The five purplish phantoms charged right at the Spirit Saints, particularly the weaker ones that weren’t suited for direct combat. Saint Althea, Saint Longyu Tian and Saint Atossa were the three prime targets. Saint Althea was a bona fide Divine Healer, as well as a top-tier support-type cultivator. Most of her abilities were geared towards supporting her comrades so that they could unleash their maximum potential. Therefore, she was by far the weakest Spirit Saint when it came to close combat.

Saint Longyu Tian was in a similar boat. Her Golden Sovereign Koi, the variant Spirit that controls the Time-Element, wasn’t particularly the most offence-based Spirit among the six Spirit Saints. In fact, the majority of Saint Longyu Tian’s abilities were auxiliary-oriented, such as her Future Sight and Time Field. Hand-to-hand combat, on the other hand, wasn’t particularly her forte.

The same goes for Saint Atossa. She was once the leader of the Mercenary Guild and her expertise laid in intelligence gathering and stealth movements. To a certain extent, she was also capable of assassinations and sneak attacks from a hidden location. Direct confrontations weren’t particularly her forte.

It was Saint Firebird, Saint Thor and who could forget, the man known as the most powerful attack-based Spirit Saint alive, Saint Geom, that could stand toe-to-toe against the purple phantoms. The other three were severely lacking in terms of overall defensive and offensive ability. However…

“Underestimate me? How foolish!” Saint Longyu Tian naturally didn’t like that Kuro sent his phantoms to attack her first. In the art of war, to win a battle, it was always imperative to strike at the weakest link. Kuro chose to attack Longyu Tian first, which meant that he saw HER as the weakest link. The nerve…

“Time Field!!!” Longyu Tian shouted as she raised her left hand to the air. Almost instantly, a hundred-metre wide dome engulfed herself and the purple phantom that dared to battle her. It was grey with a tinge of silver plus, it bore the properties of the Time-Element. There was no other spiritual ability in the world that was like this field, and Kuro knew it. He attempted to call back the purple phantom that was sent to take down Longyu Tian, but it was to no avail. The monstrous apparition had its movements slowed tremendously by the Time Field and in no time at all, its speed that could match a swallow’s had been decreased to that of a snail’s.

“Time Manipulation!” Saint Atossa gasped. Saint Longyu Tian’s ability to use the Time-Elements was legendary and many, even among the Spirit Saints, feared the Saint of Time most powerful skill. The ability to warp time itself. All of her enemies in the field would have their time slowed down, while her allies would have their time doubled. Imagine that. All enemies would be two times slower while all of her allies would experience time at twice the speed. It was a boost that was borderline unfair. Furthermore, in theory, there was no counter for Saint Longyu Tian’s Time Manipulation. It didn’t matter if one was a Rank 1 Spirit Practitioner or a Rank 99 Spirit Saint, they would be affected by the Saint of Time’s ability all the same.

The phantom created by the Blade of the Ephemeral Hunt roared, but it was far too slow for any to notice. Saint Longyu Tian then warped space, forcing a dense object to emerge from her pocket dimension. A two-metre-long pole, with a celestial string tied from its bottom, took its rightful place in Saint Longyu Tian’s palms. A grey aura, one that seemed neutral at first glance, yet utterly mysterious the next, wreathed the rod, mystifying all those that laid their eyes on it.

“Rod of Eternity!” Saint Thor exclaimed, his face completely flushed. The Blacksmith Saint was as shocked to see Longyu Tian bring out that seemingly inconspicuous fishing rod as he was when Kuro pulled out the Blade of Ephemeral Haunt. “You actually brought it out from Longyu Reef?”

The black-haired Spirit Saint scoffed. “Immortal-Grade Spirit Armaments aren’t made to collect dust in some vault. They’re meant to destroy the enemies that threaten my nation!”

Not wasting this opportunity, Saint Longyu Tian rapidly twisted her wrist and cast her Rod of Eternity. The hook of the fishing line immediately found the purple phantom and locked it in place. There was no need for a follow up then. Once hooked, there was no escaping from the Rod of Eternity. Almost instantly, a river of clouds that flowed in one direction engulfed the purple phantom, enveloping it with an array of Time-Elements. The river was flowing in one direction, and the purple ghost was located almost at the very top. However, it was all about to change.

Longyu Tian pulled the rod, forcing the ‘time’ of the purple phantom all the way downstream. Everything in life had a lifespan. It didn’t matter if it were a human child or an ore of metal. Living or non-living, everything would eventually fade back into dust. And the phantoms were no different. Pulling the ghost all the way down its own River of Time, the purple spectre disappeared entirely, never to be seen ever again.

“Hoho, so there’s a reason why that Immortal-Grade weapon is called the Blade of the Ephemeral Haunt… The phantoms that it creates are just as fleeting as its name suggest.”

“...” Kuro lips flinched. That’s right, the Blade of the Ephemeral Haunt was a powerful Immortal-Grade Spirit Armament that could create Saint-Level phantoms. However, its haunting had a specific time-limit. Ten minutes to be exact. Typically, to defeat someone who possessed the Blade of the Ephemeral Haunt, one had to turtle up and take defensive positions, hoping to wear down the user and wait for the hauntings to be over. However, Saint Longyu Tian didn’t need to play by the standard rules.

Her Rod of Eternity allowed her to play around with the purple phantoms’ lifespan, which was already short, to begin with. If Longyu Tian was given the opportunity, she could easily neutralise all of the apparitions in one go. Unluckily for Kuro, the Rod of Eternity was precisely the counter to the Blade of the Ephemeral Haunt.

“Tsk!” Clicking his tongue, Kuro called back the phantoms that were near Longyu Tian. He couldn’t afford to lose any more of his ghosts, at least not until the preparations were ready…

“Attack!” However, even though Kuro called back some of his phantoms, it didn’t mean that he’d stopped his attack. Two purple spectres were now targetting Saint Althea, the theoretical weakest Spirit Saint among the six. She was a healer and lacked any physical attributes. Furthermore, she was the only one among the six Spirit Saints that could boost and treat her allies back to the brink of health. It was common sense for Kuro to target the Divine Healer.

Alas, just like before… He’d miscalculated.

“DING!!! DING!!! DING!!!” A sonorous chime deafened the surroundings and forced the phantoms to retreat when they were just a few metres away from tasting Saint Althea’s tasty flesh.

A radiating light, one that could match that of Heaven’s Gate, emerged from the depths of Saint Althea’s soul and created a holy aura that could only be described with one word… Divine.

It was as if Angels had descended from heaven and the chanting chorus of Cherubs protected the ethereal woman. Illusory white feathers covered all over Saint Althea’s weak body and protected her from the harm that the purple phantoms posed. Kuro was stupefied. How could the weakest Spirit Saint so easily defeat the Blade of the Ephemeral Haunt’s power? Fortunately for the Primordial Beast, he didn’t need to wait long to find out his answer.

A golden flame, one akin to that of a miniature star, emerged from Saint Althea’s bosom. It burnt was a radiance that was unheard of in the mortal realm, and one could hardly breathe when faced with the full brunt of its spiritual energy. None of the Spirit Saints could peel their eyes away from the holy fire. The flames gradually dispersed, revealing the core structure that laid within the Divine Healer’s chest. A white gold bell that was twenty centimetres tall and ten centimetres wide unleashed a godly aura that seemed impregnable, even for the Blade of the Ephemeral Haunt. It possessed numerous ancient runes, one of the likes that were undecipherable in the modern era. Attacking the bell was deemed to be sacrilegious, and anyone who dared would be judged by the wrath of heaven itself.

In fact, the moment that bell appeared in Saint Althea’s hands, Kuro had given up any notion of killing the Spirit Saint. He had a much higher chance of reaping the life of Saint Geom as compared to the Divine Healer who possessed that fabled bell.

“Holy Destiny Bell…” Saint Thor gasped, this time a little fatigued from the constant shock he’d been receiving. It was the fourth Immortal-Grade Spirit Armament that appeared on the battlefield, but it was by no means the weakest.

The guardian relic of the Healer’s Association, the Holy Destiny Bell was only usable by Healers who had reached the Spirit Saint realm. Many people often wandered… How could the Healer’s Association survive with no offensive-based Spirit Saints standing guard at their headquarters? Even if Saint Althea existed, she was in no way capable of defending against a full-on attack by any of the three superpowers.

However, with the Holy Destiny Bell in her possession, no one on the planet could dare attack the Healer’s Association. Why? Because of the unique properties of the Holy Destiny Bell. As long as Saint Althea lived, the golden barrier created by the bell would protect anything she desired. Even the Saint of Shells from the Heigui Clan couldn’t compare to the Holy Destiny Bell’s defensive capabilities.

The Holy Destiny Bell also possessed two more unique abilities, a rare trait for an Immortal-Grade Spirit Armament. By ringing the bell thrice, the Holy Destiny Bell could call down the Attendants from Heaven, protecting the user and all who she deemed worthy. The Angels would become an Immortal Army that could defend against the onslaught of a handful of Spirit Saints.

But what truly set the Holy Destiny Bell apart was its third and final ability… The scariest and most legendary ability of them all…

“DING!!! DING!!! DING!!! DING!!! DING!!! DING!!! DING!!! DING!!!” The Holy Destiny Bell chimed eight times consecutively, creating a shockwave surge of mana filled to the brim with healing aura. The five Spirit Saints surrounding Saint Althea all felt the blood in their body surge as mana filled their every vessel. Illusory angel wings grew from their backs as faux halos crowned their heads.

The Eight Chimes signalled the heralding of a new era. An era of a Saint Squad that could defeat any foe that laid before them. Even if the Rank 99 Allfather was present, he would face trouble in fighting against the five Spirit Saints that had been buffed up.

The final ability of the Holy Destiny Bell was a simple, yet potent spell. It was the strongest healing spell known to mankind as well as the most powerful auxiliary boost ever known. As long as a human hadn’t crossed the River Styx yet, the Eight Chimes of the Holy Destiny Bell would rejuvenate the person into the pink of health. Heck, it would even boost the person by a Spirit Rank or two.

It didn’t matter what disease, poison, injury, ailment or sickness the person might have. The Eight Chimes of the Holy Destiny Bell would heal it all. But there was also one more thing that the Eight Chimes could do…

“I… Feel so powerful...” Saint Geom, the Spirit Saint who was most aware of his own physical body, felt like his aged shell had been reverted back to its prime. Not only that, he’d felt that his stagnant Spirit Rank had been triggered once more and was on the verge of breaking through to the next Rank.

“That’s my boost! It’ll maximise your potential and make you artificially reach it for a few minutes!” Saint Althea shouted from within the Holy Destiny Bell’s protection. “With this, I’m sure that you can take down a Primordial Beast or two!”

“Hahaha! With three Immortal-Grade Spirit Armaments on our side, how could I dare lose?!” Saint Geom bellowed out laughing. As a warrior, it was by far, the best moment of his life.