The Human Emperor

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

When Wang Chong communicated with the Stone of Destiny in his mind, he could clearly sense that a new and gloomy region had appeared behind many of his skills. This meant that, just like with Soul Fire, the Stone of Destiny had the space to expand or evolve many other skills!

“Stone of Destiny, continue assessing. Is there a skill that has the potential to conceal me from opponents of Genesis Supreme’s level once upgraded?” Wang Chong said, his eyes shining.

With a proper direction to look, the Stone of Destiny immediately gave a reply.

“User’s request received. Assessing user’s skills…

“Assessment complete. User has no skills capable of upgrading!”

Wang Chong’s heart sank upon hearing the Stone of Destiny’s final conclusion, his face grimacing.

“Continue assessing! Attempt all possibilities!” Wang Chong requested.

“Request received. Assessing again…

“Assessment complete. User has no skills capable of upgrading!

“Notice! User has only previously attempted to upgrade primary skills, not branch skills. Would user like to attempt this?”

The Stone of Destiny replied with something new this time.

Wang Chong’s eyes brightened as he replied with glee, “Assess all branch skills!”

“User request received. Assessing all branch skills. But this search will consume Destiny Energy. Does user wish to continue?” the Stone of Destiny said.

Wang Chong firmly nodded.

After what seemed like an eternity, Wang Chong finally heard the response he was looking for.

“Target skill detected!

“Qi Blood Darkening! A branch upgrade to the Blood Reformation ability!

“This ability can greatly modify user’s Stellar Energy, blood, and mental energy, assisting the user in hiding from the senses of peak experts!

“Notice: this skill does not completely eliminate user’s aura, only significantly reduce the range of user’s aura so that the target cannot sense user’s aura from a distance. But as a corresponding price, within one thousand feet, user’s aura will be twenty times more concentrated!

“When user uses this skill and the target comes within one thousand feet, user will be directly sensed by the other party no matter how user attempts to hide!

“When using ‘Qi Blood Darkening’, user will consume 1 point of Destiny Energy every second, and the skill can be used for five days at maximum. Afterwards, the skill will enter a resting period for one month, unable to be used.”

Information regarding ‘Qi Blood Darkening’ emerged in Wang Chong’s mind.

“Wonderful!”

Wang Chong grew agitated, his eyes bright, as he inspected this new ability.

Even though Qi Blood Darkening could only be used for five days, upon which it would enter a one month cooldown period, this would probably be enough to cover the distance to the divine embryo from the capital.

The only problem was the astonishing cost of using this skill.

One point every second didn’t seem like a lot, but if it were used continuously for five days, it would end up accumulating to a frightening cost of four-hundred-thousand-some points of Destiny Energy.

No wonder it’s a branch skill! It consumes far more Destiny Energy than ordinary skills! Wang Chong said to himself.

In addition, Wang Chong was beginning to understand the principle behind Qi Blood Darkening. It apparently retracted those energies of a martial artist that were easier to detect to within a range of one thousand feet. This energy was isolated from the rest of the world, extremely concentrated within one thousand feet and completely imperceptible beyond it.

Whether or not I can peacefully leave the capital and fool Genesis Supreme to get the divine embryo will depend on this Qi Blood Darkening ability!

……

Late in the night, to the southeast of the capital, a black-robed figure appeared out of the void and silently observed the distant city.

A breeze ruffled the black robe, but the man’s body remained fixed in the air.

The night was quiet as Genesis Supreme’s eyes slowly moved away from the brightly lit Imperial Palace and settled on the King of Foreign Lands Residence to the southeast of the palace.

Next to Genesis Supreme, the Tianfu Divine Lord, who had been heavily injured in his previous battle with Wang Chong, noiselessly appeared.

“Milord, is there really nothing that can be done?”

The capital didn’t seem that different from any other city of the Great Tang, but for the men in black, it had become a death zone.

The Tianfu Divine Lord scanned the area and was able to detect a barrier of ripples that no ordinary person could see covering the capital.

These ripples did no harm to ordinary people, but they were fatal to the men in black.

Around seven days ago, many men in black had infiltrated the capital, originally planning to enter the palace while Li Taiyi was on his deathbed and seize several important objects from him. But to their shock, Li Taiyi had been one step ahead of them, and the Miniature Nine Provinces Domain he had set down beneath the capital turned into a nightmare for the men in black.

Countless men in black had violently died, and if the Tianfu Divine Lord had not reacted swiftly enough, he would have also died in the capital.

Just thinking about it had his heart thumping in fear.

At his level in strength, almost no one in the world could oppose him. How could he have almost died?!

“It’s pointless!” Genesis Supreme finally said as he observed the Miniature Nine Provinces Domain. “The basis of this formation is the Imperial Palace. To destroy the formation, we would have to start with the Nine Heavens Ten Earths Three Emperors Formation. Trying to dismantle this formation is already an exceedingly difficult task, not even considering that none of us can even enter the capital.

“Damn Li Taiyi—we all underestimated him! This bastard managed to analyze our foundation energy and wipe out our men even after his death!” Genesis Supreme cursed.

Formations were normally unable to distinguish between friend and foe. Moreover, the Celestial God Organization had many different kinds of arts, and each of its members had a different kind of energy. But Li Taiyi could target the Miniature Nine Provinces Domain against them, meaning that he had clearly found the commonality between all of them, allowing the formation to accurately exterminate all the men in black in its range.

The Tianfu Divine Lord also scowled.

He turned to Genesis Supreme and said, “Milord, what do we do? Do we really have no way of seizing those ants?”

He had already learned just how powerful the formation was, and knew that he had no ability to break it. But Genesis Supreme was different. He was already at the peak of the Grotto Heaven realm, far above him. With ‘Heaven’ still sealed, he could only place his hopes on Genesis Supreme.

“No way of getting at them? Hmph, how could that be?”

Genesis Supreme coldly snorted, his eyes quickly locking onto the King of Foreign Lands Residence.

“While the formation can run on its own, its core is still being operated by someone. With Li Taiyi dead, someone else must be in charge of the formation’s core. As long as we can find this person and take that mark from him, we can naturally take control of the formation and thus destroy it!

“Regardless of where Li Taiyi hid it, we have ways of finding it!” Genesis Supreme sternly said.

His eyes were fixed on Wang Chong’s residence.

With the Sage Emperor dead, the one most likely to have the formation’s mark was not the newly-enthroned Li Heng, but that Child of Destruction!

For many years, Li Taiyi had possessed a certain object that the Celestial God Organization had ardently desired, and this item was one of the important reasons the Celestial God Organization wanted to deal with Li Taiyi.

Alas, Li Taiyi was too cunning and shrewd. Despite wracking their minds, they failed to find that object.

“But that boy is extremely cunning, perhaps just as cunning as Li Taiyi. He has control over the formation’s key, so if he plays a turtle and never leaves, we have no way of getting at him,” the Tianfu Divine Lord worriedly said.

The severe wound Wang Chong had inflicted on him in the last battle had also left a deep psychological wound.

The Tianfu Divine Lord had not taken Wang Chong seriously before, but now, he was extremely wary and fearful.

“Playing a turtle?”

Genesis Supreme coldly chuckled.

“He can play a turtle for now, but forever? Tell An Yaluoshan in Youzhou to start some trouble. When the time comes, he’ll naturally come out!”

Genesis Supreme sneered.

“This subordinate will deliver this order!”

Whoosh!

In a gust of wind, Genesis Supreme and the Tianfu Divine Lord vanished without a trace.

……

Several days later…

“Imperial Army drill! Everyone, stand aside!”

The muscular soldiers of the Imperial Army, their energies blazing, rode out of the eastern, southern, and western gates of the capital, the hooves of their horses thundering.

Whoosh!

The common folk of the capital retreated to the sides of the road upon seeing the Imperial Army march out.

“What’s going on? Why is the Imperial Army causing such a stir?”

“Didn’t you hear? The new Emperor is planning to reform the Imperial Army and has dispatched the Imperial Army out of the city to train. In the future, the Imperial Army will have to go onto the battlefield!”

“Ah! I see!”

As word spread through the crowd, they began to disperse in understanding.

With the Sage Emperor’s passing, the common people of the capital all held great respect for this new Emperor who had some of the appearance of the Sage Emperor. When they heard that this was Li Heng’s order, all of them stood to the side and were very supportive of this action.

Tens of thousands of soldiers surged out of the city and quickly began to drill, creating a grandiose scene.

While everyone’s attention was drawn to the large-scale drills of the Imperial Army, no one noticed a figure several li north of the capital’s northern gate, keeping close to the ground as they swiftly made their way northward.

“Success!”

Wang Chong’s eyes flashed, and as he glanced back at the capital, he let out a sigh of relief.

The energy around him at this time was extremely concentrated, but beyond one thousand feet, there was no way of sensing it.

This was the effect of Qi Blood Darkening!

But still, Wang Chong did not dare to be careless.