Chen Nan's body emitted faint, multicolored light, and the blade light emanating from the long sword in his hand grew stronger and stronger, filling his surroundings with colorful light.
The seven people who were besieging him were horrified. They were all cultivators, so how could they not understand Chen Nan's current state? They knew that he had been immersed in a wonderful martial realm and was very likely to make a breakthrough in the battle.
This continued for nearly half an hour. The seven men grew increasingly frightened as the battle raged on. They exchanged glances, understood each other's thoughts, and knew they could no longer let Chen Nan continue. They had to find a way to break this strange state of his.
The four mages frantically gathered magical elements in the air, causing magical energy to surge. Then, a flash of light appeared, and a barrage of wind blades descended from the sky. The wind blades varied in size, but all gleamed coldly, densely distributed in the air, numbering in the hundreds or thousands. This terrifying magical attack created violent energy fluctuations in the air.
The three martial artists who were besieging Chen Nan also gathered their power, and their battle qi surged one layer after another. The red, orange and blue battle qi rushed towards Chen Nan from three directions like waves.
Attacks from both the air and the ground surged toward Chen Nan like a raging sea, but he paid no heed, seemingly still showing no signs of "awakening" and remaining immersed in that wondrous martial realm.
However, at this moment, the true energy within his body accelerated its circulation on its own under external pressure, like the rolling Yangtze River, like a mighty river, growing stronger and stronger. Then, the protective true energy overflowed from his body, and the colorful light emanating from his body became stronger and stronger.
As the overwhelming wind blades crashed down, Chen Nan spun his longsword, aimed it at the sky, and slashed continuously. Blazing sword light, like a tyrannical dragon emerging from the sea, surged upwards against the heavens, shattering the overwhelming wind blades into a wreck, most of them dissipating into the air.
Then he spun around, wielding his longsword fiercely, sweeping across all directions. The blade's light ripped through the void, completely dispersing the surging battle energy.
At this moment, the wind blades that had not yet dissipated in the air attacked Chen Nan, but they did not pierce Chen Nan's body as the mage had predicted. Dozens of wind blades encountered great resistance three inches from his body and were suspended in mid-air, unable to advance any further. Then, these wind blades exploded and completely dissipated.
Chen Nan roared to the sky, his longsword pointing upwards. Four beams of sword energy shot straight up, splattering blood. Two mages were pierced through by the sword energy and fell to the ground, their fates unknown. The other two mages hurriedly fled to the sky, daring not to approach the ground again.
The three warriors on the ground were all shocked. They had been fighting for nearly half an hour, and Chen Nan seemed to be getting stronger and stronger, without showing any signs of fatigue. Now he had even killed two more mages. A chill ran through them. The three of them looked at each other and quickly gathered together.
Chen Nan, wielding a long sword, strode towards them. With each step he took, the earth trembled, and the oppressive pressure caused the three martial artists' expressions to change repeatedly.
"Slay!" Chen Nan shouted.
The blade pierced through the void, and a two-zhang-long materialized blade beam slashed diagonally towards the three of them. The unparalleled blade energy exuded immense pressure, causing the three of them to feel a tremendous pressure on their bodies and minds.
The three men gritted their teeth and raised their swords to meet the attack. Brilliant battle auras clashed with the dazzling blade light. The two mages in the air swiftly swooped down, unleashing two massive bolts of lightning before rapidly rising back up.
The three layers of fighting spirit clashed with the blade's edge first, but were dispersed in an instant. The blade's edge also dimmed considerably, but it still charged forward. The three warriors who had been together were forced to separate and quickly dodge.
Meanwhile, Chen Nan was slashing at two massive bolts of lightning falling from the sky. Several layers of sword energy surged up, colliding with the lightning and creating a series of rumbling sounds in the air. Finally, the two energies canceled each other out, bursting into a dazzling light before dissipating into nothingness.
The instant he shattered the lightning attack, Chen Nan used the Divine Void Step, moving with lightning speed towards the masked warriors ahead. The three warriors were taken aback; Chen Nan's speed was too fast. By the time they raised their swords, Chen Nan was already upon them.
With a few crisp clangs, the longswords in the hands of the three men had been cut in half by the blade light unleashed by Chen Nan, and the three men held their broken swords to fight back.
Chen Nan moved like a ghost, shuttling back and forth between the three men. One wave of sword energy swept towards them after another. The battle had lasted for nearly half an hour. By this time, the three masked men were exhausted and could no longer resist the surging, rushing sword energy.
In just a moment, the broken swords in the hands of the three men shattered completely under the impact of the blade energy. The two mages in the air wanted to come to the rescue, but Chen Nan's speed was so astonishing that they could not catch his figure. Fearing that they might accidentally injure the three masked warriors who were fighting with him, the two mages hesitated to launch a magical attack.
The three masked warriors, unarmed, were finding it difficult to defend themselves. One of them shouted, "Stop! I have something to say!"
Chen Nan had already "awakened" from that strange martial realm, but he remained unmoved upon hearing these words. His sword strikes were as powerful as ever, and soon a masked man was pierced through by the sword's edge, blood gushing out as he collapsed and rolled on the ground.
"Stop, stop now! I'll tell you who the employer is, who wants to kill you!"
Chen Nan sheathed his sword and stood there, feeling refreshed and invigorated, without the slightest fatigue. In that wondrous martial realm, although he hadn't broken through the third-tier limit and entered the fourth-tier domain, his inner strength had been refined once again, becoming even purer. Many seemingly ambiguous issues in martial arts had also become clear in that state.
He looked at the masked man and mocked, "You certainly have professional ethics!"
The masked man's veil trembled, revealing his anger and deep shame.
"The person who wanted to kill you was Renjian, the third prince of Baiyue Kingdom. However, due to recent political turmoil in Baiyue Kingdom, he has returned to the country to fight for power and left you a letter."
"Oh, he hired you to kill me, and even left me a letter?"
"Yes, he said that if we are no match for him, he can give you the letter." As he spoke, the masked man took out a letter from his pocket and flicked it toward Chen Nan.
Chen Nan caught the flying letter between two fingers, unfolded it, and read the few words: "I know your relationship with the Chu Kingdom very well. There are no permanent enemies, only permanent interests. I hope that one day we can cooperate."
Chen Nan frowned, then crumpled the paper into pieces, leaving a blur in his wake, and quickly rushed in front of the two masked warriors, raising his sword to slash horizontally.
Caught off guard, the two screamed after a few exchanges as the blade's energy pierced their bodies, causing them to fall to the ground.
"You...you're despicable! Why did you attack me from behind?!"