The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  Bang! The cloud of bees seethed and began to behave differently.

  Bzzzz! Some of the bees flew off in another direction.

  “Move out!”

  Upon seeing this, the group lost their last shreds of hope.

  Swish! Countless bits of stone flew up from the ground and into the cloud of bees.

  At the same time, space twisted as a massive hand of Stellar Energy formed in the air and slammed into the earth. As the earth sank down with a shudder, countless bees were crushed to death.

  The Wushang Village Chief, the Demonic Emperor Old Man, the Formation Elder, and Wang Chong all attacked, pulverizing the cloud of bees. At the same time, the formation was opened and the Formation Elder rushed out, followed swiftly by the others.

  “Let’s get out of here! This place is no longer safe! The Five Poisons Elder can control bees, other flying insects, and even beasts. He directly counters my formations. We can’t hide here any longer!” the Formation Elder anxiously said.

  Everything in the world had its counter. The Formation Elder’s formations could deceive elite experts, but they were completely useless against the bees controlled by the Five Poisons Elder.

  The entire northwest was no longer safe for their group.

  But though the four had reacted quickly, they were still too slow.

  “Hahaha, found you!”

  An elderly voice gave a wicked chuckle.

  “Forget about anything else and just run!” the Demonic Emperor Old Man sternly said, waving a sleeve as he rushed away, sending out a vast wave of Stellar Energy that crushed the remaining bees.

  Numerous martial artists and factions were searching for them. Now that they were exposed, it was easy to imagine what would happen next.

  Caw!

  As the group fled, a cawing crow came flying out from the southwest, and the air was soon resounding with caws.

  Wang Chong looked over and instantly grimaced. A flock of tens of thousands of crows was making its way over from the southwest.

  “Damn it! The Black Poison King is also here!”

  That flock of crows flying toward them caused the Formation Elder to grimace as well.

  “Senior Zhou, who is the Black Poison King?” Wang Chong asked.

  “The Black Poison King, like the Five Poisons Elder, is also an old monster of the martial arts world. The sum of their ages exceeds one hundred, and the two are nigh inseparable. The Five Poisons Elder is skilled at controlling bees and other small creatures, while the Black Poison King is skilled at controlling those black crows.

  “Look at the beaks of those crows. They’re all black tinged with violet. Their beaks and claws have all been soaked in poison. Just touching them is enough to become fatally poisoned. Quite a few martial artists have died to this kind of sneak attack,” the Formation Elder said, tension in his eyes.

  Wang Chong said nothing, only looked at those crows. Sure enough, the beaks and claws of those crows had a violet tinge, just as the Formation Elder had said.

  Chapter 1422 - Surrounded by Fierce Poisons!

  Chapter 1422: Surrounded by Fierce Poisons!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Caw!

  The crows moved with incredible speed, and even more unsettling was that flocks of crows had appeared from other directions and were also rapidly making their way toward Wang Chong’s group.

  They were quickly being surrounded by crows.

  “Brother Wenfu, let’s join together to deal with these crows. No matter what, we can’t let them land!” the Wushang Village Chief said.

  He had little understanding of the martial arts world, but he could tell that the current situation was extremely unfavorable to them. It would be fine if they could see the opponent they were fighting, but it was much harder to defend against this bizarre method of attack, and they also had to protect Wang Chong and the Formation Elder.

  Buzz!

  The Wushang Village Chief brought the index and middle fingers of his right hand together while Stellar Energy surged out of his dantian. The Demonic Emperor Old Man also stopped and looked at the sky, a vicious light in his eyes. Fierce pulses of Stellar Energy rose from his body as he prepared to attack.

  Birds would be tireless in their pursuit. Simply running away was no solution.

  Creee!

  The vast flock of crows blanketed the sky. Just as the group was about to attack, one of the crows suddenly opened its mouth and let a finger-sized black pill drop from its mouth, and then a second, a third… Tens of thousands of crows began to let loose a rain of pills.

  The group was left flabbergasted by this sight.

  “Careful!”

  Cautiously, the Wushang Village Chief struck out.

  “Five Dragons to the Heavens!”

  Five beams of Stellar Energy erupted from his body, turned into dragons and soared into the sky.

  A split-second later, the Demonic Emperor Old Man’s eyes flashed with cold light as he attacked as well.

  “Energy Swallows the World!”

  Thudthudthud!

  Vast waves of Stellar Energy collided against the thousands of pills, causing them to explode into black clouds of poisonous gas. With tens of thousands of pills exploding, the entire area was soon covered by thick black mist.

  Bangbangbang! Elsewhere, some of the black pills managed to hit the ground and also detonated into poisonous gas, and the group was soon surrounded.

  Caw!

  The cawing of crows was incessant as one black pill after another dropped down from the sky and exploded near the group.

  “Careful!”

  Wang Chong paled and immediately flicked three antidote pills into the hands of his master, the Wushang Village Chief and the Formation Elder.

  Although someone of his master’s cultivation level was essentially immune to ordinary poisons, it was best to guard against any mishaps. Moreover, it was clear from the words of the Formation Elder that the Five Poisons Elder and the Black Poison King were no ordinary individuals. The poisons they refined were bound to be unusual.

  Caw!

  But at this moment, with a caw, one of the crows behind Wang Chong folded its wings and shot down from the sky like an arrow. Before it could land, Wang Chong had already flicked a bolt of Sword Qi through the air that shot through its open mouth and out its back.

  The crow dropped from the sky before it could make it even halfway.

  However, this was only the beginning. After dropping down the screen of poison gas, the tens of thousands of crows changed strategies and began to hurtle toward the four people on the ground from various directions.

  “Chong-er, just sit back and rest! Don’t recklessly use your energy! I’ll deal with these crows!”

  The Demonic Emperor Old Man’s voice resounded in his ear.

  Bang!

  A wave of Stellar Energy spread out from his body, creating a dome that covered the entire group. And with a casual flick of his finger, the Demonic Emperor Old Man created countless bolts of energy and fired them off at the crows in the sky.

  Caw!

  But unlike the bees, these crows seemed to sense something and instantly scattered.

  A sharp light gleamed in the Demonic Emperor Old Man’s eyes. Just from how these crows acted, he could tell that there was someone controlling them, allowing them to be just as nimble and intelligent as any martial artist.

  “Hmph!”

  The Demonic Emperor Old Man coldly snorted. No matter what method his foe used to control these crows, dodging his attacks was not as easy as it seemed.

  This thought had just passed through his mind when thumps began to resound from all around him as crows fell from the sky like rain drops.

  Hiss!

  But now, there was an extremely soft sound, almost inaudible at first, but it was soon so loud that it could not be ignored.

  The Demonic Emperor Old Man suddenly waved a sleeve, sending a burst of Stellar Energy h
urtling toward a gap in the poison mist. Through this gap, one could see countless wriggling black figures on the ground that caused even the Demonic Emperor Old Man to grimace.

  Snakes!

  After the bees and the crows, innumerable snakes were now making their way to the four.

  There were even more snakes than there had been bees and crows, and a large variety of them at that. There were sand vipers, rock vipers, iron string pythons, golden ring snakes, silver ring snakes… They were all gathered here in a dense and uncountable mass.

  And things were not calm within the Stellar Energy barrier either.

  Swishswish!

  Soft rustling noises could be heard from deep underground. While these could be ignored at any other time, at a time like this, any abnormality would draw Wang Chong’s attention.

  With a thought, Wang Chong sent a stream of Psychic Energy into the ground.

  A moment later, Wang Chong saw that a vast sea of poisonous insects was digging through the earth toward Wang Chong’s group.

  “These bastards!”

  Wang Chong’s eyes narrowed and he scowled. After the bees and crows, they were now even being attacked from the ground. But if his adversaries thought that this was enough, they were gravely mistaken.

  Boom!

  Wang Chong stomped down, sending Stellar Energy rumbling into the ground. A second later, he heard a chorus of chirping and shrieking as those bugs hidden underground were pulverized.

  But before Wang Chong could even catch his breath, yellow-green poison gas began to waft out of the earth.

  As this yellow-green gas encountered the Demonic Emperor Old Man’s Stellar Energy, it actually began to penetrate through the barrier.

  Although it was penetrating very slowly, the feat alone was shocking.

  “These fiends!”

  The Demonic Emperor Old Man immediately sensed that his Stellar Energy barrier was under attack. Boom! The Demonic Emperor Old Man sent out several pulses of energy until the poison gas was completely swept away.

  Meanwhile, boundless energy pounded against the ground like a giant hand, compacting the loose earth until it was as tough as steel.

  “Haha, it’s pointless. Knowing that you’ve got a profound cultivation, I added a little extra something to this poison.” A sinister and indescribably bizarre voice resounded in their ears. “Zhang Wenfu, your strength is incredible and ordinary poisons can’t do anything to you. However, I’d like to see how long your Stellar Energy can last as I send wave after wave!”

  “Hmph, is that so?”

  The Demonic Emperor Old Man sneered, but no voice came in response. These people apparently had some secret art of long-distance voice transmission, but it was different from the more common types.

  The Wushang Village Chief spoke up at this time. “Brother Wenfu, the situation is bad. The Five Poisons Elder and the Black Poison King are both in hiding, and they seem to be able to use the eyes and ears of their poisonous creatures. If we don’t find their real bodies, it doesn’t matter how many of these crows or insects we kill. Who knows how many we will have to kill until we kill them all?”

  Although they had managed to kill swaths of poisonous creatures, the Wushang Village Chief’s heart was heavy.

  Poison mist hung so thickly around them that they couldn’t see anything, but the buzzing and cawing was only getting louder, and a cacophony of strange cries could be heard around them.

  Rather than decreasing, the number of poisonous creatures was climbing.

  “The Five Poisons Elder, the Black Poison King, the Seven Fiends King, the Snake King… just how many of these fierce characters have come to the northwest this time?! If this continues, we can kill for several days and nights and still not be done!” the Formation Elder suddenly blurted out, his face ghastly pale.

  “Brother Zhou, what do you mean?” the Wushang Village Chief couldn’t help but ask.

  “Scorpions, poisonous insects, bees, snakes, crows… the Five Poisons Elder and Black Poison King can’t control so many kinds of creatures. And based on the sound, there are probably millions of insects, far surpassing the ability of those two old monsters. And the ones in the martial arts world best at controlling poisonous insects are the Snake King and Seven Fiends King.

  “The allure of the Origin Immortal Art is simply too great. Right now, what I’m worried about is if even more of these old monsters are coming this way. This is very, very bad.”

  The Formation Elder’s eyes were brimming with concern.

  Earlier, when they had been hiding in the formation, they had been able to easily handle the situation, as could be seen by how so many factions of the martial arts world were searching for them but had turned up nothing.

  But now, in the face of so many poisonous creatures, no matter where the Formation Elder hid or what sort of formation he set up, it would be instantly exposed.

  These poisonous creatures were a perfect counter to the Formation Elder.

  Chapter 1423 - Breaking Out! (I)

  Chapter 1423: Breaking Out! (I)

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  “Senior Zhou, the situation isn’t that serious yet. The Five Poisons Elder, the Snake King, and the Black Poison King might be formidable, but they’re not invincible!” Wang Chong blurted out. He lowered his head, his eyes gleaming as his mind rapidly turned.

  “Everything has a flaw. We can’t kill off all the snakes and bees, but that’s not even necessary. We just need to find their controllers. Once we find their real bodies and kill them, everything else will resolve on its own.”

  “Haaa! How could it be that easy?”

  The Formation Elder couldn’t help but sigh at Wang Chong’s words.

  “Although it really is as you say, if the Five Poisons Elder and the others were really that easy to deal with, they would have been killed long ago. Your master probably understands this more than anyone else.”

  The Demonic Emperor Old Man did not deny this. He remained vigilant of the situation around them, and with a flick of his finger, he sent several thousand bolts of energy hurtling through the air, cutting down yet another swath of crows.

  But the Demonic Emperor Old Man did not appear at all relieved. Hissing and rustling, countless snakes converged from all sides, already only a few hundred feet from the group.

  Hisss! At this distance, the snakes writhed and raised their heads, spitting out poisonous gas from their mouths. This increased the range of the poisonous mist and made it even more dangerous.

  The group’s hearts were heavy.

  The Formation Elder frowned as he anxiously said, “People have tried to kill them before, but all of them without exception ended up dying. No one has even seen the true bodies of these old monsters, only heard their names. To find their true bodies in such a short period of time is simply impossible!”

  “That’s not for certain!”

  Wang Chong gave a subtle shake of his head.

  As Wang Chong and the others were discussing how to deal with the Five Poisons Elder’s group, another development took place outside the Stellar Energy barrier.

  The lifeless crows scattered across the ground suddenly began to tremble, and then with a shake of their wings, they shot back into the air.

  In the blink of an eye, these slain crows had risen back up, some of them turning their sharps eyes on the Demonic Emperor Old Man’s barrier and shrieking toward it like arrows.

  Thudthudthud!

  The crows thudding against the Stellar Energy barrier sounded like they were made out of steel, but the Demonic Emperor Old Man’s Stellar Energy was not so easy to break. The crows broke themselves against the fortress of Stellar Energy, even breaking their necks.

  But these crows were completely unaffected. Even though their heads had been twisted to face their backs, their wings were still flapping.

  Even the Demonic Emperor couldn’t help but grimace at this sight. Behind him, the Formation Elde
r shot to his feet in alarm while the Wushang Village Chief made an unsightly face.

  “What’s going on here?”

  Shock appeared in Wang Chong’s eyes. He had never encountered such a thing before, something that exceeded all bounds of imagination.

  The rules of life and death were absolute!

  Anything dead was dead. There was no way to revive them. Not even Wang Chong, someone who had lived, died, and been reborn, had ever encountered such a situation.

  The oddities of the martial arts world had already completely exceeded his imagination, leaving him flabbergasted with disbelief!

  “It’s the Gu1 Poison King! The Gu Poison King! I didn’t think that even he would show up!”

  The Formation Elder nastily grimaced.

  The appearance of the Five Poisons Elder had only made him somewhat uneasy, as this individual only countered his formations, but the Gu Poison King was an entirely different matter.

  “Gu Poison King, you actually dare to oppose this old man!”

  A furious bellow erupted from the Demonic Emperor Old Man’s mouth. Before anyone could react, a vast and boundless storm of energy erupted from his body and swept over the world.

  The last hint of geniality vanished from the Demonic Emperor Old Man’s body.

  The name of this legendary existence of the martial arts world, ‘Demonic Emperor Zhang Wenfu’, still held great power in this realm. True, the Demonic Emperor Old Man had changed much in the last two years.

  But the challenge from the Five Poisons Elder’s group had stimulated that ironfisted and domineering energy that was latent within his body.

  The energy erupting from the Demonic Emperor Old Man’s body twisted the space around him and seemed to set it ablaze.

  “Master!”

  Wang Chong was alarmed by the tyrannical energy coming from his master. This was the first time he had ever seen him so enraged.

  After a long while, a raspy and ethereal voice began to speak, constantly drifting here and there. “Hahaha, Demonic Emperor, you rule your evil path and I will rule the Miao2. We’ve always been like the well and the river, our waters never mixing. This was the case even at the peak of your rule. But if you want something to blame, blame the allure of the Origin Immortal Art. Although we old scoundrels made our name with our poison arts, we also want to become the world’s number one. No one can resist this sort of temptation, right?