The Human Emperor

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

Boom! Wang Chong, with a smiling face, flicked a faint bolt of Sword Qi that immediately struck one of the formation rocks behind the Formation Elder. In an instant, the formation rock was pulverized.

“Senior, there’s no need to worry. Junior has the ability to protect himself,” Wang Chong said nonchalantly, drawing back his finger.

All was quiet. The Formation Elder’s mouth dropped open as he stared speechlessly at Wang Chong.

“How could this be!?”

The Formation Elder felt his mind raging in turmoil as he stared at the youth before him.

Although he had extracted these rocks from the ground, all of them were as tough as steel.

More importantly, when hiding from his foes, he had used his formation arts to fuse these rocks with the earthly energy for one hundred li around. He had only opened up the formation, not dispersed it, but a casual strike from this youth’s finger had still been enough to obliterate one of the rocks. Not even top-class experts were capable of such a feat.

The Demonic Emperor Old Man stroked his beard and gloated, “How is it? Still have something to say? You were already told that he was this old man’s disciple. You thought that he would be some nobody?”

Wang Chong seemed to understand his temperament well. With a single finger strike, he had managed to stop this old rascal’s ceaseless mouth.

“Hmph! Powerful martial arts don’t make you all that!”

The Formation Elder turned timid, his anger fading, but his mouth refused to surrender.

The Demonic Emperor Old Man and Wushang Village Chief only smiled at this. This was not their first time interacting with the Formation Elder, and they couldn’t be bothered to expose him at this time.

“Let’s go. The treasury will open this month. This news has already leaked, and the sects have sent many people. We need to hurry up!”

The Demonic Emperor Old Man walked forward as he spoke.

……

As the four of them got on their way, the Formation Elder began to explain the situation in the northwest.

“The situation is rather complicated. It’s been a very long time since there has been any news of the Supreme and Infinite Origin Immortal Art, but recently, two treasure map pieces have appeared pointing to this place. I feel like someone is intentionally luring everyone here. I came here earlier than you two and observed for a period of time. There are more than twenty factions here, and even foreigners!”

“What!?”

The word ‘foreigners’ instinctively caused Wang Chong to crease his brow. As a King of the Great Tang, he was extremely sensitive to matters on this subject.

“Senior, do you know which empire these foreigners belong to?” Wang Chong asked.

The Formation Elder rolled his eyes and rudely answered, “How could I know that? All these foreigners look the same and I can’t speak Hu, so what does it matter to me?!”

Wang Chong inwardly chuckled and did not squabble. He understood that this elder was still holding a grudge over how Wang Chong had caused him to lose face in front of the Demonic Emperor Old Man and the Wushang Village Chief.

“In addition, Zhang Wenfu, you have to be careful. It’s not just my enemies that have come this time, but that old foe of yours from the world of sects, and he’s brought ten-some people from his sect with him. They’ve put up posters about you everywhere, just sticking wooden posts in the ground and pasting posters on them. I fear that he might be partially responsible for all the experts gathering here this time.”

The Formation Elder gestured with his hands, and as he spoke, he shot a worried glance at the Demonic Emperor Old Man.

The Demonic Emperor Old Man said nothing, but his entire body seemed to become much colder and more severe. Wang Chong’s expression also turned more solemn. His master had always remained quiet about what had happened with the sects, particularly with the conspiracy against him. Ever since Wang Chong had saved him, his master had apparently been trying to look past these wrongs.

Thus, not even Wang Chong knew specifically how his master had been conspired against, only that his martial brother had probably played a pivotal role.

But after strolling around, it seemed like they had finally circled back to the beginning.

In the end, his master’s grudges in the world of martial arts could not be avoided!

Wang Chong suddenly stepped forward and whispered, “Master, that person who conspired against you back then… just what sort of person is he?”

“Chong-er, don’t concern yourself with this matter! The martial arts world is exceptionally murky, and it’s not good for you to get involved. Just let your master handle this matter!” the Demonic Emperor Old Man said, though he appeared somewhat unfocused.

Wang Chong hesitated, but in the end, he did not further press his master. His master had been the number one individual of the evil path whose very name caused others to quail in fear, and his way of doing things had been fierce and vicious. It was obvious that this matter could not be explained in just two or three sentences.

Whoosh!

As the group ventured forward, a gust of wind blew several sheets of paper down from a mountain. As all of them raised their heads to look, a mere glance was enough for all of them to pale.

A person’s face had been drawn out with an ink brush on these papers. Although the brushwork was rather crude, the painter was clearly highly skilled. The appearance and temperament of the man depicted was seventy percent similar to the Demonic Emperor Old Man.

Swoosh!

Wang Chong reached out with his fingers, immediately drawing one of those papers into his hand.

‘Pursuit order! Demonic Emperor Zhang Wenfu, a cruel and vicious man who is numb to killing, a great demon of the martial arts world that everyone has the right to punish, is being hunted down by all the sects. Anyone who discovers any trace of him should immediately report the matter to their superiors or kill him on the spot. There is no need to show mercy when dealing with people of the crooked evil path. Any methods are acceptable in killing this devil. A body must be presented whether alive or dead. The alliance will richly reward anyone who provides information or kills this monster.’

The poster was signed at the end with the words ‘Righteous Alliance’, and below that was the symbol of a Yin Yang paired with a white crane.

This poster immediately made Wang Chong’s expression turn even graver.

“This Righteous Alliance appeared after Brother Zhang vanished. It needed only a short while to unite all the sects of the north and south together, creating an immense faction. Although Brother Zhang isn’t some good person and truly did kill too many people back then, at least you were open about it. But the people of this Righteous Alliance, hmph! A load of hypocrites!”

The Formation Elder had walked over, his face covered in disdain. The Formation Elder was very short, so he couldn’t read the poster in Wang Chong’s hand, only look up at the back of it. The two of them, one short and one tall, one in front and one behind, looking at the same poster, made for a rather comical sight.

“Hmph! Still looking?”

The Formation Elder wrathfully glared at Wang Chong through the thin paper.

“Yes, yes… I’m done! I’m done!”

Wang Chong quietly chuckled to himself. He had only spent a little time with the Formation Elder, but he had already begun to realize that while the Formation Elder had an unforgiving mouth, he didn’t have a bad heart. But because of his height… he was particularly sensitive when anyone was looking in his direction, even if they weren’t actually looking at him.

“I see you have some sense!”

The Formation Elder withdrew his gaze.

“Ahead is the rough area indicated by the treasure map. However, because the treasure map is damaged and missing a lot of information, we can only reduce the area to around one thousand square kilometers. If this large area is not shrunk down some more, we could search for ten years and still find nothing.

“Right now, all sorts of people have come to this place. I’ve already established a base up ahead where we can observe the entire region. All of you should come with me. We’ll stay around there for a while and avoid our enemies. Besides that, there are so many people wanting your head that I hope you don’t burden this old man and agree to disguise yourselves.”

The Formation Elder strode forward to a tree by the side of the road. Under the confused gazes of Wang Chong and the others, he reached out and seemingly pulled a cloth bundle out of thin air, which he threw over.

“There are several sets of sect uniforms in there. Although these are small sects that few people know about, they’re enough to disguise your identities.”

Even Wang Chong was convinced now. It was apparent that the Formation Elder was extremely familiar with this area and had already planned everything out before their arrival. It was as if he had these concealment formations everywhere, and not even Wang Chong could predict what else he had hidden around this region.

“Many thanks, Senior.”

Wang Chong took the bundle.

“Brat, at least you know how to talk to your elders!”

The party traveled through the forest, rapidly approaching the base the Formation Elder had set up.

Around an hour later, the Formation Elder pointed ahead and proudly said, “It’s just up ahead! That green mountain. I’ve already surveyed the area, and though it’s not at the very center, it’s one of the highest points. By standing at the top, you can see more than half the region, which will make it easier for us to move around.”

Upon hearing the Formation Elder’s words, the group couldn’t help but slow down a little. Wang Chong followed the Formation Elder’s finger and saw a green mountain protruding into the sky, starkly standing out from the surrounding hills.

That place really isn’t bad… it should be easy to notice any signs of activity very quickly! Wang Chong quietly praised. The Formation Elder really had chosen a good location.

“Mm?”

At this moment, Wang Chong’s ears quivered as he heard a strange sound. A few moments later, a stern voice came from the distance.

“Who goes there?! This is the Righteous Alliance! State your name!”

This voice rumbled like a peal of thunder. Wang Chong and the others looked over and saw five or six young men wearing Daoist uniforms with the insignia of the Yin Yang and white crane on their chests. They were coming from a nearby green hill, traveling on the tree branches as they approached Wang Chong’s party.

“Not good! It’s them!”

The Formation Elder grimaced as he glanced at the Demonic Emperor Old Man. The wanted posters the Righteous Alliance had made targeting the Demonic Emperor Old Man had been distributed throughout the region. Once these people came over and discovered the Demonic Emperor Old Man, the Righteous Alliance would probably dispatch a large batch of experts to converge on this place.