Strongest War Emperor

After speaking, the man in black took a step forward, his figure slowly melting into the darkness as if he had never been there at all.

After a long moment, the figure in the black cloak tremblingly turned and pulled the dagger from the wall.

A Storage Pouch hung from the dagger, containing exactly what the man in black had mentioned.

An indescribable hatred filled the man’s eyes, and his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

However, besides hatred, his eyes also held a deep-seated fear.

’Hiring the Shadow Tower to deal with that person before could be done in secret, without any worry of retaliation...’

’But now, everything was completely different.’

’The ones delivering the warning now were from the Shadow Tower itself.’

’The people of the Shadow Tower are everywhere, their assassins spread throughout the Eighteen Snow Countries.’

’If I don’t do what they say, I probably won’t live past three days... Fuck!’

The man stood frozen for a moment, then pulled down his black cloak, revealing a grim and sinister face. It was none other than the leader of the Lone Wolf Mercenary Corps, Gao Jingtian!

Gao Jingtian, who had led the Lone Wolf Mercenary Corps to carve out a place for themselves in Illusion Mist City, could be considered quite a figure.

But such a figure never would have expected that the Shadow Tower, an organization that almost never failed at assassinations, would actually return in failure.

But that was one thing. No one could guarantee success on the first try, especially since the target was that little monster, Shen Lang.

But for the Shadow Tower to directly cancel the commission, and even claim that the kid was their ally!

’A teenager, no older than sixteen or seventeen, an ally of an assassin organization that’s been around for many years?’

’Who would believe such a thing if it got out?’

But the Shadow Tower had absolutely no reason to lie to him, Gao Jingtian...

The fear in Gao Jingtian’s eyes grew stronger and stronger, becoming almost impossible to suppress.

Neither the Lone Wolf Mercenary Corps, Langya Mountain, nor Lianyun Stronghold could afford to offend even the City Lord of Illusion Mist City, so how could they possibly dare to offend the mysterious and powerful Shadow Tower?

This was a force that even ordinary Profound Iron Level influences wouldn’t dare to provoke lightly.

"I won’t accept this! I fucking won’t accept this!" Gao Jingtian roared in a low voice, like a caged beast.

A moment later, Gao Jingtian, his eyes bloodshot, suddenly froze. ’Strange, on a night like this... where did such a dense fog come from?’

It turned out the fog had only begun to form when he turned to take the dagger from the wall. In just a few seconds, it had already enveloped the entire ruins...

Shrouded in the fog, Gao Jingtian’s vision was severely reduced. He could no longer clearly see the forest just outside the ruins!

’Something’s wrong!’

Just then, a cold glint flashed in the darkness, and a dagger shimmering with a ghostly light flew straight at Gao Jingtian!

"Who’s there!"

Startled, Gao Jingtian shouted and dodged to the right, slamming into a wall. With a loud crash, he knocked down a low section of it.

No one answered him. From the woods, three more daggers came flying.

"How dare you underestimate me!"

Enraged, Gao Jingtian’s figure flickered. He thrust his palms out, and his entire body was instantly enveloped in a golden shield of light.

The three incoming daggers seemed to hit a golden bubble, sinking into it but unable to advance another inch.

"You think you can show off in front of me with pathetic tricks like this? You can’t even break my Golden Body Gang Qi! You really have a death wish!"

Gao Jingtian snorted. Just as he was about to flick his wrist and repel the daggers, he was horrified to discover that the three blades caught in his protective shield were all flickering with a streak of light!

"Not good! There are Explosive Talismans on the daggers!"

Gao Jingtian’s face fell. Without a second thought, he dove to the side, then executed a clean forward roll into the grass at the edge of the ruins.

BOOM!

The Talismans on the three daggers exploded almost simultaneously. The force was staggering, and the violent shockwave blasted outwards in all directions, instantly catching up to Gao Jingtian, who had already gotten five or six meters away!

As his expression changed drastically, Gao Jingtian spun around and threw a punch straight at the raging shockwave!

His Power was known for its ferocity, and he was at the Spirit Martial Realm Eighth Heaven Cultivation. Though thrown hastily in a moment of crisis, this punch still contained his full strength. His Fist Gang surged, carrying the force of a roaring tiger.

The two energies, one gold and one white, collided. An earth-shattering explosion rang out once more!

Within the ruins, already shrouded in dense fog, thick dust could still be seen spreading from the epicenter of the blast. The few low walls that had still been standing were instantly obliterated!

Amidst the dust and smoke, Gao Jingtian let out a muffled groan as his body was sent flying backward uncontrollably.

The Talismans on those three daggers were of a surprisingly high grade. The explosive energy not only shattered his full-power punch but also dispersed his Protective Gang Qi!

Without even seeing a shadow of his enemy, the great leader of the Lone Wolf Mercenary Corps had already sustained a minor injury and suffered a hidden loss!

However, before Gao Jingtian, still airborne, could even get angry, a warning bell rang in his mind. His extended Divine Thought already sensed a massive energy fluctuation in the air!

’Not good, they have a follow-up move!’

Gao Jingtian looked up. Through the dense fog, he could vaguely make out a huge, trunk-like object crashing down with incredible speed.

"A Giant Wood Talisman!"

Feeling the immense momentum of the giant log, Gao Jingtian shrieked in terror.

Just from its scale, he could tell this Talisman was of a high grade!

Gao Jingtian was still in mid-air with no way to leverage his strength. In a fit of shock and rage, he flipped his wrist and produced a crescent-shaped axe. Gripping the handle with both hands, he swung it violently at the giant log in the sky!

"Even if it’s a Tier Four Talisman, I’ll split it in two! I am a Spirit Martial Realm Eighth Heaven master!"

As Gao Jingtian roared, the axe erupted with a brilliant golden light. A crescent-shaped blade of light formed, about to be unleashed!

At the exact moment Gao Jingtian swung his axe, two daggers shot out silently from the woods through the dense fog.

As the crescent-shaped blade of light met the giant log and the energy exploded, Gao Jingtian subconsciously raised the Giant Axe above his head to block the resulting shockwave.

But he failed to notice two daggers speeding past the back of his head and neck.

This time, without the protection of his Protective Gang Qi, he only felt a slight chill on his neck...

’Not good! The giant log was just a distraction to draw my attention!’

Gao Jingtian’s expression changed drastically. Spiritual Power surged within him as he tried to activate his Protective Gang Qi once more to shield his body.

But it was too late. After streaking past his body, the two daggers made a sharp turn in mid-air and instantly crossed each other!

Then, two masked, black-clad figures leaped out of the woods. Taking two steps in opposite directions, they suddenly yanked hard to the sides!

Two imperceptible threads tightened around Gao Jingtian’s neck and sliced through. A head, its eyes filled with disbelief, tumbled from his shoulders and, with a THUD, landed on the ground at the same time as his body.

But the sound of the fall was practically insignificant compared to the roaring crash of the axe light and the giant log in the air.

The great leader of the Lone Wolf Mercenary Corps, a Spirit Martial Realm Eighth Heaven master, had been so easily decapitated in just a few exchanges...

Only after the energy shockwave from the Giant Wood Talisman dissipated did one of the black-clad figures slowly walk over and pick up the things on the ground.

He even collected the Crescent-Shaped Giant Axe.

Then, the figure extended a palm and made a grasping motion at the air. All the daggers on the ground trembled slightly and were immediately drawn toward him by an unseen force.

"Sigh, why did you have to do this? With our Cultivation, the gap between us and a master of this level is still pretty big. It might have looked easy, but we used up four High Tier Talismans in one go... You’re such a spendthrift."

The light sigh came from the black-clad figure on the right, the one wearing a black bear mask. The voice and mask belonged to Ye Jueqing, who had previously attacked Shen Lang.

The other black-clad figure, wearing a Howling Moon Celestial Wolf Soul Mask, was of course Ye Juexin. Ye Juexin lowered her head and said, "I won’t allow anyone... to harm Ziyan."

Ye Jueqing looked at her sideways and said teasingly, "Is it really for Ziyan?"

"O-Of course it is." A trace of panic flashed in Ye Juexin’s eyes, and she turned her face away.

"I don’t even know what you’re thinking. You actually followed the Shadow Tower’s people for his sake, found the person who made the commission, and then assassinated them. That rascal Shen Lang might be a little handsome and have some personality, and his Cultivation is absurdly strong, but in my eyes, he’s just a little bastard. He plucks the feather from every goose that flies by—back in Celestial Phoenix City, he swiped three of your six strands of Celestial Silkworm Silk and even nearly killed you, and yet you..."

"Sis! What are you talking about..." Ye Juexin stomped her foot.

Ye Jueqing paused. "I don’t know why, but you used to be more of a tomboy than Nalan Ziyun, and now you’re becoming more and more feminine. Is it just my imagination...? Okay, okay, I’ll shut up. Anyway, what’s done is done. I’ll go with you to take care of the others."

...

「The next day.」

The entire Illusion Mist City was in an uproar.

The leaders of the three factions that had previously offended Shen Lang had all been assassinated in a single night.

Gao Jingtian, leader of the Lone Wolf Mercenary Corps, was found dead in the ruins outside Illusion Mist City; his body was the last to be discovered.

Ye Zhenhai, leader of Langya Mountain, died on top of his mistress. The mistress herself wasn’t killed, but she seemed to have been scared out of her wits. Her mind has been unstable ever since, barely able to string two words together.

Fang Mingxu, the head of Lianyun Stronghold, and three of his subordinates were found dead in a forest thirty li outside the stronghold. The surroundings were a complete mess, as if a great battle had taken place.

Two Guards at the Illusion Mist City Lord’s Mansion were found knocked unconscious. A dagger was pinned to the main gate, with a note attached to it.

As for what the note said, besides one Guard Commander, only City Lord An Fengrui knew.

It was said that after City Lord An Fengrui saw the note, he was so furious he was practically fuming and flew into a rage.

He immediately summoned all the masters from the City Lord’s Mansion and even called over the forces of the three major mercenary corps.

Just when everyone thought he was going to hunt for the killers, he instead led this group of masters and, within a single day, wiped out the Lone Wolf Mercenary Corps, Langya Mountain, and Lianyun Stronghold...

The members of these three factions were scattered, captured, or killed.

For a time, Illusion Mist City was thrown into chaos, filled with incessant wails of despair.

The territories of the three factions were carved up by the other major powers within Illusion Mist City. Amidst the bloodshed, the three factions thus became history...

It was only then that a sliver of information leaked from the three major mercenary corps—the deaths of the three leaders, and the annihilation of their factions, were because the three had secretly conspired to hire the Shadow Tower to assassinate Shen Lang!

"They provoked someone they shouldn’t have..."

A young man who had only appeared and stayed in Illusion Mist City for a short while thus became a legend in the city.

But this legend was completely unaware of all this. As Illusion Mist City finally calmed down, he too was very calm.

Except his calm was a little... peculiar.

Because on the surface of the lake in front of him, a Three-headed Flood Dragon was shrieking strangely and churning up monstrous waves. A familiar figure, wielding a Flame Sword, weaved and dodged, locked in a fierce battle with the beast.

"A Three-headed Flood Dragon is an incredibly dangerous Demon Beast, especially in a lake, which is its home turf. For that fatty to go into the lake to fight it, has his brain gone bad?" Nalan Ziyun said via sound transmission.