Strongest War Emperor

Amid the clashing students of the two academies, Su Hen, that dunce, was right in his element. He blended into the crowd and became a mobile turret.

With his level of cultivation, he should have just been a punching bag in a fight like this, but Shen Lang had given him a ridiculous number of Talismans, and they weren’t low-grade either.

So, unless they were a Martial Artist at the Fourth or Fifth Heaven of the Qi Martial Realm, most people had no choice but to flee at the sight of him.

With a flick of his hand, a Fire Talisman sent the Celestial God Academy students screaming and scattering.

Another flick of his wrist unleashed an Ice Talisman, freezing a large group of people. The Tayun Academy students then swarmed forward to beat down the unlucky, frozen saps.

They also made sure to loot all their Storage Pouches.

In terms of pure combat effectiveness, Su Hen, a mere Power Martial Realm Sixth Heaven practitioner, was actually having a greater impact than Xue Dangdang of the Qi Martial Realm Fifth Heaven.

He had taken out more than half of Celestial God Academy’s Low Tier Martial Artists all by himself.

At this moment, Su Hen’s face was flushed with excitement, his spirits soaring. He desperately wanted to charge to the front lines and blast down Xue Dangdang’s opponents as well.

A short distance away, Lin Feng stood under a large tree, complaining bitterly. Every time Su Hen threw out a Talisman, he would yelp in anguish.

”Damn it, Five Hundred Gold Coins!”

”Holy crap, One Thousand Gold Coins!”

”Su Hen, you idiot, are you ever going to stop?! You’re just burning money!”

Perched on a bare branch of the large tree beside Lin Feng, Chu Qingcheng watched the chaotic brawl, shaking his head repeatedly.

No one noticed his gaze occasionally sweeping over to Xue Dangdang.

An unguarded sadness surfaced in his eyes.

This man, who had always seemed free-spirited and unrestrained, as if he didn’t have a care in the world, revealed a hidden side of himself when he thought no one was watching.

If anyone had seen it, they would have surely been puzzled...

Doesn’t Chu Qingcheng like Shen Moran?

Hasn’t he always treated Xue Dangdang like a little sister?

Hasn’t he always had that carefree, devil-may-care attitude?

Why would he look at Xue Dangdang with such sorrow in his eyes?

Suddenly, Chu Qingcheng pulled his gaze away from Xue Dangdang, a slight smile playing on his lips. ’Actually, this is fine too. Watching her grow up, and then fall in love with that bastard...’

He looked up at the sky and sighed listlessly, ”Who will take my hand and quell the madness of my life?”

Down below, Lin Feng grew annoyed. ”Holy crap! This whole place is a warzone and instead of joining the fight, you’re sitting in a treetop reciting some weird, nonsensical poetry? So much for solidarity! By the way, what did that line even mean?”

”It means: ’He’s lost his mind, who’s got the cure?’ Ha ha!” Shen Lang’s laughter rang out as he emerged from the nearby woods.

Chu Qingcheng rolled his eyes. ”The trial is almost over, and you finally decide to grace us with your presence. Any later and your threat to loot them all would’ve just been empty words.”

”Damn it, I knew you were unreliable! You bastard, you’d rather watch the show from a treetop than lift a finger to help!” Shen Lang retorted, clearly annoyed.

”What do you mean I didn’t help? Tayun Academy has the upper hand, don’t they? See those five over there? I told them they could either watch the show with me or I’d eliminate them myself. I’ve done plenty. Now, it’s your turn.”

”Then what are you going to do now?” Shen Lang asked, stunned.

Chu Qingcheng smiled. ”What else? Continue watching the show, of course.”

”...” Shen Lang was left speechless with anger.

At that moment, Nalan Ziyun stepped out from behind Shen Lang.

The students from Celestial God Academy were overjoyed and about to break into cheers, but then they heard Nalan Ziyun’s cold voice. ”Everyone from Celestial God Academy, hand over two-thirds of the contents of your Storage Pouches or Sumeru Rings to Tayun Academy. Then, this trial can end.”

”What?”

The entire area fell silent.

The students from Celestial God Academy thought they had misheard, as did the students from Tayun Academy.

If those words had come from Shen Lang’s mouth, it would have been understandable.

But the one who said it was Nalan Ziyun...

For the top dog of Celestial God Academy to say something like that... something was clearly wrong.

Besides, wasn’t she supposed to be hunting down Shen Lang?

How could the two of them be walking together so amicably? And Shen Lang didn’t seem hurt at all; in fact, he was smiling so happily...

One of the five who had been intimidated by Chu Qingcheng stepped forward in a rage. ”Senior Sister, that’s an incredibly irresponsible thing to say! You’re the leader of our Celestial God Academy! Even if we’re at a slight disadvantage, it’s not like they’re that much stronger than us! Now that you’re back, why aren’t you going to hold off Chu Qingcheng? How could you say something like that instead?”

Nalan Ziyun sounded a bit forlorn. ”It seems my year away from Celestial God Academy has cost me most of my authority. Fine. I have nothing more to say. I’ll keep Chu Qingcheng busy. If you all want to fight, go right ahead. However...”

She shot a cold smile at the students glaring at her. ”But if you end up meeting a miserable fate, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The Celestial God Academy students were ecstatic. As long as Chu Qingcheng was occupied, at least five of their top experts could join the battle—and three of those five were at the Qi Martial Realm Sixth Heaven!

Once they joined in, they could immediately turn the tide of battle!

As for the newly appeared Shen Lang, he was almost completely ignored, treated like thin air.

Many had even forgotten that back in the arena, his fight with Nalan Ziyun had ended in a draw.

However, Shen Lang’s cultivation had greatly increased during his trip, and he was no longer interested in fighting the Celestial God Academy students.

He shook his head, looking bored. Making a gun shape with his hand, he pointed it casually toward the Celestial God Academy students. ”Knock them all down... And remember, don’t kill them. If you do, I’ll scrap you.”

The students from both Celestial God Academy and Tayun Academy were stunned, not understanding who he was talking to.

”Shen Lang, you’re too presumptuous! I’m going to teach you a proper lesson today!”

The Qi Martial Realm Sixth Heaven Martial Artist who had been displeased with Nalan Ziyun shouted out.

His name was Ning Yufeng. After Nalan Ziyun left for Jialan Academy, he had become the de facto leader of the Celestial God Academy students, which was why he dared to question her directly.

”You wet-behind-the-ears brat, spouting such arrogant nonsense. You must have a death wish!”

Another leader, also at the Qi Martial Realm Sixth Heaven, stepped forward, itching to teach Shen Lang a lesson. His name was Fei Liang, Ning Yufeng’s second-in-command.

The two of them had been warned by Chu Qingcheng earlier and forced to ”watch the show” from the sidelines with the other three for quite some time. They were already simmering with pent-up anger.

Now, with Chu Qingcheng occupied by Nalan Ziyun, Shen Lang was practically walking into the line of fire. If they didn’t seize this perfect opportunity, what was the point of being leaders all this time?

”SCREEE!”

Suddenly, a shrill screech echoed through the Zuoge Ruins, so loud it seemed to shake the heavens.

The students from both academies felt a piercing pain in their eardrums; it was unbearable.

Those with weaker cultivation were knocked unconscious by the sheer force of the sound. A large part of the crowd began to scream and shout, and the scene descended into chaos.

Two figures plummeted from the sky at incredible speed. With a loud THUD, they smashed Ning Yufeng and Fei Liang, the two who had just spoken out, straight into the ground!

Two deep craters appeared in the ground. Ning Yufeng and Fei Liang let out a miserable cry and then vanished from sight.

Everyone looked closely and finally saw that the two figures were actually two skeletons clad in Armor!

”Ah!”

Some girl screamed, starting a chain reaction, and soon the ruins were filled with the rising and falling shrieks of female students!

The students from both academies cried out in alarm and backed away continuously.

Bone One glanced around smugly for a moment, then bent down to pick up the Spiritual Artifact from the hand of Ning Yufeng, who was pinned under its foot.

It was a Bronze Flame Hammer wreathed in firelight, a Second Grade Spiritual Artifact.

Bone Two snatched the hammer away, started wiggling its body, and sang, ”OONTS OONTS OONTS OONTS, this flamin’ hammer is my one true lo-o-ove!”

Bone One retorted angrily in song, ”Damn it all! I’m the one who got the lucky drop!”

Bone Two: ”That doesn’t mean you can just go and ninja the gear!”

Bone One: ”But that doesn’t mean you can just claim it’s yours!”

Ning Yufeng struggled to extend a hand from the pit, trying to pull himself up. ”I... I’m not dead yet! Who the fuck are you calling a corpse to be looted?!”

He still hadn’t figured out who had smashed him into the ground.

Without another word, Bone One slapped him, sending Ning Yufeng spitting blood. ”Fuck! Bone Two said OONTS OONTS, and you still dared to move? You move, you get bopped! Move once, bopped once!”

Shen Lang, standing behind them, had lines of frustration on his face. ”What are you two doing?!”

Bone One said weakly, ”Boss, we were just discussing who gets to use this Spiritual Artifact.”

”Use my ass! It’s just a crappy hammer and you two have the nerve to fight over it! Throw it away!” Shen Lang barked.

Bone Two gave a silly laugh and casually tossed the Bronze Flame Hammer. The hammer trailed a streak of fire, carving a beautiful arc through the air as it flew toward the distant forest.

”M-My Spiritual Artifact!”

Overcome with rage and anxiety, Ning Yufeng spat out another mouthful of blood.

Bone One was a skeleton of its word. Seeing Ning Yufeng move again, it slapped him without a second’s hesitation.

He didn’t spit blood this time. He was knocked out cold...

The group from Celestial God Academy just stared dumbly at the scene, unable to process what was happening.

Just then, Fei Liang, who was pinned under Bone Two’s foot, couldn’t take it anymore. ”Shen Lang, you’re breaking the rules! You’re not allowed to take anyone’s Spiritual Artifacts in the trial, only things from their Storage Pouches! And you can’t kill people! Are you planning to let these skeletons kill us?”

Bone Two paused for a moment, then, copying Bone One, it slapped him across the face.

Bone Two didn’t know its own strength. The slap sent several of Fei Liang’s teeth flying—Fei Liang, who had always considered himself handsome and debonair, and took special pride in his perfectly straight, white teeth.

Fei Liang made a gurgling sound. He wasn’t knocked unconscious; he fainted from pure rage.

”You two, get out of the way!”

As Celestial God Academy’s ’big sister,’ Nalan Ziyun finally couldn’t watch anymore. She walked over and pushed the two Bone Demons aside.

Bone One and Bone Two retreated sheepishly and stood behind Shen Lang, saying no more.

Nalan Ziyun’s face was dark as she helped the two unlucky saps to their feet.

”So, are you going to hand your things over willingly, or am I going to have to beat you until you do? The choice is yours. But I’ll warn you now, I don’t know how to hold back. If I happen to hit you too hard and make you cough up a gallon of blood, don’t blame me.”

Shen Lang walked forward with a sinister grin, his fists making loud CRACKING sounds.

The hearts of everyone from Celestial God Academy sank into their stomachs...