Strongest War Emperor

"Yin Kuang, look at you now! HAHAHAHA!"

Shui Buyu, who had just climbed out of the lake, burst into wild laughter.

"Get lost!" Yin Kuang casually shoved at Shui Buyu.

But Shui Buyu, having been tricked twice already, wasn’t so easily pushed this time. The two parried and countered each other’s moves, enjoying their little tussle.

Su Jin snapped coldly, "If you’re going to fight, take it outside. If you damage the Furnace Cauldron, can you bear the responsibility for the Profound Artifact?"

Her words instantly made the two of them behave, turning them as meek as lambs.

Su Jin took a step forward and said softly, "Xiaolang, I know refining a Profound Artifact consumes a great deal of Spiritual Power. It requires using Pill Fire multiple times to help calcine and smelt the materials. Will the three of us—Zuimo, Lin Yue, and I—be enough? If not, we can have Moran and Shui Buyu join in too."

"Three people will be plenty," Shen Lang said with great ease. "My Artifact Refining doesn’t take too long, not to mention I have the help of the Celestial Fire catalyzed by the Array. The three of you, stand at the Qian, Kun, and Kan positions respectively. Just release your Pill Fire on my command."

Time ticked by. Shen Moran’s expression was calm, but she kept twisting a silk ribbon from her dress around her fingers, a movement that betrayed her nervousness.

Meanwhile, the two with nothing to do, Yin Kuang and Shui Buyu, grew more and more shocked the longer they watched.

At this point, even if Shen Lang failed to refine the Profound Artifact, they probably wouldn’t have said a word.

Because every one of Shen Lang’s movements, every step of the Artifact Refining, and all the various flourishes they didn’t understand had completely stunned them.

These prominent scions of the Imperial Capital Noble Families had completely lost their earlier sharp arrogance.

In less than half an hour, just as Su Jin and the other two were gasping for breath and drenched in fragrant sweat...

A wisp of divine radiance shot up from the Furnace Cauldron like a Divine Dragon, illuminating the night sky before tracing a graceful arc and falling back down.

Shen Lang casually reached out and caught the longsword, which was emitting a strange light. He then closed his eyes.

The others exchanged glances, nodded silently, and took a few steps back, not daring to disturb him.

Everyone knew this was a critical moment. He was about to inscribe the Spirit Array Map onto the longsword.

However, they were all still a bit puzzled. Judging from the aura the longsword had just released, it didn’t seem to have reached the level of a Profound Artifact yet.

"OMMM!"

After just a short moment, a water-blue light emerged from the longsword in Shen Lang’s hand. It drifted back and forth in the darkness of the night, immediately capturing everyone’s attention.

"That’s not right. I’ve never heard of such a strange phenomenon occurring while inscribing a Spirit Array Map," Yin Kuang said blankly.

Shui Buyu put on a profound smile and said, "Based on my past experience, this is a sign that the Spirit Array Map is taking shape. So, it should mean the Spirit Array Map has been successfully inscribed—holy crap! No way! I feel like only a moment has passed! So fast!"

The group looked at each other, their shock almost beyond words.

Even if they weren’t experts in Artifact Refining, they knew that inscribing a Spirit Array Map was an incredibly complex and difficult task. The higher the tier of the Spirit Array Map, the more complicated it was, and the longer it would take.

When their own Spiritual Artifacts were being refined, the Artifact Refiners had often spent several months on them.

Of those months, at least a third of the time was spent on the Spirit Array Map.

But Shen Lang’s method was like a child playing house. *SWISH*—and it was done before Su Jin and the others even had a chance to rest?

"Shui Buyu must have guessed wrong. With so many of us here, who has ever seen a Spirit Array Map inscribed in such a short time?" Lin Yue said, clicking her tongue in disbelief.

Su Jin said cautiously, "With the strength of our Divine Thought, even inscribing a low-level Gathering Spirit Token would take at least half an hour... But Xiaolang is not someone who can be judged by common sense..."

Zeng Zuimo gently nudged Shen Moran. "Moran, your little brother is so incredible at the Artifact Refining Dao, how come we’ve never heard you mention it before? Did he really just inscribe a Spirit Array Map on your Ningbi Sword in a few moments? That’s too outrageous..."

Shen Moran gently shook her head. "I don’t know either. Xiaolang never told me about his Artifact Refining. Maybe he had some sort of breakthrough while I was at Jialan Academy."

Just as the group was about to offer their congratulations, Shen Lang’s eyes snapped open. His left hand, gripping the hilt, trembled slightly...

A dragon’s cry rang out. A rain of water-blue, crescent-shaped icy light instantly appeared at the tip of the Ningbi Sword. Then, the icy light flared blindingly, enveloping the entire blade. A tail of radiance extended several feet, shooting out an endless, wondrous light where gold and green brilliance mingled, radiating a bone-chilling cold.

"A Profound Artifact!" the group exclaimed in unison.

Shen Lang frowned, looking somewhat dissatisfied. "Your materials are too shoddy. It took every ounce of my strength and various Secret Techniques to smelt them, and even then, it barely reached this level."

If anyone had dared to call the materials Yin Kuang and the others possessed "shoddy" before, a huge fight would have been unavoidable.

But this time was different. Everyone completely ignored the first part of what Shen Lang said, focusing only on the last few words.

"What level? What’s the grade of this Ningbi Sword now?" Yin Kuang was the most impatient.

"I used a Secret Technique to smelt and integrate the carefully selected materials. In terms of just the sword’s durability and other properties, it barely reached the level of a Profound Level First Grade. As for the Spirit Array Map, I inscribed a Profound Level Fourth Grade Water Spirit Array Map that has an extremely high affinity with this longsword. If you were to have it appraised, this Ningbi Sword could probably be considered a Profound Level Third Grade," Shen Lang said, wiping away a bead of sweat.

With his current Divine Thought strength, inscribing a Profound Level Fourth Grade Spirit Array Map was actually quite difficult. It wasn’t as simple as everyone thought, and the toll it took was immense.

"CLANG!" The Fiery Fire Divine Spear in Yin Kuang’s hand, which had been twisted into a "U" shape, fell to the ground, striking dazzling sparks.

"A Third Grade Profound Artifact..."

"A Profound Level Fourth Grade Spirit Array Map..."

Everyone fell into a stunned daze. For a long while, no one made a sound.

"Let me see, let me see... Good heavens! You can produce a Third Grade Profound Artifact just by hammering away for a little while? If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, you could kill me and I still wouldn’t believe it!" Yin Kuang’s voice boomed like thunder in the courtyard.

Yin Kuang took the Ningbi Sword, channeled a sliver of Spiritual Power into it, and casually swung it at a large tree by the pavilion, one so thick it would take a person to wrap their arms around it. The sword light flashed, and the massive tree was instantly split in two, toppling over with a CREAK.

"A Profound Artifact, a Profound Artifact! I’ve wanted a Profound Artifact for so long, I never thought..."

"What are you doing? That’s Moran’s. Did you think it was for you? Give it here!" Su Jin shot him a look, snatched the Ningbi Sword back, and handed it to Shen Moran.

Although Shen Moran adored and trusted her little brother, holding the Profound Artifact in her hands still felt like a dream.

The three women immediately surrounded Shen Lang. One look at their eyes was enough to know what they were thinking.

"Little brother, I was wrong about you before. Just say the word. Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you..." Zeng Zuimo’s words were exceptionally bold.

Shen Lang rolled his eyes and tried to walk away, but she and Lin Yue grabbed him from the left and right, nearly tearing his clothes.

’My sister’s classmates are really something else. If they pulled any harder, they’d tear me limb from limb...’

Shen Lang’s head was throbbing. This was even more exhausting than refining the Profound Artifact.

"Xiaolang, don’t ignore us! Look, we may have said the wrong things at first, but that’s only natural. It’s just because you’re so young..."

"We’re your sister’s best friends, you know! See? We came all the way to Celestial Phoenix City and came straight to your house, right?"

Lin Yue said in a cutesy, whining tone, refusing to let Shen Lang leave no matter what.

It seemed she wouldn’t let go unless Shen Lang agreed.

Shen Lang rolled his eyes furiously. He wanted to break free from her demonic clutches, but the woman’s Cultivation was not weak. Her hands were like Vajra, gripping him tightly and refusing to let go.

"Alright, you two, let go of Xiaolang. Be careful not to overdo it," Shen Moran said with a smile.

The moment she spoke, Zeng Zuimo and Lin Yue reacted with lightning speed, immediately letting Shen Lang go.

Yin Kuang and Shui Buyu, who had been ignored off to the side, finally saw their chance.

The two exchanged a look, chuckled, and approached Shen Lang, just about to speak...

A somewhat high-pitched voice drifted over. "Heh heh, I heard my dear cousin Moran was back, so I came to have a look. What a coincidence to find so many people here. You must all be Moran’s classmates from Jialan Academy, I presume?"

"Moran, this is where you’re in the wrong. Since you brought friends over, why not introduce them to us?"

Yin Kuang and Shui Buyu were so furious they almost drew their weapons and started slashing.

They had just been preempted by Zeng Zuimo and the other girls, left out of the conversation. After waiting for so long, they finally had a chance to speak; it was finally their turn.

Who knew that some guy with a eunuch’s voice would pop out of nowhere and interrupt them again!

’Of all the times to show up, you had to pick now?’

’And it looks like he’s not here to be friendly, either.’

The two of them glanced at Shen Moran out of the corner of their eyes and saw a trace of disgust in her expression... an idea instantly lit up in their minds.

They spun around angrily and saw five or six people walking down the small path by the lake.

The young man in the lead was around their age and had an extraordinary air about him. However, the lackeys trailing behind him, with their shifty eyes and crooked brows, looked utterly punchable, which made the young man himself lose quite a few points.

"Who the hell are you? We don’t have time for you right now, so scram!"

Yin Kuang stepped forward like an iron tower and spoke boisterously.

He truly had the right to speak like that. He talked this way not just here, but even in the Imperial Capital.

"I am Shen Fengxiao, Moran’s older cousin. I heard some of her classmates were visiting, so I came to see."

Shen Fengxiao’s expression shifted slightly, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes before he returned to normal.

The students of Jialan Academy were mostly either rich or noble. They weren’t people an ordinary person could afford to offend.

Many were even the children of princes and high nobles. Even though Shen Fengxiao was the most watched genius of the Shen Family, he didn’t dare to casually offend such people.

"Strange. My brother already told you all to scram, yet you’re still smiling so happily. Are you deaf or just idiots?"

With a flick of his wrist, Shui Buyu snapped open a fan and spoke coldly.

He had forgotten that he’d fallen into the lake earlier. His clothes still weren’t dry and his hair was a mess. Waving the fan around, he looked like a beggar trying to imitate a rich young master, a truly ridiculous sight.

Seeing his appearance, Shen Fengxiao didn’t laugh. On the contrary, he felt the man had an extraordinary presence. But the people behind Shen Fengxiao were a different story; they couldn’t control themselves and burst out laughing.

Shui Buyu snapped his fan shut again, his face ashen as he said, "You should all be thanking Moran. If it weren’t for the fact that you’re members of her family, your heads would be separated from your bodies by now!"

"Moran, is this how your friends treat members of the Shen Family? Don’t you think this is too disrespectful?" Shen Fengxiao couldn’t maintain his composure any longer, his face a shifting patchwork of colors.

Before Shen Moran could speak, Shen Fengxiao suddenly feigned surprise. "Oh, so Shen Lang is back too? Tayun Academy doesn’t seem to be on break yet. Don’t tell me you were expelled?"

"How pitiful... But then again, you’re a good-for-nothing who doesn’t even have a Martial Soul. Staying at the academy would have just been a waste of resources. It’s better that you’re back, much better."