The Human Emperor

Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Boom!
Zhao Fengchen led his five hundred Xuanwu Army soldiers and rammed right into the Feather Forest Army that was empowered by the Great Zhuyan Halo and the Rupture Halo.
“Ah!”
“What is that?!”
“How… how could this be?!”
As Zhao Fengchen was leading his men in this charge, the spectators on all sides of the drilling ground felt like they had just seen something absurd, and their bodies trembled while their eyes flew open in shock.
Even the members of the Eastern Palace on the northern side clenched their fists, their faces paling.
“This can’t be!”
No one was more shocked at this moment than the ever-composed Army-Shattering War God, Hou Junji.
Naturally, he had been the one who had given Duan Zhuyan the Rupture Halo. This had been the skill that he had relied on to make his name, and it was peerless when it came to offensive power, ranking far above the Supreme River Formation. Not even a peak Supreme River Formation would be able to stop his Rupture Halo.
The greatest source of Hou Junji’s confidence in sending these two complete unknowns into the Imperial Army competition to challenge the Grand Marshals was the Rupture Halo.
But not even Hou Junji could have imagined that there was someone who could break through his Rupture Halo in a direct confrontation.
Bang!
Everyone saw the most absurd event in the world taking place in the center of the drilling ground.
A black and yellow energy erupted from Zhao Fengchen’s body and fused with the auras of the five hundred Xuanwu Army soldiers, transforming them into a pillar of black and yellow energy nearly one hundred meters tall, covered in countless profound and mysterious patterns. With one strike, the pillar blasted a hole through the Feather Forest Army.
But this was far from the only shocking thing.
The moment the massive black and yellow pillar appeared, Duan Zhuyan’s Great Zhuyan Halo and Rupture Halo vanished into the massive pillar.
Not only had these two halos not been able to defend against Zhao Fengchen’s attack, they had even been absorbed and strengthened the five hundred Xuanwu Army soldiers.
And with a metallic clattering, the halos under the feet of Duan Zhuyan and the Feather Forest Army began to melt away like ice cubes under the hot sun. With each vanished halo, the halos under the feet of Zhao Fengchen and the Xuanwu Army grew stronger and stronger.
It was like Zhao Fengchen’s forces were draining their power!
Boom!
With a thunderous explosion and a shockwave of energy, the Feather Forest Army soldiers were blasted in various directions by a terrifying force.
Bangbangbang!
Horses shrieked and people screamed as numerous Feather Forest Army soldiers fell to the ground, their bodies bloodied, their armor in tatters, and even their Stellar Energy pulverized. They had completely lost the ability to fight.
“What formation is this?”
Hou Junji’s face was grim, and he could barely manage to speak.
He had seen many kinds of powerful formations, both offensive and defensive—formations that could make one travel as fast as lightning and even change directions at will without losing speed. But Hou Junji had never seen a formation that could absorb an opponent’s halos and energies to strengthen itself.
Let alone see, he had never even heard about such a formation, or even read the slightest mention in legends or tales.
And this was the first time Hou Junji could remember that anyone had ever destroyed his Rupture Halo. His renowned skill had not been the slightest bit effective.
He had never even imagined it was possible until this match.
Hou Junji instinctively looked toward that distant youth on the other end of the drilling ground.
This is no formation from Su Zhengchen! Where did an eighteen-year-old learn this formation?!
Hou Junji’s face twitched. He had once been ordered by Emperor Taizong to study formations from Su Zhengchen, so he could be completely sure that the formation Zhao Fengchen had used was not from Su Zhengchen.
For the first time, Hou Junji found the young man on the other side unfathomable.
He had always believed that Wang Chong was Su Zhengchen’s disciple, but now, that seemed to be far from the truth.
Rumble!
In the middle of all this, the massive pillar of black and yellow had finished sweeping away Duan Zhuyan’s Feather Forest Army like an autumn breeze sweeping through fallen leaves.
In the blink of an eye, Zhao Fengchen had pierced through the Feather Forest Army, and in a stampede of hooves, the two armies parted. Once he was several dozen feet away, Zhao Fengchen pulled on the reins of his horse, and behind him, he could hear the groans of fallen Feather Forest Army soldiers.
In the distance, Duan Zhuyan also began to turn his horse around. He now only had two-hundred-some Feather Forest Army soldiers left, and even this was mostly because he had used the Supreme River Formation at the last moment to avoid as much of Zhao Fengchen’s assault as possible.
Even though it wasn’t possible to see Duan Zhuyan’s face, from his heaving chest and ragged breathing, everyone could sense just how shocked the Feather Forest Army Marshal was.
“This can’t be!”
Duan Zhuyan breathed rapidly as he stared at Zhao Fengchen, his eyes spitting flames of anger.
This was naked humiliation. He had never once imagined that he would lose to someone in such an overwhelming fashion.
“We finally succeeded!”
At the southern end of the drilling ground, Wang Chong subtly nodded at the slightly pale Zhao Fengchen and breathed a sigh of relief.
The Xuan-Huang Link Formation!
In the apocalyptic era, this was one of the three strongest formations, above the Ten Charges Ten Victories Formation, the Eight Desolation Army Shattering Formation, and the Impregnable Fortress Formation.
Amongst the ten great formations of that calamitous era, those ranked in the top three were quintessentially different from those below, unique in power, fighting style, and traits. It was also these reasons that made these three incredibly difficult to cultivate.
Not even Wang Chong had cultivated the Xuan-Huang Link Formation, let alone Zhao Fengchen. Wang Chong had not given him the true version, but a simplified variant.
There was also a faint connection between the Xuan-Huang Link Formation and Zhao Fengchen’s Xuanwu Halo, which rested in the word ‘Xuan’. In truth, the Xuan-Huang Link Formation had incorporated the Xuanwu Halo. This was also one of the reasons Wang Chong had taught Zhao Fengchen its basic version.
But even so, at Zhao Fengchen’s current level of strength, cultivating the Xuan-Huang Link Formation was still an arduous task.
However, in the end, he had succeeded.
End the battle!
Wang Chong gestured at the distant Zhao Fengchen. The incomplete Xuan-Huang Link Formation was incredibly taxing on one’s energy and physical strength, but he would have more than enough to deal with Duan Zhuyan.
Buzz!
In the distance, the earth rumbled as Zhao Fengchen had his forces turn around and charge back at Duan Zhuyan.
This battle was now settled. Once he defeated Duan Zhuyan, his work in this Imperial Army competition would be halfway done.
There was still at least one spot amongst the three Grand Marshals that the First Prince was capable of taking control over, and he already had the fealty of Huang Tianzhao. Thus, Zhao Fengchen was not prepared to challenge Li Xuanyi in the next bout.
As long as he could keep the First Prince from complete control over the Imperial Army, he didn’t care who became Grand Marshal.
The Feather Forest Army soldiers turned ghastly pale when they saw that Zhao Fengchen was preparing to end the battle. There was already no doubt about the end.
The Great Zhuyan Halo and Rupture Halo had been broken, and even their numbers had been halved. They were simply no match.
“Let’s go!”
But as Zhao Fengchen was leading his men in a charge, the unexpected took place.
Duan Zhuyan waved his hand and led his two-hundred-some Feather Forest Army soldiers in a retreat.
Bang!
The crowd exploded into an uproar. No one had expected someone of Duan Zhuyan’s status to simply run away while so many people were watching.
“Ghost King!”
The First Prince’s face turned ashen as it scowled. Those cries of shock and surprise were like mocking jeers harshly slapping him in the face, making him lose all his pride and dignity.
But in the face of the First Prince’s anger, Hou Junji had only a simple reply.
“Your Highness, patience.”
Hou Junji’s expression was calm as he looked ahead. In the brief time that had passed, he had managed to completely soothe his emotions.
“They think they can escape?!”
Zhao Fengchen was at first taken aback by this sight, but he quickly sneered and urged his horse into an even faster gallop. He had to admit that he had overestimated his opponent. A man he had thought was quite the hero was so unwilling to lose! But the drilling ground was only so large. Did he really think he could escape?!
Gallop! Amidst the clamor of the crowd, the two Imperial Army forces began to rapidly traverse the drilling ground.
A fierce contest had ultimately devolved into a chase. No one had expected this.
“These scoundrels have no backbone! They can’t even lose honorably!”
Bai Siling couldn’t help but scoff.
But a voice suddenly interrupted her.
“Something’s not right!”
Bai Siling didn’t pay much attention to this comment at first, but when she saw who had said it, she paled.
“Wang Chong, what’s wrong?”
“There’s something strange!”
Wang Chong’s eyebrows creased as he watched Zhao Fengchen chase Duan Zhuyan.
“But… hasn’t Lord Zhao already won? They can’t delay the final result for very long,” Bai Siling cautiously said. From her perspective, there was no suspense in the final result, but she never dared to underestimate Wang Chong’s judgment.
“It’s precisely because he can’t delay for long that it’s strange!” Wang Chong grimly said.