Strongest War Emperor

She crossed her palms and lunged, clashing with him once again.

"You’ve said that a million times. I’ve been hearing it since I was a kid—my ears are about to fall off! Hey, can’t you be a little reasonable? I call you old, you get mad. I call you young, you get mad. What exactly do you want?"

Shen Lang was completely unafraid, his kicks as swift as the wind, unleashing waves of Powerful Qi.

"I am going to kill you!"

Nalan Ziyun’s attacks grew faster and faster, leaving behind a streak of Spirit Light that was quite a sight to behold.

"Haha!" Shen Lang roared with laughter. "The line of people who want to kill me could circle this arena three times. It’s not your turn yet, so go get in line!"

While the two were locked in their intense battle, Chu Qingcheng, still perched on the flagpole, commented wistfully, "I can’t believe it. I’m standing all the way up here, and someone still stole my spotlight. There’s no justice in the world... Heh, how lonely!"

Chu Qingcheng’s comment finally snapped everyone back to reality.

On the Tayun Academy side, Vice Dean Zhou Feng cleared his throat and announced, "Shen Lang, come back now. Since you’re here, the Thorn Valley trial is about to begin."

The crowd snickered, feeling like the show had ended too soon.

No matter how ferocious Nalan Ziyun was, she was undeniably a rare beauty.

Getting beaten up by her would suck, but watching her fight was an absolute pleasure... even if she wasn’t actually landing any hits on Shen Lang.

"Damn, something’s not right," someone suddenly realized. "It used to be her chasing Shen Lang all over the place, but they were just going at it, and it looked like Nalan Ziyun didn’t have the upper hand at all!"

Everyone around was shocked, only now realizing that something was indeed very strange...

The two who had just been fighting were the renowned "big sister" of Celestial God Academy and the infamous good-for-nothing of Tayun Academy.

Yet after they had exchanged several moves, there was still no clear winner?

"That’s right! I was so busy enjoying the view I didn’t even notice. You know, Nalan Ziyun’s Cultivation is on par with Chu Qingcheng’s. Even though Shen Lang defeated Shen Jianfeng, a guy at the Qi Martial Realm Third Heaven is nothing compared to Nalan Ziyun, who’s at the Qi Martial Realm Eighth Heaven!"

"Does that mean Tayun Academy now has two people at Chu Qingcheng’s level of Cultivation?"

"Could that be why the Vice Dean insisted on waiting for Shen Lang? If so, Tayun Academy is bound to win this time!"

"Of course! Chu Qingcheng can keep Nalan Ziyun occupied, and Xue Dangdang can pretty much sweep any team from Celestial God Academy. And now there’s a Shen Lang who can match Nalan Ziyun... Damn, this guy is terrifying. To be so powerful and hide it for all these years!"

"By the way, I feel like Shen Lang really did Tayun Academy proud this time. Just look at that bunch from Celestial God Academy—their faces are all twisted with rage!"

"When their ’big sister’ gets insulted by Shen Lang, it’s like their entire Celestial God Academy gets insulted. No wonder they’re so pissed, haha!"

The students from Tayun Academy, who had been deeply dissatisfied with Shen Lang and were even looking for a chance to teach him a lesson, suddenly had a realization. Their attitude did a complete one-eighty, and the way they looked at Shen Lang was instantly different.

In the crowd from Celestial God Academy, Ye Xue and Xu Daolin exchanged a look, each seeing the utter shock in the other’s eyes.

The expressions in both of their eyes grew even more sinister.

This was especially true for Ye Xue. Her cheek still seemed to burn from the slap her father had given her, and Ye Xiao Zheng’s words echoed in her mind: ’This is not someone you can afford to provoke. If you don’t want to die, find a way to earn his forgiveness! If you can get on his good side, it would be a blessing for our Ye Family!’

As for Xu Daolin, Killing Intent flashed in his eyes for a moment before he quickly concealed it. Then, for some reason, the corners of his lips curled up slightly, revealing a hint of disdain...

...

"Bitch, haven’t you had enough? They’re calling for me. I’ll humor you with another three hundred rounds next time, until you’re on your knees begging for mercy!"

Shen Lang clapped his hands together, and a furious blast of Palm Force knocked Nalan Ziyun back. Only then did he walk back to the Tayun Academy group.

"You little bastard, just you wait! In Thorn Valley, I’ll skin you alive and grind your bones to dust! Listen up! In Thorn Valley, anyone who finds a trace of this vermin reports to me immediately. There will be a generous reward!"

Nalan Ziyun was grinding her teeth in hatred, but since the higher-ups from both academies had spoken, she had no choice but to stomp her foot resentfully and leap onto the arena stage.

The Celestial God Academy students all hated Shen Lang to the bone. ’Fuck, not only did we wait half the day for him, but he also stole the entire show! He even humiliated our ’big sister’ on top of it all. This hatred is irreconcilable!’

JINGLE JINGLE!

Xue Dangdang walked up to Shen Lang’s side with a pout, the small bells on her clothes jingling incessantly with a clear, pleasant sound.

She huffed and mumbled, "Hmph, I hate it when you say things like that. In the future, you’re only allowed to say them to me, and no one else!"

"You can’t be serious. That’s so demanding," Shen Lang whispered with a bitter smile. "I was just messing with her and putting her in her place. No need to get this jealous, right?"

Xue Dangdang’s pout vanished into a smile. "You silly goose. If a woman doesn’t get jealous, she’s not a woman. You don’t even get that?"

"Alright..." Shen Lang laughed helplessly, then suddenly turned and walked back toward the Celestial God Academy students.

Xue Dangdang and everyone else stared, dumbfounded, as a white light flashed in Shen Lang’s palm. He produced a stack of Talismans and waved at the Celestial God Academy students.

"You piece of trash, what do you think you’re doing now!" the bewildered students from Celestial God Academy yelled.

"Everyone, everyone! I apologize for making you all wait and wasting your time to enter Thorn Valley. As compensation, I’d like to give you some Talismans... You can use them to kill more Demon Beasts."

As he spoke, Shen Lang began pressing the Talismans, one by one, into the hands of the Celestial God Academy students.

The students exchanged confused glances, having no idea what he was plotting.

Some initially suspected a trick and hesitated to take them, but they were filled with regret when they saw the others accept the Talismans without any issue.

"Holy shit, it’s a Second Level Fireball Talisman! And an Ice Talisman!" someone exclaimed.

The Celestial God Academy students were overjoyed. This stuff was extremely valuable.

"Hah, you trash finally get it. You know you have to compensate us for wasting our precious time!"

"Looks like you’ve come into some money, Shen Lang. Not bad. Since you’re being so considerate, we might just let you off easy during the trial."

The students from Tayun Academy were completely stunned...

’Who just hands out Talismans to the competition? Even if you have more than you can use, you don’t do this!’

’Isn’t he just making things harder for us?’

’Doesn’t he realize they could use those damn Talismans against us?’

’For fuck’s sake, has the kid lost his mind?’

Shen Lang chuckled as he finished handing out all the Talismans. Then, amidst the joyous cheers of the Celestial God Academy students, he said, "You’ve all misunderstood. What I mean is, I’m giving you these Talismans to help you kill lots of Demon Beasts. That way, when I come to collect from all of you later, there’ll be more to take."

The entire field went quiet. The silence was almost frightening...

A moment later, furious roars that echoed across the sky erupted from the Celestial God Academy crowd.

"You bastard! Who do you think you are!"

"Fucking hell, you think you can beat us and take our stuff? You, a good-for-nothing? In your dreams!"

"So arrogant! This fucking trash is unbelievably cocky! I’m furious!"

"Enough talk! Once we’re in Thorn Valley, we’ll make sure that good-for-nothing wishes he were dead!"

In contrast, the students from Tayun Academy were ecstatic, pointing at the Celestial God Academy students and roaring with laughter.

"Haha, what a bunch of morons! Shen Lang is playing them like fiddles!"

"You know, it’s been a long time since I’ve felt this satisfied. That Shen Lang kid... he’s alright..."

"Those guys from Celestial God Academy are a bunch of dumb pigs, haha!"

By this point, Shen Lang had already started walking back, avoiding getting trapped in the sea of Celestial God Academy students.

"Oh, and one more thing! You all better work hard!" Shen Lang added, turning back to the Celestial God Academy students with a smile that could kill. "Be sure to kill lots of Demon Beasts and gather plenty of Spirit Grass. I’ll come by to collect everything from you one by one."

"Shen Lang! You’re outrageous!" Xu Daolin, who had been silent all this time, finally leaped forward. "If I find you, I swear I’ll cripple you. Just you wait!"

Shen Lang acted as if he hadn’t seen him leap out or even heard his voice. He coolly turned back and called out to the Tayun Academy students, "It’s getting late, let’s head to the entrance! Celestial God Academy has already lost! Don’t worry, I guarantee all the prizes from Jialan Academy will belong to Tayun Academy!"

"Yeah!"

The Tayun Academy students roared in unison. Any lingering resentment they had for Shen Lang vanished in an instant, and many even found themselves starting to admire him.

As one side’s morale surged and the other’s plummeted, the students of Celestial God Academy looked completely dejected.

’Fucker! He ignored me!’ Xu Daolin was seething with rage. ’I’ll make you pay for ignoring me! Hehe, just you wait!’

A wisp of black energy swirled in Xu Daolin’s eyes, drifting like a tiny Black Dragon. His whole body turned cold. A faint black aura coiled around the fist he held clenched behind his back, then vanished in an instant, sucked back into his body in a bizarre display.

...

On the arena grounds, the students from the two academies separated completely, one group to the east and one to the west. They then began to walk in an orderly fashion along two ancient paths flanking the arena.

One of these ancient paths led to the northwest entrance of Thorn Valley, while the other led to the northeast.

The two groups’ entrances into Thorn Valley were over a hundred *li* apart, preventing large numbers of teams from clashing right at the outset.

From within the crowd, Qin Hun Tutor strode to Shen Lang’s side and berated him self-righteously, "Shen Lang! Did you not know the start time for the Thorn Valley trial? Why did you make all of us wait for so long? Do you have any idea how much time this entire group of people has wasted waiting for you? Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused by giving so many Talismans to our rivals? Do you have any idea what will happen when they use those Talismans on our Tayun Academy students?"

Seeing that the Vice Dean remained silent, Qin Hun grew even bolder. After rattling off his series of accusations, he puffed out his chest, raised his head, and struck a righteous pose, looking around with self-satisfaction.