The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  If these people could not even do this, then they were useless.

  Now, it's time to try out the power of the Halo of Dusk Stallion! Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

  The Halo of Dusk Stallion could boost the strength, speed, and dexterity of all the soldiers in his army, but those were not its only effects.

  Of all the supreme halo techniques in Kunwu Training Camp, Wang Chong wanted only the Halo of Dusk Stallion. It hadn't been only because of its ability to boost the strength of his soldiers. What was more important was that it was also an extremely powerful offensive halo.

  However, a more powerful halo also needed a correspondingly powerful cultivation level to support it.

  The first layer of the Halo of Dusk Stallion was still too low. While it did offer a greater boost than normal war halos, its strength was still limited.

  But when the Halo of Dusk Stallion was upgraded, it was never just a simple boost in power, but a massive leap in quality as well.

  Unfortunately, upgrading the Halo of Dusk Stallion had always been difficult. It needed to absorb a large amount of mental and physical energy from the martial artist. When Wang Chong cultivated the first layer of the Halo of Dusk Stallion, he had only needed to be at Tier 1 of the True Martial realm, but to upgrade it, he had to be at Tier 5.

  This difference of four tiers did not manifest in merely a pure numerical increase.

  Boom!

  Waves of energy exploded out of Wang Chong's body like a torrent. And there was also a completely new energy flowing out, entering the White-hoofed Shadow and expanding beneath its hooves.

  Clangclangclang! A new Halo of Thorns spread under the White-hoofed Shadow's hooves like flooding mercury. The energy of the halo first spread to Old Eagle and Li Siye and then to the nearby cavalry, ultimately enveloping all his cavalry.

  In a flash, everyone felt their speed, strength and dexterity increase and continue to increase.

  Neigh! Wang Chong's Stellar Energy roared as a massive divine steed, seemingly cast from steel, leaped out from Wang Chong's body.

  In the blink of an eye, a storm of energy exploded from that massive horse, balls of energy transforming into horses that entered the bodies of each of the Tang soldiers, ultimately forming a second halo at their feet.

  "Ah! I'm so fast!"

  "My body's suddenly a lot lighter!"

  ……

  The soldiers had been charging together with Wang Chong when they suddenly felt a new stream of strength pour into their bodies. This energy was different from the past, at least two levels higher.

  "My sword!!"

  One of the clan experts with a lower cultivation level suddenly looked elatedly at the Wootz Steel sword in his hand. Though the sword was unsheathed, it gave off no light, but right now, that stream of energy was flowing through the sword, letting the man and weapon become one.

  The True Martial realm Tier 5 and 6 experts all had very fast reactions. They immediately noticed that their weapons were faster, lighter, and sharper. They were much easier to wield and attack with, more damaging and threatening!

  All of them were instantly filled with confidence!

  "Arrow Formation! Charge!"

  As their confidence swelled, Wang Chong's cold voice resounded in their ears, putting their focus back to the battle!

  "Yes, Milord!"

  The earth began to quake. The one thousand cavalry formed into countless small units, but all of them acted in concert. With Wang Chong's order, they suddenly exploded forward, pulling away from the rest of the force.

  The dust from their charge blocked out the sun as Wang Chong led the one thousand clan experts charging forward.

  "Milord!"

  Old Eagle's expression flickered at this sight. Although he had never been in an army before, he had known many experts.

  For one part of the army to pull ahead, for the head and tail to ignore each other, was a cardinal sin!

  "Old Eagle, follow me. I know what I'm doing!" Wang Chong's voice came through the dust. It was calm, farsighted, as lofty as Mount Tai, and inspired great trust from others.

  "Yes, Young Master!"

  Old Eagle grit his teeth and followed, lacking the time to think about anything else.

  At the front of the cavalry, Wang Chong locked his eyes forward, his gaze exuding a stern and bestial light. At that moment, nothing existed in his eyes except for the three thousand Tibetan cavalry.

  For part of the army to pull ahead of the rest truly was a cardinal sin, but cavalry had never been part of the regular army, and its way of fighting was completely different from that of ordinary soldiers.

  They could work together with infantry, but they could also attack on their own.

  The greatest advantage of cavalry was adaptability. Thus, infantry and cavalry working together was only done when there was no other choice.

  Cavalry that couldn't speedily adapt were no different from infantry. In addition, Wang Chong had another idea in mind.

  Right now, it's time to see who's better!

  Wang Chong pressed his body to his horse, his eyes glowing. He could feel that the will to fight that had melded into the deepest part of his blood in his last life was waking up from its temporary slumber.

  As the Grand Marshal who had led the world's armies, he had not felt the call of war for far too long!

  Chapter 499: Cavalry! Impact!

  Chapter 499: Cavalry! Impact!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  As if feeling its master's will, the White-hoofed Shadow let out a neigh, its mane flying behind it as it increased its speed. The two forces of cavalry rapidly approached each other, faster and faster, closer and closer…

  Caw caw!

  Countless birds took flight as more and more dust was stirred higher and higher into the air. Two floods of black steel heedlessly charged toward each other with a determined momentum.

  "Hahaha, one thousand people, one thousand! They dare to meet our charge with only one thousand people!"

  In the distance, that stalwart Tibetan commander didn't dare believe his eyes. As a famous general of the battlefield, he could estimate the size of his opponent's forces with a single glance.

  One thousand men dared to charge against his three thousand Tibetans? He didn't know if he should praise the enemy commander for his courage or say that he had lost his mind and was seeking his death!

  "What in the world is going on?"

  At this moment, even Dengba's faith was shaken. He had always believed that the enemies in the north were a strong foe, but for them to do such a thing…

  Their northern comrades being wiped out… was it really just a fluke?

  "Kill! Destroy them so thoroughly that not even a shred of armor is left!"

  The brawny Tibetan commander pushed his three thousand cavalry to an even faster speed.

  Awoooo!

  The killing intent of these Tibetan warriors was provoked, and they began to brandish their scimitars, howling in excitement. It had been a very long time since they had fought a battle involving more than one thousand enemies.

  ……

  "Hmph, let me see how strong more than one thousand Tibetans really are!" Wang Chong said with a grim smile.

  Wang Chong had naturally noticed the change in the aura of his opponents, but he felt no fear. On the contrary, this only stimulated his fighting intent.

  Putting aside the standpoints of the two sides and the critical role this war would have on the Great Tang, there was no question that this era was one that belonged to generals.

  Compared to the world he had come from, this world had far too many renowned generals. Even an obscure Tibetan general could possess an astonishing decisiveness and courage to launch an assault across one thousand li.

  In his last life, even though he had become a general in a league of his own, praised by the entire world as a War Saint, all the other generals had died by then, their stars fallen. That
feeling of loneliness at the top had been a little too dismal.

  The Wang Clan's premature decline and the political coup d'état had made him miss out on far too much.

  In his last life, during that generation of generals, he was still an obscure wanderer who could only watch as those generals clashed with dazzling and resplendent radiance.

  This was the best generation to be a renowned general! And it was the best generation for a general to die in!

  Even though the generation that would come next would be the darkest of them all!

  Buzz!

  As a cold light flashed through his eyes, Wang Chong pushed the Halo of Dusk Stallion to its limits and transformed into a blur.

  These three thousand cavalry were his first trial on his journey south!

  Only by defeating these three thousand Tibetans would he have the right to deal with the vast army of Mengshe Zhao and Ü-Tsang further south.

  This was a pass he had to get through!

  "Hyah!"

  Forty li, thirty li, twenty li…

  As the armies charged toward each other, the fifty-li distance quickly shrank.

  Killing intent twisted in the air while dust filled the skies.

  Ten li, eight li, seven li, six li…

  The horses had almost reached their maximum speeds, a nigh unimaginable speed. And once an arrow left the bow, it was impossible to retrieve.

  At this moment, neither the Tibetans nor Wang Chong could stop.

  There was no retreat, only forward, and certainly no stopping.

  Five hundred meters, four hundred meters, three hundred meters…

  Weapons had left their sheaths and the air was fraught with tension. When one pulled the string of the bow, one had to loose the arrow. At this point, no one could retreat.

  "Young Master!"

  In the back, Zhao Jingdian's face was pale from anxiety.

  His strength had been insufficient for Wang Chong's plans, so Wang Chong had arranged for him to be in the rear with other hired experts. It was evident that he knew nothing about Wang Chong's plans.

  But it was too late to say anything now.

  Two hundred meters, one hundred meters…

  At this distance, it was possible to see the grimaces on the other side's faces, the bulging veins on their arms. The clattering of their armor clearly rang out in their ears.

  At this distance and at their speeds, one hundred meters could be covered in a few seconds.

  Ninety meters, eighty meters, seventy meters…

  The atmosphere grew exponentially more tense while killing intent continued to crazily soar. Every person could hear the heavy breathing of their foes, and the sound of scimitars, spears, and swords madly vibrating in the air.

  Everyone's nerves were taut to the extreme.

  Sixty meters, fifty meters…

  Even the horses were feeling the tension that came from the blood that was soon to splatter the air, and they began to neigh. Just when the two sides were about to clash, Wang Chong raised his arm, a harsh light flitting through his eyes.

  "Net Formation!"

  Wang Chong's harsh voice cut through the air.

  A second seemed to stretch to infinity, and the Tibetans watched in shock as the one thousand Great Tang cavalry behind Wang Chong suddenly split into two like some two-headed snake and began diverging from their initial path.

  In the space of a second, one thousand soldiers had split into two groups of five hundred!

  "How is this possible?"

  This sudden change stupefied the Tibetans. Some of them tried to stop this from happening, but it was far too late for that.

  The inertia that came from their maximum speed was simply impossible to imagine. Even though Ü-Tsang relied on its cavalry to sweep over the world, it still could not pull off a maneuver like that under such massive inertia.

  "How did they manage to do it?"

  The Tibetan commander widened his eyes and clenched his teeth as he watched this sight in disbelief.

  Cavalry had always charged in straight lines, and even more so at such high speeds. Changing directions wasn't impossible, but it would result in broken muscles or bones.

  Forcing a change in direction had never resulted in anything good.

  So serious were the consequences that the army doing it would inflict massive casualties on their own forces before even engaging the enemy.

  But this lot of Tang soldiers had actually been able to so easily alter their course at such high speeds without suffering any shock.

  "This is impossible!"

  The Tibetan commander tightly clenched his fists and ground his teeth.

  At his side, Dengba felt his heart sink.

  They had encountered many Tang soldiers since their descent from the plateau, but none of them had been any challenge. These black-armored soldiers were clearly different from the rest.

  "What sort of person is this?"

  Dengba's eyebrows rose as an extremely ill foreboding began to emerge in his mind.

  Boom!

  Fifty meters was covered in the blink of an eye, and the one thousand Tang cavalry brushed against the three thousand Tibetans.

  Like a massive boulder crashing into the water, before many people could react, two forces of Tang soldiers, one to the left and one to the right, struck the Tibetan echelons like massive pythons.

  Clangclangclang! This deafening impact was the sound of Halos of Thorns clashing. The sharp Wootz Steel swords glimmered with cold light as they cut sharp arcs through the air and smashed against an invisible wall.

  Boomboomboom!

  The sound of the impacts exploded through the world. The accumulated strike of the charge and the strength of those warriors was blocked by an invisible layer of Stellar Energy before it could even touch the Tibetan cavalry.

  That indistinct middle-level Halo of Fortress had suddenly become solid, forming a massive white shroud that protected the Tibetan soldiers.

  The unstoppable Wootz Steel swords hacked at this fortress, sounding like they were hitting an actual wall.

  One, two, three, four…

  In the end, all the attacks from the cavalry at the front were blocked, the Wootz Steel swords seeming to plunge into a swamp, first slowing before quickly grinding to a halt.

  "Oh no!"

  Old Eagle paled at this sight.

  "Not good!"

  Li Siye had an equally awful grimace. This was his first time fighting Tibetans, and he had heard about their powerful defense as well as their world-famous Halo of Fortress.

  But not even Li Siye could have imagined that a middle-level Halo of Fortress would be this powerful. The fusion of three thousand halos made it so that each person's sword seemed to be fighting three thousand people at once.

  "If we can't even break their most basic level of defense, our defeat in this battle is assured."

  In a flash, all the blood left Li Siye's face, leaving him ghastly pale. In the end, battles were different from the life-or-death duels between martial artists.

  No matter how powerful the Black Dragon Bandits had been, they would have never been able to form this powerful fortress, and if not even the sharpness of Wootz Steel could cut through it, this battle would be a sure loss.

  And on this sort of constantly fluctuating battlefield, the final result would probably be a complete wipeout.

  "Hahaha, it's useless. Your attacks can't break our defense!"

  Behind the halo, the Tibetans had been nervously watching, but at this moment, they felt greatly relieved.

  Since the attacks couldn't break their defense, all that awaited the Tang was death.

  Awoooo!

  The Tibetans gave off their unique wolf howl, their red faces flushing with excitement at the imminent slaughter.

  "Hmph, it's our turn!"

  At the front of the army, the stalwart Tibetan commander revealed a look of ferocity and cruelty. Although he hadn't turned his head, he could already feel the emotions of hi
s soldiers.

  At first, he had thought that these Tang men were somewhat formidable, and had prepared himself for a hard battle. In the end, however, they still couldn't break through the Tibetan fortress!

  I truly overestimated them!

  With this thought, Batunlu pulled out his scimitar. At almost the same moment, scimitar after scimitar emerged from the shroud of the fortress and hacked at the Great Tang cavalry.

  Offense was a two-way street. When the Great Tang cavalry were able to attack the Tibetan cavalry, the Tibetan cavalry were also able to attack the Great Tang cavalry…

  Chapter 500: ü-Tsang! Ksitigarbha Secret Art!

  Chapter 500: Ü-Tsang! Ksitigarbha Secret Art!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Clangclangclang!

  Countless Tibetan scimitars flashed with cold light as they almost simultaneously attacked the Great Tang cavalry.

  Sparks flew in this deafening clash, but the attacks of the Tibetans were almost completely stopped by the Meteoric Metal armor worn by the Great Tang cavalry.

  "This…"

  All the Tibetans were dumbfounded by this sight. The Great Tang soldiers had failed to break through the Tibetan fortress shroud, but the Tibetan scimitars had also been powerless against the Great Tang armor.

  "We outnumber them. Hold them down and kill them all!"

  It took only a split second for a ferocious order spoken in Tibetan to stir their cavalry into excitedly howling into the sky.

  No matter how formidable the armor of these black-armored Tang cavalry was, one thousand were simply no match for three thousand Tibetan cavalry.

  Thirty echelons, one wave crashing down after another, created an impact that no person could withstand, not even these strange black-armored cavalry.

  "Hmph, I thought that they were actually strong! Dengba, lead the army and kill all of them. Don't let a single one escape!"

  The muscular Tibetan commander coldly laughed, his mind completely at ease. At the start, he truly had been scared a little.

  These Tang soldiers could not be understood with common sense, but they were still lacking. The middle-level fortress formed by one thousand Tibetan cavalry could block three or four thousand Tang soldiers, and he had three thousand elite cavalry with him.