Nightmare’s Call

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. A large number of high-density stones had been selected for building the watertight outer layer of the sacred power font. Lin Sheng had come to the factory to supervise the work and conduct tests to ensure every step was done according to standard.

The builders of the metal disc were not the average sacred power cultivators but grandmasters from Blackfeather City. Their design was nothing, unlike the rudimentary summoning circle. Lin Sheng divided the sacred power font construction into two parts; one was the core component, and the other was the less critical flange. While he only supervised the work on the flange, 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 and later to be inlaid 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 regulators at four different positions.

Lin Sheng had missed his classes and been working overtime for five consecutive days in the building of the sacred power font, which upon completion, the entire system of the sanctuary would be complete, 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 flash 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 Khadula, flanked by eight vault guards, were on high alert. In the center was the elementary white-stone structure, which was pervaded with a blanket of holy glow. At dusk, the air around the small structure was fresh and serene, like the soothing atmosphere in the morning.

“Purification is completed. Let’s go inside.” Lin Sheng led the way and entered into the white-stone building. The flash 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 will come 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. Slightly larger than a washing basin, the white object was fully covered in beautiful symbols and characters.

Lin Sheng bent over, picked up the object, and placed 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. The combination 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 Khadula. 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 become entirely white. A further two minutes later, 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 moment later, 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 secret compartment 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 flame that lighted up a torch; it fired up the newly completed system of the sacred power font with a large 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 flame. 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 flawless.

“Welcome to using the Central Sanctum System.”

“No wonder the magicians were so relaxed while managing the research lab; 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 Blackfeather 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 manipulation 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 reticulation 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 power network? 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 Words combined, 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 enlarged. The next moment, it had become 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.