BZZZZ—!

This was no gentle wake-up call. It was a slap straight to the soul.

A transparent ripple, visible to the naked eye, spread through the air.

It wasn’t an attack, but a pure spiritual vibration, like someone striking a massive gong right next to their ears.

"Holy shit!"

Wang Meng jolted, instantly flipping over from his head-down position. He clutched his head in terror. "An earthquake? Is it an earthquake?"

The others were also rattled into a daze. The confusion in their eyes quickly receded, replaced by the shock of waking up.

"Han Feng? We... we’re not dead?"

Zhang Hao, a master at the Meridian Passage Realm Third Layer after all, was quick to react. He looked down at his translucent palms, his expression changing slightly. "This is... Soul Emergence?"

"AAGH!"

Following that cry, Zhang Hao, Su Yue, and hundreds of other spiritual bodies awoke from the chaos almost simultaneously. The scene instantly descended into a chaotic mess.

"How am I flying?!"

"My hand! My hand is see-through!"

"Am I dead? Waaaaah!"

The cacophony of screams and cries rose and fell, giving Han Feng a splitting headache.

"Everyone, shut up!"

Han Feng’s voice, laced with a sliver of sharp Sword Intent, instantly overpowered all the noise.

As if they’d all been throttled, the crowd fell silent and turned in unison to look at Han Feng standing on the reef.

"Listen up. I’m only saying this once."

Han Feng gestured around them. "You’re not dead, but you’re close.

This is the edge of the Blood Sea in the Suspended Mountain Secret Realm. Your current state is Soul Emergence—your souls have left your bodies.

Your physical bodies are still on the Floating Island we were on before."

"Feng... Fengzi?"

Wang Meng drifted over unsteadily. He tried to pat Han Feng’s shoulder, but his hand passed right through, making him shudder in fright.

"What the hell is going on? Weren’t we just in that blasted Ping’an County?"

"Ping’an County was an Illusion Realm. It just collapsed. You’re in reality now," Han Feng said irritably. "Your souls are strong right now, so they won’t dissipate anytime soon.

But if you don’t return to your bodies, once night falls completely, you’ll really become wandering ghosts trapped here."

Hearing this, everyone’s expression changed drastically.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!"

Lei Qianjun, ever the impatient one, turned and started to drift away.

However, he hadn’t even drifted ten meters.

SPLASH—!

The Blood Sea below suddenly began to churn violently.

A dozen shrill hisses echoed from the bloody water. Immediately after, a large mass of grayish-black shadows shot into the sky.

They were Resentful Spirits.

Monsters formed from the malevolent energy that had accumulated in the Suspended Mountain Secret Realm for who knows how many years.

Normally, they only dared to hide in the depths of the Blood Sea. But now, with four or five hundred fresh, vibrant souls gathered together, all radiating the aura of High-dimensional Energy, it was like a grand imperial feast laid out before them.

"Food..."

"So... fragrant..."

The Resentful Spirits had no distinct facial features, only huge, gaping maws. They lunged at the crowd in the air, filled with a suffocating malice.

"Crap!"

Although Lei Qianjun was a tough guy, without his physical body and Qi Blood, the great hammer in his hand was just for show. Facing these creatures that specialized in destroying souls, he felt a primal fear and immediately turned to flee.

The crowd instantly erupted into chaos.

These newly-freed students were now like a swarm of headless flies, bumping into each other randomly in the air.

’What a pain,’ Han Feng sighed.

He didn’t draw the half-bladed Broken Sword, nor did he even move his feet.

He simply raised his eyelids and glanced indifferently at the charging Resentful Spirits.

"Heart Sword, sweep."

SHING!

There was no sound of metal clashing against metal.

But in everyone’s Perception, it was as if they saw an invisible, circular wave of Sword Qi expand fifty meters outward from Han Feng in an instant.

PFFT! PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!

The menacing Resentful Spirits didn’t even have time to scream.

The moment the Sword Intent swept over them, they were like snow in the sun, instantly disintegrating and melting away.

The field was cleared with a single sword strike.

The chaotic scene instantly became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Everyone stared at Han Feng as if he were a monster.

They knew Han Feng was strong, but in their spiritual forms, that strength became more direct, more oppressive.

In their eyes, the figure standing on the reef was now like a lighthouse shining with boundless radiance.

"Had enough of a look?"

Han Feng clapped his hands together as if dusting them off.

"If you’re done looking, gather over here. If you don’t want to be eaten, stick close to me."

After speaking, he pressed the Rune switch on his chest.

HMMMM—

The "Ghost Bat·Modified" Wingsuit on his back lit up with an eerie blue glow.

Han Feng took a two-step running start, and his figure shot into the sky like a sharp arrow.

"Sword Control Technique, rise!"

He unreservedly released his Divine Sense, forming an invisible tether behind him.

"Everyone, form a line and keep up! If you fall, no one’s coming to get you!"

Han Feng’s voice echoed through the air.

Who would dare to delay? Like frightened tadpoles searching for their mother, they all frantically converged on Han Feng.

And so, an extremely bizarre scene unfolded in the skies above the Suspended Mountain Secret Realm.

A human with a mechanical Wingsuit flew in front, pulling a long "tail" composed of hundreds of glowing, translucent figures.

A vast and mighty procession, it blotted out the sky.

Some foolish Flying Demon Beasts along the way tried to approach, but before they could even open their mouths, a single glance from Han Feng, suffused with the pressure of his Heart Sword, scared the living daylights out of those surviving feathered beasts.

The entire journey could only be described as brazen.

「Twenty minutes later.」

Ahead, the silhouette of a massive Floating Island was faintly visible through the bloody mist.