Black Dragon Mercenaries. (2)

A middle-aged man that thrummed with the baleful energy of a devil-ghost quickly arrived at the scene and stood between the spirit and the rest of his men. He wore a long ragged black robe and had a vicious looking saber strapped to his waist. His entire being gave off an evil aura that caused all the plants around him to immediately wither and die.

As he caught sight of the spirit, a shocked expression appeared on his face. His hands already started to tremble, and he drew his blade, releasing the aura of the seventh phase in full force. "Damn fiend-devil! How dare you infiltrate this place to spread your evil! Die!" The man shouted at the spirit to increase his courage because just one look at it caused fear to bury itself deep within his heart.

"Ghost-Exterminating Saber! Send this devil back to hell!!"

SHWINNGG!

The man didn't even move from his spot as he slashed his blade through the air, causing the wails of ghosts to sound out in the atmosphere. Just that one movement of his locked down the air around the spirit, seemingly giving it no space to escape. But unfortunately, once again, the spirit wasn't something mortal men could deal with. It lifted its chain, causing the hellfire to burn the ghosts lingering around him, and whipped it towards the man's attack. Like a war hammer hitting flesh, the chain smashed through the blade, locking the man in its grip immediately.

"Ghost-Exterminating Explosion!"

The man immediately tried to use an energy art that would hopefully break the chains, but he found that he couldn't even circulate his energy anymore. The chain was capable of sealing the powers of all types of Gods and Devils, so of course, a mortal man was out of the question. As the spirit prepared to kill him, it suddenly felt some resistance from none other than Jin. It felt that its host was telling it something.

'We need to leave their bodies intact! I have use for them.'

The spirit didn't respond, but it just merely released the man from his bondage. The man didn't even move when he was released because his will to live had already been crushed. Almost like it knew what Jin was thinking, the spirit turned the hellfire around the chains into a serrated edge and spun it rapidly, cutting off the heads of everyone present. As it did so, it absorbed all of their sins, empowering itself and Jin with the negative energy. By this time, Jin didn't even know how strong he had become, but with the plan he had in mind, it wouldn't be too long before he found out.

"The wicked will burn, and sinners will suffer."

The forest went deathly silent when the spirit uttered those words. Every human or demonling in a fifty-kilometer radius could feel their souls being tugged by an otherworldly force, something none of them wanted to trifle with. After that, skin and hair started to reform on the skeleton as the spirit gave Jin control of his body once again.

As soon as Jin regained control, he couldn't help but be slightly shaken by the power of the spirit. He didn't think the spirit would be that aggressive in the face of the people it wanted to judge. But even so, that was not what had shaken him about it.

'Boundless power.'

Those are the words that kept replaying themselves in his mind when he caught a glimpse of what the spirit was capable of. Soon enough, though, Jin Tian regained his composure and looked around at the mercenaries' bodies. Their heads were cleaning separated from their bodies, and Jin Tian could even see the remnants of their souls lingering around their bodies as if they were all still trying to cling to life. He slowly walked over to each of them and used his long fingernails to make a small cut on his wrist, causing blood to pour out of it. He then let the blood fall into their exposed wounds. A small smile appeared across his face as he thought, 'Although not a strong one right now, at least I can establish a power base for some protection. I don't know any martial arts, and the intermediate level of fighting that I learned in my past life wouldn't help me that much here. Being weak is not an option.'

Almost immediately after the blood got into their bodies, their heads started to reconnect visibly with it. Of course, Jin Tian wasn't surprised by this as he had just resurrected these men as his own pack of vampires. This kind of regeneration is expected. A vampire without cultivation was already hundreds of times stronger than a human. They probably would be able to defeat a cultivator in the 3rd or 4th realm with pure physical abilities. Unbeknownst to Jin Tian, he had created a force that would be feared by both mortals and immortals alike in the not so distant future.

"Impossible."

Jin Tian looked back to see an ashen-faced Li Hu sitting in the carriage, staring at him. Li Hu had woken up not long after the spirit had possessed Jin Tian, and he had seen the entire battle happen. One couldn't even call that a battle; that was a complete rout. Li Hu had thought that the spirit would've killed him, but it turned out that he survived the entire ordeal completely unharmed. He couldn't understand what kind of power he had just witnessed, but there was one thing that he was absolutely sure of.

"Please! Take me as your servant! I'll follow you to the highest heavens and the vilest hells! I swear on the Legion Of Gods that I will never betray you!"

He had to follow this man. Li Hu jumped out of the carriage will still in chains and dropped down on his knees, kowtowing in front Jin Tian. In his mind, even if he had to kneel there for seven days and seven nights to get Jin to accept him as a servant, he would. Li Hu was a slave for most of his life, so he knew that if he just left this place, misfortune would find him once again. This was his last chance at life. He could sense that the man in front of him was destined for greatness. Jin Tian was surprised at his sudden request. He even wondered if he still had Li Hu hypnotized. But, regardless, Jin Tian already had his answer ready.

"Why should I accept you? Your body is weak, and it's on the verge of dying. I can get better information about cultivation from the men around me. Accepting you as a servant wouldn't have benefits for me."

There was no change in Li Hu's expression as he heard Jin Tian's words. Everything that was just said was entirely correct. But he couldn't back down from this opportunity. His face was deep in the dirt by this point, but he didn't care.

"You're completely correct. But I will kneel here until you acknowledge me. I will show you that even though I'm weak now, with your blessing, I can become someone who can trust with your life."

Jin Tian raised an eyebrow as he heard Li Hu's words. He never expected such determination from a seemingly weak-willed individual. A small smile appeared on Jin Tian's face as he said, "Interesting. Alright, let's see what you can do. Kneel here for as long as you can. Even if you're about to die, you cannot move. Let's see how long you will survive."

Li Hu's eyes shone with even more determination now that he had gotten Jin Tian to give him a test. Now, all he had to do was pass it. By this time, the mercenaries that were dead before were healed entirely and were now "alive" once more. A mighty aura rolled off of each of them, especially the one who was once known as their leader. He was hundreds of times stronger than before, even though he was still in the seventh level. Jin Tian had wanted to also resurrect the bandits that brought him here, but he ended up deciding against it. It would just be a waste of blood.

The mercenaries immediately recognized their master and dropped down on one knee, greeting him with the utmost respect. "Master!"

Jin Tian just nodded his head and commanded them to take him inside their headquarters as, for the moment, he had to gather information about this world. He was just too ignorant about his surroundings. This was the beginning of his new life, at least a more promising beginning than almost being enslaved.