Moonlight, pure as silk, spills across the world.
The evening wind, tinged with the chill of early spring, gently stirs.
This is a region scattered with jagged stones, surrounded by groves growing steadily verdant, painting a silent, frozen atmosphere.
The rocky expanse.
At the region’s center stands an ancient dry well, beside which rises a dark, massive bell. Atop the bell rests a right palm wreathed in glowing light, brimming with unfathomable power.
This is Andrew Han’s right hand.
"Forged from the refined essence of Jue Ore, this bell not only repels Specters but also blocks my perception of them."
"A meticulously crafted trap."
"No matter how exceptional my Inspiration is, I cannot sense the Specters hidden within the bell. Yet as I approached, you remained composed, unhurried."
A sigh of resignation, sorting out the truth.
Andrew Han slowly lifts his head and looks toward Leo Liu, who stands smiling several dozen meters away. His expression is somewhat complicated.
Leo Liu?
No.
What stands before him is a terrifying Specter.
And this Specter is capable of Peerless-level possession! In all the thousand-year history of the Martial Arts World, never has a Peerless been killed and possessed by a Specter—Peerless Leo Liu is likely the first.
He cannot believe it, yet he must.
"Inside the bell, there are Specters."
"Two Sect-Class Specters, each on par with a high-tier Martial Lord. I must keep pressing the bell at all times—if I relax for even a moment, they’ll blast aside this Jue Ore bell and descend upon the world." Andrew Han speaks calmly, his face bathed in moonlight as pure as silk, neither sorrowful nor joyful, utterly detached.
As if—
He hardly regards these two Specters as worthy of concern.
But Leo Liu only lets out a low, chilling laugh, and the gentle smile on his face finally twists into something warped and sinister, revealing a forest-deep evil.
Moonlight shines on him... No, the moonlight shines on its face.
It seems to have turned a ghastly green.
Obvious and unmistakable.
At some point, the Peerless Leo Liu of Empire Academy, the martial prodigy of this era, was possessed by a terrifying Specter—who meticulously hid its identity and even participated in the entire Peerless Prodigy Battle!
Terrifying!
A terror that chills the heart and stifles breath.
If a martial practitioner of weaker temperament were to see its ghastly green face, they would be so frightened their body would go cold and numb, unable to suppress it.
"The strongest Peerless of this era—Andrew Han."
First it lowers its head, then slowly lifts it, tilting its face in a grotesquely unnatural posture. "Did you know? You all could have lived a little longer. But you just had to expose Zuo Su's true nature."
"Regrettable."
"Extermination Plan—moved up."
With its eerie voice, hidden Jue Ore obstructions in the surrounding forest flip aside, revealing the terrifying truth.
One, two, three.
A total of three Sect-Class Specters!
Though they are ordinary Sect-Class Specters, the chill they radiate blankets the world, dimming even the pure moonlight as if heralding the curtain of despair.
"Specters!"
"Sect-Class!"
Jason Jiang's face turns pale with shock.
At this moment, he realizes the danger and makes a decisive choice.