Nightmare's Call

“I’m speechless!” Lin Sheng whined. Perhaps what he wanted to summon was useless and also the most powerful councillor-class being ever.

“Let’s summon first and talk later!” He would not allow himself to be distracted again. There was still room in his soul after collecting the souls of the four man-crazy women and the Night Lord, which meant he could summon a second councillor-class creature.

After getting out of bed, Lin Sheng put on his clothes and hastened to the warehouse where all the summoning materials were. It was the place he would go to whenever he wanted the summoning ingredients.

...

“Do you mean I will die if someone reaps the Paragon of Destiny from my body?” Inside a luxury hotel suite, Adolf looked at the man and the woman in blue, dumbfounded. The two had come out of nowhere and told him that the Paragon of Destiny, which was also called the Sensible Fish, was inside him. The Paragon of Destiny was special in that it could heal any injury. What mattered most was that this secret treasure had somehow grown into one with him.

“Such is the situation! You’re in danger now! That’s why we come to protect you because the Paragon of Destiny is a trouble magnet. Be it human or not, they all are greedy. You have the treasure in you, yet you are powerless; I guess you know how things would end,” said the muscular and strong man, who wore a blue shirt, a blue baseball cap and a white ribbon on his right arm.

“The best way for you is to follow us back to the Astral Mere, the only place where the Paragon of Destiny could be isolated,” said the woman in blue. She was thin and had a babyface as well as bright piercing eyes.

“But I have felt nothing wrong with me since small.” Adolf rubbed his head, dumbfounded.

“That’s because you haven’t woken up to it yet. Now you are awakened. The longer you stay outside, the more dangerous it becomes,” said the woman, her voice calm.

“I feel safe right now!” Adolf said.

“You were just an ordinary human who did not understand what the real world looked like. Don’t you want to know who you are and why you are born with the Paragon of Destiny?” Coming from the Astral Mere, the two were confident of the prophecy of the coming of Adolf by great astrologers. According to astrology, Adolf was a typical rich kid, who did not understand about supernatural abilities. They thought what they needed to do was to pull a few tricks and Adolf would believe in him. But now what?

“I will be safe by going to the Astral Mere? I don’t think so. We only meet for the first time, and I don’t know you two.” Adolf shook his head. If not for the government agent’s request, he would not meet the two. He was busy helping his teacher. But when he met them, their caliber and the crap they spewed were utterly disappointing to him.

The two found Adolf’s reaction was puzzling. The reality seemed to be different from what they learned from the great astrologer. Two months ago, Adolf still looked like an ordinary human two months ago, but things had changed now.

“Long story short, someone with very impressive skills was desperate to heal from his injury, and your appearance has become his last hope! He will surely send someone to look for you! There is no way you can resist! If you don’t leave now, it will be too late by then!” the man wearing blue clothes urged.

However, Adolf shook his head. “Impressive? How impressive? I feel safer with my teacher in command in Shermanton than going to your Astral Mere.”

“You have no idea what the Darksiders could do! If the powerful Darksiders were to kill off the big families and organizations, it would be like trampling the ants!” the woman wearing blue clothes said in exasperation. What teacher in command? Shermanton has only a few mediocre figures! The woman thought to herself before adding, “Things would become atrocious when the monster comes!”

“Fine. Needless to say more. Whether the Paragon of Destiny is in me, it is my business alone, not yours.” Adolf was not an idiot. He knew that they were up to no good when they desperately wanted him going to the Astral Mere. Compared to the ostensible promise that the two made, he had the solid backing of the sanctum. So why would he want to choose the Astral Mere over the sanctum?

“Let him be. He will not give up until dangers befall him. By then he will know we are telling the truth,” said the man helplessly. Two business cards slid from his palm as he softly pressed his hand on the table. Chen Huaien was the name on one of the business cards, and Cacophony on the other. And both had their contact numbers.

“We are leaving.” Without saying another word, the two left through the doorway.

Adolf felt relieved as the two disappeared out of the door. Earlier, when the two had called him and talked a load of crap, he ignored them. Little did he expect they would come to see him personally today. After the two had gone a far distance away, a thought came to Adolf’s mind. He took his mobile phone and made a call.

The call got through. “Teacher... I...”

“Come to the sanctum,” the voice said on the other end.

Immediately, Adolf understood what his teacher meant; perhaps his teacher knew about his situation. He packed up, went downstairs, waved down a cab and headed to the Sanctum Hill. Lin Sheng had not only named his private hill Sanctum Hill, but he had also formally registered it.

It was not just that the sanctum was on the hillside, but many folks also started coming to the hill for prayer and seeking divine favor. So the influence spread. Every few days, a few of the folks who came for prayer would be selected and sent up the hill to receive cultivation training. Also, as the environment of Sanctum Hill was conducive for body nourishment and recuperation, the place had become a popular destination.

As the black vehicle ground to a halt at the foothill, Adolf alighted and darted up the stone stairs. He did not use the main staircase, but the special passage reserved for the students of the sanctum. Guarding the passage was a tall warrior, draped in silver armor and holding a shield and a sword, standing unmoved at the entrance like a lifeless statue.

In the many times that Adolf came, he had not seen the warrior move. Even the warrior’s posture never changed. From morning until night, the warrior did not seem to have taken a rest. He used to think the warrior was a dummy until he saw the warrior killing a snake which was attacking a passerby. Since then, he had high respect for the warrior. The sanctum was so mysterious that there were more martyr-like warriors than Adolf could have known. He had seen a dozen of them, but there was no telling how many warriors were there in total.

Adolf hiked up the special stairway. When he was about to arrive at the sanctum on the hillside, he heard someone wailing up, and Khadula’s laughter of delight that sent a chill up his spine. He kept going.

Soon, he saw Lin Sheng standing in the woods with his hands behind his back, and Khadula holding a lash whipping out punishment on the students. Lin Sheng was tall, his face solemn, and his body seemed a size bigger than before. The sacred power in Lin Sheng continuously stirred the internal energy of Adolf like waves of surging tide.

“Let me see your Paragon of Treasure.” Lin Sheng turned around, his face calm.

“Teacher, I can’t help it.” Adolf forced a smile, unable to explain himself.