Chapter 186 — The Youth Summons the Demon
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
"Tianbo City?
" The faces of Shen Mu and the others shifted slightly; they felt they had just escaped a pack of wolves only to walk into a tiger's den. General Xiaoyi smiled and said, "The Hongshan Sect's talisman-script command for summoning ghosts and dispatching gods is truly formidable. Tianbo City is also attacking the far bank; if a demon god were to join the battle, the soldiers of Tianbo City would suffer far fewer casualties.
Lin Ding, you go with them.
" That general hastily answered in the affirmative. General Xiaoyi waved his hand, ordering the great army to resume its march. Shen Mu and the others stood with bowed bodies until this column of troops had passed, and then the general, Lin Ding, smiled and said, "Junior brothers, let us be off to Tianbo City.
" Shen Mu's face remained calm as he said, "After you, Commander Lin.
" Lin Ding smiled and said, "Your Hongshan Sect has rendered great merit. Though only a handful of you remain, you can summon a demon god to fight for you; in the future you will surely reestablish your sect and shine brilliantly. Young as you are, your mastery of such uncanny arts fills me with admiration.
" Shen Mu laughed heartily, his face glowing with honor: "I thank the general for his kind words. By the way, General, though you are young, your cultivation is profound.
May I ask what realm you have reached now?
" "The peak of the Seven Stars realm. But I have yet to make any progress toward the realm of Heaven and Man. " Lin Ding sighed with feeling: "The realm of Heaven and Man is hard indeed. Now the world is in turmoil; we must act on Heaven's behalf, set the court in order, and rid it of the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, that traitor.
This is a chance — perhaps I can seize this opportunity and make a breakthrough. Young as you are, you too must seize this opportunity. " Seeing their confusion, he said solemnly: "Since ancient times, heroes are born of war. The greater the chaos in the world, the easier it is to advance. Why? Because the strong contend, ideas clash, and all manner of divine abilities and arts emerge without end, broadening your horizons and deepening your understanding. The pressure of the strong, the pressure of life and death, drives you to press forward and keep improving.
Take your Hongshan Sect's talisman-script command for summoning ghosts and dispatching gods — in peacetime, who would ever use such a spell?
Only in times of war does one have more chance to use it, and so to advance. " Shen Wanyun and the others found his words deeply reasonable. This time, that obscure spell, the talisman-script command for summoning ghosts and dispatching gods, had truly opened their eyes.
After the Hongshan Sect was annihilated, its surviving disciples could still summon a demon god to fight; and the fighting strength of that demon god was terrifying indeed.
A trivial, unremarkable spell had erupted with such frightening power; it had truly shaken them. The Soul-Pulling Charm, too, was an unremarkable spell with little power. Ordinarily, even when they saw such a spell in Tianlu Tower, they would glance at it once, cast it aside, and never study it in depth.
In terms of power, there were thousands upon thousands of spells and divine abilities in Tianlu Tower far mightier than these two unremarkable arts.
Yet it was precisely the Soul-Pulling Charm, a spell that seemed so lowly, that had directly changed the course of battle, making Yuyuan Chuyu, a frontier governor of such stature, suffer a great loss, so that Li Prefecture could hardly be held. The Soul-Pulling Charm and the talisman-script command for summoning ghosts and dispatching gods possessed no power at all; but used in the right place, the might these obscure spells could unleash surpassed whole armies.
Though Commander Lin Ding belonged to a hostile force, his vision and knowledge surpassed their own. But this also weighed heavily upon them.