The Human Emperor

Chapter 1049: Setting Off for Talas!

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

The Divine Martial Army!

This was the Big Dipper Army’s most elite force. It was said that the Great Tang War God Wang Zhongsi and Geshu Han had trained this force over two generations, selecting its members from the elite of the elite. After so many years, it still only consisted of several thousand soldiers, and their ranks were rarely fully manned.

This was a force with supreme fighting power. In an extremely outnumbered situation, they had once defeated the Ü-Tsang King of Generals We Tadra Khonglo’s White Lion Cavalry. In another battle, where they had been outnumbered by a force five times their size, they had managed to pierce through the enemy formation and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, defeating a force of nearly sixty thousand soldiers.

This was the true core strength of the Big Dipper Army!

The title of ‘Divine Martial’ had been granted by the Sage Emperor himself.

The three thousand soldiers of the Divine Martial Army and four thousand elites of the Big Dipper Army silently and serenely swept past the City of Steel. Not long after the Divine Martial Army had passed by, on the night of the same day, another army began to approach. The earth began to rumble and clouds of churning dust rose from the horizon. Countless people surged out of the City of Steel to see what was going on.

“This, what’s going on? How did a mountain appear there?”

The crowd outside the City of Steel looked in shock to the southeast. In the distant darkness, what was once a flat and empty plain was now home to a lofty and towering mountain range. Most unbelievable of all was that this mountain range was trembling as it approached the City of Steel.

For a brief moment, the City of Steel was eerily still. Everyone stared at that moving mountain range in stunned silence. A few moments later, everyone began to hear the sound of crashing waves. It was so soft at first that only a small number of people could hear it, but it rapidly crescendoed until everyone within a thousand li could hear it.

“Look at that!” someone cried out in alarm.

That enormous mountain range in the distance had suddenly vanished, replaced with massive waves that reached for the heavens. Countless waves were sweeping through the world, and the wave at the very front was apparently dozens of times taller than the City of Steel.

Waaaa! A child of six or seven immediately began to cry, and the merchants and bystanders also became afraid. These massive waves approaching made them all begin to back up.

“Get back! Hurry!”

Many people fled back into the city, their faces pale and devoid of blood. But before they could all get in through the gates, the waves vanished. At the base of those vanished waves was an army of eight thousand black-armored soldiers, their auras serene and composed. Flying at the front of this army was the banner of a five-clawed golden dragon.

“Imp– Imperial Army!”

A peddler who had once lived in the capital was left slack-jawed by the sight of this banner in the darkness. Anyone who stayed for long enough in the capital would recognize the symbol of the Imperial Army, but he did not dare to confirm that he had ever seen this particular unit of the Imperial Army before.

Rumble! The shaking of the earth caused the City of Steel to buzz and drone. Under the eyes of the silent crowd, the eight thousand soldiers of the Imperial Army passed the City of Steel and continued their march to Qixi, not even shooting a glance at the city.

As the darkness settled in and the ruckus passed, everyone began to fall asleep, but soon the third wave of reinforcements from the Great Tang arrived.

Arf! Arf!

Kee! Kee!

The birds and beasts within the City of Steel began to uneasily cry out without warning. Birds anxiously hopped around in their cages while dogs barked incessantly at something to the southeast. It seemed like they had sensed something extremely dangerous approaching from that direction.

The various establishments set up by the great clans in the City of Steel were already home to many civilians and peddlers and were slowly beginning to flourish. However, a situation like today’s had never occurred before.

A peddler who had been stirred from his slumber opened his window and was prepared to curse when he saw the sky and instantly froze. The dark night sky and its dim stars were suddenly awash with blazing white light. If one looked carefully, one might even be able to tell that all this was dazzling Sword Qi rising from the southeast, piercing through the night sky like a silver river.

This magnificent Sword Qi made all the stars seem lightless. Even the night sky seemed to be exuding light.

The peddler stood with his hands still pressed on the window shutters as he stared in shock at the several hundred li of dazzling Sword Qi. At this moment, the peddler also began to hear a rumbling of the earth, almost inaudible at first but gradually intensifying until the entire world seemed to be quivering. A fierce and somber energy that had been faintly hanging in the air rapidly began to swell, becoming so powerful so quickly that it was hard to believe.

The silently slumbering City of Steel was suddenly awash with cries of fear and alarm as everyone was awakened by this sharp energy.

As a bone-chilling air began to come in through the window, the peddler realized that this somber energy had caused the temperature of the City of Steel to drop. Bang! The peddler drew the shutters closed and curled up in his house.

The people within the City of Steel also seemed to sense something, and all the noise and hubbub instantly fell into deathly silence.

Rumble!

The sound of marching footsteps drew closer and closer, but only the guards stationed on the city walls could see what was actually going on. An army of four thousand soldiers, their bodies wrapped in white Sword Qi, somberly swept past the city, not making a single noise. The noiseless pressure they exuded made all the guards on the walls tremble in fear.

Divine Prison!

The white light of the Sword Qi allowed the guards to clearly make out the words written on the white war banner.

Around thirty minutes later, the army had left the City of Steel’s vicinity and vanished in the direction of Qixi. But even then, the guards on the walls remained in a stunned stupor.

In a single day, three armies had passed by the City of Steel. Each of these armies had been incredibly powerful, leaving an unprecedented impression on the people of the City of Steel.

“Incredible! Where did Lord Marquis find such powerful soldiers!” a soldier on the wall who had originally served at the Qixi Protectorate muttered to himself.

Todayl was the first time many of the city’s inhabitants had seen so many powerful soldiers. It was also the first time they had realized that the Great Tang had this many hidden armies!

The events of the last few days were enough to talk about for the rest of their lives!

After a few days, the Qixi Protectorate became the largest fortress of the northwest excluding Talas. The Divine Martial Army, the Xuanwu Army, the Divine Prison Army, Zhang Shougui’s Heavenly Capital Army—all of these disciplined soldiers had neatly gathered in front of the Qixi Protectorate army, silent and heroic.

The most obvious force on this square was the six thousand Wushang Cavalry in the very center. Although there weren’t enough Wootz Steel swords, these Wushang Cavalry had weapons made of Meteoric Metal as well as Meteoric Metal suits of armor. This sort of equipment was still enough to shame the majority of armies.

“All we’re missing is Su Hanshan!” Cui Piaoqi softly said as he stood next to Wang Bei.

“It’s close enough. I’ve already received news from Su Hanshan. He’s succeeded at his mission and is on the way back,” Wang Bei said, turning to the east together with Cui Piaoqi.

As if in response to their words, around half an hour later, winds howled and a massive black flood of soldiers swept out from the east.

“It’s the Beiting Protectorate army!”

A Wushang horseman with good eyesight had immediately spotted the black dragon banner fluttering over the army. Qixi was adjacent to Beiting, so everyone was extremely familiar with the Beiting Protectorate’s war banner.

The appearance of the Beiting Protectorate army indicated that Su Hanshan had succeeded with his mission.

A few moments later, Su Hanshan rode out from the rear of the army to arrive before Wang Bei and Cui Piaoqi.

“Have all the soldiers arrived?”

“The Ultimate Martial Army is still on the way. They should arrive in two days,” Wang Bei said.

With Wang Chong gone, the three figureheads of Qixi were Wang Bei, Cui Piaoqi, and Su Hanshan. Moreover, Wang Bei, as Wang Chong’s second brother, was the unquestioned leader. The majority of communications were left to him. The Wang Clan was a clan of ministers and generals, and gave its members a very thorough education. With Wang Bei’s experience, he could easily handle such matters.

“Speed is paramount in war. The war could break out at any time. We’ve gathered around sixty thousand soldiers now, so we can set off for Talas to reinforce Lord Protector-General. As for the four thousand soldiers of the Ultimate Martial Army, have them follow and join the army at Talas!” Su Hanshan coldly and sternly said.

Cui Piaoqi and Wang Bei nodded, both of them agreeing with Su Hanshan.

“Since that’s the case, inform the two venerable seniors and prepare to move out,” Su Hanshan said.

An hour later, metallic drums began to bang and great clouds of dust began to rise from the Qixi Protectorate headquarters. An elite army of more than fifty thousand soldiers set out from Qixi, majestically marching to Talas.

In that moment, the winds roared and clouds gathered, and all the northwest seemed to tremble before the might of this army.

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