Strongest War Emperor

”Dad, don’t worry. The Seven-Star Begonia doesn’t have much medicinal value on its own, but it can be used as a catalyst for many Spirit Medicines. Even though it’s rare, there’s still a good chance of finding it. You don’t need to worry about it. Just leave everything to me,” Shen Lang said comfortingly. ”Why don’t you try standing up now? You should be able to walk like a normal person without any problems.”

”Ah? I feel so much better. The blockages in my meridians are gone... But is it really this effective? I can get up and walk right now?” Shen Haotian was overjoyed.

He had been able to get out of bed before, but only with Shen Lang’s mother supporting him. Otherwise, he couldn’t move at all.

”Yes, give it a try,” Shen Lang said, steadying his father’s shoulders.

Shen Haotian was thrilled. He moved his body and swung his legs, discovering that they were much more flexible. The awful feeling from before was completely gone.

”I never thought the day would come when I, Shen Haotian, would be normal again...”

He pushed himself up using the edge of the bed and slowly walked toward the door.

The old stiffness was gone, as was the searing pain that used to shoot through his body with every step...

Shen Haotian placed his right hand on the doorframe to steady himself. He looked into the main hall at the figure preparing vegetables with Xiaohong and called out softly, ”Xiaodie...”

The busy Luo Dieqi jolted. She whipped her head around and saw the familiar figure staggering toward her.

”Haotian...” Luo Dieqi covered her mouth with one hand, her eyes blurring with tears.

”Master! Master, you’re healed?” Xiaohong cried out in astonishment, rushing over to support Shen Haotian.

”I am, I am! It was Lang’er who healed me! HAHAHA...” Shen Haotian burst into a hearty laugh.

He was both happy that his injuries were healed and proud of his son’s abilities.

Shen Lang came around from behind and supported Luo Dieqi, gently wiping her tears with his sleeve. ”Dad isn’t completely better yet, but it won’t take more than a few days,” he said. ”Once I finish refining the Spirit Medicine, he’ll be back to normal. Don’t worry, Mom...”

He smiled as he spoke, but his heart ached.

For the past few years, his father had been bedridden with a serious illness, and his mother, a gentle woman, had supported the entire family on her own...

Things were much better a year ago when his sister was still home. But after she secured a spot and was forced by their father to attend Jialan Academy...

’If only I had awakened these memories sooner, my parents wouldn’t have had to suffer so much.’

Mist welled in Shen Lang’s eyes. He hastily said, ”Mom, you and Dad chat for a bit. I’m going to find my sister and bring her back for dinner.”

He used the excuse to head straight out the door and toward the back courtyard.

So much for a firm will and a heart of stone...

In the face of such familial love, it was all as fragile as a thin sheet of paper, easily pierced by a single teardrop...

Shen Lang secretly made a vow. ’I will make sure my family lives well. I will never let them suffer again, nor will I let anyone bully them—anyone at all!’

Under the cover of night, the usually bustling Shen Family residence fell strangely quiet, so quiet that only the chirping of insects could be heard.

Shen Lang’s earlier guess had been correct. It seemed those old geezers of the Shen Family weren’t complete fools; they had probably sensed that something was amiss.

Or perhaps, through certain channels, they had already heard about his exploits at Tayun Academy and the Celestial Phoenix Tavern.

That was why the night was so peaceful. No one burst into Shen Lang’s home to cause trouble.

This was exactly the outcome Shen Lang wanted. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have minded going on a killing spree.

...

At that moment, in a pavilion by the lake in the back courtyard, several young men and women were chatting merrily.

Shen Lang’s older sister, Shen Moran, was sitting among them. She didn’t say much, only offering a faint smile and occasionally adding a few words.

Shen Moran was like an orchid in a secluded valley, her temperament ethereal and her clear autumn-water eyes impeccably pure.

Even among the handsome men and beautiful women, the quiet girl stood out.

Sitting with her in the pavilion were two men and three women, all appearing to be around her age, about twenty years old. The women were beautiful, the men handsome, and all of them had an extraordinary air.

”Sis!” Shen Lang called out with a smile.

”Xiaolang? What are you doing back? Come over here, let me get a look at you...”

Shen Moran’s previously calm expression rippled like a stone had been dropped into a lake.

”Ah, Moran, so this is your little brother, Shen Lang? He’s quite the looker! A shame he’s a bit young, otherwise...”

”Ooh, he’s handsome! Come on, let your big sister give you a hug...”

Shen Lang, who had been walking steadily, stumbled at the women’s words and nearly fell right into the lake.

This sent them into peals of laughter.

”I’m Shen Lang. You can all call me Xiaolang, just like my sister does,” Shen Lang said, nodding politely at them.

But just then, one of the women reached out to put a hand on his shoulder.

Shen Moran placed a delicate hand on her forehead and shook her head with a wry smile. She knew her friend liked to joke around.

Who would have thought that Shen Lang would sway bizarrely from side to side, deftly and precisely dodging the woman’s hand!

”Huh?” Shen Moran’s friends all looked surprised.

”Alright, Zuimo, stop teasing my brother. He’s still young...”

Shen Moran pulled Shen Lang down to sit beside her and gave the other women a small wave of her hand.

”What do you mean, young? On the Star Continent, you’re considered an adult at sixteen. Moran, you can’t be so stingy! As the saying goes, keep the good things in the family...” Zeng Zuimo said with a flirty laugh as she walked back.

The women in the pavilion burst into another round of delicate laughter, making Shen Lang roll his eyes. ’You’re the ”good thing,” your whole family’s a bunch of ”good things”...’

”These are all my classmates from Jialan Academy. Let me introduce you,” Shen Moran said, introducing them to Shen Lang one by one.

The woman who had tried to grab his shoulder was Zeng Zuimo. The quieter one was Su Jin, and the one who hadn’t spoken at all was Lin Yue.

Of the other two young men, the one built like a Vajra with the back of a tiger and the waist of a bear was Yin Kuang; beside him, the transcendently handsome young man with a face like polished jade was Shui Buyu.

These were all students of Jialan Academy, each one a dragon or phoenix among mortals, with an extraordinary bearing.

Shen Lang was quite a bit younger than them, so they didn’t pay him much mind.

After a few polite words, they returned to their previous topic.

Zeng Zuimo’s demeanor changed completely. She sighed, ”We were so unlucky during the year-end trial this time. We suffered huge losses. Now our Spiritual Artifacts are broken, and who knows if they can even be repaired!”

The group, who had all been smiling just moments before, immediately began to shake their heads and sigh.

”There was nothing we could do. Who would have thought we’d run into a Fourth Level Peak Red Flame Fierce Bear before we even got deep into the Crystal Song Forest? We’re lucky we even made it back alive. That’s a Demon Beast equivalent to a master at the Qi Martial Realm Ninth Heaven...”

Lin Yue pouted and flopped onto the stone table, staring into space.

The rough-featured Yin Kuang said in a gruff voice, ”You have only yourselves to blame. You were so scared at the beginning that you just fled... If I hadn’t been seriously injured while trying to block the Demon Beast, and if everyone had just cooperated from the start to surround it, would things have ended up this badly?”

Zeng Zuimo and the others looked displeased and wanted to argue, but when they remembered how Yin Kuang had acted like a peerless hero, single-handedly holding off the Red Flame Fierce Bear with his spear, they deflated like punctured balls and said nothing.

To be fair, Yin Kuang had a point.

He had the strongest Attack Power in the group, and he wielded his Fiery Fire Divine Spear with divine skill. If they had worked together from the start and coordinated well, they wouldn’t have been so thoroughly beaten, and their Spiritual Artifacts certainly wouldn’t have been destroyed.

”Ahem...” Shui Buyu cleared his throat. ”What’s done is done. There’s no use in blaming or regretting now. Fortunately, our injuries aren’t too severe, and while our Spiritual Artifacts are badly damaged, there’s at least a chance they can be repaired...”

”However, as a team, we truly lack coordination. If we don’t fix this in the next few months, we’ll have no way to compete with the other groups when we enter the Crystal Song Forest again.”

”Compete my ass!” Yin Kuang said, annoyed.

”My injuries are one thing; I’ll recover in a month or so. But now my Lifebound Spiritual Artifact, the Third Grade Fiery Fire Divine Spear, has been wrecked like this. Tell me, what am I supposed to compete with? There’s no way my old man is going to get me another one...”

”These bullshit rules at Jialan Academy are so infuriating! Forcing us to earn Spirit Stones and gather materials on our own... The monthly allowance of Spirit Stones we get from home isn’t even enough for one of my old spending sprees...”

Fuming, he took out a Long Spear that was bent into a ”U” shape and threw it onto the stone table with a CLANG, startling Lin Yue, who was still leaning on it.

Lin Yue shot upright. Huffing, she also threw a Longsword with several nicks in the blade onto the table. ”You think you’re the only one who lost something big?” she yelled. ”My Moon God Sword was destroyed too!”

”It was wrong for us to run around scared, but you fought that Demon Beast for ages! Why didn’t you warn us that it had immense strength and was impervious to weapons? If you had just said something sooner, we could have used ranged attacks and might have even killed it!”

Shui Buyu said irritably, ”Enough. I already said we’re a team. What’s with all this blaming each other? Do you want to become a laughingstock for the other teams? You’ve been arguing about this all the way from the Crystal Song Forest, saying the same things over and over. Aren’t you tired of it?”

He quickly added in a placating tone, ”Didn’t Chu Qingcheng say he’s on good terms with Mo Liusheng, the Director of the Artifact Refining Institute at Tayun Academy? He told us to find him and see if he can help with the repairs. This is no time to be bickering and making a scene for others to laugh at!”

Yin Kuang mockingly patted the Fiery Fire Divine Spear on the table. ”I just came along to get some fresh air. I’m not expecting anyone to be able to fix my Fiery Fire Divine Spear...”

He gave a cold laugh and continued, ”Are you kidding me? This is a Third Grade Spiritual Artifact, forged from Deep Sea Profound Iron. To repair it, you’d need to find more Deep Sea Profound Iron... Besides, the Fire Spirit Array Map inside has been completely destroyed. Unless you can re-inscribe a Third Grade Spirit Array Map, there’s absolutely no way to restore it to its original state!”

”That Artifact Refining Master Chu Qingcheng mentioned is Spirit Level Fourth Grade, right? How many Spirit Level Third Grade Spirit Array Maps do you think he knows? It’s not like he’d just happen to know the exact array maps for our specific elements, would he?”

The faces of the group immediately darkened, and the atmosphere grew even more oppressive.