The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  Cui Qianyou and Tian Qianzhen were not only capable martial artists. They were also excellent commanders, brave and wise. When the two were separated, they could hold off one side alone, but when they worked together, they could even deal Big Dipper Great General Geshu Han a disastrous defeat.

  If Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing of the Anxi Protectorate were regarded as the two walls of the empire, then Cui Qianyou and Tian Qianzhen were the no-less-inferior twin stars of the rebel army!

  However, since the pair had betrayed the world, even if they had the greatest of talents, they would never be entered into the history books.

  And there was also the 'Lightning Horseman', Cai Xide. His ability to lead cavalry was without compare, and it was said that he could reach any place in the world in just eight days.

  In terms of commanding cavalry, although Sun Zhiming had been praised as the Surprise Attack General, comparing him to rebel Great General Cai Xide was like comparing a spark to the bright moon. Their abilities weren't even on the same level.

  And whether it was Cui Qianyou, Tian Qianzhen, or Cai Xide, they had all been picked out by Zhang Shougui. All they knew about commanding troops, strategy, and tactics, they had learned from Andong Protector-General Zhang Shougui.

  And every one of them had utilized their specialties to the maximum.

  It was like a strengthened Zhang Shougui with three heads and six arms. No one could underestimate this 'Zhang Shougui'.

  Zhang Shougui knew what people were good at, and he only cared about ability, not background. Thus, he didn't care if one was Hu or Han. As long as one had the ability, he would use them.

  As a result, when An Yaluoshan and Ashina Sugan committed a crime in Youzhou, they had been slated for execution, but then Zhang Shougui saw their talent and recruited them into the Andong Protectorate.

  And An Yaluoshan was influenced, completely copying Zhang Shougui's style and conduct. In the rebel army, there were Hu generals, and also Han.

  It was for these reasons that the rebel army had been so dangerous!

  One could say that the commanders of the rebel army that would trouble the world were all 'good students' of Zhang Shougui, perhaps even surpassed him. Consequently, it was also said that the Youzhou rebel army had also been singlehandedly raised by Zhang Shougui.

  That rebellion that would sweep across the world, shake the Great Tang to its core, and make the Central Plains a blighted wasteland would be started by An Yaluoshan and Ashina Sugan.

  But if one worked backwards, the source of it all was Zhang Shougui, the man standing right in front of him.

  He had been the sole architect of the Great Tang's demise!

  Zhang Shougui had been outstanding!

  But his excellence had not blessed the world. On the contrary, it had led to the death of the empire.

  This was truly what it meant to fail at the finish line!

  Wang Chong had thought back then that if there was someone that could remind Zhang Shougui, who could correct his mistakes and tell him that he was a man and not a god, he might not make those errors. Then everything would be completely different.

  Alas, his past self didn't have the right or the strength, or even the chance, to stand before the Andong Protector-General, much less say anything to him.

  Now that everything had started over, he had finally received this chance. Even if Zhang Shougui wouldn't listen, he still had to say it.

  "Has Lord Zhang heard the story about the Farmer and the Viper1?" Wang Chong sternly said.

  "Hmph, do you want to say that I'm the viper?" Zhang Shougui sneered. If Wang Chong were not Wang Jiuling's grandson, Zhang Shougui wouldn't have even talked with him for so long.

  "I only wanted to tell Milord that the farmer can also make mistakes!" Wang Chong sternly said.

  ______________

  1.The Farmer and the Viper is a story about how one winter, a farmer walking through the snow sees a viper freezing to death. Feeling pity for the viper, the farmer picks it up and puts it in his coat to warm it. Once the viper warms up, it bites the farmer, killing him. As the farmer dies, he realizes that this was his own doing. The moral of the story is that showing kindness to evil will be rewarded with evil.

  Chapter 454: Zhang Shougui's Absolute Power!

  Chapter 454: Zhang Shougui's Absolute Power!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  "Brat, you're acting too impudent!"

  Zhang Shougui's originally calm eyes suddenly exploded with cold light.

  The Youzhou soldiers around him were all transfixed, dumbfounded by Wang Chong's actions. In the northeast, there was no one left who would dare to speak to their commander like this.

  Wang Chong was speaking about farmers, but he was actually talking about their commander.

  He started by criticizing the commander as obstinate and headstrong, and now he was saying 'Commander can also make mistakes'. There was probably no one in the world besides this boy that would dare to say such things to their commander.

  They could bring themselves to understand this conduct if he didn't know who their commander was. But since he clearly knew who he was talking to, he was being audacious to the extreme.

  "This boy… he really did say it!"

  At this moment, even Cui Qianyou and Tian Qianzhen were staring with eyes wide, like they were seeing this boy for the first time.

  "…At the start, I hadn't intended to do anything to you for the sake of your father and grandfather. But it appears to me that if I don't give you a small lesson, you truly won't know how high the heavens are!"

  Zhang Shougui's face gave off an intimidating aura. Wang Chong's actions had already touched his taboos.

  His sleeve began to flap as Zhang Shougui extended a powerful veiny palm out. His fingers lightly came together, like he was snatching at the distant Wang Chong. Rumble! Golden light shot forward, stirring massive gales. A massive attractive force seemed to envelop Wang Chong and began to lift him up like a kite from the ground toward Zhang Shougui's hand.

  "Not good!"

  Wang Chong was astonished. He knew that his foundation was deep and far surpassed the ordinary person, and his cultivation was also rock-solid. Yet it was all naught before Zhang Shougui. He was as powerless as an ant.

  When those five fingers pulled, Wang Chong felt like the air around him had become a mighty wave, pushing him forward like he was duckweed.

  "Quickly, save Young Master!"

  "Not good!"

  ……

  Elder Ye and Elder Zhao both paled with fright. From Zhang Shougui's face, they could tell that he had been enraged. And the pair had heard rumors about how this Imperial Andong Protector-General did things.

  If the young master fell into his hands, he would definitely not have a good end!

  In the furious gale, Elder Ye and Elder Zhao stretched out their wide palms, one on the left and one on the right. With their close distance to Wang Chong, they were just barely able to catch onto his ankles as he flew forward, pulling him to a stop in the air.

  "Release him!"

  At almost the same time, the sky roared with dragons. Li Siye gripped the giant Wootz Steel saber on his back and sent a majestic white saber energy into the sky.

  This saber cut through the void, cut through the dark clouds, and cut through the infinite starry sky.

  Rumble! Li Siye's attack stretched several dozen zhang high before transforming into a furious storm of energy that caused the heavens to change color as it slashed down at Zhang Shougui.

  "A good saber move!"

  A sharp light flashed in Zhang Shougui's eyes. Even he couldn't help but be surprised at the beauty of Li Siye's saber technique.

  "…But your cultivation is too low. It's still not enough!"

  Zhang Shougui continued to stand at his spot as he pushed forward with his right hand. Ten zhang away from Zhang Shougui, a golden palm as large as a mountain towered into the air, spanning across spac
e.

  Boom! Li Siye's saber energy descended from the sky and crashed into the giant palm. It was like crashing into a mountain. His attack had been completely stopped.

  Not only that, the golden palm's counterstrike shook Li Siye's invincible storm of saber energy into pieces.

  "This—"

  Li Siye felt stifled, his eyes opening wide. This saber attack had consisted of all his energy. It was his strongest attack. On his lone excursion to the northwest, this attack had even managed to kill Black Dragon Zhao.

  But Zhang Shougui had given a casual push and dashed it to pieces.

  Before Li Siye could think about much more, that golden palm suddenly transformed into a storm of Stellar Energy that crashed against Li Siye.

  "Aaahh!"

  With a yell, Li Siye was sent flying.

  Li Siye was far from his peak. It was not surprising that the future Invincible Great General was no match for a current authority of the empire.

  "Now it's your turn!"

  A callous voice rang out over the crowd. No one knew when that Imperial Protector-General had vanished. The crowd only knew that when he next appeared, he was only a few zhang from Elder Ye and Elder Zhao.

  Boom!

  A most gentle and warm flow of air suddenly transformed into the most intense storm. One a half step into the Imperial Martial realm and one at the peak of the Profound Martial realm, Elder Ye and Elder Zhao were both generals subordinate to Wang Chong's grandfather on the northern expedition, but against Zhang Shougui at his zenith, they instantly gave wretched screams. The powerful streams of energy exploding out of Zhang Shougui's body sent them flying together with Wang Chong.

  During this entire process, Zhang Shougui had held his hands behind him, making no obvious moves!

  Every generation would have its own mark!

  In the generation of Wang Chong's grandfather, Zhang Shougui was just some obscure soldier, but Duke Jiu had now retired. This was the generation of 'Wang Zhongsi' and 'Zhang Shougui'!

  And while Wang Zhongsi was modest and stood apart from worldly affairs, Zhang Shougui, who was beneath him in status, had become the most influential Han general in the Great Tang Empire, and also the most powerful of all the Imperial Great Generals!

  The authority Zhang Shougui wielded in the empire was unparalleled!

  All he lacked was probably the merit of enthroning an Emperor and the most senior of statuses.

  This was also why he always had to lower his head to Wang Chong's grandfather and the Yao Clan Old Master in the Imperial Court.

  Zhang Shougui's face was cold and emotionless. He had easily sent Elder Ye and Elder Zhao flying, and now raised a palm to snatch Wang Chong out of the air.

  "Brat, it's your turn!"

  With an icy expression, Zhang Shougui once more closed his five fingers to capture Wang Chong.

  Stellar Energy pathways and Yinyang pathways, a body that could be both hard and soft—an Imperial Great General like Zhang Shougui had already cultivated his body to perfection.

  Sending Li Siye, and elders Ye and Zhao, flying was just a warm-up for him. He had not even used any actual skills.

  Bang!

  To his surprise, Zhang Shougui's five fingers caught nothing. The figure before him blurred as Wang Chong vanished from sight.

  "This is… Wave-drifting Carp!"

  As Zhang Shougui watched that figure escape the bounds of his attractive energy, his expression flickered. For the first time, his eyes betrayed a hint of surprise.

  'Wave-drifting Carp' was not a martial art, but a type of skill.

  When a warrior with lower cultivation ran into one with higher cultivation, they would find it very difficult to escape, but the Wave-drifting Carp changed things. A carp swam along with the waves, swimming up and down. It followed the current, so it could swim freely, regardless of how large the waves were.

  More importantly, the carp was not affected by the waves as it drifted along them. It had complete control, was unrestrained. It could even make a leap, breaking through the surface of the water and over the waves, completely escaping the torrent.

  'Wave-drifting Carp' was this sort of skill.

  If one could not resist the attractive pull of one's opponent, then one should flow along the stream of Stellar Energy and ultimately jump out. And at a higher level, this skill wasn't only restricted to escape.

  When high-tier experts were fighting, one could use this skill to follow the flow of an opponent's Stellar Energy, find the laws within them and then exploit them to deal the opponent a crippling blow.

  In the world of martial arts, a weaker opponent using this skill to defend against a stronger opponent existed only in theory. It actually saw more use amongst warriors at the same level.

  But for both the former and the latter, this skill had extremely high requirements. One not only needed to have a grasp of the flow, attributes, and changes in an opponent's Stellar Energy, they also needed to find the openings in the opponent's Stellar Energy and have a very high cultivation.

  If the opponent was on the same level, there was a tiny possibility, but Wang Chong was just an insignificant True Martial realm expert. He hadn't even reached the Profound Martial realm.

  It was basically impossible for him to use the Wave-drifting Carp.

  And to use it when the gap between opponents was as vast as heaven and earth, that was inconceivable!

  "Brat, get down here!"

  Zhang Shougui's expression chilled as his anger boiled up.

  But before he could move, a shout tore through the sky.

  "Everyone, ignore me! Kill An Yaluoshan!"

  Zhang Shougui was stubborn in his ways and wouldn't listen to reason. The only thing Wang Chong care about now was An Yaluoshan!

  Zhang Shougui thought that catching him would end this operation, but he was wrong. As long as he could kill An Yaluoshan, Wang Chong didn't care what price he had to pay, even if the price was himself!

  Wang Chong would not easily let this chance go, no matter who showed up.

  "Elder Zhang, Uncle Huang, don't worry about me. Kill him!"

  Wang Chong's voice resounded through the heavens!

  His sharp voice was like a message that set the people around him into motion. None of them had any intention of dealing with the Protector-General.

  But there was also no doubt that none of them hoped to see Wang Chong die here or be taken away by Zhang Shougui.

  The Andong Protector-General did not exactly have a sterling reputation.

  Chapter 455: The Death of Ashina Sugan!

  Chapter 455: The Death of Ashina Sugan!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Boom!

  It took only a few moments for everyone to begin moving. No one knew what Wang Chong was really thinking, and certainly no one knew that Wang Chong was actually willing to die.

  But everyone had clearly misunderstood Wang Chong's order to mean something: 'Attack Wei to save Zhao1'.

  Twang!

  The twang of a bow seemed to shatter the heavens. The first to move was not one of the elders of the Zhang Clan or the head of the Huang Clan, but the distant master archer, Luo Tong.

  He wasn't so bold as to attack the Andong Protector-General Zhang Shougui, but it was absolutely no problem for him to deal with a mere Turk like An Yaluoshan.

  Twangtwangtwang! In a flash, countless arrows were flying through the rain, obscuring the sky as they shot toward An Yaluoshan.

  At almost the same moment, the archers under Luo Tong's command also began to fire. The dense rain of arrows whistling through the wind could be heard even over the blowing of the wind.

  An Yaluoshan instantly paled before this rain of arrows. He hadn't expected Wang Chong to be so bold. The Protector-General was already here, yet he still dared to strike right in front of his face.

  And this was not all An Yaluoshan had to deal with!

  "Attack!"

  With a roar,
the elders of the Zhang Clan struck. Though the head of the Huang Clan was a little slow to follow, he came with all the power he could muster.

  These people had much higher cultivation levels than the rest. Energy buzzed around them like a storm. Their Stellar Energies exploded and their halos hummed. Stream after stream of Stellar Energy covered the sky and filled the air with the clattering of metal. As if intent on toppling a mountain, they surged toward An Yaluoshan.

  The dense crowd of soldiers around him did not give An Yaluoshan the slightest hint of safety.

  "Obey Young Master!"

  "Kill An Yaluoshan!"

  ……

  At the same time, Zhao Jingdian, Chen Burang, Sun Zhiming, Marchioness Yi, Huang Qian-er, Zhao Yatong, Bai Siling, and everyone else once more began the assault on the Youzhou troops so as to delay them.

  The concluded battle began once more. The Youzhou soldiers had clearly not expected this and instantly fell into chaos.

  "Stop them!"

  "Protect Yaluoshan!"

  ……

  It took less than a second for the first people to respond. It was still Cui Qianyou and Tian Qianzhen. But before those two could go and offer their aid, a mighty saber energy howled through the air and stopped them.

  Although he had been a little slow, Li Siye was not that severely injured. The heavy armor that Wang Chong had forged from Meteoric Metal had made itself useful.

  "Impudent!"

  Upon seeing this, Zhang Shougui flew into a rage. He was the Andong Protector-General; just a stamp of his foot would cause the entire army to quake! He well deserved his reputation as one of the most influential figures in the capital.

  Even other Imperial Great Generals like Fumeng Lingcha would not dare to act so brashly before him. Yet these people knew that he was here and still dared to attack An Yaluoshan. They were treating him like he didn't even exist.

  This was no longer a problem of killing An Yaluoshan.

  They were offending an Imperial Protector-General!

  Bang!

  Zhang Shougui pressed his foot to the ground, causing a golden light to emerge from the ground which transformed into a golden sphere that shrouded An Yaluoshan.