Strongest War Emperor

Shen Lang snatched the netted Nine Immortals Lingzhi and, without pausing, rushed to the other side of the pool in a matter of seconds. With a casual slash of his saber, he cut a lunging Demon Corpse in two.

At that moment, a powerful gale blasted toward him, whipping Shen Lang’s robes about. The wind carried a thick, putrid stench!

"Hmph!"

Shen Lang kicked hard off a nearby tree trunk, and without even turning his head, drew the Celestial Water Blade and slashed back.

A slash imbued with ferocious Thunder Power struck true, hitting the bright red, fleshy crest on the giant python’s head!

"HISS!"

The giant python had a bright red, fleshy crest on its head. A crimson line, thick as an arm and red as blood, ran from the crest down its back to the tip of its tail. When Shen Lang’s saber struck it, the beast shrieked in pain and was thrown backward.

The red line suddenly bulged, as if a blood vessel was about to swell to the point of bursting.

Its attack thwarted, the giant python flew into a rage. With a roar, its tail coiled around a barrel-thick tree and ripped it out by the roots. Then, with a WHOOSH, it swung the tree at the fleeing Shen Lang!

Still not turning back, Shen Lang swung his long saber. Amidst a flash of blade light and a series of SHINKS, he instantly shredded the incoming tree to splinters.

The Celestial Water Blade was a Profound Artifact, the type of weapon used by most experts at the Xuanwu Realm. It was exceptionally sharp.

Only Profound Artifacts and higher-grade weapons could have an Artifact Spirit sealed within them. Shen Lang had not yet sealed one inside, nor had he even had the chance to embed a Demon Crystal in the hilt that matched the elemental affinity of the Celestial Water Blade’s Spirit Array Map. Even so, its power was not to be underestimated.

When he’d saved Shui Qingwu and her companions, the Celestial Water Blade had been newly forged. With his level of cultivation at the time, Shen Lang couldn’t truly unleash the Profound Artifact’s power. That was why fighting those Gu Corpses had been such a bitter struggle.

If he had sealed an Artifact Spirit and embedded a Thunder Element Demon Crystal at that time, completing the Profound Artifact, he wouldn’t have ended up a bloody mess just from fighting a few Gu Corpses, even with his relatively low cultivation.

"Get lost, beast!"

Shen Lang picked up his pace, swinging his long saber continuously as he fled.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! The long saber struck the giant python’s body again and again, sending sparks flying and forcing pained shrieks from the beast.

With a soft POP, the giant python transformed back into a long whip and shot back into Ji Chengwu’s hand.

"A Profound Artifact! So you’re that Ghost-faced Man!"

Looking at the cracks now striping his long whip, Ji Chengwu roared in a fury, "If I don’t kill you, I swear I’m not a man!"

His savage roar echoed through the mountains. Ji Chengwu’s figure shuddered, and his speed exploded as he rapidly closed the distance to Shen Lang!

Even though Shen Lang was still in his "Burst" state, his speed was a notch slower than Ji Chengwu’s!

"Dumbass, when were you ever human? I’m wearing the mask right now, can’t you tell?" Shen Lang sneered. "Just you wait two days. I’ll be back to take your head and avenge the spirits of the Celestial Phoenix City citizens you slaughtered!"

"You won’t have to wait two days! You can leave your life behind right now! You dare ruin my grand affair? I’ll flay you alive, shatter your bones, and perform Soul Extraction and Refining!"

Ji Chengwu’s savage roar echoed from behind. A sharp sonic boom erupted as his speed suddenly spiked, and he closed in!

The gap between them had already been shrinking. With that sudden burst of speed, Ji Chengwu appeared behind Shen Lang in just a few flickers!

"You think a mere firefly can shine? Take this! Soul-Devouring Demon Technique: Blood Dragon Devouring!"

As Ji Chengwu roared, the pitch-black whip in his hand began to spin rapidly, forming a spiral like a venomous drill as it shot toward the center of Shen Lang’s back.

The instant the whip left his hand, Shen Lang felt an incredibly dense Blood Evil Qi envelop him. A chilling sensation washed over his body, as if he had been plunged into an abyss.

The sky, just beginning to whiten with the first light of dawn, was instantly shrouded by the hazy Blood Evil Qi. The entire world turned desolate and sinister.

Shen Lang suddenly pushed his speed, then spun around...

The whip had become a bolt of blood-red lightning. In the blink of an eye, it seemed to tear through space itself, appearing before Shen Lang with a nauseating, evil aura.

Shen Lang’s expression turned grave. His Celestial Water Blade flickered, wreathed in the Power of Thunder and Lightning, as he raised it high above his head.

A blade aura tens of feet long erupted from the saber, instantly illuminating the area.

The whip’s rapid rotation whipped up a gale, sending plants and debris flying.

Every pore on Shen Lang’s body seemed to clench shut. His eyes were locked on the crimson streak tearing through the air toward him.

The next second, he let out a sharp cry. The blade aura on his saber flared, growing even larger, before he brought it crashing down!

The sheer force of the blow looked as if it could rip the heavens and the earth asunder!

"Divine Blade Prison Guardian, Star-Picking Moon-Swallowing!"

The instant his sharp cry faded, the colossal, lightning-wreathed blade aura collided with the world-altering crimson streak. The impact was like a meteorite striking the earth!

"BOOM!"

A thunderous explosion, loud enough to collapse mountains and split the earth, resounded through the valley as countless birds and beasts scattered in terror.

A powerful shockwave of energy swept through the area. Shen Lang grunted and was sent flying backward at incredible speed.

"An ant trying to shake a tree—you don’t know your own limits!"

Ji Chengwu sneered and recalled the long whip with a flick of his hand.

’He believed he’d already gotten a clear measure of the Ghost-faced Man’s strength during the battle with the Gu Corpses.’

’One of the Gu Corpses that day had been under the control of his Divine Thought, allowing him to observe the Ghost-faced Man’s every move.’

’Putting aside their potent venom and hard carapaces, a Gu Corpse’s strength and speed were roughly equivalent to a martial artist between the First and Second Heavens of the Spirit Martial Realm.’

’Back then, the Ghost-faced Man had shown signs of losing against just one Gu Corpse. He had only managed to kill it by using some Secret Technique that unleashed his latent potential.’

’But that was the extent of his abilities.’

’And he, Ji Chengwu, was a true Spirit Martial Realm Sixth Heaven expert!’

’Although that sounded like a difference of only five Heavens compared to the Gu Corpse, once a martial artist reached the Spirit Martial Realm, the gap in power became astronomical. The chasm between each Heaven was immense and nearly impossible to cross.’

’In his eyes, a character like this was nothing more than a buffoon, incapable of causing any real trouble.’

’That was why, after catching up to Shen Lang, he was no longer as furious or frantic as he had been earlier.’

’Only a few days had passed since the Ghost-faced Man’s battle with the Gu Corpses. It was impossible for his cultivation to have improved much. Facing an expert of his caliber, not to mention the heavy encirclement by the City Lord’s Mansion, the man was trapped with no way out!’

"Gyehehe... feel that? Your whole body, paralyzed? Unable to move? Do you feel... an evil energy rampaging through your body, destroying your meridians? Heheheh. You can never truly understand the power of the Soul-Devouring Demon Technique until you face it yourself. Even if you survive this, you’ll be a cripple."

"To think you dared to ruin my plans... dying ten thousand times wouldn’t be enough!"

Ji Chengwu cackled and walked step-by-step toward the spot where Shen Lang had fallen.

He was neither hurried nor worried.

’This brat’s cultivation, his special moves, his every action... it was all within his grasp. There was no way he could have withstood one of my full-powered attacks.’

’Especially not his infamous Soul-Devouring Demon Technique!’

"Don’t you worry," Ji Chengwu’s voice, gloomy and terrifying, echoed through the valley. "I won’t let you die so quickly..."

He wouldn’t let the Ghost-faced Man die easily. He was going to slowly torture the man who had ruined his plans to death!

He would make him taste the pains of Hell, leaving him in a state where he could neither live nor die!

"Tsk, tsk. If you’re in so much pain, why aren’t you groaning? Your willpower is quite firm, I’ll give you that. But what a shame... You fool. Did you really think that just because you have a Profound Artifact, you could ruin my plans time and time again? You’re simply courting death!"

’Ji Chengwu felt an incomparable sense of satisfaction. It had been a long time since he’d felt this good.’

’He had been forced to hide in the stone cellar beneath the City Lord’s Mansion, not daring to show his face, manipulating everything from the shadows. And just when success was within his grasp, that Ghost-faced Man had utterly destroyed his work...’

’Now, when fortune had finally smiled upon him and the Nine Immortals Lingzhi was almost in his hands, this accursed brat had to rush out and snatch it away...’

’Too bad for him. The gap in their strength wasn’t small. This reckless fool actually dared to take a direct hit from his Soul-Devouring Demon Technique. Now, he was finally about to fall into his grasp.’

’Soon, he would subject this fool to death by a thousand cuts, followed by Soul Extraction and Refining!’

He mused to himself as he drew closer to where Shen Lang had fallen.

’He was doing this to draw out all of his opponent’s fear. He wanted to see the look of utter, indescribable terror in the man’s eyes when he finally reached him. He wanted to see him break!’

’He always enjoyed doing this when he killed.’

...

The energy from the impact had been terrifying. All plants and trees within a hundred-meter radius had been swept up in the ensuing storm and reduced to rubble!

Never mind a Qi Martial Realm Martial Artist; even an expert at the Second or Third Heavens of the Spirit Martial Realm would have been left dead or crippled by that blow from the Soul-Devouring Evil Technique!

The storm subsided. The slightly overcast sky cleared once more, leaving behind a scene of utter devastation.

As Ji Chengwu drew near, the corner of his mouth twitched. He then broke into a hysterical roar. "Motherfucker, where is he?"

The spot where Shen Lang had landed was a pile of rubble surrounded by a few small shrubs. The area was completely exposed.

But there was no sign of him.

’He had clearly pinpointed Shen Lang’s landing spot, but as he drew closer, he saw nothing of what he’d expected... There was no half-dead Ghost-faced Man, not even a single drop of blood!’

"I’ll make sure you die without a grave!" Ji Chengwu shrieked.

His body shuddered, and a monstrous blood-red mist surged out from him like a tidal wave, blanketing a three-hundred-meter radius.

At that exact moment, Shen Lang’s cold laughter echoed from the forest ahead.

Then, with a faint clap of thunder, Shen Lang’s figure burst from the ground and dashed toward the cliff ahead like a phantom!

"So this is a Spirit Martial Realm Martial Artist? Nothing special! And your Soul-Devouring Demon Technique? It’s not even worth dog shit!"

The speed Shen Lang was displaying now made even Ji Chengwu’s expression flicker.

"An Earth Escape Talisman! You cunning brat, you were still hiding your strength! But... you won’t get away! I’ll tear you to shreds!"