Strongest War Emperor

Zhou Feng had gathered a lot of information from Shen Lang’s previous actions, like how he injured Qin Hun and had two powerful Bone Demons.

He also recalled how, before the trial began a while ago, the elusive Dean had personally given an order: they were to wait for Shen Lang’s arrival, or they would rather forfeit the trial.

All of these things, centered on one person, had led Zhou Feng to unconsciously view Shen Lang as a legend.

Seeing how seriously Shen Lang had spoken earlier, with no intention of dodging the issue or being perfunctory, he had already come to believe that Shen Lang could indeed refine a Flying Spiritual Artifact.

Now, seeing that Sun Qing wasn’t taking the bait, he knew it was his turn to step up.

"Have the years completely worn away your drive? Can’t you even compare to a few youngsters? Never mind, Shen Lang. I bet this old codger doesn’t dare to wager. Let’s just forget it..."

Sun Qing was instantly so furious his teeth itched...

"Bet against him! What’s there to be afraid of? What ability could this brat possibly have to refine a Flying Spiritual Artifact!"

"Bet! Win all his money! Make him lose even his pants!"

"That’s right, don’t let him scare you! I refuse to believe he has that kind of ability! Do you think refining a Flying Spiritual Artifact is a walk in the park?!"

"Exactly! If he had that kind of power, everyone at Tayun Academy would have known long ago, right? How come no one’s ever heard of it?"

"Yeah, even Xue Dangdang probably doesn’t know! I get it! This kid is bluffing, trying to force our Vice-Dean to drop the matter!"

From the crowd of Celestial God Academy, these words reached Sun Qing’s ears.

The few elders behind Sun Qing also started to be swayed. A group of instructors had already begun taking out Spirit Stones, wanting to place a bet.

The situation was clear. How could a little brat like Shen Lang possibly refine a Flying Spiritual Artifact?

That being the case, this had to be his scheme to make Celestial God Academy drop their accusations against him.

This was free money for the taking!

"Very well. Since even Zhou Feng has said so, fine! I’ll take that bet!"

Sun Qing agreed, a cold sneer on his lips.

Immediately, the Celestial God Academy side erupted in commotion. Students and instructors swarmed forward, one by one, to place their bets.

In contrast, the Tayun Academy side was a bit desolate. Aside from Wooden Zither putting down a few Spirit Stones as a token gesture, only Zhou Feng and a few other old foxes bet a few things.

Among the students, however, only the few who were closer to Shen Lang participated. The rest stood back with wry smiles, not making the slightest move.

Sun Qing and the others took this all in, growing even more certain. Their faces bloomed into smiles as they started to taunt the people from Tayun Academy.

They had to taunt them. With this kind of thing, if someone was going to win, someone else had to lose!

If you put down ten million Spirit Stones here, but no sucker comes over to lose to you, you’re just putting on a show for yourself. It’s completely useless.

"You all certainly have a lot of free time. Young and old playing this sort of game here, don’t you think it’s a bit much?" a rather dignified voice called out.

Everyone was startled. They looked up to see a giant Griffin flying toward them, beating its wings.

Atop the Griffin, Mo Liusheng, the Director of Tayun Academy’s Artifact Refining Institute, stood with his hands behind his back, calmly observing the crowd below. Behind him stood two other elderly men who looked slightly younger than him.

"Hehe, Elder Mo, you’re here. This is..."

Zhou Feng, having led this whole affair, felt a bit guilty and could only chuckle foolishly.

The Griffin let out a cry and landed in the open space before the crowd. Mo Liusheng and the other two leaped down lightly.

Mo Liusheng glanced at Zhou Feng and smiled as well. "No, I don’t mean to blame you. What I mean is, how could you not inform me about something like this? Count me in! Someone come organize this. Since we’re doing it, let’s do it professionally."

A few people immediately came out from the Tayun Academy crowd and began to operate things according to the procedures of a Celestial Phoenix City gambling den.

It seemed these fellows were experts at this. With just a little bit of organization, the previous chaotic state returned to normal.

Mo Liusheng suddenly turned to the two men behind him and said, "You two are the supervisors from Jialan Academy responsible for overseeing this trial. I’ll have to trouble you to act as notaries."

The two men looked at each other, then said with a wry laugh, "Alright. This is the first time we’ve ever done something like this. Your two academies are truly marvelous; anything can happen."

Mo Liusheng looked at Shen Lang with a mischievous grin, placed a Sumeru Ring directly onto the stone slab on the ground, and said leisurely, "Since we’re playing, let’s have some fun. Let’s play for bigger stakes. I bet on Shen Lang to win. Inside are fifty thousand Low Grade Spirit Stones, three Fourth Grade Spiritual Artifacts, eight Third Grade Spiritual Artifacts, fifteen Second Grade Spiritual Artifacts, one 600-year-old Rare Demon Hibiscus Flower, one 700-year-old Fiery Immortal Lotus, a piece of 5,000-year-old Refined Gold, twenty Returning Evil Pills, a Qianyuan Creation Golden Pill..."

As if no one else was around, he listed the names of the items in the Sumeru Ring one by one, stunning everyone present.

Even Shen Lang laughed out loud. ’This old guy is really ruthless. He’s put up his entire fortune. If I lose, he’ll probably have to jump in a river.’

Mo Liusheng ignored the stares of the crowd and said casually, "Elder Sun, I’ve put up so much. You’re the leader of Celestial God Academy, after all. Now it’s your turn. To be honest, I don’t have any confidence in Shen Lang at all, but even if we lose to you, we have to lose with a bit of style, right? We have to lose magnanimously. No matter what, Shen Lang is from my Tayun Academy. If I don’t back him, who will? If I’m going to lose, I’m going to lose happily!"

Sun Qing rolled his eyes. ’Damn it, has this old ghost gone insane? How can he be so crazy? Losing happily? What a load of crap! If you lost this much, you’d be thanking your ancestors if you only coughed up three liters of blood!’

Seeing Sun Qing roll his eyes, Mo Liusheng sneered and said, "You old geezers are experts at suppressing your juniors, but when a real issue comes up, you shrink back like turtles..."

He then changed his tone. "How about this? I’ll say something fair. If you still insist that Shen Lang cheated, then you and I will have an honorable bet. If you win, we’ll have no choice but to tuck our tails and run. If you don’t bet, it means you’re all talk, just shouting to save some face. In that case, let the trial continue, let them have a group brawl... ahem, let them have a friendly spar. No matter how you choose, you have more to gain than we do, so what the hell are you hesitating for? As for you jumping around like a monkey, don’t worry, I won’t let my Tayun Academy students spread the word."

"Hmph, you don’t have to provoke me. I am not one to shy away from trouble! Telling me this kid can refine a Flying Spiritual Artifact? You could beat me to death, and I still wouldn’t believe it!"

Sun Qing snorted coldly and also took out a Sumeru Ring.

It wasn’t that he was provoked; he was genuinely captivated by the items inside Mo Liusheng’s ring.

’If I could get my hands on those things...’

With such a golden opportunity and almost zero risk, if he didn’t even dare to try, he would have lived all these years for nothing!

When Sun Qing listed all the items in his Sumeru Ring, the crowds from both academies erupted once more.

The items in Sun Qing’s Sumeru Ring were in no way inferior to Mo Liusheng’s!

With the participation of these two old men, the affair had become even crazier.

The atmosphere of the entire area finally reached a boiling point.

When the old fox Zhou Feng saw this, he pulled a student aside, gave some instructions, and, just like Mo Liusheng, took out his own hidden treasures.

With their leaders acting this way, if the people of Tayun Academy continued to be timid, they would become a laughingstock.

Besides, it wasn’t as if there was no chance of winning, right?

Back when Shen Lang challenged Shen Jianfeng, didn’t everyone think it was impossible?

But in the end, didn’t Shen Lang win unexpectedly?

Maybe this guy could create a miracle after all!

A group of people rushed forward, heroically taking out all their possessions to bet on Shen Lang to win.

’If we lose, we lose. But Tayun Academy can’t lose its momentum!’

The people of the two academies were filled with animosity, and the flames of battle began to burn fiercely!

When everyone had finished and all eyes in the field turned to Shen Lang, the crowd almost fainted from anger.

He was actually on the ground, poking at ants with a dry blade of grass!

It was as if this huge commotion had nothing to do with him at all!

Xue Dangdang was even sitting across from him, watching him tease the ants with unrestrained glee, as if she were watching something incredibly interesting.

Sensing the change in the surrounding atmosphere, Xue Dangdang looked up and saw that everyone was staring at Shen Lang as if he were a monster.

Suppressing a laugh, she gently touched Shen Lang’s arm with her delicate hand and said, "Brother Lang, it’s your turn."

"Oh, it’s my turn? Sigh, what a pain. I thought you all had forgotten about me."

Shen Lang put on a reluctant expression and walked into the center of the crowd.

The people from Celestial God Academy sneered at him, just waiting to see him make a fool of himself and win big at the same time.

The people from Tayun Academy also watched him, their faces full of anticipation, hoping he could create a miracle, even though that hope was incredibly slim.

’But at least try to make *something*. Just don’t lose too embarrassingly.’ This was what most of the people from Tayun Academy were thinking.

Shen Lang sighed, took out a pile of wood and some metal sheets, and tossed them into the center. "Inspect the materials. Don’t come crying to me later saying I used a trick or cheated."

On the Celestial God Academy side, Sun Qing gave a signal, and an instructor-like figure immediately stepped forward and began to meticulously inspect the materials Shen Lang had produced.

After a short while, a look of delight appeared in his eyes as he said, "It’s just ordinary Yellow Tong Wood and a few relatively light Silver Plates. To try and create a Flying Spiritual Artifact with this stuff... even a Profound Level Artifact Refining Master couldn’t do it. This doesn’t look like Artifact Refining at all; it’s more like child’s play..."

"Wait!"

Suddenly, a clear, cold voice rang out, and Nalan Ziyun walked back.

She gave Shen Lang a deep look, then turned to face the group from Celestial God Academy and said, "I’ll say this one last time: take back your bets, cancel this wager, and have all our students hand over two-thirds of their gains from the trial to Tayun Academy. Dean, I, Nalan Ziyun, am from Celestial God Academy. The academy has nurtured me for so many years; you should know that I would never betray it. Everything I am doing is for the good of Celestial God Academy."

"That’s enough, Ziyan. Things have already reached this point. You may step down," Sun Qing said, waving his hand with a grim face.

He whipped his head around. "Shen Lang, you challenged us to a bet, and I’ve accepted. The stakes have been laid. Isn’t it about time you made your move?"