Strongest War Emperor

Hao Ran, who was a size larger than even Lin Feng, shoved people aside with his shoulders. He walked over to stand behind Lin Feng and started massaging his back. ”Brother Feng, you must be exhausted from your trip from Celestial Phoenix City,” he said. ”Let me give you a back and shoulder massage. All of you, get out of the way. Don’t bother him.”

The other students were furious. This guy used to be Xu Qing’s most capable henchman and had done the most to antagonize Shen Lang!

Who would have thought this turncoat would switch sides so quickly?

Just as everyone was mentally cursing the fatty, he pulled a glittering, egg-sized yellow object from his robes. ”Brother Feng, look,” he said. ”This is a Demon Crystal from a Third Level Earth Element Demon Beast, the Earth Ice Bear. My old man spent a fortune on it. I could never bring myself to use it because I was saving it for you.”

Without waiting for a response, he shoved the Demon Crystal into Lin Feng’s hand.

Everyone gasped. This guy was really going all out, bringing out a Third Level Demon Beast’s Demon Crystal! That thing was incredibly valuable. For Cultivation, a single Demon Crystal was worth a month or so of a Martial Artist’s hard work! If converted to Gold Coins, it would be worth tens of thousands!

What a grand gesture!

Lin Feng weighed the Demon Crystal in his hand and grinned. ”You’re a smart one, knowing I was in need of something like this. Don’t worry, from now on, you’re with me. If anyone dares to bully you, just drop my name!”

The moment he said that, the entire classroom erupted into chaos. A crowd of people scrambled to pull out all sorts of items and shove them into his and Su Hen’s hands.

’Mwahahaha! I can’t believe I’m finally seeing this day! These bastards used to team up to bully us, but now they’re so meek they don’t dare say a word against us! It looks like Young Master Lang really scared the hell out of them! This feels amazing!’

Lin Feng chuckled as he accepted the things people handed him, thinking smugly to himself.

Su Hen, on the other hand, was being a total goofball. His eyes were glued to the chests of several female students. He barely noticed the valuable items they were shoving into his hands, completely mesmerized by a few flirtatious glances.

A goofball only has eyes for beautiful women, whereas an unscrupulous merchant loves Gold Coins and believes that with enough Gold Coins, beautiful women will follow.

This was the difference between an unscrupulous merchant and a goofball.

Just then, the door was pushed open again. Wooden Zither Tutor entered, followed by a young woman in a sky-blue dress.

”Whoa! She’s beautiful...”

Everyone’s gaze was immediately captivated by the young woman behind Wooden Zither. Her face was like jade, her aura like an orchid. With pearly teeth, vermilion lips, and skin like cream, her very presence seemed to transform the classroom, making the world feel suddenly beautiful and fresh...

As for Su Hen, his jaw dropped so wide you could fit an egg in his mouth.

Even someone like Lin Feng, who valued wealth above all else, forgot to put away the trinkets in his hands...

”Young Master Lang, wake up, wake up... Get up and look at the beauty!”

Lin Feng called out as he instinctively stood up with the crowd and pushed his way to the front.

But he hadn’t taken two steps before Su Hen grabbed his clothes and pulled him back.

”Hey, you merchant! That’s the beauty I met on the road! Why is she here? This is happening too fast! Hit me, merchant! Hit me hard and see if I’m dreaming!”

SLAP!

Lin Feng slapped him so hard he flew into the wall.

”You asked for it,” Lin Feng said with a grin, then squeezed his way to the front of the crowd even faster.

”Let me introduce everyone. This is student Shui Qingwu. She’s from Jialan Academy in the Imperial Capital and will be staying with our class for a while. In half a month, she’ll be joining us for the trial in Thorn Valley,” Wooden Zither announced, clapping her hands to get their attention.

This peerlessly beautiful young woman was none other than Shui Qingwu, who had encountered the Demon Corpse the day before and been rescued by Shen Lang.

Shui Qingwu showed no airs at all, smiling as she greeted the students of Class One.

Suddenly, her smile faltered slightly. Her gaze fell upon the very back of the room, where a guy was sound asleep, not even waking up despite the major commotion in the classroom.

Wooden Zither’s smile vanished. With a flick of her finger, she shot a fireball toward Shen Lang, startling everyone.

The fireball shot toward Shen Lang’s head with a FWOOSH, leaving a trail behind it. If he didn’t react in the next instant, his hair would likely be burned clean off...

But at that very moment, Shen Lang casually pinched the small fireball between two fingers of his right hand with incomparable flair.

The next second, Shen Lang leaped up like a monkey onto his desk, yelping, ”OW, OW, OW!” as he flung the fireball away.

”You bastard, you actually hit me with a fireball!” Shen Lang roared, standing on the desk.

Wooden Zither smiled faintly. ”Who are you calling a bastard?”

”I protest! I condemn this!” Shen Lang stomped his feet in anger, making it hard for the others to hold back their laughter.

”Protest denied. Who told you to sleep so early in the morning? Starting today, you are not allowed to sleep anymore,” Wooden Zither said leisurely.

”Give me sleep, or give me death!”

”I just said you’re not allowed to sleep in my class from now on. I don’t care about other tutors’ classes.”

”That’s acceptable...”

Just as Shen Lang was about to jump off the desk, his gaze fell upon Shui Qingwu, who was standing beside Wooden Zither.

Their eyes met, and both of them froze for a moment.

’It’s her? So she’s the beauty Wooden Zither Tutor was talking about?’ Shen Lang was only slightly stunned before he averted his gaze and hopped off the desk.

Shui Qingwu’s reaction was different. The moment she saw Shen Lang’s eyes, her heart jolted. ’Those eyes... they’re so familiar...’

The image of the young man in the Evil Ghost Mask immediately appeared in her mind. Comparing the two, she felt more and more that their eyes were strikingly similar.

Both pairs of eyes were clear and bright, yet held a hint of lazy amusement...

Thinking of this, Shui Qingwu’s gaze fell on Shen Lang’s face, then his hands, only to be disappointed. His face and hands were completely unscathed, without a single scar.

The Ghost-faced Person from last night, however, had been different. From repeatedly using a Secret Technique to unlock his potential, and from that final Sword Skill that exceeded his body’s limits, the Ghost-faced Person’s skin had been torn open all over, and his injuries were extremely severe.

The ground had been covered in blood. When he left, he was practically leaving a bloody footprint with every step, a clear sign of how grave his injuries were.

But this young man before her was perfectly fine, without any problems. In fact, it looked like... his skin was quite good!

”Sister Wooden Zither, what’s this student’s name? I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before,” Shui Qingwu asked after a moment’s hesitation, turning around.

Wooden Zither was taken aback. Shen Lang had been sleeping his way through Tayun Academy for ten years; he’d spent more time at the academy than he had at his own home. Shui Qingwu, on the other hand, was from a great family in the Imperial Capital and had never left it before. How could the two of them possibly have any connection?

”His name is Shen Lang. You two shouldn’t have met before. He’s the one I told you I’d find to accompany you,” Wooden Zither said.

Shui Qingwu gave a dazzling smile and walked over to Shen Lang, extending her right hand. ”It’s a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to your guidance.”

Shen Lang rolled his eyes, flopped back down onto his desk, and muttered, ”No need for guidance. Just don’t get in the way of my sleep.”

Everyone was stunned. This guy was really too much! A peerless beauty was standing right in front of him, talking to him—a situation that already had everyone else dying of jealousy—and he was giving her the cold shoulder?

However, many others were secretly pleased. ’Good, good. With his Cultivation being so powerful now, if he decided to make a move, none of the other students in the class would stand a chance. This is perfect...’

Shui Qingwu awkwardly withdrew her fair, jade-like hand and sat down right next to Shen Lang. Then, with utmost grace, she said, ”Sister Wooden Zither, I’ll just sit here from now on, is that alright?”

Although she had been rebuffed, she trusted Wooden Zither completely and knew the person she had chosen for her couldn’t be a bad choice.

”Yes, yes, of course! No problem, that’s my seat!” Lin Feng finally saw his chance.

Seeing Shui Qingwu, who had always been pampered and adored, in such an awkward position, Wooden Zither felt utterly helpless. If it had been anyone else, she would have certainly given them a stern reprimand.

But with Shen Lang, a scolding would probably be useless. Besides, now that she knew his Cultivation was so high and his knowledge of the Artifact Refining Dao was so astonishing, she couldn’t bring herself to yell at him.

There were only a handful of geniuses like him in all of Tayun Academy.

”Shen Lang, get your butt up! Are you even a man? You just agreed not to sleep in my class, and you’re already dozing off again?” Wooden Zither snapped.

Shen Lang reluctantly pushed himself up and sat straight. ”I wasn’t sleeping, I was just resting my head! Can’t a guy even do that? Not even letting people sleep... Is there any justice in this world? Is there no law?”

”Here, I am the law!” Wooden Zither shouted. Then, she suddenly remembered something. Her expression turned serious as she announced, ”That’s right, the academy has just issued a notice. You’ll all see it posted later. Starting today, no one is allowed to leave the academy at night without permission. Anyone who violates this rule will be severely punished!”

”What? We can’t leave Tayun Academy at night? Why?”

”I don’t know, but Wooden Zither Tutor sounded pretty serious...”

Seeing the crowd buzzing with discussion, Wooden Zither sighed and said bluntly, ”Someone discovered a large number of Demon Corpses about sixty li outside of Tayun Academy. If you’re not afraid of dying, you can try taking a stroll out there. See if you get lucky and run into one.”

”Demon Corpses!” The entire room exploded into an uproar.