Strongest War Emperor

Chapter 28: Chapter 24: He Should Be Punished

The two were scared out of their wits, but Shen Lang wasn’t worried at all.

He said slowly, "There’s an old saying: ’You can’t build something new without tearing down the old.’ If you can’t fix a broken mess, don’t even try. It’s better to treat the mess as a new starting point."

Then, his Divine Thought, five senses, and emotions all seemed to merge into the world of the Spirit Array Map as he completely immersed himself.

Within the Spirit Array Map, his consciousness sped through its inner starscape. The crisscrossing stars offered no resistance at all.

By now, the starscape inside the Spirit Array Map was in utter chaos. Many stars had strayed from their original orbits, hurtling about violently.

A constant roaring sound echoed in Shen Lang’s mind, making him frown slightly.

Without a moment’s thought, his Divine Thought took control of a few stars in a corner, guiding them to slowly follow the path he set.

He was guiding them, not blocking them.

At this moment, all the stars in the Spirit Array Map were extremely volatile, flying at high speeds with no fixed trajectories. But in Shen Lang’s view, guiding these speeding stars was even easier than moving a stationary one.

He only needed to give a speeding star a slight nudge with his Divine Thought. Like using a tiny force to deflect a thousand pounds, he easily altered its trajectory.

With that, everything became much simpler.

In just a short while, he had controlled a few stars to form a constellation, which began to orbit along a set path.

Once the constellation was formed, these stars immediately stabilized, no longer posing a threat.

Where Shen Lang came from before he crossed over, even children knew that the moon revolves around the Earth, and the Earth revolves around the sun.

And with the memories he obtained in his dream, he was a Master Level Artifact Refining Master, so all of this was incredibly simple for him.

Normally, when inscribing a Spirit Array Map, moving even one star to form a pattern with others required a great deal of Divine Thought. But now, Shen Lang was using a clever technique, following the stars’ flight paths to guide them. He then divided them into countless regions, forming many constellations, each operating independently.

Creating a Spirit Array Map was, in essence, about controlling the stars within it to form a complex pattern.

What Shen Lang was doing now was first organizing the countless speeding stars into individual constellations, finally stabilizing the chaotic Star Domain.

After constellations similar to Libra and Taurus formed one by one, the entire starscape was finally stable again.

Only then did Shen Lang begin to treat each of these constellations as a single star, starting to inscribe Spiritual Lines to connect them.

This sounded simple, but it was actually quite difficult to execute, as it required several very strict conditions.

First, each constellation, whether simple or complex, was actually a Spirit Array Map in itself, and each had to be completely different. If two identical Spirit Array Maps appeared within the larger one, they would not only clash but also easily cause chaos among the other constellations.

This meant that anyone attempting this would need to have studied many different Spirit Array Maps. Otherwise, it was unthinkable.

But Spirit Array Maps were a scarce resource. Even a Spirit Level Fourth Grade Artifact Refiner like Mo Liusheng only truly knew two or three Third Grade and Fourth Grade Spirit Array Maps. Even if you added in some Low Tier ones, it still wasn’t enough to use so extravagantly.

Second, of course, was the strength of one’s Divine Thought. With weak Divine Thought, even knowing how to do all this, one would be unable to execute it.

Shen Lang’s only drawback right now was that his Divine Thought wasn’t yet strong enough, making the process a little taxing.

But it was only a little taxing, not overly difficult. After all, Mo Liusheng’s Spirit Array Map was only Second Grade High Tier.

Just as Mo Liusheng and Xiao Qifeng were tasting bitterness in their mouths, Shen Lang’s eyes suddenly snapped open. With a flick of his right hand, he spun the long blade and then plunged it into the Black Iron table, where it emitted a dazzling blue light!

"Done. It’s a shame my Divine Thought is too weak and your materials are too ordinary. I estimate it’s a First Grade Profound Artifact," Shen Lang said, taking the towel Xiao Qifeng handed him to wipe away his sweat.

"Done... Really done? You’re not pulling my leg, are you? I’m an old man who’s seen a thing or two..." Mo Liusheng, whose face was just as sweaty, gripped the hilt with slightly trembling fingers and sent his Divine Thought into it.

’Profound Artifact? Don’t be ridiculous. These materials can’t reach the Profound Level, and the Spirit Array Map is even less likely to...’ "Holy crap!" The ever-composed and highly respected Dean let out a curse, then stood rooted to the spot, completely motionless.

Xiao Qifeng jumped, wanting desperately to go over, yank a few hairs from the Dean’s beard, and ask whether that "crap" was a good thing or a bad thing.

’This Shen Lang is terrifying enough. He’s so mysterious, and everything he does is enough to scare a person half to death...’

’But the Dean isn’t usually like this! Is it good or bad? A success or a failure? Just say something!’

’How can you just stand there in a daze at a time like this? If I thought I could beat you, I’d slap you a couple of times to wake you up!’

Of course, the Dean had no idea about the chaotic thoughts running through Xiao Qifeng’s mind...

His Divine Thought was still roaming through the Spirit Array Map. His excitement grew until he was on the verge of shedding tears of joy.

He wasn’t young anymore. Although being in his seventies or eighties was nothing in this world, he was still an old man with a long, flowing beard.

He had dedicated his Cultivation to Artifact Refining, but he was still just a Spirit Level Fourth Grade Artifact Refiner and hadn’t broken through in a long time.

He had even started to give up, thinking he would just live out his retirement peacefully at a place like Tayun Academy.

But now, a young man had appeared and restructured an original Third Grade Spirit Array Map into a Profound Level First Grade Spirit Array Map... This was like throwing open a window before him. A sunlit path had suddenly appeared in what was once a dark and gloomy future. He could faintly see the higher levels of the Artifact Refining Dao beckoning to him...

In light of everything this young man had revealed, the levels he once found unattainable now seemed laughably simple.

’Spirit Level Fourth Grade? Spirit Level Fifth Grade?... What I’m seeing is clearly the path to becoming a Master Level Artifact Refining Master!’

’It’s the legendary path of a Master!’

’They say that in life, besides your own hard work, you also need opportunities and the help of a benefactor. This is my benefactor!’

’An opportunity like this is once in a lifetime! You can’t seek it out; you can only hope to encounter it!’

Mo Liusheng’s heart pounded with excitement. His long beard trembled nonstop, and his expression became extremely humble as he actually bowed deeply to Shen Lang...

And it was the bow of a student to a teacher!

Although Xiao Qifeng had guessed that Shen Lang had succeeded, his brain still short-circuited at the sight of this scene.

"There’s no need for that, sir. I know a little about the Artifact Refining Dao, and I only came here to have a friendly exchange with the Dean," Shen Lang said. He couldn’t stand it when people were overly nice to him. He didn’t care much about Mo Liusheng’s status, but seeing a man of his age perform such a deep bow still made him a little uncomfortable.

Mo Liusheng’s face flushed red as he waved his hands repeatedly. "No, no, no! Don’t call me Dean or sir, you’re embarrassing me. Be it Martial Arts or the Artifact Refining Dao, skill and mastery always come first..."

"Alright, alright..." Shen Lang found his gaze a little unbearable and hurriedly said, "It’s like this. I came here mainly for one thing..."

"What is it?" Mo Liusheng paused for a moment, remembering that Shen Lang hadn’t come here just to crush his spirit or show off.

Xiao Qifeng had been speculating for a while. Hearing Shen Lang finally get to the point, he immediately pricked up his ears.

"I need six months’ worth of Contribution Points for Cultivation in the Artifact Refining Hall. It’s that simple. I was wondering if you could help me get them?" Shen Lang said with a smile, finally revealing his purpose.

"Six months? No problem! I’ll sort you out for sixty years if you want!" Mo Liusheng declared, patting his chest. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

This wasn’t an empty boast. He was the Dean of the Artifact Refining Institute, after all. Getting some Contribution Points was as easy as flipping his hand.

He could even let Shen Lang treat the Cultivation Hall as his own home.

"Then thank you. I’ll be leaving Tayun Academy in half a year. During this time, as long as I’m not in Cultivation, you can have someone find me in Martial Arts Class One if you run into any problems. But don’t come yourself. I don’t want any trouble." Shen Lang put the Celestial Water Blade back into his ring and said, "You’ve already seen the Spirit Array Map inside. Later, I’ll use a Jade Scroll to record a tutorial and have someone deliver it to you. As for how much you can comprehend from it, that’s up to you."

Mo Liusheng was thrilled. He waved his hands again. "No, no, no, how could I have you deliver it? In a few days, I’ll personally... ahem, I’ll have someone pick it up in three days."

"Then... what about me...?" Xiao Qifeng, standing to the side, mustered his courage and whispered his question.

"You?" Shen Lang paused for a moment, then smiled. "I’m sure the Dean wouldn’t mind taking on a disciple who can refine a Third Grade Spiritual Artifact, would he?"

"Ah, it’s so grating when you call me ’sir’. Look, you can’t stand it when I call you ’sir,’ and I’m uncomfortable when you call me that. If you don’t mind... I’m a bit older than you, so just call me ’old brother’—As for this young man... ahem, as long as you’re willing to learn by my side, I will take you as my Closed-door Disciple!" Mo Liusheng truly was a crafty old fox. He had figured out Shen Lang’s temperament in just a few sentences and closed the distance between them with a single phrase.

"Closed-door Disciple..." Xiao Qifeng’s legs went soft, and he nearly collapsed again.

This happiness had come too suddenly; he hadn’t had time to fully process it.

Perhaps someone outside heard the words "closed-door," because the main doors of the Artifact Refining Hall were shoved open violently. A crazed-looking Xiao Chunfeng stormed in.

"Dean, you mustn’t be deceived! This Shen Lang is the trash of the Shen Family, a notorious good-for-nothing at Tayun Academy! Just now, during your lecture, he knocked me unconscious when I wasn’t looking! He has no respect for you at all! You absolutely cannot give someone like him such good treatment! You can’t exclude us just to give this piece of trash private instruction! He should be punished! He should be hung from the Profound Ice Cliff for three days and three nights!" Xiao Chunfeng practically roared.

He didn’t see the look in Xiao Qifeng’s eyes as he stared at him as if looking at a dead man...

Mo Liusheng’s face darkened. "Trash? Instruction? Punishment?"

’You little bastard, do you have any idea what you’re saying?’

’Do you know that the ’trash’ you’re talking about could become a Master Level Artifact Refining Master!’

’I’m trying to get *him* to teach *me* right now!’

’I spent all this time observing him, finally figured out his personality, and even got on brotherly terms with him, and now you barge in to ruin it! What the hell is your problem? Do I have some kind of grudge against you?’

"It’s true! The students outside can all testify for me! This piece of trash just knocked me out! Sir, you have to stand up for me!" Xiao Chunfeng didn’t notice Mo Liusheng’s murderous glare; instead, he thought the Dean was furious on his behalf!

’You little bastard, you actually dared to knock me out during the Dean’s class. You’re finished now. You’re completely finished. No one in heaven or on earth can save you! Just wait and see how the Dean punishes you!’ Xiao Chunfeng thought, looking at Shen Lang smugly, his face wreathed in a triumphant smile...