Lin Sheng stood silently in front of the Darkspirit Gate. He had changed into a tight-fit special suit, which would be too snug for a woman to wear because it would look like she wore nothing.
But Lin Sheng could not have cared less. The suit was a camouflage he tailored made for his plan. The suit had a psychedelic coating called the Karisa on the outside. This substance could mimic the special scent of anyone, including the dark spirits.
He had not entered the dreams for a few days. Perhaps because of the frequent changing of locations, the dreams had not completely solidified. It was a shame. But in the real world, Lin Sheng had conducted many experiments. He had summoned the dark spirits and had had experience with them. By disguising himself, he made the dark spirits think he was their own kind.
“Good enough.”
Lin Sheng looked into the blue tunnel. As he extended his hand, streaks of blue pattern appeared on the back of his hand. The pattern spread, and in the blink of an eye, it had covered his entire body, which became semi transparent and glowed in a blue light. Following some adjustments, the blue light became a faint red glow. He was emanating an aura of the dark spirit. His body was semi-transparent and glowing in red. Other than that, he looked like a normal human being.
“It’s time.” He glanced back at Tenko Kasumi. “I’ll leave you to it. In case I didn’t come back, I might have to be reborn through you.”
“It’d be fine. Don’t you still have the Thunderbeast?” Tenko Kasumi yawned. She was still nice so long as no one crossed the line.
Lin Sheng nodded. He needed Tenko Kasumi here to make sure there would be no accidents to the tunnel. As a Palatinate, Tenko Kasumi was far better in strength than Lin Sheng was. She could react swiftly to any trouble and abnormality.
“See you, then.” Lin Sheng turned and gazed at the light-blue gap in the tunnel. He felt anxious, worried, hopeful and even excited. No one had ever done this adventure before.
Lin Sheng strode toward the tunnel. As he got closer, his footsteps sounded louder and felt heavier. Soon, he vanished into the Darkspirit Gate like a stone sinking into water.
Another yawn again, Tenko Kasumi glanced at the Darkspirit Gate. She lay on a lounge not far away, pouting as she waited for the return of Lin Sheng. On the surface, it looked like she was casually lying there. But in fact there was a faint layer of frost on the floor, by which she could kill any suspicious persons with ease.
“Hope everything goes well.” She did not know what her principal was doing. But she could vaguely sense he was carrying out a rather risky plan. Like tightrope walking, if things went wrong, the consequences could be dire.
….
….
A string of large air bubbles rose from the pitch-black sea. Inside one of these air bubbles calmly sat a burly man. It was Lin Sheng. He just came through the Darkspirit Gate. His body was shimmering in a red light, as if a man of illusion who would disappear at any time.
Lin Sheng observed the environment. He found himself in a large air bubble among the many bubbles in the surroundings. Except for the one he was in, there were no signs of life in the other air bubbles. No dark spirit. No life. Everything seemed silent and desolate.
“Am I in the world of the dark spirit now?” Lin Sheng looked outside through the air bubble wall. It was an endless darkness out there. He felt like he was just a tiny speck in a vast space. The experience was indescribable.
“What is this place? No living things to talk to. I can only wait.”
He could not tell how fast the time flow was. Neither he knew where he was. Sitting with his legs crossed, Lin Sheng could only wait.
The air bubble was still rising. It seemed like forever. He had lost his sense of time. Perhaps it had been just a day, or maybe two or three when he finally saw a faint red glow above. Looking up, Lin Sheng was excited.
He finally reached the surface, and the air bubble popped. Very lightly, he leaped onto the surface using the buoyant force of the sea. His eyes were still not adapted to the light. He gave them a few seconds and then his vision came back. Immediately, he scanned his surroundings.
Above the water was an irregular-shaped cave. The cave walls were brown and hard with many red mushrooms growing on the surface. In the center, something that looked like kites were floating in the air. Some looked like humans, some objects, some animals and some he could not tell what. Then the penny dropped. “They’re the dark spirit!”
Lin Sheng had made out the identity of these things. He was delighted. He knew he had come to the right place.
Dark spirits filled the entire cave. Some were big, some were small, and they had different levels of strength. He could see a few were reminiscent of the Darkspirit General he had summoned before. But the others were ordinary.
Beside that, Lin Sheng also saw a spiral red crystal column in the center of the cave. The column connected the ceiling at the top to the ground at the bottom. Floating around it were unknown silver light. But the light streams looked inconspicuous in a sea of red emitted by the dark spirits. It seemed to be a load-bearing pillar.
“Interesting.” Lin Sheng blended in by releasing a faint dark-spirit aura. He then swam slowly, got out of the water, and observed a group of dark spirits nearest to him. These dark spirits seemed to be asleep. Or maybe they were communicating with some faraway beings; they just did not talk to each other. Less so moved.
“According to the book of Deviltongue, dark spirits are a possessive species. With nothing to possess, they exist in an illusive state. There is no way to contact them except through the soul.” Lin Sheng recalled the little information in his mind as he slowly inched toward them.
With his hand extended, he carefully and gingerly touched one of them. His index finger was feeling its surface, a strange dark spirit the size of a football. It had one eye, which was open, and light was flowing like a stream of data in its black pupil.
Lin Sheng was guessing that it might be in the midst of communicating with humans. So he was very careful when he moved. The minute his finger touched the dark spirit, he secretly injected a tiny amount of holy power into it. That slight amount of holy power behaved like the most potent toxin; it circulated in the body of the dark spirit.
The dark spirit started to twitch. Its body wizened and leaked like a balloon before it became a red little bead.
