The Human Emperor

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

A Feather Forest Army officer at the side of the heavily-armored Duan Zhuyan suddenly whispered, “Marshal, the Xuanwu Army is attacking!”

In the last clash, they had seen the Xuanwu Army quietly wait and only attack afterward.

But this time, it had chosen to charge first.

“Hmph!”

A cold snort came in reply from beneath the heavy armor.

Rumble! Amidst the neighing of horses, the officer’s assessment became reality, and five hundred Xuanwu Army soldiers urged their horses into a gallop, Zhao Fengchen leading the way. Suddenly, the force split into two streams that attacked Duan Zhuyan from two separate angles.

Arrow Formation!

Wang Chong’s Wushang Cavalry had pushed this formation to even greater levels of fame. It was a traditional and extremely powerful offensive formation. While Zhao Fengchen’s Xuanwu Army was skilled in both attack and defense, its defense was superior, so it was extremely rare for it to use the offensive Arrow Formation.

One hundred feet, two hundred feet, three hundred feet!

The five hundred cavalry had rapidly divided into two, their movements so smooth that they seemed to be part of a single body. In less than three hundred feet, the cavalry had reached maximum speed, their momentum like a tsunami intent on dashing everything before it into pieces.

Building up speed to the maximum within a distance of three hundred feet was also something Zhao Fengchen had learned from Wang Chong. However, only a few people in the world could actually master this skill and build up so much speed in such a short amount of time.

Whoosh!

The energy created by the cavalry charge quickly transformed into a howling gale that stirred up great clouds of dust. The spectators cried out in alarm, their faces paling as they drew back from the field.

But in the face of this enormous momentum, Duan Zhuyan and his Feather Forest Army were unmoved.

“Hmph!”

When the Xuanwu Army had charged out more than a thousand feet, Duan Zhuyan snorted in disdain, and then with a clattering of armor, his Feather Forest Army charged forward like an arrow leaving its bow.

“Ah!”

Many people cried out in alarm at this sudden movement, and the tension instantly soared. The two armies were now charging at each other.

One thousand feet! Five hundred feet!

Rumble!

But just when it seemed like the two armies would collide as they did last time, the five hundred Xuanwu Army cavalry suddenly scattered apart into ten teams of fifty men each.

“Ah!”

Once again, the spectators cried out in shock, and this time, even the First Prince couldn’t help but narrow his eyes.

The Cutting Formation!

In the various legends and tales bandied about in the taverns and tea houses of the capital, the Cutting Formation would always be mentioned.

Though none of them had seen it for themselves, everyone knew that when the army scattered apart like petals drifting on the wind, the god of death would appear with his scythe.

Whenever Wang Chong used the Cutting Formation on the battlefield, another renowned opponent would fall. Every opponent would feel great despair and then suffer massive losses.

Since Wang Chong had begun using this formation, no one had ever been able to stop it.

No one had expected that Zhao Fengchen’s Xuanwu Army could also use Wang Chong’s Cutting Formation!

The members of the Eastern Palace were just as surprised, their eyes flying open and their fists unconsciously clenching in anxiety.

It wasn’t that they didn’t believe in Duan Zhuyan’s strength. Wang Chong’s Cutting Formation was just too famous!

Neigh!

While the crowd was still gasping and shouting, the ten teams of Xuanwu Army soldiers turned around and converged with explosive speed, stabbing into the Feather Forest Army like ten sharp swords.

Bang!

The collision of horse against horse, armor against armor, created a massive din that made even the earth tremble. A massive shockwave exploded outward for nearly one thousand feet, turning the air blurry and indistinct.

For a moment, the entire world was silent and entranced, time seeming to have stopped for a second.

Boom!

When the crowd saw the scene at the center of the drilling ground, everyone couldn’t help but gasp in surprise, even the Imperial Army soldiers.

The orderly ranks of Duan Zhuyan’s Feather Forest Army had suddenly transformed into numerous round, fish-scale-like formations and fended off the charges of the Xuanwu Army.

The vicious and frightening ten arrows loosed by the Xuanwu Army had been accurately and inconceivably blocked. And it had only taken a few moments to accomplish this shift in formations.

“How could this be!?”

“Incredible!”

The clan scions were struck dumb.

Everyone knew the power of the Cutting Formation and knew that when Wang Chong used this formation, almost no one could stop it. But it had been easily stopped by Duan Zhuyan, whose name was unfamiliar to most people before today.

Let alone others, at this moment, even Wang Chong couldn’t help but narrow his eyes, his face turning solemn.

The Cutting Formation was not unstoppable. Its strongest trait was its sudden dispersal, avoiding the enemy and taking them by surprise, thus causing turmoil and chaos.

But if the opponent possessed sufficient resolve and their soldiers were sufficiently trained, and if they could shift formations almost instantly to block the soldiers coming in from all directions, they could completely minimize the lethality of the Cutting Formation.

But this was easier said than done, and it only seemed plausible on paper.

The time between the scattering and convergence of the Cutting Formation was less than a second, and those who could actually change their formation in such a short time were less than one in ten thousand.

“Good!”

“Hail the Feather Forest Army!”

“Duan Zhuyan! Duan Zhuyan!”

Cheers exploded over the drilling ground as all the members of the Eastern Palace faction ecstatically cheered for Duan Zhuyan and his Feather Forest Army.

While Duan Zhuyan hadn’t been very famous before this, with even his face still being completely unknown, this was no longer important. When he blocked Zhao Fengchen’s Cutting Formation assault, he instantly soared into the ranks of the finest commanders.

Bai Siling looked at the drilling ground and suddenly asked, “What formation is that?”

While everyone was stunned at Duan Zhuyan’s performance, Bai Siling was more focused on Duan Zhuyan’s scale-like formation.

Bai Siling knew Wang Chong well, and she also knew that the Cutting Formation was not so easily blocked. If prompt reaction time were all that was needed to nullify the Cutting Formation, it would have long ago been rendered useless.

Bai Siling sensed that the true power rested in the strange formation Duan Zhuyan had used.

“The Supreme River Formation!” Wang Chong slowly said, his face abnormally grim.

Understanding that Bai Siling still probably didn’t understand, Wang Chong continued to explain.

“This is a powerful formation from before Taizong’s era. It appeared in the end days of the Sui, but it has been lost since then!”

Time was the world’s most lethal weapon, and not even the most powerful of objects could resist its grinding. The renowned Nine Dragon Blood Formation of Taizong’s era several hundred years ago had lost quite a few of its nine representative halos to the river of time, and the toll had been even greater on the arts from the end days of the Sui.

“While the last days of the Sui were some of the most chaotic for the realm, it was also a blooming period where various martial arts, formations, halos, and top-class experts appeared in great quantity. The Supreme River Formation was one of this era’s best formations.

“It imitates the rivers of the world, and just as water is formless, the essence of this formation is to adjust with the situation and counter the attacks of any other formation from that era. It can even imitate the opponent and counterattack. Its greatest specialty is flexible transformation.

“The Supreme River Formation is very difficult to train in, and it places high demands on both the soldiers and the commander. Only a scant few can ever reach this level, and it was precisely for these reasons that the Supreme River Formation was lost, even before the Great Tang had been established.”

To think that this formation would appear at a time like this…!

Such was the Supreme River Formation’s difficulty that the First Prince was certainly not capable of resurrecting this formation from the last days of the Sui.

Wang Chong quickly turned his gaze to the inconspicuous Hou Junji at the First Prince’s side.

While it might have been impossible for others to revive the Supreme River Formation, it was an entirely different matter if one was talking about the Army-Shattering War God, Hou Junji!

Clang!

With a clashing of metal, Zhao Fengchen and Duan Zhuyan once more swept past each other.

After this clash, Zhao Fengchen became much more serious. No matter where Duan Zhuyan had come from, the fact that he could block the Cutting Formation made him a frightening opponent.