The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  Bang!

  The falling rock contained the destructive power of both the Origin Immortal Lord and True Lord Yellow Dragon, but Wang Chong’s Stellar Energy still had some effect.

  The massive boulder was hindered for half a second by Wang Chong’s Stellar Energy, after which it made impact on the place formerly occupied by the Origin Immortal Chief with a fierce boom.

  “Whew! We managed to dodge it!”

  Nearby, Wang Chong emerged with the Origin Immortal Chief.

  The two of them had barely managed to dodge that lethal strike.

  “Young Patriarch!”

  The Origin Immortal Chief was still in shock as she gazed at the sharp-eyed youth. She had never imagined that Wang Chong would save her, and had believed that she was about to die.

  “Come on! Let’s get out of here first!”

  Wang Chong stood on a bronze slab with craggy rocks around him. Above him was a dazzling golden light, and the interplay of light and shadow meant that one side of the rocks seemed like liquid gold while the other side was pitch-black.

  Their battle is intensifying.

  Wang Chong looked up at the flashing golden light above in great concern.

  Someone who could fuse the souls of the three Immortals into one and remodel the Yellow Scarf Warrior, and who could also go blow for blow with the Origin Immortal Lord, possessed simply unimaginable strength.

  No one present, even Wang Chong, was any match for him. If not even the Origin Immortal Lord was a match for him, they would probably all die here.

  As these thoughts ran through his mind, Wang Chong grabbed the Origin Immortal Chief and began to head down into the abyss.

  Behind him, several hundred meters away, there was a furious roar. With the backdrop of dazzling golden light, the Yellow Scarf Warrior seemed like an evil spirit arisen from the underworld, and its massive body with four arms made it seem even more savage.

  It was the only being unaffected by the danger, as its powerful Earth Element abilities made it immune to the falling stones.

  Roooar!

  Amidst the rain of stones, the Yellow Scarf Warrior began to climb down in pursuit.

  Those martial artists who could not flee fast enough and were caught by the Yellow Scarf Warrior were turned to stone and killed. They were simply too weak before this being.

  “Is there no way to deal with it?!” Wang Chong suddenly exclaimed. Even when he was retreating, he was still observing the events above, keeping track of the Yellow Scarf Warrior’s movements.

  For so many martial artists to die to the Yellow Scarf Warrior was a major blow to both Wang Chong’s plans and to the martial arts world. But the clash of the Origin Immortal Lord and True Lord Yellow Dragon taking place above was sending down a rain of stones that created an enormous advantage for the Yellow Scarf Warrior.

  The Origin Immortal Chief shook her head and said, “It’s useless! It’s too strong! We’re no match for it!”

  “Chief, what was that Earth Devil Art you mentioned before? Since you know what it is, you should have a way to undo it, right?” Wang Chong asked with a sliver of hope. If there was one person who could help them get out of this predicament, it was the Origin Immortal Chief.

  “Young Patriarch’s opinion of me is too high. This Earth Devil Art is an art of the Spring and Autumn Era, one that I occasionally came across in the records of our sect. I never imagined that this evil art existed, much less that it would appear before us.”

  The Origin Immortal Chief bitterly smiled.

  “What sort of record was it?” An elderly voice drifted over, and then the Demonic Emperor Old Man moved with deceptive speed through the rain of stones to land on the bronze slab to the right of the Origin Immortal Chief. At this time, no one except the Origin Immortal Chief knew the secrets of this monster.

  The Origin Immortal Chief sternly recounted what she had read. “The Earth Devil Art is a forbidden art of the soul, a secret technique to revive the dead, but the exact method to use it is unknown. In the ancient texts of our Origin Immortal lineage, it says that once this thing is created, it can no longer be considered human. They are called ‘Earth Devils’ because the ideal carrier for them is Earth Element experts.

  “Moreover, that Yellow Scarf Warrior was already killed by the young patriarch earlier, so strictly speaking, it is already dead. Thus, it is completely immune to the blows of weapons. At the same time, the environment together with its Earth Element powers allow it to constantly absorb power from the surrounding earth. The more time that passes, the stronger it becomes.”

  The Wushang Village Chief landed nearby, extending his right hand and knocking aside a descending rock before turning expectantly to the Origin Immortal Chief.

  “No art in the world is completely flawless. If these Earth Devils are that powerful, they should have dominated the world. Chief, are you sure that they don’t have any flaws?”

  “Senior is correct. There is naturally no such thing as a flawless art, and the same can be said for the Earth Devil Art. This art forcefully pushes souls together, so the souls are only temporarily of one body and are constantly fighting with each other. Thus, the monster created by the Earth Devil Art cannot continue forever. In the end, the conflict between the souls will cause them to break apart. But…”

  The Origin Immortal Chief looked up at the angrily roaring Yellow Scarf Warrior and said no more.

  Everyone looked at each other in consternation. Although the Origin Immortal Chief had not continued, they all knew what she was getting at. Although the Earth Devil created by True Lord Yellow Dragon would fall apart eventually, they didn’t have that time.

  “What I’m worried about is that no matter where we run, we’ll still have to face this Earth Devil. This abyss can go down as deep as it wants, but it will still have a bottom. Once we get there, we will be all out of Stellar Energy and even more incapable of fighting the Earth Devil,” the Demonic Emperor Old Man gravely said. He glanced upward, and everyone followed his gaze.

  Golden streams of light were pouring down from above, as were showers of boulders and stones. Meanwhile, the massive Earth Devil was using all four of its arms to zigzag across the walls toward the group.

  In the darkness where the golden light couldn’t reach, the Earth Devil’s crimson eyes glowed.

  It had already significantly closed the distance between it and its prey.

  Death was following them like a shadow. Going up was dangerous, staying was dangerous, and going down was no guarantee of safety. Everyone instinctively turned to Wang Chong.

  “Young Master Wang, what do you think?” Xie Guangting suddenly asked. He and Song Yuanyi had arrived at some point and were standing to the side.

  After some thought, Wang Chong said, “It’s too powerful, and with just the few of us, we can’t deal with it. Only by gathering up everyone here, with us at the vanguard and the rest taking up the rear, do we have a chance to kill it! If it’s possible, we should try to cut off its connection to the rock walls and make it drop down. That will further increase our chances of success!”

  Everyone nodded in agreement. The group dispersed, continuing to dodge the stone rain as they continued downward.

  Wang Chong, the Black Yin Ancestor, the Myriad Ghost Ancestor, Song Yuanyi, Xie Guangting, and the Lone Silence Ancestor began to swiftly gather up the remaining martial artists.

  Even though the Earth Devil had killed quite a few people, and many people had been lost to the abyss when the first clash of the Origin Immortal Lord with True Lord Yellow Dragon caused the ground to collapse, there was still quite a large number of martial artists left.

  “Let’s go! With Alliance Lord Song and the others there, what do we have to fear?”

  “That monster has killed so many of us, but this old man doesn’t think that it’s invincible! Let’s all attack together and kill it!”

  “Killing us isn’t that easy! Everyone, together!”

  In the shadows of the abyss un
touched by the golden light, numerous martial artists were hiding. When they received the summons from the martial arts titans, their eyes blazed with fighting intent and they gathered around to take up their positions.

  Roooar!

  Once everything was prepared, there was a thunderous roar as the massive Earth Devil began to crawl down the walls toward Wang Chong.

  Wang Chong had intentionally unleashed all his energy, becoming a blazing flame in the darkness that swiftly drew the Earth Devil’s attention. The monster instantly abandoned all its other targets and began to charge at Wang Chong, who was standing on a rocky outcrop.

  “It’s here!”

  The Earth Devil crossed several hundred meters in a few seconds, swiftly closing the distance with Wang Chong. The martial artists hidden in the surrounding shadows began to grow excited.

  Chapter 1554 - Earth Devil! (III)

  Chapter 1554: Earth Devil! (III)

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Silence!

  Absolute silence!

  Other than the immense uproar created by the giant Earth Devil, there was no other sound to be heard amongst the rocky walls. Finally, in a flash of light, the Earth Devil crawled out of the region illuminated by golden light and into the dark area in which Wang Chong stood.

  Roooar!

  With a thunderous roar, the Earth Devil suddenly stood up straight on the rock wall. As it straightened its body of nearly one hundred meters, it pulled back its two thick right arms to build up strength. Its eyes locked onto the ant-like Wang Chong in the darkness, and then it mightily punched.

  Boom!

  Its fists moved as quickly as lightning bolts and with astonishing power. The strength within these fists far surpassed that of a peak Great General, and even Wang Chong would find it hard to block them.

  Buzz!

  An explosive shockwave instantly swept through the surrounding several hundred feet. The massive fists blotted out all light as they hurtled toward Wang Chong, but he appeared unafraid.

  Four hundred feet, three hundred feet, two hundred feet! The massive fists were like a mass of dark clouds getting closer and closer. At this moment, Wang Chong’s eyes narrowed and he roared, “Now! Strike!”

  His cry resounded through the abyss.

  In response to this signal, furious bellows came from the surroundings and the hundreds of hidden martial artists attacked in unison.

  For a moment, time seemed to stop…

  Rumble!

  The world moved in slow-motion as a massive formation fifty-some meters in diameter appeared on the Earth Devil’s body and explosively expanded.

  The Cavern Formation!

  This was a large-scale formation that Wang Chong had learned from the Formation Elder. It required ten-some people to work together to pour a variety of conflicting energies into the formation so that it would explode.

  The Formation Elder was a solitary soul, so he had never had a chance to use it. But here, Wang Chong had more than enough martial artists at his command.

  Not only that, while laying down the formation, Wang Chong had also skimmed through the Formation Divine Treatise, which contained an older version of the Cavern Formation, a stronger version. Wang Chong had used this knowledge to adjust the formation and make its explosive power even stronger.

  Kaboom! Everyone watched in anticipation as the rock wall for fifty meters around the Earth Devil’s feet collapsed, but this was only the beginning.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! One layer of rock after another crumbled and exploded, and the Earth Devil was made bereft of any place to stand for several hundred feet around him. Tens of thousands of tons of stone joined the Earth Devil in tumbling down the steep walls.

  Before arriving at this region, they had decided to work together to loosen the rock walls. Now that peerless experts like the Black Yin Ancestor, the Lone Silence Ancestor, and Song Yuanyi were working together with hundreds of martial artists, the explosion they created was so powerful that even Subtle realm experts would be heavily injured.

  Wang Chong was within range of the explosion and was caught in the blast, but he had naturally made his preparations.

  Thwish!

  As the region exploded, Wang Chong’s right hand, covered in a silk glove, was already gripping a thin silver-white thread. When the Cavern Formation exploded, Wang Chong shot forward along the spider thread to the wall on the other side.

  All that was left behind him was the furious Earth Devil whose only instinct was to kill. But for the first time, fear could be heard within its roars. While it might have lost its intelligence, it still had the same fear of death.

  Awooo! Sensing the shockwave behind him, Wang Chong didn’t even need to turn his head to know that the Earth Devil’s massive body was plummeting into the darkness.

  “Success!”

  Wang Chong was delighted. Everything had gone according to plan. The teamwork of all the martial artists had caused even the powerful Earth Devil to fall.

  “Good!”

  The hidden martial artists in the surroundings cheered. Many of their fellows had died to the Earth Devil, but this enormous threat had finally been vanquished.

  “Not good! Look!”

  Just when they were about to celebrate, someone cried out in alarm, and all the cheering immediately died away.

  Wang Chong had already flown away along the spider thread, but upon hearing the cry of alarm, he immediately looked down.

  The Earth Devil who was being dragged down into the abyss by the enormous pull should have been rapidly falling, but for some reason, it had suddenly begun to slow down.

  “Not good!”

  Wang Chong’s pupils constricted and he immediately peered into the darkness. Several hundred meters below, the rapidly falling Earth Devil had begun to transform.

  Its two thick left arms were withering away while its two right arms were growing longer and longer. In the space of a second, they had already doubled in length.

  Rumble! Wang Chong looked over just in time to see the Earth Devil thrust the sharp claws of its two right hands into the rock wall.

  “How could this be?!”

  Wang Chong, Song Yuanyi, the Black Yin Ancestor, the Lone Silence Ancestor, the Myriad Ghost Ancestor… all the martial artists paled at this sight.

  None of them had expected the Earth Devil to possess this kind of ability. It was able to use its strengths to make up for its shortcomings, allowing it to lengthen its arms.

  Kacrack! The sound of the Earth Devil’s claws plunging into the rock made everyone shiver, as if those claws had plunged into their hearts rather than the rock. The immense impact caused countless rocks to cascade downward, and the Earth Devil itself gouged out two scars several dozen meters deep and seven to eight meters wide in the rock.

  But this was not even the most shocking thing. As the Earth Devil’s carrier was the Yellow Scarf Warrior, who possessed formidable Earth Element abilities, the moment the Earth Devil plunged its claws into the rock, the surrounding rock came to life, madly surging toward the two arms as if it wanted to become one with the Earth Devil’s massive body.

  “Not good! If it succeeds, all our work will have been for nothing!”

  Wang Chong paled as he sensed the Earth Devil decelerating, and with no time to think, he cast aside the spider thread and descended toward the monster.

  “Master!

  “Alliance Lord Song!

  “Black Yin Ancestor!”

  Wang Chong called out three times in succession.

  “Hurry! If it succeeds, all of us will die!”

  Standing on an outcrop, Righteous Alliance Lord Song Yuanyi saw what was happening and grimaced.

  Song Yuanyi immediately rushed down, with Xie Guangting, Sikong Yuanjia, Ouyang Changheng, and the others following a split-second later from their own hiding places.

  “I can’t believe it! This beast is truly stubborn!”

  The Black Yin Ancestor wa
s fuming. Everything was going so smoothly! Who could have imagined that they were about to be defeated so close to victory?

  Boom! With a thunderous roar and an explosion of black smoke, the Black Yin Ancestor transformed into a black dragon several dozen meters in length and flew down from the rock wall toward the Earth Devil.

  At almost the same time, the Myriad Ghost Ancestor and Bone Devil Ancestor used their own transformations, one vanishing into a vast army of tens of thousands of ghost generals and soldiers, and the other turning into a massive bone devil.

  Bang!

  Wang Chong suddenly turned in the air, tightly gripping the Origin Immortal Sword as he pushed the Art of God and Demon Obliteration to its limit and swung at one of the Earth Devil’s massive arms. A moment later, there was a thunderous boom. Wang Chong’s Sword Qi had cut off one of the Earth Devil’s burly arms!

  Such was the power in this strike that even the Earth Devil was caught off guard. Enraged and alarmed by the sudden loss of an arm, it furiously roared at the ant-like Wang Chong.

  Awooo!

  A powerful sound wave hurtled toward Wang Chong, accompanied by the pitch-black petrification Stellar Energy.

  Wang Chong’s mind shivered upon seeing this pitch-black wave of energy, and his dantian immediately erupted. As his own Stellar Energy erupted to protect him, the vast wave from the Earth Devil arrived.

  The Yellow Scarf Warrior had not reached the Subtle realm in his life, but the same could not be said for the Earth Devil. It had the powers of the Goat, Deer, and Tiger Immortals, and it had also been gifted destructive energy from True Lord Yellow Dragon.

  The black Stellar Energy was practically solid, and it continuously ground away at Wang Chong’s Stellar Energy. This power that transcended the energy of the Subtle realm was constantly charging at and repulsing his Stellar Energy, doing its utmost to petrify him.

  Whoosh!

  Countless slabs of black stone showered down from the point of conflict, but these slabs were as thin as paper. The level of petrification was clearly reduced compared to other martial artists.