The Human Emperor

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

It’s about time to leave! Wang Chong said to himself.

The golden seed had finished absorbing the energies left by the Kegang Empire and Landeshunger civilization. Since there was nothing else down here, he could leave.

Just one last thing! Wang Chong said to himself as he glanced at the nearby metal sphere, which had fallen from the platform.

This metal sphere was made of some unknown material that had allowed it to emerge completely unscathed from the energy shocks just now. More importantly, Wang Chong recalled that there was another set of information inside it besides the Ifrit King.

Wang Chong walked over, picked up the metal sphere, and sent his Psychic Energy into it to inspect the final piece of information.

Buzz!

Wang Chong’s face twitched and slowly turned pale.

“I didn’t think it would be something like this!”

Grabbing the metal sphere, Wang Chong flew through the underground region, out of the hole made by the God Demon Obliteration Sword Qi, and back to the Kegang Empire ruins above.

The walls of the well were trembling, and countless pieces of dust and stone were showering down. This area was getting more unstable by the second.

“Wang Chong, what happened?”

“Wonderful! You finally came out!”

Zhangchou Jianqiong, Gao Xianzhi, and An Sishun had been waiting for Wang Chong, and they called out in relief.

After waiting for a while, they had realized that the turmoil underground was getting worse and worse. As Wang Chong had yet to come out, their anxiety finally got the better of them, and they went down to search for him. They all celebrated upon seeing that Wang Chong was unharmed.

“We can talk about what happened underground later. This place is about to collapse! Let’s get out now!” Wang Chong gravely said.

Boom! Stellar Energy surged out of his body as he swept up the group and soared upward like a cannonball, flying through the well. In just a few seconds, he had covered the distance of nearly ten thousand meters and reached the surface.

At this time, a great rumbling came from deep beneath the earth, like waves crashing against a shore, and then great plumes of dust blasted out of the well as it finally began to collapse.

The Arab noble was greatly unsettled by the great turmoil down below.

But Wang Chong had no time for him. The noises underground were only the beginning of the collapse of those two sets of ruins. They would inevitably set off an even greater chain reaction.

“Let’s go!”

Wang Chong sent out another stream of Stellar Energy to grab the Arab noble and began to flee outward. It was at this time that the ground began to sway.

The earth around the ancient well suddenly caved in.

With resounding booms, large chunks of land began to plunge into the depths.

By the time the collapse stopped several moments later, a great cloud of dust was rising from the center of Hamuhad. The large well had vanished, replaced by a massive pit with a diameter of some four hundred meters. Many of Hamuhad’s buildings had also collapsed into rubble.

All of the Arabs who had accompanied this mission were left panicked and fearful by this sight.

Hamuhad was the holy city of Arabia, the residence of Hierophant Khatabah. No Arab could have imagined this level of damage before this, but as Khatabah had been killed by that eastern King of Foreign Lands, none of them dared to say a word.

Wang Chong ignored them. Looking at his comrades, he gave a brief explanation of the Kegang Empire, but he left out the matter of the Landeshunger and the otherworldly invaders.

The calamity had yet to take place. Speaking to them about such things would only cause unnecessary panic that Wang Chong did not desire.

“So this was the case!”

They all nodded and asked no more.

The Ifrit had emerged from Hamuhad, and for them, it was enough to know that there were no other potential threats here.

Whoosh!

At this moment, there was a flapping of wings. Wang Chong looked up and saw a messenger bird flying toward him.

Wang Chong reached out to receive the bird and quickly took its letter.

“What’s wrong?” Zhangchou Jianqiong asked.

“Zhang Que has sent word. They asked Mutasim III if he knew anything about that piece of paper in the treasury mentioning the master of the Central Plains. Mutasim III didn’t have a very deep impression, only saying that some faction in the east had sent it. They claimed to have formidable capabilities and hoped for an alliance with Arabia, but Mutasim III laughed them off and shelved the request,” Wang Chong nonchalantly said, passing the letter to Zhangchou Jianqiong.

It was all as he had expected. Mutasim III had an army of millions and his empire was at its peak. He had his mind set on conquering the east and uniting the continent. He was to be the greatest sovereign of the continent, so why would he have any interest in someone claiming to be the future master of the Central Plains?

“Then haven’t we lost our only clue?”

Gao Xianzhi slightly frowned.

‘Future master of the Central Plains’.

Someone claiming this title was neither too important nor unimportant, but if this person had also tried to ally with Arabia to strike against the Great Tang, the matter took on a greater significance.

“Could we find some of his close aides? Mutasim III might not remember, but some of them might know more,” Gao Xianzhi said.

“It will probably be very difficult. These Arab nobles are mostly incompetent, even more arrogant than Mutasim III. The eastern world doesn’t even exist in their vision!” Wang Chong indifferently said.

Arab Governors like Abu Muslim at least had some understanding of the Great Tang and the east. But these nobles who had never stepped onto the battlefield were so full of themselves that the east might as well have not existed to them.

Wang Chong was already keenly aware of this.

“Reporting!”

At this moment, the galloping of a horse came from the distance. A few moments later, an officer of some sort rode through the gates of Hamuhad.

“Milord, there’s been some progress on the matter you asked us to investigate.”

The officer pulled on the reins of his horse and swiftly dismounted in front of the group.

“Take me there!” Wang Chong ordered, his eyes glinting with cold light.

……

The area beneath the supreme Temple of the Arabian Empire was dimly lit. Close inspection had revealed the Temple to be hiding a massive secret area beneath its grounds.

Pulsing flesh hung from the walls, bulging with veins, some of them even having hairs. They seemed to be breathing as they tensed and relaxed.

Besides these pieces of flesh, Wang Chong saw many strange formations, altars, platforms, and metal instruments.

Armored Tang generals had already completely locked the room down.

Several of them were guarding the area to prevent anyone else from entering. Another group was inspecting the machines, and yet another group was responsible for detaining the monks who had been performing the experiments.

This was the most mysterious place in the Arabian Empire, the place where the Behemoth Army was created and raised.

“Milord, according to your orders, the moment we entered Arabia, we began to search for where the Behemoths were created. This Temple was one of our most important targets.

“These monks refused to speak at first, but we managed to find some clues that led us here,” the general who had first reported the matter sternly said.

“When we arrived, these people were in the middle of packing up and withdrawing. Some of them were also ready to destroy the machines upon realizing that they had been discovered.

“Fortunately, because of Your Highness’s advance orders, we managed to capture the majority of them and detain them here.

“But these things are far too bizarre. We don’t dare to recklessly touch them. We simply sealed the area and waited for Your Highness.”

The treasury of Arabia, Khatabah’s city of Hamuhad, and the High Priest’s Temple were areas that Wang Chong had already issued plans to seize before stepping into Arabia. The number one priority was to find these three targets!

Wang Chong had made meticulous arrangements so that each team was ready to go to work, executing their missions simultaneously while not interfering with each other.

This team was one of them.

Wang Chong examined his surroundings, as did Gao Xianzhi and the others.

This underground area was weird and frightening. In some ways, the things here completely overturned their understanding of the world.

“Impossible!”

“Where did this High Priest come from? Where did he get these things that allowed him to create the Behemoth Army?”

Gao Xianzhi walked up to a metal platform. The metal platform gleamed, and in its center was a depression from which spewed a stinking, dark green mist.

The Arabian Behemoth Army could destroy countries and cities. It had helped the Arabs defeat countless opponents, even Bahram’s Sassanid Dynasty.

If not for Wang Chong, his giant ballistae, and his Behemoth Slayers, the Great Tang might have been their next conquest.

In every aspect, the Behemoths were mythical creatures that never should have appeared in this world.

“The High Priest is dead now, so it’s impossible to investigate on that front!” Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian Wang Zhongsi suddenly said.

“These Behemoths completely defy common sense. My greatest worry is that if this technique becomes widespread, it can be used to deal immense damage to the empire.”

Wang Zhongsi creased his brow in worry.