Chapter 882: What A Big, Handsome Hawk!
Lin Huang only slept for less than four hours and woke up when it was around 7 a.m. His exhaustion fighting the remnant of the will was now washed away.
To a person on immortal-level, sleeping two to three hours a day would suffice. In reality, not sleeping for a few days would not pose a problem, except that he might be a little tired.
It would not be an issue if he was fighting someone ordinary. However, the slightest deterioration in performance due to his personal condition would cause defeat. When it came to fighting, proper rest was mandatory because the worst that could happen with a poor condition would be death.
Lin Huang made it a habit to maintain sufficient sleep every day. Having sufficient sleep allowed him to do whatever he wanted to do with all the energy and focus that he had, resulting in higher efficiency compared to if he lacked rest.
In reality, many transcendent-level people did the same. They would sleep at night if they did not encounter any unusual situations.
Lin Huang bumped into Tan Lang when he left after washing up.
"Let's have breakfast together. I'll tell you about what we discussed yesterday as we eat," Tan Lang invited, wearing a smile.
The inn did not provide breakfast in the morning, but there was a noodle stall that served delicious noodles and was open in the morning not far from the inn.
The duo headed straight to the noodle stall without hesitation when they arrived downstairs.
It was still early. Most of the tables in the noodle stall were vacant; only four of them were occupied.
Lin Huang and Tan Lang walked straight in and sat at a table by the window. Lin Huang ordered a bowl of regular beef noodles while Tan Lang ordered a bowl of assorted beef noodles. They also ordered two appetizers.
Tan Lang went over the discussion they had last night in a low tone to Lin Huang before the food was served.
"We have limited immortal-level powerhouses here compared to the number of monsters in the monster horde. So, in the discussion last night, we decided that we would mainly guard the area where the two city gates are. We'll place some long-range experts in the city to patrol the city walls and prevent monsters from climbing in.
"There'll be high-level immortal-level monsters next. Although your ability's strong enough to fight them, it'll spell trouble if you drown in the monster horde. Since you're a psychic and skilled in long-range attack, you should stay in the city to guard the city walls. Just get your summoning beasts to fight outside the city." Tan Lang was worried that something might happen to Lin Huang. After all, an Imperial Censor was not known for being talented in close-ranged attacks. Moreover, Lin Huang was a psychic which made him more suitable to defend the city.
"Oh right, I've been meaning to ask, how many imperial monsters can you summon?"
Lin Huang was stunned for a moment upon hearing that question. The summoning number an ordinary Imperial Censor would have flashed in his mind before he gave his answer. "Five, at best."
Under normal circumstances, most Imperial Censors would be restricted by their soul before they get to holy fire-level and they could only handle one imperial monster. Some who were talented could handle two at the most. Those were considered talented Imperial Censors while those who could handle three imperial monsters would be geniuses.
When they got to holy fire-level especially golden flame-level, most Imperial Censors could handle two to three imperial monsters at the same time since they had ample power within their souls. Only a handful could handle more than four imperial monsters at once, which was a rare feat.
Upon achieving immortal-level, most Imperial Censors would be able to handle more than four imperial monsters. It would be normal for one to handle five, but it was rare for an Imperial Censor to handle more than six.
His declaration of being able to handle a maximum of five imperial monsters would imply that he was an Imperial Censor who was above average.
Apart from taking that into consideration, Lin Huang even contemplated the summoning beasts that he could reveal at that moment. He only had five summoning beasts with rather low combat ability.
They were the Herculean King, Bing Wang, Thunder, the Malachian Fiend, and Bloody Robe.
In reality, he was unwilling to summon the Malachian Fiend. Defense-wise, the Malachian Fiend ranked second below Tyrant. Even imperial-level black gold-rank monsters could not break through its defenses.
Fortunately, the current monster horde was only high-level immortal-level. If they were to encounter triple mutated immortal-level rank-9 monsters that had a more powerful defense, it would make sense if they could not get through its defenses. The Herculean King could do the same and the rest should not be able to see through the Malachian Fiend's unusual trait.
"Why don't you keep one with you and the remaining four follow us? We'll get two of them each at the two city gates." Seeing Lin Huang frown a little as he answered that, Tan Lang thought he was unwilling to talk about his qualification as an Imperial Censor. He then shifted the topic to the imperial monsters' abilities immediately after he was done with the arrangement.
"How are the other imperial monsters' ability compared to the Herculean King?"
"They're more or less the same, I guess." Lin Huang smiled wryly. He had 22 immortal-level rank-9 summoning beasts under him at the moment.
The top echelon with combined abilities would include the three pseudo-mythical-level monsters: Lancelot, Killer, and the Evil Dominator, as well as Bloody that owned an army, and the two knights who could merge with the Dark Crescent Snakes. Grimace who owned puppet relics, Kylie, her army, and Warlord were considered in the same echelon as well.
The second echelon consisted of Bai, Charcoal, Tyrant, and the rest. Bai, Charcoal, and Tyrant initially belonged to the top echelon, but since they were stuck on triple mutation at the moment, they did not have a significant elevation in their ability. However, Lin Huang knew that they would have abilities that were on par with Lancelot's as soon as they advanced. The Eclipse Boa, Bloody Robe, the Inferior Imp, the Malachian Fiend, and the Witch who was far away in Division 7 were in the same echelon.
Those who were in the third echelon would be the Herculean King, Bing Wang, and Thunder. The two Dark Crescent Snakes would belong to this echelon too if not for the merging skill with the knights. They would even be slightly weaker than the Herculean King and the rest.
Tan Lang was stunned to hear Lin Huang stating that his imperial monsters had similar abilities as the Herculean King did. He then recalled the Herculean King mentioning that his ability was the lowest among Lin Huang's imperial monsters.
'Was what the Herculean King said the other day true?!' Tan Lang thought to himself and lifted his head to look at Lin Huang who seemed poker-faced.
Noticing his expression, Lin Huang figured out what Tan Lang was thinking about, so he explained immediately, "My imperial monsters consist of different types whereby some of them are exceptional in close-range battle and some are great at long-distance attacking. Some have notable speed while some are experts in strength. In reality, they've different directions when it comes to their development, so it's unfair to compare them with the Herculean King. I said they're more or less the same based on their overall standards. Not all of them have the same stunning ability in close-range battles like the Herculean King."
"I see." Tan Lang was finally relieved to hear Lin Huang's explanation.
Earlier, he had secretly calculated the probability of him winning if Lin Huang had five summoning beasts that had similar abilities with the Herculean King.
What he had no idea about was that he had zero chances of winning if he were to fight the team of the Herculean King, Bing Wang, Thunder, the Malachian Fiend, and Bloody Robe.
Bing Wang had the ability to slow someone down. As soon as Bloody Robe used the Punishment Chains, Tan Lang's probability of dying would be 100%. There was no way for him to survive at all; the other three monsters did not even have to move an inch to kill him.
Naturally, Lin Huang would not let Tan Lang know about that. He was going to ask Bloody Robe and the rest not to reveal their real abilities before they headed out to fight later.
After breakfast, the duo returned to the inn since Tan Lang had told Lin Huang everything about the discussion last night.
The ten of them from the Heaven Alliance gathered at 8 a.m.
"Li Jia and Lin Xie will be staying in the city, guarding the west and the north city walls. Some people from the government residence will be guarding them too. The rest will follow me out of the city. Four will go to the east city gate while another four will go to the south city gate." Tan Lang turned to look at Lin Huang after he was done with the explanation. "Lin Xie, you can summon your imperial monsters now."
Lin Huang nodded and appeared at the entrance of the inn as he took a step forward. He crushed five Monster Cards while rubbing the pet spatial rings.
The Herculean King, Bing Wang, Thunder, the Malachian Fiend, and Bloody Robe manifested themselves almost at the same time.
The people from the Heaven Alliance including Tan Lang held their breaths upon sensing the powerful aura rolling from the five summoning beasts.
They were familiar with Bing Wang since Lin Huang had summoned him at the Stairway Tree before. However, it was their first time seeing the other three imperial monsters.
"Five triple mutated immortal-level rank-9 imperial monsters!" Shen Tao could not help but gasp out loud.
The rest of them were thinking the same but they did not say it loudly.
"What a big, handsome hawk!" Tan Lang could not help but exclaim out loud. He fixed his eyes on Thunder and could not shift his attention away.
Arrogantly, Thunder looked down and peeped at Tan Lang, then glanced away like it did not care.
The Herculean King glanced at Tan Lang as well and scoffed in disdain.
Only then did Tan Lang snap back to his senses and look at the Herculean King while feeling embarrassed.
"Alright, Thunder will stay while the remaining four will follow you guys," Lin Huang announced and spoke to Bloody Robe and Malachian Fiend secretly, reminding them not to show their trump cards.
Tan Lang then left with the Herculean King and Bloody Robe unwillingly while the other four, led by Shen Tao, brought Bing Wang and the Malachian Fiend with them.