The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  Bang!

  The door to the hidden chamber was smashed open. At almost the same moment Wang Chong fell over, Huang Qian-er had heard something happen inside and rushed into the room.

  "What's wrong?"

  Huang Qian-er took a big stride forward and swiftly took Wang Chong by the arm. He was pale and sweating torrents, appearing inconceivably weak.

  She had just been told to protect him while he was cultivating, and Huang Qian-er could never have imagined that he would cultivate himself into this state.

  "Damn! This better not be a cultivation defect!"

  Huang Qian-er had an extremely nasty expression.

  The Huang Clan had sent her to protect Wang Chong. This was not simply a relationship between her and Wang Chong, but also involved the safety of the entire Huang Clan.

  But if Wang Chong encountered a cultivation defect, she had no idea how she would explain things to both her clan and the Wang Clan.

  No matter how powerful she was, she couldn't guard against a cultivation defect!

  "What in the world are you thinking!"

  Wang Chong looked at the fluctuating expression on Huang Qian-er's face, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He could immediately tell what sort of train of thought Huang Qian-er had departed on.

  "Relax; I'm not in as awful condition as you imagine. You're also a warrior of the True Martial realm. Can you not find out what the problem is by inspecting my meridians?"

  Wang Chong's reminder broke Huang Qian-er out of her panicked concern. Holding Wang Chong's wrist, she sensed his pulse and instantly felt embarrassed.

  Although Wang Chong's aura was weak and his face pale, his pulse was very normal and steady, with no sign that he had encountered some cultivation defect.

  "Hmph, if you're okay, why are you squatting on the floor!"

  Huang Qian-er's face went beet-red as she threw Wang Chong's arm to the floor. When she stood up again, her face had once more cooled.

  "Please, do I look like someone who's okay?"

  Wang Chong was truly frustrated. He had only said that he had not encountered a cultivation defect. When had he said that he was okay?

  "That's your own problem! Since you aren't dying, I'll be taking my leave!"

  Huang Qian-er snorted and walked out with an icy face, the large silver sword still slung on her back.

  Wang Chong could only watch with a bitter smile as Huang Qian-er coldly walked out.

  This woman… she's really 'loyal to her duty'!

  But Wang Chong truly couldn't be bothered to argue about these things with Huang Qian-er.

  "I'm in trouble now!"

  Wang Chong 'looked' at the Halo of Dusk Stallion in his body and bitterly laughed. Zhao Qianqiu had said long ago that cultivating this technique would impose a heavy burden on the body, consuming a great deal of Origin Energy and Stellar Energy, and even cause his martial realm to regress.

  But Wang Chong had not expected the consequences to be so great.

  He was not merely no longer a True Martial realm cultivator. He had gone from Tier 1 of the True Martial realm down to Tier 9 of Origin Energy, and then Tier 8, and finally stopped at Origin Energy Tier 7!

  Just the first layer of the Halo of Dusk Stallion had caused him to fall three levels!

  Wang Chong sat on the floor and bitterly muttered to himself, "This is quite the mess. This is only the first layer and I already dropped three levels. Won't this only get worse the further I go?"

  If this was the result of the first layer, would he still be able to endure the results later on?

  Wang Chong finally understood why only a few people had been able to cultivate this powerful technique in his last life.

  "It seems that I'll have to take a trip to the spirit vein!" Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

  For his strength to drop from Tier 1 of the True Martial realm to Tier 7 of Origin Energy was truly a massive blow. Fortunately, since he had already reached those levels before, as long as he had sufficient Origin Energy, he could still make his way back from Tier 7 to Tier 8, Tier 9, and finally Tier 1 of the True Martial realm.

  He just needed to spend some more time.

  It would be much easier now, on a completely different level of difficulty.

  After resting in the secret chamber for a while, Wang Chong walked out.

  ……

  In the refreshing autumn weather, steam surged above the mountain where the spirit vein was. The dense Origin Energy had congealed into visible white steam. Wang Chong sat in the middle of the steam, his eyes shut, his body only vaguely visible. He appeared very peaceful and quiet.

  But around him, the surging Origin Energy poured into his body with astonishing speed.

  After settling matters at Deflecting Blade Manor, Wang Chong had left for the spirit vein on almost the same day in order to cultivate. The Origin Energy was very thick here, far surpassing the amount that could be found at the three training camps of Shenwei, Longwei, and Kunwu.

  And the Dragon Bone Art and Barbaric God Art that Wang Chong cultivated allowed him to cultivate several times faster than an ordinary person.

  In a short five to six days, Wang Chong had recovered from Origin Energy Tier 7 to Tier 8.

  The process had been unimaginably easy. Such was the difference between returning to a former cultivation level and reaching it for the first time.

  "So comfortable!"

  After some time, Wang Chong's eyes opened and he stretched his arms, his mind at ease. This was the advantage of possessing a treasure. Based on his current speed, he would need just a little more time to return to Tier 1 of the True Martial realm.

  And it wouldn't stop there. To Wang Chong, opening the barrier to Tier 1 of True Martial was the same as opening Tier 2, 3, 4… all the way to Tier 9 of the True Martial realm.

  At least until the peak of True Martial Tier 9, he would not encounter any barriers.

  Moreover, he could begin cultivating several True Martial realm techniques.

  Everything was proceeding with almost absurd smoothness.

  "…I wonder how Cousin is doing?"

  For some reason, Wang Chong had suddenly recalled his older cousin, Wang Liang.

  In order to find those celestial meteorites that had landed in those islands over the sea, Wang Chong had prepared almost a million taels of gold for Wang Liang. A large number of multi-deck junks had been bought or constructed, and many warriors had been employed. He had also dispatched experts from the clan.

  The scale was tremendous and costly in both time and energy. This was proof of how highly Wang Chong viewed this venture.

  Wang Liang was his cousin and also a person that Wang Chong could truly trust.

  Those meteorites scattered across those islands had an extremely important role in Wang Chong's grand plan.

  Without those meteorites, Wang Chong's plan would be imperfect, perhaps even greatly damaged.

  Three months had already passed. Logically speaking, if the voyage was smooth and the ocean winds favorable, they should have already reached those islands.

  "Although this world is very different from the world I was familiar with, there are many aspects in which they are similar. There's the Wootz Steel produced by Sindhu, and then the existence of Yingzhou over the seas. If Wootz Steel could be discovered in Sindhu, then there's a high chance that meteorites can be found on those island mountains. …I just wonder how they're doing right now?"

  Wang Chong sat cross-legged on the ground as he mentally spoke to himself.

  The weather on the sea was complicated, and there were great waves, storms, lightning, thunderclouds… Too many factors were in play. And on the boundless ocean, there were no landmarks to speak of.

  Even a carrier pigeon would get lost in such a place.

  Sending messages was extremely difficult. He could only wait for Wang Liang to return to know anything.

  I hope that everything goes smoothly.

  With this thought, Wang Chong close
d his eyes.

  At the moment, he was extremely limited in what he could do. He could only silently wait, praying that they were all doing well.

  Whoosh. A gust of wind blew by, and the spirit vein quickly fell silent.

  ……

  "Reef! Reef! Watch out for that underwater reef!

  "Helmsman, hard to port! Quickly!

  "Lookout, tighten the lines on the mast and drop the sail by half, hurry!

  "Everyone, hold on tight to a rope!

  "Quickly, move! A big wave is coming, careful!"

  ……

  Boom! With a deafening roar, a wave several dozen zhang high crashed down over their heads. With a crack, a mast snapped, swept off the boat with seven or eight sailors.

  There was only time to scream as these sailors were lost in the waves in the blink of an eye, their voices drowned away.

  Rumble!

  Thunderclouds thickly bunched in the sky, flashing with lightning. Heavy rain torrented down, spanning the gap between heaven and earth with dense threads of water.

  Atop the main mast of a junk, Wang Liang gasped for breath as he mentally rejoiced.

  "…Another disaster avoided."

  A thought flashed through Wang Liang's mind, and he suddenly rejoiced that he had listened to the advice and suggestions of his younger cousin, Wang Chong.

  These multi-deck junks had all been built from the hardest wood and were overengineered, even though this had greatly increased the costs.

  But time after time, these junks had resisted giant waves. Time after time, they had saved his life.

  Everything he had experienced was proof that this investment had been completely correct.

  Chapter 398: Wang Liang Weeping in Joy!

  Chapter 398: Wang Liang Weeping in Joy!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Crack!

  Another bolt of lightning stabbed down from the dark clouds, waking Wang Liang from his stupor. Having just avoided disaster, Wang Liang had no time to rejoice, and he quickly issued a string of orders.

  "Change course!

  "Furl all the sails except one!

  "Helmsman, keep watch on the situation ahead!

  "All sailors, man your posts! Whether you can survive will depend on your luck!"

  ……

  Loop after loop of rope kept Wang Liang firmly tied to the main mast. It was precisely because of these loops of soaked rope that Wang Liang was able to protect himself in the storm and issue order after order.

  The once young and tender young man was now a tanned captain. Only Wang Liang himself knew just what he had experienced over the last four to five months.

  Of their original number, less than one-third were left. Even quite a few of the Wang Clan's guards and the guards that his father had dispatched had died.

  The storms, strife, schemes, assassinations, doubts, ruptures, hunger, and attempts to make him step down… Wang Liang had already lost count of how many times they had happened.

  Wang Liang had narrowly escaped with his life time after time in this journey of unprecedented danger.

  By now, all that confidence and complacency he had when first leaving the port had been washed away by the waves into calm and indifference.

  When they left, he had basically been clueless about sailing, but now, he was most experienced captain in the entire fleet!

  To a normal person, becoming so accomplished in just four or five months was something worthy of bragging about for the rest of their lives.

  But Wang Liang did not think so.

  Life had honed this person, had created this person. His only advantage was studying—continuous, all-out studying that put aside even sleep and food.

  From the helmsman to the sailor, all the crew members had been his opponents in studying.

  "Watch out! The second wave is coming!

  "Careful!"

  ……

  Although he had avoided one disaster, the calamity was far from over. Before the might of Mother Nature, the abilities of humans were insignificant. Whether one was an expert of the True Martial realm, the Profound Martial realm, or an ordinary sailor, all were equal before the boundless might of the world; all were the same.

  Before the might of Mother Nature, all people were tiny ants.

  Once one fell from the ship and dropped into the bottomless ocean, even a Profound Martial realm expert could only die.

  In order to survive, everyone had to be of one mind and work toward the same purpose, crossing the ocean on the same boat. But…

  Wang Liang was not worried about the infinite might of nature before him, but the unfathomable and elusive minds of men.

  In these four or five months, they had roved across the ocean, stepping onto island after island and each time returning in disappointment. In these islands, Wang Liang had not found any of those meteorites that Wang Chong had spoken of.

  From the initial trust and anticipation for treasure to the disappointment, suspicion, and calls to step down… To a few of the higher-ups in the fleet, the secret of the meteorites was no longer a secret.

  But everyone had their doubts.

  Even the hearts of the Wang Clan guards began to sway and be lured over to the side of his opponents.

  How could someone who had never voyaged across to the sea, never been abroad, know that these places thousands of li away had meteorites?

  If these meteorites existed, why had other fishermen on the sea never discovered them?

  In sum, this was just a load of nonsense.

  The doubt toward Wang Chong, the doubt toward Wang Liang, the doubt toward the goal of this fleet, had never stopped. Moreover, as more and more sailors died, the doubts increased.

  Wang Liang's position as captain was incredibly precarious.

  Wang Liang already knew that another failure or lack of results would give him a fate the same as all the others: being cast into the depths of the ocean to become food for the fishes.

  Boom!

  The wave crashed down, snapping Wang Liang's train of thought, snapping the calm of the fleet. Several more screams rang out, and then several more figures were swept off the deck and into the sea.

  Boom! Wang Liang's mouth was open as he readied himself to issue a new order and adjust the fleet. But then there was an incredible boom, like the hand of some invisible giant had slapped the bottom of the ship.

  Wang Liang felt a pain in his chest, like the ropes were tightening around his flesh. He felt like all his organs had been jolted out by that massive strength.

  "No good! The ship's struck a reef!"

  A panicked voice could be heard amongst the lightning and thunder. This was the last thing that Wang Liang heard as his vision went dark.

  ……

  Splash!

  The crashing of waves slowly penetrated his consciousness. After what seemed like both the twinkling of an eye and ten thousand years, Wang Liang finally began to stir.

  The ocean water was slowly washing over his body, surging up and then pulling away. A tiny creature seemed to be crawling over his body.

  Wang Liang gave a few painful coughs and then spat a mouthful of water and wet sand. Upon opening his eyes, he was greeted by the blue ocean and a beach.

  Several tiny crabs about the size of a fingernail were climbing over his hand and body.

  "…How did I end up here?"

  His chest fiercely ached while his head felt swollen. Wang Liang couldn't understand how he had ended up here.

  His last memory was that the ship had apparently struck a reef, sending him flying.

  "Was I sent flying off the ship?"

  Wang Liang suddenly felt nervous, a hint of fear creeping into his heart. In this vast ocean, no ship meant that one could only wait for death.

  He struggled up from the ground, only to be immediately struck dumb.

  Several hundred zhang away, a massive ship had crashed into an upright cliff. Leaning up against the clif
f, the ship was half underwater and not moving a bit.

  "This is…"

  Wang Liang was completely frozen. The ship had run aground, which meant that they hadn't struck some hidden reef last night, but a cliff?!

  Wang Liang couldn't even speak.

  The ship hadn't disappeared and he hadn't been abandoned. This was absolutely worth being happy about, but the ship had still run aground.

  Fortunately, the ship had not sunk. As long as they worked to repair the leaks in the hull, the ship could continue its journey.

  Putting aside his thoughts for now, Wang Liang began to arduously make his way onto the island. His current priority was to find the other members of the crew.

  Since the ship had run aground here, the other crew members couldn't have gone far.

  Walking onto the island, Wang Liang began to take the measure of this place he had drifted onto. This was a solitary and deserted island. Strange rocks, two or three people high, were standing across the island, a strange forest of stones.

  Perhaps it was an illusion, but when the sunlight shone over him, Wang Liang felt like the tips of these stones had a metallic luster.

  No, it wasn't an illusion!

  As his gaze swept over a few of the nearby rocks, Wang Liang felt his entire body quiver in excitement. Beneath the mottled surface of these strange rocks was not the brown stone he expected, but the sheen of metal.

  This was the classic sheen of metallic ore.

  Wang Liang had specifically researched such things for this venture, so he was incredibly familiar with the color and appearance of metallic ore.

  "Could it be…"

  A thought flashed through his mind and Wang Liang could feel excitement welling up. But Wang Liang did not act lightly. After all that honing, from hope to disappointment, and then to hope, and then disappointment…

  Wang Liang was already used to it.

  It was just metallic ore, not necessarily the meteoric metal that Wang Chong spoke of. On this voyage, he had encountered metallic ores, but they had been iron ore or copper ore of varying quality.

  This variety had broadened Wang Liang's horizons. However, this place was so far from the mainland and required such a long journey that extracting these ores on a large scale was far too unprofitable.

  If the metallic ore before him was of that sort, then it was worthless.