Chapter 8

Ye Fan sat cross-legged, allowing that rich purple five-thousand-year soul ring to slowly envelop him and sink into his body.

The immense power of a five-thousand-year soul ring far surpassed the limit an ordinary soul master's second soul ring could bear. Berserk dark-type soul power crashed wildly through his meridians, ravaging and tearing at them, its tyrannical energy constantly scouring every part of his body.

His brows were tightly furrowed, his teeth clenched hard. Fine, icy cold sweat kept seeping from his forehead, sliding down his jaw. Beneath his skin, blood vessels spread in dense threads, while thin trickles of fresh blood continually seeped from his body, staining his clothes. His body could not help trembling slightly.

At this moment, he had clearly reached the most critical point in absorbing the soul ring.

Then Ye Fan thought of his father and mother, of Xiao Ya, of the seventy lives in Saint Guide Village, of his grandfather, and of his sister.

The faces of his parents, Xiao Ya, the entire village, and his loved ones all surged into his mind, countless obsessions turning into an unyielding will.

A tough, powerful aura suddenly erupted from within him. The surging, raging soul power was actually forcibly suppressed by his will. His trembling body steadied, and the agony filling him seemed to fade a little. Gathering all his focus, he growled, "I can't fail. Condense for me!"

In the end, Ye Fan's second soul ring slowly condensed into form, hovering above the Death Angel martial soul behind him.

At the side, Qian Daoliu's eyes were grave, his brows tightly knitted. He kept his gaze fixed on Ye Fan's condition at every moment, ready to step in and protect him at any time.

Ye Guyi's face was filled with anxious worry, her eyes glued to Ye Fan. Watching him endure such pain, her heart ached unbearably, and she wished she could take that tendon-tearing, bone-rending agony in his place.

Just then, an earth-shaking roar suddenly exploded from the west of Ye Fan. "Roar, roar, roar!"

Following closely after the roars came the clear sounds of a young man and woman arguing, along with the whistling sound of them flying at high speed.

"Brother, this is all your fault! You just had to provoke the Wind Demon Wolf pack!"

"Meng Hongchen, do you even have a conscience? Wasn't I preparing a birthday present for you?"

"Ow!"

"Rumble!"

Two muffled crashes rang out one after another. Two figures slammed straight into the angel barrier Qian Daoliu had set up in advance, were bounced away by the light screen, and fell heavily to the ground.

After the experience of Long Xiaoyao barging in last time, the angel barrier Qian Daoliu released this time did more than isolate outside objects—it could also simulate the surrounding environment, making it impossible for others to see what was inside the barrier.

Because of that, the man and woman only thought they had crashed into an invisible barrier, and no matter how they tried, they could not pass through this place.

Behind them, a dense mass of cyan Wind Demon Wolves came closely in pursuit, surging forward with howls. At the front was a huge cyan giant wolf, its body wreathed in biting cold air. A fierce, baleful pressure swept over the whole area as it fixed its stare on the two of them.

It was about to slaughter them mercilessly.

The man and woman endured the pain, exchanged a glance, then released their respective martial souls. Together, they synchronously opened sturdy defensive soul tool barriers.

Countless cold metal gun barrels popped out from around their bodies, aiming at the wolf pack charging toward them.

The young man wore an unruly sneer and shouted in a low voice, "You four-legged beasts, do you really think I'm afraid of you? Today, I'll let you taste my firepower!"

"Meng Hongchen, I'll handle the attacks in a moment. You handle the defense!"

"Okay!"

As soon as the words fell, dense cannon fire poured out with a thunderous roar, blasting fiercely toward the entire Wind Demon Wolf pack.

The two fought as they retreated, relying on Qian Daoliu's angel barrier and using their soul tool firepower to withstand the assault of the entire Wind Demon Wolf pack—especially when there was also a ten-thousand-year Wind Giant Demon Wolf among them.

But it was obvious that even with such fierce firepower, this Wind Demon Wolf pack still had no intention of letting the man and woman go.

The ten-thousand-year Wind Giant Demon Wolf hid behind the pack, continuously sending its subordinates forward to attack the two of them.

It was clearly aiming to exhaust their firepower.

Clearly, this ten-thousand-year Wind Giant Demon Wolf was very intelligent. Before long, the man and woman's firepower had already begun to weaken.

The young man among the two, in particular, no longer had the strength to pour fire from the metal cannon barrels all over his body.

He took out a close-combat soul tool from his soul tool and was about to step forward to fight the Wind Demon Wolf pack in melee. "Little sister, your brother will hold them back. Remember to use the remaining firepower to carve out a path and leave this place."

The young woman beside him also noticed what he was doing and could not help crying out in alarm, "Brother, if we die, we die together."

As she spoke, the young woman also took out a close-combat soul tool from her soul tool, suppressing the Wind Demon Wolf pack opposite them with her own firepower while stepping forward to fight shoulder to shoulder with the young man.

But it was obvious that everything they did was futile. Facing a pack of nearly a thousand Wind Demon Wolves, neither their firepower nor their soul power was enough to support them until the end.

Just like that, their own soul tool barriers were about to collapse as their soul power was exhausted.

Qian Daoliu and Ye Guyi had also been observing the two's battle the entire time, and they were shocked by the pair's formidable combat strength. Qian Daoliu and Ye Guyi saw that although their cultivation was not high, only at the Soul Elder level, their soul tools were extraordinary—especially the defensive soul tool barriers on them.

After observing them, Qian Daoliu felt that even an ordinary Titled Douluo might not necessarily be able to break through them.

Qian Daoliu and Ye Guyi could not help growing curious about the two's identities.

But at this moment, neither Qian Daoliu nor Ye Guyi intended to act. After all, they had nearly interrupted Ye Fan's soul ring absorption.

Ye Fan had already finished absorbing his second soul ring, and he had heard the man and woman's conversation clearly just now.

Hearing the familiar names and seeing the toad-like martial souls behind the two of them, Ye Fan could not help thinking to himself, What a coincidence this world is. I actually ran into the siblings Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen here.

If it's the two of them, then perhaps my plan to enter Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy will become much simpler.

No. I can't let them die yet.

Ye Fan thought this.

With that, Ye Fan stood and said to Qian Daoliu at his side, "Grandpa, Sister, save those siblings!"

After Ye Fan finished speaking, he had already released his martial soul, Death Angel, and charged through the angel barrier toward the Xiao Hongchen siblings.

Although Qian Daoliu and Ye Guyi were deeply puzzled, they also knew this was not the right time to ask.

Because Xiao Hongchen was already at the end of his rope, utterly spent. Meng Hongchen was a little better off, but not by much.

At that moment, the Wind Demon Wolf King had already joined the battlefield.

It swung its massive wolf claw, about to rake it toward the siblings, Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen.

At the brink of life and death, Xiao Hongchen's soul power had already been exhausted. His soul-power defensive barrier had shattered, and the close-combat soul tool in his hands crashed to the ground because both his hands had gone numb. Xiao Hongchen knew his time had come.

At that moment, he was filled with unbearable regret—regret that he had ignored his grandfather's words and gone out on his own, regret that he had overestimated himself and barged alone into the Evil Demon Forest, regret that he had dragged his little sister down with him. "Little sister, this is all my fault. If there's a next life, I'll repay you even if I have to work myself to the bone."

Seeing this, Meng Hongchen's eyes also turned red. "Brother, if we die, we die together!"

As she spoke, Meng Hongchen took a fixed soul cannon shell out of her soul tool, intending to ignite it and perish together with the Wind Demon Wolf pack.

This startled Ye Fan, who had rushed over to rescue them, and he hurriedly shouted, "Don't be reckless!"

"You won't die."