The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  A faint laugh echoed through the cave, and then silence. Wang Chong keenly understood that since the High Priest had decided to protect his secrets, he would not divulge them to Wang Chong.

  “What is going on with that energy underground?” Wang Chong asked.

  “There are some things that have existed for far longer than human history. That energy has existed for tens of thousands of years. The Hyderabad Mountains that you now see and its unique ore exist because of it. Tens of thousands of years of imperceptible influence have resulted in these unique things, which you have seen for yourself.

  “You can mine as much of the ore in these mountains as you want, but the energy underground, with your ability… is not something that you can approach. Moreover, this energy is extremely unstable and might explode at any time. This is also why I am here and why I stopped you,” the High Priest said.

  “What!”

  Wang Chong was so shocked that he almost stood up. The Hyderabad ore, the Wootz Steel, could be forged into the most unique weapons in the world, and not even Meteoric Metal could compare. Wang Chong had always understood this. But he had never imagined that, according to the High Priest, the Hyderabad Mountains and the veined Wootz Steel existed entirely due to the destructive energy he had sensed down below.

  “How is this possible?”

  Wang Chong’s mind was in turmoil. The truth the High Priest had revealed was simply too unbelievable.

  “Leave!”

  After a long moment of silence, the true High Priest spoke once more.

  “I have already made an exception by telling you too many things. I have told you everything that I can. As for the rest, I will not answer no matter how many times you ask. You can only rely on yourself to find the truth.”

  The cave once more fell silent, and not another noise could be heard.

  “High Priest…

  “High Priest…”

  Wang Chong called out twice, but there was no response. Wang Chong understood that the High Priest truly meant it when he said that he would not answer any more questions. After remaining in the cave for a little longer, Wang Chong sighed, stood up, and prepared to leave.

  “Wait!”

  As Wang Chong walked to the gates, the air suddenly rustled, and then a square metal box flew out of the darkness, guided by some invisible energy to fly in front of Wang Chong. At a glance, this metal box was simple and unremarkable, but when Wang Chong reached out to take it, he immediately felt an enormous weight. It was like this wasn’t some small box, but a giant and heavy cauldron.

  Plush! As Wang Chong took the box, several spikes shot out from the bottom of the box and stabbed into Wang Chong’s finger. After several drops of blood were absorbed into the box, the top of the box suddenly exuded a faint radiance, and then the box began to rapidly lighten until it seemed practically weightless.

  “This is…”

  Wang Chong stopped, shock and awe on his face.

  “This item can help you! Take care of it! This is also a gift for all you have done to help Sindhu!”

  The High Priest’s voice once more faded away, this time truly falling into complete silence.

  Wang Chong was silent for a moment, and then he took the box, pushed open the gates, and left. But suddenly, in a flash of light, he saw an endless starry sky. Wang Chong turned around in shock and realized that he was now standing in the Hyderabad mines.

  All was quiet. Besides Wang Chong, there were only the craggy stones concealed in the darkness. Everything seemed like a dream, an illusion.

  But the gentle breeze rustling his hair and the metal box in his hands told Wang Chong that this was no illusion.

  Wang Chong stood in a daze atop the Hyderabad Mountains, remaining motionless for some time. Finally, with a sweep of his sleeve, Wang Chong flew off toward his residence.

  Everything had returned to normal. Wang Chong understood that it would be a very long time until he was next able to meet the mysterious High Priest.

  ……

  While Wang Chong was returning to the metal house he had erected, deep underground, dust began to cascade off the wall of the cave that Wang Chong had been in just moments ago. Something seemed to shift underneath dust, and then slowly opened. Unexpectedly, it was a pair of human eyes.

  No one had ever seen such eyes before, old and profound, branded with the mark of time itself. They seemed to hold all the secrets of the world.

  “Is all this destiny?

  “To think that after going round and round, the Child of Destiny would actually come to Sindhu!

  “This is all I can help you with. The rest will depend on your own luck.”

  The High Priest muttered to himself before quickly closing his eyes once more. His voice immediately vanished, and it soon seemed as if nothing whatsoever had happened.

  ……

  Wang Chong quickly returned to his room. Two candles quietly burned in the room, and the amount that they had burned showed that Wang Chong had not been gone for long.

  Upon closing the door, Wang Chong thought to himself for a few moments before placing the metal box in front of him.

  The High Priest had been extremely vague, briefly touching on many topics and revealing little actual information. The only thing he had left for him was this square metal box.

  Chapter 1202 - Night Raid, the Black-Clothed People Reappear!

  Chapter 1202: Night Raid, the Black-Clothed People Reappear!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  “I only asked the High Priest about the secret behind the Eyes of the Gods. Why did he give me this metal box? What does this all mean?”

  Wang Chong carefully examined the metal box under the light of the candles. It was dull and gray, appearing to have been made from the crudest iron. There was nothing interesting about it.

  But Wang Chong quickly turned his focus to the small finger-sized crystal attached to the top of the box, the only thing that had drawn his interest. This crystal exuded a dim glow.

  Just what did the High Priest mean with this?

  Wang Chong’s mind was in turmoil. He had tried multiple methods and had attempted to send in Stellar Energy through multiple directions, but the box remained unresponsive. Wang Chong had also tried to use Psychic Energy to probe inside, but the moment he sent it in, it would come out the other side as if the box was just empty air.

  After making several dozen fruitless attempts, Wang Chong put the matter aside.

  Buzz!

  A few moments later, just as Wang Chong was preparing to put the metal box aside, something strange happened. The crystal on the box suddenly exploded with light, blinking jade-green.

  “This is…”

  Wang Chong’s eyes widened as his mind cleared up. As he suspiciously inspected the box, whoosh! A gust of wind blew in.

  Wang Chong didn’t notice anything at first, but a moment later, he smelled a light fragrance in the air.

  Wait! Something’s wrong!

  Wang Chong’s heart trembled as he immediately covered up his nose and mouth. Wang Chong had sensed a strange odor in this gust of wind, not something that could normally be expected in regular wind. Another breeze swept in, but this time, Wang Chong was able to spot several green grains within it.

  Poison!

  Wang Chong finally understood. Bzzz! Stellar Energy erupted from his body, quickly engulfing him. The candles flickered while the crystal on the metal box in Wang Chong’s hand began to flash even more intensely.

  More and more green fog began to pour into the room, seeping in through the cracks in the steel house. In a few short moments, the room had become a sea of green.

  “Move!”

  There was a hoarse cry from outside, and then the door banged open. A figure wearing a black metal mask flew in like a bolt of lightning, somersaulting in the air as it flew toward Wang Chong.

  “Hmph!”

  Wang Chong coldly snorted. Fwoomp! The candles on the
table immediately went out as he turned a palm toward this man in black. Bang! The two palms met, and an enormous attractive force exploded from Wang Chong’s body. The black-masked man immediately felt his energy surging like a river into Wang Chong.

  “Not good! He’s not poisoned at all!”

  Beneath the mask, the black-clothed man’s eyes were brimming with shock.

  “Hurry and get in here!”

  Clothes flapped through the air as more people approached. While Wang Chong was suppressing this black-clothed man, two other black-clothed people grasping swords flew through the air like ghosts and approached Wang Chong from the left and right.

  Wang Chong grinned. Clap! With his palm, he threw the first man aside, shooting him into a steel wall like a cannonball and embedding his body into it.

  At the same time, the two other black-clothed men hit Wang Chong’s Stellar Energy as if it was a steel barrier and became incapable of advancing any farther. Boom! Wang Chong’s Stellar Energy exploded, sending both of the stunned men flying like they were ragdolls.

  These people did not have weak cultivation and were assuredly elite assassins, but at Wang Chong’s level, only Great General experts could pose any threat to him.

  But it was still far from over. After sending the two men flying, Wang Chong raised his head in alarm.

  Rumble! Without any warning, the ceiling and roof of Wang Chong’s metal house were hurled into the air by an invisible energy. Immediately after, a figure descended, its aura like a gigantic ocean.

  Boom! Wang Chong’s eyes chilled as he raised his palms overhead, clashing them with the palms of the descending figure. Winds exploded as a thick violet-black flame shot toward Wang Chong.

  This fire ignited Stellar Energy, causing it to hiss, and trails of flame as thin as tree branches flowed along Wang Chong’s Stellar Energy and into his body. Plumes of black smoke immediately began to rise from his body.

  But before these black flames could completely enflame Wang Chong’s body, another Stellar Energy, bold and upright, erupted from Wang Chong’s body like a blazing sun, knocking away the black figure that had come from above. This person somersaulted backward through the air and smoothly landed in the southeast corner of the house like a spear thrust into the ground.

  “It’s you lot!”

  Wang Chong’s pupils constricted, his eyes becoming extremely sharp. The familiar black robes and that familiar energy—these people were exactly like the group that had driven Lu Wu into attacking the Wang Clan. But the first incident had been in the Central Plains while the second was in Sindhu. Wang Chong had never imagined that these people would chase him all the way here.

  Buzz!

  Just as Wang Chong was about to pursue, three sounds suddenly came from the three other corners of the house. Three identical figures with identical auras had appeared. It was impossible to distinguish them from each other, and all four had auras as vast as the ocean.

  “Wang Chong, you truly should not have come here!”

  A sinister voice penetrated through the darkness, drifting and indistinct. It was impossible to tell which of the four had said these words.

  “You escaped last time, but that won’t be the case this time!”

  Another voice spoke, and then the four attacked in unison. They made the same movements and used the same techniques, boundless Stellar Energy sweeping over the world. The energy unleashed by the simultaneous attacks of the four elite assassins was utterly stifling.

  But though they attacked swiftly, Wang Chong reacted even more quickly. Boom! The images of the sun and moon appeared on his shoulders, and then the sun rapidly began to expand, its dazzling radiance engulfing Wang Chong.

  The Stellar Energy of the four collided against Wang Chong’s manifestation of light, and not only did they fail to break through, their attacks were twisted and diverted so that they collided against and canceled out each other.

  After working together with his master the Demonic Emperor Old Man to use the highest form of the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art to kill Qutaybah, Wang Chong had come to understand the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art even more. To Wang Chong, whether it was Yin or Yang, he could use them as he pleased, as if they were extensions of own limbs.

  But just as this wave of attacks was neutralized, violet-black flame surged forward from four directions and shrouded Wang Chong.

  Wang Chong’s Stellar Energy immediately began to burn, hissing with the sound of corrosion. The violet-black flames once more began to uncontrollably spread toward Wang Chong’s body.

  Wang Chong’s bold and upright Stellar Energy was incapable of hindering this flame.

  In just a flash, Wang Chong had expended one-twentieth of his Stellar Energy.

  “Great Shattering Art!”

  Just when the four streams of violet-black energy were about to reach his meridians, Wang Chong unleashed destructive energy. This energy that was even darker than the night and absorbed all light erupted from Wang Chong’s body.

  The four attackers were immediately jolted away by this destructive power, and those four violet-black flames attempting to invade Wang Chong’s body were finally halted.

  “This kind of flame again!” Wang Chong coldly said. The sensation this energy gave him was extremely similar to the Strength of Lu Wu, but it was somehow even more tyrannical.

  “Hmph! This is not the Strength of Lu Wu that you encountered before, but the Flame of Ju Bi1 meant specially to counter you! No matter how strong you are, even though you’ve broken into the Great General level, you still cannot stop it!” The leader of the black-clothed men spoke once more, but his voice was still just as indistinct and untraceable.

  The four assassins once more extended their fingers, from which four violet-black gouts of flame shot out.

  The light of these flames colored the mountains a bewitching violet, imbuing the scene with an extremely bizarre air.

  The Strength of Ju Bi!

  This was a power even stronger than the Strength of Lu Wu, its corrosive powers able to completely disregard the cultivation of an opponent. Even Great Generals could not block it. This was a special ‘gift’ they had prepared just for Wang Chong.

  “Go!”

  Without the slightest hesitation, the four assassins began to move, leaving blurs in the room as the flames shooting out of their fingers expanded by several dozen times, the light illuminating countless craggy rocks.

  Bang!

  The violet-black flames rushed at Wang Chong from every angle. These four worked in perfect unison, leaving no place for Wang Chong to retreat to.

  The Fire of Ju Bi was their strongest move. With this terrifying flame, they had killed many powerful experts, including a Great General. Wang Chong would never be able to stop them.

  But as these four were using the Fire of Ju Bi, they suddenly heard a cold laughter. Not only did Wang Chong not try to dodge, he actually rushed straight at one of the four assassins. Boom! Before the assassin could get close, an enormous stream of energy pierced through their body like a frenzied dragon.

  ______________1. Ju Bi is another mythical figure from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, but there, he is only found as a corpse. He is described as having loose hair, a broken neck, and one of his hands cut off.↩

  Chapter 1203 - The Fire of Ju Bi!

  Chapter 1203: The Fire of Ju Bi!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Stellar Energy Piercer!

  Wang Chong immediately used one of his most powerful abilities.

  “Piercing through Stellar Energy isn’t a skill that only you know!”

  Wang Chong coldly laughed as he shattered that black-clothed assassin’s heart.

  The violet-black flames could ignore Stellar Energy defenses, an ability akin to Wang Chong’s Stellar Energy Piercer. These black-clothed men were trying to use the violet-black flames to corrode Wang Chong’s meridians, but Wang Chong didn’t feel like going through all t
hat trouble, instead killing an assassin with a single strike.

  “This is impossible!”

  The other three assassins were dumbfounded.

  Wang Chong had moved too quickly, and the assassin had fallen even more quickly. This was completely different from what they had predicted.

  “Kill him!”

  Red emerged in their eyes as the trio lunged at Wang Chong.

  At the same time, with a harsh shout, the two other black-clothed men wielding swords shouted as they shot like lightning bolts toward Wang Chong.

  Whoosh!

  Meanwhile, overhead, a vague figure began to wave around a bag, and a thick green fog was carried along by the wind toward Wang Chong.

  “Seeking death!”

  Wang Chong’s eyes flashed with cold light. Clang! Before anyone could react, a golden beam of light shot through the air and stabbed the black-clothed assassin spreading poison.

  Glarg!

  The man gurgled for a moment before dropping to the ground.

  In another flash of light, Wang Chong was replaced by three identical versions of himself.

  The three assassins shuddered. Despite their cultivation levels, they were completely incapable of telling which Wang Chong was real.

  “Forget about it! Attack together!”

  After a momentary daze, the three immediately attacked once more. The air once more hissed as three enormous gouts of violet-black flame shot forward. Each gout of flame was expanded to its largest extent so that all three of the Wang Chongs were in its range.

  The three expected that this would allow them to instantly figure out which Wang Chong was the real one, but things did not go how they expected.

  “Ah!”

  A scream tore through the air. The three illusions of Wang Chong were extinguished, but behind one of the three assassins, a slender figure emerged, its five fingers gripping the assassin’s neck like a steel vise and raising him into the air.

  “White Tiger!”

  “It’s that brat!”

  The assassins immediately recognized that this person was none other than Wang Chong. Stellar Energy was surging off his body as he pushed the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art to its limit. Violet energy rushed out of the assassin’s body and into Wang Chong’s.