Chapter 656 The Place I Am From
With that command from Joshua, the mass of spiritual energy on the ground condensed into troops, who charged toward beasts summoned by Eva like a wave.
The soldiers that Joshua had summoned had a cultivation level that was not above that of Superior Realm. They were worlds apart compared to the well-trained creatures from The Hundred Beasts.
Logically speaking, Joshua didn’t stand a chance. Shockingly, however, the number of soldiers that had been summoned was overwhelming.
There were at most a few dozen beasts summoned by Eva. On the other hand, there were at least a few hundred soldiers summoned by the Troop Summoner.
The golden leopard and all the other beasts who had dashed forward would have to take on dozens of soldiers each to even the playing field.
Eva could clearly see Joshua standing around twenty meters away, but she couldn’t close the distance between them at all.
Joshua’s eyes bulged as he sensed the spiritual energy surging through his body frantically.
At that moment, he was able to transfer his spiritual sense into the Troop Summoner and control the movements of each individual soldier.
Shutting his eyes, he suddenly appeared in front of the golden leopard. Just when it slashed at him with its enormous claws, Joshua transferred his consciousness into a soldier directly behind the leopard.
The soldier that was initially rushing forward on autopilot suddenly turned to face the leopard and jumped up, all while swinging the spear in its hand.
Roar!
The leopard let out a growl of pain. It turned and pounced at the soldier that housed Joshua’s consciousness, ripping that soldier to shreds. Unfortunately, Joshua had already moved into another soldier’s body.
Countless spears stabbed into the leopard’s body. Finally, after a few hits, the beast collapsed to the ground and disintegrated into shards of glowing light that scattered into the sky.
The leopard’s death opened up a huge path for Joshua.
Joshua’s spiritual sense was flitting around the battlefield rapidly to restrain each of the beasts’ movements.
It was only then that Eva noticed the problem.
Trying to fight against Joshua with a method like this had been a mistake.
The Hundred Beasts was an inherited magical item that required sacrifice. All of the beasts were created from the efforts of all the Salladay family’s ancestors constantly pouring their spiritual energy into it.
The process of refining an item like that was known as spiritual concealment.
As the name suggested, it entailed conserving the spiritual energy that went unused in one’s day-to-day life using a specialized method. Then, when it was time to battle, one could unleash that spiritual energy.
Because of that, the creatures formed by The Hundred Beasts would be wiped out forever once they were taken down.
Meanwhile, countless of Joshua’s troops had been torn to pieces by The Hundred Beasts. Even so, more of them kept forming from below Joshua.
It could be said that he was directly communicating with the universe using his spiritual energy.
It was impossible to use mortal power to fight against that of a god.
However, that was also the reason why Eva wanted the Troop Summoner so badly.
“Retreat!” she hollered.
She moved her hands in a complicated gesture, and the dozens of Grandmaster Realm creatures transformed into spiritual energy. They returned back to The Hundred Beasts.
“That Troop Summoner of yours is really something else, Joshua. However, it looks a little different from what I’ve seen in the records,” she commented.
While speaking, a thick wave of spiritual energy began to converge in the direction of the scroll that was flying around her.
“Ten years ago, Herman was in possession of the Troop Summoner. However, he only ever summoned three Divine Realm generals. How come you’re only able to summon Superior Realm soldiers? It’s not a knock-off, is it?” she asked.
“Does it matter if it’s a knock-off?” Joshua slowly opened his eyes as he grabbed the Troop Summoner.
He had only used the Troop Summoner for a few minutes in battle, but most of the spiritual energy in his body was already depleted.
Nevertheless, compared to the amount of spiritual energy that the Troop Summoner had consumed, the spiritual energy that Joshua expended was nothing but a drop in the ocean.
The bamboo board sort of worked like a crowbar. The amount of spiritual energy that it could gather was proportional to how long Joshua could last, much like how the strength of a crowbar was proportional to the force exerted by the person using it.
If he were truly able to summon Divine Realm spirit generals like Eva had said, that would be truly horrifying.
The scroll continued to hover around Eva’s head. Golden beams of light kept circulating around it.
It looked like something was trying to escape from the scroll.
“It doesn’t really matter. Whether it’s the real deal or not, you’re not getting away today,” Eva stated.
As she spoke, the spiritual energy within her began to swirl. Even Joshua, who was a Divine Realm cultivator as well, was startled by how powerful the waves of spiritual energy were.
Along with the bubbling spiritual energy, a pair of claws materialized on The Hundred Beasts.
Bang!
Following a loud noise, a nondescript beast that was around ten meters in length dropped to the ground.
It had the claws of an eagle, the body of a pig, and the head of a dog.
Moo!
With what sounded like a cow mooing, a perpetual aura of savagery flowed through the air.
“This is the strongest beast I can call forth—Hadrolodon!” Eva announced.
She looked at the beast before her. With exhaustion in her tone, she ordered, “Go. Kill him!”
Moo!
After that ferocious roar, the ground beneath Hadrolodon began to crack, forming web-like patterns.
Immediately, the spiritual energy underneath Joshua started to collapse.
Razor-sharp talons and pointed fangs came into view at the same time, and they went straight for Joshua’s neck.
Boom!
There was a huge explosion. When Joshua landed on the ground, Hadrolodon had been sent flying dozens of meters backward.
“Don’t let him get away!” Eva yelled.
Hadrolodon charged forward once again.
“Punish them!”
Joshua let out a furious cry. The paper fan in his hands was infused with spiritual energy, and he thrust it forward powerfully.
Gusts of intense wind began to blow. Lightning crashed down from the sky and landed right on Hadrolodon’s head.
“A formation of thunder? It’s the Hailstorm Fan!” Eva shrieked.
She gripped the scroll and rushed toward Joshua.
Joshua has already used two of the Whitley family’s magical items. The last one, Formation Crusher, is probably in his hands as well.
Back in Yaleview, she had worked together with Wilbur to inflict heavy wounds on Joshua.
As such, she reckoned she had to take advantage of the moment to kill him.
As long as she could obtain the Whitley family’s three magical items, the Salladay family would never have to worry about getting threatened by the other seven families again.
They only had two choices—submission or death.
Right when Eva was charging ahead, she was suddenly thrown to the side. A plate-sized hole had formed in the ground behind her, and dirt flew out of it.
The hole was created by the bullet of a large-caliber sniper rifle.
Eva quickly reached out to turn The Hundred Beasts back into a scroll, using it to block the sniper’s line of fire.
It was then that she heard a crackling sound from the sky.
It had come from at least eight hundred meters above her.
Even from such a huge distance, it could predict her movements. It was obvious how big of a threat the sniper posed.
From far away, Joshua was panting as he held the Hailstorm Fan.
It wasn’t just Eva who was stunned by the shot that just came out of nowhere. Even Joshua himself wasn’t sure what was going on.
Nonetheless, he reckoned that the newcomer was on his side since they were targeting Eva.
But ever since my identity has been exposed, the eight respectable families have been gunning for my life. So, who would launch an open attack on the Salladay family?
“It seems that you’ve played the eight respectable families like a fiddle, Joshua. I only thought that you were Wilbur’s pawn in Yaleview Army. I didn’t know you have gotten yourself a pawn as well. How impressive,” Eva remarked.
“I’m not his pawn,” a hoarse voice sounded.
Following that, a figure, who was dressed like a cowboy with a mask on, landed on a neighboring house as he held a sniper rifle in hand.
Using her spiritual sense, Eva tried to analyze the area. However, she noticed that there was a chaotic force field preventing her from doing so.
“You’re bold enough to challenge the Salladay family, but you don’t have the guts to show your face? Speak. Which family are you from?” she demanded.
“I’m not from any family.” The man chuckled as he clutched his rifle. “I’m from a place called Asura’s Office.”
