Nightmare’s Call

According to Lin Sheng’s calculation, 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 net 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-class outsider had openly come to the town.

Finally, a team of teaching assistants and professors from the university had arrived to take over their patrol mission. Mission accomplished 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 having completed 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 oblations from those latecomers 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 chief commander, 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 us completing 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 chief commander 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 the large-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 temporary command 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 temporary command 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 the command center was possible. The jamming field generated by dark spirits could not isolate 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, magnetic 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 plan to send in?”

Kerntis smiled. “Those at the top are transferring the powerful ones to form the law 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 said last time. Also, the last 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—the Dimensional Stone?” Icefall asked.

“I did. Four Wings max. Otherwise, it could get very dangerous and affect dimensional fluctuations. Besides, we plan 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 become a member of the exploration team, hunting and killing in the little Ashen World.