The Human Emperor

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

What’s going on here?! Wang Chong inwardly muttered, unable to get a single word out of his mouth. He had never imagined that entering the golden barrier wouldn’t take him to the Origin Immortal Palace but another dimension entirely.

The world before him was nigh infinite and brimming with mystery.

Wang Chong almost instinctively spread out his Psychic Energy, but he was not able to notice anything strange. Turning around, he saw that the golden light had vanished, leaving only white fog.

Wang Chong deeply furrowed his brow. All of this was completely different from what he had expected.

Bzzz! A slight heat came from his palm as the Origin Immortal Sword began to tremble once more.

It seems like this should be the place! Wang Chong said to himself. He was here now, and since he had received confirmation that this was the place, there was no point in panicking.

Whoosh!

He heard the swaying of the chains, ringing loudly in an otherwise silent world.

Wang Chong immediately turned to the source of the noise and saw two blurry objects swinging in the fog, appearing only for a moment before once more being engulfed.

Chains!

Wang Chong immediately waved a hand, sending Stellar Energy howling forward in a fierce gale to blow away the fog. Not far from him, Wang Chong saw two chains as thick as arms hanging down, extending high up into the air.

A rush of air swept past, causing the two chains to loudly jangle.

Wang Chong thought for a few moments, and then he flew upward, drifting toward the chains like a leaf on the wind.

“So cold! It’s Meteoric Metal!”

The moment his feet touched the chains, he recognized that they were made of Meteoric Metal. But unlike the Meteoric Metal he had collected, the chains were made of a metal that was even older and much colder.

Wang Chong circulated his Stellar Energy, causing his feet to exert a pull on the chains, allowing him to swiftly travel upward along them.

One hundred feet, one thousand feet, ten thousand feet… Wang Chong moved with incredible speed along the chains, getting higher and higher above the ground. It wasn’t long before he couldn’t recognize anything around him, and only the two cold chains remained to lead the way.

Wang Chong had no idea where this was or where the two chains led. Everything was clouded in mystery.

Wang Chong continued to fly upward along the chains, and fifteen minutes became thirty minutes became two hours, four hours, six hours. Wang Chong’s Stellar Energy was constantly being worn away, but the chains remained endless.

Gradually, Wang Chong began to sense that something was wrong.

At my current strength, I don’t even need two hours to travel ten thousand meters, but six to eight hours have gone by now. How could there be a place so big in this underground world?

Wang Chong speculated. But at this moment, there was no going back, only going forward.

Swish!

He suddenly heard a sound, upon which Wang Chong felt a strange sensation. He stopped and turned in the direction of the sound, and what he saw was another swaying chain spanning the nearby space.

This chain had come from an entirely different direction, but it seemed to be traveling in the same direction as Wang Chong’s chains.

“Wait! What’s that?”

Wang Chong scanned the chain and immediately noticed something strange. Waving his sleeve, he sent a wave of energy sweeping across, driving away the fog. He was soon able to make out the object on that other chain.

A white skeleton was hanging on it, swaying back and forth with the chain.

The sight of this skeleton was incredibly confusing to Wang Chong. He had been the only one person to pass through the golden barrier and reach this place. There should have been no one except him here.

The third chain’s appearance was already very strange, and the skeleton hanging on it pushed the strangeness to maximum levels.

“What’s going on here? Has someone been here before? Or are there other passages to this place?”

Wang Chong’s mind was in turmoil.

He saw more and more chains as he got higher and higher, and he also saw more and more white skeletons scattered across them. All of this was incredibly bizarre and confusing.

As time passed, Wang Chong could no longer recall how much time he had spent in this place or how much distance he had traveled. He only knew that the chains had gone from two or three to seven or eight, then ten-some chains, and then dozens… Like the threads of a spider web, they all converged on a single location.

Finally, after traveling along the chains for what seemed like an eternity, he saw a door of light at the nexus of the chains, exuding a dim glow as if it was waiting for something.

Buzz!

At this moment, the long-silent Origin Immortal Sword suddenly began to buzz and tremble. The heat coming from the sword immediately invigorated Wang Chong and brought him back to his senses.

His body shot into the door of light like an arrow loosed from a bow.

Endless bright light welcomed him, more dazzling than the sun, and he couldn’t even open his eyes. Finally…

The light began to dim, allowing Wang Chong to slowly open his eyes. The first thing he sensed was sturdy ground beneath his feet, and when he fully opened his eyes, he saw that the vast white dimension had vanished.

As he saw what was behind the door of light, his young and determined face was stricken with shock.

Wang Chong thought that yet another strange world would be hidden behind the door of light, but he saw a resplendent hall illuminated by soft and gentle light.

The hall was decorated in an ancient style, with carved beams and painted rafters. Banners hung from the side walls and drooped to the floor, and the walls themselves were intricately carved with images of birds, insects, flowers, fish, and some ancient beasts.

All of it combined to create an aura of tranquility.

“This is…”

Wang Chong’s eyes were open in disbelief. Although he had never seen this place before, he did not feel it to be strange.

This was inside the Origin Immortal Palace.

Wang Chong had never imagined that after wasting so much time making his way through that white dimension and the door of light, he had only just now managed to get inside the Origin Immortal Palace. Countless thoughts passed through his mind, all of them coalescing into a single saying: ‘A short distance away yet poles apart’!

From the outside, the distance between the golden barrier and the Origin Immortal Palace was just a few dozen feet, but for Wang Chong, this distance had been an entire dimension.

An indescribable respect appeared in Wang Chong’s mind. All of this had gone beyond the scope of martial arts and involved a level of power that martial artists could neither imagine nor reach.

Wang Chong quickly calmed down and focused. Several feet away stood two bronze incense burners, standing to the left and right. The incense burners were cast in the form of cranes standing on one leg, thin streams of smoke rising from their beaks and releasing a fragrance into the air.

Behind the cranes was an ancient round altar, and on the altar was the Origin Immortal symbol. An old prayer mat had been placed at the very center of the altar, and a thin old man wearing a crane feather cloak of the Spring and Autumn Era was seated upon it. Numerous white hairpins had been thrust into his hair, and he was sitting motionless in a meditative position.

His head was slightly bowed and his body exuded an aura of decay. From the exposed ashen-white skin, it was apparent that he had been dead for a very long time.

The entire hall was silent.

This should be the Origin Immortal Lord!

Wang Chong gazed pensively at the Origin Immortal symbol on the elder’s clothes.

Although he had been dead for a very long time, the Origin Immortal Lord stil exuded a transcendent aura. When he was still alive, he had undoubtedly been a dignified expert of celestial bearing.

After a few moments of thought, Wang Chong walked up, kneeled in front of the elder, and bowed.

“Junior Wang Chong pays respects to Senior Origin Immortal Lord. Please forgive me for the offense of intruding upon your palace.”

Wang Chong knocked his head against the floor. As a guest who had entered the master’s room, he needed to show some courtesy. This had always been Wang Chong’s style.

As he raised his head, he suddenly felt a strange feeling. Behind and above the Origin Immortal Lord, one of the carved butterflies on the wall had suddenly begun to move.

Its trembling body twinkled with blue light that got brighter and brighter. A moment later, it broke free of the wall.

“!!!”

Wang Chong was struck dumb by this wondrous sight.

The butterfly tested its wings and then took flight, rising into the air and then descending onto the Origin Immortal Lord’s forehead.

The butterfly slowly flapped its wings, upon which the decaying and lifeless shell of the Origin Immortal Lord’s body began to undergo an inconceivable transformation.

Wang Chong could sense a faint vitality suddenly appearing deep within the Origin Immortal Lord’s body.

It was barely there at the start, a flickering flame, but a moment later, it had exploded into a storm.

The deathly white hue of the Origin Immortal Lord’s skin rapidly turned ruddy as its original color was restored.

The dry wrinkles slowly stretched as they were filled in.

Wang Chong suddenly understood something, and he stared at the Origin Immortal Lord in complete stupefaction.

“How… how is this possible?!”

If not for the fact that it was happening right now, Wang Chong would have never dared to believe that such a thing was possible.

As if in response to his speculations, the Origin Immortal Lord’s body faintly trembled, a minor movement that set off an earthquake in Wang Chong’s mind.

“You’re finally here!”

A long sigh echoed in Wang Chong’s mind, and as this voice spoke, Wang Chong saw the Origin Immortal Lord’s eyelids tremble and rise.