Strongest War Emperor

"Hmph, you think I wanted to save you? I just didn’t want anyone else to kill you," Nalan Ziyun snorted. "Your life is mine! If anyone’s going to kill you, it will be me!"

Shen Lang was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "I’m truly sorry about seeing you bathe all those years ago..."

"You dare bring that up again!" Nalan Ziyun’s eyes blazed with fire.

"Ahem, I just wanted to say that it really wasn’t on purpose. I, Shen Lang, always take responsibility for my actions. If I had intentionally spied on you, why would I bother denying it?" Shen Lang said helplessly.

"I know," Nalan Ziyun said, slowly circling Shen Lang.

Shen Lang froze, his face darkening. "If you knew it wasn’t on purpose, why have you been hunting me for so many years?"

"You think it matters whether it was intentional or not when a man sees a woman’s body?"

"..." Shen Lang was speechless.

"Hey, what kind of Elixir Pills were you refining earlier? I could smell the extraordinary fragrance from so far away. It was incredibly refreshing..." Nalan Ziyun’s gaze fell upon the Jade Bottle in Shen Lang’s hand.

Shen Lang had already placed all twelve Elixir Pills into the Jade Bottle.

"Withered Wood Revives Spring Pills. They’re refined from Nine Immortals Lingzhi, Agate Horn, and Thousand-leaf Dew. What about it?" Shen Lang said, rolling his eyes.

"What! You used Nine Immortals Lingzhi to refine Withered Wood Revives Spring Pills? Are you serious? You prodigal son..." Nalan Ziyun was so distressed she was practically stamping her feet.

"Something like Nine Immortals Lingzhi should be used to refine Profound Celestial Clear Spirit Pills! Those can massively increase one’s Cultivation and even help break through to the Xuanwu Realm from the Peak of Spirit Martial Realm. Their effects are simply heaven-defying! And you used it to make Withered Wood Revives Spring Pills, which are mainly for healing? Even for Profound Level Fifth Grade Withered Wood Revives Spring Pills, the two are as different as clouds and mud..."

Nalan Ziyun didn’t continue, because Shen Lang was holding a crystal-clear Withered Wood Revives Spring Pill between his fingers and offering it to her.

"Twelve Elixir Pills in total. Eight Profound Celestial Clear Spirit Pills and four Withered Wood Revives Spring Pills—did you really take me for a fool? Here, eat it. With this pill’s help, your hand will be as good as new in a few days."

As he spoke, Shen Lang popped one of the Withered Wood Revives Spring Pills into his own mouth, sat down cross-legged, and began to circulate the medicinal power, cultivating to heal his injuries.

"..."

Nalan Ziyun subconsciously took the Withered Wood Revives Spring Pill. Her full, red lips parted several times, but not a single word came out.

’So... that little bastard refined Withered Wood Revives Spring Pills because of my injury... And he hadn’t even had time to heal himself yet...’

Stealing a quick glance at Shen Lang, Nalan Ziyun said no more. She also put the Elixir Pill in her mouth and sat down cross-legged.

Now that the Elixir Pills were refined, Shen Lang was finally anxious to begin healing his injuries.

’Too much has happened. I need to recover from my injuries as soon as possible and then head to the Sorrow Swamp.’

’Life Energy has the unique effect of Purification of Essence and Marrow. The longer it stays in my meridians, the greater the benefits. Although I get one drop every month, using it for every minor injury seems like overkill—too wasteful. It’s better to use the medicinal power of the Withered Wood Revives Spring Pill combined with the Nine Revolutions of Life and Death Mysterious Technique to heal.’

Thinking this, Shen Lang immediately began to circulate the Nine Revolutions of Life and Death Mysterious Technique, activating the medicinal power of the pill he had just ingested.

RUMBLE!

Shen Lang suddenly felt a roar in his ears as boundless heat burst from the Withered Wood Revives Spring Pill inside him, flooding through his body like a torrential river! The momentum was staggering!

’This Nine Immortals Lingzhi really is top-grade! The Immortal Spirit Qi it contains is actually this immense! With the medicinal power of a single Withered Wood Revives Spring Pill, I could probably recover from even more severe injuries in a short amount of time.’

Shen Lang cried out in his mind, feeling as if a moving Melting Furnace had suddenly appeared inside him. Roiling flames blazed within, continuously searing and refining his meridians, skin, flesh, muscles, bones, and even the Spiritual Power in his body!

His previously weak aura suddenly erupted with powerful Spiritual Power.

In the blink of an eye, his skin turned as crimson as a cooked shrimp, with what looked like flames swimming just beneath the surface!

Inside his body, the Withered Wood Revives Spring Pill had barely traveled far before it dissolved from a pill into a liquid, then completely transformed into a surge of energy that rushed toward his injured meridians.

The meridians, which had already been partially repaired by the Life Energy, immediately became even more vibrant and full of life.

Wherever this medicinal power passed, his meridians swelled and his Spiritual Power surged. Everything felt brand new.

And his wounds began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye!

After the immense medicinal power had run through several circulations in his body, Shen Lang took a few ragged breaths. His mouth and lips were dry, and he felt dehydrated.

This process repeated many times. After more than two hours, Shen Lang finally stopped, breathing heavily.

Once his injuries were about seventy to eighty percent healed, the vast medicinal power from the Withered Wood Revives Spring Pill had been completely absorbed by Shen Lang.

It truly was an item that an expert like Ye Xiao Zheng, at the Spirit Martial Realm Late Stage, would scheme to obtain. After Shen Lang absorbed the massive amount of medicinal power, the bottlenecks at the ends of his Spirit Martial Realm Second Heaven meridians broke open one by one, almost without him even having to cultivate to break through. It was as if everything had just fallen into place.

The meridians injured by Yuwen Huaji’s Blood Handprint had also healed completely.

The sinister energy from the Blood Handprint was also completely dispelled by Shen Lang, using the medicinal power of the Withered Wood Revives Spring Pill in conjunction with his Thunder Power.

It had, however, taken a great deal of effort to purge it completely.

If Shen Lang hadn’t practiced the Thunder Control Divine Technique and lacked such surging Thunder Power in his body, he probably couldn’t have completely expelled the strange energy of the Blood Handprint even if he had taken another Withered Wood Revives Spring Pill.

’This Blood Handprint is truly formidable. That old bastard was clearly seriously injured, yet a single palm strike of his snapped several of my meridians as if they were dry weeds and sealed the rest. He nearly crippled me. If it weren’t for the Thunder Power coursing through my body, that energy would have remained in my meridians and caused me even greater trouble.’

’Hmph! If it weren’t for this Blood Handprint, I wouldn’t have had such a hard fight when Nalan Ziyun rushed out earlier. Yuwen Huaji, that old geezer... I’ll be sure to remember this palm strike!’

Shen Lang opened his eyes, circled his right palm in the air, and lightly struck out to his left.

A blood-red handprint flashed and vanished, instantly dispersing the dense fog to his left.

"The Blood Handprint! You little bastard, how do you know the Imperial Dragon Sect’s Blood Handprint?"

Across from him, Nalan Ziyun heard the commotion, opened her eyes, and cried out in astonishment.

Shen Lang gave a wry smile and didn’t answer her. Instead, he clenched his hand into a fist and examined it with a frown.

He was starting to believe what the War Emperor had said more and more.

The War Emperor claimed to be a part of Shen Lang’s soul, split in two as an attempt at a brand-new method of cultivation.

The War Emperor’s cultivation method was also incredibly unique. His self-created technique, "Five Emperors Dragon Fist," was just a rough draft, a general direction, and was far from complete.

He didn’t have any other presentable Great Emperor Level Techniques either.

He was gathering the strengths of countless schools to research a completely new path of Martial Arts!

It was only because of the thousands of Cultivation Techniques in the War Emperor’s memory, and after seeing the seed that resembled an embryonic world within the Tai Chi Diagram, that Shen Lang was able to have an epiphany and create the Nine Revolutions of Life and Death Mysterious Technique himself.

And, as it happened, the Nine Revolutions of Life and Death Mysterious Technique perfectly followed the great path of Martial Arts that the War Emperor had spoken of!

It was as if the War Emperor collected countless Cultivation Techniques, then Shen Lang fused them together, and finally, triggered by the Tai Chi Diagram, he naturally created the "Nine Revolutions of Life and Death Mysterious Technique"!

From the very beginning until now, everything had seemed like a coincidence, a matter of chance.

But looking at it now, it all seemed so natural, even inevitable.

Although the Nine Revolutions of Life and Death Mysterious Technique was still in its initial exploratory stage, with the War Emperor’s countless techniques and thousands of years of comprehension experience as its foundation, the current Shen Lang could deduce the majority of any technique that wasn’t overly complex in a short amount of time, just by seeing it once!

Whether it was the Blood Handprint or the Eight Desolates Divine Palm used by the Shen Family disciples, they were all simply about circulating Spiritual Power through a specific route, much like a Spirit Array Map, and then erupting at a single point.

All great paths lead to the same destination. Shen Lang had countless techniques in his mind that were far stronger and more formidable than the Blood Handprint. How could a mere Blood Handprint possibly trouble him?

However, the "Blood Handprint" he had just executed was not very powerful yet; it probably couldn’t fully compare to the Imperial Dragon Sect’s version.

"Hehehe..."

Shen Lang chuckled, quite pleased with himself.

He wasn’t happy because he had deduced the Blood Handprint. While it was a relatively powerful Palm Technique in the Imperial Dragon Sect, it still wasn’t worthy of his attention.

What made Shen Lang happy was that ever since creating the Nine Revolutions of Life and Death Mysterious Technique, no matter what Palm Technique or Cultivation Technique he saw, the technique in his mind would automatically operate, studying and deducing about seventy to eighty percent of it in the shortest possible time!

Although the Nine Revolutions of Life and Death Mysterious Technique was still in its basic stages and hadn’t shown any other powerful or astonishing aspects besides the Netherworld Demon Tribulation...

...based on this ability alone, even the ultimate Secret Skills of the Four Directions Great Emperors might not necessarily be superior to it!

With such a heaven-defying technique in his possession, the fact that Shen Lang wasn’t cackling with maniacal laughter already showed incredible modesty and restraint.

...

Seeing Shen Lang ignore her, Nalan Ziyun grew exasperated and couldn’t help but say, "Hey, what’s wrong with you, muttering to yourself and grinning like an idiot? Did you take the wrong medicine, or forget to take it entirely?"

Shen Lang glanced at Nalan Ziyun and saw that her injuries were also mostly healed. Moreover, she had taken the opportunity to raise her Cultivation to the Qi Martial Realm Ninth Heaven.

It seemed that if he had given her a Profound Celestial Clear Spirit Pill, she might have broken through directly to the Spirit Martial Realm.

"My muttering is none of your damn business. Why don’t you focus on healing instead of being so nosy?" Shen Lang retorted irritably.

Nalan Ziyun’s eyes widened in a glare, but then she just pouted and her tone suddenly softened a great deal. "Does it still hurt?"

Shen Lang froze. ’This woman is so strange,’ he thought. ’Shouldn’t that be my line?’