Strongest War Emperor

”How strange. Does that brat still dare to show his face at the Martial Arts Arena? Does he think he can get away with killing those servants and the steward?”

”For some reason, it seems the Clan Leader and the others want to hush this up. They’ve forbidden anyone from going to Shen Lang’s house to cause trouble, haven’t they?”

”The Elders probably pity him because his father is gravely ill, so... Wait, don’t tell me he’s here for the clan’s martial tournament?”

”Him? In the tournament? You’ve got to be kidding. Is he going up there to be a human punching bag?”

”Hahaha! Even to be a punching bag, you’d need to be at the Fifth or Sixth Heaven of the Martial Power Realm, right? What are they going to do if he gets on stage, takes two punches, and dies?”

The Shen Family disciples at the main gate burst into a flurry of discussion.

Because the news hadn’t spread, many of them were unaware that Shen Lang had defeated Shen Jianfeng at Tayun Academy.

Nor had they heard about what had happened at the Treasure Pavilion.

In their eyes, this good-for-nothing had killed people within the Shen Family, yet he still dared to swagger back into the public eye. For him to show up at the Martial Arts Arena during the clan’s year-end tournament was simply unbelievable.

A young man pushed his way out from the crowd. With a hostile expression, he said condescendingly, ”Shen Lang, what are you doing here? Looking for trouble? Scram, now! Or I’ll break your legs!”

This young man was Shen Quan, around the same age as Shen Lang, with a Cultivation at the Second Heaven of the Qi Martial Realm. Within the Shen Family, he was considered quite talented.

Shen Lang glanced at him and sneered, ”Idiot. Piss off!”

Everyone was stunned. Shen Lang had always been arrogant, but never this domineering.

”You useless piece of trash...” Being called an idiot in front of so many people by a renowned good-for-nothing made Shen Quan fume with rage.

But the towering figure of Yin Kuang behind Shen Lang gave him pause. With his burly build, sharp, glittering eyes, and oppressive aura, Yin Kuang was clearly not someone to be trifled with.

’Where on earth did this brat find a bodyguard like that? He looks incredibly tough... He must be trying to provoke me into attacking so his bodyguard can step in. I can’t fall for his trick! Yes, that has to be it!’

With this thought, Shen Quan stepped back instead of forward, a self-satisfied smile spreading across his face as if he had seen through everything.

Shen Lang burst out laughing. ”Haha, look, everyone! I call him an idiot and he just smiles. He really is a dumbass!”

”You!” Shen Quan nearly exploded with rage.

Humiliated twice in a row by a good-for-nothing in front of this many people, Shen Quan trembled with rage and roared, ”I wasn’t going to teach you a lesson here at the entrance to the Martial Arts Arena, but you’re courting death, so don’t blame me! I’m going to cripple you!”

As he spoke, Shen Quan stalked forward menacingly, followed by several other young men, each of them glaring at Shen Lang with ill intent.

Yin Kuang’s aura might have been intimidating, but this was the Shen Family’s territory. Not only were there several hundred people at the entrance to the Martial Arts Arena, but inside were the elite disciples and the Elders, who possessed the highest authority and Cultivation!

’This gorilla wouldn’t actually dare to attack someone here, would he?’

As for Shui Buyu and Zeng Zuimo, they were completely overshadowed by Yin Kuang and went entirely unnoticed.

”This good-for-nothing dares to insult us! Everyone, get him! Let’s give him a good thrashing. Even if the Elders find out, they won’t blame us!”

A shrill voice incited the crowd from the back. It was none other than Shen Daofeng, whom Shen Lang had previously thrashed.

The guy was insidious. Knowing how strong Shen Lang was, he hid at the back, merely goading the others to charge forward.

At his words, several more people stepped out from the crowd, cracking their knuckles ominously.

”What are you all standing there for? Go get him! Don’t tell me you’re afraid of that big brute beside him? This is the Shen Family! Who would dare attack one of our own here?” Shen Daofeng’s encouragement grew even more fervent, yet he continued to back away as he spoke.

”That’s right, this is the Shen Family! The Elders are right inside the Martial Arts Arena. What the hell is there to be afraid of!”

As he yelled, all those who had looked down on and bullied Shen Lang since childhood came running out.

”Look at them, so united,” Shen Lang’s smile widened. He was really starting to like Shen Daofeng.

’That guy... is truly shameless!’

”Piss off!” Shen Lang’s leg shot out, striking Shen Quan, the one running fastest, in the stomach with lightning speed. The kick sent him flying backward, knocking over several people behind him.

”AAGGHHH...” Shen Quan clutched his stomach, kneeling on the ground and howling in pain.

The agitated crowd froze for a moment, seemingly shocked that Shen Quan, a cultivator at the Second Heaven of the Qi Martial Realm, had been sent flying so easily.

”That good-for-nothing dares to attack someone here! This is outrageous! We can’t let him get away with this!”

Shen Daofeng started shouting again. What the crowd failed to notice, however, was that the bastard had moved even farther away from Shen Lang.

”He dares to fight back? Everyone, get him! Let’s teach this good-for-nothing a lesson!” someone chimed in.

The crowd was incensed. Everyone who held a grudge against Shen Lang or looked down on him immediately cracked their knuckles and closed in.

SMACK!

SMACK!

With two crisp sounds, the two men who had rushed closest to Shen Lang were sent flying, each with a single slap to the face.

They were literally sent *flying*, as if they were riding the clouds!

The two large-framed Shen Family disciples seemed to lose all weight. With a single slap from Shen Lang, they soared through the air as light as feathers, a few of their teeth flying out ahead of them. They flew over the heads of the crowd and landed more than ten meters away with two loud SPLASHES in the rainwater.

The rowdy crowd fell silent, staring in utter disbelief.

If the one who’d attacked had been the towering brute behind Shen Lang, it might have been understandable.

But the one who had struck was clearly Shen Lang—the good-for-nothing!

And it didn’t even look like he’d used his full strength, just a casual, impatient slap!

And just like that, he’d sent two people even stronger than Shen Quan flying!

How could any of this make sense?

By now, even a fool could see that something was wrong. You could say Shen Quan was careless and caught off guard, but what about those two?

While they were still stunned, Shen Lang suddenly snorted. ”Brother Yin, beating up this small fry isn’t satisfying at all. I was hoping to go inside and fight those so-called ’elite disciples.’ You guys can clean up this trash for me.”

Yin Kuang, who could barely contain himself any longer, burst out laughing. ”Haha, I’ve been waiting for you to say that! They’re all mine! Don’t anyone dare try to steal them from me!”

The brute stomped his foot, launched himself into the air, and landed in the middle of the crowd like a humanoid Demon Beast. Imitating Shen Lang, he swung his arms, slapping one person after another and sending the Shen Family disciples scattering in chaos amidst shrieks and howls!

One after another, they were sent flying before they even had time to dodge, their agonized cries shaking the heavens!

Yin Kuang himself was at the Peak of the Fifth Heaven of the Qi Martial Realm and possessed immense strength. For him to charge into a crowd of Shen Family disciples who were mostly in the Martial Power Realm was like a wolf let loose in a flock of sheep...

Shui Buyu and Zeng Zuimo were just a step too slow. By the time they moved to join in, there was hardly anyone left to fight.

Yin Kuang had either sent them flying or scared them off. The entrance to the Martial Arts Arena, which had been swarming with people just moments before, was now a large, empty space.

The hundreds of Shen Family disciples hid far in the distance, trembling with fear as they watched Shen Lang and the man they now called the Black Vajra.

As for Shen Daofeng, the one who had instigated the whole affair, he had seen things were going south and had long since fled into the Martial Arts Arena, faster than a rabbit.

”Hahaha, so satisfying! Who knew slapping was even more fun than punching! I’ve learned a new trick!”

Yin Kuang beat his chest like a gorilla and roared, then ran out to snatch up a few of the slower runners like an eagle swooping down on chicks, delivering another round of slaps.

”Damn, the bastard’s gotten addicted to slapping people...”

Shui Buyu and Zeng Zuimo shook their heads, deliberately acting as if they didn’t know him.

”Who dares to come to the Shen Family and injure our members!”

An explosive roar echoed as two elderly men emerged from the Martial Arts Arena, followed by several middle-aged men.

One of them was the Fourth Elder, and the other was the Third Elder—the very one who had been with the Clan Leader, Shen Haoxuan, at the Treasure Pavilion’s auction!

The ground at the entrance to the Martial Arts Arena was now littered with fallen Shen Family disciples. They had been groaning in pain, but the moment they saw the Elders appear, they immediately burst into loud, theatrical sobs.

Their wails were so pathetic they could move heaven and earth, as if they were crying out against a great injustice!

”So, it’s you, Shen Lang!” the Third Elder said, his voice seething with rage.

Shen Lang’s expression turned cold.

’Back at the auction, when I had a verbal showdown with the Evil Wind Valley, this old fossil was right there with Shen Haoxuan. He tried his best to distance the Shen Family from me, eager to kick me while I was down. In the end, I was the one who backed him into a corner. To think we’d meet again so soon.’

”Of course it’s me. Who else did you think it would be?”

Shen Lang let out a dry laugh and walked forward slowly. Right in front of the elder, he kicked one of the men on the ground, sending him flying with a pained shriek.

The crowd gasped in shock once more.

A dead silence fell over the entrance to the Martial Arts Arena.

Even those who had been wailing on the ground moments ago clamped their hands over their mouths in terror.

”Excuse me, Third Elder, which one of your eyes saw me hit someone?”

As he spoke, Shen Lang grabbed the collar of someone still whimpering on the ground and hauled him up as if he were lifting a chick.

He took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from the corner of the man’s mouth before speaking with an expression of mock pity, ”I remember you. You’re Shen Qian, right? Ever since we were kids, whenever there was bullying to be done to me, you were always leading the charge. Mmm, you have the potential to be a real pioneer. And here you are again... Alas...”

Shen Lang sighed, then backhanded Shen Qian so hard he spat blood. With a perfectly innocent expression, he asked, ”Why don’t you tell the Third Elder? Did I hit you?”

HISS!

A collective gasp echoed through the crowd.

He was directly provoking two Elders! This Shen Lang was so arrogant, so brazen!

”Mmph... mmph...”

Blood continued to foam at Shen Qian’s mouth. He didn’t speak, just shook his head frantically in terror.

Shen Lang shrugged and spread his hands in a gesture of utter innocence. ”You see? He said I didn’t hit him...”

As he spoke, he delivered another slap, sending Shen Qian—who had just breathed a sigh of relief—flying through the air.

This time, Shen Qian didn’t even have time to scream before the slap knocked him unconscious.

”Shen Lang, you are beyond insolent! Utterly arrogant! How dare you attack someone right in front of us? Do you have a death wish?”

The Fourth Elder, who had remained silent until now, was trembling with rage.

’This is rebellion! Utter rebellion!’

’A mere junior, a so-called good-for-nothing, not only killed servants in the Shen Family a few days ago, but now he dares to defy his elders in front of everyone!’

’If that wasn’t bad enough, he even dared to strike someone right in front of two Elders, and then had the gall to arrogantly claim he hadn’t done a thing!’

’This is utterly intolerable!’

The Third Elder beside him, however, was a different story. He had seen with his own eyes at the auction that Shen Lang held a Profound Iron Token from the Treasure Pavilion. This was someone the Treasure Pavilion was desperately trying to recruit!

Not only that, but the brat had dared to openly mock a Profound Iron Level Influence and had used an astronomical price to completely crush the Holy Light Sect’s momentum. What kind of sheer, unadulterated arrogance was that?

Compared to something like that, beating up a few juniors in the Shen Family was practically child’s play.

Unfortunately, he and the Clan Leader hadn’t yet had the chance to inform everyone of these events. For now, only the Grand Elder and the Second Elder were aware.

Thus, the Third Elder’s gaze was shifty, and he was already beginning to regret having come out with the Fourth Elder.

If he had known it was Shen Lang stirring up trouble, he would have stayed hidden. Then he wouldn’t be in this awkward predicament.

Glancing at the Fourth Elder, Shen Lang said proudly, ”So what if I have a death wish? What are you going to do about it?”

Shen Lang pointed a finger at the Fourth Elder and the others, declaring with absolute dominance, ”I’ll tell you straight: if I weren’t considering my father’s feelings, I would have flattened your entire Shen Family today! So piss off!”

At the grand entrance to the Martial Arts Arena, only the sound of the pouring rain remained...