Strongest War Emperor

Zheng Donghong’s eyes darkened, and he shouted hysterically, "He stole most of my Spirit Stones on the road and killed my servant, Little San! I must get revenge for this, but I’m going to kill him with my own strength!"

He took two quick steps, crouched down, and slapped Feng Xiaoyao across the face. "You bastard," he cursed, "you better remember this! Once my cultivation is strong enough, I will definitely kill you!"

With his back to him, Shen Lang said without turning around, "I don’t exactly agree with what you’re doing, but I respect your choice. Leave this place."

As he spoke, Shen Lang cast a cold glance over the group of people sprawled on the ground at the valley entrance.

It wasn’t an attack aimed at any specific individual; the power was still difficult to control. The shockwave from his fist had instantly killed the few people closest to the blow.

As for the others—including the few disciples from the Profound Dao Sect and that group of archers—he had attacked them using the Thunder Control Divine Technique, so his control over the force was more precise. They were all only heavily injured, with no fatalities.

But even if they weren’t dead, they were in for a long recovery. It would be impossible for them to get out of bed for three to five months.

Shen Lang released his Divine Thought, enveloping all of them.

"Blocking the road to rob and extort some Spirit Stones is one thing, but to even set up an ambush with archers... If you want to kill people, then you must be prepared to be killed."

"I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll spare your lives. Just pray you don’t run into me the next time you try something like this..."

Shen Lang’s cold voice echoed in their minds. The half-dead men immediately felt a chill creep into their hearts. They wanted to speak, but blood was still pouring from their mouths.

Shen Lang and Zheng Donghong blended into the crowd and moved forward with everyone else, soon arriving before the mysterious gateway of the Profound Dao Sect.

On either side of the gateway stood a peak, like a pillar supporting the heavens. They soared to unimaginable heights, standing majestically as if rising from the earth to touch the sky, like great hands holding up the sun. The sight was breathtaking.

Above the mountains’ halfway point, colorful clouds and mist swirled, and not even birds could cross.

Between the two peaks lay a misty and bottomless canyon, as if someone had cleaved it open with a single swing of a giant sword.

Outside the gateway lay a spotless, bluestone-paved plaza several thousand meters in area.

The plaza was already bustling with people, old and young alike. Most were children around six or seven, but there were also many teenage boys and girls of fifteen or sixteen.

These children were generally accompanied by adult guardians.

Flanking the gateway stood two lines of Profound Dao Sect disciples in gray, close-fitting attire, longswords strapped to their backs. Each one had a piercing gaze, and just by standing there casually, they exuded a powerful and sharp aura.

Beyond the plaza stretched a vast, unending sea of trees. In the distance, peculiar peaks jutted into the sky, part of a sprawling mountain range, their verdant, steep slopes shrouded in clouds and mist.

Shen Lang took a deep breath and felt utterly refreshed. It was as if every pore on his body had opened up to greedily absorb the abundant Spiritual Qi in the air.

’The territories of Major Sects really are on another level,’ Shen Lang thought. ’I haven’t even entered the mountains yet, and the Spiritual Qi is already this abundant.’

’This aura... it feels so familiar, like something I’ve missed for a long time. In the memories sealed by that fellow, the War Emperor, how much is actually left about the Profound Dao Sect? I get the feeling he sealed away many things about the Guangxu Profound Dao Sect. It’s like he was protesting his innocence a little too loudly, which only makes it more suspicious.’

’At its peak, the Profound Dao Sect was a Secret Silver Level power. Even so, in the eyes of the experts from the War God Hall, it was apparently nothing special. For the War Emperor to have placed an Elemental Power Fragment here... it definitely reeks of a conspiracy.’

’Even if he is me and I am him, being manipulated like this is still pretty damn annoying.’

Shen Lang surveyed his surroundings as these thoughts ran through his mind.

CLAP! CLAP!

The sound of two claps rang out, and Shen Lang’s gaze followed the noise.

On a stone platform at the edge of the plaza, near a set of stone steps, stood a young man in a white robe.

Seeing that everyone had fallen silent, the young man revealed a satisfied expression. "Our Sect’s triennial disciple recruitment assessment begins today," he announced. "It will be conducted in batches, and you are the third batch."

"Those who have escorted their family’s children here may go no further. Aspirants seeking to join the Sect will shortly enter through this gateway. Follow the signs along the path until you reach the platform at the foot of Heaven-Reaching Peak, where you will participate in the aptitude test and assessment. The entire assessment will end in seven hours. Anyone who fails to reach the platform within six hours will be disqualified."

"Once you enter this gateway, the use of any aids such as Divine Movement Talismans or Spirit Beasts is forbidden. Anyone discovered using them will be immediately disqualified and expelled. Those of you feeling lucky are welcome to try. Everyone, maintain silence and do not cause a disturbance."

The young Martial Artist’s voice wasn’t loud, yet the thousands of people in the vast plaza heard him with perfect clarity, as if he were speaking right beside their ears. This caused many of the children to gaze at him with admiration and longing.

The path of Martial Arts is a journey to explore the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, and it is fraught with countless trials. If a person could not even make it from here to the platform at the foot of Heaven-Reaching Peak, then no matter how talented they were, it would be difficult for them to continue walking this path.

Without any hesitation, at a signal from the young Martial Artist, everyone surged toward the stone steps.

Once everyone was inside, a loud rumbling echoed from within the gateway. A massive Stone Gate, tens of meters thick, slowly slid out from the right side, completely sealing the entrance after a few moments.

Many of the people left outside had never witnessed such a spectacle and clicked their tongues in amazement.

...

On Heaven-Reaching Peak, the place the young Martial Artist had mentioned, ancient trees reached for the sky, and verdant bamboo groves provided deep shade. The mountain cliffs were steep, and powerful rivers surged below.

Countless grand halls, pavilions, and towers had been built here.

At that moment, in a pavilion perched on the edge of a clifftop, a man and a woman were engrossed in a game of chess.

On either side of them stood several disciples, both male and female. Among them, surprisingly, were Zi Lan and Mo Ge, whom Shen Lang had met in Celestial Phoenix City.

As for the two chess players, the woman in the palace-style gown was none other than Leng Hui, the one who had spoken up for Shen Lang at the Treasure Pavilion.

Zi Lan and another female disciple stood behind Leng Hui, while Mo Ge stood behind the man with a young woman of about eighteen or nineteen, looking like a perfectly matched pair.

Leng Hui wore a loose, gold-and-purple brocade robe that exuded an undeniable air of nobility. Her fine brows were slightly furrowed as she studied the chessboard, looking troubled.

The middle-aged man sitting opposite her had strong, chiseled features and eyes as deep as the sea. He carried a transcendent, otherworldly air, and his sweeping gaze held great authority.

Just then, a figure appeared among the distant mountains, flying rapidly toward the pavilion with a pair of wings that blazed like fire.

"Fine, I concede," Leng Hui said, shaking her head repeatedly. "Senior Brother, do you invite me to play chess just to make me suffer? You should find someone else next time. It’s hardly fair for you to always pick on me."

The middle-aged man chuckled in amusement. "Junior Sister, your temperament really isn’t suited for chess. Your state of mind is too easily disturbed by your surroundings... hmm?"

Before he could finish, the middle-aged man’s gaze shifted to the area outside the pavilion.

A scorching aura washed over them as the man with flame-like wings landed just outside the pavilion.

He was tall and imposing, clad in silver Soft Armor. Combined with the fiery wings on his back, he cut a majestic and extraordinary figure.

"Today is the day the Sect opens its gates to recruit disciples, and your Luoyan Peak is in charge," the middle-aged man said, a hint of confusion in his eyes. "As the master of Luoyan Peak, why have you rushed here?"

The newcomer was none other than the master of Luoyan Peak, Zhang Tianyue.

Zhang Tianyue took two steps forward, his brow deeply furrowed. "Sect Leader," he said in a grave tone, "this year’s recruitment is unlike those of the past, so I dispatched disciples from Luoyan Peak to guard all the checkpoints. I even deployed several times the usual number of informants within Celestial Palace City, but something still went wrong at Yunxi Valley."

The man sitting opposite Leng Hui was indeed the Sect Leader of the Profound Dao Sect, Su Wenxuan.

Su Wenxuan’s expression remained unchanged. "For you to come all this way yourself, the trouble must be considerable," he said. "Tell me what happened."

Zhang Tianyue nodded. "This is what happened. A group of individuals with decent cultivation teamed up to block the entrance to Yunxi Valley. They bribed our disciples with Spirit Stones and began extorting them from the aspirants who arrived later, making a fortune."

"Yunxi Valley is the only way to reach the Profound Dao Sect. The disciples I put in charge there were hand-picked, so of course I wouldn’t let a bunch of scoundrels disrupt our recruitment. If exceptionally talented people were blocked outside our gates by them, wouldn’t our recruitment become a laughingstock? However, I gave it some thought and decided it would make for a good test—at least we could see how these aspirants would deal with such adversity..."

"So I had those disciples accept the Spirit Stones and pretend to be bribed, allowing the situation to continue. But then, something unexpected happened!"

The expressions of everyone in the pavilion shifted. Zhang Tianyue continued, "When a conflict broke out between the extortionists and the aspirants trying to pass, a thick smoke suddenly filled the air, obscuring the entire valley. Someone tried to use the opportunity to force their way through the pass."

Hearing this, Leng Hui chuckled softly. "If I were in a situation where I was outnumbered and outmatched, I might have used a similar tactic. That seems perfectly normal. Did something else happen?"

A look of utter shock crossed Zhang Tianyue’s face. "The ’something else’ happened when the smoke rose and blotted out the sky. Someone attacked. With a single punch, they heavily injured more than ten people at the valley entrance! And among them were two Martial Artists at the Spirit Martial Realm Second Heaven!"

"One punch!" Leng Hui’s smile vanished, replaced by astonishment. "There’s someone that powerful among the aspirants?"

"That’s not all," Zhang Tianyue said with a wry smile, shaking his head. "After that punch was thrown, lightning raged across the sky. The dozen or so archers positioned behind the valley entrance, along with the few Luoyan Peak disciples stationed above, were all severely injured! And the disciples I sent—all four of them have a cultivation at the Spirit Martial Realm Fifth Heaven!"

"A Thunder Element Technique that severely injured four disciples at Spirit Martial Realm Fifth Heaven?" A sharp light flashed in Su Wenxuan’s eyes. "The vast majority of our Profound Dao Sect disciples practice the Thunder Control Divine Technique. Their internal Thunder Power is far stronger than that of Martial Artists of the same tier from other sects, and they continuously undergo Thunder Power Body Forging. To instantly injure four of our Spirit Martial Realm Fifth Heaven disciples, one’s cultivation would have to be at least at the Xuanwu Realm, and their mastery of their Thunder Element Technique would have to be on par with ours!"

"I’m ashamed to admit it," Leng Hui said with a bitter smile, "but even I couldn’t do that. It seems these are truly troubled times. A Xuanwu Realm expert hiding their cultivation to join our Sect? What could their goal possibly be?"

Zhang Tianyue hesitated several times, but he finally couldn’t hold it in any longer. "Actually," he said, "that’s not even the main reason I rushed back."

Leng Hui couldn’t help but roll her eyes. "Senior Brother Zhang, can’t you just say everything at once? You’re keeping us in suspense..."

Zhang Tianyue shook his head with a bitter smile. "The disciples who were carried back described the move used in the mist, the one that unleashed all that rampaging Thunder Power... They said it seemed to be the third form of the Thunder Control Divine Technique: Thunder Purgatory!"

"The Thunder Control Divine Technique!"

Everyone was stunned. Even the ever-expressionless Mo Ge turned his head to look.