Chapter 566: The Secret of Summoning

Sena Palace, a palace building with a history of over five hundred years.

It once belonged to a certain royal family; of course, that royal family has long since vanished into the river of history.

Over the past several hundred years, Sena Palace has changed hands many times, and each owner would repair it, preserving its original appearance as much as possible while still ensuring superior living conditions.

The current owner of Sena Palace is named Abel Green, a nobleman who is also a major merchant.

The kind of noble with an exceptionally sharp mind; he abandoned so-called noble face early on, instead using his noble status and power to frantically amass wealth.

He did not become a tear of the era; he became a tycoon of the era.

In their circles, although some jealous old diehards call Abel Green a nouveau riche, even more people want to get close to this man whose wealth rivals a nation.

Unfortunately, Abel Green is not a traditional noble; he dislikes wasting time on business mutual-back-scratching afternoon teas that look like networking but are actually meaningless, let alone banquets.

Aside from managing basic business, he is a relatively reclusive man.

Not dissolute in the slightest.

This day, Abel sat in the small garden, sitting calmly in a chair, tears streaming down his face.

His expression was very calm, showing no sign of sadness or anger.

Yet the tears would not stop flowing, and eventually even tears of blood welled up.

Abel let the tears of blood run down his face, soaking his exquisite, expensive clothes.

After a while, a distinct sound of footsteps approached; Abel took out a handkerchief, wiped the blood tears from his face, stood up, and looked toward the newcomer.

The arrival was a young girl, appearing seventeen or eighteen years old, with delicate features, extremely frail, like a crystal doll that would topple and shatter on the ground at a gust of wind.

Like Abel, her face also bore traces of blood-colored tears.

Only the traces on Abel's face had already been wiped away; one would have to lean in close to notice them.

The traces on the girl's face were very obvious.

She walked up to Abel, opened her arms; Abel likewise opened his arms and gently embraced the girl.

The girl pressed her cheek against Abel's chest, looking as if she were using his clothes to wipe away her blood tears, and also as if she were seeking comfort.

"We've lost a family member..." the girl murmured softly.

"Yes." Abel spoke, his expression still calm.

"Then—" The girl's hands clutching Abel's clothes slowly moved upward, touched his neck, and suddenly tightened, "Why haven't we received any news! What have you been doing!"

Several blue veins bulged on the back of her hand; she was exerting great force.

"..." Abel did not speak, his eyes narrowing slightly.

The girl released his neck and involuntarily stepped back two paces.

Leisurely straightening his clothes, Abel said, "Too many forces are meddling in the Holy Order; the situation is very complex. It's not easy for me to place my people."

"So you know nothing? Since when can the Holy Order's people kill us Divine Scions?"

The girl's fury, rather than grief over the death of Divine Scion Yu, was more like worry over their own predicament.

When did the Holy Order suddenly possess exorcists capable of killing them, or rather, when did it gain such capability?

Abel remained unmoved: "I will find out what's going on as soon as possible."

"You'd better get news fast!" The girl turned and left; judging by that back view, she had returned to the frail, weak appearance from the start.

"Heh."

Watching the girl leave, Abel let out a laugh, returned to his seat, sat down again, closed his eyes, and a cold smile curved his lips: "The summoned 'Savior', Tang Luo..."

Behind the Holy Order, "dragons and snakes are mixed together"; news is actually hard to keep hidden.

Although Abel failed to personally cultivate a councilor, he is still someone who can influence part of the Holy Order's decision-making.

It's possible the money Tang Luo and his group spent on their travels was provided by Abel.

This is naturally not aiding the enemy; knowing oneself and the enemy is the only solid principle.

Having been a Divine Scion for several decades, Abel has also operated for several decades, reaching his current level.

He knew the Holy Order had summoned a new batch of "Saviors"; he knew those Saviors' training results were impressive, and before long they could become exorcists to carry out missions.

He also knew the location of the Holy Pool.

Even more clearly, among this batch of Saviors, a true powerhouse had actually appeared.

Strength even surpassing the five Generals — at least from the information he obtained, that parasitic exorcist named Tang Luo easily defeated one of the Generals, Dupont, in front of everyone.

Then, he left with the five Generals.

Yu's death is inseparable from him.

Abel knows this very well.

It's just, why would he tell other "people"?

Lowering his head to look at the bloodstains on his clothes, Abel reached out, grabbed the fabric, and with the sound of cloth tearing, he ripped off the bloodstained portion.

"This kind of pointless weeping is truly annoying..." he murmured, "But I'll still need to weep many more times."

The corner of his mouth outlined a grim smile.

————

The mission info "Eliminate 300 demons" surfaced, then slowly faded.

Tang Luo's trio's mission updated once again, becoming "Find the source of demon births".

The mission had progressed to the third ring.

Even without deliberately searching for demons, Tang Luo, Zhu Bajie, Ao Yulie, and Xiaotian Quan combined — eliminating three hundred demons was a piece of cake.

Demons threw themselves at them, and they wouldn't run.

As time passed, mission completion was inevitable.

Things indeed turned out as Tang Luo and the others predicted; eliminating 300 demons was not the final link in the mission chain.

However, this "third ring mission" looks a bit like the last one, or possibly the penultimate mission, with the final mission being to eliminate the World-Destroying Demon King or something.

Compared to the previous two simple tasks, this one is relatively difficult.

The difficulty does not lie in combat, but in finding people.

Undoubtedly, the source of the demon's birth is definitely the World Destroyer.

But where is the World Destroyer? Even the Holy Group does not know.

Although the Holy Group cannot yet confirm exactly how the demon was born, they can confirm that the demon absolutely comes from the World Destroyer.

The demon maintains a human disguise and does not appear out of nowhere.

Instead, it replaces the original person's existence, moving about wearing their skin.

It cannot be said that it is impossible to achieve a perfect imitation, identical to the person replaced, yet it can also maintain daily life.

There will naturally be clues.

For example, one day you might notice that your neighbour, who used to greet you cheerfully every day, has suddenly become reclusive, and when they see you, their face is dark and gloomy.

Then, you should be careful.

Because they may very well have already become a demon.

If you find that your neighbour's family has also become reclusive, or even completely disappeared,

then you must be even more careful, for this demon has likely already killed someone, and thereafter behaves like a beast that has tasted blood—it simply cannot stop.

These are the pieces of information already confirmed by the Holy Group.

As for the manner in which demons are born, there are many speculations.

Some believe the World Destroyer hides among the crowd, appearing in different guises, selecting suitable candidates, and turning them into demons.

However, judging by the number of demons, such a low-efficiency method is unlikely.

Another theory is that the demon itself is both an infectious agent and the source of infection.

Because once a demon appears in a place, in the vast majority of cases, a second, then a third, will follow.

Cases of solitary demons are rare.

Like humans, demons are also "social animals."

This theory currently enjoys relatively broad support, and there are other theories as well, such as the World Destroyer not producing one demon at a time, but being capable of producing multiple demons.

Thus, the numerical shortcoming is compensated.

There are also some supporters of this view.

Regardless of which theory, the poor Holy Group has not updated any information about the World Destroyer for decades.

The most recent update was still brought back by Tang Luo and his companions—the information about the God-Born.

Bu Yi Si has already ordered people to store it in the database.

"I originally thought the Holy Group would know about the God-Born." Tang Luo looked at Bu Yi Si and said, "I never expected the God-Born to be appearing for the first time, and the Holy Group knows nothing at all."

"How could we hide information from the generals?" Bu Yi Si said with a bitter smile.

"Suddenly appearing God-Born—what is this?"

"Could it be the hand of the gods balancing the strength of both sides, bestowing a mighty saviour upon one side, and then giving the World Destroyer's side a 'God-Born'?"

"Not necessarily." Hearing Bu Yi Si's words, Tang Luo said, "I am now the captain of the generals, yet I still do not know many things."

"Alright."

Bu Yi Si took a deep breath and said, "What do you want to know?"

"From the beginning, I said I was very interested in 'summoning.'" Tang Luo said.

"What is meant to come will always come." Bu Yi Si thought to himself, having long prepared for this.

To put it bluntly, the other summoned individuals have already been trained by the Holy Group to be obedient, and are now out on missions.

After surviving the initial trial, they will become demon hunters.

Death—especially the death of a friend—brings hatred, and hatred becomes an excellent source of motivation.

Few can see clearly that the true source of everything is not some demon, but the Holy Group.

It is as if someone trained you and your friend, giving you both a chance to become heroes; in the first mission, your friend unfortunately perished.

Would you hate the villain who killed your friend, or would you hate those who gave you the opportunity?

If there is any difference, it is merely that the Holy Group never gave anyone the right to refuse.

Others also have not realized that they, in fact, could refuse.

Well, in the end, it is also very difficult to refuse.

But Tang Luo is completely different from the other summoned ones.

From the very beginning, he has been very interested in "summoning," showing full "wolf cub ambition."

He has not given up to this day.

And most importantly, he is very strong—Bu Yi Si cannot withstand him!

"May I ask boldly, why are you so interested in the matter of summoning?" Bu Yi Si asked.

"I thought you would not ask this question." Tang Luo said.

"Is this not obvious?"

When that group of high school students comes to their senses, they will surely also think of their mothers and shout, "I want to go home."

In fact, during this period, many people have experienced such a situation, only to be easily handled by the Teaching Group.

"Here, you can obtain everything you desire—glory, honour, power, status, wealth." Bu Yi Si "moved by money, enlightened by power."

"The captain is quite indifferent to fame and profit, only wanting to destroy the World Destroyer and return to his world."

A voice came from beside them—Luo La did not know when she had appeared in the room—"Captain, do you mind if I speak up?"

"You have already spoken up." Tang Luo said.

"Go back?" Bu Yi Si frowned, looking at Tang Luo, "I will no longer hide anything from you. In fact, there is no way to go back!"

"Oh?" Tang Luo raised his eyebrows slightly, showing no joy or anger.

Buyi Si glanced at Luo La: "These things were originally not to be told to you, but……damn it!"

Buyi Si suddenly cursed, loosening his collar: "I've always disliked the Holy Group's methods—summoning you to fight for us, to the death! In the end, they still hide things from you! From the standpoint of this world, I have no choice—I must protect my world! But from your perspective, I, the Holy Group, are just a bunch of bastards!"

"Continue." Tang Luo gestured for Buyi Si to go on.

Buyi Si's expression stiffened imperceptibly.

This behavior, naturally, was half true and half false, hoping to gain a little favor.

Unexpectedly, Tang Luo gave him no face at all.

Please continue your performance like this, making Buyi Si very embarrassed.

But what kind of person is Buyi Si? He immediately adjusted his mindset and expression, as if nothing had happened, and continued: "We can only summon you here; we have no way to send you back."

"Really?" Tang Luo asked.

Buyi Si nodded solemnly: "Indeed, and after one summoning, at least 30 years must pass before a second can be conducted."

"How are the summoned people selected?" Tang Luo asked.

"It's not us who choose." Buyi Si said, "but we can 'make a wish' to slightly narrow the range……"

"So you just summoned a group that's easier to control?" Tang Luo said.

Buyi Si nodded slowly.

Elementary and middle school students, young children are easy to control, but hard to form combat strength; high school students are just right.

As for carefree college monks, they might not be able to become demon hunters because they can't get up in the morning.

"What method did you use to summon us?"

Buyi Si hesitated, then looked at Luo La.

"Don't look at me; if the captain is really angry, we can't stop him." Luo La said.

Even without a two-pronged approach, Tang Luo now embodies "I am the big picture"—at least, a big picture Buyi Si cannot block.

Facing Luo La's answer, Buyi Si sighed helplessly: "The root of your summoning is a sacred heart."

"Does it have an owner?"

"No, this sacred heart is rather special." Buyi Si said, "It can resonate with human wishes, thus summoning you from another world; besides that, it has no other use, and there is no true resonanter—it has existed in the Holy Group for hundreds of years."

"Take me to see it." Tang Luo said.

"I really can't do that." Buyi Si shook his head repeatedly.

That special sacred heart is not something a vice-leader like me, the Holy Group's administrator, can bring people into contact with.

Even less so to bring Tang Luo, a summoned one, into contact with it.

"If you don't take me to see it, how can you confirm that reverse summoning isn't possible, to send me back?" Tang Luo said.

"Someone tried that long ago." Buyi Si said, "It was useless—I'm really not lying to you."

Talent is indeed talent, but talent is hard to retain!