Strongest War Emperor

According to the rules of the grand tournament for entry into the Yumu Cave Blessed Land, contestants were forbidden from seizing their opponents’ Magical Treasure Secret Artifacts.

For a tournament hosted by Righteous Sects, no matter how dirty the dealings were behind the scenes or how many secrets were kept, on the surface, they still had to put on a good show and maintain a facade of ”fairness and justice.”

Therefore, snatching an opponent’s Magical Treasure Secret Artifacts on the dueling platform was strictly prohibited.

Of course, the trials within the Yumu Cave Blessed Land itself were another matter entirely.

No one would interfere in matters of survival of the fittest. If you were killed, you could only blame your own lack of skill and rotten luck.

But no one expected Shen Lang to make a move anyway. He had laid the groundwork early on, and when he finally acted, it was swift and decisive!

He directly snatched the mysterious Magical Treasure from Tang Wenqing’s hands!

However, Shen Lang wasn’t actually a contestant, nor did he make his move during a duel. Furthermore, his relationship with the Imperial Dragon Sect and the other two major sects was anything but shallow. Thus, the representatives from the three sects hosting the tournament all chose to remain silent, turning a blind eye.

Many people were wondering how the members of the White Bone Hall would respond...

Shen Lang sent the White Bone Hall expert flying back with a single slash of his saber and blurted out, ”Old fiend, you dare try to steal my property? Have you no shame?”

”...” Everyone present nearly choked.

They all desperately clamped their hands over their mouths, trying to stifle their laughter.

As for the members of the White Bone Hall, they were so furious they nearly blacked out!

The Feng Mo clearly belonged to the White Bone Hall. Tens of thousands of people had seen it with their own eyes... Yet this shameless brat was actually accusing the White Bone Hall of stealing from him?

Could anyone possibly be more shameless?

Utterly shameless!

”Shen Lang, that Feng Mo belongs to our White Bone Hall. Please return it to us. I would be most grateful!”

The White Bone Hall expert, who had just been thrown into a disheveled state after clashing with Shen Lang, suppressed the urge to curse and managed to speak in a relatively polite tone.

He had no choice but to be polite.

If they could have made a move against Shen Lang, they would have done so long ago.

The White Bone Hall had originally come to the Purple Chu Imperial Capital to flaunt their power, but instead, both their Hall Master and his son ended up dead...

What other Spirit Copper Level Sect had ever suffered such a humiliation?

But now, with Shen Lang standing right in front of them after having slaughtered their Hall Master, they didn’t dare make a move!

Everyone could clearly see the strange relationship between Shen Lang and the three major sects, including the Imperial Dragon Sect.

If the members of the White Bone Hall dared to act rashly, they would very likely be ganged up on and beaten to death by those three major sects!

Besides, another giant from the Celestial Defying Demon Realm—the Blood Wing Demon Sect—was eyeing them like a tiger stalking its prey!

Perhaps those threats weren’t the most frightening part. The most terrifying of all was Zombie Emperor Duanmu Xie!

The members of the White Bone Hall gave Shen Lang a wide berth whenever they saw him, even pretending nothing had happened after he killed their Hall Master. In the end, it was all because of that incomparably tyrannical Zombie!

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have resorted to secretly allying with the Third Prince to deal with Shen Lang inside the Yumu Cave Blessed Land.

At this moment, the few old geezers from the White Bone Hall stared at Shen Lang, hating him so much their teeth ached.

They wanted to tear him limb from limb and drink his blood, yet they had to force polite smiles onto their faces. The sight brought great amusement to the members of the other major sects watching from the sidelines.

The experts from the various sects desperately suppressed their laughter as they watched the dramatic scene unfold, eager to see how the White Bone Hall would get out of this.

In any case, as things stood, they couldn’t beat Shen Lang if they chose to fight... or more precisely, they couldn’t beat Duanmu Xie.

If they weren’t going to fight, their only option was to reason with him.

But Shen Lang’s words made it clear he had no intention of being reasonable. His attitude was, ’What are you going to do about it?’

The arrogant had met someone more overbearing; the savage had met someone more shameless.

It looked like the White Bone Hall was about to...

Lose everything, lose all face, and be forced to swallow their own teeth and blood!

The old geezers from the Blood Wing Demon Sect watched the White Bone Hall’s predicament with glee, their faces lit up with smiles. They were just short of cheering out loud.

Meanwhile, the major sects of the Righteous Dao were more than happy to sit back and enjoy the show.

To deal with arrogant and domineering trash like the White Bone Hall, you had to fight fire with fire. Letting someone like Shen Lang teach them a lesson was perfect!

Amidst this strange atmosphere...

As expected, Shen Lang let out a derisive laugh. ”You must be joking, senior. I’ve never heard of any ’Feng Mo.’ Oh, you mean this bracelet?” he said. ”What do you mean, *your* property? I don’t understand. This is clearly the bracelet my... uh... senior sister just dropped!”

Tang Yiyi, who was still walking back to her spot, heard this and shot a fierce glare at Shen Lang.

But Shen Lang didn’t notice her glare at all and continued, ”Since you claim this item is yours, then please, show some proof. For example, the acknowledgment of the Artifact Spirit within this Magical Treasure, or the Divine Thought imprint left inside it.”

Shen Lang had just stored the Feng Mo in his Heaven-Sealing Cauldron and had Zuo Wentian, who resided within, erase the Divine Thought left inside by the Emperor Martial Realm expert.

And due to the materials it was made from, the Feng Mo itself didn’t have an Artifact Spirit!

With no Artifact Spirit inside and the Divine Thought from the White Bone Hall’s Emperor Martial Realm expert erased... trying to find the slightest trace of the White Bone Hall’s aura on it now would be harder than ascending to heaven!

Shen Lang smirked at the old geezers from the White Bone Hall, a chilling light in his eyes.

The people of the White Bone Hall had secretly sought out the Third Prince to plot against him. While there was no open conflict between them, the underlying hostility was palpable.

If Shen Lang didn’t know that the White Bone Hall had some connection to the Candle Dragon, would he really have let them live so comfortably until now?

Not having the Duanmu Xie brothers uproot the White Bone Hall entirely and merely snatching one Feng Mo from them was already an act of mercy.

The White Bone Hall expert who had spoken earlier was, after all, a master at the King Martial Realm Fifth Heaven. An old monster like him was hardly comparable to some reckless youth.

Shen Lang had snatched the Feng Mo, made it disappear, and then suddenly made it appear again. The whole sequence seemed so casual...

But who knew what tricks he might have pulled in that time?

’He might have...’

The old geezer had just begun to wonder when a voice transmission from the White Bone Hall’s Emperor Martial Realm Elder Ancestor echoed in his mind: ”The wisp of my Divine Thought left inside the Feng Mo was erased in an instant. If it wasn’t Duanmu Xie who acted, then this man likely has other, heaven-shaking secrets! Drop this matter at once!”

This Elder Ancestor from the White Bone Hall was exceptionally low-key. He had only come to the Purple Chu Imperial Capital to keep things under control and had basically never shown his face.

But now, Shen Lang had pushed the White Bone Hall to its limit. The Divine Thought inside the Feng Mo had been erased before it could even react... An expert with such methods was absolutely not someone the White Bone Hall could afford to provoke!

If he didn’t intervene now, Shen Lang might use this as a pretext to attack the White Bone Hall right here in the Martial Arts Arena!

Thus, the Emperor Martial Realm expert had no choice but to send the transmission and order his subordinates to stand down...

The few old geezers from the White Bone Hall were still trying to think of a countermeasure when they heard their Elder Ancestor’s transmission and froze.

Then, they all fell silent, their expressions turning bitter.

Just then, a red shadow flashed. Xue Dangdang appeared in the air, hovering in the void three hundred meters in front of Shen Lang.

”Don’t you think that’s a bit too shameless, a bit beneath you?” Xue Dangdang said coldly. ”You’re a King Martial Realm expert, after all. Aren’t you ashamed of pulling such a stunt in front of so many people?”

”Hand it over. Otherwise, this place becomes our battlefield!”

Xue Dangdang’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was filled with Killing Intent!

Shen Lang looked at the strange yet familiar Xue Dangdang before him, and memories of their time at Tayun Academy immediately flooded his mind.

Those three years he had known her were the most unforgettable of his life...

He sighed softly and murmured in a low voice, ”You think this is shameful? What a pity... you seem to have forgotten all the times we did things just like this together...”

”What?” Xue Dangdang didn’t quite hear him.

Shen Lang raised his right hand and pointed behind her. ”Look, an airplane!”

”Huh?” Startled, Xue Dangdang subconsciously spun around.

It wasn’t just Xue Dangdang who turned; the disciples from the various sects opposite her all turned around in confusion as well.

Everyone’s eyes followed the direction he was pointing.

But...

In the distance, there was nothing but a few small trees swaying in the wind on the edge of a cliff!

By the time Xue Dangdang turned back, Shen Lang was nowhere to be seen.

”Damn you!”

Xue Dangdang’s face flushed with anger. Her immense Divine Thought instantly billowed out, blanketing the area for miles around.

”Shen Lang! You can’t escape!”

With an enraged cry, Xue Dangdang shot off in the direction Shen Lang had fled.

Back in the Martial Arts Arena, the crowd just stared at each other, taking a long moment to process what had just happened.

In the stands, Chu Qingcheng stood with her hands clasped behind her back, watching Xue Dangdang’s departing figure. ”Some people are just destined to cross paths,” she said softly.

As soon as the words left her lips, Chu Qingcheng glanced over at Nalan Ziyun, who had been silent all this time. Nalan Ziyun was simply staring blankly into the air.

Chu Qingcheng slowly walked over and sat down beside Nalan Ziyun. ”Sister Ziyun,” she said softly, ”Moran was terrified when the Celestial Demon appeared, and she still hasn’t recovered. I’m worried she’ll be distracted when it’s her turn to compete and might get hurt... If you have a moment, could you go talk to her about something? Distract her a little?”

”Ah? Oh!” Nalan Ziyun snapped out of her daze. ”I understand. Leave it to me!”

With that, Nalan Ziyun, who had seemed so downcast just a moment ago, brightened up. She regained her usual spirited demeanor and walked over to where Shen Moran was.

’Wild and untamed as a stallion one moment, yet perfectly capable of playing the fool the next. She usually gives off a ’bimbo’ vibe to outsiders, but she’s as sharp as a tack and sees things more clearly than anyone... What a clever woman.’

After watching Nalan Ziyun’s retreating back for a long moment, Chu Qingcheng turned her gaze back to the direction in which Shen Lang had disappeared.

’You’re always surrounded by so many friends. You’d risk your life for them, and they’d give up everything for you...’

’I’m not like you. You’ll never be lonely. But I... I always will be.’

’In this age of calamity, let me just watch over all of you from the shadows. As long as I’m here, no one will be able to harm you... Not until the Emperor Star vanishes from this world...’

As Chu Qingcheng stared blankly into the distance, a wine gourd was offered to her from the side.

It was Mo Ge, holding out a flask of wine.

”HAHAHA! Come, have another drink with me, and let us wash away the sorrows of a thousand ages!”

Amidst Chu Qingcheng’s startling, wild laughter, the selection tournament resumed...