CHAPTER 917: CHAPTER 913: YE FAN VS. LI ZHAOJUN (PART 9)

Ye Fan didn’t move, but Li Zhaojun stabbed straight at his body with her magic sword, as the white light grew stronger.

The venue itself wasn’t very large, and Ye Fan had to retreat all the way without summoning his magic sword, setting a defensive tone from the start. Since his cultivation level was much lower than Li Zhaojun’s, he could only look for flaws in her defense and use Nine Yang Divine Skill to break through her guard.

If he could just channel the pure yang spiritual energy of the Nine Yang Divine Skill into Li Zhaojun’s heart or Nascent Soul, Ye Fan could awaken her memories.

Those present had only seen how impenetrable Li Zhaojun’s defense was. It wasn’t until she attacked that they understood the power of her offense. In the range of her and her magic sword’s attack, even the air was tainted with frost, let alone Ye Fan who was enveloped by her spiritual energy.

Boundless cold was eroding Ye Fan’s will, forcing him to fight while retreating.

"Quick, summon your weapon!" Someone beside him urged Ye Fan, but in the hurried moment, it was impossible to know who was shouting.

Ye Fan certainly wanted to draw his blades, but his two enchanted items were beyond his grasp; one was the Evil Spirit Banner that he hadn’t mastered, and the other was the Copper Mirror, which he hadn’t grasped the essence of. As for his magic sword, it was just an ordinary magic artifact, falling short compared to Li Zhaojun’s treasured magic sword.

"This kid doesn’t stand a chance at winning." Elder Yuan approached Huang Ze and remarked.

Huang Ze, however, kept his gaze on Ye Fan, feeling that something was amiss. Up to now, Ye Fan had only been dodging with no intention to strike, and Li Zhaojun’s earlier air of absolute dominance had vanished. If Li Zhaojun had attacked recklessly, she could have claimed victory with a single hit.

Gradually, a dazzling red flame emanated from Ye Fan, pure and without impurities, but the scope was not as vast as Li Zhaojun’s icy spiritual energy net.

In the previous challenge, Min Shang completely suppressed Li Zhaojun, but this time Li Zhaojun was fully suppressing Ye Fan.

It was a clash between ice and fire, pure yin versus pure yang. After a brief probe, Li Zhaojun realized the person before her wasn’t easy to deal with, prompting her to deploy her trump card.

Suddenly, Li Zhaojun’s magic sword unleashed dozens of flapping ice dragon hatchlings. They flew towards Ye Fan at imperceptible speeds. The initial hatchlings evaporated upon contacting Ye Fan’s spiritual energy net, releasing scattered spiritual energy into the air. But hatchlings kept coming, from dozens to hundreds, then thousands.

The red pure yang defense around Ye Fan dwindled as he suffered from lacking foundational enchanted items.

Wu Ding watched with growing impatience, thinking, "This foolish junior, risking his life for his beloved without a chance of winning. Why doesn’t he summon his enchanted item?"

At this moment, a childish voice piped up, "Brother, catch!"

At some point, the young girl Qing Xu had summoned her spiritual artifact magic sword, tossing it towards Ye Fan to serve as his weapon.

Ye Fan was using his pure yang spiritual energy to continually evaporate the incoming hatchlings when he noticed a pink magic sword hurtling towards him. In a flash, he recognized it as Qing Xu’s sword, catching it swiftly. But since he hadn’t mastered wielding a spiritual artifact magic sword, the moment it was in his hand, a flaw appeared in his defense, and a cold dragon hit his body hard.

"Whoosh!"

Ye Fan swung the spiritual artifact magic sword, directly cutting down the subsequent incoming cold dragons. The target of the ice hatchlings shifted from Ye Fan’s body to the spiritual artifact magic sword.

In the blink of an eye, a layer of frost coated the spiritual artifact magic sword, transforming its pink hue to light pink, gradually shifting to white.

"Little Sister is really messing around. He hasn’t used your sword; how can he wield something with entirely different attributes?" Wu Ding’s tone carried a trace of reproach. She was searching her storage ring for usable enchanted items but found none that could harmonize with Ye Fan’s pure yang constitution.

Wu Ding thought, "If only I had brought along more choices of enchanted items for him, he wouldn’t have to use those broken gourds!"

The heated battle was mesmerizing, spectators captivated by the excitement. They hadn’t expected that Ye Fan with only Golden Core Stage cultivation could withstand Li Zhaojun’s relentless assaults. Yet as the spiritual artifact magic sword in Ye Fan’s hand became engulfed by ice, his pure yang defense shrunk to a mere layer outside his body, leaving his situation precarious without a new weapon.

"Use mine!"

Suddenly, another spirited voice called out, tossing out another spiritual artifact magic sword designed for someone of pure yang constitution. It was Min Shang, who had battled Li Zhaojun earlier, throwing her Fire Dragon Sword to Ye Fan.

Ye Fan continued resisting the never-ending hatchlings with Qing Xu’s sword in his right hand while effortlessly catching the Fire Dragon Sword in his other hand. As the Fire Dragon Sword met Ye Fan’s pure yang spiritual energy, it sent out several wicked dragons that devoured the hatchlings in front.

"This is the weapon he should be using."

Everyone present thought the same.

Because Min Shang had a spirit root of uncertain yin and yang, her spiritual energy shifted between yin and yang. Only when it transformed to extreme yang could she harness the Fire Dragon Sword’s power, albeit for limited durations.

Though Ye Fan’s cultivation was far beneath Min Shang’s, his spiritual energy was pure yang, yielding an effect comparable to Min Shang’s mid-Nascent Soul Stage power.

With ice dragons clashing against fire dragons, the latter rapidly gained the upper hand. Ye Fan saw potential for a reversal, but Li Zhaojun’s sword began producing more than just hatchlings. She leaped forward, intending to strike down the clawing fire dragons with her Ice Cold Sword.

"It’s over!" Elder Wu and Wu Ding, concerned for Ye Fan, felt despair simultaneously.

If Ye Fan had even a slim chance before, now Li Zhaojun’s fighting spirit was ignited. She aimed to clash with Ye Fan in a life-or-death struggle, and in terms of sheer cultivation, even with the mighty Fire Dragon Sword, Ye Fan couldn’t withstand Li Zhaojun’s final attack.

The fire dragons, originally over a dozen, were quickly cut down by Li Zhaojun, leaving only one big dragon attempting to envelop Li Zhaojun’s body. But with calm resolve, Li Zhaojun struck the dragon, causing its head to detach and transform into an illusion that eventually vanished.

And Li Zhaojun’s long sword thrust directly at Ye Fan’s face, decisively.

Li Zhaojun was all out, executing a final fatal strike, intending it to be kill or be killed.

Yet in doing so, she exposed an opening. Ye Fan could fully retreat now, and thus avoid death, merely suffering from defeat and injury.

But Ye Fan had entered Pan Gu’s secret realm precisely for an opportunity like this to confront Li Zhaojun head-on.

To him, this was a herald of death and his sole chance to use Nine Yang Divine Skill to break the seal within Li Zhaojun’s body.