This was an ancient arena, with both combatants positioned at one end.
Everyone outside the arena was highly anticipating this battle.
They all wanted to know how long Zhou Yan could last against Ye Bufan; this was destined to be a clash of dragons.
No one believed Zhou Yan could be Ye Bufan's opponent. Ye Bufan had not revealed his full strength from the beginning until now.
While Zhou Yan was also mysterious, no matter how mysterious, he was absolutely no match for Ye Bufan, who hailed from the Dragon King family.
Little did they know, if Zhou Yan were to unleash his full power, Ye Bufan would not stand a chance.
Within the combat space, the two men exchanged glances. Everyone knew they were good brothers, and watching them fight felt like witnessing brothers turn on each other.
It was quite intriguing.
They began to fight.
As before, Ye Bufan erupted with his golden spiritual energy, transforming into a colossal golden dragon and lunging towards Zhou Yan.
Zhou Yan, not to be outdone, drew a bronze-grade long spear, unleashing the Yin Yang energy and meeting his opponent with an unparalleled, domineering spear technique.
"Boom!"
Their first clash erupted with a terrifying roar. Their strength was immense, each attack akin to mountains crumbling and the earth splitting.
Although Zhou Yan wasn't exerting his full strength, he could feel that Ye Bufan's physical power was indeed formidable.
But no matter how strong, it couldn't surpass his own attributes exceeding two thousand points. Still, it was likely half of his strength attribute.
Everyone had their own fortunes. He could elevate his attributes so high, and others could do the same.
The two traded blows, fists and spears colliding, unleashing sounds like the sky cracking.
Their combat grew increasingly rapid, their moves becoming a blur to the eye.
Those with slightly weaker eyesight couldn't even follow their movements.
All the students were astonished, never imagining these two would be so powerful, far surpassing them.
They considered themselves prodigies, but in the face of these monstrous talents, they were still lacking.
Only monsters could contend with monsters.
What was even more remarkable was that their current batch of newcomers already had two such prodigies.
They were curious how Zhou Yan had managed to increase his strength so dramatically in such a short time.
They were also intrigued by his origins, as they had never heard of Zhou Yan belonging to any prominent family.
From the high platform in the distance, several elders observed their fight and remarked, "These two youngsters are quite impressive."
"Don't you think they're both holding back, not fighting with their full might?"
"It's not time to go all out yet, perhaps they want to save it for the end, for a decisive blow."
"The talents this year are indeed excellent, with many emerging figures. It remains to be seen who among them will emerge victorious."
"It should be Ye Bufan. The Dragon King family's 'Dragon King Art' is a top-tier cultivation technique, and coupled with Ye Bufan's innate talent, defeating him won't be easy."
"Who is the Principal favoring this time?" one elder inquired of the silent Principal, Wu Qingfeng.
Wu Qingfeng replied casually, "Both are excellent. There's no favoritism. We should treat every student equally. Each of them is outstanding, and their future achievements are boundless."
The elders, feeling a touch of shame, quickly responded, "The Principal is right."
...
As time passed, the two began to employ their skills. However, these techniques failed to inflict significant damage on each other. Their exchanges were full of bluster but little substance, indicating they were in a stalemate.
When the time was nearly up, Zhou Yan gave Ye Bufan a subtle signal.
Ye Bufan understood. He unleashed his most powerful move. Golden light enveloped the entire world as a colossal golden dragon roared, transforming into an energy construct hundreds of meters large, charging directly at Zhou Yan.
Ye Bufan intentionally bathed the entire combat space in gold. If it was an act, it shouldn't be too shoddy; there needed to be a plausible conclusion.
This way, the entire world turned golden, obscuring the view for outsiders. Coupled with this attack, he had indeed used ninety percent of his strength, allowing Zhou Yan to be conveniently "defeated."
Zhou Yan quickly shed all his equipment and endured Ye Bufan's strike head-on.
Ye Bufan's attack was incredibly potent. The energy tore through his body, and he was then ejected from the combat space.
He had succeeded in his staged defeat.
The end, and congratulations.
Seeing Zhou Yan's "defeat" and exit from the combat space was within everyone's expectations.
However, the Principal on the platform, with a flash of golden light, noticed a smirk on his lips. He had already perceived the underlying deception between the two.
But he feigned ignorance, remaining silent.
There was another person who had noticed the anomaly: the icy, formidable female elder, known as Chu Luoyan, the Phantom Night Rakshasa.
She glanced at the Principal, who returned her gaze and also maintained his silence.
Ye Bufan's victory was as everyone had predicted.
However, Zhou Yan's strength had also astonished them.
No one would underestimate Zhou Yan now.
After exiting, Ye Bufan embraced Zhou Yan.
"Clap, clap, clap!!!"
Everyone applauded the two. Their strength was indeed immense, making them the undisputed first and second place.
"Ye Bufan is too powerful, truly worthy of the Dragon King family."
"His final move looked incredibly strong, turning the entire world gold. Truly magnificent."
"Amazing, the gap between us and them is still vast."
"Ye Bufan, I like you!"
"That Zhou Yan is also very good. I can't believe he could fight Ye Bufan for so long."
"Zhou Yan, I want to be your girlfriend."
...
They believed their charade was seamless, but with their cultivation, how could they possibly deceive the keenly observing Principal?
Since even the Principal remained silent and pretended not to notice, another elder would naturally not interfere.
After all, with Ye Bufan's strength, winning first place was entirely reasonable.
His prowess had earned the approval of many.
The individual battles had finally concluded.
An admission elder stepped forward and addressed the crowd, "The individual battles have concluded. Next, we will proceed with the territory battle."
"The territory battle will test the strength of your own territories."
"This territory battle will also take place in a special space. All of you will be teleported into a mysterious land."
"Upon entering, you must summon your territories immediately. Then, the special space will assign you a Territory Crystal. This crystal is completely different from your own territory's crystal."
"You only need to destroy the crystal assigned to you by the special space to win. Those whose territory crystals are destroyed will be eliminated and teleported out."
"Furthermore, once you are teleported in, you will be randomly assigned to a location. As for what that location is, or who is nearby, that will depend on your luck."
"Upon being teleported, you will not know the names of those around you; everything will be hidden. Everyone other than yourselves is an enemy. You cannot communicate or form alliances; everything depends on yourselves."
"Also, once you enter, the surroundings will be shrouded in mist. Your task will be to search this mist, find others, shatter their territory crystals, and thus earn points."
"This competition will be scored based on points. Whoever destroys more enemy crystals will rank higher."
"In essence, within that space, the only thing you need to do is find ways to eliminate all enemies besides yourselves."
"Inside, you will be able to see the number of remaining enemies, and the space will shrink as the number of participants decreases."