At that moment, Ye Fan said, "You have no chance now. Won’t you surrender?"
Qiu Ji retorted, "Never! I will never surrender!"
"Why must you be so stubborn?" Ye Fan said helplessly. "Your soul is still in my hands. It would be a matter of moments for me to kill you."
Qiu Ji declared, "Because the soul I gave you belongs entirely to Su Qingxue. You can’t threaten me!"
"I know."
"What?"
Qiu Ji was utterly shocked. Ye Fan had known all along.
Ye Fan stated, "Nothing can escape the light of the Divine Talisman, not even souls. As a Soul Cultivator, you couldn’t possibly be unaware of this principle. I knew from the very first day that the Soul Source you gave me wasn’t yours. I simply chose not to expose your lie."
"Then why did you still want my body?" Qiu Ji found it increasingly difficult to accept this reality.
Ye Fan replied, "Since you delivered yourself to my doorstep, it would be a waste not to accept."
"I’ll kill you!" Qiu Ji shrieked and charged at Ye Fan. But at that moment, three powerful figures appeared: Nightmare Beast, Misfortune Pangolin, and Demon Sky Monkey!
Surrounded by these three great experts, along with the supremely powerful Ye Fan, Qiu Ji’s expression turned incredibly grim.
However, she was a clever woman. She shouted at Ye Fan, "What kind of hero gangs up on one person? If you have any guts, fight me one-on-one!"
Ye Fan chuckled. "Trying to goad me? Excellent. I happen to love a good taunt. Dare to take this outside?"
"Why wouldn’t I?"
Qiu Ji and Ye Fan immediately rushed outside, confronting each other beneath the starlit sky.
Ye Fan said calmly, "Qiu Ji, stand down. Our victory over the lineage of the Evil God wasn’t because of luck. Their decline has become inevitable!"
"Humph! The lineage of the Evil God will never decline! We are the strongest! Your success is merely temporary!" Qiu Ji stated furiously. "Our war has just begun! I will kill you with my own hands!"
But Ye Fan said, "Settle down. You are afflicted by the Curse Power. Your only hope of dispelling it is to rely on me! Every minute you delay, your body falls into greater danger. I hope you won’t continue down this mistaken path."
"What? Feeling sorry for me now?" Qiu Ji sneered. "I don’t need your sympathy, much less your pity. If my death can bring about yours, then it’s worth it."
"In your dreams. Since you insist on being delusional, allow me to wake you up!" Ye Fan retorted and launched his attack.
What a sin! If Qiu Ji and I hadn’t crossed that line, I wouldn’t be hesitating like this. I’d just kill who needs to be killed instead of being so indecisive, weighing every little thing. What is this, if not a sinful entanglement? Still, I will be the one to end this cursed connection. It all starts now.
Qiu Ji also made her move, pushing her power to its peak.
Then, Ye Fan lunged, rushing toward Qiu Ji with unstoppable momentum. She responded by activating the Power of the Main God. Her Power of Soul spread out instantly. As a Soul Cultivator, she was among the best of the best.
"Emperor Breaks the Mountains and Rivers!" Ye Fan shouted.
Behind him, the giant phantom was replaced by an image from the Ancestor Realm. This was his newly comprehended technique, and its very appearance exuded an aura that compelled others to kneel in surrender. His presence possessed far more majesty than the Little God Monarch’s legendary world-ruling aura.
When their attacks collided, Qiu Ji was sent flying backward. Within the Main God realm, Ye Fan was undoubtedly peerless. Qiu Ji was no match for him.
Qiu Ji hadn’t expected Ye Fan’s power to be so formidable. With his current strength, his battle prowess was likely approaching that of a Divine Monarch.
Qiu Ji attacked again, unleashing her famous Illusion Technique. Combined with her charm arts, it was exceptionally powerful. Ye Fan met her head-on with his Pure Yang Divine Power.
Three moves later, Qiu Ji was defeated again.
Normally, with her strength, defeating her would have been very difficult for Ye Fan, as they were both geniuses of the same level. Unfortunately for her, in her effort to deal with Ye Fan, she had become tainted by a terrifying amount of Curse Power. The oppressive force of this curse significantly hampered her combat ability.
Qiu Ji spat out a mouthful of blood. She struggled to her feet and asked, "In the end, am I truly no match for you?"
Ye Fan responded, "You are very strong. Unfortunately, you are tainted by too much Curse Power. The more you exert your strength, the more the curse is agitated. Therefore, your only option is to stop fighting!"
"Stop fighting? In your dreams!" Qiu Ji shot back, unleashing a strike with her Power of Soul that came crashing down upon him.
"Is this the power of a pinnacle Soul Altar?"
At that moment, even Ye Fan was shocked. He hadn’t expected Qiu Ji’s Power of Soul to be so terrifying. While he had made his own achievements in soul cultivation, he was not able to manifest it to such an extreme. The art of killing with the soul had always been formless, and on this path, Qiu Ji was truly a pioneer.
Qiu Ji shouted, "Never underestimate a woman—especially an angry one!"
"Three Souls Converge!" she roared.
Her soul manifested three streams of power, unleashing an ancient Power of Soul that threatened to overwhelm Ye Fan. In the face of such oppression, strange memories suddenly flashed through Ye Fan’s mind.
An image of a powerful ancient race, the Soul Clan, appeared in his thoughts. The Soul Clan, in its heyday, was comparable to the Holy Clan. However, like the Holy Clan, this ancient clan’s glory was fleeting. They ruled for just one era. After that era collapsed, these hegemons who had dominated heaven and earth also vanished. It was as if this was a curse from the heavens themselves. No matter how powerful a race was, when its fated time of destruction arrived, it could not resist the tide of the ages. Just then, the terrifying memories in Ye Fan’s mind faded away.
Meanwhile, in her room, Su Qingxue suddenly clutched her head in pain. She felt a powerful force awakening within her—a force she could not stop.
"Why is this happening?" Su Qingxue was not just shocked, but terrified, as this had come on without any warning.
At her scream, people nearby rushed over. Among them was the Evil You Ancestor, who was contemplating the Evil Nether Battle Chronicles.
"What’s the matter?" the Evil You Ancestor asked.
"I don’t know! This illness came on so suddenly!" Alice said, her voice trembling with fear. Just a moment ago, Su Qingxue’s complexion had turned deathly pale, frightening her immensely.
"Let me see what’s wrong," the Evil You Ancestor said. He took Su Qingxue’s hand to examine her, but what he found left him greatly shocked.
"Senior, what is it?" the group asked curiously.
The Evil You Ancestor said, "Unthinkable... This is utterly unthinkable. It seems an ancient power from the Great Thousand World has awakened within her!
"The Great Thousand World has gone through millions of years of changes. It has seen one era-defining hegemon after another rise, only to vanish when their time was over. Then, new hegemons would rise to take their place.
"I have never encountered the power within her before. This Power of Soul is too strong! As far as I know, among all those hegemons, only one race could awaken the Power of Soul to this degree: the Soul Clan! They ruled during an age that made heaven and earth tremble in fear!"
Hearing this explanation from the Evil You Ancestor, the crowd grew curious.
The Red Sand Main God asked, "Senior, how does the Soul Clan compare to your Evil Clan?"
The Evil You Ancestor shook his head. "There’s no comparison at all. In their peak era, the Soul Clan was definitely no weaker than the Holy Clan. Both were supreme races that once ruled the entire Great Thousand World. While my Evil Clan is powerful, we are far from the monstrous level of those supreme races. I believe she might be a descendant of the Soul Clan!"
Everyone gasped, stunned to learn of Su Qingxue’s extraordinary heritage.