The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  To fulfill this goal, Huoba Sangye had given Dalun Ruozan his full support. He had even used his network to borrow many soldiers from the other royal lineages for Dalun Ruozan’s expedition.

  “Ready!”

  Huoba Sangye flourished his sword, a scarlet weapon conferred by the fifth-generation Tsenpo. It pointed beyond the hills, blazing with the light of the morning sun. Rumble! The earth quaked and dust churned. With Huoba Sangye’s order, the motionless ranks of the Mutri Great Cavalry began to move, and an intimidating aura exploded from their bodies, a scorching wave of heat that caused the grass growing on the hills to wither.

  Boom!

  The seven thousand Mutri Great Cavalry rode out of the rising sun, floodwaters surging over the tops of the hills, the thundering of their hooves drowning out all noise on the eastern side of the battlefield. The seven thousand Mutri Great Cavalry were fast, but Shamask’s eight thousand Celestial Wolf Cavalry were even faster. By the time the Mutri Great Cavalry were charging down the hills, the Celestial Wolf Cavalry were already kicking up a cloud of dust on the battlefield.

  At this moment, all the world seemed to lose color at their approach.

  “Milord! Look over there!”

  Meanwhile, in the middle of the Tang army, Kong Zi-an seemed to sense something and turned his head, his eyes filling with shock as he saw the approaching Celestial Wolf Cavalry. The armor, momentum, and strength of the Celestial Wolf Cavalry were completely different from any other force of Turkic cavalry, and Kong Zi-an felt like he was about to fight against an extremely formidable foe.

  “And over there! Ü-Tsang has moved as well!”

  Another one of the Wushang officers called out, pointing in another direction. Everyone turned to look and saw that behind the Celestial Wolf Cavalry, a force of cavalry wearing armor of gold and red was charging up from a different angle.

  These two supreme forces of cavalry, one in front and one behind, were intending to pincer the Tang between them.

  An intense sense of danger immediately swept through the crowd. These were two of the strongest forces of cavalry on the continent, standing at the very peak of power. One alone would be hard enough to deal with, much less two.

  Li Siye on his Ferghana steed stood amidst his soldiers, his mind seething with countless thoughts.

  Both the Celestial Wolf Cavalry and the Mutri Great Cavalry were long-established names consisting of some of the best cavalry in the world. Their fighting power could not be compared to that of other cavalry and their combined numbers were also far greater than those of the Wushang Cavalry. Advance or retreat, attack or defend—Li Siye had to make his choice as quickly as possible.

  “Milord! What do we do?” Kong Zi-an worriedly said.

  The two approaching cavalry exerted an incredible pressure on each of the men, one that none of them had felt in any other battle.

  Li Siye said nothing, his eyes scanning the battlefield. The battle was still ongoing, and shouts and crashes were still filling his ears, bloody gleams of light flickering in and out of his eyes. The two cavalry forces still had some distance to cover, and there was still time to withdraw.

  But when Li Siye spotted Sun Zhiming, Zhuang Zhengping, Chi Weisi, and the others still fighting hard against the Turks and Tibetans, he immediately made his decision.

  “We have nowhere to retreat! All soldiers, prepare for battle!”

  Li Siye held aloft his massive Wootz Steel sword, allowing the sun to reflect off its edge. He exploded with an energy so vast and powerful that the world itself seemed to move!

  Boom!

  After a moment of silence, the earth began to tremble, the five thousand Wushang Cavalry going from stillness to lightning-fast speeds. This time, however, their targets were the Celestial Wolf Cavalry and the Mutri Great Cavalry behind them.

  At this moment, even though they had long been prepared for such a sight, Shamask and Huoba Sangye still had to look with apprehension at the intimidating aura of the five thousand Wushang Cavalry.

  Chapter 911 - The Celestial Wolf Illusory Formation!

  Chapter 911: The Celestial Wolf Illusory Formation!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  The five thousand Wushang Cavalry were unstoppable, sweeping through any opposition they encountered. Bang! A Turkic horseman that had tried to stand in their way was knocked aside and thrown screaming more than ten meters into the air by the enormous force of the impact.

  One, two, three… innumerable Turks and Tibetans were thrown aside like so much grass or tossed into the air by the astonishing momentum of the Wushang Cavalry.

  “Good! Only by killing this sort of enemy can the achievement actually be worth anything!”

  Shamask pressed against his horse, feeling no fear at this sight. On the contrary, he began to look excited, and his body began to exude an aura of savagery. In all of the Western Turkic Khaganate, Shamask could be said to the most insidious and strange Brigadier General.

  He was cruel and bloodthirsty, but also crafty and cunning like a viper. He had none of the daring or demeanor appropriate to an illustrious Brigadier General. However, no matter how many eccentricities he had, no matter how much others loathed his conduct, Shamask would always be Duwu Sili’s most important subordinate. Duwu Sili had even regarded him with more important than the Black Wolf Yabgu, Agudu Lan, who had imperial blood running through his veins.

  The reason for Duwu Sili’s favor was simple. Shamask would always find a way to kill his foe, no matter how powerful they were!

  “All soldiers, hear my order! Leave that Imperial Martial Tang leader to me! None of you are allowed to touch him! I want to cut off his head and make his skull into my wine cup!” Shamask fiercely said, excitedly licking his lips, his eyes seeming to thirst for blood.

  “Yes!”

  The Celestial Wolf Cavalry assented, all of them beginning to grow excited as well.

  “Alas, for such a formidable force of cavalry to be led by a weakling of the Imperial Martial realm. I really don’t know just how you managed to lose, Agudu Lan. But that doesn’t matter. I’ll just slice off his head and avenge you!”

  Shamask looked at Li Siye like one would look at a lamb to be slaughtered. It was far too easy for a Brigadier General to kill a martial artist of the Imperial Martial realm.

  In Shamask’s eyes, Li Siye was just a walking corpse.

  Rumble! A pitch-black halo spread out from Shamask’s body, sweeping through the Celestial Wolf Cavalry like a gale, causing the already swift cavalry force to get even faster as they charged toward Li Siye’s Wushang Cavalry like a massive sword.

  The world seemed to be shaking as the eight thousand Celestial Wolf Cavalry and the five thousand Wushang Cavalry approached each other, their imminent clash attracting the attention of countless people.

  “Lord Marquis! General Li is in danger!”

  Behind the second defense line, Xue Qianjun, standing next to Wang Chong, almost immediately noticed the activity in the distance. As he watched those two cavalry forces charge at each other as if in a decisive clash, his eyes were tinged with deep concern.

  Xue Qianjun had never doubted the strength of the Wushang Cavalry. In his mind, they were the strongest cavalry in the world. However, that was only when the marquis was leading them. A chasm that was difficult to cross lay between the Imperial Martial realm and Saint Martial realm. Li Siye was only at the peak of the Imperial Martial realm, and the Wushang Cavalry without a Saint Martial commander at the helm simply could not contend against the Celestial Wolf Cavalry led by a Brigadier General.

  “There’s no need to worry!” Wang Chong indifferently said, his face calm and emotionless as he stood beneath the flapping banner.

  “But, Lord Marquis…”

  Xue Qianjun wanted to say more, but Wang Chong waved his hand to stop him.

  “Relax. Li Siye will be fine.”

  He had been paying attenti
on to the battlefield this entire time. The clash of the Wushang Cavalry against Duwu Sili’s Celestial Wolf Cavalry, a decisive battle between two of the strongest cavalry forces in history, was both a coincidence and an inevitability. For this battle, Wang Chong had made many preparations, and these included Li Siye.

  Go! Only danger can stimulate your potential. I am confident that a day will come when your sharpness can truly be revealed!

  As Wang Chong stared at Li Siye’s back, countless thoughts flew through his mind.

  For too long, Li Siye had been sheltered under Wang Chong’s wings. Whether it was during the battle at the triangular gap versus Dayan Mangban or the battle against Agudu Lan at Qixi Armory, Wang Chong had borne all the risks and dangers for him. Li Siye had been too safe, so he had remained stuck at the Imperial Martial realm, unable to break into the Saint Martial realm and become the true Invincible Great General.

  In the last life, Li Siye had been able to reach such a high level in such a short time, become capable of holding one side on his own and even reversing the course of the battle, precisely because he had risked himself in battle after dangerous battle.

  By throwing himself into the jaws of death and emerging victorious, by teetering on that thin line between life and death, Li Siye had forced out his body’s potential, forging his own legend in the empire.

  Death and injury were foreordained in Li Siye’s life. Only by directly confronting death could he actually mature.

  This was the conclusion Wang Chong had reached after a long period of thought.

  Xue Qianjun stared in a daze at Wang Chong, sensing his determined gaze. As if slowly understanding, he began to relax, joining Wang Chong in silently watching as the clash between two of the world’s strongest cavalry forces began to unfold.

  Awooo!

  In the distant cloud of roiling dust, the two cavalry forces were getting closer and closer, only two-hundred-some zhang apart now. The moment they locked onto each other, a terrifying howl suddenly rang out in everyone’s ears. No wolf had made this howl, because this was not a sound any wolf could make.

  As this howl rang through the air, an invisible energy suddenly stirred to life around the Celestial Wolf Cavalry. Space began to twist, and the energy around the eight thousand cavalry suddenly condensed into a massive golden wolf head, the size of a mountain, its eyes full of contempt, dignity, and savagery.

  Rumble! The moment this wolf head appeared, the eight thousand Celestial Wolf Cavalry grew faster, stronger, nimbler, and even their horses began to change. Their bodies swelled with muscle, and their hooves seemed to strike the earth with even greater force.

  In the blink of an eye, the pressure and energy exuded by the Celestial Wolf Cavalry had multiplied, and they seemed to become a whole new cavalry force. The clouds of dust they kicked up that had once only gotten as high as ten-some meters now went as high as thirty meters, and their speed skyrocketed. But this was not the full extent of their transformation.

  “General, look at that!”

  Kong Zi-an’s eyes widened as he pointed forward.

  Right under the eyes of the Wushang Cavalry, the eight thousand Celestial Wolf Cavalry suddenly doubled, and now sixteen thousand men were furiously charging toward them.

  “Illusory formation!”

  Li Siye’s eyes flew open as he recognized what this was. It was simply impossible for the eight thousand Celestial Wolf Cavalry to have instantly doubled their numbers to sixteen thousand. There was no doubt that half of them were illusions.

  In his many battles, this was the first time Li Siye had been in this situation.

  The Celestial Wolf Illusory Formation!

  Li Siye recalled that rumor he had heard during his service in the Beiting Protectorate. The legends of the Turkic steppe said that this was a supreme illusory formation developed by the eccentric steppe shamans and was one of the three great formations of the Western Turkic Khaganate.

  Beiting Protector-General An Sishun had stood guard over the northern border for many years, and rarely had he ever encountered anyone that could be considered a true foe. His only defeat had been at the hands of this Celestial Wolf Illusory Formation.

  The rumors said that the steppe outside the Beiting Protectorate had been filled with the illusions of the Celestial Wolf Cavalry. The difficulty in telling the true from the false eventually led to the Beiting Protector-General’s defeat. Li Siye had not participated in the battle, and he did not know the specific details. But there was almost no one in the Beiting Protectorate that did not know about the Celestial Wolf Illusory Formation.

  “Lord Marquis, what should we do?”

  In the rear, the Qixi officers around Wang Chong began to worry about Li Siye and the Wushang Cavalry. The epic clash of these two formidable cavalry forces was no longer just a cause for alarm from Xue Qianjun, and even the generals at the first defense line had begun to notice something strange, shooting glances in the direction of the imminent clash between Li Siye and Shamask.

  The Wushang Cavalry were a formidable powerhouse, but the Celestial Wolf Cavalry were just as strong and courageous. In everyone’s view, it was the smaller Wushang Cavalry who were at the disadvantage.

  “Believe in him!”

  Wang Chong remained motionless beneath the war banner, his face emotionless as he intoned those three words.

  The Wushang Cavalry were the best troops under his command, and they were also the backbone of his army in the last life. Although this current iteration of the Wushang Cavalry had not experienced so many battles and could not be considered true veterans, they had the best equipment in the world: the Meteoric Metal armor and the Wootz Steel swords. These were aids that the Wushang Cavalry from his last life had not possessed.

  The Wushang Cavalry were luxuriously equipped with the best weapons and armor in the world.

  If even this iteration of the Wushang Cavalry were no match for the Celestial Wolf Cavalry, then no force in the Central Plains, nor any cavalry force, could contend against the Celestial Wolf Cavalry.

  Chapter 912 - Formation Phenomena!

  Chapter 912: Formation Phenomena!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  “Kill!!”

  As Wang Chong had expected, it took only a few moments for Li Siye to sense what Wang Chong was thinking. He turned away, his large and strong palm clasping around his massive sword as his expression hardened. “Hyah!” Li Siye immediately pushed his horse to go even faster, leading his five thousand Wushang Cavalry in the charge against the Celestial Wolf Cavalry.

  ……

  “Stop!”

  At the same time, behind the Celestial Wolf Cavalry, Huoba Sangye suddenly raised his arm and ordered his golden-red-armored Mutri Great Cavalry to halt.

  “Milord?!”

  This order was so abrupt that the Mutri Great Cavalry officers around Huoba Sangye turned in shock to their commander. Was the Mutri Great Cavalry’s task on the battlefield at the moment not to work with the eight thousand Celestial Wolf Cavalry and completely annihilate the Tang army?

  “It’s too late now. The Turks’ Celestial Wolf Cavalry got ahead of us.”

  Huoba Sangye’s eyes were like blazing suns while his face was solemn and serene.

  “Don’t forget that in coming to this battle, we have defied the Tsenpo’s decree. In defeating the Tang, we Mutri Great Cavalry do not need the help of others!”

  “But, Great Minister and the Great Generals hope that we work together with the Celestial Wolf Cavalry to defeat the Tang!” one of Huoba Sangye’s deputies urged.

  Huoba Sangye looked ahead and emotionlessly asked, “Does the Celestial Wolf Cavalry appear to need our help at the moment?”

  The officers followed his gaze, where the Celestial Wolf Cavalry were charging with an incredible momentum, the Celestial Wolf Illusory Formation bolstering their strength. Even the Mutri Great Cavalry were surprised at their power.

  In terms of momen
tum, the eight thousand Celestial Wolf Cavalry completely dominated the Great Tang’s Wushang Cavalry.

  The Mutri officers instantly understood, and they seemed a little more at ease.

  “Let’s wait until the Celestial Wolf Cavalry actually need our help!”

  Huoba Sangye’s voice rang out in all their ears.

  “Yes!”

  All his officers replied in unison.

  ……

  From his vantage point on the hills, Huoshu Huicang could see what was happening. Frowning, he stepped forward and whispered into Dalun Ruozan’s ear, “Great Minister, this Huoba Sangye… should we urge him on a little?”

  Huoba Sangye was far too proud, as were the Mutri Great Cavalry. At what should have been a time for Ü-Tsang to closely collaborate with the Western Turks , Huoba Sangye had decided to have his Mutri Great Cavalry stop and watch from the rear, completely ruining the mood.

  This was also not a good development for the Turko-Tibetan alliance.

  “Relax! Huoba Sangye knows what he should do! In addition, Shamask and the Celestial Wolf Cavalry will not like it if someone intervenes at this time,” Dalun Ruozan impassively said, his expression relaxed.

  Although Huoba Sangye had stopped, this had little effect on the battle overall. With the Tang surrounded, the trend of the battle was set, and no one could stop it.

  “But…”

  Huoshu Huicang still wanted to argue otherwise, but then Dalun Ruozan shot a glance past him. Huoshu Huicang subconsciously turned to follow his gaze and saw that nearby, Duwu Sili had his head held high, an apathetic look on his face. As he stood beneath the golden wolf banner with his hands held behind his back, he exuded an aura of pride and disdain.

  Huoshu Huicang now understood and fell silent.

  Dalun Ruozan was correct. Duwu Sili’s Celestial Wolf Cavalry were one of the three greatest cavalry forces of the Western Turkic Khaganate. In terms of battlefield record, Duwu Sili had even defeated the Beiting Protector-General once. Someone of his ability almost certainly had a very high opinion of themselves, so how could he permit outsiders to assist his Celestial Wolf Cavalry?