The Human Emperor

A civil official suddenly shot to his feet and loudly said, “Your Majesty! For this feast of all countries, all the gifts presented by the countries were received by the Bureau of Rites to be stored in the treasury. For An Yaluoshan, as a major border official, to personally offer a gift to His Majesty is against the rules! Moreover, the Son of Heaven is of most revered status, but this gift has not been inspected. If something happens, who will take the responsibility?”

“Ridiculous! Do you mean to say that our beloved subject An would dare to harm Us?”

The ‘Sage Emperor’ broke out in laughter upon hearing the official’s words.

“Wen Lan, what rubbish are you saying?” A Bureau of Rites official was waiting and ready to stand up and loudly rebuke him. “So many people are watching this feast of all countries, and you insist on damaging His Majesty’s dignity?”

The Bureau of Rites was responsible for planning out this feast. Wen Lan’s words were unquestionably a criticism against it.

“Haha, everyone, there is no need to be concerned. An Yaluoshan only feels respect and love for His Majesty. How could I harm a hair on His Majesty’s head? If everyone is worried, An Yaluoshan will open it and let everyone have a look first!”

An Yaluoshan heartily laughed, apparently not minding Wen Lan’s doubts.

Wang Chong said nothing, but his brow furrowed even more.

Clap!

An Yaluoshan held the golden box in one hand while his left hand removed the clasp and opened the lid.

Whoooah!

The moment the golden box was opened, a blinding light filled the Pavilion of Petal and Sepal, and all the torches, lanterns, and fire basins seemed to momentarily dim.

“Ah!”

Outside, the countless inhabitants of the capital cried out in shock.

In their eyes, it was like a large moon had appeared above the open-air hall of the Pavilion of Petal and Sepal, so bright that it stole radiance from the actual moon above.

“What’s that?”

“Such intense light!”

“Let me see! The new Andong Protector-General is truly generous, gifting the Sage Emperor such a supreme treasure!”

The packed crowd outside stretched their necks to see what treasure An Yaluoshan had gifted.

“It’s a luminescent pearl!”

Only Xu Qiqin managed to keep her cool, instantly recognizing that the treasure in An Yaluoshan’s box was a giant luminescent pearl.

Though luminous pearls were precious, they were everywhere in the Great Tang Imperial Palace. While the Imperial Palace might not have had one hundred, it had at least seventy, many of which had been acquired during the occupation of the Arabian Empire. Wang Chong had seized many luminescent pearls from Mutasim III’s treasury and brought them back to the Imperial Palace.

But all of these pearls seemed dim in comparison to An Yaluoshan’s pearl, like comparing fireflies to the moon.

This was because An Yaluoshan’s pearl was simply too huge!

“Your Majesty, Youzhou borders the Eastern Sea, where divine dragons dwell and spiritual energy gathers. In the past, when fishermen were out at sea and the weather was misty, they would see divine dragons crossing the skies.

“This lowly subject obtained this luminescent pearl by chance from a fisherman. As this pearl glowed at night, the fisherman said that it was a luminescent pearl, but when the lowly subject obtained it, he immediately knew that this pearl was no ordinary object. This was no luminescent pearl, but a dragon pearl!”

An Yaluoshan’s words immediately caused an uproar.

Wang Chong and Xu Qiqin coldly watched, but the rest of the crowd chattered amongst themselves.

This treasure in An Yaluoshan’s hand was clearly no ordinary object. But to say it was a dragon pearl was clearly a little too much.

“Haha, if everyone does not believe, just watch!”

An Yaluoshan seemed to have predicted this reaction, and he heartily laughed. Boom! He instantly sent Stellar Energy into the head-sized pearl.

Above the large pearl, small mountains and gurgling rivers began to form, and even tiny little trees and animals. This was clearly a miniature model of the land.

“This… is a miniature map of the Central Plains!”

A Bureau of Revenue official shot to his feet in excitement.

The pearl was displaying none other than the mountains and rivers of the Central Plains, and even birds and beasts were vividly realized. If one carefully listened, one could even hear the flowing of the rivers, as if they were real rivers rather than illusions.

Bang!

All the officials in the Pavilion of Petal and Sepal were struck dumb.

“The ‘Records of Master Guan Wei’ mentioned dragon pearls. They said that dragon pearls were congregations of spiritual energy. They appeared similar to luminescent pearls, but the spiritual energy in them resonates with the Nine Provinces, allowing them to display an image of the realm.”

“The first book of the ‘Three Texts’ says that dragon pearls are the size of a head and are the essence of the sun and moon, an auspicious omen.”

“The ancient texts really do say that the Eastern Sea is where Dragon Qi gathers. Could it be that the Andong Protector-General really did obtain a dragon pearl?!”

Many of the officials taking part in this feast of all countries were eminent and erudite scholars.

An Yaluoshan’s gift truly was very similar to the legendary dragon pearl!

If An Yaluoshan was gifting a dragon pearl, then the gift was one of an entirely different nature.

Wang Chong coolly watched. Of course, he did not believe that this was some dragon pearl.

Even the Arabian Empire’s savage beasts had been created using the ancient technology on the embryos of apes, lions, rhinos, tigers, and other such beasts, and then further nurtured with special techniques. Even the Ifrit had been created by human hands. Nothing was born from the heavens and earth. Dragon pearls did not really exist in nature.

There was no doubt that An Yaluoshan was offering an extraordinary treasure, but the projection of the mountains and rivers was nothing impressive. A few special techniques could easily pull it off.

An Yaluoshan stood in the center of the hall, squinting and nodding in satisfaction as he listened to the reaction from the crowd.

“Your Majesty, this lowly subject is a Hu, born far from the culture of the Central Plains, and there are many things he does not understand. But this lowly subject does know that Your Majesty is the manifestation of the true dragon, the Son of Heaven. This lowly subject thought that since he happened to come upon this dragon pearl, he should naturally offer it to Your Majesty, the True Dragon Son of Heaven!”

As An Yaluoshan spoke, he deferentially bowed, offering up the dragon pearl.

“Hahaha!”

The ‘Sage Emperor’ was delighted by An Yaluoshan’s words.

“My good An Yaluoshan, you are truly too kind! Come; let Us see this dragon pearl of yours!”

As the ‘Sage Emperor’ spoke, he waved a hand at An Yaluoshan.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

An Yaluoshan was all smiles as he came forward, holding the dragon pearl in both hands.

Everyone watched as An Yaluoshan got within a few steps of the ‘Sage Emperor’ and then went down on one knee, lowering his head as he raised the dragon pearl.

Everything fell silent as everyone stared at the Sage Emperor and An Yaluoshan.

Wang Chong said nothing as he stared at the Sage Emperor, An Yaluoshan, and the so-called dragon pearl.

He had been examining An Yaluoshan this entire time, but he still could not see what An Yaluoshan was up to.

There didn’t seem to be anything strange about the pearl in his hand, other than the fact that it could glow like a luminescent pearl. But Wang Chong’s intuition told him that things were not as simple as they seemed.

An Yaluoshan was taking a great risk in coming to the capital, meaning that he had not come simply to offer a gift.

But Wang Chong did not dare to act recklessly until he had firm evidence.

The Sage Emperor of the present was not the Sage Emperor of the past. Leaving behind incriminating evidence could not only fail to help, but also give the ‘Sage Emperor’ a pretext to get rid of him!

Buzz!

On his throne, the ‘Sage Emperor’ finally reached out a hand toward An Yaluoshan’s dragon pearl.

“A good treasure! Is it really a dragon pearl?”

The ‘Sage Emperor’ was influenced by the excitement of the crowd, and the light from the pearl created a variety of shadows on his face. But just as the Sage Emperor’s hand touched the dragon pearl, something inside the pearl seemed to activate. Whoosh! A furtive energy shot into the ‘Sage Emperor”s body with astonishing speed.

The ‘Sage Emperor’ trembled and raised his head, staring at the half-kneeling An Yaluoshan with a look of… joy!

“Not good!”

Everyone was entranced by the dragon pearl, but not Wang Chong. He had noticed the look in the Sage Emperor’s eyes and the change in his body.

The ‘Sage Emperor’ had a chaotic energy streaked with a band of extremely pure energy. But the moment the ‘Sage Emperor’ touched the dragon pearl, Wang Chong sensed his energy darkening, turning even more chaotic.

Moreover, Wang Chong had previously been able to sense some of the true Sage Emperor’s energy, but now, as if it had been sealed, that energy began to rapidly weaken.

“Good!”

The ‘Sage Emperor’, or ‘Third Son Xuan’, snatched the dragon pearl from An Yaluoshan and gripped it in his hand.

His eyes were bright, his face brimming with excitement.

“An Yaluoshan, We like this dragon pearl! You are truly too kind! Come; reward him!”

The ‘Sage Emperor’ was happy– no, ecstatic!

An Yaluoshan was truly a wondrous person!

He seemed to know exactly what was lacking!

When he wanted to bring women into the palace, this Hu sent him one hundred Hu beauties, all of them virgins!

That other fellow had been opposing him all this time, even getting Gao Lishi to secretly work against him and brew up medicine to suppress his personality and make him sleep for several decades. He had been trying to find a way to remove this annoyance, but he had never been able to find a very effective method. He had never expected someone to deliver the solution right to his doorstep.