The Human Emperor

Could it be the Caspian Sea? Wang Chong somberly wondered.

The Caspian Sea was not a sea, but it was truly different from ordinary lakes. Its water was salty like the sea, and its size was truly vast.

For the faceless man to call it a sea on the land was not necessarily wrong.

Is it that far?

Wang Chong narrowed his eyes.

This world was very different from the one Wang Chong remembered, but the general topography was not that different. If it was the Caspian Sea, then it was extremely far from the Great Tang.

And based on the current state of the world, that area should have been a desolate and sparsely inhabited place.

Wang Chong quickly got ahold of himself and asked, “The teleportation gate you spoke of is near this sea?”

“Mm!”

The faceless man nodded.

“There were many men in black gathered there, some of them so powerful as to have already reached the Subtle realm. I killed one of them and infiltrated the group, and then I watched as they opened a spacetime tunnel.

“This spacetime tunnel seemed to lead to some mysterious world!

“I wanted to find a chance to destroy that teleportation gate, but the enemy’s strength was too high, and the gate was too heavily guarded. I simply didn’t have the strength to even get close to the core. In addition, although I wasn’t able to enter, I heard a certain name from those people: Firmament Supreme!”

“What?!”

This name made Wang Chong tremble all over, his face paling.

This was the first mention of another expert carrying the ‘Supreme’ title besides Genesis Supreme. The Sage Emperor’s notebook had mentioned that ‘Heaven’ had twelve powerful ‘Supremes’ under his command. Each one possessed astonishing cultivation and served as one of Heaven’s most powerful fighting forces!

Each one had lived for an incredibly long time.

Genesis Supreme was only one of them!

The teleportation gate the faceless man spoke of was clearly guarded by one of those terrifying Supremes!

This was certainly not good news for Wang Chong.

Genesis Supreme alone was already hard enough to deal with, where encountering him would mean certain death, and now, another Supreme had appeared!

The hall became deathly still as Wang Chong grimly pondered this new development.

With his current level of strength, going there would mean certain death, but he also could not allow the teleportation gate to remain unattended. This would be the same as raising a tiger in his home.

By the time the army of otherworldly invaders arrived, everything would be too late.

After some thought, Wang Chong finally made his decision.

“Give me a detailed account of the situation there!”

The Caspian Sea was extremely far from the Central Plains, and this Firmament Supreme had never appeared before, so there was no guarantee that he would recognize Wang Chong.

Moreover, if the faceless man could go in and come back out, there was no reason he couldn’t. As long as he was careful, he might be able to find some flaw and destroy the teleportation gate.

Even if he couldn’t find one, he could just come back and think of another plan.

No matter what, he could not ignore this teleportation gate connected to the world of the otherworldly invaders.

Once the faceless man had turned over the information he had gathered, he departed in the same way he had come, without alarming a single person, his destination unknown.

Wang Chong had never asked him about it.

As for Wang Chong, he began to deeply contemplate his next move.

It’s still too risky. It seems I can only send one of my clones! Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

It was still unknown if Firmament Supreme could recognize his energy.

That he wouldn’t recognize him was only speculation on his part. If Genesis Supreme and Firmament Supreme shared some secret communication method, he would essentially be throwing himself into a net if he went personally.

But the three divine embryos had different energies, and not even Genesis Supreme might be able to recognize them.

With this thought, Wang Chong communicated with one of the divine embryos down below.

Buzz!

The sturdy floor in Wang Chong’s main hall rippled like water, and a green-black divine embryo slowly emerged from the ground.

A stalwart body, tough armor, immense energy, terrifying aura… and a face similar to Wang Chong’s—this black-armored divine embryo was the first divine embryo Wang Chong had obtained from beneath the Black Flame Mountains, and it was also the strongest and the one he was most proficient with.

Wang Chong had given it the name ‘Divine Embryo 1’!

Divine Embryo 1 was already at the apex of the Subtle realm, just one step away from the Grotto Heaven realm.

But as the saying went, ‘one step away, but worlds apart’. Even though he was a sliver away from the Grotto Heaven realm, that sliver was like a massive chasm!

Fortunately, Divine Embryo 1 had a formidable Earth Movement technique. At crucial moments, it could travel several hundred li into the earth. Even if it encountered that Firmament Supreme mentioned by the faceless man, it could still safely escape.

Thus, it was the best choice for ‘scout’ in this ‘Caspian Sea Operation’.

Clang!

In the blink of an eye and a metallic clatter, a large golden pavilion appeared behind Divine Embryo 1, as resplendent as the sun.

The Supreme and Infinite Origin Immortal Art!

Divine Embryo 1 was truly divinely talented. It had taken only a short while to cultivate to level twenty of the Origin Immortal Art’s Trayastrimsa Heaven, and at a greater level of proficiency than even Wang Chong.

It was clear that Divine Embryo 1 had already cultivated it to a transcendent level.

Divine Embryo 1’s talent is truly incredible. With the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art and the Origin Immortal Art, paired with its incredible strength, it should be a match for any opponent beneath the Grotto Heaven realm, perhaps even deserving the title of ‘Number One of the Subtle realm’.

Wang Chong couldn’t help but sigh in wonder at this sight.

Of course, he was also excited and pleased.

He had needed a significant amount of time and energy to cultivate the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art and Origin Immortal Art, and there had been some impurities mixed into the process. But only a short while after his return, Divine Embryo 1 had already reached a masterful level in these two supreme arts.

Not even ‘one thousand li in a day’ could describe this speed!

In terms of strength, Divine Embryo 1 was probably even stronger than him!

But after summoning Divine Embryo 1, after a few moments of silence, Wang Chong decided to summon Divine Embryo 2 and Divine Embryo 3 as well.

Buzz!

The ground near Divine Embryo 1 rippled as the two other divine embryos emerged.

Divine Embryo 1 was using its Earth Movement ability to call out the others.

The hall was quiet as the two divine embryos exuded their golden and red halos.

Compared to the height of Divine Embryo 1, Divine Embryo 2 and Divine Embryo 3 were significantly shorter, like comparing an adult to children. Besides that, the dazzling radiance of Divine Embryo 1 was significantly brighter than the other two.

These two divine embryos were clearly much slower in growing than Divine Embryo 1.

Moreover, Wang Chong had discovered that they lacked any special abilities other than immense strength, perhaps because they had not fully matured yet.

There was a clear gap between them and Divine Embryo 1!

These three divine embryos all have different natures, but they share the same origin. Moreover, they clearly share some special connection through blood! With these two divine embryos assisting, it should be more than enough! Wang Chong said to himself.

Bang!

With this thought, Divine Embryo 1 and the other two divine embryos traveled through the earth and began to move to the northwest with astonishing speed.

Outside, the faceless man was waiting for them.

……

With Wang Chong presiding over the capital, everything was proceeding smoothly.

Each day, more coal was dug out and sent to the interior.

Each day, large quantities of grain were bought from the surrounding countries and gathered.

Each day, many stalwart youths were recruited into the army!

Numerous soldiers and resources were being sent from all parts of the empire to the northeast.

The great machine of the Great Tang was experiencing major changes each day, immense amounts of manpower and resources being effectively put to work for the sake of the coming war.

At the same time, Wang Chong’s three divine embryos were traveling through the ground, the faceless man traveling on the surface, as they headed toward the shores of the Caspian Sea in the distant northwest.

The faceless man had Wang Chong’s token and could switch out his horse whenever necessary, so he could travel without stopping. As for the three divine embryos, they possessed such vast amounts of spiritual energy that they knew nothing about exhaustion!

Fifteen days later, the group reached the Western Regions without garnering any attention.

The Western Regions was thriving, completely different from when Wang Chong first arrived. Even though there were thirty-six kingdoms in this region, the Great Tang had maximal influence in the area.

The war banners of the Great Tang could be spotted in many areas, particularly those of the King of Foreign Lands and the Qixi Protectorate, symbols of Wang Chong’s power.

And there were also many more Han to be seen in the Western Regions.

Wherever these Han went, the Hu would look upon them with respectful eyes, no longer the hostile and rejecting eyes of the past.

The past served as an example for those to come!

The conquest of Arabia had silenced the Western Regions. No one dared to oppose the Great Tang any longer!

The Great Tang’s power in the region had swelled to the maximum.

Wang Chong’s party stayed in the Western Regions for only a short time before heading off toward that ‘sea on the land’ spoken of by the faceless man.

Several days later, they arrived in a deserted region which even the Hu of the Western Regions did not usually visit.

There were few supplies to be found. Food was secondary to the lack of water.

But the three divine embryos didn’t need to drink or eat, and the faceless man had long ago grown accustomed to a harsh lifestyle.

Completely unaffected, they ‘fed on the wind and slept under the sky’. After traveling for around half a month, they once more arrived in a region in which water and grass were abundant.

“Master, up ahead is the place I spoke of! We need to be careful from here!”

The faceless man, riding upon a Ferghana steed, pointed ahead.

In his other hand was the metal sphere Wang Chong had given him, intensely flashing.

This was a sign that the destination wasn’t far.