The Crushing Advantage, Evernight Star-Burying Halberd, the Natal Soul Tool

Ji Juechen's pupils reflected the yellow, purple, and black Soul Rings beneath Yan Jingchuan's feet. His shock was beyond words.

The expressions of those watching from the observation room were equally spectacular.

Kong Deming was the calmest, though a flash of light swiftly passed through his eyes.

Jing Hongchen nearly rose from his seat. He knew Yan Jingchuan's talent was monstrous, but he had not expected it to be this monstrous. With only three rings, he had absorbed Soul Rings beyond his level twice, and both times by an entire major realm.

Ye Yulin's breath caught as he instinctively muttered under his breath:

"A Ten-Thousand-Year third ring! Wasn't he only level twenty-seven? How did he break through so quickly after being gone for just two days?"

Meng Hongchen stared wide-eyed and dumbfounded, while Xiao Hongchen clenched his fists, his face full of longing.

"Jingchuan, the gap between us is growing larger and larger. This genius definitely won't let you leave me behind so easily!"

On the field, Yan Jingchuan smiled at Jing Ziyan.

"Senior, can we begin?"

Jing Ziyan, still stunned, hurriedly nodded.

"Prepare! Begin!"

Having swiftly steadied himself, Ji Juechen launched the first attack.

His first and second Soul Rings lit up as his enhancement Soul Skills activated. With a sweep of his longsword, several sword energies as thick as bowls came slashing toward him.

One of Yan Jingchuan's hands transformed into a dragon claw while the other unleashed Darkgolden Terrorclaw. At the same time, a ghostly blue radiance blazed in his eyes.

"Ten-Thousand-Year Fear Demon Dragon Head Soul Bone skill: Fearful Gaze!"

The instant Ji Juechen met his gaze, his hands trembled and his legs went weak. Nightmares from his childhood replayed endlessly before his eyes, and he could barely keep hold of his sword.

Yan Jingchuan shattered the incoming sword energies one by one. Seizing the opportunity, he drove off with his legs and shot toward Ji Juechen like a cannonball.

Ji Juechen, immersed in terror, struggled to break free. Yan Jingchuan's spiritual power was simply too strong. Had he not deliberately restrained its output, Ji Juechen would have been unable to even hold his sword the moment their eyes met, suffering immediate defeat.

Yan Jingchuan closed in, his dragon claw reaching straight for Ji Juechen's chest. At the final instant before contact, Ji Juechen's battle instincts sensed danger, and muscle memory drove his body to defend instinctively.

The dragon claw collided with the sword, and the explosive clang of metal rang out.

After absorbing the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, Yan Jingchuan's physical qualities had already become comparable to those of a Soul Sage. In spiritual power and physical strength alike, he completely crushed Ji Juechen. Even against an ordinary five-ring Soul King, he had the strength to fight.

The force of that blow sent Ji Juechen flying on the spot.

The pain in his palm and chest happened to help Ji Juechen break free from his fearful state. Drenched in cold sweat, he regained control of his body.

His longsword plunged into the ground, carving a trench as it halted his retreat. Ji Juechen immediately launched a clean and decisive counterattack.

Crescent-shaped sword light swept toward him. Soul power gathered around Yan Jingchuan's dragon claw as he swung out the claw radiance of Dark Sky-Splitting Claw.

The two attacks collided and exploded.

Having realized from his earlier injury that he was at a disadvantage in strength, Ji Juechen did not rashly engage in close combat.

His third Soul Ring lit up. The thousand-year enhancement Soul Skill greatly increased Ji Juechen's strength, and the longsword in his hand danced so densely that not even water could pass through.

An endless stream of sword energy surged like ocean waves, launching wave after wave of long-range attacks at Yan Jingchuan.

Because Ji Juechen's Soul Skills were all enhancement-type, his attacks did not rely on Soul Power. As long as his stamina held, his offensive would not stop.

Yan Jingchuan had initially intended to shatter these sword energies as he had before, but the instant his dragon claw struck one, he sensed that something was wrong.

With the enhancement from Ji Juechen's third Soul Skill, the sword energies had gained an incredibly sharp property. If he took them head-on, he would likely be covered in wounds.

"Second Soul Skill, Dark Condensing Soul Devourer!"

Yan Jingchuan decisively unleashed his Soul Skill, and widespread darkness enveloped nearly half the arena.

Ji Juechen, already at the edge of the field, had nowhere left to retreat. The darkness swallowed him directly.

The sword energies were worn away and dispersed within the darkness. Yan Jingchuan's figure concealed itself deep within it, and Ji Juechen lost sight of his target at once.

Not only could he not find Yan Jingchuan, Ji Juechen soon felt his Soul Power draining faster, his movements growing sluggish. Worst of all, that feeling of fear surged through his heart once more.

"There's mental attacks too! I need to leave this darkness..."

Before he could take any real action, pairs of faintly glowing eyes suddenly opened in the darkness.

More than a dozen figures stirred the darkness and charged at Ji Juechen.

Ten-Thousand-Year Fear Demon Dragon Head Soul Bone skill: Shadow of Fear!

The appearance of the spiritual clones completely exceeded Ji Juechen's expectations. His response was swift enough, and his longsword cleaved through three spiritual clones in an instant. Yet Ji Juechen failed to find Yan Jingchuan's true body immediately.

That meant he no longer had any chance. Yan Jingchuan, hidden among the remaining spiritual clones, struck without hesitation.

With a bang, the spectators saw only Ji Juechen fly out of the darkness, sword and body together.

He crashed heavily onto the ground, feeling as though his entire body were falling apart. He reached for his sword to continue fighting, but several shadowy figures darted out from the darkness and surrounded him.

Darkgolden Terrorclaw pointed directly at Ji Juechen's face as Yan Jingchuan's voice turned cold.

"Old Ji, you lost."

The Darkgolden Terrorclaw gleamed with deadly sharpness. Ji Juechen let out a breath and calmly admitted his defeat.

"I lost."

Jing Ziyan announced loudly:

"Yan Jingchuan wins!"

After dismissing his martial soul possession, Yan Jingchuan reached out and pulled Ji Juechen to his feet.

"I didn't expect to lose to you in our second spar. During our last match, I still had to suppress my Soul Power down to one ring."

Ji Juechen felt somewhat lost. In only a few months, Yan Jingchuan had risen from a one-ring Soul Master to a Soul Elder at the same level as himself, and had defeated him with overwhelming force.

Faced with a true genius, he felt confused for a moment and began to doubt his own efforts.

Yan Jingchuan could tell that Ji Juechen was not in the right state of mind, but he did not offer many comforting words. He knew Ji Juechen would not be defeated by this. He would only grow braver through setbacks and become stronger and stronger.

"It was just luck. I've probably encountered more opportunities lately. If we'd started from the same line, I might not have your current strength."

The latter half was sincere. Yan Jingchuan felt that if he had truly experienced the same circumstances as Ji Juechen, he could not have done as well as Ji Juechen had.

"Old Yan, awesome! You went out by yourself and came back at level thirty! You even absorbed a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring."

Xiao Hongchen was the first to rush out and sling an arm around Yan Jingchuan's shoulders.

Kong Deming and the others also gradually gathered around them.

After chatting with Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen for a few moments, Yan Jingchuan turned to the others.

"Teacher, Dean, Elder Ye!"

"Good kid. A Ten-Thousand-Year third ring really opened our eyes."

Jing Hongchen teased him without the slightest pretense.

"Don't be in such a hurry, Dean. There's something even more impressive to come."

"You aren't really planning to absorb a hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring for your fourth ring, are you?"

"Guess."

Yan Jingchuan deliberately kept them in suspense. Seeing his punchable expression, Jing Hongchen truly wanted to give him two punches.

"Alright. Since you're back, go test the Soul Tool you designed earlier."

The moment Kong Deming spoke, everyone else automatically fell silent.

Only Yan Jingchuan froze for a moment before suddenly realizing something. His face lit up with delight.

"Teacher, could it be that you've already made it? Didn't you say it would take quite a long time?"

"To let you use it now, its grade can't be too high. Besides, yours was the simplest, so I made yours first."

Kong Deming took out a long box from his storage Soul Tool and handed it to Yan Jingchuan.

Unable to wait, Yan Jingchuan immediately opened it. Everyone present was extremely curious, and their gazes turned toward it together.

It was a pitch-black battle halberd, its blade forked at both ends. Light flowed through the circuits of its dark-blue Soul Tool core formation, like the shadow of a living dragon coiled around the halberd's shaft.

Yan Jingchuan lifted the battle halberd. The heavy, silent metal slowly resonated and merged with his Soul Power the instant it entered his hand.

"How is it? This fifth-grade natal Soul Tool, the Evernight Star-Burying Halberd."