Just a Little Talent

Chapter 20: Just a Little Talent

Boom!

With the force of Huashan cleaving, the Breaking Army Halberd severed the head of an Advanced Beast Soldier Reckless Bull that had been trying to flee.

Looking at the corpses scattered across the ground and the few Beast Soldier Level Monsters that had already escaped far away, Qin Ming let out a long breath and could not be bothered to pursue them.

"The souls controlled within the Myriad Souls Banner are indeed powerful, especially when facing a siege. They are extremely useful for attacking, disrupting, and monitoring.

"The only downside is that when they attack, they rely entirely on brute force.

"And after sustained attacks, the Monster souls become much weaker."

While satisfied, Qin Ming also began reviewing the problems he had discovered during this battle.

There was only one Advanced Beast General soul in the Myriad Souls Banner, the Bone-Eating Python. The rest were Intermediate and Low-level Beast Generals, yet the power these Beast General souls unleashed still pleasantly surprised Qin Ming.

For example, the most direct Soul Attack could instantly freeze Monsters of the same rank, plunging them into a daze.

That kind of daze was extremely fatal before a Spiritual Force User.

Unfortunately, these Monster souls only knew the simplest forms of attack. Qin Ming had tried teaching them some more technical attacks, such as the Spiritual Spike from Spiritual Force User Basics.

But even the strongest Bone-Eating Python could not learn it.

The Flying Knives they controlled were extremely powerful. In terms of raw power alone, a Flying Knife controlled by the possessed soul of an Intermediate Beast General was slightly stronger than one Qin Ming controlled himself.

But they likewise did not understand how to target weaknesses and could only charge in head-on.

"Although Beast General Level Monsters possess some intelligence, they are still beasts in the end. If they were Lord Level, perhaps they would be better.

"Also, the Myriad Souls Banner lacks a Main Soul. If there were a Main Soul overseeing it, perhaps they could be made to obey orders without fail.

"As for the Monster souls becoming weak after consecutive attacks, there is no way to solve that for now unless I take out the Myriad Souls Banner itself and form a Nether Domain.

"But now is not the time."

After storing away most of the Monster souls in the Myriad Souls Banner and leaving several Beast General souls to patrol and stand guard nearby, Qin Ming turned and headed toward his captain and the others.

As the owner of the Myriad Souls Banner, Qin Ming actually knew that it was somewhat similar to a Domain Treasure.

If he took it out and displayed its power, it could form a domain-like area. Within that domain, the souls controlled by the Myriad Souls Banner would receive an endless supply of replenishment, and their strength would be greatly enhanced.

As long as their soul power was not exhausted, they could remain at peak combat strength.

But even when he was alone, Qin Ming had never considered taking out the Myriad Souls Banner, much less displaying it in front of everyone.

Displaying his strength and Talent would make the Military value him more and grant him more resources.

There were only benefits and no drawbacks for him.

But taking out a treasure was a test for everyone else.

It was not that he did not trust the higher-ups. It was simply asking for trouble. Unless he possessed sufficient strength, he would never casually reveal the Myriad Souls Banner in the open.

"Captain, mission accomplished!"

Covered in the aura of bloodshed after venting the violence in his heart to his fill, Qin Ming walked over to Lu Haochuan.

"Well done! No, I should say exceptionally well—so well that it exceeded my expectations. Your Talent as a Spiritual Force User is stronger than I imagined." Lu Haochuan looked at Qin Ming, who was covered in blood, with some emotion.

As an Elite Advanced General, even he would find it difficult to defeat over a thousand Monsters in one battle, and it would definitely take him much longer than it had taken Qin Ming.

"But you still need to be more careful from now on. There is no need to confront Monsters head-on. The reason we humans can suppress Monsters is largely because of our intelligence.

"Long battles also consume a great deal of your Mental Force and stamina. Once a Monster finds an opening, you will be in danger."

"Hehe, Captain is right. I did get a little carried away."

Qin Ming chuckled and did not argue.

With the Myriad Souls Banner, he did not have any problem with consumption at all. He would only grow stronger the longer he fought. Every Monster soul from the slaughter was devoured by the Myriad Souls Banner, and even part of their vitality was drawn into it.

There was also a benefit to being violently sliced into a bloody mist by Flying Knives: when his Myriad Souls Banner devoured the Blood Essence, no one could notice.

On a battlefield, who was not covered in blood?

But there was no need to mention any of that.

"As long as you understand. Rest for now and let the people behind us come collect the bodies. Then we will continue clearing the way. We are about to enter the truly dangerous area."

Lu Haochuan nodded, but inwardly, he no longer regarded Qin Ming as a recruit.

In terms of strength, Qin Ming was already stronger than the other members of the squad. Only Lu Haochuan and Yue Shan could still suppress him somewhat. What he lacked was merely experience.

"Mm, all right."

As he spoke, Qin Ming casually found a place to sit atop a small building. With the Myriad Souls Banner, he could remain at peak combat strength indefinitely, but being mentally tense for so long still made him somewhat tired.

Now that he had returned to his teammates and had several Monster souls standing guard, he completely relaxed and immediately felt incomparably comfortable.

"Qin Ming, that was amazing. This old Zhang has finally seen what a genius is. Didn't you say before that you could only control six Flying Knives at maximum power? But I saw you controlling thirty-four of them.

"That is way too outrageous. How did you do it?"

Carrying his War Hammer, Zhang Hao sat down beside Qin Ming and asked curiously.

Since the team had gained a Spiritual Force User, he had spent quite some time learning about them. Most Intermediate War Generals could only control two weapons at full power.

If they controlled more, the power would drop drastically.

Thirty-four was simply unbelievable.

The other teammates nearby also looked curious and gathered around.

"Well, one of the Spiritual Force User Secret Arts I purchased is called Celestial God Records. Through practice, it can strengthen Mental Force and allow one to control more Flying Knives.

"Also, I use Grade 7 Flying Knives, and these few are Grade 9 Flying Knives. It is easy to kill Beast Soldier Level Monsters with them.

"Of course, there is also just a little Talent.

"My Mental Force might be a little stronger than other people's. I can multitask, and I can instantly switch between the Flying Knives I am controlling at full power, allowing one of them to unleash its greatest power."

Qin Ming spoke casually. This was the explanation he had prepared long ago.

Don't ask. If you ask, it is Talent!

There were only a few top-tier Spiritual Force Users in all of Huaxia, and not a single one had reached Planet Level.

Unlike the increases in strength and speed of Martial Warriors, Mental Force was mysterious and profound.

Couldn't he say whatever he wanted about it?

At the same time, this was also a test of the higher-ups.

"Just a little Talent?"

Zhang Yan bared his teeth, feeling somewhat offended.

As for the Secret Art and Flying Knives Qin Ming mentioned, he ignored them entirely.

What Spiritual Force User did not cultivate Secret Arts or buy good Flying Knives?

But Talent was something else entirely.

"That is way too discouraging."

Ling Qianye complained. Aside from Qin Ming, he was the youngest member of the special operations squad, only twenty-five years old. He had always considered himself a genius.

But after personally watching Qin Ming go from not even being a Martial Warrior to becoming stronger than him in just over half a month, he could not help feeling exhausted.

The group chatted on the rooftop. Before long, a convoy arrived from the base behind them, bringing a large amount of engineering equipment to quickly clear away the Monster corpses from the street.

Qin Ming also took the opportunity to return to the convoy and clean the blood from his body.

"Move out, continue forward! The city center lies ahead. Although we frequently clear this route and it is on the edge of the urban area, there are still an enormous number of Monsters. We might even encounter Lord Level Monsters.

"From here on, fight in squad formations.

"Advance slowly!"

After letting Qin Ming rest for a while and confirming that he had recovered his stamina, Lu Haochuan looked into the distance with a solemn expression.

Buildings loomed faintly beneath the shroud of mist. Only the ruins of some high-rises could be vaguely seen, while roars of Monsters occasionally echoed from within.

In truth, aside from the area near the War Base, all of City 003 was gray and hazy, impenetrable even to satellites.

There were far too many Monsters in City 003, with Lord Level Monsters entrenched throughout it. Monster hordes composed of tens of thousands of Monsters were too numerous to count!

Even War Gods would not dare let their guard down.

"Move out!"