The chief pressed on the flanks of his horse and led his men in the direction of the Caspian Sea.
“Follow them!”
Deep underground, Wang Chong took the faceless man and pursued the Kailong, swiftly heading in the direction of the Caspian Sea.
It was easier for them with the Kailong leading the way.
……
As they advanced, the air grew colder and colder. After ten-some li, the temperature had dropped to zero, and the ground was covered in a thin sheet of white frost. This sheet thickened the closer they got to the Caspian Sea, and the temperature dropped even more.
The Kailong had turned somber, having long since ceased to be in a joking mood. They pressed their bodies against their horses, trying to borrow the heat from their horses to resist the cold.
After another hour of travel, the ice was a finger’s length thick, and spread out over the land like a thick carpet. The scent of salt hung heavily in the air.
The scene on the horizon also began to finally change.
Towering pavilions and palaces began to appear in the distance, powerful energies gathered within them.
Wang Chong stuck his head out of the ground and looked around. He could see men in black everywhere, at least three hundred.
The faceless man began to speak in his wooden voice. “This is the perimeter of the teleportation gate. There are at least seventy Saint Martial realm experts in these men in black, and ten-some at the Great General level. There are three leaders in this group, calling themselves the Sky Official, the Earth Official, and the Water Official. They are stationed here permanently and keep a vigilant watch on their surroundings.
“I estimate that these three leaders are at the peak of the Subtle realm, their strength at least on par with the Tianfu Divine Lord. But these people belong to a different faction, and though I’ve never seen them fight, I sense that they should have some special ability!”
Wang Chong slightly frowned.
He had not seen these three officials the faceless man had spoken of, but he could feel three massive vortices of energy in the region ahead, exerting a powerful pressure on the entire area.
The stronger one’s Psychic Energy, the stronger one’s senses. As for those who were too weak, like the Kailong, they couldn’t sense anything at all.
This is problematic. These three leaders are all Psychic Energy experts, and the range of their Psychic Energy is huge. It won’t be easy to escape their senses! Wang Chong quietly said to himself.
These three black-robed leaders were clearly responsible for guarding the perimeter, with Firmament Supreme holding the interior.
If he made too much of a ruckus, he could end up alarming them, or even draw out Firmament Supreme.
Through his Psychic Energy, Wang Chong could also sense that there was some place in the region in front of him that was unleashing powerful ripples of energy through the earth. These ripples seemed to even be able to significantly hinder Divine Embryo 1’s Earth Movement technique.
A formation!
Wang Chong’s heart sank in realization.
The defenses placed around the teleportation gate by the men in black were far more formidable than he had imagined. Not only had they gathered several hundred experts, along with three peak Subtle realm experts in the Sky, Earth, and Water Officials, they had also laid down a powerful sealing formation.
These people had not sent down these measures to specifically target him, but were probably doing all this purely out of caution. After all, someone at the Grotto Heaven realm could simply use their control of spacetime to directly enter.
But these formations were unquestionably effective against movement techniques like his.
At the very least, it made it impossible for Wang Chong to travel into the interior through the ground.
Wang Chong’s brow furrowed.
Gallop!
As he was thinking, the Kailong, who had spotted their destination, urged their horses into an even faster gallop as they rode toward the men in black.
More cries could be heard in other directions as the nomadic tribes converged.
Tens of thousands of nomadic horsemen had gathered on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
Almost all the nomadic tribes of the northern region had been summoned by the men in black.
Whoosh!
In the center of these nomadic tribes, a massive banner, thirty-some meters tall, had been thrust into the ground. On this banner was a silver crescent moon, somewhat similar to the war banner of the Arabian Empire.
A dark cloud of worry passed over Wang Chong’s brow as he looked at this banner.
It was his first time seeing this crescent moon banner, but he was not unfamiliar with it. The most recent letters from Gao Xianzhi and An Sishun had mentioned this banner many times.
New rebellions had begun to stir in the various provinces of the Arabian Empire. These rebels declared that as Mutasim III and the original Arab imperial household had surrendered to the Great Tang, they had lost the legitimacy to rule over the Arabian Empire.
The rebels wanted to topple both the Great Tang and the house of Mutasim to establish a new Arabian Empire!
So this was all their doing!
Wang Chong’s eyes narrowed as they gleamed with killing intent.
Tens of thousands of nomadic horsemen had gathered at the shores of the Caspian Sea, but this provided the perfect chance for Wang Chong and the faceless man to infiltrate their ranks.
After some time, Wang Chong found a chance. He dragged two nomadic warriors at the very edge of the group into the ground, changed into their clothes, and returned to the surface.
The divine embryos were blank slates with no fixed features. They could transform into anyone, Wang Chong or these nomadic warriors.
The two of them drew no attention as they mixed into the crowd and proceeded forward.
This base of the men in black was heavily guarded, and there was a clear division between the areas in which the men in black operated and in which nomadic tribes like the Kailong operated.
As Wang Chong and the faceless man walked over to the massive crescent moon banner, they were stopped by two men in black before they could get close.
“Stop! Is this a place you’re allowed to approach? Get back!”
“The men in black are extremely cautious, and infiltration will be very difficult,” the faceless man whispered, his voice still cold and emotionless. “Moreover, I previously ambushed some of the men in black, probably only increasing their vigilance and making the task even harder.”
“Relax! They can’t guard against me!”
Wang Chong smiled, dropped his head, and left with the faceless man, not causing a stir.
As time passed and darkness descended, the noisy tribal warriors settled down.
Wang Chong and the faceless man looked around and then headed for the banner once more.
“Stop–” The men in black guarding this area spotted the pair, but before they could finish speaking, several massive streams of Psychic Energy slammed into their minds, causing their bodies to shiver and their eyes to go slack.
“Let’s go.”
Wang Chong controlled these men in black and proceeded farther inside, drawing no attention.
At Wang Chong’s current level of strength, it was far too easy to control these men in black without drawing attention.
Wang Chong silently entered one of the pavilions with these men in black, then he killed them and changed into their clothes.
“The men in black are not familiar with the others in their own organization. Now that we’re in, things get much easier,” the faceless man said.
“Master, we can now move freely!”
The faceless man took a token from their bodies, quickly altered his aura, and walked out of the room.
Creeeak!
The door opened, letting in a gust of icy wind. A man in black appeared at the door, staring at the faceless man in shock.
The faceless ma
n did not panic, speaking in a voice of cold rebuke.
“What are you looking at?! Are you allowed to come here?”
The man in black was just about to question the faceless man, but the faceless man’s unyielding and harsh attitude immediately cowed him.
“But the lord ordered me…”
The man in black wanted to argue, but before he could finish, the faceless man cut him off.
“Bastard thing! Are you defying an order?”
The faceless man’s voice chilled as he turned his hand over, a black Flame of Mara erupting from his palm. At the same time, the faceless man leaked out some of his peak Saint Martial energy, the massive pressure frightening the man in black so badly that he hastily lowered his head, his legs shaking in fear.
Chapter 2067 - The Officials of Sky, Earth, and Water!
Chapter 2067: The Officials of Sky, Earth, and Water!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Milord, this subordinate would not dare!”
The man in black became even more panicked.
The men in black had a strict internal hierarchy. He knew that there were at least seventy powerful Saint Martial realm experts in this region, and the man before him was clearly one of them. These venerable ones held power over life and death, and provoking them would mean instant death.
No one in the organization would even care that he had died.
With one move, the faceless man had suppressed the man in black, his voice remaining cold and emotionless.
“Starting from now, this place is my rest area. Guard this place for me! Nobody is permitted inside!” the faceless man sternly said, and then with a sweep of his sleeve, he stepped over the threshold and left.
Watching from the back, Wang Chong was at first startled, and then he chuckled.
The faceless man had spent years pursuing these men in black, interacting with them, so no one was more experienced than him when it came to dealing with them.
Wang Chong silently followed the faceless man from the pavilion.
The night was dark, the cold intensifying.
Men in black warily patrolled the area, with several dozen of them brushing past Wang Chong.
These people suspiciously examined Wang Chong and the faceless man before quickly moving on to other areas.
The men in black covered an extremely large region, with a span of nearly one thousand meters. Each place had a sentry post, and the power of the formation covered the entirety of the region. Besides that, the Subtle realm Psychic Energies of the Sky, Earth, and Water Officials made the place completely impervious.
They could pick out any intruders on the perimeter, but they seemed blind to ‘men in black’ like Wang Chong and the faceless man.
“In another several dozen meters, we’ll be in the interior! There’s no one between the perimeter and interior, but this only makes it harder to infiltrate. Anyone who enters this region will be immediately discovered, like a spot of ink on a white sheet of paper.”
The faceless man led the way as he communicated with Wang Chong through Psychic Energy.
He had once attempted to infiltrate the interior, but after multiple failures, he was forced to give up.
Firmament Supreme was simply too terrifying. Recklessly venturing inside was the same as suicide.
Every time the faceless man tried, he was almost suffocated by danger.
This sensation forced him to change his plan, and it was precisely this wise decision that allowed the faceless man to return to Wang Chong alive.
Wang Chong said nothing. He could not determine Firmament Supreme’s strength, but if Firmament Supreme was really as strong as Genesis Supreme, his only choice was to return to his estate.
“There’s no rush. Let’s take a look first,” Wang Chong said.
Everything depended on one’s own efforts, and there was no wall in the world that was impervious. He did not believe that the defenses of the men in black were this tight.
And if they really were discovered, Divine Embryo 1 was wholly capable of escaping.
“…Did you hear? Apparently, Venerable Firmament Supreme’s teleportation gate will be done in just another four days,” someone softly whispered from beneath an eave, their voice traveling through the darkness.
Buzz!
Wang Chong and the faceless man trembled in shock, stopping and turning in the direction of the voice.
On this long and cold night in this barren land, someone finally could not stand the loneliness and began to talk.
The men in black had all sorts amongst their ranks: Turks, Xi, Khitans, Mengshe Zhao… They mostly regarded each other as strangers, but the two conversing were clearly exceptions.
“Who did you hear it from?” another voice asked.
“When I went to report to the Sky Official, I overheard him speaking to Black Water.”
The first speaker had clearly not noticed Wang Chong and the faceless man, and continued to talk.
“I hear that our greatest foe in the eastern world is finally dead, and there’s nothing left for us to fear, nothing left that can oppose Heaven. We’ve already found a Child of the World in the east, so all that’s left is to set up the six bases and progress with the plan!”
The mention of the six bases made Wang Chong’s pupils constrict and his heart sink.
“So, those above are still preparing to destroy this world?” the second voice fearfully said.
“Shush! That’s not something you or I should be worried about. With the great calamity imminent, it’s already good enough that people like you and me can survive through it,” the first voice said, a tremble of fear in his voice.
“I really don’t want to stay here. Once the teleportation gate is set up, will we be allowed to leave?”
The two of them continued their whispered conversation, but the contents turned to the irrelevant. Wang Chong stopped listening and silently departed with the faceless man.
Turning a corner and finding a deserted nook, the two of them stopped.
“Master, what do we do now?”
The faceless man turned to Wang Chong.
This place was far from the Central Plains, so the men in black were much less afraid and would inadvertently leak information.
They probably assumed that even if someone overheard them, it wouldn’t have much effect. After all, outsiders basically couldn’t understand what they were talking about.
The conversation just now indicated that the time left for the two of them was short.
Once the teleportation gate was complete, it would be even harder to destroy.
Moreover, these people also had plans to attack An Sishun and Gao Xianzhi in Baghdad.
As the Supreme Marshal of the Great Tang, Wang Chong could not sit on the sidelines.
Wang Chong’s brow creased as countless thoughts passed through his mind.
Firmament Supreme was too much of a threat!
He had intended to first take stock of the situation before acting, but now, it seemed that he had to do something.
All kinds of ideas flitted through his mind.
Wang Chong’s eyes swiftly locked onto the place where the energies of the Sky, Earth, and Water Officials had gathered.
These three were powerful and were the guardians of the teleportation gate’s perimeter. But Wang Chong also felt that they were guarding something else.
To ruin their plans, I have to start with the three of them!
With this thought in mind, Wang Chong suddenly had an idea.
“Stay here. I’ll go over and look.”
Wang Chong used the Greater Void Step and swiftly headed toward the three officials.
The Greater Void Step was an art used by the men in black, so there was nothing strange about using it here.
Wang Chong swiftly approached the area without drawing any suspicion.
A few moments later, the massive palace of dark gold appeared in Wang Chong’s vision.
The palace was built in a classical western style, with large stone pillars, but the roof was Chinese, featuring flying eaves and bracketed arches. It all seemed indescribably bizarre.
Wang Chong sensed that those three storms of energy resided in this palace.
A voice rang out at this moment. “…These savages stink, their bodies covered in filth. Truly no different from wild beasts. The three lordships summoned them, but they dared to resist. They don’t know the difference between life and death!”
Wang Chong turned to the source of the voice and saw several men in black walking side by side toward that golden palace.
“Hmph, they’re nothing but ants. If they weren’t a tiny bit useful, we would have made them disappear a long time ago,” another man in black said.
“Let them live for a little longer. In any case, they’ll die like the rest once the plan begins.”
“Hush! The leaders are cultivating inside. Softer!” One of the men in black shushed the others, upon which the other men in black immediately shut their mouths.
“We’re here. Hurry and report to the leaders!”
The group soon arrived in the palace. They paused as one of them pushed open the doors.
Creeeak!
There was a piercing creak as the golden doors opened to reveal the inside.
The hall was brightly lit, and Wang Chong could see three majestic figures wearing golden robes seated cross-legged on the ground.
Dazzling halos radiated from their feet, slightly trembling and making the trio appear as gods.
Most uniquely, they wore red official hats upon which the words ‘Sky’, ‘Earth’, and ‘Water’ were written in ancient script.
Very strong!
Wang Chong’s eyes narrowed, and he instantly sensed danger.
He sensed that the Sky, Earth, and Water Officials were extremely powerful, and not merely in terms of pure strength. They seemed to possess secret techniques.
Not only that, in this brief glance, Wang Chong was able to sense that while the three of them possessed different kinds of energy, they had a special connection, similar to the one shared between his three divine embryos.
These three are too strong. They can’t be allowed to stick together!
A thought flashed through Wang Chong’s mind.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 1250