The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  But the dancing girls were merely the trigger. Just like how a firework no longer needed the initial length of fuse once it had been lit, he did not require them for the rest of the process.

  Even if Wang Chong killed off all the dancing girls, he would accomplish nothing.

  “Have a taste of my attack!”

  An Yaluoshan heartily laughed.

  But he chose to speak in a foreign language. An Yaluoshan was well aware that very few people in the court knew how to speak foreign languages, and the Sage Emperor was not amongst them. Even the vast majority of civil officials would probably not be able to hear what he was saying in the midst of the chaotic battle.

  But An Yaluoshan just needed Wang Chong to understand, because he was sure that Wang Chong had a mastery of foreign languages!

  Bang!

  An Yaluoshan narrowly dodged one of Wang Chong’s attacks, and then he slashed with his knife at Wang Chong, his attack carrying the howling of wind and rumbling of thunder.

  At the same time, spiritual energy gathered around An Yaluoshan from the mountains and rivers, fusing with his Stellar Energy and rumbling toward Wang Chong.

  “Wonderful!”

  An Yaluoshan was elated at the sensation. This was an evolution created by reaching a certain concentration of Dragon Qi.

  As he gained more Dragon Qi, he could extract more and more energy from the Central Plains to strengthen himself.

  Cui Qianyou, Tian Chengsi, Gao Shang, and Yan Zhuang were all ecstatic.

  Steal the sky and put up a sham sun! It’s settled! Your Excellency, no one can stop us now!

  Gao Shang quietly sat in his seat, a fierce glint in his eyes.

  Bang!

  If one looked down from the heavens, one could see sixteen beams of energy rising from the distant Youzhou. To the south, sixteen more beams of energy rose into the firmament. These all represented the plans Gao Shang had laid in the Central Plains.

  These beams of energy resonated with lights in the capital.

  In every part of the city, countless lights flashed in the darkness like stars, forming a giant formation. And the center of this formation was An Yaluoshan in the Pavilion of Petal and Sepal.

  The Big Dipper Black Dragon Heaven Swallowing Art!

  This was the formation Gao Shang and the Youzhou group had gone to great lengths to set up, one that allowed them to drain Dragon Qi.

  The pillars of energy in Youzhou were meant to strengthen the earth veins of Youzhou and An Yaluoshan’s destiny. The pillars of energy in the southwest were intended to bind the true dragon. But the most crucial of all were the several dozen boxes Gao Shang had transported into the capital. Some of these boxes were in residences, some were in inns, others at stores, and some were in government offices!

  Each location was guarded by Youzhou soldiers and experts, and these boxes formed a formation intended to imprison the dragon.

  This formation, combined with the formations in the southwest and Youzhou, created the Big Dipper Black Dragon Heaven Swallowing Formation!

  In divination and geomancy, the five-clawed true dragon represented tradition, and it was superior even to the golden dragon. Meanwhile, the black dragon was the traitor of dragons, the rebel. It represented the changing of dynasties, the ‘future true dragon’ that would overturn the current dynasty.

  The black dragon could only replace the current dynasty if it swallowed its Dragon Qi so that it could evolve into a true dragon and rule over the realm!

  And at this moment, the black dragon represented An Yaluoshan!

  Some of the Dragon Qi poured into An Yaluoshan’s body, and another part was drawn to Youzhou to strengthen its earth veins so that it could become the dragon’s den.

  Such scale and daring represented the masterstroke of Gao Shang and An Yaluoshan.

  These formations were precisely why Gao Shang dared to say that Wang Chong could not stop them!

  A formation on such a grandiose scale was not something that Wang Chong could destroy by himself.

  Bang!

  One wave of Dragon Qi after another surged down into An Yaluoshan’s body, and he felt invincible and unstoppable.

  And with so many officials around, even though Wang Chong had realized what was going on, he couldn’t stop it. This made An Yaluoshan feel a unique sense of excitement and joy.

  The entire court of the Central Plains was here, but all of them were playthings in An Yaluoshan’s hand!

  But suddenly, without any warning, An Yaluoshan sensed the earth swaying, and that furious waterfall of Dragon Qi shuddered and then began to dwindle away, like someone had intercepted it at the source. And An Yaluoshan could see the Dragon Qi above him also beginning to fall into chaos.

  But this was not the end. Boom! There was another intense tremor, and An Yaluoshan suddenly felt his ‘power level’ weakening, becoming disobedient and unruly as if it was being disrupted.

  “What’s going on here?”

  An Yaluoshan paled in shock, as did his farsighted strategist seated in the back, Gao Shang.

  The theft of Dragon Qi was extremely important to Gao Shang. Thus, for this entire feast, he had kept his right hand under the table and in his sleeve, where it was constantly performing divinations.

  As An Yaluoshan’s Dragon Qi shuddered and greatly weakened, Gao Shang’s index finger trembled as if someone had flicked it.

  After a calculation, Gao Shang was stricken with shock, and his mind seethed in turmoil.

  The Big Dipper Black Dragon Heaven Swallowing Formation! How? Someone broke the formation!

  “Surprised?”

  As An Yaluoshan and Gao Shang were both overcome with shock, they heard a voice. An Yaluoshan trembled and raised his head, immediately noticing Wang Chong’s cold eyes.

  “You still wanted to pull a trick in the capital with me here? Did you really think I didn’t know about those boxes you brought into the capital?”

  Stellar Energy rumbled and winds howled, but Wang Chong’s cold voice seemed to overcome it all to clearly ring out in An Yaluoshan’s ears.

  But what alarmed An Yaluoshan even more was Wang Chong’s words.

  He and Gao Shang had arranged for the transport of the several dozen boxes into the capital, and they were an extremely vital part of this operation.

  How could this be? There are nearly one million people in the capital, and with so many foreign emissaries coming in, how could he find them in just three days!?

  All of his smugness and joy disappeared, and An Yaluoshan stared, wide-eyed in disbelief, at Wang Chong.

  In order to guarantee success, he and Gao Shang had been extremely careful. Some of the boxes had come in with them from the eastern gate, some from the southern gate, and some of them had even arrived in the capital before them.

  In order to make them less obvious, An Yaluoshan and Gao Shang had also recruited many merchants from the Western Regions, the Turks, Mengshe Zhao, Goguryeo, and even from west of the Cong Mountains. All of this was done to avoid Wang Chong’s attention.

  And for the days of the celebration, An Yaluoshan had been cautious, constantly changing the location of his men. Each box had been moved at least three times to avoid being tracked down. It was one thing if the capital had been a small place, but nearly one million people lived here. Coupled with the frequent shifts and the communication blackout between all the different parties, there were no clues to be tracked. How had Wang Chong managed to find them?!

  An Yaluoshan finally lost all his composure and confidence.

  Wang Chong sneered. No matter what An Yaluoshan was planning or how wise Gao Shang was, did they really think he would play cat and mouse with them?

  Wang Chong truly did not know the exact locations, but he simply needed to know that the boxes existed. He had the immense resources of the Bureau of Military Personnel, together with the city guard, his own spy teams, and the numerous hedonistic scions that wandered the city.

  Even if the capital had one million
inhabitants, finding several dozen suspicious locations in this period of time was not at all difficult!

  In the end, An Yaluoshan and Gao Shang had gotten too conceited!

  ……

  Deep in the night, as Wang Chong and An Yaluoshan were speaking, a residence in the western part of the city was brightly lit.

  Ten-some muscular men stood in a circle, warily observing their surroundings. Though they all wore different clothes and seemed just like any other commoner of the capital, if one looked carefully, one could see a few traits of the inhabitants of Youzhou on their bodies.

  Swish!

  Suddenly, there was a sharp whistle, and a sharp arrow punched through a box and pierced the heart of a Youzhou soldier.

  The man dropped to the ground without even a moan.

  “Careful!”

  The Youzhou soldiers paled in shock.

  Clangclangclang! The ten-some soldiers took out their swords and swiftly took up defensive positions.

  Right after they finished, they were barraged by a rain of arrows.

  Swooshswooshswoosh!

  Three or four soldiers were swiftly cut down by the arrows.

  Chapter 2008 - Silent Killing!

  Chapter 2008: Silent Killing!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  The remaining Youzhou soldiers immediately displayed extraordinary strength. Dingdingdang! The swords moved here and there, eventually succeeding in blocking all the arrows.

  A few soldiers were struck by arrows, but these were in nonlethal areas.

  This display was enough to see that these were all elites of the elite, possessing incredible talent.

  But before they could catch their breath, the rumbling of hooves mixed with murderous cries began to approach them with thunderous speed.

  “This is the place! Surround it!”

  “Don’t let a single one escape!”

  “Traitorous scoundrels, our lord has ordered that all of you be killed first and questions asked later!”

  The horses moved quickly, and they soon surrounded this place. Before the Youzhou soldiers could react, the main gate flew open.

  Numerous City Guard soldiers carrying torches, joined by experts dressed in casual clothing, rushed at the ten-some Youzhou soldiers.

  “Aaaah!”

  Even though these Youzhou soldiers were the best of the best, they were instantly slain by their far more numerous foes.

  Swish!

  The leading City Guard officer dismounted, squatted down, and tore away the robes of one of the men.

  Violet-black armor!

  “These people are all Youzhou soldiers! It’s confirmed!”

  The officer nodded and kicked the Youzhou soldier’s body to the side, then he swiftly walked forward.

  These Youzhou soldiers had been surrounding a small altar.

  The altar was about three paces wide and two feet tall. A black banner had been placed at the top, and a black jade token had been embedded in it.

  The black jade token was clearly a part of some massive jade plate that was used as the eye of a formation. It resonated with the other pieces to create an even larger formation.

  Clang!

  The officer took out his saber and cut down the black banner, then he reached out and took the black jade token, his movements swift and resolute.

  “Let’s go! We still have other work to do! Don’t let our brothers make fools of us! Our lord is still waiting!”

  After cutting down the banner and crushing the jade token, the officer immediately led his soldiers away, not even glancing at the bodies.

  For this operation, all of them knew the orders of the King of Foreign Lands!

  That lord did not lightly seek the help of the City Guard, and when they received that order, all the City Guard soldiers felt smothered. None of them wished to disappoint that lord.

  And anything that could draw that lord’s attention and make him give specific orders was no minor matter.

  Whoosh! All of them vanished in the blink of an eye.

  In all parts of the city, the City Guard began to move out into homes and stores and inns that seemed to already be closed.

  These savage soldiers worked with Wang Chong’s subordinates to rush inside and kill all the Youzhou soldiers within.

  All the mysterious altars, their banners, and black jades were destroyed, and the sounds of fighting and screaming were endless. But none of this drew any attention, as the common people were far too immersed in the festivities of the feast of all countries.

  In the center of the capital, an armored figure stood on a courtyard wall. This was Beacon General Jiang Yunrang.

  Jiang Yunrang had followed Tian Chengsi out, but when he discovered that Tian Chengsi had gone back, he did not return to the Pavilion of Petal and Sepal. Instead, he exited the palace.

  After three bells, officials were no longer allowed to enter, but they were free to exit. When he reached his destination, he began to command the City Guard in this operation.

  Fireworks burst out over the capital, and all was noisy and lively. But the darkness was restless and uneasy, stained with the stench of blood. Unseen by bystanders, a battle was taking place.

  Jiang Yunrang looked around at the rows of buildings. At set intervals, master archers had been stationed on the roofs, warily watching their surroundings. There were several thousand master archers deployed in this endeavor, covering almost the entire capital.

  Their sharp eyes kept a close watch on their surroundings.

  The volleys of arrows that preceded the assault of the City Guard were unleashed by them!

  Wang Chong alone would not have been capable of such a large-scale mobilization. He had required the cooperation of the King Song Residence and the City Guard.

  Today, the entire capital was under Wang Chong’s control.

  Jiang Yunrang turned to the Pavilion of Petal and Sepal and muttered, “King of Foreign Lands, this old man might not know what you’re trying to do or what’s going on that requires you to mobilize such a large force, but if you give the order, I will execute it without hesitation. I trust that you have your reasons, ones that will not disappoint us!

  “Although you will not say them, regardless of what you want to do, do it confidently!”

  Pa! Jiang Yunrang closed his hand, and a black jade covered in dragon carvings that had been seized from a courtyard was obliterated.

  As this black jade was destroyed, that waterfall of Dragon Qi descending toward the Pavilion of Petal and Sepal rippled.

  “Impossible! I refuse to believe it! No!”

  In the Pavilion of Petal and Sepal, An Yaluoshan sensed the turmoil and the flow of Dragon Qi dwindling. He was enraged and stunned to the extreme.

  At the start, the Dragon Qi had been flowing into him like a great river, but in just a few short moments, it had dwindled to a tiny stream, not even one-tenth of what he had been absorbing before. This was something that An Yaluoshan had never imagined.

  “Damn! What’s going on?!”

  At the outer edge of the hall, Tian Chengsi turned his head to Gao Shang.

  “Thirty-four locations! At least thirty-four locations have been destroyed!”

  Gao Shang’s face was ghastly white.

  He had been the one to plan out this entire operation. He knew that Wang Chong had to have destroyed at least thirty-four points to achieve this effect, but how could that be?

  Gao Shang looked at that youthful figure flickering in and out of the battle like he was staring at a ghost.

  Gao Shang had believed that as he was in the shadows for this contest, he had some advantage. With the nearly one million inhabitants of the capital providing cover for him, he had believed that he would never be exposed so quickly, but Wang Chong had surpassed his expectations.

  “I’ll go at once!”

  Cui Qianyou thought for a few moments, then he got to his feet and began to make for the door. Although the ga
tes of the Imperial Palace were closed, the attendees were still allowed to leave.

  But Cui Qianyou had only just stood up when Yan Zhuang pulled him back.

  He looked up at Cui Qianyou and shook his head.

  “It’s too late. Given that man’s style, if those thirty-four locations have been found, he’s naturally found the rest. It’s too late to go now. None of them will be able to escape!”

  Yan Zhuang’s words made everyone’s hearts sink.

  Before coming to the capital, he and Gao Shang had carefully studied Wang Chong’s file. Wang Chong was someone who planned first before making his move. The moment he struck, it was with a fatal blow that would leave no chance for survival.

  When he had been just sixteen, he had audaciously killed their lord’s sworn brother, Ashina Sugan, while Zhang Shougui had been present. This was enough to see what his style was. All of the men they had brought into the city were already dead!

  “Moreover, just look. You really think King Song and Zhangchou Jianqiong will let you go?” Yan Zhuang said.

  Cui Qianyou glanced over and saw two intimidating and dazzling pairs of eyes staring at him, and his heart sank.

  “Then what do we do?” Cui Qianyou anxiously said as he looked around.

  “There’s no rush. There will be a chance.”

  Gao Shang lowered his head and began to think.

  The four of them were seated close to each other, and they spoke entirely in rapid foreign tongue while also keeping their words vague.

  “In another fifteen minutes, we can leave!” Gao Shang said.

  It was no longer possible to drain a large amount of Dragon Qi, but the King of Foreign Lands was still underestimating them. The Big Dipper Black Dragon Heaven Swallowing Formation concentrated the natural power of the Central Plains and encompassed more than half of the realm. The capital contained only one part of the formation, and it was impossible to destroy the entire formation by destroying only one part.

  This could be seen from how An Yaluoshan was still absorbing Dragon Qi.

  Moreover, a dike of one thousand li could be collapsed by a single ant hole. Their actions had not been completely without effect. A small gap had already been pried open in the dragon vein of the Central Plains Dragon Qi. It would only be a little longer until the small gape became the ‘ant hole’ that would cause the massive behemoth of the Tang Empire to begin to crumble and wane.