Both the Wushang Village Chief and the Demonic Emperor Old Man fell silent. Despite the man’s death, Wang Chong had still managed to get a lot of useful information from his mind.
“It seems like this northwest excursion will be quite troublesome,” the Demonic Emperor Old Man said, a cloud of worry forming on his brow.
“Let’s talk about this matter later. We should leave this place as quickly as possible first,” the Wushang Village Chief said.
The men in black had no scruples. Wang Chong searched the area and quickly found the bodies of the owner and waiter in the basement of the tavern. And many people within Liuyao City had also been either captured or killed.
These discoveries made the three of them gnash their teeth in anger.
After freeing those who had been imprisoned, taking on some supplies, and searching the men in black, the three of them left.
Not long after Wang Chong’s party had left, three horsemen wearing black wide-sleeved robes and wearing bamboo hats appeared in Liuyao City, stopping in front of the ruined tavern.
“We’re too late. The battle is already over,” said one.
“Go and investigate!” This second voice was neither too loud nor too soft, yet tinged with the dignity of a superior. The owner of this voice was clearly the leader of this party of three.
The three of them dismounted and headed to where the fiercest fighting had taken place. The tavern was deserted; only piles of rubble remained.
“The corpses have all been destroyed. I smell the Fire of Mara.”
“The target did this!”
The three scanned the area and finally settled their gazes on where the leader of the black-clothed men had died.
“The mission was a complete failure. The target is even more troublesome to deal with than we imagined. It seems like we’ll have to gather more men,” lamented one of the three strange men wearing bamboo hats
“What a pile of trash! In order to render service that they could report to their superiors, they disregarded this one’s orders and struck first. Not even death can redeem them. Let’s go! We can’t let the target escape! His Lordship has no love for incompetent failures! They can’t have run very far!”
Whoosh!
The three of them quickly remounted their horses, their capes flapping behind them as they rode off in the direction Wang Chong’s carriage had vanished.
Several hours later, the three of them stopped in front of a steep cliff. They looked down at the apparently bottomless abyss in shock.
“Bastard! We were played!”
The three of them all had nasty grimaces. Based on the time and distance, they should have caught up to Wang Chong’s group by now, but this was clearly not the reality they were facing.
It was clear that Wang Chong had cast down a false trail before leaving.
“Damn it! Pass on my order! Immediately find a method to find the target’s location! I want their location as quickly as possible!”
The leader gnashed his teeth.
“Yes!”
……
Time slowly passed, a peaceful period for Wang Chong’s group, undisturbed by anyone’s attacks.
Whoosh!
Wang Chong was seated cross-legged on the ground. He slowly exhaled and opened his eyes, which were much clearer than before.
After several days of cultivation, the assistance of his master and the Village Chief, and the removal of quite a few disorderly strains of Stellar Energy, Wang Chong had greatly improved. The conflicts of Stellar Energy in his body had been stabilized. In particular, the energy of Lu Wu he had absorbed during his last battle had filled his body to the brim with pure vitality that increased Wang Chong’s ability to resist the chaotic Stellar Energies.
“Not bad! You have very high comprehension abilities and have already grasped your master’s method. Starting from now, remember that it’s best to avoid attacking if possible. Let me and your master handle everything. In addition, if you must strike, try to avoid absorbing any energy. If you can use any technique besides the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art, then do so. Your master and I have calculated that in your current condition, if you don’t meet a particularly strong enemy, you can fight for about five minutes. If you continue to use Stellar Energy after this, you will worsen the injuries in your body. If you injure your dantian, you will probably end up like your master and your dantian will shatter!
“Not everyone can be like your master, so cautious that he can go ten years without a major problem and can still survive even after his cultivation is dispersed. Wang Chong, you absolutely cannot be careless!” the Wushang Village Chief warned.
“Many thanks, Village Chief. Wang Chong understands,” Wang Chong seriously said.
In the last few days, Wang Chong, his master, and the Village Chief were in constant company with each other. Besides having his injuries stabilized, Wang Chong also listened to his two elders explain many martial arts problems. Although his injuries had still not been healed, Wang Chong was improving his understanding of the martial path.
“We’ll be there soon. The area for several hundred li around is basically a wilderness without any residents, but many experts have gathered here. Unless it’s necessary, it’s best if we don’t reveal ourselves. After all, it’s not good for you to fight in your condition,” the Demonic Emperor Old Man said in his elderly voice.
The Demonic Emperor Old Man had a very solemn expression. This was not the first time he and the Wushang Village Chief had come to this place. Many experts had gathered in this region, and even the two of them had to be careful.
“Your disciple understands!” Wang Chong respectfully said.
As they were speaking, a loud shout came from up ahead.
“Du Wucheng, you can’t run!”
“Hand over the treasure map!”
This roar was ruthless and resounded through the air like a crack of thunder. Following this was a massive explosion that could clearly be heard from several li away, followed by the clanging of swords and sabers.
The carriage compartment instantly fell quiet, all three occupants frowning in silence. Wang Chong knew that this region wouldn’t be very peaceful, but Wang Chong had never imagined that they would encounter a battle between martial artists while they were still so far away from their destination. Swish! Wang Chong extended a finger, raising a curtain so that he could look out.
Several li away, amongst the green hills, two groups were fighting with each other, one in front and one behind. Several figures at the front were apparently putting up a grim resistance as if to buy time for the person they were protecting to escape. But it was clear that they were no match.
“Ah!”
With a chorus of miserable screams, the several people holding the rear were cut down. And then a sharp arrow that was as thick as a finger shot out from the green hills, whistling toward that martial artist at the very front called Du Wucheng.
This person immediately dropped down from the sky and crashed to the ground, where he ceased to move.
This battle had ended much faster than anyone had imagined. Even if Wang Chong had wanted to intervene, it was too late.
“Forget it! Let them be!” the Demonic Emperor Old Man softly said, apparently thinking of something. “Although this place is remote, martial artists from many different sects have gathered here. Although there have been many true and fake maps over the many years and no one has yet found the Supreme and Infinite Origin Immortal Art, some progress has still been made. In this place, the mere mention of the word ‘treasure map’ can be lethal, let alone anything more. You can’t stop any of this.”
As the Demonic Emperor of the martial arts world who inspired dread in all who heard his name, he had clearly become accustomed to this sort of killing.
“Since we’re here, we might as well take a look.”
Wang Chong hesitated for a moment, then he opened the carriage door and flew out. A few moments later, he arrived at the site of the ba
ttle, a large hill which was stained with blood. The battle was over by now, with corpses strewn across the ground.
“It seems like I came too late!”
Wang Chong sighed. From the clothes these people were wearing, they were probably from some sort of sect. Although Wang Chong was a person of extremely high status in the court, he had very little interaction with the people of the martial arts world. Now that he was seeing with his own eyes the pursuits and battles of the martial arts world, he realized that they were completely different from the fighting on the battlefield.
“Ah!”
Just as Wang Chong was preparing to leave, he heard a noise. The martial artist at the top of the hill whose left chest had been pierced through by an arrow had suddenly groaned, his fingers trembling.
Chapter 1334 - The Frightened Carriage Driver!
Chapter 1334: The Frightened Carriage Driver!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Mm?”
Wang Chong stopped and walked over.
He extended a hand and murmured to himself, “How close! But it seems like it’s not his destiny to die here. It almost pierced through his heart.”
Thrusting out his finger several times, he sealed critical points on the man’s body and stopped the blood loss. He then sent over a stream of Stellar Energy to protect the man’s heart before picking him up and returning to the carriage.
“To think that he would survive! Encountering us is also his good fortune!”
The Demonic Emperor Old Man and the Wushang Village Chief were quietly astonished at this sight. The Wushang Village Chief quickly took out a pill and had the man swallow it. Then, the Demonic Emperor Old Man and Wushang Village Chief took up positions on the man’s left and right, each placing a hand on his shoulder and sending in Stellar Energy to begin treating his wounds.
So capable were these two that there was no person they could not save as long as they drew breath. As expected, just a few moments later, the chest of that sect martial artist called Du Wucheng began to rise and fall once more, his complexion greatly improving.
Swish!
With a long breath, that man finally opened his eyes.
“Who are you?!”
To the trio’s surprise, the moment the man opened his eyes and saw them, he became startled, pushed his right hand against the floor, and jumped away to make some distance.
The three of them instantly frowned at this sight. Someone who woke up and saw their three saviors would usually at least say ‘thank you’, but this reaction was completely unexpected.
“Young man, your wounds aren’t healed. Don’t move around recklessly!” the Wushang Village Chief said.
The man was pale and his breathing ragged. That simple act of jumping backward had caused cold sweat to cake his forehead.
“I don’t need your concern! And I don’t need your help! You think I don’t know? You greedy scoundrels are all coming for the Origin Immortal Mountain!”
The man held a hand to his chest, his expression stubborn and the look in his eyes becoming even warier.
“The Origin Immortal Mountain?”
Wang Chong looked at this person and creased his brow. Thump! The door was pushed open, and that person gave the trio one last resentful glare before rushing out of the carriage, suppressing his injuries as he flew into the distance.
“Still forcibly circulating his energy while in such a state! How reckless!”
The Demonic Emperor Old Man coldly snorted as he looked at the man, showing no intent of chasing him down. Despite the fact that they had saved his life, their kindness had been returned with hatred. If not for Wang Chong’s influence, he would have long ago killed someone like this.
“Forget it. Let him go,” Wang Chong said, glancing at that person’s back. For some reason, he had a strange feeling in his heart.
“This is the world of sects! The minds of people are treacherous, sinister, and difficult to fathom. Even if you save their lives, they might not thank you and could even blame you for saving them. In a place like this, if your heart is not a little harder, your hand not a little more vicious, you will find it very difficult to survive. This is also why I never mentioned having you enter the world of sects,” the Demonic Emperor Old Man coldly said.
Wang Chong said nothing as he thought back to what that man had said before leaving.
The Origin Immortal Mountain, the Origin Immortal Mountain…
Wang Chong pensively muttered to himself. For some reason, he sensed that this journey to the northwest had already changed in a way that neither he nor his master understood.
That person quickly vanished, and for Wang Chong’s group, this was merely a small interlude. The carriage quickly drove past the hill and onward into the distance.
Flapflap!
Not long after they left, a black eagle took off into the sky from a nearby forest.
One hour later, ten-some men in black converged on the area, all of them with bizarre auras. Their leaders were none other than the three men wearing bamboo hats.
“They can’t get far! No matter where they go, they will eventually fall into our hands!” the leading bamboo hat man said.
“After them!”
With this order, ten-some men in black followed the three men in bamboo hats in the direction Wang Chong’s group had gone.
……
As the carriage rolled forward, the Demonic Emperor Old Man suddenly spoke.
“For this journey to the northwest, we still have to meet one more person, someone we got to know when the Village Chief and I last went exploring. We will probably need his help this time.”
“Oh?”
Wang Chong was flabbergasted. He had never heard his master say that someone else would be coming, and given the strength of his master and the Wushang Village Chief, Wang Chong really couldn’t think of anyone that deserved so much attention from them. They were almost at their destination, but they were going to meet him first instead of searching for the treasure.
“But you will have to prepare yourself. That person has a rather strange personality,” the old Village Chief said, cracking a rare smile.
Wang Chong became even more curious.
“Haha, you will find out when you meet him!”
The Demonic Emperor Old Man laughed as he took a rare chance to play up the suspense.
As the carriage was passing through a forest, a thunderous voice came from within the carriage.
“Stop!”
The carriage came to a sudden halt. Wang Chong, the Demonic Emperor Old Man, and the Wushang Village Chief opened the door and exited.
“Old Sirs, is this your stop?”
A head peered out from the front. This was a man of thirty-some years with half his face covered in pockmarks. He gazed at Wang Chong’s group with a face stricken with fear and dread.
“Yes, we’ve reached a stop, but it’s your stop!”
Wang Chong turned to the carriage driver and smiled.
“Yo-young Master, what do you mean?”
The carriage driver fearfully looked at Wang Chong and then warily looked around him.
“Enough; there’s no need to keep pretending. Let’s end it here!” the Demonic Emperor Old Man coldly said.
“O-old Sir, I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The driver shrank back, becoming even more anxious.
But the three of them were utterly unmoved.
“You don’t know? Hmph, you’ll be finding out very soon!”
Wang Chong smiled, then he brought his middle and index finger together and fired off a bolt of Sword Qi. Swish! It pierced through the carriage compartment as it shot straight toward the driver.
“Ah!”
The driver yelped as he lunged to the side in a ‘panic’. A moment later, after barely managing to dodge Wang Chong’s attack, he staggered backward and fell to the ground.
“You still want to keep pretending?”
Wang Chong looked at this clumsy acting and sneered.
His attack had seemed casual, but it was not that easy to dodge, at least not when one was in a ‘panic’.
“I-I don’t understand what you’re saying! While driving carriages for others, I occasionally had some more generous patrons from the martial arts world, and I learned a few martial arts from them to protect myself. You can’t suspect me because of something like this.
“And I worked hard to bring all of you here. It’s one thing if you don’t give me money, but you’re even treating me like this!”
The carriage driver was both shocked and furious.
“Heh, your people from the Eyes of God should probably be here soon!”
Wang Chong acted like he hadn’t heard what the carriage driver said as he smirked.
Buzz!
The driver continued to maintain his furious and shocked expression, but deep within his eyes, he revealed a hint of surprise.
“Heh, it’s fine if you don’t understand. In any case, all of you men in black have twelve golden locks in your minds. I just need to check to see if I was wrong.”
As Wang Chong spoke, he strode toward the driver, an enormous Psychic Energy gathering at his brow and then shooting forward like a lightning bolt.
The carriage driver who had been acting like he had been unjustly accused instantly paled.
Boom!
A moment later, the vast Psychic Energy struck his mind, upon which a powerful psychic seal emerged, the twelve golden locks.
“Damn it!”
The driver was bowled over by Wang Chong’s Psychic Energy, but he immediately shot back up and glared at Wang Chong, no longer keeping up his pretenses.
“You bastards, I thought myself to be cautious and conscientious the entire way, not revealing a single flaw. Just when did you find me out?”
Everything had happened too suddenly. He would have never imagined that in this calmest moment when the three of them were traveling through an ordinary forest, they would suddenly stop so that they could kill him.
The Wushang Village Chief sighed.
“The battle at Liuyao City was so fierce, but you were too composed. Those men in black are also incredibly vicious, killing ordinary people like the owner and waiter of that tavern. They could have just tied them up, but they decided to kill them all. You entered the tavern with us, but despite being in the hands of the men in black for so long, you were completely unharmed. It’s not normal at all for only you to survive the vicious hand of those men in black…”
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 838