Nightmare’s Call

Lin Sheng started to meditate as he regulated the sacred power within him. He was turning the accumulated soul particles into sacred power, and while doing so, he was pondering how to maximize the Night Lord’s combat strength.

“The Night Lord looks smart, and his strength is almost unassailable. Except for the gentle nature, he is perfect in every way. Hmm, only if he becomes one of my avatars.” The idea vanished quickly from his mind as Lin Sheng realized that he was the supreme commander of the summoned creature. It would steal his thunder if he let the Night Lord become his last card. What Lin Sheng wanted was him remaining as the boss in command. He knew he was not up to snuff. But the growth of his power was tremendous, and he knew he would become the strongest one day.

“Then let’s begin the usual summoning. More commanders would help Shermanton become 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—Ironhand, Steel Leg, Golden Teeth, Silver Teeth, Brass Teeth, Iron Teeth—that 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 the last 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 Blackfeather City… Connection failed.

“Back-up mode activated. Begin basic upgrade of the Sanctum of Shadow…”

At night, a thin blanket of black smoke rose from the sanctum at the hillside and spread throughout the entire Sanctum Hill in just tens of seconds. The black 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 place. Meanwhile, a few TSSF members stationed in a nearby house observing Sanctum Hill with their binoculars saw the anomaly on the hill.

“Something is happening!” A middle-aged woman wearing a pair of glasses 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 changes coming. They asked us not to be alarmed. 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!” Another companion alerted. The black 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 black-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 Blackfeather 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—Energy 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—The Shadow Guard (summoning a powerful guard from the shadow plane 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—The Shadow Font (infesting and metamorphosing the sacred power font by leveraging the shadow font and coalescing the shadow plane to become 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, and last, the Shadow Font. This is almost a complete set of a standard template of divine spell release.” While his inadequate strength was still troubling him, the divine spells of the Sanctum of Shadow had become 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 class.” 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 overlapped 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 accumulate the sacred power gradually,” Lin Sheng lamented as he looked at the three addable divine spells, which showed the Sanctum of Shadow as combative.