Strongest War Emperor

A waterfall like a silver river cascaded from the mountaintop, filling the air with a vast, ethereal mist.

Atop a large boulder beside the waterfall, Shen Lang sat cross-legged. A faint barrier of light emanated from his body, blocking all the splashing mist.

Before Shen Lang, a square-shaped yet incredibly complex, translucent phantom floated slowly.

This was the half-finished Fire Element Mansion, projected from within Shen Lang’s Tai Chi Diagram.

At that moment, the construction of the Fire Element Mansion within the Tai Chi Diagram had reached a critical stage.

Shen Lang stood beside the World Tree. Countless threads coiled around his hands, connecting to the Fire Element Mansion as he accelerated its formation.

Inside the Fire Element Mansion, a small Vermilion Bird shrieked in fury, darting left and right and constantly disrupting the mansion’s formation.

No sooner had the intricate circuits inside the Fire Element Mansion connected than the Vermilion Bird would destroy most of them.

It was like a skyscraper under construction, but with a tyrannical force inside constantly dismantling it...

Unlike in the Xuanwu Realm, condensing an Elements Mansion in the King Martial Realm was far more difficult.

And the difficulty Shen Lang now faced in condensing the Fire Element Mansion far surpassed that of any King Martial Realm powerhouse.

Because...

He was using the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire to condense his Elements Mansion!

No Martial Artist of the Human Race had ever done such a thing in all of history!

Even with the War Emperor’s memories, Shen Lang’s current attempt to condense the Fire Element Mansion was a perilous one.

If he failed, the entire Elements Mansion and the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire within would explode, and the Divine Thought controlling its formation would surely be annihilated.

If such a powerful Divine Thought were to be destroyed, Shen Lang’s Divine Soul would suffer unprecedented damage!

But Shen Lang obviously wasn’t going to give up so easily...

From the King Martial Realm’s Second Heaven to its Ninth Heaven, a Martial Artist had the chance to condense one Elements Mansion at each level.

Although an Elements Mansion from the King Martial Realm served the same function as one from the Xuanwu Realm, its fundamental nature was completely different.

An Elements Mansion from the Xuanwu Realm was like a square box that stored Spiritual Power of a corresponding attribute, ready to be called upon at any time.

An Elements Mansion from the King Martial Realm, however, was like a complex and precise skyscraper. While it also stored Spiritual Power of a corresponding attribute, it represented a qualitative leap. It could not only store a hundred or even a thousand times more Spiritual Power than a Xuanwu Realm mansion, but the speed at which that power could be drawn upon was also countless times faster—nearly instantaneous.

Constructing an Elements Mansion in the Xuanwu Realm used Spiritual Power for everything. It was built and shaped by Spiritual Lines formed from Spiritual Power.

Constructing an Elements Mansion in the King Martial Realm, however, required not only a much vaster amount of Spiritual Power, but also the Martial Artist’s understanding of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth and its Rules.

If the stones used to build this skyscraper were Spiritual Power, then one’s understanding of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth and the mansion’s corresponding attribute would be the countless steel reinforcements within.

To build a Fire Element Mansion, a Martial Artist needed a considerable understanding of fire, as well as a certain level of powerful Spiritual Power within their body.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for the Fire Element Mansion to form at all.

Shen Lang’s understanding of fire had already reached the Great Emperor Level, and the Fire Element Spiritual Power converted within his Tai Chi Diagram was more than enough to condense an extremely powerful Fire Element Mansion.

But what Shen Lang was attempting to do now was not to condense an ordinary Fire Element Mansion.

He was going to condense a Vermilion Bird Divine Fire Elements Mansion!

From ancient times to the present, no Martial Artist of the Human Race had ever accomplished such a feat.

Because the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire had never before appeared in any living creature other than a Vermilion Bird!

Even though Shen Lang had used the Tai Chi Diagram to analyze and reassemble the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire countless times, and his understanding of it was now no weaker than that of the Vermilion Bird Race, constructing this Vermilion Bird Divine Fire Elements Mansion remained an incredibly strenuous effort.

Although the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire in the Elements Mansion belonged to Shen Lang, created by him using the Tai Chi Diagram, the innate ability of a Divine Beast was inherently violent—not a power an ordinary person could possibly control.

On one hand, Shen Lang used his Divine Thought to communicate with the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire within the Elements Mansion, striving to suppress it.

On the other, he focused his entire mind on constructing the mansion, allowing it to perfect itself and rapidly take shape at a visible rate!

With Shen Lang’s current understanding of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, building an ordinary Fire Element Mansion would have been effortless.

But building a Vermilion Bird Divine Fire Elements Mansion like this was ten, even a hundred times more difficult than it would be for an ordinary Martial Artist to build a normal Fire Element Mansion!

Sitting by the waterfall, large beads of sweat rolled down Shen Lang’s forehead.

Although the Tai Chi Diagram could condense Alien Energies like the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire and Netherworld Qi at any time, their complex structures meant that it was impossible to condense very much in a short period.

This was why, back in the Stone Forest, Shen Lang had been able to condense two streams of Netherworld Qi to grievously injure two King Martial Realm Fifth Heaven Powerhouses, but hadn’t immediately used the move again to eliminate the others.

Furthermore, if the condensed Vermilion Bird Divine Fire and Netherworld Qi were to remain in the Tai Chi Diagram for too long, not only would Shen Lang have to divert his focus to maintain them, but the different types of Alien Energy could also easily clash.

Thus, after reaching King Martial Realm Second Heaven, condensing an Elements Mansion became a necessity.

If it were just ordinary Fire Spiritual Power, the Spiritual Power within the Tai Chi Diagram could be called upon and transformed in an instant, with no need to refine an Elements Mansion at all.

But to maximize the power of the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire and Netherworld Qi, he had to refine Elements Mansions to store large quantities of these two Alien Energies.

Standing at the edge of the World Tree, all ten of Shen Lang’s fingers twitched at an astonishingly fast frequency.

The Spiritual Lines extending from his fingertips whizzed around the Elements Mansion, building it up piece by piece and causing the Fire Element Mansion to rapidly take shape.

”SKREEE!”

The Vermilion Bird inside the Fire Element Mansion let out a shrill cry. Its aura surged as a tyrannical power spilled forth and began to frantically assault the mansion.

’Can’t you just behave, you little terror? I’m making a nice, stable home for you, not trying to cook you in a stew!’

The instant the Vermilion Bird attacked, the pressure on Shen Lang increased dramatically.

More than half of the newly constructed parts of the Elements Mansion collapsed under the Vermilion Bird’s assault.

Until it was fully formed, the Elements Mansion could hardly contain the Vermilion Bird.

If not for Shen Lang’s Divine Thought suppressing it, the creature would have likely broken out of its cage long ago.

’This isn’t working. At this rate, how long is it going to take to finish one Elements Mansion?’

Shen Lang struggled to suppress the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire. Feeling its power grow increasingly berserk, he frowned slightly.

’Little Tree, come help me out! I’m about to lose control,’ Shen Lang called out in his mind.

The next moment, eight branches WHIZZED out from the World Tree beside him. They pierced through the eight faces of the Elements Mansion and instantly skewered the Vermilion Bird within!

The Vermilion Bird, which had been so fierce just moments before, darting left and right...was immediately suppressed upon contact with the branches, as if it had met its natural predator. It couldn’t even budge!

’It was that simple?’ Shen Lang was stunned. ’I held back because you were in the middle of refining the Tribulation Thunder. I was afraid of diverting your strength, but I never thought...’

Just as Shen Lang had this thought, the Golden Tribulation Thunder on the World Tree suddenly shuddered, causing the entire tree to tremble!

’Don’t tell me I actually broke the balance?’ Shen Lang thought in alarm. ’Just hold on a little longer! I’ll be done in a second!’

Shen Lang’s playful attitude vanished, and he focused his entire mind on constructing the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire Elements Mansion.

Without the Vermilion Bird’s interference, the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire Elements Mansion immediately began to perfect itself, rapidly taking shape at a visible rate!

Meanwhile, because the World Tree had diverted some of its power to suppress the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire, the ball of Golden Tribulation Thunder wrapped in its branches began to tremble more and more violently!

It felt to Shen Lang like a race against time for life and death!

’Just a little longer, just a little longer!’

Shen Lang made broad, sweeping gestures with his hands. Energy from the Tai Chi Diagram surged forth, rushing along the Spiritual Lines toward the Elements Mansion.

Time ticked by, second by second.

Just as the World Tree seemed to let out a pained cry and the Golden Tribulation Thunder’s vibrations grew ever more intense...

”Divine Fire, shatter! Elements Mansion, condense!”

The eight branches extending into the Elements Mansion simultaneously erupted with a brilliant Spirit Light, crushing the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire—which had taken the form of a Vermilion Bird—into countless fragments.

Just as the fragments were about to converge again, innumerable Spiritual Lines erupted from within the Fire Element Mansion. They instantly entangled the shards of Vermilion Bird Divine Fire and yanked them toward the mansion’s walls!

The power of the now-formed Elements Mansion was immense and unfathomable. It instantly absorbed the thousands of fragments of Vermilion Bird Divine Fire into its walls, making them a part of its very structure!

The next moment, outside the mansion, Shen Lang condensed another stream of Vermilion Bird Divine Fire, which gushed forth and completely enveloped the structure.

This ridiculously powerful Vermilion Bird Divine Fire seeped into the Elements Mansion just like water.

The Fire Element Mansion grew increasingly solid, its light shining ever brighter.

Finally, when viewed from the outside, the entire Elements Mansion seemed to be forged completely from the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire, with terrifying flames flickering both inside and out!

”Success!”

Shen Lang exclaimed softly.

The eight branches quickly retracted, and the violently shaking World Tree at last grew still.

”Good job!” Shen Lang said, gently patting the World Tree’s trunk.

Like a child receiving praise, a pleased and contented thought emanated from the World Tree.

Shen Lang could even hear the faint, silvery chime of laughter!

’It seems the World Tree urgently needs to replenish its energy,’ Shen Lang mused. ’Right now, it’s maintaining a delicate balance with the Tribulation Thunder. Siphoning off even a tiny bit of its power could shatter that equilibrium...’

Shen Lang glanced at the Tribulation Thunder hanging from the branches, gave a slight nod, and immediately withdrew from the Tai Chi Diagram.

At that moment, his cross-legged Nascent Soul opened its eyes.

As a divine light surged, the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire Elements Mansion from the Tai Chi Diagram appeared, floating gently before the Nascent Soul.

Shen Lang’s Nascent Soul reached out a finger and gently touched the Elements Mansion, which immediately began to spin.

At the same time, energy within the Tai Chi Diagram was constantly condensing into Vermilion Bird Divine Fire, which was then continuously channeled into the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire Elements Mansion.

’I just need a few days. Once the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire Elements Mansion has stored up enough Divine Fire, even if I run into that Rock Demon Lord again, I’ll have enough power to cripple him with a single palm strike!’

By the waterfall, Shen Lang shot to his feet and let out a long roar toward the heavens!

At that moment, a terrifying aura swept out from his body, sending the birds and beasts in the surrounding forest scattering in panic!

An incomparably tyrannical power burst forth, forcing the waterfall to reverse its flow and surge upward!

King Martial Realm Second Heaven!