This..." Chen Nan was utterly shocked.
He noticed several young men beside him staring intently at the woman on the stage. Chen Nan gently nudged one of them and asked, "May I ask, brother, who is that woman? Why is she able to sit with those senior experts?"
The young man stared intently at the woman on the stage, murmuring, "Meng Ke'er... the most outstanding successor of the Tantai School in this era, representing her master to watch the competition... one of the most beautiful women in the world..." The young man seemed to be talking in a dream.
Upon hearing the name "Tantai," Chen Nan's face instantly changed color. He clenched his fists, and his eyes shot out two cold glints as he stared unblinkingly at Meng Ke'er on the stage.
He asked again, "May I ask what kind of sect the Tantai School is?"
But at this moment, the young man seemed to have fallen into a dreamlike state, staring blankly at the peerless beauty on the stage, no longer answering him.
Of course, not everyone was like that. A young man next to Chen Nan looked at him in surprise and said, "Really? You haven't heard of the Tantai Sect? This sect is one of the oldest sects in the East and one of the ancient holy lands of the Eastern cultivation world."
Chen Nan adopted a humble and receptive demeanor, saying, "I am ignorant and uninformed; please explain in detail, brother."
The young man didn't think much of it and said, "Conservatively speaking, this sect has been passed down for thousands of years, and its incense has never been extinguished. The sect's founder created a unique system that combined martial arts with Taoist practices, and its cultivation methods are extremely mysterious. The disciples are all true masters, but the sect members rarely travel across the continent. Those who do appear are always exceptional individuals."
Tantai Xuan initially practiced martial arts, but after finding few equals among her peers, she turned to Taoist cultivation, becoming a disciple of a reclusive scholar on the verge of transcending the mortal realm. Chen Nan felt a surge of emotion, intuitively believing that this was the sect founded by Tantai Xuan.
"May I ask if the founder of this school could leave behind a name?"
"It is said that the founder of this sect has already ascended to immortality, but he descended to the mortal world a thousand years ago and left traces of his immortality in various parts of the continent. I heard that his name was Tantai Xuan. Whether the legend is true or not is impossible to verify, after all, too much time has passed."
Chen Nan was now certain that the Tantai Sect was undoubtedly founded by Tantai Xuan ten thousand years ago. He couldn't help but sneer, "Heh heh..."
The young man watched Chen Nan sneer at Meng Ke'er on the stage and said with a suggestive smile, "Hehe, brother, I advise you to put your mind at ease. The most outstanding successors from the Ancient Holy Land are not someone you can 'provoke.' People from that sect are highly respected throughout the continent. Moreover, their own strength is incredibly astonishing, making them the cream of the crop among their peers. Even the strongest experts from the four major academies might not be their match. If you... hehe, you'll only be asking for trouble."
Chen Nan smiled silently and turned to walk away. The young man called after him, "Brother, I'm telling the truth. There are plenty of fish in the sea, but lust is a double-edged sword..."
Chen Nan ignored his nonsense, waved his hand behind him, and quickly disappeared from his sight. He had already made up his mind that something "strange" was destined to happen between him and the Tantai faction.
The second battle had already begun. A Western warrior from the War God Academy was fighting against an Eastern warrior from the Divine Wind Academy. Their battle aura clashed with their sword aura, and the situation was extremely intense.
Chen Nan had already stepped out of the crowd, and through the shadows on the outside, he could vaguely see the fight inside. However, at that moment, he sensed a faint killing intent, and with his keen senses, he realized that danger was approaching step by step.
He was startled. Who was so bold as to try to take advantage of the chaos to kill him?
Chen Nan placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, a cold smile playing on his lips. He sensed the killing intent approaching from behind; he had locked onto that person.
A cold light flashed like lightning, stabbing towards Chen Nan's back from behind. This assassination was very skillful, and the attacker's cultivation was obviously not low. However, in order to avoid Chen Nan noticing, the attacker did not activate any fighting spirit and directly stabbed him with a sharp blade.
Overall, this assassin was very experienced and had excellent concealment skills, making him a successful assassin, but unfortunately, he ran into a ruthless opponent.
Chen Nan did not turn around. He gripped the hilt of his sword and thrust it backward, scabbard and all. The scabbard shattered in an instant, the blade flashing brilliantly, shattering the thin rapier behind him like a bolt of lightning. The blade's energy did not diminish; after destroying the assassin's blade, its sharpness remained brilliant, instantly piercing the assassin's left rib. Blood splattered, raining down in the air.
The assassin was clearly a veteran. Despite being severely injured, he remained calm, flew backwards along the ground for three zhang (approximately 10 meters), then jumped up and ran towards the outside of the square at lightning speed.
All of this happened in an instant; most people were watching the battle inside the arena, and few noticed what was happening here.
Chen Nan, a cold smile playing on his lips, calmly gave chase. He had had the chance to kill the assassin, but he didn't want to. He wanted to follow the trail and find the mastermind behind it all.
He followed the assassin at a leisurely pace, keeping a distance. To Chen Nan's surprise, the assassin did not flee Shenfeng Academy, but instead ran into Shenfeng Academy's No. 3 Martial Arts Arena.
Although the No. 3 training ground is far less spacious than the square, it still covers a large area, and some of the smaller-scale competitions within the academy are usually held in these training grounds.
Upon arriving here, Chen Nan sneered. Clearly, the assassin had intentionally lured him here.
Kamikaze Academy has mobilized almost all its students to maintain order in the square, and other students who were not assigned tasks are also watching the competition in the square. It can be said that there is almost no one else in other places.
Clearly, the assassins were not alone; they had deliberately lured Chen Nan to this deserted place to ambush and kill him. Although Chen Nan had already guessed this, he still stepped into the martial arts arena again. Now that his cultivation had greatly improved, he felt no fear whatsoever. He believed that even if he was no match for them, he could retreat with ease.
Just as he expected, three masked men emerged from behind the stands. One of them bandaged the assassin who had escaped there, and then the four of them pressed towards Chen Nan.
"Hehe, esteemed Protector of the Nation, I'm sorry about today. In order to make money and survive, we have no choice but to offend you..."
Chen Nan interrupted him, saying coldly, "Stop talking nonsense and just tell me who sent you, or we'll just take action."