Strongest War Emperor

"Tell me everything you know, or no one will be able to protect you!"

Just as Xue Hongluan’s expression changed abruptly and her powerful momentum sent Shen Lang stumbling back, his qi and blood in turmoil...

A figure appeared out of thin air in front of Shen Lang. Master of Chaos placed his palms together, his expression solemn. "Amitabha. Benefactor, why must you be so angry? We can talk things out. My senior brother cannot withstand your rage."

"Auntie, what are you doing? How did Brother Lang offend you?" Xue Dangdang clung tightly to Xue Hongluan’s arm, refusing to let go, whether she could actually stop her or not.

A sharp glint flashed in Xue Hongluan’s eyes. A blush crept onto her face, and even her breathing seemed to grow a little ragged.

How could she not be shocked that a mere boy had just revealed a secret the Dark Gold Level Influence, the Xue Family, had kept for thousands of years?

Moreover, very few people knew about this matter... 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Elsewhere, the people of Celestial Phoenix City, who had just thought they could breathe a sigh of relief, were once again gripped by desperate fear.

’What in the world is Shen Lang thinking...? Beating up Drunken Thousand Cups in the Shen Family’s residence was frightening enough. Then, right under Yuwen Huaji’s nose, he acted like he absolutely had to kill Xu Daolin, which led to him being hunted down by Yuwen Huaji, an expert at the Peak of Xuanwu Realm Ninth Heaven...’

’Yuwen Huaji finally croaked, but then he had to pick a fight with Xue Jingyuan, who claimed he could command the Three Sect Ancestors!’

’Alright, so Xue Jingyuan was defeated and retreated, coughing up blood. Surely he would stop now, right?’

’But no, he has to go and lecture an Emperor Martial Realm expert!’

’If he really pisses her off, Celestial Phoenix City could be reduced to ruins in an instant...’

Could something that made an Emperor Martial Realm expert like Xue Hongluan’s expression change so drastically be a trivial matter? Obviously, it was anything but!

The expressions on the faces of the surrounding people were complicated, and their hearts were in their throats.

A small city like Celestial Phoenix City wouldn’t see many powerful experts visit in ten, or even eight, years. And now, suddenly, there were so many of them.

That was one thing, but now an Emperor Martial Realm expert was on the verge of a rampage!

If Shen Lang gave the wrong answer, the entirety of Celestial Phoenix City could be turned to rubble in the blink of an eye!

’Shen Lang, please, please don’t do anything reckless...’ many people prayed in their hearts, terrified to the extreme.

As everyone watched with complicated gazes, Shen Lang pushed Master of Chaos aside and walked straight forward again!

"You ask how I know? Of course I know! I even know that the little girl who cried in the snow wearing a green gauze dress is named Xue Shiyin!"

Shen Lang declared proudly, "Don’t think you’re so great just because you have Emperor Martial Realm Cultivation. This world is vast, and there are countless people who could crush you with a single finger! You come here acting all arrogant—who do you think you are! If I wasn’t giving you face because you’re Dingdang’s aunt, do you think I’d be speaking to you this politely?"

...

Everyone was dumbfounded, cold sweat dripping down their backs.

’Holy shit, you’re pointing your finger at an Emperor Martial Realm expert and saying things like that, and you call it polite?!’

’Don’t you know that talking like that could get you pinched to death in minutes?’

’The person standing in front of you is an Emperor Martial Realm expert, don’t you get it?’

’If you piss her off, she could flatten all of Celestial Phoenix City with a single slap! What then?!’

The people from the major powers of Celestial Phoenix City were frantic, but absolutely no one dared to step forward.

It was a joke. Even a figure like Shangguan Feiyue, the Elder Ancestor of the Imperial Dragon Sect, didn’t dare to speak. What right did they have?

It wasn’t just them who were shocked. Behind Shen Lang, the ever-smiling Master of Chaos’s eyes nearly popped out of his head, and he subconsciously wiped away beads of cold sweat.

’This senior brother really won’t rest until he says something utterly shocking. The little girl, Xue Shiyin? She’s one of the few remaining Elder Ancestors of the Xue Family, okay? But then again, this arrogant attitude of his is actually pretty cool!’

’By the way, what exactly is senior brother talking about? It seems to be a huge deal, or Xue Hongluan wouldn’t have lost her composure like that. Goodness gracious, every time I, a humble monk, go out, I run into all sorts of strange things... I hope Xue Hongluan doesn’t fly off the handle. I won’t be able to stop her if she does. Amitabha, merciful Buddha...’

Master of Chaos was astonished, but Xue Hongluan was clearly even more so.

However, despite her astonishment, her expression strangely improved a great deal.

She was no longer as aggressive as before, and the suffocating momentum she exuded vanished without a trace, replaced by calm.

What Shen Lang had said pertained to a crisis the Xue Family had faced years ago.

The Xue Family had obtained an Exotic Treasure, which attracted the covetous eyes of Demon Path Powerhouses, and they were nearly wiped out.

At that time, the War Emperor, who was traveling the continent, happened to arrive in the Western Wilderness Snow Domain. He witnessed what was happening, intervened, and killed those Demon Path Powerhouses, allowing the Ancient Noble Family, with its legacy of over ten thousand years, to survive.

Even the records within the Xue Family’s Secret Realm were vague on this matter, and the outside world never knew what had really happened to them.

To this day, the people of the Xue Family still didn’t know the name or identity of the person who had helped them... much less did they guess that their savior was none other than the War Emperor, the Master of War God Hall.

As for the events of that year, if Xue Hongluan hadn’t become a candidate for the next Patriarch, she would have had no right to know about any of it.

’This is unbelievable! He even brought up matters concerning the Elder Ancestor! Besides the core members of the Xue Family, the only other person who could possibly know about this is that peerless expert who crushed a Demon Venerable with his Emperor’s Will and then obliterated him into dust with a single palm strike!’

’To have searched high and low for something, only to find it when I least expected it... To think I would meet someone connected to that great figure here!’

At this thought, Xue Hongluan’s anger and shock completely dissipated, replaced by pure ecstasy!

’I thought it was strange before. The Emperor’s Will isn’t like other Realms; it’s not something one can comprehend through a simple lucky chance. So this boy is actually connected to that peerless expert from all those years ago! He might even be his successor. Otherwise, how could he have so easily used the Emperor’s Will to shatter Jingyuan’s Death Realm? No, I must return at once and report this to the Elder Ancestor!’

At that moment, under Xue Hongluan’s gaze, Shen Lang walked forward step by step, his expression terrifyingly calm.

"I used your Xue Family as an example only to make a point: this world isn’t just about the strong and the weak; it’s also about good and evil, black and white! The weak also have the right to survive. The weak are not playthings in the hands of the strong. The weak are not to be killed at a whim!"

"I’m no Saint, nor do I want to be one, but I know good from evil, I see black and white, and I understand right from wrong! As I see it, with several Great Emperors and Emperors guarding the four corners of the continent and the War God Hall at its center, an orderly Martial Arts World has long been established. In this world, you could say the strong are respected, but it is not the dog-eat-dog world you describe!"

"The Xue Family was so powerful back then, so why was it nearly annihilated? In your view, if survival of the fittest is the law of the jungle, then would the Xue Family have deserved it if they had been destroyed? Because they were weaker than their enemy, did they deserve to die in vain? If someone hadn’t intervened, the Xue Family would have been wiped from existence long ago. Do you think you’d still be standing here talking?"

Shen Lang advanced as he spoke, and after just two sentences, he stood directly before Xue Hongluan.

In that instant, the Emperor’s Will manifested around him once more, pushing back against Xue Hongluan’s momentum. Even though she had restrained her aura, the pressure naturally emitted by an Emperor Martial Realm expert was still far too powerful.

"If good and evil go unrequited, then the universe itself must be biased!"

Shen Lang’s voice wasn’t loud, but his words boomed like thunder in everyone’s hearts.

He gazed calmly at the inexplicably shaken Xue Hongluan and added, "Even if I am just an ant in the eyes of you powerful experts, even an ant has the right to fight back!"

"Because you believe survival of the fittest is the rule of this world, ants can be trampled at will? Because you believe ants have no rights, they can be slaughtered as you please? Do I strive so hard in my Cultivation just to rise from an ant to a so-called expert who tramples on other ants? What a joke!"

"With your esteemed status as an Emperor Martial Realm expert and the backing of the Xue Family, you ordered several elders not to interfere... If I didn’t have a few trump cards, and if Master of Chaos and Elder Shark’s Kiss hadn’t intervened in the end, I would be deader than dead right now! Hmph. Scheming against a junior who is nothing but an ant in your eyes—does that give you a sense of accomplishment?"

"In your eyes, my Cultivation is weaker than Yuwen Huaji’s, so I deserve to die?"

"Then if one day I become stronger than you, if I were to cut you down with a single slash, would you also think it’s perfectly natural and not have the slightest complaint?"

"The fight between Xue Jingyuan and me was unfair from the start, but I still accepted the challenge. He lost to me because his skills were inferior! In front of so many people, for you to attack me with your Emperor Martial Realm Cultivation—aren’t you ashamed? Aren’t you bringing shame to the Xue Family?"

"When Drunken Thousand Cups was radiating killing intent and wanted to kill my whole family, when Nalan died in front of me... I understood. I live and strive to become stronger not to bully the weak or for wealth and glory, nor is it to vie for supremacy and command the continent! I just want to escape the grip of fate and protect the people around me. It’s that simple!"

The entire area fell silent. Everyone stared, dumbfounded, at the scene unfolding before them.

So domineering, so wild... a relentless verbal assault...

’Is that any way to speak to an Emperor Martial Realm expert? It’s over, it’s over. He’s finished, and Celestial Phoenix City is finished too...’

A sense of despair subconsciously welled up in the hearts of the people of Celestial Phoenix City.

And yet, though his words seemed arrogant and ignorant, no one found them funny. Instead, they weighed heavily on everyone’s hearts.

When a strong person crushes a weak one, the vast majority of people consider it normal.

Just as they believed it would be normal for Xue Hongluan to destroy Celestial Phoenix City in a fit of anger.

They were merely afraid, merely worried, but they didn’t think for a second that if Xue Hongluan really did destroy Celestial Phoenix City, she would be in the wrong.

In the depths of their hearts, most of them accepted the principle of survival of the fittest.

If a powerful expert killed a weaker person and destroyed Celestial Phoenix City, they would only feel fear and pray for their own safety.

But many would still believe that Xue Hongluan had the right to do so.

This mentality wasn’t unique to Celestial Phoenix City or even the Purple Chu Country; countless people across the continent thought the same way.

But Shen Lang’s words were like a bomb that had just detonated in their hearts...

The only thing people couldn’t accept was, what was the use of being right?

Would a powerful expert bother to reason with you?

Would a powerful expert let you go just because they thought you were right?

’Besides, you’ve already said all that while practically pointing at her nose. If I were that expert, I’d have flattened you with a single slap!’

"Shen Lang always plans before he acts. It was just like with the Yuwen Huaji incident. He had already sensed the presence of a Buddhist Sect expert at Shuangta Temple even before he fled. That’s why he charged over there right after severely wounding Xu Daolin. If the Xue Family hadn’t interfered, his plan would have been flawless!"

"So, let’s hope he has the confidence and the trump cards to dare speak to that great lady like this. Otherwise, we’re all done for."

The people of Celestial Phoenix City wanted to cry but had no tears left...