Strongest War Emperor

When Nalan Ziyun mentioned Shen Lang’s secrets, he couldn’t help but think of Chu Qingcheng.

Shen Lang had seen the almost corporeal Golden Dragon that had emerged from behind Chu Qingcheng when he was killing Yuwen Huaji. At that moment, he had the distinct feeling that the Golden Dragon was Chu Qingcheng’s soul!

It was an incredibly shocking thought.

But back then, his mind was consumed with the single thought of killing Yuwen Huaji, so he hadn’t paid it much mind.

Only after everything had settled down did Shen Lang recall the incident, and the more he thought about it, the less sense it made!

When a Martial Artist’s Cultivation reached the King Martial Realm, their Pill Sea would form a Nascent Soul, which would then completely merge with their soul.

At that stage, the soul could leave the body at will, soaring through the heavens and burrowing into the earth, moving freely as it pleased.

Therefore, the King Martial Realm was also known as the "Ruyi Realm."

A King Martial Realm expert could indeed let their soul leave their body to easily slay certain enemies.

But in truth, the soul—or rather, the Nascent Soul—was extremely fragile at this stage, far from comparable to a Martial Artist’s physical body.

Zuo Wentian, the "Sword Emperor" who once dominated a region as a supreme expert, was a prime example. After losing his physical body and being left with only his soul, his Cultivation was not even a ten-thousandth of what it used to be.

Only Ghost Cultivators from the Thousand Soul Hall, who specialized in cultivating the soul using Ghost Dao Techniques, could make their souls unexpectedly powerful.

Chu Qingcheng was obviously not a Ghost Cultivator. Moreover, his Cultivation hadn’t even surpassed the Xuanwu Realm... a fact Shen Lang, with his Silver Eyes of Truth, could confirm with absolute certainty.

Yet, when that Golden Dragon appeared from Chu Qingcheng, the feeling it gave Shen Lang was that it was truly Chu Qingcheng’s soul—a Dragon Soul imbued with a Dragon’s Might!

’If that Golden Dragon is his soul, doesn’t that mean Chu Qingcheng is of the Dragon Race?’

Even the mysterious Dragon Race relied on their powerful bodies and Talent Abilities; their Dragon Souls were not something that could be easily released.

Not unless one had truly reached the level of a Peak Powerhouse...

All of this was shrouded in mystery and had once left Shen Lang deeply puzzled.

Afterward, Shen Lang had used his Silver Eyes of Truth to examine Chu Qingcheng, only to find that the Golden Dragon within his body had vanished without a trace.

He only discovered that a power so immense it made one tremble was sealed within him...

’This is a power... that doesn’t belong to the Human Realm!’ That was Shen Lang’s first reaction.

As for whether that Golden Dragon was a manifestation of this power, it was hard to say.

The Silver Eyes of Truth were not omnipotent. They were intrinsically linked to Shen Lang’s Divine Sense, and only by strengthening his Divine Sense could he further upgrade them.

At his current level, even with the Silver Eyes of Truth, Shen Lang couldn’t see through the sealed power within Chu Qingcheng, so he had no choice but to give up.

He also dismissed the possibility that the Golden Dragon was merely a manifestation of that power.

If it were just a matter of using Energy to create the illusion of a golden dragon, the current Shen Lang could do that easily. But to make that illusory dragon exude a Dragon’s Might? That was absolutely impossible.

It would have been better not to investigate. Now that he had, Shen Lang only had more questions.

’If that Golden Dragon isn’t a soul, then what is it?’

It was one thing for Shark’s Kiss and Shangguan Feiyue to be clueless.

But for even him, who had inherited the War Emperor’s memories, to not know... that was a little frightening.

It wasn’t a Magical Treasure, nor was it a Martial Soul, yet it truly made people feel a Dragon’s Might!

Based on the strength Chu Qingcheng had previously displayed, he was definitely below the Xuanwu Realm in Cultivation. Yet, he had relied on that Golden Dragon to trap Yuwen Huaji, who was at the Xuanwu Realm Ninth Heaven!

It was simply unbelievable.

The War Emperor was the Master of War God Hall. Not only did he command all the Classics in War God Hall and know the secrets of the world’s myriad races, but he had also traversed almost the entire continent, learning of strange and wondrous things that even the Four Directions Great Emperors would find hard to comprehend.

Yet, within his memories, there was absolutely no mention of anything similar.

But then again, while Chu Qingcheng had his secrets, Shen Lang had plenty of his own.

It seemed a bit much to pry into his own brother’s affairs to get to the bottom of it.

So, although Shen Lang kept it in mind, he never went to ask Chu Qingcheng for an explanation.

Now that Nalan Ziyun had called him out for having many secrets, Shen Lang couldn’t help but think of the secrets that fellow Chu Qingcheng was hiding, and he let out a series of wry smiles...

"Curiosity kills the cat. Prying into other people’s secrets is a truly torturous affair," Shen Lang said, shaking his head.

Aboard the Fiery Demon Wolf, Nalan Ziyun pouted and said, "I don’t get what you men are thinking. You have so many secrets, and even Qingcheng has so many... Look at me, I don’t have a single secret. Isn’t life so much easier?"

"I wouldn’t be so sure. How can a person not have secrets..." Shen Lang said dismissively.

Nalan Ziyun retorted nonchalantly, "Well, I don’t. Tell me, what secrets do I have?"

Shen Lang rolled his eyes.

"Hey, didn’t you say you wanted to rest? Let’s stop at the waterfall up ahead!"

Nalan Ziyun added.

Neither of them noticed that directly above them, an eagle circled twice before suddenly speeding off in the direction they were heading.

A short while later, on the edge of the Ancient Path Cliff over thirty li ahead of Shen Lang and Nalan Ziyun, several rugged boulders suddenly rippled like water.

In an instant, five unremarkable green stones transformed into figures clad in tight black clothes.

All five wore Fierce Beast masks—a wolf, a tiger, a leopard, a bear, and a lion. They were of similar height, their genders indistinguishable. Some had daggers hanging at their waists, while others carried short swords on their backs.

Four of them walked up behind the one wearing the lion mask and looked up at the sky.

"SCREECH!"

A Mang Ying, brown all over with azure eyes, swooped down from the sky and perched on the shoulder of the person in the lion mask.

"CHIRP... CAW..."

The Mang Ying made strange noises, periodically rubbing its head against the person’s black hair.

The person unrolled a scroll and said in a low voice, "The targets are at Gana Waterfall, thirty-five li ahead. They plan to stop there. It seems we’ll have to move up the operation."

Behind him, a black-clad figure in a tiger mask said coldly, "It’s still early. They didn’t proceed to Thunder Cliff as we estimated, foiling our plan to lie in wait for them. Could it be that they’ve already sensed something?"

The leader gently waved his hand. "Impossible. Our Divine Eagle disguised itself as a Mang Ying, the most common type of eagle in the Chuyun Mountain Range, before coming here. There’s no reason they would have noticed. For now, we remain hidden. We will sneak over once night falls. Midnight is when people are most fatigued. We’ll make our move then."

"Hmph. He might be at the Spirit Martial Realm Ninth Heaven, but sending the ’Dark Tower Three Heroes’ after someone like him... isn’t that giving him too much credit?" the man in the tiger mask snorted again.

"Insolent! Is that something you should be saying?" the leader in the lion mask snapped. "Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit. That is the first rule of us Shadow Tower assassins! If you keep mocking targets based on their rank, you won’t even know how you died next time!"

"Yes, I was wrong. Your lesson is well-received, Big Brother!" the man in the tiger mask hurriedly apologized.

The leader snorted, glancing at the scroll. On it, besides a partial map of the Chuyun Mountain Range, were portraits of Shen Lang and Nalan Ziyun.

The portraits were lifelike and incredibly expressive.

’For some reason, I feel like I’ve seen this youth’s gaze somewhere before. It’s unsettlingly calm, as if it can see right through a person’s heart...’ the leader suddenly murmured.

The four behind him were stunned. The one in the tiger mask asked in surprise, "Big Brother, you think you’ve seen that gaze before? I think it looks pretty ordinary... Besides, he’s just a seventeen-year-old boy. No matter how strong he is, there’s a limit. Why worry so much?"

At that moment, the person in the leopard mask spoke up. "Third Brother, if you don’t change that habit of thinking you’re the best in the world, you’ll suffer for it sooner or later! As an assassin, you either don’t make mistakes, or one mistake could mean death! Don’t you understand that yet? It’s precisely because he’s a youth that he’s so terrifying!"

"To have a Cultivation around the Spirit Martial Realm Ninth Heaven at his age... forget the Purple Chu Country, even in the Eighteen Snow Countries, he’d be a dazzling star of a genius! Yet, for someone so shockingly talented, we know so little about him!"

"This person uses a saber, but according to the client’s information, no one has ever seen him draw it. He defeated four disciples from the White Rainbow Sect and several Guard Commanders in Illusion Mist City using only his fists and feet. His movements aren’t fast, but they’re strangely precise, with every strike landing. It’s terrifying. I think the higher-ups sending just the few of us might be underestimating him... Big Brother, I suggest we probe him first. If the first strike fails, we retreat immediately and have them dispatch stronger experts."

Hearing him say something that boosted the enemy’s prestige while deflating their own, the leader, for once, did not get angry.

Instead, he fell silent for a moment before saying, "Second Brother is right. I was thinking the same thing. This youth is strange through and through. The client is pressing us, so we don’t have much time to investigate his identity, his Cultivation Technique, and so on. The arrow is already nocked; it must be fired. We’ll test the waters first!"

"The woman’s Locking Chain has extremely strong Defense Power. Eleven will tie her up for a short while. The four of us will attack in the ’Blood Slaughter’ formation. We must kill him as quickly as possible, so he doesn’t even have time to pull out any Talismans or powerful Magical Treasures!"

"Yes!" the four behind him responded in unison.

The eyelashes of Eleven, who wore a silver wolf mask, trembled slightly. They secretly glanced in Shen Lang and Nalan Ziyun’s direction, their eyes holding a flicker of imperceptible worry.

’Nalan...’

The five figures stepped back and silently transformed back into rocks, blending in with the jumble of stones on the cliff’s edge.

And the Mang Ying immediately spread its wings and soared high, flying back in the direction of Shen Lang and Nalan Ziyun.