Nightmare’s Call

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 planned 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 black 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 black seawater flowed out from the gaps in the reef and transformed into a two-meter-tall man. Half of his bearded face had turned black 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 place. I can smell blood and flesh now.” Quasar took a long deep breath. His decaying large 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.” Quasar laughed 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’s lame!” Quasar burst into scornful laughter. “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 place 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 hideous laughter.

…

“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 fella 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?” Khadula 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 for completing 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 fella called Bloodeye wounded Quasar. Could his appearance this time have something to do with Bloodeye?”

“Don’t worry, Lin Sheng, I have placed our men in the cities around Shermanton. We will know immediately if anything happens.” A smile spread across Khadula’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 Khadula 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 relay 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 Khadula possessed such a terrific ability. As a life form that resulted from the aggregation of many living souls, each of Khadula’s avatars could act independently. To put it in another way, Khadula was an assemblage of a myriad of consciousness. It was just that the attributes she displayed were only of the prevalent individual, which was Khadula. But that did not mean the other persons whom Khadula devoured had disappeared. Instead, these people had become something like the living cells in Khadula’s body.

“Lin Sheng, isn’t Khadula 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.”