It wasn't that the Withered State Academy wasn't excellent. On the contrary, being able to become a cultivation academy of one of the ninety-nine states of an Ancient Kingdom was enough to prove the academy's prosperity.
One must know that an Ancient Kingdom was an extremely vast ancient nation within the Primordial Heaven Realm, its area often radiating for millions, even tens of millions of li.
A single state's territory was far larger than many kingdoms.
The fact that the Withered State Academy was the most top-tier cultivation academy in all of Ku Province spoke volumes.
Yet, only a handful of people were qualified to be selected. One could imagine.
Li Gu's attention was diverted. He looked at the two Heaven's Pride talents and hurriedly called everyone to gather behind him. He would protect them to avoid any accidents or injuries from the clash between the two Heaven's Pride.
His cultivation level far surpassed that of the students. Naturally, he could also see that the two competing Heaven's Pride talents were both at the Demi-Saint level.
Moreover, as young Heaven's Pride talents in the prime of their lives, on the ascending ladder of human vitality, they were surely valued by major powers behind them and must possess extraordinary methods, likely stronger than him, an old Demi-Saint like the setting sun.
As for Ye Chen, he remained motionless, standing on the lakeshore without moving half a step, raising his eyes to watch the fierce confrontation on the lake. With every move, heaven and earth were overturned, mountains crumbled and the earth split, divine might boundless.
He recalled the past, the years of youthful competition, feeling a slight sigh.
But he also wanted to understand the cultivation system of the Primordial Heaven Realm.
During the previous Dominator War, he had discovered that although the Primordial Heaven Realm's cultivation system was currently consistent, it seemed subtly more ancient, suspected to inherit a system from an even older epoch.
This might provide considerable help in his attempt to shatter the Great Dao Heavenly Diagram.
After only a brief gaze, he had seen through all the secrets of the two Heaven's Pride talents. He sighed softly; there was nothing particularly special.
Perhaps he needed to contact higher-level individuals to gain understanding.
However, Li Gu was surprised to discover that Ye Chen's gaze was calm, even placid as an ancient well without ripples. It seemed this super confrontation at the Demi-Saint level couldn't stir the slightest fluctuation in him.
Could I have been mistaken?
For no reason, such a thought surfaced in his mind.
"Senior Ye, don't stay there. Be careful!"
Zhang Fan suddenly spoke up, calling to Ye Chen, worried he might come to harm.
Ye Chen smiled faintly at him, indicating it was fine.
Boom—
Suddenly, the battlefield shifted, actually charging towards the direction of the Withered State Academy.
"Damn it!"
Li Gu's expression changed slightly. Both of them were Demi-Saints, and as true Heaven's Pride talents, the combat power they could unleash was far greater than his, an old and declining Demi-Saint. He might not be able to block them.
One of the two Heaven's Pride talents in the confrontation was an arrogant youth. He naturally also noticed Ye Chen by the lakeside but didn't even lift an eyelid, continuing his attacks, ignoring the possibility that the aftershocks might kill Ye Chen.
The other was a simple and honest youth, with a burly and tall physique, standing a full zhang tall. Seeing Ye Chen still standing on the shore, he hurriedly shouted, "Fellow Daoist, leave quickly!"
"Hmph, Barbarian Tiger, instead of worrying about that foolhardy fellow, you'd better worry about yourself."
The arrogant youth sneered coldly, his attacks becoming even more powerful by a large margin, directly striking Barbarian Tiger's body with a metallic clang, causing sparks to fly.
Clearly, the tall youth named Barbarian Tiger was a body cultivator, his physical body exceptionally strong. Withstanding the arrogant youth's strike without his skin splitting open spoke volumes.
However, Barbarian Tiger also suffered a great impact. His figure was sent flying, coughing up a mouthful of blood as soon as he opened his mouth. His burly, hill-like figure staggered slightly.
Of course, he had blocked this strike. Moreover, with a wave of his hand, a gust of wind swept past, transforming into a roaring hurricane carrying a soft force, intending to carry Ye Chen, this innocent person, away from this place.
A hint of a smile appeared in Ye Chen's eyes. This Barbarian Tiger was indeed a kind-hearted person.
But he let the hurricane sweep past his face, remaining unmoved.
Seeing this, Barbarian Tiger sighed slightly. He could tell Ye Chen was deliberately not leaving. He himself wasn't a rigid person. Since the other party was unwilling to leave, he could do nothing. Life and death were left to fate.
"Barbarian Tiger, could he be that Barbarian King from the Barbarian Tribe of the Eastern Victory's Thirteen States of the Ancient Kingdom?!"
At this moment, many people from the Withered State Academy exclaimed in surprise.
The Eastern Victory's Thirteen States was the collective name for the thirteen eastern states of the Qianwu Ancient Kingdom.
The Barbarian Tribe was one of the top super forces within the Eastern Victory's Thirteen States, far more powerful than the Withered State Academy by who knew how many times.
Barbarian Tiger was the super Heaven's Pride talent of the Barbarian Tribe's current young generation, hailed as the Barbarian King.
Many students suddenly realized: "Rumors say the origins of the Barbarian Tribe are far from simple. In the distant ancient times, they once produced an Ancient Divine King who shook the Primordial Heaven Realm, standing high above, ruling over millions of li of territory."
"Although after that Ancient Divine King passed away, the Barbarian Tribe gradually declined and weakened, now even retreating to the Eastern Victory's Thirteen States, submitting under the Qianwu Ancient Kingdom. But a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. It's said the Barbarian Tribe possesses a top-tier body refining technique left behind by that Ancient Divine King. Cultivated to the extreme, it can shatter the void, destroy heaven and earth, and achieve an invincible Divine King golden body. And this tribe's young king, Barbarian King, is a rare successful cultivator of this technique throughout the ages. No wonder he only suffered minor injuries after withstanding that Demi-Saint's strongest strike."
Barbarian King, the king of the Barbarian Tribe's young generation, was also a successful body cultivator, practicing the body refining technique left by the ancient Divine King, his physical body exceptionally powerful.
"No, it's said that after the Barbarian Tribe's Ancient Divine King passed away, other super experts attacked to seize that Divine King-level body refining technique. A terrifying battle ensued, which ultimately led directly to the Barbarian Tribe's decline and weakening. It's said half of the body refining technique was seized back then, involving the scriptures for various major realms. What remains for the Barbarian Tribe now is only the other half. While it has scriptures for every realm, they are incomplete, making it a fragmentary treasure tome."
Some students knew some inside information.
A body refining technique left by an Ancient Divine King, capable of cultivating to the Divine King realm—who wouldn't covet it?
Even though the Ancient Divine King had eventually passed away, the Barbarian Tribe had flourished during the Divine King's era, naturally not lacking super experts. Thus, they engaged in a great battle with the enemies who came to seize the Divine King's body refining treasure tome. In the end, casualties were heavy, directly leading to their decline. Even the Divine King's body refining treasure tome was half-seized, resulting in it being incomplete.
Of course, even if it was incomplete, only half remained, it was still terrifying, capable of refining the physical body to an extremely high level, far surpassing peers of the same realm.
Yet, such a person, possessing the Ancient Divine King's body refining technique, was actually wounded. One could imagine the strength of that other Heaven's Pride talent.
"Heavenly Bow Sunset Slash!"
The arrogant youth shouted loudly. His hands transformed into a heavenly bow, yet no arrow was shot. Instead, the crescent-shaped heavenly bow crossed the sky, transforming into a terrifying divine radiance a thousand zhang long, carrying threads of Saint might, severing the sky as it slashed towards Barbarian Tiger.
Barbarian Tiger roared, unleashing a divine ability. His body transformed into a blue-sky, white-browed divine tiger, a thousand zhang long. With a roar that shook all directions, baring fangs and brandishing claws, he actively met that crescent blade radiance.
Boom—
The two Demi-Saint-level divine abilities collided in the sky, instantly erupting with terrifying power approaching the Saint realm.
Half the lake nearly exploded, stirring up layer upon layer of terrifying waves thousands of zhang high, striking the heavens, extremely fearsome, and spreading outward.
Li Gu hurriedly acted, unleashing Demi-Saint power to form a curtain of light, layer upon layer, containing Dao mark power, protecting the many students behind him.
But even just the aftershocks caused numerous cracks to appear in the light curtain, shattering many layers, nearly completelydisintegrate it.
It ultimately held.
At this time, everyone also looked towards the shore, where Ye Chen stood, somewhat worried.
Even though they were so far away and protected by the Elder's light curtain, it had nearly shattered. Ye Chen was so close; he was probably in danger.
But soon, everyone was astonished to discover that on the lakeshore, where Ye Chen stood, even within a zhang radius, everything was completely unharmed. Nothing had happened at all, truly astonishing.
Li Gu even more doubted his earlier speculation.
This Ye Chen might truly be a Saint. Otherwise, he definitely couldn't be so completely unscathed.
In mid-air, the arrogant youth and Barbarian Tiger each stood in a different part of the void.
But clearly, the former held a certain advantage. Barbarian Tiger's figure staggered slightly, and a deep wound visible to the bone appeared on his body, spanning half his torso, dripping with blood, somewhat miserable.
The arrogant youth held absolute superiority.
Here, the Withered State Academy students exclaimed repeatedly: "Barbarian King actually lost! Who exactly is that person? He actually severely wounded Barbarian King, renowned for his physical body, at the same level!"
Suddenly, Ye Chen revealed a trace of surprise: "Bloodline Seal!"
In that instant of observation, he sensed fluctuations of a bloodline seal within Barbarian Tiger's body.
Moreover, this bloodline seal was far from simple, extremely intricate and profound, sparking a flicker of interest in him.
He hadn't expected to encounter someone with a sealed bloodline here.
He had a feeling that the bloodline power sealed within Barbarian Tiger was far from ordinary.
Barbarian Tiger's wound was bloody, blood spurting. He smiled bitterly: "Ao Changkong, I never expected you to reach such a level. You're probably just a hair's breadth away from reaching the Saint Treasury Realm, right?"
Even among Demi-Saints, there were differences.
Like Barbarian Tiger, he was still one step away from the Saint Treasury Realm.
But this arrogant youth was just a hair's breadth away.
Him being able to severely wound Barbarian Tiger was not without reason.
At this moment, the arrogant youth sneered coldly, appearing very icy: "Barbarian Tiger, I told you long ago not to save that ant. You just wouldn't listen. Now look at you."
"Heh, today, I, Ao Changkong, will kill you here first, completing my path to domination."
Swish—
Ao Changkong's figure moved. Immediately, a terrifying goshawk manifested outside his body, spanning over a thousand zhang. Between its feathers, all were condensed from Dao marks, exuding a vast, fierce might that made old Demi-Saints like Li Gu feel an imminent sense of death crisis.
The powerful divine transformation might, carrying threads of Saint might—the might of a Demi-Saint—covered heaven and earth, shaking the sky, making the many students of the Withered State Academy feel suffocated.
Li Gu murmured: "Barbarian Tiger is in danger."
Others also exclaimed, because the name Ao Changkong was equally famous. He was the super Heaven's Pride talent of another super force within the Eastern Victory's Thirteen States, not inferior to the Barbarian Tribe in the slightest.
No wonder he was so powerful.
"Barbarian Tiger, die!"
The thousand-zhang goshawk let out a long cry, the eagle striking the firmament, instantly breaking the sound barrier like lightning, fiercely crashing towards Barbarian Tiger.
Barbarian Tiger felt an extremely terrifying life crisis rushing towards him, even feeling that after this strike, he would most likely die without a doubt.
But his aura was already locked. He simply couldn't leave, only able to smile bitterly helplessly.
Could it be that I, the mighty Barbarian Tiger, will fall here?
Yet Barbarian Tiger was unwilling to be killed just like that. His eyes sharpened, his essence, energy, and spirit concentrated. Even if he was to be killed, he would fight desperately, giving Ao Changkong a final strike!
The next moment, he was horrified to discover a figure had appeared soundlessly before him, seemingly familiar.