Nightmare’s Call

“We will have to make do with that considering the circumstances.” Lin Sheng smiled. “It doesn’t matter which side comes 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 is laid out,” Tenko Kasumi said.

“Not always. It’s still not too late to wait until the outcome 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—the 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 assimilated to the point where he was starting to lose grip of himself. His overly cluttered and broad soul made improvement harder. The massive and complicated soul power was the foundation of his strength. But this had also become 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 dreams lately. 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 success.” Tenko Kasumi was yawning big time, probably she was bored. “Since there is no action yet, I’m hitting the sack now.”

Despite becoming a lot more normal after having contact with civilization, she still lacked enthusiasm in anything outside combat. But there was a silver lining. To Lin Sheng’s relief, other than sleeping, Tenko Kasumi had become addicted to fighting games. At least she could kill her time. Otherwise, when boredom set in and the top Palatinate went into a rampage, he could do nothing about her.

Lin Sheng heard the door close with a solid click. The isolation 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 palace here protecting the teleporting station. There were solid black 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 palace 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 palace 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 palace.

Once outside, there were the other Darkspirit gates he had rebuilt leading to the other caves. There were four of them, newly completed, standing erect on the grayish-white square outside the palace. In the doors of the arched, light-red Darkspirit Gates were pure energy ripples.

Powerful sorcerers from the Fairy Empire were guarding the place, 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 minutes later 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—hopefully 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 penetrate the resistance of the stitched monsters and hurt them directly. This is something.”