The Human Emperor

Chapter 1448: Trouble Piling on Trouble!

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

The soft whisper was still in Wang Chong’s ear, but he could already feel the pain of the skin and flesh of his abdomen being cut open. His heart madly thumping, he instinctively took countermeasures, lunging off to the right.

Boom! A dark silhouette crashed into an area ten-some meters behind Wang Chong, causing a large part of the cave walls to crumble down.

At that moment, Wang Chong had been able to clearly see that the thin blade slicing through the air toward him was actually one of the giant beast’s palm-sized scales.

What terrifying speed!

Wang Chong’s heart chilled. He had never imagined that the beast was able to use its own scales as weapons, and to shoot them forward with such incredible speed. That sound at the start had been so soft that it felt like it was coming from very far away and still needed to travel some distance.

But in truth, the beast’s scale was already cutting at his body.

If not for Wang Chong’s intuition and instinct, the Dragonbeast would have already cut him in half.

This fellow is even more formidable than I imagined!

Wang Chong instantly felt an intense apprehension. He had only recently used the Heavenly Mandate Battle Armor, and he would need to wait twenty to thirty days before he could normally use it again. Without that powerful suit of armor, Wang Chong would find it very difficult to contend against the Dragonbeast’s heaven-defying strength.

Whether it was the biting of its jaws, the slashing of its claws, or even the scales on its body, they were all enough to deal enormous damage to an unarmored martial artist like Wang Chong.

Wang Chong’s repeated resistance had infuriated the Dragonbeast, and its crimson eyes stared at Wang Chong through the darkness. Bzzz! The massive Dragonbeast vanished in a flash of light.

The place Wang Chong was standing collapsed in an explosion of dust. The hardy rocks of the underground were incapable of holding out against a swing of the Dragonbeast’s feet, but even this determined strike had still managed to miss.

But after missing with this strike, the Dragonbeast lunged at Wang Chong without hesitation. This time, however, Wang Chong changed his tactics.

Bzzz! Wang Chong’s body flickered, and then three identical afterimages appeared around the Dragonbeast. As the Dragonbeast lashed out at Wang Chong with two legs, Wang Chong moved to the side, dodging the attack by a hair. At the same time, he fired two milky-white bolts of Sword Qi from his hand that shot toward the Dragonbeast’s eyes.

Art of God and Demon Obliteration!

Wang Chong had deployed the supreme sword art he had learned from Great Tang War God Su Zhengchen.

The greatest advantage humans had compared to beasts was their skill and intelligence. Martial arts were one of humanity’s most formidable advances. When fighting against this Dragonbeast with a strength that surpassed a peak Great General, it was best to avoid direct confrontation and instead attack its weakest points.

This Dragonbeast had a powerful Anti-Stellar trait that greatly weakened even the strongest attacks. But no matter how powerful the Dragonbeast was, its eyes, mouth, and pores were always weak spots that were impossible to protect.

Wang Chong’s idea wasn’t bad, but the truth took him by complete surprise.

Bang!

Wang Chong’s bolts of Sword Qi did not blind the Dragonbeast as he had imagined. Instead, the Dragonbeast closed its eyes, a translucent layer covering them. Wang Chong’s Sword Qi utterly failed to pierce through the eyelids.

On the contrary, Wang Chong’s attack only infuriated the Dragonbeast.

Raaaa! A claw covered in fine scales began to expand in Wang Chong’s vision. At the same time, the Dragonbeast opened its giant maw and unleashed a torrent of searing flame that was much hotter and more concentrated than before.

The flames immediately filled the cave, even engulfing the Dragonbeast’s body.

Not even Wang Chong dared to be careless around this flame. This flame gave him an extremely strange sensation, somewhat similar to the Fires of Mara and Ju Bi that he had absorbed from the men in black, but it seemed to possess a different kind of attribute. But even in this situation, Wang Chong did not panic.

A good chance! I can use it to attack its insides!

Although the Dragonbeast’s flames were formidable, Wang Chong’s Psychic Energy was unaffected and he could clearly locate where the mouth was.

Whoosh! Wang Chong opened his hand, drawing the sword of the slain martial artist into his hand. With a toss, the sword flew like a bolt of lightning, piercing through the flames toward the open mouth of the Dragonbeast.

Any martial artist who could get this deep into the pit was no weakling, nor were their swords. Although they were still lacking compared to Wootz Steel, their sharpness could not be questioned.

Clang! There was a metallic snap as the sword passed through the flames, and the flames vanished, revealing a part of the Dragonbeast’s body. Wang Chong could see that the Dragonbeast had closed its jaw, biting down on the sword Wang Chong had thrown.

This sword had been made from the best steel and reinforced with many inscriptions, but the monster had managed to instantly bite it in two.

Wang Chong’s mind shivered once more. No vicious beast in the world could do this. This monster possessed an incredible instinct and reaction time. Wang Chong had begun to realize that this beast was far from some ordinary vicious monster. It felt to him like it had been trained by some martial artist.

Otherwise, there was no way it could have reacted so quickly.

Boom! An intense danger filled his mind, and Wang Chong’s body blinked as he shot backward. In an explosive shockwave, the Dragonbeast slammed a foot down on where Wang Chong had been standing just moments ago.

It’s no good! This beast’s abilities are meant specifically to counter martial artists. Its duty is probably to guard the underground Origin Immortal Treasury. It won’t do to keep fighting with it!

Wang Chong’s mind was spinning with thoughts.

Wang Chong was not that much weaker than the Dragonbeast, but as the Dragonbeast had a strong resistance to Stellar Energy, Wang Chong would just be wasting time attacking it. There was no easy way to actually kill it.

It would be better to leave as quickly as possible and find the treasury!

Wang Chong quickly decided to rush into one of the branching caves. Explosions and booms rang out behind him, as it seemed like the Dragonbeast had locked onto Wang Chong and was doggedly pursuing him.

The cave network was vast and extensive. Wang Chong soon saw three branching caves, and he immediately split up into three clones, one for each cave. But to his surprise, this move had no effect.

The Dragonbeast showed no hesitation, plunging into the right cave in pursuit of Wang Chong.

Wait! This beast isn’t relying on its eyes to find its prey… It can smell a martial artist’s Stellar Energy!

Wang Chong immediately understood.

The Dragonbeast’s crimson eyes were extremely obvious in the darkness. Wang Chong had believed that it used these eyes to hunt its prey, which is why he made two clones. But Wang Chong had just ‘seen’ how the Dragonbeast had chosen the correct path without even a moment of thought.

It was obvious that the Dragonbeast did not hunt using its eyes.

If it wasn’t using its eyes, then the only other possible method was the Stellar Energy on the martial artist’s body.

With this thought, Wang Chong swiftly had an idea.

Rumble! The sounds of collapsing caves and the roars of the Dragonbeast rang out endlessly behind him, closer and closer. The Dragonbeast was apparently determined to seize Wang Chong, but even so, Wang Chong remained calm, his mind rapidly turning.

A few moments later, another branching cave appeared. Wang Chong was much more cautious this time and once more separated into two. This time, he transferred a large amount of Stellar Energy onto the clone while at the same time restraining his dantian and sealing his pores and meridians, except for those in his legs. His Stellar Energy flow almost came to a stop, and his body’s aura plunged.

After doing this, Wang Chong had his clone and his real body enter two separate caves.

Raaaa! The vicious Dragonbeast’s murderous roar resounded through the caves, causing rocks to rustle down from the ceiling.

But a moment later, the Dragonbeast beast shot into one of the caves, pursuing Wang Chong’s clone.

Just as expected!

In the other cave, Wang Chong was now confident and assured.

Swish! Swish! Swish! He began to fly deeper into the depths of the cave, but as he was making his way forward, without any warning, a soft explosion came from overhead. An energy had been hiding there for some time, only revealing itself when Wang Chong appeared.

If it were anyone else, they would have been caught off guard by such a close attack and swiftly struck, but Wang Chong remained calm. Bang! Wang Chong turned a palm upward and thrust it overhead.

Boomboomboom!

As two palms met, an enormous wave of Stellar Energy erupted from his body, clashing with extremely Yin energy, dark and turbid to the extreme. There was a grunt from above, and then the assailant flipped around in the air and landed in a cave above Wang Chong’s head.

That person staggered unsteadily as soon as they hit the ground.

“Eh?”

An astonished voice arose, but it was from a completely different place than where that figure was.

“Kid, to think it was you!”

At the sound of this familiar voice, Wang Chong turned in shock. Across from him was a series of caves, and in one of them, twenty-some meters away, was a familiar figure who was staring in shock at him with sinister eyes.

Next to him were two figures of equal power, and they were also staring in shock.