The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  “This… Why have I never seen this unit of the Imperial Army before?”

  “What an impressive aura! These fellows are quite strong!”

  “Shhh! Be quiet! Don’t you see the look in their eyes?”

  The peddlers and civilians on the road backed up in fear at the approach of these soldiers. Those who had lived long in the capital knew the Imperial Army like the back of their hand, but they had never seen or heard of this unit of soldiers.

  But despite the ruckus of the crowd, these eight thousand imperial soldiers retained an absolute calm. In their advance, the only sound was that of the warhorses.

  In just a few moments, the eight thousand soldiers had vanished into the city like ghosts.

  ……

  Meanwhile, at Imperial Heaven Pillar Mountain one hundred li from the capital, a secret stone gate at the back of the mountain opened. A few moments later, around four thousand soldiers marched out of the mountainside. These four thousand soldiers had pale complexions, and their bodies exploded with a sharp and fierce energy, like swords unsheathed.

  If one looked carefully, one would realize that every step these people took left deep sword slashes on the ground. Moreover, the auras exuded by these four thousand soldiers were exactly alike. They had clearly undergone the same training and cultivated the same technique.

  As these people walked, the expressions on their faces were identical. One had the intimidating sensation that all of them were a part of a single person.

  It didn’t take long for the four thousand men to completely emerge and stand motionless in front of the mountain.

  “Soldiers are trained for a thousand days to be used in a single moment. I presume that you all understand what today means.”

  Wang Chong’s little uncle Wang Mi, dressed in full armor, stood in front of the stone gate, his eyes slowly surveying the soldiers.

  “Eight months is already up. Now is the time for all of you to leave the mountain and test your skills, to let the world and our enemies experience your capabilities! Do you understand?”

  His stentorian voice resounded over the mountain.

  “Yes!!”

  The four thousand soldiers all got down on one knee and lowered their heads. The air buzzed as they roared as one, four thousand men condensed into a single whole. Energy gathered above these soldiers, forming into an enormous saber ten-some zhang tall.

  This saber was broad and enormous, and so sharp and fierce that it seemed capable of cleaving open the heavens.

  Wang Mi gave a satisfied nod. Suddenly, he began to think back to Wang Chong’s words when he first began to train this group of soldiers.

  ‘Little Uncle, this unit of soldiers is extremely important to me! This scroll is the technique they should cultivate. Have them cultivate it day and night, and don’t have them train in anything else. I hope that an entirely new force of soldiers can be trained, and in the future, I will need them for an extremely important occasion. Little Uncle, I entrust this to you!’

  At that time, Wang Chong had been standing in front of a bamboo forest with an extremely solemn expression on his face.

  At that time, Wang Mi had seemed to be infected by this solemnity and had nodded his head. Wang Mi hadn’t understood what Wang Chong was talking about back then, but when he had trained the soldiers up to a certain level and had begun to train with them, he had finally understood.

  Wang Chong had entrusted him with an exceptionally powerful unit of soldiers to be trained at Imperial Heaven Pillar Mountain. And now was the time to reap the harvest.

  Hiss!

  Wang Mi took in a deep breath as he came to his senses.

  “Prepare armor for them. They need to be ready to move out in three days!” Wang Mi said without turning his head.

  “As you command, Milord!” an instructor of Imperial Heaven Pillar Mountain replied.

  Several hours later, all four thousand men were equipped, and set off like a storm sweeping out from Imperial Heaven Pillar Mountain.

  “Chong-er, this is all your little uncle can help you with. I’ve helped you train this Divine Prison Army. Take it as a gift from your uncle. The rest is up to you!”

  Wang Mi watched from midway up the mountain as the army marched away.

  ……

  As the eight thousand soldiers of the Xuanwu Army trained by Zhao Fengchen and Li Lin as well as the four thousand soldiers of the Divine Prison Army departed from the capital toward the Western Regions, night fell. The entire capital was quiet, everyone sound asleep. Very few people knew that outside that most admired and most unique place in the capital, the Su Residence, around four thousand people dressed in simple clothes were silently waiting for orders, their heads lowered to the ground.

  This estate was more than one hundred years old, and many areas were already showing signs of decay. But to the military and all soldiers, this place was a true holy land.

  Because this place was home to the legendary War God, Su Zhengchen.

  As the night deepened, a chill began to set in.

  The four thousand people were dressed in thin clothes, but they remained motionless out of fear of disturbing the person within the residence. They even sought to suppress their breathing so that there was no sound except that of the cold wind.

  After they had stood outside for some time, finally…

  “Come in!”

  An elderly voice came from within, flat and dry, like the voice of an ordinary old man on the street. Creeeak! As the old man spoke, the side gate of the Su Residence opened. Several figures amongst the four thousand could no longer hold themselves back and raised their reddened faces in excitement.

  Chapter 1040 - The Geniuses of the Tibetan Great Clans!

  Chapter 1040: The Geniuses of the Tibetan Great Clans!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  The Great Tang War God!

  No one had imagined that this mythical existence of the Great Tang would truly be willing to accept them and even personally train them.

  Hiss!

  After taking in a deep breath, these people who had raised their heads managed to suppress their agitation, their long training and self-discipline compelling them to lower their heads back down. In a cold gust of wind, the four thousand men filed into the Su Residence. Behind them, a child of seven or eight appeared. After smiling to the outside, he pushed the side gate closed with a creak.

  With the closing of this side gate, the Su Residence seemed to become a separate dimension. The auras of these four thousand people vanished as if no one had ever entered.

  “Senior Brother, I helped you a great deal. You’d better not forget to thank me once you get back from the Western Regions.”

  This Little Jianjian, who had played a spectator to the chess matches between Wang Chong and Su Zhengchen under the ancient scholar tree, and was also Su Zhengchen’s true disciple, looked up to the sky and smiled. He spread apart his hands, allowing an eagle with wings fringed with gold to shoot up into the sky and fly off to the west.

  This eagle that Wang Chong had requested Old Eagle give to him could finally perform its duty.

  ……

  The Sage Emperor’s decrees were like an invisible catalyst, pushing the machinery of the Great Tang into motion. Within the palace, in Imperial Heaven Pillar Mountain, and in the Su Residence, Wang Chong was training up an army of unprecedented quality. Meanwhile, Zhangchou Jianqiong and King Song were rapidly pushing proposals through the Bureau of Military Personnel.

  With the backing of the Sage Emperor, these proposals were carried out very quickly and messages were sent in every direction. Andong, Beiting, Longxi, Annan… these border protectorates that were military strongholds of the Great Tang also began to move. In this aspect, Zhangchou Jianqiong and King Song had applied the advice Wang Chong had given them in a private letter.

  Quality was better than quantity when it came to soldiers. The protectorates should send their elite sol
diers and best generals to reinforce Talas and stand against the Arabs!

  To their surprise, these protectorates which would normally try every method to resist, provide less, or just pay lip service to the court were abnormally cooperative.

  ……

  “It’s about enough! Sili, the Imperial Court has sent its decree, so we can be considered to be mobilizing according to imperial decree. Remember, the teeth will grow cold if the lips die. The two protectorate armies led by Gao Xianzhi and Wang Chong are the very front line against the Arabs, our greatest defense. If they are defeated, our Big Dipper Army will be next, so no matter what sort of grudges existed in the past between Wang Chong and the Big Dipper Army, I need you to put them aside for now and work with him!”

  A solemn-faced Geshu Han stood upon a platform, dressed in full armor, his aloof and muscular figure appearing like that of a god.

  “Great General, be at ease. This general understands!”

  Wang Sili got down on one knee and bowed before Geshu Han. Behind him were three thousand soldiers of the Divine Martial Army with auras as vast as mountains and as sharp as unsheathed swords, together with four thousand hand-picked elites of the Big Dipper Army.

  Longxi was an area of frequent warfare, and all of these elites were veterans of many battles, honed into the finest of Tang soldiers.

  “Very good! In this operation, we step onto the plateau in a full-on offensive. Once the battle is over, you can lead your army to Talas without any need to report!”

  As Geshu Han finished speaking, he pressed his right hand on the sword at his waist. Clang! He pulled out his sword and pointed it at the looming Tibetan Plateau to the west. As the winds blew around him, Geshu Han’s aura became as firm as steel and his eyes oozed disdain.

  “Move out!”

  The dark clouds churned and the winds howled against the walls of Big Dipper City as if in answer to this call. Warhorses neighed as the gates of Big Dipper City fully opened for the first time, allowing all twenty thousand soldiers of the Big Dipper Army to pour out in their first full mobilization.

  Bwoooom!

  Their blaring horns resounded over the plateau!

  ……

  Long before the Big Dipper Army set out, six thousand cavalry had already galloped out of Youzhou in a flood of steel, riding from the northeast to the northwest. Amongst all the protectorates of the Great Tang, the most leisurely was the Andong Protectorate, and the Protector-General facing the least pressure was Andong Protector-General Zhang Shougui.

  Even when transferring soldiers, Zhang Shougui was brazen and unconcerned.

  Youzhou was a complicated land. It was adjacent to the Xi, the Khitans, the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, and also the powerful Yeon Gaesomun and his Goguryeo Empire. But the side that had the extreme advantage was not these factions with the numerical advantage, but Zhang Shougui’s Andong Protectorate army and the Youzhou cavalry.

  Zhang Shougui!

  This was the second most powerful person in the Sage Emperor’s generation. His name alone was enough to suppress the northeast and make everyone think twice. Even the ambitious and mighty Yeon Gaesomun could only stand upon the high walls of Bisa Fortress1 and lament!

  Gallop!

  As the six thousand Youzhou cavalry gradually drew farther away, two figures watched them go, one tall and one plump. One was Baizhen Tuoluo and the other… An Yaluoshan!

  An Yaluoshan had a complicated look in his eyes as he watched these soldiers leave.

  In his journey to the capital, An Yaluoshan’s lifelong brother, Ashina Sugan, had died at the hands of that man, and he himself had nearly been buried with him. Even now, An Yaluoshan did not understand why it had all happened. Why did that scion that he had never met loathe him so deeply, as if there existed a blood feud between them?

  “Could we… is there a chance…”

  An Yaluoshan’s eyes flashed as he hesitated, his hands clenching into fists several times.

  “There’s no chance!”

  Before An Yaluoshan even had time to finish, Baizhen Tuoluo cut him off.

  “You know Lord Protector-General’s style. No one dares to play tricks in front of him. Hold on for a little longer… Once the time is right, we will have our chance.”

  ……

  On the plateau, the grass shivered in the turbulent winds. As the Great Tang’s soldiers marched toward Qixi and Anxi from various directions, black floods of metal were converging on the Tibetan Plateau.

  These soldiers all wore the plate armor unique to the Tibetans, but the form, color, and emblems on these armors were all different, clearly indicating that they belonged to different factions.

  But no matter what great clan, noble house, or royal lineage these people came from, they all shared the same trait. Each of their bodies surged with formidable Stellar Energy.

  “Has everyone arrived?” a Tibetan general wearing dark-red armor standing at the very front of the army suddenly said.

  This Tibetan general had a thick mustache and a slim body bursting with strength. Most distinctive of all was the dazzling light bursting out of his right palm like a sharp blade.

  If one looked carefully, one would find that he was rather similar to the Dayan Mangban that Wang Chong had killed.

  “Dayan Ersongrong! I didn’t think that the Dayan Clan would also summon you to assist Dalun Ruozan.”

  Across from the man, a Tibetan general of some thirty years, with two Tibetan scimitars slung across his back, rode toward Dayan Ersongrong upon a pitch-black steed with a smooth and glossy coat.

  “Didn’t the Darlag Clan also call you out from the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple?” Dayan Ersongrong indifferently replied to Darlag Nyetsai.

  “Let’s not talk about all this. The black corrosion of the sun has alarmed even the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple. Otherwise, the Holy Temple would have never have let so many of us return to our clans.”

  The bright-eyed young genius of the Qili Clan, Qili Sulong, rode over from another direction.

  In a flash, all the Tibetan generals fell silent and gave each other silent nods of understanding.

  The Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple was the holy land for the entire Tibetan Plateau and possessed a transcendent status within the Ü-Tsang Empire. Although the Holy Temple did not participate in secular war, it had always been inextricably connected to the ancient houses like the Dusong, Dayan, Qili, and Darlag Clans.

  Every year, the great clans would have a quota with which they could send the brightest youths of their clans to the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple to participate in an assessment. Those who passed had the right to enter the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple and study martial arts with the masters of its outer temple.

  The Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple was divided into an inner and outer temple. The inner temple was the true sacred land where the high priest cultivated. It was at the summit of the Great Snow Mountain and was forbidden to all. Not even someone like Dayan Ersongrong, who had cultivated in the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple for ten-some years, had ever entered that place or seen the high priest, much less anyone else.

  And though the outer temple could not be compared to the inner temple, all of its techniques would be supreme techniques in the outside world. Huoshu Huicang’s Vairocana Buddha Golden Body Mantra and Dayan Mangban’s Great Snow Mountain Evil Dragon Art had both come from that place.

  The rules of the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple were incredibly strict. Other than one’s own cultivation area, it was forbidden to casually stroll around the mountain. Without permission, one could also not leave the mountain. That this many people had descended the mountain at the same time was definitely abnormal.

  “The imperial oracle is no minor matter!” A loud and dignified voice suddenly shattered the silence. “‘The danger rises from the east.’ All of you should have heard this. And all of you probably already know why your clans have summoned you and are sending troops to Talas. If we can defeat them at Talas, An
xi and Qixi will fall into our hands. This will be the collapse of the Great Tang and the opening to a new era in this world. Only by defeating and toppling the Great Tang can we possibly avoid the disaster predicted by the oracle, can all the great clans survive.”

  Startled, everyone turned to see a swarthy-faced general slowly riding a red horse out from the rear.

  ______________1. Bisa Fortress was another one of the forts that Goguryeo built along its border with the Tang. This fortress was located in current-day Jinzhou County in Dalian.↩

  Chapter 1041 - Great Distortion Art!

  Chapter 1041: Great Distortion Art!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  The swarthy-faced general had a vast aura that showed telltale signs of a Great General’s demeanor. This was clearly someone who had reached the peak of the Brigadier General level.

  If one focused their senses, they would realize that this man’s vast aura contained a sliver of fierce and crazed murderous intent. It was like a cruel and savage beast had disguised itself in the fur of another beast, but it had left its sharp canines for all to see.

  “Dama Trimo!”

  A talented youth from one of the great clans couldn’t help but gasp in shock at the sight of this general, immediately recognizing him. Several others also appeared stunned as they retreated backward in fear.

  Dama Trimo!

  This was the number two individual of the Ü-Tsang Empire’s Yarlung Royal Lineage, a terrifying peak Brigadier General. But this was not why people feared him. Dama Trimo had also once studied martial arts at the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple, but his murderous nature was too great, and the martial arts he cultivated were also extremely murderous. In addition, Dama Trimo was a capricious man who had once committed murder in the Great Snow Mountain Holy Temple. For this crime, the masters of the Holy Temple ran chains through his bones and hung him from the cliffs at the back of the Great Snow Mountain for seven years.