The Human Emperor

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

A martial artist had squatted in front of the middle-aged martial artist’s corpse. The mouth of the corpse was half-open now, and the martial artist squatting next to him now held a small green leaf in his hand, apparently extracted from the corpse’s mouth.

“What is this?”

Wang Chong blinked and then began to carefully examine that leaf.

Another martial artist began to search the corpse’s body.

“Look, there’s some here too!”

A cloth satchel hanging from the corpse’s waist was packed with these green leaves.

Everyone stared at each other in speechlessness.

Wang Chong and Young Master Qingyang also exchanged glances, their brows furrowed. In the end, Young Master Qingyang stepped forward and snatched a leaf from the satchel. He brought the leaf up to his nose and sniffed, but didn’t seem to learn anything. He then mimicked the middle-aged martial artist and placed the leaf in his mouth.

“How is it?” Wang Chong asked.

Young Master Qingyang shook his head, his brow furrowing even deeper. But a few moments later, his eyes brightened and a strange expression took hold of his face.

This subtle shift attracted everyone’s attention.

“Great! No wonder he could move so freely this deep underground.”

Young Master Qingyang took the leaf from his mouth, an expression of wonder on his face.

“When you mix this leaf with saliva, it can produce large amounts of air. Thus, even when the air is thin, they are completely unaffected. The vast world truly does have everything! Even after reading so many books, so many accounts of strange places and legends, I’ve never heard of something like this.”

As Young Master Qingyang spoke, he took two more leaves out and passed them to Wang Chong and Sword Dragon.

Wang Chong dubiously placed the leaf in his mouth. There was nothing at the start, only a slight bitterness as the leaf entered his mouth, but the moisture of the saliva soon caused small bubbles of air to rise from the surface of the leaf. It was just a few at the start, but the number soon exploded.

Even more strange was that a significant number of these air bubbles passed through the walls of the mouth into his blood vessels, where they circulated through the rest of his body.

This underground cave network was lightless and at least sixteen thousand meters beneath the surface. The air was so thin here that breathing was excruciatingly difficult. Even Wang Chong was forced to rigorously control his breathing so he only exhaled and inhaled once every fifteen minutes. Even so, danger still followed him like a shadow. Everyone’s strength was reduced, a heavy weight pressed against their chests.

But with the air provided by these leaves, that weighty feeling was swept away. Not only that, Wang Chong felt much more energetic, his Stellar Energy beginning to flow faster and his injuries settling down.

It’s extremely concentrated oxygen!

Wang Chong’s eyes flashed in understanding.

Young Master Qingyang knew only that these leaves produced air, but Wang Chong had immediately determined that this was extremely concentrated oxygen. Although there wasn’t much, its high purity made it more than enough to fulfill the needs of a martial artist. With this oxygen supply, Wang Chong’s strength rose to another level and he would no longer be restricted by a lack of oxygen.

Wang Chong had instantly realized the immense value of these leaves.

“Wonderful! With these leaves, we can move underground without restraint!”

The crowd of martial artists became excited.

As everyone eyed the satchel of leaves, an elderly voice spoke up. “Wait!”

Everyone turned to a man with snow-white hair, wearing a silver robe. This elder seemed to wield a great deal of prestige, and his emergence instantly silenced the crowd.

“It’s Elder Zhao!”

“Everyone, let’s listen to Elder Zhao!”

Suddenly, the crowd backed away and looked respectfully at the elder.

Surprise flashed in Wang Chong’s eyes, and he looked to Young Master Qingyang with an inquisitive glance.

“This man is Zhao Qianwei, an elder of the Pure Qian Sect. He is well-known for always trying to reconcile the conflicts of the martial arts world. He is an extremely senior individual in the martial arts world, and even people like Song Yuanyi and the Black Yin Ancestor will occasionally show him respect.” Young Master Qingyang whispered an explanation. He paused and smiled before continuing.

“In addition, Zhao Qianwei is known for refining pills, particularly medicines. You probably understand why he’s so revered in the martial arts world, right?”

Young Master Qingyang profoundly glanced at Wang Chong.

Wang Chong understood. Whether it was in the Imperial Court or the martial arts world, alchemists enjoyed deep respect. Martial artists spent every day embroiled in mortal combat, and no one knew when they might need the service of an alchemist. If Zhao Qianwei had this kind of status, it was easy to understand his prestige in the martial arts world.

“Everyone, listen to me. If not for Young Master Wang, we probably all would have died in this cavern. Moreover, Young Master Wang was the one who captured that man. In my view, everything in this satchel should be given to Young Master Wang!”

The crowd fell silent at Zhao Qianwei’s words.

“That’s right! These should all belong to Young Master Wang! I agree with Elder Zhao!” Someone quickly stepped forward and supported Elder Zhao.

The others also began to voice their agreement. “Yes, we should give this all to Young Master Wang!”

The situation underground was extremely perilous, and if not for Wang Chong, who knew what would have happened to them? These leaves were nothing compared to the favor Wang Chong had shown by saving their lives.

Even Wang Chong was surprised to see this. After experiencing the backstabbing of the martial arts world, he was left rather startled by this development.

“There’s no need! I only need ten pieces. The rest can be divided amongst the rest of you.”

After a few moments of silence, Wang Chong took ten leaves from the satchel.

Wang Chong had arrived at this number after meticulous calculation. For an expert of Wang Chong’s caliber, although the air underground was extremely thin, it was fine if he just needed to move around. What he truly needed to worry about was dealing with traps and fighting with powerful foes.

In a low-oxygen environment, it was impossible to fight with opponents for very long, and the lack of oxygen itself would greatly limit a martial artist’s strength.

Wang Chong estimated that seven leaves would be enough for any possible battle in the caves, and the remaining three were reserves to be used when needed.

“This…”

Zhao Qianwei exchanged glances with the crowd behind him, rather taken aback by this. He had believed that Wang Chong would take all the leaves for himself, but Wang Chong only ended up taking ten.

“Heh, since Young Master Wang has already spoken, everyone does not need to be polite. Take it!” Young Master Qingyang directly said.

“Young Master Wang is truly benevolent. We were the ones who misunderstood. I will remember the favor Young Master has shown, and in the future, if Young Master requires anything, this Zhao Qianwei walk through fire to carry it out,” Zhao Qianwei respectfully said.

“Count me in too!”

“Me too!”

“I as well!”

The other martial artists excitedly called out in agreement.

Wang Chong smiled, but just when he was ready to say something, he felt a familiar warmth coming from his bosom. Wang Chong paled. Everyone in the cave was looking at Wang Chong at this time, so they instantly noticed his change in attitude.

Young Master Qingyang stepped forward and asked in surprise, “Brother Wang, what’s wrong?”

But Wang Chong seemed to not hear the question. He solemnly reached into his bosom and extracted a square box.

In the darkness of the cavern, the constantly blinking green light on top of the box seemed extremely eerie.

Everyone stared in confusion at the blinking box in Wang Chong’s hand, but Wang Chong instantly felt his heart sink.

The men in black!

This thought flashed through his mind.

He was far too familiar with what the blinking of the light on the box meant. Only when those mysterious and cruel men in black were near him would the box give this sort of reaction.

Although all was silent around him, Wang Chong now felt an immense danger. No one understood more than him how terrifying and brutal the men in black were.

As the cavern seemed to fall into absolute silence, everyone focusing on Wang Chong, a panicked bellow suddenly echoed through the darkness.

“Run!”

Boom! It was like a bolt of lightning had crashed down. The cavern was suddenly brimming with tension.

“What happened? What’s going on?!”

The martial artists in the cavern began to panic, even Zhao Qianwei caught off guard. No one knew what was going on, but all of them had heard Wang Chong’s shout.

Panic and unease were infectious. No one knew what it was that Wang Chong had sensed, but all of them could sense the intense sense of danger he communicated through his voice.

Wang Chong had barely spoken when a cruel laughter began to echo through the cavern.

“Hahaha, you react rather quickly, but can you really get away?”