Chapter 171: It's not that it's opened, it's that it hasn't been closed

The Soul-Calling Bell is just a tool; don't have too high expectations for a tool.

This was the advice once given by Professor Ye.

A tool only has meaning when used by someone. Likewise, the value of a tool largely does not lie in the tool itself, but in the person using it...

The Soul-Calling Bell is indeed a rare blessed creation; if you work harder, improve the quality a little, or have a complete set of accessories, it can be called a Heavenly Work.

It can be said that every Ember and Ether would desire to possess it at all costs.

But the reason why it has such an attraction to the Ember and Ether paths is that... other followers of the Supreme Good don't need to be so troublesome.

You must know that whether its creation is strong or not, besides being limited by the number of residual spirits, ultimately, it lies in the artisan's own attainments.

In limited spiritual quality and materials, how to be able to calculate every penny, omit all waste, and maximize this portion of spiritual quality into a carrier of destruction.

Thereby maximizing the transformation of the artisan's theoretical level into actual combat power!

The difference between the same bell in Professor Ye's hands and in Ji Jue's hands can be said to be heaven and earth.

If you just go and knead a black-skinned big lizard based on your own imagination, and point at this thing and say it's a Godzilla, then at most what you get is just a look-alike.

Even without the enemy taking action, maybe a gust of wind blows, and it collapses at a touch.

Its principle determines that there are many limitations—it must have enough rank to withstand pressure, enough residual spirits to supply consumption, the artisan must have an understanding of the theory, it must originate from the artisan's own realization and perception, and at the same time, the artisan must be able to control it so as not to be backlashed.

Ji Jue has too much understanding and too much experience.

Since becoming a Chosen One, the strongest living creature and posture he has seen, he has recognized, and he can understand... besides the Sage Mercury who once cut off the Tower of Heaven and even overturned time, who else could it be?

This is the essence of Non-Aggression, and also the inheritance of Non-Aggression.

This is the essence of the Embers, and also the Sage of the Embers!

First, there is the experience and principles taught by the prophet, then there is the posture he witnessed and perceived with his own eyes, and later there is his own personal experience under the interference of the Blade of Change...

Ji Jue can pat his chest and say—in the whole world, no one understands Mercury better than me!

No one!

But even so, it is still too bizarre...

For Ji Jue, the entire creation process was simply unbelievably smooth!

The moment the thought of "reproducing Mercury" emerged in his heart, Non-Aggression operated naturally, directly taking over the operation of the Soul-Calling Bell.

Complex imprints appeared on his hands, spreading into the bell, and then, accompanied by the final bell sound, a wisp of flame light appeared from the infinite residual spirits.

From the matrix of Non-Aggression, all the traces and records left by the former Heavenly Human flowed automatically, projected into it, and displayed the template.

This is the most precious legacy left by Mercury to her successors.

She integrated blessings with the posture of a Chosen One, achieved herself, established the origin from the distant past, and appeared in the present world as the posture of a Heavenly Human, the perfect form of a Sage!

The image of ten thousand wings, ten thousand eyes, and ten thousand hands is just the most appropriate summary of this power in reality.

Just like a design drawing that has already been completed.

At the moment of this guidance and appearance, the spiritual quality extracted from the infinite residual spirits gathered spontaneously, formed the essence, connected the principles, fused the texture, unfolded the wings...

Finally, revealed the true face!

Complying with the successor's call, this power and wish inherited from Non-Aggression appeared again from the Time Ruins.

As for whether it will backlash...

Just kidding!

As a creation of Non-Aggression, it inherited most of the traces of the former Mercury; even if it is a look-alike, its disgust for Evil Foolishness is definitely above backlashing itself.

The hatred can't fall on oneself at all!

What's more, at this moment, whether it is the resentment and bitterness left by the residual spirits, or the vague instinct of this afterimage, there is not a single bit of intention to target oneself.

Even...

—Helping with all one's might!

Just for an instant, it tore through the infection and obstruction of the evil object, and once again held everything in its hands!

Even without the Creation Theory, without the Encircled Realm, without the many blessings already fused with the soul, without spiritual quality, compared with the original body, it is not even one ten-thousandth.

But even if it is not one ten-thousandth, it is enough to crush the evil object of the Evil Cult into powder!

At this moment, the Sage's shadow operates above the firmament, and ten thousand hands unfold.

The fluid alchemy that had already become an instinct followed the violent spiritual quality fluctuations, covering everything, and then, on the Sage's shadow that bloomed like a lotus, a finger lifted and pointed slowly toward the void.

Then, spiritual quality circuits like a waterfall sprayed out from it, covering the firmament, covering the earth, like chains, extending toward the angry bone wheel, layer by layer binding, layer by layer wrapping.

The celestial phenomena changed, as if there were sunrise and sunset, full moon and new moon, the crust bulged, as if the lake and sea were surging, and the rivers were flowing.

Heaven and earth were about to be recreated under this hand.

A vaguely transparent invisible sword was drawn from the void amidst the flow of all things—invisible to the eye, unheard by the ear, difficult for mortal eyes to glimpse.

But when looking up at this moment, all sentient beings could clearly feel: surrounded by ten thousand hands, in the center of the Sage's projection, there was clearly a sword!

Severing the signs of injustice, this is Non-Aggression; eliminating the distinction between high and low, this is Universal Equality; denying the established life, this is Non-Fatalism; establishing a world of mutual benefit without harm, this is Universal Love; recasting everything in this world, this is Heavenly Will...

In the flow of infinite essence, it gathered on the invisible blade.

As if a sigh left behind from a distant time came.

And then, ten thousand hands held the sword.

The edge of the world, from this, came out!

The bone wheel shook violently; on the flesh and blood, that green eye suddenly widened, the light in the eyes flowing, colors changing.

Infinite evil views, strange ideas, fallacies, and delirium flowed from the light, sprayed out, turned into a giant mirror from the void, reflecting the entire Time Ruins, splitting into infinite phantoms and possibilities.

Everything was changing; in an instant, it changed thousands of times; the world was desolate in an instant, and then it seemed to be full of human voices, sometimes decadent and pale, sometimes complicated and noisy. Wilderness, mountains and rivers, cities, heaven, or hell. Infinite possibilities emerged from the reflection of the mirror, blocking in front of the Sage's shadow.

But the sound of breaking and wailing was endless.

Layer upon layer of strange ideas and changes were all shattered under the slashing and piercing of the invisible edge, and the blade moved forward, destroying all evil thoughts and strange views!

The evil object branch that sprouted from the shadow of Ascension seemed to roar in anger, accusing this fake empty shell in front of it, mocking, slandering, and even denying!

But the empty shell didn't care.

The projection originating from the Sage does not possess reason, does not possess a self, and even the former instinct is not even one-tenth left. The reason why it didn't collapse the moment it appeared was just because of Ji Jue's call.

Complying with this resonance originating from Non-Aggression, executing this request from the successor, once again practicing the Sage's duty...

Evil object, die!!!

The invisible sword changed in an instant, as if one turned into ten thousand, blocking the heaven and earth Time Ruins amidst the waving of ten thousand hands, attacking the evil object parasitizing within it tit-for-tat.

And on the rapidly rotating bone wheel, that eye pupil was now staring wide; in the infinite light changes, souls seemed to be born and die constantly, expounding evil views and strange ideas, repeatedly dyeing the entire Time Ruins again, resisting the correction from the Sage's projection.

That change and confrontation were too high and fast, changing in an instant.

So much so that Ji Jue couldn't even understand it at all.

The thigh operation summoned was too high-end, to the point of exceeding the limit of a newbie's understanding.

But it doesn't matter.

—When "Pokémon" fight, how can the trainers be idle?!

Ji Jue took a deep breath.

And then, in mid-air under the bone wheel, Lian Cheng suddenly went dark before his eyes.

Involuntarily, he flew backward!

When the sluggish vision finally transmitted the process of a big slap slowly enlarging in his line of sight to his consciousness, he heard the words echoing in the air.

"Die for me!"

Bang!

Just like seeing a basketball stuck on the rim, Ji Jue jumped up and dunked, smashing him to the ground. But before he could bounce back into mid-air and land again, the roar from thin air erupted again.

Like a ghost.

Ji Jue appeared in front of him again.

Close at hand.

Lian Cheng, struggling in vain in mid-air, widened his eyes, subconsciously wanting to cover his face, and then, he saw the action that was slowed down dozens of times under the blessing of the Ascension system.

Lift hand, top elbow, smash down.

With a strange sound of "men!", Lian Cheng's eyeballs popped out of their sockets, his whole body folded from the waist down, and he smashed to the ground again.

And from the extreme pain of shattering, he bounced up again.

Watching Ji Jue give a high whip kick, a foot stomped on his chin, pure power defeated the invisible defense composed of consciousness, all poured onto the shattered jawbone.

His neck was almost kicked off by this kick!

Fast! Too fast!

Faster than Bai Lu!

At the same time, it was ridiculously hard, just like iron stone, no, this firmness and stability were even higher than iron stone...

Are you serious? Is there something wrong with my brain? What the hell?!

How the hell did you do it?!

Countless questions emerged from Lian Cheng's brain, but countless questions seemed to be the same, unable to understand, unable to figure out, even more outrageous than the evil object's gift and pollution.

More terrifying, however, was not this incredible speed, power, and hardness, but those hands... every time they hit his body, the spiritual quality impact that erupted!

It was as if it broke through the shackles of the flesh and directly beat his soul and the already aberrated matrix; even the blessing was difficult to run stably, unable to continue under the spreading spiritual quality waves and impact, unable to resist.

If it weren't for the fact that the Supreme Lord's gift was still connecting his body, I'm afraid he would have been beaten to pieces from body to spirit by this sudden set!

Lian Cheng screamed, his eyes revealing phantom light, likewise mobilizing the 【Transcendent Vision】 of the same blessing equipment Ji Jue was using, even the frequency and multiple of acceleration were far beyond Ji Jue, wanting to wait for work at ease, fast against fast, and then, he discovered... the one being beaten was still him!

For the Ascension system, as long as the Transcendent Vision accelerates, any fight can be played as a thoughtful turn-based game, but even if it is turn-based, encountering this kind of rogue character who moves dozens of times in one turn, with armor-piercing and critical hits on every punch, and splash damage on every slash, it's impossible to play!

Just like hitting a wooden stake, Ji Jue finished a whole set of Lu Feng's secret military boxing on Lian Cheng in just a few seconds, without even panting, feeling refreshed.

But in the continuous pain of bone shattering and rebirth, Lian Cheng's eyes finally saw clearly now...

The point is not Ji Jue at all.

But the semi-transparent palm that has been pressed on Ji Jue's shoulder from beginning to end!

Under that palm, spiritual quality circuits sprayed like a waterfall, covering Ji Jue from head to toe, carved into skin, flesh, bones, and internal organs...

Strengthen! Strengthen! Strengthen!

It's like finally reacting after being imprisoned for several games, clicking on the BOSS attribute table, only to see several rows of BUFF icons overflowing the edge of the screen.

Lian Cheng, eyes went dark again and again.

How can this still be fought!

It's fine if this shitty matching mechanism isn't changed, this bunch of shitty Supreme Goods don't intend to have an anti-cheat system at all, right?

After many years, Lian Cheng, who once invested in the Evil Cult because of resentment and hatred for many glories, once again felt the humiliation and powerlessness of the past.

He searched the whole world, found a bright future, found the Supreme Lord's gift, as if he found the dignity of the past, but only didn't find where the report button was...

In the furious pupils, blood tears meandered:

He has been opening!

From the beginning to now, he didn't even act, he didn't stop at all!

Above the sky, the Sage's afterimage that was pressing the Supreme Lord's medium and beating him up, even in the midst of his busy schedule, did not forget to stretch out a hand and press it on Ji Jue's shoulder, continuously applying strengthening.

It should be said: conversely, mobilizing Ji Jue's Non-Aggression matrix, performing operations on Ji Jue himself, applying the physical property adjustment that the Ember system is best at.

With precise operations beyond Ji Jue's limits, strengthening vital points, improving toughness and strength, and at the same time, cooperating with "Deus Ex Machina"... turning Ji Jue's own body into a machine!

Ji Jue at this moment is covered with countless Supreme Good totems, and even on his heels are two emblems of the ruins, strengthening flesh and blood.

At this moment, again, breaking through the air.

That mocking smile enlarged rapidly in Lian Cheng's eyes, close at hand.

Lightly pushing away the arm he tried to block, turning sideways, dodging the soul impact that had been brewing for a long time, his feet were already standing on the ground like nails, and then... it was the "Sun-Character Punch" stolen from Professor Ye's physical punishment spiritual quality defense class!

The roar continued, the roar was constant!

If Professor Ye were here, I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to watch—the stance is loose, the connection is slow, it only has the form, basically not a single action is standard.

But no matter how Professor Ye couldn't stand it, he couldn't deny that every action and every punch of Ji Jue at this moment perfectly conformed to the simplest and most refined way of operation in mechanics, without any waste, maximizing the output of every bit of strength onto the opponent.

Just like the calculation under machine self-intelligence, according to the most concise and straightforward way, maximizing the work done!

And compared to the pain of the flesh, the last straw that crushed the camel was the pity whisper from the wind: "It seems that your Supreme Lord doesn't like you that much either..."

Otherwise, why didn't He help you fight like the thigh I summoned?

Lian Cheng roared in anger, his eyes splitting, splitting again, three times, four times, but splitting back and forth, he could only be impotently furious.

After all, compared to lies and deception, the truth is often the sharp knife that breaks the defense the most.

The goddess I chased bitterly was noble and cold and ignored me, and I was willing to accept it. But when the pure girl on the ghost fire car seat hugged the waist of the yellow-haired guy and looked back with a sweet smile, that was the real critical hit for the lick-dog...

Your mother, why?!

Why does the thigh you summoned work hard, saying "dry the evil" and "dry the evil."

But I have meticulously planned everything for so long, paid everything, sold blood, sold strength, sold descendants, but at this moment the Supreme Lord didn't even care about a trace of protection.

Even, at the same time, he, as the anchor of the Supreme Lord's descent, besides being beaten by Ji Jue, his soul also had to endure the impact of the aftermath of the Sage's projection's fierce attack, sharing the damage.

In the embarrassed dodging and retreating, Lian Cheng's face was almost spraying blood tears.

Screaming, shouting.

"Die for me!!!"

Regardless of the huge pressure imposed by the Supreme Lord at this moment, and regardless of the consequences of the soul shattering, he mobilized all his strength with all his might.

The shattered hands stretched out again under the compulsion of the spirit, and he grabbed Ji Jue's shoulders tightly, and then, Lian Cheng's face leaned in, and the massive spiritual quality turned into fierce light, spraying out from his eyes!

"Witness the true master, and merge with us!"

Lian Cheng laughed wildly, the massive evil views, evil thoughts, fallacies, and delirium flowing from the high-level evil object, from this spiritual quality torrent, all poured into Ji Jue's soul.

But at that moment, he finally saw the smile Ji Jue hooked up.

As if, relieved.

In the wind, a faint sigh came.

"Finally... took the bait..."

In the infusion of the evil torrent, Ji Jue, who should have had no resistance and instantly aberrated, slowly raised his head and grinned at Lian Cheng who was close at hand.

Clearly so gentle, but in Lian Cheng's eyes, it was as ferocious as a ghost.

Facing the pollution of the high-level evil object, he had no resistance and fear at all, and was even happily, storm-sucking!

Merge into one, right?

Good!

But there is one thing, I forgot to tell you.

Just now until now, it actually didn't count as opening, and now... sorry, I forgot to close it!

At that moment, the matrix shrouded on the soul and body contracted silently, just like that, untied the shackles, letting the infection of the Undying Disease and Lian Cheng's erosion spread.

And right in front of Ji Jue's eyes, the long-lost pop-up window appeared: 【Internal spiritual quality aberration detected, extract?】

【YES】!

The moment Ji Jue clicked without hesitation, the wailing finally erupted.

Not just Lian Cheng who was close at hand, even the bone wheel and evil eye rotating above the firmament sent out high-pitched and ear-piercing wails...

As if a storm appeared, right in Ji Jue's soul, a bottomless black hole suddenly opened, violently extracting all aberration and erosion, instantly, swallowing all the Evil Foolishness infection that had invaded his body.

But still not satisfied, instead, hungrily seeking the root...

Going against the current!

Following the connection and soul that Lian Cheng actively opened at this moment, it rushed into the other party's body and soul, devouring like a whale, and even more, against the connection between soul and spiritual quality, straight upward...

Stretching its hungry little hand toward the high-level evil object above!

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"

Lian Cheng convulsed violently, his whole body twitching, subconsciously wanting to let go, but it was too late; his arms were instead grabbed by Ji Jue, who pulled his shoulders and forcibly pulled his head up.

The torrent formed by infinite evil light sprayed uncontrollably from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, all pouring into Ji Jue's eyes, just like falling into a bottomless abyss.

Instantly squeezed dry, and couldn't squeeze out a bit of spiritual quality, but this was still not over.

That terrifying suction, following the resonance between him and the Supreme Lord, spread to the bone wheel and evil eye in the sky.

Even if he wanted to stop, it was too late.

Even if he wanted to interrupt this resonance and connection with the Supreme Lord, he was powerless.

It's like a silly boy who made a mistake and hugged the black silk thigh of a mature aunt, thinking he was enjoying endless glory and wealth. When seeing the whip, candle, steel wire ball, and small steel nails the aunt took out, everything was too late... to save his life, he could only dial the phone at home and trick more good brothers into jumping into the bottomless pit to survive for a while longer.

The moment he realized this, Lian Cheng's complexion changed, shocked, terrified, heartbroken, and sad, and then, without hesitation, he pulled the connection and resonance between himself and the Supreme Lord to the full, opening it to the maximum!

Supreme Lord, come on! Relying on you!

Spirit up! Good job! Don't lose points!

Dry him to death! ===== CHAPTER 172 =====