Chapter 10: Soul Bell (Part 1)

Chen Tianyao cried out in alarm, “What are they trying to do?” Guo Shier turned to look and saw seventy or eighty altar-level professionals forming a large circle. The old man Shuai also looked up. With his wide experience, he immediately understood and said, “That’s a talisman array… using people as talismans. It’s an offensive array. Your master must be careful!”
Guo Shier immediately sent out a warning signal talisman.
Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan were somewhat frenzied, though they could still control themselves, they failed to observe their surroundings properly. It wasn’t until they received Guo Shier’s warning signal that they realized the situation. Luo Jie also knew things were bad—once a talisman array was formed, especially one created by altar-level experts, its power would be immense. He shouted, “Nanshan, break them apart!”
Guo Shier and Chen Tianyao launched an attack from the other side. Although the talisman array was aimed at Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan, Guo Shier understood that if his master and Grandpa Nanshan couldn’t hold back, he would be the next target. Of course, he wouldn’t stand by idly and charged forward with a roar.
Someone shouted, “Hurry up and stop them!”
In his desperation, Guo Shier’s frenzied energy came to the fore as a giant moon blade hovered above his head. With seven or eight altar-level professionals blocking the way—though they were all at the virtual altar or first/second level—engaging them would be troublesome. He roared, “Old man Shuai!”
The old man Shuai knew this wasn’t the time for temper. He immediately raised the Stabilizing Pearl and shouted, “Stabilize!”
Guo Shier followed with another roar, “Slash!”
With a howling sound, the moon blade turned into a red beam, its piercing sound splitting the air. The altar-level professionals in front turned pale as they stared at the moon blade descending from above, thinking only one thing: “Damn it, we can’t move…”
It was as if several bombs exploded, with continuous booms. In an instant, the moon blade killed five of them, while three more altar-level professionals were luckily stopped at the edge of its path. Guo Shier rushed forward right after the slashing moon blade. With a loud crash, the altar brushed against one of the nearby guys. That person’s altar couldn’t compare to Guo Shier’s at all—just a single impact sent him flying.
Chen Tianyao followed behind, taking advantage of the situation. With his fifth-level altar strength, dealing with lower-tier altar-level professionals, a single attack from his treasure was enough to destroy their altar. Even if those professionals didn’t die, they would lose half their life force.

Guo Shieru charged forward relentlessly, while the Eagle Demons and others sitting on the altars launched waves of attacks. Though not very powerful, they managed to fill in the gaps left by Guo Shieru. The talisman array was already taking shape; each altar-level professional serving as a talisman cast countless spells, gradually forming a glowing sphere within the array. By then, Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan had already teleported over twice in a row. Using teleportation in battle was dangerous, especially in group fights. But at such a critical moment, the two could only rely on their formidable strength to teleport forcefully.

Luo Jie did not attack the talisman array immediately. He sensed extreme danger and shouted, “Nanshan, use the Soul Bell!” Qi Nanshan paused for a moment before gritting his teeth and saying, “Okay, use the Soul Bell!”

The Soul Bell—a sacred artifact. For those who practiced the Soul Altar path, they could only possess two such artifacts in their lifetime, both formed from Soul Fire. One was a giant palm, and the other was their personal sacred artifact. Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan shared the same heritage; their personal sacred artifacts were Soul Bells, also created from Soul Fire. The difference was that the Soul Bell required extensive soul refinement.

Both of their Soul Bells were still unfinished. Luo Jie’s was slightly more advanced. Qi Nanshan had only begun refining his after reaching the sixth level of the altar, and it was only after reaching the seventh level that he could barely use it.

Although the talisman array hadn’t fully formed yet, the dazzling light it emitted already carried countless runes for protection, with a massive force spreading out. This was why Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan hadn’t charged in.

Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan took positions on either side. Not far ahead was the talisman array formed by the Gu Mi family’s professionals. Meanwhile, Guo Shieru continued to charge desperately, but his speed couldn’t match that of his master.

A bell-shaped sacred artifact appeared. It rose from Luo Jie’s altar, about five meters tall, smaller at the top and larger at the bottom, no different from the bells Guo Shieru had seen in his past life. The bell seemed somewhat illusory, with layers of flames sealed inside by runes. The purplish-black Soul Bell slowly rose, reaching three meters above the altar in just a few breaths.

Luo Jie glanced up and satisfactorily cast a series of spells.

In comparison, Qi Nanshan’s Soul Bell was far inferior. Its color was light black with a slight purple tint—this purple was actually purple rune fire. The two types of flames hadn’t merged well, giving it an unharmonious appearance. The runes were layered, but it lacked a sense of solidity. Qi Nanshan’s Soul Bell was less than four meters tall and hung above his altar as well.

A few bold altar-level professionals tried to interfere with the two. Luo Jie gave a light tap, and suddenly a bell sound rang out.
Buzz!
That tap was merely Luo Jie’s test—rings of waves spread at a speed visible to the naked eye. The professionals who wanted to disrupt him were as if struck by lightning, trembling as they fell downward. As soon as they hit the ground, several altars appeared. Those people let out deafening roars from the tops of the altars, their entire bodies engulfed in raging flames.
This was the first time the Soul Bell was used. Although Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan had been refining it for days, they had never tried it before and didn’t know just how powerful it was. Seeing that just a light tap had easily killed several altar-level professionals, excitement flashed in both of their eyes.
They exchanged a glance, nodded excitedly, then simultaneously and in perfect coordination gave another strong tap to the Soul Bell.
At that moment, Guo Shier also rushed toward the magic array, about a hundred meters away. He was cautious enough not to collide directly with it. The array, still in its early stages, already possessed the power of a formation—colliding with it would surely result in heavy losses. The old man also shouted frantically, “Don’t hit it, little master! Absolutely not again!”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “I know. Am I that stupid?”
The old man replied, “Who knows if you’ll be that stupid when you go crazy!”
Annoyed, Guo Shier swung his sword and shouted, “Slash!” The old man chanted incantations repeatedly to enhance the attack power of the Moon Blade. With a loud explosion, the magic array suddenly started spinning rapidly, generating a massive force that pushed the Moon Blade away. Just then, two melodious bell sounds rang out.
At first, the sounds weren’t loud, but in an instant, they changed, becoming as resonant as giant bells, shaking the heavens. Guo Shier panicked and retreated desperately. Chen Tianyao, his face pale, also stepped back.
In an instant, the two retreated over a thousand meters. Guo Shier exclaimed in horror, “What the hell is that…?”
The old man’s expression turned grave. He said, “Could it be the Soul Bell? Retreat further! Hurry… quickly!”
Guo Shier and Chen Tianyao retreated again.
With one tap from Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan, the Soul Bell trembled violently. Countless runes mixed with purple-black flames formed three waves that spread outward in circles. When the waves from the two Soul Bells collided, a forward-moving flame was suddenly created, rushing toward the magic array.

The rune arrays formed by the professionals of the Gu Mi family also came into effect at the same time. They desperately chanted spells one after another, and the professionals on each altar were pale as death. They had already witnessed the power of the Soul Bell, but none of them could escape. If even one person’s position was incorrect, the entire rune array would collapse, so they could only forcefully resist the shockwaves from the Soul Bell.

One after another, the altars lit up. Hundreds of altars hung in the sky like bright lighthouses. Altars of various attributes converged to create a beam of light that struck a glowing sphere in the center, and a blinding light burst forth suddenly.

A violent explosion sounded, and the entire rune array was pushed back hundreds of meters by the fierce gusts of wind. Luo Jie and Qi Nan Shan also couldn’t stabilize their altars and kept retreating. Luo Jie exclaimed in surprise, “Huh…” He shouted, “Nan Shan, go behind them!”

Qi Nan Shan slapped his altar and vanished instantly, teleporting to appear right behind the rune array in the blink of an eye. The two of them formed a pincer attack.

Luo Jie stood up abruptly, pounding the Soul Bell with his fists as if beating drums. He roared frantically, “You brats, taste the sound of my bell!”

Dang! Dang! Dang…

Qi Nan Shan also slammed the Soul Bell fiercely.

Guo Shier and Chen Tianyao fled desperately into the distance. After all, the sound of the bell didn’t distinguish between friends and enemies. Fortunately, both were high-level altar professionals, and the distance allowed them to resist the impact of the bell’s sound. Yet their souls trembled violently, warning them of the extreme danger posed by the bell, so they retreated without hesitation.

Luo Jie struck the Soul Bell dozens of times in a row, unleashing massive amounts of soul energy. This time, it wasn’t a shockwave that appeared, but mist formed from tiny flames of soul energy. Thanks to the powerful vibrations of the Soul Bell, these flames turned into mist of soul fire, which quickly drifted toward the rune array.

The professionals of the Gu Mi family launched attacks in an attempt to destroy the mist. But the mist was unpredictable and ignored all their attacks. In terror, those professionals raised their defenses to the highest level, unleashing as much protection as they could. Everyone knew how terrifying this mist was.

Qi Nan Shan’s attacks were far weaker than Luo Jie’s. The soul flames he created couldn’t form mist but instead turned into flames like raindrops, pouring down on the rune array like a storm. With one attacking from ahead and the other from behind, their simultaneous assaults created a bizarre atmosphere. The most deadly element was the sound of the Soul Bell, which caused extreme chaos in people’s souls. Without the strong defenses of the rune array, just the sound alone would have forced them all to fall.

The magic array was on the verge of collapse. Every professional from the Gu Mi family inside it struggled desperately to stabilize the altar while also fighting to maintain the array and launching waves of attacks.
Guo Shier and Chen Tianyao stood at a distance. A series of sudden, loud bell sounds had knocked down more than a dozen professionals from the Gu Mi family near them. Although they weren’t killed, they were severely injured—unable even to keep the altar steady as it crashed into the buildings below.
Chen Tianyao said in horror, “It’s so fierce!”
Soul fire mist invaded the array. The soul fire rain sent by Qi Nanshan struck the magic array like a torrential storm. His attacks were clearly weaker than Luo Jie’s; the soul fire rain was barely blocked by the array, causing countless runes to flicker and vanish.
But the soul fire mist was different. No matter how hard the professionals inside the array tried, they couldn’t stop it from seeping in bit by bit.
The two altar-level professionals at the outermost edges watched in horror as the mist approached, screaming, “Help! Save us…”
No one could come to their rescue. The array was operating at full speed, unable to launch attacks—only defense was possible. Yet Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan continued to ring the soul bells, making the mist thicker and thicker, like rolling dark clouds slowly eroding the array. Gradually, the array was completely surrounded by the mist.
The professionals calling for help saw in terror as their protective barriers weakened, especially the souls attached to them, which began to melt away little by little, just like snow melting under scorching steam.
The array held out for less than three minutes before collapsing with a loud crash, followed by screams.
Altars fell from the sky like dumplings, crashing to the ground with thunderous booms. At that moment, all the surviving professionals felt as if the earth itself was shaking, with large sections of buildings collapsing.
At the moment the array shattered, Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan had killed at least half of the altar-level professionals, most of them those using phantom altars. Some of the physical altar users were still struggling, only to be slaughtered by Guo Shier and Chen Tianyao—who reaped a huge advantage from it.