Strongest War Emperor

Xu Lianyou sat quietly by the window, recalling everything about her first meeting with Shen Lang.

That seemingly thin and frail figure had charged into the Netherworld Wolf Pack, reaping the lives of the Netherworld Wolves and saving the people of the Twin Dragon Sect, who had already fallen into complete despair.

Afterward, when the Beast Tide arrived, it was Shen Lang who led everyone, carving a bloody path out to ascend Celestial Pillar Peak.

In the end, he used the "Thunder Control Divine Technique" to summon the Nine Heavens Thunder Power, annihilating countless Demon Beasts. Then, he used a hastily crafted Flying Spiritual Artifact to allow the Twin Dragon Sect party to escape to safety.

From just that one incident, even though the two of them barely had time to exchange a few words, Xu Lianyou’s heart had been captured by Shen Lang.

Later, news spread of Shen Lang’s furious rampage in Celestial Phoenix City for the sake of a beauty, where he had slain Yuwen Huaji...

Xu Lianyou could only bury this affection deep in her heart, closing that door and never opening it again.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

Three knocks came from outside the door.

Xu Lianyou was slightly startled and quickly rolled up the scroll, putting it away.

"Come in." Xu Lianyou wiped the tears from her face, gathered her chaotic thoughts, and composed her expression.

Ouyang Zhong, the Vice Hall Master of the Twin Dragon Sect’s Cyan Wood Hall, walked in and said respectfully, "Second Miss, I’ve sent people to investigate. The Shen Lang that everyone on the streets is talking about... the one who killed a group from the Celestial Defying Demon Realm and forced the Third Prince to retreat—it’s very likely the same Shen Lang we know!"

"So what... if it is him?" Xu Lianyou coughed lightly and said faintly.

Ouyang Zhong’s spirits lifted. "If it really is the Shen Lang we know, then we can ask him for help! Then you wouldn’t need to make such a great sacrifice for the Twin Dragon Sect, Second Miss!"

"Even the Royal Family’s Elder Ancestor has to give him face, making the Third Prince slap himself for Shen Lang’s sake! If he’s willing to step in, our Twin Dragon Sect’s problems could be solved with just a few words!"

"That way, you won’t have to marry the Crown Prince and become the Crown Prince Consort!"

As Ouyang Zhong spoke, his expression became much more animated.

Xu Lianyou slowly shook her head. "We haven’t seen him, so we can’t be sure it’s him. Besides, even if it is, what right do we have to ask for his help? Although the Twin Dragon Sect has a cooperative relationship with the Shen Family, handling this matter means directly confronting the Royal Family."

"His previous actions have already caused the Royal Family to lose a great deal of face. If he gets involved in this matter, it will completely ruin his relationship with them..."

Ouyang Zhong sighed internally. ’The Second Miss’s feelings for Shen Lang truly run deep. Even at a time like this, she’s still thinking of him instead of her own situation.’

"How about this? Leave it to me. I’ll have Xia Yu go find Shen Lang... He’ll definitely have a way!"

Xu Lianyou remained silent, but an inexplicable tremor still stirred in her eyes.

After Ouyang Zhong left the room, Xu Lianyou rose and stood by the window, gazing out faintly.

"Perhaps you don’t even remember me at all, do you?"

"We’ve spoken fewer than ten sentences to each other... I’ve also heard about you and Nalan Ziyun..."

"By the time I mustered the courage to look for you in Celestial Phoenix City, you had already left."

...

By the time Shen Lang emerged from his Cultivation, it was already the afternoon of the next day.

The sun was setting in the west, and its lingering rays cast a golden glow across the courtyard.

The moment Shen Lang stepped outside the courtyard, he was slightly taken aback.

A surging crowd had gathered just outside, creating a lively scene.

A group from the Profound Dao Sect formed a tight circle in the front, while behind them, many women were pointing and gesturing in this direction.

’What’s all this commotion?’

Shen Lang had to use all his strength to squeeze through, only to see two people on the ground, trussed up like chickens.

The two were a young man in fine clothes and a bald-headed monk.

Both were bruised and swollen, soaked to the bone, and looked utterly miserable and pathetic.

After listening for a while, Shen Lang understood that these were two spies caught by Chen Tianci and his men.

The two had furtively snuck past the Profound Dao Sect disciples on patrol, emerged from the bottom of the lake, and even injured two disciples.

As a result, Chen Tianci had spotted them and captured them.

"Tianci, who are these two? Why did you beat them so badly? And this master... are you from the Buddhist Sect?" the Profound Dao Sect’s Sect Leader, Su Wenxuan, asked with some amusement.

However, both of them had their mouths gagged with cloth strips and could only muffle out sounds while shaking their heads repeatedly.

Ever since Shen Lang had killed the people from the Celestial Defying Demon Realm at the gate with an iron fist and then forced the Third Prince to retreat...

An unknown number of curious onlookers had started gathering outside the Profound Dao Sect’s gates, peeking and probing around for no particular reason.

Some wanted to build a connection with the Profound Dao Sect.

Some wanted to see what the legendary Shen Lang actually looked like.

And some were indeed spies sent by various powers... but it wasn’t a war, so Su Wenxuan couldn’t be bothered to deal with them.

’Spy all you want. What do you expect to find?’

But this time seemed different. Someone had actually crossed the disciples’ patrol line, injured Profound Dao Sect disciples, and made it all the way to the main gate!

Chen Tianci cupped his fists towards Su Wenxuan and Wang Dashu and said, "Sect Leader, there’s definitely something wrong with these two... Even if other people are snooping, they all stay two hundred meters away. These two actually crossed our patrol line and came by diving through the lake!"

"And these two have some nerve! They actually knocked out two of our fellow disciples... I happened to see it, so I gave them a beating and captured them."

At this point, Chen Tianci rubbed his fist and added, "This monk is strange. His body is as hard as a rock. My fist still hurts from hitting him!"

Just then, Chu Qingcheng walked over, yanked the gags from the mouths of the two on the ground, and slapped the young man’s face. "Idiot, what’s your name? Where are you from? Why did you attack people from my Profound Dao Sect?"

The young man looked up, saw Chu Qingcheng, and said with a tearful voice, "When you needed to borrow money, you called me ’brother.’ Now you call me ’idiot’ and ask for my name... You heartless man!"

The crowd immediately stared at Chu Qingcheng.

That was him in a nutshell: handsome, quick on his feet, and would hit you up for cash the moment he met you.

But based on what this guy was saying, their relationship seemed a little... ambiguous?

"Hmph! Don’t believe a word he says! He’s definitely trying to create a distraction and confuse everyone!" Chu Qingcheng declared righteously.

"Suspicious? You said you’d pay back the Spirit Stones you borrowed in half a year, but when I went to Celestial Phoenix City six months later, you had already disappeared!" the young man retorted.

The crowd nodded repeatedly. "So it’s one of Chu Qingcheng’s creditors? Looks like they really do know each other. But for Chu Qingcheng to borrow money and not pay it back, that’s really detestable!"

In an instant, everyone was staring at Chu Qingcheng, their eyes filled with disdain and disbelief.

"Everyone, don’t be fooled by this guy!" at this moment, Shen Jianfeng piped up from the side. "He’s saying that to make everyone think he and Chu Qingcheng know each other!"

Everyone immediately rolled their eyes. "Isn’t that obvious? We can all see that. Do you really need to point it out?"

Shen Jianfeng put on a mysterious expression and lowered his voice, "Actually, not only do they know each other, they know each other very well!"

"..." The crowd felt an urge to beat up Shen Jianfeng.

Shen Jianfeng gave a Mona Lisa-like smile and continued, "He wants everyone to think he’s deliberately framing Chu Qingcheng and isn’t on the same side, but how could a trick like that possibly fool me?"

"Actually, I saw through his trick right away. He wants us to think he’s deliberately framing Chu Qingcheng and isn’t on the same side. He’s using the fact that we think he’s on the same side as Chu Qingcheng, and then making us think they couldn’t possibly be on the same side, to cover up the fact that they are, in fact, on the same side!"

Before he could finish, the whole crowd was dizzy with confusion.

Nalan Ziyun lifted her foot and kicked the nonsensical guy away. "I’ll ask you one more time. What’s your name, where are you from, and what are you doing here? If you don’t talk, I’ll chop you into eight pieces!"

"No, don’t..." the young man in fine clothes wailed from the ground. "I’m a friend of Shen Lang! My name is Xia Yu! I’m here to ask for his help! Chu Qingcheng can vouch for me!"

Without a second thought, Nalan Ziyun’s Locking Chain rattled as she lashed out, striking the man until he was crying and howling.

"You dare lie to me? In just the last few hours, there have been at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, people who’ve come claiming to be Shen Lang’s friend... Just now, some trollop even claimed to be Shen Lang’s fiancée! Couldn’t you have come up with a better excuse?"

As Nalan Ziyun spoke, she lashed out with her Locking Chain again, making the onlookers click their tongues in astonishment.

Just then, Chu Qingcheng finally spoke up, "Uh, stop hitting him. I think I do remember someone like that... Xia Yu from the Twin Dragon Sect? Didn’t he run into trouble on the Tala Prairie and get saved by Xiaolang?"

Xia Yu started to cry. ’Couldn’t you have said that sooner? If you’d spoken up earlier, I wouldn’t have had to take those two lashes!’

"Oh, you know him?" Nalan Ziyun paused, then nonchalantly turned and walked away. "My apologies, then. I hit the wrong person."

At this moment, Shen Lang walked out, holding back his laughter as he untied the ropes on Xia Yu.

"If you had just stated your name and identity from the beginning, why would they have given you such a hard time?"

Hearing Shen Lang’s voice, Xia Yu froze. He sized up the masked man for a moment, then suddenly lunged forward and hugged Shen Lang’s leg. "Brother, it’s me, it’s me! I’m Xia Yu from the Twin Dragon Sect... Remember on the Tala Prairie when we ran into the Netherworld Wolf Pack? You were the one who saved me!"

"Oh, I know. You’re so handsome, I’d recognize you even if you were ashes!" Shen Lang said comfortingly. "You should have just said who you were earlier."

Xia Yu paused, feeling something was off. "It’s not that I didn’t say, they wouldn’t let me speak..."

"Outside the courtyard, I said I was your brother and from the Twin Dragon Sect, but they started hitting me before I could even finish my sentence!"

"They said they’d already beaten up more than thirty people today who claimed to be your brother..."

Looking at Xia Yu on the ground, beaten to a pulp, Shen Lang was speechless.

"Alright, stop crying. You’re getting tears and snot all over me... What do you need me for?"

Only then did Xia Yu finally remember his mission.

He quickly let go of Shen Lang’s leg and shouted:

"Brother, you have to go save her! Any later and the Second Miss will become the Crown Prince Consort!"

"Don’t panic. Tell me everything clearly," Shen Lang said, patting his shoulder.

Xia Yu, his face streaked with tears, said, "I... I came to ask for your help! People from our Twin Dragon Sect offended the Royal Family, and they only agreed to spare us because the Second Miss agreed to become the Crown Prince Consort! Otherwise, the Crown Prince is going to wipe out our Twin Dragon Sect... Shen Lang, you have to help the Second Miss!"