People were talking about it, and gossip about the two spread like wildfire.
The young Marquis Shenwei is a nobleman from a small country in the East. He studied under a Western martial arts master from a young age. Later, he entered the most prestigious martial arts academy in the West—the War God Academy—to train and became one of the most renowned young masters in the academy. His strength is unfathomable, and he has a certain reputation in the West.
Chen Nan's life is a blank; no one knows who his master was. However, his birth caused a minor stir in the cultivation world because he was able to repeatedly draw the sealed Houyi Divine Bow. His battle for fame was made with this bow. In the Chu Kingdom's imperial palace, he first speared a dragon knight and smashed a flying dragon with a club, and then shot down a roaring dragon with the Houyi Divine Bow. He was personally appointed as a guardian hero of the country by the Chu Kingdom's emperor, and his name became famous throughout the land.
Later, in the capital of Jin, he single-handedly fought against an army of a thousand men and used the Seven Demon Blades of Heaven to slay a peerless master of the fifth rank. After this battle, he became famous throughout the continent, and many people in the cultivation world learned of his name.
One is a top young master who studied under the West, and the other is a newly emerging martial arts prodigy in the East. Most people know about the feud between the two, but they don't care. What people care about is when the two will start their life-or-death battle.
Chen Nan had already learned of this news from the vice dean. The young Marquis of Shenwei had made a request to the vice dean of the War God Academy, hoping to arrange a time during the Strongest Tournament held by the four academies for him to have a life-or-death battle with Chen Nan.
The vice dean of the War God Academy initially disagreed. He had heard of Chen Nan's name and knew about the feud between his student and Chen Nan. Although he liked this disciple very much, he did not want to cause any trouble. The young Marquis of Divine Might was a key player of the War God Academy, and he did not want any accidents to happen.
However, it seemed that the young Marquis Shenwei had made up his mind to fight Chen Nan, otherwise he would refuse to participate in the next match. Ever since he saw Chen Nan that day, the fire of hatred in his heart had been burning like fire. After setting a three-day agreement, he was counting down the days, wishing he could kill his opponent immediately to vent his hatred.
When the vice dean of the War God Academy had no other choice, he turned to the vice dean of the Divine Wind Academy. At the same time, the vice deans of the Illusion Demon Academy and the Immortal Martial Academy also happened to be present. The two old foxes chuckled and unanimously agreed to the battle. In the end, this special battle was approved.
Everyone was eagerly anticipating this major battle; it was a highly anticipated event, with people discussing it and looking forward to it with bated breath.
As expected, the vice deans of the four academies quickly issued a joint announcement, though some polite words were still necessary. They stated that the recent series of battles had exhausted the participants from all four academies, and after deliberation, it was decided that everyone would have a day off. However, on this day, renowned young masters would engage in a life-or-death duel, the excitement of which would be no less than the pinnacle battle among the young powerhouses of the four academies.
Finally, Zhang, the vice dean of Shenfeng Academy, announced, "Please welcome Chen Nan, the extraordinary protector of the Chu Kingdom, and the young marquis Shenwei from the War God Academy to the stage!"
After much deliberation, Chen Nan picked up a twelve-foot-long spear from the weapon rack and strode into the arena. The spectators were familiar with him; his name had spread throughout the continent over the past few months, and after he appeared in the sky above the plaza a few days ago riding a mage, most people had already memorized his appearance.
The young Marquis Shenwei rode his dragon and soared into the sky from afar, rapidly flying towards them. The dark green, third-tier dragon unleashed a series of earth-shattering roars, causing the onlookers to tremble with fear.
"Chen Nan, you'll be beheaded! I'll make you pay for your crimes in blood!" The young Marquis Shenwei shouted madly in the air, wielding a broadsword.
"Enough talk, come on!" Chen Nan pointed his spear at the sky.
A deafening roar echoed throughout Shenfeng Academy. A dark green dragon, several dozen feet long, swung its tail in mid-air and swooped down. A fierce gust of wind arose, whipping up dust and sand across the plaza.
The dragon's huge, ferocious head had a pair of horns that gleamed coldly, like incomparably sharp giant knives. Inside its blood-red mouth were two rows of white, massive teeth that gleamed menacingly, just like sharp swords. It viciously pounced on Chen Nan.
As the enormous dragon head drew closer, Chen Nan, spear in hand, used the Divine Void Step to retreat rapidly, leaving behind an afterimage.
"Roar!" The dragon missed its target, let out a roar, and soared into the air, but its eight-zhang-long giant tail lashed out at Chen Nan, leaving a terrifying trail in the air and creating gusts of wind.
Faced with this fierce attack, Chen Nan dodged it and flashed away again. The dragon's giant tail slammed into the ground, causing it to crack instantly, with huge fissures spreading outwards.
Having fought several battles with the dragon knights, Chen Nan had accumulated a wealth of experience. After dodging the dragon's sweeping tail strike, he followed up with lightning speed. Before the dragon's massive tail could leave the ground, his body transformed into a faint afterimage, rushing towards the tip of its tail as it rose into the air. He reached out his left hand to grab its scales, leaped up, and followed up another three zhang (approximately 10 meters) upwards.
At this moment, Chen Nan was already five or six zhang above the ground. The dragon's tail had already left the ground, and he dared not go any further, fearing an accident. The spear in his hand emitted a blazing golden light. After he infused it with pure internal energy, the spearhead unleashed a tangible, dazzling sharpness. With a sudden burst of strength, he plunged the spear deep into the dragon's tail, almost to the hilt. Then, he pushed off the dragon's tail with both feet and forcefully pulled the spear out, quickly falling back to the ground.
The blood arrow shot out a distance of three zhang (approximately 10 meters), and blood sprayed down from the sky. The dragon let out a mournful roar and thrashed its tail wildly, but by then it had already left the ground and could not cause any damage to Chen Nan, who had just landed.
Everything happened in an instant; Chen Nan's series of movements were clean, efficient, and extremely beautiful.
After the initial shock, the crowd outside erupted in thunderous cheers.
After flying high into the sky, the dragon circled and roared continuously, and it took a long time for it to calm down. The young Marquis Shenwei's face was extremely ashen. He did not expect to suffer such a great loss in just one exchange, which made him furious.
Chen Nan saw that the wound on the dragon's tail quickly began to clot and the blood stopped flowing out. He sighed inwardly, thinking that dragons were indeed creatures with strong vitality and truly deserved to be called the king of beasts.
"Roar!" The dragon roared and swooped down again, its two thick and powerful front claws reaching for Chen Nan. The black, shiny, and sharp claws were more than ten feet long, gleaming with a cold light that was terrifying.
Chen Nan swiftly dodged to the side, his menacing dragon claws slamming into the ground, sending earth and rocks flying, creating two large craters, each over half a zhang deep, in the plaza. At the same time, the young Marquis Shenwei's broadsword slashed fiercely down from the side of the dragon's body, unleashing a powerful surge of energy several zhang long in the air, causing the entire space to tremble.
Chen Nan's eyes shot out two cold beams of lightning, and the spear in his hand seemed to transform into a dragon, dancing in the air with a dragon shadow. Countless dazzling rays of light shot out from the spearhead and collided with the layers of battle qi unleashed by the young marquis.
Thunder rumbled in the sky as the materialized sharpness and fierce battle aura collided, unleashing a blinding burst of light before dissipating together. The young Marquis Shenwei, perched on the back of the dragon, leaned back, swaying violently. Chen Nan stumbled back five steps before regaining his balance.
After swooping down, the dragon did not immediately fly off the ground. Seeing Chen Nan swaying as he retreated, it shook its huge dragon head and used its nearly ten-foot-long, broadsword-like horns to stab at Chen Nan.
Chen Nan was shocked and pushed the Divine Void Steps to their limit, retreating rapidly. The gleaming dragon horns brushed past him, nearly slicing through his chest.
Although Chen Nan was startled, he remained calm and seized the opportunity. The moment the dragon's head swung, he leaped into the air and landed on the dragon's neck.
The young Marquis Shenwei hurriedly brandished his broadsword. He didn't want Chen Nan to seriously injure his mount again. His blazing battle aura seemed to tear through the void, emitting bursts of air-cutting sounds, and swept towards Chen Nan like a raging sea.
Chen Nan used the spear like a club, slashing forward fiercely. With his cultivation at this level, he could kill enemies with any weapon. A blazing aura surged forward from the spear like a wave. The aura met the battle qi unleashed by the young marquis, producing a rumbling sound before dissipating into the air.
During this process, Chen Nan kicked hard on the dragon's neck with both feet, sending it flying backward. The force of these two kicks was immense, gathering all of Chen Nan's strength. The dragon's huge head was shaken by the force, and its body swayed, almost falling to the ground. It let out a unwilling roar and soared into the sky.
The crowd erupted in uproar. Chen Nan's performance was simply astonishing. He dominated both encounters, and his outstanding performance was truly remarkable.