migan city, Panjergray City. A portable intensive monitoring systems surrounded the old man on the sick bed as countless of needles, sensors and dark power detection patch were connected in dense clusters all over the old man¡¯s body. What Cainphas needed was good, quiet rest. This was the suggestion the best specialist could give. And by the bedside stood a white-haired, pale elderly man. In his hand was a hat as he looked on at Cainphas with an expression of sorry. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that, Madin.¡± Cainphas could still speak, but his health was poor, and the weakness was apparent in his speech. ¡°We have been friends for many years, Cainphas. And living friends like you are too few and far between.¡± Madin sighed. ¡°What do you want to say? You never said anything while the juniors were still around. And now they¡¯re gone and you are all alone. So just speak your mind.¡± Cainphas knew his friend all too well, he was not the type to speak his mind. ¡°Do you want to live?¡± Madin asked. ¡°Nonsense.¡± Cainphas was speechless. ¡°Why? Do you have a way to let me live?¡± He had sensed that Madin had a way. And as expected, Madin nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t know whether it will work or not, but it is worth a try. Compared to such a hopeless trod to death, you might as well just go Hail Mary and give it onest go!¡± Cainphas wanted to say something, but just as his words formed up in his mouth, he stopped. ¡°So what are you trying to say? Let it out if you have a way! You¡¯ve always been like this, and jokes on you for missing out of Misha.¡± ¡°Heh, do you believe that I can p you to death right here and now?¡± Madin sneered. ¡°I dare you? I can still take down a three-wing before I die.¡± Cainphas sneered back. ¡°Three-wing?¡± Madin sneered once again as he slowly let out his dark powers, and disyed the volume of an Oppressor that could be distinguished at first nce. Cainphas went silent. He knew how severe the injuries Madin had. His eyes went wide and even his already weak breathing were rushed as his eyes lit up in fire as he looked at Madin. ¡°You¡¯ve... recovered?! You didn¡¯t sell your ass for that didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°You¡¯re looking for a fight?!¡± Madin roared. ¡°Plus what does my injuries have to do with that?¡± He then calmed down as he hesitated. He had no idea what goal the Holy Sanctum had, and what sort of effect will happen if he drags his old friend down together. But he knew that, without holy power, Cainphas was as good as dead. So regardless, living was more pertinent now. He then steeled his heart as he spoke. ¡°Have you heard of a power called the holy power?¡± ¡°Can it heal me?¡± Cainphas rumbled. ¡°There¡¯s a high chance it could! But it needs...has some unknown risk to it.¡± ¡°What risk?¡± ¡°No idea.¡± ¡°Then what am I afraid of? Cainphas let out a heartyugh. ¡°As long I survive!¡± Chapter 351 - Expanding: Part 1

Chapter 351: Expanding: Part 1

A few dayster, Cainphas¡¯ injuries saw a reversal as his wounds started to heal. But he did not immediately approve the Holy Sanctum¡¯s request to study the weaponry, so Lin Sheng was not able to disguise himself as a normal Holy Sanctum member to pick the weapons from the school¡¯s arsenal. The official reason was just to let someone rest inside the arsenal for a few days without taking out any of the weapons. Apparently it was for a high-level Holy Sanctum member that was a weapon nut. But no one would buy that reasoning. Cainphas knew the dark power weaponry inside the arsenals is extremely destructive, and if it does get smuggled out,rge casualties would be inevitable. So he did not believe the Holy Sanctum¡¯s motives were pure. So he dyed and dyed. But the effect of the holy power was greater than he had imagined. Not too longter, Lin Sheng had gotten news from Margaret as epted new Darksiders who had joined the Holy Sanctum. Thedy did not went home and instead roamed around the nearby cities as she secretly recruited potential members to join the Holy Sanctum. The Holy Sanctum¡¯s training of one¡¯s holy power greatly stimtes the dark power and as the two co-exist, they could see multiple-fold increase to their powers after training. And for the Darksiders among the civilians, this was unimaginable, so any Darksider who had the opportunity toe over had dly joined. And time soon passed. Very quickly, it was the time for the first Holy Sanctum congregation for the imparting of the Ashen Seal. Madin, Margaret, even Melissa and a few other Darksiders from other ces all came to the congregation as everyone put down whatever they were doing and headed to the point. The meeting point of the temporary Holy Sanctum was inside one of Madin¡¯s private estate chosen by Lin Sheng. The estate was outside the city, and had a wide underground basement. 7 December, noon, weather clear. Cloudless. Inside the hall of ckplum manor. Crimson-armor warriors stood in line on both sides, and these normal soldiers, while low level transcendents had impable discipline, and that left an impression with the guests. There were at least twenty odd people in the hall at a nce, and the weakest of the lot were at least two-wing level. ¡°This is Miga, powerful,plicated, yet free.¡± Lin Sheng stood together with Margaret, Madin and Cainphas together inside a room with a one-way mirror on the second floor as they looked down at the boisterous scene below. ¡°There¡¯s not much freedom to speak of.¡± Margaret shook her head. ¡°Many of the freemen are being pressured by Carta che, and they are almost an extinct breed now.¡± ¡°Being able to get to this level by self-study is already verymendable.¡± Madin smiled. ¡°That aside, the Holy Sanctum and Baine have mutual interests, and in this respect I hope that the Holy Sanctum could openly cooperate with us to suppress the spread of the cktide.¡± Cainphas had made good recovery as the holy power within his body had clearly broken through level three. The moment he brought up the cktide, he could not help but to look at Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng was d in his white armor as he wore a green crystal mask. His frame wasrge and continuously releasing powerful holy aura. ¡°Suppressing the cktide is our calling, but our manpower in the Migan Holy Sanctum is just too low. We need to take in a few more people and that will increase the conversion through training and to stimte mutual growth. That will allow the holy power toplete its initial umtion.¡± Lin Sheng said calmly. His voice had been distorted using a voice distortion technique to hide his original voice. He did not wish to have his true identity seen Cainphas, the wily old fox. He was not afraid of being discovered, but he was allergic to potential problems. ¡°The Sevenlocks Tower¡¯s raid had damaged the seal in parts of the city and the academy, unleashing arge amount of ctide aura. We need to quickly suppress that.¡± Cainphas rumbled. ¡°There¡¯s such a thing?¡± ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s see how it goes then.¡± Cainphas suddenly sighed, and said nothing else. After the wily old dean stopped talking, Margaret went up to speak to Lin Sheng to report what she had aplished after she left. Recruitment, investigation, formting the development ns for the Holy Sanctum and paying people to spread rumors about the holy light being the only thing that is able tobat the cktide. The moment he heard Margaret¡¯s report, he felt that she was much more suited than him to run the sanctum. ¡°If nothing goes wrong, we will officially set up a branch here.¡± Lin Sheng gave Margaret a special assurance. ¡°When that happens you¡¯lle over here to run the daily operations.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do my best!¡± Margaret nodded. She was not born out of a small family, rather she was one of Olro¡¯s main noble family. With her established familial background, she had learnt a lot of things since young, so she had a good grasp on how to run things. And after making contact with the Holy Sanctum, she quickly realized what sort of hidden potential this organization had. After a short conversionter, all of the new Holy Sanctum recruits had arrived. There was a total of 28 Darksiders. This was a terrifying number, as Darksiders were different from themon folk. After joining the Holy Sanctum and started training, the growth from the mutual stimtion of dark and holy powers was much more exponential. And that is to say, the 28 person here would greatly surpass their peers in the future not too far away as they build up their own careers. Once all had arrived, the crimson armor warriors closed the door and started taking attendance. The Holy Sanctum was not some cult, rather it was a secretive sect, so they had a membership list. While their attendance were being taken, the crowd too started measuring their fellow attendees. Perhaps not longter, they will be able to form a mutually-beneficial grouping. The Holy Sanctum had provided them thework, stronger abilities and also faith. So Lin Sheng gave them a little bit of time to themselves. About half an hourter, he slowly got up and walked towards the barricade on the second floor and down to the most eye-catching spot on the first floor. There was a small microphone being set up there. Lin Sheng stood before the microphone as his gaze swept past the crowd as he waited for them to quiet down. The cacophony of chatter soon gave way to silence as all of the Darksiders here today knew why they had all gathered at this ce. The Ashen Seal. This was the first thing the Holy Sanctum had informed everyone. This was something that would allow them to gain powerful abilities aside from the dark powers, and to also increase the rate of training of one¡¯s holy power. Besides, everyone present were curious as well. Perhaps this man in white armor was the manager of the Holy Sanctum here? What would he be saying? The Holy Sanctum is definitely not a charity that gives and does not take, so when they were all called here, they had made preparations for the price they need to pay. Lin Sheng smiled slightly beneath the mask as he stood before the microphone and spoke. ¡°I¡¯m very d to be able to stand here today, and talk to everyone about the problem of the cktide.¡± ¡°I am Taros Seagal, an orphan saved from the hollows of poverty by the Holy Sanctum.¡± He started to wax lyrical. Chapter 352 - Expanding: Part 2

Chapter 352: Expanding: Part 2

¡°My childhoody in a broken mud-walled hut. There was a simple, hand-made wooden horse in it, and a sandbag made out of rags. That was everything I had.¡± Lin Sheng sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve never had any education, and even now, I barely read at all. I am really, really just a simple young man. If I threw away my training, and the blessing of the holy light, I might as well be just a kid out there picking junk.¡± Hemented as he swept his gaze across the crowd. ¡°My mother was dead.¡± ¡°....¡± The crowd was silent. ¡°My father was sickly. ¡°....¡± It was silent still. ¡°My elder brother was dull-witted, while my sister paralyzed.¡± ¡°That tragic? Is it even real?¡± The crowd below looked on at him with sympathy. Lin Sheng expression was serious as a pure white radiance glowed in his eyes. ¡°Since young, I swore that I would see to that there shall be no more tragedies, war, chaos and pity in this world. Yes, if there is no tragedy, there will be no need for pity.¡± He said as he radiated the light of humanity and emotions. ¡°That time, the three year old me had to take care of my grandparents, and also tend to my sickly father. My elder siblings were of no help, and even beat me at times.¡± ¡°...¡± the crowd had nothing to say at all. Three years old? Can things be more exaggerated than that? A three year old not wetting his own bed is already amendable thing in itself. But seeing how engrossed Lin Sheng had already went into the story, even when they thought the story too unreal, they still bore the idea that he might be a special three years old after all? He was chosen by the Holy Sanctum to lead this ce after all. Lin Sheng went on and on. ¡°And I don¡¯t know how or when, a thought of believing in something came to mind, and I had only just been expose to the teachings of the Holy Sanctum, and to have faith in the light within your heart. That, attracted me. So I thought, humans all needed something to sustain them internally, so I decided to give it a try, and embarked on the life of studying the holy power. And that actually worked! After my holy power was awakened, its effect was obvious! My brother¡¯s mind was healed, my sister regained her mobility! Even my father¡¯s sickness was cured, so was my grandparents. Even my mother came back alive!¡± ¡°....¡± Right, go on then... The crowd had no intention to say anything, as long he was happy waxing the tale... And Lin Sheng got even more emotional. ¡°In truth, my mother was not dead. She had lost hope, and ran off to live alone. And when she saw hope, she came back. So things will definitely turn for the better when there is hope, don¡¯t you agree?¡± He said as he tried to round the tale up. While clearly a group of them did not believe him, but most had the thought of doing so. Being a transcendent, a Darksider does not someone is well educated or of noble social status. Most of them only had powerful will and souls within them. So Lin Sheng just simply went about picking the most tear-jerking story from his memory and exaggerate them a little to allow the audience to draw the audience into the tale. And next, he continued on his experience as he went from a poor and weak vagrant boy to a sessful person, as he defied his fate step by step. As all of these stories were real, it slowly resonated with the audience below. And half an hourter, even Lin Sheng felt like crying as his voice was slightly choked while taking a deep bow. ¡°I¡¯m very d that we can gather here and bask in the glory of the holy light. Pray that the light within your heart will bring radiance to the world. This is the unchanging purpose of the Holy Sanctum since the beginning and henceforth! Justice, mayete, but light, shall never be wanting! Thank you!¡± Lin Sheng bowed again as his voice echoed across the hall. After a brief silence. p, p, p!! The entire hall broke into apuse as at least ny percent of the audience were touched by Lin Sheng¡¯s speech. Perhaps some of them had thought some of the initial story was too oundish, but thetter part when he talked about his experience, they could tell whether it was real or fake. And with a torrent of truthful stories, Lin Sheng¡¯s speech slowly gained their approval. What mattered was that they have vaguely understood what was the most of important thing of training of holy power from Lin Sheng¡¯s story. After his speech, a few crimson armor warriors brought out some prepared leaflets and headed it to the audience. ¡°Thank you. May all men bask in the light, and never find himself inferior again.¡± ¡°Thank you. May all men bask in the light, and never find himself inferior again.¡± ¡°Thank you, thank you.¡± ¡°If you have any friends or family who is suffering sickness or tribtions, you can introduce them to the Holy Sanctum, we can try to cure them, but with fees.¡± ¡°Hope all of you understand that the healers still need to survive, and cannot simply just use the holy power he trains so hard for free; so with payment can the service be expanded. I seek your understanding.¡± And on the leaflet was the Ashen Seal mark that Lin Sheng had just drawn. This was the most basic Sanctuary seal, with a two hour effectiveness. Even when he had already broken through level twelve in his holy power, he was not able topletely replicate his Ashen Seals. Without the Tome of Heritance, the longest possible effectiveness of an Ashen Seal was two hours. As the members of the Holy Sanctum exchanged salutations, and the experience of their training, they soon focused on meditating the Ashen Seal as they got more familiar with each other. As all of the seeds originated from Lin Sheng, so their power were all linked to Lin Sheng, and this link would further develop as time passed. The holy light will gradually change the trainee¡¯s body by brute force as it strengthened and change the body until it totally bes a conduit of holy light. And by that stage, if anyone were to turn their backs on the Holy Sanctum, upon losing ess to the Ashen Seal, his entire strength will fade away. The entirety of it, not only the holy light would be lost, but also all of the other energies within the body. That was the most terrifying part. It was not death, but for transcendents, such a situation was as good as death. Of course, the Holy Sanctum now was to everyone, a benevolent organization that was in its growth period. So everyone only saw benefits. But not long after, should anyone chooses to betray, only then the terrifying part of the Holy Sanctum would be revealed. And soon, the gathering waspleted sessfully. All of the members present felt a kinship to one another as they left. As all of them were worshippers of the holy light. And thus, the Holy Sanctum slowly grow around Baine University under a benevolent fa?ade. Chapter 353 - Expanding: Part 3

Chapter 353: Expanding: Part 3

Very quickly, Lin Sheng found himself stretched to the limit with the disseminating of the holy seed. There were simply too many people. So he decided to appoint Madin and Margaret as the core of the sanctum and allow them to imnt holy seeds to the other disciples. And a few days soon passed. The members of the Holy Sanctum started to move out as they helped the Asterism forces to suppress the roiling cktide and ckmist, and gained some name in the process. No longer did the Holy Sanctum hid in the shadows and instead walked out proud in the light as they disy what they were for all to see. Madin, as one of the Migan branch manager, he had let out his ckplum Manor and renovated it into part of the Holy Sanctum, allowing members to meet andmunicate. With the Sevenlocks Tower¡¯s raid on the three great hidden realms at the backdrop, Carta nche¡¯s was originally had some reservations about the appearance of the Holy Sanctum branch in Miga. But after some more investigations, the Holy Sanctum did not engage in any form of incitement, dark, bloody rituals or enthrallment. Instead every member of the Holy Sanctum had an extreme aversion to evil, and to let light shine upon everything, their fervor was almost beyond imagination. And if it only was that, that would not have been a problem. But during the same period, the growth of the Holy Sanctum members was just simply too explosive as their holy powers grew at the speed that awed everyone, as if no effort was needed. So finally, the Migan politicians had enough. You can bring light, and be the hammer of justice, but just do not overdo it. Beating someone to an inch before death just because he wanted to steal some smoked jerky? Or when someone trying to pull an ident insurance scam, even before he fell to the ground, he was surrounded by Holy Sanctum members who wanted to harvest his organs to give it to more deserving people? Or when a group of pickpockets tried their luck on the bus and ended up with two dead and another scared out of his wits, to only get his leg broken and to be dragged all the way back for a penitence session. If not for the university had only just suffered an attack that rendered it almost like a warzone that crime so a marked increase. During more peaceful times, these cases were already pushing the line. So Lin Sheng and the other two upper echelon had once again called for a gathering, and emphasized on the three rules of not overdoing, not taking matters into one¡¯s own hands, and not being too impulsive. Only then did the Holy Sanctum¡¯s notoriety reduced somewhat. And because of that, more and more people joined the Holy Sanctum. Many of the new recruits had no aptitude in learning holy power but they are willing to be the Holy Sanctum¡¯s auxiliary members. As the membership grew, so did its influence, and the Holy Sanctum had turned from a hidden sect into a proper flourishing religion. And at that very moment, the application for ess into the Baine University¡¯s dark power weapons arsenal was finally approved. Cainphas had thought things through. The speed of the Holy Sanctum¡¯s member¡¯s training was so fast that it was terrifying, while due to the difference in their physical strengthpared to Lin Sheng, most of the members saw at least a two to four fold increase to their training rate. And this was using holy power. Some had even obtained the first divine art- Detect Evil. With Detect Evil, any spies intending to worm their way into the sanctum with a fake identity would simply be found out, and brutally taken care off. The appearance of the divine art had given all members of the Holy Sanctum more sense of belonging to the sanctum. And at this moment, Lin Sheng started to teach thebat techniques using the holy light. This was because the holy light had a powerful enhancement and strengthening effect, and it could quickly heal any wounds. So most of the Holy Sanctum¡¯s warriors were mostly heavily armored and wield weapons. As once the holy light strengthens one¡¯s body, their strength would increase. With sufficient defense to ward of any external damage, even if they are wounded they could easily heal themselves up. With that, all warriors of the holy Sanctum would be walking tanks that can dish out damage, tank damage, and heal themselves. If they cannot take out something by sheer force, then they can simply drag the foe down through attrition. The moment Lin Sheng thought the holy lightbat technique to the recruits, they were not the one who were riled by it. The one riled by it were the middle to low level Darksiders. At this age, most bullet-proof, stab-proof armor had already been made very thin, so with just a little bit of solid armor, the defensive capabilities of those suit could match those armored tin cans back in the day, and maybe more. With that sort of defensive ability, plus the holy light enhancing one¡¯s body alongside the healing thates with it; that greatly increased the survival rates of the middle to low level Darksiders to an incredible level. And thus the Holy Sanctum grew at an exponential rate all around Baine University. ... ... Baine University Hidden Realm. Dark power weapons arsenal. Lin Sheng stood at the ten meter tall arsenal that looked like a massive cold storage, his head looking up high at the dark blue metal door. There was a cone-like spiral pointing upwards, and a purple glow flowed faintly at the top. Cavendian, his expression worn, stood by Lin Sheng¡¯s side. While Lin Sheng was in his main body, he had worn his white armor, helmet and mask. He had evenyered the internal part of the helmet with holy power to prevent detection. He hade to study the ce as Seagal. The identity of Seagal was a person known to see evil as his nemesis, and was a savior of many members of Baine University in the Sevenlocks Tower raid upon the university. For a person like him, an elite like him on top of a promise to not take out any of the weapons, Cavendian quite easily agreed to the arrangement, and brought him over. The process bypassed Cainphas and only simply gotten Cavendian¡¯s agreement. ¡°Order: Hope and Avarice.¡± Cavendian chanted a short phrase that Lin Sheng had never heard before. And soon, amidst the rumbling, the giant door slowly opened from the middle into two. Behind the door wasrge stacks of boxes as cold white mist roiled with in, it was as if they were stepping into arge freezer. ¡°You can enter now. Are you sure you want to stay here three full days?¡± Cavendian asked again, his gaze curious. ¡°Yes.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Every weapon here is marked and ounted for, you are not allowed to take anything out. Do you agree? Cavendian reconfirmed. ¡°Yes.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Alright, in you go then. I¡¯lle to pick you up three dayster.¡± Cavendian left those parting words. Lin Sheng thanked him as he stepped into the vault. After going through a ten meter tall, three meter thick door, the moment he stepped into the vault proper, he was stunned by a massive object to his left. ¡°Heavy Radiation Tank ¨C The Python Crimson. A terror weapon that could kill a five-wing is a single st. The tank was three meter tall and about seven meter wide. Its armor was thick, like a massive iron bull, while white armor tes were installed on its sides. ¡°Not powerful enough.¡± Lin Sheng wanted a powerful killer weapon that could ovep.¡± And his gaze soon went past the tank and onto another vicious weapon. ¡®Dawnlight Bombard.¡¯ This was a massive bombard with the longest range of any dark power artilleries. It may looked like an erged mortar, but it was much more intricate, with green dark power mist coiling around it. ¡°Hard pass. I need more ovepping power!¡± Lin Sheng continued his search. Dozens upon dozens of dangerous weapons went through his sight, and after who knows how long, he finally stood before an independent dark blue case, and looked at the help sign before it. ¡®Heavy Spidersilk Cannon. Using spidersilk stones as its energy core, it is one of the most destructive modern dark power weapons. Its most glorious battle record was a ten cannon simultaneous barrage in the Red and ck War that wounded the enemy¡¯s Ptinate Whitegull.¡¯ This was the strongest one. Then it was the bombs. After modification with dark powers, a number of the bombs¡¯ destructive capabilities were even more potent than a tactical nuclear warhead. Almost as if they were the transcendent version of a nuclear warhead. And very quickly, Lin Sheng¡¯s gazended on a white bomb in the shape of a durian fruit. Chapter 354 - Memories: Part 1

Chapter 354: Memories: Part 1

Lin Sheng ced a white durian-shaped object by the left side of the street, beneath a round window. He then continued forward. He was now about a kilometer away from the red-haireddy. There was visible white frost on the ground now. Lin Sheng looked left and right as he dragged a sack of white durians gently to the right side of the street. The street there was divided into two portions, the top part was for small vehicles while the bottom was an expressway, with a toppled ¡®slow-down¡¯ warning sign by its side. Lin Sheng leaped over onto the ground and ced a durian after every set distance. Only until he had ced all of the durians apart into a giant circle did hey by one of the streetmps to rest as he grabbed onto his empty pocket. ¡°With one hundred and three odd Effervescence Annihtors, let¡¯s see if you survive this!¡± Lin Sheng touched the floor and felt something. Picking it up, Lin Sheng gave it a good look. It was a small green stic board, and on it was a weird alphabet-like pattern. By the side of the pattern was a small sandwich-like picture. ¡°A bakery? There¡¯s actually one here?¡± Lin Sheng threw away the piece and looked at the red-haired woman. The air was cold as dark clouds roiled above as lightning shed from time to time. ¡°This god forsaken dream is getting more and more realistic... or have I really crossed over into another world?¡± The thought shed past Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. After a short rest, he got up from the ground and walked towards the entrance of a tilting building. With a light step. BAM! His entire body wasunched up at least seven to eight meters into the air andnded on a t surface on the roof of the building. There was a ck device that was spinning slow on the surface. He grabbed the device and pressed. BEEP BEEP... ¡°Program activated. Diffusive aura scanningmence... auxiliary systems activated.¡± Underneath the device was a beehive-like box where a long barrel appeared out of it as the entire box transformed into a ck gun not dissimr to a light machine gun. ¡°Come, where are you now?¡± Lin Sheng smirked as he squat down and ced his eyes on the dark red scope. The red-haired woman stood unmoving in the middle of the scope, her giant sword nted beside her. Just like how Lin Sheng met her the first time around. ¡°Now, let me show you the power of technology.¡± Lin Sheng had lost count the number of times he had died facing that woman. And now that he had a chance to strike back, he felt a tiny excitement in his heart. ¡°Not even the Night Lord could survive the explosion of this st, and this is much, much stronger. Will be a waste?¡± Lin Sheng suddenly felt uneasy. He could only replicate these bombs into the dream once, and if he use all of them up here, and should he run into trouble the next time... It was difficult to find an explosive of this level after all. As he pondered, he decided to just wing it. ¡°Forget it, better safe than sorry and leave the rest forter.¡± The red-haireddy could easily suppress him, and the moment he tries something big, it was an instagib. So thedy was probably somewhere in the Ptinate level. And for the Holy Sanctum, having an additional Ptinate would definitely be very helpful. Regaining his determination, Lin Sheng refocused as he ced his attention back on the scope as he looked at the red-haireddy in the distance. With a deft and urate motion, he pulled out a bullet the length of a palm, and put it into the chamber. ck. As the bullet was fed into the gun, the entire rifle glowed in golden rose hue. ¡°Bullet loaded. Auxiliary system activated.¡± ¡°Anti-armor mode activated. Pration elerator chamber activated.¡± ¡°First level enhancement, second level enhancement, third level enhancement, bullet base speed eleration enhancementpleted.¡± ¡°All preparationspleted. Ready to fire.¡± The digital voice soon went silent as Lin Sheng ced his finger in the trigger, ready to fire at any moment. His sight was firmly locked onto the red-haired woman standing still there. His focus unwavering. ¡°DIE!¡± He then gave the trigger a powerful pull, as he felt the entire gun shuddered. A line of pure blue me sted out from the barrel, and disappeared in a blink of an eye. Inside the scope, the red-haireddy twitched as she suddenly pulled out her sword to block the attack. BAMMM!!! A massive force crashed against the blocking de. The long bullet still spun wildly like a drill as it tried to tear a hole through the sword and into the woman. Yet, the red-haireddy let out a low rumble as a surge of white mist emanated all over her and converged upon the giant sword to increase its defensive power. Before she could fully respond to the attack, Lin Sheng quickly loaded two more rounds into the chamber. Two loud bangster, a duo of blue light sted out. This time, she had no avenue to respond and took two brutal shots onto her left shoulder. What surprised Lin Sheng was the moment the two bullets made impact on her shoulder, only a small blot of ck blood appeared before the bullets were repelled. ¡°Wow!¡± Lin Sheng was awed. This rifle was called Sephiroth, the Barb of the Fire God. Based on what he knew, a single shot of that rifle was equivalent to a full-powered attack by an apex six-wing. But this rifle could only fire three times, and it was now useless. That aside, the only reason Cainphas dared to allow Lin Sheng to enter the vault as all of the weapons there bore the seal set up personally by the principal. So as long as the weapon is within the arsenal, no weapons will misfire, explode or have any sort of reaction. And anyone seeking to bring the weapons out would need the principal¡¯s permission and personally undoing the seals. So, before even entertaining the thought of him bringing the weapons out, and even if he manages to pull that off, the weapons will simply be reduced to scrap metal, and cannot be used. And for a weapon with the power of a six-wing like the Sephiroth; its value notwithstanding, was the only weapon of its kind there. The academy had fitted it with all sorts of top of the range modules, and it was the veritable jewel of the arsenal. Yet the Barb of the Fire God did not fare any better before the red-haireddy as the ambush only managed to scrap a bit of her shoulder skin off. Dark, murky mist of the red-haireddy¡¯s eyes as she was taken by surprise. She opened her mouth in a voiceless roar. And as the ground around her cracked, she disappeared. Lin Sheng felt goosebumps all over as a chill ran down his spine. He suppressed his instinct to run as he stood his ground and waited for the foe to approach. As for how far a kilometer distance is for a Pntine, Lin Sheng soon knew. Ten seconds. His eyes narrowed as he saw the cold silhouette flew it like a crashinget from the distance towards him. And just as the red-haireddy had about half the distance to travel, Lin Sheng pressed a remote control button in his pocket. BEEP BEEP As the digital beep rang out, a secondter. BOOOOOMMMM!! Thend before him buckled. Lin Sheng felt that the whole world spun as he felt like he was sucked by a vortex and thrown into the air and right into the storm of dust and debris. Chapter 355 - Memories: Part 2

Chapter 355: Memories: Part 2

His vision was a storm of grey debris as Lin Sheng felt a stinging heat and shock wave radiating from below. His body started to roar in pain all over. ¡°Thank god I summoned the Armor of Dawn beforehand.¡± This was the only thing in Lin Sheng¡¯s mind now. He was a good three hundred meters from ground zero, and yet the massive aftershock still managed to drag him into it. And like a massive tornado makingndfall, he was sent flying by the powerful shockwave into the storm of debris. After being thrashed about for a good dozen of seconds that Lin Sheng felt he was now falling in a parabolic line. BAMM!! Lin Sheng mmed hard against a dark green human-headed frog that had just popped out from the ground. The human-headed frog squelched as it was squashed by the impact, and its body simply just slinked down the crack. A short shudderter, it stopped moving. Before Lin Sheng could even get up, he felt that a rain of debris was falling all over him as detritus crashed hard against his armor. The human-headed frog quickly reduced into ck smoke and disintegrated with only a single ck line entering Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. Cough...cough... Lin Sheng turned about as he pushed arge piece of rock away, and stumbled out from the wreckage. The entirety of his armor had clear dents on them, as his arms and legs were torn to the point that his bones were visible. ¡°Gotta count myself lucky.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head hard as he tried to shake off the vertigo from his mind. He then unleashed his senses and started inspecting his surroundings. His powerful dragon eyes allowed him to see through the smog, and soon he saw the epicenter of the st. A rippling pattern extended out of the area as all of the buildings within the vicinity were reduced to rubble, with arge ck crater remaining in the center of the st zone. Thick smoke rose slowly from the crater, and without any much hesitation, Lin Sheng quickly healed himself up with his holy power. For his Crag Dragon blood enhanced defenses to be torn apart like this, one could imagine what sort of horrifying inferno the epicenter was. Lin Sheng was very clear how his defensive powers were now. When he fought against Bluetail, he had worn thetter down to nothing with his defensive abilities alone. For an attack of the same level to strike against him, was akin to a five-wing hitting a six-wing, a clear drop in power level. And for him to be that grievously wounded. ¡°She was right in the middle of the st epicenter, even if she survives it she¡¯d probably be pretty screwed. But if she has any way to regenerate quickly then I¡¯ll be in trouble.¡± As he thought of that, Lin Sheng quickly made his way to the ground zero. And the closer he got to it, the more he felt the scorching heating at him. Soon, Lin Sheng returned to the ce he had nted the bombs, and looked on. The entire st zone had been reduced into a massive ck crater. Everything within it were naught but red or ck. ck was the charred soil, and red was the moltenva. And in the very center of it, a charred figure slowly struggled to rise up. It was that red-haireddy. She had burn marks all over her body, and half of her hair had been burnt away, revealing a scalped head. Her clothes were torn, and blisters lined her entire skin. ¡°This power...¡± Lin Sheng was speechless. This was the first time him understanding what a dark powered enhanced weapon could do against a high level transcendent. ¡°If they had taken these weapons out thest time, those heretics would not have stood a chance.¡± But then again, this was the reason why the heretics sealed the gates and moved against the academy¡¯s hidden realm. He thought. For a weapon this powerful against the sealed hidden real, it will definitely cause catastrophic destruction, and in the end result in a situation where all perish together. That was even before considering if the weapons were unsealed of course. ¡°Let¡¯s end this.¡± Pure, concentrated white light glowed all around Lin Sheng. His Armor of Dawn quickly disintegrated and disappeared before reconstructing itself over him. He then focused half of his entire holy power before him into a human-sized disc. ¡°Finish her!¡± Lin Sheng held the disc with both hands, as his Crag Dragon blood¡¯s explosive strength roared. HHAAHH!! The disc howled as it flew out towards the crater with deadly uracy. The distance between them were too short, too short to the point the red-haireddy had no chance to dodge. A secondter, clusters of light pirs sted out from the crater like a sea of spikes BAM BAM BAM!!! And the entire crater lit up like the sun for a good dozen or so seconds before fading away. Lin Sheng gently let out a sigh of relief the moment he saw the upper body of the red-haireddy were totally annihted, with her lower half staggering about for a bit before falling on her knees. ¡°It finally ended.¡± He got close, and waited. Very quickly the corpse disintegrated and turned into strands of ck smoke, and a ck line appeared out of the smoke and into Lin Sheng. UGH! The ck line entered Lin Sheng¡¯s chest and he immediately ran towards the ce he had scouted out earlier. A momentter, he was inside a ruined cavern a few hundred meters away, and hide inside it. At that same instant, a violent torrent of memories crashed against his mind. ... ... Inside a dark underground pce. Lin Sheng stood quietly in a corner as he looked at the pce. There was a ritual altar in the middle with a giant silver sword in it. There were visible chill around the area as permafrost covered the entire surface. Time seemed to bare no meaning here. And after a long wait, the sound of the pce door being pushed open rang out. ¡°It¡¯s here! It¡¯s here!¡± A hoarse female voice came from the door. Lin Sheng looked over, and immediately recognize the person. She was the red-haired female warrior that he had fought against for so long. She was wearing a grey cloth outfit, and in one of her hands was a ck iron greatsword and a torch in another as she slowly squeezed it through the gap in the door. ¡°Hahaha! It is really the Froststar de!¡± The red-haireddy walked in with big strides as her eyes were glued onto the giant silver sword in the middle of the hall. Behind her were twodies, one tall one short. One of them had the air of a noble with long ck hair and another cold and calction with a dagger in hand. All of their gaze were now focused on the great sword in the middle of the altar. ¡°Mistress! We found it!¡± The red-haireddy turned over as she looked at the ck-haired girl, excitement was clear on her face. ¡°Yes. We have found it. Good work, Kasumi.¡± The elegantdy smiled as she walked ahead, ignoring the frost as she held the hilt of the sword. Yet a white aura drove her hand off. Thedy was stunned for a moment. ¡°What¡¯s going on? I got rejected even with my bloodline?¡± ¡°Let me try.¡± The cold-faceddy stepped forward, and grabbed the hilt. BAM! A simr white aura butted her hand away, and refused her grip. Before the two could react, the white aura did not disappear and instead made a turn andnded on the red-haireddy¡¯s shoulder. Chapter 356 - Memories: Part 3

Chapter 356: Memories: Part 3

The red-haireddy¡¯s originally exuberant expression suddenly froze. She looked in a daze at both of her hands, and then to the two women. ¡°Mistress, Second Mistress, I... I didn¡¯t...¡± Her face turn pale as she tried to exin herself. ¡°I believe that you did not mean it, Kasumi.¡± The elegantdy spoke softly. ¡°No worries, while you are not part of the Behrlinhn family, you are my most trusted servant. If it is you, I am willing to believe you.¡± She looked at the red-haireddy with a serious expression. ¡°Lyn, what are you saying?¡± The colddy at by the side spoke. ¡°The sword can only be controlled by the family. This is the iron rule!¡± ¡°I trust Kasumi, she will not betray me!¡± The elegantdy said. ¡°Heh, then how are you going to exin to the Senate?!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll speak to them myself!¡± ¡°You think you¡¯ll seed?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get mother to intervene if thingse to that!¡± The elegantdy turned over, and looked at the red-haireddy. ¡°But before there, Kasumi, I need you to wait here. This sword is highly possessive, and if you leave this sealing room, the sword¡¯s spirit will totally take over your soul, so....¡± The red-haired girl welled up in tears as she heard that and nodded. ¡°Please do not worry! I will wait for you here! I will never leave this ce!¡± ¡°I trust you!¡± The elegant girl gave her a serious look. Lin Sheng simply just stood by the side as he looked two of the three quickly leaving the pce and sealing it. Only the red-haireddy was left behind. Her calm face was determined as she looked for a ce to sit and waited. Time slowly passed. And soon, a day had passed, yet there was nothing outside. The red-haireddy was slightly worried. ¡°Mistress must have ran into some trouble! Please hang in there!¡± She started to worry. Lin Sheng could hear her thoughts and inner murmurs as if she had verbalized it herself. He simply just stood quietly by a corner as he looked at the red-haired girl, Kasumi, who continued to wait. And soon the second day had passed. She was very hungry now, and her mind was slightly shaken, yet her eyes still remained bright and hopeful. ¡°Mistress had yet to return! She must have been ced under house arrest by the Senate! Please let nothing bad happen...¡± She was more and more worried, but something perplexed her, even if she was to remain here, why wasn¡¯t there anyone delivering her any rations? Time slowly passed as Lin Sheng saw her growing more and more emancipated as she starved. Her lips stared to dry and crack, and her skin turned pallid and had lost its luster. Her limbs grew weaker and she could only sit down quietly by a corner. Days passed. And the waiting seemed to be endless as the red-haireddy grew ever weaker, and as her mind slowly grew delirious. Yet she still harbored hope that her mistress had been ced under house arrest by the senate, or else she would not have not sent any food or drinks here. She understood her mistress well. She was kind and gentle, and she now had to face those rabid wolves of the senate alone without her. Hang in there! Mistress! Kasumi felt that she was getting weaker and weaker, and even her training did not allow her to withstand the strain of thirst and hunger for too long. She had lost track of her time here, and her trained body, grew ever weaker with the strain of time. And another day had passed, and she felt like she was about to die. At that moment, she could hear the sound of the door opening. ¡°Is she dead yet?¡± ¡°No, but soon.¡± ¡°How can she survive after so long?¡± ¡°Her training is top notch, and among your servants she is the strongest. Little wonder she could hold on for so long.¡± ¡°Forget it. I can¡¯t wait any longer. Begin the ritual.¡± ¡°That voice, is it Mistress?¡± A familiar memory appeared in Kasumi¡¯s mind. But she could no longer move. She was just too hungry, and all of her strength had been used to maintain her basic vital functions. ¡°Has Mistress returned?¡± A tiny amount of dness welled in her heart as she was d that her mistress was alright. SWINGG! A de shed past as both of her hands were cut off, but she could no longer feel pain. She onlyy on the ground in a daze, her frame famished. And soon, the silver great sword was taken out of the underground pce using some mysterious method with her arms and blood. The door soon closed, and she was once again alone inside. Lin Sheng simply just stood aside and observed as she grew more and more emaciated as her corpse soon ckened. There were no clocks, no sun, and days passed without notice. And Lin Sheng simply just watched on. Suddenly, the corpse, actually got up, albeit slowly and staggeringly as she held the wall to get up. Her hands had regrown, and slowly she made for the door and ced her hand on it. A spider web-like eye grew inside her eye sockets, as a powerful yearning radiated from it as she looked outside, seemingly through the door. ¡°Mistress... Mistress... Mistress... Mistress...¡± A dream-like murmur kept repeating in her mind. Lin Sheng looked at the walking corpse from afar as she banged against the wall. Each hit came slowly, but surely, as if she could do this for eternity. She probably did not believe the voice that she had heard before she died. Lin Sheng sighed deep inside; it always hurts the most when one¡¯s hope and determination were brutally crushed in a single instant. Just like what Kasumi had went through. He then recalled the experiences of the people in his memory. The despair of being tossed into the deepest, darkest abyss after giving someone their all... As he broke off from his thoughts, Lin Sheng looked at the door. Yet no one was there now. ¡°Did she went out?¡± Lin Sheng was taken aback, and turned towards another direction. WHOOSH! And suddenly a ck silhouette stood on his right! It was the corpse of that red-haireddy!! Her eyes were opened wide, her expression impassive as she looked at Lin Sheng as they stood barely a meter apart from each other. Lin Sheng¡¯s heart froze as he suppressed his urge to strike first as he returned the stare. He remembered that he was looking at the red-haireddy¡¯s memories and she should not be able to see him, regardless... Then he saw a smile appearing on her face. A mysterious smile. ¡°Are you... looking at me? BAMMM!! At that very moment, a pir of pure, radiant holy light came up under Lin Sheng¡¯s feet and engulfed him within it as countless of holy hymns were being sung! The roar of lions, the growl of bisons, the trumpet of elephants and countless other beasts muddled together, and merged together with the sound of the burning holy mes, creating a massive divine echo. Amidst the echo, the white holy light burned, and became holy mes, cutting off everything. In his daze, Lin Sheng saw a very familiar figure whose back faced him, and stood tall amidst the burning holy mes, blocking out all evil from him. ¡°The Light of Hope... Ancellia??¡± He recalled the name of the person. Chapter 357 - Turmoil: Part 1

Chapter 357: Turmoil: Part 1

The holy mes came and went in a blink of an eye. By the time Lin Sheng regained his senses, the white mes before him had totally disappeared. He was still inside the hole within the ruins near the st crater with ckened debris all around him. ¡°Ancellia... ckfeather City? Perhaps that¡¯s the start of everything...¡± Lin Sheng was impassive. ¡°There had not been any problems before when I backtrack through the memories. But this time, something happened. The red-haired swordswoman in the memory actually noticed my presence...¡± As he thought of that, a feeling warning him against summoning the swordswoman ¡°Nah, no hurry... I¡¯ll just look for someone else to summon. I cannot afford to go summoning this one before I¡¯m sure what¡¯s going on with her.¡± With that, he got out from his hiding spot. A massive cyclops with green-greyish skin appeared out of nowhere. The cyclops lowered its head and its massive two meter odd frame onto the ground seemingly looking for something as it stuffed items found into its mouth. The crunching sound was jarring against the silent backdrop of the city ruins. Seemingly noticing Lin Sheng¡¯s appearance, the cyclops turned over as its pale eye stared at Lin Sheng. Guhguhguhguhguh.... It broke into a bizarreugh as it revealed a mouthful of saw-like teeth with mud-like junk stuck between its teeth. ¡°That¡¯s a fugly smile.¡± Lin Sheng simply just picked a handful of smashed rocks from the ground, his face impassive. HAH!! He then threw the rocks in his hand out. The rocks were smothered in pure white holy light and turned into a storm of white meteors as they crashed against the cyclops¡¯ head. BAM BAM BAM!! With no opportunity to react, the cyclops¡¯ head ate the full brunt of the attack. For all of its thick hide, it was badly wounded by the rocks. Sensing that Lin Sheng was not someone to be trifle with, the cyclops roared as it pulled out a handful of rocks from a gray bag hanging on its waist and throw it at Lin Sheng with a violent abundant. BAMM!! A storm of rocks crashed violently against Lin Sheng. But with his Armor of Dawn, it merely left scratches on his armor. Seeing so, the cyclops was shocked as it turned away and ran. Lin Sheng was just about to give chase before something struck him as he picked up one of the rocks from the ground. ¡°This rock...looks familiar...¡± He felt like he had seen this rock somewhere before. The rock was emanating a mysterious yet familiar aura. And as Lin Sheng ran through his memory, he suddenly paused in aghast. ¡°Is this Ancellia¡¯s heritance stone?¡± He recalled getting a new Ashen Seal after finding a simr stone back in Stormgale Fortress. ¡°Just right when I¡¯mcking Ashen Seals.¡± Without another word, Lin Sheng quickly returned to his previous hiding spot as he infused the stone with holy power. And soon, strands of white holy power broke out from the stone and light up the ce. Lin Sheng looked into the cracks, as the light engulfed his entire vision. His consciousness started to waver as he felt no different from a car-sick person. Soon his strength faded and he felt weak. And time soon passed seemingly without any meaning as Lin Sheng once again opened his eyes. ¡°Was that just a message note?¡± He had not obtained much information from the stone, only a thousand odd word letter, almost as if the whole thing prior was just for show. The person who wrote the message, was Ancellia. The Light of Hope that once managed the Holy Sanctum in ckfeather City. ¡°... I¡¯m d that someone could open this message. Thank you, stranger. For many more traces to be preserved and carried forth while I still lived, is my only hope.¡± The content of the message, be it the tone or the message within felt off. There was a faint sense of despair. Lin Sheng continued to read. ¡°I cannot remember how many days had it been since I evaded thest cktide. Time and time again, aside from running, I had no other way. Be it the Corrupted Ones, or the Twisted Ones, they were nothing but fodder of the cktide. The real trouble is deep within it. A terrifying lifeform that could not be sensed, but yet still exist. I am unable to record down anything about them as anything that mentions them bes a conduit for them totch onto and grow stronger. So I will only leave this one reminder here, do not underestimate the cktide! Do not underestimate everything hidden inside the cktide. Why so many powerful words, so many powerful persons were not able to escape that fate? I had been searching the answer for this question for so long. Perhaps the most omnipotent yet ethereal of gods in the legends could provide me an answer...¡± As he got to this point, he felt something was really wrong. Yet he remained patient and continued to read. ¡°...There will be a very clear mark when the cktide invades a world. Mostly through small-scale incursions to pick out a few conduits from the world. The conduits¡¯ mind will be twisted, and believe that total emancipation is the true path of salvation. This is one of their main traits. The second stage, before therge scale incursion of the cktide, the world will fight back, as countless of powerful persons will appear as transcendents and seeds of great power will appear. All of these are the final salvation of the world. Thirdly, dark ethereal vortex will appear in the sky, and the vortexes are the massive entry points of the cktide. If you see the third stage, then it means the end is neigh for your world.¡± Ancellia¡¯s tone was forlorn at this moment. ¡°Of course, once you have reached the third stage, the entire world will descend into the cktide as a shapeless mist will engulf everything. At this moment, if you can find four Distortion Nexus within the shapeless mist. Then there will still be hope. Destroying each Nexus will extend the time the world has.¡± At this point, the message cut off abruptly as thetter part seemed to be iplete. But what Lin Sheng needed to know, was already well documented. Of the three stages before the cktide¡¯s Incursion, Lin Sheng could see that the first stage is currently what was happening. With the Sevenlocks Tower as the primary heretical force whose goal is seemingly emancipation of everything as they sought to find another way to fight against the ctide. But in truth, they had already been tainted by an unknown power. ¡°This... sure is heavy.¡± Lin Sheng regained his senses as he looked at the ruins before him, his emotions still ran wild. ¡°But of these three stages, aside from thest one, the remaining two do not have much obvious defining traits. Heretical cults would appear across any age, and therge number of transcendents is not necessarily caused by the cktide.¡± Tick, tock, tick, tock... The familiar ticking rang out once again. Lin Sheng knew his time was up as he slowly sat down and waited to leave the dream. And gradually, everything before his eyes started to distorted, blur, fade and disappear as darkness took him. Chapter 358 - Turmoil: Part 2

Chapter 358: Turmoil: Part 2

*aanggg...* A silver shutter door was being pulled down hard as it covered the entire storefront. On the sidewall of the shop, to let notices had been pasted on it with a contact number left on the notice. Lin Sheng strolled along the streets as the once-bustling street was now dead silent. As he looked on, he could see that barely a few shops remained open. All around were shuttered shops with sale or rental notices stered all over them. *Whoosh...* A gust of wind blew and sent the leaves and notices on the ground flying. ¡°No streetcleaners?¡± Lin Sheng looked at the rubbish that was piling all around the streets. Dirty clothes, torn papers, dried leaves and branches, leftover food packaging and all sort of rubbish were all around. When he woke from the dream and gotten Ancellia¡¯s message, he had decided to go for a stroll to clear his head. What he never thought of was that a previously bustling part of town had be so deserted. There was barely anyone around on the streets. Everyone in the city all seemed to be hiding in the shadows as they peered out quietly to the world outside. Worry, fear, terror. Confusion, lost, pain. All sorts of negative emotions emanated so strongly that Lin Sheng could palpably feel it while walking on the street. He quietly made his way past a clothes boutique. This boutique was rather big, the size of three shops being joined together. But the boutique was locked shut, there were however no sale or rental notices. Instead, someone had painted a weird circle on the shutters with red paint. The circle looked like a smiling cartoon face, with a line of words in the middle. ¡®Hope is never given to those who wait.¡¯ The words were horribly written, looking almost schizophrenic from head to toe, plus the red paint used made it looked like it was written in blood. ¡°Wait. Something¡¯s not right.¡± Lin Sheng frowned as he got close to get a better look. There was a faint scent of blood on the writings that stung his nose. ¡°There¡¯s blood!¡± His eyebrows furrowed, and something was awry. Ever since the increase in the terror attacks, many Darksiders had gone about killing in in sight of themoners. The sudden chaos and terror came so abruptly without them understanding why, and all of these made themoners fear even more as they felt more and more helpless. What they needed was a ce that could provide them a sense of security, a ce that they could calm their souls. And suddenly Lin Sheng understood why the Holy Sanctum had been growing so rapidly. It was not only due to the righteous nature of the Holy Sanctum¡¯s holy power, but it was also due to the changes to the times. He took a few more steps forward, past the shop and towards a car wash. The car wash¡¯s shutter was also pulled down, but there was an entrance that could fit a person. Lin Sheng¡¯s powerful senses allowed him to hear some weird noiseing from that entrance. ¡®Oh universe, oh great lord, here we offer you the most precious of offerings. We only beseech that you provide us a safe haven to preserve thest of the lives and souls...¡¯ ¡®....The great lord of the empyrean, we beseech you, we seek your almighty power, to transcend the darkness, to transcend the sea of mortal flesh and spirit, and appear before us, to provide your most fervent of believers the most treasured of peace...¡¯ Mutterings of prayers slowly came out from the entrance, and alongside it was the screams of living persons, muffled footsteps and the sound of des biting into flesh. Lin Sheng paused as he walked towards the door, and pressed against the door. The lock instantly broke as he pulled the door open and entered the building like his own house. He wanted to see, what sort of changes the city had descended to in such a short span of time. From the entrance was a narrow pathway that led to a stairway towards the basement. As he got closer to the end of the stairs, the scent of blood grew more apparent. Both sides of the walls were engraved with all sorts of characters and symbols in blood alongside some unknown patterns. Lin Sheng slowly made his way down, and as he got to the end of the stairs he finally had a good look at what was going on. About a dozen figures in ck robes gathered around in a circle and sat crossed-legged on the ground. In the middle of the circle were two young men that were tied together. They were already dead as their limbs were chopped off, and blood was flowing everywhere. But the true cause of death was the wound at their head. Their heads had been caved in by some blunt instruments. Before Lin Sheng came out, he had gotten news about the turmoil in the city from the university. He however never expected it to be that bad. ¡°A blood sacrifice?¡± The looked at the robed figures. Based on his senses, he could tell that they were just normal folks. They were not Transcendents, and did not have any special abilities or dark powers. On the walls all around them were meaningless doodles, and even when they were mixed with blood, it served no purpose. And Lin Sheng¡¯s arrival shocked the group in the basement. They looked up in a daze as they looked at Lin Sheng in shock while he returned the same gaze. ¡°Ki...Kill him!! He found out our ritual! And interrupted the sacred ritual!¡± A rather portly middle-aged man got up and roared menacingly at Lin Sheng. The other members were probably his disciples as they got up one by one, with sharp weapons in their hand. A dozen people looked at Lin Sheng with both menace and fear. If it was anyone else, they would probably fear for their lives. But the person they had the misfortune to run into, was not a normal person. Lin Sheng shook his head, as a puff of ck smoke took form beside him. It was one of the crimson-armor warriors that had followed him. ¡°Subdue the leader. Knock the rest unconscious.¡± Lin Sheng ordered. ¡°As ordered.¡± The crimson-armored warrior nodded slightly in response. Lin Sheng did not look further, and the moment the crimson-armored warrior charged into the basement, he turned away and left. There will be someone from the Holy Sanctum to take over the ce, or rather someone from Asterism. Now, the Holy Sanctum, Baine University, and Asterism were coordinating together to enforce thew as arge number of Darksiders continued to sweep the city of any dark influences. Be it, the ckmist from the cktide, or the chaos wrought by the Sevenlocks Tower. With the main culprit already being taken out of the picture, the smaller units were easy pickings with the help of the Holy Sanctum¡¯s holy power. Lin Sheng soon left that car wash and wandered around for a bit. Thankfully, not all ces had devolved into anarchy where heretical cults would fester. The governmental bodies had sent up a number of consolidated provisions depot to allow civilians to purchase food and other daily necessities. Not only that, but Lin Sheng had also met a couple of patrols on duty. They were patrolling continuously across every street in the city to maintain order and security. Under their supervision, many areas in the city had managed to maintain stability before the terror attack. Chapter 359 - Turmoil: Part 3

Chapter 359: Turmoil: Part 3

Lin Sheng went back to his ce, and while he had no particr urge to save the world, seeing the ce he lived in descending into such chaos irked him somewhat. He dared not summon the Ptinate that he had taken so much effort to kill, but seeing the encroaching cktide before him, Lin Sheng knew that the incursion was real. And now, there was only one Ptinate among the Holy Sanctum Temrs, and that was the Night Lord. With only a single Ptinate, the capabilities of the Holy Sanctum were minusculepared to the various organizations and families across the Darksider realm. ¡°Perhaps, I could try to resolve this problem myself.¡± As he got back to the basement of the manor, Lin Sheng started to go through thergest about of knowledge he had gathered. The elementary otherworld summoning was the biggest crutch he depended on to summon his underlings. The summoning ritual was originally very powerful and mysterious to him. But now with the knowledge he had gained, the summoning was not as difficult for himpared tost time. If he could think of it, he could summon it. Lin Sheng then started on modifying and improving the summoning ritual inside the basement blessed by the Sacred Ground. He had managed to iste and cote a series of symbols, patterns and scripts that could draw energy from all of the rituals and matrixes he had mastered. At the same time, he also included part of the Ashen Seal into it. After being engraved, the Ashen Seal will have just a two-hour effective time, but its boon within these two hours is nothing to snuff at. Thus, Lin Sheng gave all of these contents that he had coted a name, soulrunes. These soulrunes not only could be use independent, they could be freelybined and merged into different modules. And even if they originated from different systems altogether, Lin Sheng did not mind that as long as they are usable. Afterpiling the soulrunes, Lin Sheng could finally start modifying and improving the ritual. He first tried to change some symbols or patterns before starting to summon some weaker summons. Like the human-headed frog or something. Through the constant experimentation, he found out that some parts of the runes could be changed without affecting the ritual, while some were permanent fixtures that could not be touched. And through this, Lin Sheng started to get a grasp of the usage of each symbol and pattern of the ritual. And the days passed. The city was slowly recovering, and Lin Sheng went over to check on the Soul Fortress from time to time, to keep an eye on Mi, Mylissa and the rest. Aside from that, his focus was on expanding the Holy Sanctum. Countless of Darksiders continued to join, and some of them were high level Darksiders. After awakening their holy powers, they then served as the conduit of the holy seed, and spread the seeds to more people. With a downward branching system where the senior members controls the source of the junior¡¯s power, the entire system was tightly controlled. As long as they did not betray the Holy Sanctum, they could obtain the Ashen Seals from Lin Sheng to meditate on. Plus the power source held by the seniors did not affect anything, and once people realized these, more and more decided to join the Holy Sanctum. But even more were cheats who wanted to steal the holy seed and training methods from the sanctum before leaving. Lin Sheng did not pay much mind to these group of people. Without his Ashen Seal to continuously strengthen the holy seed, it could not sustain itself at all. And these cheaters who had left would soon realize that they would never be able to obtain holy powers after turning their backs to the holy Sanctum. As a power originating from the soul, the holy power is not something that could be fooled about. One may be able to fool someone else, but never him or herself. Also, all of the holy seeds that were spread out all originated from Lin Sheng himself; and he did not even disseminate the true method to awaken the holy power without the holy seed. And another week had passed. Lin Sheng¡¯s improvement of the summoning ritual had reached its final stages. He had totally removed all unnecessary parts of the ritual without affecting the summoning and reconstruction effect. At the same time, he had incorporated parts of the Ashen Seal into it as an auxiliary matrix. Under the condition that he could read all of the matrix and master it, Lin Sheng had removed all other risks involved and properly improved the ritual. And using this new ritual, any beings that he summons will bepletely under his control, they will also receive the protective shielding from the Sanctuary Ashen Seal. This improvement literally gave every summoned being an additional armoryer, and a rather effective one at that. With this, he is finally able to properlymence the summoning ritual. He, wanted to summon that red-haired swordswoman. ... ... Henriqcal City, construction material wholesale market. Deep inside the deserted market, all of the shops had already been shuttered, and among the streets and alleyways were rubbish thrown about by the cold wind. A few bone-thin stray dogs were out looking for food as they rummaged through the rubbish bin with bloodshot eyes. Closer to a few t blocks in the middle of the market, human figures were seen from time to time, yet there were no sound. BAM! Suddenly one of the stray dogs were hit in the abdomen by a rock that flew out of nowhere. It whimpered as it rolled before forcing itself up and ran away, leaving a faint trail of blood. Two man in grey coats covered their faces with their tall cors and hat as they stood in front of a shuttered ceramics shop. ¡°The Asterism patrol is just too tight at other ces. Only here is safe.¡± One of the figure whispered. ¡°Asterism, the Holy Sanctum, Baine University, with all three of these local forces breathing down on us, even going underground is difficult, much less trying to pinpoint the Marked down...¡± The two were extremely frustrated. The mark of the Sevenlocks Tower would originally be very clear, but for some unknown reason, the marked person in this city, would appear and disappear from time to time. The mark sensors also could not clearly determine the marked¡¯s identity or location. ¡°Perhaps the device is already broken?¡± One of the figure pulled out a silver box the size of a palm with a thoughtful expression. ¡°Probably, the other marked targets are normal. Only the one we are tracking is giving us trouble.¡± ¡°Then let me fix it. When I was at HQ, I was the handyman for repairs.¡± The person holding the box seemed confident. ¡°Go ahead then, it¡¯s broken anyway.¡± ¡°Yeah, this is quite simple actually.¡± Ten minutester.... ¡°Why the hell is there an additional stuff here?¡± The man who had just reassembled the device looked at the box in his head. He had took the device apart to inspect and repair, before reassembling them. And for some reason, there was an extra chip-like device that he had no idea where to put it back... ¡°Did you screw it up instead?¡± His partner gave him a suspicious nce. ¡°It¡¯s already fixed no? This is the reason why it was broken.¡± The repairman¡¯s expression was impassive, as he put the additional chip into his pocket. ¡°This device had an additionalponentpared to the rest, little wonder the scanning function was broken.¡± He stood up and sounded confident. As he said that, he pressed on the device¡¯s button and it worked like a charm. ¡°Eh, it worked! Damn you¡¯re good!¡± His partner gasped in amazement and gave him a thumbs up. ¡°Nothing to it, just repairing a scanning device. I still have that bit of confidence.¡± The repairman said, as he let out a sigh of relief. He then decided to get a new unit from the HQ when he goes back. Chapter 360 - Kasumi: Part 1

Chapter 360: Kasumi: Part 1

The crimson ritual matrix on the floor grew bright. The matrix was like a giant ring with three triangles in the middle of it. At the each tip of the triangles were rings of different sizes, and within the rings were different soulrunes that glowed. In the very heart of the ritual, a needle was slowly spinning, like a clock recording time. Lin Sheng stood before the ritual matrix in the basement¡¯s summoning chamber as he ced the materials one by one onto the ritual. The improved ritual were now without any excess steps that did nothing, and many parts of the ritual were much clearer and concise, and could be updated with the times. Like the boiling water and tallow candle of the initial ritual had been reced with duck¡¯s blood instead. Lin Sheng carefully ced the boiling duck¡¯s blood into the middle of the matrix. He then picked up a fragrant soap, and this was a material meant to simplify the activation chant, and provide further stabilization to the ritual process and tossed it into the center of the matrix. The square soap block disappeared into the center of the matrix as if it fell into a body of water. Lin Sheng immediately bowed down and started slowly reciting the activation chant. Amidst the humming chant, a translucent barrier slowly appeared around the ritual matrix. This was an istion barrier designed by Lin Sheng to prevent the ritual from being interrupted. It also had noise istion and a certain defensive capabilities. Following the chanting, the needle in the center of the ritual started spinning faster and faster. And very soon, three bright lights spat out from the ritual array, and into Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes. His eyes instantly turned blood red, his vision dimmed as he entered the spirit summoning dimension. Inside the dark dimension, countless of light orbs of different colors slowly appeared before him. There were too many of them, with all sorts of colors and sizes, just like the stars in the night sky. Lin Sheng then started to recall the image of the red-haired swordswoman. And very quickly, the other light orbs faded away, leaving behind only a single dark blue light orb that slowly floated towards him. The light orb was not big, about the size of a fist, yet within it was a swarm of ck bugs that were trying to break free from the light orb¡¯s control. The closer the light orb got to Lin Sheng, the bugs inside it struggled even more violently as if they had smelt blood and were trying to charge at Lin Sheng in a frenzy. ¡°Just as I thought, it¡¯s tainted...¡± Lin Sheng immediately understood. He had expected this situation all along. But if one could be tainted, then it could be cleansed as well. ¡°But using my power alone, it might be very taxing for me, but I don¡¯t have to bear the burden alone...¡± Lin Sheng took a deep breath as his consciousness made contact with the Thunderbeast split-body back in Xylond. To be fair, it was not a split-body, the Thunderbeast there is him, and his consciousness and soul can travel between the two at any time. Like two game screens on a single monitor. He had always been controlling both sides, only that the Thunderbeast was manning the Holy Sanctumplex, controlling the Holy Power Font in the sanctum. And this font was Lin Sheng¡¯s main crutch. There was another additional function of the improved ritual matrix, and that was it could assist him with long range maniption of holy powers to purify the summoned beings. It was on this basis that he dared to summon a Ptinate level being like the red-haired swordswoman. ¡°Then... let¡¯s get it started.¡± Lin Sheng stared at the dark blue light orb as the holy power within his body made contact with the Thunderbeast back in Xylond. Using the soul matrix¡¯s connection to transfer holy power will inevitably result in some loss, but for the Holy Power Font brimming with holy power, that minor loss was nothing. This was however the first time Lin Sheng drawing upon the power of the Holy Sanctum from afar. In the original world of ckfeather City, the Holy Sanctum could make contact with the power of all branches within an instant, and this was one of the terrifying trump card that allowed the Holy Sanctum to flourish. After all, many ces had difficult terrain and living conditions without many living persons, and if a Holy Sanctum was to be established, it would require a massive amount of holy power; and without a way to support it from afar, the Holy Sanctum would have not been able to control and influence so many ces. ¡°Soul link established.¡± ¡°Soul corridor opened.¡± ¡°Holy power channeling,mencing.¡± ¡°Location confirmed. Transfermencing.¡± As sections after sections of the matrix cleared, Lin Sheng¡¯s body started radiating pure white light spots as they left his body like fireflies. The light spots were ever increasing and bing more and morepact. Less than ten secondster, they had engulfed the entire summoning chamber and turn it into a sea of pure white. The highly condensed holy power resonated with the Sacred Ground beneath Lin Sheng as a powerful, all-consuming purifying power started to seek out and destroy any other powers. With a constant stream of holy power, Lin Sheng started to manipte it and suppressed all of his dark powers as much as possible, to prevent them from being purified whole by the holy power. The potency of the holy power within the room had reached an unprecedented level, as the torrent of holy power started to push back and eliminate every other form of powers in the room. The soul orb of the red-haired swordswoman too started to be affected. The air surrounding the dark blue soul orb started to light up with patches of light spots. And with the passage of time, the number increased more and more. The improved summoning ritual no longer had a time limit for choosing the summoned being, and Lin Sheng only needed to expand a little energy to maintain this stage. But very quickly the control was about to slip out of his hand. The exponential amount of holy power had evoked its most primordial nature, and they started to envelop the surface of the dark blue orb in mes. Lin Sheng could even hear an audible cackling while the orb burned. The ck insects inside the orb too started to get agitated. Seemingly meeting their nemesis, they started to screech in a frenzy and creating a sound wave that drove one¡¯s mind to the brink. And slowly, the holy power seeped into the light orb, and started to make direct contact with the ck insects. Lin Sheng did not manage to see what had happened. He could only see that each and every one of the insects were being engulfed by a wave of holy power, and their frenzied struggle soon came to a stop. About ten minutester, the orb had been fully purified. The ck insects within the orb were totally engulfed by the holy power before disintegrating inside in. Lin Sheng dared not be hasty and waited for a while longer until there were no more changes inside the orb. Only then did he controlled his psyche and approached the orb. The moment he touched it, a chilling mist sted at his face. Lin Sheng¡¯s vision blurred as he suddenly appeared in a vast, deste ice field. The ice field looked like it was without end, as a sea of white entered his sight. Countless of giant ck birds circled in the sky, all of them had razor sharp beaks and talons. Their wings were not made out of feathers, but rather, bronze-colored metal feathers. The giants were spinning around in the air, forming a giant ck twister. At the eye of the storm, stood the red-haired swordswoman. Her face was calm, both her eyes gleamed in resplendent crimson, and in her hand was the giant silver great sword as a cold aura sted out in a frenzy in all direction from where she stood. Chapter 361 - Kasumi: Part 2

Chapter 361: Kasumi: Part 2

*Gawk! Gawk!!* The giant birds in the air let out a piercing screech, and Lin Sheng followed the direction of the red-haired swordswoman¡¯s gaze into the distance. At the top of the snowy mountains was arge, ancient city with spires jutting into the air. *Bam!!!* A series of blue light flew out from the city andnded before the red-haired swordswoman before forming into powerful figures d in expensive, intricate clothing. ¡°Tenko Kasumi, you should understand that to challenge us means to pay the price. Since you have chosen to stand here, can I take this as you wish to official make enemies out of us, the Neverwinter Pce?¡± An old crone leading the group spoke as a translucent azure energized object circled around her. The red-haired swordswoman did not reply and only lifted the silver greatsword up. *Gawkkk!* The countless of giant ck birds above her suddenly shuddered as they screeched and dove down. The torrent of giant birds was like a ck tide charging in force towards the ancient city. Amidst the screeches, the red-haired swordswoman¡¯s crimson hair grew longer and longer and had reached her waist in an instant as her wild hair looked like crimson mes dancing in the frigid cold. *Baammm!!!* An azure ring of terrifying chill sted out from around her. ¡°Go, my kin, turn the city into a graveyard, and offer it to me...¡± A rumbling, evil voice rang beside Tenko Kasumi¡¯s ears. *Bam!!* Her sword mmed in a vertical arc, ice chips flew all over as her de bit into the thick ice. ¡°Are you...manding me???¡± She lowered her head slightly, her hair flying wildly in the wind. Her crimson eyes beneath her hair gleamed with murderous intent. ¡°Still resisting? Meaningless... the world is copsing, and order had already given way to chaos. With the cktide encroaching in force, no matter....¡± ¡°BE GONE!!¡± A thunder crack rang out as countless of azure shadows sted out from Kasumi¡¯s like a twister. And everywhere the shadow passed through, everything was ceased to be and turned into ice. And even the white frost froze as the shadow danced, and became even harder. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare to think of controlling me!!¡± Kasumi looked up as her facial muscles writhed, half of her face was normal, while the other half was like a desated corpse. ¡°You can never turn back. You had killed millions in the past hundreds of years. No matter how you struggle, your fate has already been sealed.¡± The voice mocked in a calm tone. Kasumi looked at the city under assault by the swarm of giant birds as her crimson eyes quickly flickered, as two different powers were vying for supremacy inside her. ¡°You can never escape. This is the corruption, this is fate, this is destiny!¡± The voice rumbled in guttural majesty. ¡°Hahahaha,¡± Tenko Kasumi started tough. The edge of her mouth ripped open as if a de had run through it, staining her lips with a blood-colored substance. ¡°You think you¡¯ve won?¡± She raised her silver great sword as the shadow around her retracted and entered her body. You fool! No one can control me!!¡± She pointed her massive de into the air. ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing?!¡± ¡°Hoarfrost Obliterator!¡± In that instant, countless of intricate magical runes appeared on the de. The runes looked like cracks and like a bleeding would, white blood slowly seeped out of it. ¡°DIE!!! AHAHAHAHA!!!¡± Tenko Kasumi broke into a hystericalughing fit as the de charged towards her at lightning speed. ¡°Ughh!!¡± The massive de ran through the chest. There were no explosions, no cold aura, nothing. She simply just stood there as the tip of her lips ripped open, revealing a maniacal and cruel smile. ¡°I told you, no one could control me... Aside from myself...¡± She then fell backward and mmed heavily against the ice. *Crack!* Oddly enough, the thickyer of ice beneath her cracked with the fall as theyers of ice started to crumble and fall, revealing the dark abyss beneath. Tenko Kasumi held her hands wide open, and simply allowed herself to fall into the chasm, and disappeared. Lin Sheng simply just floated in the air and observed the entire process quietly from Tenko Kasumi¡¯s self-destruction, to her subsequent fall into the abyss and the ancient city escaping ruin. Time soon passed as massive changes took ce; the ice field melted and following that, the entirendscape changed as the ice field gave away to nds, rivers, andkes. The barren world then grew from nothing into a brand new metropolis. New civilizations, new migrants, newbat systems all were rebuild. And in a blink of an eye, dozens of years had passed. Many buildings were soon erected over where Tenko Kasumi fell. These buildings did not need particrly deep foundations and did not affect things much. Until one day, where a transcendent started to build a massive spire on the same location, and the spire requires a very deep foundation. During the excavation process, the mantle was dug up, and revealed a massive gaping abyss beneath it. Cold air radiated out from the abyssal hole, as something seemed to have awakened... *Hiss...* Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness was suddenly tugged back, and returned to his body. He shook his head as it rang in pain. This was the first time he saw a memory that went through such a long period of time. ¡°Tenko Kasumi...¡± He opened his eyes and looked at the red-haired girl standing quietly before him as a surge of information entered his mind. They was information about Tenko Kasumi¡¯s abilities, type, physical attributes, talents, and the likes. ¡°Technically, my summoned beings are not spiritual bodies, but clones reconstructed using them as a model. It¡¯s because the replication process had pulled all of the remnants of their body and soul through gaps to purify and assimte them. Only through this did I managed to retain most of their strength.¡± ¡°But even so, for this type of replica to be able to resonate with their original soul, and to pull their soul own to merge with me, and to be infused into the replica. This itself is almost a miracle.¡± Before this, Lin Sheng did not understand the basis of his summons, and now that he understood it, he realized how lucky he was from the onset. Not everyone would be able to summon such a strong follower using the elementary summoning ritual. What he could summon mostly were due to coincidence, and the summoned being itself was cooperative. As he retracted his stray thoughts, Lin Sheng started to measure thedy before him. This was the first time he summoned a proper Ptinate level being. Andpared to the Night Lord who literally cheated with his bloodline, his actual prowess was not Ptinate level, but she was different. The source of Tenko Kasumi¡¯s powers is still a mystery, and Lin Sheng did not manage to see how she had trained to reach this stage from the soul fragments. ¡°This is the downside of the memory fragments, the contents I get are totally random.¡± Lin Sheng thought to himself as he circled around Kasumi. Chapter 362 - Kasumi: Part 3

Chapter 362: Kasumi: Part 3

The red-haired swordswoman he had just summoned wore torn rags that barely covered her top and a pair of shorts. Her legs were bare and her hair messy, covering her eyes. She looked almost no different than a female savage that had been left behind by civilization. Aside from that massive silver greatsword in her hand. Lin Sheng quickly infused the part of the memories he had already gained through the ritual into the swordswoman¡¯s mind. Then, he transmitted a good portion of the knowledge of the modern world as well. Soon, the ritual was over. The crimson light in the middle of the ritual dimmed and faded away. Tenko Kasumi stood quietly as she blinked while looking at Lin Sheng before her. Lin Sheng exchanged gazes with her too. Time soon passed, but Tenko Kasumi continued to stare at Lin Sheng, and he did the same as well. Ten more minutes passed... ¡°Why aren¡¯t you talking?¡± Lin Sheng could no longer hold back. While she was one of his summoned beings, thetter still had her own mind and consciousness. Out of respect, Lin Sheng would not pry into the minds of any Commander-ss summoned being willy-nilly even when he could do it on a whim. Tenko Kasumi kept silent and raised her head after a long while. ¡°When do wemence ughter?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Lin Sheng was dumbstruck. ¡°If you didn¡¯t call me out for ughter, what for then?¡± Tenko Kasumi¡¯s temper red as her eyes lit up in crimson fury. ¡°This is our own city... No need for ughter here.¡± Lin Sheng felt that something was not right. Did he just summon out a massive headache? ¡°That¡¯s your problem!¡± Tenko Kasumi swung her greatsword about as the air howled within the confined room. ¡°Quick! ughter! I demand ughter!!¡± The crimson light in her eyes grew even brighter. ¡°ughter! You know? ughter! One strike, living to dead, dead to parts, parts to bits! BITS! You know?¡± ¡°Calm down! Calm down!¡± Lin Sheng quickly transmitted calming emotions to cate thetter. ¡°There¡¯s no hurry. There will be a time when your de is needed, but calm down for now. Calm down okay?¡± He continuously tried to use the soul corridor to calm her down. However, her mind had clearly been warped by her perilous fight against the cktide, and Lin Sheng¡¯s cation was clearly not working. ¡°I demand ughter! ughter!! ¡°This world is too tainted, and needs to be purified!! ¡°Any living person would soon be tainted, and rather than being tainted, they should just die by my de!! ¡°Die die die!! I¡¯m the anointed Purifier of Worlds! Evil must die!¡± Tenko Kasumi kept on howling in rage inside the room. It took Lin Sheng over an hour of hard work to manage to get her to calm down somewhat. After setting her down, Lin Sheng quickly got Cainphas to get an identity ready for her. A normal tutor in the university as a cover. He then brought her out to test out the Ptinate¡¯s real power. Tenko Kasumi came equipped with manybat abilities, and this was very useful for Lin Sheng¡¯s future arrangements and ns. After all, her prowess in the memories and in real life were two different matters. As for her Ptinate-level soul, it was nothing for the Lin Sheng of today. He had absorbed a great soul vessel, and the number of souls inside it was far beyond what Tenko Kasumi would require. The key question wasbat ability, and so he could not afford to becent. Through Baine University¡¯s information, he had found out that a city of hundred thousand by the mountains on the border at the southeast of Miga had been consumed whole by the mist of the cktide. The perpetrator seemed to be the Sevenlocks Tower. They had first wiped out the Asterism garrison in the city, before feigning weakness, and took out the Moon Basin elite that was sent to reinforce the ce. By the time the Suncrown was about to move out, it was toote. So, the government had sent in the army to lock the entire city down, and at the same time they sent out elite Darksiders from the Moon Basin and the Suncrown to man the defenses. ... The moment Lin Sheng stepped out of the manor¡¯s Sacred Ground, inside a holiday vi a hundred of kilometers away from Baine University, a detection device on the table beside two men in grey coats rang out with a piercing sound. ¡°It¡¯s here.¡± The two paused for a moment as they made towards the device as they looked at the numbers and symbols on the screen. ¡°Hopefully it stays on.¡± ¡°No, its stable this time. It shouldn¡¯t disconnect now!¡± The two gave the device a hopeful look. Ever since the item broke it never rang before, and now that it did, the data and locator on the screen quickly changed. ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be any problems now. It had been going for ten minutes without disconnecting. That person had been using some sort of concealment techniques, or he was inside some concealed ce, so the scanner did not manage to detect him. ¡°Let¡¯s observe this for a while longer. Once we are sure that there are no issues, we should report this.¡± ¡°Alright!¡± The two then continued to monitor the data on the device, and soon, they noticed a problem. ¡°That location marker... they are going to the airport! Quick! Inform the top brass!¡± The two were taken aback and quickly made a call using the satellite phone to an assassination squad that had been waiting. A momentter, a medium-sized aircraft slowly took off from Henriqcal International Airport into the distance. Inside the airport, before a French window. Two gentleman-looking pair, one young one old looked at the airport that had just taken off. ¡°One step toote, a shame. But we already know where the ne is headed to. Let¡¯s get on the next one,¡± the old man said. ¡°Yes, Sir,¡± the younger man said respectfully as he pulled out a flip phone from his pocket and pocketed it. *ck!* A clear, audible ck rang out. ¡°I feel like the ne is going to crash,¡± Tenko Kasumi said, her expression impassive. Lin Sheng¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°You¡¯ll get punched you know... Can you not say something so inauspicious like that? We are on the god damn ne ourselves.¡± ¡°As if they can even beat me in the first ce,¡± she said tly. ¡°I did not mean that...¡± Lin Sheng felt his head was aching. Soon, the air stewardess gave them orange juice and meat floss bun each. Kasumi wanted a red bean bun, but it had already run out. Lin Sheng saw her face turning dark visibly. ¡°Hehehehe, this world is evil, I should start purifying it...¡± ¡°Quiet!¡± Lin Sheng immediately grabbed Kasumi, who was about to pounce on the stewardess hard, and he felt his head ache even more. He could tell that this woman had been too used to settling everything with violence. ¡°Not everything needs to be settled with violence in this world.¡± He sent a serious mental message over as he quickly got up, and threw a hundred bucks to the passenger in front of him to buy a red bean bun for Kasumi. Only then did she calmed down. While Kasumi¡¯s soul core was still part of him, but her own psyche was still affected by her body. Hormones, urges, her general condition, all of these would affect her mental state, and Lin Sheng could tell that her powerful body was affecting her psyche every single moment. That was the root of her violent temperament. Chapter 363 - The Missing City: Part 1 Chapter 363: The Missing City: Part 1 White mist emanated all over, and the city of Tyrngol was filled with weeds, vines, and all sorts of vegetation. The thicket of vegetation had erased all traces of human civilization away from the city, leaving only houses and streets covered in green. The city itself had a massive oval shape to it, and while disjointed at certain parts, the general oval outline could still be seen. Lin Sheng and Kasumi stood on the ins afar as they looked at the silent, ruined city for a good while. They had rushed over the moment they got off the ce using GPS. They assumed that there would be roadblocks and checkpoints due to the lockdown, and gaining entrance would involve a lot of paperwork, but now... ¡°Where are those elites from Asterism and the Moon Basin?¡± Lin Sheng was puzzled as he squatted down and grabbed a hand full of mud. The mud was brown and dry like powder, and moss actually grew on a dry mud like these alongside all sorts of vegetation. Lin Sheng pressed gently, and the mud b crumbled. He then looked at Kasumi. ¡°Found anything?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± Her response was immediate. ¡°I¡¯m a Ptinate, not an Omnipotent. Aside from cleaving someone in half, I don¡¯t know anything else.¡± Lin Sheng was speechless. That was the downside when he had to deal with theck of memory fragments. If this was the Kasumi with herplete soul and memories, she would not be so lost. She was, after all, an ancient monster that had lived for god knows how long all by her own strength. ¡°What are you nning to do here?¡± That was the first time Kasumi proactively asked a question. She was Lin Sheng, but Lin Sheng was not her. As the main body, Lin Sheng could read her mind, but she could not. ¡°To see how strong you are,¡± Lin Sheng tly said. ¡°If you were to unleash everything, can you take own this entire town?¡± ¡°If it is just a simple town, easy. One move is all I need, but it is not normal here,¡± Kasumi said. ¡°You cannot do it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can or not. I won¡¯t know how strong or weak my opponent is before I fight them,¡± Kasumi exined. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s head in to check the ce out.¡± Lin Sheng dared not act rashly too because he wanted to avoid inviting bigger problems. Be it the Sevenlocks Tower or the three hidden realms, they were all lined up with Ptinates. With that, Kasumi led the way as she walked into the ruined city, with Lin Sheng following closely behind. The two of them wore gray-white tracksuits, which looked almost like a couple¡¯s outfit. While advancing, Lin Sheng pulled out his phone and sent a message back to the university to get a high-level official like Cainphas to liaise with Asterism and the Moon Basin to ensure the safety of their men here. Not too longter, he received a return call. ¡°There¡¯s a situation. We are unable to reach the lockdown team!¡± Cainphas¡¯ voice sounded grim. ¡°What do you mean? Not a single person at all?¡± Lin Sheng was dumbfounded. He had checked the data beforeing over here. There were at least thousands of troops garrisoned here. There should have been at least a whimper with that many people, right? ¡°None of them can be reached! All of the phones,work connections are not returning the signal!¡± Cainphas said. ¡°I suspect something may have already happened there.¡± ¡°Regardless, I need a detailed copy of the town¡¯s files.¡± Lin Sheng had just arrived, and he knew nothing about the ce, so having a historical file would definitely help. ¡°That¡¯s simple enough. I can get it with my authorization level. Wait up, I¡¯ll send them over.¡± As the matter was serious, Cainphas did not dally and quickly logged into thework with his ID, and then sent all of the data Lin Sheng required over. ¡°...It started about three days back when we noticed something was off,¡± Cainphas said in a serious tone. ¡°The phone lines were dead, and none of the elites we sent over responded. ¡°After a while, the phones came back alive, but when we called there was no sound there, only static from the phone.¡± Lin Sheng then looked at Kasumi. Was this not great? The bigger the problem they ran into, the better Kasumi¡¯s strength could be proven. ¡°That aside, why are you asking for the town¡¯s files?¡± Cainphas asked, slightly confused. ¡°Nothing, just for the sake of it,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°That question itself had helped the Moon Basin quite a bit. If not for your request leading me to approach them, they would not have noticed that the lockdown team had run into trouble.¡± Cainphas sighed. ¡°Well, that¡¯s that I guess. Proceed with your tasks.¡± Lin Sheng cut the call. The phone signal had gotten significantly weaker when he got this area. It was just a simple cloud of mist, but the mobile signal had dropped from a full bar to one and was about to be totally cut off. ¡°Something¡¯s not right!¡± Kasumi suddenly held her hand up to stop Lin Sheng as the two stood where they stand. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Lin Sheng immediately connected with Kasumi¡¯s mind. While he had verbalized it, he already knew what Kasumi was thinking. Someone was approaching! The location they were at now was at least a hundred meters away from the city¡¯s building clusters. All around them were thick shrubs and vegetation, and through the gaps, one could see some abandoned public facilities, like benches, fountains, and statues. ¡°This seems like a park? An outdoor park? There¡¯s human activity at this time?¡± Lin Sheng quickly looked around and got a grip on things. He then looked at the phone¡¯s signal before shutting it off. In fact, if the phone remained on, it would continuously send out signals to triangte one¡¯s location, and that would happen every set moment. If he did not take notice, this could result in him being discovered, so precautions were needed. After turning off the phone, they stood quietly in the mist as they looked at the blurry town buildings before them. ¡°There¡¯s really someone there?¡± Lin Sheng asked in his heart. ¡°Yes, look up. To the right, the window of the second floor.¡± Lin Sheng then looked up in the direction she mentioned. It was an overpass corridor between two blocks. One of the windows of the corridor was without its ss panel and was fluttering in the wind. The wooden window frame creaked with the motion and therge about of shrubbery made it difficult to listen to any other sounds. Lin Sheng did not see anything at first, but the moment he focused, he noticed what was wrong. Behind the wooden window frame was a blurry white figure. The figure seemed to be looking in his direction, with the thick fog nketed the area, he could not tell if it was a man or a woman. But even with the distance, Lin Sheng could feel the chill from thetter¡¯s gaze. ¡°What sort of power does the person have?¡± he asked. Kasumi shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. My scouting ability is hopeless. I could only tell that the person has evil intentions.¡± ¡°Should we go in and have a look?¡± Lin Sheng was different now, and with Kasumi in the lead, he did not mind taking the initiative. With the cktide roiling, he had to be proactive in looking for clues and secrets, such opportunities would few and far between by the time the situation worsens. As he recalled the ruins in the dream, Lin Sheng understood more than anyone else what the cktide was. Chapter 364 - The Missing City: Part 2

Chapter 364: The Missing City: Part 2

¡°Sure.¡± Tenko Kasumi nodded as she took huge steps forward. Lin Sheng quickly followed behind and the two quickly disappeared into the thick mist. As just as the two disappeared, two men, one tall one short arrived slowly at where Lin Sheng originally stood. Of the duo, one was an old, hunching man, while another was a well-mannered, bespectacled man with the air of a university lecturer. ¡°They had actuallye here...¡± The old man looked slightly aghast as he looked at the thick mist before him, fear was apparent in his voice. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, sir?¡± the younger man asked. ¡°This is not a ce for normal people. A few days back, thousands of troops sent here for the lockdown by the three hidden realms had all disappeared without a trace in single night. While we had immediately deployed and announced that we would be taking over this matter, but the upper echelons knew very well that this was just a method to increase our power and the fear we inspire. But we did not do this. Even for a Ptinate would run into trouble here unless they are an all-rounder.¡± The old man frowned. ¡°Then, do we enter, sir?¡± The younger man asked, his voice was slightly tensed. ¡°Have you brought the device?¡± ¡°Yes. Thetest model.¡± The younger man pulled a palm-size notebook from his coat, and the moment he flipped it open, it revealed a series of intricate buttons and a digital screen. He quickly pressed a few buttons, but the reaction from the notebook disappointed him. The screen simply lit up for a bit before dimming quickly, and went inert. ¡°No use?¡± The old man sighed. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The younger man nodded. ¡°Forget it, let the PIC wait outside, we¡¯ll follow them inside.¡± The old man pondered for a moment before deciding. It took him so much effort to locate that Marked one, and if he escapes again, it would be nothing but trouble. This person could after all take out a six-wing elite from the organization. And it pays to be cautious went going up against a six-wing. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The younger man responded. ¡°What troublesome runt. You better pray you don¡¯t fall into my hands.¡± The old man took a step forward as a gleam of violent intent shed through his eyes as he made his way towards the town. ... ... Thane and his team had already been trapped inside this mist for three whole days. They were backpackers who had simply just stumbled upon the ce from the forest. And since they entered this misty ce, all of their electronic devices no longer worked, much to their horror. And what more, no many how they tried to head out of the ce, they could not seem to leave the town¡¯s perimeters. Left without any recourse, they could only find a wide, unknown house in the town and lived inside it. They had brought along plenty of food, especially those high energypact food. With some scavenging they managed to hold on. But their remaining foods stock would onlyst them another two days, and if they do not leave this ce soon, they would all soon starve. ¡°Thane, I¡¯ve went to the end of the street, the mist is even thicker there.¡± His fellow backpacker Eanna said calmly as they stood inside a hall-like room. ¡°No worries if we cannot find a way out. I have seen traces of human activity earlier. There is definitely a way out, the tracks are fresh. Thane said as he wet a towel with water and cleaned his face with it. ¡°I had went to the mayor¡¯s ce. There¡¯s nothing valuable there. This ce seemed to have been abandoned for a long while now.¡± Another member, Varian said. ¡°Is that so? Then I guess we¡¯ll have to look at another ce then?¡± Thane said rather helplessly as he put down the towel. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go and have a look at the houses beside the mayor¡¯s ce tomorrow.¡± Varian said. ¡°Our food stock is low, we gotta find a way out soon.¡± Thane said as he checked the number of energy bars left in his back. There were five left. ¡°At the rate we are going, this willst us another two and a half days.¡± He started to worry. This was thest of his team¡¯s food. ¡°Ah screw it. I¡¯ll go around to have a look. Perhaps I could find some clues on how to leave this god forsaken ce.¡± He stood up and grabbed the hunting rifle lying on the side of the chair, and stepped out. ¡°Wait for me here and rest up. I¡¯ll be fine alone.¡± As the team captain, there were things that he needed to do himself. ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± The two team members replied. Thane turned open the door knob and saw the thickening mist outside. He then stepped out without much hesitation. And the door slowly closed by itself. The mist inside the house slowly faded, and the house was empty. Aside from Thane, there were no one else. Not even Varian or Eanna. ... ... Within the mist, the old man walked calmly along the town¡¯s street as his student -the well-mannered young man- followed closely behind. Around them, a shapeless ward pushed away the mist around them. ¡°You have already reached the limit of a five-wing, and it¡¯s time you should learn about things at a higher level.¡± The old man said as he walked. ¡°The questions you hadst time, I have time to answer now. This mist has a certain sealing properties to it, and the two will not be able to escape.¡± The young man looked at the warded off mist, as he suppressed his apprehensions about the ce. The moment he heard his master, he was ted as he finally have the opportunity to ask the questions about the transcendent knowledge that he had been meaning to learn. ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± He said respectfully. The old man smiled as he continued walking with his hands at his back while searching the town. ¡°Your question from before, about what sort of existence a Ptinate is, and if we have any particr defining traits or markings of strength?¡± ¡°This question, is well asked.¡± The old man paused as he looked down at the footprints on the ground, and followed on. ¡°A Ptinate is an existence that had condensed his own strength, his own dark powers to the limit, and then activating the positive soul energy from within, thus achieving bnce, and bing the Tidal Gate.¡± The Tidal Gate, can be separated into four levels, from big to small, from strong to weak. The Afterglow, Ashenlight, Witchlight, and Dawnmoon. The size of the Tidal Gate, and the level of resilience of it determines how much power and strength a Ptinate could connect to and unleash from the Eventide. This is the real point of the Ptinate, and once you have made contact with the Sea of Consciousness, you must try your best to create arger, stronger Tidal Gate.¡± ¡°Then sir, how big is your Tidal Gate? The young man asked, unable to suppress his curiosity. ¡°This question, I¡¯m not able to answer you, nor am I willing to.¡± The old man smiled wryly. ¡°Right, do you know what the Ptinates are called in the other world?¡± ¡°What are they called?¡± The old man lowered his voice, as he looked at the appearing figure in front of him. ¡°The Nyxian.¡± ¡°The upper echelon of the Darksiders are called the Nyxian. From the Afterglow to the Dawnmoon, each other them represents the four main levels of the Ashen World, and at the same time, four different levels of powerful monsters.¡± Chapter 365 - The Missing City: Part 3

Chapter 365: The Missing City: Part 3

¡°Aaarghhhh!!¡± Just at that moment, a massive grey skeleton in torn rags appeared out from the mist, in its hand was a massive rusted de with a purple glow on it as it made its way towards the two. *Bam bam bam!!!* The skeleton was desated, as its skin hugged the bones tightly, looking a skeleton model with ayer of skin draped upon it. It raised its massive chopping de, as a ck heart silhouette appeared in its chest. At that very instant, the meter-long de mmed down with brutal force. *Baaammm!!* The ruined de crashed down rapidly towards the old man¡¯s face. And if he was to be hit by it, he would undoubtedly be split into two. But strangely enough, the de suddenly stopped midair, just barely an inch away from the old man¡¯s forehead. It was like an insect stuck in amber, as the de just sat there unmoving. The ck heart silhouette in the skeleton¡¯s chest thumped again, as it beat wildly, trying to fight off the powerful binding force. It was pointless. A massive, unknown force started to radiate from the old man¡¯s body. And the force was getting stronger with every passing second. *Craaashhhh!! Finally, the skeleton¡¯s entire body simply just exploded into a rain of ck power and disappeared into the air. ¡°Did you see it?¡± The old man smiled. ¡°This is the power you will get after opening the Tidal Gate.¡± He had not moved a finger or any weapon, nor did he made any additional movement. He simply just stood there, and the skeleton self-destructed. ¡°If you are not a Ptinate, any other levels of power would not even be able to withstand our dark power aura. This is a Ptinate. This is power.¡± ... Lin Sheng and Tenko Kasumi walked quietly along the street, and surprisingly, they had not ran into any danger or monsters. All around them were nothing but vast numbers of ruined buildings standing in silence. As Lin Sheng did not speak, Kasumi got so bored that she continued wandering about. The city had three districts, and each district had at least twenty-odd streets. And the ce they were at was also a once-bustling part of town. Yet, an unknown incident had turned this ce into a literal dead zone. The two went into each and every building to inspect, rinse and repeat; and they found nothing aside from dust and rubbish. Time soon passed. Half an hourter. Lin Sheng pushed open a wooden door belonging to a shop that looked like a grocer, and sighed the moment he saw the empty shelves. ¡°Why isn¡¯t there anyone here? Humans aside, not even monsters? That¡¯s just too weird.¡± Kasumi was chewing on her bread and gave him a curious look as she heard that. ¡°Wasn¡¯t there one earlier? A monster.¡± Lin Sheng was stunned. ¡°Where was it? Why didn¡¯t I see it? ¡°It died before you even pushed the door open,¡± Kasumi said tly. ¡°How did it died?¡± He asked, puzzled. ¡°I scared it to death,¡± Kasumi answered. ¡°A monster, scared to death?¡± Lin Sheng was a little speechless, and he immediately connected to Kasumi¡¯s memories. And there was a monster inside the grocer. It was not just the grocer, and in fact, Kasumi had been scaring hundreds of monsters to their doom on their way here. ¡°That many? Why didn¡¯t I notice them?¡± Lin Sheng frowned as he felt something was off. ¡°This mist has the ability to inhibit your senses. So it¡¯s normal that you don¡¯t sell them.¡± Kasumi said. ¡°Then how did you scare them to death?¡± Lin Sheng quickly looked through her memories and found that she did not even lift a finger. ¡°Once you have reached a certain level in strength, a natural area-wide resistance will appear, and this resistance is normally beyond any monster¡¯s ability to resist, so they died,¡± Kasumi answered seriously. ¡°Alright...¡± Lin Sheng could tell if she was lying or not, but if he cannot so much as to see the shadow of a monster, how is he going to test her strength out? He needed to find a better way to test out how strong Kasumi was. He pondered for a moment before a spark appeared in his eyes. ¡°Right!¡± *Creaaakkk.* At that moment, the sound of a door opening rang out from a double story house in front of them. A series of rhythmic footsteps rang and was making its way towards his direction from the mist. The mist started to fade as the distance closed, and Lin Sheng could finally see what that approaching being was. It was a person. A living person with two heads on his shoulders! With his own, there were three heads altogether. The two heads on both of his shoulders wore a bizarre smile as they turned towards the head in the middle and were yammering about something. The head was one male one female, their skin was horrifyingly pale as if they had a thickyer of powder on them. Their lips, however, looked like they were stained with blood, and were eye-catchingly red. The man wore a sullen expression. His sluggish eyes teemed with frustration as he slowly walked towards Lin Sheng and Kasumi. This was the first monster that could ignore Kasumi¡¯s aura and got so close to them. ¡°Look, Thane! We found something to eat! Fresh Food! We¡¯ll be able to hang on for much longer!¡± The head on the left smiled as it spoke. ¡°It¡¯s not easy to run into two living beings. We must ration the food this time, or else we¡¯ll chomp down half of it without noticing...¡± The other head reminded. ¡°I know, I know. I did say there was good food in this direction right? See, listening to me will get you fed. I will be careful with the rationing this time, and we¡¯ll slowly eat them once we take them back. We cannot afford any waste, so we need to break their legs, and bleed them a little so they don¡¯t run away.¡± The head in the middle said in a stupor. And soon, the person suddenly stopped with about ten meters distance away from Kasumi. He looked at Kasumi, and then at Lin Sheng before silently making a turn. ¡°I feel like eating vegetarian for a few days now. I suddenly felt that tofu is delicious.¡± ¡°Right? I love tofu as well, but I love greens more!¡± The head of the left quickly added. ¡°I feel that Stir-fried cabbage with potatoes and tomatoes are pretty lit,¡± The head on the right added. ¡°Vege is the best!¡± ¡°Cabbage and potatoes¡¯ the best!¡± ¡°Shut up, do you know how delicious tofu is?¡± The three heads argued with one another as they turned into the alley on the right, and disappeared into it. Kasumi did not say anything, but Lin Sheng was almost left in tears. This was the first time he saw a monster with such a desire to survive. The bugger seemed to have quite the intelligence and reaction. He then gave Kasumi a curious look. Didn¡¯t she despise evil so much that she¡¯d run up to cleave into the moment she saw them? So why did she spared him? He then transmitted his thoughts over. Kasumi replied with nary a change to her expression. ¡°I¡¯m a reasonable person. I won¡¯t butcher someone for nothing.¡± ¡°ughtering a city is my hobby, and I only ughter the buildings, not any innocent lives.¡± ¡°Hooohh...¡± Lin Sheng was speechless. He finally understood what she was ying at. Tenko Kasumi is a very shrewd person, and most of the time she had just acted dumb, or be purposely obtuse. The Night Lord was azy bum, the Steel Lord with his lousy temper, Khad loves collecting arms, and now Tenko Kasumi with a cheek the size of the Great Wall. So much so that Lin Sheng started to wonder if there was something wrong with his summoning ritual. Chapter 366 - Entrance: Part 1

Chapter 366: Entrance: Part 1

Soft footsteps echoed slowly across the city¡¯s interior. After a circle, the three-headed Thane was so hungry that his eyes were blurry now. He withstood his thirst and hunger and suppressed the urge to chew on the energy bars as he continued to patrol the town. ¡°I must find food before the thick mistes, or else I¡¯ll starve to death in no time.¡± He pondered as he turned past a crossroad towards the direction where the mist was thinner. ¡°We will probably only find living things when the mist is thinner. The mist is rather afflictive, and most won¡¯t want to and cannot stay long inside the thick mist.¡± The head of the left analyzed. ¡°Makes sense.¡± Thane nodded. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you wanted to eat vegetarian?¡± ¡°Heheheh, didn¡¯t you say you wanted to eat tofu.¡± ¡°That was then, now is now.¡± Thane sneered. ¡°You sure have a thick skin, Thane.¡± The other person mocked. ¡°And who do I have to thank for that?¡± Thane wanted to add something else, but paused as he sensed the feedback of a living being. ¡°Wait up, there¡¯s something to eat!¡± He was slightly excited. ¡°I never thought that we could run into some living beings after meeting that two monsters. Seems like it¡¯s our lucky day.¡± ¡°As long we don¡¯t run into another maniac like just now.¡± The head on the right said. ¡°No worries, the feeling I get isn¡¯t the same as earlier. Let¡¯s give it a try.¡± Thane shrugged. He held his hand out as his palm writhed and a red flesh cluster spat out of it. BLAP!! The flesh cluster fell onto the ground, and after some quick wriggling as four blood red canine limbs appeared as its body elongated, and soon became a headless hunting hound. Hissss.... The area where the head was once was suddenly split open, as a massive pale jaw appeared out of it. ¡°Go.¡± Thane pointed forward. WHOOSH! The blood hound charged into the mist without a sound. After passing through about a distance of a couple hundred of meters, two figures, one old one young appeared before the hound as they trotted on slowly. The two looked up towards the hound, an expression of slight confusion appeared on their face. The elder in the front looked at the charging and suddenly smiled as he raised his hand and flicked gently. The three-headed Thane looked at the direction the hound had charged towards. ¡°We definitely will get some good meat this time! I want fresh parts plump with blood!¡± ¡°The hands and legs are the best!¡± ¡°No, the nose, the nose is the best!¡± ¡°The tongue is king. Alright, shut it. I¡¯ll be the judge! I¡¯ll taste each and every part and then we¡¯ll know what¡¯s the best!¡± Thane guffawed. ¡°That again, heh.¡± ¡°Trying to steal a bite again!¡± ¡°I¡¯m just trying to resolve your conflict. There¡¯s only three of us left, what¡¯s there to fight? We should be getting along, one bite for you, one bite for me, giving and ta...¡± BAAAMMM!!! Before he couldplete his sentence, Thane¡¯s massive frame seemed to be ran over by a freight train and was sent flying. CRASASSHH!! Hended hard against one of the ruined truck behind him, and smashing a deep dent into the vehicle as it flipped and tumbled while he was sent flying into the air like a ping-pong ball into a perfect parabolic arc, spraying blood all around as he flew. BAMM!! Thane crashed hard, and stained the tarred road with arge patch of blood. Heid there unmoving. His body hurt, and he looked like he wanted to cry, not knowing at all what had hit him. ¡°I feel like I was just about to die...¡± He said as cold sweat ran all over his face. But his partners did not even respond. He turned over, and saw both of them frenziedly trying to give him the look to shut up. ¡°What are you doing? Pulled a muscle on your face?¡± Thane asked. He then looked up, and saw two figures stopping by the left of the road. A red-haireddy and a powerful looking ck-haired man. It was the two maniacs he had just ran into. Thane eyes went white, and he fainted. ¡°Someone is taunting us...¡± The ck-haired man said as he looked at Thane. ¡°An ident.¡± The red-haireddy yawned. ¡°You sure?¡± ¡°Yeah, nothing, just an ident.¡± Lin Sheng looked at Kasumi, and seemed to understand what she was thinking. Paying no mind, he continued along with her deep into the mist. That bugger probably did not want to exert any strength, or just want to live life easy. But since Lin Sheng had already given her a clear test target, it was up to her how she wanted to do it. He was only to follow behind and observe the results. The two had totally ignored Thane¡¯s existence, and walked towards the other parts of the city, and soon disappeared into the roiling mist. Thane, who was right behind them immediately got up and ran the moment they left. Lin Sheng heard the noise, and looked at Kasumi, before electing not to say anything. The two continued forward, and passed a few car workshops. Suddenly Kasumi paused, and turned towards the ground on the right side of the road. ¡°There¡¯s people. Want to save them?¡± She looked at Lin Sheng and did not say a word, but instead spoke using the soul link. ¡°There are people alive? Lin Sheng was dumbstruck, and quickly turned towards where she was looking, and quickly focusing his senses. Soon, he could feel that something was off below them. The two looked at each other, and Lin Sheng went first to the location. This was Migan territory, and technically the area of responsibility of Carta nche. While he was not a member of Carta nche, but when he runs into such matters, he would help if he could, there was little else to consider. In his time in Miga, his teacher had been kind to him, so did his school, and he never felt shortchanged. Plus, there were students who had graduated from Baine, and current students who had epted the mission in the garrison. Otherwise, Baine University would not have been able to obtain information about the incident here. The two circled around the empty ground opposite the workshop, and soon detected something. ¡°Underground.¡± Lin Sheng could sense the location. ¡°Yes, very deep underground.¡± Tenko Kasumi nodded. ... ... Inside the underground shelter. The citizens and garrison troops who had been living there for half a month had all left their quarters and gathered in the central hall. There were about thirty of them, split into three factions. First was the citizens, led by a member of a local doomsday cult were gathered as they chanted and prayed. Their leader was a strong ck man called Bob, he wore a white long robe, with a white face mask over his mouth. In his hand was a weird looking gun as he eyed the other two sides cautiously. The garrison troops were led by the highest ranking military personnel present, Major Florian. But presently, the major¡¯s character and ability was not able to unite everyone as there were internal strife within the troops. The third party was a group of cold-looking frence Darksiders that were distrustful even with one another. They were people who had answered the call from afar to earn a bounty, much like a typical bounty hunter would. Chapter 367 - Entrance: Part 2

Chapter 367: Entrance: Part 2

At this moment, among the garrison troops. A group of people had gotten into a shouting match as they argued if they could try to escape before the thick fog returns. The military, and the two main academy¡¯s team had formed into three different factions among the garrison troops. After all, the Darksiders are only divided into academy or wanderers, and the ones from the academy held the advantage. So all of the teams sent from each universities had devolved into thismon arrangement. While this would normally work as long as there was amander from the brass in charge, it was different now. Themanding officer had been killed in an ident in one of the earlier breakout attempts. Without a unifying voice, no one was willing to defer to another, and that led to the garrison forces being in a state of chaos as each had their own thoughts. And that even emboldened the frence groups and cultist civilians as no one bothered to keep them under leash. Of the various academy forces, aside from the University of Scryer in the North, and the Spectral Integrated Academy, the hodge-podge of other academy forces were much weaker, and they could only huddle in the cover and await what will happen. And one of these academy forces was a team from Baine University. The team leader, Laylee was a novice Moon Basin personnel who had graduated from the university two years ago. And as she looked at themotion before her, her frustration was apparent. ¡°We have no idea what¡¯s going on outside! We need to send someone out for recon!¡± The team leader from Spectral Integrated Academy said loudly. ¡°I don¡¯t care how you guys do it, my only request is that we need evacuate Miss Shafreddy to safety!¡± ¡°Shafreddy stays! She has top-secret information with her, and even her lineage itself is utmost valuable. Once she evacuates, our value here will diminish, so will our chances of receiving external support!¡± The team leader of the Scryer University team, Olba sneered. ¡°So you want all of us to die together with her?¡± A silver handgun with purple engravings spun in his hand as the barrel pointed towards the general direction of the Spectral Academy folks from time to time. ¡°Then send someone out to investigate! If situation allows, we¡¯ll then send people out to report.¡± Ian of the Spectral Academy said. ¡°I agree, but sending out normal people is meaningless. So...¡± Olba¡¯s sight then fell onto the mish-mash teams from other academies. Those civilian Darksiders that could survive until now were all powerful, brutal folks that were beyond theirmand. As for the civilians, that doomsday cult was particrly brutal. There were Darksiders who had threatened that group earlier, and said person disappeared outright the next day. The first time was probably a coincidence, the second or third, made everyone weary about that cult. So now, the only choice present were the hodge-podge academy troops... Ian and Olba exchanged nces of understanding as they both shifted their sights to the academy troops in the corner. All of the cannon fodder had been to their doom in the previous recon attempts, and now they could only resort to sending Darksiders proper. ¡°Nymphaea and Baine University, you deal with it. Two person from each team for the recon.¡± Ian of Spectral spoke. ¡°Sir, we had already sent our people out twice. This has everything to do with the survival of all of us, you can¡¯t be expecting us to keep shouldering the burden?¡± Laylee of Baine suppressed her rage as she argued. ¡°We of the Nymphaea too had already sent out men for recon once. Shouldn¡¯t we switch now? To be fair to all, everyone should be pooling in!¡± The captain of the Nymphaea Academy tea, Kusn too were trying hard to rein in his anger. ¡°This is the military! You lot have already joined the military as a temporary member, you think you¡¯re still in school? That you can bargain? Go out there to recon! This is an order! Whether it is reasonable or not is a matter to discusster, but now, obey your order!¡± Many of the Darksiders from the military were graduates from Spectral, and the leading person, a tall, ck man stood out to admonish them. ¡°This is not an order! This is sending us to our deaths!¡± Laylee roared in anger, as green light faintly appeared all around here. There was only four person left from Baine University, and if they sent another two out, they¡¯ll soon be wiped out! ¡°There¡¯s no order that sends someone to their deaths! It¡¯s only whether you managed to grasp the chance or not!¡± Ian of Spectral yelled. ¡°Else, I could execute all of you for insurbodination!¡± Olba of Scryer picked up his gun and pointed it towards Laylee and the rest. Laylee and Kusn were no match for Olba and Ian, and without any recourse, they two decide to go on all in and bring all seven of their numbers to the surface and try to breakout. Before she left, Laylee gave Olba and Ian a chilly stare, she had taken note of all the faces of everyone here. ¡°Don¡¯t forget the locator device!¡± Ian sneered as the threw a silver badge over. Laylee grabbed it and pinned it on her cor. ¡°I¡¯m not as despicable as you lot. Regardless, we¡¯ll get Ms Shafreddy out.¡± She left onest word, before turning away to leave as three other members from Baine University too followed behind, their gaze icy. Kusn of Nymphaea University led thest two members behind as they wore their locator device, and left without a sound. There were seven members of their team, and each took out their torchlights and turned it on, as they stepped into the elevator. Amidst the creaking, all seven of them wore a grim look, no one spoke a word as they waited for the ride to end. ... ... Lin Sheng and Tenko Kasumi soon found the location. There was an entrance to an underground tunnel inside a changing room in a boutique. ¡°Do we go in?¡± Kasumi looked at Lin Sheng. The one deciding would be him, she was just in charge of dealing with whatever danger that maye. ¡°Nah, no hurry...¡± Lin Sheng was just about to speak before he heard something. He looked at Kasumi and thetter seemed to have noticed themotion as well, as she took a step back and made some space. Hiss.... The floor started to vibrate, almost imperceptibly. And if not for their sharpened senses, they would not have been able to detect such a minor movement. Less than ten secondster. The floor of the changing room slowly opened, revealing a square entrance. Inside the dark entrance, an elevator was swiftlying up, and shot out of the ground. Four sps were deployed at the bottom of the elevator, to prevent it from losing bnce. DING! The elevator door slowly opened, revealing a group of pale, reeking young man and women in simple Ker armor. ¡°Who goes there?!¡± Kusn who was standing at the front most of the group was the first to react. Her hair lit up in green mes as her eyes took a silver glint as she stared out in that direction. But the moment she saw Lin Sheng and Tenko Kasumi, her expression turned slightly dumbfounded. ¡°Living persons!?¡± Chapter 368 - Entrance: Part 3

Chapter 368: Entrance: Part 3

¡°Survivors?¡± Lin Sheng was surprised. He had never expected to run into survivors here. And very quickly he noticed that a few of the people in the group wore the emblem of Baine University on their uniforms. ¡°Oh you¡¯re from Baine University?¡± He asked. ¡°I¡¯m also from Baine. Luck is sure on your side.¡± He let out a smile. He had practically almost considered Baine University as part of his family. When the top level fighters had left, the entire of the university and most of her staff started worshiping the holy light. As the holy light is atheistic, as the faith is towards their own will and spirit, this was particr attractive to the Darksiders who had the elitist mindset. Plus, Holy and Dark powers would stimte one another, resulting in a growth so exponential that it defies belief. Even when many had ran into the limits of their souls very quickly and were not able to progress any further due to the inherent limitations to their soul, many Darksiders who joined the Holy Sanctum saw their powers increased by leaps and bounds. So, the growth of the Holy Sanctum was far beyond what Lin Sheng had imagined. Perhaps in the near future, even Baine University might need to change her name to Holy Sanctum University. The moment they heard Lin Sheng mentioning Baine University, Laylee and the other three members from Baine suddenly had a conflicted, yet hopeful look in their eyes. ¡°Did... you came from outside?¡± Laylee asked, cautiously. ¡°Not too long ago yeah. But you don¡¯t have to know too much. All you need to know that I¡¯m also from Baine, and I will do you no harm.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°Since you had ran into me, thank your lucky stars. Let¡¯s get you all out of here, and move with me. We¡¯ll leave in a bit. Laylee could tell that Lin Sheng¡¯s strength was far beyond hers, so she did not waste any time, and ordered herrades to get to Lin Sheng¡¯s side. In the thick mist, it was quite easy to discern humans from monsters, as long as they keep an eye out for any weird outward features, chances are they could tell which is which. ¡°We are four students who had epted the student missions, and joined the garrison here. I¡¯m Laylee, this is my special school badge. You can check my personal details in there.¡± Laylee walked towards Lin Sheng and handed her badge over. ¡°Keep it. I trust you guys.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. How was he going to authenticate the veracity of the device in this god forsaken ce? ¡°So we are leaving now?¡± He looked at Kusn by the side and the elevator that had appeared from the ground. ¡°Wait! Are you sure you could get out!?¡± A hurried voice suddenly rang out from the other side of the changing room as a new underground elevator appeared from an originally empty spot. The moment the elevator door opened, another group of man and woman in bullet-proof armor walked out and looked at Lin Sheng and Kasumi. And the persons leading the group, were clearly Ian of Spectral and Olba of Scryer. ¡°I¡¯m sure I could get out.¡± Lin Sheng nodded and answered. ¡°Well then! By the military¡¯s merit, I¡¯m conscripting you!¡± Ian stepped forward, and disyed his identity card as a member of the Moon Basin¡¯s special captain. ¡°I order you to bring us out of her!¡± He barked at Lin Sheng and Tenko Kasumi. ¡°Soon, there will a VIP with very top secret information that wille out from the underground, you will need to do everything within your power to protect her safety...¡± Lin Sheng looked in a daze at the bugger yammering nonstop. The hell was by the military¡¯s merit, or that he was a directmand of some person in the Moon Basin, and whatever lineage the VIP had, or what information she held... That boatload of exnation came with all sorts of expressions, hand motions and gestures. Lin Sheng then saw the elevator going up and down, and soon a proud-looking long-haireddy in a purple dressed appeared out of it. As the two leaders were still in the middle of emphasizing the importance of the matter, Lin Sheng looked at Laylee and the rest. ¡°Shall we?¡± Laylee and her team were being shoved by the rest of the military men to the back, and her face was red with anger. The moment they heard Lin Sheng¡¯s question, the four were slightly dumbstruck, and did not know how to react. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Ian of Spectral too was aghast as he squinted and looked at Lin Sheng. Thetter did not even bother to acknowledge him, and instead turned to motion at Laylee. ¡°Come if you want to leave.¡± ¡°You dare to disobey military orders!¡± Ian was fuming with rage. ¡°You better think this through! This is Miga! Every citizen has the duty to be temporarily drafted, and execute military orders!¡± They had seen that Lin Sheng had called himself a member of Baine University from the locator device. And as long as they are a Migan, they were all subjected to conscription, and were forbidden from not cooperating. This was the ironw. And any dissenters could be subjected to summary execution, and even if things were to return to normal, the Moon Basin will hound them. Knowing so, this person actually dared to disregard his conscription? Lin Sheng did not even bother and simply turned and walked outside. ¡°Stand right there!¡± Olba gave out a menacing look as he lifted his gun towards Lin Sheng. ¡°You want to leave? Then tell us the way or I¡¯ll put a bullet through your skull!¡± Lin Sheng turned and looked at him before smiling, and said to the others. ¡°If you can take out this two idiots, I¡¯ll tell you the way out.¡± He pointed at Ian and Olba. But the group of Darksiders did not move, and instead focused their attention on Lin Sheng. Aside from Laylee, Kusn and the rest, the malicious intent of the other Darksiders were seeping out of their gaze. Olba and Ian looked at Lin Sheng as if he was an idiot. ¡°Why did that not work?¡± Lin Sheng wondered. The TV dramas did that often enough right? He then realized something and held his right palm out, and gently pped it to the right. With his hand as the nexus, the wall of the right suddenly lit up in green light. BOOOM!!! A massive explosion rang out, and the wall on the right exploded, and was reduced into nothing. Not just that, even the center of the house on the opposite side of the road had a simr circumference in the middle of it. And the gapsted all the way deep into the mist. Lin Sheng nodded in satisfaction as he kept his still smoking hand behind him, an looked at the group of stunned Darksiders. ¡°Take them out, and I¡¯ll bring all of you out.¡± Lin Sheng once again pointed at Olba and Ian. UGGHHH!! Just as he finished, a Darksider behind Olba hit him with a sneak attack at the back of his waist. A chilly green spike punctured through Olba¡¯s waist, and blood flowed wildly on the floor. Olba, with much difficult, turned back in horror, only to see a very familiar face. On the other hand, Ian too almost suffered a simr fate, but he had managed to react and dodged the blow. Without much hesitation, these group of Darksiders, already pushed to the brink by coercion and threats started to fall upon the two. ¡°Ain¡¯t that simple?¡± Lin Sheng felt that his tactical skills had seen remarkable improvement, and was pleased with himself. He thenid his eyes on the supposedly very important long-haired girl. Compared to the rest, this Shafreddydy was in much better mental shape. And she could see through Lin Sheng and Kasumi¡¯s carefree attitude. With no regard for the military, factions, or country, and having such power to boot. If his mood were to turn sour, things would end up in disaster. Chapter 369 - Skirmish: Part 1

Chapter 369: Skirmish: Part 1

Shafreddy was born to a family of Carta nche diplomats. Her father, mother, grandfather, great grandfather were all in the foreign office holding high posts. So she was exposed to the world from young, and with her natural talents, aside from the localnguage, she could speak five main foreignnguages, and while she may be a proud person, she was highly perceptive. And the moment she looked at Lin Sheng and Kasumi, she already had a rough idea of what was going on. ¡°Both of you don¡¯t look like reinforcements from the Suncrown?¡± She asked cautiously. ¡°The Suncrown?¡± Lin Sheng was taken aback. ¡°The Suncrown had already been alerted by the problem here? That fast?¡± ¡°Yes, what happened here, was no usual cktide incident. In most cases, there will be one to three beings maintaining the afflictions, and once vanquished, the problem will be resolved.¡± Shafreddy totally ignored the fight going on beside here and exined. As the group had been hiding underground for a long while now,pounded by theck of food, drinks and rest, even when they fight with the dark powers they wereid at best. But the numbers game prevailed as at least eighty percent of the group¡¯s Darksiders were attacking Olba and Ian. The two were strong, and as they defended themselves, they took down their attackers one at a time, while they may look sorry, and their wounds heavily, they were actually turning the tide, slowly but surely. ¡°My apologies, Ian is being a little rash, but he means no harm.¡± Shafreddy could not help but to take a nce at Ian. He had been fighting for her safety all this while, so she could not leave him to his fate. ¡°May I ask, how can I get you to let him go?¡± She directly verbalized her request. BAM! Olba was at his limits, and after another sneak attack, he was crashing onto the ground, and tumbled away. He had blood on his mouth, and even his ears were damaged as blood slowly flowed out of it, not knowing who struck that blow on him. Lin Sheng looked at Tenko Kasumi, and thetter was yawning, clearly in no mind to bother with what was happening before her. ¡°Want me to let him go, simple.¡± He pondered. ¡°Tell me, why is he protecting you, and what secret is with you.¡± ¡°Absolutely not!¡± Ian yelled. ¡°You cannot tell him! If the Sevenlocks Tower finds out, we will all be dead! Not just us; our family and friends will die as well!¡± His expression was twisted, as he feltpelled to yell at Lin Sheng even as he had to block two sts of dark power mes head on. ¡°Kill me if you can then! Shafreddy, never, ever tell him that!¡± ¡°But if all of you are dead, my chances to bring this secret back is zero.¡± Shafreddy said calmly. ¡°You know... that thing will not let me go.¡± She was calm, and that was not faked, rather, it was an aura of someone who had a fatalistic view of life. Lin Sheng could not help but to take another nce at thedy. As they spoke, Ian and Olba, due to the distraction, were finally taken down as theyy on the ground t. The eagle and cheetah created by their dark powers had been smashed apart outright, and their defensive aura around their body were so battered they were barely visible. BAM! A ck man who was powerfully build smashed his fist onto Olba¡¯s head, and knocking him senseless. He then gave a provocative look to a few of the military men that had not joined in the beating. ¡°Heh, I¡¯d been sick of these two tossers for a long while now! A good time to teach them a lesson.¡± The PIC of the military too was a ck man, as he looked at the person as if he wanted to swallow him alive. ¡°No matter what secret you have, just spit it out. My patience is limited and I don¡¯t intend to waste any more of it here.¡± Lin Sheng had gotten a little impatient, and said bluntly. Shafreddy spoke no more and instead just stepped forward as she opened her mouth. A sh of green light appeared on her body as her head slowly transformed into a python form. Then a purple potion inside a perfume bottle slowly writhed out from her throat. The purple potion was only the size of a finger, and about as wide as a thumb. At this very moment, the purple liquid in Shafreddy¡¯s hand seemed to have plenty of phosphorescent in it as it sparkled bright. The moment the potion was taken out, the entire surrounding turn gloomy as if something from the void around them were converging towards this ce. ¡°What is that?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s carefree expression gave way to caution as he looked around with the edge of his eyes. The shadow around the wall writhed and expanded like a living being the moment the potion was taken out as a form on untold terror emanated out of it. Shafreddy quickly grabbed the potion tight as she looked up at Lin Sheng. ¡°This is the key that I have mastered. It is called the Entrance.¡± ¡°The Entrance?¡± Lin Sheng looked at that potion, and felt that it was a living thing, that was sealed inside the bottle. ¡°Yes, the Entrance, if it gets opened, the liquid inside will seep out and will very quickly transform into a brand new Entrance into the Ashen World!¡± Shafreddy said grimly. What she said was beyond the understanding of most people, and only a few people at the upper echelons understood what the Ashen World entails. And the moment these few people heard it, their face turned pale as they slowly took a step back. ¡°This thing is a genocidal weapon. If it leaks into the world, it¡¯ll kill anyone and everyone! If not for the fact these people had not been able to send word, it would be impossible for them to be guarded by so few!¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s expression changed as well. The Entrance to the Ashen World would normally need a hidden realm to suppress it, and now the only force in the world capable of achieving such feat was the three hidden realms. He did not need to think much to understand how terrifying the Entrance was. But before him was an Entrance in the form of a potion. ¡°This is the will of god, opening the gate of hope is the finale of destiny.¡± A few robed figures appeared out of the elevator, and the one speaking was a weathered, thin old man. One of his eyes were white, seemingly blind, while another had a terrifying glint in it as he stared at Lin Sheng and Shafreddy. ¡°For the hope, kill them!¡± The old man waved his hand and pointed at Lin Sheng at the rest. Four robed figures behind him charged forward and discarded their robes, revealing powerful bodies in rotting ck tone. ¡°KILL THEM!!¡± The four of them were ck all over, and only their eyes were blood red, ck mist quickly formed around their hands and formed into a half-meter long de. The four were exceedingly quick, and in a blink of an eye, they had charged towards Shafreddy in the middle of the group. Her expression did not change as she had seemed to foresee that happening, so she instead just tossed the potion towards Lin Sheng. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to decide.¡± She no longer resisted as she closed her eyes, and awaited her doom. Neither the army troops, the academy Darksiders nor the wandering Darksiders could react in time to help her, as they could only looked with wide eyes at the potion flying in the air. If the potion were to smash on the ground, no one here would be able to survive. No one knew that a new Entrance potion had appeared in this locked down city, and now everyone understood why Ian was so agitated. If anyone were to know what Shafreddy had on her, they would volunteer their lives to keep her safe. But sadly, it was toote. Four des came at bizarre angles towards the potion flying in the air. Their goal was clearly to shatter the bottle, and open an Entrance to the Ashen World here. Sadly, a powerful arm had extended itself over and gently held the potion in the palm. The four des followed the ck mist and struck the arm on four sides. CLANG!!! Four distinct shing sound rang out as the des rebounded, and two strands of hair fell down, indicating that a de had just shed at that part of the arm. Chapter 370 - Skirmish: Part 1

Chapter 370: Skirmish: Part 1

Lin Sheng retracted his hand and looked at the potion. ¡°Very well. This thing is mine now.¡± He smiled as he tossed the bottle in his hand. The cultist leader¡¯s eyes widened as he turned and ran. He had sacrificed so many town citizens to create that four monsters, and with them not being able to do anything against thetter, he could not figure out a way to turn the tables. Unfortunately for him, barely a few steps in, a dark power thread sted out of his forehead. *Whoof!* As the thread retracted, the old man fell onto the ground, dead. At the same time, a storm of dark power threads shot out from Lin Sheng¡¯s back like a bristling porcupine. All of these threads easily avoided those from Baine and Nymphaea. Be it the military, the four monsters, or a few wandering Darksiders, who had just appeared, all twenty of them were instantly killed. The dark power threads on Lin Sheng¡¯s was like a piercing needle as they were swiftly retracted. And the moment one needle was pulled back, one Darksider dropped dead. But when it was the turn of the civilian Darksiders, a scrawnydy that had been looking down and keeping silent suddenly lifted her hand as her sharp, ckened nailed struck out, and shattered the dark power thread. But before she could continue to resist, hundreds of dark power threads swarmed over in a frenzy like sharks scenting blood towards her. *Bam!! Bam!! Bam!!* ¡°Ughhh!!!¡± Amidst the piercing whistles, the scrawnydy only managed to take out a couple of threads before her defense faltered as arge hole was bored through the chest. Even so, she did not fall dead, and simply stood there and gave Lin Sheng an eerie look as she gave up resisting. ¡°Very well, killing our pawns. We will meet soon enough. Very soon... and when that timees, you will pay for this!¡± As she said that, her body quickly dissolved and barely two secondster as the body was reduced into a stter of ck liquid. ¡°That¡¯s quite the promation even when she¡¯s that weak.¡± Lin Sheng was rather speechless. A genuine, powerful character would not give out such promations. He had plenty of things to deal with on a daily basis on top of his busy research work, he did not have the time to entertain threats like this. And even when he was faced with one, he soon tossed it to the back of his mind and ignored it altogether. ... Inside an art room in the city. There was an oil painting on the wall, in the background were a ck in and a grey manor. Standing in front of the manor was an elegant-looking nobledy in a ck dress. Thedy in the drawing originally held a rose vase and was smiling as she sat on the grass and enjoying the sun. At this moment, however, the elegant face had given way to viciousness. ¡°My host body is destroyed! Tarnation!¡± With slow steps, she walked out of the picture frame and into the room as she threw the vase in her hand violently aside. A loud crashter, the vase shattered into countless pieces, throwing the rose it in onto the ground. ¡°You¡¯ll pay with your own body for destroying my host!¡± A chilling sneer appeared on the nobledy¡¯s face after she calmed down a little. She then walked out of the art room and onto the city¡¯s street as she made towards the direction Lin Sheng was at in the distance. Barely a few steps in, purple markings started to crawl up her legs. The markings looked like a purplework as it held her solidly in ce. ¡°Who goes there!? Show yourself!¡± The nobledy paused for a bit as shapeless energy sted the purple markings apart. Amid the thick mist, a powerful dark figure approached. ¡°The Entrance is mine, Madam. I¡¯m sure you still remember that?¡± Thedy sneered as a series of dark shadows appeared in the mist around her. These shadows were extremely thin, and their legs reached their knees with long fingers and nails. All of the shadows formed around her back, like guards protecting their liege. ¡°Madam, if you want to overturn the table, you need to first ensure you have the ability to pull it off.¡± The powerful figure¡¯s voice sounded even more menacing. Within the mist behind him, countless human figures slowly formed around him. The shadows were slightly smaller than him, but each was at least two meters in height. In a blink of an eye, at least hundreds of figures were standing off against the nobledy. From another direction, a dark figure on a massive horse approached from the mist. Following the cantering of the horse was a gentle and calm male voice. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We still have fifteen minutes. If the n fails, then we¡¯ll see where they end up in. If they are in your area, feel free to take the potion for yourself. If it is mine, then don¡¯t me me for taking it as a tribute. And of course, if it is in his area...¡± All three parties went silent. As the representation of the three forces here, there was little to no difference in their strength, and all were weary of each other. ¡°What if he leaves the ce?¡± The nobledy sneered. ¡°Then it belongs to all three of us as the n fails. If thates to pass, we¡¯ll all move out, and kill everyone.¡± The rider said. ... After Lin Sheng and Tenko Kasumi had obtained the potion, they kept their word and brought Shafreddy and the rest towards the outside. While Kasumi¡¯s strength testing has yet to bepleted, the unexpected finding he had was enough for Lin Sheng to leave this ce earlier. If he manages to utilize the Entrance potion correctly, he could either use it as a tool for recognition or some other things. Either way, it will be a great boon to him. Aside from the entrances guarded by the three hidden realms, there were other entrances as well. But the ones the three hidden realms were suppressing were the biggest. All sorts of families, universities or Darksider factions were suppressing all sorts of Entrances of all sizes. And if he could master the potion in his hand, the benefits would be enormous. Lin Sheng had Kasumi lead the group, while he followed in the rear. As he headed back, he pondered about the unexpected find in his mind. He, however, did not notice a pair of red eyes were staring at his direction from afar. The eyes were so well hidden that even Tenko Kasumi did not notice them. Of perhaps she did notice them, but she could not be bothered to tell him. Shafreddy, Ian and the rest of the academy forces led by Laylee walked in the middle and was nervous. Aside from the potion, she had gained another very important item, and if she could return safely, it will serve Carta nche and the three hidden realms well. But she was clear that be it the Sevenlocks Tower or those hidden mysterious factions, they would not allow her to leave so easily. Chapter 371 - Skirmish: Part 3

Chapter 371: Skirmish: Part 3

The mist started to slowly roil as it got thicker and thicker. Yet Tenko Kasumi was seemingly unaffected as she walked straight towards the exits in great strides. It was not only her, but even the people behind her were also unaffected as if they were protected by something. After killing Olba and the rest, all of them had were on the same boat now, and no one could escape. So even if their numbers and lessened, their overallbat ability had gotten stronger. Soon, they had traversed across a great distance and were closing in on the city¡¯s exit. Something inside the mist could not hold back any longer. A series of thin shadows with red eyes approached from all directions using the mist as a cover towards the team. On the other side, a dark figure on arge horse were silently approaching from the front while a massive figure standing at two meters all, with the built of a strong bull approached from the back. All of them held heavy weapons as they slowly closed the distance. Badummpp. Suddenly a garbage can by the side of the street rattled, as it was blown over the wind. Tenko Kasumi lifted her hand and stopped. Following her, the entire team stopped as well. Two figures, one tall one short had appeared on the right of the team without them noticing. It was an odd team of one old and one young man. Any person who had appeared out of nowhere in this thick, roiling mist could be taken for a monster, obvious or otherwise. And the two person had already slowly walked to the front and blocked the team¡¯s path. On a tall building by a corner, the nobledy, the dark figure on the horse, and the massive figure all stood upon the roof and looked downwards. ¡°Since when did that two appeared?¡± The nobledy frowned as she looked down. ¡°Who knows, they may very well have been hiding there since the beginning.¡± The horse riding figure said. ¡°Then they must be quite something, to be able to avoid my full-spectrum surveince.¡± The nobledy said with a chilly tone. She had been using this full-spectrum surveince ability to escape the hands of a six-wing elite, and for these two totally avoid detection, there was little doubt of their capabilities. ¡°Another two. Forget it, we cannot wait any longer. Kill them as well. Time is almost up.¡± The rider urged. ¡°Agreed.¡± The third massive figure concurred. ¡°Alright, that old man is about to act against the girl in the front.¡± The two quickly looked over as they heard that. The elder expectedly raised his hand, as a small ck knife appeared in his palm out of nowhere. He opened his mouth as if was saying something. The red-haired girl too were speaking in reply. After a short conversation, negotiations seemed to have broken down and the two were about to fight. ¡°Heheh, that two sure are brave. They actually dared to fight without knowing what¡¯s around them. Having a death wish I say.¡± The nobledy on the roof jeered. ¡°Fight, fight. When both of you are down for the count, it¡¯ll be easier for us to clean all of you up.¡± At that moment, the elder and the red-haired woman walked slowly towards one another as they picked up pace and shed against each other. The small ck de and the silver great sword shed against each other and bit into each other into a stalemate. The rider figure on the roof shook his head. ¡°This level of exchange, are they ying ga....¡± BOOOOOMMM!!! A sudden bangter, an azure ring sted out from the location they were crossing swords. Every ce the ring passed through were frozen solid. The three standing on the roof did not even manage to reach as a powerful arctic gale with edged frost crashed against their face. Their clothes and hair were violently tugged backwards by the gale, but even the chilly air did little to calm their horror. WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON!! The sudden gale had totally changed the weather in the area in a blink of an eye. Before the azure ring could get any further, countless of grey vines surged out with the elder as the nexus against the storm. BAAAMMM!! A lightning struck overhead and lit up the battlefield. The three then saw something they would never forget. Above the red-haireddy and the mysterious elder, were massive and blurry titanic shadows. If not for the lightning, they would not be able to see the two shadows. On one was a giant withered cyclopean tree. Facing it was a mystical giant made out of ice and snow. The two massive titans were striking at each other in an enraged frenzy as they let out a voiceless roar. The moment the roar sted out, the mist around them slowly thinned out, revealing the monsters inside the mist. What shocked the three was that all of their monsters had been frozen into literal ice sculptures without them noticing. As the vines and storm shed, all of the ice sculptures around them were crushed by the writhing vines without any resistance. CLANG!!! Tenko Kasumi easily swatted the elder¡¯s de aside, as her figure blurred, and the great sword in her hand suddenly became five, and struck down at the same time. What surprised her was that the elder could keep up with her. The ck de did not split into multiples, but instead parried each and every strike with extreme agility. CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!! As the des met, sparks flew. ¡°Not bad, not bad!¡± She felt slightly excited. She had never expected to run into someone who could stand up against her in this age after her resurrection. Five great swords floated by her side, and struck madly at the elder as if there were five of her. These were not illusions, but five solid great swords. She did not know what a Ptinate was, and while Lin Sheng had given her the knowledge, it was pointless. Strength is only known when des are crossed, and before that, she cared not if someone was a Ptinate or not. The two shed violently as the sounds of metals shing rang out like rain upon a zinc roof. Tenko Kasumi had endeavored to suppress her strength and technique to the level of her opponent, but even so, the elder was almost at his limits. ¡°EVIL EYE!!¡± The elder¡¯s aura suddenly shuddered as he forcibly retracted his aura, pushing Kasumi back. At the same instant, a blood-red eye opened up in the middle of the giant tree. SCREEEE!!! A rainbow-colored beam shot out of the cyclopean eye towards Kasumi. And the same time, Kasumi¡¯s body was quickly turning into a tree from the leg up. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s why I hate you guys who had to resort to dirty tricks in a fair fight...¡± Kasumi looked at her body that was rapidly turning into a tree, as frustration appeared on her face. She was not a Ptinate, and did not have the ability to step into the Eventide to gain a special ability like one. SHWANG! She suddenly raised her great sword, as countless of dark red magical runes appeared on it. Even without any special abilities, she still had her ultimate skill. Lin Sheng saw the familiar stance, and knew shit was going to hit the fan and quickly turned around as he pulled Shafreddy and Laylee away. ¡°ATOMIC BLIZZARD, SIXTH STANCE!¡± Tenko Kasumi¡¯s hair suddenly grow long as her crimson light appeared in her eyes as the edge of her mouth seemed like it was torn apart by a saw. The icy gale soon formed into a vortex around her sword. She then swung it in a downward arc, as her maniacalughter rang out in the storm. Chapter 372 - Situation: Part 1

Chapter 372: Situation: Part 1

*Grrr... Gggrrr... Grrrr* Amidst the violent quaking, the buildings inside the city shook and shuddered. The three-headed Thane was sitting by a dining table eating the corpse of one of the monsters he had picked up. Yes, he was that famished that he did not care what he put into his mouth any longer. While the monster corpse does not taste great, it was a far more appealing option than starving. Just as he picked up his fork and was about to stab it into the flesh, the sudden quake interrupted his meal. ¡°What¡¯s going on??¡± Thane¡¯s cautiousness was extremely high, and if there was a ranking of who could survive the longest in this dangerous, god-forsaken city, it was undoubtedly be Thane reigning as champion. ¡°Probably someone is fighting. I can sense energy fluctuations!¡± One of the head growled. ¡°Could it be the two groups from earlier?¡± Thane did not ponder much, and even if he did, there was nothing he could do. He put down his fork, and with surprising agility, he cleaned up the room before mming the door open and went his way. But just as he opened the door, he was awestruck. Two massive titanic illusions stood there like actual monsters. Without proper training or ability, one would not be able to see them. But Thane was naturally one of those who were capable. He looked up at the two monsters wing at each other, his heart ran cold while he tried to keep a calm face. ¡°The thick mist is here... but with that two big shots calling the shots, there shouldn¡¯t be any problem for the time being...¡± He then looked towards the deeper part of the city, and silver mist was slowly emanating out of there. The silver mist very quickly spread out and merged into the white mist, turning it so thick that one could not even see their own hands. ¡°It¡¯s here!¡± ¡°Run!¡± The two heads on Thane¡¯s shoulder quickly warned him, their voice fearful. ¡°This is both danger and opportunity. If we are lucky, we might even be able to follow the two big shots out of this ce.¡± Thane was determined, this was the first real throw of the dice in a while. Thinking of that, he quickly ran against the thick mist and disappeared into it. ... The giant cial de swung around in a frenzy and brought with it the force of a meteor as it mmed hard against the cyclopean tree and tore deep rents into it. A chilling aura surrounded the de, and like a keen edge, it sliced through everything it touched. Tenko Kasumi floated in midair as her five great swords spun like a wheel as they shed downwards. The massive blows tore gaping holes on the street¡¯s surface, drawing new lines on this ruined city. Beneath her, the elder scampered about like a monkey. He did not block every attack Kasumi had sent out at him, only when he felt that he could not withstand the attack did he parry it with his de. The thick mist on the ground was sted away by their power, as countless buildings were chopped down by the giant des as walls crumbled under the force of the shockwaves. Wherever Tenko Kasumi looked, her de soon followed, reducing that ce into rubble. If the city was merely an abandoned ruin earlier, now the city was an outright dested ruin. Ruined facades were everywhere as a storm of dust and debris was kicked into the air. There were almost no intact objects left on the ground. At times, faint traces of monster remains could be seen among the cement. These corpses belonged to the three leaders who had nned to surround and wipe out Lin Sheng¡¯s team. But all of them were now coteral damage and were simply wiped out. *ng!!!* A golden spark sted out of the ground as two powerful shes collided, and exchanged dozens of blows within an instant. Shockwaves rang out violently between shes and sent out aftershocks and supersonic waves like an earthquake would. All around them, countless of rocks and mud simply cracked and were disintegrated by the shapeless shockwave. ¡°I¡¯m the Soulchain, Jeff Shinings of the Sevenlocks Tower! I admit this is our miscalction! If you are willing to cease your attacks, we are willing to repay you for any material and mental losses!¡± The elder continuously dodged the attacks with agility unbefitting his age. Deep inside, however, he was groaning. At first, he could still fight head-on against that maniac, but the longer he fought, things were going very wrong. That crazy woman¡¯s attacks struck harder with every blow, and all of her sword attacks covered a wide area and were extremely deadly, not to mention the enchanted chill on the de. After warding off the natural Ptinate-level auras, as the two shed properly head-on, Shinings found hisbat ability far behind thetter. A few hundred of attacks in, he was easily suppressed and could not fight back. Hundreds of attacks may sound like an awfully long time, a battle of attrition where neither one could decisively end the battle. But if that timespan is instead built on a basis of fifty to sixty moves per second, then hundreds would still be in the range of bare seconds... Simply put, the elder felt that he could win, and threw everything at Kasumi, then typing GGWP... After a hard-fought five secondster, Shinings felt that he had reached the pinnacle of his life. With his life hanging in the battle, he unleashed everyst bit of power inside him. Even so, he still had no answers to her attack, and could only run about dodging attacks, to drag the battle out and try to get himself some breathing space. Azure des came crashing from above and left deep rents on the ground. As Kasumiughed manically, the chill around her grew even colder and stronger. The crimson light in her eye was glowing brighter as well, like a rampaging beast. The strength of the des once again increased. If Shinings had dared not make direct contact with the des earlier, now with the increase in strength, he dare not even get anyway close to it. At times when he could not dodge the attack, he had not relied on the power from the Eventide to forcibly deflect the attack. But the power of the Eventide was not a power he could call on at full force based on his whims. Due to its massive power that could increase the lethality of one¡¯s attack to another level, the continuous use of this ability would leave all sorts of inner wounds in the body. And with time, these injuries will umte and finally be the straw that breaks the camel¡¯s back. Two minutes had passed since the fight started. Soulchain Jeff Shinings had reached his limits, and after forcing out onest rainbow beam to deflect Kasumi¡¯s final strike; his face was pale as the cyclopean tree above him had shrunk at least two-thirds. He then looked at Kasumi who was closing again at high speed, as she sought to keep up the attack. Shinings did not hesitate, preserving his life was much more important than his honor. With surprising agility, he charged towards the exit of the city. While he was not slow, but because the location he was at was close enough to the city¡¯s outskirts, something weird still happened during the escape. Arge patch of cold frost started to w at his feet, trying to hold him in ce. Just as he was about to leave the city, he shuddered hard, as a loud thud rang out behind him, seemingly blocking some sort of attack. The cold frost on the ground had transformed into shapeless monsters as they surrounded and attacked him. But as they pressed the attack, the faster he ran. And just as he left the city¡¯s perimeters, a blurry silver light appeared beneath Shinings¡¯ leg as he sped up further. Chapter 373 - Situation: Part 2

Chapter 373: Situation: Part 2

Countless ofplicated runes circled within the silver light as it engulfed Shinings and his disciple from head to toe. As the silver light glittered, Shinings finally could heave a sigh of relief as he turned back with his disciple to look at Tenko Kasumi who was pursuing in the distance. ¡°I was careless. Regardless, next time, I will remember you, and I will make sure I find you.¡± Shinings gave Kasumi a piercing nce. As fellow Ptinates, their abilities should not have such a massive gulf between them, yet reality was a cruel mistress. If not for his foresight to prepare this evacuation matrix, he would probably suffer even more losses. ¡°Running already?¡± Kasumi retracted her five des in the distance as they merged back into one. She looked at the two within the silver glow with slight frustration as she gripped the hilt tight. ¡°So...¡± Her crimson eyes glowed even more blindingly. ¡°Don¡¯t let my efforts of horsing around with you go to waste...¡± A gush of mes suddenly erupted from behind her. CLANG!!! An argent sh of the de struck down like a mystical meteor from the beyond towards Shinings and his disciple. The tip of the de sh spun rapidly as it glowed, carrying with it countless of white snow as it formed into a massive vortex. As it got closer, its speed increased exponentially. The de sh from the great sword quickly formed into a ten meter tall vortex. ¡°GLACIAL EXTINCTION!¡± Tenko Kasumi was in the eye of the storm and charged in a straight line like a thunderbolt towards Shinings on the ground. BAAMMM!!! The vortex came crashing from the heavens against the silver light. ¡°Give up. This silver light is just an image. We have already crossed the expanse and are already half way through to our destination.¡± Soulchain Jeff Shinings looked calmly at the white vortex. ¡°Heheh, then why are you spitting blood then?¡± Kasumi sneered within the white vortex as des of ice spun about at a deadly pace. ¡°...¡± Shinings was stunned as he held his hand out to touch his mouth. His hand was instantly stained whole with blood. ¡°You fool. Why you¡¯d think I¡¯d waste so much effort if it did not work?¡± Kasumi held her sword in both hands, as her arms shuddered. BOOOM!!! Be it the silver light, or the white vortex, all of the energies within the area faded away amidst the sudden jolt. Shinings red menacingly at Kasumi within the silver light. As the light disappeared, his body did so as well, butpared to earlier, his body was slowly being coated by a thinyer of blue ice. ¡°I will remember this.¡± He said. ¡°Heh, weakling.¡± Kasumi mmed her sword into the ground and sneered. ¡°The next time we meet, it¡¯ll be your doom!!¡± Shining¡¯s eyes seeped with icy violence. ¡°Heh, weakling.¡± ¡°And when that timees, it won¡¯t be me alone... Save your breath for then!¡± ¡°Heh, weakling.¡± ¡°You!!!¡± The final instant the silver light faded away, Shinings saw Kasumi simply stood there digging her ears and got so pissed that blood welled up within his mouth without any recourse to spit it out. WHOOSHH The silver light disappeared, leaving only a ten meter wide crater on the ground as Tenko Kasumi stood alone in the crater with her sword nted into the ground. Not too far away, white snow rained down from the sky and wherever the snow touched, the mist disappeared as the two elements repelled each other. ¡°Thank goodness we ran away fast enough.¡± Lin Sheng, who had early ran away to the safety of the ruins, slowly poked his head out after making sure all was quiet. He held someone in his arm as his clothes all over were torn, taking light steps as he walked towards one of the sh marks on the ground. A chilling cold radiated out from the mark. Everything around the area had been covered in ayer of blue frost. Lin Sheng held his leg out and gently stepped on one of the ck metal rods. CRACK! The rod cracked opened like brittle ice with just a light touch of his feet. ¡°Incredible...¡± Lin Sheng felt a chill in his heart. While he had been killed plenty of times in the dream with that move, but this was the first time he saw the terrifying aftermath of the move in reality. Of all of Kasumi¡¯s move set, this was probably the one that boggles his mind. ¡°Logically, the lower a metal¡¯s temperature, the harder it would be right? How does this even work?¡± Lin Sheng had difficulties understanding this sort of power. This was a product of Tenko Kasumi¡¯s unique state. He was not at that state, so he could not even begin to fathom. She was like a Pandora¡¯s Box; his own Pandora¡¯s Box. Her skillset is just beyond any logical understanding! Lin Sheng stood by the sword mark, and inspected the potency of the fatal chill. Only after a good ten minutester did he noticed the chill starting to weaken. He then looked up into the sky. All around the city, the sky was gloomy as thick clouds roiled above and snow danced. Lin Sheng seemed to be looking for something there, as he looked from sections to sections of the sky. Yet he could not see where the snow hade from. White snow soon covered at least a good half of the city as one part of the city was covered in snow, while another half was smothered by an ever-thickening mist. The snow and mist were like two shapeless force that were vying for supremacy. A white sh sted out beside Lin Sheng as Kasumi walkedzily out of it. ¡°Sorry, didn¡¯t manage to kill him.¡± ¡°No worries, if Ptinates could be killed that easily, Darksiders won¡¯t be trying to reach that state in such a frenzy.¡± Lin Sheng said tly. ¡°But why do I need to exin this to you? I am you and you are me right?¡± Kasumi suddenly added. ¡°Sure, it works that way, but don¡¯t you feel that speaking normally is much more meaningful?¡± Lin Sheng said as he squatted down and looked at the ice crystals forming at the bottom of the sword mark. ¡°Heh.¡± Kasumi felt that her main body is probably screwed in the head. He could easily just check her memory to verify it, but he somehow chose to speak. ¡°How does your Eternal Frostst?¡± Lin Sheng suddenly asked. ¡°Depends. In this situation, probably a few days, the thick mist is very corrosive.¡± Kasumi looked at the thick mist shing against the snow and frowned. ¡°That¡¯s enough. Lin Sheng did a rough estimation and had an idea what sort of level Kasumi was at. ¡°If two of that Ptinate were toe at you, can you handle them?¡± He asked. Kasumi titled her head as she pondered. ¡°No idea, but the Eventide ability of every Ptinate is different. And that old man¡¯s ability is quite frankly, shit. Just merely to turn someone into wood. If his backups are as weak as him, I can fight three of them off with no issue. But if other Ptinates appear with more troublesome abilities, then it¡¯ll be difficult to say.¡± ¡°That will suffice.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. He then looked at the direction the group was hiding and got up. ¡°Let¡¯s go. About time to go home. I have a feeling something bad will happen soon.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Kasumi agreed. She too had sensed something was growing inside the roiling mist. The two turned towards the direction Shafreddy and the rest were hiding and headed there quickly. A momentter, a group of figures covered in a white snow storm rapidly ran towards the distance. Chapter 374 - Situation: Part 3

Chapter 374: Situation: Part 3

After Lin Sheng and co left and disappeared out of sight, from under the rubble rose a few miserable figures. They were the monster leaders who nned to ambush Lin Sheng and co. ¡°Luck is still on our side. Had the two maniacse a little closer, our survival rate would have been less than 10%,¡± said the burly one with a weapon, coughing. ¡°It was only an aftershock, but this level of power... Was it of the Ptinates?¡± The sylph no longer looked like a sylph; her elegant dress now was more like a holey Croc. What was even worse was that as soon as she closed her eyes, she felt her eyes were full of snowstorm. The extreme sense of powerlessness and frailty struck. She was dead sure the Ptinate was just two rungs higher than she was. But her intuitive feelings told her that the power disparity was vast, like the distance between heaven and the earth. ¡°I want a revenge! But I don¡¯t know how I can do that,¡± she said with her head low. The third one, tall and riding a warhorse in the shadows, looked in the direction where Lin Sheng and co had left. ¡°The Ptinates are akin to disaster in a human¡¯s skin.¡± That said, he hurried the horse to turn around, slowly striding toward the dense fog. ¡°Where are you going?¡± Stunned, the sylph stopped him. ¡°I¡¯ve thought it through, and I think fighting isn¡¯t my cup of tea. I want to go home and do farming.¡± There was a sense of dismay in the horse-riding figure. ¡°Well, I¡¯m going leaving, too.¡± The burly figure carrying a weapon echoed with a sigh. I should¡¯ve been a pork seller at home.¡± The sylph watched on as the two disappearing into the dense fog in tandem. All of a sudden, her eyes welled up, but she kept the tears in her eyes. ¡°You all still have choices, unlike me.¡± She did not want to go back and be a confinement nanny again, ever. It was a tough job. She was content with her life here. She would rather die than going back to her old trade. The ce where the three of them originated was a mezzanine zone between Ashen World and the real world. At about the size of Miga, the ce had many races living together. Because of the tough environment, which was much worse than this ce, the ce had produced many elite fighters. The three of them came out hoping to achieve something in life. But now, the cruel reality had shattered their dreams. ... ... After Lin Sheng and co left, half of the buildings in the fog were destroyed. The frigid powersted for three days before some even more powerful force of erosion in the fog drove it away. Except for the group of people Lin Sheng rescued, no one else knew what happened here. Of those who were rescued, a few more died from the war aftermath. Only four survived and returned. Following that, Lin Sheng and the four of them, including Safredie, had signed a non-disclosure agreement. After returning to the human civilization, Lin Sheng brought the four survivors, including Safredie, on the journey to the Baine University. They got on a chartered flight. Under cover of the Ptinate¡¯s power, Lin Sheng kept these people from getting pinged for as long as he could. It was not until the ne touched down at Henricqal and the elites from the Sanctum and Baine took over Lin Sheng breathed a sigh of relief. As soon as they got back, the news came that the chancellor was back. The Wasp Lord, Shawnslocka, one of the longest living Ptinates in Miga, wanted to see the head of the Sanctum. Lin Sheng had nothing to fear. After owning Tenko Kasumi, an elite who was considered powerful even at the level of Ptinates, he did not feel intimidated in meeting those whom he previously feared. Strength was the reason for his repose. If the Sanctum was only regarded as the second tier forces in Henricqal previously, then the current Sanctum was definitely a force to be reckoned with at the level of Baine University. The Sanctum had expanded in a far more terrifying rate than that of the cults while Lin Sheng was away for the past days. Of the 1.7 million survivors in Henricqal , at least one third had joined the Sanctum to be peripheral followers. It was the best time for the power of the holy light to woo people and to spread hope in time of chaos and darkness. ..... ..... In the vastvake, poisonous gas bubbles were popping on the surface. Right next to the Sunstrider monster on the arch bridge, Chancellor Shawnslocka had changed into a red robe with reading sses. He looked like a schr. Tenko Kasumi, wearing a white Sanctum armor, hand on the hilt of the silver long sword hanging from her waist, was walking towards the arch bridge along the shore of theke. Her red hair was fluttering in the hot wind heated by theva. It was hard to distinguish her hair from red me at first nce. She did not go all the way onto the arch bridge, but stopped about ten meters away from it. ¡°I am the overseer of the Sanctum, Tenko Kasumi. I supposed this is the first time we meet, Shawnslocka, the Wasp Lord?¡± As an elite of the same level as the chancellor, Tenko Kasumi was the one most suitableing to the front of the Sanctum. This way, Lin Sheng could hide his principal body, preventing his enemy from finding out his weaknesses and killing him. In the Sanctum, the deeper he hid, the safer he was. Tenko Kasumi looked across thevake at the chancellor standing on the bridge. Her body was emanating an elusive frigid air even if she was standing in theva¡¯s heat. It was hard to conceal the violence and murderousness despite the cover of the holy power. She had only cultivated the holy power for a short time. Shawnslocka nced at her and sighed silently. Before this, he had been hoping that this overseer of the Sanctum was someone gentle and peaceful. But seeing thedy in person, he began to feel that his guesses were wrong. ¡°It is no wonder the Sanctum could grow to this level even under the suppression from the Heaven¡¯s Spire. That speaks of the Sanctum¡¯s resilience,¡± Shawnslocka said with a gentle smile. ¡°I am equally d that Chancellor, the Wasp Lord, can talk with me calmly,¡± said Tenko Kasumi. Just when the creases on the chancellor¡¯s face eased up, his smile was bringing them all back again. ¡°I¡¯m not pleased with the Sanctum preaching in Henricqal without my permission, but I don¡¯te back for this. Even though I¡¯m now back, I won¡¯t stay long here.¡± ¡°Has the situation gone so bad?¡± Tenko Kasumi frowned. ¡°If you have encountered the Sevenlocks Tower, you will know how horrible they are.¡± The Wasp Lord¡¯s voice was low, with a hint of helplessness in his voice. Turning around, he looked at the massive body of Sunstrider in the distance. ¡°Three days ago, Estnd, north of Xilin, was hit by arge group of Knights Indignant. The defending army went all out into the battle but barely held the ground.¡± ¡°At eight o¡¯clock sharp yesterday morning, the Savage Ogre Horde attacked Gorand, the flower capital of the thirdrgest city in Olro. If it was not for Hellfire¡¯s Ptinates arriving in time, they have wiped the flower capital out.¡± ¡°At twenty past nine this morning, the King of the Gluttons came at the ins of Carmine Jade in Miga. The army of 120,000 gluttons is still fighting with the army as we speak.¡± The Wasp Lord sighed. ¡°War will break out where the ck mist is. The Sanctum is a mysterious and powerful force. Now that you have disyed the level of strength of the Ptinates, the three mysterious realms hope that you can join the fight against the ck Tide,¡± said Shawnslocka. ¡°If we do notply, we will be targeted or gotten rid of?¡± Tenko Kasumi asked. ¡°Not to that extent, but they will be on high alert.¡± The Wasp Lord shook his head and smirked. ¡°Everything will turn into ruins where the ck Tide ravages. The Sanctum and the ck Tide are mutually inhibiting. So the Sanctum will not be targeted.¡± Shawnslocka pause, then carried on. ¡°Just that the three mysteries realms sincerely hope that the Sanctum could join the fight against the Sevenlocks Tower. Now we are being ughtered. The joining of one more Ptinate would be of great relief to us.¡± Chapter 375 - Alert: Part 1

Chapter 375: Alert: Part 1

Henricqal. Once back, Lin Sheng first took a quick look at the campus. It was still deserted. Many students had gone home. Due to the war and chaos, and the appearance of various monsters in the ck Tide, this led to many Darksiders worried about their hometowns. So most of those returning were Darksiders. Many of them left in a hurry without evenpleting their studies. The university kept broadcasting thetest news of the situations in various ces. It also urged the members of each team that fell behind to return to the rendezvous and set off toplete the mission as soon as possible. Apparently, the teams on the mission were providing support out there. After leaving the university, Lin Sheng meditated as usual. He practiced his dark energy andplete whatever homework he had to do before performing statistical analysis of the situation. Statistical analysis was the mostmonly used method by the Miga branch Sanctum to assess the situation. Simply put, it was to collect the information of most followers and summarize them with statistical models. The final results were the conclusions of different categories and fields. Armed with the information, the Sanctum would adjust its course of action ordingly. This was only possible if the elites were absolutely loyal. Lin Sheng hadpletely decentralized the authority and information management, but using the strength and interests of the Sanctum to connect everyone together. ¡°We have informed the management of Baine University and The Asterism.¡± In side the hall of a branch of the Sanctum, Lin Sheng sat on the throne, listening to hismanders reporting the situation in Henricqal. The one speaking was Margaret, the student of the Soul Fortress who had yet returned to her family. She was also Lin Sheng¡¯s senior. ¡°I have mobilized ten tons of reserve food through my family resources. But it¡¯s just a drop in the ocean for the city.¡± Margaret frowned, her voice solemn. ¡°I have gathered nearly twenty tons of rice, the veryst stock from the grain merchants in the vicinity.¡± A wealthy businessman from Yuanda Group said. That was the most he could contribute. ¡°We have 30,000 core believers with a consumption of 200 grams of rice per person per day. Once war breaks out, it will affect the crop production in the surrounding farnd. We need to stock enough reserve of food for the core believers to sail through the difficult period.¡± ¡°For how long we need to supply? It¡¯s not practical in the long run. The best way is to ensure the surrounding arablend is safe. We need to establish aprehensive line of defense.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the responsibility of the Miga government. Why should we pay for it?¡± ¡°At least we must not give up the core believers. We need to ensure their short-term survival.¡± ¡°Then the figure woulde up to 1,000 tons of grain for 30,000 people to survive for half a year. This doesn¡¯t include other necessities such as dried meat and vegetables.¡± ¡°It sounds like a lot, but it really doesn¡¯t that much. A warehouse of a few hundred square meters would berge enough to store all that.¡± Another wealthy businessman said. ¡°I have been in the grain and oil trade. I can handle this.¡± ¡°That will be great. You are going to handle the grain inventory. The Sanctum will allocate funds for this.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. His current identity was Seagal, second to Tenko Kasumi in the Sanctum division. When Tenko Kasumi was toozy to take care of these trivial matters, Lin Sheng would have the final words. Many people here were aware that was a behind-the-scenes Holy Emperor emperor who controlled the overall situation, but in public, Tenko Kasumi was deservedly the top elite in the house. Allegedly, Tenko Kasumi had met with the Baine University chancellor. They both agreed to cooperate. There would be further discussion. ¡°Half a year of reserve might not be enough. I need you to gather at least a year of reserve. Make meat into bacon and vegetables dried and freeze-dried form.¡± The wealthy businessman nodded at once. ¡°Understood. This isn¡¯t that difficult. I can even double that amount,¡± the wealthy businessman boasted. ¡°Then double it!¡± Lin Sheng said. The wealthy businessman, too eager to show his loyalty, was rooted to the spot upon hearing that. During the peaceful time, this amount of food did not cost much. But prices of food had soared in time of chaos. If he were to pay out of his pocket, then... ¡°The Sanctum will pay for it. Donations from the believers are enough to cover the needs. Next, I need the feedback on the survey of the city now,¡± Lin Sheng ordered. ¡°About the monster incidents in the city; how is the situation?¡± ¡°It¡¯s mostly done,¡± Madin from Baine University said. ¡°Good. I need some materials and a few construction teams. They need to work twenty-four seven,¡± Lin Sheng exined. ¡°Please be assured that I can get whatever material you need. Don¡¯t forget that Henricqal used to be the hub of material research institutions. There are many materials in the reserves.¡± Madin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s great.¡± Lin Sheng knocked on the table and wrote on a notebook. Soon, he filled the pages to the brim before tearing it off and giving it to Madin. ¡°This is the list of materials,plete with quantity needed.¡± Madin took the note in his hand. When he saw the list, he frowned without saying a word. What Lin Sheng needed was divided into two categories: one, materials for constructing the holy power font; two, materials for building the Darkspirit Gate. In the mix was some confusing ingredients. ¡°Is there a problem?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°No problem.¡± Madin nodded slowly. Building the holy power font would not go to waste with so many believers here. Their number might not be as high as those in Xylond, but being able to woo so many people into submission, environmental factors yed an important role besides the strength of the Sanctum. After deciding on the construction of the holy power font, Lin Sheng examined the situational reports his men submitted. He had a better grasp of the situation now and returned to his researchb in the basement. Madin had delivered his promise. The next day, the materials for building the holy power font had arrived at the research center. Learning from experience, Lin Sheng followed the steps he used in Xylond. He first headed to the processing nt and created four special stone balls, followed by the holy power font itself. Lin Sheng decided to ce the holy power font beneath the manor. There, he made a separate area for the Sanctum¡¯s use. So there was a prayer room. After determining the location and scale of the holy power font, Lin Sheng brought the materials to the metal processing factory in Baine University. He got the permission and spent only half a day to build the required shell of holy power font using dark-energy technology. Once the shell and the core stone ball were ready, he just needed onest step: choose the Bonded and quicklyplete the construction of the holy power font. Every holy power font relied on the Bonded to exist as a holy power transformer and purifier. Without the Bonded, there was no way for the holy power font to transform and purify to get holy power. When the capacity of the holy power font expanded, or after the emergence of a new model, it might be possible to get rid of the Warden. But the Warden was necessary in the beginning. Chapter 376 - Alert: Part 2

Chapter 376: Alert: Part 2

Lin Sheng used himself as the Warden with no hesitation. Only in this way that he could leverage the holy power from the font to improve his strength in the shortest time possible. He could transfer the role to others if he was not needed. Next, after deciding on the core warden, it was a series of tedious instation works. Two dayster, at eight in the morning, the first holy power font of the Sanctum in Miga was perfectly assembled twenty meters underground on the outskirts of Henricqal. With cooperation from hundreds of Darksiders and with thepletion of the holy power font, the building of the small sanctum was finished under five hours. Under Lin Sheng¡¯s direction, the holy power font was integrated into the sanctuary system with all the crucial couplings done. Next, he only needed to activate the binding process toplete the construction of the small sanctum. Everyone in the division was concerned about the process. ording to what Lin Sheng said and the intel from Xylond, the activation of the small sanctum would establish its importance in the heart of the residents of Henricqal during this time of chaos. Once activated, the holy power font would automatically produce a purifying force-field effect following the convergence of the holy power. What did the purifying force field mean to Henricqal of this time? It meant order, stability, and faith. So Lin Sheng had given Baine University, the Asterism of the Moon basin, and the government a heads-up. He made sure he could sessfully set up the small sanctum. ... On the morning of December 7 in Henricqal. Two brown, armored vehicle-like off-road vehicles were roaming around the city at high speed. As they drove past, stacks of white printed leaflets were thrown out of the windows onto the streets. Residents hid in their houses as they were too terrified by the ck Tide¡¯s attack. There was also the intimidation and persecution from the cults and the strange organizations in the city. People asionally ventured out on the streets looking for food. The Baine University and the government had done their best to ensure the supply of food and electricity. But the monstersing from the ck Tide kept attacking the people from the dark spots. It was amon urrence. It was the reason people were scared going to the rendezvous. If the Asterism arrived in time when an attack happened, the damage would be under control. But if they did not, casualty number would be high. Panic, chaos and despair filled Henricqal now. The Sanctum wanted to spread a message through the leaflet. It imed it was was possible to set up a safe zone, free from the monster attack. The residents was filled with anticipation as well as skepticism. Two pieces of leaflet, carried by wind, slowly fell into a dark alley. A white, slender hand caught one of the leaflet. The white leaflet had a sketch of the small sanctum. Below it read, Faced with all the threats, persecution, unimaginable anomalies and weird monsters, we may not be able to 100% guarantee the safety of everyone, but we can give all believers the right to decide their own destiny. We will set up a safe haven to weaken the power of the ubiquitous ck Tide and avoid random attacks. The safe zone can only amodate a limited number of people. Those with talent and excellent willpower will get a ce in the Sanctum and the opportunity to practice cultivation. There was a line of contact numbers and addresses at the bottom. Looking at the leaflet, Mylissa and Selena fell into deep thought. ¡°The orthodox sect that calls themselves the Sanctum is going to establish a safe zone to counteract the power of the ck Tide.¡± Mylissa had heard about this sect from her ssmates. It was a rare sect officially recognized in Miga. They seemed to be trying to save the civilians and fight against the ck Tide and monsters. ¡°Can we trust the Sanctum?¡± Selena looked at Mylissa, appearing a little worried. ¡°Who cares so long as it gives people hope.¡± Mylissa appeared expressionless. ¡°If they are as powerful as they imed, the cults would be the first ones to react.¡± Selena nodded. ¡°Indeed, the cult forces headed by the Sevenlocks Tower will never tolerate such forces to win the people¡¯s hearts and to grow stronger.¡± Selena possessed the Paragon of Destiny. The Sevenlocks Tower had attempted to assassin her twice. Fortunately, the Paragon of Destiny in her had the ability to go stealth. Otherwise, they would have captured her, and she would be long dead. They threw away the leaflets and left the alley. When they arrived at the end of the alleyway, a dark hole suddenly appeared in the trash can on the side. A shadow lunged out and pounced at Selena. It was a shadowy monster that looked like a cheetah. Its body wasposed of shadows with no physical body. It was ck. Only the eyes and thesharp teeth were white and glowing in light. The Shadow Cheetah pinned Selena on the ground and was about to gnaw her to death. ¡°Phantom, kill it!¡± Mylissa so ordered, and a purple female crystal warrior became out from behind her. The warrior stepped forward with a sharp sword in each hand. Two streaks of cold light shed past. The Shadow Cheetah froze a palm away from Selena, its body turned weak as two swords punctured its head. It became lifeless. ¡°Are you all right?¡± Mylissa came up to Selena and pulled her up. ¡°I¡¯m all right.¡± Selena was shocked but still managed a smile. She spat to calm herself down after cheating death. Selena was fortunate that Mylissa, the strongest in the small-scalebat, was with her. Otherwise, she would have been seriously wounded, if not dead. The stealthy ability of the Shadow Cheetah was so good that even Selena could not detect it. She patted herself on her t chest as she got up. Just when she was about to say something, her expression changed. With the wave of her hand, an invisibleyer of breeze covered her and Mylissa, and they disappeared from the alley. Just then, in front of the door of a closed supermarket less than a hundred meters away, two vaguely visible figures appeared. They stood quietly beside a telephone booth and then materialized. One wore a light-blue business suit, looking tidy; the other wore a clown suit with a leaflet in his hand. ¡°What time the Wasp Lord leftst night?¡± The clown asked with a shrilling voice. ¡°At about half past ten, through one-way long-distance teleportation. He is not expected to return in a short time,¡± the figure in the blue business suit answered. ¡°Interesting. When the Wasp Lord left, the Sanctum decided to establish a safe zone. Interesting.¡± The clown grinned. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about this. Have you arranged it?¡± the figure in a business suit asked. ¡°Of course. Ten minutes. Sacrifice some members of the congregation and offer the Divinity¡¯s Advent as living sacrifice concurrently in two ces. These will draw the attention of the Baine¡¯s patrol. ¡°Things have been arranged in the mysterious realms. It¡¯s ready to go. But there is only one chance, and I think you already knew.¡± The clownughed. ¡°Be careful,¡± the figure in the business suit urged. ¡°I know.¡± Six Shadow Cheetahs suddenly flew out from the darkness. One was muchrger than the others. Chapter 377 - Alert: Part 3

Chapter 377: Alert: Part 3

As soon as the six beasts emerged from the ck spot, they saw the two persons in front of the supermarket. They turned and pounced at the two. The figure in a blue business suit looked up, uttering, ¡°Freeze!¡± Immediately, an invisible circle of energy expanded out from him into the surroundings, freezing the six Shadow Cheetahs in the air like specimens embedded in ss. Just then, the Shadow Cheetahs exploded and turned into ck dust and vanished, leaving no residue behind. ¡°They are gone. Don¡¯t make too much noise. We¡¯ve achieved what we want,¡± the figure in the blue suit said. ¡°Understood!¡± The clown grinned. As they talked, they headed in the other direction and then disappeared into a corner. Mylissa and Sna reemerged after the the man in blue suit and the clown left. ¡°They are Blue Conch and Face-changer!¡± Her expression changed, her face pale. The two men did not belong to any camps. They were fearsome mercenaries who nearly killed Selena and Mylissa earlier. Had it not been for Selena¡¯s Paragon of Destiny wiping their trail off this world, Selena and Mylissa would not have existed since then. ¡°Why did the two monsterse here?¡± Selena was still in fear. Looking in the direction where the two men went, her heart began to throb uncontrobly. ¡°The two monsters are the so-called unkiblebo. They must be up to no good,¡± Mylissa said. ¡°What¡¯s your n?¡± Selena knew that Mylissa had something up her sleeve. ¡°The two monsters are on the wanted list of the Asterism of the Moon Basin. Yet no one could kill them for all these years.¡± ¡°Find someone to help!¡± Melissa said. ¡°We will never defeat the two monsters. But here in the city, the Asterism of the Moon Basin isn¡¯t the strongest.¡± ¡°You mean...¡± Selena was transfixed. ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, the patrol of the Sanctum will be here real soon,¡± said Melissa. ..... ..... ¡°May the Holy Light bless you, my child.¡± On the street two hundred meters away, a squad of patrols wearing white leather armor, holding firearms and explosion-proof shields, broke into a distribution and logistics center. They rushed in and ragged out the owner who winced and hid in a corner. Loz was the team leader. He was blond, blue-eyed, handsome, and wearing a white metal armor with beautiful ornate floral patterns carved on it. It was the Baekje, the iconic flower that Lin Sheng had set as the icon of the Sanctum. The name of the flower denoted light shining on everything. ¡°Child, did you just curse the Sanctum in here? Insulting the light? I¡¯ve heard it.¡± With an avuncr smile on his face, he grabbed the owner¡¯s cor and held him up before him. ¡°No... No, no... I didn¡¯t... didn¡¯t insult the Holy Light! I swear !¡± The owner was so scared that his tears and snot flowed freely and controbly. He had indeed cursed a few words that the Holy Light and Holy Power are stupid. But never did he know that people outside the wall could get in and drag him out. ¡°He is a lostmb. His soul needs redemption. Take it.¡± Loz elegantly threw the owner to the patrol behind him. Just as the owner was about to scream for help, a patrolman struck him on the neck with an elbow, knocking him unconscious. He was then thrown onto arge truck at the rear of the patrol team. A huge three-level iron cage built into the truck was filled withatose or sober city residents. Loz patted his snow-white armor, which looked as good as new. It was the most glorious armor of the Pdin. Only those who had mastered the power of the Holy Light were eligible to wear this iconic set of armor. He led the team to move forward after he arrested the man. But not long into the journey, he sensed that someone was peeping at them. It reeked of a malicious air. ¡°Who is it?¡± Loz lunged forward. He heard the sound of footsteps ahead. The peeper¡¯s movement was quick. He left no odor behind as it disappeared into the long and narrow pathway. With two of his patrolmen, Loz gave chase. They pursued down the street and took a sharp turn and saw two suspicious figures walking away from them. ¡°Darksiders?¡± Loz took out a look-up device worn around his waist and snapped a photo of the two. He transmitted the photo back to the processor in the headquarters to check their identity. It did not take long before Loz received the results in his probe. ¡°Unregistered Darksiders?¡± Loz¡¯s expression turned grave. With the wave of his hand, four patrolmen got the instruction. They caught up with and intercepted the two suspicious men. The man in a blue suit and the clown stopped. ¡°Officer, have we done anything wrong?¡± asked the man in a blue suit. ¡°Of course, no.¡± Loz gave out a smile, reaching to draw away his blond hair that dangled down his face. ¡°It¡¯s just that you two unregistered Darksiders may pose a security threat to the public of Henricqal. Perhaps you might want to exin yourselves; what is your purpose of visit and where youe from?¡± The man in a blue suit and the clown frowned in unison. They had been in many ces, but they had never encountered such situation before. They felt very uneasy. Even the three mysterious realms did not use this kind of aggressive and invasive patrolling method. ¡°We are tourists...¡± The clown spoke, trying to make up some stories. ¡°Tourist?¡± Loz squinted at the two, examining them for a full ten seconds. He then nodded. ¡°If you twoe here just for sightseeing, I hope you follow thews here and customs here. Don¡¯t let me know that you have floated thews. Otherwise...¡± Loz looked at the two with a pair of scrutinizing eyes as he warned them. ¡°Officer, do you always threaten the innocent?¡± The clown spread out his hands with a weird smile. ¡°Without evidence of us creating any trouble, you stop and threaten us...¡± When Loz heard that, he squinted hard at them. But no matter how hard he tried, he had found nothing amiss with the two. ¡°Threaten you two?¡± Lozughed. ¡°You two look suspicious to me, and that¡¯s the problem!¡± He cocked an eyebrow and waved at his men. ¡°Take them back for a trial. Maybe we can save the lives of the innocent before they could do anything!¡± It dumbfounded the man in blue and the clown. They did not expect that this group of overzealous new Pdins would arrest their own kind when they were not happy. They would apprehend any unregistered transcendents they deemed suspicious. No question asked. Knowing that the Pdin would arrest them, they had no choice but to resist. ¡°They are heretics!¡± Loz was delighted, for he finally found two heretics. He was going to get a handsome reward plus a pat on the back. And who would dare to resist arrest? You must be kidding me, Loz thought. Baine University and the Sanctum had now joined forces, and the city was under martialw. If there was a fight here, the suppressor-ss warriors would arrive in under twenty seconds. If the suppressor-ss warriors failed to suppress the fighting, a Five-Wing inspector woulde within twenty seconds. If the fighting had still not ended by then, an alert will be sent to the headquarters of the Sanctum and Master Seagal, the apex Six Winger, would join the party. And if even Master Seagal had also failed, they said that the boss of the bosses woulde to fix the problem himself. The battle would be over in two minutes, returning peace and harmony to the residents of Henricqal. Chapter 378 - Building the System: Part 1 Chapter 378: Building the System: Part 1 Lin Sheng carefully packed the pure, holy soil he had just processed into a small test tube and then sprinkled it evenly to the bottom of the alloy boots. He then put a soft and breathable insole in the metal alloy boots. Punched with venttion holes, the insole could absorb sweat, which would drip on the holy soil beneath. After that, Lin Sheng picked up the portable adhesive and applied a thinyer on the bottom of the alloy boots. ¡°Done.¡± He picked up the alloy boots, put them on the ground, and tried to fit in his feet. Stepping on the soft insole felt like standing on some cool and moist nket. It felt weird. But he could feel holy power running up his soles and spreading throughout his body. As time went by, Lin Sheng felt the holy power under his feet grow more intense. His body soon heated up, his muscles felt bloated, and his thinking became much clearer. That was not all. His steps felt lighter. But he could feel no upsurge increases. That was fine. Lin Sheng was happy with the result. ¡°I knew it. The holy soil works even in the shoes.¡± Lin Sheng decided not to take it off. He wore it all day; he wanted to know how long the holy soil wouldst. After a small experiment, Lin Sheng went to the quarantine cell. The three prisoners were still practicing dark energy, each in a corner without interfering with the others. ¡°Time to build the Darkspirit Gate.¡± Lin Sheng went to the other quarantine cells, where he kept other evil Darksiders. With his order, the Sanctum had sent out an army of transcendents to patrol the streets of Henricqal and arrest any suspicious transcendents. These were the people he caught. But it did not mean arresting them would automatically bring more otions. He had to screen them against the databases of Baine University, the Asterism of the Moon Basin. He also had to find out if they had any malicious intentions. After a series of examinations, the Sanctum would invite them to join as a member of the Pdin. Favorable treatment would be part of the deal if they agreed to join. Other than material, they would get the chance to learn Ashen Seal cultivation. Once a Darksider got the Ashen Seal cultivation technique and practiced holy power, he would gain one or two levels of strength up in a very short time. The actual rate of improvement would depend on the soul potential of the cultivator. There was a precedent. A Darksider had gained a Three-Wing upgrade in just three days. He was only a One Winger who got his first enlightenment, originally just a wandering transcendent. After joining the Sanctum, he had upgraded from a One Winger to a suppressor-ss Darksider. His spectacr improvement had caught the attention of Lin Sheng. Such a huge increase in strength also motivated many arrested Darksiders to join the Sanctum family. Those insisted on not joining would be expelled after they were cleared of any problem. Under Lin Sheng¡¯s instruction, the suppression of the transcendents by the Sanctum was much greater than that of the three mysterious realms. After checking out the captives, Lin Sheng returned to the quarantine cell of the Darkspirit Gate, which he had just separated. It was a spacious, sixty-square-meter hall. In the middle was the pattern of a ritual circle, carved in solid silver alloy in the floor. The circle glinted in a faint light. Lin Sheng walked around the circle pattern as he examined it for ws. ¡°By changing the summoning of dark spirits into continuous mode, then its signal into manual mode, things will be fine. Next, when the holy power font springs into life, it will be a stable energy source. And then set up a defense mechanism using the holy power, that will prevent any untoward from happening to the Darkspirit Gate.¡± Lin Sheng was running through in his mind various preparation steps in summoning the Darkspirit Gate. He was still cultivating to improve his strength, but the rate of improvement is gradually leveling off. It seems at Six-Wing level, he had reached the limit of the Rock Dragon bloodline. He was not happy about it because the Night Lord¡¯s bloodline of the Shadow Dragonking was much stronger than his. Both were dragons, but one was so weaker than the other. He just did not know why. ¡°Holy power and dark energy are still mutually stimting and rising. But it is leveling off, unlike the initial eleration. It is the limit of my soul in converting the holy power, or I needs some special conditions to break into the Ptinate realm.¡± Lin Sheng believed that thetter was true. Apparently, the Ptinate was not something he could achieve through umtion. But there was hurry. Since he could not be a Ptinate yet, he might as well proceed with his n. The doorbell above the research center. ¡°Did I not say before no one shall disturb me during experiments?¡± Upset, Lin Sheng walked past a row of experimental instruments, came to the door, and unlocked the tripleyer security door. As the ck metal door opened with a firm clinking sound, he saw two pdins in white armor standing outside. ¡°Tari, Vers, why did you leave your posts ande here?¡± Lin Sheng frowned at them. Lin Sheng had promoted them as the chiefs patrolmen. Their jurisdiction area covered half of Henricqal. Originally a Three Winger and Four Winger respectively, they increased their strengths after joining the Sanctum. They were now Five Wingers in both the quality and quantity of dark energy. So they were loyal to the Sanctum. As teachers in two separate colleges, the two discovered about the Sanctum when they investigated their students for joining it. Two decades of experience had taught them they could never achieve this breakthrough without the stimtion of the Sanctum¡¯s holy power. Now, if they went without the holy power, their dark energy would decline to its initial level, or maybe even lower. This was the true reason they stayed loyal to the Sanctum. ¡°Sir, there is a nasty case happening at our jurisdiction border. We couldn¡¯t handle it. And after some deliberation, we decide to report back to you,¡± said the staid-looking Tari. ¡°You can¡¯t handle it? Nobat alert means it¡¯s not abat type?¡± Lin Sheng squinted at them. ¡°Yes, sir! It¡¯s not a fighting but something new emerging from the ck Tide. We didn¡¯t dare to take it lightly,¡± Tari said, his face grave. ¡°Tell me more.¡± Lin Sheng came interested. He put on his coat and walked out. ..... ..... The Red District of Henricqal. A mirror-like shell covered over the adjoining buildings. Outside the buildings hung billboards of various sizes and shapes. In red, yellow, white, and purple, the billboards were reminiscent the prosperity the ce once enjoyed. At a Y-shaped intersection, dozens of patrolmen, led by the Pdins, were guarding the hundred-square-meter area in the surroundings. Private vehicles of all types and a public bus jammed at the junction. But their engines were not running. There was not any a sound. Chapter 379 - Building the System: Part 2 Chapter 379: Building the System: Part 2 Lin Sheng and the two patrol chiefs stood a dozen meters to the right of a ck vehicle, looking at the driver¡¯s side of the vehicle. Behind the wheel was a man in his thirties with an army cut hairstyle. He wore a gray suit that looked like he had slept in itst night. On the inside was a blue shirt with a washed-out cor. His chin and above his lips were full of uneven stubble as if he had not shaved for days. The man appeared calm with his hands on the steering wheel as if he was still driving. Lin Sheng would see it as a normal scene if it were elsewhere. A middle-aged man sitting behind the wheel was an everyday scene. But at this moment, Lin Sheng sensed something weird. The engine was off and the car was not moving. The patrol chief took out his mobile phone and yed back the video clip to Lin Sheng and exined, ¡°This man was a member in my team. He was found three hours ago. Because we didn¡¯t found him to be harmful, we didn¡¯t give it a second thought. But we didn¡¯t expect to see him still here after so long. So we suspect that he has some mental problem.¡± ¡°It seems so.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°But the problem is, he is not the only one behaving like this. We have found three more simr incidents in other locations,¡± said Tari. ¡°But we could still ssify them as a mental disorder had we not seen two of them crawling out of a pile of corpses. It happened before the eyes of five of us. They came out and walked as if living persons and showed iprehensible behaviors.¡± Hearing what Tari said, Lin Sheng¡¯s heart skipped a beat. ¡°Corpses?¡± Lin Sheng looked at Vers. ¡°The same thing happened on your side?¡± Vers had a beautiful mustache. He kept his hair neat with a lot of hair spray. This old gentleman, who still looked good at his age, looked grave on his face. ¡°It¡¯s the same with me. Other than this one, I have encountered two cases, which I have put them in quarantine. And the problem with these people is that they just won¡¯t die. After we shattered their bodies, they recovered after a while with no signs of injury.¡± Lin Sheng was startled. ¡°They won¡¯t die?¡± He might believe it had he heard it from the mouth of an ordinary transcendent. After mutation, some powerful Darksiders could develop extraordinary regenerative ability. But it was the Five-Wing chief of patrol he was talking about. This was not normal. A Five-wing elite could not kill these normal-looking guys? What was more, the two chiefs of patrol had the advantage of holy power the ordinary Five Wingers. They had the Divine Word skill. ¡°Let¡¯s take a closer look.¡± Lin Sheng strode closer to the vehicle. The middle-aged man still maintained his driving position in the car. As Lin Sheng drew closer, the man slowly turned his head around and smiled at him. Lin Sheng slowed down and came before the window. Now their eyes met but neither of them spoke. Lin Sheng smashed the window with his elbow and grabbed the man by his cor and pulled him closer. ¡°Can you speak?¡± Lin Sheng asked. The man still smiled. A hint of chilling and tingling sensation travelled up Lin Sheng¡¯s hand. ¡°What the heck?¡± Lin Sheng instinctively let go of the man. As he whisked his hand out, a ck gaseous substance was thrown out of his palm onto the ground before it disappeared altogether. The middle-aged man¡¯s face turned hideous. He lunged out from the broken window trying to grab Lin Sheng with half of his body outside the vehicle. Lin Sheng snorted and punched the man on his chest with his right hand. His movement was quick like a bolt of lightning. The punch punctured the man¡¯s chest with a hole the size of a watermelon. As if the man had felt nothing, he was grabbing Lin Sheng with both hands with his mouth wide opened. The man shrilled, but it was the voice of a woman. The ear-piercing shriek sounded like the scratching on ss surface, it got on the nerves of everyone in the surroundings. Lin Sheng raised his hand and sent the man a second blow on his head, smashing his skull. As the man died and the shrill stopped, a human-shaped shadow lunged out from his body towards Lin Sheng. As it approached, it made an even more harsh shriek. It then fled in the other directions. ¡°Where go!¡± Lin Sheng reached to grab the shadow. Propelled by his dark energy and holy power, his motion was as quick as lightning, his energy ferocious. In the blink of an eye, he had caught up with the shadow and grabbed it by his neck. But Lin Sheng got the surprise of his life. It felt like he had grabbed nothing, as if the shadow was just a plume of smoke. ¡°Again!¡± Lin Sheng had a brainwave; he summoned his holy power. Holy me rose from his body. Only when holy power came to a certain level of strength that holy me urred. The me looked like fire, but it was not. It was a physical form of holy power. With the holy me in his hand, Lin Sheng reached to grab the shadow one more time. A familiar voice screamed. The white holy me spread out along Lin Sheng¡¯s arm as if it was a real me and ignited the shadow. The holy power burned and consumed the shadow, incinerating it into a pile of white ash on the ground. By then, Lin Sheng had exhausted one fifth of his holy power. ¡°This thing is tough.¡± Lin Sheng breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the white ash on the ground in thought. If he had remembered it correctly, he had seen the such ghostly images in his vast memory bank. This thing was called the Parasite. It was an extremely nasty monster. With no physical form, just a shadow, it could possess a living being by sinking into its shadow. The scariest thing was, the Parasite was immune to physical attacks, even fire and lightning. But it was vulnerable to mental and soul damage. ¡°If this is a Parasite, then we will have problems.¡± Lin Sheng frowned. There was only so much the holy power could do. The Parasites had excellent camouge ability. Once they blended in the crowd, it would be difficult to detect them even when bathed in the Holy Light. The only way to defeat them was attack them from the inside. Lin Sheng wore a pair of disposable disinfected gloves. Using a collection tool, he picked up the white ash from the ground and seal it as a specimen. He then went to three other locations and checked the possessed corpses. Every time Lin Sheng killed a Parasite, it wold consumed one fifth of his holy power. This was a terriblyrge figure. At the limit of a Six Winger, his holy power had far surpassed any other transcendents. One-fifth of his holy power was more than the holy power of Tari and Versbined. And this was also the reason the two failed to deal with the Parasite. Not to mention the Parasites were immune to physical attacks. Chapter 380 - Building the System: Part 3

Chapter 380: Building the System: Part 3

Soon, Lin Sheng got all the specimens he needed to solve the Parasite cases. Back to his underground researchb, he studied the make ups and nature of the specimens and then came up with an idea. Using a machine, hepacted a fairlyrge amount of holy soil into a solid y tablet. With this tablet, he turned it into a simple storage tank. He then poured sterilized water into it. He was reproducing the characteristics of the holy power in his memories. In the sanctum of the dreams, the Temr used to soak in the pool when they practiced cultivation. After they left the pool, the water in that pool had shown the characteristics of the holy power for a short period. Short-lived holy power might not that impressive as it could onlyst a few days. But this had given Lin Sheng an idea. After he had built the holy soil tank, he looked around to make sure everything else was OK. The activation of the small sanctum was imminent. This time, he could pass on the Ashen Seal and make a book of inheritance. He was considering which type of Ashen Seal to make. He used to summon the priest, whose memories contained the specific images of other Ashen Seals. But without the book of inheritance, the priests who had mastered the Ashen Seals could not pass them on to others. The disc of the Sanctum had the record of the technique making the book of inheritance. So it posed no difficulty for Lin Sheng. Two hourster, he returned to the holy soil tank, standing beside it and wet his hands with the water. The water droplets sliding down his fingers glittered in a light-golden luster. The light was quite dim, but when looking closer, Lin Sheng could still notice the difference. The golden glittering looked like gravels floating in the clear water; sometimes they gathered and sometimes scattered. ¡°It works.¡± Lin Sheng took a bottle and filled it with the water from the holy soil tank. A plume of ck smoke materialized into a red armored soldier behind him. The soldier took the bottle from Lin Sheng¡¯s hand. ¡°Dilute it 100 times and distribute it to a hundred core believers. Let the Chief Patrolman decide who to give. Come back to me with results tomorrow.¡± The red armored soldier acknowledged and left the researchb with the bottle. Lin Sheng took a little water as a specimen, then closed the water tank back. This was his self-made water containing the holy power. By the speed of the holy power dissipated, the water couldst for at least a week. And he named it Holy Water. The Holy Water will decrease in holy power strength with time. Lin Sheng hade up with this thing to contain the camouge-abled monsters¡ªthe Parasites. The Sanctum in the dreams used numerous priests to inject the holy power into human bodies to detect and clean them of the Parasites. This method worked well, but was inefficient. So Lin Sheng was not going to use it. Fortunately, he had the special ability of making holy soil, which would only consume a little of his holy power and time. With the assistance of the Rock Dragon bloodline, he could keep producing the holy soil without getting himself drained. Using Holy Water is to drive out the Parasite when people drank it. When Lin Sheng was testing a new use of the Holy Soil, a chief patrolman caught another two unique Darksiders and had brought them to the research center. ¡°Master Seagal, this is the suspicious Darksiders we have captured from the city. We have checked; they are the internationally renowned mercenaries, the Unkible Duo.¡± The chief patrolman said. Behind him was a ck, rough metal cage with two ck bodies curling up inside. It seemed the two men have suffered some inhuman torture; they were dying. ¡°They have excellent recovery ability. So I have to use holy power to drive out the dark energy from them every ten minutes, and then shock them with a high electrical voltage. I¡¯ve also gouged out their eyes and cut out their tongues. Using alloy spikes, I pierced their waists and nailed them to the cage to prevent them from escaping. Besides, I¡¯ve deep-carbonized their limbs to keep them from regenerating too quickly,¡± the chief patrolman exined. ¡°It works well by the looks of them.¡± That was horrible. Lin Sheng was speechless. He said, ¡°Take them into the quarantine cell.¡± ¡°Understood,¡± the chief patrolman said. ¡°I will just leave it to you, Master, for there are something else I have to attend back in my jurisdiction.¡± ¡°You¡¯re good to go.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. The current Sanctum branch in Henricqal had recruited many Darksiders and formed aprehensive hierarchy system. The main reason Lin Sheng could carry out research in such a nice and leisure manner was that he had delegated most of the tasks to the chief patrolmen. After the chief patrolman left, Lin Sheng directed the red armored warrior to throw the two men into the quarantine cell while he returned to the research center. He turned on theputer and logged into the citywide monitoring system. The top-down topographic map of Henricqal had some ces shing in red on the white background. But they disappeared after a while; they were the patrols solving cases in the field. He could monitor the security situation of the entire Henricqal through the positioning device carried by the patrols. ¡°There isn¡¯t any problem in the urban area. What about outside the city?¡± Lin Sheng moved the mouse cursor and randomly clicked an area outside the city on the map. As the map zoomed in, he saw at least two third of the area were shing in red. Only a few areas remained white. ¡°Has the situation deteriorated so much?¡± Lin Sheng frowned. The erosion of the ck Tide had brought out various monsters. There had been traffic disruptions between the cities in Miga for thest few days. Many unknown monsters had emerged in the expansive, deste areas between the cities. The Darksiders were too upied and exhausted with the security situations in the city to worry about the outskirt areas. ¡°The worse part ismunication with the nearby airport is down. The ce could have fallen already.¡± Without the airport, he could only take the sea route if he wanted to return to Xylond. But in time like this, the sea route posed a greater risk thannd route. He had received information from Baine University¡¯s intelwork that several maritime patrol ships were missing after being attacked. ¡°Forget it. The situation is getting more dangerous. I¡¯d better activate the small Sanctum.¡± When the little Sanctum came online, the purifying force field would expand. This was the key reason for establishing a base. Lin Sheng would make use of the spread of the purifying force field to sacrifice the offerings at the research center to open the Darkspirit Gate. If he were to open it in the downtown area, it would attract the Asterism¡¯s attention. ¡°There is also the potion...¡± Lin Sheng had not forgotten the bottle of special potion he got. A notification popped up on theputer screen. Someone was requesting for amunication connection. Lin Sheng allowed the request and soon, Cainphas¡¯ voice came through. ¡°Master Seagal, the people from Suncrown have arrived, requesting to meet with you to discuss the potion.¡± ¡°Suncrown?¡± Lin Sheng knew it. When he got out with the potion, he did not kill everyone to tie up the loose end. He was using it to gain the maximum leverage for himself. As precious as the potion was, it was not useful to him. Instead, he needed to be careful because the Sevenlocks Tower was after this thing. ¡°Who they send?¡± Lin Sheng asked because it had everything to do with Suncrown¡¯s attitude towards the potion and the Sanctum. ¡°The dean of the Royal Yemei Academy, the head of the Miga Dark Energy Research Center, and a fellow of the Miga Supernatural Research Institute.¡± Cainphas told him a bunch of titles. ¡°Inyman terms: a Ptinate and two apex Six Wingers.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s heart missed a beat, knowing these people were up to no good. He bet his two cents that the top officials in Miga would be eager to get their hands on the Holy Power. They knew it was so powerful andpatible with dark energy. So the potion was just an excuse. Their real target could be the Holy Power. Chapter 381 - The Meeting: Part 1

Chapter 381: The Meeting: Part 1

Tenko Kasumi sat on the sofa, looking calm. Sitting opposite and staring at her were a gray-haired elderly and two other old men with different temperaments. Their average age was over 90. ¡°We are d to have a friendly discussion with the senior Ptinate of the Sanctum. I¡¯m the dean of the Royal Yemei College. You can call me Nikos.¡± The gray-haired old man sitting in the front let out a gentle smile. ¡°I¡¯m sure you are Tenko Kasumi, the person in charge of the Miga Division of the Sanctum.¡± He surely had heard about her before from other sources. Sitting beside Tenko Kasumi was Seagal aka Lin Sheng, who just observed the three old men without saying a word. What surprised him was the natural force field of the Ptinate, the one doing the talking. This Ptinate was weaker than the one Tenko Kasumi defeated that day. It felt weird that his force fieldcked the aggressiveness. ¡°Let¡¯s cut the cackle. What do you want?¡± Tenko Kasumi asked, looking calm. Nikos, the dean of the Royal Yemei Academy, let out an avuncr smile. ¡°Wee with the goodwill of the Miga government and the mystetious realm of Carte nche. We would like to invite the Sanctum to join forces with us against the Sevenlocks Tower. ¡°The Sevenlocks Tower is a terrorist group. They carry out terrorism and raid the major seal sites, causing arge number of civilian casualties. They are a threat to world peace!¡± Nikos said, voice matter of fact. ¡°So, when we learned that the Sanctum was rapidly rising, we came over in the first instance. Especially when we knew the holy power of the Sanctum could subdue the ck Tide. The three mysterious realms were pleasantly surprised.¡± Nikos paused with a wondered expression on his face. He then carried on. ¡°Not just surprised, but more like excited. Because, we finally see hope in defeating the ck Tide!¡± He was pitting the Sanctum against the ck Tide. ¡°So? What is your purpose ofing?¡± Tenko kasumi asked. Nikos let out a smile, fingers tapping on the armrest. ¡°It¡¯s simple. We are representing Miga and the mysterious realms toe here for the Sanctum¡¯s holy power. We hope that the Sanctum could share the technique of Holy Power cultivation for the sake of all mankind.¡± He nced at Lin Sheng, whose face turned grave after hearing what he said, and then Tenko Kasumi. ¡°The time hase. You could not long keep the secret technique of Holy Power to yourself. Everyone needs it to fight the Sevenlocks Tower, the ck Tide. But we wouldpensate the Sanctum¡ªeven you two.¡± What remains of the strength and background that Nikos and co represented was clear. Their purpose was to get their hands on the cultivation technique of Holy Power right from the beginning. They saw the mutual stimtion of the Holy power and dark energy that enhanced strength as a threat. If this went on, the Sanctum would eventually be a force too strong for them. The point was, neither the three mysterious realms nor any other forces would allow this to happen. It would mean the end of the status quo and the redrawing of the bnce of power and interests. This emerging Sanctum was posing a threat to too many people. ¡°And, as far as I know, the core technique of Holy Power cultivation is in the hands of the Sanctum master. Only the Sanctum master could pass on the Ashen Seal. If the priests, who has received Holy Power cultivation inititally, go without the Ashen Seal, it will affect the speed of their cultivation. Also, the Sanctum master will punish the betrayers.¡± Nikos spoke when the atmosphere turned grave. With a smile, he said, ¡°So, what we need is the original Ashen Seal of the Holy Power the Sanctum master possesses. If you surrender the original Ashen Seal, the Sanctum master will be a hero who will be cherished by all humanity!¡± That said, Nikos looked at Lin Sheng and Token Kasumi, his face calm. The writing was on the wall. The Sanctum must not allowed to keep its Holy Power cultivation technique because it was threatening the interest of all cultivators of dark energy. The Sanctum had disrupted the bnce of power between the existing forces. Plus, it was not as powerful as it seemed, he thought. He was calm and confident. The Sanctum had no choice; its fate was set right from the beginning. Lin Sheng sat on the chair, his eyes grave. He thought these people wereing only for the Holy Power, little did he expect they also wanted the Ashen Seal. The Sanctum had only two Ptinates against the three mysteries realms. They would be at a disadvantage if fighting broke out. Baine University might have be a part of the division of the Sanctum, but it was not good enough. The opponent out was outgunning them with their Ptinates. ¡°I must figure out a way.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s mind was racing. ..... ..... ¡°It¡¯s right here.¡± Just when Lin Sheng and Token Kasumi met with Nikos and co., some unsolicited guests hade outside the security door of the underground research center. Three figures, wearing ck tight-fit suit and mask that covered most of their faces, stood not far from the mansion where the research center located. They looked on as the Sanctum patrols doing their round outside the mansion. There were three patrol units taking turn to guard the ce around the clock. The security was so watertight that not a fly would get in. But it was exactly here that the three persons got past the perimeter without getting detected. As if invisible and formless, they touched no things and went through every obstacles and doors unhindered into the mansion. ¡°Lingying, it¡¯s in the basement.¡± One reminded in a whisper. ¡°Got it.¡± The leading figure had a pair of charming pink eyes that look like they were wearing colored contact lenses. The three figures checked around. They soon found the not-so-secret entrance to the basement. ¡°Let¡¯s go, take everything as quick as possible,¡± the leading figure said. ¡°Aye.¡± The other two followed closely behind as they went through the thick metal security door into the basement. But the leading figure was startled as soon as he went in. ¡°Something is not right!¡± He nced down and around; his gut feeling told him that. ¡°The air, the ground, even the walls seem to reject us!¡± They stood at the door and stared inside. Theboratory was only meters away. They were stuck. ¡°What should we do now?¡± The one on the right asked. ¡°We might as well kill our way in¡ªfuck dangers! There are the three of us. What more we need to worry about? This is just theboratory of some freaking sect.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s try.¡± Lingying nodded, a light shing in his pink eyes. As he stretched out his right hand, a vague symbol shed on the back of his hand. ¡°Violent Crescend, Temblor.¡± He whispered. A circle of red ripples spread out from his arm and rushed into theboratory. Chapter 382 - The Meeting: Part 2

Chapter 382: The Meeting: Part 2

The red ripple was a mysterious sound wave, a powerful ability unique to the Lingying family. If the Ptinates could only get their special ability from the Sea of Equality after achieving a breakthrough, then what this ancient family possessed was the special ability passed down from generations through a special method. Their ancestors used to be the Ptinates, and the ability was now in their blood. It did not require one to be a Ptinate to use this ability. Rather, the ability was in the blood. All it took was an activation, and the ability was good to go. But such special ability got through such a method was a lot weaker than that of the Ptinates. The red ripple was a powerful sound wave that Lingyingmonly used to detect traps and look for special dangers. Right now, this badass sound wave that used to give him the edge had lost its effect. As soon as the red ripple entered theboratory area, it slowed down almost to a halt. It was as if someone had pressed the slow-motion button on a movie, the red ripple came to a crawl on the floor, walls, ceiling and surfaces of various instruments. ¡°Something is in the way,¡± Ringer said. ¡°Forget it, just barge in. I don¡¯t think this freaking Sanctum can do anything about us!¡± Obviously, the man on the right side was impatient. He took a step forward, his body glowing with a bright green halo, in which a tiny dark-energy bee appeared and circled around him. He stomped his feet on the floor of theb, and his expression changed. Something was not right. ¡°Something is suppressing my power!¡± He was as shocked as he was angry. ¡°Let¡¯s do it! We only have ten minutes.¡± Without hesitation, Ringer lunged into the research center like a bolt of lightning. The three men ransacked the ce, rummaging through documents, drawers and everything they found. Every security and surveince array and electronic equipment went out of order. The entire underground research center became undefended as if an undressed woman. Experimental data, research reports, and even the holy water tank Lin Sheng had just made¡ªthey found and tossed them to the doorway. Soon, Ringer found a very special ck safe hidden under the floor right in the center of theboratory. It was unmoveable, permanently built into the ground. ¡°There must be something valuable in here!¡± The safe had aroused Ringer¡¯s interest. ¡°Open!¡± A light pink halo glowed on his arm. He ced his hand on the safe with his palm pressed on the surface. Sonic waves prated the safe and reverberated in the safe interior. The reverberation enabled Ringer to get a ton of information about the safe, including the password. He retracted his hand and keyed in a string of numbers on the keypad on the safe. The safe opened and revealed its dark interior. ¡°This thing...?¡± Ringer¡¯s eyes brightened up. He took out the thing. It was a ck notebook¡ªa seemingly ordinary notebook you could buy on the street. There were two words on the cover. Ringer turned to page one. Something was special about this book. Otherwise the owner would not have kept it so secure in the safe, he figured. As Ringer flipped open the notebook, he saw rows of text and symbols that he could not understand on white background. ¡°This is ..... Ancient Rehn text? There are some symbolic texts I can¡¯t recognize!¡± Ringer¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He knew he had struck gold. It did not matter if he could not read the text. He could bring it back and get the linguists to crack it. The text must be some valuable records. He closed back the notebook and tucked it in his clothes. Suddenly, plumes of ck smoke appeared and formed into shapes in the basement. It was three red armored soldiers. The research area stored tons of valuable date. It was only natural that Lin Sheng ced the most powerful guards in here. Every once in a while, the red armored soldiers woulde to check out theb. As a summoner, Lin Sheng trusted no one except his summoned creatures. They were his greatest support. That was the reason the red armor soldiers woulde every five minutes. But the appearance of the three red armored soldiers did not cause Ringer and his partners in crime to go panic. Their eyes stayed still, as if they were not worried of getting caught. When they ransacked the ce, they had put everything they touched back to its original position, as if it had never been moved. Their special stealth ability allowed them to stand in front of people and not being seen. But to their surprise, the red armor soldiers¡¯ eyes swept over theboratory and smashed the rm button on the wall. ¡°Intruders!¡± The rm siren red in the air as the soft ambient light in theboratory turned into dazzling red. Ringer and co stayed calm. They carried the bags loaded with loots and hurried towards the door. ¡°Get the hell out of here! The concentration of the strange energy is too high here. We can¡¯t use a teleporting array in here!¡± ¡°Got it!¡± The men were like locusts. They had looted everything in the research center: precious materials for building the Darkspirit Gate, the hard disks that Lin Sheng used to record experimental data and nonworked data disk that held confidential contents. And most importantly, the notebook. They had stuffed them into arge bag. They had also taken those small items and test samples that Lin Sheng made. Not forgetting the holy soil in the ss. ¡°Bolt!¡± The three of them rushed towards the exit and quickly left the field of influence of the holy power. ..... ..... Inside the conference room, Nikos and co confronted Lin Sheng as Seagal and Tenko Kasumi as the representative. Their attitude was anything but sincere. In Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes, they were forcing their demands down his throat. How many Ptinates were there in the three mysteries realms? With the entire government machinery thrown in, it was a behemoth. For them to take the trouble to give this small sanctum a heads-up was the most civilized attitude they could afford. Lin Sheng knew this. But he also knew that he must not divulge the Ashen Seal technique of the Holy Power to outsiders. No matter how hard Nikos and co tried to persuade him, he would not budge. ¡°Only those truly believe in the Holy Light could master the Holy Power-Ashen Seal cultivation technique. Whether we give it to people outside the Sanctum or not is irrelevant. Those with a heart not in the right ce would never learn it even if they get the cultivation technique,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. You just need to give us the cultivation technique. We will figure it outter. Please don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Nikos smiled, not minding to glib-talk with Lin Sheng. It puzzled Lin Sheng. In fact, with their power and influence, Nikos and co could have forced their way through. But they did not. Instead, their attitude seemed to have done a one-twenty. They sounded as if everything was negotiable. It was as aggressive as before. ¡°Something is going on in here,¡± Lin Sheng figured quietly. These people would not mess around. They would not waste time like that. One was a Ptinate, and two apex Six Wingers from the highest echelon of Carte nche. Why would they muck around with the keeper of a small sanctum like this? This was ridiculous. So... what was their purpose? Lin Sheng¡¯s mind was racing. He had raised the alert of his patrols to the highest level in the city. The security was watertight¡ªso much so that even a mouse that wandered into the guarded zone would be shot at sight. Chapter 383 - The Meeting: Part 3

Chapter 383: The Meeting: Part 3

Kill every living thing that roams down there except the residents¡ªit was the instruction Lin Sheng had issued to the Pdins. Only those who reached the level of Three Wing were qualified as Pdin, a team leader in the Sanctum. Each Pdin had at least three to ten transcendents under hismand. These transcendents were called the patrolmen. Most patrolmen were below the level of Three Wing. And they were many. The security of the Sanctum was tight, and it went all the way from the top to the bottom. There were no blind spots. The system could respond immediately even if there were high-level, suppressor-ss attack. It never worried Lin Sheng that there would be ident happening somewhere. His main concern was these three men before him. Lin Sheng stared dead at Nikos and co. But he was no match for the decades of experience and acting skills of these people. He could not pierce into their head to see what was in their minds. Maybe there were something he had not noticed. Lin Sheng¡¯s face had turned grave. He felt something was wrong. All of a sudden, a high-pitch rm sound came from his body; it was his phone. Lin Sheng had linked his mobile phone to the rm system of the research center. His expression changed. Now he finally knew why these three people were monkeying around with him. ¡°You all have a death wish!¡± He rose to his feet, furious. Tenko Kasumi¡¯s facial expression changed. She got up at once, her body emanating a depressing, cold energy. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. There is some emergency. Please excuse me¡± That said, Lin Sheng rushed toward the door. A figure suddenly came up and stood in his way. ¡°What¡¯s all the hurry? Why not we talk it over? We have just started with the specifics.¡± Nikos said, holding his staff. Nikos¡¯s intention was clear; Lin Sheng knew what he was up to now. His heart skipped a beat, and he stepped back. Tenko Kasumi came up from behind him, face cially cold as she drew her long sword from her waist. ¡°Like I said earlier, we should have killed them. We have wasted much time,¡± Tenko Kasumi barked. Nikos guffawed and said, ¡°Are you going to fight with me here? If you would like to see the city destructed, you¡¯re free to do it.¡± Once the two Ptinates swung into action, half of Henricqal would be destroyed for sure. ¡°Idiot.¡± Tenko Kasumi clenched her long sword, sending vibration up the de. The entire conference room glowed in a faint blue light. The walls, ceiling, and floor suddenly turned icy. ¡°Do you really think I¡¯m sitting there dozing off?¡± A gust of chilly wind rose in the room as Tenko Kasumi swung her long sword. Lin Sheng went round Nikos and lunged towards the window. Before he hit the icy surface, a gap popped open, justrge enough for him to pass through. After that, the icy surface closed back up as if there had never been a gap there. Nikos¡¯s eyes darted around the room, but their movement were minimal. He seemed to be analyzing the icy room for dangers. This was an ability he had never seen before. He judged Tenko Kasumi¡¯s ability through her natural force field. But there was only one way to know for sure: fight. Nikos seemed unconcern when Lin Sheng got away. So long as he could dy the Ptinate, Tekon Kasumi, his mission was over as far as he was concerned. The Sanctum had risen too famous too quickly. What happened today was inevitable. In fact, the Sanctum was threatening the very foundation of Carte nche. Their anger was a natural reaction. ¡°Tenko Kasumi, are you just keeping us here because you want to fight us?¡± Nikos wondered. Tenko Kasumi grinned. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m kidding?¡± She raised her sword horizontal at chest height. The de lit up with blood-red magic patterns. ¡°Hidden Sword: sh of Thounsand Cuts!¡± The ice on the walls, ceiling, floor, and everywhere extended and deformed before shooting out countless blue sharp knives at the three men. Nikos¡¯s expression copsed. ... ... As soon as Lin Sheng left the conference room, he saw a red glow in the direction of the research center. Half of the sky above theb had turned red. He gritted his teeth. When dark energy and Holy Power burst out from under his feet, it st a big hole in the ground. Lin Sheng had disappeared from the scene. As Lin Sheng flew, streaks of white Holy Power spread on his armor. His dark energy no longer transformed into thread, but in the form of a crystal warrior. He shot forward and came into one with it. Something seemed to grow. .... .... Ringer shattered the armor of a Pdin, his body covered in the blood of whom he had killed. Meanwhile, hispany had killed over ten people, who were all Pdins rushing to the scene. ¡°Is it ready yet?¡± Ringer asked. ¡°Ten more seconds.¡± One mate answered. They did not expect things to happen so quickly. Theirpany on the outside had not managed to set up a teleporting circle. The minute they stepped outside, waves of Pdins were charging at them. ¡°Get ready, everyone!¡± One said. ¡°10, 9, 8, 7, 6...¡± Ringer smashed the chest of a Pdin, his body glowing in a red halo. All of a sudden, a twin-headed python lunged out from the halo and knocked out two enemies that came up from behind. ¡°What happened?¡± The countdown had stopped at six. Ringer looked back, his eyes out on stalks and goosebump all over his skin. A white armored arm had punctured the chest of his mate, who was in the midst of preparing the teleporting circle. Blood were oozing out and flowing down his body and legs and formed a stream of blood on the ground. The white armored arm lifted the body in the air and flung it to the icy ground not far away. But this was not the thing that stunned Ringer. His eyes were glued at the pair of dark-green, muscr arms growing on the back of the killer. So there were a total of four arms, all glowed in a white light with four pure white swords of Holy Power on them. ¡°The fight was over the moment I arrived.¡± While speaking, Lin Sheng struck the four swords together in the air. Ringer froze. He lost his senses for a second. He was feeling a deadly terror fall upon him. By the time he came out from the daze, the four-armed armored man hade up before him. In an expanse of white, he saw four white swords struck down from above. Chapter 384 - Attack: Part 1

Chapter 384: Attack: Part 1

*Swoosh!* The four zing lightsabers cut down from above. The lightsabers swooshed and fell right onto the head of Lingying. Lin Sheng was expressionless. His arms joined the arms of the crystal warrior behind him, and he did not underestimate the opponent half his size. He fought with all his strength without any reservation. After the increase in holy soil, he nearly doubled his strength, his speed, and increased his resistance even more. Tremendous force and speed split the air, bringing four blurred lines of fire into the air. Circles of pale red ripples emerged around Lingying¡¯s body, enveloping him like rings. Under the great crisis, the evil energy all over his body gushed out of his body like an explosion and turned into mes. Usually, such an outbreak of evil energy was powerful enough topletely destroy all life within a hundred meters. But here and now, the evil energy he unleashed seemed to have been suppressed by some kind of pressure, and could only be contained within a meter of him. Bells of different sizes rose from the red light of dark energy. All the bells were shaking violently. Powerful waves of sound, capable of silting gold and breaking iron, kept trying to expand in all directions. Lingying once used this killing move to kill a real powerful six-winged man. ¡°Even if you are better than me, I can hit you through the attack! If you dare to keep going, I dare to die with you!!¡± This was the usual style of Lingying. As he fought, he gave up all his defenses and turned all his strength to attack! If it had been anyone else, he might have seeded. But right now, he was facing Lin Sheng. So he was wrong. The red dark energy spread like ripples in a pool as if a powerful force was gathering to fight back against an erupting volcano. Unfortunately, it had no chance to build up its strength. Four white lightsabers, like giant pirs of lightning, crashed into the crater. Suddenly all was silent. A few secondster. *Bang!!* A red halo burst. The st left arge circr crater in the street in front of the research center. Smoke was rising, dust was floating around, and the st had blown everything into a mess. In the dust, Lin Sheng pulled out four lightsabers, walking slowly out of the crater. Behind him, there were only a few pieces of burnt rags left in the spot where Lingying was standing. By this time, two other men in ck had fled withrge bags full of things. They did not care if Lingying was alive or dead. It¡¯s all about getting the job done. No hesitation. But the holy warriors around were faster. Groups of Transcendents stood in front of them, aiming weapons at them from a distance. As soon as they stop, they might face the attacks. Even the most powerful six-winged man could not be fearless when faced with thousands of Transcendents. Lin Sheng followed the direction of their escape and quickly pursued them. With the help from the Transcendents and marked tracking, he didn¡¯t worry about how far the two men were going. Thanks to the great growth of holy soil, he was now much stronger than he was when hest fought at the gate of Baine University. ¡°Increased strength, increased speed, plus nerve responses, a fourfold increase in resilience, and a 400% increase in systemic resistance... Now I¡¯m above the six-winged.¡± Lin Sheng thought to himself while chasing after the two men. The two men took away his treasured notebook. But he had attached special electronic and psychic tags to his notebook, so he could sense it when someone else had stolen the notebook. The notebook was a private possession he would never allow to be taken away. So whoever steals it will pay the price in blood! Standing at the crossroads, Lin Sheng sensed the fighting wave and evil energy waveing from the front and then turned to the left. His paces were not fast, but the span of each step was very long. Suddenly there was a sudden sh of green light under his feet. Lots of dark green chains broke through the ground and quickly wrapped around Lin Sheng¡¯s legs. The next second, the same amount of dark green chains flew out from both sides, wrapping around Lin Sheng¡¯s arms and waist. Bam! Several chains roared from behind and tightly wrapped around Lin Sheng¡¯s neck. All the chains were attached to the ground, the houses, and the four tall figures approaching. The four figures had dark skin and looked alike, with short hair and strong arms. The muscle tone of their arms waspletely out of proportion to the rest of the body. ¡°Rescue Lord Seagal!¡± In the distance, the holy warriors approached rapidly, trying to break the chains at a distance with their powers, but to no avail. All the holy power and the dark energy struck straight through the chains as if they were shadows. Horrified, the holy warriors were pierced to death by chains that broke through the ground before they could react. ¡°The Soullock Chain! It¡¯s the killers from the Sevenlocks Tower!!¡± A distant holy warrior shouted. ¡°Watch out for their chains. Don¡¯t get too close!¡± The Soullock Chain! Hearing this name, the holy warriors around were afraid to get too close. The Soullock Chain users were not any average men, but real established killers. Their strongest record was that more than 30 years ago, they attacked and killed a badly wounded Ptinate, which made them famous all over the world. Later, because they offended too many people, they joined the Sevenlocks Tower and became one of the notorious powerful killers. Rumor has it that the four of them were brothers, sharing the same heart and soul. Four as one. Even the strongest ones among the six-winged were not confident that they could win. It seems so easy.¡± The eldest among the four menughed. ¡°I thought this guy was really powerful. Well, not so.¡± ¡°Well, since he¡¯s in our chain, let¡¯s make it quick. Don¡¯t waste time,¡± another man sneered. They weren¡¯t sure the Soullock Chain would work at first. But now Lin Sheng was chained. And those who were chained, strong or weak, would surely die. Chapter 385 - The Attack: Part 2

Chapter 385: The Attack: Part 2

Strange symbols shed across the surface of the dark green chains. The chains locked Lin Sheng in the middle tightly and the great pulling force fixed Lin Sheng in ce, unable to move. ¡°It¡¯s powerful. Too bad you met me...¡± Slowly, little by little, Lin Sheng raised his right arm. The power of the holy soil had doubled at this moment. The terrifying power, coupled with the divine power in the blood of the Rock Dragon, led to a qualitative change in Lin Sheng. *Bang!* The ground on one side of the chain suddenly burst apart because it could not withstand the great force pull. *Bang! Bang!* Then the surrounding houses, buildings, walls, all the things connected to the chains began to break and burst. Lin Sheng slowly lifted his foot and stepped forward. Almost at the same time, all the chains around were stretched to the limit and could break at any moment. The four brothers looked grave. Their hands and feet were constantly bursting with dark energy, trying to fix their position. When the dark energy erupted, it greatly increased the weight of the Soullock Chain, so that no one could easily drag or move the chain. And the Soullock Chain was essentially the absolute link to the dark energy. The Soullock Chain would only break when the person controlling it was dead. This was a strong power rooted in the dark energy of the person who controlled the chain. It was a very creepy feature, but it was something they were always proud of. And it was the reason why they had sessfully assassinated many powerful men. But now, this feature had be a nightmare they never had. *Bang! Bang! Bang!* In an instant, Lin Sheng stepped forward. Dozens of the chains broke free from where they were connected and exploded at the same time. Lin Sheng dragged the chains and moved forward along with the four brothers. The dark green chains dragged on the ground behind Lin Sheng like long hair, making a loud noise. ¡°No... It¡¯s impossible!¡± ¡°How can humans have this level of power!?¡± The four brothers could not believe it. They were all sweating, trying to straighten the chain to fix Lin Sheng in ce, but instead, they were dragged forward easily by Lin Sheng, and it¡¯s getting faster and faster. Suddenly Lin Sheng grasped the four chains connecting them, sending them flying forward. Before they could react, a white light cut across the air. They were still in the air, but their waists had been cut in half. *Bam!* The four bodies smashed into a building,pletely silent. However, the Soullock Chain they released was still there tying Lin Sheng up. It had not disappeared yet. Lin Sheng looked at the chain with an odd expression on his face. He grabbed the chain, letting a fountain of sacred power flow from his body and covering the chain. The sacred power cleansed the chain in an instant. ¡°Interesting. The evil energy released was somehow transformed into another physical substance.¡± The sacred power had removed all the dark energy from the chain, but the chain still existed. He just ignored it and stamped on the ground. *Bang!* The ground exploded and his whole body burst out, hurtling toward the battle ahead. ... In the ice blue conference room. Countless sharp ice spikes suddenly stabbed Nikos and the other two from all directions. They wouldn¡¯t be so nervous if those were just regr ice spikes. But the fact was, each of the ice spikes waspletely out of their senses. It¡¯s like they didn¡¯t exist. All the ice spikes, though clearly visible in shape, couldn¡¯t be sensed by them as if they were not real. As a Ptinate, Tenko Kasumi would never release meaningless illusion. These ice spikes could not be fake. They might even be extremely powerful ice spikes. Nikos stopped thinking and quickly activated the defense system. A dark cloud rose above him. Lightning shed in the dark cloud, thunder rolled, and suddenly drops of transparent rain fell from the dark cloud. The drops grewrger and thicker, and soon it began to rain cats and dogs,pletely enveloping the three of them. Soon the first spike hit the rain curtain head-on. *ng!* The spike crumbled into countless ice blue kes. The rain curtain also slightly sunken in. *ng! ng! ng!* Countless spikes, one after another, swarmed towards the rain curtain. The pitter-patter of the rain was getting more and more intense. Tenko Kasumi held the magic sword, looking at the stalemate situation in front of her, and slowly walking towards the rain curtain. As she passed, all the blue spikes spontaneously skirted around her and continued to rush towards the rain curtain. ¡°Divine Retribution: Terminus sh.¡± Slowly she lifted the sword, her red hair suddenly lengthening, her eyes shining with a fierce, ring blood light. The huge sword began to change at the same time. The de of the sword seemed to freeze, formingrge sheets of sharp purple ice crystals. The ice crystals began to spread thickly over the sword, from the de to the hilt, all the way to Tenko Kasumi¡¯s palm, arm, and the entire body. In the twinkling of an eye, lots of purple crystal spikes shot up behind her. Those spikes looked like wings, no... more like armor. ¡°Atomic Blizzard, Hellfrost de!¡± *Boom!!!* In a sh, the whole ice crystal sword disintegrated. Countless purples crystals turned into countless sharp des and poured toward the three in the rain curtain. ¡°Go!!¡± Nikos¡¯s face changed dramatically. Strange lines appeared on his face and two beams of blue lightning shot out of his eyes. The blue lightning beams broke through the rain curtain and ran straight into the countless purple crystals. The blue lightning beams were actually a powerful ability he was proud of. Unfortunately, at this moment, this powerful ability was particrly vulnerable in the face of Tenko Kasumi. The purple crystal de was now well beyond his limits, far, far more powerful than before! At the moment when the lightning beams and the de of purple crystal confronted each other, Nikos opened his hands and sprinkled some silver powder. A little silver light suddenly lit up at the feet of the three. The space around them began to change and shift, and their figures quickly became illusory. *Whoosh!* In the blink of an eye, they disappeared, and when they reappeared, they were standing somewhere else. ¡°This is...?¡± Nikos looked around. Suddenly he noticed something was wrong. They were actually standing behind Tenko Kasumi, less than three meters away. Tenko Kasumi slowly turned around, looking at them with a strange expression. ¡°You guys can run away again. Wanna try?¡± Chapter 386 - The Attack: Part 3

Chapter 386: The Attack: Part 3

The pure white chain swung with great force and thundered down on a ck-masked man. *Bam!!!* The ck-masked man could not resist the force at all. He was hurled out and smashed into a bronze statue in the street. The statue copsed. ck masked man¡¯s body was like experiencing a power outage, the light of dark energy flickering on and off. He tumbled to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood. He tried to prop himself up, but he couldn¡¯t. ¡°Tell me, what organization do you belong to? What is your identity?¡± Lin Sheng stood at the gate of the suburban park, quietly watching the man on the ground. He chased them down here, managed to stop one of them, and recovered what was stolen. It¡¯s just that one of them seemed to be aware that these things were the reason they¡¯re being tracked, so they dropped everything and managed to escape. Lin Sheng took the notebook and squeezed it gently. The notebook crumbled and burned to ashes. He stared calmly at the man on the ground, waiting for his answer. ¡°If we daree here, we surely not fear of death. Your threats mean nothing.¡± The manughed in a low voice. ¡°Kill us, kill us, and this Holy Sanctum will be destroyed... If we die here, the three secret realms and the government of Miga will not spare you!¡± ¡°Will not spare us?¡± Lin Sheng sneered. He looked around. Many of the holy warriors around were obviously disturbed by this. It¡¯s not unusual for people to feel uneasy when they heard that their organization was about to confront so many powerful forces, but Lin Sheng did not care. Even nuclear bombs could not work against the strong ones at the level of Ptinates. Because the vast majority of Ptinates had a premonition of great danger, and they had a powerful ranged attack, they could have detonated the bomb before it went off. And as long as it¡¯s not the explosive power of the core area, most Ptinates could handle it easily. By this point, a Ptinate was actually a higher life than ordinary life. ¡°Since you can¡¯t say anything, you¡¯re of little value.¡± Lin Sheng was going forward to kill the man. Suddenly a great threat, of the most subtle kind, rushed out of his mind. The blood coursed wildly through his body and his skin contracted rapidly. Pale yellow dragon scales began to emerge. His body also began to change slightly. His muscles swelled and he was taller than ever. Two spiraling ck dragon horns began to grow on his head. The pupils rapidly turned to pure gold. Ayer of illusory translucent armor in yellow halo covered the Armor of Dawn, protecting his entire body more tightly. From a distance, he looked like a humanoid mecha in heavy armor. *Bam!* At that moment, a ray of light came roaring from the distance with unimaginable speed. The light traveled more than ten times the speed of sound. In the blink of an eye, it crossed a distance of thousands of meters andnded right in the middle of Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. Dark energy weapon!! And that¡¯s a very powerful individual weapon!! Having used such weapons, Lin Sheng instantly identified the source of the threat. It took less than 0.3 seconds from the time he noticed something was wrong until the attack reached his body. It all happened almost instantaneously. *Crack!* Soon, the firstyer of yellow armor was broken. The ray of light shot through the firstyer of yellow armor. The surface of Armor of Dawn glowed with white light, converging madly on one point in an attempt to counter this great pration. But it didn¡¯t help. The ray of light, bit by bit, pierced through the extremely thick sacred forceyer and finallynded on the dragon scale on Lin Sheng¡¯s body. A great power burst forth from the light. Instead of relying solely on the initial burst speed, it kept generating momentum, elerating over and over again. Lin Sheng¡¯s yellow dragon scales collided with the light and fine scales kept sshing out of it. But fortunately, the sessive obstacles in front of him gave him a little reaction time. In a split second, he grabbed the light and pulled it out. *Bam!!!* The light was pinched and turned into a small piece of metal dust the size of a hand, dissipating into the air. The entire process took less than a second. The men of the Holy Sanctum around didn¡¯t react untilter. They all rushed off in search of the suspect. Then some of them rushed in the direction of the light, trying to catch the assassin. Had it not been for the fact that Lin Sheng had pulled out that light and pinched it, they would have thought Lin Sheng was dead. ¡°It¡¯s so powerful...¡± Lin Sheng looked down at his chest. Though protected by twoyers of armor, there was still a clear wound hole in his dragon¡¯s scales, several centimeters deep. ¡°It¡¯s a lot more powerful than the long-range heavy strike I usedst time... Such weapons, even the Sevenlocks Tower does not have this level of technology. The only ones with this kind of technology are the three secret realms.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s heart went cold. It was clear that the three secret realms were really about to attack the Holy Sanctum. ¡°Fortunately, because of the disguise, they didn¡¯t pay much attention to me. Otherwise, if they knew that I was the core of everything, it would be the Ptinates who came to assassinate me. In that case, don¡¯t me me for flipping the table!¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s heart was filled with anger. On one hand, he was shocked by the shot, and on the other hand, he was disappointed with Carte nche. It was impossible to carry out such a powerful assassination on him without the acquiescence of Carte nche. So in any case, the Carte nche was on the opposite side of the Holy Sanctum. Lin Sheng then nced at the dying man. ¡°Keep him. He¡¯s a heretic! He¡¯ll be used as fuelwood for burning the holy me.¡± He was building the Darkspirit Gate and needed a lot of offerings. Two men came forward in silence, dragging the dying man and tying him up, and carried him down. Lin Sheng did not pay attention to Tenko Kasumi. It was not a long distance, and he could find out what was going there only by simply turning his attention to it in his mind. He gave a few quickmands and went straight to the division of the Holy Sanctum. Now that they hade to this point, it¡¯s time to activate it. Two minutester... Lin Sheng stepped into the little temple in the Holy Sanctum and quickly came to the prayer hall. In the magnificent pure white hall. The people stood on the thick carpet, watching Lin sheng going up the prayer stage step by step, and standing on the prayer stage. Having offended so many powerful forces, the future of the Holy Sanctum teetered, and no one knew where it would lead. Some of them there had probably lost their faith. However, that was alright. As long as one¡¯s mind was impure, he would soon lose all the sacred power due to the copse of faith, and would also lose part of the dark powering from the sacred power. Everything would be brought back to its original shape, or even worse. Lin Sheng stretched out his hand, and a little sacred power flowing through the tips of his fingers. In his rapid writing and sketching, the sacred power soon turned into a series of invisible symbols and sank silently beneath his feet. At the same time, bit by bit the sacred power from Lin Sheng¡¯s body poured into the ground along his feet. The Nexus Disc of the sacred power font buried in the ground slowly began to light up with mysterious runes. With a crisp sound, the pure white holy me suddenly ignited on the disc. Lin Sheng closed his eyes and arge white oval sphere appeared in front of him. A line of numbers popped up at the edge of the oval sphere. ¡°Five.¡± ¡°Four.¡± ¡°Three.¡± ¡°Two.¡± ¡°One.¡± The whole sphere burst into a brilliant white me. And at the same time, a familiar electronic voice rang out. ¡°Connecting to the sacred power certification... ¡°The ritual is confirmed. ¡°Wee to the Central Sanctum System.¡± Chapter 387 - Activation: Part 1

Chapter 387: Activation: Part 1

In the broken bits of music. Lin Sheng was in darkness. Soon, in less than three seconds, a light rose from the darkness, illuminating everything. In the darkness in front of him, a huge sandbox was slowly emerging. It was a city of fine colored sand, with a pure white silky stream flowing on it. It was a vastwork of holy forces, made up of arge number of practitioners of holy forces in the city. ¡°Looks like a line from a distance, but is it actually a veryrge number of dots?¡± Lin Sheng was familiar with the scene. This was the scene when you first enter the control space after activating the little Holy Sanctum. ¡°Where are the options?¡± He gave a quick nce, and on the right side of the table he found a fine line of words: ¡®Prepare the Holy Sanctum¡¯. He touched the line of word lightly. ¡°Prepare the Holy Sanctum¡ªthe core of the Ashen Seal is Lin Sheng, the holy priest. ¡°Holy Sanctum force field: spiritual cleansing, weak level. (Can slightly affect the negative state of living beings, purify a little negative spirit) ¡°Can be promoted to the Sanctum of Dawn, the Sanctum of Dusk, the Sanctum of Shadow.¡± Lin Sheng did not hesitate to choose the moderate The Sanctum of Dusk. ¡°The Sanctum of Dusk: a special temple with a certain amount of defensive power. Banish alien evil. There is a certain healing magic that can shelter a region and bring security and hope to the people. ¡°Holy power required: 200 units.¡± He directly confirmed the choice of the Sanctum of Dusk while opening the holy power font. In the holy power font, the holy forces were rising and falling like the tide. Arge number of people prayed in the city, praying for the salvation of the Holy Sanctum, the holy power, and the holy light. As the prayer continued, a flood of forces was pouring into the holy power font. Lin Sheng nced at the holy power unit data in the font at this time, ¡°117¡± ¡°Over a hundred already? That was quick. But not quick enough...¡± A flood of holy forces began to pour into the font from Lin Sheng. Immediately, he saw the holy power unit went up rapidly: 117, 186, 199, 287, 399, 476... Lin Sheng stopped injecting holy power when the number reached 500. ¡°When I activated the little Holy Sanctum of Xylond, the sacred force there was only three, and now it¡¯s 500.¡± Lin Shengughed. He chose the Sanctum of Dusk because the holy power font was sufficient now. ¡°Choice: The Sanctum of Dusk. ¡°Connecting to the Advance Magic Institute... Connection failed. ¡°Connecting to the First Mage Tower of ckfeather City... Connection failed. ¡°Backup mode is enabled. Initiating the progression of the base form of The Sanctum of Dusk...¡± People waiting for the result in the prayer hall suddenly saw a circle of sunset-like halo spread silently from the foot of Lin Sheng. The halo moved from slow to fast, centered on Lin Sheng, and zooming through everything around it. The halo sped past the walls, the floor tiles, the tables and chairs in the hall, the books of inheritance, the ornate reliefs and decorations, and the people. ¡°What is it?¡± Cainphas reached out curiously, trying to touch the red halo. His fingers felt a warm touch as the halo sped by. As the halo swept over his body, Cainphas¡¯s nervousness as well as repressed difort in the past few days soon dissipated with it, and his mind became clear. ¡°It¡¯s an amazing power...¡± He gasped. Not only he, but others in the prayer hall clearly felt the benefits andfort of the red halo that swept through their bodies. The weariness and difort on their bodies were swept away by the red halo, and even the mental and physical exhaustion was obviously replenished. This was not a special means of stimting the body¡¯s potential to obtain short-term supplements, but a real supplement to the physical state. The red halo started from the little temple, sped over the manor, the meadow, and the wall. The halo grewrger andrger, and in a moment it was spreading out in all directions in a huge circle. In this region, all the fog created by the cktide was dispelled, while the real cktide was suppressed, rapidly shrinking and no longer expanding. All the citizens who hid in their homes because of fear and worry felt warm andfortable in the red halo, and they also seemed to hear the mysterious holy song. The difference between The Sanctum of Dusk and The Sanctum of Shadow was that this branch had not only the power to protect, but also the power to heal, the power to expel, and the power to guide faith. Simply put,pared with the Sanctum of Shadow, the Sanctum of Dusk was more like a panacea. It had all kinds of functions, but nothing was specialized. The Sanctum of Dusk required a full range of functions to deal with a wide range of problems, while the Sanctum of Shadow was entirely focused on the force. The red halo swept through the city at high speed, upying two-thirds of the city in less than ten seconds. And when arge, circr guard area waspletely formed, the halo slowly dissipated. Standing on the prayer stage, Lin Sheng closed his eyes and looked again at the new options. ¡°The Sanctum of Dusk: Lin Sheng, Lord of the Sanctum. ¡°Holy Force: 431 units. ¡°Skill: Spiritual purification, weak level. ¡°Range: One ring.¡± ¡°Not bad, not bad.¡± Lin Sheng was satisfied. It was a much better start than Xylond. The holy power font here was replenished at a rate that was a million times faster than the Xylond. In addition, there was no need for height as high as that of Xylond. After the height waspressed, the range of one ring was greatly improved, which can cover such arge area. ¡°This is the power of faith...¡± Lin Sheng seemed to see a mass of believers bowing their heads and praying. The replenishment rate of the holy force entered a new burst period as the red halo spread. He could feel that the sacred force was replenishing at least twice as fast as it had begun, and was still elerating. ¡°At this rate, in a few days, the Holy Sanctum will rise to the top. Very good!¡± Lin Sheng calmed his mind and thought about any divine skills that could be added to the Holy Sanctum. The divine skill was a special ability that the clergy could freely use when given by the sacred temple. After entering the Holy Sanctum area, all of the clergies were eligible for a certain number of times of use of divine skill with the permission of the Lord of the Holy Sanctum. Of course, the use of divine skills would consume the holy force. Once the clergy had acquired the ability to use divine skill, they were free to use it even if they leave the Holy Sanctum, but the holy force that needed to be consumed when using the divine skill was totally different within and outside the sanctum. Chapter 388 - Activation: Part 2

Chapter 388: Activation: Part 2

In addition, the individual divine skill, which belonged to the non-bestowal divinity, could only be used in the Holy Sanctum area. Like the Shadowlight Guard of the Sanctum of Shadow and the Shadow Font. These two were the divine skills that belonged only to those who had received the permission of the Lord of the Holy Sanctum. And it must be used within the confines of the Holy Sanctum. Divine skills were divided into bestowable and non-bestowable, fixed-point range and outside-the-range, augmentation and direct attack or defense. And now, the divine skills that appeared before Lin Sheng was two kinds of outside-the-range bestowable skill. That is to say, those who were qualified were free to use divine skills wherever they go after they learned it. Lin Sheng quickly and carefully read the options that pop up in front of him. ¡®Diviner skill that can be added: 1 ¡ª Energy suppression (the unified suppression of all non-holy forces. All non-holy forces energy decreased by one standard level when entering the Sanctum of Shadow.) Holy forces needed: 5000. It can be raised up to 3 levels. 2 ¡ª Guardian of the twilight (slow healing effect on those with holy seal while spawning a weak shield on their skin) (Holy seal is the person marked by the holy power) Holy forces needed: 5000. It can be raised up to 3 levels. 3 ¡ª The Twilight Pool (a special Holy Power Font that is transformed by absorbing the Power of Dusk. Pool water can transform ordinary creatures into special holy light creatures with a certain probability.) (The holy light creature: a special creature with strong physique and resilience, with the holy power of affinity.) Holy forces needed: 10000. It can be raised up to 3 levels.¡¯ There are three divine skills, the first of which was energy suppression, which was the same in the Sanctum of Shadow of Xylond. Butpared with the Sanctum of Shadow, Lin Sheng immediately realized why the Sanctum of Shadow was a better fit. It¡¯s simply because the price of the three divine skills was too high... ¡°In the Sanctum of Shadow of Xylond, the two options can be sessfully activated for as little as 1000... And now?¡± Lin Sheng hesitated as he looked at the three data.
    Especially the third one. It¡¯s basically a breeding ground for extraordinary creatures. The Twilight Pool reminded Lin Sheng of the powerful Hallowed Steeds, the Targus Dragons, and the strong and mighty creatures of the Holy Spirit that are unique to the Holy Sanctum in the memory he had absorbed. ¡°If there¡¯s a chance that the Holy Spirit will appear, then this Twilight Pool is worth the price of 10000.¡± Lin Sheng did not consider it. He could not afford it anyway. But Henricqal had many followers. At this rate of growth, he would be able to officially choose a divine skill tomorrow. It¡¯s not hard to tell that the way the Sanctum of Dusk worked, though difficult to form the fighting force immediately, would be stronger and stronger over time. Lin Sheng exited the virtual space, opening his eyes somewhat tiredly and looking at the waiting crowd below. ¡°Activation is sessful.¡± Although the people below had guessed the results from what happened just now, the moment Lin Sheng confirmed the result, they couldn¡¯t help but appear happy. ¡°This is the blessing of Henricqal! May the light be with you!¡± The mayor of Henricqal, a short, stout man, stepped forward and bowed slightly to Lin Sheng. ¡°Thank you for saving the city.¡± ¡°Thank you, Lord Seagal.¡± The rest of the crowd also stepped forward and bowed to Lin Sheng. They were well aware that at this moment, if not for the sacred temple¡¯s protection, the present Henricqal might have been a paradise for monsters. There is no way to stop the spread and expansion of the cktide by relying on Darksiders alone. At best, they were killing monsters, but there was nothing they could do about the cktide. Only the holy power could weaken the cktide and reduce the range of ckwater. ¡°You are wee. It is not we who have brought the holy light, but the people of Henricqal, in their own hearts, have chosen the holy light.¡± Lin Sheng looked solemn and bowed his head. At this moment, the spiritual cleansing force field that emanated naturally near the Holy Power Font made the people feel ease and warmth. The long-lost sense of ease and security enveloped everyone at the scene. This gave them a stronger faith in the holy power and the Holy Sanctum. Only the holy light could save them all. And at this moment, Tenko Kasumi carried an old body, which limbs had all been cut off, and calmly stepped into this holy hall, causing a burst of uncontroble cry. ¡°Everything seems to be going well here.¡± She scanned the hall with a clear smile. ¡°So are you.¡± Lin Sheng smiled back. ¡°Yes.¡± Tenko Kasumi lifted the pale Nikos. ¡°It took me quite some time to capture him alive. This guy is a lot weaker than the guy I foughtst time.¡± ¡°And the other two six-wings?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°A little trouble there. You wanna have a look?¡± Tenko Kasumi replied. ¡°Before that, I overestimated the gap in the realbat power between the Sevenlocks Tower and the three secret realms. With the current strength of the three secret realms, they need at least two Ptinates to fight against one Ptinate of Sevenlocks Tower. This is not only the gap between the actualbat experience but also the gap between the Ptinates themselves.¡± Tenko Kasumi exined. Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Well, then, let the three secret realmse and redeem the man. With a Ptinate in hand, we may have more respite.¡± ... ... On the streets of Henricqal. The garbage trucks were clearing the street where the garbage and debris were piled up everywhere. They made a big noise, scooping up the rubbish and carrying it away in a huge back basket. The city¡¯s sanitary cycle system had been activated again. After a round of purification, arge number of citizens on the brink of copse have received spiritual salvation. They returned to their posts and restarted the great gears of the city through the order of the Holy Sanctum. The garbage was cleared and transported to the countryside for centralized burning. In this emergency period, they could not carry out garbage ssification, could only solve it the fastest way. The holy warriors, along with inspectors and arge number of ordinary policemen, set out to sweep away heretics and cults on a wide scale. Groups of cults were dragged out and taken away. The hidden ones were all easily identified by the Holy Sanctum¡¯s detection function. Under the divine skill of the clergy, their evil light was hard to hide. Anyone who harbored malice against the Holy Sanctum and holy power was a heretic! These heresies were taken to a new research center in the division of the Holy Sanctum. It was the site that Lin Sheng had reselected for the construction of the Darkspirit Gate, and it was also the starting point for the big new project he nned to study. The research hall in the city was too unsafe. Without the cover of the Holy Power Font, there was no way to resist the invasion of foreign forces even if covered by the holy soil. Chapter 389 - Activation: Part 3

    Chapter 389: Activation: Part 3

    The day after the activation of the little holy sanctum, a piece of tragic news was announced, shocking everyone. Lin Sheng was carefully checking the ritual circle of the Darkspirit Gate. Suddenly he heard an emergency message from Cainphas. He frowned slightly. He was about to start building the Darkspirit Gate. Why did Cainphas contact him at this time? Didn¡¯t he remind everyone not to disturb him? To cope with the imminent retaliation of the three secret realms, the key was to quickly improve his own strength. Lin Sheng had more souls than anyone else. Theoretically, his holy power was far from reaching the limits of his spiritual powers, but the strength of his body stifled the infinite growth of the holy power and dark power. However, the holy power needed a container to be stored, and there was a problem with that container. The previous ritual of blood transformation also made it possible for Lin Sheng to further enhance his physical strength. ¡°What happened?¡± Lin Sheng impatiently connected themunicator hanging on his body. ¡°Good news, bad news. Which do you want to hear first?¡± Cainphas asked. ¡°Let¡¯s hear the bad news first.¡± Lin Sheng checked the ritual circle of the Darkspirit Gate for thest time and began to check the material. Cainphasughed. ¡°Well, the bad news first. Reian, the grand crown prince of Redwin, was poisoned and assassinated at half-past three in the morningst night as he led his army in the battle against a cloud of monsters that was pouring out of the Ashen World.¡± ¡°And then? The Heaven¡¯s Spire is still there. There can¡¯t be chaos in Redwin, can it?¡± Lin Sheng said casually. ¡°Yes, but when the grand crown prince was killed, he was killed along with one of the greatest of his Six-wingers and more than three thousand soldiers. These people are a vital part of the defense line.¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°So the defense line of Redwin is broken. The defenders of the line came under heavy attack. At least one hundred and fifty thousand undead devoured Redwin¡¯s army, crushing at least eighty thousand elite soldiers. These casualties are likely to be a resource for the Sevenlocks Tower to build the portal. If the Redwin can¡¯t stop it, we may formally face a terrorist attack from the Ashen World.¡± ¡°Okay, but personally, I think that¡¯s too far away for us. What we need to do is to improve ourselves and the strength of Holy Sanctum right away, rather than panic,¡± Lin Sheng said calmly. ¡°Now, please tell me the good news.¡± ¡°The good news is that the defense line has fallen. All forces in the three secret realms will now concentrate on the confrontation with the Sevenlocks Tower. They probably don¡¯t have extra Ptinates toe after us.¡± Lin Sheng got it immediately. With Tenko Kasumi¡¯s current strength, she could deal with three Ptinates from the three secret realms alone. And it took close cooperation of at least four Ptinates to take her down. At this point, it¡¯s impossible for Carte nche and Suncrown to send four Ptinates. ¡°Well, that¡¯s good news. We have more time to prepare. If there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯ll hang up now. I may retreat and meditate for a few days. Don¡¯t disturb me if there¡¯s nothing urgent.¡± ¡°Well, I won¡¯t disturb you if there¡¯s nothing serious or urgent,¡± said Cainphas and then disconnected the call. Lin Sheng stood up andpleted the inspection of materials. ¡°Well, now is the time to summon. More soul power means more strength!¡± He went to the door and pressed the blue button on the wall. After a little bell rang, the door opened. Living bodies were carried in by the Redarmor warriors and stacked in the ritual offerings. There were twelve convicts, all of them unforgivable criminals Lin Sheng carefully selected. Rape, murder, cult sacrifice, skinning, and even eating raw human flesh. There¡¯s nothing these people dare not do. These were the dark spirit¡¯s favorite foods. The lure of the wicked to dark spirits when they reached their peak was absolutely unimaginable. After confirming that there was no problem, Lin Sheng stepped forward and gently sprinkled a kind of silver powder. This was a special drug that he named sacrificial powder, which could rece many materials and processes needed for the sacrificial ritual. This was also the product developed by Lin Sheng after he became familiar with many energynguages. Silver powder wafted evenly across the ritual circle in front of him. Suddenly, pale blue fog rose from the ritual circle the size of a basketball court. The blue fog began to envelop the summoning room, slowly covering even the ritual circle on the ground. Lin Sheng murmured the spells that summoned the dark spirits. ¡°I am an innocent white sheep, here, in this weaknd, calling you toe. ¡°O mighty dark spirits, wise and powerful special beings, I will offer you trivial fresh food. I hope you will answer my call. ¡°I am desperate, miserable, betrayed, and now seriously injured...¡± Lin Sheng quickly picked up the bowl of blood, spilled it on his body, and pretended to be miserable. ¡°I am sad, miserable, vengeful, and now I have no strength...¡± His expression quickly changed into that of seething hatred. ¡°I¡¯m worn out, I¡¯m cornered, I¡¯m in despair, and I can only beg for your blessing.¡± Lin Sheng sang his revised summoning lines out loud in Deviltongue. Compared with the original spells, the spells with revised lines obviously had better special effects. As Lin Sheng finished the spells, he saw that in the ritual circle, the circles began to merge into rings of different sizes. And in the rings, there were two moons facing opposite each other. The big moon encircled the small one, emitting a transparent blue light in the blue fog. ¡°Kaguji, hsye, hqcuau?¡± Who? Who¡¯s calling the power? Who¡¯s calling me! Immediately, a loud voice echoed through the blue fog in the ritual. Arge figure slowly emerged from the revolving ritual circle as the fog swallowed up the unconscious offerings on one side. It was a writhing mass of blue flesh, at least three meters in diameter. Blurry faces that won¡¯t stopughing and crying kept appearing on the surface of the thing, and the body kept swelling and shrinking. It looked like arge translucent energy stone, a shape-shifting blue energy stone. ¡°I... the wise general of dark spirits, Cassau Filchmann, answer your request!¡± Therge energy stone slowly approached the terrified Lin Sheng. ¡°Come on, tell me what you want. For the sake of the sacrifice, I will grant you a good fortune.¡± ¡°I... I want revenge!!¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s face was ferocious and seemed flushed with rage. ¡°I want a way to increase my strength!¡± He requested directly. ¡°Increased strength?¡± The general pondered for a moment. ¡°Yes, I can grant your wish. A powerful, perfect, body-strengthening secret. Your soul is inherently powerful and has an unlimited future, and I am willing to invest resources in you in advance.¡± Lin Sheng was about to kill the general of dark spirits. He quickly put down the controller he had prepared when he heard this. ¡°Thank you, mighty general! Please impart this knowledge to me.¡± He looked at the general again with anticipation and longing. ¡°I like the look in your eyes. So, this is special blood, the Lost Blood. It will give you the knowledge you need.¡± The general squirmed, slowly extruding a thick, shimmering mass of blood from the right side of his skin. It did not look like blood, but at the first sight of it, Lin Sheng realized that it was the blood of some powerful ancient being. The dark spirit general looked at Lin Sheng¡¯s shocked look in a good mood. If the deal waspleted, he would acquire arge number of high-quality sacrifices at one fell swoop, thus gaining further evolution of the life level. It was undoubtedly a very worthwhile deal for the dark spirit general to trade the blood of unknown sources for so many high-quality offerings. Chapter 390 - Planning: Part 1

    Chapter 390: nning: Part 1

    At the Miga border. ¡°Run! Run!¡± Two white figures were running in the rain at night. Their speed was far beyond ordinary humans could achieve. It was just unimaginably quick. The ck mud in this primitivend had turned solid, trampled by the migrating herd of bison. But the two white figures had left behind a trail of deep footsteps as they ran. Dark-green dark energy was burning on their body. The leading figure was a woman with a pair of fox ears on her head and a big wagging white tail behind her. More importantly, however, was what the little girl was carrying. The girl was a few years old. Her face was ugly as if a fire had burned half of her face. But the dress she wore was expensive, not to mention the jewelry. She could be from some wealthy family. ¡°Mom, let me down. It¡¯s okay. You¡¯re not going to get away if you keep carrying me,¡± the young girl said calmly. ¡°Stop talking!¡± The woman with fox ears covered the girl¡¯s mouth. ¡°We¡¯re going to make it!¡± Suddenly, something formless lunged out from the dark and grabbed the woman running behind her. The woman managed to let out a horrifying scream before the unknown creature bit her in half. Her upper body crawled on the ground, struggling to pull herself forward. But it was toote. A distorted light in the dark suddenly covered her. And in just a split second, the woman vanished, leaving behind sporadic bloodstains on the ground. The rain was getting heavier. The fox-eared woman was shivering, but she kept going. As soon as she made it past the line of defense at the border and saw the border guards, she and her daughter would be safe. She was going to make it; she thought to herself. She had used up most of her dark energy to the point of over-exhaustion. Her entire race had vanished. She and her daughter were the only survivors. Her husband had mysteriously disappeared as the disaster loomed. The city had fallen within days. When the pce fell into the enemy¡¯s hands, they plunged from the clouds down to the bottom. They were thest and only hope. ¡°We¡¯re almost there! We¡¯re almost there...¡± The woman with fox ears looked into the distance. On the rugged mountain path, she could almost make out the glow of the psionic tower at the border. It was the light with high pration ability produced when the core of the dark energy ignited the tower. ¡°Hang on there... hang on there! We¡¯re almost there! We¡¯re almost¨C¡± All of a sudden, something out of the dark tore the fox-eared woman¡¯s legs apart before it disappeared. ¡°No!¡± The young girl wanted to scream, but the woman kept her hand over her mouth, not letting her utter a sound. Looking at the girl, she shook her head as blood drained from her face. ¡°Live... on.¡± The fox-eared woman mouthed the words in silence. The little girl trembled, wanting to scream, but she pressed her hands over her mouth herself. All she could do was watch her mother drop before her eyes. Then, some unknown creature from the dark dragged her into the void and vanished. The little girl did not make a sound. She fell to the ground, soaked, hands still on her mouth as she looked at the spot where her mother had disappeared. After a long while, she dragged her shivering body up and ran toward the light. She was special, so long as she did not make a sound... Her tears had mixed with the rain as they flooded down her cheeks. She could not even be sure which was which. ... Lin Sheng fiddled with a colorful ss ball in his hand. The ball contained the special blood that he got from the Darkspirit General, who named the blood: Chaotic Blood. Lin Sheng could not have agreed more. In fact, he gave up killing Darkspirit General because of this blood. He had begun the solidification of the tunnel of dark spirit summoning. It was not a difficult job. But the challenge was that the risk was high. In ckfeather City, a magician used to solidify the tunnel. Not long after, a powerful dark spirit on the other end of the tunnel had found it out. In the end, the magician and the magic tower became the food for the dark spirit. Lin Sheng was not going to make the same empirical mistake. He had not only solidified the tunnel but also injected a faint amount of holy power in it. This way, when the dark spirit sensed the presence of holy power that it most hated, it would stay away from the tunnel. But someone needed to dispense holy power into the tunnel continuously to make this work. It was an impossible mission for others. But for Lin Sheng, he just needed to make some Holy Soil and sprinkled it at the tunnel entrance. ¡°It works very well. No one could do that except me.¡± Lin Sheng sat on a chair, looking inside the quarantine cell at the square-shaped tunnel where a ring of light-blue glow was shimmering inside. This was the dark-spirit tunnel he had solidified. But right now, there was only a small gap in there; it had not been fully opened. In fact, he did not want to open it just yet because maintaining the tunnel required a lot of resources and energy. If not necessary, he would not open it up. He just needed a little gap for positioning purposes. When the need arose, he would just give it a little push and the Darkspirit Gate would swing open. ¡°Something must be inside the blood. The dark spirit never lies. But if I believe it and absorb things just like that, there could be some unknown problem and sequeter.¡± Lin Sheng fidgeted with the ss ball, gazing at the colorful liquid inside. ¡°Maybe I could dilute a bit of it and see what happens.¡± He thought for a moment and then decided to go ahead with it. He knew the dark spirit would not lie; it was the nature of the race. This blood could enhance the body, which was true. But he had not figured out what kind of enhancement it was. Lin Sheng got to his feet. He did not bother with the situation of the tunnel. Instead, he went to the research center on the other side,ing in front of a ck instrument in the corner. Very carefully, he ced the ss ball into the instrument and adjusted the operation parameters, and pressed the start button. Soon, below the instrument, a drop of diluted colorful liquid dripped into therge culture pond underneath, creating a little ssh in the gray culture liquid. After that, things returned to normal with no reactions. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Lin Sheng knitted his brows. Then, a second droplet dripped into the culture pond. This time, there was a reaction. Some tiny mildew-like driftage appeared in the culture pond. The mildew rapidly swam close to the spot where the colorful liquid had dropped. Lin Sheng was grave as he stared at the mildew. He could feel that this mildew was no mildew at all but some kind of special, energized substance. This energized substance was rapidly disappearing into a patch of water in the center of the culture pond. In less than half a minute, white steam began to rise from the culture liquid, which was dropping rapidly. Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes were affixed on the entire process. Chapter 391 - Planning: Part 2

    Chapter 391: nning: Part 2

    The level of culture liquid was falling. Soon, there was only the colorful liquid the size of a palm left in the culture pond. Lin Sheng stared at the patch of liquid and extended his hand out. Holy Power shot out from the tip of his finger onto the surface of the colorful liquid. Plumes of smoke rose from the colorful liquid and dissipated into the surroundings. He could feel his holy power purging something evil in the colorful liquid. ¡°But it¡¯s not clean yet. There is still something in there!¡± His brows knitted together as he stared at the liquid. He glimpsed at the monitor on the instrument and was surprised. ¡°It has been diluted 3,000 times, yet it still contains the nasty impurities.¡± He called the substance that the holy power failed to dissolve, ¡°Impurity¡±. After thinking for a moment, he decided to test it on the mice. Through themunication equipment, Lin Sheng had instructed his men outside to send in a few dozen mice and a dozen death-row prisons. He then immersed himself into studying the Chaotic Blood. The Chaotic Blood fascinated him. It had aprehensive molecr structure and strange activity. Its nature and ability varied in different environments. What was most important was that it had excellent adaptability. Lin Sheng had simted various environments. The adaptability and imitability of the Chaotic Blood were amazing. Soon, Lin Sheng had started on testing the diluted Chaotic Blood on the first batch of mice. Nine-tenth of the mice exploded. Of the remaining one-tenth, half of them showed no response and the other half experienced unique changes. Their bodies began to mutate. Silver spots grew on their skins, ears jagged, lengthened, and pointed. In their mouth, teeth became sharper. Bone-like metal exoskeleton grew at the joints. Mentally, they became extremely aggressive. Lin Sheng had also found that the lifespan of the cells of the mice had increased tremendously. They would live a hundred up to three hundred years. After confirming the test results, Lin Sheng kept a few mice for observation while the rest had gone into his stomach. Since it was a test, after the test subject body filtering, the Chaotic Blood had undergone reabsorption and digestion. So Lin Sheng wanted to find out whether it worked. That was why he did not hesitate to eat those test mice. Three days had passed since then. Lin Sheng summoned a dark spirit every day for his consumption. And he spent the rest of his time studying the Chaotic Blood. He had started to use human testers. After diluting it ten thousand times, the Chaotic Blood could still produce a faint stimtion, which could enhance a human¡¯s body and strength. The downside was it could affect the mind and cause aggressiveness and violence. After getting the data, Lin Sheng offered the human testers as a sacrifice. However, what surprised Lin Sheng was that each time he offered a death-row human tester as a sacrifice, he could summon a dark spirit at the level of a Darkspirit General. So, he decided to throw the failed human testers into the ritual circle to maintain the Darkspirit Gate so it would stay open for at least a year. Lin Sheng still had some Chaotic Blood in hand. After repeated filtration, selection, dilution, and neutralization, he could finally start a new round of bloodline modification. Hepared the data with the index and found that the Chaotic Blood had been diluted to a ridiculous level. He would decide whether to absorb it, just like the earlier testers. But he was not worried even if things went wrong halfway. Without the permission of the holy light, with the sheer amount of holy power he had, the Chaotic Blood could not stay long in his body. Absorbing the diluted Chaotic Blood had never been so easy for Lin Sheng. He ran tests repeatedly, trying to find a purification solution most suitable for him. It did not take long before a sessful human tester caught the attention of Lin Sheng. This tester had made it through the initial erosion and explosion of the Chaotic Blood and left behind no abnormal symptoms. Only that during the experiment, the tester¡¯s body suddenly manifested an extreme level of defense. The radical result aroused Lin Sheng¡¯s interest. Another few days had passed. From the tester¡¯s body, he finally found the key to use the Chaotic Blood. When the amazing blood came into contact with a unique substance in the blood of a living thing, both would show strong mutual resistance. And it was during this resistance that it could undergo an even deeper purification. With the key in hand, Lin Sheng began to extract this unique substance from the blood of living things. He called this substance the Heart Fluid of Order. It was a fairly easy process for the Sanctum to get the Heart Fluid of Order. Lin Sheng only needed to hold a blood sampling drive, and within a few days, he could get the Heart Fluid of Order from a thousand residents in the city. He collected these blood samples into one ce, and after extraction, he would mix the rest into the Chaotic Blood. After a series of special handling methods, Lin Sheng got a tube of test essence. ... In the prayer hall of the Sanctum, the upper echelon of the division had gathered for the intel briefing and reports of the situation in various parts of Henricqal. Specially made surveince equipment lit up the giant screen, showing detailed situations of each location. The person in charge of security and surveince was an associate professor from Baine University. He wore a pair of reading sses, perfectly pressed business suit as he stood before the screen, exining, ¡°The patrols have reliable information that the urrence of ck Tide has risen for the past two days. It is almost the highest in history. The types and quantity of the monsters from the ck Tide are also increasing. The graph is rising in a cliff-shaped curve.¡± Surveince footage was shing across the screen. The Pdins leading the Darksider patrolmen were pushing back the monsters in many parts along the city border. ¡°Our investigation shows that the Camouge and Mental monsters pose the greatest threat, followed by Wide-range Psychic monsters. We havepiled a booklet categorizing these monsters into different levels of threat. Every great priest must have already received it on their mobile phone.¡± The screen began to show the photo of each monster. Chapter 392 - Planning: Part 3

    Chapter 392: nning: Part 3

    Lin Sheng¡¯s face grave as he looked at the monsters shown on the screen. ¡°How is the stress of the patrol team?¡± he asked. ¡°Their stress level is fine, casualty is low. With the presence of the Sanctum¡¯s purification force field, and the clergies wearing the thick protective armor, they could still use holy power for self-healing. So casualty is minimal. But the alloy for making the armors and weapons is running out quick. The warriors need their weapons and armor maintained, and guns and bullets replenished. So there is a huge shortfall of the metal,¡± said the chief of logistics support, Madin. The other heads of workshops echoed. Lin Sheng thought for a moment and said, ¡°Can¡¯t we get ore from the tunnel? Where did we get the metal alloyst time?¡± ¡°Mostly transshipped from the mineral base. Now with the breaking out of the ck Tide, I¡¯m afraid things are not looking good for the metal processing nt there,¡± Madin quickly replied. ¡°The ore of the Ashen World at the tunnel has high radiation, not suitable forrge-scale equipment application.¡± ¡°I will report to the Sanctum division master, requesting her to lead a team to open up a supply route.¡± Lin Sheng so decided. ¡°Besides, use attack types that consume the least resource.¡± ¡°Agree. The country is too busy worrying about their own problem. We should be self-sustaining in our area of jurisdiction and looking for the best survival method.¡± Someone from the top echelon echoed. Security head who was also the associate professor said, ¡°Seagal, I¡¯ve got thetest information about the monsters, I hope everyone sees it.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. When the associate professor connected his phone to the projector, new footages showed up on the screen. In between two high-rises, a red humanoid caught everyone¡¯s attention. It was a female humanoid glowing in red. She had two sharp horns, shoulder-length ck hair, a pair of blue eyes, a slim body with a long and slender tail. me was burning on her tail, illuminating the surroundings. It was her tail from which the red glow came. ¡°This creature seems to be aplete race. I call it the Fire Devil,¡± said the associate professor. ¡°Appeared sincest night, the Fire Devil is a brand new species. Most of them are female. They can handle poisonous mes up to two thousand degrees. Anyone who gets burned by them would be in deep shit. It¡¯s difficult to heal.¡± ¡°What level of resistance force required?¡± ¡°One whole team of Two Wingers for every one Fire Devil. Fortunately, the Fire Devils work independently, they have so far posed not much of a problem for us. I hope everyone takes note.¡± ¡°Understood. These monsters are nasty. Most likely there is a strict ss distinction in their race. And this means that with the appearance of the Fire Devils, there are nastier and higher-ss monsters.¡± ¡°We¡¯d better get a sample or live specimen and let the researchers study a solution.¡± ¡°Agree. We need some fireproof gear.¡± People said their pieces. They were no armchair strategists. In fact, their suggestions were practical. Lin Sheng listened to each of them and then decided whether to ept. ¡°For now, ording to thew in the Ashen World, there must be a Lair of Distortion behind the Fire Devils. Otherwise, monsters of this ss would not haveunched unbridled attacks against human settlements,¡± Cainphas said. ¡°The Lair of Distortion?¡± Lin Sheng was hearing the term for the first time. So too many of those who present. Everyone looked puzzled. ¡°It¡¯s hard to exin now. All you all need to know is the Lair of Distortion is sort of an arsenal for certain monsters,¡± Cainphas said. There was a deep frown on Lin Sheng¡¯s face. ¡°Destroy it. Put together a strike team with higher-order clergies.¡± ¡°OK.¡± ¡°Agree.¡± ¡°Agree.¡± As the meeting ended, Lin Sheng told them that he needed some quiet time. Back to the research center, he sent the monster resistance test data to the defense department. As the ck Tide got more rampant, the people in Miga were moving towards the cities. The government was working together with the Asterism of the Moon Basin to build arge settlement. They relied on the line of defensesprising the Darksiders in fighting the ck Tide. But such defenses were precarious because the ck Tide could appear anywhere. So they had to keep their defenses at the highest level of alert to guard against internal and external threats. But in Henricqal, things were much better; they only needed to worry about threats from the outside. After transmitting the information, Lin Sheng returned to the instrument that looked like arge silver gyroscope. He took out a colorful test tube that had once again undergone holy power purification. ¡°It¡¯s the seventeenth time... the live specimen test isplete. Everything is normal and the enhancement result is positive. There shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡± Lin Sheng took off the cork and smelled the content. A faint waft of preserved plum permeated into the air. This was the Chaotic Blood. Repeated purification process had cleaned the blood of toxins. With the test tube in hand, Lin Sheng raised his head and emptied the entire tube of Chaotic Blood into his mouth. The purified liquid tasted sweet with a slight cool mint vor. After downing the liquid, Lin Sheng poured some water into the test tube and then drank it. He had gulped down all the Chaotic Blood, which he got from the Darkspirit General. He wasted not a single drop. Lin Sheng entered the quarantine cell, closed his eyes and began to feel the changes in his body. He felt hot as the Chaotic Blood slowly permeated his blood, mixing with the blood of the Rock Dragon. An amazing assimtion process was underway. Time was ticking away. One hour. Two hours. Three hours... Lin Sheng¡¯s body became heavier, broader and stronger with the modification of the Chaotic Blood. He could feel a special ability had grown in his body. It was an ability to energize matter between illusion and reality. Some part of his blood vessels and meridian turned semi-transparent into a void-energy state. Another four hours had passed. Sitting in the cultivation room, Lin Sheng suddenly opened his eyes. ¡°The Chaotic Blood... I can¡¯t believe it! It enhanced my body this way!¡± He also did not expect the function of the Chaotic Blood was to turn part of his body energy into void state. This would greatly improve the energy transmission efficiency inside his body. Whether it was his holy power or dark energy, they were all working in an amazing state. ¡°That means my power and energy defense ability have improved beyond description. My body can turn into a void state for a certain length of time, just like the dark spirit life form...¡± Wait! Just like the dark spirit life form? Lin Sheng abruptly turned around, looking toward the Darkspirit tunnel. If... if I can disguise myself as a dark spirit and enter the Darkspirit tunnel, that means I can get an endless supply of soul power? The idea knocked his socks off. No one had ever dared to venture into the world of the dark spirit. Not even the best elites from the ckfeather City. No one had ever dared to step into the otherworld and dimension. Without camouge, going there was a suicide. Now, the Chaotic Blood had given Lin Sheng this possibility. Stepping into the unknown dimension was risky, but the return could be enormous. At least he did not have to wait for the dark spirits to take his bait and came into the tunnel. He could just go out there and devour the dark spirits like a whale gulping the nktons. His soul power was going to experience a huge upgrade. ¡°If that is workable, then it would be even better than killing monsters in the dreams!¡± Lin Sheng became excited. With his current condition, it was not hard at all for him to realize this idea. Chapter 393 - The Darkspirit Gate: Part 1

    Chapter 393: The Darkspirit Gate: Part 1

    Lin Sheng stood silently in front of the Darkspirit Gate. He had changed into a tight-fit special suit, which would be too snug for a woman to wear because it would look like she wore nothing. But Lin Sheng could not have cared less. The suit was a camouge he tailored made for his n. The suit had a psychedelic coating called the Karisa on the outside. This substance could mimic the special scent of anyone, including the dark spirits. He had not entered the dreams for a few days. Perhaps because of the frequent changing of locations, the dreams had notpletely solidified. It was a shame. But in the real world, Lin Sheng had conducted many experiments. He had summoned the dark spirits and had had experience with them. By disguising himself, he made the dark spirits think he was their own kind. ¡°Good enough.¡± Lin Sheng looked into the blue tunnel. As he extended his hand, streaks of blue pattern appeared on the back of his hand. The pattern spread, and in the blink of an eye, it had covered his entire body, which became semi transparent and glowed in a blue light. Following some adjustments, the blue light became a faint red glow. He was emanating an aura of the dark spirit. His body was semi-transparent and glowing in red. Other than that, he looked like a normal human being. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± He nced back at Tenko Kasumi. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to it. In case I didn¡¯te back, I might have to be reborn through you.¡± ¡°It¡¯d be fine. Don¡¯t you still have the Thunderbeast?¡± Tenko Kasumi yawned. She was still nice so long as no one crossed the line. Lin Sheng nodded. He needed Tenko Kasumi here to make sure there would be no idents to the tunnel. As a Ptinate, Tenko Kasumi was far better in strength than Lin Sheng was. She could react swiftly to any trouble and abnormality. ¡°See you, then.¡± Lin Sheng turned and gazed at the light-blue gap in the tunnel. He felt anxious, worried, hopeful and even excited. No one had ever done this adventure before. Lin Sheng strode toward the tunnel. As he got closer, his footsteps sounded louder and felt heavier. Soon, he vanished into the Darkspirit Gate like a stone sinking into water. Another yawn again, Tenko Kasumi nced at the Darkspirit Gate. Shey on a lounge not far away, pouting as she waited for the return of Lin Sheng. On the surface, it looked like she was casually lying there. But in fact there was a faintyer of frost on the floor, by which she could kill any suspicious persons with ease. ¡°Hope everything goes well.¡± She did not know what her principal was doing. But she could vaguely sense he was carrying out a rather risky n. Like tightrope walking, if things went wrong, the consequences could be dire. .... .... A string ofrge air bubbles rose from the pitch-ck sea. Inside one of these air bubbles calmly sat a burly man. It was Lin Sheng. He just came through the Darkspirit Gate. His body was shimmering in a red light, as if a man of illusion who would disappear at any time. Lin Sheng observed the environment. He found himself in arge air bubble among the many bubbles in the surroundings. Except for the one he was in, there were no signs of life in the other air bubbles. No dark spirit. No life. Everything seemed silent and deste. ¡°Am I in the world of the dark spirit now?¡± Lin Sheng looked outside through the air bubble wall. It was an endless darkness out there. He felt like he was just a tiny speck in a vast space. The experience was indescribable. ¡°What is this ce? No living things to talk to. I can only wait.¡± He could not tell how fast the time flow was. Neither he knew where he was. Sitting with his legs crossed, Lin Sheng could only wait. The air bubble was still rising. It seemed like forever. He had lost his sense of time. Perhaps it had been just a day, or maybe two or three when he finally saw a faint red glow above. Looking up, Lin Sheng was excited. He finally reached the surface, and the air bubble popped. Very lightly, he leaped onto the surface using the buoyant force of the sea. His eyes were still not adapted to the light. He gave them a few seconds and then his vision came back. Immediately, he scanned his surroundings. Above the water was an irregr-shaped cave. The cave walls were brown and hard with many red mushrooms growing on the surface. In the center, something that looked like kites were floating in the air. Some looked like humans, some objects, some animals and some he could not tell what. Then the penny dropped. ¡°They¡¯re the dark spirit!¡± Lin Sheng had made out the identity of these things. He was delighted. He knew he hade to the right ce. Dark spirits filled the entire cave. Some were big, some were small, and they had different levels of strength. He could see a few were reminiscent of the Darkspirit General he had summoned before. But the others were ordinary. Beside that, Lin Sheng also saw a spiral red crystal column in the center of the cave. The column connected the ceiling at the top to the ground at the bottom. Floating around it were unknown silver light. But the light streams looked inconspicuous in a sea of red emitted by the dark spirits. It seemed to be a load-bearing pir. ¡°Interesting.¡± Lin Sheng blended in by releasing a faint dark-spirit aura. He then swam slowly, got out of the water, and observed a group of dark spirits nearest to him. These dark spirits seemed to be asleep. Or maybe they weremunicating with some faraway beings; they just did not talk to each other. Less so moved. ¡°ording to the book of Deviltongue, dark spirits are a possessive species. With nothing to possess, they exist in an illusive state. There is no way to contact them except through the soul.¡± Lin Sheng recalled the little information in his mind as he slowly inched toward them. With his hand extended, he carefully and gingerly touched one of them. His index finger was feeling its surface, a strange dark spirit the size of a football. It had one eye, which was open, and light was flowing like a stream of data in its ck pupil. Lin Sheng was guessing that it might be in the midst ofmunicating with humans. So he was very careful when he moved. The minute his finger touched the dark spirit, he secretly injected a tiny amount of holy power into it. That slight amount of holy power behaved like the most potent toxin; it circted in the body of the dark spirit. The dark spirit started to twitch. Its body wizened and leaked like a balloon before it became a red little bead. Chapter 394 - The Darkspirit Gate: Part 2

    Chapter 394: The Darkspirit Gate: Part 2

    Lin Sheng took the bead and tucked it into his pocket like he had done it a thousand times over. He stopped poaching and nced up at the sea of dark spirits. While they were still undisturbed, Lin Sheng needed a ce to hide. He found a dead spot in the wall¡¯s corner. It was a narrow L-shape recess where he could hide and the dark spirits would only spot him. ¡°Before figuring it out the situation, I¡¯d better stay here.¡± He stayed inside the narrow recess and tried to contact Token Kasumi, who was on the other side of the tunnel. It surprised him that it was easier than what he thought. As the cave was situated at the intersection of many gaps, it allowed him to connect with Token Kasumi instantly. ¡°These fissures are connected with the other side? It is no wonder those dark spirits could respond so quickly to the summoners.¡± Lin Sheng realized. Now, he had found a hiding ce. Except for the tunnel, he had also figured out which fissures he could use to return to the real world. Using Token Kasumi and a bunch ofmanders as coordinates, he suddenly realized that he had more fissure choices than he had thought. With the return route set, Lin Sheng nced up at the dark spirits in the cave and reached out his w. He did not hunt these dark spirits at first because he wanted to observe their movement and life. From his observation, he found that these dark spirits did not always stay nice and safe. When theymunicated with the otherworld, they would face dangers. Many were pulled to the other side and had nevere back again. The beings on the other side attacked and destroyed these dark spirits. Lin Sheng had figured that the non-battle loss of the dark spirits was very high. The dark spirit distribution was so arranged that the strong ones were staying at the top and the weak ones at the bottom. So the higher the altitude, the more powerful the dark spirits were. There were asional interactions among the dark spirits, but it was not in the way Lin Sheng had imagined it. During interactions, they would extend a tentacle or threads, tangling together in a silent mental talk. No sound. Only those quarrelling would make sounds and guard against each other. ¡°It is an amazing ce.¡± Lin Sheng hid in the dead spot in the wall¡¯s corner. The hemispherical hiding hole prevented him from being seen by the dark spirits. While he was observing the dark spirits outside, a frail dark spirit that looked like cotton candy approached him. ¡°Hello, could you help me?¡± The dark spirit asked in earnest. ¡°What¡¯s going on? You look wrecked,¡± Lin Sheng replied, speaking in Deviltongue. ¡°I had encountered a nasty fissure. Inside was a strange energy that I very much hated. By ident, I inhaled too much air from the other side and now feel terrible.¡± The dark spirit was frank as it told Lin Sheng its problem. Lin Sheng realized what it was about. It was probably the holy power he had purposely left behind in the tunnel. ¡°That¡¯s all right. I can heal you.¡± He let out a gentle smile at the dark spirit. ¡°It¡¯s safe here. Not many fissures here nor disturbance from the other dark spirits.¡± The dark spirit was hesitant. But then it still drifted toward him. Its energy was at least three times stronger than what Lin Sheng had. But it looked like modelling y now¨Cdistorted as it moved. Extending out its tentacles like a squid, it said, ¡°I¡¯m helpless... help me...¡± The dark spirit appeared friendly on the outside but evil on the inside. It drifted into the dead spot where Lin Sheng was hiding and never came back out again. No other dark spirits gave a damn where it had gone. The old individuals would die and new ones rose in numbers, emerging from all over the cave. Not long after, another dark spirit drifted into Lin Sheng¡¯s hiding hole. Like the first one, this dark spirit disappeared there silently. Following that, dark spirits unknowingly wandered in Lin Sheng¡¯s direction, one after another. Some of them tried to approach Lin Sheng as they drifted by. But it was meaningless. They vanished as soon as they came near Lin Sheng. As more and more dark spirits disappeared, Lin Sheng sessfully instructed Token Kasumi to establish a reverse connection through another fissure. Using amunication sacrifice ritual, Lin Sheng helped Token Kasumi open a tunnel near where he was. He then went back to the real world, turned the dark-spirit beads he had collected into Rock Dragon blood, absorbed it before returning to his hiding hole. The other dark spirits thought Lin Sheng was pounding the Darkspirit General¡¯s side. Never did they know what the consequences would be once Lin Sheng seeded. Or perhaps they had noticed it but just did not care. As the number of disappearing dark spirits increased, Lin Sheng began to tackle the immediate surroundings near the dead spot. Like fishing, he lured the dark spirits to him and turned them into beads. He then returned to the researchboratory every once in a while to transform the beads into Rock Dragon blood and soul power. Gradually, the number of lowly dark spirits dwindled. This had caught the attention of the higher-order dark spirits. They drifted towards the dead spot where Lin Sheng was. More dark spirits vanished, and the incessant hunting began to boost Lin Sheng¡¯s strength. His bloodline and soul power went into an explosive stage of growth. He hade the limit of Six Wing in his soul power, gradually approaching the level of Ptinate. It was not the enlightenment of the realm and level, just raw power and strength. .... .... In the real world, a convoy of powerful Darksiders from the Moon Basin hade to Henricqal while Lin Sheng was in solitude. If the convoy came a month earlier, the strength of the top people of the Sanctum in Henricqal might still be not quite there yet. Unfortunately, they had chosen to dy, negotiatingpensation with the Sanctum through satellitemunication. One monthter, the Sanctum had added three more apex Six Wingers to its upper echelon and a dozen more Five-Wing patrol chiefs to its middle rung. Not only that, suppressor-ss elites had increased by over twenty people, and the holy power concentration in the font had reached an astonishing level. The purification force field generated by the natural dissipation of the Holy Power Font,bined with therge number of priests who cultivated the Holy Power made the entire city of Henricqal covered in the air of divine power. The potent energy of the holy power had almost suppressed the other energies in existence. As soon as the convoy arrived at Henricqal, the high energy concentration of holy power knocked their socks off. It was almost like a torture to them. After settling their business, they left like greased lightning. Henricqal had a massive self-cirction technology, knowledge for self-sufficiency and a perfect ecosystem. It was because of this technology that the three mysterious realms and a few others had survived in a closed environment to this day. Chapter 395 - The Darkspirit Gate: Part 3

    Chapter 395: The Darkspirit Gate: Part 3

    The half-dead Nikos was exchanged for the basic city-building technology and dozens of rare forged materials unique to the Ashen World. Coming with the deal was also Lin Sheng¡¯s most coveted teleportation technology. It was near-field teleportation. but for Lin Sheng, it was the missing puzzle in making up the shortfall in the ceremony and circle knowledge system. Lin Sheng had learned his lesson when he was still in Xilin. The Darksiders from Redwin inserted themselves into the battlefield to provide reinforcement and then left using the teleportation circle. This left Lin Sheng with only passive battle tactics to choose from. Back in Baine University, Lin Sheng bemoaned that the military and the Suncrown from the Moon Basin were the only ones possessing the teleportation circle technology. But the civilian coronated academies could only make do with on-the-shelf teleportation disc. Lin Sheng coveted the technology. So Tenko Kasumi had made it a term of the negotiation. Once he mastered the technology, he would get tremendous enhancement to his skills in rituals and teleportation. Even now, he was already no slouch after absorbing memory fragments of tens of thousands of people. After the exchange and the convoy brought Nikos away, a team of special forces raided the Chaotic Lairs of the Fireghosts. During the operations, two Chaotic Lairs were destroyed, and hundreds of survivors rescued from the underground shelters. Along with the survivors, a little girl with a terrible scar on her face had entered Henricqal. ... In the dark spirit cave, Lin Sheng swam out from the dead spot. He had lost count of how many dark spirits he had consumed. It could be hundreds or even thousands. He had turned the dark-spirit beads into Rock Dragon blood in his body with a ritual. Already reaching its peak, the Rock Dragon bloodline began another round of changes with the massive ingestion of the dark-spirit beads. Lin Sheng did not have any reference data forparison; a Ptinate like Tenko Kasumi was not here to keep measuring his strength. He could only feel his strength was rapidly increasing. He did not know how far he had gone. He only knew that he had sort of turned into a real dark spirit¡ªhiding, hunting, transforming, and then the process started all over again. During the forage, he had talked with the dark spirits and learned that the name of the world of the dark spirits was Caerphipo. From the mouth of a hapless, chatty dark spirit, Lin Sheng had also gotten an idea of the social form of them. These strange lives lived in the gap between different caves. The cave that Lin Sheng was in was in the corner of arger cave. The real dark-spirit cave of Caerphabor was the size of a province in Xilin, with thousands of dark spirits living there. With this intel in hands, Lin Sheng was no longer satisfied with the slow stand-hunting method. He needed a more efficient way. Other than converting the dark-spirit beads into blood using a conversion ritual, he could also use the holy power to purify the beads into soul-power beads before absorbing them. In fact, it was the soul power that determined the strength of a dark spirit. So he ingested all the dark spirits he had hunted and converted them into soul power. This way, he no longer needed to go back and forth between here and the real world. ¡°It¡¯s about time...¡± Lin Sheng came out from his thought, ¡°to wipe clean the dark spirits here.¡± He got to his feet and slowly got out of the dead spot. The cave still floated with a sparse number of dark spirits, and most of them were of the higher form, the more powerful individuals. Lin Sheng had almost eaten the lowly individuals. ¡°There are only thirty something left. I¡¯ll take them in one fell swoop.¡± Lin Sheng shuffled toward the nearest dark spirit. This one was massive, looking like a pineapple with spikes that looked like tentacles all over its body. At the tip of each tentacle was a nose. It looked twisted with no aesthetic sense and logic. ¡°Oh, look who this is! Isn¡¯t he the outsider who only knows how to devour the little dark spirits?¡± The dark spirit sneered when it saw Lin Sheng from afar. ¡°After eating all those lowly dark spirits, you think you¡¯re good enough to challenge us the real Darkspirit General?¡± ¡°If that¡¯s how you think, then I, Hanborgskoso, is going to teach you a lesson which you¡¯re not going to forget for the rest of your life!¡± The dark spiritughed, its voice filled with provocation, ridicule, and boasting. But these dark spirits were not yet at the level of the general. In their eyes, all Darkspirit General started their life as a devourer at the bottom of the food chain. After they ate an enough number of their same kind, they would get a chance to upgrade to Darkspirit General. But such conversion was not something that they could ask for. Every living thing was made up of different structures. The presence of structure many there were limitations. The same held true for the dark spirits. So whether one dark spirit could be a general, it had been predestined right from the beginning. It was their talents that determined it. The limitations of their souls determined whether they could achieve the general-ss soul power by devouring. In fact, they had noticed Lin Sheng quietly eating up the lowly dark spirits. Just that they did not care back then. Little did they expect he would challenge the dark spirits on the top of the food chain. By consuming a thousand lowly dark spirits, he thought he could rival the great dark spirits that were about to advance into the level of general? What a foolish thought. ¡°Let me think; after devouring that many dark spirits, you think you have reached your soul power¡¯s limit, your strength has grown to the point of recklessness?¡± ¡°Well, not bad! He looks like a human. Solidification well done.¡± ¡°We better not look down on this rookie; he has swallowed a thousand lowly dark spirits!¡± ¡°A thousand? Wow, that was a lot!¡± ¡°He looks savage. Is he thinking of killing us? What a shame, he can¡¯t do anything about us although I like his idea!¡± ¡°This rookie will be fun!¡± ¡°Yeah, right. We need to have some fun. Don¡¯t kill him too quickly this time!¡± A group of dark spirits surrounded Lin Sheng. Half of the higher-form dark spirits in the cave hade out,ughing with a malicious, high-pitched voice with their red, massive bodies. Lin Sheng stood in the middle, head low. Their shrills were drilling into his ears as if a thorn trying to prate his soul power. It seemed like the dark spirits were just babbling about. But in reality, they had begun testing and attacking him. They encircled him, edging closer, shrilling and ridiculing. They were full of malice and murderous intent. But little did they notice that an energy had risen in Lin Sheng¡¯s body. All of a sudden, Lin Sheng struck a dark spirit on his right with his hand, prating the target¡¯s head. His long hair fluttered in a gust of air, exposing his pair of eyes that glowed in pure-white light. In the strong air current that whirled and danced around him, a dazzling gold and white halo suddenly lit up. Before the rest of the higher-form dark spirits could react, a golden white beam shot out from the halo, pierced through the body of the remaining dark spirits and lit up the entire cave. Their bodies went up in me and turned into beads before dropping to the ground. The white-gold beam gradually subsided. Lin Sheng had put up his Armor of Dawn that had his face shrouded in the helmet. This time, it was a little different from before. On his head grew a pair of screw-threaded sharp horns. The dragon¡¯s horns were slightly curved, over half a meter long, with a hideous yet an ancient luxurious look to it. Lin Sheng looked down. With the stretch of his hand, the dark-spirit beads flew up into his hand like birds returning to their nests. After absorbing the dark-spirit beads, he went to the only exit in the cave. Soon, his tall and white body disappeared into the dark-red passage. Chapter 396 - Transcendence: Part 1

    Chapter 396: Transcendence: Part 1

    The massive dark-red cave extended out above his head and under his feet. Lin Sheng stood at the entrance, looking ahead. The ce was red, an endless in that expanded out into all three directions before him. Above him was an enormous red-rock dome. ncing out, he could see a sparse number of dark spirits floating in the air. Unlike the dark spirits in the small cave, the ones here were more aggressive. Lin Sheng had seen with his own eyes many dark spirits pounced on and ate their own kind while they weremunicating with the other world. Some dark spirits would suddenly grow in size and strength whilemunicating; apparently the gains from the deal were no small deal. Lin Sheng looked down at the ground, which was neither soil nor rock but clouds that squirmed like living tissues. Through the clouds, he could vaguely make out the snake-like living things zipping past under his feet. It was mysterious and horrifying. ¡°This ce is no amusement park for sure.¡± Lin Sheng kept his guard on. Fortunately, the dark spirits he had seen so far were all within his control. The strength of a Six Winger was considered the mightiest here. More so because he possessed the powerful, dark spirit-suppressing holy power. Lin Sheng thought for a moment before he stretched out his right hand. A slender green sword glowing in bright white light appeared in his hand. It was a special weapon, the bone and the de of which were forged with dark energy and holy power respectively. But it was not as dazzling as the pure holy power-simted long sword. This way, he could keep the fluctuation of holy power in the weapon to the minimum. So long as he was careful and keeping it covert, he could harvest these dark spirits without attracting their attention. Lin Sheng clenched the slender sword in his hand, nting his feet on the ground before lunging out like an arrow. In the blink of an eye, he first pierced through the body of a dark spirit twenty meters away. It went up in white mes and turned into a dark spirit bead in an instant. With very swift movement, Lin Sheng caught the bead in his hand as he charged at the second dark spirit. Except for the general-ss, these dark spirits were defenseless before him. The strength of the dark spirits lied in their mind and soul, and it was these realms that Lin Sheng had subdued to perfection. He had absorbed too many soul fragments. In terms of soul strength and quantity, he was at least as strong as five Darkspirit Generals. Let not forgetting that he also had the support of an army of summonedmanders behind him. So it made light work of dealing with these ordinary dark spirits, one dark spirit at a time and not breaking a sweat. In the world of red, Lin Sheng lunged up and turned into a white thread, hopping from one dark spirit to the next like a bolt of lightning. Every dark spirit he touched, it instantly burned and turned into dark spirit bead. In just five minutes, a thousand dark spirits within a few hundred meters in the vicinity had vanished. After energization, Lin Sheng¡¯s power was explosive and his movement was lightning quick. He was at least 2.5 times more rapid than before he got the Chaotic Blood. The noise produced when he killed the dark spirits with the slender white sword was low. At one time, when he was ying a dark spirit, another one at ten meters away was totally clueless of what happened. Each time when Lin Sheng got a dark spirit bead, he purified it with his holy power into pure soul-power bead and ate it at once. Just like that, his soul power swelled like a balloon. But there was no obvious qualitative change for the moment because of his already massive soul power. He did not give up. There were more dark spirits up ahead. No worries of food shortage. A beam of white light pierced into the back of a lizard-like dark spirit. As soon as it opened its mouth trying to shriek, white me broke out and consumed it instantly, all happened within a short one second. A dark spirit bead appeared and Lin Sheng collected it in his hand. This was the only General-ss dark spirit in this area. It almost managed to scream before it died. The attack strength of a General-ss dark spirit was simr to a Six Winger; it was quick as a sh in its responsiveness. But fear not; Lin Sheng was immune to the soul attack as he had the suppressive power of the holy power. The same could not be said about other, though. The dark spirits would have devoured and made them their ves. Lin Sheng tucked his sword. The space behind him was now all empty; he had wiped out an area of a few hundred meters with no one single dark spirit left. Those farther ahead had long scattered and fled away except some powerful ones. They had grouped together trying to put up a fight with Lin Sheng. As dumb as these dark spirits were, they had nowe to their senses and knew that things were wrong. After witnessing how Lin Sheng had ughtered their own kind like chickens, the dark spirits started to quake in their boots. They tried tomunicate with him, but Lin Sheng sent an energy to his sword, it rattled and cancelled all iing soul waves that tried tomunicate with him. ¡°Vengeful Wail!¡± A humanoid dark spirit struck its fist at Lin Sheng from afar. A st of ck light beam apanied by dragon-like roar whistled towards Lin Sheng. It flew like a cket with a tail, scorching and breaking the ground and vaporizing the water on its path. Even the light in the surroundings was twisting and dancing. ¡°Meaningless struggle!¡± Lin Sheng struck out his sword. A crescent white light cut the ck-grayet in half in the middle. The two deadly beam of energy barely scraped past Lin Sheng on the both sides of him and struck the ground, leaving behind two hideouslyrge pit in the floor. ¡°Not bad not too slow!¡± Before his voice trailed off, Lin Sheng hade beside the humanoid dark spirit, striking his sword in a horizontal direction. While it was still admiring how powerful hiset was, the dark-green, dark energy-sword hadpressed a glorious holy light in it. The move was too quick and too powerful for the dark spirit to react. When the dark spirit came to his senses, it was toote. The humanoid dark spirit vanished in the crisp slice. Lin Sheng held the dark spirit bead in his hand. With the sh of the holy light, the bead disappeared into his palm. ¡°This one was more powerful, at least ten times the strength of other dark spirits with different shapes but same ss.¡± Carrying the sword, he moved in the direction where most of the dark spirits had fled. The habit of the weaker living things was such that they would group together to make them feel safer. So there were more prey avable where the dark spirits went. After absorbing the dark spirit bead, Lin Sheng stomped his feet on the ground, the earth quaked as he hurled forward like a bullet, flying past a vast expanse of dark-red ground. Quickly, he saw a sea of dark spirits up ahead. He could not wait. Storming into the group of dark spirits, he silently burned and turned them into beads. The number of dark spirits here rapidly dwindled. He struck with his sword, one dark spirit at a time. He was burning through his holy power reserve. But in exchange, he got the dark spirit beads, which he could consume and turn them as part of his soul power. He was now well above the limit of Six Wing. His newly enhanced Rock Dragon bloodline had once again experienced a qualitative change. As his bodily defence ability had got an upgrade, his capacity for the holy power expanded. So while he was rapidly exhausting his holy power, his soul was energized. His holy power was converting into soul power and then distributed throughout his body. Chapter 397 - Transcendence: Part 2

    Chapter 397: Transcendence: Part 2

    The continuous increase of soul power was giving Lin Sheng a vague impression that he was approaching a vague boundary, which he had never felt before. As his soul power continued to build up, his perception of that boundary was bing clearer. The feeling was that once he broke that hurdle, he might undergo some wonderful changes. ¡°The extension of the soul is a by-product of soul power, willpower, attention and mental strength. The stronger the soul, the more your perception of mental concentration will improve, and the quicker the increase in holy power and dark energy. This is a virtuous circle.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s body was gradually fading into a pure white line. Killing, ingesting, then next. The cycle repeated, and he was getting better at it. Before he knew it, he had wiped out the entire dark-spirit poption in the area. Unlike previously, things were not so smooth. A silver-gray shadow burst out from the ground and attacked Lin Sheng from the side. He felt like a depressing nket of coldness wrapping up around him. ¡°What is this?¡± Lin Sheng was threatened for the first time. He leaned to his left, dodging the attack of the shadow. The shadow paused on the ground. It then turned around slowly, straightening his back. It was a humanoid monster covered in silver metal. On the back of its neck grew eight metal spikes that looked like spider legs, pointing in all directions. This was not the most eye-catching; what caught Lin Sheng¡¯s attention was the ck chain wrapping around its body. The chain pierced through and out of his flesh and veins, and some were connected to the broken armor on his body. ¡°You broke the rules, outsider!¡± The monster warned in a hoarse voice. ¡°You are going to break the bnce.¡± ¡°What then?¡± Lin Sheng waved the white sword in his hand. In a split second, he hade before the monster, striking down his sword at an angle with mercy. But the monster was no slouch either. It stepped aside, just missing the sword. ¡°So this is your choice?¡± The monster spread out his arms and spun, flinging out the ck chains from his body. The ck chains began to spin by themselves as if they were living things¡ªand actually there were. Without warning, the chains flew toward Lin Sheng at once. ¡°Holy me.¡± Lin Sheng was calm as white mes rose around him. But these were not fires but extremely high concentrations of holy power, which when grouped together it formed a strange appearance. There were few holy power skills Lin Sheng knew. But those he could use were all extremely practical. These skills were an inspiration from the dark energy system. His only real holy power skill was the self-developed holy power disc. No one except him knew about it. The chains moved like a moth to a me; they plunged into it, melted and dripped to the ground as ck liquid. The monster screamed in pain. Three slender dark-red tongues were twisting in its wide-open mouth. ¡°Gravedigger,e here!¡± The monster made a terrible scream as it rolled on the ground. Its back squirmed violently and split as a long thin red line appeared. After a moment of horrible shriek, the back of the monster split apart, and a white-haired old man with a sickle and four smoky arms rose out. ¡°Sickle of Agony.¡± The Gravedigger struck his sickle at Lin Sheng using all his strength. But there were over ten meters between them. For a moment, Lin Sheng thought he was mistaken. But he still stepped back to see how the old man would react. He suddenly saw a sh of light only to find himself under the sickle as if he had moved toward it. This was rather unexpected. He whisked his sword in an upward motion, intercepted the sickle. Easy-peasy. Just when he was about to strike down his sword to cut the ck smoky arms, he again moved a dozen meters back to his original position. So his sword missed the targets, he retracted it back in. ¡°What¡¯s this? So awesome!¡± This was the first for Lin Sheng. It was a teleportation technique performed irregardless of the object¡¯s condition. Pneumaleap. It was the powerful skill of the Gravedigger. Here again, it involves the concept of a spiritual being. It is a concept that belongs to the realm of the dark spirits. Because each evil spirit has its inherent limits, this means that their spiritual position (status and ss) is inherently different. The so-called spiritual position can be simply understood as aparative change in status, position, pros and cons that happen in a short time. Lin Sheng had struck with his sword twice in a row, and both times he returned without sess. Right now, he was a little curious about this ability. He did not believe that this ability is unlimited. Again, he waved his swords and attacked but was still deflected by the shift of position. Lin Sheng frowned. Suddenly, holy power exploded in his sword, shooting out dozens of bright-white beams with half of them striking the unsuspecting Gravedigger. He wailed in pain. Arge chunk of flesh was missing from his waist, purified by the beam of holy power. ¡°You only shift one target at a time? It was useless on a group of radiating beams!¡± Lin Sheng stepped forward and thrust his sword into the Gravedigger¡¯s chest. A pure white light rose from a group of me, pushing back the surrounding red slightly. After a short while, a fist-sized dark-spirit bead emerged from the me. Lin Sheng took it in his hand. His explosive power surpassed that of the Gravedigger by several levels. It was horrifyingly powerful. Lin Sheng could make three or four moves when the Gravedigger made one. This was the factor that set the two apart. ¡°The caretaker is dead! Oh, my god! You killed the caretaker!¡± A dark spirit in the front right far ahead screamed at Lin Sheng in horror. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with its death? Does it matter?¡± Lin Sheng wondered, speaking in Deviltongue. He was getting better and better at it. ¡°The caretaker is the clone of the marshal. You¡¯re dead, man! You¡¯re dead! How dare you kill the marshal!¡± The dark spirit yelled. Lin Sheng shot out a beam of holy light, piercing through the dark spirit as he watched it went up in me, turned into a bead, and fell to the ground. He was surprised after ingesting the dark-spirit bead; the soul power this bead provided was equal to that of two Darkspirit Generals. Had it not been for his explosively repressive holy power, perhaps this would have been a protracted battle. ¡°Next. Let¡¯s keep it going.¡± Lin Sheng had not much expression on his face. He looked into the distance, randomly chose a heading, and flew in that direction. He was unassable wherever he went, killing all dark spirits that stood in his way instantly and collecting their dark-spirit beads. Chapter 398 - Transcendence: Part 3

    Chapter 398: Transcendence: Part 3

    ¡°It¡¯s almost there... It¡¯s almost there...¡± Lin Sheng felt in the back of his head a blur of pure white power was mixing with the dark-golden light of the Rock Dragon¡¯s blood. It came out as a group of white-gold swirls, sticky and spinning. Lin Sheng¡¯s soul power was pouring into this swirl. He once read the breakthrough principle of the Ptinate from a ssic. The Ptinates achieved qualitative change not by umtion but bymunicating with the Eventide through the Tide Gate. The power of the Eventide was endless and immense. It could almost make the Ptinates into the perpetual motion of infinite fire almost in an instant. As a result, with the endless supply of dark energy, the Ptinates could develop various skills of their own unbridled. Also, the opening of the Seagate had caused different qualitative changes in their bodies, producing a variety of exotic abilities. Relying on exotic abilities,bined with endless dark energy, the explosive power of the Ptinates was a disaster disguised in human form. Likewise, Lin Sheng vaguely felt his strength was going through the same process. The power in his bloodline, when mixed with the holy power, was knocking on the door of some unknown power. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that this is not the Seagate. I have too little dark energy in me. I¡¯m not even qualified to take part in it.¡± Lin Sheng could sense the vortex in the back of his brain. His bodily instincts and soul told him that he needed more soul power to generate this vortex. The more the better. ... In the Workstation, Henricqal, the real world. As a ce for neers to work in a unified n, the Workstation was established by Margaret imitating the system on the Olro¡¯s model. Survivors lined up in rows, waiting quietly in front of the counter. The deserted department store building was temporarily requisitioned and turned into a camp for these survivors. ¡°What is your name?¡± The middle-aged man responsible for registration nced at the person in front of him and lowered his head again. ¡°Soya.¡± ¡°Last name?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have ast name.¡± ¡°Do you want to stay or return home?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll stay. I... I have no more home.¡± The person appeared ugly and helpless. ¡°What are you good at? Do you have working experience, academic qualifications, or special skills?¡± ¡°I¡¯m good at... the Seal.¡± The man behind the counter paused, nearly snapped the pen in his hand. The middle-aged Darksider looked up, staring earnestly at the ugly girl. ¡°Is it the Seal of dark energy?¡± ¡°I am a direct bloodline of the Linwei Family, one of the Royal Tripartite of the Seal,¡± the ugly girl said. A thought came to mind as the middle-aged Darksider recalled a message he had read before. Near Miga, monsters and the ck Tide had recently flooded a small country with a long name: Nabkardor-Sallorchelis. The royal family of this small nation seemed to belong to the Seal bloodline, the Linwei Family. The Seal bloodline referred to the powerful families of ancestors who had once produced top Ptinates, and the Linwei Family was one such family. One of their ancestors was once a Ptinate with a powerful ability to Seal, and it had since continued to the present. Since these people only married among themselves, their bloodline was pure and their offspring still had a chance to see this exotic ability in themselves. The Seal was only an auxiliary ability and not very practical, but it had a wide range of uses. Among them was the Ptinates with the Seal, trapping the giant monsters such as the Sunstriders and sealing them in the mysterious realms. So, those who possessed this ability were akin to the great Panda. They were rare and especially cherished. The middle-aged Darksider knew that they could not make the decision. Through themunication device, he reported the situation. ¡°Wait a minute. Someone wille and pick you up right away,¡± the Darksider gently told the ugly girl. ¡°Okay.¡± The girl stood there, appearing calm. She knew she was valuable. But she also knew what her limitations were. Most importantly, she knew she wanted revenge. The ck Tide monsters were not the only ones responsible for the destruction of the Linwei Family; there was also the humans. ... Three dayster in the dark spirit cave of Caerphipo, a rumbling sound filled the space. A sea of dark spirits was rushing toward a white light in the center of the cave as if ocean waves pounded a reef. But they could not even move it a bit. Lin Sheng stood in the sea of dark spirits. With the swing of his sword, white holy light burst out and killed dozens of them instantly. He did not even have time to pick up the dark spirit beads as he was busy dealing with the approaching dark spirits. He had already ravaged through the entire dark spirit cave in the past three days, killing seven or eight thousand, if not ten thousand, dark spirits. Among them were higher-form and General-ss dark spirits. He injected all the soul power he acquired into the white-gold vortex in the back of his head. As if Lin Sheng was too brutal, killing too many dark spirits, or for some other reasons; on the third day, an army of dark spirits suddenly came out of nowhere and began to attack him. Among the army of attackers were many Darkspirit Generals. In desperation, Lin Sheng had no choice but to put on his Armor of Dawn, taking the enemy head-on. ¡°Kill him! Kill!¡± A roar could be hearding from a distance. Someone was directing the dark spirit army. However, Lin Sheng had no intention of taking down the head of the army yet. The soul assault of the dark spirit had little effect on him thanks to his powerful soul. Let alone the physical attack. Under the protection of his Rock Dragon bloodline and the Armor of dawn, he did not even feel a thing. The dark spirits looked like a bunch of miserable moths. They only bet on their sheer number, sacrificing their lives hoping he would somehow fail. Lin Sheng was waving his sword, using the beams of holy power ughtering the dark spirits surrounding him. He asionally found a chance to grab a few dark spirit beads, purify and ingest them to replenish his soul power. Time seemed to be meaningless in the massacre. Dark spirits were dropping like flies. Some formed ritual circles to gather strength to attack Lin Sheng. Some harnessed the elements of heaven and the earth, turning them into toxins and weapons against him. There were even some used illusions, disguising as someone important to Lin Sheng to try to deceive and disable him. All these tactics were useless, though. Lin Sheng just needed to swing his sword and kill the dark spirits en mass. Standing afar were three Darkspirit Marshals, dreading as they stared at Lin Sheng. ¡°He has to pay the price with his life!¡± a marshal that appeared to be a female barked. ¡°he has a suppressive power against us! We cannot defeat him alone!¡± another marshal said. ¡°Then we join forces and use Telluric Doom! If he does not go away, we will make sure that he perishes along with us!¡± the female marshal snapped. Chapter 399 - Communicating: Part 1

    Chapter 399: Communicating: Part 1

    The de in Lin Sheng¡¯s hand was glowing in white. It turned into a hurricane, ravaged the army of dark spirits. Every revolution of the de would kill a few dozen dark spirits. No one could stop him. The dark spirits were the best when it came to soul abilities, but it was useless against Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng had lost count of how many soul powers he had devoured. But he had absorbed the memory fragments of severalmanders in his dreams. So attacking him was akin to attacking all the creatures he had summoned. Like a massive, his soul was connected to all the summoned creatures around him. Any soul assault on the would be shared by everyone. And the attacks of soul illusion, charm and chaos were useless against Lin Sheng. If he were to fall into an illusion, charm or chaos, the soul of his summoned creatures would pull him out of the negative state. Unless someone could drag all his summoned creatures into a state of negativity, this soul ability would not work on him. Suddenly, four dark spirit threads that looked like the root of a tree wrapped around his waist. At the same time, four Darkspirit Generals were releasing Soul Piercers, which turned into gray twisted waves along the threads and exploded on the back of Lin Sheng. Yet, Lin Sheng looked unruffled. He waved his sword, and the white holy power shot out in the shape of a sword, slicing the two Darkspirit Generals in half. As he moved forward, one step at a time, the other dark spirits lunged at him. ¡°He is wounded! Let¡¯s kill him!¡± The dark spirits of different shapes charged at him, surrounding him by forming arge red sphere around him. The remaining two Darkspirit Generals lifted their hands with skull-like ck smoke rising from their bodies. ¡°Kill him!¡± The two lunged out with their bodies turning as ck as ink, dying the dark spirit sphere that shrouded Lin Sheng ck. The dark spirits became more violent, their soul power more powerful. Every single dark spirit on the battlefield was pressing on Lin Sheng. ¡°Is he dead yet?¡± A Darkspirit Marshal took a closer look. ¡°No. It won¡¯t be that easy. If it were that simple, this guy wouldn¡¯t havee this far,¡± another Darkspirit Marshal muttered. ¡°But with so many dark spirits piling up on him, coupled with the pollution, even you and me¡ª¡± A loud boom that sounded like a bomb explosion interrupted him. The massive sphere of dark spirits shattered, and tons of their fragments were burning in the air and turning into the most rudimentary dark spirit beads. Lin Sheng stood unscathed in the center of all this, the dark-spirit sword that he formed impromptu was still in his hand. ¡°Anyone else?¡± He opened his hand. Threads of dark energy flew out, collected the dark spirit beads from the ground, and brought them back onto his palm. As his holy power shed, Lin Sheng purified the dark spirit beads and consumed them. This enabled him to replenish his holy power, which was half depleted. He then looked into the distance and saw three individuals that differed totally from the rest. At over three meters tall with a face, they were giants with only a red body. Their skin had a weird and twisted pattern. Their facescked features. Down on their shoulders, there were small eyes on each side. Lin Sheng¡¯s rough estimation was that there were about thirty of them. ¡°So, are all of you next?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes were affixed on them while he purified and ingested the dark spirit beads. ¡°Outsiders, how dare you break the rules we have made! It¡¯s still not toote if you leave now. Otherwise...¡± A Darkspirit Marshal sneered. Unfortunately, his threat was weak. Compared with the dark spirit beads scattered on the ground, the three looked even more vulnerable. ¡°There is no need to talk to him. Just do it.¡± The other two Darkspirit Marshals shed red as weird masks with horizontal stripes appeared on their faces. An eye at the center of the mask was rolling like that of a living creature. There was nothing the talking Darkspirit Marshal could do but toe the line. It also summoned a mask onto its face and stood with his mates. The masks significantly boosted their strength and consciousness. They could even extract the soul power from the surrounding air with ease. ¡°Kill him!¡± The three marshals charged at Lin Sheng from different directions. But halfway, they disappeared into the ground. It happened almost instantaneously. Following that, a rumbling sound came as three giant bloody mud giants rose from the earth. Standing at over five meters tall, they struck their hands at Lin Sheng. ¡°Possessed non-living things?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He knew that dark spirits could possess living things. But he had never thought they could even do that to dirt. If they were to enter the real world, they would take to the ability like a duck to water; they could practically possess anything. If that happened, catching them would be very difficult. There was a vast difference in their strength before and after possession. Lin Sheng raised his long sword and struck the three handsing down on him. The sword collided with the three red giant hands in the air before him. They stayed there for a while before an explosion broke out. The sword light shattered while blood-like mud began to ooze out from the giant hands. They backed away. During the engagement, Lin Sheng felt an invisible soul assaulting in from all directions. If not for his high resistance to soul attack, he would have been dead. No other apex Six Wingers would withstand this assault. ¡°Kill him!¡± The three mud giants charged at him again. Their wounds had healed. Now, Lin Sheng clenched his sword with both hands, his body armor crackling, and his body arching. As his Rock Dragon bloodline rose, a pair of half-meter-long ck horns grew on his head. ¡°Die!¡± He struck his sword in a horizontal move and shed with the mud giants again. The earth under his feet cracked under the impact force. His long ck hair fluttered in the wind behind him. Against the tremendous strength, the three mud giants did not have any advantage over him. They roared in anger. Purple eyes cracked open on the body of one of the first mud giants. The eyes stared at Lin Sheng, trying to confuse him. Barbs grew on the second mud giant and wrapped around its body like armor. The third mud giant opened his mouth, shooting out a beam of dark light at Lin Sheng. White holy light lit up on his hand, just in time to intercept the dark light beam. The other two mud giants charged forward and engaged in close-quartersbat with Lin Sheng. Blocking the dark light beam with one hand and fighting the other two giants with his sword in the other, Lin Sheng was sort of battling on two fronts. Despite their fierce pounding, the two giants could not get the slightest advantage¡ªif anything, they were being suppressed. Chapter 400 - Communicating: Part 2

    Chapter 400: Communicating: Part 2

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng¡¯s muscr body held a thin de, yet he could continuously unleash powerful, brutal shes one after another. The three mud giants could withstand the attack at first, butter on, they have exhausted every trick up their sleeves, and even as a Darkspirit Marshal, his specialty was soul-based spells. Against Lin Sheng, he was totally shackled. The only method left was to possess an inert or dead object for a temporary strength boost. However, even that was not effective against Lin Sheng as thebined power of the three mud giants were still less than his total. ¡°We cannot go on like this, we¡¯ll be grounded down!¡± Within one of the mud giants, the Darkspirit Marshal said in a panic. ¡°Then let¡¯s do it, the Ritual of Telluric Doom!¡± ¡°Everything is already prepared, we only need an opportunity...¡± The three mud giants were slowly pushed back by Lin Sheng¡¯s relentless shes. Countless rents appeared on their massive frame, and some cuts were even deep enough to lop them in half. Fortuitously, the mud giant was extremely potent, or else they would not have been able to withstand the battle of attrition for so long. Soon, the three mud giants started to surround Lin Sheng, as they attacked from three different angles. The number of bizarre runes on their body suddenly increased as the pressure in the air grew. Lin Sheng sensed the change, and by instinct, just as the three mud giant¡¯s bizarre aura was about to reach climax, he darted back hard as he unleashed all of his holy power toward them. *Bam bam bam!!!* The rampaging holy power turned into streaks of pure white beams as they ran rampant in all directions. The violent holy power smashed headfirst into the mud giants and sted their bodies into a smoking husk as the bizarre aura prematurely exploded. *Hummm!!!* A brown pyramidal screen appeared in the middle of the three mud giants and locked Lin Sheng within. ¡°Die, you monster! Telluric Doom!!¡± One of the mud giants roared as its soul like up like mes and charged toward the pyramid. Not only him, the other two Darkspirit Marshal¡¯s mud giants too did the same as their bodies were engulfed in mes and surged toward the pyramid. With the soulme feeding it, the strength of the pyramid grew exponentially while it shrunk continuously, seemingly trying to crush Lin Sheng within. Lin Sheng¡¯s holy power was unleashed as a white beam shot out of his body and filled the entire pyramidal space within. The holy power was endless, and with every passing moment, its potency grew. Due to the lockdown, all of the originally scattered holy power was forcibly directed into the space inside the triangle. Following the surge of holy power, the pyramid was starting to destabilize. At that moment, the location where Lin Sheng stood, the holy power¡¯s potency had already reach the level of a sea of white mist. With its powerful repent and corrosive nature, the holy power started to chew deep into the pyramid¡¯s internal structure. As the holy power continued to flood the inside of the pyramid, it was at its brink. The pyramid¡¯s shrinking suddenly shuddered as cracks appeared all over. The holy power did not force the pyramid open by brute force, rather it used its extremely potent corrosive ability to seep into and purify the internal structure of the pyramid. ¡°Noooo!!!¡± The three Darkspirit Marshals connected to the pyramid roared in fury as they infused it with thest of their strength. The pyramid flickered nonstop as the powerful forces within roiled, and cracks started appearing once again. More and more cracks appeared, and it soon engulfed the entire pyramid. *Baammm!!* A thunderpter, Lin Sheng walked out of it. The armor on his shoulder was mostly destroyed, and could simplye apart with a gentle prod. The dark power sword in his hand too was gone. This was the final all-in assault by the three Marshals, and Lin Sheng had noticed it sooner than expected as he used his holy power to blow everything up. The result was his shoulder armor being sted into pieces. ¡°Not bad, not bad. Sadly, you picked the wrong move.¡± Lin Sheng walked to the front of one of the mud giants as another dark power de formed in his arm as he stabbed. The mud giant had long lost all of its strength and had no means to defend itself. Its chest was simply pierced through, and its heart was destroyed. The Darkspirit Marshal within its heart too was in despair and quickly turned into a ck-red bead the size of a fist after it was stabbed. The mud giant slowly disintegrated and Lin Sheng picked the bead up from the ground as his hand radiated in holy light, purifying the bead. A momentter, Lin Sheng turned around and took out the other two Darkspirit Marshals inside the remaining two mud giants. He had gotten a total of three ck-red beads. Looking around at the vastness around him, there were no more dark spirits. So Lin Sheng decided to just sit down, and he started to absorb the dark spirit beads in his hand. These three beads were iparable to other dark spirit beads in terms of quality or quantity. After purifying them, Lin Sheng started to absorb them at the same time, he also collected every single dark spirit bead on the battlefield. A torrent of souls entered the tinum vortex at the back of his mind. He then simply sat down on the battlefield and started his breakthrough. The thousands of dark spirit beads around him were his reward this time around, not to mention the three distinct beads as well. Lin Sheng consumed the souls in a frenzy and his total volume increased like a pumped-up balloon. Slowly, with the increase of the souls, Lin Sheng could feel that he was close to his limit. Every living soul has a limit, so does any materials, as every structure has its limit. In essence, a soul itself also has a limit. After consuming arge number of soul fragments, Lin Sheng¡¯s soul was extremely powerful now, and now, with another torrent of souls crashing against it, the quality of his soul increased even more. That was its limit. ¡°For me to be able to absorb so many souls is already thanks to the mutation of the Crag Dragon blood. Normal people would never be able to reach this stage.¡± Lin Sheng was very clear on this. For his to breakthrough now, he needed to transform all of the souls he had from mere volume into high-quality ones. To achieve that, he would need a very high level of knowledge of the structure and know-how of souls. Lin Shengcked the prerequisite knowledge, as he had only managed to gain knowledge of the basic theory from the cleric. But since he got there and made contact with arge number of souls, he started to gain insight into the power of souls. Even so, Lin Sheng dared not take foolhardy risks when he was just about to break through.¡± ¡°My soul is not as strong as my body, and it¡¯ll be nothing but trouble if things were to go wrong. Even if it was just a wound, it will affect me greatly. Before I find any tomes on this, I better not take any unnecessary risks.¡± Lin Sheng suppressed his urge to simply experiment. There were barely any soul beads left on the ground and Lin Sheng only picked up the threergest Darkspirit Marshal soul beads as he stood up. ¡°The dark spirits are masters of soul maniption, perhaps I could learn from them the knowledge of the soul.¡± He suddenly thought of that. While the Darkspirit Marshals had been vanquished, they were not the only strong ones in this cavern. Lin Sheng pressed on as the blood-rednd seemed to be endless, but from the mouths of a captured spirit, Lin Sheng knew that there was an end to thisnd. Dark spirits were not monsters without minds of their own. Conversely, they would trade with otherworldlings through the gaps of the world, for knowledge and powers to empower themselves. However, what Lin Sheng got wrong was, not all dark spirits were well-learned or have mastery of many skills. Rather, every dark spirit had a specialty skill or knowledge. During the summoning ritual through the dimensional gap, they would determine what kind of knowledge a summoner requires through their mental fluctuations. And then the appropriate dark spirit would step forward and answer the call, trading part of its powers to the being on the other side. These powers would drain the life or spirit of the user, and part of the consumption was food as well as a reward for the dark spirit to allow them to grow stronger. Lin Sheng had something in mind after getting to know of this process upon interrogating a few dark spirits. Chapter 401 - Communicating: Part 3

    Chapter 401: Communicating: Part 3

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Ugff!!¡± Lin Sheng stabbed his de into the body of a dark spirit and twisted the de. Amidst a chilling scream, the dark spirit turned into ash as a dark spirit bead dropped onto the ground. Picking up the dark spirit bead, Lin Sheng sat on the ground. He was right in the middle of a sea of hills, and all around him were dark spirit beads. There was a rather considerable tribe of dark spirits in the area. Lin Sheng had originally thought that they were all independent units. But here, Lin Sheng had even realized that dark spirits actually have names. ¡°Come out.¡± Lin Sheng sat with his eyes closed on the hill, as he suddenly spoke in Deviltongue. It was all quiet as a mighty dark red warrior in lightning-rune armor slowly walked up the hill. ¡°Djall Demonhand, here to meet you.¡± The dark spirit with the look of a warrior radiated a strong soul aura. And of all of the dark spirits that Lin Sheng had encountered so far, only the three Darkspirit Generals could fight against this one. And the key thing was, this was the first one that did not attack him the moment it saw him. Even if thetter was just a dark spirit, it piqued Lin Sheng¡¯s interest. ¡°You¡¯re not afraid of me?¡± Lin Sheng asked with interest. His power and his attributes countered any dark spirit whole, plus his holy power made all of the dark spirits his food. So every dark spirit who had sen him either attacked him in a suicidal frenzy or simply looked on from afar in fear. The dark spirit before him actually had the courage to meet him by himself, and that made Lin Sheng curious. The dark spirit warrior called Djall Demonhand slowly sat down. ¡°My tribe, the Demonhand lives nearby, and if things were to go as it is, it¡¯s on the path you must take. ¡°If I don¡¯t do anything, perhaps this will be the day that my tribe and I meet our end. And I have no wish for that to happen.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re the chieftain of the Demonhand Tribe?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°Yes, Sir. In return for you sparing us, I Djall Demonhand, chieftain of the Demonhand is willing to serve you, and be a part of your strength.¡± The dark spirit warrior lowered his head. Servitude? The atmosphere suddenly turned sullen. This was the first time Lin Sheng saw a brave-enough dark spirit who was willing to talk terms with him. The dark spirit before him had long surpassed the level of a General, but still below a Marshal. If he were to take him in, he would obtain a rather useful aide. Lin Sheng was on the lookout for aplete dark spirit training regime, and he needed to find out how the dark spirits allow their souls to break through and to morph. ¡°Interesting.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°How sure were you that I wouldn¡¯t have just in you the moment you appeared?¡± ¡°I was not,¡± Djall Demonhand said with a low rumble. ¡°I was taking a gamble, a gamble with fate.¡± A gamble with fate? Lin Sheng could not help butugh. His soul now had already reached the limit of his body, and what followed was the increase of holy and dark powers within him. The power of his soul, alongside his dark and holy powers, were mixed within hisughter, and theughter created a powerful shockwave as it sent chills across Djall¡¯s entire body as his blood roiled. Only after a while did Lin Sheng stoppedughing. ¡°I want all of your tribe¡¯s knowledge of your training methods, I want to know how a dark spirit grows and evolves.¡± ¡°It will be my honor, Milord.¡± Djall Demonhand heaved a sigh of relief, as he realized that the former was willing to take him under his wing. In fact, he had no ns to go back alive uponing here. The three Darkspirit Marshals had perished in their fight against him, so a mere General like him was definitely dead meat. ¡°Come with me, Milord.¡± He got up and led the way as Lin Sheng followed closely behind. The two got down the hill, and not too longter, they arrived at another giant hill. At the bottom of the hill was a medium-sized stone gate. Djall pushed open the stone gate and led Lin Sheng in. Behind the door was a wide pathway decorated with all sorts of reliefs. All of the reliefs were images of all sorts of bizarre dark spirit shapes, and the engravings were particrly intricate. ¡°This is the Demonhand¡¯s great library.¡± Djall Demonhand brought Lin Sheng to a circr room. All along the walls were numerous shelves and on them were plenty of books. ¡°Milord, the dark spirit training method you require, we, the Demonhand have collected three different types,¡± Djall exined. He then quickly pointed out the locations of the three books. ¡°The Grandspecter system, the Vilegheist system, and the Arcanespirit system.¡± Lin Sheng went over and picked a book from the Grandspecter system. In it was steps on how a dark spirit could improve themselves step by step in Deviltongue. This system was mainly on how to consume other dark spirits, but what Lin Sheng was concerned about was the final evolution and breakthrough the limit. He then flipped to the end of it, toward the part on breaking through the General or Marshal level. Among the dark spirit hierarchy, there was a marshal above the general, and that was the being in which the soul truly evolved. If not for his natural suppressive abilities and the limitless strength of his soul plus a horde of underlings as a shield, he would have been taken out by a Darkspirit General. A dark spirit¡¯s ability was mostly focused on the power of the soul, and if it was being shackled, then the dark spirit was rendered harmless. In fact, Lin Sheng had taken advantage of the two Ptinates within him, the Night Lord and Tenko Kasumi. Those two had mostly taken on every soul damage Lin Sheng had received. Very quickly, Lin Sheng had reached the part on the soul¡¯s evolution, achieving a breakthrough, and bes a General. ¡°...Being a General requires one to first understand a concept. ¡°Everything in this world, every life, every power, and every material all has its own Rimtide. ¡°The Rimtide is located in a faraway ce beyond the knowledge of anyone within countless dimensions and countless universes. It is like the Lavatide that the Stone Giantsmunicated with, or the Pyretide of the melords, or the Sylvantide of the Sylphs. ¡°Be it any power, there is a ce where the extremes of powers converge. There is a myriad of things in the world, and everything has its own Rimtide. ¡°This sea of pure power is the ce to reach. ¡°So, we dark spirits need tomunicate with our own Soultide ¡° At the bottom of it was a series of necessary symbols needed to connect to the Soultide, and the aura and frequency required as well. Communicating with a Rimtide located in a faraway location was something every existence would need to take much care of. More importantly, Lin Sheng had seen the visages of the Ptinates here. The Dark power system was obviouslymunicating with the Eventide. Now, aside from the Eventide, there was another method tomunicate with the Rimtide before him. The Soultide... It sounded like it was a direction and channel better suited for both dark and holy powerspared to the Eventide. As both holy and dark powers were extensions of the soul, the Soultide was specially chosen by the dark spirits as the best conduit for the soul system. After reading all of the details, Lin Sheng decided to choose the Soultide as the direction of his breakthrough evolution. He then quickly read through the other two systems and found the details inside were almost the same. Darkspirits Generals at this level could faintlymunicate with a bit of the breath of the Soultide, and use it to strengthen themselves. On this matter, the Soultide was much stronger than the Eventide. Based on the tome, the Rimtide had distinctions in distance and strength, and one would need to choose the most suitable Rimtide as their own direction. Chapter 402 - Breakthrough: Part 1

    Chapter 402: Breakthrough: Part 1

    As to how to connect to the Soultide, it was clearly written in the tome. With Djall¡¯s help, Lin Sheng quickly collected all of the details of themunion ritual and started to test it out. The location and materials were avable, and the only thing he needed to consider now was safety. He, of course, could not rely on the Demonhand n that had just submitted to him. So Lin Sheng decided to find a gap with the domain of the Demonhand before using the soul link to get Tenko Kasumi to perform a ritual on the other side, to open a spirit gate. After returning to the research center through the spirit gate, Lin Sheng started to experiment with the Soultidemunion within the istion chamber. *Huff!* An orange candle slowly lit up, one after another, surrounding the triangr ritual matrix. All of the candles were on the nodes within the matrix. Oddly enough, of the ten candles, each one had a different me. Some were curved, some were straight, and some were even coiled. When arrayed out, they looked like a series of hymnal wordings. Lin Sheng stood before the candles as he used his dark power to manipte all of the mes into the shapes he needed. Over at the door behind him, two crimson-armored warriors carefully brought in living purple-red nts one after another. These nts may look no different than your usual flowers, but every one of them was a powerful Three-winged Gluttonboom. These Gluttonblooms had mostly been destroyed by the patrol team, with the remaining few were beaten up to the brink of death before being processed and brought over here. The crimson-armored warriors carefully ced the Gluttonblooms that had shrunk at least ten-fold smaller to the edge of the ritual With a salute to Lin Shengter, they turned and left the room. Following that, Tenko Kasumi carried a shining fist-sized light orb into the room. ¡°The heart of an Axian Thunder Serpent. Catch.¡± She threw the light orb toward Lin Sheng. ¡°Thanks.¡± Lin Sheng kept it short. He knew that the Axian Thunder Serpent was a very mysterious six-wing beast, and among the various monsters that had appeared, the thunder serpent could im a spot at the apex position. The heart of this beast had the special attribute to enhance a ritual and was one of the best ingredients to increase the sess probability of a ritual. Soon, all kinds of ingredients were sent into the room through various channels to fuel the ritual. The next day, all of the preparatory works were done. Lin Sheng stood in the middle of the ritual as the dark and holy power within his body slowly started to churn. A white and a green me started burning all over his body as they fused with each other. And very quickly the green mes were being swallowed whole by the white mes, leaving it burning even brighter. This showed that Lin Sheng¡¯s training of his dark powers was meant to stimte the growth of his holy power. After the white mes had burned for some time, Lin Sheng suddenly growled. ¡°Commence the ritual.¡± *Baamm!!* A faint red light suddenly erupted all around the ritual matrix as a massive electric current rose from the ground into the matrix, and at the same time, each of the ritual materials ced beforehand started reacting as well. Within a blink of an eye, all of the rituals turned into dust and converged over Lin Sheng¡¯s head into a spinning ck orb. ¡°Let¡¯s start.¡± Lin Sheng looked at the ck orb above his head, and with a calm face, he slowly closed his eyes as his spirit started to merge with the ck orb in the air. The orb was the true core of this ritual, and its usage was to allow the caster¡¯s spiritual awareness to increase by a hundredfold. Every spirit had its own attributes, like strength, speed, perception. Awareness was one of the attributes, and this ritual was akin to installing a massive sensory amplifier to the soul. At that moment, materials after materials rapidly burned at every corner of the ritual as they started an energy cirction that was different from the main matrix. This engraved secondary matrix was purposely made to provide direction to Lin Sheng once he had merged into the matrix. Its use was to tell Lin Sheng where the Soultide was to his enhanced spiritual awareness. With the passage of time, the ck orb above Lin Sheng¡¯s head quickly shrunk. If the basketball-sized ck orb totally disappears, that meant that Lin Sheng¡¯s attempt to open the Tidal Gate, and to connect with the Soultide had totally failed. At that moment, however, Lin Sheng¡¯s spirit was already following the enhanced guidance of the matrix toward the direction as he coalesced his power, and was ready to unleash it all in a single go. ... Red, white, yellow, green. Four different colors quickly spun around before Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes like a kaleidoscope. The four of these colors represent the four different type of powers Lin Sheng have at the moment. White denoted holy power, yellow for the dragon blood, green for the dark powers, and red, on the other hand, denoted his most basic form as a human. All of the powers with different colors burned within Lin Sheng¡¯s body as they tried to guide him in his quest to rush to the direction of his own Rimtide. However, the guidance was, in fact, very weak, and if any interruptions were to happen, he could totally lose his way. If he were to solely use his power as a guidance, the one that he finds would usually be the closest one. Such Rimtides had the advantage of location as they could simply forcibly pull anyone attempting the breakthrough via sheer gravitational pull. So, if one were topare the strengths and weaknesses, they were far less effective than finding a Rimtide that was best suited to a person. So, Lin Sheng sharpened his focus as he tossed everything in his mind back. This was the key moment where he breaks through to the level of the Ptinate, and he could not afford any distractions. He sensed that the power of the ritual around him had a very gentle pull in it. And very quickly, he focused his mind as he amplified the guidance of the ritual, and making the faint pull clear. ¡°That way!¡± *Hiss!!!* Lin Sheng heard a weird noise as the colors before him disappeared, and in ce of them was a dimension with a sea of cracked ss. He looked down and saw himself sitting still in the middle of the ritual, as everything around him had turned into ck, white, or gray. Only the red rift that was writhing outside the ritual was the only other color there. Very quickly, Lin Sheng found the gap the matrix had guided him to. Without any hesitation, he controlled his spirit and turned it into a stream of gray light as he charged into the gap. He had to be fast, or else the gap¡¯s position would change, and the ck orb above him would be consumed as well. His time was limited. Within the gap, it was an endless passageway painted in blood red. The passageway was at times wide, at times narrow, sometimes bright, and sometimes dim. But with the propulsion provided by the matrix, Lin Sheng¡¯s speed was extremely quick. Soon, his soul was slowly losing control of the speed as it started to elongate or shorten under the power of the matrix as he adapted to the various sizes of the tunnel. At the same time, he was gaining even more speed. The four powers within his soul were now unleashed with Lin Sheng¡¯s control at that very instant, increasing the speed of his soul to a whole new level. This was the normal condition when a Ptinate breaks through. Using the power of the ritual alongside his own powers, and to unleash it in an instant, propelling the soul breaking through to the maximum velocity to find the Eventide as fast as possible. Chapter 403 - Breakthrough: Part 2

    Chapter 403: Breakthrough: Part 2

    In reality, the Ptinates of the Darkside Realm had not much choice. The only Rimtide they could choose was the Eventide. The Eventide was, in fact, a sea of dark power, and was only suitable for those who practiced dark powers. That led to only those wielding dark powers to ascend to the level of the Ptinates in this world. It was not that other systems were beyond reach, rather, humans only mastered the location of one, the Eventide. However, Lin Sheng was different. The Rimtide that he had identified and mastered, was a much more powerful Soultide. At that moment, he had elerated to a terrifying limit. This was the very limit of the soul, and any faster, his soul would copse upon itself due to the pressure. He maintained that extreme speed for a good ten minutes, and finally Lin Sheng felt like he had just sted out of midsummer straight into a cool sea. His body was parched, and just as he felt like he was about to ignite in mes, he suddenly crashed into a vast, cool, and clear ocean. The sensation was beyond words. He tried to activate his spiritual senses to see what his surrounding was like. How would a Rimtide like the Soultide look like? There were no records of this by the dark spirits, and that piqued Lin Sheng¡¯s interest. Not long after, the holy power within Lin Sheng started to roil. The moment the three powers burnt out, the holy powers within him still had power and kept on burning, generating a faint strength that held Lin Sheng on. At the same time, it also allowed him to ¡®see¡¯ his surroundings. He was floating in the middle of a vast, azure sea. Beneath him were countless densely packed vents not unlike a honeb, and white smoke was vented out from time to time. All around him, be it his direct front, back, left or right, all four sides each had an elliptical channel glowing in silver light. A massive amount of the seawater was being gorged upon the channels. ¡°No... this is not seawater!¡± Lin Sheng suddenly realized. ¡°This seawater-like liquid... These are actually souls!¡± ¡°To have this amount of souls... Unbelievable!¡± Seems like I have seeded in opening the Tidal Gate and connected to the Soultide??!¡± Lin Sheng was ted. The so-called opening of the Tidal Gate was actually a test if one¡¯s life could withstand the extreme speed and persist until they find a Rimtide. Most lives would never be able to withstand such arge consumption of lifeforce. They would simply disintegrate along the path as their souls turned to dust andpletely disappeared. It was only due to Lin Sheng having consumed so much soul, and had trained his holy powers to condense the pure power of souls that he survived this harrowing experience. ¡°Then, after entering the Soultide, and based on the steps on the dark spirit tome, I need to create a permanent, personal Tidal Gate of my own to connect with the Tidal Gate deep in my soul. ¡°Both of the Tidal Gates willmunicate with one another to form a permanent channel, only then I could call upon the support of the Soultide, and truly step into the ranks of the Ptinates. The method on how to establish the connection quickly shed through Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. He pondered for a bit as he slowly moved toward the edge, changed into a different position before holding his hand out. At that moment, he was shapeless, but he had imagined himself to still bear the human form, and so that¡¯s why he took on said form. At the same time, a piece of flesh automatically detached from the back of his hand, and under Lin Sheng¡¯s control floated into the sea of souls. ¡°First I need to leave a marker, and choose a part of my soul as part of the necessary price.¡± Lin Sheng was calm. ¡°Next it was to use my inner strength to establish the revolving ritual.¡± The Revolving Ritual was a necessary step to step into the realm of the Ptinates. It was a special ritual used to stabilize themunication between the Tidal Gates after entering the Rimtide. Lin Sheng relied upon the burning holy power within his body as he controlled his finger and drew a faint red line around that detached spirit flesh. These thin red lines constantly floated around the small piece of spirit flesh and formed into a simple elliptical ritual matrix. But this was only the first one as Lin Sheng continued to outline more and more thin lines. Soon, a second matrix was constructed on the opposite side of the first spirit flesh. Then came the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth... The more connecting Tidal Gate ritual was construction, the bigger and stronger the Tidal Gate was. Simultaneously, the amount of support he could get from the Soultide was more and more powerful. Lin Sheng¡¯s advantage in the titanic amount of souls he had was made manifest. As soon as the holy powers within him were exhausted, his own soul was used to sustain the ritual. His soul was so tremendous that it was at least ten timesrger than an ordinary Ptinate. Most could only draw out one or two Tidal Gate rituals, but Lin Sheng drew fifty in a single go, and only rest after he had made it a round number, as he preserved some power to deal with any unexpected situations. Fifty ritual matrixes surrounded the small spirit flesh and looked it they were wrapping it into a ball of light. However, the surface of this ball of light wasposed out of small red ritual matrixes. ¡°It¡¯s time to go back now...¡± Lin Sheng heaved a sigh of relief as he looked around. He had no idea if he could have a second chance to return to this mysterious Soultide. This was the ce were all souls dwelled, a veritable ocean of souls. He had no idea what those four channels were as well. Perhaps he would look into it in the future if the opportunity presented itself. As he thought of those, Lin Sheng rxed the strength of the burning of his soul and allowed the power beneath him to draw him toward a channel that had been temporarily constructed. There was a web of vast and wide honeb beneath him, and this was the various channels that connected to the Soultide. Lin Sheng¡¯s soul fell rapidly, seemingly descending without end. The moment Lin Sheng¡¯s soul was about to leave the Soultide and enter the channel, a strange impulse suddenly surged into Lin Sheng¡¯s mind, and the impulse seemed to be asking something to the very core of his soul. ¡°Your wish... ¡°My wish?¡± Lin Sheng paused for a moment. ¡°Safety, absolute safety!¡± All of a sudden, that impulse disappeared as everything returned to calm. Lin Sheng¡¯s soul had been half-spent, as he started to elerate downwards under the traction force as he made his way back. The distance he had traveled was just too great, and if not for the strength of his soul, he probably would not have enough left to return. It was difficult to go there, but returning was extremely easy. With a ritual matrix as a guide and arge number of subordinates as markers, Lin Sheng only took one-third of the time to return. *Hah!* Within the istion chamber, Lin Sheng who was sitting inside a ritual matrix with a faint red light suddenly shuddered as a silver scar suddenly appeared at the back of his right hand. The entire ritual slowly came to a stop, before shaking suddenly and ceasedpletely. *Hiss...* Green smoke was emitted from some points of the matrix as it was clearly at itsst legs as the ck orb above Lin Sheng¡¯s head had already been exhausted who knows when ago. Tenko Kasumi walked in from the istion room door, as her crimson eyes looked at Lin Sheng in a burning gaze. ¡°Congrattions, you¡¯ve made it!¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Lin Sheng stood up and felt a little weak. ¡°I¡¯ve just had a breakthrough, and I need more time to reinforce it. I¡¯ll only be able to make contact with the Tidal Gate after recovering.¡± While he had already established stable Tidal Gates on both sides, but to open a channel between two Tidal Gates required arge amount of power in reserve. With two points connected, though, Lin Sheng only needed to use a small amount of soul thread to cross over and link the two sides together. The moment the two sides were linked, the Tidal Gate over on the Soultide would open for the first time, and the endless surge of soul power would flow down under the guidance of the soul thread and permanently open up the lengthy channel. ¡°Go and get some rest. We¡¯ll test it outter.¡± Tenko Kasumi¡¯s lips did not move as she spoke using soullink. ¡°Okay!¡± Lin Sheng agreed readily. Chapter 404 - Breakthrough: Part 3

    Chapter 404: Breakthrough: Part 3

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Three dayster. The Caerphabor Darkspirit Cavern. Djall Demonhand sat quietly on the chair outside the library. Aside from him, there were other dark spirit guards standing guard in the passageway outside the room. Not too longter, a rip in the air was heard from the library. Djall Demonhand looked up and quickly stood up. Amid the rumbling, the library door opened slowly as Lin Sheng casually made his way out of it. He seemed to be much different than before, as his body seemed to be glowing with white light, and his temperament and posture seemed much more indifferent than before. ¡°So return location was here again?¡± Lin Sheng looked at his surroundings to confirm that he was still within the Demonhand tribe¡¯s great library. He turned his gaze around and saw Djall Demonhand guarding the entrance. ¡°How long has it been since I left?¡± he asked directly. ¡°Master, it had been twenty carmine and sable cycles.¡± The Carmine-Sable Cycles was a special timekeeping method of the dark spirit cavern. There was no sun or moon there, only day and night. The day was carmine, while the night was the sable veil. Twenty cycles meant that twenty days had passed, but for Lin Sheng, only three days had passed in reality. ¡°I had not paid attention to this earlier, but time seems to flow faster here, much faster than reality. It had only been three days in the real world, but twenty days had passed here.¡± ¡°And that means, staying here for seven to eight days would mean that only one day had passed in reality. A good deal!¡± Lin Sheng was satisfied. ¡°All right, tell me, which part of the Caerphabor Cavern I¡¯ve yet to clear out?¡± he tly asked. ¡°There¡¯s onest ce, but Milord there is a marshal. I had originally intended to take over thatnd for you, Master, but...¡± Djall Demonhand said as he lowered his head in shame. Lin Sheng guessed that this person had rushed over there with his name on the banner, only for a Darkspirit Marshal to appear, and not giving him any face. So, he was beaten up without any hesitation. ¡°Bring me there.¡± Lin Sheng cut the nonsense short. He had the right to cut to the chase now. Djall Demonhand dared not to say anything more, and quickly send the order down using spirit magic before leading Lin Sheng away from the library back to the surface. By the time they had reached the surface, three Darkspirit Generals alongside hundreds of elite dark spirits had been waiting in formation. These were the foundation of the Demonhand tribe, and now they were also the foundation of Lin Sheng¡¯s own domain. ¡°Master, please get on the horse. This is a mount we have prepared for you, it is Orga the Gorefiend.¡± 1Djall Demonhand brought Lin Sheng a massive horse with a blood-like dark red body. The giant horse seemed to be a type of dark spirit as it was covered in thick, menacing, razor-sharp armor. From afar, the beast looked like it was covered from head to hoof in armor. The armor was thick, and there were barbs, spikes and des all over its body. It did not even look like a horse, and more like a terrifying war elephant! Orga the Gorefiend quickly walked toward Lin Sheng¡¯s front. It was calm, but its scarlet eyes were like a pair of searchlights as it calmly looked at Lin Sheng. ¡°Orga the Gorefiend? That name¡¯s too long. You shall be called the Gorefiend from now on.¡± Lin Sheng gently reached out and stroke the mane of the beast-like warhorse. Thetter did not mind. It was strong, silent, like a silent active volcano that could unleash a terrifying amount of power at any moment. Lin Sheng climbed up the saddle. While this was his first time riding a horse, his strong control over his body allowed him to stabilize himself very quickly, as he firmly sat on the back of the horse like a mountain. Djall Demonhand let out a sigh of relief behind them. He had after all spent a lot of effort to convince this horse. Orga the Gorefiend was a great dark spirit of the same level as him, but the Gorefiend had been looking for a strong person in order to regain its former glory as a warhorse, unrivaled while it galloped across the battlefield. Yet, it had never found a worthy person to be its rider. While it had found a few strong ones, most of their forms did not require amount. Until Lin Sheng appeared out of nowhere. Hence, Djall Demonhand had tried all methods and finally thought of the best gift that suits a humanoid creature like Lin Sheng best. He then brought his men toward the Gorewood and after a brutal battle, finally convinced Orga the Gorefiend and made thetter believe that there was a person of unprecedented strength here. That resulted in the current situation. The Gorefiend had acknowledged Lin Sheng, and Lin Sheng too had taken a liking to the Gorefiend and was even more satisfied with the Demonhand tribe. It was a win-win situation. At this very moment, the entire Demonhand tribe, under the leadership of their chieftain, Djall Demonhand moved out toward thest dark spirit domain in the cavern, the ck Gear Tower. It was the tallest building the Caerphabor Cavern, and it was also the only building there. At the same time, it was also the oldestndmark of the entire cavern. After arriving, Lin Sheng and the rest stood about hundreds of meters away as they looked at the tower. The tower was hexagonal and was ck throughout. The bottom was wider as it spiraled and tapered toward the top. ¡°We dark spirits have extraordinary knowledge and power, yet we were never keen to construct buildings,¡± Djall Demonhand said as he looked at the ck Gear Tower with aplicated gaze as he exined. ¡°It¡¯s because the dark spirit world will undergo a massive tectonic movement every once in a while, and when this happens, thend will quake and roil, and every building will be damaged or copse. So, we can only protect a small number of buildings as storage space.¡± ¡°But this ck Gear Tower is different, it had survived many catastrophes without a scratch. We had tried to study and unravel its secrets but it ended up in failure as we were unable to cut a single chip out of the ck tower.¡± Lin Sheng nodded, expressing understanding. Djall Demonhand then took a deep breath. ¡°Then, master, let¡¯s head in there. Thest of the resisting Darkspirit Marshal and his tribe, the Vilesin tribe are there. What they specialize in is the ability to afflict corrosive poison, an ability rarely seen among the dark spirits. As they had upied this indestructible ck tower, that Darkspirit Marshal has never been¡ª¡± *Trot, trot.* Lin Sheng suddenly rushed ahead, interrupting Djall Demonhand mid-speech. The Gorefiend¡¯s massive hooves stepped heavily against the ground, sending loud quaking ps all over. Lin Sheng was d in a set of heavy white armor, even his head was wrapped under a menacing helmet, with the heavy protruding spikes all over his armorplementing the Gorefiend as if they were of a single entity. ¡°Those who have never felt power before are doomed to forever live in dreams.¡± Lin Sheng slowly held his hand out, as his wide palm was aimed toward the ck tower in the distance. ¡°Wake up and face reality...¡± He then gently clenched his fist. A formless distortion slowly spread out like a ripple in all directions with Ling Sheng as the epicenter. The distorted me then shot into the sky in a pyrostic spiral as the dark red cavern wall in the sky started to crack. *Hah...* Without nary a sound... Arge pir of pure white light smashed through the cavern¡¯s sky and as it engulfed the entire ck tower calmly and without a sound. The massive pir of light was gentle and bright and was extremely pure and holy. At a nce, people would think of peace, quiet, sanctity, and purity. However, the holy light was as good as a poison against the thousands of dark spirits living in the ck tower. The moment the pir of light madendfall, tens of thousands of dark spirits wailed as ck smoke sted out of their body, reducing them into pure dark spirit beads as they fell onto the ground. 1 Only a very small number of elites with the rank Darkspirit Generals and above managed to hold on as their body felt like they were being boiled alive. They endured pain beyond description, as they looked on at Lin Sheng in the distance with a baleful gaze, wishing they could devour his flesh and tear his soul apart. Lin Sheng imposing, muscr body was d within his heavy pure white armor while his face was covered by his helmet, no one knew what his expression was. Only his golden eyes stared calmly at the ck tower as his eyes were focused on the light pir engulfing the ck tower. Djall Demonhand behind him was terrified as he shuddered, and dared not make a single sound. Chapter 405 - Overwhelming: Part 1

    Chapter 405: Overwhelming: Part 1

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Inside the Tidal Gate in Lin Sheng¡¯s mind, the massive soul power transformed into pure, holy power before gushing out in a steady stream. It spread, then turned into a pir of light enveloping the ck tower. It was not intense, but for the ordinary dark spirits, it was lethal. A minuteter, the light beam gradually faded. Lin Sheng took the lead, riding a horse heading toward the ck tower. Arge group of dark spirits at the back looked at the Djall Demonhand, waiting for instructions. Coming out of his shock, the leader of the Demonhand family fought back his fear, raising and throwing his hand forward. ¡°Charge! Protect the master!¡± Most of the dark spirits of the Demonhand family were humanoids. They looked a little awkward, not knowing what to say because Djall¡¯s bootlicking was so obvious. They could not bear to see it. The dark spirits were hesitant. Not that they did not dare, but because they were unsure whether the master would like it. What if he wanted to show off his strength? Their ¡®help¡¯ would only be a ludicrously false move. Did they have a way out? After witnessing Lin Sheng¡¯s feat of killing tens of thousands of dark spirits, the dark spirits of the Demonhand family became cautious. They were just small fry to their master. However, Lin Sheng could not have cared less. Riding his Gorefiend horse he came before the entrance of the ck tower. The gatekeeper was a five-meter-tall giant with the head of a panther. He was covered in blood; the light had wounded him, apparently. Half-kneeling on the ground, it stared at Lin Sheng as he approached. ¡°Let out of the way.¡± Lin Sheng made the horse walk up before the half-human half-leopard guard, looking down at it through the helmet. ¡°A meaningless death won¡¯t earn you your victory.¡± The panther head growled, wanting to stand up, but its body was too big and heavy. It had been exposed to the light too much and badly wounded. With just a slight movement, ck smoke rose from its body. To the dark spirits, ck smoke was akin to blood to humans. The more ck smoke they lost, the weaker they would be. The humanoid panther looked like a column of smoke that rose into the sky. It growled and struggled to get up. Unfortunately, when Lin Sheng shook the reins, the Gorefiend beneath him raised its blood hoofs and stomped down. Whitish shock waves spattered from under the blood hoofs. An invisible force field permeated the air, covering an area of a twenty-meter radius, including the humanoid panther. The humanoid panther¡¯s expression changed. It fell face-down on the ground. An invisible force paralyzed him, it was as if a mountain had fallen on him. Atst, the humanoid panther could not stand the pressure anymore, blood spurting from his mouth and nose and turning into plumes of ck smoke. Breath was leaving him. Lying on the ground, its eyes gradually lost their focus, and it was losing its vitality. Lin Sheng rode the Gorefiend, moving past the humanoid panther toward the entrance of the ck tower. An invisible force field forced the door to burst inward, killing one-third of the remaining dark spirits inside with screams of fear and agony reverberating in the air. Seeing ck smoke that represented death rose in the hall, the dark spirits of the Demonhand quaked in their boots. Lin Sheng¡¯s natural force field alone was this damagingly powerful, let alone when he used his real skills. ¡°Kill him! Kill him! He has exhausted so much power. Do you think he can keep using this magic? There is a limit to it for sure!¡± A me-like purple dark spirit floated in the air, speaking its mind. ¡°No one can ignore our determination! Kill him!¡± A tall dark spirit with a ck tiger head shoved away its mates and charged at Lin Sheng with a war hammer in hand. An invisible force field around Lin Sheng killed every single dark spirit that surrounded him, turning them ck smoke and minced meat. With the death of so many dark spirits, no one else in the ck tower dared toe near Lin Sheng, save for those reckless guys. The really tough ones had been mostly wiped out earlier. Still on horseback, Lin Sheng went round the ck tower and came to a small square. Along the way, he found many dark spirit beads on the ground. He picked them up. The earlier fighting had consumed some of them. The Gorefiend warhorse walked to the center of the square. There were no dark spirits around here. Even if there were, Lin Sheng¡¯s light column would have purified them earlier. Following Lin Sheng¡¯s instruction, Djall Demonhand and co stayed around to gather the dark spirit beards. There were tens of thousands of dark spirit beads around the ck tower, gathering all of them would be a daunting task. So Lin Sheng figured he had better leave the task to Djall and co. ¡°Reveal yourself!¡± Lin Sheng stopped in the center of the square and shouted. The square shook as if there was an earthquake or some behemoth approaching. The square suddenly rose and burst apart as a ck-gray giant shadow broke out from the ground. Earlier, it had wanted toe out from under Lin Sheng¡¯s feet, but his powerful force field forced it to back away. Atst, it had no choice but to choose to rise from another position. The giant shadow rose into the sky, flying in a circle as it looked down. Everyone saw what the giant creature was; it was a bird, ck-gray, and massive. An eagle head hung from each of its fment-like necks, and there were many of them. The body of the weird bird was fat, dotted with pustules and scars. It looked like a headless bird, but with tentacles around its neck. ¡°My name is Kund. Outsiders, how dare you kill my people. You must die!¡± The weird bird swooped down from the sky, with its thin necks twirling like raindrops toward Lin Sheng. Every neck produced a low but loud whistle, and they were apparently powerful. As the thin necks bit down, the bs in the squares broke up and dust and debris rose into the air. The vision and perception of every dark spirit distorted under the powerful influence of the impact force. No one knew what was happening in the middle of the square. When the dust settled, their perception and vision gradually returned. Lin Sheng was still on horseback, unscathed and in the same spot as before as if the earth-shattering attack was just an illusion. ¡°It¡¯s not true! No! You...¡± the weird bird shrieked in disbelief in the air. It had never expected this; its attack could not even get close to him. Chapter 406 - Overwhelming: Part 2

    Chapter 406: Overwhelming: Part 2

    ¡°It¡¯s... It¡¯s too strong!¡± Djall Demonhand looked at the spot where Lin Sheng was from a distance. If he used to think of getting away from Lin Sheng secretly and rebuilding the Demonhand family in a different ce to get rid of the predicament of being controlled, now he had perished the thought altogether. He wholeheartedly submitted to Lin Sheng and dared not having two minds about it. He saw the possibility of the rise of the Demonhand family on Lin Sheng. Of the dark spirits behind the Demonhand family, only a few Darkspirit Generals understood how powerful Lin Sheng was. But those small fries just uttered a few words of admiration at best, totally clueless of what happened. The dark spirits of the Demonhand family began to cheer. Sporadic shouts of a name that represented the supremacy among the dark spirits rose. It was a name that no one had dared im for himself. ¡°Teagh (king)!¡± ¡°Teagh!¡± ¡°Teagh!¡± ¡°Teagh!¡± At first, only a few dark spirits were yelling. Quickly, the sparks spread out like a wildfire. It got louder and more synchronous as more and more dark spirits joined in the hooray. They were shouting the same name: Teagh. It meant ¡°king¡± in Deviltongue. In the square, the monster bird swooped down again. It looked like a powerful move but it could not get close to its target. Lin Sheng¡¯s force field bounced it off onto the ground. ¡°The farce is over.¡± Lin Sheng looked up, raising his hand at the strange bird above. Unlike the earlier move, a gust of wind blew from above and spread out in all directions as he opened his hand and made a grabbing gesture. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you! I¡¯ll kill you!¡± The strange bird, Kund roared in a raging frenzy, ck liquid dripping down its body. The extremely acidic fluid ate into the ground as soon as it dropped onto the square. Already damaged by the earlier attacks, the corrosive venom was making the situation worse with more and deeper holes in the ground. The ground within twenty meters of Lin Sheng became a tform that got higher and higher as the ground outside this range got lower and lower because of the corrosion. Frustrated and angered upon seeing its venom failing to make a dent, the strange bird shrieked in the air as if it was cursing Lin Sheng. When Lin Sheng looked up and reached out, it ridiculed him. ¡°Idiot! Do you think you can crush my strong body with your earlier pathetic strength? Imbecile! ¡°It will not work on me even if you increase the concentration of your strength a hundredfold! Hahahaha! ¡°Come on! Show me how stupid you are! Come and get me! Hahahaha!¡± The strange bird hovered in the air andughed like it was a mad bird. As frantic as it looked, the bird still kept its eyes peeled for any possible attack of white light from above. It knew if the intensity of the white light rose to a certain level, it would not hurt but might upset itsposure. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What¡¯s wrong? You just raised a hand yet nothing happened? Hahaha! I¡¯m waiting here! Let¡¯s see what you¡¯ve got! Come on,e on! Hahahaha! I¡¯ve been looking forward to it for too long! Don¡¯t tell me all you can do is just produce a gust of wind! You fool! Are you going to get up here and...¡± All of a sudden, there was silence. The loud and annoying yammering had stopped. The strange bird that was still pping its wings was frozen mid-air. A massive sharp stgmite bursting out from the ground had pierced through its body, holding it still in the air. The surface of the stgmite was covered with a faint whiteyer of holy power, and the bottom part of it was made up of the ground and rock from the square. Standing at a few dozen meters tall, the pointed stgmites looked like ance thrown from the depths of the earth. It urately and cruelly pierced through the strange bird. The holy light on the surface of the rock grilled the creature like barbecued meat on a skewer. ck smoke rose from the strange bird¡¯s body. Its heads were struggling but helpless. Trying to make a sound in their mouths, but it was too painful to bear. They could only make some weak wails. ¡°Skin it. Turn its skin into a war g,¡± Lin Sheng said. With the whisk of the reins, Lin Sheng rode off toward the ck tower. Receiving the order, Djall Demonhand came to his senses and replied, ¡°Aye!¡± The rest of the dark spirits responded in unison. They then rushed up to the monster bird, Kund with Djall Demonhand. Lin Sheng¡¯s face looked cold and calm under his helmet. That monster bird was only a Six-winged Darkspirit Marshal. He had yet to meet any Ptinate-level dark spirits in the cave. Killing an apex Six-winger with the strength of a Ptinate was not something to be proud of. It was an expected oue. But what surprised him more was that after bing a Ptinate, he could easily summon a vast amount of soul power. Nevertheless, he needed to convert it into holy power or dark energy for his uses. Besides, if he wanted to turn these soul powers for his cultivation use, it would take time because these summoned soul powers wereplex and manic. If the dark spirit¡¯s soul power had aplexity of one, then the summoned soul power was hundreds or even thousands. Purification was difficult, and it took ten times longer. So at least at this stage, it was far more cost-effective to use the dark spirit beads to enhance his soul power than absorbing the soul power of Soultide. Twenty minutester, Lin Sheng sat in the Hall of Primordial Spirits on the ninth floor at the top of the ck tower. The entire ce looked gray, simple yet grand. The hall had many simple ancient ritual symbols and contours of animals and nts engravings. Other than that, there was only a stone throne on the highest side on the left. The throne¡¯s craftsmanship was rough. Behind the throne on the wall was a relief of a huge bird with nine heads. ¡°A nine-headed bird?¡± Lin Sheng sat on the throne and was surprised to see such a totem in the ce. ¡°Is it Kund¡¯s dream to be a nine-headed bird?¡± He remembered that the nine-headed bird was a mythical beast he had read about on Earth in his previous life. He just did not expect to see a simr thing here. However, the nine-headed bird on the relief here differed from the one depicted in the Litany of Mountains and Seas on Earth. The one here was shrouded in hot red mes. Also, there was dark-spirit text on the edge exalting its ability, praising it as the god who controlled the sun and the moon. It was the deity of sunlight and moonlight. Lin Sheng came out of his thoughts. He looked at Djall Demonhand, who was half-kneeling before him, through the gap of his helmet. The head of a family who already looked frenzied by now was stacking the dark spirit beards he had gathered into a stone te on the floor of the hall. They looked like a te of ck grapes¡ªbeautiful and mouth-watering. At the top of the pile was the most eye-catching one. Lin Sheng instantly recognized it. It had to be the bead of the monster bird, Kund. It was not exactly special, but the bead was huge. At the size of a washing basin, the huge bead, which sat on top of the smaller beads, had a faint red fluorescent glow to it. It was not rocket science to tell that the dark spirit bead was unusual. Chapter 407 - Overwhelming: Part 3

    Chapter 407: Overwhelming: Part 3

    ¡°King, these are all the dark spirit beads we have gathered. Please take a look,¡± Djall reported, bowing his head. ¡°It¡¯s unnecessary. I trust you all.¡± Lin Sheng did not need to look. He already knew how many dark spirit beads were on the stone te in just a nce, thanks to his power mind power. As the saying went, ¡°there is no fish when the water is clear¡±. If he wanted these dark spirits to help him deal with the triviality, he must not be too calctive about a few missing beads. Let his men enjoy some leftovers. ¡°Thank you for your trust in us, my King,¡± Djall said. ¡°Besides, a thousand strong dark spirit forces have reached the Blood Forest of the Gorefiends. Among them are two generals.¡± ¡°The purpose of their visit is to return to the Gorefiends.¡± Lin Sheng clenched his fist and the dark spirit beads soared and flew toward him. ¡°Let them go to the Gorefiends.¡± He made the beads stay in the air, then he purified and ingested them. A white light rose from the stone te holding the dark spirit beads. The dark spirit beads were being purified and releasing ck smoke. The released holy power rose in the air. When all the pure soul power gathered, they formed a stream that flowed into Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. All the dark spirit beads on the stone te, including thergest one, had vaporized into soul power, which then was absorbed into Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. He could feel his soul power had increased about one-tenth in strength. As small as it might seem, it was already very powerful for him now. Djall Demonhand reported that some small tribes of dark spirit hade to him to pledge their allegiance. ¡°ept all of them for now. Select only the elites of the great dark spirit. The rest would have to depend on their potential,¡± Lin Shengmanded. The great dark spirit was those about to step into the realm of Darkspirit General. ¡°Understood.¡± Djall Demonhand instantlyprehended what Lin Sheng¡¯s intention was. ¡°By the way, is there a record of other dark spirit caves in Caerphabor?¡± Lin Sheng did not find any records from the Demonhand Family. Perhaps he had overlooked it, so he asked again. ¡°My King, a dark spirit cave is an isted, mysterious realm. We have nevermunicated with the others. If you need to find other caves, we usually go through the ceremonial passage,¡± Djall Demonhand said. ¡°Then why am I only connected here when I open a sacrifice ceremony in the real world?¡± He did not care if they knew he came from the real world where the Pearl Ocean and Miga were. He was more concerned about finding ways to the other dark spirit caves. ¡°That¡¯s because of the different ritual structure and symbols, and the energy supplied,¡± Djall Demonhand answered. ¡°If I remember it correctly, a library in the ck tower had the records of the rituals connecting to the other dark spirit caves.¡± ¡°Find it for me,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Aye!¡± ... In the Sanctum¡¯s Resplendence Bureau in Henricqal, Miga. ¡°The genius royal family of the Seal? The Empress of the Linwei Family?¡± Margaret wore a silver half armor, the tight-fitting design perfectly entuating her round and full breasts and small waist. She was the person in charge of the Sanctum¡¯s Resplendence Bureau. Her brows were knitted together now. Had she not watched the footage, she thought it might be April Fool¡¯s Day, and that her subordinates were just joking. Unfortunately, the surveince footage showed that the Empress of the Linwei Family was a Seal genius. During the test, the ugly empress took only two days to seal an Oppressive-ss monster. What was more terrific was that the monster she had sealed was not that picky about the location. That meant if she could seal monsters into anything she liked; it did not matter what material it was. Even if it was just a ss bead, she could seal a Four-winged, Oppressor-ss monster in it. The empress had just done that during the experiment, and her method¡ªblood sprinkling¡ªwas simple as well as crude. Margaret tapped her hand on the table; she was in a dilemma. Since heading the Resplendence Bureau, the intelligence service that screened the Sanctum members, she had unconscionably developed this habit. ¡°If we recruit her, Henricqal may face tremendous pressure not only from the three mysterious realms but also from the Sevenlocks Tower.¡± Margaret, an aristocrat from Olro, knew very well the importance of the Seal ability in the realm of dark energy. It was the best way for the Darksiders to capture and study the monsters of the Ashen World. For the Sevenlocks Tower, that ability was dangerous. In theory, the Seal ability could even stop an apex Six-winger as long as the bloodline was thick and strong enough. ¡°How troublesome.¡± Margaret decided to report the problem. Unlike other departments, she was empowered to talk directly with the branch master, Tenko Kasumi. It was Lin Sheng who gave her this direct reporting privilege before he went away. After thinking for a moment, Margaret picked up thendline phone and dialed Tenko Kasumi¡¯s residence. Since satellitemunication was under strong interference, Henricqal had begun to upgrade itsmunication infrastructure with the help from the workshops of Baine University. This was to prevent overreliance on satellites. Everyone began to switch to using short-range, strong-signal mobile phones. At the same time, residential houses would installndline to reduce interference to the minimum. The phone rang, but there was no answer. ¡°No one¡¯s picking up?¡± Margaret waited until the line went dead automatically. If it was not for a phone call to Tenko Kasumi earlier, she would have thought Lin Sheng had given her a fake number. ¡°How troublesome! I think I will leave it to itself and wait for Seagal toe back.¡± She made that decision after failing to find Teko Kasumi. What about discussing the matter with other top people of the Sanctum? It was not a good idea, Margaret figured. She had put a lid on the news of the arrival of the Empress Linwei. The more people knew it, the quicker the intel would leak. By then, the whole of Henricqal would be under pressure. Just when Margaret was upset about the Empress of Linwei, an old friend of Tenko Kasumi had arrived by teleportation in a haze-shrouded, abandoned supermarket on the border of Henricqal. A ck whirlpool silently opened in the space between a few shelves that had copsed. An old man, face stone-cold, wearing a white robe emerged from the whirlpool. Hended gently with a green light shing in his hand. A dark green crystal staff materialized and stood erect on the floor. ¡°Azem, haven¡¯t you arrived yet?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for a while.¡± A ck figure emerged from the warehouse of the supermarket. The man¡¯s voice sounded as if it was bouncing around aimlessly. ¡°Just the two of us?¡± The old man frowned. ¡°Does Miss Lingsha provide any additional support? You should know I suffered humiliation under Tenko Kasumist time.¡± The ck figure chuckled. ¡°Of course, I know. Tenko Kasumi is the real deal, but why do you think the three mysteries realms have been so afraid of me all this while? Do you really think the Sevenlocks have been going up there all by themselves?¡± ¡°So what is that?¡± The old man was puzzled. Without the war, he had no chance to know about these secrets. He found it strange thest time but was toozy to find out what it was about. Since the ck figure was talking about it now, he did not mind asking. ¡°It¡¯s simple.¡± The man named Azem raised and opened his hand. ¡°Here it is.¡± Sitting in his palm was a cube of purple, red, and white. Chapter 408 - Pit Latrine: Part 1

    Chapter 408: Pit Latrine: Part 1

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion In the Caerphabor Cave, a ck sandstorm had formed a series of tornadoes, which were slowly moving across the vast red in. They rolled up debris from the ground and tore them into pieces, some as small as dust to form part of themselves. The entire dark spirit cave had plunged into a rumble. Over the ck tower, a faint ring of gray light was protecting the tower from the ravaging tornadoes. Lin Sheng was dressed in white armor, together with Djall Demonhand, he stood quietly on the balcony on the middle floor of the ck tower, overlooking the ck tornadoes in the distance. ¡°It¡¯s a dark and gloomy day. Natural disasters do happen in our caves sometimes. It would devastate all living things except non-physical beings like us, the pure souls. Worst-case scenario, we just get lost. The ck tornadoes are rtively harmless to us,¡± Djall Demonhand said. Lin Sheng nodded. He looked down at thend below in the protective range of the ck tower. There, thousands of dark spirits were busy preparing a giganticmunication ritual, which he would use to connect to another dark spirit cave. If he were to travel there alone, he only needed a very simple sacrificial ceremony, giving it a little twist and it would be good to go. But he was not traveling alone. After conquering so many forces, it would be a waste if he did not bring them along. ¡°Is the ceremonial passage ready?¡± ¡°It is. Ready to go any time,¡± Djall muttered. ¡°The ceremony is notplicated. The thing is, dark spirit caves aren¡¯t allied with each other.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right. Are you worried that the other side will attack us the minute the connection is established?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°What I mean is first, send a team of Darkspirit Generals. Let them scout out the ce before we decide whether to send the army,¡± Djall suggested. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if the scout fails. The damage is minor. In case the other side finds out our intention, they won¡¯t be fast enough to gather their troops so long as they could move quickly enough.¡± Djall kept exining how good this strategy was. Lin Sheng knew what he was up to; this guy was trying to impress. But it was entirely understandable. Djall was a Darkspirit General, and he needed to show his worth and gain the favor of his superior. ¡°So,¡± Lin Sheng said, ¡°where is the information on the dark spirit cave?¡± Djall cleared his throat and calmly took out a white and gold scroll that was tied up with a gold rope. He gently loosened the gold rope, unwound the scroll, then threw it in the air so it floated before Lin Sheng. ¡°It¡¯s Pavru. ¡°The dark spirit cave of Pavru.¡± Djall was silent for a while as if he was recalling the specific details. ¡°Pavru differs from Caerphabor. That ce has mobile fortresses, known to be the strongest world of the dark spirits because the ce has abundant resources and the powerful dark spirits known as the Helix. In many other worlds, they call these dark spirits, ¡®fairies¡¯.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± It surprised Lin Sheng this time. He thought the next world of the dark spirits would be like Caerphabor. A fairy world was a surprise. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the fairy you have been thinking about in your head,¡± Djall said. ¡°They also gain more strength and growth by making deals. Pavru¡¯s Helix has improved the physique of the dark spirits. They have changed to acquiring more resources by giving the summoner special gifts. They have gone wayward, deviating from the original path of the dark spirits. They are also disdainful of conventional evil spirits like us.¡± Listening to Djall¡¯s exnation, a thought came into Lin Sheng¡¯s mind while his eyes were still on the scroll in the air. It was showing the details of Pavru. ¡°Can you borate on what you mean by gifts?¡± ¡°Yes, Master.¡± Djall bowed his head. ¡°For the time being, let us call the dark spirits of Pavru as fairies. Their ritual has not only improved the essence of using living things as an offering but also radically changed themselves...¡± ... In the fairy world of Pavru, there was a lush ancient forest. At the edge of a vast canyon, which stretched thousands of miles, stood a giant tree that looked like a taupe pointed hat. Fluorescent green lights were surrounding the giant tree, and each dot of light was a little fairy the size of a human palm.These fairies had a human body, a pair of bee wings that made a buzzing noise when they flew around with an innocent smile on their faces. They kept circling the giant tree with a halo around them. The halo was the life aura of the fairies. It could make living things healthier and live longer. There were so many fairies surrounding the giant tree that they looked like the stars in the sky and the sand in the desert. They had formed a unique mist of life and aura around themselves. Under the giant tree, between the dense and huge roots, a dark-haired man with a sword hanging from his waist walked with a determined face. He wore a well-sewn swordsman suit, with special symbols of unknown meaning on the edges of his clothes and at the back on the center of his waist. He had smooth ck hair, his eyes calm and ck. ¡°Don¡¯t go any further, Rathi.¡± Above the forest came a soft and crisp female voice. ¡°This is the Helixian Mothertree, a quiet ce for His Highness Uthane.¡± So the man stopped in his tracks, looking up as if he was searching for the source of the voice. ¡°Dear King of Fairies, I don¡¯t agree with the ruling of Klein. I¡¯vee to urge the Jade Root to review its ruling. To get your support, I have brought you a piece of key evidence, an important proof that shows Klein did notmit betrayal.¡± From a pouch tied around his waist, he gingerly took out a round ck gemstone the size of a fingernail and threw it forward. The gemstone pulverized to form a ck magic circle mid-air. As the magic circle rotated, another smaller magic circle rose within it. ¡°Expand!¡± The man gently touched the center of the magic circle, and the two magic circles exploded at once, turning into a spinning ck ring. Footages of past events appeared in the ring. Just when the footage yed, a faint tremor was felting from the forest in the far distance. The footage in-y flickered for a while before everything returned to normal. However, the ck-haired man and the King of the Fairies in an unknown location knew that this slight tremor was an earthquake. ¡°Let¡¯s continue,¡± the Fairy king said. ¡°Aye.¡± The man was focused because this was thest chance to appeal. If the attempt failed, Klein and co would be left with no hope because at sunrise the next day, they would be executed in public at the altar before the Mothertree. The footage manifested by the magic circle still continued. About five minutester... ¡°Stop, I have already understood,¡± the Fairy king said. The footage froze. Chapter 409 - Pit Latrine: Part 2

    Chapter 409: Pit Latrine: Part 2

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°This evidence will not make a difference. Even if I were to help, the Jade Root is the trial court above the royal family. I can¡¯t disobey their decision,¡± the Fairy King said. ¡°What¡¯s more, even if I don¡¯t execute the sentence, there is Cassia the King of Trees.¡± ¡°If that is the case, what the judiciary of the fairies...¡± The dark-haired man suddenly paused. The tremor in the forest was gone, which meant that the Fairy King had left. The Jade Root had existed for thousands of years, and only the Fairy King and the King of Trees could speak against its judgments. There was not much they could do becausepared with the four votes for the Fairy King and the King of Trees, the Jade Root had 19 votes. The Pavru Fairy Empire became arrogant because it had existed too long. Now they were sentencing two innocent natural blessers to death for no reason. The nature blessers were gifts! They were the darlings of nature. They could make lightning-quick progress in any cultivation, the genius beyondmon sense could exin. How could the Jade Root hand down a death sentence to such geniuses recognized by nature? ¡°How stupid!¡± The dark-haired man clenched his fists, eyes filled with anger and determination. ¡°Thew of nature will try those who vite it!¡± Two figures appeared next to the man. ¡°Sug, give the order now! I have already said it, those old men at the top have long forgotten the root of their struggle. Power and arrogance have eroded their souls. They have forgotten that nature is the root of us the fairies!¡± ¡°Agreed!¡± a woman echoed, her voice cold. ¡°The current fairy empire is huge and bloated, ancient and corrupted. Let us save Klein and leave! I feel like vomiting with every extra second of staying here!¡± Coldness and disdain filled her green eyes. The dark-haired man, Sug waved away the magic circle, watching as the Retrospective Circle that his mates worked so hard to gather and produce dissipate. Yet, the truth did not matter anymore. He suddenly realized why even the most gentle Fairy King left. ¡°Let¡¯s go... go home. Inform everyone to get ready!¡± He turned around, finallying out of his hesitation as he strode back in the direction he hade. The other two followed closely behind him, leaving the home they grew up without looking back. They quickly left the forest. As they crossed the coverage area of the Mothertree, they heard heavy footstepsing from a direction. ¡°These footsteps belong to the Six-eyed Snake-tailed Beast! It¡¯s a high-form violent creature!¡± Sug¡¯s expression turned grim as he looked toward the direction of the sound. A faint green light appeared over his eyes, enabling him to see through the woods and make out what happened in the far distance. ¡°That beast is attacking humans again! It is going to eat them!¡± Feeling enraged, he shouted, ¡°Stop it!¡± ¡°Aye!¡± the two figures answered in unison. Three figures faded into shadows and moved quickly through the forest. After passing through a dense group of cherry trees, Sug saw what was happening ahead. An elephant-sized lizard with six eyes, wearing thick rock armor, was charging at two ordinary humans. The humans were too afraid to even run. ¡°Save them!¡± Sug had no time to think about why there were ordinary humans there. He drew his sword and lunged forward, triggering the white silver-ss bloodline ability in him. ¡°Arching Light.¡± Sug shouted. The sword in his hand lit up in a rainbow-like light. It shot out like lightning in an arc, blocking the six-eyed lizard in the front. The six-eyed lizard crashed against the colorful arc with a loud sound of metal banging the rock. A silver ss himself, but Sug was no match for the six-eyed lizard. He knew he had to back off. However, the other two who attacked the lizard simultaneously from both sides had helped take part of the pressure off of him. ¡°Run! You two!¡± Seeing that the two humans were still standing there, Sug shouted at them angrily. One of the humans was a burly young man wearing amon ck short-sleeve shirt and camouge trousers. There was no talent stone on his body (talent stone represents the contract with the fairy; the more beautiful the color and texture, the higher the talent). The other one was a farmer, appearing like an honest man. He looked so scared that his face had turned pale. The sickle in his hand had fallen to the ground, and his body was shaking. Judging from his attire, he was an ordinary farmer at the edge of the fairy forest. ¡°Are you an ordinary human looking for entering a covenant with the Fairies? Is the farmer your guide?¡± Sug guessed it instantly. Fortunately, the young man¡¯s response was swift; he pulled the farmer back and ran out some ten meters away, avoiding stung by the tail of the lizard. ¡°It¡¯s you again! Sug! Why am I seeing you every time Ie out to forage? You are a star of bad luck!¡± The six-eyed lizard was furious to see its prey had escaped. But there was nothing it could do about it. It had fought Sug many times before. Like Sug, it was a silver-ss being. Its power and strength far surpassed the limit of humans. Its strength did not differ much from Sug. No one had any advantage over and could kill the other. The best thing they could do was to run away from each other. Lin Sheng curiously looked at the lizard. He almost made it his dinner just now. But now he was happy he did not do that because this lizard¡¯s strength was extraordinary. Had he eaten it, it would have gone against his intention of going it low key here. Coming from the dark spirit cave of Caerphabor, his purpose was to scout the ce alone. He learned from the farmer that the cave world of Pavru was a natural world where humans and fairies co-existed, much like the beings in the mysterious realms. Here, all the powerful ones were the fairy soldiers who had entered a covenant with and gained a power talent from the fairies. So using some gold as an exchange, Lin Sheng asked the farmer to take him near the Mothertree. They said the ce was rtively safe. He wanted to see if he could find the fairies to enter a covenant with them. But not long into his journey, he bumped into the six-eyed lizard. ¡°It looks like things are much moreplicated here than in Caerphabor, and the fairies here have chosen to mix with the humans,¡± Lin Sheng said to himself. He was surprised. ¡°The fairies and the dark spirits are both soul-powered beings. Pure soul-powered creatures are especially vulnerable before a natural nemesis like me. But once they and the living things with flesh and blood coalesced, it will patch this imperfection. They can even leverage this advantage to be even more powerful souls.¡± While he was deep in thought, the six-eyed lizard went away after fighting with Sug and his mates. The Sug and his mates fought the six-eyed lizard with talents and sword skills. They were like magic warriors. In contrast, the Darksiders were more like magicians. After the six-eyed lizard left, Sug and his mates breathed a sigh of relief. They looked at Lin Sheng and asked, ¡°Are you here to look for the fairies to have a covenant with them? Stay away from here these few days, it is dangerous around here. If not for us, you two would have be dinner of the beast,¡± Sug said, his tone of voice harsh. ¡°Thank you for saving us.¡± Lin Sheng put on a grateful look. ¡°My name is Lin Sheng. I¡¯m an adventurer trying my luck here.¡± He spoke in Deviltongue. His ent had changed slightly with the help of the farmer. It had a weird country ent that no one had ever heard before. Sug and his mates listened for a while and could only understand half of it. ¡°Err... Let¡¯s not talk in this ce. Come with me. If you really want to find the fairies for a covenant, I can help¡ªfor a fee,¡± Sug said bluntly. Lin Sheng was startled. Earlier, he only asked the farmer to bring him here when he sensed a strong energy fluctuation. He did not expect that this man who had ¡°saved¡± him offered to bring him to find a fairy. Compared to these three people, the farmer certainly knew this ce not as much as them. So Lin Sheng changed his n. ¡°Really?¡± He was wide-eyed, looking very surprised, but it was not over the top. He made himself look like he had great self-restraint and gave the impression that he was nice as well as steady. At least, it would not make him look like a bumpkin. ¡°Of course, we are in this trade,¡± the handsome young man beside Sug said with a smile. While looking at the three, Lin Sheng something else crossed his mind. He was going to explore the cave world of Pavru more slowly and thoroughly. I¡¯ll get a ce to stay first before going back to Henricqal. I can thene back to explore this ce from time to time, he thought to himself. Chapter 410 - Pit Latrine: Part 3

    Chapter 410: Pit Latrine: Part 3

    Azem was in a creased but still clean shirt and long pants. It was not bad for an attire in a city like Henricqal that was undergoing water rationing. He looked just like a man of ability, a social elite. In fact, this was how all the social elites looked. He walked in the street, looking like just another ordinary man, who either worked for Baine University or was a follower wearing a holy emblem. He was no more than the peripheral personnel of the Asterism and the Moon Basin. Those who wandered on the streets were the family members of the personnel and the Transcendent or outsiders just arriving but yet having a ce for themselves in the city. Azem pulled open his cor, surprised by the stability and peace of this city. Walking along a street where potholes had just been patched, he took a right bend and came to a staircase in the street¡¯s corner. The staircase brought him to a red security door on the third floor. He gave it a couple of knocks. Quickly, the door opened but just a gap as a bloodshot eye peeked through. The eye seemed to have recognized him. ¡°Come in.¡± The eye went back in. Azem opened the door and strode in. The living room was a mess; empty food wraps were everywhere, newspaper cutouts strewn on the sofa, chairs, and table. The owner of the ce, a bearded, skinny man who looked like a wretch, just wearing slippers, stuffed a piece ofpressed biscuit in his mouth as he flung himself on the sofa. ¡°What brought you here again? I¡¯m now just an ordinary man. I don¡¯t want to get involved in whatever sh*t you are in.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, no one is going to find out you are my half brother,¡± Azem said softly with a smile. ¡°I would prefer I never have a younger brother like you.¡± The bearded man put up his hand listlessly. ¡°Then, why are you here?¡± He knew Azem, his younger brother, would not havee for no reason. Azem did not reply. He stood up, went to the window, and lifted the curtain up to look out. ¡°What do you think of Henriqal? I¡¯m talking about the current Henriqal.¡± ¡°Henricqal? Aspared to other settlements?¡± The bearded man stroked his beard as he started to think. ¡°Not bad. Other than the mysterious realms, no other settlements had done better than this ce. ¡°So, what is your purpose for being here?¡± He knew it all along that his younger brother, Azem, was a man of mission. He was here only because there was something he needed to aplish. ¡°If you are here to subvert the rule of the Sanctum, you can leave and turn right.¡± The bearded man thought he had given him the best advice. Azemughed. ¡°My brother, you¡¯re still this careful... but as careful as you are, you have still decided to see me, and I¡¯m grateful for it.¡± His smile faded. ¡°I need your help to find out the real strength and background of the Sanctum!¡± ¡°The real strength and background?¡± The bearded man fell into deep thought. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Azem nodded, letting the curtain back down. He pushed the instant noodle bowls to one side as he leaned himself on the edge of the table. ¡°All along, we have treated the Sanctum as arge, newly-emerging armed group. But after the many major events, neither the mysterious realms nor the Sevenlocks Tower could afford to ignore this rising influence.¡± ¡°Compared with the Sanctum, the other cults like the Sect of Thousand Graces were like eggs and a rock. They are not in the same league as the Sanctum.¡± ¡°The Sanctum has the upper hand in both battles of the Ptinates. This sent a shock wave of disbelief to the outsiders. But each timeing into contact with the Sanctum, the outsiders would find that there is hidden power inside the Sanctum.¡± ¡°After all, as you know, even people like us, the Sevenlocks Tower, need an enormous time and effort to train a Ptinate. But in the Sanctum, their elites seem to pop out of thin air. This puzzles us.¡± ¡°So you guys want to find out what the Sanctum was about before deciding how you should deal with them?¡± The bearded man started to figure out the intention of the Sevenlocks Tower. ¡°Well, more or less.¡± Azem nodded. He then quickly broke into a smile. ¡°But it will take time, which we don¡¯t have the luxury of. So...¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°So we have used a little strategy.¡± Azem¡¯s smiled turned mysterious. ¡°What do you mean?¡± The bearded man blinked. ¡°I mean... probably the Second Lock is about to reach Xylond now? This is where the legendary Sanctum¡¯s headquarters is located.¡± Azem looked confident. ¡°Apparently, the activity of the Sanctum in Henricqal has caused much more influence than they do in Xylond. You can imagine that they probably have shifted theirbat strength over here to find a new territory of expansion. If that is the case, it exins why their headquarters is so quiet.¡± ¡°So, you n to let the Second Lock spy out?¡± The bearded man finally put two and two together. ¡°Yes, I think 80% of the conjecture is true.¡± Once more, Azem appeared confident. ¡°I have a gut feeling.¡± ... The Sanctum Headquarters, Xylond. The Night Lord listlesslyy as t as possible in bed. With the quilt on, no one was going to know he was there. In addition to that, he had the ability to hold his breath. Since he began learning about holy power, he had gotten a huge bump in strength, driven by his bloodline. Coupled with the Sanctum¡¯s force field, hisbat strength would have doubled by now, and so did hisziness. ¡°Night Lord! Stop hiding... I can see you!¡± A female voice drifted outside the bedroom. ¡°Again? Does she think I¡¯m going to fall for that again? Na?ve!¡± The Night Lord sneered quietly. He was the kind of man who would only grow stronger by sleeping. He would rather die than going to work. ¡°Night Lord, the chief instructor of Xylond TSSF will soon arrive to meet you. This concerns the image of the Sanctum. Pleasee out now, or it will be toote,¡± the voice said. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m stupid? The chief instructor just came yesterday! Why has hee again? It doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± The Night Lord quietly sneered again. The Steel Lord, who had just be a Ptinate, was there. There was no need for him. ¡°Besides, even if you don¡¯t get up, you still need to eat, drink, and visit the toilet, don¡¯t you?¡± the voice continued. ¡°It has been over ten days... You have not gone to the toilet once. Did you poop in your pants?¡± ¡°No worries, I have dug a hole under the bed!¡± The Night Lord smirked silently. ¡°You smart boy!¡± A pretty face crawled out from the hole under the bed. Chapter 411 - Imminent: Part 1

    Chapter 411: Imminent: Part 1

    ¡°Aahhh! Khad!¡± A horrified scream broke through the night in the Xylond Sanctum, scaring a handful of owls in the woods as they pped their wings, flying away like possessed owls. The janitors in the Sanctum stopped what they were doing, looking toward the sound source. Behind the Sanctum, in the massive, justpleted the holy hall, the Night Lord bounced to his feet, heart in his mouth. He looked down the hole in his bed at Khad, who crouched inside the hole he had dug under the bed. She was one of Khad¡¯s avatars, aide-de-camp, Khad 1131. Before this Khad 1131 became one with Khad, she was the housekeeper cum defense assistant of the royal court of some ancient kingdom. Sent by Khad, she would be the close assistant of the Night Lord, running errands for him. ¡°You may keep your voice down,¡± Khad 1131 said. Khad 1131 wore a gray uniform that looked like a slim-fit outfit with a miniskirt on the outside. Looking from the perspective ofbat, this was an ideal attire. Hidden underneath this skinny dress were various small weapons. The Night Lord had seen it with his own eyes before; this new assistant of his had killed thirteen transcendents in five seconds. ¡°You¡¯re lucky that I haven¡¯t done my business down the hole. Isn¡¯t it unseemly for you toe into the room of a bachelor?¡± The Night Lord pulled the quilt tightly over himself and sat on a chair. Since he was not discovered, he had nothing to lose. ¡°No worries. I have seen nothing.¡± Khad 1131 appearedposed. ¡°Just cut the cackle. Why are you barging into my room at thiste hour? You should know that seven in the evening is my time for beauty sleep,¡± barked the Night Lord. He was not too happy, but he also knew this aide-de-camp well. Despite the short time he had known her, he saw that she had a distinct way of doing things. She would not disturb him if it was just for something trivial. ¡°Sir.¡± Khad 1131 bowed slightly. She then lunged out from the hole in the bed and stood there. ¡°Khad One hopes you can head over to check the progress.¡± ¡°Um, are you talking about opening up the route in the Pearl Ocean?¡± The Night Lord felt a sense of seriousness. Since Lin Sheng sessfully got a foothold in Henricqal, he decreed that allmanders of his must find ways to establish a route between the two sanctums. Separating the Xylond Sanctum and Henricqal Sanctum was a body of waters called the Pearl Ocean, which was about 1,000 kilometers across. It was fairly easy to traverse the two ces before the cktide outbreak. But as the cktide ravaged through the world, it did not matter what kind of transport one used; the cost was prohibitive. The wealthy were scrambling to move to a safer area. Sense of security had be the world¡¯s only motivation. Since the outbreak, Xylond Sanctum had dispatched two small fleets. Unfortunately, both fleets disappeared in the Pearl Ocean, one following the other. As the thick and mysterious fog on the sea surface had a strong signal interference quality, even satellites could not peer through the fog to see what happened down there. And this was why establishing a link between the two ces was the most important task. ¡°My suggestion is, if you do not have the strength of a Six-winger, you better not send anyone out to get killed,¡± the Night Lord said. ¡°In the fleet we deployed before, there was an Oppressor-ss individual, who was the strongest among them all... ¡°But even before the Oppressor-ss individual could send back any signal, the person mysteriously disappeared. You can imagine how dangerous the Pearl Ocean is.¡± ¡°I understand. I will convey your message to Sir. Khad One.¡± All Khads were connected. When one got the information, the others would receive it immediately. ¡°Besides, the Original has recruited a new member who is of the same ss as me,¡± said the Night Lord. ¡°If it is possible, I will¡ª¡± ¡°Challenge them? Not wanting theteers to get ahead of you?¡± The aide-de-camp got the hint. ¡°Is this about the dignity of the dragon bloodline?¡± Standing in his shoes, the aide-de-camp instantly felt an honorable ancient self-esteem rise within her. It made her realize that the master she served was of the bloodline of the legendary Shadow Dragonking. The aide-de-camp kept her head low. ¡°Understood. I will not let you down.¡± ¡°No... I was just thinking...¡± ¡°When would shee and take over the stuff here...¡± The Night Lord put up his hand. ¡°It doesn¡¯t make a difference whether I¡¯m here. I still think I¡¯m more suited to be a reserve¡ªthe kind that you will never have to use it.¡± ¡°So you want to be the reserve who will never be called up?¡± The aide-de-camp did not know what to say more. ... On a white isted beach somewhere along the coast of Xylond. ¡°Wee to Xylond, the Second Seat, Sir. Aelfe Shafrayne!¡± Twenty gray-robed figures were on one knee, waiting with the highest respect as the white-haired man emerged from out of the water. The white-haired man looked strong, a metal flowery pattern iid right in his chest. The wind was howling strongly in the surroundings as all the gray-robed figures kept their head low with thin plumes of dark-energy smoke pervading behind them. The greenish smoke shot out and formed what looked like a semi-transparent shield in the air above them. It was apparent these gray-robed figures were all transcendent. They did note to this deste wilderness without a solid n in ce. The leading gray-robed figure was a shriveled old woman who adorned herself with a gold frontlet over her forehead. She held a ck short staff in her hand. She was stooped and short, her eyes that looked like a pair of stic balls looking up, staring at the emerging Second Seat. ¡°Sir, would you please let us know your purpose ofing?¡± She would not be this flippant if it was the other Sevenlocks. But the one here was her grandfather-inw. That was also the reason she was sent to receive him. ¡°I have only one mission in Xylond...¡± Second Seat Aelfe was expressionless, voice proud. ¡°...which is to destroy the Sanctum headquarters.¡± ¡°The Sanctum headquarters?¡± The old woman knew that there was a conflict between the Sanctum and the Sevenlocks Tower, but it should not be irreconcble. She had long heard that as a newly emerging force of influence, the Sanctum was distinct and ying a significant role against the cktide. The Sanctum headquarter is in Shermanton, upying a small hill to themselves. They called the hill the Sanctum Hill. their headquarters should be right up the top. Second Seat Aelfe nodded in acknowledgment. ¡°Good job.¡± He checked his watch. ¡°Arrange a vehicle. I have an appointment in the evening.¡± ¡°Understood!¡± The old woman got to her feet. Second Seat Aelfe suddenly stopped in his tracks, looking up. ¡°Someone is watching in the distance. Finish them off!¡± He then strode up the beach where there was nothing but shingle. Then a Fortress-model blue tank suddenly appeared out of thin air. As he climbed into the tank, the gray-robed figures split into two teams, one going to finish off the enemy scout, the other into the vehicles that emerged following the first one. ¡°The Sanctum...¡± Sitting in the tank, Second Seat Aelfe smirked with derision. ording to the intel, since the establishment of Henricqal Sanctum, the sanctum here had never produced a Ptinate. It was evident that their assessment was urate. Without a doubt, the Sanctum here was only a shell. ¡°Pain and agony await you for daring to resist the supreme Sevenlocks Tower. I¡¯d enjoy seeing that happen slowly...¡± He licked his lips, tongue sticking out from his mouth a slug that looked like a snake. Chapter 412 - Imminent: Part 2

    Chapter 412: Imminent: Part 2

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng emerged from the Darkspirit Gate, leaning on the inside wall of the istion room, feeling a little exhausted. It was only a few days on the outside world, but in the dark spirit caves, it was nearly half a month. Spending this long inbat, exploration and finding resources had bored Lin Sheng to tears. Not that he was physically drained. He was just weary of the repetitive works. He took a little rest, then walked out of the istion room. White light shed on his dusty armor and it became sparkling clean, as good as new. The Armor of Dawn was made up of the perfectbination of pure Holy Power and particles in the air. As soon as Holy Power flew over it, the armor would restore itself. Closing the door behind him, Lin Sheng walked out into the hall,ing back to his workstation, from where he usually ran his field operations. But most of the time, what one saw was just window dressing. He was doing his stuff in his mind. Hemunicated with his summoned creatures, from the ordinary to themander-ss creatures, through a mental connection. Sitting at the workstation, Lin Shengpiled in his mind the information he received from various ces. Because of the sheer volume of information of the ordinary summoned creatures, no way could he attend to all of them. So he divided them up,yer byyer, ss by ss. Unless themanders made the initiation to contact him, he would not bother with them in most circumstances. Things came from Xylond; the Thunderbeast was reporting the progress of establishing a route between the two sides. The effort had failed. ¡°Try a few times again. If it still doesn¡¯t work, try the air route. nes might be fast, but it creates too much noise.¡± After giving his instructions to the Xylond side, Lin Sheng contacted Tenko Kasumi on the Henricqal side. He got a surprise this time. Tenko Kasumi told him that the concentration of Holy Power in Henricqal had reached a ridiculous level. Within days of his absence, the ce had be the holiest of the holiest, a top-ss peaceful city. Anyone with some supernatural ability could clearly see the white light spots permeating Henricqal. Tenko Kasumi was in the midst of doing her business in the toilet while browsing a magazine in her hands. ¡°I would have to find you if you haven¡¯te out. The Holy Power Font is nearly filled to the brim. You got to upgrade the Sanctum now. Otherwise, we are going to see arge amount of Holy Power going to waste. ¡°The Holy Power Font is full?¡± Lin Sheng knew the followers there could be very devoted. But never did he expect they were this fervent. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s getting full, overflowing,¡± Tenko Kasumi said. ¡°Probably the effect of the time of chaos.¡± Lin Sheng figured. ¡°Stopmenting. You might want to hurry up,¡± Tenko Kasumi said. ¡°In fact, the font has reached it maximum holding capacity this morning, badly needing you here to increase the exhaustion rate.¡± ¡°Got it. Right away.¡± He did not know what to say. All he knew was, living in the threat of the dark period, people¡¯s craving for a sense of security had spiked to an unprecedented level. He put on his helmet, closed the visor, and checked that the security rm in the research center was working fine before he left. The street outside the research center used to be a bustlingmercial area. But all was left of it was a few scavengers roaming in the streets, using an iron mp to pick up whatever stuff they deemed valuable. The row ofmercial buildings across the street had been deserted. The outer walls were dirty. They did not have the mirror-like effect that they used to have. Lin Sheng could not help letting out a sigh. ¡°The pursuit of strengths is the only thing that you will find no regret, no matter when.¡± He was thinking, had he not pursued strengths in the first ce but chosen to hide in a safe spot in the dreams, he could have been dead a long time ago in a dark corner somewhere. He shook the thought from his head and strode toward his new ride¡ªa silver, four-seater Flute cabriolet. The Flute was the top car brand in Miga. It was the few best cars that had been selected after the Sanctum sorted out the vehicle in the city. The original owner was dead. They said all his kins were also dead. So all his properties, including the car, had been confiscated. But it meant little now because the car and the houses were almost worthless. He hopped inside and turned the ignition. As unassuming as this car was, it had a feature that no other cars could match: it ran quietly. Lin Sheng drove to the Sanctum division in the suburb. He got out. The door closed with a nice, satisfying thud, waking up the guard who dozed off at the Sanctum entrance. ¡°May holy light shine on you and me!¡± The guard cupped his fists as a form of greeting. Lin Sheng returned with a nod. Instead of going to see the other senior figures in the front hall, he went around to the prayer hall where the Holy Power Font was. He pushed the doors open and strutted inside. No one was here. The red carpet, the beautiful reliefs on the walls, the exquisite patterns on the stained window ss, and the rows of neat and clean, glossy ck benches that could almost reflect his face¡ªall these renovations made the prayer roomck the plebeian effect. The light spots in the air were visible; they were the condensation of the floating Holy Power particles. It showed how severe the overflowing problem of Holy Power was. Lin Sheng walked along the red carpet up to the prayer altar, then turned around, standing in the spot where the Holy Power Font was. Shutting his eyes, he saw in the dark a map of Henricqal in his mind¡¯s eye. The map that looked like a sand table rotated clockwise at Lin Sheng¡¯s will. As it rotated, a faint sound came. The terrain on the sand table slowly sank, and the map of Henricqal split in half. A grayish ck stone column with a clear handprint rose from the gap. ¡°Please verify your handprint. Handprint of the Bonded is needed to activate the next step.¡± The gentle female voice came again. Lin Sheng went forward, extended his right hand to press on the handprint on the stone column. ¡°Handprint verificationpleted. Wee to the Selection Menu.¡± A tree map popped up before his eyes. Beginning from the Sanctum of Dusk, it extended upward and split into three branches. ¡°Addable divine skills: ¡°1 ¨C Energy Suppression (the unified suppression of all non-holy forces. All non-holy forces energy decrease by one standard level when entering the Sanctum of Shadow.) ¡°Holy power required: 5,000. Raisable up to three levels. ¡°2 ¨C Guardian of the Twilight (slow healing effect on those with holy seal while spawning a weak shield on their skin) (Holy seal is the person marked by the holy power) ¡°Holy power required: 5,000. Raisable up to three levels. ¡°3 ¨C The Twilight Pool (a special Holy Power Font that is transformed by absorbing the Power of Dusk. Pool water can transform ordinary creatures into special holy light creatures with a certain probability.) ¡°(The holy light creature: a special creature with a strong physique and resilience, with the holy power of affinity.) ¡°Holy power required: 10,000. Raisable up to three levels. ¡°4 ¨C The Great Holy Power Font (Capacity is raisable to 1 million. Excess holy power will condense automatically into the holy crystal.) 1¡°Holy power required: 20,000 ¡°5 ¨C The Twilight Tower (Createrge red-cloud canopy to defeat most spying skills. All Divine Words within the Sanctum¡¯s radiation rage will increase.) ¡°Holy power required: 20,000. Raisable up to three levels. ¡°6 ¨C the Willpower Sanctum (capable of absorbing the wishes of the souls, creating the Ethereal Wisp.) ¡°(Ethereal Wisp: Level 8 energy creature, capable of long-range magic control and attack) 1¡°Holy power required: 50,000. Raisable up to three levels.¡± Chapter 413 - Imminent: Part 3

    Chapter 413: Imminent: Part 3

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°I didn¡¯t see that many optionsst time...¡± Lin Sheng looked at the holy power requirement figures down below, dreading. 1Perhaps there was not enough holy powerst time. Thest few options did not show up on the menu. Now when the Holy Power Font was full, they popped up automatically. Lin Sheng thought for a moment and uttered in a low voice. ¡°Requesting Holy Power Font.¡± A line of Ancient Rehn text appeared on the right bottom of his field of vision. ¡°Holy Power Font: 100,000 (full)¡± ¡°Hurrah! Let¡¯s use it!¡± His eyes darted between the six options and locked on to the Great Holy Power Font. ¡°Confirm to select the Great Holy Power Font,¡± he uttered. ¡°Confirmationplete. Selection is sessful. Upgrade of the Great Holy Power Font is in progress. Holy power used: 20,000. Upgrading in 15 hours,¡± the gentle female voice said. ¡°Confirm to select upgrade to Energy Suppression.¡± ¡°Confirmationplete. Selection is sessful. Upgrading to Energy Suppression. Holy power used: 5,000. Upgrading in 15 hours.¡± ¡°No change in the holy power requirement for Energy Suppression?¡± Lin Sheng looked at the tree map, where it showed the cost of upgrading was still 5,000. But after the upgrade, the suppressible level had be two standard levels. ¡°Let¡¯s get it rolling!¡± Since money was not an issue right now. The cost-to-performance ratio of the Energy Suppression skill was exceptional, no other divine skills came near. ¡°I wonder if the sanctum¡¯s intelligence can change the hierarchy standard. It would be more convenient if it could change into the real world¡¯s hierarchy.¡± Lin Sheng thought to himself. ¡°Request to change standard hierarchy reference system,¡± he uttered. ¡°Request received. Please adjust the naming.¡± The female voice told him. The tree map shrank and moved to one side, leaving room for another window. The new window showed the power hierarchy used in ckfeather City, which was from Level 1 up to level 18. He looked at the hierarchy, falling in deep thought. ¡°If Level 3 corresponds to a One-winger just stepping into transcendence, then every two level-ups should be equal to a One Wing increase. ¡°That means Level 5 will work out to be Two Wings, Level 7 will be Three Wings, Level 9 will be Oppressor-ss, Level 11 will be Five Wings, and Level 13 will be Six Wings. ¡°Each level is derived from the number of Wings times two plus one. But then, is Level 15 equal to Ptinate? I haven¡¯t met any Level 15 fellow. I can¡¯t tell. ¡°What¡¯s more, this is only an estimation. Last time, the Level 11 Steel Lord and the Six-winger were evenly matched. Inbat, there are many factors in y. ¡°Getting the low and medium blood unified first is more important.¡± Lin Sheng swung into action, starting to modify the diagram in his mind. He ssified everything below Level 3 as Zero Wing, which he divided into Regr, Elite, and Apex. From Level 3 up, it was One Wing, Two Wings, Three Wings, Four Wings, Five Wings, and Six Wings. Lin Sheng marked Level 15 after Six Wings as tentative. ¡°I can¡¯t believe there is the top Level 18. I wonder how it looked like during the peak of ckfeather City.¡± An eagerness rose within Lin Sheng. He had already sensed that, since the strength ceiling of the Darksiders was not high, the hierarchy scheme was not as detailed as that of ckfeather City. ¡°ording to the memory fragments I have absorbed, ckfeather City calls elites of Level 15 to 18 the Legend. Just which one¡ªthe Legend, or the Ptinate¡ªis more powerful?¡± he thought to himself. When he finallypleted changes to the hierarchy, he checked the Holy Power Font. It now had a bnce of 75,000. Just as well he upgraded the Energy Suppression skill to the max, which was Level 3. Level 3 Energy Suppression could suppress non-holy power cultivators, kicking them a Wing lower on the hierarchy. In other words, a non-holy power One-winger, who came into the force field of the Sanctum, would be an ordinary mortal. ¡°Still a bnce of 65,000. What else can I upgrade?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes were darting between the Twilight Tower and the Twilight Pool. ¡°The Willpower Sanctum¡¯s Ethereal Wisp is of Three-Wings strength. There is nock of Three-wingers in Henricqal now. And under the force field¡¯s influence, the Three-wingers here will perform like Oppressor-ss Four-wingers, their mid-range strength aplenty.¡± Lin Sheng was thinking, ¡°What I need now are anti-surveince and anti-hot weapon skills. The cktide isn¡¯t my only enemy. There are other dark-spirit groups too.¡± With this in mind and looking at the six options, Lin Sheng had figured out what he needed: the Twilight Tower. He selected it at once. ¡°Confirm to select the Twilight Tower.¡± ¡°Confirmationplete. Selection sessful. The Twilight Tower will build itself at a location of our choice. Holy power used: 20,000. Upgrading in 15 hours,¡± the female voice told him. Lin Sheng spent 60,000 units of holy power to upgrade the Twilight Tower to Level 3 and set the location of instation beside the Sanctum. That done, there was 10,000-unit holy power left in the Holy Power Font. He reviewed his selections. The three things¡ªEnergy Suppression, the Great Holy Power Font, and the Twilight Tower¡ªwere what Henricqal needed now. ¡°I wonder what Level 3 Energy Suppression and Twilight Tower could do.¡± Lin Sheng was filled with anticipation, feeling good after sshing 90,000-unit holy power at once. He had 15 hours to kill, and he would go home to get a good sleep and meditate. By then, the upgrading should beplete. ... Shermanton, Xylond. When the sky turned bright, outside the holy light defense of Shermanton, a silver vehicle drifted at high speed and ground to a halt on a deserted highway, blocking the entirenes. Coming from behind, a vehicle that looked like a tank slowed down. As the door swung open, Second Lock, Second Seat Aelfe Shafrayne got out of the vehicle. He was wearing a silver neat suit, beautiful white gloves and a few silver metal chains hanging on his chest. An olddy got out and quickly came up, saying in a low voice, ¡°Grandfather, we have arranged strike teams¡ª¡± ¡°It won¡¯t be necessary.¡± Aelfe cut her off. ¡°I¡¯m going in alone. He took off his gloves and threw them to the olddy. ¡°Get the breakfast tea ready. I will be back before you know it.¡± 1¡°But we have not activated the near-field teleportation instrument...¡± The olddy looked as if in a predicament. ¡°For safety¡¯s sake, could you please wait a while¡ª¡± ¡°With my ability, do you think I need to worry about a small city?¡± Aelfe frowned. A powerful depressive force field rose from his body. The olddy looked with bated breath and said nothing more. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter even if there are still Ptinates left in the Sanctum. I will make sure they understand that there is still an unbridgeable gap between Ptinates.¡± Aelfe was the man who used to fight two Ptinates from the three mysterious realms and won it. Let alone it was just a small sanctum. There would be only one oue when he marched in, which is a massacre. Chapter 414 - Battle: Part 1

    Chapter 414: Battle: Part 1

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion One of the Sevenlocks, Second Seat Aelfe Shafrayne came from a wealthy noble family. He received a full set of aristocratic education from a young age. But as he grew up and times changed, the nobility started to lose their power and influence. Having an aristocratic education, he had been practicing self-control and pushing himself to the limit so that he could be a real aristocrat. But the tide of history was irreversible. After many times of failure and with the draw from the Sevenlocks Tower, he made up his mind to join them. ¡®Destroy to rebuild new order¡¯ had been the aim of the Sevenlocks Tower all along. It was also the purpose and hope for people to join the group where they further made it their personal goal and mission. Aelfe came out from his thought, finding himself walking along a shady path on the bank of a river in Shermanton. He passed through the holy light defense and headed straight toward the Sanctum Hill. He did not announce his visit but approached quietly toward the target. Before he came, he had heard about how good the Sanctum was in dealing with the ck Tide. But after he passed through the defense line, he realized the Sanctum was not only good at fighting the ck Tide but it had been sessful in bringing the people together. He used to be a noble and then fell from grace, so he knew how horrible the method that the Sanctum used. Moving along the shaded path, he could still see a few couples pushing their babies on the strollersing out for a stroll. The situation here was precisely the same as before the ck Tide outbreak aspared to the situation outside. ¡°This is incredible...¡± he thought to himself. Aelfe used his special ability, a crystal masking method, to conceal his aura in an unknown dimension. He now looked just like an ordinary tourist. Everyone walking past him would not remember him and his face. People would just realize in their mind, ¡®Oh, someone has just walked past¡¯ and register nothing. After the shady path, Aelfe came to the public park at the foothill of the Sanctum Hill. Here, it was a lot more crowded than any other ce. If people in other parts of Shermanton were living a normal life, then people normal-looking residents here were a lot more frenzied. They prayed with their eyes closed, facing the direction of the Sanctum Hill, chanting something in their mouths. Some who looked like they had just arrived began to erect tents and slept on the spot. Some appeared to have been here for a very long time, down at heel with unbearable sweat, body odor and smelly feet all over the ce. Aelfe looked up into the park; the hill inside looked more like several-hundred-meter high. It looked like any other hills, but he could feel something in there that told him otherwise. ¡°This should be it.¡± Aelfe made up his mind and walked toward the hill without hesitation. As a Ptinate, he could reach the top in a few leaps or by flying. But he remained patient, walking past the crowd in the park and then quickening his pace as he approached the Sanctum Hill. He wanted to make out something about the Sanctum. The closer he got to the hill, the denser the holy-power particles in the air. A steady, indiscriminate suppressive energy covered the surroundings, including him. He was hiding in a different dimension using his special ability, but he could still feel the suppressive energy. Its overwhelming holy power was suppressing the dark energy in him. As powerful as the Ptinates were, they must constantly draw their dark energy from the Tidal Gate. But here, he had to battle the omnipresent suppressive energy to open the Tidal Gate. Although the suppressive energy had little effect on him, the dark energy from the Eventide he pulled would be subject to the holy power¡¯s influence. That meant a Ptinate like him would be indirectly affected, hisbat strength reduced. ¡°What a clever setup!¡± Aelfe could not help but marvel. Soon, he came before the long and white stairway. Invisible to the guards, Aelfe moved up the staircase, five or six steps at a time. Before long, he reached the hillside, halfway to the top. He looked down at the city of Henricqal andmented, ¡°What a beautiful view. It¡¯s a shame that such gorgeous scenery would soon be destroyed in my hands. I couldn¡¯t help but feel guilty about it...¡± With his hands on his back, he continued to climb while taking in the pristine and natural beauty of the Sanctum Hill. Atst, he came before the little hillside building that represented the Sanctum. ¡°Everything will be over now.¡± He reached out his hand and held the door handle. Rxing his special ability, his body left the other dimension and returned to the real world. He needed to leave the observation state in order to have contact with the real world. Aelfe turned the handle, and the door opened. He strode in, looking calm and indifferent. Horrifying energy burst from his body, spreading to every inch of the little sanctum. It was the energy of Aelfe, the Ptinate. ¡°I am the Second Seat of the Sevenlocks, Aelfe. Be shaken. Be horrified. And then bow before me asking for forgiveness!¡± The Night Lord, the Steel Lord, Khad, and Adolf had gathered together as if they were having a meeting. When they heard the words of Aelfe, they all blinked, unsure how to react. They just looked on as Aelfe barged in. Aelfe raised his chin, ncing at them. ¡°Stunned by my energy?¡± He dusted his clothes. ¡°I¡¯m going to give you all a chance; you alle at once!¡± His words reverberated in the sanctum, but no one responded. For a moment, there was an awkwardness in the prayer room. The Night Lord and the Steel Lord exchanged a look. ¡°You know this fe?¡± ¡°I just came back from abroad. How could I have known him?¡± The Steel Lord shook his head. ¡°How did hee in?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know... but I feel there is something in him. He should be able tost a few rounds.¡± The Night Lord rubbed his chin, then turned to look at Aelfe. ¡°Did you just say you wanted to fight us at once? Aelfe sneered. He went to the window at the side of the sanctum with his back to them. ¡°It was I who said it, of course.¡± ¡°Would you dare to remain unmoved if I blow out a breath at you?¡± the Night Lord asked. 1¡°Are you kidding or what?¡± Aelfe looked not too happy. ¡°Remember. You all have only one chance. I will show you all my tolerance as a Second Seat.¡± Chapter 415 - Battle: Part 2

    Chapter 415: Battle: Part 2

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Xylond, inside the Holy Sanctum. ¡°Then I¡¯ll start?¡± ¡°Do it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll really start then?¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡°You sure?¡± ¡°Just bloody do it!¡± Aelfe was so pissed off that he snapped. *Hiss!* Suddenly, the air within a hundred meters around the Holy Sanctum surged towards the heart of the sanctum at the same moment as the Night Lord opened his mouth and took in a deep breath. Countless of jetstreams flowed into his mouth, transforming into an invisible vortex. The mountain trembled as the skies started to thunder. An abyssal pressure ran rampant from the Night Lord¡¯s body and engulfed every corner of the Holy Sanctum. Such was its strength that it shattered Aelfe¡¯s momentum within an instant. Aelfe¡¯s body went stiff as an expression of disbelief appeared on his face, but his body reacted before he could, as cold sweat started flowing from his back and forehead. His originally arrogant demeanor barely had any time to disappear as sweat started to drench his brow and nose. ¡°Didn¡¯t they say there were no Ptinates here??!! What was the intelligence team doing?¡± He was shaken to his core, but to maintain the image of the second seat, he still kept on the facade. ¡°What... what a brilliant disy of power.¡± Aelfe tried his best to not let his shock show, as he forced an elegant smile onto his face. At the same time, he ran through his mind to figure out a way to extricate himself from this situation. If he did not find a way soon, today¡¯s date would be his death anniversary date next year. Judging from his aura alone, the strength of the person before him was not your usual Ptinate¡¯s. Not to mention that there was another person beside him who seemed to be on an equal footing with him. ¡°Young man, I recognize your strength. You can stand down, I only wanted to test you just now.¡± Aelfe said with his hands behind his back. ¡°A test?¡± A burst ofughter rang out under the Steel Lord¡¯s helmet. ¡°Surely you weren¡¯t thinking that His Excellency, the Night Lord is actually being serious with you?¡± He was old and sophisticated, and although he may have failed in his past life, that did not stop him from having other excellent qualities other than his martial might. His observation ability was one of that. From Aelfe¡¯s dismissive arrogance when he entered, to his current feigned calm and panic in his heart, he had seen through everything. He was a Ptinate after all. As his bluff was called, Aelfe stopped pretending. ¡± I never thought that the Holy Sanctum had two Ptinates hidden among their ranks. If this were to go out, it will definitely shake the Darksider world to the core. Since you have been hiding your existence and did not show yourself, that meant that you people did not want your identity known. So how about we act like I never came here, while I keep your secret safe and we go our own ways. How about that?¡± His words and analysis were timely and meticulous. For him to be able to capture the psychology of his opponents and analyze everything was proof that he was well learned on the matters of psychology. ¡°Haaaahhhh....¡± The Night Lord covered his mouth as he let out a massive yawn. The abnormal airflow in the area suddenly paused before calming down. ¡°Just yawned. Ah right, what were you saying again?¡± The Night Lord wiped away the tears from the corner of his eyes. Aelfe felt like his pride had just been struck by a ten-ton hammer. ¡°I...¡± His expression was conflicted, but he still managed a smile. ¡°Actually, I... I¡¯m here representing the Sevenlocks Tower to form an alliance with the Holy Sanctum!¡± His mind worked hard and made a 180-degree turn in an instant. ¡°The reason I had snuck up here was to test the Holy Sanctum¡¯s defensive abilities.¡± Aelfe was determined to try to muddle his way through first. ¡°But we¡¯ve never heard of anything of this sort?¡± The Night Lord said as he scratched his face. ¡°As this is our first proper contact, we had not intended to disturb you. It was only because of your superb counter-reconnaissance skill that I was discovered.¡± Aelfe replied swiftly. ¡°And your answer will be...?¡± Within the prayer hall, both the Night Lord and the Steel Lord quickly exchanged information. Their ability tomunicate through their souls made theirmunication extremely advance. ¡°While you do look sincere, and there¡¯s nothing wrong with what you said, but...¡± The Night Lord smiled as he changed the topic. ¡°You did say you were going to stand still there.¡± ¡°Thene, if you can withstand this hit, I could consider overlooking your insolent intrusion.¡± Aelfe went silent. Bullsh*t, for him to evoke such a level of aura would require him to focus all of his attention and might into it. But this man before him... His powerful instincts as a Ptinate told him that this person was probably one of the strongest of enemies he had met in his lifetime. ¡°If you insist, I agree. But I came here bearing the goodwill of the Sevenlocks Tower, and this action will very possibly turn two organizations that could exist harmoniously into hostile foes!¡±. Aelfe was eager to extricate himself out of this situation as a bad feeling formed within him. ¡°No worries. Not that I¡¯ve thought that much anyway.¡± The Night Lord smiled.¡±We¡¯ll leave everything else after I let out my breath.¡± Aelfe¡¯s heart sank, as he understood that the two were not misled by his words. They had already seen through his ill-intentions from the get-go. As soon as he understood this, he stopped talking. ¡°Then, the Second Seat of the Sevenlocks Tower, Aelfe Shafrayne, epts your trial.¡± He bent down slightly in a bow towards the Night Lord before him. Even if he was to lose, he could never allow the dignity of the Sevenlocks Tower to be lost. He then looked up and saw the milk-way brilliance in the Night Lord¡¯s beautiful eyes. 1Suddenly his vision blurred as he seemed to be pulled out of the Holy Sanctum and into a dark dimension. But the very next moment, he lost his ability to think of anything else as a powerful, almost palpable pressure rushed towards him from all directions before he could even react. It was almost by instinct as Aelfe held his body upright and opened the Tidal Gate within his body. An endless torrent of dark powers surged out if his body from the Eventide as his unique dark power was unleashed. ¡°Absolute Crystal Prison! Seal!!¡± In that instant, a massive white hexahedral crystal surrounded Aelfe within it. The white crystal slowly spun as if it was pure energy that hadpletely separated from the bounds of dark powers, bing a different type of phenomenon altogether. It was the same shimmering light from the crystal that he finally could see what he was up against. Within the dark void, a massive ck dragonoid creature hundreds of meters long hovered before him. The moment he had a clear vision of the dragonoid creature, the Night Lord¡¯s unique voice rang in his ears. ¡°Blood Art: Dark Dragon Breath.¡± The massive ck dragon opened its mouth wide towards his direction. *Booom!!* What followed was an all-consuming shadow sting out of the dragon¡¯s mouth, and swept everything before it. Chapter 416 - Battle: Part 3

    Chapter 416: Battle: Part 3

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng took a bath and gave the little girl some pointers in both swordy and holy power training before he left the vi. As he had nothing to do earlier, he hadin down to rest and slept all the way from morning to afternoon. His spirits could not be in any better shape. It was just moments away before the temple¡¯s upgrade waspleted, and he wanted to witness the changes with his own eyes. As he stepped out of theb, Lin Sheng leaped ahead as arge amount of holy power behind him propelled him forward. By using arge quantity of holy power, he could fly freely like a bird for a short period of time. Lin Sheng strolled across the city and soon found Henriqcal¡¯s tallestmerce building. He rapidly flew along the outer wall of the building and very quickly reached the top of the building. ¡°Over here then.¡± Lin Sheng looked on the ground and found it very clean. After the cktide invasionst time, the financial group which owned themercial building announced that they were letting go of this multi-billion-dor building, and transferred it to Baine University which had maintained order. Sadly, when the true cktide struck, the ce had already been abandoned. It was because the cost of dozens of elevators going up and down, and the daily cleaning of the building was not something a normal person could sustain. Especially in the current state where resources were getting scarcer by the day, spending arge amount of electricity to power the elevators was simply impossible. Lin Sheng circled the rooftop andmented the fact that such a magnificent building was abandoned just like that. ¡°This is actually pretty normal.¡± Tenko Kasumi had arrived without him knowing. ¡°The eras that I had lived through, there were simr situations like this. The more critical the times are, the needs be ever simpler, faster, and more practical.¡± Lin Sheng smiled and did not interject. While Tenko Kasumi had a certain degree of independence and was not exactly him, but this was like a person entertaining his thoughts in his mind, with this thought wanting this, another wanting that, even thoughts in his mind would have differing opinions. Much less an independent double of him. ¡°It¡¯s here!¡± Lin Sheng suddenly felt something as he looked up. The clear skies only had a few long strips of clouds among the sea of azure. Without industrial pollutants, the air quality was rapidly improving. *Hah!!* Suddenly, from the direction of the Holy Sanctum¡¯s Font of Holy Power, a red light sted out, and exploded above Henriqcal¡¯s skies, turning into a sea of dark red dust-like substance. Following that was another gentle hum, as a clear smoke sted out from the direction of the Holy Sanctum. This smoke simrly exploded in the air, and soon fused with the red dark dust in the air, forming into the dark red cloudyer that covered the entire city overhead. And most importantly, this cloudyer was invisible to normal people, and would not affect the projection of sunlight. ¡°What a wondrous piece of tech. It¡¯s truly a master¡¯s work...¡± Lin Sheng said with admiration. Tenko Kasumi did not say anything, and simply just looked at the clouds in the air. ¡°Then it¡¯s energy suppression.¡± Lin Sheng used his soullink to look at the crimson-armored warrior guarding the dungeon. And now he could directly see that the energy suppression rejecting and suppressing the power of other systems. And the most direct effect was over a dozen people suddenly died inside the dungeon. Most of these people had many hidden injuries on their bodies and had been relying on their powers to support their bodies. Now that the energy suppression is activated, the suppression lowered their power level by One Wing or even more. And once their dark powers not enough to sustain their body, their wounds festered and their injuries reared their head again, resulting in a tragedy. ¡°Seems like everything is going well.¡± Lin Sheng then arranged for someone to take care of the matter inside the prison beforeying on the ground on the roof, as he had gotten toozy to move. He had been in a hurry to be strong and forge ahead. At times he was forced to, at times it was voluntarily, but most of the time, it was the thrill of the pursuit. Lin Sheng rarely had such an opportunity to have nothing to do and toy down in an unknown ce to rx. After a short rest, he had almost fallen asleep. Tenko Kasumi, on the other hand, stood by the edge of the building and looked towards a corner of the city below her. *Woooo...* A sudden piercing siren rang out in Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. ¡°The Tower of Dusk had discovered hostiles. Unknown biological creatures are trying to break the defensive line. Please take action immediately.¡± Lin Sheng immediately reacted, and it was probably the sanctum that he was bound to giving the rm. This was the design created by the various master artisans of ckfeather City, and while parts of the design were still under-developed, but the effect of its practical usage was far beyond Lin Sheng¡¯s imagination. ¡°Let¡¯s ask first.¡± Lin Sheng got up as he pulled out his cell phone and made a phone call. The line was immediately connected. ¡°Cypher, is Baine¡¯s outermost defensive line alright?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s concern was for the outermost defensive perimeter. ¡°Sir, there are no problems.¡± ¡°How about our own defensive line?¡± Lin Sheng asked again. ¡°Please wait.¡± The voice on the other end quickly ran through the specifics of the situation. ¡°It should be safe... No, no! Thirty kilometers north of our position, a wave of unknown monsters is approaching at high speed!¡± ¡°Take a picture and sent it to me.¡± Lin Sheng said as he hung up. He then checked the picture and data sent over by the Tower of Dusk. A minuteter, his phone rang again, and Lin Sheng pulled out his phone and adjusted the brightness as he tapped on the picture. The attacking monsters¡¯ upper torsos were like that of men, while their lower body was like a centipede-like creature while their faces bore a child-like smile. At that moment, all of the monsters were coiled together and looked like a massive ball of flesh from a distance. ¡°Another new monster...¡± Lin Sheng was rather indifferent. The monster on the picture was the same as the image sent to him by the Tower of Dusk. ¡°I had heard my subordinates mentioned about this before.¡± Tenko Kasumi suddenly asked. ¡°They had mentioned that most of the monsters had been purged, but for so many to appear so suddenly...¡± ¡°Perhaps they were passing through,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Wooo....¡± A second rm rang out. ¡°A mysterious underground cavern had appeared near the Holy Sanctum. Monsters approaching fast!¡± ¡°Scanning for numbers...¡± ¡°There¡¯s a total of 1251 units. Please eradicate as soon as possible.¡± The Tower of Dusk was certainly effective, and a level three Tower of Dusk made Lin Sheng very happy. He constantly switched between various battlefields as the images that came to his mind were as if an HD camera had been installed in his mind, and he could also choose to activate or deactivate various divine art enchantments. Lin Sheng pondered for a little and chose to enhance Detect Evil. Detect Evil was a divine art of the lowest level and was the least useful of them all. But once it is upgraded, it was no longer Detect Evil. It instead became a special ability that was simr to a mental shock, and could temporarily subdue anyone who has a weaker mind than the user. Lin Sheng named this upgraded Detect Evil as Holy Shock. And just at that moment, in the distant skies, a dense dark blue shadow suddenly flew over. It was a swarm from by pterodactyl-like blue monsters, and with their numbers, panic ensued. Lin Sheng looked at the flock from a distance, and before they could even get close, several volleys had beenunched from below. *Boom boom boom!!!* Anti-air cannons were being continuously erected, as the special shells screeched into the air, and every explosion took out at least several of the monster birds at a time. ¡°It seems like things are getting better, but the issue with this world is not that simple.¡± Lin Sheng felt like he was drained again as he thought about it. Land, underground, air, every avenue had been utilized, and if this was not on purpose he had nothing else to say. Chapter 417 - Situation: Part 1

    Chapter 417: Situation: Part 1

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Someone deliberately lured the monsters into the city?¡± Tenko Kasumi furrowed her brows slightly. ¡°I¡¯m not discounting this possibility. For monsters to attack from all three sides, that means that someone is controlling these monsters. As for who they are, man or monster, it doesn¡¯t matter. As long as it is alive, a de through it will do the job.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s pretty boring now? Gotta find something to do, right? The cktide has yet to settle and these troublemakers could actually move about with ease. Do they not fear the cktide? Or the monsters within it?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes flickered with light. ¡°If we could our hands on their secrets, we can certainly open up a safe passageway between both sanctums.¡± ¡°The person may be innocent, but his sin was to have such an ability. No matter who he is, or what he wants to do since he had disyed such an ability, that means it can be snatched over, and turn to my own use!¡± Lin Sheng stood up and made contact with the Holy Sanctum¡¯s Tower of Dusk. The images from the tower¡¯s monitors quickly appeared in his mind as he picked them out one by one, trying to look for the hidden hand that had incited the monsters. That ability was far more terrifying than satellite surveince. With the mysterious red cloudyer about Henricqal, satellites could no longer directly lock onto this location anymore. If one wanted to observe what was going on there, they needed to observe with their own eyes. Very quickly, Lin Sheng started searching from the locations where the monsters first appeared. The strength of the Tower of Dusk was that as long as it was within range, one could check for all information within the coverage area three days before and after at any ce at any time. As long something had taken ce here, everything could be found. Using this precision positioning method, he had screened off plenty of pointless observation data, then using the fast forward method, he roped Tenko Kasumi to help out as well. Even so, heined it was too slow, as he quickly fathered over a dozen crimson-armored warriors to help with looking through the footage. To make it easier, Lin Sheng had the Tower of Dusk dividing the projection screen into over a dozen screens, with every summoned being had a screen before them. With a ton of manpower... Ten minutester... they found the culprit. ¡°It¡¯s him.¡± Tenko Kasumi pointed at a tiny figure on her screen. Lin Sheng counterchecked a few other timings when the monsters had appeared and said figure was present in all of them. It was always right before the monster struck, and the coincidence was seemingly too obvious. ¡°All right, I want to know where this Azem person lives.¡± Lin Sheng identified the suspect and promptly issued instructions to the Tower of Dusk. ¡°The Second Abandoned Commercial District, Yishan Road, unit 300.¡± The Tower of Dusk sent the requested information back. Such a level of informational agility amazed Lin Sheng. Technology was power, after all. However, it was not any simple technology, it was magical technology. ¡°Let¡¯s go and meet that little guy, and see what sort of secrets he holds with him.¡± Lin Sheng smiled as he leaped off the building. Tenko Kasumi followed closely behind. ... Azem was sitting upright on the cushion as he calmly sipped the Metteniusa honey tea he had just brewed. The honey tea was acquired by him from faraway Olro through a noble while he was on a mission there. The quantity of that tea was very limited, with many prospective buyers. It was nothing because of anything else but the fact that this tea could extend one¡¯s life if taken in quantity. It was suitable for both Darksiders or ordinary people. ¡°Now... the summoned monsters should have begun their attack, right?¡± Azem knew the power of the tricolor cube well. If this was exposed, it would be like the most appetizing of baits to the monsters of the cktide, like how honey was to a ck bear and the scent of blood to a shark. It was a rare find he had run into during a life-threatening incident although the Rubik¡¯s cube in his hand was a mere copy. In that incident, he had almost met his demise, and he was sure that he would be dead half-way through the ardor. Yet, he found fortune for his tribtions, and using the rare item he found, he joined the Sevenlocks Tower, and slowly climbed the ranks. However, his abilities were no match against the Ptinates. Compared with those Ptinates who could only fight and kill, what he could do, and what he could affect was muchrger than they could ever achieve. ¡°Let¡¯s probe first, and see how the Holy Sanctum here reacts. Then I¡¯ll look for loopholes in their defense to formte a n against them.¡± Azem had always believed that there was no unbreakable defense in this world, the only difference was the length of time. As the third-ranking Sage of the Sevenlocks Tower, he had sessfully nned threerge scale battles and had achieved magnificent results in all three battles. So this time around, the Tower Master had handed the matter of the Holy Sanctum for him to handle with full authority. As a sage, Azem understood the fundamental importance of intelligence. So the first thing he did was to disguise himself and came directly to Henriqcal to immediately start investigating the true nature of the Holy Sanctum. ¡°Azem, don¡¯t you dare do any shady things!¡± his brother, the bearded man said helplessly. He disliked this brother of his very much, but regardless, thetter was still his blood rtive. ¡°How could I. I¡¯m done with that already.¡± ¡°Then what did you go out for earlier? For a walk?¡± ¡°Just taking a walk,¡± Azem said calmly. ¡°And you told me you were going to the movies earlier.¡± The bearded man was a little annoyed. He should have not trusted this b*stard, nothing he spoke contained a sliver of truth. ¡°Is that so. That was earlier. Brother, you need to know that ideas would change ording to situations. So I prefer to take a walk now.¡± The bearded man shook his head, as he no longer wanted to argue further with his brother, he went straight back to his room. Azem sat in the hall as he slowly sipped the honey tea in front of him. A clear reflection of his face appeared on the surface of the tea. ¡°There¡¯s too little information at hand. The Holy Sanctum may seem to be open, but they have revealed very little details. The organizational structure seems to be rather rudimentary as well, and depends more on some techniques or unknown knowledge to determine if the members are loyal or treacherous.¡± ¡°But this time it¡¯s interesting.¡± A smile appeared at the corner of Azem¡¯s mouth. ¡°The personying this out is much smarter than I thought. Then let¡¯s just wait until the cktide hits the city to see if they will reveal any weakness.¡± He was hopeful. Once he managed totch onto a weakness, no matter how strong the foe was, they would be reduced to nothing. The ones who usually still stood at the end of a standoff would be those who never took unnecessary risks or hog the limelight. They just did their own thing. ¡°The Tricolor Rubik will attract arge number of cktide monsters here. Even with a Ptinate around, this ce is done for. Then, what will you do, Holy Sanctum?¡± He smirked as he raised his cup of tea, blowing off a floating leaf and took a sip. *Ding dong!* Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Azem snorted, he knew his elder brother had no standing here. Even when he got drunk and copsed under the flyover, no one would have paid any attention to him. 1It was only because of Azem that his subordinates within the Sevenlocks Tower secretly took care of his brother¡¯s family. Chapter 418 - Situation: Part 2

    Chapter 418: Situation: Part 2

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Coming at this hour, is it by ident or by design?¡± As he was closest to the door, Azem stood up and took the initiative to open the door. Trying to cover-up at this moment would make things even more suspicious, so if he was much more upfront, people would not doubt him that much. *ck.* The door opened. The young Sage of the Sevenlocks Tower looked at the two figures standing outside the door with a stunned look. One was d from head to toe in armor, with a golden iris shining from the helmet¡¯s eyeslit. The other person¡¯s expression was calm and impassive. Therge greatsword on her back announced her identity loud and clear. ¡°Hello, nice to meet you. I¡¯m the manager of this Holy Sanctum district, Seagal, and this is the Chapter Master, Tenko Kasumi. We have detected a special aura here, and hade over to investigate.¡± Lin Sheng smiled as he introduced himself and Tenko Kasumi. Running into a whale at the start of a game... No... this was the scenario where you were already going to get your hinds kicked before the game even started. He was a Sage, and a Sage requires time toy ns out. Yet even with the brightest ideas in his mind, standing before two powerful figures, Azem felt that he needed to submit. ¡°Hello... Who are you looking for?¡± Azem¡¯s heart quivered, but he still put on a facade of a distant rtive and said gently. ¡°The person we are looking for is a person capable of walking amongst monsters without any danger,¡± Lin Sheng said with a faint smile. ¡°You must be kidding... how would such a person exists, it boggles the mind.¡± Azem barely forced out a smile. ¡°But I was not joking.¡± Lin Sheng smiled, and with a gentle flick of his hand, a couple of clerical guards appeared behind him. ¡°Take everyone in this room away. We¡¯ll decide if to report further after interrogation.¡± ¡°As ordered!¡± The guards in white-armor squeezed past Azem and started searching the unit. And a moment, the elder brother who was in the room upstairs was brought down. He clearly remembered having already paid his dues, why was there a raid again? ¡°Is there any misunderstanding?¡± He tried to salvage the situation even though he knew exactly what kind of person his brother was. Lin Sheng could not be bothered with nonsense and was about to step forward to search the room. *Bammm!!* Suddenly, dull thumping footsteps were heard outside the window. *Bam! Bam! Bam!* Everyone could see, through the ss window, a massive figure was making its way in this direction, step by step. The streets were already in a mess, and ever since the monster¡¯s attack, everyone had already hidden away somewhere safe. Leaving only cars piled up into a clump. Anyone still outside now was either arrogant folks or those cleaning workers and the likes who had yet to change shifts. Simply put, they were either lone wolves or workers. The former was fine and dandy, as running fast was one of their capabilities, but thetter was different, most of them did not even have any basicbat ability, and it meant death if they were to run into any monsters. Through the window, Lin Sheng and the rest rushed over to see what was going on outside. A monster about fifteen meters tall was slowly making its way here with each thumping step. It looked like a giant green gori, but it bore a more cautious look than a gori, seemingly much more intelligent than a normal one. This was a fairly perfect-looking beast, with no mutations, nor any signs of corruption. If not for its gargantuan size, Lin Sheng would have thought he had just seen a gori like the one in the zoo. ¡°Take them away first. The clerics in charge of this district will deal with the monster,¡± he said to the captain who hade afterward. ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°Well, see youter then.¡± Lin Sheng waved his hand. ¡°Oh right, sir. We have found these from the body search, please have a look,¡± a cleric behind him whispered. Only then was Lin Sheng¡¯s interest was piqued, as he turned back. Over on the low table before the sofa, there was a pile of at least a dozen items. Among them was the Tricolor Rubik, and an identification wallet. Unlike the others, the moment Lin Sheng saw the Tricolor Rubik, he knew he was not mistaken! There was something fishy with one of them. ¡°All right, that¡¯s fine. They are already captured and secured. Interrogate them in detailter, perhaps we can gain more goodies from them,¡± Lin Sheng said as he picked up the Tricolor Rubik and spun it in his hand. He could feel that the giant gori seemed to be making a beeline toward this object in his hand. *Roarrr!!!* The giant green gori roared furiously in the middle of the street as it flung its arms about to destroy the buildings around it. ¡°Bind.¡± A calm voice rang out, and the giant gori shuddered immediately, seemingly suffering some kind of shock as it lost its mobility and stood in a stupor in ce. Taking advantage of that time, the patrols who had just arrived quickly sorted out their duties. Soon, a series of offensive spells sted out. who had just arrived quickly sorted out their duties. A group of patrolmen started using all sorts of methods to attack the giant gori. From threads, attachable objects to simple animated beasts, to little effect, however. Immediately after, their scattered attacks were unified bymand as a series of white discs were thrown out, and this caused no small harm to the gori. Lin Sheng stood by the window, as he looked down at the patrolmen using their own methods to fight against the giant beast before them. ¡°Dark powers are still more powerful than holy power when used offensively...¡± Lin Sheng said as he looked at the shes of green light below. A team member¡¯s dark powers soon formed into the vine-like, and it looked truly animated. That was rare even among the high-level Darksiders. The dark power was originally a pure form of energy. However, once this energy form was animated with some real seeds, then it would result in a true animation, and the energy form¡¯s strength would be greatly increased. Just like the person Lin Sheng was looking at now. The vines in his hand did not require any control from him, and with just amand, the dark powers would aplish it by itself. Compared to the rest of his team members, this person seemed to be cruising along and fighting hard, but he actually had zerobat records. ¡°Second team, block it. Third team, weaken it,¡± that voice continued tomand. Lin Sheng had seen the brilliance behind the voice and was not too surprised. Surely enough, with two patrol teams cooperating with each other, the gori efforts to break through was in vain. Despite that, following a series of chains of holy power wrapping all around the gori, a seeminglyid-back youth with pale skin closed it with a dagger and stabbed at the gori¡¯s throat with precision. ¡°Ufff!!¡± Blood ran all over. ck smoke began to evaporate from the giant gori¡¯s body as its frame began to shrink and wither. Within bare moments, the fifteen-meter-tall gori had be a skinny, bone-thin old gori. The rest of the patrolmen was relieved as they got close to have a better look. ¡°This gori does not look all that different from the ones you¡¯ll find in the zero.¡± Lin Sheng was a little interested, but since the gori was too weak, it failed to pique any more of his interest. ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s go back.¡± Now he was sure that the patrol teams within the Holy Sanctum¡¯s surroundings were sufficient to deal with any danger or trouble that may appear. With the double blessing of the purification field and the Tower of Dusk, even a One-winged cleric could unleash powers akin to a Two-winger. Chapter 419 - Situation: Part 3

    Chapter 419: Situation: Part 3

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng threw out a holy light and healed the wounded patrolmen below. As he got out of the raided ce, Lin Sheng did not stay and instead returned straight to hisb. The magical Rubik¡¯s cube in his hand was a little weird. And that Azem person, he was too calm. While he had shown signs of shock at first, but the longer it got, the calmer he had gotten. When he reached theb within the range of the Sacred Ground, the faint, inexplicable aura of the Rubik¡¯s cube started to weaken. Lin Sheng performed a simple set of tests with the instruments he had and detected nothing. Aside from it being indestructible, everything else was normal. Yet, what he did not know was when he brought the Tricolor Rubik all the way back, ck humanoid creatures with glowing red teeth started appearing all across the cktide around Henriqcal. With extreme speed, these monsters rushed and struck the defensive line formed by both the Holy Sanctum and Baine University as soon as they appeared. ... *Tick tock, tick tock...* A hail of bullets sted out from the gun barrel, ripping into a swarm of ck monsters. The monsters were ripped to shreds and fell limply onto the ground,pletely still. But soon, more and more monsters continued to appear from the cktide. To the left nk of Henriqcal City, the Holy Sanctum defensive line. ¡°They are resurrecting...!!?¡± amander asked as he looked closely with his binocrs. ¡°That¡¯s not resurrection, it¡¯s just a core regeneration.¡± Anothermander shook his head. ¡°We have enough manpower. No matter, continue to press on. We have holy light to deal with the injuries, and the thick armor provides maximum protection.¡± ¡°Right. Let¡¯s sent a few teams to probe then.¡± Not long after, in the middle of the battle, threemando strike teams with three members each were quickly established. The three members guarded each other¡¯s backs as they charged into the swarm of monsters as they unleashed dark and holy powers in a deadly dance of death. The moment there were wounded, the team would retreat and another takes its ce. Once the three three-man teams joined together, it was like three steel redoubts that were anchored firmly on the ground they fought. The monster¡¯s attacks were like a breeze before their faces and gave them no pressure. At the same time, other locations in Henriqcal City began to field those full-body tin cans as a basis to resist the monsters. That was because reality had proven the holy power¡¯s strength, as the monster swarm broke against the Holy Sanctum line and were instantly annihted. Among the five types of monsters that had appeared, only the ck humanoid monster was the most hated of foes, simply because they could not be killed. Even when their bodies were shattered they could still reform into a whole new body. So at that defensive line where the numbers of monsters were just about right, it was a suitable training grounds for the students. And so-called storm, ended with as quickly as it came. Lin Sheng returned to theb, and after waking up, the first thing he did was to shove the Tricolor Rubik into a fully enclosed metal box. He then locked the box and threw it into the freezer. After confirming everything over his side, Lin Sheng made tried to make contact with the Thunderbeast. The Thunderbeast was based in the Xylond headquarters. With the Night Lord holding the fort, there should not be a problem. So he was not worried. It was just news from the other side that surprised Lin Sheng a little. ¡°A Ptinate hade over and called himself the second seat of the Sevenlocks Tower, Aelfe. He broke into the Holy Sanctum this morning, and was taken out by His Excellency the Night Lord right away,¡± the Steel Lord reported matter-of-factly. ¡°A Ptinate? The Sevenlocks Tower? Them again...¡± Lin Sheng frowned. Ever since the battle at the gates of Baine University, conflict had deepened between the Holy Sanctum and the Sevenlocks Tower. Besides, the Sevenlocks Tower had been causing the Holy Sanctum trouble several times in a row already to date. ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with this side. We¡¯ve caught a little rat who can manipte the monsters into attacking.¡± Lin Sheng had a sudden realization. With more monsters now, he could obtain even more souls, it was just that he need for souls were far less urgent now that he had his breakthrough. 1Nevertheless, if he wanted, he could summon out arge number of souls at any time although they were chaotic souls that were difficult to absorb. ¡°Tower, collect all the data of the battles that have taken ce today,¡± Lin Sheng ordered. ¡°Collectionplete,¡± the female voice module responded. Using his mind, Lin Sheng summoned out a series of disys before his eyes, before pulling everyone else over to look at them as well. Since their souls were all linked together, he only needed to share it out. Soon, Lin Sheng found what he wanted, before pulling up the records of the fighting the day before. ¡°Yeah,paratively, their strength had increased by at least three-fold. With such a short span of time, someone must be up to no good.¡± However, looking at the holy warriors d from head to toe in tin-cans on the screen, Lin Sheng shook his head slightly. He would let them rush in and be focus-fired upon. Perhaps a single shell would do the job, and when they know what sort of destructive force awaits them, they would know that charging in blindly would not help them. ¡°But this Sevenlocks Tower... they had acted against us using so many means. We need to beef up our guard against them.¡± Once he was sure that there were no more problems, did hey down and closed his eyes to rest. ... Somewhere inside the Hidden Realms. Yellow sand covered the entire length of this Hidden Realm. Beneath a huge sand dune, a cold red scythe was being entangled by a swath of green seaweed. On the other end, the edge of the crescent moon seemed to be frozen by something and the frost was spreading all over it. Mi Yue stood alone under the crescent moon, his expression and poise were calm. And against him, was the third person. Simr to the other two, the third person was shrouded in a thick golden light. Clearly, someone did it on purpose to hide their identities, and this was a proper head-on battle... The three Hidden Realms had sent out their strongest elites in a joint attack against Mi Yue. After a few days of fighting, the battle had reached its current state. At that moment, under the dune, three figures shrouded in light sat around Mi Yue as four different powers fought above their heads in the air. Later on, Mi Yue was identally hit by a powerful spell called the Poison of Time, and the fight became this current stalemate. ¡°You three cowards who dare not even show your face! Is it that interesting getting into a battle of attrition with me where?¡± Mi Yue said, his words bleeding with scorn. ¡°Tower Master, you must be joking. We are not like the wicked folks of the Sevenlocks Tower. We have our own lives to live, and this is to protect that life of ours. That¡¯s all to it.¡± COMMENT The figure in the glowing light sitting right across him responded. Mi Yue pondered for a moment, and just as he decided to speak, a drone flew close to him. The drone was equipped with a long-distance transmission earpiece. The drone got close to Mi Yue¡¯s ears and whispered the report in secret code. But even Mi Yue found the specifics of the report unbelievable. Aelfe, the second seat of the Sevenlocks Tower was trapped within the Holy Sanctum¡¯s headquarters, and there was still no news about him. The new sage, Azem had also been liquidated, captured, and sealed away. ¡°The Holy Sanctum...¡± Mi Yue closed his eyes to rest a little.¡±Send the Darklight out. This was originally prepared for the Three Hidden Realms, and now that the Holy Sanctum had appeared, might as well give them to him.¡± ¡°The Darklight? Isn¡¯t it overkill?¡± the voice in the drone eximed. ¡°No, send the word out. It is time for them to fulfill their pledge.¡± Chapter 420 - Family Business: Part 1 Chapter 420: Family Business: Part 1 The Dream. No matter how many times Lin Sheng went in and out of the dream, he still could not describe the feeling of detachment when he enters the dream. His soul seemed to be able to return to his body at any moment yet it too felt like it was floating about and flying around. It was a rather bizarre sensation. Lin Sheng enjoyed this sort of loss of consciousness but at the same time, he could also sense the contradictory nature of it. *Tick tock, tick tock...* By the time he realized it, he once again heard the ticking of the clock. All around him was a sea of murky white light, with no outline of anything, nor was he able to tell where he was. ¡°Has the ce changed again?¡± Lin Sheng frowned. The moment he stepped out of the Darkspirit cavern he had the feeling that his dream might run into abnormalities. After all, he was already in another dimension when he was at the Darkspirit cavern. So he did not sleep at all there. He persisted all the way until he returned to reality before sleeping normally to recharge himself. Even with all of the precautions, the thing he worried the most had still happened. The dream had shifted again, and he was no longer where he was earlier. ¡°Then... where is this ce?¡± Lin Sheng tried to raise his hand up. His hand was still there at least, and he could see the marks on it. He then took a step forward. Everything was hazy in the white light. Lin Sheng sped up and ran towards a direction. *Bam! Bam! Bam! His heavy footsteps reverberated all across the white space, yet there was still no response from anything around him. He continued to run for who knows how long. And finally he saw a door in the distance. It was a door that he knew every well. That¡¯s... That was... That was... Panpan Security Door! *Pfft.* Lin Sheng stopped and looked on speechlessly at the door. While his home back on Earth had this security door installed, he was in the dream now, and suddenly seeing this was just too jarring, no? ¡°Ah screw it, anything can happen in the dream.¡± Lin Sheng looked around. He no longer wanted to waste time wandering about. So he walked to the security door and held his hand out as he gently pulled it. *ck.* The door opened. Lin Sheng pulled the door open wide, and inside it was a sea of red light, a very familiar red light. It was his home back in Xilin! Across the door was the living room. The television had already been smashed to pieces, as ity limply on the TV cab. The floor was a total mess as if it was struck hard by a giant monster w. Much of the wooden boards were ripped straight out of the floor, and splinters and wood stubbles visible from within. The sofa too was in a miserable shape as white cotton too were exposed like a torn down jacket. Lin Sheng turned around, and looked behind him; it was still a sea of white light behind him. He paused for a moment, before taking a resolute step forward into his familiar home. *Creaaaak...* The security door slowly closed behind him. Lin Sheng walked to the center of the hall, and the red light from outside shone in and lit the entire house red. ¡°I¡¯m back here again?¡± Lin Sheng seemed to grasp onto something now. This seemed to be a transit stop, a ce where his consciousness will appear when the dream is temporarily stopped. He circled around the hall as he checked around, and after he was sure there were no hiding monsters, he went on to search the other rooms. The windows of the bedroom and study were open, and the moment Lin Sheng stepped into the study, he saw a blurry figureying at his desk, seemingly pretending to be asleep. The red light from the outside fell upon the figure and made it look even darker. ¡°Who is that?¡± Lin Sheng heightened his vignce. The dream was unlike reality, and the chances of him running into all sorts of monsters were there. Be it Tenko Kasumi, or the various powerful leader-sses, Lin Sheng had no idea what sort of level of monstrosities wille in here, so he had to be careful. He then heard a voice. The figure in front of the table slowly rose, as it raised its head and looked at Lin Sheng. It did not speak, and simply just look at Lin Sheng calmly without moving. ¡°Hmmm?¡± Lin Sheng took a few steps forward and noticed that the figure seemed to be following his movement and took a couple of steps forward. He then took two steps back, and the figure did the same. ¡°No means ofmunication?¡± Lin Sheng frowned. ¡°Let me ask again, who are you?¡± Lin Sheng switched to Deviltongue, and then Ancient Rehn. The blurry ck figure and its equally blurry face had no expressions on it, and simply just looked nkly at Lin Sheng. ¡°Screw it.¡± Lin Sheng simply opened his palm as a white orb of holy light sted out from his palm, and a white refulgence instantly illuminated the room. The ck figure screamed and quickly turned into thick smoke before darting towards the window. But before it could even reach the window, the smoke was quickly reduced before disappearing altogether. ¡°That weak?¡± Lin Sheng frowned as he walked over and examined the figure¡¯s residue. There was nothing. All that was left was just a bit of gray dust. Not even a shred of soul. He shook his head in disappointment and quickly walked over to close the window, before checking the room and closed its windows as well. He checked through both bedrooms, the kitchen, and the bathroom. Finally, he cleansed the entire ce with holy light, and this assured him that there was nothing wrong with the house. After closing all of the windows, Lin Sheng simply left a bit of holy power all over the ce. This was to prevent new monsters from sneaking in. Once he was done with that, he returned to the living room and looked at the broken television as he started to wonder how to secure this ce, and make it into a portable lodging in the dream, or a safe house of sorts. ¡°I need to first get to the bottom of how did I end up back here. How did thise about.¡± Lin Sheng recalled the important elements every time he came back to this ce. He would always return here every time a dream ends. There was once when he recklessly went out of the house and stumbled into another dream, and wasted the time he could have used to rest here. After a short rest, Lin Sheng started to use his holy power to create new Sacred Grounds. This was the culmination of his Crag Dragon blood and holy power fusing together. If he was sessful in creating a Sacred Ground in the dream, that meant that he would have a very powerful self-protection ability in the dream. Storing all of that confidential information and knowledge there was probably much safer than in reality. Unfortunately, he could not create Sacred Grounds here, as holy powers could not stay long here. Although it must be said that he had just used the soil inside the flowerpot. Not sure if that actually affected anything. ¡°Maybe I could create a Library of Dreams here or something.¡± Lin Sheng had some ideas. Perhaps he could bring all those knowledge that he could not bring out of the dream, like the Deviltongue tomes and ce them here, and view them when needed. Entering the dream this time around though, nothing seemed to have happened. After failing to create the Sacred Ground, Lin Sheng quietly trained his dark powers and waited until the dream ended before waking up. By the time he woke up, it was already eight over in Miga. He woke up and washed up before going to the Sanctum branch to have a meal, before exchanging ideas with top-level officials to formte some important ns. With Tenko Kasumi absent, he was held the most authority in Henriqcal. As for Baine University, most of the people there were already members of the Sanctum clergy and believers. So there was no need to keep anything apart. Chapter 421 - Family Business: Part 2

    Chapter 421: Family Business: Part 2

    After approving all the needed chores, Lin Sheng gave home a call. Satellite signals were still essible in most areas. There were only a few ces where the interference was too great for it to be used. So even when all transportation to Henriqcal had been severed, that did not mean it was totally cut off from the rest of the world. Nowadays, most of the major cities around the world had taken to establishing fortress cities simr to Henriqcal. Theirmunications were reliant on mobile phones while the traffic was guarded by people with special powers. The status of powerful wielders of special powers became higher and higher in the city, and they were getting more popr as well as they slowly became the mainstream upation admired by the masses. The bigger cities were better off, but many other smaller ces did not have it easy. As many of the townscked defenses, they had to all move to closer to the big cities to rebuild their homes. As the cost and qualifications of living within a big city were extremely prohibitive, not many could afford them. That created a circle of small satellite cities around major cities. After having his breakfast, Lin Sheng made a long-distance call home while everyone else was praying and meditating. Two beepster, the line was connected. ¡°Hello, Chenchen?¡± The voice from the phone belonged to his mother, Gu Wanqiu. ¡°It¡¯s me, Mom. How¡¯s everything at hometely? Not having any difficulties I hope?¡± Lin Sheng still remembered the character that he portrayed; an excellent young man who was studying abroad in Miga, who was hardworking as well as thrifty and got along well with his ssmates and friends. The impression he gave to his family was that he had extensive connections and rtionships, not only his work earned him enough money to pay his tuition fees, he had enough to send back home. ¡°It¡¯s the usual at home. Your sister is still the same, while your dad had been going to learn some prayers or meditation thing. Wasn¡¯t there an official promotion of the Holy Sanctum? Your dad, too, has gone to have his aptitude checked.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Lin Sheng was rather speechless because he never thought that his father would be interested in this. ¡°And what¡¯re the results?¡± While he already knew the answer, he still had to y coy. ¡°What else? They said he has a good aptitude and just needed to buy a couple of boxes of Hercules-brand holy water, saying that drinking it will improve his physique, and increase the chances of his holy power awakening.¡± To think that the promotion had gotten to his own father... Lin Sheng was the progenitor of the holy power, and whether something could improve one¡¯s aptitude, he knew best. So that Hercules-brand holy power wasplete hogwash. Forget it. He would just leave him alone for the time being. After this, he¡¯ll destroy this salespany, and then do it in every other simrpany as well. That way his father would not be cheated again. He then put the matter to rest and instead he asked what was going on in Xylond. The two chatted for a moment before Gu Wanqiu suddenly brought something up. ¡°Chenchen, I have something to tell you. You see if it¡¯s convenient for you or not, if it¡¯s not, I¡¯ll decline it.¡± ¡°What is it, Mom? Let¡¯s hear it.¡± Lin Sheng was curious, as his family very rarely asked him for help. On one hand, it was because they had no idea who he really was, secondly, it was because they did not want to disturb his studies here. ¡°Well, it¡¯s like this. Mom has an old ssmate that I¡¯m good friends with, and she has a daughter that is studying in Miga. She may being to Henriqcal City in a bit, and if it is convenient for you, help me to look after her, rent a ce for her or something. After all, she¡¯s just a girl alone outside, and with how chaotic things are, it¡¯s very easy to run into trouble.¡± ¡°When is sheing? Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s a small matter, I can handle it.¡± Lin Sheng agreed. ¡°That¡¯s good then.¡± Gu Wanqiu was relieved. That was because that old ssmate was a person she had an excellent rtionship with, and also the other party had helped her plenty before. In one casual reunion, the other side said that her daughter was studying in Miga as well, and ording to her, she was going to live in Henriqcal City. So the matter was brought up, and her friend pleaded and pleaded, and even gave her gifts, so Gu Wanqiu had a mind to bring the matter up to her son. ¡°Rx, Mom. Henriqcal is currently one of the safest ces in Miga. There¡¯s absolutely no problem with thew and order there. Nothing will happen.¡± Lin Sheng then started to describe to his mother what had happened to the monster before, from the time it appeared to the time it was eliminated took less than a minute. There were no casualties aside from a few cleaners who had fainted from the shock. After chatting for a while more and ensuring that there were no more problems at home and only after Lin Sheng had received the other party¡¯s daughter¡¯s contact details, did he hang up. After meditating in the Holy Sanctum for a moment, Lin Sheng felt that ever since he had broken through the rank of a Ptinate, his body too had broken through a new limit, and was starting to strengthen again. While the Tidal Gate was closed, there were tiny strands of chaotic souls that seeped out of it. And those chaotic souls was like a cluster of iron sand that constantly ground against Lin Sheng¡¯s already tough body and made it even stronger and more powerful. With the continuous tempering by the souls, Lin Sheng¡¯s body was getting stronger, and the capacity of both dark and holy powers had expanded too. They were increasing. So, he continued to train his dark powers, and his dark powers amount was already more than sixty thousand. That was already the level of an Oppressor-ss. There was a huge gulf that an Oppressor-ss Darksider would need to cross, and among which were ordinary Oppressors whose strength was just middling. They had just stepped into this level and had not yet mastered the many mysteries and techniques avable, so theirbat prowess was just slightly stronger than a Three-winger. As these Oppressor-ss Darksiders obtained various powerful hidden techniques, only then would they be able to start training the powerful hidden arts that they were previously not qualified to learn. The gulf was pulled apart at this stage, as this was the level where a Darksider went through explosive growth. A truly powerful Oppressor-ss¡¯s dark power amount could even reach a hundred of thousands, or even two hundred thousand! It was because of the dark powers at this stage was no longer relied on absorbing the negative power of the soul, but it could also absorb the negative power from the outside world and transform it for the Darksider¡¯s own use. After training, Lin Sheng had lunch and chatted with Madin and the others for a bit to get a measure on the situation over at Baine University. Only then did he realized that many people from the surrounding towns had rushed over to enter Henriqcal. After the establishment of the Holy Defense Line in Henriqcal City, it had attracted many people from the surrounding farms. In a situation where the monsters from the cktide could appear at any moment, many ordinary peoplecked the sense of security, and many even suffered from mental illness, with some going insane altogether. Yet, at this Holy Defense Line, it was different from the other cities. It was said that once they entered that defensive line, everything would be fine. Not only was the sun was bright there, but it also was peaceful, and even the soil was clean and the air was sweet, even the toilets were fragrant. It was also said that there were powerful warriors patrolling every day, and any evil was dealt with the moment they appeared. It was as safe as it could be. That slightly exaggerated rumor made getting a ce in Henriqcal all the more prohibitive. Lin Sheng frowned as he gave the order to curb this nonsense, and whoever that was behind it would be captured and dealt with. He proimed that the Holy Sanctum was not an organization for selfish gains, rather it was a faith of salvation that had appeared for the sake of all mankind, and to save the world, to protect thest remaining sanctuary for humanity, and it shall not suffer any desecration or vilification by people with ulterior motives. All of the Sanctum¡¯s upper hierarchy members concurred. Chapter 422 - Family Business: Part 3

    Chapter 422: Family Business: Part 3

    In the afternoon, after settling all of the piled up work, Lin Sheng also received a call from the daughter of an old schoolmate that his mother had told him about. The two then agreed to meet at the ce where Lin Sheng had rented before. Lin Sheng went home to change up, and returning to the look of a student, as he went over to the rented house as Lin Sheng, the foreign student. Without any hitches, he soon met the daughter of his mother¡¯s old ssmate mentioned on the phone. The ce he lived, was the same residential house that Adolf had temporarily rented for him, and the house looked unassuming. For a period of time, Lin Sheng had performed the summoning rituals and all sorts of secretive things here. However, after he had moved to the research center, he had no use for this ce. The sun was shining bright that afternoon, and Henriqcal seemed to be a tad bit darker than usual. Lin Sheng had changed into his student getup. And when he arrived at the agreed-upon ce, and he could see a ck-haired girl with a bob cut in the distance. She was carrying a small white bag as she stood by the stairwell downstairs waiting quietly. The girl looked like she was about sixteen to twenty years old, with a slightly sweet appearance, just like a budding flower. She gave off the impression of a girl with a good upbringing. Lin Sheng approached and took a nce at her. She was wearing a ck slim dress, with a beige knitted shawl on the outside. Her long hair was let down with a pink bunny hairpin on her head. Her legs were straight and long, d in small sandals that exposed her toes, giving out a cute and yful vibe. ¡°Lin Shushu?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m Lin Shushu. You¡¯re Big bro Lin Sheng? I¡¯m the Lin Shushu Aunt Wanqiu mentioned on the phone.¡± She smiled and responded politely. ¡°All right then. Let¡¯s go up first?¡± Lin Sheng pointed at the stairs. ¡°Sure, thanks for the trouble.¡± Lin Shushu nodded. The two went into the rented house and left the door open to avoid any misunderstandings. Both of them then sat down and leaned against the sofa. Lin Sheng then gave her a ss of water. ¡°How long have you been in Miga? Why haven¡¯t I heard of this before?¡± Feeling rather embarrassed, the girl said, ¡°Not too long ago actually. Only a couple of months back. I was actually attending school in a nearby town. Now that things are getting increasingly chaotic, my family wants me to seek shelter in a big city and have someone look after me, so that¡¯s why I pulled strings to look for you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Lin Sheng nodded in understanding. Back at home, his image was a working student studying abroad and was considered a good university student. Plus, he was hardworking and thrifty and had excellent connections as well as means. With the cktide roiling, her family was worried, and finding anyone they knew who could help was part of the course. He then tore a note and wrote down his contact number and email address. ¡°This is my phone number and email, you can try to call me if you need any urgent help. While I cannot guarantee that I could help you resolve everything, but I should be more familiar with the matter somewhat.¡± ¡°Thank you Big Bro Lin.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, about the rent, I had actually chanced upon this house in the safe zone, so if you wanna stay here, just pay me five thousand a month will do.¡± ¡°No way, the market price is about six thousand!¡± Lin Shushu¡¯s family did not seem to be short of money. For someone to study abroad in Miga, their financial background was probably decent. The two argued for a bit, and finally, Lin Sheng was toozy to waste any more time on this, and allowed her to pay him six thousand per month. ¡°Then, Big Bro Lin, do you mind if I bring my friends to live with me?¡± Lin Shushu added. ¡°They¡¯re all students? ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Up to you then.¡± Lin Sheng actually could not be bothered about it. If his family had not asked him to help, he would not have even shown up. Plus, he had actually nned to return the house, but thendlord had gone missing, and his close rtives were all dead, so the unit was confiscated, and then assigned to him. So, that was why he was not concerned about the money. Soon, the two found a nearby real estate agency before registering and signing a tenancy agreement. The current Henriqcal may have fewer citizens than before, and the streets were much more deserted, but with the Holy Sanctum maintaining the stability, order was being returned to the entire urban district. Besides, the Holy Defensive Line actually epassed arge swathe of cultivatednd beyond the city, alongside orchards, vegetable fields, and the likes. That allowed the urban residents to slowly restore the supply of fruits and vegetables, although the prices were a little expensive at the beginning. In addition, the various major workshops of Baine University alongside experts in nutrition and pharmacology and other professors too hadpiled a list of edible cktide mutants. Every day, Darksiders would go out to hunt discretely, before bringing back mutated meat and fruits to sell. At the same time, the Holy Sanctum¡¯s top management too quickly adapted and set up hunting teams to hunt edible monsters. Everything was turning for the better. Now that the citizens had settled down, they had shown eagerness for strength and power. After all, in these troubled times, having powers of your own was the greatest guarantee of security. As a result, arge number of civilians began to apply for the evaluation of both dark and holy power aptitudes. If not for the fact that Lin Sheng had checked when they met earlier, he would have thought that Lin Shushu hade here to participate in the evaluation. His secret investigation result was that Lin Shushu was very ordinary without any aptitude for either dark or holy powers. Just an ordinary person. After signing the agreement, Lin Sheng gave the girl two copies of the agreement and exined the precautions needed for living here before turning to leave. He still had plenty of work to do. He had to visit the Darkspirit Cavern during the day as the Fairy Kingdom was there, and at night he had to explore the dream on how to create a safe house there. Not long after Lin Sheng left, Lin Shushu returned to the rented house, and two girls about her age were already waiting there. ¡°Sis Shushu, is it really okay? Can we stay here?¡± The two girls seemed to be a little older than Lin Shushu, one of the girls had red eyes, seemingly having just cried. The other person was sunny and more outgoing. ¡°Yes, my family had found a person to help me. After some twists and turns, I¡¯ve managed to find a ce here. But we need to consider getting a job soon,¡± Lin Shushu said in affirmation. ¡°Yeah, but school is closed now, and the airport and the docks too. With so many people stranded and looking for work, we don¡¯t know how long we can stay on like this?¡± The red-eyed girl was slightly frustrated. ¡°I still have some savings here, so I don¡¯t need you two to pay rent for the time being. Both of you can pay me back once you get a job,¡± Lin Shushu said with a gentle smile. ¡°Thank you, Sis Shushu. It¡¯s all thanks to you.¡± The two girls expressed their gratitude to Shushu as they bowed. ¡°Then let¡¯s go around first. It¡¯s much safer here than outside. Let¡¯s get a hang of the ce, and see if there is any ce to work,¡± the cheerful girl said. ¡°All right, but take care. Don¡¯t go near any dark ces. I¡¯ll go clean up the room first. After all, this was a ce where a boy lived, I have to clean it up a little,¡± Lin Shushu said. ¡°Okay, we¡¯lle back in a bit,¡± the cheerful girl said hurriedly. The two bade Lin Shushu farewell before they started to circle around the residential building together. All around them were a scene of deste, abandoned buildings. Abandoned supermarkets, abandoned building materials stores, abandoned shopping malls, abandoned office buildings. All of the abandoned vehicles on the road had been cleared out as well, and the road was no longer obstructed. Yet, there were barely any passing cars, and even the pedestrians walked on hurriedly as they tried not to stay outside for too long. The two girls were halfway through before they slowed down their footsteps. ¡°Sis Shushu is just a normal person, we have to be careful not to drag her into this,¡± the cheerful girl reminded. ¡°I know, we need to be a little more careful. We¡¯ll retreat the moment we locate Selena. The Three Hidden Realms and the Sevenlocks Tower are at war, and our operation would be simpler, but... Sis Olleen...¡± The red-eyed girl was about to cry again. ¡°What are you crying for? Sis Olleen would have never wanted to see you like this every day. She sacrificed herself to protect everyone, and I too want to be a person like her!¡± the cheerful girl said sternly. ¡°Sis So...¡± ¡°All right, stop crying. It¡¯s getting on my nerves.¡± Chapter 423 - The Hunt: Part 1 Chapter 423: The Hunt: Part 1 As for the matter with the rental house, Lin Sheng did not care much. At his level, and with Tenko Kasumi holding fort, he had no fear of anything happening. So the moment he got back, he went straight into the istion chamber and stepped through the ritual portal straight into the Darkspirit Cavern. Then he went through the portal of Caerphabor Cavern toward the Fairy Kingdom. By the time he had entered the Sea of Trees of the Fairy Kingdom, more than half an hour had already passed. Lin Sheng appeared before a weird tree with huge leaves. The portal¡¯s teleportation was seemingly random, and for him to not be detected was a real blessing. The sky was slightly yellowish, and it was drizzling as a thin mist permeated in the air. Lin Sheng walked out of the leaf thatrger than the size of man, and allowed his body to be exposed in the rain. The surrounding vision was only about twenty to thirty meters away, and further away, it was nothing but haze. Lin Sheng looked up and saw many floating light spots flying around above him, like many tiny people with wings. They were chatting with each other as they let out a faint green glow around them. ¡°Are those the mutated fairies of the dark spirits?¡± Lin Sheng guessed. ¡°This cavern is just too big, and it¡¯s very troublesome to sweep it clean, but luckily with a powerful faction like the Fairy Kingdom, if I really want to take over this ce, and unify everything, it¡¯s not too difficult.¡± Lin Sheng was not really concerned with absorbing normal souls now, as souls with a soul power of less than ten thousand were practically meaningless to him. They would be nowhere close to the chaotic souls that were tethered to him which he could slowly temper them. So he was more focused on the details of the Darkspirit Cavern as he was creating a back-up n for the real world. In the event that the real world copses, and armageddones, rather than hitting a dead end like ckfeather City did, perhaps the Darkspirit Cavern could be used as an option to prolong their survival. That was his intention. After all, if the cktide could destroy a powerful world like the one ckfeather was on, those Ptinates of varying strength was even more out of the question. After pulling back his thoughts, Lin Sheng put on a long grey robe for disguise, covering his entire head with only his eyes exposed. He then walked toward the ce where all of the Fairies were. The dark-haired man who had rescued him earlier told him that if he were to continue in that direction, he would be able to reach the core area of the Fairy Kingdom, the Ring of Vitality. The Ring of Vitality did not refuse entry of outsiders, conversely, they actually hoped for more outsiders toe in and out of it. That way, it was easier for them to search for persons with powerful abilities, and to form contracts with them. As Lin Sheng walked, he recalled some of the information the young man had told him before. At that time, after the young man had saved him and the farmer, the former had kindly answered a few of his questions, and Lin Sheng was originally supposed to meet up with the young man there after some time. It was just that after returning to the real world, Lin Sheng did not expect to get swamped with so much work, and forgot to take into ount the time difference. By the time he got back, it was probably already long past the meeting time. All of the information he knew was from that hired farmer and the young man. ¡°A pity, but if I missed him, then he¡¯s gone. If I could stay here for long, then I could move around together with the young man, and that will probably be easier than just me alone. I might even be able to get a contracted fairy as well.¡± As Lin Sheng marched on, he did not reveal any extraordinary powers as both his dark and holy powers lurked within him quietly. He was just like a normal person, taking one honest step at a time. The number of fairies above his head was increasing, and some would even lean over to observe him. However, as he went on, more and more passers-by appeared on the road. Among them were foreign solo-travelers like Lin Sheng, and there were also troops mysterious men armed to the teeth. There were even adventurer squadrons-like teams running about as well. Lin Sheng mingled with the ground, and aside from his burly figure, he had no other eye-catching characteristics. Soon, the fairies found him uninteresting and were no longer following him anymore. A gilded team that seemed to be very familiar with the route suddenly came from behind and went past Lin Sheng, As he headed deeper into the Sea of Trees, the surrounding trees were getting taller and stronger, while the mist in the air was getting thicker. And soon, the number of people on the road grew. Lin Sheng walked forward another ten minutes or so before he finally saw a real man-made building. It was a series of pyramid-shaped white stone towers. The top of every tower looked like they had a hat on them as a round parasol-like object was constantly spinning. Lin Sheng looked through the people before him, and everyone was lining up calmly and orderly as they sessively walked through the middle of the white towers. The golden team that had overtaken him earlier were among the crowd. ¡°Wee everyone who is visiting. Please follow thews of the kingdom, if you are lucky, you may even be able to meet a suitable fairy to form a powerful pact with.¡± A male voice rang out from one of the nearby white stone towers. Amidst the dim yellow light, Lin Sheng followed the crowd into the heart of the Fairy Kingdom. The tress around him was getting sparser, but each and every one of them was bigger and stronger. Giant tree branches and leaves were divided into a series of magical stairs for the fairies to enter and exit. After going past the pyramid-shaped white towers, Lin Sheng immediately saw a wide verdant grass field before him. At the center of the green fields was thergest tree he had ever seen. The canopy of the tree blotted out the sky, as it created a dark zone hundreds of meters wide. Within the dark shadow, there wererge holes within the tree branches. There was clear flowing water within the holes, as they fell high from above like a silver ribbon, turning into mist before they hit the ground. Lin Sheng had gotten to the edge of the crowd, and most of the people there were looking up at curiously at the giant tree. Most of them were dressed in leather armor with weapons, and regardless of men or women, all of them bore scars. They seemed to be adventurers in a tight spot and perhaps came here in the hopes of a fairy choosing them to let them soar. And many were whispering among themselves, as they formed into groups of various sizes that seemed to know one another. Thenguage they spoke was strange, and Lin Sheng only understood a little bit. Those were the parts spoken in Ancient Rehn, other than that, he had no idea what there were on about. ¡°Nayizuo (Bring them out)!¡± a loud voice suddenly called out. The mist before Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes slowly parted as a golden glow appeared in the sky. The golden light illuminated the ground, and the surrounding trees. It was blinding, and there was something flying within the light.¡± It was a three-meter-long Golden Phoenix that was slowly pping its wings as it gentlynded on one of therge tree trunks. ¡°It¡¯s Lord Golden Phoenix!¡± ¡°Has Lord Golden Phoenix actually came to witness this in person? Does that mean, the Fairy King will be here as well?¡± ¡°It is Lord Gold Phoenix... I had seen that figure thirty years ago, and I never thought I had the luck to see it again. What wondrous figure...¡± A wave of admiring murmurs rang out from the crowd. Chapter 424 - The Hunt: Part 2

    Chapter 424: The Hunt: Part 2

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng looked on at the Golden Phoenix with interest. He had never seen a being that beautiful before. If had he not nned to work out what was going on here, he would have just captured it as a pet, or use it as a research specimen. Upon the arrival of the Golden Phoenix, two slender and handsome men in green took a vine prison floating in the air all the way down from the branches andnded just right before the giant tree trunk. Soon, tall women in silver half-tes with a crescent moon symbol between their eyes, and intricate longbows on their back appeared and guarded the prison cages tightly. ¡°The guardians of the Jadeite Root, the Silvermoon Hunters are here too.¡± An old man beside Lin Sheng could not help but sigh.¡±What a massive lineup.¡± The old man was dressed up like an aristocrat, and beside him was a handsome young man. He seemed to have brought his nephew here to gain some worldly insights. Lin Sheng took notice of them as they were the rare few who spoke Ancient Rehn. That was one of thenguages he understood. ¡°How so? Are they really that powerful?¡± Lin Sheng asked in a whispered tone out of curiosity. The old man nced at him, before nodding. ¡°Yes, they are. The Silvermoon Hunters are the masters of forest warfare chosen from those who had made contact with the fairies. These elites were then formed into teams, coupled with the financial resources and background of the Fairy Kingdom, one could imagine how terrifying they are.¡± ¡°Can they fight a hundred alone?¡± Lin Sheng casually asked. ¡°If they are up against pure human warriors, while they might not be able to take on a hundred, but they could do fifty easily.¡± The elder shook his head. ¡°The Silvermoon Hunters have an indestructible Moonglow Leather Armor, an extremely sharp Godyer Scimitar, and the terrifyingly urate Moonbow. Taking out fifty skilled human soldiers would probably take them no longer than ten minutes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s... really strong,¡± Lin Sheng said in amazement. ¡°If only my domain has such a powerful guard...¡± The young man beside him could not help but verbalize his desire. Lin Sheng took a nce at him and said nothing. ¡°Based on the standard hierarchy, these Silvermoon Hunters are at least Steel-ss, and probably not too far away from Silver-ss. Their powers are truly terrifying.¡± The old man could not help but sigh. Lin Sheng smiled and stopped talking as he continued to look at the giant tree. About two dozen Silvermoon Hunters had appeared as they guarded the prison cage. Then a procession of white-robed persons with ck masks walked out of the shadow as they started to chant something while they circled the cage. At the same time, several silhouettes started to appear on the branches above the tree. The height of the branches indicated the position and status of the person standing upon it. The higher the branch was, the higher the status. Lin Sheng saw that Golden Phoenix took the highest spot on the tree, as it looked down from above. Next to the phoenix, a beautiful figure in a white dress shrouded in mist appeared. Further down, were arrogant old men in luxurious and exquisite clothing. All of these old men had guards or their kin with them, as they looked down from high above toward the prison. ¡°Let the trialmence.¡± The Golden Phoenix spoke, and to Lin Sheng¡¯s surprise, it was the familiar Deviltongue. He was taken aback, as he never thought that the Golden Phoenix could speak, much less with such native fluency. ¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± One of the Silvermoon Hunter walked away from the guard position, and toward the prison, motioning to the masked men to make way. The Silvermoon Hunter sent a shimmering of green light with a wave of his hand, and the cage became clear immediately. Only then could everyone see the two persons detained inside the cage. One was a young man with long golden hair, and a quiet and noble air to him, while another person was a beautiful fairy girl with long green hair. ¡°Klein, Vertina, both of you are suspected of betraying the Fairy Kingdom, the Jadeite Root, and also leaking top-secret Fairy Kingdom information to outsiders. The Supreme Senate had decreed to grant you a Just Death.¡± A masked man spoke in an old but smooth voice. ¡°If I were to protest that I was wronged, I don¡¯t think you lot would be interested in listening to me anyway. So be it,¡± the young man said with an impassive voice. ¡°Commence the sentence, before His Majesty and the Elders of the Jadeite Root.¡± The masked man¡¯s voice suddenly boomed into a shriek. The Silvermoon Hunter nodded and took a special beheading sword from hispanion. Lin Sheng noticed that the de was seemingly shrouded by a lot of inexplicable things. It looked like souls, but at the same time did not seem like pure souls. He had been waiting, waiting for this execution that almost everyone had gathered here for. However, that was his limit. ¡°Poor thing.¡± The old man sighed again.¡±That Klein boy, most likely he had been wronged.¡± ¡°How do you know, grandfather?¡± the young man beside him asked. ¡°It¡¯s because of his demeanor. I have been dealing with punishments all my life, and I clearly know how a lying person looks like.¡± ¡°But this is only the thirteenth execution, they will need another six to really kill Klein, perhaps they will have a chance to plead their innocence,¡± the young man said. ¡°Thirteen times? What does that mean? Does that Klein person needs to be killed so many time for him to die?¡± Lin Sheng could not help but ask softly. He had thought that he had chanced upon an execution site, but now it seems like things were not that simple. ¡°It¡¯s like this.¡± The old man nodded in affirmation of Lin Sheng¡¯s thoughts trait. ¡°Both Klein and Vertina are the Awakened who has the fairy¡¯s innate immortality, and this trait gives them neen life amulets to ward off death.¡± ¡°Wow! That¡¯s a very powerful ability!¡± Lin Sheng eximed. ¡°Yes, that was the reason they were part of the Jadeite Root¡¯s Guard, and also a member of the Silvermoon Hunters. They were trump cards even.¡± The old man nodded. So, the executionmenced. That Silvermoon Hunter lifted the execution de and drove it into both Klein and Vertina¡¯s chest without hesitation. Green mes sted out of their body as they tried to push the de out and heal the wounds. Yet, it was futile, as the curved de let out a formless power that caught against the green mes. ¡°It¡¯s over. Now it¡¯s the time for the Fairy Compact.¡± The old man looked at both Klein and Vertina as they were pulled down, and let out a sigh of relief as a look of anticipation appeared on his face. Everyone here, him include, was actually there for the ceremony. Otherwise, who in the right mind would travel the distance and weather all sorts of dangers to watch an execution? *Thoom... Thooom...* Thunder suddenly rumbled from afar. It seemed like thunder, but there were no dark clouds in the skies, it also sounded like a volcanic eruption, but there was no quaking. That sound was like pure thunder that came roiling from the distance. All of the Silvermoon Hunters present turned to look. Even the Golden Phoenix and the Fairy King too looked toward the same direction, and the two seem like they had no idea what had just happened, and was a little stunned. ¡°This is the where the Jadeite Rootys, no matter what happens, the Fairy Kingdom shall hold fast, and not permit any chaos!¡± A captain-like figure of the Silvermoon Hunter¡¯s stood up and eximed! Chapter 425 - The Hunt: Part 3

    Chapter 425: The Hunt: Part 3

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng stood there, smiling slightly. It was he who created this so-called turmoil. In order to test the power of the Fairy Empire, he could not just wait, so he let Caerphabor send some Great Dark Spirits over. The Great Dark Spirit. A powerful soul creature that was about to break through the General level. Each Great Dark Spirit had a special power of its own. They were like a weakened version Ptinates, and although they were not powerful enough, they had a wide variety of types. Plus they were energy creatures, they were immune to physical attack, just the right type to be used to test the force value of the Fairy Empire. Soon, the rumble died away and was reced by a long, shrill whine. It was like the desperate roar of life before it dies. In the middle of the great tree, the upper levels of the Fairy Empire, who were watching the y from above, seemed to have received information and began to panic. Lin Sheng could imagine that the situation of battle must be bad for the Fairy Empire without contacting Djall Demonhand. Lin Sheng could easily deal with the Great Dark Spirits because the holy force could hurt them, and he himself was immune to the soul attacksing from the Great Dark Spirits. In the case of other creatures, even if they had the means to hurt the Great Dark Spirits, they had to be on constant alert for soul attacks. Great Dark Spirits move very quickly, especially under the conscious positioning of Lin Sheng. They flew straight here. Along the way, arge number of goblin empire guards frantically intercepted. All kinds of attacks and heavy shocks could be felt far away, but they have no effect on evil spirits. All non-soul means were ineffective against Great Dark Spirits. Lin Sheng stood quietly in the crowd, waiting. He was looking forward to the reaction of the Fairy Empire¡¯s leaders. This would directly determine what he would do with the cave of evil spirits. Not long after, Lin Sheng could see the glowing red light of the Great Dark Spirits slowly emerged between the trees. It was the pollution light peculiar to Great Dark Spirits. If the living body was illuminated for a long time, it would show some adverse symptoms such as the weakening of the soul. In the pollution light, the surrounding trees and grass gradually showed signs of wilting, losing vitality and luster. Teams of fairy soldiers were besieging the Great Dark Spirits. Each of these Great Dark Spirits was more than two meters tall. They came in many shapes, but they all had one thing inmon: they attacked quickly. These were the elite Great Dark Spirits selected by Djall Demonhand. One of the lower body of a Great Dark Spirit was made up of tiny red flying insects, while the upper body was a normal human shape. He brandished a long whip and beat every living thing around him. Each time he brandished the whip, he could easily roll out the souls of the fairy soldiers around. These souls, still on the whip, were shrunk into red clouds of smoke and shot into the mouth of the Great Dark Spirit. Another Great Dark Spirit was like an elephant carrying a snail¡¯s shell. He kept bellowing out huge sound waves. The souls of the guards who were hit by the sound wave were shaken out of their bodies, turned into red smoke, and then swallowed by the Great Dark Spirit. There were other Great Dark Spirits, each with different abilities, but they were all equally invincible. Lin Sheng stood quietly in the crowd, waiting for the Fairy Empire to react. He did not believe that the Fairy Empire would be troubled by a few Great Dark Spirits. ¡°These are foreign soul creatures. I¡¯ll do it.¡± A beautiful noblewoman on the tree gently jumped down,nded on the ground, and pulled out a green crystal short staff from behind. No one was panicking. With the senior members of the Fairy Empire present, no one was afraid of a few senseless monsters. ¡°Away from the wind, the winter rays.¡± The noblewoman raised her short staff and pointed at one of the Great Dark Spirits. Red and white twisted beams of light immediately shed on the short staff, hitting the head of the Great Dark Spirit urately. To everyone¡¯s surprise, though, the beam of light just slightly broke the skin of the Great Dark Spirit. Lin Sheng stood calmly in the dark. If the Great Dark Spirits were so easy to deal with, he would not need to use them to test their strength. He was doing something to get what he wanted, and these Great Dark Spirits were not so simple to deal with. The noblewoman raised her short staff and tried to strike again. Unfortunately, she had already attracted the attention of a Great Dark Spirit. Soon, a jet of red light swooped down on the noblewoman. ¡°The Glow of Life!¡± A man¡¯s voice came from the tree. A tall man in dark green armor jumped down to protect the noblewoman and scatter the red light that was flying toward them. The man¡¯s arm lit up with green rings of runes, waving them at the Great Dark Spirit. The green rings of runes shot out andnded on the Great Dark Spirit, blowing him backward. However, more Great Dark Spirits came rushing in. In a moment there were more than ten Great Dark Spirits rushing this way. At the same time, the nobles of the Fairy Empire also jumped out of the tree and joined the fight together with the Silvermoon Hunters. These nobles and Silvermoon Hunters had the kind of energy attacks that could damage the soul. The Great Dark Spirits had be very difficult to deal with after absorbing a lot of soul power. Lin Sheng was very clear that the strength of these people was just at the level of Three or Four Wings. ¡°That¡¯s not enough... Those at the top didn¡¯t join the fight...¡± He looked up at the top of the tree, where the Golden Phoenix and the Fairy Empress were ready to turn and leave. He came up with an idea. A white light shed between his fingers. It was a signal, and it was an unusual one. The Great Dark Spirits seemed to have received the signal together. They retreated, then exhaled their souls into red smoke. These souls were spinning in a circle in the air. In the center of the circle, darkness slowly emerged. It was as if some kind of space had been opened by the darkness. *Swoosh!* A sharp, white bone spike shot through the darkness. Followed by a second spike, a third, a fourth... Soon a huge monster with three dragon heads, covered with white bone spikes, crept slowly out of the dark passage. The monster looked like a giant bird, with a height of six meters and a length of more than eight meters. But its three dragon heads and sharp bone spikes all over the body made it looked more like a hedgehog. ¡°This is my finest work. Come on, let me see your limits...¡± 1Lin Sheng hid in the distance along with the scattered crowd, watching the Silvermoon Hunters who were ready for the battle. *Roar!!!* The Whitebone Giant Bird roared wildly! The air around it froze as if there were some huge pressure suddenly squeezing the air. The leaves and grass scattered all around it. Seeing this monster, the Golden Phoenix standing on the tree finally moved. Chapter 426 - The Big Picture: Part 1 Chapter 426: The Big Picture: Part 1 The Whitebone Giant Bird screamed up into the sky, its wings beating against the ground on either side and in front of it. The bushes were torn apart in an instant by the great wind pressure. Deep, knife-like cuts appeared on the tree trunks. Dust, debris, and rotten leaves were crushed by the great power, flying up and scattering in the air. The other Great Dark Spirits gathered around the Giant Bird and began to hunt down the fairy soldiers. The average fairy soldier waspletely helpless against these monsters. At least 20 or 30 soldiers were killed with a single blow. Seeing this, the senior members of the Fairy Empire immediately ordered all soldiers to disperse and attack remotely. Meanwhile, Silvermoon Hunters and Masked Men worked together to release a variety of special spells, releasing dragons, water balloons, electric balls, and even firebirds. Some Masked Men also summon elemental-giant-like creatures that charged at the Whitebone Giant Bird. Unfortunately, when these elemental giants got close to the Whitebone Giant Bird, they were easily knocked over by the giant bird¡¯s wings, and their body immediately fell apart. The situation of the battle was getting more and more anxious. Lin Sheng stood in the crowd, carefully watching all the fairy soldiers who took part in the battle. However, none of the fairy soldiers could fight against the Whitebone Giant Bird. If this went on, all the soldiers would be wiped out within ten minutes. So he turned his eyes to the senior members of the Fairy Empire on the tree. There were some senior members of the Fairy Empire standing on the trunks of the giant tree, not participating in the battle. And Golden Phoenix was one of them. ¡°Never mind, let me handle it.¡± Golden Phoenix sighed. Although the Silvermoon Hunters and the Masked Men¡¯s alliance was enough to control the situation, this was the heart of the Fairy Empire, and they could not be defeated in their own territory, so the Golden Phoenix had to join the battle. The fairy warriors below cheered up and slowly retreated to make room for the Golden Phoenix. Yet, the Great Dark Spirits did not care. Together with the Whitebone Giant Bird, they kept attacking, encroaching on the new space. With a single wave of its wings, the Whitebone Giant Bird easily blocked all ranged attacks from the fairy warriors. The wind pressure was so huge that the fairy warriors could not get close to the Giant Bird. ¡°Get out of the way!¡± Golden Phoenix swooped down from above, shining in dazzling golden light. Swooping down from the trunk of the tree, Golden Phoenix swooped like a golden ball of fire in a smooth arc toward the Giant Bird. For a moment, the color gold and white collided violently. Golden Phoenix burst into mes and grew to a sizerger than that of the Whitebone Giant Bird. It wed down. A huge w, half the length of the Giant Bird, pounced on the Whitebone Giant Bird. Due to therge size of the Golden Phoenix, however, its strength was somewhat scattered, so the w did no harm to the Whitebone Giant Bird, just causing pain. *Roar!!* The Whitebone Giant Bird roared in pain. It tried to break free from the entanglement, but Golden Phoenix tangled it so tightly that it won¡¯t let it go. Both of them were fighting each other at close quarters. They were neck and neck. Lin Sheng shook his head slightly. His face was calm, in sharp contrast to the nervous faces around him. ¡°A-Aren¡¯t you afraid?¡± asked a young man suddenly. The young man did not seem to look well. He stood beside the old man, not daring to move. Lin Sheng was slightly surprised. The young man was able to notice him under such pressure. ¡°No. The senior members of the Fairy Empire are here, and they will do whatever it takes to keep us safe. If they don¡¯t, it¡¯ll be a great humiliation to the entire Fairy Empire,¡± Lin Sheng exined softly. The boy nodded his head. ¡°I understand it. But don¡¯t you think it¡¯s a little scary to see them fighting? What if the Fairy Empire can¡¯t handle it?¡± The young man suddenly worried. ¡°Stop talking.¡± The old man standing beside the young man pressed his shoulder hard. ¡°Never mind.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°You won¡¯t die if they can¡¯t handle the situation.¡± The young man paused for a moment, then asked, ¡°Why?¡± Lin Sheng did not answer. His eyes fell gently on the beautiful, long-haired woman on the tree trunk. The Fairy Empress was ready to take action... The long-haired woman held out her hand and pressed gently. ¡°The Fairy¡¯s Breath.¡± A distant sound like the ringing of a bell came from all sides. The powerful sound formed a vibrating sound wave and gathered in this small area, shaking all the evil spirits here, including the Whitebone Giant Bird. The trees began to shake and the ground began to shake. All the nts, branches, insects, and birds around were making noises as if they were shouting and worshipping in the direction of the Fairy Empress. The Whitebone Giant Bird looked up, trying to roar, but the great shock pinned it to the ground like an immense weight. Not even the Giant Bird could handle it, let alone the Great Dark Spirits. The actual strength of these Great Dark Spirits was limited to Three Wings, but they were extremely difficult to deal with because of the physical immunity of their soul. The only simrity between them and the Ptinates was that each of the Great Dark Spirits had a special power of its own. Just one gentle press of the hand of the Fairy Empress, the battle was reversed. ¡°So this is the most powerful force here?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s goal was finally achieved. At his level, with tens of thousands of pieces of memory and experience, he just needed to see a single move of the Fairy Empress to deduce and roughly define her level of strength. Before that, he had judged from the position that the Fairy Empress basically represented the highestbat power here. ¡°Now that I see it, the battle can be ended.¡± Lin Sheng raised his head gently, tore off the gray robe, and strode out of the crowd. A set of pure white holy armor condensed from numerous white light spots, covering all parts of his body. Lin Sheng bent his knees slightly and then leaped upward. *Whoosh!* His body shot like an arrow into the sky, and in the blink of an eye, he was hundreds of meters above the crowd. His action attracted the attention of the Fairy Empress at once. The rest of the senior members of the Fairy Empire also looked anxiously in the direction of Lin Sheng. The young man ran a few steps forward, staring up in surprise at Lin Sheng in the sky. ¡°That¡¯s... That¡¯s... !!!¡± The young man was so shocked that he did not know what to say. In the sky. Lin Sheng was floating in the air. He suddenly spread out his arms and legs. The dazzling white light rushed out of his body and scattered in all directions. Huge beams of light, like aser beam, illuminated everything in the sea of trees. ¡°My name is...Holy Emperor.¡± Lin Sheng was releasing a powerful holy force. His eyes were shimmering with dark gold and he looked down. Chapter 427 - The Big Picture: Part 2

    Chapter 427: The Big Picture: Part 2

    The Fairy Empress looked up and stared nkly at Lin Sheng in the sky. She could sense the powerful power, as deep as the ocean, in the white figure. That power was beyond the capacity of living things. As a soul force creature, she could also feel that the figure was filled with tens of thousands of souls. The figure was like a monster formed by tens of thousands of souls. ¡°Please answer my call, o forest.¡± The Elven Queen raised her right hand, and an emerald wood ring on her finger glowed soft green lines. A light tinkling sound came from the ring and the huge tree sea forest began to breathe heavily. The entire endless sea of trees began to radiate invisible power against Lin Sheng. Unfortunately, the holy power inside Lin Sheng was too strong. He carried the blood of the Rock Dragon and had also acquired endless Chaos Soul Force. Now, he intermingled the Chaos Soul Force with the holy power and released it. The effect was indescribable. The pure holy power was only a bit lethal when it¡¯s substantialized, but after mixing with the Chaos Soul Force, the lethality of the holy power suddenly increased a lot. When the Chaos Soul Force and the pure potent holy power mixed together and collided slightly, huge explosive power would erupt. Now, Lin Sheng¡¯s body was frantically releasing a huge amount of Chaos Soul Force. The Chaos Soul Force would be releasing endlessly until his spiritual power was consumedpletely. However, Lin Sheng¡¯s spiritual power was determined by his soul power. And his soul power was far beyond the ordinary Ptinates. At that moment, the huge potential of his soul power finally showed its advantages. To release the endless Chaos Soul Force, general Ptinates may do it at most a few hours, but he could maintain it for a few days. This was the gap in soul force. At that point, he also sensed that the sea of trees below was beginning to confront him as a whole. It interested him very much. ¡°Meaningless struggle.¡± His body began to swell and expand. Dark yellow dragon scales appeared on his skin, his pupils rapidly changed into vertical pupils, and two long, curved spiral dragon horns grew on his forehead. After the semi-dragon state was activated, more and more Chaos Soul Force was gushing out of Lin Sheng¡¯s body. His body was a dazzling white light, floating above a sea of trees. The light of the infinite holy power covered the whole ce, overpowering the core area of the Fairy Empire below. The holy power of ckfeather City was not so exaggerated. This was a defensive force to maintain the nature of self-protection. It was born to protect the soul against the cktide, far less aggressive than many other kinds of power. Right then, perhaps even Ancellia, the Light of Hope was there, and she could not imagine that the holy power would be used in such a way. Most of the time, the holy light was used for healing and guarding, or for making enchantments. No one would attack with the holy light because there were so many energy systems that could surpass it. Nheless, Lin Sheng may have been the first to do so. He used the holy power to an unimaginable degree. The dazzling holy light lit up the sky. The ordinary people below could not bear the strong holy light and had to cover their eyes with their hats and clothes. The Fairy Empress was surprised by this sudden surge of power, could barely hang in there. Themon Silvermoon Hunters and Masked Men were already suffering from the erosion of holy power. When the concentration of the holy power reached a certain level, it would automatically expel all other energies in the region. Some weaker fairy soldiers were now facing Lin Sheng¡¯s targeted treatment. The special forces within them were being forcibly expelled by holy power. Lin Sheng called this process, purification. It was histest special trick. Just because the holy power was less aggressive didn¡¯t mean it¡¯s really harmless. The immense glow of the holy light weighed down the sea of trees below for miles around. Ten secondster, all the senior members of the Fairy Empire had copsed under pressure, kneeling on the ground, powerless. Their power had been banished and suppressed and was being weakened with visible speed, except for the Fairy Empress and the Golden Phoenix. One of them was strong and tenacious, and the other one seemed to have a different body constitution and was less affected than the others, which was why they couldst so long. But after half a minute, they finally reached the limit. *Bam!!!* The Golden Phoenixy on the ground, and her golden light was gradually reced by the pure white holy power. If it went on like that, as an energy creature, all its golden rays may be forcibly removed. Such a result for the Golden Phoenix whose life core was golden light, once the golden light waspletely removed, its life woulde to an end. Every living thing was an extremelyplex machine. The holy power and the golden light werepletely different forces, so the holy power could not rece the golden light and be the life source of the Golden Phoenix. The Fairy Empress was about to run out of her strength. Only a little of her emerald green energy was left floating and flying around her. But she still did not give up, trying to support the body, staring at Lin Sheng. Blood suddenly sshed from her left shoulder as the blood vessels could not support the fric cirction of her soul forces and caused damage to the body in the energy fight. The bright emerald green blood fell to the ground, but it was soon whitened by the holy light. Even the color of the blood was eroded by the holy power, which showed how strong the concentration of the holy power was in this area. This was the first time that Lin Sheng fully unfolded his holy power, controlling all the holy power, covering the entire radius of several kilometers perfectly. Ever since he entered the level of Ptinate, his holy powers had swelled and grown stronger. His body constitution grew stronger, which led to his holy power and dark energy spiraling upward. ¡°From now on, the Fairy Empire will be under mymand.¡± Lin Sheng looked down at the Fairy Empress who was still struggling to get up under his power. ¡°I admire your prowess, Fairy Empress. As a reward, you can choose to put yourself under mymand in exchange for the peace of this region. Of course, you can refuse, just the consequence of refusing...¡± Lin Sheng suddenly raised his hand to the right with a wave. In an instant, a cascade of brilliant white light surged out into the sky. Large numbers of Giant Eagle Warriors emerged from the sky. These sky warriors of the Fairy Empire, riding huge white eagles, had collided head-on with a terrifying mass of holy light when they barely reached the scene. In a sh, the Giant Eagle Warriors fell from the sky like dumplings before they could even see their surroundings. Chapter 428 - The Big Picture: Part 3

    Chapter 428: The Big Picture: Part 3

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion There were no special moves and no secret skills. Lin Sheng was just using the infinite Chaos Soul Force and a huge amount of holy power. He used the same trick in all cases. Once they were hit by the holy power, all the supernatural powers in them would be expelled and purified, and they would be reduced to ordinary people immediately. There was only one result of turning into ordinary men in the sky. In a matter of seconds, thousands of Giant Eagle Warriors fell from the sky, some dead, some wounded. However, to Lin Sheng, this was just a piece of cake. He withdrew his hand and looked down at the Fairy Empress. ¡°Surrender or die!¡± The Fairy Empress had understood Lin Sheng¡¯s intention. If she did not give in, perhaps the entire kingdom would be destroyed by this powerful man. She was silent. Several times she tried to activate the guardian ne on her chest, but she resisted. If she activated the guardian ne, the price was half the life of all fairies in the entire Fairy Empire. With such a heavy price to pay, of course, the power of the guardian ne was even more astonishing. It had a fatal w, though. It could only be used once, and it could only seal the opponent, notpletely solve the problem. So, she did not do it. ¡°You decide. I¡¯ll give you three days. After three days, if you do not ept it, I will destroy the Jadeite Root,¡± Lin Sheng said. He then turned into a light and disappeared. From beginning to end, he did not touch the ordinary people there. After leaving the Ring of Vitality, Lin Sheng returned to Caerphabor immediately. At this time, Caerphabor had umted a lot of evil forces for Lin Sheng, not a great one, but he needed them. Three dayster. Lin Sheng came to the same ce again. When he got there, he appeared in the same spot, under the leaf-nt. After entering the passage, Lin Sheng directly ordered the evil spirits of Caerphabor to flood into the cave where the fairies were. The Fairy Empress was not going to give in easily. She had traced the position of the passage and hadid a great ambush all around it. Lin Sheng¡¯s army of evil spirits met with these ambush soldiers and collided head-on. The result was dismal. Evil spirits and fairies all suffered heavy losses. The evil spirit beads that fell from them were all absorbed and swallowed by Lin Sheng. After that, the Fairy Empress sent another team to attack Lin Sheng. The first was arge number of sorcerer-like fairies who usedrge-scale magic powers to form a huge magic circle to try to expel Lin Sheng. But it was easily destroyed in an instant by an ocean of holy power. The second time, a few elites came to assassinate Lin Sheng with their powerful weapons. A dark-skinned woman with a gold long spear sacrificed her life to make it burst into a ze of gold. In the golden light, there seemed to be a shadow of a phoenix shing by. The long spear struck Lin Sheng¡¯s chest like lightning. Finally, Lin Sheng¡¯s armor was broken. Unfortunately, after the white armor shattered, another tougher dark yellow dragon scale appeared behind it. Now, the people of the Fairy Empire finally gave up. The Fairy Empress finally agreed to Lin Sheng¡¯s request and became the first Ptinate-level dark spirit under hismand. The strength of the Fairy Empress was equivalent to the Ptinates of the three secrets realms, which was why Lin Sheng wanted to take her under hismand. At all times, a Ptinate was an indispensable and important fighting force. ... The day after the Fairy Empress surrendered. The Ring of Vitality, the Jadeite Root, the Canopy Great Hall. Lin Sheng followed the Fairy Empress, walking along the edge of the great hall. The Fairy Empress was a little different from what Lin Sheng had imagined. Lin Sheng now finally saw what her face was like. The Fairy Empress had a graceful figure, but her face had no facial features, only a green eye upying more than 90% of the face. From time to time, the huge eye would rotate as if it was observing the surrounding situation. ¡°The entire Fairy Empire has a poption of about three million. Of these, forty thousand are capable of fighting. About three thousand of them belong to the indenture fairy. The empire consists of the bloodlines of fairies, humans, and forest giants. Thest census was three years ago.¡± The poption here was much more diverse than in Caerphabor, making it a good ce for Lin Sheng to try all kinds of tests. ¡°Where is the library? Take me there.¡± Lin Sheng immediately thought of books. To him, books were the most authentic records of the world. ¡°Library??¡± The Fairy Empress analyzed the meaning of the term and understood at once that it was a ce where books were kept. ¡°Pleasee with me,¡± the Fairy Empress said, looking calm. They passed through the great hall and entered through an underground passage in the rear. After entering the tunnel, they bypass a maze of stone passages. After walking for several minutes under the Ring of Vitality, they finally arrived. It was a ce like a mausoleum. Gray walls, gray floors, gray sculptures of the cat-head man guarding the dead, gray reliefs, and patterns. However, it was different from other mausoleums. There were no creatures buried here, and it seemed that it had not been opened for a long time. Fairy Empress stood at the entrance and began to introduce. ¡°This is the Fairy¡¯s Book Tomb, which has a collection of more than four thousand books. Each is a gem. You can flip through them.¡± ¡°Are there any other cavern coordinates here?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s goal was to find other coordinates simr to the Darkspirit Cavern. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± The Fairy Empress shook her head. Although she agreed to join Lin Sheng, she was obviously not willing to justpromise. Looking at the bookshelves in front of him, Lin Sheng slowly approached and began to look for the bookshelf he was interested in. After he found the bookshelf he was interested in, he silently flipped through one book after another. Soon, an hour passed. Lin Sheng looked up and slowly closed the heavy leather cover in his hand. The Fairy Empress was waiting beside him. Every time Lin Sheng finished reading one, she immediately put it away. She would tap the cover, and then a pair of little white wings grew behind the book, and then it fluttered to the bookshelf where it had been before. Lin Sheng kept flipping through the books. Soon, the day passed. Atst, he found something new. It was not the coordinates of other Darkspirit Caverns but something Lin Sheng did not expect at all... Something that should not be in the Fairy Empire. ¡°What is this?¡± Lin Sheng picked up a white gem ne, which he found in the book. There was something strange about that ne. An oval white gem was hanging in the middle of the silver ne, and a pure white me was burning in the middle of the white gem. It was the holy power! Chapter 429 - The Clue: Part 1

    Chapter 429: The Clue: Part 1

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°Holy power?¡± The Fairy Empress also recognized the me inside the ne. The entire Fairy Empire was defeated by the power system to which the me belonged, so she had a deep impression of it. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± She thought it over and did not recall any clues about the ne. ¡°There is no such ne in this ce in my memory.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s possible that my presence activated the ne?¡± Lin Sheng guessed. The Fairy Empress remained silent. Lin Sheng didn¡¯t mind. The coordinates of the passage were in his hands, and he was not afraid that the Fairy Empress would not obey his orders. If he was not satisfied, the Fairy Empire could be destroyed in an instant. Although he has absorbed enough soul force recently, he did not mind absorbing more. So for the survival of the Fairy Empire, the Fairy Empress must follow his orders anyway. ¡°Investigate the origin and clues of this ne,¡± Lin sheng ordered, ¡°as quickly as possible.¡± ¡°All right.¡± The Fairy Empress bowed her head and turned away. Lin Sheng was left there alone. Soon another attendant came to serve him. Leaving the ne aside, Lin Sheng began to consciously read the ancient books. To his surprise, the Fairy Empire was so old that there were even books dating back thousands of years. One of the books, called ¡°The Ancient City of Helix¡±, contained a series of historical events of fairies. The record of this book stopped two hundred years ago. Lin Sheng was very interested in the book and read it carefully. He moved the books he was interested in to the desk and sat down to read them. The time flow there was much slower than in the real world, so he had plenty of time to read the books slowly. Soon, he was about to finish reading ¡°The Ancient City of Helix¡±. Suddenly, Lin Sheng stopped reading. ¡°The pronunciation...¡± He scowled over the page that had just turned. The content sounded strangely familiar to the Deviltongue. He tried to whisper the word. ¡°An... cel...lia?¡± ¡°Ancellia was here?¡± Lin Sheng suddenly stood up, looking solemn. This ce was very close to the real world he was now in, separated only by a Darkspirit Cavern of Caerphabor. ¡°If Ancellia has actually been here, that would exin why there¡¯s cktide in the real world. Because it means that the world that ckfeather City is in is probably not far from the real world.¡± Lin Sheng walked back and forth in the book tomb, then stopped and picked up the book to continue reading. ¡°...My friend Ancellia solemnly warned us of the great threat and deadly danger of the cktide and the cksea. ¡°The message said, if you want to find out the truth of the cktide, you can go to the Infinite City. There she left the clues she had. ¡°I¡¯m skeptical. The cktide or the cksea, it sounds very real, but I don¡¯t believe there¡¯s such a strong threat that will destroy everything. ¡°Ancellia did not argue with me, just left a message saying that if I want to find hope for salvation, then go to the Infinite City. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen her since. Maybe she left. Maybe she¡¯s... dead.¡± The content stopped there. After lightly checking the pages of the entire book to make sure there was nothing hidden in the pages, Lin Sheng put down the book and sorted through therge chunks of information it contained. ¡°Ancellia has been here and left a message to the Infinity City... Where is the Infinite City?¡± He motioned the attendant to move closer. The attendant was the keeper of the book tomb. The keeper was quite knowledgeable because he guarded the library all year round. He was very old, too, and his white beard was down to his knees, looking a bit messy. The keeper thought as he stroked his white beard and said, ¡°The Infinite City... If I¡¯m guessing correctly, you are referring to the City of the Seven Orders. That city has a nickname, the Infinite City.¡± ¡°The City of the Seven Orders? Can you borate?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The keeper pondered for a moment. ¡°The City of the Seven Orders was an ancient city that had been lost for a long time. There were many survivors of the gap living in the City of the Seven Orders, but then one day, without warning, the entire City of the Seven Orders disappeared. No one ever saw it again.¡± ¡°Do you know why?¡± ¡°Hmm... Some spected that there had been a massive shift in the gap. Some specte that something went wrong. We have schrs who tried to open the passage to the City of the Seven Orders before, but there were a lot of chaotic and dangerous gaps in the passage, and they couldn¡¯t get through,¡± the keeper exined. Lin Sheng got it. There were too many gaps in the passage, all in a mess and no one could get near or through. He asked the keeper several more times for information about the Infinite City and Ancellia but found nothing. With no other option, he began to focus on the data of the power system of the Fairy Empire. The ssification of the Fairy Empire was fairly straightforward. All Transcendents became fairy warriors once they entered into a contract with Fairy. Fairy warriors were generally divided into steel ss, silver ss, gold ss, and the master. The Fairy Empress was the master, which was equivalent to the Ptinate level, but the nature of the master here waspletely different from that of Ptinates. The master¡¯s fighting capacity was mainly established through the unity of man and nature, which integrated with the surrounding environment. It would then mobilize the natural forces of heaven and earth to suppress opponents, while the Ptinates connected directly with the Tidal Gate and linked forces from the Rimtide to suppress opponents from a distance. In fact, the master¡¯s explosive power was far more than that of Ptinates, but her endurance was far less than that of the Ptinates because the forces of heaven and earth that the master could mobilize was limited. Besides, Ptinates were like a continuous stream of water guns. Over time, they could spray more and more water, or eventually, submerge the areas far beyond the control of the master. Lin Sheng also looked at the cultivation system here. The fairies practice a meditation method called the Forest Heart. Other forms of meditation had been developed on the basis of the Forest Heart. Lin Sheng brought the Forest Heart into his cultivation system. He decided to try tobine the advantages of the two. As he spent more and more time here, his understanding of the Forest Heart deepened. Being at the Ptinate level, it was not difficult to understand the meditation method itself. Also, Rock Dragon¡¯s blood was born with the ability to control the surrounding rock and soil. Soon, Lin Sheng had a deeper understanding of the Forest Heart. He tweaked it a little and changed it into the Rock Heart, which became his exclusive meditation method for the Rock Dragon¡¯s bloodline. Chapter 430 - The Clue: Part 2 Chapter 430: The Clue: Part 2 Apart from that, there was nothing else of value there. All those skills and techniques meant nothing to him. After absorbing arge number of memory fragments, he no longer cared about this knowledge and skills. Many skills and techniques were used to maximize a small amount of force in order to produce more power. Most of those skills were applied to a small amount of soul force of the fairies, and the Chaos Soul Force Lin Sheng could produce with just a simple wave was far more powerful than that. These skills were like a frame, if he forced them, it would limit his power. He simply gave up learning these skills and just skimmed through the books to see if he could refer to them andy the groundwork for his future work. Lin Sheng spent twelve days in the Fairy Empire. He had finished reading all the books in there when he left. Unexpectedly, Djall Demonhand found a new channel coordinate and came to report to him. Lin Sheng was very happy and ordered the Fairy Empress to integrate the power of the Fairy Empire to open this channel within one month. One month in the Fairy Empire was around four or five days in the real world. After giving instructions, Lin Sheng went back to the real world to have a rest. This time, he absorbed a lot of soul forces in the Darkspirit Cavern Fairy Empire and obtained a new soul force summoner. However, there were too few powerful ones to summon now. He only epted Ptinate or Six-wingers at the moment, but they rarely appeared in the dream. Fortunately, Lin Sheng was stronger, so he wanted to explore. ... In the dream. Lin Sheng slowly opened his eyes and scanned around. He was standing in the middle of the living room. The red light outside the window was dazzling, and the air was cold and dreary. ¡°This house in the dream seems to have the ability to stay the same. What it was like when I left, it will be the same when Ie back.¡± Lin Sheng walked slowly around the living room. He picked up a trinket on a wooden shelf in the corner. The cheap stic trinket, originally carved with a ck eagle, was not well-defined. Many of the details seemed to have been blurred out. ¡°It¡¯s a dream. The details are not clear in my memory, so this ce is also a blur, unable to be restored. That is to say, the source of my dreams stilles from my memory.¡± ¡°No.¡± He suddenly remembered all his previous experiences. ¡°It should not be a simple memory from me, but more like a wonderful field formed by thebination of memory and external information, or a wonderful information field.¡± In essence, an infinite amount of information could shape a world. And if the information field wasplicated to a certain extent, it could also shape a seemingly real world. ¡°Information stimtes the brain to produce perception, vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. And the five senses are actually formed by external stimtion.¡± Lin Sheng looked calm. ¡°So, if I could get rid of all five sensory stimuli and perceive dreams with other senses, would I be able to perceive different things?¡± Besides the five senses, there was a sixth sense. For ordinary people, it might be difficult to find the sixth sense, but for Lin Sheng, the sixth sense was not mysterious. Because the essence of five senses was actually the perception of the body. And the sixth sense referred to the most basic vision in the perception of the soul. It¡¯s called Soul Vision. The soul also had five senses. Soul Touch and Soul Vision alle from this. ¡°So... Let¡¯s see. I remember that there is a technique for activating Soul Vision. This is just the most basic soul force application, slightly modified...¡± Lin Sheng slowly closed his eyes. ¡°Screen out physical perception and perceive the world purely as the soul...¡± A momentter, he opened his eyes. Everything in front of him suddenly changed into something else. The living room was still the same living room. But the originally clean and tidy walls had be rusty, and the wallpaper might fall off at any time. The floor was covered with tiny bloodstains, and there were even dark holes in some ces. There were also grey whirlpools floating in the air. From time to time, human voices, songs, animal voices, and the sound of musical Instruments wereing out from the grey whirlpools. Lin Sheng guessed roughly what those gray swirls were. He ignored them and looked out of the window. Now he could see the scene more clearly. The scene outside the window was covered with dull red fog. Dimly in the fog stood a great pir, connecting the earth to the sky. The great pir seemed to be alive, wriggling slowly from time to time with a strange low rumbling sound. Lin Sheng walked slowly to the window. He noticed that a little red fog had begun to seep through the window crevices. ¡°It seems that the home in my dream is notpletely safe... I didn¡¯t notice this before.¡± With a touch of his finger, the holy power sealed the crevices tightly. Since he applied it at a slightly higher concentration, the holy power was enough tost more than ten days. ¡°Why don¡¯t I seal all the crevices in the house?¡± Lin Sheng began to seal all the crevices in the house little by little, but there were so many crevices in the house that he was getting irritated doing it. ¡°Forget it. I¡¯ll seal it all at once.¡± He began to release the holy power from room to room, and the holy power shone indiscriminately in every part of the room. After walking through all the rooms, the entire dream home was immediately refreshed. Without the red fog prating into the house, the floating grey whirlpools in the air were also dispersed by the interference of holy power. Lin Sheng even felt a sense of realness in his home. Having settled those problems, he returned to the window and stared out at the billowing red fog. ¡°Let me see what the hell is out here...¡± He pulled open the window and jumped out. Lin Sheng fell softly and stood firmly on the dark red ground outside. He then closed the window. He did not go far but walked around his house. The house was surrounded by a vast, deserted in. The in was covered with dark red soil. In the distance, stone ste could be seen standing upside-down in the soil. Lin Sheng looked up at the sky. In the red sky, floating inds were burning. All these inds of different sizes were burning with an unquenchable sky-high me. The mes shed a mass of red light, bing the only stable light source there. Chapter 431 - The Clue: Part 3 Chapter 431: The Clue: Part 3 ¡°This ce... Is it also a dream?¡± Lin Sheng frowned and walked slowly toward the pir that connected the earth to the sky. He was now strong enough to explore a little. Soon, a strong warrior in a ck cloak rose slowly from the ground. The ck-cloaked warrior held a ck brazier in his hand, from which ck mes burned. He had no facial features, it was all just a blur. ¡°Like, dislike, disappointment, desperation!!¡± At the sight of Lin sheng, the ck-cloaked warrior roared in pain. The warrior then suddenly lifted the ck brazier and hurled it at him. Lin Sheng stretched out his hand, a small piece of holy light exploded at the tip of his finger, blocking the brazier and bouncing it back. *Bam!* The brazier bounced back onto the ck-cloaked warrior, and the ck mes inside set him aze. ¡°Ahhhhh!!¡± The ck-cloaked warrior screamed and fell on Lin Sheng, but before he could get close, he was hit in the face by a sh of holy light. With a bang, the ck-cloaked warrior was blown to pieces and then killed. Soon his body turned into ck smoke and disappeared into the air. ¡°Very weak... but...¡± Lin Sheng frowned and looked down at his fingers. The tip of the finger, which had just released the holy power, had be a little dimmer and seemed to be stained with dust. ¡°It¡¯s not an illusion... It seems to have been infected by something...¡± Lin Sheng stopped walking forward. The holy power was not invincible. He knew that. Otherwise, ckfeather City would not have fallen while the sanctum was still powerful. The fact that such a thing could prate the holy power and attach itself to him showed that it was probably of a more imperious or superior power than the holy power. ¡°I can¡¯t explore any further until I¡¯ve thoroughly studied it.¡± Lin Sheng slowly stepped back toward his house. He pulled open the house window, jumped in easily, and locked it. He named the in outside the window the Nightmare in. The danger was unknown, so he was not going to explore it. Back at home, Lin Sheng meditated for a while, trying to dispel the greys on his fingertips with dark energy and holy power, but it did not work. Neither the dark energy nor the holy power had any effect on that gray, and it surprised Lin Sheng By the end of the dream, Lin Sheng was still figuring out how to deal with the changes in his fingers. ... In the istion room. Lin Sheng slowly woke up from his dream. Rising from the bed, he raised his right hand and looked at the tip of his index finger. The color of the skin there was not quite the same as in the other ces, a little darker, as if it were stained with incense dust. ¡°I brought it back to reality... What should I do?¡± Lin Sheng frowned slightly. However, for the time being, he had no choice but to brush the grey with the holy power over and over again. Fortunately, washing it under arge number of holy power together with Chaos Soul Force, the gray at the tip of Lin Sheng¡¯s finger finally began to fade. After solving the problem of his finger, Lin Sheng was relieved and decided not to explore the Nightmare in again. He had to be careful before he figured out the nature of that grey force. After taking a break from the research center, Lin Sheng turned on hisputer to check the consolidated informationing from outside. Now all theputers in Henricqal were connected to a closed local areawork, whereputers couldmunicate with each other, which was quite convenient. And it must be within the range of the holy power, or, the safe zone, to be able to work. Outside the safe zone, even underground, monsters could sneak in and attack at any time. After a brief look at the information on theputer, Lin Sheng changed his clothes and left the research center. He had been eating a lot of dark spiritstely, so he was under a bit of pressure. So, Lin Sheng liked to go to a nearby teahouse asionally, order a cup of hot tea, eat some snacks, watch a movie, y games and rx. This tea house was run by Xilinese. Lin Sheng met the boss several times, who was a middle-aged man. He had chatted casually with the uncle and learned that the uncle had taken refuge from a nearby town after the cktide outbreak. Out of the research center, Lin Sheng walked slowly through two streets into the Ironash Teahouse. There were not many guests in the teahouse. ¡°Give me a private room.¡± He took out his membership card and pped it on the counter at the door. ¡°Yes, Sir. Just a moment, please.¡± Lin Sheng was about to go up to the second floor to the private room. Suddenly he caught sight of a table of interesting guests in the hall. The guests at the table were three girls sitting in a corner near the bathroom. Two of the girls were quite young and seemed to be under twenty. The other girl was at least in herte twenties and looked much more mature. She was wearing a red jacket and blue and ck jeans. Of the three girls, the two were not very attractive, but the third, who was rtively mature, was quite sexy and charming. Of course, there were so many beautiful girls in the world, Lin Sheng could not pay attention to all of them. What really mattered to him was who she was. ¡°Xie Qiaoyue?¡± A name shed through Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. Xie Qiaoyue caused him a lot of trouble when she was in Xilin. He almost had a head-on sh with the army of Redwin. ¡°Since we meet here, then...¡± Lin Sheng smiled and turned straight to the three girls. He walked straight up to the three girls and was soon noticed by them. Xie Qiaoyue sensed it. She turned her head slightly and looked at Lin Sheng. At first, she did not seem to recognize him. Two secondster, however, her body began to tremble. Five secondster, her face turned ghastly pale and she was already thinking about which way to run. If she had not been on the run from the monster, she might have gotten up and run. Unfortunately, if she ran out now, she would surely die, and if she stayed here to face Lin Sheng, she would have at least a slim chance of survival... Lin Sheng hade to Xie Qiaoyue and gently pressed his hand on the table in front of her. ¡°How did you get here from Xilin? By the way, I¡¯d like to know how Sarroux is doing in Xilin.¡± He looked at Xie Qiaoyue gently as if she were an old friend. ¡°By the way, where¡¯s your blue seahawk?¡± But Xie Qiaoyue was frozen, not daring to move. ¡°The s-s... seahawk r-ran away...¡± She was so nervous that she began to get tongue-tied. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, don¡¯t be afraid... I¡¯ll just p you to death at most. I won¡¯t do anything bad to you.¡± Lin Sheng consoled her. Xie Qiaoyue became more nervous after she heard that. ¡°I-I-I have important information for you! Please spare my life!!¡± She was shaking and her muscles were so tense that her tears, snot, and saliva almost ran down her face. ¡°Oh? What is it?¡± Lin Sheng was interested. Chapter 432 - Conquest: Part 1

    Chapter 432: Conquest: Part 1

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Ten minutester, in the private dining room of a restaurant, Lin Sheng sat across Xie Qiaoyue and the other two girls. ¡°Tell me, what information do you have? If you lie, you know the score.¡± Henricqal was Lin Sheng¡¯s territory. Even figures like the Ptinates would not dream of getting out alive if they lied, let alone Xie Qiaoyue. Timid like a baby afraid of punishment, Xie Qiaoyue sat down nervously, too afraid to look up as cold sweat broke out on her forehead. She knew she could use trickery and sweet words to evade monsters that pursued her, but all that did not work on Lin Sheng. All her petty tricks were only a useless burden in front of the former master of the Ironfist Society. The other two girls did not know why Xie Qiaoyue was so afraid of Lin Sheng. By the looks of Xie Qiaoyue and the tense atmosphere in the room, it was enough for them to sit stock still. Apparently, someone who could send the fearless Xie Qiaoyue scared stiff must be something. ¡°Master-Master Lin... as-as I mentioned earlier, I have important information! It¡¯s about the Sevenlocks Tower!¡± Xie Qiaoyue collected her thoughts, plucking up the courage to talk. ¡°Just say it.¡± Lin Sheng looked down, seemingly not interested. Xie Qiaoyue did not dare beat around the bush. ¡°The Sevenlocks Tower is building a cktide connection ritual, the second time they are doing it. If they seed, the Dark Pantheon of the Ashen World mighte for real. By then, even the three mysterious realms would be helpless to stop the fall of this world! We are being hunted because we have stumbled upon and gotten a key keepsake of the ritual.¡± She took a deep breath before talking and did not stammer anymore. ¡°Due to this keepsake, someone from the Sevenlocks Tower has been trying to kill us for the past ten-odd days!¡± ¡°Then?¡± Lin Sheng still appeared indifferent. As influential and powerful as the Sevenlocks Tower was, it had nothing to do with him. During the confrontation between the Sanctum and the Sevenlocks Tower, it was the Sevenlocks Tower that lost. Lin Sheng had injured a Sevenlock and captured the other guy who had the Tricolor Rubik. By the looks of things, the Sevenlocks Tower must have hated the Sanctum. ¡°Don¡¯t you worry? Once the great ritual is up, the Sevenlocks Tower will grow stronger, the Dark Pantheon wille to Earth, and the world will fall!¡± one of the little girls chimed in. Both girls were in disbelief seeing Lin Sheng¡¯s indifference. How could he be so unconcerned when the world was facing this imminent disaster? What was he thinking? ¡°The world?¡± Lin Sheng could not help butugh. ¡°Do you know who big the world is? Or you think the world onlyprises the countries around the Pearl Ocean?¡± Obviously, countries like Xilin, Redwin, Olro, and others were around the Pearl Ocean. But this was not the entire world. There were more countries in the pr region, surrounding the continental countries around the Pearl Ocean. Further out, it was a strange ocean that until now, no scientific instrument could explore. People called it the Fog Ocean because fog covered the surface of the ocean all year round. That meant, when people talked about the world, it meant the countries around the Pearl Ocean. Lin Sheng¡¯s words transfixed Xie Qiaoyue and the other two girls. Few people would look at the ces beyond the known world. ¡°However, the cktide will only get stronger, and your Ironfist Society will face an insurmountable crisis!¡± In desperation, Xie Qiaoyue did not stutter but was filled with emotions as she tried to convince Lin Sheng. ¡°I believe the Sevenlocks Tower will note looking for trouble. After all, the Sanctum is an organization that embraces peace and justice.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°Oh, in case you don¡¯t know, I now belong to the Sanctum, working as a researcher in a research center in Henricqal.¡± ¡°But if you will, you can keep the keepsake safe...¡± Xie Qiaoyue got even more emotional, pouring out her thoughts. ¡°Keepsake?¡± Lin Sheng smiled. Just as he was about to continue, his smile evaporated, looking in the door¡¯s direction. The closed wooden door did not prevent him from perceiving movement outside. A burly man with a crew cut hair, wearing a ck vest and boxing gloves was approaching, walking up the stairs. He looked calm with ck sunsses on. The man walked straight toward the private room where Lin Sheng was in. As he moved forward, invisible but sharp threads silently emerged around him. The threads weaved and formed an array, protecting him in the middle. As the man approached, people around him would inexplicably go away as if something hade to their minds. Soon, the noisy second floor of the tea house turned quiet with the man¡¯s arrival. Everyone¡ªwaiters and customers alike¡ªleft as if they were going somewhere. It all happened in just five minutes, and the man with ck sunsses was the only person left on the second floor. The man walked straight, approaching the private room where Lin Sheng and the other three girls were in. He suddenly stopped five meters away from the door. Still with his sunsses on, his eyes seemed to pierce through the wooden door, meeting Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes. The wooden door creaked as it slowly opened with Lin Sheng emerging from the inside. He did note out for any other reason but the man with sunsses. Lin Sheng had sensed him. The minute he stepped out of the room, he immediately sensed something was wrong on the second floor. The ce was still packed with people a while ago, but now it was probably the quietest ce in the city. ¡°Who are you?¡± Lin Sheng stared at the man with sunsses, curious. The Sanctum¡¯s suppressive energy was omnipresent in Henricqal, degrading all non-holy power transcendents by a level. That meant a Four-winger would only have the strength of a Three-winger, and a Three-winger a Two-winger¡¯s. Lin Sheng could feel that this man was dangerous. Those who could make Lin Sheng feel this way must be something. But he also felt something else; this feeling of danger was not threatening. It was as if a danger warning and signal. In in words, it was just scary. The man was exuding a message of danger and threat. That was the nature of his ability, not really because he was so powerful that he struck fear in people¡¯s minds. Unlike the Ptinates¡¯ natural force field, there was no fundamental gap to this dangerous energy. It was only an element of information. Chapter 433 - Conquest: Part 2

    Chapter 433: Conquest: Part 2

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The man with sunsses ignored Lin Sheng, his cold gaze bypassing Lin Sheng and looking at Xie Qiaoyue in the room. ¡°Why waste time running away? Does it even work?¡± The man¡¯s voice was low, and his face calm. Lin Sheng was not too happy to get ignored. He thought he was magnanimous enough all this while. ¡°I¡¯m asking you a question. Or are you deaf?¡± His voice was calm, but he was obviously pissed off. This was Henricqal, and he was Seagal. Even the chancellor of Baine University would not slight him. ¡°I¡¯m taking her.¡± The man with sunsses finally noticed Lin Sheng¡¯s presence, but that did not change what he was going to do. He raised his hand and pointed at Xie Qiaoyue behind Lin Sheng. ¡°Is this a request or a threat?¡± Lin Sheng cocked an eyebrow. ¡°A request, I suppose,¡± the man said. ¡°What a shame.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°That¡¯s not going to happen.¡± He would not let the man take Xie Qiaoyue because of the man¡¯s arrogance. Not to mention he needed to find out the situation in Xilin from Xie Qiaoyue. The man stopped in his tracks, eyes piercing Lin Sheng through his sunsses. ¡°That¡¯s not going to happen? Who are you?¡± ¡°You havee to my ce and you tell me you don¡¯t know who I am?¡± The man with sunsses did not say a word. ¡°Or are you not going to identify yourself?¡± Lin Sheng came out from the room, studying the man. He had a traditional look, his attire covering up almost every inch of his skin like the clothing people wore a decade ago. His clothes were solemn and retro. Had he worn a helmet, he would have looked like a biker from about ten years ago. ¡°Let me ask again; are you sure you want to stop me?¡± the man with sunsses asked, voice still low. Lin Sheng let out a smile, suddenly reaching out his hand. His palm was as white as jade, his arteries and veins visible under his skin. As he struck his hand in a forward motion, a force of immense power surrounded the man. The strange energy caught the man off guard, the sharp threads around his body forming a defense force field to ward off the strange energy. As the two energies collided, it sounded as if metal was twisting. ¡°First Move!¡± the man with sunsses hissed. To Lin Sheng¡¯s surprise, the man bent his waist slightly and the sharp threads around him formed a shield guarding him in the front. The man lunged out at Lin Sheng with great speed and power. The force was so great that even Lin Sheng¡¯s natural force field was unable to suppress it. In the blink of an eye, the man with sunsses was before Lin Sheng with a right sweeping kick. Lin Sheng parried with his hand while trying to grab his leg. ¡°Second Move!¡± The man hissed again. His movement suddenly quickened, fading into an afterimage. In a sweeping motion, he moved past Lin Sheng by lowering his body, then lunged straight toward Xie Qiaoyue. ¡°Not bad!¡± Lin Sheng uttered a word of admiration, and his responsiveness increased at the same time. He did not rely solely on Ptinate¡¯s natural force field inbat. His real strengthy in himself. With a swift motion, he appeared before the man sunsses, blocking him in his way as he did a chain strike with his hands. They exchanged punches and kicks several dozen times a second. The only sound in the room was the muffled explosion from their fight. Xie Qiaoyue and the other two girls felt dizzy, their vision blurry and ears ringing because of the shock waves. The ten-odd seconds felt as if minutes had passed. By now, it was obvious who the winner was. With a flick of his hand and using his hand as a sword, Lin Sheng struck the man with sunsses on his right shoulder. He could hear the crack of the man¡¯s vicle. The strike also forced the man through the floorboard, his tights stuck, face pale with blood spurting out of his mouth. Breath slowly left the man¡¯s body. ¡°That was a quick one!¡± Lin Sheng had not done some real physical stretches for a long time. Since cultivating holy power, his martial arts and cold weapons had taken a back seat. He was using dark energy and holy power most of the time because the lethality and damage that those two powers could inflict far surpassed that of martial arts. He did not even have the chance to fight close-quartersbat. But it was different this time. With no suppression technique, the man with sunsses could totally ignore the Ptinate¡¯s force field and fight him for over a minute, despite Lin Sheng was armed with the Rock Dragon bloodline. That was something. Lin Sheng started to think, considering that he did not use dark energy and holy power or dragonization skill and other talents, just his physical strength, the man had to at least be a Six-winger. ¡°This guy was good...¡± Lin Shengmented, looking at the man with sunsses. The sudden appearance of a Six-winger at this time seemed to have spiked things up a bit. Six-wingers were no regr fighters. Even in the Sevenlocks Tower, a Six-winger was more than capable of leading small warfare. They were Commander-ss elites. The question was, why did someone need to use a Six-winger to hunt down Xie Qiaoyue? ¡°Tell me, where are you from?¡± Lin Sheng looked at the dying man, but the man with sunsses kept mum as if he had no intention to answer his question. Xie Qiaoyue and the other two girls were still rooted to the spot, marveling at how Lin Sheng had defeated the sunsses-wearing monster with just a flick of his hand. ¡°You¡¯re not talking, aren¡¯t you?¡± Lin Sheng raised his hand, instructing to take the man away. Two plumes of ck smoke materialized into two red armored soldiers beside him. ¡°Aye.¡± The two soldiers replied and pulled the man with sunsses out of the floorboard and dragged him downstairs. A group of patrolmen and an inspector had arrived outside the teahouse. They took the man away to throw him into the dangerous and cruel Purification Tribunal, which was just a nicer-sounding name of the dungeon. Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes returned to Xie Qiaoyue. ¡°Now, tell me. Who is the guy? How did you get him here?¡± ¡°He is an elite of the Sevenlocks Tower,¡± said the little girl with her hair tied into pigtails. ¡°If he were from the Sevenlocks Tower, he would not be so recklessing to Henricqal. Let alone using the nasty area-of-effect ability in public. So, tell me everything, and I may consider giving you all protection.¡± After all, the Sevenlocks Tower had tasted defeat here. They would not recklessly send their elites over here again. What was more telling was that the man with sunsses seemed to not know who Lin Sheng was, and what Henricqal meant to other Transcendents. There was silence in front of the private dining room. Xie Qiaoyue¡¯s eyes flickered, obviously lying. Chapter 434 - Conquest: Part 3

    Chapter 434: Conquest: Part 3

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion After a while of silence, one of three girls broke the silence. ¡°Anyway, the keepsake is important to world peace. Please help her. It is not like it is about us.¡± ¡°Sister Yue has been fighting for us all. Why can you help her a bit?¡± Ponytails was indignant. ¡°Don¡¯t say it anymore, Jin Yue!¡± Xie Qiaoyue tried to stop Ponytails, pulling her by her clothes. ¡°Let me say it! I¡¯ve had enough! All of them, every single one of them¡¯s the same! They know it concerns the safety of everyone, but it is just the few of us who are fighting for it! There are so many people who are much stronger than we are. But where are they? Why should we be the ones to take up the burden of this thing? Why?¡± Ponytails must have umted quite some grievances somewhere else. The more she talked, the sadder and angrier she became. ¡°What then?¡± Lin Sheng looked at her. ¡°You can just discard it. Did anyone force you to take it?¡± Ponytails was transfixed for a moment. ¡°Discard it? Who will be responsible for the consequences? Will you?!¡± she shouted. ¡°Will you be able to take responsibility for it if the world falls?¡± *p!* Ponytails was pped in the face. It hit her so hard that her face turned ny degrees to the right, teeth mixed with blood falling out of her mouth. There was silence. ¡°I may not be able to out-speak you...¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°...but I can beat you to death.¡± Ponytails shivered, realizing that the person before her was someone she could not mess around with. His technique and strength were apparently of unrestrained type. ¡°This is the keepsake!¡± Xie Qiaoyue made up her mind. She fished out a yellow stone half the size of her palm from her body. It looked just like any other ordinary stones; no one would take a glimpse if thrown on the ground. But it possessed a vitality that of the heart of the living in her hand. ¡°If you will, I can give it to you,¡± said Xie Qiaoyue with utmost seriousness. ¡°But once you ept it, the forces behind the stone wille after you.¡± ¡°This thing...¡± Lin Sheng looked at the yellow stone, carefully studying it, looking interested. ¡°Who told you that this thing is rted to the great ritual of the Sevenlocks Tower?¡± ¡°Um...¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s question transfixed her, but she quickly put two and two together. By the sound of it, the stone might not be what she had imagined. With a low voice, she asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, this thing must have belonged to some powerful living thing, one of its core organs, probably the heart or the like. It should have little to do with the great ritual.¡± ¡°What? Impossible!¡± Ponytails and the other girl¡¯s expressions changed. They had risked everything to protect the stone, now this man was telling them it was not a keepsake of some great ritual. Did it not mean that they had done everything for nothing? ¡°I¡¯m taking the stone with me.¡± Lin Sheng helped himself to the mysterious yellow stone in Xie Qiaoyue¡¯s possession, turned, and left the room. He was not worried about Xie Qiaoyue and the other two girls. So long as they were here in Henricqal, they would be under his monitoring. A short trip to the teahouse had earned him good stuff with an unknown origin. He was a happy man today. He tossed the stone into the holy water. He then returned to the Darkspirit Gate into Caerphabor. ... South ins, Redwin. ck smoke was rising on the dark-green ins as mutated gnus roamed around, asionally bellowing loudly with their heads up. In the middle of the ins, a few elites from the Sevenlocks Tower stood in a circle, singing mysterious abracadabra with their heads low. While they were at it, plumes of ck smoke were flying in the surroundings. 1Time ticked away; the ck smoke on the ins started to gather toward the Sevenlocks, forming a waist-deep ckke around them. As this happened, they became even excited, their singing quickening. The earth suddenly shook. In the ck mist under their feet, something big was rising. Its top emerged first, then its body, followed by its foundation. Standing at around 30 meters tall, the massive thing was a stone round arch surrounded by a rising gray mist. ¡°The first one ispleted.¡± Somewhere in the distance, a pair of eyes were staring at the massive round arch. ¡°When the third arch is finished, everything will be written. Everything!¡± The gaze was so intense that it did not seem like that of a human. ¡°How should we handle the request of the Sevenlocks Tower?¡± another voice asked, sounding reluctant. ¡°Do nothing first. As long as the master still does not reemerge, we cannot do anything about it.¡± ¡°Understood...¡± The voices subsided. ... Lin Sheng had the two more elites: the Djall Demonhand and Fairy Empress, one a Six Winger, the other a Ptinate. Now he was ready to break into the third dark spirit cave. The dark spirit caves of the Fairy Empire and the Caerphabor had be his personal harvest field, where dark spirits would keep regenerating themselves and be harvested and turned into dark spirit beads as an offering to Lin Sheng. With such vast territory under his control, the dark spirit beads that Lin Sheng absorbed ran into hundreds a day. They might be ordinary dark spirit beads, but they were pure, stable, and convenient. He was about to bore through the third dark spirit tunnel. It seemed he had faced little obstacles in his conquest mission. There had been none powerful dark spirits formed in the cave, just some Darkspirit Generals roaming around. However, Lin Sheng had instructed its army to crush them. It just took the allied forces of Caerphabor and the Fairy Empire half a day to conquer the third cave, but half a day in the real world was two days in the cave. When Lin Sheng entered the cave, the conquest of the third cave was done. The next thing on his list would be looking for the fourth cave. He gave his instructions; with the Fairy Empire as the starting point, they would expand their search in all directions. He did not want to miss a thing. Whether it was ancient records or leads, as long as it had something to do with the fourth cave, he wanted them all. Two days had passed, which was 12 days in the dark spirit caves, and he finally found the coordinates of the fourth cave on a strange stone monument somewhere in the Fairy Empire. Like he had done before, Lin Sheng first gathered the elites from the earlier dark spirit caves and stormed into the fourth cave at once. But this time, things seemed to be different. The leading forces of dark spirit had encountered a fierce attack and suffered a terrible casualty. Only two Darkspirit Generals survived¡ªbarely¡ªmainly because they had better defensive ability. Even then, they were wounded and scared out of their wits, mumbling some strange words, mentally unstable. Lin Sheng stood in front of the two Darkspirit Generals, his face darkening. He had sent a million soldiers, but only two came back. Did the fourth cave swallow the rest? Chapter 435 - Prelude: Part 1

    Chapter 435: Prelude: Part 1

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The clouds in the sky of the fourth cave were red. At times they gathered, and at times, they dispersed. Thend was dry and hot, full of cracks. Blood red just like the clouds, thend below was endless with no boundary in sight. This ce was like no other. Thend was square, suspended in the middle with thick and dark ck fog all around. Now, on a mound somewhere on thisnd, thousands of millions of bones and skeletons piled up to form a mountain of bone which was several hundred meters in height. Around the white mountain of bones were what looked like translucent bugs. These bugs had a long tail, with wings of the dragonfly and a white skull on their head. When they flew, they produced a buzz that sounded like the cries of humans. On the top of the mountain of bones rose a long red-haired man with scars all over his body. He was bare-chested, hair tight into a ponytail behind his head. His body had many scars and bloody wounds. But he couldn¡¯t care less. ¡°All killed... Sigh...¡± the man mumbled to himself, ncing into the sky. ¡°I just detected living things appearing around here and hurried over. But they did notst... I¡¯m bored...¡± He rested his battered great bone sword on his shoulder, scanning around. ¡°It looks like there is nothing to do now... Should I just sleep, then?¡± He had ruled this dark spirit cave for too long. At first, he was a good ruler, leading the dark spirits, making them get stronger. But ruling the ce could no longer give him the joy. So he destroyed everything he had created. Pain, horror, and anguish filled the ce as he massacred everything in the cave and the nearby caves. He then encountered a powerful resistance. When he came to massacre the dark spirits in thest cave, the stronger ones teamed up and triggered a taboo spell, confining the man in the cave. This powerful spell prevented the man from opening a passage from the inside and kept him from escaping. Then a long time had passed. A few days ago, an unknown tunnel appeared, then came an army of dark spirits into the cave. As soon as the dark spirits gathered into formation, the man was champing at the bit and charging at them. What followed was a brutal massacre. ¡°Boring... This is too boring...¡± The man straightened his body and was about to sit down again to y the game of counting the bones under his buttocks. Then a faint cracking sound was heard from several hundred meters away on the tnd below. He got to his feet, looking at the sound source, his eyes lighting up. ¡°Something ising again?¡± He was filled with anticipation. He nearly went insane from the boredom of doing nothing for a thousand years. The arrival of the dark spirit army earlier had reignited his curiosity and anticipation of this world. ¡°What is that? I¡¯m thrilled... I¡¯m going to take a dive this time, keeping a few of them alive.¡± The man licked his cracked lips with his tongue before lunging up into the air, flying in that direction. Down on thend, another cracking sound came, followed by a burst of red light and the forming of a disc pattern. A vortex appeared in the red light with dark spirits of various shapes and sizes scrambling to get out. Some looked like wolves and cats. Some lions and tigers. Some did not have defining characteristics but mere randombinations of different living creatures. Some had even ridiculous shapes, like the one with the head of a teapot. One dark spirit had a pair of hands that looked soft, like the trunk of an elephant. Some were just in the shape of antern. 1The dark spirits rushed out like a stampede, flooding the cave that filled with bones. ¡°Here theye again! Wahaha!¡± The manughed hysterically, his eyes billowing with ck smoke. Carrying his great bone sword, he swooped down from the air into the sea of dark spirits. There was no technique needed, just waving his great bone sword. But every swing of his sword produced a terrifying air pressure around the de. As if it possessed an unknown power, it shed every dark spirit that came into contact with it in half. ¡°Hahahaha!¡± The man cut a two-meter dark spirit in half, and then with a reverse motion, he kicked away a few dark spirits that came from behind. ¡°Useless! This is my power! shing anything thates near in half! Wahaha!¡± Heughed in a frenzy, swinging his great bone sword and immersing himself in the joy of killing. Nothing, be it the dark spirit, attacks of the dark spirit, or pure energy assaults, couldst one round¡ªin fact, they juststed half a round. ¡°That is it!¡± Just then, bright green light burst out from the red vortex, hitting the man¡¯s great one sword. Then out came the perfectly pure body of the Fairy Empress. She was draped in a full set of beautiful jade green armor, wearing a crystal green frontlet symbolizing the Fairy Empress over her forehead, and holding a natural wand that twisted like a dead tree. ¡°With your strength and status, don¡¯t you think you have gone too far by massacring the ordinary dark spirits?¡± The Fairy Empress sneered. As the man paused his killing, the dark spirits retreated in fear. No one was attacking or fleeing because if they fled, the king of the dark spirits woulde after them. By then, their only fate was death and turning into the dark spirit beads and bing as one with the king. ¡°Going too far?¡± The man grinned. ¡°So long as it is fun. What is going too far? Does it mean anything?¡± ¡°By the looks of things, you must be the one who massacred our army earlier. Then, I¡¯d have to say, take this!¡± The Fairy Empress lifted her wand and pointed into the air. A ring of jade-green halo burst from the tip of the wand and expanded for a thousand meters in all directions in a split second. ¡°Words of Binding!¡± The Fairy Empress started to cast a spell. Dark-green vines grew out from the ground within the thousand meters square ofnd and bound the man¡¯s legs. ¡°Fog of Withering!¡± A ring of blurry purple light formed into an arrow above the Fairy Empress before it disappeared. ¡°Spirit Beings!¡± This time, it was a faint blue light that appeared and vanished in a sh. ¡°Bloom of Ruin!¡± Thisst one was a pure ck flower still with dew on its petals bloomed before the Fairy Empress. Chapter 436 - Prelude: Part 2

    Chapter 436: Prelude: Part 2

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The Fairy Empress cast a few spells within a short moment. At almost the same time, a dark-purple pattern appeared on the man, his forehead shimmering with blue fluorescence, a big ck flower behind him. These were the spells cast upon the man at almost the same time. Anyone ordinary dark spirit that got caught in this would be dead for sure. But the man could still raise his greatsword, striking it forward as he roared. The great bone sword in his hands shattered into powder. But in exchange, it left behind dangerously violent energy. It shot out, flying across tens of meters to hit the soul energy shield of the Fairy Empress. The shield shattered upon impact, startling the Fairy Empress. She bounced several steps back, raising her wand in front of her. She heard a dang, chipsing off the wand. The impact had damaged her wand. ¡°You could quash my spells?¡± Her eyes said that she was not backing down, waving her wand with more special abilities up her sleeve. Like any other dark spirits, she had her own unique special ability. She never used this ability. But right now, she was pissed off; she wanted to kill the man to avenge the death of her soldiers. Earlier, the man had killed an army of dark spirits, among them there were Fairy Imperial soldiers. ¡°So... go to hell!¡± The Fairy Empress wanted to summon all her special abilities. ¡°Get out of the way. Let me deal with him!¡± From the red vortex behind her emerged an arm, pressing on her shoulder. ¡°de of the Hunt!¡± The man could not have cared less. He jumped up into the air,ughing frenziedly. The great bone sword came back in his hand. As he struck it down from above, a dark-brown light shone on the de. ¡°Expanding!¡± As he hissed, the great bone sword expanded from two meters to over five. At the same time, the width of the de also grew in proportion. As the erged great bone sword almost hit the red vortex in front of the Fairy Empress, a voice came. ¡°Not bad for your strength!¡± From behind the Fairy Empress came a burly figure, a hand reaching out. A pure white me rose from the hand as it caught the great bone sword just in time. The collision produced violent air turbulence that spread in all directions. ¡°I like you!¡± Lin Sheng looked up, his eyes glowing in a piercing gold light behind his ck long hair dangling down his forehead. ¡°Pay obeisance to me! With your level of strength, you¡¯re just wasting your life living in this ce.¡± The manughed, trying to retrieve his great bone sword, but realizing he was no match for Lin Sheng¡¯s strength. Cocking an eyebrow, hisughter became even more manic. ¡°I am Sayota, the Dark Lord! How arrogant you are in wanting me to pay obeisance to you!¡± Every muscle of his body started to writhe, bones under his skin creaking before white bones began to spike out from his body, shooting out with a force more powerful than a shell. They were hundreds of them, so dense they instantly filled the space in the surroundings in all directions leaving no dead spot. ¡°Is this your response?¡± Lin Sheng stood stock, protected byyers of solid earth walls on all sides. Once a wall was punctured, the secondyer would rise, and that went on and on. Mud walls also started to rise in the vicinity, surrounding the entire ce. As the bone spikes and the earth walls fought and wiped out each other, Lin Sheng stood quietly, doing nothing. His Rock Dragon bloodline got a level up when he achieved the Ptinate breakthrough. This coupled with having linkage with the chaotic soul power were important in enhancing Lin Sheng¡¯s physique. Right now, his Rock Dragon bloodline was powerful enough to manipte rocks. Earth walls kept rising, even into the sky, encasing the man who called himself the Dark Lord in them. Earth walls formed by the dark-red earth were also of the same color. The dark-red earth was about to take the shape of a dome, shrouding the Dark Lord in it. ¡°Bone Piercer!¡± The Dark Lord put his hands together, bones in both hands quickly grew together, twisting to form a pointed and sharp white bone spike. Holding the bone spike, he thrust it forward, piercing through threeyers of earth walls. He then crashed through all threeyers. ¡°Explode!¡± As the Dark Lordughed and roared in a frenzy, powerful shock waves mixed with bone shrapnel exploded within the earth dome, which subsequently copsed following the violent explosion. Lin Sheng had stopped manipting the earth. He just stood there and watched. ¡°You... would have captured him had you used a little more force. Why didn¡¯t¡ª¡± the Fairy Empress could not help but ask. ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary.¡± Lin Sheng cut her off, face calm. ¡°I want him to bow to me of his own free will, surrendering and submitting to me. He stepped out, walking toward the Dark Lord who had just escaped from the earth wall encirclement. As he went, a coat of pure, holy power covered him. Under the control of his powerful soul, the ocean-like holy power shrouded his body in a process called holy power materialization. It was not the same effect as the Armor of Dawn divine spell but a holy power protection Lin Sheng created with a massive amount of soul power. ¡°Kill!¡± the Dark Lord roared, materializing a great bone sword in his hand. He raised it in the air and struck down at Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng parried with one hand, catching the de in mid-air and flinging him away. Flung away by the raw power of the Rock Dragon, the Dark Lord crashnded and rolled a dozen times, leaving behind a long and deep, scorched gully in the ground. ¡°Kill!¡± However, the Dark Lord did not give up. He lunged back and struck his great sword at Lin Sheng as soon as he got up. This time, he was using his special ability: Ethereal sh. Everything that he touched would be cut in half by this special ability. In a split second, the great bone sword sessfully broke through the holy power protection around Lin Sheng. But what happened next would knock his socks off. The moment he cut through the firstyer of holy power, a newyer instantaneously emerged. When he further defeated the secondyer, yet anotheryer surfaced. Eachyer of holy power was only a few centimeters apart from the subsequent one. And there were sevenyers. The great bone sword in the Dark Lord¡¯s hand lost its momentum. The tangible holy power was holding the sword in its ce. Before the Dark Lord knew what happened, a powerful force field hit him, sending him flying backward, crashing down halfway down the mountain of bones, sending bone ashes rising into the air. He howled at the top of his lungs and pulled himself back to his feet. His body swelled as every bone in him was rising to the surface, forming an armor-like structure. Following immediately, the bones that made up the mountain flew toward him and gathered to be a skeleton giant of over a dozen meters in height. ¡°The final form: Bonefiend! Eat this!¡± When a gigantic great bone sword formed in his hand, the Dark Lord struck it at Lin Sheng like a bolt of lightning. ¡°Holy Sea!¡± Lin Sheng reached out his right hand in a soft and light movement. In that instant, endless holy light gushed out like an ocean wall, drowning the mountain of bones and the Bonefiend in it. Chapter 437 - Prelude: Part 3

    Chapter 437: Prelude: Part 3

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The holy power, pure white and billowing like the swells of the sea, was eroding the dark-rednd. Naturally aggressive, the holy power easily suppressed all toxins and any other energies. The holy power had turned every color here into white. The rednd and the mountain of bones turned white¡ªa kind of pure and holy white. Even the clouds in the sky, which was originally pale red, had changed their appearance. The holy power particles, transpired from the surging holy power below, were slowly purifying them into white. The Fairy Empress stood behind Lin Sheng, watching. Everything within her field of vision had turned into a sea of holy power. Things were happening at a hyperbole scale. It knocked her socks off. This was no more a gold-level strength. The Fairy Empress involuntarily clenched her wand, thinking, What if she were the Dark Lord? Could she withstand the assault of the holy power? She ran the simtion in her mind, and the result was she would over-exhaust herself, fail, and pass out. ¡°Utterly... invincible power of the holy...¡± The Fairy Empress bit her lips, shaking her little thoughts from her mind for good. The assault of the holy power was not endless. After a few seconds, it slowly subsided, and part of the terrain started to restore. The holy power had subsided, but the Dark Lord-transformed Bonefiend was still standing stock at where it was, great bone sword still in hand, frozen in a down-strike posture. The next moment, the Bonefiend was powderized, turning into bone ash and being carried away by the wind. The Dark Lord, who hid inside the Bonefiend, dropped to the ground after the Bonefiend dissipated. He was panting, drenched in sweat, and covered in white mist. ¡°This is... monster... Wahaha...¡± Heughed awkwardly. Anyone in his situation would have felt hopeless. But right now, instead of hopelessness, he was filled with joy. ¡°Get up and bow to me.¡± Lin Sheng looked at him. ¡°Bow to you?¡± The Dark Lordughed. ¡°I still have onest move... If you could withstand it, I will bow to you.¡± He raised his great bone sword and spurted a plume of dark-red mist from his mouth. The mist coalesced with the de, covering it in a coat of faint blood red and a cobweb of veins that looked like the blood vessels of the sword. ¡°Show me what you¡¯ve got!¡± The Dark Lord raised his great bone sword, his bones melting and bing one with the great bone sword. What was left of his body was going up in mes, turning into ashes. Infused with the bones of the Dark Lord, the great bone sword had grown several times in size. It looked hideous and ancient, with sharp bone spikes on the back of the de that reeked of hunger for blood and murderous intent. ¡°Take my final strike: Divinity Annihtion!¡± Out came the ovepping shouts of the Dark Lord from the great bone sword. Invisible energy formed a massive force field, covering a several-kilometer-square area, stopping every living thing from fleeing. Expanding to over five meters, the great bone sword was glittering with a strong dark-red light with a twisted and furious face of the Dark Lord on the back of the de. ¡°Kill!¡± The great bone sword went up in a ck spiraling me and struck down at Lin Sheng like a bolt of lightning. The Fairy Empress felt a chill run up her spine. She trembled from within and bounced back, trying to keep a distance. But the restraining force of the great bone sword was keeping her in ce. Her struggle was futile and she could only stay where she was and watched as the great sword came down on Lin Sheng. ¡°It¡¯s a fusion of soul and life into the great sword?¡± Lin Sheng was moved, marveling at what the Dark Lord had done. He had paid with his life and soul to pull off his most powerful move. Lin Sheng had been treating dark spirits as food, never had he once seen them as living beings. But now, with the Dark Lord sacrificing himself just to be one with his greatsword, Lin Sheng could not help but be shocked. ¡°What a resolute will!¡± Lin Sheng reached out his right hand again. ¡°Holy Sea!¡± A massive amount of holy power rushed out from his hand and met the iing great bone sword head-on. Amid a loud sound of the tearing of something, the great bone sword ripped through the torrent of holy power. It moved against the current and struck at Lin Sheng¡¯s hand at nerve-racking speed. It felt the de had hit the flesh, but the great bone sword was making a dull, shot thud. The torrent of holy power had stopped, leaving behind Lin Sheng and the great bone sword he caught in his hand. Fine cracks appeared, covering the entire de of the great bone sword. There was a sudden explosion and the bone saber was flung away, spinning in the air and ripping open a portal. The portal appeared for less than half a second before it disappeared. Lin Sheng was caught unawares, trying to stop it. But it was toote. He did not know much about portals. If he gave chase recklessly, he could have gotten lost in some boundless dimension and not find his way back. ¡°Interesting...¡± Lin Sheng raised to check his palm. The holy power on his hand had been ripped apart, leaving behind a white tearing mark on his skin. ¡°Pass the words; search this space and the coordinates of other dark spirit caves,¡± said Lin Sheng. No dark spirit cave could exist on its own. Every one of them had a portal that connected it to other mysterious realms or worlds. What Lin Sheng wanted to do was find the portal that could bring him to the other dark spirit caves. ¡°Are you not going to find him?¡± The Fairy Empress could not help but ask. ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. He has exhausted all his strength to pull off that move; he won¡¯t live for long.¡± Lin Sheng looked in the direction where the great bone sword had disappeared. .... The seaside city Taris, at the border of Olro. On a beach less than a hundred meters from the water, a brown-haired young man was waving his straight saber forward when he suddenly looked up into the sky. A swooshing sound came from the sky. The young man¡¯s heart skipped a beat, and he bounced several steps backward, clenching his wooden saber firmly as he cautiously gazed up in the direction from where the sound came. A white spot wasing down from the sky and hit the ground not far from the young man. He took a closer look; it was a battered white saber. He would not have believed that a battered saber that spun as it fell could remain intact after hitting the ground if not seeing it for himself. The young man was gifted in cold weapon skills at a young age. At fifteen, he had mastered every school of saber fighting with which he hade into contact. At eighteen, a saber grandmaster had expressed his marvel and been humbled by what the young man had achieved. At twenty, he went around to challenge all saber masters and defeated all of them. At twenty-five, he hit his bottleneck in his saber skills; he was at the limit of what a human could do. And when he was training hard to get a breakthrough, a battered great bone saber fell from the sky andnded before him. COMMENT ¡°Hey, kid. I tell you what, let¡¯s make a deal. You help me with something, and I will teach saber fighting. How¡¯s that?¡± The great bone saber vibrated and the weak voice of a man spoke. 1The young man was stunned, staring at the bone saber. ¡°I¡¯m not a kid. My name is Tungus.¡± ¡°Tungus? I¡¯m dying. Are you willing to do me a favor?¡± The male voice came from within the bone saber again. Chapter 438 - Destiny: Part 1

    Chapter 438: Destiny: Part 1

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°The Paragon of Destiny is the convergence of the essence of everything, the embodiment of the world, the manifestation of powers.¡± At the Tower of Desires, the Moon Basin. The six pure-white leaves that looked like six little wings slowly opened on the massive crystal blue tower. Under the blue tower, the red-haired old man looked up, walking stick in hand, gazing at the golden cage that lit up on top of the blue tower. Inside the not so big cage was the Prophecy Crystal, the Sacred Vessel of Destiny that illuminated the fate of this world. ¡°Some holy ones call this Paragon the Sacred Vessel,¡± the old man slowly said. ¡°The Sacred Vessel is the marrow of the world. It will only appear during the doomsday catastrophe and choose its trustee.¡± 1A group of men and women dressed in fine costumes stood quietly behind the old man. Standing in front of them was a man and a woman, whose heights were in stark contrast to one another. The tall one was a male leader from the Moon Basin, Yuanxing. The short one was a female leader from the Moon Basin, Mayuko. ¡°Great Sage, what revtion have you seen again?¡± Mayuko stood at only 1.3 meters, but her words always carried the most weight among the people at the scene¡ªshe was even more influential than Yuanxing. Her stature came from her strength. She was the most powerful Astral Warrior, the top dog in the Moon Basin, unmatched by others. The Great Sage sighed, turned around, and looked at the warriors he had gathered before him. ¡°I have seen catastrophe and hope, theing of the Sacred Vessel, the Paragon of Destiny. Thest hope is waking up, and it is the turning point of the fate of the world.¡± ¡°What should we do, then? Keep collecting the Paragons of Destiny?¡± the male leader, Yuanxing asked in a low voice. ¡°Please guide us.¡± The Great Sage shook his head from side to side. ¡°Find the trustees of the Sacred Vessel, assist and protect them, so they could grow rapidly. The evil and darkness will not be happy to see them grow. As to how to find them; when darknesses, the trustees of the Sacred Vessel of Destiny will stick out.¡± Yuanxing¡¯s face looked solemn. ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°Now, go to the observation towers. Darkness is arriving, make preparation for the assault,¡± the Great Sage instructed. ¡°Aye!¡± everyone responded in unison. ... Lin Sheng left the dark spirit tunnel and returned to the istion room. The fourth dark spirit cave was practically a wastnd,pletely a sterile world. The Dark Lord had killed every intelligent being in there. Fortunately, dark spirit caves had one obvious characteristic: new dark spirits would automatically grow in the caves. It was not a long process. Usually, it took just a few days, and newborn dark spirits would appear. Dark spirits would devour each other, evolved into great dark spirits, Darkspirit Generals, and even Darkspirit Commanders. This would happen naturally in the dark spirit caves if Lin Sheng did not intervene. But he had stepped in, turning the fourth dark spirit cave into his support base where he could nurture his subordinates. When a massive amount of dark spirits were born, Lin Sheng would send dark spirits to brainwash and educate them. The aim was to instill the belief that Lin Sheng was the king of dark spirits in their minds. After sorting out all these, Lin Sheng left the cave and was back to Henricqal in the real world. After having a short rest in the underground research center, he needed to work on those things that were waiting for his attention, and read the intel reports. Browsing the intel reports was how he could quickly get a grasp of the situation in the world. ¡°The Sevenlocks Tower, as the representative of the dark forces, has started on a massive sacrificial altar based on the Three-phased Dark Ritual. They havepleted the first one. Once they finished the remaining two, they would be able to establish arge passage to the Ashen World, from where a more powerful existence wille.¡± Lin Sheng sat before hisputer, staring at the message with his brows knitted together. He could not make much sense of the Sevenlocks Tower. This most powerful dark group might have enmity with him, but all along, he found no trouble dealing with them. Instead, it was the Sevenlocks Tower that was beaten several times. ¡°If the Sevenlocks Tower is only as good as they look, then there is nothing to worry about them. However, as the most powerful symbol of the dark forces, it is impossible that there are so few Ptinates in the Sevenlocks Tower. If they really want a showdown with me, I may not be able to withstand their assault even with the current situation in Henricqal.¡± Lin Sheng thought to himself. ¡°Latest update: Mi Yue, the leader of the Sevenlocks Tower, has cut off the rtionship with the three mysterious realms. His whereabouts were now unknown. Probably he was working on the Three-phased Dark Ritual. ¡°Defense cities have formed in Miga. There are eleven of them now. But Henricqal is not one of them. ¡°Xylond has also built the same defensive city system. The Sanctum has yed a central role in this. ¡°Redwin haspletely pulled out from Xilin and was back to where they came from. Probably they had found a safe maritime route. It is liberation for Xilin, but the cktide problem is going to get worse. ¡°The big five ns of Olro have built their defensive cities and joined forces to set up a Dawn Frontline.¡± He browsed through all the inteling in from different parts of the world and got a good grasp of thetest situation of the world. What happened in Xilin was within his expectations. Since the cktide outbreak, Redwin already had a problem looking after its own backyard. They could not afford to divert more resources in invading Xilin. But what surprised Lin Sheng was that Redwin had found a way to retreat safely to their home base. ¡°It seems the three mysterious realms still have something unique up their sleeves. They must not be underestimated.¡± After finishing on the external information, Lin Sheng turned its eyes to the internal intel of Henricqal. As people from other ces were moving into Henricqal, the poption had grown from 1.7 million to 1.9 million, and the size of the city had expanded by one third. The influx of immigrants was filling up the abandoned houses. When there were people, there were needs. And when there were needs, there were markets and transactions. Henricqal had be prosperous again. New industries sprung up like mushrooms after the rain in a very short time. Some industries had caught Lin Sheng¡¯s attention¡ªmessengers and securitypanies, for example, entirelyprised of the Transcendents. Lin Sheng drafted his instructions for the Sanctum management topile statistics of the securitypanies, and at the same time, he asked them to proposews and regtions on emerging industries. So that when there was a dispute or turmoil, everyone would follow thews. The key to order was justice. And in a civilized society, justice had to depend on the judicial system. Lin Sheng needed to build arge and peaceful settlement. Only such a settlement could attract more people. Only with more people could he umte more holy power. ¡°The just upgraded Great Holy Power Font should be reaching its maximum capacity soon. It¡¯s time for another upgrade,¡± he told himself. After finishing reading all the intel reports and replying to all the applications, he got to his feet and left the research center. Chapter 439 - Destiny: Part 2

    Chapter 439: Destiny: Part 2

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion With the suppression force field of the Sanctum and power radiation of the Tower of Dusk in Henricqal, the clergies had gotten a huge boost in strength. Almost every one of them had the very basic divine ability of Evil Detection. As this ability was getting more powerful with the help of the Tower of Dusk, it evolved into Holy Shock, which could do a lot of damage to even Two Wing-level Darksiders. In Henricqal, the suppressive energy of the Sanctum of Dusk would beat down the strength of all Darksiders by a level. That meant when a Three-Wing Darksider came to Henricqal, its strength would reduce to Two-Wing. They would face the threat from the lower-level clerics who roamed the streets by the thousands. These lower-level, One-Wing clerics possessed the divine ability to Detect Evil. When this evolved into Holy Shock coupled with the enhancement from the Tower of Dusk, they would do a lot of damage to even Three-Wing Darksiders. This had given rise to a strange, massive defense system. So in Henricqal, therge number of lower-level clerics would function as Three-Wing Darksiders. ¡°How many lower-level clerics are there in Henricqal?¡± Lin Sheng rummaged through the statistics in his memories. It was over thirty-six thousand and still counting. ¡°It¡¯s a pity I can still not confirm if energy suppression is effective against the Ptinates. If it is, then it would be too awesome.¡± Lin Sheng sauntered along a street where rollers were rumbling away to resurface the road. There were apparently more people in the streets, and most of them were the Transcendents. There were less ordinary people, but people¡¯s faith in the ce¡¯s safety was growing. It was fairly easy to distinguish Transcendents from ordinary people. In today¡¯s harsh environment, people with no strength tended to behave more cautiously. Transcendents, even the weakest Transcendent, on the other hand, behaved more confidently. For Lin Sheng, distinguishing the Transcendents from the ordinary folk was like seeing a torch in the night. The soul of the Transcendents was generally stronger and easy to differentiate. Walking around a few corners, Lin Sheng came to a well-designed apartment hotel. He did not go in there, just taking a glimpse of the unit on the eighth floor as he walked past. That was where Xiao Qiaoyue stayed. After Xie Qiaoyue told him about the situation in Xilin, he had arranged her to stay there. ¡°The stone taken from Xie Qiaoyue is still in the holy water in the researchb. I¡¯m going to check it out and see what it could do. Since Sarroux is still alive, I will have to bring him over no matter what. He is one loyal follower.¡± Lin Sheng was having these thoughts as he walked past the hotel toward the Sanctum of Dusk. He wasing out not to stroll around but to perform an upgrade to the Sanctum. Behind the window of the apartment hotel, Xie Qiaoyue peeked through the gap of the curtains, looking as Lin Sheng slowly disappeared from her view. She then breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°He is gone. He has finally gone. Phew! I felt my heart was almost in my mouth!¡± Since seeing Lin Sheng a few days ago, she has been a bundle of nerves. She was seeing Lin Sheng as a demon. Her blood would run cold whenever Lin Sheng shot him a nce. She had been in a state of stress. Moving away from the window, Xie Qiaoyue looked back at the water drop-shaped, dark-green stone on the tea table in the living room. The stone, crystal green, was only the size of a thumbnail. She had been wearing it since she was small and was told it was passed down from her grandma. But since yesterday, something strange started to happen to the pendant. It was heating up, its color more beautiful and clear. ¡°What is this thing, actually?¡± She picked up the pendant. Suddenly discovered something; there was a tiny crescent on the inside. ¡°This had never been there before?¡± She raised the pendant close to her eyes, carefully studying it. Just then, it glowed in a dazzling light. The light was as green as jade, forming a circle of eye-catching runes that spun before her eyes. She then heard a voice. It was a singing voice, as light as wind. It seemed toe from afar, and it reverberated in the room. Quickly, she felt a powerful and mysterious force of wind turn into the invisible soul artifact and rush into her head. It was the Wind Servant. The Vessel from the Paragon of Destiny had finallye. ... In Xilin, Isaac was standing alone at the bridgehead. It was quiet in the surroundings. The outbreak of the ck Tide had devastated Xilin, which had been a war zone all along. many people had died and were missing. The monsters from the ck Tide fed on the blood and multiplied in number and strength, forcing the army of Xilin and Redwin to retreat. Now, thest battalion of Redwin troops was leaving thend. Isaac reached to touch his goggles, looking at the crystal-clear river flowing down below. ¡°Without humans causing pollution, nature seems to be cleaner now.¡± A sense of ridicule rose within him. The mechanized infantry was to escort the support base personnel leaving the area. It was thest batch as the others had evacuated earlier on. Once the evacuation waspleted, the monsters would overrun thend, turning it into their yground. In Xilin, aside from a few important cities, the other areas had turned into ghost zones. The poption had reduced by eight-tenth. If not for the area limitation of the ck Tide, the entire Xilin would have fallen into total destruction. ¡°This was a senseless war. It¡¯s good that it has ended.¡± Isaac fished out a cigarette from his jacket pocket, lit up and inhaled, finishing the entire cigarette in just a breath. With the flick of his fingers, he flung the cigarette bud down the river. Turning around, he strode toward the evacuating forces. Just then, he heard a thumping sound, like that beating of the heart. Isaac was startled. He looked down at the trinket tied on his waist belt. It was a little ck cup, a present his daughter gave him on his birthday. The quaint, Olro-styled little cup looked more like an hourss than a cup when looking from a distance. But taking a closer look, you would find a viscous transparent liquid on the inside. Isaac did not know what that liquid was. But he knew the sound came from the trinket. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He suspected that some hallucinogenic monster was attacking him. Chapter 440 - Destiny: Part 3

    Chapter 440: Destiny: Part 3

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Since leaving the Heaven¡¯s Spire, Isaac had been training hard, and his dark energy never stopped growing. So too his career in the army. The zone he was in now had been cleared by the Darksiders in the army. There should not have been any monsters left. What was more, he was a powerful Oppressor-ss Darksider. Who could influence the Oppressor-ss monsters? Isaac felt a little worried. Using Passeu¡¯s mental cycle method, he quickly checked himself if he had a hallucination. An expert in psychology, Isaac had good control of his emotions. Whenever he faced danger, he had no control over, he would always first analyze the situation before making a move. So he stood stock, waiting to see what would happen next. Quickly, a second thump came again. This time, Isaac finally made out the sound source. Something amazing was happening in the little cup trinket he was wearing. He could sense pulses of knowledge and information flowing into his head. It was about the mastery of the ckwater Grail, a Vessel of Destiny. ¡°The ckwater Grail? The Vessel of Destiny?¡± Isaac started to question himself if he had seen it wrongly or if he had a paranoia. But the information rushing into his head seemed legit. ¡°Mm... Perhaps I should find a way to test them out.¡± Isaac waited. After a while, nothing bad had happened. He started to believe that the ckwater Grail did indeed exist. ... Meanwhile, in Shermanton, Xylond. Adolf stared at the pure white sword mark on the back of his hand. The sudden appearance of the mark had brought a series of instructions on how to use the healing elements of the Vessel of Destiny. At first, he thought the healing power of the Paragon of Destiny had been incredibly awesome. Now he realized it was only an external manifestation of the healing element of the Vessel of Destiny. The Vessel of Destiny was the most powerful among all the Paragons of Destiny. Anyone who held the Vessel of Destiny would get an incredible ability. And he had gotten an immortal body. He was unkible. The healing element of the Vessel of Destiny had gifted him with a super-regenerative ability and resistance. He also had the ability to heal hispanions. ¡°What is this?¡± The Paragon of Destiny had turned into the Vessel of Destiny. This came as a bolt from the blue while he was dealing with the daily affairs of the Sanctum. ¡°There is no ident to this.¡± An old and calm voice sounded in Adolf¡¯s ears. ¡°Who could prate the powerful rm force field of the Sanctum and speak directly into my ear? Who are you?¡± Adolf¡¯s expression changed. ¡°We nearly met, but you gave up,¡± the old voice said. ¡°The Vessel of Destiny has woken up on your body. Perhaps you still have no clue what it means. Let me exin.¡± Adolf remained silent, listening to what the voice had to say. Since the voice could bypass everyone and enter his ear, it was apparent that it had some very mysterious ability. So he figured before knowing what the voice was up to, he should first listen to what it had to say. ¡°You look calm. Not everyone could do that,¡± the voice said, expressing its admiration. ¡°I am the master of the Astral Mere. You can call me the Sage. Now, let¡¯s cut the cackle and let me tell you, the Vessel of Destiny will bring influence and changes to you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening,¡± Adolf said, remaining calm. If the person really came from the Astral Mere, he was not a danger¡ªat least not so much. As powerful as the Astral Mere was, they had rarely forced holders of the Paragon of Destiny to join them. So they had a rather not so bad reputation. ¡°The Vessel of Destiny is another level up from the Paragon of Destiny in terms of power. It has reached the divine realm, and it is unprecedented. Every holder of the Vessel of Destiny possesses a super ability. I call this super ability the Source Power.¡± ¡°Source Power?¡± ¡°Right. The Source Power of the world. It surpasses every other type of power. That¡¯s why whoever gains this power will surpass the Transcendent to be the favored child of fate,¡± the Sage said. ¡°But the power of the Vessel of Destiny is not perfect. Each of you possesses one of the abilities. Only when all the abilitiese together, they could be an invincible ability.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± Adolf squinted. ¡°Nothing. There is a bnce to everything in the world. The Vessel of Destiny does not exist in istion but is in response to the disasters in the world,¡± the Sage said. ¡°Act now, Son. While the dark forces haven¡¯t found you all, gather the otherpanions. Only when you all stand together, the power wille to perfection. You will all be able to fight the darkness and resist the evil.¡± ¡°Did you mean the dark forces are the Sevenlocks Tower?¡± Adolf asked. ¡°The Sevenlocks Tower? No. It is a horrible existence that is going toe through their summoning ritual.¡± ... Lin Sheng was sitting in a caf¨¦ in Henricqal, sipping on a cup oftte, listening to the beautiful piano music yed out by the electronic sound system. He suddenly felt like he had returned to the time before the outbreak of the ck Tide. However, the Henricqal Daily on the table reminded him that monsters were attacking the cities. All major defensive cities were facing the onught of monsters, which had grown to over one hundred types. The highest category that had ever appeared was of Six-winged monsters. The lowest was One-winged Transcendents. In another word, every monster was absolutely lethal. Looking at the photos and analyzes of monsters on the paper, Lin Sheng took another sip oftte. He then put away the paper and leaned on the chair, waiting for the Great Holy Power Font of the Sanctum to overflow. Thest time he checked it, the font would just take a little while to reach its maximum capacity, which meant he would get a whole number, easier to do upgradingter. All of a sudden, ripples appeared on the coffee. They spread from the center, hitting the cup wall and bounced back in a reverse direction. Lin Sheng was startled. He put down the cup, got to his feet, and looked out of the window. He was not the only person who did this. Every customer in the caf¨¦ had stood up, staring at the sky outside. Above the horizon in the far distance, where the blue sky was starting to turn red, a massive abyss-like dark energy was rising in the form of ck smoke columns into the sky. They then formed into a gigantic twisted hand with nine sharp fingers opening skyward. ¡°Sigh...¡± ¡°Death...¡± ¡°Eternity...¡± An indescribable loud voice was ringing in the head of those who saw the giant hand. It disregarded distances, races, powers, and everything. The entire city, Miga, and the world were staring at the sky in shock. Looking at the giant hand, which he estimated to be at least ten thousand meters across, Lin Sheng sneered. ¡°The Ashen World... Hades?¡± Chapter 441 - Activation: Part 1

    Chapter 441: Activation: Part 1

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion In the Hall of Refulgent Splendor, used to a manor, now a branch of the Sanctum, several top people of Henricqal branch were sitting in the main hall. Margaret, sitting in the fourth position, nced up at the two vacant seats, then talked in a low voice to Madin beside her. Cainphas and another professor from Baine University were discussing a newly discovered strange material softly. The rest of the people, recently promoted as top clerics¡ªall powerful territory inspectors with Five Wing-level strength¡ªwere getting some shut-eye and surfing for news on their phones. Other than that, a few workshop owners, who hade seeking asylum, were Five-wingers and Six-wingers, some with books in hand, others replying messages with their phones. Everyone at the scene, otherwise a person of importance, was sitting there, waiting for someone. As the doors swung open, two red-armored warriors came down on one knee. A burly man, draped in pure-white heavy armor, strode into the hall toward the seat in the middle under the watchful eyes of everyone. ¡°Everyone, about the giant hand appeared yesterday evening. You can all speak your mind now.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s dull voice under the armor exuded a sense ofposedness. As the mainstay, Seagal¡¯s steadiness and confidence had boosted the morale of the top-level personnel at the scene. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter from where the giant handes, its energy shows that it is not a simple existence. Likely the leader of the Ashen World that the Sevenlocks Tower summoned,¡± said Cainphas. As the chancellor of Baine University, he had more experience than anyone else at the scene. ¡°I used to be fighting at the entrance of the Ashen World, but never have I encountered such a thing.¡± The one speaking was a territory inspector, a recruit. He did not have a name. People just called him Purple me because his dark energy training method, when using his ultimate attack move, could trigger a powerful purple me. This me was highly toxic. Once in contact, it could even kill a Five-winged Darksider in half an hour. ¡°Purple me, you have never entered the Ashen World. It is a strange ce where there is only a blurry distinction between life and death. In theory, the Ashen World should be the world of the dead. But in reality, there are still a few living things in there. Just that these living creatures, once survived in the Ashen World, are powerful super individuals,¡± Cainphas exined. ¡°That is an eye-opener, but I still keep my opinion,¡± said Purple me. ¡°I used to read about the ck giant hand from a secret book. Just that I¡¯m not sure if it is true,¡± Madin said. Nourished by the holy power, Madin had regained his strength, and now one of the most powerful Six Winger. People respected him very much. ¡°Please tell us.¡± Lin Sheng sat on the chair, looking at Madin through his helmet. ¡°The secret book used to record many powerful existences of the Ashen World. One of them is called the Hand of the Underworld. It has tough defense ability, almost an unfair regenerative ability, and unstoppable power of terror.¡± Every word Madin said turned the faces of the other top-level people looked like that of a dead man. ¡°However, the Hand of the Underworld, if my memory doesn¡¯t fail me, can¡¯t move. And it needs arge amount of summoning materials and time to summon it,¡± Madin continued. ¡°On top of that, it will need at least a year to go into the battlefield after it first appears. So for now, we shouldn¡¯t be worried about it. Even if the Sevenlocks Tower has summoned it over, it still needs time to adapt to the limitations in the real world.¡± ¡°That means you will be able to find a way to defeat the Hand of the Underworld after a year?¡± mocked a strange woman. Wearing a quaint, non-mainstream robe, she sat in an inconspicuous position in a corner. ¡°Isn¡¯t it normal to put the difficult questions aside and find a solution at ater date?¡± Madin retorted. ¡°I have only subscribed to one truth: if you can¡¯t do it the first time, you are going to find it more difficult to solve as time goes by until you finally give up,¡± the woman said coldly. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. With self-control, anything who can achieve it. By the looks of things, you don¡¯t look like practicing cultivation from a young age,¡± Madin shot back. ¡°Enough, knock it off.¡± Lin Sheng interrupted them as he sensed things were heating up. ¡°We are discussing how to deal with the Hand of the Underworld. Bickering among ourselves doesn¡¯t help at all!¡± No one made a sound as Lin Sheng spoke. Everyone knew that as a Seagal, his position was second to Tenko Kasumi. That was why he had veto power because he was representing Tenko Kasumi. ¡°We can use the Seal, Seagal,¡± the woman who mocked Madin said. ¡°I have checked; Linwei n, the famous Sealing Blood, has joined the Sanctum to be the cleric. So I suggest we can try using the Seal.¡± ¡°Sealing Blood?¡± Lin Sheng knew what she was thinking. ¡°One person may not be workable when ites to sealing. But we can use the Sealing Blood as a primer, designing a ritual circle that can amplify the effect of the Seal,¡± the woman exined. Everyone started to discuss among themselves as they thought it might be a good idea. Lin Sheng was thinking, if using the energy amplification circle with other rituals, they might be able to make the sealing work. ¡°I need to meet the Linwei n,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°I will go fetch them.¡± The woman nodded. ¡°Now, dismiss.¡± Everyone started to leave. Lin Sheng looked at the woman and signaled Margaret to stay. Margaret was the head of the Recruitment Department of the Sanctum. Getting information about the Linwei n was the fastest way. Under Margaret and the other woman¡¯s arrangement, in the conference room of the Sanctum branch, Lin Sheng was seeing Sawyer, thest offspring of the Linwei n. She was wearing the standard-issue white robe of the lower-level cleric and a light-gold identity tag on her chest. Her arm had a bandage on; she probably had suffered some injury recently. The moment she stepped into the room, her eyes were on Lin Sheng, who was sitting at the conference table. She knew he was Seagal, one of the highest rulers in Henricqal. ¡°What can I do for you, Seagal?¡± Sawyer had probably figured out the purpose of the meeting, but she pretended to not know, quietly observing Lin Sheng. ¡°The one who instructed Elveah to speak in the meeting must be you. Am I right?¡± Chapter 442 - Activation: Part 2

    Chapter 442: Activation: Part 2

    Sawyer¡¯s pupils shrank as she fell silent. Lin Sheng¡¯s reaction caught her off guard, and she almost broke her disguise. True, she did try to use all sorts of methods, the exchange of benefits to allow Elvia, who was a top member of the Holy Sanctum¡¯s hierarchy to speak for her, and to enter the sights of those above. But what she did not expect was her guise was seen through by Seagal the moment they met. ¡°You jest.¡± A momentter, she whispered a retort. ¡°You don¡¯t need to refute me. I don¡¯t care what your purpose is. Can your sealing abilities seal that giant arm that appeared just now?¡± Lin Sheng only cared about the results. ¡°If the Holy Sanctum fully cooperates with me, and get at least another five people with sealing bloodlines like me, it may be possible,¡± Sawyer answered. ¡°What is the price?¡± ¡°We will use all of the blood we can, and then we need to rest for at least a year.¡± She answered. ¡°I see. Can you write down the specific steps and processes needed?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± The conversation at this point was very transparent. Lin Sheng did not tarry so he let Sawyer back as he continued his previous work. And now, he was preparing to step into the fifth Darkspirit Cavern. This was thest of the caverns that could be located as of now. As the fourth cavern earlier had been under the Dark Lord¡¯s reign of blood, there was no way to find any left behind ancient tomes. So Lin Sheng was basically finding clues in the other regions of the Darkspirit Cavern. Only that this cavern was rather far away, and needed a longer preparation time. Lin Sheng actually had no ns to go there, as the four Darkspirit Caverns earlier to a certain extent had allowed him to consume the Darkspirit orbs every day and to gather subordinates. But yesterday, that gigantic arm¡¯s appearance had triggered him. At this chaotic and dangerous times, with changes taking ce every passing day, if he were to stop improving himself, he would be surpassed by others, overtaken and then eventually, defeated. So, to consume more Darkspirits, and to increase arge soul body, and to summon even stronger beings into existence, and improving his strength. This was what Lin Sheng had aimed for. As for that giant hand, if thetter did note to provoke them, then things are cool between them. Lin Sheng did not have a messiahplex and was toozy to take care of nonsense that had nothing to do with him. ... Xylond. Adolf sat on the bench piously at the Holy Sanctum headquarters as he closed his eyes to pray to the holy light. And on the prayer dais, a tall figure in a full-length robe suddenly stopped. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s all for the prayers today,¡± the figure rumbled. ¡°It¡¯s over? Isn¡¯t this too fast?¡± ¡°It feels like it was over too quick, and it takes forever to be selected to enter the headquarters for prayers.¡± ¡°We have been paying so much every time though...¡± A group of non-staff workers that hade to pray started grumbling. They were all rich folks all over Xylond who had paid good money toe here, and their goal was to get close to the purification field of the Holy Sanctum, for it to cure their illness and pains. Adolf turned a deaf ear to all of the sounds around him as he closed his eyes and continued to pray until everyone had left. And soon, it was only him left in the hall. No one knew, however, that the old voice still continued to ring in his mind. ¡°So what do you n to do? With the Hand of the Underworld appearing, that means the Dark Pantheon will appear soon. Even when the one that ising now is just the Vanguard Wraith, Faldt, but this is no longer something us humans could fight against. Even the Three Hidden Realms, or any other organizations, they are no match for Faldt.¡± The old man, who called himself a Sage of the Astral Mere, continued to speak in Adolf¡¯s ears. Adolf said nothing and continued to pray like usual until the end, before trained his holy powers, and only went back to his home when the sun was about to set. Under the night sky, along the lonely streetmps illuminating the street, Adolf slowly made his way home. ¡°Actually, Faldt of the Dark Pantheon aside, even the Sevenlocks Tower¡¯s power is not something all of you can fight against. Do you still intend to stay and fight along with the Holy Sanctum? Perhapsing to the Astral Mere to hide is your best hope of avoiding the dark forces of this world.¡± The sage spoke again. Adolf did not say anything and acted like he did not hear the person as he continued on. ¡°The power of darkness cannot be resisted, and no single organization or Hidden Realms can bepared to it. You knew since the beginning that you did not have a choice, didn¡¯t you?¡± The sage said calmly. ¡°Yes... I never really had a choice since long ago.¡± Adolf finally came to a slow stop, and stood under a streetmp. ¡°I... I just want to enjoy whatever good times I have left with the Holy Sanctum.¡± His face was calm, as a revtion dawned upon him. ¡°So, do you choose to hide, or to look for other wielders of the Paragons of Destiny?¡± The sage asked.¡±If you choose to look, then I shall provide aid and guidance to you.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s look for others,¡± Adolf said tly. ¡°As you wish.¡± The sage answered with a smile. He was right all along. It was the easiest to ascertain a person¡¯s character during a crisis. The reason he chose Adolf was that among all other wields of the paragons, he was the one with the biggest possibility of being a convergence point. After thinking things through, Adolf had made his final decision. He did not want to get the Holy Sanctum involved, and ording to the sage, the forces of darkness was huge, and far beyond the likes of the Sevenlocks Tower. So his only choice was to leave. To leave this ce he was born and raised. Although he was reluctant, there was no other way. Adolf then lifted his foot and continued walking, and just as he was about to leave the area where the light shone. ¡°Adolf.¡± Suddenly a voice called out to him from behind. Azy figure appeared out of the shadows without him knowing. It was the Night Lord. He actually came out for a walk! The Night Lord who rarely came out of the sanctum headquarters after prayers, was out here for a walk? Adolf¡¯s eyes widened, and he was stunned for a moment. The Night Lord was wearing pink pajamas with bear prints god knows where he got it from, he was biting skewered meat in his mouth as hisrge feet wore slippers and had just appeared in front of him like that. ¡°Good evening, Your Highness.¡± Adolf bowed slightly. ¡°Adolf,¡± The Night Lord¡¯s handsome face suddenly turned serious. ¡°If you have doubts, what you need is not prayers, it is taking the decision.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Highness,¡± Adolf answered. ¡°Remember, no matter what decision you make, the Holy Sanctum is behind you, your master is behind you. Don¡¯t be afraid.¡± The Night Lord¡¯s reminder seemed profound. ¡°Thank you for the reminder.¡± Adolf went silent and he bowed slightly as he walked past the Night Lord. The words of the Night Lord strengthened his resolve not to involve the Holy Sanctum. He could not dy this any longer, and he had to leave here as soon as possible, or else it will be toote for regrets when the Dark Pantheon strikes. The two then crossed each other¡¯s path. Adolf unconsciously sped up his pace and hurried towards his home. ¡°Adolf...¡± The Night Lord¡¯s voice rang out once again. ¡°Your Highness, please help me inform master, that he has no need to worry, that his disciple will not let him down,¡± Adolf said firmly without looking back. The Night Lord did not answer and only turned around as he saw Adolf disappear into the night. He had noticed Adolf was a little bit out of himself during prayers, that was why he followed him out to see what happened to this guy, but what he did not expect was Adolf seemed to want to leave. ¡°One by one... all of them have grown up...¡± He sighed. Since Adolf had made up his mind, all he could do was to trust him. Chapter 443 - Activation: Part 3

    Chapter 443: Activation: Part 3

    The next day, nine in the morning. Henriqcal City, Miga. Lin Sheng who was just about to enter the Darkspirit Gate suddenly stopped where he stood. A long-range soul transmission from Xylond made him stopped everything he was doing, as he was struck by disbelief. ¡°Adolf? Betrayed?¡± The moment he had gotten the message, the first reaction he had was to not believe it. Adolf was his most treasured disciple and assistant, and the former¡¯s loyalty to him and the Holy Sanctum was beyond doubt. How many of the Holy Sanctum¡¯s secrets did not pass through Adolf¡¯s hands? He could be said to be the core of the entire Holy Sanctum system. Now, the HQ was suddenly telling him that Adolf had betrayed him? At that moment, Khad¡¯s voice was still in transmission. ¡°Adolf left a letter expressing that he did not want to suffer inside the Holy Sanctum anymore without any benefits, so he nned to look for better opportunities.¡± ¡°Absolute tosh!¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s voice was chilly. Even if Khad on the opposite end could sense the emotional impulse from the main body through the soul link, Lin Sheng still verbalized it. ¡°Don¡¯t bother with the letter he left behind. Adolf had been my disciple since the day he joined the Holy Sanctum, with so many achievements and also paying so much as the financial backbone of the Holy Sanctum. So disregard what he wrote, and find him first. Then bring him back and put him under strict guard. No matter what he says, he is a member of the Holy Sanctum.¡± Lin Sheng said coldly. ¡°Understood,¡± Khad responded quickly. ¡°Oh right, there is one more thing that you might not know.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Lin Sheng frowned. Adolf running away was already a big enough headache, and there was another one? Khad, however, did not care too much, and simply sent a boatload of information crashing into Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. The soul transmission was extremely efficient, and just a few secondster. ¡°Traces of the Astral Mere? The Paragons of Destiny?¡± Lin Sheng looked at the torrent of information that had just struck him, and he had believed most of it by the time he read it. Khad was the head honcho of the intelligence department, and naturally would not be sending any false information to the main body. So Lin Sheng was confident that this information was genuine. ¡°Are you sure that Adolf did this voluntarily? Were there any instances were the Astral Mere made contact with him?¡± Lin Sheng asked again. ¡°There¡¯s no indication of it, but basically I am certain that Adolf¡¯s actions did not differ from usual, everything he did and spoke was the usual him. Perhaps there was some special reason that drove him to make this decision.¡± Khad exined. Lin Sheng stood before the Darkspirit Gate, and paused for a bit, before speaking again. ¡°No matter what his decision is, he is still a core member of the Holy Sanctum, but since he had decided to go, then let it be a learning journey for him then.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°No, brother, go do your stuff, just remember don¡¯t overwork yourself,¡± Khad said out of concern. ¡°I will.¡± Lin Sheng then took a step, his body quickly blurred as he entered the ethereal state caused by the Blood of Chaos. *Hah!* He then stepped through the Darkspirit Gate and his body disappeared instantly. ... It was almost at the same time. All of the wielders of the Paragons of Destiny across the world heard the voice of the Sage of the Astral Mere. Xie Qiaoyue, Isaac, and Adolf were just the three among them. There were many more wielders of the Paragons of Destiny in unreachable and invisible corners of the world. Under the guidance of the sage, they were all heading towards one direction. *Ssh!!* The seawater slowly rushed against the beach before receding, leaving a dark trail on the sands. Tungus held a bone sword in his hand as he shed continuously at the sea breeze. He loved des, and just like how some enjoyed ying, while others were more predisposed to explore and research by nature. He just happened to love des. ¡°1171, 1172, 1173, 1174...¡± Tungus counted as his muscles tightened and rxed from time to time in rhythm. ¡°Master your breathing, master the rhythm, match it with your heartbeat.¡± A drawling voice rang out from the bone sword, and into Tungus¡¯ mind. He nodded, as he continued counting, but his body once again began to adjust to the voice. ¡°You have the limit of a human, and to break through that limit, you need to lose our life. You need to know that the natural lifespan of every living being is predetermined from the beginning.¡± ¡°A machine¡¯s maximum lifespan could be determined from itsponents, the more it is used, the shorter its¡¯ lifespan is. Like machines, organic life is the same, the only difference is that as organics, we can, through our efforts, rece the body parts that lessen our lifespan.¡± The bone sword continued. ¡°If you want to break through your limits, then you need to find a way to solve the problem with your lifespan depletion.¡± Tungus demurred for a moment, as he continued his sword drill, all the while stillmunicating with the bone sword. ¡°Then how do I resolve this?¡± ¡°One way is to upgrade the materials of your body or change the materials within your bodypletely. Tungus, I will disappear in two days, remember what I said. After I disappear, let your blood sate this bone sword. Persist for a hundred dayster, you will get a little gift I prepared for you.¡± The voice within the sword guffawed. ¡°I will exact vengeance for you,¡± Tungus said tly. The voice within the bone swordughed the moment it heard that. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. I was not a good person, and I¡¯d performed too many evil deeds in my life. I don¡¯t need your revenge, as long as you can pass on my strength, and my bloodline down, that is the greatest payment you can give me.¡± ¡°I will,¡± Tungus responded with resolve. *Whoosh!* Suddenly the sea on the right rose up in a massive wave. A ck giant lobster the size of two humans appeared, as its two exposes weres were twisting about to look around. The moment it noticed Tungus standing by the beach, the massive ck lobster spat out bubbles as it rushed towards him. *Gghaarr!* It lifted up a pair of huge lobster ws and smashed downwards. ¡°You see him? Cut it! That sh of ephemeral light!¡± The voice of the bone sword rang out in Tungus¡¯s ears. His breathing quickened, his heartbeat raced as his blood flow elerated. No matter what sort of genius he was, or how powerful he was, he had only faced ordinary human swordsmen or wretched gunmen. This was the first time he encountered a cktide monster alone. His mind went ck, but his hand instinctively followed the memories of the past. Raise the de, step forward, horizontal sh! *Schwing!* The white bone sword instantly cut the monster into half. ¡°Searching for the linking light among living beings is the best technique suited for you,¡± the voice in the sword said. Tungus looked on nkly at the giant dead lobster before him, scarcely believing he did that. ¡°Work at it, you will be able to do better.¡± The Dark Lord within the bone swordughed. At this level, exacting revenge for him was not that easy. He then recalled that fateful day, when he was sitting at the top of the Mount of Bones, and that burly figure wielding a torrent of limitless holy power in his hand. Chapter 444 - Destined: Part 1

    Chapter 444: Destined: Part 1

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The fifth Darkspirit Cavern. Above the endless sea, Lin Sheng stood quietly on a rock b formed through his maniption as he floated above the sea waters unmoving. ¡°Is this the fifth Darkspirit Cavern?¡± He did not wait for his subordinate to send in a vanguard team. He went to check it out himself at the very first moment. But he never thought to run into an ocean the moment he entered. ¡°Why is this seawater brown?¡± Lin Sheng frowned at the turbulent waters beneath him. The water looked abnormally clear, but as it umted, the entire sea turned brown. He took a deep breath, and could smell the faint smell of the sea in his nostrils, and along with it another strange aroma. The aroma was very faint and seemed to havee from afar. Lin Sheng pondered for a moment, before lifting his hand, and gently clenching it. The meter-long rock b beneath his feet suddenly bent upwards as all of the edges curved into an oddly-shaped boat. All of the dust in the air and seawater were drawn in by Lin Sheng¡¯s bloodline power as they converged into the b beneath his feet. And soon, barely ten secondster, the b under Lin Sheng¡¯s feet had formed into arge, and simple stone boat. The stone boat was thick, but Lin Sheng had made its structure porous on purpose to aid with buoyancy. As he created the stone boat, Lin Sheng sat down and started to fine-tune the bnce of the lower hull, and a few minutester, he was done with it, as he cast his gaze into the distance. There was nothing but endless seas around him. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea how big this Darkspirit Cavern is, let¡¯s just go in a direction to check things out.¡± Lin Sheng demurred before manipting the rocks behind the boat into a propeller. *Vroom!!* The rock propeller quickly spun under the control of the Crag Dragon blood, as it spat out arge amount of water. The massive propulsionunched the boat ahead. Lin Sheng sat on the ship before gathering up rocks around him and created two protective shieldings on the sides, and also a windshield on the front. Very soon, the simple stone boat had transformed into a fully-enclosed structure not dissimr to a rocket. Lin Sheng left a circr observation slot in front of him, and through the slot, he could see what was in front of him. ¡°Unfortunately, my Crag Dragon¡¯s blood control over the rocks are just too unrefined, and I can only extract dust out of the air and water to create rocks. If there was a way to extract and create some high purity crystals from the soil, then I could create an observation window on this boat.¡± Lin Sheng said with some regret. The thin te was already at its limits and could not be made any thinner or wider. The half-sealed vessel sped along the brown sea as arge amount of seawater was disced, before scattering midair. The stone boat left a long white trail as it sped along, and vast swathes of the sea quickly passed Lin Sheng by. He was very careful with operating the vessel. As the Crag Dragon¡¯s power was too strong, he had to ensure that every action he made was with care and precision. Or else, if he were to overdo it, it would cause an imbnce of power, and cause both the boat and the propeller to disintegrate instantaneously. Time slowly passed. It was ten, then twenty minutes. Until half an hourter, Lin Sheng was still sitting on the boat, as he looked on at the endless sea. There was nothing in front of him at all. ¡°At my current speed, I should have already covered at least a thousand kilometers in half an hour. To think that I¡¯ve not even seen anyndmass yet.¡± Lin Sheng controlled the boat to slow down beforeing to a stop in the middle of the sea. The waves undted and rocked the stone boat from end to end. Lin Sheng stood up and looked down from the rail guard. ¡°Could it be that the key point here is the seabed?¡± An idea struck him as he began to create a sealed rock armor using the dust in the air. The fully sealed rock armor was a recement for a wetsuit, and that will allow him to sink straight to the bottom, and to look for anything at the bottom of the sea. This time around, in order to quicken the sinking, Lin Sheng deliberately gathered more dust motes on the armor and caused a substantial increase in the amount of armor. Soon, a two-meter-tall, rock-armored figure appeared on the boat. Having a mind to conserve the rock and soil, Lin Sheng simply liquified the entire stone boat and merged them into his body. Without the support of the boat, with a soft thud, he fell right into the sea. Outside of the armor, Lin Sheng used his dark powers to form a crystal visor to use as goggles. From the green dark power crystal, Lin Sheng could see everything around him. And from the moment he entered the sea, everything was grey, yet he could still see clearly as there were bright lights that he had no idea where they came from. Lin Sheng looked up at the rippling sea above him, and then looked around. There was nothing around him at all. There were no fishes, no prawns, not even algae. The entire sea region looked like it had been sterilized before. ¡°Something is definitely wrong with this sea.¡± Lin Sheng raised his caution as he allowed the rock armor to let him sink deeper into the sea. Soon, as he was further away from the surface of the sea, the light grew dimmer, and soon, the entire ce transformed into a vast, night environment. A pressure that he could not put words to started to well up within him. He could not see where the end was, nor did he knew what sort of danger awaited him there. These two feelings gave Lin Sheng a sense of urgency. He was not afraid as this was a natural biological reflex, but staying in this condition for long is not good for the mind. So he needed to quickly resolve this as soon as possible. The rock armor continued to bring him downwards, and ten minutes soon passed in an instant. There was no more light around him at all. Lin sheng felt like he was floundering in the dark, and could not figure out if he was still moving. Physical perception was dependent on the changes of one¡¯s surrounding as a reference point, but if one¡¯s surroundings did not change at all, then the living being would start to doubt his senses. But he was simply floating in abyssal darkness, as all around him was shrouded in perpetual darkness, and he could not tell if he was still moving or not. The terrifying water pressure was constantly applying its presence on the surface of his armor. If not for his dark powers creating an internal crystalline support system, this hastily-done rock armor would have long crumbled. And he no longer felt the movement of time, and Lin Sheng could no longer be bothered to count the time he had been sinking. And ten more minutes passed Finally, a massive dark stone gate appeared faintly below. The stone gate was suspended unmovingly mid-air in the darkness. The surface of the door was engraved with all sorts of animals and monsters. There were all sorts of animal patterns, bird markings, and some unknown monstrous pictograms. Every single pattern flickered in the dark with a faint white glow. Lin Sheng controlled his body and slowed his descent as he hovered in horizontal parallel with the stone gate. ¡°Sure enough, the key is at the bottom of the sea. No wonder there was nothing above no matter what I did.¡± He then closed in to inspect the stone gate¡¯s structure. Chapter 445 - Destined: Part 2

    Chapter 445: Destined: Part 2

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The entirety of the stone gate, aside from the child-like doodles and graffiti on it, looked fairly quaint. Along its edge were ovepping patterns in the form of text. *Knock, knock.* Lin Sheng knocked on the door with his fingers. *ck.* Strangely enough, Lin Sheng had not used much force at all, and the door actually shuddered a little before opening by itself. Lin Sheng then stared at the slowly opening stone door. He was trying to control the door. In theory, he could control any rock and soil, but a powerful resistance prevented him from doing so. Without a sound, the door had opened by itself upon him knocking it, revealing a dark and silent tunnel within. Lin Sheng stood before the door and peered into it, it seemed like a totally different world behind the door, as the torrent of seawater was warded off. As if there was some invisible barrier that was blocking the doorway. Without any hesitation, Lin Sheng took a step into the door. Behind the door, was a dry, refreshing, waterless environment and a tunnel extended all the way downwards seemingly without an end. Lin Sheng looked at the top of the passageway and saw a bizarre ck dragon head being engraved on the wall there. A wyvern, a special existence amongst the dragons. They were not dragons, but more like dragonkin. As they are very powerful, and were loyal to the dragons, they were always used as guardians of the dragon¡¯s hidden realms. *Hummm...* The ck engraved wyvern suddenly opened its eyes and looked at Lin Sheng. It seemed to be checking something as it stopped all movement. And soon, the wyvern returned to its original appearance and looked as if it was a real sculpture. ¡°Did it recognize the Crag Dragon blood within me?¡± Lin Sheng guessed. Upon entering the stone gate, the crushing water pressure disappeared, and the air was warm and dry as if he had just left the bottom of the ocean and gotten into a dry cave onnd. Lin Sheng hastened his pace, as he followed the passageway down. Soon, he had reached the end. At the end of the passageway was a vast hall. In the hall, a massive bone monstery silently with its mouth wide open. Within the monster¡¯s mouth, was another new entrance. Lin Sheng looked at the monster, and felt the fellow¡¯s shape and form to be very familiar. ¡°A dragon?¡± He suddenly realized. This massive monstrous skeleton was actually a curled-up dragon. And the dragon¡¯s mouth was wide open, leading into a new unknown location. ¡°You are right, sweet child.¡± Suddenly, a hazy female voice rang out behind Lin Sheng. He was surprised and took a few steps forward before turning back in alert, as he looked behind him. On the spot where he stood originally, a blonde woman in a ck corset dress was standing there. She wore a gentle smile on her face, and her beautiful and noble air hid a deathly pallor, as her eyes were sunken, and her skin dull. Aside from her beautiful figure, and golden blond hair, thedy before him was seemingly losing her beauty. ¡°My child, don¡¯t be afraid, this is the dwelling of the dragons, a hidden ce belonging to the dragons alone.¡± She said gently. ¡°Who are you?¡± Lin Sheng asked coldly. ¡°I¡¯m the Sin Dragon Matriarch, a poor dragon specter locked here due to sins of the past.¡± The woman smiled. ¡°The Sin Dragon Matriarch.¡± Lin Sheng became even more vignt. The other party was not hiding her identity at all, and that meant only two possibilities. Either the opponent did not even care about his strength or the woman was truly bearing goodwill to him. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, youring here is an instinctual call.¡± The Sin Dragon Matriarch smiled. ¡°An instinctual call?¡± Lin Sheng repeated. ¡°Then what can I get here?¡± The Sin Dragon Matriarch did not answer immediately, instead, she turned around. ¡°Follow me.¡± Her figure suddenly faded and reappeared beside the edge of the dragon skeleton in a blink of an eye. ¡°And that is?¡± Lin Sheng quickly followed and appeared beside the Sin Dragon Matriarch. ¡°A fool who had tried to break out of the prison very long ago,¡± she said. 1¡°Come with me, I have not seen our kind for so long, so long. I have something for you to see,¡± she said as she walked towards the dragon maw. Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes moved slightly beneath the armor, and he quickly followed suit. ... A massive downpour rained down like a waterfall from the heavens. The ancient Olron city of Fusath was weing the annual Bath Festival. Everyone wore ck tight-fitting clothing, as they sang and danced in the heavy rain while they shouted loudly, venting out all of the anger and dissatisfaction pent up over the year. Normally, the Bath Festival itself was already quite the crazy festival, and this year, it was even more manic. Perhaps theing of the cktide had caused much stress within everyone, and many were crying as they knelt on the ground, seemingly recalling their loved ones lost to the cmity. At the top of an old water tower in the city. Mi Yue wore arge thick red cape, as he was d in delicate silver armor, in his hand was a simrly delicate purple-red flower. ¡°Are the preparations done?¡± He whispered. ¡°Everything is ready. The second ceremony can be carried out at any time.¡± The voice of his subordinate rang from behind. ¡°Very good.¡± Mi Yue gave out a confident yet savage smile.d ¡°Which organization is in charge of protecting this ce?¡± ¡°Tower Master, it is the Lorenz family, we have already infiltrated and held this family fully under our control. You may be assured of that.¡± the voice behind him responded swiftly. ¡°Splendid...¡± Mi Yue gently raised the flower in his hand and threw it down. The fuchsia petals scattered in the air and were disintegrated by the heavy rain. *Hiss...* All of the petals spontaneously ignited, leaving only ck ashes. The rain still poured as it covered the entire ancient city. At least one-third of the poption were venting their emotions in the rain. The ground was flooded to the ankle-level by the rain, and the whole city became a massive puddle. And right at the edge the puddle, was a bright red ghostly serpentine shadow was slowly crawling along as it quietly turned into countless blood strands as it swam towards every single person in the rain. No one noticed anything odd, as the suppression effect from the vast difference in level rendered all of the Darksiders in town could not sense any danger. And slowly, the blood strands silently crept its way into the body of every person in the rain. *Dhum.* *Dhum.* *Dhum.* A rumbling drumbeat echoed abruptly across the ancient city. And it was so clear that it suppressed the sound of the pouring rain. The people in the rain were already in emotional flux, and with the apaniment of the drumbeats, they grew more and more manic. Their movements became more and more exaggerated and intense. Some even started frantically bashing their heads against the wall and ground. Some even used their fingers to dig into their throats. Some even went on all fours as they knelt and cry, blood slowly flowed out from their eyes and into the rain. The people were getting ever crazier and manic. As the rain fell, ck blood started flowing out of the various crevices of their body, as the blood was washed away by the rain, and blended into the puddle beneath their feet. ¡°It is done.¡± Mi Yue let out a pleased smile. ¡°It is all thanks to you, Tower Master, that the ceremony could formally proceed.¡± the man behind him said. ¡°Go,plete the third ceremony.¡± Mi Yue gave the blood-soaked ancient city onest look, before turning to leave. The rain above him did not even wet his cloak, as if he was walking under the sunshine, all warm and fuzzy. And in a sh, he disappeared into the rain. With his disappearance, everyone in the ancient city slowly faded away and disappeared into the rain. They were cheering and yelling just moments ago, and now the ancient city fell silent, with only the sound of rain washing the earth. 1 Chapter 446 - Destined: Part 3

    Chapter 446: Destined: Part 3

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The fifth Darkspirit Cavern. Lin Sheng followed the Sin Dragon Matriarch into dragonbone maw. Within therge maw was another winding passageway. The two walked in tow for a good ten-odd minutes before reaching the new location. Over there were many scattered bones of all sizes, at times yellow gemstones could be seen on the ground radiating a gentle glow. But aside from this, what attracted Lin Sheng¡¯s attention was the series of massive sarcophagi ced side by side. ¡°Wee to the Dragon¡¯s Barrow.¡± The Sin Dragon Matriarch turned around and smiled at him. ¡°Dragon¡¯s Barrow?¡± Lin Sheng looked at those giant, ten-meter-long sarcophagi. ¡°That means the dragons are sleeping inside?¡± ¡°Naturally, but it is not their bodies that are in slumber, rather, their will.¡± The Sin Dragon Matriarch smiled as she answered. ¡°I had stumbled upon this ce by ident, and I have no intention of disturbing the slumbering wills.¡± Lin Sheng said calmly. He could sense the soul aura from the sarcophagi and could sense that this ce had a great deal to do with dragonkind. ¡°You need not panic...¡± She smiled again, ¡°Being to enter this ce is an opportunity for you. If you could gain the recognition of the Dragon Elders, then you will gain a chance to break through your mortal limits.¡± ¡°Breakthrough my mortal limits?¡± Lin Sheng was taken aback, ¡°Is it like, breaking through the limits of my body?¡± ¡°Yes, by breaking through your mortal limits will you elevate yourself to a level that no other races could even reach.¡± The Sin Dragon Matriarch said calmly. ¡°Then, does this mean that all of dragonkind has the right to be tested?¡± Lin Sheng asked again. ¡°Yes, every dragonkin will be given one chance to receive the Baptism of the Dragon¡¯s Barrow,¡± the Matriach said again. ¡°Of course, in order to evaluate our descendent kinsmen, the Dragon¡¯s Barrow has different levels of grading rewards.¡± ¡°An assessment huh?¡± Lin Sheng now understood. At the beginning, he had actually suspected that he might had ran into trouble in the Darkspirit Cavern. But now, he could sense a steady imposing aura being radiated from the sarcophagi around him. ¡°Then, I wish you luck.¡± The Sin Dragon Matriarch retreated away and stood aside. Lin Sheng faced the huge sarcophagi alone, there were thirteen in total, and each seemed to bear some sort of special meaning. Time slowly passed. *Shaaa!* Suddenly, a transparent blue light sted out from the gap of the sarcophagi. The blue light transformed into an ethereal half-dragon, half-light mist being. ¡°Question: Your ideals.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s expression remained unchanged, as he looked up at the ethereal blue dragon. Even when thetter was just a spirit being, it was wayrget than him. 1¡°My ideals? To ensure the safety of my family within the darkening world.¡± Lin Sheng answered frankly. *Hah!* A second dragon shadow shot out from the sarcophagus. This time around, it was a bright red dragon soul, with a sharp spur on its back. ¡°Question: Your limits.¡± Lin Sheng froze for a moment. ¡°My limits...¡± After demurring for a moment, he shook his head, ¡°I have no limits.¡± This question was not your usual trick question, but Lin Sheng answered truthfully, so he outright ignored what the red dragon shadow actually meant. And the dragon simply just frowned. Soon, a third shadow appeared, a pure white ice dragon with crystalline wings. A series of simple, or tricky questions came out from the dragons¡¯ mouth. And Lin Sheng answered all of them calmly. While his answer may not please everyone, at least his attitude did not invite any scorn. Over time, the questions the dragon souls asked gradually required him to think carefully before answering. ¡°Question: If you were to kill a being important to you, who will you choose?¡± An old gray-brown dragon calmly answered his question. ¡°A being important to me?¡± Lin Sheng could not help but think of his family. ¡°I will kill the person who made me kill someone.¡± Lin Sheng answered calmly. ¡°Question: Doing whatever you want, and an insatiable desire are very simr, how do you distinguish and control the two?¡± A slender, purple long-necked dragon, asked as it quietly pped its transparent wings. ¡°The key is restraint.¡± ¡°Question: Power brings forth destruction, but also protection, do you think there should be a higher being with the power to suppress everything?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ve yet to meet a higher being before.¡± ¡°Question: What is a bloodline?¡± ¡°The continuation of my kind, the mark of history and destiny.¡± ¡°Question: What is duty?¡± ¡°An obligation that you have to shoulder.¡± ¡°Question: What is kingship?¡± Lin Sheng suddenly paused and looked at the dragon soul that appeared before him. There were many dragon souls around him, but this dragon soul gave him a very familiar feeling. As this was an old Crag Dragon with sagging yellowish skin. Its eyes looked on calmly at Lin Sheng as it awaited his answer. ¡°Kingship... but I¡¯m no king. I cannot answer this question.¡± Lin Sheng refused to answer. ¡°If you are no king, then where did your Monarch Crystal came from?¡± The old dragon said with deep intent. Lin Sheng suddenly recalled that piece of dragon crystal that had appeared on him out of nowhere. ¡°That is a gift from an elder.¡± He answered. The old dragon shook its head lightly. ¡°Use it, it shall be your hope.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Lin Sheng frowned slightly. A smile appeared on the old dragon¡¯s face. ¡°Your destiny is linked to a being that had perished in the currents of fate.¡± ¡°That predestined shtick?¡± Lin Sheng frowned. ¡°I never believed in fate.¡± ¡°No... there was never a predestined fate, for every one of us, we are creating our own destiny every single moment,¡± the old dragon answered. ¡°It is just that, while you are creating your own destiny, you are also creating more existing destinies, that will bring forth everything new, and that is also your duty.¡± Lin Sheng hated this type of nonsensical drivel the most. What fate, what duty, what pre-arranged destiny, if that was the case, we can all just stop working hard, and justy at home for things toplete by itself.¡± ¡°I will do what I want to do, no one will be the master of me!¡± His gaze was piercing, as he spat out word by word. ¡°You will go, that is your fate. It cannot be changed as this is a predestined path,¡± The old dragon shook its head. ¡°Unless... you had over the Monarch Crystal to the dragons...¡± *Bash!!* Lin Sheng suddenly mmed his palm into the chest of the old dragon as a surge of chaotic souls rushed into its body. ¡°You seem to know everything, but how about now? Do you know that you are going to die soon?¡± He approached with deadly intent. The old dragon did not expect Lin Sheng to suddenlysh out, and its pure soul was most afraid of these chaotic souls, and the moment it was caught by Lin Sheng, it started shuddering violently. ¡°Let it go!¡± ¡°Insolent bipedal bug, let Bronzewing go!¡± ¡°Insolence! Stop it!¡± The originally quiet dragon souls roused in a furor. This was not what they had arranged! 1 Chapter 447 - By Force: Part 1

    Chapter 447: By Force: Part 1

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ck mist quickly formed into a ring as they emanated from the bodies of the dragon souls. Giant purple vines started creeping up the inner walls of the entire Dragon¡¯s Barrow. The vines climbed up rapidly, blooming purple ming flowers along the way. This seemed like some kind of special Dragon¡¯s Barrow¡¯s matrix. The purple me flowers were letting out an invisible poisonous gas. The poison gas was something that could take down dragons or even beings with extremely powerful regenerative abilities. In mere seconds again, the entire Dragon Barrow had be a deadlyir filled with virulent poison. Lin Sheng stood alone in the middle of a group of dragon souls. While his body was consideredrge by human standard, he was only a midget here as every dragon soul was much, muchrger than him. But at that moment, the ancient Crag Dragon was stabbed in the chest by Lin Sheng¡¯s hand, and its bodyposed of his soul was continuously being eroded by gray chaotic souls. For any souls, the chaotic souls from the Soultide were the most potent of poisons. And when Lin Sheng first made contact with them, it was only due to the fact that his holy power had warding and purification abilities that he dared to take a little bit of the chaotic souls in, to temper his body. Even now, he dared not allow arge number of chaotic souls into his body and only used it as a poisonous weapon to attack his foes. ¡°You... You...¡± The ancient Crag Dragon shuddered, and could barely speak. What they wanted was the mysterious Monarch Crystal Lin Sheng had, but they never thought that the person here was unlike those creatures they had deceived in the past. ¡°I could sense your malice...unfiltered and unadulterated, they are bloody obvious like magma in the snow! Lin Sheng spat, coldly. ¡°So...¡± His palm unleashed more power. ¡°Die!¡± *Booom!!!* The ancient Crag Dragon¡¯s massive frame suddenly burst into pieces like a popped balloon as a painful scream echoed throughout the enter barrow. ¡°Noooo!! Bronzewing!!¡± 1A dragon with a body full of diamonds pounced towards Lin Sheng. At the same time, two other dragon souls charged at him from different directions. They needed to take down this person who dared to trample upon the Dragon¡¯s Barrow this instant. ¡°I shall rip your soul into shreds! And scatter it around the Dragon¡¯s Barrow, to let the souleater maggots feast on it day and night!¡± The Sin Dragon Matriarch¡¯s golden hair danced wildly as python-like draconic beasts appeared by the numbers behind her. All of the dragons roared and howled as they charged at Lin Sheng to tear him into pieces. Each of these ck dragon beasts was half a meter thick, as steel-like scales covered their bodies, and their eyes glowed with a malicious dark blue glint. The attack from all directions had Lin Sheng changing his expression. This was not your normal Darksider attacks, nor were they Darkspirit attacks that he could resist. All of the dragons in the Dragon¡¯s Barrow, including the Sin Dragon Matriarch, were using their most powerful dragonblood abilities before their demise. It was the natural special abilities in their blood. There were more than four dragonblood abilities were aimed at him at the same time, and the intensity of their powers was at least the level of a Ptinate. And in an instant, Lin Sheng found himself in a most perilous moment. His ownbat abilities were at most a general Ptinate level, and against this assault, he suddenly found himself in a deadly situation. But he did not regret it. The moment he sensed the maliceing from the dragon souls when they mentioned the Monarch Crystal, it was then that he decided to strike first, and take out one of the ancient dragon souls. That turned out to be right, as long as he took out a little bit of his opponent¡¯s power first. As for the perilous situation, if he was pushed to hisst resort, he could still summon and converge the powers of his summoned beings upon him. While that may hurt, it should be sufficient to deal with the situation. The ck dragon beast¡¯s pouncing bite, the diamond dragon¡¯s ramming attack, with the two other dragons souls manipting powerful blue and red distorted dimensional attack. Four different powerful attacks were converging towards Lin Sheng from all sides. And he was thrown into a moment of crisis. ¡°Armor of Dawn!¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s with mental crity, immediately activated his defenses. A stream of holy light shone above him as a thick pure white armor quickly formed around his body. ¡°Crystal Wall!¡± His Oppressor-level dark powers quickly went through multiple conversions as it formed into a crystal barrier across his body. ¡°Demidragon form, Rock Carapace!¡± His Crag Dragon¡¯s powerful ability too activated at the same time, covering Lin Sheng¡¯s body with a thickyer of rock armor. At the same moment, Lin Sheng¡¯s physique underwent a drastic change as dragon scales started appearing all over his body, as his frame grew, and two spiral dragon horns extended out from his head. ¡°Lastly, Chaotic Souls!¡± Lin Sheng could sense the four attacks getting closing in. Lin Sheng¡¯s heart rate quickly calmed down, as he opened the Tidalgate in his mind, instantly making contact with the infinite chaotic souls from the Soultide far away. A surge of chaotic souls summoned by his demidragon form rushed through a mysterious space-time tunnel and poured instantly into the Dragon¡¯s Barrow. In that instant, just as the attacks were about to hit him, a translucent light sted out from his body as the tide of souls rushed out. *Bam bam bam bam!!!!* A series of huge collision boom rang out as the dragon souls¡¯ attack crashed against the formless light radiating from Lin Sheng¡¯s body. Lin Sheng lifted his head as he let out a monstrous roar. The roar was beyond the frequency limit human ears could withstand, as the shapeless soundwave sted out, and sent the purple me flowers fluttering as if a gale had just blown past them. The power of the dragon souls was shing with Lin Sheng¡¯s power within the barrow. But that stalemate did notst long. Just two secondster, the chaotic souls within Lin Sheng¡¯s body were broken as they were torn apart by the dragon souls¡¯ powerful attacks. The diamond dragon¡¯s horn crashed into Lin Sheng¡¯s chest in a brutal stroke. A loud crack thundered as Lin Sheng¡¯s Armor of Dawn cracked open, as the Crag Dragon scales on his body shattered. Streams of dragon soul powers rushed into the gap. *Oufff!!* Lin Sheng spat out a mouthful of blood as he took a step back, and dashed towards the direction he hade from. ¡°Shadowbind,¡± a ck dragon soul said. Lin Sheng¡¯s shadow on the ground suddenly froze and was instantly anchored in ce. At the same time, Lin Sheng¡¯s body too was affected, as he suddenly paused and froze in midair. COMMENT ¡°Kagujini (Soulpiercer)!¡± A short red spear appeared in the hand of The Sin Dragon Matriarch, and the tip of the de had a blood-like liquid on it. She canted the activation spell as she threw the short spear out with a wave of her arm. ¡°Ughhh!!¡± The short spear instantly pierced through Lin Sheng¡¯s chest while he was still suspended mid-air through the rent in the Armor of Dawn. A ssh rang out, as blood rushed out of Lin Sheng¡¯s chest and onto the ground, the faint golden traces of the Crag Dragon blood could be seen in the pool of blood. ¡°Die!¡± A petite white dragon soul suddenly appeared behind Lin Sheng, as a third eye opened on her forehead, and let out a chain-like beam. This was the Dragon¡¯s Gaze attack that could pierce through souls. Chapter 448 - By Force: Part 2

    Chapter 448: By Force: Part 2

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion *Hah!* The ck beam stuck Lin Sheng¡¯s at the back of the head with deadly precision, and let out a buzzing sound as if it was burning and corroding Lin Sheng¡¯s flesh and bones. But at the same time, all of the attacks thatnded on Lin Sheng seemed to have frozen in time. He was suspended in mid-air, and his body was clearly broken to the point of near-death, yet there was still a cold calmness in his eyes. ¡°That was a very terrifying attack.¡±Lin Sheng held his hands open. ¡°Unfortunately, even if this was me before I broke through, even if this was ten times stronger, it would have been just that.¡± ¡°But, a pity.¡± A massive multicolored hole appeared behind him. A round hole that looked like a halo. ¡°Every Ptinate has an ability that is unique to himself, so let me show you, the ability that is unique to me...¡± His body began to lit up in dazzling white light, as countless chaotic souls seemed to be free of restraint as they were instantly transformed into holy power. And the chaotic souls drawn from the Tidalgate too turned into an explosion of holy power. ¡°Yudivo! (Unlimited Conversion)¡± *Boooom!!* Countless of rampaging sacred power sted out of Lin Sheng¡¯s body, forming into a pure white storm as it drowned all of the dragon souls and the barrow within it. Inside the hall, only the huge sarcophagi at the core area were withstanding the storm, albeit with much difficulty. Countless of chaotic souls, were bring drawn in by the Soultide with Lin Sheng¡¯s soul as a gateway as they were converted instantly into pure holy power, and sted out. The originally uncontroble chaotic souls were now one with Lin Sheng¡¯s holy power, bing a highly condensed purification energy as it swept across everything. All of the dragon souls¡¯ powers were overpowered in an instant. These dragon souls, including the Sin Dragon Matriarch, were only Ptinate-level at best. The Ptinate level was the apex that most creatures could reach. The maximum level that all biological beings could reach, is the Ptinate-level. Even the Sin Dragon Matriarch, which was at most a level weaker than Tenko Kasumi, was still considered to be in the ranks of the Ptinate. But Lin Sheng, at this moment, the explosive powers he unleashed had broken through this limit by sheer force, reaching another threshold altogether. Even if this was a temporary ascension using his abilities, it was more than enough to suppress the dragon souls within the Dragon¡¯s Barrow. *Booom... Booom...* A few weaker dragon souls were crushed by the violent storm of holy power and were shattered sopletely they disintegrated into the air. A few other stronger ones quickly fell into a state of weakness, and could only resist the holy storm¡¯s erosion of their bodies. The Sin Dragon Matriarch roared and roared as it let out helpless curses and growls. But it was to no avail, even her draconic roars were totally repelled and purified by the storm. In an environment where the holy power had reached maximum concentration, not even sound could be transmitted, because the holy power does not allow it. So, in the most extreme of holy power environments, there was nothing but silence. And just as the great dragon souls like Sin Dragon Matriarch could no longer resist, the storm of holy power around Lin Sheng finally weakened and died down. Even so, the entire Dragon¡¯s Barrow had been turned into a sea of holy power. The torrent of holy power even liquified, and flooding the entire barrow like water up to ankle-high level. All impurities and toxins in the air were all purified, leaving only pure and harmless basic gases. Lin Shengnded gently on the ground, as his wounded had already healed. One of the greatest advantages that both holy and dark powers gave him was an extremely powerful regenerative power. But he was so badly wounded this time that he could only use his holy powers to expel the toxins and foreign energies from his body, and the healing of his flesh wounds was also only roughly done. For some other more delicate injuries, like the ones to his nerves, he needed to carefully recondition them. One of the dragon souls attacks was a straight-up removal of materials from a being¡¯s fundamental existence. And to be struck by this ability meant that the body will assume that the part is no longer there, and his regenerative powers will be of no help then. And Lin Sheng was the most worried about this sort of injury. And most importantly, his ability, while named Unlimited Conversion, was not without a time limit. This special ability suited him very well, and it was extremely powerful. But in reality, this powerful ability did notst long at all, just about a minute. And he can only use it once every three days. So this was the reason he did not use the ability at the very first moment. Now that its time was up, the dragon souls actually managed to weather through it, and if they were to recover, he would be screwed. Seeing so, Lin Sheng quickly came up with a n. ¡°Sin Dragon Matriarch.¡± He continued to put on a calm facade with power to spare as his gaze fell upon the half-knelt Sin Dragon Matriarch. ¡°As the price for provoking me, I want you to hand me the power of the Dragon¡¯s Barrow for my use!¡± His calm and clear voice echoed around the barrow. The hearts of the surviving dragon souls sank as they heard that as their gaze all fell upon the Sin Dragon Matriarch. Their leader was the Sin Dragon Matriarch, who was also the actual master of the Dragon¡¯s Barrow. Her decision would be the will of all of the dragon souls present. The Sin Dragon Matriarch¡¯s eyes turned, as she lowered her head while gritting her teeth. ¡°Even if we were to surrender, do you dare to ept it?¡± She knew very well if she refused, it would end with theplete destruction of the Dragon¡¯s Barrow and disappearingpletely into the deep sea within this Darkspirit Cavern. They had been hiding everywhere, given up everything, and even sought refuge here, they cannot afford to die here with barely a whimper. ¡°I trust that, with your wisdom, you should be well aware of what the price of betrayal will be unless you can move out of herepletely,¡± Lin Sheng said calmly. ¡°Plus, surely you don¡¯t think I¡¯m the only person who knows this ce right?¡± He said with implicit meaning. The Sin Dragon Matriarch held her hand out to pacify a few dragon souls that were about to roar out in anger, as she stared at Lin Sheng. ¡°But what guarantee do we have that you will take us in, instead of using us as cannon fodder?¡± ¡°That¡¯s your problem.¡± Lin Sheng spat coldly. ¡°For you all now, there are two choices. Death, or submission to me, and bing my strength.¡± The atmosphere suddenly turned tense. A few furious dragon souls were about to rush at Lin Sheng, but they were stopped by the Matriarch¡¯s voice, as she said something in a hasty and bizarre tongue, leaving the rest silent as they lowered their heads in helpless fury. After dealing with that, only did she turned to Lin Sheng. ¡°Alright, I promise you. That the Dragon¡¯s Barrow submits to you from now on.¡± she rumbled. ¡°Then how can I be sure that you are truly submitting to me, and not use trying to pull wool over my eyes?¡± Lin Sheng asked back. The Matriarch turned silent. ¡°Our dragon crystal. Since you have the Monarch Crystal, then we can hand our dragon crystal to you without it being an insult. With the dragon crystal in your hands, if we were to betray you, you can destroy it, and permanently damage our souls. This will work right?¡± Chapter 449 - By Force: Part 3

    Chapter 449: By Force: Part 3

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes flickered, he had no idea that the crystal had such use, but regardless, it was simply something the other party was saying. But he would believe it for now. Soon, the Matriarch gathered all of the surviving dragon souls and put them together. The so-called dragon crystals were different from the one Lin Sheng had obtained earlier. The crystals were much smaller, about half the size of the yellowish Monarch Crystal. ¡°The remaining twelve dragon crystals of the dragon souls are all here.¡± The Sin Dragon Matriarch floated the crystals of twelve different colors into Lin Sheng¡¯s hand. After a short rest, Lin Sheng¡¯s holy power had recovered, and with the area already being purified by holy power, it was easy for him to control it. With a grasp, the holy power in the air formed into ropes and gently wrapped around the crystals before bringing it to him. The reason for him doing so was to prevent the dragon souls from pulling any tricks. And that series of attacks earlier had left an impression in Lin Sheng. If not for his powerful hidden trump cards, he would probably have been the one dead. After collecting and wrapped the crystals in holy power, and ce them inside the reformed Armor of Dawn, Lin Sheng once again looked at the Matriarch and the rest of the dragon souls. There were twelve Ptinate-level elites here! If he could fully make them submit to him, then they will have a terrifying effect on his personal development and influence. And that will also elevate the Holy Sanctum with the ability to stand toe to toe with the top forces in the world. ¡°Then, it is goodbye for now. Rest up, and I¡¯lle backter after a while, and I hope by then, you will be prepared to leave with me.¡± Lin Sheng said as he turned and walked away without even looking at the dragon souls¡¯ reaction. ¡°Wait.¡± The Sin Dragon Matriarch suddenly called out. ¡°What is it?¡± Lin Sheng turned around. The Sin Dragon Matriarch gazed at Lin Sheng as she rumbled, ¡°You are stained with the aura of the cktide, if you do not want to die, you need to find where the nodes are within a year and destroy it. We do not want to follow a person who will be dead soon.¡± ¡°Nodes?¡± Lin Sheng suddenly recalled the information he read before, and once the cktide is unleashed, the nodes would be the most critical point. He remembered seeing this information back when he was still exploring ckfeather City. He saw this in a hidden room, on a half-burnt book. Written on the book was that the nodes were the convergence point of the world¡¯s fall, and only by destroying the nodes will the world avoids the fate of destruction. ¡°Yes,¡± The Sin Dragon Matriarch nodded. ¡°The cktide nodes are the key channel in which they invade a world. Destroying a node will temporarily shut the channel. Plus with that purifying powers you have, you theoretically have the ability to purify the cktide, and save everything.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Lin Sheng answered before walking once again into the passageway as he sped away to the outside. A few minutes after Lin Sheng left. A red dragon soul approached and whispered to the Matriarch. ¡°My Queen, do you really intend to submit to that man?¡± ¡°Before the Dragon¡¯s Barrow is moved, let¡¯s pretend to do so.¡± The Sin Dragon Matriarch¡¯s eyes flickered. ¡°The person has the coordinates here, so we should settle down and see where things go.¡± ¡°But, but... if those dragon crystals were to be destroyed, wouldn¡¯t it be too big a loss?¡± ¡°Those are just material items, we have long transformed into the Corpse Dragon of Fates, what use does our dragon crystals have now? Did you actually think that you will be harmed by the crystal¡¯s destruction?¡± The Matriarch chided, ¡°If we don¡¯t give up something, how would that person believe us so easily?¡± Outside the Dragon¡¯s Barrow. In the deep sea, Lin Sheng was quickly swimming upwards. He was afraid that he would be exposed if he stayed in the barrow any longer. His body now was badly wounded due to the excessive bursts of holy power and chaotic souls, with many hidden injuries. If he was to fight again, he had no idea if he could still retreat from the barrow without his powers. ¡°If pushes to shove, I probably will need to borrow the powers of all of themanders, but that would really hurt.¡± Unless it was really as ast resort measure, Lin Sheng was absolutely reluctant to use the power of hismanders. This was because even just by borrowing once, all of themanders would suffer the same trauma, and will take a long time to recover. And this was a very dangerous scenario in the face of the surging cktide. A sshter, Lin Sheng sted out of the sea as a rock b once again formed under his leg into a boat as he floated on the surface of the sea. ¡°I should leave.¡± He then darted away towards the direction he hade from. Not too longter, a red-robed figure rushed forward in the distance. It was Tenko Kasumi who had rushed to support him after receiving a hail from the soullink. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Kasumi looked at Lin Sheng¡¯s chest, the wound where he had almost been pierced through. ¡°That was too close a call. That Dragon¡¯s Barrow is nasty, and even with my special powers activated, at the level where I could surpass you, I still could not destroy the ce.¡± Lin Sheng originally had the n to destroy the entire barrow, but unfortunately, he could not maintain his special power any longer. And that only allowed him to create an illusion that he had let the Sin Dragon Matriarch go. But in reality, he simply did not have the strength to aplish what he wanted. ¡°Should I go?¡± Tenko Kasumi frowned. ¡°Not now. Let¡¯s just observe them, if the Dragon¡¯s Barrow is able to be a power under ourmand, then they will be a huge boon for us. Twelve Ptinates... this sort of power is enough to change everything!¡± Lin Sheng said as he squinted. ¡°Then let¡¯s go back first. There¡¯s something wrong with the environment here. We shouldn¡¯t stay too long.¡± Tenko Kasumi said. She did not like the dark waters rippling below. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°The two immediately turned into white lines as they disappeared above the vast sea. ... Central Pearl Ocean, Visaca Ind. Visaca Ind in the past was a popr tourist destination well known for producing beautiful corals and pearls. Unfortunately, after the cktide surge, the ce was attacked by mutant monsters that came out of the sea. After the inders were massacred, there were no humans left on the ind as it became a monster¡¯s paradise. At the moment, over at a lush west of the ind. An active volcano was emitting thick ck smoke. Fengy Volcano was one of the most popr spots of Visaca Ind and was one of the rarerge active volcanoes in the world. This active volcano had erupted thirty years ago, before the eruption of the cktide. And the volcanic magma from the eruption had covered the surrounding waters, which had also expanded the ind¡¯sndmass five times the original size in a short span of time. Smoke lingers at the edge of the volcano¡¯s crater. A few dark figures carrying metal boxes formed into a ring as if they were waiting for something. All of the ck figures were covered in a short ck cloak, and beneath the cloak was silver bodysuits, with a thin red whip tied to their waists. One of their member, the one standing on the far left looked up in the sky as he gently pulled down the hood, exposing Mi Yue¡¯s signature white spiked hair. He touched the golden cross on his eyes. ¡°It is almost time, let¡¯s start the final ceremony.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Excellency.¡± The rest of the men in ck responded. Mi Yue let out a smile, revealing a touch of anticipation. ¡°Perhaps after tonight, everything will changepletely. The Three Hidden Realms had been ruling over everything for far too long, it is time for a change.¡± ¡°Have the Seven Locks all gotten into position?¡± He whispered. ¡°Yes, all of the Seven Locks are standing guard at all possible routes, to ward off any possible attacks,¡± one of the men in ck answered. ¡°Then, let¡¯s start. With the energies of this active volcano as a tribute, activate the summoning ritual.¡± Mi Yue led the team towards the crater and leaped straight into the inside of the smoking volcano. The rest of the men in ck followed suit. Chapter 450 - Fragments: Part 1

    Chapter 450: Fragments: Part 1

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The waters of Visaca Ind. Warships painted in light blue floated on the sea a distance away, facing in the direction of Visaca. It was not the fleet facing the ind, but all of its cannons were aimed at that direction as well, ready to fire salvos at a moment¡¯s notice. On the gship in the middle of the fleet. A man with arge back holding a translucent crystal ball was staring with a grim look at the ind. He was wearing a light red cape, with a white silk shirt and tight-fitting grey pants, on his waist was a thin cross-hilt sword, with the air of an agile elite swordsman. ¡°Has it reached that point?¡± The fluctuations of the energies mean it¡¯s clear that Mi Yue is here,¡± the man said. ¡°All of the matrixes are ready, and the dark powers are charged and loaded, all of the guns can be aimed and fired at any time.¡± A red-haireddy on the deck behind him said. ¡°No hurry, they are probably using the volcano¡¯s energies as a tribute, to summon Faldt from the Ashen World. We were unable to stop the summoning of the Hand of the Underworldst time, we cannot allow them to seed again this time!¡± The man with the big back said solemnly. ¡°My lord, the Heaven¡¯s Spire from Redwin had sent message, asking us about the movement of the other families on our side.¡± the red-haireddy frowned as she spoke softly. ¡°I¡¯m only responsible for the Tyrone family, get them to ask the other families themselves.¡± The big-backed man was impatient. ¡°The Heaven Spire is being very sincere this time around. They had sent four of their strongest Ptinates to join the war.¡± the redhead reported. ¡°Four? Which four?¡± ¡°The first, Angel Encarmine, the second, Angel Noctis, the third, Angel Phantasma, and the fourth, Angel Medeis. All of their first four rankers are here, none missing.¡± The big-backed man looked grim. ¡°Even the Angel Encarmine is here? That person... he was badly wounded during thest war.¡± ¡°Regardless, we still have Dreysha, with her watching over the family, there should not be any problems. Even if the situation is unknown, we can still retreat.¡± The red-haireddy spoke, before looking at the warships on the other side. ¡°Who Carta nche sent?¡± the man asked. The redheaddy looked at themunicator in her hand. ¡°It¡¯s not clear yet, but there is news that the Suncrown¡¯s Stars have moved out.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good at least. What we are afraid of is the Darklight were to strike, then the Suncrown will be the main force to deal with them.¡± the man nodded. *Bam!!* At that moment, in the sea afar, a faint white cloud suddenly burst out from the sea, as it seemed like a shell had been fired. A group of battleships sted out shells into the sky, before exploding midair, and turning into an orb of a miniature sun. The blinding white light lit up the originally dark skies. Many of the elites on the battleships then cast their gaze towards the ind in the distance. That re shot was actually an arranged signal re, and with itsunch, it signals that the Sevenlocks Tower¡¯s ceremony had reached its most critical moment. And this raid would see that Mi Yue and a few other elites could not free themselves to face their foes as they needed to maintain the ritual. ¡°Now is the best time to strike. Let¡¯s go!¡± Over at the warship leading the pack, a red mass suddenly flew up, as countless of ice crystals formed into a crimson wing. It was a tall red-haireddy with a powerful built, she was even taller than a normal man, as red ice crystals surrounded her. And soon, the Ptinates all stood up one by one. Some of them flew, while some leaped onto the sea, and walked upon the waves. Some even rode giant birds out of the sky, and some relied on high tech gliders as they jumped down and glided towards Visaca Ind. In just a short period of time, all of the elites rushed towards Visaca Ind in all sorts of methods. *Boom boom boom!!!* At the same moment, all of the ships with the most powerful prating cannons thundered as they sent salvos upon salvos of dark power-enhanced shells broke through the sound barrier and rained upon the ind of Visaca. *Vooom!!* Suddenly, in the skies about the ind, a giant red ring suddenly appeared out of nowhere and unleashed a huge gravitational force. All of the shells that were raining down upon the ind were ripped off from their original trajectories by the gravitational force, as they were all pulled into the ring. And without a sound, all of the shells flew into the abyss, with nary an echo. As soon as the shells touched the ring, they were absorbed within it as if the shell¡¯s massive impact did not exist at all. At the same time, the dark blue skies were suddenly painted red by the ring. The war had finally begun. ... Lin Sheng sat quietly in the istion chamber to heal and recondition his body. Aftering back from the barrow, he had returned there twice, with Tenko Kasumi in tow both times. If he was alone, it would be difficult to cope with the barrow, but with Tenko Kasumi around, things were much simpler. In thetter two trips, the dragon souls of the Dragon¡¯s Barrow had sensed the power that Kasumi had unknowingly exuded, and that kept them all under leash. While he could not totally guarantee their loyalty, as long as he was careful, he did not need to guard them so tightly. *Beeep...* As he was closing his eyes to mend his injuries, the istion chamber¡¯s emergencymunicator not too far away from Lin Sheng suddenly rang out. ¡°Sir, I¡¯m Cainphas. There is a situation you might need to see.¡± ¡°Go on.¡± Lin Sheng said with his eyes closed. The use of the emergencymunicator was generally not permitted. Only if something really critical had happened was someone allowed to use it to get in touch with Lin Sheng. Cainphas, on themunicator, groaned a little as he continued, ¡°The Three Hidden Realms had united many small and medium factions and have taken the multinational joint-fleet to Visaca Ind in the middle of the Pearl Ocean inbat formation. And just now, we had received intel from the joint-fleet¡¯s observers, that the Ptinates on both sides had begun their head-on sh.¡± ¡°Seems like it¡¯s total war now.¡± Lin Sheng now realized it. From the beginning, it was impossible for both the Sevenlocks Tower and the Three Hidden Realms to get along. Either one side will end uppletely defeated. But what Lin Sheng did not expect was the expected war woulde so soon. He then quickly sought more detailed information of the battlefield, and it was until Cainphas had to suddenly attend to a situation on his side that Lin Sheng let him go, and disconnected themunicator. *ck.* Tenko Kasumi pushed the door open and looked at Lin Sheng who slowly got up. ¡°So what¡¯s going on? Has the fighting begun? What do you n to do?¡± ¡°Ignore them. Whether the Three Hidden Realms or the Sevenlocks Tower wins, it has nothing to do with us.¡± Lin Sheng said tly. ¡°The Three Hidden Realms has been against us, and the same is true for the Sevenlocks Towers, so both of them are our foes. Only by allowing both sides to tear each other apart in this war will benefit us the most.¡± Tenko Kasumi was a little disappointed. ¡°And here I thought you were finally going to let go, and have a good fight. I¡¯ve rushed back all excited, but it¡¯s business as usual for you eh.¡± Chapter 451 - Fragment: Part 2

    Chapter 451: Fragment: Part 2

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°We will have to make do with that considering the circumstances.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter which sidees out victorious, either of them would find us to even the score. Aren¡¯t we looking for trouble if we go there now? Use your noodles!¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t go now, I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll miss the boat when the result isid out,¡± Tenko Kasumi said. ¡°Not always. It¡¯s still not toote to wait until the oue is clear.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°Besides, do you know why I keep looking for new dark spirit caves?¡± ¡°To absorb more pure soul power to enhance your strength?¡± ¡°That¡¯s just one side of it.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°I¡¯m also searching for a legend¡ªthe legend mentioned in the ancient records of the world of the dark spirits.¡± ¡°What legend is it?¡± Tenko Kasumi became interested. ¡°It¡¯s a legend of the Dark Wheel.¡± Lin Sheng looked ambitious. ¡°I thought it wasn¡¯t real. I was surprised when I sensed the perturbation that the ancient record mentioned.¡± After devouring so many dark spirit beads, reading so many ancient records, and gathering so many soul fragments, Lin Sheng¡¯s character and will had assimted to the point where he was starting to lose grip of himself. His overly cluttered and broad soul made improvement harder. The massive andplicated soul power was the foundation of his strength. But this had also be his shackle. ¡°Dark Wheel? I¡¯ve never heard it before. So you are still going to conquer the next dark spirit cave?¡± said Tenko Kasumi with a frown. ¡°Of course. I have got my hands on some leads. Soon, very soon, I will get to that thing.¡± He had even stopped exploring his dreamstely. He needed to find and conquer more dark spirit caves, finding the first fragment of the puzzle of the legendary treasure of dark spirits. ¡°Then I wish you sess.¡± Tenko Kasumi was yawning big time, probably she was bored. ¡°Since there is no action yet, I¡¯m hitting the sack now.¡± Despite bing a lot more normal after having contact with civilization, she stillcked enthusiasm in anything outsidebat. But there was a silver lining. To Lin Sheng¡¯s relief, other than sleeping, Tenko Kasumi had be addicted to fighting games. At least she could kill her time. Otherwise, when boredom set in and the top Ptinate went into a rampage, he could do nothing about her. Lin Sheng heard the door close with a solid click. The istion room returned to silence, just like before. Getting to his feet and turning to look at the opened dark spirit tunnel, his body virtualized as he strode forward and into the Darkspirit Gate. When the world around him changed, and he came back to his senses, Lin Sheng found himself in the first dark spirit cave, Caerphabor, which was the base of the Demonhand family. The Demonhand family had built a massive pce here protecting the teleporting station. There were solid ck stonewalls on all sides, seven to eight meters high, and the floor had an engraving of a dark-spirit runic circle, which was used to keep the teleportation stable and safe. The pce was 30-odd meters long and 20 meters wide. No one was in there except for the soft yellow glow from the overhead crystals. Lin Sheng shook his head and stepped toward the pce exit. Four human-shaped dark spirits stood stock at the entrance like statues. Seeing Lin Sheng walking out, these guards went down to their knees and bowed in respect. He did not even look at them as he strode out of the pce. Once outside, there were the other Darkspirit gates he had rebuilt leading to the other caves. There were four of them, newlypleted, standing erect on the grayish-white square outside the pce. In the doors of the arched, light-red Darkspirit Gates were pure energy ripples. Powerful sorcerers from the Fairy Empire were guarding the ce, monitoring the energy of the Darkspirit Gates. They were also responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Darkspirit Gates. Looking like humans, these sorcerers had a covenant with the Fairies. When Lin Sheng approached, the sorcerers bowed to him in respect from afar. Lin Sheng looked at the four Darkspirit Gates. ¡°Are the coordinates of the new Darkspirit Gate confirmed?¡± ¡°It¡¯s confirmed. Sin Dragon Matriarch has confirmed it. Besides, the lords from the Dragon Tomb have sorted out the coordinates of the dark spirit cave that meet your requirement,¡± said Trafelman, head of the sorcerers. Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Immediately build a Darkspirit Gate to the cave with the highest density based on the perturbation frequency I provide. Is there any problem?¡± ¡°No problem at all, Lord.¡± The head of sorcerers looked confident. When even an amateur like Lin Sheng could build a Darkspirit Gate, more so the sorcerers. The construction itself was easy, but getting the coordinates right was the hardest part. Not to mention the uncertainty that came after the tunnel was established. No one knew what was going to happen and no one could guarantee your safety once arriving on the other side. Lin Sheng looked at the three sorcerers, who quickly stood side by side before him, with a magic device that looked like a disc in their hands. Soon, an invisible energy perturbation flew out from the sorcerers¡¯ body and formed a pattern of Darkspirit Gate above the ground. Ten minutester an arced red light door appeared before Lin Sheng. Hints of strange and dangerous energy were emitted from the inside. Lin Sheng took a deep breath, looking back at Djall Demonhand who had just arrived. ¡°Send a team to check it out inside.¡± ¡°Understood!¡± Djall Demonhand nodded in acknowledgment. Soon, a group of monster dark spirits that looked like stitched monsters dragged their fat bodies staggering into the Darkspirit Gate. Each of this stitched-monster dark spirit was over three meters tall, two meters wide, body covered in stitching wounds, looking like a lump of moving meat. They had limited intelligence, but highly resilient. Cutting them into a couple of dozens of pieces, they could still live for a week. These monsters were the best scout-type dark spirits that Lin Sheng had cultivated so far. And they had a not-so-bad defensive ability, were extremely powerful and resistant to toxins and fire. They had about the attack strength of Three-Wing Darksiders and the defensive and survival strength of that of Five-wing Darksiders. They were a perfect scout unit. Soon, a group of ten stitched-monster dark spirits had disappeared into the Darkspirit Gate. All Lin Sheng, Djall Demonhand, and the head of the sorcerers had to do was wait, waiting for the stitched-monster dark spirits to bring back the news¡ªhopefully not the bad one. Another five minutes had passed when two stitched-monsters staggered back out with their battered bodies, frostbite everywhere. One fell face down on the ground. They were shivering, healing, and regenerative abilities had been suppressed. Lin Sheng scurried up and took a look at them. ¡°Frostbite, as strong as Five-wing level, high purity, could prate the resistance of the stitched monsters and hurt them directly. This is something.¡± Chapter 452 - Fragment: Part 3

    Chapter 452: Fragment: Part 3

    Lin Sheng thought for a moment and decided not to waste his time. Looking back, he motioned Djall Demonhand and the head of the sorcerers. ¡°I will go by myself. You all keep your eyes peeled.¡± ¡°Aye, Lord, at your service.¡± The two replied in unison. Lin Sheng nodded. Armor of Dawn appeared on his body, and then a dark-energy crystal shield, then semi-dragonized body with dragon scales on. This was Lin Sheng¡¯s ultimate defensive ability. Armor of Dawn on the outside would take the first hit from any attacks. The middleyer of the dark-energy crystal shield was a buffering structure that could iste all types of shock-wave attacks. The innermostyer of dragon scales and the dragonized body of Rock Dragon would be thest line of defense. It was for the enemy who could break through all his defenses and thought victory was in sight, only to find inside ayer even nastier than the Armor of Dawn. Just thinking of their frustration and hopelessness was making Lin Shengugh. ¡°It¡¯s time to check how good my triple-level defense system is.¡± Draped in heavy white armor, Lin Sheng looked calm as he strode into the Darkspirit Gate. As soon as he passed through the gate, the surroundings changed. He found himself in a vast in burning with a white me. Ground fire pirs were everywhere, spurting out from the cracks in the ground up to tens of meters in the air, forming a strange scenery on thend. What surprised Lin Sheng more was the temperature of these white fire pirs. They were not high-temperature fire but extremely cold me that could cause frostbite to any living things. ¡°How could me exist in subzero-temperature form?¡± What he saw was a big blow to his understanding of science. He looked around the teleporting station of the Darkspirit Gate. Bodies of the stitched-monster dark spirits were everywhere. The extreme temperature had suppressed the vitality of their bodies and frozen them in ce before they could make it out of the ce. But it was also because their bodies blocked the white sparks in the surroundings, it gave the two surviving stitched monsters the chance to escape back to the other side. Right ahead of the bodies of the stitched monsters, a small column of white me spurted out from the ground, shooting up a dozen meters into the air and a few meters across. Sparks were flying everywhere. But Lin Sheng let the white sparks drop onto him. As soon as the sparks hit his armor, they vaporized in an instant. It was the powerful holy power that was driving away the sub-zero-degree me. Lin Sheng replenished his exhausted holy power and checked his exhaustion rate. ¡°Just about what I estimated before. The damage rate of the me is about the level of Five Wing. That¡¯s at a hyperbole scale...¡± He scanned his eyes over the ins. There was no end to thend. All he could see were white sparks dancing around. When even these little sparks could do such damage, thest thing in Lin Sheng¡¯s mind was to get hit by the fire column in the face. ¡°Ordinary living creatures would have found it hard to survive here. Not unless they are of Six-Wing in survival strength.¡± After somementing and awing himself with nature¡¯s power, he started to study the distribution pattern of the fire columns and work out a safe path. He had also sensed an unexined perturbation in the air. This perturbation was precisely what he had read about in the ancient record. It was a special sign that told him the thing existed. Earlier, in the Dragon¡¯s Borrow across the dark spirit cave, the feeling was not as strong. But here, he could almost vividly see the perturbation. Lin Sheng had quickly found a route. He moved, one step at a time, very unhurriedly maneuvering forward to avoid the fire columns. He would stop every time after moving some distance, observing the distribution pattern of the fire columns ahead, then moved again. Some sections had dense fire columns. He had to get so close to them that if he was not careful, he would be game over. Sometimes he had to walk past a section where the fire columns would change their mind and decided to spurt from other spots. Lin Sheng had a close call when a two-meter-across fire column spurted out of nowhere, barely scraping his back. The Armor of Dawn protected him, vaporizing a good part of the fire as his holy power reacted with the white me. But that one hit only, Lin Sheng felt, had also vaporized one-tenth of his holy power reserve. It was just a size-S ground fire column. He could not imagine what would happen had it been a dozen-meter-across fire column. He could have been dead or at least severely injured. ¡°I have always been the one who uses size to scare off an enemy. This time, I did not expect things could be reversed.¡± It was like getting a taste of his own medicine. He moved, stopped, then moved again. Soon, following his soul¡¯s perception, he was moving in the direction of the perturbation. A day had passed. And then another day. With such a level of endurance, Lin Sheng¡¯s physique had shown his extra-human characteristics; going without food and water for days was nothing to him. In fact, he could stop eating and keep moving for a month or so and would still not bat an eye. Just that the monotonous scenery of the ins was starting to bore him. There were no living things here. Just the world¡¯s worst-tempered and unpredictable subzero-temperature fire columns kept himpany. This ce was not for any form of living things. On the tenth day, Lin Sheng was still making his way toward the perturbation as what his soul had perceived. Atst, he saw the ce with the signature perturbation that he had seen in an ancient record of the Fairy Empire. It was a ck crystal column shrouded in white me. The crystal column stood on a ck rocky surface, growing together with arge stone column, showering in the white ground fire. It looked inconspicuous, void of any unique features. Had Lin Sheng not read about it in the ancient record and known the way to look for it, he might have returned empty-handed, not knowing the importance of this crystal column. The dull-looking crystal column looked like another stone column on the outside, the kind which he would not pick up from the ground if he stumbled upon one. But now, he was staring at it like a hungry dog to a bone. The search for the Dark Wheel, Lin Sheng thought, was just a legend in the ancient records. He was with the mindset of trying his luck earlier and paying a little more attention to the special perturbation mentioned in the ancient record. What he did not realize was that because of the amount of soul power he had devoured and the uniqueness of his soul, he had a very sensitive perception. But from the ancient record of the Fairy Empire, he knew he had a very special soul. Had any other people or creature absorbed soul fragments in the dreams as he did, their souls would have broken up, they would have lost themselves and went insane. Or they could be devoured by the powerful consciousness of the soul fragments and bing another person and resurrected in this world. But none of these two scenarios happened to Lin Sheng. His soul was tough. Each absorption of soul fragments was making him stronger. His soul became massive and broad. The thousands of soul fragments, memories and personality had equipped him with aplicated yetprehensive perception ability. It was this ability that detected the unique perturbation. Chapter 453 - About-Turn: Part 1

    Chapter 453: About-Turn: Part 1

    Visaca Ind. A giant red ring around the ind was absorbing the shells flying in from all directions. It did not matter if it was a conventional shell, cruise missile, or dark energy-enhanced shell, they all would vanish into the ring, leaving no trace nor sound. There were six vulnerable passages around the ind. Each passage was guarded by a Sevenlock, a Ptinate. Those who were trying to break in were the Ptinates from all over the world, led by the three mysterious realms. Almost all of the Ptinates, potentials, and strengths had gathered just for the final showdown. The Heaven¡¯s Spire, Carte nche, and families from Olro had deployed at least fifteen Ptinates dashing their strength that they had so secretly hidden for all these years at once. Joined by the other Ptinates from the lesser forces, their number now stood at twenty. Twenty figures with a powerful force field had assembled at seven different locations, with two or more Ptinates at each spot,unching attacks on the vulnerable circle spots guarded by the Sevenlocks. Seven blood-red spheres rose from the ind-wide magic circles, shielding the seven different battlefields. These were the only support the ind¡¯s magic circles provided to the Sevenlocks. The blood-red spheres could boost the healing ability and mental strength of the Sevenlocks. The Sevenlocks were merely Mi Yue¡¯s volunteers. Not everyone was willing to fight for Mi Yue and his n. That was why it took only ten minutes for five of the seven battlefields to fall into the invading forces. The Sevenlocks in the remaining two locations, because of stubbornness and unwilling to admit defeat, were beaten to death by the Ptinates. Following the death of the Sevenlocks, the blood-red spheres fall apart. The world had gathered its strength to fight the Sevenlocks. It took them less than twenty minutes before victory was dered. Columns of light rose from around the inds. The same happened from the maind to the ind. The Ptinates and a few Sevenlocks, who earlier turned around to support the attacking forces, were hailed as the world¡¯s saviors. But they did not care if they were saviors, what was more important was the material benefits that followed. Deemed Number One among the cult forces, the wealth and resources the Sevenlocks Tower had stashed away were uncountable. If they could defeat Mi Yue and destroy the Number One, this wealth and resources would be theirs. ¡°ck orchids released in the air, on the ground, in the sea, and in the earth. Blooming flowers were a condensation of blood and snow. There is zhenrui in the stamen. Zhenrui is peaceful, shiny. We water it with our good names and turn our hearts into its fertilizer. My heart is excited, everything is asleep. Forever the misfortune of the dragon heart, light will shine on your soul from the east!¡± On a hot tform in the crater of a volcano in the middle of the ind, Mi Yue and several ck-robed figures were raising their hands in the air, chanting strange runes. As they were at it, circles of dark-blue strands flew out from their bodies. These blue circles were shrouding them to be arge cocoon. All of a sudden, from the inside the cocoon came a dazzling golden light piercing through the wall. The light swept to the left and tore a holerge enough for two persons to walk out at once. ¡°Mi Yue, give up now! You have failed! Because of this summoning, the entire Sevenlocks Tower has be the enemy of the world. Even arge part of the Sevenlocks who listened to yourmand has betrayed you!¡± A man draped in golden armor with a saber glittering with golden light slowly came through the hole, staring at Mi Yue. Apart from the golden armor, the man had a pair of pure-white wings pping on his back. He was followed by the elites of Heaven¡¯s Spire: Angel Encarmine, Phantom Angel and others. Just then, on the other side of the cocoon, an explosion blew a hole asrge as several meters out of the wall. Coming out from within were a group of men and women in fine clothes. With them were phantoms of what might look like some strange and overpowering artifacts. They were the ancient elites from the families of Olro. The leading man was an elite of Hellfire, Duke Peter Hayne. At 300 years old, the man¡¯s appearance had restored to its youthful peak, fingers wearing twenty exotic gemstone rings of different colors. His eyes were dead cold as he cautiously looked at Mi Yue and others. ¡°We meet again, Mi Yue.¡± ¡°It¡¯s you, kid.¡± Mi Yue stopped his chanting and turned to look at the men and women, face calm with a faint smile. Following the two breaches on the cocoon, the blue and ck cocoon looked like an egg, the protectiveyer of which had been torn apart; it was even more vulnerable now. Ptinates started to tear the cocoon open and surrounded the tform in the crater. Not only that, on the edge of the crater, but Ptinates who were good at magic circle and ritual had alsoid down a lockdown circle to prevent Mi Yue and others from escaping. The defense system of the Sevenlocks Tower crumbled in just half an hour. Thest few elites of the Sevenlocks Tower who stood around Mi Yue had stopped chanting the runes, nervously staring at the Ptinates appearing from the surroundings. The golden-armored, white-winged man, the Angel Encarmine, was the most powerful elite from Heaven¡¯s Spire. Duke Peter Hayne, the most powerful elites from Hellfire of Olro. Henxing, the most powerful elite from Carte nche, did not reveal himself but hid among the Ptinates. But everyone could feel his oppressive energy. The Angel Encarmine, Duke Peter Hayne and Henxing were ranked at the top of all Ptinates, at the pinnacle of their strengths. They were at the level of Mi Yue, but somehow, Mi Yue had higherbat strength than the three of them. But by not much. And this was why neither the Sevenlocks Tower nor the three mysterious realms could defeat the other all along. ¡°You failed in your dirty plotst time. Now you want to do it again?¡± Mi Yue sneered, casting his eyes around. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me, as the most powerful man in the Sevenlocks Tower, you are afraid of me! I thought you¡¯d like to say ¡®You alle at once, I¡¯m in a hurry¡¯? One Ptinate scoffed. Standing on the dark-red stone tform, Mi Yue took off his ck cloak, revealing his signature hair and golden-crossed earrings. Seeing the faces of the Ptinates, who thought they were going to win this time, he had a faint smile on his lips. ¡°In fact, that¡¯s precisely what I¡¯d like to say.¡± ¡°Cut the cackle. Kill him!¡± From among the crowd, a beam of pure-whiteser shot out and hit Mi Yue in the face. It happened so fast that no one could see iting. The beam ofser was too quick for any eyes and nerves to respond. It hit Mi Yue almost at the same time as it appeared. Chapter 454 - About-Turn: Part 2

    Chapter 454: About-Turn: Part 2

    The whiteser hit Mi Yue in the face. The strength of theser was enough to prate the skull of an elephant and kill it instantly. But not Mi Yue. It seemed to have hit an imprable stone wall. Theser prated the dark energy shield and hit his face, but something seemed to block theser from going further. ¡°Defend Attack!¡± A blurry white shadow shed above Mi Yue¡¯s head, a dagger striking down. At almost the same time, Peter Hayne drew his pistol, firing tens of rounds at Mi Yue and others. The rounds were no ordinary rounds. These were dark energy-enhanced, with other improvements, very expensive stuff. The rounds traveled at Mach-10, hitting Mi Yue in his chest. The winged golden-armored man spread his wings, flying up into the air. He then swooped down like a meteorite at Mi Yue. Just then, Mi Yue, who was supposed to have been suppressed, looked up, his handsome face seemed to have faded and now turned into a greenish-gray, horribly rotten face. ¡°Everyone is here, it seems...¡± An ear-piercing sound wave came out from Mi Yue¡¯s throat. It did not sound like a human voice. The winged golden-armored man¡¯s expression copsed; shock and horror exploded on his face. ¡°No, no! You are Faldt!¡± However, it was toote; he could not change his heading or move. The next second, blood sshed down from mid-air. ... In the dark spirit cave. ¡°Is this one fragment of the Dark Wheel? The only fragment that the ancient record had traced by its perturbation?¡± Standing outside the ground fire column, Lin Sheng looked at the ck crystal column, feeling a little excited. The Dark Wheel, the most powerful divine artifact in the world of dark spirits, could endow those who possessed it the ability to get all the powers in the world. It was said that the artifact was the origin of the dark spirit race and their abilities. Possessing the Dark Wheel was akin to possess the unlimited power of the dark spirits because it was the origin of all dark spirits. Lin Sheng had never thought of finding it. The author of the ancient record of the Fairy Empire had spent his time and effort investigating, but he could only make out the details of the perturbation before he died. The fairy, not wanting his research to be buried with his death, had decided to write it down in words. Unlike him, who had an abnormal soul that could perceive the perturbation of the souls, the other fairiescked this ability. And this was why the ancient record had been lying idle until Lin Sheng found it. He felt that it could be of use. So he took a quick read, identally saving it from further being ignored. ¡°With this fragment. I can rely on the homogeneous perturbation principle to find the other fragments of the Dark Wheel!¡± Fervor was in Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes. The Dark Wheel was one of the most well-known divine artifacts in the world of the dark spirits he had ever seen. There were other simr legends, but what surprised him was the discovery of the lead. ¡°Next, it¡¯s time to figure out how to take this fragment away.¡± He looked around, making sure there were no guardians or simr monsters around. It had always been the case where the treasure was always guarded by some powerful monsters¡ªat least that was the case in TV and novels. ¡°Probably there aren¡¯t any. If there were, and they knew what the thing could do, why would they still keep it here? They could simply iste the perturbation, and forever there will be no one finding the fragment. Only a fool would leave it exposed like this.¡± Lin Sheng had wanted to say it a long time ago: Screw the monster-guarded treasure trope. If there was such a powerful monster guarding the treasure, why did it not hide it in a more secretive ce? Would it be so dumb to guard it only to attract unwanted attention and harassment? ¡°Screw it. Here goes nothing!¡± Lin Sheng extended his hand at the ck stone column inside the ground fire column. He made his calction in his mind. After a spurt of the ground fire and before its next spurt, he fired a shot of dark energy, cutting down the crystal column and binding it before pulling it back out. The crystal column with only the length of a human forearm floated up andnded with a tter as it hit the gravel on the ground next to Lin Sheng. He looked down, pulling up the crystal column with the dark energy strands and grabbing it in his hand. The thing felt solid, cold and rough, his brow easing up. ¡°Nothing special about it.¡± He carefully studied the fragment. ¡°Had I not perceived the perturbation and known that this is a fragment of the Dark Wheel, no one would have known how valuable this thing is.¡± He sighed, thinking, he must have been destined to find the Dark Wheel and make it his own. He held the crystal column in his hand and quickly left. Retracing the route he hade from, it was faster to go back than when he first came. A dayter, he was back to the Darkspirit Gate. He could make out the silhouette of the arch that glowed in pale red in the air. Releasing his holy power into it, he was letting the sorcerer head to confirm the coordinates. Only when the other side pumped up the energy did he tuck the crystal column under his robe and strode in. The surroundings changed, and he found himself back on the square in front of the Darkspirit Gate. ¡°Wee back, Lord.¡± The sorcerer head and a few others bowed to greet him. They were very grateful to Lin Sheng because he did not send them into the Darkspirit Gate as cannon fodders. Who cared what they thought. Lin Sheng just did not want to waste his time. ¡°Shut the Darkspirit Gate. The dimension over there is too dangerous. Anyone of Marshal-ss and lower should not go in there,¡± he instructed. ¡°Understood,¡± the head of the sorcerers said. ¡°As sorcerers with teleporting expertise, you all should know about the many non-dark spirit dimensions, I supposed? Every mysterious dimension has its own coordinates and energy.¡± Lin Sheng left a gap, thinking. He then continued. ¡°I need you all to bring me to perceive the energy locations of these other dimensions from afar. Is there a problem?¡± ¡°Easy-peasy. When I give the hint, please focus your mind and follow me to perceive through the Darkspirit Gate,¡± the head of the sorcerers said. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re wee. We always explore the other dimensions by first using our perception ability, looking out for the dimensional perturbations. This process calls for sensitive perception toward the dimensional energy and perturbation. Since you have met all these conditions and is able to perceive the mysterious dimensional perturbation and energy, it means you have the potential to be a sorcerer with dimensional ability.¡± Chapter 455 - About-Turn: Part 3

    Chapter 455: About-Turn: Part 3

    ¡°Just to show you around to get a hang of the energy perturbation. It¡¯s very simple,¡± a sorcerer could not help but chime in, smiling. ¡°Thank you.¡± Lin Sheng nodded at him. He needed to find the other fragments quickly. He had thought of conquering more dark spirits to get more pure soul power. But since he got this opportunity, he was more than happy to take my offer. The head of the sorcerers brought Lin Sheng at one Darkspirit Gate. They both reached out their hands, touching the frame of the gate with eyes closed. With his special ability, the head of the sorcerer started to build a dimensional base for coordinate confirmation. Following that, the ritual perturbation of the Darkspirit Gate was transmitted together with Lin Sheng¡¯s conscious perception. ¡°An ordinary teleportation ritual is point-to-point transmission. But when we explore other dimensional realms, we change it to be one-to-multiple-point transmission. What we need to do is to make some minor changes to the parameters on the transmission base.¡± The head of the sorcerers was guiding Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness as he taught him the technique. ¡°This way, the Darkspirit Gate will spontaneously transmit our consciousness into multiple target-dimensions. It is the luck of the draw. If we get lucky, we might bump into the dimensional realm we are looking for. If we get no luck, just try a few more times.¡± ¡°That¡¯s random enough, though.¡± Lin Sheng was dumbfounded. The ritual instantly perturbed his perception the minute he stepped into the Darkspirit Gate, wrapping it inside as it spread out. At the same time, his consciousness seemed to break apart, his perception split into a dozen tiny pieces, feeling the energy in a dozen different dimensions. ¡°Generally, we can¡¯t keep our consciousness in one piece during the transmission. We can only try to remember as best as we can the dimensional coordinates we came across. We need to leave a simple mark on the coordinates...¡± Outside, the sorcerer chief kept doing the exining, guiding Lin Sheng how to create the simple marking in determining the coordinate code. But one thing he had not expected; Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness was so strong that he could memorize all the coordinates of the dimensions that his consciousness pieces came into. To Lin Sheng, it was just a matter of multitasking, a skill that he had been training for every day. He could use his split consciousness to direct and observe his every summoned creature, although he could not independently control them at the same time. Memorizing the perturbation and determining the coordinates were just a walk in the park. His strong soul yed a part and he could stay for a longer time. Ten minutester, the split consciousness dissipated. Lin Sheng opened his eyes, looking at the sorcerer chief and others. Their eyes were on stalks as he told them a specific coordinate of a special dimensional realm. This realm was the one homologous to the Dark Wheel fragment he carried. ¡°You got it the first time?¡± The sorcerer chief could not believe that he heard. He had spent over two months to find and record the coordinate when he sensed the dimensional energy for the first time. ¡°It¡¯s a simple process. Let¡¯s build the portal. I need to go there quickly,¡± Lin Sheng instructed. ¡°Aye.¡± ¡°Wait for me.¡± Tenko Kasumi spoke to him through telepathy. He froze. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± He went to one side, watching as the sorcerer chief started to direct the dark spirits moving the materials. ¡°There is a situation here in Visaca Ind!¡± Tenko Kasumi¡¯s voice sounded grave. It was a phenomenon that Lin Sheng had never seen before. Tenko Kasumi had never been this depressed, even when Lin Sheng told her about the existence of the Night Lordst time. This made Lin Sheng a little nervous. ¡°Is Mi Yue at an absolute disadvantage?¡± Lin Sheng frowned. ¡°Or are there some new forces joining the battle?¡± ¡°No. Not new forces,¡± Tenko Kasumi said. ¡°It¡¯s Mi Yue; he had deceived everyone!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°The Sevenlocks Tower has been sessful with the summoning. Mi Yue has deceived everyone in the three mysterious realms. He has sessfully summoned Faldt, using himself as a sacrifice to make himself as one with it!¡± It took a while before that sank in. ¡°Using himself as a sacrifice? That madman!¡± ¡°So what the three mysterious realms face now is a hybrid monster of Mi Yue and Faldt.¡± Lin Sheng was speechless. ¡°What should we do now?¡± Tenko Kasumi asked. Thebination of Faldt and Mi Yue was not as simple as 1+1=2; it was 3¡Á10. ¡°Calm down. The three mysterious realms and other forces are still Mi Yue and Faldt¡¯s biggest enemies. There is more to this world than meets the eye.¡± The thought of his previous investigation came to mind. ¡°The Astral Mere and those having the Sacred Vessel of Destiny are no slouch. We will not interfere with what they do so long as they don¡¯t interfere with ours.¡± ¡°I got what you meant. But we had better be prepared,¡± Tenko Kasumi said. ¡°I used to possess that destructive power when I was controlled by the Demonde. That¡¯s why I know what that kind of power could do.¡± Lin Sheng was keeping silent. Tenko Kasumi was his most specialmander because some power was used to control her. At that time, when she traced back her memories, she discovered that Lin Sheng had been peeping at her. Just through an image imprint in the memories, she knew that Lin Sheng was observing her. Such a powerful ability was beyond the apprehension of Lin Sheng. ¡°I got it,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°I will be prepared. Don¡¯t worry.¡± If worsees to worst, he could activate his special state of being by summoning all themanders to be one with him. He cut off the telepathicmunication with Tenko Kasumi, quietly staring at the newly constructed Darkspirit Gate as his thoughts came back to the matter at hand. ¡°It is ready, My Lord,¡± the sorcerer chief said. Lin Sheng gazed at the portal and remained silent for a while. ¡°Ask for the Fairy King and Djall!¡± ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± Djall Demonhand had been put on standby in the vicinity. Hearing the summon, he strode in through the doorway. ¡°At your service, My Lord.¡± Lin Sheng nodded at him. ¡°I need to open multiple portals to scout out multiple dark-spirit dimensions. Select one hundred great dark spirits, divide them into groups to do the re.¡± ¡°Understood!¡± Djall Demonhand looked stern, knowing that they hade to some turning point. Otherwise, he would not have called for such arge-scale operation. Chapter 456 - Moving Forward: Part 1

    Chapter 456: Moving Forward: Part 1

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Following Lin Sheng¡¯s orders, they started to search the entire Great Hidden Realms. Upon getting his orders, Djall Demonhand quickly dispatched his men. On the other side, the warlocks too had sent a message to the Fairy King for the call to arms. Very quickly, the Fairy King stepped out of the Darkspirit Gate with several elite heralds in tow. ¡°Your Highness, what do youmand?¡± This contradictory existence with a perfectly hot body but only one eye on her face knelt bowed before Lin Sheng. ¡°I want the Fairy Kingdom to send out their ve army to explore new hidden realms. How to do it fast, I leave it to you. I only need results.¡± As for the Fairy Kingdom, he could not treat them as roughshod as he did the dark spirits. The Fairy Kingdom had already be an existence where both fairy and man co-exist. With the powerful bond between them, just giving them the objective, letting them do them, and only asking for the results was the best way forward. ¡°As youmand,¡± the Fairy King said calmly. Without a doubt, she would have more ways to seek out new spaces without damaging itpared to Djall Demonhand. After giving his orders to the Fairy King and Djall Demonhand, soon Lin Sheng could sense new hidden realms with the constant search for realms with the aura of the fragments. Sensing a position, determining its coordinates, opening it up, creating a portal, and send in troops for exploration. One by one, portals were being opened across the square. Time passed by slowly. Arge number of dark spirits and Fairy Kingdom armies moved out. They had teleported here first, before turning towards the outer hidden realms. A massive amount of teleportation materials were consumed, alongside many other items. Following that, a steady stream of dark spirit and fairy armies numbering in the tens of thousands started entering the portals. A few dayster. Some of the portals were terminated as Lin Sheng had determined that they bore no value after the exploration, while some were kept due to having rich resources or research value. As for those realms with confirmed fragment auras, Lin Sheng found a total of three. He had sent arge number of troops into the three realms to investigate the ces thoroughly. The results from the expeditions showed that all of the realms were rtively vast, with room for intelligent life to survive. Lin Sheng pondered for a little, he felt uneasy leaving his subordinates to look for a divine artifact. If they were to im the treasure for their ownter down the line, that would be a real loss for him. So a moment of thoughtter, he decided to let them search the area first, before going in himself, and look for the fragments quickly before leaving. ... Visaca Ind. ¡°Soul Gaze.¡± Mi Yue, or rather, Faldt lifted his head up, as arge number of gray tentacles grew on his back that formed into arge human face. And the face had hundreds of blood-red eyes all over it, and the eyes were all staring deeply at the Ptinates before them. *Hummm!!!* An invisible pulse traversed hundreds of meters in an instant through some arcane channel andnded with deadly precision on a few Ptinates that were fleeing frantically for the lives. ¡°Nooo!!!¡± One of them screamed in terror as theyers of protective shielding on his body popped like soap bubbles, and when all of his protective abilities were depleted, his body started to rapidly twist and contort under some arcane force field. *Baamm!!* In an instant, this patriarch from Olro¡¯s Hellfire was torn apart like hemp flower, as bits and pieces fell into the sea. 1Seeing that, a few others felt even faster, with nary a word. This was no longer a fight they could win by sheer numbers, every person there werembs to the ughter. Faldt was already on a level beyond the Ptinates, and if they did not have powers of a simr level, charging headlong meant certain death. ¡°ck Hand.¡± Faldt opened his mouth, as a dark, shadowy arm stretched out of his mouth, and grabbed at a few escaping persons. *Poof!!* Two Ptinates were just likembs waiting for ughter. Two gentle crackster, blood exploded everywhere as they felt into the sea. On Visaca Ind, there were blood and corpses all over the sands. Thest remnant of powers of the dying Ptinates ran wild as they tore the entire ind apart with a series of explosions. The entire ind saw itsndmass blown up by severalyers, and its sea level had fallen by at least ten-odd meters. Faldt stepped on one of the Heaven Spire¡¯s white banner on the ground, as he nced at the two strongest fighters of the Heaven Spire, the goldened armored, white-winged man, and the Angel Encarmine that he was draining their life force dry. ¡°A shame. I still won in the end.¡± An inexplicable smile appeared on his almost fully-rotten face. ¡°You... You think you¡¯ve... won?¡± A bloodied old man nailed to the top of a crystal rock in the distance spat. ¡°You¡¯re not dead yet?¡± Faldt raised an eyebrow and looked at the old man. ¡°Sieg, if you had not muddled the water this time around, you would not have ended up like this.¡± He had fused with Mi Yue¡¯s memories and was in fact more like a mortal amalgamation of Mi Yue and Faldt. Naturally, that meant Mi Yue¡¯s personality and emotions were left behind. In truth, he was not fully Faldt and was more like a spokesperson. ¡°Heh... I may have lost this time... but this world is not as simple as you think it is. Just you wait, someone will exact revenge for me. Just you wait...¡± the old man said coldly. COMMENT ¡°I shall look forward to that.¡± Faldt reached out with a grab as a massive gray arm appeared behind him instantly, and it seized the old man brutally before squeezing hard. *Bam!* A cloud of blood sted out of the hand. ¡°What a shame. Another old friend down...¡± Faldt looked up to sigh, a pretend-sigh. All around him, none of Olro¡¯s Hellfire Ptinates had an intact corpse. And just as he was pretending to bementing, an invisible silver spike suddenly sted out silently behind him towards the back of his head. The person wielding the spike, was the strongest of Carta nche, the Star of Suncrown, Kaiser. His face was pale, as he was obviously badly injured in the earlier fight. He had already managed to conceal himself sessfully earlier, but at this moment, the entirety of Visaca Ind was being engulfed and suppressed by the crimson-ring force field. He would be detected as soon as he touched the edge of the force field. With his strength at this moment, using everything he had, he could probably take one casual hit from Faldt head-on. If he could not hide after that, it would be the end of him. So he had toe back and look for an opening. ¡°Impaling Requiem... If the stab connects, regardless of whether the target is injured or not, it can stun a living being¡¯s soul for a day.¡± Kaiser was determined, as he knew that if he did not take down Faldt in a short time, he could forget about escaping here safely. COMMENT Rather than waiting for his doom, he might as well take the initiative to strike first! His Ptinate ability enables him to hide his aura and life signatures. This ability allowed him to hide in a sub-dimension. Only at the moment of attack would his aura be revealed, and that was the greatest tool he had to be the strongest person in Suncrown. The silver spike was closing in onto the back of Faldt¡¯s head little by little. Five meters. Four meters. Three meters. Two meters. One meter. And the spike suddenly elerated as it burst forward. ¡°Spellword¡ªShock and Awe!¡± Faldt suddenly spoke. *Bam!!* A gray shockwave rippled out from his body in all directions. Chapter 457 - Moving Forward: Part 2

    Chapter 457: Moving Forward: Part 2

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The ripples brought it with it a powerful shockwave, and in an instant, Kaiser was pushed back by the shockwave. ¡°Spellword¡ªResilience. ¡°Spellword¡ªSpirit Tether. ¡°Spellword¡ªSuffocation. ¡°High-level Killing Intent Shackle. ¡°High-level Death Gaze. ¡°Ultimate de of Immtion.¡± As Faldt chanted a series of maledictions, arge number of auras radiated from him. Simultaneously, all kinds of magical effects sted out of Kaiser¡¯s body. Binding, Soul Suppression, Death Gaze, Ultra-high-temperature fire damage, suffocation, mental shock, and the like. A series of powerful spells that normal high-level Darksiders would need a day to prepare were like little tricks to Faldt, as he cast them instantaneously using Spellwords. By the time Kaiser recovered, he only managed to ward off two of them but not the rest asyers uponyers of magical effects caught him in the perfect restraint, and turned into a grayish-ck orb that he could not resist. *Bamm!!* Without wasting any words, Faldt stuck his hand out, and straight into Kaiser¡¯s forehead. His hand was like a sharp de, and it easily sank into Kaiser¡¯s forehead, mushing his brain matter. *Boooommm!!!* The moment Kaiser died, therge amount of power he had as a Ptinate exploded out instantly and enveloping Faldt within a massive ball of fire. And soon, the crimson mes dissipated, revealing an unharmed Faldt inside. He lifted his gaze and looked at the many warships that were quickly withdrawing. ¡°Now, if I can open up three different Underworld Tunnels, then I can get my full body to descend upon his world, and the Hand of the Underworld will be able to recover ahead of time as well.¡± ¡°...Struggle more, surprise me... After being bored for so long, it will be just too uninteresting toe here like this after expending much effort, no?¡± Faldt stepped out and chanted a spell. ¡°Spellword¡ªDivine Step.¡± *Bam!* His entire body turned into a gray light as he shot out towards the fleet like a meteorite. ... Inside an unknown hidden world. On a vast white snow in, tens of thousands of dark spirits were in a frantic struggle against a centaur army. The blood of fallen centaurs stained the pure white snow red. The dark spirits had immunity against physical attacks, and that meant only a small number of energy-weapons could really harm them. Not to mention, only a third of the centaur army had such weapons. That was already the apex of the hidden realm¡¯s strength. Lin Sheng rode on the demonic Gorefiend, as he wore armor of pure white while standing quietly on a hill overlooking the battlefield below. His face was covered by his armor, and his expression was unknown, as his eyes only revealed indifference and coldness. ¡°Found the thing I wanted?¡± he suddenly asked. ¡°We have found it. The Tailbone Chieftain had secretly hung in on his second son¡¯s ankle, and I found it and immediately retrieved it.¡± The Fairy King¡¯s figure suddenly appeared out of thin air and knelt on one knee to Lin Sheng¡¯s right side. At the same time, she held up a piece of white-gold that looked like a totem, and a strange bone with runes on it at the same time. The bone was only the size of a palm and was arched, with tiny cracks on its surface, seemingly suffering some considerable damage before. Lin Sheng held his hand out and closed his eyes as he sensed the heartbeat-like fluctuations. ¡°This is it.¡± He grabbed the bone tight, and as he finally looked at the centaurs fighting for their lives. The Mizh Tribe was one the invincible force that dominated the entirety of this hidden realm, and just because they were unwilling to hand over what he wanted, Lin Sheng had the entire might of the dark spirit army brutally suppressing them. ¡°Let them submit, and anyone who refuses, get rid of them,¡± Lin Sheng said as he left with his steed. Leaving, the Fairy King and the other generals kneeling on the ground as they sent him off with respect. In just four short days. Lin Sheng had rampaged through eleven different hidden realms. These realms were bothrge and small, some were as big as a Migan province, some were as small as Henriqcal City. But there were many hidden strong fighters among them. The one resisting the most was the Realm of Centaurs ruled by the centaur tribe before them. These white snow ins were the domains of the powerful tribe. They had been without equal for too long, and had forgotten how to entreat someone stronger than them, and treated them with total disrespect. So, the moment Lin Sheng¡¯s emissary had arrived here, conflict erupted almost immediately. The moment the emissary Lin Sheng had sent was mercilessly beheaded, the dark spirit army gathered under Lin Sheng¡¯s banner quickly gathered and assailed the snowy ins in a frenzy. And the arrogant Mizh Tribe finally tasted the bitter taste of defeat. The price they paid was the almostplete annihtion of their tribe. Two dayster, the strongest fighter from the Mizh Tribe, Centaur King Khul Warspear came to the Darkspirit Pce amidst the agony to pay his respects to Darkspirit Lord, Lin Sheng. His tribe was massacred, leaving only a single branch to keep the bloodline flowing. In this situation, the originally martial focused new chieftain had to take up the heavy responsibility during the times of crisis and be the new king, submitting to Lin Sheng in exchange for mercy for the centaurs. Just like the Fairy King, in order to protect the bloodline and legacy of his tribe, he had to bend the knee and submit to Lin Sheng, bing one of his minions. With that, Lin Sheng now had the Fairy King, the Centaur Lord, and Djall Demonhand as three of hismanders. They each represented the various powerful forces of three different ethnic groups. Among them, both the Fairy King and the Centaur Lord were true, powerful Ptinate-level beings. ... Just as Lin Sheng¡¯s cohorts were rampaging across thend in search of the Dark Wheel¡¯s fragments, back in reality... Faldt had also just created a horrifying disaster that shocked the whole world. After defeating and killing most of the attacking Ptinates, Mi Yue, or Faldt chased after thebined fleet and personally orchestrated a ughter most appalling. He did not just simply murdered them... Rather, he had used arge area Spellword ¨C Cascade spell that caused eighteen warships, and a total of 30,000 people to totally freeze, as they sank to the bottom of the sea near the ind. These frozen soldiers were not dead, rather their bodies were fettered as they sank into the depths of the sea, where they slowly descended into madness in the endless silence there. *Booom!!!* On the surface of the blue sea, a gray smoggy humanoid figure appeared behind Faldt, as the figure raised its arm and seized arge missile from the sky. The white intercontinental ballistic missile continued to st out orange mes with extreme temperatures as it tried to use an unimaginable force to knock away the figure¡¯srge hand. At the same time, the tip of the missile had a diamond-shaped crystal iid within it. Therge number of dark powers within the crystal constantly flowed and shed, providing the missile a more powerful thrust. Yet, it was useless. Exerting some strength, Faldt clenched his hand. *Crack!* The ten-meter-long white intercontinental ballistic missile was instantly twisted into a lump of broken metal in his hand. All sorts of liquids and powdery substances seeped out of it, and onto the surface of the sea, yet there were no signs of explosion; as if a mysterious force had kept the missile from detonating. Chapter 458 - Moving Forward: Part 3

    Chapter 458: Moving Forward: Part 3

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion *Bam bam bam bam!!!* In the midst of the roars of the naval cannons, a dense hail of shells rained upon Faldt. ¡°Spellword¡ªReflect.¡± Faldt raised his hand and pointed. A massive gray square barrier suddenly appeared before him. There were maggot-like linings all over the surface of the barrier, and in the center of it, was arge lion head. The ends of all of the maggots were connected to the mane of the lion head. *Boom boom boom!!* At that instant, all of the dark power shellsnded on the barrier, then stopped for a moment before they were all reflected back. All of the shells were sent flying back in the same parabolic arc towards where they were fired from. *Booommm!!* Explosions and me sted out from the sea region in the distance as angry roars to abandon ship by the Darksiders echoed from afar. Faldt looked at the direction where the shells came from. ¡°The closest ce to here is Redwin. Then let¡¯s pay the Heaven Spire a visit first, then.¡± He smiled and with a gentle tap of his foot, the sea beneath him sted out as a vortex took shape and spun rapidly. By the time the vortex sted out, Faldt had already long disappeared. ... Darkspirit Castle *ck.* Lin Sheng gently ced the white-gold bone gently on the ck crystal column. Something incredible happened. The white-gold bone actually spontaneously changed its shape and fit very tightly onto the ck crystal column. At the same time, the crystal column slowly deformed as it turned from thick to thin and wide, as its edge slowly evolved into a thin, sharp edge. In less than ten seconds, the originally rough ck crystal column had transformed into a giant two-meter-long sword with a wide ck de. The hilt of the sword were made out of the white-gold bone, as the de was as dark as night, from its overall appearance, it looked like a verymon, thick-spined machete. Lin Sheng reached out and gently grasped the hilt of the de, and lifted it up. *Hummm...* The de trembled violently, letting out a vibrating sound, not unlike a tuning fork. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve merged two pieces of the fragments, it is already gradually revealing its true form?¡± Within the dark pce, Lin Sheng stroked the weapon gently, the weapon made out of the fused Dark Wheel fragments. He could feel that this was not the Dark Wheel¡¯s true form. ¡°Based on the gap in the aura, there are at least still two fragments needed before I could reconstruct theplete Dark Wheel.¡± Lin Sheng lifted the giant de up and ced it before him with both hands on the hilt. ¡°And just one more fragment is enough to activate its initial powers.¡± The Dark Wheel was one of the strongest divine artifacts circting in the Darkspirit Realm, as the holder could control the entirety of the Darkspirit Realm, and be the Supreme Overlord there. While Lin Sheng did not believe the nonsense about the holder of the Dark Wheel would dominate everything, but he was still rather attracted to the various Darkspirit abilities the Dark Wheel would bestow upon its wielder. He sat on his throne as he gently caressed the giant de in his hand as he felt a powerful yet mysterious and hidden energy flowing inside it. ¡°Almost there... almost there, the third piece will be found soon. I¡¯ve already ascertained which hidden realm it is located in, and I just need to head in to take it.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s face was calm, but his heart was anticipant. At that moment, both the Centaur Lord and the Fairy King had headed to the hidden realm with the third fragment and was in the midst of conquering thergest and most difficult of spaces. Lin Sheng quietly waited for the good news toe. With both the Centaur Lord and the Fairy King, both Ptinate-level elites, leading the charge, conquering a hidden realm should not be too difficult. Before he could carefully study the fusion de in his hand, a herald rushed into the hall with a Darkspirit soldier with half a body in tow. ¡°Your Majesty, trouble afoot!¡± The herald looked solemn as he handed a ck scroll over to Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng took the scroll and shook it gently and the scroll exploded into countless green light spots. ¡°The Fairy King¡¯s recording ability?¡± Lin Sheng frowned slightly, he knew that these long-distance recording scrolls were very precious, as it could passively record a lot of important information. Generally, it would only activate when the wielder was seriously wounded, to record that critical moment. He had no idea what had happened, but if the recording scroll was activated, that meant a powerful foe had shown up. Very quickly, the light spots from the scroll coalesced and formed a triangr screen. The screen began to slowly rey the events that had transpired earlier. Within arge hall with giant white pirs, a tall ck giant with golden braces was roaring as it fought against the Fairy King. The ck giant wore an extremely sturdy metal vest, and with each punch or kick, powerful shockwaves sted out. Countless potholes were blown up on the hall grounds The Fairy King was facing the attacks head-on, but as time passed, she was slowly pushed back. On the other side, the Centaur Lord held his giant spear in hand, as he exchanged brutal blows against a mermaid-tailed fair-skinned giant. The Centaur Lord had already gone berserk, and this was the gigantic state he would enter when he unleashed his full power. His size, which was originally already twice asrge as a human, suddenly threw to five meters tall, and three meters wide after his mega growth. He looked like a literal mountain of flesh from afar. However, the Centaur Lord¡¯s opponent was not to be underestimated. That white-skinned, mermaid-tailed giant was simrly about four meters tall, and with every swipe of its trident, a violent vortex formed. The gray vortexes constantly bombarded the Centaur Lord, interfering with his offensive and defensive actions, and greatly restrained his destructive powers. ¡°While executing your orders in that hidden realm, the twomanders had discovered this pce of giants. There were two Giant Kings in it, the two powerful rulers who rule over that hidden realm.¡± The herald was a semi-translucent snake-headed, human-bodied Darkspirit as he started to narrate with a rumbling voice, and that added a chilly atmosphere to the already dark pce. ¡°Giant Kings?¡± Lin Sheng rumbled as he gently stroked the giant de. ¡°Yes, based on the Deviltongue tranted from that realm, the indigenous Darkspirits there call them the Twin Giant Kings,¡± the snake-headed herald replied. ¡°That means, that ce is also a Darkspirit Realm? And the twin kings are also, Darkspirits?¡± Lin Sheng suddenly realized. ¡°Indeed, Your Majesty.¡± Lin Sheng went silent for a moment as he lifted the giant de up. He slowly walked out of the pce, and to the portal zone before the gate. Most of the portal guards had already been reced by Djall Demonhand¡¯s Darkspirits. Only the unconquered hidden realms were still guarded by the dimension warlocks of the Fairy Kingdom. *Hiss...* As he just walked into that ce, a slim figure suddenly appeared out of the portal towards the far corner. It was the Fairy King in her broken green armor. The moment she stepped out of the portal, her body crooked sideways and almost fell onto the ground. Fortunately, there was a dimensional warlock standing guard at the corner who quickly held her up. ¡°Your Majesty!¡± A group of Fairy Kingdom warlocks quickly stepped forward in a hurry. The Fairy Kingdom was different from the other Darkspirit tribes, they had a very high sense of belonging and identity to their ruler, the Fairy King. Lin Sheng raised his hand. Instantly, a stream of pure white light became a beam as it shrouded the Fairy King and quickly mended her wounds. Only then did he noticed that the Fairy King¡¯s right arm had been cut off clean, leaving only a gaping wound there. ¡°Your Majesty... I... have failed you...¡± the Fairy King said impassively as she knelt towards Lin Sheng. He simply just looked at her, without saying a word. Regardless of whether the Fairy King had been fighting wholeheartedly or not, at least her wounds proved that much, and ming her any further would be counterproductive. After a moment of silence. Tenko Kasumi¡¯s red-haired figure suddenly walked out of the portal on the side. ¡°Follow me.¡± He looked at Tenko Kasumi. ¡°Okay.¡± The two then walked in tow, past the Fairy King, and into the portal. The moment he entered, the Darkspirit Royal Guards, Djall Demonhand, and the other high-level Darkspirits too quickly followed behind. With the Darkspirit King taking to the field personally, no one knew what would happen afterward if these guards did not follow him. Chapter 459 - Pursuit: Part 1

    Chapter 459: Pursuit: Part 1

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion The Darkspirit Realm of Giants. ¡°Aaaaahhhh!!¡± The Centaur Lord roared as he smashed his spear against the mermaid giant¡¯s weapon. A powerful cyclone had already formed behind the mermaid giant, and the gray cyclone bore a very powerful traction force, like thin silk threads that were restraining the Centaur Lord from all directions. ¡°zing Bloodspear!! Kill them all!¡± The spear in the Centaur Lord¡¯s hand suddenly turned from pure ck to white silver, as the spear tip sted out in dazzling white light as he stabbed it forward. *Bam!!* The thrust was once again blocked by the mermaid giant with his trident. The strength and speed of the spear thrust had been severely hampered by the cyclone¡¯s traction force, and became slow and clumsy. The Centaur Lord had tried to pull back a few times, but the sight of other ck giant king¡¯s made him hesitant to show any signs of retreating. He remembered that ck giant was fighting against the Fairy King earlier, and he did not expect it to break out frombat toe over here. That clearly meant that the Fairy King was either defeated, or had fled. ¡°Damn it! That damned one-eyed woman!!¡± the Centaur Lord roared as swung his spear in fury. This was his powerful special ability as a Centaur Lord, the more angry he was, the stronger his power and speed would be. So, his currentbat prowess now was at the pinnacle of centaur history. At that very moment, the fury in his heart roiled like a violent inferno as the Centaur Lord¡¯s strength and speed had more than doubled than usual. He was pressing hard against the mermaid giant. Whenever he wanted to take a step back to charge up his ultimate move, though, he was immediately threatened by the ck giant¡¯s gaze, which prevented him frompleting the charge up. The angst-inducing situation hadsted for a good two to three minutes now, and the Centaur Lord felt his rage slowly subsiding. His rage does greatly increase his strength and speed, but it came at a cost of the rapid consumption of his stamina and mental strength, and the consumption was proportionate. ¡°No! It cannot end like this I I need to find a way to turn this around!¡± The Centaur Lord swung his spear around to keep his opponent at bay as he secretly scanned around for an opportunity to disengage. However, the Darkspirit army he brought with him had basically been swept away by the barbarians in the pce of the giant kings. These elite barbarians were all dressed in rugged cloaks and armor, each wielding either a warhammer or a giant bone de. Every time they swung their weapon, they would yell, and let out a mysterious vibrating force. They were just like the ck giant¡¯s vibration force, that could go through the surface of objects and destroy it from within. It was most terrifying. And the Darkspirits¡¯ sole weakness were detected by this force, and their core within their bodies were located, and they were taken out one by one. ¡°If this goes on, I will die here!¡± The Centaur Lord was getting more and more anxious. Yet, no matter what he did, the mermaid giant stuck close to him. If he backed away, the opponent advanced. If he advanced, the opponent withdrew. The two giants seemed to want to grind his strength down, and take him down without taking damage. ¡°Damn it, damn it all!! Aaaaarghhh!!¡± The Centaur Lord became more and more furious. While his rage was burning strong, his body had been on fire for so long and was slowly losing the ability to bear it. ¡°You lowlifes!! Do you think you can kill me just like that? Do you think you can kill the great Centaur Lord Khul Warspear just like that?! ¡°I will let all of you learn the price of belittling me!¡± The Centaur Lord swung his spear with full force. The massive war spear roared with a gust of wind as it sheared off all of the traction threads from the cyclone instantly. He took a step back, panting hard with his eyes red, and he nned to use his ultimate secret blood immtion technique. This was a powerfulbat technique that required him to use his lifespan as fuel. It could restore his health and vitality to his peak in a very short time, and at the same time, it would also produce a blood-stained energy barrier with each attack and defense, to help resist iing damage. However, other than ast resort, he was absolutely unwilling to use this secret technique. This was because every time he used it, he would consume one-third of his lifespan. It was not a fixed amount, rather it was in proportion. Just as he was hesitating, the mermaid giant spotted a gap in his indecision, and swiftly stabbed his trident forward like a sh of lightning. *Bam!!* The Centaur Lord was caught off guard, and a gaping wound was sliced open on his chest. Only then did he recovered and realized that his opponent was not his usual trampled-over foes, rather it was a foe that was the same level as he was, and would need at least a few hundred exchanges to determine who the victor was. ¡°Interloper, this is not a ce you should havee. But since you are here, just rest easy and be buried here, and be a part of the dried bones beneath us brothers. This would be a glorious end for you at least.¡± The mermaid giant¡¯s speaking style was particrly awkward, it seemed to bear an ancient rhyme to it, or perhaps it had not spoken for so long that it had only just begun to speak with his voice once again. The Centaur Lord took a deep breath as his blood circted rapidly, desperately ridding the fatigue from his body. But the burden of swinging his massive spear made it harder and harder for him to recover. ¡°No... how can I fall here!! Impossible!¡± The Centaur Lord had finally made up his mind, and prepared to use his ultimate technique, for thest frenzied throw of the dice. ¡°I shall aid you!!¡± Right at that very moment, the ck giant who had been watching the battle joined in the fray, as his massive right fist expanded in mind air and sending a crushing shockwave towards the Centaur Lord. *Voosh! Voosh!!* Arge number of ck metallic siege crossbows around its thick arms glowed in a twisted halo as itunched urate shots towards the Centaur Lord. His massive body simply just made him a huge target. That instant, it was far toote even if he wanted to activate his ability as both the ck and mermaid giant¡¯s attacks, alongside the massive siege crossbow bolts were all converging upon him. Even the Centaur Lord¡¯s Blood Immtion skill would need a moment for his body to adapt to, and he did not even have that luxury of a moment now. ¡°Nooo!!!¡± His eyes widened, and could only look on as the ck giant¡¯s massive fist came falling from above. At the same time, the mermaid giant hadpletely locked his war spear against his trident with all of his might, leaving him with no avenue to face the attack. ¡°I will die...!¡± ¡°I... will... die...!!¡± At that instant, everything suddenly slowed down. The iing crossbow bolts. The ck giant king¡¯s fist. The mermaid giant¡¯s trident. And also the semi-translucent spell rings around him, the binding technique that the giant king¡¯s men were using to restrain him. Time seemed to have stopped. The Centaur Lord could not move, and aside from his mind, his body was immobile. Just like an insect frozen in amber. ¡°Am I going to die?¡± He was fearful, defiant, and furious as he looked at this bizarre scene before him. This was the first time he had seen anything like it before. He had heard that people would see all sorts of incredible things before they are about to die. Perhaps, this was one of those times, but what puzzled him was, he could see the horror in the eyes of the ck giant aside from himself. He could also see the contorted and confused expression on the mermaid giant¡¯s face. ¡°de of Frigid Tempest.¡± ¡°Can you see it? This is the supreme ability of my sword technique, the frigid will of the sword that could annihte everything in an instant.¡± ¡°The will of the sword means that even before my sword is drawn, I could make everyone feel the sharpness of the de and the peril thates with my keen edge. And my will of the sword is at the point where I can at will, force a living soul into a state of instant frozen death.¡± ¡°If that living being thinks it is dead, then he will die.¡± Chapter 460 - Pursuit: Part 2

    Chapter 460: Pursuit: Part 2

    The Centaur Lord turned toward the sound, and his iris suddenly shrank. He saw a red-haired woman standing quietly behind both the ck and mermaid giant. She was leaning against one of the pirs in the hall, as she watched him silently. There were no weapons in her hands, yet the palm of her hand seemed to be holding onto something. Even when she had nothing in her hand, she still gave out the feeling that she was wielding a sharp de in her hand. ¡°Sensing my will means sensing fear and tremble. This is the will of the sword.¡± The Centaur Lord stared at the red-haired woman as he saw her slowly raising her hand up gently, before cutting down in a shing motion. Immediately afterward, he saw a bloody crack appearing on the right shoulder of the ck giant king. *Spurrttt!!!* A gush of blood spewed out andnded on the ground. ¡°So... it was not time had stopped... rather... it was use...¡± The ck giant king crashed as it looked on fearfully while kneeling on the ground. ¡°That¡¯s because all of you are too weak,¡± the red-haired woman said tly. *Baammm!!* Suddenly, the pce gate was pushed open. As a muscr figure in white heavy armor strode through the door without even looking at the two giant kings or the Centaur Lord. Rather, he simply just passed through them, and walked straight to the giant¡¯s throne before turning around and sat on it. The oversized throne was obviously a mismatch to his size, but at this moment, the figure sitting on the throne gave out a pressure that was beyond words. ¡°I shall only give you one chance. ¡°Submit, or die,¡± the figure on the throne spoke impassively. ¡°This pce is built upon the highest peak of this Darkspirit Realm, the top of Mount Shakremont. All around it is ice and snow, and the location is very good. This could be requisitioned for our use.¡± The red-haired womanughed. ¡°And what¡¯s the use of keeping these two pieces of rubbish alive. They are useless regardless, might as well just off them and be done with it.¡± The ck giant and the mermaid giant became furious as they heard that, as they tried to break free from that bizarre freezing power. ¡°Imp... Impossible!!... You want me to submit?!! Do not insult me!!! I am the Giant King Bjorhan!!¡± The ck giant¡¯s muscles rapidly expanded as he roared in fury. Countless ck smoke-like threads started to grow from his ck fist. All of the threads wrapped around his fist quickly and formed into a ck metal gauntlet. ¡°Aaaahhhhh!!!¡± With a fist, he broke free from the shackles of Tenko Kasumi¡¯s sword as he turned around and charged toward Kasumi behind him. His massive fist shot out like a missile, before suddenly hovering barely half a meter away from Kasumi¡¯s face. *Huff!* A gust of wind sent Kasumi¡¯s hair dancing wildly, yet the fist could not advance any further. ¡°Very well. Now you¡¯ve proven that you are not rubbish.¡± A shred of appreciation appeared in Kasumi¡¯s eyes. ¡°To be able to break out of my sword will shackle, you must be something! I recognize your martial prowess!¡± The ck giant opened its mouth, yet it could not make any sound. At that range, it was deprived even of its right to roar out in fury. ¡°Can you feel it?¡± A menacing grin appeared on Kasumi¡¯s face. ¡°This is my sword domain, Voiceless Silence.¡± She stretched her slender index finger out and gently touched the ck giant¡¯s forehead. ¡°Your blood... ¡°It¡¯s too noisy.¡± *Hisss... Hiss...* With the pointing of her finger, the blood flow within the ck giant¡¯s body started to rapidly slow down, growing slower and slower. In less than ten seconds, his blood had been forced from a boiling state to a state of stagnation. ¡°Do you know what will never ever make a sound?¡± Tenko Kasumi¡¯s finger expanded into a palm as she gently touched the ck giant¡¯s face. ¡°Only death is without a sound.¡± ¡°Enough, Tenko Kasumi.¡± The male voice from the throne rang out coldly. Tenko Kasumi smiled as she took a step back. ¡°I¡¯m just joking with him no? He was the one that tore my dear little Fairy King¡¯s arm off. I just wanted to teach him a little lesson.¡± ¡°The Fairy King¡¯s arm can be reattached. Pay it no mind,¡± Lin Sheng calmly said from above. ¡°Alright, as you say, Divine Emperor.¡± Tenko Kasumi smiled as she backed away, as the terrifying and repressive pressure faded away as she stepped back. All of the frozen sounds once again returned to the surroundings. The ck giant fell onto the ground, even when barely any time had passed. However, that short moment was enough to make itpletely lose its fighting power. All of the blood in his body had been forcibly stagnated, resulting in many parts of his body suffering unspeakable mdies. Lin Sheng sat on the throne of the giants, looking down below. The two giant kings froze as they were intimidated by Tenko Kasumi. And all around them was a simrly intimidated crowd. All of those who were able toe in here from the deste environment outside, meant that all those present here were all living beings or Darkspirits of a certain caliber. That was the reason Lin Sheng wanted to give the twin giant kings a chance. He needed more troops, and more strong people under his banner to conquer more Darkspirit Realms. ¡°Big brother!¡± The mermaid giant looked at the ck giant in despair and fell into a state of worry and anger. His elder brother¡¯s ability to break free from the shackles of the sword¡¯s will did not mean that he could do the same. The mermaid giant struggled frantically as he tried to break free from the invisible shackles that bound him. But his actual strength was far weaker than his elder brother¡¯s. If the ck giant¡¯s strength was equivalent to the top-level Ptinates, almost at the level of the Ptinates from the Three Hidden Realms, then his was merely amoner-level Ptinate. Amoner-level Ptinate, only learn through self-study and werepletely iparable to the Hidden Realms Ptinates from the academies. Whether it was power or his natural aura, this was the level the mermaid giant was. The weakest level of the Ptinates. If it weren¡¯t for his elder brother, Lin Sheng would have not bothered trying to recruit a weakling like that mermaid giant. The mermaid giant¡¯s struggle and painful roars created a vaguely tragic atmosphere in the hall. ¡°Tenko Kasumi, lift it,¡± Lin Shengmanded coldly. *Hah.* Instantly, the crushing pressure on top of the giant kings disappeared. The two giants first shuddered before jumping up at the same time and rushed toward the pce gate. While in the air, the ck giant turned around and sted out a backhanded strike toward Lin Sheng. That strike was extremely heavy, and the moment heshed out, the air howled as a tidal wave-like distortion sted out from the fist toward Lin Sheng. The distortion was a shock wave created by the pure force of strength. On the surface, it looked like a natural shock wave from the punch. In actuality, it was a full-force attack using every ounce of the ck giant¡¯s training. If anyone was to see that distortion as an ordinary aftershock, that meant the person was dead meat. Lin Sheng watched as the distorted shockwave flew at it. He held his hand out to stop Tenko Kasumi from intercepting the attack, and instead stretched his left hand out before him. The stretched out palm was blocking the distorted shockwave head-on. Chapter 461 - Pursuit: Part 3

    Chapter 461: Pursuit: Part 3

    *Poof!!* With a soft bang. The distorted shockwave was forcibly squeezed and ttened, as it tried to break through Lin Sheng¡¯s palm. Yet, even when his palm was barely a tenth of the shockwave¡¯s size, it was blocking it in midair. Soon, the invisible shockwave had nowhere to go and simply annihted itself upon Lin Sheng¡¯s palm. The shockwave was simply just dealt with like any usual shockwave as Lin Sheng just cast it aside without any effort. That scene sent chills down the ck giant¡¯s spine. This was another top-level elite whose power seemed to be limitless. The moment he understood what had happened, even he started to doubt himself. Did the attack he justunched was nothing but an aftershock? If not for the fact that half of the shock energy within his body had been expended, indicating that the attack had struck true. He would have needed to reconsider his life options. ¡°How... How is that possible?!¡± Upon seeing that very scene, the mermaid giant too wondered if his elder brother had forgotten to use his powers. That short dy allowed the recovered Centaur Lord to block the entrance of the hall, cutting off their path of exit. At the same time, Kasumi¡¯s sword domain was only unshackled for the two of them, aside from everyone else from the Holy Sanctum. That meant that all of the warriors and warlocks under the giant kings¡¯mand stood where they stand unmovingly as if they were frozen in amber. ¡°Get back there!¡± The war spear blocked the two giant kings. Now it was the Centaur Lord¡¯s moment. Barely seconds ago, he was struggling and fighting for his life like a cornered dog. The moment his boss and Tenko Kasumi arrived, the entire situation turned in his favor. For a dying mongrel to suddenly be the alpha, the Centaur Lord blocked the door, as he stared at the two defeated giant kings with a high and mighty gaze. ¡°Weren¡¯t you lot all high and mighty earlier? Didn¡¯t you lot said you were going to kill me? Huhhh??¡± Every bone within the Centaur Lord¡¯s body was reeling in schadenfreude pleasure. It was at this moment he realized what it was like to have a head honcho to fall back on, especially when that head honcho was someone particrly reliable. The opponent who had almost beaten him to a pulp, was now at the mercy of him beating them into one. The sensation was simply beyond words! The Centaur Lord¡¯s fistnded heavily on the ck giant¡¯s right cheek. A loud smash rang out, and the ck giant king was sent flying before rolling backward and crashing hard into the center of the hall. Hended on the ground right before Lin Sheng. Looking at the ck giant not being able to muster any resistance at all, the Centaur Lord felt a rush running through his spine all the way up to the back of his head, and his whole body felt like he was on cloud nine. ¡°That felt effin¡¯ good!¡± The Centaur Lord let out a heartyugh, and that very moment, his loyalty toward the Divine Emperor shot through the roof. He wasughing his heart out now, while the two giant kings felt like they wanted to puke blood. The Centaur Lord, who was almostid low by them bare moments earlier, was now talking smack and showing off before them in a blink of an eye. The two giant kings¡¯ boil boiled with wicked fire when they saw the Centaur Lord¡¯s gleeful, ugly triumphant face. Just by looking at his face alone gave them the urge to brutally clobber the Centaur Lord to death, much less the reversal of fortune at this moment. ¡°Still not submitting? Tough bones, eh?¡± The Centaur Lord sneered, ¡°No worries, this old hack loves those with tough bones. Heh heh!¡± He smirked as he put away his war spear, and walked toward the two giant kings while rubbing his palms. The heck was an old hack? What did the Centaur Lord learnt from you?? Lin Sheng stared at Tenko Kasumi speechlessly. When he was away, he was relying on Kasumi to coordinate the entire situation. The Centaur Lord only mingled with people who were stronger than him, so he listened to Tenko Kasumi the most. Lin Sheng had previously gotten Kasumi to impart some of themon knowledge of the real world to a few of themanders. It could be considered as a supplementary lesson inmon sense. Now, it seemed like its effect... Seeing the two giant kings struggling on the ground like a beaten concubine, as they fearfully trying to move away from the approaching Centaur Lord. Lin Sheng could not help but feel like facepalming. Where the heck did the scene just skidded off to? He was there to subdue two Ptinates, not to watch a live broadcast of an adult video. ¡°Are you submitting or not?!¡± The Centaur Lord¡¯s triumphant cackle rang out in the hall. ¡°Just kill me!! I will not surrender even if your dad drops dead!¡± ¡°...No... No! Submit! I submit! I submit!!¡± The ck giant king hugged his brother in agony as he pulled thetter back. If they did not submit now, they would be yed alive by that centaur bastard. There were so many of their underlings around, and their many children as well. If they were to be skinned and strung up by their weewee, it would be a colossal humiliation! Even if they die, it would be remembered for ten millennia toe. Not to mention, that the Centaur Lord sure was effective. Watching the Centaur Lord that was staring at the two giant kings below, it felt like the former wanted to kill them by using his stares. That made Lin Sheng think that if he should let the Centaur Lord bing a go full time as a torturer to force out confessions and information? Compared with fighting, perhaps the torture chamber was a ce that suited him much better. In order to protect their own image, the two tough guys finally bent the knee to Lin Sheng after being humiliated by the Centaur Lord and became part of the Darkspirit Army serving as his generals. The power of the Darkspirit King once again expanded and became even more powerful. After subduing the giant kings, Lin Sheng finally found the third fragment in the giant king¡¯s pce. Within the giant¡¯s treasure trove, the fragmenty deep within the trove in the form of a crystal ball for thousands of years. If not for Lin Sheng¡¯s appearance, perhaps the giant kings would never understand that the crystal ball in their treasure trove would be such an important fragment. That was because there were at least a few hundred more crystal orbs simr to that within the trove. Every one of those orbs had the exact identical appearance, even sharing the same pattern and texture. It was only because Lin Sheng had the first fragment that he could sense the aura of the fragment, and picked it out from the rest. After Lin Sheng entered the treasure vault, he quickly picked out various treasures. He did not just pick that crystal orb alone, and instead concealed it alongside therge pile of treasures he took out. Gold, crystals, precious stones, silver, and all sorts of precious treasures and all sorts of equipment with strange powers. The giant kings¡¯ treasure trove had greatly enriched Lin Sheng¡¯s personal treasury as a Darkspirit King, and the Holy Emperor. Now that he had found the third fragment in the Darkspirit Realm, he was ready to merge them at any time and begin mastering the power of the Dark Wheel. Back in reality. Faldt who was possessing Mi Yue was an Underworld Deimer that was beyond the level of a Ptinate had finally stepped foot on the soil of Redwin¡¯s Heaven Spire. At the same time... All across the world, all of those holding the Sacred Vessels of Destiny had heard the guidance from the Great Sage of the Astral Mere. He led them all toward a small town in Redwin called Deschel as they assembled all of the powers of the Sacred Vessels to fight back against the Underworld Deimer, Faldt. Chapter 462 - Strength: Part 1

    Chapter 462: Strength: Part 1

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Xylond frontier, in a wooden hut of an abandoned manor. Sunlight shone through the faint ck mist onto the ground, forming bizarre twisted lines. The cabin¡¯s wooden door opened with a creak. Adolf looked haggard, his beard unshaven as he walked out of the room and looked up to the sky. As the Ashen World¡¯s encroachment already reached such a severe stage?¡± He sighed again. Even though the Ashen World and the cktide¡¯s encroachment were getting more and more serious, those with the Sacred Vessels of Destiny were not affected by them. Their powers were enough to shield them from the surrounding ash and ck mist. After learning they have the Sacred Vessels of Destiny, they would sooner orter be found by the terrifying foes from the Ashen World. Adolf pondered for a long time, beforeing out with a lousy lie before leaving Sherminton, the city where he was born. Leaving Lin Sheng, his master whose grace to him was high as a mountain, leaving all of the loving elders and friends from the Holy Sanctum. Upon learning that the enemy was strong to the point that he would shudder, Adolf knew that his future would see him go solo. He could not involve anyone else in this. For others, it was just too dangerous. 1Adolf reached out to pull out a letter he had just received and the fine handwriting on it clearly recorded how the Faldt the Underworld Deimer had massacred the Ptinates, how he froze tens of thousands and sent them into the icy grave at the bottom of the ocean. ¡°Bybining the powers of everyone, we will be able to call upon the ultimate power, and reshape everything? What are these Sacred Vessels of Destiny...¡± Adolf sighed as he put away the letter, and put on a wide-brimmed round hat and pulled down the front as he left into the distance. This trip, whether he came back dead or alive, it should at least achieve something. If he seeded, then everything would return to how it was. If he failed, the worst oue would be him dying outside, and not dragging his friends and family together with him. This was Adolf¡¯s determination. ... Lin Sheng had never thought he would get to where he was today. Sitting in the rough stone hall of the Darkspirit Pce, a cup of piping hot tea was before him and faint white steam was piping out of the hot tea. The stone hall was not big, about the size of a basketball court. There were round entrances at the front and back of it, while the armor and weapons taken from the giant king¡¯s treasure trove were on disy on the left and right side of it. A huge crystal chandelier with candles hung overhead. The ground was carpeted with red carpets, and a tall statue of him riding Gorefiend was erected at the center. Lin Sheng gently stroked the crystal ball. The surface of the sphere was smooth and cold, and within it was a silver neb rotating slowly, radiating light. The entire orb was silver-blue in shade, its base was made out of an unknown pale-red wood that exuded a fresh fragrance. ¡°Now that my dark powers have basically reached the Oppressor-ss, it would not be easy to climb up further. My goal was to use my dark powers to enhance my holy power, and to stimte it. But in fact, now that I¡¯ve entered the ranks of the Ptinates, dark powers are not that useful now.¡± Lin Sheng pondered about the powers that he had within him. He had mastered a lot of powers, but they were a hodgepodge and unpure. ¡°Dark powers, Dragonblood powers, Holy powers, Soul powers, all of them will affect the further enhancement of my powers. If I want to increase the quality and purity of my powers, I would need to make a choice.¡± Lin Sheng was very clear that his body was, in fact, a massivepressor. Only by concentrating on the purity of single energy that he could speed the process up and reach a higher level of quality. Ever since he broke through the ranks of the Ptinates with the help of his holy power, he felt that his strength was improving ever slower. It would take a long time for him to umte the dark powers needed to go beyond Oppressor-ss. While his holy powers had just recently broken through and had yet to stabilize... On the other hand, the strength of his Dragonblood powers was fixed. That was dependent on chance and the purity of his blood. Right now, he was already at a rather saturated stage for his Dragonblood ratio. If he wanted to continue further, he could only improve the purity of his Dragonblood. However, purity was not something that could be increased willy-nilly, it had to undergo simrpression and purification. ¡°The powers within my body is just too much a hodgepodge, there isn¡¯t an environment for purification. So I need to make a choice.¡± Lin Sheng picked up the cup of hot tea and gently sipped it. The faint aroma of the tea refreshed his heart and soul, and he could not help but feeling refreshed. ¡°For me, the dark powers can be given up first. I don¡¯t have the talent for it, and learning it was just as a bypass.¡± He first crossed out dark powers. ¡°Next, the Dragonblood abilities. This has to depend on the type of bloodline. The Dragonblood was originally used to strengthen my body to store more holy power. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve broken through the ranks of the Ptinates, in theory, I can continuouslymunicate with the Tidal Gates and draw the chaotic souls from the Soultide, and convert them into pure holy power.¡± ¡°So, I can temporarily put it aside.¡± ¡°Third, chaotic souls... This was an idental power I¡¯ve gotten after making contact with the Soultide. While it is limitless, but there¡¯s no system to it, and advancing through it would be difficult, and there are no clear directions either.¡± Lin Sheng mused. ¡°I cannot put this aside for now. The essence of holy power is the soul, after all. I should use my soul as the core, constantly strengthening and purifying it.¡± The core of everything was the soul. Lin Sheng finally thought things through, and quickly decided on what to be his core focus. ¡°My soul power is my root. Both holy and dark powers are just derivatives of it.¡± He then finished the cup of tea and stood up. Picking up the crystal orb, Lin Sheng slowly walked into the inner hall. This Darkspirit Pce was built together by the Darkspirit and Fairy artisans ordered by Djall Demonhand and the Fairy King. At first, it was built by the Demonhand tribe. Then the high echelons of the Fairy Kingdom, aside from the Fairy King, in order to butter Lin Sheng up, began to take turns to handle things around him. The increasingly luxurious and glorious pce interior was one of them. This was the most fascinating part of power. ¡°With power, everything else wille naturally.¡± This sentence shed across Lin Sheng¡¯s heart. He walked under the que in the inner hall and looked up at the que with ¡®Hall of Yin and Yang¡¯ engraved on it, before walking it inrge strides. Guarding the inner hall was two powerful half-human half insect Darkspirit Generals. They had the form of a human male for their upper body, with a centaur-like giant insectoid lower body. Dozens of pairs of dense ck arthropod legs kept them steady as they stood. These powerful warriors, covered in ck oily carapace knelt on one knee and saluted Lin Sheng silently as they saw himing. Lin Sheng did not pay any attention to them but looked straight toward the mysterious de stuck to the ground in the middle of the hall. After a long while, the Dark Wheel had undergone another unknown change. The de itself had shrunk a lot, and even its shape was thinner now. ¡°Now I have the third fragment... Come, show me what you will turn into once all three fragments are merged...¡± Lin Sheng held his hand out, and gently held onto the hilt on the de. Then, with another hand, he held the crystal orb and gently pushed it upwards. *Hiss...* Then, something incredible happened. The crystal orb became like a softened liquid as it floated while being gently absorbed, fusing into the surface of the de. In just a few seconds, the crystal orb hadpletely disappeared from Lin Sheng¡¯s hand. Chapter 463 - Strength: Part 2

    Chapter 463: Strength: Part 2

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Lin Sheng calmly held the giant de and quickly absorbed the holy power he had left on the de for security. In order to prevent other beings from touching this treasure, Lin Sheng had infused the surface of the de with a concentrated dose of holy power to better iste its aura. At the same time, the concentrated holy power could also protect the treasure at the same time. If there was someone who wanted to take the de away, the person would be immediately detected by Lin Sheng and tracked. Unless the other party was able to dispel the concentrated holy power on the de. However, if such an adversary were to appear, wouldn¡¯t it be easier for them to barge right in to seize it rather than stealing it? Lin Sheng dispersed the holy power on the surface of the de as he quietly looked at the Dark Wheel formed by the fusion of the three fragments. *ck.* A sudden crack rang out. The giant de in his hand suddenly cracked and fell into the ground before melting and disintegrating. It was just like an ice cream dissolved under the sunlight, with the dissolving being countless of times faster. Lin Sheng did not even manage to react as he saw the de in his hand disintegrating and falling on the ground before bing a ck viscous liquid without a sound. In a blur, he even heard the faint humming of insects and the rustling of raindrops against the leaves. The sound very quickly became the sound of waves crashing on the reef. Then as if there was someone whispering his ears, and numerous images shing before him. Arge amount of knowledge and information was turned into a seemingly tangible ck smole, as they evaporated from the ck viscous liquid at Lin Sheng¡¯s foot. His entire body was soon surrounded by the ck smoke containing countless sounds of knowledge and information. Time seemed to slow down at that very moment. As countless of knowledge about Darkspirit powers poured quickly into his mind. It was a wondrous feeling. Rather than simply stuffing a boatload of knowledge into Lin Sheng¡¯s mind, the process was instead through aplete scenario, a method that was more general and vague yetplete, allowing him to clearly understand the root of the Darkspirit powers. ¡°Dark...¡± A hazy female voice murmured in Lin Sheng¡¯s ear. ¡°Dark... ¡°Dark...¡± The voice kept repeating itself. Just like hypnosis, Lin Sheng¡¯s mind soon felt drowsy. He slowly closed his eyes, as a massive gray wheel slowly appeared from the darkness before him. The wheel was like a massive gearwheel, with four iys on the edge. Soon, each other iyed objects appeared in their slots. One of them was the ck crystal column. Another was the white bone chip... And another one was the crystal orb... While the final one was empty. *Creaaakk...* The giant wheel turned slowly, but due to a missing iy, it let out a creak seemingly being overwhelmed and breaking down. It was as if a missing iy caused the entire giant wheel to not be able to rotate smoothly. Lin Sheng watched the giant wheel and saw countless intricate patterns of flora and fauna, mountains, and rivers by the edge of the wheel, and on the surface were countless of words that crawled about like bugs. Rather than a wheel, it was more like a round mysterious treasure. Lin Sheng opened his mouth and wanted to speak. Before he could recover, a small mouth suddenly opened in the center of the great wheel, as three streams of blood-like current flowed out of it without a sound. With a ssh, the blood streams quickly got close and circled around Lin Sheng before entering his chest. Three separate blood streams left three different tiny patterns on Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. The three patterns then formed into aplex circr wheel. Lin Sheng opened his eyes, and unsummoned his armor as he pulled open his cloth and looked down at his chest. Three blood-red marks appeared on his chest. The three marks hadbined together and looked just like a puzzle that was still missing a piece. Uponpleting it, it would be a red circle that would have covered the entirety of his chest. At the heart of the circle was an eye-like pattern. The pattern constantly let out a faint gray glow towards its surrounding as if it was a living thing. Countless of symbols and text patterns could be seen flowing within the light. Lin Sheng look at his hand, the de was no longer there, neither was the ck viscous puddle by his leg. The so-called Dark Wheel seemed to havepletely entered his body. He closed his eyes and felt arge amount of information that had just flowed into his mind. ¡°So this is the so-called Dark Wheel... rather than a Dark Wheel... it¡¯s more like a forbidden tome.¡± The Dark Wheel was a joint creation by 88 of the most powerful Darkspirits during their heyday. At that time, the Darkspirits had no innate abilities. They only had some unique physical structure and did not have any other significant differences. Ever since the superior Darkspirits created this object, though, they had used it through some mysterous means to force the Darkspirits to be a group of people with powerful innate abilities. This treasure was not so much a treasure in itself, rather it was the consolidated essence used by the Darkspirits to breakthrough the mortal limitations of their people, and refined their bloodlines. It was the greatest creation ever made by the most powerful of Darkspirits in order to break through the limitations of their blood and kind. Correspondingly, mastering the Dark Wheel meant did not mean that one would totally understand how to unleash all of the Darkspirit powers. Rather, the person mastering it would gain the 88 protective wards blessed by the superior Darkspirits. ¡°Eighty-eight wards...¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes widened as he held his hand out and gently grasping it. He could feel a wondrous power, much like a force field surrounding his body. The force field had dozens of different auras with different powers within it. Such power was like a giant snake hiding in his shadows, striking when needed. ¡°Eighty-eight different wards, eighty-eight different abilities, and they all can be categorized into four types.¡± Lin Sheng started to ssify based on the information in his mind. ¡°First, the Wheel of Existence that strengthens oneself. ¡°Second, the Wheel of Woe that weakens your foes. ¡°Third, the free-running Wheel of Motion. ¡°Fourth...¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s brow suddenly furrowed. ¡°The fourth piece is iplete... Surely enough, only after collecting thest fragment that I will be able to get the final,plete power. ¡°Of the eighty-eight wards, I have already gotten about seventy from the first three fragments. So only a few final wards are missing, and it seems like the few missing ones are probably the most important few.¡± Lin Sheng was now clear. He looked around him and did not immediately test out the powers of the wards. Rather, he quickly walked out of the inner hall, and out of the Darkspirit Pce amidst the bows of many Darkspirits. He then stepped through the Darkspirit portal where he first got the ck crystal column. *Hiss...* The heavens turned, and just as Lin Sheng recovered from the daze of the teleportation, a pale me rushed towards him. Before he could react, a gray light appeared naturally out of his body, and firmly blocked the gush of mes. Lin Sheng felt his chest to a little warm and looked down at the opened cor. The red wheel pattern on his chest, was in a much clearer shade of red now. Chapter 464 - Strength: Part 3

    Chapter 464: Strength: Part 3

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion ¡°The wards of the Wheel of Existence?¡± Lin Sheng had some thought in mind. He then simply just walked towards the mes. This terrifying Five-wing level frozen mes before him could not even touch his skin. He did not use any of his powers, be it dark or holy powers, or even his Dragonblood powers. Instead, it was the warding abilities he had just obtained was automatically protecting him from everything. Lin Sheng slowlynded from midair inside a massive pale me pir. ¡°There was a slight deviation with the teleportation just now, and it actually sent me directly into the mes.¡± He walked out of the me pir and looked around. With a step, his body leap out easily and towards the distance. After running several kilometers in a direction, Lin Sheng stopped at a slightly elevated hill and looked at the vast terrain around him quietly. All around the nds had geysers of pale mes spewing out. This space was like a severely wounded soldier after a battle, that was on the verge of dying but yet still struggling to survive. ¡°Let¡¯s test things out here.¡± Lin Sheng wanted to test out the power of the wards. He held his hand out and pointed his index finger at a pir of fire in the distance. He then tried to activate the power of the Wheel of Woe. *Bam!* An invisible wave sted out from Lin Sheng¡¯s index finger andnded precisely on the surface of the me pir. Without a sound. The me pir first quickly became transparent, and a few secondster, its color became lighter and lighter before eventually disappearing right where it was as if it did not exist. Lin Sheng put down his finger and waited. But after a while, he did not see the fire piring back to life again. ¡°So that is to say, the Wheel of Woe literally eradicates the opponent¡¯s existence?¡± Lin Sheng fell into thought again. The divine artifact created by the top Darkspirits would naturally contain all of their ideas on what sort of method was the ultimate way to weaken the enemy. In the Darkspirit Realms, the superior Darkspirits all agreed that the answer was topletely eradicate the opponent from the soul onwards. ¡°So, the Wheel of Woe consolidates about a dozen different abilities, and the final ability of the gathered strength, is to totally wipe the opponent¡¯s existence clean?¡± Lin Sheng was clear now. ¡°Then there is there Wheel of Existence that strengthens oneself.¡± Lin Sheng looked down at the chakram pattern on his chest. He then stretched both of his hands out and recalled the information and knowledge in his memory as he gently crossed his fingers before him, signing a round wheel. ¡°Activate!¡± He opened his eyes, as arge amount of blood-red light radiated out of his chest, and engulfed him within it. *Bamm!!* A five-to-six meter wide blood light sted into the sky and stirred the clouds above. Arge number of white clouds were painted red by the blood light as thunder cracked. Soon, the blinding light formed into a massive me on the ground. Within the me, a clear figure slowly opened his arms. ¡°For a Darkspirit, what sort of power is the best to strengthen oneself?¡± ¡°I never thought the answer would be this...¡± Enveloped by the blood light, Lin Sheng could no longer see his face or form, as a pair of golden eyes roiled like a vortex of gilded light. ¡°It¡¯s too powerful... I...I¡¯m even afraid of this kind of me...¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid that if I¡¯m not careful, I¡¯ll end up destroying everything.¡± Lin Sheng raised his eyes and looked into the distance, as he reveled in the infinitely powerful special state he was in. With such power, no one could stop him from doing anything... No one! ... Reality, Redwin¡¯s Heaven Spire. ¡°Hahahahaha!¡± In the gray sky above, Faldt was d in a ck robe as his white hair fluttered wildly by the air current. He wasughing maniacally, as he unleashed circles upon circles of grey energy ripples from his body. The massive energy ripples spread all around, disintegrating all objects and persons that came into contact. The Darksiders of the Heaven Spire beneath formed into an army as their barrages of shots and bombardment all seemed to be separated by a thick quilt, not even allowing the attack to touch Faldt. The carronade and Darksiders spells were like feeble insects trying to break through theyer of gray ripples again and again. However, every time they made contact, the attacks bounced off in futility. ¡°Do you feel despair?¡± Faldtughed. ¡°Such disappointment... Men a few thousand years ago were not that insignificant. Heroes then were numerous, even someone as strong an Underworld Magister like me would need to be wary.¡± ¡°But now? Look at you lot.¡± A shred of disinterest appeared in Faldt¡¯s deep eyes. ¡°What a paradoxical thought... I hope that you can be stronger to let me have some fun, but at the same time, I don¡¯t want you lot to be a little stronger, and waste my strength.¡± ¡°Faldt, are you intent on eradicating the Heaven Spire?¡± At the forefront of many Darksider elites, a burly old man covered in white hair and beard with an eagle perched on his shoulder stared coldly at the Underworld Deimer in the sky. ¡°As a Magister in charge of spells and hexes in the Underworld, why did you not serve the Lord of the Underworld properly bute here instead? Are you not afraid of the turmoils in the Underworld?¡± The old man spoke calmly, but what he said revealed a clear understanding of the Underworld. ¡°Oh?¡± Faldt was slightly surprised. ¡°Seems like there are some people on thisnd that still remembers the existence of Faldt.¡± He looked down towards the old man. This was the first time he had looked at someone straight in the eye since Visaca Ind. ¡°For a mere human to know the internal situation of the great Underworld. It seems like I need to reevaluate my assessment of the Heaven Spire.¡± Heughed. ¡°So what if you destroy thisnd? We will simply just hide in the Hidden Realms, ande out a few decadester and to start everything all over again. But how about you? Faldt, the Underworld Deimer who left the Underworld secretly. I wonder what sort of price you will have to pay to survive this disaster when you get back.¡± The old man¡¯s expression was chilly as if the extinction of most of mankind was not a big deal in his eyes. ¡°Such callousness... Inparison, the number of people who can take shelter in the Hidden Realm is vastly different from the outside world. And you are willing to give everything up with just a sentence?¡± Faldt was somewhat surprised by his opposition¡¯s resolve. ¡°Wasn¡¯t that end game of what Mi Yue wanted? The end of the old era, and the beginning of the new one?¡± The old man sneered. Beside him, the remaining of the Heaven Spire¡¯s Darksiders looked furious, as they faced turned red. Clearly many knew of this terrible future. When they looked at Faldt, each and every one of them wanted to rush forward and fight him. After all, most of the Darksider¡¯s friends and family were all in the real world, and the Hidden Realms could not amodate that many people. So, the destruction of the real world would mean destroying their friends and loved ones. No one would ept such an oue. ¡°Is that so?¡± Faldt raised an eyebrow. ¡°If that is the case, let me see then, how many of you are willing to hide inside the Hidden Realm...¡± He looked on thoughtfully at the Darksiders behind the elder. ¡°Since words failed, then go on. If you want to destroy the Heaven Spire, then let¡¯s see what price you are willing to pay for it!¡± The elder¡¯s gaze turned chilly, as a massive ice staff quickly appeared in his hand. ¡°Formation!¡± His staff vibrated. In an instant, a huge silver magic circle lit up on the ground, and Faldt was right in the center of it in the air. Chapter 465 - The Final Piece: Part 1

    Chapter 465: The Final Piece: Part 1

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Amidst the melodious harp tune, a bard in a butterfly-like magnificent robe was gently ying a Fairy Kingdom-style psalm. The gender of the gentle voice was difficult to distinguish as the neutral and soft tone made all of themanders present nod in unison. The psalm was created by the old nobility of the Fairy Kingdom. The songs were beautiful, the tune melodious, the words eloquent yet philosophical. ¡°But, isn¡¯t it a little too embarrassing to sing songs of me right in my face?¡± Lin Sheng sat on the Darkspirit Throne, and looked at the Centaur Lord on his side, and the Fairy King on his right. The Centaur Lord was shaking his head, seemingly entranced by the song. The Fairy King instead just closed her eyes and enjoyed the wine, her expression remained unchanged. In any case, her single eye covered almost her entire face, and one could not see any expression regardless. Djall Demonhand was ranked lower in this hall that is ced by strength. While this made the Demonhand tribe uneasy, but in reality, he was just too weak. The twin giant kings, who had only just surrendered, sat at the end of the table with nk faces as they ate and drank without a word. *Tap... Tap... Tap...* A series of heavy footsteps suddenly came from outside the hall. ¡°The Sin Dragon Matriarch of the Dragon¡¯s Barrow has arrived!¡± The voice of the herald only then rang out. ¡°The Sin Dragon Matriarch?¡± Many of themanders were slightly startled. They had learned of the existence of the Dragon¡¯s Barrow from Lin Sheng and Tenko Kasumi, but they had no idea of the exact details and had never seen its powerful members. And this was the time for them to meet their foreign new member. As the footsteps closed in, a voluptuous blonde beauty in a dark ck dress approached the gate and walked into the hall with a calm smile. Amidst the melodious singing, the Sin Dragon Matriarch stood in the middle on the hall and bowed with a slightly bent knee to Lin Sheng. ¡°Oh great Darkspirit King, your servant, the Sin Dragon Matriarch is here with the many Dragon Souls of the Dragon¡¯s Barrow is here to serve you.¡± The Sin Dragon Matriarch¡¯s voice slightly husky, with subtle softness and allure to it, it was not difficult to imagine what sort of beauty she when she was alive. If not for the ghastly pallor of the dead on her face, almost every single one of themanders present, someone like the Centaur Lord would definitely pursue her. ¡°I want to take her as my wife!¡± The Centaur Lord¡¯s eyes straightened at the first sight of the Sin Dragon Matriarch. He could not control the spittle foaming in his throat as his blood flowed as if it was boiling. His eyes quickly turned bloodshot, revealing a trace of indescribable desire and expectation. ¡°Sure.¡± Lin Sheng could not help but smile. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind the Sin Dragon Matriarch being ten times your size, I¡¯m pretty sure she would be d to ept your pursuit. That¡¯s on the premise that you are not crushed to death on the first bedding.¡± ¡°Ugh...¡± The Centaur Lord felt like being poured with a bucket of cold water as the roiling blood in his eyes faded away, before scratching his head embarrassedly. He was a top elite who can control his blood and was stronger than most Ptinates. So every time he sees someone, blood will shoot up his head, as he bore the look of fighting impulsively at any time. Without a doubt, that was faked, or he actually wanted to do it. He was clearly a powerful Centaur Lord, with a powerful constitution, yet the Centaur Lord was the least impulsive of all. So, he quickly broke out of the state of fascination and returned to normal. ¡°Forget about it, I¡¯ll leave her to the strongest ones like Your Highness to enjoy.¡± ¡°You need to learn humility when facing the strong!¡± She never thought she would be vited by such uncouthnguage, being taken no more than an object. The Sin Dragon Matriarch, standing below the hall as a stern look shed in her eyes as a ck force field condensed into a line and shot towards the Centaur Lord. *Bamm!!* The Centaur Lord reacted and stomped on the ck force field line with one of his hooves. ¡°Impudence! His Highness is here, and you still dared tomit the breach of peace here!? Or are you making light of His Highness! Is the Dragon¡¯s Barrow nning a revolt now? HUH?¡± He quickly rose and yelled. The Sin Dragon Matriarch¡¯s lips opened slightly, and she waspletely astounded by the Centaur Lord¡¯s absoluteck of shame. She had never expected that such a fearsome warrior would be that good at tarnishing someone as he painted her with all sorts of tags with surprising crity. ¡°I am just responding to your disrespect for those who are stronger. As the weaker one, you must learn humility!¡± The Sin Dragon Matriarch was no push-over either, having lived for thousands of years. ¡°If not for His Highness¡¯ presence here, you would be dead as a fertilizer in the Dragon¡¯s Barrow!¡± Her voice was chilly, as the stench of death exuded out of it. ¡°Hehehe, you could try.¡± The Centaur Lord was not afraid. ¡°Impudent fool!¡± The Sin Dragon Matriarch was provoked into a rage and wanted to strike. ¡°Silence!¡± Tenko Kasumi, seating by a corner growled in irritation. ¡°I can¡¯t even hear the damn music anymore! If you wanna fight, go outside, and don¡¯t disturb me listening to the music!¡± She said again, and both the Sin Dragon Matriarch and the Centaur Lord piped down and did not say anything else. Both of them knew how strong Kasumi was. Of all present, aside from His Highness the Darkspirit King, none of them were a match for Tenko Kasumi. ¡°Alright. Have a seat, Sin Dragon Matriarch.¡± Lin Sheng said with impable timing. ¡°Musicians, stand down.¡± He looked at the fairy musicians by the side of the stone pir to the right. The court musician immediately motioned for the bard to stop, before quickly bringing him away from the hall. Soon, the fairy attendants all fluttered their wings as the hall lit up with tiny green fluorescence light as they ced a lot of cold dishes like fruits and wine on the low table before the variousmanders. The stone gate of the main hall slowly closed under the drive of the magic circle. Lin Sheng swept his gaze on all of the elites present. On the left were Tenko Kasumi, the Fairy King, and the Giant King brothers. On the right was the Centaur Lord, the Sin Dragon Matriarch, and Djall Demonhand. In a blink of an eye, he had already taken five Ptinate-level beings into his ranks. The Darkspirit Pce had grown into a giant beast in an unbelievable speed. Themanders were all Ptinates, while below then were Darkspirit Marshalls. There were few powerful elites at this level among the Fairy King and the Centaur Lord¡¯s men as well. While the Dragon Souls from the Dragon¡¯s Barrow all had Ptinate-levelbat prowess, they had notpletely submitted to Lin Sheng, but only obeyed the Sin Dragon Matriarch. The Darkspirit Marshalls were beneath the Ptinates and belonged to the apex of Six Wings, and collectively, the Darkspirit could muster at least two digits worth. The third was the Darkspirit Generals. There were many elites at this level, and even the Darkspirit Cavern itself had hundreds, and Lin Sheng¡¯s earlier experiments had also created a good number of such monsters. In addition, there were hundreds from the Fairy Kingdom and the Centaur Lord as well. These elites were equivalent to a Three-winged Darksider. As for the lower level Darkspirits, they were tens of thousands in number. The Darkspirit Pce could now go toe to toe with the Three Great Hidden Realms back in reality. But this was not enough. Lin Sheng wanted more than that. ¡°I¡¯m d that all of you havee here on time.¡± Lin Sheng held his hands out and said. ¡°This is the Darkspirit Pce, the supreme ce of the Darkspirit Realm, and it will also be the foundation of my unification of all Darkspirits in the future.¡± His voice rang far out and rolled like thunder outside the pce. Not only all of themanders in the hall could hear it, a few Darkspirit Generals outside could hear it as well. ¡°I have summoned all of you here today, is to bestow upon you a path of greater power,¡± Lin Sheng said. Chapter 466 - The Final Piece: Part 2

    Chapter 466: The Final Piece: Part 2

    ¡°An even higher strength?¡± Sin Dragon Matriarch¡¯s heart missed a beat; she became suspicious. For as long as she lived, she had never seen anyone so retarded to give out one¡¯s strength to others. Was the Dark Spirit King a dumbass? No way. She observed Tenko Kasumi from the corner of her eye. The red-haired woman seemed not to have any expression on her face. It was all vapidness and boredom. Just like Sin Dragon Matriarch, the others fell into amotion. The Centaur King could not have cared less; he decided to follow Lin Sheng and would abide whatever decisions he made. ¡°It seems, my Lord, you are looking down on our strengths! Actually, it depends. But since this is a perk my Lord is going to endow us, it¡¯s all the more wee!¡± He guffawed, bending over backward to show his loyalty. When the big brother spoke, support must be shown. An awkward silence would make him lose face. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it,¡± the Fairy Empress echoed. Her amputated arm had been reattached, looking as if it was back in shape. Djall Demonhand went into bootlicking mode. ¡°Your will is ourmand, My Lord.¡± The Giant King brothers said nothing, their faces deadpan. They had just been defeated, the treasure vault looted. No way they could be in the mood now. But Lin Sheng could not have cared less. ¡°In fact, I really don¡¯t like how weak you all are. Times are changing. We can¡¯t keep our strength stagnant.¡± Stretching out his hand with the palm facing upward, a pure-white holy power light sphere appeared and hovered a few centimeters above his palm. ¡°This power is called ¡®holy power¡¯. The strength of the holy power is higher than that of the soul power, more powerful than all your strengths. If you have doubts, you can try it out yourselves.¡± Lin Sheng closed his hand, shattering the sphere in an instant with several beams of holy power shot up to themanders. The beams reformed and turned into smaller holy power spheres. ¡°You can test the holy power sphere with your own power to find out which is more powerful. Then, if you have decided to acquire this new power,e to see me. I will grant you the Seed of Initiation.¡± That said, he proceeded to the next agenda, without giving time for themanders to ask questions. Extending his hand again, a blue aqua sphere materialized beside the Fairy Empress. When it flew up before Lin Sheng, he tapped it with his finger, and it dispersed and formed a transparent polyhedron that was several meters in diameter before everyone. Inside, the image of a ck desert gradually appeared, stretching all the way out and bing one with the sky on the horizon. On the dark desert was a horned camel trudging through the endless dunes, above which hung a scorching hot purple sun. It was a ce where everything looked distorted because of the searing heat waves. ¡°This is the dark spirit world you all are going to conquer,¡± said Lin Sheng. ¡°Generally, we will use the existence of pure soul living beings like the dark spirits to determine if a realm is a dark spirit world.¡± He pointed at the horned camel. ¡°So long as the ce could support the existence of soul creatures, it would be one of the lower realms of my Dark Spirit Pce. The one you see here is bigger than normal. You all are going to check the ce out to determine if we will categorize it as a dark spirit world. I want aprehensive report ready in three days, telling me how long it takes for us to conquer this small world.¡± ¡°At yourmand!¡± Allmanders bowed in response. They did not know why Lin Sheng wanted to conquer so many tiny dark spirit realms, but since their lord said so, they would do it. Lin Sheng did not tell anyone of his intention of finding the final piece of the fragments. And he was not going to tell anyone about the Dark Wheel, too. Only by keeping his cards close to his chest, could he ensure he was always on top of his game. By hiding your strength, no one could plot against you. Your enemy will think twice if they want to attack because they do not know your real strengths and weaknesses. They do not want to attack you blindly only to bring about their own destruction. Next, it was time to get some idea about the development of the Dark Spirit Pce. Djall Demonhand was the one who handled the matter. He was sort of the manager of the Dark Spirit Pce, strength-wise so so, but he was representing Lin Sheng¡¯s will. So no one at the meeting dared to look down on him. Djall Demonhand stepped forward and presented his report about thetest developments. Among the things were the preliminary exploration of the dark desert of the newly discovered dark spirit cave. The finding of settlements that looked like a human race and their cities spiked up the interest of themanders. The meeting ended only after more than an hour. Themanders returned to their respective territories, gathering their armies to conquer the ck desert. Meanwhile, Lin Sheng was back to the Hall of Yin and Yang, starting to sort out his strength system. If he wanted to purify himself and elevate the quality of his strength to the best condition, he would need a perfectly sealed environment devoid of any impurity. Among the eighty-eight guards of the Dark Wheel, there was one that would meet Lin Sheng¡¯s need. The eighty-eight guards, when used in general, could manifest in four major categories. But Lin Sheng could use any of them independently. Although the missing fragment meant he mightck some key guards, the existing guards he could use might be able to achieve the result. After sorting out things about the dark spirit realms, Lin Sheng returned to Henricqal through the portal. It had been a while since he wasst back. He almost forgot the influence of the asynchronous time flow. Sometimes, he really thought he had been away for many days, and he needed to call his family to tell them he was OK. Then he was told he had just called yesterday. In the real world, Henricqal looked exactly like when hest saw it. Like a precision instrument, just at arger scale, life went on as usual under the protection of the Tower of Dusk. Henricqal had so uniquely developed that it had the Sanctum as the core, with the clerics as the core social system. The clergy had slowly be an emerging profession. They cultivated holy power. They were active in many fields. Using their supernatural power, they helped people by healing them. Due to the favorable perception of the people toward the holy power, and the mental purification and fatigue alleviation effects of the purification force field, the Sanctum, and its clerics had gained higher social status and gradually became synonymous with positive mainstream power. In the people¡¯s minds, the holy light was justice and majesty, the power of kindness, and the healing of the mind and body. Chapter 467 - The Final Piece: Part 3

    Chapter 467: The Final Piece: Part 3

    Lin Sheng calcted the time he had spent in the dark spirit world. He had stayed there for over a month, yet it was less than a week on the outside world. The different time streams confused him about the date. Walking in the streets of a safe zone in Henricqal, he looked at the buildings. They were used to being abandoned. But now, because of the influx of people, they were upied. The clean electric vehicles had reced many cars that burned fossil fuel. Most electric vehicles were modified to be smaller and practical. Space was limited in the safe zone. To amodate more people and improve the congested streets, the owners of the workshops in Baine University had created these new types of electric vehicles. They were half the size of regr vehicles and capable of low altitude flying, greatly alleviating the traffic overcrowding in the area. Lin Sheng watched as cars ran on the streets and flew between buildings. This supposed to be the wonder of the future had appeared before his eyes. ¡°Henricqal is nearlyplete. Because of the Hand of the Underworld, I¡¯ve almost forgotten about the Sanctum of Dusk; it needs upgrading. It¡¯s time to do so now.¡± He walked at a leisurely pace, leaving the research center and soon arriving at the Sanctum division. The Sanctum of Dusk had umted a high amount of holy power. The great holy power font had been overflowing for a long time. The escaped holy power had filled the air with white spots that glowed in fluorescent light. These things were holy crystals. When the sanctum needed holy power, the holy crystals would automatically convert back into the pure, holy power. Lin Sheng stepped in the sanctum, into the prayer hall, alerting no one. No one was here. The door was locked. Outside of prayer time, no one was allowed toe into this ce. He came in front of the prayer altar and closed his eyes. A massive map of Henricqal popped up in front of his eyes in the dark. The map rotated clockwise like a sand table at the will of Lin Sheng. Then came a faint sound from the map. The terrain started to sink and split in the middle. As the Henricqal map came apart in half, the ck stone column rose again. He could clearly see a handprint on the ck stone column. ¡°Please verify your handprint. The handprint of the Bonded is required before the next upgrade can proceed,¡± the soft female voice said. Lin Sheng stepped forward and gingerly ced his right hand on the handprint on the column. ¡°Handprint verificationplete. Wee to the options page.¡± A new dendrogram popped up right before Lins Sheng¡¯s eyes, starting from the Sanctum of Dusk, forking up into six different branches. ¡°Addable Divine Spells: ¡°1¡ªThe Willpower Sanctum (capable of absorbing the wishes of the souls, creating the Ethereal Wisp.) ¡°(Ethereal Wisp: Level 8 energy creature, capable of long-range magic control and attack) ¡°Holy power required: 50,000. Raisable up to three levels. ¡°3¡ªThe Twilight Pool (a special Holy Power Font that is transformed by absorbing the Power of Dusk. Pool water can transform ordinary creatures into special holy light creatures with a certain probability.) ¡°(The holy light creature: a special creature with a strong physique and resilience, with the holy power of affinity.) ¡°Holy power required: 10,000. Raisable up to three levels. ¡°The Ring of Protection (formed by a massive amount of holy crystals. It is a special energy field that protects all living beings within the Sanctum area. The energy field could protect followers from mind and soul attacks.) ¡°Holy power required: 100,000. Raisable up to three levels. ¡°4¡ªThe Coalesced Holy Stream (irrigating thend with liquified holy power so that the living persons born will coalesce with the holy power and have a better aptitude in holy power cultivation.) ¡°Holy power required: 1,000,000. Non-upgradable. ¡°5¡ªThe Light of Judgement (Thebination of the Power of Dusk and Holy Power Font, using the voice of chant as the activation key. It could judgment-attack any beings within the area of the Sanctum. The strength of the Light of Judgement corresponds to the amount of holy power in the holy power font. The more the holy power, the stronger the Light of Judgement.) ¡°Please remember only three persons could be authorized to use the Light of Judgement. Each release of the Light of Judgement will exhaust all reserves of holy power in the holy power font. Please use it with care. ¡°Holy power required: 1,000,000. Non-upgradable. ¡°6¡ªHoly Crystal Font (Capacity is raisable to 10 million. Within a certain period. The holy crystals, by exhausting themselves, will automatically select individuals with enough purity and strength and convert them into holy spirits.) ¡°(Holy spirit: A soul life-formbined with holy power. It has all the memories and personalities of its past. Identical to resurrection.) ¡°Holy power required: 1,000,000. Non-upgradable.¡± At the end of the dendrogram, Lin Sheng had noticed a fine textbel. ¡°These six divine spells are the final upgrades, after which the Sanctum of Dusk will beplete, and this guidance process will start self-destruction.¡± ¡°These are the final upgrades?¡± Lin Sheng felt a little disappointed. But then, this ritual circle of Sanctum construction was just something the masters from the ckfeather City created. It was high-grade stuff. This was probably the best they could achieve. He nced at the capacity gauge of the great holy power font. It showed one million units of holy power. With no hesitation, he selected the holy crystal font option. Something vibrated in the dark, and then the vibration quickly died down. The next thing he saw was the amount of holy power dropping to zero, then bounced back to around 200,000. ¡°Is it converted from the holy crystals?¡± Lin Sheng conjured. Two hundred thousand units of holy power was just nice. So it was just as well spent on the Protection Ring, upgrading it to Level 2. After the steps were done, the upgrade would work itself and beplete in a few days. Lin Sheng exited the menu. After sorting out everything in the sanctums in Henricqal and Xylond, he returned to the research center. There, he left some instructions to Taozi before returning to the Dark Spirit Pce through the Darkspirit Gate. Now was the critical moment where he was about to find the final piece of the fragment. He needed to be on the ball and present at the scene when necessary. The minute he stepped into the Dark Spirit ce, a dark spirit soldier came back with a report. Wasting no time, Djall Demonhand handed him the intelligence report. Lin Sheng stood in front of the Darkspirit gate, taking the report and browsing through it quickly. Powerful fighters appeared in the ck Desert. They defeated the vanguard and injured the Centaur Lord. ¡°Something powerful has appeared? That was quick!¡± Lin Sheng felt a little surprised. The Centaur Lord was a middle-strength warrior in all his forces, more powerful than Djall Demonhand and the Fairy Empress. Even then, he was still defeated and injured. ¡°What is the situation now? Contact the Centaur Lord.¡± While speaking, he threw the intelligence report back to Djall Demonhand. ¡°The Giant King brothers and Sin Dragon Matriarch have gone to back him up. They should return soon,¡± replied Djall Demonhand. ¡°Any intel about the enemy?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got some.¡± Djall Demonhand handed him a second intel report. Lin Sheng had a quick read and was wide-eyed, lips curling up in a smile. ¡°Interesting! Interesting!¡±. Djall Demonhand said, ¡°The one who defeated the Centaur Lord was a tall man with a transparent round gemstone iid on his chest. He called himself the Moonstone messenger, who had received guidance from heaven to wipe out the invading enemy. After finding out and confirming the identity of the Centaur Lord and the dark spirit army, he unleashed his attack.¡± ¡°How did he defeat the Centaur Lord?¡± Lin Sheng had half guessed who the person was. ¡°He was extremely powerful and good in fighting. What was more important was that he had terrific attack resistance. All soul attacks and spells of other nature were ineffective against him. Beheading him and gouging out his heart wouldn¡¯t kill him. He could restore himself in the blink of an eye. It was under such circumstances that the Centaur Lord was caught off guard and wounded.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Instruct the Fairy Empress, the Giant King brothers, and Sin Dragon Matriarch to bring all their forces. I want to capture that man alive.¡± If he had guessed it correctly, the final piece of fragment must have be self-conscious, directing the powerful fighter whom it had given the power to lie in wait for the invading forces. When Lin Sheng detected him earlier, he had also detected Lin Sheng. It happened in a split second before it disappeared. Lin Sheng thought it was the natural energy reaction of the final piece. But little did he expect it was a crucial behavior of the final piece which had be self-conscious. Chapter 468 - Gang Fight: Part 1

    Chapter 468: Gang Fight: Part 1

    An ancient psalm was reverberating in the air along with a mysterious song. At the entrance to Heaven¡¯s Spire in Redwin, a massive amount of runes and dark energy were going around in a white-red-blue, three-dimensional magic circle. An uncountable amount of energy surged from Heaven¡¯s Spire, guiding the energy particles in the surroundings to converge in the circles. Atst, these thousand magic circles formed a magic circle of the Seal of unparalleled size. The Seal was the best way to deal with a powerful being like Faldt. Whatever Lin Sheng could think of, Heaven¡¯s Spire could, too, and do it even better than Lin Sheng could. They had recruited many bloodlines of the Sealing Blood since many years ago. The deployment of these magic circles caught Faldt unawares. But still, he was floating in the air, unruffled, looking down at the thousand-meter-across magic circle, which surrounded him in the center. Shackling him was the energy that appeared like silksing from all directions outside the magic circle. Even the softest spider silk, when bundled together in enough amount, was stronger than a steel rope. More so these were dark energy threads from the magic circle, converging under Heaven¡¯s Spire. Led by a few remaining Ptinates, semi-transparent angels with wings appeared. ¡°Angels? It has been years since Ist saw such a scene.¡± Faldt looked at what happened before his eyes, suddenly feeling a little disappointed. ¡°Thinking of using the angels to contain me? You all are underestimating me. A thousand years ago, I could ughter the angels with one hand. Let alone now!¡± He looked down at his feet as bundles of transparent silk shackled his legs. The bundles grew thicker and denser. ¡°But you should be proud of it. This might be the first time, in my current form, I find things a little tricky.¡± He lifted his right hand. ¡°Spellword: Power of the Stone. ¡°Spellword: Godspeed. ¡°Spellword: Dreadlight. ¡°Spell: Mindspike. ¡°Higher-order Enhancement: Divine Tablet of Ambro. ¡°Higher-order Enchantment: Light of the Underworld.¡± His lips twitched as he chanted all the incantations in just two seconds. Things started to happen as soon as he finished. Various energy flows were buzzing and shimmering around his body like an electric current. At the same time, four long spears with razor-sharp tip appeared out of thin air around him. Flowing with runes around their tips, the four semi-transparent long spears vanished all of a sudden, and in just the blink of an eye, they reappeared among the people, who were administering the magic circle on the ground. Following immediately were four powerful bursts of shock waves exploding in the crowd. ¡°This is an attack on the mind and soul. It¡¯s irresistible and unavoidable. Your only option is to ept it.¡± Faldt smiled. As people started to copse, and many were knocked unconscious by the mental-attack explosion, the magic circle slowed down. ¡°I will take care of his attack. The rest of the people keep the magic circle running!¡± An elder from Heaven¡¯s Spire motioned with his hand. Striding a step out, his clothes burst open to reveal the silver-white body-hugging armor underneath. ¡°The spell of Snow Dragon Armor!¡± As he spread out his hands, the green light of the dark energy formed a grayish-ck vortex above his head. As if an overflowed damn, arge amount of light-green dark energy started to pour out from the vortex. Under the strange effect of some forces, the dark energy turned into solid white ice covering the body of the elder. Hideously rough icicles formed all over his body, densely packed together to form his most powerful defense: Snow Dragon Armor. ¡°Are youing to stop me?¡± Faldtughed. ¡°Since you know I¡¯m the Underworld Deimer, you should also know that my biggest strength lies not in myself fighting the battle.¡± He looked up, the hair behind his back growing longer and denser, rising and forming a grayish-ck giant in the air. The giant had a horn on his head, his muscles knotted like the roots of a tree, and a pair of meaty wings about to grow on his back. In his hands was arge ck stone column. ¡°The Underworld Pirguard. Go and destroy this ce now!¡± Faldt ordered. The grayish-ck giant acknowledged with a grunt, and his five-meter-tall body flew out. As he broke away from the hair, he gained more speed and hurled down toward the earth like a meteorite. At the same time, a Ptinateunched himself up from the ground and stopped the Column Guardian of the Underworld using an ancient, fine tower shield. Faldt was unfazed. It was only a little summoned creature of his to buy him time for more things toe. ¡°Madolun, the Deepwater Fangs, the Alpha Ambusher, the Shifting-shadow Beast, my most loyal aide-de-camp! In the name of Faldt, I summon you!¡± He chanted the true names of another powerful existence. It was not easy to chant the true names. Inscribed in the depth of the soul, they were a unique representative in space and time. During the incantation, he needed to imagine theplete image of that creature, and chant most of its strengths, deeds, history, and features. Lastly, he was required to get the creature¡¯s permission before he could summon it in its true names. This was what Faldt was doing right now. This required a magic circle that used a lot of preparation, resources, and manpower. But his powerful incantation ability had mostly done away with this process ande up with an easy-to-use summoning method. As Faldt chanted, from behind him appeared a two-meter-tall strange male warrior with thirteen pairs of hands. The warrior wore rough leather armor, barefooted. His armor was tattered as if he had worn it for too long. What caught the eyes more was a pair of slightly curved, light purple des. The summoned male seemed devoid of any sanity with a pair of bloodshot eyes. He roared like a beast as soon as it appeared, flicking his hands back anding down with his des. Two streaks of silver light struck down like a falling meteorite in the shape of an ¡®X¡¯. At first, there were only two streaks of light. As they approached their targets, they split in hundreds of streaks like body cells dividing themselves. Each streak of de light materialized into a silver monster as soon as it touched the ground. The head of metallic monsters was as sharp as a knife, their bodies slender the willows, moving as quick as lightning and sneaky as snakes as they struck those who stayed in the magic circle. ¡°Kill!¡± Knowing that the situation hade to a critical moment, a group of Darksiders lunged out. The magic circle of the Seal had been running for a long time and still holding out against Faldt until now. This showed it was still effective. So long as they put more effort into it, maybe they could reseal Faldt back into the Underworld. Chapter 469 - Gang Fight: Part 2 Chapter 469: Gang Fight: Part 2 At the edge of a pit, on open ground near the battlefield, as the air suddenly distorted for a moment, a group of men and women, young and old in various attires, appeared at once on the battlefield. Some of these people seemed to have juste out from their homes with their sleep gowns still on, some in a racing suit with a helmet, some looking confused with a turner in their hands. ¡°This is the ce...¡± A young man, handsome, draped in a white cloak, looked up from among the crowd at Faldt in midair. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it. We have arrived at this ce so quickly from the border!¡± The one holding a turner looked stunned. ¡°It was just fixed-location teleportation,¡± an old voice spoke into everyone¡¯s ears. ¡°Now, Faldt is right there ahead. Dear all holders of the Sacred Vessel of Destiny, it¡¯s your decision and action now. The fate is in your hands!¡± ¡°He is spouting nonsense! They have brought us here already. Do we have other choices except do what he says?¡± a woman in a sleeping gown hissed. ¡°Since we are here, we all should know what this is all about. In fact, the Sacred Vessel of Destiny contains a heroic spirit. We just need to go near Faldt and activate the power, and we are done. The heroic spirits will take care of the rest.¡± A tall old man wearing sunsses said in a low voice. ¡°No matter how, since we are here, that means you all know what it is about.¡± Adolf nced at him but said nothing. Looking at Faldt, who was still floating in the air, he suddenly felt homesick. He missed the elders in the sanctum, his praying buddies, and the Night Lord whoy on the bed still unwilling to get up. ¡°Let¡¯s go. The Sacred Vessel will tell us who to summon the heroic spirit in us,¡± the sunsses man said, leading the way toward Faldt. The rest were silent as they followed him. But something puzzled Adolf. If these people¡¯s im of possessing the Sacred Vessel of Destiny was true, he should be able to resonate with them. He had one with him, after all. But he still had sensed nothing in them until now. What he could perceive was the energy of the Paragon of Destiny in them. No matter how silly these people were, no one would want to risk their lives for the fun of it, Adolf thought. Probably they had something up their sleeves to conceal their scents. Who knows? ... Thunder rolled inside the thickyer of cloud in the sky above the desert. The air was depressing and dreary. An army of dark spirits was moving on the sandy terrain, some running and some flying as dark spirit warriors followed in the rear, charging toward the enemy formation on the other side of the desert. The desert legion was mostly in white, each soldier wearing an armor coated with some special power. The army of the dark spirits was of a ck and redbination. They were pure soul and physical lifeforms, forming a powerful multi-dimensional strike model. The dark spirit would take care of longer-range assault while the fairies would fight the close-quartersbat. The soldiers in the desert, apart from their armor, were only slightly more powerful than ordinary humans. They were ordinary in their bodies as well as their souls. In the face of a multi-dimensional attack, they started to suffer high casualties and retreat. Riding on the Gorefiend, Lin Sheng slowly moved straight into the battlefield. No dark spirits or anyone from the enemy soldiers coulde near within ten meters from him. On the dune right ahead, the Giant King brothers were engaging the mysterious, powerful being. The battle had been dragging on for a long time. After learning about the enemy, the Giant King brothers were more careful this time. When the men with a gemstone iid on his chest reappeared, several figures who looked just as powerful emerged from the rear of the formation. These powerful beings had tiny slender green wings that looked like willow leaves on their backs. Their wings hang underneath, and when not in use, they did not look like they were part of their bodies. Lin Sheng watched the battle with the Fairy Empress and the Sin Dragon Matriarch standing beside him, looking with calm faces at the Giant King brothers. In the enemy¡¯s camp, a few powerful souls gazed in confrontation with Lin Sheng¡¯s side. When their eyes met Lin Sheng¡¯s, they looked away and shrank back immediately as if having an electric shock. ¡°It¡¯s too slow.¡± Lin Sheng looked over at Sin Dragon Matriarch, who nodded in agreement. Coming from the Corpse Dragon race, an expert in spells and magic circles, Sin Dragon Matriarch had used her enchantment-type spell on Lin Sheng. Although she never seeded, it still left a deep impression in Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. Sin Dragon Matriarch stepped forward, a purple magic circle appeared and teleported her to the center of the battlefield. As she emerged behind the powerful being, she held out her hand and tapped on the back of his head with her finger. A ring of purple light burst out and formed a seal of aplicated circle on the back of his head. The man felt his vision going dark and then dropped to the ground. ¡°Isn¡¯t this easy?¡± She said, smiling at the Giant King brothers. An ax was swung at her from behind all of a sudden, hitting Sin Dragon Matriarch in her waists and flinging her out before shended on another sand dune a dozen meters away. ¡°Dumbass!¡± the Giant King sneered as he raised his fist, charging at the waking desert man. As the two force fields distorted the air and collided into each other, they set off a wave of sandstorm. Flung into the sand dune, Sin Dragon Matriarch felt disgraced. Even her skirt was damaged. She went ballistic and flew out of the sand dune, her body expanding rapidly. She turned into a ten-meter giant dragon, on all four, roaring at the desert man. ck with the body of a monitor lizard, the giant dragon had a pair of wings on her back. But they seemed to have degenerated, leaving behind what might look like two bone spurs protruding on her back. She opened her mouth and roared, spitting out arge amount of fine gray mist. Wherever the gray mist touched, the sand turned into gray stones and corpses into stone sculptures. Two more figures flew out from behind the desert man, charging toward Sin Dragon Matriarch. Using the golden glow in their hands, they resisted the breath of petrifaction. The two joined the battle and surrounded her. ¡°With so many powerful beings, they reallye prepared,¡± Lin Sheng said through his thick helmet. He looked over his shoulder at Tenko Kasumi, signaling her to join the battle. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it already.¡± Tenko Kasumi licked her lips, striding toward the battlefield. After that, Lin Sheng stopped watching the battle. He instead looked westward into the distance. He had sensed a perturbation homologous to his peeping at the battle. ¡°Is it the final piece?¡± Lin Sheng grinned. ¡°Attack with the main forces, Fairy Empress.¡± ¡°The battle is still ongoing. If we attack now, we might identally hurt our men.¡± The Fairy Empress cautioned. ¡°Just do what I say.¡± Lin Sheng was unfazed. A loud, sharp sound came from behind him all of a sudden. Lin Sheng sensed a threat. Before he knew it, his force field was breached as a weapon had prated the gap in his Armor of Dawn. Chapter 470 - Gang Fight: Part 3

    Chapter 470:

    Gang Fight: Part 3

    As if the weapon had hit a piece of rotten wood, the sharp de of the assassin was stuck in the gap of his armor. At the same time, a massive, powerful natural force field suddenly reced the quiet and ordinary one. With the flip of his hand, Lin Sheng threw a backhand jab. His movement was as quick as lightning, his hand prated the chest of the assassin before he could react. ¡°Not bad for an assassin.¡± As he flung the dead body away, a sh of the holy power¡¯s white light cleaned his hand of the blood and dirt. Following the sound of the horn, the army of the Dark Spirit Pce charged forward. The standing army at the rear started to move quietly and quickly. When looking from a distance, it was an endless tide of an army advancing forward and overwhelming the desert legion at the opposing side. Lin Sheng did not even look at the oue of the battle. Instead, he rode his Gorefiend going in the perturbation¡¯s direction. Every step of the Gorefiend might seem slow, but it really was not. This strong and powerful dark spirit that looked nothing like a horse was carrying Lin Sheng toward a direction. Soon, he crossed the sand dunes and left everyone behind. The Gorefiend stopped at the edge of a green oasis, looking at the three figures standing on the other side of the oasis. Those were desert warriors with the same red gemstone on the chest. They stared at Lin Sheng with grave faces. They saw the enemy they were lying in wait was wearing heavy armor, riding an extremely strong-looking ck warhorse, which was also draped in thick body armor. Before he even came close, they already felt an overpowering forceing down on them. ¡°Devil! It¡¯s him!¡± The only woman among the three said. ¡°Moonstone has lured him over. Let¡¯s kill him!¡± She pulled out the scimitar from behind her, her body shing in electric blue light as she lunged out at Lin Sheng. At the same time, the other two men drew their swords nked Lin Sheng on both sides. They were acting in close rapport as if they had been fighting together for years. Three purple thunderbolts shot from three long knives, roaring as they turned into three thunder dragons lunging at Lin Sheng. On the far side of the oasis, a few women in robes emerged from the bushes. They were chanting something in their mouths as a wave of mysterious power descended from the air, suppressing most of the Dark Wheel¡¯s Eight-eight Wards in Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng cocked an eyebrow. ¡°No wonder they are so daring to lure me out here. It seems they really have something up their sleeve that can suppress my Eight-eight Wards.¡± Still riding on his horse, he took the iing attack head-on. Holding out his hand, the high-density holy power formed a three-meter-long sword. He struck the holy power longsword at the three. Before the sword even touched them, a terrifying force field had formed and subdued the three thunder dragons, which then copsed and vanished. Still carrying the terrifying energy, the long sword struck the woman first. Out of nowhere, a dark fissure of over ten meters long appeared in front of Lin Sheng. Pulling his sword back, he looked down at the woman who had just cheated with death. ¡°What kind of power have you used to dodge my attack?¡± ¡°Answer me!¡± With his eyes wide open, he slipped his hand, striking his sword down as he rose to stand in the air on the right, shing an invisible perturbation with an explosive burst. Several men in robe casting spells in the distance sputtered blood from their mouths. They dropped and froze on the ground, their faces pale. ¡°Devil! This is the birthce of Moonstone, the first progenitor font called the Immacte Land! ¡°Regret already? How dare youe here alone? You will die today!¡± Another strong old man with a burly body build emerged from the oasis, each hand holding a huge war hammer. Each war hammer was nearly as big as an adult. Combining the two war hammers, they weighed in tons. The old man¡¯s hair was braided, and his long beard dangling down his chest, wearing a dark and somewhat old and hideous-looking ck armor. It was in sharp contrast with the pure white armor on Lin Sheng. ¡°Why don¡¯t you stay at home and y with your grandchildren instead ofing to get yourself killed?¡± Lin Sheng looked at him, assessing him with interest. ¡°I¡¯m five hundred four years old now, just having my birthday not long ago. I didn¡¯t expect Heaven would grant me a great battle in my old age.¡± The old manughed with his face skyward. ¡°You want to kill me? Let¡¯s see what you¡¯ve got!¡± As he finished talking, he roared, and a giant ck tiger lunged out of thin air behind him. It seemed the giant tiger had its readily equipped armor and weapons, too. He turned and flipped, riding on the back of the tiger, striking the war hammers together. ¡°I¡¯m right here. Come and get me!¡± As he roared, the giant tiger leaped forward, up in the air, across a dozen meters, charging at Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng squinted. He could clearly sense a strong perturbation of the fragment in the old man¡¯s body. ¡°Have you all ced your hope on this old man?¡± He sneered and lifted his twin swords in an upward motion. As the white light from the des collided with the war hammersing down from above, a circle of transparent ripples spread. Wherever the ripples went, they brought along gravels and sand, leveling the entire oasis to ground. This old man still stood his ground despite the violent sh, not giving up an inch. And this surprised even Lin Sheng. Do not forget that in order to achieve a breakthrough, Lin Sheng had given up half of his human bloodline and adopted the Rock Dragon one. Equipped with this bloodline, he had acquired half the strength of a Rock Dragon. Even then, the old man could still match his strength. Shocked but not stopping, he met the old man¡¯s war hammers with her long swords. They instantly knew they were each other¡¯s greatest opponent at the moment of engagement. Known as the undefeated God of War in this dark spirit world, the old man held the title for the past several hundred years and no one had surpassed him yet. Whether it was martial arts, physical strength, or power, he was at the limit that humans could ever be achieved. Little did he expect someone could have matched his strength evenly, even surpassing him slightly. Lin Sheng had been infused with the memory of countless powerful souls, and battle-hardened. Due to the memory infusion, he had also mastered many types of sword skills. He had been having easy wins in the past and never getting the chance to dish out everything he had. But now, as his strength was being suppressed, and he did not want to reveal hisst card before figuring out the other person¡¯s, he was using martial arts for the moment. He just did not expect the old man could take his strike. With heavy weapons they fought, they swung them at each other at lightning speed. Each time the long swords and war hammers shed, they sent out destructive shock waves into the surroundings. The area within dozens of meters around them had be a dead zone. Chapter 471 - Conflict: Part 1

    Chapter 471: Conflict: Part 1

    Adolf gazed into the air at Faldt, who was on the verge of being sealed. He had a bad feeling, and it was getting stronger. But he had no way to tell anyone about it. As things hade to this stage, and the so-called humanity had sort of hijacked their senses, they had to do what they were supposed to do here, no matter if they wanted it or not. What would happen to him if he suddenly told them he had a bad feeling and wanted to get out of this? No one would know the answer. They quietly moved closer to the battlefield of the seal under the concealment of the Sacred Vessel of Destiny. It did not feel that scary when looking from afar. But when they got closer, the real impact of the danger of the battle began to sink in. The turmoil of the dark energy shed like opposing undercurrents. Different people had different dark energy, which had different consciousness. Those dark energy dictated by the different consciousness shed like soldiers in a gang fight. Standing just a hundred meters from the battlefield, they could already feel the tremor under their feeting from the continuous explosions. Battle cries and the roar of the monsters attacked their senses like waves hitting the shores. All these were enough to give Adolf the heebie-jeebies even though he was just standing on the outer edge of the battlefield. Not just him, but the other people with him had gone weak at the knees, faces pale. They had never experienced war before. Seeing the brutal battle of the supernaturals, finding bloody body parts strewn all over the ce at the edge of the battlefield, and the corpses of the hideous-looking, pointed monsters, onedy in a sleeping gown threw up big time. ¡°All right. Let¡¯s waste no time. As long as we activate the ability of the Sacred Vessel of Destiny and converge together, we will be done, isn¡¯t it?¡± The leading old man said. ¡°That¡¯s right. The heroic spirits will take over by then.¡± The voice of the great sage spoke into their ears again. ¡°Let¡¯s begin, then.¡± The old man looked back at the others. Everyone heard the voice of the great sage and knew what they should do next. Adolf stood among them, nodding his head. Just like everyone else, he started to release the energy inside him. As he was doing it, the bad feeling was getting stronger and clearer. ... ¡°Kill!¡± Two tall figures were shing with their weapons in the dark desert. Lin Sheng exerted nearly all his physical strength as he pressed his weapon down. Buckling under the great pressure, the giant tiger beneath the old man came down on its knees, its legs sinking into the sand. There was a change in the old man¡¯s expression. He realized the battle had raged on for at least three hours now. But the devil did not seem to get tired; it was getting stronger as time went by. Every wound he inflicted upon the devil would heal within seconds. Things got even more challenging as the opponent was wearing a white armor that seemed to be imprable. Even though he was the God of War, he had never met someone who could endure this level of a high-intensity battle for this long. He might be able to hold on a double amount of time when he was young. But now, the situation was different; he was old. ¡°It¡¯s a shame that the Moonstone has lost his power. Otherwise, my strength would have been this low.¡± He pushed Lin Sheng away and retreated dozens of meters with the giant tiger. ¡°The Moonstone? Where do you think its power has gone? If not for it, I¡¯d not have this little strength!¡± Lin Sheng sneered. ¡°Now you should have figured out why the Moonstone has brought you all here.¡± As if he was pointing for the obvious. The old man was startled. He followed Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes, looking into the surroundings. Most of hisrades, who were still alive and kicking a while ago, had been wounded and killed by the shock waves. His heart missed a beat. ¡°Let me rephrase. Do you really think it has brought you all here to kill me? In another word, do you really think you all could kill me?¡± Lin Sheng said. The old man suddenly realized this. The Moonstones in the chest of the corpses lying on the ground were missing. He suddenly thought of a terrifying possibility. ¡°You¡¯ve guessed it right. It is taking back the powers it has gifted you all. If I¡¯m not wrong, these powers have been infused in you all as ones. And the only way to reim them was to kill you all.¡± Lin Sheng sounded as if he felt sorry for them. The old man had only thought of this possibility until now. For the past hundreds of years, he had the Moonstone, he had never thought in this direction. ¡°You¡¯re not bad at all. Even without the Moonstone, you¡¯re still extraordinary. I¡¯m the only one who is on a par with you,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Why not work for me? I will endow you an even longer lifespan, and in return, you will fight for me.¡± The old man was strong indeed. Other than him, Tenko Kasumi was the only person on a par with Lin Sheng. The old man¡¯s weapon was carrying an unexinable force of strength. This force was different from the jarring force of the Giant Kings. He could elevate the strength of his moves of pounding, hitting, smashing, and all that to the limit. Also, the old man seemed to have acquired an ability that made him immune to various energy attacks. So he was in fact a powerful warrior with high resistance to magic and all. He was so powerful that he made the force field of the Ptinates look like a thin bubbleyer. ¡°And... I was just having some fun with you just now.¡± As Lin Sheng swung his cracked long swords, they immediately self-restored and became as good as new. Dragon scales grew on his body, a pair of threaded horns on his head, and his body expanding to double his original size. ¡°Now, enjoy the battle!¡± Letting out a roar, the horse charged forward at the old man, him with his long swords, striking at the shoulder of the old man. It came too quickly that before the old man could know what happened, Lin Sheng¡¯s sword had hit him. The old man¡¯s strength was close to that of Tenko Kasumi. Even then, it almost seemed like a child¡¯s y to Lin Sheng. After getting his hand on the Dark Wheel, Lin Sheng¡¯s strength had increased to an unimaginable level. Although most of the Eight-eight Wards had been subdued by the Moonstone, the qualitative enhancement in his physique remained. The speed and strength of this sword¡¯s move had reached the limit of what the air could amodate. As the sword moved at speed, it generated a series of sonic booms, apanied by me and lighting from the friction with the air. It was not until after the sword struck him that the old man heard the swoosh of the de. The old man, together with the giant tiger, were forced into the sand by the sword, their bodies protesting in a loud cracking sound. The old man was now stuck, blood sputtering out of his mouth. He had lost his fighting spirit earlier after learning about the betrayal of the Moonstone. Now he felt even more sorry for himself after getting struck by the sword. ¡°That means the Moonstone, not you, is the devil?¡± He forced a smile, wiping away the blood in the corner of his mouth. ¡°Of course. I am the King of the holy spirits. My holy poweres from the strengths of healing, saving, and nourishing the living. How could I be a devil?¡± Chapter 472 - Conflict: Part 2

    Chapter 472: Conflict: Part 2

    ¡°Holyspirit King...¡± The elder still had doubts in his heart. However, the Moonstone Crystal on his chest that was struggling to get away from him forced him to make a choice at this very moment. Was it to needlessly die for the Moonstone, or to leave his doubts behind temporarily, and submit to the other side. The answer was self-evident. ¡°Have you thought things through?¡± Lin Sheng could see the decision in the elder¡¯s eye. ¡°Can you give me some time?¡± the elder smiled bitterly. ¡°Of course. Excellent and capable people should by right be treated preferentially.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. They no longer had any reason to fight between the two. The old man no longer disyed any hostility. After Lin Sheng healed him with holy power, he had personally experienced holy power¡¯s inherently powerful healing capabilities. And that made Lin Sheng¡¯s im to be the Holyspirit King even more credible. The old man was named Ning Jia. He carefully described the situation of this desert to Lin Sheng. A long long time ago, a divine stone called the Moonstone descended from the sky here, and bestowed upon countless of people a training method called the Moonstone Force. Lin Sheng then carefully asked about the Moonstone Force training method. He then got to know about the object as the Moonstone Crystal from Ning Jia, and that was the red gemstone iid in his chest. Unsurprisingly, the so-called Moonstone Crystal was actually part of Moonstone itself. It was a seed that consciously absorbed the life force cultivated by these people. Grabbing on to the crystal, Lin Sheng let Ning Jia lead the way towards the other ces to look for the ce where the Moonstone had originallynded. And nearby the ce, Ning Jia finally saw that many Moonstone Force practitioners who had dropped dead onto the ground without any signs ofbat. The Moonstone not only absorbed their Moonstone Crystal, but also the entire life force of their body. That allowed Ning Jia to see the true face of the Moonstone, and with the healing provided Lin Sheng¡¯s holy power, he was finally determined to lead the Darkspirit Army and turn against the Moonstone. This expedition did notst all that long. After Ning Jia rebelled, with his great reputation and connections, plus the appearance of many corpses that had their Moonstone Crystal absorbed finally turned the desert Hidden Realm into the vanguard of the Darkspirit Pce at great speed. While Ning Jia no longer had the Moonstone Crystal, Lin Sheng had bestowed him the Seed of Holy Power. His soul was so powerful that the Moonstone had no way topletely drain it indirectly, and his holy power training saw massive improvements. In addition, the holy power also nourished his aging body. While he had lost the powers and training he had once long had, the unique nature of holy power allowed him topensate for with pure physical strength. So, his capabilities did not drop that much. He could still beat up the other Ptinates aside from Tenko Kasumi and was a tinge stronger than the Sin Dragon Matriarch. Plus, after training his holy power, he too had joined Lin Sheng as one of the top elites under Lin Sheng¡¯smand. As the Darkspirit Pce army no longer had any reason to fight, most of them slowly withdrew. With the God of War Ning Jia¡¯s support, the ck Desert¡¯s forces were fully mobilized. Many of the weak ones that did not have the qualification to cultivate the Moonstone Crystal or those Ptinate-levels like Ning Jia who were too strong to be absorbed by the Moonstone. All of them driven by fear, fury, and having a mutual enemy, automatically gathered under Ning Jia¡¯s banner, bing an auxiliary force of the Darkspirit Pce. They led Lin Sheng straight towards where the Moonstone was in this Hidden Realm, ckgold City. Now, their drive to destroy the Moonstone was stronger than Lin Sheng. After all, this had affected their life or death. At the same time, the stalemate of the Redwin sealing war thatsted for several days had finally ended. And Redwin had officially changed their power of allegiance to the Underworld. The Heaven Spire¡¯s entrance was sealed shut as the open field outside was a scene of carnage. There were no bodies, nor any traces of the magical circle deployed earlier. Everything had turned upside down. The entirend had seemed to bepletely covered by a thickyer of red soil. The red soil hadpletely buried all traces here beneath it. Some of the powerful Darksiders broke through the tide of cktide monsters and went to the Heaven Spire to investigate the situation, but the Hidden Realm there was sealed, without any fluctuations that allowed entry. Even the peerless Faldt had disappeared. Some spected that the seal may have seeded, while some guessed that Faldt had managed to break into the Hidden Realm. Regardless, a temporary calm had returned to the world. ... The Heaven Spire Hidden Realm. Inside the Snowfrost Hall deep within the towering white spire of the Heaven Spire. The meeting hall had already beenpletely reduced into an underworld prison shrouded in gray smoke and underworld power. Countless of stone pirs jutted out from the ground, with dark red chains on them as each bound a naked, wailing living person. All of these living people were all of the Heaven Spire¡¯s Darksider elites. They were unwilling to submit to Faldt, and Faldt cared not for such rubbish, as subduing them was a waste of his time. So he instead turned them into Underworld Force Pirs for him to umte energy in order to open a passage to the Underworld. This war made him realized that attacking a Hidden Realm was still quite troublesome. So he had decided to open a passage and summon part of his real body into this world, and strengthening himself before doing anything else. But before that, he needed to deal with some unexpected surprises. He quickly walked into the back of the meeting hall. There was a small restroom there, which was the temporary waiting room of those waiting. Now it had been transformed into a special experiment site. There was a total of six ordinary humans with special powers in their bodies that he had captured alive at the edge of the battlefield. At that time, he had just annihted the entire Heaven Spire resistance and caught this sneaking group of younglings at the edge of the battlefield with faint malice towards him. For his age, these people were indeed younglings, as their age did not evene close to the two digits of his. The strange powers within their bodies garnered his interest. And after he was sure that they were not a threat, he easily defeated all of them and brought them as he conquered the Heaven Spire and threw them there. Faldt activated his Gaze of the Doomed. This was a special ability that allowed him to see through the nature and origin of power. It was a power unique to an Underworld Deimer like him. The Gaze of the Doomed swept past the few people there one by one. Soon, the special power of one of them slightly startled him. ¡°What is this? Light? White power?¡± Faldt¡¯s Gaze of the Doomed suddenly stopped on Adolf. He was attracted by the slightly dazzling light. Within the dark hall, he slowly walked towards the bearer of the Sacred Vessel of Destiny. ¡°Tell me, what is this?¡± He squeezed Adolf¡¯s lower jaw and transferred a surge of Underworld Force to wake thetter up. The Underworld Force was a special power only possessed by high-level powerhouses of the Underworld. It had the ability to stimte a person¡¯s potential, and temporarily revive them. Chapter 473 - Conflict: Part 3

    Chapter 473: Conflict: Part 3

    Adolf was seriously injured, and he was starving for a while now with no water to drink for a few days. At that moment, he was already fully spent. He was not sure why even when all of the powers were gathered, the so-called Heroic Spirit of Destiny did not appear. Regardless, this was his own choice, and he had no regrets. ¡°Hehe...¡± He forced out a grudging smile and did not want to respond at all. ¡°You¡¯ve got guts.¡± Faldt sighed in appreciation. ¡°But a pity, the stronger a person is, the faster they die in reality.¡± ¡°Just... kill me then,¡± Adolf said calmly. The reason for him running away was to not drag anyone down with him. Now that everything had turned out to be the ending he had anticipated, everything else was no longer important. He will die. And then he will bear all of the consequences himself. He would not drag anyone down, nor would he involve anyone. ¡°What a shame.¡± Faldt could see through the man¡¯s intentions. He let go of his hand and looked at the six bearers of the Sacred Vessel of Destiny he had caught. ¡°Underworld Hex.¡± He raised his right hand. ¡°All order shall end in chaos. The shadow of radiance, thend of decay, I summon you, in the name of Faldt.¡± Arge amount of ck hair appeared from his palm. The countless hair was like the darkest of nights as they flowed across the entire ground of the hall. ¡°The Deimer of the Underworld, my voice is the voice of the Underworld. With this sacrifice of flesh and blood, I summon my sleeping body within the Demiurge¡¯s Pir, here.¡± Faldt lowered his hand as the hair from his palm was cut off at the root, as it scattered all across the ground like a living creature. He walked slowly towards the six. ¡°Infernal Eye.¡± He once again used another gaze technique. This was a special sacrifice ritual gaze used to extract souls of living creatures. It could then be used the collected souls as a sacrifice, and magnify the effects of the ritual. He walked to the front of the first person, his eyes gleaming with a purple-ck triangr-shaped mark, and cast his gaze between the person¡¯s eyes. *Hiss...* Very quickly, a faint bubble-like human figure slowly came out from the person¡¯s body before turning into a long thin line and entering Faldt¡¯s right eye. ¡°Number one.¡± He continued to the second person. Soon, another human-shaped soul was being extracted, quickly disappearing into his right eye. Then came the third person. Xie Qiaoyue leaned in a stupor on Adolf. As she looked at Faldt consuming souls one by one she was ovee by fear. She, too, had inexplicably rushed to the gathering but was captured before seeding with her mission. As she had been starving for many days now, she was so weak to the point that she could not offer any resistance. Shortly after, Faldt came before her as the pair of soul-snatching eyes stared straight at her. He suddenly paused, as his attention was attracted by Adolf beside Xie Qiaoyue. After some hesitation, he walked over, and stood before Adolf, and decided to absorb the soul of this rather dubious person to avoid any incidents. An invisible extraction force slowly roiled, as a bizarre energy field was unleashed from Faldt¡¯s eyes, and engulfed Adolf within it. The force started to rapidly consume Adolf¡¯s body and attempted to extract his soul out of his body. Just at that moment... *Bam!!* Suddenly, white light sted out of Adolf¡¯s body. The light was extremely pure, yet majestic and holy, it took barely a moment to ward off the power of the soul-extraction. Upon sensing the strength of the extraction force, the white light seemed to fluctuate as it immediately covered Adolf¡¯s entire body. ¡°Hmmm?¡± Faldt was stunned for a moment. There was a power that could resist his Infernal Eye?¡± He activated it once again, as he looked at Adolf with increased potency. ¡°Extract!¡± With increased strength, the gaze triggered even more violent feedback from the white light. An ethereal, powerful will was slowly waking from the light. ¡°Are you the one who had defeated my disciple?¡± The will slowly radiated its consciousness. ¡°Who are you?¡± Faldt¡¯s gaze focused. His opposition could project his will through this pure power. This was not something anyone could do. It was clear that the person within the light was not your usual rabble. ¡°Me? I¡¯m a nameless person.¡± The will within the white light spoke. ¡°But, since I¡¯ve awakened, that means my main body would have detected this as well.¡± ¡°So, you can defeat my disciple, but you cannot kill him. There are many failures one may have in their life, but as long as they do not die, I can give him another chance.¡± ¡°Cannot kill him?¡± Faldt sneered. ¡°This is my advice to you.¡± The will within the white light said. ¡°For everyone else, they will have many other opportunities even if they fail. But you are different. since you have met me, then you have only one chance to respond to me.¡± ¡°Very well. Then my answer is.¡± Faldt suddenly stuck his finger out. *Stab!* His fingertips were pointed directly at Adolf¡¯s forehead. A powerful surge of dark Underworld Force rushed into it and instantly destroyed Adolf¡¯s brain. ¡°This is my answer.¡± He pulled his hand back. ¡°Extract!¡± Suddenly, the powerful, invisible soul-soul-snatching power rapidly strengthened. as it started to pry the light-blue transparent soul from Adolf¡¯s body. As an Underworld Deimer, he feared no such threats. No one in the human world was above his contempt, much less a will hidden within a light. Along with a dreadful scream, the blue soul seemed to be pulled by both forces. The holy light was trying to pull the soul back into the body, while the power of the Infernal Eye was trying to snatch the soul and absorb it into the eye. ¡°Very well.¡± The will within the white light smiled furiously. ¡°We shall meet soon.¡± He took a deep look at Faldt as the strength of the holy light quickly faded away. This bit of power was to in Adolf¡¯s body to protect him, naturally, it could not withstand Faldt¡¯s personal intervention. ¡°I shall wait for you here.¡± Faldt smiled as he grabbed onto Adolf¡¯s soul, a deep purple magical circuit shed within his eye. ... Darkspirit Castle Lin Sheng sat on the throne, his hair dropping as he sat there unmoving. *Baammm!!* Suddenly, he swept the low table before him away. The force of his dragon¡¯s strength sent the wine and pastries on the table flying as they smashed against the pce wall. A dragon-shaped relief on the wall was smashed at the neck, as its head fell onto the ground and shattered. ¡°The Underworld Deimer? Faldt?? Heh heh heh...¡± He stood up before his trembling servants and took great strides towards the Hall of Yin and Yang in the rear. Ever since he had mastered the Dark Wheel, everything had been smooth sailing, and he had not encountered any major setbacks. That had his ego slightly swelling. At that moment, however, that finger point from Faldt had him experiencing a setback he had never seen in a long time. It also made him lose his closest ever disciple forever. This was his fault. If he did not show up, perhaps Adolf would not have been killed so easily... Raging anger boiled within him. Lin Sheng walked into the Hall of Yin and Yang, and turned the Image Refraction spell that the Fairy King had set up here. This was a specialmunication method that could contact with allmanders at the same time. He was just about to activate the spell and to get all of themanders to rush over there and prepare to step into reality. But an even crazier idea suddenly popped up in his mind. ¡°Teleportation Ward.¡± He pointed towards the ground as a red vortex slowly formed. Lin Sheng then stepped into it and disappeared into the vortex. Chapter 474 - Rescue: Part 1

    Chapter 474: Rescue: Part 1

    Legends were born here. Histories were annihted here. A massive vortex roiled and roiled ceaselessly in the sky. Dar, twisted smoke pirs could be seen all over the ground, and within the smoke pirs were faces writhing in pain that appeared and disappeared. They were all countless souls snatched from other worlds. Some of them were humans, while others were non-human beings. No matter what race they were, though, if their spirits hade here after death, that meant they were destined to never be able to escape the fate of being fodder. Huge, ck smoke pirs connected the ground to the sky, like how As held the world and turned the entire world into a cavern. The Underworld was also known as the Ashen World, it was a massive world that existed on the back of the world. It had existed for all of that while absorbing countless souls as fuel. Be it good or evil souls, for this world, all of them were good nourishment. Dark pirs densely covered thend dotted with ck ruptures, and in one of the thickest smoke pirs. *Crash!!!* A massive ck w slowly reached out from the smoke pir. The w had three sharp talons, and following that was a thick and powerful gray arm and an upper body with a crocodile head. The being that came out from the smoke pir, was a hundred-meter-tall giant crocodile man. A vicious glint shone in its eyes, as the subtle call of the summoning rang in its consciousness. It ripped open the space before it with a w and walked slowly into the dark rift. ¡°Faldt is summoning more of his body that fast? Ridiculous. I, Netherde Sylvest, responds to your call,¡± a loud voice in a bizarre tongue rang across the area. And just as it was ready to close the dimensional rift, a pir of white light appeared out of thin air beside the smoke pir, just right on the edge of the rift. The light pir was sharper than the smoke pir as if a white spike that had been hammered into the ground. While its size was smaller, the power fluctuation within it was not weak. ¡°Is this the Underworld?¡± Just as Netherde Sylvest was surprised, a rumbling voice rang out from the pir. *Hiss!!!* In an instant, as if ink had dripped into it, arge number of white light streams suddenly rippled out from the light pir. Amidst the countless light streams, a white knight in heavy armor was suspended in the light as he floated in the air. ¡°This is the Demiurge¡¯s Pir, the resting ce of many of the Underworld¡¯s Magisters. And you are?¡± The Netherde felt that white light had an overwhelming feel to it, and asked first. ¡°I am the Holyspirit King!¡± The body of the white knight suddenly swelled and erged as two sharp spiral horns appeared on his head, and a surge of terrifying chaotic soul energies mixed and radiated from the holy light. The holy light and the chaotic souls, upon entering the Underworld, were like a pack of ravenous wolves charging into a sheep¡¯s pen as they ravaged every ce they touched, without any resistance. *Booomm!!!* A massive surge of holy power and chaotic souls formed into an overwhelming force that transcended the ranks of the Ptinates suddenly sted out, and radiating a hundred meters out and engulfing hundreds of square meters around him in white. That quickly made the Netherde pull his original contemptuous attitude back. His instincts told him that his opponent¡¯s power seemed to be very antagonistic against him, and if they were to fight, he was not very optimistic about the result even when he was stronger. ¡°Holyspirit King I am the Vanguard of the Underworld, Sylvest the Netherde!¡± From the rift, the crocodile man returned to his original position and stared at Lin Sheng from above. Lin Sheng simrly also looked up at the hundred-meter-tall giant. While the two had a massive difference in size, they almost equaled in their disposition. ¡°I have never heard of the title of a Holyspirit King. There was however a tribe that called themselves the Darkspirits in the nearby dimension.¡± Sylvest had lived long, and had naturally heard of the Darkspirits. ¡°My powers had not yet fully awakened, and your Deimer, Faldt had taken advantage of my moment of weakness, killed my disciple, and snatched his soul!¡± Lin Sheng said coldly and did not answer the Netherde¡¯s question. ¡°Faldt the Deimer?¡± Sylvest the Netherdeughed. ¡°It seems like you are also after that person¡¯s head. Faldt the Deimer has plenty of foes in the Underworld. So how about this, should we join forces to kill him?¡± ¡°Foes?¡± Lin Sheng had anticipated a battle the moment he arrived there and did not expect toe across such juicy intel right away. Fortunately, they were all top-level masters of controlling the souls, so theymunicated directly using souls, with no worry of anynguage barriers. Else, he would have very well missed the most important information here. ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± The Netherde smiled. ¡°Or else why do you think of so many Magisters, he was the only one who could sneak out. There are many within the Demiurge¡¯s Pir that he had offended, and as he had too many enemies, things were getting more and more difficult here. If they were to find out that he had snuck out, those Magisters would not let him off easily.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Lin Sheng had a change of mind. ¡°That means to say, you know where Faldt¡¯s real body is at?¡± ¡°No. If his body was to be found that easily by the other Magisters, he would have never lived until today.¡± Sylvest sneered. ¡°From your aura, you are probably not from the human realm, right? We need to find another gateway to the human world...¡± ¡°I can open the way to the human world.¡± Lin Sheng calmly said. ¡°But, since both you and I want to kill Faldt, what ns do you have in mind?¡± ¡°I do have a n. Faldt have too many enemies here in the Underworld, so he had to find a way to escape. Now he had indeed found the opportunity, we need to kill him in a single stroke, andpletely annihte his soul. So I cannot reveal the n to you that easily.¡± Sylvest said inly. ¡°I understand.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°But, if I were to help you open the way to the human world, that should be proof enough that I¡¯m not Faldt¡¯s spy?¡± ¡°That will work.¡± The Netherde agreed. ¡°As long as you can open a gateway to the human world, and locate Faldt¡¯s real body. I have already recruited another Magister, we will act together then.¡± ¡°The best is to strike right after Faldtpletes the summoning of his true body. I want his soul to be rendered into oblivion, with nothing left!¡± Lin Sheng spat viciously. ¡°But if that is the case, you need to bring us into the human world. Or else when the timees, ourbined strength would not be enough topletely kill him. And if he cannot fight us, as a Deimer, he is very capable of escaping. We cannot allow anyxness.¡± Sylvest rumbled. ¡°Sure.¡± Lin Sheng may look furious, but his heart was calm. On the surface, this massive bloke wanted to kill Faldt, and also take the opportunity to enter the human world for some sport. However, what he had not thought about was that the incursion of the Underworld was not the most critical problem now. The most dangerous of all was the cktide. The Ashen World and the cktide were threats of totally different levels. On the surface, the energy of the Underworld Force was very simr to the ck aura of the cktide, but in reality, they were two different kinds of energies. Chapter 475 - Rescue: Part 2

    Chapter 475: Rescue: Part 2

    Compared with the Netherforce, the power of the cktide¡¯s surge was much more terrifying. Since this guy still wanted to go to the human world, Lin Sheng did not mind letting him experience the overwhelming terror of the cktide. The terrifying power that had totally eradicated many powerful worlds. ¡°The power required by your true bodies are toorge, in order topletely descend upon the human world, we need to make some simple preparations.¡± Lin Sheng said inly. ¡°Of course. Faldt had also used arge number of sacrifices in order to descend upon the human world. We are no different. We originally nned to go to the rifts to harvest some souls as a sacrifice to break into the human world. But since you are here, how can we sessfully enter the human world?¡± Sylvest looked on with anticipation at Lin Sheng. ¡°Simple.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s face beneath the mask let out a strange smile. ¡°I have the Darkspirit World under mymand, which is chaotic and dangerous, alongside some very uniquendform. But there is a great advantage to that, with the frequent tectonic mes can be used as a sacrifice to summon you lot.¡± The innumerable me pirs there, if used well, could function the same as how Mi Yue had used the volcano¡¯s power to summon Faldt. ¡°Is that so? As long as it could summon us over there for us to kill Faldt, everything else is trivial. You just need to set a date.¡± Sylvest smiled. ¡°No need. You just need to change a form first and send one of your double avatars over. The Darkspirit Realm under mymand had already opened a portal to the human world, you can use your avatars to scout things out.¡± Lin Sheng was forthright. ¡°Sure. I am already anticipating the moment what sort of face he would have when Faldt summons his true body, only to realize that we have already arrived in the human realm way before. HAHAHAHA!!¡± Sylvest let out a thunderingugh. ¡°Killing my disciple, and destroying my mark. He will soon know his folly.¡± Lin Sheng sneered as well. ¡°Then, this is my mark. As long you infuse it with enough power, you can summon my avatar. But the avatar would need to possess a physical body, and you will need to help us get those bodies.¡± ck light flew out of Sylvest¡¯s finger. The ck glow flew before the temporary body and became a small and delicate-looking ck crystal orb. ¡°Carrus.¡± Sylvest turned around and roared towards one of the ck smoke pirs. ¡°Since you¡¯re here. Give him the mark. We would need to work together to kill Faldt the Wretched! Yes, I like that name! Hahahaha!¡± Heughed out loud once again. Soon, a simr ck light flew out from a pir in the distance and floated before the temporary body, and turned into a dark red crystal orb. ¡°I am the Underworld Courtier Carrus. Don¡¯t make me wait too long.¡± A sharp, eerie female-like voice rang from afar. ¡°Of course.¡± Lin Sheng responded coldly. ¡°Even if both of you didn¡¯te, I alone can still kill him!¡± ¡°He is mine!¡± The shrill voice rang out. ¡°His head is mine!¡± Lin Sheng hissed viciously. ¡°Hahaha!! Don¡¯t worry, I will tear him into three parts then, and all of us will have a part each!¡± Sylvestughed again. ... Inside the dark meeting hall within Redwin¡¯s Heaven Spire. Faldt stood before a rippling ck mirror, as arge amount of ck, viscous liquid seeped out of his body. Arge amount of darkherforce flowed out from his body like streams of ink, into the ck mirror below. The mirror was a special tool he had created using many special souls in exchange, The Spectral Mirror. This was a powerful tool that could build aplete and secure world portal. And what was consumed was those special souls. ¡°Soon, soon... I never thought that those souls were so special, and could support the construction of the Spectral Mirror. This was an unexpected pleasant surprise and could hasten the summoning of his true body. At this moment, the Spectral Mirror had begun tomunicate with his body within the Demiurge¡¯s Pir as arge amount of soul power from his true body was flowing through the void into his body. This power was rapidly strengthening Mi Yue¡¯s body which he inhabited. ¡°But, it is still not enough...¡± After a long while, the souls were exhausted and the ripples on the Spectral Mirror slowly subsided as no more invisible power flowed into him. Faldt still had some Underworld Force that seeped out of his body. These Underworld Force were nothing but a guiding summoning conduit and were not important. ¡°But I¡¯m almost at the strength level to proceed with the next phase of the n.¡± The Spectral Mirror beneath him spontaneously disappeared and hid. ¡°I should leave the Heaven Spire now, and head to the next Hidden Realm.¡± He had a second target in mind. If he headed over to Miga¡¯s Carta nche now, he will run into them when they had already been most prepared. But if he skipped over them, and head over to Olro¡¯s Hellfire, thetter would think that they would have a bit more time to prepare, and may not havepleted their preparations to the fullest yet. So, he could definitely catch them t-footed. After destroying Hellfire, and conduct another summoning of his true body, and once he gets stronger again, he¡¯ll go and wipe out the most difficult foe of them all, Miga¡¯s Carta nche. ¡°Carte nche had been the strongest of all Hidden Realms, and the best, tastiest food should be naturally left forst...¡± Faldt smiled confidently. ... Adolf sat in a stupor on a flight of steps as he looked at the familiar yet strange snow-filled scene in the distance. It was Xylond¡¯s Sherminton. And behind him was his own vi, his home for a very long time. It was only a small piece of Sherminton. A few hundred meters on the other side was a ce that looked like a pier, and there was a small piece of hazy sea in the yonder. A beautiful woman with a nk expression was standing on the pier staring nkly into the sea. He remembered thedy, she was Xie Qiaoyue, one of the holders of the Sacred Vessels of Destiny that was tied up next to him. Adolf looked at another direction. Over there was a totally different scenery, looking something like a dense forest. A solitary swing hung within the forest, and a burly man in dark sunsses sat on it. Even further away, there were different regions and sceneries. They were six different bearers of the Sacred Vessels of Destiny, and at this moment, all of them were in a ce familiar to them, as they looked on in a daze, not knowing what had happened. ¡°It¡¯s this ce...¡± The old man who had been leading the party stood on a patch of the golden desert as he let out a long sigh. ¡°Everyone, it seems like we have truly failed. Even our souls would soon be annihted.¡± ¡°Do you know what this ce is?¡± Xie Qiaoyue regained her sense, and asked in a daze. What amazing was, even with the distance between them, they were speaking like they were face-to-face as their voice rang clear without any gaps. ¡°This is Death¡¯s Illusion,¡± the old man said. ¡°It¡¯s rumored that when the soul of a living being is about to be annihted, they will enter a ce that would show the most familiar ces and scenes to them.¡± ¡°Death¡¯s Illusion is a ce of our final living moments.¡± He let out a long sigh. ¡°Seems like all of us have been deceived by the Great Sage... he had been using us to aplish a certain special purpose.¡± Chapter 476 - Rescue: Part 3

    Chapter 476: Rescue: Part 3

    ¡°Death¡¯s Illusion?¡± Adolf smiled bitterly. ¡°Has my Sacred Vessel failed?¡± He knew in his heart that he had really been fooled by the Great Sage. The failure of his Sacred Vessel was probably the work of that person. ¡°Well, so be it if I die... I don¡¯t have to worry about this and that.¡± He sat calmly on the steps and looked at the blue clouds in the sky. ¡°Look! What is that?!!¡± Suddenly, Xie Qiaoyue eximed as she pointed into the sky in the distance. The other five quickly looked at the direction she pointed. A thick, dark cloud from afar was slowly moving towards them. ¡°No... those are not clouds! Those are insects!¡± One of a woman in a sleeping gown suddenly yelled. Adolf looked closely, and sure enough, the ck cloud was not a cloud at all, but a dense swarm of countless ck insects. Due to their numbers, they converged into a cloud-like natural disaster. Adolf looked at the area where the cloud enveloped and everything, the scenery included were all being torn apart by the ravenous insect swarm as the Death¡¯s Illusion was quickly disappearing as well. ¡°Is this our end?¡± Someone cried in a low voice. The six had all subconsciously came together as they stood at the point in the Death¡¯s Illusion furthest away from the ck clouds, looking on as the ck clouds closed it. Despair soon started to well within their hearts. Gradually, the dark clouds in the sky turned into a giant human face. The face was exactly the same as Faldt they had seen earlier. He was ravenously consuming everything as he slowly closed in. ¡°Seems like not even our souls would be left behind...¡± The old man sighed while the rest kept silent. Adolf calmly looked at the approaching ck cloud, he could feel that it was Faldt¡¯s will made manifest, he was consuming thest of the power of their soul for other purposes. ¡°Master... I¡¯m sorry. I have not lived up to your trust...¡± He knew very well that Lin Sheng was waiting for him to return. The holy seal on him allowed everyone from the Holy Sanctum to know of his safety. But whether did he really betrayed them, everyone in the Holy Sanctum knew very well. It was just that he did not expect everything toe to this. Unconsciously, Adolf thought of many, many things. In his daze, he seemed to see the Night Lord, Khad, Fatty, his parents... Finally, he saw his master, Lin Sheng in white light. That was the moment he saw his master for the first time. ¡°Adolf, have you given up?¡± The cantering of horseshoes rang out behind him. Adolf suddenly turned back as a massive wide vortex had slowly emerged behind him without him realizing it. Amidst the vortex, a burly knight in heavy armor on a menacingly armored warhorse slowly stepped out of it. The knight stood up high, as the pair of pale golden draconic eyes stared coldly and calmly at him, with the rest present could not help but whisper. ¡°Did it took just a mere setback topletely defeat you?¡± The voice beneath the knight¡¯s armor was very familiar to Adolf. His body shivered violently, his nose turned sore as tears and snot all gushed out in a single go. Even now, his master had not forsaken him? ¡°I had betrayed...¡± He could not help but fall to his knees as he burst into tears. ¡°Stand up! What are you crying for!?¡± Lin Sheng growled. ¡°you are my disciple! Even if you were to die, I will drag you out of this forsaken ce!!¡± The Gorefiend beneath him too snorted, letting out a bestial roar. ¡°Stand up! And follow me!¡± Lin Shengmanded as he looked up at Faldt¡¯s approaching face and his gaze turned fierce. Only then did the five recovered from their daze. A vortex had suddenly opened up behind them, then a heavy knight riding a three meter-tall horse-like beast walked out of it had them shocked and frightened. They had never expected the person to be Adolf¡¯s master. ¡°My goodness... What sort of background Adolf had for his master to be able to chase after this ce...?!!¡± ¡°Could it be that he is some apex Darksider?¡± ¡°What sort of Darksider could chase after this ce?¡± The rest looked on dumbfounded as Lin Sheng and Gorefiend slowly walked out of the vortex. If it was any other ces it may be all fine and dandy, but this was the Death¡¯s Illusion, a ce where only souls could exist. It was one of the most mysterious dimensional rifts for a long time. For someone to be dressed like this, and bringing with him his own portal, no matter how foolish one person was they would still be able to tell that that person was not someone to be trifled with. Plus, seeing how Adolf had copsed and wept on the ground as he murmured between sobs, even fools knew what this moment was. It was time to throw themselves on someone¡¯s legs! Thedy in the sleeping gown was the first to rush over, but before she could get close, she was forced to retreat by Gorefiend¡¯s menacing aura. That made every other person who had tried to get close to stay back. Xie Qiaoyue too had originally intended to throw herself at him. But after hearing Lin Sheng speak, she felt that the voice was very familiar. And soon a voice deep within her memory came out from her mind. She then remembered. ¡°This he not... Is he not....!!?¡± Xie Qiaoyue immediately turned pale as she quickly moved away from Lin Sheng. Simply taking Lin Sheng as a savior would be the worst mistake ever. She was very aware of the identity and strength of the person before her. Back then, the big boss of the Ironfist Society was murderous and did not match the image of a righteous organization. And this sort of big bosses, if you get too close and upsets them, you only have yourself to me if you get off-ed in an instant. Lin Sheng ignored Xie Qiaoyue at that point in time and instead looked up at the encroaching ck clouds. ¡°Just a mere will manifestation.¡± He opened his right hand, as pure white holy power quickly coalesced into a massive three-meter-long holy sword. ¡°Gorefiend!¡± He rumbled. The Gorefiend immediately roared as it unleashed a potent red soul force. The soul force immediately shrouded the slightly unstable Death¡¯s Illusion and stabilized it once again. ¡°The Ward of Storms.¡± Lin Sheng held the giant sword high as a white silk-like current rapidly formed around the de as a tidal wave of holy power enveloped the de. ¡°Get at it!!¡± Suddenly, a white line lit up in everyone¡¯s eyes. The scorching white light suddenly split the space before it. The great holy de in Lin Sheng¡¯s hand sted away as countless of light particles surged out of it. A violent gale blew as the current roiled, tugging the hair and clothes of everyone present. The de in Lin Sheng¡¯s hand had instantly turned into a pure white storm as it blew violently towards the ck clouds in the sky. The white wind and ck clouds shed and annihted each other, creating arge number of small gray lightning arcs. ¡°Had he gotten stronger?¡± Lin Sheng sneered, as he forcibly suppressed the killing intent in his eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± He turned his horse and walked into the vortex behind him. Adolf wiped off the tears and snot on his face and quickly followed. Xie Qiaoyue quickly reacted and pulled thedy in the sleeping gown beside her. ¡°RUN!!¡± She yelled as everyone rushed into the vortex as it began to shrink, disappearing within it. Chapter 477 - Clarion Call: Part 1 Chapter 477: rion Call: Part 1 Olro, the Hellfire n Council. Hellfire, the mysterious Hidden Realm that no one had seen before, the realm that had only existed in the legends. Deep within it, was an ancient, traditional dark brown town. The town had been the home of the ancient strongmen from all of the great Olron ns. The youngest of them were at least two hundred years old. At that moment, however, the once peaceful and mysterious hidden Realm was wrecked with a series of explosive buzz. A horde of ck behemoths was swinging translucent giant hands as every fist smashed and blocked everything before it. The buildings, walls, and many powerful Darksiders who came to interdict them were unable to stop their advance. Life was ripped apart and turned into a blood rain from the sky as arge number of Darksiders filled in the gaps in the line. Even they were weak and simply smashed by a monster¡¯s single swipe of its fist, no one took a step back. Everyone was silent, as they were determined to die fighting. No one feared death, and they had lived within this small town for so long now, and it was time to show their final worth. The besieged monsters were like headless giants, their bodies were like the dark night sky with shining starlight, just like a blue light dot in a sea of darkness. Above the small town, the monsters were rampaging in. Faldt was d in the special silverbat uniform of the leader of the Heaven Spire as he looked on quietly at the behemoths rampaging and ughtering below. ¡°Are they all just the weak and infirm? Where are the Ptinates?¡± He frowned slightly. After directly assaulting and breaking into this Hidden Realm, he had not seen any traces of the Hellfire Ptinates. There were only these old ascetics who had already prepared themselves in advance and charged forward the moment they saw him. But all of that was no longer important. Faldt looked at the center of the town, there was a man with arge number of arms closing in. Every time the man swings his de, he summons out arge number of swordthralls. These were powerful monsters formed out of his de, and every one of them had the destructive power of a One-winged Darksider. Coupled with their extremely fast speeds, they were not something a Two-winged or a Three-winged Darksider could fight against. *Boom!!* A massive burst of mes sted out from afar, as something seemed to have detonated and exploded. The massive fire painted the town¡¯s skyline red. *Ddong!!!* A long and heavy toil of the bell sounded. In the past, the bell was used to initiate a ritual or to mark the start of a major event. But now, it heralded the end. The highest institution of Hellfire, the n Council, waspletely destroyed. Faldt looked on towards the sky in boredom. ¡°Did they escape beforehand? As an organization formed out of ns, the power they could call upon is far less than the Heaven Spire. Such uninteresting bugs, not even giving me any fun to pass my time.¡± Suddenly, his face twitched slightly, as he felt a power he had left somece being destroyed by someone. ¡°There are people who could destroy my powers? But it doesn¡¯t matter anyway. I¡¯ve left much power behind, and they are everywhere.¡± Being able to destroy the will he had ced in an area meant that the attacker had some prowess, but that was it. Faldt jumped up andnded deftly on the shoulder of a ten-meter-tall giant. The giant then brought him slowly towards the heart of the town in the distance. Since there was no more resistance, it would be impolite of him to not im everything. All of the Darksiders were all pawns to be tossed away, and therge amount of dark powers and life force within their bodies were enough to open a second portal. When another portion of his main body¡¯s power was to manifest again, the strength of this body would grow explosively once again. Standing on the shoulder of the giant, Faldt walked through the blood-soaked streets as he headed towards the direction where Hellfire¡¯s highest authority once stood. ... Miga, Henriqcal City. The Temple of Dusk. Within the pure white prayer hall. Four powerful priests in grey robes were bowing their heads as they loudly chanted a strange andplicated holy verse. This was a necessary step to guide the soul of the dead into the Holy Crystal Font and be a holy spirit. Lin Sheng sat with his eyes closed as he waited quietly at a corner. An unknown amount of time had passed, and suddenly a dazzling white light slowly lit up from the floor of the prayer room. It was a blob of burning white me. Within the me, a white burly knight suddenly dashed out of it and rushed into Lin Sheng¡¯s body before disappearing. Following closely were Adolf, Xie Qiaoyue, and the rest of the murdered bearers of the Sacred Vessels of Destiny. All of them had translucent bodies, as it was clear that all of them were souls now. ¡°Wee back, Adolf.¡± Lin Sheng opened his eyes as he looked calmly at his disciple that he had not seen in a long while. This was the conscientious disciple that had given him his full support while he was still a fledgling, the dedicated disciple who had been working hard for the Holy Sanctum under hismand was finally sessfully rescued. Lin Sheng did not expect that he could sense Adolf¡¯s position after his death. He happened to learn from his warhorse, Gorefiend about its special ability to go to any ces that can be located. Using Adolf as the anchor of the coordinate, he rode Gorefiend straight towards where Adolf was. And finally, he managed to rescue Adolf¡¯s soul before it was destroyed. Fortunately, Adolf had been working in the Holy Sanctum all year round, plus his training with holy power made himfortable with the sacred atmosphere around here. It was a different story for the other five. An overwhelming surge of holy power rushed into the souls the moment they stepped into the ce. One by one, their frightened and fearful emotions were immediately purified by the force field as they became smiling and peaceful, entering a state of sagacity that was disinterested in everything. ¡°Your fear had been purified, your panic, also a negative emotion too had been expelled. Since you havee here, all bad things will be cast away from you.¡± ¡°My dear children, do not be overwhelmed by confusion and guilt. After repenting, you may yet have a chance to redeem everything back.¡± ¡°Every negative emotion is the enemy of calm and peace. Having a calm mind, a calm soul, and a calm body will bring you peace...¡± ¡°Peace my a**!! My wife is dying from illness and you¡¯re talking to me about peace!? I want to go home!!¡± The man in sunsses suddenly realized something, as he screamed and rushed towards the door. He was frightened by the power of the purification force field. The only thought in his mind after escaping the Death¡¯s Illusion was to go home and look for his wife. In the end, he was enveloped by the force field and purified as the anxiety and urgency to save his wife waspletely purified... And he immediately fell silent. Several of the chanters were super-qualified candidates Lin Sheng had pulled out from the mental asylum. Of course, they were not doctors, but the patients there. All of these patients had amon feature. that was their will and viewpoints are extremely sturdy. It was sturdy to the point that they could say ck was white, tofu was white jade with conviction, and that included convincing themselves as well. They were the most suitable candidates for the chanting ritual. Chapter 478 - Clarion Call: Part 2

    Chapter 478: rion Call: Part 2

    Chanting the holy hymn required extremely strong mental state, only through that way one could maintain their will under the constant erosion of the holy power. Anyone with a weaker will would be overwhelmed by holy power, and be reduced to a lunatic where nothing mattered. ¡°No worries. Your wife will forgive you.¡± An old man gently said. ¡°Perhaps death is not a bad thing for her, at least she will be released from the suffering of her mortal coil.¡± ¡°F*ck you!¡± If it is that easy, why don¡¯t you die first yourself?!¡± The burly man was furious. *Shink!* The chanter said nothing, and simply pulled a short knife out and stabbed it into his heart. Arge amount of blood gushed out from the wound on his chest, yet he smiled at the burly man without a change in his expression. *Dupp!!* The chanter felt on the ground and died on the spot. Strangely enough, his blood was purified by the force field, and there was no smell of blood. Instead, it pooled on the ground before disappearing into thin air. ¡°You... You... are insane!!¡± The man in sunsses was instantly shocked. Soon, the purification field once again swept past him. His horrified expression quickly calmed down and a smile even appeared as he looked at the corpse on the ground. ¡°F*ck me... where the hell am I?¡± Xie Qiaoyue struggled to pull herself back from the edge of insanity, and upon seeing the scene, she felt goosebumps all over here. She had not felt such fear while she was within the Death¡¯s Illusion. Adolf was telling Lin Sheng had he had been through, as they heard the sound of the chanter falling on the ground. Lin Sheng nced over and did not react. The chanters were all patients with mental problems, and nothing they did should surprise anyone. Him cing them here, was just for them to chant the holy hymn. ¡°Let¡¯s go out first. You¡¯ll be purified into an idiot if you stay here for too long.¡± Lin Sheng said inly. He did not care about the rest, but Adolf could not be affected by that. ¡°Yes, master.¡± Adolf followed Lin Sheng out of the prayer hall. The rest of them hurried behind and did not dare to stray too far away. Outside the prayer wall was a small square engraved with all sorts of sacred symbols. At the center of the square was a statue of a heavy night in white armor, and behind the statue was a white halo symbolizing the endless light. ¡°This is the Benediction za, the purification field of the Holy Crystal is rtively diluted here and is not as overwhelming. Now Adolf, tell me, your sudden departure back then, was it instigated by someone?¡± Lin Sheng had previously received information that someone from the Astral Mere was mucking about. But as he did not have any concrete evidence they were involved, he did not take any drastic action. Now that Adolf was before him, he naturally had to get to the bottom of this. ¡°Yes, he was an old man who imed he was the Great Sage of the Astral Mere. He had suddenly contacted me and convinced me to fight for humanity. He wanted me to go near to the entrance of the Heaven¡¯s Spire, and gather with everyone.¡± Adolf sat down with Lin Sheng and exined in a low voice. ¡°Very well, I shall pay the Astral Mere a visit once this is over. But now, you need to decide. Your body had already been destroyed by Faldt, so either you maintain your current form as a spirit, or enter the Holy Crystal Font, and I will use my special powers to resurrect you.¡± Lin Sheng gave him a choice. ¡°I choose the second one,¡± Adolf said quickly. ¡°Very well.¡± Lin Sheng nodded, he then looked at the others who had escaped. ¡°All of you may leave.¡± Xie Qiaoyue and the rest looked at each other and simply stood there. If they had not known they could be resurrected, they probably would have left immediately, but now everyone knew that Lin Sheng could resurrect them. All of them who did not want to just die like that of course harbored some hope. ¡°Forget about it. First I would not spend arge amount of power to resurrect you lot. Next, all of you cannot withstand the power of the Holy Crystal Pool, and will be purified into idiots during the resurrection process.¡± Lin Sheng quipped. ¡°Lastly, I have no rtion with all of you, so what reason do I have to resurrect you lot?¡± After saying that, Lin Sheng arranged for the clerics in the Holy Sanctum to bring Adolf to rest, and ignored the five other souls. There were so many other souls in this world that had nowhere to go, and adding another five to them did not matter. Just as Lin Sheng was actively preparing for the resurrection ritual for Adolf, the news of Olro¡¯s Hellfire being dered destroyed was quickly spread to all surviving Hidden Realms big or small. Faldt¡¯s servants conducted ughter within the Hellfire Hidden Realm for a full day and night, and the once prosperous and powerful Hidden Realm town was finally reduced into a graveyard. Many of the Darksiders who had thought Faldt had disappeared were outraged and panicked. They had never thought that Hellfire would fall so easily. One needed to know that even the Heaven¡¯s Spire resisted for at least several days. And the one panicking the most from Hellfire¡¯s destruction was Carta nche. That night, all of the top-level Ptinates gathered to discuss as they tried to figure out a way to salvage the situation. Based on the traces of intel and information that they got, they had realized they had vastly underestimated Faldt¡¯s powers again. That was a particrly ufortable moment for Carta nche who had alreadypleted their various preparations. As for the peril the Three Great Hidden Realms were facing, Lin Sheng had little care for it. The only thing he did, was to call the Principal of Baine University, Wasp Lord Shawnslocka to return to the school But that request was naturally rejected by the Wasp Lord. He intended to remain with Suncrown, and fight or perish with Carta nche. And time passed slowly. Everyone was quiet once again. But amidst the calm, everyone was anxious as to when the attack against Carta nche would happen. Everyone was hoping for thest hope, Carta nche toe up with a rtively better answer. At that moment, however, Lin Sheng was preparing to resurrect his disciple and to prepare for the summoning ritual of the Underworld Netherde and Courtier. ... At thest Darkspirit Realm. A silver magic circle hung above the stack as it slowly absorbed the surging white me pirs within a hundred square meters of it. Arge number of frozen mes were converted by the conversion matrix of the Fairy Kingdom warlocks into rtively low-temperature energy. While the energy conversion loss was high, this low-temperature energy could be used again for further conversions. Lin Sheng rode on Gorefiend, and stood quietly near the magic circle, as he inspected the summoning ritual being re-examined. The magic circle waspleted, and only the final activation was left, then it could start to connect to the two temporary allies from the Underworld. Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes narrowed as he thought of the Netherde and Courtier. During this time, he had gone through the various tomes over at the Giant Kings and the Fairy King¡¯s ce while he had time. So he had some general understanding of the Underworld. Especially what it meant to be a Magister, and he had a clearer understanding than before. Chapter 479 - Clarion Call: Part 3

    Chapter 479: rion Call: Part 3

    A Magister was a position one was born into, a position predetermined for every existence in the Underworld the moment they appear. This was a natural position granted by the Underworld, and not by some god or whatnot. Having a different Magister name meant a different nature of power. Like a Deimer, he was naturally gifted at various spellwords and hexes. While a Netherde would have a high probability of being a natural fighter. ¡°Netherde and Courtier, we canmence any time now.¡± Lin Sheng took out the imprinted crystal orb and infused it with a little soul power to transmit his meaning over. ¡°That fast? Alright, I¡¯m looking forward to this...¡± The Courtier was the first to respond, sounding a little surprised. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to sink my de into Faldt! Bwahahaha!!¡± The Netherde guffawed. Lin Sheng said nothing as he motioned for all of the warlocks to evacuate. After every living creature had left the vicinity of the magic circle. He gently tossed the two crystal orbs in his hand forward. The crystal orbs instantly rolled about as they flew beneath the magic circle and stayed suspended there. *Hiss...* Bursts of white me began to be absorbed into the crystal ball voraciously. ¡°Push the offerings up.¡± Lin Sheng ordered. = Soon, warlocks pushed up prepared giant Darkspirit bodies into the magic circle¡¯s radius. These two humanoid Darkspirits were both wild creatures with low intelligence, but they had very strong bodies and were sufficient to withstand a powerful soul inhibiting them. Afterpleting all of that, Lin Sheng stood quietly watching the massive energy surging through the magic circle. A few studious warlocks were trying to record the changes produced by the magic circle, but soon they were overwhelmed by the massive amount of changing patterns and were unable to continue recording. Time passed. An hourter. The light within the magic circle gradually dimmed as the speed of it absorbing the surrounding mes greatly slowed down as well. Not longter, a tall woman with long flowing hair that covered her important parts slowly walked out of the circle. Her skin was pale and smooth, her hair length was at her buttocks, with a voluptuous chest, and her limbs slender. If it was not for her three-meter-tall frame, she would have been an absolutely hot beauty. ¡°I am the Courtier, Qyne.¡± The woman took a step forward, and her figure disappeared instantly. By the time she reappeared, she was wearing aplex set of ck-purple tights as two disc-like ck magic shoulder tes floated on her shoulder. Her face was not pretty at first nce, but upon closer look, she was extremely attractive and gave out a strange urge to believe whatever she says. The moment she stepped out of the magic circle, darkherforce started to seep out from the ground around her. A solemn, majestic aura radiated from the Underworld Courtier. And all of the warlocks felt like a disaster was upon them. Therge gulf between the life force made them tremble as their spirit waspelled to bow to the woman. ¡°Many thanks, Holyspirit King.¡± Qyne the Underworld Courtier walked towards Lin Sheng and said loudly. Lin Sheng ignored the Underworld Courtier¡¯s aura and twitched as arge amount of holy power was released with his thought and calmed all of his subordinates down. ¡°No need to thank me. But I suggest that you retract your force field first. The summoning of the Netherde has yet to bepleted, and my subordinates cannot withstand both your auras.¡± ¡°My apologies.¡± The Underworld Courtier nodded slightly, as she quickly pulled back the huge force and aura back into her. And very quickly she returned to the level of a Ptinate, and with her aura restrained, it no longer affected the surrounding environment and the warlocks. After the Courtier came out of the magic circle, Lin Sheng continued to look at it. Not longter, another tall, burly man stepped out of it. He had a simr three-meter-tall frame, and this time, it felt like a mountain of flesh pressing close even when he was still some distance away. He had chiseled muscles all over his body like coiling roots of an ancient tree as they squeezed against each other. The man was d in thick dar red armor with a savage look to it, seemingly something created a long time ago. ¡°I have arrived!¡± The Netherde saw the two people waiting for him and let out a vicious smile. ¡°Let¡¯s go, I can¡¯t wait to rip Faldt into shreds and taste it...¡± ¡°Rx. Let¡¯s go to a ce to wait first. He will try toplete the final ritual to summon his true body there. His previous two movements had made it clear enough that he intends to fully materialize in the human realm.¡± Lin Sheng said calmly. ¡°And both of you need some time for your temporary body to fully descend. Do you need me to prepare a suitable identity for you two?¡± ¡°No need. The energy here is abundant. The only issue lies if our true bodies could directly go to the human world from here.¡± The Underworld Courtier, Qyne asked with a shrill voice. ¡°There is a very stable passage here. I only need to order my men to expand it. And if you can suppress your power and split it to a number of smaller parts, then the teleportation would be much more stable,¡± Lin Sheng exined. ¡°That is not a problem at all. Then, we will see you then?¡± The Netherde could not wait to enter the human world and to enjoy everything. It had been thousands of years since hest entered the human world. He had almost forgotten how beautiful the air and nature the human world was. ¡°Very well, since there is no other problem, then I will start to summon your true bodies.¡± Lin Sheng said. The summoning ritual was nothing more than spending a sufficient amount of energy and having special positioning coordinates. With two of their avatars here now and the massive amount of energy within the Darkspirit Realm, summoning the two was not difficult. As for the portal to the human world, Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes gleamed. Of all the wards he had, one of them was to temporarily strengthen everything for a short period of time. With the supreme power of the Dark Wheel, and the ward-enhanced portal, teleporting the two Magisters was not a problem. After arranging a ce for the two Magisters to rest, Lin Sheng took the opportunity to head to the Darkspirit Realm of the Moonstone alone while the warlocks were expanding the portal. After the Moonstone turned its back on all of its adherents and rabidly drew the lifepower from them, everyone had turned against it. The God of War Ning Jia led arge number of former Moonstone elites and retrained in holy power and had soon locked on to the key location where the Moonstone was at. Lin Sheng¡¯s entry this time, was to end the final resistance and take away the final fragment of the Dark Wheel. ... Whitecrystal Gulch. ck mountain peaks surrounded the valley like a barrier as the sky was a dim dark blue. The mountains, valleys, grasnd, forest were all painted by the skyline blue. This was thergest oasis of the ck Desert, the Sealed Grounds. The mist in the air was like thin cotton wool as they floated around slowly. At times, the mist would transform into a humanoid shape before rapidly dissipating without a sound. Lin Sheng rode on Gorefiend as he slowly got to the edge of a cliff, and looked at the tall structure within the canyon a distance away. It was a massive and bizarre building made out of countless of blood-red Moonstones. It was like an arachnid carrying a massive spire on its back. On the top of the spire was a cocoon-like blue gemstone that was emitting a violent chilling aura that engulfed everything within. With the spire as the center, the surrounding two hundred meters or so around it was all covered in ayer of hoarfrost. The hoarfrost seemed to be highly toxic as everywhere it was, nothing grew and exposed a ck, hard rock-like surface. Lin Sheng held Gorefiend¡¯s reins, as his golden dragon eyes gazed at the top of the building. That pale blue gemstone was like a real womb that was carrying a wicked, terrible existence within it. ¡°All power, all will, all shall be turned into a final whimper.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s voice rang out far and wide, and reached where the structure was located. ¡°I am the Holyspirit King, the Lord of All Realms!¡± Lin Sheng looked down at the figure within the blue cocoon. ¡°And how are you going to fight against me?¡± *Crack.* A crisp crack rang out as a crack slowly opened up in the cocoon and radiated blue light from within it. Chapter 480 - Eve of Battle: Part 1

    Chapter 480: Eve of Battle: Part 1

    *Crack!!* The pale blue cocoon-like gemstone atop the arachnid suddenly cracked apart as a centipede-like insect peered out of it Its body was emerald-green, and it had long rows of densely-packed blue eyes that looked like iid gemstones. ¡°If you want to kill me?! Then be prepared to pay the price!!¡± It let out a bizarre roar as it sent arge concussive shockwave towards Lin Sheng. The translucent osciting shockwave ripped out as itpactly sted out hundreds of meters away around it. However, all of the shockwaves were simply blocked by an invisible force field before Lin Sheng. ¡°A futile struggle.¡± Lin Sheng tugged the reins as Gorefiend stepped forward, off the cliff, and walked on the air as it made its way towards the insect. ¡°This is fate,¡± Lin Sheng calmly said. ¡°You are a will that should not have existed. The Dark Wheel shall be restored! Come, be one with me!¡± He held his palm out, as he unleashed the power of the Dark Wheel towards the insect. ¡°The Wheel of Woe would notpletely annihte you, it will only resonate with you, and bring you back to the main body.¡± *Hummm...* An invisible force field was released from Lin Sheng¡¯s palm and enveloped the giant insect in a blink of an eye. ¡°Come back... the final piece of the puzzle.¡± The centipede struggled mightily but to no avail. Even when it had absorbed the strength of everyone, its strength was still far weakerpared to the threerger fragments of the Dark Wheel. Under the force of the huge invisible force field, its ten-meter-long body slowly raised up, and with a rip of the air, it rammed into Lin Sheng. The long centipede body did not in fact really hit Lin Sheng¡¯s body, but rather, it simply rushed into Lin Sheng¡¯s body ethereally, and disappeared. Lin Sheng closed his eyes as he was suspended in the air, as the phantom of the centipede¡¯s legs appeared behind him. Numerous green cracks started to open up on the skin covered by armor on his back. *Hissss...* Just as suddenly theserge cracks opened, they revealed all the little eyes on the back of the centipede. At that moment, a trace of mud-like ck substance floated out from the air beside Lin Sheng. It was closing in onto Lin Sheng as it tried to approach and attached itself onto his skin. ¡°Get lost!¡± At this very moment, Lin Sheng opened his eyes, as a powerful force field beyond what he had earlier sted out and instantly annihted the ck mud-like substance into dust. ¡°The final fragment... the final wards...¡± He lowered his head as he looked at his hands. ¡°Sure enough, this is the true power of the Dark Wheel.¡± Lin Sheng gently squeezed his palm as countless of silver tadpole-like runes appeared on it. All of these white runes quickly painted both of his palms in pure silver. From the surface, it looked as if his hands were made out of silver. In actuality, it was due to the massive amount of silver runes that were too small and too tightly packed that it looked like a rather mundane object. Strands of information within the final fragment of the Dark Wheel flowed into Lin Sheng¡¯s mind now. He closed his eyes as he tried to understand it. ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s how it is... so this is the power of the final ward?¡± He had thought that after fusing the final fragment, he would see arge spike in his power. The truth was that there was a spike, but more important were the wards provided by the final fragment. The four major wards were the Wheel of Existence, the Wheel of Woe, the Wheel of Motion, and the final, Wheel of Fate. Therefore, the essence of the Wheel of Fate¡¯s power was the precognition of some major changes to his fate. Danger, threats, all of these were the top priorities of the precognition. Back then, the Moonstone had used this ability to learn of Lin Sheng¡¯sing and had badly mauled the Centaur Lord and his army. Aside from that, however, the Wheel of Fate also prevents others from seeing and manipting his fate. Of course, there was the most basic ability of manipting vital energies. But when that waspared with the first two abilities, it was utterly unremarkable. ¡°The Istion of Fate... while I have no idea what use it is for now, but something¡¯s better than nothing. Also, I could try the ability to predict important changes out as well.¡± Lin Sheng read through the information he got in his mind, and within it was the ability to operate this ward.¡± A momentter, the countless eyes on Lin SHeng¡¯s back suddenly all opened wide, as they lit up in rays of colorful lights. His eyes slowly blurred as everything before him gradually changed from the earlier scenery to a river of resplendent golden sand. There was gold-like sand flowing within the river of sand. ¡°The Sands of Fate...¡± Lin Sheng immediately recognized the true nature of the golden sands before him. This description had been mentioned in the information within the Dark Wheel. He stared at the sand river before him and felt a prick on his back, as one of the countless small eyes had slowly closed forever. At the same time, a rice grain-sized golden sand floated quietly above the river. The sand flew straight to Lin Sheng andnded on his palm. ¡°This is the Sands of Fate?¡± Lin Sheng now understood a little more, that the Dark Wheel was not omnipotent. The Wheel of Fate could indeed predict the future, but it was not unlimited, in fact there was a limit to it. Taking the Sands of Fate from the River of Fate would permanently consume the Wheel of Fate¡¯s power. Lin Sheng did a rough estimation, and fortunately, this only consumed a couple of decimals of a percent. Unless he continuously used the Wheel of Fate, there should not be a problem, and the Wheel of Fate will slowly recover by itself. He grabbed to the Sands of Fate, and gently pressed against it. The sand disappeared without a sound as a series of images appeared before Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes. He saw an endless storm of cktide engulfing the entire world, devouring all of the Hidden Realms, humans, and Darksiders. He was still fighting in the end, yet he could only protect himself amidst the onught of the cktide with no way out, and he could only helplessly wait until his powers were exhausted before perishing. *Hiss...* Lin Sheng snapped out of it, as his body was drenched in a cold sweat. ¡°Is this the crisis I need to face in the future?¡± That cktide was the same cktide he knew. He was sure of that. As he floated in the air, Lin Sheng¡¯s expression kept on changing, and only after a while only did he turned Gorefiend around and galloped back to the direction he came from. If all of that was true, then he should prepare in advance for the outbreak of the cktide. Inparison, the affair with Faldt was just a trivial sideshow. However, he still had to figure out how to deal with the cktide that could destroy a world like ckfeather. In a time of crisis, perhaps all powers could be turned towards the cktide and fight against it. Suddenly, Lin Sheng recalled the Astral Mere and wondered what this mysterious organization was nning. It seems like he needed to make time to investigate now. Chapter 481 - Eve of Battle: Part 2

    Chapter 481: Eve of Battle: Part 2

    Miga, Carta nche¡¯s Suncrown. Where Suncrown was located was never made known to outsiders. Some said it was a floating skyship in the sky. Some said it was a special institutional structure buried deep underground... But finding Suncrown for Faldt was not all that difficult. He took only three days to travel from Olro to Miga and go straight towards Miga¡¯s capital, Vishe. For him who now had half of his power, the normal Darksiders was like insignificant gnats that he could kill in abundant with a single swipe of his hand. Within an hour, he had summoned an endless horde of the Underworld Legion and broke through Carta nche¡¯s Defensive Line Libra. Thousands upon thousands of Two-winged Darksiders perished in the ensuing battle. The massive capital city¡¯s defensive ring was surrounded by dark fog outside as the blood of countless bodies flowed like a river, and dyed Vishe¡¯s river ring red. The number of dead from the Darksiders were rtively low here, the ones that formed the bulk of the corpses here was the ordinary people who had sought shelter here. Due to the cktide, and the frequent urrence of the monsters, millions of people had converged to the capital city and its surrounding areas as they relied on the Darksider army patrolling and keeping everyone safe. It was these ordinary people that became the greatest tragedy of Miga¡¯s greatest city. Two hourster... Vishe fell. Half of the Ptinates escaped, while another half were all killed in action. The surviving powerful Darksiders all fled towards the other defensive cities to seek shelter. Faldt strolled about in Vishe¡¯s business district. The roads were littered with ruined vehicles as the streets were pockmarked with countless of st craters as dead bodies lined the ground. The city had be a literal graveyard. At a nce, everywhere he looked, he could not find a living person, all of them were dead bodies. mes were zing in the distance as the soldiers of the Underworld Legion ran rampant between the buildings looking for any suspicious persons who might still offer resistance. ¡°What a pitiful city.¡± Faldt sighed. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to just allow me to feast on it? Why the futile struggle?¡± He slowly made his way through the city. ¡°Mama... Mama... it hurts...¡± A little girl covered in blood, whose body had been smashed by a copsed wall, held her little hand out as she called out to her mother for help. Her mother was lying on the ground a short distance away, seemingly asleep. There was no obvious trauma on her body aside from some dirt. From an angle where the girl could not see, the ground where the back of her mother¡¯s heady on was covered in blood and brain matter. ¡°Hehe... such a pitiful creature...¡± Faldt slowly walked before the little girl. ¡°Are you calling for help?¡± he asked softly. ¡°Mama... Mama... where are you?¡± The girl could not understand him and could only cry out loud. *Baammm!!!* Faldt gently stepped on the little girl¡¯s head with his foot and stomped hard. *Crack.* The crying stopped. He pulled his leg away. ¡°The cries of tiny creatures are pitiful, but it¡¯s always a wee bit too noisy.¡± He turned around and went in another direction. Not too far away, in a dark corner, a few people hid there as they covered their mouths, not letting their anger expose their presence. They used to think that Ptinates were a group of all-mighty and invincible beings, that there was no one in this world who could rival them. But now... ¡°We cannot just stay here and wait for our deaths! Once Faldt¡¯s ritual has started, he will locate our hiding ce sooner orter. Damn it, if not for the whereabouts of the Crownlord is unknown, and had disappeared in advance, we would definitely have been able to fight back!¡± Camrio clenched his fist as he looked at the dying Wasp Lord before him. Even as a Ptinate, he dared not to even rescue a little girl in need. The much-anticipated battle between Carta nche and Faldt ended anticlimactically from the onset. The Suncrown Crownlord and several powerful top-ranking Ptinates had mysteriously vanished. Depending on the remaining few Ptinates to support the defensive line was pretty much impossible, and the defensive line copsed in barely any time at all. The casualties were horrendous in Vis, as millions of people died in the aftermath of the massive explosive battle. This was probably the battle with the most casualties in history. The entire capital had almost been reduced into a wastnd as the number of surviving humans barely numbered in the tens of thousands. The Darksiders was the focus of the swordthralls¡¯ hunt. Faldt seemed to be performing some sort of ritual, which required the making of blood corpses. His personal guards¡ªthose headless heavy ck swordsmen¡ªled many swordthralls to hunt for Darksiders. Aside from time, some humans with special traits within them were also being searched for. In another location. Auldmandiller led two students from the Soul Fortress as they carefully hid in a copsed abandoned building. He looked through the crack on the window, and after making sure there was no imminent danger around him, only did he let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Alright, this ce is somewhat safe.¡± After following the principle, Wasp Lord to the capital, and participating in the efforts against the cktide, aside from going back to his workshop asionally, Auldmandiller had been here all this while. He had never expected that the capital of Miga, the ce where the leading institution of Carta nche, Suncrown was it had fallen just after a few hours. The death toll was almost a veritable mountain of corpses. He suddenly missed his granddaughter in the faraway Henriqcal City as well as those timid and careful newly-enrolled children in his workshop. Among them was the genius that garnered most of his attention, Lin Sheng, and thetter was the one he worried about most. In this sort of war, it did not matter if you were a genius or not. If you ran into an enemy you cannot defeat, death was the only oue. ¡°Ughh... Just a bit more, just one more checkpoint we will be able to escape this ce. Faldt had just taken over the city, and there are still many gaps, and we should take advantage of to escape.¡± Heforted the two students. However, his words offort barely had any effect. The images of the terrible disaster that had just happened were still in their eyes Countless back meteors fell from the sky and crashed into the city asrge blocks of buildings copsed like scythed wheat. Hordes of ck monsters were rampaging through the city, as countless of swordthralls wielding long swords hunting for any living people. ¡°Holy light, I pray that you provide me safety, peace and the luck to see this through. Holy light, I have always worshipped you faithfully, please bless us in leaving this city safely...¡± One of the students started murmuring an unknown prayer while another one looked on nkly as tears flowed from the corner of her eyes. Her father had only just been killed a few hours ago by the swordthralls in his attempt to protect her. *Hummm...* Suddenly, a buzzing sound rang out in the sky as if countless swarms of bees were buzzing. The buzzing even caused the ground to tremble. Auldmandiller hurried to the window and looked up. He only saw columns of ck smoke rising from the city and forming into ck, finger-shaped smoke pirs that converged above the capital. A series of bizarre sounds of singing rang out in the sky as numerous voices converged and formed into a magnificent chorus upon the ughtering grounds. Chapter 482 - Eve of Battle: Part 3

    Chapter 482: Eve of Battle: Part 3

    Following the frightful chanting, the entire sky turned from its original gray-white into pale blood red. With the change of the color of the sky, the entirend too was painted with a pale red hue as everything was coated with a red glow. ¡°It¡¯s the ritual! Damn it, it¡¯s that summoning ritual! Could Faldt be nning to use all of the corpses and flesh here as a tribute to summon his most powerful form?¡± Auldmandiller was a tenured professor, and he had some basic knowledge of rituals and magical circles. Just by looking at the structure alone, he could tell that this was a massive summoning ritual. ¡°If Faldt the Underworld Deimer¡¯s true body was to totally manifest... then this world is done for...¡± Auldmandiller felt a tug of despair in his heart. The incarnation of Faldt in Mi Yue¡¯s body had already destroyed half of the world. If his even more powerfulplete form were topletely manifest, then the end result would be theplete destruction of this world. ¡°Can no one stop him?¡± A deep sorrow grew in his heart. ... Henriqcal, Holy Sanctum branch. In the conference hall. The top echelon of the Holy Sanctum sat beside others as they looked on grimly at Lin Sheng at the main seat. Madin, Cainphas, Margaret, Zi Huo, Tenko Kasumi were all seated as they quietly sensed the slow changes in the sky outside. Adolf, whose body had just been reformed was sitting by the side. His new body waspletely made out of condensed holy power and was a typical energy lifeform like the Darkspirits. Sitting at the branch at this moment, he looked on rather curiously at the branch¡¯s senior officials. ¡°The situation is clear now.¡± Margaret¡¯s eyes were still slightly red and swollen. She had just received her m members who had escaped all the way from Olro. The n had suffered heavy losses and had paid a dear price on their way here. She was devastated by grief and anger, and came to the meeting with her emotions still in turmoil. ¡°The strength of Faldt the Underworld Deimer is unprecedented. He is far above the ranks of the Ptinates, and based on Lord Seagal¡¯s designation, we have tentatively assigned its level as Legendary. The Legendary-level Faldt was relying on millions of souls to continue summoning his powers. We need to make a decision immediately on how to deal with this catastrophe before us.¡± She paused for a bit before continuing, ¡°It is conceivable that after Faldtpletes his summoning, he will inevitably wipe out all other factions beyond the three Great Hidden Realms. As we are one of those factions, so...¡± ¡°With such a vast gulf in strength, all ns and schemes are pointless...¡± Cainphas let out a long sigh. In the battle of the capital city, he had lost many of his family, and even now his expression was still dull. He had yet to recover from the shock. Everyone else was speechless. How to deal with the increasingly powerful Faldt was an impossible objective, to begin with. ¡°I have arranged the specific measures already.¡± Lin Sheng was in full armor, and his expression was obscured by his facete, as only his rumbling voice echoed throughout the hall. ¡°In response to the Faldt incident, two allies of the Holy Emperor will be arriving in advance. The Holy Sanctum will operate as normal. As for the capital, the Holy Emperor himself will take care of it. All of you don¡¯t have to worry.¡± Lin Sheng exined tly. Right, we still had the mysterious Holy Emperor behind us! The eyes of the senior officials suddenly brightened, as their morale improved a little. No one knew how strong the Holy Emperor was, but since he took the initiative to face such a strong adversary as Faldt, that means he had confidence. Everyone¡¯s mind was now running wild, but the dreary atmosphere hadpletely disappeared. ¡°Is there anything that we can do? With the Holy Emperor taking to the front and leaving us to stand guard and do nothing, we just cannot abide by that, right?¡± ¡°The only thing you need to do is to receive the tide of refugees and try to amodate all of them,¡± Lin Sheng ordered. His gaze then fell on Adolf. ¡°Also, I will take to the front as well, Adolf, would you like to join me?¡± ¡°Yes, master!¡± Adolf stood up and gave a vigorous nod. He too had the same expectations in his heart. The Holy Emperor was another form of his master. He already knew that. But ording to what his master had said, whether the Holy Emperor or Faldt with hisplete form was stronger, that was something they can only find out as they sh. While he greatly despised Faldt¡¯s brutality, he also had to admit that Faldt was the strongest person he had ever seen before. Bar none. After making some arrangements, Lin Sheng pped his hands. *p p!* After a clear p rang out... Two people came out slowly through the small door at the back of the conference hall. It was both the Netherde and Courtier that had shrunk in size. ¡°Are we going now?¡± There was a hint of savagery in the Netherde¡¯s voice, and the moment someone heard his voice, they felt numb and fearful. The moment he came out, the natural repressive aura from his body turned the faces of all of the senior officials present pale. For those who are less powerful, they even felt like a rock was crushing their chest as they breathed. While those Five-winged local envoys could even feel the stress in their minds, and hearing the voice of the Netherde alone was almost unbearable as their brains threatened to explode. These two mysterious people were terrifyingly powerful! For such powerful persons to be hiding in the backroom... All of the top echelons present knew that no one there was capable of fighting these two based on their aura alone. Just as all of the top-level officials were at their limits... ¡°It is about time,¡± Lin Sheng said and broke the strange repressive aura. Following his voice was a series of holy power that radiated across the room and purifying the room and calming down all of the senior officials present. That made everyone secretly thankful that there was someone like Lord Seagal who was at the same level in the Holy Sanctum, otherwise, these two persons alone would have easily wiped out the entire top echelon present. However, what they could not figure out was, how did Lord Seagal¡¯s strength increased so exponentially, or rather, was Lord Seagal actually an avatar of the Holy Emperor? Everyone was fearful and did not dare make any wild guesses. ¡°Very well. See you there then,¡± the Underworld Courtier said softly. ¡°Good.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. The Netherde and the Courtier¡¯s walked out in tow under the watchful eyes of many of the Holy Sanctum¡¯s top echelon. As they calmly got out of the gate, they disappeared on the open space before it. After the two left, the air within the conference room returned to normal, and the pressure earlier was no longer there. Everyone there looked like they had seen a ghost. Everyone had thought that they were strong, but that scene had given them a rude awakening. ¡°What power...¡± Tenko Kasumi squinted as she looked at the direction the two had left. She had felt a trace of battle lust, and the two were even stronger than the strongest foes she had faced thus far. ¡°Alright, since everything¡¯s arranged, let¡¯s call it a day.¡± Lin Sheng said inly. ¡°The Underworld Deimer at the capital will be dealt with personally by the Holy Emperor. Plus, to better deal with the imminent crisis of the cktide, I had requested reinforcements from the Holyspirit Pce within the holynd, and to send powerful allies to help.¡± ¡°Holyspirit Pce?¡± Everyone was a little dumbfounded. They had been with the Holy Sanctum for so long, and this was the first time they had heard of a holy ce called the Holyspirit Pce. Chapter 483 - Advent: Part 1

    Chapter 483: Advent: Part 1

    ¡°The meeting¡¯s dismissed. Adolf, follow me.¡± Lin Sheng stood up and turned to the exit on the side of the conference hall. Adolf quickly got up and followed as he heard that. The two quickly left the main hall and walked on straight. Until after they reached a garden did they slow down as they strolled into the white cloister within the Holy Sanctum. With the garden were warlocks d in white robes responsible for maintaining the portal to Xylond. These were all high warlocks from the Fairy Kingdom, and they had been sent by Lin Sheng from the Darkspirit Pce to connect Xylond and Henriqcal. As they looked very simr to normal humans, there were not many problems. Plus, the Darkspirit Pce had been officially renamed to the Holyspirit Pce by Lin Sheng from yesterday onwards. All of the Darkspirits that had joined the Holy Sanctum were all renamed Holyspirits. After all, they were, in essence, no different than what Adolf was. The moment Adolf saw Lin Sheng stop, he quickly asked, ¡°Master, what would you have me do?¡± ¡°I want you to contact your otherpanions who have the Sacred Vessels of Destiny, and get them toe to the sanctuary of the Holy Sanctum. Can you do that?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°Of course.¡± Adolf nodded. While he had no idea why Lin Sheng made this request, but this matter had nothing but beneficial for the others. ¡°Very well, get on with it.¡± Lin Sheng nodded, and as he stepped forward, he disappeared in a blink of an eye. Adolf quickly settled down and pulled out his phone to check the signal, before flipping the cover open and dialed a number in his contact list. Soon, after a busy tone, someone picked up the call. ¡°Isaac, where are you now?¡± ... Inside a cave in the wilderness. A few bearers of the Sacred Vessels of Destiny sat on the dark ground exhausted. Isaac was covered in blood, his stomach had almost been cut open by that damned swordthrall. He wiped off the blood from his face and let out a deep breath. If not for him activating the power of the Sacred Vessel, he would have been dead. The moment the Heaven Spire was annihted, he realized that there was something fishy with the Great Sage of the Astral Mere. So he convinced the other bearers that had been traveling with him for the past few days as they relied on each other¡¯s powers and fled all the way here. They had thought Miga was the world¡¯s most stable country, and never expected for such a tragedy to ur here. Suddenly, his handphone rang. ¡°A bucket and a trotter, a glug and a bite, one two one two...¡± The strange ringtone suddenly attracted the attention of others. Isaac took out his phone and nced. ¡°Adolf?¡± He had remembered that Adolf was taken hostage by Faldt right? How could he be calling him now? Their contact methods had been provided by the Great Sage, and he did not expect it to work now. Answering the call, Isaac sat on the ground with his back leaning against the wall. ¡°Hey, Adolf. Where are you now? We were going to save you, but the instant we entered Vishe, those damned swordthralls were just too many, and there are barely any living persons there now. Madness I tell you! How are you? Are you hurt? Let me know your location, we¡¯lle to get you now!¡± Adolf once had rescued him while he was wandering across Xylond and got along very well with Isaac, and the two were considered good friends. ¡°Come over where I am,¡± Adolf said on the phone. ¡°Faldt had indeed caught me, but my master saved us. There¡¯s just too many casualties in the battle of the capital. Due to the immense suffering, my master has decided to take to the field. No matter how the fight against Faldt turns out, we need to witness it.¡± ¡°Your master?¡± Why tell us sooner if you had such a powerful master??!¡± Isaac looked up at the rest with a stunned expression on his face. The volume of the phone was not small, and everyone had heard the conversation, and all of them had a simr dumbfounded and surprised look. Who was Adolf¡¯s master that he could fight against Faldt head-on? ¡°Can you tell me who your master is?¡± A petite and cute blonde girl could not help but to softly ask. ¡°Oh, I never told you before?¡± Adolf was surprised. ¡°My master is the Lord of the Holy Sanctum, the supreme Holy Emperor of the Holyspirit Pce.¡± Everyone was stunned. Holyspirit Pce, supreme Holy Emperor, they could feel the domineering aura just from the name alone... Just hearing the name alone they knew he was not your ordinary character and was definitely a boss-fight sorta character at the end of a level. ¡°Aight, it¡¯s a bit toote to exin everything. Since you guys are near the capital, I¡¯ll give you a location, wait for us there. We wille soon.¡± As he hung up the phone, Adolf exhaledfortably. It just felt so good to have a powerful backing and be able to show it off! He now understood why most of the big bosses and organizations chose those bombastic and pretentious names. Just imagine being a big demon boss of the final stage named Sheepy the Sheep, and see if anyone would have feared you. Oh, the great Sheepy the Sheep, your might is without equal, and your conquest eternal. Your radiance shall shine in all corners of the world, and your words immortal. Just thinking of that alone gave Adolf the shivers. After the call, Adolf circled around before looking for the spirits of the other bearers of the Sacred Vessels of Destiny that remained in the Holy Sanctum. Among them, two had already left while the other three remained, and hoping for the chance to do something for the sanctum in exchange for Lin Sheng to resurrect them. Upon seeing Adolf, they were ovee by emotion and quickly gathered around him to ask about the situation. Seeing Adolf¡¯s resurrected body made them even more envious. While all of these people were originally ordinary people, what was surprising was that Adolf had gotten some unexpected information from them. One of them still had traces of the power of their Sacred Vessel. Using this residual trace, the person could vaguely sense the direction of the power they once had had went to. This could be an important clue in looking for the Astral Mere in the future. ... Miga¡¯s Capital City, Vishe In the middle of the city, in the ring-shaped open-air theater. The originally tile-covered center of the theater was now filled with a mound of broken corpses. The flowing blood had formed a stream by the edge of the theater, and the entire ce ranked with the stench of blood. A drizzle fell as cold wind blew and the temperature was getting lower and lower. It was slightly bone-biting. Faldt watched as a few blood corpse slowly walked into the theater as they were divided into four lines at the edges and stood at different angles. *Poof!! Poof! Poof! Poof!* After four muffled puffs, four blood corpses formed out of Darksiders pulled out des as they shed their throats. They then grabbed onto their hairs and yanked their heads back, ripped the wound on their throats wider to allow more blood to flow out. ¡°Soon... Soon...¡± Faldt gently snapped his fingers. Behind him, rows upon rows of humans with a dazed look in dirty and ragged clothes slowly lined up as they stepped into the theater and into the bloodied arena in the middle of it. Red light shone in the sky as the air seemed to be filled with some sort of special toxin. The moment the people who entered the theater stood still, they began to melt from their feet. Their bodies were like candles as they melted started from the toes and gradually dissolving from the bottom top as they were reduced into blood and blended into the surroundings. However, none of these people fled in terror, and simply just stood there motionless. The first batch of people was soon fully dissolved, and soon was the second, and the third. Chapter 484 - Advent: Part 2

    Chapter 484: Advent: Part 2

    A continuous stream of living people was constantly being added like ingredients into the medicinal furnace of a theater. From time to time, Faldt reached out and stirred the ritual circle beneath the theater, and every time he moved his hands, a red light will sh across the ground. ¡°My Lord, someone had fled. About thirty of them. Their strength by local standards is at about Five-winged level.¡± A ck swordthrall suddenly appeared behind Faldt. The so-called swordthralls were monsters with humanoid form, but all of their limbs were de-like weapons. The bodies of these monsters were as tough as iron and difficult to destroy. Due to their extreme speed and explosive power, their actualbat ability was about the level of a Two-winged Darksider. ¡°Send men to bring them back. I need more blood sacrifice, this much is not enough,¡± Faldt said calmly. ¡°As youmand.¡± ... Standing beneath a huge billboard, Lin Sheng looked at the area where the smoke was billowing, his expression calm. ¡°That thick smoke area is where Faldt¡¯s true body will manifest. You two, now is still not the time to startle our prey yet.¡± He turned over and looked at the two appearing figures. ¡°If you are afraid, you can go back first.¡± The Underworld Courtier said coldly. ¡°Afraid? You think I was afraid that I pulled you two out here?¡± Lin Sheng shook his head slightly. ¡°I¡¯m north of that location,¡± the Netherde suddenly announced. ¡°I¡¯m in the southwest,¡± the Courtier responded. ¡°As agreed, I¡¯m in the southeastern area,¡± Lin Sheng replied. They had lined up and formed a triangr encirclement. The three looked at the area billowing smoke. Aside from Lin Sheng, the two were actually translucent phantoms. ¡°Faldt had begun tomunicate with the Demiurge¡¯s Pir. One this process starts, it cannot be interrupted. Let us begin.¡± The Courtier¡¯s said. ¡°I hope none of you pull out.¡± Lin Sheng looked deeply into the Courtier¡¯s eyes. ¡°The one that should be careful is you.¡± The Courtier¡¯s face tightened as she subconsciously clenched her fish. ¡°Oh, if you let me find out that you have any other ns...¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes turned chilly, as a trace of menace rang out in his tone. ¡°Look after yourself first.¡± With a snap, the Courtier¡¯s body shattered and disappeared. This was nothing but a phantom she had projected from a distance. Her real body had already arrived in the agreed-upon location long ago. ¡°Holyspirit King, we havee to work together for the same cause, shouldn¡¯t let some misunderstandings to affect our trust.¡± The Netherde seemed to have noticed something and sniggered. ¡°It¡¯s fine if she did not have any second thoughts, but if she does...¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s tone changed. ¡°Don¡¯t me me for not warning you in advance.¡± ¡°How could that be! The Courtier the most hurt the most by Faldt among all of us. Even if you and I turn out backs to the cause, she will never do so!¡± The Netherdeughed. ¡°I hope you are right. See youter then.¡± Lin Sheng said coldly. With a snap, the Netherde¡¯s apparition too shattered and disappeared, leaving only Lin Sheng alone there. Looking at the thick smoke column, he gently pped his hands. Soon, Adolf and the others appeared behind him. ¡°Master,¡± Adolf said respectfully. ¡°Very well, this battle shall determine the fate of this world for the next hundreds or perhaps thousands of years. And many elites of my Holyspirit Pce had arrived as well,e with me to wee them.¡± Lin Sheng turned around and said with a rumbling voice. ¡°Many elites from the Holyspirit Pce?¡± Adolf was slightly anticipant. ¡°From today onwards, I want only the voice of the Holy Sanctum to reverberate in Miga!¡± Lin Sheng suddenly said with firm determination. ¡°Yes! Master!¡± Adolf quickly followed behind. ... In another location. With a grin in his mouth, the Netherde bit his finger and let the blood drip onto the ground. His ck blood fell onto the ground and suddenly expanded as it formed into an elliptical portal. Amidst the hissing, powerful ck-red figures crawled out of the portal and stood behind him. Not long after, a horde of powerful and twisted monsters stood behind him. ¡°As My Lord has instructed, we have arrived!¡± The humanoid-like creature in the forefront had bat-like wings, with sharp serrated teeth in its mouth, as thick scales lined its body. ¡°Get ready. We are about to greet an old friend soon.¡± The Netherde let out a menacing smile. ¡°ughter is our calling.¡± The monsters howled one after another. The Netherde looked on quietly at the monsters crawling out of the portal, and the smile on his face widened. ... Southwest. The Underworld Courtier looked at the direction of the rising smoke, as she gritted her teeth, traces of conflict were apparent in her eyes. She had broken off contact from both the Holyspirit King and the Netherde, and she should have been summoning her subordinates, gather her elites and army before striking against Faldt¡¯smanders and swordthralls. Yet, not only did she not summon anything, but she stood there with a hint of hesitation. ¡°Faldt...¡± As she felt the threatening aura from the other two directions that were increasingly undisguised, her expression grew more and more conflicted. After standing where she stood for a moment, the Underworld Courtier suddenly clenched her fist and opened her eyes. Recalling that figure that she loved and hated all those years, she had decided that she would give her everything to kill him, but when he was standing before her, she found herself unable to strike. ¡°Faldt...¡± In the end, the Underworld Courtier did not summon her subordinates. Instead, she gently tapped her finger as an invisible wave rushed into the space before her. ¡°Go, tell Faldt that he is in danger. He needs to be ready, or else...¡± ¡°Or else what?¡± suddenly a chilly voice rang out behind the Underworld Courtier. She shuddered and immediately turned back. She saw Lin Sheng standing right behind her, not knowing when he had since been there. The Netherde seemed to have arrived as well, without her noticing his presence. ¡°You...¡± The Underworld Courtier¡¯s face instantly paled. ¡°Kill her.¡± Lin Sheng said tly. ¡°Heh, you really disappointed me, Qyne. So it turned out that you agreed to join me was just so that you can warn Faldt?¡± The Netherde licked his lips, as a glint of brutal excitement shed in his eyes. ¡°No matter, I had always wondered what you taste like.¡± *Bam!!* In an instant, the Netherde leaned forward and charged, as his body sted open halfway through the charge and rushed at the Courtier in a swarm of dark shadows. Behind him, Lin Sheng formed a massive long sword, as pure white light radiated from beneath his feet as he walked towards her step by step. ... *Ssh!!* He suddenly had the feeling he had heard blood being split. Faldt was startled as he shook his head in befuddlement. It stood to reason that at his current level, he should not lose concentration for nothing. But the sudden impulse had almost broken his control of the ritual. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He gently held his chest, and felt a little tightness there, as a jolt of pain came. ¡°With my strength, for something like this to happen, did something happened?¡± Faldt look at the burning mound of flesh in the middle of the as thick smoke billowed out into the sky, forming into a pir of smoke. Enormous energy fluctuations ripped out in a continuous circle outwards. At this stage of the ritual, he needed to be connected to the Demiurge¡¯s Pir at all times. If the ritual were to be broken, not only would the summoning ritual be interrupted, even his soul would be wounded. That was the reason he had sent arge force to clear out the surroundings. Chapter 485 - Advent: Part 3

    Chapter 485: Advent: Part 3

    Looking at the ritual proceeding smoothly, Faldt frowned a little. ¡°Hopefully, there will be no trouble.¡± For some reason, he had a bad hunch but did not seem to know what was it. What was the problem? Faldt suppressed the anxiety within him as he continued to maintain a connection with the Demiurge¡¯s Pir, in order to smoothen the summoning ritual. *Dupp!!* *Dupp!!* *Dupp!!* Soon, a series of huge heartbeat-like rhythm rang out from the center of the ritual. Amidst the thick smoke, a towering giant ck smoke column slowly emerged within the smoke. This was a miniature version of the Demiurge¡¯s Pir from the Underworld. Faldt looked delighted as he saw it. ¡°It¡¯s here!¡± Both of his hands quickly touched the seal before him, as he chanted the spellrunes to connect to his true body. Not too far away from the theater. The surviving Darksiders that had originally should had been hiding looked at the changing blood-red sky as they walked out of their hiding spots. The swordthralls had all been recalled and had taken up positions near the theater to prevent anyone from interrupting the ritual. Auldmandiller also led his two students out of their hiding ce as they looked at the theater with sadness. From afar, he could feel an overwhelming dread of death, and he knew that even if he were to strike now, it was already toote. The energy fluctuations of the ritual performed by Faldt was just too strong and was not something they could interrupt. *Whiff!* Suddenly, there was a subtle rip of the air. Two sorry-looking Ptinates in Suncrown gold-lined white uniform gentlynded beside Auldmandiller. ¡°It¡¯s toote now... Faldt is about to seed....¡± an old man Auldmandiller had not seen before said. There were helplessness and despair in his eyes. ¡°This world is about to descend into terror.¡± Another man said. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for the Crownlord¡¯s absence¡ª¡± ¡°The Crownload is dead,¡± the old man interrupted him. ¡°I saw a blood corpse within the theater earlier, it was one of the students attending the Crownlord.¡± Everyone fell silent. As they looked at the gradually changing sky, no one was in the mood to speak. With Faldt¡¯s true body manifesting, the age of Faldt¡¯s brutal rule of this world without any opposition, was nigh. Even the three Great Hidden Realms had no way to seal and kill the avatar of the Underworld Deimer, much less his far more powerful true incarnation. Auldmandiller looked up to the sky. A massive smoke pir rose from the theater straight into the sky. At the top of the smoke pir, something seemed to be faintly gestating there, as a ck vortex emerged. *Ugggghhhh...* It sounded as if an old man was crying due to his illness as a bizarre sigh rang out from the ck vortex. ¡°It¡¯s here!¡± Auldmandiller rumbled. ¡°We need to leave now. This is our only chance. Once the summoningpletes, no one can escape!¡± He had some knowledge about the summoning ritual and knew that this was the most critical moment, and this was the time when all of Faldt¡¯s powers had shrunk the most. If they were to escape now, he would have ignored the little bugs like them. ¡°Auldmandiller... How about the Wasp Lord? Your academy¡¯s principal?¡± The Ptinate Elder recognized Auldmandiller¡¯s identity and asked. ¡°The principal... I did not see him. I got separated from him after the battle.¡± Auldmandiller shook his head. ¡°Let¡¯s leave. The die has already been cast... The world is big, perhaps we can find a way in the future, but for now, Faldt¡¯s ns had seeded, and we will not be able to turn the tide.¡± Another man said mournfully. Auldmandiller did not respond and simply gave the giant smoke pir a deep nce. *Vooom!!!* Suddenly, the vortex at the top of the smoke pir expanded as it instantly covered the entire theater and enveloped the entire size of the grand theater... Just as sudden, a massive ck arm slowly emerged from the vortex as it grabbed onto its edge. Following that, a ck giant in graceful Magister uniform slowly emerged from the vortex. The ck-skinned giant was ten meters tall, not unlike a tall building as it slowly climbed out of the vortex, and nted its massive feet firmly at the center of the theater. Aside from the rather eye-catching skin color, what was even more noticeable was the various tiny ck orbs around it. The orbs were like living beings as they constantly circled around him. *Bam!!* A ck line sted out from the inside of the theater, carrying Faldt¡¯s Mi Yue incarnation as he rose up to the chest of the ck giant. ¡°My will, all shall return to one!¡± Faldt held his hands open as he leaped from the ck line into the ck giant¡¯s chest. *Shink!* A soft tterter, he seemingly sank into the giant¡¯s chest like water and disappeared into it. At that very moment, the ten-meter-tall ck giant finally opened his eyes. A pair of bright-colored eyes slowly opened, radiating sagacity and calmness. ¡°Finally... I¡¯ve arrived atst... The human realm that I have longed for far too long...¡± He took a deep breath as if trying to take in the fragrance of the air. Even when there was nothing but the stench of blood here. ¡°It¡¯s over.¡± Seeing the terrifying giant, Auldmandiller felt weak as sorrow filled his heart. He knew that form now on, the entire world would tremble under Faldt¡¯s terrifying shadow. ¡°No! Wait, there¡¯s a second wave of power!?¡± Suddenly the elder ptinate yelled in surprise and pointed to the sky. Auldmandiller immediately looked over. ¡°Considering the time, I think you should¡¯ve been done, Faldt.¡± Suddenly, a ck figure appeared on the other side of the skyline, floating in midair. *Vhooom!!* In an instant, the figure suddenly expanded and became a ck giant floating in midair in a sh. The figure was also a ck giant, in a menacing ck armor with two massive scimitars in both hands. Faldt, who was somewhat full of himself earlier suddenly looked on at the familiar giant with a stunned expression as a bad hunch welled in his heart. ¡°Netherde! How is this possible! How could you break through the barrier and manifest in the human realm!¡± Why did I not sense anything?! Impossible!¡± ¡°Of course! That¡¯s because I have an ally that is far more reliable than you... Ahahaha!!!¡± The Netherdeughed. The massive bodynded heavily on the ground, and two buildings were shattered in his wake. ¡°Still not showing up yet? Holyspirit King?¡± He turned around and looked in another direction. *Bam!!* A massive pir of pure light shot up straight into the sky as the ten-meter-thick pir of light sted out from the other corner of where Faldt was. The pir of light was like a massive erupting geyser as a stalwart warrior in white armor slowly emerged at the top of it. The warrior was covered in heavy armor as he held a sword in one hand, and a bloodied, broken woman in another. ¡°Faldt.¡± The pale golden draconic eyes under the heavy armor looked on calmly at the ck giant. ¡°Greetings. You can call me the Holy Emperor.¡± Faldt¡¯s pupils shrank and instantly noticed the woman in Lin Sheng¡¯s clutch. ¡°Qyne...¡± The moment he saw at the blood all over the woman, he felt a powerful surge of emotion from his heart. ¡°You!!!!¡± Chapter 486 - The Decisive Battle: Part 1

    Chapter 486: The Decisive Battle: Part 1

    *Booomm!!!* Faldt¡¯s massive giant body rushed towards Lin Sheng in a berserk rage, before being hammered by a shoulder tackle from the Netherde to his side. His massive body fell onto the ground like a meteorite. ¡°Spellword: Time Lapse!¡± Faldt managed to activate his spellword, as his body suddenly blurred and disappeared before returning to the position he was standing on earlier. That sudden shift allowed him to avoid the Netherde¡¯s follow up attacks. Returning back to his original spot, Faldt¡¯s expression was chilly as he gently touched his cheek, and noticing a scar oozing ck blood on his skin. ¡°Netherde... You are sure passionate enough toe at me with your Unseen de the moment we meet...¡± The Netherdeughed out loud. The Unseen de was one of his most potent abilities and was the core of his being as a Netherde. This ability allowed him a chance tond an explosive de attack that was many times stronger than usual while fighting against his enemies. The ded attacks mostly resulted in cutting wounds, and with the speed and power of the attacks were many times the limit of his powers, and was extremely difficult to defend against. It was this powerful ability that allowed him to gradually climb up the steps from the continuous ughter to his present ultimate form. ¡°Faldt, do you still remember the time when you humiliated me many years ago? Weren¡¯t you all that smug back then? Look at you now? HAHAHAHA!! What an embarrassment!¡± The Netherde guffawed. Faldt sneered and looked away from the Netherde as his gazended firmly onto Lin Sheng within the pir of light. In the hands of the so-called Holy Emperor was a woman whom he had once loved deeply and had regretted letting go, Qyne. He could sense that Qyne was not dead. As an Underworld Courtier, it was impossible for Qyne to be simply just killed off like that, and was simply gravely wounded. ¡°Hand Qyne over to me, and I shall forgive your reckless assault. ¡± Faldt took a deep breath and said calmly. ¡°Hand her over to you?¡± Lin Sheng smiled unknowingly and lifted Qyne up. *Bam!!* Suddenly, the sword of light in his right hand stabbed straight into her neck. The tip of the de ran out from the back of her neck as arge spurt of ck blood rained upon the ground. Qyne shuddered as a crackling sound rang out from her opened mouth. ¡°You can choose to take her back from me. Provided if you have that capability.¡± Lin Sheng said coldly as he tossed Qyne away, and letting her m heavily into the ground. Even with a trace of protective white light, Qyne was still covered in blood and was dying. Her life hanging dangerously by a thread. Faldt¡¯s entire body trembled as his eyes turned red, as his emotions gave way to violent fury. ¡°Aaaahhh!!¡± He violently shook his head as he roared. *Boom!!* The Netherde once again mmed into him from the side. A loud crash rang out as another sharp wound once again opened up on Faldt¡¯s chest as ck blood gushed out of it. ¡°Spellword: Restoration.¡± He took a couple of steps back as he quickly chanted the spellword to heal himself up, and the wound was quickly healed. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s stop wasting time. Faldt, since you do not intend to surrender, then you shall perish here today!¡± The Netherde no longer dallied as the pair of scimitars in his hands burst into ck mes. ¡°Die!!¡± He swung his scimitars towards Faldt in a murderous arc. Faldt held his palm before him asyered of colored lights shed on his hands, not knowing how many actualyers of protection he had deployed. ¡°And another!¡± The Netherde¡¯s twin de struck one blow after another, and while it was a simple cut and dice, every sh released a ck line as the chained attack continuously crashed upon Faldt. ¡°If that is the case, then all of you shall die here! Dark Word: Skystone Maniption!¡± Faldt held his hands out as the ck orbs around him rapidly expanded as they turned into mermaids with the same upper body and face as him. These massive mermaids held simr scimitars in both hands as they charged forward and got into a chaotic melee with the Netherde. After temporarily upying the Netherde, Faldt pointed at Lin Sheng and just as he was about to utter a spellword. ¡°Too slow!¡± A voice sted out from behind him. Lin Sheng took a step forward as his figure flickered from the light pir and reappeared behind Faldt. ¡°Ward of Impact.¡± His index finger gently tapped against the back of Faldt¡¯s head. *Boom!!!* A massive atmospheric bomb-like explosion sted out. The force of the st between Lin Sheng and Faldt pushed even the Netherde away. ¡°Hundred-Spellword !¡± Faldt stumbled a few steps back, as the back of his head bled. He let out a furious roar as the space around him twisted and shimmered as arge amount of colorful destructive hexes were unleashed. Now that he was in his true body, his power was many times stronger than before. He could instantly unleash over hundreds of spellwords at the same time, and their destructive power was ten times more destructive than before. But it was useless. ¡°Ethereal Form.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s figure blurred as his form took a semi-transparent state before disappearing. Lin Sheng, who was already extremely fast, after entering the ethereal form, and lost most of his weight, his speed increased even more explosively. ¡°If that is that much you can do, you disappoint me so, Faldt.¡± Lin Sheng instantly turned into about a dozen afterimages that circled rapidly around Faldt in midair. And every afterimage was flickering as if they were constantly refreshing. This was an illusion produced by Lin Sheng¡¯s ultra-high-speed movement. ¡°Now can you tell which one is me?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need to. I just need to kill everything!!¡± Faldt held his arms open as countless of colorful spellwords hovered beside him. ¡°Thousand-Spellwords: Death Spiral!¡± He suddenly swung his arm as arge ray of light stirred and covering the entire area beside him in an instant. Lin Sheng¡¯s afterimages were all covered in colored light and all of them disappeared in a blink of an eye, leaving only a single figure covered in holy light that was blocking the lights. ¡°Not bad. Now that¡¯s more like it.¡± Lin Sheng was calm. This battle, was vengeance for his disciple, and also at the same time, to get a measure of his own strength. In theory, his current holy power was only the level of a six-wing, and this was due to his body was being strengthened by the chaotic souls, and his holy power increased as a result. But upon entering the ranks of the Ptinates, he had obtained the special ¡®Unlimited Conversion¡¯ ability, and could infinitely convert soul power into holy power for a short period of time. This resulted in his almost limitless amount of holy power. At the same time, after obtaining the Dark Wheel, of the 88 protective wards, many of them could strengthen his body, and increasing the output and explosive power of his holy powers. The myriad of enhancement and boosts had raised Lin Sheng from a six-wing holy power level, into the realm of the Ptinates, or perhaps even higher. Even so, the quality and quantity of holy power were not enough to stop Faldt¡¯s enraged attack at this time. The Thousand-Spellword was essentially a thousand spellwords beingunched at the same time with stacking force. This instant outburst was ten times stronger than Faldt¡¯s previous spellword attacks. But the Thousand-Spellword did not mean it was a thousand times stronger than the previous spellword. As the formation of spellwords requires it to absorb energies from its surrounding, and at the same time, there was actually friction between spellwords. With so many disturbances, the power of a Thousand-Spellword was not as powerful as imagined. But for Lin Sheng now, it was enough to make him eat humble pie. Chapter 487 - The Decisive Battle: Part 2

    Chapter 487: The Decisive Battle: Part 2

    The colored light rapidly eroded the holy powers around Lin Sheng. Less than a secondter, the holy power disappeared and Lin Sheng grunted as a storm of endless colored lights bombarded against his armor. ¡°Ward of the Stalwart Wall!¡± Lin Sheng thought as anotheryer of warding formed on him as they blocked off the remaining power of the colorful light. *Boomm!!!* Even when Lin Sheng had managed to block the attack and was uninjured, he was still knocked several hundred meters away from his original position. Just as Faldt was about to pursue and go for the killing blow, a massive figure suddenly mmed against him from the side again. ¡°Twin Horn Assault!¡± The Netherde had already taken out the monsters formed out of the orbs and had rushed over once again. ¡°Damn it!¡± Faldt spat and could only give up on pursuing Lin Sheng as he joined the Netherde in melee. Lin Sheng took a breather before floating up against and rushed towards Faldt. The long sword condensed out of holy light in his hand rapidly lengthened and widened as he charged towards Faldt in a powerful thrust attack. ¡°Wheel of Woe!¡± The power of the second wheel was poured into the holy long sword as it shed against the Thousand-Spellwords surrounding Faldt. The two forces of pure energy shed and were quickly annihted. Either of the two forces was Legendary-ss strength that far exceeds the Ptinates. The density, strength, and purity of their powers was beyond the limits of mortal imagination. Even so, Lin Sheng failed to actually break Faldt¡¯s defense and instead could only wear it down. The battle then slowly turned into a stalemate. Both the Netherde and Lin Sheng coordinated as they tried to kill Faldt. For a time, the city center was utterly destroyed by the collision of three massive forces. When the swordthralls were still ravaging the city, the city still at least bore the look of one, but as the three continued to st each other apart, the city was slowly copsing away. Everywhere the trio went, be it reinforced concrete, cement, or corpses, all of them were annihted and turned into the finest of dust particles as they disappeared. The terrifying explosion and roars continued to ring out between the three of them. Just the sonic wave alone was enough to impair any ordinary survivors as they copsed onto the ground unable to bear the shock. Adolf and Isaac, after meeting up had already left their original spot long ago, as they stood at least three kilometers away from the battlefield. From this position, only did they dared to watch this world war with a peace of mind as they awaited the end of the fight. Faldt had unleashed the Thousand-Spellwords again and again and just as the colored lights were depleted, they immediately Can¡¯t reappeared, and could not be wiped out. The Netherde had extremely thick skin and his defense and resistance were so strong that it was absurd, and he came out unscathed even when struck by the spellwords time and time again. While Lin Sheng was so fast that he weaved in and out of the battlefield, at times sting out a pir of white light and could always force Faldt to react in a rush. The battle had spread to the surrounding cities as blocks upon blocks of high-rise and skyscrapers copsed by the aftershocks of the attacks. Some of the survivors that could not escape in time were simply killed by the shock in their hiding ce. Even escaping now was impossible. ¡°Is this the battle between top-level overlords? It is...spectacr...¡± Isaac lit a cigarette as he let out a long sigh. But no one could hear what he was saying. Even when they were three meters away, the sound waves from the sh between three top-tier elites had numbed their ears, and they could hardly hear anything. ¡°Master will win,¡± Adolf said with conviction. Isaac did not say anything and simply took a big puff. He was not worried about that, but instead... From what he saw, Adolf¡¯s master was not a person with a kind temperament, and even if he wins, he might end up being the second Faldt... ... ¡°Fang of the Hidden King!¡± The Netherde¡¯s massive crocodile jaw lit up in purple light as he opened his mouth, and snapped at Faldt¡¯s neck with terrifying speed. At the same time, an invisible binding force had held Faldt in ce, rendering him immobile. ¡°You!! ¡± Faldt had held on for so long and he was gradually being spent. Be it the Netherde or the Holy Emperor, both of them were elites in the same league as him. If it was one-on-one, he could still use his diverse spellwords to fight and counter any moves against him. But with the twobined, it was like a mage having to face a super tanky warrior and an extremely agile assassin alone at the same time. And this situation was literally suffering for him, every time he wanted to unleash a powerful spellword, he was interrupted by Lin Sheng¡¯s sneak attacks, and interrupted his incantation. After a few times in a row, Faldt understood that the two had intended to wear him down to his death here. ¡°It cannot go on like this.¡± His hissed within his heart, Qyne had died for him, and he definitely could not just die here like this! He needs to leave, and he wants vengeance! Thinking of that made Faldt¡¯s eyes turn dark red, as he finally decided to use his ultimate ability that he had kept hidden until now. He had not used the ability earlier was that it would require the opponent to be slow in order to catch them. Without any means to take Lin Sheng out, using his ultimate ability would result in arge expenditure for nothing. And even if he could take out the Netherde, Lin Sheng would take advantage of the distraction and pierce his defense with his de. So he had waited patiently. But now, he had no other choice. If this goes on, he would be worn down and killed by the two. ¡°In the name of the Underworld Deimer!¡± A transparent ripple suddenly sted out from Faldt. At the same time, he had unleashed all of the Netherforce he could muster and let them run rampant all at once. Countless of Netherfoice in the air transformed into a high-destiny energy storm and seriously interfered with Lin Sheng¡¯s high-speed movements. And he had to temporarily slow down. That was the moment Faldt was waiting for, even when the slowdown onlysted half a second. ¡°Heed my call! Four-fold Underworld Crown Pirs!¡± Faldt spat out a mouthful of ck blood into the air, as they turned into countless ck spots and rushed towards the sky. *Hummm...* Four massive ck magic circles suddenly lit up as they simultaneously appeared in the four cardinal directions in the sky. *Whiff!* Four stone pirs covered with ck reliefs started falling from the magic circles as they crashed towards Lin Sheng and the Netherde. ¡°Run! That is part of the Pir of Condemnation! If you are touched by it, your soul would be condemned and if you fail to pass to trial, it will bepletely annihted!¡± The Netherde¡¯s expression turned to shock as he saw the pirs appeared as he turned and fled. His quick reaction was due to him knowing the true nature of the pirs. But it was toote for Lin Sheng. He had nned to face it head-on, but after listening to what the Netherde had said, it was already toote. Three of the four pirs were rushing towards him, and it was clear that Faldt hated him to the bone. The three massive stone pirs blocked the light from above as they rapidly copsed, and the following traction from the energy vortex kept Lin Sheng within ground zero. ¡°Since you want to die that badly, let¡¯s end this!¡± Lin Sheng got furious as well. ¡°Yudivo!! (Unlimited Conversion)¡± In an instant, a blinding white light sted out of Lin Sheng just right before the pir hit him. The white light was like a sun on the ground, with ripples of pure white radiated out of it as an endless torrent of holy power surged out violently as they shed against the three falling stone pirs in the sky. Chapter 488 - The Decisive Battle: Part 3

    Chapter 488: The Decisive Battle: Part 3

    ¡°Wheel of Existence! Power up!¡± Feeling that he still could not destroy the stone pir, Lin Sheng used the Wheel of Existence to strengthen himself. Of the powers of the Dark Wheel, the Wheel of Existence¡¯s strengthening was throughyers of protective wards to strengthen one¡¯s body to its ultimate limit. A mere secondter, countless of dark red markings quickly spread all across Lin Sheng¡¯s body. These markings were like vines as they constantly writhed and spread across his body. A pale blood-red glow shone on the wheel in the middle of his chest, not unlike blood. Snap! At the same time, one of the countless eyes on Lin Sheng¡¯s back closed forever. ¡°I see your destiny!¡± Lin Sheng held his hands open. ¡°The destiny of your assured downfall!¡± ¡°Thousand-Spellwords! DIE!!!¡± Faldt roared out as he unleashed the colored lights and bombarded against Lin Sheng. What was weird when Lin Sheng moved, it seemed like he had simply just precisely sidestepped, and avoided the bombardment of the Thousand-Spellwords. ¡°Unleash!¡± He snarled, and the infinitely converting holy power sted out as they rushed upwards and pushed the three stone pirs back into the sky. Slowly, but surely, the three massive stone pirs seemed to be going back in time, and were soon pushed by the rampaging holy power back into the three magic circles they had originated from. BOOM!!! Three magic circles seemed to have overloaded as it exploded and unleashed arge puff of ck Netherforce smoke. ¡°Faldt! Behold your destiny!!¡± Lin Sheng held his hands up as countless of holy power quickly converged and formed into a massive giant de of light. ¡°No you don¡¯t!¡± The colored lights once again condensed around Faldt, his eyes were bloodshot, as he furiously maid down a series of defensive spellwords. ¡°Fang of the Hidden King! DIE!!¡± The Netherde, his body bloodied actually rushed back intobat, and mmed heavily into Faldt¡¯s back as his mouth gleamed in purple light as he snapped onto Faldt¡¯s right arm. RIIIPPPPP!!! A loud tearing noise rang out as Faldt¡¯s entire arm flew into the air amidst his screams, before it was swallowed whole by the Netherde. ¡°AHAHAHA!!! Die, Faldt, die!!¡± HAHAHAHA!!¡± BAMM!! Suddenly the Netherde fell crookedly onto the ground, as if greatly weakened. ¡°This is payback for humiliating me back then!¡± Even so, his eyes were still fixated on Lin Sheng¡¯s de that was in a murderous downward arc. At this moment, Faldt¡¯s final resistance were unravelled by this as they were crushed and faded away. The hundred meter long white holy de, like a world-splitting thin line came shing down from above, without a sound. There were no explosions, no friction, no rip of the air. Lin Sheng¡¯s holy sword simply just went through the thickyers of protective colored lights on Faldt as his Thousand-Spellword¡¯s light were unable to block the keen edge of the strike. This was a strike formed out of the entirety of Lin Sheng¡¯s strength at this very moment. The power of the Dark Wheel, the power of the holy light, the power of the chaotic souls, the unique Ptinate ability, the Dragonblood¡¯s massive strength and the likes; all of them had been turned into the holy de¡¯s keen edge as it fell brutally. HISSSS!!! Faldt, who was still enraged earlier suddenly froze and could no longer move. The Netherforce within his body were rapidly annihted by the holy light, as every cell in his body were simrly purified and eroded rapidly by the holy power. All of his regenerative powers, his restorative powers, even his vaunted immortality were all being destroyed and purified by the holy power. The endless holy power was like a veritable ocean pouring into Faldt through Lin Sheng¡¯s body. He held the holy de in his head, and as if he was cutting a tree, split Faldt from top to bottom through the forehead, andpletely separating him in two. A thin white line then appeared on the central axis of his body. At that very moment, time seemed to have freezed. ¡°What... a hypocritical power...¡± Faldt¡¯s initially distorted face, turned calm at this moment. His gaze looked at Qyne on the ground, a trace of regret, gentleness, and sadness flickered in his eyes. ¡°This is holiness.¡± Lin Sheng grunted. ¡°And holiness means purity!¡± ¡°Heh....¡± Faldt smiled. ¡°Soon orter, you¡¯ll end up like me.¡± BAAMMM!! His massive body shattered like ss in an instant, as it turned into countless white and ck spots that circled the air before slowly falling down. A massive amount of ck and white light spots covered almost half of the city. The entire sky above Vishe that were originally shrouded in red light, after Faldt¡¯s death, the red light slowly faded away as the original blue sky returned. ¡°I shall be waiting for you.¡± Faldt¡¯s final voice still echoed in the air. The holy de in Lin Sheng¡¯s hand too slowly disappeared. His Unlimited Conversion ability too ended. Even whe he had vanquished Faldt, he felt no joy in his heart. Instead, an indescribable sense of nothingness welled within him. ¡°I will not die.¡± He said suddenly. ¡°So you can only look on at me in annihtion.¡± ¡°Cough...cough... Holy Emperor, help me a bit will you... we are allies afterall...¡± The Netherde, whoid broken on the ground not too far away, called out. ¡°My leg is broken, so is my back... Do you have any means of healing?? If you don¡¯t connect them back now, I think I¡¯ll need a very long time to recover.¡± Lin Sheng rposed himself as he stepped forward, and instantly reappearing before the Netherde. He stood tall as he looked down quietly at the Netherde, without a word for a long while. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? If you don¡¯t, just let me know. Pull me up, I¡¯m a bit wasted.¡± The Netherde murmured. UGHH!! Suddenly, a scorching white light stabbed through the back of the Netherde. The shape of the white light, was the same holy de Lin Sheng had used to y Faldt, and the hilt of the holy de, was quietly sitting in Lin Sheng¡¯s hand. ¡°You...you...??!!¡± The Netherde stared at Lin Sheng in disbelief, not understanding why. Lin Sheng wanted to turn against him, he had plenty of chances to do so earlier. Especially when he was summoning them, he had many opportunities to strike against them, and need not wait until now. And most importantly, he could not figure out why Lin Sheng needed to turn against him. ¡°But....why??!!¡± The Netherde¡¯s own strength was originally a step lower than Faldt, and now that he was badly wounded; after being flooded by Lin Sheng¡¯s holy powers, he was almost done for. In hisst moments, he stared at Lin Sheng with wide opened eyes, confusion and resentment roiled within. ¡°Only by killing you, that I can get arge amount of purre soul powers...¡± Lin Sheng did not verbalize this. He only looked on quietly at the Netherde being infused with holy power before thetter¡¯s consciousness slowly disappeared. All of the soul power condensed together and formed into a perfect round orb with ck lightning arcs within it on his forehead. This ck orb was only visible by those who can see souls, and Lin Sheng was one of them. He grabbed onto the ck orb, as he watched the Netherde¡¯s body exploded into countless of ck and white spots. He then went to where Faldt had fallen, and found a simr ck orb with colorful light within it on the ground. After killing any soul creatures, he will be able to obtain and absorb pure fragments of souls. This was originally an ability he only had in the dream, but suddenly one day when he killed those monsters in Henriqcal, he had absorbed soul fragments. From that moment on, he had been studying what sort of conditions would enable him to absorb fragments of souls. And now, was the culmination of his sessful research. ¡°The Legendary soul fragments beyond the Ptinates. Your will, shall all be mine.¡± He held his hands open as he looked at the two egg-sized orbs in his hand, as he suddenly opened his mouth, and ferociously bit into the orbs and swallowing them. Chapter 489 - Blacktide: Part 1

    Chapter 489: cktide: Part 1

    The violent soul powers were like a great torrent as they rushed into Lin Sheng¡¯s spirit. He grunted, his head buzzing as arge amount of memory fragments from the Underworld Deimer and Netherde surged into his mind. Fortunately, he had devoured and absorbed many fragments of soul before, and was extremely resistant to such huge informational shock. It did not take long for him to slowly recover. ¡°Now... all that¡¯s left is the Courtier...¡± He rposed himself and looked at the Underworld Courtier¡¯s body on the ground. Before the battle, he had thrown the Courtier¡¯s body away and had not paid attention to it since. Now after the battle was over, her corpse had been brutally messed in the aftermath of the battle. One of her arms and her lower waist hadpletely disappeared. By the time Lin Sheng dug her body out from the rubble, her corpse was still bleeding ck blood. He reached his fingers out and tapped against the Courtier¡¯s forehead. BAAMMM!!! The head of the corpse suddenly exploded as a pure white orb shone quietly within. ¡°¡±Just like the Darkspirits, a soul fragment would be left behind after death. If not for my sensitivity towards souls, I would not have been able to see them.¡± Lin Sheng carefully picked the light orb up, as his holy power stirred and purified it. While the light orb was immaterial, and was not contaminated, Lin Sheng had just done so instinctively, and made him feel a little better. Looking at the Netherde and the Courtier, Lin Sheng sighed. ¡°There¡¯s no right or wrong in this word, only the strong and the weak.¡± He opened his mouth once again, and swallowed the white orb into his mouth. And soon, a slightly weaker informational shock hit him. Lin Sheng endured it for a while, before the shock dissipated and he eased over. By then, the Courtier body had also been reduced into countless of light spots and disappeared. The souls of the three Magisters to him was a big boon, but he needed a little more to go a step further. To reach a level beyond Legendary was not achievable merely by building up his soul power. Or else, he could have simply just found a ce to refine his chaotic souls, given that he could open the Tidalgate at any time, and draw in the chaotic souls from the Soultide. Lin Sheng stood alone among the city ruins, as he felt his head rang, seemingly devoured too much soul power in a short span of time. ¡°I need to shut myself in to digest them, or else it will be a waste if the excess soul power leaks.¡± These pure soul powers could save me a many years of hard work.¡± After settling everything, Lin Sheng quickly walked towards where Adolf and the others were at. After walking not too far away, Tenko Kasumi brought everyone together. ¡°Master! Are you alright?¡± Adolf immediately rushed over to ask. ¡°Fortunately, everything went well. The Underworld Magisters had been wiped out, and now we should sort the situation out, and strengthen our grip on this territory.¡± Lin Sheng calmly said. ¡°There will even more grueling catastrophe¡¯s in the horizon, all of you are just too weak, and need to get stronger as soon as possible!¡± ¡°I will work harder with my training!¡± Adolf nodded determinedly. This trip had gave him a much needed stimulus. No Sacred Vessel of Destiny or special abilities was as real and reliable as the power that he possesses himself. Destiny, what the heavens give you, they can take it back at any time. Compared to the holy power where one slowly cultivates bit by bit, it is extremely stable and with itbining with the soul, no one could take it away. Seelong so, Isaac and the rest stepped forward with reverence and awe etched on their faces. ¡°Holy Emperor...sir, we too want to join the Holy Sanctum, and we were wondering...¡± ¡°As long as you can pass through the prelimenary test. You can look for Adolf for more information.¡± Lin Sheng said tly. He looked at Tenko Kasumi, and thetter nodded back at him. Did she not find them? Lin Sheng felt a chill. The battle against the Magisters was not what he was worried the most, it was the oing cktide. So he had Tenko Kasumi to search and capture the various underlings summoned by Faldt. He never expected that she could not find any. ¡°Head back and reinforce our positions. If the survivors here are willing, gather them up and meet at Henriqcal City. I¡¯ll head over to deal with the Hand of the Underworld first. The thing is stuck here, and must be dealt with as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± The group responded in unison. Lin Sheng did not have the luxury to dally, as he looked up at the edge of the skyline in the distance. The blue sky that had just returned, now had a shade of pale gray on it. This was the phenomenon of the cktide¡¯s taint. ¡°Go.¡± Lin Sheng unleashed his holy power as holy light sted out from his foot like a rocket, pushing him into the sky and towards the direction of the massive Hand of the Underworld in the sky. It just looked like the size of a finger from the distance. But as Lin Sheng got closer and closer, the Hand of the Underworld¡¯s size grewrger andrger. And by the time Lin Sheng arrived at the closest possible distance, the Hand of the Underworld had already became a hundred meter tall giant ck hand. The giant hand was formed out of ck smoke, with nine fingers in total. Its fingertips were razor sharp as pale red markings on the palm flickered. As he got closer, Lin Sheng felt some toxic air spreading in the surrounding air. He took in a breath and only caught a whiff of an awful stench and felt a little dizzy. While it was quickly purified by the holy power, if his powerful form now could feel dizzy, then normal people would probably drop dead instantly if they smelt it. ¡°Sure enough, you cannot be allowed to live!¡± Lin Sheng sneered as he clenched his hand into a grip. And the massive holy de like before once again appeared in his hand. He held the sword with both hands as he started swinging the de forward in violent arcs. VOOSHH! VOOSHH!! In an instant, the massive Hand of the Underworld was sliced up like a ck jelly into several pieces as it slowly came apart. Compared to the three powerful Underworld Magisters, its powers were much weaker than them, plus even with its massive size its full power had yet to be unlocked. Facing Lin Sheng at this moment, the Hand of the Underworld was a literalmb to the ughter. Bereft of any means of opposition, its sliced up body soon slowly fell apart and crashed onto the ground. Lin Sheng shed a couple more times and had rendered the Hand of Underworld into over a dozen segments, he then opened his palm and unleashed arge surge of pure holy light and engulfed an entire area. A massive pir of holy power came crashing down from the heavens, and brutally scouring the area where the Hand of the Underworld was. A momentter, a horrified scream came from the ruined carcass of the Hand of the Underworld before it shrank and waspletly purified by the holy power and disappeared altogether. Only until thest bit of the Hand of the Underworld¡¯s carcass had totally disappeared did Lin Sheng recalled his holy power. Continuously unleashing arge amount of holy power in an wide area without using Unlimited Conversion would wear Lin Sheng out as he felt a little tired. ¡°Time to go back... Everything else can wait while I stabilize my soul power first!¡± After settling with that, Lin Sheng left a message to Kasumi through the soul link, before flying straight towards Henriqcal City. ¡°Ward of God¡¯s Speed.¡± During his flight, he gave himself a protective ward that increases his movement speed. And his speed instantly increased exponentially, and broke through the sound barrier. A few minutester, he had arrived in the skies above Henriqcal City and went straight to his research center. .... .... The Battle of Vishe had destroyed arge number of the capital city¡¯s buildings and infrastructure. This battle should have shocked the world and subvert everyone¡¯s imagination and clearly affirming Lin Sheng¡¯s position as the world¡¯s strongest person. But at this moment, due to all long-distancemunication being interrupted and the encroaching cktide was ever thickening, most of the survivors in the capital did not know the identity of the two persons who had fought against Faldt, and they only found out the victor of the battle by the rescue teams from the Holy Sanctum. With all Three Great Hidden Realms being taken out, and many Darksiders fleeing, themunication was only intermittent and the delivery of information and messages was not as smooth as before. Only after a weekter did the news of the Holy Emperor, ruler of the Holy Sanctum killing Faldt, and therefore relieving the human world of its strongest adversary slowly spread to the other secret realms in other countries. This should have been news that excited the masses, but the cktide had undergone a new change and no one had any chance to celebrate as they were now faced with another struggle for life and death once again. Chapter 490 - Black Tide: Part 3

    Chapter 490: ck Tide: Part 3

    ¡°Nearest to the Sanctum is the safe zone, covered by the force field of the sacred crystal font. There is no sign that indicates it has been affected,¡± answered Madin, the new man in charge. ¡°Other than the spreading of ck mist, are there any other anomalies?¡± asked Lin Sheng. ¡°Nothing. Just that ourmunication with the outside world is cut off. Probably not just us. All other cities might be experiencing the same thing. Things could get even more serious if there is anything happening again,¡± Madin said. Lin Sheng did not say a word. After he was back, he had been staying in the istion room in the research center, digesting the soul power. It was only until the day before yesterday that he absorbed the soul powerpletely and got a huge boost to his soul. He had not expected to see things happen until he came out. His heart missed a beat when he recalled what he had seen earlier through the Sand of Time. He had to start his evacuation n as soon as possible. He had upied so many dark spirit caverns just to get prepared for this moment: to evacuate the survivors. Just as this thought came to mind, Tenko Kasumi, who was now inmand of the Dark Spirit Pce, ryed a message. ¡°ck mist has appeared in the dark spirit caverns. It is spreading fast!¡± ¡°What?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s heart skipped two beats, bouncing to his feet. ¡°How is that possible? Everything was still all right there earlier.¡± ¡°I suspect when we have inadvertently brought the ck mist over here when we opened up the passage.¡± Tenko Kasumi said. ¡°We brought it over there?¡± Lin Sheng was startled. He suddenly put two and two together. If ck mist could leech on to people, that would exin why back then, Ancellia was beating her brains out to find a way to solve the ck Tide problem in ckfeather City instead of evacuating the survivors. The power beings in ckfeather City should have been able to find some mysterious realm where life could be sustained and continued. But they all still died. Even thest words of Ancellia were filled with despair. ¡°I need an experiment to determine if the ck mist really leeches on living persons!¡± Lin Sheng suddenly thought of something that sent a chill up his spine. If the ck mist really leeched on living persons was true, then his entries into ckfeather City in the dreamst time must be the cause of its destruction. It was because of him bringing in the ck mist that triggered the outbreak. He knew the existence of the ck Tide long ago. But before that, the spread of it was slow and easy to deal with. It was only after he entered the dream into ckfeather City that things changed rapidly. Keeping his expression unchanged, Lin Sheng said in a calm voice, ¡°Please keep your eyes peeled on the changes of the ck mist at the border. The logistics should work with the publicity division to calm down the public. Don¡¯te to disturb me if nothing major happens.¡± ¡°I want to study the nature of the ck mist.¡± ¡°Aye!¡± Everyone echoed, and the video conference ended as Lin Sheng turned off his screen. Standing silently in the hall of the tower, Lin Sheng started to put on his thinking cap, conjuring the various possibilities about the ck Tide. The more he thought of it, the more convinced he was that he might have something to do with the outbreak of the ck Tide. ¡°If the ck Tide could really leech on living persons...¡± He took a deep breath, walking out of the hall to the terrace a hundred meters above ground on the Tower of Dusk. The one-hundred-meter-tall pointed tower looked rather inconspicuous in the city. There were many more hundred-meter-tall buildings out there, but the Tower of Dusk differed from them. It had all the divine effects within its strong radiation range. So long as it existed, the most basic Detect Evil skill would be a powerful, lethal Holy Shock. This was the key to protecting Henricqal. So Lin Sheng thought he might as well stay in the Tower of Dusk, away from people, keeping some level of secrecy. It was also to protect the tower from getting damaged. Standing on the terrace, he looked into the distance. On the edge of the city, between buildings, half of the skyline had turned ck. He looked into other directions, and they all looked the same. Aside from the light red sky above Henricqal and the Tower of Dusk, the other ces had turned gray with thend below shrouded in a nket of ck mist. Henricqal became a circr zone, under siege from all directions. Holy power was being exhausted to keep the ck mist at bay at the border. Lin Sheng could already feel the dwindling reserve in the sacred crystal font. Million units of holy power were spent at any moment in thisrge-area battle. The good thing was, as if the doomsday scene had motivated the poption, millions of people in the city responded to the call to pray. As this happened, arge amount of holy power was pouring into the sacred crystal font and slowing down the rate of decline of the sacred power reserve. ¡°Things are looking up for now...¡± Lin Sheng breathed a sigh of relief. By the looks of things, this enhanced ck mist alone could still not be able to destroy Henricqal. While he was still deep in thought, some ck lightning bolts that looked like a spider web struck across the sky above, followed by the rumble of thunder. Large groups of dark clouds began to appear in the pale red sky. It did not take long for the dark clouds to fill the entire sky. What shocked Lin Sheng was that these were not regr clouds; there was the vague, stony face appearing in the clouds. From the center of the clouds, a giant ck hand slowly came down toward the Tower of Dusk. The hand looked mushy, like a group of smoke. Lin Sheng could already tell it was purely formed by some soul power-like energy, which was invisible to the average people. What surprised Lin Sheng even more were the blurry lines on the palm. They looked extremely simr to the finger that he saw killing the Steel Lord when he first summoned him. While his mind was working overtime to sort the thoughts out, Lin Sheng summoned his holy power andunched himself up into the air. The infinite power conversion of the Ptinates had been activated. ¡°Kill!¡± He roared as his body almost faded into the shape of aet, dragging a giantet tail behind him as he shed head-on with the ck hand. ck mist and holy light hade to blows, frantically trying to eliminate the other. A massive amount of holy power was converted and rushed out from Lin Sheng to devour, drive away and purify the ck mist. But this time, Lin Sheng had met his match. The ck mist was endless and equal in strength to the holy power. When two equal forces shed, the only factor that determined the result was their quantity. At that moment, the entire Henricqal saw the ck and the white forces shing in the sky. ¡°It¡¯s Lord Holy Emperor!¡± ¡°Lord Holy Emperor is protecting us! We will be alright!¡± ¡°The supreme Holy Emperor, King of the Holy Spirits! Please beat it!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s pray that the holy light will protect us all!¡± ¡°Holy will prevail over evil!¡± ¡°Holy forever!¡± ¡°Holy forever!¡± ¡°Holy forever!¡± Everyone started to gaze up into the sky, praying for the victory of the holy light. As their prayers turned into a chanting of ¡®Holy forever,¡¯ a massive amount of holy power started to pour into the sacred crystal font. ¡°What are you, really?¡± Holy power of unprecedented level was surging in him, putting an enormous load on his body. He looked up at the face in the clouds. With the Eight-eight Guards of the Dark Wheel boosting his strength and healing his body, he barely held back the giant hand. Chapter 491 - Black Tide: Part 2

    Chapter 491: ck Tide: Part 2

    Arge, deep blue was slowly rotating in space, surrounded by several satellites blinking with light. What differed, however, was the existence of ck smoke on its surface. It was difficult to see with the naked eyes. Like worms, it was corroding the from the outside. Judging from the level of corrosion, it must have been happening for some time. As time ticked by, one of the satellites shook, and the signal light on its surface flickered before it suddenly went dark. The same thing happened to another satellite, and then another, until all satellites suffered the same fate. Some of them had even started to disintegrate. As all satellites were gone,munication on the¡¯s surface went haywire. There was no more satellitemunication. ck smoke was spreading throughout the surface of the deep blue. It happened rapidly and within a short time, turning the into a grayish ck celestial body. ..... ..... Fucard Hidden Realm in Xylond was just a small secret realm, the size of a small town. Staying here was the Fucard n, which had been controlling the realm for a hundred years. This ce was on the outer edge, away from the ck Tide. The nearest city was a hundred kilometers away. The good thing was that most of the family members of this realm were Darksiders with powerful abilities. Under themand of the family¡¯s most powerful patriarch, a Six Winger, they killed any invading mutant creatures and sessfully kept a small area ofnd safe. Because of this, the mysterious realm had provided a refuge for many survivors. Inside the defense border, Darksiders, smoking as they chatted in dirty jokes, wereing in and out of sentry towers. The survivors had just woken up, carefully fetching water out from the well, preparing for their lives for another day. A few powerful Five Wingers were guarding at different locations around the area, warning everyone about the threat of monsters. Someone pointed to the ck mist outside. ¡°It must be because of ack of sleep. I feel the ck mist outside is bing thicker and closer.¡± No one had noticed that until he spoke. A few Darksider sentries looked out to the ck mist. After a careful observation, everyone began to have a bad feeling. ¡°This is not right! The ck mist is indeed moving!¡± A Darksider, who was good at data analysis, had observed the anomaly using the instrument in his hand. His expression changed as he called out to warn the others. ¡°Get the patriarch. Quick!¡± ¡°Activate the purification array! Quick, quick, quick!¡± The purification array was a special magic circle, invented by the Darksiders here, after they studied the Sanctum¡¯s holy power magic circle. It used dark energy instead of holy power to push out the ck mist, leaving no space for the ck mist to exist, keeping it away from an area. People were in a panic, making telephone calls on their mobile phones, trying to warn their counterparts on sentry duty in other locations. Someone had barged into the mysterious realm, bringing the news to the Darksider patriarch, who was now still in a cultivation session. But before everyone could react, the ck mist in the surroundings suddenly surged and swept toward the mysterious realm as if wavesing to shore. The activated magic circle was emitting a green light to ward off the attack. Unfortunately, it onlysted less than three breaths before the ck mist wiped it out. People started to scream in fear as they ran back toward the mysterious realm. In time of this, the mysterious realm was the only ce they could find safety. They would be safe as soon as they were inside, away from the surging ck mist. But they were too slow. In less than a second, the ck mist overrun the entire survivor settlement like a hungry leopard. Screams and cries were heard in the ck mist, but it quickly died down. Voices started to fade, thinning, and atst, silence took over. It was not just Fucard Hidden Realm was under attack, the entire Xylond, Olro, Redwin, Miga and all other ces that had not been affected earlier was overrun by ck mist. Only therge defensive cities, which was built earlier, still survived. But their area was shrinking. They only managed to protect a smaller area ofnd. These ces might survive, butpared to the area of defense they had before this, it was a lot smaller. The ck mist attack had not only shrunk theirnd size, but it also caused many other problems. .... .... Henricqal. Lin Sheng sat on the top of Tower of Dusk, checking the defense situation in different locations through an LAN monitoring system. On one disy, the image of multiple top management appeared on the screen. They were teleconferencing. The atmosphere was depressing. Everyone was trying to attend to the multitude of iing requests, queries and applications. All major lines of defense were shrinking, and the area under the influence of the holy light¡¯s purification force field had also reduced under the ck mist¡¯s attack. Fortunately, the Tower of Dusk, with the enhanced holy power force field and the holy crystal font, managed to stop the corrosion of the ck mist. Henricqal had lost little ground to the ck mist. ¡°Things are not looking up! We have lost contact with the other mysterious realm. The satellite phone is unusable. We can¡¯t even control the drones we have sent out earlier. Those units that have returned all have some kind of damage.¡± Led by Cainphas, Baine University was the technical support unit. ¡°Although we have brought many top research talents from the capital, and more workshops are restarting operations, we need raw material supply from the mysterious realms in the vicinity. If this situation goes on, we are going to run out of essential supplies!¡± Cainphas sounded desperate. ¡°We are no better there, too. I have sent out a few prisoners of war to check out the ck mist. They all dropped dead to the ground just ten meters out. I have tried other more resilient animals, and even the monsters we have captured earlier. Once released out there, they all died instantly!¡± Margaret said, sounding panic-stricken. ¡°We have not much food left here. The poption influx earlier has exhausted much of it. We are about to run out of reserve of food and monster meat,¡± a top executive in charge of logistics support said. ¡°How long could itst?¡± asked Lin Sheng. ¡°Not more than a month!¡± ¡°A month...¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s brows knitted together in a frown. He finally knew how it felt when ckfeather City experienced the same crisis. It was not aboutbat strength. When facing the ck mist attack, solving the logistics problem was the priority. Food was the single major challenge with so many people to feed. Not to mention the impacts of frenzied, negative emotions. ¡°Panic buying is happening in the city. Everyone is scrambling for food and water. I¡¯ve limited the sales in all shops and supermarkets,¡± the logistics manager said. ¡°Good job! Is there any problem in the safe zone?¡± Lin Sheng asked. Chapter 492 - Fate: Part 1

    Chapter 492: Fate: Part 1

    ck and white were covering the sky. A city of a million poption, Henricqal appeared like a fragile china that could be destroyed in an instant as the two forces fought. If the ck hand came down and destroyed the Tower of Dusk, Henricqal would no longer be able to maintain the holy light defense on the outer perimeter and the ck mist would overrun the city. Pure white mes were burning on Lin Sheng¡¯s body as holy light poured out from him. Now, the things that truly limited him was not the quality of the holy power but his ability to direct it. At first, he thought his physique was strong enough to support an endless conversion burst of holy power. But now, he realized that this level of output was too slow. He started to feel his power was being held back. The giant ck hand was pressing down like the body of a mountain, forcing him back down toward the Tower of Dusk. A minute had passed. Then two minutes. The giant ck hand hesitated all of a sudden as the sound of a flute came from a far distance, gradually soft to loud. The ck hand started to pull back as if it had gotten some kind of message. Before Lin Sheng could know what happened, the ck hand faded and started to dissipate into the surrounding clouds like sea waves washed down a sand castle on the beach. It felt like the giant hand had never appeared before, like an illusion that vanished in the blink of an eye. Lin Sheng was panting, his skin flowing with the light-red glow of the Dark Wheel. He had summoned nearly all his strength. Had it not been for the sound of the flute, things could have ended up badly for him. The Tower of Dusk would be destroyed, he would be badly wounded, and destruction would befall Henricqal. The fate that would await him was in to see. ¡°I must... must quickly find a way to deal with the ck Tide!¡± At first, Lin Sheng was still confident of himself. But now he finally understood what the powerful beings in ckfeather City were facing back then. People down there on the streets were cheering, celebrating Lin Sheng¡¯s sessful stopping of the giant ck hand. Only those clerics and Darksiders with keen eyes knew how dangerous the situation had been just now. This was only at the Sanctum¡¯s strongest base, Henricqal. If this were to happen in other ces, in the defensive cities, the consequences would be unimaginable. Lin Sheng reached to touch the in-earm. It was no longer there, shattered when he shed with the ck hand earlier. There was nothing he could do about it. Returning to the Tower of Dusk, he heard the siren re. ¡°Lord, something¡¯s wrong!¡± Cainphas voice came from the electronic screen disy. ¡°What is the situation?¡± Before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, another bad news came. ¡°There was an explosion near us, in the defensive city¡¯s direction. I¡¯m afraid the worst has happened there.¡± Cainphas said. ¡°Isn¡¯tmunication down?¡± Lin Sheng said in surprise. ¡°We don¡¯t needmunication to know...¡± Cainphas paused, then continued. ¡°Look into the sky in the south and you will know.¡± Lin Sheng quickly came to the window facing south, looking into the distant sky. A giant smoke column, grayish ck, was rising in the gray horizon, apanied by a bright-red light shimmering in the background. One could imagine the size of the smoke column when looking from this distance; it must be unimaginably massive. Lin Sheng became silent. After a long while, he spoke. ¡°I want to go back to Xylond. I hope the portal is still operational.¡± ¡°All the best.¡± Cainphas did not know what more to say. Things happened too quick, catching everyone by surprise. They had just finished with Faldt not long ago. Now came the disaster of an epic scale. Lin Sheng nodded as he shifted his main consciousness on the Thunderbeast in the Xylond Sanctum. .... .... The Sanctum HQ, Xylond. The Night Lord, Khad, the Steel Lord, and a few other top operators who had just joined the Sanctum joined Lin Sheng in his Thunderbeast body in the hall. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, a disaster is happening, we have lost contact with the other Sanctum divisions. Thankfully, the portal that Lord Holy Emperor built earlier is still operational. We can go to the Henricqal division through the portal. Henricqal is the strongest division of the Sanctum. We can draw support from each other.¡± Sitting on the main chair, Lin Sheng directed the Thunderbeast to sweep his eyes across everyone. ¡°The Night Lord, how is your holy power cultivation going?¡± ¡°Everything goes smoothly. My holy power has reached the level of Two Wing. Although still not capable enough for seriousbat, it should be more than enough for regr purification needs. On the other hand, my dark energy has gained tremendous improvement. It seems it suits me more.¡± The Night Lor¡¯s face was solemn. Aszy as he was, he knew what was the priority. If he screwed up now, he was afraid he would not have the chance to getzy next time. Just Two Wings? Was it not a little too weak? ¡°I¡¯ve got the biggest improvement!¡± Khad put up her hand. ¡°I have a few thousand avatars cultivating the holy power and dark energy together. With the whisk of my hand, I can summon all of them together and my strength will be just right about the level of a Four Winger!¡± Even Khad was suppressor-ss. Lin Sheng shot the Night Lord a look. Meanwhile, the Steel Lord¡¯s face stony. He did not say a word until Lin Sheng¡¯s eyesnded on him. ¡°Same here. I¡¯m about the level of Four Wing, both in dark energy and holy power.¡± The rest of the people took turns to report their progress. But only the veteranmanders had the most attention from Lin Sheng. ¡°Henricqal was attacked by the ck hand, an extremely power enemy. Had the attack happened here, all of usbined would not even be able to withstand its finger.¡± Lin Sheng said, still sitting in the main seat. ¡°After this, I will traverse between these two ces. Keep your eyes peeled. And hope you all could alert me at the first instant when something happens.¡± ¡°Understood!¡± ¡°Night Lord.¡± ¡°I¡¯m here!¡± ¡°Your strength and acuity are the strongest among the people here. Inform me immediately if you see something; it takes time for the ck hand to form. But I need you to alert me at the first instant.¡± Lin Sheng instructed. ¡°I¡¯ll try...¡± As a Shadow Dragonking, the Night Lord had a better sense than everyone else for an energy like the ck mist. And Lin Sheng had learned about this before his main consciousness arrived here. ¡°Beside, please move all family members of the Sanctum personnel to Henricqal through the portal; the facilities are moreprehensive over there,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Including your family?¡± Khad asked. ¡°Of course.¡± Lin Sheng looked up toward Shermanton¡¯s direction. ¡°A disaster is looming near. I hope we can stand together to sail through it. Believe in the Sanctum and also believe in the holy light and me.¡± ¡°Holy forever.¡± ¡°Holy forever!¡± Everyone bowed their heads and echoed. Chapter 493 - Fate: Part 2

    Chapter 493: Fate: Part 2

    Aesculus Street, Shermanton Safe Zone. Neat rows of lush green aesculus trees neatly hugged the street on both sides. Inside a small apartment near to a clinic, Gu Wanqiu was taking routine care of the veggie and fruits she grew in the courtyard just outside her house. Since business in the shop had picked up and ie grown, there was no need for her to be in the shop again. They had hired workers. But Lin Zhounian still preferred to get hands on. So he still stayed in the grocery shop most of the time, though it was no longer a grocery shop but an underground supermarket now. The Lin family¡¯s business had grown with the blessing from all sides, bing a 14-outlet supermarket chain within half a year. Taking advantage of the influx of survivors into Shermanton, business of the underground supermarket was growing. Now they had outlets across the entire Shermanton and generated higher ie. Life was bing much easier for Lin Zhounian and his wife. As Gu Wanqi was busy taking care of the veggie in the courtyard, she heard the sound of the iron gate opening. Looking up, she saw Lin Zhounian hade home with a white bag in his hand. ¡°I¡¯ve bought fish. It¡¯s still fresh and alive! Let¡¯s cook it tonight. Sheng Sheng ising home today.¡± Lin Zhounian waved the bag at her in his hand. ¡°Lin Xiao is still in school. Have you informed her that Sheng Sheng ising back?¡± Gu Wanqiu asked. ¡°I¡¯ve informed her earlier.¡± Lin Zhounian nodded. As the looks of Lin Xiao came to mind, he suddenly felt a little upset. Previously, they never had to worry about Lin Xiao, Lin Sheng¡¯s elder sister. But after moving to Shermanton, it was the other way round. ¡°I will go to the nearby small sanctum with Sheng Sheng tonight. Prayer is good for mental and physical health and willpower. I have to bring Sheng Sheng there,¡± said Lin Zhounian with a smile. ¡°Come one, Sheng Sheng is also a member of the Sanctum there. Who knows, he is even more devoted than you are.¡± Gu Wanqi shook her head. While speaking, the loud roar of a fast approaching motorcycle came outside the courtyard. A super bike in purple paint screeched to a stop outside. The rider got down and took off the helmet, revealing her waist length jade-ck long hair. She wore a tight-fit motor sport suit, revealing her perfect body line. Her breasts were not the biggest in town, but they neither looked small under her tight outfit. ¡°I¡¯m back!¡± The female rider pushed open the unlocked courtyard door and strode in. Wearing makeup that you would normally see on the women in the bars, she was Lin Xiao, the elder sister who Lin Sheng had not seen for a long time. Gu Wanqiu and Lin Zhounian nced at her and started to shake their heads in their minds. Half a year ago, Lin Xiao had started to go out with a hooligan near her school despite the strong opposition from her family. Since then, under the influence of her boyfriend, Lin Xiao had turned from an innocent, frugal and a stop student into something on the opposite spectrum. Despite them having broken up after his boyfriend got into an ident, his influence on her remained. ¡°When will Sheng Sheng arrive?¡± Lin Xiao asked. As she stepped into the house, she tied her hair up with a rubber band, lowering the zipper on her jacket to let in some fresh air. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I should be today,¡± Lin Zhounian said. ¡°Signal interference is bad these few days. But news says it is because of the weather, something broken and repair underway. I think they will fix it soon.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Lin Xiao sat down and poured herself a ss of water and started to sip on it. ¡°I wonder how Sheng Sheng looks now. We have not seen each other for a long time...¡± ¡°Things must have changed a lot, I supposed...¡± Lin Zhounian sighed. ¡°I heard he had joined the Sanctum, just like me. And he is smarter than me, so I guess he is doing well in the Sanctum.¡± Knocks came from the metal gate in the courtyard. ¡°Who is it? Lin Zhounian asked in a loud voice, putting up his sses and looking out the courtyard at the gate. ¡°It¡¯s me. I¡¯m home.¡± A bassy voice with a mature air came from the courtyard. Lin Zhounian found it strange yet familiar. He was startled for a second and then realized the identity of the voice. ¡°Hahaha, he is back! He is back!¡± Lin Zhounian darted out to open the courtyard gate and saw a man standing outside. ¡°Stinky little rascal! You are finally back!¡± Lin Zhounian smacked the young man on the shoulder, then pulled back his hand and groaned in pain. When he made out the face of the young man, he stopped groaning. ¡°Err... who are you looking for, young man?¡± Lin Zhounian was stunned. Standing at two meter five, Lin Sheng bowed and let out a harmless, gentle smile. ¡°Dad, it¡¯s me, your son, Lin Sheng!¡± He held Lin Zhounian with hisrge hand, which was almost the size of the head of his dad, looking at him with his pair of affectionate eyes. Standing in the shadow of his son, Lin Zhounian looked up at the young man, who was so much taller than him. ¡°You are... Lin... Sheng?¡± ¡°It¡¯s me, dad. Don¡¯t you recognize me?¡± Lin Sheng smiled at him, wrapping his hand around his dad¡¯s shoulder as they walked into the courtyard. It was supposed to be an affectionate gesture between a father and a son. But his tall build made him look like a gori hugging a bean sprout, which would be snapped in half if he was not careful. He was almost carrying Lin Zhounian in the air as they walked across the courtyard into the house before gingerly cing him on a wicker chair. Lin Sheng then poured him some tea, needing to do his part as a son after he was absent for so long. Lin Xiao and Gu Wanqiu looked on, struck dumb as Lin Sheng held up the cup that looked too small in his hand, with his fingers. Lin Zhounian did not know what expression to make. He just felt that they looked like three little bean sprouts in front of Lin Sheng. Seeing Lin Sheng picking up the cup with his fingers, it gave him the feeling that the cup could break apart any minute. ¡°Are you really... Lin Sheng?¡± Gu Wanqiu looked at him who was too tall to be her son, face struck dumb. ¡°It¡¯s me.¡± Lin Sheng nodded with a smile as his eyesnded on Lin Xiao. ¡°You are my sister?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Lin Xiao could recognize him through his tone of voice. But she still did a double take at him, circling to take a closer look at him. ¡°Lin Sheng, the food in Miga must be very appetizing; youe back totally different!¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right. Besides, I¡¯m doing body training.¡± Lin Sheng grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth. ¡°The situation is very unstable everywhere. What is the situation in Henricqal?¡± Lin Zhounian asked worriedly. ¡°Aren¡¯t all flights and ships suspended? How did you make it back?¡± ¡°They are suspended. But I have found a way. I have friends in the Sanctum, who helped get me onto a small fleet. It carried fewer people and was fast,¡± Lin Sheng exined. ¡°Since you¡¯re back now, would you stay here? It is chaotic everywhere. I guess even the schools are closed.¡± Gu Zhiyan was worried after her soon. ¡°What do you know? He is now a member of the Sanctum. He will have to do something for the greater good. What use does he have if he stays home? Lin Zhounian put up his hand. ¡°The tall guy will take care of that even if the sky falls. Why must it be my son?¡± Gu Wanqiu was adamant. ¡°There are many powerful people in the Sanctum and the country. Don¡¯t forget that the TSSF (the Transcendent Special Strike Force) is always there. What could ordinary folk like us do?¡± Lin Sheng did not know what to say. He could not possibly tell his mom he was the tall guy. If he did not do it, no one would. If he died, here and Henricqal would be history. Chapter 494 - Fate: Part 3

    Chapter 494: Fate: Part 3

    The three talked until Lin Zhounian and his wife got tired. Lin Xiao, who had been waiting for a while now, finally got the chance to ask Lin Sheng about the Sanctum. ¡°Sheng Sheng, since you have been in the Sanctum for a quite a while now, do you know a person named Lange?¡± Lin Xiao asked after chatting for a while. ¡°Lange? How do you spell it?¡± Lin Sheng smiled. Lin Xiao dipped her finger into the tea and wrote on the tabletop. Lin Sheng looked at it and thought for a while. ¡°It is a rare name. I cannot recall anyone with this name. Why? Is this person famous, or some you met before?¡± As the Darksiders and clerics came out from their recluse living and stood in the public eyes, people were no longer as ignorant asst time about the transcendents. As information about the Darksider and clerics was more readily avable, it had be more likemon knowledge. And people, including this family, learned about it. ¡°Why are you looking for him?¡± asked Lin Sheng. ¡°That person and I met before and told me something I couldn¡¯t make head or tail of.¡± Lin Xiao said in a low voice. She felt weird about the avuncr-looking, middle-aged man. Not that there was anything wrong with his words or attitude. She just felt something not quite right. It was the way he talked that gave her a familiar feeling. But she was not going to talk about it in front of her parents, lest they would be worried. The man was a stranger, after all. ¡°We¡¯ll talk about thatter.¡± Lin Sheng shifted his attention to his parents. ¡°I¡¯ming back to bring you all moving to Henricqal.¡± ¡°Move to Henricqal?¡± Lin Zhounian and his wife was transfixed. ¡°Yeah. The ce is rtively better in environment and everything, more spacious andfortable than here.¡± Lin Sheng said briefly. ¡°Besides, I have some properties there and started some business, which mostly run from there. That¡¯s why Ie back for you all.¡± Henricqal was so much better than Xylond. The Night Lord and others notwithstanding, the Sanctum¡¯s investment in Henricqal had far surpassed the investment in Xylond. With the existence of many workshops there, life and everything were much more convenient. ¡°But... I¡¯m not ready...¡± Gu Wanqiu said in a low voice. ¡°I¡¯m not leaving. It has taken us a long time to adapt and settle down here since west left Xilin. It¡¯s too tiresome. I¡¯m not leaving!¡± Lin Zhounian was adamant. ¡°What¡¯s more, your sister has notpleted her study in the university yet. Leaving now will only mess things up!¡± ¡°I will take care of that. It¡¯s getting more dangerous outside. Henricqal is safer. That¡¯s why I¡ª¡± No matter what Lin Sheng said, he just could not convince them. Sitting on one side, Lin Xiao told herself not tough. Move or not move, she had no problem with that. His young brother was able to stand on her own feet now, so she was fine with moving to Henricqal. But she just could not shake the man she met a month ago from her head. She could not understand a word of what that man said to her. Before leaving, he had even looked up at the sky and mumbled something hyperbolic as if he was prophesying. Lin Sheng still could not persuade his parents. So he temporarily left, not back to Henricqal, but to sort out some ¡®business¡¯ in Xylond. Lin Xiao had no idea what this younger brother of hers was busy at. When she left home to go to school in the afternoon, she saw the memorable figure again. She was on her way to school, passing by an abandoned, unfinished building. It was a route she frequently took. It was this ce where she met the strange manst time. Now, she was seeing the same man here. The man wore a gray windbreaker, the corners of his mouth curled up as if he was smiling at the time. He was a man with a strong sense of presence. He had a striking swept-back hairstyle, long and narrow eyes, face fair, wearing an immactely pressed suit, looking like aw-abiding citizen and gentleman. But strangely, he had an unsettled air surrounding him. It was this strange aura that attracted Lin Xiao. She could not help but slow down as she walked past, stopping to look at the man. Time was ticking away, and she had been looking at him for over ten minutes. Just then, the man turned around and looked at Lin Xiao. ¡°Ahh, it¡¯s you, the girl who is seeing me for the second time.¡± He had an unique ent, not one that people could emte or fake, but an inborn feature. ¡°Why are you here, then?¡± Lin Xiao smiled,ing nearer. She was curious about this man, who said his name was Lange, a normal person who wandered around. But by the looks of his persona, he was anything but a normal person. ¡°I¡¯d asionally walk past here, feeling sorry to see this ce is about to be destroyed. So I hesitated and stopped,¡± Lange replied gently, lowering his head to study Lin Xiao. ¡°You look pretty today, girl.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Lin Xiao replied with a smile. ¡°Would you like a cup of coffee?¡± Lange suddenly said. Lin Xiao blinked her eyes. Before she could react to his question, she saw in his hands two cups of coffee. Still steamy hot, the smell of the coffee wafted over into her nostrils. He handed one of the cups to her. ¡°It seems someone up there really wants us to meet.¡± ¡°I¡¯d agree with you on this one.¡± Lin Xiaoughed, taking the coffee from him but not drinking it. ¡°In fact, I reckoned itst time.¡± Lange gazed at Lin Xiao¡¯s beautiful eyes. ¡°We are destined to meet.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got a sense of humor, though you have attractive eyes,¡± Lin Xiao said with a smile. She had juste away from a rtionship; she was not ready to go for another yet. ¡°That¡¯s OK. I don¡¯t expect it, too, though you are charming, and I couldn¡¯t take my eyes away from you.¡± Lange¡¯s voice was soft. ¡°But making such a hasty confession isn¡¯t something I¡¯ve wanted, too.¡± Lin Xiao did not know how to respond to this one. ¡°I have opened a coffee shop nearby. Would you like toe over for a visit? I think you need some gourmet meal to thin out something in your heart.¡± Lange gingerly held out his hand. Lin Xiao was hesitating, but she still put her hand in his atst. She could not figure out why she would always want to get close to this man whenever she saw him. She was a person who always followed her feelings and instinct. If it were not for this, she would not have started a rtionship with the hooligan regardless of consequences, nearly losing herself in itst time. ¡°I¡¯m already happy to see you, even if nothinges off.¡± Lange smiled. ¡°You are so sweet.¡± Lin Xiao pursed her lips and smiled. Soon, the two slowly disappeared at the end of the road. Nearby, two bolts of lightning struck down from the sky all of a sudden as two tall men in whitebat suits materialized on the top of the unfinished building. ¡°Is this the encounter of the Night Patriarch and Night Matriarch? They look just like a pair of ordinary lovers. There is nothing special about it.¡± One of the men sighed. ¡°Who would have expected that the first Night Patriarch and Night Matriarch would meet each other in this strange world? Now what are we going to do?¡± The other man asked. ¡°Just stay put. Even the strength of the Night Patriarch of this time and age is still far too much for us to take. This world should be experiencing its period of disasters. The Night Patriarch usually likes to appear in ces with the most sufferings. So he would be staying in this ce for now. Let us just observe carefully. If we could find his weaknesses in the Night Patriarch of this age, we might be able toe up with better countermeasures.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we just kill them now? If the Night Patriarch and Night Matriarch are gone, maybe our world¡ª¡± ¡°Shut up! Are you trying to change history? Do you want to destroy the entire world?¡± The man, who seemed to be the leader, reprimanded. ¡°If we do that, the Temporal Sandstream will suck the power of the Astral Mere dry, and we will vanish in the Sand of Time! Don¡¯t drag me into your suicidal act!¡± ¡°But as far as I can remember, there is nothing like the Sanctum in the observation of the Astral Mere. Did our eyes y tricks on us?¡± ¡°Maybe there was some interference that affected the observation.¡± Chapter 495 - Investigation: Part 1

    Chapter 495: Investigation: Part 1

    ¡°Argus! How dare you betray me!¡± On the sea surging with ck Tide, the mist of the ck Tide had covered the entire blue sea. The air distorted all of a sudden. A group of white and red figures shot out from the distorted area of air, fighting as they flew in midair. Pale-blue rings of light broke out in the air as if beautiful fireworks at night. ¡°I¡¯m not your subordinate from the very beginning, Barbabia!¡± A man, draped in blue and ck armor, was waving a halberd. He single-handedly warded off several opponents in the white camp, which released streaks of blueser light that looked like some kind of magic. ¡°Since you say so, we havee to the road of no return. Let us finish it here once and for all!¡± the armored man said. At first, he was still worried that the battle would cause turbulence in his world. But this world is strange to him. He did not have to scruple anymore. It was just about time to square it off. ¡°See?¡± He broke the weapon of one of them at the speed of lightning, smashing it into dust and light. ¡°This world is going to end, and the same is going to happen to our world,¡± he looked up at the gray sky and sighed. ¡°Shut up! Life and death never have a clear boundary. Destruction and revival have never existed in istion. I might be a little hesitant in our homeworld. But since we are here, I¡¯m going to kill you even if it means the destruction of this small world!¡± Among the figures in white, a man with braided hair slowly put up his hand to motion the other to step back. All men in white stopped attacking and dispersed as if a group of well-trained soldiers. While the fight was ongoing, the appearance of these men were not apparent. But when the men in white stopped, they obviously were mechanized puppets, with stitching visible at the joints. As if it was done on purpose, all the joints on their bodies had a gap to differentiate the mechanized puppets from the living. At the beginning of the battle, it was only the man in white, Barbabia, and the blue and ck armored man fighting. ¡°Let me see what you¡¯ve got, then!¡± The blue and ck armored man cocked an eyebrow. The halberd turned semi transparent in his hand as plumes of ck gaseous substance rose and circled him as if a living thing. ¡°Argus, repent in hell!¡± The man in white, Barbabia raised his right hand in the air. ¡°Listen to the sound of everything! Endless Convergence!¡± Sound waves in the surroundings were attracted and converging in his hand to form a transparent vortex that spun at high speed. ¡°Annihtion Wave!¡± Horrible sound waves burst from Barbabia, the man in white, like ripples in the water but at the speed of a storm. Sound waves hit the blue-ck armored man, almost knocking the weapon off his hand. He shivered and then sputtered a mouthful of blood, flying backward before falling into the sea. The endless sound waves,ing from Barbabia, continued spreading into all directions. Like pollution, it had no signs of diminishing. It absorbed the other sound waves in the environment to strengthen itself. With the two as the center of the battlefield, sound waves caused the sea to surge with rings of ripple on the surface. The ripples built up and formed into waves. Ignoring the principle of wave phase canction, the sound wave absorbed sounds of every frequency and amplitude, turning them into its own strength before sending it out into all directions. ¡°Stop running!¡± Barbabia looked in the direction where Argus had gone. Instead of giving chase in that direction, he turned around and flew in the opposite way. Soon, he saw Argus, still in his blue-ck armor, right up ahead. ¡°Don¡¯t be na?ve! I have seen through your Ghostwalk! You¡¯re not going to get away, Argus!¡± Argus fled and Barbabia gave chase. Soon, they reached the airspace above a defensive city filled with survivors. The seaside defensive city had just reduced its area of defense, barely stabilizing the situation. But they would never have foreseen what was going to happen. Two streaks of light came from above and crashed into the city center. Buildings began to copse amid waves of explosions. Their impregnable defense system was useless against the two men. ¡°Bloodgorge!¡± Argus lifted his halberd with a beam of red light burst from its tip. The light shot into the sky and split into countless beams beforeing back down to the ground, killing many people who was still struck dumb and wondering what happened. Ten thousand people died instantly, with all their blood extracted, following the beams to flow up into the halberd. ¡°Bloodshadow Halberd, kill!¡± Argus wielded his weapon and charged at Barbabia. .... .... In the Sanctum HQ. Lin Sheng sat in the main seat, his pale gold eyes gazing through his helmet at his subordinates sitting below him. ¡°I¡¯ve started upgrading the sacred crystal font here. Please recruit more people. The more, the better. The holy power is the power to bring people together, the power of the soul. It is a pure and wless circle of life. When more people areing together, the Sanctum will be stronger.¡± ¡°We got it. But, Lord, why don¡¯t we join the two sanctums together? If moving arge number of people at the same time is a concern, we can do it gradually. When everyone gathers in one ce, the level of holy power produced will be even higher. So too the force of deterrence and protection. The Steel Lord suggested. ¡°With too many people gathering in one ce, it will not work well for us to absorb people who are suffering in different locations,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°We are not only wanting to keep the two sanctums separate but also sending out people to set up more branches to gather more holy power.¡± ¡°In that case, in terms of manpower, I¡¯m afraid...¡± The Night Lord frowned. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Lin Sheng softly tweaked the armrest and sent a signal into the void. Immediately, a portal in the shape of a triangle, shimmering in red light, slit open slowly in the center of the sanctum hall. Coming out from within the tall body of the Giant King. On seeing Lin Sheng, he went down on his knees and said his greeting. ¡°His Majesty, King of the Holy Spirit. Your most loyal man, Khur Warspear, at your service!¡± After saying his greeting, Lin Sheng motioned him to stand aside to the right, directly opposite the Night Lord and all. Following immediately came Sin Dragon Matriarch out of the portal. The battle wound was still on her face, seemingly not in the happiest mood, bowing to Lin Sheng with respect before standing at the right. Next came the Fairy Empress. Just regaining her arm, the Fairy Empress was summoned here to take charge of a city that would possibly be built soon. As thest of the three of them emerged, the portal automatically closed. ¡°Please introduce yourself. You all will be working together as apany. I need you all to work together as one in our next grand n,¡± Lin Sheng said. Chapter 496 - Investigation: Part 2

    Chapter 496: Investigation: Part 2

    The Centaur Lord nced in awe at the Night Lord and Steel Lord on the opposite side. The lesser of the two, as he had sensed it, was probably the Steel Lord, judging by his energy of someone just achieving the rank of Ptinates. But the Night Lord was different; the energy radiating from him was very elusive. When it was at its strongest, it would strike fear in him. But when it was at its weakest, he could feel nothing out of it. ¡°I am Khur Warspear, the most loyal man of the honorable, supreme lord of the Sanctum and the Dark Spirit Pce, His Majesty, the King of the Holy Spirits who illuminates everything.¡± The Centaur Lord almost sang his name out like a poem. Standing at the side, Sin Dragon Matriarch and the Fairy Empress nearly wanted to bury their faces in their hands, faces blushed. ¡°My name is Sin Dragon Matriarch.¡± ¡°Me, the Fairy Empress.¡± Embarrassed by the Centaur Lord, the two briefly introduced themselves for fear of making a fool of themselves. But the Centaur Lord was too ttered by himself, thinking it must be his overwhelming force field. As if he had gotten an upper hand, he was pleased as punch and decided to up his game. ¡°His Majesty, I, Khur Warspear, at your service and will do my best to repay your kindness of raising me!¡± While speaking, he inadvertently bit his tongue. At first, he had thought of just thanking Lin Sheng for bestowing his patronage on him. As he saw the envious look of Sin Dragon Matriarch and the rest¡ªwho, in fact, saw him as an idiot¡ªand was too pleased with himself, he got a brainwave, twitching his tongue, trying to tter His Majesty even more to show his loyalty. As he spoke his mind, his tongue failed to catch up and bit his tongue. Even Khads, who had spaced out, could not helpughing their heads off. There were thirteen Khads in the hall today. One was standing beside Lin Sheng. Dressed like Sailor Moon, she was the initial independent individual. As soon as sheughed, the other could not hold back and chuckled. The Centaur Lord blushed. Realizing that everyone wasughing at him, he flew off the handle and stomped his foot on the floor. ¡°Don¡¯t you all think His Majesty is as avuncr andpassionate as a parent? How dare you allugh before His Majesty? Have you all thought of His Majesty¡¯s feelings? Have you all shown your loyalty? Have you all shown your respect to His Majesty? What¡¯s wrong with seeing myself as a son? So long as His Majesty gives his nod, His Majesty will be my adopted father!¡± He roared. Everyone was struck dumb at hearing thest sentence, trying hard not tough. Sin Dragon Matriarch blinked her eyes, finally getting a deeper understanding of the extent of the Centaur Lord¡¯s shamelessness. She had seen enough shameless figures in her life, but never had once she met someone like the Centaur Lord. He was just too brazenly shameless¡ªso much so that his unblushing image had been rigidly branded in her mind. The mouths of the Night Lord and Steel Lord twitched, unable to find a word to describe this idiot. Khad hugged her stomach,ughing her head off. The Fairy Empress nted her face in her hand, ashamed of the Centaur Lord, who was representing the Dark Spirit Pce. The veil on her face could no longer hide her blushed face. It was just utterly shameless. Lin Sheng, too, was struck dumb. His age was not even at a fraction of the Centaur Lord¡¯s. And since the guy had made his confession, he felt obliged to respond. If he did not, the Centaur Lord might feel hurt. This guy was just too shameless. But then, it also needed balls to say something this shameless. ¡°Since you, Khur Warspear, are so loyal, then...¡± ¡°Father!!¡± Before Lin Sheng could finish his words, the Centaur Lord was already on his knees, bowing. Not just on knees, but on all fours. In fact, Lin Sheng was thinking of declining him tactfully, but the Centaur Lord had shot his mouth off. Stillughing her head off, Khad had to support herself by holding on to the backrest of Lin Sheng¡¯s chair. The faces of the rest of the Ptinates were screwed, some covering their mouths, cackling non stop, some looking awkward. Nevertheless, Khur Warspear, the Centaur Lord, had left a deep impression on the minds of the Night Lord and gangs. It was unforgettable. No matter what the reactions of others were, the Centaur Lord still looked like he meant business. Jokes were over and Lin Sheng brought the conversation back to business. ¡°Since Ist sent you all to find out the ck mist¡¯s nature, what did you all find?¡± He looked at the Fairy Empress. The Fairy Empire was his most favored force. Its wizards and researchers were important supplementary forces to the Dark Spirit Pce. If Lin Sheng wanted to understand the ck mist, the ck Tide, it would not be possible to do it alone. With so many men under hismand, why would he want to get his hand dirty or even risk his own life when he had people ready to do his bidding? The Fairy Empress stepped forward. ¡°His Majesty, we have taken some samples of the ck mist and done hundreds of analyzes. Combining the analyzes from Baine University, we have concluded that the nature of the ck mist was stored in another dimension. Our current technology is still unable to break into the dimensional barrier to look at that nature.¡± The Fairy Empress left a gap before continuing. ¡°We might be able to crack the deeper-level secrets if we have at least one or two holy spirits with dimensional ability. But I¡¯m afraid that at our current level, we are still helpless against the ck mist.¡± It was a result that Lin Sheng had long expected. But still, he could not help but feel disappointed. ¡°How about the test on the living body?¡± He shifted his attention to the Centaur Lord. Compared to other chiefmanders, the Centaur Lord had no moral bottom line. So Lin Sheng had assigned him to take care of the living body experiments. ¡°It has been recorded that of the one hundred living body samples¡ªfrom animals to intelligent beings¡ªattacked by the ck mist, ny-eight of them had lost their minds and festering of the skin. It was terrible!¡± He was also disgusted by what he said. ¡°The remaining two survivors suffered from some sort of mental illness, mumbling to themselves the whole day and doing things that they did not understand.¡± ¡°It is a contaminant?¡± Lin Sheng frowned. ¡°Have you tried purification using the holy light?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve tried. But nothing worked. The holy power could only stabilize the condition but not get rid of it and heal the object.¡± The Centaur Lord said, shrugging his shoulders. He paused and continued. ¡°The nature of this contaminant is nasty. My men are all at the rank of Six Wing. Although inadequate in attack ability, they have a body resistance higher than I am. They offered themselves for the experiments. It turned out that the ck mist was highly corrosive. After staying in the ck mist for half an hour, they all had toe out of it. Otherwise, they would bepletely contaminated and losing their minds.¡± ¡°Even Six Wingers could only endure for half an hour?¡± It was something that surprised Lin Sheng. Everyone¡¯s heart sank. But not the Night Lord and his gangs. They knew what ck mist was. They had gone through that process of contamination and fallen in the ck Tide. So when it came to the ck Tide, they were more familiar with it than everyone else. Lin Sheng further enquired about the rate and range of spread of the ck mist in the dark spirit caverns. After giving his instructions on the countermeasures, he got up and left the hall. Since his men had tried and failed to find anything new, it was time for him to roll up his sleeves and do it himself. If a Six Winger could only stand for half an hour, then he would be fine so long as it did not exceed forty minutes. Lin Sheng did not n to calcte the corrosive power of the ck Tide based on proportions. No one knew if the increase of strength of the corrosion was linear. What if it was exponential? He would be in deep shit, then. Chapter 497 - Investigation: Part 3

    Chapter 497: Investigation: Part 3

    Leaving the Sanctum, Lin Sheng headed straight to the edge of Shermanton. There, the ck mist was a lot thinner than that of Henricqal. Under the dim gray sky, at the abandoned streets near the sea, Lin Sheng, Tenko Kasumi and the Night Lord hade to an abandoned site corroded by the ck mist. The spot was a school. The building was square with a field in the center, and basketball courts on the side. Under the ssroom windows on all four sides of the school building had rusty red stains that looked like bloody tears flowing down the dark eyes. The ground was filled with grayish ck mottles, with lime-like white stuff droppings everywhere. ¡°The density of the ck mist here should be the lowest in this area,¡± said the Night Lord. ¡°How is it fairpared to the corrosive attack that happened to youst time?¡± asked Lin Sheng. ¡°Your memory is as good as mine. And I don¡¯t have that detailed memory.¡± The Night Lord shook his head. He was just abination of soul fragments and temporary souls, not the original body of the Night Lord. So his memory was notplete. What he could remember, Lin Sheng could. They had no difference in this regard. So Lin Sheng decided to cut the cackle. He slowly moved forward,ing to the edge of the sports ground, stopping at the corner near the canteen. The ck mist, less than one meter from him, looked like a high wall that surged and rolled in the air. Lin Sheng could barely make out the outlines of the scenery inside. He looked up and around. Under the protection of the holy light force field, Shermanton was surrounded by towering dense ck walls on all sides. Once the holy power was lifted, the entire Shermanton would be reduced to a ghost zone. Without the protection of the holy light and with just the dragon scales on his skin, he extended his hand into the ck mist, trying to feel it out. Very quickly, half of his arm was inside the surging ck mist. A sensation of dripping his hand into icy water came to mind. Lin Sheng could feel an enormous amount of energy of not less than Six Wing attacking his hand on the dragon scales. The energy felt endless and enormous, seemingly possessing vitality. It did not just use brute-force corrosive attack. When it sensed that its corrosive method was not working, it changed its tactics, turning its energy into spikes, awls, drills and all. The ck mist was determined to use various means to corrode Lin Sheng. ¡°The extreme limit of Six Wing! That¡¯s scary!¡± Lin Sheng kept his hand there for ten minutes before pulling back out. Now he saw his hand was full of ck tiny spots. But they were all on the surface. Lin Sheng summoned his strength, and the powerful holy power in his body sted the ck spots away. ¡°Non-Ptinates are not allowed here.¡± Lin Sheng instructed. He then tried various ways to fight the ck mist. First, he used the special ability of the dragon blood, but it was useless. Then he used dark energy. It worked, but just barely. A hundred parts of dark energy could only resist one-part ck mist of simr size and density. Chaotic soul power would simply nourish the ck mist to make it even denser and stronger. Atst, Lin Sheng tried the holy power. The one he had was higher in quality and intensity than the regr Ptinates. But even then, he spent slightly over two parts for one-part ck mist. ¡°Holy moly! This is no joke. It¡¯s damageability and corrodibility are just at the upper limit of Six Wing, but to destroy it, it needs two-part exhaustion for one-part ck mist.¡± Thinking of the sea of ck mist, Lin Sheng started to feel powerless. Without the strength of the Ptinates, anyone entering the ck mist could be contaminated any time. But Lin Sheng could probably survive for a long time in the ck mist of this density¡ªso long as he had not exhausted the holy power in his body. ¡°You two stay here. I¡¯m going in to check it out.¡± Lin Sheng looked back at Tenko Kasumi and the Night Lord. ¡°Understood. Be careful,¡± Tenko Kasumi said with a yawn. Lin Sheng turned around to face the wall of ck mist and strode into it. ck mist scraped past his face as if he hade into a vast nket of icy cold vapor. Only a few steps into it, he had crossed the threshold into the real territory of ck mist. Lin Sheng was the only one with a body glowing in white light in the entire gray school building. He was definitely the most eye-catching one. ¡°Where should I start?¡± Lin Sheng slowly left the sports field and came into the canteen where the ck mist was equally thick. All he could see was blurry images. As soon as he entered, the first thing came into his vision were a few shadows dining at a table among the sea of silver dining tables. He upped his guard. Anyone who could still enjoy a meal in this canteen was not a normal living person. Sure enough. Just as Lin Sheng got himself prepared, the few shadows got up and staggered toward him. Then, one came less than half a meter from him. Lin Sheng raised his leg and gave him a good kicking on its chest. He heard something cracking and the shadow fall-sitting on the floor with a deep dent in his chest, ckish, stinky body fluid oozing out from the wound all over the ce. Strangely, the dent in the shadow¡¯s chest healed and returned to normal. After that, the person staggered toward Lin Sheng again. ¡°He doesn¡¯t seem to die!¡± Lin Sheng pointed at the person with his finger, shooting out aser-like, pure-white holy light. As soon as the beam prated the head through the brow, white electric arcs spread on the shadow¡¯s body. Soon, the shadow dropped back down and crumbled like a leaking cloth puppet. ¡°This time, it should do the job.¡± Lin Sheng looked at the corpse on the floor, waiting for a while. After knowing that it would no longer get up, he looked at the other shadows. ¡°There are no ck soul-power ck threads. I will take a walk around Shermanton, then.¡± Wasting no time, Lin Sheng walked out of the canteen. Starting from the abandoned street outside the school, he moved out at speed. He informed the Night Lord and Tenko Kasumi through telepathy and began to circle and patrol Shermanton. He kept an eye on anyirs of dangerous monsters while trying to see how long he could stand in the ck mist. Earlier estimations were just spection. Onceing in person, he had to get rid of even the slightest danger. Lin Sheng had thought of forcing his family to move. But once he was determined as the person who had brought about the ck Tide, leaving his family here would be safer than going to Henricqal. This was why he did not insist on bringing anyone to Miga. After walking around Shermanton for a while and thinking there would not be any danger present, something suddenly caught his attention. He saw something eye-catching in front of an abandoned bakery. Chapter 498 - The Nightmare Plain: Part 1

    Chapter 498: The Nightmare in: Part 1

    A man, wearing a ck-and-white striped patient clothes, was quietly staring at the door ss in front of a bakery, as if he was looking at himself in the mirror. He looked entirely normal. But as normal as he was, the fact that he was in this ce was strange. Even Lin Sheng had to exhaust arge amount of holy power to stand here safely, let alone an ordinary human with no supernatural ability. Lin Sheng slowly walked toward him. He could see the loose golden hair dangling down the back of the man¡¯s head. The man was thin at the top, his neck had disappeared because he was too obese. Through the patient¡¯s clothes, Lin Sheng could make out the beads of sweat on the back of his neck. ¡°Are you human, still alive?¡± He had thought of just killing him. But thinking there might be survivors here, he thought the better of it. So he asked. The man was seen shuddering, his body tensing up as he tried to tilt his head in Lin Sheng¡¯s direction, as if he had heard Lin Sheng¡¯s voice. ¡°Please.... Help me...¡± The pleading voice of a male came from within the man¡¯s body. He forced himself to turn around. Now Lin Sheng could see his face. It was pale, sweating, and fat. ¡°I don¡¯t want to die! Please help me! Please help me! I¡¯m still young, I¡¯m only thirty. My son is waiting for me. Please! Please help me! Please help me!¡± As the man kept pleading, he got even more anxious, hotter and sweating like a pig as if he had done some strenuous exercise. ¡°Help me, help me, help me, help me, help me...¡± The man¡¯s upper body exploded all of a sudden. Thousands of ck silks that looked like bundles of hair flew out after the explosion, piercing through the air with a loud shrill. Lin Sheng¡¯s face turned grim, followed by the burst of the bright holy light from his body. The pure and powerful holy power rose to meet ck silks in midair. As the two forces collided, the sound of what seemed to be the vaporization of water rose. Arge part of the ck silks were purified, turning into ck smoke before dissipating into the air. But the holy light had not stopped. Following the direction where the ck silks came from, it came down on the man with a loud boom. The man exploded, turning into ck silks but was quickly purified by the holy light. Secondster, all that was left was a piece of patient clothes, and the rest of his body had vaporized. Lin Sheng stood stock on the spot, looking depressed as he gazed at the patient¡¯s clothes on the floor. What happened just now had reminded him of a simr scene he had seen in the dreams. ¡°The woman in ckfeather City... her method of attack looked just like this one!¡± He recalled the scene in the dream. ¡°It looks like the ck Tide is reaching the level of that in ckfeather City back then.¡± He walked past the bakery and continued to explore in the surroundings. There were no more incidents. Half an hourter, Lin Sheng returned to the spot from where he came and left the ck mist. Tenko Kasumi and the Knight Lord were still there, her leaning on the wall puffing away, him dozing off on a stone bench at the sports field. When Lin Sheng came out, they got to their feet and came up to him. ¡°Let¡¯s go home.¡± Lin Sheng did not say more, but the dark mist¡¯s danger index was rising in his mind. He was not scared of it, but it would be dangerous to others. ¡°Did you find anything?¡± Tenko Kasumi frowned. ¡°Should we split up and get in there to investigate?¡± ¡°No need. Your holy power is still not up to snuff yet. It¡¯s too dangerous to go in there recklessly. I have another n in mind. Never stay in the ck mist for longer than 30 minutes before the holy power of the two of you reached the level of Six Wing.¡± Lin Sheng warned. The Night Lord and Tenko Kasumi nodded in acknowledgement. It was not the time to get emotional or show macho. They knew that Lin Sheng knew how much they got. Since Lin Sheng had said so, it only meant that the ck Tide was anything but usual. ¡°Now, let¡¯s go home.¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°We need more leads and more experiments.¡± The three of them followed the route they hade and headed to the Sanctum. The ck mist surrounding Shermanton looked just a little thicker than before, but the level of threat had increased far more than that. Life in Shermanton went on as usual except for the inconvenience from themunication and transportation cut off. However, the TSSF, presenting the government, had met with the Sanctum. After they returned to their base, they issued a special order to disallow anyone from going near the ck mist zone. The Darksiders had started toy warning magic circles and defense lines around Shermanton. As time went by, people in Shermanton started to feel something was not right. The ck mist had reduced theirnd. Especially farmnd, causing a shortage of food. Ration was implemented. Even then, with one million poption in Shermanton, the amount of food required to feed the people was still astronomical high. Dwindling food reserves began to worry the local government, which had be desperate. After they lost contact with the central government, they carried out a unteral decision to send out a group of elites to check out the situation in the ck mist, disregarding the warning that Lin Sheng had made. They thought they were strong enough. But one Sex Winger and three Four Wingers eventually went missing in the thick ck mist and never came back again. The government had suffered a huge loss and made an ass of themselves. As food supply became more and more critical, Lin Sheng ordered his team of researchers to use the healing, regenerative ability of the holy power to produce a special type of meat. As the holy power could speed up healing and regenerating tissues, using it to carry out a high quality animal cell cultivation experiment could produce arge amount ofb-produced pure meat. Based on the same principle, Lin Sheng had also built a farm. The regenerative ability of the holy power had also worked on nts such as veggies and fruits with the same result. A pig, after cutting out one-fifth of its meat, would heal itself in half a day with the help of the holy power. So in just half a day, they could produce a hundred kilograms of fresh meat. Such high production capacity had eased the food shortage problem of the two cities. But Lin Sheng knew that this was only a temporary measure. Humans need a ton of other micronutrients; meat, veggies and fruits produced using holy power did not possess these things. Only food grown naturally could provide these essential nutrients to humans. So he quickly instructed Baine University to form a research team to tackle this nutrient issue while he was about to restart his exploration in the dreams. As the real world was getting closer to the dreams, and Lin Sheng was unable to deal with the ck mist, the only option for him was to restart his venture in the nightmare. He had found a lead that told him Ancellia, the Light of Hope, might have left a solution behind in the Infinite City. Chapter 499 - The Nightmare Plain: Part 2

    499 The Nightmare in: Part 2

    Gray and blurry vortexes were floating in the air. Most of them were silent. A few of them had faint voices screaming in terror. Lin Sheng was in his dream, standing in the living room of his house. He looked up and scanned around his house, but ignored those floating vortexes. ¡°It¡¯s still the same.¡± His eyes glided over the white patch of holy power that looked like a modeling y in the window¡¯s gap. ¡°This is the holy power I applied here thest time I came. I can¡¯t believe that it is still here! But by the looks of it, it has been almost exhausted.¡± Lin Sheng came to the window. As he wiped the holy power in the window gap with his finger, tiny white light dust fell off his finger. The light dust was not as white as the pure, holy power, as if there were some impurities in it. He willed and a gush of holy power of an even higher-purity level than what he usedst time was injected in it. He did not want to waste time on this. As he raised his right hand and closed it, pure, holy power burst out from his hand, spreading through the entire house and purifying everything it came into contact with. Even the gray vortexes in the air were purified and now pure white. Instead of screams of terror in the vortexes, there were now snores and the calm breathing sound in sleep. The new holy light had assimted and cleansed the entire house and the patch of holy power that Lin Sheng previously applied, returning them to their former pure white glory. So this was the recement for the old holy power used to seal the door and windows. Now even the air smelled fresher. He looked around the house for a moment: the living room, reading room, two bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom. There was nothing unusual, or any hidden dangers. ¡°I can use this as my temporary base in the dream now.¡± Lin Sheng was pleased by what he had done. Again, he came to the corridor between the living room and the bedrooms. He still remembered he used to lunge out from the window in the corridor to explore the world outside thest time he was here. The window ss was covered with ayer of faint white glow, which was holy light particles that could expel any monsters that tried to enter the house through this window. Lin Sheng poked his head around to check out the situation outside, which was a vast expanse of dark-red in. In his spirit vision, he could clearly see inside the faint dark-red mist was a giant column that connected the earth and heaven. ¡°If I¡¯m quick enough, I may be able to finish exploring this ce soon.¡± After getting a huge bump in strength and power, Lin Sheng was more confident this time. ¡°The situation in the real world is on the brink of disaster, and the ck Tide could get worse any time. No time to explore carefully! I should be able toe and leave this home in the dream freely. Here goes nothing!¡± With the protection of the Eight-eight Guards and through some presage, he could faintly sense his connection with this house. So long as there was a connection, he coulde back here straight through the added guards. Also, the power of the Dark Wheel had greatly enhanced his ability to handleplicated situations. As he had figured this out, Lin Sheng pushed to open the window and jumped out onto the red ground outside while keeping as little red mist froming into the house as possible. Outside was an endless dark-red in. He could see some ste and stone columns erected in the distance. Other than the red clouds in the sky, there were many floating inds of different sizes burning with fire in the air. ¡°This is quiet. Much more quiet thanst time.¡± His keen senses had detected something had changed in this ce. Prodding the ground with his heel, he could feel the unusual soft texture of the ground as if it was a cake soaked in water. ¡°In this case, I¡¯d have to do it quickly.¡± Lin Sheng nced up at the giant pir in the distance. His eyes told him that thing was quite a distance from here. It would not be wise to go there now. He first needed to find clues, and any hidden secrets in the surroundings. So he shifted his attention to the burning inds floating in the sky. ¡°Let¡¯s check them out.¡± Pure white holy light gathered and formed a light disc behind him. Following a rumble, the light disc put out a tail of white me, pushing him flying up toward the nearest floating ind. Holy power particles, left behind by the white me, had purified the red mist, brightening up the space in the surroundings. Lin Sheng was now high up in the air, leaving the ground far down below him. Everything on the dark-rednd was fast bing smaller. The higher he went, the stronger the air currents. The strong wind, which reeked of malicious intent, was circling around him. Soon, these violent air currents condensed into semi-transparent humanoids. They had long tails, more like half-human, half-snake hybrid creatures, their faces distorted with brazen malice. No matter what ability these humanoids had, the moment they came near within one meter of Lin Sheng, his intense, holy power would purify and rip them apart. They kepting towards Lin Sheng and then dissipated just as quickly. After their bodies dissipated, they again turned into the wind in the air and provided Lin Sheng with a small amount of pure souls. ¡°These things possess soul power?¡± Lin Sheng looked around him and frowned. He slowed down and now floated 1,000 meters in the air. Right above him was a burning, floating ind. This ind looked the size of a fingernail when looking from the ground. But it looked bigger than what Lin Sheng had imagined. The mes on the ind shot over ten meters high in the air with heat radiating into the surroundings. Lin Sheng looked around. Except for the giant pir linking the heaven and the ground below, everywhere he looked was only red mist. Even thend down below looked blurry because of the red mist. Finding nothing unusual, he flew from the dark underside of the ind up andnded on its ck edge on the left side of the ind. Stepping on the ground in his ck leather shoes, Lin Sheng could feel the ground was solid. It was solid rock, scorched ck. Looking into the distance, all he saw were ck rocks. They were everywhere on the ind. In the middle of the ind, there was a sea of copsed man-made structure in the fire, burning with orange-red mes. This ind might seemrge to ordinary people. But all Lin Sheng took was one minute to finish viewing it. With the tap of his foot, heunched himself into the air and started examining the ind. There was no fire on the edge of the ind. But there was also nothing there, just scorched dark rocks. No luck getting any information there. There seemed to be something in the burning structure, however. But Lin Sheng first checked the edges. There was nothing except some burned fabric on the ground. Now he shifted his eyes to the structure in the fire. It looked like a square courtyard with a copsed wall on one side, through which Lin Sheng could make out what might look like a sculpture inside. Ignoring the fire, Lin Sheng kicked open the stone wall. mes were spreading toward him, but were all blocked off by his holy power. He strode in and quickly checked the small courtyard. There were no rooms in here, just a small, abandoned garden, in the center of which was the sculpture of a solemn-looking woman holding a whip in her hand. Chapter 500 - The Nightmare Plain: Part 3

    500 The Nightmare in: Part 3

    Lin Sheng walked around the ck sculpture. Soon, he found a broken piece of white stone disc on the pedestal. Picking up the disc, he summoned his holy power to extinguish the fire and heat on it. There was a text imprint on the disc. It seemed to be some kind of recording medium. He tried to identify it, but he could not recognize thenguage. Tucking the disc in his body, he descended toward his house, which was not far from the ind. Lin Sheng put the disc in the house, then took a backpack and headed out again. He was going to explore each of those inds while letting the researchers in the Fairy Empire study the text. With his strength and speed, it did not take long for Lin Sheng to explore those inds. He had investigated fifteen floating inds in an hour. There were courtyards and sculptures on most of the inds. Just that they differed in size. He also found signs of struggle on the inds, some broken daggers and swords on the ground beside five of what might look like white stone discs. He collected all the discs, returned to the house and left them there. Now, Lin Sheng decided to go straight to the pir that connected the earth with heaven. Probably he might be able to find some intelligent beings there, he thought. His body faded into a streak of white light like a meteor swept across the dark-red sky as he flew toward the giant writhing pir. After flying for three hours non-stop, Lin Sheng arrived at a spot close to the pir. He could see now that the pir was actually a vine, extremelyrge and red. On the surface of the vine were arge amount of air nozzles. Every time this gigantic thing writhed, it would spurt red mist through the nozzles. Floating in the air, Lin Sheng made a rough estimate of the size of the vine. ¡°At least three kilometers in diameter. But the length is unknown,¡± he said to himself, almost in awe. This was the first time he was seeing such a massive living thing. Those footages in his memories notwithstanding, of course. It was only when he got closer he felt and heard the violent tremor and loud buzz the vine made. It continuously bombarded everything¡ªwhether alive or dead¡ªin the surroundings with the noise. Besides, he could nearly not find a patch of soil around here. Red sand was everywhere. Lin Sheng summoned the holy power to shield his body, just in case. He examined the gigantic vine from afar for a while before going closer. On the surface of the vine, he found what might look like a human-shaped relief iid. The relief grew together with the vine skin. The human face on the relief looked old with wrinkles all around. So Lin Sheng decided to take a closer look, floating near to the human relief to see if he could find anything meaningful. The human image on the relief opened its eyes all of a sudden, staring quietly at Lin Sheng with his dark-gray eyes while slowly opening its mouth and sticking out his tongue that looked like a piece of ck wooden nk. On its tongue was a pale-silver stone disc. Lin Sheng waited for a while. After knowing that this thing had no soul, he got closer. Using his dark energy as a tentacle, he took the disc in his hand. ¡°It¡¯s still the same gadget.¡± Lin Sheng frowned, not making head or tail of it. This ce was dead silent, mysterious and strange. Not only that, it was only visible through his spiritual vision. He was curious what the disc contained. ¡°Maybe it would be quicker if I could find a monster, kill it and absorb its memory.¡± He looked at the human relief from which he had taken the disc. With the flick of his hand, a blinding light shot out from his hand. The light turned into a longsword and cut the human relief in half. The human relief screamed in pain, his shriveled body wriggling and howling on the vine before it dropped off in the form of ck ashes. In just a few moments, the human relief hadpletely turned into ashes, dropping to the ground before wind carried it away. From the ashes rose a ck thread the size of a finger. The ck thread rose into the air before disappearing into Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. He closed his eyes as arge amount of memories shing across his mind. This information,nguage and text belonging to this ce rushed into his head. After a while, Lin Sheng opened his eyes, looking up at the giant vine. ¡°The Divine Pir?¡± He floated in the air, muttering something to himself. Instead of doing more exploration, he turned around and flew back in the direction from where he came. He needed to go back and check out those stone discs. The memories of the human relief were too little, too chaotic. Only a fraction of them were useful. But at least he had achieved something. He had learned from the memories some basic knowledge of the localnguage. He flew at full speed towards home. Once back, he took all the stone discs out and carefully read them, starting to extract information out of them. ¡°Failed? Seeded? The Divine Pir will bring us away¡ªaway from this world. That is for sure!¡± ¡°We can only record information on the stone discs? If we speak, we will give ourselves away. We have to create arge enough sound interference instrument. Otherwise, all of us will die!¡± ¡°The ck Tide ising... the goddamn Muffler! It robs us of our right to speak!¡± ¡°The Divine Pir could amodate everything we need so long as we follow the form, coalescing into one body with it!¡± ¡°The ck Tide is invincible, ha haha!¡± ¡°The woman who calls herself the Light of Hope wants us to abandon the Divine Pir? Give up the most powerful sacred vessel? She must be harboring some unforgivable scheme!¡± ¡°The Divine Pir is uncontaminable! Ancellia is mad! The power of our race is supreme. She knows nothing! She is just too old! She even needs someone to help her walk, her mind a muddle now!¡± Paragraphs of information as if a diary showed up on the stone discs before Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes. He browsed through the text and soon found the trail of Ancellia. ¡°The Great Demigod Cassius, the Dreamweaver, has summoned the mad woman? I have a bad feeling.¡± ¡°We the Tomb of the Discs must meet. Exchanges of information like this is not going to be enough to deal with theing changes.¡± ¡°Agree!¡± ¡°Agree!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a big mistake to meet with Ancellia. We can¡¯t sit by and watch while she deceives His Majesty! Banish her back to the Infinite City!¡± ¡°The Infinite City...¡± Lin Sheng gently stroked the disc with his finger. He found that the information recorded in the discs sounded weird. They sounded like conversations, messages and an impromptu meeting at the same time. He continued to read. ¡°Something seems wrong with His Majesty. I have a bad feeling since getting rid of Ancellia.¡± ¡°His Majesty is a demigod, the supreme and most powerful one! Perhaps he is tired of governing the Divine Pir. But we need to trust His Majesty. Do not doubt him!¡± ¡°Yeah, with the power of His Majesty, the ck Tide is not worth mentioning!¡± That was all the information in the discs. Having browsed through them once, Lin Sheng had gotten two key points. One, Cassius, the Dreamweaver, was the leader around here. Perhaps the ck Tide had sessfully overrun the ce. Two, Ancellia, the Light of Hope, had been here. She had most likely returned to the Infinite City through here. These were two very crucial leads. Lin Sheng got a huge morale boost, knowing that he did not return empty-handed. Chapter 501 - As Fate Would Have It

    501 As Fate Would Have It: Part 1

    Ancellia used to leave behind a clue in the Fairy Empire. The clue was pointing to something in the Infinite City that allegedly could resist the ck mist. But at the time, Lin Sheng did not know where the Infinite City was. As luck would have it, he might have found information of its whereabouts here. ¡°That means, the natives knew where the Infinite City was. After Ancellia left the Infinite City and arrived here, she was then sent back to the Infinite City again.¡± Sitting on the sofa at home, Lin Sheng sorted his out his train of thought. He thought for a moment and decided to turn off his spiritual vision. As everything in the surroundings returned to normal in an instant, the dpidated house restored to his formal looks. The Nightmare in was no longer visible outside the window. In its ce was a world of flowing red light. The house in the dream had reverted to its reclusive state. Lin Sheng looked at the stone disc in his hand. He was surprised to find that it still looked the same. Nothing had changed. ¡°That¡¯s it for now. If I stay too long here and something happens in the real world, it would be a disaster.¡± Lin Sheng carefully kept the stone discs with him, checked all the gaps in the walls, doors and windows for the onest time, and patched the new cracks on the wall before leaving the dream. In the Sanctum of Shermanton, Lin Sheng sat up on the bed. Everyone else was out for patrol, pacifying the boiling emotions of the people that could explode anytime. As the ck mist lockdown dragged on, people started to get anxious. Despite supply of food and water was adequate now, most people still felt worried, even panicked because of the reduced space for activity and the inability to contact the outside world. Also, it did not help when doomsday stories were spreading in the city. Walking out of the bedroom, Lin Sheng looked up at the hazy gray moon in the sky. Blocking by the ck mist, the moon outline was starting to get fuzzier. This world was going to fall into the same abyss of desperation that ckfeather City used to experience. If no solution was found, everything was going to turn into a meaningless bubble. Facing the constant corrosive attack from the ck mist and the threat of the elusive and powerful monsters, without adequate supply, even he could only hold up just a little longer than the average Ptinates. The oue would still be the same. He would be corroded, bing the ck mist¡¯s monster hatchet man. Just like the Night Lordst time. Feeling depressed, Lin Sheng contacted hismanders and generals through telepathy. Only after knowing that things in Shermanton and Henricqal were all right did he go back and took more rest in the room. Just then, Tenko Kasumi, who had just returned to Henricqal, contacted him. ¡°Master, something happens here. You¡¯d bettere to take a look.¡± ¡°What happens?¡± Lin Sheng frowned. ¡°We caught two suspicious figures from the Astral Mere. Having interrogated them, we found something disturbing,¡± Tenko Kasumi replied at warp speed, and then sent memory of the interrogation over into his mind. Lin Sheng received the memories with his eyes closed, carefully looking into it in his mind. Slowly, his expression turned into a surprise. ¡°Could the Astral Mere do this at all? You trust these people who call themselves the observers?¡± ¡°Not that I trust them. They were interrogated separately yet giving the same statement. Besides, I found the two intruders they mentioned,¡± Tenko Kasumi said, still at light speed. ¡°I¡¯ming over right away!¡± Besides, Lin Sheng did not want to stay too long in Shermanton. If the ck Tide could use him as a position tracker, then staying in Shermanton would cause a security concern to the city. ¡°Aye!¡± Giving up sleep, Lin Sheng put on his clothes and quickly headed to the newly built portal at the back of the sanctum. The holy power-operated portal had no number of transmission limits. Just that the usage of holy power would increase as the ck mist got denser. Each transmission required 1,000 units of holy power. It could handle low traffic volume without a doubt. But operating at high throughput level could still overload the system. By the time he arrived at Henricqal from Shermanton, it was already some time past seven in the evening. In the temporary prison in the sanctum, Lin Sheng saw the two suspicious members from the Astral Mere. The young girls looked like twins. Inside the spotless prison, Lin Sheng was dressed in his Seagal attire, escorted by a few red armored soldiers to the cell where the two girls were held. The cell came with a separate toilet and bathroom. Everything looked nice and organized. Of course, aside from the regr prayer session in the cell by a cleric, the rest of things looked no different from a hotel. The one guarding the cell was ady guard, Margaret¡¯s subordinate. Wearing a body-hugging leather suit with a leather whip in her hand, thedy was exuding an aura of fanaticism and magical charm. Rumor had it that thisdy named Karls was a born sadist, and obviously a dab hand at physical abuse. And Margaret was really pleased with herself for sending Karls to take care of the female cells. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lord. I¡¯ve not finished fixing these two prisoners. They might be a little... rebellious?¡± Karls fiddled with her blonde hair as she came close and spoke to Lin Sheng. ¡°Let me first take a look.¡± Lin Sheng stood in front of the cell, looking through the metal vertical bars. The cell was clean. Other than the toilet and washroom, everything else was within view at a nce. Inside, two prisoners sat on the edge of their beds, talking to each other in low voices, looking dispirited. ¡°The cell has a one-way ss window. We could see them, but they won¡¯t be able to see us.¡± Karls smiled. ¡°Good job. Instill some holy power in them each day. Have you done that already for today?¡± Lin Sheng asked. Instilling holy power was not just the simple increase of density, but also the enhancement of the purification force field. By using a special method, the Sanctum could gather the purification force field emitted from the sacred crystal font and guided it into a smaller space. The purification force field had some extremely unique effects. Besides purifying the mind and getting rid of illnesses, it could guide people to do good. By staying long enough in a high-density purification force field, people would find peace of mind, be reverent to the holy light and saints who were willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of the holy light. ¡°It¡¯s done. Compared to before, they are now more energetic and less resentful of the Sanctum,¡± Karls said with a low voice. ¡°Good job.¡± Lin Sheng nodded in appreciation. ¡°Bring them to the interrogation room. I¡¯ll personally interrogate them.¡± ¡°Aye!¡± Karls quickly replied A momentter, inside the underground interrogation room of the prison, Lin Sheng sat across from the two girls from the Astral Mere, talking to them. ¡°It¡¯s our pleasure to meet you, Lord Seagal,¡± The older of the two girls got to her feet and bowed to him in respect. ¡°Thank you for your selfless sacrifice in defending Henricqal and protecting the life of millions of people.¡± Feeling a little surprised, Lin Sheng put up his hand. ¡°Think nothing of it. As a Holy Light believer, it is my duty to do the right thing! I¡¯m just doing what I am supposed to do.¡± Chapter 502 - As Fate Would Have It

    502 As Fate Would Have It: Part 2

    ¡°I admire your good deeds!¡± The younger sister sighed. ¡°Even though we are from the Astral Mere, you still treat us with respect. Even the cell is full of mercy. The Sanctum really deserves its reputation.¡± ¡°We will answer every question you ask. Both of us have decided to leave the Astral Mere to join the Sanctum,¡± the elder sister said. ¡°I¡¯m happy to know you two have decided to do the right thing and pursue the light that truly belongs to you two,¡± Lin Sheng said with a solemn face. ¡°My question to you two is, what is the Astral Mere up to? They gathered the holders of the Sacred Vessel of Destiny, but at the same time, they tried to kill them in batches. Are they not having some other motive behind it?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell for sure. But by the looks of things, after doing so many missions, we both think the Astral Mere is collecting all the Sacred Vessels and Paragons in the world. Both of them are the crystallization of the world¡¯s essence. Many Sacred Vessels and Paragons could keep the world in the equilibrium.¡± The elder sister frowned. ¡°That is to say, the Astral Mere is trying to weaken the world¡¯s potential?¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°No. Instead of saying they are weakening the world¡¯s potential, they are trying to find and use the Sacred Vessels and Paragons to achieve their aim through prediction. The holders of the Sacred Vessel of Destiny¡ªif there is still power in it¡ªare almost unkible. Take Adolf, for example. If he still had the power of the Sacred Vessel, he would not have died. But unfortunately, he had lost the power before he was even captured. It was the Astral Mere who took it.¡± ¡°Then, where has all the power of the Sacred Vessels gone?¡± Lin Sheng felt that he was getting near to the purpose of the Astral Mere. ¡°It should be already in the hands of the sages of the Astral Mere,¡± the sister replied. Now it was clear to Lin Sheng that by collecting the power of the Sacred Vessels and Paragons, the sages of the Astral Mere must be secretly plotting something. ¡°Last question. Disregarding the intruders of the other worlds, do you two know where the Astral Mere HQ is?¡± The two sisters shook their heads from side to side. ¡°No idea. Every time it was the sages who opened the portal to let us in. We don¡¯t have the ability to ess and leave the ce on our own.¡± ¡°I got it. Thank you.¡± Lin Sheng nodded in appreciation. ¡°What do you n next?¡± ¡°We will stay here and convince more people to join the holy light team. The holy light is the only force that could resist the ck Tide out there. It is the only way, and our only hope.¡± Obviously, they understood the consequence that the ck Tide was causing. The two sisters had that determined look in their eyes. Just by looking in their eyes, Lin Sheng knew they were sober, not brainwashed by the purification force field but knew what they were doing. ¡°Congrattions!¡± Lin Sheng held out his hand. The sisters, too, held out theirs, shaking his hand in turns. ¡°May the holy light shine on you.¡± ...... ...... Following a horrified scream, a blue-and-ck armored figure fell out of the sky into the ocean that shrouded in ck Tide. The fall created sshes of tens of meters high. The impact generated rings of ripples that spread outward from the center of the impact, nearly creating a mini tsunami. On the other side of the sky, a man in white with braided hair was floating in midair, quietly looking down at the sea. ¡°Argus, are you feeling the pain? This is the price to pay for your betrayal.¡± ¡°Pain?¡± The sea surface opened and a blue-and-ck figure lunged up with his halberd, making hisst-ditched shing attack. But it was useless. He had been severely wounded, already running out of strength. As powerful as the man would like to think hisst attack was, the man in white parried it with just the wave of his hand. ¡°How silly!¡± The man in white waved with his hand and the surrounding air turned into a giant meat grinder. The air condensed to be nearly solid, shing every inch of Argus¡¯s body. In just a split second, his armor was shattered, and he suffered hundreds of bloody cuts on his skin. Howling in pain, he turned around and wanted to flee. Just then, he froze as terror ripped through this body. ¡°That... that is...¡± His eyes were wide open, jaw dropping as he stared past Barbabia. Barbabia had now sensed something amiss. Turning back his head slightly and looking back, he got the shock of his life. ¡°The Annihtus? How could he be here?¡± Before he could react to it, a gigantic nine-fingered hand, sorge that it could block off the sunlight, came down from the sky and clutched at where Barbabia was. A massive shock wave ensued as if a bomb had exploded. The powerful shock wave blew Argus, who was badly wounded and helpless, away. He tried to look in the direction where Barbabia was while he was still in the air. The space had be a sphere of darkness. His former master, Barbabia, had vanished and been annihted along with his unique scent and energy. ¡°The Annihtus! How could this small world have the Annihtus? Crazy! This is crazy!¡± He turned around, summoning what remains of his strength to flee as quick and far as he could. He must find the nearest ¡®ind¡¯ isted from the ck Tide. Otherwise, with his condition right now, he would notst a day before he was turned into the ck Tide¡¯s puppet, an imprisoned soul forever. .... .... In the school, the sound of the quaint bell rang in the air. Lin Xiao hopped on to her most favorite motorcycle, putting on her crash helmet, waving a goodbye hand to her ssmates before she rode out and slowly joined the stream of traffic. It usually took her over ten minutes from school back to home. But the size of Shermanton had shrunk now. Ten minutes would be all required to arrive home. Lin Xiao cruised along the traffic, riding past streets and alleys. Not long after, she found herself arriving in front of a signless coffee shop. She did not know why she came. ¡°I¡¯ve taken a detour just toe here. I must be crazy...¡± Lin Xiao slowed down, taking a glimpse of the coffee shop front. She had a weird feeling; without herself realizing, she had been thinking ofing to see the man, even if it was just for a glimpse. She had been finding this man mysterious and interesting. Atst, she stopped her motorcycle, taking off her helmet and swinging her long hair back. ¡°Screw it! Since I¡¯m already here, I might as well get something to drink before leaving.¡± She gave herself encouragement. Getting down from the bike and making sure she had locked it, she then walked into the coffee shop. Lange was lying on a lounger chair, reading some book. Upon hearing someoneing in, he looked. His expression told her he was surprised. ¡°Here we meet again. You look like something good has happened today.¡± ¡°Yeah. Something funny happened in school today.¡± Lin Xiao smiled as she helped herself into a chair. Chapter 503 - As Fate Would Have It

    503 As Fate Would Have It: Part 3

    Outside the coffee shop, in front of a video store. ¡°Barbabia is dead.¡± A man wearing a white shirt, sitting on a public bench in front of a video store, pretending to browse through a magazine in his hand. ¡°He and Argus are dead. They will leave behind the nurtured souls onlye the powerful beings of the other world possess. And it is also the beginning of a disaster here. But ording to the earlier record, Shermanton should have been destroyed and only less that a hundred thousand people are left now,¡± said another man, chewing on a pork floss bread while quaffing a bottle of milk. ¡°Could it be that we havee to the wrong timeline?¡± ¡°Impossible. Considering the age of the Night Patriarch and Night Matriarch, we are on the correct timeline. Probably this is just a minute variation in history.¡± ¡°The biggest variation is the group called the Sanctum. I¡¯m suspecting that our recorded history has been altered, and that is why there is no record of the Sanctum.¡± ¡°Altered? Screw it! There are only sixty-seven days before it happens. We need to get ready to save everything.¡± ¡°You have any idea how to go about it?¡± ¡°There are many ways to do it. But during the ck Tide lockdown, average persons have no way to leave the colony. Besides, they will not believe us. If you tell them, ¡®your daughter is going to kill your entire family in two months¡¯s time,¡¯ I bet they will call the police right away.¡± ¡°Anyway, in an ident two months from now, the Night Matriarch will experience an outbreak of dark forces in her. She will massacre her family. The good side of her personality will copse, and the dark side of it will dominate everything. We must stop this tragedy from happening. So long as the good side of her personality remains, she will not go to extreme wickedness even if the dark forces awaken.¡± ¡°Maybe we can work something out through the Night Patriarch as the dark forces in him have not fully awakened. We can convince him to help on the pretext of saving the Night Matriarch.¡± ¡°This sounds like a better n than the original one. Worth a try.¡± ¡°Good. I will work it out and see how we can ¡®tell¡¯ the Night Patriarch that a tragedy is about to befall the Night Matriarch¡¯s family.¡± The two leaned closer and mumbled to each other, their voices lower and lower. ..... ..... The Nightmare in in the dream. Lin Sheng struck the Divine Pir with a sword. A streak of sparks lit up as the sharp holy power light sword shed the vine, leaving behind a trail of dark-gray, burned cut marks. Other than this, nothing seemed to work. Lin Sheng got closer, reaching to touch the burned, cut mark, which had the depth of the distal phnge of the forefinger. ¡°What a hard shell.¡± He frowned as he looked at the Divine Pir mentioned in the disc. The Dreamweaver, ording to records, was the demigod who ruled this small world. Ancellia was just an outsider arriving here by ident. Following the spread of the ck Tide, the demigod created the Divine Pir and moved every living person inside. The Divine Pir was the only means to resist the ck Tide, which was what the record in the discs said. ¡°Structure that could resist the ck Tide will of course stand up to my powerful strike. That sounds entirely logical.¡± Lin Sheng suddenly had a lightbulb moment. He had circled the Divine Pir many times. Using his powerful senses and perceptibility, he had studied the pir down to the minute details. But what aroused his curiosity was the missing signs of the ck Tide, which should have overrun this world before but was now nowhere to be seen. Although it was a deste world, the disappearance of the ck Tide was real. He did not know if the credit should go to this world or the next world where the Infinite City was. But no matter what, it was a right decision to enter the Divine Pir and understand the truth about this world. So he hade, circling the Divine Pir many times, trying out various attack methods, but nothing worked. He could almost feel the vast number of souls inside the Divine Pir, cramped together and not moving at all as if they were asleep. ¡°There must be a way to enter the pir.¡± Lin Sheng flew around the pir in a circle until he again saw a fewmp monsters on the ground. ¡°There are stillmp-monsters here?¡± With the flick of his hand, he turned pure-white holy power into a light beam, striking themp monsters with precision. Their bodies melt like burned candles with wax dripping to the ground. ck threads began to rise and scramble into Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. He closed his eyes to receive these little soul fragments into his mind. Soon, his lips curled up in a smile. ¡°These are the patrols. It is just right. Since there are patrol teams, I can kill more of them and might eventually figure out how to enter the pir.¡± He started to search around in the surrounding for living beings. Quickly, he found two old man reliefs on the surface of the Divine Pir. After the old man reliefs gave him two silver stone discs, he killed them. The discs had records of daily life inside the Divine Pir. The texture of the silver stone discs felt better than the regr stone discs, and the record on them wasplete. Lin Sheng struck down another two light beams, killing yet two moremp monsters. After they died, their bodies turned liquified into ck fluid before it seeped into the ground. Two more ck threads, which were slightly thicker than before, flew into his chest. The soul fragments he got this time differed from previously. He saw in the memory the way to ess the Divine Pir. Closing his eyes, he studied it for a moment, then let out a long sigh. When he opened his again, he lunged straight down toward the ground. Once he was on the surface, he quickly found on the surface of the Divine Pir a small arch pattern. Standing in front of it, Lin Sheng reached out to press on the surface. ¡°With all the strength, and all the dreams of the living.¡± Using thenguage of this world, he chanted the spell words to ess the Divine Pir. As soon as he finished, the pattern on the Divine Pir surface lit up in purple fluorescent light. It got brighter and brighter until it illuminated Lin Sheng. Then came a faint voice of unknown gender. ¡°Detecting contamination index.¡± ¡°No contaminant detected.¡± ¡°Outsider, wee to Hall of Dreams, the Divine Pir.¡± There was no opened door or ess passage. All Lin Sheng got was a moment of dizziness, and everything in the surroundings started to distort. The next second he knew it, he found himself standing in a vast silver hall. There was nothing here except the silver stone discs, big and small, scattered all over, and purple light patterns in the shape of a crescent shimmering on the walls. The rest of the ce had cravings of trees, vines and flowers. Lin Sheng picked up a silver disc to take a look. ¡°His Majesty¡¯s health has worsened, We must find a way to get out of here.¡± ¡°But there is no way to open the door from the inside.¡± ¡°His Majesty¡¯s Sceptre of Mist controls everything. If we could get the thing...¡± The words stopped there. Lin Sheng proceeded to examine the other stone discs. Most of them were empty; only a few had something on them. But even so, those contents were more or less the same, or records of something called Assyrian Dream Project. The project contained loads of technical jargons. Browsing through it, Lin Sheng could not make head or tail of what it meant. There were no exnatory notes, and no one knew what those terms meant. Just then, his keen eyes caught a term which he found important: divinity. Chapter 504 - Divinity:

    504 Divinity: Part 1

    ¡°Divinity?¡± Lin Sheng put down the disc in his hand and looked up at the stage in the front. Something was weird about this stage; unlike what normally would happen, its highest position was not a throne but a semicircr white tform. There were blood stains scattered on it, as if something bad had happened here before. As Lin Sheng strode toward the semi-circr tform, a strange moaning sound came from the wall on the right. The next second, a slender, long-haired woman emerged out of the wall as if she had juste out of the water. Her hair was made up of ck ropes, her face just arge hole with two dark little nostrils with no eyes and ears. Her voice was quivering as she came out of the wall. Although she had no eyes, Lin Sheng still felt that she was staring at him. ¡°Can you speak?¡± He tried his luck, using the localnguage. The strange woman suddenly bowed her head. Roaring in furious anger, she suddenly charged at Lin Sheng. As she went, her slender body started to swell in the air. ¡°Ward of the Stalwart Wall!¡± Lin Sheng willed and a rock-solid force field popped up in front of him. The woman hit the wall of the force field and exploded like a bomb. The force of the explosion sent blood and body parts flying, dying the entire hall in red. Lin Sheng frowned. ¡°Ward of Tempest!¡± As he pointed with his finger, a strong gust of air rushed out of his body and started to clean up any impurities in the surroundings. But before it was done, more women like the first one came out of the surrounding walls. These women lunged at Lin Sheng and exploded in midair like car bombs. More blood spattered and body parts strewn all over, some hitting on Lin Sheng¡¯s defensive force field but doing no damage to him. ¡°Such a level of power is not even higher than suppressor-ss.¡± His face was calm as he reached both of his arms out, clutching at the walls on both sides. ¡°Ward of Distortion!¡± A terrifying twisting force burst out from the Dark Wheel. The walls in the hall began to copse, deformed and cracked with blood flowing out of them. Lin Sheng stood in the center of the hall, watching as the walls continued to break apart under the terrifying force of Ward of Distortion, destroying all monsters in the walls. Despite not seeing more womening out, the continuous ck threads flying out from the walls told Lin Sheng that there were more strange women inside. The killing, though unseen now, continued for over ten minutes before things started to subside. The monsters that came out of the walls became lesser and lesser. Lin Sheng ran a little calction in his mind to see how much soul power he had absorbed. ¡°Not even reaching the level of Six Wing. It was a waste of time.¡± He turned and walked toward the only exit of the hall. The exit, on his rear half left, was a dark hole in about the shape of a hexagon. Going into the hole, there was a flight of green spiral staircase bringing him upstairs. As he followed the stairs, he summoned a Ward of God¡¯s Speed, enbling him leaping up several hundred meters in just a few paces into a second hall. Unlike the first one, every inch of this hall was red, with cold weapons and white bones scattered everywhere. There was even the skeleton of a dragon, stretching about four-meter long. Lin Sheng took a closer look. The dragon skeleton looked no different from a giant lizard with wings. Just that when he got even closer, he saw something inside the rib cage. It was a golden ball of meaty texture, still throbbing like a heart. ¡°Dragon ball, or core?¡± Lin Sheng tried to make out what it was. Holding out his hand miming a catch, an invisible force field caught the golden ball back into his hand. The second the ball came into contact with his skin, it dissolved into golden light dust before disappearing into his skin. Almost immediately, Lin Sheng felt the scorching heat homologous to the Rock Dragon blood travel up his arm and spread throughout his body. Although the energy was weak, just right about Two Wing-level, it was of high purity. It might not help elevate the strength of his dragon blood, but it helped increase his potential. When his potential increased, he might be able to achieve some breakthrough when the opportunity arose. Or when there were enough nutrients, he would have more absorption capacity. After that, Lin Sheng moved forward, walking past rows of giant stone pirs, navigating through the white bones on the floor. The hall was rectangr and deep. After making out over thirty meters, he had still not found any living things. Just when he thought he could let down his guard somewhat, trying to search the floor for clues, the chandelier on the ceiling above suddenly gave way and dropped, smashing the bones on the floor into pieces. Strangely, the chandelier started to wriggle like a living thing, with four arms stretching out on both sides, and a tail that looked like a python at the back. Green scales began to appear on the chandelier, in the middle of which popped up what might look like a ck floor. Each petal of the flower was a steel de, and they started to vibrate. Finally, the flower bloomed, and it spun at high speed like a fan. ¡°Those who don¡¯t water me must die!¡± A voice mumbled inside the chandelier monster. ¡°What the heck is this?¡± Lin Sheng almost wanted to scratch his head. As the chandelier lunged up at him, he willed in his mind. ¡°Ward of Distortion!¡± The massive twisting force hit the dark-gray monster, ripping it apart in a violent explosion, sending chunks of ck meat and body parts flying with most of them strewn on the floor. ¡°Damageability of around Five Wing. Not bad. But still it is too weak. Not to mention there is no soul power.¡± Lin Sheng nced at the core part of the monster which had been ripped apart. Insidey a pot of prickly pear-like dark green nt, which had begun to wither. He collected himself and continued to move forward. In just a few paces, he saw golden red patterns lit up on the floor up ahead. The pattern gathered themselves together and rose to form a golden redva humanoid. Looking up, the humanoid faced Lin Sheng with his featureless face. ¡°Outsider! It has been years since thest outsider came!¡± ¡°Eh? You can speak?¡± Surprised, Lin Sheng held back his hand just in time before he ripped the person apart. ¡°Of course,¡± the golden red humanoid said in a calm voice. ¡°I am the Divine Pir. The Divine Pir is me. Since the extinction of the Phantasieren race, I have been living alone for ten thousand years. I have seen many outsiderse here. Most of them were far more powerful than you are. But they all ended up the same: devoured by the ck Tide.¡± Chapter 505 - Divinity:

    505 Divinity: Part 2

    ¡°Ten thousand years?¡± Lin Sheng frowned. It seemed things did not tally with Ancellia¡¯s timeline. Could it be that different worlds had different speeds of flow of time? ¡°Yeah. But since three thousand years ago, there had been no outsidering until now,¡± said the humanoid who imed to be the Divine Pir. ¡°Then why are you revealing yourself before me? What is your purpose?¡± Lin Sheng squinted. ¡°Purpose? There is no purpose. I am dying soon,¡± said the Divine Pir calmly. ¡°Nothing is forever in the world. My life is ending. Had it not been for the master using his power to keep me alive, I would have vanished several thousand years ago.¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°So I want to find an outsider who can take away everything that could record things about the Phantasieren race.¡± The Divine Pir did not sound like he was dying. ¡°Then what is the meaning of it?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s brows knitted together. ¡°As a demigod, the master has the most powerful trait of the Phantasieren race. So long as there is a living being remembering him, there is still hope that he could resurrect.¡± The Divine Pir gazed at Lin Sheng. ¡°Of course, the process is extremely long, and after resurrection, the master would lose his memories. Everything will start anew. So instead of saying he resurrects, it is the continuation of the master¡¯s bloodline. It is his offspring who resurrects.¡± ¡°so?¡± Lin Sheng knew what he was up to now. ¡°So I want to make a deal with you,¡± the Divine Pir said. ¡°The master used to collect many divine beings and peel off some divinity. I can gift you with it so long as you promise to help the master resurrect.¡± ¡°Divinity...¡± Lin Sheng had only heard about the term from novels and mythology. What the hell was divinity? He had no clue. And he did not trust this guy who called himself the Divine Pir. He said he was the Divine Pir. But was he really the Divine Pir? ¡°That¡¯s a fair deal.¡± Lin Sheng looked up after thinking for a moment. ¡°You have agreed?¡± The Divine Pir asked, his voice went a gear higher. ¡°Of course... no!¡± While speaking, Lin Sheng raised his hand, pointing at the Divine Pir. In that instant, a massive twisting force shrouded the Divine Pir, his body exploding spectacrly with golden fluid spattering in mass messes everywhere. ¡°You...¡± ¡°You are too weak.¡± Lin Sheng looked as the golden red humanoid slowly reshaped his body. It looked like he was badly injured. ¡°Who are you to bargain with me? Not to mention I know nothing about this ce. What I want to do and what my purpose is are not something you can dictate.¡± Lin Sheng looked calm. As he pointed with his finger with a Ward of Deformation again. The Divine Pir howled in pain with his body being ripped apart. ¡°You maniac!¡± ¡°What proof do you have to show that you are the Divine Pir?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s face stony as he lifted his finger again, pointing at the humanoid. This time, it was not Ward of Deformation but Incarceration. The invisible energy of the Dark Wheel formed a cage, trapping apact ball of liquid of the golden red humanoid¡¯s core inside. ¡°Retrieve!¡± Lin Sheng retrieved the thing and tucked it into his pocket. It did not matter if the guy was the Divine Pir. At least he was the only intelligent being around here. It would be a waste to kill it summarily. Beating it ck and blue and taking it back would be better. But then again, even if this guy was the Divine Pir, Lin Sheng would still do the same. The premise for negotiation was first beating him until he was half-dead, then only negotiation could begin. Equality was only possible when the two of them had a simr level of strength. ying a good Samaritan here was the biggest no-no in a ce full of dangers like this. After putting away the half-dead golden-red humanoid, Lin Sheng moved forward. This time, nothing happened. The end of the hall was a dark opening in the shape of an arch. Stepping into it, it was a cavern that looked like a beehive. Everywhere he looked, there were dark holes iid on the cylindrical wall. Lin Sheng could almost imagine the number of Phantasierens who used to live here. But now, it was dead silent here. Coming inside the cylindrical cavern, Lin Sheng looked around and put up his hand. ¡°Shine!¡± A beam of dazzling holy white light rose from his hand and exploded in the air, turning the pitch-dark cavern into daylight. The bright holy light was illuminating everything. ¡°It looks like this is the central axis of the Divine Pir. If I could purify this ce at once, on the premise that the ck Tide had not corroded it, maybe I can turn this ce into a pure ce for the holy power.¡± Lin Sheng willed in his mind, keeping the holy light sphere in the air so it would continuously release a suppressor-ss holy light. All monsters with strength below Four Wing would die and vanish under the light. Monsters with Four Wing-level strength would be extremely ufortable as the holy light continued purifying them. Only Six Wing- of Ptinate-level monsters were immune from the attack. But they would still feel irritated. The holy light sphere would be the catfish that disturbed the entire Divine Pir from the inside. This was exactly what Lin Sheng wanted. Soon, in the cylindrical cavern, a paltry amount of ck threads of the souls drifted toward Lin Sheng. Some were slightly thicker. Lin Sheng stood at the entrance, letting the holy light sphere do its job. This was causing Lin Sheng to lose one-hundredth of his holy power reserve in his body every hour. This was peanuts to him. And if he needed it, he could always summon his special skill of the Ptinates, converting endless holy power to replenish his reserve. It was not until twenty minutester that Lin Sheng retrieved the holy light sphere. Even then, the air inside the cavern was filled with holy light particles. These light particles could maintain nearly the same brightness level in the cavern as before. Lin Sheng ambled forward along the spiral path at the edge of the cavern. A violent trembling sound came from above all of a sudden. He raised his hand, wanting to use a Ward of Distortion. His heart missed a beat, and he changed his mind, using a Ward of the Stalwart Wall from the Dark Wheel and at the same time, summon a holy power shield in front of him. Before he could see it, a shadow came down at top speed, hitting his shield and Ward of Stalwart Wall. Lin Sheng saw starburst in his vision and heard a loud roar in his ears. The next second, he was sent flying out like a meteorite and crashed into the wall behind him. He had disappeared into the hole that looked like a bottomless abyss he had just created. ¡°Very well...¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s voice came from inside the hole. A blinding white light shot out from the hole like aser gun, hitting the gigantic shadow that had just slowed down. Chapter 506 - Divinity:

    506 Divinity: Part 3

    The giant shadow groaned, letting out a strange growl as the white holy light hit and sent it crashing into the wall. Just then, Lin Sheng finally got a glimpse of the thing. It was a six-meter giant fly. It might look like a fly, but it had six pairs of wings pping in high frequency to produce a buzzing sound. After getting hit and forced into the wall, the monster quickly pulled itself out. Just like Lin Sheng, it came out unscathed. It roared at Lin Sheng, pping its wings. It then faded in a shadow again, flying toward Lin Sheng at incredible speed. A huge crack that looked like the result of a sharp knife cut expanded from Lin Sheng to the cavern wall in the surroundings. He was struck back to the wall as soon as he flew out. His Dark Wheel spontaneously resisted the horrible shing attack. The attack range of this opponent,pared to other powerful beings, were small. But its concentration and intensity were far higher than ranged attacks. Lin Sheng had never felt this tricky even when he fought against Faldtst time. Faldt¡¯s attack was extensive, with ranged firepower. Inparison, the attack range of the fly-like monster was small, but its strength and damageability were unbelievably brutal. As the shing attack hit his protective force field, Lin Sheng could clearly sense a massive difference between their strength. The power concentration of the fly monster was five times higher than Lin Sheng¡¯s holy power and Ward force field. Even though its total power output was far lower than Lin Sheng¡¯s, it could unleash the same level of damage and lethality as that of his. ¡°No. We are not at the same level. Actually, I am the underdog!¡± Using the power of the Dark Wheel, Lin Sheng struck out with his hands at lightning speed to parry the fly monster¡¯s attack, which looked like powerful pneumatic des. He had never seen anyone capable ofpressing air to such a high pressure level that it turned into a pneumatic cutter. It could almost cut through the dimensions of space. Each time he parried the attack, it exhausted a high amount of energy of the holy power and Dark Wheel. By forming a barrier that looked like an invisible brick wall, he tried to deflect the attacks. He felt like he was blocking a rock with ayer of cotton. The difference is their power concentrations were just too huge and apparent. ¡°Damn it!¡± Five minutes down the line, Lin Sheng started to feel his body ache. The huge power disparity meant that he could barely cause a scratch on the opponent¡¯s skin, let alone hurting it. But the attack from the opponent was hurting him despite there being a defensive force field between them. More so because the incredible speed of the monster did not give him time to lock his radar on the target. That meant no he was totally on the defensive. ¡°Flee!¡± Still struggling to ward off the attack, Lin Sheng retreated. The monster was moving so fast that it faded into a shadow as it flitted in the cylindrical cavern. Lin Sheng had no way to know where it was going and where it would appear next. Ten minutester, Lin Sheng had retreated outside the cavern. The opening was too small for the monster to pass through. What surprised Lin Sheng was that the monster stopped attacking the moment he left the cavern. It flew up and disappeared in the direction it hade. Standing outside the entrance, hand on the wall, Lin Sheng was quivering big time. Since hest defeated Faldt, he had never met such a formidable opponent, whose threat level was several-level higher than Faldt¡¯s. ¡°The strength difference is too huge...¡± Lin Sheng recalled the battle just now. While thebat strength of the opponent was as solid as steel and diamond, his must have felt like a doughy bread. The difference in strength meant his every attack move felt like he was fanning his opponent¡¯s face. There was not a scratch he could inflict on the opponent¡¯s skin, let alone hurting it. ¡°The world ruled by the demigod is more brutal than what I¡¯ve imagined.¡± Thinking for a moment, Lin Sheng fished out the golden-red humanoid from his pocket, disabling the sound instion of the Ward of Carceration. ¡°You say that you are the Divine Pir. Then do you know the fly monster with six pairs of wing earlier?¡± He spoke to the humanoid, who had been restrained like a golden-red gemstone. ¡°It is Cypross, the Strangler,¡± the humanoid replied. ¡°He is the guard of the treasure vault at the top. You¡¯re at level three now. How did you manage to agitate it?¡± ¡°What level of power does it belong in the Divine Pir?¡± Lin Sheng was more interested in this. ¡°It is second to Aisha, the Torturer. Of course, the master is the power most powerful among them all.¡± ¡°What weaknesses does it have?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°If you tell me the truth, I will consider your proposed deal.¡± ¡°Weaknesses? It has no weakness,¡± the humanoid said. ¡°Cypross is a powerful being with the divinity of the speed of god, worshipped by over a hundred tribes in thest thousand years. His strength has transcended to a divine state. Other than the master and Aisha, the Torturer, no one is his match.¡± Lin Sheng frowned. ¡°Tell me about its features and strength.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t get a chance. The chances of survival for ordinary beings in front of thebat-type divine beings were as good as zero. Even if you could unleash all your powers at once, it is just a gentle touch of a breeze on its face. You won¡¯t be able to hurt it. If the nature of your power is simr to its, it could even make use of your powers against you. You should be d that it isn¡¯t. Otherwise, you would have been history.¡± The humanoid¡¯s voice reeked of sneer. ¡°That means there is no other way?¡± ¡°It is at least a couple of level-ups from you. When you have not even figured out the nature of your strength, don¡¯t dream about transcending it. You are just making a fool of yourself.¡± The humanoid did not even bother to hide his scorn. Lin Sheng did not rebut. He knew he still had a long way to go in terms of bringing out the best of his power. He was just fumbling his way all this while to be what he was today. Earlier, he had been relying on the strength of the holy power and won the battles solely because of the advantage in number. Now when he had finally met something more powerful than the holy power, his weakness was instantly exposed. ¡°Give up. Go home and cultivate for another few hundred years, then you might get a better chance.¡± The golden-red humanoid continued to sneer. Lin Sheng stood on the spot, ignoring him as he was deep in thought. ¡°How to elevate strength? Like what he has said before, purifying oneself, using oneself as the furnace vessel, pressuring andpressing the strength. My chosen major is soul power. Then what I need to do ispress my soul power so that it changes to be a more stable structure...¡± Lin Sheng thought for a moment and decided to retreat, going out of the hall, following the route he hade to return to where he came from. In less than five minutes, he had left the Divine Pir, teleporting himself back on the Nightmare in. Releasing a Ward of Stalwart Wall from the Dark Wheel, he used the powerful skill of the Ptinates to form a 30-meter security zone around him. He then sat with his legs crossed and closed his eyes. ¡°My physical strength and the total energy needed to elevate my power and strength should be enough. What I need to do is just start thepression refinement.¡± Chapter 507 - Refinement

    507 Refinement: Part 1

    Quietly, Lin Sheng raised his hand in the air. ¡°Give to receive. First, the power of the Rock Dragon blood!¡± A group of golden yellow clouds spinning into a vortex appeared on his palm. It rose slowly into the air, floating beside him and stopping there. ¡°Second, the willpower of dark energy.¡± A second vortex, jade green, slightly smaller than the golden one earlier, appeared in his palm. This was the condensation of his entire dark energy. Likewise, the group of energy floated in the air, stationary, beside Lin Sheng ¡°Third, the Chaotic Soul Power, absorbing the messes of energy.¡± The Chaotic Soul Power, unlocking the power of the Chaotic Blood, the high-end ingredient used in physical training, and the hidden tiny energy. Lin Sheng forced these various energies to condense, putting them together, and turning them into a colorful vortex in the air. ¡°Fourth, the holy power!¡± Lin Sheng slowly opened his eyes as a group of terrifying white light rose behind him, turning into a sun-like huge light ball. At five or six meters in across, the difference was in to see aspared to other energies. Now Lin Sheng started to focus his attention on the only remaining power in his body: the soul power. He had only forced the energies out of his body using his soul power. As soon as he rxed his soul power, those powers would return to his body. That was because those powers, in reality, were still inside him. Even if he expelled them, with his body and soul remaining unchanged, those expelled powers would be restored. Just like the power of the dragon blood which originated from his body and blood, even if he expelled all of his dragon power, it would regrow in no time. ¡°How to change, how to refine...¡± Lin Sheng was deep in thought, gazing at the four groups of powers floating beside him. Time ticked by. Some monsters had appeared around the perimeter. But as soon as they came close to within a hundred meters, the oppressive force field would drive them away. Lin Sheng waited quietly. Atst, he reached to catch one of the vortexes. Burn! He willed in his mind, and the power of the Rock Dragon that represented the dragon blood power went up in furious golden me. It meant that the Rock Dragon blood inside his body was also changing, not just the burning of the power outside. He felt the violent exhaustion of his Rock Dragon blood in him. The exhaustion turned into a massive amount of energy, forcing every single impurity out of his body. It was as if burning banknotes to get warmth; it was pure wastage. But this was what Lin Sheng needed now. ¡°Again!¡± He reached to catch a second group of power: the dark energy. It burned in a jade green me. This second energy rushed into his body, speeding up the purification of his body. It was followed by the third energy, the Chaotic Soul Power, and fourth energy, the holy power. Four distinct types of mes in distinct colors started to circle Lin Sheng. The released energy was no less intense than when he burned all this energy at once. It was no different from burning away the result of his cultivation. But Lin Sheng was unruffled. So long as his foundation was there, the Tidal Gate could let in an endless amount of Chaotic Soul Power in an instant. As long as he willed, he could use the infinite conversion ability to convert the Chaotic Soul Power into holy power. By doing this, he could restore his cultivation of the holy power in a short time. While the Chaotic Soul Power and holy power were restorable, the burning of the Rock Dragon blood and dark energy meant he would lose them for good. He was turning them into fertilizer and fuel to purify his body and mind. Lin Sheng still sat outside the Divine Pir with different colors of air rose around him. The air above his head was distorted and rising, driving away those red clouds and turning the air above into a round space of clear sky. Lin Sheng had lost count of how long it had been. Probably it was ten days. Maybe twenty, or even a month. The pale red pattern on his body twisted slightly and turned ck all of a sudden. The four groups of fire floating around him finally burned out. The abilities that once he had were disappearing as those energies vanished. But this did not mean Lin Sheng had weakened. He had heard it¡ªthe most essential voice of his soul power hidden deep inside his soul. The voice buried deep behind the sea of soul fragments and memories of the foreign souls called out to him. ¡°Can hear it!¡± Lin Sheng closed his eyes, focusing his mind on listening to the faint voice. His mind and soul started to sink as if he was plunging into a bottomless abyss,ing to the deeper part of his soul. If his initial understanding of the soul was only limited to the five categories of angels, then with the help of the burning of his powers, he had gotten rid of the messiness in his power, burning and releasing the impurities in his soul. So he could finally hear the voice from the deepest part of his soul. At that moment, Lin Sheng saw himself falling into a body ofke water floating with ck petals. He plunged into it, but there was no water sshing. It was all quiet as if he did not fall into it, but it was theke that embraced him. ¡°Can you hear?¡± A voice came from the bottom of theke again. Lin Sheng turned to face down. At the pitch-dark bottom part of theke, there were many ck ice crystals surrounding and covering a white gold body. ¡°Who are you?¡± Lin Sheng asked as he dived. As he got closer, he saw a figure was sitting at the bottom of theke with his leg crossed. ¡°That¡¯s not a human!¡± He suddenly recognized the figure. It was a set of strong, thick armor; white-and-gold, exquisite and luxurious, exuding an air of holiness. It cameplete with a helmet, visor, shoulder guards, core te, leg and knee guards. Armor te covered even the boot parts. There was also a pair of pure-white light at the eye positions. Lin Sheng took a closer look. From the armor, he saw the pattern of the Rock Dragon, the lines of the dark energy crystal warrior, and also the patterns of the virtualizing and burning of the holy blood. Then it was the holy and exquisite armor, like the Armor of Dawn. Butpared to the Armor of Dawn, the exquisiteness andplexity of this armor was far more advanced. The figure sat with his leg crossed like a king, also looking like a hideous yet majestic monster that suppressed everything. ¡°Who are you?¡± Lin Sheng stared at the figure, whom he found so familiar yet so strange. ¡°Me?¡± The armor looked up at him. They stared at each other through the water, the armor at the bottom, him above it. ¡°I am the real you,¡± the armor said. Lin Sheng was startled, as if he had suddenly understood many things. He held out his hand. So too the armor. Their hands touched each other¡¯s. Chapter 508 - Refinement

    508 Refinement: Part 2

    Their hands touched. Within a split second, his mind exploded as if thousands of stun grenades went off at the same time. The explosion seemed to rip apart his consciousness, escaping through different connections into different directions in the outside world. He saw the Night Lord, the Steel Lord, Kah, Tenko Kasumi, and many other men under hismands. He saw half of their souls belong to him. At that moment, he realized that the set of armor represented the convergence of the souls of all the men under hismand. ¡°You are me.¡± Lin Sheng got it. He held the armor firmly in his hand. His body started to dissolve ande together with the armor in his pitch-dark world. ..... ..... In the real world. Lin Xiao was jolted out of her sleep. Sitting in bed, she wiped the sweat off her forehead and found her body drenched in sweat. Moonlight sprinkled down behind the cloud and mist, which reduced its brightness at least by half. Lin Xiao got out of bed. Taking the water tumbler from the table, she gulped down a mouthful. ¡°I¡¯ve been dreaming the same thing every night. Is it a sign or what?¡± she mumbled to herself. Taking a deep breath, he felt her body aching as if her bones had overworked themselves. He was feeling thirsty and hot. Her body¡¯s reaction to this was the craving for water. So she downed the entire bottle of it. Lin Xiao felt a little better now. Sorting her sleeping gown and smoothening the creases on it, she went back to sleep. It did not take long before her breathing softened, slowed down, then maintained at a steady rate. She fell asleep this time. The moon outside the window had shifted its position. It was two hourster when Lin Xiao shuddered and opened her eyes in bed all of a sudden. A strange shade of purple appeared in her dark eyes, with an unusual pattern shimmering and spinning on it. She sat up, reaching to grab her long hair, gazing at it as if she had seen it for the first time. Letting go of her hair, she pinched her cheeks and looked at her surroundings. Quickly, she stood up and went in front of the only dressing table and looked at herself through the mirror. ¡°Weak, helpless, and keeping yourself behindyers of defense. Not going forward and pursuing any power... this kind of me is just too stupid! Not knowing there is a massive dark talent inside me is just outrageous. Such an extraordinary body should belong to me.¡± As the corners of her mouth curled up in a creepy smile, a crack silently appeared on the dressing mirror. ....... ....... At the Divine Pir on the Nightmare in, everything returned to normal. At where Lin Sheng was sitting, aside from the energy from his Wheel Dark, no other energies were present. Still sitting at the same spot, he looked just like an ordinary folk. He sat still. Nothing suggested that there was any supernatural power in him. As time ticked away, the sky was changing its color. The red atmosphere began to dim. It was nightfall. Other than the floating inds that were still burning and illuminating the sky with its furious red, there were no other sources of light in the entire heaven and earth. Another hour had passed. Lin Sheng finally came out from his immersion. His consciousness was back in the surroundings. ¡°Other than my soul power, the rest of the powers had burned out, turning into fuel to purify my body and soul. It should be fine now,¡± he thought to himself. Opening his eyes, he checked his body condition. It had achieved a terrific level of purity. His massive, pure soul power was resonating perfectly with his body. It flew and worked with no hesitation. The previous powers that Lin Sheng had umted had burned away, and in exchange, he got something in return. His body was crystal-clear. It was the purest moment since birth. ¡°I need topress and refine as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the outside pollutant will contaminate my new body over time.¡± The longer the time, the more difficult it was to maintain purity at its purest. Lin Sheng had to take advantage of the protection from the Dark Wheel to control his soul power consciously and start to increase its concentration. The process was simple. Shielding himself from external inference with the Dark Wheel¡¯s energy, he pped his hands and directed his soul power to his hands andpressed it in between his palms. Since he had experience in controlling the Chaotic Soul Power, he could make light work of it at first. As directed, his soul power gathered in between his palms into a small ball. But soon, a problem arose. Too much of the soul powerpressed together, it began to skip through Lin Sheng¡¯s fingers. ¡°The control isn¡¯t adequate. I need a vessel that receives but not leak.¡± Lin Sheng frowned. He started to rummage through his massive bank of memories, a wealth that he umted by absorbing a massive number of soul fragments. Even now, he had not finished studying all the details. Regrettably, he could not find anything that could teach him to maximize his soul power¡¯s potential. Soul power was something elusive, something that the average beings had no ess. Let alone cultivating it. ¡°Since this is the case, I will need the help of the Dark Wheel¡¯s power. If I could do it quickly, the power from the Dark Wheel would not contaminate the soul power.¡± Here goes nothing. Opening his eyes, he started the power of the Dark Wheel. As Wards were activated,yers of sealed barriers appeared around him. He then manipted the barriers into the shape of a giant sphere. ¡°Contract!¡± Lin Sheng controlled the sphere as it started to contract. Letting the barrier shrink until it nearly touched his skin, he directed it to stop. ¡°Compared to the power of the Dark Wheel, mine is like a child¡¯s y, just slightly better than that of the average Ptinates. But it¡¯s a good thing, though. At least the Dark Wheel could perfectly suppress me.¡± For good measure, he started to add anotheryer of protection on top of the existing one. It was for added security. He might have to spend a long time cultivating. A safe and secure environment was essential. After adding a Ward of Defense, he further topped it up with a Ward of Illusions so that monsters on the outside would not be able to see him. He did not fancy Ward of Illusions because he liked to kill his opponent directly more. But in a time like this, its usage was the most appropriate. After setting up everything, Lin Sheng started to manipte his soul power, letting it flow and surge in his body. Arge amount of soul power seeped out of his hands into a ball of force field bounded by Wards. The transparent ball of force field floated in front of Lin Sheng, looking like a balloon filled with water. As more soul power was injected inside, it became bluish. Chapter 509 - Refinement

    509 Refinement: Part 3

    ¡°The color of my soul power is blue?¡± Lin Sheng took a peek at the ball. As more soul power was being injected, the pressure needed was getting higher. The force-field ball could stand it, but he needed to use bigger pressure to inject the soul power into the ball. Soon, he had finished injecting two force-field balls with soul power. Then he increased it to three, four, five, six... As Lin Sheng increased the amount of soul power, the color of the force-field ball became dark in blue, like the color of the ocean and a cold crystal. Finally, a soul power shot out of his hand like aser beam, scraping past his face, leaving behind a very shallow cut on his skin. ¡°Twelve times the soul power!¡± Lin Sheng stared at the navy-blue force-field ball. Quickly, he sealed it. ¡°Next, it¡¯s time to do thepression.¡± As he willed in his mind, the Dark Wheel caged the force-field ball with anotheryer of even stronger force field. He then directed the Dark Wheel topress the force-field ball. It gradually shrank from the size of an apple to that of an egg. Under the watchful eyes of Lin Sheng, the ball shrank further into the size of a table tennis ball, looking like a blue marble. It seemed it had reached its limit. No matter how much more pressure Lin Sheng tried to apply, the force-field ball would not shrink further. He took a closer look and found something unusual. Inside the navy-blue force-field ball the size of a table tennis ball were streaks of meridian that looked like the roots of the tree. ¡°What are they?¡± Lin Sheng was looking in amazement. He carefully memorized the pattern of the meridians and took the ball in his hand. ¡°Compression is finished. It has reached the maximum limit. What¡¯s next?¡± He found himself scratching his head. He had no clue what was the required condition for the high-density soul power in the force-field ball to stabilize. If he wanted to produce soul power with the same density, it would take atst twelve times the amount of existing soul power. It would be an extremelyrge amount because the total base of the amount of his soul power was too high. And it was not easy to get pure soul power. ¡°Come to think of it, it¡¯s entirely logical. If soul cultivation is easy, there would not have so many people be a lost ball in high weeds.¡± With this thinking in mind, he suddenly felt at ease with himself. He kept the force-field ball, got to his feet, and picked up the bead that confined the golden red humanoid. ¡°Do you know how to transcend souls?¡± He got straight to the point. ¡°Of course,¡± The golden red humanoid replied. ¡°But why would I want to tell you?¡± ¡°Because I can¡¯t even go higher in the Divine Pir, let alone find your master and get him out of there,¡± Lin Sheng told him the situation frankly. ¡°If you help me to break through it, I will help you save your master. Otherwise, I can¡¯t beat Cypross, and you can forget about the rest.¡± ¡°Fair. But what guarantee I have that you will not do the disappearing act after getting what you want?¡± The golden red humanoid asked. ¡°What can you do except to trust me? If you don¡¯t, then I will leave. I believe that soon orter, I will find a way in other ces. You are not the only person who knows how.¡± ¡°Deal.¡± The golden-red humanoid agreed after some thought. ted, Lin Sheng quickly told the humanoid his situation, eagerly waiting for his reply. The golden red humanoid sneered after hearing what Lin Sheng described. ¡°Do you know how to get soul power?¡± ¡°Nourish and nurture in the body.¡± ¡°Then you should know the body is the limit to soul power. The better the body nurtures, the higher the strength of the soul power and the possibility of transcendence.¡± The golden red humanoid exined. ¡°So does my problem lie with inadequate soul power?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°No. Your soul power is adequate. But the method of soul cultivation is far moreplicated. What you need is the method to achieve divinity. It is not something that you can do at home.¡± The golden red humanoid paused for a second, then continued. ¡°I will teach you a technique, which you can use with your soul power to bind, store andpress them.¡± ¡°A technique?¡± Lin Sheng started to pay attention. ¡°Yes, a technique. It is one of the secret techniques I¡¯ve heard from my master. To achieve transcendence, different techniques would achieve different levels of refinement andpression. The technique is called Mirro of Souls.¡± The humanoid started to teach the Reflector of Souls technique to Lin Sheng. After repeatedly examining it, Lin Sheng did not find any problem with the technique. But he did not dive in headfirst. He wanted to do moreparison analysis to understand how it worked. With all the knowledge and wisdom acquired from the soul fragments, and the higher-order knowledge system in the research center, halfway through the analysis of the Reflector of Souls technique, Lin Sheng had roughly understood the principle behind this soul cultivation technique. He sent this technique to Tenko Kasumi using telepathy, instructing her to do an experiment on a batch of wild dark spirits. As soul powered living beings, dark spirits were highly intelligent. This made them the bestb mice. After the humanoid told him about the technique, Lin Sheng sat still as if he was in the midst of trying to understand the technique. But in reality, he was awaiting the experiment result from hisboratory. Three days had passed. But for the golden red humanoid, who had lived for thousands of years, three days might feel like three minutes. He did not appear impatient. Atst, theboratory sent back the result. ¡°The technique could refine and purify souls. But it will need an extremelyrge amount of soul power if you want to elevate all your soul power. There aren¡¯t any seque or side effects. It is just a simple technique.¡± That was what Tenko Kasumi said. As for those dark spirits that had learned the technique, they had been exterminated. ¡°So you have just taught me the technique of refinement, but not the technique of increasing the soul power, isn¡¯t it? Lin Sheng suddenly understood. So the bugger was trying to trick him. But the golden red human just put on a poker face despite getting busted. ¡°Your existing soul power is just about enough. But once transcended, without a proper soul power cultivation technique, it will take you at least a thousand years to fill up the soul power andplete the transcendent ceremony. Don¡¯t count on your old soul power cultivation technique because it won¡¯t work. You¡¯ll know when you get there. So, if you want more of the techniques, do me one more favor.¡± Lin Sheng said nothing. Apparently, the golden red humanoid did not know how Lin Sheng got his massive amount of soul power. When had Lin Sheng ever cultivated his soul power by using the textbook method? He did not get his soul power without killing the other soul. If he were to cultivate his soul power ording to the so-called textbook method, he would not have achieved what he had today. Just look at Faldt and his gangs. How many years had Faldt cultivated? And how many years had Lin Sheng done it? It was in to see which way was better. Chapter 510 - Deflection

    510 Deflection: Part 1

    After getting his hand on the Reflector of Souls, Lin Sheng ignored the golden red humanoid and studied the detailed steps. It did not take long for him to figure out how the thing worked. With the detailed steps in mind, Lin Sheng started to immerse himself into the deeper part of his soul. On the ckke floating with petals, Lin Sheng stood quietly on water, gazing at his surroundings. ¡°So, this is Lake Yu in the deepest part of the soul as described in the Reflector of Souls?¡± Lin Sheng frowned. He still remembered thest time he was here, he had stumbled upon a set of majestic pure-white armor. But this time, it was all quiet. ¡°I had followed a voice, dived into the water and found the armorst time. What about this time?¡± He slowly walked forward on theke. It looked like a mirror. He felt as if he was walking on drynd. It was solid and cold. ¡°The first step of the Reflector of Souls technique is to inscribe the refinement technique.¡± Lin Sheng looked around and soon found himself looking at an endless body of water. He could never reach the end. And every direction he went, the scenery looked just the same. He thought he might as well just randomly find a spot. He crouched down and reached out his index finger. ¡°Inscribing the technique requires a high concentration ofpressed soul power, which I already have. It saves me a lot of time.¡± A navy-blue bead appeared in his hand. ¡°Second, the technique inscription requires a pure internal state of the body. I have achieved this, too.¡± He had gotten rid of the powers he had umted in the past in exchange for his pure bodily state. ¡°Now, let¡¯s begin.¡± Streaks of navy-blue soul power came out from the tip of his forefinger. He glided his finger over theke and cut a long and narrow blue line on the surface. ¡°It works!¡± Lin Sheng felt relieved, knowing the first of leaving a mark was a sess. Inscribing the technique would be next. ¡°Inscribing the technique requires loads of soul power. My soul power should suffice.¡± Following the technique of the Reflector of Souls, he started inscribing on theke surface. In just a few moments, aplex pattern of concentric circles appeared. The innermost circle contained an irregr pattern like a bunch of strings. The middle circle had eighteen uniform-sized triangles, each of which contained a distinct character and symbol. The outermost circleprised six small rings, inside which were a pattern of vine-entangled swords. It was aplex and exquisite pattern of technique. It would have taken an average human several days to perform this meticulous work. But Lin Sheng¡¯s powerful soul power had given him an extreme level of concentration. All he took was half an hour of total concentration toplete the pattern. ¡°Done. The core technique isplete. Next step.¡± He willed his consciousness toe out of Lake Yu, back to his bodily level. Using the high-concentrate of soul power, he inscribed the simplified version of the secondary technique. The result was 100 techniques neatly inscribed in his body. By the time he came out of the inscription state, the sky outside was again turning dark. ¡°I¡¯m not awake yet? I¡¯ve been sleeping for a long time.¡± Lin Sheng exhaled, ncing at the darkening sky. ¡°Something is right about the rate of flow of time in this ce. This was clearly shown in what happened to Ancellia. I just haven¡¯t worked out how much difference, and it¡¯s difficult to calcte here.¡± Aboutpleting the inscription, Lin Sheng got up and started technique. With the speed of lightning, he drew several runes and magic seals, all navy-blue, floating around him. Streaks of pale blue light appeared and linked the runes and magic seals together in the shape of a ribbon. As thest magic seal formed, Lin Sheng willed his soul power to form a circle of soul ripple expanded into all directions, and shroud all the runes and magic seals. ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± Looking at the runes and magic seals that were linked as if stripes of blue ribbon around him, he smiled. At that time, he could feel the inscription technique inside him resonate with the runes and magic seals on the outside. The technique began to absorb his soul power like a massive sinkhole swallowing up ake. His soul power was all gone. Without the soul power, Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness should have fallen into a muddle. But because of the power of the Dark Wheel, he was still well awake, observing the changes of the technique inside him. Not long after, the technique that had absorbed the soul power began to release back plumes of soul power, of which the shade of navy blue was deeper than the initialpressed soul power¡¯s. ¡°Awesome!¡± Lin Sheng looked in amazement. ¡°It was so easy to refine the soul power into a higher level of concentration. This Reflector of Souls is remarkable!¡± The concentration of soul power was akin to the temperature of me. The difference between a 600¡ãC me and a 6,000¡ãC me was like day and night. So too the soul power. Feeling the high-concentrate of soul power surging in him, his body began to be filled and controlled by this whole new level of energy. Within a few moments, he felt he could think faster, his body more agile, self-healing ability increasing, and perception of the environment more sensitive. Everything seemed to have improved by a wide margin. ¡°Perceptibility, self-healing ability, resistance, and even intelligence has been elevated. Awesome!¡± This came even before his body hadpletely converted into the new state of highly concentrated soul power. He could almost see the level of improvement he would experience once that happened. ¡°Next will be to cultivate the soul power, letting the highly concentrated, highly refined soul power fill my body.¡± Lin Sheng looked at the steps described in the Reflector of Souls technique and got a better sense of direction. The sound of the clock ticking came suddenly,ing near from afar. ¡°It¡¯s time to wake up.¡± Lin Sheng opened his eyes and saw the colors transformed before his eyes. In a split second, he was back in the house in his dream. Following immediately, his surroundings began to turn dark. He opened his eyes a few secondster, waking up in his bed in the sanctum. Sitting up in bed, he checked his mobile phone beside the bed for date and time. ¡°Just one day has passed?¡± He was a little surprised. He had spent a long time in the dream to get the enlightenment of the deepest part of his soul. He thought half a month must have passed in the actual world by the time he woke up. But it turned out to be just a day. ¡°That is an enormous difference in the rate of flow of time.¡± This dream puzzled him. Thest time he went in, he thought many days must have passed when he came out. Chapter 511 - Deflection

    511 Deflection: Part 2

    Getting out of bed, Lin Sheng strode out of the bedroom. While he went, he felt a newfound level of perceptibility after getting his new soul power. The Reflector of Souls technique had absorbed his initial soul power and released it back to him in a whole new level of state. Passing the cloister, he entered the door on his right. Inside was an empty square space that looked like a courtyard. Lin Sheng walked to the edge of the ground, quietly summoning his newfound soul power in his body. The total amount of soul power might have reduced, but the converted soul power was far better in quality than previously. ¡°The technique is a sess. Next, as long as I canpletely replenish my soul power, I should be able to achieve transcendence.¡± Standing in the empty space and gazing at the fuzzy moon above, he was trying to think of a way to find all the soul power he needed. ¡°I got most of my soul power from killing the monsters in the dreams and dark spirits in the dark spirit world. The rest came from the Soul Vessels of the cults. I won¡¯t be able to get that many monsters in the dreams. The only source now was to find enough dark spirits, kill them and devour their dark-spirit beads.¡± Making up his mind, he immediately contacted Tenko Kasumi through telepathy, instructing her to collect the amount of dark-spirit beads he needed. ¡°The flow of time in the Dark Spirit Pce is much faster. Six or seven days there is equal to a day in the actual world, best for closed-door cultivation.¡± He had a feeling that the closed-door cultivation session this time would take a longer time. Extending his hand, the tip of his fingers were surrounded with streaks of navy-blue soul power, which was now nearly physical. ¡°At this stage, ording to the division of Reflector of Souls, I must be getting close to the essence of it: the so-called Legend Realm,¡± mumbling to himself, Lin Sheng appreciated the nature and changes of these streaks of soul power. The Reflector of Souls had a detailed division of the Legend. The so-called legend was a state of being that one achieved by elevating a part of one¡¯s ability to a level no mortal could have ever imagined. It was a level where one could approach the essence of one¡¯s ability. ¡°ording to these descriptions, once entering that realm, I can choose an ability I am good at and make a Legend qualitative change, just like the special ability of the Ptinates.¡± Lin Sheng thought to himself. Lin Sheng had chosen to use his soul power as the fundamental strength to enter the realm of Legend. By burning the rest of his powers, he had purified himself and finallye to the very essence of his soul power. With the help of the Reflector of Soul technique, he sessfully got the highly concentrated, new soul power, stabilized it and stepped into the realm of Legend from the Ptinates. Now it was the time to reap his harvest. ¡°Probably I can choose to elevate the Ptinate special ability: Unlimited Conversion.¡± The time for Unlimited Conversion might be short, but it was very useful to him. It was not an exaggeration to say that it had been his ultimate trump card when he faced the many powerful opponents. This special ability had not only made him fearless during a melee, it had also supplied him with endless holy power in a short time. ¡°That it is. Instead of choosing a mediocre ability, I might as well elevate Unlimited Conversion.¡± Making up his mind, Lin Sheng directed his new soul power to flow from his body to his brain. The elevation method was simple: the first ability used after gaining the new soul power would automatically be the target for elevation. ..... ..... Shermanton. Lin Zhounian, Gu Wanqiu and two kids were sitting at the table, enjoying their lunch. The noon sun struggled to shine through the ck mist onto thend below. The bright level was more or less the same as during a cloud day previously. While digging in, Lin Zhounian smiled as he talked about the funny moments he saw in his shop. The two kids, a boy and a girl, both in their teens, were nearly as tall as Gu Wanqiu. They were very well behaved, asionally echoing what Lin Zhounian said. The roar of a motorcycle came from outside the door all of a sudden. ¡°It must be Lin Xiao,¡± said Lin Zhounian with a big smile on his face. ¡°I¡¯ll get Sister Lin Xiao her bowl of rice!¡± The boy got up and scurried into the kitchen. The girl with a bob haircut secretly nced at the door a few times as if she was anxious as Lin Xiao was about toe in. Gu Wanqiu took that all in and felt it a little weird. The boy, Hanyu, and the girl, Nisse, were the kids from their new neighbors since they moved here. The kids were from separate neighbors. The Lin family maintained a friendly rtionship with them all. They invited the two kids in for lunch when they saw them ying outside with no adults around. It was not the first time the kids came here for lunch, though. But today, it just felt different. The little ones appeared cautious and anxious, and very well-behavedpared tost time. It was especially apparent when they heard Lin Xiao¡¯s motorcycle arriving outside; they shuddered for a second, looking nervous. It would look normal on the boy, Hanyu to behave nervously as a reaction of a boy seeing a pretty girl of his senior. But the girl was well-known as a gutsy kid around here. Her out-out-character demeanor naturally made Lin Zhounian and Gu Wanqi nearly want to scratch their heads in wonder. ¡°Dad, Mom, I¡¯m back. You all having lunch?¡± Not long after, Lin Xiao strode into the dining room, wearing a body-hugging leather riding suit with gloss ck long hair. ¡°You¡¯ve had your lunch outside again?¡± Lin Zhounian frowned. ¡°Yeah, didn¡¯t I tell you earlier? Don¡¯t bother about me. Enjoy your meal.¡± Lin Sheng smiled at the two neighbor kids, who then returned the same, but with a somewhat unnatural expression. ¡°I¡¯m going upstairs.¡± Lin Xiao turned around and disappeared up the stairs. The dining roompsed into silence again as Lin Zhounian and Gu Wanqiu kept fetching food to the kids. ¡°What¡¯s next?¡± Nisse shot Hanyu a look, asking via telepathy. ¡°Buttering her up! She is the Night Matriarch who will control the dark side of the world!¡± Hanyu replied via telepathy. ¡°So long as we save her family because the Night Matriarch kills them, we can prevent her from losing the good side of herself. When she recovers her good side, it will be good for us!¡± There was a strong excitement in his eyes. Coming from the future to this timeline by sneaking through the ritual of the Astral Mere was not an easy feat. It would be sorry if he could not get something done after taking on so much risk. ¡°What if the two investigators find out what we do?¡± Nisse was a little worried. ¡°There is nothing to be worried about. We are just being ourselves, back to our childhood. So long as they don¡¯t check the minute parameter of our souls¡¯ spectrum, no one will find out wee from the future.¡± Hanyu rolled his eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s hope so,¡± Nisse said helplessly. They were sworn brother and sister in the future, and Hanyu¡¯s decisions had helped them avoid many assassinations. So she trusted Hanyu. Chapter 512 - Deflection

    511 Deflection: Part 2

    Getting out of bed, Lin Sheng strode out of the bedroom. While he went, he felt a newfound level of perceptibility after getting his new soul power. The Reflector of Souls technique had absorbed his initial soul power and released it back to him in a whole new level of state. Passing the cloister, he entered the door on his right. Inside was an empty square space that looked like a courtyard. Lin Sheng walked to the edge of the ground, quietly summoning his newfound soul power in his body. The total amount of soul power might have reduced, but the converted soul power was far better in quality than previously. ¡°The technique is a sess. Next, as long as I canpletely replenish my soul power, I should be able to achieve transcendence.¡± Standing in the empty space and gazing at the fuzzy moon above, he was trying to think of a way to find all the soul power he needed. ¡°I got most of my soul power from killing the monsters in the dreams and dark spirits in the dark spirit world. The rest came from the Soul Vessels of the cults. I won¡¯t be able to get that many monsters in the dreams. The only source now was to find enough dark spirits, kill them and devour their dark-spirit beads.¡± Making up his mind, he immediately contacted Tenko Kasumi through telepathy, instructing her to collect the amount of dark-spirit beads he needed. ¡°The flow of time in the Dark Spirit Pce is much faster. Six or seven days there is equal to a day in the actual world, best for closed-door cultivation.¡± He had a feeling that the closed-door cultivation session this time would take a longer time. Extending his hand, the tip of his fingers were surrounded with streaks of navy-blue soul power, which was now nearly physical. ¡°At this stage, ording to the division of Reflector of Souls, I must be getting close to the essence of it: the so-called Legend Realm,¡± mumbling to himself, Lin Sheng appreciated the nature and changes of these streaks of soul power. The Reflector of Souls had a detailed division of the Legend. The so-called legend was a state of being that one achieved by elevating a part of one¡¯s ability to a level no mortal could have ever imagined. It was a level where one could approach the essence of one¡¯s ability. ¡°ording to these descriptions, once entering that realm, I can choose an ability I am good at and make a Legend qualitative change, just like the special ability of the Ptinates.¡± Lin Sheng thought to himself. Lin Sheng had chosen to use his soul power as the fundamental strength to enter the realm of Legend. By burning the rest of his powers, he had purified himself and finallye to the very essence of his soul power. With the help of the Reflector of Soul technique, he sessfully got the highly concentrated, new soul power, stabilized it and stepped into the realm of Legend from the Ptinates. Now it was the time to reap his harvest. ¡°Probably I can choose to elevate the Ptinate special ability: Unlimited Conversion.¡± The time for Unlimited Conversion might be short, but it was very useful to him. It was not an exaggeration to say that it had been his ultimate trump card when he faced the many powerful opponents. This special ability had not only made him fearless during a melee, it had also supplied him with endless holy power in a short time. ¡°That it is. Instead of choosing a mediocre ability, I might as well elevate Unlimited Conversion.¡± Making up his mind, Lin Sheng directed his new soul power to flow from his body to his brain. The elevation method was simple: the first ability used after gaining the new soul power would automatically be the target for elevation. ..... ..... Shermanton. Lin Zhounian, Gu Wanqiu and two kids were sitting at the table, enjoying their lunch. The noon sun struggled to shine through the ck mist onto thend below. The bright level was more or less the same as during a cloud day previously. While digging in, Lin Zhounian smiled as he talked about the funny moments he saw in his shop. The two kids, a boy and a girl, both in their teens, were nearly as tall as Gu Wanqiu. They were very well behaved, asionally echoing what Lin Zhounian said. The roar of a motorcycle came from outside the door all of a sudden. ¡°It must be Lin Xiao,¡± said Lin Zhounian with a big smile on his face. ¡°I¡¯ll get Sister Lin Xiao her bowl of rice!¡± The boy got up and scurried into the kitchen. The girl with a bob haircut secretly nced at the door a few times as if she was anxious as Lin Xiao was about toe in. Gu Wanqiu took that all in and felt it a little weird. The boy, Hanyu, and the girl, Nisse, were the kids from their new neighbors since they moved here. The kids were from separate neighbors. The Lin family maintained a friendly rtionship with them all. They invited the two kids in for lunch when they saw them ying outside with no adults around. It was not the first time the kids came here for lunch, though. But today, it just felt different. The little ones appeared cautious and anxious, and very well-behavedpared tost time. It was especially apparent when they heard Lin Xiao¡¯s motorcycle arriving outside; they shuddered for a second, looking nervous. It would look normal on the boy, Hanyu to behave nervously as a reaction of a boy seeing a pretty girl of his senior. But the girl was well-known as a gutsy kid around here. Her out-out-character demeanor naturally made Lin Zhounian and Gu Wanqi nearly want to scratch their heads in wonder. ¡°Dad, Mom, I¡¯m back. You all having lunch?¡± Not long after, Lin Xiao strode into the dining room, wearing a body-hugging leather riding suit with gloss ck long hair. ¡°You¡¯ve had your lunch outside again?¡± Lin Zhounian frowned. ¡°Yeah, didn¡¯t I tell you earlier? Don¡¯t bother about me. Enjoy your meal.¡± Lin Sheng smiled at the two neighbor kids, who then returned the same, but with a somewhat unnatural expression. ¡°I¡¯m going upstairs.¡± Lin Xiao turned around and disappeared up the stairs. The dining roompsed into silence again as Lin Zhounian and Gu Wanqiu kept fetching food to the kids. ¡°What¡¯s next?¡± Nisse shot Hanyu a look, asking via telepathy. ¡°Buttering her up! She is the Night Matriarch who will control the dark side of the world!¡± Hanyu replied via telepathy. ¡°So long as we save her family because the Night Matriarch kills them, we can prevent her from losing the good side of herself. When she recovers her good side, it will be good for us!¡± There was a strong excitement in his eyes. Coming from the future to this timeline by sneaking through the ritual of the Astral Mere was not an easy feat. It would be sorry if he could not get something done after taking on so much risk. ¡°What if the two investigators find out what we do?¡± Nisse was a little worried. ¡°There is nothing to be worried about. We are just being ourselves, back to our childhood. So long as they don¡¯t check the minute parameter of our souls¡¯ spectrum, no one will find out wee from the future.¡± Hanyu rolled his eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s hope so,¡± Nisse said helplessly. They were sworn brother and sister in the future, and Hanyu¡¯s decisions had helped them avoid many assassinations. So she trusted Hanyu. Chapter 513 - Obtained

    513 Obtained: Part 1

    The Divine Pir in the Nightmare in. Inside the cylindrical cavern, Lin Sheng looked up at the darkness above, from where Cypross, the fly monster, came to attack himst time. ck stuff still billowed from the honeb walls. It seemed that the st of his holy power herest time had affected this ce. But he could not have cared less about it now; his attention was on the biggest threat. ¡°Do you think you¡¯re confident enough?¡± The golden red humanoid asked. ¡°Never try, never know.¡± Lin Sheng leaped up without the aid of the holy power. All that had been burned away earlier. He did not know how to fly. Even back then, he was relying on the jet of the holy power to create back thrust to propel himself in the air. With the holy power gone now, he was merely climbing and leaping with the use of his limbs. It did not mean that this method was slow. If not for the noise the power of the Dark Wheel would produce, he would have to summon his Ward skills tounch him up the cylindrical well. He wanted to do it more quietly because he had something else in mind. Lin Sheng kept climbing until he could no longer see the bottom. It now looked like a pitch-ck abyss to him. After a thousand meters or so, he finally saw something different above him. There were fewer honeb structures up right here, and the color of the wall had changed into a striking fuchsia, with something that looked like cotton wool sticking to the wall and a red cocoon right above him. Lin Sheng could see through the cocoon the fly monster inside. ¡°That is the nest of Cypross.¡± The golden red humanoid reminded him. ¡°Because of the ck Tide, half of Cypross¡¯s body has been corroded. So he is mad half of the time. But his consciousness had this madness under control. If you can wait for half a day, it would be its bedtime¡ªto go into hibernation.¡± ¡°That means it is not dead entirely?¡± This was the first monster with such a strong will he had ever seen around here. To be honest, he was a little in awe. ¡°No. Its soul has disappeared long ago. What remains of it was just its body reflexes and instinct. After fighting the corrosion all its life, it has be a sort of instinct. So long as there is still vitality in its body, it will carry out the same action, which is dictated by its consciousness.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± This was akin to the theory of soul angels in ckfeather City. He had wanted to survey the surroundings carefully, but the noisesing from the wall were drawing his attention. He heard the tearing sound of cloth and then came the cotton stuff on the wall being ripped apart as maggots wriggled out from the inside. Each maggot was as long as half the height of a human, its mouth hideous like the saw with a pair of semi-transparent wings on its back. There were hundreds of this creature, pping their wings in a loud buzz as they flew toward Lin Sheng, who was hanging on the other side of the well. Knowing that he was already exposed, there was no need to conceal himself anymore. ¡°I suggest that you wait. These maggots are attacking on instinct. You have not woken up Cypross yet¡ªit is still sleeping. But once you use force, Cypross will burst out of its cocoon and go on a rampage,¡± the golden red humanoid suddenly said. Lin Sheng¡¯s heart missed a beat, and he held back the urge to summon a Ward. He scanned around. Analyzing with his eyes and mind, he found a route that he could avoid the maggots. After striking away two maggots that blocked his way, he suddenly saw an opening, a hole with no maggots. He lunged toward it, and had only collided into three maggots despite being surrounded by hundreds of them, finally weaving past a small opening in a sea of maggots. It was the advantage of intelligence. He suddenly got a lightbulb moment, finding the most simple solution in aplicated situation. Before this, he never had this quick calction ability and good judgement. He had relied on his powerful ability of concentration. This time, it was more like a natural ability as a result of the umtion of soul power, not an effect of intelligence increase. Lin Sheng rolled and took a softnding into the hole. Inside, silk web that looked like pink cotton wool were everywhere. There were even a few human skeletons, rusty weapons and tattered clothes lying around at the entrance. He waved his hand toward the entrance and a powerful pure soul power instantly sealed off the opening, separating the inside from the outside. As soul power was none physical, when used on its own, it would appear like a mist and not produce any gravitational or kic phenomenon. But when used together with a living body, soul power could be even more powerful. But right here, Lin Sheng was using it as a barrier to conceal the scent of his soul. ¡°Nice ce.¡± He concealed his scent, scanning the hole. There were no maggots pursuing him. It looked like the barrier and the concealment of his scent had worked. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± The golden red humanoid was perplexed. ¡°Do what I want to do.¡± He started by carefully drawing severalplex magic circles on the ground and on the walls. He was a dab hand at this, taking less than ten minutes to finish drawing one. After he finished, magic circles had filled the entire hole. He then checked the situation outside. Those maggots had returned to theirirs, and it was quiet outside. Standing near the entrance, he looked up at Cypross, quietly waiting. Time ticked away. After several hours, the giant cocoon shook suddenly, its surface bulging. Something sharp was cutting the cocoon from the inside. Cypross, the fly monster, burst out of the opening, circled in the air once and flew straight down. Just then, Lin Sheng took down the barrier of soul power. Cypross suddenly changed its direction and flew toward him. His maneuver was quick and smooth without the slight hesitation, as if it knew where Lin Sheng was hiding from the very beginning. The speed of the fly monster¡¯s reaction surprised Lin Sheng despite he had engaged the thing once. Before Lin Sheng could react, Cypross hade in front of him, opening its hideous mouth about to bite at his forehead. The thing could maneuver at high speed. Without the help of Rock Dragon blood, Lin Sheng¡¯s physical strength and reflexes had weakened. It would be no good to fight a close-rangebat. That was why he had prepared everything in advance. ¡°Explode!¡± A massive soul power explosion went off inside the hole all of a sudden. The pure and highly concentrated soul power rushed out of the hole at speed in the form of a navy-blue air current, hitting on Cypross¡¯s body. Cypross shivered as its corroded soul was stunned. The effect was almost the same as setting off a stun grenade in the hole. The impact had disengaged the soul from the body momentarily. Chapter 514 - Obtained

    514 Obtained: Part 2

    Cypross¡¯ momentary pause, in the eyes for an ordinary person was probably nothing, but for elite like Lin Sheng, this was an opportunity most excellent. Without any hesitation, after detonating the magic circle and not even looking at the results, Lin Sheng immediately activated his protective wards. ¡°Wheel of Fate!¡± One of the countless tiny eyes on his back closed for good and returning to being normal patch of skin. At the same time, a moment of future belonging to him densely appeared in his mind. The various possible direction and paths to dodge and their results were rapidly calcted by his mind with the help of the Wheel of Fate. In an instant, Lin Sheng found the only feasible future amongst all possibilities. He held his hand out, and pointed towards a direction. ¡°Wheel of Woe!¡± The massive power from the Darl Wheel suddenly sted out towards the direction Lin Sheng had pointed. And weirdly enough, Cypross who had been charging in a straight line earlier suddenly disappeared and when he reappeared, he had reappeared exactly at the location Lin Sheng had pointed. BOOOMM!!! The massive annihtion force of the Wheel of Woe, with its destructive power further amplified by the wards, smashed against Cypross with deadly precision. Its high-speed movement had came to a screeching halt because of it. Even if the power of the Dark Whell was not enough to wound it, being struck in the head and abdomen still had in ufortable, just like sinking into mud. At this moment, Lin Sheng kept up the offensive. After leveling up, he could activate his Unlimited Conversion ability simultaneously. He opened the Tidalgate in his mind as he drew in arge amount of chaotic souls from the Soultide, and at the same time using his Unlimited Conversion to convert them into holy power. This was an originally normal move to unleash his ultimate attack. But after his soul had further ascended into the realm of the Legendaries, Lin Sheng felt a stark difference when he used this evolved ability. On the surface of his body, the armor he had seen in the depths of his soul appeared in a blink of an eye. The pure white armor was majestic yet mysterious as it bathed within surging holy power and radiated pure white particles all around it. An infinite amount of pure white holy power were being continuously converted into holy light, and from holy light into holy crystals. The particle-form holy crystals were like a sandstorm, as the high-speed storm brought with it terrifying impact and purification powers. Countless of crystalline holy crystal mmed hard against Cypross and cutting arge swathe of tiny cuts on its body. At the same time, the purification force field formed from through the umtion of holy crystals began to take effect rapidly. With Lin Sheng as the nexus, the entire cavern had been turned into a holy sanctuary-like environment in a very short period of time. The concentrated purification field were strengthening violently as the crystals gathered more and more. Cypross¡¯ body was mmed so hard by the shockwave of the explosion that it was sent flying in apletely different direction, crashing hard against the cavern¡¯s inner wall, the impact sending out a series of shockwave. But what was fatal was not that, rather it was the holy crystals that Lin Sheng was still unleashing. More and more holy crystal had becameyers of pure white fine sand, and painted the entire cavern white. Cypross¡¯ body was soon covered by a thickyer of holy crystal sands. In less than a second Lin Sheng had transformed the cavern into a terrifying holy sanctuary covered in holy crystal sands. Compared to the Holy Crystal Font in the Holy Sanctum, the purification force field that was many times stronger was further exponentially magnified in this crammed space. Kraaa.... Krakkkk.... Cypross pulled itself out from the cavern wall, and looked at Lin Sheng once again. But its perception had been hindered by therge amount of holy crystal sands, and could not locate where the white-armored Lin Sheng was hiding. The only thing it could see was more and more holy crystal sands. And the purification force field was still getting stronger and stronger. Three seconds had passed now, and its potency was ten times the Holy Crystal Font back in Henriqcal City, and it was still rising. Lin Sheng¡¯s figure had beenpletely hidden within the pure white holy crystal sands. After the evolution of the Unlimited Conversion ability, not only did the conversion efficiency vastly improved, the duration of the ability had been extended much longer as well. He could previously only maintain the ability for a minute in the past, and now it had been extended to five. BAAMM!! CRASHH!!! Cypross struggled frantically within pure white holy crystal sand, but the increasing potent purification force field had became a burden upon its soul, and made any movementborous. Its mind began to slowly lose control of its body, and felt like he was about totally lose any resemblence of control with its body. After a series of fruitless attacks, Cypross could not longer bear it as it turned around and stumled towards the exit of the cavern. By now, it could not even muster the strength to fly. But this was a stage Lin Sheng had meticulously nned, and how could he allowed Cypross to escape so easily. The power of the wards immediately activated as Lin Sheng pointed towards the mouth of the cavern. ¡°Wheel of Existence.¡± The Wheel of Existence is a protective ward that enhances and strengthens, and at this moment, Lin Sheng had used it on the storm of holy crystal sands swirling about in the cavern. And the crystal sands instantly became a veritable wall of adamantite as it firmly blocked the exit. Cypross crashed against it in a daze and was immediately send tumbling back by the wall of holy crystal sands. Its strength was just about average but it was extremely fast, and this time, with the purification force field talking a toll on its control of its body, it could barely muster even half of its strength. Bam. Cypross was sent tumbling over back with nary any resistance, and under Lin Sheng¡¯s watchful gaze, it was slowly being buried alive but more and more holy crystal sands... And calm soon returned. Yet the holy crystal sands continued to be converted and unleashed. And five minutes was soon up. The white armor on Lin Sheng¡¯s body faded away naturally as the billowing holy crystal sands behind him also stopped. But at this very moment, the entire cavern had been transformed into and of holy crystal sands. Each inch of the space, nook and crannies were all filled by pure white holy crystal sands. And at the mouth of the cavern, the wall of holy crystal sands that had been strengthened by the Wheel of Existence had became a veritable hole plug and hadpletely turned the ce into a sealed environment. Lin Sheng had already thoroughly purified his body, was now filled with a huge amount of holy power. This holy crystal sands were all created by him, and naturally all of the holy power belonged to him. But due to itsrge amount, even when he still had the Crag Dragon blood in him he could not hold all of them in. Even more so now when the Crag Dragon bloodline was gone, and all of the other impure energies that strengthened his body had also disappeared, his overall strength had dropped by a lot. Stowing his thoughts away, Lin Sheng had an idea as he pulled back the power of the Wheel of Existence at the entrance. Crash!! In an instant, arge amount of holy crystal sands sted out from the cavern entrance and onto the cylindrical space in the middle. And very soon, half of the crystal sand within the cavern were lost, and Lin Sheng now saw Cypross. The massive fly monster was now covered in ayer of crystal simr to a white frosted crystals. They were holy crystals that had taken form. The potent aura of cktide roiled within its body, and even the purification force field created by these amount of holy crystal sands could not purify the power of the cktide, and only suppressed it at most. Even though Lin Sheng had a hunch before, but seeing this with his own eyes, he could not help but to be a little disappointed. Even in an environment where holy power held absolute superiority it cannot purify and dispel the power of the cktide, much less the endless surge of cktide that was encroaching outside. ¡°No wonder Anselia wanted to find a new hope for salvation.¡± Lin Sheng now understood. Chapter 515 - Obtained

    515 Obtained: Part 3

    ¡°Cypross is not dead. It js just temporarily suppressed by that strange powers of yours.¡± The golden-red figure popped out once again and spoke. ¡°I know.¡± Lin Sheng was calm. He stepped forward as a spiral spear appeared in his right hand. He then held the spear and pointed it at Cypross¡¯ scarletpound eyes. ¡°Wheel of Existence, Wheel of Fate, Wheel of Motion! Wheel of Woe!¡± Using the Wheel of Existence to strengthen the spear and himself. Using the Wheel of Fate to search for Cypross¡¯ weakness. Using the Wheel of Motion for that instantenous burst of speed. And using the Wheel of Woe on the tip of the spear and enhancing its destructive power. In an instant, Lin Sheng focused all of the powers of his Dark Wheel together, and brandished his spiral spear in an arcane arc before stabbing the spear with deadly precision into a small space between Cypross¡¯ eyes. STAB!! The tip of the spear sank deep into the gap. The massive purification force field, like a swarm of sharks smelling blood, rushed into the gaping wound and started to erode the flesh and soul within. Cypross¡¯ carapace was extremely tough and highly resistant, and the purification force field¡¯s strength had been weakened much by the carapace. And only a small part of the force field actually worked. But now that Lin Sheng had pried the carapace open, Cypross¡¯ defense broke like a burst dam. ¡°In the end, it¡¯s just a mindless beast.¡± Lin Sheng pulled his spear back and looked at Cypross which was slowly disintegrating and turning into ck goo. If not for the environmental effects, or if Cypross had higher intelligence and broke out of this ce, it would not have fallen into such a desperate situation. If it had decided to break out of the cavern there and then, once Lin Sheng¡¯s Unlimited Conversion had ended, thetter would had been powerless to stop it. But hindsight was 20/20. Cypross¡¯ remains had quickly reduced into a pile of ck mucus. This time, there were no rising ck lines of souls, but instead a translucent grey ring floated up into the air. ¡°No... this is not a ring, it¡¯s a line!¡± Lin Sheng immediately saw through the essence of the ring. This was a simply just a translucent gray line segment that was speeding at high speed at the moment, so it looked like a ring. ¡°This is the Divinity of Divine Speed, and was the fundamental basis of Cypross¡¯ strength.¡± The golden-red figure said. ¡°Are you going to absorb it? Let me give you a reminder, you can only choose one form of Divinity in the beginning, and before you had totally consumed the first Divinity, you are not allowed to absorb a second one. And once you choose to absorb it, it will curb any formation of any form of Divinity your body may cultivate itself. You should confine yourself before you fully grasp the nature of this Divinity, or else, even if you were to leave it aside, problems will ur over time. Both of this situation will cause a soul-tearing feedback due to the conflict of your material soul. Simply put, if you have not mastered the power of said Divinity, conflict will ur on its own.¡± The golden-red figure continued.¡± I could see in you the hope of freeing my master, and I do not wish for you to perish to the soultear. ¡°The soultear...¡± Lin Sheng gazed into the strand of Divinity and fell into contemtion. Absorbing it would allow him to instantly gain the speed of Cypross, and this powerful force that can even suppress the power of the Dark Wheel was very tempting for him. But if he did not absorb it, he now faced a question of how to store it. ¡°As long as you have a potent enough concentration of soul power, you are eligible to nurture your own form of Divinity, and there is no need to absorb Cypross¡¯. I suggest that you save it.¡± The golden-red figure suggested. ¡°How do I do that?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°Divinity must be stored within a living vessel, but to prevent any loss of control, you can seal this living vessel, and cut off all forms of thoughts and instincts, and simply use it as a vessel.¡± The golden-red figure exined. ¡°Understood.¡± Lin Sheng had an idea as he plucked a strand of hair from his head. ¡°Does this count as a living vessel?¡± ¡°...¡± The golden-red figured demurred for a little. ¡°Yes.¡± Lin Sheng smiled as he threw that strand of hair towards the strand of Divinity in the air. The hair floated close to the Divinity and as they made contact, the hair simply just absorbed the Divinity strand many times its size into it. And the strand of ck hair quickly turned light gray. Lin Sheng held his hand out and grabbed the strand of hair before putting it in his pocket. He then used the protective wards of the Dark Wheel to protect it from loss or damage. ¡°Good, next you have to face Aisha the Torturer.¡± The golden-red figure said. ¡°Her destructive abilities are not as powerful as Cypross, but she is all-round powerful without any weakness. She was born in the darkest of prisons, and had been trained in an early age by countless of heinous criminals in all sorts of abilities. She is proficient in all-kinds of weaponbat, bare-handedbat, poison, spellcasting, curses and hexes, assassination and so on. No matter what you are good at, she could target it and restrain your ability to fight.¡± The golden-red figure described in considerable detail. ¡°If you want to defeat her, you must surpass her in any ability, and use this ability to surpass, and kill her quickly. You need to be fast! Or else you are sure to lose.¡± ¡°Why are you so sure?¡± Lin Sheng caught the underlying meaning. ¡°What is her form of Divinity?¡± ¡°That¡¯s because her Divinity is learning and evolving.¡± The golden-red figure said calmly. ¡°If you cannot kill her in a a single blow, over time, she will learn your ability.¡± ¡°Learning and evolving...¡± Lin Sheng felt a chill. If he cannot kill her in a single blow, he will definitely lose. This type of opponent was perhaps the most terrifying one of all the ones he had faced so far. ¡°What a terrifying foe!¡± Lin Sheng eximed. ¡°So if you want to defeat her, you must have aprehensive strategy in advance.¡± The figure rumbled. ¡°Makes sense.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°But since I already have a strand of Divinity in hand, so why don¡¯t I go back and cultivate my own divinity, and then absorb this Divine Speed thing. By then, I should be well equipped to face Aisha the Torturer. So my decision is to retreat and confine myself first! I¡¯ll challenge Aisha the Torturer once I have my breakthrough!¡± ¡°EEEHHH?!¡± The golden-red figure was dumbfounded. ¡°You... you...¡± It wanted to say something, but had no idea how to persuade Lin Sheng. In the end, it was only the consciousness of the Divine Pir, while it had a certain level of intelligence and cognitive ability, it was not that great. Lin Sheng immediately did what he said as he immediately climbed down the pir and returned to the bottom of it. He then retraced the original way back, and actually nned to leave! ¡°Wait! Wait!¡± This time around the figure could no longer sit still as it quickly called out to stop Lin Sheng. ¡°Hmm? What else do you have to say?¡± Lin Sheng stopped and asked. ¡°Obviously, the opportunity to free my master is right before me, and I will not have my master miss such a rare opportunity.¡± The golden-red figure said. ¡°Release me, and I shall help you suppress Aisha!¡± ¡°Not enough, I need arge amount of pure soul power.¡± Lin Sheng was direct. The amount of souls he need was enormous, and was a little worried that the Holyspirit Pce did not had enough. One need to remember that his previous amount of soul power was gained through ughtering and absorbing arge amount of Darkspirit souls. And the need for souls now was ten times more than the previous one. With the need of that much soul, even if he were to wipe out every single Darkspirit back there, it was unlikely to be sufficient. So he set his n on the Divine Pir instead. ¡°Pure souls... Don¡¯t you have the means to draw in arge amount of chaotic souls?¡± The figure was surprised. ¡°Chaotic souls are just simply too difficult to purify.¡± Lin Sheng replied. ¡°I have a way to help you purify the chaotic souls.¡± The figure gave a simply answer. ¡°But the cost of it means you need to sacrifice the Divine Speed divinity you had just obtained. Are you willing to do that?¡± Chapter 516 - The Touch

    516 The Touch: Part 1

    ¡°God¡¯s Speed Divinity...¡± Lin Sheng was not sure if what it said was true, but it was a pity that the hard-earned divinity was wasted this way. ¡°Then I¡¯d better go back and absorb the soul power myself first.¡± He tly refused and turned to go back. ¡°Wait! Wait a minute!¡± The Golden Red Humanoid was worried again. ¡°But without God¡¯s Speed Divinity, it would take you at least a hundred years, even if you had an inexhaustible supply of soul power to absorb. If you don¡¯t speed up, you¡¯ll have to go with this speed, and I can¡¯t even help you with that!¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right. I¡¯ll figure it out myself. Just a hundred years? It¡¯ll be over soon.¡± Lin Sheng sounded like he did not care at all, turning to leave again. ¡°Wait!!!!! Wait, wait!! Wait a minute!!¡± the Golden Red Humanoid shouted again. ¡°All right!!¡± he bellowed. ¡°I¡¯ll try to help you! I still keep a few threads of my master¡¯s divinity, and I¡¯ll use it to help you! Deal?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Lin Sheng nodded and turned back to the cylindrical space inside the Divine Pir. ¡°So, what should I do?¡± he asked directly. Lin Sheng¡¯s attitude changed so quickly that the Golden Red Humanoid doubted whether it was deceived. But there was no better way now. In order for its master to get out of trouble, it could only choose to trust Lin Sheng. After all, it had been a long time since any living creature coulde here. If it missed this one, it did not know how long it would have to wait for the next one. It had waited for tens of thousands of years, and it could not wait any longer. ¡°Return to your previous position and pass through the nest of Cypross,¡± the Golden Red Humanoid replied quickly. ¡°Okay.¡± This time, instead of using holy power, Lin Sheng used the ward. ¡°The Ward of Lightness.¡± He added a lightweight shield to himself, turning himself into a feathery being. Then he gently pushed behind him with a Ward of Distortion. His body was suddenly levitating and shooting upward. Thisbined operation was not as powerful as the holy light jet, and its speed was moderate, which could be adjusted at any time. Lin Sheng was very satisfied with this. It took him about ten minutes to get to the top of the cocoon nest where Cypross was. There was still arge hole left in the broken nest. Lin Sheng listened to the Golden Red Humanoid and went straight through the hole. Inside the cocoon, he found a round wooden door that had been hidden. The Golden Red Humanoid said the passphrase, and the round wooden door opened slowly and quietly. Inside the door was a dark rock hall. Lin Sheng got into the wooden door and emerged from the ground of the hall. The hall was not big, about ten meters in length and width. Large relief sculptures of spiders were carved on the walls. These spiders were a little different from ordinary spiders. They had a lot of ck tentacles on their bodies, and some sort of colorless twisted me seemed to burn on their backs. The depiction on the relief was so delicate that Lin Sheng could tell at a nce that it was a colorless me. Lin Sheng looked around this enclosed space. ¡°Where am I?¡± he asked. ¡°The Secluded Sacrificial Hall,¡± answered the Golden Red Humanoid. ¡°It¡¯s an absolutely enclosed safe room that used to be the master¡¯s favorite ce, but this ce is no longer useful. Now, don¡¯t lose any time. All you have to do now is release me and go to the very front of the hall, right under the Tree Demon relief.¡± Following the Tree Demon relief it mentioned, Lin Sheng soon saw the iconic object in the hall. The Tree Demon relief was located in the deepest part of the hall, and its eyes were iid with something like a luminous pearl, which was particrly conspicuous. Lin Sheng noticed it just at a nce. He took a few steps and stood before the relief. The relief was more than five meters high, and at first nce, it looked like an old tree with branches and leaves falling off, but if you looked closely, you would find that there was an old and withered face in the middle of the trunk. ¡°In this hall, inside all the reliefs were powerful souls sealed here. They are all opponents who were once imprisoned here after being killed by my master,¡± the Golden Red Humanoid exined. ¡°So? The soul power I¡¯m going to absorb ising from them?¡± Lin Sheng was surprised. ¡°Yes. As for how to absorb it, if my master is still there, it¡¯s very simple, just activate it directly. But now that my master is gone and we don¡¯t have enough strength to activate the hall, we can only rely on Divine Combustion and the explosive power of it. Now, release me.¡± Lin Sheng freed the Golden Red Humanoid and let it fly out of his pocket. ¡°Just a moment,¡± the Golden Red Humanoid said to Lin Sheng, and then suddenly exploded into countless golden spots. A few secondster, it reappeared in front of Lin sheng. And this time he was holding a light red silk thread in his hand. Lin Sheng could see clearly that it was a trace of divinity! He wanted to grab it. But now the priority was the umtion of soul power, so he restrained himself. The Golden Red Humanoid carefully ced the divinity into the mouth of the Tree Demon relief and allowed it to enter. They waited for a little while. *Hum!!!* The entire hall shook suddenly. The reliefs on the walls began to cry out in pain. They all began to radiate their pure, boundless soul power as if the divinity was constantly drawing their soul power. Lin Sheng immediately got it and quickly released his soul power, devouring the pure soul power gushing out all around. His soul power had his own imprint, and under the conscious control, he constantly devoured the soul power, and soon all of the pure soul power in the hall was in his body. ¡°Go on,¡± said the Golden Red Humanoid. Then there was another surge of soul powers, and Lin Sheng kept devouring them around him. The purity of these soul powers was so high that they could be swallowed directly almost as soon as he had slightly filtered them. So the soul powers were poured out repeatedly, and Lin Sheng also kept absorbing them. Every time he absorbed the soul power, he felt his total soul power growing again. That rate of increase was far beyond the reach of the absorption of dark spirit beads. A round of absorption of the soul power was at least equal to the absorption of tens of thousands of dark spirit beads. ¡°Each of the soul sealed inside these reliefs was once famous and powerful. Their soul is pure and extremely concentrated!¡± The Golden Red Humanoid looked at Lin Sheng absorbing the soul power with envy. If it was not the spirit of the Divine Pir, then it could also absorb these pure soul powers. Unfortunately, its soul waspletely different from the living soul, so it could not do it. Watching Lin Sheng constantly absorb the soul power, the Golden Red Humanoid was also gradually reminded of its past. Chapter 517 - The Touch

    517 The Touch: Part 2

    The wind chimes hanging in the window swayed gently in the wind. Lange sat quietly on a chair in the cafe, staring out of the window at the grey and ck sky. ¡°It¡¯s always the same sky.¡± He sighed and then turned to take a white porcin cup from the counter with the coffee beans he had selected in advance. Then he turned on the grinder, poured the beans into it, and added some special herbs. The grinder spun at full speed, smashing everything inside into fine powder. Lange picked up a transparent coffee cup, gently removed the grinder cup, and then poured the powder into the coffee cup. ¡°Loneliness is the best spice of life.¡± He put down the coffee cup and looked through the wall at the two tall men standing outside by the streetmp. ¡°Who are you?¡± His voice prated the wall and went straight to the two men. The two men shed and then appeared inside the cafe directly through the wall with eerie little smiles on their faces. The two men were covered with wooden lumps of varying sizes, which were like pustules, dense enough to induce trypophobia. They were wearing gray suits, their eyes were green and their fingernails were sharp. They looked at Lange with a strange smile. ¡°Lange, right? Would you like to join the Dark Pantheon?¡± one of the men asked. ¡°The Dark Pantheon?¡± Lange raised his eyebrow. ¡°Why are you here? You guys should be in the Ashen World. How does the cktide taste?¡± ¡°The cktide is a problem for us, but it¡¯s not really that hard to solve it,¡± said a shorter man. ¡°The purpose of our trip is to invite you to the Hades to join the Dark Pantheon and create a new century.¡± ¡°A new century?¡± Lange paused for a moment, then began tough. ¡°You guys are amusing...¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± The strange smile on the tall man¡¯s face faded. ¡°Literally,¡± Lange said calmly. ¡°You guys dare toe to my door without knowing the difference between your own strength and mine.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t want to join us?¡± The tall man¡¯s face grew cold. ¡°Dongmen, take care of it.¡± Lange ignored them and continued to fiddle with his coffee cup. Just as the two men were about to strike, an abyss-like huge hole suddenly opened up on the ground beneath them, unleashing a tremendous force of gravity. An irresistible mass of ck silk thread swarmed out, binding the two men tightly, and pulled them into the hole in a twinkling of an eye. Soon, the huge hole closed and disappeared from the ground. Everything was back to normal as if nothing had happened. Lange gently poured out the hot water and stirred the coffee powder. ¡°I¡¯m just an ordinary person. I just want to live an ordinary life and then experience an unforgettable love. I don¡¯t care about the rest.¡± He raised his head and looked through the wall again, and he seemed to see two shadowy figures hiding in the corner. At the alley outside the cafe... The two men in the white shirts were sweating, gasping for air. ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous!! The two masters of the Dark Pantheon were killed so easily... Is it possible that the Night Patriarch has mastered the Ultimate Soul Skill?!¡± ¡°Impossible! No ultimate skill can be mastered so easily. In general, an ultimate skill is already the peak of a skill, imagine the Ultimate Soul Skill!¡± retorted another. ¡°Then why...?¡± ¡°I remember the Night Patriarch kept the Mouth of the Abyss called Dongmen. Perhaps that creature swallowed them up.¡± ¡°The Mouth of the Abyss... My god... what else can we do?¡± ¡°There must be a way. Now the Night Patriarch is still gathering his forces, but in the absence of pressure, we cannot see how powerful he really is. If only we could test it ourselves...¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have to do it. The Dark Pantheon lost two masters, they will never leave it at that. Now, reality and Hades are almost mixed together. Although the cktide is surging, the Nurtured Soul has already appeared. The Dark Pantheon may have the upper hand.¡± ¡°The Nurtured Soul has the effect of isting the cktide for a long time. It allows a person to move freely in the cktide for a long period without being eroded. Dark Pantheon or Night Patriarch, they will definitely fight for it. Then we will see his true power.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll just have to wait and see.¡± ... Time flew. More than a month had passed. Lin Sheng stood in the middle of the hall. Arge quantity of invisible soul power flowing from all directions quickly prated the surface of his skin. The Golden Red Humanoid was still standing there, watching silently A month, for a long-lived species like it, was just a short nap. Nevertheless, a month of continuous burning of the divine power and distilling pure soul power was considered quite long for it. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± The Golden Red Humanoid looked at Lin Sheng as it felt the soul power around them decrease gradually. Finally, when the soul power around reduced to nearly zero, Lin Sheng opened his eyes. Now, his eyes were like a ck whirlpool, deep and empty. Staring into his eyes for long periods of time would make one feel an indescribable sense of terror. ¡°Congrattions.¡± The Golden Red Humanoid came forward to congratte him. ¡°Thanks...¡± Lin Sheng was breathing deeply, feeling the powerful soul power that was about to escape from his body. Those were all high concentration blue soul power. The final result of elerating his absorption of soul power with Divine Combustion was that all his soul power was now close to overflowing. ¡°It is best not to appear before other weaker creatures until you havepletely mastered the power of your soul. Otherwise, their souls will naturally be drawn and consumed by you. It will also have a bad effect on the purity of your soul,¡± the Golden Red Humanoid warned. ¡°Got it.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Then it is time for me to gather my divinity. Do you have any good methods?¡± ¡°Very simple,¡± the Golden Red Humanoid calmly said. ¡°It all depends on the essence of your soul. It¡¯s not up to you. The way to gather is to go back to the deepest Lake Yu of your soul and find out what the identity of your soul is. If you can find and understand it, then you can tap into your divine nature.¡± It paused for a moment before it continued. ¡°In fact, divinity is the sublimation of the core gift of the soul to a point of qualitative change. Everyone¡¯s body is born with a variety of gifts, and so is the soul. Different souls have different gifts. But most people have only a few gifts for the soul: powerful strength, strong body, strong luck, and hypervelocity.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± Lin Sheng had never heard of knowledge of this level. Chapter 518 - The Touch

    518 The Touch: Part 3

    The Golden Red Humanoid exined, ¡°Divinity refers to the quality, or, as it is sometimes understood, passive ability, of the soul being elevated to a very high level. The awakening of the divine allows a divine being to acquire a gift that is more powerful than any creature can imagine. Some are more gifted with two abilities, and some are more versatile than others, with three passive abilities.¡± It went on to borate, ¡°These innate passive abilities are rted to the four categories: powerful strength, strong body, strong luck, and hypervelocity. Besides, only a very small number of divine beings are able to acquire truly strong and rare divinity.¡± ¡°Well, I get the idea.¡± Lin Sheng put it all together and understood that this was an opportunity to gain an extra-strong passive ability. It was called divinity because the passive ability was too powerful. ¡°Can I stay here, then?¡± He looked around at the spider reliefs on the walls around him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s very safe here. If you don¡¯t feelfortable, you can leave the Divine Pir and go to other ces outside,¡± answered the Golden Red Humanoid. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll stay here. I trust you,¡± Lin Sheng said earnestly. The purpose of the Golden Red Humanoid was simple. It wanted Lin Sheng to help the Demigod Dreamweaver. So, until then, he believed that it would not y any tricks. Lin Sheng sat cross-legged. ¡°So, I¡¯m going to start now.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± The Golden Red Humanoid was somewhat relieved. At least its previous efforts were not wasted. Lin Sheng seemed to have little trust in it. It turned to leave but suddenly found itself unable to move. ¡°Huh??¡± It looked back and saw that Lin Sheng had unleashed an invisible twisting force that hadpletely enveloped it. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you trust...¡± All sounds suddenly died away. Lin Sheng released thirteen kinds of protections, covering the Golden Red Humanoid in a neat way. The Golden Red Humanoid shrank into a golden red bead and then flew back to Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng¡¯s face was now expressionless, and his eyes were closed. He looked like he didn¡¯t know what had just happened. The hall was calm and quiet again. ... Hades, the Dark Pantheon. A huge white pce built of countless white bones was standing quietly on the top of the dark rock mountains. In the gray sky, the ck lightning was striking like a web. Inside the pce, thirteen spacious and crude bone thrones were arranged in two rows, quietly ced on both sides of the main hall. Between the two rows of seats, on a seatrger than any other bone thrones sat a tall skeleton figure. The skeleton was three meters tall, dressed in a white robe, with two white mes burning in its empty eyes. He looked like a regr skeleton man, a little taller than the average skeleton soldier. Besides him, twelve of the thirteen seats were already full. The twelve seated on the bone thrones included the Lord of Corpse who was as wizened and dark as a zombie, the Vengeful Demon who was all ck and had two wings on its back, the powerful evil spirit with a translucent body, the Lord of Skeleton who looked like the skeleton man on the main seat, and the Cursed Armor who was cold and chill. The inside of the armor was empty, with only two red lights under the helmet. ¡°The Lord of the Underworld cannot be sought, so the Dark Pantheon is the highest arbiter of Hades,¡± said the skeleton in the main seat. His voice was calm and strong, and he sounded like a gentle, polite old aristocrat. ¡°However, the thirteenth seat has been absent for a long time. After careful consideration andparison, we finally decided to invite the new dark forces awakener, Lange, to join us. Unfortunately, he refused our offer.¡± ¡°When Lange awakened to the power of darkness, there was also a small earthquake in Hades, so we can imagine how great his talent is. If he doesn¡¯t join us, I suggest we get rid of him at once, or he may be a problem for uster,¡± the Lord of Corpse suggested aloud, his hand on a delicate staff. ¡°The Lord of Corpse has a point, but how we should do it is still up for debate,¡± added the Vengeful Demon. ¡°By the way, three of the Magister who had been hanging around outside of us had suddenly disappeared. There are reports that they have entered the human world and are missing for unknown reasons,¡± the enchanting evil spirit warned. ¡°The human world is full of cktides and dangers. Magister and us Dark Pantheon are ipatible and have nothing to do with us. They are the ones who get themselves into trouble, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± the skeleton man in the main seat calmly said. ¡°What we need to worry about is how the three Magister went missing. If it¡¯s human...¡± the evil spirit continued. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Even if it¡¯s done by humans, it doesn¡¯t represent anything. Don¡¯t think too much. Let¡¯s get rid of Lange as soon as possible.¡± The skeleton man sitting in the main seat leaned back on the bone throne and seemed to be pondering over something. ... Lin Sheng slowly woke up from his stupor. He was still sitting in the quiet hall, and the exaggerated clear relief around him highlighting the silence of this space. Lin Sheng stood up and looked around. ¡°Am I not in the practice of going to the depths of my soul? How...?¡± He looked at the ground in front of him with some surprise and found that the bead that imprisoned the Golden Red Humanoid was gone. ¡°No! This is not the Divine Pir, but a dream in a dream!¡± Lin Sheng suddenly realized it. He opened his Soul Vision through a dream and then entered the Nightmare in. He was now having a dream in his dream. Just as he was about to wake up... *Click.* The only entrance to the hall opened all of a sudden. The round wooden door on the ground slowly came ajar, and a slender ponytailed woman in white armor rose from it. ¡°Is this the Secluded Sacrificial Hall? A ce where we can connect with the past?¡± the woman said to herself. The pattern of armor she was wearing was familiar to Lin Sheng. Suddenly, he recognized the origin of the armor. ¡°It is the Armor of Dawn!? This woman...¡± Lin Sheng looked at the woman walked straight past him, as if she could not see him. He suddenly felt that she, too, looked familiar. ¡°She¡¯s... Ancellia, the Light of Hope!¡± ¡°I have a question.¡± At that moment, Ancellia stood in front of the Tree Demon relief and spoke loudly. ¡°How to get back to the Infinity City?¡± The Tree Demon relief slowly opened its lips as if it were telling the answer in silence. Then Ancellia asked again, ¡°In your life, have you ever seen anything that can resist the cktide?¡± The Tree Demon relief answered again, but Lin Sheng could not hear its voice. He could only see its lips open and close. ¡°Onest question,¡± Ancellia quickly spoke once more. ¡°How do I find God?¡± Chapter 519 - The Moment: Part 1

    519 The Moment: Part 1

    Lin Sheng slowly approached, wanting to hear the answer given by the tree demon relief, but the answer was so short that it was over before he could do anything. From his angle, all he could see was Ancellia¡¯s fair, graceful neck. ¡°Thank you for your answer,¡± Ancellia answered with a clear voice. She then turned and strode away. Suddenly, a mass of emerald ripples appeared out of thin air in the middle of the hall. A soft, gentle female voice came through the ripple. ¡°For my friend¡¯s sake, Ancellia, I must warn you. The god you seek may be very different from the god we define in our hearts.¡± Ancellia stopped and turned, her face obscured by a dazzling white light. ¡°It¡¯s better than nothing. Maybe your god can give me some advice and help.¡± ¡°I hope you won¡¯t be disappointed,¡± the gentle female voice said. ¡°I am nearing the end of my life. Now I am still able to keep up my health. Once I reach the end of my life, I will grow old so fast that I may not be able to find even a trace of hope,¡± said Ancellia solemnly. ¡°So I have to move while I can...¡± ¡°You¡¯ve gone as far as you can. Why don¡¯t you try our way?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand, Cassius.¡± Ancellia did not exin further but wore a peaceful smile. ¡°Well, you decide,¡± said Cassius. ¡°If you wish to go to the Infinite City, there is a wish portal hidden in the Divine Pir, and there is now enough energy umted to make your wishe true. You can use it yourself.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Ancellia nodded with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s time for me to go.¡± ¡°Take care.¡± With the end of the conversation, everything in front of Lin Sheng suddenly dissipated. He was back on the ckke. It was dark all around, except for the vast, rippling water beneath. ¡°I¡¯m back.¡± Lin Sheng stood on theke, thinking about the scene he had just witnessed. ¡°It must be the memory that Ancellia left behind. She had been in the Secluded Sacrificial Hall, and that was why, as I absorbed the powers of the soul, I drew this part of the memory with me.¡± With that in mind, he quickly gathered the holy power to cleanse all the newly absorbed soul forces in his body. The domineer nature of the holy power allowed all impurities in the soul force to be eliminatedpletely, leaving only the pure soul forces that best fit the holy power. It¡¯s wasteful, but it¡¯s better than leaving a hidden danger in his body. Afterpletely purifying all the soul forces once again, Lin Sheng began to observe theke. ¡°I want to find the pure nature of the soul here...¡± He thought and looked around him. ¡°There¡¯s nothing on the surface of theke. It seems the bottom of theke is the key.¡± Theke was not a realke, but a reflection of the power of the soul, so Lin Sheng did not worry and plunged into the water. Lin Sheng clearly felt more rxed this time in theke. A great deal of water was running across his face, helping him sink. Not long after, he saw a great number of splintered, crystalline spikes at the bottom of theke. The entire bottom of theke was covered with these coral-like spikes. ¡°So this is the bottom of theke. Then, what is the nature of my soul?¡± Lin Sheng found a clearing and sat cross-legged at the bottom of theke, thinking quietly. He stretched out his hand, and a faint blue soul force slowly emerged between his fingers. ¡°The nature of my soul must be reflected in every trace of soul force. So... I can probably make out some traces of it simply via the soul forces.¡± He looked closely at this trace of soul force and thenpared it with the other living soul force in his memory. With tens of thousands of fragments of soul memory, he has a high level of attainments on a pure research level. He soon discovered the difference in his soul force. ¡°My soul force,pared to others, has very viscous properties.¡± He gently pulled out a bit of the soul force he just absorbed, tore it in a straight line, and then let it scattered at the bottom of theke. The colorless soul force was still the same after being torn apart, floating in theke motionless. Lin Sheng then pulled out a trace of his soul force, tore it in a straight line, and then threw it. This time, it¡¯s different. The faint blue soul forces wriggled and gathered themselves in theke. Even if they were torn into more than ten pieces, they still stubbornly stick together. ¡°It seems that this is the embodiment of the nature of my soul. Digging deep and analyzing from here should be the right direction.¡± Although there was a big gap between the faint blue high-concentrated soul force and the general-concentrated soul force, it also magnified the characteristics of his soul force. After determining the direction, Lin Sheng began to control the soul forces, constantly testing, analyzing, andparing them. The speed of time in theke was different from anywhere else. Lin Sheng quietly analyzed the nature of his own soul. In a twinkling of an eye, months had passed. He was in the depth of his soul. Here, a few months were only a few hours outside. The time flow rate was constantly changing with the improvement of one¡¯s strength. Lin Sheng¡¯s physique and body at this time, together with the healing of holy power, could withstand this degree of full-load operation. Finally, after another period of time, Lin Shengbined all the characteristics of the conclusions and finally came to aplete conclusion. ¡°So, this is the nature of my soul? No wonder...¡± Lin Sheng gazed at the small mass of soul force condensed in his hand with a lot of emotions in his heart. Now that the nature of his soul had been determined. He didn¡¯t want to be here much longer. Lin Sheng immediately moved upward and rushes out of theke. Then thendscape changed, and in a twinkling of an eye, he left theke and returned to the Secluded Sacrificial Hall of the Divine Pir. Lin Sheng took a long breath. Being able to immerse himself in research for several months, he was now gradually moving away from the realm of ordinary people. He reached into his pocket, took out the golden-red bead, and then threw it out. Instantly, the Ward was lifted. The golden-red light was projected from the bead and condensed into a faint Golden Red Humanoid. ¡°You did it?¡± asked the fellow eagerly. ¡°Yes. I already know what my soul nature is. Then, what do I do next?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°Promise me you won¡¯t lock me up again!¡± ¡°Okay, I promise.¡± Lin Sheng nodded briskly. Seeing him say yes so quickly, the Golden Red Humanoid felt a little uneasy, but at this moment, it could only rely on this guy. Chapter 520 - The Moment: Part 2

    520 The Moment: Part 2

    ¡°Well... Next, you must gather your soul force again, but this time, you have to consciously highlight the direction of your soul nature. You know there is a difference between soul forces. You need to find the strongest trait of the soul force and then cultivate it. Nourish it with all the other soul forces. And when it grows stronger and stronger, your divinity will naturally form.¡± The Golden Red Humanoid paused for a moment and then continued, ¡°It¡¯s actually the whole process of imitating the natural conception of divinity, and you just need to speed it up.¡± ¡°I get the idea, but it will take a long time, right?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°Yes, but it is impossible to gain strength without paying a price. Once you gather your divinity, you will gain power far beyond your current level. You¡¯ve seen how powerful divine creatures, especially battle-types, can be. You could not have defeated Cypross if he had not been eroded and lost his main soul. You know, he was the master of hundreds of powerful, deadly warriors. In his day, he could have ughtered a hundred of you.¡± Lin Sheng did not argue. The Golden Red Humanoid was merely using an exaggerated figure of speech. He sensed that it was a little upset, but that did not matter. As long as he could sessfully unite his divinity, nothing else mattered. ¡°Once you begin to meditate on the divinity this time, try not to stop. Once you stop, without your subjective action, your progress will be reversed. A long pause can even cause you to lose all your previous work. Remember that,¡± the Golden Red Humanoid warned. ¡°Got it. Well, I¡¯ll take care of some other personal matters first,¡± Lin Sheng replied. Now the cktide could strike at any moment, and if he were to be locked away for a long time, it would be very likely that the Holy Sanctum would be unable to counter the cktide and would be destroyed. So he¡¯s definitely not going to start a full retreat until the situation stabilized. ¡°Also, gathering the soul force is a long-term process of high concentration, which requires the concentration of all your soul forces, so don¡¯t try to do several things at once. Impossible.¡± The Golden Red Humanoid¡¯s words put an end to the question Lin Sheng was about to ask. His greatest skill was multitasking. He did not expect to not be able to use it in this situation. ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll take care of my chores first.¡± Lin Sheng stood up and walked toward the exit of the hall. The Golden Red Humanoid stood there, hesitated for a moment, and then flew toward him. ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡± All its hopes now rested on Lin Sheng, and of course, it was worried that he would run away. ¡°I have two other divinity in my hand, and if you seed in helping me, they will be yours.¡± The Golden Red Humanoid was afraid that Lin Sheng would run away, so it immediately threw out the bait. ¡°Hehe.¡± Lin Sheng did not reply directly. After leaving the Divine Pir, he quickly returned to the home in his dream, and then sealed the Golden Red Humanoid into a bead and left it at home, then enveloped the house with the holy light. After securing the Golden Red Humanoid with multiple protection, he left the dream and returned to reality. The information he got on this trip was too big, and he needed some time to digest it. ... A few dayster... Shermanton, Safe Zone. Han Yu, carrying his schoolbag, walked slowly on his way home from school. As the sun setting in the west, the sky, which was supposed to be bright red, now became dim and dull grayish red under the filtering of the grey sky of the cktide. ¡°The school has started to arrange cktide self-rescue courses... Many courses have also been adjusted, all of which have be emergency contents to increase our own survival.¡± Han Yu sighed. ¡°The good news is thatpared with the future, it is still rtively easy and peaceful now. At least little kids don¡¯t have to worry about ve traders on the road. Some of the official departments were disintegrated, but there was still a Holy Sanctum to maintain basic order. But why is the Holy Sanctum not recorded in history?¡± This was something Han Yu was puzzled about. Even though it was a safe area, under the increasingly severe situation of cktide, people had formed the good habit of not hanging out in the street. This way, once encountered a sudden monster attack, the men of the Holy Sanctum could easily deal with, and rescuing was also much easier. Han Yu¡¯s parents were clerical workers at the city government. Their ie was not too high, but they had enough to live afortable life, and many benefits were avable for them. In times like these, their life was pretty good. The only difficulty was that they had so little time to spend with him. The same went for Nessie. Because of the many simrities in their families, so the two of them gradually became good friends. Just as Han Yu turned a corner, he saw a tall man with an exaggerated figureing toward him. It was the man! Lin Sheng, the Night Matriarch¡¯s brother! Han Yu slowed down and looked up at Lin Sheng, who was a lot taller than him. Lin Sheng was also on the way home. He vaguely remembered this kid, should be his neighbor, and this kid behaved very nicely. He liked well-behaved children. In other words, everybody liked obedient, well-behaved children. So he gave Han Yu a very gentle smile. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s little Han Yu. Going home from school?¡± ¡°Can you please not call me little Han Yu? I¡¯m not a little kid anyone...¡± ¡°All right, Han Yu. Why are you alone? Where are your parents?¡± Lin Sheng asked casually. ¡°My parents are very busy,¡± Han Yu replied. He and Lin Sheng walked slowly together, side by side, toward home. Lin Sheng casually asked some questions about the school¡¯s current situation. Han Yu answered all the questions, and at the same time, he was pondering another question in his mind. Since there¡¯s no mention of the man called Lin Sheng in history, it¡¯s highly probable that he too died on the night when Night Matriarch¡¯s forces exploded. When he arrived at the door, Lin Sheng reached out and rubbed his hair. ¡°Well, don¡¯t be absent-minded. If you¡¯re worried about your parents, I can help you ask around. Just focus on your studies. Don¡¯t think about it too much.¡± Watching the young boy trying to act like an adult, Lin Sheng found it really funny. ¡°Go inside. Come and y at my house when you¡¯re free,¡± Lin Sheng said, and then walked toward his house. Han Yu answered and watched Lin Sheng leave until he opened the gate and walked into the yard. ¡°It feels like he is a nice guy,¡± he murmured. Chapter 521 - The Moment: Part 3

    521 The Moment: Part 3

    Taking out the key to open the door, Hanyu also entered his home and put on the slippers. The moment he entered the living room, he made a decision. In the original n, they did not take too much care of the Night Matriarch¡¯s brother. Since he was a very good person, however, Hanyu decided to make a careful arrangement to try to prevent Lin Sheng froming back on that fateful day. ¡°The Night Matriarch fell because she killed her parents. We are going to find ways to make sure her parents won¡¯t be in the house on that fateful night. Adding one more person in the n won¡¯t hurt.¡± Thinking of that, Hanyu continued to examine their n carefully again to make sure that not a single detail would go wrong. The preparation of Hanyu and Nisse. Lin Xiao had no idea what was going on behind the scene. And the Night Patriarch who grew stronger and stronger. All this had nothing to do with Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng first inspected Shermanton to clear up some defensive problems, and then he went to Henricqal, where he dealt with various matters that had piled up. Having settled everything, he entered the Holy Spirit Pce, where he was provided with arge number of dark spirit beads. He absorbed all the dark spirit beads in one breath. It turned out to be quite different from what he had expected. If he only relied on this little soul force here, he would have to umte and absorb dozens of times before he could have a chance to condense the divinity. After returning to Shermanton, Lin Sheng nned to go to the headquarters of the Holy Sanctum to ask the experts who protected Lin Xiao to see if there was any trouble happened. Just as he stepped out of the teleportation portal, his cell phone beeped. Someone texted him. He took out the phone, unlocked it, and gave it a quick nce. It was a piece of news of unknown origin predicting trouble somewhere. ¡°SMS broadcast?¡± Lin Sheng thought. He ignored it and clicked delete. But soon, after a few steps, another text message arrived. It was the same kind of text message. Lin Sheng just ignored it and deleted it. In a twinkling of an eye, time passed. Lin Sheng did not immediately begin to retreat and condense divinity but waited to see what might happen in the two Holy Sanctums. He also ordered all hismanders to keep a close eye on the cktide. No one could predict the cktide. If it erupted suddenly at the moment when he was concentrating on his divinity, it would be toote to save it. Days passed in a twinkling of an eye. Hanyu and Nisse were preparing for that fateful night. In order to cope with the power of darkness that the Night Matriarch was about to explode, they had done the best they could. On the other side, the two men in white shirts also noticed the change of time and gradually shifted their attention from the Night Matriarch to Lin Xiao. In any case, the power of Night Matriarch exploded and killed her own family, such a turning point of fate, if they could step in and help the Night Matriarch, the benefits they could get in the future would be unimaginable. Both groups were making preparations for the night. However, Lin Xiao was not aware of anything at all. She went to school or hung out at Lange¡¯s caf¨¦ as usual. In her eyes, life was calm and peaceful. Even though they heard that there were monsters attacking people everywhere, it was too far away from the Lin Family in the safe zone. There were two more days before the power of darkness erupted. ... Inside the bedroom. Lin Xiao was lying on her left side on the bed, sleeping deeply. For an unknown reason, she was tired these days and kept sleeping, and she did not have enough energy to focus on anything else. Lin Xiao seemed to have a bad dream. She turned over and went on sleeping, but the reflection in the mirror facing her bed was still lying on her left side. The one in the mirror stared at herself outside the mirror, lying still. *Crack...* A tiny crack crept up the bottom of the mirror. ¡°Xiaoxiao! Xiaoxiao!¡± Her mother¡¯s voice suddenly came from downstairs. ¡°The meal is ready. We¡¯re having new meat floss bread today. I bought some more and they taste as good as they didst time!¡± The Lin Xiao in the mirror disappeared suddenly as the reflection became distorted and was restored to the normal one. Lin Xiao opened her eyes in a daze, feeling a little confused. Sitting up in bed, she took a sip from the ss of water, and then slowly went downstairs. Her mother had set the table while her father was still reading the newspaper on the sofa. ¡°Come and sit down!¡± her mom urged. ¡°Got it! Can you stop nagging?¡± Her father put down his newspaper impatiently and got up to take his seat. Lin Xiao also took a seat, but as soon as she sat down, her head felt so dizzy that she could not help but cover her forehead. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Her mother¡¯s voice seemed toe slowly from a distant ce. An impulse suddenly gushed out from the bottom of Lin Xiao¡¯s heart. A wild impatience, a desire to tear everything to pieces! She struggled to contain herself, holding one hand to the edge of the table, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. She did not know why she had been having such violent impulsestely, but the impulses were dangerous. She knew that because there were times when she wanted to strangle her parents to death. It gave her a vague sense of fear. ¡°It¡¯s okay, maybe a little hypoglycemia,¡± Lin Xiao replied. ¡°I just need to eat something.¡± ¡°Eat more. I had to go through several bakeries to find this new bread.¡± Her mother cut a big piece of bread and gave it to Lin Xiao along with a cup of hot milk. Lin Xiao took a big sip of milk and felt the hot milk flowed down her throat and into her stomach. Then she felt slightly better. ¡°She could hardly contain herself.¡± In the next door, Hanyu and Nisse were carefully monitoring the movement inside Lin Xiao¡¯s home. They had installed listening devices in Lin Xiao¡¯s home. And now they noticed that Lin Xiao sounded a little unnatural. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the power of darkness doesn¡¯t do much damage when it awakens at the beginning. We still have Sober Gemstone in our hands. As long as we are careful, we can finish the task. As long as the good side wakes up, the bad side will retreat,¡± Hanyu exined in a low voice. ¡°We also have to take cover, in case someone in the Astral Mere finds out...¡± Nisse reminded. ¡°Don¡¯t worry... I have confidence in my own skills. The powerfulbination of science and technology is far beyond what this backward era can understand,¡± Hanyu mentioned this with a hint of arrogance. ¡°Two more days.¡± For some unknown reasons, Nisse felt a little worried. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯ll be all right. This is the turning point of our destiny,¡± Hanyu consoled. ¡°Right!¡± Nisse nodded hard. Chapter 522 - Awakening: Part 1

    522 Awakening: Part 1

    The notification sound came again. Lin Sheng nced at his mobile phone; it was the third message now. Would the fellow not give up? He was sitting in the sanctum, while a few personnel in charge of Shermanton¡¯s promotion were standing in front of him. They were reporting back on their search of the illegal broadcast in their jurisdiction. ¡°In summary, we have found none rted criminal activities. Other than a few cultists tried to spread their ck magic using homemade loudspeakers, everything was normal.¡± The head of the propaganda division was used to be one of Khad¡¯s avatars. With enough manpower now, a professional had taken over the role. As many avatars as Khad had, a multitasking mind was not as efficient as dedicated personnel. ¡°Normal?¡± Lin Sheng frowned. He took up his mobile phone and took a look. The message was short and simple. ¡°There will be a wed monster attack in Hengyu Square on Saturday night.¡± ¡°Another prediction SMS.¡± He turned off the screen. ¡°Thest two text messages were also making predictions. And both came true. This one could alsoe true. What is the person¡¯s motive? How did he know about such urate information? By releasing this information, he must be hiding his motive.¡± Lin Sheng was in deep thought. ¡°If there is nothing else, Lord, we will leave now. There is still much to do,¡± the propaganda head said. ¡°Okay, go now.¡± Lin Sheng had told him about the text messages, and his reply was the person knew his number; it was a point-to-point transmission but an indiscriminate broadcast. That puzzled him further since he knew his mobile phone was entirely normal; it was just a number. Perhaps, someone who knew his number may have inadvertently leaked it. The key question was, what was the motive of sending him those text messages? Thinking of that, he pped his hands. In the empty hall, two girls, white-haired, slender, draped in body-hugging white leather armor, appeared in front of him. ¡°L, at your service.¡± ¡°Jahn, at your service.¡± Both girls were typical twins. Armed with the inborn Paragon of Destiny ability, no one had tried to understand them since they were small. They had been persecuted, raped, and having abortions. It was not until during a recruitment exercise that Khad rescued the two girls from hell. As a result, they were extremely loyal to the Sanctum that had saved them, and they followed Khad so fervently that they were willing to be martyrs for her. As the Sanctum continued to expand, the number of powerful beings like the two girls was increasing. Those with some potential, after careful training and nurturing, had grown up and be an important force of the Sanctum. ¡°I¡¯m d to see you two recovering,¡± Lin Sheng said gently. ¡°Have you two found anything about the man named Lange?¡± The two girls looked sweet and innocent when they smiled, no different from the average pretty girls. However, looks could be deceiving. They were in charge of the enhanced interrogation division, which was essentially a sector that tortured captives to extract information from them. ¡°We have found several things, but the information is scrappy. We didn¡¯tpile it into the report,¡± said L, the elder sister. ¡°We have filtered thirteen people with the same name in Shermanton and locked on to one major suspect. This is all we have found.¡± Jahn, the younger sister stepped forward to hand a tabletputer to Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng took it and looked at the information. ¡°Lange, male. ¡°Age: 31 ¡°Background: unknown. Strength: unknown. ¡°The earliest record shows one day he suddenly appeared in a deserted street, a ce closest to the ck Tide outbreak. ¡°The day before his appearance, a group of Oppressor-ss monsters was attacking and massacring the residents in the area. It was the Steel Lord who killed all the monsters and cleaned up the ce. ¡°Lange has spent an unknown amount of money to open a caf¨¦ in the suburbs of Shermanton. He is now suspected of having contact with Lin Xiao.¡± ¡°This is it?¡± Lin Sheng frowned deeply after he read it. ¡°What I want is deeper, not this superficial information!¡± ¡°We are sorry. That is all we could find. The only way to get more information is to enter the ck Tide,¡± L said. ¡°The ck Tide?¡± A stern expression shed across his eyes. ¡°I know. Leave me now.¡± ¡°Aye.¡± The two girls left. Sitting on the principal seat, Lin Sheng¡¯s face was still, seemingly deep in thought. ... Two days had passed. Lin Sheng had received three messages, two of which were predictions of monster attacks, and the other was a direction to some treasure. He had sent men to investigate and found that things in the text messages hade true. He found the hidden gold bars. Another two dayster, a new text message arrived. This time, it marked a faraway location with even more treasure, diagonal from Shermanton and near the border. Multiple prediction fulfillments had aroused Lin Sheng¡¯s interest. So this time, he would personally investigate and dig out the so-called treasure. This ability of precise predictions of the future seemed to be like his Wheel of Fate ability. But unlike this mysterious person who could predict things beyond his own, Lin Sheng¡¯s Wheel of Fate could only predict his own future. So Lin Shang wanted to find this mysterious person who sent him the text messages. If he could master this prediction ability, he might gain some advantages over the ck Tide. For the next two days, Hanyu and Nisse were dishing out everything they had to deal with the situations that might crop up. They had given up all their strengths and traveled with their souls through time back to their childhood bodies. But their experience, knowledge, and consciousness, even special abilities, were still intact. As it was an era of chaos, where many controlled items were not strictly controlled, the two thought their preparation was more than enough. The two torturing days slipped past as they went without sleep. On the morning of March 31st at Lin Sheng¡¯s house. ¡°We are going out now. Have a good rest. Don¡¯t forget the medication and drink more water!¡± Gu Wanqiu shouted her reminder to her daughter upstairs. ¡°I know,¡± Lin Xiao was heard replying. ¡°Stop babbling already. She¡¯s an adult now. She knows how to take care of herself. Come one, we need to hurry up!¡± Lin Zhounian urged her impatiently as he ced the painkillers, neatly divided for consumption at different times of day, on the most conspicuous ce on the table. ¡°Don¡¯t rush me. What¡¯s wrong with giving a few reminders?¡± Gu Wanqiu red at him. ¡°Didn¡¯t I warn you about taking Mestinonst time? It still turned out that you almost overdosed yourself!¡± ¡°You know nuts! That was thest time. Who has never made a mistake? Don¡¯t be double-standard!¡± Lin Zhounian barked, trying to tough talk but deep inside, he knew he was guilty. The argument continued as they went out of the door, riding their electric bike toward their shop. They had to deliver a big order today. But they first needed to go back to the shop and then headed to the factory to check out the goods. The ce was far away, and by the time they came home, it could bete in the day. That was why they kept urging Lin Xiao. Lin Xiao had been having fever for the past two days, body arching, losing energy. It worried them. Chapter 523 - Awakening: Part 2

    523 Awakening: Part 2

    After the Lin husband and wife left, in the bedroom on the first floor, Lin Xiao sat silently in front of the dressing table, holding a brow pencil, gazing at herself in the mirror-like a statue. ¡°Didn¡¯t you worry about your younger brother¡¯s safety as he studies abroad? Powerless people could only groan and bear it. This is your sad reality.¡± A tempting voice of a female rang in Lin Xiao¡¯s ears. ¡°You have seen for yourself in school when monsters attacked the students, their lives were just as fragile as flowers, withering with just the snap of their stems. How vulnerable! Your parents, your younger brother, your teachers and ssmates¡ªeveryone is vulnerable. Without the power to protect yourself, you can only live in extreme insecurity. You can protect yourself or resist.¡± ¡°What are you?¡± asked Lin Xiao calmly. She felt scared the first time she heard the voice. After a few times and knowing more, the fear had gone and was followed by an irresistible temptation. She wanted power more than anything else¡ªthe power to protect her family, friends, teachers, and ssmates. She did not want the tragedies that she had seen happen to herself. But wishes were only wishes. She had tried but found no ways and means to get the power. But now she seemed to have a fresh opportunity. ¡°I am you...¡± The demon-like female voice still resounded in her ears. ¡°...and you are me. We are one. Break the chain and discard your worries. Rx and obtain your freedom... then you will find massive power that you could never imagine. Come, ept me...¡± Following the temptation, Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes in the mirror turned pale fuchsia gradually. Purple lines appeared around her eyes, like tattoos, living creatures, rapidly spreading across her face. In the surrounding air, dark power that looked like bundles of silk appeared. This primordial power was neutral in itself, existing everywhere in the universe, formless and invisible. The dark power began to gather and condense rapidly around Lin Xiao. The surging dark power gathered and attracted a massive cloud of gray gas in the sky above Lin Sheng¡¯s home. As the gas built up, it formed into dark clouds in the sky. Thunder and lightning started to dance in the clouds, the sky dimming with rain looming. ¡°It has started!¡± In the courtyard next door, Hanyu and Nisse got to their feet. They were wearing a special protective suit to block off the corrosion of the dark power. ¡°Dark power is a branch of Chaotic Power in nature. It is highly corrosive and will devour any ordinary human whoes into contact with it, turning them to be part of the darkness,¡± said Hanyu solemnly. ¡°That¡¯s why we have to be well-prepared. Are you ready, Nisse?¡± Nisse was adjusting the watch, which was a special instrument, on her wrist. ¡°Ready. I¡¯ve detected a powerful dark power. It¡¯sing from next door!¡± ¡°Then, let¡¯s go.¡± Hanyu tossed an irregr-shaped sapphire in his hand. ¡°If everything goes well, we might save many lives. Once the Night Matriarch awakens and goes on a rampage, she will not only murder her family but also massacre hundreds of innocent people in her surroundings.¡± Nisse¡¯s parents would be among them. Nisse nodded resolutely. They pushed open the courtyard door and headed toward Lin Xiao¡¯s home. It was now or never. It would all be determined in the next hour because the Night Matriarch was going to awaken and go into a rampage in an hour¡¯s time. ... The wind chimes were making a pleasant clinking sound in the background as Lange wiped the antique pen in his hand. He looked up and into the distance as if sensing something. ¡°I¡¯m surprised! I thought I was the only one. It seems someone has awakened to the dark power, too.¡± No one could understand the terror and scale of the dark power more than he did. It was unlimited energy. As long as one could stand the load, he or she would turn into a perpetual motion machine, bursting with unlimited terrifying destructive power. In gaming terms, it would be a mage with unlimited spells with no need for a cooldown. The only limiting factor of the Awakened of dark power was his or her physical strength. The awakened would be able to maintain whatever level of dark power he or she could produce with no drop in performance. This was the scary part of dark power. They did not need cultivation. All it took was silently waiting for the dark power to enhance their physique, assimting themselves with it so they could muster more dark power. In simple words, this was a terrifying physique that enhanced itself even during its sleep. ¡°Interesting.¡± Lange smiled. ¡°If you could make it through, I will wee you to be my partner,¡± he mumbled and continued to wipe his fountain pen as if the surging dark power out there had never been there before. ... ¡°It¡¯sing!¡± Inside a hotel near Lin Xiao¡¯s house, two men, tall built, wearing whitebat suits, were standing in front of the opened window, looking at the dark clouds gathering in the sky. ¡°How did you know that? I could sense nothing,¡± the other said with surprise. ¡°Neither did I. It just looks like natural dark clouds,¡± said the first man. ¡°But it is entirely normal because dark power is highly elusive. Everything in the world, different types of energy, of which ny percent contain dark power. It is everywhere, the foundation that supports space and time, and the universe. Aside from the Awakened of Dark Power, no one else can sense anything different.¡± ¡°Then, you?¡± ¡°It was just a wild guess, idiot! No dark clouds could gather so fast.¡± The other man rolled his eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s go. It¡¯s time.¡± The two men closed the curtains and turned, heading towards the door. ... In a courtyard unseen by naked eyes, beads of ck diamond crystals were floating and spinning quietly in the air. Connecting the ck diamond crystals were strains of ck silk, on which dark power was flowing like ck ink. Just by looking at it, it would make one want to plunge into it. The courtyard of Lin Xiao¡¯s house was filled with these things¡ªin the gardenpound, under the walls, beside the table and chairs. These crystals were everywhere. ¡°Be careful. The dark power is still not that strong now. So long as we get near with equipment and activate the Sober Gemstone, we can leave,¡± Hanyu telepathically said to Nisse. ¡°Got it. You be careful!¡± Nisse worriedly held his hand. ¡°I know. Here shees!¡± Hanyu whispered. ¡°You get things ready while I will buy you some time! We have underestimated the Night Matriarch¡¯s ability. She has discovered us earlier than we have expected, but it¡¯s okay. If she is a fully grown Night Matriarch, getting KO¡¯ed by her is entirely expected. But now, I can still hold her back for a while.¡± Hanyu looked up, his eyes focused past the courtyard on the slim figure walking out of the living room. Out of the shadow came a flirtatious face covered in a fuchsia pattern. Lin Xiao now possessed an added amazing charmpared to normal days; people would unknowingly get closer and fall for her look. ¡°Since we are exposed, let¡¯s go for n B!¡± Hanyu telepathized and lunged forward. He started to float in the air, leaving behind streaks of irregr trails behind him as he flew at high speed toward Lin Xiao. In his hand was the sapphire that he had prepared in advance. ¡°Wake up, Lin Xiao!¡± He hurled the sapphire toward her. Chapter 524 - Awakening: Part 3

    524 Awakening: Part 3

    On the other side, Nisse quickly rolled her body, just in time dodging a ck crystaling her way. She hid in the corner and fiddled with her watch to activate the Sober Gemstone program. ¡°What is it?¡± Lin Xiao had plunged into a state of dark awakening, and a massive dark force poured into her body, turning the dark side of her out. She was not Lin Xiao now but should be called Dark Lin Xiao¡ªthe dark side of her. Earlier, she wasing down the stairs as the rascals of her neighbors tried to sneak up to her. They exuded an energy that made her feel ufortable. One of them even hurled something at her. ¡°You two little bugs! What do you want to do?¡± As she lifted her hand and gently tapped it, the dark force that was awakened in the surroundings gathered around her, part of it shielding her front, part of it moving toward Hanyu in the air. Hanyu felt as if the heavens and the earth wereing down on him. ¡°Now!¡± But that was exactly what Hanyu wanted. Just like what he had nned, he had attracted Dark Lin Xiao¡¯s entire attention. In a split second, the Sober Gemstone froze in the air and sucked in the dark force in the surroundings like a whale feasted on nkton as it emitted circles of blue ripple. Now Dark Lin Xiao was within the range of the ripples. ¡°Done!¡± Hanyu was delighted, spurting a mouthful of blood as he sensed the dark force in the surroundings easing up. He quickly descended and retreated to join Nisse. A group of dark force scraped past him all of a sudden, and silent corrosion left behind a one-meter-across pit in the ground. It was bellowing with choking dark smoke, leaving Hanyu and Nisse breaking out in a cold sweat. At that moment, the Sober Gemstone that had absorbed the dark force cracked. It happened within a matter of seconds as the Sober Gemstone exploded into thousands of pieces. The two quickly dropped face down. ¡°Now we just need to hang on, waiting for the Sober Gemstone to do its bit!¡± While speaking, Hanyu held Nisse, rolling on the ground to dodge another attack. A round of dark force hit the spot where they were at a second ago, corroding another pit in the ground. It scared the daylights out of them. As they ran toward the spot where Lin Xiao could not see them, Lin Xiao waved her hand and hurled rounds of dark force at them. ¡°Hang in there! So long as she doesn¡¯t see blood, the dark primordial power in her will not lose control, and we will have a chance!¡± Hanyu reminded Nisse as he brought her running. ¡°Let go of my hand, I can handle it!¡± Nisse gritted her teeth. She had brilliant talent in instruments and rituals, but physically she was a burden. ¡°It¡¯s all right! As long as we can hold on until the Sober Gemstone starts...¡± Hanyu shouted using telepathy. However, the Sober Gemstone seemed to take forever to activate. They two ran around the courtyard dodging the attack for over a minute, but there was no reaction from the Sober Gemstone. Sensing something was not right, Hanyu¡¯s heart skipped a beat. The two began to struggle in dodging Dark Lin Xiao¡¯s attack as her mastery of dark force increased. Every second felt like an hour. Hanyu was focusing his entire attention on Dark Lin Xiao, trying to guess from which direction the next dark force attack woulde. ¡°You two little annoying rats!¡± Dark Lin Xiao¡¯s eyes looked even more hideous. The fuchsia pattern on her face had spread, looking like some strange monster. Changes to the dark force in her hand were underway. What followed was no longer random hurling of attacks. ¡°Feeling annoyed? That¡¯s more like it. Lin Xiao, are you ready to kill someone?¡± Hanyu floated in the air,ughing. ¡°Kill someone? I¡¯m not killing someone; I¡¯m just killing some bugs.¡± Dark Lin Xiao sneered. Hold on a bit longer and it will be done soon! Hanyu told himself, his face calm. But deep inside, he was at his wits¡¯ end. He had half-guessed that the Sober Gemstone did not work at all, or at least, it did not work on Lin Xiao. However, things hade to this stage... As he was doing all he could to attract attention and dodge the dark force, a series of rhythmic footsteps came from outside the courtyard. It was getting closer and closer. Someone whom Hanyu and Nisse least expected to see showed up outside the courtyard. ¡°Did I not draw him away with text messages?¡± Hanyu froze when he saw the person. It was Lin Sheng, younger brother of Lin Xiao. Was he not searching for the treasure now? How could he be here? ¡°The door isn¡¯t locked?¡± As Lin Sheng strode inside, he saw Dark Lin Xiao just as she saw him. He was stunned at seeing the fuchsia pattern on her face. Dark Lin Xiao did not foresee someone would show up at this moment. What was more, this someone was her younger brother. She was now just as stunned as Lin Sheng. The air seemed to be still all of a sudden. ¡°Run!¡± Hanyu saw Lin Sheng and lunged at him. He must not let Lin Xiao kill Lin Sheng. If this happened, everything they did previously would be in vain. So, Lin Sheng must not die in the hand of Dark Lin Xiao. He frantically lunged at him, but it was still toote. Dark Lin Xiao had recovered from her shock, staring at Lin Sheng with a hideous smile as a dark force that looked like shards of ss appeared around her hand. With no warning, she hurled it at Lin Sheng. ¡°Let me help you get rid of this bondage.¡± ¡°No!¡± Hanyu screamed, halfway toward him, but he was still too slowpared with the speed of dark force. Nisse watched on helplessly. They had prepared this for so long, yet an ident like this still happened. Her mind went nk. She was at her wits¡¯ end. The dark force in Lin Xiao¡¯s hand had drawn the air in the entire courtyard as if heaven and earth were crashing down at Lin Sheng. Still standing at the courtyard doorway, a massive force of impact hit him as the invisible impact force and dark force formed into a twisted ck ball hurling in his direction. The ball of darkness smashed Lin Sheng right on his face, dark force sliding down him like running mud. It looked like a kid had smashed his face with a cake, and it was chocte. Lin Sheng stood on the spot, wiping the stuff from his face as the other looked on, struck dumb. He was unscathed. ¡°What the hell are you ying, Lin Xiao? Do you think this is a yhouse, or are you trying to reminisce on your childhood fun?¡± He strode into the courtyard, ignoring the dark force in the surroundings. A few dark force crystals got in his way, hit him, and crumbled instantly as if the massive force of dark force was never there. Still with her hands in the air in an awkward position, like Ultraman about to fire energy beams from its crossed hand, Dark Lin Xiao looked at Lin Sheng, dumbfounded. She thought the ball of darkness she just shot out could blow up a skyscraper, but... Hanyu and held Nisse up. They were still struck dumb, watching as Lin Sheng walked past them. Lin Sheng came before Lin Xiao and looked down at her. ¡°What happened to your eyes with that color and the speckles on your face? Are you feeling unwell? It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ve just learned something that could cure everything. Come, let me fix that for you.¡± As he pressed his hand on Lin Xiao¡¯s shoulder, a massive dark force in Lin Xiao¡¯s body roared like a threatened beast, but it was useless. As he pressed his hand down, a violently bright light burst in Lin Xiao¡¯s body. A secondter, half of the dark force had gone away with the remaining retreating into Lin Xiao¡¯s body and never emerging again. Dark Lin Xiao had lost miserably. ¡°Look, you¡¯re definitely sick. Look at you, you look miserable.¡± Lin Sheng grabbed her and brought her upstairs like a mother cat carried her kitten. ¡°Lie down and take a rest while I call the doctor. We will see how things go. If your condition is severe, I¡¯ll have to send you to the hospital. Don¡¯t worry, I know one medical center is quite good; those doctors and nurses are super nice. You cane home after you recover.¡± He spoke as he went away. Hanyu and Nisse looked on, still struck dumb. As Lin Sheng disappeared out of their sight, everything returned to normal as if nothing had happened before. ¡°What-What happened just now?¡± Nisse was wide-eyed, and his mouth was open. ¡°Nothing has ever happened...¡± Hanyu¡¯s eyes still glued to the corner of the stairs where Lin Sheng disappeared. Outside the wall, two men in white, fully armed, were carrying advanced rifles with two rows of special hand grenades hanging from their waists. Looking through the gate at what had just happened in the courtyard, they felt as if it all happened in a dream. ¡°I think we have gotten the wrong person,¡± said one of the men, putting down his rifle. He had the feeling that all the preparation for Shackle Array in the surroundings for the past one month was useless. He woke up at four every morning, breaking his back to rig the area within 100 meters in the vicinity with the most inconspicuous magic Circle of Shackles just because he wanted to suppress Lin Xiao¡¯s dark force. But now... ¡°I¡¯m an idiot.¡± He broke into a self-deprecating smile. ¡°I really am an idiot.¡± His mate patted him on the shoulder, trying to say something. His mouth was opened, but he could not find the words. They felt each other. Standing on the spot for a long while, they finally turned around and left quietly. Life was full of surprises. It was just that today¡¯s surprise was a little too scary. Chapter 525 - Meeting: Part 1

    525 Meeting: Part 1

    In the bedroom on the first floor, Lin Xiao was thrown into a wooden chair, looking dispirited. Locking the door behind him, Lin Sheng stood in front of her. ¡°Don¡¯t panic. I¡¯ve seen this condition many times! No worries!¡± He raised his hand, the size of a hand fan, to cup the top of Lin Xiao¡¯s head. His hand engulfed her skull perfectly. A blinding white light shone from his hand down her skull through Lin Xiao¡¯s body. She shook, eyes rolling back, foaming at the mouth. But it worked; the fuchsia patterns on her body dissipated. ¡°See, it works! You may not have to go to the hospital at all. We can get it done at home.¡± It looked as if Lin Sheng had expected it. ¡°I-I think I¡¯m going to-to die...¡± Lin Xiao managed a few words as she shook, but the holy light shower was a little noisy. It drowned out her voice. ¡°Don¡¯t panic. You will be all right! It happens now! Your body is filled with unexined toxins. I¡¯m helping you clean it up!¡± Seeing that Lin Xiao could still speak, he increased his strength. More powerful holy power ran through her body. That was even after Lin Sheng used his scaled-down version of holy power so as not to hurt her so much, and the result was before his eyes. If he used his transcended Legendary-ss holy power, it could have brainwashed her, turning the Night Matriarch into Holy Mother instantly. The purification showersted some thirty minutes until the dark-force pattern on Lin Xiao¡¯s bodypletely subsided. Did he know if there was still any pattern of the dark force inside her? He did not. It was just a desperate measure. Since other parts of her body differed from the head, Lin Sheng did not mind using holy light to give her a thorough rinse first. When Lin Xiao recovered, the dark side of her was purified until there was only onest drop of it remaining, it would hide back in the deepest part of her soul and would nevere out again. By then, the only thing that could protect her was the good side of her. ¡°Are you all right?¡± Lin Sheng let out a long sigh. It was difficult to have precise control of his holy power to cleanse the dark force from his sister¡¯s body. Holy power overdose could lead to irreversible brain damage, and she would be modified into a holy mother who had no sense of fear, panic, or anger. This holy mother would sacrifice herself unconditionally for the Sanctum. In her thinking, her life from birth to the moment she was modified and purified was just a waste of time¡ªit was the waiting she had to endure to receive her purification. Lin Sheng would be d to have such beings under his fold. But this was his elder sister. He was not going to do that to her. ¡°How do you feel?¡± Lin Sheng asked. Lin Xiao was half-leaning on the bed, eyes gazing into the air. She then looked up, looking at her young brother, eyes still hollow. ¡°I think I have had a dream just now.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right. You are awake now. It will not happen again. I promise.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah. I think it was you who saved me.¡± Lin Xiao just recovered the control of her body, her mind still a muddle. ¡°Have a good rest. But, do you still remember what happened before?¡± he asked. Lin Xiao shook her head from side to side. Probably this was her reply. All she remembered was that she woke up on the bed, feeling weak. The most embarrassing thing was that her younger brother was standing beside her. ¡°I will leave you to it. Call me if you need anything.¡± Lin Sheng turned and left the room. She looked on as Lin Sheng left, still puzzled, feeling as if she had forgotten many things. But no matter how hard she tried, she just could not recall. The only thing she remembered was the tempting voice of a woman, offering her power and bing one with her. ¡°Are you here? You just said you wanted to give me power so I can protect everyone. Does the deal still stand?¡± she said in her mind. She knew the voice could hear her. Thinking for a moment and still not getting a reply, she continued, ¡°Aren¡¯t youing out? I¡¯m inviting you toe out to get some fresh air. You promised that you would teach me how to control¡ª¡± ¡°No! I don¡¯t want to get any fresh air. I¡¯m feeling great here, not going anywhere. Don¡¯t talk to me!¡± Dark Lin Xiao refused. ¡°It¡¯s dark and quiet here. No one is disturbing me, and I won¡¯t get irritated. I¡¯m happy here! It was my fault previously. I didn¡¯t know how great it was here. Now I know and I no longer want to go out!¡± ¡°Err... You didn¡¯t say like this just now.¡± Lin Xiao appeared expressionless. ¡°People change.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°There is no ¡®but¡¯! I won¡¯t go out again! Never ever!¡± Dark Lin Xiao went intoplete silence. After that, no matter what Lin Xiao said, the voice never responded. She leaned on the bed, questions in her head, not knowing what had happened. ... Hanyu and Nisse were sitting quietly on the sofa downstairs, looking on as Lin Sheng poured each of them a ss of water. ¡°There is nothing to eat right now, but water is great. It¡¯s good for our body, you know. Help yourself. Please feel at home.¡± Lin Sheng had a smile sshed across his face, but his dark eyes swept over them like a pair of searchlights. Hanyu was a bundle of nerves now, fearing that Lin Sheng might have found out who he was. Nisse was looking down, face blushed, not knowing what to say. ¡°You are so nice. Surely, water contains many minerals, and after sterilization, the protein of the dead bacteria could provide us with many micronutrients and protein. So drinking water is great.¡± Hanyu wore a half-smile as he waffled. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that water was so good.¡± There was an unfathomable expression on Lin Sheng¡¯s face. He suddenly banged the table. ¡°Enough!¡± The force of the impact left behind a ten-centimeter-deep handprint on the hard wooden surface. ¡°Tell me what ability you two used just now! Do you really think those things would only stay inside the little courtyard?¡± There was a smile on Lin Sheng¡¯s face. ¡°Had I not sealed them with my power, those little ck balls, once escaped, could have destroyed thendscapes and buildings in the surroundings. It is very dangerous!¡± Hanyu and Nisse suddenly felt embarrassed. Coming to think of it, they did not really know how many of those dark forces that Lin Xiao used had escaped. ¡°If not for youing just in time, I couldn¡¯t imagine what would happen.¡± After talking through telepathy, Hanyu and Nisse decided that Hanyu would be the one to do the exnation. ¡°So? Who are you two? What is going on?¡± Lin Sheng asked again, staring at the two kids. Hanyu swallowed hard, feeling an enormous pressureing down on him. He tried to calm down and collect himself. ¡°If I were to tell you all of this is just a coincidence, would you believe me?¡± Hanyu forced a smile. ¡°Coincidence?¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. ¡°You two took such a long time to prepare for this ¡®coincidence¡¯? Are you insulting my men¡¯s intelligence?¡± ¡°You men?¡± Hanyu and Nisse were quietly shocked, feeling that something amiss. Chapter 526 - Meeting: Part 2

    526 Meeting: Part 2

    After staying low-key to not reveal anything, Lin Sheng suddenly showed his powerful, supernatural ability, even telling them that his men had monitored them for a while. It shocked the unsuspecting Hanyu and Nisse big time. When did he find out? Both of them were having the same question. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Everyone whoes into contact with my family will have their file on my table the next day,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who¡ªyou two, the two idiots in white outside, or the fellow named Lange.¡± ¡°You-You know everything?¡± The shock on Hanyu¡¯s face was beyond description. He even knew the existence of the Night Patriarch? ¡°Of course, I know. I just didn¡¯t want to stick my nose in. You know, family members should have their own lives and privacy, shouldn¡¯t they?¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°But...¡± Hanyu suddenly changed his mind. Trying not to look too shocked, he changed the subject. ¡°I don¡¯t know about the others, but I have to remind you of one thing.¡± He plucked up his courage and looked Lin Sheng in the eye. ¡°You may want to be more diplomatic with the man named Lange.¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± Lin Sheng cocked an eyebrow. ¡°It¡¯s because... because he¡¯s freaking powerful! Freaking powerful!¡± Hanyu spelled out his words. ¡°Freaking powerful?¡± It aroused Lin Sheng¡¯s interest. ¡°Interesting. I ¡®m surprised! There is someone else in the world is more powerful than I am?¡± He scratched his chin. Hanyu and Nisse¡¯s hearts skipped a beat; what did he exactly mean? He was surprised that someone could be more powerful than he was? Was that a question? Not just Hanyu, but Nisse had started to feel goosebump pop up on her skin. An extreme fear engulfed her as she felt an unexinable air of intimidationing from Lin Sheng. It was as if he was a ck hole, whose mere existence in one spot was causing people to flee from him. Their instincts were shouting at them, reminding them to run, run, and run. However, their sanity had their bodily instincts under control. Before working out Lin Sheng¡¯s general attitude, they were not going to act recklessly. Instincts might tell them that Lin Sheng could be some terrific powerful figure, but Hanyu¡¯s mind was still filled with the image of an invincible, horrifying Night Patriarch of the future world. He did not want Lin Sheng to get killed by rubbing the Night Patriarch the wrong way. So he must try again to speak to him. ¡°Please be careful! Langue¡¯s power is beyond imagination. He is nearly invincible as told in the legends!¡± ¡°Nearly invincible?¡± Lin Sheng chortled. ¡°Doesn¡¯t it mean he is still not invincible?¡± Hanyu was still shaking. Lin Sheng patted him on the head. ¡°Even I can¡¯t call myself invincible. It¡¯s all right, kid. Don¡¯t be afraid.¡± While he spoked, he recalled the little traces of Legendary-ss holy power in the air. However, just a trace of this air had struck fear in Hanyu and Nisse, rendering them motionless. ¡°Let¡¯s go and see Lange whom you describe as invincible.¡± Lin Sheng stood up. ¡°Since you two are not willing to talk, I will not force you two to it. After all, you two came to help my elder sister. Now, the only way is to ask a disinterested third party.¡± Invisible energy engulfed Hanyu and Nisse. It felt warm, massive but not overpowering as the energy healed their bodies from injuries¡ªinjuries from fighting Lin Xiao and those sustained during their practice in the past. ¡°You cane with me if you¡¯re interested. I know where Lange is,¡± Lin Sheng said with a smile and headed to the door. Hanyu and Nisse hesitated. A few secondster, they got up and followed him. ¡°I¡¯m going with you! At least I know a thing or two about Lange, which mighte in handy,¡± said Hanyu after Nisse nudged him from behind. He knew Nisse wanted to repay Lin Sheng for saving their lives. Instead of putting him on the spot, Nisse should have spoken for herself. But what could he do? ¡°Good girl.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s soul had achieved the limit that a human could ever achieve¡ªit was so powerful that he could spot the little tricks the two kids yed at his back. But he did not expose them, just smiling as he walked out the door. The burr-proof door opened with a creak. Two rows of Pdins in white armor were kneeling on one knee in the courtyard. A fewmanders who were also in armor, Adolf, and prefects who were in charge of security surveince in the vicinity, were taking off their helmets and waiting with their heads low. ¡°Teacher,¡± Adolf greeted respectfully when Lin Sheng came out. ¡°Good job! Your all response was swift and timely though I had anticipated it earlier.¡± Pleased, Lin Sheng nodded at them. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We are meeting Lange who, like what the two kids say, is almost invincible.¡± ¡°Almost invincible?¡± Adolf and a fewmanders had amused looks on their faces. ¡°Last time someone had bragged the same.¡± Adolf could not help chuckling. ¡°Now he is a pile of bones...¡± Amander chimed in. It was Isaac. Adolf saved his life before. He joined the Sanctum and became one of the prefects. As everyone started to chuckle, the dead solemn air became more rxing. When Hanyu and Nisse came out of the door, they were again struck dumb, looking at the people draped in fully sealed armor, their full-face helmets with their faces hidden, and the insignia of the Sanctum clearly visible on the sides. Their hearts missed a beat, having a not-so-good feeling about it. Was Lin Xiao¡¯s younger brother, Lin Sheng, a powerful figure in the Sanctum? Hanyu started to fret, swallowing hard in disbelief. Had they not traveled back in time to this era and known how powerful the Sanctum was, they might be able to keep calm, cool, and collected. But now they knew how mighty the Sanctum was and began to understand what it meant to be a higher-order figure in the Sanctum. He used to have many conjectures about Lin Sheng¡¯s strength and background, but he had never thought he was rted to the colossal organization like the Sanctum. Before he could sense of all of this, Lin Sheng was waving his hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go to see Lange.¡± He led the way out of the courtyard while the others put their helmets back on and followed, with Hanyu and Nisse at the rear. Outside, a shiny, expensive ck limousine was waiting. The paint job was the mysterious and exquisite patterns of the Sanctum. Thebination of technology and mysticism gave the car an indescribable sense of luxury. Hanyu climbed into the car in anticipation. Lin Sheng was a powerful figure that had left no record in history, and the Night Patriarch was the powerful being who was set to rule the world. What would happen when the two met? He was worried as much as he was looking forward to it. Two ck men in wind coats were peering at the convoy from behind a garbage bin in an alley far out somewhere. ¡°What is the situation? The man seems to be a senior figure of the Sanctum,¡± said one of the men in surprise. ¡°As surprising as it is, it is also natural if you think carefully. In a time like this when the Sanctum is at its strongest, you can¡¯t underestimate powerful figures like Lin Sheng. They probably just try to conceal their identities,¡± the other man said. ¡°Then, what should we do now?¡± ¡°Follow him and see what he is up to.¡± The two men vanished into thin air in the blink of an eye, as if they had never been there before. Chapter 527 - Meeting: Part 3

    527 Meeting: Part 3

    Inside the caf¨¦, using the fountain pen he had just wiped clean, Lange was writing with an unknownnguage an article about a topic he was interested in. Just then, the fine engine sound of a vehicle came from outside. ¡°Not only one car?¡± Lange¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He looked up and saw the scene outside through the wall. A few ck vehicles, with the paint job covered in the mysterious patterns of the Sanctum, parked up neatly on the side of the road. Following the opening and closing sound of the doors, people were disembarking. Lin Sheng got out of the car slowly, looking up at the sky. The gloomy weather was making him feel a little depressed. He then looked back down at the caf¨¦ on the opposite side of the road. The shop looked less than 50 m2 in size, its facade a dark color tone much like the weather, its sign ck, the lettering blood-red, having a mysterious and strange vibe. ¡°Night Order Caf¨¦,¡± Lin Sheng spelled out the words on the sign. A few seconds after he got out of the car, the other powerful figures of the Sanctum had gotten out of their cars, quietly surrounding the caf¨¦ that sat alone on a plot ofnd. Not long after, a low singing voice rose around the caf¨¦. They were not only in an encircling formation but also summoning the massive power from the sacred crystal font in the sanctum. Once that was done, the area within a few hundred meters from there would be the territory of the holy power, and all the other energies would be expelled. It was a spell of holy power, developed by the Sanctum HQ in Shermanton. Once a holy power zone formed, even the Oppressor-ss clerics could defeat the Six-wingers there. That was the so-called Home Suppression. Lin Sheng did not really care. He knew that the really powerful beings would find this spell a non-challenge. It was as good as not there. But what he did not expect was that the man inside the caf¨¦, Lange, did not even bother to stop what they were doing. Apparently Lange did not care if the spell was sessful or not. ¡°Interesting.¡± Lin Sheng leveled his eyesight, his dark eyes seemingly piercing through the wall to look at the other pair of eyes inside. Hanyu and Nisse, standing behind him, started to shake in their boots as they were sensing something amiss big time. The force fields of the Sanctum and that of the man inside the caf¨¦ were shing, each side trying to get absolute control of the surrounding space. These massive and oppressive force fields appeared to be too overpowering for ordinary bodies like the two of them, who started to gasp for air. Lin Sheng did not look back, just reaching his hand to dab Nisse by her hair behind him. Just then, the two felt better. The oppressive effect of the force field had reduced its influence on them. Hanyu was greatly relieved. The oppressive feeling as if a storm wasing down on him was the most horrific scene he had ever encountered in the future. It gave him the heebie-jeebies. ¡°Be careful!¡± he reminded Lin Sheng. ¡°The man has unlimited power. Don¡¯t get into a battle of attrition with him!¡± He even knew this? Lin Sheng nced at him in surprise but said nothing, just walking slowly toward the caf¨¦ entrance. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± A big hand came from one side, patting on Hanyu¡¯s head. It was Adolf, his voice telling him he was smiling as he spoke inside the helmet. ¡°Teacher is invincible.¡± So much confidence? Mumbling in his mind, Hanyu had guessed who Lin Sheng actually was. But whatever it was in his mind, he and Nisse, these people from the Sanctum, and the man from the future hiding inside, as well as the powerful being from the Dark Pantheon peeping at this ce were concerned about the profound meeting. Standing in front of the entrance, Lin Sheng signaled others to stay put while he would go in there alone. The grayish-brown wooden doors slowly swung open inward by itself as if they were weing his presence. ¡°It has been a long time since Ist saw a customer like you.¡± A middle-aged man, hair swept back, impably dressed as if every inch of his clothes was iron-pressed, was standing in the aisle in the middle of the caf¨¦, his deep-set eyes staring at Lin Sheng, who stood at the doorway. His tone of voice was calm, cool, and collected, but his strange aura exuded a hint of evilness. ¡°Since you¡¯re so powerful, why don¡¯t you step forward to help fight the cktide? The country and the people have made you what you are, is this how you repay society?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s face looked calm, but what he said was something everyone found surprising. ¡°As a powerful being, you should join the Sanctum to protect the people and fight for the weak! Not hiding here in a corner, enjoying the fruits of others¡¯bor!¡± As Lin Sheng strode into the caf¨¦, his sense of presence got stronger. Lange was wide-mouthed. For a moment, he did not know how to respond. He had thought of a hundred and one things that Lin Sheng would say, but Lin Sheng still caught him unawares. If it was others who said this to him, he would have smashed them dead to the ground. But this person was different; he could be very well his future brother-inw. He could kill whoever he liked, but not the younger brother of his future wife. The air became still. As Lin Sheng came closer, Lange swallowed hard. He hesitated. It was only after a while that he awkwardly tried to defend himself. ¡°I killed many cktide monsters...¡± ¡°A hero in the dark?¡± Lin Sheng sneered. ¡°Hero should not stay in obscurity or ask for nothing in return. If you pay something, you must get something in return. If nature could not do this, we will do it ourselves!¡± Lin Sheng came up in front of Lange. They were now less than two meters apart. Standing about a foot taller than Lange, he could only look down at him. ¡°Do you really think it is noble to be a guarding angel but not ask anything in return? Wrong! You are setting a terrible example for others! Heroes deserve flowers and apuse, praises, and fame! This way, it will motivate more people to be heroes, striving to be heroes!¡± He patted Lange on the shoulder. ¡°Come and join the Sanctum. Humans are facing the threat of extinction, we need more people of strength and power! I can feel your pure human bloodline inside you. So the world needs you! Humanity needs you! The future needs you even more! ¡°Don¡¯t you want your children to live in the healthy sunshine? Come! Join us! For a better world, we strive together!¡± He held out a hand to Lange. ¡°Let the world know that we have made sacrifices, tried, and fought! We will seed in the end!¡± He had a holy and righteous look on his face and powerful personal charisma. Lange looked at him, dumbstruck. Chapter 528 - New Hope: Part 1

    Chapter 528 New Hope: Part 1

    A crisp breeze blew through Lange in the caf¨¦. He knew as if by instinct and fate that Lin Xiao was his future wife, but it did not mean he knew his future brother-inw was this quirky. He was starting to doubt if his decision to see Lin Xiao as his future wife was a little too reckless. He paused, standing on the spot, giving himself a mental kick. ¡°Maybe we can have a cup of coffee now?¡± Lange suggested cautiously. ¡°Coffee?¡± There was not a hint suggesting that Lange was moved. Lin Sheng knew his words had failed. Not that he was expecting he could win a powerful being of this ss over to his side with just a few words. He could already roughly make out Lange¡¯sbat strength in the minute he saw him. He was at least on a Ptinate level, an advancedbat strength that was worth winning over. That was why he first taught Lange the lesson of life the moment they met. If he could convince Lange the first time around, everybody would be happy. If not, it did not matter much; he had nothing to lose. ¡°Coffee is not my cup of tea. Water, please.¡± Lin Sheng sat at the nearest coffee table, seeming really at home. ¡°Very well. Just a minute.¡± Lange sat down in a chair, turning to his staff. ¡°Dongmen.¡± Soon, two sses of water drifted over and were ced in front of Lin Sheng and himself. Lin Sheng took a sip, eyes still on Lange as if he was about to find out what was in his mind. ¡°You have contact with Lin Xiao, my elder sister, haven¡¯t you?¡± Lin Sheng did not beat around the bush. Lange¡¯s heart skipped a beat, but his face remained calm. ¡°Yeah. It was just a chance encounter. Probably because we share the same kind of physique, it is a mutual attraction of the like-minded. It is fate.¡± ¡°Attraction of the like-minded? I don¡¯t believe in fate. Tell me, what is your n? Just selling coffee here?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°There is nothing wrong with selling coffee. In a time like this, as one of the ordinary folk, I prefer to live a simple life. Is there anything wrong with it?¡± Lange asked back. Of course, he was anything but ordinary folk. He was trying to regain control of things. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s wrong! You have the power; you¡¯re destined to be anything but simple! Pretending to be like normal folk is just deceiving yourself,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°You... don¡¯t you think you have gone overboard by talking like this?¡± Lange found his future brother-inw a little too aggressive to his liking. ¡°You are not a normal person, and you should know that being extraordinary will attract trouble. Such trouble is disastrous to ordinary people like Lin Xiao,¡± Lin Sheng argued with his perverted logic. ¡°Are you suspecting that what happened to Lin Xiao was my doing?¡± Lange smelled what Lin Sheng meant. ¡°I¡¯m not suspecting. You¡¯re the one who did it!¡± Lin Sheng said unequivocally. ¡°What does it have to do with me?¡± Lange was indignant, almost choking. ¡°It is something inborn in our elder sister!¡± ¡°Then tell me, for the years I lived with her, nothing had ever happened until she met you. Why is that?¡± Lin Sheng scoffed. ¡°How do I know?¡± Lange knew if he did not sort the things out now, he would find himself in a pile of sh*t soon¡ªin fact, he was in one now. ¡°Take along, hard look at it. As a man of extraordinaire yet hiding your capability is a waste. During a challenging time like a cktide outbreak, we, the Sanctum, need people like you.¡± He got to his feet. ¡°That¡¯s all for today. Please think about it.¡± Lange looked on as Lin Sheng headed to the door. He suddenly thought of something and called out, ¡°Someone from the Dark Pantheon came to talk to me, wanting me to join them.¡± ¡°The Dark Pantheon?¡± Lin Sheng stopped in his tracks. ¡°Besides, please watch out for the Astral Mere. They have been collecting the abilities of the Paragons of Destiny. Something evilly fishy must be going on,¡± Lange reminded him. ¡°Thanks for the heads-up.¡± Lin Sheng turned his head partially, looking at him. ¡°But you have a bad dark force inside you. If not careful, it could adversely affect your personality, making you like a boar with a sore head. You can seek help from the Sanctum if you need it.¡± Lin Sheng was itching to test Lange¡¯s strength, but Lange had remained diplomatic from the beginning. It ended up with Lange warning him about the threats he might face. With this, he felt he could not bring himself to fight Lange. At least not openly. ¡°I know.¡± Lange nodded in acknowledgment as if he was giving it a serious thought. He knew he was facing the threat from the dark side of him. He had been content with the ordinary all along just so he could better control his dark personality. He looked down on organizations like the Sanctum. Those Ptinates looked like a degraded version of himself. He had defeated them many times and lost interest in them. However, after meeting his future brother-inw, his interest in the Sanctum was ignited. If there were powerful beings of this level in the Sanctum, maybe they could really help him suppress his dark personality. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡± Lange nodded at him. ¡°See you, then.¡± Lin Sheng felt a little disappointed that he did not get the chance to beat him. But it was all right; there would be another day. In fact, soon, he believed that they were going to meet again. He strode out of the caf¨¦. Looking at Hanyu and Nisse, who appeared like a bundle of nerves, and the powerful ones of the Sanctum, who was at the ready for a gang fight, he smiled. ¡°All right. Next, we are going to discuss how to deal with those little bugs out there.¡± The little bugs he was talking about were the two men in white who meandered around, vandalizing the area around his house recently. He had spotted them very early on. But the intel he got earlier told him that they were protecting Lin Xiao and that the spells they rigged around his house were mostly of containment in nature, not to harm Lin Xiao. So he had left them to it. But since he had sorted out everything else, it was their turn. Hanyu and Nisse were definitely keeping many secrets to themselves, but he was not going to force them to spill their secrets. Everyone had secrets. Sometimes, it was best to just let it be. Lin Sheng had no intention to ask, but Hanyu and Nisse had questions. ¡°Big Brother Lin Sheng, do you mind I call you this?¡± Hanyu, nudged by Nisse from behind, asked. Others looked at Hanyu, sizing him up as if they were shocked that he had the audacity to call Lin Sheng his big brother. ¡°Whatever you findfortable.¡± Lin Sheng was starting to like the two kids. ¡°You two have anything to say to me?¡± He could see it in their eyes. ¡°Please be careful about the Soul Relics,¡± a crisp female voice sounded directly in his head. Apparently, it was Nisse. ¡°The Soul Relics?¡± Lin Sheng was startled, but he quickly came to his senses and talked with her discreetly using some specialmunication ability. ¡°Yup, it is something that can let you move in the cktide for a longer period. Look out for it,¡± Nisse reminded him. Chapter 529 - New Hope: Part 2

    Chapter 529 New Hope: Part 2

    It gave him the ability to move inside the cktide? At first, Lin Sheng thought it was just something regr, but hearing about that effect knocked his socks off. Even he did not dare to go into the cktide recklessly. Not just because of the corrosiveness¡ªwith his level of strength now, he did not have to worry about that¡ªbut many horrible monsters hidden inside the cktide. The nine-fingered ck hand he metst time was one of them. If more ck hands like that emerged, he would be on his knees, especially when cktide was everywhere. It reminded him about the Nightmare in in the dream where even the demigod Dreamweaver inside the Divine Pir had been corroded and fallen. As powerful as Lin Sheng was, he still did not think he was anywhere near the demigod. ¡°Can you tell me where the Soul Relics are? What is it exactly?¡± he asked in his mind. ¡°It was the residue of two powerful beings, who came to this world by ident and died here. I¡¯m afraid the Dark Pantheon has one of them. If you could inform the Sanctum and ask them to do something, maybe you could get your hand on the other one before the Astral Mere does,¡± Nisse exined. ¡°I got it. Thanks, Nisse.¡± Lin Sheng patted her on the head. She looked down, feeling embarrassed, her face red like a tomato. ... The cktide outbreak had cut offmunication between all defensive cities. Each city was now akin to an ind on the open sea, cut off from resources and struggling to survive. Some defensive cities that produced their own food could still hang on. But those cities that produced nothing could only survive by eating the cktide monsters. Soon, some meat of the monsters, which did not show any side effects in the short term, spread in different defensive cities. As the attack of the cktide intensified, ordinary folks in the defensive cities started to manifest changes as the lords of the city governed with different policies. Some cities started to evolve to be a ce where the powerful took all and the existence of the weak was just to serve the powerful. Some cities, however, still maintained the same pre-cktidew. Some cities hadpletely degenerated into a monarchy, where a few powerful beings had absolute control over the others, treating them as their own ythings and belongings. Under this macro trend and because of poverty, many ordinary folks, having no choice but to consume the meat of the cktide monsters, started to experience changes in their bodies. The contamination from eating the monster meat was slowly turning them into half-human, half-monster beings. What surprised people more was, these half-human, half-monster beings could roam inside the cktide for a brief time without getting attacked by the other monsters. These contaminated beings could synthesize something called Soulhunter Stone in their bodies. By wearing this thing on the body, people could safely roam in the cktide without getting attacked by monsters. Soon, a special profession, called Soul Hunter, began to emerge and be popr in many defensive cities. The soul hunters would go into the cktide, hunting the monsters, and use the monster¡¯s blood to make Soulhunter Stone. By doing this, they could get more food, resources, and social benefits. Other powerful beings could buy these Soulhunter Stones from them so they could roam freely inside the cktide. At this time, dark energy had nearly be useless. Dark energy cultivators, who could not fight the cktide, still enjoyed more excess to the city¡¯s resources. Soon, however, a Darksider had a conflict with a soul hunter. A melee broke out, and the newly emerging soul hunters were quickly suppressed. But this suppression had also sown a seed of rebellion. ... Lin Sheng sat in a prime seat in the Holy Spirit Pce, staring in surprise at the Night Lord. ¡°Pardon me. I didn¡¯t get you. Can you repeat that?¡± The Night Lord¡¯s meticulous appearance was gone. He looked a sight. When he was still in the world of ckfeather, his family took care of everything for him. Someone constantly reminded him to be mindful of his etiquette and appearance. After he came to this world, no one could remind him to keep himself in good shape. He was now wearing pajamas, and his hair was sticking out like a scarecrow. His teeth were so yellow as if he had not brushed them in a year, and his face had the worst five o¡¯clock shadow in the entire universe. No matter how handsome he used to be, he was a dead loss now. The Night Lord, who used to be elegant and meticulous-looking, had be an unmotivated Sloth King. ¡°I said, I have achieved a breakthrough. I think it¡¯s because I ate an extra two packs of potato chips,¡± the Night Lord said matter-of-factly. ¡°It felt like I was going to give up during the breakthrough process. If not for the support from the potato chips, you guys might not even see me here anymore!¡± ¡°You¡¯ve achieved a breakthrough?¡± Lin Sheng pulled a face that told him ¡°you¡¯re not freaking kidding me¡±. What level was the Night Lord at now? He was at the limit of a Ptinate. He had achieved breakthrough once, from regr Ptinate to the apex of Ptinate, through holy power cultivation. Now, he came here, telling everyone that he had another breakthrough? You must be freaking kidding me. Lin Sheng looked at him in disbelief. Thest time he heard from Khad, the Night Lord had been sozy that he did not even want to get out of bed. Now this fellow came and told him he had achieved a breakthrough? What kind of realm was it after the limit of Ptinate? It was the level where Faldt was, the Magister-ss, just one step away from what Lin Sheng defined as the Legend realm. ¡°Yes, you have heard it right. I have made a breakthrough.¡± The Sloth King was liberating himself, picking a huge chunk of booger out of his nose. With the flick of his fingers, the booger flew andnded on the floor of the hall, bouncing up a few times before rolling up in front of Sin Dragon Matriarch, who looked on in disgust. Telling herself to calm down, Sin Dragon Matriarch held off her urge to give the Night Lord the good news. She willed out a gust of gray air to purify that goddamn booger. ¡°I didn¡¯t getzy! If you don¡¯t believe me, I can show you mytest achievement.¡± The Night Lord attempted to stand straight as his skin started to turn a pale gray. His eyes were pure white-gold, and even his stubble, which had pieces of food residue stuck on, grew into a beard. His tousled hair, dyed in holy power, turned him into what might look like Santa us. ¡°See! A dark-skinned Santa us!¡± The Night Lord patted his chest proudly. Lin Sheng looked at him, not saying a word, but telling himself to calm down. Was this guying here to test his patience? Although he could sense from the intensity of power fluctuation that the Night Lord had be stronger, appearance-wise, he was too ridiculous. ¡°I havee at once after achieving the breakthrough. You can rest assured that I will do an excellent job if you let me be in charge of Shermanton.¡± The Night Lord patted his chest again. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are thinking, but... if you can take care of your appearance, it would be more convincing,¡± Lin Sheng said with a shrug. ¡°Am I not doing what you want now?¡± At least the Night Lord knew he was part of Lin Sheng¡¯s soul, never forgetting his duty. Chapter 530 - New Hope: Part 3

    530 New Hope: Part 3

    As long as Lin Sheng had not found the powerful being that could fight the cktide, he would not be able to withdraw to his quiet ce to do his cultivation and stuff. Since the Night Lord had transcended, obviously, and together with the power from the sacred crystal font in the sanctum, he might be able to fight the nine-fingered ck hand. In that case, Lin Sheng would have time and energy to withdraw to himself to do his stuff. ¡°That will be great. Since you can take care of the things here, I can go and have some quiet time.¡± He had fixed things about Lin Xiao and talked to Lange. There was nothing else holding him back now. It was time to cultivate his divinity. He needed to deal with the Astral Mere and the soul relics, but his current strength did not allow him to stay inside the cktide for too long. It might not corrode him at that moment, but since there was a better alternative, why not use it? So he decided to form divinity first. After that, he could absorb the Godspeed of Divinity in his hand. With a Godspeed ability, he couldfortably handle the situation in Shermanton and Henricqal. ¡°Just to let you know that the Steel Lord has gone to pieces. He needs some quiet moments. Meanwhile, Khad has been secretive recently, I heard that she¡¯s opening a beauty center or something,¡± the Night Lord said. It was getting Lin Sheng¡¯s goat. These guys seemed to have too much time on their hands, fiddling while Rome burns. Just when the cktide started to stabilize, they immediately became footloose and fancy-free. ¡°Okay, I know.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°That¡¯s all about it. Go do your quiet time. I will take care of things here.¡± The Night Lord waved his hand, assuring Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng would feel less worried had it been others. But the Night Lord? He was not so sure. Anyway, he did not have other powerful beings whom he could rely on now. He talked with the Night Lord for a few more moments to make sure he had really made the breakthrough into the Magister realm. This guy had only cultivated less than half an hour a day, yet he could still get ahead of others in achieving the breakthrough. Inparison, the Steel Lord had been cultivating twenty-two hours a day but still not gotten near the limit of Ptinate. Life was so unfair. Sighing, Lin Sheng looked on as the Night Lord went out of his sight. After that, he looked at the Centaur Lord, Fairy Empress, and Sin Dragon Matriarch; three of them were inside the Holy Spirit Pce, witnessing what the Night Lord had said and done just now. ¡°You all have anything to tell me?¡± The Centaur Lord stepped forward at once. ¡°Our honorable, supreme, invincible Master of the Holy Spirit Pce, the most powerful being in the world of the holy spirits, Your Majesty. ¡°I, Khur Warspear, the Centaur Lord, have sorted out everything on my side. The cktide has just surfaced in a few tiny mysterious realms. It¡¯s not a problem yet. I have sent men to monitor them. So far, there have been no problems.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Lin Sheng nodded, eyes looking to one side. ¡°Sin Dragon Matriarch, what about the little mysterious realm under your jurisdiction?¡± ¡°No cktide has appeared yet,¡± she replied. ¡°The scale of the cktide on my side is a little toorge forfort,¡± the Fairy Empress said. ¡°The empire is retreating. There are many nasty, unkible monsters emerging from the cktide.¡± ¡°Can you stop them?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°I can, but there is just one me,¡± she replied. ¡°Then, do it. Anything else, wait until Ie out from my cultivation session.¡± As the threat of the cktide increased, Lin Sheng was desperate to find out what was the cktide antidote that Ancellia, the Light of Hope, had left behind. Why did the Nightmare in not leave behind any signs that showed it had been flooded by the cktide before, just like other worlds? Other than signs of war and mutated monsters on the Nightmare in, there was nothing about the cktide. Perhaps this was the credit of the Dreamweaver, or Ancellia might have left behind some clues and methods. Now, Lin Sheng could almost be certain that the cktide was following him. He spent the longest time in the Fairy Empire, so the corrosion of cktide there was the most severe. In contrast, he just stayed for a moment in the little secret realms. These ces had basically no outbreak of cktide. His time spent in the dark spirit caverns, where the Holy Spirit Pce was, was the longest. So this ce had the most terrible level of corrosion of cktide. Now, mostmanders had gone to the borders to fight the cktide monsters. He must find a way to iste and resist the cktide if he wanted to enjoyplete peace of mind. After sorting out the trivial stuff and left a message to his family and sending men to monitor the movements in three different ces, he entered the dream from the Holy Spirit Pce. He wanted to do his quiet time in the Nightmare in. Because there the flow of time was much faster than the other ces. More so because the flow of time in the Holy Spirit Pce was also faster than the actual world, seven days spent there was equal to one day in the actual world. Thepound effect of the flows of time in both ces would save Lin Sheng a ton of cultivation time. Lin Sheng returned to the Nightmare in and released the golden-red humanoid, asking him for information. He then entered Lake Yu, starting his semi-conscious state to form his divinity. He was not sure how long it was going to take. It depended on his power of understanding. Like the golden-red humanoid said, if he could figure it out quickly, he would achieve it in a few months. If not, it would probably take decades and there was no guarantee of it. Just after Lin Sheng went into his cultivation session, the Sanctum hadunched a massive hunting operation. They caught all the spies of the Astral Mere and Dark Pantheon hiding in Shermanton and Henricqal and purified them into holy souls. The operation, led by the Night Lord, started a city-wide screening campaign. Tenko Kasumi, using her extreme Ptinate power, killed several people of the Dark Pantheon and monsters from the Ashen World, and stabilized the situation. The two sanctums, with the mutual exchange with the Holy Spirit Pce, had so many Ptinates that it knocked the socks off every defensive city. No matter how indignant the Dark Pantheon and Astral Mere were, they had no choice but to groan and bear it. A few days after the situation stabilized, a team from one of the defensive cities arrived Henricqal. The team had not only brought the hope of mutual exchange and assistance, it had also ushered in a new dawn in fighting the cktide to the ordinary people. The profession of soul hunter was gradually spread to the areas under the rule of the Sanctum. Soulhunting stone amulets, made by the soul hunters, had been snapped up like hot cake among the transcendents. The purification power of the holy power could cleanse the toxins and impurities from the monster meat, making eating monster meat a safe option. And this was what the soul hunter most cared about. The soul hunters categorized the contamination of food and water into eleven categories. Category 11 was for the purest food and water, not just free from any harmful elements but also with added benefits to the body. What the team could never have imagined was that all the food and water the people living in the areas ruled by the Sanctum were atst of Category 8 and above. Category-8 food and water in the outside world were super expensive. Only those wealthy and powerful had the means to enjoy. Phenomena like that rendered everyone in the team dumbstruck. They thought they hade to Heaven. As a result, when the team finally had to leave, only half of the team members had returned to where they came from. The rest had be loyal followers of the Sanctum. Henricqal was called the Holy City now. Its name was spread far and wide by the exploration team. The soulhunting stone amulet could only be used once, and effective for a few days in the cktide, but it attracted the attention of the Sanctum. The soul relics and soulhunting stone amulets had be the prime subjects of study in the Sanctum. Chapter 531 - Plotting: Part 1

    531 Plotting: Part 1

    Time flew. It had been two weeks since Lin Sheng cut himself off from the outside, doing this cultivation. But someone from the Sanctum was keeping in touch with his family, so they were informed of what Lin Sheng was doing. It sounded as if Lin Sheng was busy with one thing one day and doing another thing the next day. But all these were just covers that Lin Sheng had nned in advance to keep his family from worrying about him. The real him was hibernating in the Holy Spirit Pce. Two weeks were neither long nor short, but it was not clear how long Lin Sheng, the King of the Holy Spirits was going to take for his cultivation. For the average person, the smokescreen might work. However, the powerful beings were too smart to fall for that; they had an exceptionally keen eye and perceptibility. It was impossible to feign the aura of powerful beings. Hence, the Dark Pantheon and Astral Mere had gotten wind of Lin Sheng¡¯s disappearance from the very beginning. The other doomsday cults, which were suppressed when Lin Sheng was around, were taking this opportunity to spread their teachings. All reckless forces thought this was an opportunity. Shermanton and Henricqal, the two highly developed holy cities, had long been coveted by enemies. Some forces were salivating over them. ... In the third defensive city of Miga, a convoy of petrol-burning motorcycles was running through the mist of the ck Tide. The riders were wrapped in clothes, wearing goggles that fully protected their eyes. There was no way to tell their gender and age. Everyone was covered in thickyers of protective gear. The convoy had traveled from one defensive city to another defensive city. They were a convoy of soul hunters, putting their lives on the line to deliver messages between defensive cities. As all satellitemunications were down, the only way to exchange information with one another was through the human messenger. At the front of the convoy, a small built member was whispering to the convoy leader. ¡°Every time I go to DC3 (Defensive City 3), I always have that bad feeling. The ce is dead. Everyone has that hopeless gaze in their eyes; they look terrifying.¡± ¡°That makes them stand out,¡± the convoy leader said nonchntly. ¡°Stand out? If not for the city lord governed like a cock crowing on his own dunghill and screwed things up, DC3 would not have degraded to this stage. I can only describe it in one word: horrible!¡± The small built convoy member sighed. Despite being covered in a mask, the voice was undoubtedly female. ¡°It¡¯s none of our business. We just do our job,¡± the convoy leader said. ¡°What about DC2? Miga had integrated all information with us. There are only three DCs, other than the unique holy cities discovered not long ago. I think DC2 is going to be the most solid one in the future, not even the holy cities can match.¡± ¡°How do you know the situation there when you haven¡¯t been to the holy cities?¡± another convoy member chimed in. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be there to know. I have heard about it,¡± the girl retorted. ¡°The biggest function of a DC is to protect everyone from corrosion and harm. DC2 is the only city controlled by soul hunters like us. It is still the best in terms of the recruitment of members and the provision of welfare to the people. ¡°Perhaps one day, when we feel like retiring, we can settle down in DC2. Do you know what the other convoys call the city?¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°The Defensive City of Wind.¡± ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°The city lord of DC2 is a gentleman going by the nickname ¡®Wind.¡¯ He is also one of the strongest soul hunters since the beginning,¡± the girl exined. ¡°We¡¯d better shut up and hurry up because we will soon run out of uncontaminated water.¡± After running through the mist of the ck Tide for a few days, everyone needed to take some rest and ate the food and drank the water with an extremely low level of contamination. Otherwise, even soul hunters would be still susceptible to the corrosion of the ck mist. If that happened, they would die a lot quicker than ordinary people. Everyone fell silent again after the warning from the convoy leader. Staying silent was the basic SOP (Standard Operating Protocol) to travel in the ck mist. That was because many monsters prey using their auditory senses. Many more monsters emitted little sound when they moved. Without staying quiet and keeping themselves alert, they could be lunch for the monsters, so no one dared to talk for long. Still traveling through the mist, the convoy passed through streets and remnants of buildings, the ruins of a human settlement. Buildings had copsed and some still half stood; none of them was in one piece. The convoy slowly ran straight through the ruins and toward the destination ahead. On one side of the convoy, in the dark corner filled with the mist of the ck Tide, A figure, d in a gray robe with a three-star pattern, was wrapped up in some secret ck fabric, revealing only a pair of bloodshot brown eyes, staring as the motorcycle convoy disappeared into the distance. Standing in the darkness, the figure looked like a cheetah waiting for its prey, extremely calm and quiet. ¡°Defensive cities... soul hunters? The gray-robed figure snickered indistinctly. ¡°Go kill them all!¡± As the figure spoke, the shadow at the back stretched and spiraled into a dozen strands of ck silk before, flying toward the convoy. ¡°I pity them...¡± The gray-robed man turned around and walked deeper into the darkness without bothering to check the oue. This was the ck Tide territory. He could not stay here for too long. He needed to leave as soon as he had done his things. ¡°A bunch of trash who try to challenge the original order will eventually be the dust of history¡ªvanish for good!¡± After letting out another sigh, the gray-robed man could vaguely hear the horrified screaming from the far distance. ¡°Only dark energy is the way. Half-human, half-monster trash are only fit to be tools.¡± ... Inside DC1, everything and everyone went in an orderly manner. People were selling their merchandise in the city squares and in the streets. They put up a sign that told buyers their barter terms. Ansel had just returned from outside the city. As a member of the soul hunters, his biggest hobby was to find the stuff he liked in this ce. Living on the edge made the soul hunters think nothing of parting with their money. After all, no one knew if he or she would die in their next mission. So they enjoyed it while they still could. They would not think about tomorrow but live in the present. That had also caused some people among the soul hunters to be a little too rxed about their moral codes. They imed to be the followers of the deity of love and always organized some hookup parties. Chapter 532 - Plotting: Part 2

    532 Plotting: Part 2

    Most of the partygoers were ordinary people, but there was nock of soul hunters, too. Many ordinary folks, for some reason or other, would choose to do this. The moral degradation of the soul hunters had been a concern. Ansel knew this problem, but it was not something he alone could change. Since the soul hunters were still rtively weak, the Darksider groups always found fault with and suppressed them. Among the more self-indulgent soul hunters had several powerful ones. So everybody just had to groan and bear it. Ansel meandered in the streets, scanning the goods that were spread out for sale on the ground. There were precious jewelry of the past, expired instant noodles, and also various weird-looking stones and woods. The cktide was not static. It moved like a sea with low and high tides. So many people, to get some food, would wait for the tide to recede and salvage anything they could find useful near the edge of the cktide. Ansel called them the scavengers, the number of which had increased recently. He frowned when his eyes swept over a scavenger stall. There were few things for sale today. Asides from some stones and woods, there were only some food and water they scavenged from the abandoned buildings. Many of these things were not consumable because of the contamination. But the soul hunters might have ways to purify them. They looked for the clerics, the believer of the holy light, to purify the things, separating the edible part from the non-edible part, which could be regarded as food. Ansel was looking for a popr scavenger stall where he usually found the things he wanted. But today, the scavenger was not here. ¡°Where is S? I don¡¯t see her around today?¡± he asked the other stall owner. ¡°S will not open her stall anymore. She has be a member of the Cult of Salvation. There is food and drink there and she won¡¯t give a rip about this little money.¡± The stall owner sounded sour grapes. ¡°The Cult of Salvation?¡± Ansel was a famous soul hunter leader around here with a dozen soul hunters in his group. One of the group members had joined the Cult of Salvation, and he had never heard from him again since then. ¡°What? The Salvation thing is growing that fast?¡± Ansel was surprised. ¡°They were neither here nor therest time. But for the past week, they have been growing. I heard that they were giving out food. The benefits are wonderful!¡± Another stall owner said enviously. ¡°Benefits are wonderful? Where do they get the food? Are they all from the holy cities?¡± Ansel was surprised. ¡°Holy cities? Who knows? They might be forces like the holy cities growing their down line,¡± one said in a low voice. Ansel said nothing. People will find excuses, no matter what, if they want to deceive themselves. Those stall owners started to waffle away about the Cult of Salvation. One particr sentence caught Ansel¡¯s attention. ¡°It¡¯s said that there are Salvation cultists in the holy cities!¡± ¡°The holy cities...¡± Ansel mumbled to himself. He had a bad feeling about it. ... Khad was walking in the drizzle with an umbre in hand on the street of Shermanton. It had been over two weeks since her original body was in cultivation. Within these two weeks, she and her avatars would roam around, patrolling the streets to make sure the city was in order. The city was safe and peaceful because of her. Khad Beauty Center was not just a taboo name but a hallmark. ¡°If you don¡¯t listen, I¡¯m going to send you to Khad Beauty Center!¡± It was not just something parents said to make their kids toe the line. ¡°If you cry again, I¡¯m going to ask Khad to take you away!¡± This was a phrase some parents like to use. These words just vividly showed Khad had an upright image in the holy city. Whoever found to have floated thew, especially those who willfully exploited the loopholes of thew and walked in the gray area, would be given a beauty package by Khad for free. Of course, she was not making their faces but hearts better. Using some whitewash technique exclusive to the Sanctum, every customering to Khad Beauty Center woulde out like a breath of fresh air. They were willing to drop everything and join the big family of Khad Beauty Center, bing part of Khad. ¡°This is my n to showcase my sense of aesthetics,¡± Khad recalled what she had done and was proud of herself. ¡°My original body is in cultivation, I, as his brothers and sisters, should be helping each other. The beauty center not only beautifies people but also the city. I¡¯m not only giving a facial but also the facial of the heart to the people of this city.¡± Khad felt a heavy sense of mission and responsibility. People might find her scary, but that did not make her dislike it. Walking past a newly opened bakery, she looked inside the shop through the ss entrance. A shopkeeper with a morbid face was exining something to a few customers. Despite they were a dozen meters away from her, separated by a thick ss door, Khad could make out their conversation. There were terms rted to the Cult of Salvation mentioned asionally, as the woman shopkeeper exined. She seemed to try to persuade the customers to join the cult. They would get to buy bread at a 90% discount if they joined. Ny percent? That was as good as giving it out freely. Two customers were seemingly moved. Khad stood outside the entrance, quietly observing what was going on inside. She used to hear about the Cult of Salvation, which seemed to be a harmless civilian society. It had even filed a record at the Sanctum for their activities. It was all legal, no hanky-panky of promoting evil thoughts or riot. What they were doing was only one thing: collecting materials from the cktide at each tide interval and then reselling them to the members at dirt cheap prices. Khad did not give a hoot who this tiny cult survived and who they did recruitment. All she was concerned about was whether there was anything fishy going on with them. Still standing outside the door and listening, she made sure there was nothing unusual in their conversation. After that, she moved on and headed to other ces. However, unknown to her, after the two customers consumed the food that the shopkeeper gave them, their pupils started to undergo very minute changes, unnoticed by the customers. They were genuinely d that they were able to purchase some bread at an extremely low price. Chapter 533 - Plotting: Part 3

    Chapter 533 Plotting: Part 3

    Henricqal. In a basement well-lit by candle lights, a middle-aged woman, d in a gray robe with a three-star pattern, was raising a small ss filled with scarlet-red wine in the air. ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s toast for the sess of another meeting!¡± She cheered. A few dozens of wine sses rose in the air with jubtion. Before this, when they were still down and out, drinking the finest wine in a time like this was something unimaginable. Most of them came not from the upper crust in the safe zone. Just being able to stay alive was the best they could hope for. It had never crossed their minds that one day, they could savor the contamination-free red wine as much as they liked, like what they were doing now. ¡°Joining the Cult of Salvation is the best decision I¡¯ve ever made in my life!¡± ¡°We¡¯re all brothers and sisters, helping one another is the future!¡± ¡°All thanks to the prtes¡¯ selfless sacrifices!¡± ¡°Thank you, Prtes!¡± The congregation raised their wine sses again. In a dark corner unseen by everyone, an elder, wearing the same three-starred robe, was observing the congregation with a sneer. ¡°It has spread far and wide. It is worth all the resources we have spent.¡± ¡°Absolutely, Sage¡­ Um¡­ I should call you Your Majesty the Sage King now. Your Majesty, the n is going smoothly,¡± said another person, a young man with bright-pink long hair hiding in the darkness. ¡°Your Majesty, you¡¯re absolutely right. As solid as the rule in the holy city is, it still has one fatal weakness: the people.¡± ¡°Yeah, it is the people who make or break a rule. The people are the foundation of the holy city. The holy power in their sacred crystal fontes from the people¡¯s faith. The Sanctum thinks we don¡¯t know that. But we found that out long ago. No secret is permanent in the world.¡± The old man nodded. ¡°Seeds have been nted in these people. We just need to wait for the right time to activate them, guiding them to move toward the oue we want,¡± said the pink long-haired young man. ¡°If not for His Majesty wanting to take over the holy city peacefully, we would have wiped out the Sanctum at once, not having to sneak around like thieves like what we do now.¡± The old man sounded indignant. ¡°His Majesty has his own n. We shouldn¡¯t judge him.¡± ¡°Fine, my bad.¡± ¡°Now that the master of the Sanctum has disappeared. He could be tied up in something important and not to be interrupted. This is exactly our opportunity.¡± The pink, long-haired young man continued. ¡°His Majesty has predicted that there will be a major movement of the cktide in a few days. By then, we can seize the opportunity to take over the Sanctum!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a long-awaited day.¡± The old man guffawed. ¡°Back then, even the master of the Sanctum and the Underworld Magister Faldt were yed by me. They are just a bunch of brainless vige idiots.¡± ¡°Absolutely. If not for His Majesty wanting a nonviolent transition, it would not have been their turns toe on to the world¡¯s stage. But then, things have also yed into our hands. They have at least saved us a lot of time to stabilize things up.¡± The two exchanged a look and chuckled. If everything went smoothly, it would not be long before they moved up to the upper crust of society and became the ruler ss. ¡­ Other than the two holy cities, the Cult of Salvation had also spread to all defensive cities. No one knew from where the cult got so many supplies. They had been distributing an enormous amount of food to their followers with a steep discount. It attracted many ordinary people who were struggling to feed themselves and help the Cult of Salvation spread like wildfire. At this time, the Sanctum in Shermanton was still in the dark of what was going on. These people at the top echelon of the Sanctum, once the ordinary followers at the start of the cktide outbreak, were now sitting in the high ces of the ruling ss. Due to the tremendous shift in identity and gaining of power, these people becamecent. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and people have desires and personal agendas. So the holy cities were not that holy, after all. Some undercurrent was starting to surge following the expansion of the Cult of Salvation. ¡°Is the Steel Lord in cultivation?¡± Khad was back in the Sanctum, asking the personnel there. ¡°Aye. He came out for a fifteen-minute rest a while ago. Now he is back inside,¡± a female janitor working in the cultivation zone said, shrugging. ¡°So hardworking.¡± Khad sighed. Of all the marshals, the Steel Lord was the most hardworking. He woke up earlier than the roosters and went to bedter than the pigs did. No, it should be the cats. All because he wanted to achieve great heights. Nevertheless, others did not sit idle too. Be that as it may, the Sloth King¡¯s breakthrough had been a p in everyone else¡¯s face. They had been working their fingers to the bone, yet progress was at a snail¡¯s pace. Some looked on in despair, thinking they could never match a big gun like the Night Lord. However, some reacted differently. Just like the Steel Lord. He fell into an even frenzied state of cultivation. Used to be one of the lords of ckfeather, just like the Night Lord, but ranked lower, the Steel Lord had always been thinking he was at the same level as the Night Lord. But the cruel reality had dealt a heavy blow to the ego of this old man. Khad came into the cultivation zone. In the center was a monitor screen disying who was working hard in cultivation and who was doing something else. She took a nce. There were 135 avatars of her immersing themselves in cultivation. The other avatars were busy setting up beauty centers and doing the Sanctum chores. She thought, not bad, at least everyone was working. Then she went back to her quarters, drinking fruit smoothies. Inside the sparkling clean hall, the admin girl looked as Khad went out of sight, then turned around and looked up at the monitor screen. ¡°Let me have a look, which prefects are doing the cultivation today¡­¡± Her lips curled up in a strange smile. The Sanctum had beencent for too long. Had it not been for the light of the holy emperor suppressing everything, those so-called top people in the leadership were just a bunch of thrashes. Compared to people at the lower ranks who had to squeeze to thest drop of their values to survive, this Sanctum should not have existed in this era. ¡°His Majesty the Sage King, let your holy light out and get rid of the biggest tumor of this world.¡± The admin girl prayed quietly in her mind. In the eyes of others, she seemed to be praying to the holy light. But in reality, no one knew her actual identity. She was a mole that the Astral Mere had nted a long, long time ago in the Sanctum. As strict and pervasive as the screening mechanism of the Sanctum was, there was one fatal loophole in it: the holy light test. It omitted those who believed in the holy light but not revered the leadership. These people only believed in their own holy light. The Sanctum? They could not have cared less. ¡°Just wait¡­ wait a little longer. His Majesty ising¡­ Without the holy emperor at the helm, these pieces of trash should have been binned.¡± The admin girl¡¯s expression returned to normal as she went back to her post, doing the routine task. Since His Majesty became the God of Veiled Mirages, he should be the one ruling the world. Only His Majesty the Sage King could iste the cktide and fight the monsters. Only His Majesty could save the people from the hell of suffering. His Majesty had long mastered the power of the holy light, which was only one of his many abilities. Chapter 534 - Brewing: Part 1

    534 Brewing: Part 1

    ¡°Powerful... amazing...¡± ¡°Holy Emperor? Is this what you really rely on?¡± Inside the Astral Mere, vortexes that looked like pale blue clouds slowly spun under the control of the gloomy hall, above which floated a huge dark-gold clock. An old man, shrouded in pure, holy light, holding a golden staff engraved with a dragon head, was feeling his newfound power inside him. ¡°Holy power, the power that purifies everything. Anyone who masters the holy power will master the world. This saying is so true.¡± The Great Sage, now should be called the Sage King, was immersing himself in the massively terrifying power. The Sage King had all the information on the leadership of the Sanctum, which would facilitate his take over the holy cities, sitting back and enjoying while he took all the powers of the Sanctum. The so-called Sanctum leadership had very little contact with the Holy Emperor at the top of the food chain. Most of the time, they were just doing their jobs, working independently. Probably they did not even know what the Holy Emperor looked like. Since the Holy Emperor always wore a full-face helmet and no one could really see his face, this made him easier to rece. ¡°So long as I kill the Holy Emperor quietly, I can take over his role. No one would find out that someone else had be the Holy Emperor.¡± The Sage King had pulled out all the stops, getting his hands on the holy power cultivation technique, just to prepare for the move. He had information that the ce, where the Holy Emperor went to for cultivation, was a little secret realm. It was supposed to be a rtively small space, the portal of which was located in the backyards of Shermanton and Henricqal. Sabotage was easy. One small error code in the portal would wreak havoc in the entire system. He just needed to disturb the coordinates and Lin Sheng would never be able toe back to the actual world again. ¡°The cktide attack or anything else could happen.¡± The Sage King had made his calction. Not only had he nted moles in every corner of the Sanctum but also knew which Ptinates in the Sanctum leadership were not too happy with the Holy Emperor. Among them, the Night Lord definitely had the most grievances against the Holy Emperor. ¡°The Night Lord is powerful, yet theziest, putting pleasure before business. Obviously, if not for him having grievances against the Holy Emperor, a powerful being like him would have been given a heavy responsibility and not bing this slothful. If not for a discord, such a powerful figure would not be left on the bench in the Sanctum. So it is absolutely worth the while to draw the Night Lord to our side.¡± The Sage King made a mental note of this. Due to the sudden emergence of the Sanctum, of which not even the Astral Mere could predict, he had no choice but toy the plot personally. At least things went smoothly so far. ¡°Soon, soon... the world will be mine alone...¡± mumbled the Sage King as he reached to rub with his finger the ck pendant that looked like a watch hanging on his chest. ... Defensive City 3. A tall bridge, supported by concrete pirs, had broken in half in the middle. Probably something had crashed into it. A stream flew under the bridge like a snake. Ansel and his teammates, d in protective gear, quietly moved through the ck bushes. ¡°The weather is wonderful today.¡± A teammate looked up at the pale gray sky. ¡°It¡¯s brighter than before. But, Boss, why are we leaving DC for the holy city? Would the Sanctum ept highly contaminated people like us? ¡°We are going to die, eventually. We might as well find somece to enjoy ourselves while we still can. There is no need to be so hard on ourselves. Haven¡¯t we earned enough?¡± Every teammate seemed to nod their head in agreement. They differed from other teams; the contamination level in their bodies was soon hitting the limit. They would not live longer than two months. No defensive city would want to take them in because they could mutate and lose their minds, turning into cktide monsters at any time. ¡°I have my reason.¡± Ansel was the least contaminated among them all. It was not just because he had the strongest physique but also because he had been maintaining a regr living routine. He would not go out during rest time, because that would wear his body down, speeding up the corrosion. Although he was healthier than his teammates, he still took them to go hunting, searching for the best materials, not at all worrying about the faster corrosion. He would first let his teammates have any materials they found, so they could buy safer food and water and live on. Because of this, the team members were loyal to him. ¡°Stop the crap, Reagan. I¡¯ve found a way that would let us live our remaining days in peace.¡± Ansel stomped down the grass half his height and continued to move forward. ¡°A way? What way? Do you mean the holy city?¡± said a female teammate. Half of her face was covered in nodules; she had to wear a full-face helmet. She used to be pretty, her voice sweet, surrounded by her admirers all the time. But her bestie had betrayed her, letting someone lure her into the cktide. Luckily it was the low tide, and the cktide had not corroded her into a monster. But half of her face was gone. ¡°Bingo. We¡¯re heading to the holy city,¡± Ansel said. ¡°In the holy city, we can be ordinary folks, eating and drinking the cleanest food and water and you all may live for another two, three years.¡± Two, three years... a figure they had never dreamed of. Everyonepsed into silence. ¡°Then... how are you going to do that?¡± Reagan asked. Solemness had reced the cynic expression on his face. ¡°I¡¯ve got a fantastic intel, the value of which will let the holy city ept us in.¡± The thought brought him back to several days ago when he trailed S, the scavenger-stall owner, into the Cult of Salvation. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Trust me. We will be all right. In fact, better!¡± He sounded confident. No one said a word anymore as they hurried on. Defensive City 1, where they came from, was not far from Henricqal. So long as they kept up the speed and if everything was smooth, they would arrive in no time. A few hundred kilometers was an unfathomably arduous journey for an average person. But it was just a walk in the park for these half-human, half-monsters persons like them. They moved as quickly as they could. When there were monsters ahead, they would go around them to avoid confrontations. Soon, before the sunset, they saw the silhouette of the city wall of Henricqal, the holy city. ¡°Here we are.¡± Ansel reached to touch the soulhunting stone amulet, which had almost beenpletely corroded, as he led the way strode toward the holy city. Chapter 535 - Brewing: Part 2

    Chapter 535 Brewing: Part 2

    Lin Sheng slowly closed his eyes as he sat in the dead center of the Hall of Yin and Yang in the Holy Spirit Pce. He was surrounded by a massive wheel, crimson, iid with white symbols and text. It was Ward of Protect from the Dark Wheel. Right then, Lin Sheng was akin to a huge fetal sac, in the crucial period of simted divine conception. The essence of Divinity originated from the faith and prayers of countless souls. Those faiths and prayers were akin to the willpower of the living souls. Willpower came from the souls and was part of the souls. The living soul¡¯s willpower was strong but filled with many desires and impurities. Without purification, he would not be able to conceive divinity. The next step ensued after the purification stage. As all willpowers converged into one, and after a long period of resonance, friction andpression, inside the core would generate a desire for which most living souls prayed. This was the essence of divinity. ¡°So the essence of divinity is desire? A transcended desire?¡± Sitting on the open in beside the Divine Pir and wrapped around by the powerful air- and light-distorting soul power, Lin Sheng meditated and observed. The soul power had overflowed from his body, but using the spell that the Golden Red Humanoid taught, he drew the overflowed soul power together, stopping the leakage. ¡°Integrate and sort the desires, twist them into power. The type of believer will determine the kind of divinity. Now I know...¡± Meditating the principle and meaning of the spell, Lin Sheng¡¯s mind¡¯s eye opened. He looked down at himself, and the willpower converged around him. The reverberating, invisible energy outside the soul power was the willpower. Under the effect of the spell, willpower was binding his soul power, modifying it into the form of divinity wished by all living beings. ¡°You¡¯ve got very thick willpower, only slightly thinner than the masterst time,¡± the Golden Red humanoid said. ¡°I can feel people, many of them, praying,¡± said Lin Sheng. ¡°You feel it? Awesome!¡± The Golden Red Humanoid was impressed. ¡°Then listen, pick one will and use it as your first divinity. You must remember, the first one is always the most important. It will be the foundation of all your divinity in the future. The better the foundation, the more divinity you can infuse. And the more divinity you infuse, the easier it will be to ignite the divine me when you be a demigod. That¡¯s because it is easier to gather more power that you can use.¡± Lin Sheng was feeling the desires the willpower was sending him. There were three main types of desire: purifying the cktide, healing, and protecting thend. There were many more other desires, but the three were dominant. ¡°Are these the wishes and prayers the people saying to me?¡± Lin Sheng gazed at the three willpowers, and he had to select one as his foundation. Nearly with no hesitation, he chose the third type of desire: protecting thend. The desire to protect could perfectly amodate the other two types. To protect, we need to heal and to purify the cktide, going into the war with a perfect condition. Lin Sheng started to convey and resonate with the thought in the willpower. Soon, all the willpower outside his soul power began to gather. After he made his selection, the willpower, under the effect of the spell, started to nourish and modify Lin Sheng¡¯s soulprehensively. Gradually, as his soul changed, his consciousness began to fade away. He needed sleep, and when he woke up again, everything would be over. ... A few dayster, in Henricqal. The majestic pale-red force field of the Tower of Dusk was shrouding the entire holy city, covering everything under the dream-like sunset glow. Ten million people were going about their lives¡ªworking, learning, and living¡ªin an orderly manner in the city. Everyone had work and a mission to do; no one was an idler. It did not matter where one came from¡ªsafety zone or outside the safety zone, everyone could use their talent and everyone was valuable. This was the rule of the holy city: no one should be an idler. Your contribution and value to the holy city and society would determine the resources and social benefits you would enjoy. Under the illumination of the Tower of Dusk, even the gray mist could not obscure the brilliance of the holy city. The border zone. The safety zone was the best ce in Henricqal. After that, it was the public zone where ordinary people live. Further out was the work zone where there were massivebs and farms. They constantly used the mysterious dark technology to produce a massive amount of high-purity food and water. Outside the work zone was the defense zone, where the holy city¡¯s most massive defense forces were based. The powerful clerics used to practice dark energy and holy power. But as time went by, the holy power in him started to overtake and suppress the dark energy. So they became the Sanctum¡¯s most loyal forces, fighting to protect their living. About 100,000 Transcendents had gathered here. Most of them were refugees while only a small number of them were selected and trained by the Sanctum. They were wearing white armor, their helmets modified into fully sealed gas masks. They were the example of dark technology-holy powerbinations. A cleric, d in armor, stomped and crushed a white stone in the ruins with his armored leg. His armor weighed 250 kilograms, making a loud hissing noise as the pneumatic system did its bit. It sounded as if the sobbing of a little girl, so everyone called it the sobbing noise. ¡°The patrol route stays the same, Falcon is safe.¡± The voice of a man came from inside the armor. ¡°This is Elephant. There is a situation here. I have stumbled upon three-tailed terrestrial crabs. Threat level low. All killed. Moving ahead now.¡± The voice came through them. It was a type ofmunication device with a powerful signal, produced by the research institute of Baine University in the holy city, using thebination of dark energy and holy power. The device would guarantee uninterruptedmunication within a one-kilometer radius, outside of which the cktide could interfere and cut off the signal. Due to the strong radiation emitted by this type ofm, only Transcendents, especially clerics with powerful self-healing ability, were allowed to use it. Falcon cut off the signal, checking his surroundings and letting out a sigh before he kept moving. He was in an area with more cktide activities, a ce full of danger. But Falcon had patrolled the area many times, knowing the ce like the back of his hand. ¡°It¡¯s quiet today.¡± He trundled forward, smashing with his hand a ck spider the size of a bathroom sink dangling down from the wall. The creature was dead instantly. This mutant spider was highly poisonous, body hair as sharp as spikes. Once pricked, the poison would enter the skin, corroding the internal organs, turning the poor victim into a pack of human-shaped nutrient liquid. But killing such a spider was just a matter of lifting his hand for a fully armored cleric. Chapter 536 - Brewing: Part 3

    Chapter 536 Brewing: Part 3

    ¡°Wait until I can summon the Armor of Dawn, the power of the holy light would iste everything, boosting the strength of protection by several times! The mere thought of it makes me feel invincible already!¡± Falcon thought to himself as he flicked the sticky stuff off his hand. Patrol-clerics like them were akin to tanks in human shape. Average monsters were of no threat to them. He seemed to have heard some rustling noise suddenly. ¡°What the heck is it?¡± He looked to one side, and he was rooted to the spot. Outside the holy city, in a piece of ruins covered in ck mist, came a ck stream with its tail stretching into infinity, rushing toward the defense zone. Falcon could feel the earth shaking slightly under his feet as he scanned the area to his left and right. The ck stream was everywhere. ¡°What the heck is that?¡± In the ck mist, the ck stream seemed to devour every monster and physical things on its path as it came. Falcon reached for hism, trying to alert the others, but it was toote. The ck water, which was still a distance away, had suddenlye and hit him all of a sudden. For a moment, all he saw was ck. And then he started to lose his consciousness. In that split second, he used what remains of his strength to press a panic alert button under his armor. Immediately, an ear-piercing siren rang through the air. ... In the Sanctum. Tenko Kasumi had cut short of her cultivation session. Sitting beside her was Margaret, Cainphas, the new chancellor of Baine University, Cavendian, the vice-chancellor, and Madin. There were also a dozen Sanctum prefects. Everyone had a grave and nervous look on their face. ¡°What is the situation now?¡± Tenko Kasumi first asked. ¡°Not good. The defense zone was half gone in just ten minutes. 3,000 people are missing, probably drowning in the cktide water. We couldn¡¯t find their bodies. If the cktide¡¯s behavior is anything to go by, it won¡¯t be long before we meet ourrades.¡± Margaret was the head of Henricqal¡¯s entire logistics division, just below Adolf, the chief of staff. She was over in charge of the medical division. So it was her job to report the casualty number. ¡°The ck water, ording to the sample analysis, has been confirmed to be the concentrated version of the back mist. We have found that it has a unique characteristic.¡± Said Cainphas, who was now responsible for the Ru0026D division of the Sanctum. ¡°It would only corrode things with consciousness.¡± ¡°Only corrode things with consciousness?¡± Tenko Kasumi¡¯s face turned graver. ¡°That¡¯s right. We have conducted dozens of experiments, but we are still not sure whether it has only this one feature.¡± Cainphas continued. ¡°Judging from the situation now, I suggest we could see the cktide as some natural disaster.¡± ¡°What you mean is, if we could use machines, autonomous robots, then we can prevent corrosion and reduce casualty, right?¡± Adolf asked. ¡°That¡¯s the theory. We are doing the testing now.¡± Cainphas nodded. ¡°His Majesty Holy Emperor is in cultivation now. We need to work together to counter this disaster, guard the holy city, and protect our homes!¡± Tenko Kasumi said. She knew nothing aboutmand. To her, all she had to do was to roll up her sleeves and fight. ¡°Let¡¯s gather our men now. The frontline has done the test; we can use highly concentrated holy power to fight back the corrosion of the cktide water. All we need to do is reinforce the city wall to withstand impacts and then cover it with our concentrated holy power. We will be able to stop the attack,¡± Cainphas quickly exined. ¡°Everyone, split and do your job. Guard your areas!¡± Tenko Kasumi shouted. ¡°Dismiss! And let¡¯s do it!¡± ¡°Aye!¡± everyone echoed. ... Meanwhile, the Sanctum HQ in Shermanton had also issued a simr order. The endless ck water had surrounded the entire holy cities, turning them into lonely inds on the ck rough sea. The ring of high walls could barely hold back the corrosion, keeping the holy cities from destruction. But the high wall could not hold back the monsters. Different kinds of monsters started to lunge out from the tide. They climbed up the wall, starting to attack the defender-clerics. d in thick armor, the clerics fought furiously. They became a crushing force to the rtively weak monsters. However, that was just the beginning. A second wave of monsters, bigger, faster with higher strength, arrived. Casualty increased. Half-gori, half-spider monsters were waving their powerful long arms, smashing every cleric fighter that came near. Their silent killing behavior quickly caught the attention of the powerful beings among the clerics. A long spear, charged with powerful holy power, was hurled from afar and pierced through the chest of one of these monsters. Before it could react, an explosion went off inside its body, blowing the three-meter-tall monster into hundreds of pieces. Such a melee was everywhere. The clerics were fearless. When one got severely wounded, beams of holy light woulde down on him from behind, healing him in just a matter of a few breaths, and he was good to go again. Each cleric was akin to a killing machine; they were imprable to the weaker monsters while dropping the stronger one with just a strike. The function of the prefects was to y the suppressive role. Just when the defense zone outside the holy city was under siege, an ordinary-looking old man, with a staff in hand, entered the holy city undetected from the other side of the city. The even weirder thing was, he was walking in under the nose of the cleric soldiers, yet no one had noticed him. ¡°Fight! Kill! Stupid Sanctum! You are only draining your strength by fighting the cktide. All of you, who know nothing, will only die for nothing. I am the only person who can save the situation.¡± The old man was the Sage King, who had been waiting for this moment for a long time. He had nned his moles inside and now was the time to activate them. That was why he came. He slowly scaled the high wall,nded onto the street as silent and light as a feather, and looked at the people living safely inside the sound-instion magic circle. He nned to go to find the Holy Emperor in the little secret realm first. As soon as he killed the Holy Emperor, he would turn himself into him and take over everything. ¡°I have to say this: it is too na?ve for an apex Ptinate to control everything.¡± The Sage King slowly walked toward the Sanctum with a smile on his face. He had mastered the essence of the holy power. Combined with the power of the Destiny, he had surpassed the Ptinates, Magister, and every powerful being in history. He had achieved an indescribable, whole new realm of terror. That was why he came, and everything here was going to change hands. Chapter 537 - The Great War: Part 1

    Chapter 537 The Great War: Part 1

    the sage king had sensed it. the high suppressibility of the holy power had a powerful suppressive effect on any underworld beings. that was why he had lured the holy emperor to attack faldt, the magister. back then, lin sheng had temporarily leveled up his strength and finally defeated faldt. that was all because of the holy power¡¯s suppressibility. all of this did not escape the sage king¡¯s fire eyes. the sage king kept going. the sound-instion magic circle did not affect his ability to control the situation outside. he was listening to the dying cries of the battle while walking toward the sanctum with a smile on his face. that ce was the core of henricqal. ¡°i have roughly mastered the moves of the holy emperor. so long as i could guard against his killer move¡ªthe one that releases an unlimited burst of holy power, the rest won¡¯t be a concern.¡± recalling the intel about the holy emperor, a confident smile broke out on the sage king¡¯s face. he ambled through the streets, passing through the fortifications that were being set up urgently. the broadcast was calling the people to gather in one ce as they were about to enter the istion area for safety. a boy was crying as he looked for his parents on the pedestrian walk after he was separated from them. ¡°dad... mom...¡± tears rolled down his cheeks. the sage king saw the boy. he paused his step for a second before going up to the boy. ¡°don¡¯t cry, kid. your parents are they, look!¡± he pointed. in the crowd a distance away, the scene of a couple frantically searching for their boy was in to see. people were everywhere, yet the boy suddenly saw his parents from this distance. something seemed to have magnified the couple¡¯s sense of presence. ¡°dad, mom!¡± the boy ran toward them, overjoyed. halfway, the boy looked back at the sage king. ¡°thank you! what is your name? i will repay your kindness when i grow up!¡± the sage king was startled, not expecting a boy at his age was this mature in thinking. he returned a smile. ¡°my name... you can call me the holy emperor.¡± the holy emperor? so he was the emperor? while the boy looked at him, transfixed, the old man had turned around and walked toward the sanctum in the distance. ... the prayer hall in the sanctum. the night lord, draped in thick armor, and the steel lord and other prefects from shermanton, all d in simr armor, had gathered together. all prefects had achieved six-winged strength. they were just one step away from the ptinate realm. but crossing this threshold was difficult. opening the tidal gate and connecting to the different seas of energy was not exactly something simple. whoever it was, he or she must spend a long time umting and learning the knowledge before ever getting the guts to open it. if bing a ptinate was that easy, there would have been just a two-digit number of them in the entire worldst time. ¡°tenko kasumi, we are here to help. if you need anything, just say it!¡± the night lord looked at her, who was inside the prayer hall. ¡°no problem over there in shermanton?¡± tenko kasumi asked in surprise. ¡°no problem. the cktide over there is under control. due to the terrain, we just need to worry about the impacts on two sides in shermanton. and those monsters over there aren¡¯t as nasty as those here.¡± the night lord meant it. the reason was that sanctum shermanton had reacted much earlier than sanctum henricqal did. plus the full cooperation from the government, shermanton had built the thickest and highest defensive wall when the cktide first broke out. many people had unexined confidence in the holy city because of the high walls. besides, many transcendents attached to the government had be clerics. they were a formidable force to be reckoned with, having their own division, with at least four six-wingers. hidden in the division were the ptinates, who were used to be members of the transcendent special strike force. as the war broke out, they flung themselves into fighting the cktide. ¡°khad is holding down the fort. no problem,¡± the night lord said. furthermore, also in shermanton, were the fairy empress and giant king brothers, who were fearless in the face of challenges. ¡°great! let¡¯s stabilize the situation here and we can return to shermanton to boost the support there!¡± said tenko kasumi. without beating about the bush, she assigned and dispatched them to guard different locations. ¡°what about me? what am i supposed to do?¡± seeing that kasumi had not given him any task, the night lord asked. ¡°you? please hold down the fort in the hq, ok?¡± kasumi nced at him, surprised to hear he was offering himself to do something. as if he had read what kasumi meant, the knight lord smiled sheepishly. ¡°i just want to do something for everyone.¡± ¡°since you are so motivated, you might as well go to the frontline where the battle is the most brutal. it will boost everyone¡¯s morale!¡± kasumi suggested. ¡°didn¡¯t you achieve a breakthrough already? any problem?¡± ¡°i got it. leave it to me!¡± the night lord stepped forward. he wanted to use this battle to get rid of his nickname ¡®the sloth king.¡¯ he was the night lord, the second most powerful one in the sanctum. being called the sloth king was such an embarrassment. this time he was going to change everyone¡¯s perception of him and recover from the humiliation. they dispersed quickly. taking a few leaps, the night lord came out of the prayer hall, passed through theplex of halls, and arrived in front of the entrance of the sanctum hq. just as he was about to leave and head to the frontline, the voice of an old man came into his head. ¡°wait, mr. night lord.¡± was that telepathy? the night lord stopped in his tracks, looking in the voice¡¯s direction. he saw a gray-haired old man, holding a staff in his hand, the smile on his face avuncr, exuding a powerful air of holy power that signified he was on the side of the sanctum. sensing the high level of holy power cultivation, the night lord immediately warmed up to the old man. having this level of holy power meant that the person had powerful will and faith. ¡°hello, may i help you?¡± the night lord asked. ¡°if not, i¡¯ve got to go to the frontline now.¡± the sage king looked at him with a smile. ¡°have you ever thought about why the holy emperor shows you no respect? you know you have impressive strength, probably one of the most powerful, if not the only, one in the sanctum. why doesn¡¯t he care about your feelings?¡± ¡°you know you have exceptional strength, yet getting this unfair treatment. it is apparent that the holy emperor is jealous of you. he is... afraid that you might rece him. ¡°look at your expression. have i gotten it right?¡± the sage king felt good about himself again as if his prediction was right. he thought he had talked yet another person over, just likest time. ¡°night lord, with the power you have, you shouldn¡¯t be getting this treatment. you deserve more¡ªmore power and authority...¡± Chapter 538 - The Great War: Part 2

    Chapter 538 The Great War: Part 2

    the expression on the night lord¡¯s face kept changing. ¡°i think you might have mistaken it. i mean¡ª¡±¡°you mean it is for the good of the sanctum, i know. this is what we all want.¡± the sage king cut him off. ¡°but the holy emperor doesn¡¯t trust anyone. he couldn¡¯t let you have more authority. he is afraid.¡±the night lord looked at him, blinking. ¡°probably you don¡¯t understand, or may i say, you¡¯ve misunderstood me. my life is actually¡ª¡± ¡°you are afraid of being suspected of, aren¡¯t you?¡± the sage king interrupted him again, letting out a confident smile. ¡°let me guess; you are disgruntled. you could not wait to go to the frontline to vent your satisfaction.¡± ¡°i¡ª¡± ¡°let me guess; after hearing what i have said, you started to dread. because i have spoken your mind, you are anxious.¡± the sage king still smiled. ¡°but don¡¯t worry, i feel you!¡± the night lord took a deep breath. ¡°no. i am just¡ª¡± ¡°i know. let me guess, because of the environment, you are afraid that others might know what you think.¡± the sage king gave him a sympathetic look. ¡°wearing a mask and hiding your feelings must be tiring.¡± the night lord did not know that to say more. ¡°your expression tells me i have been right.¡± there was even more confidence in the sage king¡¯s smile. ¡°but it¡¯s okay. soon, you will leave that behind you, because... i havee. ¡°in fact, i used to experience the same things as you are now. back then, i was at a loss. but someone woke me up.¡± he recalled with his head low. ¡°you know you have the strength. instead of resigning your will to others, why don¡¯t you decide what you want for yourself? i feel you, night lord, and i am here to help¡ª¡± a ball of the mother of all boogers suddenlynded and stuck at the corner of his mouth. with a powerful holy light, the booger was hurled at him at such speed as to prevent being shot down midway. the sage king looked up, words choking in his throat. his smile died, his face turning from cold to anger. ¡°night lord! how dare you!¡± yet another ball of booger was shot into his mouth. the night lord pulled his finger out of his nose, smearing the residue on the nearby wall. ¡°feel good?¡± the sage king¡¯s face turned from pale to maroon. he coughed violently, trying to spit out the booger. but it was toote. it had melted and flowed down his throat. it was one of the night lord¡¯s killer skills. ¡°i-i¡¯ll kill you!¡± there was no n, no arrangement this time. the sage king was focusing on nothing but the night lord. he roared, and a circle of bright white light burst out from his body. the light covered an area within a ten-meter-radius around him. it formed into a massive column of light that shot into the sky, breaking up the gray clouds above. the powerful holy power expanded as if the ripples on ake. it was so terrifying that they had even started to affect the surging cktide water outside henricqal. the nearly limitless holy light started to condense and form into spikes before being hurled at the night lord from all directions. it looked simr to lin sheng¡¯s killer move. the sage king had not held back when he decided to act. he wanted to take down the night lord in the shortest time possible. the night lord deserved this since he did not appreciate nor show any respect for him. so he used one of the holy power killer moves in the first instance. a limitless holy light was engulfing the night lord. the clerics were not immune to the holy light attack. the holy light of different persons carried unique marks of will. so receiving the holy light of others could mess up one¡¯s internal strength. that was why holy power cultivators could still fight and kill one another. a massive amount of holy power spikes was bombarding the spot where the night lord was with terrifying force and sound of explosion. even the least hostile holy power had high damageability. amid the massive explosion, something was slowly moving inside. some powerful existence, massive but vague, having the same pure, holy power, was spreading its wings, throwing back its head. just as the sage king thought the night lord might have been badly wounded, if not dead after such brutal bombing, pure white petals suddenly fell from the sky. formed by the limitless holy power, the petals dropped like rain. a distant singing and chanting voice gradually came from the air. the white light suddenly copsed back onto the night light¡¯s body. holy armor of gold covered his body, a cloak, pure white with dragon eye imprints, fluttering behind him. as the night lord pped his hands, a golden beam was unsheathed out of thin air. it was a slender sword glowing with flowing golden light. following that, the night lord¡¯s helmet opened in the middle with a nk, revealing his cold and unblemished face. ¡°do you know the first ray of light?¡± the night lord looked at the sage king coldly. ¡°when darkness is about to pass, out of the depths of ites the first beam of light that pierces through everything. ¡°its name is dawn!¡± he pulled with his hands, unsheathing the entire golden sword as it turned into a heaven-piercing gold spike. as if the first in the sky, the golden beam split the world in half. dawnbreaker! it was the most powerful killer move since he achieved the legend. and it was the first time he used it. it was the purest light of dawn bred in the blood of the shadowdragon king. it was a pure light of destruction that pierced through and destroyed everything. a killer move that could reshape the world and break the shackles. the burst of the golden light seemed to have shed an indelible wound in the holy power cultivation of the sage king. ¡°no!¡± horrified, he tried to bounce back, but he was a little too slow, toote. the holy power in his body started to crumble like an avnche, melt like ice under the sun before bleeding out of his body and vanishing into thin air. dawnbreaker could pierce through realms, and cultivations, right to its root. it was such a terrifying killer skill. ¡°impossible! my holy power!¡± the golden light had subsided. the sage king was shaking, traumatized. he could no longer feel a trace of holy power inside him. that meant all of his holy power, which he took years, blood and sweat to cultivate, was gone. ¡°what have you done?¡± before he realized it, his skin, muscles, bones, and everything else started to melt like wax. ¡°no... my power and strength... and my immortal sacred vessel of destiny! the restored paragon of destiny! no... no...!¡± Chapter 539 - The Great War: Part 3

    Chapter 539 The Great War: Part 3

    The Night Lord looked at the Sage King, his armor flowing with a golden pattern. The ancient, mysterious symbols and spell, used to belong to the Shadowdragon King bloodline, was perfectlybined with his holy power, bing a whole new powerful form. ¡°It¡¯s useless.¡± He dismissed the Dawnbreaker in his hand. The sword dissolved, turning into golden particles that circled him once before disappearing into his forehead to be the pattern of a golden dragon eye. ¡°Dawnbreaker has cut off your understanding of the realm. Now, you are just an ordinary old man.¡± Without looking at the Sage King, he took off and headed straight to the frontline, disappearing from the field of vision of the Sage King. The Sage King could not even utter a word. Looking hopelessly at his half-melting right hand, he shivered as he tried to call for help. But time no longer allowed him to carry on. He should have been dead a long time ago. It was his enlightenment and mastery of various powers that kept him alive to this day. Now, however, he had lost all his powers and realms. His physical body could no longer sustain him and began to give way. Soon, his body melted, weathering and vanishing. All that remains of him was his clothes and a ck pendant watch. Picking up the pendant watch with her slender hand, Tenko Kasumi gazed in the direction where the Night Lord went. ¡°You have gone so far already?¡± She looked a little at a loss as she nced down at the pendant watch. ¡°This should be the condensed article of the Sacred Vessel of Destiny,¡± said the Steel Lord from behind. Tenko Kasumi shook her head lightly. ¡°Since the Night Lord left this to us, let us take care of it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an evil thing. We should let it return to the world.¡± She crushed the pendant into pieces in her hand. Coming out from the crushed pendant was many strange powers, some weak, some strong, dispersing into all directions. Tenko Kasumi could sense that these powers were from the Paragons and Sacred Vessels of Destiny. They were returning to where they hade from. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Tenko Kasumi was nning to go to the frontline. Her heart missed a beat as she looked at the Steel Lord, who was looking up at the sky above the Sanctum HQ, wide-eyed. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± Kasumi looked up and was shocked. White clouds wereing back to the sky above the Sanctumplex. Blue sky and white clouds. Other than this, there was a beam of white lighting down from the above, covering the entire sanctum, as if some god was showering down his blessing. Bathed in the white light, Tenko Kasumi and the Steel Lord suddenly felt a sense of peace and warmth rising from the depths of their souls. ¡°This is not holy power!¡± The Steel Lord was in awe. ¡°It¡¯s a blessing of the world.¡± Tenko Kasumi stared at what happened. Lin Sheng made up most part of her soul while hers made up the remaining part of it. This was something familiar to her. It reminded her about something she had seen before, but the memories were vague. It had been a long time ago. If not for what happened before her eyes stimting her, she might not be able to recall the memories again. ¡°The blessing of the world?¡± The Steel Lord looked at her. ¡°Only after making some significant contributions to the world that one could get the blessing from the true origin,¡± Kasumi said in a low voice. ¡°This means, from his moment onwards, the Sanctum has been epted as the legitimate force of this world.¡± ... Inside the Sanctumplex, people showered in the white light were looking up into the sky. The warm andforting feelings were akin to cuddling in the mother¡¯s arms, soft andzy. It was as if the Sanctum was snuggling in the mother¡¯s warmth. Adolf was riding a Gorefiend. Behind him were fully armed cleric knights. He looked up at the pure white light shining down from the sky, feeling a warm entering him. The Sacred Vessel of Destiny, which he had lost, hade back to him. ¡°Not sure what it is, but at least, even heaven and earth are blessing us.¡± He drew his longsword and raised it in the air. ¡°Victory is ours!¡± The clerics behind him drew theirs and raised them in the air, hollering. The massive army of knights ran along the dedicated path toward the frontline. ... In Henricqal, everyone who saw the white light shining down from the sky went on their knees and prayed. In the sheltered zone, people in business suits, anxious housewives, children clinging to their parents, personnel working to maintain orders, a patrol team of clerics keeping the city safe, volunteers distributing the daily necessities, and everyone having consciousness in the city were looking up at the light column of hundreds of meters in diameter. Not sure who started the prayer, everybody seemed to catch the idea. From their initial anxious and worrying looks, they started to calm down as they prayed to the light pir that shrouded the sanctum. The voices of prayer rose. It came like waves of the sea. A massive amount of pure soul power and willpower was converted by the sacred crystal font in the sanctum into holy power. People were no longer panicking. The light pir from heaven had calmed those nervous souls. It guided the people¡¯s power and led it to gather into one ce. ... On top of every building in the city, figures d in white leather armor and masks were hurrying toward the frontline. They were the Sanctum¡¯s powerful squads of assassins and intelligence, the most fearsome elites in carrying out assassination and decapitation. Khad was wearing a white mask, standing on top of a building, her long golden hair, with a bun on top, fluttering in the wind. When she saw a light shining down from heaven and shrouding the Sanctum, her lips curled up in a faint smile. ¡°Even I can receive the blessing of the world?¡± After a long while of silence, she turned around and looked at the cktide surging in the distance. ¡°Let¡¯s go. It¡¯s our turn.¡± Amid a series of swooping sounds, the army of white figures vanished from the top of the buildings as they leaped into the air. ... In the deepest part of the cktide, a massive face, hundreds of meters in diameter, opened its eyes. Inside the dark eyes were vortices that looked like ck abysses. They looked simr to the eyes when Lin Sheng attained his Legend realm. A massive tremor came in the ground. The earth broke out as a nine-fingered hand emerged and gripped on the edge of the crack. Following the hand were monsters of different shapes. They lunged out from the crack and charged toward Henricqal like a tidal wave. Chapter 540 - The Great War: Part 4

    Chapter 540 The Great War: Part 4

    The rolling ck clouds were hitting the massive holy city of Henricqal, engulfing it like a massive balloon with a pure white light inside and the endless ck mist on the outside. A strange shriek came from the inside of the ck clouds, followed by a series of wings fluttering. Inside were numerous ck vulture-like monsters with four wings, no feather, that relied on some strange energy to fly. Each bird monster was at least a dozen meters long. It was unable to count how many of these birds existed because there were too many of them. They just looked like a nket of darker clouds, swooping out from the ck mist and down toward Henricqal. A loud boom was heard. On the ground, anti-air cannons started to fire into the air. Shells were shot at hypersonic speed through the air and blowing every monster that came into contact with them into pieces. As the shells exploded, the sky turned into a sea of fire, burning those monster birds out of the sky. More monster birds wereing. They had no sense of fear as if all they cared was charging forward, carrying the cktide, and flying down toward the purend below. Anti-air shells lit up the sky, dyeing the atmosphere into a bright-red sea of fire. It stopped most of the monster birds but still a small number¡ªabout several hundred¡ªof them, broke through the line of fire, shrieking as they swooped down onto the pure city below. ¡°Snowstorm Mirage!¡± A beam of light shot up from the city. The light beam then broke up into hundreds of smaller beams of equal thickness in midair, hitting with precision every monster bird that tried to swoop down from the sky. Amid the swoosh and shes in the air, the monster birds were frozen into ice sculptures before shattering under the powerful sword energy. Tiny pieces of frozen blood and body parts rained down from the sky. But before they touched the ground, the powerful holy power force field of the Sanctum had purified them. Ten million people were praying together. Even if only part of them were sincere, the holy power produced was still more concentrated than during normal days. Not to mention the sacred crystal font was continuously releasing its holy power. Tenko Kasumi leaped up, carried by a snow disc into the air. As she rose to about a thousand meters, she stopped near the battlefield that was still lit up by anti-air shells and looked at the swarm of monster birds. Behind her was an army of cleric warriors, d in flying suits and gears. Everyone was carrying a flying device on his back. The device was a hybrid of dark energy and holy power technology. It looked like a silver backpack, capable of setting up a hover magic circle thatsted for a day. Everyone followed Tenko Kasumi. They formed a massive circle to hold back the monster birds in the surroundings. ¡°Beware that the anti-air firepower is going to stop. Next, it will be our turn to do the honors. The shells are non-renewable. The resource gathering has be difficult. After depleting the ammo stock, it is our turn to fight,¡± Kasumi said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Whoever hase, no one is thinking of going back alive!¡± Her new aide-de-camp was a youngdy with blonde hair. Her previous aide-de-camp was dead after a monster attack. ¡°Get ready.¡± Tenko Kasumi had noticed that the anti-air firepower had intensified, which meant that the arsenal was going to run out of ammo very soon. It was a signal. As she raised her holy power sword in the air, the anti-air firepower stopped. ¡°Snow Halo sh! The holy power longsword fired numerous ring-shaped, white des all of a sudden. These white sharp des spread outward like snowkes, shing those attacking monsters. ¡°Up!¡± The aide-de-camp shouted as she flew in a direction with her body covered in powerful holy power. The rest followed as holy power burst out to propel them into different directions. Those who came up there were at least Oppressor-ss elites. Average fighters would not stand longer than ten minutes. As it was difficult to fly in the air; the monster birds would have eaten them alive before they knew it. Tenko Kasumi stopped, just letting the few hundreds of herrades hold back the sea of monster birds. She looked into the distance at the ck clouds. Inside the rolling clouds, a huge blood-red eye with a vertical pupil appeared and stared at her. All of a sudden, the cry of a monster bird rang through the air, shocking the clouds as the thing roared at Kasumi. The ck clouds began to disperse, exposing the mother of all monster birds inside. It had many wings on its back, no mouth, no nose, no ears, just a gigantic eye with a vertical pupil that stared at Kasumi. Compared to other monster birds, this mother of all monster birds was at least several hundred meters long. It looked like a floating ind when it was in the air. Tenko Kasumi found herself looking as small as a sesame seed in front of that thing. ¡°You are... too noisy!¡± Kasumi¡¯s face looked hideous. As she condensed a pair of holy power long swords in her hands, holy power kes swirled around her. ¡°I¡¯m going to ughter you!¡± She hollered and leaped forward. Her body faded into a beam of light as she charged at the mother of all monster birds. ... The Steel Lord was carrying a broadsword, the de of which was as wide as a person¡¯s waist, standing on the city wall, looking down at thend below. Thousands, perhaps, millions of gray monsters that looked like mini dinosaurs were lunging out of the ck water and scaling the wall. Clerics were roaring furiously as they waved their weapons in their hands, killing every monster that came up the wall. Blood was sttering, body parts of monsters and humans scattered on the wall. Far out in the distance, the ck water suddenly rose as if something big wasing out of it. The thing wasing at speed. Its target was the wall. On the wall, a dozen beams of holy light condensed into spikes and shot out at once at the rolling thing on the surface of the ck water. Holy light and the contaminating power of the ck water shed in a spectacr explosion, with groups of white glow rising in the air. But the shot did nothing but only slow down the massive thing a little. It was still rolling in the wall¡¯s direction. Some dinosaur-like, gray monsters did not manage to get out of the way. They drowned in the ck water and never resurfaced again. The Steel Lord¡¯s face looked grave. Taking a deep breath, he raised his broadsword in the air. Sparks started to flicker on his body, his gray hair suddenly bing as red as fire, his red body armor glowing as if a red hot iron. Starting from him, heatwaves expanded into all directions. Chapter 541 - The Great War: Part 5

    Chapter 541 The Great War: Part 5

    ¡°I know nothing about drawing power from the Tidal Gate. All I have is this red-hot thing.¡± The Steel Lord raised up his door sheet-wide broadsword, which glowed so hot that it sizzled. He timed it before lunging out. An explosion of fire broke out behind him, thrusting him down to the massive thing in the ck water. A massive twisting force field of Ptinate-level forced out the ck water in the surroundings, exposing the massive thing in the water. It was a beetle, oval-shaped with countless spikes and legs. Its back was as smooth as a mirror, head looking like a spider, with a lot ofpound eyes and hideous mouthparts. As if it had sensed the searing heat above, the hundred-meter-wide giant beetle looked up and shrilled viciously. Spider silks shot out from its body toward the Steel Lord. ¡°Idiot! You should have learned to be humble before the me!¡± The Steel Lord was in midair when his body glowed even more intensely. A secondter, he had plunged into the ck water, vaporizing the spider silks, ck water, and everything around him. Meanwhile, his broadsword struck the beetle on its shell with a loud vibrating sound. ... Protect... Protect... Protect... A word was reverberating in Lin Sheng¡¯s head. The voice was ringing in his mind as if it would brainwash him. He had lost track of time how long it had been. One, two, five, or ten years? He could not remember. When a loud enough voice that disturbs your thinking kept repeating in your head for ten years, any normal person will probably be brainwashed, neurotic, going insane, or losing his or her self-awareness to be a ve. That was the price to pay for forming his divinity. ording to what the Golden Red Humanoid said, the all initial divine lives were consciousness formed by willpower. After years of repeated prayer, they formed consciousness. So every vague consciousness was revolving around prayer and desire. They instinctively exercised their core missions to get more and stronger willpower. That was divinity. That was the price to pay to form divinity. The so-called divine being was the person who unified the willpower of all living persons. It was the desire of the soul to transform the universe. They represented the consciousness of the soul. Lin Sheng¡¯s consciousness had be vague. He had persevered for three years, during which he could do nothing except listen to the voice, the concept reverberating in his head. Such consciousness was considered pervertedly powerful. But now, he could no longer stand it. His consciousness gradually became vague and muddy after the voice bombarded him for three years. Tons of willpower about guardianship gradually prated into the depths of his soul. Willpower hadbined with his vague consciousness of his soul. It started to transcend and change. It was a directional transcendence that existed forever. Willpower nourished his soul, his soul changed, and it gave birth to a higher power in the deepest part of him. That was divinity. ¡°Hang in there!¡± Outside the Divine Pir, the Golden Red Humanoid looked at Lin Sheng, feeling worried. Lin Sheng was still hibernating. But he knew Lin Sheng hade to his most critical moment. If Lin Sheng was not careful, the voice of the willpower would wipe out all his consciousness, memories, and marking. Lin Sheng would be a beast acting on instinct with no intelligence. If that happened, it meant Lin Sheng would be reduced to a lower existence, like a genie in themp. It was precisely because the genie failed to transcend that it became a ve driven by willpower and served the human who called it. ¡°Once it fails, I will not live long enough to wait. So... press on!¡± The Golden Red Humanoid stared anxiously at Lin Sheng, who was shrouded in colorful light. ¡°After this most dangerous stage, keep yourself in there, you will enter the conception stage...¡± He could do nothing but wait for Lin Sheng this time. Inside the color light, pious faces appeared in the light streams, praying around Lin Sheng. His ck hair fluttered amid the praying voices and a white chain formed in the void, binding his body. As time went by, the more chains surrounded him. ... The white saber had just shed a five-meter-tall gargoyle in half at the waist. On the sidewall of Henricqal. Riding a Gorefiend, Adolf led a group of temrs fighting on piles of monster corpses. Under the intense bombardment from the cannons earlier, corpses of monsters had piled up as high as a dozen meters, which was nearly as tall as the city wall. Adolf waved his saber in his hand, fearlessly fighting with a group of gargoyles. The monsters around here differed from those at the other ce. They appeared like humans, draped in gray hooded robes. Jutting out of the long sleeves of their robes were sharp nails that looked like ws. Their bodies were so tough that without the most powerful artillery, it was almost impossible to prate and shatter their bodies. Many clerics, who were not as strong, could only stay on the wall, watching. Asides from releasing holy power to help the Oppressor-ss powerful being to clean up the smaller monsters, they could do nothing else. It was in such helpless circumstances that Adolf arrived with his team of temrs. These clerics had been struggling to hold the fort for over half an hour. The artillery fires had killed over ten thousand gargoyles, but more of them wereing out of the ck water. The battle started to wear down the temrs. But before more reinforcements arrived, they could only press on. Fortunately, the purification force field of the holy city helped to calm their nervousness. A gargoyle came from the side and crashed Adolf off his Gorefiend onto a pile of corpses not far away. Human blood and ck water on the gargoyle smeared his armor, turning the white surface into dark red. ¡°Damn it!¡± Adolf broke his left arm, which was now dangling from his shoulder. Something bit his foot, exposing arge bloody wound. A few of his men, trying to rescue him, were quickly tied up with the monsters. He would have to retreat after suffering this level of injuryst time, but now, he was different. He summoned the power of the Sacred Vessel of Destiny in him. A ripple spread throughout his body, his broken arm healed and his bitten foot recovered as if the injuries had not been there before. There was nothing unusual as if nothing had ever happened. Chapter 542 - The Great War: Part 6

    Chapter 542 The Great War: Part 6

    ¡°All right, let¡¯s do it again!¡± Adolfunched himself in the air, his body glowing in bright holy light. He had been transformed into a pure, holy spirit body, of which the harmonization with the holy light was far better than anyone else. He was many times lower in exhaustion rate and more powerful than others were. Knowing that Adolf was all right, the temrs cheered and fought on. The Gorefiend finally broke into the encirclement of the monsters. It swept Adolf up and onto its back. ¡°Fight!¡± Adolf wasted no time. He brandished his saber and charged at the monsters. ... A beam of holy light as if an ocean-splitting gigantic sword divided the endless cktide in half. The Night Lord was d in golden armor, the bright white light emitted from his body turning into spikes, shooting out, and wiping out any monsters that came close to him. Unlike the Steel Lord, the Night Lord achieved the Ptinate realm through the orthodox route of dark energy. At the time, he had not started cultivating the holy power. He started off with dark energy, which had the mostplete system and greatest potential. With a learner attitude, he started the arduous journey of cultivation. As if luck would have it, he had broken the limits and opened his mental Tidal Gate, which allowed him to connect to the sea of energy. During the connection, the Ptinate¡¯s power was unlimited. It was not just empty talk. Just like the Night Lord. After he achieved Ptinateship, his biggest and most terrifying special ability was that he could maintain this state of connection indefinitely. It was important to know that the rest of the Ptinates would only use the sea of energy as their ultimate move. The scouring of endless energy would seriously overload the body. But the Night Lord did not have this worry. The special ability he got after achieving Ptinateship allowed an indefinite connection without overloading his body. ¡°Show your face! I can see you!¡± The Night Lord¡¯s face stern, staring into the cktide in the distance. Behind him, a brutal battle was still raging on the holy city wall. In front of him was an endless sea of ck water covered in ck mist. Whether it was the regr gray dinosaur-like monster, the stronger gargoyles, or other monsters like the giant beetles, nothing coulde close within a hundred meters from him. Within a hundred meters radius, the twisting force field naturally released by the Night Lord,bined with the massive amount of holy light particles, had cleared out a quiet and safe zone in the ck water. As if the cktide had sensed the threat, arge patch of ck water suddenly surged and rose. It caught the attention of the Night Lord. He sensed enormous evil energy rising as if it wanted to devour the surrounding energy. So he flew over here. Other than the original body, which was absent, he was the strongest around here. He must ward any enemies off, no matter what they were. Out of the ck water slowly emerged a huge ck skull that could fit an entire sports stadium. On its face was a blood-red vertical eye. In the distance part of the ck water rose four spikes with ck tentacles coiled around them. They were as tall as one hundred meters with pure blue oval light eggs on top as they fully rose. Not knowing what they were, but the Night Lord had a bad feeling about them. ¡°Got to take down the four sticks quickly!¡± He told himself as a pair of holy power long swords formed in his hands. Golden light particles flew onto the surface of the long swords, coating them into pale gold. ¡°Besides, I can test out my skills and see how they work about the breakthrough!¡± the Night Lord nonchntly mumbled to himself, but deep inside, he did not feel that rxed at all. Raising his pair of sabers and putting the hilts back-to-back so that the sabers be a double-edged sword. ¡°Shadowing.¡± He looked up and a huge ck dragon with golden eyes and ck wings emerged behind and circled around him. The shadowy ck dragon spread its wings and shrouded him. ¡°Seal of the Shadowking, release!¡± The wings of the ck dragon glowed in white light. They slowly spread again, revealing the Night Lord inside. He had changed into a ck armor dotted with white-gold patterns. As tall as a dozen meters, the ck armor looked devilish and holy at the same time under the light of the holy power. Three hideous spiral horns grew on his helmet, with sharp barbs in all his joints. On the chest was a golden dragon round emblem that glowed with white light. ¡°I could only summon the shadow of Seal of the Shadowkingst time. Now I could summon its actual body?¡± The Night Lord mumbled to himself inside the armor. His hand was holding the ck hilt hanging from his waist. The sword handle was crisscrossed like dragon teeth. The scabbards and guards had two majestic ck dragon ws, one on the left and one on the right. Down below, the huge one-eyed monster was rising out of the ck water. His body was rising higher and bigger. Secondster, as he fully rose on his feet, he had be as massive as a thousand-meter-tall mountain, overlooking everything under his feet. Each of the ck giant¡¯s hands had nine fingers. A dense array of gray wheels were spinning on his body. Each of these wheels spun at different speeds as if clocks of different flows of time. Giant python-like, red-eyed ck dragons rose behind the giant all of a sudden. Each of these dragons was hundreds of meters long. There were bruises on them, their scales iplete, and they were exuding an air of despair and pain. ¡°ck dragon...¡± The Night Lord¡¯s voice finally got serious. His hand armor clenching the hilt was creaking loudly. A seemingly simr feeling came from his part of the Night Lord¡¯s soul. ¡°It seemed you were the one that destroyed and corroded mest time.¡± He stood upright, rxing his hands. ¡°But now, things are different. Now...¡± A beam of white light struck across the sky, cutting through all obstacles, like a mighty sword piercing through space. The white light gradually changed and turned into a majestic dragon with pure white gold eyes and white scales. The white dragon broke through the ck clouds, its golden eyes drawing two strokes of golden lines in the sky and straight into the red eye of the giant. White light apanied by the moan of the dragon broke up the ck clouds and illuminated the sky. ck blood started to rain down, and before it touched the ground, it turned into white light particles before dissipating in the air. ¡°Now, I won¡¯t be defeated again.¡± Looking up at the one-eyed giant, who staggered backward, the Night Lord¡¯s Seal of the Shadowking armor vibrated, emitting a massive amount of ck particles. ¡°Kill!¡± He clenched his sword and charged at the giant¡¯s chest. ... Near the Divine Pir. Lin Sheng seemed to hear some voices while in hibernation. Chapter 543 - Closing In: Part 1

    543 Closing In: Part 1

    Command Center, the Sanctum. ¡°What is the situation?¡± ¡°Ready to go. Awaiting reply from the second unit!¡± Cainphas was getting confirmation from all the operators sitting around him. People like them could not fight, but they were Ru0026D experts. They were using their own unique ways to fight this war. ¡°A 15-mech unit has finished testing! The second unit is ready as well! The spell is ready to go any time!¡± An operator replied, raring to go. The Command Center looked like a circr hall. It wasrge and white. Operators were sitting in circles in front ofputer screens. They were using the instruments to control the spells and magic circles that had been set up all around the edge of the holy city. ¡°Since everything is ready. Let¡¯s roll!¡± Cainphas and Madin, who was not far away, exchanged a look. They were both raring to go. ¡°Get ready, everyone. Let¡¯s give those cktide monsters some surprises!¡± Although older, Madin had a quick temper. His family was fighting in the front line, so he hated those cktide monsters deeply. If he could kill some monsters here, it would help ease the pressure on the frontline. ¡°On your marks!¡± Cainphas put his hand up and started the countdown. ¡°Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Go!¡± All operators in themand center pressed the start buttons almost at the same time. One hundred special signals were sent out through the cable into the magic-circle control device at various locations. On the edge of the city of Henricqal, a circle of silver-white light lit up on the edge of Henricqal. Humanoid mechs, wrapped in a simple metal shell, took off from the ground. Each mech was over three-meter-tall, equipped with a giant sword and a triangr battle shield, and emitting rings of pure, white holy light. That was the biggest achievement that the entire Henricqal Ru0026D institute produced in such a long time. It was a powerful generation of mech, self-propelled warriors driven by holy power and dark energy. Cainphas named it ¡°Silver Lining 1¡±. Had Lin Sheng been at the scene and hearing this name, he would probably have strongly suggested changing the name. But for the ignorant like Cainphas and others, the name was very apt. It represented the fight against the cktide monsters to enter a new phase. There were few Silver Lining 1s made during the trial period. Only 300 units of this were put on the battlefield. They used holy power as the core energy source initially. After the emergence of the sacred crystal font, they changed to use the sacred crystal as an energy source and got an enormous performance boost. Damageability and purification power were now several times stronger than before. But because of the high concentrated holy power of the sacred crystal, most people could suffer a brainwash-like spiritual baptism if they got too close to it. That was why, in normal days, the Ru0026Db would bury all Silver Lining 1s underground. They could act as soil purifiers while guarding against monster attacksing from underground. And now, it was time to take out these Silver Lining 1s to do what they were supposed to do. A Silver Lining 1 was brandishing a war de, brutally cutting a two-meter-tall, lizard-like, three-headed monster in half. No enemy coulde close. Its powerful holy light would weaken any enemy that tried to get near to its lowest strength before the mech cut it into half. The joining of these few hundred Silver Lining 1s on the battlefield did not have any material effect on the war itself, but to everyone, it boosted their morale. The human warriors retreated after getting the order to retreat. They left the most dangerous mission and battlefield to the mechs, which had no sense of fear. This greatly relieved the pressure on the warriors. However, that was not the only thing themander center had up its sleeve. The Silver Lining 1 was just the ¡°appetizer¡± in thebat menu they had in mind. When Lin Sheng first set up the Ru0026D institute, they had been treating the cktide as their imaginary enemy in developing theirbat system. And it was time for the second stage. ¡°The Silver Lining 1s have entered the battlefield. But because of signal interference, we can¡¯t have real-time data. Only when the mechs returned to base, could we get the data from the flight data recorders. An operator reported. ¡°That¡¯s fine. So long as they are effective to suppress the enemies. I spent a great deal of resources to develop these things.¡± Cainphas smiled, looking at Madin. ¡°It¡¯s your show now!¡± Madin nodded and cleared his throat. ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s start the second phase of the n. Activate the Radiant Font.¡± ¡°Activate the Radiant Font.¡± ¡°Radiant Font activated!¡± a few operators replied. ¡°Then, let¡¯s roll!¡± There was a hint of coldness in Madin¡¯s eyes. ¡°Launch the Holy Path n!¡± ¡°Aye!¡± Theputer screen in front of each operator disyed a red warning window. Everyone clicked to confirm. A tremor suddenly came underground. The earth of the entire Henricqal shook. The same happened on the edge of the city. The earth cracked open as sharp metal columns rose from the ground. The sharp columns split from the middle, and pure white, diamond-shaped light stones emerged. Holy light beams of over ten meters wide burst out of the middle section of the columns. The beams purified and annihted the monsters they shone on. Only the powerful monsters could withstand the beams and hold on to their positions. But their bodies, skin, and muscles started to decay. The holy light was splitting its suppressor-ss power into a dense array of light beams and shooting out in all directions. As the holy crystal font of the holy city could not withstand the full range of radiant, holy power, after some adjustment, Madin had designed this Holy Path n. The Holy Path meant it could clear out a path in the cktide for the warriors to return to the holy path. These rays of holy light might seem to be just theunch of thepressed holy power. But in reality, it also contained the dark energy-based dimensional magic circle technology. Any clerics who entered and echoed the perturbation of the holy path with its own holy power, they would be teleported back to the medical zone in Henricqal within ten seconds. That was the meaning of the holy path. The many holy paths that looked like pure white spikes were shooting out in all directions around Henricqal. The powerful, giant monsters blocked many of them, but more had reached the warriors in the frontline, bringing them light and hope. Chapter 544 - Closing In: Part 2

    544 Closing In: Part 2

    Numerous clerics had learned how to use the Holy Path when they received that information through theirms. Those wounded warriors, soon, were teleported back to the medical zone through the Holy Path, getting their injuries fixed. The Holy Path could only be activated once every half an hour. It drew a lot of energy, and the load on the sacred crystal font was high. One of the Holy Paths shot past the Night Lord straight into the one-eyed giant. As soon as the white light hit the skin of the giant, the Dark Tide devoured all of it. The Night Lord held his golden sword upside down, ck and gray battle scars everywhere on his armor. In exchange for all that, the one-eyed giant had one arm missing as well asrge and small holes in its chest. However, these holes were healing rapidly. ¡°That¡¯s why I hate the trash monsters like this. They could self-heal faster than I could kill!¡± Already dog-tired, seeing things like this made the Night Lord feel that things were not looking up. He should have gone back to his original to get some insurance. If he ever had to deal with such a nasty monster again next time, he had better get his will written beforehand; he thought. ¡°A few more of this, I might as well buy myself a grave and lie inside there for good.¡± He lifted the two holy power long swords in his hands. Dawnbreak, realm suppression, and all that sh*t were not going to work on this big thing. The only way was to smash it as hard as could. The reason was that this guy did not seem to have any weak spots. It was essentially a monster made up of energy and materials. The only way to kill it was to destroy itpletely on the materialposition level. ¡°Shadow Dragon Whisker!¡± As the Night Lord spun around, tentacles, gray and semi-transparent, shot out of his back into the surroundings to get a firm grip of the earth. Just then, the one-eyed giant had raised its hand in the air, traveled for a thousand meters in the air, and then smashed down on the two holy swords that the Knight Lord parried in front of him. The swords shattered upon impact, into shards of pure, holy light. The powerful impact sent the Night Lord flying out backward. But the whiskers were acting like a giant safety. As he flew backward, the whiskers, nted deep into the earth, slowed down his movement before he came to aplete stop, and then rebounded. Helped by a burst of holy power in his body and the connection to the Tidal Gate, the rebound released endless dark-shadow energy. The space behind the Night Lord seemed to have brought out a vast piece of the night sky, in the darkness of which were bright white stars. He flew forward, at ten times the speed of sound, and traveled a thousand meters in just a fraction of a second, pierced through the chest of the one-eyed giant with a sword in-built into the armor. The sword prated the one-eyed giant¡¯s chest and exited through its back along with the Night Lord, who then turned in the air and came back to his original position with lightning speed. As soon as the Night Lord stopped and before he could catch his breath, he saw the bloody wound healed again. ¡°F*ck!¡± As cultivated as he was, he could not help but swear. ¡°What should I do to kill this thing?¡± He was in despair. Not only he could not kill the thing, but he also needed to keep his ears and eyes open in case the thing decided to p him again. That was how he got all those bruises on his body. ¡°I will die if this goes one.¡± The Night Lord looked around in despair. No one could help him or share his burden, except himself. Fortunately, he had destroyed the four spiral columns earlier. Otherwise, it was hard to tell what was going to happen. Legend-ss could only be against Legend-ss. It was not just because of the problem of ss strength but also because even the apex Ptinates, with all their power released at the same time, could only inflict some surface damage to the one-eyed giant. Even if they could pierce through its skin, it would not go beyond the surfaceyer before the momentum died down. Only maniacs like Lin Sheng and the Night Lord, who had unlimited power ess and could not care about exhaustion, could fight against the one-eyed giant. Had this happened to the other Ptinates, the Tidal Gate would have overloaded them before they could wear down the monster by attrition. As the Night Lord and others found themselves struggling in the battle, Shermanton, the first holy city where the Sanctum HQ was located, was getting its first cktide attack. ... A massive swarm of two-headed ck eagles was the biggest challenge Shermanton faced right now. The over fifty-meter-tall city walls of Shermanton were keeping most of the cktide water on the outside. Those ck water shed inside the city would be purified and neutralized by the holy power particles, which was unique to the holy city. There were many terrestrial monstersing from the cktide, but the many Ptinates in Shermanton had taken care of that. They just needed to guard two sides of the city. But the trouble was airborne. Tens of millions of two-headed ck eagles, each at least two-meter long, had appeared in the sky. These ck eagles did not fear the lower-strength purification of the holy power because they had a high-resistant feather. Regr fire, explosion, electric current, and toxins would not work on them. The only way now was getting into a dogfight with them. Clerics rose into the air and physically engaged and killed these two-headed ck eagles. Just as the Pdins were in the fight with these birds, people were gathered in the istion zone. Hanyu and Nisse were nervously looking out of the city, just like many others did. But all they saw and heard came from the temporary projection screen hanging on a higher point, telling them the real-time situation of the battle. ¡°Did history not say that this cktide outbreak would go away without a problem? How did a small-scale battle worsen into arge-scale, all-out war?¡± Hanyu had too many questions in his mind now. He was starting to doubt what he had seen in history. Perhaps someone might have altered the historical records that he read. ¡°If it is a catastrophic disaster, then perhaps, this is the safest ce on earth...¡± While he was thinking, he could not help turning his head to nce toward Lin Xiao¡¯s house. ¡°Let¡¯s hope that everything is fine. It took us quite a trouble to rub shoulders with the Night Matriarch, I cannot afford to let the bottom fall out just like this.¡± ... Lange, the Night Patriarch, was standing at the doorway of his caf¨¦, looking into the sky. The swarm of two-headed ck eagles seemed to be eager toe down. ¡°So, sitting at home isn¡¯t that safe, after all. Meteorites may strike on the head any time.¡± He put on his white gloves. He had no choice but to do it. ¡°Whatever, it is still the city my future brother-inw is guarding. I might as well give him a hand.¡± ¡°Dongmen.¡± As he stepped forward, arge dark mouth that opened under his feet swallowed him, and he vanished on the spot. Without warning, the swarm of two-headed ck eagles in the sky above Shermanton started to shrivel and turned into gravel. No one knew what had happened. No one knew who did this. They just knew those monsters were dying. Chapter 545 - Closing In: Part 3

    545 Closing In: Part 3

    Above the outer wall of Shermanton, there were three mysterious bodies, draped in ck cloaks with only one multicolored eye exposed, floating in the air. They were stealthy, unseen by anyone, watching the brutal war down below like unconcerned spectators. ¡°At least four Ptinates havee. Never have they been mentioned in the intel,¡± the man floating slightly at the rear said. ¡°Not bad. It is very remarkable that a private organization in the human world can develop to this level,¡± said the one at the front, tall built, revealing a multicolored eye. The pupil of his eye looked like circles of dense andplex colored rings; red, blue, yellow, white, brown, gold, and the most central, ck. The rings of seven colors bit together like serrated gears, gleaming with halos in his eye. ¡°The cktide attack is brutal. But that¡¯s good, we can just take advantage of it. What if now, while the Ptinates are not there, we sneak in and destroy the Sanctum HQ...¡± The man smiled. ¡°Brilliant, My Lord!¡± The other two concurred. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The man chuckled. ¡°Faldt is an idiot. He wanted to bring down everything, yet did it so openly. He had just dug his own grave.¡± ¡°Fight to the best of one¡¯s ability and strike the enemy like a shot should be the basic quality every Magister has.¡± ¡°Had My Lorde earlier, this realm would have long changed hands,¡± another man said. ¡°But Faldt doesn¡¯t belong to us, the Dark Pantheon. So he can only fight a lone war unlike My Lord. You have many loyal followers,¡± said the other tteringly. ¡°Enough. Let¡¯s go. It¡¯s time to let the idiots in the human world learn how powerful our Magister is and not a paper tiger.¡± The leading man flew straight past the wall toward the city without saying another word. The battle with the cktide monsters had been going on for some time. No one had noticed that three powerful beings not belonging to this ce were flying toward the core of the city: the Sanctum. Also, no one had expected the Dark Pantheon would send Magister-ss powerful beings here while the human world was in chaos. Compared with thest time whening to the human world was possible only by having wanton blood sacrifice, this time, they could make light work of it because death, destruction, fighting, and despair were everywhere. Monsters and humans were natural enemies. Wherever they were, there would be fighting and killing. There were humans killed by monsters in some corners of the world every minute. The human poption decreased each time there was a cktide attack. Under this circumstance, getting enough humans for sacrifices was just too easy. Just after the three persons from the Dark Pantheon entered the purified air inside the city wall, a series of rumbles apanied by tremor came from outside the city as if something huge was stumping toward Shermanton. Still fighting on the city wall, people unwittingly looked in the sound¡¯s direction. In the cktide water, a giant body emerged out of the ck mist. Its face had a bloodshot eye, white wheels spinning in its chest. Red-eyed, ck dragons, tied to his back, were roaring frantically. ¡°That-That is Annihtus?¡± Two masked men in white were rooted to the spot, staring at the giant body outside the wall. ¡°How could this be? How could Annihtus appear here? Is this world going to end?¡± The masked men in white were shivering big-time. Even in the future world from where they came, each appearance of Annihtus would be a catastrophic disaster. That was because Annihtus was unkible. It had an immortal body. There was no way to destroy itpletely. The most people could do was struggle to resist and chase it away. In another word, in the eyes of the weaker beings, Annihtus was invincible. ¡°That is it...¡± Their blood ran cold, knowing that there was no escaping this time. The one-eyed giant fixed its bloodshot eye on the city wall as it stumped toward Shermanton. As it moved, it emitted a Legend-level, terrorizing force field to cover all living beings within a thousand-meter radius. Ptinates appeared on the wall, faces grave as they stared at the one-eyed gianting from afar. Among them were the Giant King brothers and Sin Dragon Matriarch. The three had their hearts in their mouths. They found it hard to breathe as if something was pressing on their hearts. ¡°I think the Holy Emperor will not me us if we flee, considering the kind opponent we are now facing.¡± Sin Dragon Matriarch flinched, trying to find herself some excuse. The others said nothing. Flee? Where could they go in such circumstances? Annihtus suddenly roared in Shermanton¡¯s direction. The powerful sound wave of its roar tore all the monsters in front of it into pieces. Shocked, the Ptinates quickly summoned their force field. They jointly formed a holy city purification force field and barely protected themselves from the deadly sound waves. The monsters were the ones that suffered the most from the sound waves. Even the two-headed ck eagles in the air were torn apart and exploding. Nearly half of the ck eagles died just because of that roar. In contrast, the inner city, protected by the powerful purification force field, suffered the least damage. But still, many ordinary folks suffered and dropped unconscious to the ground after spurting blood from their mouth. Even the Ptinates barely escaped unhurt from this area-of-effect attack, let alone the helpless ordinary people. The one-eyed giant continued to stump in Shermanton¡¯s direction. There was not a single Legend-ss being in Shermanton, let alone Magister-ss. The most powerful beings there were people like Sin Dragon Matriarch, who were absolutely defenseless against the attack of Annihtus. The holy city was on the verge of destruction. ... Lin Sheng¡¯s brows were knitted together in a frown. Praying voices surrounded him, turning from soft and confident into rabid, frightened, and despair. Those steady prayers for protection had changed. It now sounded as if the distorted images and sound of a TV broadcast. It was sharp, harsh, weird, and with a terrible sense of unease. Nearly washed away from his original consciousness, Lin Sheng suddenly came out of the trance. Chapter 546 - Similar: Part 1

    Chapter 546 Simr: Part 1

    thousands of payers surrounded him, with voices of pleading for help, crying of despair.if the earlier praying voices were neat and steadfast, then they must feel like in destruction and despair now. ¡°where am i now?¡± the changes in external force slowly awakened lin sheng¡¯s original consciousness. if he were to continue to stay in the surround sound of brainwashing voices, he would sooner orter be a monster of willpower that served only the divine instinct. he was only an ordinary human with ordinary consciousness. he had never experienced a real mental trial. perhaps the brutal fighting in the dreams was part of it, but it was no way nowhere near the level for him to sustain divine conception. ¡°wake up! wake up! wake up!¡± a familiar voice was ringing in his ears. but there were too many voices. this voice was just one of them, too indistinct that the prayers had drowned it out. ¡°ahh, i remember now. i¡¯m forming divinity...¡± lin sheng suddenly woke up to what he was doing. he looked at himself, bounded by white chains in the void. but something was rapidly dyeing the pure, white chains into the evil gray and ck. ¡°wake up! wake up! your believers¡¯ wills are undergoing distortion! stop this! please stop! stop!¡± a faint voice drifted into his ear from afar. he could not make out what it was. protection? believers? he searched his soul. it felt as if there was an added self-confidence in his consciousness. it was absolute self-confidence. anything was possible so long as he followed this idea. the powerful feeling was giving lin sheng the illusion that he had surpassed the power of the dark wheel. ¡°is this the guardian divinity? a unique divinity belongs to me?¡± he carefully appreciated the amazing thing he had conceived. soon, he figured out what his guardian divinity was all about. the contaminated guardian divinity at the end. the guardian divinity bred in despair and fear, originally the willpower that got from the peace and sincere prayer of the believers. however, things had fundamentally changed. only protected and praying believers living in despair and fear could he ept. ¡°despair and fear?¡± lin sheng was confused. but he did not have time for this. the moment he woke up, his soul connection with his avatars let him know that shermanton was on the verge of destruction. ¡°got to go now!¡± the rest of the souls who guarded shermanton told him that the situation there was not good. the white chains that surrounded lin sheng had now turned gray-ck. as he got up to his feet, the chains broke, shattering into ck light spots and vanished in the air. ¡°ording to the divine pir guy, this must be the willpower chain that i have formed. they can not only provide me with unlimited willpower but also pollute my divinity, twist my will, and turn me into a fallen divine creature when the belief in willpower changes.¡± lin sheng finally understood it. if it were any other days, he would have sat down and taken his time to study it. but not today. he had to rush back to shermanton. otherwise, it would be toote. ¡°night lord, that fe...¡± it made his hackles rise. lin sheng stood upright. he assigned the night lord to guard shermanton mainly because of his family¡¯s safety. but this guy suddenly became an eager beaver. he went to henricqal and even offered himself to fight. but he got himself into the quagmire and could not pull away. this prevented shermanton from buying more time. as lin sheng stood up, the multicolored ribbons in the surroundings faded and vanished. he scanned around, trying to work out his bearing. he needed to know where he was because he had hibernated in his consciousness for ten years. the flow of time on the outside might be different, but in the case of his soul, it was ten years. he had forgotten many things. just when he worked out his direction, ready to head back to his house in the nightmare in, a familiar voice came from his side. ¡°you are finally awake.¡± lin sheng looked over and saw a slender woman in a dark-green cloak holding the golden ball in which the golden-red humanoid resided. the voice definitely came from the ball, and the ball stayed still in the woman¡¯s hand. ¡°what are you doing?¡± lin sheng frowned; he did not even notice the presence of the woman at all just now. ¡°whatever. i¡¯ve got to go now. if anything, we¡¯ll see and talkter!¡± ¡°err, i¡¯m afraid you¡¯re not going anywhere for the next half an hour,¡± the golden-red humanoid said. lin sheng ignored it, turned, and then flew in his house¡¯s direction, leaving a trail of semi-transparent waves behind him. ward of distortion from his dark wheel was propelling him forward. but just as he was in the air, the woman holding the golden-red humanoid ball hade in front of him. no. it was lin sheng who had returned to his original position to be exact. he was now in front of the mysterious woman. ¡°what¡¯s happening?¡± lin sheng was desperate to return to save the actual world. but he just could not figure out why he was brought back to his original position. he did not sense any perturbation of the dimension at all. that level of ability... his face turned serious as he stared at the woman¡¯s face hidden under the hood. ¡°you were the one who did this?¡± his voice was cold. ¡°i¡¯m sorry, i activated your soul absorption earlier and your absorption rate was probably too high. so, now we have woken up this fellow, and...¡± the golden-red humanoid said with a shrug. ¡°then, who is she?¡± lin sheng sensed something was wrong. at first, he thought the golden-red humanoid had found the body of a woman as his new body. but now, this spatial shift phenomenon that happened made him feel more and more like resonance in the depths of his soul. ¡°just as you have thought it,¡± the golden-red humanoid said, ¡°the one who stood in front of you, clutching me in his hands, is aisha, the torturer, the most powerful being after the master in the divine pir.¡± ¡°then why is she standing in front of me? what does she want?¡± ¡°aisha has a perverted habit. she likes to savor her prey only when her prey was in its most perfect and delicious condition,¡± the golden-reed humanoid said. ¡°she was waiting for you toplete the transcendence. but you...¡± Chapter 547 - Similar: Part 2

    547 Simr: Part 2

    ¡°stop the crap. how can i get out?¡± lin sheng had tried several times while he spoke. he flew, used teleportation, and purified the environment with his holy power, but he was still put back to his original position. using different kinds of power to damage the terrain worked neither. ¡°she was here while you transcended, waiting for you to finish so that she can kill you and then eat you!¡± the golden red humanoid quickly said. ¡°the only way for you to get out of here is to kill her! otherwise¡ª¡± before he could finish, lin sheng had disappeared from where he was. he was using a ward of god¡¯s speed, the power of the dark wheel exploding at once. everything in the surroundings flew past at warp speed like a muddled fuel in a barrel. when he felt he had made enough distance, he slowed down and finally stopped. when the scenery around him came to a standstill, his face copsed. he was still at the same spot, in front of the woman. he felt a cial gaze from the woman on him. she was staring at him. ¡°you...!¡± ... annihtus, the one-eyed giant stumped toward the city wall of shermanton. around it was a powerful legend-ss force field. everything, everyone¡ªbe it monsters or humans¡ªwas turned into minced meat within the twisting force field. as it approached the city wall, it reached to grab the ten-meter-tall wall of shermanton. just then, a loud and violent explosion broke out behind the one-eyed giant. a huge fireball rose. the scarlet me had prated the one-eyed giant¡¯s force field and did its damage on the giant¡¯s back. the one-eyed giant stopped and turned its head around as it grabbed back with its hand. the centaur lord was running on all four in the air, swiftly dodging the giant¡¯s hand. e on, you big clumsy lump of meat! see how fast i¡¯m moving!¡± khur warspear, the centaur lord, was very clear of one thing; he firmly believed that it was during this crucial moment that he could show more of his loyalty and steadfastness, that by creating a contrast with those who flinched in the battlefield the holy emperor exalted him. he had reached the limit of his strength and lifespan. by only clinging on to the holy emperor¡¯s feet, he might be able to get to greater heights. e after me, you idiot!¡± the centaur lord knew he was ying with his life. but nothing ventured, nothing gained. if he did not take the risk, it would be akin to hoping fate would be kind to him, which was only a flight of fancy. he took an opportunity skimming over those people on the city wall. sin dragon matriarch, who was still here a while ago, had now gone. it was apparent that those powerful beings, who could only survive for a moment in the ck tide, had fled. ¡°not sure if my gamble is going to pay off. but...¡± the centaur lord flipped midair and flew up, just in time dodging annihtus, the one-eyed giant¡¯s attack, ¡°i¡¯m the godson of the holy emperor. i am khur warspear, the centaur lord!¡± he oscited all his strength, amplifying the sound waves so that half of the city could hear his name. it was necessary to make himself heard at this time so that the holy emperor knew he was the only one here at the most critical moment. khur warspear, the centaur lord, was not one of but the single most dependable man. ¡°even if i am alone!¡± khur warspear roared. ¡°even if everyone else has fled!¡± his voice was getting louder and louder, above the hollers of the ck tide monsters. ¡°even if my strength is far lower than yours! but, for the sake of your, the holy emperor. for the sake of the city your majesty wants to protect, i, khur warspear, will not give up!¡± the centaur lord shouted to the top of his lungs, using his power to spread his voice over the entire holy city. ¡°now everyone should have known i am the one who buys them time.¡± the centaur lord threw another holy st grenade. this grenade was far more powerful than an equivalent-sized stic explosive. just the size of a fist, the effective damage range was one hundred meters radius. what made it more deadly was the added sacred crystals, which could inflict lethal damage to the ck tide monsters. just because of that, he could draw the attention of the one-eyed giant. if it hit its target, with the added power boost from the centaur lord, the damage that the holy st grenade caused would be at a magister-level. but due to extremely low production, deployment was slow and took a long time. there were few in stock. after a while of continuous explosions, it still had no effect on the one-eyed giant except for the little white ash on its back and thighs. done with what he wanted to do, it was time to disappear. the centaur lord fled into the distance. ¡°aah! i, khur warspear, the centaur lord! do i really have to die here today?¡± nothing else mattered; voices had to be loud so that everyone knew, right now, right here, that he was the only one who fought and held back the one-eyed giant. ¡°myrades, where are you all? why am i the only one left?¡± khur warspear roared as he fled. right now, it was the time to show what brotherhood was all about. he wanted to let everyone know that he was the only one left to fight while others had fled. the centaur lord and the one-eyed giant fought for two more rounds. atst, the one-eyed giant discovered that the centaur lord could not do any damage to him. he ignored him and focused his attention on shermanton. the centaur lord retreated quickly. he had achieved what he wanted, merits and fame were awaiting him. his motivation was irrelevant here. the important thing was he had bought everyone some time so they could evacuate. ¡°your majesty, i¡¯ve done what i am supposed to do. if you¡¯re noting back now, there is nothing i can do now...¡± a huge nine-fingered hand smashed into the high wall of shermanton. artillery fire and explosion from the pure white, holy power were useless against the nine-fingered hand. the middle section of the wall, along with the city gate, had copsed. this signified the copse of the shermanton defense system. the cleric warrior roared in anger and despair, charging toward the monsters that tried to pour in through the breach in the wall. but before they and the monsters coulde close, the legend-ss force field of annihtus twisted and tore them into pieces. the power of annihtus was indiscriminate, which was the only constion. at least, they did not have to worry about those monsters when annihtus was present. the one-eyed giant finally entered shermanton. after the defense was breached and the magic circle failed, the city¡¯s residents, who were waiting and thinking they were still safe, started to copse mentally when they saw the one-thousand-meter-tall, one-eyed giante toward them. Chapter 548 - Similar: Part 3 Chapter 548 Simr: Part 3 The Clerics Were Steadier. Praying to the Holy Light Was a Process of Honing the Soul. Despite Feeling Despair, They Still Organized Emergency Evacuation, Keeping People Away From the Path of Annihtus. This Was to Minimize Casualty. That Was Possible Only Because Khur Warspear, the Centaur Lord, Had Risked His Life and Bought Them Time. Those People of Importance Had Been Moved to a ce Near the Sacred Crystal Font of the Sanctum Hq, Which Was the Safest ce Now. Had It Not Been for the Powerful Energy Interference, They Would Have Evacuated Everyone to Another ce by Teleportation. Among Those Moved to the Sanctum Were the Lin Family, Hanyu, and Nisse. Khad and Other Ptinates Stayed Back and Gathered on Top of the Sanctum Hill. Their Faces Were Grave as the One-eyed Giant Reached the City Center, Knocking Down Skyscrapers on Its Path. ¡°Are We the Only Ones Here?¡± Khad nced at the Fairy Empress and a Man Named Dimpess, a Government Elite With a Large Beard. His Name Was the Same as Xylond¡¯s Secondrgest City. Just Like the City, He Was a Man of Mission, Which Formed a Part of His Character. ¡°Just a Few of Us.¡± Dimpess nced at the Fairy Empress With Gauze in Front of Her Face. ¡°Still Wearing a Gauze in a Time Like This, Miss. Philippe?¡± He Looked at the Fairy Empress, His Eyes Filled With Affection. This Chief Advisor to the Tssf, the Only Ptinate in the Government of Xylond, Joined the Sanctum Because of the Fairy Empress. He Had a Crush on Her. Many People Believed in Love at First Sight, and He Was a Hard-core Believer. ¡°It Will Be My Greatest Pleasure in Life if I Could Just Have a Glimpse of You Before I Die, Miss. Philippe,¡± Dimpess, the Bearded Man Said. He Was Indeed a Man of Mission, but Even Such a Man Could Be Capable of Love. ¡°You¡¯ll Cry When You See Her Face,¡± Khad Chimed in, Pulling a Weird Face. ¡°No, I Won¡¯t. I¡¯ve Never Cried Since I Was Five.¡± Probably Dimpess and She Had a Generation Gap. He Had Problems Communicating With Her. Khad Did Not Know What to Say, Just Feeling Tired Talking to the Old Man. She Knew She Was a Lot Older Than Him, but She Was Young at Heart. Sensing Her Original Again, Khad Watched as the One-eyed Giant Slowly Approached and Told Herself Not to Cling to the Hope That Would Never Come. ¡°It Looks Like It is Too Late...¡± She Mumbled With a Voice That Was Only Audible to Herself. ¡°Let Me Do It,¡± the Fairy Empress Said. She Was Never Afraid of Death. As an Empress, She Had Given Up Her Own Safety. She Joined the Sanctum Because She Wanted to Save Her Race From Being Exterminated by Lin Sheng. If She Did Not Perform Up to Par and Displeased Lin Sheng, She Could Have Implicated Her Entire Fairy Race. So She Could Not and Dare Not Flee. ¡°There is No More Holy st Grenade, and Our Strength is Too Low to Attract This Thing¡¯s Attention!¡± Khad Frowned. ¡°That¡¯s Okay. Let Me Try,¡± Said the Fairy Empress. There Was Green Light Behind Her as Green Leaves Appeared Around and She Lunged Toward the One-eyed Giant. ... Near the Divine Pir, Lin Sheng Held a Pure White Holy Sword in Hand, Striking the Holy Sword of the Woman in Front of Him. They Both Used the Same Move. Even Their Holy Powers Were Nearly Identical. As if Swinging a War Hammer, They Brandished Their Swords and Fought Each Other Like There Was No Tomorrow. But No Matter How Much Strength Lin Sheng Used, Aisha Would Match Him With the Same Level of Power. Having Formed His Divinity Just a While Ago, Lin Sheng¡¯s Combat Method Was Not Much Different From Previously. But He Could Now Clearly Feel an Indescribable Vigor and Flux of Energy in His Every Move. This Naturally Boosted the Effectiveness of His Sword Skills. But He Was Wary About Aisha. She Could Mimic and Learn This Unique Power and Technique of His. So He Used Only His Old but Effective Combat Techniques to Fight Her. During the Fierce Battle, He Started to Figure Out the Feature of His Divinity. ¡°When Aisha Loses Her Mind, She Would Only Respond to Whatever Level of Power in Front of Her. So Long as You Haven¡¯t Revealed Your Actual Strength, She Won¡¯t Burst Into the Destructive Power of Divine Creatures!¡± the Golden Red Humanoid Reminded Lin Sheng. ¡°Keep It This Way!¡± Lin Sheng Frowned as He Shifted His Body Aside, Dodging an Attack That Came Down on Him. Retreating Several Steps Backward, He Then Returned to Where He Was. Likewise, Aisha Was Back to Her Original Position Almost at the Same Time and Stopped Attacking. ¡°Aisha is Not Fully in Her Condition Yet. You Can Use Momentary Bursts of Power Increase to Overwhelm Her Learning in Evolving Her Divinity. When She Could Not React in Such a Brief Moment, You Could Easily Ditch Her!¡± Said the Golden Red Humanoid. ¡°That Won¡¯t Be Necessary.¡± Lin Sheng Killed His Holy Power Sword. ¡°I Think I¡¯ve Figured Out the Power of Divinity I Have Formed.¡± He Opened His Hands, and Rings of Vortex Formed at His Feet. Energy That Did Not Belong to the Dark Wheel or Holy Power Was Rapidly Distorting and Changing the Surrounding Landscape. Lin Sheng Closed His Eyes and Listened. There Were Sounds, Not Belonging to Him or Anyone Else, in the Wind. The Sounds Rose From Got Louder, Gradually Converging Like River Flows, Coming Near, and Dancing Around Him. He Opened His Eyes and Saw Aisha Was Doing the Same Thing. The Difference Was That the Sounds Aisha Gathered Were Nothing but the Dead and Empty Flow of the Wind. ¡°See That?¡± Lin Sheng. ¡°It is Useless Even if She Learns My Divine Ability Because She Has Nothing That She Could Protect.¡± Lin Sheng Grabbed the Air in Front of Him With His Hand. The Sounds Oscited, Turning Into Invisible Twisters, Covering His Body Like a Cloak. And Then Everything Died Down. The Cloak Was Torn Apart, Bing Invisible Sound Waves. As the Sound Waves Dissipated, It Also Pointed Lin Sheng in the Right Direction Where He Could Leave. He Looked at Aisha for One Last Time Before Launching Himself Up and Disappearing Into Thin Air. By the Time Aisha Came to Her Senses, Lin Sheng Was Gone. Standing on the Spot, She Fell Into Silence and Back to Her Own Little World. ¡°Aisha...¡± A Soft Voice Came From the Golden Ball in Her Hand. Once Upon a Time, When the Divine Pir Was Still a Sacred Thing of the World, When Dreamweaver, the Demigod, Still Ruled All Living Creatures and Blessed Everyone With a Beautiful Dream, Everything Was Beautiful. They Once Enjoyed a Period of Happiness, but Now, Everything Was Destroyed. ¡°Master, I Will Resurrect You. I Swear!¡± the Voice Said for the One Last Time and Then Became Completely Silent. Chapter 549 - Protect: Part 1

    Chapter 549 Protect: Part 1

    The huge fiery green fireball that looked like a dandelion blooming was shooting out green fireballs in the sky.The fireballs fell down like meteorites, hitting the one-eyed giant below.It had done bits of gray here and there on the one-eyed giant, but could not even scratch its skin a bit, let alone hurting it. However, the fireballs got the one-eyed giant¡¯s attention. Stopping moving, it turned around and saw a body floating in a fireball. That was the Fairy Empress. She was surrounded by green vines that had dandelions fluttering out of them. Seeds started to spring out of the dandelions. They went up in mes and danced around and then formed a huge green fireball. The one-eyed giant parried with the back of its hand. All the fire meteorites dissipated in an instant as the fireball disappeared. The sky returned to its dark gray color. The Fairy Empress, who floated in the air just a while ago, was gone. Everything had calmed down. ¡°Miss. Philippe... did you just sacrifice yourself?¡± Standing in front of the sanctum, Dimpess sounded sad. ¡°It is my turn, then.¡± He nced at Khad. ¡°I wish I could get away from this, but where can I go?¡± Khad did not know what to say. In fact, whatever she said was not going to change anything. Dimpess had walked away from death countless times and rose to be a Ptinate. Many of hisrades had died for the past several hundred years. Death no longer worried him a bit. ¡°Many of my friends are dead, and I¡¯m still alive now¡ªI really couldn¡¯t ask for more.¡± He stomped his feet, and his body floated. Dark energy and holy power started to surround him in white and green light. ¡°I¡¯m going.¡± His body faded into a streak of white light as he rose into the sky. ¡°Come to get me, you big guy!¡± He roared and had the one-eyed giant attention. Just when he nned to take the one-eyed giant going a few rounds and leave, a powerful, legend-ss force field fell upon him, fixing him in the air like a bug preserved in amber. Before he could do anything else, the one-eyed giant had grabbed and crushed him in its hand. When it opened its hand again, what was left of him of only a patch of blood in its hand. The crushed body of a human, smeared on the one-eyed giant¡¯s hand, looked only like a sesame seed. At the same time, rockets started to rise all over the city, flying toward the one-eyed giant. However, these rocketsden with dark energy had all exploded in midair before even reaching its target. The Annihtus stumped forward, stomping its feet in the area dotted with low-rise buildings, crushing everything to the ground. For the third time, it reached out its hands and struck a highrise that happened to stand in its way. The building broke in half with the top half sent flying and disappearing into the ck mist. The one-eyed giant moved ahead toward the most prominent part of the city where the Sanctum was located. The Sanctum still put out pure, white light continuously to fight back the invading cktide water. But after the Annihtus broke through the wall, the holy power started to get overwhelmed. The one-eyed giant continued to stride ahead, every step sending tremor to the earth if someone was smashing down with a hammer. Arge crowd of people had gathered on thewn in front of the prayer hall of the Sanctum. These people, evacuated from other ces, were the hard-core believers and the family members of the leadership of the Sanctum Among them were Lin Xiao, Gu Wanqiu, and Lin Zhounian. Gu Wanqiu looked pale, but she stillforted her daughter. Lin Zhounian stood together with the parents of Hanyu and Nisse, quietly looking at the one-eyed giant. ¡°Let us pray,¡± one of them said. Indistinct voices of prayer rose among the crowd. In a time like this, the only thing they could do was pray. Standing on the prayer altar was one of Khad¡¯s avatars, a girl as beautiful as the holy light. She pped her hands together and faced the only statue in the prayer hall. The statue was a tall, white stone sculpture without a face. By the looks of its shape and contour, it was a sculpture of Lin Sheng. The monster roared again. The one-eyed giant reached its nine-fingered hand and grabbed at the Sanctum, which was the brightest ce in the city. But this time, no one could draw away the giant. The ck nine-finger hand, much like Titan in the mythology, was emitting a powerful twisting force field, distorting and crushing the purification force field around the Sanctum. Finally, as everyone was still desperately praying, the ck hand smashed down on the Sanctum Hill with a loud boom. When everything died down, the giant ck hand lifted off. Underneath was an oval light shield shrouding the entire Sanctum Hill. The one-eyed giant was transfixed as if it could not believe in what it saw. But it quickly came to grips with what happened and struck its hand down at the light shield again. Nothing was going to stop it. The shield might only stand for now, but the result would still be the same with repeated attacks. The giant nine-fingered hand struck with a powerful force field down at the sanctum. ¡°Now, we are not doing anything but pray.¡± Lin Zhounian looked up at the giant ck hand, puzzled why everything had changed in such a short time. His life had changed. His peaceful days had gone. It looked as if he was seeing the disaster scene in a movie. It was just that he was seeing it from a first-person perspective now. ¡°Where is Lin Sheng now? Hope he has made it out safely...¡± In theirst moment, Lin Zhounian held his wife and Lin Xiao¡¯s hand tightly with a forced smile on his face. ¡°He... is going to be okay.¡± Gu Wanqiu¡¯s face was pale. ¡°Sheng Sheng must have gone back to Henricqal. He said thatst time...¡± Lin Xiao also forced a smile. ¡°Did he say that?¡± Lin Zhounian asked, trying tofort himself. ¡°Yeah... he said that before.¡± Lin Xiao nodded affirmatively. ¡°I was just kidding, you silly twerp.¡± A voice suddenly spoke beside Lin Xiao. She froze, then slowly turned her head around, looking beside her. A familiar body was standing there; it was Lin Sheng. He stared up at the one-eyed giant without looking at his parents and others. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ve lied to you all many times.¡± He stepped forward, out of the crowd, toward the holy and beautiful Khad, who had been waiting, and then the two held their hands. ¡°I promise. This is thest one.¡± The moment Lin Sheng stepped up onto the prayer altar, a bright white light burst out of his body. He was now d in a set of pure white body armor with a white cloak fluttering on his back. ¡°Then, let¡¯s roll.¡± He and Khad ced their hands on the prayer altar, activating a disc, thest trigger of the sacred crystal font. ¡°My brother, it¡¯s all yours now.¡± Khad looked up at Lin Sheng with an innocent smile. Chapter 550 - Protect: Part 2

    Chapter 550 Protect: Part 2

    Almost at the same time, allmanders and avatars of Lin Sheng still in Shermanton faded into streams of white light and converged.Lin Sheng looked up at the approaching ck hand, his hand grasped forward and a holy light sword formed in his hand.¡°Go vanish in agony and despair!¡± As bright light burst beneath him, the powerful holy white light propelled him into the sky to meet the approaching nine-fingered ck hand. The white light and the ck hand finally shed in the air. The one-eyed giant had no sense of agony, but it seemed to have sensed that it had met a powerful opponent. Using another hand, it grabbed at the white light. But everything was toote. The oue was set for it when the first white beam pierced through its hand. Like silk, the white light coiled over and climbed up the arm of the Annihtus and bundled up its upper body. The one-eyed giant roared furiously again, but more white silk came and covered its body. In just a while, white holy light silk had shrouded its entire body and started to tighten. ¡°Turn into my voice and be one with me!¡± Lin Sheng stood on the prayer altar, looking up at the one-eyed giant. A facial armor covered his face, but his bright and calm ck eyes froze in the mind of everyone at the scene like a piece of painting. The one-eyed giant rapidly shrank. From a gigantic ball, it became smaller and smaller until it turned into the size of an eyeball, descending and floating in front of Lin Sheng. Taking it in his hand, he pressed it into his left shoulder armor, and the ball was infused into the armor and became a piece of decoration. Everything returned to normal. Without the Annihtus, the purification force field of the Sanctum returned to normal. It expanded and forced out the ck water from all corners of the city. The ck clouds had dispersed, and blue returned to the sky. Sunlight found its way through the clouds and shone onto thend below as if the first light of hope after the doomsday. ¡°The Fairy Empress is dead... the Centaur Lord is missing...¡± Khad whispered beside him. ¡°I know.¡± Lin Sheng gazed into the clear sky. Many people had lost their lives in this battle. If this was the price to pay for fighting the ck Tide, then he understood how Ancellia felt in ckfeather City. Known as the Light of Hope at the time, she probably shouldered the same mission and role just like him. If that was the case, did she feel how he felt? As the scene of Ancellia went from one world to another, searching for redemption for her homeworld came to mind, Lin Sheng did not want to plunge into the same situation that Ancellia had experienced. Turning around to face his parents and sister, who were still in shock, and then those people survived the catastrophic disaster, Lin Sheng could see the many prayers and hope in their eyes. ¡°There is still one ce that needs my help. I will leave this ce to you all.¡± People at the scene were mostly from the Sanctum leadership and their families. They would have to take care of the aftermath in this ce. ¡°Wait a minute! We...¡± an apex Six-winger stepped up and spoke. But it was toote; Lin Sheng had faded into white particles and disappeared into thin air. The crowdpsed into silence. No one uttered a word. Hanyu clenched his fists, feeling nothing even though his nails nearly pierced into his palms. He had only one thing in mind at this time. ¡°I¡¯m rich! I¡¯m freaking rich now!¡± He guffawed like a madman in his mind. It had never crossed his mind that the younger brother of the Night Matriarch was the Holy Emperor. Heaven must be kidding with him. He felt as if he had struck a lottery and be rich overnight, that he hade to the crest of his life. The joy of it made him want tough out loud. Standing beside him, Nisse appeared coy. She clutched his wrist, fearing that he mightugh out loud. It was just not the right ce and time. Many people here had lost their families; if Hanyu was ever found chuckling at this time, he could be beaten to death on the spot. Lin Xiao gazed at the spot where her younger brother had disappeared, not knowing that Khad had reached out to hold her hand. When she finally came out of her little world, she saw the beautiful smile of Khad. ¡°I will take care of you all on behalf of Brother.¡± While Lin Zhounian and Gu Wanqiu were still in a daze, Khad¡¯s avatars brought them back into the Sanctum, where Lin Sheng usually rested himself. In a corner, three men gasped for air as theyughed. ¡°Luckily, he hasn¡¯t seen me!¡± The man with multiple-colored eyes and a pale face breathed a sigh of relief. Thinking of the massive power and valor that he had sensed just now, he would shake like a leaf. ¡°Lord... what do we do now?¡± His man asked, quaking in his boots. ¡°What do we do?¡± The man smacked him on the head. ¡°Find a way to escape, of course!¡± ¡°But... but, isn¡¯t our mission... is to sabotage the Sanctum?¡± Another of his men asked in a whisper. ¡°You fool! Between mission and life, which is more important?¡± The man got angrier, pping his subordinate on the face. ¡°As a Magister of the Dark Pantheon, fighting an enemy you know you couldn¡¯t defeat isn¡¯t gutsy but idiotic!¡± The man sorted out his cor. ¡°The human world is too dangerous. I¡¯d better return to and retire in the underworld.¡± The three men disappeared into the crowd. No one had noticed them as the massive shes of force fields earlier had created a messy perturbation of energy. The chaotic force fields had drowned out many things. ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡± The man with multi-colored eyes nced back at the Sanctum and felt miserable. ¡°This is weird. Why am I feeling sad to leave this ce?¡± He felt like he was home. It was warm, safe, soothing as opposed to the Dark Pantheon, which was cold, gray, disturbing, and filled with disgusting negativity. ¡°How nice...¡± He sighed unknowingly. ¡°It¡¯s the best thing to believe in the holy light.¡± He was suddenly shocked by what he thought. ¡°This is wrong! How can I, the Magister of the Dark Pantheon, have this thought?¡± He had fought countless wars and been living for thousands of years. He had sensed something wrong with himself in the first instance. Using the underworld energy, he quickly found the source of his strangeness. On the left side of his neck, a streak of white light had appeared. It looked like a birthmark that was permanently etched into his skin. ¡°This is...¡± The man was shocked. He finally realized it was not that Lin Sheng had not noticed him, it was just that Lin Sheng had done something to him. Not just him, but his two men. Just like him, they gazed in the prayer altar¡¯s direction, their eyes filled with admiration. It was as if wanderers had finallye home after a long time. Seeing this, cold and fear started to overwhelm him like a flood. ¡°I¡¯ve got to go! I¡¯ve got to go now!¡± He staggered out and flew in a direction out of the city. Chapter 551 - Protect: Part 3

    Chapter 551Protect: Part 3

    Lange, the Night Patriarch, saw what happened before him but did not give a hoot of these people, who were just some random strangers to him. He was more interested in the power that Lin Sheng had disyed just now. That power was not something he could defeat with his unlimited dark force because even though his dark force was unlimited, tofu was still tofu; it could never stop steel spikes. ¡°I couldn¡¯t even fight the monster, let alone Lin Sheng, the Holy Emperor.¡± Lange used to think highly of himself, but now his pride was trampled to the ground. He needed more power and growth. He could feel that he could be stronger rapidly, his potential not exhausted. ¡°Just wait, and I will surpass you one day!¡± Looking into the direction where Lin Sheng vanished, he withdrew quietly and faded into the building behind him. ... ¡°Turn into living souls and be under my protection. It doesn¡¯t matter if you are a passerby, a monster, an opponent, or even a foe. After being defeated by me and turning into a ball of living soul, your soul and body will be one with and protected by me. This is my divinity!¡± Lin Sheng calmly passed through the portal. ¡°It does not matter if it is out of your free will, you will be under my protection.¡± This was the divinity that he finally formed. It felt like something was amiss somehow, but it was handy and powerful. The best part of this divinity was that he could get willpower from the subject under his protection. The will of the subject was irrelevant. So long as it was under Lin Sheng¡¯s protection, he could harness willpower from them. It was even better if the subject was a believer, brainwashed by the holy light. He could get even more willpower of better purity. So, he could seal his foes and opponents, turn them into balls of living souls, and then forever purify and brainwash them using the holy power, and they would be his source of willpower. Protecting everything that he could see was the nature of Lin Sheng¡¯s soul. ¡®All of you are my wings¡¯ would soon be a reality to Lin Sheng. The moment he stepped out of the portal, he found himself looking at a half-red, half-gray sky, which used to be red in Henricqal. Battle cries reverberated in the air. Thudding from the machine guns and explosion from the cannons filled the air in all directions. It was apparent that because of the many workshops there, ammo was much more abundant than that on the HQ¡¯s side. The spot where Lin Sheng stood was still a small garden. The portal array here had fallen into disuse in the aftermath of the chaotic force field. But this interference was nothing to Lin Sheng. So long as the coordinates were still there, he could tear open the dimensions with the Dark Wheel and teleport himself over. It was not a big deal. After forming his divinity, his cognition of dimensions and force fields had be even clearer. It was a new height aspared tost time. It seemed that the formation of his divinity had also benefited and modified his physique. ¡°Ie just in time by the looks of things.¡± After working out his bearing, Lin Sheng stepped out and vanished from the spot in the blink of an eye. ... A beam of golden light fell from the sky and crashed into the ck water below with a massive ssh. The golden patterns on the ck armor of the Night Lord were still glowing. Pulling himself out of the ck water, he sat on the body at the core of the armor, half of his face had been contaminated ck. The wound in the chest of the one-eyed giant Annihtus was rapidly healing. In less than a second, therge wound that nearly tore its body in half had fully healed. ¡°This thing just won¡¯t die!¡± The Night Lord coughed as he directed his armor and floated up into the air. ¡°My original, if you still have note, I would be contaminated for the second time.¡± He did not want to experience the same degradation again. The state where he would lose his will and consciousness and where his mind was just a lump of mud and ignorance was more terrifying than death. ¡°If I were to die eventually, I¡¯d prefer to die in my sleep on the bed...¡± As the Night Lord clenched the armor knife in his hand, Shadow Dragon Whiskers shot out from his back into the void. Annihtus roared frenziedly as a swarm of red-eyed ck dragons flew out of its ck toward the Night Lord. At the same time, it struck down at the Night Lord with its fists. For a moment, ck dragons and fists filled the entire sky. The Night Lord raised his greatswords, his body bursting with golden light as white petals appeared and danced around him. As Dawnbreaker formed in his hand, the Night Lord brandished it and lunged at the iing swarm of ck dragons. ¡°Don¡¯t fool around with me! I am the Night Lord!¡± As he roared frenziedly, the Night Lord summoned what remained of his strength and met the swarm of ck dragons and fists head-on. Was he dying? It felt weird that at thest moment of his life, what shed across his mind was not the girl whom he missed most but the time of his life in the Sanctum, the leisure moment he enjoyed. ¡°After all, to be honest, I am not the Night Lord.¡± He gazed at the approaching swarm of ck dragons. ¡°Not a reborn Night Lord, but a real me.¡± Being half contaminated, he had lost contact with Lin Sheng, his original. He started to smell death at hisst moment. A lot of things shed across his mind. The real Night Lord was gone. What remained of him was only fragments of his soul that Lin Sheng had collected from the gaps of the dimension. He had be one with Lin Sheng, and he was summoned by him. He was now a new individual through-and-through. ¡°I am Lin Sheng but not all of him. This is interesting.¡± Along with hisst consciousness, the Night Lord lunged into the swarm of ck dragons. Bright golden light burst out of his swords, piercing through everything. But after he plowed through the group of dragons, what awaited him was the familiar body standing on the shoulder of the one-eyed giant. Lin Sheng was d in a full set of white armor, his cloak fluttering to the left in the wind. ¡°You are kind of busy.¡± Lin Sheng stared at the Night Lord, his eyes grim and strange. The holy light silk bundled and immobilized the one-eyed giant under his feet. ¡°I instructed you to guard Shermanton, and you came here without my permission!¡± Lin Sheng looked at him with a murderous expression. The Night Lord felt a chill travel up his spine. Stopping in his tracks, he slowly put down his swords and giggled. He then spun around and ran without saying a word. ¡°Come back!¡± Lin Sheng willed with his mind and an irresistible Soul Shackle caused the Night Lord to turn around involuntarily and fly back toward Lin Sheng. As Lin Sheng¡¯smander, the Night Lord was his summoned creature, of which Lin Sheng had absolute control. He never used this authority on normal days because he respected them as hismanders. But if he wanted to, no way could the Night Lord get away from him. Right now, the one-eyed giant had been reduced to an eyeball-sized white and golden bead. Lin Sheng had it in his hand and iid it on his left shoulder armor. ¡°Nice. One more subject of protection.¡± Pleased with having tied up the loose end, Lin Sheng shot the Night Lord a look. ¡°Let¡¯s clean up the mess.¡± Lin Sheng smacked his hand on the Night Lord¡¯s armor. In that instant, the Night Lord felt a powerful soul power rush into him. It differed from the holy power and even had a more powerful purification ability. In just the blink of an eye, the soul power hadpletely purified and healed the Night Lord¡¯s soul. ¡°You could even purify me after all the contamination from the cktide?¡± The Night Lord was stunned. ¡°Not purification but cut away,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°How could you do that? I will get less intelligent!¡± The Night Lord was shocked. ¡°It¡¯s not like you have any of it in the ce, so it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Chapter 552 - Aftermath: Part 1

    Chapter 552 Aftermath: Part 1

    Tenko Kasumi pierced through the skull of the giant bird with her sword. But even if the white energy that formed the sword fully prated the head of the giant bird, it was as if a tiny toothpick was pricking through the skin of the monstrous bird. A non-physical sword could not inflict any damage to its body.Tenko Kasumi pulled away with her sword, just in time to dodge the attack from the bird¡¯s wings. ¡°This thing just won¡¯t die!¡± Drenched in sweat, she leaped up into the air and turned into a stream of light. She had tried a dozen moves to attack, but the damage that each move could do to the giant bird was next to nothing. Without a doubt, the opponent was also a powerful monster with Ptinate-level strength. No way regr skills and moves could contain it. ¡°It seems that I¡¯ve got to use some killer move!¡± Kasumi had noticed that the giant bird was looking up and pping its wings, flying toward her. The next moment, a bright red beam of light of tens of meters in diameter, shot out of the giant bird¡¯s mouth. Kasumi had nowhere to hide, and neither did she want to dodge. ¡°Magic Sword!¡± As she raised and pped her hands together, a brown, hideous face appeared behind her. ¡°Sword Shadow Number Three: Heztghina¡¯s Blow!¡± As the enormous face opened its mouth, a cold, bitter gray-white current shot out. It grew rapidly as the current left the mouth and eventually expanded into a ten-meter-wide white, cold draft. The red beam and the white draft collided at once. As Tenko Kasumi stopped to catch her breath, a ck thread came from the side and struck her on the back. Blood spurted out from her mouth as she fell like an artillery shell. And the next moment, she found herself crashing into the enormous arms of someone. ¡°You look like sh*t, Tenko.¡± The one speaking was none other than the Night Lord, draped in his ck armor with golden patterns. He caught Tenko Kasumi in his arms as she fell from the sky, making fun of her. ¡°Aren¡¯t you the same, getting cut away? How could you still have the nerve to talk about me?¡± Tenko Kasumi¡¯s soul was not contaminated. She could hear the telepathic conversation between Lin Sheng and him nearby. ¡°Then I will leave you to it.¡± The Night Lord shrugged, about to let go of her. Just then, she spurted another mouthful of blood, sttering it all onto his armor. ¡°Don¡¯t be overconfident. You¡¯re just a Ptinate...¡± The Night Lord couldn¡¯t with her. ¡°You know what, this is the thirteenth!¡± Temko Kasumi got angry. She had finished off twelve ind-sized giant birds earlier. But there seemed to be an endless amount of them. As soon as she killed one, another would emerge. ¡°Thirteen?¡± The Night Lord was shocked. Thirteen monster birds like this were equal to thirteen Ptinate-level powerful beings. This was only from one outbreak of the cktide. The entire Sanctum had only slightly more than a double-digit amount of Ptinates, which included those from the tomb of the Sin Dragon Matriarch. ¡°Maybe let me do you a favor this time, beauty.¡± The Night Lord looked up as the ind-sized monster bird swooped down. Raising the armor great sword in his and just as he was about to finish off the monster bird, a sound came from afar in the sky. It sounded as if voices of prayer, or maybe the perturbation of the air. A bright light was forming in the air and rose into the sky like the sun. ¡°Hmm, I probably don¡¯t have to do it myself now.¡± The Knight Lord tucked his greatsword and shrugged. ¡°What is the original going to do?¡± Tenko Kasumi looked up into the air above the city, feeling puzzled. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I think it is something good.¡± He looked up. The clouds were dispersing, gradually revealing the bright golden sun behind them. The sun prated the clouds and shone its rays onto thend below. Right in front of the Sanctum, in the pure beam of blessings of the world, Lin Sheng looked up the light of blessing that did not belong to the Sanctum. ¡°Everything has toe to an end...¡± He pulled his eyes back, calmly walking toward the door of the prayer hall. The cloak fluttering on his back left a trace of holy white light behind him. After a while, the entire holy city started to shake. Thend around the Sanctum cracked, broke off, and became floating inds. Some of these inds were asrge as a few dozen meters in diameter. Smaller ones were a few meters across. They formed a dense array of floating inds with each of them emitting a constantly pure, white holy light. All of a sudden, two beams of light shooting out from the Sanctum below hit two of thergest floating inds, from which burst out rings of invisible oscition. The two inds also started to circle around the Sanctum in the air. Now, the two sealed one-eyed giants, the Annihtus, in the form of beads, had been infused into the two floating inds. The willpower, released from the protection, was continuously turned into the protective power and holy light that in turn protected everything else. The formless waves emitted from the inds started to assault the surrounding cktide monsters indiscriminately. The legend-ss power of the Annihtus, even though sealed and could only be released in a small amount through willpower conversion, was not something the cktide monsters could resist. In just a split second, the ind-sized monster bird above Tenko Kasumi and the Night Lord fell apart like snow under the tropical sun. There was no cry of agony or roar of fury; the monster bird froze like a bug inside the amber, much like what happened when the one-eyed giant ughtered the living souls. ¡°Two Legend-ss protective cities. It¡¯s truly a masterpiece!¡± The Night Lord was in awe. Tenko Kasumi did not say a word, just letting out a heavy sigh. Looking up at the crumbling ind-sized monster bird, she felt a strange sense of sadness. ¡°Tell me, do we still mean anything to the original?¡± she asked. The question transfixed the Night Lord. When the original was still weak, he summoned them to ensure his safety. But now the original had surpassed them in strength. What was the purpose of their existence? ¡°I think there is still a purpose...¡± the Night Lord replied after thinking for a while. ¡°What?¡± ¡°For example, enjoy life on behalf of him.¡± The Night Lord let out a sly smile. ¡°Look at the original. All he does every day is cultivation and nothing else. How meaningless such a life is! We can help him enjoy life. Since we share the same memories, that means, indirectly, he has also enjoyed it. Don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Say this to the original.¡± Tenko Kasumi sneered. ¡°Maybe not. I don¡¯t want to get killed.¡± The Night Lord knew his ce, at least. There was no more talking between them, just watching as the monster birds dissolved and turned into white light particles before falling back down to the earth. Chapter 553 - Aftermath: Part 2

    Chapter 553 Aftermath: Part 2

    The Steel Lord stood alone in the middle of a pile of monster corpses as he held a smoking giant de in his hand. He carefully pulled out a cigar that was hidden under his armor and pressed it against the ming red de and using the residual heat to light it up. Biting into the cigar and taking a deep puff, he looked up to distance toward the miracle-like floating inds there. ¡°I like the cigs in this world, what a kick.¡± He bit the cigar as he carried his de and turned toward the wall leaving blood-soaked footprints in his wake. ... Adolf had just put his head back on again. His head had just fallen off earlier, but thankfully no one noticed. If anyone were to see him surviving even after having his head lobbed off by monsters, he would probably be tied to a stake and burnt. Of course, that was on the premise of his master not being around. He then got up from the stream stained with ck blood. Adolf coughed a few times, feeling that his throat might not have been properly attached, and the position was a little off. He looked up into the light that was gradually glowing in the sky, and let out a smile. ¡°F*ck me! Adolf, your head is the other way around!!¡± A horrified cry rang out behind him and immediately snagged him back from his smile. Adolf looked down, and sure enough, his head was 180 degrees off... His expression stiffened as he calmly turned over and smiled at the many teammates behind him with a look of horror on their faces. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I just wore it the wrong way.¡± Everyone looked at his head that was facing the opposite direction of his toes, and they felt a chill in their hearts. ... The Underworld. The Dark Pantheon. A massive skeleton stood by the gate of the ck hall, looking into the shiningnds leading to the human realm in the distance. That was the ce that could connect to the most dimensional rifts to the human realm using coordinates. At that moment, a blurry white light seeped in through the dimension, prating into the Underworld. ¡°Is it shining through the remaining Hidden Realm passageways?¡± The giant skeleton wore arge ck cloak that covered his entire body without revealing a clear outline. Only the shadows behind him constantly twisted and wriggled. ¡°My Lord, it seems like something has happened in the human realm. I¡¯m afraid that Saie¡¯s mission might run into trouble.¡± Over in a dark corner, a white-haired woman with a translucent body walked out of it. The woman wore fitting leather armor with twin des on her back while six thin ck swords hung around her waist, with three on each side. ¡°How many years had it been... An existence like that has finally appeared in the human realm.¡± The skeleton said calmly. ¡°If not for the rules of the two worlds binding me from manifesting, this probably would not have urred at all...¡± The tone of his voice was neither rueful nor regretful. ¡°Then what should our response be...?¡± The woman frowned. ¡°After this, call back all operations against the Holy Sanctum of the human world. With such a powerful holy light, they have the right to speak on equal footing with me.¡± The skeleton spoke. ¡°Send a formal letter of audience over.¡± ¡°I want the letter to appear on the Holy Emperor¡¯s table this instant.¡± ¡°As youmand.¡± ... The Astral Mere. Inside an independent white space. A massive blue crystal tower constantly turned with its six wing des. Above the wing des was the golden age containing the supreme Crystal of Words. Mayuko looked at the tower quietly. The Wise King had left for two days now, and there had been no news until now. She was the only person who knew of the Wise King¡¯s loss of contact. ¡°Still daydreaming? Mayuko?¡± Behind her came the familiar voice of Tungus. Tungus was a neer to the Astral Mere not too long ago. While a neer, he had powerful potential. In just one short month, he had raised from the lowest ordinary member to the strongest level of the core Ster Scars. In the Astral Mere, there were no fears of betrayal due to the Crystal of Words. As long one had strength, everything could be arranged. ¡°Just normally daydreaming.¡± Mayuko recollected herself as she turned toward Tungus. Tungus had a shoulder-length smooth brown hair. His features were handsome and distant yet he always wore a gentle smile. The bizarre yet stark contrast gave him an inexplicable attractive charm. He held a mysterious worn white bone de and the de was on his back never leaving his person. ¡°Daydreaming won¡¯t help you grow taller.¡± Tungus approached and guffawed. ¡°I may be short, but you can¡¯t beat me,¡± Mayuko responded calmly. ¡°Uh... that¡¯s just...¡± *Hummmm!!!* Suddenly, a massive invisible wave sted out from an unknown direction far away. The strength of the wave and area it had covered had the two people within the Astral Mere to have a slight change to their expression as they held the strength of the wave. ¡°It¡¯s the direction of the holy city!¡± Mayuko said earnestly. ¡°The holy city...¡± Tungus demurred, seemingly to be thinking of something before looking back in the direction of the wave. ¡°The holy city built by the Holy Emperor?¡± he asked. ¡°Are there any other fortress cities that dares to call itself as such?¡± Mayuko asked back. Tungus fell silent. And the two stopped talking. ... Rays of red light radiated from the Tower of Dusk and painted the entire Henriqcal skyline red. Under the purification of the floating inds, the holy city had restored its order. After Annihtus disappeared, the remaining tide of monsters outside the city werembs to the ughter under thebined might of the Ptinates. The remaining monsters were all ughtered in a short period of them and were pushed out of the purification field. The breaches in the city wall were immediately patched up using some powerful adhesivepound concrete as one heavy-duty pumping machine after another pumped all of the cktide waters out of the city. The post-disaster reconstruction efforts needed more than just manpower and materials. On a sentry tower at the tallest point of the city walls. Lin Sheng, the Night Lord, Tenko Kasumi, and the Steel Lord stood side by side as they looked into the distance. ¡°It¡¯s really bad this time. Who knows how much resources we will need for the reconstruction efforts. I can understand now why everyone is looking for a Hidden Realm and lock themselves in it...¡± The Night Lord sighed. ¡°Yeah, if this happens again and again, then everyone would have nothing else to do as the reconstruction efforts would take up all of our time.¡± ¡°How about now? The cktide had been warded off. So what are we doing now?¡± Tenko Kasumi was still recovering and she looked rather worse for wear, but at the very least her wounds had been stabilized and were not contaminated. ¡°Recuperate. Get well as soon as possible, and face the possibility of another wave of cktide.¡± Lin Sheng answered. ¡°I still have something to do. Thank goodness I managed to rush back in time.¡± He let out a tiny sigh of relief. After he had consolidated his own divinity, he was supposed to continue absorbing the God¡¯s Speed divinity in his hand, but he did not expect such turmoil to happen. ¡°Adolf will handle the reconstruction efforts. That aside, the Steel Lord should stand guard as well. We need to increase the resources and settlements for those who were killed in action.¡± Lin Sheng pondered for a bit. ¡°We don¡¯t have to worry too much about the resources. The number of dead and wounded is too many, and the consumption will drop naturally as well. Add on the shares of the dead onto the ones still living.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we will handle this.¡± The Steel Lord nodded. ¡°How are we going to handle the Astral Mere and the Dark Pantheon? The Wise King of the Astral Mere had secretly mastered the holy power before he was cut down by His Excellency, the Night Lord before the sanctum.¡± ¡°Even I didn¡¯t know who the Wise King was. Only after a defecting spy took the initiative to inform me that I found out that he was the leader of the Astral Mere...¡± The Night Lord sniggered in embarrassment. Chapter 554 - Aftermath: Part 3

    Chapter 554 Aftermath: Part 3

    ¡°Regardless, the Night Lord had made great contributions. Of all people, he had yed the most decisive role.¡± Tenko Kasumi was still very fair in the matter.¡°All right, I¡¯ve changed my thoughts about you, just a little bit.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head as he looked at the Night Lord.¡°So next...¡± As he wanted to continue speaking, suddenly a ck dot flew slowly toward the city from a distance. The little spot glowed in ck light and was seemingly unafraid of being detected as it continuously let out a series of shockwaves. And its flying speed was so slow as if it deliberate wanted to be noticed. Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes narrowed and he quickly recognized the true nature of the ck dot. He held his hand out and grabbed it. An invisible protective ward force suddenly flew over and enveloped the ck spot, before pulling it over quickly. The ck dot flew close and floated before him. It was a ck rectangr letter with a gilded surface. The cover of the letter was clearly engraved with these characters: ¡°To the Holy Emperor.¡± ¡°Interesting.¡± Lin Sheng reached for the letter and before he opened it, a surge of pure energy rushed out from the letter and tried to drill its way into his palm. The surge of pure power was simr to Faldt¡¯sherforce, but this was of a higher level than the Magister¡¯s. ¡°A letter from the Underworld, huh?¡± Lin Sheng purified the energy and tore the envelope open. There was no letter inside the envelope, and the moment the seal was torn, a puff of ck air burst out of it. The ck air condensed into a vague skeletal face. ¡°Congrattions, Holy Emperor of the Holy Sanctum. From today onwards, you and I each governs the human realm and the Underworld. As long as you are around, the Dark Pantheon shall not move against the human realm, and likewise, I hope that the Holy Sanctum would extend the same courtesy. Sincerest Greetings, I am known as Sanger, the current presiding Lord of the Dark Pantheon.¡± As the speech was over, the ck air suddenly dissipated and disappeared altogether. ¡°What is this, some letter of credence?¡± Lin Shengughed. ¡°But I don¡¯t have the time to look for trouble with the Underworld for now. Let¡¯s get things stable first before we do anything else.¡± ¡°I never thought that there was such a mastermind behind the Dark Pantheon. No wonder the various Hidden Realms were always on the defensive and were unable tounch a counter-offensive into the Underworld.¡± The Steel Lord demurred. ¡°Since he could note in the past, he is unlikely toe now. No need to worry about that.¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°All right, I¡¯ll leave the nitty-gritty to you guys, I¡¯ll head home for a bit, before sealing myself to stabilize my level.¡± ¡°Leave everything here to us. Don¡¯t worry.¡± The Steel Lord was very reliable as a subordinate ministerial material. Lin Sheng nodded slightly, as he stepped out, as a shapeless ward appeared behind him, and propelled him away from the sentry tower, and toward the Holy Sanctum. ... Sherminton. In the garden at the back of the Holy Sanctum. Lin Xiao apanied her parents on a stroll after dinner. What happened in the past two days had the entire family falling into what that seemed like a dream,pletely unable toprehend what was going on. Did her brother, Lin Sheng not say he was doing business? Did they not say the outer defensive perimeter was fine? How did it suddenly copse, with so many casualties to boot? It was clear now that the fortress cities were the only ce that could provide people shelter, and now even this final sanctuary was about to be taken away by the cktide? ¡°I really don¡¯t know what will happen to this world? What will it be?¡± Gu Wanqiu looked at the abnormally blooming flowers and softly sighed. ¡°It¡¯s not like we will get a say in what it will be...¡± Lin Zhounian retorted. Lin Xiao had no response and kept quiet. Suddenly, she seemed to sense something and turned slightly to the back. A tall and burly figure suddenly appeared quietly at the garden gate behind her. It was Lin Sheng. He gently looked at his sister, Lin Xiao. Lin Xiao¡¯s movements were noticed by Lin Zhounian and his wife as they too looked back as well. ¡°Chenchen!¡± Gu Wanqiu quickly hurried over. ¡°Mom.¡± Lin Sheng reached out and held his mother¡¯s hand and felt like he was holding a pair of bean sprouts in his hands. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you for a while and you ran down again, mom.¡± He could not help butin. ¡°Oh, cheeky now aren¡¯t you, stealing your mother¡¯s own line?¡± Gu Wanqiu yfully held her hand out to p her son but could p his shoulder after tip-toeing... Lin Zhounian too had followed over. ¡°Son... you are now someone important...¡± His eyes were conflicted, and he held his father had be soft. ¡°An important person? At this day and age, what does that even do?¡± Lin Sheng smiled and shook his head. ¡°Yeah... most important people would die faster than the average person.¡± Lin Zhounian quipped. ¡°You and your big mouth.¡± Gu Wanqiu gave him a p. And this time, the pnded, hitting Lin Zhounian at the back of his hand with a loud thud. ¡°Chenchen...you...¡± Lin Xiao looked at her younger brother and suddenly found herself at a loss for words. She recalled that when she entered the inner sanctum of the Holy Sanctum, those clerics in heavy armor and the densely packed rows of guards and attendants suddenly kneeling down on one knee to wee them in a fashion that was not even orded to the president. Only then did she knew what sort of position and authority her brother held in the Holy Sanctum. ¡°Are you... all right?¡± Position and authority naturally meant responsibilities. Only when the hope of everyone is carried on Lin Sheng¡¯s back will they willingly give him the highest courtesy and respect. ¡°Everything¡¯s fine. All of you can live here safely while waiting for the situation outside to settle down. I will then arrange for someone to send you home,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I promise that everything will be all right soon,¡± he whispered. ¡°All of the hopes being piled on you... it must be tiring right?¡± Lin Xiao asked. ¡°Tiring?¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°If I cannot even bare this sort of pressure, then this world will...¡± He did not continue further. Somethings, his family was better off not knowing. He will arrange everything properly. ¡°I came back just to see you, and I have something else to attend to right after. Might be away for a while.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Khad had been kind to us.¡± Lin Xiao smiled. ¡°But how many Khad¡¯s are there? I wonder.¡± ¡°How many? Who knows...¡± Lin Sheng also smiled. ¡°Son, if you run into any trouble, don¡¯t force yourself, if you cannot beat it,e back and we will figure it out together! There are so many elites in the Holy Sanctum, if everyone were to unite their powers we can win! Don¡¯t be a fool and shoulder it all upon yourself!¡± Lin Zhounian could not help but remind his son. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not going to force myself.¡± Lin Sheng smiled. ¡°I still n toe home and live life easy. If I run into something I cannot defeat, I¡¯ll definitely run away.¡± Yes... Regardless of anything, he will persevere; not for anything else, even if it was just for this family before him, it was for him to never be alone. Suddenly, Lin Sheng could empathize with Ancellia. If he cannot win... then he shall throw everything he has into it... He was not a sentimental person, but if every single person were to die, leaving only him alone. Even if he was to survive he would only suffer from wandering and loneliness. That was not a world he wishes for. So, he had to win. He... would not lose. Chapter 555 - Searching for Hope: Part 1

    Chapter 555 Searching for Hope: Part 1

    *Sweep... Sweep...*Early in the morning. At the Holy Sanctum¡¯s gate, one of the Khads that was tasked with sweeping the grounds was cleaning the entire area around the sanctum¡¯s gate.This was the ce where most people go in and out of the Holy Sanctum, and it was a ce Khad insisted on cleaning it with her own hands. *ck.* Something suddenly fell off from the broom, it seemed to be caught by the broom brush, and she did not notice it the first time around. ¡°What is that?¡± Khad bent over to pick up the thing. It was round, and a slightly t green ball, about the size of the marbles, yed by children. Within was some sort of white jelly-like substance. Khad was about to toss it into the bin, but as she took a few steps with the tiny green marble in her hand, she suddenly felt heat on her hand. She looked down, and the bead was heating up. ¡°This thing...¡± She raised her eyebrows slightly and decided to clean it up before giving it to her main body. ¡°Might be something really interesting.¡± That was because she suddenly remembered that this was the ce where the Night Lord had killed the Wise King of the Astral Mere. A momentter. The green round bead was now in Joshua¡¯s hands. He had changed into his casual clothes and was ready to head off to the Holyspirit Pce. After dealing with everything, he had to quickly absorb the God¡¯s Speed divinity he had in his hand and stabilize his inner powers. But Khad suddenly ran in and handed him a strangle little object. He looked down at the green bead and noticed the white bit within the bead was slowly writhing and flowing about. ¡°Something left by the Wise King? Why does it look like a Soul Relic?¡± Not too long ago, the Holy Sanctum personnel had obtained information about the Soul Relic¡¯s appearance and shape from Han Yu and Neese, and this thing looked exactly like one. ¡°Perhaps it might be a Soul Relic?¡± He tried to squeeze it gently. And he totally did not expect the bead to be that fragile. *Baaammmm!!!* Suddenly, the entire green bead exploded, as the bit of white suddenly flew out before fading away before Lin Sheng. Soon, time seemed to have gone backward. All of the shattered debris reformed into a small green bead not long after. ¡°What is this? A Sacred Vessel of Destiny?¡± Lin Sheng looked at the strange little object in his hand with surprise. This possible Soul Relic had now totally be a hazy light orb glowing in green light. Gradually, traces of unknown information flowed from the light orb into his mind. ¡°Amunicator? Amunicator that could be used in the cktide?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s expression was fairly rxed at first, but the moment he understood what the information was about, his expression gradually turned serious. *Hisss!!!* Soon, the light orb had be smaller before fusing into his palm and disappearing altogether. Following that, a semi-transparent chatbox suddenly appeared at the bottom corner of Lin Sheng¡¯s peripheral vision. ¡°Please enter a nickname. ¡°Wee to The Spectral Light.¡± Nothing else. Lin Sheng who had thought something amazing would happen continued to wait for a bit before that chatbox popped up before him. ¡°This thing could actually prate my defenses and directly fuse into my spiritual consciousness. This is some high-level stuff...¡± Lin Sheng was surprised. One needed to know that he was something of a divine being that was a level stronger than the extraordinary beings, an apex being above the Magisters. Even so, he had simply just fused with the item just like that. That could only mean that the level of that thing should be higher than him. ¡°A nickname... then I¡¯ll go with ¡®Holy Light Shines Upon You¡¯¡±. Lin Sheng thought, and just as the words appeared in his mind, they were automatically filled into the dialogue box, and it was even using themon Xylond script of this world. With Sherminton¡¯s style font... ¡°How kind of them...¡± Lin Sheng went into alert as he quickly added a whole lot of protective and istion wards into his consciousness. After filling in the nickname column, the dialog box disappeared. Then arge hazy frame slowly emerged. ¡°Positioning Mode is damaged. ¡°Storage Mode is damaged. ¡°Wee to... Ghersaan Spectral Light.¡± After a series of subtle synthesized sounds, there was nothing. Lin Sheng stared nkly into therge frame before him, it was not nk. A deluge of information was flowing about like raging water within this chatbox-like frame. ¡°I don¡¯t like your tone.¡± ¨C Red Whale. ¡°You cane over and give it a try. Perhaps you can kill me.¡± -Swordweb. ¡°Heh, if not for the fact I cannot get a lock on your position, with your attitude I would definitely destroy your world!¡± ¨C Red Whale. ¡°If you dare to appear before me, I guarantee that you would regret even existing in this time and space.¡± ¨C Swordweb. ¡°You two could do well to talk less... do you need to be at each others¡¯ throat that much? Won¡¯t it be better if we are all friends instead? *smiley face* ¨C Processed Jewel. ¡°Shut up, Jewel!¡± ¨C Red Whale. ¡°Heh heh¡± ¨C Processed Jewel. ¡°Be careful Jewel mighte over to swallow you alive. She might have some indigestion problem, but swallowing a couple ofndmasses is no problem.¡± ¨C Walking Wind. ¡°Come then. I don¡¯t mind two against one.¡± ¨C Red Whale. ¡°Jewel does seem to have a lock on your position. Red Whale you might want to behave.¡± ¨C Walking Wind. Lin Sheng stared nkly once again at the semi-translucent chatbox interface in his vision. This was indeed amunicator, and a rather advanced chat room-stylemunicator. But it seemed like everyone in here sounded so... almighty. The verbal sparring within the chatbox was so heated that it took a while for it to fully calm down. Soon, someone noticed Lin Sheng¡¯s entry into the chatroom. There was a participant count on the top right corner of the chatroom. Lin Sheng nced about, the number of participants was thirteen. ¡°That is to say, including me, there are thirteen people altogether.¡± Just as he was hesitating, someone in the chatroom had finally mentioned him. ¡°Seems like we have a new member. Wee to the Spectral Light. Let me see, You¡¯re called Holy Light Shines Upon You?¡± ¨C Giving Hope. A new nickname that had not appeared previously, a person called Giving Hope suddenly popped out to greet Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng froze for a moment. ¡°Ugh... Hello everyone. I¡¯m a newbie here, and I don¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on here. Please take care of me.¡± He thought for a bit as he typed in a sentence using his consciousness into the chatbox at the bottom, and clicked ¡°Enter¡±. ¡°No worries. Thismunicator is broken anyway, and none of us knows each other. Fate had brought us together into this crossing of paths.¡± Giving Hope sent out a smiley face. It was the smiling face of a cute pink animal. ¡°I¡¯m an absolute newbie, and I have totally no idea what¡¯s going on. Please forgive me if I misspoke or something.¡± Lin Sheng quickly typed a message and sent it over. This thing gave him the same vibe of those open chatrooms with his inte friends. ¡°Hahaha, everyone here gets along very well. Don¡¯t mind it. And those two big bosses arguing earlier, don¡¯t mind it at all. They are just jousting verbally.¡± ¨C Giving Hope. ¡°Then, can I ask a question?¡± Lin Sheng sent out a message. ¡°Newbie Questions? Sure, sure. Just ask away.¡± Another person, called the Purple Time popped up to respond. Chapter 556 - Searching for Hope: Part 2

    Chapter 556 Searching for Hope: Part 2

    Lin Sheng had pretty much tossed every single question in his mind over. Like the use of thismunicator, its origins, and the identity of everyone in the chat room. All of these questions were perfectly answered by Purple Time and Giving Hope. That allowed Lin Sheng to quickly understand the general functions of themunicator. This thing was called the Spectral Light by the people in the chatroom. The Spectral Light only hadmunicative functions and nothing else. Or rather, the other functions had all been damaged. As for what had damaged them, no one knew. As for its origins, no one knew as well. All everyone knew was that everyone in the chat room had identally obtained the ability to activate and connect to the Spectral Lightmunicator, and entering the tform itself. As for the rest, everyone knew little too. As for the others on the tform, while everyone had not indicated their identity, but some of them were surprisingly bellicose. And there were two others who imed to be in adjacent worlds and recognized each other¡¯s identity during an idental opening of a world portal. Otherwise, they knew each other throughparison andmon sense. Everyone knew pretty much that this tform was a powerfulmunicator that connects to different worlds. The backgrounds of the people there were very varied. While there were only thirteen people in the chatroom, aside from the four big boss-like personalities, the rest was unclear. ¡°I¡¯m still a total newbie and I don¡¯t know anything at all. I want to know, what¡¯s the purpose of everyone joining this tform?¡± Lin Sheng asked, trying to pretend to be a naive and ignorant fellow. ¡°Purpose?¡± ¨C Giving Hope. ¡°Probably... chatting just because we are bored? After all this is a chatting tform that crossed worlds.¡± ¨C Giving Hope. ¡°So aside from chatting, there are no other functions?¡± Lin Sheng asked again. ¡°Yeah, nothing. We have joined the Spectral Light for so long now, and we really haven¡¯t discovered any new features.¡± ¨C Purple Time. ¡°Alright... say... were those big bosses talking about destroying worlds, are they for real?¡± Lin Sheng asked probingly. ¡°Ugh... Don¡¯t know about that... but they might be for real... I guess? Hahaha, who knows, to be honest. We have yet to meet each other before anyway.¡± ¨C Giving Hope. Lin Sheng could feel that Giving Hope was seemingly a very mild-tempered nice guy. Judging from the previous Qu0026A, her knowledge seemed to be of an average human being, probably an ordinary girl living in a peaceful world. She did not have much knowledge and understanding about cmities, ormon knowledge of supernatural powers. Whatever understanding she had, was probably learned from the others. After the improvements to Lin Sheng¡¯s intelligence, his analytical and judgment skills were far, far different from before, and he could get a grip of thetter¡¯s background in just a few moments. But regardless, such people were much more useful in understanding what was going on. He continued to chat with them while he changed his clothes and stepped into the portal to the Holyspirit Pce. After some adjustments made by the Fairy Kingdom¡¯s portal warlock, Lin Sheng stepped into the portal. What he did not expect was that the chat interface was still disyed during the teleportation. Very clearly, this Spectral Light tform was not affected by the spatial and temporal disruption of teleportation. ¡°What a powerful technology.¡± Lin Sheng praised heartily. ¡°Even with such powerful tech, and for someone to be capable of damaging it...¡± Lin Shengmented. Stepping out of the portal, the people and Holyspiritsing out from the other portals beside him knelt down in salute to him. Waving his hand to signal everyone to proceed as normal, Lin Sheng strode towards the Holyspirit Pce. The fusion of the God¡¯s Speed divinity was still within the dream, so if he wants to continue fusing, he needed to enter the dream once again. Now that the crisis had been lifted, he now had time to explore the Divine Pir. Also, he should really wrap things up with Aisha the Torturer. ... Unknown world. Night in a bustling city. Over in an ordinarymune at the edge of the city. The bedroom on the top floor of one of the buildings still had its lights lit. A beautiful young girl with purple hair was changing into a nightdress as she gently pulled her gloves off her hand as she tied them together and hung them on a purpose-made shelf. As the vice president of her school¡¯s boxing club, a powerful explosive force beyond her peers was hidden beneath her slender frame. While she may not be as good as the boys in terms of endurance and the upper limit of her strength, the years of training and her unique set of training techniques handed down by her family allowed her to have faster speed and reactions. This was the key reason to her ability to be the vice president of the boxing club. ¡°Interesting, those delusional psychos are at it again.¡± She propped her hands outwards as cracking her knuckles as she stretched, revealing her alluring curvatures. Two years ago, she had picked this high-tech bead from the future by chance, and after the bead fused into her body, a simple chat interface that she could toggle on or off appeared before her eyes. The name of that chat room was Spectral Light. Aside from a few psychos that often ther utter nonsense, there was a person that liked role-ying and had simply just yed along with them. The Swor person she had just known was one of them. This person often spoke so belligerently it was shocking. ¡°Destroying worlds? Do you know how vast the world is?¡± Shaking her head, she smiled as she typed in a line of text, before replying to the newbie that had just joined the chat room. Giving Hope was her nickname in that chat room. Originally, due to the high-tech nature of the Spectral Light chat room, she was rather anticipant, but over time, she gradually recognized that everyone here was the same as her, ordinary people hailing fro different worlds. And a few of them were particrly pugnacious in the way they conducted themselves and sounded like if they had mental problems as their topics were all over the ce. They were either lunatics or somete-stage chuunibyous. After a while though, she had simply thought of this thing as a recreational gadget after her training. ¡°But it had been a long time since a neer joined. This thing sure is slow with the addition of new members. Could it be that everyone here was the same as me, and needed to pick up that small bead?¡± She suddenly thought of that question. Amidst her thoughts, she replied to the newbie¡¯s questions again before stretchingzily and decided toy on her bed to rest. During the day, she was the resolute, feisty, and tough vice president of the boxing club Her temperament was cold, and her features beautiful. Only when she gets home will shee out from her shell, and allow herself to rx. As she looked at the chat window, that newbie asked another question. ¡°Excuse me, how do you fall asleep quickly. What should I do if I¡¯m feeling too energetic and cannot sleep?¡± ¨C Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re not tired enough. Sleeping is a resting process and a way for the body to replenish its energy. If you are not tired enough, naturally you won¡¯t feel like sleeping.¡± ¨C Giving Hope. ¡°Really? I don¡¯t really understand anything. Thank you for exining to me. Thank you very much, Giving Hope.¡± ¨C Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°You¡¯re wee. I¡¯m a veteran of two years in this ce. If you don¡¯t know anything, you can ask me. I won¡¯t be stingy with my answers.¡± ¨C Giving Hope. ¡°You are really a good person. Thank you! A peaceful life awaits any good people.¡±¨C Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°Hahaha, thank you for your blessing.¡± ¨C Giving Hope. ¡°Then, good night.¡± ¨C Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°Good night.¡± ¨C Giving Hope. Lying on the bed, the purple-haired girl gently pulled her nket over here as she shut her eyes. ¡°Pei Lin, have a good dream,¡± she told herself. Chapter 557 - Searching for Hope: Part 3

    Chapter 557 Searching for Hope: Part 3

    Holyspirit Pce.Lin Sheng sat upon the supreme throne as he slowly closed his eyes. His consciousness gradually sank into the deepest parts of his mind as he let go and rxed as he slowly sank into silence. He had not experienced the sensations of entering the dream for a very long time now. When he was still a normal person, he had relied on the dream as he explored everything, and acquired everything. The boundless knowledge that he had, were all obtained from the dream. But in reality, he could only obtain non-material items like knowledge. Divinity itself was in essence a type of understanding of limits and power, and was a consolidation of information and was non-material. so it could only be transferred through the soul and one¡¯s consciousness. Lin Sheng felt himself like he was falling from a height before falling and sshing into ake. His entire body began to be wrapped in a warm and gentle material. No one knew how much time had passed. He slowly opened his eyes. He now found himself standing before the massive Divine Pir. The towering, twisted ck pir constantly writhed about, as if it was a living being. On the dark red ground around him, there were still slight traces of scars left behind when he made his breakthrough. It was just that the golden-red figure and Aisha the Torturer had disappeared. ¡°With my current strength, I might be able to escape Aisha, but killing her will be difficult.¡± Lin Sheng thought for a bit beforeing to a conclusion. If Aisha could fully utilize her divinity, it would be extremely difficult for him to defeat her. As he thought of this, he pulled out the God¡¯s Speed divinity he had sealed with protective wards from his pocket. This was a strand of hair he had preserved with his wards. When he had fused the God¡¯s Speed divinity into the hair, the originally ck hair had turned grey following the fusion. Before then, when he made contact with the divinity, he did not feel anything special. But now it was different. Just by touching the hair alone, he could sense a huge amount ofplex information within it. This information was just an aggregation of itself, and yet it could affect its material surroundings. It was utter madness. ¡°Then... let¡¯s absorb it.¡± Lin Sheng held his hand out and gently pressed the hair, as it suddenly shattered and a gray shadow sted out of it and struck into the skin of his palm. He closed his eyes and stood quietly as he digested therge amount of God¡¯s Speed divinity that he had absorbed. Silently, his perception of speed rose exponentially. Divinity was essentially a soul¡¯s talent. and the absorption of other Divinity was to observe and appreciate the other talents of the soul in existence. There was naturally some loss during transference, and it was not insignificant. After all, the soul talents of others would naturally be the most suitable inside that person¡¯s flesh and soul. It was impossible to gain a hundred percent of the potency even if he was to absorb all of it. The degree of divinity absorption depended on perception andpatibility. Lin Sheng¡¯s perception was not bad, and the absorption rate was rtively high. Plus he himself was a divine being of a simr level, and the power systems he had dabbled prior was various andplex. After all, he was the man who had absorbed tens of thousands of souls. When ites to wisdom and intellect, he was no slouch. And in a blink of an eye, Lin Sheng had mastered 50% of the God¡¯s Speed divinity. The rest of it was ipatible with him, and could not be used. These were parts that belonged solely to Cypross and had to be set aside. Perhaps should he encountered a being of the same kind as Cyprosster, that thing could be used then. After mastering 50% of the God¡¯s Speed divinity, Lin Sheng began to adjust his mind and soul ording to the principles within it. And this adjustment was just a natural form of ascension. As long as the mastery was sufficient and had reached a high level of divinity, the soul would naturally produce some kind of wondrous changes and alterations. ¡°The soul transformation would take some time, and just nice I could use this time to search the other ces around the Divine Pir...¡± But before he could put the thought into action, Lin Sheng suddenly felt his surroundings began to darken. In the distance, indescribable deste darkness was spreading rapidly in his direction. ¡°This is...!!!?¡± Lin Sheng grimaced. He had not encountered such a forced change of dreams in a very long while now. He had thought he would never encounter it again, but... ¡°Still it came again huh?¡± He stood still and concentrated. But as he looked at the massive Divine Pir before him he had a touch of regret in his heart. There were still a lot of things for him to explore and excavate from the Divine Pir, like Aisha the Torturer, or the Portal of Wishes, or the other clues left behind by Anselia, or even yet, how powerful is a demigod? That was a powerful existence that could persist within the cktide and not be consumed by it. Yet, had it been consumed by it, or had itpletely disappeared? Lin Sheng had nned to explore this one by one. But now that the encroaching darkness once again reminded him he was still in the dream. This ce was, after all, a dream... ¡°I hope I wille back here again and have the chance to explore all of the truths...¡± he murmured. *Huff!* The endless darkness instantly surged past the Divine Pir and swallowed him whole. He still had yet to obtain many divinities... The darkness slowly crept in. This was not the cktide, rather it was darkness produced by Lin Sheng¡¯s own senses. Just like the darkness formed when one closes their eyes. He was seemingly just ¡®disconnected¡¯ from that dream, and before his senses had adjusted itself, the consuming darkness had already appeared. ¡°So, what¡¯s the next dream like?¡± He looked forward to it. Time slowly passed. One minute. Two minutes. Five minutes. Ten minutes..... Atst... A blurry wall with a metallic texture appeared beside him. The wall was covered with a dense gray vein-like circuit that looked like an electrical circuit, or something simr. Following that, the darkness quickly faded away. Lin Sheng blinked and only then could he clearly see where he was. He was standing in a dark, closed surveince room. Less than three meters before him were three screens, one big and two small that were flickering. There was nothing on the screen. Lin Sheng looked at them before turning away and started to all over the ce. All around him was a semi-circr station made out of an all-ck metal, and on it was arge number of switches and buttons of unknown functions. Computer monitor-like screens were lined neatly across the station with no one manning it. In the surrounding rooms were switches and warning lights that glowed in green, as if they were breathing. The ground was covered in ayer of thick dust, and the station was full of scattered documents and stationaries that seemed to have been left like that. Lin Sheng took a step forward and picked up one of the documents before ncing at it. It was written in the script he did not recognize at all, and could not discern it. ¡°Seems like it¡¯s back to the old rules. Gotta find the natives here, or else I can forget about figuring out the origins of this ce.¡± Lin Sheng looked around and found a location that looked like a hatch before walking over. The moment he approached, he heard a faint sound of strumming from beyond the door. It was a clear guitar-like strum that echoed outside, sounding lonely and dested. Chapter 558 - Creation: Part 1

    Chapter 558 Creation: Part 1

    *ck.*Lin Sheng gently turned the ratherrge knob on the door and the metal hatch door slowly opened. The door opened outwards and revealed the same gray-ck metal passageway. The walls of the passage had simr gray vein-like circuits. Lin Sheng walked out and nced around. All around him was a narrow passageway with branching paths that leads to other ces. This seemed to be a very well-connected location. ¡°Seems like a base? Or I¡¯m inside a spaceship or something?¡± Lin Sheng attempted to let his perception run loose and try to explore the area around him. With his current capabilities, if he were to totally unleash his senses, he could fully grasp every minute movement within fifty meters radius should there be no hindrances. The potency of his senses decreases as the range increase, but within this fifty meters, it was the range where he had an absolute grasp of the situation. However, to his slight disappointment, the air here was filled with an inexplicable uneasiness and distorting fluctuations The fluctuations were so mysterious like the countless of bacterias or viruses in the air, or rather, they were like spores. Lin Sheng held his hand out and gently tapped the air in front of him. At that very moment, a tiny transparent dot flew over. This tiny dot touched against his protected finger before immediately squirmed as it unleashed arge number of tiny tendrils as it tried to dig into the skin of Lin Sheng¡¯s finger. ¡°Surely enough... this is a dested ce that had already been destroyed long ago...¡± Lin Sheng sensed a little before getting a grip on what this thing actually was. It was an extremely tiny parasitic microorganism. They seemed to be able to parasitize on any living bodies, and from the growth of the tendrils, they were probably some evil creature that devours the flesh to live. ¡°I¡¯m not able to let my senses run far, there are too many of these spores...¡± Lin Sheng frowned, as the spores were densely scattered across the entire space; he could sense millions of tiny spores just right before him. They were like dust, floating quietly in the air. But the moment the encounter a living being, they will rush over in a frenzy before growing tendrils to try to infest said being. Lin Sheng slowly moved forward. He did not rush ahead to clear the spores away, but instead, he just got rid of the one on his finger before slowing moving forward. Taking rash actions was a no go when he reached a new ce, but to scout the area out first. This was from his experience after so many dreams. After all, there was demigod-level existence in the dream. Demigods aside, if he was to run into a crazy being with divinity like Aisha the Torturer now, he might nowe out of it unscathed. Even now, Lin Sheng dared not simply die in the dream. He did not feel anything when he was still weak, but now, in this state, who knew what sort of negative effects he might run into in the event if he died in the dream now. So he would avoid it as much as possible. Lin Sheng followed along the passageway towards the left and turned in the direction where the strumming came from as he silently walked over. After walking for a couple of hundred meters along the passageway, arge circr exit appeared on his right. Beyond the exit was a vast metallic hall with countless of gray pipes lining it. There were tanks upon tanks of ss culture tanks lined up in the hall. Through the culture tank, he could see a gray-ck liquid writhing and squirming within it. The entire hall was about ten meters tall, and there were many ck cables going back and forth suspended in the air. The ceiling was a massive pyramid with intricate patterns on it. There were green glows on the patterns, and these were the only light source in this ce. Lin Sheng looked away, and downward towards his feet. He was stepping on something viscous as if the floor was tarred with machine oil. He did not pay much attention to it and continued to move closer towards the source of the strumming. Going through the hall, he turned another corner. He saw it from a distance a ce in the hall with an indoor flower bed, and beside it as a man in faint blue light that was gently ying a stringed instrument. The man had lowered his head, and his face was not visible. From the look of his facial features, he seemed not to be a young person. His hair was white, and the clothes he wore had a feeling of some sci-fi-ness to it, those tight-fitting special suits simr to that of an astronaut¡¯s. The entire suit only had shades of white and gray on it. For some reason, however, Lin Sheng felt that he could not clearly see the details on the man¡¯s body. Everything about him was hazy as if shrouded in mist. And his senses too were greatly hindered by the sea of spores in the air, and could not be expanded more than a few meters. Thinking of this, Lin Sheng moved forward as he tried to get closer to get in touch with the man. What was unexpected was that when he took a few steps forward, the silhouette of the man slowly faded away and disappeared. The sound of the instrument too got weaker and weaker before disappearing altogether. Everything was calm again. ¡°Hmm?? He disappeared?¡± Lin Sheng looked around, before flicking a distortion pulse out of his finger that instantly crossed the distance andnded on the location where the man was at earlier. *Creaaakk...* Under the effects of the Ward of Distortion, the entire metallic area started to crack and bent as if it was being crushed by a massive hand. Seeing that there were no issues, Lin Sheng lowered his guard as he stepped forward, and turned into a stream of light as hended beside the flower bed. ¡°There is no human aura here... Is that guy not a living person? Was he a spectral-like being?¡± Lin Sheng searched around for any taces and found nothing. ¡°No soul aura either, probably not a spectral body.¡± Just as he thought of that, he suddenly heard the subtle sounds of the string instrument again. This time around, the voice came from another ce. Without any hesitation, Lin Sheng roughly figured out the threat level of this ce, before his figure blurred and rushed over. His speed was so fast that his shadow had only flickered before he had reappeared from one end to the other. He rushed into the passageway where the sound came from. Lin Sheng slowed down and retracted the pulsing of his aura. Soon, in a room at the end of the passage, a white-haired man glowing in blue light sat on the floor. He still held his head low as he focused on ying the string instrument in his hand, and did not even notice Lin Sheng¡¯s presence. This time around, Lin Sheng no longer hesitated, after the fusion of the God¡¯s Speed divinity within him, his speed had reached a shocking level. With just a thought in mind, he had crossed over dozens of meters and suddenly narrowed the distance with the man. But the faster he got close, the faster the man disappeared. Rather than retreating or sleeping, it was more like the man was being repulsed and pushed away as Lin Sheng got close. By the time Lin Sheng got to the doorway, the man had disappeared again, and the sound of the strings disappeared as well. ¡°Again?¡± Lin Sheng was surprised. The first time could have been a coincidence, but the second time, he had already used his fastest speed, and he still failed to catch up with the man before thetter disappeared. This was obviously not idental. He looked up at the metal gate in front of him. There was a ck desated corpse hanging on the door. The corpse looked like a relief with its back was connected to the gate by an iid chain. The corpse¡¯s hand was wide open, his face lined in excruciating pain as his legs from the knee level had simply just disappeared, seemingly being lobbed off. Chapter 559 - Creation: Part 2

    Chapter 559 Creation: Part 2

    Lin Sheng approached the door and reached out in an attempt to push the door open.*Hah!* Suddenly, the desated corpse opened its eyes. A jet of ck gas sted out of his both and rushed towards Lin Sheng from the door. ¡°Ward of Distortion.¡± Lin Sheng stood still as the protective wards around him instantly met the attack. *Boom!!!* The corpse was instantly torn into shreds and scattered on the ground. But beneath the corpse, a blob of hazy shadow rushed towards Lin Sheng. ¡°This is the main body?¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s expression was impassive, letting the ck shadow rush before him, before a loud mter, as it crashed against an invisible ss wall, and was suspended in the air, unable to move. The Ward of Distortion once again took effect. The power of the Dark Wheelpletely tore the shadows into shreds in an instant. To his surprise, the shredded shadows quickly reformed before swirling in the air and struck at him from the back. *Bamm!!* It was a pity that that shadow did not know that Lin Sheng¡¯s wards was all-epassing and had no blind spots. So the same thing happened again. The shadow once again crashed against the invisible wall, and this time Lin Sheng did not just use his wards. Instead, he summoned the power of his holy light as it enveloped the shadowpletely. *Hiss...* A subtle scream rang out as the ck shadow waspletely reduced into white smoke and dissipated away. Following that, a thin ck line flew towards Lin Sheng. He did not resist, as he could sense that this was the remnant of the ck shadow¡¯s soul. Silently, the ck line of soul power sank into Lin Sheng¡¯s body. He closed his eyes and carefully absorbed it, as he stood there unmoving. A momentter, when he opened his eyes again, Lin Sheng looked around, and he could now immediately recognize the various symbols and words on the gate and surrounding walls. Within the iplete memory was about the short and desperate moments of an ordinary spaceship maintenance crew. Due to its fragmentation, the memories within the souls too were mere fragments of the crew¡¯s life. But that at least allowed Lin Sheng to master the basic writtennguage here. ¡°ording to the information in the memory, this should be a destroyed starship. The Octawing, a massive starship used for exploration of unknown star sectors.¡± There was not much information in the memory, it only mentioned the starship had tens of thousands of people in it and was a spacefaring mobile fortress bar none. As for where the people had gone to, and how the starship had ended up in this state, there was no mention of it in the memories. There were only vague fragments that mentioned that the upper echelons of the starship were nning something big. Lin Sheng snapped back and looked towards the namete above the gate. ¡®Resource Archive¡¯ ¡°Now that¡¯s nice.¡± He had just gotten a grasp of the writings here, and going into there would allow him to understand the overall situation here. He then reached his hands out and pushed the door gently. Amidst a creak, the entire door slowly twisted and cracked as a huge passage opened up in the middle of the door at a speed that could be perceived by the eyes. Lin Sheng slowly walked in through the passage, and inside was littered with all sorts of burnt documents scattered all over. Most of the documents were wrapped in a metal casing and were still rather intact. A small part of them seemed to have been burnt by fire, and their surface was soot ck. It seems like all of the materials used for the documents had some protection against fire, and not all were burnt. Lin Sheng picked up a document and was just about to read it as he heard the sound of the string instrument again. He paused for a moment before to open the metal casing, and within it were documents with dense, tiny prints. ¡®Regtions on dealing with the aberrations.¡¯ This was the title. Below was a list of ways to prevent mutations and their rted treatment options and istion procedures. This document was very detailed and were all focused on the problem of the aberrations. Lin Sheng flipped through the document and quickly picked up the rest of the files to go through them. These files were either about the analysis of the mysterious signals in the navigational starmap, or were suggestions for improvement and supplement for a n called Operation Mishv. Lin Sheng quickly looked at the stillplete documents present. And very quickly he found all of the documents mentioning the same name. Operation Mishv. Very soon, he noticed a rtively intact metal file behind an overturned desk in the room. He held his hand towards the file and grasp at it. The metal file then suddenly flew over andnded in his hand. Upon opening and ncing through it, surprise suddenly appeared on Lin Sheng¡¯s face. ¡°The assessment of the dangers of Operation Mishv.¡± That was the title of the document. And the content that followed was even more shocking. ¡°After so many experiments on the death row inmates, we have been able to sessfullyplete the ritual of Mizhv. But, this ritual is iplete, and we seem tock a special key material. That should be a primer, a primer that was not mentioned in the ritual documentation. ¡°We know too little about the culture of the Catastrophean, but in order to deal with the deadly situation we are in, we need to activate the Ritual of Mizhv that was even riskier. This itself is an irresponsible act. ¡°As for the risk assessment of the ritual, there are three main points. ¡°1. The God of Shadows Angs mentioned in the ritual, as to what its nature is, we do not have much information at hand. There are only a few rare cases that allowed us to understand that this God of Shadow could shelter lives, and provide hope and direction to the living. Yet the uncertainty of that is too high. ¡°2. As for the culture of the Catastropheans, we have some information and records that point to a ruin. If this God of Shadows could protect life, and provide it shelter, then why was the ce reduced to ruins? ¡°3. I believe that the mythology of the Catastrophean culture is full of indescribable decadence and unease from the beginning to the end. They advocated looking into themselves in the eyes. Against the endless, unknown perils, the living would need to maximize their inner potentials. And for the Catastrophean Gods, their greatest teachings was to help men uncover various powers. To this I have a question, in the presence of a God, is it still necessary to uncover the inner abilities of men, and the self-facing thing they advocated, was it really the self??¡± Lin Sheng read everything carefully, and there were even more relevant details and analysis at the back of it. Compared with the previous documents, this was the one that provided him key information for him to understand this starship. ¡°A starship that had performed a mysterious ritual before having it blowing up in their face?¡± Lin Sheng put the document down and guessed. He then searched carefully elsewhere. The so-called Resource Archive was empty, while there were many drawer-like spaces on the walls, there was nothing in them. It seemed like all of the documents had been thrown and left on the ground. ¡°Operation Mizhv... The location of the project was mentioned in the document. It was in the Warp Drive zone. Lin Sheng walked out of the archive, and based on the memory he had absorbed, this ship was divided into three main zones. Warp Drive Zone, Central Command Zone, Habitat Zone. He was now in the Central Command zone. Thergest zone was the Habitat Zone and could amodate tens of thousands of people. With itsrge space, its size was naturally enormous as well. Lin Sheng followed along the passage and followed the signs as he started running and sped towards the Warp Drive Zone. However, what was weird was the sound of the string instrument seemed to have stuck on to him and could be heard no matter where he went. Chapter 560 - Creation: Part 3

    Chapter 560 Creation: Part 3

    As he passed through arge array of ck passageways and junctions, about ten minutester, Lin Sheng finally stood before arge spiral gate with a heighty of more than ten meters.The gate was round with the spiralling des closing against each other, tightly blocking the passage into the Warp Drive Zone. On the upper right wall, there was a small shing green light which seemed to remind Lin Sheng that something was still silently running here. He walked forward, and just across the door he could feel a faint hint of chilliness behind it. As if a different world existed behind the door. ¡°So the ritual went awry?¡± Lin Sheng spected. He then stepped forward and pushed his hand gently against the door. Hiss.... The sound of metal being ripped apart slowly rang out as a massive hole was torn in the middle of the gate. From the gap, a surge of thick ck mist rolled and streamed out. ¡°This is... the mist of the cktide!¡± Lin Sheng grimaced. He had fought against the cktide for so long now, there was no mistaking it! Raising his alertness, he slowly walked into the torn hole. The dense grey-ck mist was forcibly pushed aside and soon he gradually got a grasp of the lightning in his surrounding. Behind the gate was another vast passageway and a sea of corpsesy all over the passage. The sound of the instrument still rang in his ears, but it seemed to have been weakened and were no longer clear. ¡°This ce...was probably destroyed by the cktide...¡± Lin Sheng sighed and moved along. He did not speed up, but instead moved forward slowly with extreme caution. After all, anything can happen in the cktide. After a short walk, the passageway began to bend. Lin Sheng let out a Ward of Distortion out, and started to probe the area before him. This would allow him to avoid any traps that may be hidden. But the deeper he goes in, there were fewer and fewer corpses around. But the monsters Lin Sheng had expected did not appear, and it seemed like this ce was safer than the previous Central Command zone. Lin Sheng slowly sped up, and looked at the signs as he hurried towards the area where the ritual was held. If he was not wrong, the dream would disconnect any time soon. After all, his sleeping hours was not long. And soon, he rushed out of the exit, and entered a huge cylindrical space. The area he was in was so high that he could not see the ceiling, it was at least a kilometer upwards and its width was at least several hundred meters. On the surrounding walls, there were many ck openings of the same size, and in the air was pieces of debris of destroyed machines. Lin Sheng looked up and over. Something was seemingly creeping within the debris there. As if it was a shadow of something. Before he could see what it was, a harsh scream sted out as arge amount of humanoid shadows rushed out from the debris. All of these ck shadows were the same as the one before the Resource Archive. They were extremely fast, without shape or form, and soon they traversed the distance of hundreds of meters as they pounced at Lin Sheng from all directions. ¡°Light.¡± Lin Sheng thought. The holy light within his body suddenly burst forth, as it sted out into a halo. In an instant, all of the pouncing shadows were consumed by the holy light as the torrent of light rapidly purified them. And it was extremely effective. At least hundreds of ck shadows werepletely purified and disappeared. Following that, over hundreds of fragments of soul powers quickly fell from the air and flew towards Lin Sheng. These were pure soul power and were noy blocked by the holy power. Lin Sheng looked up as he absorbed all of them. A torrent of memories quickly poured into his mind. The various pieces of memories about the ship appeared and shed across his mind. With his current strength, he no longer needed to be afraid like he was used to. A momentter, he found the piece of memory he wanted from his memory. Opening his eyes, Lin Sheng tipped his toes as he flew upwards. Whoosh whoosh whoosh... During the lift-off, countless of ck shadows continued to appear from the surrounding mist as they rushed at him in a frenzy. All of the shadows were continuously purified by the holy light around Lin Sheng before being turned into pure ck soul lines that flew into his chest. Lin Sheng was impassive as he flew straight towards the top. With more and more information emerging within his memory, Lin Sheng became more and more aware of what had happened here. And soon, he had finally flew to the top of the area. There was a giant robot made out of metal hanging upside down on the ceiling. The giant was covered in countless of ck spikes, looking like a hedgehog with steel spikes growing out of its body. Its face had a man-made nose and mouth, but with only one eye. The turquoise eye was open, with a dark green liquid rippled within. Within the liquid was a tiny infant curling up within it. The infant¡¯s eyes were closed and was sleeping quietly. Lin Sheng paused and looked quietly at the giant robot. This was part of results of Operation Mishv in this starship. Curled within the single eye was a child named ¡®Roon¡¯. And this child was a semi-finished product of the notpletely-sessful Operation Mishv. ¡°What a bunch of brazen people.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes narrowed. This was very different from his initial guess. The top echelon of this starship was not looking for salvation from God, rather, they were trying to artificially create God! And this little one here, was probably part of the product from this attempt. ¡°Through the ritual, they would summon the power of the gods, beforebining it with technology and creating the most powerful man-made god... What monumental foolishness!¡± Lin Sheng raised his rihgt hand and aimed towards the giant robot silently. ¡°Trying to master a power beyond one¡¯s mortal body itself is a road to self-destruction.¡± A magnificent white light began to gather in his palm. Countless of bright light orbs condensed into an orb the size of a human head. ¡°Go.¡± He pushed gently. The ball of light flew silently toward the giant robot. BAMM!! In an instant, a dazzling light sted out, and engulfed everything within it. The giant robot had just moved its head when it was struck with the full force of the condensed holy light. A massive torrent of overwhelming holy power instantly purified its entire body. This was a Legendary-level holy power. The limit of holy power was Legendary-level, and divinity was the innate ability of the soul, and was another type of power. The only difference was that any divine being would be able to unleash his Legendary-level holy power at a rate many times stronger than normal. This was like a fruit knife in the hand of an ordinary person and a powerful divine being, the killing efficiency was on apletely two different levels. Lin Sheng stared at the robot as the light had dispersed. He was not particrly interested with this defective product of a machine god. What he was really interested in, was the mysterious ritual that could sommon the gods. And that so-called Catastrophean Gods... So what Anselia had been searching so hard for, was it not God? Chapter 561 - Liquidation: Part 1

    Chapter 561 Liquidation: Part 1

    The Gods.Before sessfully forming his own divinity, Lin Sheng did not believe there was such an existence. But now he believed. THat was because in the World of ckfeather, the god that Anselia was looking for and the god that he understood was not a type of being. The gods there were merely apex existences that were extremely powerful/ God was nothing more than a name, a supreme being that most mortal creatures would never be able toprehend. Therefore, there were differences in the gods of various ethnic groups. Looking at the purified man-made god, Racoon, Lin Sheng got close and looked at the infant soaking in the green liquid inside the eye. There were no movement, no souls nor vitality within the infant¡¯s body. It was like a corpse, and no one knew how long it had been dead. ¡°What a pity...¡± Lin Sheng did not do anything else. After removing the infestation of the cktide, the man-made god before him had totally lost its ability to move. With a wave of his hand, arge distortive force suddenly sted out of Lin Sheng¡¯s body and wrenched the spikey robot out from the ceiling and tossed it aside. The massive robot fell silently on the left side of the ground under the effect of the force field. Lin Sheng then stared at the small secret room door that had appeared behind where the robot was. It was a rusty, special hidden door build into the ceiling. Lin Sheng slowly got close and under the effect of his force field, the secret room door slowly opened inwards. Inside it was a huge rectangr hidden room. ÃÜÊÒÄÚ,½ö½öÖ»ÊÇÕ¾ÔÚÃÅÍâ,ÁÖÊ¢Ò²ÄÜ¿´µ½,ÕâÀïÁ½²àÅÅÁÐÊúÁ¢ÁËÒ»×ù×ùÀàËƹײÄÒ»ÑùµÄÀ¶É«Ê¯Í·,ÖмäÕýÖÐÓиöÀàËƼĄ̀µÄԲ׶ÐÎÒøɫƽ̨,Õý»º»º×ª¶¯×Å,ÎÞÉùµÄÊͷųöijЩµ­µ­µÄ²¨¶¯. On the dark ground, corpses that had dessicated were lying all around. All of them were wearing the uniform of high-level personnel in this starship, and was probably of a special management level. Lin Sheng walked in slowly, as he nced around. The moment he was about to enter the room, the scene on the wall and ceiling brightened and changed from a dark forest into an azure blue sky with drifting clouds. ¡°A virtual simtion scenery?¡± Lin Sheng did not focus on that, but instead looked straight behind the conical tform. On the ground therey a corpse that asrger than normal. The corpse wore a dress that looked like amander. Lin Sheng looked around, and grasped at the corpse. A ck,pass-like object on the corpse suddenly rose into the air and flew towards Lin Sheng. With the help of the object, he carefully looked throughout the room. ¡®The Ritual of Mishv. Activation requirements: Having the mind oscite at a fixed frequency while chanting the words below.¡¯ Below it was a series of very simple ck text symbols. Yet Lin Sheng frowned as he could not understand the characters at all. ¡°This is totally different from the earliernguage...¡± He carefully went through it, and noticed that the characters were different from the one used within the starship itself. Lin Sheng wanted to scrutinize it carefully to see if he could find some other clues, but at that moment, a sudden ticking of the clock rang out in his ears. Lin Sheng suddenly paused. He knew he was about to wake up from the dream. .... .... Sitting up high, Lin Sheng slowly roused from the dream. As he opened his eyes, he took a deeper breath and cleared his mind. ¡°It had ended huh?¡± He straightened his back and gently exhaled. ck. A light popter, a translucent chat room interface suddenly appeared in front of him. The chat room was quiet, and no one seemed to be speaking. Lin Sheng waited for a while, and suddenly a message popped out. ¡°I¡¯m bored. Is anyone around?¡± ¡ª Purple Time. ¡°I am. Isn¡¯t it morning now? Nothing to do at all?¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°It¡¯s morning over your side? It¡¯s already afternoon here. Seems like there¡¯s a rather big time difference between us.¡± ¡ª Purple Time. ¡°Wasn¡¯t there some serial-killing issue happening on your end there? You still have the mood to chat?¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. It¡¯s quite far away from us. It doesn¡¯t really matter.¡± ¡ª Purple Time. ¡°Eh? Wasn¡¯t your cousin responsible for this case?¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°It is, but that¡¯s not my problem, so what¡¯s there to be afraid? Say, Hope your mood had been pretty goodtely?¡± ¡ª Purple Time. ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s a glimmer of hope in the uingpetition.¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°What are you still doing with the whole vice president thing? If it was me, why would I even bother? Won¡¯t it be better to use your free time for your own leisure? Time is precious.¡± ¡ª Purple Time. ¡°It¡¯s not that, just my personal hobby. Plus since I¡¯m young, it¡¯s good to work out and train.¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°But it¡¯s still tiring. Still better to be like me, with no care for the world and just living my life peacefully.¡± In another distant world, Perr wore a purple corset dress as she pulled out her golden flowing hair, and let out a wless smile to the mirror. ¡°Mistress, it¡¯s time to go. Or else the Sir and Madam would start nagging again.¡± The servant beside her could not help but to rush her. ¡°What¡¯s the hurry? I¡¯m not even done yet. It¡¯s just some chaotic banquet at the end of the day. What difference does going a littlete makes?¡± Perr spat back. Seeing the Spectral Light chat room in her vision, she then replied. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m heading out now. Ah, the sun sure is bright today, I don¡¯t feel like going out at all, but I¡¯m being dragged along by my family. It¡¯s annoying.¡± ¡ª Purple Time. ¡°Go, go, sounds like a very fun life...¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°You must be kidding.¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°I... have woken up from the chaos again...¡± ¡ª Red Whale. ¡°....¡± ¡ª Purple time. ¡°...¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. Well, hell had just froze over... Perr could not help but snicker, every time this delusional fool appears, things would just turn awkward. Did he think himself to be Saint Laurent, the Violet Angel? Everytime he appears ites with a supposedly awe-inspiring BGM. ¡°Didn¡¯t you mentioned about waking up from the River of Time some time back?¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°...Is that so? Must have said wrongly then.¡± Red Whale. Awkward... Perr held her tooth aching looking at the chat and decided to outright ignore it. She then let out a smirk at the mirror and only calmed down after a long while. ¡°Ahhh!!! My makeup had been ruined!¡± As the perfect Flower of Saint Laurent Academy, even if she did not have the traits of an angel herself, she could still be a very powerful angel. But her family and her own beauty, even without any innate traits, was still the most dazzling of presence in any asion. As the founder of Silver Victorystar, her father, mother were secretly masters of the powerful Victorystar Angel. Chapter 562 - Liquidation: Part 2

    Chapter 562 Liquidation: Part 2

    The Silver Victorystar was a powerful ability development device that could give humans extraordinary abilities.And the Victorystar Angel was a secret system independent from the Angelic System. The ck Victorystar that was circting in the outside world was nothing but an inferior product the family had circted in the market. While it also had the ability to develop extraordinary abilities, but the capabilities developed were not powerful. Only members of her family, with the mastery of the Silver Victorystar could develop angelic-level powers. Perr hurried to her dressing room to fix her makeup. On the surface, she was the mistress of the chairman of the Peakbloom Corporation, and the only daughter of the chairman. But in reality, the Peakbloom Corporation was the biggest puppeteer that controlled the entire city. And her father was the uncrowned king of the entire city and its surrounding area. With such a background, it was naturally excusable for Perr to be so idle and slothful. ¡°Alright. I¡¯m done. Unfortunately they are not people of this world, otherwise I could invite her toe and be a guest. If only I could see what a different world is like.¡± While she had exchanged plenty of information about their respective worlds with her close chatmate Giving Hope, Perr was still very interested in the world on the other side. ¡°Mistress...¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go!¡± Perr twirled in a circle as her skirt flew up, revealing the ck metallic safety pants beneath. The servant beside her could only look on in bewilderment, not knowing what to say. .... .... Lin Sheng looked away. While the content in the Spectral Light chat room could be interesting at times, he could predict the identity, strength, status, and the environment and background of the people there. He would go there and craptalk a little, chatting with Giving Hope for a bit before going silent again. Thest person to appear was Red Whale, the person seemed to be mumbling some incoherent stuff. The person seemed to be rather confused, and often misremembers stuff, he would simply just overwrite what he said moments ago a few minutester. No wonder Giving Hope and Purple Time thought that he was some delusional lunatic. Lin Sheng could not determine whether the person was a real boss-character or not, but for now, he seemed like he was just craptalking at best. Turning off the Spectral Light, Lin Sheng stood up from his throne, and suddenly remembered one of the greatest functions of the Soul Relic. Once he had it he could move freely within the cktide for a long period of time. ¡°Should I give it a try?¡± Lin Sheng thought of it, and went straight to it. There was not much to do now after all, and his personal state had almost been fully consolidated. He also had to wait for the dream, he could not just simply enter it by sleeping. From the Holyspirit Pce, Lin SHeng immediately entered the portal and returned to Henriqcal City. He did not stay back as he quickly flew out of the Holy Sanctum towards the edge of the force field generated by the outermost Tower of Dusk. The ck waters of the cktide had receded, leaving only ck mists like before as it hazily surrounded the city, and nothing inside was visible. Lin Sheng charged straight into the ck mist. And just as he entered, he immediately felt the difference. All of the ck mist around him spontaneously pulled back as if some invisible power was helping him prop up an absolute protective shielding. With a thought, the shield rapidly shrank and quickly clung onto his skin. It may seemed like it had disappeared, it had in fact been shrank to the limit as it covered only its body and was imperceptible. ¡°Is this the function of the Soul Relic?¡± Lin Sheng wondered. One need to know that he did not even sense any pulsing of energy earlier. ¡°This Spectral Light thing is interesting.¡± Lin Sheng thought about meticulously testing this out, so he ran along the ck mist towards the other of the fortress city in the map. Due to the soul hunter teams, the Holy City and other Fortress Cities had a lot of connections as arge number of teamsmunicated and exchanged information. With the talisman created by the soul hunters, it was still considered safe. Lin Sheng had also learnt a lot of information about the Fortress Cities outside. When the cktide hit this time around, Annihtus was extremely powerful. The attack was so sudden that the Holy City had totally lost contact with other Fortress Cities. So he intended to check things out, and to see how the other Fortress Cities fared. To see if they too had suffered attacks from Annihtus. Lin Sheng was extremely fast. As he could not see anything in the dark mist, he did not slow down at all. All the way through, about ten minutester, he could sense a outline of arge city beneath him. This was not that bizarre starship in the dream. As this was just normal ck mist, Lin Sheng¡¯s senses could at least work out everything within 30 meters. If it was just a rough look without any attention to the details, he could do so hundreds of meters out. As he did not fly very high, he slowed down the moment he sensed the outline of the city. µ«ÒòΪËûËÙ¶ÈÌ«¿ì,»¹ÊdzöÊÂÁË. BAAMMM!! A loud bang rang out. Lin Sheng felt like he had ran into something. But he was not worried. No matter what he ran into, it would not be as sturdy as he was. As the ck mist roiled, Lin Sheng slowly pulled himself out of the upper part of a building. His senses soon expanded and very quickly Lin Sheng got a grasp of his surrounding situation. His current location was probably a ce called Fortress City Three. This was originally a special istion zone setup using dark powers. Lin Sheng flew out of the building and floated in the air as he looked down. The thick ck mist still roiled but with his senes, he could clearly see the dested streets beneath. It was cold and messy, with copsed fortifications all over the ce. Corpses of humans and monstersy mixed together, as the surface were all covered with ayer of ck ash. ¡°Is it done for?¡± Lin Sheng sighed. Just by seeing this scene alone, Lin Sheng knew that this Fortress City was done for. From the massive footprints on the ground, it was obvious that this city had been attacked by Annihtus. Annihtus¡¯ path of destruction seemed to be at random, after tearing the Fortress City apart, it simply just left. What actualy destroyed this city however, aside from the monsters, was the surging ck water. Lin Sheng flew a circle around the entire Fortress City and did not encounter any living being. Forget about the living beings, he did not even see a single the invading monster around. With a heavy heart, Lin Sheng searched the city and found a map that pointed to the other Fortress Cities. Immediately afterwards, he flew at a high speed towards Fortress City Two. It was a scene of carnage, there was a massive crater in the middle of the city, and the crater itself had annihted at least eighty percent of the entire city area. The remaining buildings were then struck by extreme heat, radiation and the ck water and werepletely destroyed. Then there was the third ce, Fortress City One. Lin Sheng felt more and more dejected. While he was not too concern about the life or death of the other Fortress Cities, but if the only humans were to survive in this world was within the Holy City, then it would just be too lonesome. The effect of the Soul Relic was quite powerful. Without any protective measures of his own, and using the Spectral Light¡¯s support, he had been moving in the cktide at high speed for almost five hours now without anything happening. Chapter 563 - Liquidation: Part 3

    Chapter 563 Liquidation: Part 3

    Very quickly, by afternoon, Lin Sheng had arrived at Fortress City One.And the moment he arrived, he had sensed a huge, vibrant city from afar, like a hugeplex machinery that was slowly operating. Lin Sheng did not approach, but simply just looked at the city from afar in the midst. This ce seemed to be safe, and did not encounter any attacks from Annihtus. But the soaring city walls had gray marks left by the ck water. ¡°Thank goodness... This ce was probably lucky that it avoided the gaze of Annihtus.¡± Lin Sheng was satisfied. Now equipped with the ability to freely move around in the ctide, his mind too came alive. ¡°Now, since I¡¯ve nothing better to do, might as well go to the Astral Mere for some payback.¡± The Astral Mere had been using all sorts of means, and eventually even attempted to subvert the Sanctum. If not for the istion caused by the cktide, and Lin Sheng had no means to deal with them, they would have long been destroyed by him. Now that the leader of the Astral Mere had been killed, it was now a good time to deal with this mysterious organization. Without any hesitation, Lin Sheng immediately established the soul link, and got the Thunderbeast to look for the Holy Sanctum¡¯s Intelligence Department. While the Intelligence Department was unable to deal with the Astral Mere due to the cktide, the collection of intel had never stopped. Aside from retaliation, Lin Sheng also wanted to try to see if he could get his hands on anything from the Astral Mere that could help against the cktide. That old man¡¯s ability for predicting the future was coveted by Lin Sheng. If he could master this ability, then he could have better control of the overall situation across the whole world. Prediction of the future was not only useful to predict oing disasters, but also use to foresee opportunities. Just like how the Sacred Vessels of Destiny were previous foreseen. Following the constant esction of the cktide¡¯s threat, that even the demigods too finally fell to it, and that created a strong sense of crisis within Lin Sheng¡¯s mind. So he had pursued improvement of his strength in a frenzy as he furiously sought any strength that may fight against the cktide. And soon, through the soul link, Lin Sheng got the general direction of the Astral Mere¡¯s location from the Intelligence Department. He then flew straight towards that direction. Two hourster. Within the ck mist above a vast ocean. Lin Sheng floated in the air, and waited quietly. Based on the intel, this was the area where Astral Mere¡¯s personnel would go in and out of. So as long as he waited here quietly, someone would eventuallye in or out of this ce. RAAAAHHH.... From the cktide, a ck one-horn snake that looked like a dragon shed past. It soon noticed Lin Sheng who was floating in the air, as it turned a corner, as it hid its presence and rushed towards him with its head bowed. That beast actually wanted to use its sturdy horn aimed at Lin Sheng for a sneak attack. Lin Sheng did not even took notice of the monster¡¯s sneak attack. BAMM!! In an instant, the snake monster seemed to charge headlong into a bottomless hole and disappeared before Lin Sheng. At the same time, a small grey-brown bead appeared beside him. Lin Sheng reached out and squeezed the bead as he gently melding it into his armor. This monster had some considerable strength, and was about a six-wing level, and was worth for him to take it to be a guardian creature. Time slowly passed. About three hourster, Lin Sheng¡¯s cloak was already covered in a denseyer of ck crystal-like beads. Looking all mysterious and awe-inspiring. Three more grey beads had appeared on his armor. That meant that in that period of time, three more six-wing level monsters had attacked him. After waiting for a long time, finally an extremely weak pulsing spread out subtly from about a hundred meters away. ¡°About time!¡± Lin Sheng mused. No one knew where the Astral Mere was, just like his disciple Adolf said. The Astral Mere was extremely vignt, and even when their own people goes in and out, they had to constant change their exits, and needed to have someone inside to bring them in. Now without the vignce stemming from the Wise King¡¯s predictions, this was the best time to deal with the Astral Mere. Lin Sheng though that much. After all, he had waited in the cktide for so long just for this moment. He moved closer and from afar saw a space above the sea began to distort. Before long, a dim white light slowly lit up in the dark mist. Two slim figures seemed to being out of the light. Lin Sheng¡¯s figure blurred as he cross the distance of hundreds of meters with extreme speed, and before the two girls could respond, he rush passed them and entered into the white light beside them. ¡°What¡¯s that? What had intruded!! ¡± The Astral Mere¡¯s Hidden Realm, which was peaceful a momentter, suddenly rose in ear-piercing rm. Mayuko, as the temporary leader in the absence of the Wise King rushed out of the practice room at the first moment. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± She looked up at the the massive six-Leaf Tower, and after determining that there was nothing there, she quickly contacted the rest of those in charge of the defenses eslewhere with hermunicator. But what puzzled her was that the rm seemed to had malfunctioned, as there were no incursions by any enemies or monsters. ¡°Perhaps it is really old, and that was just a false positives. No matter.¡± Mayuko walked to the main control center and checked the equipment and determined that there was no problem with the surveince. The entire Astral Mere¡¯s Hidden Realm was a vast and empty pure white city. The city that wasrge enough to amodate tens of thousands of people had only about three digits worth of people in it. Thus therge area naturally had very sparse poption across its length. The entire wall of the Hidden Realm was a dark, flowing liquid. Lin Sheng floated high in the air, his cloak coered in ck crystal beads fluttered in the air. ¡°This is the Astral Mere?¡± The eyes underneath his helmet looked at the white city below. In the middle of the city, was a tower with a six-leaf windmill attracted his immediate attention. ¡°This was what the Wise King had used to predict the everything?¡± Lin Sheng slowly moved towards the tower. As for whether he would be detected or not, he did not care. If he was not discovered earlier, it was because he was too fast. Right before the tower was a rough little hut. An old man shrouded in thick ck robe sat like a statue on the bed unmoving as he took long breaths inbetween. Suddenly he seemed to have sensed something and opened his eyes wide. ¡°Who goes there!??¡± The old man yelled as his figure floated out of the hut and looked to the sky. At the same time, the undisguised Lin Sheng floating in the air soon attracted the attentions of the other elites in the area. Mayuko¡¯s figure appeared at the top of a tall building as she stared coldly at the sky above her. Another tall man in ck body armor with two giant axes in hands slowly walked out of the building as his eyes glowed in red as he stared at Lin Sheng. The three strongest people in the city had all appeared at the same time as they stared at the white armored person with deadly intent. Tungus mixed into the ground as he looked at Lin Sheng in the air. He was not one of the captains, and his strength was unlike them as well, so he did not step up at the first instance. ¡°That¡¯s....!!¡± This was the Hidden Realm of the Astral Mere, and someone had invaded it? He was dumbstruck. This was apletely isted space. But before he could react, the bone de on Tungus¡¯ back shook slowly. ¡°It¡¯s him.... !!? Boy... if you don¡¯t want to die, find a ce to hide!¡± The tone of the bone de had neven been heavier. ¡°It can¡¯t be...¡± Tungus was stunned. ¡°That serious?¡± ¡°Yes...that serious.¡± The bone de¡¯s tone had a trace of haste. ¡°That person... was the man who had ruined the world I was in...¡± ¡°And I was defeated by his hands during my heyday.¡± ¡°Destroyed a world...You gotta be shitting me??¡± Tungus had originally nned to help Mayuko at first, but after hearing the words of his master, he hesitated and had the mind to back away. ¡°Based on the information I had collected all these while. The person may be the supreme Holy Emperor of the Holy Sanctum, he in fact has another identity. The Darkspirit King, overlord of the Darkspirit Realm. But that person actually had the ridiculous audacity to change the name of the Darkspirits into Holyspirits, and the Darkspirit Pnce into the Holyspirit Pce, thinknig that no one would see through his shameless ambitions?¡± The bone de sneered. ¡°Then what should I do?¡± Tungus felt a little frightened. Emperor or Holiness be damned, these titles sounds like they were so oundish that they were beyond him. ¡°I was the Darkspirit King that once unified the world. If I want to help you escape undetected, I could do that, as long as you listen to my everymand.¡± The bone de rumbled. ¡°Master... didn¡¯t you say that you can no longer use your soul powers?¡± Tungus¡¯ expression changed. ¡°I¡¯ll find a way to escape myself! I don¡¯t need your help!¡± ¡°No worries, I can still hold on.¡± The bone de calmly said. Through Tungus¡¯ eyes, he looked up at the white figure floating in the air. Even if it had been a long time, the horror the man wrought back then was still fresh in his mind. ¡°The world is too small...¡± Chapter 564 - Exchange: Part 1

    Chapter 564 Exchange: Part 1

    Lin Sheng looked at the city below.If it was just the three so-called elites that had appeared, he was not too interested. But six-leaf cage that was slowly rotating at the top of the blue tower, that had fully grasped his attention. ¡°That should be the so-called Crystal of Prophecy. The most important thing of the Astral Mere, and the treasure that the Wise King had used to predict all sorts of futures.¡± He ignored everyone and flew straight towards the crystal. *Shink!* From below, a rapidly spinning ax whistled as it sted out a ck bolt of lightning in a deadly arc towards Lin Sheng. The giant ax was nted firmly in the space at Lin Sheng¡¯s feet, as it seemed to have bit into a special invisible object. ¡°This is... pure strength?¡± Lin Sheng looked slightly surprised. There was no trace of special energies on the ax and it had whistled and crashed just on pure unbridled strength alone. From the other two sides, Mayuko flew up as arge number of dark red spikes appearing all around her body. ¡°Crimson Shining Fangs!¡± She growled and all of the red spikes around her rained upon Lin Sheng. At the same time, two slender ck branches shot out beneath her skirt as they stretched out and elongated as they rushed towards Lin Sheng. The final old man let out a violent roar, as the fuzzy visage of a beast loomed upon him. It was a humanoid monster covered in fine, dark red scales. He raised his right hand and grabbed at Lin Sheng. Suddenly arge swathe of blood-red vines broke through the skin of his palm and pounced towards Lin Sheng in a frenzy. ¡°Foolish.¡± Lin Sheng did not even look back as he flew straight towards the Crystal of Prophecy in the gilded cage. Before the blood-red vines could even touch him, they were all reduced into gray ash and dissipated away. Mayuko¡¯s ck shadow branches too were seemingly ignited by something as they burned all the way back, and reducing the entire branch into ashes. If not for Mayuko¡¯s timely response, she would have been burnt to a crisp as well. At the same time, the dark red spikes in the air were all blocked off by the Ward of Distortion. Lin Sheng did not need to do anything as those people could not even break through the defense of his automatic protective wards. A golden crystal within the gilded cage at the top of the blue tower rotated slowly, letting out a pale golden glow. Lin Sheng floated in the air as he reached for the cage. A few crackling sounds rang out as who knows how manyyers of protection were forcibly purified and dismantled by his attempt. The golden cage let out a creak as if it was being overwhelmed before it began to silently break and turning into countless golden sand grains. With the cage dispersed, Lin Sheng grabbed the golden crystal with his hand. ¡°Over my dead body if you want to take the Crystal of Prophecy!¡± The red-eyed man in heavy armor leaped up as he grabbed his remaining ax with both hands as he used all his might to sunder Lin Sheng into two. *Shink!* A beam of white holy light sted out like aser beam and instantly pierced through the forehead of the man in heavy armor. Immediately afterward, a blinding white light exploded as the man in heavy armor was shattered as his entire body was reduced into countless white spots. ¡°Too weak.¡± Lin Sheng looked calm as he gently held the Crystal of Prophecy before him to inspect it. ¡°Yudd!!! I¡¯ll KILL YOU!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!¡± Seeing the man in heavy armor killed, Mayuko¡¯s eyes turned red as she furiously unleashed a torrent of red spikes. Instantly, a sea of Crimson Shining Fangs showered at Lin Sheng like raindrops. ¡°Strength is obtained by mere quantities.¡± Lin Sheng raised his right hand and gently flicked his index finger. *Bam!!* A white light beam sted out of his finger and instantly crossed the distance through Mayuko¡¯s chest with deadly uracy. Blood sttered as all of the Crimson Shining Fangs around Mayuko suddenly stopped. It was not that she did not have any Shining Fangs to block the beam, but more than a dozen Fangs were simply just punctured through by the beam. ¡°Mayuko!!!¡± Several other figures flew up and rushed towards Lin Sheng in a frenzy with blood-red eyes. Lin Sheng was impassive as he flicked his finger and shot out a couple of light beams. These were highly concentrated Legendary-level holy light, and after being condensed to a certain level, its power even was stronger than a six-wing. Plus, this was just a little burst of energy that Lin Sheng had whimsically released. This was not one of his attacks, but it was something as natural as breathing. After a series of sts, there were no more movements in the air. All of the attackers were all reduced to white light spots as they were slowly disappearing. The city was silent, as the members of the Astral Mere looked up in fear as they observed Lin Sheng¡¯s every movement. ¡°No more resistance?¡± Lin Sheng asked with some disappointment. So that meant to say, that of so many people here, only a handful was loyal to the Wise King. ¡°What a pitiful fellow.¡± Lin Sheng grabbed the Crystal of Prophecy and covered it with multipleyers of protective wards. ¡°Sir, if you n to just take the Crystal of Prophecy with you, you might not necessarily know all of its uses. So why not let this lowly one exin to you the important features of this crystal?¡± Just as Lin Sheng was about to leave with the Crystal of Prophecy, someone suddenly rushed over to him and bowed respectfully. ¡°Oh?¡± Lin Sheng nced at the man before him for a bit. This was a middle-aged man with a pair of round sses. He wore the garb of the Astral Mere, but his temperament was different from the rest of the weaklings here. The man before him must have seen things before and was not a simple person to deal with like the others. ¡°You know how to use this thing?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°Of course, I¡¯ve hidden away here for the past ten years to secretly learn the knowledge of the Wise King, and slowly formting it bit by it.¡± The middle-aged man said with a calm smile. ¡°Then, tell me about the main use of this crystal.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s interest was piqued. ¡°It would be an honor to answer your questions.¡± The middle-aged man bowed with a smile. ¡°This Crystal of Prophecy has two main functions. First, its use to predict the changes in the near future.¡± ¡°And then? This crystal must have more than just that function alone.¡± Lin Sheng said calmly. ¡°Yes, secondly, this is another important function of the Crystal of Prophecy. That is the Psionic Gate.¡± The middle-aged man let out a proud smile. ¡°Psionic Gate?¡± ¡°Yes, it is a powerful ability to forcibly open up a pathway between different coordinates while disregarding most conventional rules. This ability is so powerful that it could open up connections with the future world.¡± ¡°The Future World...!!¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s heart shrank. Wasn¡¯t the origin of Han Yu and Neese being able to connect with the future? He quickly linked all of the information he had previously obtained together. As the information converged, suddenly Lin Sheng gradually had a deeper understanding of the importance of this Crystal of Prophecy. ¡°As for how to activate the Psionic Gate, this will involve a lot of mysterious techniques and key technologies. While I may not be that talented, I have managed to perfectly learn all of the relevant techniques from the Wise King.¡± The man seemed to be an ambitious person who had been hiding for so long, and upon seeing Lin Sheng¡¯s unparalleled strength, he immediately appeared to surrender and offer his allegiance. He knew his chance had finallye. Chapter 565 - Exchange: Part 2

    Chapter 565 Exchange: Part 2

    ¡°What¡¯s your name.¡± Lin Sheng asked with interest. He appreciated people who knew where the wind blew and this person¡¯s change of allegience would allow him to effectively master the entire Astral Mere¡¯s organization in a short period of time. ¡°I am Fu Yuanbo. At your service.¡± The middle-aged man suppressed his tion as he bowed slightly. ¡°Then, you will follow me for this period of time. I want you to show me how do I predict the future, and to open the Psionic Gate,¡± Lin Sheng said. ¡°As you will it.¡± It did not take Lin Sheng too long to deal with the Astral Mere. With an ambitious person like Fu Yuanbo¡¯s defection, the Astral Mere¡¯s secrets were pretty much not existant now. Many of the die-hards still loyal to the Wise King was executed by the defectors controlled by Lin Sheng. The rest were members that were willing to obey and dared not resist. And Fu Yuanbo started to be fully responsible for the prophecy ritual. Lin Sheng sat inside the Astral Mere¡¯s blue tower, surrounded by an empty hall with only a fine blue circuits on the ground slowly emiting blue light. He may be looking like he was training, but in fact, he was chatting on the Spectral Light chat room while training. And in just a short few hours ago, a nickname that Lin Sheng had never seen before appeared in the chat room. ¡°Hope, didn¡¯t you say you wanted to leanr some basic fighting techniques thest time around? I havepiled a set here that may be suitable for you. You want it?¡± ¡ª Ascension. This person, called Ascension had already been chatting with Giving Hope and Purple Time for a while when Lin Sheng opened the chat interface. He then looked at the chat logs. The Ascension person seemed to be a mild-tempered, patient nice guy. And it seems like the world he is in had delved rather deeply into meleebat techniques Giving Hope had just wanted to learn differentbat techniques to improve her overall abilities. After asking around in the chat room for a bit, this Ascension person popped up. And what Lin Sheng noticed was that the variousbat materials Ascension had given to Giving Hope all required the aid of a warpaint-like thing that needed to be drawn on the arm. It seems like everytime the war paint is drawn, it will contain a runic script of unknown meaning. ¡°Bro Ascension, can you tell me what¡¯s the apex ofbat arts? Martial arts had been popr for a period of time here, but their development had not gotten any stronger or deeper.¡± Lin Sheng suddenly asked. ¡°The apex? I personally think that is after perfecting the development of your strength and potential, and after that you could masterbat techniques forplicated situations, and this is probably the apex of a martial artist.¡± ¡ª Ascension. ¡°Full potential? How does one consider to be full potentials?¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°There are many things that can only be understood by sight and not just words, sadly I¡¯m not able to sendplex images or else I would show you once myself, and you will understand it.¡± ¡ª Ascension. ¡°That¡¯s a real shame...¡± Lin Shengmented. His vision suddenly fell onto the Crystal of Prophecy in his hand. It seems like this thing would allow you to go anywhere as long as you know the coordinates. ¡°If I couldbine this function with the Spectral Light...¡± Lin Sheng suddenly have an idea. He looked at the chatty crowd in the chat window. Suddenly, Giving Hope as she chatted, mentioned some weird happenings near where she lived. ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t really believe that these cases are true. But I have a BFF that told me that she saw a drunkard passing through her house was suddenly dragged into an alley and was never seen again.¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°I remmeber that you mentioned thisst year. Like six people had disappeared in a row before it stopped? What¡¯s wrong? The case was not resolved?¡± ¡ª Purple Time. ¡°Yeah. The police said that the case was resolved, but the case seemed to have resurfaced. Clearly, they did not manage to arrest the culprit at all.¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°Any case, you be careful. Avoid going out alone at night if possible.¡± ¡ª Purple Time. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m pretty strong. I can take down most adults with just a few hits.¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°Then would you want to give my warpaints a try? There are some warpaints that have the effect of exorcizing evil and avoiding misfortune. It¡¯s just that the process a bit moreplicated.¡± ¡ª Ascension. Lin Sheng watched on as the person started to carefully teached a new warpaint to Giving Hope. From the picture sent by the person alone, he felt something was a bit off with the so-called warpaint. ¡°Interesting... Ascension huh?¡± Lin Sheng closed his eyes and pondered, before suddenly typing a line into the chat box. ¡°My current surroundings is also very dangerous? Can you teach me a defensive warpaint?¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°Sure, we are all from the Spectral Light anyway. This is nothing.¡± ¡ª Ascension. ¡°Thank you, thank you.¡± Lin Sheng responded quickly. Very soon, he had received the so-called defensive warpaint Ascension had sent him separately. For Lin Sheng who had deep knowledge of thenguage of power, had already created his own special scripts of power long ago, and at this moment, he could immediately replicate it and drew it on the ground. The moment he finished it, the warpaint with the shape of a wolf¡¯s head suddenly vibrated and let out an almost imperceptible signal. ¡°Sure enough.¡± With a thought, arge amout of protective wards appeared to iste its surrounding and intercepting the signal immediately. ¡°This Ascension person... there¡¯s also this hidden tracking equipment in the warpaint pattern that he gave Giving Hope. This guy is up to something sinister.¡± He then crushed the invisible signal with a wave of his hand. He then carefully inspected the warpaint¡¯s system. This as a brand-new runic script application and that gave him a considerable amount of inspiration. And just as he was nning to design a simr but more powerful signal emblem, one of the Astral Mere defectors outside the tower walked in. ¡°Sir, it¡¯s ready.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s Fu Yuanbo? Lin Sheng stood up and walked calmly towards the door. ¡°Mister Bo is already at proceeding with the final tests. Based on his speed, we could be able tomence the prediction once you arrive there.¡± Lin Sheng sorted himself out, as he destroyed the warpaint on the ground and walked out of the Blue Tower. Fu Yuanbo had already led his men to wait outside. The entire blue tower slowly emitted blue light as the six des at the top of it continued to spin, and a subtle white arc was vaguely flickering. ¡°Sir.¡± Fu Yuanbo gestured for Lin Sheng to look up. ¡°Look at the top of the tower, the entire Blue Tower is actually an extremely perfected prediction array. I just need to enter a designated programme into the system, and activate them one by one to get the results. It¡¯s now up to you to decide what direction would you like to predict, and what keywords to use¡± ¡°What direction huh?¡± Lin Sheng pondered. ¡°Prediction keyword, Resolving the cktide.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Fu Yuanbo quickly recited a couple of activation chants, before asking everyone around to sprink fine silver dust from their hands. arge amount of dust flew with the wind, but at this moment, nobody minded it. Amidst hum-like chanting, the des of the Blue Tower seemed to rotate faster and faster. Chapter 566 - Exchange: Part 3

    Chapter 566 Exchange: Part 3

    Lin Sheng held the Crystal of Prophecy in his hand as he suddenly felt it to be scalding hot, and had to let it go. For a divine being like him now, his resistance to the different temperatures was extremely high, yet at this moment, the Crystal of Prophecy had suddenly released an extremely high temperature that was not normal, rather it was like a warning. Circles of hazy glow started circling and rotating around the crystal. Crack. The crystal separated at the top and bottom as a faint white me burned it the core as it suddenly rushed towards Lin Sheng. It was a very simple change, as the me hovered before Lin Sheng and a series ofplex image patterns started emerging around the mes. Lin Sheng stared at the images carefully, and all of them contained some hidden rules and information that could not be ignored. ¡°These are the hints given by the Crystal of Prophecy.¡± Fu Yuanbo, who was beside him reminded with hushed voice. ¡°Only the Wise King knows how to properly decipher it. While I had learnt a little, but...¡± He looked ashamed. ¡°That¡¯s alright... these images are good enough already.¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s eyes gleamed. Even if he had no methods to decipher it, he could get some minor hints from the images alone. ¡°Can the predictions be done continuously?¡± He asked. Seeing as the me before him was fading, it was clear that this prediction was about to end. ¡°No. The Crystal of Prophecy would need time to recharge. However, I have heard from the Wise King that it would take a week to do so.¡± Fu Yuanbo exined. ¡°Alright, then lets test the ability for fixed-point teleportation.¡± Lin Sheng nodded. ¡°This is simple. You just need to hold the crystal and imagine the scenery of the location in your heart as long as the you have enough energy for the teleportation. If your imagination is not too far different from reality, then you can anchor the point and proceed with the teleportation.¡± Fu Yuanbo had pretty much figured out most of the Wise King¡¯s cards. Lin Sheng tried to imagine the scenery of the Holy City of Henriqcal. And sure enough, the Crystal of Prophecy easy opened a portal to Henriqcal, and through the portal he could clearly see the scenery over there. That sent a chill down Lin Sheng¡¯s spine. If the Crystal of Prophecy could easily send its wielder to where he had seen before... then if the Wise King was to go to the Holy Sanctum just once, then... ¡°Seems like I cannot underestimate anyone at all.¡± After testing all of the crystal¡¯s functions, Lin Sheng had no intentions to take the crystal away. Leaving it here and using it in tandem with the Blue Tower was the bestbination. Lin Sheng was now almost invincible, and there was no one that could rival him in this world. So his goal had turned from resisting foes to resisting the cktide. And from the images shown by the Crystal of Prophecy, Lin Sheng had some rough guesses. He did not believe that the crystal would provide theplete solution to the cktide, but as long there was a possibility, he was willing to try. Of the hints provided by the crystal, there was a source that was condensed from various worlds. Lin Sheng had no idea what it was called, and simply just called it the Source for now. And the Source, from the image at least, seemed to only be generated by umtion in different worlds. If one wants to stop the cktide, one needs to gain sufficient Source. Based on the image, the Source seemed to be able to continuously resist the incursion of the cktide. This incursion was not the monster incursions, but the invisble infestation and pollution of the cktide. In addition, the Source seemed to have more effect than that, but as he did not understand the rest of the images, that did not stop him from nning to collect a few to check it out. ¡°So I can go to anywhere that I could pin down its position huh....?¡± Lin Sheng had an idea, as the chat window of the Spectral Light popped up before him. He did not know whether the teleportation could be done to other worlds. .... .... ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong but the warpaint you gave doesn¡¯t seem work at all?¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°It doesn¡¯t? Then I can give you another one to try.¡± In a gentle yolk-colored wooden room. A middle-aged man with white hair and bizarre eyes smiled as he looked at the chat interface in his vision with a smile on his face. He was the gentle, helpful Ascension in the chat room. ¡°The coordinates of other worlds that can be contacted with, I¡¯ve already done so. Aside from those big bosses, the only one left is Holy Light Shines Upon You.¡± A newbie that had just joined the chat room would definitely requires plenty of help, and if one¡¯s desire is strong enough, he would certainly find the opportunity to... ¡°A new warpaint? No problem, but why do you want a photo of my area here?¡± Ascension wondered. ¡°I¡¯m just curious that how the worlds of my seniors here look like.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. The white-haired middle-aged man pondered a little, before taking a picture of a room and sending it over. He then exined how to deploy the new warpaint. After many tests, Lin Sheng was so assured that he had tried everything but for some reason or another, none of them worked. ¡°This neer...¡± The white-haired man felt that something was not right with thetter, as for what was not right, he could not put his finger on. He had been using this Spectral Light tform for many years now, and most of the members there were ordinary people, and a few were rather mysterious and rarely showed up. Although he did not speak much himself, he usually would resolve problems when he appears. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you guys have heard of the cktide.¡±¨C Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°The cktide? Never heard of that before. What¡¯s it about?¡± ¡ª Ascension. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of it before, is it a natural phenomenon?¡±- Giving Hope. ¡°Yes, a very terrible natural disaster.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°It¡¯s fine if you have never heard of it. I just want to make sure if there¡¯s anyone more unlucky than me.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°Is it troublesome? And widespread?¡± ¡ª Ascension. ¡°Yes. Very widespread.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. The white-haired man frowned a little, and his warpaints had positioning arrays hidden within it, but themunication of the array was rtively high. He had just made some preparation, and perhaps he could notice a signal when he passes by one day. ¡°Oh by the way, Bro Ascension, to thank you for your help. I have a set of ancient secret technique that I discovered by ident to share with you.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°A secret technique?¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°Yeah. I found it from the ancient books my grandpa had collected. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s its effect like myself. Our world only has ancient legends in the past, but now everyone is talking about science, so there¡¯s no more market for things like these.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°It is called the Ritual of Wishes.¡± It is said to be able to summon out holy spirits from the Holyspirit Realm, and assist in fulfilling one¡¯s wishes.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°There¡¯s such a thing? I¡¯m interested!¡±¨C Purple Time. ¡°I want a copy too!¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°It sounds like it¡¯s real, but I have some understanding on this matter, and power runes are not universal. The warpaint I had given to Giving Hope too was like that, and almost ny percent useless, with only very faint effects.¡± ¡ª Ascension. ¡°It¡¯s okay, there¡¯s no effect in my world at least. I¡¯ve tried it already. But perhaps it may work in your worlds.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°This is the whole book, with all the materials and steps, I¡¯ve also spelled out the activation chant needed as well. Take it, don¡¯t have to thank me.¡± Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°Thank you for sharing.¡±¨C Purple Time. ¡°May good things happen to you.¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°Then I¡¯ll take it. Perhaps it this works, it could be of help to this tform proper.¡± Ascension. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. I still have many tomes of ancient techniques with me. Perhaps they could work in your world. If you have something simr in your world, we can exchange them.¡± Holy Light Shines Upon You. Chapter 567 - Arcane Secrets: Part 1

    Chapter 567 Arcane Secrets: Part 1

    ¡°Is there really such a thing?¡± Giving Hope, or the vice president of the boxing club, Pei Lin was waiting for the public bus, and was looking at the chat box out of boredom.She had just originally nned to pass the time there, but she never expected to find the Ritual of Wishes the newbie Holy Light had provided. ¡°Ritual of Wishes? Sounds interesting...¡± Her interest was piqued. A long time ago, members of the chat room had also issued simr little boons to give the normal members some enhancement to their strength. But sadly due to the different world rules, these little boons pretty much lost their original use, and became mere decorative patterns. Some had some very minor effects, like the warpaint. The warpaint given by Ascension did had some enhancement effects, but it was rtively weak. ¡°The required materials are rtively ordinary and eas to get. I can give it a try when I get home.¡± Pei Lin slightly looked forward to it. Although this world did not have legends of such bizarre rituals, but if a cross-world chatroom like the Spectral Light could exist, what wouldn¡¯t? And soon, the bus arrived. Pei Lin carried her bag and got on the bus, as she tapped her transit card and found a ce to seat. It was afternoon, and the sky slowly darkened. Just as the bus had started to move, Pei Lin looked at the corner of the street with a side nce. Beside a jewelry store, at the entrance of an alley, two quiet and dark shadows slowly walked into it. One of the figures seemed to have noticed her gaze, and nced back at her with a tilted head. The eye looked like a a corpse that was soaked in formalin, yellowish and swollen. Pei Lin quailed as she was startled. ¡°What the hell is with that person¡¯s...eyes??¡± She felt that the person¡¯s eyes did not look like one belonging to a living person. As she recalled the various bizarre cases that had been uring more and more frequently in this city and felt a sense of crisis in her heart. ¡°Seems like I need to be careful, and can no longer go out alone at night.¡± .... .... After leaving the Astral Mere, Lin Sheng did not return to the Holy City but instead flew around the cktide. He had always been curious as to what the source of the cktide was. So while he had the Soul Relic, and by proxy the Spectral Light, he started searching across the cktide. There was a portal to the Astral Mere now, and soon a team from the Holy City will take control of it. Lin Sheng had taken the Crystal of Prophecy away, leaving only the six-leaf Blue Tower there. Without the Crystal of Prophecy, even if someone had ambitions there was no way to use the power of prophecy without the crystal. Lin Sheng flew all the way, first out of the Astral Mere before going towards the area with the densest concentration of cktide based on his senses. This time, he wanted to find the root of the cktide in this world, the first source. The concentration of the cktide was different and could be felt. In the past, it was because he could not stay within the cktide for a long time, but it was different now. Now Lin Sheng had the Soul Relic within him, or the presence of the Spectral Light as he began to fly straight towards the direction of the cktide. WHOOSH! Suddenly he had a change of mind, as he looked down and quickly descended. The ck mist roiled and it seemed like this was an abandoned building that looked like a manor. Within the manor was a ring-shaped house, with arge witheredwn that surrounded the house. Lin Sheng slowlynded on thewn, and looked at the direction of the house afar. In his flight, and sensing the concentration of the cktide, it was the thickest here. Standing on the ground, he slowly walked towards the ring-shaped building. With every step he took, his body shot ahead like an arrow. There were no attacks by monsters, but as he got closer to the ring-shaped building, Lin Sheng could vaguely feel an inexplicable oppressive sensation getting more and more pronounced. He looked up and looked at the gray-ck building. Suddenly, a pale face slowly appeared out from the window of a building. It was an undistinguishable figure that looked at Lin Sheng through the ss window from afar. ¡°I could sense... danger...¡± Lin Sheng felt a chill. How long had it been that there was something that could make him feel threatened. ¡°Something is really... weird here...¡± He looked at the face by the window. WHIFF! He suddenly raised his hand as a huge white light sted out from his palm into a fan-shaped beam as they bombarded against that section of the building. BOOOM!!! A massive cloud of dust and smoke roiled within the ck mist. Before the danger within the building could show itself, it was hit straight on by the holy power bombardment. The powerful purification power eroded everything within the buildingplex in a frenzy, be it material or immaterial objects. Five secondster, Lin Sheng put down his hand and the building before him had been reduced to a pile of broken walls, while the sense of danger had disappeared altogether. He looked calm as he took a step forward, and darted towards the ruins; reappearing there in a blink of an eye. ¡°Disappeared huh?¡± Lin Sheng looked puzzled. Suddenly, a trace of cold, sinister aura came under his feet. Without a word, Lin Sheng¡¯s body was unleashed his holy light, as arge stream of holy light tore at the ground like a ravenous beast. A loud bang ensued. Within him as the epicenter, all of the surrounding ruins were sted apart and tossed into the air. Dust and debris flew all over as they were blown away by Lin Sheng¡¯s Ward of Tempest, and in an instant his view became clear again. That sinister aura disappeared. Lin Sheng took a closer look, and found nothing had happened. ¡°If that¡¯s it, that¡¯s impossible to be the source of the cktide...¡± And just as the thought passed through his mind. BOOM!! Suddenly, a louse crack rang out from below. Like an earthquake, the broken rubbles on the ground trembled as the powerful shock wave was enough to numb a person¡¯s body. An invisible sinister aura surged out of the ground like radiation. Lin Sheng immediately reacted and flew to the air before looking down. Amidst the roiling dust cloud, a giant beast made out of dust was arching out of the ground rapidly. The beast had a triceratops-like armor on its head with three razor sharp horns on it. Its back was like a western dragon, with two torn wings that were slowly struggling its way out of the ground. SHINK! The monster¡¯s two ck eyes opened, as the powerful Legendary-level aura radiated out of its dark, abyssal eyes. ¡°Another Legendary-level monster??¡± Lin Sheng felt a chill. He never thought he would encounter a legendary being in his random stroll. The cktide was clearly not a ce he could simply run about. The monster¡¯s size was about the length of a football field from a rough nce and was about ten meters tall. It was considered a medium-sized being of all the monsters Lin Sheng had ran into. While it was not as powerful as Annihtus, but its strength and disposition was far stronger than any monster. ¡°A pity. If you ran into the others, you might still be of some deterrent, but me...¡± Lin Sheng was missing some guardian creatures at this moment. There were two Holy Cities, and Sherminton alsocked something to guard it. ¡°Light.¡± He stretched out his hand. The Tidalgate opened, as a endless surge of chaotic souls rushed out and was rapidly transformed into Legendary-level holy light. With him as the center, a massive white light beam spanning hundreds of meter suddenly lit up, and swallowed everything around him within it in an instant, be it the ruins or the monsters that had just appeared. Chapter 568 - Arcane Secrets: Part 2

    Chapter 568 Arcane Secrets: Part 2

    The white light beamsted more than ten seconds before slowly fading away.Where the building ruins once stood, there was nothing but a massive semicircr pit, with no trace of the giant beast at all. Lin Sheng floated in the air, as a ck bead appeared in his hand. ¡°Seems like this is not the source of the cktide.¡± Lin Sheng was slightly disappointed. This was probably the movements made by the monster. But for him to feel a sense of threat, this monster could be proud of itself. He then felt another powerful will entered his ranks. Lin Sheng was satisfied as he kept the bead away. At this divinity level, if the will he absorbed are purer, stronger, and more numerous, then the stronger his divinity would be. And he now mastered two different types of divinities. One was the Guardian divinity. Any existence defeated by him could be sealed into a guardian form, and bing the source of will, just like the sealed Annihtus. The second one was the God¡¯s Speed divinity. This divinity allowed Lin Sheng to greatly speed up anything he does. Be it, the speed of movement, or the speed of when he attacks, or even the speed he condensed his energy and the maniption of his soul and holy power were all greatly improved. This was an all-round improvement, and that Lin Sheng realize that if that giant fly Cypross had any intelligence in the first ce, he would probably had no chance of victory. This was the God¡¯s Speed¡¯s improvement was allpassing. Even his long-range strikes were greatly enhanced by this divinity. This also had led to an at least 30 percent increase of his actualbat strength now than it was a while ago. Based on Lin Sheng¡¯s estimation, he would have no fear facing two digits worth Annihtus alone at the same time. He could even easily defeat all of the Annihtus in a very short time. He would only be a little fearful if he faces another divine being without knowledge of thetter¡¯s divinity. To put it bluntly, divinity was a very powerful passive talent. If he was to run into an elite with an insanely powerful divinity, there was a possibility of him being taken out if he did not know what the divinity was. Snapping back, Lin Sheng inspected the surrounding area and determined that there was nothing left. Only then did he continue to fly deep into the cktide. And this flight alone, took the whole day. Along the way, he had taken out at least five Legendary-level monsters. He had no idea how the cktide had so many monsters, and all of them dangerous high-level ones. There were eight Ptinate-levels ones as well. As the time he spent within the cktide lengthened, Lin Sheng could feel that his mood began to turn gloomy. As if something unknown was affecting his emotions and consciousness. ¡°No more. Time to go back. The cktide here must be hiding something that I have not fully understood yet, and for it to affect a divine being like me. Even with the Spectral Light isn¡¯t enough¡­ perhaps theplete version of the Spectral Light was destroyed by the cktide itself. Lin Sheng did not push his luck, and with no fruits with his search, he quickly established connect with the soul and flew towards the Holy City. After spending about half a day in the cktide, he finally returned to the Holy City of Henriqcal. It had been more than a day since hisst dream, and should be able to enter the dream for the second time now. Lin Sheng was back in the Holy Sanctum, and calmed himself down before immediately entering the dream again. He had a hunch that this time around, he could probably find some clues to fight against the cktide on that starship that failed to create a god. The ritual of summoning a God ¡­ He was very interested in that. ¡­. ¡­. As he opened his eyes, Lin Sheng saw ck feathers before him. All around him, in the air, on the ground, were countless and countless of feathers. The feathers kept fluttering and dancing in the air as he stood within the hidden room with apass-like object in his hand. Everything in the hidden room was covered by a thickyer of feathers. The faint sound of the stringed instrument came from outside again as the man with the blue glow had once again hid away somewhere unknown to y again. Lin Sheng paid no attention to that person, but instead looked down and carefully memorized all of the information in his hand. There was a series of bizarre texts recorded at the back of the disc that he ned to memorize first, then investigate further after leaving the dream. Since there was no way for him to resolve this alone, then he should gather the strength of everyone. It took about ten minutes for Lin Sheng to memorize all of the characters and symbols. He then left the hidden room. Outside the room, to his surprise, the spiked robot that he had tossed away had mysteriously vanished as the melodious sound continued ying. Lin Sheng followed the direction of the sound, and soon saw a deep passage to the wall on the right side. The man ying the instrument sat on the ground at the passageway with his head bowed down as he focused on ying the melodious and mncholic sounds. With a thought in mind, Lin Sheng flew towards the direction of the man. And sure enough, it was the same as the previous time, the moment he closed in, thetter would disappear. Lin Sheng did not mind it, and simply just flew straight into the passage the man had disappeared. The passage was very narrow and could only fit a person. As he followed the passage about a thousand meters in, suddenly a huge mirror appeared in the middle of the passage. Silver waves rippled in the mirror as if something was trying to emerge out of it. Lin Sheng looked around. There were plenty of iprehensible symbols and text inscribed on the walls around the passage. The countless of symbols and text, judging by the type, was simr to the one that he had memorized earlier. A subtle hum rang and grew louder and louder as Lin Sheng approached. ¡°Nurgana ¡­¡± ¡°Nurgana ¡­¡± ¡°You would listen to my teachings, and confide your deepest thoughts. Nurgana¡­ my daughter¡­¡± ¡°I will always love you¡­ Here, this will be my gift for your birth¡­¡± ¡°I will take away your shadows, and once you seed in breaking away from everything, it will be the time you will return to me, and restore everything¡­¡± Following the faint murmur, Lin Sheng noticed that the inscribed runes on walls began to crawl like worms. Arge amount of text moved from slow to fast before quickly converging before the mirror. And on the ground before it, a face of an old man formed out of countless of text and symbols gradually appeared. The man¡¯s eyes were shut, his hair dishevelled, his beard unkempt and his forehead wrinkled. ¡°The hell is this?¡± Lin Sheng was not scared by the appearance of that thing. From the beginning he had only sensed the aura and energy fluctuations of an apex six-wing. For something that was not even a Ptinate-level to trying to be funny before him? Standing before the old man¡¯s face that had just formed, Lin Sheng held his right hand as an invisible wave appeared faintly on his finger. This was the glow of pure chaotic souls. ¡°I¡¯ll give you ten seconds to show yourself, and answer my questions. Or die.¡± Chapter 569 - Arcane Secrets: Part 3

    Chapter 569 Arcane Secrets: Part 3

    There was no movement in the passage.Lin Sheng did not care anymore, and started to count down. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven.... Before five, a mass of ck spikes and clews slowly separated from the mirror. This ball of yarn-like thing slowly grew upwards and thinner, and soon, a face of an old man appeared out if it. ¡°You are not my Nurgana...¡± The old man stared at Lin Sheng. ¡°Still able tomunicate?¡± Lin Sheng wondered, and tapped his finger. The chaotic soul power at the tip of his finger sted out and surrounded the face of the old man before him. What disappointed him was that the face seemed to be just a message, and it was not meant for Lin Sheng. His chaotic souls trapped thetter and immediately cut its energy supply off. The face soon turned blurry before fading away in front of him. Lin Sheng then looked at the mirror on the middle of the passage. ¡°The guy who yed the stringed instrument, deliberately led me here. Clearly there is a purpose for that.¡± ¡°And so.....¡± He stared at the mirror and suddenly raised his hand. A loud bang then rang out. A surge of distorted chaotic soul power rapidly converged before sting out with a massive impact force and speed onto the surface of the mirror. With a crack, therge gap opened up in the mirror but it did not shatter. Within the gap, a blinding silver light sted out, and dragged Lin Sheng¡¯s mind into it. The silver light was made out of densely packed silver segments, and as Lin Sheng got a better look, he felt that the segments were simr to a DNA helix. By the time he recovers, he was in a blood-red dimension. He floated in the air, and all around him wererge gic helix simrly floating. A little girl was curled in a corner, wearing a white princess dress, resting with her eyes closed. The girl had brilliant blonde locks, with white gloves and stockings, as she wore a pure aquamarine gemstone on her chest. She wore a smile on her face, and her delicate and lovely facial features gave out an innocent allure to her. She looked like she was about twelve to thirteen years old, and her figure was slender with a hint of innocent charm to her. She seemed to have detected Lin Sheng¡¯s presence, as she slowly opened her eyes. The pair of pure blue eyes looked on nkly at Lin Sheng with a smile. ¡°Are you alive?¡± Lin Sheng said suddenly, and asked in the localnguage. The blonde girl smiled and slowly raised her hand. Countless of gic chains spun and hovered around the two. SPURRRTT!!! In an instant, her arms twisted and erged, as it became a giant ck python andunched itself towards Lin Sheng. Even more bizarre was that as the ck python pounced, its size grewrger andrger, and soon it filled Lin Sheng¡¯s entire field of view. For a moment, everything before him was covered by the python¡¯s opened jaw. ¡°Hehehe...¡± The little girl¡¯s childishughter rang out. Lin Sheng suddenly stretched his hand out, as white light gathered on his palm, and shot out like a bolt and tore the python apart, revealing the girl once again on the opposite side. At that moment, the girl was changing from the inside out. A crow-like head grow on her right shoulder while arge thick blister appeared on her left shoulder. While the head of a goat popped out on the left side of her head, while a menacing wolf-like face appeared on the right. All of her body started to swell, deform and extended. Her legs transformed into a huge fishtails before turning into a pair of giant wings. ck tree hole-like cavities opened up on her chest, and from it ck insects rushed out. If she was a beautiful, immacte girl a moment earlier, she had turned into a monster which body was about toe apart in a blink of an eye. But none of this disturbed Lin Sheng, what actually awed him was that a trace of divinity could be sensed from the little gir. ¡°A divine being?¡± He grew cautios as circles of holy light started radiating out from him, and protecting a small area around him. ¡°Have you seen my daddy?¡± The girl suddenly asked. Her voice was clear and sweet like a silver chime, no different than an ordinary girl asking with a sweet voice. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I had seen him.¡± Lin Sheng was stunned for a moment before answering. ¡°I want to look for him. Have you seen him?¡± The voice from the girl¡¯s twisted body rang out again. ¡°What does your father look like?¡± Lin Sheng asked back. ¡°He likes to y the instrument and wears an ordinary uniform. He always likes to tell me that it won¡¯t hurt, it won¡¯t hurt, and it won¡¯t hurt anymore ... but why do I still feel pain ...¡± The little girl murmured. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t matter, my dad will y the instrument for Nana, and it won¡¯t hurt when I listen to it ...¡± ¡°If you are talking about someone who likes to y the stringed instrument, then perhaps I¡¯ive seen him.¡± Lin Sheng had already guessed that the girl was rted to the man glowing in blue light outside. ¡°Yeah ... Daddy said, as long as I feel pain, he will always y the harp for me ...¡± The girl¡¯s body kept on growing. Her body was gettingrger andrger, with all sorts of monstrous heads growing all over her body. More and more heads started piling up on her back, as stacked up higher and higher. At this moment, she had lost her human form, and only her writhing body was any indication that she was still alive. ¡°Could you remember how your father looked like?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°His looks... his looks...¡± The monster girl froze for a moment, as her body began to slowly break apart, revealing a shark-like jaws. ¡°His looks...¡± The monster seemed to get a little agitated. ¡°Why .... Why can¡¯t I remember ..... Why !!!?¡± She was getting more and more agitated. Boom! ! The surrounding gic helixs were broken by the monster¡¯s twisted body. ¡°Daddy... daddy...!! You said that you will never forget me!! You said it!!¡± The monster roared in a fury asrge blood-red wings ripped out from her body and rushed towards Lin Sheng. ¡°It hurts!! Daddy... It HURTS!!!¡± Nana is in pain!! SAVE ME!! SAVE ME!!!¡± The monster howled as it let out a painful scream. Hundreds of bloody wingspletely covered every corner around Lin Sheng at the same time. Lin Sheng snorted as his body radiated pure white light, and withstood onught of the blood wings around him. His God¡¯s Speed divinity suddenly activated as his body became a stream of light, and crashed against the weakest point in the blood wings. BAMM!! The blood wings were torn apart, and Lin Sheng immediately flew out of the gap. ¡°Save me!! It hurts!! IT HURTSS!!!!¡± The monster roared, as its body continuously grew all sorts of limbs that struck at Lin Sheng like lightning. Tentacles, hooves, insect appendages, human hands, giant talons and the likes with all sorts of bizarrebinations. Like a literal stew of genes, the monster trudged along like a giant flesh machine with infinite power as it secreted limbs all around to strike at Lin Sheng. And most importantly, all of the limbs that grew out of it all carried with it extremely potent venom. Hiss.... Lin Sheng defenses was broken at the sleeve area, and was stained with a little bit of the monster¡¯s blood, and instantly his sleeve started to rot and became meat-like, as if it was a living part of a monster. At the same time, a putrid poisonous gas started emanating from the sleeve itself. Lin Sheng had to immediately tear his sleeve off, as he focused on dealing with the monster¡¯s attacks. Chapter 570 - Creating God: Part 1

    Chapter 570 Creating God: Part 1

    Amidst the piercing scream, white light continuously sted out of Lin Sheng¡¯s body as he resisted the frenzied surge of limbs around him.His God¡¯s Speed divinity was practically useless here as the attacks came from every angle with no gaps in the attacks, as all of the offense wasunched by the monster girl. But after resisting for about ten waves of attacks, Lin Sheng could feel that the girl had no fighting experience at all as all she seemed to be doing is to wave her limbs around instinctively. ¡°Instincts?¡± Lin Sheng raised his right hand, as the power of the Dark Wheel¡¯s wards was suddenly unleashed. With the Ward of Distortion as its core, more than ten types of wards were activated simultaneously before beingbined within holy power, and sted out using God¡¯s Speed. A huge oval orb suddenly appeared before Lin Sheng in a blink of an eye. The oval sphere¡¯s edge was white with a clear core, within it was countless of white light spots. ¡°Activate!¡± Lin Sheng¡¯s Guardian divinity activated. At first, all of the surging limbs were sealed and returned into red beads that merged into the translucent sphere before them. A steady stream of beds of various sizes continuously poured into the sphere. ¡°Go.¡± Lin Shengmanded with his mind. The oval sphere suddenly shuddered as it rolled foward, tearing all of the limbs before it apart as it charged towards the monster girl. The sphere contained arge amount of the monster girl¡¯s own energy signatures and the resistance it encountered was far, far weaker. The sphere easily broke through the attack as its speed grew and grew before brutally mming into the monster girl. There was an invisible barrier in front of the monster girl and thisyer was blocking the sphere opposite it. Lin Sheng then activated his God¡¯s Speed divinity again as the sphere elerated once again, and crashed straight into the monster. There was no explosions, as the oval sphere was like a rush of flowing liquid trying to envelope the monster girl within it. But before the sphere could fully envelop the monster, it was immediately eroded by an invisible force. ¡°Divinity of venoms?¡± Lin Sheng took a guess at thetter¡¯s divinity. For the venom to be able to have an affect against the Guardian divinity, meant that it was clearly of the same level of strength. And this type of extremely potent venom, no one would have believed it if they said it was not a form of divinity. Even if it was not part of the divinity system, it was at least rtive in strength. ¡°A pity. Not knowing how to use the strength you have.¡± Lin Sheng created a giant transparent de made out of chaotic soul power. ¡°Let me show you how to fight.¡± HAH! He suddenly tossed the de in his hand out as the meter-wide giant de tore through the passageway of flesh and blood and mmed against the monster with the massive impact of the God¡¯s Speed divinity. BOOOMM!!! Arge explosion sted out, and following a horrifying scream, arge bloody gap was torn in the middle of the monster¡¯s body. ¡°God¡¯s Speed.¡± Lin Sheng once again formed another giant de that hovered beside him. A faint silver light appeared around him, this was a special form after the God¡¯s Speed divinity had been unleashed to a certain extent. At the same time, as if they had resonated, the giant de beside Lin Sheng too lit up in silver. He then reached out and grabbed the sword, before arching back, twisting his body, and with a reversed grip, he tossed the de out! An invisible light sheared through everything, and hit the monster straight in the head. It was not until the de impacted did arge explosion rang out. Following that, Lin Sheng kept up the attack as he tossed des after des towards the monster. The power of the God¡¯s Speed divinity was exploited to the fullest, as every de he tossed was at least twice at fast after being enhanced by the God¡¯s Speed divinity. And the terrifying speed brought with it explosive destructive power. The monster may have the Venom divinity, but Lin Sheng had no intentions to retrieve the chaotic souls that he had lobbed over. After all, he could simply just draw them out from the Tidalgate when needed, and they were inexhaustible. Giant des fell like an artillery barrage upon the monster, hitting it one after another. The blood red dimension around him too began to gradually unravel, and split apart as arge number of white gene helixs too shattered and copsed. The monster was regenerating itself in a frenzy but her regeneration speed could not match the destruction wrought by Lin Sheng. Lin Sheng could throw out more than thirty giant swords within a second. And the explosive power of every giant de had the power of a dark power-enhanced intercontinental ballistic missile. And its damage was spiritual. If it was any other form of damage, the monster within its blood gene dimension, it would bepletely unaffected and could indefinitely regenerated itself. So even if it was sted into dust, it could still recover rapdily. But the spiritual damage and the chaotic souls that were filling more and more space in the dimension had brought down her regenerative abilities and ability to control the dimension. If she had time, she would very easily consume all of the chaotic souls here. But too bad for her, Lin Sheng¡¯s God¡¯s Speed was just too fast, and did not give her any room and opportunity to recover and consume them. More than one hundred and fifty giant swords, like artillery shells, had mmed into the monster. And finally the blood gene dimension hadpletely copsed. Between shes of light and shadow, Lin Sheng once again returned to the narrow passage. The silver mirror in front of him then rippled and shattered. Countless fragments fell to the ground, and at first they shone a faint silver light, but soon, the silver light disappeared, and everything was calm again. If it was facing another opponent, or if it was him before he had absorbed the God¡¯s Speed divinity, this monster would have been a handful. But now. ¡°A pity¡­ it¡¯s not because you were too weak, it was because I am too strong¡­¡± Lin Sheng sighed. He reached out and one of the mirror fragments flew up and into his hand. ¡°This mirror ¡­¡± Suddenly, the soft sound the stringed instrument yed behind him. Lin Sheng turned back and saw the man in blue light was sitting by the wall of the passage with his head down. ¡°You¡­¡± Before Lin Sheng could finish talking, he saw the man stopped ying as he stood up and his entire body began to disintegrate into countless of blue light spots. ¡°Thank you¡­.¡± A faint murmur rang out in his ears. HAH! At the same time, a pure blue soul turned into a a blue line and rushed into Lin Sheng¡¯s chest. The next instant, countless of images and sounds shed in his mind. ¡­. ¡­. ¡°Nurgana.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Daddy?¡± The little blond-haired person skipped about, and turned around with a smile, the brilliant hair under the sun was almost too dazzling. ¡°It will be thest test after this. You need to keep yourself in good shape.¡± The man said. ¡°Okay, Nana will keep herself in good shape.¡± The little quickly replied. ¡°Also, there will be a spinal puncturing in the afternoon. Be prepared.¡± The man said. ¡°Got it.¡± Nurgana let out a most beautiful smile within therge experimental istion room. ¡°Daddy, I had made the prettiest origami flower earlier, can I give it to youter?¡± She carefully pulled out a pure white paper flower from the small pocket of her skirt. ¡°Don¡¯t waste your time with nonsense like this. You should be resting, or else if youcked energy for thetter half of Operation Mishv, you know what the consequences are.¡± The man ignored her and turned away coldly. ¡°Alright, rest now.¡± He paid no more attention the girl and quickly walked out of theboratory¡¯s istion room . Ever since he had raised thisboratory baby called Nurgana a year ago, his life had changed dramatically. Chapter 571 - Creating God: Part 2

    Chapter 571 Creating God: Part 2

    ¡°What I need are experimental materials, not a damned daughter.¡± The man stood outside the door, watching the blonde girl who tried to squeeze out a sweet smile as he whispered calmly.Nurgana¡¯s genes was the first drop of blood he had extracted from the ck box within the hidden room. From that spot of blood, they had unexpectedly managed to nurture the girl. But what everyone did not expect was that, the girl seemed to only see the man alone. So it was natural for her to take him as her father. ¡°Director, there isn¡¯t enough cerebrospinal fluid left. Can we take a little more?¡± A researcher approached and whispered. ¡°Yes, but the total amount cannot exceed one-third or else her regeneration rate will be seriously affected.¡± The man finally looked at the girl in the istion room. And she still maintained a radiant, sweet smile at him. ¡°Alright, don¡¯t bother me if there¡¯s nothing else.¡± The man turned away and left. He suddenly felt a little irritable. A sh sted out. Lin Sheng¡¯s vision turned white beforeing onto another scene. ¡°Do we really need to destroy it?¡± In the bleak experimental headquarters, a few chief research directors had gathered to discuss the Operation Mishv¡¯s n of creating a god. ¡°We already have the perfect creation, and Nurgana¡¯s appearance is just an ident. And she is getting more and more unstable. Her body will copse at any time, and if it happens, it will be a threat to theboratory. ¡°So it must be destroyed.¡± ¡°I also agree with her destruction. We only need one of our creations, as we have all of the data needed. Nurgana is merely a failed product of little use.¡± ¡°There¡¯s also test subject number 2 that needs to be carefully destroyed. Our resources can no longer support such arge consumption.¡± ¡°Then, let¡¯s put this to a vote.¡± The old director at the main seat said calmly. One by one, hands were raised. The man narrowed his eyes, and for a moment he seemed to recalled the blond girl who called him daddy. He paused for a moment, before finally raising his hand slowly and firmly. ¡°Then it is agreed upon unanimously and destruction shallmence.¡± Destruction... Lin Sheng slowly moved forward as if he wanted to take a closer look at the documents on the table. But the scene suddenly changed again. Crimson mes were zing violently. The mist of the cktide rushed madly like a shadow beast into the starship from the gap in the hull. Due to the massive traction force caused by the vacuum, arge number of objects and starship personnel were simply just sucked out and ejected into space. Day 130 after the destruction of Nurgana. There was a riot in the starship, and a riot no one know the origin had hit the istionyer, and the explosives had ripped a hole in the air pressure istor. Amidst the shing red rm, the man stood in the monitoring room looking at the scene of carnage with an impassive look. ¡°Director. It¡¯s toote. Our area had been contaminated, and the ck mist ispletely unstoppable! We are unable to iste anyone!¡± The starship¡¯s marines captain said anxiously. ¡°What about the other directors?¡± ¡°They had started to evacuate already!¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s go too.¡± The man was decisive. But just as he was about to turn and leave, a massive shock rocked the entire ship as a powerful explosion and shockwave came from under their feet. An invisible, terrifying shock wave instantly prated theyers of the ship¡¯s hull, and stunning everyone that was still alive, sending them sprawling onto the ground. ¡°Bloody hell! The reactor! It¡¯s the reactor!!¡± This was the man¡¯sst thoughts. And just before he fell into aa, he saw the ck mist seeping through the door at the corner of his eyes. Pairs of bloody eyes opened within the ck mist one after another and stared at him. And just as the eyes were about to pounce onto the man. ¡°Get lost!!¡± A red light suddenly flew out of the man, as a young girl¡¯s voice came from the light. But the eyes did not care and continued to rush to the man. The red light was not afraid and stepped forward to receive the attack. The two soon intertwined as they shed against each other. After a long while, only did the red light returned to the man and hid as it was greatly weakened. Lin Sheng had something in mind, and wanted to step forward to have a closer look at the red light. But at that moment, countless of images circted and poured into Lin Sheng¡¯s mind in a frenzy. It was the countless of memories being yed in fast forward. Time after time, Nurgana kept protecting the man as she was forced to continuously devour all sorts of attacking monsters. It was this devouring that caused her body to be twisted and deformed. Every time the man managed to escape from the clutches of death and found something to be off. And in the process of flighting against the monsters of the ck mist, he finally discovered the existence of the girl. And thus, the humans that were being pushed to the brink had found onest shred of hope. Nurgana¡¯s existence had gave them new hope. If they could mass-produce Nurgana¡¯s existence, then fighting back and devouring all of the monsters would no longer be a dream. And the man failed to withstand the pressure as after everything had stabilized somewhat, Nurgana was once again sent to theb. ¡°Daddy... do I need to do anything?¡± Nurgana asked as shey on the operating table with her eyes wide open. ¡°No need. Just sleep for a while. It won¡¯t take long.¡± The man said calmly. The tone of his voice sounded as if there was no danger to the Bloodmark prodecure. The Bloodmark was to extract the core of Nurgana¡¯s powers and cut into multiple pieces before imnting it into other bodies. The mortality rate for this procedure was over seventy percent, but it could create more individuals like Nurgana. ¡°Daddy... this is the origami flower I had secretly folded. It¡¯s for you.¡± The girl once again struggled to pull out the paper flower from her pocket and gave it to the man. He hesitated for a bit, before taking it. ¡°Be a good girl and cooperat with the experiment.¡± ¡°I will.¡± Nurgana nodded. The man dared not look at her in the eyes, and hurriedly left the operatin theater. BAAMMM!!! The metal doors slowly closed. ¡°Director ...¡± ¡°Get lost!!¡± The man suddenly got angry as he pushed his subordinate away and rushed out of the control room. He buried his hands deep into his hair as he squatted against the wall. ¡°That is a monster. She is not your daughter! She is not! She is just a monster bred out of an ancient box!¡± He murmured as he tried to hypnotize himself. The experiment was sessful, and the number of cultivated bodies increased and the monsters of the cktide were sessfully resisted. Things had now stablized and safe... But protosm, Nurgana was starting to wither. The man stood by the sick bed, as he looked at the blonde girl in aa. He then held a guitar-like string instrument, and started ying a gentle, messy tune with an impassive look. ¡°Daddy ...¡± The girl slowly woke up from the bed. ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± The man strumming fingers stopped. ¡°It hurts...¡± The girl cried in a hushed voice. ¡°It¡¯s okay ... I¡¯ll y a song for you, and you won¡¯t feel any pain anymore ...¡± the man said calmly. But his eyes was filled with tears. He looked down upon the girl¡¯s bone-thin arms, as he yed gently. ¡°I hope to be your light, and protect you by yourside¡± ¡°I hope to be your rain, and apany you as you go.¡± ¡°I hope to be your cloud, shielding you from the sun.¡± ¡°I hope to be your wind, forever around you...¡± The sound of the instrument yed and the little girl on the sick bed seemed to no longer be in pain as a sweet smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. ¡°I hope to be your star, and shine upon you forever...¡± Beep..... The man¡¯s fingers suddenly paused, as he saw the gradually ttening line on the heartbeat monitor. ¡°Daddy... it doesn¡¯t hurt any more...¡± The girl murmured on the bed. ¡°Nana, you are a good girl... you won¡¯t feel any pain when you hear the sound of the string, listen... don¡¯t be afraid... don¡¯t be afraid...¡± The man lowered his head, and tried not to look at the heart monitor that was slowly tlining. He focused on ying the string, as he hummed the gentle lyrics softly in his mouth. After who knows how long, the room turned quiet. As the strumming stopped, the girl on the bed was forever silent. The man remained silent for a long time. Finally, he stood up, holding the harp, and stood silently by the girl on the bed. ¡°Nurgana ...¡± Chapter 572 - Creating God: Part 3

    Chapter 572 Creating God: Part 3

    Suddenly, everything turned into white light, and Lin Sheng¡¯s vision blurred before returning to his previous position. ¡°That was that? Such a boring death.¡± Lin Sheng had seen too many simr tragedies like this, and there were plenty of examples like this in the memories he had previously absorbed. But the turmoil in them was not as great as this one though. ¡°Nurgana...¡± Lin Sheng focused as he ran through the memories he had received, and many of them had the fusion memory of Nurgana and her father. Clearly, towards the end, their souls had fused to a varying degree. While he had no idea what had happened after that, but from this point at least, the two souls had further fused together in their fight against the cktide. And the fusion was led by the man himself. ¡°But before that, what did the words that old man¡¯s face meant? Nurgana does not seem to be a mere experimentation object.¡± Lin Sheng sorted out the memories in his mind, and while he absorbed almost no soul power, what surprised him was, the parts he did absorb contained much of Nurgana¡¯s Venom divinity. The soul powers with divinity werepletely different from any other souls. While Lin Sheng will never be able topletely integrated it into him, but he could use it to perceive and to summon a new leader-ss character. With this part of the soul power alongside his own, it could create a being as powerful as the Night Lord. In a sense, this would give this poor little girl a new life. ¡°And that God Summoning Ritual, I¡¯ve finally figured out the entire pronunciation process.¡± The man ying the instrument was actually one of the four directors here and was a member of the starship¡¯s top echelon. So for him to master the pronunciation of the key phrases of the ritual was nothing surprising. Lin Sheng carefully memorized the pronunciation in repetition, and at the same time, the ticking of the clock rang in his ears. It¡¯s almost time to wake up ... Anselia had been pursuing the footsteps of the gods, and this time, perhaps he could find some clues from this summoning ritual. Perhaps he would be able to get quite a lot of intel without going to the Infinite City. As he opened his eyes while sitting on the throne, Lin Sheng quickly rose. ¡°Prepare the hazardous istion chamber.¡± He rumbled. ¡°As youmand.¡± The Holyspirit servants on both sides quickly responded. These holy spirit attendants were chosen from the newly born darkspirits. Through the infusion and transformation by the holy power, they had be a special entity that was more holy light and less dark spirit. It was very difficult to create creatures of pure holy light, and only the Holy Crystal Font has a probability to transform pure holy spirits. So all of these attendants were actually semi-finished products. Lin Sheng quickly walked towards theb, as he took off his coat and tossed it to the person beside him. Then, the matrixist and ritualists began to quicklyyout the summoning array as per Lin Sheng¡¯s orders, and half an hourter, they had perfectly created the special ritual that was in the dream. Lin Sheng checked for any discrepancies before ordering everyone unrted to the task at hand out. This time around, he also wanted to try to see if this ritual to summon the God of Shadows could actually summon that so-called God. ... In another world. ¡°I think I might be followed ...¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, just act like you didn¡¯t notice anything, and keep doing what are you are doing. Keep it as it is.¡± ¡ª Purple Time. ¡°There are two of them. A man and a woman, one behind and the other to my right. I have seen them wandering around in the past few days. I thought I may have been seeing things earlier, but now... it seems...¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°Did you paint the warpaint I gave you on your body?¡± ¨CAscension. ¡°Ugh... no... I drew it once, but after it did not work I did not persist on it.¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. Pei Lin was not a fool, and given that she had been in the chat room for so long now, she still had the vaguest concepts of security. If it was the Ritual of Wishes earlier, with the materials to the others, she did not feel anything problematic with it and did not need to pay anything more than the cost of the items. And if it was just for a try, there was not much risk to it. But this warpaint was different, she needed to tattoo it upon herself. And once something touches her body, the danger level rises exponentially. In the evening, the sun was setting. Walking through a long alley, Pei Lin was wearing a purple long skirt with white-striped high heels and totally did not look like a high school student. She was mature and beautiful, looking like someone who was in her twenties. She had dolled up to apany her junior to meet an online friend. For safety, she had purposely put on a much more mature makeup to pretend to be an adult. The whole meet up went normally, but something happened on the way back. The two people that had been wandering around before, had straight-up followed her now. ¡°If it was one-on-one, I could resolve this quickly, but I¡¯m afraid that they might be armed.¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°Walk to a crowded ce, stay in a public area, and see what they n to do.¡± ¡ª Purple Time. Pei Lin fixed her long hair before pretending to look at the vehicles before raising her hand to look at her watch. Suddenly, a tall and burly figure stood right before her. ¡°It seems like you have noticed something. Come with us for a bit.¡± The burly man before her let out a menacing smile. ¡°You?¡± Pei Linshed out a lightning-fast punch towards the man¡¯s lower jaw. *BAAMMM!!!* Yet thetter¡¯s lower jaw muscle seemed to be extremely tough and had instead made her wrist sore. ¡°Interesting... a feisty one.¡± The man mmed his palm on the back of Pei Lin¡¯s neck. Pei Lin¡¯s eyes rolled back, as she fell limp. But just before she passed out, her final thoughts were to send onest message to the Spectral Light. ¡°Help!¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°...That does not look good...¡± ¡ª Ascension. ¡°Unfortunately, there are no coordinates, otherwise I might be able to make the trip.¡± ¡ª Swordweb. ¡°What should we do? There must be some way? ¡ª Purple Time. She responded very quickly and was clearly anxious. There had been incidents involving other members before, and they had never appeared since, but she was unfamiliar with those people. But the one running into trouble now was Giving Hope, her BFF in the chat room. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Giving Hope¡¯s life signs does not point to an early death for her. She will be alright.¡± ¡ª Red Whale. ¡°Actually... we can set a location through the Spectral Light¡¯smunicator.¡± ¡ª Processed Jewel. This so-called big boss had been just lurking all these while, and this time around he suddenly spoke. ¡°Oh? How we go about it?¡± ¡ª Ascension. He was the first to ask. He had tried to use the warpaints to lock onto a location but to no avail. Perhaps the distance was too great, or there were some other interferences, and in short, he had never managed to sessfully lock onto a position before. ¡°Simple. We do not need to use the member as a unit for coordinates positioning. We can straight away use themunicator itself as a position.¡± ¡ª Processed Jewel. ¡°Just like that?¡± ¡ª Swordweb. ¡°Yes, from the pure sense of presence, the Spectral Light¡¯s presence is much stronger than our own. Many times stronger in fact. We could use a mutual connection between them to perform a resonance positioning.¡± ¡ª Processed Jewel. ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you mention it earlier?¡± ¡ª Swordweb. ¡°It¡¯s because Hope is a pretty decent person, and it¡¯ll be a pity for her to die. As for the others, I don¡¯t really care.¡± ¡ª Processed Jewel. Chapter 573 - Rescue: Part 1

    Chapter 573 Rescue: Part 1

    ¡°Well, then the question now is, who¡¯s going to save her?¡± ¨CSwordweb. ¡°I don¡¯t have the time, you guys go.¡± ¡ª Processed Jewel. That person just outright refused it straight off the bat. ¡°I want to go but I can¡¯t. I¡¯m not a big boss like Jewel, and have totally no idea how to go there...¡± ¡ª Ascension. ¡°This is a trivial matter. You just need to be quick. You don¡¯t need much strength. I can sponsor a teleportation just this once.¡± ¡ª Processed Jewel. ¡°Can that be done?¡± ¡ª Ascension. He was a little shocked. If this could be done, then what he had been doing previously was simply to make a fool out of himself before big bosses like Jewel here! ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a bit of a drag, but overall still quite simple.¡± ¡ª Processed Jewel. ¡°I¡¯m really envious at you big bosses being able to travel so freely.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°It¡¯ll be damn nice if we could go and in out of other worlds someday.¡± ¡ª Ascension. ¡°Yeah, yeah, but we are just ordinary people, and we are weak. If we cannot return after going over then we¡¯ll be in trouble.¡±¨C Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°It¡¯s okay, we have Big Boss Jewel here right?¡± ¡ª Ascension. ¡°The only trouble is, there may be powerful folks in Giving Hope¡¯s world that detects our teleportation. If this sort of teleportation gets detected, it will cause a lot of trouble.¡± ¡ª Swordweb. ¡°Let¡¯s decide who to go first.¡± ¡ª Red Whale. ¡°Forget it, I¡¯ll go.¡± ¡ª Ascension. ¡°Okay. Get ready. Find a ce to stand by, and don¡¯t let anyone see you.¡± ¡ª Processed Jewel. Lin Sheng looked away from the chat and felt something new. At the same time, he had some doubts about that big boss called Processed Jewel. ¡°This Spectral Light thing sure is something. They used to say that it is not possible for teleportation, but now someone appears and mentioned they have developed a way to do so...¡± Lin Sheng did one final inspection of the God Summoning Ritual on the ground before standing up. If he had time, he would not have minded trying out how this so-called positional teleportation would feel like. After all, this was an opportunity to travel to another world. Although he had been to different worlds in his dream, it was still different from going there himself. After making sure there were no discrepancies. Lin Sheng motioned to the staff outside the istion chamber to turn on the switch. *Snap!* The patterns on the ritual matrix lit up in blue light one after another. A thin mist started to appear and enveloping Lin Sheng in the middle of it. Lin Sheng settled down, as he lowered his hand and started to recite the summoning chant for the God of Shadows. No one knew what the chant meant, and the director that yed the instrument only knew the pronunciation. As the sybles continued to be chanted, the ritual matrix on the ground became brighter and more dazzling. Gradually, to his surprise, Lin Sheng began to notice his shadow was twisted and squirming like a living being as it expanded. A whisper-like chant echoed in his ears. He was clearly alone in the room, yet this echo was getting more and more pronounced. As time passed, Lin Sheng looked at the shadow in the middle of the room as a ck oval gate slowly opened. There were ck spiky bird monsters by the sides of the gate, and the middle looked like a stream of flowing water that constantly rippled. ¡°The gate is open...¡± After obtaining the memory fragments of one of the four directors, Lin Sheng knew this was the time to summon the God of Shadows. As long as the gate was opened, he needed to recite the name of the god, before removing any distractions from his mind, then there would be a great possibility of sess for the ritual. He calmed himself down as he looked at the ck gate on the ground. ¡°Ang Enqeavis...¡± He started to recite a long and bizarre name. This was the God of Shadow¡¯s true name, and even if he only knew the pronunciation, it was enough. As he finished the incantation, the round-arched gate made out of ck shadows began to quickly stabilize. Yet about half a minute after he had chanted the name, while the ritual still maintained its massive power consumption, yet there was no reaction from the gate at all. Lin Sheng had questions and once again recited the name of the God of Shadows. Yet the situation remains unchanged. There was nothing within the opened darkness. ¡°??¡± Lin Sheng narrowed his eyes, as he took a few steps forward. And just as he imagined, the shadow arched gate remained firmly affixed to the ground and did not move with him. Soon, he ced a foot into the ck gate. ¡°Oh? It can be entered into?¡± Lin Sheng suddenly found that one of his legs had actually gone into it. ¡°The God of Shadows...¡± Lin Sheng had a thought in mind, and instead of raising his feet away, he instead continued forwards. *WHOOSH!* In an instant, he seemingly descended into a hole as he fell through the gate. His vision blurred as he suddenly went from being in the Holyspirit Pce into somewhere else. He now stood before a massive spherical wooden house door. All around him were massive roots that grew and spread out from around the wooden house. It was as if the roots had grown straight out of the house itself. Lin Sheng looked around and made his way to the wooden house door. The door itself was open, and within it was a ck idol altar. The idol on the altar had the form of a thousand-handed god, and at first nce, a powerful aura of wickedness rushed to meet him. But the thousand-handed idol had fine cracks all around it. Lin Sheng then looked to the sky. It was nothing but gray with no clouds nor blue skies. Even in day time, deep within the roots, he could see a thinkyer of ck mist floating about. ¡°So this ce had also been afflicted by the ck mist huh?¡± Lin Sheng walked into the wooden cabin. There was a thickyer of blood sma-like thing on the ground, and it was difficult to imagine how much blood was needed for it to coagte to this point. ¡°This God Summoning Ritual, it would have been fine if nothing hade out of it, but now for me toe in here myself...¡± Lin Sheng looked around the wooden house, and quickly found a tiny white bottle. Within it was fine milky white sand, with a ck pearl-like bead in the middle of it. Lin Sheng scoured the wooden cabin for a long while, and there were many fine cipher text carved on both the inside and the outside of the cabin. But sadly, all of the ciphers had long lost their effectiveness. And this house had seemed to be abandoned for a long while now. ¡°Even the gods had gone missing?¡± Lin Sheng frowned as he posttes. Suddenly, he raised his hand and pointed towards therge roots in the distance. *BAM!!* A scorching white beam sted out and tore into the sea of tree roots before disappearing. Lin Sheng could still sense the existence of the holy light beam, but it was getting farther and farther away. *PUFF!* Suddenly, the entire beam abruptly disappeared, as if it was swallowed by something. Chapter 574 - Rescue: Part 2

    Chapter 574 Rescue: Part 2

    Lin Sheng was about to raise his hand again to try. Suddenly he felt a surge of horror running down his spine as something extremely dangerous was quickly approaching from the distance. ¡°Gonna scram. Can¡¯t stay here any longer!¡± He had not experienced this feeling for a long time now. But regardless, he trusted his instincts, especially after he had be a divine being, the ascension of his divinity had also affected his soul and allowed him to be particrly sharp towards the perception of danger. Plus, he had the predictive ability of the Dark Wheel on himself. Without any hesitation, Lin Sheng rushed towards the ck gate on the floor before the wooden cabin with an impassive look. *Hah!* In the blink of an eye, he leaped into the ck gate and disappeared. The ck gate began to spin and shrank and would disappear soon. *Hufff!* At that moment, a curtain of darkness stretched out from afar and swallowed the ck door on the ground. ... *Boom!!* Within the isted chamber of the Holyspirit Pce. The ritual matrix on the ground suddenly shook violently. The ck gate which had not beenpletely disconnected became to shake as a stream of ck, foul viscous liquid seeped out of it. ¡°Cut off the connection!¡± Lin Sheng immediately ordered the personnel outside to cut off the energy supply to the ritual matrix. At the same time, he pointed out as arge amount of holy power was immediately converted into holy light and sted out. The pure white holy light enveloped the foul liquid on the ground, and what surprised Lin Sheng was that his Legendary-level holy light would need three times the amount to get rid of one portion of the ck liquid. ¡°Needing three to offset one... this sort of power...¡± Lin Sheng frowned. While he long knew that there was existence within the cktide that could corrupt even demigods, but to see this power with his own eyes, he could not help but be shocked. ¡°Can¡¯t be using this God Summoning Ritual any more!¡± Lin Sheng was decisive as he unleashed a torrent of white light and engulfed all of the matrix patterns on the ground. The blinding white lightsted for a good thirty-odd seconds before it faded away. As the light dissipated, everything returned to normal, and the ck liquid on the ground hadpletely disappeared, leaving only a small object that looked like the arm of the thousand-handed god on the ground. Lin Sheng pointed at it, as the Ward of Distortion immediately sted out onto the arm, and smashed it into dust. He then closed his eyes and pondered for a moment. ¡°Men, change the matrix to the Ritual of Summoning.¡± He needed to summon Nurgana out to inquire more. In any case, Nurgana was one of the mysterious artificial gods. Even if she was a failed product, but for her to survive until the end, she was probably not your run-of-the-mill artificial gods. With the staff quickly changed the ritualyout, soon Lin Sheng¡¯s mostmonly used Elementary Summoning Circle had beenpletely set up. This summoning circle itself was not too difficult and was a rare source to summon out beings. Most people would simply just summon ordinary wolves or bears from this ritual. But due to the special dream Lin Sheng had, he was able to absorb plenty of soul fragments. And that gave him more options. Soon, the whale tallowmp was lit up, as a faint white smoke came out of it. The white smoke poured down into a pot of boiling mixture in it. Lin Sheng stood before the matrix and started chanting the all too familiar activation chant. He then closed his eyes, as orbs of light in various sizes gradually appeared for him. Thergest of them was a scarlet elliptical sphere. Pushing aside the weaker creatures, Lin Sheng still had a wide range of options. While he did not sense Cypross among them, this scarlet elliptical sphere had a clear signature that was unique to Nurgana. ¡°It¡¯s you then.¡± Lin Sheng quickly approached the sphere. Suddenly everything before him blurred. Once again he was drawn into another scene by the resonance of memories. In a dark, gloomy space with bright starlight. A few fuzzy, translucent meteorites that looked like they were approaching slowly, was in fact rushing towards arge earth-colored. ¡°My child .... leave this ce ... leave ...¡± A blurry, old voice that sounded like it was suffering from electrical signal interference echoed in Lin Sheng¡¯s ears. ¡°Leave... there is no hope here...¡± The voice continued before slowly died away. ¡°Father... even a great person like you cannot resist the cktide?¡± A tender voice came from behind Lin Sheng. He turned around and did not see anyone, but only a blurry strip of distortion that was rippling in the space behind him. ¡°Destruction is the choice of fate.¡± I am not dead, and you are just asleep... If one day, you could reach the realm that I¡¯m in, perhaps you can try to find a part of me...¡± ¡°Nurgana...my child... I shall take away your shadows to best prevent the corruption of the cktide. I hope that you can live on forever.¡± The old voice was slow and deep. But the content of it, had Lin Sheng thinking. ¡°Take away her shadows? Can that avoid the corruption of the cktide?¡± Lin Sheng quickly noted that down. The resonant memory was not too long and quickly disappeared. Lin Sheng was once again returned to the istion chamber. He shook his head, and the elliptical sphere in his vision hadpletely disappeared. In its ce was a girl with pure golden hair about twelve to thirteen years of age. She was wearing a pure blue dress with a ck ribbon tied onto her hair. She wore white gloves in her hands while her legs were wrapped in white stockings. As her closed eyes opened, crimson light faintly shone in it. Lin Sheng opened his eyes as Nurgana had now stood before him. She was dressed just like how she was in the dream. Nurgana at this moment had the immacteness and sweetness of a pure innocent girl and did not look the part of a gically created god with monster genes in her. Fortunately, Lin Sheng had dismissed all of the staff before he started. When he initiated the summoning ritual, he did not want anyone to know that he had the ability to summon out powerhouses from the dream. Every time he summons something, he would lock the entire area down, and get all of the staff to leave. As he looked at the blonde girl before him, Lin Sheng held his hand out. ¡°Feeling much more awake?¡± The girl fell silent before raising her head and smiled at Lin Sheng. ¡°Daddy, I¡¯m hungry.¡± Lin Sheng was stunned. ¡°Can you not call me that? I¡¯m still young, I will never find a girlfriend if you¡¯re like this...¡± ¡°How about... master then? Is that okay?¡± Nurgana smiled yfully. ¡°Just call me big brother.¡± Lin Sheng shrugged. ¡°Alright, big bro, this body is still weak, and I need to eat something to replenish it. Can you arrange something for me?¡± Nurgana continued. In essence, she was stillrgely dominated by Lin Sheng¡¯s soul, but at this moment, the Nurgana fused from both hers and Lin Sheng¡¯s soul was a brand new independent individual. She had Nurgana¡¯s own level, divinity, but did not have her self-pity. Lin Sheng quickly arranged Nurgana¡¯s amodation and food matters. He was now much relieved now that he had another divine being around. That search within the ritual earlier had traumatized him somewhat. That ck, viscous liquid may very well be a terrifying existence that could corrupt and destroy gods. At his current level, it was best if he avoided them. Chapter 575 - Rescue: Part 3

    Chapter 575 Rescue: Part 3

    ¡°But the Nurgana I had summoned seemed to be a little different... her personality doesn¡¯t seem like the pure and innocent type.¡± But the moment Lin Sheng thought of the soul essences that was within him, he knew what was going on. Pushing that thought away, he returned to his sleeping chambers, and Nurgana, after having her meal, was seemingly in a better mood. The two sat on opposite sides of the big table. ¡°Feeling much better?¡± ¡°Uh... I know what you want to ask.¡± Nurgana smiled. ¡°In my soul memory, the God of Shadows is indeed my father, but he had fallen long ago, very long ago...¡± ¡°Then how did you ended up in that ship? Forget it, that¡¯s not important. I¡¯ll go straight to the point, are there any ways to fight against the cktide in your memories?¡± Lin Sheng asked through the soul link. ¡°Haven¡¯t you found it already? The so called Source. To find the Source, and integrating it into your own realm could greatly increase your ability to fight the cktide.¡± Nurgana eyes turned into two lines as she smiled, seemingly cunning yet cute. ¡°I don¡¯t know much, but for a thing like the Source is usually hidden really deep. Only when a cmitious change happens to a world that it will appear. It may turn into some sort of situation to reverse the crisis, or to turn into a certain being, to actively push the situation to a direction that is favourable to the world.¡± Nurgana exined. :Is there any way to quicky find it?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°There is, when you deliberately destroy the order of a world, the Source would appear and turn into a repulsive force to annihte you.¡± Nurgana smiled. Nurgana¡¯s tragic experiencebined with Lin Sheng¡¯s matured and powerful mind had ultimately created a mature version of Nurgana that was ck-hearted. Unlike Khad who had seen many things, and deliberately maintained her own innocence, Nurgana chose to grow up and mature, while walling her true self deep within her. Aside from herself, no one could touch it. ¡°Understood... perhaps I could give it a test...¡± The Spectral Light chatroom interface suddenly appeared in Lin Sheng¡¯s vision. Processed Jewel was in the midst of teaching how to use the positional teleportation. But this positioning teleportation needed a special item that he gave. And this item was given in advance to a few people by Processed Jewel through mysterious means. So no one could replicate this positional teleportation. But, looking at the content and method in the chat interface, Lin Sheng narrowed his eyes and seemed to have faintly thought of something. .... .... ¡°Have you dealt with all of the witnesses?¡± In a small dark room. A few man smoking cigarettes and drinking beer asked in a low voice. ¡°No problem. Just a few normal humans. For them to dare to peep, insolent bunch.¡± A one-eyed man put down his ss and filled himself another drink. ¡°You had caught a couple of good-quality prey, how about sharing one with meter?¡± A white-haired man by the spoke. ¡°Catch one yourself if you want to eat.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve ran into the Nightprowlers League on the streets earlier, not a good time now.¡± ¡°What does that have to do with me then? They are not the Daywalker Council, what are you afraid of!¡± The one-eyed man sneered in disdain. ¡°I¡¯m not as rash as you, I still wanna live for a few more days.¡± The white-haired man sneered coldly back. Pei Lin, who was lying not too far away, had already woken up much earlier. But she dared not move at all. As she secretly listened to what the people in the house were talking about, she gradually learnt a truth that sent a chill down her spine. That this world had a race like the Corpsedemons. They are powerful and feast upon human flesh. They were powerful beyond imagination, but for various reasons, the Corpsedemons had an internal strife, as a part of them formed the Daywalker Council, and believed that the Corpsedemons should coexist peacefully with humans, so they usually feed on animal flesh as a substitute. But this resulted in the Corpsedemons in Daywalker Council to be individually weak. The other Corpsedemon organization was the Nightprowler League, and much of the civil unrest were actually caused by them. The Corpsedemon was the Nightprowlers had continued to feast on humans and caused a serious conflict with the Daywalkers. While the Daywalkers may be individually weak, but they win by having the support of many parties. Pei Lin had never expected for the normal world that she lived in had hid such a terrifying man-eating face to it. She tried her based to regte her breathing and heartbeat, trying to avoid having anyone in the room notice her. At the same time, she saw the positional teleportation technique that was left by Processed Jewel in the chat interface. After knowing that Processed Jewel wanted to help to save her, Pei Lin felt relieved, and let out a sigh of relief. Now what she needed to do was to buy time, and wait for rescue. As she pretended to be out, Pei Lin listened onto secret information the few big guys were talking about. And just as the few men were getting agitated, a loud bang rang out from outside. A human figure mmed through the security door like a bullet andnded not too far away from Pei Lin. It was a long-legged girl holding a white parasol. She wore a milk-white short dress that exposed her navel, while ck tights perfectedly outline her curves. As she held a parasol in one hand, another held a pure-white dagger in a reverse grip. ¡°So all of you were hiding here?¡± The girl grinned, revealing a row of menacing fangs that did not look at all human. ¡°A dog from the Daywalkers Council...¡± The one-eyed man tossed aside the ss in his hand and stood up. ¡°Try and take us then.¡± He kicked the stool away with one leg, as his muscles rapidly swelled and his teeth lengthened as heunched a punch towards the girl. Just as the two collided, a huge shock wave erupted. Pei Lin could no longer y dead and felt her ears ringing as she got up and ran away. All of the men were focused on attacking the long-legged girl and no one bothered with her. After running a short distance away, a man with a crew-cut came out of the door. The man looked at her, and then towards the yard that was exploding in loud noises behind. ¡°Leave, little girl. Seems like Yuyu had already started fighting. Ordinary people will get injured staying here.¡± The man did not seem to be a bad person. But Pei Lin dared not take any chances. She smiled and thanked him, before she ran towards the other direction with all her might. After rushing to one of the most crowded street, and blending into the ground did she allowed herself a sigh of relief. Recalling the exaggerated fighting scene earlier, her heart still pounded heart. ¡°What... what the hell was that??¡± ¡°Seems like we are not needed there.¡± ¡ª Processed Jewel. A series of new chats appeared in the chat room. Pei Lin quickly thanked all of her friends there who had nned toe to her rescue. As she got home, she threw herself back onto her bed, and felt nothing but exhaustion. Over in the kitchen, her mother was cooking something, and she could not hear anything over the din. But these familiar sounds of her daily life, made Pei Lin felt like she had returned to reality. And her anxiousness from seeing a Corpsedemon earlier had slowly went away. ¡°Are you alright? Hope. Everyone¡¯s worried about you. Why not you send us a picture for everyone to see.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°I.. I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m just slightly frightened...¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°At this time, you may need to strengthen yourself, to make up for theck of sense of security.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. Chapter 576 - God: Part 1

    Chapter 576 God: Part 1

    ¡°Strengthening myself...¡± Pei Lin, or Giving Hope,y on her bed, her thoughts and emotions running wild.She had been thinking a lot. Since young, she had heard stories and rumours about man-eaters from others, but she thought nothing of it, and they were simply just exaggerating rumors. But now... ¡°No! I need to do something!¡± She looked back at that moment and felt scared. ¡°I need to find the strength for self-preservation, so I can protect myself, and my family!¡± She had never felt such rity if she had not been exposed to this. But now, she was really scared. ¡°How can I find enough strength to protect myself?¡± Pei Lin ran through her thoughts for a while, and turned her attention back to the Spectal Light. Without a doubt, her friends in this mysteriousmunicator would be able to provide her some degree of help. ¡°I want to learn something that could strengthen myself... Can anyone help me please?¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°... I would like to help, but the things my family have cannot be sent through, and they won¡¯t have any effect over your end. Even that tiny test circuit did not work at all, you¡¯ve tried it yourself... The physical rules are different.¡± ¡ª Purple Time. ¡°My system is not for you.¡± ¡ª Processed Jewel. ¡°Unfortunately, you are too old, and it will be a little toote for you to start training. With your strength, you should be able to take on normal people, but based on what you said happened earlier, I can¡¯t help you.¡± ¡ª Red Whale. ¡°Powers beyond mortals are not that easy to obtain. You need to breakthrough the limits of your kind, and those who can breakthrough that, are those with excellent talents and physique. Also, you are too old now, and without any proper training foundation prior, it is already toote.¡± ¡ª Swordweb. ¡°I could teach you, but at most it¡¯ll make you a little stronger than you are now. If you¡¯re up against the kind of opponents you had described... sorry...¡± ¡ª Ascension. A series of detailed enquires followed and no one said anything more in the chat room. Pei Lin was extremely dejected. But she did not have any particrly powerful traits to her, while she may be a looker, it did not mean that her body was suitable for training, it only meant that her facial features suited her well. As she kept asking, no one in the ground spoke anymore. Everyone said nothing. There was about ten people in total, aside from a few that had a good rtionship with Pei Lin, the rest were silent. This had Pei Lin extremely frustrated. During lunch, she sat on the lunch table and held her chopsticks in a stupor. So much so that her parents thought that she was sick, and pushed her back to her room to rest. There was no one to help her, the rules between worlds were different, and plus she had not undergone any special training to build her foundations. Not to mention her rather normal traits. That resulted in Pei Lin having a powerfulmunicator like the Spectral Light without any means for her to strengthen herself. The chat group had fell into silence. And no one spoke again. Pei Lin¡¯s life had returned to the previous normalcy as if the earlier incident had never happened. Time slowly passed, and in a sh, a couple of days had passed. The incident slowly faded away in Pei Lin¡¯s life. Her emotions had calmed down somewhat, and no longer felt the urgency in her search for strength. Only that after school, she would furiously train herself in the boxing club. Her frenzied and almost desperate training regime did not bring her much improvement, but instead caused her muscles and joints to wear to varying degrees. The members of the boxing club were frightened by the desperate attitude shown by their vice president and dared not speak out loud as they silently enhanced their training. While Pei Lin was not the best fighter in the club, the only person who could beat her is the vice president. In reality, the president had used his natural physical talent, strength and toughness to forcibly suppress her. If it was up to technique and explosiveness, Pei Lin was the big boss of the boxing club. And this peaceful life,sted for over a week. And Pei Lin thought that the peace wouldst until the end of time. Yet, reality was a cruel mistress. By ident, Pei Lin saw a student from her school, as if hypnotized walked into a narrow alley automatically and never came out of it. The next day, she heard rumors that someone from her school had gone missing. Even the police had came to the school as they began their investigation. If it was the past, she would not have noticed these details. After all, seeing a student going into a small alley, who knows if that person was just taking a short cut home? And who would have remembered if the missing student was the same person that she saw. But Pei Lin had paid attention to this incident by ident. And she soon found out that the missing student was the same male student that had walked into the alley the day before. So, her sense of crisis that had slowly faded came roaring back. That night, as she got home, she burst into tears while taking a shower in the bathroom. She dared not rm her parents about the unbelievable incident that had happened to her, and at this level, even if they were to find out, it would only cause panic. So she could only hide the matter in her heart, and dared not talk to anyone. The next day, she once again asked questions in the group on how to strengthen herself. Yet no one responded after a long while. As soon as she brought the question up, no one said anything. Pei Lin went through every single acquaintances individually, but no one could help her. After realizing the situation in her world, and the extent of the Corpsedemons, everyone fell silent. ¡°Actually, there¡¯s still another way.¡± ¡ª Purple Time. Suddenly, someone spoke. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. Pei Lin was ted, perhaps there was a way for her to strengthen herself? ¡°You can find a powerful husband and marry him, then you won¡¯t need to be afraid anymore right?¡± ¡ª Purple Time. It was just a joke. Purple Time had seen Pei Lin being so stressed out and wanted to ease her mood. But she never expected that... Pei Lin who had been suppressing all of her emotions, a switch in her was flicked, as her emotions exploded out. She squatted alone in the corner, as she buried her face in her long hair, she could no longer hold her tears in as they burst like a breached dike. ¡°Is there really no one who can help me?¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. She typed that onest time. There was nothing but silence. Breaking through the limit of one¡¯s mortal flesh was not an easy feat. Aside from the worries of different rules of the world, mostlikely people would be reluctant to be dragged into more troubles just for a chat room friend. Even when Processed Jewel was willing to set up the positional teleportation for her, that was an extremely rare gesture. But a first did not mean there would be a second. Chapter 577 - God: Part 2

    Chapter 577 God: Part 2

    There was nothing but silence in the group...And just as Pei Lin was about to close the chat, suddenly a sentence popped up. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m willing to help you, but my training is swordsmanship and not boxing. And, I¡¯m not sure if I can actually help you because the rules between worlds are different.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°We can talk privately¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. The Spectral Light naturally had a private chat function, but this function will cover the entire chat interface. Once she switches over, she can only see the private chat interface in her view, and could not see any history from the public chat. As this switching method was rtivelyplicated, so everyone did not really used it. But at this key moment, it was natural to have a private conversation if she wanted someone to teach her a secret training technique. As if she had caught onto the only strand of hope left, a glimmer of light lit up in Pei Lin¡¯s eyes. She quickly stood up from the wall, and after some tinkering, managed to change the chat interface to a private chat with Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°Is it really possible?¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°It should be possible. My training regime requirements is not that strict on your physical attributes, but it will be much more difficult. After all, if you want to break through your limit, you need to put in an effort beyond any ordinary person.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°Then... what do I need give up?¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. Pei Lin was not a fool, she had been pleading for so long and everyone ignored her. Not that Holy Light had suddenly popped up, if she did not have something in her that was worth something, it was impossible for someone to teach her for nothing. ¡°You should know that, this is a system exclusive to me. In the same vein, if you want to learn it, you need to be my disciple.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°...¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. Pei Lin was a little dazed. She had thought that Holy Light was a normal person like her, with a normal birth, normal traits and a normal life. But it seems like... that was not the case. And the seemingly unremarkable Holy Light had suddenly became mysterious. ¡°I understand what you mean.¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°Then, can I join you as your disciple?¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. And Holy Light¡¯s image in her mind had suddenly changed into an old-school powerful person that had some age to him, but was still had interest in new things. ¡°Whether you can join me as a disciple depends on you. It¡¯s not a simple matter to be my disciple. You need to show more qualities that would make one feel that you are worth the investiment.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. No one would be nice to you for no reason in this world. Pei Lin had actually knew of this very, very long ago. Aside from family and the rare few saints, everyone revolved around thews of mutual interest. ¡°I understand...¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. Pei Lin could tell that Holy Light was probably a powerful existence, while he may not be a big boss, but he was definitely stronger than her. In a situation where no one could help her, Holy Light¡¯s olive branch was her only hope. ¡°I will show you what I can achieve!¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll confer you a basic training regime, after that, pass me the detailed data of your body perimeters. I need to tailor-make an training lifestyle that is unique to you.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°Understood!¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. Pei Lin¡¯s anxious heart had finally found relief. The pressure that had been piling upon her at this moment seemed to had a cathartic relief, and she felt much, much morefortable now. And outside her bedroom. In her parent¡¯s bedroom. Pei Shangyu stood coldly facing the window, and looked at the flow of people outside. ¡°Linlin seemed to have encountered something recently.¡± A sh of worry went past his eyes. ¡°Probably some youthful troubles. She is that age after all... But I have no idea which boy that catched her fancy.¡± Her mother, Zhuang Qing smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Perhaps that incident had affected her?¡± Pei Shangyu frowned. ¡°She seemed to be at peace now. Ah, didn¡¯t we sent someone to get rid of those damned Corpsedemons? Now that her life had returned to normal, and I had also sent someone to check on her at school, and everything is normal.¡± Zhuang Qing said with a hint of surprise. ¡°What made you think in that direction?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not that I¡¯m purposely thinking in that direction, but Linlin is just a normal person. This is both fortunate and unfortunate for her as she inherited half of my ordinary human bloodline.¡± Pei Shangyu said helplessly. ¡°No worries. We have Pengpeng around, and there¡¯s a heir to the family, so just let Linlin live a normal life for the rest of her life. We have the strength to protect her.¡± Zhuang Qing said. ¡°I just hope so...¡± Pei Shangyu, as a senior echelon of the Daywalker Council, had both power and influence in abundance, and was one of the top people in the council. But no matter how much authority or strength he had, it was useless to fix his daughter¡¯s psychological problems. ¡°If Linlin behaves again, then we¡¯ll just see a psychologist.¡± Finally, Pei Shangyu said. ¡°Your daughter is old enough already yet you are thinking of this and that.¡± Zhuang Qing, as a mother was always carefree, and felt her husband was fussing over nothing. Pei Lin had no idea what her parents were discussing. She had never though that her quick rescue after she was abducted was due to her parents pulling strings to mobilize a powerful force behind the scenes. One had to note that the Daywalker Council was generally weaker than the Nightprowler League. But for a Daywalker Corpsedemon to so conveniently pass by the day she was kidnapped, and not just that, the daywalker had taken the initiative to break into a fight, and killed many of the nightprowlers. And even more coincidentally, the usually weaker Daywalker Council had one of their few powerful elites that was stronger than the nightprowlers pass by. All of these coincidences was just a chain reaction caused by Pei Lin¡¯s abduction. Yet Pei Lin did not know anything, and right after she received the basic swordsmanship training regime from Lin Sheng, she quickly went out of her room, and greeted her parents before stopping a taxi and went straight to one of the martial arts gym nearby. There was no individual swordsmanship hall in this area, neither do they have any individual boxing hall, all they had were martial arts halls. And these martial arts halls are ces for people to freely intereact, and most of them were martial arts enthusiasts who were there to train. At times, events would be held withrge prize pools that attracted many professional and non-professional participants. And the martial arts here, aside from striking at vitals, everything was permited. What Pei Lin wanted to do was to find a quiet enough spot and started her basic training regime under Lin Sheng¡¯s guidance. And booking a single person training room in the martial arts hall was the best option. Not only there were good nutritionist there, there were also various professional testing equipments, and even if she got injured she would be able to receive emergency treatment at the first moment to prevent the spread of the injury. Chapter 578 - God: Part 3

    Chapter 578 God: Part 3

    Lin Sheng looked away from the Spectral Light. He, of course, had a purpose when he decided to help Giving Hope. The Source was a difficult thing to collect, and he could only find the traces of them when the world was in turmoil. The Darkspirit Realm in actuality was not a world in itself, but a massive Hidden Realm. Compared with this world, the Darkspirit Realm was too small. ording to Nurgana, he could forget about getting the Source from there, and even if it managed to grow it, he could not take the Source because the entire Hidden Realm would copse if he did so. For aplete world, even removing half of the Source would simply weaken the world¡¯s resistance, and making it much more vulnerable, but it would not take long for the Source to recover and regenerate. ¡°So the question now is, which one should I act on first...¡± Lin Sheng gently tapped against the armrest of the seat as he quietly contemted. If he wanted to get the world coordinates from Giving Hope now, it should not be a problem, but he had another choice. That was the photograph he had obtained from Ascension. With the Crystal of Prophecy¡¯s powerful ability, even with just a photograph, he was certain there was a possibility to break through the barrier between worlds, and cross over to the world Ascension was in. ¡°But it is still a little too risky... The crystal¡¯s teleportation has a chance to fail, and with just a photograph alone, if he doesn¡¯t give me a real scene and something wrong happens during the teleportation, it will cause all sorts of trouble.¡± Lin Sheng demurred as he decided to concentrate on Giving Hope. He needed to obtain more photos that allowed him to triangte the position, or if she could summon a holy spirit... it would be perfect. Lin Sheng stroked his chin as he looked at Nurgana who was reading a book. This powerful divine being he had just summoned had an extremely quiet personality, and her divinity-level Venom ability was totally hidden. The only difference she had from an ordinary person was the amount of food she consumed. ¡°By the way, Khad ising.¡± Nurgana noticed that Lin Sheng was looking at her, and she raised her head to give him a sweet smile. ¡°I know.¡± They were all part of Lin Sheng¡¯s own soul, so he would have naturally known it way in advance. Since he knew it in advance, he was having a headache now. Khad seems inexplicably hostile to Nurgana. However, upon taking a careful look, Khad¡¯s beauty was much more apparent than Nurgana, but her character was not as calm andposed as Nurgana. He was toozy to imagine what sort of embers would spark when these two meet. Lin Sheng then shifted his attention to a bottle. It was a bottle filled with milky white sand, and the bottle contained the ck bead he had found from the God of Shadows. ¡°This thing... seems to have some special effect.¡± Lin Sheng dared not underestimate the bottle. It was after all an object that had persisted for so long in the cktide, the cktide where gods were missing, or perhaps even fallen. For such a bead to survive, it must be something special.¡± Lin Sheng wrapped his hand in ayer of holy power shell before unscrewing the bottle as he gently tilted it and pulled the bead out slowly with his fingers. The ck bead looked like a pearl but felt like flesh in his hand. ¡°This...¡± Just as Lin Sheng was about to ask, he saw Nurgana¡¯s gaze shift to him. ¡°That¡¯s Father¡¯s eyes.¡± Nurgana calmly revealed the identity of the bead. ¡°What¡¯s the use... of this eyeball?¡± Lin Sheng asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just recognized it with my soul¡¯s instincts. Isn¡¯t the rest of my memories the same as yours? What you know, I will know. What you don¡¯t, I don¡¯t either,¡± Nurgana calmly said. Lin Sheng tried to infuse it with holy power. He could feel that this bead was like a bottomless hole that connected to a mysterious dimension. His holy power continued to pour into it, and as if a switch had been flicked, the bead slowly turned bright from its original ck color. At the same time, a trace of unknown soul power slowly radiated from the bead. Lin Sheng went ahead to make contact with this dissipated soul power. As expected, this soul power was interspersed with the memory of the God of Shadows. This god had indeed fallen, and only a tiny speck of his soul was left. Yet, the God of Shadow¡¯s soul was extremelyrge, and the memories within it were naturallyrge as well. Lin Sheng had just absorbed a little bit of the memories radiating from the bead and had seen a flood of content that was worth a normal person¡¯s lifetime. Even when most of the absorbed memories were sleeping, receiving and responding to prayers, Lin Sheng still saw some useful information from a few memories with content in it. ¡°The God of Shadows was actually just a normal member of the entire Catastrophean Pantheon, and... he had actually met Anselia...!¡± As he continued to watch the memories, there was a part of the memory where the God of Shadows made contact with Anselia. That surprised Lin Sheng. Anselia¡¯s footprints seemed to be everywhere. She had been going everywhere, but her traces was always unclear. and Lin Sheng had always felt that Ans perhaps had finally found something in the end. He continued to watch the rest of the memory. While he had only obtained fragments of the God of Shadow¡¯s memory, the number of memories itself was ratherrge. There were not many memories about Anselia¡¯s contact with the God of Shadows, but with regards to the problem of the cktide, Ans had left the God of Shadows plenty of information regarding its threats. Among them was information about the Annihtus. Seeing this, Lin Sheng felt like he had struck gold. For a long time, his knowledge of the cktide was sparse, and the appearance of the Annihtus concerned him. If it was just this level of threat, it was impossible for the cktide to threaten the gods and demigods. Now that he saw this, Anselia¡¯s search had provided him answers in advance. Within a spherical log cabin. A blob of blurry shadow rippled like water. Anselia, who was very old by then, held a cane in her hand as she sat quietly on the chair in the cabin. ¡°Most esteemed Angs, against the cktide, we need to vignt, and it is not just against the endless monsters and chaos.¡± Anselia¡¯s voice had long lost its crisp and heroic spirit, but the determination and calmness was still there. ¡°Pitiful wanderer, the cktide you mentioned is beyond weak, and did not pose the danger and problem you had mentioned.¡± The God of Shadow¡¯s voice was calm, yet he did not seem to believe Anselia. ¡°That¡¯s because you have yet to meet the Annihtus.¡± Anselia remained calm. ¡°The cktide is ever-changing...¡± ¡°The Annihtus?¡± The God of Shadowughed loudly. ¡°What sort of being dared to call themselves divine?¡± ¡°The Annihtus is just a codename, a title. They were referred to as such simply because they were creatures that were once called god in the various worlds that had been annihted,¡± Anselia said calmly. ¡°Creatures that were once gods?¡± The God of Shadow¡¯sughter slowly stopped. ¡°When the cktide realizes that ordinary monsters and corruption don¡¯t work against you, it will send out the Annihtus. From my experience, there are three levels of the Annihtus. The first, is the Dragon Titans, the weakest of them all, and they¡¯re mainly titans that grow ck dragons on their back.¡± Anselia continued speaking without regard for the God of Shadow¡¯s reaction. ¡°If you survive the first level¡¯s attack, then the second level woulde. The second level Annihtus, are a terrifying force made out of Deathblooms. They are countless flowers of flesh from the deep.¡± ¡°And what about the third level?¡± the God of Shadow asked with a smile. ¡°Perhaps the Deathblooms would not be a problem for you. As they are just beings at the level of demigods, they would be suppressed by you even if they had the numbers, but the third level...¡± Before Anselia could finish, the log cabin suddenly shook violently, as if something was shaking the ground. Anselia stood up, her face calm. ¡°Seems like I should be leaving. I hope that you could resist the cktide¡¯s incursion.¡± The memory stopped abruptly there. Chapter 579 - Summoning: Part 1

    Chapter 579 Summoning: Part 1

    ¡°The Deathbloom...¡± Lin Sheng frowned.If this Deathbloom, was a type of Annihtus and was at a level of a demigod, then his current strength was far from capable of being able to resist the cktide¡¯s incursion. The pressure of the cktide was like an invisible mountain that constantly pressed against his chest, leaving him a little breathless. ¡°It..is horrifying... no wonder the gods would fall within it...¡± Lin Sheng fell silent for a long while before sighing. ¡°What do you n to do?¡± Nurgana asked calmly. ¡°The next level of divinity, the demigods, is something I have no clue of. Plus i had broken through a little too fast, and I¡¯ve not even understood the levels of divinity yet.¡± Lin Sheng shook his head. ¡°The cktide would not bother if you are prepared or not.¡± Nurgana was a divine being herself, and naturally understood the dilemma he faced. ¡°So...¡± ¡°So.¡± A cold glint shed passed Nurgana¡¯s eyes. ¡°Search for the Source then. The Source could strengthen the world¡¯s resistance and its ability to fight against the cktide. This way, we could dy theing of the Deathbloom Annihtus.¡± Lin Sheng stroked the armest as he fell into silence. ¡°Are you hesitating?¡± Nurgana asked aloud. ¡°No... I¡¯m just... too afraid of failure.¡± Lin Sheng said calmly. ¡°The fate of the world, the fate of countless of people, all pinned on my shoulders alone. This feeling...¡± ¡°This is what a God is.¡± Nurgana interrupted him. ¡°Gods, are such an existence. Bearing the hopes of everyone, bearing the wishes of everyone. Gods, are the manifestation of the strength of countless of people. They could be born out of desire, and represent the will of countless, they could transform nature, and change the world.¡± Nurgana said tly. Lin Sheng kept silent. .... .... Another world. Between the rolling green mountains was a gray wall that extended from one of the mountain to another. The monutain winds roared and at every set distance were illuminated stone pirs with bright yellow glows. The center of the wall had long been transformed into a tourist route as groups of tourists gathered together in pairs of two and threes. Pei Lin had followed a few ssmates and friends as she strolled quietly on the wall, looking at the surrounding scenery. She had not nned toe, but she could not decline her best friend¡¯s constant pestering. Now that she had continued her training from Holy Light, that gave her some assurance and allowed her to rx somewhat. After monitoring the situation here, Pei Lin relented and came along with her friends, and nned to use this time to give herself a half day break. Of course, after all Lin Sheng had suggested that she rest a little before continuing her training. That was because after receiving her physical data, Lin Sheng had keenly discovered that her body had been injured due to over-training. This was to show that training could not be rushed, and must be paced. As she pulled back her thoughts, Pei Lin slowly listened to her best friend chatting as she followed the rest of herpanions. The group of two boys and three girls was her best friends and ssmates. And Orphis beside her was her best friend since elementary school. She was a beauty with long, supple blue hair, and her style was at two end of the extremes. Orphis was essentially a very gentle person. Gentle as she may be, she would be very firm if the situation demands. In order to rx in tihs trip, Pei Lin had purposely changed into a white floral dress that she did not like all that much. She wore a pair of thick ck silk stockings under her skirt to prevent identally exposing herself. On the other hand, the usually gentle and pretty Orphis, had changed into a pair of slim, fitting overalls to aid with the mountain climb, looking smart and somewhat boyish. As for the two boys and another girl, one of them was a couple, and another was an indifferent and awkward rich scion. And their rtionship was slightly more distant. While they were close, but their circle was still divided into how close one was. ¡°Why do I feel like you have been really uneasytely? What happened?¡± Orphis closed in and whispered. ¡°It¡¯s nothing... It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve worn out from training. I just need some rest.¡± Pei Lin shook her head slightly. She was now training using the regime Holy Light had given here. As she had not seen any effect yet, she was a little anxious but Holy Light had insisted on her pacing herself, and not overdo her training. But she had no other way. Strength was not something she could obtain in just a short time. Without hard training in the long term, there was naturally no gains. ¡°Don¡¯t push yourself too hard. We are still students, is it really necessary to bust your butt like that?¡± Orphis did not understand. ¡°You don¡¯t understand.¡± Pei Lin shook her head slightly. ¡°There¡¯s a drink vendor there. Anyone who wants a drink, raise your hands.¡± The rich scion Master Zheng turned back to ask. His indifferent personality did not mean he was aloof, it¡¯s just that for those who do not know him, he looked difficult to approach on the surface. But in fact, he was a good-tempered boy with a cold shell and a warm heart. ¡°We just need a bottle between us.¡± Orphis raised her hand and smiled. ¡°We also only need one bottle.¡± The couple besideughed out loud as well. ¡°Three bottles then.¡± Something struck Master Zheng as he looked at his teasing friends, and walked over to buy drinks with a detesting look on his face. ¡°You guys want to leave me standing alone huh?¡± Heined. Orphis tipped her toes and pecked Pei Lin¡¯s face. ¡°Linlin¡¯s my hubby, no one told you to not find a girlfriend yourself no?¡± Pei Lin smiled. She was five feet ten, and was considered tall among girls. Orphis was only five feet two in height, and was lile a little girl before her. At school, her poprity is far inferiorpared to Orphis. There were many boys pursuing Orphis, but no one dared to pursue her. Although she was also beautiful in her own right, even the president of the boxing club could only defeat her after a long bout. There were far too little boys that are taller than her, with high martial ability, and having the guts to pursue her. So few that she did not even noticed any. ¡°Alright, one bottle each. Don¡¯t need to thank me. I¡¯ve added ice as well.¡± Master Zheng tossed a bottle of cold drink over, totally ignoring everyone¡¯s request. Pei Lin took two bottles speechlessly before handing one to Orphis, and just as she was about to drink she noticed a bloated middle-aged woman in the ground not too far away. Thedy¡¯s expression was gloomy, as she trudged along with the flow of the crowd. While she may seemed like a normal traveler on the surface, but as Pei Lin looekd closely, and felt that thetter¡¯s eyes was like as if she was looking at the surrounding travelers like prey. ¡°Another Corpsedemon?¡± She grimaced. While this Corpsedemon did not look that strong, but it was not something an ordinary person like her could fight against. Thinking of this, she quickly activated her Spectral Light chat room, and using her thoughts to take a photo of the middle-aged woman before her, and sent it to her master, Holy Light. ¡°Master, I¡¯ve ran into a Corpsedemon along my way, what should I do?¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°If there¡¯s a crowd, ignore here. Treat her as if she does not exist.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. Chapter 580 - Summoning: Part 2

    Chapter 580 Summoning: Part 2

    Pei Lin looked at the reply, and calmed down, as she pretended to continue chatting with her best friend, Orphis. Pei Lin looked at the reply, and calmed down, as she pretended to continue chatting with her best friend, Orphis as she quickened her pace a little and slowly passed through the Corpsedemon.The middle-aged woman moved quietly with the flow of people, but her lips kept on opening and closing slightly without anyone noticing. ¡°Did you find that b*tch?¡± She could not help but resentfully grumble. ¡°She should be close by, but there are too many people here, and it won¡¯t be easy for us to make a move here.¡± A male voice came from the earpiece in the woman¡¯s ears. ¡°That little b*itch, she dared to release my son¡¯s exclusive fodder! When I catch her, I¡¯ll y her skin off, and rub salt all over her! I¡¯ll make her life so painful that she wished she was dead!¡± The resentment and anger in the voice of the middle-aged woman, pressured even the man on the otherside of the earpiece. ¡°Up to you, the Yeshi n has already fallen, and that brat is no longer the mistress she was. Up to you to deal with her as you please when you capture her.¡± The man calmly said. Suddenly the middle-aged woman¡¯s eyes lit up as she saw a young girl in sunsses in the distance that was standing before a stall to buy food. Without a word, she closed in with an irrepressible viciousness in her eyes. ¡°Leave this ce.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. On the other hand, a message suddenly appeared in Pei Lin¡¯s vision. She frozed for a moment. She had just taken a picture and sent it to her master a moment ago, and for her master to send such a message back. That had her stunned for a moment. In any case, she still believed her master. This was because she and her Master, Holy Light was a world apart, and as there were no conflict of interest, he would not do anything to harm her for no reason. ¡°I¡¯m a little tired, let¡¯s go back.¡± She suddenly said. ¡°Tired?¡± Orphis was slightly dumbfounded. The other three person too were a little surprised, but everyone seemed to go along with it. Pei Lin was looked high upon in their circle, so her words carried some weight. ¡°If you¡¯re tired then let¡¯s go back. Pei Lin might have been worn out with her training for the past few days.¡± The girl of the couple smiled as she said. ¡°Then let¡¯s go back then.¡± Master Zheng nodded as well. He actually did not mind if he actually came here or not, while he may look cold on the surface, no one knew that his heart waspletely head over heels for Orphis. But he masquaraded that very well, and no one could see or sense anything. ¡°Then let¡¯s go back and get something cooling.¡± Orphis suggested with a smile. Pei Lin and the rest quicky turned around and walked towards the direction they had came from. And that was fortutiously thepletely opposite direction of that middle-aged woman. .... .... Holyspirit Pce. Lin Sheng looked calmly at the few people before him. ¡°The Sin Dragon Matriarch and the Giant King brothers had returned to their own Hidden Realms. I need them to give me an exnation for their desertion.¡± Inside the great hall, the Night Lord, the Steel Lord, Adolf, the Centaur Lord were all present. Nurgana and Khad both stood behind Lin Sheng on both sides. ¡°What exnation? The Sin Dragon Matriarch had fled the battle, and did not contribute anything during the critical moments of the Holy Sanctum! She deserves nothing but death!¡± The Steel Lord sneered. ¡°Same goes for the Giant King brothers. They must be given the greatest of admonitions and punishments, or else history will repeat itself.¡± The Centaur Lord also said with righteously indignation. ¡°Especially when I was fighting alone for so long without any reinforcements, that feeling...¡± ¡°Holy Emperor, how about I go in your stead then.¡± The Night Lord volunteered. ¡°Tenko Kasumi is needed to hold fort in the Holy City, things will be much more manageable if I personally go there myself. After all, there are more than one Ptinate in the Sin Dragon Matriarch¡¯s camp.¡± ¡°Since when have you be so diligent?¡± The King of Steel wondered. ¡°What I hate the most in my life are traitors!¡± The Night Lord spat coldly. ¡°Then I shall leave that to you.¡± Lin Sheng had no reason to reject. He then habitually tapped the armrest of his throne, and drew everyone¡¯s attention with a crisp tap. ¡°I will need you to focus on dealing with the aftermath at the Fairy King¡¯s end.¡± He looked at Adolf. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, master.¡± Adolf said with a firm expression. The Fairy King had fallen in battle for the Holy City, and in any case, fair treatment must be given to the Fairy Kingdom. Moreoever, the Fairy Kingdom are already holding the election for a sucessor to the Fairy Kingdom¡¯s throne, and by then the new Fairy King wille to the holy city, and take the ce of the former Fairy King. ¡°Alright, the matter with the traitors with be left to the Night Lord. And I¡¯ve summoned all of you here for another important n.¡± Lin Sheng said calmly. ¡°Another important n?¡± Aside from Nurgana, everyone else was surprised. Now that the Holy City had unified everything, and was without equal, there was no one left to fight against the Holy Sanctum. With such power, what was there that Lin Sheng, the Holy Emperor would need to pay such grim attention to? Lin Sheng looked indifferent. ¡°In this n, Khad will be the vanguard, and will go ahead for reconnaissance, and follow up with the Sanctum Guards that will be mobilized.¡± Lin Sheng clenched the armrest. ¡°Forsake mercy, forsake pity, we shall attain peace through our determination. And everyone, I shall need your strength...¡± ¡°Our strength is yours!¡± ¡°Our strength is yours!¡± Everyone bowed down in salute. .... .... The Corpsedemon World. Daywalker Council. The white moon hung over the sky. At the peak of a majestic snowy mountain, a silver fortress stood in the middle of the whiteness. Giant white birds flew around the fortress, and let out low, and long wails from time to time. A side exit on the right side of the castle. Arge white-robed man with a plush cloak held a walking stick as he trudged through the snow step by step. He was very old and had just left the castle. His stamina was not like what he used to be, and felt a little tired. For a Corpsedemon this was something impossible. ¡°Byron, you think your proposal would go through?¡± A snow-white long-haired girl suddenly appeared in the snow. Not only the girl¡¯s hair was wide, even her eyebrows and iris were white. ¡°Unlikely.¡± The white-robed man shook his head slightly. ¡°The Daywalker Council had been ruling the day for far too long, and all of the ns had turned into their own interest groups. It won¡¯t be easy trying to get them to change their ways.¡± ¡°But you had made great progress this time.¡± The white woman said calmly. ¡°That was because of the chain reactions following the Dursha Massacre.¡± The old man shook his head. ¡°Also, why did Pei Shangyu suddenly chose to support me? Did you managed to learn the truth?¡± ¡°His daughter had been attacked, and perhaps he suspect that it was the doing of the radicals.¡± The white girl shrugged. I heard that it was done by the Genesis-level Corpsedemons, and it was also because it was done by the lowest-level Corpsedemon that it did not attract much attention.¡± The girl shook her head. ¡°You should know very well that at this sensitive period that a Line-level Corpsedemon and above would be looked at by many.¡± ¡°You are right... this is a fortuitous event.¡± The old man smiled. To have another councillor support him was indeed something congrattory. But while the status of a councillor is high, but that did not mean they were the strongest. They were only representatives of therge interest groups behind them. And the strongest ones, were still the Omnia-level Corpsedemon. Chapter 581 - Summoning: Part 3

    Chapter 581 Summoning: Part 3

    There were not many levels in the Corpsedemon hierarchy. There are the Genesis, the Line, the Faceless, and the Omnia, four in total.But there was an extreme gulf between these four levels. The Corpsedemons was a race that focused heavily on their bloodline, a person would be forever bound to the level they are born into. Even if a person were to train like mad at thetter stage, it could only see small increments. The rtive difference in strength between the various levels was as such, that any power-ups would be almost pointless, and could only be used within their own level. The only Omnia-level Corpsedemon in the Daywalker Council, was the Speaker, Tawh alone. And for the Nightprowler League, only their leader, Lighteater. Essentially, between the Daywalkers and the Nightprowlers, one was in charge of day, another night. And the old man, and the white girl, were councillors themselves, and their strength was naturally the third level, the Faceless. ¡°Unfortunately, the speaker is missing, or else how could we fallen into endless disputes.¡± The old man sighed, and did not say anything more, as he nodding at the white girl. He then turned around, his figure suddenly flickered and disappeared. .... .... ¡°Linlin, how was it? Had fun during the day?¡± The Pei household. Zhuang qing smiled as she took her daughter¡¯s handbag from thetter, and asked. ¡°Was nice, but I¡¯m a little worn out.¡± Pei Lin smiled and replied. ¡°Then wash up, and take an early rest. You look pretty haggardtely.¡± Zhuang Wing pinched her daughter¡¯s face, with a tinge of sorrow. ¡°Got it, mummy.¡± Pei Lin nodded. After that, she quickly washed up and went to her room. Zhuang Qing also had something to eat, and returned to her room to rest. But not long after she returned to her room, she suddenly received a text message on her phone. After reading it, Zhuang Qing pondered for a moment before finally getting up, and opening the window. A crisp popter, she had disappeared from her bedroom. Almost every night, she and her husband, Pei Shangyu would leave the out to take care of matters while their daughter was resting. And this had already became their usual norm. It was just that Pei Lin had not noticed it. But what Zhuang Qing and Pei Shangyu did not expect at all was, in Pei Lin¡¯s room, she had her purple hair loose, and did not bother wearing any shoes as she stepped onto the smooth marble tiles with her stockings. She held a special ck fountain pen in her hand, andy arge piece of white paper on the ground, and quickly draw arge ritual circle. Afterying on the ground for a good while, and fortunately aside from her strength in boxing, she also had good control of her body, and this ritual circle had been in the making for a couple of days now. Especially after she knew that Holy Light Shines Upon You was a powerful figure that hid his powers, she had some ideas about the ritual that Holy Light had given her earlier. While he never mentioned it again, Pei Lin had her mind on this ritual. So, she took the initiative to prepare, and she carefully purchased all of the materials, before secretly began the drawing process in her own home. As she plopped her butt on the ground for a while, until Pei Lin felt her legs were turning numb that she was done with the final perfect line of the ritual circle. ¡°Finally, it¡¯s done!¡± She quickly turned on the Spectral Light, and typed in a message on the private chat interface. ¡°Master, I¡¯m going to try the ritual that you gave me earlier.¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°That ritual... Based on my research, this ritual seems to be able to create a teleportation capability when paired with the Spectral Light.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°What do you mean .... ??!¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. Pei Lin seemed to be able to vaguely guess something was up. She was not a fool, and other people had tried to use all sorts methods to locate the coordinates of her world. ¡°So, with just a little adjustment, you can use this ritual circle as a reverse-summoning ritual.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°That is to say that you cane over and help me personally?¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. Pei Lin was taken aback before showing an ted look. ¡°Not at the moment, but I can send someone to test out the different rules between the worlds through the ritual.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°Send someone...¡± Pei Lin was even more curious about Holy Light¡¯s identity. Her master, the more mysterious he seemed, the more powerful he seemed to be. ¡°Yes. If the test is sessful, I can use the ritual to continuously send someone to the position of the ritual. I am very curious about the other world in the legends... perhaps you can help me break through the shackles of this realm.¡± Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°If there is anything that I can do to help, please let me know.¡± Pei Lin decisively expressed her loyalty, as she did not feel that she could be of help to Holy Light in any capacity. So if she did not show her loyalty now, that meant she had some loose screws. As for what will happen if her master were toe; there are already Corpsedemons in this world, and the appearance of her master and a few others would not make any differences. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, if you are sure that the ceremony is correct, then try it following the steps, but I need to modify the process a little.¡± ¡ª Holy Light Shines Upon You. Lin Sheng did not mind it anyway as his motive had already been exposed, so he forgo any further covering up, and instead let Pei Lin deploy the summoning ritual. He of course would not head over himself first, but he will send a few Holy Spirits over, and to check out the impact to his powers there. As the Holy Emperor, he had many powers and forces he could deploy at will. And there were many Deathsworns that were willing to go out there and die for him. ¡°Please, go ahead Master.¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. Pei Lin also pretended she did not see Lin Sheng¡¯s intentions, and started to listen to his advice and added a little ritual symbols on it. Soon, the ritual waspleted. She then ced all of the ritual items on their respective spots, and drew the curtain. Pei Lin stood before the ritual, holding a substitute red-scented wood in her hand with a calm face. While she looked calm, her heart began to feel more and more anxious as the ritual waspleted. It was none other than this Holyspirit ritual gave her a very dark vibe. Silver powder, deer blood, human blood, all three of these wer eced in three small bowls, and looked eeriely red. She stood up, and started reciting the activation chants. Just as shepleted the chant twice, she felt a minor change happening to the ritual circle on the white paper. As if some living being was trying to scramble and enter this world. A blood-colored face slowly appeared out in the middle of the ritual. The face was weeping as it tried to rush out in a frenzy. Seeing this scene, Pei Lin felt like disaster was upon her. She had began to wonder whether her decision to be Holy Light¡¯s disciple was correct. Holy Light¡¯s power, had exceeded her expectations time after time, and left her more and more frightened time and again. She seemed to be letting in a terrible presence into her world... Chapter 582 - Gathering: Part 1

    Chapter 582 Gathering: Part 1

    ¡°Pei Lin. Why haven¡¯t I seen youing back home for a vacation recently?¡±During the school weekend, Pei Lin¡¯s cousin, Pei Peng had passed by on a business trip and dropped by to visit. He did note alone, and brought with hima few people from his hometown. After lunch, Pei Peng and Pei Shangyu chatted for a while in the study, and after a while, he saw Pei Lin who had just came out from her room. Pei Lin had a deep impression of this elder cousin of hers. It was none other than the fact that this cousin had the ability tomunicate with elders on an equal basis without reservation towards them. After witnessing that a few times, Pei Lin had somewhat admired this cousin of hers. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve not went back for a long while. Maybe it¡¯s because of my increasing homework, and I really don¡¯t have the time now.¡± Pei Lin replied politely. While her reply was not really appropriate, as a young person, no one would purposely poke holes in her arguments. ¡°If you have the time, you mustmunicate with your rtives, otherwise even the closest of rtives would gradually drift apart.¡± Pei Peng had a slender and handsome face, with narrow eyes with a trace of a phoenix¡¯s eyes in it, as his pupils were was the rare double pupil. There was another pupil within his pupil, and if one were to look closely, it had give out a bizarre, empty atmosphere. ¡°Alright, I will visit uncle when I have the time.¡± Pei Lin replied hurriedly. Pei Pengwei smiled, and said no more as he walked away in huge strides with his men. As he left the Pei¡¯s house, they got into a fully enclosed soundproof car. The car sped along the street, and soon left the city area and went quickly into a standalone manor at the outskirts. The car slowed down, and stopped by the gate of the manor. Pei Peng and the rest got down from the car, and looked up at the manor before going in. The gate was left open, as the master of the manor had already knew of their arrival, and had opened the gate ahead of time. After a few people entered, the dark metallic gate slowly closed. On the spacious greenwn of the manor, a bald old man in white casual clothes held a golf club and hit the golf ball on the ground. The ball flew urately into a small hole more than thirty meters away. ¡°I¡¯m really old now... Back in the day, I could send this ball flying into any hole with a single random stroke.¡± The old man sighed. ¡°Father, you are old yet strong, and in fact, you are still at the peak of your life, where did that oldnesse from?¡± Pei Peng smiled as he ttered. ¡°I know how I am, and I¡¯m no match for you youngsters any more.¡± The old man shook his head. ¡°How is it, how did your third uncle do?¡± ¡°Very poorly.¡± Pei Peng casually said, ¡°Although third uncle had some resources at hand, he is too indecisive. The family¡¯s resources and important position should not be held by such a person.¡± ¡°Then act as we had nned.¡± The old man nodded. ¡°Pei Shangyu not only did he not support his own family, he had instead went to support that peace bill. Who knows what is going with him.¡± ¡°Why did our previous attempt to ¡®persuade¡¯ him failed?¡± He then asked. Pei Peng lowered his head, ¡°They were detected by a Corpsedemon that was protecting Pei Lin, but no matter, just a little test anyway. I have a clear idea of how much resources Pei Shangyu could mobilize. That goal had been achieved.¡± ¡°Then, see it topletion as soon as possible. Take care of Pei Shangyu and Zhuang Qing, and don¡¯t let them be the additional obstacles to our n.¡± the old man said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, father. The arrangement has been made, we only need a moment of opportunity.¡± Pei Peng smiled. The two then talked about other topics, and did not further mention anything about Pei Shangyu¡¯s family. The moment they decided to turn their backs on the family, no matter how strong Pei Shangyu was, his fate was sealed. ¡°Right, get a count on the number of Line-ss Corpsedemons we have in our hands. We need to cooperate with the Chamber of Joyous Sounds for something.¡± The old man suddenly added. ¡°The Chamber of Joyous Sounds? If they are helping, then it will help us cover this up.¡± Pei Peng immediately understood. ¡°Yes, Feng Ling has at least three Faceless-level elite at her disposal, as we are taking this into our own hands, it will leave too obvious a trail. But if the Chamber of Joyous Sounds were to act, it will be much more hidden. Bring them to deal with Pei Shangyu, and you kill two birds with one stone.¡± The old man exined with a smile. ¡°Father, you are wise. Pei Shangyu has been relying on that Bermann, and none of his underlings are Faceless, so they can only rely on themselves.¡± Pei Peng was effusive. ¡°Then, I will hnad the task of receiving the Chamber of Joyous Sounds to you. Take care of Feng Ling and Pei Shengyu before next month. I don¡¯t suppose that will be a problem?¡±The old man asked back. ¡°Please seat back and wait for the results.¡± Pei Peng smiled slightly. .... .... Hiss.... On a curved runway in between the verdant ns, two race cars, one red one ck sped along the track. The thundering engine roared like a beast, as it roared time and time again. The red racing car had a mirror-sheen surface, and constantly ripped through the yellowish dusk glow in the sky. Within the tinted car¡¯s window, Pei Shangyu bit his lips tightly as he held the steering wheel, his eyes under the helmet was calm yet bright. The two racing cars sped all the way through as they crossed the long, winding track, and finally they slowed down at stopped at the end of the track marked with chequered line. The ck car had crossed the line first, and Pei Shangyu was still a bit too slow. As he stopped, he got out of the car with a smile, and walked towards the ck racing car. A middle-aged man with some baldness too had gotten out from the car. ¡°That¡¯s amazing! I¡¯m still not up to your level.¡± Pei Shangyu smiled with a thumbs up. ¡°No way, I haven¡¯t been racing for a long time now. If it wasn¡¯t for Shangyu you deliberately made it easy for me, I would not even be seeing the tail end of your vehicle.¡± The bald man smiled bitterly. ¡°I¡¯m certainly in no position to make it easy for you.¡± Pei Shangyu smiled in return. The two took off their helemt and chatted as they walked to a seating area by the curb. ¡°Right, Shangyu, I¡¯ve heard the wind spoke, that there seems to be a huge disagreement between you and your family? Somethings are better handled as soon as possible.¡± The bald man said cryptically. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s okay. Jus a tiny matter.¡± Pei Shangyu did not take it too seriously. ¡°It may be a trivial matter to you, but some might not think so. Do you have enough men around you, should I move some people to help you shore up your forces for the time being?¡± The balding man suggested. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, in any case, my family is the base camp of the Pei family, anyone who dares toy their hands there have a death wish no?¡± Pei Shangyuughed. ¡°It pays to be careful. You... shouldn¡¯t rely too much on the Pei n...¡± The balding man said. Yet, seeing that Pei Shangyu did not take it seriously, he sighed within and did not mention it anymore. There were somethings that was ultimately dependent on one self, but this sort of thing, not only saying too much would not be useful, it may even be counterproductive, even as the very best of friends. So he simply decided to not say anything more. As he thought about the ce Pei Shangyu was living was indeed the area governed by the first uncle of the Pei n, there should not be any problems. ¡°Speaking of which, Pengpeng had came over to my ce as a guest the other time, and brought me a lot of special goods he brought in from Savi, do you want some?¡± Pei Shangyu gave the balding man an ambiguous look. ¡°Oh, Savi? That thing?¡± The balding man¡¯s eyes suddenly brightened. ¡°Yes, of course!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll send you some when I get back.¡± Chapter 583 - Gathering: Part 2

    Chapter 583 Gathering: Part 2

    No one knew that Pei Lin had attempted the Holyspirit Ritual that looked like a evil blood sacrifice alone at home.And she did not know whether the ritual was sessful or had failed. In the end, the so called Holyspirit failed to appear, and there were no suspicious changes in her. She had reported to Lin Sheng the entire process and results. Lin Sheng told her that the ritual had failed, but was close to seeding, and if she were to hold it a few more times, it will eventually seed. While Pei Lin was disenheartened, but Lin Sheng was her only life-saver now, and she had to hold onto him and never let go. At the same time, she had found a martial arts hall and started training the swordsmanship under Lin Sheng¡¯s guidance, while her progress was not that obvious, Pei Lin could feel that she was clearly improving. Little by little, she was slowly building up into a sprint to breakthrough her previous bottleneck that she had been stuck in for a long time. And this discovery made her even more confident in Holy Light Shines Upon You. Over time, under Lin Sheng¡¯smand, Pei Lin also held several more rituals to summon the Holyspirit. Unfortunately, all of them ended in failure. As the evil ritual failed in the end, it not only reassured Pei Lin, but at the same time worried her somewhat. She was worried if she ran into another Corpsedemon before she had grown stronger, what should she do then? So, in order to gain more ability for protecting herself and her sense of security, Pei Lin trained even more frenziedly. But what she did not thought about was that the ritual had in fact not failed, and had instead all summoned legendary Holyspirits from it. But none of these spirits had greet her, and instead hid away without showing themselves. And that caused her to think that she hadpletely failed. Holyspirits that had been summoned had lurked quietly in some corner under a unified will, as they waited for an opportunity. And due to the ¡®failure¡¯ of the ritual, under Lin Sheng¡¯s guidance, Pei Lin started a new round of preparation for the ritual. ¡°My strength had actually increased by thirty percent in this simple training regime!? Incredible!¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. ¡°This is normal. Thirty percent, based on normal progress, this is lesser than I expected. Seems this is due to the difference in the rules of the world.¡± Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°Master, the ckfeather training method, I had basically reached the level of a first stage, should you be teaching me the second intermediary stage?¡± ¡ª Giving Hope. Now, Pei Lin did not even bother going to the public chat room and instead chatted with her master, Holy Light at any moment to allow Lin Sheng to keep track of the changes in her body¡¯s perimeters at any time. ¡°No hourry, you have not reached the limit yet. The ckfeather training method is a powerful training method I had learnt from an ancient civilization. This method could allow you to breakthrough your limits through swordsmanship training. But, this breakthrough would requie arge amount of time and practice, and was extremely difficult, but the advantage was that it did not ask much about your physical qualities.¡± The training method Lin Sheng had given her was the basic swordsmanship training regime he had gotten from ckfeather City. And just as Pei Lin was getting stronger bit by bit, a group of strangely dressed man and woman had appeared in the city she lived in. And these men and women seemingly gathering for a certain purpose and clustered around hotels and inns near Pei Lin¡¯s house. And the gathering of these people, was not known to Pei Shangyu due to Pei n¡¯s deliberately kept it a secret. A conspiracy against Pei Shangyu was slowly forming. And just as the conspiracy was gradually approaching. Night time. At night, the city wall area was still full of people, although in smaller numbers than the day. But simply by looking over, there were dozens of people wandering about the scenic spot on the barely ten meter long wall. This was the area that Pei Lin and her friends had visitedst time. A few small carts selling snacks and drinks moved slowly long the city wall. One of the cart owners slowly moved his cart to the side, and handed a custmoer the napkin he requested. ¡°Boss, I want a stick of fresh fruits.¡± Suddenly, a rumbling voice slowly rang out before the car. The cart owner looked up, and was stunned for a moment. Standing beside the cart was a tall man wrapped in a ck cloak. The man lowered his head, and his face was obscured, but there was a pure white bizarre symbol on the cloak. The symbol was a circling dots, and beneath it was a delicate and intricate white flower. It was a flower that the cart owner had never seen before. Seemingly noticing the cart owner¡¯s gaze, the man looked his head and looked at the flower symbol, as he broke into a wide smile, revealing his brilliant white teeth. ¡°This is Baekje flower, and the flowernguage means that holy light shines upon everything. Isn¡¯t it pretty?¡± He asked. ¡°Yes... very nice, very nice.¡± The cart owner nced to the side, and five more tall men and women in ck cloaks had appeared without him noticing. All of their cloaks had the simr Baekje flower. His heart shuddered as he quickly skewered the fresh fruits and gave them to the man and hispanions. Then when it came to payment, the cash given by the other party was so new that it looked like they had just been printed. The cart owner checked repeatedly many times over, before determining that it was a real banknote. The group in ck cloaks bought some fruits and ate them as they rest for a moment. They all got close and chatted using anguage that no one else understood before walking to the other direction of the city wall. This group of people ... seemed to be from the same organization... The owner of the cart noticed this immediately. But he could have never imagined that this group of people had came to this world barely ten minutes ago. The ck cloaks quickly moved along the city wall, and the moment they got off the exit, they gathered around. ¡°What a prosperous and peaceful world... just like our hometown very long ago.¡± The tallest ck cloak was a powerful woman with long hair. She held a water bottle in her hand, and fiercely gulped the entire bottle down in a blink of an eye. She then put the bottle down. ¡°The teleportation had went normally. What about the other teams?¡± She asked with a low voice. ¡°One them had lost contact, while the others are ounted for. Teleportation normal.¡± Another man quickly answered. ¡°Very good.¡± The girl nodded. ¡°In this world full of heretics, spreading the word of the light is the mission of the lesiarch like us. So, please do not take this likely.¡± ¡°As a transcendent, we shall uphold the purity of the holy light, and to illuminate the others, and purge the heretics as we spread the glory of the Holyspirit King.¡± Everyone said in unison. ¡°All of the vanguard teams have a two-wing leading the pack, and we are just one of them. There are a total of 32 teams, and all of these 32 teams need to get a handle on the general situation of his world, and establish a preliminary bridgehead in preparation for the subsequent arrivals of the main forces.¡± Chapter 584 - Gathering: Part 3

    Chapter 584 Gathering: Part 3

    The tall woman said with a rumbling voice.¡°Thank you, Fairy Mage Kaar, who had blessed us with thenguage understanding spell. While this is just a simple magic, to support so many people at the same time, the mana consumed must have been considerable.¡± ¡°You tter me, captain.¡± A handsome white-skinned man responded respectfully. ¡°This is my duty.¡± ¡°Next, we need to get the most basic of map of our surrounding...Who goes there?! ¡± Suddenly the tall woman¡¯s eyes turned chilly, and looked at the dark corner to her right. A figure in the dark corner seemed to have been startled by the woman¡¯s voice, as a dark shadow darted out and appeared in the open space. Under the moonlight, the dark shadow¡¯s face was illuminated, and it was a seemingly ordinary young punk. ¡°I have smelt a very fragrant...smell... the flesh on your bodies...¡± A slightly avaracious gaze appeared in the punk¡¯s distorted eyes. ¡°Who are you people? For you to have such nice-smelling flesh, you are making me...¡± WHOOSH!! Suddenly, a palm struck towards the punk¡¯s cheek like lightning. Thetter sneered, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth in his mouth as he struck out at the same speed with his right hand, and catching the palm of his opponent. Boom! ! The two shed hard, and stepped back at the same time. They could not do anything to each other. ¡°Interesting... are you the strongest in your group? Awesome, for you to be able to match up with me.¡± A tinge of shock shed past in the punk¡¯s eyes, he was a Corpsedemon, a higher race that had surpassed humanity. And the person that had struck him, looked like a petite young woman from her outline, but her strength and speed was no different to his. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m the weakest in our group.¡± The woman answered calmly. She was not wrong. Because, she was the only medic in the team... And while she was just a medic, she was also a one-wing transcendent. One need to know, during peaceful times, a one-wing darksider was a powerful leadership figure that could rule a side in the city. And normal martial arts masters, even with firearms could not do anything to them. But that was then, before the spread of the Holy Light, and now everyone of the transcendents in the holy city practices both holy light and dark powers. The holy light could strengthen and heal themselves, while the dark powers could perform all sorts of attacks. To infest, to corrupt, to strike at one¡¯s mind, or to materialize threads for attacks. And thebat capability of even a one-wing transcendent now was far beyond the peaceful times. Taking care of the lowest-level Genesis-level Corpsedemon was almost effortless. ¡°Weakest? Heh heh... that joke is not funny at all.¡± The punk shuddered as heughed, yet he subconciously stepped back. ¡°Take him. We need to have detailed information about the transcendent groups here.¡± the tall female captain said. Before the punk could even say anything, three ck cloaked figures appeared before him in a sh, and surrounded him. Three arms wrapped in faint white light charged at him at the same time. As he was just about to leap up and break out, a rumbling call rang out in his ears. ¡°Holy Shock.¡± As the clear voice faded away, the punk only saw a pure white light before his eyes. After that he simply just passed out, and no longer knew that had happened. ¡°To be able to catch a wild animal like this just as we arrived, it seems like today is our lucky day.¡± The tall woman smiled as she grabbed the punk¡¯s neck and lifted him up. ¡°Go, we need to prepare for theing of the Prefects.¡± ¡°Understood!¡± The group responded in unison. At the same time. Under the cover of night, strange crowds of ck-cloaked figures had appeared around the city wall area that Pei Lin had taken photos of. And all of these ck cloaked persons had the mark of the Baekje flower on their cloaks. And their appearance also attracted the attention of the wandering Nightprowler League¡¯s Corpsedemons. Any many Genesis-level Corpsedemons began to quickly gather towards the position of the ck cloaks guided by the scent of blood. And a series of battles of varying sizes was over before it even begun. Aside from a few Line-level Corpsedemons that had managed to escape by luck, the rest of the Corpsedemons werepletely wiped out. Arge number of ck cloaks, after capturing arge number of Corpsedemons, had chose to execute them on the spot after some deliberation. Most of them did not even treat the Corpsedemons as Transcendents, but instead regarded them as ordinary wild animals. This was because the Genesis-level Corpsedemons could not even beat the weakest one-wing members. They were just garbage a tad bit stronger, faster, with sharp teeth, and that was it. After a night had passed. The vanguard teamsprised of lowl-level Transcendents that had prepared to sacrifice themselves had unexpectedly established an advance base without a hitch. This was because this world to them, was just too weak. And Pei Lin who knew nothing about this, was still immersed in her training of the ckfeather training regime and could not pull herself out of it. .... .... At the same time. In the fifth Darkspirit Cavern. Above an endless brown ocean. The Night Lord walked on water as he slowly closed in onto the cavern defenses of the Corpse Dragon of Destiny n. He looked calm, and still wearing his ck gold-patterned armor, with his thick cloak fluttering behind him. ¡°Sin Dragon Matriarch, do you n toe out yourself, or do I need to invite you out personally?¡± His voice was like thunder as the soundwave was transmitted into the sea, towards a mysterious direction. But after he waited for a while, there was no response. The Night Lord was pissed, and suddenly reached out in a grasp. BAM!! A shapeless hand suddenly smashed against the waters deep. BOOOMM!!! He did not manage to find the cavern, but had instead rmed a huge octopus filled with yellow tentacles. He did not know when it was lying there, but seeing that it was bleeding all over from that strike from the Night Lord, it was not going to live any longer. The Night Lord¡¯s expression turned chilly, as his soul power pushes his mental power and senes deep into the sea. And not too long after, he had sensed the cavern where the Sin Dragon Matriarch and her ilk resided. But this cavern was empty, and there was nothing in there. ¡°They¡¯ve escaped?¡± The Night Lord was a little dumbfounded. But an even more disgusted look appeared on his face. And so they ran, yet in this world that was enveloped in its entirety by the Holyspirit Pce, even if they ran, where could the Sin Dragon Matriarch and her Ptinate ilk run to? ¡°You better pray that you don¡¯t get caught by me...¡± The Night Lord shook his cloak, and instantly disappeared above the brown sea. .... .... ¡°Bringing destruction to another world is not my will, so... we should not send that many people from the Holyspirit Pce just yet. Only two thousand for now, and adapt to the world first before anything else.¡± Lin Sheng gently tapped against the table, as he thought of a way to quickly gain the Source as possible. ¡°The Corpsedemons are the main yers of that world, and it is maintained in order feast on the flesh of humans. So we could set up a basic framework first, and when the timees, we can quicklyy a foundation in one explosive fell swoop.¡± ¡°Then the follow up teams wille in, and quickly upy territories. But before that, we need to probe as to what level only will the Source starts to appear on its own volition?¡± On a vast field outside the Holyspirit Pce where Lin Sheng was sitting, packed teams of Transcendents from various races had gathered here. Tens of thousands of lesiarchs, were all looking forward to go through the portal into a world without the cktide. And the entire Holy Sanctum, was like a giant, lumbering machine that was slowly moving, as it generated a power beyond the imagination of ordinary persons. Chapter 585 - Planning: Part 1

    Chapter 585 nning: Part 1

    ¡°So, that is to say that Pei Lin is our only coordinate to pin down the location of the Corpsedemon world?¡± In the Hall of Yin and Yang, Lin Sheng, Tenko Kasumi and a few other leaders that knew of the Source sat together as they discuss the n of obtaining the Source from the Corpsedemon world. And Lin Sheng had already known Giving Hope¡¯s real name from the previous training. ¡°Yes, based on my research, all of the men we had sent to the Corpsedemon world had been using Pei Lin as an anchor in order to stay in that world freely.¡± Nurgana said calmly. ¡°So...¡± ¡°So, Pei Lin is currently a very special existence for us. If we lose that anchor, the resistance of the Corpsedemon world towards us will greatly increase, and by then, it will trigger a world resistance reaction.¡± Nurgana inly said. ¡°I understand what you mean.¡± Lin Sheng nodded slightly. And the so called world rejection reaction was first proposed by him. As a member of the research team, Lin Sheng¡¯s research capability was beyond any ordinary schrs, and after obtaining the blessing of the world, through the Holy Sanctum, and performing his research; he had boldly proposed a conjecture that the world was itself a living being with a hazy instinctual consciousness. And with that conjecture as a core, he had created a model that had unexpectedly exined many prior phenomenons and natural events had previous could not be exined. And the world rejection reaction was one of them. ¡°If we totally lose our anchor, what will we exactly face?¡± Tenko Kasumi closed her eyes slightly, as if she was pretending to be asleep, and at this moment she nonchntly popped a question and attracted the attention of everyone else. ¡°The souls of our people are in essence, not the original denizens of the Corpsedemon world, and the biggest possibility will that they be forcibly expelled by the world.¡± Nurgana exined. ¡°That¡¯s really troublesome. Can¡¯t this phenomenon be resolved?¡± Tenko Kasumi frowned a little. ¡°Yes, but it takes time, and before we could resolve the issue of the world rejection reaction, we need to guarantee the safety and stability of the anchor.¡± Nurgana further exined. ¡°And next, the research institute should focus fully on the model of oveing the world rejection, we need to get a solution at the soonest.¡± Lin Sheng concluded. ¡°Understood!¡± Adolf, who was the side, immediately acknowledged his orders. ¡°We have fifteen strong points over in the Corpsedemon world. We can start sending in Oppressor-ss officials over now.¡± Lin Sheng ordered. ¡°So are we taking n A or B?¡± Tenko Kasumi asked. ¡°A, we will consolidate our undercover operations. And the moment it breaks out, we need to take over the public opinion. We need to expose the food chain rtionship between Corpsedemons and humans, and keep in mind that we are the side of justice.¡± Lin Sheng calmly said. ¡°Of course, the premise before the outbreak is after we resolve the world rejection reaction. But before that, we need to ensure the personal safety of Giving Hope.¡± ¡°Understood!¡± Everyone answered in unison. .... .... HAH! HAH! The wooden sword continued to stab and stab. Inside the martial arts hall. Pei Lin was fully concentrated on practicing the ckfeather swordsmanship taught by Lin Sheng. For the powerful basic swordsmanship technique used to train ckfeather City¡¯s assassin squads, the sword technique was early to learn difficult to master, and once someone finally breaks through their limit, it would turn into an extraordinary ability. And this powerful ability was to be ahead of the curve inparison to the poor martial arts system in the Corpsedemon world by many years. It could even be said that the entire Corpsedemon world did not have the notion of achieving a breakthrough through training. It was generally believed that even if they managed to breakthrough their mortal limits, they are still no match for guns, and even the best martial artist would still fall to a gunshot. This had also led to the people herepletely taking martial arts as a form of exercise and self-training. Pei Lin upied a corner of the weapons training room, and practiced the sword swings in a dull, repetitive manner, as she repeated standard stabs after stabs. And of course, the seemingly normal straight stab had actually plenty of muscle movements. These coordinated movements were the key of ckfeather¡¯s swordsmanship. They could turn a simple stab into a powerful training exercise that could increase the muscle group¡¯s strength. ¡°Pei Lin, still practicing until thiste today?¡± The most striking person in the weapon practice hall was the runner up of the city-level championship that specialized in twin des, Zhang Hanchao. He was hired by this martial arts hall to look after the ce. And he basically knew everyone that woulde here everyday, and all of them were acquaintances. And Pei Lin who had been here almost daily, had also gotten to know everyone there. ¡°Say, what are you practicing exactly? The International swordsmanship technique? Doesn¡¯t seem like it. Could it be some familial technique?¡± Zhang Hanchao asked out of curiosity. ¡°Nothing, just blindly fooling about.¡± Pei Lin smiled and replied. A few other regrs had also finished today¡¯s scheduled training, and came over. The group chatted as they headed to the bathroom. Pei Lin, as a beautiful high school girl should have been particrly eye-catching, but there was another pair of beauties in the group, a pair of twins that practiced Bamboa school of martial arts. Bamboa was currently the most popr leg-based martial arts, and needed to wear metal practice boots. And the practitioners are often able to adjust their body shape, allowing themselves to look more upright and beautiful, and more energetic. Aside from Bamboa, most of the group practiced short staffbat techniques. Pei Lin was among them, aside from asionally discussing with the others on post-practice maintanence, she had smiled and watched others chat all along the way. But she did not notice that Zhang Hanchao and the twin sisters was very curious about the swordsmanship technique she had meticulously practiced. ¡°Right, Linlin, what sort of sword technique are you training everyday here? We have never seen that before?¡± The elder twin, Nian Wei walked towards Pei Lin¡¯s side and whispered. She had long observed the technique Pei Lin was training, and her instincts told her that this seemingly dull training method was not that simple. It was not a whimsical practice, as that sort of focused concentration clearly did not look like something you would do at a whim. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I found a myself a teacher and had been casually practicing.¡± Pei Lin answered with a smile. She put on a purple training suit, and tied her long hair into a tall ponytail with a hairband. Her exquisite facial features radiated both sharpness and coldness, giving her the air of nobility and elegance. ¡°A master you found yourself? Don¡¯t go finding a braggart that knows nothing. You need to know that our every moment, if we train wrongly, the burden to the body will increase with time. And you might get a permanent injury because of that, so you need to be careful.¡± Nian Wei reminded her out of the kindness of her heart. ¡°Yeah, I know. Don¡¯t worry, there won¡¯t be any problems.¡± Pei Lin had high confidence in the method of Holy Light Shines Upon You. ¡°You know yourself best.¡± Seeing so, Nian Wei did not bring it up any more. Somethings are better left unsaid between friends, especially when they are not even that close. They then entered their respective bathroom. Pei Lin put down her wooden sword, and just as she was about to take off her training suit and go in for a shower, suddenly she saw a glint of light by the corner of the venttion window. The glint suddenly moved, and was about to escape. ¡°Who goes there!¡± Pei Lin saw it, and panicked as she instinctively grabbed her sword and stabbed out. Hah! The tip of the de travelled across the shortest path in the air, andnded urately on that glint. Crack. A loud crack rang out, as the glint was shattered by the stab. Following that was a man grunting and footsteps of him running away. Chapter 586 - Planning: Part 2

    Chapter 586: nning: Part 2

    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Pei Lin did not pursue as the person was outside the window, and was beyond her ability to pursue. She pulled her sword back and snorted as she gave up changing her clothes here, picked her stuff up and left. Zhang Hanchao, who heard themotion outside, hurried over, and when he heard that someone was peeping in the girl¡¯s bathroom, Zhang Hanchao looked furious. He patted his chest, and assured that he would give Pei Lin a proper exnation before contacting the manager of the martial arts hall. Pei Lin agreed to meet up with him tomorrow to follow up on the matter. As she left the martial arts hall, something struck her as a dangerous gaze seemed to be staring at her from a distance. She shrunk and stepped into the bus and did not dare to look further. After that previous incident, she had been keeping her distance from anything that could cause her trouble. But what she did not expect was that the moment she got on the bus a few passers-by around the street spread out, and rushed to other locations. A young woman sitting outside an al-fresco carfe gently put down her phone. ¡°The situation is under control. Wait for HQ¡¯s orders. We can catch the target at any moment.¡± The woman whispered to the ring on her finger. ¡°Continue observing and await orders.¡± A faint voice rang out in her ear. The woman answered, as she stood up and paid the bill before walking away. ¡­. ¡­. Urmand City. Countless of lesiarchs had changed their clothes and disguised as ordinary people as they spread out across town. These clergymen, when not using their powers, looked no different from any ordinary person. As for proof of identiy and whatnot, for these folks who were well-versed in dark powers, they could simply resolve that by some deception techniques. And Pei Lin knew nothing about it as she continued to practice everyday and epted Lin Sheng¡¯s instructions. But her father, Pei Shangyu seemed to have noticed something was not right as if somesort of undercurrent was slowly, but surely forming and closing in. And two weeks had passed in an instant. It was the weekend, and Pei Lin got up early. Her father, Pei Shangyu had the rare opportunity of being free, so he stayed at home to apany his wife and daughter. Her mother, Zhuang Wing was rushing her work in the study. Pei Lin¡¯s routine summoning had unfortunately failed once again, and the blood packs she had bought had beenpletely used up. And today, she was wondering if she should get some fresh supply of blood to use. But just as she went downstairs, she was surprised to see a group of tall men and women in ck leather vests in the hall. The leading man, wearing something simr to a military uniform was siting on the sofa speaking to Pei Shangyu. The moment he saw Pei Lin came downstairs, the man smiled slightly. ¡°Shangyu, have you thought this through? Your time is running out.¡± He said this abruptly. ¡°She doesn¡¯t know anything. Don¡¯t drag her into this!¡± Pei Shangyu looked furious. ¡°As your daughter, you think it¡¯s possible for her to be kept out of this?¡± The man shook his head. ¡°The n is very disappointed with your previous decision, so this time around I¡¯m here to exin the situation to you. Of course, if you still do not agree to give up your position¡­ we won¡¯t force you, as we are family, but the n will definitely be extremely disappointed.¡± The man said with a raised eyebrow. ¡°I had understood and even supported the wishes of the n in the past, but not this time. Regardless, the basic ts of the Daywalker Council can never be shaken.¡± Pei Shangyu recalled the motion the n had mentioned to him earlier, and his expression was even harder to look at. If he agreed to that, that meant he would be taking a stand that deviates from his principles. ¡°Is that so, then that is truly regrettable.¡± The man shrugged. He then stood up, and finally looked at Pei Shangyu. ¡°Shangyu, I do hope we can meet again like this in the future.¡± The group quickly left, and the Pei house suddenly became empty, with only Pei Shangyu and his family in it. Zhuang Qing walked out of the study with a chilly expression, and looked at her husband. ¡°These people are getting more and more unreasonable!¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Pei Shangyu stood up, his expression was simrly cold. ¡°Linlin, go ahead with your practice. Your mother and I have something to attend to.¡± He turned and said to Pei Lin. ¡°Alright, I know.¡± Pei Lin had figured that this probably had something to do with their work. Her father was after all an official, and had encountered simr situations before. This was neither the first time she encountered something like this, so she did not put it to mind. After greeting her parents, she then brought her stuff out and headed to the martial arts hall to train as usual. And two more days had passed. Pei Shangyu had received a notice from work that he was going on a business trip. Zhuang Qing¡¯s work also had some changes and needed to head to the surrounding cities, so the two had left the house after packing up. Leaving Pei Lin alone at home. The pick-up car had arrived at the door. Pei Shangyu picked up his suitcase, and brought the special n ring for emergency contact as he got into the car. The car moved slowly as it pulled away from the house. Pei Shangyu had a chat with the driver, and this pick-up driver was sent by the n. Not all of his n members were stiff as rocks, and there was quite a number that stood with him. So, he had nned to use this business trip to visit the n elders. But just as the car got onto the highway, the driving he was heading towards had him a little puzzled. ¡°Yuehao, are you sure this is the direction to Wuyan?¡± Pei Shangyu asked with frown. ¡°Yes, sir. There had been repair works nearby, and the old road temporarily cannot be used.¡± The driver, Zhang Yuehao answered with a low voice. ¡°Is that so? It seems like the roads around here have changed again, and it took more than half a year for them to fix that crack on the road.¡± Pei Shangyu nodded. ¡°Yeah, and the changes is bothersome.¡± Zhang Yuehao the driver was also helpless. ¡°Thest time I went back home using that road, there was a big hole on it for no reason¡­¡± BOOOM!!! Suddenly arge truck on the right side of the car suddenly swerved and hit the front of the car. The powerful impact followed by the high-speed impact then the car flying like a toy. Before the car hadnded, the windows burst open as Pei Shangyu and Zhang Yuehao both dashed out of the car from the right and left as theynded on the ground. ¡°Shang Yu, long time no see.¡± Just as theynded and was looking for the attacker, an old voice rang out from behind that froze Pei Shangyu. He turned around, and his eyes narrowed. ¡± The Temple of Joyous Sounds¡­ James¡­ you¡¯re still alive!?¡± On the road behind him was a white-haired old man in a red suit. The old man held a short sword in hand, as his white mustache was immactely trimmed. His eyes were deep as he stared at Pei Shangyu. ¡°There will not be anyoneing to rescue you today. Don¡¯t expect Bermann toe, someone will deal with him.¡± ¡°Seems like you have arranged this very well¡­¡± Pei Shangyu spat coldly. ¡°Yes.¡± Old man James nodded. ¡°You won¡¯t be able to escape, so does Zhuang Qing, and that ordinary daughter you left at home, all of them have been dealt with.¡± Pei Shangyu sneered and was about to refute. Old man James suddenly continued. ¡°Oh right, the person in charge this time is Pei PEng. The Iron Arm of the Pei n. I¡¯m not sure if you know him? Or perhaps you are waiting for the Pei n to rescue you? How unfortunate¡­ you are doomed to be disappointed.¡± ¡°Pei Peng ?!¡± Pei Shangyu¡¯s expression suddenly turned sour. He suddenly remembered the words that Pei Peng said to him when he came to the house a while ago. And the reminder his friend had given him earlier. And the men who had visited his ce a few days ago. All of these information suddenly linked together and became an answer that he could not believe. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!