Strongest War Emperor

Shen Lang said mockingly, "The reason you feel there’s something strange about the Netherworld Wolf King is because it’s not the same Netherworld Wolf King anymore."

"This... I don’t understand," the Ghost King said weakly.

Shen Lang raised an eyebrow and said leisurely, "The soul currently occupying the Netherworld Wolf King’s body is not its original soul."

"This... This..." The Ghost King was startled.

’To be able to seize the body of a Netherworld Wolf King at the Peak of Spirit Martial Realm... a character like that is no simple matter!’

Suddenly, Shen Lang turned his gaze in another direction and asked coolly, "Old Ghost, how much do you know about the altar in that valley on the Tala Prairie, the one that imprisons an Evil Soul?"

The Ghost King pondered for a moment before replying, "I encountered that altar once and barely escaped with heavy injuries. There’s an Array above the altar, and it seems to have sealed the Wolf Soul of an Ancient Howling Moon Celestial Wolf. I don’t know where that Wolf Soul came from, but it once stirred up a storm of blood within a thousand-mile radius, plunging everyone into panic and leaving neither man nor ghost at peace. The Evil Wind Valley sent out a group of experts, but it slaughtered every last one of them... Later, a powerhouse from the Imperial Dragon Sect arrived and, by combining the strength of several people, managed to shatter its soul, sealing the remnant here."

"People from the Imperial Dragon Sect, huh? Then it’s no wonder," Shen Lang said thoughtfully.

For Yuwen Huaji to so brazenly use that Wolf Soul to suppress the Beast Souls of the Tala Prairie, he must have had control over the Array’s Seal. Otherwise, he would never have dared to attempt such a thing.

’That bastard must have done this behind the Imperial Dragon Sect’s back. Collecting Beast Souls is a practice similar to the Demon Dao, and unsealing the soul carries immense risk. The people of the Imperial Dragon Sect would never have agreed to it,’ Shen Lang thought to himself.

’Unfortunately for him, my interference caused him to be heavily wounded by the Dragon Soul. Something must have happened afterward that allowed the Wolf Soul to escape and possess the Netherworld Wolf King’s body. This Wolf Soul is quite bold. As a mere wisp of a remnant soul, instead of fleeing far away, it actually took up residence in the Netherworld Wolf King and is now following Yuwen Huaji around!’

Shen Lang stared silently in the direction of the Array, a little surprised himself by the Wolf Soul’s actions.

Seeing Shen Lang’s silence, the Ghost King spoke again, "Boss, that sickly weakling was trying to frame you and even threatened to wipe out your entire clan. Why didn’t you just go down and kill him? With the Cultivation of those few brats, they couldn’t have escaped even with the Netherworld Wolf King present."

Shen Lang shook his head. "It’s not that simple. The Netherworld Wolf King would never allow us to kill those guys. As things stand, we don’t have the confidence to retreat unscathed from a fight with it. Besides, I can’t be sure if that old geezer who was chasing me near the Array is still around. If we alerted him, you probably wouldn’t be able to escape at your current speed."

"What? That Netherworld Wolf King... no way! Boss, you just said it’s not the original one, and then you asked me about the Array. Don’t tell me the one inside the Netherworld Wolf King’s body now is..." The Ghost King finally understood and cried out in alarm.

"Naturally," Shen Lang chuckled lightly.

The Ghost King’s voice was hoarse as he asked, "Then who is this old geezer you mentioned? Speed is my greatest strength. Right now, my speed should be comparable to a human Martial Artist at the Xuanwu Realm Fourth Heaven. If I go all out, even an expert at the Xuanwu Realm Fifth Heaven might not be able to catch me. Don’t tell me that guy’s Cultivation is..."

"That old geezer is the master of these people. His Cultivation Realm is the Peak of Xuanwu Realm, a Half-Step King Martial Realm," Shen Lang said with a faint smile. "This Netherworld Wolf King is what that old geezer accidentally released from the Array when he broke the Seal. It bears a grudge against him, so its motives for following these people are sinister. If we killed them, its identity would likely be exposed, so it would never allow us to do so."

"A Half-Step King Martial Realm, the Howling Moon Celestial Wolf Soul..."

The Ghost King thought he could be of some help to Shen Lang, but he never expected this guy to be so ridiculously audacious. First, he ran into the Ancient Wolf Soul in the Array, and then he provoked a Half-Step King Martial Realm expert. He was left completely speechless.

Fortunately, he had been inside the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron at the time and knew nothing of Li Su or the Chaos Divine Body. Otherwise, he would have been in for another huge shock.

Shen Lang said nonchalantly, "This is fine. It just makes things more interesting. He dares to scheme against me? Then I’ll have some fun playing along with that bastard Xu Daolin! I couldn’t care less about the Shen Family, but he’s talking about a Shen Family that includes my parents and my sister. Hmph. For now, I’ll just foil this first little conspiracy of his. I’ll settle the score with him later!"

"The Netherworld Wolf King said something about going down to kill everyone below. If we go down, won’t we get into a conflict with it?" the Ghost King asked, a bit apprehensive.

Shen Lang shook his head. "Since the Netherworld Wolf King is no longer the original, it’s not necessarily my enemy. It already saw through my hiding spot earlier but didn’t expose me. It deliberately revealed its aura and then left, which can be considered a favor. By now, it’s long gone."

As he spoke, with a thought, Shen Lang moved like a ghost along the cliff face, slowly descending into the deep valley below.

...

On the small island in the middle of the lake below, the six members of the Evil Wind Valley were hiding within a Chaotic Stone Array, fending off the continuous barrage of Demon-Breaking Arrows from outside.

Among the six were only two young women; the rest were men. At this moment, every one of them had a weak aura and was covered in injuries.

Faced with this situation, only one young man in a white robe could still remain standing. The other five were sitting on the ground, a mixture of grief and indignation on their faces, desperately trying to recover a bit of stamina. However, they were all poisoned. Not only did they fail to recover, but they grew weaker and weaker as black energy spread across their faces.

"Junior Brother, we’ve reached the end of our rope. If you’re still unwilling to take the risk, we’re all going to die here!" a young woman sitting on the ground said sharply.

Her face was stained with blood, but one could still faintly tell that she was an extremely beautiful person, with exceptionally bright eyes.

The white-robed youth standing before them, leaning against a large rock, gave a bitter smile but still shook his head resolutely. "You are my Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters, my family, not my servants... Even if you were servants, I would never let you sacrifice yourselves to cover my escape. If I really did escape, I would live the rest of my life in regret and self-blame, and my Martial Arts Realm would never advance... Senior Sister Luo, please don’t mention this again."

The young woman known as Senior Sister Luo sighed softly, seeming to know it was impossible to persuade him. She simply said no more and closed her eyes again.

The white-robed youth looked up at the sky and muttered, "Besides, the Level of our Flying Spiritual Artifacts isn’t high, and our Spiritual Power is all but depleted. Just activating them would be incredibly difficult. If we try to break through with them, we’ll end up like our junior brothers from before—shot into pincushions by the surrounding Demon-Breaking Arrows. We’d have no chance of escape."

"This small island is now completely surrounded. There are at least twenty-four people from the Holy Light Sect, all of them still at peak condition. Ten of them have Cultivation not much weaker than ours, around the Qi Martial Realm Sixth Heaven. The canyon is enclosed by mountains on all four sides, and the only narrow path has been blocked by them. They’ve even placed a Restriction in the sky, blocking even our Sound Transmission Talismans. We’re completely trapped like turtles in a jar... Heh, to think that I, Yi Hongchen, would die at the hands of the Holy Light Sect! What a fine Holy Light Sect, what a fine Ji Chenhai!"

A hateful light shot from the white-robed youth’s eyes, as if he wanted to pierce through the rocks outside the island and find Ji Chenhai.

He glanced around with a grim expression, then suddenly said, "You’ve all been poisoned and can’t hold on for much longer. Using this Chaotic Stone Array to block the Demon-Breaking Arrows is just delaying the inevitable. I’ll try to provoke Ji Chenhai out, lure him into a one-on-one fight, and then move the battlefield toward the island. You all seize the opportunity to rush out at once and capture him as a hostage. That’s our only chance of survival."

A young man sitting cross-legged on the ground shook his head. "Junior Brother, you’re being too naive. Ji Chenhai is sinister and cunning; he won’t fall for such an easy trap. You saw it yourself. After fighting us for so long, he only showed his face once and has been hiding ever since... He’s trying to stall for time, waiting for the poison to take full effect and completely rob us of our ability to fight before he surrounds and annihilates you, Junior Brother."

"That’s right. This person is vicious and treacherous to the extreme. He clearly has the upper hand and could kill us easily, but he’s afraid we’ll fight to the death. That’s why even now, he’s only attacking with Demon-Breaking Arrows and won’t face us directly. Luring him out will be next to impossible," another woman said, also shaking her head.

Yi Hongchen, however, sighed. "How will we know if we don’t try? I’m at my wit’s end and can’t think of any other way."

He turned towards the outside of the island and called out in a clear voice, "Ji Chenhai, you’ve already won a great victory. Come out and have a chat."

However, no one from the Holy Light Sect outside made a sound. They just tacitly continued to fire Demon-Breaking Arrows, sealing off every possible escape route.

"Ji Chenhai, you’ve forced us into a dead end and are trying to wipe us all out for a Demon Iron Vein. Are you trying to start a war between the Evil Wind Valley and the Holy Light Sect?!"

Yi Hongchen shouted from within the island’s jungle.

This Yi Hongchen was the son of the Evil Wind Valley’s Valley Master. With his dignified bearing and flowing white robes, he was originally a dashing and suave figure.

But at this moment, he was drenched in sweat, his white robe stained with a great deal of blood—whether his own or his companions’, he didn’t know. He looked utterly wretched.

"A war? Of course, it won’t be that easy. Brother Yi, all of you are going to die here. You can’t even send out a Sound Transmission Talisman, so no one from the Evil Wind Valley will ever know about this. This Demon Iron Vein is likely the largest one in the entire Phoenix Mountain Range. Do you really think the lives of a few people like you can compare to it? To be honest, it wouldn’t matter if you were just the son of the Evil Wind Valley’s Valley Master or the Valley Master himself; the result would be the same. If it really comes to war, the Holy Light Sect isn’t afraid of your Evil Wind Valley. What’s the use of all this nonsense now?"

Ji Chenhai’s voice rang out from outside the island, sounding as if he had everything under control.

Yi Hongchen was so angry he could grind his teeth to dust, wishing he could rush out and perish together with that Ji Chenhai.

He suppressed the madness in his heart and sneered, "The Demon Iron Vein is certainly of great value, but I have a feeling that you don’t want to kill me just because of it. I can feel your bone-deep hatred for me... It’s understandable. I am the Young Master of Evil Wind Valley, enjoying endless glory and wealth. But you, Ji Chenhai, you’re the illegitimate son of Elder Yao, the Sect Leader of the Holy Light Sect. You watch us and your brother Yao Chengjie live in the spotlight, while you are ridiculed and neglected, with no money and no status. Even the woman you loved was snatched away by Yao Chengjie..."

"Shut up!"

When Ji Chenhai heard the words "illegitimate son," he flew into a rage. "Yi Hongchen, don’t think I won’t dare to kill you right now! I just want to make you watch your companions die one by one before it’s your turn, to make you experience that kind of fear! If you piss me off, I’ll lead my men over right now and flay you alive... Heh heh, do you really think you alone can stop any of us?"

Yi Hongchen fell silent, his silver teeth grinding with a CRUNCH.

Just then...

"THUD!"

A soft sound echoed on the ground of the Chaotic Stone Array as a small Jade Bottle fell from the sky, landing in front of them.

Inside the Jade Bottle, several Elixir Pills were shimmering with an unusual light...