The Human Emperor

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

“Not good!”

The bamboo hat man met eyes with the fifth-generation successor and immediately felt his heart sink.

Bang!

That ghastly successor crossed several dozen feet with a single leap, appearing like a ghost in front of the third bamboo hat man.

With a single palm, a golden wave of light swept toward the men in black.

Behind the successor, in a dazzling golden light, an ancient pavilion emerged and began to soar into the skies.

But for the fifth-generation successor, the pavilion had sixteen floors, each of them exuding a shocking energy.

“Now is the time! Let’s go!”

As the men in black began a battle with the fifth-generation successor, the Lone Silence Ancestor suddenly moved, silently jumping away.

Startled, Wang Chong sent his Psychic Energy down and quickly discovered a deep passage, from which he could hear the faint gurgling of water. At that moment, Wang Chong understood.

He jumped, descending right behind the Lone Silence Ancestor.

As expected, an underground river!

The sight of the flowing water beneath caused Wang Chong’s eyes to gleam and a smile to appear on his lips.

Wang Chong had already heard from the Lone Silence Ancestor that there was an underground river in this place, and the Lone Silence Ancestor was an expert when it came to controlling water. After entering the passage, he had clearly entered the underground river and stealthily made his way here.

Swoosh!

As the underground river got closer and closer, Wang Chong tensed his body and plunged into the waters.

A chilly sensation instantly began to bore into his bones. This river was much colder than he had imagined. Strangely, when he entered the water, he did not create any splash or ripple.

The waters of the river softly wrapped around him like seaweed, as if this river and Wang Chong had always been one.

The Lone Silence Ancestor’s control of water truly is formidable! Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

He had such a powerful control over water that he could nullify any splash even after falling from such a great height. Probably only the Lone Silence Ancestor was capable of such a feat.

After all, this was someone who could control the weather and summon a downpour. Controlling an underground river was no problem at all.

“Let’s go!” A stream of Psychic Energy entered Wang Chong’s mind, carrying with it the Lone Silence Ancestor’s voice. “The battle up there might end at any time, and if we don’t leave now, we’ll earn their attention. Moreover, we’re still in the area guarded by the fifth-generation successor. We can’t remain here for long. Follow me!” As he swam through the cold waters, he waved a hand at Wang Chong.

Wang Chong nodded and began to swim as well.

“This underground river is too far from the surface, and the air is thin. We can’t remain here for very long. I’ll take you away from this place first, and then we can come up to the surface for air.” The Lone Silence Ancestor’s Psychic Energy once more entered Wang Chong’s mind, and the man himself seemed to exude an air of caution.

In this air-deprived place, communicating with Psychic Energy was the most convenient. However, the ever-present Psychic Seal prevented them from communicating over very long distances.

“This is for you!”

Wang Chong swam up to the Lone Silence Ancestor’s side and gave him a green leaf.

“What’s this?”

The Lone Silence Ancestor glanced at the leaf in surprise.

“Heh, you try it and you’ll know!”

Wang Chong did not give much explanation as he smiled.

The Lone Silence Ancestor and the others had used various methods to get past those dangerous beasts. This had allowed them to avoid many dangers, but they had also missed out on a few things.

At the very least, the Lone Silence Ancestor knew nothing about these leaves that could produce pure oxygen.

As the Lone Silence Ancestor placed the leaf into his mouth and sensed it producing oxygen, Wang Chong could clearly see the man trembling and staring at Wang Chong in shock.

“To think that there would be something like this!”

The Lone Silence Ancestor’s eyes were dumbfounded.

“Where did you get this? With this leaf, we can swim freely in this underground river without needing to go to the surface for air.”

The Lone Silence Ancestor was well aware of how important these leaves were. The air was incredibly thin sixteen thousand meters under the ground, and in such a place, these leaves were heaven-defying divine artifacts! They were more precious than the finest weapons and treasures.

More importantly, for a powerful controller of water like the Lone Silence Ancestor, this leaf covered his greatest weakness, removing most of the threats to his life.

This leaf was enough to last him a very long time.

“Heh, this was a surprising harvest from encountering those monsters.”

Wang Chong remained enigmatic.

Wang Chong took two more leaves and gave them to the Lone Silence Ancestor.

These leaves would allow them to remain in the underground river for a very long time.

“Let’s go! I’ll take you to see what’s going on up ahead!”

The Lone Silence Ancestor waved at Wang Chong and swam forward.

The river was four meters wide, enough for seven or eight people to swim side by side. The waters were cold and clear, as there was too little oxygen. There were no plants or other small organisms to be seen.

But as Wang Chong spread out his Psychic Energy into the surrounding earth, he immediately noticed something strange.

“Heh, as expected of the Demonic Emperor’s disciple, you possess formidable Psychic Energy!” the Lone Silence Ancestor’s voice rang out in his mind. He had apparently noticed what Wang Chong was doing.

Wang Chong looked questioningly at the Lone Silence Ancestor. “Senior, what’s going on? Above this river seems to be…”

“Heh, an ore vein, right?” The Lone Silence Ancestor cut Wang Chong off. “This is the final barrier, the reason that even though I’ve been swimming in this underground river for a long time, I have yet to obtain the Origin Immortal Art. I just can’t get past it.

“It’s said that the Origin Immortal Lord was an erudite scholar who was so skilled in divination that he could look far into the future. When he chose to place his treasury here, he already predicted and took measures against anyone trying to get around his traps. He truly deserves his reputation as one of the geniuses of ancient times!”

A look of praise appeared on the Lone Silence Ancestor’s face. There was no regret, only admiration and respect for the Origin Immortal Lord.

But Wang Chong was completely focused on the ‘ore vein’ the Lone Silence Ancestor had mentioned.

Wang Chong had much more Psychic Energy than the Lone Silence Ancestor, and as the Lone Silence Ancestor was speaking, he had been sending his Psychic Energy deeper and deeper into that… ore vein.

It was called an ore vein, but it was very different from the vast majority of ore veins.

The majority of ore veins were formed from ore that needed to be refined to obtain the metal, but the ore vein above Wang Chong was made entirely of extremely pure metal.

This metal was extremely tough, seemingly tougher than refined steel.

To be more precise, the Origin Immortal Lord had probably built his palace in the middle of this abnormally tough metal ore vein.

Buzz!

In shock, Wang Chong seemed to realize something.

Despite the vastness of his Psychic Energy, Wang Chong couldn’t tell where the ore vein came from and where it went. The ore vein seemed endless and perhaps completely wrapped around the palace.

“I’ve been all along this river already, but I realized that other than that hidden passage in the hall, this underground river essentially winds around the ore vein and starts heading off in a completely different direction. There’s no way of using it to get inside the palace. I even inspected that passage we used just now. There’s a high chance that when the Origin Immortal Lord or one of his earlier disciples was building this underground palace, they left this passage so they could use it to get water. After all, this cave was probably where the generations of the Origin Immortal Art’s successors cultivated their martial arts.

“The northwest is lacking in water, and cultivating the art requires them to be undistracted. It’s not possible for them to frequently go out to get water, so this underground river is the only source. In addition, if my guess is right, the passage was originally a natural fissure linking the cave with the river. This was why they chose it as a means to obtain water, expanding it while also placing an incense burner over the hole to hide it.

“A source of water is a problem that needs to be resolved, but there’s no reason for the Origin Immortal Lord to have created a second source, so there’s probably no second passage. If one wants to obtain the Origin Immortal Art, one can only enter the underground palace and force one’s way through the barriers, defeating each of the six successors of the Origin Immortal Lord.”

The Lone Silence Ancestor explained to Wang Chong as he led the way. By the end, there was a faint hint of disappointment in his voice.

The six successors of the Origin Immortal Art were all incredibly strong, as Wang Chong had already seen. The weakest, the sixth-generation successor, had easily killed the Four Ends Martial Lord, and the walking corpses farther in were probably even stronger.

The Lone Silence Ancestor’s strength was extremely close to the Four Ends Martial Lord’s, and even if he borrowed the power of the underground river, he wasn’t that much stronger. If he tried to force his way through, he would probably just end up dead.

The successors of the Origin Immortal Lord were far too strong to let any of their opponents escape so easily.

“Senior, can you take me to look around this river?” Wang Chong suddenly said.

Wang Chong was weaker than the Lone Silence Ancestor, so if the Lone Silence Ancestor couldn’t force his way through, Wang Chong had even less of a chance.

But while the Lone Silence Ancestor could withdraw if he couldn’t obtain the Origin Immortal Art, Wang Chong could not. Without the Origin Immortal Art, he would not be able to pacify the chaotic Stellar Energy within him, leaving him with an incredibly high chance of triggering his cultivation defect and ending up crippled or dead.