Strongest War Emperor

Just as Shen Lang, exhausted to the point of collapse, finally finished refining a Death God Nail, he suddenly realized Xue Dangdang had followed him…

With a thought, Shen Lang immediately exited the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron.

He saw Xue Dangdang up ahead, her red dress fluttering as she flew forward like a fairy.

Shen Lang grinned, waved, and called out, "Hey, beautiful! I'm here!"

Xue Dangdang gracefully spun around, and without so much as a greeting, she lashed out with her whip.

The Celestial Artifact Kunlun Whip. Even a casual flick could stir up a raging Gang Feng and warp space itself. It was an exceptionally rare Divine Weapon.

Xue Dangdang kept saying she wanted to kill Shen Lang, but how could she actually bring herself to do it?

This lash of the whip was merely to vent some frustration.

Besides, since Shen Lang had been caught off guard once before, he should have been able to handle it with ease the second time…

Unexpectedly, this was a moment when Shen Lang was at his absolute weakest.

No matter how strong his methods or how high his Cultivation, Shen Lang wasn't made of iron… He was already half-dead from the effort of breaking the Candle Dragon's Array and the Candle Dragon Black Flame Barrier.

Then, to refine the Death God Nail, he had completely exhausted his Divine Thought, leaving him weaker than he had ever been!

Seeing Xue Dangdang act so unpredictably with an attack from the Kunlun Whip—the Lifebound Celestial Artifact of the once-legendary Naluo King—Shen Lang, who had never intended to fight her, let out a strange cry and turned to flee!

However, a Celestial Artifact was a Celestial Artifact. Even if Xue Dangdang couldn't unleash its true power, the incredibly weak Shen Lang was still in for it!

He had only managed to dart a hundred meters away when, with a WHOOSH, his world turned upside down, and he couldn't tell north from south!

If he had been at his peak, and given his familiarity with the Kunlun Whip, he would have had ways to deal with it.

But this time, Shen Lang's Divine Thought was so depleted that he couldn't even summon the Labrador from his Immortal Celestial Saber.

Besides, even if he could, would there have been enough time?

CRACK!

The whip struck Shen Lang squarely in the back!

An overwhelming force slammed into him. Shen Lang grunted and shot toward the ground like a cannonball!

BOOM!

Not far from the large hole that had been clawed out by Mo Qingwu, a human-shaped crater appeared, only slightly smaller than the first.

Xue Dangdang stared blankly at the crater on the ground. It took a long moment for her to react. She stamped her foot fiercely in the air and muttered, 'This idiot, why didn't he even try to dodge!'

Her figure blurred as she flew down swiftly and peered into the pit.

All she could see was swirling dust and pitch-black darkness; at first glance, she couldn't make out any sign of Shen Lang.

With a casual wave of her hand, Xue Dangdang sent out a burst of Powerful Qi, scattering the dust.

She then focused her vision and looked down to see Shen Lang sprawled out on his back at the bottom of the pit, silent and still.

Xue Dangdang swept her Divine Thought over him and found that the Shen Lang at the bottom of the pit was indeed extremely weak. She couldn't help but ask, "Hey, you're not dead, are you? Make a sound if you're not!"

Hearing her voice, Shen Lang struggled to open his eyes from the bottom of the pit.

He looked up at Xue Dangdang and arduously extended his right hand, as if grasping for a final lifeline.

"Dingdang…"

Shen Lang's voice was hoarse as he managed to utter her name.

But his hand had barely risen, and his head had only lifted slightly, when with a soft THUD, both his head and hand fell back to the ground. He became completely silent and still.

She had been tricked by Shen Lang like this once before, back in the Hidden Moon Tomb.

Seeing him pull the same trick again, her heart still gave an inexplicable pang, a searing pain.

The main thing was, after saving the Naluo King, Shen Lang had impatiently rushed to refine a Death God Nail. His Divine Thought was now depleted and he had barely any Spiritual Power left. He was, in fact, at his absolute weakest.

Xue Dangdang opened her mouth, but no words came out.

She wanted to fly down and check on him, but she was afraid of being deceived again.

Just then, a scene flashed through Xue Dangdang's mind. 'Wait a minute! That bastard was hit in the back by my whip. He was clearly face-down when he fell, so how is he on his back in the crater? And let's not even talk about me not wanting to kill him… even if I did, could a casual flick of my whip like that really kill him?'

'Back on Cangxia Mountain, even when that Celestial Demon with its Demon's Tyranny appeared, he wasn't harmed in the slightest, right?'

Thinking of this, Xue Dangdang froze again. 'Why… why was I just thinking that I don't want to kill him anymore? Do I really not want to kill him? Then why am I still lying to myself…'

Overcome with a mixture of shame and anger, Xue Dangdang focused all her Spiritual Power into her right foot and stomped down hard!

A loud rumble echoed as the ground completely collapsed. A tide of earth and rock surged downwards, instantly burying Shen Lang alive!

Sure enough, the moment the ground gave way…

A surge of Energy erupted from below, and a figure shot into the sky!

"Dingdang, you're so cruel! Were you really going to bury me alive?" Shen Lang said with a strange laugh, steadying himself in the air.

Xue Dangdang flashed a smile and said in a soft, delicate voice, "What do you think? Do you really think I'd believe a word you say, you scoundrel?"

"I wasn't faking it when you hit me just now," Shen Lang said, spreading his hands helplessly. "I've never been this weak… If it weren't for my Xingtian Battle Armor, that whip of yours would have definitely crippled me."

Xue Dangdang glanced at the Armor on Shen Lang's body but said nothing.

Shen Lang continued, "Don't you want to kill me? Now is actually the perfect time… Your Kunlun Whip has endless wondrous uses. If you use it well, killing me won't be difficult. Aren't you going to give it a try?"

Xue Dangdang was taken aback, her almond-shaped eyes wide. "What trick are you playing now! Do I need you to remind me whether I want to kill you or not? You want me to kill you, so I won't! What can you do about it?"

"Nothing." Shen Lang looked a little dejected as he started flying forward. As he flew, he said, "I just want you to know one thing. I have no defenses up against you. If it were any other King Martial Realm expert below the King Martial Realm Fifth Heaven, they wouldn't have a chance of hurting me."

"If you really want to kill me, now is the best time."

"But if, deep down, you don't want to kill me anymore… then let's walk together for a while, okay?"

After saying this, Shen Lang turned his head to look at Xue Dangdang and fell silent.

Xue Dangdang's lips twitched a couple of times before she broke into a captivating smile. "A walk sounds fine. I'd like to see what other schemes and tricks you have up your sleeve! Whatever you've got, bring it on! I'm not afraid of you!"

Shen Lang's lips curled. He gestured dramatically with his right hand. "It's a date, then! Come, dead dog!"

Xue Dangdang, who had just been smiling, paled instantly. Without any warning, she lashed out with her long whip again!

Poor Shen Lang had been telling the truth. He truly had no defenses up against Xue Dangdang, and he was indeed at his absolute weakest. Before he could react, the whip struck him again. He cried out in pain as he smashed another large crater into the ground.

SWISH!

Shooting into the sky once more, Shen Lang stomped his feet in the air. "Dammit! I tell you to attack, you don't! I ask you to walk, you attack! You never play by the rules!"

"Who told you to call me a 'dead dog'?!" Xue Dangdang said, pouting angrily as she raised her whip again.

Shen Lang rolled his eyes. "That's a foreign language… uh, a dialect from a certain place. It means 'let's go'. Sigh, being uncultured is a scary thing!"

"Who are you calling uncultured?!" Xue Dangdang blushed and feigned another strike.

Shen Lang shrugged, tilted his head, and smiled. "Let's go."

Xue Dangdang pouted and shot Shen Lang a sidelong glance before actually flying up beside him. "Hey, what exactly was our relationship before? Can you tell me about the past?"

"You want to know about the past? It's a long story… Okay, I'll give you the short version," Shen Lang said with a smile. "The first time I met you, I was getting my ass kicked by a mob from the Celestial God Academy… The bastards didn't dare fight me one-on-one, so they all ganged up on me. Back then, I was brave and invincible…"

"You were getting your ass kicked, so what's this 'brave and invincible' crap? Tell the truth, stop talking nonsense!" Xue Dangdang scolded.

"Uh, I was just trying to lighten the mood, add a little spice, you know? Anyway, this is what happened…" Shen Lang then began to recount everything, bit by bit, from the first time he met Xue Dangdang to when they were last separated.

While Shen Lang was beginning to tell Xue Dangdang about their past, in the northeast of the Yumu Cave Blessed Land, more than two thousand li from the Dragon Scale Divine Hall, a mysterious person in a white robe blocked the path of a young man with a stately air.

This mysterious person in white simply floated weightlessly in the void. They released no aura, and their face was obscured by a layer of mist, making it impossible to discern their gender or age.

And the young man opposite them was none other than Dugu Zhange, the one who had been defeated by Shen Lang on Cangxia Mountain and subsequently rescued by the Celestial Demon!

"We haven't met in five thousand years, Brother Celestial Demon. Your grace is as impressive as ever. Truly a joyous occasion," the white-robed person said leisurely. "However, this child has a special connection to the War God Hall. I hope you will leave him behind."

The voice was incredibly magnetic, instantly giving one the impression that the white-robed person was a refined and handsome middle-aged man.

Black Flame surged on the face of "Dugu Zhange" opposite him, and a voice that made one's eardrums ache rang out, "Heh heh, to think that Bai Luobing, the White Banner Master of the War God Hall's Five-Colored Banner, would come in person! What a grand display of power! Should I be flattered?"

After that sarcastic remark, his tone shifted abruptly. "Others may fear your War God Hall's Five-Colored Banner, but I, Celestial Demon Mo Wudao, don't give a damn about you! I just want to ask one thing: on what grounds do you think you can make me leave this child behind?"

Bai Luobing didn't get angry. He continued in his magnetic voice, "On no grounds in particular. Brother Celestial Demon, what stands before me now is merely a fragmented wisp of your Soul Thought. Furthermore, it has already suffered heavy damage and is extremely weak. If I wished to kill you, it would take no effort at all."

"Are you threatening me?" Celestial Demon Mo Wudao roared.

Bai Luobing waved his hand. "I have no intention of threatening you. I just want Brother Celestial Demon to understand one thing. I am standing here to negotiate with you, not to fight you to the death…"

"Five thousand years ago, the Five-Color Banner Masters of the War God Hall went to the Secret Realms that sealed your head, chest, hands, feet, and abdomen. As for me, I went to the Dugu Family, where your head was sealed."

"Brother Celestial Demon, why don't you consider this: with my power, why did I not only fail to reinforce the Seal, but instead deliberately create a breach, giving you the opportunity to escape to freedom?"

Celestial Demon Mo Wudao was stunned. "You left that breach on purpose?"

"What do you think?" Bai Luobing said faintly.

Celestial Demon Mo Wudao's expression flickered several times. "You people were plotting against me five thousand years ago? I don't believe it! Not a single word you humans say can be trusted!"

The moment his words fell, an immense pressure instantly enveloped the White Banner Master, Bai Luobing.

Killing intent erupted!