Strongest War Emperor

”Amitabha. I do not possess such Divine Techniques as to foresee the future. I merely noticed that this young friend’s fate is rather peculiar, so I wished to observe. Every drink and every peck, is it not all predestined...”

”Really? Master, your Cultivation is on par with my own. How could you possibly see his fate? Are you not just trying to fob me off?” Xue Hongluan said, still unconvinced.

Master Kong Jing had been far too calm from the very beginning, which she couldn’t help but find suspicious.

Buddhists were known for their compassion, and Master Kong Jing was famous. Plus, he had the meddlesome Master of Chaos with him. Yet, they had obediently remained in Shuangta Temple from the start, never once interfering in the matter between Shen Lang and Yuwen Huaji.

None of it was normal...

While Xue Hongluan was trying to pry some information out of Master Kong Jing, over in the Barrier, Shen Lang was gazing at Xue Dangdang with tender affection. He paid no mind to the many eyes on them as he pulled Dingdang directly into his arms.

Held in his embrace, Xue Dangdang’s body trembled slightly, tears streaming down her face.

”Brother Lang, I... I don’t want to be separated from you...”

Xue Dangdang finally spoke, but as soon as the words left her lips, she could no longer control the tears in her eyes.

Shen Lang held her, feeling an immense sense of satisfaction.

It was as if he held the entire world in his arms.

This embrace felt as if he had waited for thousands upon thousands of years...

The feeling was so intoxicating that he could hardly pull himself away. He almost blurted out and begged Dingdang not to leave.

After a long moment, Shen Lang calmed his emotions and said, ”Dingdang, do you believe in past and present lives?”

Xue Dangdang looked up from his embrace, her eyes blurry with tears, and forced a smile. ”I do. From the first moment I saw you, I believed...”

A look of pain suddenly appeared in Shen Lang’s eyes. After a while, he said, ”I once had a dream. In it, your soul scattered and you vanished like smoke right in my arms...”

”So back then... is that why you deliberately distanced yourself from me?”

Xue Dangdang tilted her head back, her arms tightening around Shen Lang as if she was terrified he would leave her at any moment.

Shen Lang gently stroked her hair, whispering by her ear as if murmuring to himself...

”There are some things... I still don’t know how to tell you. I was once terrified because of it—an uncontrollable terror. That fear has finally subsided a great deal, suppressed by my Battle Intent, and only now can I truly begin to face this matter. I don’t believe in fate. Even if fate is real, I will break free from its control!”

”Whether that dream was the past or the future, you are by my side now, and I will not let anything happen to you ever again...”

”I will protect you, even if it costs me my life...”

”But to face the future, we need more than just determination. We need true, formidable strength! Both of us do.”

”Listen to me. Go back. You know better than anyone how powerful the Xue Family is. Only there can you properly cultivate and grow strong. ’If love between two people shall last, why need they be together day and night?’... Give me three years. In three years, I will go to the Xue Family to find you.”

After he finished speaking, Shen Lang gently wiped the tears from Xue Dangdang’s eyes.

Xue Dangdang stared at Shen Lang, entranced. After a long moment, she loosened her grip and whispered, ”Brother Lang, I understand. Dingdang will wait for you. I’ll wait for you to become a true expert standing at the Peak of this world! I’ll work hard, too! I’ll wait for you... wait for you to come get me from the Xue Family in three years...”

He nodded with great difficulty. Shen Lang’s hands trembled unceasingly; his arms around Xue Dangdang loosened several times, only to tighten their hold again.

Though his words were carefree, his heart felt like it was being twisted by a knife.

The unspeakable agony was so great that he would rather endure the soul-tearing pain of his Chaos Divine Body’s awakening than face the pain of parting with Dingdang again.

He knew very well how much Dingdang meant to him, and he also understood that their separation was inevitable.

But he had never expected that when the moment truly came, the pain in his heart would be this unbearable...

It was a heart-rending, indescribable agony.

’I truly thought our meeting was so simple, destined to become a fleeting memory.’

’I never imagined that brief, lingering attachment was actually a fated bond from a past life spent together...’

’My so-called unshakeable will, my heart of stone—at this moment, it all feels like a dream, a phantom.’

’This fragility... it pierces straight to my soul...’

Shen Lang moved like a marionette, his actions stiff, his expression wooden.

He watched as Xue Dangdang bid farewell to his parents and the others, one by one...

Then he watched as Xue Hongluan led her onto the Jade Chariot. She poked her head out from inside, staring fixedly at him...

”Brother Lang, you have to come for me! I’ll wait for you forever!”

The Flood Dragon roared and soared away on clouds and mist. The wind carried Xue Dangdang’s tearful cry.

At that moment, Shen Lang felt an overwhelming urge to break down and cry.

Though he was surrounded by people, Shen Lang felt as if he were adrift in a desolate, empty void—alone, and so very lonely...

Not far from him, Nalan Ziyun watched his desolate figure, and her heart ached. She wanted to go and comfort him, but she couldn’t muster the courage to take that step.

Shen Lang stood silently in the middle of the circle, and the people around him, by some tacit understanding, all remained silent.

The atmosphere was strange and oppressive.

He took two dazed steps to the right. His gaze fell upon the deep crater from his fierce battle with Yuwen Huaji, and his eyes instantly became as sharp as blades!

”Where is Xu Daolin!”

It was like the suppressed roar of a beast—bloodthirsty and full of hatred. The sound instantly snapped everyone around him out of their stupor.

Yi Hongchen and Luo Fengling, along with four Iron Guards, carried over a burlap sack tied up as tightly as a dumpling and threw it down in front of Shen Lang.

”Right here! After Yuwen Huaji went after you, I had my men watch Xu Daolin. There was no way he could escape!” Yi Hongchen said triumphantly, a ruthless look on his face.

Xu Daolin could be called the mastermind behind this whole affair. He had not only plotted to harm Shen Lang’s entire family, but had also nearly doomed Yi Hongchen to eternal damnation.

He, Luo Fengling, and the others hated Xu Daolin to the very bone.

After Yuwen Huaji’s death, Yi Hongchen had immediately ordered his men to capture him.

”Untie him!”

Yi Hongchen gave a look to an Iron Guard Commander.

The Iron Guard Commander immediately stepped forward. After much fumbling and slapping at the ropes, he finally managed to untie them.

It turned out a Restriction had been placed on the ropes!

Shen Lang strode forward, yanked off the burlap sack, and his pupils immediately contracted!

The person in the sack was not Xu Daolin!

It was a young man from the Xu Family named Xu Qiang!

Xu Qiang’s eyes were wide with terror, yet he didn’t dare to move a muscle.

”How is that possible!” Yi Hongchen exclaimed in shock. ”He was already heavily injured when we captured him. Fengling and I did it ourselves, and we even used my Evil Wind Valley’s Demon-Binding Rope... How could he have been swapped with someone else?”

”Let me take a look.” At this point, Shangguan Feiyue, who had been forgotten off to the side and was feeling a bit awkward, stepped forward.

Shangguan Feiyue crouched down and gently wiped a finger across the Demon-Binding Rope. A wisp of Spirit Light brushed over it.

A plume of black smoke suddenly shot out of the Demon-Binding Rope and soared into the sky, startling Yi Hongchen and the others into a hasty retreat!

The black smoke abruptly coalesced in the air, forming a giant human face wearing a tall hat.

An overwhelming and terrifyingly malevolent aura suddenly spread out from the face.

A fierce gale swept through, carrying an incredibly dense Blood Evil Qi. The air turned gloomy and terrifying, filled with the wails of ghosts and howls of demons, making it hard for the people around to breathe. They felt their very souls begin to tremble!

”HAHAHAHA! Shangguan Feiyue, I’m taking Xu Daolin. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”

The giant face formed from black smoke let out an incredibly arrogant cackle, which, along with the dense Blood Evil Qi, echoed endlessly across Celestial Phoenix City.

”Amitabha. So, it is Black Impermanence from Blood Evil Island who has arrived!”

Master Kong Jing chanted a Buddha’s name. A ray of Buddha Light descended from the heavens, instantly spreading across the entire Celestial Phoenix City.

Countless terrified shrieks came from somewhere in the sky, and then, the people immediately felt the mountain-like pressure on them vanish without a trace.

The next moment, a figure flashed in the sky. Chaos had already teleported above South City. Like a Buddha with a Golden Body, he struck a palm down from mid-air toward the South City Ruins!

A massive, golden Buddha Hand Seal flashed and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Afterward, a piercing shriek that resounded through the heavens came from South City: ”Chaos, you bald donkey! I, Black Impermanence, will remember this palm strike. I will surely repay you one day!”

When the voice spoke the first word, it was still over South City in Celestial Phoenix City. By the last few words, it had already reached the Phoenix Mountain Range.

However, this person’s power was simply astonishing. Despite being injured, every single word of that sentence reached the listeners’ ears with the exact same volume!

”You couldn’t beat me before, you can’t beat me now, and you won’t be able to beat me in the future. How will you repay me? You rat-like coward, you certainly run fast!” Chaos stood proudly in the air, his voice carrying far into the distance.

At this moment, the ever-smiling Chaos finally revealed his unparalleled sharpness!

The trio of Shangguan Feiyue, Shark’s Kiss, and Nangong Yan made a move to give chase but were stopped by Master Kong Jing.

”The Cultivation of Blood Evil Island’s Black and White Impermanence is no match for the three of you, but they come and go like the wind, as fast as lightning. Trying to catch them would be no small feat,” Master Kong Jing murmured.

Shark’s Kiss snorted coldly. ”Blood Evil Island is far away in Honglang Country, at the edge of the Snow Domain. We’ve never had any dealings with them. I can’t believe they dared to venture deep into the heartland of the Purple Chu Country! And to snatch someone right from under our noses! Do they really think we’re that easy to bully?”

”How very strange...” Nangong Yan said as she walked over gracefully. ”The Purple Chu Country is but a tiny nation among the Eighteen Snow Countries. Black and White Impermanence don’t show themselves under normal circumstances, so why would they come here? And why would they risk being attacked by Master Kong Jing and Master of Chaos just to snatch a junior like Xu Daolin?”

Shen Lang, who had been silently staring at the distant sky, suddenly spoke. ”The Nine-Star Linked Pearls are about to align. The Supreme Yin Qi between heaven and earth will flourish, causing Yin to prosper and Yang to wane. Evil spirits will run rampant, and Demonic Cultivators will certainly seize this opportunity to stir up trouble. It’s only normal for people from Blood Evil Island to show up here and make a scene.”

”...”

The few Emperor Martial Realm experts were startled, and every one of them immediately fixed their gaze on Shen Lang.

Up in the air, a strange light also flashed in Chaos’s eyes before he broke into a smile again.

’My senior brother... he’s truly not simple. And a person who can make even the Boneless Relic acknowledge him as master... I’m afraid...’