The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  "Milord, look over there!"

  A cry of alarm came from his side. His eyes widening, Fumeng Lingcha raised his head and saw that the situation had changed yet again. Behind the first wave of yaks, several thousand special cavalry had galloped to the front of Dayan Mangban's army.

  These cavalry had large white bags hanging off the left and right sides of their horses. As they rode forward, they thrust their hands into the bags and heaved. Whoosh! In a flash, clouds of white powder were thrown into the air, to be carried along by the wind and shroud the plateau in a white 'fog'.

  In the blink of an eye, the wind had caught up to the galloping yak herd and continued to expand. In a few seconds, this white fog had shrouded the area, somewhat obstructing Fumeng Lingcha's vision.

  Bwoooom!

  The vigorous and mournful yak horns began to blow, the cries of thousands of horses began to ring out from within the white fog, and the earth rumbled as Dayan Mangban's army began to move. What was a tiny tremble at first swiftly transformed into fierce shuddering as the Tibetan cavalry charged.

  Buzz!

  Even Fumeng Lingcha couldn't help but widen his eyes, his face paling at the sight.

  Yaks in the vanguard, the white fog as a shroud, and the army following close behind—Dayan Mangban's attacks came in wave after wave. These attacks were like a furious storm, and it seemed like only one wave would be sufficient to crush Wang Chong, his five thousand Wushang Cavalry, and the eight-thousand-some craftsmen behind him into the dust.

  Fumeng Lingcha turned his head and fiercely ordered, "Inform Heba Ye to quicken the pace of the army! We need to be ready to enter the battlefield at any time."

  "Yes, Milord!"

  A horseman took off. Dayan Mangban had invested his entire army in this one assault to eliminate Wang Chong, and once his formation fell into chaos, the Qixi Protectorate army would have a superb chance to enter the battle.

  ……

  "Lord Marquis!"

  In the distance, unease pervaded the air while everyone waited for Wang Chong's decision.

  The thundering of the yak charge was deafening, and they were so close now that it was difficult to carry out any sort of conversation. In addition, the white powder had spread so rapidly that even their steel fortress had been affected. This fog was so thick that even cultivators at Xu Keyi and Cheng Sanyuan's level could only see around ten meters in front of them.

  The yaks, white powder, and the tens of thousands of Tibetan cavalry in the rear… The Wushang Cavalry were in an extremely dangerous situation.

  Wang Chong said nothing. Dayan Mangban was far more troublesome and frightening than he had imagined. Dayan Mangban seemed insane, but his thought process was very meticulous. He had decided to use a yak stampede to deal with Wang Chong's beehives.

  Not only that, he had even used the direction of the wind and the white powder to create a fog that shrouded the battlefield. This white fog made it difficult for Wang Chong's formations to show any power. Without a target, the cavalry were like headless chickens, their power greatly reduced.

  More importantly, the Tibetan army was behind the yak herd, its speed crazily rising. If Wang Chong wanted to counter them, he would need to charge out from the steel walls, but that would bring him into a collision with the thousands of yaks.

  In this situation, Wang Chong's cavalry would be halved before he had even fought with Dayan Mangban.

  Dayan Mangban had given him a very difficult problem.

  Wang Chong continued to say nothing. He could hear all their voices and sense the unease of the army, but Wang Chong remained calm and emotionless. The more critical the situation, the calmer he was.

  No matter what tactic Dayan Mangban used or what trick he played, Wang Chong would never yield, never lose!

  Rumble!

  The quaking intensified, and the thundering hooves seemed to be stomping on his heart. One hundred zhang, eighty zhang, sixty zhang… the thousands of yaks that Dayan Mangban had made into his vanguard were charging closer and closer. Wang Chong could even smell the unique odor of the yaks through the white fog.

  The atmosphere was growing tenser and tenser.

  Sniff!

  Suddenly, Wang Chong's nostrils flared and he raised his head to the white fog in the air, a strange feeling in his mind.

  "This smell… it's barley flour!"

  In that last moment, Wang Chong's eyes brightened and he began to smile.

  This was called being too smart for one's own good. To deal with him, Dayan Mangban had prepared both the yaks and the white powder, but to deal with him, the best method would have been to use lime.

  Unfortunately, the plateau didn't have much lime, so Dayan Mangban had used barley flour as a substitute. The Tibetans raised livestock and planted barley for a living, and barley was their sole crop. Thus, it was the object that could most easily replace lime.

  There was nothing wrong with the idea, but alas, Dayan Mangban had run into Wang Chong.

  "Li Siye, have the entire army dismount. When they hear the signal, all men and horses should immediately get down!" Wang Chong suddenly said, his eyes glowing with vim and vigor.

  Chapter 775: Dust Explosion!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  "Ah!"

  The surrounding officers were dumbfounded. The enemy yaks were charging over, the army close behind them. If they were to get to the ground at a moment like this, wouldn't they just be waiting to get trampled?

  "But, Lord Marquis, Dayan Mangban is already coming!" Su Shixuan worriedly said. Although the others said nothing, their eyes were just as concerned. These officers had always been very trusting of Wang Chong, but this order was far too unreasonable.

  The Tibetan assault did not consist solely of the yaks. In these few short moments, the cries of the Tibetan army in the rear were already audible.

  Even if they chose to endure the yak charge by lying on the ground and hiding behind the steel walls, they wouldn't be able to avoid the Tibetan army in the back.

  For cavalry to be dismounted and on the ground at a crucial moment like this would be suicidal.

  This wasn't something as simple as the lives and deaths of five thousand Wushang Cavalry. Once they lost, the eight-thousand-some craftsmen behind them in the fortress would meet their end as well.

  "There are no buts! Do as I say!" Wang Chong firmly ordered, his eyes still aimed forward.

  "Yes!"

  Su Shixuan clenched his teeth and left to pass on the order. Although he still felt that Wang Chong's order was very improper, since Wang Chong was sure about it, Su Shixuan would not object.

  Fifty zhang, forty zhang, thirty zhang, twenty zhang…

  The heartstrings of every person were pulled taut. Through the thick white fog, it was possible to see the flaring nostrils of the yaks, as well as their bell-like copper eyes blazing with madness. Their massive bodies and hunched backs were like thousands of miniature mountains.

  Moooooo!

  The yaks called out like a massive wave crashing over the earth. And even more frightening were the frenzied shouts of the thousands of Tibetan cavalry behind them.

  "Everyone, hear my order! Follow the yak herd and kill all the Tang to avenge the Mountain Army."

  "Anyone who dares to build a fort on the plateau is digging their own grave! Everyone, follow me!"

  "General has ordered that anyone who kills the brat called Wang Chong will be made a general and granted a supreme technique from the Great Snow Mountain."

  "No Tang is permitted to escape! Forward!"

  The thousands of Tibetan cavalry brandished their scimitars and yowled. Although the white fog was just as effective against them, all the Tibetans needed to do was take up Echelon Formation, cover their mouths and noses with cloth, and follow behind the yak herd.

  The only fate awaiting those who dared to disgrace the general was death!

  "Brat, did you really think that you would be safe
behind your walls? Everything has a price, and this time, I'll let everyone know what happens to anyone who dares to oppose me and challenge Ü-Tsang."

  In the center of the army, Dayan Mangban was riding his divine steed from the Great Snow Mountain, his eyes shining with a savage and crazed light. No matter how Wang Chong responded, in the end, he would find it impossible to escape death.

  He could already imagine the scene of Wang Chong being beheaded, his head stuck upon a spear and displayed on the edge of the plateau to serve as a warning to the rest of the Great Tang.

  "All soldiers, hear my order! Full speed charge!" Dayan Mangban shouted out, and the army immediately picked up speed, thunderously rumbling across the earth.

  Buzz!

  The quaking of the ground intensified, the grass of the plateau rustling and trembling, and as the army got closer, the atmosphere grew tenser. Ten zhang, eight zhang, six zhang, four zhang…

  Rumble!

  Finally, the thousands of mooing yaks frenziedly charged in between the steel walls. The atmosphere had grown so tense that even time seemed to have stopped.

  "Get down!"

  A sharp cry cut through the sky, and at the same moment, at the rear of the Tang army, a bowstring twanged. A long arrow shot forward like a bolt of lightning from the steel fortress, headed straight for the middle of the Tibetan army. And the tiny flame at the arrow tip was dazzling to the extreme.

  Boom!

  After what seemed like both a second and like endless epochs, a massive explosion filled the sky. With countless fearful eyes bearing witness, a scarlet fireball, as dazzling as the sun, rapidly expanded in the air.

  As if this was the signal to begin, the white fog that permeated the entire battlefield began to explode, the massive sound suppressing all other noise—the mooing, the shouting, and the thundering of hooves across the earth.

  All these sounds were insignificant before these explosive booms, like the buzzing of mosquitoes compared to peals of thunder.

  The fierce explosions also caused a fierce shaking, and those crazed charging yaks screamed as they were sent flying into the air like weightless weeds. This sudden change caught the Tibetan cavalry following the yaks completely by surprise. "Aaaah!" Screams filled the air as the Tibetans and their steeds were also thrown back by the explosions.

  Some people were flung into the air, where the continuous explosions pulverized their bodies. Others were thrown down to the grass, and though they seemed fine on the surface, their internal organs had been shattered by the impacts, and they were bleeding from every orifice, causing them to die on the spot.

  Moreover, the explosions had also triggered a massive fire. The entire battlefield, including Wang Chong's steel fortress in the rear, had transformed into an unprecedented sea of fire. All the air in the battlefield, and even the air in the lungs of the Tibetan cavalry, was completely burned away.

  Before those Tibetan cavalry even had time to react, they had already suffocated to death on their horses.

  Boomboomboom!

  One explosion came after another, and the battlefield transformed into a cacophony of screams, whinnies, and mooing.

  ……

  "Impossible! How could there be something like this!!!"

  In the distance, Fumeng Lingcha, who had personally witnessed this scene, was trembling all over, momentarily at a loss for words. As an elite Great General of the Great Tang Empire and one of the leading Hu commanders, Fumeng Lingcha had spent a life on the battlefield, experiencing all sorts of tactics and strategies.

  But not even Fumeng Lingcha had ever seen anything like this.

  He had already ordered Heba Ye to bring the army to the edge of the battlefield. With a single order, he could avail himself of the chaos that would come after Dayan Mangban's Tibetan army eliminated Wang Chong to charge in from the side. But Fumeng Lingcha had never predicted a situation like this.

  With just a few arrows, Wang Chong had created a massive explosion and a terrifying sea of fire, and he had personally witnessed it. Although Fumeng Lingcha was very far from the battlefield, he could still sense the searing waves of heat. Massive waves were raging in Fumeng Lingcha's mind, and he was overcome by an unprecedented shock.

  This scene had completely surpassed common sense, had exceeded everything he knew about the world. Even though Fumeng Lingcha was an Imperial Great General, even though he had witnessed the entire process, he still had no idea how all this had happened.

  Not even an Imperial Great General was capable of understanding this scene.

  "Kiiill!"

  While Fumeng Lingcha was still lost in thought, the sky was suddenly filled with fierce shouts that shook the steppe. After this wave of explosions, Wang Chong finally led his Wushang Cavalry forward. His warhorse neighing and his robes flapping in the air, Wang Chong was the first to ride out from the cover of the silver-white walls.

  Behind him, all the Wushang Cavalry had mounted their horses and taken up formation, following Wang Chong as quickly as lightning. Wang Chong and his forces had also been in the range of the explosions, but Wang Chong had ordered all of them to get down on the ground along with their horses and use the steel walls, so they had suffered few injuries.

  As for the steel fortress in the rear, its six-zhang-high walls had kept out the white barley flour, so the craftsmen within had also succeeded in escaping the disaster.

  "All troops, attack!"

  Wang Chong unsheathed his sword as his shout, cold and firm as steel, echoed through the skies.

  Rumble!

  The earth shuddered as the five thousand Wushang together with the thousand-some veteran elites from the southwest surged out from behind the steel walls, seething with killing intent. At this very moment, the explosions stopped, the sea of fire extinguished. All the barley flour had been burned away, and the white fog no longer shrouded the battlefield. The entire situation became clear.

  For nearly a thousand zhang in front of the steel walls that Wang Chong had erected, the ground was covered in corpses. The scorched corpses of yaks were splayed out on the ground. In the massive explosion and sea of fire, their thick black fur had become a lethal flaw.

  The fallen yaks were completely naked, all their fur burned away. They had suffered the greatest impact from the explosions. Behind these yaks were countless Tibetan corpses. These valiant warriors of the plateau had all been mounted on stalwart highland steeds, and because they were standing higher, they had suffered more from the shockwaves and explosions in the air.

  But the mental impact was even greater. Even now, none of the Tibetans knew what had occurred, and the mere thought of the explosion left them trembling in fear.

  No matter what the Tibetans were thinking, Wang Chong's plan had already succeeded. The five thousand Wushang Cavalry and the one thousand veterans from the southwest had formed into the Arrow Formation and were energetically charging out from behind the steel walls. Whoosh! There was a cold flash of light as a sharp sword cut through the air. A Tibetan horseman who was closest to the walls, still stupefied and confused, was beheaded before he could react, his head sent flying into the air.

  And this was only the beginning!

  Rumble! The thousands of Wushang Cavalry charged forward, unstoppable. Wang Chong had chosen precisely the moment where the Tibetans were most disorganized and their morale at their lowest, even their speed having drastically dropped.

  At this moment, their rout was truly like a landslide!

  "Aaaaah!"

  The Tibetan cavalry were felled like reaped wheat, many of them still confused and dazed as they were cleaved apart. On one side were elite troops who were organized and energetic, while on the other side were a spent force, panicked and demoralized. The latter were not even able to take a single blow, collapsing at first contact.

  Chapter 776: Major Victory!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  "Dayan Mangban, come! Let's put it all in this singl
e clash!"

  Wang Chong rode his White-hoofed Shadow forward, heartily laughing as he charged through the battlefield. With a swish of his Wootz Steel sword, a Tibetan was instantly beheaded. With a slash, a scimitar was broken and a Tibetan and his mount cleaved in two. To an expert on Wang Chong's level, of the Imperial Martial realm, a Wootz Steel weapon could ascend to a whole new level of power.

  But Wang Chong's gaze was always focused on the distant Dayan Mangban.

  Dayan Mangban was hailed as the 'Asura God' of the Ü-Tsang Empire. While appearing rough and crude, he was actually a very meticulous man who always came prepared. In order to deal with Wang Chong, he had found yaks to form his vanguard and barley flour to shroud the battlefield. Alas, his cleverness had gotten the better of him.

  Dayan Mangban had no idea that using barley flour to form a fog could very easily create a 'dust explosion'. When the concentration of barley flour in the air reached a certain level, when bits of barley flour were floating everywhere, the situation was a perfect recipe for disaster. A tiny flame would be enough to create a heaven-shaking boom.

  To Wang Chong, this was common sense, but the people of this world clearly had no knowledge of this principle.

  And Wang Chong's plan had succeeded. As for its effect…

  Everyone could see it!

  "Bastard!"

  Dayan Mangban clenched his fists, the veins on the back of his hand bulging out and his teeth grinding against each other. Madness, anger, and an irrepressible killing intent… these emotions exploded out of his eyes. If looks could kill, Wang Chong would have been killed a thousand times over.

  "I will definitely kill you, definitely kill you…"

  Dayan Mangban's gaze was locked onto Wang Chong, and he had the impulse to heedlessly charge forward, relying on his Saint Martial realm cultivation to end Wang Chong with a single thrust of his spear. But the memories from the City of Steel were still fresh, and he knew that though Wang Chong was weaker than him, he had many tricks, like joint attacks and rotational tactics, that would give pause to even a Saint Martial expert.

  Wang Chong didn't have just two-hundred-some experts this time, but five-thousand-some elites, an even more impressive force. Meanwhile, Dayan Mangban's army was in complete panic after that unprecedented explosion, its morale completely drained and completely unable to contend against Wang Chong's army.