Subduing Ji Juechen

To that, Ye Fan merely waved a hand and said, "As for Teacher, I'll speak to him myself."

Hearing this, Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen finally let it go, but both of them looked at Ji Juechen with faces full of resentment.

Ji Juechen was also taken aback when he heard Ye Fan's condition.

Then, in a rare move, he said a few more words. "Really?"

Imitating his sparing-with-words manner, Ye Fan smiled and said, "Really."

Ji Juechen said, "Good. I agree."

Ye Fan said, "Straightforward."

With their agreement reached, the two sides went to the Soul Fighting Arena.

After paying to enter the venue, they backed away to a sufficient distance under the referee's orders.

Then they each announced themselves.

Ji Juechen first revealed his personal information. "Ji Juechen, thirteen years old, martial soul—Iron Sword, rank thirty-five Battle Soul Elder!"

Ye Fan then reported, "Ye Fan, six years old, martial soul—Death Angel, rank twenty-six Great Soul Master!"

Both sides took their positions and released their martial souls.

Ji Juechen's martial soul was very simple. It was that ordinary iron sword.

Ye Fan's martial soul was anything but simple. It was the god-level martial soul, the Six-Winged Death Angel.

Pitch-black wings unfurled and spread open. A sinister, deathly aura instantly enveloped the entire field, and a biting sense of killing intent rushed straight at them. At the edge of the arena, Jing Ziyan's whole body stiffened, her heart suddenly sinking as a dense sense of danger surged up within her. She could not help secretly worrying for Ji Juechen.

Inside the arena, although Ji Juechen was shaken by the terrifying pressure of that martial soul, there was no fear in his eyes. Gripping the Iron Sword, he focused and stood on guard, then abruptly raised his sword and thrust straight forward, his sword momentum sharp and swift.

Everyone thought Ye Fan would activate an angel soul skill to meet the attack, but unexpectedly, he gripped the Sword of Judgment in a reverse hold and suddenly swung it to meet him.

For the first time, he displayed the top-tier sword technique Qian Daoliu had taught him. His moves flowed like clouds and water, his killing decisive and resolute, his sword path exquisite and domineering. Its bearing and power far surpassed Xiao Hongchen's usual steady, methodical style. In an instant, the two became locked in combat, sword shadows crossing, offense and defense shifting, the battle changing from one breath to the next.

The moment the two sides clashed, Ji Juechen judged from Ye Fan's sword moves that Ye Fan's attainments in the way of the sword were no lower than his own.

Ji Juechen praised Ye Fan sincerely, "You're very strong!"

Hearing this, Ye Fan replied politely, "Thank you. You're not bad either."

As they spoke, the two exchanged blow after blow, their sword forms fierce.

In the end, Ye Fan relied on the advantage of the Sword of Judgment and poured both life force and death force into it, forcing Ji Juechen's martial soul to shatter.

At the edge of the arena, Jing Ziyan's heart nearly leaped into her throat. "Ji Juechen, admit defeat."

Just as Ye Fan thought he had already won, to his surprise, Ji Juechen took an iron sword out of his soul tool and began fighting Ye Fan again. There was no fear in his eyes, only excitement for battle.

"He still won't admit defeat?"

Seeing this, Ye Fan was speechless for a moment.

In the instant Ye Fan was left speechless, Ji Juechen seized the chance to change his technique, suddenly flashing behind Ye Fan.

The iron sword was about to stab toward Ye Fan.

At the edge of the arena, Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen could not help calling out a warning. "Ye Fan, watch behind you!"

At this moment, a trace of worry floated through Ye Guyi's eyes. Her nails dug deep into her palm, and threads of blood dripped to the ground.

Hearing this, Ye Fan finally noticed that Ji Juechen had somehow already arrived behind him.

And so he thought of a famous sword move from his previous life, "Heaven and Earth Same Longevity," and used the Sword of Judgment to stab directly into his own chest, piercing through himself and plunging straight into Ji Juechen's body.

"Not good."

At the edge of the arena, the referee immediately discovered the sudden change on the field. Both of them might die, so he hurried forward to stop them, but it was already too late. The Sword of Judgment pierced through both their bodies.

Ji Juechen's iron sword had no time to stab in before his entire body froze stiff in midair.

He had never imagined that there would actually be someone even crazier than him, someone who would disregard life and death for the sake of victory.

This time, he, Ji Juechen, was convinced.

In the brief moment while he still had strength, he said, "I lost."

Because the Sword of Judgment was continuously devouring his life force.

By contrast, although Ye Fan was likewise gravely injured, there was a wondrous energy inside him constantly repairing his wounds.

The moment Ji Juechen's words fell, Jing Ziyan, who was off to the side, charged onto the Soul Fighting Arena like she had gone mad, shouting as she ran, "Ji Juechen, you bastard, you idiot!"

"You can't die! You can't leave me behind!"

As Ji Juechen hovered on the brink of death, Jing Ziyan's words finally reached his ears.

Ji Juechen murmured, "Jing Ziyan? I'm sorry."

In that instant, images from his entire life constantly surfaced in his mind.

Ordinary people awakened their martial souls at six years old and cultivated steadily, but his innate soul power had been only rank three, and his martial soul was an ordinary tool martial soul, a longsword. In others' eyes, he was cultivation trash. He had no bloodline, no foundation; every bit of strength he gained came solely from extreme bitter training and an obsession with the way of the sword. He had needed to practice the sword to the utmost day after day, tempering his foundation, and at eight years old, through sheer brutal effort, he had cultivated to rank ten soul power.

With no one to help him and no elders to protect him, he had entered a dangerous soul beast habitat alone. After three days of life-and-death battle, covered in wounds, he had forcibly hunted down a hundred-year soul ring.

Later, he entered Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy and met Jing Ziyan, who could barely stay on the same wavelength as him.

After that, fragments of moments connected to Jing Ziyan kept surfacing in his mind.

Ji Juechen sighed inwardly. "It seems I missed many wonderful moments with Jing Ziyan in my life."

He felt helpless, but there truly was not much time left to him.

Just as Jing Ziyan reached Ye Fan and Ji Juechen's side and was about to attack Ye Fan, she shouted, "Ye Fan, I'll kill you! It was only a soul duel, yet you actually killed Ji Juechen! I'll kill you!"

Jing Ziyan looked utterly deranged.

But Ye Guyi, Xiao Hongchen, and Meng Hongchen, who had also rushed over, held her back with all their might.

A battle between the two sides was on the verge of erupting.

It was the referee who sternly shouted them down. "Don't touch them. One of you, go get a healing teacher."

"I'll go!" Meng Hongchen was the first to pull away, tears streaming down her face as she prepared to sprint off.

But Ye Fan, who was currently skewered through, spoke up and stopped her. "Don't go. I'm fine."

As he spoke, Ye Fan forcibly pulled the Sword of Judgment out of his body. Then, under the shocked gazes of the referee and everyone else, his body began to heal on its own.

"This..."

"Ye Fan, you're all right! That's wonderful."

Meng Hongchen threw herself onto Ye Fan like a big sister from next door, hugging his body tightly and refusing to let go no matter what.

When Xiao Hongchen and Ye Guyi saw this scene, they merely exchanged a glance and said nothing more.

On the contrary, Ye Fan was being squeezed so tightly by Meng Hongchen, his head pinned down so firmly that he could barely breathe. He managed to speak in broken bursts, "Sister Mengmeng, let go of me, quickly. I can't breathe."

Hearing this, Meng Hongchen finally realized that her posture with Ye Fan was neither elegant nor safe.

She hurriedly apologized, "I'm sorry, Ye Fan. I didn't mean to."

Ye Fan waved a hand and said, "It's fine!"

Just then, when Jing Ziyan saw Ye Fan come back from the dead, she could not help dropping to her knees with a thud. Crying, she begged Ye Fan, "Ye Fan, I'm begging you, please save Ji Juechen."

Hearing this, Ye Fan stepped forward and helped Jing Ziyan up. "Of course. He's my companion for the next twenty years, after all."

As he spoke, under the gazes of Jing Ziyan, the referee, Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, and the others, Ye Fan walked up to Ji Juechen, who was already on his last breath.