The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  But while the power of the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art was obvious, so was its flaw: the incompatibility of all the different energies. Thus, when his master, the Demonic Emperor Old Man, had been disturbed, his cultivation had been crippled, his dantian shattered, and he had been pursued by his traitorous disciple.

  After only two years of cultivating this technique, Wang Chong had already begun to confront the same problem. Moreover, in certain aspects, it was even worse.

  After all, the Demonic Emperor Old Man had never slaughtered countless foes on the battlefield like Wang Chong, absorbing the energy of so many top-class generals, Brigadier Generals, and peak Saint Martial Great Generals, even comprehending the origin of energy. These factors all increased the severity of his problem.

  Thumpthumpthump!

  As he was thinking, he heard a rapid knocking on his door and the worried voices of Su Shixuan and the others.

  “Milord, how are you?”

  “Milord, are you okay?”

  The two of them had apparently heard the ruckus within and rushed over to see what was going on.

  “I’m fine!”

  Wang Chong’s eyes flashed. Coming back to his senses, he wiped away the blood on his mouth, stood up, and made his way to the door.

  ……

  Time slowly passed, and the two months of house arrest were finally over. Wang Chong was a free man once more. But when they should have been celebrating, Su Shixuan and Xu Keyi sensed that something was wrong.

  For some reason, Wang Chong’s aura was getting weaker, his face paler, and he presented a completely different person from the Wang Chong they knew in the past. Not only that, Wang Chong was spending more and more time in his study, and these periods of time were accompanied by unusual phenomena. Su Shixuan and Xu Keyi had both paid visits to Wang Chong’s study and seen how the insides had been completely charred. But since Wang Chong said nothing about it, they didn’t dare to ask and could only privately worry about what was going on.

  Swish!

  One early morning, as Wang Chong was strolling through the garden, a sharp awl wreathed in a powerful gale shot toward Wang Chong like a lightning bolt. Although this awl seemed unremarkable, it was suffused with vast amounts of destructive energy.

  Bang!

  While it was still dozens of feet from Wang Chong, an enormous energy emerged and formed a steely barrier that blocked the awl. Ding! The awl dropped to the ground, but nothing else happened after that.

  This was already the fourth time!

  A cold light flashed through Wang Chong’s eyes, but he did not pursue. Ever since he had fallen into the trap of that man in black and the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art had thrown his cultivation into disarray, he had run into assassination attempts and sneak attacks almost every day. But his opponents did not show their faces and only made probing strikes. It was as if they were using this method to verify the state of Wang Chong’s cultivation defect.

  Chapter 1325 - News from the Demonic Emperor!

  Chapter 1325: News from the Demonic Emperor!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  “Damn it! This brat still isn’t dead!”

  In a place that Wang Chong couldn’t see, a black silhouette was rushing along a wall like a civet cat. But a moment later, a surge of Stellar Energy appeared, which the man ran headlong into.

  “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time!” a deep and domineering voice suddenly echoed in the man’s ears.

  The black figure’s eyes widened as fear made their way into them.

  “Ah!”

  A few moments later, a wretched scream ripped through the air and then came to a sudden stop.

  Wang Chong was just preparing to leave the garden when he heard the scream and paused. “This is…?”

  Bang!

  A few moments later, a black figure thudded down in front of Wang Chong. From his clothes, this person clearly belonged to that faction of men in black.

  “How long have you been in this state?”

  A familiar voice, old and deep, resounded in his ear. Wang Chong raised his head and saw that familiar figure standing on the wall, his wide robes and long hair swaying in the wind.

  “Master!” Wang Chong shouted in surprise. This person was none other than his master, the Demonic Emperor Old Man.

  Whoosh!

  In a gust of wind, the Demonic Emperor Old Man vanished, and a moment later, he was only a few steps from Wang Chong, not even stirring a hint of dust with his appearance.

  Wang Chong hesitated a little before frankly admitting, “It’s been four or five days!” He knew that he could not deceive his master’s sharp eyes.

  “After such a major incident, why did you not inform me?” the Demonic Emperor Old Man angrily said. If Su Shixuan and the others had not told him, he would probably have still been unaware.

  Wang Chong bitterly smiled.

  “Yes, your disciple understands that he was wrong.”

  The Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art’s flaws had been known for many, many years. Even his master had failed to solve this problem. Wang Chong had concealed his problem from his master to not worry him, but it was apparent that he had only achieved the opposite.

  Buzz!

  With a stiff face, the Demonic Emperor Old Man lunged forward, his five fingers shooting out of his sleeve and grabbing Wang Chong’s shoulder.

  The moment his fingers made contact, the Demonic Emperor Old Man paled. He sensed that there were three venomous snakes within Wang Chong, constantly feeding on his vitality.

  The Demonic Emperor Old Man had originally believed that Wang Chong was only showing the beginning signs and the condition was not that serious, but it was clear that things had gone far beyond that stage.

  “How could this be?” the Demonic Emperor Old Man muttered, his expression extremely grave. Wang Chong’s Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art had only flared up for four days, but its severity was comparable to his own late-stage afflictions. This was not a normal situation, and it bore the clear marks of human intervention.

  “Chiwei and Jiaowei—these two channels are major secrets of the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art. Those who are not of our lineage shouldn’t even know of them. How could someone know of the existence of these two channels?!” The Demonic Emperor Old Man’s face grew even graver.

  Those who cultivated the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art had to pay attention to two acupuncture points on the body that were irrelevant to normal people. These were major taboos for cultivators, particularly those who had cultivated the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art to an extremely high level. When the weakness of the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art began to manifest and these two energy channels were touched, Stellar Energies would begin to clash and fall into disarray, leading to severe cultivation defect.

  But these two channels were not easily touched, as ordinary people didn’t even know that they existed.

  “Just who did you encounter? Explain to me down to the last detail everything that occurred!” the Demonic Emperor Old Man sternly said.

  Wang Chong had never seen such a grave expression on his master’s face before. Not daring to be neglectful, he immediately narrated all that had happened to him.

  “Impossible, simply impossible!”

  After hearing Wang Chong’s words, the Demonic Emperor Old Man was frozen as if he was incredibly mystified.

  “Master, was it Senior Brother?” Wang Chong asked.

  His master did not have only one disciple, and Wang Chong had instinctively thought of his senior brother who had betrayed his teacher. He was probably the only one who could have such a deep understanding of the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art and could have told the men in black its secrets.

  “Impossible. You can’t know this much about the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art until you’ve cultivated it to this stage. More importantly, that treasonous disciple of mine never managed to get his hands on
the lower half of the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have hunted me down!” the Demonic Emperor Old Man said.

  All of the martial arts world knew that the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art was the Demonic Emperor’s exclusive secret, but it was now apparent that another group had developed a similarly deep understanding of the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art, practically on the same level as his own.

  Wang Chong’s brow creased as he fell silent. He had been so busy suppressing the conflicts of Stellar Energy in his body lately that he had no time to deeply ponder this matter, but now that he was listening to his master, Wang Chong sensed that something wasn’t right. This organization behind the men in black was shrouded in mystery, and even after exchanging blows with them several times, he had still not been able to find out any of their secrets.

  And most importantly of all, how did they know about the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art? Now that he thought back, he realized that the man in black who had entrapped him had clearly known about how the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art operated within his body, allowing him to smoothly bypass Wang Chong’s attempts to obstruct him.

  Wang Chong’s face also turned grave.

  “Take a look at this black-clothed man. Was he the one that entrapped you?” the Demonic Emperor Old Man said.

  Wang Chong stepped forward and took a glance, but then he shook his head.

  “No, this is probably one of their lowly subordinates.”

  Wang Chong had some understanding of these men in black and knew that their organization had people from all around the world: Khitans, Xi, Mengshe Zhao, Tibetans, Arabs… The boundaries of peoples and countries did not exist with them. And these people were all suicide soldiers, biting down on poison pills in their mouths whenever they were captured, removing any chance of leaking information.

  This man in black his master had killed was merely a low-level subordinate they had sent to test the state of his cultivation.

  “As expected. When I was fighting with him, I sensed that he was rather weak.”

  The Demonic Emperor Old Man nodded. He had just been asking on the off-chance, and the answer was not at all surprising.

  “Master, how long will it be until my condition reaches that stage?” Wang Chong asked.

  “Chiwei, Jiaowei, Zhenlong, Chixie… this is the order in which this art should worsen. In normal circumstances, the time from your first flare-up to the dispersal of your cultivation would be between three and five years. You went from the Origin Energy realm to the peak of the Saint Martial realm by entirely relying on the energy absorbed through the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art, taking no time to solidify your cultivation. A normal person would have already exploded and died, but whether it’s because you’re incredibly talented or incredibly lucky, you’ve encountered no mishaps until now. You even managed to reach the peak of the Saint Martial realm and defeat Imperial Great Generals. Not even I would have been able to do such a thing.”

  The Demonic Emperor Old Man became more and more emotional as he went on.

  Wang Chong said nothing, but a light flitted through his eyes. He naturally understood the reason for his lack of mishaps. He had already been a peak Saint Martial Great General once, so his understanding and operation of energy far surpassed an ordinary person’s. He had no need to solidify his cultivation.

  “…But you must remember that, starting from now, you can no longer be so reckless in using the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art, and you must certainly not absorb the Stellar Energy of others.”

  The Demonic Emperor Old Man stared at Wang Chong with an expression of unprecedented gravity.

  He had depended on this art to make his name and spent more than forty years immersed in it. He truly knew this art like the back of his hand, and no one understood more than him the late stages of the affliction it caused. Once the Stellar Energies began to conflict with each other, the cultivator would enter an irreversible condition that would end in the dispersal of their cultivation. Each day would be a state of excruciating torment where death would be preferable, and the condition would only worsen from there. At the end, one’s cultivation would disperse with a high chance of one’s body simply exploding.

  He had only been able to survive after the dispersal of his cultivation through his deep understanding of the art. Anyone else would have died.

  Understanding the importance of the matter, Wang Chong sternly replied, “Your disciple understands!”

  “Even if you didn’t have this problem, I would still have come to find you.”

  “Ah?!”

  Wang Chong was taken aback.

  “Disciple, your master already knows of what has been happening to you in the capital. You know that your master has never been much of one to intervene in the matters of the court and has no desire to create relationships within the Imperial Court. But there are times when, as your master, I must give you some advice.”

  The Demonic Emperor Old Man was overcome by heartache as he gazed at Wang Chong’s pale complexion. He had accepted many disciples over his life, but Wang Chong was the one that he cared about the most. He was young, had drive, and respected his master, and there was nothing to criticize about his character and personality. But all this only made his heart ache even more.

  “You are from a clan of ministers and generals, and your heart embraces the realm. No matter how much danger there is, if the realm needs you, you will go, and do so without turning back. This is also why your master is so proud of you. But you’ve already done enough for the realm. Since they don’t understand you and even humiliate you, you should let go. A disciple of the Demonic Emperor Old Man should not suffer this sort of injustice. You should also begin to think about yourself. And the matter this time can be considered an opportunity.”

  The Demonic Emperor Old Man paused as he took out a certain object and revealed it to Wang Chong. Wang Chong could vaguely tell that it was some sort of tattered map.

  “This is the treasure map to the Supreme and Infinite Origin Immortal Art that you previously gave me. The Wushang Village Chief and I disappeared for some time to investigate the secrets of this treasure map. We ran to many places to look for clues, but we didn’t find very much. Not long ago, however, the village chief and I finally made a breakthrough. We’ve been able to confirm a rough area in which the Supreme and Infinite Origin Immortal Art should be buried.”

  Chapter 1326 - The Ten Eastern Islands!

  Chapter 1326: The Ten Eastern Islands!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  “What!?”

  Wang Chong was shocked by the words of the Demonic Emperor Old Man. He had obtained the treasure map from Iron Cloak Li, and it was a map that had been passed down for several centuries, perhaps even as far back as the Daye era of the Great Sui. Ever since, countless martial artists had attempted to find the number one art of the world, but all of them came back empty-handed, the vast majority merely chasing shadows and groundless rumors.

  Thus, it was later said that the supreme art had been totally lost.

  Wang Chong had never imagined that his master and the Wushang Village Chief would make progress so quickly. Although he didn’t dare to be sure that the area they found was where the art really was buried, it was worth trying.

  It had been many years since there had last been any news of a likely area in the martial arts circles. This alone was enough to raise one’s spirits.

  The Demonic Emperor Old Man continued speaking.

  “This time, I was planning to go with the Wushang Village Chief, but for this incident to happen is fine as well. Leave the capital and come with us!”

  Even if Wang Chong’s cultivation were not a problem now, he would have still faced the risk of cultivation defect in the future. It had only been pushed up ahead of schedule.

  Wang Chong stood in a daze, the suggestion taking him by complete surprise.

  The Demonic Emperor Old Man t
ook note of Wang Chong’s silence and immediately became rather angry. “What? In such a state, you’re still not willing to leave? The empire won’t die just because you’re not here. Just what is in this place that is worth your lingering around like this!?”

  “Haaah…”

  Wang Chong said nothing, but he sighed. He naturally understood the pains his master was taking, but at a time like this, how could he possibly leave? If he had not been reborn, perhaps he could have accepted his master’s argument, that without him, the Great Tang would continue to exist. But Wang Chong was well aware that this was not the case at all.

  “Master, your disciple understands the efforts you have taken! But… can I have some time to think it over?”

  Wang Chong gave a deferential bow.

  The sight of the earnest Wang Chong made the Demonic Emperor Old Man feel like he had nowhere to vent his anger. This child was constantly thinking about the realm and the people. He felt very proud about his disciple for this, but he also felt extremely helpless before such an attitude.

  “Fine! If you’re not willing to go, then I can’t force you. But your current state can’t be allowed to persist for very long. The dangers of the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art are not as simple as you imagine!”

  The Demonic Emperor Old Man jumped onto the wall, and at almost the same moment, whoosh! A letter flew through the air like a sharp sword toward Wang Chong. Wang Chong subconsciously snatched the letter out of the air, and as he glanced down, he saw that it was covered in his master’s handwriting. This was clearly the mantra and methods his master had used to suppress the unstable Stellar Energies in his body and delay the cultivation defect.

  “Master…”

  Wang Chong felt a surge of warmth, but his master had already vanished in a gust of wind.

  ……

  As time went on, Wang Chong spent every day in the residence supervising the general situation, constantly dispatching men to observe Ü-Tsang, the Western and Eastern Turks, Arabia, Goguryeo, and the other countries, ready to guard against their attacks at any time. He was also keeping an eye on the progress being made with the hybrid rice and the warehouse construction.