Strongest War Emperor

It was unclear if Xu Qing had just gotten lucky or what.

After receiving word that Shen Lang was at the Celestial Phoenix Tavern, he had gathered a group of Xu Family experts and stormed over, looking for blood.

Now that he had Shen Lang cornered in the Celestial Phoenix Tavern, he was getting a little carried away.

’Finally, I can get my revenge! This time, I have to properly torture the person who made me a household name across the entire academy. I’ll toss this loser into a cesspit and then call a huge crowd to spectate!’

Nowadays at Tayun Academy, anyone who recognized him would pinch their nose at the sight of him, as if he still hadn’t properly washed after falling into that latrine.

His whole life had been changed by that incident...

It started as a comedy, turned into a tragedy, and then devolved from a tragedy into a joke.

It was all thanks to Shen Lang. Now, the mere thought of Shen Lang was enough to make Xu Qing fly into a rage.

"I bet you didn’t expect me to corner you so quickly, did you? I heard you were putting on quite a show just now, giving a lot of people a hard time? Heh heh, we’ll just have to see how tough you really are. Let’s see if you can even last two rounds against a Qi Martial Realm Fifth Heaven expert from my Xu Family!" Xu Qing was gloating internally.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted two old men and couldn’t help but falter for a second.

’Who are these two old men? They look kind of familiar.’

But he didn’t give them a second thought, immediately putting all his focus back on Shen Lang.

’What kind of standing could a couple of old men meeting with a loser like Shen Lang possibly have?’

Meanwhile, the ignored Sima Yan was completely floored. ’What is happening right now...’

Tayun Academy held a supreme status in Celestial Phoenix City. Sima Yan himself was not only a Spirit Level Fourth Grade Alchemist but also the Dean of the Alchemy Institute. To put it bluntly, he was the kind of person who could make the entire city quake with a stomp of his foot. Even a personage like the Celestial Phoenix City Lord, Ye Xiao Zheng, would have to knock politely before entering.

In the past several decades, not a single person had ever done what Xu Qing just did: kick the door in!

And not only did the boy kick the door in, but he’d also stormed inside, raising a ruckus and acting as if Sima Yan wasn’t even worth acknowledging.

"Are all the young people these days so impudent and wild...?" Sima Yan stared, mouth agape, for a long while before it finally sank in. The door to the private room had, in fact, been kicked open... and the culprit was this young punk leading the group.

He glanced over at Mo Liusheng, only to be stunned yet again.

Mo Liusheng had turned away, and his face was now the color of a ripe plum. What had happened to the dignified bearing of the Artifact Refining Institute’s Dean?

He looked exactly like an old man who’d been robbed of everything but his underwear—a raging, half-crazed mess of shame and fury.

"So, speak up, Shen Lang. How many days do you want to soak in the cesspit? We can negotiate the number of days, you know. It all depends on your attitude. If you give me three loud kowtows, I can let you out two days sooner," Xu Qing said, assuming Shen Lang was too scared to speak.

"Three days sounds good," Shen Lang replied with a smile.

Xu Qing froze, not understanding why the guy had answered so quickly.

And if he was agreeing to soak for three days, why did he look so happy about it?

"I can arrange for you to go soak for three days. You can rest assured," Shen Lang explained when he saw the other boy just staring blankly.

"You son of a bitch, still running your mouth?" With a wave of Xu Qing’s hand, the family experts outside rushed in. A chorus of ringing steel filled the air as seven or eight weapons were drawn and aimed at Shen Lang.

But before Xu Qing could even deliver his prepared lines, the seven or eight experts he had gone to such lengths to requisition from his family suddenly threw their weapons to the floor. With looks of sheer panic, they rushed forward. Some faced Mo Liusheng, others Sima Yan, and they all bowed deeply, saying in unison, "Greetings, Teacher! We await your punishment!"

It turned out that every single one of them had been students of these two old men!

This wasn’t all that surprising. There were precious few elite scions from the major powers in Celestial Phoenix City who hadn’t studied under these two at some point.

The professions of Artifact Refiner and Alchemist were held in such high esteem. What power wouldn’t dream of having one or two of them in their family?

Even for disciples who lacked the talent, their families would move heaven and earth, giving gifts and pulling strings, just to squeeze a few of them into the academy.

As long as one could study under these two for a few years to gild their resume, even a turd could come out looking dapper and well-dressed—transformed into an extraordinary... turd.

SLAP! Mo Liusheng slammed his palm down on the table, sending a spray of wine splashing toward the dumbfounded Sima Yan.

Luckily, though the old man was an Alchemist, his Martial Arts Cultivation was also extremely formidable. He was one of the few Late Stage Spirit Martial Realm masters in Celestial Phoenix City.

With a mere flicker of his Divine Thought, a suit of Spiritual Armor materialized and blocked the wine completely. Otherwise, he would have been utterly disgraced.

"Do you sons of bitches even recognize me as your teacher anymore? You only graduated a few years ago, and you’re already this high and mighty? You dare draw swords and sabers in my presence now?!" Mo Liusheng practically jumped up like a monkey, pointing at the men and screaming in their faces.

"Do you have any idea what you’re doing? You’re courting death! You are digging your own graves!" Mo Liusheng’s mustache twitched with fury as he cursed and rolled up his sleeves.

Sima Yan listened in astonishment. In his experience, Elder Mo wasn’t usually this irascible.

In the past, when faced with such a situation, even if he were angry, he would have simply slapped the intruders and sent them all flying out the door.

The Iron Guards from Tayun Academy would naturally have shown up later to handle the cleanup.

He certainly wouldn’t have gotten red in the face, spewing profanities and screaming like a fishwife.

’Besides,’ Sima Yan thought, ’it’s not like the situation has escalated to the point of ’digging their own graves’...’

"Apologize! Apologize to him this instant! If you don’t, I will personally cripple every single one of you!" Mo Liusheng ground out, his teeth clenched.

His crazed demeanor even startled Sima Fenghen, who stared in shock before retreating behind Sima Yan.

Sima Yan’s eyes were as wide as saucers. ’Has this old fiend completely lost his mind?’

’You’re telling these people to apologize, but shouldn’t it be to me? Why are you pointing at Shen Lang? I’m sitting right here, dammit!’

"Young Master Shen Lang, we apologize! We never should have pointed our swords at you and disturbed your meal..."

"Our apologies, Young Master Lang! We shouldn’t have listened to Xu Qing’s provocations and come here to trouble you!"

"We are so sorry..."

The seven or eight Martial Artists gave Shen Lang three deep bows, slapping their own faces as they apologized. When they were finished, they stood off to the side in a neat row, heads lowered, awaiting Mo Liusheng’s decision.

Their gazes, however, were full of confusion. It was obvious they still hadn’t figured out what was going on.

’We definitely offended Mo Liusheng and Sima Yan,’ they thought. ’That much is certain. But what does any of this have to do with Shen Lang? Isn’t he a good-for-nothing? What relationship could a loser like him have with these two great teachers?’

Xu Qing was also completely dumbstruck, his brain frozen.

After a long moment, he looked toward Sima Yan, hoping to decipher something from the old man’s expression.

As for Sima Yan, he observed the scene and, meeting the gazes of Xu Qing and his men, offered a Mona Lisa-like smile, as if he understood everything perfectly and had the situation completely under control.

’Hah! Can’t figure it out, can you?’

’That’s right, you can’t figure it out.’

’Because I don’t understand either...’

’But the difference is, I can choose not to think about it. You lot aren’t so lucky. When Elder Mo gets truly angry, he could flip over half of Celestial Phoenix City. I haven’t seen him this enraged in years. It’s as if someone just ran off with his daughter...’

Frowning slightly at the noisy scene, Shen Lang said, "I’m in a hurry to get home, so I won’t disturb you all any further. Brother Mo, please take care of this."

The moment he spoke, everyone except Mo Liusheng froze solid.

’Isn’t that Shen Lang, the loser from the Shen Family? When did he become so arrogant?’

’Does he not realize he’s standing in front of Sima Yan, the Dean of the Alchemy Institute, and Mo Liusheng, the Dean of the Artifact Refining Institute—two of the three titans of Tayun Academy?’

’Two of the three titans are here, and he’s showing them zero respect, trying to leave whenever he feels like it?’

’Wait a minute, did he just call Mo Liusheng "Brother Mo"? That’s just... unbelievable...’

Mo Liusheng was startled to hear he was leaving and immediately grabbed his arm. "Wait! Brother Lang, don’t you go! If anyone’s leaving, it’s these scoundrels!"

"’Brother Lang’?" The crowd was stunned once more.

Mo Liusheng spun around and practically roared, "Get out! All of you, get the hell out! And you, Xu Qing—tell your father to come see me at Tayun Academy tomorrow! If he can’t give me a proper explanation, then from now on, no one from the Xu Family will ever step foot in Tayun Academy again!"

THUMP! Xu Qing collapsed bonelessly to the floor. The threat had scared him stupid. If the Xu Family was truly banned from Tayun Academy, then even as the Patriarch’s son, he would surely be strangled to death by his own kinsmen.

The Martial Artists who had come with him muttered endless apologies as they dragged Xu Qing out of the room. At last, the private room was quiet.

It was silent. A very strange, unnerving silence.

Sima Fenghen’s ample chest rose and fell, her beautiful, wide eyes darting back and forth between Mo Liusheng and Shen Lang, full of questions.

Her father, Sima Yan, was far more composed. Ever the wily old fox, he maintained his Mona Lisa smile, looking as if he had everything figured out—when in truth, he had even more questions than his daughter.

Shen Lang remained silent, a slightly awkward expression on his face. With Mo Liusheng gripping his arm, he could neither leave nor sit.

The old man was clutching his arm for dear life and refused to let go.

That was one thing, but the real issue was that Mo Liusheng, while gripping his arm, was also gazing at him with a "tender and affectionate" smile...

Only someone with Shen Lang’s mental fortitude could withstand it. Anyone else would have buckled under the pressure.

"Alright, it was just a minor interruption. Let’s all sit and talk," Sima Yan said calmly, taking a sip of wine. "Elder Mo, what’s going on here? You seem to know Shen Lang quite well."

"Hahahaha! Know him? Of course, I know him! He’s the one I was rushing to find! I thought he had already returned to the Shen Family, but I never expected to find him here with you. It must be fate! Haha!" Mo Liusheng pulled Shen Lang down into a seat and roared with laughter.

Sima Yan paused, then asked with a hint of uncertainty, "Are you saying... the person you were chasing is Shen Lang? And the ’honored guest’ you mentioned... is also Shen Lang?"

This was getting ridiculous. Sima Yan had assumed some great power had arrived in Celestial Phoenix City and that Mo Liusheng had, by some dumb luck, stumbled upon them. He never imagined it would be someone so young.

And he certainly never imagined it would be Shen Lang, the most infamous loser at Tayun Academy!

Mo Liusheng’s old eyes shone with a brilliant light as he nodded emphatically. "Correct. It’s him. Who else could it be?"

"Shen Lang, you know Artifact Refining?" Sima Yan asked, still skeptical.

Shen Lang smiled modestly. "Just a little."

"..." Sima Yan wasn’t just not getting it; he was getting more confused. The kid had been quite arrogant earlier, so when he said "just a little," he probably meant it literally. But the problem was, if he only knew "just a little," he could never be the "honored guest" Mo Liusheng spoke of. He wouldn’t even be qualified to sit at the same table with them!

"Oh ho ho, not bad for a young man. Not bad at all," Sima Yan said with a chuckle, while shooting a venomous glare at Mo Liusheng.

He was inwardly furious at the old coot for being so deliberately mysterious and still not getting to the point.

’Who the hell do you think I am? Are you trying to play riddles with me?’

"Pfft!" Standing behind her father, Sima Fenghen scoffed. "You dare claim you know Artifact Refining in front of Uncle Mo? And ’just a little’? Who do you think you are?"