Volume 20, Chapter 181.3: The Sword Fanatic Ji Juechen
As the Extraterrestial Meteoric Sword slowly swept forward, a huge depression that was several meters wide was formed. This depression extended with Ji Juechen as he moved, becoming deeper and deeper.
When Ji Juechen’s body shot out, he seemed to be guided by the air around him. Huo Yuhao also moved at this moment.
He took a step forward with his left leg, but didn’t burst out like Ji Juechen. When his left leg landed on the ground, the entire Soul Tool Experimentation Area resonated with a deep rumbling sound. Xuan Ziwen lost his balance, and almost fell down.
Huo Yuhao made a half-turn. He didn’t have a sword, but he had his fist. He didn’t use any soul skill or his Darkgolden Terrorclaws. He relied solely on his right fist.
However, his right fist had turned completely golden at this moment. It was a gold that looked condensed, heavy, all-engulfing, and completely dominant.
The two of them seemed to have practiced together. When the pitch-black sword finished its sweep, Huo Yuhao completed his turn. His golden fist collided with the tip of the Extraterrestrial Meteoric Sword.
Xuan Ziwen staggered back two steps, shocked. When the fist and sword collided, he felt the surrounding air collapse as everything became distorted and unreal. Even though it was only for an instant, he knew he wasn’t seeing things.
Jing Hongchen had already stood up from his seat in the main spectators stand. He was stunned when he realized that he couldn’t understand the true meaning behind the collision. The impact force wasn’t too impressive, but he could sense that it wasn’t just a simple collision, an immense aura had been released. While there weren’t any flashy soul skills shown, there was something unclear and incomprehensible to him in it.
A second after the collision, a reverberating boom sounded out.
BOOM!
Fissures appeared in the ground, which started to collapse. The fissures extended out from the two fighters for almost thirty meters.
Huo Yuhao and Ji Juechen were also thrown back. Ji Juechen held on tightly to his Extraterrestrial Meteoric Sword. The area between his thumb and index finger started bleeding profusely.
Huo Yuhao’s entire right arm was covered in blood. He was thrown back twice as far as Ji Juechen. After landing, he staggered another seven to eight steps before stabilizing himself.
Did he lose? Many of the spectators wondered.
From the verbal abuse on the first day, to the thirty consecutive victories, to today’s defeat of Shen Musu and Jing Ziyan, the students from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy had no choice but to admit that Huo Yuhao was very powerful. They wondered who was strong enough to defeat him. Now, they seemed to have gotten an answer.
But Huo Yuhao wasn’t as frantic as they thought he would be. He didn’t move after he stabilized his body. Although he was breathing rather heavily, his eyes were still filled with golden light. As he lifted his right hand, he quietly looked at his bright golden fist. He didn’t utter a word.
Ji Juechen didn’t move after he landed on the ground. He wasn’t forced as far back as Huo Yuhao. He didn’t stagger or spit out blood, either. However, his gaze wasn’t as sharp as before. He even seemed like he was in a trance. He didn’t even appear to realize that his blood was seeping down his sword from where the skin had split on his hand.
The two of them just stood where they were, neither showing an intent to take action. If not for the fact that the ground between them had cracked almost two meters deep, it would’ve looked like nothing had happened.
Xuan Ziwen slowly recovered from his shock. He was the closest to the two of them, and thus had felt it the most. He had clearly sensed an immense force appear in his mind, threatening to tear his spirit apart. That was why he retreated in shock. He was a little fearful at this point, even though he was an six-ringed Soul Emperor and a Class 8 soul engineer.
Huo Yuhao and Ji Juechen weren’t powerful enough to give him such a feeling. This meant that it didn’t originate from soul power or pure spiritual power. It was a strange force that Xuan Ziwen had never experienced before, which shocked him the most.
The golden color on Huo Yuhao’s right fist slowly disappeared. At this point, it was possible to see several wounds on his right arm. Once the golden light disappeared, fresh blood could be seen flowing. His entire right arm was stained blood-red.
But Huo Yuhao wasn’t bothered by it. He pressed down on his right arm with his left hand, and the blood flow stopped. He sealed his right arm with ice before sitting down. He shut his eyes and started to meditate.
Jing Hongchen said something to Lin Jiayi softly. Lin Jiayi stood up quickly and rushed to find Xuan Ziwen. He whispered, “Teacher Xuan, who’s the winner? Did Huo Yuhao lose?”
Xuan Ziwen laughed bitterly. “Honestly speaking, I don’t know. I can’t judge who the winner is.”
At this moment, Ji Juechen’s body trembled a little. After that, he lifted his head and looked over. His face was abnormally pale, but he had an unprecedented look of excitement in his eyes. “I’ve lost.”
After he admitted his loss, he looked at Huo Yuhao once before staggering away. He couldn’t walk straight, and almost fell down as he left the Soul Tool Experimentation Area. He only managed to leave with Jing Ziyan’s support.
Ji Juechen lost? How did he lose? The students in the spectator stands started whispering to one another.
At this point, Teacher Fan Yu walked briskly into the Soul Tool Experimentation Area. He approached Lin Jiayi and Xuan Ziwen and said, “The sparring has to end here.”
Lin Jiayi was a little stunned before he asked, “What? Why?”
Fan Yu pointed at Huo Yuhao and said, “You’re also a Class 8 soul engineer and a Soul Douluo. Didn’t you realize that Huo Yuhao has entered a deep meditative state?”
After Huo Yuhao sat down, he immediately entered deep meditation. As he sat there, he was as still as a sculpture.
“Conscientious State of Deep Meditation?” Xuan Ziwen exclaimed softly.
Fan Yu was a little helpless as he laughed bitterly, “I’m afraid so. This kid can’t be compared to an ordinary soul master. Apologies for causing such trouble. Please help me tell the Hallmaster that the sparring has to cease here. I believe that the Hallmaster has roughly achieved his goals for this competition. But I need to borrow this ground for a while. Yuhao can’t be disturbed during his deep meditation. I’ll stay here to watch over him.”
Xuan Ziwen nodded and replied, “I know about this. I’m his teacher now. I’ll stay with you to watch over him. Director Lin, I’ll need you to deal with Hallmaster.”
Lin Jiayi furrowed his brow, but still nodded. He quickly returned to the main spectator stand. Nothing was going according to plan. Who could have expected Huo Yuhao to experience such changes? He had even entered deep meditation!
Jing Hongchen was also puzzled after receiving this news. However, a tinge of worry rose in his mind after a while. On the surface, he had managed to achieve everything he had in mind for this sparring competition. From the teachers’ feedback, the students’ reaction to the competition was very positive. They were all discussing how they could better defeat soul masters, and how they could deal with soul masters. It was expected that the students would be more motivated to cultivate after this sparring competition was over.
But how much did Huo Yuhao benefit? He must have gained some considerable improvement after clashing with Ji Juechen, which was why he had entered the Conscientious State of Deep Meditation.
Jing Hongchen was a little annoyed as he shook his head. Whatever it was, his grandchildren were still in Shrek Academy. No matter how much he wanted to deal with Huo Yuhao, he still had to consider the safety of his grandchildren. He could only comfort himself that Huo Yuhao was still young, and wouldn’t affect the future of the empire. Since he could achieve such progress at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, what could Jing Hongchen’s grandchildren achieve at Shrek Academy?
Jing Hongchen felt better after he thought through this point. He quickly instructed Lin Jiayi to announce the end of the sparring competition. Huo Yuhao had ended the competition with thirty-three consecutive victories. No Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy student had managed to beat him. But the rest of the sparring couldn’t continue. The students who had wagered on him losing before the fiftieth round got their money back.
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After one day, Jing Hongchen received good news. After Ji Juechen left, he had also entered deep meditation. He was in the same Conscientious State of Deep Meditation as Huo Yuhao. At least he had managed to save some face for the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy.
But no one expected Huo Yuhao to remain in his meditative state for as long as he did.
When Fan Yu and Xuan Ziwen decided to protect Huo Yuhao, they asked someone to lay the foundation for a huge tent to be pitched. However, Huo Yuhao still hadn’t woken up from his deep meditation after seven days. His entire body was already covered in dust.
The two teachers had no choice to pitch a huge tent around Huo Yuhao without affecting his meditative state.