Strongest War Emperor

BANG!

Chen Tianci kicked out violently with his right foot, sending a broken log by the lake flying.

His figure then shot into the air. Though he moved second, he landed first on that very log, skimming across the lake’s surface like an arrow as he sped toward the center...

’An illusion. It must be an illusion! I already checked a ten-li radius and there wasn’t a soul in sight. It’s impossible for someone to have hidden behind me and made a move! Besides, an Exotic Treasure like the Water Spirit Pearl can’t be collected without a special Magical Artifact!’

Chen Tianci gritted his teeth like a wild beast. After this sudden burst of fury, his once honest and good-natured demeanor vanished completely, leaving only a crazed expression...

SPLASH!

As soon as he reached the center of the lake, Chen Tianci dove headfirst into the water.

A moment later, his figure shot out of the water again, completely soaked. He let out a constant, mournful wail, his face wet with what could have been either lake water or tears.

”Who did this? Who the hell did this?!”

Chen Tianci roared at the sky, his voice filled with overwhelming resentment.

However, before he could fully vent his anger, the roar of the Three-headed Flood Dragon echoed from the distance. The resentment and frustration in its cry seemed no less than his own.

’Damn it, that Demon Beast is back! If it finds out the Water Spirit Pearl is gone, it’ll fight me to the death!’

Chen Tianci slammed his right hand on the water’s surface, launching himself into the air. He landed on a log and sped off in the opposite direction of the Three-headed Flood Dragon’s roar.

’Son of a bitch, how could something like this happen? If there was a problem with my luck, it wouldn’t make sense for me to find an Exotic Treasure like the Water Spirit Pearl in a place like this, would it?’

’Since there’s no problem with my luck, why did I lose it right after finding it?’

’Could it be...’ The image of Shen Lang surfaced in Chen Tianci’s mind again.

The mere thought of Shen Lang’s face sent him into an uncontrollable rage.

Still more than ten meters from the shore, Chen Tianci tapped his right foot lightly on the log. His plump body floated up as if weightless, landing nimbly on the ground.

Then, he pressed his palms together, interlocked his fingers, and began to form a series of complex, indescribable Seal Techniques.

”Primordial Qi of the Great Dao, Heaven-Reaching Barbaric God... Open!”

Chen Tianci shouted, then bent down and slammed a palm onto the ground!

The ground immediately erupted with flying gravel and dust.

Afterward, a screen of light slowly formed in front of him.

On the screen, a person in black was seen sprinting across the lake’s surface, then leaping into the air, spinning continuously, before plunging into the water...

However, the image was strangely peculiar. The lake water, the logs on the surface, and everything else were perfectly clear, but the figure itself was just a blurry silhouette seen from behind.

No matter how he looked, all he could tell was that the person wore black; he couldn’t even make out their general build.

’How is this possible? Why can’t I see it clearly? This just happened a moment ago... The Barbarian Race’s Secret Technique that His Majesty the Barbarian Emperor taught me has never done this before!’

Chen Tianci’s face was filled with disbelief. ’His Majesty the Barbarian Emperor once said that the Barbarian Race’s Secret Technique can only be thwarted by one type of person: someone who has escaped the Six Paths of Reincarnation and broken free from the shackles of heaven and earth. But people like that are one in ten thousand; even he himself isn’t such a person!’

’I refuse to believe it. How could I run into someone like that in this godforsaken backwater?’

Chen Tianci suddenly bit his right index finger, and a drop of blood fell onto the light screen.

He then touched the drop of blood with his fingertip and drew a strange pattern on the screen, which immediately merged into it.

The originally mirror-like screen of light suddenly rippled like the surface of water.

The next moment, the events that had just transpired replayed on the screen once more.

Only this time, it was significantly clearer...

Chen Tianci stared intently at the figure’s back, trying to see it more clearly, but he found it was still a waste of effort.

Suddenly, his gaze fell upon something behind the figure’s back!

This object hadn’t been visible the first time. Though it was blurry now, he could tell from its shape that it was a saber!

”Damn it, I’ll go all out!”

Growing desperate, Chen Tianci also bit his left index finger and performed another series of actions on the light screen.

A moment later, the scene in the light screen appeared again, and then began to zoom in... and in...

Finally, only a blurry saber hilt remained on the entire screen!

Chen Tianci’s eyes narrowed. The image of the hilt instantly matched the hilt of the saber Shen Lang carried on his back!

”Son of a bitch, it really was him!”

Cold sweat dripped down Chen Tianci’s back as he stumbled three steps backward before stopping.

”Shen Lang, you goddamn bastard, why are you like a lingering ghost?! Do I have some kind of grudge against you?!” Chen Tianci shrieked.

After a long while, he finally calmed down and said with a miserable expression, ”A nemesis. That bastard must be my nemesis... No, I have to find a way to get away from this guy. I have to stay far, far away from him!”

Just as a distraught Chen Tianci scrambled into the jungle, Shen Lang and Nalan Ziyun were already strolling leisurely along a mountain path.

As they walked, Shen Lang was telling Nalan Ziyun about the Water Spirit Pearl.

”Oceans and lakes can give birth to Water Spirit Pearls, which gather the essence of heaven and earth. Forests can produce Wood Spirit Pearls, and places with underground magma can create Fire Spirit Pearls. Essentially, any place with abundant Spiritual Qi of a specific type can give birth to an incomparably pure Spirit Pearl...”

Nalan Ziyun interrupted him, ”The conditions for a Spirit Pearl to form must be extremely strict, right? Otherwise, how come I’ve never even heard of them?”

Shen Lang nodded. ”Of course they’re strict. Not every river, lake, or sea can produce a Water Spirit Pearl. A place capable of forming a Spirit Pearl must, at the very least, have a Spirit Meridian beneath it. A single small Spirit Meridian can be the foundation upon which a Major Sect is built, and a Spirit Pearl is formed by condensing the power above that meridian. You can imagine how precious they are.”

”Moreover, even with a Spirit Meridian, a Spirit Pearl isn’t guaranteed to form. The chances of such a naturally occurring Exotic Treasure being born are incredibly low. Even with the largest Spirit Meridian in the Purple Chu Country, it might not produce a single Spirit Pearl in tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of years. Every single Spirit Pearl is an exceptionally rare treasure... Don’t ever mention this in front of outsiders in the future, or it could bring you endless trouble.”

Nalan Ziyun said in surprise, ”Hearing you describe it like that, does this mean we’ve hit the jackpot? What are the benefits of this Water Spirit Pearl, anyway? Can it let me break through to the Xuanwu Realm in one go?”

”In one go is impossible, of course. But with its help, the increase in your Cultivation speed will be unimaginable. A Spirit Martial Realm Martial Artist’s Pill Sea is like an ocean. After breaking through to the Xuanwu Realm, the Pill Sea solidifies into a pill called a ’Mystic Pill.’ At this point, a Martial Artist can open Elements Mansions around the Mystic Pill. The more Elements Mansions they open, the stronger their Cultivation becomes. And the Water Spirit Pearl allows a Martial Artist of any Physique to open a Water Element Mansion in the shortest possible time.”

”What?!” Nalan Ziyun shrieked.

Although her Cultivation was only at the Spirit Martial Realm Middle Stage, she knew a great deal about the various Levels of Martial Artists. This kind of information was generally taught as basic knowledge in various academies and Sects.

For Martial Artists below the Xuanwu Realm, Cultivation is relatively simple. It mainly involves absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy and condensing it into their own Spiritual Power.

Spiritual Power is the purest and most fundamental force in the world. This is true for the Righteous Dao, the Evil Dao, and the Demon Dao alike.

Martial Artists of different Physiques, and even those of the Righteous Dao and Demon Dao, all cultivate Spiritual Power. If there’s any difference, it lies in the Attribute their Spiritual Power emphasizes.

A person with a Fire Attribute Physique will find it easier and faster to cultivate in a place rich in Fire Element Spiritual Power, like near underground magma, than anywhere else;

Low-level Cultivation is all about converting various types of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi into Spiritual Power within the body. This is used to increase strength and temper the body. Then, through various Cultivation Techniques and Spiritual Techniques, that Spiritual Power is converted into corresponding Energy, allowing the Martial Artist to fully unleash the power of their techniques.

A Martial Artist who practices a Fire Element Technique can transform their Spiritual Power into scorching fireballs to fight enemies. A more powerful one could even unleash a sea of flames to incinerate all things;

A Martial Artist who practices a Water Element Technique, like Nalan Ziyun, can unleash a Water Dragon to fight enemies. A more powerful one could even summon a flood to submerge a city.

These attack methods, or rather, this unique and pure Energy, are all converted from Spiritual Power through special Spells.

But upon reaching the Xuanwu Realm, things become very different.

The biggest difference lies in the issue of conversion.

After a Martial Artist’s Cultivation breaks through to the Xuanwu Realm, their Pill Sea solidifies into a Mystic Pill. At this point, the Martial Artist can open Elements Mansions around the Mystic Pill.

Each Elements Mansion is equivalent to a Mystic Pill, yet distinct from it.

A Mystic Pill stores the purest Spiritual Power, but an Elements Mansion stores refined Energy, such as the power of flame or the Power of Earth.

When cultivating, Xuanwu Realm Martial Artists convert the Spiritual Power within their Mystic Pill into a corresponding pure Energy and store it in an Elements Mansion.

Once an Elements Mansion is formed, they only need to recite a Spell to directly draw upon the Energy within it and turn it into an attack.

This way, when attacking or defending, they no longer need to draw Spiritual Power from their Mystic Pill and convert it.

Both the casting speed and the power are greatly increased.

Furthermore, after reaching the Xuanwu Realm, the Elements Mansions one can open are not limited to a single type.

In other words, a Martial Artist who originally practiced a Fire Attribute Technique could also open a Water Attribute Elements Mansion around their Mystic Pill and then rely on the Water Spirit Power within that mansion to unleash powerful Water Element Techniques.

However, opening an Elements Mansion of the same Attribute is already incredibly difficult. Opening one of a different Attribute is even harder than ascending to heaven.

When Nalan Ziyun heard Shen Lang say that the Water Spirit Pearl could help a Martial Artist of any Physique directly open a Water Element Mansion, she was so shocked she was left speechless.

”You stole such an amazing treasure... won’t that fatty chase us down and fight us to the death?”

Nalan Ziyun finally understood why Shen Lang had kept saying he felt bad, and why he’d seemed a little nervous.

’If I had a treasure like that stolen from me, I’d risk my life to get it back, too!’

”It’s not impossible. So... how about this: we’ll go cultivate for a few days and come out later. That fatty will probably have left the Chuyun Mountain Range by then.” As Shen Lang spoke, he put his arm around Nalan Ziyun’s shoulder and brought her into the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron.

The tiny Heaven-Sealing Cauldron in the air immediately spun around and transformed into a small pebble, blending in with the surrounding rocks.

This time, however, they had guessed wrong. Not only did Chen Tianci not give chase, but he was desperately trying to avoid them, never wanting to cross paths with Shen Lang again...