"General, as per your instructions, all the timber has been bundled and secured," a young leader of the Tai Cang delegation reported as he saluted Rong Lu.
Nearby, many others craned their necks, watching Rong Lu as he stood outside the military tent.
Rong Lu knew what they were hoping for—words of reassurance. After all, the promised reinforcements had yet to arrive.
He ignored their expectant gazes and instead retrieved a scroll from his cloak. Holding it in his hands, his heart was uneasy.
What if he unfurled the scroll and nothing happened?
The five-thousand-strong party had traversed long distances, surviving on strange-tasting rations, quenching their thirst with melted snow, dragging their weary bodies through biting cold, and fighting off ferocious beasts. They had expended countless resources, including torches soaked in precious oil, to finally reach this place.
They had spent three or four arduous days felling trees and bundling them together. If they couldn't transport the timber back to Tai Cang, how could he face these valiant people?
"Rong Lu, is this scroll really the treasure bestowed upon you by the Sovereign?" Shu Jiao, standing beside him, leaned closer and asked.
Rong Lu nodded silently.
"Then why don't you open it already?" Shu Jiao prodded.
Rong Lu hesitated.
"Haha! When did the decisive and battle-hardened General Rong Lu become so indecisive?" Shu Jiao chuckled, snatching the scroll from his hands. "If you won't open it, then I will!"
With swift movements, Shu Jiao unfurled the scroll. At first, nothing happened.
Baffled, Shu Jiao muttered, "How could something gifted by the Sovereign be useless?"
Peering closely at the scroll, he saw peculiar figures drawn on it. These figures were covered in strange protrusions, their skin a dull yellow, and their eyes emitted a faint glow. Next to them, towering trees only reached their calves.
"Inject your spiritual energy into the scroll," Rong Lu's voice rang out from beside him.
Shu Jiao paused, then promptly mobilized his spiritual energy, channeling it into the scroll.
Suddenly, the scroll radiated a divine aura and emitted a faint glow. With a burst of energy, it tore itself from Shu Jiao's grip and flew into the air.
The scroll expanded as it soared, growing to hundreds of meters in length and hovering like a canopy over the crowd's heads.
Thousands of soldiers and civilians from Tai Cang stared, mouths agape, at the glowing artifact above.
"This...this is unbelievable," Shu Jiao stammered.
"Look, the figures in the scroll are moving!" someone exclaimed.
Indeed, the figures within the scroll had come to life. While the background remained static, the figures were sprinting towards the edge of the scroll.
Finally, one of them leaped out of the scroll.
A thunderous boom echoed across the land.
The ground trembled, snow erupted into the air, and even distant mountains unleashed avalanches.
A towering figure rose from the earth.
Everyone watched in astonishment as the enormous figure, around thirty to forty meters tall, stood upright. Its body was earthy yellow, appearing to be composed of jagged stones fused together.
Only its eyes emitted faint beams of light as they locked onto Shu Jiao.
But that wasn't all.
More figures continued to leap from the scroll's edges, each landing with an earth-shaking thud. One after another, these giant beings materialized, overwhelming the onlookers.
Rong Lu's lips twitched as he watched the growing number of giants. He had imagined many possible uses for the scroll, but never had he thought it would summon such massive, earth-colored giants.
Glancing at Shu Jiao, who was still slack-jawed, Rong Lu felt a pang of regret.
This was supposed to be his moment to shine.
Why had he, a straightforward and decisive person, suddenly become so hesitant and allowed Shu Jiao to steal the spotlight?
Recovering quickly, Rong Lu raised his voice. "Everyone, break camp immediately! We're heading home!"
Cheers erupted from the crowd.
Now the soldiers and civilians understood—the mysterious reinforcements Rong Lu had mentioned were these giants, almost godlike in their might.
Meanwhile, Shu Jiao carefully counted the giants: there were thirty in total. Each carried four enormous bundles of timber with ease, their movements unfazed by the weight.
As the colossal beings marched forward, the earth quaked, and beasts fled in terror. Behind them, the five-thousand-strong party followed, their expressions shifting from stoic to jubilant.
These awe-inspiring giants serving Tai Cang filled their hearts with pride.
Above the scene, a spectral face hidden in the night sky observed the procession.
"Earth elemental spirits summoned through a soul-calling array? No, they seem different."
The ethereal being mused aloud, "This small nation has developed remarkably in less than half a year. To think they can now summon spirits of such magnitude."
He gazed toward Tai Cang's distant capital. The land, rivers, and mountains were shrouded in darkness.
The specter frowned. "Still no deities enshrined? How can they elevate their national status without divine protection?"
After a moment of hesitation, the figure muttered, "This is a human nation. If I act rashly..."
"Forget it. Since I've stumbled upon this, and spent a few moments observing, I might as well do a good deed."
With that, a speck of starlight broke off from the giant figure and traveled across the sky, descending silently into the Hai Xiu River in Tai Cang's capital.
The starlight vanished without a ripple, yet deep within the river, a pale, disheveled, bloated water spirit knelt in reverence toward the distant specter.
After bowing three times, her ghastly appearance transformed. Her face regained its color, her eyes sparkled with life, and she exuded a divine aura. No longer a mere water spirit, she now radiated the majesty of a true deity.