The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  And behind Jiaosiluo, even more Tibetans were widening the gap that he had made. In this battle, not only were the TIbetans about to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, they were also beginning to show signs that they were going for the killing blow.

  It's too late! No one can stop these two. And once these two join together, the lines on the northeast and southeast will completely crumble!

  Wang Chong's mind was working rapidly.

  He had already committed all the strength that he could on the summit, but even so, he was only barely able to fend off the enemy. Moreover, his forces were only serving as punching bags, unable to counter. Two distinguished foreign generals of the southwestern campaign were definitely not easy to deal with.

  Since we can't beat them, I can only use that plan!

  Quickly thinking, Wang Chong swiftly made a decision. Bang!His foot hit the ground as he jumped forward. Before Fengjiayi could react, Wang Chong had snatched up the banner that he had thrown aside moments ago.

  "Don't fight with those metal men! They can't die. The Geng Metal Halo has no effect on Wootz Steel swords, so use those against him!" Wang Chong ordered as he ran off with the banner.

  "In addition, pass on my order! The Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth Square Formations should intercept Jiaosiluo's personal guards. The front has already been broken, so ignore him!

  "The Eighteenth Formation should advance sixteen steps to the left and engage in an all-out attack!

  "Order the master archer square to aim east, sixteen hundred steps, in a circle with a diameter of thirty zhang, and then fire!

  "Tell General Zhang Meng to have his axemen give up on the defense and charge! Don't give them a chance!"

  ……

  A string of orders issued from Wang Chong's lips. The efficiency of the Annan Protectorate army couldn't be compared to reserve soldiers or other inferior armies. It only took a few short moments for Wang Chong's orders to be passed on. Buzz! The Tang lines had originally been falling apart, the chain reaction started by Jiaosiluo allowing the Tibetans to break through their lines elsewhere.

  But it only took these orders from Wang Chong for the lines to stabilize and once more begin to pressure the Tibetans.

  The Swordfanged Beast and Fengjiayi had created a chance for the Mengshe-Tibetan army, but it had taken only a few moments for Wang Chong to eliminate this opportunity.

  "Damn it, this brat!"

  Upon sensing the change in the battlefield, Jiaosiluo and Fengjiayi began to exude a powerful killing intent, their eyes chilling.

  Boomboom!

  Two of the metal men ignored the others on the summit and began to charge toward Wang Chong with fierce streams of Sword Qi. At the same time, the massive white tiger threw a large, inscribed shield and sent it whistling through the air, spinning as it flew toward Wang Chong.

  Explosions shook the air as two large holes were blown out of the summit by the Sword Qi and large shield. Mud and gravel flew everywhere, but Wang Chong had managed to escape by the skin of his teeth. Boomboom! Several more fierce streams of Sword Qi, as well as axes, spears, pieces of armor, and even corpses began to fly toward Wang Chong, but he managed to dodge them all.

  Wang Chong had been a little hard-pressed the first time, but he dodged the rest of the attacks with relative ease.

  "Where did this brat come from?"

  Even the Swordfanged Beast Jiaosiluo was astonished by this sight.

  Wang Chong had dodged those attacks too easily for a True Martial realm expert. It had to be known that even a Profound Martial realm expert wouldn't have been able to move so freely.

  "When did the Annan Protectorate army get such a formidable character? Why is it that he never appeared once throughout the long siege of Lion City!"

  For a second, the massive white tiger exchanged looks with Fengjiayi, both of them sensing each other's intense killing intent. When the Annan Protectorate army lost the formidable Zhangchou Jianqiong, Xianyu Zhongtong and the officers left behind weren't even worth mentioning.

  But when the Wang Clan father-son pair, Wang Yan and Wang Fu, arrived, Lion City suddenly became abnormally difficult to take. And now, someone even more formidable had showed up. Although they didn't know where he had come from, he was definitely an impediment to the cause of Ü-Tsang and Mengshe Zhao.

  Everything had started smoothly, with a great victory by the Erhai, but now, the battle had become abnormally difficult. Right now, even Fengjiayi felt an ill foreboding, and could no longer clearly see how the situation in the southwest would develop.

  "Hmph, even if we can't finish off the Annan Protectorate army today, we have to kill this brat! Otherwise, given the talent for strategy he's shown, he'll definitely become a massive problem for Mengshe Zhao!"

  Lightning flashed in the dark thunderclouds, and no one noticed that murderous glint flashing in the eyes of the Crown Prince of Mengshe Zhao!

  Bang!

  There was a glimmer in the air as a milky-white Sword Qi exploded out of Fengjiayi's body. Bang! Fengjiayi used a wall of Stellar Energy to knock away Old Eagle's Ksitigarbha Vajra Guardian. He then used a wondrous movement technique to break out of the encirclement and charge toward Wang Chong.

  Buzz! A powerful and all-encompassing Sword Qi preceded him, and countless particles of metal began to gather, some of it even drawn out from deep underground. This metal dust transformed into flying swords that accompanied Fengjiayi as he flew through the air. The aura exuded by Fengjiayi seemed ready to swallow the world. It was capable of even shattering a mountain into pieces, much less a body made of flesh and blood.

  Wang Chong was certain that if he attempted to take this full-power blow from Fengjiayi, the only thing that awaited him was death.

  "Brat, I don't know who you are, but just accept your fate!"

  Fengjiayi's cold and proud voice sounded like the voice of a ghost in Wang Chong's ear. The air was thick with tension and the stench of death.

  "Hahaha!"

  To Fengjiayi's surprise. Wang Chong retreated two steps and suddenly stopped. He stared at the charging Fengjiayi with no intent to dodge.

  "Fengjiayi, it's not that I don't want to accept my fate, but I'm afraid that you don't have the ability to kill me!"

  "What did you say? To shamelessly boast at death's doorstep…"

  Fengjiayi's eyes were like blocks of ice. Profound Martial realm experts possessed incredible speed, and Fengjiayi had even been acknowledged by Wang Zhongsi as someone who possessed the potential to be a Great General. It took only a moment for Fengjiayi to rapidly span the distance between him and Wang Chong.

  Three zhang!

  Two zhang!

  One zhang!

  Two feet!

  ……

  At this distance, Wang Chong could clearly see the streams of air flowing around the tip of Fengjiayi's sword. He could even see the reflection of a lightning bolt on the surface of Fengjiayi's armor and a widening sneer on Fengjiayi's lips as he got closer and closer.

  At Wang Chong's level of strength, taking this blow would be certain death, yet all Wang Chong did was coldly laugh.

  "Ha, Fengjiayi, haven't you forgotten something?"

  Wang Chong took a step back and to the side. Rumble! There was a flash of light, and before Fengjiayi could react, a black silhouette smashed into him.

  "Wang Yan!!"

  Fengjiayi bellowed as he was thrown through the rain and crashed into the ground, smashing out a massive pit on the summit.

  "Fengjiayi, did you think that your 'Cicada Sheds Its Shell' ruse could work on me?"

  An icy and dignified voice, tinged with a little stiffness, resounded over the world.

  At almost the same moment, boomboomboom! The Swordfanged Beast Jiaosiluo was also sent flying. Powerful energies suddenly appeared out of nowhere and shrouded the summit.

  "Jiaosiluo, even for you, this method is a little too shameless!"

  The officers and generals of the Annan Protectorate army beg
an to appear around the summit, all of them burly and brimming with energy as they surrounded Jiaosiluo.

  "Damn it, these fellows truly are a hindrance!"

  A fierce light shone in the white tiger's eyes. Pressing its four legs against the ground, it leaped, sundering the earth as it flew into the air. Covered in rain and mud, it lunged toward the Annan Protectorate soldiers. In a few moments, the two sides were engaged in a fierce battle.

  At the same time, on the summit, the Crown Prince of Mengshe Zhao was engaged in a fight with Wang Chong's father.

  This was Wang Chong's first time seeing his father fight.

  His style was both unconventional and tyrannical. It didn't have so many nimble transformations, yet it carried the aura of the battlefield, of an earth-shattering energy that could cleave through armies. And his vigorous Stellar Energy seemed to sweep aside the rain, stirring up the mud on the ground with a momentum that seemed to want to swallow the world.

  A heavy sword has no edge, the greatest skill in simplicity; Father has already reached the state of condensing the complex into the simple. His every move is simple and yet complex. Unless one is far more powerful than him, one shouldn't even dream of holding any advantage over him in terms of techniques, Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

  His father didn't have the potential to be a Great General. Neither his grandfather nor the ministers of the court had ever believed him to have this potential. But as a military general, his father was definitely one of the best. He practiced martial arts the same way he commanded his troops: cautiously and meticulously, leaving his opponent no place to attack.

  Fengjiayi might have been praised as a future Great General, but the weaknesses of his age and lack of experience were now clearly exposed. He was nothing more than a punching bag in front of Wang Yan, unable to counterattack. Even the metal men and storm of Sword Qi formed from the Geng Metal Halo were on the verge of collapse against Wang Yan.

  Chapter 535: Turning Point! The First Victory!

  Chapter 535: Turning Point! The First Victory!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  "Wang Yan, these are only the struggles of a trapped beast. The Great Tang is no longer the Great Tang of the past. The southwest is already the world of Mengshe Zhao and Ü-Tsang. You can struggle all you want today, but when the Great General arrives, the only thing that awaits you is death!" Fengjiayi's voice resounded through the heavens.

  Even while facing the combined attacks of experts like Wang Yan and Old Eagle, Fengjiayi could still barely put up a resistance.

  "There's no need for Crown Prince to waste your breath. Whether the Great Tang is not the Great Tang of the past is not something the Crown Prince of Mengshe Zhao can decide."

  Wang Yan's voice was cold, hard, and indifferent. Even someone as capable as Fengjiayi found it difficult to use words to create any flaws in Wang Yan's defense.

  "Hmph, still so stubborn even when death is at hand. Even if you manage to escape today's disaster, so what? We're just a meager vanguard, not even worth mentioning when compared to the main army behind us. The lands of the southwest are rather flat, and for a very long time, none of you will be able to see any high mountains and large rivers. Even if you escape for a moment, can you escape forever? I don't believe that your two legs can run faster than four legs!"

  Fengjiayi's sword was moving like lightning and the storm of Sword Qi was still howling around him. Although the effects were not great, Fengjiayi had clearly not given up on mentally beating down the Annan Protectorate army.

  "Since you're so confident, why did you pursue us so doggedly? When did the Crown Prince of Mengshe Zhao start fighting with his mouth instead of martial arts?" Wang Chong coldly sneered on the side.

  Buzz!

  Wang Chong's words immediately caused the atmosphere on the mountain to change. A pair of bone-chilling eyes pierced through the curtains of rain and locked onto Wang Chong. At some point, Fengjiayi had shed his disguise, allowing Wang Chong to get a good look at the true appearance of this renowned Crown Prince of Mengshe Zhao for the first time.

  This crown prince was twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. His face was exceedingly handsome and his skin was astonishingly white, even more than that of the nobles in the capital, and he exuded a princely aura from every pore of his body. However, unlike the princes of the imperial household, Fengjiayi was covered in an aggressive air.

  Just glancing at the true appearance of Fengjiayi, unobscured by armor, would make someone feel extremely uncomfortable and unwilling to approach him, and this wasn't even considering the rest of his qualities.

  If the son is like this, his father probably is much the same. The Six Zhao of Erhai in the southwest are definitely a massive problem for the Great Tang. By spoiling a child, the Imperial Court ended up nurturing a tiger! Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

  Signs that the southwest would rebel had been evident for a long time, and while Wang Chong didn't understand how to read faces or feel bones, he could tell that Fengjiayi was not a good person.

  "Brat, no matter who you are or where you learned the art of war, you won't be able to escape the southwest alive!"

  Fengjiayi's icy voice rumbled like peals of thunder as he announced Wang Chong's fate.

  Whoosh!

  Sword Qi flew through the air. While speaking, Fengjiayi managed to make a tiny opening while matching blows with Wang Yan, through which he sent several streams of Sword Qi out of his fingers and toward Wang Chong. This was so fast that not even Wang Yan had expected it.

  It was clear that Fengjiayi's murderous intent toward Wang Chong was not merely in his words.

  Purely in terms of how much Fengjiayi wanted to kill them, Wang Chong ranked even higher than his own father, Wang Yan.

  Thudthud!

  To Fengjiayi's surprise, all his blows struck only the earth. Wang Chong had easily dodged these blows, not even using the Single Character Consecutive Slash or Phantom Steps.

  To use Sword Qi in front of me is truly laughable. Even the Crown Prince of Mengshe Zhao can't do anything with that.

  Wang Chong inwardly grinned.

  At Wang Chong's current level of strength, in close-quarters combat, he wasn't even a match for Fengjiayi's fingers. But if Fengjiayi insisted on using Sword Qi and perception, Wang Chong's expertise, to fight against him… well, to speak frankly, as long as Fengjiayi didn't fight up close, Wang Chong really didn't think much of him.

  In battles involving tens of thousands of soldiers, one person's martial arts had never been critical. No matter how powerful Fengjiayi and Jiaosiluo were, if they thought that they could change anything with just their strength alone, then they were far too naive.

  While Fengjiayi and Jiaosiluo were playing heroes, Wang Chong was playing a game of strategy and tactics.

  The two sides weren't on the same level.

  "All generals, hear my order! Hold down Fengjiayi and Jiaosiluo. Old Eagle, has our army arrived yet?"

  Wang Chong slid down the mud of the summit, retreating ten-some zhang to make some distance between him and Fengjiayi. At the same time, he raised King Song's token in his right hand and spoke in a resounding voice.

  "Milord, they're here!"

  Old Eagle's voice buzzed with a metallic resonance. In transforming into the Six-Armed Ksitigarbha Vajra Guardian, even his voice seemed to have been affected.

  Boom!

  "Kiiiill!"

  Thunder rumbled overhead, and at the same time, an earth-shaking howl rose from below. Although they had been slow in coming, the ten thousand troops led by Commandants Xu Shiping and Xu Andun had still made a timely arrival. Although the rain blurred the view from the summit, one could clearly see a new force appear behind the Tibetan and Mengshe Zhao armies.

  "Careful! Careful!"

  "It's another Tang army!"

  "Careful about the rear, ah!"

  "It's not the Annan Protectorate army! Why is there another army?
Wasn't the Great Tang supposed to be out of soldiers?"

  "Form a defensive line, and pay attention to the rear!"

  ……

  Panicked Tibetan voices mixed together with the clang of metal and the neighs of horses into a din that managed to even drown out the rain. It took only a few moments for the army led by Xu Shiping and Xu Andun to thrust into the Tibetan army.

  Although there was no Wang Chong, Li Siye, or Old Eagle to help them hold the line, Xu Shiping and Xu Andun were still veteran officers who couldn't fail to notice the opportunity. The Tibetans were already facing the massive pressure from the Annan Protectorate army, and with the arrival of another Tang army of ten thousand from behind, they instantly fell into chaos.

  "Congratulations to user for killing 41344 Tibetan cavalry!"

  "Congratulations to user for killing 43517 Tibetan cavalry!"

  "Congratulations to user for killing 44166 Tibetan cavalry!"

  ……

  A string of messages cascaded through Wang Chong's mind in a downpour. A single clash had instantly inflicted four thousand losses on the Tibetans, and the situation was continuing to worsen. In the art of war, to be attacked from both the front and rear was one of an army's greatest fears.

  The Tibetans were in a complete rout now. The battle was settled, and not even Fengjiayi and Jiaosiluo at their most powerful would be capable of altering the result.

  "Damn it, damn it!"

  Fengjiayi listened to the screams behind, his eyes going red with madness.

  This pursuit from the rain not only involved the vanguard of the Tibetan army, but several thousand of his personal soldiers. Those who had followed through this pouring rain were all the elite of Mengshe Zhao's elite. None of them had been easy to train, but even so, Fengjiayi could still hear their screams.

  "This brat—I have to kill him!"

  Fengjiayi clenched his teeth so hard that he seemed intent on crushing them to dust. The defeat of his side was already settled, and Wang Yan and the other generals of the Annan Protectorate army had already arrived. Not even killing Wang Chong and cutting down the banner would be able to change anything.