The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  The first layer was projected, then the second, the third…

  After about five minutes, the Celestial Palace was fully projected into the Myriad Forms World.

  No—this was no mere projection, but a complete reconstruction that was simply on a smaller scale.

  If he had access to the same materials, Wang Chong would have even been able to actually build one.

  The level of detail in the Myriad Forms World truly had Wang Chong sighing in praise.

  “Projection complete. User may perform operations on the projection in the Myriad Forms World. In addition, the most important function of the Myriad Forms Dimension is to assist the user. As everything is a projection that has been fused with the user’s will, the passage of time here will be slower than the speed at which the user can think. User can consider this an internal consciousness, a consciousness within a consciousness!” the Stone of Destiny’s voice rang out.

  “A consciousness within a consciousness. In other words, the flow of time within the Myriad Forms World is somewhat similar to the subconscious.”

  Chapter 2367 - Predicament! The Final Day!

  Chapter 2367: Predicament! The Final Day!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Wang Chong became pensive. He was not surprised by this special trait the Stone of Destiny spoke of. In another world, the concept of the subconscious was well-known. If the flow of time was similar to his subconscious, then he truly had a great deal of time, which would be of great assistance to him.

  Wang Chong quickly calmed down and turned his attention to the projection of the Celestial Palace.

  Time was short. Even with the Stone of Destiny’s help, he still didn’t have very much time.

  Time flew past, and the Celestial Emperor Palace remained quiet. And after his initial appearance, Heaven had not appeared again, but his attacks on Xuanyuan’s barrier had yet to stop.

  The furious deluge of attacks continued to weaken the barrier, and the mood in the Celestial Emperor Palace grew increasingly fraught with tension.

  Although they understood the principles of the Celestial Palace and the general direction in which to explore, they still made little progress.

  No matter how worried they were, there was nothing they could do. Destroying the Celestial Palace and defeating Heaven was far from easy. Even an ancient existence like Master Guangcheng was helpless, let alone anyone else.

  “We can only depend on him!”

  As he listened to the thunderous booms coming from outside as he stood by the door to the palace, Master Guangcheng glanced at Wang Chong.

  Little Grass had selected Wang Chong, but not even Master Guangcheng was sure if Wang Chong could do it.

  Little Grass, I hope you were right.

  Master Guangcheng internally sighed.

  Whoosh!

  A gust of wind swept over the square. Li Xuantu and Little Nightmare were also looking at Wang Chong. The fate of the entire world rested on his shoulders.

  ……

  As Master Guangcheng and the others looked at Wang Chong, a figure in the Great Tang Imperial Palace looked up at the sky.

  At the start, Heaven had concealed the Celestial Palace so that no one could detect it, but now, even ordinary mortals could see the enormous edifice of the Celestial Palace hanging above the capital.

  Heaven’s plan was entering its coda, and all of the capital was engulfed by the Celestial Palace’s power. At this stage, Heaven no longer needed to hide anything.

  The Celestial Palace floated above the capital like a sun, radiating blinding golden light, bringing with it an immense and suffocating pressure.

  Even if Heaven did nothing and simply let this giant Celestial Palace drop, the impact would be enough to annihilate half the capital.

  Even so, the capital was calm, not the slightest bit of panic in the air. This was because, excepting one person, all three million people of the capital were already under Heaven’s sway.

  The millions of people in the capital were in their homes or on the streets, all of them with their heads raised and eyes unfocused, like they were walking corpses.

  “Wang Chong, it’s all on you!” Li Heng pleaded as he looked up.

  The Imperial Palace was utterly silent, and it felt as if time had stopped.

  Ever since yesterday, Li Heng had not been served by any eunuchs or maids. Everyone, even the Dragon Guards, was looking up at that massive sphere in the sky, their expressions slack.

  In Taihe Palace, all of the officials stood motionless like statues.

  The entire empire had ground to a halt!

  Though Li Heng was worried, there was nothing he could do.

  As the Son of Heaven, he had the Dragon Qi protecting him from the Celestial Palace’s power, but this ability was of no help against the current situation.

  Li Heng sensed that an even greater disaster was about to fall.

  “…Destroy the Celestial Palace and defeat Heaven. No matter what, We will always believe in you!”

  ……

  Boom!

  A few moments later, the huge form of the Celestial Palace trembled again. Golden light rushed out of the bodies of the people on the ground, flowing upward like waterfalls in reverse and vanishing into the Celestial Palace.

  A moment later, an enormous energy that could make the world pale gushed out as quickly as lightning and slammed against Xuanyuan’s barrier, causing the ocean within it to seethe.

  “Hahaha, still struggling?”

  Loud laughter resounded over the ocean, penetrating the thunderclouds and bouncing off the walls of the Celestial Emperor Palace. There was a flash of light as a divine figure appeared.

  “Careful!”

  Li Xuantu and Master Guangcheng turned vigilant upon seeing Heaven, but as Heaven swept over them with his scornful gaze, he instantly laughed in disdain.

  “After one more day, this domain will be completely destroyed. Even if We let you go, one day later, Our operation will be complete. After absorbing the essence blood and blood energy of the three million people of the capital, the Celestial Palace will soar in power, and when the time comes, you will die all the same.

  “Master Guangcheng, you have truly disappointed Us. We believed that you truly did have some sort of solution, but it seems that Xuanyuan couldn’t solve this problem, and neither can you. In the end, all you have done is prolong your pitiful existence for a few more days.”

  Heaven’s eyes were cold, and he looked at the group like they were ants that he could stomp to death at any moment.

  “Bastard!”

  Li Xuantu clenched his hands, his face brimming with rage.

  “Heaven, you killed Little Grass! I’ll have your life!”

  Though Li Xuantu remained restrained, Little Nightmare grew agitated, its body lunging at Heaven.

  “Little Nightmare, no!”

  Master Guangcheng immediately tried to stop it, but it was too late. Here, he was just a mental brand, a projection that had no strength to speak of, so he naturally couldn’t stop anybody.

  “Beast, not knowing your own strength! You dare to act recklessly before Us!”

  Heaven’s expression chilled.

  “We may just be a projection, but destroying a beast like you is a simple task!”

  This was not Heaven’s avatar, but this projection was fundamentally different from Little Nightmare and Master Guangcheng.

  Master Guangcheng’s power was being blocked by the Celestial Palace, while Little Nightmare was a weak soul. But for Heaven, the Celestial Emperor Palace had originally been his. Even if this was just a projection, it could still be considered a weaker avatar, possessing considerable offensive power.

  Heaven’s palm descended, and as it seemed like Little Nightmare’s soul was about to be dispersed into oblivion, a cold voice called out.

  “Heaven, you don’t have this power!”

  Bang!

  A golden hand as huge as
a mountain, the veins on the palm clearly defined, flew out of the palace and obliterated Heaven’s avatar.

  “Wang Chong!”

  Everyone was delighted.

  At this moment, the robed figure of Wang Chong emerged from the palace.

  Upon seeing Wang Chong, the others felt relief wash over them.

  “Hmph, a pointless struggle!”

  Heaven’s voice rang out, and a gust of wind blew in from the outside world. In the blink of an eye, Heaven’s figure reemerged at the edge of the square, identical to the previous.

  Projections like this that did not require a part of the soul could be created as many times as Heaven wanted. No matter how many Wang Chong destroyed, Heaven would be entirely unaffected.

  “Heaven, don’t celebrate too early. The one who laughs last laughs best. It’s not yet the final moment, too early to discuss victory!” Wang Chong said to Heaven.

  “Is that so?”

  Heaven couldn’t help but chortle at this.

  “Then We will wait and see. There is still one more day left. We hope you will not disappoint Us!”

  Heaven spread apart his hands and coldly laughed. Outside the Celestial Emperor Palace, on the barrier Xuanyuan had created, countless buildings and people appeared. Everyone immediately realized that Heaven had projected the scenes of the capital onto Xuanyuan’s barrier.

  Though they were in the Celestial Emperor Palace, they were still able to see what was happening outside through the barrier.

  “Shameless!”

  Li Xuantu immediately understood Heaven’s intentions, anger erupting in his heart.

  They could see from this projection of the capital that the people of the capital were all under Heaven’s sway, their expressions slack and unfocused.

  Heaven was projecting these images to disturb and disrupt Wang Chong.

  Concern would stir up disarray. If Wang Chong could not completely calm himself, his efficiency would be greatly reduced.

  “I will give you one more day. After one day, the time of your death will arrive!”

  Heaven’s voice continued to echo, but his body disappeared from the Celestial Palace.

  Once Heaven was gone, everyone turned to Wang Chong.

  Li Xuantu raised a palm, and a barrier appeared over the group to prevent anyone from spying on them.

  Inside the Celestial Palace, there was no telling if their words might end up in Heaven’s ears.

  Master Guangcheng was the first to break the silence. “Wang Chong, any progress?”

  “None! I spent so much time, but I still haven’t found a way.”

  Wang Chong shook his head, his heart heavy.

  Though he had appeared confident and vigorous in front of Heaven, internally, Wang Chong didn’t feel the slightest bit of confidence.

  It was not easy to destroy this legendary divine tool.

  Moreover, things had developed very differently from what Wang Chong had imagined.

  Before setting out, Wang Chong had believed that he just needed to destroy the ritual tool’s core to destroy the ritual tool. But in reality, though the Celestial Palace had ten layers, the layers were fused together. In one was ten, and ten was one. Destroying the divine tool by destroying the core was purely a delusion.

  The mood in the hall instantly became heavy and oppressive.

  “There’s only one day left. Once this one day is over, we won’t get another chance, and the House of Li will become nothing more than history,” Li Xuantu suddenly muttered, an extremely unpleasant feeling in his heart.

  If all went as expected, he would be the last member of the House of Li. Though he had tried to remain aloof, deep down, he cared more about this matter than anyone else.

  Little Nightmare suddenly came forward and earnestly said, “Master, no matter what, I’ll always believe in you!”

  Chapter 2368 - The Barrier Is Destroyed!

  Chapter 2368: The Barrier Is Destroyed!

  Translated by: Hypersheep325

  Edited by: Michyrr

  Master Guangcheng seriously nodded.

  Though he hadn’t known Wang Chong for very long, he could sense something special about him.

  Wang Chong had a unique determination, as if the phrase ‘give up’ didn’t exist in his vocabulary. Perhaps it really was as Little Grass said. Perhaps he really was the only one who could stop Heaven and save this world. Moreover, whether it was the Origin Immortal Lord or that child Taiyi, they had treated him as the hope of this world.

  Master Guangcheng was willing to believe in them, and believe in himself!

  Time was short, so Wang Chong quickly returned to the hall and entered the Myriad Forms World.

  In the blink of an eye, half a day passed.

  “Still nothing?”

  The others stood guard outside. Peering at Wang Chong within, they couldn’t help but be nervous.

  Half a day had passed, and Wang Chong had been like a statue, sitting there the entire time without the slightest change.

  “The Celestial Palace’s power is growing stronger and stronger. If this goes on, then we really won’t have a chance.”

  Li Xuantu’s expression was dour as he glanced outside.

  In this half day’s time, the distance between them and the outer barrier had shrunk by half.

  This was a sign of the barrier’s weakening!

  Outside the Celestial Emperor Palace, the ocean seemed to be evaporating and the six pillars had shifted forward. In the capital being projected onto the barrier, more and more people were toppling over.

  Li Xuantu had even noticed that at least half of the Imperial Army and the Golden Guards had collapsed.

  Like a chain of dominoes, it seemed like there was no stopping it.

  Even so, Li Xuantu restrained himself.

  At this moment, within the Myriad Forms World, Wang Chong’s heart was heavy.

  “How can I destroy the Celestial Palace?”

  In front of the Celestial Palace’s projection, Wang Chong frowned.

  Half a day had passed in the outside world, but here, it had been three to four days. Wang Chong had spent every moment of those days thinking, but he had made no progress.

  The passage of time was torture to Wang Chong.

  “One gives rise to two, two gives rise to three, and three gives rise to all things. The foundation of the Celestial Palace is ‘one’, and ‘one’ is the strongest. It is the ‘one’ that gives rise to all things. This means that it is essentially the strongest, unbreakable. How exactly do I overcome it?”

  Wang Chong’s brow deeply furrowed as he muttered to himself.

  He had considered this problem for a very long time, but he had come up with nothing.

  The Celestial Palace began with ‘one’, but its terminus was infinity. It could devour the entire world, merge with countless dimensions, and extend into infinite space. It would never have an end, and its momentum was unstoppable. Wang Chong found it impossible to imagine how far Heaven’s ambition would go if he weren’t stopped.

  But Wang Chong could think of only one method to stop this: a return to the origin.

  Water dropped from high mountains into the earth, forming small brooks. Brooks would become rivers, rivers would become lakes, and water would continue to spread throughout the world. But in the end, all of it flowed back into the ocean, all back to the primordial ‘one’.

  If the concept upon which the Celestial Palace had been founded were reversed, a ‘reverse Celestial Palace’ created, this would theoretically be able to handle the Celestial Palace.

  The only problem was that even this was simply a return to the ‘one’, which could only stand on equal footing with the Celestial Palace’s ‘one’.

  If it could not overcome it, it naturally could not defeat it!

  In the end, everything would just go back to the start.

  “What do I do? What should be done?”

  Wang Chong raised his head and muttered, his heart heavy.

&nbs
p; Heaven’s power and talent were simply unfathomable. He had been able to comprehend the Great Dao from the chaotic storms in the universe and use his understanding to create the Celestial Palace.

  Though Wang Chong had wracked his brains, even with Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan’s help, he was only able to come up with a solution that could balance out the Celestial Palace, not destroy it.

  “What do I do? What should be done?” Wang Chong repeatedly muttered to himself.

  Another two hours flew by, leaving only four hours left.

  “Haaah…”

  After some time, Master Guangcheng sighed, his eyes dimming.

  So much time had passed, but Wang Chong continued to sit there like a statue.

  On the projection, at least seventy percent of the people in the capital had already had their souls and minds drawn into the Celestial Palace.

  “It’s too late, all too late.”

  Master Guangcheng sighed.

  Though there were still four hours, given how the Celestial Palace was operating, this much time wasn’t needed. As the souls and energy poured into the Celestial Palace, this enormous ritual tool would turn faster and faster. In truth, there was only one hour left.

  This wasn’t Master Guangcheng’s only concern. Outside the Celestial Emperor Palace, ninety percent of that ocean had been evaporated, leaving only a little lake.

  And from their perspective, they could see that the distance between Xuanyuan’s outer barrier and the golden barrier around the Celestial Emperor Palace was only a hundred-some feet, meaning that Heaven could attack at any moment.

  Li Xuantu was silent, his eyes shut. Since only this little time was left, he would do his utmost to try and find a solution. However, the bulging veins on the backs of his clenched hands revealed the results of his struggle.

  Li Xuantu had attempted many methods to try and break the Celestial Palace, including using his strongest techniques to directly attack, the crudest of methods.

  But all of his attempts had failed. Just as Wang Chong and Xuanyuan had both concluded, one was ten and ten was one. The Celestial Palace was a single integrated whole, and to attack any part of it was to attack the entirety of it.