Strongest War Emperor

The same thing that had happened to Ye Xiao Zheng was now finally happening to Xu Daolin.

Xu Daolin never imagined, not in his wildest dreams, that things would change so drastically, and so quickly.

Most importantly, he had only heard about the Demon Martial Artist, Ji Chengwu, from Ye Xue; he had never once met the man!

Ye Xiao Zheng was adamantly insisting the Xu Family had colluded with the Demon Dao alongside him simply to drag someone down with him. He just couldn’t stand the thought of Xu Daolin getting off easy...

Xu Daolin knew this, but if Ye Xiao Zheng, who was already a prisoner, stuck to his story, Xu Daolin would be unable to defend himself.

While they couldn’t find evidence of his collusion with the Demon Dao, they also couldn’t find any evidence to clear his name!

Ye Xiao Zheng hated Xu Daolin to the bone. How could he possibly pass up such a golden opportunity?

Although Shen Lang was a major reason for today’s events, when all was said and done, it was all because Xu Daolin had led the Xu Family to fight for the City Lord’s Mansion.

Furthermore, the one who first exposed Ye Xiao Zheng’s collusion with the Demon Dao was also Xu Daolin.

This was all thanks to Xu Daolin!

’Even if I’m going to die, I’ll drag the Xu Family down with me!’

While Shen Lang was hammering away at Xu Daolin, Ye Xiao Zheng seized the chance to kick him while he was down, infuriating Xu Daolin to the point of wanting to spit blood.

All his plans had gone up in smoke, merely paving the way for Shen Lang’s success.

He had lost every advantage—timing, location, and support. It had all come to nothing!

HUFF... HUFF... HUFF!

Xu Daolin looked around blankly, unable to think of a single word or action to defuse the situation.

A man of extreme forbearance and deep cunning, his spirit was now finally on the verge of collapse.

Seeing this, Shen Lang didn’t wait for the two Xuanwu Realm powerhouses from the Imperial Dragon Sect to speak. He immediately seized the opportunity and said coldly, ”Weren’t you making a bet with the Ye Family? I’ll give you a chance. How about a bet with me? Fight me. If I lose, I’ll turn around and leave. If you lose, the Xu Family will withdraw from Celestial Phoenix City, and the City Lord’s Mansion will belong to the Shen Family from now on!”

”But you’d better think clearly first. You had a hand in my father being poisoned with corpse toxin, and you were the one who passed information to the Evil Wind Valley to frame the Shen Family. Once we’re on the battle stage, I will kill you. You won’t have a chance to run!”

Shen Lang’s bone-chilling words echoed across the Martial Arts Arena.

The crowd in the stands immediately burst into discussion again. The twists and turns came one after another, shrouding everything in mystery...

The key point was that the person doing all this, saying all this, was a sixteen-year-old boy. Nothing could be more shocking than that.

BZZZT!

Xu Daolin felt his head swim for a moment before he snapped back to his senses!

Shen Lang’s words were a wake-up call. ’So he knows everything... This was his goal all along! I was preparing to crush the Ye Family and seize Celestial Phoenix City in a blaze of glory... The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. While I was scheming against the Ye Family, Shen Lang was scheming against me! Everything I was doing, he was doing too! Because... he knew everything... and he laid this trap for me from the very beginning!’

As Shen Lang once again challenged Xu Daolin to a fight, the entire arena fell completely silent.

Everyone had witnessed Shen Lang’s power. Just now, the Xuanwu Realm powerhouse had revealed that Xu Daolin’s original cultivation was at the Spirit Martial Realm First Heaven, and he had only raised it to the Spirit Martial Realm Third Heaven by relying on a legendary Evil Pill. Even if he truly was at the Spirit Martial Realm Third Heaven, how could he possibly contend with Shen Lang?

Even Ye Juexin, at the Spirit Martial Realm Fifth Heaven, had been utterly defeated while using the Shadow Barrier and Celestial Silkworm Silk. As long as Xu Daolin had a shred of sanity, there was no way he would agree to fight him, right?

But everything that had happened before, all the glory that should have been Xu Daolin’s, had been snatched away by Shen Lang.

Now Xu Daolin was completely on the back foot. Besides this path, what other choice did he have?

”Ye Xiao Zheng is a beast, but the people from the Xu Family are no better! They didn’t break into the City Lord’s Mansion with their own strength; they relied on the power of the Imperial Dragon Sect! That’s basically cheating!”

”Yeah, if people from the Imperial Dragon Sect can get involved in a struggle between Cyan Wood Level forces, then what’s the point of fairness?”

”I don’t get it. The Imperial Dragon Sect is such a powerful Sect. Any two disciples from there could easily sweep through all the Cyan Wood Level forces. What could the Xu Family possibly have to entice them into doing something like this? Could it be just because Xu Daolin is also from the Imperial Dragon Sect, so they...”

”I don’t know. All I know is that Xu Daolin is finished, and for some reason, I feel great about it!”

The whispers from the stands carried over, reaching the ears of Xu Daolin and the people from the Imperial Dragon Sect.

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on Xu Daolin.

To fight or not to fight—he needed to give a clear answer now.

If he agreed to fight, not only his life and death were on the line, but also the fate of Celestial Phoenix City—whether it would belong to the Shen Family or the Xu Family.

Given the recent rumors about Shen Lang and all the preceding events, the vast majority of people in the Martial Arts Arena hoped that Shen Lang would win.

At this moment, the Xu Family and Xu Daolin were almost completely isolated.

Even the few powerhouses from the Imperial Dragon Sect wouldn’t spare him a proper glance...

”HAHAHA!” Xu Daolin suddenly burst into maniacal laughter. ”Shen Lang, oh, Shen Lang, you’re too naive! Ye Xiao Zheng colluding with the Demon Dao is one thing, but my Xu Family seizing the City Lord’s Mansion is another entirely! You can’t mix them up! So what if that Demon Martial Artist truly died at your hands? At most, the Imperial Dragon Sect will commend your Shen Family and give you some rewards! But the rules of the game won’t change because of that. In a dog-eat-dog power struggle, unless there are special circumstances, the Imperial Dragon Sect won’t interfere in the conflicts of lower-level forces, nor will they hand Celestial Phoenix City over to your Shen Family as a prize!”

”Your Shen Family doesn’t have the strength!”

”You want to take advantage of my moment of confusion, to twist right and wrong, to muddle the facts, and trick me into agreeing to a battle with Celestial Phoenix City as the stake? Absolutely impossible! You can dream on!”

Xu Daolin’s frantic words echoed throughout the entire Martial Arts Arena.

Not just the people in the surrounding stands, but even the members of the Imperial Dragon Sect fell silent.

He wasn’t wrong. In a place like Celestial Phoenix City, if any Cyan Wood Level force could overwhelm the City Lord’s Mansion and had backing from a higher power, they could conquer it overnight.

Afterward, they would offer a large tribute to the superior faction, and the city’s ownership would change hands.

As long as they didn’t do something excessive like massacring an entire family, the superior factions wouldn’t easily get involved in the struggles of their subordinates.

This was why many vassal forces under a major power were often hostile to one another, engaged in endless conflict.

As long as it didn’t affect the superior faction, they generally wouldn’t intervene no matter how much their subordinates fought and killed each other.

The only reassuring rule was that powerhouses from superior factions were not allowed to participate in the conflicts between Cyan Wood Level forces.

That was why Xu Daolin and his group had plotted for so long, relying only on the Xu Family and a few of Xu Daolin’s fellow disciples to execute their plan.

Yuwen Huaji, on the other hand, could only hide in the shadows and could not show his face directly.

The victor becomes king, the loser is a bandit. Endless slaughter, the law of the jungle.

The rules of this world were just that cruel.

Xu Daolin had snapped out of it at the critical moment, regaining a sliver of confidence and finding a legitimate reason to reject the fight with Shen Lang.

The situation was now clear. At worst, he would just stop competing with Shen Lang for the limelight and let Shen Lang have his moment of glory.

’But for the Shen Family to want Celestial Phoenix City, that’s just a dream!’

With the Shen Family’s current strength, besides Shen Lang’s tyrannical cultivation, they had no other noteworthy experts!

They didn’t even have a respectable guard force composed of experts!

Meanwhile, the Xu Family not only had Xu Daolin’s fellow disciples from the Imperial Dragon Sect as support, but they had also already absorbed more than half of Celestial Phoenix City’s original forces. What could the Shen Family possibly use to fight the Xu Family?

At a time like this, how could Xu Daolin be stupid enough to have a one-on-one duel with the absurdly powerful Shen Lang?

Watching the smugly laughing Xu Daolin, Shen Lang’s brow furrowed slightly, then he broke into a grin. ”Whether the Shen Family has strength or not isn’t for you to decide. Why do you think I let you guys run around causing trouble for so long? Besides waiting for an opportunity, I was also waiting for some people.”

”Hmm?”

An ominous feeling instantly rose in Xu Daolin’s heart.

But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t imagine what other card Shen Lang could possibly have up his sleeve.

To seize the Celestial Phoenix City Lord’s Mansion, one needed real power and forces. With only Shen Lang, unless his cultivation had reached the Xuanwu Realm, it was absolutely impossible for the Shen Family to defeat the Xu Family!

But why was Shen Lang still so calm?

Right now, there wasn’t a single force within Celestial Phoenix City capable of defeating the current Xu Family.

The current Xu Family had already annexed the City Lord’s Mansion, controlled most of its forces, and had many Imperial Dragon Sect disciples hidden among them. Even if the other three of the four great families joined forces, they would be no match for the Xu Family.

Even if the forces in the surrounding stands favored the Shen Family, they were all fair-weather friends. It was impossible for them to form a temporary alliance to help the Shen Family.

Many of them even had grudges or conflicts of interest, big and small, with the Shen Family.

As for the Treasure Pavilion, that was a power even the Imperial Dragon Sect was wary of.

But as a strictly neutral faction, their people would absolutely never participate in a battle for control over a place like Celestial Phoenix City!

’So what other force could possibly help Shen Lang? There’s absolutely no one else! Is this bastard just bluffing?’

Xu Daolin’s eyes darted back and forth. He racked his brain but couldn’t figure out what Shen Lang could possibly rely on to seize Celestial Phoenix City.

Even if the Imperial Dragon Sect powerhouses here appreciated Shen Lang, they would never offend Yuwen Huaji for his sake.

And they certainly wouldn’t get involved in the struggle of a minor Cyan Wood Level force just because he exposed Ye Xiao Zheng’s collusion with the Demon Dao.

The more Xu Daolin thought, the happier and more relaxed he became.

An unconcealable smile finally appeared on his face. ”Shen Lang, do you think you have me cornered? After all your tricks, it turns out your goal was to seize Celestial Phoenix City all along, but you forgot one crucial point! Unless you can assemble a force that can contend with the original City Lord’s Mansion, don’t even think about touching Celestial Phoenix City! Those old geezers from your Shen Family can’t even handle a few of my fellow disciples. Where else are you going to find people to challenge me? There are no other forces in Celestial Phoenix City qualified to fight us!”

Shen Lang remained quietly silent, uncharacteristically saying nothing more.

It seemed as if he had run out of things to say...

Suddenly, the expressions of the several Xuanwu Realm powerhouses from the Imperial Dragon Sect changed as they all turned their gaze toward the distant sky.

At that very moment, several figures streaked across the distant sky like comets, breaking through the air!

”I wonder if my Evil Wind Valley is qualified?”

The person had not yet arrived, but a vigorous and powerful voice boomed like thunder from the distance.