Chapter 35: The Next Pillar of the Nation, Soul Absorption Once More [Fifth Update, Requesting Monthly Tickets]

After resting for half an hour in the director’s office, Liu Gui led Yang Dai to the courtyard of the Combat Bureau, where five buses and three vans were parked.

“Yang, get on this van first. Someone will brief you about your specific assignment,” Liu Gui said, pointing to one of the vans before hurrying off. The entire province was in a state of emergency, and he had no time for further instructions. No matter how important an SS-level talent was, nothing took precedence over the front lines. In Hanxi Province, there were eight major cities, and one had already fallen. The situation was dire.

Yang Dai stepped into the van. The interior was quite refined, outfitted with six seats. Apart from the driver’s and co-driver’s seats, the second and third rows were occupied—by a man and a woman, who, perhaps feeling awkward, hadn’t chosen to sit together.

Yang Dai went straight to the back row—not because there was a girl there, but simply for the peace and quiet.

After settling in, a heavy silence filled the van. None of the three spoke.

Yang Dai had no mind for socializing; they were heading to war, not on holiday.

Soon, two more young men boarded. Now only the driver was missing.

After three more minutes, the driver arrived—a woman, to everyone’s surprise. She wore her hair short under a cap, and her special operations uniform lent her a crisp, commanding presence.

“Buckle up. We’re heading to Taihe City. You can look up the latest intelligence on your phones. The specifics of the mission will be explained when we arrive,” she said, starting the van as she spoke.

Once on the road, the van fell into silence, each person absorbed in their own device.

Yang Dai closed his eyes, trying to rest.

“By the way, who is Overlord Who Never Crosses the River?” the short-haired woman suddenly asked. At once, the other four passengers looked up, glancing at one another.

That name was legendary among them.

Yang Dai sensed trouble but answered, “That’s me.”

The four trial-takers stared at him in astonishment.

The woman eyed him in the rearview mirror. “Fourth level of Qi Gathering—your spiritual roots must be exceptional. I’ve heard about your abilities. I plan to make you the core of our team. Let me introduce myself: I’m Zhou Yingying. I’ve been a trial-taker for five years, and I’m at the eighth level of Qi Gathering. I’m telling you this so there’s no misunderstanding.”

“Overlord’s talent is summoning souls for battle. He can summon a hundred spirits, with the strongest being at the ninth level of Qi Gathering. He’ll be the core—you are not to feel discontent.”

At these words, the four trial-takers were even more stunned, gazing at Yang Dai in disbelief.

The internet had been abuzz with speculation about Overlord’s SS-level talent, but nothing concrete had ever emerged. No one expected it to be so outrageous.

“My name’s Zhang Han, fifth level of Qi Gathering,” said the man in front of Yang Dai, reaching out to shake hands. Yang Dai responded in kind, setting aside any airs.

The others introduced themselves in turn, and the mood became more lively.

Zhang Han, Qiu Feng, Yin Xiaoting, Guo Yu…

It was an impressive team. Aside from Yang Dai and Zhou Yingying, everyone was at the fifth level of Qi Gathering. In fact, Yang Dai’s cultivation was the lowest, but knowing his talent, the others dared not underestimate him.

On the road, Zhou Yingying focused on driving, saying little. The trial-takers soon warmed up to each other, browsing news on their devices and chatting. Yang Dai joined in occasionally, unable to sleep, and pulled out his tablet to browse the internet as well.

No one found it odd—everyone had their own storage pouches.

Fengcheng was more than a hundred kilometers from Taihe City. Once they left the city, they saw a traffic jam at the highway entrance—everyone was trying to get into Fengcheng.

Taihe and neighboring cities were evacuating residents, so traffic was jammed heading in; the road out was clear.

Along the way, the anxious curses and cries of stranded citizens heightened the tension among the trial-takers.

After two and a half hours, they arrived at the camp in Taihe City. Looking out, there were at least hundreds of thousands of people. Medical staff hurried back and forth; overhead, hundreds of trial-takers patrolled on flying swords.

Anyone capable of sword flight had to be at least at the eighth level of Qi Gathering—some might even be masters of the Heart Rotation stage.

Just like the man who killed the Dove Demon—he had certainly been a Heart Rotation master.

“Stay here and wait for me!” Zhou Yingying ordered before leaving.

Zhang Han glanced at Yang Dai and grinned. “Overlord, this must be your first mission, right?”

The others looked at Yang Dai as well.

He nodded. “It is, but I’ve fought for my life in the Deep Domain before. I’m not afraid.”

No one doubted him; the Deep Domain was indeed perilous. They chatted idly, observing the camp’s bustle.

Wounded were everywhere—even some trial-takers whose lower bodies had been blown apart, crying out in agony. The scene was a brutal reminder to Yang Dai and the others.

The end times had arrived.

Ten minutes later, Zhou Yingying returned, clapped her hands, and said, “Come with me!”

The five followed her out of the camp. Zhou Yingying drew her weapon—a knife, fierce and imposing. Silently, Yang Dai dubbed it the Dragon Slayer Blade.

“Draw your weapons. From now on, battle could break out at any moment!” she commanded, leading the way. The trial-takers complied at once. Yang Dai unsheathed the sword given by the Intelligence Bureau and summoned his spectral followers.

Tian Buzhong, Bai Wei, Cheng the Hungry Ghost, Shi Long, Cang Lang, and others—he summoned ten at once. Any more would draw too much attention.

Zhou Yingying and the others couldn’t help but glance enviously at the phantoms surrounding Yang Dai.

“From now on, keep quiet and follow my orders,” Zhou Yingying said, refocusing their attention. They set out along an empty stretch of highway, heading for an overpass ahead.

“According to the Intelligence Bureau, the beast tide will arrive no later than nine tomorrow morning. Our objective is to defend the overpass ahead. Follow this road for five kilometers—the overpass crosses the great river. Aside from flying beasts, any land beasts will have to swim or cross the overpass. Our job is to hold it. Don’t worry—the main force of the beast tide is elsewhere, but there are plenty of stragglers.”

Everyone listened intently. Yang Dai, however, scanned the area, looking for beast corpses.

After a few minutes, they reached the overpass. Yang Dai finally spotted a beast carcass—and soon saw more every few steps.

He was elated but kept his excitement in check.

Before he could even give the order, Tian Buzhong hurried over to inspect. “Master, dead as can be,” he reported.

Yang Dai turned to Zhou Yingying. “Captain, why don’t you go ahead? I’ll follow, absorbing souls as I go. With my phantoms for protection, I’ll be fine. Absorbing beast souls will aid our fight.”

Zhou Yingying frowned. “I thought you could only summon a hundred?”

“I can store more. The more souls I absorb, the higher my summoning capacity grows. By the time the beast tide ends, my numbers might double.”

As he spoke, he summoned Marshal Tianpeng and the Dove Demon.

Seeing two phantoms as powerful as ninth-level Qi Gathering cultivators, Zhou Yingying’s eyes widened, and the others were dumbfounded.

“All right, we’ll go,” Zhou Yingying agreed without hesitation, leading the four others onward. They kept glancing back at Yang Dai as they walked.

They had a premonition—this man would become the next pillar of the nation.

Such a talent was monstrous.

Yang Dai began absorbing souls. As the corpses were fresh, the spirits lingered.

This beast was no trouble for him—its cultivation wasn’t high, just another bird, no match for the Dove Demon.

So, protected by his phantoms, Yang Dai advanced, absorbing souls as he went, delighted.

There were no human corpses on the overpass, but he saw severed limbs; the bodies had likely been collected by the Combat Bureau, for in the Summer Kingdom, they insisted on recovering both the living and the dead.

After an hour of stop-and-go progress, Yang Dai had collected the souls of fifty-seven beasts. According to Liang Zixiao’s assessment, even the weakest rivaled a second-level Qi Gathering cultivator, while the strongest were on par with the eighth level.