The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  A rebel officer strode forward, immediately prepared to jump into the pit.

  “Wait a moment. There’s no need to rush,” Wang Chong said, and waved behind him. “Senior Zhang, I leave this matter to you. Take care of this pit first, and then we will head inside.”

  “Understood!”

  Zhang Shouzhi nodded and quickly called over his disciples. They set up several large bellows and then hung several pipes made of dense cloth and steel hoops over the edge of the pit. They then used the bellows to pump air into the depths of the pit.

  Pits sealed for such a long time would be full of impure air not suitable for breathing. Thus, those guards and generals that had arrived first dropped down a few moments after entering and were probably dead. The moment Wang Chong arrived, he had known that this place could not be entered recklessly.

  No matter how strong a martial artist was, they were still human.

  Chapter 1193 - The Ancient Elam Dynasty!

  Chapter 1193: The Ancient Elam Dynasty!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  “It’s about ready!”

  Around an hour later, while the six bellows were still pumping air, Wang Chong swiftly descended into the pit. Gao Xianzhi and Bahram followed behind him.

  Just as expected!

  After going down a little, Wang Chong stabbed his fingers into the wall and stared. Even though this pit was pitch-black, Great Generals like Wang Chong had a skill akin to night vision. On this wall, Wang Chong could clearly make out a mural.

  Unlike other murals, this one had been created by pouring molten metal to embed it into the wall. Strangest of all was that this metal was the same color as blood.

  Wang Chong examined it for a few moments before quickly understanding what was going on. While the metal was being poured, large quantities of human blood had been mixed in. As a general who had gone through hundreds of battles, Wang Chong could not be wrong.

  The mural thickly exuded the style of the Sassanid Dynasty. At his best, Wang Chong was barely able to recognize the images of demons with horns sprouting from their heads and a field of human corpses behind them.

  “Demon god!”

  At that moment, an intense odor suffused with the stench of death assailed him.

  Unlike what they had told the guard outside, the mural in this pit was the true reason Wang Chong, Bahram, and Gao Xianzhi had appeared here.

  The Central Plains did not have many legends about demon gods, but in this place, everyone deeply believed in them and did not doubt that they actually existed.

  “This a ruin from an ancient era. The words on the wall should be from the era of the Elam Dynasty.”

  Bahram’s voice came from behind Wang Chong. He had stabbed his fingers into the wall and was also examining that bizarre mural.

  “Can you tell what it says?”

  Gao Xianzhi’s voice came from the other wall and above Wang Chong and Bahram, curious and inquisitive.

  “I do not know!”

  Bahram shook his head, his expression solemn.

  “But I can recognize the meaning the mural wants to communicate. This place is a forbidden ground and entry is not permitted!”

  For a moment the pit was deathly still, everyone feeling an indescribable feeling.

  Every empire and every region had its own ancient legends and civilizations. These powerful civilizations had disappeared from history long ago, but they had left their remnants and traces in the dust. It was clear that the Elam1 Dynasty was one of these.

  “Let’s go!”

  Bahram used his powerful Stellar Energy to venture deeper down the pit. Behind him, Wang Chong and Gao Xianzhi exchanged a glance before climbing down the walls. The deeper they went, the darker it became, and turbid air began to assail them, almost suffocating them. Only now did the other two understand why Wang Chong had pumped in air using the bellows.

  As they climbed down, nobody spoke. After some time, Wang Chong released his grip and landed on the floor.

  “So high!”

  Wang Chong glanced upward. From his viewpoint, the entrance was the size of a sesame seed. Wang Chong estimated that the bottom of the pit was several hundred meters from the surface.

  Wang Chong quickly turned his eyes to what was in front of him. The bottom of the pit was completely different from what they had imagined. It was not cramped or narrow, but actually an enormous natural cave.

  This cave was twenty meters high and extremely spacious. The floor was uneven and speckled, and dark green light could be seen leaking out from a few cracks.

  Wang Chong immediately noticed an enormous black silhouette in the cave.

  It was an enormous palace.

  “This… How?” Gao Xianzhi murmured in shock as he dropped down. The sight of this ancient palace preserved so well deep underground left him speechless. If he had not seen it for himself, he would have never believed that a long-vanished ancient dynasty would have left a palace complex here.

  Unlike the city of Khorasan above, the palace complex underground was simple and grandiose. The most striking feature of this palace complex was the twelve enormous pillars. Moreover, unlike the Great Tang, Khorasan, or Arabia, these buildings were made entirely from bronze. The dark green light they could see was probably mostly from the bronze making up these palaces.

  “Impossible!”

  Wang Chong was also examining the palace. This place exuded a completely different style, and the air was heavy with the scent of history, immediately drawing them through time, bringing them to the Elam Dynasty that was said in the legends of the Sassanid Dynasty to have existed several thousand years ago.

  “It really is a ruin of the Elam Dynasty!”

  Sighs of praise could be heard as the other rebel leaders climbed down the pit and stared in shock at this perfectly preserved palace complex.

  Crack!

  As all of them were examining this underground palace, there was a sharp crack, almost deafening in this underground world. Everyone immediately looked over and saw that a rebel general was standing in front of a corpse. From his expression, he had been given a fright from stepping on the corpse.

  “It’s those fallen rebel soldiers!”

  Wang Chong’s brow rose as he quickly recognized the corpses. There were seven or eight more corpses in the area, and from their armor, Wang Chong could see that these were exactly the people who had fallen down the hole before them. They were very far from where they had fallen. It was as if they had discovered these underground ruins as well and had gone ahead to investigate.

  But their severe injuries meant that they were never able to get their wish.

  “Go! Let’s take a look!”

  A rebel leader was the first to react, striding over a corpse and heading forward. The dead were gone but the living still had to survive. It was impossible to bring back the lives of those soldiers, so the urgent matter at hand was to find out what was going on with these underground ruins.

  As this rebel leader strode forward, Wang Chong and Gao Xianzhi followed.

  “What a strange place!”

  Wang Chong cautiously took stock of his surroundings as he walked. Everything here was new and fresh to him. Not even Wang Chong had ever personally laid eyes on the ruins of an ancient civilization.

  As the group cautiously proceeded, they were able to make out in the dim green glow more and more bronze murals, each one depicting a different scene. But they were all similar in that they depicted a demon god and human corpses. The aura of death and gore exuded by these murals was so intense that it was almost stifling.

  “Wang Chong, don’t you think these murals are rather strange?”

  Wang Chong turned and saw that Gao Xianzhi was examining a large mural, his brow tightly furrowed.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Wang Chong walked over in surprise.

  “These murals appear to be demon gods slaughtering humans, but if you look carefully, don’
t you see that these demon gods almost all have their backs to the humans?”

  Gao Xianzhi slightly frowned.

  “Oh?”

  Wang Chong quickly followed Gao Xianzhi’s gaze. The demon god on this mural was much larger than the other demon gods. Behind it was also an endless field of bones and corpses, but unlike the other murals, behind this demon god were clearly a few living humans, all of them looking at the demon god’s back, but it wasn’t possible to see the expressions on their faces. Now that Gao Xianzhi had mentioned it, Wang Chong clearly noticed the peculiarity. If the demon god was slaughtering humans, it should have been facing them.

  “Lord Gao, what do you mean? The humans in these murals are perhaps not being killed by the demon gods as we imagine? These demon gods might be facing an even more powerful threat?”

  Wang Chong’s brow furrowed as he began to think.

  Both of them immediately fell silent. Everyone felt that it was only natural for demon gods to slaughter humans, but the humans in the murals were not being killed by the demon gods. Then… the two of them seemed to think of something, and their brows furrowed even more deeply.

  “Look over there!” A cry came from nearby. A rebel leader stared at a certain symbol on the wall in shock.

  “A symbol of the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars is here!”

  Buzz!

  This observation sent shockwaves through the crowd, and they all began to gather around it. Bahram was the first to reach the mural, and Wang Chong and Gao Xianzhi exchanged glances before rushing over.

  Between murals, Wang Chong and Gao Xianzhi clearly saw the symbol of a golden mountain goat, but unlike normal mountain goats, this goat had three horns growing from its head, each one incredibly sharp and piercing into the sky.

  And if one looked carefully, one would also see that this mountain goat had a pair of golden vertical pupils that appeared extremely callous and cruel.

  Wang Chong stared pensively at this golden symbol. The Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars were renowned throughout the lands to the west of the Cong Mountains. Abu Muslim’s martial art had come from the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars, as had the technique Osman had used to escape from battle. In this world, the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars had an extremely long history.

  “Impossible! The Elam Dynasty and the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars didn’t even exist in the same era. Why would they be related to the legend of the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars?” A rebel leader stared at the demon god symbol on the wall in shock.

  The crowd was buzzing with chatter, all of them apparently greatly perturbed by the appearance of the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars.

  ______________1.Elam was an ancient civilization located in what is now southwestern Iran that existed from 2700 – 539 BCE.↩

  Chapter 1194 - The Book of Paimon!

  Chapter 1194: The Book of Paimon!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  “There are many legends about the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars, but the majority of them say that the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars were sealed in the sea far before the time of the Elam Dynasty. Moreover, in the legends, the Elam Dynasty was a civilization most devoted to the gods and was extremely powerful. However, for some reason, it vanished in the space of a single night, the entire country exterminated.” Bahram’s familiar voice rang out in the ears of Wang Chong and Gao Xianzhi as he walked up to them.

  “The Elam Dynasty has left behind very few remnants, but any artifacts connected to it are extremely formidable. But it’s precisely because this is the case that everyone has always been confused about the destruction of the Elam Dynasty.”

  The ancient civilization that preceded the Sassanid Dynasty was only understood by the Sassanids and the people of the nearby regions. Wang Chong and Gao Xianzhi clearly understood nothing about it.

  Soon, the group began to discover more and more symbols of the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars in the cave. With Bahram’s explanations, the pair slowly began to understand how the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars and the Elam Dynasty were related. Before long, the group had finished exploring the outer edge of the cave.

  Many of the rebel leaders turned their attention to the most obvious place, the palace complex. Wang Chong was also prepared to head into the palace complex, but as he turned around, his eyes flitted past an unremarkable symbol on the wall. Bzzz! Wang Chong’s body shuddered, his eyes constricted, and he suddenly stopped.

  “This is…”

  On the wall was a faint black symbol of an eye, and deep within this eye was clearly a human, their arms and legs spread out. Unlike the golden symbols of the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars, this symbol was not that obvious, and the symbol was placed in a dark corner where no light could reach. If one was not paying attention, they would find it very difficult to notice.

  There was nothing special about this black eye at first glance, but when Wang Chong looked again, the eye on the wall suddenly seemed to come to life. As Wang Chong stared at it, it stared back. It gave an extremely cold and bizarre feeling. But this was not the only thing that shocked Wang Chong.

  Impossible! This can’t be!

  Wang Chong stared with round eyes at the symbol, massive waves raging in his mind. Wang Chong was no stranger to this symbol, as he had seen it once before during the onset of the calamity. Wang Chong had further investigated the matter and learned that this symbol was inextricably linked to the calamity. The symbol on the wall was not exactly like the one in Wang Chong’s memories, but it was extremely similar. Even if it wasn’t the one in Wang Chong’s memories, it was undoubtedly closely linked.

  But one had been a symbol found in the Central Plains while the other was far away in Khorasan, and from the Elam civilization which had vanished thousands of years ago. These two symbols were separated by vast gaps in both time and space. Why would he see a symbol from the end days of the Central Plains here?

  Countless thoughts blazed through Wang Chong’s mind.

  “Notice! User has discovered the Symbol of Destiny, activating the Riddle of Destiny!”

  At this moment, the Stone of Destiny’s urgent voice rang out in Wang Chong’s mind, and the ‘Riddle of Destiny’ reward began to rapidly flash.

  Wang Chong almost subconsciously reached out to activate the Riddle of Destiny ability.

  “Obtain information from the Riddle of Destiny!”

  “Request denied! User needs to acquire more information before being able to unlock the secret of the symbol!”

  To Wang Chong’s surprise, his request was immediately rejected. In shock, Wang Chong tried again, and then again, but the Riddle of Destiny ability remained unresponsive.

  After some time, Wang Chong finally gave up on these attempts, but his mind was still greatly perturbed. After the victory at the Battle of Talas, he had unexpectedly found a clue to the future calamity in this foreign land.

  Although he did not know what had happened, there was a chance that he could discover the origins and truth about the otherworldly invaders from this vanished Elam Dynasty.

  Buzz!

  Suddenly, Wang Chong had a dazzling flash of insight. His mind was energized and his body tensed. He was no longer being driven by mere curiosity and pleasure.

  “A book from the Elam Dynasty! There’s a book from the Elam Dynasty here!” An excited shout came from the palace complex.

  Upon hearing this news, Wang Chong felt his heart thump, and he immediately rushed over. In the space of a few seconds, he entered the bronze Elamite complex and hurried toward where the voice had come from.

  There were many furnishings in this palace complex, all of them carrying the style of the ancient Elam Dynasty. But none of these objects could compare to the one placed on the bronze altar at the very center of the palace complex, an ancient book.

  When Wang Chong arrived, he could clearly see the thick bronze cover of the book. It had already been opened, but after the long passage of time, the pages were already
showing signs of decay. There were many places where only half a page was left.

  Wang Chong heard the questioning voice of a nearby rebel leader. “The symbol of one of the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars, Paimon1, was on this book. It’s rumored that Paimon will only leave his symbol on his personal works or his own possessions. Could this book have been written by Paimon?”

  “Impossible! Paimon is one of the Ten Great Demon Gods, one of the most powerful of the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars. He was sealed in one of the first waves and immersed into the sea. How could he have possibly survived until the era of the Elam Dynasty?” another rebel leader rebutted.

  “Regardless of how it is, these ruins must be intimately connected to Paimon. I truly can’t believe it. Although the legends say that the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars were all wily characters and knew many kinds of languages, there has never been anything said about their handwriting. Can demon gods also write in the characters of humans?”

  The surrounding rebel leaders all sighed in shock. This underground ruin of the Elam Dynasty was like a giant riddle, drawing in all the Khorasani and rebel leaders. Even Bahram stared in a daze at that tattered book on the altar, a contemplative look on his face.

  “Is there any one of you who understands the words of the ancient era?” Bahram suddenly asked.

  “No! Although there have always been scholars researching ancient civilizations, anyone who can recognize words from eight hundred years ago is already quite outstanding. But the Elam Dynasty existed three to five thousand years ago, perhaps even farther back in time. No one in the world exists that can recognize the words on there,” a rebel leader with a curly beard said.

  All of them stared regretfully at the book on the altar. This book was an ancient relic originating from a time closest to the era of the demon gods. It most likely contained the impressions and secrets of that dazzling era which all of them dreamed and yearned for.

  But despite all the rebel leaders present, none of them were capable of revealing its secrets. This was undoubtedly a great pity.

  Moreover, this book was extremely fragile. Although it was right before their eyes, none of them dared to recklessly touch it, much less flip its pages to examine it further.