The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  However, the assassination attempts of these various foreign countries did not exceed the bounds of human capability. Arrows, sabers, spears, powerful martial arts experts… all of these were normal and reasonable.

  But this scene playing out within the Wang Clan Residence had already exceeded the bounds of ordinary martial arts. Whether it was that giant bell that had dropped out of the sky in broad daylight, this human-shaped monster who had suddenly appeared in his home, that unique violet flame energy, or the unknown power shrouding the entire Wang Clan, all of these were not normal martial arts methods.

  In Wang Chong's memories, only those black-robed figures who had assassinated Geluofeng's wife and daughter, pursued Jiannan Governor Zhang Qiantuo, and shot that mysterious black arrow at him could do such things.

  These bastards are quite bold!

  After understanding the cause, Wang Chong clenched his fists, his expression instantly turning furious. The capital was at the feet of the Sage Emperor, garrisoned with the tens of thousands of soldiers of the Imperial Army and presided over by the Sage Emperor himself. Moreover, the Wang Clan was a clan of ministers and generals and important vassals.

  These bastards actually dared to launch such a major assault in the middle of the capital with the intent of destroying one of the Great Tang's influential clans. The word 'daring' could no longer describe such conduct. This was a complete disregard for laws and principles. No secular law or custom could bind them.

  But these thoughts persisted in Wang Chong's mind for only a few moments. He very quickly calmed down. Rage would not be able to solve any of his problems. Now that he understood that this monster had companions, the urgent mission was to eliminate them as quickly as possible.

  Even though we've fought for so long, there's still no sign of any activity outside. The steward also mentioned that something seemed to be blocking them from leaving. This means that these people are using some sort of special formation, Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

  The martial path took many shapes and forms. His father and Xianyu Zhongtong could gather the strength of many people to transform into powerful war weapons like the Mighty Miracle God and the Vajra God.

  This was just a manifestation of martial arts and internal energy.

  Wang Chong knew that a few formations could form a closed domain, but these formations could not create domains so large and tough that they could envelop an entire estate.

  If all sound was cut off and all images were obscured… No, it wasn't possible for all images to be blocked out! That energy shrouding the Wang Clan Residence might be able to greatly obscure the vision of outsiders attempting to peer in, but it couldn't block their vision completely.

  If the master of a mad dog couldn't see their target, then they wouldn't be able to incite the mad dog to bite the enemy!

  The perimeter wall!

  Wang Chong glanced at the high perimeter wall in understanding. Estates like theirs always had high perimeter walls, both to protect themselves and keep out the peering eyes of outsiders.

  But at a moment like this, this wall became the best assistant for those people in preventing their activities from being discovered.

  In other words, at this late hour, if those patrolling watchmen and Imperial soldiers couldn't discover what was going on, no one would know what was happening. Even if the Wang Clan Residence were flattened, no one would know until sunrise.

  …If this is the case, their position is very easy to identify!

  Wang Chong's eyes flashed with a cold light. Boom! His body shot forward as he pushed the Phantom Steps to their limit, dodging Lu Wu's destructive blow.

  Immediately after, Wang Chong thought of a method.

  "Wei Guo and Wei Wu, immediately send people to the northwest, northeast, southeast, and southwest corners, and pile things up until the pile is three zhang high!" Wang Chong suddenly said. "If there's nothing appropriate, then use cloth. Start from the corner and work along both walls so that it extends for at least ten zhang on both sides!"

  "Yes, Young Master!"

  In the distance, two tall figures affirmed their orders and set off with guards. The Wang Clan might not have much else, but it had an uncountable amount of cloth, silk, and gauze.

  This was common for most of the noble clans of the capital.

  Swishswishswish!

  It took only a few moments for walls of cloth to be piled up along the walls of the four corners of the Wang Clan Residence. And outside the Wang Clan Residence, the black-robed figures had still been focused on Wang Chong, so they failed to notice what the guards were doing.

  It was only after their vision went black as piles of cloth and silk began to rise over the walls that the black-robed men began to pale and cry out in alarm.

  "Oh no! That brat, he managed to get us!"

  "He noticed us!"

  "Leader, we've lost communication with Lu Wu!"

  ……

  They were all caught by surprise. At this stage of the operation, the black-robed men suddenly realized that they had been forced into a dire situation by their target. He was too smart, his reaction too fast.

  And they still didn't know how he had figured out that they were outside the walls.

  Moreover, all the cloth had been positioned precisely to block their vision, block the areas that they used to peer into the Wang Clan and direct Lu Wu.

  "This is a problem. In order to prevent outsiders from seeing, we enclosed the entire Wang Clan, even its walls. Now that he's raised these walls of cloth, we can't do anything."

  Another black-robed man, who seemed to have quite some status, stood up, his brow furrowed and a troubled look on his face. This was called making a cocoon to tie oneself up. They had known that their opponent was hard to deal with, but they hadn't expected him to be this formidable.

  In just a few moments, he had already dealt them many setbacks. Their operation was now suffering from all sorts of problems. The man finally understood why all their previous operations had failed.

  This was the kind of target that was the most difficult to deal with.

  "What do we do?"

  The black-robed man subconsciously turned to the leader, the one wearing the demon mask. With this ploy from Wang Chong, they had lost control of Lu Wu. They were now outside the bounds of the plan.

  This was truly a particularly unique target, a most thorny and intractable one.

  In the current situation, if they withdrew the black shroud over the estate, they would be playing right into their target's desires. There was an extremely high chance that he would escape or that the Imperial Army would notice.

  But if they did not do this, it would be impossible to deal with the target.

  In truth, the best method was to command Lu Wu to destroy the cloth on the walls, but they didn't even know where Lu Wu was or which direction he should head in.

  Rumble!

  Dust roiled up from beneath the piles of cloth. Although they could not see anything, much less hear anything, the rising dust was enough for the black-robed men to guess that the brat was starting on his next move.

  And this move made them extremely uneasy.

  "Damn it!"

  The leader's bones cracked and groaned. From the start, this operation had not gone smoothly. He hadn't expected that even using Lu Wu would prove so troublesome!

  "Forget about him. Lu Wu will be fine for the moment, and no one can kill him. A long night brings many dreams. Continue chanting the spell and increase Lu Wu's abilities as quickly as possible so that he can kill everyone in the Wang Clan. As for the loss of Lu Wu's lifespan… if there are any questions from above, I'll take the blame!"

  The leader spoke these last words through clenched teeth.

  "Yes!"

  His subordinates affirmed and quickly set to their tasks. Ancient and profound spells, suffused with a powerful energy, were constantly sent into the formation.

  Gradually, the black shroud began to be suffused with
tinges of faint blood. Strange symbols, exuding an ancient aura, began to flicker on the shroud.

  For the moment, however, no one noticed any of this.

  Roar!

  In the estate, Wang Chong's plan was beginning to show results. Amidst a forest of fallen plum trees, a wall of cloth had been erected.

  In the center of the cloth, Wang Chong was sitting upside down, his thumb thrust into Lu Wu's muscular neck. Beneath him, Lu Wu was like a wild beast, having descended into complete madness.

  Wang Chong's judgment had been correct. With the cloth now blocking off the four corners of the residence and the gazes of any outsiders, Lu Wu no longer had any particular preference for Wang Chong.

  Li Siye and Wang Xiaoyao had also become his targets.

  Most importantly, a monster with no rationality and no set target was much easier to deal with than a monster that was being controlled.

  "Li Siye, travel along the edge!

  "Little Sister, it's your turn!

  "Attack his eyes! As long as you attack his eyes, he'll make you his target.

  "Keep switching, make the monster indecisive…"

  ……

  Wang Chong hung by his feet from Lu Wu's head, issuing order after order. This monster might have impervious skin, peerless strength, and strange violet flames, but now that Wang Chong had grasped his weakness, it was much easier to deal with this stupid and irrational monster that only knew of slaughter and madness.

  On Yuanfeng Mountain, Wang Chong had commanded an army of one hundred thousand soldiers. Commanding Li Siye and his little sister was as easy as turning his palm.

  Chapter 671: Lu Wu's Beast Transformation!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Although Lu Wu had limitless strength, his every move enough to shatter mountains, he was at this moment nothing more than a plaything in the hands of Wang Chong, Li Siye, and Wang Xiaoyao.

  Just the choice of target made Lu Wu indecisive. He spent the majority of his strength on his constant hesitation.

  "Haha, fun, so fun!"

  Wang Xiaoyao giggled, fully immersed in this game with Lu Wu. As for Lu Wu's dangerous violet flames… as a 'monster' who possessed a natural divine strength, she was little affected by such a thing.

  Buzz!

  An endless stream of icy and domineering energy was transferred from Lu Wu's massive body to Wang Chong. Lu Wu roared constantly, but every time he tried to punch Wang Chong, Li Siye would block the attempt.

  Lu Wu was constantly growing weaker while Wang Chong was getting stronger and stronger. He even managed to break into Tier 2 of the Imperial Martial realm, well on his way to Tier 3.

  There was also another important point. When Wang Chong's Berserker Syndrome broke out in the southwestern war, although he had managed to kill more than ten thousand people, his strength had been too great, his speed too fast. This had injured his bones and blood vessels.

  This was an unavoidable result of getting strong too quickly.

  This was why Wang Chong's body sweated blood when he was cultivating.

  Now, however, Wang Chong could clearly sense that as he absorbed more of this monster's frigid energy, his cells were filling with life. It was like the best medicine in the world, healing and mending Wang Chong's internal injuries.

  This was quite the surprising harvest!

  Wonderful!

  Wang Chong's eyes flashed with a bright light, his morale invigorated. As long as he could maintain this state, he might be able to suck this monster completely dry.

  Although he didn't know where this energy came from, Wang Chong could be sure of one thing: this energy was extremely beneficial in suppressing his Berserker Syndrome.

  Suddenly, Li Siye noticed a little black dot on Lu Wu's neck. His eyes widened, and he immediately warned, "Young Master, be careful—this monster can regrow his scales!"

  "Don't panic. First think of a way to restrain him!"

  Wang Chong's voice was extremely cold and calm, imbued with a persuasive power. He was far more sensitive than Li Siye. Lu Wu's flesh was tough beyond belief, and while Wang Chong's fingers were stabbed into his neck, he could sense that layer after layer of energy was pushing back, attempting to force out his finger.

  And the hard and fine texture he could feel from his finger was clearly one of Lu Wu's scales. If it weren't for the fact that these impervious scales that could even stop Wootz Steel swords grew so slowly, Wang Chong's Little Yinyang Art would have already been rendered ineffective.

  "Little Sister!" Wang Chong said without hesitation.

  Woosh! Wang Xiaoyao shot into the air. In the blink of an eye, another scale fell to the ground, another victim of Wang Xiaoyao's godly strength. That frigid energy began to flow once more.

  As this cycle repeated, Wang Chong's plan began to bear fruit. Wang Chong got stronger and stronger as the Little Yinyang Art sucked away at Lu Wu's constantly rising energy, which began to slow, and even show signs of decreasing.

  Swoosh!

  In a flash of light, Wang Chong took out the Wootz Steel dagger and stabbed it in. But it wasn't able to make it very far before it was stuck.

  What tough flesh! Wang Chong mentally noted in shock. After all his years of battle and all the opponents he had fought, this was the only monster he had encountered that not even Wootz Steel weapons could do anything against.

  The flesh beneath the scales seemed more akin to reinforced steel than flesh. Wang Chong could not remember ever encountering such a bizarre foe.

  The wound is still too small. I can't get it in!

  Wang Chong's mind whirred as he looked at those tiny wounds.

  Wang Chong's Wootz Steel dagger was quite small, but it still wasn't enough. The two-inch-wide daggerhead was still too big for the small openings on Lu Wu's neck.

  …Even his ears have scales!

  His gaze flitting over the ears, Wang Chong could clearly see that scales had completely covered his ears, circle after circle of scales extending down into the depths of the ear.

  Using this as the point of entry was clearly not realistic.

  I have to think of a way to kill him as quickly as possible. Otherwise, Li Siye won't be able to hold on for much longer, Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

  Li Siye had still not matured into the future Invincible Great General. After fighting for so long, he had lost much of his Stellar Energy to the violet flames. It appeared like he was barely managing to hold on.

  Wang Chong shifted his gaze, switching his target to Lu Wu's eyes. This was the greatest weakness on Lu Wu's body. If he wanted to kill this monster, the eyes were the best starting point.

  But when Wang Chong turned to look at Lu Wu's eyes, he instantly paled. Lu Wu's crimson eyes were now roaring bloody bonfires, dripping tears of blood. The entire eyes had turned a bloody red and were filled with a desire to destroy and rampage. And Wang Chong could also hear the sound of bones cracking and growing.

  Kaclack!

  The figure of Lu Wu, which had already grown to about 2.9 meters, seemed to be growing even more massive under the influence of some invisible energy.

  Not only that, many appendages made of keratin, as tough as iron, were growing out from his massive body. Lu Wu's human shape now underwent a complete transformation, a dreadful transformation.

  "Shit! Li Siye, Little Sister, get out of the way!"

  Sensing extreme danger, Wang Chong immediately leaped backward. Just a moment later, a massive hammer of keratin howled through the air and hammered past the place on Lu Wu's neck that Wang Chong had occupied seconds ago.

  Although the blow had missed, the massive strength in the blow still caused the earth to shake.

  "Owwww!"

  A massive cry rose into the sky. Intense violet flames imbued with destructive energy began to spread out from Lu Wu, engulfing the entire area. Booooom! As the violet flames roared past, plum trees were flattened, and even the cloth used to block out vision burned
to ash.

  "Ah!"

  Wang Xiaoyao yelped as she was struck by the edge of this wave of Stellar Energy and sent flying. On the other side, Li Siye also groaned as he was stuck by the edge of this wave. As he crashed against a shattered wall, his complexion instantly turned as white as paper.

  "So powerful!"

  The two silently counted themselves lucky. If not for Wang Chong's prompt warning, they would have endured the full force of this wave, and then they wouldn't be walking away with a few minor injuries.

  "What is that?" Wang Xiaoyao said in alarm as she got up off the ground. When she saw the scene behind her, her eyes widened and her face filled with fear.

  The site of the plum tree forest was now covered in dense smoke.

  The giant Lu Wu had vanished, replaced with a massive demonic beast, its body covered with sharp horns of various sizes, and a long tail of keratin ending in a hammer extending from its back1.

  This monster's four claws were planted on the ground, its eyes crimson red. It was around three meters tall, and as for length… if one counted its tail, it was more than five meters long.

  Anyone standing before this monster would feel a terrible fear.

  Wang Xiaoyao might have possessed godly strength, but she was still a girl of eight or nine years old. The sight of this nightmarish beast instinctively stirred fear in her heart.

  "A human turned into a monster… What in the world is this thing?"

  At this moment, the only person who kept their cool was Wang Chong. He had personally witnessed the process of transformation. A few moments ago, Lu Wu had still been a human monster about 2.9 meters high, but soon after, his body had swelled, becoming this inhuman monster.

  This was the first time in Wang Chong's life that he had seen a living human transform into a true monster. This already surpassed Wang Chong's understanding of martial arts, and could not be explained with common sense.

  Roar!

  The massive monster opened its mouth and suddenly spit out a pillar of fire at Li Siye ten-some zhang away. Boom! As the flame shot forward, even dirt and stone were set ablaze.