Strongest War Emperor

As Shen Lang sat on the edge of Nalan Ziyun’s bed, he suddenly began to take off his clothes, causing her face to turn pale with fright. She let out a series of piercing shrieks.

If not for the barrier, her screams would have pierced the heavens and reached beyond the ninth sky.

Fortunately, Shen Lang had prepared the barrier in advance; otherwise, the entire Nalan Family would have probably come running.

”Hey!”

Frowning, Shen Lang covered his ears with his hands. ”I’m leaving in a bit. Can’t I change my clothes here? What sort of filthy things are going through your head? Can’t you be a little more innocent?”

”...”

Nalan Ziyun was completely speechless.

’You bastard, you used a drug to get into my private chambers, sat on my bed, and started stripping, and now you’re blaming *me* for not being innocent?’

’What part of what you’re doing could possibly be called innocent?’

”Alright, shut your mouth. If you don’t want to see, you can shut your eyes... If you do want to see, feel free to take a good look. I don’t mind.” As he spoke, Shen Lang pulled off his outer robe, revealing a form-fitting Inner Armor.

”Who... Who wants to look!” Nalan Ziyun was furious. If she could stand, she would have hacked at him a few times with a sword, no doubt about it!

But despite thinking that, she just couldn’t bring herself to close her eyes.

After shutting them for a moment, Nalan Ziyun, as if guided by a phantom, cracked them open again to watch this scoundrel.

She saw that the Inner Armor was like a vest, but it was strangely covered with multiple vertical, tube-like slots.

And strangely, Shen Lang was also wearing armrests of the same style on both his wrists.

’What kind of Inner Armor is this? It’s so bizarre.’

’This bastard is getting... stronger... He looks lean, but he’s hiding explosive power...’

A faint blush appeared on Nalan Ziyun’s face. She was somewhat thankful that Shen Lang hadn’t noticed her embarrassment.

Just then, she saw Shen Lang stand up. He took twenty metal plates from his ring—each no wider than an inch and three inches long—and began fitting them into the slots on the Inner Armor and Arm Armor.

These metal blocks were a deep blue, and under the lamplight, they shimmered with an eerie glow.

As he took these things out, the wooden floorboards began to CREAK and groan.

”Blue Copper? You little bastard, if you’re going to practice your Cultivation, fine, but why torture yourself like this? A tiny piece of this Blue Copper weighs at least four hundred pounds!” Nalan Ziyun shrieked when she saw that Shen Lang even had similar items attached to his feet.

With more than twenty pieces of Blue Copper on his body, wouldn’t that be over eight thousand pounds?

For an ordinary Martial Artist at the First or Second Heaven of the Spirit Martial Realm, lifting a six-thousand-pound weight was already considered their limit.

And lifting a heavy object versus wearing something that heavy were two completely different concepts.

A powerful Spirit Martial Realm Second Heaven Martial Artist might be able to lift a boulder of six or even eight thousand pounds and hurl it several meters.

But asking them to walk around while holding that boulder, or even just stand still, was something they couldn’t possibly sustain for very long.

Even if Shen Lang’s true Cultivation was far beyond that of many Spirit Martial Realm Martial Artists, for him to attach these things to his arms, Inner Armor, and calves, it meant...

”It’s not Blue Copper,” Shen Lang said calmly. ”It’s Blue Cobalt Copper, which can only be found in the Southern Wilderness Abyss... It’s not as exaggerated as you think. My physical body is strong enough to handle it now. I extracted the essence of the Blue Cobalt Copper and smelted these. Each piece weighs exactly eight hundred pounds.”

Nalan Ziyun fell silent.

Eight hundred pounds a piece. Twenty pieces meant sixteen thousand pounds.

’This bastard plans to continue his Cultivation long-term while wearing sixteen thousand pounds!’

’No, not sixteen thousand pounds. There are still empty slots on the Inner Armor and Arm Armor where he hasn’t installed any Blue Cobalt Copper!’

’It looks like he plans to add even more later!’

”I’ve always wanted to become stronger, and that conviction has never changed.” Shen Lang put his outer robe back on as he spoke. ”But the incident where you ’died’ at the hands of Yuwen Huaji spurred me on once again...”

”But let’s not talk about that. I came here to say goodbye, and to ask you a few things.”

As he said this, Shen Lang turned to look at Nalan Ziyun.

But Nalan Ziyun, lying on the bed, seemed lost in thought. She remained silent, her watery eyes fixed on the bedsheets.

Shen Lang lowered his voice and continued, ”When you were sent flying by that locking chain, I think I heard you say a lot of things...”

”No!”

Nalan Ziyun suddenly shrieked, her whole body trembling as if she were extremely nervous.

”There is a love that, though deep, one does not know how to express; there is a love that, though known to be forsaken, one is unwilling to leave; there is a love that, though known to be a futile wait, one foolishly endures in solitude; there is a love that, though known to lead to death, one still throws oneself into without a second thought...”

”The greatest distance in the world is not life and death, but that I stand before you, and yet you do not know I love you.”

”The most helpless thing in the world is not that I am powerless, but that by the time you notice me, I must leave you... Shen Lang, in the days to come, will you remember that there was once a woman who loved you so deeply?”

...

They both fell silent, and an indescribably strange atmosphere filled the room.

A thread of warmth flowed within it.

Shen Lang stared quietly at the floor and murmured, as if to himself, ”Speaking of which, I really was quite a fool. All those years when I was training in the Phoenix Mountain Range, I noticed early on that a woman was secretly watching over me, protecting me. At first, I thought it was my sister, but her fragrance was completely different.”

”Later, I thought it might be Sister Hong Yu... But back then, you were hunting me down with nowhere for me to run or hide. To be honest, it never even crossed my mind that it could be you...”

Nalan Ziyun glanced nervously at Shen Lang and cut him off, ”Don’t let your imagination run wild, that wasn’t me either! I would never do something so boring! And besides, I didn’t say a single word to you at that moment. You were just hallucinating!”

”A hallucination, huh...”

Shen Lang stood up and placed an exquisite ring on the table.

Next to the Jade Box, he also placed a long, silver locking chain.

Then he said, ”This Sumeru Ring contains Elixir Pills I’ve specially refined for you during this time, along with some Spirit Stones to help your Cultivation... As for this silver locking chain, I had people from the Imperial Dragon Sect go to the outskirts of the Western Wilderness Forbidden Land to find Blood Silk Silver and Thousand-Year Cold Marrow to forge it. It’s for both offense and defense. Your Physique leans toward the Water Attribute, so wearing this chain infused with Cold Marrow will bring you immense benefits.”

”You bastard, you think making all this useless junk is for my own good? You’ve been talking for ages, but where on earth are you going? Let me go!” Nalan Ziyun seemed a little panicked, her tone growing urgent.

Shen Lang completely ignored her and continued, ”This locking chain took me the better part of a month, you know. It’s very powerful. You can explore its abilities slowly. I even gave it a really cool name. It’s called the ’Nebula Chain,’ haha!”

”Get some sleep. The drug will wear off by the time you wake up tomorrow.” As he spoke, Shen Lang suddenly leaned forward and gently kissed Nalan Ziyun’s cheek.

Nalan Ziyun’s body jolted, and she froze.

Her face instantly grew hot and turned beet red. She didn’t move a muscle, but her eyes became watery, filled with surprise, shyness, and endless joy and绵绵情意 (Affection).

In that instant, it was as if time had stopped. A strange, electric sensation coursed through Nalan Ziyun, leaving her mind a complete blank.

CREAK.

With a soft sound, the door opened, and Shen Lang’s figure walked out.

”Hey, come back! You little bastard, come back and tell me clearly, where are you going?” Nalan Ziyun shouted as she came back to her senses.

Outside, Shen Lang didn’t answer her. He stomped his right foot on the ground, and his body shot into the air, landing on the wall of the Nalan Family’s courtyard.

However, before he could react, the roof tile under his right foot instantly shattered into dust!

Shen Lang, who had just turned to say something back, missed his step. With a BOOM, he face-planted, sprawling flat on the ground outside the courtyard and kicking up a cloud of dust.

While a weight of over sixteen thousand pounds wasn’t too outrageous for him, Nalan Ziyun’s courtyard wall was ancient. Although the tiles were durable, how could they possibly withstand such immense pressure?

Shen Lang himself still couldn’t control his body’s strength perfectly to compensate for the sixteen-thousand-pound weight. Plus, after kissing Nalan Ziyun, he was feeling just as light-headed as she was...

The result was a very undignified face-plant.

’Goddammit. Looks like being a lady-killer is a high-skill profession after all!’

Muttering curses, Shen Lang scrambled to his feet. Just as the Nalan Family members swarmed out shouting ”Catch the thief!” he took off at a run and vanished into the night.

...

「The next morning」

The Shen Family courtyard was packed with people, and outside was a veritable sea of humanity.

These people had heard that Shen Lang was leaving Celestial Phoenix City and had come to see him off.

However, the large crowd waited and waited, but there was no sign of Shen Lang. Just as they were wondering what was going on, Xiaohong walked out, her eyes red.

”My young master... left last night. You should all... go home now.”

”What!”

An uproar instantly erupted from the crowd.

The brothers Shen Jianfeng and Shen Daofeng squeezed their way out of the crowd.

Shen Jianfeng practically roared, ”Shen Lang, you big liar! You said you’d train with me! How could you just abandon me like this?”

The people around him rolled their eyes. ’What the hell is he talking about?’

’For two grown men to talk like that... aren’t they worried people will get the wrong idea?’

With a look of sorrow and indignation, Shen Jianfeng pushed through the crowd and sprinted towards Celestial Phoenix City’s gate, with Shen Daofeng following close behind like a meatball.

The crowd couldn’t help but follow them, a great procession heading toward the city gate.

But by then, how could there be any sign of Shen Lang?

In the morning light, on the ancient road, there were only some merchants coming and going...

On the city wall behind them, Shui Qingwu, Shen Moran, and Chu Qingcheng stood side by side, quietly watching the scene below.

”Sister Moran, I... I have to go back today, too,” Shui Qingwu said softly. ”He’s gone to focus on his Cultivation, so I have to go back to my family and train hard as well. Otherwise, the gap between us will just get wider and wider...”

Shen Moran turned to look at Shui Qingwu and nodded gently.

”What about you two? Are you going back to Jialan Academy?” Shui Qingwu asked again.

Chu Qingcheng shook her head. ”We’re not going back. In a few months, Moran and I will go find Xiaolang.”

A peculiar glint appeared in Shen Moran’s eyes, then she broke into a radiant smile and nodded.

”Where... did he go?” Shui Qingwu asked, as if it took all her courage to do so.

Chu Qingcheng pointed her right finger toward the northwest sky. ”The Profound Dao Sect.”

The three of them turned their gazes in that direction. In the clear blue sky, a majestic eagle was spreading its wings, soaring ever higher against the wind...