A bell rang.
In an instant, this deserted coastal industrial district seemed to turn into a netherworld hell.
The drizzling rain, the billowing white mist, even those blurred and broken silhouettes... disturbed by countless remnant spirits, the darkened world became a terrifying domain forbidden to the living.
Then, in Professor Ye's hand, a second peal spread from the bell.
It was even more shrill, more piercing, more chilling.
What followed were frenzied shrieks. The cries bursting from the remnant spirits became ripples of spiritual substance that spread outward like tiny waves.
Insignificant.
But what if there were hundreds, thousands of them?
When endless cries and howls overlapped, what reached Ji Jue's ears was a dreadful lament that shook his soul and tore at his consciousness.
His vision went black.
These were no mere wails. This was clearly the Ascension Lineage's signature skill—Soul Impact, which directly transformed one's spiritual substance into shells to bombard an opponent!
A hit could cause dizziness and confusion at best. At worst, the corrosive impact of spiritual substance could drive someone mad, or simply leave them an idiot.
Once Professor Ye voluntarily lifted the workshop's seal, the remnant spirits outside swarmed in. Pinpricks of sickly green phosphorescence flickered through the rain and mist, gathering into an emerald tide.
After two peals, every remnant spirit went berserk.
Finally came the third peal.
The greatest sound was barely audible.
Beyond a certain sensation caused by its sheer proximity, Ji Jue could not even tell whether he had imagined hearing it.
Then, amid the mist and drizzle, a vortex appeared.
Beneath the darkened sky, endless phosphorescent lights gathered once more at the sound of the bell. Within the vortex, the maddened remnant spirits devoured one another, merging as though dissolving into a single whole.
Then, just outside the wide-open