Strongest War Emperor

In the Ancient Era, the Celestial Vein Sacred Body was renowned for allowing one’s Cultivation to advance at a blistering pace, following the path of becoming a Saint of the Flesh. In Shen Lang’s eyes, it would be an incredible waste not to utilize something so powerful.

The War Emperor had lived for over six thousand years, from his birth to his final self-detonation. Within his memories, stretching back even thirty thousand years, there was no record of any Martial Artist with a Celestial Vein Sacred Body ever becoming a top-tier expert.

But Shen Lang refused to give up.

His current situation was unique. He possessed the War Emperor’s memories, the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron which could produce a mysterious green liquid capable of Purification of Essence and Marrow and even resurrecting the dead, and the Black and White Qi from his Tai Chi Diagram which could clear any blockages in his meridians. All of this convinced him that he could awaken the Celestial Vein Sacred Body and cultivate the Divine Demon Body!

In fact, Shen Lang had been pondering this very issue ever since leaving Tayun Academy.

All Sacred Bodies, the Celestial Vein Sacred Body included, had special awakening methods. Once awakened, a Martial Artist’s physical body would grow stronger on its own, even without active Cultivation. However, these Secret Techniques had long been lost.

Now, with no other Secret Techniques available, there was only one way to awaken his Celestial Vein Sacred Body: brutal Body Forging!

The so-called brutal Body Forging was actually quite simple: one had to use special Body Refining Potions or Secret Techniques to constantly stimulate the body. Whether this would succeed was hard to say; it mostly came down to luck.

However, such Body Refining Potions and Secret Techniques invariably subjected the user to indescribable pain.

Furthermore, the chances of success were minuscule.

Another method was to directly use the Nine Heavens Thunder Power—a force of Supreme Yang and Firmness—for Body Forging. This method was more direct and offered a slightly higher chance of awakening the Celestial Vein Sacred Body. This was precisely why Shen Lang had begun cultivating the Thunder Control Divine Technique without a moment’s hesitation.

The only problem was that Thunder Power was far too tyrannical. Although Thunder Element Techniques possessed peerless power, very few people actually cultivated them.

This was because Body Forging with Thunder Power was not only incredibly dangerous but also excruciatingly painful. It could only be described as a form of masochistic Cultivation.

Such cruel self-torture could easily drive a person to collapse. Without immense mental fortitude, it was impossible to continue.

Enduring Thunder Power Body Forging for a day or two was nothing special. The true difficulty lay in persevering for months and years on end.

Day after day, year after year...

’Just how much willpower and endurance would that require?’

This was the path Shen Lang had chosen.

Beyond the issue of the Celestial Vein Sacred Body, Shen Lang’s next goal was to merge the various Cultivation Techniques in his mind, create an entirely new technique, and forge his own unique path of Cultivation.

Shen Lang began to slowly sort through the powerful Cultivation Techniques in his mind, studying their various properties.

The path of Martial Arts, and even the Artifact Refining Dao, were ultimately all in pursuit of the Great Dao. The most crucial element was one’s comprehension of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth. Others only truly began this process after reaching the King Martial Realm, when their Golden Core transformed into a Nascent Soul. But Shen Lang, ever one to walk an unconventional path, intended to start comprehending the Great Dao right now.

This was, however, understandable. Although he had yet to fully integrate the War Emperor’s memories, the lifetime’s worth of cultivation insights from such a supreme expert—everything but the raw power—was within his mind. For him to begin delving into the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth now was merely an extension of the War Emperor’s own understanding, not the act of an overambitious novice.

Time passed, little by little.

Without Shen Lang realizing it, a ray of sunlight suddenly streamed through the window and fell upon him.

As if sensing something, he opened his eyes. He then rose and walked to the window to look outside.

On the distant horizon, wisps of clouds gathered and scattered. The red sun burst forth like a furnace of boiling steel, its golden light dazzling.

Clouds of vapor churned as the great sun rose, its light flickering like a flashing Spirit Light. In that instant, Shen Lang felt a jolt in his mind, as if he’d had a sudden enlightenment, but he couldn’t quite grasp it...

Just then, the Tai Chi Diagram within him began to slowly turn. The Spiritual Power stored throughout his entire body began to circulate on its own, flowing along a completely new path.

Unconsciously, his body filled with Spiritual Power that pulsed of its own accord. It moved like a great ball of light, passing through his organs, meridians, skin, and bones, illuminating every inch of his interior with perfect clarity.

Even he was unaware that he was currently in a most peculiar state.

Strictly speaking, his Cultivation was only at the Power Martial Realm Ninth Heaven; he had yet to even step into the Qi Martial Realm. And yet, it was as if he had already experienced the higher Realms of the various Cultivation Techniques in his mind. Truly reaching those levels seemed to be only a matter of time.

On the other hand, despite his youth, he had already faced life and death several times, tasted the full spectrum of joy and sorrow, and had completely absorbed the War Emperor’s memories.

His current insight into life and his comprehension of life and death far surpassed that of many experts, even Great Powers.

He gazed at the vibrant sun in the sky, recalling the moments of life, death, and despair from his memories, and a host of questions inexplicably surfaced in his mind.

’What is life, and what is death? Why do we live, and why do we die?’

’What is real, and what is false? Are all these memories real or fake? Is what we see with our eyes an illusion, or is it reality...’

’All things are illusory. In life, we know not from where we came; in death, we know not where we go. Only the true self neither increases nor decreases, is neither tainted nor pure.’

’What of light and dark? What of Yin and Yang? Solitary Yin cannot give birth; solitary Yang cannot grow. Only through Yin Yang Union can life be nurtured. That is the true Dao...’

Just as Shen Lang was feeling muddled, as if he understood a great deal and yet nothing at all, his Divine Thought suddenly entered a place that felt strangely familiar.

It felt familiar because he had experienced this same sensation when he first came into contact with the Black and White Qi inside the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron.

Back then, however, it had been too brief. Before he even had time to react, the Black and White Qi had entered his body.

Now, he felt as if he had entered a strange space. All around him was a churning Chaos, making it impossible to distinguish up from down, or to tell north from south, east from west.

’Could it be? Am I inside the Tai Chi Diagram?’

The moment he had that thought, the space around him churned like a storm. All the mist converged, forming an object the size of a fingernail before him. It looked like an embryo of heaven and earth, hovering in the air.

With the appearance of this object, the chaotic world was no longer deathly still. Instead, it was suddenly filled with vitality.

Energy surged all around, seemingly existing solely for this object. All of it constantly poured into the tiny thing, and in a short time, it grew to the size of a fava bean.

Then, within the Chaotic Space, several lines of golden text materialized out of thin air before Shen Lang:

”From Wuji comes Tai Chi. Tai Chi refers to the time before heaven and earth separated, when Primordial Qi was one. Tai Chi moves to generate Yang. When movement reaches its limit, it becomes stillness. Stillness generates Yin. When stillness reaches its limit, it returns to movement. One movement and one stillness are each other’s root. By separating Yin and Yang, the two primary forces are established. Yang transforms and Yin unites to create Water, Fire, Wood, Metal, and Earth. With the Five Elements in order, the four seasons run their course. The Five Elements are but one Yin Yang; Yin Yang is but one Tai Chi; Tai Chi is fundamentally Wuji. The two qi interact and transform, giving birth to the myriad things. The myriad things are born and reborn, their transformations infinite.”

A flicker of understanding passed through Shen Lang’s mind, and he slowly closed his eyes.

The moment he closed his eyes, lightning flashed and thunder roared in the once-chaotic world. A colossal bolt of lightning that shook the heavens tore across the sky, appearing to split the world’s Primordial Qi in two—one part Yin, one part Yang.

With Yin and Yang divided, the entire world began to resemble the Tai Chi Diagram: clearly black and white, yet in a state of Yin Yang Harmony.

Imperceptibly, all the energy in this world began to methodically take physical form, covering the fava-bean-sized object like a dense fog.

Only then did Shen Lang open his eyes.

He saw that the object, nourished by the misty vapor, cracked open like a hatching egg. A sliver of green gradually emerged from the crack. It was a tiny seed.

The moment the seed appeared, the entire chaotic world transformed, filled with vibrant life in a mere instant!

Watching all this unfold, Shen Lang couldn’t help but let out a long, resounding cry. In that instant, he had finally touched a trace of the world’s Origin, feeling as though he held heaven and earth in his grasp.

His consciousness withdrew from the space within the Tai Chi Diagram. As he watched the red sun on the horizon, his hands danced up and down, swiftly forming several Spells.

In moments, a translucent Tai Chi Diagram manifested before him.

With a single thought, both the Tai Chi Diagram within his body and the one outside it began to spin in unison, synchronized to the same frequency.

The Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi immediately began to converge on him frantically, forming a wild vortex with him at its center.

This Primordial Qi was not the same as Spiritual Qi. Spiritual Qi was merely one type of Primordial Qi.

In this world, besides pure Spiritual Qi, there was also Death Qi, Demonic Qi, Slaughter Qi, Vast Righteous Qi, and more.

When Righteous Martial Artists cultivated their techniques, they exclusively sensed and absorbed Spiritual Qi.

But Shen Lang was doing no such thing. Instead, he was absorbing all the surrounding Primordial Qi without distinction!

In the eyes of any normal person, this was an act of pure madness. No one had ever dared to do such a thing!

Spiritual Qi was suitable for every race. It was the purest form of energy in the world, one that could be absorbed and used by those of the Righteous Dao, the Demon Dao, and every path in between.

But if a Demon Martial Artist tried to absorb Vast Righteous Qi, it would be the same as a Righteous Martial Artist absorbing Demonic Qi—a suicidal act.

As for Death Qi, only wicked martial artists who practiced Dark Skills could utilize it.

And yet, here was Shen Lang, making no distinction whatsoever and absorbing it all...

The vortex spun for only a moment, but under his control, it quickly built up an astonishing momentum. The resulting tempest threw the entire Shen Family into an uproar. Countless people screamed in alarm, having no idea what was happening.

However, the phenomenon lasted only for a moment. Before the Shen Clan Members could figure out what was happening or where it originated... Shen Lang had already stopped absorbing the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi.

Just as he had in the space within the Tai Chi Diagram, he separated the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. All the substances born from dark, negative emotions and all the Dark Attribute energy gathered in his left palm, while the pure, Supreme Yang energy concentrated in his right.

In his left hand, a ball of black mist pulsed, slowly coalescing into a small black sphere. The intense Slaughter Qi and negative emotions like despair that it radiated were enough to make anyone’s heart pound with terror at a single glance, forcing them to look away.

In his right hand, a dazzling ball of light emerged—the portion of energy that symbolized Yang.

”Yin and Yang can be separated, but they can also merge...”

He murmured to himself and slowly brought his hands together, intending to merge the energies.

The instant the two spheres of opposing attributes touched, an aura of annihilation erupted.

’This is bad! I can’t control it!’

The two spheres had yet to even make full contact, but Shen Lang’s face had already drained of color in horror.

SWOOSH!

Pouring all his strength into his legs, he stomped hard on the floor and shot out the window like an arrow.