The Human Emperor c1-2382
Page 1045
According to this legend, several thousand years in the future, a powerful force would come out of nowhere and bring a final destruction to the organization and all of its gods.
And this legend said that the symbol of this power that would end all gods was a golden seed.
The one who had made this prophecy was none other than the organization’s god of prophecy, the Origin Immortal Lord!
The legend said that when the seed appeared, it would be the beginning of the end. This was the reason for everyone’s panic.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
While the black-robed monk was in the middle of deep thought, he heard sharp whistles from around him. Before he could react, Southern Dipper Star Awls had flown through the air and struck the men in black around him.
These people dropped to the ground with eyes wide open, not even knowing how they had died.
“Divine Lord?!”
The monk raised his head in alarm and looked at the Tianfu Divine Lord.
“Today’s matter cannot be leaked, no matter what!”
At some point, the Tianfu Divine Lord had turned around and killed several dozen men in black. His face was devoid of emotion and his eyes were frighteningly cold.
The monk’s face froze, and then he understood. The matter of the Seal of Finality was of immense importance and would probably set off great waves in the organization. In doing this, the Tianfu Divine Lord clearly intended to lock the entire matter away.
“Your subordinate understands!”
The monk fearfully lowered his head.
Thwish!
Suddenly, a roiling black fog accompanied by a long shuttle-shaped object shrieked out of the northwestern sky.
“It’s here!”
The monk’s heart leapt in recognition. This was the high-level God Ghost Talisman used by the Celestial God Organization for sending messages. They had sent the report not too long ago, but the reply had already arrived.
The Tianfu Divine Lord immediately extended a hand and snatched the talisman out of the air.
Chapter 1698 - True Lord Yellow Dragon Emerges!
Chapter 1698: True Lord Yellow Dragon Emerges!
The God Ghost Talisman was around two feet long and as thick as a child’s arm. It was cast entirely from black gold, and at its top was a horrifying ancient head, its mouth wide open.
“Haha, good!”
After one glance, the Tianfu Divine Lord’s eyes brightened and he heartily laughed.
“Clean this place up and get ready to go!”
“Ah?!”
The black-robed monk trembled, his eyes brimming with shock.
The Seal of Finality was a matter of utmost importance. He had believed that their superiors would send reinforcements and think of a way to continue the assault on the Child of Destruction, but apparently, the order they had received was to withdraw.
Were they just going to ignore such a major incident?
“Those above have already sent word that they will handle the Seal of Finality and that they want us to ignore the matter for now. In addition, there’s been news from the northwest that the location of the Immortal Lord has been found.”
The Tianfu Divine Lord’s lips slowly curved into a profound smile.
……
At the same time, far away in the northwest, north of the Moheyan and Qixi deserts, around the entrance to the Origin Immortal Palace, various figures were spread out across the earth, warily watching their surroundings.
Under their feet were numerous corpses belonging to martial artists who had unwittingly wandered into this area. The scent of blood was so thick that it hung in the air.
“How was it?”
In front of a massive pit, an expert who seemed to hold a leadership position in the Celestial God Organization held his hands behind his back and spoke to several people standing in front of him.
“Divine Lord, we’ve already found the Immortal Lord’s location. Everything is ready, and we can activate the formation at any time and help the Immortal Lord break free of the seal,” one of the men said with utmost respect.
“Begin!”
The leader from the Celestial God Organization immediately gave the order.
Upon receiving the order, the small group of men jumped into the pit.
A few moments later, several hundred men in black on the surface sat cross-legged on the ground, their palms placed against each other to form a large circle, and the formation was activated.
Boom!
Seething black smoke and boundless energy erupted from their bodies. Some of this immense energy surged into the void while the majority, buoyed by the formation, seeped deep into the ground.
There, another nearly one hundred men in black had formed a second formation, which took the energy and transferred it deeper into the ground to a third formation, then a fourth, a fifth…
On this barren land, thousands of experts had formed a series of connected formations, an echeloned formation that was being used to break a powerful seal deep underground. Only the organization of men in black was capable of such a vast undertaking.
Time slowly passed, and the men in black continued to guide their strength deep into the earth. After what seemed like countless eons, and also like a single second, crackcrack! A great shaking came from deep in the earth, as if something had suddenly broken.
“Rraaaah!”
A heaven-shaking howl suddenly erupted from the depths of the earth, soaring straight into the heavens. Boom! The entire northwestern region shook as if some giant invisible hand had seized it, and the surface began to crack and groan.
Rumble!
A few moments later, a terrifying energy far greater than anyone could possibly imagine erupted from the earth, and a great pillar of dust shot several thousand meters into the air.
“Paying respects to the True Lord!”
As that man emerged, ringing calls of extreme reverence tinged with awe and fear came from all around. All the men in black in the area had gotten down on their knees, and their leader who had been addressed as ‘Divine Lord’ also got down on one knee and bowed.
Whoosh!
There was a surge of air and then a golden flash of light. Two feet covered in golden silk boots slowly descended from the sky.
A majestic voice came from above and resounded in the Tianji Divine Lord’s ears. “Tianji Divine Lord, you did rather well. When we return, this lord will richly reward you.”
(TN: If we follow the same naming scheme as the Tianfu Divine Lord, then the Tianji Divine Lord is technically a subordinate of the Tianfu Divine Lord. The Tianji Star is the third star of the Six Stars of the Southern Dipper while the Tianfu Star is the first. In western astronomy, this star is Mu Sagittarii.)
As that man spoke, his two drooping dragon whiskers floated in the air. If Wang Chong were here, he would have certainly been astonished, for this man was the one who had been sealed beneath the earth by the Origin Immortal Lord, True Lord Yellow Dragon.
The Origin Immortal Lord had offered his life, but he had still been unable to seal this man.
“Many thanks, True Lord!” The Tianji Divine Lord was delighted to hear True Lord Yellow Dragon’s words.
The hierarchy of the Celestial God Organization was extremely strict. Immortals like the Goat, Deer, and Tiger Immortals were the lowest in the pecking order, and above them were Tianfu, Tianji, and the other six Star Lords of the Southern Dipper. There were many more ranks after that, but True Lord Yellow Dragon happened to belong to the very top echelon.
“How many people were lost to break me out?” True Lord Yellow Dragon said, his expression softening.
“In the previous stage, we lost three hundred and sixty-seven men, and six hundred experts sacrificed their lives to open the seal. In order to rescue True Lord, we lost around nine hundred men in total!” the Tianji Divine Lord respectfully said.
The mention of these nine-hundred-some experts lost caused neither the Tianji Divine Lord
nor True Lord Yellow Dragon to even crease a brow. It was as if these people who had died were just an insignificant statistic.
“Haha, good!”
True Lord Yellow Dragon squinted, a cold smile on his lips.
“Origin, you were famed for your flawless plans and your ability to peer into the past and future. You used more than one thousand years to scheme against me, but not even you could have imagined that I only needed nine-hundred-some people to easily break out of the sealing formation you put so much work into!”
Neither the men in black nor the Tianji Divine Lord dared to say anything in response to True Lord Yellow Dragon’s words.
The ‘Origin’ that True Lord Yellow Dragon spoke of had an even more illustrious name several thousand years ago: True Lord Origin! He had been one of the highest existences of the Celestial God Organization, possessing incomparable power when it came to destiny and the secrets of the heavens.
True Lord Yellow Dragon blinked and quickly regained his composure.
“How is that matter proceeding?” he asked, turning to the Tianji Divine Lord.
“Everything is ready! All that is needed is for True Lord to return!”
“Very good!”
His voice drifting in the air, True Lord Yellow Dragon vanished.
……
“Impossible! This can’t be! When did that brat get so formidable that not even they could get rid of him?!”
In the capital of the Great Tang, within the Eastern Palace, the First Prince was seated on a sandalwood armchair, his eyes wide with shock and disbelief.
When he received the news of the mission failure, he didn’t dare to believe his ears. In order to deal with Wang Chong, he had suppressed the City Guard and sent the Imperial Army to lock the area down. All of this had been for the sake of finally ridding himself of the problem of Wang Chong.
No one understood more than him just how formidable those people were. The more one interacted with and came to know them, the more respect one felt. Not even the First Prince dared to imagine what their true strength was.
But to the First Prince’s complete surprise, even they had failed! How could that be?
“Your Highness, we’ve already confirmed the report. The King of Foreign Lands Residence has been badly damaged, with half of the estate in ruins, but the King of Foreign Lands is not dead. However… many corpses were found in the King of Foreign Lands Residence!” Meng Tu reported. He had been the go-between for this matter, and he had been the one to send scouts in the day to probe the estate’s weaknesses. Although he had also hoped to see the problem of Wang Chong taken care of, there was no disputing the mission’s failure.
“Bastard!”
The First Prince gnashed his teeth in fury.
“Your Highness, your tea!”
At this moment, a maid walked in with a tray. It was clear that she had no idea what was going on in the Eastern Palace as she walked up to the First Prince.
The First Prince enjoyed tea, and for many years now, he had a custom of drinking Golden-threaded Dragon Sparrow Tea, which had come as tribute from Siam, during the Chen Period (7-9am) and Xu Period (7-9pm) each day.
But to the maid’s surprise, when she offered up the tea, all she got was a resounding slap to the face.
Bang!
The fierce slap sent the maid flying like a ragdoll, the tray she carried also exploding into debris that covered the floor.
“This is absurd! Absolutely absurd! This prince is of imperial blood, the son of the Celestial Emperor, and the regent of the Great Tang! Must I suffer a mere subject?”
The First Prince’s voice echoed off the walls, his face twisted into a savage visage.
It was clear that the successive failures had pushed the First Prince’s rage to the absolute limit. The advisors in the hall, Meng Tu and Zhu Tong’en included, all trembled in fear, not even daring to breathe too loudly.
No one could accept failure, let alone the future Crown Prince. But they had failed to deal with Wang Chong again and again. From a certain perspective, this was evidence of their incompetence.
“Your Highness, why so anxious?”
While everyone was fearful and uneasy, a relaxed and leisurely voice came from the side, accompanied by the sound of tea being poured into a cup.
Everyone’s faces froze. The plan had failed and Wang Chong was alive. At a time like this, there was still someone who wanted to provoke the First Prince?
“Bastard…”
As expected, the First Prince gnashed his teeth, his eyes turning and glowing with murder. He glared in the direction of the voice like a beast seeking its prey.
Chapter 1699 - The Setting Sun Villa Incident!
Chapter 1699: The Setting Sun Villa Incident!
When the First Prince saw the man who had spoken, his face froze, and all his killing intent vanished.
“Ghost King? What do you mean by that?” the First Prince suddenly asked with deep displeasure in his voice, creasing his brow.
In the Eastern Palace faction, the only one who dared to speak to the First Prince in such a way and was tolerated by him was the Ghost King.
But no matter how tolerant the First Prince was of the Ghost King, such improper words left him extremely unhappy. Moreover, at this crucial moment, the man was casually lying on a sofa and drinking tea.
“He’s just a man. No matter how strong he is, he’s still just a rash brute. Did Your Highness plan for so long just to deal with a single King of Foreign Lands?”
Hou Junji chuckled as he took his tea and lightly blew away the bubbles on its surface, his expression carefree and relaxed.
“You!”
The First Prince’s mouth opened on instinct, but he quickly realized something, and he became powerless to speak.
It was true! He had certainly planned for so long simply over a struggle with Wang Chong. He was vying for the supreme throne of the realm, to become the greatest sovereign of the continent.
“Has Your Highness understood?”
Seeing that the First Prince had calmed down, Hou Junji smiled. Although he was leisurely drinking tea and not even looking at the First Prince, nothing in this hall could escape his eyes.
“Ghost King, just what is it that you want to say?” the First Prince asked, though his expression was no longer so fraught with concern.
“If you seek to seize the world, you cannot focus on success or failure in a single corner. That Wang Chong truly is an obstruction, but not to the point where he can stop the overarching scheme. I have already planned everything out,” Hou Junji indifferently said. He put down his tea cup and lightly rapped against the table, his body exuding a natural confidence and charisma.
Buzz!
The Eastern Palace fell silent. Zhu Tong’en, Meng Tu, and all the other advisors stared at the Ghost King in speechless shock.
Hou Junji’s words carried an implied meaning. This operation had unquestionably been a failure, but the Ghost King seemed to be saying that he had already foreseen this and made arrangements while the rest of them had been unaware.
“Ghost King, you mean…”
“Heh, there’s no need for Your Highness to be in a rush. Your Highness will naturally know when the time comes.”
Hou Junji smiled.
Everyone in the hall turned pensive.
Bong!
In the middle of the silence, the clear ringing of a bell came from the distance. It was an extremely strange sound, different from any other sort of bell, gong, or chime within the palace. It was like a mix between the cry of a dragon and a phoenix, tinged with the hiss of a beast.
The advisors exchanged glances. It was forbidden to intentionally cause a ruckus within the holy ground of the Imperial Palace, and offenders would normally be executed. Moreover, none of them had ever heard this bell before.
The sound of that bell seemed to be coming from Taji Palace, the residence of the Sage Emperor…
While many of the people in the Eastern
Palace didn’t understand what this bell signified, two people had entirely different expressions. When the bell resounded, the First Prince and Hou Junji both began to listen.
Once!
Twice!
Thrice!
That lingering bell resounded three times, and then its echoes faded into nothingness.
“Hahaha…”
The First Prince appeared to hear something from the last ring. His eyes brightly shone, and he burst into laughter, frightening all the other advisors.
“Heh, Your Highness, we no longer need to worry about the King of Foreign Lands. Everything was ready except the east wind, and now, even the east wind is here!”
Hou Junji smiled. Flipping his wrist over, he revealed a black chess piece held between his index and middle fingers. Pa! He flicked the black piece out, and it struck the surface of a nearby chessboard.
This chessboard was covered with crisscrossing black pieces. The situation on the board seemed dangerous, but it appeared to be missing something. But when the last black piece landed, the final weakness was filled.
Truly, the ringing of the bell set the final tone!
……
Three days later, Wang Chong was still resting in his residence. Many craftsmen and artisans had been summoned and were in the middle of repairing the damage done by the Tianfu Divine Lord and the men in black. At this time, surprising news came from the northern region of the Great Tang, shocking the entire empire.
All the border generals in the north, including the generals of the Beiting Protectorate, some of the generals from Qixi, and the titled generals east of Youzhou, a total of more than one hundred top-class generals of the Tang Empire, suddenly left their posts without any order from the Imperial Court or the Bureau of Military Personnel, and held a secret meeting at Setting Sun Villa in the northern region of the Great Tang.
When the matter leaked, it set off great waves in the court. The enraged First Prince sent off ten decrees in a row, ordering that all the generals who had taken part in the Setting Sun Villa meeting be seized. Moreover, Beiting Protector-General An Sishun, as the highest commander of the northern border, with Setting Sun Villa right under his eyes, was also deeply involved. The First Prince had already had him removed from his post until further investigation.