The black fog filled the entire room before converging toward Asher and entering his body.

Then Asher opened his eyes and vanished from the room.

He reappeared in an empty space where the floor was made of stone. The space had a volume of ten thousand cubic meters. It was his own miniature space, and even living beings could stay here. Every Spatial Master possessed this type of miniature space. Its volume depended on their mastery over the spatial element and continued to increase as their understanding of space deepened.

However, this space could also be invaded by other Spatial Masters or through the use of spatial artifacts, provided they had a means of sensing something within it. Therefore, one had to be cautious about what they brought into this space.

After examining the miniature space, Asher vanished once more and appeared atop a mountain deep within a forest, far away from the city and other people.

He looked at his hand, and black fog erupted from his arm before enveloping his entire body.

Asher glanced at his body, now shrouded in darkness, and muttered,

"So it is not the soul that is destroyed in that void—or Abyss, whatever it is called. It is only your will and consciousness that are sent there and slowly eroded over time. The soul simply dissipates into mana, just as it does when a spirit dies."

He paused before continuing,

"In the end, the soul too is merely a vessel for the will."

"When a living being’s body is destroyed, the vessel that houses its soul is destroyed as well. Without a vessel to contain it, the soul also perishes."

"But after reaching the Immortal Rank, things change. Your soul becomes similar to that of a spirit, and your mana core fuses with it. Even if your body is destroyed, you can continue to exist as long as your soul remains intact. And to destroy a soul, one must strike it with attacks infused with their own will."

Asher slowly clenched his fist as the black fog around him stirred like a living entity.

"It seems this power is more terrifying than I first thought."

He extended his hand, and a thin strand of black fog drifted away from his palm. It silently devoured the surrounding mana before dissolving into the air.

"It doesn’t directly destroy the soul..."

His eyes narrowed as realization dawned upon him.

"It erodes the will."

"The stronger a person’s will, the longer they can resist it. But once their will begins to crumble, their consciousness follows. Without will, even the strongest soul becomes nothing more than an empty shell."

He paused for a moment before continuing,

"That also explains why attacks infused with will are capable of destroying souls. Will is the very foundation that gives the soul purpose. Once that foundation collapses, the soul itself can no longer remain stable."

Asher observed the black fog swirling around his body.

"This fog is capable of corroding the will of others. It doesn’t need to shatter the soul directly. Instead, it slowly eats away at their resolve, determination, and sense of self until nothing remains."

"In battle, its effects may not be obvious at first. But as time passes, my enemies will find it harder to focus, harder to resist, and eventually even the desire to fight will disappear."

He let out a faint smile.

"A power that destroys the enemy before it destroys their body... truly befitting of the Abyss."

Asher then willed the dark fog to disappear and it disappeared.

Asher then said,

"There are many ways to use this power, but for now, it is time to focus on having my other vessels reach the Master Rank as well."

Asher then shared the mastery of both elements with his other vessels. Those who had already reached the peak of the Diamond Rank could now begin preparing for their breakthrough to the Master Rank.

Somewhere in the Southern Sea.

A giant bird, as large as a small private jet, was flying toward the south when it suddenly turned its gaze downward and spotted a small island.

In the next moment, it vanished and reappeared atop the island’s highest mountain. The other beasts living in the forest were only of Gold Rank, and the moment they sensed the aura of a peak Diamond Rank beast, they immediately fled from the mountain where the giant bird had stopped to rest.

This flying beast was the same bird that Asher had turned into one of his vessels when he used it to help his first Platinum Rank vessel escape from the Astrean Estate.

Now, after many years, it had evolved into a peak Diamond Rank beast.

The bird looked around before clearing out the remaining beasts in the surrounding area so that nothing would disturb it. Once it was satisfied, it closed its eyes and began its breakthrough to the Master Rank.

Somewhere in a restaurant.

A man was quietly eating his meal when he suddenly looked up.

A waiter passing by noticed him and asked,

"What happened, Guild Master Patrick? Is there something wrong with today’s food? You usually don’t even notice people calling your name while you’re eating, so why are you staring at the wall today?"

Patrick looked at the waiter and replied,

"Nothing. I was just thinking about breaking through to the Master Rank, now that I’ve reached the peak of the Diamond Rank."

The waiter smiled and said,

"That’s good. Having a Master Rank healer in the city will be a great thing. I hope the others in your guild break through soon as well. It will help everyone, especially the other adventurers."

Patrick simply nodded before saying,

"Yeah, it will. But for now, just bring me my ice cream before I finish this."

The waiter sighed and replied,

"I’ll be right back."

Just like that, several of Asher’s vessels began preparing for their breakthroughs.

Some were hidden within churches scattered across small regions.

However, most of his vessels were gathered inside the Reaper Guild’s small branchs ,where they had already begun breaking through to the Master Rank.