Strongest War Emperor

"Lang’Er, what’s wrong?" Shen Haotian asked, startled.

His gaze fell upon the chair Shen Lang had crushed... ’That was three-hundred-year-old Red Tong Wood. Before I fell ill, it would have still taken some effort for me to crush it, and I have a Qi Martial Realm Seventh Heaven cultivation. But Shen Lang...’

Moreover, the almost tangible Killing Intent radiating from Shen Lang, though not directed at him, made his chest feel exceptionally tight and was difficult to withstand!

Shen Lang turned away, calmed his heart, and brought his furious killing intent under control. After a long moment, he turned back around and said, "Dad, have you been hiding this from us all these years just to protect this family, to keep us from getting hurt?"

Shen Haotian froze, his expression a little awkward. "Lang’Er, what are you talking about? Hiding something... Why would Dad ever hide anything from you?"

"Dad, black qi is emerging from your body, the space between your eyebrows is green, your eye sockets are filled with Death Qi, and your fingernails are already dark black... You’re not sick at all. You’ve been poisoned—with corpse poison!" Shen Lang said, his face contorted in pain.

"This kind of corpse poison is usually contracted by being wounded by a Demon Corpse, or by being injured by the Demonic Cultivators who refine them... Dad, please tell me everything that happened when you were poisoned... It’s all my fault. I can’t believe it took me until now to recognize it, letting you suffer for so many years!"

"How could you..." Shen Haotian was greatly shocked. He glanced nervously at the door and lowered his voice. "Lang’Er, this corpse poison is no small matter. Don’t say a word about it, and you absolutely must not tell your mother or your sister!"

Shen Lang’s brow furrowed. With a light wave of his right hand, a strong gust of wind slammed the door shut.

Only then did he speak in a low voice, "Dad, I had a fortuitous encounter a while ago, which is why I was just able to see that you have corpse poison, not an illness... Don’t worry, I have a way to completely expel the poison for you."

Understanding dawned on Shen Haotian, and a look of joyous surprise filled his eyes. "Of course. I always knew my son was no ordinary person..."

A sting in his nose, Shen Lang moved to sit behind Shen Haotian, cleverly hiding his expression.

’This corpse poison is incredibly torturous. Every night at Midnight, the victim suffers inhuman agony for at least half an hour. My father has been poisoned for years, enduring this torment for so long. And now that he knows I can cure him, the first thing he’s happy about... isn’t that he’ll no longer have to suffer, but that his son had a fortuitous encounter...’

"Dad, please take off your shirt. Let me see your injuries," Shen Lang said softly.

Shen Haotian grunted in agreement and took off his shirt, revealing skin that had turned a sickly green. It was covered in lumps and bumps, looking at first glance as if scales were growing on it. The sight was difficult to behold.

"They... all deserve to die!" Shen Lang snarled through gritted teeth.

Shen Haotian paused for a moment, then gave a bitter smile. "Lang’Er, I’m truly happy that you’ve had a fortuitous encounter, but we must plan our approach to this matter carefully. Since you recognized that I was poisoned, you must also know I was injured by Demonic Cultivators. Their cultivation is much higher than mine. They had many Demon Corpses, and I even saw a Gu Corpse. They are not people you can afford to provoke right now."

Shen Lang didn’t speak. He pressed his thumbs into several acupoints on his father’s back several times. A dark red Palm Seal, previously faint, began to sharpen and slowly emerge over the back of his heart.

The Palm Seal was enormous, quite unlike that of an ordinary person. At a glance, one might have mistaken it for the palm of a humanoid Demon Beast.

"Don’t worry, Dad. I have my own plans and won’t act rashly," Shen Lang said, his hands moving ceaselessly across Shen Haotian’s back. Surging Spiritual Power poured into the various acupoints before he suddenly struck Shen Haotian’s back with his palm.

"PTUH!" Shen Haotian spat out a mouthful of black blood. Where it landed on the wooden floor, wisps of black smoke instantly rose, a strange and terrifying sight.

"Ah, that feels so much better. Lang’Er, what technique is this? I feel like a mass of something around my heart meridian has been dispersed. It’s an indescribably light and comfortable feeling..."

Shen Lang sighed softly and said, "This technique... I learned it from an ancient book. It can expel most of the potent poison from your body. It’s a good thing your cultivation was so strong back then, Dad, and you used your Spiritual Power to protect your heart meridian. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable. But it’s just been too long... more than three years... I’ll go find a box of golden needles to perform acupuncture on you. In seven days, we should be able to dispel the vast majority of the corpse poison. As for what remains, I’ll find some Spirit Medicine to take care of it."

"Good, good, good... I knew it! Having a son like you is truly my, Shen Haotian’s, greatest blessing! HAHAHA!" Shen Haotian wiped the black blood from the corner of his mouth and began to laugh heartily.

"Dad, tell me about what happened when you were poisoned. You don’t have to worry about me acting rashly. I won’t do anything I’m not confident about," Shen Lang said after a moment of thought.

Shen Haotian froze, his expression turning grave. After a long moment, he said, "It was about three and a half years ago. A Shen Family clansman suddenly went missing while on business in the Phoenix Mountain Range... We thought it was very strange at the time, because he was only in the outer region of the Phoenix Mountain Range. As you know, unless you go deep into the mountains, you’re unlikely to encounter powerful Demon Beasts or other dangers. Just as we were preparing to send out a search party, Xu Jing came to me with a message. He said some of their people had seen the missing Shen Family clansman at Black Wind Ridge, about twenty to thirty miles from Tayun Academy..."

"The Shen Family and the Xu Family are like fire and water. After so many years of fighting, why would they be so kind as to inform the Shen Family? I remember Xu Jing is Xu Daolin’s old man. He’s the most hostile toward the Shen Family, and he especially doesn’t get along with you, Dad..." Shen Lang said, raising an eyebrow.

Shen Haotian gave a bitter laugh. "He didn’t inform the Shen Family, he only secretly informed me. He also hinted that something was happening within the Shen Family, that someone wanted to usurp my authority, and told me to keep this matter secret. At the time, I couldn’t find any other clues. Half-believing, half-doubting, I took two trusted confidants and secretly headed for Black Wind Ridge late that night."

As he spoke of this, a shadow of grief passed over Shen Haotian’s face.

"Later, at Black Wind Ridge, we encountered Demon Corpses. My two clansmen were killed, and I barely managed to escape with my life. But for some reason, those Demon Corpses pursued me relentlessly. In the end, I was intercepted by the most powerful one, a Gu Corpse. It was only then that the person controlling these Demon Corpses finally appeared..."

"The person controlling them?" Shen Lang’s gaze sharpened.

Shen Haotian continued, "It was a person completely hidden inside a black cloak. Since this person was controlling Demon Corpses, I knew at once they were one of the Demonic Cultivators, and I had a very bad feeling... The Demon Corpses were one thing, but that Gu Corpse was simply too powerful. I was no match for it. But the black-cloaked person gave me an even more dangerous feeling. Just making eye contact with them made me break out in a cold sweat, as if I were standing in a pile of countless skeletons..."

"I sensed the black-cloaked person’s aura. I estimated their cultivation was at least at the Spirit Martial Realm, possibly even higher... At that point, I threw caution to the wind. The worst that could happen was death! I, Shen Haotian, am a proud and upright man. Why would I be afraid to die? If I could escape, I would. If I couldn’t, then that was my fate!"

As he said this, Shen Haotian’s voice rose, and an aura of righteous dignity emanated from him involuntarily.

"And then, while you were desperately trying to escape, that black-cloaked person struck you in the back with their palm?" Shen Lang asked as he stood up.

He didn’t ask for the specific details. In truth, at this point, anyone could imagine what a brutal battle his father, with his Qi Martial Realm Seventh Heaven cultivation, must have endured just to survive.

Shen Haotian let out a long sigh and nodded. "Yes. The Gu Corpse’s cultivation was at the Spirit Martial Realm or higher, and it was impervious to all weapons, fire, and water... The black-cloaked person’s cultivation was even higher than the Gu Corpse’s. Even facing just one of them, my chances of survival were slim... Perhaps fate decreed that I shouldn’t die. I ran desperately toward Tayun Academy and was struck by the black-cloaked person’s palm, which sent me falling into the river... It just so happened to be the summer flood season. The Phoenix River was a raging torrent, and the waves quickly swallowed me, giving them no further chance to kill me... Or perhaps, they assumed I couldn’t possibly survive that one palm strike and didn’t bother to pursue me. When I woke up, I found myself snagged on a giant log by the bank of the Phoenix River. Only then did I realize I’d managed to cheat death..."

Seeing Shen Lang’s silence, he added, "Normally, with something like Demon Martial Artists and Demon Corpses appearing outside Celestial Phoenix City, I should have immediately notified Tayun Academy, Celestial God Academy, and the City Lord’s Mansion..."

"But you were worried that the Demon Martial Artists would seek revenge for the slightest offense and threaten Mom, my sister, and me. So you’ve been publicly claiming to be gravely ill all this time," Shen Lang said without turning his head.

Shen Haotian heaved a long sigh and said no more.

He had indeed considered this. Hundreds of Demon Corpses, a Gu Corpse equivalent to a Spirit Martial Realm expert, and finally, a Demon Dao master with a cultivation at the Spirit Martial Realm or higher controlling them all...

He had personally experienced the terror of it all, while his own cultivation was merely at the Qi Martial Realm Seventh Heaven.

Martial Power Realm, Qi Martial Realm, Spirit Martial Realm, Xuanwu Realm... The higher the Cultivation Level, the greater the gap between each stage.

Perhaps a Martial Artist at the Martial Power Realm could defeat a Qi Martial Realm Martial Artist by relying on certain skills or Combat Techniques. But for an expert at the Peak of Qi Martial Realm to defeat a master of the Spirit Martial Realm, the difficulty increased more than tenfold. It would only be possible if they possessed an incredibly powerful Magical Treasure Secret Artifact.

And the entire Shen Family did not have a single master with a cultivation at the Spirit Martial Realm or above.

If that Demon Dao master came attacking with the Demon Corpses, it wouldn’t just be his immediate family; the entire Shen Family could be annihilated beyond recovery.

"I understand... Dad, don’t worry. I’m going out to find a box of golden needles. When I get back, I’ll use Golden Needle Acupuncture to continue expelling the corpse poison. You’ll be fine soon," Shen Lang said, getting up to leave.

Sitting on the bed, Shen Haotian watched his son’s retreating back and smiled, his eyes full of relief and joy.

What he didn’t know, however, was that as Shen Lang left the room and walked into the courtyard, he cast a cold glance toward the center of Celestial Phoenix City, his eyes filled with icy Killing Intent.

The direction he looked was toward the tallest tower in Celestial Phoenix City, which was brightly illuminated.

And beneath that tower was none other than the Celestial Phoenix City’s City Lord’s Mansion!

If Shen Haotian had known that his son had deduced the true culprit behind the scenes from just a few pieces of information, he would likely have been shocked beyond belief...