When Chen Nan held the Houyi Divine Bow in his hands again, he was excited. He really wanted to find Meng Ke'er and the Little Demon King Hun Tian and test his skills on them right away!
The dark Houyi Bow was ancient and heavy, but as long as Chen Nan gently channeled a little true energy into it, it would emit countless rays of light. The misty light gathered and flowed around the divine bow, making the entire room shimmer with light.
Long Wu was secretly amazed and said, "Let me try it." However, when she took it, just as the legend said, it was extremely difficult to pull the bowstring even an inch, and the divine bow showed no abnormalities whatsoever.
"That's really strange!" Long Wu bit her rosy lips, looked Chen Nan up and down, and said, "Many people with higher cultivation than you can't even budge it. How did you do it? Why are you the only one who can pull it apart?"
Chen Nan smiled and said, "You have good taste; you even like bows."
"Pah!" Long Wu punched him and laughed, "Tell me what happened!"
Even Chen Nan himself cannot be certain about this issue right now, and he certainly cannot elaborate on those inaccurate guesses.
After entering the palace, the purple-gold dragon flew into the imperial kitchen and did not return until late at night. Chen Nan could only secretly pray that the dragon would not go too far.
On the second day, Chen Nan left the palace early in the morning without informing Long Wu. The old monster had already given instructions that Chen Nan could come and go as he pleased, and no one was allowed to stop him.
Looking at the wide and spacious streets of the capital, Chen Nan felt a mix of emotions. The scene of his rampage in Chu Capital was still vivid in his mind. It was summer then, but now it was snowing. Half a year had passed in the blink of an eye.
Today, heavy snow was falling, and there were few pedestrians on the streets. Chen Nan wandered aimlessly along the street. The empty street was quiet, and his feet crunched on the snow. The cold air blew snowflakes around him.
"Half a year has passed, time flies. Ruoshui, how are you doing now?" Chen Nan recalled Nalan Ruoshui's pure smile. He remembered bits and pieces of the past.
Since his resurrection, Nalan Ruoshui was the first young woman to genuinely care for him. During those days, she would carefully examine his body every day, gently perform acupuncture treatments for him, and later patiently teach him to read and write, allowing him to truly integrate into society.
Chen Nan finally headed towards the home of the Left Prime Minister, Nalan Wencheng. The Nalan family's vermilion gates were tightly shut due to the heavy snow. He knocked repeatedly. After a moment, someone opened the gate.
"Who are you? Do you wish to see my master?" a young man asked politely. The servants of the Nalan family were not as arrogant as the servants of ordinary Hakka families; sometimes, one could discern the quality of their master simply by observing the words and actions of their servants.
"I would like to see Miss Nalan Ruoshui."
"Ah, didn't you know? Miss Nalan left the capital three months ago."
"Ah!" Chen Nan exclaimed in surprise, and quickly asked, "Where did she go? Why did she leave?"
"It is said that he went to visit a famous teacher to learn medical skills."
"This…" Chen Nan was a little stunned, and muttered to himself, "It's been half a year… Ruoshui, I hope you will be happy from now on." He turned and left, walking into the wind and snow.
The young man called out to his retreating figure, "Who are you? Don't you want to leave a message?"
Chen Nan paused for a moment, but then quickly continued walking forward. Only when his figure was almost out of sight did he say a few words: "My surname is Chen. If Ruoshui comes back, please tell her that if she encounters any trouble, she only needs to give me a message, and I will come to help her immediately, even if I am thousands of miles away."
"You...you are Chen Nan...is that all you have to say?" the young man shouted from behind.
Braving the wind and snow, Chen Nan walked towards the Qishi Mansion. However, the huge Qishi Mansion was unusually quiet. After climbing over the wall, he found that there were only some servants there, and all the Qishi were not in the mansion.
"The old monster is really cautious. He has managed to bring all the extraordinary talents into the palace. It seems that there are quite a few old monsters who have been invited out of the mountains."
Chen Nan returned to the main street and unknowingly found himself outside Sima Lingkong's gate. The mansion he had disrupted at the wedding, destroying half of it with Hou Yi's bow, had long since been rebuilt.
Just then, a passerby walked past him, and Chen Nan stepped forward and asked, "Hello, is this the Sima Lingkong family's residence?"
The man was startled. Sima Kong was a prominent family in the capital. He couldn't help but glance at Chen Nan a few more times and said, "Yes, but Young Master Sima has gone to the Western Continent and is not at home."
This was roughly what Chen Nan had guessed. He knew that after what happened that day, Sima Lingkong couldn't possibly stay in the capital any longer; he figured he must have gone off to hone his martial arts skills. However, he didn't take a mere Sima Lingkong seriously.
Chen Nan returned to the palace, and as he passed through the Imperial Garden, a glint of light flashed in his eyes. He saw two familiar figures, both of them possessing unparalleled beauty, as if they were celestial beings.
Princess Chu Yue and Fairy Meng Ke'er from the Holy Land of Tantai stood side by side in a pavilion. The fragrance of plum blossoms wafted from not far away. The two women touched each other lightly with their hands, as if discussing plum blossoms and snow. Both of their stunningly beautiful faces were smiling, and they seemed to be having a very pleasant conversation.
Chen Nan strode forward and said with a smile, "Princess Yue, how have you been? And how has Fairy Meng been lately?"
Chu Yue nodded, showing no emotion. She smiled faintly and said, "Chen Nan, I know you are angry with me. But I want to say that the past is the past, and I hope you will not hold it against me anymore. If you can put aside your prejudices, I really hope you will continue to be a great protector of our Chu Kingdom."
Chen Nan sneered inwardly, thinking: You must be joking. If the old monster hadn't given the order in secret, you would have already killed me.
He smiled but didn't answer, turning to look at Meng Ke'er. At this moment, the Holy Land Fairy's face showed no emotion whatsoever, seemingly having forgotten the humiliation of the past, but Chen Nan still saw a hint of coldness in her eyes.
"Haha, Fairy Meng is really becoming more and more like a celestial being. The scene of sparring with Fairy Meng that day is still vivid in my mind. I really want to continue sparring with Fairy Meng." Chen Nan laughed wickedly.
Meng Ke'er smiled faintly and said, "You really want to spar with me?"
"real."
"Alright, let's warm up in the snow." Meng Ke'er leaped into the air with a whoosh, her white clothes fluttering, her hair flying, her jade-like face colder than the snow. A jade lotus platform radiating seven-colored light appeared beneath her feet, supporting her in the air.
"Great, I couldn't be happier." Chen Nan sensed the killing intent in Meng Ke'er's eyes. He calmly took the Houyi Bow from his back, drew an arrow from the quiver, and was about to nock it to the bowstring.
Chu Yue's expression changed drastically. She hurriedly stood in front of Chen Nan and shouted, "No! How can you use Hou Yi's Divine Bow?"
Meng Ke'er's expression changed drastically in the air. She already knew of Chen Nan's feat of using the Houyi Bow to slay the dragon, and now that she discovered he was going to use the divine bow against her, she was truly terrified. She immediately looked at Chu Yue, her eyes filled with confusion, wondering why the Chu royal family had entrusted him with the Houyi Bow.
Chu Yue said in a deep voice, "Chen Nan. The Ancestor gave that divine bow to you to deal with the madman who broke into the palace and tried to commit atrocities. How could you use it to deal with my senior sister?"
Chen Nan smiled and said, "I've been getting a lot of attention lately, with people constantly threatening to kill me. I'm a bit tense. Once I start fighting, I forget I'm just sparring. Sorry, sorry!"
To Meng Ke'er, these words were nothing short of a blatant threat and intimidation, conveying a threatening message to her.
"Well, it's my fault for ruining the atmosphere. How about we cancel this sparring session?" Chen Nan said with a smile.
Meng Ke'er landed on the ground from the sky, put away the jade lotus platform, and her expression was somewhat unpleasant. However, she quickly calmed down and took light steps into the pavilion.
At this moment, Chen Nan also entered the pavilion. He untied his cloak, shook off the snowflakes, and said, "The wind and snow are very strong."
Meng Ke'er immediately noticed the halberd on his back. Her emotions, which had just calmed down, surged again, and she exclaimed, "How did this divine halberd end up in your hands?"
Chu Yue was surprised. She rarely saw Meng Ke'er lose her composure and knew there must be some important hidden story behind it.
Chen Nan laughed and said, "Naturally, I snatched it from that little devil."
"What! You?" Meng Ke'er was somewhat surprised. On that day, she thought that Xiang Tian and Chen Nan had joined forces to plot against her, so she was frightened away at the last moment. Now she did not expect to hear such news.
Chen Nan planted the halberd in the ground. He laughed and said, "I accidentally saved his life last time, but I never expected that this ungrateful wretch would turn around and try to harm me. I just picked him off with my spear!"
"Ah, you...killed him?!" Meng Ke'er was truly astonished. If Chen Nan had killed the Mischievous Little Demon King, it would be incredibly good news. No one knew better than her how infuriating Xiang Tian was. If she hadn't broken the seal back then, she probably would have really perished at his hands.
"I did want to kill that bastard, but he's tougher than a cockroach. Even after I ripped open his ribs, he still managed to escape at the last moment," Chen Nan said with some regret.
The reason he revealed this information to Meng Ke'er was to cooperate with her in dealing with the Mischievous Little Demon King. He and Xiang Tian were now sworn enemies, and any encounter between them would be a fight to the death.
But Meng Ke'er's relationship with him was much more complicated. Despite their many grudges, it was absolutely impossible for them to clash in public. To outsiders, they were friends who had survived a near-death experience together. They couldn't afford to turn against each other in front of the world; their struggle could only be conducted in secret.
"You want to join forces with me to deal with him." Meng Ke'er was a smart person and immediately understood what he meant.
Chen Nan said, "Well, this guy is your sworn enemy. The conflict between your righteous and evil holy lands is extremely difficult to resolve. I think he must be one of your strongest adversaries. If I cooperate with you to get rid of him, I think you would be very happy to see that, right? It would be a win-win situation."
"Of course, I'd love to," Meng Ke'er smiled.
However, Chen Nan knew that if given a good opportunity to kill him, she would definitely strike immediately; this woman was extremely dangerous. But right now, he desperately needed to cooperate with her. He had no powerful backing and couldn't mobilize manpower to hunt down the Mischievous Little Demon King like Meng Ke'er could.
"Hehe, let me give you a heads-up. It seems that a great man from the Path of Destruction is about to be born. We once crippled his father, so he is also our common enemy. If you are in a hurry to attack me, you may regret it very much." Chen Nan winked at him.
Meng Ke'er truly wished she could get rid of Chen Nan immediately. Whenever she recalled the various scenes when she was captured by Chen Nan, she felt a sense of madness and wanted to kill him immediately to vent her shame and hatred.
However, her face remained calm, and she smiled faintly, "Of course I won't forget about Ling Zixu. I just received news that the successors of the Destruction Path and several other evil holy lands will emerge within six months. I'll make a deal with you: no conflict will occur within six months."
Chen Nan smiled and said, "Okay, let's make a six-month agreement." However, he knew in his heart that such an agreement was meaningless and would not play a significant role, but he still had to agree on the surface.
Three days later, a major event occurred in Chu City: two unknown, peerless masters engaged in a fierce battle in the capital's square. By the time Chen Nan arrived, the battle was over, and he could only see the remnants of the battle.
The square, spanning a kilometer in radius, was completely destroyed. Several enormous statues there had been reduced to dust, and the bluestone pavement had long since turned into fine sand. The once flat square had become a pitted, small desert.
On the same day, Chen Nan sensed several terrifying fluctuations of divine sense within the palace. He quietly rose and went to the roof ridge, where he saw over a dozen ghostly figures moving with lightning speed within the palace. That terrifying speed indicated that those individuals were at least at the fifth-tier peerless expert level!
This made Chen Nan break out in a cold sweat. The news of the discovery of the Chu Capital's rare treasure had attracted countless top figures to this place, and a fierce battle was sure to take place in two days!
As Chen Nan secretly wiped away cold sweat, a strange sound suddenly came from the sky. He couldn't help but look up and saw the old monster soaring into the sky and flying into the night sky.
A blurry figure in the sky, like a ghost, evaded the old monster that had soared into the heavens and flew swiftly southwest. The old monster pursued relentlessly, unleashing a barrage of attacks that created a dazzling light in the sky. The two figures, moving with lightning speed, vanished into the night sky in the blink of an eye.
The imminent birth of a rare treasure has stirred up storms from all directions, drawing countless powerful figures to the capital of Chu, creating a tempestuous atmosphere...