Battle with the Sword Fanatic

Xiao Hongchen had been back at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy for three days.

The quasi-sixth-grade soul tool sword for Ye Guyi had already been delivered; although he was fully capable of crafting a sixth-grade one, he decided against it considering Ye Guyi's current cultivation level.

He named this sword Divine Body Sword, and it came with a built-in, super-powered AOE skill: Golden Wave.

When swung horizontally, the holy power would transform into golden light, covering a fan-shaped area fifty meters in front of the user.

Even Meng Hongchen had been silenced by a custom-made self-recharging milk bottle he had stuffed into her hands.

Everything returned to the usual routine: attending classes, conducting experiments, meditating, and eating.

That was until one day, when a man appeared before him.

The man had long, pale green hair like fresh bamboo, with a few stray locks resting over his light green eyes. His features were refined, his skin fair, and he possessed a cold, ethereal temperament. He wore a dark blue, ancient-style martial outfit with a white inner lining; the details were exquisite yet sharp, carrying an inherent sense of detachment typical of a swordsman.

Without a doubt, it was Ji Juechen blocking his path to the cafeteria.

Ji Juechen stood in the middle of the corridor with a pitch-black longsword strapped to his back, standing as still as a rooted pillar.

Xiao Hongchen's footsteps faltered, his instinct telling him to take a detour.

However, Jing Ziyan was standing at the other end of the corridor, pushing up her glasses and watching him with a smile.

With the two of them blocking the front and back, his retreat was completely sealed off; there was truly no way to avoid this.

"Xiao Hongchen." Ji Juechen spoke, his voice as cold and heavy as an unsheathed blade. "Fight me."

Xiao Hongchen certainly remembered this person.

Ji Juechen was a madman from the combat division of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy. His martial soul was an ordinary sword, and he was born with only third-grade Soul Power.

Over the years, he had challenged almost every notable student in the academy. He won more than he lost, and even when he lost, he would return to challenge them again months later until he finally won.

Ji Juechen had the special privilege, granted personally by his grandfather, to choose one target to challenge each month from either the Sun Moon Academy or Mingde Hall.

In Xiao Hongchen's memories, this madman had already challenged him four times, all of which the original owner had declined—not out of fear, but out of annoyance.

Why would a genius who relied on soul tools want to fight a madman who used a sword?

There was no benefit to winning, and losing would only mean a loss of face. That was how the original owner had thought, so he had always avoided him.

But this time, he was completely cornered and had no choice but to accept the challenge. Grandfather, you've really made my life miserable.

"I can fight you, but if you lose, you aren't allowed to pester me anymore."

"We'll see after the fight."

Ji Juechen's eyes burned with fighting spirit; clearly, he hadn't taken Xiao Hongchen's words to heart, and as he spoke, he seemed ready to draw his great sword.

"Don't fight here. Wait until I've finished my meal."

Xiao Hongchen was genuinely afraid he would start right there at the cafeteria entrance.

Ji Juechen was silent for a moment.

"I'll wait for you."

"...Don't say things that make people misunderstand."

There weren't many people in the cafeteria.

Xiao Hongchen sat down with his tray, and Ji Juechen sat opposite him with his own.

With his great sword resting across his knees, he ate in silence and with focus, as if he weren't the same person who had blocked the corridor just moments ago.

Meng Hongchen and Ye Guyi walked over with their trays, and upon seeing this combination, they both stopped in their tracks.

Meng Hongchen placed her tray next to Xiao Hongchen's and lowered her voice. "Brother, why are you sitting with him? Haven't you been avoiding him all this time?"

"There was no way to avoid him anymore. I have no choice but to fight until the very end."

Xiao Hongchen suddenly looked up at Ji Juechen, who was eating in silence across from him.

"By the way, let me introduce you."

He pointed at Meng Hongchen. "This is my sister, Meng Hongchen. Level 46, melee soul engineer." He then pointed at Ye Guyi. "Ye Guyi, Level 42, fourth-grade melee soul engineer."

"My sister's Ice Toad Poison has a very strong area-of-effect control; it's hard for anyone at her level to get close to her. As for Ye Guyi... she is a master of swordsmanship."

"Both of them are better suited to be your opponents than I am. I'm a long-range control type, so you won't have much fun fighting me. They are melee types, which aligns better with your sword style."

Ji Juechen's gaze fell upon Meng Hongchen and Ye Guyi, something seemingly lighting up in his eyes, and he nodded toward the two of them.

The fork in Meng Hongchen's hand nearly fell.

"Brother! What are you saying!" She lowered her voice, her silver-white hair practically standing on end. "Did you sell me out?"

"It's not selling, it's an introduction." Xiao Hongchen remained calm. "Didn't you always complain that there was no one in the academy to practice combat with?"

"I—" Meng Hongchen opened her mouth, only to find she couldn't refute him.

She had indeed complained that the opponents in the academy were too weak; once she released her Ice Toad Poison, the opponent would collapse, making it impossible to practice high-level maneuvers.

But that was just complaining, not a genuine desire to find a madman to hack at her.

Jing Ziyan, who was nearby, leaned in, looking at Meng Hongchen and Ye Guyi with a smile.

"Hello, little sisters. Let's look forward to working together in the future."

He said this with a kindly smile.

Meng Hongchen paused, then looked up to meet that harmless-looking face.

She stiffened and tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"...Fine."

Xiao Hongchen laughed gleefully in his heart. The gap in cultivation between the siblings wasn't large, so surely no one would actually be foolish enough to target a blatant artillery mage like him. As for Meng, she could fend for herself; it would save him from her constant teasing.

After the meal, at the Soul Fighting Arena.

The Soul Fighting Zone was hexagonal and roughly the size of a soccer field from his past life, with a large open space in the center that was clearly where the students competed.

Surrounding it were tiers of seats rising upward, capable of accommodating several thousand people at once.

By now, the seats around the edge of the arena were already packed with students who had caught wind of the spectacle; news had traveled faster than Xiao Hongchen had anticipated.

As soon as Meng Hongchen walked into the spectator area with Ye Guyi, a junior student immediately offered up their front-row seats.

Meng Hongchen sat down generously, pulling a handful of melon seeds from nowhere.

Ye Guyi took a seat beside her, her gaze fixed on the silver-haired youth in the center of the arena.

On the field.

The two stood one hundred and fifty meters apart, facing each other from a distance.

An invisible pressure began to permeate the Soul Tool Trial Arena.

Ji Juechen gripped his sword with both hands as two yellow, two purple, and one black soul ring appeared and lit up; all of his soul rings were augmentation-type skills.

An incredibly sharp aura erupted from him almost instantly, and in that moment, he seemed to have merged entirely with his Extraterrestrial Meteorite Sword.

Merging the soul into the sword—this was Ji Juechen's method of cultivation. His own martial soul had completely transformed into energy rather than a physical entity, perfectly integrated into the Extraterrestrial Meteorite Sword in his hand. Man was the sword, and the sword was the man; there was no distinction between them.

That sharp aura was his incomparably fierce sword intent.

Under the infusion of his powerful Soul Power, the Extraterrestrial Meteorite Sword began to emit a faint hum. The tip of the blade seemed to tremble slightly, and Ji Juechen's momentum soared at an astonishing speed.

If this sword did not strike, so be it, but once it did, it would surely change the color of the heavens and the earth.

Xiao Hongchen stood one hundred and fifty meters away, both of his martial souls fully unleashed. Two yellow, two purple, and one black soul ring emerged from beneath him in sequence, and his mental power spread out before him like a tide, resisting that pervasive, piercing sword intent.

At the same time, four soul skills lit up simultaneously. Metal elements within a hundred-meter radius gathered toward his right hand in a funnel shape. If one looked closely, faint silver currents were mixed within, a sign that Xiao Hongchen's mental power was nearing the state of being tangible yet formless.

Soul Power, metal, and mental power were constantly blending and compressing.

Xiao Hongchen's fist intent was also taking shape.

But Xiao Hongchen knew his fist intent was inferior to Ji Juechen's sword intent; he had to strike before Ji Juechen's sword intent reached its peak... or at least, that had been his plan.

"Come at me with everything you have." Ji Juechen's longing of twenty years, and the burning gaze that matched that desire, touched the heart of Xiao Hongchen, who likely wouldn't find meaning in battle in the future.

"Only this once, okay!"

Xiao Hongchen curled his lips into a smile, locking eyes with Ji Juechen from across the distance. Within his pupils, all fluctuating emotions vanished, leaving only resolve.

For some reason, the prelude to AIZO began to ring in his ears, dang~ dang...