At that moment, Ye Fan asked coldly, "What will it take for you to save her?"

This was the very question that concerned him. He desperately wanted to know why Huang Ji had saved him at the last moment. They were neither kin nor friends; in fact, they were enemies. He couldn’t think of a single reason why she would save him, yet she had. All the confusion, all the mysteries, could only be unraveled once Huang Ji awakened.

"Saving a life comes with a price," she said to Ye Fan with a smile. "The question is whether or not you can afford it."

Ye Fan asked, "What price?"

"Life Force!"

"Don’t you possess eternal life? Why do you need to take any from me?" Ye Fan asked doubtfully.

The Ice Soul was an immortal being. He truly couldn’t understand why she would need his fleeting life.

The Ice Soul said, "Because your life is extraordinary, I need it!"

"Agreed!" Ye Fan consented without hesitation. He believed it was a worthy price to pay. "How much of my life do you need?" he asked.

"All of it!" she said decisively.

Ye Fan hesitated. His entire life was too great a price, and he had his reservations. However, he firmly believed that no one could truly take his life from him.

"What? Are you scared?" she taunted with a smile. She was incorporeal, so Ye Fan couldn’t see her.

"The word ’fear’ is not in my vocabulary," Ye Fan stated. "My entire life, you say? I agree."

"Very well. Let us begin," she declared. She then manifested as a human figure, landing before Ye Fan. He was stunned, because the Ice Soul looked exactly like Huang Ji. Most importantly, the Ice Soul’s form was completely unconcealed, which made Ye Fan’s heart pound in his chest.

She smiled at Ye Fan. "This is merely a vessel. I found her appearance pleasing, so I took on her form."

"I see," Ye Fan said, then added, "I have one condition!"

"What condition?" she asked.

"My condition is simple," Ye Fan said. "You must revive her completely before you take my life."

"Impossible!" she refused.

But Ye Fan countered, "This is your domain. Even if I wanted to play tricks, I couldn’t possibly escape your grasp! Are you afraid?"

"You dare provoke me? Afraid? You think too highly of yourself. Let us begin!" she retorted.

She then conjured countless ice crystals, which shimmered like tiny stars as they descended upon Huang Ji’s wounds. She taunted, "You must truly hate her to have wounded her so badly. If a few more hours had passed, even I would have been powerless to save her."

"Enough nonsense! Just save her," Ye Fan snapped.

She said no more, instead using her power over ice to shape numerous ice trees. The trees bloomed, and their petals blanketed Huang Ji. Ye Fan could feel an incredibly pure energy emanating from them. All of this terrifyingly pure power flowed into Huang Ji’s body, and color finally began to return to her face.

Ye Fan felt a wave of relief. He didn’t know if he was doing the right thing, but it made him happy. He felt it was all worth it.

At that moment, the Ice Soul said to him, "She will awaken on her own in two hours. Now, give me your Life Force. Don’t worry, I won’t take all of it. I will leave you with three days of life."

"That’s just empty talk until she’s truly awake. I don’t trust you!" Ye Fan countered. "I’ll wait for two more hours."

It had to be said that at this moment, Ye Fan was showing his cunning side.

The Ice Soul said coldly, "Do you dare to defy our agreement?"

"It’s not defiance. I simply need two hours. Surely you can’t even wait for two hours?" Ye Fan continued to parry.

"I see you have no intention of giving me your life!" the Ice Soul said coldly. "In that case, I’ll just have to take it by force."

She flicked her fingers, and in an instant, countless sharp icicles materialized and shot toward Ye Fan, aiming to pierce him through.

"BREAK!" Ye Fan roared. With his shout, the myriad icicles shattered instantly. He drew his Yuanhong Sword, unleashing the Power of Slaughter to destroy the endless shards of ice.

The Ice Soul sneered, "This is my domain. No one dares to defy me, and that includes you. For your defiance, I will make you wish for death but deny you even that."

"Is that so?" Ye Fan prepared to unleash the Heavenly Sword technique and kill the Ice Soul with a single strike.

But in the next moment, he noticed something was wrong. Looking down, he saw that a thick layer of ice had already encased his thighs. Just as Ye Fan was about to resist, he realized that the frost had already crept up to his Yuanhong Sword, freezing it solid. In the next moment, his entire body was frozen over. He had never imagined these ice crystals possessed such terrifying sealing power.

He struggled with all his might but still could not break free.

"No one defies me," the Ice Soul mocked, standing before him. "This is the price for your resistance!"

"ARGH!" Ye Fan grunted in pain.

The ice sealing him had morphed into sharp blades, piercing into his body. It was a bone-chilling pain, so intense that not even his formidable physique could withstand it. He felt himself about to faint.

The Ice Soul smirked. "How does it feel?"

"Wonderful... I’m enjoying it immensely," Ye Fan ground out, his body trembling.

"UGH!" He grunted again as the countless blades threatened to pierce straight through him. An endless agony washed over him. The pain made him wish for the release of unconsciousness, but he couldn’t pass out. Without a doubt, this was the cruelest form of torture.

"This is the end! It’s time for you to die!" The Ice Soul’s hand clamped down on his head. Ye Fan struggled to resist with his will alone, but he couldn’t withstand the Ice Soul’s tyrannical power. He could feel his own strength draining away, flowing unceasingly into the Ice Soul’s body.

It wasn’t just his strength; his Life Force was also being drained, diminishing at an alarming rate. Such fearsome and tyrannical power was truly terrifying to behold.

In desperation, Ye Fan quickly mobilized the power of the Divine Talisman. It had been dormant within him ever since it first entered his body. The last time it had acted was to help him slay the pet of a Divine Race member. Now, bolstered by his Ancestor Realm Bloodline, he activated the Divine Talisman. A dazzling golden light erupted from his body, its radiance as terrifyingly vast as the legends claimed.

The Ice Soul, whose face was already twisting into a triumphant smirk, was completely stunned by this sudden eruption of power. She tried to quickly retract her hand, only to find that she was trapped by this new force, unable to move. At the same time, all the strength and Life Force she had siphoned from Ye Fan began to surge back into his body.