The Human Emperor

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

The arts of the three elders originated from the same source, so though they were separate, they seemed to be one being, as vast as the Northern Sea.

One could even hear the beating waves of the Northern Sea, and the fabric of space seemed to groan, unable to endure this weight.

King Qi couldn’t help but smugly smile at this sight. In the Penal Court incident, Wang Chong had dared to force his way into the Penal Court to take someone away, but King Qi and his men couldn’t stop him, and King Qi had even been injured. This man who had always been proud of his martial arts experienced immense humiliation.

Thus, he began to send men around to recruit powerful warriors with the promise of rich rewards.

Unlike Wang Chong, who had only recently begun to recruit martial artists, King Qi had been doing so from the very beginning, and he paid no regard to their status as righteous or evil. In fact, King Qi favored evil path martial artists more, as their martial arts were more vicious and lethal.

The Three Elders of the Northern Sea were outstanding members of this group, and they were much older than the renowned martial arts titans like Song Yuanyi and the Black Yin Ancestor.

They always cultivated by the Northern Sea, which was where they had gotten their name. King Qi had only managed to find them and recruit them with great difficulty.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, three cries of alarm broke King Qi out of his brief reverie. A moment later, three bolts of Sword Qi pierced through the Stellar Energies of the Three Elders of the Northern Sea as if they were made of paper.

The Three Elders of the Northern Sea panicked and retreated more quickly than they had come.

“Impossible! How could someone be able to pierce through our Northern Sea Stellar Energy?”

The three all gripped their left hands as they fell back, staring at Wang Chong in shock and anger. Blood was pouring out of their left hands, as Wang Chong’s Sword Qi had not just pierced through their Stellar Energies, but their hands as well.

The three had been injured in exactly the same place.

It was obvious that Wang Chong was much stronger than they were. Otherwise, he could not have possibly injured the three of them at the same time in the same place.

But most shocking of all was Wang Chong’s Sword Qi. The trio had seen many things in their lives, but nothing as sharp and vicious as this Sword Qi.

“Art of God and Demon Obliteration!”

While the Three Elders of the Northern Sea were still trying to understand what was going on, King Qi’s eyes flew open in shock.

“Impossible! Impossible! How do you know this sword art?!”

King Qi felt an unprecedented shock, even greater than the shock of the Three Elders of the Northern Sea being defeated.

The goateed advisor finally couldn’t help but step forward and whisper, “Your Highness, what is the Art of God and Demon Obliteration? How does Your Highness know of this art?”

“You don’t understand! This is a sword art that should have never appeared here!”

King Qi didn’t even turn to look at him. His chest was heaving up and down in shock.

As an Imperial Prince, King Qi naturally knew about the Art of God and Demon Obliteration. This was the strongest art of Great Tang War God Su Zhengchen, one of the supreme arts of the Great Tang. When he was young, he had dreamed countless times that Su Zhengchen would take him as his disciple and teach him this sword art so that he could become the new War God.

Alas, Su Zhengchen did not teach his art to outsiders. The previous Emperor had been refused, as had the then–’Crown Prince’, so King Qi did not dare to harbor such delusions. And it was rumored in the capital that Old Master Su had died a long time ago. Although there would always be a few rumors once in a while that said the War God was still alive, they weren’t worth believing.

As time passed, King Qi naturally stopped thinking about it.

But to his disbelief, the Art of God and Demon Obliteration that neither the previous Emperor nor the Crown Prince had been able to obtain had appeared on Wang Chong!

The scene settled down. Wang Chong landed back on the White-hoofed Shadow, his domineering eyes brightly shining. The surrounding crowd was deathly still, all of them intimidated by Wang Chong’s formidable cultivation.

The great clans of the capital had never questioned Wang Chong’s grasp of the art of war, but they had never imagined that his cultivation would be so profound.

“Hmph!”

Li Junxian’s eyes chilled, and he stepped forward in preparation to strike. But at this moment, a palm came from behind and pulled him back.

“Young Master, no!”

Elder Song looked at Li Junxian and shook his head, apprehension in his eyes. With so many people in front of the palace gates, he naturally understood that Li Junxian had not used his full power, afraid of harming innocents. There were also other reasons this was not a good time for battle.

“You only recently received the inheritance. You don’t have full control over this power yet, so it’s best not to fight.”

As Elder Song spoke, he glanced at Li Junxian’s silver sword. If one looked carefully, one would notice several words written in ancient Bird Script on it: ‘Noble Spirit Eternal’!

This sacred sword was the holiest of the Confucian Sect’s swords, the Noble Sage Sword used by the founder of the Confucian Sect.

The Confucian Sect had lasted for more than a thousand years and had gone beyond the bounds of imperial authority. At certain sacred and important occasions, it would hold ‘crowning ceremonies’.

This was an age-old tradition in which the Confucian Sect used certain secret arts to increase the cultivation level of the appointed successor or new sect master, as well as pass on the sacred sword. This would allow each new sect master to break through the barriers in their way and counter any difficulties.

Reformation was never easy, and there was bound to be opposition from all sides. What the Confucian Sect wanted was a reformation, the greatest reformation of all. If they wanted to end all wars and disasters in this world and oppose the vast power of the militarists, if they wanted to deal with all the various difficult situations they would encounter in the surrounding countries, they would need the support of immense martial might. This was provided by the ‘crowning ceremony’.

In this ceremony, the supreme and righteous sacred sword of the Confucian Sect played an extremely important role. It was through the sacred sword that the boost to the cultivation of the Confucian Sect’s new successor was completed.

The elders and sect master of each generation would take the noble energy they had cultivated throughout their lifetime, refine it, and pour it into the Noble Sage Sword so that it could serve as a source of energy for the next sect master.

Li Junxian had only recently absorbed the energy within the Noble Sage Sword and had still not fully digested its power. This was not the right time for him to fight with another.

“The First Prince has arrived!” A shrill voice came from within the Imperial Palace, drawing everyone’s attention.

Everyone looked toward the Imperial Palace. Two large imperial canopies appeared on the walls, and then First Prince Li Ying, accompanied by a great crowd of officials, made his appearance.

“Paying respects to the First Prince!”

All the commoners outside the Imperial Palace got to their knees and lowered their heads, and even the Hu shivered. Although the Hu didn’t have a custom of prostrating, they still frantically bowed at the waist.

According to the laws of the Great Tang, Princes did not have enough of a status to receive prostrations from commoners, but the First Prince was different. He was the current regent, handling matters in court in place of the Sage Emperor. He was essentially the avatar of the Sage Emperor, so he naturally held a different kind of status.

“Paying respects to Your Highness!”

Li Junxian and King Qi turned to face the First Prince and bowed.

“Ha, the First Prince is here. Wang Chong, let’s see what you do now.”

King Qi coldly sneered, a smug smile on his lips.

Time and time again, he had suffered a loss at Wang Chong’s hand. From the Vast Crane Pavilion incident to the Consort Taizhen incident and then the Penal Court incident not too long ago, he had almost never obtained the desired result.

And even now, after making so many preparations and predicting Wang Chong’s movements, even after finding the Three Elders of the Northern Sea who were stronger than even Great Generals, he was still sent bowling over. He was nursing the greatest grudge in the world.

But this time, the one dealing with Wang Chong was the First Prince. Just through the fact that Wang Chong had brought so many men to create trouble in front of the palace gates, the First Prince could charge Wang Chong with a crime.

“Paying respects to the First Prince!”

Wang Chong took in a deep breath and also bowed.

It had to be said that Wang Chong had not expected all this. A court session was in progress, but the First Prince had left his place in Taihe Palace and appeared on the palace walls. From this, one could see just how badly he wanted to deal with Wang Chong.

“Wang Chong, you are very bold!”

The First Prince’s cold gaze instantly locked onto Wang Chong.

“In the middle of a court session, you actually dare to lead a large number of soldiers and cause an uproar in front of the palace gates! Do the laws still exist in your eyes? Does the Imperial Court?”

The First Prince’s complexion was ashen and his eyes were dark and sinister. If looks could kill, Wang Chong would have died countless times by now.

Wang Chong was not the only participant in this ruckus outside the palace; Li Junxian and King Qi had also contributed. But the First Prince had not even mentioned them. By singling out Wang Chong, he made his aims loud and clear.

“Your Highness, that’s not all. The Sage Emperor gifted him ballistae to honor him for his achievements, but he actually brought these weapons of war to the palace gates. This king fears that he has received too much fame and begun to harbor disloyal notions. Your Highness, no matter what, you cannot lightly forgive him. Only a heavy punishment will do to serve as a warning to others!”

King Qi decided to add fuel to the fire. Now that he had the First Prince to support him, he feared nothing.