Strongest War Emperor

Gao Jingtian was striking and imposing, his presence and aura far surpassing the other two men.

The Lone Wolf Mercenary Corps was, after all, a power only slightly inferior to Illusion Mist City’s three great mercenary corps. Just by sitting there, Gao Jingtian’s imposing momentum was on full display, overshadowing the other two.

Ye Zhenhai, the leader of Langya Mountain, was a rather sleazy-looking, middle-aged man. He was shifty-eyed, his gaze darting about as if constantly scheming.

He hesitated for a moment before speaking. "We’re all in the same boat now, so let’s be blunt. Our foundations have been destroyed, and rebuilding will be next to impossible. Other powers will definitely take this opportunity to move against us. Just maintaining a foothold in Illusion Mist City has become a problem! I, Ye Zhenhai, absolutely cannot stomach this. If we don’t kill Shen Lang, I won’t be able to eat or sleep in peace!"

Fang Mingxu, the thuggish leader of Lianyun Stronghold, snorted. "I can’t let this go any more than you can. The problem is, the City Lord said that even *he* can’t afford to provoke that kid. If we act recklessly, I’m afraid we’ll bring disaster upon ourselves!"

Ye Zhenhai sneered. "What, are you scared?"

Fang Mingxu shot him a cold glare. "Scared? I’ve lived this long without ever knowing the meaning of the word! We’ve all spent our lives dancing on the edge of a blade, fighting and clawing our way to build what little we had. You think I’m afraid of some mere boy? But being afraid is one thing; being cautious is another. If I were truly scared, I wouldn’t be here discussing this with you two!"

His lip twitched as he continued, "Lianyun Stronghold was the foundation I built with my own blood and sweat, and now it’s been wiped clean. The hatred I feel for that brat is no less than either of yours! Kill him? From the moment it happened until now, that’s been the only thought on my mind!"

"The question is, *how* do we kill him? Never mind the City Lord keeping an eye on us. The kid himself is young but has terrifying cultivation. He can fly through the sky and burrow into the earth, and he has those two formidable centipede-like Bone Demons... He can even use a powerful Cultivation Technique that, according to legend, only King Martial Realm experts can use to control the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. That attack in the air before—whether it was his own cultivation or a powerful Magical Treasure—the three of us together couldn’t have withstood it. So how do we kill him?"

Ye Zhenhai was rendered speechless. Sullenly, he cast a pleading look at Gao Jingtian.

Gao Jingtian spoke with simmering hatred, "We absolutely must kill him. The only question is how. I, for one, refuse to believe the City Lord’s claim that even he can’t afford to provoke that kid! My work with the Mercenary Corps demands caution, so even if I haven’t met them, I’ve heard a thing or two about the younger generation from all the nearby Sects. The Profound Dao Sect, the White Rainbow Sect, the Holy Light Sect, the Mahayana Sect, the Xiu Hua Sect... be it the Righteous Dao, Evil Dao, or Demon Dao, I have never heard of a powerful expert or family with the surname Shen!"

"Even if he does have some background, I’d wager it’s from somewhere far, far away—perhaps not even from the Purple Chu Country. So we don’t need to worry about that. Since we’re going to do this, we have to do it cleanly. We can’t let the City Lord trace it back to us, and more importantly, we can’t let whatever power is behind him find out we were involved!"

"Then..." Fang Mingxu and Ye Zhenhai’s spirits lifted.

"Have you heard of the Shadow Tower?" Gao Jingtian asked ominously.

Ye Zhenhai shivered. "You mean that incredibly mysterious assassin organization? Leader Gao, do you have a way to contact them? It’s said that no one targeted by the Shadow Tower ever survives! If we can really get them to make a move, this is sure to succeed!"

Fang Mingxu also nodded. "I’ve heard of this powerful organization as well. But that kid instantly defeated several Spirit Martial Realm Eighth Heaven masters above the City Lord’s Mansion. If we want to hire the Shadow Tower, we’d probably have to ask them to dispatch an expert at the Xuanwu Realm or higher. The price for that won’t be cheap."

"Price?" Gao Jingtian sneered. "We’ve already fallen this far; are we still in a position to worry about the price? A whole group of our best men are now trapped in Qingfeng Stronghold. My Vice Leader and your seconds-in-command are in a miserable state. If we abandon them, it will surely break our brothers’ hearts! If we don’t kill Shen Lang, how can our three factions ever show our faces in Illusion Mist City again?"

Before Fang Mingxu or Ye Zhenhai could reply, Gao Jingtian added, "Besides the Shadow Tower, I have another plan. It just depends on whether you’re willing to pay the price."

"Another one? Leader Gao, please, tell us! As long as we can kill that bastard Shen Lang, I’m willing to pay any price!" Ye Zhenhai roared.

Fang Mingxu chimed in, "As long as it’s within a range I can accept, I won’t pass up any good opportunity to kill Shen Lang either."

Gao Jingtian nodded. "I have a relative who is a disciple of the Holy Light Sect. He once told me that within the Holy Light Sect, there is a Demon Beast that has taken human form..."

"Transformation! A Demon Beast with a King Martial Realm Cultivation? Brother Gao, you can’t be serious. Even if our three factions pooled all our assets, we couldn’t possibly afford something that would catch the eye of a King Martial Realm expert!" Ye Zhenhai said, his face twisting into a bitter expression.

Gao Jingtian, annoyed at being interrupted, said irritably, "Of course it’s not a Demon Beast that achieved Transformation naturally. If it had, it would truly be a King Martial Realm expert. How could we possibly afford to hire someone like that? The one I’m talking about is a Demon Beast that took human form by consuming the legendary Transformation Pill. I’ve also heard it’s a flying Demon Beast, and its true strength is between the Xuanwu Realm Third and Fourth Heaven—incredibly powerful."

"After its Transformation, this Demon Beast often takes on missions for hire. As long as we can persuade it to act, it will definitely be able to hunt down and kill Shen Lang in the Chuyun Mountain Range!"

He glanced at Ye Zhenhai and Fang Mingxu, his eyes gleaming as he asked, "So, tell me, which option do you think is best?"

Fang Mingxu mulled it over for a moment. "Personally, I lean toward the Shadow Tower. The organization has an excellent reputation and would never leak information about their clients. Besides, if they accept the mission, they’ll send an even stronger expert the second time if the first attempt fails. It’s both reliable and safe. As for the Demon Beast, while powerful, it might be difficult to control... If word gets out that we hired it, there will be no place left for us in Illusion Mist City."

Ye Zhenhai’s eyes darted back and forth. "Why don’t we prepare for both? Leader Gao, you can contact your relative in the Holy Light Sect first and have him get ready. If there’s a problem with the Shadow Tower, or if they fail, we can immediately send word for him to hire that expert. The Celestial Profound Mountain Range is just past the Chuyun Mountain Range, and the Holy Light Sect is located there. He’ll have more than enough time to get here."

"What do you think, Leader Fang?" Gao Jingtian asked.

Fang Mingxu frowned, then nodded slowly. "Agreed. Preparing for both is the best course of action. As long as we can slaughter that kid!"

SLAM!

Gao Jingtian slammed his palm on the table before them. "Good! That’s the plan. I’ll go contact the Shadow Tower myself right now and negotiate the price!"

「Three days later.」

「Dusk.」

Shen Lang and Nalan Ziyun were walking along a forest path in the Chuyun Mountain Range.

Riding atop the Fiery Demon Wolf, Nalan Ziyun glanced back with a smile. "Are you tired?"

Shen Lang rolled his eyes. "You try racing a Fiery Demon Wolf while carrying over ten thousand pounds and see if you get tired."

"Well, would you like to ride the Fiery Demon Wolf with me?" Nalan Ziyun asked with a charming smile.

Shen Lang wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. "If the Fiery Demon Wolf could handle my weight, I’d be willing to give it a try."

"Shameless! I knew you’d say that! It seems you’d accept an invitation like this from any woman, wouldn’t you? All I had to do was test you a little and your true colors came out!" Nalan Ziyun’s eyes went wide as she scolded him.

"..." Shen Lang was speechless. ’Women are truly baffling creatures.’

"I told you two legs can’t outrun four, but you insisted on walking every step of the way! At this pace, when are we ever going to get out of the Chuyun Mountain Range? This godforsaken place is crawling with Demon Beasts. Gold-Eating Rats and Bloodline Ants are coming out in endless swarms—I’m so tired of fighting them my arms have gone soft! And there are even evil spirits causing trouble in broad daylight. It’s bizarre to the extreme, and you’re still here enjoying the scenery?"

Shen Lang looked up. The terrain ahead was gentle, with ancient trees reaching for the sky, strange rocks standing tall, and waterfalls cascading into flowing springs. The scenery was exceptionally beautiful.

"I’ve been running with the Fiery Demon Wolf for hours today. I’ve reached my limit. Let’s rest at that waterfall up ahead and set off again first thing in the morning," Shen Lang said, pointing to a small waterfall to their right.

Nalan Ziyun rolled her eyes again and grumbled, "If I didn’t know you were carrying that Blue Cobalt Copper, I’d really think you were just here for a scenic tour... You don’t look like you’re in a hurry at all! You’re moving at such a leisurely pace. We’ve already killed countless Demon Beasts along the way, and we haven’t even covered a tenth of the Chuyun Mountain Range, yet you’re asking to rest again?"

With some effort, Shen Lang quickened his pace and walked up beside the Fiery Demon Wolf. "Going to the Profound Dao Sect is for the sake of cultivation, but this is also cultivation. Whether it’s using the Blue Cobalt Copper to stimulate my body’s potential or fighting Demon Beasts to my absolute limit, it’s all a form of cultivation."

"Pushing my body to its limit and repeatedly depleting my Pill Sea is extremely beneficial for future cultivation. By training with the Blue Cobalt Copper, not only am I constantly stimulating my body’s potential, but because the weight has slowed me down so much, if I can learn to control my strength and bring my movements back up to my normal level, my power and speed will both increase dramatically."

"Furthermore, mastering one’s strength to the finest degree, to the point of absolute precision—that is what true experts pursue. A genuine expert can condense their power into a needle, destroying an enemy with pinpoint accuracy without letting a single iota of energy dissipate. Those who create great storms and astonishing spectacles with a single palm strike are nothing but fools."

Nalan Ziyun nodded thoughtfully, a flash of heartache in her eyes.

Shen Lang continued, "I once witnessed an expert who, with just a casual palm strike—nothing more than a small, unremarkable Hand Seal—shattered the internal organs of a mountain-sized Barbaric Ancient Beast of immense strength, causing it to vomit blood and die..."

Nalan Ziyun was taken aback. "You’ve seen an expert like that? Where? You’ve never even left Celestial Phoenix City, have you? You’re definitely hiding something from me!"

"Tsk! Who doesn’t have secrets? Not everyone can just go around telling theirs, can they? During the fight against Yuwen Huaji the other day, didn’t Old Chu suddenly display power that even experts at the Fourth or Fifth Heaven of the Xuanwu Realm couldn’t match? He has plenty of his own secrets. I just think that’s normal, so I never went to ask him about it."

"Actually, don’t assume I know everything. That day, when a Golden Dragon appeared behind Old Chu and seized Yuwen Huaji, I couldn’t figure out what it was. In any case, it couldn’t have been a Martial Soul... That guy’s got just as many secrets as I do."

"Sometimes, not revealing a secret is actually for the good of those around you... But I am quite curious about Old Chu. Maybe I’ll ask him about it next time I get the chance."

As he said this, a peculiar look appeared in Shen Lang’s eyes.