The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  "You're after me, so can you let them go?"

  Dusong Mangpoje knew that no matter what, it was hard for today's events to turn out well for him. He could only hope that he could use himself to take the attention off these other people and allow them to escape.

  "Heheh, I personally do not care. However, whether they can escape with their lives will still depend on themselves. After all, I didn't come alone!"

  The white-clothed middle-aged man's voice contained a deeper meaning, yet his eyes did not even glance at the First Prince and the other Tibetans behind Dusong Mangpoje. It was like these elite Tibetan horsemen really were just little fish that had been inadvertently caught in his net.

  For a moment, all the Tibetan horsemen felt a sense of humiliation, but for some reason, they also felt relieved.

  This person was far too powerful, so powerful that none of them could gather the will to resist. The gap between the two sides was simply incalculable.

  "I understand. Why haven't all of you left yet!"

  Rumble!

  The rest of the horsemen understood and quickly scattered. Even the First Prince fled in panic. Ten-some people took ten-some different directions, running off like stray dogs. In a few moments, they had disappeared into the dense forest.

  And just as Dusong Mangpoje had said in his last order, of these ten-some people, not one chose to take the wide and flat main road.

  Dusong Mangpoje did not move. Not until the First Prince and the others had left and were far away did he finally turn around to face the leader of the Great Tang's Confucian School.

  "Come!" Dusong Mangpoje shouted.

  Since he couldn't avoid this and matters had already reached this stage, he might as well fight.

  "Haha, as General wishes…"

  In front of the forest, the dangerous and frightening white-clothed man faintly smiled, and then, under the watchful gaze of Dusong Mangpoje, he extended a silver-booted foot.

  Boom!

  After a moment, there was a massive explosion as a massive pillar of light spiraled into the air, accompanied by the roars of dragons. The dazzling light transformed night into day.

  And as the boundless destructive energy in this pillar of light was unleashed, all the trees in a radius of ten-some li were instantly rendered into ash…

  This was a heaven-shaking battle!

  ……

  Wang Chong only heard the news two days later.

  An Ü-Tsang diplomatic mission returning from the Great Tang to Ü-Tsang had passed through Longxi and entered the borderlands when they were suddenly attacked by the Turks. Other than the Ü-Tsang First Prince and a small number of the Tibetan warriors, no one else had escaped.

  The Great Tang Empire had expressed its deepest apologies for this incident. It had even stated that though the First Prince's party had not been attacked in the Great Tang's borders, in the future, the Great Tang would redouble its efforts in exterminating the Turks roaming along its borders.

  As for the person Wang Chong was most concerned about, the Ü-Tsang Great General Dusong Mangpoje, not a single person in the Great Tang discussed him, neither in the court nor amongst the common people. It was like this Ü-Tsang Great General had never appeared.

  And this was also apparently the truth!

  Dusong Mangpoje's name was nowhere to be found in the list of people on the diplomatic mission from the Ü-Tsang Empire. Replacing him was some obscure Tibetan soldier!

  Since he had never come, there was nothing to discuss.

  When Wang Chong heard this news from Old Eagle, he roared with laughter. To play this sort of trick, the Imperial Court also seemed to have some very capable people.

  This was why it was said that politics was always the dirtiest game, no matter where it was.

  However, Wang Chong had made inquiries in many areas and used the resources of his own clan to finally obtain some information on Dusong Mangpoje.

  Dusong Mangpoje had managed to successfully escape, but with heavy injuries!

  Given his injuries, this powerful Great General would not be seen on the borders of the Great Tang and Ü-Tsang for a very long time!

  "Alas, even like this, he still managed to escape!"

  In Deflecting Blade Manor, Wang Chong sat on the floor, slapping the letter onto the table with an expression of regret.

  After having his identity exposed, Dusong Mangpoje had still managed to get away with only severe injuries. This was far too different from what Wang Chong had anticipated.

  If this Ü-Tsang Great General had died in the Great Tang, he might have been able to receive some Destiny Energy as a reward for changing fate.

  But Wang Chong also knew that Dusong Mangpoje was a character on the same level as Geshu Han, Fumeng Lingcha, Gao Xianzhi, and Zhang Shougui.

  It was not too difficult for these characters to be heavily wounded, but killing them was a completely different matter.

  After all, the strength of an Imperial Great General could not be underestimated. Moreover, if they put everything into escaping, stopping them was no trifling task.

  However, regardless of the result, now that Ü-Tsang lacked this powerful force, the western borders of the empire would be much calmer.

  The pressure on Geshu Han would also be greatly lightened.

  In this aspect, he had unintentionally greatly assisted Geshu Han.

  "Forget it. Heavily injuring him is already a pretty good result. It seems like truly killing him can only be done on the actual battlefield!"

  As he turned over these thoughts in his mind, Wang Chong quickly calmed down. Dabbing his brush in ink, he continued to write in the book on the table.

  'Bright Wheel Scripture…'

  After writing this title on the first page, Wang Chong quickly began to recall the details of this scripture, and his memories swiftly became a scripture written out on the paper.

  He was transcribing the techniques in his memories!

  In truth, there were already a few techniques in Deflecting Blade Manor that had been transcribed by Wang Chong, but these were far from enough. What Wang Chong wanted to do was create in Deflecting Blade Manor a 'Scripture Depository' that was Deflecting Blade Manor's alone.

  Only this way would Deflecting Blade Manor be complete, would it be able to provide him all the advantage it could. Moreover, in the future, when he wasn't there, it would still be able to attract talented individuals and provide the empire a steady stream of gifted individuals.

  The insight, experience, and fighting power that he could provide coupled with the massive supply of students provided by the Kunwu Training Camp meant that the people who joined Deflecting Blade Manor were not only able to learn strategy and cultivate in the spirit vein. They could also learn a large number of techniques that could not be easily learned outside.

  And since Deflecting Blade Manor spanned across all three training camps, the network that it was slowly nurturing would allow the talents of Deflecting Blade Manor to be quickly placed in the jobs that they could excel in.

  Only by putting all his resources at work could Wang Chong begin to alter the slow decline of the Great Tang and shake up the system of the Central Plains.

  One person's strength was far too weak. Only when many people pooled their strength could they change an era, change the fate of an empire.

  Though Deflecting Blade Manor was small, this was the fulcrum Wang Chong would use to gather the strength of others and alter this era.

  Once he finished writing the 'Bright Wheel Scripture', which could calm the mind and drive out heart demons, Wang Chong put it aside and called over Old Eagle.

  "Take these scriptures to the underground Scripture Cave!"

  The Scripture Depository was still under construction, and Deflecting Blade Manor did not have the ability to protect the scriptures, so Wang Chong had chosen to temporarily store the scriptures in a cave under Deflecting Blade Manor.

  "But Young Master…"

  The ever-obedient Old Eag
le unexpectedly stood there, not carrying out Wang Chong's order.

  "That person is in the Scripture Cave. Isn't it a little inconvenient?"

  "Haha, that makes it even better. With him there, the Scripture Cave will be safe and sound. How can that be bad?"

  Wang Chong raised his head and smiled.

  Wang Chong knew who Old Eagle was speaking of. There was only one person who dared to force their way into Deflecting Blade Manor, utterly ignoring his orders while making others too afraid to provoke him: the future Invincible Great General, the currently obscure Li Siye.

  A few days ago, when Li Siye had come to find Wang Chong, he had inadvertently found the cave. At the start, Li Siye had disdained to even look at those scriptures.

  How impressive could the scriptures some wet-behind-the-ears brat had written for his own amusement be? But after he flipped through a few books, Li Siye's mood flipped too.

  Li Siye had essentially cooped himself up in that cave.

  He was a brave subject devoted to his country, but he was also a martial arts maniac. Wang Chong knew this, so he simply lifted the ban. Not only did he allow Li Siye to read all the books in the cave, he even prepared three meals a day for him, allowing him to put all his focus into the books.

  In reality, Li Siye was basically working as a part-time guard for Wang Chong's scriptures.

  With this person here, Wang Chong temporarily did not have to worry about anything happening to the Scripture Cave.

  ______________

  1. The specific term here for 'highest distinction' is , or 'Mount Tai and the North Star'. It serves as a respectul epithet for a person.

  Chapter 426: A Brand New Reward!

  Chapter 426: A Brand New Reward!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  "Young Master, that's not what I mean."

  Old Eagle hurriedly continued, "Although Young Master has already permitted him to read all the scriptures in the cave and he also helped you retrieve the Hyderabad ore, allowing him to read those scriptures is enough of a reward. Wouldn't keeping a few secrets be better?

  "I know that Young Master deeply admires him, but he will still leave in the end. He won't be walking the same path as us!"

  Old Eagle had always believed his young master to be a smart person, so he didn't understand why he would act so foolishly over Li Siye.

  "Hahaha…."

  Seeing that Old Eagle really was concerned, Wang Chong couldn't help but laugh. Though he hadn't noticed before, there were times when Old Eagle could be rather adorable.

  Wang Chong knew that Old Eagle was only worried about him, and if his goal had been to dominate the world or rise rapidly through the court, Old Eagle's advice was completely on the mark.

  But this time, Old Eagle truly was wrong.

  The more books the Invincible Great General Li Siye read, the more he learned, the more advantage he would present to him and the future empire.

  Wang Chong was not worried that he would read too much, but too little. He was even adding in the 'Bright Wheel Scripture', this high-level technique that could subdue heart demons and calm the mind, precisely because he was afraid that in all this reading, Li Siye might bite off more than he could chew and suffer a cultivation defect.

  Wang Chong was confident that given Li Siye's personality, he would definitely read this book.

  "Old Eagle, relax. I have my plans for Li Siye and they won't result in any loss for us. Let him do what he wants."

  Wang Chong waved his hands and smiled.

  Still a little hesitant, Old Eagle finally nodded. Although he still felt a little inappropriate, he still chose to believe in Wang Chong's judgment.

  After taking the scriptures that Wang Chong had transcribed from the table, he held them to his chest, bid farewell to Wang Chong, and quickly left for the underground Scripture Cave.

  After Old Eagle left, Wang Chong calmed back down.

  "It's about time…"

  Wang Chong fell silent for a few moments and then put the brush back onto its rack. Quite a few scriptures had been added to the Scripture Cave now, and it was already beginning to take shape.

  More important now was still the problem of his own strength.

  "Since I've now accumulated 109 points of Destiny Energy, I can exchange for 'Origin Energy' rewards," Wang Chong said to himself as he thought about the Stone of Destiny.

  In the past, Wang Chong had always exchanged for 'Body' items, but now he could finally exchange for higher-level rewards.

  The room was still and devoid of other individuals, and normal people would not dare to lightly enter this room.

  Wang Chong's thoughts immediately reached out to the Stone of Destiny in his mind. In the next moment, a screen of light opened in front of Wang Chong, on it a page with a set of completely new items.

  'Origin Energy Pill. Cost: 10 points. Can increase a warrior's Origin Energy. Only useful to warriors at the Origin Energy realm. At most, can bring a warrior to Origin Energy Tier 9. At the same time, it will permanently provide a weak boost to the speed at which Origin Energy circulates through a warrior's body. It will also increase the warrior's ability to accept and attract natural Origin Energy.

  'Note: Origin Energy Pill will be less effective with each additional pill taken.'

  ……

  This was Wang Chong's first time seeing the rewards available for exchange in the Origin Energy category. The first thing he saw was a low-level pill that also had an extremely low price.

  Although it had a very strict limit, only being useful on warriors of the Origin Energy realm and thus absolutely useless to the current Wang Chong, its use was still very obvious.

  'Permanently provide a weak boost to the speed at which Origin Energy circulates through a warrior's body, and also increase the warrior's ability to accept and attract natural Origin Energy.' These two points increased the value of this pill by several times.

  'A weak boost to the speed at which Origin Energy circulates' meant that one would be able to strike faster, to use their energy faster, and as battles stretched on, one would possess a greater advantage.

  And 'increase the ability to accept and attract natural Origin Energy' meant that when cultivating, one would get stronger at a faster rate.

  Although both of these were described as a weak boost, these two effects made the Origin Energy Pill extremely precious, even if it was useless to those of the True Martial realm and above.

  "I can exchange for this pill when I need it and use it to reward Zhao Jingdian and the others, increasing their strength."

  Wang Chong contemplated the screen in his mind.

  An error of a single hair could lead one a thousand li astray. It was just a tiny difference, but since all cultivators had to confront the same bottlenecks, these small differences were often crucial.

  And in intense conflicts of army against army, general against general, a difference in the circulation speed of Origin Energy was often the difference between life and death.

  It was precisely this point that led Wang Chong to decide that as long as it would not affect his own situation, he would give all the core members of Deflecting Blade Manor one of these Origin Energy Pills.

  With a thought from Wang Chong, the contents on the screen changed, revealing another item. This one was related to Stellar Energy.

  'Stellar Energy Honer: Alters the nature of Stellar Energy, increasing the sharpness of Stellar Energy. Every third exchange will provide a grade-one Halo of Sharpness. No limits to use.

  'Cost: 15 points.'

  ……

  These simple words caused Wang Chong's eyelids to shoot up. The effects of the Origin Energy Pill were shocking enough, but the effects of this item were even more amazing.

  "It can change the nature of Stellar Energy! That's inconceivable!"

  Wang Chong's mind was in turmoil as he sat cross-legged on the ground.

  He had felt that getting a pill that coul
d increase Stellar Energy would be fine. He hadn't expected the Stone of Destiny to have an item that could directly change the nature of Stellar Energy.

  This was far more than Wang Chong had expected.

  "…Exchanging three times will even result in the effect of a grade-one halo. That's basically getting a halo from nothing. That's unbelievable."

  Wang Chong was truly stupefied by the 'Origin Energy' items offered by the Stone of Destiny.

  Although a grade-one halo was the lowest grade of halo and couldn't change too much, Wang Chong had immediately noticed its hidden value: this ability was not limited.

  This meant that as long as one had enough Destiny Energy, one could have a high-level halo that was normally only possible at the higher levels of the True Martial realm, even as high as Tier 5 or 6.

  The only problem was that though this reward seemed very generous, it had a shockingly high price.

  In order to gain this grade-one halo, one needed to pay 45 Destiny Energy.

  This was no small burden for Wang Chong's current stock of Destiny Energy. This sort of expense was not something Wang Chong could squander his funds endlessly on.

  Moreover, different grades of halos required one to accumulate different amounts of halos.

  When upgrading from a grade-one halo to a grade-two halo, one might only need to accumulate one grade-one halo, but to move from grade two to grade three was not so simple.

  And as one went from three to four, from four to five, one would need even more.

  "But basically, to exchange for a single grade-one halo is already rather decent," Wang Chong said to himself. He had quickly identified the practical uses for this Stellar Energy Honer. Just like the Origin Energy Pill, the effect of the Stellar Energy Honer could only help warriors fight people on the same level, giving them a small advantage in these fights.

  In this aspect, Wang Chong had no need to exchange for a grade-one Halo of Sharpness. The truly wise and reasonable decision was to just exchange for one-third of the halo.

  Wang Chong's gaze focused as he swiftly made up his mind and continued reading.

  The item that appeared before him now was completely different from the first two.