Free Web NovelChapter 409: Chapter 396: A Strange Woman Cold as Ice
Dongfang Jun scratched his head. "Hmm, still figuring it out, are you? Well, we’ll put that aside for now. But when the time comes, you absolutely can’t forget about this old man!"
As he spoke, the old man wrung his hands, his face contorting in agony. His eyes turned bloodshot, and he looked as if he bore some deep, bitter grievance.
It made Shen Lang wonder if he’d done something truly unforgivable to him.
Dongfang Jun rubbed his hands together again and said, "That palm strike of yours just now was far too powerful. If it had hit the Thunder Dragon, that kid Lin Bucai would have been crippled, if not killed. You’re not going to blame me for disrupting your attack, are you?"
"Um... we don’t have any major grudges here. It’s better to be merciful when you can, wouldn’t you agree?"
The people around them were stunned once again.
’The Elder Ancestor’s tone... not only did it lack the slightest hint of a command, but it sounded like he was outright begging!’
’The great Elder Ancestor of the sect was actually speaking to an Outer Disciple in such a tone...’
’This was simply unheard of!’
Shen Lang shook his head. "I never intended to kill him. Even if the Thunder Dragon had been shattered, he wouldn’t have died. I can control my power. If I truly wanted him dead, I wouldn’t have waited until now."
Only then did the surrounding crowd finally snap out of their daze.
Many of them patted their chests, feeling a wave of residual fear.
In the plaza, Hao Fengliu’s ample chest heaved violently. Her face was ashen, and her eyes were wide with shock.
Gazing at Shen Lang, who was still hovering above the churning lake, Hao Fengliu covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes flashing with indescribable terror.
She had gone to Songdu Peak, wanting to follow Shen Lang, so naturally, she had already heard from many people about how powerful he was.
She knew that her defeat that day hadn’t been unfair; Shen Lang hadn’t actually relied on a Talisman to beat her.
She also knew he could knock a Spirit Martial Realm Fourth Heaven Martial Artist unconscious with a single slap.
Even more recently, she had watched him cripple Qin Tianfeng with a single move. With another, he’d sent five masters of the Spirit Martial Realm’s Fifth and Sixth Heavens into a Soul Scattering panic, forcing a group of Xuanwu Realm Powerhouses to intervene...
But no matter how powerful those displays were, they were still battles within the Spirit Martial Realm.
Even though that previous move, "Netherworld Demon Tribulation," had been incomparably powerful and forced the Xuanwu Realm Powerhouses to act, it didn’t seem like something he could unleash at will.
It seemed to take a rather long time to gather the necessary power.
But seeing Shen Lang crush Lin Bucai, an expert at the Xuanwu Realm Fifth Heaven, forced her to reconsider whether she should still count him as an enemy.
’An enemy like that would be a nightmare for anyone!’
A Cultivation so powerful it drove one to despair;
A gaze that pierced through everything;
An eternal grasp on the initiative in any battle...
All of it, every last bit, shook Hao Fengliu to her very core.
The more she saw Shen Lang’s immense combat power Burst forth, the more unfathomable he seemed...
’This guy is the most terrifying person I’ve ever met in my entire life. You can only be friends with someone like this, never enemies!’
Within Hao Fengliu’s beautiful eyes was an indescribable mix of shock and terror, but also a glimmer of relief.
She was relieved that she hadn’t rushed up Songdu Peak to seek revenge just because Shen Lang had spanked her.
She was also relieved that she hadn’t harmed Shang Xiaoran when that scar-faced man’s companion urged her to...
’If something had happened to Shang Xiaoran, it was anyone’s guess whether she would have survived an encounter with Shen Lang.’
For some reason, now that she knew how tyrannical Shen Lang’s Cultivation was and that she had almost no chance of revenge, Hao Fengliu didn’t feel much resentment in her heart.
Even she found it very strange.
Instead, the scene of Shen Lang spanking her that day appeared in her mind.
’That bastard really didn’t hold back! I had to sleep on my stomach for days. Even now, when I think about it, my backside still feels tingly...’
...
More than half a month passed, and the uproar over Shen Lang’s confrontation with Shao Hufeng finally died down.
However, Shen Lang did not become famous throughout the Profound Dao Sect as many had imagined.
The Master of One Peak of the Inner Sect being beaten so miserably was, no matter how you looked at it, a disgraceful affair.
Developing an Inner Sect peak is no easy task.
If they could, those old-timers in the Profound Dao Sect would love for all Nine-Nine Eighty-One Peaks to be Inner Sect peaks, each one filled with as many talented disciples.
Elder Ancestor Dongfang Jun, partly to save face for Shao Hufeng and partly because he had learned some of Shen Lang’s secrets from the newly arrived Sect Leader Su Wenxuan, immediately issued an order: no one was to speak of that day’s events, on pain of severe punishment!
Shao Hufeng’s people had lost all face, so they certainly weren’t going to spread the story themselves.
The others, wanting to give Shao Hufeng face on one hand, and on the other, obeying the word of the sect’s supreme Elder Ancestor, did not dare to discuss the matter any further.
And so, the incident slowly faded into silence.
One day, Shen Lang took the Scales of the Four-winged Green-scaled Python to the foot of the mountain, where the Profound Dao Sect had developed an Earth Fire Cave.
He wanted to determine which level of Earth Fire could melt the Scales.
However, the reality was just as he’d expected. The Scales required the Earth Fire from the lowest few levels, and with his current Cultivation, he couldn’t descend to the deepest layers of the earth.
Smelting the scales while forging the Armor had to be done simultaneously with many other steps. Since Shen Lang couldn’t go down into the subterranean cave, he could only give up on using Earth Fire.
This gave him quite a headache.
The Four-winged Green-scaled Python was Shui Tianji’s physical body, and it had been nurtured and tempered by Evil Qi for countless years, making it several times stronger than an ordinary King Martial Realm Fifth Heaven Demon Beast.
A material like this was absolutely incomparable to ordinary Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
Its body was over three hundred feet long, covered in dense Scales—more than enough to craft one hundred sets of Armor and then forge a batch of Magic Shields.
The value of this single Four-winged Green-scaled Python corpse was far greater than all the materials Shen Lang had collected from the many Xuanwu Realm Powerhouses he had killed in the past.
However, the material was so tough it felt like trying to bite into a mountain; he didn’t even know where to begin.
With her King Martial Realm Fourth Heaven Cultivation, Hong Yu had naturally been able to pierce it in one go using the Netherworld King’s Three Extremes Sword, a Fifth Grade Profound Artifact, at full power.
But for Shen Lang, even if he called upon the four Elder Ancestors, they would likely have a hard time just trying to shatter the Scales.
And melting them down to be shaped was a far more difficult task than simply destroying them.
A powerful material could naturally be forged into Armor with tyrannical defense.
But if the material couldn’t even be cut, let alone melted, then how could he proceed?
Something like Armor was far more complex to forge than an ordinary weapon.
To have such a fine material and just let it sit idly in his Sumeru Ring would be an absolute shame.
Right now, Shen Lang was desperate to use the Demon Beast’s Scales to refine a set of Armor for his sister and Nalan Ziyun, among others.
Then he could use the beast’s hide to refine Inner Armor and use the Scales with other materials to forge an indestructible suit of Armor. With such a defense, it would be virtually impossible for anyone below the King Martial Realm to break through.
The problem was, what method could solve this biggest issue?
If he were to use Celestial Fire for smelting, he would need to set up a Grand Array. The amount of Spirit Stones required for an array capable of melting these Scales would be astronomical.
Even if a Profound Iron Level Influence like the Profound Dao Sect was willing to pour all its resources into helping Shen Lang, they might not be able to afford it.
Having a group of Xuanwu Realm experts help might not result in a perfect smelting process either; it couldn’t compare to Earth Fire or Celestial Fire.
And as for Earth Fire, Shen Lang’s current Cultivation wasn’t high enough to reach the deepest subterranean levels.
’My Cultivation is too low right now. Whether it’s Artifact Refining or Alchemy, so many things are restricted.’
Feeling the intense heat from below, Shen Lang let out a helpless sigh and turned to leave the subterranean cave.
’If there’s no other way, I’ll have to swallow my pride and go to the Sect Leader. I’ll ask him to get those old guys in the sect to help.’
’Now that I’ve done a few things to shake up the Profound Dao Sect, shown my strength, and proven my worth, I believe those old-timers shouldn’t refuse.’
Feeling rather dejected, Shen Lang could only return to the foot of Songdu Peak.
Gazing at the mountain path that seemed to pierce the clouds, Shen Lang unleashed his speed and shot upwards like an agile ape.
Even though he was still carrying all that Blue Cobalt Copper, the Ten Divine Beast Particles inside his body were increasing every day.
As these Ten Divine Beast Particles grew, their power would slowly begin to overflow automatically, even without him consciously activating it, causing strength to surge through his entire body.
Just over ten days ago, when Shen Lang had returned from training with Shu Lan and the others, slowly walking from the base to the summit of Songdu Peak had pushed his body to its limits.
But now, things were completely different.
Even sprinting at full speed to the summit wouldn’t leave him feeling particularly tired.
’Looks like it’s time to add more Blue Cobalt Copper.’
The trees on both sides of the path retreated at an incredible speed. With every step, Shen Lang crossed five or six stairs at a time, charging up like the wind.
GURGLE GURGLE...
Just as Shen Lang was focused on his climb, a sound suddenly came from the mountain to his right.
Shen Lang turned and vaguely saw faint steam drifting in an indistinct area in the distance.
’A hot spring? Nice. I’m almost at the summit anyway. I’ll have a quick soak before I head up.’
Without slowing down, Shen Lang pivoted and suddenly sprinted in the direction of the sound.
Jagged boulders and thorny trees couldn’t slow him down in the slightest. freёwebnovel.com
After navigating a winding path for nearly four hundred meters, Shen Lang finally spotted the hot spring, hidden within a crevice in a cliff face.
The spring was about a hundred feet across, surrounded by mountains. Mist curled up from the water, and its banks were lush with blooming flowers.
’What a fantastic spot!’
Shen Lang sighed in admiration. Without even taking off his clothes, he leaped into the hundred-foot-wide spring.
The moment he plunged into the water, Shen Lang’s eyes snapped open. He immediately realized something was wrong!
Through the splashes of water, he could vaguely make out something human-shaped not far away.
’There’s someone in the water!’
Startled, Shen Lang slapped a palm downward, launching himself out of the water like an arrow.
SPLASH! Two people broke the surface at the same time.
Even with his composure, Shen Lang couldn’t help but freeze.
About ten meters in front of him, a young woman was floating in the hot spring. The upper half of her body was exposed, completely bare. She was covering her chest with her hands, staring at him coldly...
Her wet hair draped over her shoulders. She had a face like jade, pearly teeth, and crimson lips. Her skin was as smooth as cream.
But her gaze was as severe as ice.
Just meeting her gaze made one feel as if they had been plunged into a world of ice and snow, chilled to the very bone.
