Chapter 603: Fight of the Two Dragons
“Chu Chaoyun is also rather remarkable. He has a peak state of light that contains Divine Might. He can turn his Essence solid too. The Martial Techniques he practices are extremely strong as well.”
“The two are close in age and come from the same nation. Their strengths are more or less on the same level. Having them fight in the final match is the best result.”
Zong Liang smiled and nodded. “This is for the best. As I said earlier, the rules do not matter. If one is strong, they just have to keep winning. The two of them are proud sons of heaven, peerless geniuses of their time. This old man is also very curious about who will be able to have the last laugh.”
A full hour passed after Sima Lingxuan and Xiao Chen’s match before the competition resumed. This was because the damage to the Wind Cloud Platform was too extensive. There was no way to go on with the matches. Everyone could only wait for it to heal itself completely before the competition could continue.
After the ninety-eighth round was over, the ninety-ninth round began immediately.
The first match pitted Gong Yangyu versus Liu Xiaoyun. This was a crucial match that would determine who would drop out of the top ten.
The fight was intense and exciting, attracting a lot of attention. In the end, Gong Yangyu used his best move—Tossing Heaven and Earth—to obtain a difficult victory, entering the top ten.
After several matches, it was Xiao Chen’s turn again. His opponent was Li Tianhua. Without giving his opponent many opportunities, he ended the match within twenty moves, easily obtaining victory.
“Next match: Chu Chaoyun versus Sima Lingxuan.”
Sima Lingxuan, who had just been defeated, had practically fully recovered from his injuries already. However, his strong self-confidence had diminished.
He looked very dispirited, giving off a depressed atmosphere. His aura was completely different from how it was previously.
After being defeated in ten moves by Xiao Chen, Sima Lingxuan fell from the clouds to the bottom of the valley. Furthermore, he had been defeated in such a humiliating manner. Every move he sent out had been broken and he had been totally helpless. There was no way he could recover quickly from this failure.
The strong self-confidence that Sima Lingxuan had built up over more than twenty years had ruptured. Now against the formidable Chu Chaoyun, he was beaten by his opponent until he could not retaliate, his previous magnificence nowhere in sight.
“How hateful! After losing to Xiao Chen, Lingxuan will probably have difficulty making it into the top three now,” the Sima Clan’s First Elder said angrily.
The ranking that Sima Lingxuan obtained would directly impact the Luck of the Sima Clan for the next hundred years. The clan elders’ dreams of getting three consecutive first ranks were dashed. Now, he would not even be able to get into the top three, so they could not help but feel very frustrated.
The Sima Clan’s First Elder looked towards Xiao Chen with heavy murderous intent in his eyes. He said sullenly, “Whoever makes things difficult for my Sima Clan, the Sima Clan will pay him back in kind!”
The elders of the eight Noble Clans’ Bai Clan were currently discussing Xiao Chen as well. A heavy murderous intent laced their tones.
“The Four Season Saber Technique is the foundation of our Bai Clan. It absolutely cannot be leaked out. We have to find out how this person obtained it after the Five Nation Youth Competition.”
Bai Qinghe, the Second Brother of the Bai Clan’s Clan Head, looked at Xiao Chen with malicious eyes as he said sinisterly, “Furthermore, the Four Season Saber Technique that this person grasped is stronger than the one our Bai Clan has. We have to force out how he cultivated it. If we can figure out the trick behind it, it would be a fortuitous encounter for our Bai Clan.”
When Bai Qi, who was at the side, heard this, he frowned slightly. He felt that something was wrong. If someone’s Luck became extremely strong, it would be very hard to catch that person. Heaven would be looking out for him, not allowing anything to happen to him.
Not only would the plan of Bai Qi’s Second Uncle not achieve the desired result, it could even make an enemy of a person who might become a Martial Emperor.
“The victor is Chu Chaoyun. You gain another two points!”
The referee unhurriedly declared the result of the match. After taking a chunk out of Sima Lingxuan’s golden dragon, Chu Chaoyun’s golden dragon grew to twenty-nine meters as well, the same size as Xiao Chen’s.
As for Sima Lingxuan’s golden dragon, it was now no longer as dazzling as it had been before. After he lost twice in a row, his golden dragon had shrunk to twenty-five meters, just slightly larger than Bai Qi’s and the others’.
“Roar! Roar!”
Just as Chu Chaoyun was about to leave the Wind Cloud Platform, the golden dragon above him roared. It rushed at the golden dragon above Xiao Chen, baring fangs and claws. A fierce look appeared on its face, giving it an extremely ferocious aspect.
The golden dragon above Xiao Chen also became very ferocious, not yielding to Chu Chaoyun’s golden dragon.
The two golden dragons were beyond Xiao Chen’s and Chu Chaoyun’s control. They suddenly flew at each other and starting fighting, surprising everyone.
“Before they are matched up against each other, their golden dragons are fighting each other. This is really interesting!”
“Only one true dragon can exist in this world; it will not allow two true dragons to coexist. Now that only the final match is left, the two golden dragons are probably feeling a sense of danger.”
“No matter how many geniuses are there, no matter how strong they are, there can only be one main character in any age. This age of geniuses can actually be said to be a tragic age for the other geniuses.”
If people like Bai Qi, Yue Chenxi, Liu Xiaoyun, and Xuanyuan Zhantian had been born in another era, they would definitely become the main character of that era.
However, they were now in the age of geniuses, so they could only become side characters.
Xiao Chen and Chu Chaoyun were both terrifyingly strong. They were clearly stronger than the other geniuses. They were rare geniuses seen only once in ten thousand years. It would not be an exaggeration to call them a pair of exceptional talents.
However, such proud sons of heaven, peerless under the heavens, might not become the main character of this great age. This was because there could only be one true dragon. One!
A twenty-nine-meter golden dragon was only short of one meter from becoming a thirty-meter golden dragon. This was a number that represented the limit. Once they reached thirty meters in length, they would immediately become a true dragon.
[TL note: Reminder, in Chinese, thirty meters is nine Zhang (one-third of ten meters). So nine is the highest single-digit numeral.]
The Luck that a true dragon would obtain was something that the false dragons could not compete with. All the Luck in the Sky Dome Realm in this age would belong to the true dragon.
Countless fortuitous encounters, great destinies, and all sorts of mysterious things would happen to the true dragon for no reason.
Who was the true dragon? At this moment, they were only missing the final meter, the final match!
The two golden dragons roared continuously as they fought each other in the sky. They emanated a savage aura, causing the other golden dragons to tremble and quickly hide.
Chu Chaoyun and Xiao Chen were both surprised. They had not expected matters to escalate this rapidly.
Chu Chaoyun squinted and a faint smile appeared on his carefree face. He said softly, “Come back!”
The golden dragon that belonged to Chu Chaoyun roared in dissatisfaction before turning around and returning above him, circling and moving around.
Xiao Chen gently waved his hand and his golden dragon returned as well. Everywhere it passed, the golden dragons of the other participants quickly made way, not daring to obstruct it.
After the ninety-ninth round ended, the organizers allowed the participants to rest for two hours so they could prepare themselves for their final match.
Time slowly went by. Soon dusk arrived. The setting sun lingered over the horizon in the west, giving off a faint light through the dark clouds.
Under the purposeful arrangement of the organizer, Xiao Chen and Chu Chaoyun’s match was scheduled for last.
“Shua! Shua! Shua!”
The entire Wind Cloud Arena was now silent; only the sounds of the participants fighting could be heard, travelling for a long distance.
This was strange. Normally, even the worst match here would have commentary from the cultivators watching. They would express their opinions and gain some comprehensions of their own.
However, at this moment, the Wind Cloud Arena fell completely silent. No one spoke a word. They only watched the competition quietly. The originally exciting matches of these geniuses became very solemn.
Before a storm, there would always be a quiet night. The sky, the dark clouds, the soughing wind, and the sound of breathing gave everyone, including the participants on the Wind Cloud Platform, a peaceful feeling.
The final round of the competition slowly passed, match after match. By the time the forty-ninth match was over, the sky was already dark.
Since the start of the Five Nation Youth Competition, there had never been a match held at night. There was no precedent. However, this was the final match. They had already whet the interest of countless people who clearly could not wait another night.
The referee waved his right hand at Zong Liang, and ‘whoosh!’ Nine large flames roared to life on the other nine Wind Cloud Platforms surrounding the largest Wind Cloud Platform.
“Hu! Hu!”
With the flickering of the great flames, the vast Wind Cloud Platform looked even more mysterious.
Four referees flew out, each to a corner. However, they did not mount the Wind Cloud Platform like they did before. Instead, they merely floated in midair, as though they were afraid that the intense attacks of the two would leak out.
“Final match: Heavenly Saber Pavilion’s Xiao Chen and Misty Sword Sect’s Chu Chaoyun. Please come up quickly!”
In the quiet night, the four referees shouted in unison. Their voices were like thunder, echoing in every direction. Everyone could hear them clearly.
The atmosphere that had been quiet for a long time immediately surged. After waiting such a long time since the last Five Nation Youth Competition, through more than half a month of rivalry and one hundred and forty fights, the final match was about to begin.
“Xiu! Xiu!”
In the darkness, two figures soared into the sky. Their clothing looked extremely ordinary. However, the pitch-dark night could not obscure the brilliance of the two.
They stood out from the large crowd, obvious at first glance. Everyone’s eyes could not help but follow them, tracing the movements of the two.
“Keng Qiang!”
The two of them drew their weapons and brandished them. Dense saber Qi and sword Qi tore through the air. They struck the Wind Cloud Barrier and opened two holes in it.
The strong Wind Cloud Barrier was as fragile as a cicada’s wings before them. It could not even slow them, breaking with one casual strike.
The two drifted down and sheathed their weapons. They landed on the stage at the same time, without a sound.
Chu Chaoyun’s face always looked carefree. There was just a faint hint of a smile on his face; it was very indistinct, hard to discern.
The two did not say anything; they simply looked at each other. They gathered their auras, and under the suppression of their auras, the air seemed to solidify.
Suddenly, Chu Chaoyun said, “Don’t you feel that it is very miraculous? Four years ago, you couldn’t even handle half a move from me. However, now, you are able to stand here with me and compete for the Sky Dome Realm’s Luck.”
Xiao Chen replied calmly, “What is strange about that? The battle between us was meant to happen; it was just a matter of time. No one can understand the solitude and loneliness I have suffered. I have already defeated the people who defeated me four years ago. You will not be an exception.”
Holding his sword scabbard in his right hand, Chu Chaoyun casually leaned forward. Then, he swept his hair back and smiled, saying, “In that case, draw your saber. Let me see how much you have grown, what gives you the confidence that you have!”
Chu Chaoyun’s tone was calm and indifferent. However, it hid a overwhelming fighting spirit. Right after he spoke, the aura that he had accumulated for so very long turned into a strong wind and surged towards Xiao Chen.