The Human Emperor

The man who had emerged from the ground looked around, and then he proceeded to ignore the fierce battle taking place around him and Zhao Fengchen’s group in front of him, and shoot straight for the distant Taiji Palace.

Upon his Ferghana steed, Li Xuanyi saw the man’s face clearly and cried out in alarm, “It’s you!”

This cry of shock drew everyone’s attention, but Li Xuanyi seemed to not notice.

“The deposed Crown Prince, Li Xuantu!”

Li Xuanyi’s mind contained only one thought.

Thirty years ago, during the Divine Dragon Coup, Li Xuanyi had been only ten-some years old, but as a future Grand Marshal of the Imperial Army, he had displayed an astonishing level of talent that allowed him to know many things.

Eastern Palace Crown Prince Li Xuantu!

He had been a resoundingly famous existence of that era.

His talent, strength, daring, and list of astonishing accomplishments had won him the admiration of all.

Though Li Xuanyi had been praised by many for his outstanding talent, as a martial genius of the younger generation, even he felt admiration for this Crown Prince, acknowledging that he was inferior.

This was an existence that all young martial artists looked up to!

If the Sage Emperor had not come out of nowhere, and if not for the Divine Dragon Coup, the Emperor of the Great Tang might have been someone else.

But this was only a possibility. The truth was that after that tragic coup, Li Xuantu’s name completely disappeared from the history of the Great Tang.

Li Xuanyi had never imagined that the deposed Crown Prince who was rumored to have died long ago would reappear again after thirty years!

Li Xuantu glanced down at Li Xuanyi and coldly chuckled.

“I didn’t think that there was still someone who remembered this prince. As this is the case, this prince will spare your life!”

Buzz!

As he spoke, Li Xuantu extended a fair hand from his black robe, pressing down against the air. The fabric of space trembled, and a black Halo of Spacetime surrounded by a layer of faint smoke began to rapidly expand. With the weight of a mountain, it descended on the people below.

“Not good!”

“Careful!”

The sky darkened as Li Xuantu took action, and when Bai Hanzhou, Zhao Fengchen, and the Imperial Army Marshals felt the immense power contained in that black Halo of Spacetime, they immediately felt the scent of death fill their noses, and their faces paled.

“Everyone, strike!”

Everyone focused all of their power on the sky, their Stellar Energies gathering together and shooting toward the black Halo of Spacetime.

But Li Xuantu’s casual strike smashed through their combined attack like it was made of paper, the torrent of Stellar Energy shattering apart on first contact.

Bang!

The black Halo of Spacetime slammed into the ground with a boom, sending thousands of Imperial Army elites together with Bai Hanzhou and Zhao Fengchen flying backward through the air, all of them heavily injured.

Screams and moans of pain could be heard all around the imperial prison, and the roles of attacker and defender on the battlefield were instantly reversed.

Zhao Fengchen and company were incapable of taking even one blow from Li Xuantu.

On the Imperial Army side, only Li Xuanyi was still standing and unharmed. The rest of the Imperial Army soldiers had been blown back, their howls of pain filling the air.

Li Xuanyi stood in a daze, his body shivering.

When that black Halo of Spacetime passed by him, he felt as if he had brushed shoulders with death.

Too powerful!

Li Xuantu was far more powerful than they were, reaching a level that few, if any, of them could ever reach. There was simply no contest.

Bang!

Seeing this, the numerous prisoners in front of the imperial prison raised their arms and cheered.

Fumeng Lingcha, Duan Zhuyan, and Huang Tianzhao had been rendered speechless, standing in a daze.

During this rebellion in the imperial prison, the three of them only knew that some immense energy had broken out of the ground and shattered all of their cells, destroying the formations and seals that bound them. With this rare opportunity and the chaos in the prison, the three of them had joined the rest of the group in escaping through the fissure.

For the moment, they had ignored the source of that power erupting from the earth.

“It seems that he was the one who shattered the earth and destroyed the cells!”

Fumeng Lingcha stared in shock at that robed figure in the air.

A voice rang out amongst the prisoners. “This is Crown Prince Li Xuantu from Emperor Gaozong’s reign, Emperor Gaozong’s favored successor, the right and true inheritor of the throne! Everyone was able to escape the imperial prison due to His Highness the Crown Prince’s efforts. Everyone, hurry and pay respects to His Highness!”

Everyone immediately turned to the speaker.

“Huang Xiaotian!”

Huang Tianzhao focused on the figure emerging from the fissure and immediately recognized him.

In the Rebellion of the Three Princes, he and Huang Xiaotian had together joined with the First Prince, but later on, in the Imperial Army competition, Huang Xiaotian had been defeated, losing First Prince Li Ying’s favor. The two had not interacted much after that, but Huang Tianzhao could still recognize him at a glance.

But in a flash, Huang Tianzhao’s eyes turned to the figure hiding in Huang Xiaotian’s shadow.

This man was wearing an official’s hat and had a black scarf casually tied around his face. He stood amidst the prisoners like a crane amongst chickens. Upon noticing Huang Tianzhao’s gaze, the man unconsciously turned away.

Even so, Huang Tianzhao felt something familiar about this man.

And his intuition told Huang Tianzhao that even though Huang Xiaotian was the one who had spoken, he was simply the messenger of that man hiding behind him, who was the true planner of this breakout.

As if knowing what Huang Tianzhao was thinking, Huang Xiaotian used a message transmission art, gathering his voice into a bundle and sending it into Huang Tianzhao’s ears.

“Sir Huang, stop staring. The man behind me is none other than the current Prime Minister, Lord Li! The current Divine Majesty is young and is not fit for this great responsibility. Lord Li discovered that the Crown Prince from Emperor Gaozong’s reign, Li Xuantu, was imprisoned under the imperial prison, so he came to release him!

“I am sure Milord understands what the current situation in the court is. The new Emperor is good friends with King of Foreign Lands Wang Chong, and with them there, we cannot hope to stick out our heads for the rest of our lives. As they say, fortune and fame are sought in danger. Milord, if you wish for fame just as much as I do, this is the best opportunity!”

“What?!”

Huang Tianzhao trembled in shock, a tinge of surprise appearing on his face.

He once more glanced at the man behind Huang Xiaotian, and he finally understood why he seemed familiar.

The mighty Prime Minister of the Great Tang, the leader of all the officials, would walk the official avenues every day to Taihe Palace. Wherever he went, the officials would all bow. How could a Grand Marshal of the Imperial Army not find him familiar?

If the one behind this operation was Prime Minister Li Linfu, then everything changed.

There was no doubt that the man in the air was the deposed Crown Prince, Li Xuantu!

But what shook Huang Tianzhao the most were Huang Xiaotian’s last words.

Fame and fortune were sought in danger, and if the man in the air really was Li Xuantu, then this might truly be his last chance. Not only that, if this operation went smoothly, he might experience a resurgence and rise to an even higher post!

“What do you need us to do?” Huang Tianzhao used the same message transmission technique to reply.

While he was looking at Huang Xiaotian, his words were actually for Li Linfu.

Huang Xiaotian turned his head and softly whispered.

A few moments later…

“Protect His Highness the Crown Prince!”

“May His Highness the Crown Prince live ten thousand years!”

“Did you all hear it? This man is His Majesty Gaozong’s favored successor! He is the true Emperor of the Great Tang!”

“What are you still waiting for? Follow His Highness the Crown Prince! This is the only way to live!”

With these loud cries, Huang Tianzhao and the others got on their knees.

“This subject swears to follow His Highness to the grave!”

“We are willing to swear fealty to Your Highness!”

Upon seeing Huang Tianzhao and the others kneel, the other prisoners also got on their knees.

All fell silent. The eyes of Zhao Fengchen and the other Imperial Army soldiers filled with despair. This unrest in the imperial prison had completely changed in nature, becoming a full-blown rebellion!

The winds howled!

In the air, Li Xuantu looked down at the kneeling masses below and coldly snorted, his face cold and harsh.

His eyes looked into the distance, toward the looming figure of Taiji Palace. He shot away, not even paying attention to the people below, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

In front of the ruins of the imperial prison, the prisoners were flabbergasted.

It was clear that they had not expected this sort of reaction from Li Xuantu.

“What do we do?”

Fumeng Lingcha was the first to stand, his brows creasing as he turned to Huang Tianzhao.

Although he had been one of the senior Protector-Generals of the empire, as a Hu, he had spent the majority of the first half of his life wandering the Western Regions. Moreover, he had been a nobody during Gaozong’s reign, and given that the heavens were high and the Emperor was far away, he had not understood the developments around the Imperial Palace and the Divine Dragon Coup.

He had only ever heard the name of Li Xuantu, but he didn’t understand the man behind the name.

The only thing that could make him somewhat believe this was Prime Minister Li Linfu’s endorsement.

“While the realm is vast, all land is the sovereign’s land. Even if we run, where will we run to? Isn’t encountering Crown Prince Li Xuantu a gift from the heavens? Since we will die one way or another, it would be better to just put everything on the line!

“Follow!”

With these words, Huang Tianzhao went after Li Xuantu.

Fumeng Lingcha, Duan Zhuyan, and the other prisoners also began to follow Li Xuantu.

“I swear to follow His Highness the Crown Prince to the grave!”

Such oaths rang out in the darkness, traveling far and wide.